Chapter Twenty-Six – Masks On

Chapter Twenty-Six – Masks On

“In ANY combat scenario all units are OBLIGATED to wear their TYPE 70 MASKS.

A unit who fails to wear their full protective gear will have their PAY REDUCED.”

–Page 127, Red Warriors PMC Combat Manual, fourth edition

***

“We ready to go?” I asked the stooges.

The two of them had their new guns in hand and were standing near the barricade. It seemed as if they’d recruited some of the office drones to clear out some of the desks, leaving a slit-like passage that someone might be able to squeeze through with some effort.

“Yeah, nearly. Give the accountants three minutes,” Storm said. “That girl okay?”

“She’ll be fine. Might need some help moving about, but I think the others will be there for her. If we’re slow we should make it, no problem.”

Storm nodded. “Great, cool. Um, awesome.” He shifted and gestured out the door. “Do you want to go first?”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “Okay?”

Did he want me to be the one that triggered any waiting xeno traps, or was he just nervous about being the first one out.

It didn’t matter either way. I moved over to the opening, pulled out my Trench Maker and leaned against the wall to see outside of the offices.

Other than the corpses of a few Antithesis there wasn’t anything worth fussing over. “It’s clear,” I said over my shoulder. “Start moving people out, but tell them to be quiet about it. They’re all adults, they should be able to keep their mouths shut, yeah?”

“Yes ma’am,” Storm said.

I slipped out and into the corridor. If I was going to wait I’d at least try to be productive with it. “Myalis, what kind is that?” I asked as I nudged the tentacle alien with the tip of a foot.

That is a Model Four. One of the more versatile Models of Antithesis. Even after an incursion has grown quite large, these will still be produced. They are generally ambush predators and occasionally front-line fighters when their foe is lightly armed and armoured. Their tentacles are quite strong, and some are sharpened at the end. Their more dangerous feature for humans is behind their neck though.

I stepped around the monster and looked behind its head. Not that it had much of a head to speak of, the upper part of its body swept up, kind of like a small, ugly giraffe, but without the head and super-long neck. I guessed that its eyes and mouth were under the pile of tentacles.

I wasn’t going to go poking my hand in there to check.

There were gills along the back of its torso and where its head sort of was. Little pinkish flaps that stood out against the black-green of its skin. “What’s with those?” I asked. “Does it breathe from there?”

Not quite. Those are connected to sacks in its chest. The Model Four produces a gas that has been described as smelling faintly like flowers. To humans this gas produced psychotic episodes, hysteria, and paranoia. Though the amount a human needs to ingest is quite large.

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I backed the fuck away from the Model Four. “Are you serious?” I asked.