Manifest Fantasy

GB-2, Grenden Forest

November 29, 2024

The chamber lit up with a blast of white light – quick, like a flashbang, but silent. Even through his envirosuit’s filters, it was like getting flashed in the face with a high beam. He squinted hard, a bit annoyed. Must be the decontamination thing doing its job, he figured.

After the glare dialed down, Henry blinked away the spots in his vision. The wall melted open and he stepped into the dim corridor, his boots ringing on the metal. The way the door formed suggested nanotech, which would explain why the facility was so well-maintained and sturdy.

The section here was as quiet as the main hallway behind them, aside from some old machine’s soft hum somewhere out of sight. The air was still, almost oppressively so, as if something were lurking just out of sight. Well, as long as there weren’t any grotesque pustules and twisted biomass, he supposed they’d be fine.

Henry turned back to the small window within the chamber and gave a thumbs up. His team followed, each moving through the light.

“Well, ain’t that a kick in the pants,” Ryan muttered as he emerged from the chamber, his voice slightly distorted by his suit’s comm system. “Reckon these Gatebuilders coulda used a dimmer light.”

“Yeah, well, personally I’d take the lightshow over the risk of something crawling up my ass,” Isaac remarked.

Ryan gave a nod. “Touché.”

Ron stepped through, followed by Sera, Kelmithus, and Dr. Anderson. The two scholars were the most enamored by the sight, seemingly oblivious to the unsettling atmosphere. Hell, they were probably even excited by it.

The corridor led into a hallway with two ‘windowed' rooms on either side. Henry had seen enough of such setups to recognize them as laboratories, even if he couldn’t identify a single piece of equipment.

Dr. Anderson walked up to one of the windows, face plastered on the invisible field that separated the room from the hallway. “The technology here is incredible. To have remained undisturbed and operational for so long…”

“No signs of Baranthurian interference either,” Henry added, noting the fact that the various rooms hadn’t been stripped bare. “They must not have breached this section.”

Kelmithus summoned a few small orbs of light to illuminate their path. "Indeed. The Baranthurians either lacked the means or chose not to pursue this area."

They pushed deeper until they reached another doorway. The wall here seemed… dead. It gave off the same impression as seeing a pale body, even if the analogy was stretching it for the nanotech walls before him. Henry touched the wall. As expected, it lacked the same malleable feel as the other parts of the Gatebuilder site.

“Captain, here,” Sera announced over the silence, crouching down by the open doorway.

The team huddled around Sera, spotting a thin wisp of white in the corner. Cobwebs, and large ones at that. Not so undisturbed after all, Henry thought, eyeing the delicate threads moving in their wake.

He straightened up as Kelmithus sent some orbs of light through the doorway. The room had a box in the middle, accompanied by a chair and some sort of stand positioned directly in front of the chair. From the looks of it, it was some sort of containment unit or isolation chamber, large enough to accommodate a passenger airliner – or perhaps even the myriad of higher-tiered fauna on Gaerra.

As he peered further, Henry noticed a tube linking the box to the ceiling, likely a vent. Scattered around were desks holding alien tech so advanced he couldn’t even tell what they were. Though, there weren’t many of them. Most of the tables were empty. If he had to guess, the Gatebuilders probably materialized whatever they needed, just like with the walls. An empty panel decorated the wall beside the entrance – an empty weapon rack. Among the relics that were present, he spotted heaps of dust that had probably been important documents at some point, now just whispers of what was.

Henry approached the containment unit, studying it closely. The box was completely sealed, with no visible seams or openings. Whatever the Gatebuilders held in here had zero chance of ever getting out.

Dr. Anderson stepped up to the stand in front of the unit tapping it with his hand. The pedestal reacted, flashing a holographic screen above. “Incredible,” he said, stepping back.

“If only we found one of these when the gateway was unearthed, huh?” Henry remarked.

Dr. Anderson gave a light chuckle. “I can’t imagine it would’ve been any easier to activate it even if we did. We would have been like cavemen trying to figure out how an iPhone works.”

The screen was clean, devoid of clutter and icons aside from a set of lines, which appeared to be a menu. The archaeologist’s brow furrowed, a slight movement that Henry caught through the man’s helmet. Was he… stumped? Kelmithus joined him, beset by the same confusion.

“Any luck, Doc?” Ron asked, moving to stand beside him.

Dr. Anderson shook his head. “There’s just too little information on the Gatebuilders. This is my first time seeing their language. I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Kel?” Henry asked, looking at the archmage.

He, too, shook his head. “Absent one versed in the language, my translation magic finds no purchase.”

Despite the bleak outlook, Dr. Anderson didn’t seem like he was ready to give up. He hovered his finger over the screen and flicked it up. The screen reacted accordingly, scrolling through the menu. Then, he pressed one of the entries. A soft chime echoed through the room and an icon appeared on the display. It was a simple rectangular shape, reminiscent of a battery with a sliver of red at the bottom.

“Well, that’s something we can recognize,” Henry said, pointing at the icon. “Guess that confirms it – this section is low on power.”

“Oughta be simple enough, right?” Ryan asked.

Isaac inspected the icon on the screen. “Yeah, I dunno about that one. Certainly won’t be like substituting wire for vine. For all we know, these guys could’ve used antimatter or, shit, even zero point energy.”

“Antimatter? Zero point energy? You speak in riddles, Specialist Yen. Though, should fortune favor us, mayhap the solution will be within our grasp, even if the means are yet unknown,” Sera said.

It was optimistic, probably even far-fetched, but there was still a chance. “Yeah, let’s hope all we gotta do is flip a switch…” Henry tilted his head, directing his team to begin the search.

They spread out, searching for clues. The room was relatively barren for its massive size. As they moved further in and away from the containment unit, the presence of cobwebs increased, particularly near a doorway at the far end. Seeing that was the only other door in the room, they gravitated to it.

Henry glanced at Kelmithus, who immediately responded by illuminating the doorway. It led into a room full of the stasis platforms they had identified earlier. The darkness inside seemed to permeate with greater effect. Was it just an optical illusion?

Sera paused, halting her approach a few feet away from the doorway. “I… hear something.”

Ron took up a position beside the ‘frame’, preparing for a breach. “Yeah… I hear it too. The fuck is that? Shit’s giving me the heebie jeebies.”

Henry checked his HUD, confirming that his helmet was picking up the audio. He adjusted the settings to enhance the sound. It was a strange combination of noises, like a brush running along wood, accompanied by a continuous whine of stretching rope and soft, rapid drumbeats.

These were familiar sounds, though he’d only heard them once before. It wasn’t a pleasant experience: he had put on a helmet prior to a training session only to hear strange scratching and tapping. Only when a spider crawled along his visor did he realize where the sounds originated from.

Here, the sounds were amplified, audible enough to be registered by Sera. The scratching noises – stridulating, as it was apparently called – were like a sinister whisper, promising something far worse than the average creepy crawly. He’d seen his fair share of oversized bugs in Gaerra, but hadn’t yet come across ones large enough to be deemed monsters and granted their own tier. If the size of the cobwebs were any indication, whatever created them was no ordinary spider.

Henry looked back into the room, then turned to his team. He signaled for Isaac and Ryan to stack up on either side of the doorway, their shotguns at the ready. Sera and Ron took up positions behind them, while Kelmithus and Dr. Anderson stayed back, prepared to provide support if needed.

Henry held up three fingers, counting down silently. Three, two, one. On the signal, Isaac and Ryan breached the room. Isaac went left while Ryan went right, their weapons sweeping the corners and potential hiding spots as they cleared the immediate area.

“Clear left,” Isaac reported.

“Clear right,” Ryan confirmed.

Henry and the rest of the team entered the room, following behind Isaac and Ryan. The corners in the ceiling and the blind spots behind the few desks scattered around were clear, but full of webbing, The stasis chamber was cavernous, rows upon rows of platforms stretching out into the darkness. Some of the pods had near-transparent fields around them, giving off a faint glow that cast eerie shadows on the walls.

“Owens, take point. Sera, cover our six. Kel, lights,” Henry ordered in a low voice.

As more orbs of light brightened their surroundings, they moved deeper into the chamber. The tapping and stridulating from earlier ceased, giving way to an eerie silence. As they progressed, Henry felt a growing sense of unease. The sheer number of creatures contained within the fields was staggering. Hundreds, maybe more, all from different regions.

Some were familiar, like the monsters he’d encountered and learned about in preparation for the Tier 5 test – likely distant ancestors of dradaks and rillifanes. Others, less so. They looked like they were pulled right out of a horror film or dystopian universe – clawed, insect-like monsters that seemed poised to swarm en masse, and unsettling aliens whose appendages looked perfectly designed to latch onto a person’s face. Hopefully, the fact that he couldn’t recognize them meant they were extinct.

Sera was drawn to a pod with a snake-like creature within. It had scales that caught the faint light, sharp teeth that looked capable of tearing flesh, and a pair of small, awkward wings. “This bears great resemblance to a fenwyrm. An ancestor, perhaps?”

Dr. Anderson inspected one of the active pods, his face practically pressed against the stasis field as he examined the creature inside. It was a formidable-looking beast, some sort of arthropod with a hardened carapace. “Fascinating,” he muttered, “The Gatebuilders were studying Gaerra’s wildlife. I wonder… did they have magic before coming here, or did they get it after?”

Henry glanced at another pod containing one of the primal fenwyrms. “Kel? What do you think?”

Kelmithus studied a nearby specimen and the stasis field containing it. “A perplexing query, that is. The Gatebuilders’ technologies are so thoroughly imbued with the Aether that discerning the origin of their magical prowess is a formidable task. However, the study of the various beasts herein suggests that magic is, indeed, endemic to our world. Had they brought magic with them, I gather they would have focused their efforts on other pursuits.”

“Research sounds about right. But hey, maybe they just wanted to collect specimens for a zoo,” Ron shrugged.

“A zoo?” Isaac scoffed. “More like a freak show. Look at this thing,” he said, pointing to a pod containing a creature with tentacles sprouting from its back, its maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.

Henry shook his head, scanning the rows of stasis platforms. The deeper they progressed, the more frequently they came across empty units. The power outage had done a number on this place. Some of the platforms were totally dead, their stasis fields – and whatever creatures were inside – long gone. Others flickered on and off, equally empty.

The scene before him made little sense. “Gatebuilder tech so far has been so well-maintained; I doubt decay or erosion could’ve caused this,” Henry noted.

Dr. Anderson nodded. “Agreed. Something must have managed to get inside, cause a cascading effect.”

Suddenly, a buzzing sound echoed through the chamber, like a power line got cut open. Henry whirled around, aiming his shotgun in the direction of the noise. One of the pods had shut down, its stasis field flickering and dying as the creature inside tumbled out onto the floor. It was a small, furry thing, with big eyes and a long tail – almost like a squirrel. It looked up at them and let out a pitiful whimper before scurrying off into the shadows.

“What the hell?” Ron started, scanning the perimeter with his weapon.

The scratching and drumming sounds were getting louder now, bouncing off the walls in an unsettling chorus that set Henry on edge. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, his senses on high alert. Whatever lay ahead probably wasn’t as threatening as a group of insurgents with AKs or a Sentinel Lindwyrm, but it sure as hell topped them in terms of creepiness.

“Let’s fall back to the containment unit room,” Henry ordered.

They retraced their steps quickly and without incident. The sounds faded behind them, but the unease they left in their wake remained. Once they reached the relative safety of the containment unit room, Henry took up a position near the entrance. “Yen, get the Black Hornet in the air. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

Isaac wasted no time as he prepped the nano drone for launch. Hopefully, the profile of the small helicopter drone would be enough to allow it to sneak through undetected. The device powered up, rotors spinning as it lifted from Isaac’s palm. With deft taps on his wrist control, Isaac directed the Black Hornet through the doorway into the stasis chamber.

Henry watched the drone feed’s camera feed on his HUD, jaw clenched tight as the device navigated the rows of stasis pods. The thermal imaging revealed little. The stasis platforms seemed to produce no excess heat, as if neither the machinery nor the creatures suspended within the fields existed.

Suddenly, the feed focused on a large, shape crouched over a smaller heat signature. As the drone drew closer, the details became clearer – it was an arachnid figure, akin to a very large spider and easily the size of a desk, feasting on the remains of the furry creature they had seen earlier.

Henry noted the creature’s size and behavior, calculating the potential threat it posed to the team. Observing the creature’s aggressive dismantling of the prey and the apparent liquefaction associated with its feeding, Henry suspected it might employ ambush tactics, akin to terrestrial trapdoor spiders. In fact, it looked familiar… almost like a –

“Spiranid,” Sera muttered, finishing Henry’s thoughts. “Though, I can’t say I’ve ever seen a Spiranid that looks quite like this.”

“This appears to be a primal form of Spiranid, potentially a precursor to the species we’re familiar with today,” Dr. Anderson pointed out. “I’m not as well versed as Dr. Perdue, but the segmentation of the abdomen and structure of its mandibles don’t match Spiranid documentation from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Wonder how different these ones are…” Ron said.

The drone continued its sweep, revealing two more stasis chambers ahead. Each room was crawling with more of the spiders, cocoons of their unfortunate victims tucked away in the corners. The smallest were the size of stools, while the largest were as big as couches. Henry counted at least ten in each room, noting their general positions.

As the drone pressed on, it entered a larger area, one devoid of stasis platforms. In the center of the room, the camera picked up a large, webbed-up structure that looked like it could be a power unit. Surrounding it were several large, pulsating masses that could only be eggs, visible even in the low light.

Henry brought his hand up, expanding the feed with his fingers. If that was the power source for this section of the facility, then those eggs were a problem. Clearing those eggs was crucial before even thinking about restoring power.

Just as he was about to give the order to recall the drone, the feed suddenly cut out. The last image seared into Henry’s mind – a massive, segmented leg filling the screen. “Damn,” he muttered, tightening his grip on his shotgun. “We’ve got a big one in there. Could be damn near the size of a truck, at least.”

“At least we got a map of the area,” Isaac said, uploading a basic layout of the rooms to their HUDs.

Henry glanced at the map at the top left of his heads-up display, which showed the rooms ahead and blue dots representing his team. “Alright, listen up. Stasis chambers first. Yen, get a new drone up. Owens, Hayes – flank security. Sera, Kelmithus, with me. Power room is the OBJ once we’ve cleared out the rooms. Sera, focus on the smaller targets. Leave the larger targets for our guns. We’ll try to minimize collateral damage as best we can. Kelmithus, focus on shielding and temperature: if these are anything like the spiders back home, extreme cold should slow them down a bit. Think you can manage that?”

Kelmithus nodded. “It shall be as the Lindwyrm’s magic. How great a chill must I summon?”

Henry gave it some thought. Their envirosuits were rated for extreme conditions, from the freezing Arctic to the void of space. The Gatebuilders’ technology could probably handle it as well. He figured Kelmithus could go all out. “As cold as possible, as quickly as possible. We’ll build up our tactical advantage; we push in after the temperature drops below freezing.”

“Once we reach the power room, our priority will be to neutralize the suspected queen and clear out the eggs. Expect CQB. Use the environment, maintain spacing, watch crossfire. Doc, identify any manual controls or interfaces. We’ll breach the rooms with flashbangs; no frags. Check your gear and we’ll head in.”

Everyone gave nods or thumbs up, signaling their readiness.

Henry raised his shotgun. “Let’s go.”

The archmage took a deep breath, focusing his energy as he approached the doorway. Henry watched as Kelmithus raised his staff, a faint blue glow emanating from its orb. The air around them began to cool rapidly, evident from a thin layer of frost that formed on the metal surfaces. As the temperature dropped, the corresponding icon on his HUD declined, finally plummeting below 30 Fahrenheit.

Kelmithus lowered his staff, the blue glow fading. “It is done,” he announced.

Henry signaled to Ron and Ryan, who were already stacked up on either side of the door. They acknowledged with sharp nods, waiting for the countdown. He held up three fingers, counting down silently. Three, two, one…

As Henry’s pinky went down, Ron and Ryan pushed through, their weapons sweeping the corners and potential hiding spots as they cleared the immediate area. Henry and the rest of the team entered the chamber. The spider’s must’ve retreated into the depths of the room, hoping to get away from the freezing temperatures as best they could. He noticed a glint of webbing tucked away in the far reaches of the room, near a light source.

“Sera, take point. Kel, lights,” Henry ordered with a hushed tone.

More orbs of light brightened the chamber. The soft tapping and stridulating from earlier had ceased, leaving an eerie silence. The stasis fields didn’t seem to be affected by the chill, their surfaces unblemished by frost, or any other indication of the freezing temperatures. They didn’t radiate heat, but he wondered if the Spiranids would’ve gravitated to them anyway, due to the faint light they gave.

Suddenly, a dark shape lunged from behind one of the active stasis fields, skittering towards them with alarming speed. Sera reacted instinctively, cleaving the dog-sized spider in two with almost no effort. The creature didn’t even have time to cry out, silenced by the sheer speed of its death.

Then, more jumped at them. “Contact!” Henry called out, already moving to acquire a target rushing at them from the right side.

He reacted instinctively, his shotgun snapping up as he squeezed the trigger. The blast echoed in the confined space, the buckshot tearing into the Spiranid’s carapace. It let out a high-pitched shriek, ichor splattering the ground as it thrashed. Henry blasted it again, following up in quick succession.

Sera whirled to her left, a blast of wind magic sending a pair of smaller Spiranids crashing into the wall. They twitched and went limp, their exoskeletons cracked. It seemed the stool-sized ones were fragile; he guessed that a basic stomp would be enough to neutralize them. The larger ones, however, seemed to soak damage much better than their miniature counterparts.

More Spiranids emerged from the shadows, scuttling along the walls and ceiling. Henry heard more weapons fire – powerful shotgun blasts, the dull cracks of an M7, and even the sound of someone’s M18. It was apparently Kelmithus, taking shots at a Spiranid that he’d impaled with an icicle.

The sight of an archmage in an envirosuit – wielding a staff in one hand and a gun in the other – was certainly a sight to behold. If he had to sum it up in one word, he’d say it was unreal. Maybe even badass. As unique as the scene was, he was sure he’d probably see more of it in the future. He kept the surprise in the back of his mind as he took down another Spiranid, this one the size of a desk and managing to eat a shot directly to the face.

A quick burst from Ron’s M7 took it down. That was the last one, for now. Henry signaled his team to move forward, reloading as they used the stasis fields for cover. He could hear the skittering of more Spiranids ahead, their shapes darting between platforms near the entrance to the next room. He held up a fist, signaling his team to hold position.

“Yen, Hayes, flank left,” he whispered into his comm. “Owens, with me. Everyone else, cover us.”

The arrows on his HUD spread out as his team moved to comply. Henry and Ron advanced slowly, their weapons trained on the gaps between the stasis units. The skittering grew louder. He didn’t know if spiders were capable of emotion, but if they were, the sounds now suggested they must’ve been completely pissed off.

As they reached the end of the row, Henry prepared a countdown. On one, he and Ron swung around the corner, weapons at the ready.

Four large Spiranids crouched behind the stasis platforms. Their glowing red eyes gave the impression of rage, mandibles clicking like a bunch of angry crickets on steroids. Yeah, they were definitely pissed off. Henry didn’t hesitate. He aimed at the nearest one and squeezed the trigger, the shotgun bucking in his hands as the buckshot tore into the creature’s carapace.

Ron fired simultaneously, hitting the closest target with a burst before quickly transitioning to the next. The monstrous spiders shrieked, their exoskeletons shattering under the onslaught of lead. Ichor splattered the walls and slid off the active stasis fields, pooling in sickly green puddles.

But one of them, larger than the others, didn’t want to go down easy. It lunged forward, faster than something that size had any right to move. It slammed into Ron, sending him sprawling. The creature then set its sights on Henry, its mandibles looking like it could crush the envirosuit plating. Henry brought his shotgun to bear on the Spiranid’s head and fired.

The creature reeled back, its face pockmarked with small holes from the pellets that struck it. Yet, it didn’t seem to be enough. Before he could get a second shot off, a blast of frigid air engulfed the creature. It screeched, its movements slowing as frost coated its exoskeleton. Sera stepped forward, her hand outstretched as the glow of magic faded from her gloved fingers.

Henry took the opening. He stepped in close, pressing the barrel of his Benelli M4 against the Spiranid’s frozen head and pulled the trigger. The blast shattered its carapace like a hammer through ice, fragments of frozen chitin tinkling to the floor. The Spiranid slumped over, its legs twitching in its final moments.

“Clear?” Henry called out, scanning the room.

“Clear,” came the response from Isaac and Ryan, who had circled around to the other side.

Henry helped Ron to his feet, checking him over for injuries. Thankfully, his envirosuit only appeared to have minor scratches – nothing that breached inside. “You good?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Ron grunted, rolling his shoulder. “Tough bastard caught me by surprise. Feel like a damn pinata today.”

“What doesn’t kill ya, am I right?” Henry remarked, suppressing a smile as Ron gave an annoyed sigh. He clapped Ron on the shoulder before turning to face the battlefield.

The floor was littered with Spiranid corpses, their ichor pooling on the metal. It was quite a mess; hopefully the collection personnel wouldn’t mind. The various parts here should be more than enough to satisfy Dr. Perdue for a while.

“Alright,” Henry called out. “Let’s keep moving. We’ve got more rooms to clear.”

As they regrouped, Henry checked his Holding Bag to keep track of his ammo expenditure. He still had enough to clear out a dozen more rooms if he needed to, thanks to the Holding Bag’s capacity. The standard buckshot worked well against the Spiranids, but sometimes he’d need to shoot two, maybe three times to take down one of the bigger ones. The white phosphorus ammo would definitely perform better, but these were hard to come by. After all, this ammo wasn’t supposed to exist or be in use anymore. He guessed he’d rather save them for the upcoming ‘ boss fight.’

Kelmithus had already moved toward the next chamber, staff glowing with an icy power. The team took up positions, ready to breach as soon as the temperature dropped.

The process was repeated, the cold slowing the Spiranids’ reactions as Henry and his team stormed the room. They moved from chamber to chamber, the routine becoming almost mechanical. Kelmithus would cool the room, they would breach, and the Spiranids would fall under a hail of lead and magic.

By the time they reached the final chamber, Henry’s stomach was growling from the constant effort – and he really needed to take a piss. The job was almost done. The stasis chambers were clear, the immediate threat neutralized.

As the team took a moment to catch their breath and regroup, Henry noticed Sera approaching him. She had a pensive look on her face, as if wrestling with a thought. “Captain, might I have a word?” she asked.

Henry turned to her, his brow furrowed slightly in concern. “Of course, Sera. What’s up?”

Sera hesitated for a moment, seeming to choose her words carefully. “Fighting alongside your party… ‘tis a far cry from what I’m accustomed to. Your coordination is impressive.”

Henry nodded. “Standard procedure for us. Having magic on our side though, it’s taken things to a whole new level. Those ice blasts? Damn handy.”

“You mentioned that the ‘offer’s always open’. Being with you –” she cleared her throat, “Fighting alongside you all... ‘Tis given me pause… about your offer.”

Henry raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Thought you weren’t really interested in joining up.”

“I have dabbled,” she admitted, “Yet beholding what we may accomplish jointly… it compels me to rethink.”

Sure, Sera knew how to fight, but she wasn’t a soldier. Henry regarded her carefully. “It’s a big decision. We operate differently than Adventurers. More structure, more rules.”

Sera scoffed. “Rules, I can abide. ‘Tis just…” She hesitated, looking away for a moment. "Joining your team, it would change things. For me.”

Henry nodded. “Yeah, it would. But y’know, you’d still be you. Your skills, your magic… that doesn’t change. You’d just be applying them in a new way.”

Sera looked up at him, her eyes telling him all of her concerns without the sound of a single word. It was obvious – she had been a solo adventurer for so long, and joining Alpha Team was a huge shift. However, Henry could also see that her time with them was probably the most exciting experience she’d had in a while, perhaps ever.

Sera’s eyes then grew determined. “I… I have decided. Seldom have I bound my lot with that of others. I oft find Adventurers distrustful, but I see now that it was a mistake to see you as I did others. Might I join your party? Would you accept me into Alpha Team?”

Henry offered a smile. “Sera, you’re one hell of a fighter and a valuable asset to any team. I’d be honored to have you join us, but it’s not entirely my decision to make.”

Sera tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I am the leader of Alpha Team, but I still need to answer to my superiors back at Armstrong,” Henry explained. “Specifically, General Harding. Yeah, we’re a Party of Adventurers, but above that, we’re a military unit. So, the General’s the one who gives the final approval on any new members.”

Sera nodded. “I understand. And when might we seek his approval?”

“After we finish this mission and return to base,” Henry said. “I’ll vouch for you, and I’m sure the General will see the value in having you on the team. For now though, we’ve got other matters to focus on.”

“Right. The secrets of the Gatebuilders await.”

With a nod, Henry turned back to the others. “Alright, let’s get this done. We’ll sort out the rest later.”

As they rejoined the team, Henry noticed Isaac on his wrist controls, monitoring his HUD while tapping away.

“What’s our status?” he asked.

Isaac glanced up, sharing a live feed to Henry’s HUD. “See for yourself. Looks grim, Captain. Almost twenty hostiles, and…” He paused, “Think there’s another contact by that central obelisk. Bringing the drone around to get a better visual.”

The power room was expansive, centered around what appeared to be the main… generator? Encircling it were several pulsating masses resembling eggs. Shadowed corners revealed distinct Spiranid silhouettes, with one form dominating the others in size.

Just as the Spiranid Queen came into view, a string of white darted toward the display, the feed jostling as the drone was caught in what appeared to be a web. The Queen approached the camera, giving a menacing chitter as it crushed the drone under one of its legs.

Henry crossed his arms as the feed went dark. “Damn, that shit’s big,” he muttered. Turning to his team, he started his briefing, “Alright, we’ve got visual confirmation on a Spiranid Queen in there, plus about 20 smaller Spiranids. Hayes, switch to Whiskey Pete. Everyone else, check your gear, standby for breach.”

Ryan gave an amused grunt. “Been waitin’ for a chance to break out these beauties,” he murmured, sliding the white phosphorous-tipped shells into his shotgun.

Henry turned to Ron. “Owens, you’re on point with the Gustaf. On breach, engage the Queen. Prioritize the cephalothorax.” Catching Ron’s confused expression through his visor, Henry continued, “Uh, the head and neck area. Hopefully, we neutralize it quickly.”

Ron nodded, pulling a launcher out of his Holding Bag. “Solid copy.”

Henry addressed the rest of his team. “Everyone else, focus on the smaller Spiranids. Nades and suppressive fire the moment we step in. Watch your angles, control your bursts. Keep them away from the central unit; we don’t wanna accidentally make a reactor go critical. Kel, you’ve been throwing out a lot of magic. You good to chill the room ahead?”

Kelmithus gripped his staff. “Fear not, Captain. I yet have abundant reserves of mana.”

“Solid,” Henry acknowledged. “Sera, you’re our wildcard. Move smart, watch crossfire, and stay vocal.”

Sera unsheathed her sword. “Understood, Captain.”

Henry checked his Benelli M4 one last time. “Alright, stack up. Kel, work your magic. Breach on my mark.”

Henry watched the temperature drop, the warm colors on infrared giving way to the chilling blues. They were so close to finally unraveling the mysteries of the Gatebuilders. They’d dealt with the imposing Sentinel Lindwyrm outside; now, only the monstrous arachnid ahead stood in their way. As the room’s temperature dipped below freezing, Henry initiated the countdown. Three, two, one… execute.