Captain Ferol, do you copy, over"
We had already stopped the truck and we all surrounded the receiver, patiently waiting for a response from the lost captain. The static grew louder each time he had spoken, and frequent fluctuations could be heard after each minute.
"Sorry about that, we had to hide our presence for a moment or it could have killed us" The disoriented voice whispered, with shaky breaths and an agitated tone.
"Captain Ferol is that you, over!" Blaze barked impatiently, sweating mildly as he grasped the responder tightly.
"Yes, but please do try to keep your voice down so it doesn't notice us" Captain Ferol whispered over static, his concerns trailing with the very wind.
"It?"
"Yes.... It"
We all looked at each other, frightened by the discovery we had stumbled upon.
"Are you there captain?" Ferol resumed, this time less agitated.
"Y-yes"
"Good, I don't have much time so I will spare you of a few details. A few days ago we encountered a different breed of the negrons, more ferocious and by far more monstrous in size than the ones we were used to. It was capable of reasoning, similar to that of an evolved species and we were only able to blind it, seeing as to how that was the only part of it's body it couldn't regenerate"
"Did he just say regenerate?!" A voice from besides us questioned loudly.
"shh!!" Everyone whispered, excluding me, as I stood there trying to piece every word and syllables so it would make more sense to me.
The look of worry on Root's eyes were greeted with the rapid shushing of the rest of the team. I could relate perfectly with him after hearing what the captain had said but now was not the time or place for interruptions.
"Yes, regenerate. We are currently just a small distance from the gate's operating base but cannot go any further because of this creature." Ferol's voice rattled, as it quietly on the move.
"That's about a days journey on our end, I'm sorry captain, but you might have to hold out a little bit longer" Blaze noted, staring directly at me but not concentrating on my face, probably lost in thought.
There was silence after blaze had spoken, what he was requesting was too bleak for anyone to appreciate and it was even worse for the squad on the other end of the receiver, who had been stranded in this planet for a harsh couple of days, constantly on their toes regarding the actions they could make.
But the reply of the captain was by far what any of us could have expected, lifting our spirits even more than any.
"I understand captain, just make it here safely. We'll do our best to survive till you arrive, good luck!"
ZZZZZZZ
The transmission ended almost instantly after he spoke those last words and Blaze wasted no time getting back into the truck, so did the rest of us.
"We're making it there before tomorrow afternoon, drive" Blaze yelled, grabbing ace by the shoulder in determination.
The look on his face had evolved from the fear that was plastered all over it a few moments ago, right now, he had on the look of a confident battle general about to win a war of a thousand years.
His brazen look affected the rest of the team as we drove all through the night, barely stopping to rest until the morning.
We stopped by a stream along the way, to go across our plan a final time before finally embarking on the last trip.
I went towards the stream and bent over, looking into the waters as it flowed undisturbed, I wished I could just jump into the water and escape but immediately slapped my face with both palms to chase away the thought. What we were about to proceed with was a very dangerous mission, almost likened to suicide but it was what we had trained for.
Getting cold feet at this point, proved how fragile I was becoming and so I had to grit my teeth in zeal so as to prove otherwise.
After I and the rest of the team had washed up, we gathered around our captain that had been pacing for over thirty minutes. He seemed greatly disturbed by the conversation he had with captain Ferol the other day, and did very little to hide it.
He stopped when we had all surrounded him, before bending towards the map in his front.
"According to the captain, we are sure to encounter a few negrons before we get within a hundred feet of the enemy's base. So we'll be splitting into three teams with separate agendas.
Team A, B and C. Team A, which I'll be leading will proceed deep into the base behind team B which will clear a path for us. Team C will remain back and monitor our movements from behind in case we are to draw attention from any other hostile force" Blaze elaborated, deeply engrossed in his speech.
He dabbed gently at the sweat that laid on his head, submerging a quarter of his face and dripping from it. It was okay to feel tension in this scenario, and I was surprised he had kept his composure and didn't even send a message back to base.
'I wonder if that is reasonable or entirely stupid of him' I thought, rescinding my praise.
"Ace, you'll lead team B, while Nezro is in charge of team C. So Ace, and Veronique will be in team B, while Nezro and Agate will be in team C. I'll go with Root and Sasha on this one and I trust you can handle yourself well, right Nezro"
I was as shocked as everyone who was staring at me and couldn't even compile the words together to even protest. I just simply responded with naivety.
"Oh, yes ri-right" I stuttered, averting my gaze from the peering eyes of Ace.
Charging me with such an important task was something I didn't agree with and I felt the constant need to address it with Blaze before we departed, but the reassurance from Agate just cancelled out the thought and replaced it with unwavering certainty.
We drove through the snowy fields that laid ahead of us with utmost speed, not stopping for even a second so as to not waste any more time than we already lacked.
It was funny though, with all the tension that had built up it was like as if our body had unconsciously forgotten about the cold.
We finally arrived at the checkpoint and calmly parked the truck behind a huge boulder on the opposite side of the spot.
Blaze and Ace's team proceeded towards the paved road ahead while I waited behind, alongside Agate. We were to make sure no other person or thing followed after the two teams and so we had to stay extremely vigilante.
I pulled out the pistol from my side pocket and loaded it with the maximum amount of bullets. It was just a counter measure in case our symbiote had worn out and I wasn't willing to take chances judging from the huge handicap I faced.
I didn't even notice how intensely my heart was pounding, or my shaky hands, till Agate rested her palm on my chest, making deep eye contact with me before repeating the same words over and over.
"Just breathe, ok?" She assured calmly, smiling at me.
I was ashamed of myself but some how, her efforts had helped calm me down a bit. She should have been made the captain of our team, not me.
I was currently overwhelmed by the current status of things and couldn't put my thoughts straight enough to even load my gun without almost dropping the bullets from shaky hands.
"Thanks"
"It's fine, I'm sure you'd do the same if it was me. I can't even imagine how you'd feel right now even if I was in your shoes."
"It's a lot to take in, I guess."
"Hahaha"
I was happy all the same, that they had put her in the same team as me and not me with Ace. She was a valuable asset to the team in every conceivable way and I hoped I would make it back to earth so I could buy her a drink for all her active care. That was the only way I could reciprocate her kindness at the moment, or at least the only way I could think of.
"Nezro, are you there??. We need back up, Ace is down. Can you hear me, I said Ace has been killed" Blaze voice echoed, growing distant by the sentence as a loud ringing in my ear, replaced his words.
The shaking of my hands tripled the minute the receiver in my palm transmitted the news of Ace's death. It had barely been thirty minutes since they had gone ahead of us and that had already happened.
'No, not now'
EEEYAHHHH
The screaming of Agate did not only attract my attention but also those of the negrons around us too, I carefully lodged my hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming any further and bent over so as to escape the sights of the incoming negrons.
Things had gone sideways so fast, that it was hard for me to process what the next course of action was.
'Think Nezro, think'
I looked at my shaky hands on which the pistol I held laid and then unto Agate's drenched face, as she sobbed immensely. The negrons kept on approaching us at an even faster pace than before, and the only thing that was stopping them from attacking us was their lack of sense of direction.
I gripped my left breast with force, letting out hazy breaths as one negron climbed above us.
The acrid smell of it's spittle dropping from it's open mouth, caused a mild nausea for both me and Agate. I quietly retracted the gun in my hands and replaced it with my clenched left fist, pointed towards it's head.
As it tilted it's head downward, I clenched my fist even harder, piercing it's head with my symbiote that had already morphed. It wailed in pain, and I gave it no time to react, quickly swinging my body, kicking it's form away from myself and completely ejecting it's head from it's body.
It danced backwards and sideways with vigor, as it could not fathom the pain it was currently passing through.
"Agate, move!!" I screamed, pulling her away with me.
I could not tell whether my heart had fallen from my chest or if it had burst but simply breathing didn't calm me down. The only way I could fight these mindless beasts was becoming entirely like one.
As the next negron approached me, I flung the head of the previous one towards it, then closed the gap between us in an instant, while it was still slightly disoriented. My blade piercing deeper into it's core as it squeaked, giving me a sense of victory each time I heard it.
"Behind you" A voice warned, updating my awareness. I turned towards the incoming threat and blocked it's claws with my symbiote.
The speed at which my symbiote morphed amidst battle, from blade to shield was insane.
As the negron flung it's other claw at me, I took a step back, feeling it cut through the air between us before extending my symbiote towards it's core till it impaled it.
I stabbed the headless negron that still remained on it's feet, dancing frantically before it shuddered in death.
"We have to move" I beckoned at the frightened Agate, urging her to run as soon as she responded to my grasp.
If Ace's death wasn't a joke, then whatever they were facing was more gruesome than we were told.