Alpha Nine continued to fight his way through the Amber clad, the team of Marines following him. Two of the Marines were injured, but they were keeping up and still fighting. But Alpha Nine had a realization.
"Osiris, we can't push all of them back to the hanger. Too many floors, too big a ship."
"I'll try contacting other units... They're jamming our comms. We can't get anything out from the suit, the signal's too weak."
Alpha Nine nodded, then looked around. He spotted a matainence room, gesturing for the Marines to enter first. Then, after scanning the hallway for enemies, he entered the room. Inside there was a holotable, which he looked over as he approached.
"Osiris, could you connect to the ship's intercom through this?" He asked.
"I... think I can. With my level of clearance, it should be possible." She replied.
He removed her hardware from his helmet, then placed it into the holotable. Osiris' hologram appeared over the table, looking like she was thinking. Alpha Nine turned toward the door, aiming his rifle at it, just in case. The Marines were patching themselves up, though the burns would likely take a long time to heal. Hurry, Osiris. Alpha Nine thought.
Then her voice echoed throughout the ship.
"This is U.N.I.C. A.I. Osiris, requesting all security personnel and Marines to push the aliens to the hanger bay."
He let out a sigh of relief, then grabbed Osiris' hardware and put it back in his helmet.
"Good work." He told her as he left the room.
He immediately came under fire. His shoulder chaingun deployed, firing at the aliens as he raised his rifle.
"Stay in there!" He called to the Marines.
Alpha Nine fired at the aliens, moving forward to engage them in closer combat. But his shields failed as he moved, forcing him to move for cover. He took cover behind a wall at an intersection, checking the ammo in his rifle's magazine.
"Osiris get my shields up!"
"J... you've-"
"I need my shields immediately!" He grunted, peeking around the corner as the aliens approached.
Alpha Nine intended to wait for his shields to recharge, but the aliens reached the intersection before they did. He grabbed a feline-like alien, using it's body as a meat shield. After a few shots were blocked by the body, he threw the corpse at another alien, then crushed the nearest alien's face with his elbow. Alpha Nine then drew his pistol, firing several shots into the heads of the two aliens as his shields were recharged.
But this happened, a third, hulking, jet-black alien rounded the corner. He swung his fists at it, landing several hits. But they seemingly had no effect. He swung again, only to have the alien grab his fist, lift him up, and swing him into a wall so hard that he went through the metal. Alpha Nine winced, standing up as the alien charged him. His shoulder-deployed chaingun fired at it, but it almost didn't seem to effect the massive creature. Then he activated the small cannons in his armor's wrists, which still seemed to do nothing.
It slammed him through another wall, into the room where the Marines were. They immediately opened fire at the beast, which shrugged off the bullets and let out a deep, gutteral roar. Alpha Nine could feel his armor being squeezed tightly.
"J, I'm going to overcharge the shields. It should electrocute him to death." Osiris said.
Then the armor let out a surge of electricity, wrapping around the alien. Through his visor, he could see the creature's nervous system as the electricity racked its body. Finally, it let him go. It was dark in Alpha Nine's armor. The HUD was off, and he couldn't actually move the armor. Then the systems rebooted, lighting up his HUD.
"Whew, thought I was gone for a second." Osiris said.
Alpha Nine gave a soft chuckle, standing up only for his knees to immediately buckle. Looking down, he saw several places where his armor had been burned through.
"I... I tried to tell you-" Osiris began, but he cut her off.
"I know, I know," he grunted, standing up again. "It's not that bad, though. I'll manage."
"But we don't know the extent of the damage! You could have ruptured or-"
"I'll be fine." He grunted.
Then Alpha Nine made his way back to the intersection where the skirmish had started. His rifle had been crushed by the large beast, so he picked up one of the alien rifles. The pain from the injuries he sustained was partially muted because of the procedures that made him into a super soldier. It hurt, but it was manageable. Alpha Nine led the Marines out into the halls again, moving towards the hanger.
There were bodies littered across this hall. Some were crushed, others shot. He was going to walk past them when he noticed one of them breathing. He stopped, kneeling down by the Marine. Her leg looked like popped sausage, and she was holding a wound on her stomach.
"S-sir... my rifle... fight..." She said weakly.
"The fight's over," Alpha Nine lied. "You're safe." He told her, then turned to the other Marines. "Get her to the medbay. I can handle things from here." He ordered.
The Marines obeyed, picking up their injured comrade while he pushed onward. She might not make it... A voice in the back of his head said. Well, we need all the help we can get. If she survives, that's great. If she dies, she dies a soldier. He thought, moving through the hallway. Alpha Nine's path to the hanger was eerily quiet. At one point, he looked through a porthole, seeing wreckage float by. He paused for a moment, watching it pass. Then he saw a bright flash of light. A laser hit a passing U.N.I.C. destroyer, sheering the bow off.
He set his jaw, then continued forward. At one point, the Amber Clad was rocked by something, likely a hit from an enemy vessel. He managed to not be knocked over, continuing his way through the ship's empty halls. If Alpha Nine was honest with himself, he preferred the sounds of combat than the eerieness of the sounds of the ship. He passed bodies, both human and alien. He found a Marine that, even though he had a clearly broken arm, was still heading towards the hanger.
"Marine, you need to get to the medbay." Alpha Nine told him gently.
"No, the Amber Clad needs all of her Marines." The man replied through gritted teeth.
Alpha Nine sighed, pulling out a syringe from his belt. He put it into the Marine's arm, and the man's face relaxed.
"It'll keep the pain down for thirty minutes." He informed the Marine.
They made their way to the hanger bay, the Marine firing his pistol into the head of any alien bodies he thought might still be alive. Once they reached the hanger, Alpha Nine saw hundreds of aliens engaging Marines.
"Osiris, activate the megaphone." He ordered. "Lock your boots!"
As he spoke, the magnets on his boots activated, holding him down. Then he ran to the control panel, deactivating the artificial gravity and opening the hanger doors. Most of the aliens were sucked out, and any that weren't were shot or surrendered. A few moments later, Alpha Nine turned the gravity back on and closed the hanger. He turned around and was met by two other Drengrs.
"Good work, soldier." One of them said, placing a hand on Alpha Nine's shoulder.