--Archaeus-- To the Ground Below [i]Chapter 8 -[/i] One Final Effort (Part I) \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ "Humans, we have just passed the defense field. Prepare yourselves. We will be docking momentarily," spoke Ceteris over the intercom. We were only moments away from what quite possibly could be the most important battle in the history of mankind. Everybody who would be the boarding party was shaking and trembling with fear and anxiety, including the Alphas. Within the span of a few months, us humans have had our world invaded, tore to pieces, blasted to smithereens, and crumble beneath out feet. We made an alliance with one of the alien races who are at war with each other, and here we are, about to end this... at least we hopefully are. I checked the energy on both of my wrist shields to find that they were fully charged. I checked my M15A2, fully automatic combat rifle to see that the mag was full. I made final adjustments on my vestments and other gear. I loaded my pistol, which was an original .44 magnum. I was ready for what's to come. Just after we finished preparing, we felt the movement of the ship come to a halt. All of the lights shut off and a dimmed red light filled the back of the troop hold where we would depart. Everything was eerily quiet. So quiet, you could hear the individual breaths of almost everybody in be troop holding bay. You could even hear the snarls coming from the grumped Betas outside of the ship. "Soldiers, we have arrived. Be prepare to exit. There are four Shyrdon watchmen guarding this hanger. A watchman approaching us frontally; there are two guards overlooking this hanger from one balcony above the exit. One lays in a halt at the door," spoke Ceteris again, as he lowered the hatch for us. Ceteris would stay inside of the ship until we were able to advance through to the core. We were hopeful that he could provide covering fire using the ships side cannons. Luckily, the Betas weren't expecting us. They didn't seem to be too concerned with our ship, and didn't make much of an attempt to look at us. It gave us enough time to sprint from the troop hold and get into cover behind a large group of odd red and black boxes to the right of our Destroyer. But as soon as we got into cover, they unloaded onto us with their red plasma weapons. Just the same, we began firing at them, despite our bullets barely doing a thing. The Alphas weapons were much more effective than ours, but not enough to deal any great damage to those brutes. A detachment of Zealots sprinted for the walls to our left once there was a break in the fire, trying to climb to the riflemen on the balcony, while Ceteris used the side cannon to shoot at the Beta on the ground. That cannon was powerful, but not powerful enough to kill a Beta. It only stunned him. But him being stunned allowed myself and my squad to charge that Beta with our knives. Ceteris stopped firing once we got so close, and I lunged for the neck of the Beta, landing a good slice all the way across his gray, tough skin. He wailed and roared in a fit of fury and pain as he tossed me aside like a rat, and Jackson ran in for another strike. He struck the same way I did, only he left the knife inside of the Beta, unlike me. Aiden then landed the final blow directly into the side of the beasts head, knocking him dead almost instantly. After I stood back up and looked to the four Zealots heading towards the riflemen, I saw the guard on the bottom preparing to attack them. "Ceteris, get that guard on the bottom, quick!" Ceteris turned his turret to the lonely door guard, only to see him lunge into the air over ten feet towards the Zealots, grab two, one with each giant hand, and smash their heads together, effectively snapping their necks. Ceteris began his bombardment on the bottom guard after he tossed the two dead Alphas down to the bottom level, while the other two Zealots jumped from the wall and onto the heads of the Betas. My squad and I made a dart for the door guard along with two more Zealots, while the other two Zealots above us were struggling to get the Betas down. We did the same maneuver to down the bottom guard, but just after, we saw a Beta break through the balcony behind us with a Zealot below him, who was smashed completely into the ground under the Betas ridiculous weight. The remaining eight Alphas and Ceteris ran for us in the distance. But the Beta caught sight of us after disposing the dead Alpha, and sprinted for us. All of us dodged out of the way, but Aiden was caught by the Beta. The Beta continued to run with Aiden until he smashed him into the wall which caused the entire hanger to shake. I was about to charge the Beta but Ceteris made a long leap from the lower level up to the Beta while it was still recovering from ramming the wall, and shoved his conjured blue sword into its neck. The sword went completely through the Betas neck, and with one swift thrust, Ceteris decapitated the monsters head from its body. The other eight Zealots who were following Ceteris, crawled up the wall by the balcony to help out the other Alpha who was surprisingly still alive. Within five seconds, the Beta fell over the railing of the balcony, and two Zealots landed on top of him, slicing him to pieces with their swords. I then looked back to the Destroyer to see our second group of soldiers following behind us. "We must now move to the core!" shouted Ceteris as we began to run through the exit. "Turn left up further ahead, and follow the red plasma coils under this walking platform. They will lead us to the core. Should there be resistance, allow for my Zealots to rush them first to get their attention. You may come in for the kill afterwards." The Starship had the same interior design as the Destroyer, except for the plasma coils. The walls and ceiling were covered with a black material, while red lights filled the hallways. I was leading the group through the ship with Ceteris right behind me. We eventually came upon a second door. I activated one of my wrist shields just in case there was a fire team on the other side, waiting to gun us down. Once the door split into two halves and separated evenly, it revealed a Beta who was coming through the door the opposite way. It immediately greeted me by giving a good kick to my shield. Not only was the shields energy completely drained from absorbing even just a partial amount of the force of the kick that could probably stop a rhino, but I was launched back into the troops who were behind me. The force was so incredible, that even after ramming into those soldiers, it didn't stop me. I simply knocked some of them over, and continued to soar backwards over twenty feet. After I landed, I had a very hard time even moving. It felt like I was hit my a semi-truck going 120mph down a highway. Once I was actually able to stand, I looked up at the Beta to see that he was on the ground, while Ceteris and two other Zealots were on top of him, cutting his head into alien sushi with their swords. I grabbed my M15A2, and headed into the room with the soldiers.