Cormick was dazed as the door blew up. Shrapnel pierced the wall next to him. However, Vice and the rest of the team handled the explosion rather well, save for a small burn mark on Vice’s glove, which he claimed to be “Nothin’ but a sizzle”. The obstacle was clear, and the group was free to move onwards. Cormick dusted himself off as he propped himself up, and he held his M16 in his left hand, splattered with dark green Cryptoid blood. Dex motioned the group onwards through the hallway that was once blocked by the door, and inside the small hallway, the group found yet another door, this one already blasted open as the metal bent at odd places... “Dex, where are we?” Till questioned as he barged into an emporium-like room. “Seems to be the breeding mound...,” responded Dex. “Let me guess,” Cormick grunted as he stepped into a pile of ooze-like material, “We don’t wanna be here...” “Definitely not. Cryptoid young are way more aggressive than their adult counterparts... and they actually do eat their male young....” “Dex, did we need to know that?” Responded Vice with a hiss from his mask. “Hey, the more you know, right?” Vice responded with a quick slap of his palm against his helmet, but eventually the group began to take in the sights that the room had to offer. Overhead was a chandelier-like structure, glowing with a deathly green and branching out in different places. Lining the walls of the room were huge mounds, made of sand-like material, and said by Dex to be “avoided at all costs”. Cormick kept his M16 trained on one of the mounds, just to be safe... “I’ll bet there’s queens around here...,” Dex pondered as his gun clanked on the floor, producing a single gunshot, which, luckily, went wide and hit the roof of the room. “Hey, it’d be neat if you could hold your gun y’know...,” Vice growled. Dex sighed in response and shoved the machination back into his gloved hands, resting on his shoulder. “Alright, let’s move,” Said Till, abruptly ending the pondering as they moved towards the left of the room, where a small tunnel-like passage was present. They cramped themselves through the tunnel, and eventually into another series of corridors and passageways until they reached another breeding ground. It was similar to the last, but it was definitely darker than the rooms they had entered before, with nothing but a small eerie glow allowing them to see a few feet in front of themselves. Again, Dex fired off a shot... “If you’re gonna try to wake shit up, go to another room dumbass,” voiced Vice as he cautiously watched the mounds around him, being careful not to stir them to life with a loud voice. “I’m not trying! This thing keeps going off!” Dex reasoned as he lifted the gun up in the green atmospheric light. “And I’m the Queen of -blam!-ing England,” said Vice sarcastically as he walked onwards in the dark of the room. “Vice, guns can malfunction...,” Till responded, clearly trying to end the tension. “Malfunction my ass. Maybe if he knew how to use them...,” Vice hissed, and after that no one spoke... but not because of Vice... A slight clicking could be heard from an unseen side of the room. Ire perked his head left, and then right, then left again as he tried to pinpoint the faint clicking. It had a sudden rapidness to it, then a slow pause, and again it began to speed up. It was unearthly, and echoing around the room, with the darkness covering its source... “Let’s dip....,” Dex voiced worriedly as his gear began to clunk together. “Shut it the hell up!” Vice cursed as he raised his hand to Dex’s face. The clicking began to continue, with its eerie pace of slow and fast. Till motioned the team forward for about a foot before stopping. Nothing had changed. The same eerie green light and clicking. Till stared into the darkness, and he slitted his eyes. He could’ve sworn he had seen something in the abyss of black. Maybe... an outline... darker than the rest of the room, yet not easily seen. Not too tall. Maybe about two feet in length. As Till took a step closer, the clicking stopped. Alerted, he raised his rifle in front of him, and as his finger met the trigger, a flash was let out. Sparks flew into the ground in front of him, revealing the hunched figure under the light of the shot for a moment’s notice, before disappearing again into darkness. The team waited in silence for about two seconds, before screeches began to echo around the room. Screeches like that of weeping. Screeches that tore into your essence and brought fear, raw and fresh, and propped it in front of you. Screeches that would not stop, and would drive anyone insane if left long enough without silence. Even Vice had to clamp his hand over his left ear. The screeching was accompanied by the scuttling of what seemed to be appendages on the floor, like nails tapping on a tile of some sort, only amplified and in great quantity. “Fire until KIA!” Till’s voice became a blur among the screeches, and began to be buried even more when gunfire was let loose. Cormick let loose a small burst in the darkness, and a screech followed. Another burst, but no response. We found ourselves surrounded from all directions as we whirled around and shot at different places, the flashes from our barrels lighting up our faces of worry with a bright orange. However, no amount of bullets could stop the screeching, and the scuttling kept at a steady pace. “Too damn many! We’re gonna need to back it up! Lettin’ loose a frag!” Cormick assumed the voice had come from Vice as he dove onto the ground behind him, caring not about the impact. Dropping his rifle on the ground, he held his ears closed. A few seconds later, a deafening explosion was let loose, and Cormick and the others were back on their feet, shooting at shadows. “Let our a flare Vice!” Dex’s voice shrilled as he fixed his gaze forward. “Hell! Want me to fix your problem eh?” Vice responded through his filtered voice. Pulling out his flare gun, he shot a wispy projectile into the darkness. “Shit’s gonna get bright in a few! Might wanna watch your eyes!” Vice warned as the projectile burst into a red flash of light, burning in the room. What was revealed to them was beyond their wildest dreams... Small, scuttling, insectoid creatures, all ripped to shreds on the floor. Their blood could be seen, highlighted with the red flash of the flare, and they continued to screech even after death. However, that was not the real issue. As Dex slowly looked up, he felt courage leave his mind as he shivered at the sight that greeted his eyes... “Q-queen....,” he muttered, as his hand slowly raised to produce a pointed finger in his line of sight. The Cryptoid was much taller than any human, measuring at least 16 feet in height. Small insect-like appendages covered its horrid mouth, and its eyes were small gouges in its face, like eyeholes. Its arms were two outstretched hooks, that moved slowly as the Queen examined the room. Below the arms and chest were dozens of insect-like legs, with a lower half resembling a centipede’s body. The legs continued on its back until they could no longer be visible in the darkness... “What the hell is that?” Vice questioned with a harsh whisper. “A mother. A Cryptoid mother. A really really pissed off Cryptoid mother....” Dex voiced as he reached for his trigger.