[b]And Back Again[/b] One of the skeletal Hive aliens lets out a gut churning scream and charges at the two Guardians. Shay's side arm bursts back, empty rounds rain to the ground. Before the Hive slave's dead body could plummet to the ground the horde swarmed in on them. Their razor like claws scratch across their visor, digging into the glass. Their rabid animal like noises deafened the yells coming from Shay and Leon. The crack of thunder belts out and a bright pure light shines through the ravenous group of Hive. The aliens furthest out shield their faces from the light, they hiss in the direction of the guardians. The innermost Hive burn up from the intense heat exerting from Shay's Sunsinger ability. Leon is soon engulfed in a shroud of fire and fires a round into one of the pale creatures. The creature curls forward in pain and begins to turn to ash and ember from the inside. Leon ignites two more enemies and his powers wear off. His eyes begin to dart around the landscape looking for some sort of escape. The warlock begins to throw fusion grenades into the remaining Hive, watching the burn up as the grenades explode. Only a few yards away Leon spots a small door leading into one of the destroyed buildings. He fires his entire clip into two Hive that lunge at him, their lifeless carcasses landing at his feet. "Shay! Over there!" Leon yells as he nods towards the door way. Shay nods back in agreement as he grabs one of the Hive by the throat and digs his knife into its throat. A blackish puss gushes out and a foaming white substance fizzes and splashes onto his armor. He rips his knife from the alien’s throat and makes a run for the door, with Leon in close pursuit. Only one creature remains and it gives chase. The two run through the doorway Leon starts to frantically press buttons on the nearby door controls. None seem to work and the Hive creature gets close and closer. "Oh forget this!" Leon reloads his side arm and fires a bullet into the controls. The door quickly slams shut and the two find themselves in utter silence. Shay's helmet is transmats away and he rests his back against the cold steel wall. He releases the clip from his side arm, letting it drop to the ground, and inserts a new clip. Leon removes his helmet and allows his Ghost to transmit it away. "These, Hive are quite relentless." Leon's Ghost states as he begins to illuminate the room. Nobody chooses to reply to the obvious statement. Leon rolls his eyes in Shay's direction, Shay responds with a shrug and moves towards a nearby wall. The wall is lined with fleshy like barnacles and other strange lesser life forms. The faint squishing noises of the creatures makes Shay almost want to hurl. He quickly backs away and moves towards Leon. "What is all this?" Shay asks, his disgust outweighing his curiosity. [b][u]-- The Rusted Lands --[/u][/b] "A seeder ship?" The robotic woman's voice inquires. "Yes! These smaller vessels must be sent from larger Hive vessels." Edison-12 explains as he scrapes several fleshy barnacles from the wall into some glass dishes. "These smaller vessels contain everything needed for these creatures to grow." "Like a virus?" "Exactly like a virus!" Edison-12 excitedly places his samples down and the room trembles. Glass test tubes go crashing to the ground, Chirharu quickly draws her scout rifle and frantically starts searching the room for enemies. The landing door for the seeder ship slams closed locking them inside of the ship. A door on the opposite side of the ship slowly slides open, revealing a dark cavernous tunnel. Their Ghosts quickly illuminate brightening up the room, allowing them to see. The clicks and screams from the Hive spawn echoes through the twisting passages. The three Guardians gaze into the darkness, black silhouettes shamble aimlessly before them. The light from their Ghosts can't break the thick glass that is the veil of darkness stretched out before them. It made it impossible to tell whether the figures before them were real or just mirages. Sporadic flashes emit from deep down in the cave. Chiharu looks down her scope in the direction of the flashes. Two figures quickly appear and they're running in their direction. Chiharu moves her index finger from the body of her rifle to the trigger, ready to pull it at any moment. The figures begin to take on the appearance of Guardians as they come into focus. Behind them a strange Hive creature emerges behind them, floating in mid air. It's tattered and ruined robes dance in the windless tunnel. Bursts of energy shoot from it's hands and it lets out a ear cringing scream. Chiharu unloads several rounds into the creature, but the bullets have no effect. She notices a yellowish hue around the enemy as her last shot ricochets away. She puts away her scout rifle and equips her solar sniper rifle. Chiharu quickly takes aim again and fires off two rounds into the floating creature. It flinches back and swiftly floats behind a rocky formation for cover. A swarm of lesser Hive units begin to chase after Leon and Shay. Shay focuses his light into his hands and flings two fusion grenades behind him. The intense heat burns up the enemies in an instant, the solar fire quickly spreads setting the fleshy barnacles on fire. "Find us an escape route!" Chiharu demands of the two Exos. The two look at one another and begin to tinker with the door of the seeder ship. They first try forcing the door open, but Tesla-18 soon notices a weakness in the structure. Rifle shots ring out behind them as Chiharu starts to fire into the cavern. "You think that will work?" Tesla's Ghost questions "With the right amount of explosive force and a little luck, we can blast our ways out of here and transmat back to our jumpships." "And by luck, she means unappreciated genius." Edison-12 compliments with a smile. "Chiharu we need your rocket launcher!" "WHAT?!" "Just give it, we have a way out!" Chiharu fires off several more rounds and quickly reaches for the rocket launcher on her back. She un hooks it from her back and tosses it towards the two Exos. Leon and Shay are only several feet out with an army of Hive behind them. Tesla-18 struggles to pick up the launcher, once it's resting on her shoulder she takes aim. Edison-12 quickly takes cover near Chiharu while Tesla-18 fires a rocket into the door. The door crumbles apart and the bright light from outside bursts into the room. Chiharu and the two Exos are quickly transmatted away. As Shay and Leon enter the seeder ship they're also transmatted away.