The shuttle rumbled through the thick cloud cover of Dyris-5, its metal skin groaning from atmospheric friction. Inside, the team was silent. Not out of fear—though the tension was palpable—but focus. Every bonded warrior knew the stakes. Below them was Vorr's Hive Nexus, the neural heart of the mutated swarm. If they could destroy it, they could fracture the collective intelligence of the Hive… maybe even kill Vorr for good.
Julius checked his suit systems once more. Echelon hummed with barely restrained power, the nanofluid conduits in his arm pulsing rhythmically with his heartbeat. Across from him, Vara sat with her eyes closed, synchronizing with Seraphel. Brinley muttered to himself while sharpening a plasma-edged blade, and Selene adjusted the energy regulators on her datapad, oblivious to the turbulence.
The shuttle jolted.
"Two minutes to drop zone," the pilot called over comms.
Julius stood and addressed the team. "Once we're down, we move fast. We're threading a needle—Selene will guide us to the core. We get there, drop the charges, and exfil through the lava chutes. Minimal gunfire. Maximum precision. Understood?"
A chorus of affirmatives followed.
The shuttle doors opened with a hiss. The storm-wracked terrain of Dyris-5 unfolded below—jagged stone pillars, rivers of molten rock, and towering fungal structures twisted by Hive corruption. A red mist hung low, shifting like it breathed.
Julius jumped first, the repulsors in his boots flaring. One by one, the rest of Alpha Team followed.
They landed silently on a blackened ridge, the ground soft and spongy with organic growth. The air smelled of sulfur and rot.
"Selene," Julius said. "Which way?"
She checked her pad, eyes flicking across cryptic readouts. "There. A fissure thirty meters west. It leads into the Hive's vascular tunnels."
They moved, weapons raised, boots squelching with every step. Bioluminescent spores floated around them like snowflakes. Occasionally, something in the mist hissed and skittered, but never approached.
Then, they reached it: a jagged maw of a tunnel that pulsed like it was alive.
Brinley grimaced. "I hate going into things that breathe."
"Noted," Julius said. "Everyone, masks on."
They entered.
Inside, the Hive tunnels were unlike anything Julius had seen—even with Echelon's data archives. The walls pulsed and twitched, covered in vein-like channels of glowing blue ichor. The air was thick, humid, and oppressively hot. It wasn't just a tunnel—it was a living system.
"This is the Hive's respiration chamber," Selene whispered. "Part of its circulatory network. If we disrupt these nodes—" she pointed to pulsating sacs on the wall, "—we can delay its reaction time. Give ourselves more freedom to move."
Julius nodded. "Do it."
She planted devices as they moved, careful to remain quiet. But the deeper they went, the louder the Hive became. Distant screeches, clicking sounds echoing through the flesh-walled passages. They were not alone.
Suddenly, Vara tensed. "Movement. Front."
A shriek pierced the air.
Hive drones burst from the tunnel ahead—misshapen humanoid forms with insectoid limbs and gaping maws.
"Contact!" Brinley yelled.
Julius surged forward, Echelon forming into a blade. He cleaved the first drone in half, fluid spraying the tunnel walls. Vara spun beside him, Seraphel's glaive arcing in a bright crescent. Brinley laid down suppressive fire, each shot vaporizing a drone's chest.
Selene crouched, finishing her last device. "Done! Let's move!"
They fought through the swarm, carving a bloody path down a winding chute. At last, the tunnel opened into a vast chamber—part cathedral, part digestive cavity. Tendrils hung from the ceiling, connected to a massive, fleshy structure that pulsed with immense energy.
"The Nexus," Selene whispered. "We've found it."
Julius stared at the grotesque core. "Then it's time to end this."
But even as he spoke, the Hive trembled—and the walls began to move. Something massive was waking.
And it wasn't Vorr.