Quickly reassured that a second group was arriving to deal with them directly, the civilians agreed to return to their rooms. The new prisoners were taken out of sight for a more in-depth discussion. Once

  convinced that their lives meant absolutely nothing to the attackers, they quickly divulged everything they knew about the lower portion of the base, and how to access it.

  “Here’s the deal,” Masey declared to an ad-hoc team leaders huddle. “We have three modes of access that can get us to a control room below.” She counted off her fingers. “The

  elevator, which is a death-trap. A maintenance staircase, which is likely to be defended, and a ventilation system, which is not. Once down there, our main objective will be located on the other side of a maze of empty offices.

  Everyone’s seen the cameras dotted around the place, so assume Rayker is ready and waiting for us. Ideas?”

  “ETA on the B-team?” Someone asked.

  “Ten-plus minutes. A few defenders survived and are resisting as we speak. ‘Tiga agreed we are pushing forward, not going back to help.”

  Kayla swallowed. The operation seemed to be getting more and more desperate. Fortunately the operators themselves seemed unconcerned by the enormous amount of pressure and risk.

  “We need to secure the maintenance staircase,” a Raider said. “That will help us get the B-team down quickly, so we can flood the objective with shooters.”

  “I want to push the elevator,” an ODT added. “Send it down with some smoke canisters, then rappel after it. We can hang out in the shaft and expend ordinance from relative safety—keep

  their attention focused on that spot.”

  “And send the Rangers down the vents?” Masey asked, glancing at the lieutenant.

  The officer hesitated for only a second. “Yes but… is there a map somewhere? How are we supposed to find our way?”

  “Listen for gunfire,” said a Raider that Kayla recognized, called Naima. She wore an impatient expression.

  For her part, Kayla could barely keep up with the discussion, much less contribute to it. She hoped that everybody knew what they were doing.

  “Me and Shiva will go down the vents,” Naima continued. “They’ll need us to take point at the bottom.”

  The Lieutenant bristled. “My Rangers are perfectly—”

  “Not interested,” Masey said, and gave Naima the thumbs up. “Wait for shit to kick off at the elevator and the staircase, then move in. Your element is now Viper, we are Tiger. Everyone

  happy with this?”

  Kayla wanted to demand details about the vents and how she was supposed to get down them. She desperately needed preparation time to help build her squad’s confidence. But that wasn’t what was

  meant by ‘happy’ in these circles. Nobody knew anything, and there was no time left.

  They signaled their acceptance of the plan and broke up. The lieutenant, having recovered from her embarrassment, quickly moved the squads in the direction of the ventilation shafts. Kayla ripped a steel

  cover off the wall and found herself staring down a wide chimney carved out of the rock. Fan boxes dotted the space, which a flashlight revealed to be a harrowing drop.

  Fortunately, the chimney was so narrow across that she could reach across it. That meant the Rangers could wedge themselves inside, sliding their backs down the wall in a reverse crawl.

  “That’s perfect,” she said to the others. “Easy descent. About time we caught a break.”

  Ray shoved her. “Idiot,” she snapped. We just climbed a mountain that we now have to descend, to meet a prepared defense. And you want to throw around words like “perfect” and “break”?

  “Yeah, Barnes,” said Sergeant Reyes, readying her own Rangers nearby. “Just go ahead and beg for something to go wrong.”

  Kayla acknowledged her thoughtlessness, and clambered into the dark, confined opening. Once she got moving, she found she could make fast progress by allowing the tough weave of her backpack to absorb most

  of the friction, while using her hands and feet as brakes. She stopped to check on her squad and was happy to see them not far above her, keeping pace and moving comfortably.

  Then a radio call came through her headset that made her blood run cold. Someone up top had continued to interrogate the two guards, and had news to share.

  "—thousands of spider-like creatures engaged in some kind of construction work," the voice explained. "They are potentially dangerous if engaged. Do not threaten them in any way, and

  you should be fine."

  Spider-like. Dangerous. Should be. The words found a cold reception in Kayla's heart, and she spent the rest of the descent wishing the Jotnar, Rayker and Vennzech an express trip to the depths of hell.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Once they got down, Naima told them to hold position while she broke through a grate into the cavern beyond. She returned quickly, and confirmed their readiness over the radio. Kayla’s heart hummed

  while she waited for the other two teams to get into position. After a short eternity, they heard dull pops and crackles drifting through the grate, barely audible. Kayla lunged forward, but a hand grabbed her backpack. She

  turned to see the second Raider, Shiva, wearing a ‘you’re a dumbass’ look. Seconds ticked painfully by until a second, much louder barrage rang out.

  The team broke through the grates to emerge in a recessed trench at the bottom of a vast cavern. Kayla edged out into the dark space beyond with her hairs standing on end. Thick cables and pipes ran for

  miles, snaking away into tunnels and rejoining at junction points like the tributaries of a river. Nobody took a second look at the enormous machine visible in the near distance. Tourism could wait for later.

  Ascending a ramp, Kayla almost ran into a giant biomechanical spider and felt her heart stop for several seconds. By the grace of whatever created the universe, she managed to keep her finger from spasming

  on the trigger. The thing waved its legs at her, then stopped and appeared to think.

  "What the hell is it doing?" Kayla gasped, a hairs breadth from panic.

  "Don't move, don't move,” Naima cautioned. “Just stay calm,"

  Everyone watched in silence as the ugly form edged nearer to Kayla, then watched her expectantly. When no response was forthcoming, it headbutted her leg.

  "Ohmigod get this freakin’ thing away from," Kayla snapped, as quietly as she could. She didn't dare move an inch, and was keenly aware that the entire mission was about to be compromised.

  “You tempted fate,” Ray muttered behind her, “and now you’re going to get impregnated by a giant spider. See how that works?”

  "Does it want a pet?" Thandi asked in an unacceptably calm tone of voice.

  "A… a what?” Kayla hissed. “Are you insane?"

  She sensed her friend walk up beside her, then watched her bend down and scratch a tuft of something potentially biological behind its head. The spider twisted back and forth, exposing more of itself to

  the evidently welcome contact.

  "Poor little spider thing," Thandi cooed. "Did the mean lady scare you?"

  The creature squeaked and shivered. The surrounding Rangers rolled their eyes, then continued forward around the cavern.

  Following the two Raiders, they headed up any slope they found, until they identified the wall of the cavern and used it to help them navigate back in the direction of the elevator shaft. In the near distance

  a boxy metal structure, likely the control room, hung off the wall, several stories high. Not far beyond that they saw the source of the high-tempo thunder ringing out across the cavern; a cloud of dust and smoke, flashing

  with gunshots. The shapes of men drifted in and out of the haze as they darted back and forth, their yelling barely audible over the noise.

  “Marksmen,” Naima ordered, and dropped to her belly.

  Other Rangers dropped, including Thandi. They dropped the eye-pieces on their headsets that let them see in the infrared spectrum, peered through their scopes for a few heartbeats, then let fly a volley.

  It seemed to do the job. Shiva spoke into her radio, and the battle eased, though it didn’t stop. An undistracted observer might suspect that only one side was doing the shooting. Kayla hoped there

  were none of those around. Her head had been swiveling since they had emerged from the vent, but you could never know for sure.

  The Rangers raced for a large archway cut into the wall beneath the control room. A few IR flashes confirmed their contact with the Raiders who had descended the staircase, and the gunfire cut out. Now

  the muted thumps and crackles from the elevator assault could be heard easily.

  First they tried to ascend, but the staircases didn’t always join up, and they had to stop to probe through the maze of passageways. Thick, multistorey conduit lines gave way to narrow passages where

  cables split and wormed their way around densely packed server rooms. The higher the assault group climbed, the more computer-filled office spaces they passed. Kayla dutifully followed her two Raider leaders, pieing corners

  and clearing spaces with her squad while the noise got louder and louder

  The first sign they were getting close was the smell; a sharp mix of cordite and sulfur. The air became dry and hazy. Kayla’s eyes and nostrils began to sting from the dispersed chemicals of smoke

  grenades. Detonations bounced off the walls and shook her body as she began to feel, rather than hear, the approaching battle.

  The top of another staircase brought the sound of men yelling over the gunfire, and Kayla tensed for action.

  "It's just a faint," someone argued. "They're not getting out that way."

  Naima spun to face the Rangers. "Hit 'em hard, and don't stop pushing," she said, then turned back to her gunsight as a wide, smoky corridor opened up ahead.

  "I've got nothing from Echo team," a man called. "If they're falling back we need to secure the archway. Give me two- THERE THEY ARE ON THE STAIR—"

  Kayla's first shot tore his throat out, while Naima's splashed his skull against the wall. Viper weapons spat fire, dropping fleeing guards. In seconds the elevator hall was clear, but the sounds

  of stampeding boots and screamed orders indicated that dozens of men were retreating into the maze of passages leading towards the control room.

  Shiva indicated she wanted to cross the bar of the T-junction they now faced. She and a squad of Rangers peeled off, heading towards the smoking ruins of the elevator doors that looked like they had been

  blown outwards from their mounting points. Calls of 'Viper, Viper, Viper," brought an end to the gunshots coming from inside.

  Kayla veered left, following Naima down a side passage that ran parallel to the main corridor. They cleared their way into a server room, whose glass walls gave them a perfect view of the VennZech guards

  trying to setup new firing points. Kayla aimed and fired, exulting in the crash of the panes shattering in front of her as she gunned down another enemy.

  "Fall back to the office complex," a man screamed. "Don’t shoot it out with them."

  The corridor cleared immediately, and when Kayla turned back to check on the squad, she glimpsed ODTs scrambling out from the hellish maw of the elevator shaft. Her limbs buzzed with electricity. The assault

  had broken through the enemy's chokepoints, and now she was eager to mop up what should be a panicked, retreating force of poorly equipped security guards.

  "Girls, that was the easy part," Naima said in a tone that chilled Kayla's confidence. "They're going to force us into close quarters; take away our advantages. Time to get primal,

  got it?"