My name is Legion, for we are many

"What do you see, Vic?" Quarterback murmured while he assembled his rifle. They were tucked into the darkest corner of a half ruined house on top of a hill overlooking Carter's ship. They'd hiked nearly a day from their landing zone to reach this spot, another half day of carefully executed set up to ensure the killbox was inescapable.

"Primary has returned along with Secondary-3. They're still continuing with salvage operations and repairs. No sign they have detected us." Vic reported. "Orders are 'examine and excise'."

"Spare me the euphemisms, buddy." Quarterback replied as he laid his completed sniper rifle flat and looked down the scope at the distant hoverbike slowly dragging its cargo home. "This place gives me the creeps."

"It was beautiful once." Vic mused. "They built with purpose, tried to incorporate nature, rather than plow over it. Every brick is a work of art ...I've never seen anything like it."

"That good, huh?" Quarterback grunted. "Sorry I missed it."

Vic paused. "I could project an overlay into your suit optics?"

Quarterback knew his companion was just doing his job. It. It's job. Vic was meant to keep him sane, to be not just a working partner, but a friend. He was being 'handled' by a software patch that could fit in a hard drive the size of his thumb. But still.... it had been a lifetime since he'd seen anything he could consider beautiful.

"Alright. Keep an eye on Carter and the women for me, will you?"

"Copy, QB."

The broken streets and shattered homes began to swirl into existence before his very eyes. Muted greys and rotten blacks swelled into blues, greens and yellow. The colors of life. Strings of broken cable that Quarterback had just assumed were infrastructure criss-crossed between buildings, weighed down by hundreds of colorful lanterns of every hue imaginable, floating above dozens of cherry trees in full bloom. It was the life he was seeing and the sight of it nearly blinded him after seeing only **** for so long. But he could not help himself. Like a man parched from the desert, he drank deeply, and all too swiftly.

The Quarterback zoomed in to scan the walls of the building next to him. Vic was right, every brick had been traced with a unique pattern, like snowflakes, no two alike. Leaves and trees and water and wind, all traces of nature etched into the permacrete blocks. As he pulled back, he realized it was a church. Great stained glass windows popped into view; saints and saviors benevolently gazing down on their parishioners. He could almost hear the hymns gently leaking into the street, to dance with the flower petals dusting the streets. It was spring, and he could almost taste the crispy pata-

"Kill it. Kill it now." Quarterback tore at his helmet, desperately trying to find the release.

The images winked out of existence instantly. The world was quiet again, except for the sound of **** breathes and his heart pounding in his ears. His fingers found the release and pulled his helmet free. He could still see it though. Past that songs, flowers and warmth. A house with the lights on. Silent. With no front door.

"Too much light?" Vic asked.

"Too much like home." Quarterback whispered.

"Did you want to tell me about Procyon again? About the lights at Main and Miller?" Vic offered.

"No. No, you talk, Vic." Quarterback dragged the words out. His hands were shaking. Forty years gone and he could still feel it. "Tell me more about this world."

"Ya Fen, originally settled by the Chinese during the first Exodus, means 'lovely flower'... or dental floss. My mandarin isn't great." Vic admitted. "The ecosystem was extremely well suited for human life and earth flora. The colony thrived for over four-"

Vic cut himself off with a start. "You need to see this."

Quarterback peered down the telescopic lens. "Holy shit. Is that?"

"A Typhon adolescent." Vic confirmed.

"What the fuck are they playing at?" Quarterback whispered as they watched his quarry commit suicide. His finger slipped the safety off. If this went south, he'd prefer to finish things quickly. "Give me an infestation estimate for the planet, Vic."

"Unofficial count is less than one hundred Typhons remain on Ya Fen in hibernation, QB."

"And they just happened to stumble onto one? No way."

"It is possible."

"It's NOT." Quarterback watched the younger women, clearly agitated at the sight of the monster, recoil back from the others. "Can you link to the satellite, and give me a thermal scan of the planet?"

"A burst transmission will be easily detected, especially if their systems are not powered down."

As Quarterback weighed the options in his mind, debating just taking Carter now, suddenly there was ****. Samara Carter pulled an electroblade free and hacked the captured Typhon to pieces. Armless, legless, she finally stopped just short of killing it and walked off in a blood covered huff. He felt a swell of appreciation rise up unbidden. "Now there's a woman after my own heart. Samara, right?"

"Correct. Do you still want me to perform the scan?"

He hesitated. There were too many unknowns here. The Kalais was in a counter orbit, trying to keep some space between itself and the Tomian fleet worked into a fury for some reason. Things were going to get messy, but he needed the bait to stay alive long enough to draw in the real prize. Where there was danger, there was also opportunity. A chance to trap and kill all five members of Crisis-Team. That was worth more than worth their lives.

"The device is in position?"

"And primed."

"Power down your drone and get ready." Quarterback looked down the scope again. Carter had dragged the 'prisoner' inside and was hauling the heavy equipment like it was cheap furniture. There was a man who needed a bullet too. Or maybe a missile strike.

"Atmosphere breach." Vic cut in.

Right on time.

---

"How the hell did they find us?"

"Doesn't really matter now, does it?" Adam replied as he dashed into the cockpit to join the others.

"Look!" Cindi out the canopy to the gap in the building ahead of them. The Venix ship was hovering like a shadow just out of reach. No doubt with weapons locked on them.

"Oh, shit." Kat said softly.

"Strap in, we're getting out of here!" Cindi's hands started to fly across the control board.

"No wait!" Sam grabbed Cindi's arm. "If we power up they'll start blowing holes in us or drop an EMP or-

"So instead, we just wait to die?" Cindi tried to pry her cousin's arm off, but she was already shaking so badly she couldn't grip. "We have got to GO!"

Kat caught Adam's eye before he could intervene. 'Lead', she mouthed to him, eyes pleading.

"They want us alive."

"They want Adam!"

Adam felt that iron hard determination swell up in his chest. He put a firm hand on Cindi's shoulder and gave her a squeeze. "We can't run, not yet." He looked at Sam next. "We're going out there. Get a gun they can't turn off."

Sam nodded and ran.

Adam turned back to his Aunt. "Keep the ship cold, but get everything as ready to go as you can. We're going to have to leave in a hurry." He shot Cindi a tight smile. Slowly, he felt some of the tension ease out of his sister and she smiled back. But her smile failed, when he pulled his hand away. Her eyes begged him to stay.

"I'll be back." Adam promised her.

---

By the time Adam met Sam at the cargo ramp, she'd found time to grab not just an old slug thrower **** rifle, but a hardsuit and a bandolier of grenades as well.

"What your play?"

"I thought we'd shoot our way out." Adam replied. "Mix things up a bit."

"With that girl gun of yours?" Sam snorted derisively at his revolver. Adam only had three heartbreaker rounds left. He was going to have to make them count. No more ocular implant for weapon tracing either. He'd have to get close enough that he couldn't miss.

They made it outside, taking cover at the edge of the building. The other ship was hovering nearly 100 meters away. No enemies in sight. Just a wide empty boulevard and a thousand different dark corners they could be hiding in. Sam signaled Adam to cover her, then she'd just stood up to run- A sniper round bit into the ground in front of her.

Adam wrenched Sam back down again. "Was that Crisis-3? I thought you killed that guy already."

"I did! And who the fuck decided naming people numerically was a good idea?" Sam demanded.

"Lay down your weapons and surrender." Came the shrill shriek of Crisis-2. They were out there somewhere. Already in cover most likely. Guns trained on their likely position.

"Come and take them!" Sam called back.

"Are you sure about that? We want Alpha-09 alive, but you not so much."

"And then you'll just let us go, right?"

"Pinky promise." Crisis-2 jeered.

Adam scanned the area around them. They could be anywhere. They were clearly prepared, ready to fight. "What do you think?"

"I think we're fucked. You?"

"We can take them."

"Of course you say that." Sam rolled her eyes, but Adam caught a smile she quickly suppressed.

"You said you got another one on Thiidian?"

"Crisis-1. We got lucky. It was a real close thing."

"I don't like being made to wait...." The shrieking voice reminded them.

He had to change the paradigm if they were going to stand a chance. Adam grabbed one of Sam's grenades. "What are you doing?" She demanded when he immediately pushed down the primer. As soon as he let go, the countdown would start.

"Catching them by surprise." He replied to her, then shouted back to them. "Hold your fire. I'm coming out to talk."

"Don't you fucking do it." Sam growled.

"Reposition while I distract them." Adam hissed. He searched her eyes, "To the bitter end?"

She nodded. "Give me two minutes." She squeezed his hand as hard as she could. "I'll kick your ass, if you get yourself killed."

"I'm coming out." Adam held the grenade high, making sure they could see it as he walked. Crisis-Team melted out of the shadows, 2 and 5 both fully armored from head to toe, probably juiced up as well. 3 stayed hidden, playing overwatch. How many were they? Five, like Thiidian? Or three? Who was alive or dead? Should he put a Heartbreaker in each of them? Or save those rounds for someone else?

Adam fought to keep the shakes out of his legs. Maybe it was just the Halcyon, but he felt nauseous looking at these men. His mind worked furiously with each step. Sam would be moving quick and quiet. These guys were good, but they were better, right? They had to be. She'd find Crisis-3, take him out silently, then they'd have the advantage. That was best case scenario.

Worst case...

With a suicide run, he might take out two of them at once. Not a bad trade, all things considered, but this wasn't the time for ****, it was time to get his family out of here. Another figure emerged from hiding. It was Murphy.

On the other hand, maybe he could squeeze **** in. **** had been waiting patiently, after all.

"Subject Alpha-09." The doctor actually looked relieved to see him. "You look healthy."

Adam glared at him.

"I suppose we should discuss the grenade." Crisis-5 drawled.

"How many of you have we killed already? How many more will we get today? Sure, you'll probably win, but some of you aren't gonna live to see it." Adam kept his voice flat, emotionless. "Whatever they pay you, but you can't spend it if you're dead."

The big one, Crisis-5 hesitated, his head cocked in thought. But Crisis-2 had no such reservations.

"Adam. A-dam. Aaaaaaadam. A-a-a-a-dam." Crisis-2 repeated him name. As if he was testing the sounds it made. "A mark five anti-vehicle grenade? It's good. It's good, its' good, it's good." He spread is arms wide, as if to invite attack, then stared directly at Adam. "But it's not that good. Not unless you're ready to be a suicide bomber."

The moment dragged, then hung. It was too soon for them to call Adam's bluff. "Sam?" He whispered.

"I think I see him." She buzzed in his ear. "One more minute."

"I'm waaaaaaaaiting." Crisis-2's voice was even more disturbing in sing-song. "What do you waaaaanna talk abouuuuuuut?"

'Stall. Stall. Stall!'

"How many of you are there?"

"More than enough, sweetheart." Crisis-2 called back in a sickly sweet tone.

"I thought Crisis-3 was dead."

The two monsters looked back at Murphy, who seemed startled by the attention.

"I created a flash-clone for laboratory work."

"Like Cindi?"

"Precisely. Simply a copy, made to complete a task."

A thought occurred to Adam. "Why not just clone me? Why go to all this trouble?"

"I'm-

"Meet and greet is over, Adam." Crisis-2 cut in. His sing-song voice was gone, and the amusement had switched to an audible intensity. "Are we gonna do this the easy way? Or the fun way?"

"I'm right over top of him." Sam whispered into his comm. "Say the word and he's all mine."

"Go!" Adam whispered, then said out loud. "If I surrender-"

Crisis-2 let out a nasty laugh. "Wrong." He marched over and planted himself in Adam's face.

"-you'll just kill them anyway. Or worse." Adam waved the grenade in his face. "Back up."

"Or what?" Crisis-2 pulled the grenade tight to his chest and stared at him. "You'll talk us to ****? Let me help you with that." Crisis-2 pried at his hand, not to pull the grenade away, but to lift his thumb and set it off between them. It was gentle pressure at first, until it wasn't, and Adam was **** to clamp down with his other arm, to stop him. He stared at the other man, horror spreading through his body. Crisis-2 wasn't joking or boasting; the man was ready to die on a whim.

It didn't matter, Sam would have gotten Crisis-3's rifle by now. Time to kick a little ass.

"Light him up, Sam." Adam growled into his comm.

Nothing happened.

Crisis-2 looked around theatrically before turning back to Adam. "Wrong again." Then he laid into Adam's temple with a hook that took his feet off the ground. The grenade dropped to the ground, only for Crisis-2 to kick it away with a flourish where it exploded harmlessly. "You're 0 for 2, Adam." He kicked Adam's head next. Then pulled Adam's revolver free, he appraised it for a moment, the shoved it into the back of his belt, like he was taking a trophy.

'Where the hell was Sam?' Adam thought as struggled to get to his knees. A swift kick to the stomach made him nearly hurl and tried crawling after that.

"I need Subject 09 alive!" Someone cried out in the distance. Murphy, probably. Adam's mind was hazy, swimming between conscious and ****, as he fought his way out of the dirt. Crisis-2 was looming over him.

"Alive, yes. That was our arrangement." Crisis-2 agreed. "But not unharmed. You should thank me, Doc. I'm going to teach your little lab rat to behave."

"You'll pay for that." Adam groaned. He took another kick for his trouble.

"You're cute when you're angry, you know that?" Crisis-2 nearly giggled in disbelief, until he suddenly stopped dead. "You think you're like us?" He wrapped a hand around Adam's neck and lifted him off the ground with one hand. "You are nothing compared to us!"

Over his shoulder, Adam could see Crisis-3 dragging a bloodied and disarmed, but still thrashing Sam across the dirt to them. He strained and punched and kicked at Crisis-2, but it didn't matter, with the serum pumping through them, Crisis-Team was invincible. Jesus fucking Christ. They should have run, or abandon the ship. Or maybe this was just inevitable? He thought Sam was unstoppable, thought he was invincible, but he could see now, just how much they fell short of their enemy. All the power he now possessed and it just wasn't enough. He could bend steel, but Crisis-Team tore it apart. He was lightning speed, they were light itself. It didn't matter how strong he was, because they were stronger.

Crisis-3 tossed Sam onto the ground beside him. She was in bad shape. Bruises and cuts criss-crossing her body. She was slow, when she dragged herself over beside him, leaning on his body for support. He threw an arm around her shoulders as gently as he could.

"Go get the others." Crisis-2 commanded. His head was cocked to the side, studying them. "You two aren't...well, well well... I guess that's why they call them 'kissing cousins', huh?" Far from ashamed, Sam glared up at them hatefully. "Hey 5, you ever fuck your cousin?"

Crisis-5 just stared at him.

"Come on, you seem like the type."

"Fuck you, 2."

Quicker than the eye could follow, Crisis-2 backhanded the giant, then pulled his pistol and had it pressed against his head. "That's fuck you, Crisis-Leader." He corrected him.

Adam saw their chance, maybe they could still run! But before he could get to his feet, Murphy was there. He pressed a auto-injector to Adam's neck and a cool familiar feeling flooded him. Halcyon.

"Do not worry Subject 09. You will find the effects of Halcyon are only temporary. And I cannot risk seeing you further damaged." Murphy smiled down at him as he spoke. Adam realized that they had no idea that he'd been taking Halcyon for days. The effects were already tolerable, but he recalled how strongly it had hit him the first time. They thought he'd drop, so he did, slumping as if succumbing to exhaustion before collapse. "That is better. Rest now. You are safe once more." There was a pause while he turned to Sam. "You'll be safe as well. I have a great purpose in mind for you."

Adam's eyes shot open, luckily no one was looking his way. Contractions. That was what the Instinct had tried to tell him in the cage. Murphy had a verbal tick when he lied, it was the only time he used contractions. Sam wouldn't be safe. Not that that had ever been in doubt. Further thoughts were interrupted when Sam slammed herself down in front of him face to face.

"Close your fucking eyes. You're supposed to be half dead, remember?" Sam mumbled, trying not to move her lips.

Adam closed them and replied. "Murphy, he-

"Uses contractions when he lies. Yeah, I caught that too." Of course she picked up on it instantly. She hissed in pain and clutched her leg. "Still think we can take them?"

---

The Quarterback would have given his right arm and then some, for a parabolic mic. What the hell had Carter been saying to them? Something about all this felt off. First with the Typhon, now this. But before he could even ask Vic to power up the drone's audio feed, another figure stepped forward, one he hadn't seen in decades. One who usually kept himself hidden away in a lab. Dr. Murphy reached down and inject Carter with something and the kid slumped to the ground. Quarterback felt his finger slip unbidden down to the trigger. He dragged crosshairs onto center mass.

"I've got a clear line on him." . "We got to take the shot, Vic."

"Wait. We should confirm Crisis-1's presence, first." Vic reminded him. "We risk losing the primaries if-

"We wait, we lose him. That's 'Clover' down there, Vic!" Quarterback stared down the scope at Murphy. "You read the files. You know what he does. Please, Vic. I've been carrying a bullet for this asshole for twenty years."

Vic paused. "You're right. Let's waste him."

"Firing." Quarterback announced.

"Deploying EMP." Vic replied.

---

There was no sound. No sudden flash of light or movement to betray a location. Just a flash of dread and danger.

It's him. The voice in his head whispered a moment before Dr. Murphy fell in a bloody mess. He threw himself flat by instinct, the next shot cutting through the space where his head had been.

"He's here!" He screamed. An electromagnetic burst turned his team's reply to static, then silence. He tore his helmet free and was assaulted by the sun and air that hadn't touched his skin in years. His suits electronics were already dead. An earth shaking crash assaulted his ears and threw up a halo of dirt and debris. Their ship was dead too. His pistol was a slug thrower, old tech and hardened. But the others weapons would be little more than clubs now. He caught sight of Crisis-5 hunched as low as he could into a half ruined wall. Coward.

Crisis-2 **** himself to stand upright and walk over to the giant. The dust would be clearing in seconds, but for now, he looked invincible. No, he WAS invincible. He dragged Crisis-5 to his feet.

"Take the Doc inside and find a weapon."

"He's dead!"

"Not until he gives me my juice, he's not!" Crisis-2 shoved him away and whirled around. Adam and the girl were gone, of course. He laughed. What a disappointment, that had turned out to be. Whatever the Doc had done to Adam on the station, clearly it had worn off fast. Crisis-3 was jogging back through the clearing towards them when he suddenly crumpled, a handful of sparks and and a dull thud as the sniper round connected with with chest armor. He'd live. Probably. The serum was good for that. Crisis-2 gave himself another dose and stared up at the hill where their enemy was perched. He wouldn't hide. Not from anything. He waited for the first shot.

Dodge!

He swayed just enough that the bullet nicked harmlessly off her armor.

Jump!

The next round would have caught him low, in the hip or leg. Instead it harmlessly cratered the dirt.

Drop!

He hit the dirt just in ti-

Rol-

The second round him in in the back like a sledgehammer. The pain was so great he could actually sense it at the edge of his consciousness. He gasped, but threw himself back onto his feet. He beat his fists against his chest, daring him to fire again.

He heard the crack of a rifle, and again. But no shots rained down on him. He waited, furious and wrathful, his blood pounding in his ears as the shots rang out again and again before the rifle went silent.

Crisis-3 limped over to him, weakly clutching his chest, as delicious red blood oozed between his armored fingers. Crisis-2 idly wondered how it might taste.

---

"Got you." Quarterback snarled as he finally caught Crisis-2 with a two round burst. Time to finish this.

"QB, we've got something on the satellite scans!"

"What is it?"

But Vic didn't have to answer, because the earth had begun to tremble, and in the distance he could hear their terrifying howls.

"Swarm!"

---

They were everywhere. Thousands, tens of thousands of black and white, screaming Rabies Babies pouring over the land in an avalanche of **** and rage. They moved like ants, like a great and terrible colony, united by a single purpose. They were hungry. Here and there a lone Rabies Baby would fall and break a bone, or be cut open on a sharpened piece of metal, those nearest to them would pull them apart in seconds, devouring the flesh of their fallen brother, before surging forward again. But the swarm never slowed. Adam was frozen in shock. Sam not so much.

"Fucking run!" She pulled at him, despite her limp, toward the Invader's belly. The ramp was still down. They needed to reach it first. She led him down the ditch they'd hidden in after the shooting started, parallel to where they needed to go, but at least they put some distance between them and the other monsters there.

Even as he watched, the swarm hit the injured one, Crisis-3, like wall. They couldn't breach his armor, but they tore into the wound in his stomach. Teeth and claws spraying blood as they bore him to the ground. The massive bulk of Crisis-5- the only one still sealed up in armor from head to toe -waded into the fray. He simply ignored the dozens of screaming creatures clinging to his body. He plunged into the hill of Rabies Babies and dragged his injured teammate free, his other giant fist smashing tiny forms to paste as he bulldozed his way back to his own ship. Meanwhile Crisis-2 was laying ruin with his dead electroblade; he whirled and slashed, crushing, stomping and punching at their tiny forms, laughing all the while. Fucking psychopath.

The creatures were nearly caught up with them by the time Adam and Sam reached the end of the ditch. Adam jumped clear onto the ledge above and hauled Sam bodily up. The swarm surged toward the fresh meat and they ran. Forty meters, he could hear their shrill screams at his back. Thirty meters he could smell them. Twenty meters, on and on they ran. They were just ten meters from the ship when Sam's legs gave out. Adam skidded to a stop and scooped up his cousin just before the first set of teeth closed around her ankle. Sam didn't even protest, just wrapped her arms around Adam's neck and held on. He ran in leaps and bounds, barely a step ahead of the creatures now, and they were all the angrier for their food being just beyond their reach.

The Invader's ramp began to raise and with an soft hum, she lifted slowly off the ground.

"We're not gonna make it!" Sam cried.

"No kidding." Adam agreed. He spied a nearby balcony and just above it a broken railing that led to a higher terrace. It was too high for a jump. Adam dropped to one knee and cupped his hands low. "I'll give you a boost!"

Sam had barely planted her feet in his hands, before he threw her up with all his might. She went vertical and vaulted over the balcony lip, then spun around, braced and held out her arms. Adam leaped. She screamed at the weight when Adam caught her outstretched hands, but he couldn't let go, he already felt a hungry mouth tear off a chunk of his leg.

"Too heavy." Sam cried. Adam's other hand clawed at the wall until he found a grip. A second later he was up with Sam, both of them bleeding and exhausted, but they weren't safe yet. The swarm was massing below them, forming a human ladder that nearly reached them.

Adam dragged Sam out to the edge. "We just have to climb this railing and we can jump." They were nearly level with the top of the Invader now.

"I can't- Adam, my shoulder." Sam groaned. Her left arm was hanging limp from the socket, dislocated and useless.

The screams were so loud he had to shout as he hoisted her onto his chest. "Whatever you do, don't let go!"

"Back at you!"

Adam dove for the torn and twisted balcony rail, praying it would hold their weight. It screeched and swung wildly when he caught it, but it held, and he started to climb hand over hand as fast as he could, Sam still wrapped around him with arms and legs. The Rabies Babies were climbing too, leaping off each other to clutch at Adam's legs. He felt their grip catch him more than once. Any moment now, their grip would catch and he'd feel their twisted fangs sink into his body. He climbed faster. When they reached the terrace, Adam didn't waste time swinging them over; instead he braced and kicked off as hard as he could, flinging them through the air to where he hoped the Invader still was.

The hard jolt of cold steel caught him in the back, but he'd never felt so relieved. As he found his footing, Adam's eyes met Crisis-2's. The commando was shockingly close. He'd followed their example and was perched on a nearby balcony, his face covered in bites, but eyes gleamed with maniacal, almost rapturous pleasure. He pulled Adam's revolver from his belt and leveled it at Adam's chest. He stared at him, savoring the moment of life and ****, until the joy fled from his face and only the murderous appetite remained. "Goodbye, Adam."

A Rabies Baby landed on Crisis'2's arm, then another on his leg, a handful climbed his body, trying to reach the exposed flesh of his head. Within seconds the swarm dragged him down into waiting maws, swallowing his screams with their own.

Adam didn't bother to check and see if he stayed down, he and Sam scrambled toward to dorsal airlock and tumbled inside in a pile of limbs and exhaustion. It sealed shut with a snap. They were home, but they weren't safe yet.

---

Quarterback had wasted a half dozen shots before his rational brain overcame his innate hatred for the little monsters. Shooting a swarm was as pointless and spitting into a tornado. If every single shot killed five or even fifty of them, he'd still be devoured by the rest. He threw down his rifle and ran. The suit was incredible, he was fully sealed from head to toe, on paper it was impenetrable, but he'd rather not do the quality testing himself. So he ran, blasting off ledges and running along walls, so strong and fast, he barely even acknowledge the laws of physics or gravity. He could outrun the little monsters and their endless waves of gaping mouths, but he couldn't outlast them.
"Status, Vic?" He cried as he burst through a window into the street below.

"The drone is en route. The commando's ship is fried, they aren't leaving this planet." Vic confirmed. "The Invader on the other hand has begun to cycle their drive, we cannot intercept in time."

"Signal the K. I want full quarantine, lethal **** authorized. No one leaves this planet."

"They may be hindered by the Tomian fleet."

Quarterback jumped dashed into an alley and sprang from wall to wall, higher and higher until he reached a low roof. He caught the drone by its grab bar. It could carry him safely through the air back to his shuttle.

"You think we got 'em this time?"

"It's not as clean as I'd like, but they're stuck here and whether its us or the Babies, they're fucked now, QB."

---

Sam dropped into the co-pilot's chair, ignoring her burning shoulder. At least it was her left. She flipped through the exterior camera feeds as Cindi weaved carefully out of the nest of ruined buildings they'd been hiding in. So far, so good. And then. "Oh fuck me. Cindi, camera twelve!"

"I'm a little busy here." Her cousin snapped.

"Look at this." Sam blew up the dorsal camera on a larger screen where the others could see. Somehow, the monsters had followed them up, they were pouring over the hull, more and more every second, searching for food, for them. "Are there still breaches in the outer hull?"

"A few." Adam admitted. "The inner hull is sealed though."

"Almost there." Cindi called out.

They drifted farther out, nearly clear of the buildings now, Sam could see blue sky spilling over them like an answered prayer. But just a few meters below on the ground, Rabies Babies writhed like hungry maggots across every visible surface, numbers beyond counting. Where had they all come from?

"Almost there." Cindi repeated as they pulled free at last.

The Invader shuddered and the aft end spun drunkenly into a nearby building with.

"What happened?" Sam glanced over at her cousin whose hands were furiously flying over the controls. She didn't get an reply, instead the entire ship lurched and dropped a few meters into the road below.

"We're back on the ground!" Sam shouted.

"Rear starboard thruster is out. The primary ventral too. " Adam read off a damage report. "I think they ate the fuel lines."

"Compensating." Cindi cried out as they climbed slowly back into the air.

Everyone but Cindi recoiled as a handful of Rabies Babies dropped onto the main canopy and stared down at them hungrily, gnashing their teeth on the glass.

"Fucking hell." Sam shouted. "Get us out of here, Cindi!"

"We lost another fuel line!" Adam called out.

"They're gonna eat us alive." Kat whimpered.

"How many times do I have to say it?" Cindi snarled and flipped a pair of switches. WARNING. MAIN ENGINE ONLINE. GROUND LEVEL IGNITION MAY BE HAZARDOUS. She slammed the throttle forward.

"We're not on the fucking menu!"

Cindi threw them into a flat spin. With the engine at full power, they were a whirling pinwheel, spitting **** in a three hundred and sixty degree arc. A forty meter nuclear flamethrower that melted buildings and reduced Rabies Babies to atoms. They swooped around twice, blasting the little monsters by the hundreds. Cindy took one more murderous pass. then pointed the Invader's nose straight up and proceeded to climb the sky.

There was a Confedation ship in orbit, no IFF broadcast, and it trading body blows with the Tomian fleet. Cindi didn't bother to stick around and see who had the bigger dick. She put the PDCs on autotrack and pushed thrust to maximum. The handful of torpedoes sent their way seemed almost like an afterthought. She shot them down without issue. A few minutes and they were out of weapons range, a few hours and they were skipping out of the system, faster than the speed of light.

They were safe again. For now.

---

Adam had just put Kat into the autodoc- she was going to be shaking off that Typhon bite and the curative cocktail for days, he imagined -when Sam caught him outside the medbay. He was so surprised when she wrapped her arms around him, he almost forgot to hug her back.

"That was a shit day and a shit plan."

"I know."

"We could have fucking died out there!" She burrowed deeper into Adam's chest, taking comfort in his scent.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sam looked up at him confused.

"I made a mistake. I thought you could take him."

Adam watched his cousin's face contort, first shock, then hurt and rejection flashed than the blink of an eye. "So it's my fault?" She whispered. She pushed out of his arms and stepped back.

"No! Sam, wait! That's not what I meant!" Adam called after her rapidly retreating back. But she was already gone. 'Lead', his aunt had told him. And he was trying. But more and more it felt like his crew, his family was falling apart.

And the worst part was that he wasn't sure who's fault it was today. But in the end it didn't matter. What mattered was that Crisis-2 was correct. They weren't anything compared to their enemies. They needed to be stronger. Adam needed to be stronger. He knew what he had to do.

Do you really? The Instinct asked.