Several somethings...

"No bodies, no weapons," Irina muttered as the two women moved around the dimly lit control room, searching, "but something happened here. Something bad."

Marie nodded - she noticed the signs too. Deep gouges in the console controls panels, dents in the station housings, overturned padded chairs with scorch marks. And here and there, dark stains of unknown fluid. By silent agreement, the two women gave the stains a wide berth.

As the women walked further into the room, carefully checking behind and under each table and station, the comm units in their RIGs crackled into life.

"Marie, Irina - Samson here," the captain's voice filtered in through their helmets, "we're clear so far on our end. We've swept through two rooms on our side, entering the last one now. Any trouble on your end?"

"Still searching captain," Marie responded, "we'll let you know as soon as we're through. Keep sharp, we're seeing signs of a fight here."

"Got it Marie. You watch your asses over there. Samson out." The comm link went silent once more with a quiet tone.

Marie and Irina kept up their cautious search of the dim room, the silence broken only by their footsteps and the low, intermittent beeping coming from several of the locked down stations. After another minute, they reached the other side of the room and paused.

"Looks clear," Marie straightened her shoulders and let out a breath, "why don't you get Samson on the comm, and I'll see if I can get anything out of these terminals."

"Yeah, OK," Irina lowered her pistol and queued up the other teams comms on her RIG. "Samson, Nicholas, this i-"

The speakers in Marie's helmet erupted with the sound of gunfire and loud shouts. She recognized Smason's gruff voice and Nicholas' panicked yells.

"--ina, we've got trouble here! Get back - no, you dumb bastard, get back and cover the exit. The exit!"

Marie and Irina's eyes met and they both started toward the door, but before they could take a second step the sickening sound of twisting metal came from above and behind them. Marie saw Irina's eyes go wide with fear a split second before something heavy and slimy landed on her shoulders. An inhuman screeching filled her ears and she felt the things claws scrabbling against her RIGs plates and helmet.

The unexpected weight threw her off balance and she staggered sideways, sprawling over a nearby console. She lost sight of Irina, but she could hear the medic's pistol firing at unseen targets. Desperately, Marie reached for her blade and the tool burst into life with a brilliant blaze of blue, made all the brighter by the darkness of the room. She tried to swing her arm around to slice at the unseen vile thing on top of her, but the awkwardness of her position made her clumsy, and she couldn't find the purchase to right herself.

The monster's wailing gained a new urgency, and Marie felt its grip on her torso tighten. She redoubled her struggles, straining and gasping for breath as warnings flashed across her HUD. She didn't get a chance to read them even if she had wanted to - with a final effort, her helmet was wrenched free and the HUD went dark as the helmet was tossed away into the murky shadows of the room.

The thing on her back let out a triumphant hiss, and Marie's gut tightened as she braced herself for the final strike - but it never came. She heard a dull impact above her, and felt the thing shudder then go slack. Getting her bearings, Marie heaved herself into an upright position, feeling the creature's bulk - a sickening combination of membranes, mismatched limbs and a long proboscis - slide off her to the side. A pair of bullet holes smoldered in the middle of the thing's glistening body.

Marie looked around wildly, and spotted Irina at once. The medic had retreated toward the exit door, stopping only to fire off shots at the rushing creatures. Two more of the things were already down, riddled with holes, but three others were closing in on Irina.

Marie is carrying:
Pulse Pistol
Surgical Blade

Marie's RIG Condition:
Marie's RIG is missing its helmet