Chapter - 7

In the Administrative sector, the emergency rescue squad lays defeated. Their bodies were scattered around the office area alongside the charred remains of demon. Armour held cracks and gaping holes that revealed charred, smoking flesh. A pair of Marines had been dragged to the center of the room by Pinky feasting on their remains. The smacks and slurps of the gorging demon rouses Major Martinez from unconsciousness.

He found himself on the cold floor with one of his marines strewn atop him, knowing the danger nearby he stays perfectly still. He allows his vision to restore, then quietly takes inventory of his equipment. He still had his pack stocked with energy cells, but couldn't find his plasma rifle and helmet. Large-jawed Pinky were on the other side of the room, the only rifle that wasn't smashed or overloaded was lying on the floor just behind the demon. Silently, he reaches into his pack and readies a magazine of energy cells.

He gets to his feet and quietly moves toward the rifle and lifts it from the floor, he carefully extracts the magazine and sees that only three rounds remained. Gripping both at once he almost drops the empty canister trying to reload, an energy pack snaps into place followed by a rising confirmation tone. The demon turn toward the noise and Martinez fires, turning the Pinky to smouldering ashes.

He allows himself a sigh of relief, there didn't seem to be any more creatures nearby. His eyes were inevitably drawn to the sight of his squad, they were mauled and missing limbs. The image burns into his mind, the helmets of his squad were either soaked in blood or wouldn't fit. He hopes he could complete the mission without one as he drops his pack onto a desk and retrieves the armour shards from an inner pocket, he snaps them twice into four sections and applied them to the damage on his armour. The nano-tech shards reform into seamless patches. He finds his PDA and uses it to send a signal to the UAAF Hurricane. Disturbingly, the ship did not respond. He uses a homing scan and received a signal from further out in Mars' orbit, the ship had somehow undocked and moved away.

Shotgun blasts ring through Sector E of the complex as the Marine got closer to the entrance to Central Processing, passing killed workers and security along the path. He arrives at the passage leading to the facility, the door to a security office was along the wall. The sealed door was trimmed with red lights, he steps into the office and attempts to unlock the door but his authorization wasn't accepted. He notices a port on the locked door and recalls that it's meant to interface with a bypass tool used to disable security when deemed necessary.

He turns away from the passage and sees the glow of LED lights in a shadowed corner, he steps closer and finds a slain Marine gripping a hand-held automap display. He picks up the device and turns it on, a station layout beams over him. He looks up a security bypass tool and finds one in located the Cybernetics Lab on the other side of the complex. He turns to leave, his boot knocks against a large object. The automap's glow reveals a chaingun lying nearby. He lifts the weapon from the floor and follows the automap to the Cybernetics Lab.

Elsewhere, plasma burns through mobs of demon as Major Martinez made his way to Auxiliary Memory Control. He enters the room and begins downloading station computer logs, nearly filling his storage drive to capacity. He completes his objective and heads back toward Alpha labs, creatures drop from ceiling compartments, plasma courses through the narrow area turning them to smouldering chunks.

Moving through the bending path, he notices a mild pain forming in his mind, like a thorn in the front of his head. He was confident he knew what the cause was, an attempt by a demonic force to possess him. It was annoying, but he seemed to be immune. After cooking a wave of large-jawed Pinky, he stops in his tracks. He was sure that he had come this way a short time ago, he wondered if he had managed to go in a circle, or if his mind was playing tricks on him. The area was a twisting, interconnected hall filled with suites housing various station systems. He fails to notice the suite of life support system consumed by demonic growth as he passed and strays onto another path.

On the CSV Navigator, the surviving top-level researchers from the lost Deimos base had rendezvoused with Dr. Mason who was also roped into their secret mission. He was previously on a separate medical escape pod with Dr. Philips. The four of them were within the Navigator's hangar bay in a luxurious Spec-5 vessel, Nexson was programming the navigation system while the others performed equipment checks or explored the cramped cabin.

"Okay, the coordinates are locked in. We're ready" Nexson announces.

"Undock vessel and fire maneuvering thrusters" Kronos commands.

The ship's clamps unlock and the thrusters lift the vessel above the alloy surface. Warning lights blaze as the ship slowly moves toward the widening airlock door. It reaches open space and the main propulsion ignites, the small ship gradually picks up speed as it sails away from the Navigator.