(POV 3rd)

The squad of SAG plus Lucia entered the Dungeon of Italia leaving behind three people, one wounded soldier, the squad medic and Lucia assistant McMarian who was not suited for combat.

The formation they took was Lucia in lead, with the white feathered Sergeant and squad's gunner whom they flanked. Those three had lead followed by the squad's Sarge and the rest of his squad.

"Follow me ladies." The Squad's Gunner says to the two only females in the squad as he takes point, a pair of snorts respond. One snort was friendly and followed by a nervous licking of fingers, and straightening her three white feathers but stopped when she moved to an imaginable four and then gave Lucia a death glare.

The other snort was more hostile but had amusement, Lucia couldn't help but find some fun from a man who has never seen combat. 

The pair followed the cocky gunner down the hallway.

The man was holding a SAG patented 'Breny', the weapon looked like a mix of a Bren gun from the second world war and M60 MG. The weapon was on it's mount that is hooked around the soldier's waist with his back mounted ammo supply, the ammo belt going around his left side and into the weapon.

"Move out." Ordered the Squad Leader, "Remember nothing it to be alive when we leave." He turns to the three we are leaving at the mouth of the cave, "Mark, Mic and science boy. Stay here and Mic, your arm might be fucked but you have another so try to call command." He orders. Then he and the rest followed up behind the leading three troops.

As the squad advance, they noticed that there was small orbs of blue lights in the cave... though the squad themselves couldn't see the origin of the lights...

Next thing they noticed was the vines on the ground and as they first three walked passed them the vines started moving they had picked their target the Squad's MG assistant, as said target was last in the group.

As the vines moved closer to the man he stopped feeling a killing intent all-around him and turned to find a pair of pointed ends of two vines.

"Wha-" Was all the man got before both vines lashed out and wrapped around the man's throat and his legs.

The squad turned. "What the fuck?" Was what the Squad leader said.

"Argh" The the Gunner Assistant said. As the vines pull him to the ground and dragged him through the squad tripped a few on his way through.

"HELP!" He screamed and the echo throughout the Cave. Short rapid fire followed as the Assistant Gunner tried to free himself since his arms weren't tied.

The Squad got themselves together and those tossed onto the ground got up and reformed the squad, "Double time!" The Leader calls and everyone moved at a faster pace but maintain unit cohesion.

The firing stopped but what followed shook the green troops in the SAG Squad... Lucia, the White feather and the Squad leader knew what it was, the blood curtailing scream of someone who has lost limbs...

By the time the Squad reached the man the screams had stopped... and when they had found him or what was left...

Four blobs of what seems to slime? But one had a texture similar to copper...

"Wha-" "My god." Jesus Christ." "What is that!?" The Squaddie's spoke at the sight, though Lucia was more curious about what the blobs are...

What the squad saw was the blobs, with the Gunner Assistant half dissolved, his left arm completely missing with lower half of his torso was also missing, and the reason why his gun fire ended was due to one of them eating up his right arm and had consumed. The fourth one the one with a copper texture was sitting upon the man's head. While the rest gave off a blue-ish shine.

"What do we shoot?" The white feather asked Lucia, though she may hate her it's better talk to someone with experience.

No idea... are these aliens?" Lucia asks back. The pair shrugged.

Lucia nodded at counter part and they slowly creped forward, "If it moves aim for it's center." Lucia says.

The pair aimed at the copper blob, the pair already resolved themselves that it was their life over the preservation of what remains of the poor man.

The blob moved slightly and the pair unloaded into the copper thing, the first dozen shots from the pair of rifles bounced of the copper that the blob was covered in but when they entered the second half of their magazines the copper broke away and blue-ish shine and something the pair noticed and focused down upon, a blue-ish gem was shining bright and as they dug into the blob with their bullets then one reached and shattered the gem.

It sounded like glass being broken.

They quickly reloaded and found similar gems in the others but smaller.

The blob that was consuming the dead man's right arm jumped at Lucia but she moved under it and it landed near the rest of the squad, the Gunner took aim and fired until the barrel turned red, his fire turned what once was a cohesive blob into nothing but a puddle after gem was broken.

The last two blobs jumped at the white feather sergeant, she too moved out of they way but fired at one as if flew over her and managed to hit the gem while the rest of the squad turned the last blob into another puddle.

"What was that?" The Squad leader asked the two Veterans who took charge.

""No idea."" The pair said.

Lucia turns to the dead man... she moves her left hand in the sign of the Cross. She then knelt down and took the man's Dog-Tag "Private First Class Jamari Zua, may the Lord keep you safe."

She pocketed that Tag into her lab coat. White feather walked two paces and found the man's slouch hat... he had one feather, he was nothing but a fresh babe and was eaten by wolfs... she took the single feather the man held in his hat and placed it onto her slouch hat...

"What are you doing?" Lucia asked, she had never seen anyone from SAG do that.

"Do you still have that stone from Titan?" She asked back, Lucia dug into her pocket and pulled out a small gem. "It holds the same sentiment, if one of us die we give the feathers to the next of kin... just like those stones."

"They are Gems, from the deepest part of Titans crust." Lucia says back with spite, "I have had to give many of these Gems to families who lost Brothers, Sisters, Mothers or Fathers, too know how many Gems I have to give to grieving Families..."

The pair glared but sighed both knew there was no point in reopening old wounds over something both consider trivial... in what is happening around them.

"Sir what should we do?" Lucia looked at the man, and then at the rest... the white feather, the Squad Leader and the Squad Gunner had more then two feathers, and her are experienced soldiers. 

The Squad leader seemed to think hard... for the next few minutes he seems indecisive, while he was trying to make head or tails of this.  

The Gunner lost his cockiness and on second look Lucia realized that he plays the babe in the face of danger... he was facing down the tunnel and gave sprays down it and we heard a few cries of pain.

Lucia who was still knelt got one of her rubber gloves from her pocket and put it on, and was about to dig through the puddles of the former blobs... but her instincts shouted at her to stop, on second thought she took off her glove and tossed the glove onto the puddles and it dissolved within seconds and became nothing...

"That explains a lot." Lucia looked up and found that White feather was doing the same thing but with a expended shell casing...

"Time? White feather." Lucia asked, "I'm about three seconds."

"White feather?" She checked her hat and found what Lucia was referring to, "One names First Sergeant Nora to you, and time... ten to fifteen."

"Mmm... I would need to tell the boys on the ship... but that is strong."

"What do you think it is?"

"Don't know... stronger the battery or sulfuric acid... I don't know."

Nora nodded and moved next to the Gunner, "Ready?" She asked him and he grunted. She then got out a glow stick, cracking it and shaking it, "One. Two. Three." She then tossed it down the tunnel emulating about fifteen meters and a vine snapped at the light and crushed it coating itself in the glowing liquid.

"Nora check my assistant he should have my HEI rounds." The Gunner asked ignoring her rank. She instantly rolled over the dead man's body and took off his back pack.

"What do you have loaded?" She asked back.

"APCR." He says and the moment he feels her pat his shoulder he unloads his weapon and drops the ammo box that sits on his back.

Nora helps the man put on his new ammo supply and he reaches around and pulls the lengths of belt ammo, the 15mm rounds High Explosive incendiary rounds into his 'Breny'.

"You have about 400." Nora tells him.

"-Whistle- Okay everyone," The Squad Leader calls. "I hate to say this but we must keep going, Lucia, Fi-!" He was interrupted by one of the greenies in the Squad, a Lance Corporal with a single feather.

"No we are leaving!"

"Yea I'm not going farther in!" Another adds.

"Are you insane!?" And another.

The Sergeant seemingly saw this coming... he turned to the Corporal, "I am giving the orders here. If you are refusing this is insubordination!"

The Squad Gunner turns around and says, "This you one feathered fuck to chicken then run, but don't expect any help from us during the next battle... no expect an 'accident'. Now shut the fuck up!" He looks at the Serge and adds, "I made that kid a promise and I have failed, I'm not leaving."

The Gunner starts walking forward, Lucia and Nora followed it was clear what the Serge was going to order.

"You rank gunny?" Lucia asked.

"Mine? I'm just some nobody Corpy from New Sydney, but unlike those little shits who think they are better then me just because I'm a 'Draftee' and they are 'Volunteers' in other words they are entitled, didn't help that they was a minor revolt at Port Moors that had involved a few SAG Draftees..." He shacks his head...

Nora continues, "That is when the South Asian Guard disallowed draftee into her units and now it's only volunteers and old mate he, is what ten years running?"

"Fifteen, I was the last of SAGs Drafted men. but that gave us a lot of hate..."

"What?" Lucia blurts...

"That's fucken right, I'm nearly 44. But now shut the fuck up, I'm giving a burst down the hall." He aims a the glowing vine that seems to be trying to flick off the liquids.

"Aim around the vine." Nora says and shacks her head at the sentence she just spouted.

He nodded and fired a hundred rounds and the tunnel is filled with 15mm explosion and followed by cries of pain and the smell of burning flesh.