Klaxons blared and strobe
lights flashed signaling the imminence of an attack. Taylor had already been in
his new armor when the signal first erupted throughout the FSS Chevelle. It had
taken a few days to adjusted to the yellow trimmed dark grey plate armor however,
any complaints he had were surprisingly handled by one of the frigate’s armor
smiths fairly quickly.

He found himself in a
precarious situation, not taking long to find out being assigned to Havoc squad
was nothing short of a death sentence. However, it seemed that they were treated
in the most unusual of ways.

On Earth Taylor knew that
the main infantry were just numbers to the higher echelon within the Federation
military but the death squads were treated both significantly better, yet with
complete disdain. Treated to better gear, first on the requisitions lists and
often left to their own devices because they were always given the deadliest of
jobs.

“Kind of like right now,” he
thought to himself as he finished grabbing supplies from one of the squad’s
dockside supply crates and reaching for his new machine gun. He heard his squad
leader call for him to hurry up, but still took the moment to appreciate the
new weapon. Dubbed the HAMR; it was a lighter, short barrel, drum fed light
machine gun with a heavily padded stock and high quality precision dot. So it
was significantly better than his previous light machine gun and earned the
moment of appreciation.

“Come on Briggs, move that
tight ass of yours!” Ebony called out waving him down as she stood next to what
looked like an octagonal shipping container. Taylor rolled his eyes as he shifted
his fingers through the long carrying handle of his weapon and jogged towards
her.

Out of everyone on the
squad, his squad leader was his least favorite, not because she was an
authority figure, but because since day one of his transfer she relentlessly commented
on his physique with not-so-subtle hints of taking him in her bed. Even after
explaining his relationship with Morrigan, her effort only seemed to increase
as if he were some challenge to over come.

Granted, Ebony was a
gorgeous woman however, his heart belonged to Morrigan and that was that.

As he walked up to the
container he inquired, “what’s this about?”

Ebony stood there with her
hands on her hips as she eyed Taylor up and down with an amused smirk on her face,
annoying Taylor even further. He watched her eyes travel from his plated chest
down the stomach of his suit and up his plated legs only to find the barrel of
his weapon deliberately blocking her view.

Her smirk cracked into a
smile as she tilted her head to the side. “What? Never been boarding before?”
she teased in sultry voice.

Taylor narrowed his eyes as
she bat hers eyes at him. “You know I haven't,” he stated with a scowl.

She only laughed before
waving for him to follow her. She led him around the back of the container to
find an open hatch she stepped through.

Ebony was not a bad squad
leader albeit unorthodox in comparison to any other leadership within the
Federation. Her sparring was brutal, physical training taxing, and stealth
training utterly ridiculous. She was a woman who got what she wanted and knew
every way in the book to get what she set her sights on. If she had not set her
eyes on Taylor, he would find her an intriguing woman to follow into battle.

Once he stepped through, he
found a cramped little corridor with several monitors along each side of the
metal tube. He watched as the majority of his squad strapped their weapons next
to the monitors and watched Stephanie locking her boots into the floor in the
middle of the walkway. As he passed her by, she gave him a curt nod before
reaching up and grabbing ahold of hanging hand braces that came down from the
ceiling.

Stephanie had become his
favorite out of the group. Though he had learned basic hand signals so they
could communicate in the field, she seemed equally as content with never
sharing a word with him. From what his squad has told him about their pretty
blue-eyed mute, she had her throat slit at a very young age, though she
survived and the wound had healed into a nasty scar, she could never speak
because her larynx was damaged and vocal cords severed. The thing Taylor cared
about was that she was much like him, straight forward about work and wanted to
be left alone outside of work. So to him, there was a respective kinship
between him and her.

Jackson was another person
he appreciated. Their squad medic was another who held no ambition of comradery,
solely focused on keeping the squad alive and delving into biological research
whenever he was able to. On the Chevelle he was rarely seen since he spent most
of his time in the medical bays or in the research labs.

Taylor passed Henry, the
laid back all-rounder. From what the man had stated of his past was that his
hand dipped into every aspect of life he came across, whether it be military,
criminal, or sexual. Henry was the definition of casual ambiguity. The down
side to that is he could be talkative if the notion struck his fancy, but was
just as happy to take a nap where ever he deemed suitable, which could be
anywhere from a bed to a ventilation duct, which Taylor had found him one day
as he tried to round everyone up for training. Over all, Henry was not a
terrible person to be around. If anything, he was kind and playful though Taylor
was not comfortable with the sexually playful moods Henry was often in.

Then there was Aleksei, the
giant Martian who was the squad’s demolitions specialist. When Taylor had not
realized on their first meet that Aleksei was just shy of seven feet tall and
build like a freight train. He heard rumors that Mars genetically bred their
people to attune to the harsh and laborious foundries of Mars however, he did
not expect Aleksei to be a giant, much less one who was significantly more
friendly than anyone else. Though some were secretive about why they were
sentenced to a death squad, Aleksei boasted proudly that he was sentenced due
to destroying a large portion of one of Mars’s foundries with an explosives experiment
gone haywire. The man loved to tinker and develop more destructive explosives.
Instead of facing execution, the military figured a man of his skill set served
better on a death squad.

As Taylor stepped into the
space in front of Henry, he found Aleksei ahead of him leaning out of a door in
front of his own station tinkering with something he probably was not supposed
to. Taylor locked in his rifle underneath the monitor to his right before beginning
the process of locking himself to the floor in front of Henry.

“First time rookie?” Henry
asked with a nonchalant smile.

Taylor looked back from his
armored boot he knelt over, “yeah. At least in space.”

Henry chuckled, “could tell,
with you walking around ramrod straight. Dead giveaway that you're nervous.”

“I’m not nervous,”
Taylor replied smoothly. It was a lie, Taylor was beyond nervous because he had
no idea what he was in store for nor was he told what their mission was. “Ebony
just won’t leave me the fuck alone. So, I'm pretty annoyed honestly,” he said
to define his mood, which was not much of a lie. He was annoyed by her.

Henry cracked into an amused
laugh, “I’m sure she's jealous that I get to enjoy the view instead of her!” he
pointed out. Henry watched Taylor shake his head and grunt in further
annoyance. “No worries though, downfall of being squad leader is being in back
of boarding pods. I’m sure that just pisses her right off,” he said with a
shrug.

Taylor stood up and grabbed
ahold of the bracing bars. He looked up and muttered, “thank what ever gods
there are for that.” Which made Henry chuckle. Taylor turned back after
observing Aleksei a bit more, “what’s the big guy up to? Which by the way,
sounds really weird to say out loud.”

Henry smirked at him
and nodded ahead of Taylor, “yeah I’m sure you’re used to being the biggest guy
in the room. He’s installing Party Poppers.” Taylor furrowed his brow in
confusing before having his attention taken from him by the deep laugh that
came from Aleksei. The big man shifted back in from the doorway, locking the
door and moving to take his position at the front of the line.

“Party Poppers are my
invention.” Aleksei started with a hint of pride in his voice, “spring loaded
trap connected to home made flash bang. Burns so brightly it burns out
retinas!” Aleksei bellowed his amusement of his creation and the effects they
had on other people.

“Don’t most CoU helmets have
photoreactive inputs?” Taylor inquired.

“Ha! My flash bangs are
superior! No photoreactive system is safe,” he said with a thunderous chuckle
as he got himself situated in time for Ebony to call out.

“Aleksei! We all set?” she
asked.

Aleksei raised his meaty arm
to give her a thumbs up, “all set to cause Havoc boss!”

“Havoc squad, your target is
a CoU frigate that just happened to try and pick a fight with us. Your mission
is to secure one of the hanger bays for our strike teams. That means taking out
hanger defenses, clearing out enemy hostiles so our shuttles can land…” as Rosaline
laid out their mission, the container jerked and shifted as the sound of a
crane clamping to the sides rocked Taylor side to side. His muscles tightened
in reflex as a sense of vertigo hit him.

“Your second objective is to
acquire as much data as you can while the strike teams head for the drive cores
and bridge. Ebony you know what you're looking for. If you're feeling frisky
you’re more than welcome to do what you do best after you get the data.”

Henry laughed, “well don’t
miss with us boss,” he retorted.

“And when Mcfadden, have I
ever missed.” Rosaline responded rhetorically before cutting the link.

Taylor took a glance back at
Henry who had a grin on his face. “what uh, what did you mean by don’t miss?”
well aware that the color in his face was draining.

Chuckling, Henry leaned
forward to explain, “think of it this way. Imagine being launched at 200 miles
per hour at the enemy in a machine designed to bore its way into an enemy ship
just to spit us out directly into hostile territory.” Henry’s amusement as he
watched Taylor pale reflecting on his nearly unhinged smile. “Sounds fun
right?”

Taylor turned back around
muttering low obscenities as he stared at one of the monitors. The container
was attached to massive drill and they were about to be shot towards the CoU
frigate like a torpedo.

Taylor had to fight a wave
of nausea at the realization that he may very well die in the next few moments
set in.

Without notice, everyone
within the container was thrust back as the momentum shifted drastically, the
low hum of the drill motor came alive and half the team cheered like
psychopaths.

The shift of momentum faded
quickly.

Taylor glanced back to see
Jackson had his chin tucked against his chest mouthing to himself. He found
solace in not being the only one who was not fond of the way they were forced
to board an enemy ship. He also saw Stephanie less amused by their means of
transportation, then again, the blank look on her face was more due to boredom
than anything else, he suspected.

Just as Taylor let out a sigh
of relief, their transport rocked and shuttered violently.

“Shit! We’ve been knocked
off course!” Ebony cried out as she reached over to one of the monitors, “They
must have had a damned kinetic shield!”

“Are we going to miss?”
Taylor asked, panic setting in. He said a silent prayer in that moment. Not for
his own safety but in hope that Morrigan was safe and not in her own promise of
death he found himself in.

Before Ebony could reply,
the drill head slammed against something solid and the shriek and groan of tearing
metal resonated throughout the container. Taylor ground his teeth as hard as he
could to try and keep out the high pitched droning sound that bore its way into
his skull.

Taking a glance at one of
the monitors Taylor could see a representation of the drill boring and pulling
itself through wall after wall of solid material, the interior of the enemy
ship.

It was not until the drill
found a void large enough to trigger itself to stop, Taylor took solace that
the grinding noise stopped as he watched the drill head on the screen spread
open to match the hydraulic hiss that came from outside the front of the
container. He let out a steady breath as Henry slapped him on the shoulder, “quit
being lazy and get your shit together.”

Unhooking his boots from the
floor he turned and grabbed his rifle from underneath the monitor on his right
and made sure it was still in pristine condition.

“On your go big guy!” Ebony
said over the closed-circuit communication link of their helmets.

Aleksei set his large pump
action grenade launcher on his shoulder before grabbing one of several remotes
from his belt holsters and thumbed the button.

There was a snapping sound
followed by a handful of muffled detonations and accompanying screams of
surprise mixed with agony. As Aleksei slid the door open and went to charge
out, skidding to a halt at the door letting Taylor rebound off his back. “Whoa.
We're high up,” the big man muttered.

Both Henry and Taylor
shifted to look underneath the big man’s arms to find themselves 20 feet in the
air above a multi-level mess hall, filled with dozens of CoU personnel writhing
in pain or stumbling to fight off their blindness.

Ebony, Jackson and Stephanie
waited behind them as Henry turned back to let them know of their situation. At
the sharp click of her tongue, Taylor turned to see Stephanie brandish a thin motorized
sword he had never seen before. 18 inches of sharp inch and a half teeth held
together on a chain whirred briefly as she triggered the motor in a test of
operation. The sight terrified him as she smirked at her deadly weapon before
stepping forward, shoving Henry out of the way.

Taylor took an instinctive
step back as she smiled, wedging herself between Aleksei and the side of the
door which forced him out of the way as well. There was a moment of question as
she stuck her head out and took in the room they landed in.

What Taylor had not expected
was for her to take several steps back with a look of determination on her face
and making a short sprint towards the door. The urge to grab the woman and keep
her from taking a flying leap from their transport overcame him, though it was
too late as Stephanie dove with fluid grace worthy of a professional diver.
Both Taylor and Aleksei watched as Stephanie plunged in a tight flip before
rolling onto a long table, unleashing the whirring teeth across some poor
unsuspecting fellow’s throat, spraying blood in a wide fan behind her.

Aleksei nudged Taylor with a
chuckle, “women right?” he mused. Only to earn a peeved grunt behind them.

“What was that?” Ebony
asked, her voice a mix of sternness and amusement.

The big man gave her a wide
grin, “nothing, after you boss,” he said sheepishly as he moved out of the way
to let Ebony through as the sound of Stephanie’s automatic pistol came to life.

Ebony strapped her assault
rifle to her back as she peered over the edge, taking note of the bent railing
of the second floor just underneath the two drill wedges below them. She turned
to her remaining squad and gave the four of them a cheeky smile, “boys, forever
last. Don’t keep us waiting.”

The guys watched as she gave
them all the middle finger before stepping backwards off the edge and falling
out of sight. The only sound to be heard aside from Stephanie’s massacre
resonating through the open space was Ebony’s hands slap metal.

All but Aleksei followed
suit quickly after. Taylor drew his machine gun and fired a burst into the
chest of a man who stumbled towards him. His gut churned violently as he watch
the man fall to the ground dead, taking note of his utility vest and tools that
pegged the deceased man as one of the maintenance workers.

He hated senseless death and
that was all it had been as he and his squad butchered the blinded personnel
that had this misfortune of being in the mess hall during the attack. Despite
how odd it was for so many to be eating when the CoU initiated the attack, Taylor
took minor solace that these helpless people would not have to struggle to
adapt to a life of being blind.

“Incoming!” Jackson called
out as he fired off a round from his shotgun towards the far door. A group of
CoU soldiers came rushing through into the mess hall to put down the threat
Havoc squad posed.

There was a hard thumping
sound as everyone spun to witness a detonation erupt from the center of the
entering group. The sound of Aleksei’s launcher racking up another grenade
could be hard as the large steel casing of the spent round tumbled to the
floor. His low chuckle echoed as Taylor looked up to see the big man leap from
the boarding drill and crash down onto a table that shatter beneath his weight
and dropping him on his back.

“Well shit… that didn’t
work,” Aleksei grunted as he shifted awkwardly to stand up. Henry laughed
loudly as he assisted the man up and Jackson bugged him with medical questions
to make sure Aleksei did not injure himself.

Meanwhile, Taylor turned to
see Stephanie drag the motorized sword across the armored chest of a soldier
who barely survived the grenade.

The chain of menacing teeth
shattered half way through causing her to jerk the weapon back and hiss in
irritation. He watched as she holstered her pistol and opened the blade up to
reveal several gears that were coated in gore. Stephanie gripped the half of
the jagged chain that became stuck against a piece of bone that wedged itself
under the main lower gear.

With a sharp tug the
remaining chain came loose and was discarded without a second thought. As
gruesome the weapon was, he found himself standing closer watching in amazement
from an engineering aspect as she held down a particular lever that brought the
gears closer, allowing her to slip one of the new chains that hung from her hip
around the gears and springing back to grab hold of the fresh ‘blade’.

Stephanie noticed him
staring and gave him a smirk before revving the engine of the weapon. The short
bursts of whirring caused Taylor to flinch. A grin broke across her face.

Taylor cleared her throat
nervously before giving her a shrug, “its uh... pretty impressive weapon
design.”

Taylor watched Stephanie
quirk an eyebrow as her face shifted back to her usual passivity before
snubbing her nose in his direction. The act confused him but before he could
even begin to question it, Ebony knocked into his shoulder as she stepped past
him towards the door. “Come on. We’ve got a hanger to take and keep your eyes
out for any access points I can use!” Ebony remarked.

Taylor watched as Ebony eyed
Stephanie darkly as the words that left her mouth dripped venom. Stephanie on
the other hand acted as if she was never given a death stare by her leader and
sauntered behind Ebony.

The interaction boggled Taylor’s mind however
Henry, Aleksei and Jackson casually walked past him as if nothing had happened
as well, only to leave him more confused by the interaction between the two
women. With a shake of his head he shouldered his weapon and followed his group
to delve into the labyrinth of the ship