Chapter 6.
Just this morning she never could have imagined that her life would change this much, she was exhilarated. Sat next to her was an amazing human who had very quickly stolen her heart, and she seemed to have done the same to him.
They were quietly eating their food now, just enjoying the silence and closeness. the Hybrid was glad to have some food in her, eagerly wolfing down the rations, a content sigh escaping her as she relaxed, leaning some of her weight on the human next to her.
The human had offered her some of his rations, the Hybrid finding the crackers not very appetizing. He had also offered her half of the little fudge meal he had, the Hybrid finding that much more appealing.
It was just then that footsteps could be heard coming closer. The human looked up, glancing at the Hybrid, but she made no motion to move, instead moving her arm across his hip, forcing him to stay seated.
She could tell by the sound of the footsteps that it was a Hybrid approaching, their metal shoes announcing their presence as they rounded the corner, the human and Hybrid seeing that it was the Hardfang.
They stared at each other for several seconds, the Hardfang looking between the two of them before speaking. "Am I interrupting something?"
She spoke in their Chimeran language, the Hardfang not skilled enough at human speech to hold any real conversations, the human sat next to the Type-2 only hearing one side of the conversation.
"If you had come by a few minutes earlier you would have." She watched the Hardfang move forward, standing off to the opposite wall, leaning her side on it.
"Took you long enough to finally make your move. I hope you two are done eating, the human's commander wanted to see him."
The Type-2 relayed this information to the human, the soldier quickly picking himself up, putting everything back on, the Type-2 doing the same, the Hardfang staring eagerly at the Type-2, the Hybrid already knowing what was going to come.
She had been around the Hardfang long enough to know how uninhibited she was, and worse, she seemed to relish it too, taking great enjoyment in trying to make those around her squirm.
"It's a shame I didn't come by a few minutes earlier, wouldn't have minded seeing what you two were up to." She was looking the human over like he was a dinner plate, the Hybrid seeing her eyes settle on his neck, noticing the indents where her teeth had been planted.
The human noticed her staring, bringing up his hand to feel along his neck, running his thumb across the indents.
"Hmm, he's lucky." They had finished donning their gear so the Hardfang turned around, leading them back over to where his squad was.
They hadn't been gone for awhile, but a lot of stuff had already been done. There was now a communications line lying on the ground, a station set up near the tanks, several officers and radiomen standing near it.
One of X-Ray 4s squadmates spotted him, running over to him. "Good, you're back. We got communications up all around the tower. We got word from the other companies, they've been scattered all around the tower, and they've all been beat to hell, we're looking at 50% casualties right now, probably more. We're still trying to get the numbers, some companies are completely gone though."
X-Ray 4s eyes went wide. "Jesus christ."
"Ya, it's bad. We were able to get in contact with Command too, they're working out some plans right now, so far they've ordered us to stay put. They had some orders for you too, X-Ray 1 is off over at the radio station."
X-Ray 4 nodded to him, and he split off, the man watching him walk off to one of the tanks as he and the two Hybrids next to him made their way to the officers.
X-Ray 6 was stood next to X-Ray 1, and 6 noticed X-Ray 4 first, getting his commander's attention.
"Ah, good, you're here. It's a shitshow, command has no idea what to do, and they've decided that you're to stay with the Hybrid there until directed otherwise. X-Ray 6." The soldier came over, and X-Ray 4 watched as X-Ray 1 took his radio from him, handing it to X-Ray 4.
"Command wants to find out more about what's going on, and they want you to find out. You're probably gonna be on your own, get this radio on, and go find out if the Chimera have any idea about what to do about this massive horde that's about to knock down the doors."
He took the radio from him, attaching it to his vest, linking everything together. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Scouts outside report that Stalkers have made their way into the streets. The Goliaths can't get close, thankfully, but those Stalkers are gonna start breaching the doors soon, Command is trying to gather reinforcements together, but for now we're on our own."
He turned away, resuming a conversation with some of the officers, and X-Ray 4 turned to the Type-2. "Well, I've been handed off to you now. I hope that Angel is listening, and I hope she's got a plan, because it looks like we've got jackshit here."
She looked around, taking in the scene. The Sabertooth tanks had been moved into flanking positions, covering the entrance in the massive hanger. Several machine gun nests had been set up too, the Hybrid seeing that human and Chimeran machine guns were mixed in with each other, and there had been several deployable cover sets tossed down all around the area.
"She wants to see you." The Hybrid looked around, staring at the groups of Rangers walking around, before she spotted the one she was looking for. "The Queen wants to see that one too."
He followed where she was looking, seeing it was Sergeant Hale. He was staring at them, and when X-Ray 4 looked over at him, he took that as an invitation, making his way over to them.
He could see the Ranger looking at the three of them with suspicion, but he seemed to be able to set that aside enough to do his job.
"The Hybrid says the Queen wants to meet us, we're gonna see if she's got some plan to get us out of this situation." He looked to the Type-2 and she started walking forward, the Hardfang gesturing for them to follow.
The Type-2 took them down several hallways, the small group passing increasing amounts of Advanced Hybrids and machine gun turrets.
Sergeant Hale spoke up. "Where are we going?"
"To the heart of the tower. It's the most important part of this place, it's why there are so many defenses around."