7 Corporation Dilemma 2

We clambered upon the vents of the shuttle-stadium-size ship. The captain led the way as we crawl through the air vents. I was armed to brim with satchel explosives and C4 that can tear the whole ship apart if used wrongly. Captain only carried weapons and she had multiple packs on her.

I was relying on her as protection while she blasts anyone or anything that might try to murder us while we breach the middle sector of this ship The air vents that we are trekking are quite large. The vents are six feet high and have a width of three.

It was like a tunnel itself if you disregard the giant fans that might suddenly activate and splatter us. Even if magnet-embedded boots the force that these fans produce could tear our skin apart. I am wearing medium power armor and an exoskeleton for workers and repairmen. It's a makeshift power armor built out of hurry. It didn't have any proper life support systems but it'll do the job of heavy lifting.

All the vents were the same-looking except for the control panels that we usually had to stop on so that we can disable the fans. So far we've disabled forty-three control panels. By the time we reach our destination then we should be able to jump directly into the control room where we can seal the middle sector.

We entered another vent. There were scratches on the room and blue blood was all over the wall as well. I couldn't smell anything because of the mask the helmet that I was wearing. But I could see traces of the arachnid-type aliens that probably tried to crawl through vents.

"Captain, should we really continue on?" I said.

"Yes," she answered. "By the contract, we need to capture the control room. If we can do that then sealing the sector and isolating the rest of the sector with air and throwing anything that isn't human will be easy."

"What if there are people out there?" I asked.

"We'll do what we can if they are alive. But the middle sector has been abandoned for quite a time. The people around that node have made that place their homes. Have you noticed how organized they are?"

"I did," I agreed.

The sector where Stan and his goons are was quite isolated. There were guards and machine drones that patrolled the area. Each possible hallways were sealed tight and not even overriding the controls could take apart those welded doors. There were also biome farms and I could tell from the air that the air filtration system was working. The water pipes of the sector were also intact and clean.

Captain said, "They were close to the cargo bays. I didn't see any ship so it means that the pods and ships were either taken. Communications are also dead around the area."

There was no radio presence and there was only silence. We could not contact them since apparently, their communicators suffered EMP. The relays of the stadium-size ship were non-functional. Captain used the butt of her laser rifle to smash the panel open. She extended her hand as I throw the override controls. She slammed the panel closed and gestured with her chin. I approached the panel and started to configure the timer.

The configuration was done. I smelled blood coming from one of the grates. I kneeled and peeked. There were alien spiders dragging a man and a woman. The man had half of his skull eaten. The woman's head was missing and her torso open, some of her guts were still hanging.

"Looks like unlucky ones?" I whispered. Captain took a glance at the victims before gesturing me to fall in. We continued exploring the air vents until we were able to attach all override controls and explosives. Once that's done we could seal the middle sector, completely depriving of it anything. The people that might have survived will die at the same time.

I think it is as sad. But if you weight which one's the biggest the answer is quite simple. Sentiments and empathy are good but thinking with your heart can be really bad. There are times you must follow your heart but there are times you have to use your brain and weigh the options.

"Nothing we can for them, at least we'll avenge them," Captain looked away from them and double-checked her laser rifles. She flicks the switch of her laser rifle and tore open the metal trapdoor. The metal trapdoor landed heavily on the ground, creating noise.

The captain jumped and I followed her. We planted our foot on the floor. Our boots made splashing sound as we stepped on the pool of blood. We stacked up near the door. I tapped the door's handle and started to clear the hallway. Not seeing anything other than the trail of blood I called that it was clear.

Captain followed and started to lead me through a series of hallways. Along the way, we met the alien freaks that we somehow were able to kill faster than we expected. There were no aliens that I could see. It was quiet and the temperature was slightly cool.

We took the chance to move into the control room where we started to seal all the airlocks of the door. There was an oxygen filter so I grabbed both and handed it to Captain. She took the filter and equipped on her breathing mask. I punched in the code that was needed. The small screen showed warnings. I bypassed the firewall and fully transferred the admin rights to the Captain.

"This should do it!" she smashed the panel and fried the buttons. They were all melted and I couldn't recognize them anymore. Captain then gestured to follow her. We walked to the designated point and Captain pressed the detonator. An explosion sounded out everywhere. There was shaking and I could feel the temperature rising. My oxygen mask also started to consume air.

"Let's go!" Captain thundered as we sprinted across the middle sector. I could hear the arachnid type aliens coming after us.

...

The hallways turned red because of the alarm. The sound of critter's legs sounded out along with the exoskeleton making hydraulic sounds as it forces into its limits. There were sloppy and squishy sounds as our boots touch the floor. Captain's back was just in front of me. She was sprinting as fast as she can. She was swinging her arms as we race through the hallways.

The map on top the upper left of my vision showed that we are on the east wing of the sector. We needed to reach the west wing but to do that we have to puncture our way through the enemy lines. Captain didn't hesitate so we immediately sprinted through the area while trying to kill anything that jumps at us.

While running we had to bring down the arachnids. The red color that tinted the hallway would blink. The arachnid type aliens would use that chance to pounce on us. Luckily, the power armor that was hastily made for and the sensors allowed us to pound them down.

Run and gun was our style. We continued racing until we reached a heavy door. It was shut tight and to open it I had to rewire the heavy door. We have access codes but that it didn't do much when the wirings are fried. I opened the panel, the cables were fired.

"Cover me!" I snapped.

Captain started firing at me. There was no time to worry about the Captain so I ripped the cables. There was not enough cable so I disabled the wirings of some of my plasma bombs and welded the wires together with a solder. The soldering took me minutes. The wiring took longer but luckily the Captain had the firepower to cover me while I do the task.

There are two types of firing mode for a laser rifle. The first one is basically shooting lasing beams. The second mode of the rifle allows it to act like a searing sword to cut anything. The Captain prefers the second mode since she can just slice through the enemies with it. The second most cost a lot of packs but the Captain has a lot of them at that moment.

The door made clanking sounds. The hydraulic started making noise as air escapes from the heavy door. I took a step back and drew my laser rifle. The door slowly opened. Behind the door was a rather clean area, vastly difficult from the blood tainted halls.

"Come on!" I patted the shoulder of the Captain. We retreated to the next area while keeping the alien horde back. My laser rifle was heating up and I had to tap the cooling system to make it function. Captain crouched and started to cover me. I swoop to where the control panel was and started reconfiguring the panel.

"Watch out!"

I tried to see but I was grabbed and thrown away by something.

...

If it weren't for the power armor my spine would have been broken. My vision was blurred. It took me a while to look at the battle before me. Captain was fighting a behemoth class arachnid. The arachnid had six tendrils and most of them were trying to grab the Captain.

System's failure was being shown on my helmet. I tapped the controls of my exoskeleton suit and bypassed the security controls. The screen showed various details before it allowed me to control the suit and ram the beast away.

Captain jumped back. She pitched a grenade above the head of the thing. She then shot it with finesse. The grenade exploded, it made the creature retreat. Captain retreated a few steps back. A tendril shot towards the Captain. She noticed it and blasted it off with her laser rifle.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Suit took most of the damage. I had to shut the safety protocols to make it work."

"Don't try to get mangled by your own suit."

"I'll try."

Safety protocols usually keep the body intact. Without it, the body would get too much strain and the possibility of ripping a muscle or breaking a bone gets higher. I didn't have to think about it though. The enemy was still advancing and Captain was keeping it busy. The shell of the arachnid was tough. It glowed with blue and green colors as it tries to kill the Captain.

Captain was evading most of the attacks. She was so masterful in using the power armor. She would shoot her laser rifle. She amputated the alien freak with her laser rifle. She was bringing the alien down. I supported her by firing at her blind spots which the enemy tries to take advantage.

The beast screeched made me shiver. Captain however only lost balance once as she immediately stood and countered the enemy. She ran at the enemy and dropped kick the limb of the Arachnid, the beast tried to squash Captain but I didn't let the best do what it pleases.

Captain rolled sideways and threw a grenade at the bottom of the monster. The alien freak squiggled and scuttled but the beast's bottom exploded, its shell broke off. Captain and I noticed the soft flesh of the alien freak. I took out a plasma satchel and threw it to Captain.

Captain took the satchel and slid under the alien freak. I shot the freak in the head. It retreated back while Captain crawled away from the best. A timer appeared on my vision. Captain thundered, "RUN LIKE HELL!"

That was a clear enough order. I disengaged and slammed the panel of the door while the alien freak scurried back. Captain was already ahead of me as we sprinted. The timer turned to zero and the searing heat behind me was boiling my back.

I looked back. There was a raging fire coming from behind us.

"Dive down the shaft!"

Captain snapped as she dives into the shaft. I swoop towards the shaft and dived as well. I thought that it would be a smooth landing but I saw Captain falling towards the darkness.