TRIAL BY FIRE

The soldiers carrying the R.A.T hastened through the narrow corridors, closely
pursued
by the sound of the savage and bloodthirsty swarm behind them. Unwilling to flee,
these brave men continued fighting back until commander Bellisar ordered otherwise.

Taking turns covering each other and heading for the exit, Alpha and Bravo squads
slowly
advanced towards their designated exit point. The swarm was hot on their trail.

The gate to the elevator slammed shut behind them with only a couple of seconds to
spare.
Only the comforting strength of a three feet thick bulkhead separated the soldiers
from
their foe. No matter how sharp and powerful their claws were, it would only take a
couple
of seconds before the elevator was activated and the squad was out of harms way for
the moment.

Transported to an isolated server storage, 10 stories further down in the ship,

they took
some additional time to connect the R.A.T. to the internal communications system,
and to a hub
connecting with Commander Bellisar. In the time it would take to analyze the
R.A.T. data banks,
Commander Bellisar gave the squads a more urgent task requiring their attention.

Delta squad had uncovered a couple of field technicians lying dead not far from
their
current position. How they had come on board, and for how long they had been there
was unknown.
The dead bodies had to be destroyed to stop them from mutating further.

The heating regulators located nearby were the second objective. If they could be
destroyed,
the temperature in the nearby levels would drop to minus fifty degrees. Even though
this would
not affect the full-grown of the swarm, it was possible that all eggs and fetus
would succumb
under the cold climate. The idea of limiting the enemy numbers felt prospecting.

Although the SR-X Flamer had suffered some minor damage in the previous encounters,

it was still fully functional. Bravo squad was also equipped with that deadly
weapon.
The remaining soldiers, fatigued from their recent escape, reprogrammed their
S.P.A.R.T.A.N.
armor to increase the adrenaline dosage, and entered the coordinates of their new
targets in the navigation systems.
.