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More came They seemed to never end, and Skyler started to hear colonists on the line reloading "Conserve a anyone could hear him He could barely hear hiun, the flow of enemies trickled and stopped The forest went silent, save for the few colonists who had the wits to reload in the lull The carnage before their wedge was absolute Skyler guessed at least forty in the dirt and leaves before them Someone off to the left hacked, then vo from within an environht help froet his helht of Skyler, let out a laugh born of adrenaline and fear
"We did it!" soratulate one another
"Shut up," Skyler hissed "Keep quiet!"
They weren’t listening, though People began to high-five, to hug
Idiots!
The black-clad subhuhost It made no sound at all, and moved with a cold ruthlessness that chilled Skyler to the bone
The ar the colonists before they even realized it It swiped at the nearest person with a flat hand, the speed of the attack a blur Skyler saw the poor man’s suit and neck tear open, as if sliced by a knife The man fell dead, the creature already on its next victim
Sounshot and he cried out for restraint The black-clad sub was in theirat it would only put their own people at risk His call went unheeded, though People panicked, firing wildly All the while the dark enemy slashed and punched In the space of a second, three more colonists fell
A bullet finally found the ene’s chest as the round ricocheted off No penetration then, but the subhuman did recoil, almost fell It seeht In that moment of respite, the colonists closest to the creature, the ones still alive, leapt or crawled away in terror They retreated toward the tower, and he felt a pang of relief to see Tania an to barrage the creature Skyler joined in, and the monster bucked and shrank under the fire Then it turned and raced back into the cloud
It’s vulnerable, Skyler found hi
Another scream arose from the crowd of colonists, a shriek of terror that stopped as abruptly as it started The noise came from the left, and Skyler spun in that direction in time to see one of the colonists topple over and a black shape recede into the cloud
"More than one!" Pablo shouted He fired blind into the cloud where the subhuman had vanished Others did the sa the cloud for cover now "They’ll pick us to pieces!" he yelled over the sporadic crackle of gunfire "Retreat to the tower, away from the cloud!"
Everyone, even Ana, fell back at the command Many turned and ran, but soe of the unnatural cloud, Skyler ainal positions, e formed, and Skyler fell into line next to Tania Her face was pale despite her dark co She held the pistol in two shaking hands
For a long uns were trained on the shrouded forest, and the bodies that lay in the shifting border of the cloud Parakeets and an to settle back into the dense canopy above, chattering as if nothing had happened
The cloud shifted and pulsed It pulled in and then pushed back out, with no rhythm that Skyler could discern At one point, the thick haze sucked inward a significant distance, enough to reveal the shadowy forms of two more red-lit aura towers off to either side of the first one they’d spotted
Skyler heard roup, and focused back on the scene of the battle In the retreated haze, two humanoid forraphs Skyler’s finger tensed on the trigger of his gun by pure instinct, but before he could shoot--before anyone could--the cloud pulsed outward again, and the beings were gone
"They’re staying close to that murk," Vanessa said
Skyler raised his own voice "Everyone reload, prepare to concentrate fire" He had started to double-check his oeapon, when Tania spoke up
"No," she said "Belay that"
He turned his head slowly until their eyes aze remained on the cloud where the two creatures had stood "It isn’t wise to continue this"
"We’re hurting thehtened She shook her head "We leave, Skyler," she said sharply "We’re outmatched by these creatures, physically and tactically We need to rethink this A better plan"
With a shift in the breeze the cloud receded again The two dark shapes at the cloud’s edge reht He had to remind himself that inside they were subhumans Unless the Builders’ altar had rewired their brains somehow, the creatures would still move and act in primal, predictable fashion Not that he’d ever seen subhu their time But if these tere constrained to the area of the cloud …
"Everyone stand down," he said A silence fell over the colonists Then Skyler raised his gun
"What are you doing?" Tania asked
In answer, Skyler lined up his holo-sight on the chest of one enele round
The creature stu about for balance The other sub dropped to a crouch, ht When the one Skyler had shot recovered, both of the augmented subhumans moved back farther into the cloud until their forht, eyeing Ana’s weapon We can beat them
"They’re stuck in the circle," someone said "Just like us in the aura"
"Leave them alone, then," Tania said "Skyler, this is too risky I won’t have it"
Skyler walked to her and leaned in close He lowered his voice "We can’t ignore this place forever, not if you want to explore that ship Not if you want those towers back"
She renored it A little more time to develop a plan and revise our arsenal can’t hurt The colony can survive without the towers"
"Can I speak with you?" Skyler asked her
He led her by the arm a short distance, until they stood by the aura tower parked at the rally point Once the colonists were out of earshot, Skyler stopped and turned Tania to face him
"The violence here," he said, "it’s unspeakable, I know But Tania, if ait it will only be worse We should press the attack, now, before more of these advanced subhumans are created"
She shook her head
Skyler went on, undeterred "You saw it recoil from that bullet They’re not invincible Plus they’re trapped Ana has grenades, we can dart in, dart out--"
"No," Tania said "No This site is off-limits for now We need a better approach To continue noould only result in more losses on our side The dead fro mourned"