Resistance: Chimeran Allies Ch. 06

It was the same Titan that had aided them earlier, and it was turned away from them, firing its massive weapon down the hall at an unseen target. It was at the first machine gun defense they'd passed earlier, the Advanced Hybrids manning it also firing down the hall. The target soon came into view, and X-Ray 4 saw it was an Angel.

It flew towards the Titan, intending to slam into it, but the Titan brought its weapon up, using it as a shield. The Angel was flying too fast to stop, and the hall was too narrow for it to dodge, so it was left with only one option, slamming face first into the weapon.

It tried to fight the Titan, but it was no match for the creature's strength, X-Ray 4 watching as the Angel struggled against the Titan's grip, helpless as the Hybrids nearby rained bullets into it.

The Rangers had made it past the first defense line, but were still a ways away from the door, and some Advanced Hybrids ran out to them, covering them. One of them pointed past the Titan, and X-Ray 4 saw 2 more Angels approaching.

"Take them out now!" X-Ray 1 raised his rifle, firing at them, X-Ray 4 doing the same, but they were moving too erratically, and their skin was tough enough to shrug off the few bullets that did hit them.

The Titan noticed the Angels coming, but the Angel it was fighting was still latched on to her, holding her in place. The Titan shoved herself back, knocking one of the Angels to the ground, but the other one made it past, heading towards the Rangers.

They were all shooting at the creature, X-Ray 4 seeing the Chimeran machine guns spit bullets out at the Angel but it kept coming, and he cursed as one of the Rangers was hit by a poison needle, the man dropping to his knees, weakly raising his rifle as he shot a grenade off, one of the Angel's tentacles getting blown off.

It roared in pain, but it then turned to another Ranger who was firing at it, the man staggering away as he unloaded his Carbine into the creature.

An Advanced Hybrid close to him sprang into action, jumping on top of him and sending him to the ground, the needle flying towards him narrowly missing. The other Hybrids were doing the same, pressing close to the Rangers, keeping them away from the Angel.

The Angel that had gotten knocked down by the Titan had made it back into the air, and X-Ray 4 watched as it flew towards them, knocking down all the Hybrids in its path. He tried to duck down, but the Angel hit him with a tentacle, the man yelling as he flew away from the door, his rifle landing several feet away from him.

He landed on his back, gritting his teeth as he looked up, seeing the Angel right in front of him. His eyes widened, but the Angel had no time to do anything, as a group of poison needles embedded into its side, the creature roaring as it turned to the rogue Angel that was quickly making her way towards it.

The rogue Angel slammed into its enemy, knocking it to the ground and sending more needles into its body.

It landed just a few feet away from him, and he pulled out his pistol, bringing himself to his feet as he put bullets into it, but the pistol rounds had little affect on the massive creature. He turned around and made for his rifle, swiftly picking it up from the ground, swinging it back around, only to see the Hardfang jump on it.

The Hardfang let out a horrifying roar, digging her left hand into the creature's neck, but the creature swung one of its tentacles at the Hardfang, knocking her off. It then tried to get back to its feet, propping itself up, and X-Ray 4 aimed for its legs, the large rounds of his sniper rifle tearing through the thin appendages.

Its front legs got taken out and it collapsed to the ground, the Hardfang taking advantage of the situation, getting back up and jamming her Arc Charger right up against the Angel's face. Its mouth opened, preparing to bite the Hardfang, but the Hardfang reacted faster, pulling the trigger.

It spasmed, X-Ray 4 seeing all of its muscles tense for a few seconds, the creature letting out a choked roar before it slumped, its eyes closing.

The rogue Angel had gone through the open doorway in the short time they'd been fighting the Angel, and they quickly made their way back up there, seeing the two enemy Angels had been killed, and the rogue Angel was wrapping her tentacles around the startled Rangers, lifting them off their feet, carrying them back through the doorway.

He noticed that there were only two now, and he looked back where they had been, seeing several Advanced Hybrids had been pierced by needles, the Ranger they had died trying to protect also lying motionless under them.

"Shit! We lost two of them. Do you guys still have enough explosives to blow this thing?" X-Ray 1 turned to the two shaken Rangers who had been set down.

"Y-Ya..." He turned to take in the device at the center of the room. "Ya, we can take it out, so long as those shields protecting the rods are lowered when they're activated. We'll uh... We'll need that... uh..." He gestured to the Angel hovering near them. "We'll need that to get us up there."

Carbine fire could be heard coming from the hallway, and X-Ray 1 turned towards it. "Get it done, now!" He reached to his radio. "All units, the generator is being rigged up now, keep heading South out of the tower!"

A radio reply came through. "This is 2nd squad of A Company, we are heading towards you! We have a ton of Chimera right behind us and need assistance!" The man on the radio was breathing heavily, gunfire heard coming through the radio, the same gunfire that could be heard echoing down the hallway.

"Keep heading towards us! Be careful, you will be turning right into a killzone!" He let go of his radio, addressing his squad. "The forward defenses can help them, we're staying here."

The group nodded, but X-Ray 4 could tell they did want to go, and he did too, but he knew they were too far away, and there was nothing they could do to help.

The gunfire grew louder, and X-Ray 4 aimed his rifle down the hall, his scope allowing him to see the Hybrids at the forward defenses aiming their weapons down the hallway, and soon the Ranger squad came into view.

One of the Rangers turned around, firing his Carbine down the hallway at unseen enemies, yelling something to one of his comrades, the group too far away to be in earshot.

X-Ray 4 watched him throw something down the hallway, and he realized it was an air fuel grenade when he could see the hallway start filling with fumes. The Rangers were running even faster now, and they made it to the machine gun defenses just as the first enemy Hybrid rounded the corner, only to be engulfed in flames and bullets.

Countless pained roars travelled down the hallway towards them, and X-Ray 4 watched the Rangers breathe heavily as they slumped to the ground.

"Stay at that position, pull back when you run low on ammo." X-Ray 1 let go of the radio and turned around to look at the two Rangers behind them setting up their demolitions equipment, the two men taking items off each other's packs.

"X-Ray 4, is that Angel dead?"

X-Ray 4 turned to look at the Angel behind them, seeing it still in the same spot as before. "It should be, the Hardfang fried its brain." He wondered why he had asked the question, but then he saw the Angel shift a bit. "What the hell..."

One of its legs moved to the side and then they saw why it was moving.

"It's a fucking Slipskull! Take it down!"

The creature turned to look at them, and then with inhuman speed it dashed away from the Angel, heading towards the two Rangers who had turned around, hearing the call out. They were caught off guard, equipment in their hands, their eyes widening as they hurried to drop their items.

The 2 members of X-Ray squad raised their weapons, firing at the creature, but it was moving too erratically, their shots going wide. Thankfully the Hardfang was in between the Slipskull and the Rangers, aiming her weapon at the Slipskull.

She fired, but the arc missed, the creature dodging it, unsheathing the two Reaper Carbines attached to its wrists on mounts. It fired at the Hardfang, the creature staggering as the rounds hit its armor, falling onto the human behind her.

The only one left close to the two Rangers was the Angel, the creature having just now turned around, distracted by an Advanced Hybrid who was interacting with the controls for the reactor. The Angel looked at the Slipskull, raising one of its tentacles, preparing to throw poison needles at it, but the Slipskull fired at the Angel, making her recoil as the rounds impacted her.

It was still moving all the while, heading towards the one Ranger who now had no one protecting him. He had just gotten his pistol out, firing at the Slipskull. He managed to get two rounds off, one impacting the Slipskull in the shoulder, but it was too close now.

It swung its Carbine at the man, knocking his pistol out of his hands, then it grabbed him and spun him around, jamming its left hand against the Ranger's chin, the Carbine pointed right against his skull, the other hand pointing its Carbine at the other units around the hanger.

The Hardfang had gotten to her feet now, aiming her weapon at the Slipskull, but it was using the Ranger as a shield now, keeping its Carbine pointed at her as it let out a low growl. The Hardfang moved closer, but the Slipskull pointed its other Carbine against the Ranger, the man's eyes wide as he stood still, not daring to wrestle with the creature.

"God damn it. 4, do you have a shot?" X-Ray 1 was moving down the stairs now, keeping his rifle trained on the Slipskull, the Type-2 also following X-Ray 1, while X-Ray 4 stayed on the stairs.

"No, sir, thing's too small." The Slipskull was holding the Ranger tight against him, only showing just enough of its head to see, and its arms were directly in front of the Ranger, if he were to shoot its arms the round would overpenetrate, hitting him too.

"Why the fuck is the damn thing holding him hostage? Little bastards have never done anything like that before." X-Ray 1 was at the base of the stairs now, still aiming at the Slipskull, but a low growl had him turning around, aiming his weapon at the fallen Angel, which was now beginning to stir.

"Christ! The fucker's still alive!" He staggered away, keeping his rifle trained on it, but the Angel appeared to be dazed, its eyes half open as it slowly turned its head to look at the soldier.

X-Ray 4 watched the Angel and then he looked back at the Slipskull, seeing it poking its head out a bit further, looking at the Angel. It looked around, taking in the situation, slowly taking a step forward, pushing the Ranger along, but the Hardfang let out a guttural growl, taking a step closer to them.

The Slipskull growled back at the Hardfang, but it stayed where it was, but it was still looking at the Angel lying on the ground.

His attention then turned to the rogue Angel, who he saw was now flying over to the Angel lying on the ground. There were countless other Hybrids who had their rifles turned on the Slipskull so he felt safe walking down to the Type-2, asking her what the Angel was doing.

"She's trying to negotiate with it, get it to turn to our side. That Slipskull is under this Angel's control, if we can turn her we can save that human." The Type-2 still had her weapon aimed at the Angel, but she seemed a bit more relaxed than she perhaps she should have been.

"What's to stop this one from refusing just like the other ones did?"

"Look at her, she's disoriented, weak. That Arc Charger did something to her, the Queen says she doesn't seem to remember a lot of stuff. If she's forgotten her programming then she'll be much easier to sway."

X-Ray 4 looked back over to the Slipskull, seeing it had pulled itself into a corner, the Hardfang and several other Advanced Hybrids flanking it. "Why didn't that one just kill the Rangers when it had the chance?"

The Type-2 turned to glance at the Slipskull before turning to look at the fallen Angel again. "The Queen says that one is... different... She thinks this Angel gave him more freedom to do things than a typical Hybrid... Wait... She's asking for the Ranger to be let go..." They turned around, looking at the Slipskull, and he seemed to recoil as if he had been hit by something. He stared at the Hybrids surrounding it, then at them and the Angel.

The fallen Angel turned to look at him, and they stared for several seconds before the Slipskull's face seemed to fall, and his arms lowered a bit, the Ranger looking down as the Slipskull's hand lowered.

It hesitantly looked around for a few seconds longer before it relented, sheathing its Carbines and letting go of the Ranger. He stood there for a second, breathing heavily before his instincts kicked in, and X-Ray 4 watched the Ranger dive away from the Slipskull, a Hybrid grabbing him and pulling him away.

The Hardfang and several other Advanced Hybrids advanced on the Slipskull, the Hardfang standing directly in front of the Slipskull, towering over the smaller Hybrid, pushing its Arc Charger right up against the Slipskull. The Hardfang looked away from the Slipskull, back towards the two Angels, seeing what the outcome would be.

The wounded Angel was looking around the area, taking in all the creatures looking at them. It surprised X-Ray 4, considering the Angel had been trying to kill him just a little bit ago, but then again, who knew what could have happened to it when the Hardfang electrocuted it.

It looked up to the rogue Angel hovering just in front of it, and it gave a low, drawn out growl, and X-Ray 4 watched, keeping his rifle trained on it as it slowly stood up, beginning to lift into the air.

Though the Type-2 quickly came up to him, putting a hand on the barrel of his rifle. "It's ok. She's decided to join our side."

X-Ray 4 spared the Type-2 a glance before he turned around, looking at the Slipskull.

The Hardfang had lowered her weapon, taking a step back from the creature, though she was still watching him. The Slipskull had visibly relaxed now, no longer in immediate danger of being fried, though X-Ray 4 could tell that the creature was still on edge, sparing glances at the other Hybrids standing near him.

"Ok... If the thing's on our side, put her to work I guess. We are running out of time." X-Ray 1 turned to look at the two Rangers, who had now returned back to their equipment, though they were still glancing at the Slipskull behind them.

"Do you two have everything you need?" X-Ray 1 made his way over to the two Rangers.

"Ya, we should be ready. Just gotta get up there." The Ranger was rigging explosives up, priming them and putting them in his pockets, sparing a glance at the reactor.

It was settled in the center of the room, the pathway they were on circling around the entire device, though there was a significant gap between the edge of the pathway and the reactor, a large metal barrier the only thing protecting people from a long fall to the bottom of the tower, no doubt a protective measure.

"Ok, good. Those Angels are gonna be carting you around up there, get it done." His attention then turned to his radio, the Ranger squad down the hall calling them.

"We've got hostiles inbound! We'll hold 'em as long as we can, but we're low on ammo!"

"Shit!" X-Ray 1 waved for everyone to move forward. "Let's give those guys the time they need to get their work done, move!" He ran back through the doorway, taking up position with the Hybrids that were manning the machine guns just outside the door.

Gunfire started to echo down the hall, and X-Ray 4 lifted up his rifle, looking down the scope to see multiple enemy Hybrids being gunned down by the defenses further ahead.

There were countless Hybrids approaching around the bend further ahead, but with no cover they were helpless against the mounted machine guns and rifles of the defenders. Still, they kept coming, X-Ray 4 taking carefully aimed shots to take out a Steelhead that was directing some Hybrids.

He heard a commotion behind him, and he turned around just in time to see the two demolition Rangers getting picked up by the Angels, a tentacle wrapping around each of them, hoisting them off the ground as they desperately held onto them, eventually letting go as the Angels brought them up to the reactor, the two men steeling themselves as they started pulling explosives out of their pockets, setting them onto the device.

There were several Hybrids also looking around nervously, waiting for the time when they were needed. He glanced at the Hardfang, seeing that she seemed to be eager to get into the fight, but her weapon was useless past a few meters, so she was relegated to protecting the two Rangers. The Slipskull was standing close by too, his weapons also not useful at long range.

He turned back around, seeing that the amount of bodies were piling up past the forward defenses, and the enemy Hybrids were using their fallen comrades as cover, now firing back at the defenses. The Titan was doing her best, firing into the horde, sending several Chimera flying with every blast from the high explosive rounds, but new Hybrids would fill the spot every time.

It seemed like the Chimera were focusing a significant portion of their strength on the tower reactor room, and that was confirmed when a radio message came through.

"Tower is almost clear! We are making our way away from the tower, encountering little enemy resistance!"

X-Ray 4 nodded, still taking potshots at the enemy Hybrids, but then he saw something worse appear down the hall, a Stalker.

X-Ray 1 reached up to his radio. "Pull back! Pull back now!"

The forces at the forward position retreated, X-Ray 4 seeing one of the men pulling another air fuel grenade out, tossing it behind them. The Titan was covering their retreat, stunning the Stalker, preventing it from firing, and exploding any Hybrids near it.

Several Hybrids charged forward, but they were too slow to get out of the radius of the air fuel grenade, X-Ray 4 seeing them drop their weapons, flailing around as their skin blackened from the flames, the creatures dying within seconds, the soldiers able to hear their pained roars echoing down the hall.

There had to have been 50 Hybrids that had been taken out by the air fuel grenade, the Stalker had not been affected by it though, and it pushed forward, firing AA rounds into the hide of the Titan. She roared, sending another round at the Stalker before turning around, following the retreating soldiers making their way to the last defense point.

X-Ray 4 was still firing down the hall, taking careful aim so as not to hit any allies, jolting when a heavy hand set down on him, and he looked up as he was pushed out of the way, seeing a Steelhead level its Auger at the Stalker.

The Titan noticed the Steelhead and moved off to the side, the Steelhead sending several radiation rounds towards the Stalker. It fired down the hall, X-Ray 4 grimacing as he watched a few of the retreating soldiers get gunned down, several Hybrids and a few of the now smaller squad of Rangers, the men now close enough that X-Ray 4 could see that one of them was Osborne.

The Steelhead's rounds hit the Stalker, phasing through the hull, the Stalker slumping to the ground as its crew were fried, X-Ray 4 firing at a Hybrid climbing onto the vehicle to man it.

"Come on, get over here!"

The soldiers from the forward position had now made it to cover, eagerly ducking down, X-Ray 4 glancing over them, then turning as he heard the thundering sounds of the Titan, watching her step over one of the machine guns, the Hybrids manning it ducking down.

"What the hell happened up there, troopers?"

X-Ray 4 looked back, seeing X-Ray 1 addressing the Rangers now taking cover near them.