The Marines quickly loaded the crates onto sturdy trolleys, rigging them securely before maneuvering them toward an access hatch. The gear clanked softly as they pushed forward, focused but still wary. Just as they neared the access hatch, a sudden, loud crash echoed from the far end of the hold. The team froze, heads snapping toward the sound. Another crate toppled, slamming into the floor with enough force to shake the deck, followed by a low, ominous rumble reverberating through the cavernous space. Large and relentless, something was moving through the hold, heading straight for them.

  Kade felt a chill settle over her as she exchanged a tense look with Lawson, the Marines already falling into defensive stances as they watched the shadows. Whatever was coming for them, it would not be friendly.

  "You four, grab a crossbow and get ready! The rest of you form a skirmish line," Briggs bellowed.

  Kade’s gaze narrowed as three hulking figures lumbered into view, their forms emerging from the shadowed depths of the hold. Each one stood at least a head taller than the rest of the Drowned they’d encountered before, their soaked, bloated skin a mottled gray-green under the faint, eerie light. Heavy makeshift clubs dangled from their hands. Massive chunks of splintered wood wrapped in rusted chains.

  As she stared, a sudden flash appeared in her vision. It was a simulation message, clear and unsettling.

  [Analyze] The Drowned Giant | Level: 2 | Status: Hostile | Class: Fighter

  [Analyze] The Drowned Giant | Level: 3 | Status: Hostile | Class: Fighter

  [Analyze] The Drowned Giant | Level: 3 | Status: Hostile | Class: Fighter

  That's not helpful, Kade though as the message’s vagueness provided no clarity about how dangerous these monsters were. She was only level one, but what was the power scale between level one and three? She looked at the soldiers around her as she tried to calculate their chances. This wasn’t just another round with a larger version of The Drowned they'd fought earlier; this was an exponential increase in size and lethality. They’d need every bit of coordination they could muster to take these creatures down.

  "Crossbowmen! Open fire!" Lawson cried.

  The Marines moved as one, stepping into firing formation without a word. Crossbows came up fast, held steady. No flourish, no wasted movement. At Lawson’s order, they loosed. The air snapped with the sound of twanging strings and flying steel. Bolts tore across the distance and punched into the lead giant’s chest in a tight cluster, burying deep.

  The Drowned Giant staggered under the impact, its torso riddled with bolts as it stumbled backward, crashing onto the floor with a heavy thud. Hope flickered through the group with a momentary success, but this was short-lived. The two remaining giants advanced, clubs raised as they closed in on the Marines’ skirmish line. Kade shifted her stance, cutlass at the ready, watching the fallen giant for a moment to see it turning over. Pulling itself up from the ground with several bolts still embedded in its chest. She couldn't linger on the fallen giant as the two monsters still advancing demanded her full attention.

  "Brace!" called Briggs

  The two Drowned Giants barreled into the Marines’ line like a battering ram, their massive clubs swinging with brutal force. Kade felt the air ripple as one giant brought its club down in a wide, sweeping arc, striking several Marines in its path. The impact sent them flying, bodies flung backward in a tangle of limbs, their weapons clattering across the hold’s metal floor. Dazed, a few Marines struggled to push themselves back up, while others scrambled to reform the line.

  "Regroup! Regroup!" Lawson shouted.

  His presence seemed to snap the team into focus, and the Marines moved quickly to reposition, reforming their ranks in a semi-circle around the giants. Those closest to the creatures gritted their teeth, bracing themselves for the giants’ next swing, while those on the outer edges adjusted their stance, ready to close in and support.

  Kade took in the scene, looking for where she could join the fray. Despite the disruption, the team adapted quickly, turning a disordered melee into a structured defense. But even with their numbers, only a few Marines could engage the giants directly at a time; the space was tight, and the giants’ reach forced them to keep their distance. She noted Briggs signaling to the two crossbowmen to find an opening, their bolts drawn and ready as they waited for a clear shot.

  A pained shout broke her concentration. A Marine near the edge of the line had collapsed, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle. His face was pale and drawn, his breathing ragged as he tried to pull himself out of harm’s way.

  "Medic!"

  A corpsman darted forward, moving with lightning speed as he reached the injured Marine and pulled him back from the front line. Kade’s gaze followed them, noting the smoothness of the extraction; the corpsman’s actions were entirely professional, his focus entirely on getting his comrade to safety.

  The giants pressed forward, undeterred by the regrouped Marines. Another massive club swung down, narrowly missing one Marine, who ducked and rolled out of the way just in time.

  "Stay tight! They may be big, but we've got them on the ropes!" Lawson hollered.

  A new, ominous sound caught Kade’s attention as the Marines tightened their ranks once more. Behind the line, the third Drowned Giant loomed, dragging itself back into the fray. Kade’s heart pounded as she took in the sight. The battered creature, with bolts still embedded in its torso, relentlessly joined its counterparts, moving with surprising determination.

  Kade positioned herself in its path, taking in its size and the crude, oversized club clutched in its hand. Her surroundings blurred in her peripheral vision. She was aware of the other Marines locked in fierce combat with the other two giants, but her focus was on the monster bearing down on her. She had to trust the Marines to handle their fights while she tried to keep the last giant from turning the tide of the battle. While she was the only person engaging the giant directly, she wasn't alone as the crossbowmen had seen her plight and shifted to supporting her.

  The giant’s dark, glassy eyes fixed on her, and its mouth twisted in a grimace that sent a wave of decay-laden air across the hold. It raised its club high, the muscles in its thick arm rippling with inhuman strength, and brought it down in a brutal swing. Kade dodged to the side, barely evading the club’s massive head as it crashed into the floor, rattling the hold like a miniature earthquake.

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  But the giant’s follow-through was unforgiving. Before she could fully recover, the creature swung its arm back up in a sudden backswing, and the brute's fist caught her squarely in the ribs, a searing pain shooting through her side as the force of the blow knocked her sideways. She stumbled, struggling to keep her balance as pain radiated through her torso.

  Gritting her teeth, Kade forced herself to ignore the pain. The agony in her ribs threatened to overwhelm her, but she knew that hesitation meant death. She felt her grip tighten reflexively on her cutlass, the pain receding just enough to give her a clear, fierce directive. Keep moving. Eyes narrowing, she pushed forward, using the momentum to position herself alongside the giant’s extended arm.

  With a swift chopping motion, she swung her cutlass down, catching the giant’s arm just below the elbow. Her blade bit deep, slicing through sinew and bone until the arm gave way completely. The severed limb fell to the floor with a heavy thud, the giant’s club clattering uselessly beside it. A roar of pain and fury escaped the creature’s mouth, echoing across the hold as it staggered back, clutching its stump of an arm.

  Black blood sprayed from the severed joint in thick pulses, coating the floor and splattering the walls in greasy arcs. The giant thrashed in a wide, clumsy circle, its remaining arm flailing with brute force, smashing into crates and hammering the bulkheads with enough impact to ring the entire ship like a gong. Kade stayed low and mobile, cutting angles around the chaos, keeping just ahead of each wild swing. Splintered wood exploded around her as the giant barreled through the cargo hold like a wounded battering ram, blind to everything but pain. One misstep and she’d be pulp against a bulkhead.

  Then several crossbow bolts hurtled through the air, striking the giant with brutal accuracy. One bolt caught Kade’s attention. A single, well-aimed projectile that struck the creature’s open mouth. Either by design or by luck, the bolt drove upward, piercing through the roof of its mouth and into its brain, silencing its roar mid-scream. The giant’s body spasmed, a final, violent twitch, before collapsing to the deck in a heavy, lifeless heap.

  The two remaining Drowned Giants hesitated, their swings losing rhythm as they turned toward the corpse at Kade’s feet. She caught the shift immediately as their posture slackened and attacks turning ragged. Whether it was rage or fear driving them, she couldn’t tell, but it cracked their momentum. Across the hold, the Marines saw it too and moved fast, pressing into the opening without waiting for orders.

  Lawson’s team was already moving in tight formation, closing around the giant they had engaged with strategic focus. His commands were sharp, cutting through the noise with clarity as he directed his Marines to target the creature’s legs. Kade watched as one Marine swept low, his weapon driving into the giant’s knee, followed closely by another, who struck at the ankle. The creature bellowed, its balance wavering, unable to retaliate as the Marines struck at its foundation, destabilizing it from below. In moments, the creature toppled forward, a final blow to its skull, putting it down for good.

  She noted that Lawson’s leadership was tactical, strategic. He calculated each move, keeping his Marines safe from the giant while dismantling it piece by piece. In true Marine fashion, he appeared quick to adapt, reading the giant’s weakening stance and shifting his Marines accordingly. Kade felt a flicker of admiration for the way he managed his team; his approach was methodical, almost surgical in its brutality.

  On the opposite side of the combat zone, Briggs’s group took a very different approach. His commands were fewer but laced with an intensity that matched his fierce, direct style. With a swift motion of his hand, he signaled one Marine forward, who lunged with a pike, driving it hard into the giant’s gut. The blow was powerful, puncturing the creature’s abdomen and driving it back a step. As the Marine withdrew the weapon, the hook at the tip of the pike eviscerated the giant.

  Briggs’s team pushed in with relentless force, following the pike strike with an onslaught of heavy blows. Kade could see Briggs himself leading the charge, his strikes decisive and unyielding, each one landing with the full weight of his hand-to-hand experience and raw power.

  Briggs, she mused, was a brutal, direct-action fighter. There was a particular ferocity to his leadership style that commanded respect. Where Lawson was calculating, Briggs was a raw force, a hammer to Lawson’s scalpel. Both were effective and brutal in their own ways. Driven by sheer determination and a commitment to get the job done, no matter the cost.

  The last of the giants finally crumpled to the ground under the combined weight of the Marines’ assault, its twisted form sprawled motionless on the deck. The Marines stepped back, weapons lowered, scanning for other threats in the fight's aftermath.

  Kade clutched her side while she focused on shallow breaths. She'd have the medic look her over in a minute, but it was clear that there were other members of the boarding party that needed immediate medical attention. Trying not to focus on the pain, Kade instead tried to distract herself by reviewing their current situation.

  Scanning the hold, she quickly found the crates they’d been moving before the giants attacked. The chaos of the melee had toppled the crates, scattering splintered wood, shattered bolts, and damaged crossbows across the floor. Several of the crossbows they’d hoped to recover lay in ruins, crushed beneath the giants’ massive feet during the struggle.

  She grimaced at the sight. It was a cruel reminder of the cost of the fight, not just in bruises and blood, but in resources. Even in victory, there was a price to pay. While people always came first, but without supplies, the cost that needed to be paid in blood increased exponentially.

  Kade lowered herself onto a crate, finally allowing herself a moment to breathe. The sharp ache in her side pulsed with each inhale, and she pressed her hand against her ribs, wincing as a spike of pain shot through her body. The surrounding hold was calm, with only the occasional clatter of supplies being packed up by the Marines.

  The medic approached, crouching down beside her. "Heard you took a hit, Lieutenant. Where’s the pain?"

  She waved him off lightly, nodding toward the Marines. "I’m fine. See that the others are taken care of first."

  "Already done. You’re the last one."

  Without waiting for further argument, he began his examination, his hands pressing gently against her ribs. She gritted her teeth as he worked, the touch sending a stinging pain through her chest. After a quick assessment, he leaned back, giving her a look of calm professionalism.

  "Looks like bruised ribs. Pain's going to suck for a few days, but no breaks. They’ll need wrapping once we’re back on the Horizon Talon," he explained.

  "I'll take bruised over broken any day." She said.

  "It's nothing that’ll slow you down too long, but take it easy for now"

  "Can’t make any promises, but I’ll do my best." Kade replied.

  Lawson approached as the medic finished, his expression unreadable for a moment before his gaze softened slightly. "Saw you get hit," he said. "Thought for a moment we might’ve lost you."

  He hesitated, then added, "Glad you’re still with us."

  "Takes more than one overgrown, waterlogged monster to get rid of me," Kade said.

  Lawson cracked a smile before changing the subject. "Supplies are ready to hoist up, Lieutenant."

  "We'll check the other hold, and then pull up all the supplies at once," Kade replied. "Let's wrap this up quickly. I'd like to get off of this god forsaken ship as soon as possible."

  "Can't argue with you on that," Lawson replied.

  Kade pushed herself up from the crate, masking the sting in her side as she steadied herself. She cast a quick look around the hold, noting the remnants of their earlier battle. The fallen giants, shattered crates, and scattered crossbow bolts. Several crossbows lay broken amidst the chaos, their usefulness destroyed in the struggle. It wasn’t a total loss, but the scene was a stark reminder of the cost of their mission.

  With a last glance at the hold, she followed Lawson and the Marines as they made their way out, leaving the dark, battle-worn space behind.

  Crew of the Talon this is Lieutenant Kade.

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