Riven threw himself into the mass of clicking mandibles and scythe-arms. He had no other choice. Behind him was a dead end with a chained god. Ahead lay safety, buried behind a wall of stinking chitin.

  And by the Resonance, he wasn’t going to let that stop him from reaching Astrix. He had to get back so they could exfil Vex.

  A warrior lunged at him, and Riven smoothly dodged and thrust his Lance directly into the joint severing the scythe arm. Riven caught the newly severed joint and swung it at a small scout that jumped towards him, severing it neatly in half.

  Riven twisted the Lance, turning it into Rifle mode and blasting another Warrior at point blank range that was swinging at him. Riven rolled under the swing and into the crowd of bugs.

  Which was a better idea in theory than it was in practice.

  Riven shifted back to Lance mode and stabbed cleaning through another face of a ravager but felt a stinging pain erupt against his back as a Warrior hit it full force with his claw.

  Riven stumbled forward and hugged the Warrior that he had just killed before he threw it down and into the way of the first line of bugs he had passed. Another scout jumped at him and he flicked his wrist with the Warrior claw, batting it away but at the same time losing a hold of the bug claw.

  The suit wasn’t damaged. At least he thought. But he didn’t have the time nor energy to check it.

  The melee devolved into a brutal, sloppy dance as Riven pushed through the seemingly endless mass towards the stairwell door. He rolled between legs, shot targets at close range, stabbed anything within reach. But the blows kept landing and his DAIR suit could only take so much.

  These warriors and scouts at least seemed premature, small enough to fit in human sized spaced. A small victory if anything. But the sheer mass and number negated any advantage he may have gained.

  Riven grabbed his lance with both hands and batted the Warrior that had already lost two limbs aside. He twisted the grip to Rifle mode, taking the head off the bug.

  Riven slammed into the stairwell door, knocking it clean off the hinges. He glanced back and couldn’t help but pause. There was a hallway of carnage. Not a single bug was fully functional. Some still trying to crawl towards him, but simply could not move effectively.

  Riven took a painful, knife filled breath. It was easier not to focus on the pain of breathing when there was the distraction of a Ravager trying to kill you. But it seemed as if a rib was a broken, maybe two. Both arms ached from blocking heavy strikes. He had ten kinetic rounds out of forty left.

  Then he noticed the heat in his right leg. A severed Scout claw protruded straight through his thigh.

  Damn it all. He had to climb four more floors. With a hole in his leg.

  It had to be recent, he had been jumping around just seconds ago. Riven barely made it through that hallway in tact. His armor was damaged. He wouldn’t be able to walk easily or dodge. Going up through three more bug filled floors was nigh suicide.

  A seductive though entered Riven’s head.

  What if he just quit here. Who would blame him. He was tired. The data would die down here like Aldertire wanted. He would fade away peacefully from blood loss. Who would miss him. Honestly. Take a second and think of it.

  Parents? They were dead. Brother? Sacrificed himself to save him. The orphanage? Ha. He doubted they remembered his existence. Sergeant Phillean may miss him briefly, but they had only really been with each other for a month. Captain Kaelen had only met him maybe twice. Vex? Sure, they were wing mates.

  No.

  They were friends.

  Probably the closest he had to a friend. Maybe he liked her a bit too much, even if she would never feel the same way in return.

  And Astrix.

  How would she react?

  Would she give up trying to get to him if he didn’t come out? Riven didn’t even have to think before knowing the answer. She would ignore all orders and come get him.

  Riven shook his head trying to think clearly, but it was getting harder and harder to think.

  If Vex was awake she would get him. Why wasn’t she awake again.

  Oh. Yes. She was injured. Why?

  Because of Him.

  His fault.

  Riven gripped the embedded claw. He ripped it from his leg with a sickening squelch. A fresh wave of agony hit him. Blood poured down his armor before the suit’s nanites sluggishly attempted to staunch the flow.

  He refused to stop because his body hurt. He had a duty. He had to save his partner. He refused to let Astrix lose another brother.

  He would get back to them.

  Riven slammed his hand onto the handrail, dragging himself upright. Claws scratched against the metal grating above him. A horde waited in the dark.

  No. Not a horde.

  He couldn’t think of it like that. It wasn’t many. It was simply one object. The bugs were just an object between him and those he had to protect.

  Riven moved his foot.

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  One unsteady step, dragging his weight up.

  His lance shifted to rifle mode.

  Another step.

  A Warrior. A single well placed shot dropped it.

  Another step.

  Two scouts. Two shots.

  Another step.

  Three warriors.

  Another step.

  Four scouts.

  Another step.

  Two warriors. The rifle clicked empty. It didn’t matter.

  Another step.

  Swing.

  Another step.

  Thrust.

  Another step.

  Keep climbing.

  Another bug.

  Swing.

  Another step.

  Push forward.

  Astrix.

  Step.

  Vex.

  Step.

  A Warrior backed away from him as Riven stepped over another one of the many corpses decorating the stairwell.

  Step.

  Another chittered before thrusting a single claw faster than he could react directly into his chest.

  Good. Now the bug was within reach. Riven drove the lance through its face.

  The claw slid out of his chest, and something else fell with it.

  Dark. Red.

  Step.

  His foot slipped before he stood firm.

  Get up.

  Riven blearily grabbed the railing and pulled himself up trying to steady himself. His lance barely held in his hand.

  Step.

  How many more?

  It does not matter.

  Step.

  Riven stumped as his foot hit the metal grate. He almost fell backward. He jammed lance down, using it as a cane.

  Step.

  Click. Another scout.

  One more obstacle.

  Step.

  Step.

  Please.

  Step.

  Let this be the last one.

  Step.

  Step.

  Step.

  Riven felt his vision narrowing to a pinprick. The stairwell vanished. The walls vanished. Only the metal tread in front of his boot existed.

  There were no more bugs. He had killed them all. If there were more. He would simply kill those too.

  Step.

  Step.

  And finally as Riven lifted his foot, he found empty air.

  Riven blearily looked up. He tried to make out the sign on the wall. He couldn’t make it out. But there were no more stairs up.

  This must be it. Riven pushed open the door and stumbled forward. Every thought felt like thinking through molasses.

  Step.

  He had forgotten this detail. The stairs led to the first floor, not to safety. A long corridor stretched between him and the cavern.

  Perhaps he should sit down.

  Vex.

  Astrix.

  Press forward. Move.

  Step.

  The hallway stretched into an infinite, dark tunnel.

  It did not matter.

  Step.

  Riven kept moving for an eternity. His entire time at the Academy felt shorter than this single hallway. Maybe everything he had worked for had led him here. A single walk. A single movement forward. The last stretch.

  Step.

  “Ri..an.I…th…ou.”

  A loud roar echoed down the hall. He tried to make it out. But it was dark. Pitch black even. Why was it dark. There was just light on the stairs. His helmet had highlighted it in night vision.

  Where was his helmet? Oh, it was simply broken around his head.

  Wait was his lance there. Yes, he was leaning on it.

  Two figures sprinted down the hall. Blue tactical lights glowed on their armor, tracing beautiful trails of light.

  Figures? Not bugs, but figures.

  “Ri…ajdna.n…kay…”

  Oh yes. His mission.

  Get to Vex. Get to Astrix.

  No wait. That wasn’t them. The figure was shorter than Vex and definitely not a dragon.

  Oh yes. Sergeant Phillean.

  Why was he here?

  Oh right, he was supposed to get the data.

  Did he have the data. Where was it? Riven looked at his belt, there it was. Still safely secured. Wait. There was something pointy in him.

  Another claw, or was it two, were sticking out of him from behind. His armor had shown bare skin around his body, having concentrated all its efforts onto a patches around his body.

  Riven felt his legs give out as he collapsed forward.

  Before he hit the ground, the two figures caught him.

  Riven made eye contact with them as their helmets retracted. Sergeant Phillean was yelling something at him, that was blocked out by the ringing in his ears.

  Behind the other helmet was…. A dragon? No a green dragon?

  Who…

  Riven tried desperately to think of what he was supposed to be doing and why Sergeant Phillean was yelling at him. Then he remembered. The data.

  He reached out to his belt and tried to grab it, but his fingers didn’t seem to want to obey him for some reason.

  Sergeant Phillean stopped yelling and looked at his belt.

  Riven gave him a thumbs up. Or at least tried to. His arm wasn’t really listening to him.

  Really his body wasn’t. The ringing in his ears grew louder. And the pitch darkness that filled the area around the two slightly illuminated figures grew until it took up his entire vision.

  A numb feeling spread through his body. No more sharp stabbing pain. No more hell fire. No more painful inhales.

  He was safe. He let himself fall asleep in Sergeant Phillean’s arms. It felt peaceful. Quiet.

  A comforting darkness, as if sleeping next to one’s older brother, or sleeping next to Astrix filled him. Gosh.

  Riven tried to remember what was he was supposed to do next…

  What was…

  Never mind…

  It didn’t matter.

  But it did. He had to… What was it…

  He had to take another step. But he… he was tired…

  Too tired to keep moving.

  He had pushed as far as he could go.

  Astrix.

  Vex.

  “I’m sorry.”

  With a whisper echoing past bloody lips, Sergeant Phillean shook Riven’s body violently, slapping his face as if trying to wake him.

  “Kid. Listen to me. You gotta stay awake. You need to get up if you want to see Astrix again. Come on, look at me!”

  Silence answered him.

  When they first spotted the boy, they barely recognized him. The DAIR suit hung in tatters. Deep lacerations covered his exposed skin. Broken Ravager claws protruded from his chest and thigh. He had been leaning on his deactivated lance, shuffling forward like a reanimated corpse.

  Captain Kaelen stood nearby, scanning the darkness with slit-pupil reptilian eyes. The True Drakeon had personally descended with medical supplies to stabilize the line. A Captain belonged on the bridge, but Kaelen remained an elite fighter at his core.

  His arrival had stabilized the disastrous battle. Kaelen outmaneuvered the swarm, pulling the squads back to the Queen’s nest to establish a hard defensive perimeter. He personally treated Vex and Tora, getting them stable.

  When Phillean reported Riven’s solo plunge into the facility, Kaelen made the immediate decision to mount a rescue.

  Kaelen had disapproved of sending a rookie deep into an infested lab. But Phillean assured him Riven possessed the unique capability to go unseen.

  Now, watching the boy go limp in Phillean’s arms, Kaelen felt the familiar, crushing weight of failure. He should have ordered the retreat immediately.

  Phillean looked up. His face resembled carved stone.

  “Sir.” The Sergeant’s voice cracked. “He is gone.”

  “Carry his body,” Kaelen ordered, his voice tight. “We do not leave fallen soldiers behind. Under any circumstance.”

  Kaelen looked toward the stairwell doors ten feet away. Chittering echoed from the depths.

  “Get ready to move.”

  Kaelen walked to the doorway with a predatory grace. His helmet flowed over his head, sealing with a hiss. He peered down the shaft.

  Shredded bug carcasses carpeted the entire staircase descending into the darkness. Maimed survivors desperately attempted to drag themselves upward, clicking in futile rage.

  How had a single, bleeding human managed to climb four stories through a meat grinder?

  Kaelen shook his head, turning away. The noises below belonged to the dying. They posed no threat. The rest of his platoon needed him above ground.

  He looked at Phillean, who gently hoisted Riven’s body over his shoulder. Riven’s face looked entirely peaceful.

  Kaelen felt a bitter envy. Death served as a bittersweet mistress. It offered peace to the fallen, leaving the living to bear the agonizing weight of their absence.

  “Are you ready, Sergeant?”

  Phillean swallowed hard. “Yes, Sir.”

  “Move out.”

  They began the heavy jog back to the surface. This remained Kaelen’s most hated duty. Looking into the eyes of a soldier’s friends, and worse, their bonded dragon, to deliver the news.

  It never got easier. Sometimes with a death a commander can excuse a death as a tactical mishap, an intelligence failure, or bad luck.

  But Captain Kaelen knew the truth with Riven. This blood stained his hands alone.