I watched the medics pull a shard of salt six inches long out of a man’s leg. It was impressive how he made no sound at all in spite of the fact that the man literally had salt in a very nearly… delicate location.

However, his bare toothed grimace did much to color the scene.

Finally, with a yank, they dislodged the salt and quickly sprayed some kind of fluid.

With a hiss, Yomar spat “That’s bad! Oh, bad, bad, bad!” His face flushed red with a titanic amount of effort for self-control.

And then the curious medi-foam in a canister flooded the injury sight, relief becoming instantly apparent on his face.

“Alright, you’re good to go. I’d say don’t walk on it… but…” The medic shrugged, noting the exo-suit bars that linked around the man’s limbs. They provided no real protection, but responded to his movements flawlessly, empowering his mobility and strength to a ridiculous degree considering their size.

“Remind me to buy you a drink,” Yomar winked at the woman, who rolled her eyes and gave his leg a playful pat.

The wince on his face cleanly told of the fact that the pain wasn’t totally gone.

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the mineshaft, a sense of fascination for the alacrity in which our medics used technology I didn’t remotely understand.

To my side the gruff man with the metal shield guard covering his entire left arm strolled up next to me. Richard regarded the shaft critically, a sterner expression on his face than even before. “I don’t like it.”

“Me neither,” I shook my head and started forwards, hefting one pack of many that we’d brought with us in the case of certain eventualities.

One such being that there wouldn’t be an elevator.

Another being the possibility of being stuck in a cave-in. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.

Behind me I could hear others shuffle, the body of a beetle, riddled and gore strewn, lay against the wall. There was at least 4 meters from the floor to the roof, plenty of space for these things. It made me wary, wondering how many of these things might be in the mine.

Luckily, they’d be hard pressed to come in from outside, or else defending might be too difficult.

For the most part the mine was dark, lit only by the lights that we brought with us, casting long and rapidly moving shadows across the walls. Salt crunched underfoot, and every step I made reminded me of the fact that this mine no longer belonged to human hands. The elevator at the end of the long hall dropped into an abyss of darkness. I leaned over the edge, glaring down with my augmented vision.

A frown crept upon my face as I realized that I couldn’t see the bottom.

Beside me, a crack and sudden glow caught my attention. The sniper-woman dropped the glow stick and let it fall down the shaft.

She counted aloud, watching as it went, her expression growing as dark as the shadows that chased the falling light.

“That seem like 200 meters to you?” She clucked her tongue and turned her head to the side to me and the next man. Tabitha barely noticed as the crossbowman spoke up, Ziek’s lopsided grin cast in white with the various lights on his back.

“I never did bother to learn that trick.”

Tabitha shook her head as I peered at the stick, resting next to a twisted and salt encased elevator at the bottom of the shaft.

“Close, 210 meters,” I stifled an annoyed sigh and regarded Yomar seriously, “Alright, plant our safety lines, deep as you can get them.”

The man nodded, his excitement seeming to fill the air around him, even in spite of his wound. Several people took long bars out of their packs, looped steel rings at the top where rope could be fed through. I handed mine off to someone else and glared back down into the dark. There were bound to be more floors, but so far the biotics all seemed far more interested in going deep.

When we were ready, myself and five others went down first, sliding on the ropes. As we went, the others with me, all tested scouts previously, laid additional spikes into the walls, smaller than the ones at the top of the shaft. As we went, one of us would toss a motion sensor into the next level after prying open a squeaky iron grate to a floor. One by one, each lit up to life and then hushed to silence, giving the lot of us an idea of whether we were going to be ambushed. Even so, many of the grates were no more, bend or shredded beyond recognition. The deeper we went, more were simply non-existent.

Our descent felt agonizingly slow, the fact that we were hanging over a hundred feet of empty space with no cover against a biotic that could fire harpoons of salt did little to calm us.

A sudden sound of a crack stopped the lot of us in our tracks.

The others looked to me, it being quite well understood that I had the best senses in our group thanks to my gear.

The sound persisted, very low, quiet, the floor just beneath us. I only heard it light shuffling, but that was more than enough. Slowly, endeavoring to remain as silent as possible, I turned myself upside down on the line, slinking down and peering past the edge on the floor.

I saw the beetle, looking almost silly pressed against the floor so tightly. Still, the deadly projectile that sat ready on its back was more than enough to chase away any amusement.

Snapping my pistol out, I gripped the rope tightly in my other hand and fired seven times, my awareness crept to a standstill. The shots tore through vulnerable organs on the back of the beetle, a sharp snap resounding as the beetle then shrieked loudly in pain.

It backpedaled, but already I was off of the line and sprinting towards it. For a split second it seemed to consider me, deciding whether to attack what it surely thought was a foolish creature that surrendered the range advantage.

As it brought up its taloned claws, however, I slipped the pistol back into its holster and drew the reaper blades from their storage. I slipped through the space beneath it, slicing out with the blades, the feeling of cutting through the bug feeling almost like cutting through butter with a hot knife.

It keened once, and started to spin about to face me, but faltered part way, not realizing yet that the damage was already done.

A moment later, it toppled to its side, several of the legs and the underside of its body bearing a pair of deep, smoking gashes. I stopped it’s wails with a follow up strike, my heart beating calmly and a strange sense of ease filling me.

After the kill, I took cover beside it, tuning out the gurgling sounds and the silver muck that leaked from the creature.

No other sounds haunted this lonely floor, leaving me and my newest quarry alone as I stood and moved back to the shaft, a red glow illuminating the area from my armor at my will.

“Clear,” I announced, hopping back onto the rope and fastening it to my belt once more. The others nodded wordlessly, slithering down their ropes until we all finally hit the bottom floor.

With a thought, I activated the radio, “We’re clear, come down here ASAP.”

“Heard,” A soft reply came back, the ropes coming in taught on the line, several people coming down the ropes at the same time, ten seconds later followed by more. I heard the first five make a game of it, letting themselves free fall most of the way.

I shook my head, moving further out on the floor, navigating around the gnarled remains of what had once been heavy mining equipment. The biotics seemed to have chewed on them relentlessly, though the reason why escaped me. One thing that I did notice was that the floor felt decidedly harder than it did on the other floors.

Curious, I stomped hard on the surface, only feeling it vaguely give against the pressure. Whatever they had done to the salt here, it was hard, not so much as concrete, but definitely built to withstand more pressure.

Behind me, I heard the clatter of five bodies land, the one leading them the fiery orange haired man with the two axes.

I could almost feel the exasperation coming from the other scouts from Yomar’s loud arrival.

He smiled unapologetically, “Oh, chilly down here, isn’t it?”

I shook my head, turning my attention to the distance. This floor was likewise 4 meters in height, but it was much narrower, and already I could see a handful of offshoots from the main path. The others came down as I considered our options, and although it would save time, I immediately rejected the concept of splitting our forces up. We were on plainly unfamiliar territory in the first place, there was no need to exacerbate that by splitting up into bite-sized packs.

After examining the area we got to work while the rest of the group was moving down the mine shaft. Several metal shields were put together from disparate parts, enough to have six sets of them. Each would need two people to move, or someone with an exo suit, but they would hopefully be good cover. It was a last minute idea that someone had, and they’d gone through the effort to pack them. So, clunky and heavy as they were, I doubted that we would regret using them.

Finally, the last of the group of the delve team set down, a few breathing a little harder than they should be. A combination of the fear of claustrophobia and impending threat of death, probably?

...Stating that, I realize that I feel more than a little odd that this isn’t affecting me more.

“If you see something, or think you see something, don’t keep it to yourself.” I turned to the others, “We’re going to sweep the main hall. If it doesn’t look like there’s any contact, we’ll expand the net a bit and comb the side tunnels. A gentle reminder,” I leveled my voice here, “No explosives. Blow your guts out on your own time.”

A few chuckles at that, grins around, the morale wasn’t too bad. I withdrew my reaper rifle, red gleaming off of its parts. Like my armor, I reflected, which made me look like a malevolent spirit more than a regular man.

There was a general silence over the group, a tenseness in the air that made it feel like any sound would break the fragile peace of the darkness here. Hundreds of tons of rock and salt rested over our heads. Salt covered the ground thicker the deeper we went, every few feet a few more inches of salt seemed to be caked on. More than that, where it once gave a little, this felt more solid, now much more akin to concrete.

As much as I could, I poured my attention outwards, trying to feel for any tell tale sign that we were walking into an ambush. Pictures of beetles flashed through my mind, hugging the ground with barbed payloads at the ready.

“Bug!” I heard a sharp cry in the middle of the group, a man who brought his own shield, though far less dense than the others. From my point at the front, I could see him go to a squat position, trying to block the attack. A heartbeat later, others realized they were under attack as well, and at first it looked like everyone who had a shield was covering an entrance.

Then I saw three sprint out of the blackness ahead of me, husks so covered in salt that I didn’t even realize that they weren’t a part of the ever jagged and malformed walls.

The first one charged forward at a dead sprint, the previous two strained to crack open the shells on their backs, harpoons stretching to the ready. I felt my weapon come alive in my hands, roaring and belching superheated metal, barrels positively glowing with the energy flowing through them, augmenting their speed even further.

With a start, I realized that Yomar was charging with reckless abandon towards the same creature. I snarled, “Watch fire!”

The idiot was going to get shredded by our own shots if he wasn’t careful, but at the rate he was going I was just as worried that he was going to get shredded.

Glowing pits gouged its front from my shots, Yomar expanded upon them and capitalized on the staggered charge the creature had, burying an axe in its head with a quick slam.

I only vaguely was aware of him, information filtering to me from all around. Instead, I let out a desperate barrage at the left most beetle at range. Almost preternaturally, my aim rested between the wings of the creature even as it pulled the first volley back. Roaring, I tore through that organ, more fully than even before, and kept the trigger going as I controlled the recoil to tear through its body, neatly dumping the rest of my clip into it.

It collapsed without fanfare, its entire front half pitted and smoking.

To my right, I heard someone grunt, and then fall, a salt spike sticking out of his gut. The man looked up at me, clutching this gut, realizing with wandering fingers that something was amiss.

He grabbed the salt spike and then looked back up to me, pale faced. With a guttural cry, his senses seemed to catch up with him, the raw, agonizing wound more than what anyone should reasonably be able to handle.

Grimly, I turned my attention up to the beetle, watching as it readied another volley in just a second. It chittered ravenously, until a heartbeat later when my hands moved with mechanical efficiency and speed.

Clip out, I rehearsed, moving through the motions that were second nature now, Move forward. The rapid pace of my feet would have shocked my conscious mind, and my sanity would have screamed that advancing forward past the few prepared shields we had was not a wise move.

But, as the final motion came those thoughts fled. Clip in, fire.

The three barrels of my rifle reconfigured almost instantly, magnetically snapping into place one in front of the other.

A larger slug than before howled from the barrel, tearing into the head of the beetle, knocking its aim off. Salt scattered across the ceiling and rained down on us in small chunks.

I fired twice more, approaching as I did so. Quickly, I fired paired shots, tearing legs off of the thing, even as it realized the danger.

It tried to raise scything mandibles to strike me, and had I continued, perhaps it would have had the change to wound me. Instead, I stood just outside of its range, and belted its head with a pair of aligned shots.

The feeling of matter energy flowing into my right hand told me all I cared to know about the thing in that moment.

The sounds of battle persisted for a few more seconds, but then ceased almost all at once. The air was full of the smell of gunpowder and the sounds of the injured carried through the empty space.

“Regroup, medics work on the people, everyone else eyes up and bring the shields in to protect the group. We’re in the right place.” I called out, passing Yomar as he pried several axes from the beetle he’d taken down. Distantly, I considered Yomar’s unusual choice at fighting, but couldn’t help but feel perplexed. Certainly, it was safer to fight at range, but that wasn’t necessarily the only or the most important factor. If he could figure out how to fight in melee consistently, then the more power to him. Though, it was somewhat exasperating to watch him pull six axes from the things body.

What would happen if you ran into something faster than you? Or tougher? How many ways can you possibly have to outsmart the opponent if you only have axes?

But I didn’t need to say anything. It was working for him, and I'm sure he’d be able to figure it out.

“God damn, big ugly bastard!” He spat, planting an exosuit augmented foot against the beetle to pry the last axe out. It came free with a sucking plop, and sent him sprawling across the floor.

Yup. He’d definitely have to figure it out.

The humor vanished a moment later, though, three people had been hit by barbs in the brief attack. I could feel a tightness settle in my guts, an irritation at this situation. We weren’t geared up enough to deal with this effectively.

Two wounded, another dead. The man on the ground was one of the scouts that I didn’t know personally, but had been around since the start. One of the medics met my gaze, looking at my helmet with a gentle shake of their head.

They covered the man with an opaque plastic sheet, we’d come back for them soon. The other two weren’t in critical states, aside from the man with the gutshot, but our trio of medics were attending him.

“This is a fucking death trap,” someone muttered, everyone hearing the words in the wake of the deep silence.

He turned, fear apparent on his face, ready to say more.

Before I realized what I was doing, I was walking to him, the air suddenly tense. From this close, I could easily tell that the man was close to a panic attack. His face was pale and sallow with more than the slightest amount of sweat. His eyes were wide open as they latched onto my helmet, the tracing wisps of light vaguely illuminating the foggy impression of a skin-less skull within.

I put a hand on his shoulder firmly, ignoring the jolt that ran through his body at the sudden contact, and the expectant gazes of those around.

It seemed almost tragic that many looked at me with grave concern. Certainly, they seemed to think I might harm this man for merely being afraid.

Fear was not a bad thing. It was an obstacle to be sure, but without fear one could not push forward, one would not understand the most important part of fear. The reflection that was courage, for as corny as that might seem.

But if there was anything that I’d learned being eaten alive in Smith’s training, it was that sometimes corny was just exactly what you’d need to make it through the day.

“Jensen… right?” I asked, forcing myself to eek out a name that I think matched his face.

The man nodded mutely, lower lip trembling. Good, that would have been awkward to have said the wrong name.

“You’re right, this place is a death trap. I won’t pull your leg; we’re under-equipped to handle this, you all know that, right?” I turned my gaze around. All the while they were listening to me, intent, but just as intent on the dark, foreboding tunnels around us. I shook my head, “This isn’t a great place to be in, but that’s the price we have to pay. We’ll extract our pound of flesh for this, take it straight out of this hive.”

“Even so… even beyond revenge now, we need the Matter Energy these things give. Without it, next time, what would happen to us if we fought a few dozen of these on open ground? Or worse, what if the Bulwark didn’t have the M.E. from us to set up defenses properly? It’s not our job to save people, but it is our job to kill biotics. And from what I’ve seen, these ones really need to die. And there’s no one else to step up to the plate.”

At that, I patted the man on the shoulder and started walking forward, deeper into the mine. “If you can’t, then that’s fine. You’ve found your limit. Remember, your life is the most important."

Inwardly, I wondered at how ironic it would be if nobody came back with me. That’d certainly be a terrifically awful result.

As that thought came to me, I heard several come forward, without hesitation. Yomar, Richard, Tabitha, and Ziek and their adjoined squads came forth. The two injured moved along, helped by the medics. Eventually, only three men stood in the dark alone…

...And then, cursing and griping, caught up with the tail end of the group again, led by Jensen.

Soundlessly I chuckled at that, whatever you had to do to get your head in the game, I suppose.

We fell into formation, tighter now, learning quickly from our losses. There was a definite sense of intent that seemed to have been lacking before. And when the beetles attacked three more times, I was quite pleased that only one man had taken any more injuries.

And at this point I wondered if he was trying…

The gut shot man now had another wound on his shoulder and the same leg, somehow missing anything major. But he needed to lean on a medics shoulder, and occasionally I could hear him spit a string of colorful curses. He did, however, do the wonderful job of distracting us.

He could make a sailor blush.

Half an hour later, I realized that the side passages had all been sealed off with thick salt flows, chewed and formed into this harder than concrete shape. Spires of it rose from the ground, twisting and churning with surprisingly intricate design that spun, giving the illusion that it was in the process of moving as you looked at it.

“I’d say we’re getting close,” Ziek flicked a switch as his crossbow hummed to life, an electric buzz emanating from the motor as it pulled the first bolt back.

“You don’t say,” Tabitha responded dryly, “It’s almost like we’re walking among non-man made structures or something.”

I tuned them out as we approached, a few people joking and talking, attempting to make light of the situation.

Then, I noticed the floor slant downwards, deepening, gradually at first. After ten feet, though, it dropped another five meters.

I cracked two fluorescent sticks, chucking them forward into the dark. The ten meter cavern was anything but man made, pillars of formed salt, spiraling and pitted in several locations, husks of some kind still clung to the pits.

“So, I guess that settles that question.” Yomar muttered, “Biotics definitely breed. Or at least these ones do.”

“Looks like the welcoming committee is here. Watch out for anything that laid those eggs, and watch the walls.” I aimed down the barrel, watching six beetles, larger than anything we’d seen, stalk forward with what almost felt like disdain for us.

This was going to be interesting...