Slim watched on in horror as the third wave of Swarm approached before the second had been completely stopped. They were protected by the bodies of their dead siblings making the scattered fire of the recruits less effective.

"Move right. Odds then Evens. Slide one at a time." They had only practiced the move once and Elias was not sure how well the command would work. He took out his own energy weapon and readied his rifle as the men and women in front of him slid past each other to move the whole line in one direction. The Swarms became more aggressive in their charge leaping over and past the dead as the right end of Elias's line improved their line of sight. While the pressure eased off squad five it only increased on squad's one and two. Each Swarm dying in front of them hid the next two closing down on their position. The fifty metre gap of the first wave which dropped to thirty metres by the second was quickly reduced to less than twenty.

Elias had a choice to make. He went with his area of comfort and expertise, it was what had worked best in the simulations. He could see the recruits ready for the switch to melee. They had subconsciously altered position so the Evens were a half-step behind Odds. Rather than issue the order Elias brought his rifle to his shoulder and shot the Swarm that had crossed ten metres. He watched as it slid closer to the line, gore sliding down what was left of its face on to the Crust below.

"One-Four, check your battery. Two-Two, one step further back and I'll kick your ass so hard you'll be jumping into the Swarm." No need to keep quiet over the comms now Elias just bellowed at the line in front of him. The semi-auto function of his rifle easily picked off the Swarm that crept in too close.

"One-One. Flank." Elias shouted almost too late, he swung his weapon to the left. Positioned as he was behind the line of recruits he could punch three direct shots into the side of the Swarm that had come in from a different angle and almost escaped his attention. A blue flare of power lit up One-one on the left side as he was caught by a flailing limb. There was little power behind the dying movement of the Swarm, but it was enough to sap two of the eight energy bars from one-one's armour.

They finished the wave and Elias mindlessly moved them further right before pushing further forwards. He had estimated about fifty of the Swarm had been taken out through the three waves they had killed so far. Without a single loss. He thought of the close call on the flank, pure instinct had helped him save the recruit. If he had remained back and concentrating on command, would he have missed it and lost a man or seen the attack earlier and reduced the risk. With no way to know and in the middle of the offensive press he put it out of his mind.

With a better view towards the ziggurat they made good progress the rest of the way to the edge of the Crust. Another sneaking attack through the dead Swarm on their left caused Elias to fold in Squad One on the flank for added protection.

"Squad Two and Four, form up behind One and Three. Five fall back." Elias called in the switch to their arrowhead formation that would clear the next phase. "One and Three. Swap to shields. Pass back batteries." Elias was now stood in the centre of the arrow with two thicker lines facing towards the ziggurat and the direction they were travelling.

Each soldier with their rifle selected had added the spare batteries of another secured to their bandolier. Four spare batteries meant one hundred and sixty shots. If the melee didn't need any back. It drew a lot less energy to use the weapon in shield and blade and if a Swarm was attacking the shield there was no time to change it before the battery ran out. Ten soldiers with one sixty shots each. Sounded like a lot but in sim they ran low before the sweep was complete more times than not.

"Let's move. Slow as we go, stop and clear on contact." Elias sent the command via his neural link and squad one on the front line followed the speed he designated. The first step off the Crust triggered an exodus of Swarm from the ziggurat. Elias lost count of the exact number as he focused instead on supporting fire.

The larger Swarm coming from the ziggurat had one enlarged limb that deflected the rifle-fire and protected their more sensitive areas. This and the dome protecting them as they exited the ziggurat meant the Swarm were soon within melee range. Five, then ten Swarm were being shot point blank by the rear squads as those in front blocked and dodged the attacks.

Drawn once more into the fray, Elias switched to his heavier shotgun and moved up to join the rear line. Using his command override to hold the fire he pushed through two men to lean over the shoulder of Three-two and blast the knuckle of the shield-like limb that was drawing so much fire. He stepped back in line and released the two soldiers as the Swarm screamed in pain. The weight of its limb with a damaged joint pulled the shield away from its face and allowed the others to relieve their frustration and kill it.

Red lights flashed in Elias's display as he relied on the recruits switching out and replacing batteries when needed. He saw one fall from the front line only to be dragged backwards by those behind as the men left stepped across to fill the gap. Drawn in as the only spare, Elias moved forward blasting once more with his shotgun before switching to shield and blade. He resisted the urge to push forward and break formation as the numbers in front of them reduced down to one on one and then one on two fights.

The front line had all been splashed with a degree of bodily fluids from the Swarm. They were a mess with One-Four holding one arm in the other, energy weapon back in the holsters. One-Three had been the one to fall. A medipen had stopped the bleeding where the Swarm had shattered the layer of protection given by the power-armour. The nano-weave trousers beneath were slowly reforming over the slashes in her leg. Two of the rear line had a look of shock on their faces that spoke of an impact of the attack that was not physical.

"That's the worst of it." Said Elias, snapping them all out of the momentary stupor. "Time to push on. Squad Five, switch with One." The hardest pushed group moved back to rear-guard as instructed.

"One-Three, with me." Elias took one look at the limp as she tried to get back in line with her squad. "Act as spotter for anything coming off the Crust." He ignored the look she gave and instead glared back as she tried to put her weight on the bad leg.

"Yes Sir." She replied, dropping her rifle down to one side as she needed support on her leg to walk.

None of the other attacks were as vicious as when they first stepped off the Crust. Elias took a break two-thirds around the ziggurat stepping back to the Crust where their weapons could slowly recharge. Switching out to the batteries with the lowest charge meant that they connected via the armour to the chargers in their boots. Each minute on the Crust would give more shots, more energy for their armour but might also mean the Swarm could reposition in the ziggurat and make the next step harder. The recruits took a chance to grab a drink or quick bite to eat from a ration bar, the last few hours had been physically and mentally exhausting.

"Come on. Back to it." Said Elias.

He had been watching as they circled the ziggurat and had seen three entrances so far and there would be a fourth before they were finished. The Swarm responded again as they stepped back onto the clearing. Unlike the previous attack they came from three directions, some appearing from the direction they had already come, others out of the visible entrance and a third group appearing around the curve of the ziggurat in the direction they were yet to go.

"Let's get this finished." Shouted Elias.

Squad Two and Four had moved up to melee, leaving the other three squads to join him in shattering all three charges before they hit the team mates protecting them.

"All melee." Elias shouted as the Swarm crushed into the front line and were swiftly approaching from the third direction.

He followed his own instruction and pulled his hands apart willing his gun to transform into twin blades. The higher skill levels giving him greater variety, what use was a shield while he had those in front protecting him. He shouted in defiance as two Swarm lost a limb to his attacks. Before getting drawn in to the fight he checked that the three recruits unable to fight were in the centre of their formation and that the whole group had their shields and blades out and were already pushing forward to join the fight.

He switched off from the responsibility of leadership as he eyed up a new larger Swarm using two flat limbs as shields pushing in to try and break through their line. He boosted the legs of his armour to leap over the injured and bring his blades down in a two handed attack. A smile appeared on his face as a crack formed on the limb he had hit. He dropped and span on one leg, sweeping his blade low knocking out the front legs of a neighbouring Swarm.

Ignoring the Swarm who turned to hiss as it lost balance he focused back on his first opponent. The recruits either side had been pushed aside as the Swarm forced its way forward. Dropping once more Elias rolled under the front of the shield limbs and thrust one blade up into the thinner carapace. Using all his strength and boosting the arm of his armour he pulled sideways stepping into the space made by the Swarm collapsing as its brain caught up with the fact that its guts were spilling out onto the ground. Now in the front line, Elias switched his left blade to a shield. Adrenaline flowed through his body as, for the first time in a while, he forgot everything but the moment he was living in.