Kyla was the last of the team to enter the ziggurat. The dim purple glow that pulsed from bulges postioned on the wall and ceiling making every surface seem alive. If it wasn't for Elias pushing on forward after only a moment to adjust she would have stood fixated with little desire to continue.

"Corridor left." Elias called as he moved onward just past the junction.

It was their first test, left corridor meant Jim moved to point with Kyla and Ken on either shoulder. Elias would remain blocking the main corridor to make sure they were not attacked from both directions.

"On me." Jim's voice was a little shakey as he took point and switched to shield and blade.

"Ky stepping up left." Said Kyla.

"Moving to right shoulder, ready to move." Ken added.

None of the recruits had extra abilities and none of their group had even unlocked the shield skill. Ten metres down the corridor opened to a wider room. The pulsing glow highlighting a central mound of fibrous material. They took tentative steps into the room to check for any other exits as a loud hiss rose from the mound.

Acting on instinct Kyla opened fire. On her third shot Ken joined in as the mound started to shake and the formed limbs of a Swarm appear. First the two larger front limbs, dragged out in front of the hissing face of the Swarm. They continued to fire as it tried to crawl across the floor towards them.

"Guys. It's dead." Shouted Jim as they emptied almost all the rounds in their rifle. The pulsing light and movement when hit giving the illusion it was still creeping towards them.

"Shit, sorry Jim. It's spooky in here." Ken admitted, changing out his battery.

They moved on to confirm that there was no other way in or out of the room before returning to Elias. Stunned silence accompanied them trying not to jump at the shadows that moved in the light.

They had expected Elias to be waiting for them, instead he had moved up the corridor to the next junction. They hadn't heard a thing to explain the two dead Swarm that marked his passage deeper into the ziggurat.

"Two down in corridor. Crossroads ahead" Elias said, the update was not necessary since they had all seen the bodies, but it was a good habit.

"One down in side room, no other exits." Kyla added.

"Jim, stay on point. I'm going to scout ahead." Elias moved off almost immediately as they approached where he was waiting.

"Did you see that?" Ken asked as Elias moved out of sight. "He just disappeared into the wall there."

"Scouting, or camouflage. They're Scout skills." Said Kyla.

Unlike some of the recruits who had signed up just for the money she had grown up with the stories of old man Tom. She knew the common pathways to take as a recruit and how odd their Captain was acting. He was meant to throw them in as fodder and then use the higher trained soldiers to clear the weakened foe. Instead they didn't seem to have anyone higher trained, it was just the recruits. Even so, the Captain was leading the way and being careful with their lives.

"Contact." Came a distorted voice over the comms. "Returning under attack, coverfire on my mark." Elias became clearer over comms as he drew nearer.

Elias ducked down behind his two handed tower shield. It might not have been the smartest option but he didn't know how many Swarm were in front so decided not to fire on contact. The front Swarm with its limbs fashioned into spiked lumps like a mace was trying to smash through his defence as two smaller foes tried to find room in the corridor to break past him.

"Fire." Elias said as he came back to the crossroads.

The increased space was exactly what the Swarm had been waiting for. One dropped left, its front limbs trying to twist the edge of his shield while the pincers making up its lower mandible stretched closer towards his face. The twist of his shield gave enough time for the recruits to take down his first opponent as the second was knocked back by the other side. With no power behind the limbs pulling at his shield Elias was able to move with the twist, turning his body sideways and opening the corridor for the others to continue to fire past him. He ignored the one shot that hit his shoulder, easily soaked by his armour.

They met the Swarm in small groups as they continued in deeper. With no elite squads to map the corridors and rooms with them it was not a quick task. They had found ways to each of the other exits and the incline leading to the upper level with the outer squads guarding the doors brought forward to the branches and forks in the corridors to reduce the area they were protecting. There would be no large group of Swarm that could challenge them left on the ground floor so they were safe as long as they stayed alert. Groups of three were reduced to two as the number of corridors to cover increased, then brought back together as they narrowed down the enemy controlled area to the room with the incline.

This was how Elias had increased the size of his incursion team from three recruits to seven. They had cleared three of the larger Swarm outside the ziggurat and another four inside. The Hive had spent a lot of its resources early on rather than draw them in and show its cards later. He was hopeful there would not be many left in the upper chamber but the more numbers they had on their side, the better. Copying the technique he had seen from his old scout Rodriguez Elias was on his stomach crawling up the incline to get a view of the floor above. He lacked the skill set to fully map the room and its occupants as soon as he saw it. Instead he got a vague impression of the central space, two side chambers making the room longer than it was wide. Crawling back down the incline he returned to the row of recruits waiting for his instruction.

It was a mere four metres to the side doors, too close to risk the recruits needing to swap weapons if Swarm appeared from these directions. So they were back to two lines, front with shield and blade and back with their rifles out. Elias stood in the middle of the back row, a pistol in each hand. He wanted to stay adaptable, ready to support on either side if needed. Three of the front row had activated both Shield and Blade skills. He felt a swell of pride as they moved forward in a coordinated manner, maintaining the line as they moved up the incline. The rear line positioned with line of sight over the shoulder of those in front.

The Hive launched its final attack in the same manner as the previous ones. All out, sudden and as soon as they entered the final chamber. Six of the larger Swarm rushed them. Two from the left room, one from the right and three from the end of the chamber. Jim, Ken and Kyla were on the left flank since all three had the Shield skill Elias was trusting them to hold while he supported centre and right flank. The other recruits had chopped and changed in his team so he didn't know them as well to be sure what they could manage. He left the pair on the right to focus his attention on the three Swarm coming straight on.

Five-three, Russell, was the recruit front row centre trying to work out which of the approaching Swarm would close with him first. There was a pause in skittering run of the foremost Swarm as it bent its rear legs to leap forwards. Russell lifted his shield in anticipation of the attack, shutting his eyes and bracing for impact. A scream came from the oncoming Swarm, but no impact. Russell opened his eyes to find the enemy in front of him had lost its front legs, the three jointed segments blasted apart with fire from behind. The other two Swarm were climbing over their fallen brethren which continued to move towards the intruders despite not being able to use its front legs. He turned and found Elias at his shoulder.

"Don't close your eyes. Its a reflex, you need to fight it." Elias said to the man in front of him. "And never turn from advancing foe. Call a request over comms if you need to know what is behind you."

"Yes Sir." Said Russell, shocked that all he was doing had been watched.

"Now, you ready up for the one on the right. I'll take the one on the left." Elias watched to make sure the recruit had repositioned himself before focusing on his target. He really needed to learn some more names after this.

All of this happened in moments as they breached the room. Now the number of Swarm were defined and recruits allocated to individual targets Elias allowed each fight to play out while he concentrated on completing his task. He pulled both his hands together deactivating the pistol setting on his energy weapon as he activated the shotgun instead. Checking the battery he chuckled as he threw himself into the moment, resisting the urge to move forward and breach the line in front of him. Six shots would be more than enough in this setting.

He waited for the Swarm to rush in. One. He hit the upper torso knocked his foe off balance and caught its neighbour by the leg causing further disruption. Two. A hit to the upper torso again giving the group some more space. Three. Elias fired to the right taking down the Swarm that had appeared on that flank. Four. His original Swarm had pushed forward once more and the third impact in the same area finally caved in the thick protective layer exposing and destroying the delicate organs inside. Five. The lame Swarm crawling form behind meant its head was at the perfect height to take the full brunt of the attack. Elias stopped, the haze of battle leaving him as he realised there was nothing left to use the last shot on.

The Hive was relatively young and therefore had some ability to move and fight still. This would have been an issue to any Swarm who had attacked the ziggurat but not for Elias and his group. They stayed out of reach of the heavy and dangerous limbs that thrashed in their direction and ignored the screams of anger that they would not come in range. The withering fire of eight rifles meant not every shot could be blocked and they were soon able to find weak areas that slowed and then stopped the movements. They gave a cry of excitement and relief as the Hive finally succumbed to their attack. They had done it, the ziggurat was theirs. In what was not their brightest moment one of the recruits fired up into the air hitting the crystal that powered the structure. Accustomed to the pulsing purple light there were cries of shock as the room went pitch black.