“This is Squire Rale, Bravo leader of the Craven Vultures. ETA until contact with derelict identified as ‘Outsider’ is fifteen minutes. Vulture Nest, what’s the status of audio and visual response, over.”

“Roger Bravo Squad, this is Vulture Nest. ETA matches up with other squads, refer to synced holomaps once aboard the derelict and coordinate from there. We still have no movement, but there’s too many heat signatures inside to confirm it’s dead, so move with caution. Audio and visual is a go, but Knight Terrance has ordered that each squad leave a Page with the Infiltrator to relay in case of jamming equipment, standard protocol. Once contact is made with Outsider, authority over your squad is transferred to agent Rolo, understood? Over.” Squire Rale’s covered head turned towards the shadowy figure in one corner of the tight Infiltrator, who was several seats away from the busy moving squad members of Bravo. Cloaked in a thick, black cloth with a small red sword over the breast the only marking while smooth, white skin shone when exposed to the light. Something about agent Rolo screamed unnatural to Squire Rale, but his professionalism held and it wasn’t the first time he’d worked under the authority of a non-human.

“Copy that, Vulture Nest. Will relay to Page Altimer any status updates and findings aboard the Outsider, over.” The background static ceased as the connection closed on the Nest side of operations and Squire Rale grabbed his rifle and patted himself for all the equipment he’d need. Ammo, knives, concussion grenades, his Rinsky plasma based sidearm and cartridges for it.

They were all wearing a modern Excalibur suit, the MK. III specifically. They were sleek, but had enough engineering done to make them durable and enhance their normal movements and functions without interfering too much with range of mobility. Squire Rale was looking forward to when he became a Knight himself and earned a MK. IV, a custom built Excalibur suit and slue of genetic modifications awaited him. Focusing, he berated himself for daydreaming when he should be making sure everyone else was ready to move.

“Page Altimer! You’re the designated relay for this operation, I need you to stay with the Infiltrator and guard our exfil.”

Page Altimer saluted before returning to examining his weapons while being jeered by the others for getting the guard duty. Squire Rale ignored them and the embarrassment from the Page as he inspected his other Bravo members. He was the only Squire in the Squad, but beside agent Rolo and Page Altimer, there were eight other pages. Two of which carried heavy flamethrowers and another two were the cryotechnics, who put out any unnecessary flames caused by the hotheads. The remaining four consisted of a technician who specialized in large ship networks and three frontliners armed with a mix between heavy rifles like his own and close quarter flechette shotguns. Despite reaching towards the stars, humanity loved their classic weapons and improving on them.

Satisfied, he checked his holomap on the datapad under his left forearm to check their ETA, stating that they had less than a minute before contact.

“Everyone, buckle in and strap down those weapons. I don’t care how annoying it is Page Ness, if I have a misfire go off in here, I’ll make sure whomever’s weapon discharged takes point without any weapons. Got it? Good. Now hurry up and brace yourselves!” Squire Rale stepped towards his seat and snapped his heavy M4-Brutalizer. Made to shoot only when wearing an Excalibur suit, his baby could fire some of the heaviest rounds in rapid semi-fire or automatic, though that’s a quick way to burn through the small ammo magazines. Of course, he had about ten to fifteen mags, but with only twenty-five rounds each they could be burned through quickly. They opted out of the heavier weapons since they’d be aboard an unknown ship and didn’t want a situation where they accidentally breached into vacuum. Thus, the Brutalizers and assortment of temperature based weapons. Once his rifle was safe and secure, he plopped into his seat and buckled up in seconds.

The others weren’t far behind him and he glanced towards agent Rolo while he waited, who still had yet to move from his spot, his face still covered by his black hood. Even though Squire Rale was fully suited up and knew his heavily tinted visor was obscuring his face, he felt a chill crawl down his spine as he felt as if the agent was staring back at him, even though he knew the agent couldn’t see his eyes.

The Squire and everyone else’s attention turned when the LED lights in the boarding area turned red and people held tighter to their straps before impact. Suddenly the sound of a horrendous impact shook the Infiltrator and the red light began to flash for several moments as the Needle blossomed. They waited silently as groaning metal screeched in retaliation of the Needle, but gave in to the machine’s demands with reluctance, becoming as flush as possible before sealing up the gaps between it and Outsider. Once the scans deemed it safe enough for entry, the light inside returned to the normal LED and Squire Rale unbuckled himself with everyone else following his lead.

Grabbing his Brutalizer from the wall, he turned the safety off and began giving out instructions.

“Hotheads, front and center! Get as close to the door as possible and hold the choke in case of hostiles. Pulverizers, get those auto-shotties spinning and aimed towards the choke. Frosties, remain on standby to put out any stray flames. Altimer, you stand back and keep that weapon aimed away from the rest of us. Page Ulied, be at the ready and flank the door. On my mark: one, two, three!” Squire Rale slammed the release button near the door and it opened with a hiss as some of their air dispersed through. The hotheads walked side by side through the dark hallway, the only light coming from the pilot lights at the end of their weapons.

“Mounted lights, on,” Rale said. A series of clicks filled the cabin as they slowly filed out in a spread, scanning the walls with the lights blooming from their helmets. They had breached into a hallway somewhere in the ship and it was colored white, sterile and clean but for the numerous dents in the shape of bodies and bloodstains smeared in many places. Sparks sputtered every time some dangling wires touched on their right, coming out of the ceiling in a haphazard mess. Despite the carnage, they didn’t find any bodies.

After scanning the hallway for any threats, Squire Rale gave the all clear.

“Entranceway secure, Bravo team. Altimer, you’re Bravo zero. Bravo zero, go get the automated turrets and the ammo. Hotheads, keep those nozzles on opposite ends and light up anything that moves. The rest of you, grab the debris and start setting up defences here, here and here,” Squire Rale said. He kept supervision over the Pages while keeping an eye on agent Rolo, who decided to walk up to one of the bloodstains on the wall for closer examination. The sound of screeching metal drew the attention of Rale, who whirled around to find Page Alitmer laying on the ground next to a large hand crate.

“Look before you step! This big metal walkway? It’s for walking over debris, not to jump head first into it! Get your ass up and finish setting those turrets up!” Squire Rale yelled.

“Uh, yes sir! ...Gah, damnit. First big mission and you keep fucking up, keep it together man!” Page Altimer whispered to himself after responding to the Squire. Fumbling with the latches, he took several deep breaths before calmly opening the crate and taking out the many parts. Now, mankind has come a long way, but sometimes things just stayed the same or improved because no other alternative was needed. Sure, they had some specialized weapons but they were few and far between and only meant for certain, very specific, situations. In this case, few creatures have the ability to withstand rapid, continuous fire from an automatic weapon that fires armor piercing rounds the size of a finger and twice the width. This makes for a lot of recoil, hence the large, mobile, drilling tripods being placed facing both directions behind the barriers being formed by the other Pages not on watch.

There were a few more steps, getting the batteries and computer systems set, attaching the ammo crates and actually equipping the big, many-barreled guns on their respective tripods. But all the technical stuff was overseen by Bravo five, Page Yester.

Once that was done, Squire Rale turned to Page Ulied.

“Get with Yester and link those network systems up and running with our gear. Bravo zero, setup two pairs of floodlights a little behind each turret and get inside the Infiltrator. Keep that door closed unless agent Rolo, myself, or another Squire gives you an order in the case of an emergency.” Altimer went in out of the Infiltrator, quickly setting up the lights before tiredly heading up the plank and pressing the same button Squire Rale to reveal the broken hallway. The rest of the busy Pages had finished piling up debris and were lining up in front of Squire Rale. Now with the hallway being illuminated properly, the Squire turned towards agent Rolo who’s crouched form cast a shadow across the blood he seemed to be examining.

Loudly clearing out his throat, Squire Rale spoke to the back of agent Rolo.

“Agent Rolo, defences are complete and our relay is ready for transmission. I believe command is now yours, sir. What are our orders?” The Squire waited as the agent finished examining whatever had drawn his attention before he slowly stood up and faced Squire Rale and the rest of Bravo team. A clawed hand came out from within the black cloak and undid the string that was tied around his neck, peeling back the hood and removing the cloak completely, revealing a creature that none of Bravo team had ever seen before.

It’s eyes were elliptical, like a snake or a cat and it’s head was covered in thin little tendrils that twitched and moved in slight directions. It’s skin consisted of smooth, white plated segments, like a carapace but for the joints where it looked more tender. It’s mouth was wide in a vicious grin with serrated teeth. It had no nose but for two nostrils that closed and flared at regular intervals. Two large wings unfolded from it’s back and stretched before contracting again, drawing attention to the hilt of a sword sheathed on it’s back. It’s hands and feet were tipped with claws and talons and it’s limbs were thick, dangerous strength hidden underneath its shell.

They were too stunned by the extreme look of the alien that Squire Rale starred and turned his head to follow the agent, who had folded his cloak with care and placed it nearby on one of the crates. With that done, it snapped it’s claws loudly, startling Rale and the rest of Bravo team and effectively snapping them out of their confusion.

“Don’t be so surprised, I’m not the strangest creature you’ll ever see and normality will seem strange by the end of this mission. Squire Rale, assemble your men and prepare to move. I take you as a capable leader and ideal soldier, so I’ll leave the minutiae of command to you, but know that this mission is top secret. No gossip of what happens today shall ever leave yours or your mens lips. Is that clear?” It said with a low voice, a faint hiss in it’s accent.

“Yes sir!” He may have been shocked by its appearance, but he knew better than to disobey orders, especially when Vulture Nest apparently were in the know regarding agent Rolo.

“Excellent. Our mission here is threefold,” it said, holding three long and sharp looking claws. “Our first and primary objective is to discover the origins and meaning of this ship's presence within the Zuban part of the Fringe. If they are here for nefarious reasons, we must discover what their goals were and how they meant to go about it. That leads to our second objective; collect any hard data and technology that can be safely brought back. Finally, our last objective is to find out whatever did that,” it said, pointing towards the blood smeared walls.

“Understood. Discover, recover and burn rubber,” Squire Rale said, reaffirming his orders.

“In essence, Squire,” agent Rolo’s tone held a hint of amusement and he began to walk down the hallway. Squire Rale barked some orders and the rest of Bravo team hurried to flank around him and the agent.

“Do you have an idea of where we’re heading?” Rale asked. The agent remained quiet for a few moments while it’s forked tongue flicked out into the air several times before addressing his question.

“The air tastes of fear and terror, mixed with the tang of iron. We must trace the fear back to the source for as far as we can before it goes cold and we have to switch to the old fashioned way. The fear is stale though, at least a few weeks and I have little hope we’ll find anything as they were at the moment events began to unravel. However, this doesn’t mean the danger is gone, in fact, my suspicion is that the danger has grown.”

The color drained from the Squire’s face as he glanced towards the dented walls, though his expression was hidden behind the visor.

“If whatever happened to these people are still on the ship, shouldn’t we call for reinforcements?” Agent Rolo’s porcelain head turned to him and the light green in it’s eyes glinted as he appraised the Squire.

“That won’t be necessary, Squire Rale. But you should go ahead and make contact with the other squads and send a status update to the Nest afterwards.”

“Uh, yes sir. Of course.” Squire Rale let agent Rolo get ahead of him by several steps before he began making contact with the others. He brought up his datapad on his forearm and begun typing touch sensitive buttons until he joined the appropriate channel.

“This is Bravo team leader, Squire Rale. Reporting that Bravo team has successfully breached and are en route in pursuit of possible hostiles, location of Infiltrator and defences are marked in orange, over.”

“Copy that, Bravo leader. This is Alpha team leader, Squire Tungsten. Everyone else is accounted for and locators are functioning properly. Closest squads to your location are Charlie and Echo teams. Alpha, India and Golf are searching for the Bridge. Hotel and Juliet are mapping out the prow and searching for survivors. Delta and Foxtrot are in some kind of engineering bay, making scans of the tech and looking for loose parts. Retain radio silence until you come across something, happy hunting Bravo.”

The radio cut off and Squire Rale brought up his holomap, projecting a small three dimensional hologram with the squads current locations and areas mapped out so far. Bravo team was in the middle of a large, greyed out area of the ship and the closest squads were still some distance away. For the moment, they were on their own and the dark stretched into the distance. The lights coming from their suits were bright and were certainly better than nothing, but they couldn’t be everywhere at once. Quickly, Squire Rale made radio contact with Page Altimer and told him their status to report to Vulture’s Nest before hurrying back towards the middle of the group. He wasn’t scared, just cautious.

Meanwhile, the two ‘hotheads’ as Squire Rale was apt to call them were up in the front, walking slowly but surely as they scanned the long hallway with their mounted lights and dangerous looking Incinerators. From the outside, they were quiet, but so was everyone. But soldiers tended to build cliques as most humans do, they were social creatures after all.

“Man, I fucking hate this part of the job. We always get to be up front and center. Last time, it was those mines on Horton, with all those damn spider tanks or whatever the fuck they call ‘em. Those things just wouldn’t die! And now this? Do you see this shit? There’s blood everywhere but no bodies. Something’s going on, something big that they aren’t telling us, Loraine.”

“Durd, please stop trying to come up with another one of your crack-pot theories, this isn’t the time for it. I see all the goddamned blood, but I’m trying not to freak out because whatever did this could be anywhere.” She said. He gave a non-commital grunt before adjusting his grip on the Incinerator. She wasn’t trying to shut him down, she knew how much he hated to be in the thick of things. But she needed his eyes and focus, not his day dreaming of mega cults and galaxy wide conspiracy theories. She blames the comics he gets whenever they got to cash in on their leave time.

“Alright, sorry. But what is that thing? It’s not any species I’m familiar with and it’s definitely not from any of the big systems. Maybe he’s local to the Fringe?” Drud asked. Loraine sighed as she could feel a headache building up from the stress and Page Drud’s constant talking.

“I don’t know, Drud. Maybe he’s part of one of those cult’s you’re always talking about. What do they call ‘em?” she asked.

“You think so? But to give him authority over a mission like this would mean he has some credibility at the least. Squire Rale called him agent Rolo but what agency does he belong to? I didn’t see anything on him but that cloak of his and there’s nothing on it but a red sword. Red sword? Maybe that’s the clue, what does a red sword make you think of?” By the growing interest in his voice, she knew he was onto something. Though thinking back to the lurking predator behind them made her blanch slightly, but before she could pull him out of the thought process, a doorway to the right opened up. While the walls were covered in blood here and there, the floor around the door was stained red completely and long dark lines led further down the hallway, as if someone was dragged.

Instantly, she switched to Bravo’s main line.

“Bravo one, there’s an open doorway to the right.”

“I see it, Bravo three. Bravo six and seven, stack up. Three, four, eight and nine, guard the hallway. The rest of you, on my mark. One, two, mark!” Whipping into the room with barrels spinning, Pages Ness and Creed were ready to fire at the sign of any trouble while Squire Rale and Page Ulied aimed their rifles over their crouched forms, a bulwark of lead ready to unfold.

The room was destroyed, similar to the hallway they’ve been making their way through. Broken screens and desks, mixed with the dark red blood that comes about with violence. The room looked to have been a server room, with the towers being something familiar but the letters, ports and tech was generally unrecognizable. Slowly, the group made their way inside except for the four pages remaining outside so they don’t get ambushed.

“Page Yester, do you recognize these symbols?” A smaller woman walked next to Squire Rale and began scanning some of the strange hardware. When the scanner was done, she waited for the results only for them to come up empty.

“Sorry, sir. I updated my codex before we took off and there’s nothing. I’ll have to index it for later and let the folks back at the Nest decipher it. Maybe it’s some ancient language and we’ve stumbled across the last ship of a dead species?” She said excitedly.

“I doubt they’re ancient; the ships only been spotted recently and all the blood looks fresh. But one day kid, one day. For now, search for anything we can salvage.” Saluting, the Page put down her weapon within reach and took out some tools in her pack, beginning disassembling the towers. He noticed that agent Rolo was fixated with the left side of the room and the others stayed clear of him in favor of looking through the debris on the opposite end.

The sound of crunching glass, drew the agent’s attention to the approaching Squire.

“Ah, Squire Rale, just the man I was looking for. Do you know what this means?” He gestured towards an arc of blood on the wall, dripping down from the mass it carried.

“Yes sir, someone had a really bad day.” Grunting, the agent pointed at the ground and a large pool of blood spread out and trailed a little bit before leading towards the door.

“A very bad day, indeed. The arc here shows that whatever did this, it had cut our victim. I don’t see any dismembered limbs, but that could just mean the arteries or whatever major organs our victim had were cut severely. In fact, we have yet to see any bodies. Predators don’t do that, neither do terrorists. I can only think of one thing in mind that has this kind of behavior and it does not bode well for our friends here or us.”

“What could it be then, sir?”

“Tell me, Squire Rale, how familiar are you with the Swarms and those who lord over them?”