Captain 'Ace' McGuire stars in...
In the bpwels of Delta-4, the shadowed halls of the Carapace Catacombs lay in eerie silence—once alive with the bustle of archaeologists and science crews, now cold and still as a tomb.
Doctor Zahn, lantern-jawed and hawk-eyed, pressed boldly into the outpost’s comm-shack. Dust veiled the consoles, relics of work abruptly abandoned. Only a single relay blinked weakly in defiance. Zahn’s gaze lifted—and froze. The Satcom rig had been ripped apart, its dish missing, its arrays twisted like the carcass of a dead bird.
“Sabotage!” he barked, his voice cutting the silence. “This station has been struck dumb—by deliberate hands!”
Meanwhile, Captain Ace McGuire, fearless and unflinching, strode the cracked walkway toward the cavern’s yawning maw. At his shoulder loomed Rocky, steady as a fortress wall, jaw set like stone. Behind, Sergeant Stacey’s voice cracked like a whip.
“Spread out, Angels! Steel yourselves—whatever waits inside won’t find us wanting!”
The Astro-Angels fanned out in gleaming precision, weapons ready, like Valkyries sweeping to war.
Then—movement!
From the shadows erupted a nightmare—chittering insectoids, claws glistening, mandibles snapping, ichor dripping! Their shrieks split the cavern air like banshee sirens. From a jagged pit at their backs, more horrors clawed upward.
“A dirty bug hole!” Stacey spat, levelling her rifle. “They’ve tunnelled into the ruins!”
Jane, swift as a falling star, vaulted to the flank. Her twin lasers blazed, ricocheting harmlessly until one beam struck true. The beast shrieked and staggered.
“They’re armoured!” she shouted. “Straight through the shell, or we’re finished!”
Ace roared like a lion and met the charge head-on. His sword flashed silver, cleaving one monster in twain, while another toppled stunned from the walkway.
“The only good bug is a dead bug!” he thundered grimly.
Stacey and her second, Jen, advanced shoulder-to-shoulder, rifles spitting incandescent fury. One bug reeled back, smoking, but the others pressed on with infernal speed. A mandible snapped inches from Jane’s throat. Another slammed into Stacey, pinning her to the wall with savage force.
On the walkway, the stunned beast leapt upon Ace from behind! Sparks flew as steel clashed against armored chitin. Jane wheeled, steady as a sniper’s eye, and felled the attacker with a crisp shot. Smoke curled from her raised barrel.
“Got a bug problem, sir?” she quipped with a sly grin.
Ace grinned back, bloodied but unbowed.
The Astro-Angels fired in disciplined unison, beams scorching insect hides.
“Well done, ladies!” Stacey cried above the din. “Take that, you stinking bugs!”
Far below, in the labyrinthine dark, another presence stirred. Cold circuits hummed with alien thought.
The crawly things are active, mused the machine. Perhaps they gather materials. The work must continue.
A clawed hand—more iron than flesh—hovered over a glowing console. Across the shadows, two screens lit up like the eyes of demons.
Back in the cavern, Dr. Zahn steadied his trembling hand and fired. His ray pistol struck the creature menacing Jen—but the blast ricocheted uselessly from its carapace.
Then Rocky leapt boldly into the pit. His heavy blaster thundered—but the shots ricocheted wildly as four more horrors scuttled into view!
Above him, Stacey fought like a warrior queen. She and her Angels smashed back the wave, hurling the last attackers into the dark. Jen covered her flank, eyes sharp, as the bugs hissed and clicked before vanishing down a narrow stone corridor.
The Galacteers regrouped, chests heaving, wounds bound, weapons checked. The first clash was won. But in the echoing stillness, the Catacombs themselves seemed to tremble.
From below, Rocky’s voice echoed, grim as a death knell:
“There’s something else down here… a hum. Steady. Low. Mechanical. Like the heartbeat of a machine.”
The sound grew, vibrating in their very bones. A warning. A summons.
The heroes of the Galacteers had beaten back the first wave—but ahead, in the depths, the true foe waited… the shadow of the Robot Legion.
Ace looked his team of Galacteers in the eye:
"Lets move out"
TO BE CONTINUED… in the next thrilling instalment of ECHOES OF THE SHADOW CIRCUIT!
Good to read you're having fun.
ReplyDelete