Ba Wang had opened with the shotgun because the distance was too close. He wanted to use its stopping power to drive the Xenomorph back.
But the Xenomorph was huge, and its exoskeleton was incredibly tough. Even armor-piercing slugs might not penetrate it, let alone the ordinary buckshot Ba Wang had found. (Each shotgun shell contained 8–12 lead pellets, intended for close combat and medium-sized animals.) Six shots in a row didn't so much as crack the Xenomorph's exoskeleton, much less make the two-meter-tall worker Xenomorph retreat.
The experienced Ba Wang realized things were going badly and immediately abandoned the shotgun. Crouching low, he ran to the edge of another metal rack, using it for cover as he pulled the assault rifle from his back and raised it...
"Come on, all together! This thing's hide is too tough! The buckshot didn't even leave a mark!" Ba Wang called for Chu Xuan and Zero to join in. After years of warfare, he could tell at a glance that the Xenomorph was not only exceptionally tough, but also fast and agile—the worst kind of enemy to deal with. He had no intention of acting tough.
"Bang, bang, bang... bang, bang, bang..."
"...Bang, bang, bang... bang, bang, bang..."
"Bang, bang, bang... bang, bang, bang..."
Zero fired first, followed by Ba Wang, then Chu Xuan. The three of them had only just met and barely knew one another. This was their first time working together, yet their professional training was so solid that they made their first coordinated fight look perfectly paced and seamless.
The assault rifle's 7.62×51 NATO round, also known as a full-power cartridge, could penetrate seven millimeters of armor plate at a distance of up to 300 meters. (There were many different types of 7.62 NATO ammunition, so this was just one fairly standard example.) The Xenomorph's vaunted exoskeleton was no longer enough to protect it.
As the three fired in a steady, alternating rhythm, cracks began to appear in the exoskeleton of the Xenomorph at the front. It tried several times to charge into the room and kill them, but Chu Xuan and Zero were excellent shots. Whenever it looked ready to rush them, they aimed at its distinctive spindle-shaped head and forced it back again and again...
Just as the standoff continued, Zero—pressed against one wall and firing precise shots at the Xenomorph—suddenly stiffened. Then he slid limply down the wall and collapsed. A hole the size of a baby's fist had appeared in the wall where his head had been, passing all the way through. On the room's side, bright red blood seeped from around the hole and trickled straight down the wall. Flecks of white brain matter dotted the area nearby.
Clearly, Zero had never expected the other Xenomorph to leave the entrance alone. Instead, it had used its infrared vision to find him and, through the wall, shot out its razor-sharp inner jaw—the same weapon capable of piercing a Yautja's armor. It had struck Zero in the head from the side, punching straight through the metal wall and killing him instantly as he fired at the first Xenomorph...
This self-proclaimed long-range sniper had been killed because he knew too little about Xenomorphs and hadn't fully considered the dangers of Infinite Space. He'd relied on his past experience—and the Xenomorph had taught him a brutal lesson. In the real world, few weapons could silently pierce a wall made of several centimeters of alloy steel and then blow the head off someone on the other side. So Zero had assumed he was safe, never realizing that this alien creature had an inner jaw capable of piercing most materials.
Zero's sudden death left Ba Wang and Chu Xuan grave, though neither showed it on his face. It wasn't that the three had formed a deep bond. They hadn't known one another long, and all three were used to death; the loss of a comrade wasn't something they couldn't accept. What weighed on them was that fighting the Xenomorphs with ordinary firearms had already been a struggle. Now there were only two of them left, facing two Xenomorphs outside the door: one with a cracked exoskeleton and minor injuries, the other completely unharmed. They had already used up a quarter of their ammunition. Even Chu Xuan, who was practically a human computer, couldn't say whether what remained would be enough to kill both Xenomorphs.
Ba Wang was starting to panic!
His big boot accidentally kicked something. The Russian giant glanced down and couldn't help staring.
It was an unremarkable-looking shotgun, simple in design and nothing special to look at—except for its unusual barrel!
"F-U-C-K!"
"It's a KS-23! Which idiot left this beauty on the floor?" Ba Wang exclaimed excitedly.
The KS-23 was a Russian—meaning Big Russia—weapon made by repurposing the barrels of scrapped aircraft cannons into an unconventional, large-caliber shotgun. Its caliber was a massive 23 millimeters, and one solid slug could blow up a car engine. Almost no bulletproof plate could withstand it!
What had Ba Wang and Chu Xuan struggling was the Xenomorph's incredible exoskeleton. The 7.62 full-power rounds could only crack it. So why not try the KS-23?
They could see whether a Xenomorph could withstand the product of Big Russia's distinctive theory that bigger caliber meant greater justice!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
After three thunderous blasts, three fist-sized holes appeared in the Xenomorph in front of the door. Thick, corrosive fluid poured from them, but the Xenomorph still didn't die!
Instead, it took advantage of the moment Ba Wang's KS-23 ran out of ammunition and he was switching guns, charging straight into the room. Even Chu Xuan's shots couldn't stop it. Badly wounded and driven mad, it no longer cared about bullets hitting its head.
When the gravely wounded Xenomorph burst into the room, Ba Wang was in trouble!
He was directly in front of it. Although the metal rack provided some cover, its bulk left him very little room to move. So when the Xenomorph he had badly wounded charged straight at him, Ba Wang raised his assault rifle in despair and held down the trigger, firing nonstop instead of in controlled bursts. There was no point anymore...
"Thud..."
The gravely wounded Xenomorph's tail pierced through the metal rack and straight through Ba Wang's massive, bear-like body, skewering him clean through!
Even with his chest and abdomen pierced and no chance of survival, the Russian mixed-blood giant still showed the wild, ferocious spirit of the Russian bear. On the brink of death, he kept shooting at the Xenomorph. If he was going to die, he would still tear a piece out of his enemy—and it had to be the biggest piece he could get!
"Bang..." Ba Wang's last bullet struck the Xenomorph in the eye. It entered through the eye socket and pierced the brain of the gravely wounded creature. As the wild giant, fierce as a Siberian brown bear, smiled and closed his eyes, the Xenomorph he had crippled collapsed to the floor too!
He had taken his enemy down with him!