"Enemy attack! Evasive action, everyone!"
Company Captain Aerion's roar erupted over the encrypted channel, drowning out the dull thud of Ganarl's headless body hitting the floor.
No further orders were needed.
The five warriors closest to the open doorway, including Aerion himself, reacted the instant his voice rang out.
Rather than seek cover, they pushed their Power Armour's Servo Systems to the limit, throwing themselves almost sideways and slamming the thickest parts of their pauldrons and backpacks into the cold, hard metal walls on either side!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Five heavy impacts rang out almost as one.
Violent metal-on-metal friction showered them with blinding sparks.
They "nailed" themselves against the walls like rivets, minimizing their profiles as seen from the doorway.
The very next microsecond after they completed their evasive maneuver, the darkness ceased to be dark.
Countless points of crimson, spectral blue, and deathly white light suddenly flared within the absolute blackness beyond the door.
They were the cold glimmers of Sensors activating, energy weapons charging, and constructs coming online.
The lights rapidly traced out their silhouettes, like a steel swarm awakening from slumber.
The first to emerge were the "Walkers."
They were roughly humanoid, but strangely proportioned, with squat torsos and long, slender limbs. Their joints clicked rapidly and precisely as they moved, swift as hounds.
Their "arms" ended not in hands, but in compact tubular emitters flickering with dangerous arcs of energy.
There were too many to count at a glance. They poured through the doorway like a black tide, filling the corridor and "Hall" ahead in moments, their crimson optical Sensors locking onto every Iron Hands warrior.
Then came a heavier grinding rumble.
Several massive shapes forced their way through the Walkers. They resembled mobile combat platforms, their lower bodies consisting of tanklike, multi-legged