Right, showtime. The crew tightened up before we all faded into the void. My voice crackled over the comms, "Seal your suits. Visors down."


    Hisses all around as helmets locked on. Suddenly, it was just us, in our own little bubbles of silence, except for the breathing and the occasional ping through our communication units. I checked the team''s status on my interface, a quick tap, and we were synced. "All green?"


    A chorus of "yeps" and "affirmative," some more confident than others. Ryan, that fucker, mumbled something stupid, and Danny told him to shut it. Same old shit, just a different portal, I thought, grinning a little. "Let''s move."


    Just another dungeon. We got this.


    Emily stepped up beside me. Her Medium Armor was the same style as Chris'' and Ryan''s, not too heavy, not too light, just right. But the system, it had done something... different. The chest plates were pushed out a bit, the hip piece adjusted. Made her look... fuck, she looked good. Gotta focus. Ahead of us, Danny lumbered along in his Powered Armor, looking like a goddamn tank. You could probably hit that thing with a nuke, and he''d just shrug it off.


    We walked into the portal.


    It was like being squeezed through a tube made of Jell-O. My stomach did a flip, and for a second, I was just floating in disorientation. Then, bam, boots hit the ground. Gravity was lighter here, fucked with my stride for a sec, but the suit''s neural interface fixed it.


    <hr>


    It was dark as shit, oppressive and cold. We turned our helmet lamps on. My visor’s heads-up display (HUD) kicked in, helping make sense of the cavern. There was this weird glowing moss pulsing on the walls, making everything look green and slimy. Shadows were dancing like they were alive. The portal behind us closed.


    "Fuck," Ryan''s voice crackled. "Welcome to the nightmare cave."


    I frowned, my eyes narrowed. My intel gathering skill gave me some insight and shit, like a patch of moss that had been disturbed, a weird pattern on the floor.


    "Stay focused," I snapped. "We didn''t come here to sightsee."


    Zoe crouched, rifle ready. Her passive camouflage made her practically invisible, just a faint shimmer in the dark. "Keep the chatter down," she muttered, all business. "We don''t know what''s down here yet."


    There was this pressure in the air, like the whole damn dungeon was holding its breath. My visor’s HUD wasn’t picking up any thermal signatures, but that didn''t mean shit in a place like this.


    "Anyone else feel like this place is trying too hard to be creepy?" Danny''s voice crackled, trying to be funny. I could hear the nerves, though. Fucking dork, just shut up. "Like, alright already, we get it. You''re a spooky cave."


    Emily let out a short laugh. "Will you be quiet, Danny. Last thing we need is a surprise." She was tense. I could hear it. I need the old Emily back, the one who''d laugh at this shit.


    We moved forward, steps light, almost bouncy. This low gravity was weird, but kind of cool. The stone under our boots was slick, cold, and covered in these weird spirals that followed the walls.


    "These carvings look... fresh," Joey murmured, voice tight. "Like someone just scratched them in." Dude, this is a portal, a fake-ass instance created by the system. Of course, it''s fresh.


    "Or something," Ryan added. "I doubt the Queen''s been redecorating." Thanks, smartass. Why even bring up the Queen? This portal''s already way above our level, don''t fucking jinx it. Was I tense? No. As calm as Lake Winnipesaukee in February. Well, maybe a little tense.


    “Quiet,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Joey, keep an eye on those carvings. Everyone else, form up. We''re heading deeper, to find the hive core." Might as well keep Joey busy, that guy can be creepy as fuck sometimes. And Ryan just needs to shut the hell up.


    Emily stepped closer, shoulder brushing mine. Normally, this would be... distracting, especially in that armor. But I was basically wearing a rubbery bodysuit, and her armor was all angles, so it didn''t really... translate.


    "Think this is just another hive dungeon?" she asked, her voice low. "Or are we about to find out how wrong we are?" Why are you so negative all of a sudden? I thought. This is fun, right? A scary cave, weird sounds, probably about to be swarmed by giant bugs. Classic stuff.


    Yeah, so, everything we’ve handled has been level 60 or below; this is level 64. But the system is predictable. We’ve done some hive scenarios before, we just need to not get fucked, not too much anyways. What we knew about portals was that the higher the level, the longer they were. The scenarios? They didn’t vary too much.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Emily’s hand reached out, gave mine a quick squeeze. That was nice.


    Alright, so we walked through this huge chamber. The moss was going crazy, all over the walls and ceiling, pulsing like that shit in the movie Alien. It was fucking cold, seeping into my bones even through the suit. My HUD pinged with a faint signal, it was further ahead, somewhere in the dark. The mission directive popped up:


    [Mission Objective: Defeat the Hive Mother]


    Yeah, no shit.


    “Let’s go,” I murmured, the mission pulling us like a damn magnet. "Stay close. Call out anything unusual."


    Zoe took point, her passive camouflage doing its thing, making her almost disappear into the shadows. Even her footsteps were silent. I followed close, that familiar mix of dread and excitement churning in my gut. We were all on the same wavelength, calm but intense. Even Danny and Joey were being cautious, their bulky-ass power armor whirring away, making a racket. In the stillness of the underground? Yeah, fucking loudspeakers announcing our presence.


    The large chamber led to two tunnels. It’d be easy to get lost in here if you hadn’t done these sort of scenarios before. A hive scenario usually involved a queen. Where would the queen be? In the central chamber, somewhere low below you. The tunnel on the left sort of led downward, so that’s what we did.


    The tunnel we chose was getting tighter, like we were walking down the throat of some giant, sleeping monster. Every step felt heavier, every little sound echoed. My HUD was flickering, mapping the cramped space ahead. My situational awareness was on high alert. Every detail was screaming at me, the sharp edges of the walls, the uneven ground, the scuff of boots behind me. We''re sitting ducks here, perfect for an ambush. I held onto my energy sniper rifle. If something''s going to happen, it''s going to happen here.


    Then, the silence exploded.


    A sound like thousands of needles scraping metal tore through the tunnel, skittering, clacking, the dry rustling of chitin rubbing against itself. My HUD lit up red, and my visor was filled with movement, fast, erratic, closing in.


    I knew it. I fucking knew this was going to happen. It always happens.


    "Incoming!" I yelled, dropping to one knee, rifle up. "Form up! Stay tight!"


    They poured out of the darkness, all legs and armored plates, their carapaces glistening with condensation in the dim bioluminescent glow. Their claws scraped against the stone, sending sharp echoes bouncing down the tunnel.


    Some were scrambling along the walls, some darting ahead, some pausing as if trying to assess us.


    My critical strikes skill kicked in, highlighting the soft spots on these things: joints and underbellies. I fired, the energy sniper rifle spitting out a blue bolt of energy that slammed into one of the creatures right at a joint. It screeched and stumbled but kept coming.


    "Aim for the weak points!" I yelled, voice tight. "Joints, underbelly, find the gaps!"


    Ryan darted to the left, actually being useful for once, his Energy Scattergun spitting out short bursts. "These things are tanks!" he yelled, his shots mostly bouncing off their shells. "What are they made of, starship armor?"


    Then the drones reacted.


    Like a switch had flipped, their hesitation vanished. The moment the first few dropped, the rest rushed us.


    "Focus fire!" Zoe''s voice cut in, calm and steady. She''s in her element, the sexy badass. Her own devastator sniper rifle fired in quick succession, hitting a charging bug in the legs. It stumbled, fell on its belly. I pivoted, took aim, and finished it off with a shot to the exposed underside.


    Danny barreled forward, his massive energy warhammer humming. Normally, Danny was this quiet, nimble, cute kid, but in that powered armor with that giant hammer, he was a fucking beast. His slim figure was hidden inside that machine, but the way he moved... it was like poetry, but with more smashing.


    "Time to make some bug soup!" he roared, swinging the hammer in a wide arc. He looked fucking awesome. The impact cracked a big one''s shell, sending it flying back into the others. "Soft enough for you now?"


    Ryan seized the moment, lined up a headshot, and pulled the trigger. The bug''s head exploded, greens slime hitting the wall behind it, and it dropped like a sack of shit. "Nice assist, big guy!" Ryan yelled, grinning.


    I targeted another bug, my rifle snapping to its underbelly. The shot hit home, the energy blast burning through. "These things don''t stop," I muttered, already lining up the next shot. Our weapons weren’t really cutting it. We''re underpowered for these monsters.


    We were at least working well as a team. This is our element. This is what we do. And I''m gonna fucking own it.


    The cavern was going nuts. Shapes surged up the tunnel ahead, dozens of them, their skittering claws scratching the ground like a tidal wave of chitin and legs. The air hummed with energy fire, flashing off the tunnel walls as we lit them up.


    "Joey, cover the rear!" I yelled, snapping my rifle up to cover the front. "Don''t let them flank us!"


    "On it!" Joey''s Energy Shield flared to life, a shimmering barrier around him. The bugs slammed into it, hard, but it held. His voice was calm over the comms, even with all this shit going down. "Keep moving!"


    Emily was moving, finally out of her funk, her twin Energy Blasters spitting energy bolts as she targeted the weak points Zoe had identified. She twisted and rolled, dodging claws. “They''re too fucking fast," she growled. "We need to slow them down, or they''ll swarm us!"


    "Working on it!" Chris grunted. Like a goddamn action hero, I watched as his non conventional Energy Driver started shooting out a concentrated beam of energy, kicking in his hands as he tried to clear a path.


    "I''ve got a stunner grenade ready!” yelled Ryan.


    "Make it count," I said, dropping to one knee and aiming. I aimed at the joints on a bigger bug charging Joey''s position. I squeezed the trigger. The shot hit the knee joint, and the thing went down.


    "Nice shot!" Chris shouted.


    Ryan aimed the stunner, bracing himself. The air hummed, and then, crack! The stunner detonated. A wave of energy washed over the bugs, freezing a bunch of them in place.


    "Now! Focus fire!" Zoe commanded, her voice sharp. There she is, my girl. She was firing quick shots, precise and deadly. I saw her kneeling, aiming, fucking perfect form. We all followed, bolts of energy converging on the frozen bugs. Shells cracked, green goo sprayed, limbs went flying, and bugs dropped like flies.


    Danny roared, charging in with his Warhammer glowing like a miniature sun. His Aggro Beacon flared, pulling the bugs'' attention.


    "Come on, you ugly bastards!" he yelled, swinging the hammer. It connected with a huge one, shattering its shell and exposing the soft flesh underneath.


    Chris and Emily moved up, firing in together. Even Ryan was pulling his weight, for once in his life. Their shots hit the exposed creature, making it twitch and jerk.


    But it wasn''t enough.