"Are you certain this is going to work?" Wooyoung panted as he rolled the last barrel to the side of the thruster. Sweat dripped from his brow from the effort as he stood and smoothed back his silver hair.

"There's no certainty in anything only probability," I hefted a plastic barrel over my shoulder. The contents within sloshed from side to side as I walked. "But this is the scenario in which we will least likely die."

It didn't look like my words gave Wooyoung any confidence.

I noticed his reluctance and nodded to the railing up above. "One thing that is certain is if we fail to act quickly our chances of success will diminish."

Wooyoung clicked his tongue at me. "Shit I know what to do. Just don't screw up anything on your end."

"It's impossible for me to 'screw up' as you say. I will always make the correct calculated choices in any given situation. But you're human," I tried to explain to him. "'therefore 'screwing up' is in your nature. Not mine."

Somehow saying this gave me great satisfaction.

Wooyoung gave me a strange look, seemingly at a loss for what to say, and pointed an accusatory finger at me. "If I didn't know any better cyborg I'd think you were being a smart ass." He retreated to the steps up to the perch. Looking at his receding back I noticed a flush of bright red that had crept up his neck and covered his ears.

Once in position and hidden from view he gave me the thumbs up. I closed my eyes and pulled up the blueprints once more. The heat signatures I had seen earlier were making their way to the hangar, no doubt searching for us after slaying their siblings.

I pulled the cap off of the barrel and carefully dumped the contents into the thruster, wary of the splash back. The acid sizzled melting through everything it touched, metal and eggs alike. The ones that had yet to hatch bubbled and writhed, screams of the unborn ringing through the air.

The heat signatures were on the move now rapidly approaching the hangar from all sides. Soon enough I could make out the sounds of them chittering angrily through the walls.

Holes bore through metal and the thruster creaked as it's foundation weakened, acid dripping onto the floor in a steady hiss. Wooyoung and I had already set out a nullifying solution to prevent it from eating through the bottom of the ship.

I pulled two pistols from my waistband and referred to the heat scanner. Reds, yellows, and oranges flooded my view and an alarm rang in my head as the horde of them closed in.

ENTERING BARRAGE MODE

Mind completely focused the world around me became more sharply defined within my eyes. As I waited for targets my arms became taunt, holding the guns steady in front of me I waited for the spiders to make their appearance.

The thunder of hundreds of legs tapping filled the hangar as spider's burst forth from between crevices, under machinery, and out from ventilation ducts. Down the walls and across the floor they ran, hairy bodies clambering over one another as they fought their way in my direction.

With a bang and pop I pulled the trigger annihilating one spider after another.

Many of them leapt through the air towards me with their fangs bared. I fired off my guns and nailed the airborne arachnids with deadly precision.

"Now!" I shouted and kicked the first barrel over. The liquid spilled out over the ground washing away the first line of spiders. It seared through their bodies and acrid smelling plumes rose up from the wave. Some didn't stop in time and hit the acid at a run, legs and bodies dissolving on impact.

Wooyoung stood up from his hiding spot with a plasma cannon. The massive weapon hummed to life as it charged to full power. The air crackled around him, his hair raising with the electricity. He braced his leg against the railing with his back against the wall. "Stand clear!"

I knocked over two more barrels then dove behind a pillar as Wooyoung let loose the first blast. I nimbly rolled from my back onto my knees just as three more booms reverberated in the air making my ears ring.

The ball of plasma connected with the swarm sending them flying through the air. The three other consecutive blasts Wooyoung set off linked together by a bolt of lightning. It electrified the pools of acid, sending shocks through the spiders that were unlucky enough to come close. Their bodies fizzled and convulsed as the current travelled through them and I shielded my eyes from the blinding light.

Blinking in the aftershock I searched for Wooyoung who was still in his perch loading the cannon. I caught sight of spiders hastily ascending the rails to attack.

"Wooyoung to your left!" I shouted.

"Dammit I've got this!" He shouted back dropping the smoking cannon to the ground. He pulled out two throwing knives he had hidden under his jacket, sending the first one whistling through the air pinning a spider to the wall. The second blade he wielded expertly felling anything that came his way.

He sliced one flying spider clean in half while he simultaneously crushed another under his boot that tried to crawl up his pant leg. He was distracted for half a second as one from behind leapt onto his back.

And sent him falling over the railing.

"No!" I cried out.

I spun out from behind the pillar and raced towards Wooyoung who crashed to the ground. I wasn't able to get far when a group of them surrounded me and cut me off.

In one swift move I slid two new clips into the twin pistols and continued my assault. I pivoted on my heel and laid waste to any that dare come close, a few stragglers tried and failed to escape my gunfire. Their dying screeches echoed around the now nearly empty hangar.

Once freed I made it to Wooyoung's side. He had landed from the thirty foot drop on his back. His eyes were wide and he gasped desperately for air. "I'll....I'll... be... o-okay." He wheezed.

"Don't move I don't know the extent of your injuries." My hands travelled over his head checking for any blood. Other than his uneven breathing there was nothing else notably wrong. I scanned him and noticed he had a concussion and a few cracked ribs. He was lucky falling from that height that there was no internal bleeding. Time was of the essence though and I needed to hurry and bring back help.

"I'll finish this quickly and bring back the crew." I promised and stood to my feet.

Then I heard a scuffle behind me.

I turned and my gaze met with dozens of eyes. The spider was far larger than the ones we had been fighting. It vibrated as it snarled back at me, body coiling as it prepared to charge.

Then it ran, eating the distance between us in seconds. I aimed both my pistols but they each clicked once, uselessly empty. Seizing it's chance the spider careened into me, it's spindly legs wrapping around my torso.

The force knocked me over onto the floor. I hit my head with a dull thump and tasted blood in my mouth. As I laid there dangerously disoriented I blinked and looked around for something to fight it off with. The spider shrieked and dug it's sharp legs into my skin, the bony points ripping through clothing and flesh. Tears pricked at my eyes and I screamed, warm blood seeping from my wounds. I brought my knees up in an attempt to pry it off me but it was too strong.

TRANS___RING 6__ PO__R

TR______NG  ___ P____

__________ —__ —____

___________________

The screen went dark.

What happened? I thought numbly. My head hurt so bad it felt like glass shards digging into my skull.

The spider hissed and clawed it's way up to my face, venom dripping from it's fangs as it reared back to bite me.

I'm sorry, I closed my eyes as the spider bore down on me. In the end I couldn't protect anyone.

Suddenly there was a shout and the sound of fast approaching footsteps. I opened my eyes just as something swung through the air above me. Wielding his crackling sword, the Star King had sliced off the spider's fangs. The spider screeched loudly as he brought his blade down again and again running it straight through. It's dozens of eyes rolled back in death and it toppled over, blood dripping down onto my chest. I looked up to see the Star King panting over me, firmly gripping the hilt of his sword.

The rest of the crew filed into the hangar with their weapons drawn. They did a sweep of the room, sidestepping around pools of acid and double checking that each spider was in fact dead. The Star King wiped the blade of his sword on his sleeve and fixed me with a concerned look.

"Are you alright?" He asked holding out his hand.

"I'm not sure," I answered and attempted to sit up. I was hit with a wave off dizziness and the Star King grabbed onto my arms and helped me to my feet. His breath in my hair made me conscious of how close he held me.

At this distance I noticed just how beautiful his features were. Delicate and nearly feminine if not for the sharp definition of the jaw, or the hard set of his stormy colored eyes.

I tried to step back which only made him pull me in even tighter, flush against his chest. "What're you doing? You're barely standing straight." He chided. This emotion me feel hot like my body was burning, scorching everywhere our skin connected.

I hoped he couldn't tell what being this close to him was doing to me.

The hangar had become a war zone. Blood and gore covered the floor and splayed over the once pristine white walls. Countless corpses lay curled in on themselves where they had fallen or sat melting on the ground.

"Wooyoung," I gasped and pointed in the fallen crew member's direction. The men ran over to where he lay prone on the ground. The air was thick with foul smelling smoke that made me cough. "He fell from the perch."

The Star King looped an arm around my waist and pulled my arm over his shoulders. "Hold on to me." He gently commanded and walked with me to where the rest of the crew sat crouched around Wooyoung.

"I'm alright," Wooyoung grunted pushing Seongwha's hand away. A trickle of blood travelled down his brow from his hairline. "It just... hurts like hell to b-breath.."

Unperturbed Seongwha reached for his head again trying to find the source of the blood. Seemingly satisfied that it wasn't serious he dabbed at it with a hankerchief. "Good thing you're so hard headed, Wooyoung. A fall from that height would've killed anyone else." He said with a smile. Regardless of the setting this earned laughs from everyone else, even Wooyoung.

"Shit, s-stop it hurts to l-laugh." He said with a chuckle grabbing his side.

"What were you guys trying to do here?" Yeosang asked looking out over the massacre. The Star King helped lower me to the ground so I could rest.

"Luring out the Matriarch," I responded. I could feel a tingling as my wounds slowly begin to close up. Although the room was still tilting I was already starting to feel stronger. "I was going to trap her inside your ship. She's too powerful for the crew to fight."

I could see the Star King stiffen at my words. "You planned on doing this all by yourself then?"

For some reason it was difficult to give him an answer. "Yes, meeting up with Wooyoung was not something I calculated into my plan."

"You always talk about calculations but did you ever factor in the unknown?" The Star King said. His voice suddenly had an edge to it that felt like hurt. "Sometimes living isn't about coldly calculating before making a move. Sometimes it's trusting your gut or placing your faith in someone else."

"Faith?" I asked, his words were beginning to confuse me. "I don't know what that is."

The Star King pondered for a bit before saying. "It's about letting go of control, even if it's just a little, and letting someone else take over. For my brothers," He waved a hand gesturing to the crew before resting it against his chest. "and for myself faith is all that we have in each other."

I considered his words. Faith sounded something that couldn't be factored in logically.

"Do you understand now Ten?" Yunho said plopping down next to me on the floor a smile playing on his lips. "I would never have come back had we not had that conversation in the red desert. I felt so lost but the way you look at the world made it all seem so easy." The warm feeling built in my chest threatening to overwhelm me.

Why does it feel like I've found something that I've lost?

"Then you stepped in and put your life on the line for San, my brother," Mingi said in his deep voice. He was looming over me, plasma rifle slightly shaking in his arms. "Regardless if it got out of hand you didn't let him die."

"And you saved all of our lives today so thank you Ten." Yeosang added looking at me with a gentle gleam in his eyes.

The captain surprised me by crouching next to me and resting a hand on my shoulder. "The crew has already put their faith in you. I'm willing to let go of what I think I know about you and do the same." Steely resolve shone in his stormy eyes as he stood with his men unsheathing his sword. They all stood together looking down at me, weapons at the ready.

"Will you join us?"

I considered what he asked of me and felt something well up inside that gave me a soft assurance that I had never known before. But I nodded my head all the same and whispered "Yes."

"So what's the plan captain?" Mingi asked with a slight tremor to his voice. "What do we do about the Matriarch?"

"Mingi get Wooyoung out of here," The Star King ordered before turning to Seongwha. "Be sure to cover both of them." Seongwha's eyes glinted dangerously reaching for his weapon.

"Of course." He responded coolly.

"Wooyoung can't fight like he is now," The captain told his second in command. Mingi nodded his face serious and swiftly lifted Wooyoung up. "Aish Mingi I swear if you drop me..." Wooyoung protested weakly.

"Yunho and Yeosang will search for San and Cerber and make sure they're safe," The Star King nodded to the two other men who were awaiting orders. "Alright." Yunho confirmed tightening his tactical vest. Yeosang loaded a fresh clip into his rifle.

"What is my current objective captain?" I asked the Star King, as the last of my wounds closed and I shakily got to my feet.

"You and I will finish what you started," He responded confidently. "You're plan is going to be our best bet at destroying that monster. Can you find her location?"

I closed my eyes and was met with a dark unresponsive screen. I shook my head regretfully. "I still can't access my system. I hit my head and now I'm in the dark about where she is."

"Here Ten let me try something," Yunho suggested and stepped in front of me . He withdrew a small object from his pocket, a pin light, and shined it in my eyes. I squinted for a second but followed the trail of the light. Instantly my vision flickered in and out, a screen slowly loading.

"Something's happening," I informed the crew.

"It's good to know that some tricks still work on more advanced cyborgs." Yunho said grinning and pocketing the light. Him and Yeosang began to exit the hangar along with Mingi carrying a wounded Wooyoung with Seongwha close behind. The screen finally loaded and filled my vision.

Just as an alarm went off.

"Wait—!" I called out to the men as the temperature in my infrared vision rose. The siren wailed drowning out their voices and I was momentarily blinded by nothing but a sea of red as something large crawled into view...

And laid in waiting right beneath our feet.