Hive. Serah Korrin

Log Entry 3162.10.31 Situation Summary: Lower decks overrun by Hive forces. Broadcast of Operative Unit Omega approaching detected. Serah Korrin and key Hive operatives—including Lira Halden, Ralen Vos, and Tahl Renn—prepare interception strategies. Simultaneously, Varik Juno, Nyssa Vey, and Aria Venn attempt containment and quarantine from Engineering and Command, inadvertently creating obstacles for Serah. --- Chapter LII — Serah Korrin The low hum of the lower decks was punctuated by the clicks and skitters of Hive units moving in tight formations. Serah Korrin paused, sensing every subtle vibration of the hull. Then the broadcast cut through the static. Operative Unit Omega… incoming. Her pre-assimilation training surfaced automatically. She remembered every tactical protocol, every strike team maneuver, every Imperial pattern. She could predict their movements even before they docked. But the world was no longer hers alone. Varik and Nyssa had been rerouting power, sealing off sections remotely through Erebus’ interface. Walls that should have been clear for her ambush were now quarantined. Hive units she intended to deploy were stalled in containment loops. Serah hissed, a soft ripple of frustration. “Adjust. Adapt. Nothing gets out ahead of me,” she murmured, moving fluidly through the shadowed corridors, her body lithe, her limbs working in sync to scale pipes and avoid traps. Ralen and Lira Halden were already coordinating nearby grunts, anticipating the strike team’s likely entry points. Tahl Renn had stationed bio-pulsers along access corridors, ready to corral intruders or force them into lethal ambushes. Orlen Vance… dead. The Hive mind had informed her. She shouldn’t care—she was Hive—but a hollow twist of loss struck her nonetheless. The ghost of their confrontation, their old friendship still lingered in her consciousness. a faint echo of his stubborn defiance.