Orlen Vance

Log Entry 3162.10.30 Situation Summary: Master-at-Arms Orlen Vance — Lower Decks, ISS Vigilant Dawn Status: Engaged in ongoing defensive actions with a small team of surviving personnel. Environment: Restricted access sector, heavy Hive infestation. Notes: Cycle of attrition continues — Hive creatures regenerate from fallen crew. Captured entity identified as former crewmate “Serah Korrin.” Psychological degradation noted among defenders. --- Chapter XXIX — Orlen Vance The corridor stank of spent rounds, scorched flesh, and recycled air gone foul. The walls shook with the rhythmic pulse of rifle fire — bursts of white-hot plasma cutting through the dimness, hitting shapes that never seemed to stay down for long. Orlen Vance ducked behind a bulkhead, wiped the sweat and grime from his face, and reloaded. His hands trembled. He wasn’t sure if it was fear, fatigue, or rage anymore. “They’re coming again!” one of the marines shouted, voice hoarse. Of course they were. They always were. The deck plating rattled as the Hive advanced — the shuffle of many feet, the scrape of claws, the low droning hum that filled the air like the sound of distant bees. Every shot they fired dropped another wave of their old friends — and every time, those friends rose again with glassy eyes and broken bodies, crawling, twitching. “Commander…” The voice came from the far wall. Orlen turned his head, his pulse spiking. Serah Korrin. She was chained to a conduit brace, her wrists bound in magnetic cuffs, her once-dark eyes glowing faintly gold. She smiled — a calm, knowing smile that belonged to the Hive now. “Still fighting the tide?” she said softly, her voice layered with that echoing undertone. “You always were stubborn. It’s all right to let go, you know. We’re not dying anymore. We’re becoming.” “Shut it,” Orlen muttered, turning away. He focused on the next volley, squeezing off shots at the corridor entrance as Hive shapes flooded forward again.