<strong>GS Danko - Third Squad - Let's ROOOOCK!</strong><hr/><br/>Danko had no time to think about how she’d pay Jones back for his hand on her ass – though she’d be sure to make him pay – as they came to the end of the corridor and started down several long flights of stairs and into the compound’s sub-basement.  Everyone seemed to go quiet as they moved, as if they all sensed that things had suddenly changed.  It was damn quiet.  Too quiet.<br/><br/><em>"I know some of you have some questions, one each and I will answer them to my best of my ability."<br/><br/>“I’m pretty sure I already asked one, L.T.” He (Jones) said, his voice as cold as ice.</em><br/><br/>Riska nodded in silent agreement.   “Maybe you could just tell us what they hell we’re dealing with here rather than playing a game of twenty questions.  Sir,” she said.  “Seems pretty obvious that you know more than you’re letting on and with all due respect, I’d rather not die because someone kept something important to themselves.”<br/><br/>As they descended, there was a noticeable change in the air.  Though the air outside had been warm and humid, it was even hotter and wetter down here, and as Riska set her boots on the floor when they reached the bottom, she frowned at the coating of mist that hovered at ankle height, billowing around the squad as they moved.  This new hallway was dark as pitch, and she was grateful for the lights carried by several members of the squad, as well the glow given off by the flamethrower in Mathias’ hands.<br/><br/>Danko was fully alert now, taking one cautious step after another as she moved, gun ready in her hands, glancing around at the sterile white walls.  Gradually, the surface began to shift; forcing her to frown again as the smooth surface gave way to an uneven, almost organic looking dark surface.  It was like some bizarre and random bones, clinging to the walls, transforming it into a skeletal tunnel.  She eyed Mathias as he ran a gloved hand over the stuff.  Even though she couldn’t see his face he was clearly as amazed by as she was, but Riska left touching it for another time, when the hairs on the back of her neck weren’t standing at attention, like they were now.<br/><br/><em>Feckin' mother of Joseph, the hell is that gnarly sonova bitch?"  </em><br/><br/>With Ben and the LT in front of her, Danko wasn’t able to see just what had caused the Lance Corporal to speak immediately.  She could only see the form of the man lying on the floor.  But once he moved to the side, the sight came into view.  “What the<em>hell</em>?” she murmured, staring at the thing glued to the man’s face.  As she watched, its tail or whatever the fuck it was curled tighter around the man’s neck in response to Mathias’ prodding.  Though she’d seen her fair share of strange shit out in space, Riska had never seen anything quite like this.  Unconsciously, one hand released her gun just long enough to form a warding sign against evil.<br/><br/><em>"Frisky little bugger or somethin'," he said nervously, poorly attempting to mask his complete and utter confusion. <br/><br/>“I’m going to say this again,” Marcus spoke, as his took in the horrific sight. “What the fuck?”</em><br/><br/>“I’ll second that,” Danko said.  Behind them, Cooper sounded like he was going to throw up.<br/><br/><em>"That's a face fucker, now I know what happened to those damn colonist..."</em><br/><br/>“Excuse me, Sir, a what?” Danko asked, now totally convinced that the LT had been holding out on them and had known what they were walking into the entire time.  “Are you saying that that thing has got something down his throat, like some weird ass alien<em>blow job</em>?”<br/><br/>The report of the LT’s shotgun was all the answer she got.<br/><br/><em>"If one of those things ever gets attached to my face, kill me."</em><br/><br/>“Ditto,” Riska agreed.  “If it comes to that, I’ll do everybody in this fucking squad.”<br/><br/>Then all hell broke loose as the motion trackers began to go wild, as if the LT’s shot had woken something up.  Lots of somethings.<br/><br/><em>"Fire, if you got it, use it, the sons of bitches don't like fire! Gunny, you get the right side, don't let anything near you! Mathias hold your fucking ground, I got your back! The rest of you, turn around and start shooting!"</em><br/><br/>“Affirmative!”  Danko barked, moving quickly into place.  “Jones, I’m going to need some fire here!”<br/><br/><em>"Ohh and don't let their blood splatter on ya apes! You ain't gonna like it!"</em><br/><br/>“<em>Now </em>he’s sharing,” Danko grumbled under her breath.  Planting both her feet wide to support the report of the M56, she began to fire in full automatic mode, the bursts from the gun’s muzzle lighting up the hallway as she panned left and right, adding to the fire from Jones’ flame caster.<br/><br/><em>“Don’t like fire huh?” He called out, taunting the unseen creature. “Well you picked the wrong marine, honey, because I’m all kinds of hot!”</em><br/><br/>Unlike Jones, Danko had no witty taunt to toss into their unseen attacker’s face, just a burning and grim determination to make them all kinds of dead as quickly and efficiently as possible.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>