"Scheisse, not again!" Weber said when Perelli disappeared. "Noble, status on that bomb!"

  Noble traced wires along the casing of the bomb. There were many false ends. His determination was that the device was expertly crafted, and whoever had designed it was crafty.

  Tetsu reported, "Timer: 2 minutes, 36 seconds."

  "I'm going after the remote first," Noble said coolly. He picked up a precision tool and carefully began cutting wires.

  Weber focused back on the mindflayer just in time to watch Hessian fall. Black tentacles wormed their way up underneath the shield and around its legs. Before the frame could do anything, they coiled up around the armored joints and quickly engulfed the robot like roots sprouting upwards. They penetrated every gap and, in one blow, crushed the frame like a tin can. Parts, oil, and panels went flying as the valiant frame was crushed from the inside. Its dead body fell to the floor unceremoniously.

  The other operators weren't keen to just stand by. All the while, they unloaded on the creature in a loud cacophony of gunfire.

  Tora did his best to fight the limbs back with his blade, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. Finally, one grabbed hold of a Royal Marine. As the appendage dragged him toward the creature, he fought viciously with his own knife, trying to free himself. Tora tried to intervene but was forced back when three more came after him, forcing him to defend himself.

  The creature seemed to eat everything they sent at it. Bullets were either absorbed into its mass or simply dodged by its otherworldly speed.

  The Royal Marine screamed as it took hold of each of his limbs, held him up, and quartered him, ripping him apart limb from limb in full view of his comrades.

  "Fucker!" one of the assault troopers shouted, lobbing a grenade down the hall. It detonated against the creature’s face, causing it to flinch but not doing any visible damage.

  Noble now had a pile of stripped wires at his feet. "Okay, remote’s done. Time check?"

  "2 minutes," Tetsu reported.

  It couldn't be seen behind his visor, but Noble was sweating bullets. "Timer is likely to be booby-trapped," he muttered, tracing yet more wires. "Fissile material is here," he pointed with a pair of pliers, "so the accelerant is here." He thought for a mere second. "So, timer assembly is... aha! Here!" He got to work.

  A black limb slammed into Tora, throwing him hard against the wall. With the samurai out of the way, it surged forth to grab another trooper, this time grabbing Krakowski. The Polish operator swore as he was dragged across the floor, clawing at anything he could get his hands on to escape imminent death.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Weber came to his rescue, grabbing him by the back of his vest and tugging hard. It wasn't enough. The two SEALs came to his aid, pulling on Weber. A struggle ensued with Krakowski in the middle; one the Rifles were slowly losing as they played tug-of-war with the black mass.

  "Let go of him, bastard!" Kurt shouted, tossing a flashbang underhanded in between them, trying not to hurt the Pole but do something to lessen the grip on him. It worked.

  The mindflayer recoiled violently from the detonation and dropped Krakowski, his comrades quickly pulling him to safety. The blast also fried everyone's night vision for a short period. Weber made an observation.

  "Wilhelm!" he shouted at the assault trooper.

  "I saw it, I saw it!" he said, frantically reloading his rotary grenade launcher. Six empty 40mm casings hit the deck, and he began shoving new ones in as fast as possible.

  He slammed the magazine shut. "Stand back!" He fired. The bright light and loud concussive blast sent the creature reeling once again. Wilhelm aimed for the glowing eyes. Everyone was disoriented but also began to pour fire into the creature as best they could. Wilhelm fired a new grenade every few seconds, making maximum use of the time the creature spent disoriented. The mindflayer's black writhing mass was forced back down the hallway.

  Weber received a radio transmission. "Bagger, this is Prost Actual. Keep it up. Get him to the T at the end of the halls. We have mines ready to go."

  "Copy," Weber replied tersely. He ordered his men, "Light 'em up!" He ignited the bright flashlight on his rifle. Quickly, the others did the same, shining thousands of lumens at the creature. The staccato of rapid fire didn't cease.

  Finally, having had enough, the creature retreated, rapidly extricating itself down the hall.

  "Coming to you!" Weber radioed.

  When the monster reached the T where three halls met, there was a massive explosion. The shockwave rippled down the passage, rocking everyone's senses once again. Some rubble fell from the overhead, causing soldiers to dodge chunks of debris.

  When the blast cleared and the dust settled, there was nothing left but scorch marks and thick, black, syrupy liquid.

  "Where is it?" someone asked.

  Soldiers from Prost entered the T. "Friendlies! Comin' out!"

  Weber waved them forward. Concrete powder now covered everyone's armor.

  "SITREP?" Lieutenant Olsen asked him.

  "One MIA, one dead, two wounded—including my officer," Weber reported, then snapped his fingers, remembering. "The nuke!" He turned on his heel and ran back to the room where they found the device.

  He found Noble and Tetsu standing over a pile of disassembled parts. Tetsu was holding a large cylindrical hunk of metal. The kilo-class was stoic as ever, but Noble had taken his helmet off, and his fatigue was apparent. There was a slight tremble in his hands.

  "How much time was left?" Weber asked.

  "28 seconds," Noble said, then held up a pair of burnt wires. "Somebody tried to manually detonate at 30."

  Weber breathed a sigh of relief.

  Tetsu chimed in. "I am happy to report there has been no radioactive leakage."

  LTJG Olsen rounded the corner and let out a low whistle when he saw the nuke. "Good work, Chief," he said to Noble, who bowed half-sarcastically. Adrenaline was still flowing, and he was breathing heavily.

  "Thank the U.S. Navy. That was surprisingly similar to our simulations."

  Olsen turned to Weber. "By the way, Perelli's alive. Havoc just informed me. They have him."

  Weber met his gaze, confused. "H-how?"

  Olsen shrugged. "Vampire bullshit."