"Scan the area for hidden tunnels and fake walls. The design of the tunnels says that there should be more down here, and I want to be absolutely sure before we move back to rejoin the group." Huntress Khan instructed.
The lingering effects of the battle, combined with whatever the enemy had been doing in here that managed to bring the demonic beings in from the other layer, had left a load of chaotic energy signals that were interfering with the sensors.
So, they did it the old-fashioned way and thumped their weapons against everything, stomped their feet and finally used the flamers on the walls to see if anywhere cooled at an unusual rate.
"There's nothing. Could it be that they just built an exit in an old tunnel used for summoning because it was convenient? We might be attributing too much forethought to the construction of the trenches.
They might have just built them there because that's where the offensive stalled." Max suggested.
"Well, the room has been purged down to clear stone, and there is no sign of any other way in or out, so I'm going to have to say that it's a possibility. It's also possible that this tunnel only seemed important because it was for summoning, but it wasn't used for regular movement.
We don't know what technology they're using to breach the layers, and their portals might need some room free of interference." Nico decided.
Khan sighed when she realized that they were at a dead end and needed to head back and find another way forward.
"Alright, let's get a move on before the others run into something that they can't handle."
They were about to leave the room when suddenly, a dozen of the violet-skinned demons appeared in the room without warning.
"Where the hell did that come from? I've got a probe in the other layer, and it doesn't see anything at all." Max cursed while he sprayed the room with Mass Driver rounds.
"Could they be coming from a different layer of reality?" Khan asked.
"It's possible, but it doesn't seem likely. From what data we've managed to gather, these beings should only be able to survive extended periods in two layers. Their home realm and this one." Nico replied with annoyance in her tone.
"Then they have a way to portal into this room, and we haven't located it yet. If they can do it without a local beacon, we could be in trouble." Max added.
He scanned the room again, looking for anything that they had missed, and noticed that the energy signature around the symbols carved in one wall had changed.
"Dammit, the markings on the wall serve as a beacon. Or there is a beacon in the wall behind them." Max cursed.
[Understood. Rip and Tear.] Nico cheered as she threw one of the creatures at the wall in question.
The creature nimbly dodged her next few attacks, but her goal was never to hit the creature, only to keep it occupied while she worked.
Each strike with her claws tore apart more of the sigil on the wall until the fifth one caused a small explosion.
[I believe we got it. Something in the wall exploded with that last strike. Now, let's finish these things and see if they come back.]
Max had been standing closest to the door at the moment the creatures arrived in the room, leaving him out of close combat, so he took time to snipe the heads of any creature that was getting an advantage on his teammates.
The fight was over in under ten seconds, just a flurry of claws and bullets, but the room was now covered in gore again.
The bodies were already beginning to disappear, confirming beyond any doubt that these were the same beings, and Max watched on his sensors as the probe picked up the wisps of energy entering the other layer before floating away.
"The energy dispersed in the winds of the other layer. These ones are gone for a moment. Deface any other sigils that we find and see if they have something hidden behind them." He instructed.
There were more markings down the hallway, so he moved out of the room and began to claw at them, feeling that same nagging feeling of Familiarity but not recognition.
Even if they finished on this planet in the next few days, he was going to find somewhere with more of those runes and decipher their meaning. That not-quite-understanding was getting on his nerves.
[Commanders, we have heavy incoming enemy forces from the main trenches. Current numbers are expected to overwhelm our bombardment and make it inside.] The leader of the android unit suddenly announced.
The data feed showed thousands of warriors, many with heavy weapons, charging through the tunnels toward the bunker where they had entered the underground layer.
[It looks like we picked the right tunnel. All units brace for incoming. Fall back if necessary, but don't let yourselves get isolated from the main chamber.] Khan ordered the rest of her team.
The three of them raced back down the tunnel just in time to unleash a barrage of Mass Driver fire on the first rank through the door of the main chamber.
"What are the androids doing up there? I thought that they were going to keep the entrance clear?" The Huntress left at the entry asked.
"They're working on it. When we destroyed the portal room at the end of the hallway, a couple thousand warriors charged us with energy barriers. It looks like they did a pretty good job on the timing." Max replied.
"A portal room? Feth, that's the last thing we needed in here." The Huntress cursed while she fired into the incoming crowd.
"Look at it this way. At least we don't need to go exploring any more underground tunnels. The enemy is coming right to us." Nico laughed.
"Of course, you would be enjoying this. But don't forget that I nearly got disembowelled earlier. They're not as easy of an opponent as they look." The Huntress complained, but didn't lower her rate of fire.
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