The ancient construct rose.

  Kaelen, who had been in the forefront since early, had now lost all his greed as he stumbled along the way, stretching out his hands towards his other party members, pleading not to leave him behind.

  "P-Please, don't leave me!" His voice bellowed through the verdant forest, only to be shadowed over by the crackling of metallic joints, and the snapping of vines and vegetation along with the whirring of the ancient construct.

  Despite his age and experience over numerous expeditions, Brennan fought his instincts and glanced back at Kaelen. With a click of his tongue and tightening of his palms to the point of them turning white, anger rose from his chest.

  "Reach for my hand!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, as he stretched out his hand to Kaelen, who was crawling on the ground, tears falling down his cheeks.

  Kaelen wiped his tears off his face and reached for the hand. "T-Thank you!" Once he had grabbed hold of Brennan's hands with a twist of a smile, he pulled Brennan over to bring himself back up, and pushed him over to the rising ancient construct. "Your sacrifice would not be in vain." Kaelen spoke plainly, his voice filled with apathy.

  Brennan tripped on a rock and tumbled down just as Kaelen turned his back and dashed away from the place. Brennan, expecting to hit his head hard, was surprised to see that something cold and metallic supported his back.

  That's when it suddenly clicked for him. A metallic mechanical pseudo-arm hovered behind his back as the ancient construct behind him steadied itself. Despite his rising fear, his eyes dilated and his mouth was left agape as the soil cascaded down from the construct's hull.

  The pseudo arm then brought him to much more stable ground. He glanced and observed the entire structure of the arm; it sported a giant mechanical apparatus of gears that was continuously rotating around at its very head. From the apparatus, a loud whizzing sound reverberated through the air and towards him, as cold wind was being blown towards him.

  Equally confused and fascinated, he moved his head overhead towards the giant construct, which could be over thirty to forty meters in height. Its hull was sleek in style, with no blemishes, no rivets, completely symmetrical and smooth. Along its side was the unknown inscription of "United Earth Defense Force," gleaming brilliantly to the sky, and towards him.

  Kaelen ran as fast as he could, and after a few moments he arrived at a clearing where both Lyria and Mira were waiting.

  "Where's Brennan, Kaelen?" Mira asked, confused, with her left eyebrow raised in slight suspicion.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Unfortunately, he was swallowed by the construct as we were running from it." Kaelen said as he panned his eyes to the right side while answering.

  Lyria, who was observing, kept her distance, feeling uncomfortable at all the things happening. "Damn you!" She screamed in frustration. "We shouldn't have followed you here." She bawled her eyes out.

  Upon seeing Lyria, Kaelen clicked his tongue, which did not go unnoticed by Mira. "I apologize. I will make it up to you somehow." He muttered, as he lowered his gaze to Lyria's chest.

  With her instincts screaming, Mira stepped forward with her right shoulder to block Kaelen from Lyria.

  "I think we should go our separate ways now." Mira replied with a calm but terrifying tone, as slight energy formed around them.

  Kaelen, who saw the defensiveness of Mira, clicked his tongue, which all of them heard this time. "Fine, suit yourselves!" He said monotonously.

  This answer unnerved Lyria. In a fit of anger, she opened her mouth in frustration, but was stopped by Mira. Upon seeing Mira's gaze, she stopped in her tracks.

  Kaelen, with a cold gaze, simply walked away, but first gazed back at Lyria with a smirk, then gave her a wink with an intense lustful gaze.

  The Adjutant whirred in the cockpit as numerous interfaces were simultaneously brought up into the fray.

  "Lieutenant, we have a situation outside." The Adjutant buzzed. "We seem to have startled the sentient species."

  Altair gazed into the camera. "Ignore the—" His voice was cut off as he saw something that made his blood boil. "Everywhere, anywhere, no matter the species, people like those exist." He spoke with a scathing voice.

  However, he placed his right hand on his chest, and breathed in and out. Once he opened it, he focused with heightened intensity. "Adjutant, before that man falls into the pit we have created, deploy a repair drone to assist him." He ordered as he stared intently at the other person running away from the clearing. "If I ever loop again, I will remember you." His voice was filled with disdain and disgust.

  "Affirmative, Lieutenant." The Adjutant responded with a slight distortion that seemed to have more energy mixed into it. "The drone has been sent, Lieutenant!"

  Altair nodded, and glanced back at the matters at hand. "Adjutant, send out the biological pings, so that our sensors would be able to track the enemies."

  The Adjutant fizzed in response as numerous red dots appeared in the interface map.

  "One... two... three" Altair counted. "Hmm, there are twelve of them. They seem to be composed entirely of biological matter." He hummed as he rummaged through his brain.

  He deduced, when suddenly the first enemy entered the forest clearing. His eyes widened in surprise, eyes dilated, as he stared with laser-focused intensity. His heart started to beat faster, as adrenaline started to flush within him.

  "What abomination is that thing?" He said grimly, yet his eyes never left the screen.

  A monster appeared a few dozen meters from the Ironside, grotesque in appearance, with crimson liquid leaking all over its body, multiple mouths and eyes present all over its body. Its body was like that of a blob of slime with multiple limbs protruding out of its body. Its muscle fibers were broken, as tissue and bones could be seen in the open. Along its entire body, it vibrated occasionally, like a beating heart.

  What was more terrifying than them all, was that there weren't any coherent design for each of the monsters. Each of them was terrifyingly unique from the others, as if they came from someone's nightmare.