The series of explosions caused the ground to crack and shift, dust and stone filled the tunnels below as all manner of sharp objects tore through the mass of creatures that has stormed the bunker. Just out of blast range the Hounds managed to keep more of the creatures getting to the area, however it looked as though they didn't mind not getting closer, they lingered just within view snarling and hissing as often as they could, the occasional scream or howl would follow but few dared to venture forward. Waiting for news from the Sgt they held formation, the men and women of the Cardiff Hounds hoped that the almighty earth shift had not backfired. Each of them without voicing it hoped everyone made it out ok.

Dust and small stones fell from the ceiling as the Owls and the Sgt got back to their feet. They had been caught in the shift as they had stopped on the wrong side of the safe line. Picking themselves up one by one they looked around.

"Roll Call...!" Shouted Lacy as she patted dust off Maverick's shoulders.

Everyone called out thier names, Lacy ticked them off in her head. Luke, Giles and Hunter were not with them, they would have to double back and find them, it would be dangerous as the tunnels could cave in at any point. Turning to her father she looked for anything to help her make the decision she needed to make. Timothy simply looked at her, his son was missing, he couldn't think straight.

Igor pointed down the tunnel and through the dust a few shadows could be seen. Lacy rushed forward and as the shadows drew closer it was clear there were only two of them. Everyone's hearts sank, but who was missing it was hard to make out. Lacy spotted Giles being supported by Luke arms over shoulders, she cried half of relief and the other pain, Hunter had been a good guy, she dropped to help Luke carry Giles, it was only then she noticed Giles was missing most of his left leg, she looked at them both, tears had been streaming down their faces, the tears had left tracks through all of the dust on their faces. Turning to Luke she looked at him questioningly.

"He only made it to the top, he trapped his leg, Giles and I only just made it in." His eyes lowered to the floor, in the dim light she could make out smears of blood, cuts and a few glistening shards of glass left in their armour. As they approached the others Timothy ran to his son and took his place holding up Giles, "I'm so glad your both ok. Hunter?"

Luke shook his head, his eyes began to fill with tears again, he wiped them away with what was left of his jacket sleeve.

"We need to get back top side, the Hounds will be waiting for us, the next vent should be a little way up a head." Knowing his son was ok the Sgt regained his posture and focus, they were still a long way from safe.

The Owls and the Sgt made it to the vent without crossing the path of any creatures, which they were very thankful for, Sgt Fields was going first up the ladder, secure the area and then help Giles up, as he went to lift the vent it was pulled open from above and a hand lowered to help him up.

"We thought you might need a hand." Nuke smiled as his friend and leader helped him up.

"We have one bird injured, one fatal." He looked about and the entire outfit was looking on, the sadness flashed in their eyes, a loss no matter who, was always hard on the team.

Bridget stepped forward to reach a hand down to help the next up "Who have we lost?" She asked, it was he question asked as though they had suffered a loss of a Hound.

Sgt Fields looked to the sky then at those around him again. "Hunter."  Even among the Hounds each of the Owls was seen as an equal and the loss would not be any less painful. "Giles has lost the majority of his left leg, he won't be continuing Combat Actions." It was a harsh blow and everyone felt the sting.

A hand grabbed hold of Bridgets and she helped Salt up through the vent cover, she was quickly followed by Cade, who reached back to help Brett get Giles up and through. Everyone else followed quickly not wanting to linger too long within the tunnels, cries had began to echo as the real nest began to stir, they all needed to get clear of the city and fast.

..... Already Added .....

Once all of the Owls were back above ground it was time to head back, the night was darkening and there had been no sign of these new threats, the Sgt was glad of this, yet he knew there was still more than enough time for that to change. The whole thing seemed curious, the Screamers were acting oddly, maybe it had something to do with their queen, maybe her wounds had been fatal, maybe they were just angry, or maybe they were just being the monsters they are. Whatever the reasons it set Sgt Fields very much on edge, there was more going on here than they knew, but they still had no way of finding out what was going on.

Deep long howls rose across the city, very different to those of the screamers, they seemed more wolf like, just as eerie, just as unnerving. Everyone raised their rifles and walked in a close knit formation with the Owls safely in the middle, the Sgt didn't want to take any risks but as the howls grew getting out unnoticed would now be impossible. Stopping to take a moment to think Sgt Fields decided to send on a team to safe guard a route through the city, they also needed to check on the shuttles, they had been left too long unattended. Nuke, Blitzer, Cannon and Phelps took the scout role, they would be down through the city in no time, Blitzer could check over the shuttles and get them started while the others held any hostiles at bay. Or so the Sgt hoped, the rest lingered to allow the scout team time to do what they needed, taking stock of their ammo it was starkly clear to the Owls that they were running low, the Hounds on the other hand were still fairly well stocked. Sgt Fields ordered for ammo to be distributed to the Owls incase they needed it, however he warned that the youngses would engage only if unavoidable. The events of the day had not panned out as expected every step forward was now important to both teams.

Cannon looked down the scope of his rifle into an alley he was determined had hostiles moving toward them, but he strained himself to triple check, there was nothing and he felt very uneasy. Blitzer on the other hand strolled with his rifle hung at his hip, his care free attitude was a stark contrast to the rest of the teams resolve while in the field, it was his quick eye and even faster reaction that made him dangerous, turning on a whim from unaware to ruthless faster than you could blink. Both men walked ahead of Nuke and Phelps, it was these situations that made Nuke uneasy, not walking into a city Infested with creatures that want to kill him, but doing so at the side of a Woman, he wasn't sexist in anyway, he fully supported women in the ranks, but always felt uneasy working beside them, Phelps smiled as she nodded forward, Cannon had tucked himself up on a corner with his rifle up. Phelps raised her rifle and took a knee steadying the rifle providing a position of over lapping fire if anything appeared from the alley. Nuke grabbed his thermal visor to check for cold movement within the alley, his gulp was almost loud enough to hear, the alley was crawling with movement. Looking at Cannon the team leaded nodded fast, it was the common signal for large hostile numbers, Cannon grabbed his charges and placed one right on the corner under his foot, the other he gave an almight push to slide it across to the other corner of the alley falling a foot or so short, he quickly rigged the trigger to blow in five seconds, it would be just enough time to clear the area. The trigger dropped the the four of them sprinted as fast as they could counting down in their heads, darting right down another alley they heard the charges explode and the yelps of dozens of creatures as the blast tore through them. They hadn't bothered looking back at all, Nuke however wanted to see what they were, there had been far too many of them to be screamers, something new altogether he suspected.

A cloud of smoke and fire exploded within the city, Cade looked on as the flames licked at the night sky. Sgt Fields turned to the group "Time to move." They had waited a few minutes more than he wanted to, it wasn't out of choice as Giles bandages had soaked through and needed to be tended to again. There had been no conversation while they waited, everyone's mood was too somber and they just wanted to process what was going on. At the Sgts orders everyone got to their feet and started moving toward the explosion they couldn't go any other way, time was running out. A sudden chorus of howls filled the air again, this time seemingly closer than the last. Not knowing what could be hunting them had the entire group on edge, constant head turns, double checking every shadow and corner.

Then a heart sinking howl boomed down the street from behind them, the group stopped dead, everyone turned to see what had made the godawful noise, now seeing it they wished they hadn't, it was huge, the size of an elephant, all pale wrinkled flesh, bones protruding from its spine like rock sized lumps. Its back legs were bent like an animal stalking prey, its front legs or arms it was hard to tell, allowed it to lift its chest to let off another howl. Its teeth sharp like small knives, eyes as white as snow, like those of the screamers, its ears elongated and narrow, it looked like it was made of pure muscle, the Sgts only though was 'where the hell has that been hiding' before he let off a burst of fire, the others quickly joined in. The creatures hide was thick, the rifles barely making a dent. Realising the impending danger Sgt Fields gave the order to run.

Despite its size the creature was fast, able to run and leap with ease, its size also meant that it had a hard time weaving through the alleys, which was the only thing keeping the team alive. Another howl sounded off in the distance, there were now two of them and it wasn't looking good. Turning another corner they came to the alley or at least what was left of it where the explosion had been. Nuke and his team were picking through the debris "We have got to go." Shouted the Sgt as he passed them with the others close behind.

Nuke grabbed a lifeless form from the rubble and then his team followed behind. The hulking mass of the creature clawed and rammed its way through the alleys after its prey, while more howls shattered the sky right across the city, two, four, seven, nine, the number of distinct howls grew, how could something this big and with these numbers gone unseen in the city. It seemed impossible that they knew nothing about these creatures, Screamers had been documented for years, slight mutations from place to place but they were still screamers. The building beside them exploded in a storm of rock as another creature appeared, its sheer size used like a battering ram through the walls. It head the size of small car snapped as it tried to grab one of the Hounds it had knocked to the floor, the fast thinking Hound grabbed one of her charges and threw it into the creatures jaw, she scrambled to her feet with some help and was away as he charge scattered the creature inside the building and across the alley.

The edge of the city was in sight and a sigh of relief could be heard from the group, the creatures were still in pursuit but the howling had dropped away, fewer and further, the Sgt hoped this was a good sign, moments later they passed the edge of the city, they had undershot their desired location due to being chased, they would have to skirt around the city a little to get back to he shuttles. Screamers began to appear on the roof tops of the buildings but again would not venture beyond, their cries and groans filled the night air almost like a chat, and Sgt Fields remembered from last time what happened. They moved as quickly as they could Giles was barely staying awake, if they didn't hurry up he would not make it. In the distance the group heard a series of explosions which escalated to one large one before a billow of drak grey smoke rose ahead of them. Everyone stopped again, if they thought their hearts couldn't sink any lower they were wrong. "Miller, Phelps take a look and please tell me thats not what I think it is." Timothy found his resolve was quickly fading, he didn't know how much more his team or himself could take, they were alive at least, and for now, but if they had just lost their shuttles then it was a long walk home. Not wanting to linger but having little choice the group watched with puzzled thoughts to the odd behaviour of the screamers, whispers and ideas were passed around along with stories, but no one understood why they just sat their snarling at them. There was also no sign of the larger creatures, they hopefully had given up. While he had five minutes Nuke took the creature he grabbed from the rubble to Sgt Fields, they both looked over it.

"Looks almost childlike." Nuke said to break the silence, the body was no more than a meter tall, long spangly arms and legs, claws on both the size of knives however. The head was shunted, like a childs, its eyes large and white, small jagged teeth and a lizard like tongue, its flesh was cold, almost a tan colour or even redbrick, it was not a Screamer, or a young screamer because there had never been a documented case. This creature again was totally unknown.

"There seems to be a lot we don't know." Added he Sgt as he stepped away.

A moment or so later Miller and Phelps returned with that distinctive look on their faces, it was as he feared. They would be walking home.

After leaving the group Miller took point as her sister followed behind.

"Typical he sends us in again." Miller mumbled only just loud enough for her twin to hear. Her long black hair sat loosely about her shoulders held in place by her helmet a vast contrast to her sisters bright ginger hair. They both shared he same facial structure, they both had matching brown eyes, each slim while Miller was the bustier of them it seemed Phelps had the brains.

"He trusts us to get the job done and get back in one piece, if he sent Rikon and Danny we'd all be bailing them out." She caught her sisters glare as she turned her head at her. "He could have sent Whiskers and Doleman..." she baited, Miller had a thing for Doleman, his rough and ready charm had woed many of the women on the base in to bed, Whiskers was his gender opposite, she had slept her way through most of he young guys, but they had never been together and if Miller had her say she would like to keep it that way.

"Cowface." Was her response, she had slept with him on more than one occasion, he liked her too but he was far too much of a player to commit, but they enjoyed the game, there was however one rule, if he ever ended up bedding Whiskers it was over, he agreed and he had resisted her several times, but she worried how much longer he could hold out, Whiskers was relentless.

As the sisters crested a small embankment the billowing smoke could be smelt in the air, they were close enough to see what was going on so using their rifle scopes they scanned what was now the remains of the shuttles. At first it looked like here was nothing there, then unexpectedly one of the large creatures appeared from behind the smoke cloud, it raised itself up on its hind legs and brought its entire body crashing onto one of the burning shuttles. Phelps zoomed her sight in to see a group of gangly little creatures jumping and swinging from one wreck to another. This day just seemed to be getting worse.

"Let's get back, we can't salvage them." Miller turned to leave before turning and grabbing her sisters shoulder and turnin her about. Above them they spotted a small group of creatures, wings out stretched gliding out from the city toward the wreckage. With nothing left to do they fled, the Sgt wasn't going to be pleased but they could do nothing about any of it.

Fields listened to their accounts and his mouth went dry, there seemed far more going on than he could imagine, four new creatures in less than twenty four hours, the Commander needed to know, the other cities needed to know. He gathered everyone together quickly, the screamers were still pacing the rooftops but nothing else had yet to show its head.

"Ok as I feared and many of you probably have as well, we have lost the shuttles, that means we have a nice long walk home, unfortunately from where we are it involves climbing the Ridge, then either following the ridge taking longer to get back, or we cut through the valley, so I'll ask and you lift your arms to agree." The group shifted, nodding and whispering agreements. "Ridge Home?" A few hands went up, he quickly counted, eight, "The Valley?" Everyone else lifted their arms, clearly they wanted to get home by the quickest route, even if it wasn't the safest.