"Attention CSS teams in Arms Lab section 12," Administrator Purina Popjoy's voice broadcasted over the Cirrus Station Security squad's communication radios, her message being delivered to the appropriate parties with the help of each squad's respective Savtech assistants. Purina spoke quickly and with urgency, this feeling translated to her serious words and demeanor. "Further research into snow quahhg behavior has revealed that there is a good chance all abducted personnel might possibly still be alive; snow quahhg hunt and keep their prey alive, maiming them and depositing them in a den of their own designation. However, it is not uncommon for snow quahhg to kill potential threats to themselves. Keep on the look-out for possible injured personnel, and be careful when engaging the enemy!"
---
Squad 54 would have to travel far before the combat found them. As the four of them neared a bank of snow leading towards the eastern corridor, sudden movements from beneath the powdery white caught their attention. For their squad leader, however, he was at the head of the formation and at the front of the team... meaning what time the others had to react, he would only have a fraction of.
Quick sideways swipes shot out at the feet of Kumiko, Amber and their captain. The Squad 54 captain was immediately grasped at one ankle, yet
another juvenile quahhg burst from its hiding place in the snow, shaking a layer of frost from its back as its legs attempted to grasp the rest of the squad in its clutches.
---
With Kokuten's back against a wall, the shots fired from his VW burst from the barrel in white flashes of hot blue plasma. The quahhg leaped as anticipated; those legs, coiling downward like eight springs, launched the creature forward towards Kokuten, its fangs bared and its maw open. The plamsa collided with the quahhgs lower body, a shot to the shoulder as well as one of the front legs, but this did not stop the beast's momentum towards Kokuten.
As luck would have it, however, the captain was no longer in the path of the quahhgs pounce. In mid leap, Kokuten would feel himself being quickly tugged to his left and around the edge of the pipe's entrance, only to hear and feel the resounding
THUD of the quahhgs connection with the outside. The beast began to roll around on the ground in angry thrashing motions, most likely its response to intense pain felt through the areas where it had been shot. This continued for a while.
There were two Cirrus Station workers there on both sides of Kokuten, easily identifiable as two of the ones who were taken alongside the Head Administrator earlier. One of them had a streak of crimson blood running down the side of his face from a gash atop his scalp, and the other was holding his arms, the limb motionless and dangling at the man's side. The one with both of his hands raised a single finger to his mouth with a firm, if a little frightened, look on his face, signifying silence. He then pointed to the other end of the pipe; from their position they could see the entrance to the next cylinder in line as he motioned for them to move, moving to assist Kokuten if needed. The other man with the damaged arm wasn't in much of a position to help, nodding to his coworker before slowly sneaking his way towards that direction.
---
Tweak's bound over the enormous quahhg was intensely followed by the beast itself, it's black eyes swiveling and head turning as it followed the neko's movements to the letter. Tweak's warning systems flared; it was not the tail that she was being warned about, but the entire body mass below her. A quick look down and she would instantly see why.
The adult quahhg, instead of attempting to swipe at the small CSS member's body with its thick weaponized tail, the quahhg itself lurched down for a split second, pressing its body to the ground. Then, in one swift, practiced movement, the beast made a short jump upward, pressing its muscular legs on one side harder than the other, causing its body to perform a mid-air barrel roll, the four legs on one side of its body extending with its talons stretching wide in a net of lethal limbs. Tweak's just put her too close to react. The front claw connected with Tweak's torso, the huge taloned feet swiping at her, sending her sailing back towards the very wall she had bounded off of. Tweak hit the wall...
hard.
George watched all of this unfold from his position, his eyes widened as he realized Tweak wouldn't be able to dodge such a quick counterattack. The man's surprise turned to sudden sour determination; he abandoned attempting to open the crate, but with his weapon still missing he had little to combat the beast with. George did what he could; the man scooped up a handful of snow as his steps crunched atop the snow layer, compressing it hard between his cupped hands and, with a little time to wind up and aim, sent the ball sailing towards the quahhg while yelling to get its attention. "HEY! HEEEEEEEY! OVER HERE!"
For what it was worth, George had a good throwing arm. The quahhg was beginning to make a stop after it had splatted Tweak against the wall, the snowball hitting it squarely on the side of the face behind the last set of eyes. This was enough to garner its momentary attention, the beasts horned head and jet-black eyes turning towards George... with the body following as well. George suddenly realized that he really didn't have any plans beyond that, and he slowly, cautiously began to turn his body back around.
"... aw shit."
---
Blake's shot missed, as one might have expected. However, seeing it sail so close seemed to break Lenny out of his momentary disorientation. The big armored ID-SOL, still being dragged on his back by his leg, curled his head to his chest to get a better look at what was happening to him. Lenny, unfortunately, didn't have very much time to react before his quahhg captor had reached the mouth of the dug-out snow burrow, disappearing from sight. Lenny's only reaction was his voice, broadcasted from the radio in his helmet.
"Uh oh."
---
Serra's sudden show of strength was surprising, even to the quahhg about to make turn her into a hot wing dinner. When the beast found that he could not longer close its jaws due to the Elysian's arms locking them into place, the stick black prehensile tongue shot out and hit Serra in the face just as she thrust her other arm into the roof of its mouth, the knobbed end of the tongue splattering against her helmet and upper torso.
The intruding armored hand would find that the roof of the quahhgs mouth was surprisingly tender. Serra's hand, given the force she put into it, easily pierced the layer of flesh lining the top of the mouth, a torrent of dull orange liquid pouring from the wound and running down her arm. Unfortunately, Serra had not accomplished what she had intended; although she was able to reach into the head, the area she chose to intrude was not within reach of the creatures brain case. Never the less, the sudden pain within its mouth cause the quahhg to instantly let go of Serra, dropping her on the snow while its tongue retracted back into its mouth, leaving behind no small amount of ichor plastered on her CSS suit.
The quahhg continued to run past her, shrill whines and screeches erupting from its bleeding maw. The tail of the quahhg, the hardened, callous knob at the end weaving menacingly behind it, swung side to side as it stampeded. Serra would find herself in the path of it, the mace-like ending skimming along the snow towards her with potentially lethal force.
