The team moved cautiously through the maze of corridors and narrow stairwells, each step seeming to echo in the silence. Kade kept her focus forward, counting each deck as they descended deeper into the heart of the cargo ship. Every turn revealed more of the ship’s intimidating scale, with endless hallways stretching out like veins into the darkness and each stairwell plunging deeper into the vessel’s cold, industrial belly.

  The Marines moved in silence, their breathing steady, their movements light despite the bulk of their gear. Briggs led them with a confidence that Kade found reassuring. His hand signals were swift and practiced, conveying instructions with an economy of motion. The others followed his lead, slipping through the hallways in formation, their weapons raised, eyes scanning every corner and shadowed nook.

  As they passed through yet another narrow corridor, Kade noted how different this environment was from the Horizon Talon. This cargo ship was far more vast, each hold cavernous enough to swallow entire sections of the Talon without a trace. The vessel's size created an eerie emptiness in the surrounding space, as though it were built to contain far more than just crates and machinery. Kade felt a faint chill pass over her as they stepped over yet another discarded tool lying on the floor, reminders of a crew who had likely fled or fought desperately before succumbing to whatever terror lay within these walls.

  They moved in a steady line down the length of a cavernous passageway, where ceiling pipes loomed overhead, dripping with condensation. The air felt stale. The creaks and groans of the ship weighed on them, each breath seeming to stick to the back of the throat. Kade adjusted her grip on her cutlass, the cool steel a steadying presence in her hand. This was unfamiliar territory, but the motions of a boarding action were skills she knew well.

  At last, they reached the stairwell leading to the main cargo hold. Briggs motioned for them to halt, his hand clinched in a fist. Kade watched as he scanned the area, his gaze sharp, taking in every detail. The Marines stacked up in a tight line behind him, their weapons ready, bodies tense with the poised readiness of seasoned fighters.

  They moved down the stairs, their pace slower now, the anticipation growing with every step. Each Marine fanned out in multiple directions as they reached the landing, with Kade in position just behind Briggs and Lawson. She could feel the intense focus of the team, each of them honed in on their unspoken area of responsibility. The bridge and upper decks had been silent, but here, deep in the bowels of the ship, the silence felt deafening. Almost oppressive, as if something waited just beyond their sight.

  Bulkhead four, the entrance to the main cargo hold, loomed ahead. The Marines arranged themselves along the wall, and Kade watched as they slipped into door-breaching positions with seamless coordination. Briggs gave a final, quick series of hand signals. With a thumbs up from Lawson, one of the Marines stepped forward, carefully grasping the door handle and testing it with a silent twist.

  The Marine took a breath and pushed the bulkhead door open, creating just enough space to peer inside. The dim light from the corridor barely illuminated the hold beyond, casting the shadowed interior in a faint, flickering glow. Kade’s senses sharpened, the cold air prickling against her skin as the Marine took a single, cautious step forward, weapon raised, his posture steady as he breached the threshold.

  Then, in a flash of movement from the shadows, something lunged. The figure of The Drowned crashed against the Marine with a wet, guttural snarl, the silence broken by the sudden, brutal clash.

  Kade and the Marines burst into the dim cargo hold, weapons raised and ready for a fight. The low lighting gave the space a cavernous, foreboding quality, shadows stretching along the metal walls, seemingly deep enough to swallow them whole. As their eyes adjusted, they could make out the slow, shuffling forms of The Drowned. A dozen hulking, waterlogged figures with rotting skin and glassy eyes, each movement slow but unnervingly powerful. The heavy stench of decay hit them, thick and nauseating, but the team held their ground.

  The first Marine to enter was still under assault. A meaty hand, surprisingly swift, lunged forward from the nearest Drowned. The Marine staggered under the blow, and Briggs barked a command, his tone sharp and cutting through the chaos. "Cover him! Move in. Watch your positions!"

  The Marines sprang into action, moving in coordinated formation, each member slipping into their assigned role with fluid precision. Their focus was total, every movement purposeful as they closed the distance to their nearest targets, weapons raised and ready.

  Kade’s gaze zeroed in on a lumbering figure advancing on her right, its milky, lifeless eyes focused somewhere beyond her. She didn’t hesitate. With a quick step forward, she swung her cutlass in a wide arc, slicing cleanly into the creature’s shoulder. The blade met resistance as it bit through soggy, decayed flesh, but The Drowned barely flinched. Instead, it swung a heavy arm her way, forcing her to duck and roll to the side.

  "Gonna take more than that, huh?" she said.

  Adjusting her grip and shifting her stance. She feinted left, then quickly reversed, swinging her cutlass upward again in a sweeping slash across its chest. As the blade passed through, she pivoted, twisting her body to drive her elbow hard into the creature’s face. The sickening crunch of shattered cartilage echoed as the blow connected, and the creature’s nose crumpled, sending a spray of dark, brackish blood across her arm.

  She grimaced, "Now you’re even uglier."

  Around her, the Marines fought with the gritty efficiency worthy of their level of training, their shouts and curses mingling with the wet thud of blows landing on the unyielding bodies of their undead foes. One Marine wielding a fire axe let out a dark laugh as he brought the weapon down on his target’s shoulder, cleaving deep.

  "Didn’t anyone teach you not to mess with the Sovereign Maritime Corps?" he sneered, twisting the blade free and kicking the creature back.

  Beside him, another Marine drove his pike pole forward with a forceful thrust, the tip punching through the chest of a Drowned with enough force to momentarily pin it in place.

  "Hold still, you rotten soggy bastard!" he barked.

  Briggs was a whirlwind of motion, his combat knife flashing in the dim light as he took down one creature with brutal strikes. Grabbing another Marine to cover his flank. His gruff voice carried a steady authority that kept the team grounded, even in the face of the monstrous undead surrounding them.

  "This one’s still kicking!" Briggs shouted.

  Kade ducked another swing from her opponent, moving with the fluidity of someone well-versed in survival at any cost. She didn’t have time for elegance; this was about quick, dirty strikes, and each blow had to count. Her cutlass swept down in a low arc, catching her opponent across the knees, then back up in a flash as she struck the creature’s throat. The Drowned gurgled, swaying unsteadily before she finally shoved it back, feeling the satisfying crunch as its leg gave out beneath it.

  "You’ve got to do better than that if you want to keep up," she taunted.

  Another Marine let out a gritty laugh as he swung his pike pole, hooking it around a Drowned’s neck and yanking it sideways before driving his combat knife into the side of his opponent's head with his other hand.

  "Looks like the afterlife hasn’t done them any favors," Kade quipped,

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Sidestepping as another Drowned lumbered toward her. She met it head-on, landing a brutal slash across its face, then followed up with a quick jab to its chest with her free hand, driving it back just enough to keep her space.

  The room pulsed with the rhythm of battle, each swing, punch, and shout adding to the chaotic symphony echoing through the metal walls. Blood and brackish fluid smeared across the floor as the Marines continued their onslaught, each one locked in their own deadly dance with the relentless figures bearing down on them.

  Lawson fought beside her now, his pike pole striking out in sharp, deadly arcs as he shoved one creature back.

  Kade slashed again, her blade glinting as it connected with bone, cutting deep enough to send the Drowned staggering. But even as it fell, another loomed behind her, forcing her to twist and bring her elbow up into its jaw. The impact shattered the remaining part of its nose, spraying foul-smelling liquid across her hand. She took a quick step back, wiping her arm on her sleeve with a grimace.

  One of the Marines nearby chuckled darkly. "Looks like you made a friend, Lieutenant."

  "Oh, he was a real charmer," she replied. "Too bad he’s just not my type."

  Briggs called out, his voice a steady anchor in the chaos. "Keep up the pressure! Don’t let them regroup!" His knife flashed as he drove it into another Drowned, the blow was precise and unyielding.

  Gradually, the tide of the fight shifted. The Drowned fell one by one, each Marine pushing forward with relentless determination, the adrenaline carrying them through the last brutal moments of the encounter. Kade watched as the last creature staggered, her cutlass poised, ready to strike if it made even the slightest movement. But it swayed, its limbs failing, and crumpled to the floor in a heap, finally still.

  The Marines exchanged wary glances and regrouped as they took stock of the surrounding scene. The air hung thick with the smell of rot and blood.

  "Good work, men. Check your injuries and keep your guard up. We’re not done here," Briggs said.

  "Guess being a spawn of this damnable hell doesn’t come with combat training. Those guys were powerful but slow and had no coordination."

  Nodding at the Sergent's assessment, Kade turned her attention to the status icon that had been annoyingly flashing in the corner of her vision since the middle of the fight. It wouldn't do to get distracted by it during the middle of a battle, but Kade could understand how someone could get caught up watching their interface constantly. That, she determined, would be a good way to have an extremely short experience with the Simulation.

  +2 Sword Combat | Congratulations! Your sword combat skill has increased by +2, bringing you to a grand total of 3. Just a few hundred more fights and you might actually scare someone... maybe.

  +2 Dirty Fighting | Congratulations! Your dirty fighting skill has increased. Groin shots, eye gouges, and the occasional well-placed elbow. Or as they say: ‘Dirty pool, old man. I like it.’ All officially sanctioned. It turns out that winning really is everything.

  "My interface seems to be getting more snarky as time goes on," Kade said, "Everyone keeps your eyes peeled for more attackers, but don't ignore what this Simulation is trying to tell you. It could be a bit of information that keeps us all alive."

  Lawson checked on his men as he moved toward Kade, stopping just short of her while continuing to look around.

  "Hell of a fight. Briggs is right; they're dumb and slow, but we had a couple of people get their bells rung. I know I'm leading the boarding party regarding combat, but I will defer to you on the next steps. We can either press forward or drop back to the ship for reinforcements," Lawson said in a low voice.

  "We haven't confirmed that the supplies are here. Not to mention, our reinforcements back on the ship aren't cut out for this type of hand-to-hand combat," Kade responded. "We need to repress on."

  "I hate to say it, but I agree. Wanted to let you make the call as party leader," Lawson said, before turning back to his group of men. "Listen up. We're going to stay together instead of spreading out. Heads on a swivel. The crates that we're looking for should be located on the centerline."

  "You heard him, men. Move out!" hollered Briggs.

  Kade couldn't help but think that perhaps they should have tried to be quieter to attract less attention, but moving this many men on a ship devoid of any other noise would have been hard, anyway. Go loud or go home seemed to be the viable option, as it was not possible to approach it as a stealth mission.

  The Marines moved carefully through the vast, shadowed expanse of the cargo hold, staying close and watchful as they advanced in tight formation. Kade kept her cutlass ready at her side, her eyes darting between stacks of crates secured with thick ropes and heavy metal fasteners. The crates loomed like silent, looming giants, piled high and held steady by reinforced netting and chains as they would be in any standard cargo ship. But here, under these circumstances, they felt oppressive, towering overhead and casting long, dark shadows.

  A dim, unsettling light filled the hold, though there was no obvious source. It filtered through the air in an almost liquid way, as if they were moving beneath the surface of some deep, dark ocean. The faint glow made the shadows appear more dense, each one seeming to shift as they passed, revealing and hiding potential threats in the flickering half-light. Kade felt a prickling awareness settle over her; there was no way to shake the feeling that they were being watched.

  Briggs had called for them to stay together, his voice low and commanding, and Kade could see why. The hold was labyrinthine, an array of narrow passages between the stacked crates, and splitting up would make them easy targets in the deep, cloistered darkness. She stayed close, moving in step with the Marines, who each scanned their sectors with practiced discipline, their weapons held at the ready, their focus unwavering.

  The group advanced, checking each blind spot, keeping to the edges, and sweeping through the shadows. Every glimpse of movement drew their attention, their muscles tensed, weapons angled toward any threat. Yet, so far, nothing stirred. The Drowned seemed to have vanished, though anyone's guess was whether that was a temporary relief or a quiet threat. Kade was sure that the one group they had faced was far from the only one on the ship.

  Kade drummed her fingers on her cutlass' handle as she scanned the row of crates, each labeled with codes, though many had faded, been smudged, or painted over. The Marines worked silently, watching every nook and crevice and moving as a unit, cautious but efficient, as if the slightest mistake could summon whatever might still hide here.

  Then, a Marine’s voice broke the tense quiet, "Found them!"

  Kade turned, her attention snapping to where he pointed. Several crates marked in faded lettering that matched the manifest description. A wave of relief mingled with the ever-present tension, and she felt a slight shift in the group’s stance as they moved toward the crate, even as they remained wary of every shadow.

  "Three of you, get those crates unbuckled and hauled down from that stack," Briggs called.

  "We want the ones next to them as well," Kade said as she inspected the crates.

  Springing into action, the Marines worked as a team to rig up a pulley system, securing thick ropes around the two crates stacked in the third row. Briggs barked quiet instructions, keeping the group organized as they looped and tightened the lines, ensuring a steady lift. Kade watched, hands on her hips, her gaze moving over the crates with a glint of satisfaction.

  Everything about this setup screamed smuggled goods. Too many restraints for crates of the size she was seeing. It was obvious that someone didn't want these crates to shift at all during transit. A closer inspection revealed that the shipping labels had non-sense in place of where the destination codes should have been. Then there was the refrigerated crate tag on what was supposed to be dry goods. While she wouldn't put it past the mistakes of a sloppy crew, but pessimistic nature felt it was all intentional.

  With the ropes set, two Marines began lowering the first crate, slowly guiding it down the pulley until it rested securely on the floor. But as they moved to lower the second crate, there was a creak and a sudden snap. The ropes slipped, and the crate crashed to the floor with a thunderous impact, the wood splintering and its contents spilling across the metal floor in a jumbled mess.

  Kade stepped forward, peering at the scattered items with a raised eyebrow. Crossbows, ammunition cases, and bundles of basic hunting gear lay strewn across the floor. She let out a low chuckle, a smug smile tugging at her lips.

  "Well, would you look at that," she said. "Guess Quartermaster Cole was onto something when he warned us."

  One of the Marines let out a soft whistle, nudging a crossbow with his boot. "Looks like some doomsday prepper figured the world might go to hell, and he was actually right."

  "Wonder what else they’ve got stashed around here," another Marine said. "Maybe we should leave a thank-you note. It’s like they knew we’d need a little help here."

  "Lucky us. Not sure we’ll get much use out of the hunting kits, but these," she tapped a crossbow resting on the floor, "might just come in handy. Bet a few of you wouldn’t mind getting your hands on one of these?"

  "These might even give us a chance to soften anything up before it tries to come up close again."

  Satisfied, Kade moved to the second crate, carefully prying open the lid to reveal rows of vacuum-sealed bags and familiar, blocky packages. MREs and other dried foodstuffs, neatly stacked and labeled, filled the crate. She wasn't fond of MRE's but it was a survivalist’s dream supply.

  "Let’s get this loaded and back to the Talon. We’ll come back and search the other holds once we’ve secured these."

  Sovereign Maritime Corps Dispatch:

  Cadets and officers are advised to:

  – Follow current field logs (Follow the story)

  – Submit feedback (Comment)

  – Secure early access clearance through authorized channels