Roast - to humorously criticize

8.3.5 SW
20:41/21 SW-CP-Local Time
Crowning Point > Reactor > Maintenance Tunnels

tzzt ...I'm gonna try to get out of here... tzzt

Officer Al Saygin woke to the sound of Gauss in his ear. He wanted to blame the voice for the pain, but that was coming from his other ear. It stung like hell. The concussion had left him in a state of shellshock. Now, as Saygin picked himself up off the ground, he shook off the daze and turned his immediate concern to evaluating his situation. There were two alien bodies now. The one that had attacked him was missing its entire jaw and part of its head had been blown off. Even so, it had managed to stagger toward the corridor from which it had first emerged.

"Mmm... Sssaygin...," came a weak voice from behind him.

He turned to see Dokes sluggishly trying to move his arm.

Dokes lifted his neck slightly. "You look... like shit..." he managed to smile and crack a joke.

Saygin touched the side of his face and winced. Damn. His ear was missing. Screw it. Even if it scarred, there was medical grafting and prosthetics he could get to fix it.

"Yeah. Look who's talking." he replied sardonically. "Now let's get the fuck out of here. Can you walk?"

Saygin grabbed up the intact incinerator and loaded another fuel canister into it.

Dokes shook his head and groaned, "Can't feel my legs, man."

"What good are you?" Saygin joked, continuing the roast.

He scanned the room with eyes first before checking the motion detector. One pip came from the south. That must be Gauss.

"Gauss. You good?" Saygin keyed his comms unit.

tzzt Yeah. I'm good. But it looks like these things got Hargreaves. tzzt I think he's still alive. tzzt

"I'm here with Dokes. These bugs got some way of paralyzing their prey."

tzzt ...before using them as hosts... Shit! tzzt

The tunnels echoed again, closer this time, with several successive rounds of gunfire.