Express Elevator to Hell

Posted on Fri Mar 29th, 2024 @ 5:30pm by Commodore Jacob Kane & Commander N'Garzi Zora & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII & Lieutenant Commander Savin & Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Lieutenant Alexis Ryan & Lieutenant JG Astrja Kyan & Ensign Quinn Alka-Sutton

Mission: The Trojan Horse
Location: Podreia Sigma, Naghel IV Star System
Timeline: MD-08
3337 words - 6.7 OF Standard Post Measure

The Marine deployment was made up of two personnel shuttles, enhanced with the support of the Athena's engineering and science teams. The lead shuttle, containing Burke and the first half of the stick, was then followed by a second shuttle under Captain McClellan. The drop site lay in a crater around one kilometer from the prison complex, with their approach concealed by an enormous ravine.

Seated at the front of the first shuttle, Burke glanced over his shoulder at the geared-up team behind him. "Everyone set? One minute to landing. I want speed, but I also want discipline - they can't know we're coming. Understood?"

"Yes Sir," Xall chorused with the other marines in the shuttle. Unlike the others, he wasn't strapped into his seat, instead he was checking over their weapons, making sure they were ready for action. Power. Check. Targeting. Check. Battery fully charged. Check. Safety on. Check. He grinned as he handed out the last one and took his seat where his weapon lay waiting for him. The others could and should check their weapons, some of them did, but he had done this on every mission and he didn't plan to stop now. Was it superstitious? Yes. Had it kept them alive? Also yes. The man closed his eyes as he ran his blue finger along the trigger of his rifle and muttered silently to himself.

"Sir, yes, sir," replied Shiv, the slender Andorian specialist, ran through the full weapon check on her phaser rifle, again, pausing to kiss the Tiska medallion she hung off of her weapon's trigger guard and made a silent prayer to the Goddess. She knew her backup weapons were ready if needed, she had checked those before boarding the shuttle. But checking the rifle was a battle meditation, providing her with focus and clarity.

Martina checked the weapon she was handed in a swift and experience manner, nodding towards Xall as she took her seat. "Medic is ready," she announced, patting the fully stocked medkit she carried. She secured her rifle then checked whether her combat knife was secured as well. She never went anywhere without it as it had proven to be a very multifunctional and useful tool to have.

In his seat, gazing out of the viewport, Vexx didn't respond. This wasn't because he wasn't ready, nor because he had any sullenly motivated reason to withhold verbal acknowledgement, he was simply an uncharacteristically reserved man until the heat of battle brought out his gregarious side. By his logic, it was self-evident that he was ready, because he was present. It also didn't seem overly imperative to reiterate his understanding of the plan, which was possibly also a way of avoiding clarification around the very specific instructions to favour stealth and silence over big explody things. Certainly, he would entertain his Commanding Officer's preferences, with the same kind of stoic patience a parent might afford a child who needed to learn for themselves what the success rate of their plan actually was. Eventually, something had to blow up. That was just the way life went.

Ray looked down at the console in front of him and noted their time and position. "One minute left until touchdown. Check your weapons, check your gear and be ready to go. Quick and quiet once we hit the ground, you all know the drill." His voice had an air of confidence, but there was always a nagging internal worry before every mission. Ray turned and studied each one of the marines in his shuttle for just a moment and wondered how many of them he'd see on the trip home. Returning with everyone was always the plan and though most missions went off without a hitch, they didn't all happen that way. However, with diligent execution and little luck, this time tomorrow they'd all be enjoying a drink back on the ship.

Shiv tightened her hood and fitted her mask. A few taps set the active camouflage to warm up. She checked the sensors were active and that her micro-drones were ready to deploy. "S I G, Sir."

The shuttle touched down with a sharp bang, Marine pilots weren't known for their finesse but they were on the ground and that's what mattered. As the engines powered down Xall undid his harness straps and stood near the door control awaiting the Major's orders. He could feel the blood pumping around his body and probably a fair amount of adrenaline too. He was born for this.

"All right people. Normally we go in Loud and Lethal, but this time we're under the radar," Tyler hissed, motioning to her squad. "Shiv, Va'Shon, set security around the landing site. First team, I want us inside in five minutes - Vexx, you're point on entry. Let's move!"

Shiv nodded, breaking left out the door and looking for cover as three micro-drones took to the air to provide additional coverage.

Martina packed up her gear and filed in to leave the shuttle, watching her surroundings and her teammates closely. Experience had taught her that despite preparation, the unthinkable could still occur.

Matthew was as ready as he could be as he followed, taking up a position to protect those exiting the shuttle until he felt the familiar touch to the shoulder. He then followed the group while keeping an eye out for movement.

Close behind the others and positioning himself to - per normal - help with rear cover came the Ktarian, Elton. Rifle raised, his eyes swept the edges of the crater, looking for any threat, anything that might have be watching them. His eyes darted as Shiv's micro-drones rose above them, watched each of the others who had departed the shuttle take up their positions.

"Shiv?" Xall said towards his fellow Andorian. Her eyes were glued to the screen that was feeding back the data being recorded by the drones. Over the years, he had come to follow her lead; charging into an unknown situation before getting all of the tactical data was one way to get them all killed.

"No threats detected yet," she replied. Shiv directed one of the microdrones to skim in the direction of their target. She moved forward to take position behind a rock outcropping. "It feels wrong." She launched another drone to take position on the far side of the shuttle.

"Kerlon, with feet rooted," Va'Shon noted.

"He's right," Tyler nodded. "Gut feelings or not, we've got a job to do. Vexx - how's that entry coming?"

It made little sense, Vexx might have been tempted to argue had he even the slightest tendency to question orders, for him to maintain his usual priority in a mission that had already expressly forbid him from ensuring a clear path with his usual efficiency. Most of his arsenal was secured away, rendered inappropriate by the demands of the mission that already had his teammates on edge. The Bolian, reassuringly bulky and tall enough to see further than most, had stood for all of several seconds to survey their available routes before jamming his headset down over his ears so that the metronomic ping of his scanner drowned out the incessant drone of an insect already overly-curious, and he commenced the cautious task of picking them a path that wouldn't suddenly blow up in their faces, or simply disappear out from under them. As usual, when he failed to lose a leg, the swing of his firearm to beckon offered the first indication of reasonable optimism.

"Stick to the plan, people; the entry point is a maintenance hatch a hundred feet into the ravine ahead. That'll snake us through the old mining tunnel and into the prison," Burke reminded them. "Two minutes to entry. Let's move up."

Martina had slid up to Shiv's side. "You said something feels wrong," she prompted, "what does?"

Shiv set two drones on sentry duty around the shuttle and moved the others to watch over the ravine. Shiv shook her head, "If it was more than a feeling I would let you know, Lieutenant. But I cannot pin it down, just something at the base of my antennae."

"Keep your antennae pricked then," the medic suggested with an encouraging smile. "We rely on what you discover with your drones."

Up ahead, having secured himself a hefty stick from the nearby foliage, Vexx stepped over a fallen log and came to a stop. Immediately central to his position, about thirty metres along a reasonably clear path, the service hatch stared back at him. Given its status as a remote access to a reputedly secure facility, it seemed a little anti-climactic to find it perfectly accessible and barely obscured but the Bolian was used to disappointment and lumbered forward, attention turned once again on the scan for hidden traps until he stood in front of the hatch, unscathed and unchallenged.

Leaning forward, he put away his scanner, pulled down his head lamp, held his weapon ready and rapped a knuckle against the solid metal.

Beyond, it was just possible to make out the sound traveling as a half-hearted echo that prompted no immediate retaliation. Testing the handle, the Bolian leaned inwards as the hinges squealed, rusty as a result of location but not, apparently, from lack of use. Vexx lingered, position held ready for signs of disturbance, and when none transpired he straightened and visibly deflated. The easy ones were always the worst.

"We're in, Major." The Bolian's droll tone carried the first hint of additional caution. "Stinks like a rat's nest though."

Most might have felt relief at the ease of which the team was able to get to the entry point, but for Ray it made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. "Stay vigilant," he butted in on the comm as he silently slid next to Burke. "This is supposed to be a secured facility. There's no way getting to this hatch should be this easy, let alone getting in. Feels like a set up, don't you think?"

"First squad on me, we'll make entry with Vexx and Shiv. Fast and silent," Tyler hissed over the comm, expressing the urgency of their task but also discretion too. "Second squad, once we clear the entryway I want you right on our heels with the Major. Got it?" There were a few grunts of acknowledgement before she looked at the Bolian. "Breacher up. Let's go."

Shiv hurried over sending two of the small drones down first keeping one hovering over her shoulder. She stepped in and triggered her active camouflage. "On it," she said simply, moving nearly invisibly down the tunnel.

Anyone who'd ever faced latrine duty after Vexx had downed the goulash the night before would have been the first to mark the Bolian as a hypocrite for noticing the stench. He moved quickly for a man of his size, light-footed in a way that made him far too adept at turning up without anyone noticing. Right now, he was lit up as much as was practicable, which was to say completely inconspicuous to anyone without the right frequency to track his movements. As the tunnel wove around a corner, the soldier's boot sank into the unmistakable sponge of a carcass and he pulled up suddenly, provoking a bottleneck that scuffled against his unspoken request for silence.

Shiv slapped telltails on the wall as she went by, they were only visible to certain UV-wavelength, which the Marines lens would be able to pick up. This would allow for rapid retreat without showing enemies where they were going. Of limited use in a tunnel system but nice to have just in case.

Xall gripped the barrel of his rifle tighter as he aimed directly at the entry point where his squadmates had just disappeared into. He hated waiting more than he hated killing. He knew that they could look after themselves but the silence was deafening. He turned slightly towards Major Burke, whilst keeping his eye on his mark. "I don't like this."

"What's the holdup?" Burke hissed back. "We're going to be bottlenecked if we stay here."

"Vexx? Report!" Tyler called out.

The urgency never usually translated to Vexx. Common speculation held the belief that the Bolian was incapable of panic, possibly through some complicated bio-chemical situation that could only be explained by the singular definition 'Bolian'. This was honestly a category overly bloated by attributes otherwise too difficult to pinpoint and yet the generalisation didn't seem to perplex Vexx much because nothing much did. He wasn't, as it turned out, very well-named.

Only once in the combined living memory had any of them heard the man lift his voice above a conversational volume and it was telling that very few witnesses of the event still remained. The angle of his headtorch bobbed and weaved, tracing the course of the scattered remains that stretched beyond the fresh carcass his boot was currently lodged inside, and then hovered as the man's frozen realisation made sense of the agitated noises in the dark. For the second time in present company's memory, Sergeant Vexx found his roar, a prophetic warning mere seconds before the dull thud of numerous targets dropping on his head made an oracle out of him.

"Contact!"

Half of the squad didn't even hear the shout.

Phasers lanced out in various directions, most hitting cavern walls, kicking up dirt and filling the passageway with a thick dusty mist.

"Sergeant! Sergeant!?" Burke's barking call was met with chaotic noise and inhuman sounds. "Marines, fall back to the entrance point-" He was cut off as something sharp ripped through his body armor, piercing into the skin beneath. A roar escaped his lips, but it wasn't as loud as the reptilian roar that drowned him out.

Before his vision faded, his eyes were filled with the terrifying sight of the men and women under his command being cut down. Slaughtered.

"YOU HEARD HIM, FALL BACK!" Xall screamed at the marines behind him. As the words left his mouth he knew he had no intention of following the retreat orders; not some last-minute defiance of insubordination or even playing the hero, but because his legs refused to cooperate with his higher brain functions. He was trapped somewhere between self-preservation and terror. He always thought he could face anything, that he would look death in the eyes and refuse to blink first. It turned out that that prediction was true, but not for the reasons he had anticipated. It was fear that rooted him to the spot rather than stubbornness.

Refusing to let this feeling of fear define his final moments, Xall aimed his rifle and fired. The dust and debris from the cave meant that he had no idea if his efforts were even rewarded. The only thing he was certain of was that it wasn't a long stance. A dark figure, moved quicker than was possible and leapt towards him. He didn't even have time to scream as blue blood splattered the very spot where his legs had betrayed him.

Shiv fell back the moment the phasers started firing, the quarters we too close to risk hitting a fellow marine, so she did not fire. She activated an info dump from the drones, one was already down, back to the shuttle so that would have some idea what was going on. She thumbed up the activation pad on a grenade, setting it to command activation, and dropped it behind her. "Shiv, withdrawing to the shuttle perimeter," she broadcast so that the system would have a record at the very least. The drone on her shoulder detached and flew straight up, watching for enemies coming through the tunnel after her. Which she suspected would be happening soon. Xall and Vexx were already KIA according to their biomonitors, most of the others were red or amber. What were these things?

Having hung back a little with the second team, Martina flinched as the call for retreat came in. Hearing the screams, she hesitated as these were her teammates, no doubt in need of medical attention. Instead of a retreat, she set in a cautious pace forward, at the same time reaching for her medical equipment. She cursed as the tricorder slipped from her hand, wincing as something slammed into her as she went to pick it up. She felt a burning and searing pain but couldn't tell whether it was lancing out from her chest or her back, it was so intense. Her left arm refused function and the tricorder slipped again, this time from nerveless fingers. She remained where she had fallen, gritting her teeth and fighting the darkness that tugged against her consciousness. What was this? She wondered as she remained motionless, straining to listen to the screams of her teammates.

The call only partly came through for Matthew before a heavy swipe killed his comms, and nearly him. He felt himself get thrown into the wall, then immense pressure as whatever attacked him kept him from fleeing. The thing holding him against the wall was a large, reptilian hand, and looking up, Matthew's eyes widened when he saw a Gorn snarling at him. Oh my god, I'm going to die! He struggled for his reserve hand weapon. Get the hand phaser. He could feel the edge of it in his fingers. What will happen to L'mei? With a grunt, Matthew was able to grab his weapon, get it up to the highest setting, and stick it into the Gorn's chest. "Eat this!"

It took about four blasts to get the Gorn off of him, but Matthew ended up sinking to the ground as the lack of pressure to the deep gashes across his chest dropped his blood pressure. He felt fuzzy, everything around him was a blur of motion. His ears were ringing. Need to... move... As much as he tried, Matthew's body felt heavy, or maybe he felt weak. "H... help..." he strained, unable to tell who was still around, if anyone was.

Shiv bounded out of the tunnel and into the open air, immediately breaking right and taking cover. She set two more grenades for remote detonation and tossed them down the opening. "Shuttle, if you have any transporter locks on the team in the tunnel, beam 'em out, life-signs or no," she broadcast in a tight beam to the shuttle. She recalled the two microdrones she had left on shuttle-watch back to her and prepped them to head down the tunnel. Her phaser rifle aimed to cover the hatch, anything that was not a marine coming through it was going to get blasted.

Ray didn't have to hear the retreat call to know something wasn't right. In fact, the whole thing had felt wrong from the minute they had left the shuttles and it was confirmed when the sound of screams filled the tunnel. Ray cursed under his breath and increased his pace in the direction of madness, but fell short when what felt like a razor ripped through his shoulder and the shadow of a Gorn flew by. The curse that left his lips this time wasn't muttered.

Though the tunnels were clouded with kicked up dirt, Ray aimed his rifle and shot towards the direction he saw the Gorn run in. Then he saw a body move close by. Another Gorn? No, a human. He breathed a small sigh of relief and sprinted over to find Martina. "Hey, stay with me Del'Oro, we're getting out of here but I'll need your help," Ray heaved her onto his good shoulder and took a moment to look around. He wanted to go after more. Surely others had survived and no good marine left a man behind. Then again, if they didn't get out now, Martina would surely die. Ray huffed and started moving toward the exit. He'd save who he could now and come back for more later.