Thursday, October 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Alien: Dark Epoch
Alien: Dark Epoch
-By Abhinav Sharma
"I tried to save... people...
Didn't work out…
There was this... girl.
She had bad dreams...
I tried to help her... She died.
Now I can't even remember her name."
"Do you dream? I -uh, we have neural processors that- yes."
"When I sleep, I dream about them... it... every night.
All around me, in me...
I used to be afraid to dream, but I'm not anymore."
"Why?"
"Because no matter how bad the dreams get, when I wake up its always worse."
As she sat on the edge of the escarpment overlooking around the city, seeing the engineered aftermath of man for the first time, she couldn't help but smile. She looked at the number eight tattooed onto her arm, and then the remnants of the city. What Paris used to be and what it was now. It was one of the heralds of the space age, and now it lay in ruins. The Eiffel Tower lay smashed, less than half of it still standing, the remaining toppled onto the dried up grounds around it. The Louvre had been replaced by a mountain of rubble. Somehow she knew that this was the fate man was destined for. His greed had effaced his logic, and the erstwhile dominant species had been reduced to nothing more than scavengers. The destruction in front was a clear sign of the change.
"So, what do we do now?"
She turned to the figure beside her. "Why don't you tell me, Call? I'm the stranger here." She looked over her shoulder. "Where are the boys?"
Call rubbed her face in an oddly human way before sighing. "Vriess's finishing rigging up some electronic jammers, in case the USM decides to drop by on our base camp. Johner's probably dosed up on home-brew, lying somewhere in a puddle of his own piss, as always. What do you think we should do?" "What do you mean?" She spoke. Call rubbed her nose. "C'mon. You’re the officer here. Flight Officer Lieutenant Ripley." Call said mockingly, smiling. Ripley smiled back too. "You're the android, you should be smart enough." Call's smile faded a little, "I prefer the term artificial person myself." "Let’s head back to the Betty." Ripley stood up and began heading back to the Betty, as Call dutifully followed her. As they made their way down the slight slope, Ripley couldn’t help but feel something was coming. She looked up for an instant, and then took off, outdistancing Call easily. "Hey wait up!" Call called out. However, Ripley didn't feel like waiting. "HIDE!"
They weren't alone. She took off, leaping effortlessly across rocks over 10 feet tall like they were skipping stones. Call stared after her in sheer disbelief. Ripley was running down the incline at full speed, dodging rocks n brush with superhuman agility. Call hurried down after her, but was simply outmatched. Nevertheless, she knew Ripley wouldn't do something like that without reason. She began looking around for cover. Crawling under a large rock, she began digging and covering herself with the soil. Ripley intensified her speed, leaping off a protruding rock, hurtling almost 30 feet into the empty void in front of her. Call searched the skies and recoiled in horror. She saw the rapidly approaching spacecraft, and then looked down to see Ripley blazing across the plains. Ripley knew there was only one chance of saving them from the approaching onslaught. She reached the open bay door and leapt aboard, landing with a loud ‘thunk!’ Vriess was jolted awake by her dramatic entrance, just as Ripley entered the cockpit. One look at her face told him they were in danger. “Hit the jammers!” Ripley yelled out. Vriess promptly turned around to connect the two dangling wires in front of him, and then pounded a green button on the dashboard. Ripley felt a slight hum in the craft and a wave of nausea hit her. The ground suddenly began vibrating. Ripley headed back out the bay door to look around for Johner. She looked around but everything seemed hazy. Her head suddenly felt heavy. A deafening roar filled the air as a large shadow passed over the ship. An embattled space shuttle flew over the plateau they were on, with ‘USM’ emblazoned on the side, over some insignia.
Once it disappeared from view, Ripley braced herself against the Betty's extensible landing strut, dropping to her knees. The humming went on for a while, and then stopped, and she suddenly felt as if her head had been cleared. She tried standing up but found her legs were still shaking. She sat back on the ground, leaning against the strut, breathing heavily. The roar of the USM craft ebbed away into the distance. Ripley sat there for a while with her eyes closed, trying to calm down her nerves. She took a couple of deep breaths and opened her eyes. A small blurry figure was making its way across the plain. A loud groan emanated from behind her, and Ripley turned around to see Johner trying to sit up in the Betty's shadow. "Can't a man get some shut-eye in this place?" His gravelly voice sounded sleepy. "I think they've got a few extra beds aboard the USM's dropship." Ripley smiled. "Where? I don't mind as long as they got cute nurses." Ripley smiled, turning to the approaching figure, which materialized into a dust covered Call. "You look like you've just been exhumed." Call smiled sarcastically, and proceeded to dust herself off. Johner coughed and spat out as the dust flew towards him. "God damn it," Johner snapped in exasperation, "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He rolled onto his knees, sputtering "You shit-headed bucket of bolts.” Call smiled at him, enraging him further. "I'm gonna tear you apart!" He got to his feet and stumbled out. Call disappeared into the ship, grinning from ear to ear. Ripley sighed and got up, at least Johner was awake now. She saw him stagger to the open bay door as she dusted off her own clothes. Suddenly there was a splashing sound. Ripley walked over to see what had happened. Johner was standing on the ramp leading to the door, with water dripping from his face, looking incredulous. Call stood at the top of the ramp, with an empty bucket and a triumphant expression. Johner started after her but she merely raised her hand, her face turning dead serious, "If you're done fucking around, maybe you'd like to fix up the emplacements topside in case the USM decides to join us. This should be anytime within the next hour." The mention of the USM sobered up Johner a bit, "I'll get you for this later, bitch." Wiping his face, he elbowed past her, and disappeared up a ladder. Call turned to Ripley, "And if you ask me, he needed a shower too." Then she turned to Vreiss, approaching in his electric wheelchair. "You ok?" He motioned to Ripley. She nodded, smiling, "I see you got a new set of wheels." "Yeah, I stashed a spare in the Betty." He smiled back, affectionately patting the hull. "Follow me. I got to show you something in the cockpit." Vriess motioned them inside. "This better not be like the last time." Call warned him, as Vreiss broke out laughing. "What?" Ripley mouthed to Call, as Vreiss rounded the corner. "The last time he said that," Call rolled her eyes, "He literally showed me the something in his cockpit."
"Sergeant Xavier, report to the bridge immediately."
Xavier reluctantly sat up, blinking away the sleep. One less day until leave, he thought. Heaving himself out of the open hypersleep chamber, he headed for his locker. As he entered the code, he wondered why he was being called. He put the thought out of his mind as he quickly donned his fatigues and headed off to the bridge.
As he entered, Lieutenant Jordan's strained expression told him that this wasn't a normal assignment. Jordan spoke in an accented voice, "Sergeant Xavier, you have 6 hours to get a team prepped for a combat drop. Your team goes in hot, ready for extraction of the primary target." The lieutenant typed a few keys and a screen behind him came to life. A large picture of a dark-haired Caucasian woman took up half the screen. "This is a prototype, property of the United Systems Military." Xavier always disliked these pencil-pushing officers who considered equivocation part of their personality. She didn't look like property, she looked like a woman. "Number 8 was abducted from the USM Auriga by these criminals." The screen switched to show six photographs. The names Elgyn, Hillard, Johner, Christie, Vriess and Call were displayed below their respective photographs. "These criminals killed 42 enlisted security officers, as well as 7 science officers, before crashing the Auriga into Quadrant 760403, leveling it. They escaped on their class two unregistered commercial freighter, 'The Betty,' authorization code 'EA-TM-E,' landing on the outskirts of Paris. They lost 3 of their members but the remaining are in possession of Number 8." The photographs named Elgyn, Hillard and Christie blanked out. "You're primary objective is to evacuate Number 8, alive and unharmed. The secondary objective is the arrest or execution of the criminals." Jordan droned on. "Their vessel had docked with the Auriga, under false pretenses, no doubt, and the docktime scans indicate the ships weight to exceed the legal limits, so don't be surprised if they pull a few tricks. Now get your team prepped. Dismissed."
Xavier's mind started going over the intricate details of the assignment on his PDA. Once done, he headed out, thinking over the marines he was going to pick on his team as he headed for the gym. He decided on a team of eight. Reaching the gym doors, he took a deep breath. "ALRIGHT MARINES! FRONT AND CENTER." The soldiers abandoned their respective workouts and lined up, stepping into formation with a quick salute. Xavier went down the queue. "Hudson, Kii, Osbourne, West, Remer, Morgan, Jones and Williams, stay back for briefing. The rest of you head out." The marines filed out without question. "Hit the bleachers." Xavier barked. The remaining marines jogged over to the bleachers and sat down quickly. "Alright," Xavier paced in front of them. "What's the op, Sarge?” a marine raised his hand. "Jesus Joey, when was the last time you showered?" the marine next to him pinched her nose, smiling. The rest broke into muted laughter. "Remer, Jones, cut that shit out," everybody quieted down, "we've got ourselves a big game and you've been voted in as the MVP's." "I demand a recount," a lean soldier spoke up as the group began laughing again. Xavier furrowed his brow. He didn't really mind the camaraderie but they didn't have time to waste. He spoke up, "The next one to speak is on toilet detail for the next two months FOR THE ENTIRE STATION. Especially you Hudson." Hearing that, the group made sure to pay attention. "The research vessel USM Auriga was hijacked and crashed into an uninhabited quadrant a week ago. Three of the six hijackers managed to escape with USM property. The emphasis is to recover it ASAP. The secondary objective is to arrest or execute the hijackers. I'd prefer arrests. If they put up a fight, nail 'em in the kneecaps, otherwise...” Xavier tapped his forehead with his finger, "but ONLY as a last resort. We're marines, not mercenaries."
"Sir," an anxious looking marine raised her hand. "What is it Osbourne?" Xavier spoke, wincing inwards as he looked at her.” Were there any survivors from the Auriga?" she asked. "Based on empirical data, one escape pod was ejected but didn't survive the descent into the atmosphere. We found the fragments of the second pod near the Auriga's former location." Xavier sighed and went on, "The remainder of the employees went down with the ship. No survivors." Osbourne looked down, visibly shaken up. Remer reached out and patted Osbourne's shoulder. "The hijackers have landed somewhere on the outskirts of the Parisian ruins. We gotta go, check it out and bring back the USM property." "What do we have to look for?" Jones spoke up. "We are looking for a human clone. Number 8 from the Auriga's genetic research labs." Your PDA's are being updated with the necessary data. Williams pulled out his PDA and let out a low whistle. "I wouldn’t mind sharin' genes with her." He whispered to Hudson, who stifled a laugh. "Our primary priority is to extract Number 8 and bring her back alive and unharmed." Xavier went on. "You have 5 hours, 45 minutes to prep your gear and get ready to rumble. Including weapon details." A moan of protest went through the marines. "Quit griping, you have a job to do. Kii, Williams, I want the dropship fuelled and ready to leave ASAP. Send the flight-plan to my PDA within the hour. Hudson, check your shit before you embark. I don't want any complaints about faulty USM equipment later on. And," he paused, "this mission is extremely confidential so if anyone so much as tries to drop even a hint, you will be court-martialled so fast you won't know what hit you. Now hit the showers." The marines shuffled off into the shower as Xavier headed back to his quarters.
In the shower, the mood had lightened up. "Why'd you think these pricks want this clone back so bad?" Jones asked rinsing her hair. "How the fuck should I know?" West drawled, "These assholes stick to the 'need to know' card like it's their mom's tit. Yo Kayla, toss me the soap." Hudson walked under the sprinklers just as Morgan tossed the soap to West. "All these fuckin suits 'need to know' is that we're the one's puttin in the work and we ain't above," he launched into an impersonation of Lieutenant Jordan, "being entrusted with being emphatic and emphasizing the elevation and embedding of our boots in their emphysemic and emaciated asses if they fuck around with us." "A most emotive and ebullient speech, your eminence," Williams joined in, curtseying as the group cracked up "Hey look what the cat crapped up." Jones laughed as Remer stripped and stepped into the shower area, shivering as the cold water hit him. "Fuck you Syd." He pretended to throw the soap at her as she ducked behind Kii. Williams tapped Morgan on the shoulder and pointed to Osbourne, who was standing alone at the edge of the shower area, facing away from everyone else with her shoulders hunched over. "Her brother was part of the security team on the Auriga, I’m guessing Xavier knew about it too." Remer spoke up, showering quickly. A collective quiet settled over the group at this revelation, as Osbourne turned and walked off to the lockers, her tears lost in the water dripping down her face.
The group winded up the shower and followed her to the lockers, with Remer trailing behind. The team walked in, drying themselves off and walked over to where Jenny was sitting on a bench and sobbing. 'Hey, don't worry Jenny. We'll get those bastards if it’s the last thing we do." Hudson wrapped a towel around himself and kneeled before her. "Hey," he stroked her chin as Syd came and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Remer walked in, "Kevin was a good guy. The last thing he'd want to see would be tears in his baby sister’s eyes." She looked up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "C'mon", Williams put out a hand to her, "Lets go get 'em." Jenny got up as Syd wrapped a towel around her and herded her to her locker. The team got into uniform in silence and headed out to their respective stations. They had a job to do.
West headed out of the shower and jogged over to the armoury. After collecting his kit, he headed for the canteen, hoping to grab a quick snack. He almost collided into Xavier as he crossed a medlab door. "Sorry Sarge, didn't see you there." Xavier looked at him blankly and then walked off. West looked back at him and shrugged. Nevertheless, he couldn’t quite help feeling something wasn't right with the Sarge.
5 hours later the team assembled in the hangar next to a large vehicle. Xavier jogged in just as the team shuffled into formation. Hudson was still struggling with his armor as Xavier approached. "Hurry up" Williams hissed. Hudson smiled as his armor clicked into place, "Don't worry. I'm too good a shot for Sarge to leave me behind," he motioned to the large rifle behind him, "And with this baby he's gonna need me to cover his ass, as well as yours." Williams nodded and joined the team as they stood to attention. Xavier walked up. "Alright bug-hunters, stretch up. We leave for Paris in 5 minutes. Kii, Williams, get in the dropship." The team complied. West looked at the Sergeant. He seemed normal and Osbourne seemed to have regained her composure. Exactly 5 minutes later Xavier walked over to the dropship, which looked like a cross between a jumbo jet and a battleship, with USM emblem on the side. "Alright, lets go marines." The team hustled at the base of the ramp leading into the ship. "Williams, start this thing up. Get in and stash your weapons. I want West and Osbourne at the bay door. Followed by Remer and Morgan, then Hudson and Jones. Now get in!" The team entered the dropship as Williams fired it up. Williams nodded from the dropships cockpit as Xavier set the automatic drop procedure from the console by the airlock and then hurried aboard the ship as the cranes above it began moving, preparing to elevate it above the airlock. Aboard the ship, everyone was silent. William's voice floated through the craft, "Engaging pre-launch autocycle. Standby 15 seconds." "Alright marines," Xavier spoke, “stay sharp." "Releasing couplers," Williams’s voice had taken on a hypnotized tone, "De-pressurizing. Outer door open." The door below the dropship opened over the reddish atmosphere of the Earth and the darkness of space.
"Releasing clamps in 5 - 4"
"Going down!" Hudson shot a thumbs up.
"3"
"Just don't pass out again." Xavier shot back.
"2"
"1"
The entire ship shook turbulently as the clamps released, sending them plummeting to Earth...
-By Abhinav Sharma
"I tried to save... people...
Didn't work out…
There was this... girl.
She had bad dreams...
I tried to help her... She died.
Now I can't even remember her name."
"Do you dream? I -uh, we have neural processors that- yes."
"When I sleep, I dream about them... it... every night.
All around me, in me...
I used to be afraid to dream, but I'm not anymore."
"Why?"
"Because no matter how bad the dreams get, when I wake up its always worse."
As she sat on the edge of the escarpment overlooking around the city, seeing the engineered aftermath of man for the first time, she couldn't help but smile. She looked at the number eight tattooed onto her arm, and then the remnants of the city. What Paris used to be and what it was now. It was one of the heralds of the space age, and now it lay in ruins. The Eiffel Tower lay smashed, less than half of it still standing, the remaining toppled onto the dried up grounds around it. The Louvre had been replaced by a mountain of rubble. Somehow she knew that this was the fate man was destined for. His greed had effaced his logic, and the erstwhile dominant species had been reduced to nothing more than scavengers. The destruction in front was a clear sign of the change.
"So, what do we do now?"
She turned to the figure beside her. "Why don't you tell me, Call? I'm the stranger here." She looked over her shoulder. "Where are the boys?"
Call rubbed her face in an oddly human way before sighing. "Vriess's finishing rigging up some electronic jammers, in case the USM decides to drop by on our base camp. Johner's probably dosed up on home-brew, lying somewhere in a puddle of his own piss, as always. What do you think we should do?" "What do you mean?" She spoke. Call rubbed her nose. "C'mon. You’re the officer here. Flight Officer Lieutenant Ripley." Call said mockingly, smiling. Ripley smiled back too. "You're the android, you should be smart enough." Call's smile faded a little, "I prefer the term artificial person myself." "Let’s head back to the Betty." Ripley stood up and began heading back to the Betty, as Call dutifully followed her. As they made their way down the slight slope, Ripley couldn’t help but feel something was coming. She looked up for an instant, and then took off, outdistancing Call easily. "Hey wait up!" Call called out. However, Ripley didn't feel like waiting. "HIDE!"
They weren't alone. She took off, leaping effortlessly across rocks over 10 feet tall like they were skipping stones. Call stared after her in sheer disbelief. Ripley was running down the incline at full speed, dodging rocks n brush with superhuman agility. Call hurried down after her, but was simply outmatched. Nevertheless, she knew Ripley wouldn't do something like that without reason. She began looking around for cover. Crawling under a large rock, she began digging and covering herself with the soil. Ripley intensified her speed, leaping off a protruding rock, hurtling almost 30 feet into the empty void in front of her. Call searched the skies and recoiled in horror. She saw the rapidly approaching spacecraft, and then looked down to see Ripley blazing across the plains. Ripley knew there was only one chance of saving them from the approaching onslaught. She reached the open bay door and leapt aboard, landing with a loud ‘thunk!’ Vriess was jolted awake by her dramatic entrance, just as Ripley entered the cockpit. One look at her face told him they were in danger. “Hit the jammers!” Ripley yelled out. Vriess promptly turned around to connect the two dangling wires in front of him, and then pounded a green button on the dashboard. Ripley felt a slight hum in the craft and a wave of nausea hit her. The ground suddenly began vibrating. Ripley headed back out the bay door to look around for Johner. She looked around but everything seemed hazy. Her head suddenly felt heavy. A deafening roar filled the air as a large shadow passed over the ship. An embattled space shuttle flew over the plateau they were on, with ‘USM’ emblazoned on the side, over some insignia.
Once it disappeared from view, Ripley braced herself against the Betty's extensible landing strut, dropping to her knees. The humming went on for a while, and then stopped, and she suddenly felt as if her head had been cleared. She tried standing up but found her legs were still shaking. She sat back on the ground, leaning against the strut, breathing heavily. The roar of the USM craft ebbed away into the distance. Ripley sat there for a while with her eyes closed, trying to calm down her nerves. She took a couple of deep breaths and opened her eyes. A small blurry figure was making its way across the plain. A loud groan emanated from behind her, and Ripley turned around to see Johner trying to sit up in the Betty's shadow. "Can't a man get some shut-eye in this place?" His gravelly voice sounded sleepy. "I think they've got a few extra beds aboard the USM's dropship." Ripley smiled. "Where? I don't mind as long as they got cute nurses." Ripley smiled, turning to the approaching figure, which materialized into a dust covered Call. "You look like you've just been exhumed." Call smiled sarcastically, and proceeded to dust herself off. Johner coughed and spat out as the dust flew towards him. "God damn it," Johner snapped in exasperation, "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He rolled onto his knees, sputtering "You shit-headed bucket of bolts.” Call smiled at him, enraging him further. "I'm gonna tear you apart!" He got to his feet and stumbled out. Call disappeared into the ship, grinning from ear to ear. Ripley sighed and got up, at least Johner was awake now. She saw him stagger to the open bay door as she dusted off her own clothes. Suddenly there was a splashing sound. Ripley walked over to see what had happened. Johner was standing on the ramp leading to the door, with water dripping from his face, looking incredulous. Call stood at the top of the ramp, with an empty bucket and a triumphant expression. Johner started after her but she merely raised her hand, her face turning dead serious, "If you're done fucking around, maybe you'd like to fix up the emplacements topside in case the USM decides to join us. This should be anytime within the next hour." The mention of the USM sobered up Johner a bit, "I'll get you for this later, bitch." Wiping his face, he elbowed past her, and disappeared up a ladder. Call turned to Ripley, "And if you ask me, he needed a shower too." Then she turned to Vreiss, approaching in his electric wheelchair. "You ok?" He motioned to Ripley. She nodded, smiling, "I see you got a new set of wheels." "Yeah, I stashed a spare in the Betty." He smiled back, affectionately patting the hull. "Follow me. I got to show you something in the cockpit." Vriess motioned them inside. "This better not be like the last time." Call warned him, as Vreiss broke out laughing. "What?" Ripley mouthed to Call, as Vreiss rounded the corner. "The last time he said that," Call rolled her eyes, "He literally showed me the something in his cockpit."
"Sergeant Xavier, report to the bridge immediately."
Xavier reluctantly sat up, blinking away the sleep. One less day until leave, he thought. Heaving himself out of the open hypersleep chamber, he headed for his locker. As he entered the code, he wondered why he was being called. He put the thought out of his mind as he quickly donned his fatigues and headed off to the bridge.
As he entered, Lieutenant Jordan's strained expression told him that this wasn't a normal assignment. Jordan spoke in an accented voice, "Sergeant Xavier, you have 6 hours to get a team prepped for a combat drop. Your team goes in hot, ready for extraction of the primary target." The lieutenant typed a few keys and a screen behind him came to life. A large picture of a dark-haired Caucasian woman took up half the screen. "This is a prototype, property of the United Systems Military." Xavier always disliked these pencil-pushing officers who considered equivocation part of their personality. She didn't look like property, she looked like a woman. "Number 8 was abducted from the USM Auriga by these criminals." The screen switched to show six photographs. The names Elgyn, Hillard, Johner, Christie, Vriess and Call were displayed below their respective photographs. "These criminals killed 42 enlisted security officers, as well as 7 science officers, before crashing the Auriga into Quadrant 760403, leveling it. They escaped on their class two unregistered commercial freighter, 'The Betty,' authorization code 'EA-TM-E,' landing on the outskirts of Paris. They lost 3 of their members but the remaining are in possession of Number 8." The photographs named Elgyn, Hillard and Christie blanked out. "You're primary objective is to evacuate Number 8, alive and unharmed. The secondary objective is the arrest or execution of the criminals." Jordan droned on. "Their vessel had docked with the Auriga, under false pretenses, no doubt, and the docktime scans indicate the ships weight to exceed the legal limits, so don't be surprised if they pull a few tricks. Now get your team prepped. Dismissed."
Xavier's mind started going over the intricate details of the assignment on his PDA. Once done, he headed out, thinking over the marines he was going to pick on his team as he headed for the gym. He decided on a team of eight. Reaching the gym doors, he took a deep breath. "ALRIGHT MARINES! FRONT AND CENTER." The soldiers abandoned their respective workouts and lined up, stepping into formation with a quick salute. Xavier went down the queue. "Hudson, Kii, Osbourne, West, Remer, Morgan, Jones and Williams, stay back for briefing. The rest of you head out." The marines filed out without question. "Hit the bleachers." Xavier barked. The remaining marines jogged over to the bleachers and sat down quickly. "Alright," Xavier paced in front of them. "What's the op, Sarge?” a marine raised his hand. "Jesus Joey, when was the last time you showered?" the marine next to him pinched her nose, smiling. The rest broke into muted laughter. "Remer, Jones, cut that shit out," everybody quieted down, "we've got ourselves a big game and you've been voted in as the MVP's." "I demand a recount," a lean soldier spoke up as the group began laughing again. Xavier furrowed his brow. He didn't really mind the camaraderie but they didn't have time to waste. He spoke up, "The next one to speak is on toilet detail for the next two months FOR THE ENTIRE STATION. Especially you Hudson." Hearing that, the group made sure to pay attention. "The research vessel USM Auriga was hijacked and crashed into an uninhabited quadrant a week ago. Three of the six hijackers managed to escape with USM property. The emphasis is to recover it ASAP. The secondary objective is to arrest or execute the hijackers. I'd prefer arrests. If they put up a fight, nail 'em in the kneecaps, otherwise...” Xavier tapped his forehead with his finger, "but ONLY as a last resort. We're marines, not mercenaries."
"Sir," an anxious looking marine raised her hand. "What is it Osbourne?" Xavier spoke, wincing inwards as he looked at her.” Were there any survivors from the Auriga?" she asked. "Based on empirical data, one escape pod was ejected but didn't survive the descent into the atmosphere. We found the fragments of the second pod near the Auriga's former location." Xavier sighed and went on, "The remainder of the employees went down with the ship. No survivors." Osbourne looked down, visibly shaken up. Remer reached out and patted Osbourne's shoulder. "The hijackers have landed somewhere on the outskirts of the Parisian ruins. We gotta go, check it out and bring back the USM property." "What do we have to look for?" Jones spoke up. "We are looking for a human clone. Number 8 from the Auriga's genetic research labs." Your PDA's are being updated with the necessary data. Williams pulled out his PDA and let out a low whistle. "I wouldn’t mind sharin' genes with her." He whispered to Hudson, who stifled a laugh. "Our primary priority is to extract Number 8 and bring her back alive and unharmed." Xavier went on. "You have 5 hours, 45 minutes to prep your gear and get ready to rumble. Including weapon details." A moan of protest went through the marines. "Quit griping, you have a job to do. Kii, Williams, I want the dropship fuelled and ready to leave ASAP. Send the flight-plan to my PDA within the hour. Hudson, check your shit before you embark. I don't want any complaints about faulty USM equipment later on. And," he paused, "this mission is extremely confidential so if anyone so much as tries to drop even a hint, you will be court-martialled so fast you won't know what hit you. Now hit the showers." The marines shuffled off into the shower as Xavier headed back to his quarters.
In the shower, the mood had lightened up. "Why'd you think these pricks want this clone back so bad?" Jones asked rinsing her hair. "How the fuck should I know?" West drawled, "These assholes stick to the 'need to know' card like it's their mom's tit. Yo Kayla, toss me the soap." Hudson walked under the sprinklers just as Morgan tossed the soap to West. "All these fuckin suits 'need to know' is that we're the one's puttin in the work and we ain't above," he launched into an impersonation of Lieutenant Jordan, "being entrusted with being emphatic and emphasizing the elevation and embedding of our boots in their emphysemic and emaciated asses if they fuck around with us." "A most emotive and ebullient speech, your eminence," Williams joined in, curtseying as the group cracked up "Hey look what the cat crapped up." Jones laughed as Remer stripped and stepped into the shower area, shivering as the cold water hit him. "Fuck you Syd." He pretended to throw the soap at her as she ducked behind Kii. Williams tapped Morgan on the shoulder and pointed to Osbourne, who was standing alone at the edge of the shower area, facing away from everyone else with her shoulders hunched over. "Her brother was part of the security team on the Auriga, I’m guessing Xavier knew about it too." Remer spoke up, showering quickly. A collective quiet settled over the group at this revelation, as Osbourne turned and walked off to the lockers, her tears lost in the water dripping down her face.
The group winded up the shower and followed her to the lockers, with Remer trailing behind. The team walked in, drying themselves off and walked over to where Jenny was sitting on a bench and sobbing. 'Hey, don't worry Jenny. We'll get those bastards if it’s the last thing we do." Hudson wrapped a towel around himself and kneeled before her. "Hey," he stroked her chin as Syd came and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Remer walked in, "Kevin was a good guy. The last thing he'd want to see would be tears in his baby sister’s eyes." She looked up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "C'mon", Williams put out a hand to her, "Lets go get 'em." Jenny got up as Syd wrapped a towel around her and herded her to her locker. The team got into uniform in silence and headed out to their respective stations. They had a job to do.
West headed out of the shower and jogged over to the armoury. After collecting his kit, he headed for the canteen, hoping to grab a quick snack. He almost collided into Xavier as he crossed a medlab door. "Sorry Sarge, didn't see you there." Xavier looked at him blankly and then walked off. West looked back at him and shrugged. Nevertheless, he couldn’t quite help feeling something wasn't right with the Sarge.
5 hours later the team assembled in the hangar next to a large vehicle. Xavier jogged in just as the team shuffled into formation. Hudson was still struggling with his armor as Xavier approached. "Hurry up" Williams hissed. Hudson smiled as his armor clicked into place, "Don't worry. I'm too good a shot for Sarge to leave me behind," he motioned to the large rifle behind him, "And with this baby he's gonna need me to cover his ass, as well as yours." Williams nodded and joined the team as they stood to attention. Xavier walked up. "Alright bug-hunters, stretch up. We leave for Paris in 5 minutes. Kii, Williams, get in the dropship." The team complied. West looked at the Sergeant. He seemed normal and Osbourne seemed to have regained her composure. Exactly 5 minutes later Xavier walked over to the dropship, which looked like a cross between a jumbo jet and a battleship, with USM emblem on the side. "Alright, lets go marines." The team hustled at the base of the ramp leading into the ship. "Williams, start this thing up. Get in and stash your weapons. I want West and Osbourne at the bay door. Followed by Remer and Morgan, then Hudson and Jones. Now get in!" The team entered the dropship as Williams fired it up. Williams nodded from the dropships cockpit as Xavier set the automatic drop procedure from the console by the airlock and then hurried aboard the ship as the cranes above it began moving, preparing to elevate it above the airlock. Aboard the ship, everyone was silent. William's voice floated through the craft, "Engaging pre-launch autocycle. Standby 15 seconds." "Alright marines," Xavier spoke, “stay sharp." "Releasing couplers," Williams’s voice had taken on a hypnotized tone, "De-pressurizing. Outer door open." The door below the dropship opened over the reddish atmosphere of the Earth and the darkness of space.
"Releasing clamps in 5 - 4"
"Going down!" Hudson shot a thumbs up.
"3"
"Just don't pass out again." Xavier shot back.
"2"
"1"
The entire ship shook turbulently as the clamps released, sending them plummeting to Earth...
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