space Odyssey

chapter two

Carter irish cormac fell to the floor his bottom lip bleeding as the crowd roared a man with a tall lanky body nanmed tom helped him back to his feet. "come on man you can't let this engine junkie kick your rear I got a whole month rations riding on this fight!" he said. "why did you bet a month rations?" carter asked. "because he's an engineer your a ARST for Christ sake kick his rear." Tom said. "engineers are big." carter said as he turned to get back into the fight only for a three hundred pound engineers fist to come colliding to his jaw sending him to the ground again he got up spitting blood he turned kicked the engineer in the shin before getting back to his feet and slugging the man across the left brow making the man stagger back he followed up with a strong uppercut to the jaw sending the man falling back into the crowd who pushed him right back toward carter who sent a fist right into the man's nose sending him to the floor nose shattered and bleeding and him knocked out cold as security entered the hangar bay. "what in the verse is going on here!" security chief omally demanded flanked by four of his security officers one of whom carter knew. "it's nothing serious mate just wee bit of rough housing between mates nothing wrong with that chief." carter said. "I should have guessed you'd be hip deep in this crud cormac you usually are well I hope you all had fun because now you are all going to face the consequences." omally said. "private Sullivan take the engineer and Cormack to the medical center get em patched up and put into holding cells then inform their COs and the admiral of this brawl." omally said. "your taking a bit of rough housing to the bosses are you serious?" carter demanded only for security officer grace stepped forward with a stun baton and jabbed him in the gut sending a stun bolt through cormacs body causing him to fall convulsing on the floor. "don't talk back to head of security." she said. Before the world went black.
James lifted the bandage on his neck revealing the scar left to him by the stalker it had been close if he hadnt already been aboard the Zion he would have died on the spot and been food for the creatures a thought he tried to keep from his mind. He flicked the bandage into a recycle chute as the door to the training room opened and squad Charlie with members from gamma entered the room lead by their teams captains risa who was one of the toughest women james knew and they had run into the same creatures he and alpha Team had James got back to lifting weights as risa walked over to him. "hey heard about your close call your not getting slow in your old age are you?" Risa asked. "who you calling old sister im in my prime critter just got a lucky shot in." James said with a smirk. "well chicks dig scars so you should be getting plenty with your record." Risa said with a laugh as she took the bench next to his and began lifting the weights set next to hers. "so I hear alpha is getting dips on the new armor how's it look so far?" Risa asked. "it's looking pretty good assuming we can keep our members from flying into walls and we don't have dips theres just not enough to go around right now." James said. "well I look forward to getting my own set in the future." she said before giving him a confused look with a raised brow. "who went into the wall?" she asked. "Manny jet pack malfunction according to him anyway." James said trying to keep from laughing himself. She smirked amused. "nice." she said sweat beginning to glisten her brow as she lifted the weights and brought them back down again.
Admiral asher sat in her command chair sipping her coffee reading the scan reports from the sector there were asteroids near that had high metal deposits they could spend a few weeks mining her XO walked over to her with the chief of security behind him. "ma'am we have situation." Charles stated. "what type of situation?" she asked sitting her tablet down. She lead them into her ready room where she found trask and chief engineer Bradley waited inside. "we got called about this to admiral." Bradley said sounding irritated. "what's going on?" ash demanded. "I arrested private carter cormac and private Curtis Floyd for a unauthorized brawl in hangar 2 this morning both men suffered mild injuries such behavior shouldn't be tolerated and this isn't the first occcurance of brawls like this." omally stated. "it's just a way for people to blow off steam it happens on a regular basis." Bradley said. "so I've heard." he added at the last second. "carter as been under a lot of strain since his transfer he's had trouble integrating into a team dynamic." trask said. "I don't care if it was just blowing off steam there was gambling at that fight I confiscated hundreds in ration cards." omally said.
"I get where everyone is coming from but this ship isn't a pleasure crews nor are we a civilian vessel this isn't a lawless ship we have regulations and rules to hold everyone to we are humanities future we can't beat each other up just to blow off steam." ash said. "I want carter and private Curtis to fill out a form naming everyone at the brawl those people will face reprimands and rations will be docked for the next two weeks Carter and Curtis are to be confined to quarters for two weeks unless a emergency situation occurs." ash ordered. "yes ma'am!" they answered she gestured for them to be excused and once the room was empty she collapsed into her office chair her body was tired the back of her throat burned talking was painful hiding it made it worse and she was beginning to get muscle cramps her sickness was progressing she pressed a button on her desk activating her secure comm channel linking it to Seths who answered. "hello admiral is there something I can do for you?" Seth asked as he answered. "are you busy doctor?" she asked hiding the pain she was feeling. "oh no just setting a broken foot lab tech was irresponsible dropped heavy piece of equipment on his foot." Seth said. "quit calling me a lab tech I'm a director of my own department." came roans voice over the channel. "I realized I missed my mandatory check up doctor I would like to schedule one for later on today in my quarters if you would?" she asked. "of course but I got you marked off for the month must be a computing error I will fix it do you have a physician in mind?" Seth asked. "I would appreciate it if you handled it personally." she said. Hanging up the call. She pulled herself out of her chair and downed a glass of cold water it didn't sooth the burning feeling if anything it was like putting gas on a fire only making it worse she pulled out a medical kit from her desk and took a small dose of pain killers which dulled the pain. She went back to the bridge where Charles got out of her command chair so she could resume what she had been doing. Her sensor officers face turned into a frown of confusion. "ma'am we have a contact on radar." he reported. "put it on screen." she ordered and the image of a large alien vessel drifted in front of them the ship was smaller than the Zion and covered in round bulges on its sides and underbelly it had no visible bridge and was brissiling with weapons. "can we identify it?" she asked. "negative doesn't match anything encountered before." the sensor officer reported. "broadcast on all channels a greeting and that we mean no harm." she ordered her communications officer nodded and entered the commands to her console. What answered was a high pitch shrieking noise that came over the speakers that the officer silenced immediately. "I don't think they liked our greeting." she said. "they are powering up weapons!" the tactical officer reported. "raise shields!" Charles ordered the Zions shields were raised as alarms blarred throughout the ship as the over head speakers announced all personnel were to get in their battle stations was broadcasted.
The alien vessel fired crimson bolts of energy at the Zion hammering into their shields the round bulges detached into smaller fighter craft that swarmed at the ship like hundreds of insects swarming the vessel attacking from all sides and angles. "we have three more larger vessels moving out of the asteroid belt they are deploying more fighters!" the sensor officer reported. "shields are holding their weapons aren't as advanced as our shields. "then let's see how our weapons compare to theirs target the smaller vessels and fire perhaps we can convince them they picked a fight with wrong ship." she ordered. The Zions weapons activated and fired into the swarm of fighters destroying several in a matter of seconds the Zion fired a dozen missiles that destroyed one of the two new comers larger ships but this only intensified the aliens attack efforts. "launch fighters we need to get some of the heat off the shields." ash ordered. "roger." Charles said he activated a comm channel. "attention all marauders and snub fighters and ARSTs prepare to deploy into battle." Charles ordered.
Dante Manny Dex Duke and trask entered the ready room for the ARSTs. "where's Irish?" Duke asked. "he's not coming now suit up for aviation combat." trask ordered. Dante pressed a purple button that switched suits that the locker deposited he pulled the locker down and he picked up the aviation helmet running a hand over the silver visor. The aviation suit was a slimmer version to the ARSTs normal gear as they had to fit in the cockpit of a fighter jet each suit was sealed for vacuum he pulled the black Vac suit on and then put on the armor plating thinner lighter and not as durable as their normal gear he put the helmet on and activated his heads up display and grabbed his side arm. Once everyone was suited up they gave eachother nods and headed to the hangar where they met up With beta Charlie delta and gamma squads Risa gave Duke a pat on the shoulder. "alright ARSTs you know the drill one ARST per marauder fighter craft if you know your dance partner get to them if not check the board and get ready to dance." yelled miranda leader of the marauder squadrons Dante went to her and they bumped fist. "guess your with me fixer." she said. "can't let a lady dance alone." Dante said smiling behind his visor. "don't worry i won't lead us wrong." she said he got in the copilot seat that controlled the weapons systems of the craft Amanda got in the pilot seat in front of his and lowered the canopy down as she brought the fighter to life. Dex got to his designated fighter the pilot wore a cowboy hat like from the classic holos from earth. "well I guess we are gonna dosey doe partner." he said. "now I know why they call you Tex." Dex said. "I reckon your right hop on into my branco and we'll get this on the trail." Tex said. Manny got into the fighter as his pilot went through a check list. "alright my callsign is law because I have laws in my aircraft law number one don't distract the pilot rule number two don't break rule number one rule number three keep shooting the enemy and don't get us killed rule number four don't break rules number 1 through 3." law said. "gotcha." Manny said. "rule number four answer yes or no when asked a question rule number five don't speak unless spoken to." law stated. "gees alright I get it." Manny grumbled. "and yet you just broke rule number five!" law yelled as he lowered the canopy. Duke climbed into the copilot seat of his marauder as the pilot climbed into the seat. "quick question do you get sick easy?" she asked. "nope." Duke answered. "great because I love a challenge my callsign is flower this is gonna be great." flower cheered. "starting to get why Risa wanted to trade." Duke said. "oh yeah she popped on our last flight I thought she was gonna drown in that helmet it was awesome!" flower said before blasting out of the hangar cutting off law and Manny in the process. "you crazy idiot watch how your flying hasn't anyone told you how to signal!" law yelled. "it's a fighter jet not a car!" Manny yelled. "rule five!" law yelled. Trask climbed into his fighter. "you ready for this shit!" yelled the pilot buster. "as much as I'll ever be!" boss answered. The marauder fighters flew into the void of space immediately breaking formation and picking and choosing their own targets the small craft were fast and maneuverable but the marauders were able to keep up with them Dex fired a volley into his target the crimson energy bolts tore through the small craft making it explode into millions of pieces the marauders shields flared as they flew through those pieces. "yeehaw first blood!" Tex howled. Miranda got them behind a enemy fighter that jerked and dived trying to avoid Dantes fire he got a lock on the craft reducing it to molten slag a moment later. "you know how to show a girl a good time!" Miranda laughed. "the itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout!" flower sang as she performed a barrel roll with he inertial compensatory dialed down Duke felt the gs pressing him into his seat flower didn't seem to mind. "Down came the rain and washed the spider out!" flower continued to sink as she performed a hard turn and dive to evade a couple enemy fighters dukes stomach was doing jumping jacks in his gut as he struggled to get a weapons lock and keep his stomach contents inside. "and the spider went back up the water spout!" she sang as Duke destroyed two enemy fighters seeing flower pilot them right toward a enemy fighter that continued heading right for them. "pull up!" Duke yelled. But she held her course. "pull up!" Duke yelled. But she held her course the craft continued on their collision courses. "fucking pull up!" Duke yelled. Only for flower to give the control yoke a little tip and the fighters flew mere inches from eachother with the top of the enemy craft being skimmed by the marauders energy shield. Flower pulled a reversal that put the enemy in dukes sights he fired and destroyed the craft seconds before filling his helmet with vomit. "you popped Yay!" flower yelled. "I fucking hate you." Duke yelled.
Ruby went to the brig where carter was he was standing up at the force field. "what in bloody hell is going on!?" carter demanded. "we are under attack but it's under control you and Curtis are under house arrest for two weeks I trust you know your way there?" Ruby asked. "of course I do and so do you want to explain why you gave me a jolt this morning for mouthing off to your boss?" carter demanded. "not the time Irish." Ruby said lowering the field as another impact shook the ship. "now I have to be at my ready station go to your quarters and don't leave." she ordered. "fine fuck all figures I get grounded the days the bloody aliens decide to attack." carter said as he left the brig and walked along the wall of the red light illuminated corridors he felt angry he should have been at a combat post or out in space with the rest of the ARSTs but he was stuck aboard the ship unable to do anything. There was a alarm as something breached the shields he saw on a wall map he wasn't too far from the hole in the shields it was happening toward the crew living section.
Meanwhile outside in the battle numerous of the alien ships exploded from Zions weapon fire or being picked off by the marauders a lone enemy ship smashed into the Zions shields and generated a energy pulse that opened a hole in the shields the ship lowered itself toward the hull as the bottom glowed with intense heat as it touched down on the hull. Alarms blared in the bridge. "we have a breach in the living quarters emergency shields aren't able to close the hole the section is still pressurized the enemy vessel as clamped onto the hull." the sensor officer reported. "we have eight unidentified life signs!" the tactical officer reported. "attention security we have borders on board seek out and eliminate them." ash ordered. As another alien vessel was destroyed only for six more to appear and take its place.
Carter went to a emergency weapon cache entering his authorization code and pressing his dog tag to the scanner the weapon locker opened and he retrieved a smg and pistol inserting energy cells into both he stuffed the pistol into his belt and shouldered the smg as he headed toward the breach.
Lieutenant Allison ash daughter of the admiral and control officer for alpha Team went door to door ensuring all civilian quarters were secure when she heard the breach alarm and saw the alien figures coming into the ship through the breach her hand went to her side arm which she had put on strictly out of protocol she wasn't a designated fighter she had been given this task to secure the science and other none military personnels safety she took a breath to calm herself as she drew her pistol and did her best to keep her hands from shaking beams of light danced across the corridor wall as the aliens turned on their equivalent of flash lights they hadn't noticed her yet she heard a metal door slid open and turned to see a child staring back at her she knew the child he was a ward to ARST Duke James had adopted the child when the kids parents had died on a jump and had been caring for him ever sense. "shut the door!" she ordered just as a alien light locked onto him and her she took aim with her pistol and fired three shots rang out one struck the wall behind the alien the other two smashed into its chest plate sending it to the ground screeching a blue bolt of light flew past her as a second alien emerged from around the corner firing at her from a wrist mounted weapon a blue bolt grazed her hand making her scream out in pain as her weapon fell to the deck surging with blue energy she ducked into dukes quarters grabbing the kid and kicking the door control to shut the door she carried the boy to the back of dukes room and found a closet she opened the door and put him inside she checked him over wincing at the pain from her hand she hadn't looked at it and had done the best she could to keep the boy from looking at it. "are you okay?" she asked her voice shaking from adrenaline and pain mostly adrenaline. The boy nodded. "your Sam right dukes kid listen you need to hide and don't come out until someone comes to get you." she said looking down at her hand she was amazed to see it still there intact all the bolt did was cause intense pain and make her lose use of it but otherwise she didn't see any real damage she used her good hand to stuff the paralyzed hand into her jacket pocket she then closed and locked the closet door and then a thought struck her which turned her blood cold. (had she locked the door?) she turned around and could hear the door whooshing open and covered her mouth to prevent herself from making any noise she knew each ARST had emergency weapon cache in their quarters with customized stashes of weapons she wouldn't be able to use dukes normal favorite heavy weapons but he would have pistols in the locker she could use she crept along the walls toward the locker only for one of the aliens to emerge around the corner she screamed. Punching the creature in its teardrop shaped head it's skin was soft and moist on contact the creature fell backward screeching in pain as she ran past it running for the weapon locker the creature ran after her slamming into her back and sending her to the floor it grabbed her flailing legs and began to drag her away from the locker she grabbed a boot that Duke had left in the floor and threw it backward striking the thing in the face making it release her she crawled back toward the locker and the creature jumped on top of her screeching in her ear its knee drove into her back and its hand slapped her in the face before grabbing her hair and slamming her face first into the floor dazing her she clawed backward with her hand racking her nails across it's blue skin drawing a deeper blue blood from the scratches it screamed in agony before delivering a stomp to her back on kicking her over onto her back and stomping at her face she used her arm to shield her from the blow but a second kick struck her in the ribs a second alien came around the corner and shoved the first aside it aimed it's wrist weapon down at her and in a blue flash of light the world disappeared.
Carter rounded a corner seeing the first pair of aliens one was helping another off the ground the one it was helping hunched as if wounded Carter took aim and fired a short burst of automatic fire taking the first alien in the head splattering blue blood and green brains across the wall the second wounded alien went next as over a dozen energy bolts tore through its chest ripping it in half he saw a third dragging a woman down the hall he fired another burst from his smg six rounds tore into the creature sending it to the ground a fourth came around the corner firing blue energy bolts from a wrist mounted weapon several of the bolts went wide but one struck his smg shorting the weapon out and sent jolts of energy into his hands making his fingers go numb and sting with pins and needles he winced in pain he couldn't grab his side arm with his useless fingers he charged at the creature he had it drilled into his skull since he was in basic if he was in battle and he could still move he was to fight he was to survive he hadn't lost his hands he knew what a stun round felt like and he hadn't taken a direct hit but it would be minutes before he could possibly grab anything but that didn't mean he couldn't fight he just had to switch to close quarters combat.
He closed the distance between them even as the alien kept firing a bolt struck his leg causing immense pain he was afraid he had lost the limb but lunged on his good leg a trio of bolts struck him in the chest sending electricity of pain and agony flooding through his body he couldn't even yell in pain as his vocal cords became paralyzed he slammed into the creature his legs arms nothing worked his vision blurred his body was shutting down he used all his will power to do the last thing he could do he bit down as hard as he could his teeth tore through soft moist flesh a foul fluid filled his mouth as he ripped a chunk of the creatures skin out the creatures screams of agony were the last thing he heard before the world went dark.
Ruby ran through the corridor with her tactical squad she heard gun fire ahead and could see the flashes of a smg discharge she saw blue energy bolts flying through the corridor the gun fire suddenly stopped she heard a man screaming in rage and recognized the man's voice and when she got to the corner she gestured for her squad to hold and looked around the corner and saw Carter falling to the floor blue blood covering his mouth the wounded alien stumbled forward grasping a wound on its slender neck it collapsed to the floor while another three grabbed carter and tossed him onto a woman who they had captured Ruby and her squad advanced weapons raised the lead alien pressed a button on its wrist device lowering a energy shield from where their craft had breached the hull even as Ruby and her squad opened fire on them but nothing managed to get through the barrier Ruby watched helplessly as the aliens picked up carter and the female officer took them back aboard their ship the energy shield vanished as the ship detached causing the air to rush out into space the Zions emergency shields sealed the breach within a second preventing the alien bodies and the security team from being sucked out. Ruby punched the wall out anger before going to a wall terminal entering her codes she pulled up all crews identification tags and then isolated it to the ones not on the ship she ruled out the pilots and ARSTs in the battle and came up with two names that weren't cleared to leave the vessel one was Carter cormac which she knew the second was the surprising one as it turned out to be the admirals daughter.
She activated her comlink to the bridge. "ma'am the alien vessel as been detached and is fleeing don't destroy that ship it as human prisoners ARST carter cormac and control officer lieutenant allison ash I repeat do not destroy that ship!" Ruby reported.
The marauder flew behind the vessel that had boarded the Zion and then shortly afterward detached Dante painted the target with a missile lock his fingers hovering over the launch button when the admirals voice came over command comms. "all fighters the ship that just detached from our vessel is not to be destroyed it as prisons their rescue is now top priority squads alpha through gamma are to board the enemy ship and retrieve the prisoners their identifications are ARST carter cormac and lieutenant Allison ash their survival is top priority!" ash ordered. Dantes eyes widened at the name Allison her image flashing through his mind. "Miranda." he said. "I know I'll get us as close as I can transfer weapon control to my station prepare to be ejected." she ordered. Dante nodded he pressed the button he kept the target painted so the other marauders could track it he then pressed a second button and the floor under him opened to a hidden compartment inside was a DR9 compact which was a smaller lighter model of weapon than what he normally used in the field he climbed into the compartment that sealed once he was inside. "good luck Romeo go get Juliet." Miranda said. "with a better ending this time." Dante added. The bottom of the compartment opened and he was sucked out into the void of space using the force the decompression of the compartment like as a launching method he flew toward the enemy ship which hadn't accelerated since leaving he used his jet pack for a controlled approach he then used his grappling hook to connect onto the ship and reel himself in he magnetized his boots to stick to the hull and road the ship into one of the larger ships he stayed low as not to be noticed as he saw crews of the blue skinned aliens approach the craft they had long skinny bodies tear drop shaped heads large black eyes and a mouth that had white round teeth Dantes heads up display showed that the atmosphere in the ship was comprised of hydrogen and oxygen and was extremely humid condensation had already begun to build up on his armor and visor and the temperature had also been set to 42 degrees his armor had compensated for the temperature change to just as it had while he had been in vacuum he watched them unload Irish and Allison they had stored the two in pods full of a blue liquid each had a breathing apparatus attached to their faces Dante cursed under his breath when he saw them carted off in two different directions the ships engines began to hum to life signalling it's take off to be redeployed into battle he slid off the ship landing in a crouch on the smooth white deck he sprinted behind a stack of crate and energy cells he watched as the pods vanished behind two large doors the slid open he loaded a tracking tag and shot both pods so he could track them.
Miranda smiled at knowing Dante had gotten in. "alpha 5 as made it on aboard the target vessel." Miranda reported. "crazy son of bitch went in alone!" Duke yelled. "I know irish is a bad influence but he hasn't been on the team long enough for Dante to pick up his bad habits." Manny said. "shut up and get on that ship!" boss ordered. "yes sir!" they all answered as teams alpha through gamma were deployed from their individual marauders like Dante had been they flew toward the hangar bay using their jet packs to correct their courses the enemy ships point defense weapons fired at the marauders boss saw two members of Charlie team wink out of existence along with one of deltas a approach like this was risky while the enemy ships systems couldnt see the approaching soldiers it didn't change weapon fire in their general direction could take a few if not all of them out. A muruader flew ahead of them striking the enemy ship with a missile taking out their protective shield around the hangar bay the ARSTs gave it all their jet packs could give flying into the unprotected bay but out of the 30 ARSTs that had been deployed only 26 had made it aboard with three confirmed dead one missing in action.
They magnetized their boots to the floor as the atmosphere in the hangar was vented into space along with anything not bolted or strapped down including several of the aliens whose finals screams were lost to the void a emergency shutter closed the hangar door and the bay repressurized Dante stood by one of the large doors in the hangar working on a console. "fixer which direction did they take the prisoners?" boss demanded. "they took Allison through this door and Irish through the other." Dante answered nodding to the opposite door. "then your working on the wrong panel." boss said making fixer stop what he was doing. "excuse me sir?" Dante asked. "team alpha will retrieve Irish beta and Charlie can go after Allison delta and gamma can hold this position for our extraction." boss instructed. "sir permission to go after Allison?" Dante requested. "denied." boss stated. "now get my other door open." boss ordered. Dante hesitated for a moment before standing up he looked to boss for a long moment who straightened up and looked at him. "do I need to repeat my order?" boss asked. "no sir other door coming up." Dante said turning and walking off to the other door.
Irish came to with a start the liquid stung his eyes as he opened them he saw images of the Zion of alien worlds he had been to he saw the ARST armor and shook his head as he cleared his mind he saw four creatures working consoles outside a pod he felt the apparatus on his face the tube down his throat that he gagged against it as he tried to breath one of the creatures took notice of his awake status and began manipulating a console Irish pulled and yanked against the mask succeeding in removing it the aliens let out a panicked noise and drained the pod of its liquid contents he fully removed the mask and coughed and gagged as he pulled the tube out of his mouth he wound up vomiting on the floor as the pod opened one came in with a injector full of a green fluid it went to inject his shoulder when his hands snapped up catching the creature by its wrist he forced the needle into its neck and pressed the trigger injecting the green fluid into the creature that immediately slumped over but he caught it before it could fall the other three creatures began firing their wrist mounted stun weapons he used the slumbering alien as a meat shield that took the bolts as he charged out of the pod slamming into one of the creatures sending it to the floor his fingers caught a bit of the final stun round and went numb he spun and kicked the third creature in the head hard enough to send it falling cracking it's skull open on a console the fourth carter lunged at it tackling it to the ground he quickly snapped its neck he felt the invading sensation of his mind again as more memories and images flashed through his head he felt his head and found a metal patch he peeled it off his head ending the flood of memories he stomped on the pinned aliens head either killing or knocking it out. Irish looked down to see they had stripped him out of his uniform and put him in a white jumpsuit he relieved two of the aliens of their wrist weapons and headed off in what he was hoping was a hangar or communication bay.
Allison woke up found herself floating in a large pod she saw one of the aliens monitoring a bank of consoles and then she felt needles inserting themselves down her spinal cord she wanted to scream in agony but couldn't move she felt something being pumped into her and it felt like her viens were being set on fire she wanted to cry but couldn't.
Irish fired a stun bolt into a charging alien knocking it out he walked over and stomped on its neck ensuring it wouldn't get back up he was glad that besides their advanced technology these aliens were relatively fragile creatures.
He went down a second corridor and went by a door that opened he turned seeing a large room opening his eyes widened at what he saw floating in tanks of blue fluid and saw the alien working a station he charged the alien strangling it to death breaking it's neck before it could even put up a fight. He heard the heavy thuds of boots approaching and charged out of the room raising his wrist mounted weapons ready to fire them only to see boss Manny Dex Duke and fixer all aiming weapons at his sudden exit of the room he smiled at them. "about bloody time." Irish said. "we are getting you out of here." boss said. "not yet." he said grabbing a grenade from Manny's belt he armed it throwing it into the room and punching a wall control to close it as the grenade detonated destroying all in the room. "we need to find the woman who was captured with me." Irish said. "you just couldn't stay confined to quarters could you." Duke said Irish smiled as boss handed him a pistol and Dex handed him a ear piece so he could be on their comms. "Teams beta and Charlie are rescuing Allison as we speak." boss said. "well we need to go make sure they get to her in time." Irish said. "why what do you know?" Dante demanded. "they do stuff to the females of alien species these things run into." Irish said. "alright first we get you to the evac site." boss stated. "I'm fine I can fight." Irish said. "then you can hold the evac site." boss stated. "damn you don't know your way around the ship!" irish said. "Zion can you get a fix on my signal?" boss asked over the command net. "affirmative alpha one." came Charles. "good I'm activating a emergency beam back beacon lock on and beam it back directly to medical." boss ordered as he activated the beacon and threw onto irishs chest and in a flash he was gone.
Admiral ash was told of the safe recovery of Carter cormac but her daughter was still missing and no matter how much she tried she couldn't help but be concerned for her daughters well-being despite her attempts to treat her daughter like any other member of the crew because as the admiral and commanding officer of the ship she couldn't afford to give special treatment to anyone but even with out the coddling of a affectionate mother Allison had grown up to be a smart and very talented officer she had kept track of her daughters accomplishments over the years and had become aware of how close she was to the ARSTs especially to alpha team especially to the one nicknamed fixer. Target another one of the larger ships and destroy it." ash ordered the Zions main Canon fired sending a beam of energy straight through one of the larger command ships the vessel erupted into a miniature star before fading out of existence into a debris cloud.
Alpha Team rushed through the vessel as it came to life around them the crew had apparently been made well aware of their presence as armored warrior's met them at every turn firing power energy weapons that left boiling molten holes in the floors and bulkheads where they impacted much different than the stun weapons they had encountered so far. "this is beta and Charlie we are under heavy fire requesting assistance!" came Vance the leader of Charlie team he had already lost a quarter of his team before even boarding the vessel. Dante dropped three of the aliens in a six round burst Duke fired a automatic stream from his rotating triple barrel Gatling laser that killed four more of the aliens manny blasted a alien in half with his shotgun a door opened behind them boss drew his knife spinning on his heel he jammed his blade into the skull of one of the aliens and used his assault rifle to kill four more that had tried to sneak behind them Dex tossed a grenade into that room as boss shot the door controls he let the dead alien fall to the floor after he retrieved his knife. They continued on their way to support beta and Charlie stepping over the dead aliens as they went.
They finally got to the two teams location he saw four of them down smoldering holes in their chest he still had vitals on the four but they were weak Vance performed emergency beam outs for the wounded Duke fired his full auto tribeam Gatling laser into the defending line of the creatures mowing down several of the creatures as Dante and decker of beta team advanced firing and providing eachother cover as they moved forward four more aliens fell to their combined fire Dante drew his pistol and broke cover firing both his weapons into the alien lines breaking through until he got to Allison Dante shot the pod creating a hole that drained the pod which opened it as a automated function he holstered his pistol slung his rifle as he caught Allison as she fell he helped her remove the mask. "delta gamma we got package number two package one is already home everyone beam back to the Zion." boss ordered Dante held Allisons unconscious body tightly as he entered his emergency beam out code and he and her appeared in the medical bay.
Seth and his doctors rushed to her side they picked her up and put her on a medical bed he activated the beds scanners bringing up a holographic image of her body scans highlighted several red sections throughout her body and Seth's face looked worried. "is she okay?" Dante asked. "get him out of here." Seth ordered security personnel moved to escort him out. "doc is she okay!" Dante demanded. "get him out of here now!" Seth ordered raising his voice he was escorted out of the medical bay the heavy metal doors slamming in his face while carter watched from a different bed.
The alien fleet moved off each of them jumping into FTL cheers flooded the bridge from victory. "damage report people!" Charles demanded. "no major damage other than that one haul breach on deck twenty our shields held." the tactical officer reported. "good what's the status of the marauders and ARSTs?" ash asked. "four marauders were critically damaged needing to be recovered no casualties but the ARST have three KIA one missing in action from the entry to the ship seven more sustained critical injury while recovering the prisoners the wounded are reported to be stable." the tactical officer reported. "what's the status of the rescued?" ash asked. "ARST carter as been cleared medically and put on medical leave pending a psychological evaluation and the end of his previous suspension." the officer reported. "and of lieutenant Allison ash?" she asked. The bridge went silent for a long moment ash swallowed the lump in her throat ignoring the burning pain in her throat. "what is the status of my daughter!" she demanded. "no news as been made available as of yet ma'am." she finally said. Ash nodded and stood up nearly collapsing but caught herself on a shaky hand on the armrest of her chair before Charles or anyone else could react. "Charles you have the bridge I'll be in my quarters." she said leaving the bridge her body losing strength fast. how much longer could she keep going keep pretending she wasn't a walking corpse how much longer could she put it off because the flame of strength she had was like a match and she was trying to keep it lit in a hurricane. She used the tram system in the ship to get to her private quarters Allison's father had died when she was fairly young ash wasn't even sure Allison remembered the man. Ash got to her cabin where she saw Seth standing with a medical bag. "what's the status of my daughter?" she demanded. "she is stable recovering I have her in a medically induced coma these things had attempted gene altering on her at a cellular level reversing all they did its... It's not something one would want to be awake for." he said. Ash nodded. "as long as she is alive." she said breathlessly. "from the looks of you we should of had this appointment a while ago." Seth said his old wrinkled face a mask of determination and exhaustion.
Ash was lead into her quarters and Seth went in with her he gestured to her bed. "take off your uniform and lay down I'll perform some scans see where we are at and what can be done." Seth instructed before turning around so he wouldn't see anything.
Dante entered the locker room where he stripped out of his armor putting it back in his locker properly he saw Vance the leader of Charlie remove the nametags of two of his men he pocketed the names he looked to the other three members of his team each had been badly hurt on the mission but had been patched up to where they could move around. "empty these lockers." he ordered he turned seeing Dante. "it was one of your guys who got taken him and your control officer." Vance said. "I'm sorry for your loss." Dante said he felt the loss of each ARST or any crew member like a body blow because he knew no words made it better when a brother or friend dies and you don't even have a body to bury. "shove it up your Ass I want to know why it was my team that paid the blood toll to get your baggage back." Vance said. "sir I wish things had gone differently but they didn't." Dante said. "no they didn't because once again alpha comes back with all hands Charlie well who gives a fuck." Vance said spitting at Dantes feet. "sir don't." came techs voice he had been on alpha Team until he was transferred to Charlie so that Carter could be placed on the team. "fuck you.... Fuck your team none of them were worth the lives of my men." Vance hissed. "that's enough Vance." came trask who entered flanked by the team leaders of gamma beta and delta. "or continue it with me." trask said. Vance shoved the name tags into Dantes hands. "your girlfriend your teams screw up you enter the names of those that they got killed into the wall." Vance said storming off Risa waved away stench of booze as the man passed. "I'll enter the names for you." she offered. "I'll do it." Dante said. He left the locker room.
Dante went up a couple decks to where a large holographic wall was set up covered from top to bottom in a sea of names and faces that never ended the wall cycled through them every few minutes heros all of them who had given everything so that humanity could see tomorrow he scanned the identification chips into the wall and they were added to the wall tech walked up and looked at it. "I have a uncle and brother on this wall." tech said. "I got a father on it." Dante said. "we'll all be on it eventually." tech said. "hopefully we find a new home before that happens." Dante said. "it wasnt your fault yours or your teams Vance is just pissed and drunk he'll come around." tech said. "yeah it gets to us all." Dante said. "don't let it get to you not yet." tech said punching him in the shoulder Dante nodded and started toward the med bay. "I hope she comes out of it okay." tech said. "me to." Dante said.
James stood in the observation room as omally sat across from the alien prisoner they had captured during their failed raid on the Zion. "according to my science officer you understand our language due to the probing of our officers mind I'm hoping that makes communicating easier." omally said. The creature let out a bellowing scream at omally. "why did you attack this ship?" omally asked the creature pulled at its restraints trying to get free. "why did you take our people?" omally demanded. The creature thrashed around angrily kicking and stomping it's feet. "are we sure it understands us?" omally asked looking to roan just as the thing spat in omallys face. "it understood something." roan said. Omally wiped his face. "well how am I suppose to understand it!" omally demanded. "we are scanning its vocal cords and brain wave pattern to workout a translator but to do that we need it to talk right now it's just screaming at you." roan said. "this is a waste of time!" omally yelled. Storming out of the room james looked seeing Risa enter the observation room she looked down at the creature with a hint of disgust. "they want to talk to it?" she asked. "yeah I rather shoot it and send it out a airlock." James said. "I guess the admiral wants answers on why these things attacked us why they let hundreds of not millions of their own to die against a superior fighting force." Risa said. "I think she mainly wants to know what these things were doing to her daughter." james said. Risa nodded. "is Sam?" Risa started James held up a hand to stop her. "he's good he's a strong little guy he told me what Allison did for him I'm grateful to her I hope she pulls through and I hope we can wring some answers out of this fish faced bastard." james said. Risas fingers brushed against James's fingers he put his hand in hers and laced their fingers together as she leaned into him resting her head on his shoulder. "either way if we are gonna find us a new home might as well get to know those in the neighborhood." he said making her smile.
Seth shook his head as he read the results of the scans ash slowly got her uniform back on. "that bad is it?" she asked. "it's not good your already in the late stages Katherine." Seth said. "well I didn't think I was that far along." ash said. "your nervasystem is showing signs of decay and most of your organs are in early stages of failure there is even signs of the disease in your brain it won't be long before neurological symptoms begin to manifest themselves." Seth said. "how long do I have doctor?" ash asked. "to live or until people stop ignoring the signs?" Seth asked. "is there a difference?" she countered. "Katherine I might still be able to save you if you let me treat your condition." Seth said. "we both know that late stage there is no coming back from that." she said. "in a matter of weeks you'll begin to lose the use of your extremities either your arms or legs will go numb and you won't be able to use them anymore shortly after that you'll notice your vision failing hearing loss shortly after that you'll lose those entirely it won't be long after that you'll pass away but it'll be slow and possibly painful drugs will help for a while but treatment can give you time I can turn that month into a year and possibly more if we manage to beat it." Seth said. Katherine gave him a sad smile. "I swore I wouldn't go through that again seth I swore I wouldn't let my crew see me so weak again because if I can't be strong how can I expect them to be?" she said breaking into tears Seth pulled her into a hug. "it's not weakness to get help Katherine it's just human." Seth said. Katherine went to the medical bay where the nurses put her in a patient gown she saw Allison laying in a isolation pod Dante sitting outside the pod his hand resting on the pod as he slept his head buried in his other arm. She laid on the medical bed as it slid her into the scanning chamber where she was lifted up by a antigravity field and scanning beams went up and down her body she closed her eyes as tear ran down her cheek.