space Odyssey

chapter 3 part 2

Chapter three part
Dante lead the breach into the room throwing in four stun grenades the grenades went off stunning the hostiles closest to the doors and points of detonation Dante put a spray of stun bolts into the first hostile he saw with a weapon Irish was dropped by a trio of energy bolts slamming into his chest plate the man cursed Abby fired at the man responsible who managed to evade her fire dropping her with a trio of rounds Dante switched his weapon to kill and put a single round through Chris's chest the man looked down at the mortal wound and started laughing Dante looked behind the man seeing trask dead seeing the admiral and Charles and the other hostages throats slit Chris simply stood there laughing even when Dante emptied his clip into him.
Dante woke with a start and  saw he was in his cabin allison laid next to him he was drenched in sweat.
Allison rolled over in the bed and looked at him. "the dream again?" she asked sleepily. He nodded and ran his fingers through her hair she scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "there was nothing that could be done his death wasn't your fault he knew what he was doing what the risk were and you know he would have done everything again because that's the kinda man he was brave determined loyal just like you." Allison said he laid back down and kissed her lips which she returned she snuggled her head to his chest and drifted back to sleep but he wouldn't find sleep the rest of the night.
The wind howled outside irishes helmet as he free fell through the air he saw Manny's pod falling without power. "hey your approaching kinda fast." Manny said. Irish straightened his body and allowed himself to fall past the pod and saw the ground fastly approaching until the simulation ended and he landed on his feet. Dante entered the room as Manny  climbed out of the simulation pod. "what the hell was that Irish?" Dante demanded. "that was me being fed up with Sims." Irish said with a shrug. "and yet you haven't managed to complete a run successful yet!" Dante yelled. "I finished the last simulation with a eighty four percent success rate that's within approving range by the system and we have been running nothing but god damn simulations for a fucking month!" Irish yelled. "eighty percent isn't good enough no where near now run it again!" Dante ordered. "fuck you!" Irish yelled. Dante tightened his fist as Duke entered the room. "that's your superior officer your addressing Irish." Duke stated. "your right my apologies." Irish said with a nod. "fuck you sir." Irish yelled. Duke stepped between the two. "take a walk Irish Manny give us the room." Duke ordered. "we aren't done here." Dante said. "permission to have a talk captain sir." Duke said with a point to his words. Dante nodded and the other two left the simulation room. Once they were alone in the room Duke went to the door and locked it. "what's this about Duke?" Dante demanded. "I was about to ask you the same thing kid." Duke said. "what do you mean?" Dante asked. "we are alpha Team we are one of the best teams in the ARSTs and you have been having us running Sims for entire month the guys are burned out on them and you know they are up to par." Duke said. "this team as the lowest clocked simulation time and with a new team member that needed to change and this team hasn't reached the scores I know they can." Dante said. "this isn't about the teams scores or Abby it's about what happened to trask I've seen this kind of thing before kid you need to let this go what happened wasn't your fault." Duke said. "if we had been faster at neutralizing hostiles in that breach trask would still be alive today he might have even regained command of this team." Dante said. "it went the only way it could have kid you didn't half Ass that mission you and the team did everything you could that wasn't lack of skill or experience its just how it went and there is nothing we can do to change that running Sims won't fix it the only way we can honor trask is by doing exactly what he would have wanted  to find humanity a new home and it's time we got back out there." Duke said.  Dante looked down and nodded Duke put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "why didn't you take command?" Dante asked. "because I'm not the leader type I'm the guy who keeps the leaders head on straight." Duke said Dante nodded slapped dukes shoulder. "okay tell the guys to take the day I'll get us back in rotation." Dante said. Duke nodded with a smile.
Ash sat on the bridge in her command chair she felt exhausted from another round of treatments Seth had increased the regularity of her treatments a clear sign that her chances hadn't gone up in recent months but she retained full use of her body and senses and her mental faculties hadn't degraded so she stayed in command but she knew that she would have to give up command eventually one day she wouldn't be fit for command and since just getting up from a chair now days was enough to wind her she knew that day was coming very soon. "status update?" charles ordered. "we are getting a faint signal sir it's human in origin?" the comms officer reported Charles and ash looked surprised at this news. "it's the colony ship venture it's their rally signal sir."  the officer reported a bit excitedly. "they found a habitable world they truly did it?" Charles said shocked. "helmsmen set a course to that signal." ash ordered. "should I notify the crew?" Charles asked. "negative I want confirmation before we get anyone's hopes up." ash said before breaking into a coughing fit that caught her by surprise she put a hand to her mouth to cover the coughing and felt something warm and wet hit her hands she looked at her hand and saw it red with blood Charles handed her a napkin. "ma'am you should go to the medical bay and get checked out I will over see the operation and report back to you." Charles said. "very well I want teams beta and Charlie on standby." ash ordered. "alpha Team reentered in rotation this morning ma'am." Charles added. "very well put them on lead beta Charlie will back them up." ash said as she got up and felt like her knees were going to buckle but she stood up straight and walked out of the bridge under her own power wiping the blood from her mouth and hands she would have to get Charles a new hankerchif for his uniform later.
The Zions FTL drives spun up and the alert was broadcasted out they weren't needed as much anymore thanks to the upgrades that had been performed to the zions hyperdrive which made the trips far less intense.  Dante Vance and beta team leader decker who had been newly promoted to team leader position after the retirement of the pervious captain decker still had a month's experience on Dante when it came to team leading and had been his captains right hand for years before being promoted while Dante hadn't been trained for the position but he had gotten it anyway. The three captains entered the office of commander Charles who looked up from his monitor and cleared the readout with a hand wave. "gentlemen this information stays in this room until your squads are ready for deployment it is classified to the highest degree." Charles stated the three captains stood at attention waiting for their orders."do you understand what I've told you?" Charles asked pressing the severity of what he had just said they each nodded their understanding. "we have received a signal from another colony ship the venture and it's broadcasting a rallying call a call only used to alert other ships that a new home for humanity as been found." Charles explained. Each of the them couldn't hide the surprise from their faces after all this was what each of them had dedicated their lives to and while they were overjoyed to hear it had been found each was slightly disappointed it hadn't been them to make the discovery. "sir beg my pardon but isn't that good news why does it sound like we are preparing for the worst case scenario?" Vance asked slightly confused "like you I hope we all in the command crew hope this checks out and we can finally settle a new home but the admiral wants to air on the side of caution we already know there is hostile alien life out there and we know once habitable worlds are becoming uninhabitable for a reason we have not learned yet so we want to be safe instead of sorry on this one when we arrive alpha beta and Charlie will be deployed to the planet to do their own evaluations and your to make contact with ventures commanding officer. Alpha will take point and drop first." Charles said. Vance looked troubled by the last part of that statement. "sir with all due respect I'm the one with most seniority shouldn't Charlie take point and alpha and beta back us up?" Vance asked. "admirals orders alpha takes point it's Dantes show." Charles said ending the matter. "yes sir." he decker and Dante answered. They were dismissed from the office and walked out of the office decker looked to Dante with a nod of approval. "nice you get to run the show on our homecoming." decker said. "quiet we aren't suppose to speak about it until the mission actually starts." Vance said his tone clearly showed he disapproved of Dante having command. They got to ARST ready center and Vance turned to dante grabbing him by the front of his uniform and dragging him into a side office.
He shoved Dante back who straightened his uniform ready for a fight if that was what Vance was looking for. "listen you have been in command of your team for three months that's not enough experience to lead a joint action mission not like this now the brass may have put you in charge of the mission but once we are deployed I want you to transfer command to me I have the most experience and I'm the most qualified to lead." Vance stated. "you have more experience I'm not disputing that but I'm keeping my command and I expect you to respect the admirals decision if you have a problem with me taking point take it up with the commander. But you've been on me since the rescue mission now if you have a problem with me then we should hash that out before the mission because I rather get a punch in the face then a bullet to the back." Dante said pointedly. Vance gave him a stern cold glare. "I don't know what the brass sees in you punks and someone should put you in your place and maybe some day I will but I'm not risking my gun hand before a mission." Vance said. "the doc can patch you up I'm  not wanting this to get in the way in the field now we either settle it in a ring or right here and that can take whatever form you want words or fist I'm ready." Dante said without backing down. Vance gave him a smug grin before smashing his fist into Dantes jaw Dante punched him right back in the nose.
Duke and Manny walked past the closed office door talking about specs for Manny's suits and they heard a thump against the door which made them stop they heard grunting and more thuds then a loud crash and then the door visibly shook as something hit it the door came open and Dante was thrown out of the office landing on his back bleeding from his lower lip and over his right eye he was visibly winded and wincing in pain Vance stepped out of the office favoring his right leg holding his sore side he bleed from a broken nose split lip and a cut on his left cheek blood covered his left knuckles one visibly split open. Duke and Manny went to step in. "stand down..." Dante coughed. "it's cool." Dante said as he slowly got up he looked to Vance just as out of breath as the older soldier. "are we?" Dante asked. Vance walked up and put his hands on Dantes shoulders he let out a breath and pulled Dante down into his knee driving his knee into his ribs knocking the wind out of Dante and sending him back to the floor. "yeah we are cool." Vance said walking off.
They were both collected by security taken to omallys office where Charles was called in with Dex the two looked surprised at the condition of the two captains. "it's no secret on this ship that you two dislike eachother so what the hell happened?" omally demanded. "it's a big misunderstanding sir." Vance said. "enlighten me." Charles asked. "well sir captain vance lead me into the office to discuss our upcoming assignment without risking giving away any details the deck had been recently cleaned." Dante said. "and I slipped and bumped into him who slipped and hit me and we just fell into the furniture of the office." Vance said. "yeah just couldn't get any traction and we fell out of the office I stopped my men from over reacting." Dante said. "yes and then he slipped and I tried to catch him but my foot slipped." vance said. "is that the story your sticking to?" omally asked with a raised brow. "yes sir." Dante nodded. "it seems to be what I remember happening sir." Vance said. Omally pressed a button allowing Duke and Manny into the room. "what happened?" omally asked. "well the door was closed so we didn't see the start but the sounds it was fairly clear what it was." Manny said. "it sounded like they slipped." Duke said "yeah sounded very slippery." Manny said. "so slippery." Dante added. "shut up." omally said looking back to the other two. "your saying they slipped?" omally double checked. "yes we even saw them both slip once outside the office sir." Duke said. "but Vance tried to catch Dante but he slipped to which is how some might confuse it for a cheap shot knee to the gut." Manny said. "it wasn't cheap." Vance said. "it felt pretty cheap." Dante said. "if you had my knee you would think otherwise." Vance said. "enough." Charles said. "if I had the time to retask two other teams I would but I don't so I'm letting this incident slide but it better not occur again." Charles said.
The Zion came out of FTL and the helmsmen instantly had to adjust course due to flying through a debris field the shields engaged protecting the haul from impacts as debris too small to avoid bounced off the shields collision alarms range out throughout the ship the helmsman was able to avoid the larger fragments of what could only have been some type of planetiod they cleared the debris field to see the planet covered in white clouds that concealed it's surface the ventures signal was originating on the planets surface but judging from the feed back of the sensors this planet was a farcry from the home humanity had imagined. "could it be a crash landing?" Charles asked admiral ash who was looking at the planet as her hopes had been dashed she truly had hoped this could be their final stop but it was clear from the scans and the debris field that could have at once been the plants moon. "deploy the teams be ready for emergency beam out at the slightest hint of trouble." ash ordered leaving Charles question unanswered.
Meanwhile in the ARST gear up area alpha Team entered the room all of them silent as they lowered their lockers and privacy screens they stripped out of their uniforms and fatigues and into their full body suit and began to attach the individual armor plating to the suit Dante picked up his helmet and ran his hand over the visor he put it on and heard the suit full seal him off from the outside world his heads up display came online and he grabbed his assault rifle loading a fresh energy pack and pulling back the charging rod the weapon whined softly as it came to life he slid his side arm into his hip holster and his knife into his chest sheath he picked up his pack and attached the jump kits to his boots he raised his privacy screen about the same time as the rest of his team did Irish and Dex hadn't put their helmets on yet and Manny had his visor open Duke had just put his helmet on and Abby like Manny had her visor open to show her face. His external speakers came online allowing his team to hear him. "this was suppose to be our stop our new home but it's not looking that way anymore so we need to go down to that rock and find the venture if it's there to be found and find out what happened here." Dante said he paused to let his words sink in. "I know I've been running you guys hard through the Sims lately but I know we can do the job but we have had a lot of changes to the team lately and while we may not have gone down in quantity but we need to ensure our quality as a team doesn't degrade at all we are the best and we will stay the best that Zion as to offer." Dante said. "well what are we waiting for a bloody hand written invitation let's go scope out the neighborhood I want beach front property." Irish stated. "cabin in the woods like in the old holos." Abby said. "y'all are all thinking too small house in the ocean." Manny said. "that's not a thing." Abby said. "it is I've seen it in a holo documentary from earth." Manny said. Dante smiled under his helmet he knew the fantasy of living on a world was something they all shared and many teams openly shared their idea of a dream home but it was only during times that such comfort was needed did anyone from alpha Team open up about theirs the hope that another ship had succeeded had been one they had all hoped for and now the universe had only thrown another example of failure at them and it was no surprise that some felt their resolve shaken but like the team he knew like the ARSTs before them they would stand strong and keep moving until they found humanity a new home.
They each went to the launch bay where teams beta and Charlie were in the process of getting into their pods to be deployed Vance lashed down his rifle and secured his pack and looked to Dante. "it's a fucking blind dive." Vance said. "blind." Dante repeated. "yeah sensors aren't able to penetrate far through the clouds too much interference we don't know what we will be smashing into down there." Vance said. "whatever it is let's hope it's not harder than these." Dante said knocking on the pods with his knuckles the other ARSTs mimicked the gesture Dante went to his pod and secured his rifle and pack he climbed into his seat and secured the crash harness he pressed a button and lowered the hatch down sealing the pod. "alright everyone get ready for a blind drop good luck and let's meet on the surface." Dante said. He got  seventeen green lights as the others were ready the Zion prepped to launch the teams dropping the pods down into their launch tubes and Dante exhaled as the admirals voice came over the comms. "good luck alpha beta Charlie." ash said. The eighteen pods were fired from their tubes and free fell toward the planet.