"At this point in the game, Lithium_ still has a chance. Just kidding."
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| The seperation | | | Author: | | | IP: | p124.netXXXX | | Date: | 06/25/00 07:06 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 5, Min: 5
Lifetime Rating for The Belt: 5.0000 |  | Corporal Dyne squinted through the hazy atmosphere of Alchor II, trying to make out who was winning the battle off in the distance to the north. Just a few minutes before he had seen a group of Goliath walkers and Arclite siege tanks leave his base and trudge off in that direction, they must have been ambushed, or maybe they just met up with an attack force on their way to the base. Even such a large distance away Dyne could feel the vibration under his feet from the massive Mjolnir cannons on the siege tanks firing. He and the rest of his marauder squad; Privates Riley, Sanchez, and Niles, were on a standard defensive perimeter patrol of Terran Forward Strike base Omega Alchol. They paced through their rounds slowly, once in a while pausing to check on the battle. After what seemed like an eternity, the blasts finally stopped and the ground was still again. For a moment Dyne wondered who had won, but his question was answered almost immediately when his comman! der back at the command center came up on his comm-link and gave him new orders: "Corporal Dyne, Sector 7Y has been secured, your new patrol is from coordinates 523.8/797.0 to coordinates 436.3/803.2, got that corporal?" Dyne sighed to himself before replying, "Yes sir, I got it." Dyne motioned with his automatic rifle for the rest of the squad to follow before heading north to the new coordinates specified by Commander Decker. "Where we headed?", asked Private Riley as he moved into position behind the Corporal. "Deeper into enemy territory, keep your eyes peeled", Dyne replied. Sanchez, who was already lagging behind, stopped for a moment to catch his breath and ask, "Man, why we gotta fight over a hell-hole like this? These damn Gs is killin me. An' all this dust an' haze, I can hardly see." Dyne paused and looked back before replying, "Simple, Private, this planet is loaded with Vespene gas. Not only that, it's strategically located. The increased gravity and low! visibility is just something we'll have to contend with. We're all tired, just keep moving and try not to think about it." As the squad continued north they saw Goliath walker tracks and the large depressions in the dusty ground made by the Arclite siege tank's treads leading to the battlefield they had been watching from the base. Curious as to what kind of wreckage he would find, Dyne deviated slightly from his assigned patrol to go and inspect the battlefield, followed by the rest of the squad who had no knowledge of the assigned patrol route, knowing only that they were supposed to follow their corporal. As the squad approached the area they finally saw what the Arclites and Goliaths were fighting against, the ground was littered with small dead creatures, as well as larger piles of unrecognizable goo here and there, next to one such pile lay the severed chaingun-arm of a Goliath combat walker. In the middle of the field there was also an incapacitated husk of a sieg! e tank; a large cluster of thick spines sticking out of one side, and on the other an entire chunk of the tank was missing with a thin film of white slime and melted metal covering the missing section. "I hope I never run into whatever it was that melted the side of that tank", Niles said tensely. "Heh heh, I think that's it over there," Sanchez replied, grinning and pointing at a nearby pile of goo. Sticking out of the pile at opposite angles were two huge, relatively intact rubbery purplish wings. Underneath the pile, a green blood-like substance had seeped into the dusty grey ground, forming an odd-colored halo of mush around the wings. Funny, Dyne thought, if this were put in a gallery it might pass for some morbid piece of artwork. "DYNE!", came the commander's voice again, blaring over the comm-link and shattering Dyne's reverie, "My sensor thingies over here at Central tell me that you've deviated from your designated patrol route, is there a problem or do you jus! t have trouble following orders?", continued Commander Decker, mockingly. "No problem sir, sorry sir", replied Dyne as he motioned for the rest of his squad to follow and began heading west towards his assigned target at a slightly hastened pace, spurred onward by his commander's chastisement. "Alright squaddies, let's get a move on, rest time's over." They continued on their way for a while, eventually coming accross another carcass of one of those little creatures that they found dead all over the battlefield, it was lying on it's side. The thing was riddled with chaingun-fire entry holes, and a it also looked like it was run over by a tank, a swath of treadmarks passed directly through it's midsection. Sanchez walked over to it and pulled on one of it's razor sharp pedipalps that was hanging by a small bit of flesh, tearing it off comletely. "Check it out, a souvenier!", grinned Sanchez, making a downward slashing motion with the severed claw. Dyne shook his head to himself, "That's disgusting, Sanchez, leave it." Sanchez complied, and tossed it back on top of the critter he tore it from. "Let's keep going", Dyne continued.
The squad continued westward becoming more and more exausted, walking in this extreme gravity was like trudging through waist-deep mud. Their patrol eventually took them right along the southern border of a large rock ridge jutting out of the ground, looking up they could see the high tips of the spires in front of them. Strange, Dyne thought, there were no signs that the main strike force of Goliaths and siege tanks had passed through here, no tracks and no treads. "This area is supposed to be secure, but be on your guard in any case", Dyne warned his squad. They were coming to the end of the rock ridge, it was gradually getting lower and lower the further they went, and came to an end at right about the western-most point of their east-west patrol route. "Almost there, with my luck there'll be a huge force of horrible creatures who want to do nasty things to us right behind the ridge", Dyne quipped. Sanchez grinned at the prospect, and replied, "Cool, stay he! re and I'll go check, Step aside Niles." With that Sanchez gently nudged Niles to the side with the back of his hand and strode on past the rest of the squad towards the part of the ridge where the rock-line was low enough to look over, when he got there he turned around and grinned at Dyne before turning back towards the ridge and peering over it. The shock of what Sanchez saw almost sent him reeling to the ground, his faced paled and he turned back to his team and ran, almost tripping. "You not gonna believe this," he intoned solemnly, "there is a HUGE bunch of those 'things' back there, and two giant floating spikey blobs with tentacles there too, and the smaller creatures are digging into the ground, and..." "Yeah, right Sanchez! You expect me to believe that? I gotta hand it to you, you're a good actor, I never coulda made my face go white like that", Dyne interupted as he poked a finger at Sanchez's marauder suit. "You had me going for a minute when you almost fel! l on your back over there", Dyne continued, chuckling to himself. Flustered, Sanchez tried again, "It's true sir! Go look for yourself if you dont' believe me." "Fine, if it'll shut you up", Dyne replied as he began moving towards the place Sanchez was when he apparently saw the creatures. When he got there he peered over the rock ridge the same way Sanchez had. "You bum, I don't see anything but a dust cloud. Sanchez, do you need...", Dyne was interupted by an inhuman ear-piercing shriek, and out of nowhere jumped a medium-sized bipedal lizard-looking thing with wicked sharp claws, it began running at incredible speed towards Dyne. "AAAHH, shoot it!", yelled Dyne as he readied his automatic rifle and began firing at it. Riley and Niles were almost in shock and didn't react fact enough to get any shots in, but Sanchez seemed to have his wits about him enough to fire at the critter. As it closed, Dyne's burst of rifle-fire nicked the creature in the side with enough f! orce to knock it off balance, and Sanchez took the opportunity to nail it right in a leg, causing it to shriek in pain, and fall to the ground. It was still writhing on the ground when Dyne took an aimed shot at the creature's head, causing it to cease all movement. Dyne immediately faced Riley and Niles, "What the hell is wrong with you incompetants, didn't you see that thing trying to kill me?" "It c-came outa n-nowhere, sir", said Niles, apparently having developed a temporary stammer from all the excitement. Riley chimed in as well, "Um, I couldn't get a clear shot, Sanchez was in my way. I saw it come from behind the ridge, it screached as soon as it saw you." "Alright alright, forget it", replied Dyne, now past the initial shock of the experience. Turning back to Sanchez, Dyne asked, "Sanchez, were you really telling the truth before? You really saw all those things back there?" Sanchez replied only with a nod. "Alright then, we gotta warn Central that there's ! an ambush waiting for them over here." Dyne pushed small a button under the viewport of his armor, "This is Corporal Dyne at..." Dyne paused a moment to check the coordinates indicator on a tiny display in his armor before continuing, "443.5/804.1, got that Omega?" Nothing but static. "Damn, an ion storm must be interfering with the link, I hate this planet." Dyne took a moment to consider his options, then continued, "Alright, we're gonna have to get this message to base the old fashioned way, by courier. Riley, you and Niles go back to base and thell them that there's an ambush waiting for them, give them our current coordinates and tell them it's beyond this ridge, and tell them that they're hiding underground." Riley nodded, and he and Niles were on their way. "Just you and me left, Sanchez, we'll wait here for the attack force then watch the fireworks."
The squad continued westward becoming more and more exausted, walking in this extreme gravity was like trudging through waist-deep mud. Their patrol eventually took them right along the southern border of a large rock ridge jutting out of the ground, looking up they could see the high tips of the spires in front of them. Strange, Dyne thought, there were no signs that the main strike force of Goliaths and siege tanks had passed through here, no tracks and no treads. "This area is supposed to be secure, but be on your guard in any case", Dyne warned his squad. They were coming to the end of the rock ridge, it was gradually getting lower and lower the further they went, and came to an end at right about the western-most point of their east-west patrol route. "Almost there, with my luck there'll be a huge force of horrible creatures who want to do nasty things to us right behind the ridge", Dyne quipped. Sanchez grinned at the prospect, and replied, "Cool, stay he! re and I'll go check, Step aside Niles." With that Sanchez gently nudged Niles to the side with the back of his hand and strode on past the rest of the squad towards the part of the ridge where the rock-line was low enough to look over, when he got there he turned around and grinned at Dyne before turning back towards the ridge and peering over it. The shock of what Sanchez saw almost sent him reeling to the ground, his faced paled and he turned back to his team and ran, almost tripping. "You not gonna believe this," he intoned solemnly, "there is a HUGE bunch of those 'things' back there, and two giant floating spikey blobs with tentacles there too, and the smaller creatures are digging into the ground, and..." "Yeah, right Sanchez! You expect me to believe that? I gotta hand it to you, you're a good actor, I never coulda made my face go white like that", Dyne interupted as he poked a finger at Sanchez's marauder suit. "You had me going for a minute when you almost fel! l on your back over there", Dyne continued, chuckling to himself. Flustered, Sanchez tried again, "It's true sir! Go look for yourself if you dont' believe me." "Fine, if it'll shut you up", Dyne replied as he began moving towards the place Sanchez was when he apparently saw the creatures. When he got there he peered over the rock ridge the same way Sanchez had. "You bum, I don't see anything but a dust cloud. Sanchez, do you need...", Dyne was interupted by an inhuman ear-piercing shriek, and out of nowhere jumped a medium-sized bipedal lizard-looking thing with wicked sharp claws, it began running at incredible speed towards Dyne. "AAAHH, shoot it!", yelled Dyne as he readied his automatic rifle and began firing at it. Riley and Niles were almost in shock and didn't react fact enough to get any shots in, but Sanchez seemed to have his wits about him enough to fire at the critter. As it closed, Dyne's burst of rifle-fire nicked the creature in the side with enough f! orce to knock it off balance, and Sanchez took the opportunity to nail it right in a leg, causing it to shriek in pain, and fall to the ground. It was still writhing on the ground when Dyne took an aimed shot at the creature's head, causing it to cease all movement. Dyne immediately faced Riley and Niles, "What the hell is wrong with you incompetants, didn't you see that thing trying to kill me?" "It c-came outa n-nowhere, sir", said Niles, apparently having developed a temporary stammer from all the excitement. Riley chimed in as well, "Um, I couldn't get a clear shot, Sanchez was in my way. I saw it come from behind the ridge, it screached as soon as it saw you." "Alright alright, forget it", replied Dyne, now past the initial shock of the experience. Turning back to Sanchez, Dyne asked, "Sanchez, were you really telling the truth before? You really saw all those things back there?" Sanchez replied only with a nod. "Alright then, we gotta warn Central that there's ! an ambush waiting for them over here." Dyne pushed small a button under the viewport of his armor, "This is Corporal Dyne at..." Dyne paused a moment to check the coordinates indicator on a tiny display in his armor before continuing, "443.5/804.1, got that Omega?" Nothing but static. "Damn, an ion storm must be interfering with the link, I hate this planet." Dyne took a moment to consider his options, then continued, "Alright, we're gonna have to get this message to base the old fashioned way, by courier. Riley, you and Niles go back to base and thell them that there's an ambush waiting for them, give them our current coordinates and tell them it's beyond this ridge, and tell them that they're hiding underground." Riley nodded, and he and Niles were on their way. "Just you and me left, Sanchez, we'll wait here for the attack force then watch the fireworks."
***s is for**** **se ***** *lchol', came the staticky message over Dyne's comm-link, '***** **rce on th** ***, *old your po******. * **peat, str*** ***** *n their way.' Turning to Sanchez, Dyne remarked, "I think the ion storm must be letting up, I can hear them now. I can barely make them out, they either said, 'Strike force on their way'; or 'Mike Boersh has become gay.'" Sanchez chuckled at Dyne's remark as he idly checked over his weapon. The two were sitting with their backs to the rock ridge for a break from the unrelenting G forces. They had been waiting for an hour or two, maybe more, it was next to impossible to tell the passage of time on this planet as the days and nights weren't much different at all. The same perpetual twilight hung over everything, the dense roiling grey clouds of gas in the upper atmosphere blocking out most of the light. "Hey," interjected Sanchez as he squinted to read something on his gun, "I never noticed that there was wr! iting on these things. It says... 'C-14 "Impaler" Assault Cannon, see Terran Confederate Marine Handbook for instructions on safety regulations, and proper usage.' Did you ever get a handbook?" Dyne shook his head, then Sanchez continued, "Those jerks, when I get back I'm gonna ask for my damn handbook. If there's one thing I can't..." "Hey, I think I hear something, shut up for a sec!", interrupted Dyne. He listened for a moment before adding, "Yeah, I think I hear the tanks coming, let's go take a look." The two stood up and walked over to the low point in the ridge that they had looked over when they first spotted the ambush, and peered over. Sure enough, they could see the strike force in the distance coming from the east, a large dust cloud rising in their wake. As it got closer they could see that the Goliath combat walkers were in front, followed by the lumbering Arclite siege tanks. The steady rhythm of the Goliath mech's footfalls were oddly soothing, even i! n these harsh surroundings. "Here they come, this oughta be fun. I wish I had my holo-recorder", said Dyne. Grinning in his usual puckish manner, Sanchez added, "Yeah, it would make a great instructional holo-vid, 'How to Blow Up Nasty Alien Monsters That Wanna Rip Your Guts Out.'" Once the force reached the proper distance, the Arclites spread out and anchored themselves into place, the jarring motion causing large billowing clouds of dust to be spewed forth from the ground around each of the siege tanks. That done, one of the Goliaths fired a pair of Firebolt missiles at the ground about 40 meters in front of it, the missiles exploded into a carpet of flame covering the ground around the impact site, and burning with a dull ochre color due to the atmospheric gases. Seconds later a huge snake-like monster covered with a thick, fibrous exoskeleton and possessing a large maw of razor sharp teeth and intimidatingly long scythe-like arms burst from the ground and bellowed o! ut a sound which could only be described as halfway between a roar and a shriek. Soon after the first creature, more and more burst from their subterranean hiding places, followed by those smaller bipedal lizard creatures; all of them filling the air with a haunting and earsplitting chorus of frothing animal rage. Suddenly the entire area came ablaze with plasma bursts, chaingun fire, and Firebolt missiles, explosions and subdued flames. The Larger creatures, their forelimbs twitching anxiously, shrugged off most of the incoming fire and advanced upon the Goliaths positioned in front while the emplaced tanks did their best to push them back. The Goliaths were attempting to mow down the smaller lizard creatures which were too quick for the tanks to be effective against. As they closed the distance, the larger creatures opened up a pair of chitinous plates above their heads, revealing row after row of deadly spines. Each of them would stop momentarily, eject their quills a! t the mech that they were advancing upon, then continue advancing. Much of the deadly volleys reached it's target, one Goliath was impaled through the leg with a tight concentration of spines, the force nearly causing the entire leg to be torn off at the hip; but it did hold fast by a tenuous bundle of cables and bent neo-steel despite the sparks flying from them like blood spurting from the wound of some mechanized beast. One volley caught a Goliath squarely in the cockpit, causing Dyne to wince at the prospect of being skewered alive in his own mech. The spines had deadly effects in many cases, but many of the creatures were finally succumbing to the deadly barrage they were being dealt as well. Monster after horrible monster eventually falling after being dealt one last plasma-charged blast from a siege tank; critter after critter being decimated by the unrelenting chaingun fire of the Goliath mechs. The terrible stench of freshly killed beasts was too much for even th! e marauder suit filtration system to handle, assaulting the nostrils of both Dyne and Sanchez at once, causing them to grimace in disgust but not causing any real damage besides. Eventually the all the creatures had been killed, except for one of the little lizards that had evaded the chainguns and looped around the area where the battle was occuring to run up to a tank and jump on top of it, scratching at it furiously, but fruitlessly, with it's clawed feet. The tank was unable to position it's turret to fire upon the creature, so the Goliath that was in front of it twisted it's torso around and fired only one of its chainguns in a very short burst, careful to hit the creature but not the tank underneath. The burst knocked the creature clear off the tank but didn't kill it, it was about to try and jump back on top of the tank, but it was not to be as the Goliath took the opportunity to hit it with a longer burst with both chainguns, sending it convulsing into it's final de! ath throes. "Please advise Strike Force Alpha that there are two large hostiles unaccounted for, they were seen in the area during initial reconnaissanse, appearing as..." Corporal Dyne released the 'send' button to ask a question to Sanchez off of the comm-link, "did you say they were giant blobs, Sanchez?" "Yessir, they looked like giant floating blobs with spikes all over and tentacles hanging down from 'em. Big purple jellyfish lookin' things." Dyne nodded and pressed the button to re-open the link with his base, "Central? Sanchez was the one that saw them, he says they looked like giant purple jellyfish." Dyne released the button and promptly recieved a reply back from his base, 'Understood Corporal. Those particular units are often found in the area with large concentrations of hostiles of this species, so this is nothing out of the ordinary. You are cleared to scout the area for them, Central out.' Dyne grimaced upon recieving his new orders. "Damn, now we gotta ! look for them. Good job Sanchez, just great", said Dyne sarcastically as he turned towards Sanchez and gave him a mock salute. Sanchez retorted with, "Hey, it ain't my fault. I was just..." "Yeah yeah, being a good little soldier, fine; but if I get impaled, burned, squished, suffocated, blown up, sliced, melted, or eaten, then I'm gonna be really pissed off. Now hold this while I climb the ridge", interrupted Dyne as he counted off the ways to get killed on his fingers, and then handed his C-14 Assault Cannon to Sanchez. He then felt along the ridge for a place to put his feet to climb over. The ridge was only about five feet high at this point but very steep, and the intense gravity combined with the bulkiness of his marauder suit made every inch a struggle. When he found a foothold, he hoisted himself up and reached over to the other side to grip a handhold, and then pulled himself over. The awkward angle he was in caused him to fall flat on his chest on his way do! wn the other side of the ridge. Sanchez did his best to stifle a snicker. As Dyne was getting back up, he was struck by the sight of an alcove in the rock on this side of the ridge to the east of his position; nestled inside it, floating serenely and nearly motionlessly in plain view, were two enormous blobbish creatures. Sanchez said they were big, but Dyne had no idea they were THAT big. He moved extremely slowly, doing his best not to alarm the creatures in the alcove. "Sanchez...", he whispered, "Sanchez, give me back my gun... now" "Whatever you s...", began Sanchez, quickly to be interrupted by Dyne again, "Shh, be quiet. Just give me back my gun, nice and slow." This time Sanchez complied, without saying a word he handed back his C-14, slowly. Dyne looked visibly somehwhat relieved to be holding his assault rifle again. As he sat there, staring at the creatures a short distance away from him, he slowly reached to his comm-link button and pressed it, "Central..! ." he whispered, "...I've found the missing hostiles, they were hiding in an alcove right next to the ambush sight. I guess the strike force left without making even a cursory check of the area. They're floatin' right here in front of me not doin a damn thing, please advise." After a short, tense pause the reply came, 'Acknowledged Corporal, sending a detachment of siege tanks. Hold your position and report back if there is any change in status.' Dyne immediately sent another message, this time with more urgency in his voice, "Hold my position, are you nuts?" Central simply restated their orders more firmly, 'I repeat, hold your position and do not engage hostiles, Corporal. Those are your orders, Central out." Sanchez was beginning to feel more than a little confused, and asked, "What's going on sir? Should I climb over too?" Dyne shook his head as he replied, "No, stay right there and don't go anywhere. If you hear me start screaming or something, then get ready ! to pull me over as fast as you can." The tanks must have been nearby, within a few minutes a small formation of three were within visual range, trailed by the obligatory dust clouds so common to this planet. As the tanks approached, the creatures became visibly agitated, as if they knew what was coming. They flailed their tentacles from side to side occasionally bumping the side of the alcove or each other. As the tanks drew ever closer, the creatures became increasingly agitated, their entire mass of tentacles twisting and contorting in a hypnotic blur of frenzied motion. Despite their frenetic motion, however, they remained completely silent. The tanks drew within range, and Dyne, still kneeling, motioned to the tanks the exact location of the creatures. The tanks set up, and Dyne recieved another message over his comm-link, 'The tanks are in place, Corporal. Try to lure them out, you are cleared to fire on them at your discretion.' "Gee thanks," replied Dyne, "they! 're not gonna shoot me with quills, or squirt acid at me or anything, are they?" This time he recieved no answer. "Great, I must have made him angry", he said to himself. Dyne set his weapon to fire single rounds, and aimed at the foremost creature. Holding his breath, he fired a single shot. The bullet hit the first creature and sunk into it's soft bulbous body section, causing both of them to simultaneously emit an ethereal howling sound that seemed to echo through the air itself. They were making noise now but they still weren't coming out where the tanks could get a clear shot; Dyne sighed and aimed again, mumbling to himself. Firing at the same one, he clipped off three shots in rapid succession, each one landing with a dull thump against it's fleshy body. It seemed they finally decided they couldn't take it anymore, and both of them bolted from their positions. The tank turrets came alive and began tracking their quarry, but they seemed to be waiting for somethi! ng, as if they didn't want them to be too close when they fired. Right when Dyne thought they were going to drop the ball and let them both go, all three tanks fired in unison, sending a deafening boom reverberating through the area. Three balls of coherent plasma-energy flashed across the landscape, completely obliterating the closest creature and dispersing globs of alien vicera over a large area around the impact point. For a minute or two there was no movement at all where the creature had been killed, then Dyne observed something strange. Below the point where it had been blown up, a swarm of tiny worm-like creatures began to rise up and gyrate around one another, expanding as more and more rose up and joined the odd paroxysm of alien fury. Dyne passively observed these proceedings with an incredulous expression, secure in his belief that he was far enough away to be safe from any harm these strange new creatures might present. Sure enough, after a few minutes their! rage had been spent and they began dropping one after another, never having fulfilled their instinctual urge for final vengeance. Once all movement had stopped, Dyne cautiously moved closer to the area in order to finally see what exactly had happened. As he approached he saw it, there was one glob of alien guts on the ground surrounded by a twisted mass of lifeless tentacles and dead worm-like creatures, and nearby... a fully intact, apparently still living creature, identical to the one that had been eviscerated right next to it, only this one was slumped motionless on it's side.
"It's just kinda lying on it's side, not floating anymore. It must have been knocked out by the shockwave of the plasma-blasts. I think it's still alive though, sometimes one of the tentacles will move. Orders?", asked Dyne as he described the creature in front of him over his comm-link. 'Stand by Corporal, I'm turning you over to GenLab', came the reply, followed promptly by a barely audible click. Dyne impatiently tapped his foot, causing tiny spirals of dust to surround it. After a few moments a new voice began transmitting over his comm-link, 'Incredible, just incredible. I've never heard of this happening before, we didn't even know it was possible to knock one of this species unconcious. Corporal... Dyne, is it? You must not allow it to escape, it is imperative that we capture this specimen for live testing.' Before he could continue further Dyne interrupted with a question, "How the hell are we supposed to capture it? It's huge, we couldn't drag thi! s thing two inches, let alone all the way back to base." The person on the other end of the comm-link continued, 'If you would allow me to finish I'll explain, we've dispatched a specially modified dropship to your current coordinates, they'll know what to do. You and the rest of your squad will cover the operation and then ride with the specimen. Understood Corporal?' Dyne sighed before replying, not even trying to hide the fact that he isn't too fond of these new orders, "Yeah, I got it." 'Good, GenLab out.' Remembering that he had left the 'rest of his squad', mainly Sanchez, on the other side of the ridge; Dyne began walking back towards where he had left him. Once close enough to see him, he motioned with his hand for Sanchez to climb over the ridge and join him. As Dyne watched, Sanchez tossed his assault rifle over the ridge, placed his hand on top of the rock and climbed over with apparent ease, landing on both feet and then snapping up his gun. Despite their ! distance apart, Dyne knew him well enough to know that Sanchez was grinning right now because he accomplished with ease what he himself had fallen on his face trying to do. Once Sanchez came within range, Dyne filled him in, "Come on show-off, we got work to do. We gotta protect that thing until the dropship comes. Then we gotta ride back with it in the baggage section." They walked back to the creature, stopping within five meters. "Hey, it's stopped moving", observed Dyne, "Sanchez, check to see if it's still alive." Sanchez's eyes opened wider as he asked, "What? How am I supposed to do that? I ain't no xenobiologist." Dyne grinned and answered, "I learned this in a course I took once, just give it the Universal Xenobiological Vivacity Test." Sanchez creased an eyebrow, "How does that work?" Still grinning, Dyne continued, "You approach the specimen and poke it with something sharp, if it moves then it's still alive." Sanchez laughed, "That's a good one, Dyne, y! ou almost had me goin for a sec." "Go ahead Private", urged Dyne. "You're serious, you really want me to do this stupid test that you probably just made up?", asked Sanchez incredulously. Dyne only nodded and pointed at the creature. "No, it might grab me, or squirt me with something." Dyne grimaced and replied, "Sanchez, don't be such a coward. I have no idea how you passed the Confederate Psych test with an attitude like that." Sanchez grinned again before answering, "Give me a break, the Confederate Psych test is a joke, they'll take anybody in the marines as long as you don't have a tendency towards being a mass murderer or something. And if you do have a tendency towards being a mass murderer then they put you into Special Ops and give you one of the really big guns to play with before they stick you on the battlefield." "Alright alright, I'll do it you big baby", conceded Dyne, finally. He cautiously approached the creature, once close enough he pressed the bar! rel of his weapon against a spot on it's upper body, causing a single tentacle to rise up into the air and stay there. "Wierd...", said Dyne, "It must be a reflex or something." He then released pressure, and the tentacle slowly lowered itself. "Hey, here comes the Dropship, I can see it now", observed Sanchez. Looking up, Dyne could indeed see the familiar silhoulette of a rapidly approaching dropship in the distance. Backing away from the creature, Dyne allowed room for the dropship to land. Before long, the ship arrived and quickly lowered itself onto the ground in front of the specimen, opening the doors to the main holding compartment on it's way down. Once it had landed, Dyne could see the extent of the 'special modifications' that the guy at GenLab had talked about, there was a big metal plate fused over the stairs leading to the holding bay providing a smooth surface to drag unconcious aliens over, and two little boxes containing alloy mesh wire tipped with hook! s were fused to the sides of the interior of the dropship for use as restraining cords. "They must have spent all of two minutes making this dropship suitable for carrying unconcious aliens", quipped Dyne to Sanchez. After a moment another message came over Dyne's comm-link again, 'GenLab again, sorry but we didn't have time to equip a team for the dropship, you and your squad will have to load the specimen yourself. There's a winch at the end of the holding bay in the...' "Hey, maybe you bean counters forgot to take it into account, but me and my squad is just two people, TWO; and I don't know about Sanchez but I didn't join the marines to be a manual laborer, I..." 'Corporal, if you please, control yourself. I understand that these are difficult conditions but it can't be helped. It is imperative that we get this specimen intact, now the winch is in the back of the holding bay, get to it before the creature comes around.' In a moment of frustration Dyne momentarily f! orgot he was encased in armor and shoved his hand into the domed viewport of his marauder suit as if trying to run his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit that often manifested in moments of frustration or impatience. Composing himself for the task ahead, Dyne filled Sanchez in on the plan, "Alright Sanchez, we got some more work to do. I'll pull the winch lines out here and then you help me run them under the big jellyfish." Sanchez nodded, and Dyne walked off into the bowels of the dropship, almost slipping on the metal plate over the stairs, he then retrieved two winch lines from reels that were side-by-side at the very end of the holding bay and walked back outside while pulling them behind him. Once outside he laid the lines out on each end of the creature and instructed Sanchez to lift up it's sides enough so that he could slide the line under it. That done he looped the lines over the creature, fastened them, and then both of them entered the dropship. Dyne ! walked up to the transparent barrier separating the cockpit from the holding bay and knocked on it, signalling to the female pilot to begin reeling in the lines. Nodding, she flipped a switch, causing the winch to jerk into action. The lines drew taut, and then began to slowly reel the elephantine creature further into the clutches of it's captors. The pilot was apparently in a big hurry, as she lifted off as soon as the creature was fully inside and even before the bay doors were completely closed. Fighting against the unbalance created by the motion of the ship, Dyne reached into the little box under his seat and pulled out the restraining cord that the engineers back at the base were kind enough to provide him with. "Here, hook this up on your side when I toss it over and then throw me the one from your side", suggested Dyne as he tossed the cord over the creature. Sanchez grabbed the cord now dangling on his side of the creature and fastened it on his side, then remo! ved his cord and threw it over to Dyne's side, who promptly grabbed it and fastened it. "Whew, glad we got that over with."
For a while they waited patiently in the cramped space of the dropship's holding bay, resting silently from all their exertion and staring at the strange creature in their midst. The first sign that it had begun to regain conciousness was the movement the sensory cluster in the front of its upper body section. This was followed by straining against the cords, and finally the moving of its tentacles around slowly. Becoming increasingly alarmed, Dyne got up and walked back over to the transparent partition and knocked on it again and yelled at the pilot to hurry up, struggling to be heard through the barrier. The pilot only nodded and gave Dyne a thumbs up sign; but this was of little comfort since he noticed no increase in speed. "Oh jeez, it's wrapping a tentacle around my leg!", exclaimed Sanchez suddenly. Dyne stared wide-eyed a moment at the tentacle that was slowly gripping Sanchez's leg before turning back and knocking even more vigorously upon the partiti! on to the cockpit. Once the pilot turned around again, Dyne pointed to Sanchez's leg, which was now almost halflway covered by the tentacle. When she looked, her eyes widened at the sight as well. Turning back around, she pressed a small button on the control panel in front of her and spoke, her voice apparently being transmitted into the holding bay by an unseen speaker, "Hold on hun, we'll be there soon then we can get that thing off yer leg." Sanchez just sat in his seat sweating, doing his best not to move lest he agitate the creature further. Dyne stood there by the partition with his hand on top of his viewport, thinking. Suddenly an idea came to him, and he began looking around the holding bay for something. "What are you looking for, s-sir?", asked Sanchez, his voice cracking slightly towards the end of the question. "I'm looking for something to get that thing off your leg, hold tight." Not finding what he was looking for, he walked back up to the partition a! nd knocked yet again. The pilot, not even turning around this time, pushed her little transmit button and began speaking, "I'm going as fast as I can hun, keep yer britches on." Dyne knocked again. "What is it this time?", she asked impatiently. Dyne replied, "I'm looking for the toolkit, where is it?" Without answering she flipped another switch. There was a click, followed by a panel in the bulkhead over Dyne's seat opening up, revealing a neatly arranged assortment of tools in little holders. Reading the inscriptions on each of the tool-holders, Dyne found the one that said 'fusion cutter' under it, and pulled it out. The cutter was small, only about a foot or so long. The tool consisted of a cylindrical canister on the bottom, presumably filled with some feul source, and on top a little nozzle with a dial under it to set the intensity of the flame. Dyne walked over to Sanchez and set the cutter to full blast causing a thin stream of white plasma-flame to jet out ! of the nozzle. Dyne lowered the flame to the tentacle, causing a sizzling clump of alien flesh to melt away from it. Immediately the creature issued forth an ethereal howl that echoed through the cramped holding bay of the dropship then retracted its tentacle and slowed all movement. "Thanks, that was quick thinking", said Sanchez as he stood up and walked to the rear of the holding bay, out of the reach of the any more tentacles. Sanchez looked like he was about ready to kick the creature in its head-equivalent, but he was stopped by Dyne, "Take it easy Sanchez, GenLab wants this thing in one piece." Suddenly there was a loud clunk noise, and it became apparent that the dropship was slowly lowering itself back down to the ground. "Here we are boys...", came the pilot's voice over the speaker again, "home sweet home, don't knock yer heads on the way out." As the bay door began to open Dyne walked over to the toolkit again and replaced the fusion cutter; then went back t! o wait for the door to open fully. Once fully open, Dyne recieved message over his comm-link, 'Corporal, you and your squad may report to the barracks until your next assignment, we'll take care of the specimen you brought us.' "I hear that!", exclaimed Dyne, happy to finally be able to get some rest after his ordeal, "Let's go Sanch." The two waved to the pilot, and left the dropship, wearily making their way to the barracks. Along the way they passed a couple of construction vehicles stomping their way towards the dropship, no doubt on their way to bring the specimen forcibly to the genetics labratory. "I wonder what they're gonna do with it", said Sanchez. Dyne only replied, "I don't wanna think about that right now Sanch, let's just get some rest."
Dyne slowly awakened to the sound of Sanchez's voice, "Check it out, I finally got my handbook. It was their last one too, I had to make a big stink to get it." Dyne opened a single eye and peered at Sanchez from his bunk. Sanchez was holding a small black book entitled 'Terran Confederate Marine Handbook', it also had a starburst decal under the title, and a the slogan 'Fight for Your Freedom' across the bottom. Closing his eye again, Dyne replied groggily, "huh?" Sanchez peered quizzically at Dyne, "You're still asleep? Well, you better wake up soon, Decker wants to see you." Dyne was immediately snapped out of his lethargic state by the mention of his commander's name, "Decker wants to see me? Now?" Sanchez nodded before replying, "James from Comm told me." Dyne hopped out of his bunk and began rooting through his drawer looking for a clean uniform. Quickly dressing, he left the barracks at a half-jog pace, towards the Walker Tube leading to the Command ! Center. The Walker Tubes were hastily assembled clear tubes of hardened plastic that provided access to adjacent buildings on the base without the need to travel through the unbreathable, and often dangerous, atmosphere of hostile planets like Alchol II. Once he reached the airlock to the tube that led to the command center, Dyne punched in a code on the small keypad next to the door. There was a chime, and the door opened. Dyne proceeded past the door and into the tube. Walking through these tubes always made Dyne uneasy, the panoramic view of desolate terrain was enough to make anybody ill at ease. There were also many stories of people getting trapped in Walker Tubes; if a breach of the tube occured while someone was inside, then the automatic systems would seal both airlocks leading out of the tube, condemning the person unfortunate enough to be trapped inside to a slow, agonizing, suffocating death as the poisonous gases seeped in from outside. Reaching the end of ! the tube, Dyne punched in the code again on the keypad next to the airlock. The door opened, and Dyne walked into the Command Center building. Dyne walked through the circular corridor that ran fully around the perimeter of the Command Center until he came to Commander Decker's office. Finally reaching his destination, he knocked lightly upon the door. A gruff voice answered, "Come in." Dyne pressed a small green touchpad next to the door, causing the door to slide out of the way. As Dyne walked in, Decker spoke, "Ah, Corporal, you're just the man I wanted to see. Sit down." Dyne noticed that the room was surprisingly spartan, containing only a couple of chairs, and a desk with a pop-up vid screen. There was no adornment on the walls, aside from perhaps the chute that led to the auto-recycler. As Dyne took his seat, he noticed that the Commander's chair was conspicuously taller than the one reserved for guests. Decker continued, "Congratulations on your successful ca! pture mission; the boys at GenLab are having a field day experimenting on the new specimen. You know, you're lucky it didn't wake up before you got it secured on the dropship. One of our tests seemed to indicate that it is indeed impossible to knock one of those things unconcious without killing it. Our lab boys think the reason it stopped moving was because the shockwave of the plasma-bursts caused temporary paralysis in most of its body." Wow, that was a strange thought. All the time Dyne had thought the creature was unconcious; it was actually fully aware of everything that was happening. Decker continued, "Anyway, Corporal, I wanted to speak with you because we're making a change in your squad assignments. We had to send Privates Riley and Niles out with another team, so we're assigning Corporal Hatch to your squad." Dyne forgot himself for a moment and blurted out, "What, another Corporal? Who's going to command the squad?" "Officially, you will both share comma! nd. However, you have more experience so we'd like you to watch over him. We've suggested to him that he defer to your judgement in case of a disagreement; but still, don't be too surprised at anything he does." Dyne felt like yelling out profanities and pulling out all his hair, but he controlled himself due to the presence of his commander. "Oh, by the way, he's a firebat. That's all Corporal, you're dismissed." Dyne was thoroughly confused, "a firebat, sir?" Decker replied, "Yes, a firebat. Dismissed Corporal, I have work to do." Dyne decided not to press the subject, so he left the Commander to his work. Dyne made his way from Decker's office, through the Walker Tubes again, and back to the barracks; mumbling to himself about the loss of his authority in his own squad all along the way. When he made it back to the door of the room he and Sanchez shared, Dyne touched his index finger to the green touchpad next to the door. A light behind the touchpad scanned his! finger, and the computer could be heard saying, "Verified" as the door slid open. Sanchez was lying on his bunk reading his new handbook. Dyne walked in and said, "Hey Sanch, lemme see that handbook for a minute." Sanchez sat up and tossed the handbook to Dyne. Dyne caught the book and opened to the page on Firebats. He read the entry aloud, "Firebat Armored Assault Trooper - Sporting a pair of powerful arm-mounted 'Perdition' flame throwers, Firebats are indeed formidable in close-combat situations. Firebat Power Suits are bulkier, sturdier, and much more heat resistant than standard Marauder Power Suit armor; however all other suit systems such as life support, temperature control, and communications remain virtually identical." Dyne closed the book and tossed it back to Sanchez. "What's the big deal about firebats, anyway?" scoffed Dyne, "they're just regular marines with a pyromania complex." Sanchez chuckled, "I dunno, I never seen one but I heard they're pret! ty tough." "Tough shmuff, gimme a good gun anyday", retorted Dyne. Dyne went over and sat on his bunk, "Decker put a firebat in our squad, Corporal Hatch." Sanchez looked surprised, "No way, he did not put Hatch in with us?" Dyne raised an eyebrow, "You know Hatch?" Sanchez hopped down from his upper bunk, "Yeah, I heard of him, I heard he was almost thrown out of the marines for beating up an officer." Dyne put his hand to his head as if he were coming down with a migraine, "Great, they give us the lunatic. Ever since I came to this planet it's been one thing after another, after another. Well I don't want to think about this planet, or anything on it anymore. I'm going back to bed and dream of my apartment back on Deneb III." As Dyne reclined back on his bunk, a voice was transmitted into the room, "Corporal Dyne and Private Sanchez, report to briefing."
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