The Mystery of P4F-651

Although most of the shuttle crew is shocked when it sees the creature scratching at the hull in an effort to break in, the shuttle pilot manages to keep his cool. "Relax", he says, "the hull of this thing is made up of Silksteel composite. It'll take more than a bit of scratching to break through this thing. If we move quickly enough back to the ships they should be able to isolate this thing and contain it... I hope, anyways."

With that, he begins rapidly cruising out of the cloud zone, and once communications are restored, he sends a brief transmission to the UNS Ibn Battuta, "Pilot Jorge Allende reporting in. Data has been collected from within the anomaly, which will reach you with this transmission. Additionally, an unidentified entity has attached itself to this shuttle, with intent to puncture the hull. Requesting crew be prepared with stun-guns and a Punishment Sphere when the shuttle boards to isolate and contain the specimen."

The Captain couldn't believe his ears when the Ordenreich came over the radio, though their message did come through with some static. Turning his own com on he replied though it would have gone through somewhat gargled both due to the gunfire as well as the interference from the cloud. "This is Major Jomar, while I would not advise anyone setting foot on this ship I am also in no position to refuse assistance. Be advised that your enter on your own peril on this ship."

Cutting off his communicator he motioned for his squad to round a corner and they entered a room not far off the corridor and sealed the door behind them. Checking his HUD, Major Jomar knew they were not far from the bridge and if they could get there, they could perhaps get better answers. Of course at the moment, with those creatures scratching at the door they needed to use the other doorway and get moving quickly.
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The Centauri shuttle emerged from the cloud and upon entering space, the scratching quit. Naturally it should, after all it was doubtful the creature could exist in the vacuum of space. Luckily for the Centauri who were hoping to capture it, the creature had dug its sharp claws deep within the skin of their shuttle, so much so that its body was stuck dangling as it approach their ship.

OOC: Sela, the creature isn't meant to be anything entirely special so feel free to write what you want to about it when your guys dissect the thing.

(OOC: OK, will take some liberties here, then.(

The scientific personnel on board quickly remove the cadaver and bring it to the on-ship laboratory. There they begin to dissect the corpse and subject it to all manner of scanners. After doing so, they discover that the creature has an exotic, silicon-based biochemistry, and appears to subsist on the gases previously found in the gas cloud as well as the dust substrate which was also found in the gas cloud. They also record its physiology carefully, noting all of the vital systems and organs found inside, and subject its tissue to a variety of different forms of damage.

While the examination was taking place, Captain Erebus was considering what other actions she might take. The sensors were reporting unusual traces of life aboard one of the Veridian vessels and it appeared there was a confrontation. Additionally, some communications were intercepted, suggesting that the Veridians needed assistance on board the vessel. Quickly, she assembled a squad of thirteen Spartan Phlangites from the marines aboard the UNS Ibn Battuta, and sent them aboard another shuttle to aid the Veridians.

Then, she hailed the Veridians on board the vessel, "This is Captain Erebus speaking. We have noted the difficulties you are encountering and have sent a squad of Spartan Phlangites to assist you. Additionally, we have isolated a specimen of creature found in the gas cloud, and we will shortly send information on its physiology to both your forces and that of the Sacaens. If the life forms that we have detected on your vessel are the same as the one we encountered, the information should assist you in combating them."

Once the examination finishes, the information is sent to both forces as promised.

*Order Captain Soren acknowledged the transmission and ordered the Black Hole Legion over. The Black Hole Legion initiated a breach and blew a hole in the hull of the Dominion vessel a few corridors away from the bridge. As the Black Hole legion slowly approached the Dominion ship via the tube that connected the ship to their shuttle it was very quiet. The Order Imperator silently ordered his specialist engineer forward with her claymore shotgun. Just as they were about to take their first steps onto the Dominion ship one of the creatures jumped in front of the engineer and made a horrible screech that was cut short the engineer who fired her shotgun point blank at the creature launching it across the corridor. As soon as the creature was killed hundreds more began rumbling towards the squad.*

Order Imperator: Devastator Mode Engaged, Squad go loud!

*The squad unloaded on the creatures and the hallway turned into a bloodbath with bodies and bullets being thrown everywhere. The Order Imperator ordered his squad to slowly retreat to the bridge and he ordered their shuttle to break off and get away before the creatures could board it*

Major Jomar Acknowledged the Centauri message and returned with a message that was similar to the one he gave the Ordenreich, that the Centauri would be coming on board the ship at their own peril. They were only a few feet from the bridge when they heard the explosion against the hull and then the sound of gunfire from the Ordenreich. They weren't far and surprisingly, their arrival seemed to distract the spider creatures as the swarm against the Dominion soldiers seemed to lighten.

Pushing forward they finally made it to the bridge, they closed the entry way behind them and found the bridge deserted, at least, for the time being. Major Jomar put men on watch over the two vents and the door while he and his engineer got on the computers. Though they could figure out why, the main reactor to the ship was forced offline due to safeguards built into the system. Artificial gravity, internal atmosphere, and the emergency lighting were all being powered by the back up generator. According to what they could see, the emergency generator was nearing depletion.

With all the major systems off-line, they couldn't tell if the crew was still on board or whether or what the main computer core had on it. Options were limited on what they could do next against these spider creatures. To get power restored, they needed to get to main engineering which was several decks below and several sections over...in short a good distance from the bridge. No doubt there were plenty of those damn spiders between there and the bridge.

The Centauri make a rather less flashy entry by attaching to the hull and then using a precision laser to cut an entryway, and the squad quickly moves out into the hallway. There they find themselves beset by the unusual creatures from both sides, which rush at them at vicious speed. The Spartan Phalangites quickly begin to fire their Tachyon Bolts at the incoming creatures, aiming at the suspected weak spots, although the flow of the creatures is considerable. The squad begins to push towards the bridge of the ship themselves, moving slowly and constantly having to fire at incoming groups of hostiles. Occasionally, they do get close enough to deliver scratches to the soldiers that is enough to puncture armor, although so far there have been no casualties.

Overlord Paladin: I'm out!

Infiltrator: Here catch!

*The Black Dwarf Infiltrator tossed her katana to the Overlord Paladin who grabbed it in his left hand and activated his wrist mounted shield barrier in his right and he began giving the spiders a first taste of futuristic human medieval warfare. As this was going on the rest of the squad continued hammering the spiders but for every two they seem to kill four or five seemed to take their place. They finally managed to make it to the bridge door and found it sealed.*

Order Imperator: Engineer! Bang on the door and see if the Dominion boarding team is inside! If no one answers in 30 seconds you have permission to blow it!

Specialist Engineer: Yes sir!

*The engineer hit the door has hard as she could three times. Meanwhile, the squad was starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the creatures. The Order Imperator decided to fire one of his five shoulder mounted missiles down the hall which killed many spiders because of the payload of the missile and the enclosed hallway space. Though the spiders kept coming the numbers of their dead were beginning to pile up in the hallway making it harder for them to get to the BHL forces*

Major Jomar and his engineer were still trying to see if there was something they could do on the bridge when the faint thud against the bridge door was heard. The engineer turned to the Major "sir did you hear that?" The Major thought about it and then turned towards the door. "Could be one of the allies" he said and then pointed to the door. "Ready your weapons" he said as he looked at his engineer "prepare to open the door" before turning back to the others "fire at anything that isn't humanoid."

Readying his own weapon, he opened an channel "This is Major Jomar, we are on the bridge and we are preparing to open the door, if you are friendly, stand back." At that he gave the signal and the doors of the bridge unsealed and opened. The Sacaen soldiers side-stepped to either side of the hallway as the Dominion soldiers opened fire against the spiders, a few grenades shot deep down the hallway. Continuing the fire, the Sacaens were motioned in by the engineer as the Major and others continued to fire. When the last crossed the threshold of the doorway, the engineer then resealed the door.

When the door was sealed the Dominion soldiers went back to guarding the vents and the Major turned to their new guests. "Welcome to the Bridge" he said sarcastically. "We seem to be experiencing a little bug problem."

The Centauri quickly follow through to the bridge as well, heading towards the source of the noise. They quickly acknowledge the Veridian and Sacaen forces with a salute before taking up positions alongside them to continue in the effort against the insectoid intruders.

(OOC: Sorry for the short post, but there's not exactly a whole lot for me to do on my part.)

*The Order Imperator gave a simple head nod to acknowledge the Centauri forces.*

Order Imperator: We know Major. We heard you needed an exterminator.

*The Order Imperator turned to his men*

Order Imperator: Specialist, set up your supply pylon here and distribute ammo. For the time being this will be base camp.

Engineer: Yes sir.

*The Order Imperator then turned to the Major*

Order Imperator: Any clue on what these things are? Better yet. How do we defeat them and secure the ship?

OOC: I was going to write you in as well but decided not too Sela sorry about that, might as well have though but the short post is fine.

IC:

Major Jomar gave a nod to the Centauri, "Well glad those damn things didn't get you too." He then turned to face both the lead Centauri soldier as well as the Order Imperator. "No, we have no idea where those damn things came from other than they must have come out of that nebula or whatever it is. They die well enough from out projectile fire and I imagine if you have weapons better than that, you've been at least equally as successful. Of course we can't just keep shooting at them as we're liable to blow too many holes in the ship."

The Major then turned to a console on the bridge. "We are here, main engineering is here and its the only way to get main power back online and find out what is going on. Problem is, naturally, there is undoubtedly more of those creatures between us and that point. We believe we may be able to cut emergency power from here however an if these creatures are surviving on the limited oxygen, then they will suffocate and we'll be free to move about the ship. We were about to attempt just that now, assuming there are no objections?"

Order Imperator: If you wish, my Black Dwarf Infiltrator has a tactical cloaking ability that may allow her to slip by the creatures without killing any of them or risk any of our teams. We can send her to engineering and you can talk her through the procedure using our comms. Besides some of us will have to stay here and guard the bridge meaning we'll have less firepower to throw at the aliens on the way to engineering.

Lieutenant Azarias Neiri, the Centauri officer in charge, listens intently to what the Major has to say, and replies to his idea of oxygen deprivation, "That may just work. If I remember correctly, the specimen we recovered died when exposed to the vacuum of space. I presume that these others will do the same."

"I should also mention that regardless of whether we do it now or not, the emergency power will cut off before we get to engineering, even if we send one person" Major Jomar said to Order Imperator. "Ah, so the Centauri also encountered creatures, where they like these things we're seeing now? Our team left our own ship not long after your team went into the cloud. Due to its interference, we have not been able to receive clear transmission from anyone, barely got your calls for assistance."

The Centauri go on to explain the creature their officers and scientists encountered.

"Ah, so there are more than one species out in this thing. That's.....unfortunate. Well as far as we known these spider..things, are all that's on board. Our only caution was that the crew of this ship might be on board somewhere but even if they were, due to the emergency power failing, they won't be alive for long if they are still alive at all. I think our best bet is to cut the atmosphere entirely, suffocate these things, and then send a team down to engineering. Order Imperator, I will take your suggestion and ask that you send your Black Dwarf Infiltrator out first, just in case these things don't die or if something else is lurking out there. Once they've given us the all clear, we'll send a larger team down to engineering. Here, let me show you a map so they'll know the way."

The Major show a schematic of the ship and once he felt the Sacaen was well enough informed on where they were going, Major Jomar ordered his engineer to cut the atmosphere. A small hissing came from the vents until it finally quit. For a few moments there was only silence and then came the awful screeching. Due to an echo in the hallways it only doubled the sounds, but how many it sounded like. Thousands...maybe millions? All three teams on the bridge figured it was the spiders dying. They gave it a few minutes after the screeching ended to open the bridge door long enough for the Black Dwarf Infiltrator to leave. It was up to them now to make it to engineering to see if the coast was clear.

(OOC: I'll just pass, for now.)

*The Order Imperator just nodded his head to the Infiltrator who nodded back and went invisible. The Order Imperator then turned back to the Major.*

Order Imperator: Your ship your rules Major. We'll follow your squad assignments.

Black Dwarf Infiltrator slipped out of the bridge and made her way with excellent speed down towards Engineering. Along the way she came across several of the dead spider creatures, many piled upon one another. Quite the vicious and disgusting little creatures when you take a look at them from up close but then again she didn't have the time. After using two maintenance ladders she finally came to the door of Engineering at which time the emergency lights went down in the hallway. The emergency generator had finally depleted itself and so, as instructed before she left, the Black Dwarf Infiltrator used the release lever on the door's control panel to help her pry the door open. A quick sweep of the room found no evidence of anything still living and so she contacted the people of the bridge.

Major Jomar sent his engineer and a riffleman to engineering, the Sacean and Centauri were free to send who they wished as well to accompany them. Once there the engineer proceeded to get the Naquadria reactor back online. It took several minutes by the Veridian Engineer was successful and soon all the consoles of the room and the bridge, along with the lights came back online. Major Jomar, still on the bridge, was relieved and went straight to the helm. The main engines were still off-light but he knew he could use the thrusters to at least start nudging the ship away from the cloud, which at this point was beginning submerge the ship again as it was expanding. With a few well placed finger stabs to the console, the ship began to slowly move. Know he had the time now, Major Jomar then went to the main computer interface and brought up several controls at one.



The Naquadria reactor seemed to be operating under normal parameters. Internal sensors were only picking up a handful of lifesigns, indicating that only the Veridian, Centauri, and Sacean scout teams were on board. However, biosensors were picking up large amounts of biological masses. There must have been thousands of those creatures on board, most of them seemed to be centered in or around cargo bay 4. Switching to the internal camera system, Major Jomar found the crew. All were dead, many looked as if they'd been eaten by the creatures down to the bone while others seemed cocooned in a white, webbing. Finally switching over the the master computer core, the Major procured a data-stick from a pocket on his suit and downloaded the information while also transmitting it via encrypted channels to the Saber.

Captain Khev on board the Saber, was relieved to be receiving the information from the Razor. He went to his office and began looking through the Captain's log. All this transpired over several minutes while the teams on board the Razor continued to see if they could get the rest of the ship running and made sure they were indeed completely out of danger. They inspected the Cargo bay, finding all of the creatures indeed dead including what looked to be some sort of mother. The took as much scientific data as they could before the Major felt it best to just destroy the creatures. They used flamethrowers from the armory to dispose of them before sealing the cargo bay and then opening it to the vacuum of space.

No doubt both Captains of the Centauri and Ordenreich ships were growing impatient. Finally, Captain Khev came over the coms, hailing both ships.

"Captain Erebus, Order Captain Soren, this is Captian Khev. It seems our teams onboard the Razor have found the crew to be all dead, victims of some sort of arachnids. They were the source of the distress signal, a survey crew who'd be charged with mapping this system. It seems this cloud originates from a planet that is inside of its mass, as the Centauri expedition discovered. They also discovered some sort of energy emanating from the planet. I believe whatever it creating this cloud is at the source of that energy signature. I am transmitting a topographical display of the planet as gathered by our survey crew. Using the information forwarded by the Centauri I believe the energy source is located in grid 47 on the southern continent. I am going to order my team from the Razor along with more personnel to shuttle down to the planet to investigate and if possible, shut this power source down."

"Given that your ships were dispatched to render assistance to the distress signal I believe that mission is completed. However, if you must, you may send teams in shuttles to accompany our own though I assure you my personnel are more than capable. We shall be dispatching the shuttle to land in grid 45, several miles from the source at which point they'll travel on foot to the location. If you must accompany us we'd suggest following the same route. I will be ordering a shuttle down soon."

Captain Erebus says in reply to the transmission, "Understood. We will send along Lieutenant Neiri's force in our own shuttle to the designated spot. We will however note that there is a field that causes energy fluctuations around the planet and we urge the utmost caution when approaching the spot. Power stabilization systems are highly recommended. Additionally, there may be various spaceborne organisms within the cloud, which must be regarded with caution."

With that said, Pilot Allende boards a new, more heavily defended shuttle and heads towards the Razor to pick up the Phlangites and begin heading towards the designated spot along with the Veridians.

*Order Captain Soren looked at the images taken from the cargo hold of the dominion vessel of the dead spiders just before they were burned.*

Soren: Real pretty... looks like an image straight out of one of those old cheesy sci fi horrors or video games back on Livenstein. The Ordenreich doesn't pay me enough for this shit...

*The console beeped and he listened into Captain Khev's message.*

Soren: Roger that Captain. My men will stay on board our ships but we'll remain on station to make sure the source is disabled or otherwise contained. We'll remain on stand by and provide assistance if necessary. Soren out.

The Veridians took note of what the Centauri had warned over and sent their shuttle over to the Razor. With the Veridians now in control, the shuttle bay was opened to received shuttles from the Centauri, Ordenreich, and the Veridians themselves. Major Jomar and his team, along with several other Veridians, would be going to the planet while another team, mostly engineers, were going to take control of the Razor and further investigate the ship and what happen to the crew. Before leaving the Major passed the Order Imperator of the Ordenreich forces.

"Figured you and yours would be coming on this little field trip to the planet" he said with a smirk. "Oh well, I'm sure we'll get the pleasure of working together again." With that the Major and his team loaded up on the shuttle. Reloading and rearming themselves the shuttle soon lifted and was on its way, the Centauri leaving as well. Some of the Veridians wondered if they should hold their breathe when their shuttle submerged itself into the cloud. Inside the Centauri and Veridians experienced the same environment that the Centauri had previously. Unlike the first Centauri expedition however, the shuttles soon found themselves under attack by more of the same creature the Centauri had encountered. Aware and ready for them both shuttles fired upon them and easily repelled their advance. There weren't nearly as many of these creatures as there were those spiders from the ship.

Moving into what should be the atmosphere of the planet the two shuttles began experiencing the same random power fluctuations that had been experienced before. Both shuttles attempted to compensate and for a moment the Centauri particularly believed they had found a compromise until the shuttle passed where about the mesosphere should have been and then their shuttle, along with the Veridian's shuttle went completely dead. Both spiraled out of the control, spreading further from one another in the process, as they grew closer and closer to the surface. Were it not for the excellence of each pilot, both crews would have probably died. Instead, both pilots found a way to level out their respective shuttles enough to allow them to land them somewhat safely.

The Centauri had the easiest of it, having drift over a swamp area, their shuttle skidding across the water until at least coming to an halt against the shoreline. The Veridians however, came down into a dense forest, the tree branches providing the only obstacles that helped to slow the shuttle down until it finally came down onto the ground below. Both crews check over themselves, their supplies, and their ships. Both ships wouldn't be flying again and once each team check their own maps of the area they'd find they were also severely off-course of the LZ. The Centauri had crashed a few miles south of the LZ and the Veridians, a few miles north.

Major Jomar got his men organized as they salvaged their gear and prepared for a longer trek towards the energy source. Landing at the LZ would have put them only a couple miles out, now they were several miles and were currently in a dense forest that, from what he could tell, didn't sound friendly. Coming to terms that this was probably a one-way trip now, he order his men forward.

OOC: OK so I have had in mind for sometime that once we got to this point in the story, it'd be a more free-for all. Consider the story yours in terms of what your team experiences on its way towards the Energy source. Sacae, if you wish to send a team down they should experience a crash as well. Everyone has free "artistic license" as to what you encounter along your trek, all I ask is that my team get to the source first. I'm hoping to make the trek at least a couple of posts long myself so please feel free to go as far out there as you wish with this. Basically, have fun

Lieutenant Neiri and Pilot Allende made their way out of the shuttle's cockpit, followed soon after by the contingent of Spartan Phlangites. Together, Lieutenant Neiri and Pilot Allende inspected the grounded shuttle, and with a quick glance exchanged between them they knew that there was going to be no way out of the planet. Turning back towards the crew, Lieutenant Neiri said, "It appears that all power has been cut on our shuttle. There's no easy way out of here - we can't fly out, and no one's coming to save us. What we are here to do is to reach and secure the objective, and give hell to whatever it is that comes in our way. This may very well be our final days, and I only hope that they are days well spent."

Bringing up his gauntlet's holodisplay, he projected a topographical map of the area, with the downed shuttle marked in the swamp and the objective marked in the north. Quickly inspecting the terrain around him and the map, Lieutenant Neiri pointed towards the north, and said, "Begin moving towards the north in formation. Remain vigilant: we do not know what native life forms may be lurking, and assume any disturbances are hostile. Additionally, survey the terrain carefully. Wetlands like these aren't like anything we deal with normally, and any accidents could slow us down or encourage an enemy advance. In essence, stay on guard."

With that, the formation began to make their way north, through the swamp. The dank, muddy ground slowed down the Phlangites who were quite weighed down by their equipment, and the dense tangle of native plantlife made movement even slower than it already was. The temperature, were it not for the standardized climate control on all Centauri armor, would have made for an even more brutal trek. Still, in spite of the slow movement, there was little in the way of danger... yet. However, they came across a small river that blocked their path north. Lieutenant Neiri surveyed the area, seeing if there wasn't a way around it, but soon enough he saw that the only way forward was through.

With little more than instinct to guide his decision, he began to look for a ford to cross. Eventually he found an area that seemed to be no more than a few feet deep at most, and the Phlangites began to cross, after securing their equipment overhead. The river was about ten feet wide, and the flow was not too strong, and so the Phlangites made their way through easily. However, one of them got their foot stuck on a rock, and was caught a bit behind the others. He tried to get his foot unstuck, but something seemed wrong. For some reason he just couldn't get his foot unstuck.

And then he felt something begin to clamp around his foot.

(OOC: Cutoff here is intentional, will continue in another post.)

*Order Captain Soren just received word that his team was on board when his sensors lost contact with the Dominion and Centauri forces. He scowled at that assuming that it wasn't simple comm failure. His sensor officer had been baffled by strange energy signatures all day. However, with no read on any Dominion or Centauri signatures in his sensors he had no clue where they were and their status. He decided to try and send a transmission.*

Soren: To any Dominion or Centauri forces currently on the planet's surface. If you can hear this this is Order Captain Soren of the Arcanii. We lost contact with your shuttles and have decided the planet's unusual atmosphere to be the only cause thus far. The Black Hole Legion is standing by in orbital drop pods should you need assistence but unless you can give us coordinates we will have no way of finding you on the planet's surface. I will be working with your captain is seeing if we can use Ordenreich drop pods to transfer supplies to your men and the men of the Centauri. Please decide on the decision to deploy the Black Hole cautiously. Though the drop pods will be faster and more durable than our dropships will simply get swatted out of midair. Supplies and manpower will be readily available to you in the but we both know this is a one way trip. Our forces will have no way to leave the planet once the drop pod hits it. We will support you where we can.


(OC: This message applies that I am asking for the Dominion captain I mentioned above so go ahead and speak like you overheard my transmission if you want)

Major Jomar and the Dominion forces had been trekking through the woods for about an hour now. Walking he'd attempted to alter his communicator's signal in an attempt to beat the interference but in was in vain. Whatever the mist was, which was also present on the planet but not a thick as in the atmosphere and space around the planet, it simply created too much interference to get anything through or even anything across the terrain. For a moment he thought he heard the faint voice of an Ordenreich commander but there was simply too much static to clear it up. The Major wondered if the Centauri made it as they did, if they did he figured they'd also attempt to complete the mission and figured if they were still alive he'd catch up with them soon.

Moving around some brush the Major held up his fist to stop his team. His suits scanners were being interfered with but he was getting some weak life signs, several. He was trying to pin-point exactly where they were but he couldn't seem to get a fix. He got his men to try and make visual, moving slowly around the general area to see if they could see anything. It was at that moment that one of the men accidentally stepped on a small twig on the ground. The crush seemed to echo as everyone stood still. They it came, like a thunder, a herd of the most horrid creatures any of the Veridians had ever seen.



With an intent to kill, they came at the Veridians and the Veridians in defense opened fire. They got several of the little ones right off the bat and hit a few of the larger ones but single shots were not going to stop them. Knowing they needed a better defensive position, Major Jomar order the men to run for better cover.....
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"Order Captain Soren, this is Captain Khev. We too have attempted to reestablish contact with the teams but have so far been unable to. Some of our engineers believe that the shuttles may had crashed, assuming they experienced what the earlier Centauri expedition didi upon entering the planet's atmosphere. We are hopeful they made it alive but we have no way of knowing for sure unless we send another team which I am not ready to authorize. However, if you are willing to send men yourself, our engineers believe they can postulate an close landing zone to where the teams may have gone down at."

The Phlangite began to call out, suspecting something was off, but he was stopped in the middle of his attempt when a massive pincer rose out of the water and grabbed him across the chest, before throwing him into the distance, causing him to land on rocky ground with a thud. Then, a massive creature rose out of the riverbed, perhaps twenty-five feet tall, with two massive pincers and innumerable smaller ones, supported atop six razor-sharp talons. Its body, carrying a metallic sheen, was surrounded by countless compound eyes, which showed only an emotionless malice.

In quick reaction, the Phlangites fired their tachyon rifles into the creature as it lurched towards them, only to find that their rifles barely seemed to give the creature any pause. Relentless, it rushed forward and knocked a Phlangite aside with its pincer, and then with a talon began to pin her down, pressing in with its weight. In the meantime its talons lashed out, forcing the other Phlangites backed. Although they redoubled their efforts in firing on the creature, it was becoming clear that it would take more to take the creature down. Additionally, time was running out, as its talon began to penetrate the Phlangite's armor...

Adelais Tanser, the pinned Spartan Phlangite, tried to consider what she could possibly do. She was beginning to feel her armor fail, and her comrades didn't seem like they were getting anything done. With a pained groan, she let go of her rifle and rummaged through her belt with her free hand. No, not this, no, not that... here. From her belt she retrieved what the Centauri called a sticky grenade. It was as explosive as a conventional grenade, but it was made of a soft material that released an adhesive when activated. With little to lose, she activated and threw the sticky grenade upwards onto the creature's underside.

Shouting to the rest of the Phlangites at the top of her lungs, she said, "Back off! Sticky incoming! Get to cover now!" In a short moment it became more than obvious why the other Phlangites chose not to throw such grenades at their own. The explosion was massive, engulfing the creature and Adelais in fire, killing Adelais instantly and gravely wounding the creature, and barely a few feet from consuming some of the others. Centauri grenades were designed for massive payloads at a considerable distance, not for so close as to be considered melee combat. With a few more shots the creature was dispatched.

With that, the other Centauri lowered their heads in honor of the fallen Adelais Tanser, as Lieutenant Neiri went to perform first aid on the Phlangite who had been thrown. The pressure on his feet had caused some fractures in the bone, and had caused considerable swelling, but otherwise he was fine, albeit dazed. He applied a quick-cast to the foot, and urged him to walk lightly on it, but told him that otherwise he was fine. With that the force set out again."

***

Replying to Order Captain Soren, Captain Erebus said, "We have also lost contact with the ground teams, as a result of the interference. Just based on the readings we had from the initial exploration of the cloud, we found it unlikely for the shuttles to make a conventional landing, though the pilot reassured us that he was more than capable of making unconventional ones. Let us hope that that was the case. In the meantime, we cannot spare more shuttles nor men, and are currently monitoring the energy situation on the ground. If we detect a fluctuation at the location of interest, it should indicate that the expedition was a success, albeit a Pyrrhic one."

Rushing through the forest the Dominion soldiers were running for their lives. Major Jomar and his men had accidentally come across a herd of vicious creatures that were now poised to make the Veridians their midday lunch. Turning around momentarily to fire at the creatures the Veridians would take one or two out only to have them replaced it seemed by more. While they were running one of the creatures finally caught up to the slowest among the men, grabbing him with his ferocious mouth and then slinging him backwards towards the rear of the heard where most of the small, young were. No sooner had the poor soul hit the ground than the smaller ones went to town, feasting on his warm flesh. His blood-curdling screams could be heard for only a few moments and then there was just the noise of the weapon's fire and the heard.

Continuing to run for their lives Major Jomar spotted a rock facing and pointed the men forward. As soon as it was in reaching distance the men began climbing the treacherous wall with the creatures only moments behind them. Like savage dogs jumping and lunging at food dangled above them, the creatures made every attempt to get at the men. Another was unfortunate enough to become lunch, his foot being grabbed as he was violently tugged down to the ground. The others turned and fired at the creatures but it did little good to save the man as he was dead within seconds of hitting the ground. Climbing they came to a small perch and huddling on top it, securing their position and opening fire down below. Clicking one create after the next, the damn things just kept coming and coming as if the Veridians were the only food they'd seen in weeks. Major Jomar decided it was time to end the hunt and order each of his men to throw down a grenade at the ground crowd.

The blast surely echoed through the immediate area and pieces of the creates flew in every direction. Guts and every bodily fluid imaginable rained down on the Veridians who were for once happy to be wearing their environmental suits. Scanning the area it seemed they'd gotten most of them, the rest probably scattered for fear of the heat and noise of the blast. Ordering his men to rest for a moment, Major Jomar used the HUD of his helmet to attempt to figure out his location. Having ran from the creatures he'd now lost his bearing and wasn't sure in which direction to travel. The mist made it difficult but not impossible to see across the landscape with the Veridians now just above the tree line of their immediate area. Scanning the Major soon noticed the faint glow of lights, several of them. They appeared to be parameter lights or that what they looked like the Major and while he couldn't be certain, he had that gut feeling that it was the location of the energy signature.

"Alright men" he said as he began to pick himself up and prepare to descend the rock facing, "lets move out...."