[Columbia] Infestation (part 2)

Posted on Sat Nov 3rd, 2012 @ 3:51pm by Miral Annhwi & Commander Buck Ducati
Edited on on Sat Nov 3rd, 2012 @ 3:52pm

1,142 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Enemy Within: Typhon is Missing!
Location: Tiberius IV

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

The force of the wind blowing into the tunnel almost knocked her over twice. She didn't dare go all the way to the cave opening, but she didn't need to. From twenty meters away she could see the sandstorm. Kara turned back to inform the others.

"The Columbia is gone. I think the wind blew it off the rocks."

[NEW]


"Gone?" Miral asked. She'd never heard of a storm on land large enough to move a starship, but there was no questioning that the wind blowing in from the tunnel was a great deal stronger, even this far back.

"I saw daylight -- or what daylight filtered through the storm. It's blowing pretty fiercely," Kara said.

"Then I suggest we pack up and move farther into the cave<" Miral announced, taking charge. "If the winds are strong enough to dislodge the Columbia, they're strong enough to do considerable damage here. Everyone, pick up the supplies. The cave goes back and up from here. We shall take our chances with whatever lies ahead."

With that, she began to pile supplies on a makeshift stretcher. When it was full, she called a Marine to help her carry it further into the cave.

Maria helped gather supplies onto a blanket and tied the four corners together, slipping it over her shoulders. "Okay. I'll see if I can find a better place to make camp."

"Not without backup," Kara corrected sternly. She grabbed her rifle and followed Maria. "No one goes alone in here. Not even a Fleetie."

"We stay together," Miral ordered. "Or at least we go in two groups. I'm ready." She looked at the others. "Are you?"

Maria gave in and waited for the others. "Okay. But with that storm outside, I think we should get far enough away that we won't be affected by any winds. The last thing I want is the storm chasing those bugs back to us."

The group slowly made their way down the largest passage that went up. The rock formation was large enough for them to go a good ways further into the rock and a hundred meters higher in elevation. Then they came to a larger cavern that would easily hold all of them and make a decent camp until the storm passed.

Miral shepherded them into groups and oversaw the setting up of a makeshift camp with what few bedrolls they had. At least it gave them a clean place to lie down. "Now, we can explore."

"I don't know about you sir but don't you think we should atleast bring more light? I mean maybe these things are vampiric or something, you know chances are they hate the storm as much as us." Bauer stated.

Miral doubted they were vampiric, but she nodded. "If you feel that necessary, you are welcome to make it brighter in here. I do not think more light will hurt. It may also make it easier for us to examine anything we may find."

Bauer took his flashlight and attached it to the end of his rifle. The intense light illuminated the tunnel rather well, a modification he had been granted by the Master-at-Arms. "There we go, now those creepy things can't surprise us." he said with a smile almost as bright as his flashlight.

Maria pulled out her tricorder and began to scan the cavern, looking in various crevasses and holes, just to see what was there. She heard a scrabbling noise and stepped back quickly, barely missing being hit in the face by a large, spider-like creature. "What the...! Hey, you with the gun, shoot this thing, will you?"

Bauer turned to where the woman indicated and unleashed a barrage of fire onto the target. "There, it should be sufficiently dead."

"You know, it might have been nice to have something left to examine," Maria said. "Or is your aim so bad you had to annihilate the thing to be sure you hit it?"

"I could have let it eat you instead..." Bauer shrugged.

Peters was working near the two and chimed in. "I think you just wanted to make sure you got all the glory yourself. Kill the thing so no one else can get a piece of it." Although, secretly, he agreed with the Fleetie. Bauer had used enough ammo to kill a nest of the creatures.

Kara returned just then from reporting the loss of the Columbia to Colonel von Hackleberg. She walked into the room and stopped. "What happened?"

"Bauer's scared of spiders. Shot the place up just to kill one," Peters answered.

Kara turned to Bauer. "What's your side?"

"I like to make sure it doesn't get back up. Have you seen what they try and do." he replied nonchalantly.

"Yes," Kara said. "They attack faces. At least that's what they did with Lieutenant T'Lada. Attacked her face and practically suffocated her."

Eamon was not happy to hear they lost Lieutenant T'Lada nor to know that they were not alone in these tunnels. He could feel a large mass of hunger coming at them and it sent several chills up his spine.

Just then there was a scrabbling sound and a loud hiss. Two dozen spiders crawled out of a dozen crevasses and jumped at the humanoids.

Eamon had his phaser out, quickly set it to kill, and fired at the spiders. Some he managed to severe majority of their legs from their bodies but the rest he disintegrated them.

Peters weapon was already out and he began to shoot along the cave wall, hitting as many spiders as he could.

Kara was more discriminate. She targeted individual spiders, shooting them in rapid succession. As a spider dropped, another crawled out to take its place.

"Form a circle and don't let them jump!" Eamon cried as he continued firing at the flow of spiders.

Kara continued to shoot, methodically taking out all the spiders in her immediate area. How many WERE there? "Where did they come from?" she asked the others.

Peters continued strafing the cavern wall. "No idea, but we can have a good look at them when they're all dead."

Bauer immediately turned to them backing towards the group firing relentlessly at the incoming creatures. "Would you like me to stop firing now?" he called out sarcastically to Maria.

"Are they dead yet?" Maria asked.

"Still twitching." Bauer retorted.

"Then you shoot them until they're all dead," she said. Men. She shook her head at Bauer's foolishness, grabbed a phaser and began to shoot anything that escaped the area being strafed.

(To be continued...)

Staff Sergeant Kara Melo
Alpha Platoon Leader
USS Calypso

Miral Annhwi
Romulan Ambassador
Starbase Typhon

Ensign Maria Delgado
Science Officer

Lieutenant Eamon Lynx
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Calypso

Bauer
Marine
USS Calypso

Corporal Dave Peters
Marine
USS Calypso

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