Unknown Factors I
By Wandering Xanthe
"I'm bored," said Dizzy. She looked around the room. Rico was sitting there, angsting over Carmen. Carl was reading. Gossard was napping. Higgins was tinkering with his camera. Doc was doing some research on a laptop. Brutto was scowling at the stars. Razack was in conference with Redwing.
"I'm bored," she said again.
"Fighting has been low Gene, too low. My superiors think the bugs are up to something."
"What does this have to do with my men?" asked Lt. Razack.
"We've sent several squads to unexplored planets to look for…well, anything. You will be joining Lt. Michael Parker," she said, handing him a digital clipboard. "His squad, the Pack, consists of Sgt. Noah Keegan, Private Demi Berdeux, Private David Thompson, Private Anthony Perelli, Private Lei Wen, and two Enforcer veterans, Corpral Dawn Romanova and Private Kurt Schultz."
"Enforcers? Wasn't that the squad that was wiped out on that recon mission two months ago?"
"Yes. Romanova, Wagner, and another trooper were the only survivors." Redwing got up to leave. "You have one hour to prepare your men, Gene. Good luck." They saluted and she was gone. Razack looked down at the clipboard as he walked back to the Roughnecks' barracks.
"Psychic!"
"ETA in five minutes." The pilot's voice broke into the silence of the carrier. There had been no jokes, no complaining, no nothing. There was no reason to. They would land, meet this other squad, and do whatever it was they had to do, then get back to the war. When they reached the surface of the planet, they found themselves in front of what looked like a giant green and black trailer that sat at the edge of the jungle.
"Sir, the trees." At Carl's warning, everyone looked toward the shaking leafy masses.
"What is it?" whispered Razack.
"Humans and something else…" He didn't get to finish his sentence for at that moment, four troopers exploded from the thick foliage, followed by… a thing.
"Shields up!" one of the troopers screamed and as the creature leapt at them, an invisible force met it. It went down hard and after a few seconds, it got up, hissed, and ran back the way it came.
"Roman, that was too close," said a trooper from the ground as he panted from exhaustion. The one he had called 'Roman' helped him up before coming to attention in front of Razack.
"Lt. Razack," she said, "Corpral Romanova, Sigma squad."
"At ease. Where is Lt. Parker?"
She opened her mouth to speak but stopped and turned back toward the jungle. "He's right there, sir."
Lt. Parker and three other troopers emerged from the trees. He deactivated the shield before he strode over to the Roughnecks. The last of his men verbally put the shield up behind him. Parker and Razack stood apart from their squads to discuss L.T. stuff (I'm not good at that sort of thing so I'll skip it). As they made their way into the trailer, Carl wondered what the thing that had attacked them was.
'A mangler,' came a voice inside his head. He mentally looked about the small briefing room they were in and found the person who had answered him. It was Romanova. Her helmet was off and her long black hair came down her back in a braid. Her ice blue eyes twinkled and she smiled.
'You're psychic,' he "said" to her and she nodded. He turned his attention back to what the two lieutenants who were explaining the situation.
'My name's Dawn. What's yours?' He could not ignore the soft, friendly voice as it gently nudged at his mind.
'Carl.' She "said" no more but Carl knew she would talk to him later.
The briefing was short. The Pack had been sent on a recon mission. They found manglers, reptile-like creatures that were just as lethal as warrior bugs. The Roughnecks' mission was to assist the Pack and bring back specimens. Cake, right? As introductions were made, Carl scanned the team for reactions.
Most of them were eager to get on with the mission and the war.
Author's notes: The setting is a oxygen-rich tropical planet that I have yet to name so the troopers do not wear power suits. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Roughnecks: STC. The Pack is mine.