A/N: Thanks for the beta, Z.
Three
England studied the video feeds and the slowly filling in map as Hungary and Austria plodded along. America fidgeted beside him. The communication was limited and professional, if a little boring. It was just how England wanted their first mission to go. After they lost sight of the base, the landscape before them swept up into a ridge that lined the valley. America scooted closer, his attention captured. If his planet had been anything like England's this was probably just as strange to him.
Hungary and Austria slowly wound their way to ridgeline, switching back across the crosshatched stone. Only their slightly panting breaths coming over the audio feed.
"It looks as if they're climbing up a dragon's back," England said softly. America chuckled.
"I was thinking more like biscuits rising in the oven," he said.
"Of course you would think of food."
They reached the summit, and America gasped.
"My God, England. Look at that," he said.
England could hardly contain his own sharp intake of breath. The planet had been photographed countless times as they searched for the right places to land, finally selecting their valley. But those photos could have never prepared any of them for the sight that was laid out before them.
The red stone curved down from the crater wall, the scaly, crosshatched stone swept down in a wide wash. However, just a little in the distance pieces of earth had fallen away, and the surface looked like a huge, rocky spiderweb. Overhead the black hole loomed, and England could imagine it growling even in the silence of space.
"England," whispered Hungary. "Are you getting this?"
It took a moment for England to compose himself. He'd never seen anything like it. Dreamt of anything like it.
"Yes."
He pulled out the com. "France?"
"Yes, my Captain?" he responded, his voice still held an edge.
"Get the others. You need to see this."
"Can it wait?" France whined, "I promise I am not destroying any tomatoes."
"Come. Get Ivan and the others. That's an order," England said, though his voice was still soft.
With a huff, France clicked off. Only then did England notice America's odd silence. He looked over, sarcastic comment on his tongue, but with one look at America, it died. He sat rigid in his seat. England would have thought he was in pain, if not for the near reverent look in his eyes.
"Well, it's quite something, isn't it," England offered lamely.
America jerked to attention, but didn't regain any of his boisterous temperament.
"Yeah. It's amazing."
England looked at his engineer with worry. He was about to question him further when the dome door swung open and the tinny voice echoed, "opening door one."
The rest of the crew walked in, including Italy, who England assumed had been picked up by Germany on the way. They walked up to the monitors.
"Ve! It's so beautiful, isn't it Germany?"
Germany shuffled behind him and gave a grunt of agreement. England felt a small bubble of satisfaction as they all looked on with the same wonder he felt.
The rest of the crew was silent as they watched Hungary and Austria approach the beginning of the web.
They peered down, and England craned his neck along with them, as if it would get him a better view. Inside was shadowy with the strange, inconstant light. From directly above, it did indeed look like a web or perhaps a burrow. Arches and beams of rock seemed to cover some kind of cavern and in the torchlight, England could glimpse the wide space below.
"England," Austria said. "England, we have to go down."
England came back to himself with a start. "No," he said. "The mission is surface level only. You don't have the equipment, or anything else."
Austria bent lower to the ground, gloved hands skimming over the rocks around one of the edges. The otherwise smooth surface was chipped in regular places, though the solar winds had obviously weathered them down.
"See this, England?" Austria asked.
"Sure."
"Handholds. I can't tell if they're still in use, but these could easily be artificial."
Hungary crouched beside him and examined the rock.
"It's not natural," she confirmed. "The rock's mostly sandstone, and these chips aren't in the grain or any natural weak points."
"Is it possible something falling could have chipped out those?" England asked. It was best not to jump to conclusions.
"I'm not sure. How could we tell?" Hungary asked.
Japan stepped forward, startling England. He gestured for the comm.
"This is Japan," he said. "Can you send a scan of the wall? A could map potential trajectories."
Austria and Hungary got out the sonar scanner they had used for mapping to get an image of the wall. It appeared on a screen beside the video feed.
"It's not from something falling," Japan confirmed. The excitement in the room was palpable. He pointed to the line of the cliff face. "See here, the chips go straight down the wall. If something fell, it would bounce around and off the cliff edge. These are intentional, like a ladder or a stair."
England warred with himself. He felt the entire crew's eyes on him, waiting for the decision. On one hand, the mission itinerary clearly stated just a surface exploration. On the other, this is what they came here for.
"My decision stands," England announced reluctantly, and he had to hold up his hand to quell the disappointed outburst of the crew. "Think about it," he tried to reason. "We don't know what's down there, what the atmosphere is like, if there're radiation pools or something else potentially deadly."
"With all due respect, Captain, I decline," Austria said.
"What do you mean, decline," England demanded. "You can't decline an order. I'm the captain."
"And the captain is making the wrong decision," Hungary added. "We found a ladder! For God's sake, England! Of course we're going down."
"We'll collect the data from down there. Don't worry," Austria said.
"This is insubordination! I order you-"
"Shut up, England." A heavy hand fell on his shoulder. He looked up to see Russia. "I want them to go down there. I fear you're a bit outnumbered on this." It was true. Everyone glared at him-with the exception of Italy, who just looked confused.
"Carry on," said Russia into the comm.
England watched helplessly as Austria and Hungary descended along the ladder. The crew around him picked up an easy conversation. England retreated, and was almost out of the room with the comm crackled and the video feed went out.
"Austria! Austria!" They heard Hungary yell, then shriek herself. With a final burst of static, the comm went dead.
England rushed back to the console. "Hungary! Austria! Report! We've lost video. I repeat, report!"
There was nothing but a hushed silence. England felt the crew staring at him, just as stunned as he was. He had said, not a minute ago, that this was a bad idea. He wanted to throw it back in their faces, scream at them for not listening. However, he also knew that it would do nothing for Austria or Hungary. He gripped the comm in a white-fingered grip in one hand and squeezed his eyes shut, demanding his mind to think. The noise faded, his own panic reduced to a faint hum in his chest. Despite the calm he held, there was nothing. No brilliant, captain-ly ideas suddenly sprung to mind.
He was startled when America jumped to his feet, chair falling behind him as he made for the door.
"Ameri-"
"I'm going after them."
England balked. Behind him Russia snickered.
"You?" Russia said. "What good could you be? You're the engineer, if anyone should be going, it should be me."
"Fine," America shot back. "Come with me then. We can back each other up. Austria and Hungary—they need a hero!"
Russia shook his head. "No. For once, I agree with England. We should leave them, for now, until we can get a better plan of attack."
"Are you kidding?" America said. "We can't just leave them. We don't even know what could be happening to them. They could be dying." He didn't shout, but his voice had gone several pitches higher. He wasn't angry; actually, he looked on the verge of a panic attack.
Russia grasped his shoulder, "No, my friend, we should not send someone with lesser qualifications to be out there."
America shoved his hand off. "Better someone lesser than no one," he countered, then ran from the control room. He appeared a moment later in the airlock. Groaning in defeat, England began establishing a connection with another suit.
"You're just going to let him leave?" Russia asked England, sounding disgusted.
"I have a feeling he'd find a way out there without my help. So I figure I'd do my part in this rescue mission," England snapped. "America? Do you copy?"
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, but I can't—"
"Shut up," England ordered. "I'm prepping suit three for departure. Go to storage two while Japan and I make sure everything works, and get the climbing equipment."
"You're helping me?"
"Yes. I'm angry. You, Hungary and Austria will still have to face punishment for your insubordination. I, however, need you back alive if I'm to enforce that discipline," England said, bracing for a cheeky response from America. It never came.
"Thanks," was all he got.
America left the base, and made for the stone web as quickly as he could with the bulky gear. England watched through the screen, impatient. Feeling as if he were going to explode, started giving out orders.
"Japan, analyze the scan Austria sent you. I want to know the safest way for America to get down. Russia, make sure no radiation winds are spiking. I don't want them to be found just to die in a gamma hurricane. France, I don't know what it is you can do, but go do it. Germany, I need you at the control dome to see if you can fix the connection in the comms. I know it's not your specialty, but I need someone on it."
Stunningly, they all did what they were told. But England didn't have time to reflect on it. He and Japan started discussing their options.
"If he sets a pulley system with the line, he should be able to lift them out," Japan said as he looked at the scans of the wall."
Italy approached England. "What can I do?" he asked. England didn't take his eyes off the screens. "Can't I help?"
"No."
"Please," Italy insisted. "I could be useful. Some coffee or tea? A button you need pushing?"
"Not now, Italy," England said, holding up his hand. "Just go somewhere and don't talk."
Italy complied, choosing to stand and stare from the far side of the console while Japan and England and America talked in hushed voices.
England leaned against one of the screens and ran his fingers through his hair. Things were spiraling out of control. What if it was too late for Austria and Hungary? What would happen if this mission failed or if only some of them survive? It could destroy the tentative inter-system relationships the project was forging.
"No one said anything about casualties," England said.
Japan never looked up from the scans, but sighed in agreement. England watched enviously as he found some work to bury himself in. He wished for some work. Something, anything to take his mind of being the captain. But there was no tome or tablet or ancient language in sight. So he watched America's progress
Finally America approached the drop off where they'd lost contact with Austria and Hungary. Japan walked him through how to set the hard point and rappel down. Once set, he backed up and down the tunnel. England watched the video feed anxiously, awaiting any flicker or indication that it would fail again.
"Still getting all of this?" America asked.
"Crystal clear."
"I think I see some scuff marks on the walls. They shouldn't be too far away-" America yelped and the video feed died.
"What is it? America? America!" shouted England.
The sound of static was all he got.
A/N: Yay for cliffies!
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