Extinction Event10

The ships converged, firing simultaneously. Blasting around the structure. Pieces flew in every direction. Sub-Wraith scrambled, screaming. The ground was a mess of body parts and flying debris. Clouding the mist with an impenetrable curtain. A dim squealing reached John's ears and he winced. Glanced at Moira. "Do you hear that?"

"Yes. Warning signals." She looked down at her hands twisting on her lap.

"Almost finished, sweetheart," he soothed. At his thought a scan bathed the area in a brief flicker of light. "No life signs. Stand down. Onto the next. Same formation." He guided the ship up, up, over the massive rubble. "Moira, would they have a queen like regular Wraith?"

Moira shrugged. "I don't know. Probably. They would die to, to protect her."

"Ah. I can understand that." She glanced at him. His expression was serious. Sincere. He looked out the viewport. "Crap. Caves." They neared a warren of rocky outcrops. Dotted with holes. Dark openings into the depths.

"No bogeys in sight, sir, but life readings below," Jason informed.

"How do we proceed, sir?" Evan asked. "If we target those caves the whole mountain could come down. Reeking ecological havoc."

"Is that true?" John asked quietly.

"Yes. Why would you doubt–" she began, defending Evan.

"Just checking." He considered. "Clear a zone. Land. We'll have to go in."

"What?" Moira exclaimed. "No! You can't!"

"No choice, Moira." He landed the ship smoothly. "I want this done now. Today." He repressed a shudder, staring hard at the holes of darkness. Could only imagine what was in there.

"John, please!" Moira touched his arm. Fingers stroking nervously. "Don't do this!"

He met her anxious gaze. Caught her hand in his but leaned towards the comm. "All squads rendezvous in five. Heavy ordnance." He shut off the unit. Stood and moved to the back of the ship. Knew she would follow after him. Turned as she did.

"John, please! Please, you don't have to do this!"

He pulled her into his arms for a lengthy kiss. "Moira." He stared into her worried eyes. "You are going to stay here. Right here. I wouldn't leave you here if I didn't think for a second that you wouldn't be safe. Secure. We can talk on our earpieces. You'll be able to contact me at all times, through the comm, okay? I need you to watch my fine, fine six, baby, and let me know if you see anything. Anything at all."

"John, no! Don't go! Don't!" she repeated, holding onto him. As if she could restrain him. "If you love me you won't–"

"I love you, Moy, and that's why I have to go. I'll be fine, sweetheart. I promise. We'll go in, sweep it, come back. You and I will be in constant contact."

She sighed. "Okay, John," she relented, knowing it was pointless to argue, to persuade. To cajole or guilt him into changing his mind.

John kissed her. Freed her. Grabbed his gun. "If anything appears wrong, or something approaches the Jumper call me. You can power the ship if you need to. Here." He drew her to the controls. "This will activate the shield. Just think about it and press this, and this. It should respond rapidly to your double gene anyway. Weapons are here, if you need them. Do not hesitate, Moy. Not for a second." He kissed her again. "Back in twenty, sweetheart. Under no circumstances are you to leave this Jumper. All right?"

"All right, John. Back in twenty."

"Yes. We'll be in constant contact, Moira. Don't you worry." John exited the Jumper. Shut the hatch. Turned as the men joined him. Armed to the teeth with weapons, TAC vests. Grim expressions on their faces. "Infiltrate. Stay together. This is a search and destroy all targets mission. No exceptions. No quarter."

"Colonel, are you going to leave Moira alone in the ship?" Evan exclaimed.

"Yes, major. She is perfectly safe. I wouldn't leave her if I thought otherwise. Let's head out. Reynolds, flank left. Lorne, right. I'll take the center. Move out."

"I can't believe you're just leaving her there to–" Evan protested.

"It's not open for discussion, major! Would you rather she went in there?"

"At least she'd be with us, sir, instead of alone in a Jumper with–"

"She's completely protected on a fully weaponized ship. Now move out!" he snapped. Tapped his earpiece. "Moira, copy?"

"John?" Moira nearly jumped. She leaned near the comm. "Copy."

"Good. Keep sharp, Moira. Call me if you need me. Out." John headed into the darkness of the caves. Shone his P90's light on the rocks and dirt. It was more humid. Dank. John could tendrils of sweat under his t-shirt. He licked his lips. Tendrils of tension and fear slithered as he recalled the last time he had been in a cave. Imprisoned. Bound. Held by a horrifying Wraith hybrid creature. He swallowed, shoved the memories aside. Advanced forcefully. "Moira," he said, suddenly needing to hear her voice, "where would the queen be?"

"John. John. Deep. Near the center, the most secure location. Don't go that far, John! The tunnels could run for miles," she warned, staring out the viewport.

"Understood." He relaxed, oddly calmed by her voice. Her concern. "There." He gestured. A tunnel was widening into a larger area. Suddenly a screeching echoed along the walls. "Fire at will! All targets!"

Moira jerked in the chair, inadvertently powering the ship. She freed the console as the rapid play of gunfire erupted from the comm. She bit her lip, afraid to make a sound lest it distract John from his grim mission. She stared at the caves. There no sub-Wraith in sight. Yet.

"Fall back!" John shouted. "Penetrate defenses! Go, go!" He advanced as the two teams flanked him on either side. The gunfire was loud. Bullets chipping the rock walls, the ground, the sub-Wraith creatures as they swarmed to defend their territory. "Go! Reverse flank! Plow the field!" John crouched, savagely fired. The creatures fell back, writhing in bloody messes as they were shredded by the ammunition.

"Cease fire!" The abrupt silence was only broken by the men's heavy breathing. Smoke and debris cleared to reveal the killing field ahead of them. The ground was littered with bodies. Twitching. Mewling. The sounds sent a shudder up John's back but he advanced. Swinging his light over the bodies, across the cavern. "Let's go." He led them past the carnage into another cavern. The ground sloping underfoot as they went deeper, deeper. The air was rank. Heavy.

"What the hell is that?" An oddly glowing vat was submerged into the ground. Viscous material floated. "Moira, copy?"

"John!" The relief in her voice swept over him.

"Fine," he answered before she could ask. "Moira, we've got a..a pool. In the floor. Octagonal. Blue. Not water but a thick, gooey syrupy substance," he tried to describe it. Waited. Watched the men check the cavern, flanking out around him. Guns at the ready. "Moira?" He stepped closer, peering into the depths.

Moira was thinking furiously. "Gestation. John, don't go near it!"

At her startled warning he froze. Stepped back from it. Gun raised "Why? Ges...what? Oh shit! Eggs?"

"Possibly. Or young. Larvae...they will defend that to the death, John! You have to get out of there!"

"You mean like your foot? That thing...oh shit." The liquid was churning.

"John? What's happening? John?"

"It's alive. Crap." His calm tone belied his horror as he watched something trying to emerge. A gooey humanoid bug creature, pale and monstrous. Mewling like a kitten. "Fire! Fire!"

Moira tensed, hearing an explosion of bullets again. She winced hearing a screeching. She stared as sub-Wraith began to swarm around the cave entrances. "John! John, copy!"

"Little busy, Moira," he said.. "Fire in the hole! Fall back!" He yanked a grenade off his TAC vest. Pulled the pin. "Three. Two. One. Down!" He lobbed it into the pool as the men scattered, seeking cover behind the rocks. He ducked, dove for cover. A muffled boom shook the ground. Then a fountain of gooey liquid sprayed upwards. Writhing, screaming forms were blown to bits. Pale flesh and howling cries rent the air in a terrible rain.

"John!" Moira called, shouting into the comm. "They're here! The sub-Wraith are outside! John!"

"Easy, Moira," John replied, when he could hear again. He moved to his feet as did the men. "What are they doing?"

"Nothing. I mean...they're waiting for..."

"Us. Got it. Any near the ship?"

"No."

"Keep me posted, Moira. Activate the shield until you see me."

"Okay, John." She powered the console, held the controls. The shield flickered, glimmering for a moment before it became invisible. "John! They're blocking the entrances! They're using rocks. They...they're exhibiting cooperative behavior...on a level that shouldn't even be possible given their primitive–"

"Got it, Moira. Time to go."

"Hurry, John! They're..." She froze as they began to chitter. High-pitched cries that made her ears ring. They stopped. Turned. "They're coming towards me!"

"You'll be fine, Moira. Shields up?"

"Yes."

"All right. I'm coming to you. Hold position."

"Sir! The way's blocked!" Jason informed, gesturing the way they had come. "I mean completely blocked!"

"Sir! Hostiles approaching behind us!"

"Crap. More?" John gestured, led the men to the tunnel. "Can we shoot our way out?"

"No, sir. It's solid rock!"

"C4," John decided.

"No, sir," Evan argued. "If we use that the whole mountain could come down on our heads. It's riddled with tunnels and not stable."

"It's a risk we have to take. Moira's out there."

"Because you left her out there! You left her again," Evan accused.

"C4," John repeated, ignoring the jibe, the accusation. "We will be trapped in here otherwise. This is the only ingress point."

"We could be entombed, sir! These rocks are highly unstable!"

"So is my temper, major! Peterson, cover our six! Reynolds, help me set this. At the pressure points, along the sides!" John briskly ordered. The two men began to set the charges.

A screeching filled the air. High-pitched, painful. Driving into the back of them mind like a nail. The men hunched, some falling. Ears reeling, feeling dizzy and disorientated by the sounds being amplified by the rocks.

By a wavering form that was twice the size of the sub-Wraith swarming around it. John could only stare in shock at the chittering, horribly pallid female form. More human than insect, unlike its furious companions. Its gut engorged with eggs that pulsed against the pale flesh.

"Sir?" a man asked nervously, gun shaking in his hands. Blood was pouring from one ear.

Moira covered her ears as pain flared. Even protected by the ship she could still hear and feel the effects, however dimly. She stared out the viewport as the sub-Wraith surrounded the ship. Unable to touch the ship they chittered and swarmed. Attacking with their sounds, their rage. Antennae waving wildly, as if receiving commands. "John!"

Her voice broke his frozen stance. "Moira! Are you–"

She slid from the chair, as if to hide. But she couldn't hide from the noise, the pain. The reverberations in her head. "John, hurry!"

"I'm coming, Moira! Hold on! Kill that thing!" he shouted, firing his weapon. The men did likewise, but a barrage of sound assailed them. Flung them backwards. They staggered, raising their guns again. "Grenade!" John lobbed one. It flew over the shorter creatures. Bounced off the bloated female form. Spun at her feet.

Nothing happened.

"Fuck! Set charges! Armed!" Fighting through the vertigo and pain he staggered. "Fall back! Cover!" Gunfire as the marines fired on the creatures coming up behind them. "Moira, fire up weapons! Defend–" he broke off, nearly falling as the screeching reached a fever pitch. Slicing along his ears, his mind. He snatched his handgun from the holster. Squinting, rolling to aim it at the inert grenade. Hand shaking, vision blurring. Finger sliding on the trigger.

Moira cried out, hunching over. The pain becoming sharper. She had heard the pain in John's voice, knew it was much worse for him. She pulled herself up onto the console. Grabbing the controls. The power surged wildly and the lights blinded. She felt a wave, a pulse of energy and noise. Could almost see it as a livid, dark thing. A physical embodiment of the sub-Wraith's psychic energies attacking. She clutched the controls, activating a scan. Felt a wave flow from the ship outwards. She fell back as the one thought in her had was to stop, to stop the noise, the pain, the screams.

Silence.