Eric
Located on a cliff overlooking the Gateway's remnants.
Eric wasn't having the best of luck, with his radio, with his ongoing search for his, as far as he knew, utterly terrified little brother, and lastly, his self esteem.
"Command, come in. This is Recovery One." He said once again into the handheld radio.
Come on, answer damnit.
He shook the radio in frustration, then garbled static came in.
"Ye….we….you...nkins."
I'll just assume that was 'we read you Officer Jenkins'
"My mission objective has been compromised. The feds got to it first, and I'll need a dropship back." He said.
The static faded away, allowing steady audio to flow through. "Negative, Recovery. Enhanced scans indicate a second unused entryway on another part of the planet. But in order to use it correctly we need you to scavenge the M.R.G. chip from what remains of the console."
Eric blinked in surprise. "A second portal?"
"Affirmative. We're sending you a group of reinforcement within the-"
Eric cut the radio operator off. 'Woah woah woah, I didn't ask for reinforcements. I can do this alone." he insisted.
The radio crackled. "That's a negative, Recovery. They're already waiting at the other access point. So get that chip, and don't keep them waiting. We're sending your own PDA the coordinates. Over and out."
Eric stared at the radio incredulously. "Son of a…"
Damn Grand Republic of Epsilon Expanse.
He slid the radio into the front pocket of his backpack, yanking the zipper up quickly.
Groaning in frusteration at command's choice, he began the long hike back down the valley.
A light sprinkle of rain began to fall, the mist allowing him to slip through the camp of the remaining U.S.C.M. militants.
Ryder and his buddies sure tore up the place. I gotta find that chip. Just got to hope they didn't do a sweep for leftover artifacts.
Which he figured would be bad for two reasons:
A, They found the chip and resumed studying it in a very secure facility,
Or B, They found the chip AND additional relics like Sparkwire's.
(There hadn't been any recorded reports of Crusoe's gauntlets at the time, but Crusoe indeed HAD them.)
He didn't want nor need the trouble of elite soldiers carrying around weapons of extreme power.
Just make things a bit harder than they already are, and right now this is pretty damn close to impossible.
He rolled behind a demolished jeep, avoiding a soldier in powered armor's flood lights shining off his helm.
I'm not using my armor here, not while I don't have time to put it on.
His footsteps were barely audible when he slipped by two soldiers guarding a helicopter, and jogging silently up the stone stairs, which were cracked and filled with craters.
Eric froze.
There was a soldier guarding the remains of the portal, much to Eric mentally adding 'having soldiers in convenient places' on his mental list of how he has bad luck.
The soldier was facing away, looking off at the bushes behind the shattered arch.
Eric quietly gripped his sword handle, leaning forward to help himself drag the blade out quietly.
The blade tipped forward suddenly, a high-pitched sliding noise occurring.
The soldier spun around, only to get the sword impaled through his helmet, a hissing noise emanating from the cracked visor. Eric shoved the soldier's body away, pulling his blade out simultaneously.
A bit too late.
He thought, the grim humor satisfying him for a short while.
Eric made his way over to the partially melted console, examining it. He picked up a stray wire, then traced his fingers along it, following it to a panel on the back of the console.
He shrugged his shoulders, then pried open the panel, revealing perfectly preserved wires along with a glowing PDA.
Gotcha.
Eric tugged out the PDA, unplugging the semi-thick cord from the small port in the bottom and then sticking the small handheld computer into his pocket.
Got it. Now to rendezvous with whoever's at that second portal.
He leapt off the platform soon after he'd hidden the body in the bushes the soldier had been so focused on, never seen again as he was swallowed by the closing mist.