Stranded
Notes: I apoligize for the delay. I have many many legitimate reasons for not posting sooner which in the interest of space and time, I will not mention here. Hopefully posting will be more regular (keep your fingers crossed).I haven't quite figuredfanfiction's editingprocess out yet, but with luck I'll get the hang of it...I hope. I'm also going to try to fix a couple earlier posts.
Corporal Ace Mann knelt down, dabbed his fingers into the pool of fluorescent green liquid and remarked, "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say this is blood."
"Good old Zametev. I knew he wouldn't let himself get killed without at least taking someone with him."
Ace nodded at Corporal Hart's comment and looked around him. Whatever they were that attacked Alpha Squad they were gone now. According to the Lieutenant this particular species had invisibility capabilities and that would explain how an ambush was possible in this wide open space. To prevent a repeat of that, he had had Private Kau constantly scan the area with his heat sensors and in case those creatures were able to mask their heat, Private Carpenter was doing the same with the motion detectors. From what he gathered from the Lieutenant, the invisibility wasn't perfect, there had been a slight blurriness therefore Private Jindal was scanning the area the old fashioned way: with his eyes. Meanwhile Private Gossard was keeping vigil in his marauder. Law's Charlie Squad had a similar setup.
Ace studied the marks on the ground. From what he was able to deduce, the attackers had opted to carry the bodies. He found what were obviously their tracks: long wide clawed footprints like something out of a dinosaur museum. Yet what surprised him was that for a creature that towered over humans carrying an armored corpse, the footprints were surprisingly light. Must be because of the toughness of the ground and of its large feet, something to do with weight distribution I guess, he thought.
In any case, the tracks were headed east and that's where Roughnecks and the Lancers would go. They marched for a half hour before coming upon a huge pit. Scattered throughout it were numerous rock columns. This pit struck Ace as being odd. It didn't seem natural at all. It was as though someone built it, but that was the least of his worries. What concerned him was that the trail ended at the edge of this pit, which meant that their quarry was in there, and in all likelihood waiting for them. They must proceed with caution.
While the marauders stood watch at the top, the rest of the two squads worked their way to the bottom. Ace took a closer look at one of the columns and his suspicion was confirmed. Despite the weathering, he could tell that it was artificial. Someone had indeed built this pit. The Lieutenant would want to know this, but that could wait. His main priority was to find the missing Lancers. Just next to them was a cavern of some sort and Ace saw that the trail started again in front of it. Looking around he saw that there was another cave on the other side of the pit. Just as he gave the order to advance into the cavern, a loud Screech! made him snap his head back to see one a now one legged marauder fall over, tumble down the side of the pit and crash into one of the pillars, knocking it over. Jindal and one of the Lancers ran to the downed marauder and pulled out the unconscious trooper. Gossard in the remaining marauder reported to Ace, "Ace, I can't see anyone! I'm scanning with the heat sensors, the motion detectors, but I can't find anything!"
"Open fire with everything you've got! Maybe you'll hit them!" ordered Ace.
Gossard obeyed letting loose a rain of bullets and plasma all around him. At that moment, Ace saw in the corner of his eye a disc flying above the pit. It was quicklyspinning through the air and it was aimed at Gossard. Whatever it was, it didn't seem have benevolent intentions. He tried to warn Gossard, but was too late; the disc tore through the marauder, slicing one of its legs in half, and Gossard succumbed to the same fate as his counterpart. When he was rescued, Ace ordered his Roughnecks to take cover and told Carpenter and Kau to watch the two caverns while he and Jindal watched the edge of the pit. Hart gave similar orders to his Lancers. By this time the two marauder pilots had regained consciousness, but having been deprived of their armor and weaponry, they had been reduced to being spectators.
Ace had his Morita rifle switched to sniper mode and was wishing for something to shoot. His wish was granted when he saw three red dots moving across the rock columns. He located their point of origin and seeing nothingness he switched to his heat sensors and found his target. The creature was standing there, confident in its belief that no one could see it there. Ace chuckled and said, "I've got news for you, bastard: I can see you," and squeezed off a round.
The projectile hit the creature in the head, spinning it around from the force of the impact andthe creaturefell and rolled down the side of the pit. Ace turned off his sensors to see the creature. It was now plainly visible, with blue streaks of electricity coursing around it.
Kau congratulated the Corporal, "Beautiful shot, Ace!"
Ace smiled, but his grin didn't last long. He had gotten a kill,but if these 'greenies' had any brains at all and they didn't seem stupid, they wouldn't give him another opportunity like that again. A look around the pit seemed to confirm that. What was worse however was that until they could figure out how those creatures were able to sneak up on them undetected, the Roughnecks and the Lancers were stuck in this pit. Unless the Lieutenant were to order otherwise, he wasn't going to risk leading his men out into the open. At least here they had some cover.
He ordered Carpenter and Kau to retrieve the alien body so it could be studied more closely and as they did that, Ace called the Lieutenant on his communicator to give his report.
