Episode 12 – The Crucible: Search and Rescue
Day 3 (14 SBO)

"There is nothing more frightening than to be missing, I know this for a fact. When you're in actual battle, you've mentally prepared yourself for the possibility that at a moments notice you could buy your farm. But one thing you can never really get used to is that you could end up getting separated from your squad and not know what to do next. But to be injured, on a planet with no breathable atmosphere, and running out of power in your suit can be downright terrifying, but then, I could only assume on that."

Dr. Robert "Paperboy" Higgins, from: The Roughneck Chronicles

ARMSTRONG PRIME

Echo Three eased the nose of his fighter down then leveled out over the plain he was now flying over. His scanners beeped to life, giving the cockpit a dull green glow. He heard a slight hum from electro-static feedback in his headset. He tapped it a few times and the hum went away. He sighed and watched the scanner's displays frowning. The landscape below him was barren and plain except for the craters and carcasses. They'd found the remains of the Marauders but never any remains for Warrant Officer Gossard. Two days searching and nothing. He knew the MI's power suits could last days, and Warrant Officer Gossard should be okay. It was starvation and thirst that had everyone worried. Echo three brought his attention back to the screen; still nothing. He passed over the explosion point again, blowing a few carcasses apart with his jets. His search patrol had another four hours over the surface.

Lieutenant Breckenridge held his hand up and closed his fist. His squad halted behind him and brought his hand back down. In the distance he saw a fighter blow two carcasses apart and grinned. His visor flipped down and began giving readouts, no seismic activity no movement above ground. The area was clear. He wasn't too sure if that was a good thing or not. Even a small amount of movement would give hope to their search. But nothing, not even any heat signatures. He flipped his visor back up and frowned. Nothing at all. He debated on returning to their base camp on the planet, Camp Currie as they'd dubbed it, but he just didn't feel right leaving with no trace at all of anything. If a helmet or a piece of armor, some sort of residue from a human body had been found, then it would be different. The MI didn't abandon one of it own if there was any chance.

He turned around and ordered his squad back to the base. They'd been out for twenty hours searching for anything. They needed some rest. The march back was silent. When they got back, Breckenridge noticed that Higgins was lagging behind slightly, his camera clutched in his hand, but he wasn't filming anything. Breckenridge waited as the troops began to go into the air lock.

SICON had provided the Jean Razak with its newest in portable structures. They came in three sizes, ten feet by four feet, thirty by thirty, and twenty by twenty, the later meant for offices of commanding officers on the ground, the other for barracks and medical facilities and the first for corridors while air-locks were small six by six foot rooms, designed for maximum pressurization. The one draw back was that only two soldiers in full armor could fit in at a time. Right now, Breckenridge was waiting for everyone else to get inside. He wanted to take the chance to talk with Higgins.

Higgins had been assigned to the Wolves initially because of a screw-up on SICON's part. No one knew exactly what happened, but he seemed content to stay where he was for the moment. But ever since they'd arrived in the Armstrong system and the Roughnecks had dropped, Higgins, or Bobby as he told everyone to call him, seemed to be distracted a lot, and Breckenridge thought he knew why. Higgins passed him and smiled slightly.

"Higgins!" He said gruffly. He kept his eyes on him, boring into him as he turned around.

"Lieutenant?" Higgins said turning around and meeting his gaze.

"You have a problem Bobby?" Breckenridge asked closing the gap between them. Higgins looked Breckenridge over for a moment.

"Just wish there was more I could do." Higgins said. Breckenridge tried to console him but realized it was futile. They all got back into the base and in minutes, everyone was asleep except for Breckenridge. He stood for a moment then made his way to a bunk and fell into a fitful sleep.

Doc twisted the wheel on the door and heard the hiss as the two rooms pressurized. He pushed it open, a slight squeak ringing from it. He stepped lightly into the dimly lit medical bay that had been provided on Armstrong. Six beds for the some twenty four personnel on the planet, luckily there hadn't been any bug activity since they'd dropped. The Razak had so many wounded and was in such bad shape that it was better to have the MI on the planet for the time being. Two of the beds were occupied, one with Max Brutto, an apparatus covering his severed arm. There was a lot of work that had needed to be done; his arm had been exposed to the vacuum of space for too long. Doc checked his vitals and made sure that he was still asleep. An induced coma was the best option now to keep him from feeling any pain.

Muniz was in the bed next to him, asleep from heavy doses of medication. His shoulder would be healed for the most part within the week and he should be fit for duty in two weeks. Doc looked over them for a few minutes, thoughts racing through his mind. Questions and fears from the assault on the transport, things had happened that shouldn't have and now people were dead and dozens hurt. He stood and left the medical room and made his way down the corridor to the largest room, the one that had been dedicated for mess. There were four doors leading out of them. The one he'd just come out of, two on either side and one directly across from him. The two on either side were the barracks for the troopers; the one in front was another corridor that led to the communications room, the airlock and the Major's office.

Murphy and Kepler were eating some food with Zim who was telling them some stories from his time with the Roughnecks on the moon and on Mars after the defeat of the queen. He passed them by and as he entered the door to go to the Major, Zim stood and followed. He figured he saw the look on his face and decided to keep check. Doc shut the door and went to the door on the right and knocked. The Major called out and he entered. Rico looked up for a moment then back down at his paper work.

"Something I can help you with Doc?" He asked not really paying attention or not caring that Doc was there.

"We need to talk." Doc said. The hinges squeaked behind him and Zim came in.

"About what? I'm rather busy." Rico looked up. Doc could feel Zim breathing down his neck. Doc chewed his cheek for a moment.

"Do you have a death wish Major?" He asked. He was sharp and an uneasy silence settled. Rico leaned back in his chair and looked at Doc then looked down.

"You have a serious issue right now Rico-" Zim interrupted him.

"Check yourself Doc," He growled. Doc knew Zim was just trying to keep everything civil, trying to make sure that feathers weren't ruffled... much.

"No sir," Doc said looking at Zim then back at Rico. "As a doctor, I have a right question my commanding officer's motives and actions I also need to be soundly confident in his abilities to think. And right now, that confidence is beginning to waver. Since the beginning of this mission, I have seen nothing but bad decisions and sloppy mistakes, and the problem is, is that I know you better than that Rico. I have two injured troopers in the med bay, one missing friend, and countless others injured on the Razak."

Rico didn't say anything but kept quiet. Doc was beginning to get very angry; he slammed his fist into the desk, leaving a nice impression on it. "You'd better come clean with me real quick before I decide that you really are unfit for duty."

"Doc you need to calm down!" Zim shouted stepping up beside him. "You have a responsibility-"

"I have a responsibility to this squad," Doc interrupted, keeping his eyes fixated on Rico. "If I feel that the commanding officer is putting it in unnecessary risk through his inability to confidently lead them, then I have the responsibility to relieve him. Now tell me right now Major, do I need to defer command to Lieutenant Zim?"

Rico stood. "Doc, you're right. I have made a lot of bad calls." He took a deep breath. "I suppose maybe I have cracked under the pressure. But relieving me is not going to fix anything, remember, these are soldiers, they know that they may die. That's their job."

"But to put them in that position when you know there's an alternative, you know better than that." Doc said. Rico looked down then at Zim.

"Your thoughts on this Lieutenant?" Rico asked.

"I'm just here to fight sir. I've always known that in the field that I might buy my farm. But I have to agree with Doc, something needs to change." Zim stiffened. Rico seemed to think for a moment then nodded.

"Lieutenant, get L'Ioo, Murphy, and Kepler and meet me in the air lock in ten. We have a trooper to find." Zim saluted and walked out. Doc was about too when Rico stopped him.

"Major?" Doc asked. Not to sure of where he stood now in his eyes.

Rico offered his hand. "Thank you."

"For what?" Doc asked taking it in firm grasp.

"Waking me up. Rico shook it and released. "I've needed a slap in the face for a while I guess. You kind of lose what makes you human when you're away for so long." Doc stood there for a moment, not to sure of what Rico had told him. "You'll stay behind and keep an eye on the sergeant and Muniz."

Doc nodded and saluted. "Dismissed." Rico said returning the salute. Doc left and closed the door. He leaned against the wall and exhaled then made his way back to the mess hall. He passed by the others again and opened the door just as Zim came into the room. Doc shut the door behind him and sat on a stool and looked at Brutto and Muniz as they slept. He didn't want any more of that to happen to anyone, not without a reason.

Blackness. Darkness. A void in a vacuum. There was a slight hiss in front of his face and a sharp pain in his leg. Gossard flipped his light on. He'd been stuck in the hole for at least two days, maybe more. He'd turned the non vital systems in his suit off, which included communications. Because of the small crack in his visor he had to change his batteries every day to keep air in his lungs. And if that didn't make things bad enough, there was an arachnid sitting right in front of him with two crushed legs under a boulder. He'd named it Robert.

"How you doing Robert?" He asked. It let a few growls and shrieks as it did every few seconds.

"Yeah, I know how you feel buddy." He pulled his leg into a different position, it hurt like hell at first, but he knew it'd help blood from clotting. "So did you catch the game last night? Ocelots beat the crap out of the Eagles." The arachnid didn't move much; it laid its massive head down and just looked at Gossard.

"Eagles fun, huh? Never really paid much attention to them." Gossard leaned back and smiled. To think he was trying to talk to a bug that really wanted to kill him, it had no other purpose than to kill. "One soldier to another."

The ground shook slightly as it had since he'd woke up in the cave. Right before his marauder had exploded, the ground under him collapsed and he found himself bouncing off the boulder that was holding the bug down. Then the explosion ripped into the rock and he'd been knocked unconscious. When he'd finally woke up he had a crack in his visor, a snarling arachnid at his feet, and no rifle to ease both of their sufferings.

He looked back down at 'Robert' and tossed a rock at him and cursed it. He threw another rock and it quickly moved and caught the rock. Gossard shrugged and turned off his light and leaned back again. Either the Roughnecks would find him, or death.

JEAN RAZAK

The Razak no longer had the look and feel of a brand new ship. He was no longer a ship with clean bulkheads; paint was not the smell that filled the nostrils now. Instead it was aroma of destruction and damage. A ship on its maiden cruise sent through a baptismal of fire, showing exactly what it was capable of doing.

Admiral Ibanez limped slowly through the corridors, a bandage tightly wound about her head stained with blood from the gash caused from an exploding computer panel. She was on the engineering level inspecting the various jobs being completed, grease and grime staining her standard issue coveralls. Each person greeted her with a warm smile and a 'happy to see you about Admiral'.

Repairs were going well and Junker had taken on most of the responsibility of the day to day running of the ship and the repairs, and though the doctor had told her to remain off duty, she had to survey her ship. She had to see what condition it was in and she knew that the sight of her would provide some morale to the crew.

The other ships were far enough away at the time of the explosion and received no damage. What ever supplies, repair workers, anything that could be spared, had been diverted to the Razak and Carmen was thankful. She made her way back to her office, which she'd yet to clean up. Files and debris littered the place, her couch was burned and soaked from the ships automatic sprinklers; it all looked like something out of a bad dream. A brand new ship tore to pieces. She kicked a piece of metal across the room out of spite, it bounced off the wall and rolled to a step next to her desk. Out side the window the pathetic rock that was Armstrong filled the view. Back and forth from the Razak and the other ships she could see the blue plumes of engines, tracing the routes between the each of the ships and the planet below. She moved back and sat in her chair behind the desk and looked at the pad she'd been neglecting for two days.

Casualty report.

ARMSTRONG PRIME

Gossard flipped his light back on. The bug shied away for a moment then let out a slow, low pitched growl.

"Did I wake you?" He asked flipping up the gauge. Six hours of air left in the suit. He looked at the bug. "You know Robert, you and I don't talk as much as we used to. Are you mad at me?"

There was a slight rumble outside. The ground began to shake. "Sounds like friends of yours." He said straightening up. The rumbling got loud, even the bug turned its head slightly. The ground was shaking really bad now, dirt and such was falling from the small ceiling. Come to think of it, Gossard wasn't too sure how deep underground he really was. Which meant, in a few minutes it seemed, he wouldn't know how much dirt and rock was burying his dead body. He shrugged.

"You know Robert, I'm kind of cold," He flipped his display back up and turned the suit back on to full power. The air meter dropped to an hour. "Well damn, there goes that." He looked around and thought grimly about how his grave was going to be next to a bug's. The good part was though that he knew his transponder was back on, so if they were looking for him, they'd probably be able to find him. If they were looking. The suit powered up and Gossard felt the chill go away. He would die warm.

Rico and the those who could were walking across the barren rock in a staggered formation. Zim had his snoopers down surveying the landscape, Murphy was watching the radar for anything, Kepler was bouncing into the sky as high as he could to keep a survey of everything from the sky. Something in the rocks made their radar scramble after about fifteen meters, so it was good old fashioned eyes for this job. L'Ioo was on point, her morita darting behind every rock. They'd been searching for the better part of six hours, and still no sign of anything, that included bugs

Kepler landed, a little hard and he buckled under his still hurting leg but quickly got back to his feet and told everyone he was okay. Rico looked out in front of them, they were coming up to the lip of a crater, this was about three kilometers from where Gossard was last seen two days ago. Doc had told them before they left that if Gossard had not been hurt, he might have been able to travel as far as ten miles since then, and with the unstable terrain and frequency of caves, all over the surface, that made the hundred square kilometer area even more difficult. The suit, if Gossard followed standard procedure, should have five and half hours left.

"Kepler!" Zim shouted and the private. He was checking his jets and systems before he jumped back into the sky.

"Sir?" Kepler answered turning to face him.

"I can't tell what we got in that crater, but I am seeing something. Check it out!" Zim barked. Kepler quickly launched into the sky and hovered there for a few moments.

"Major Rico!" Kepler said, his voice shaking with fear. "That crater is crawling! Big time. Looks like three or four thousand warriors, ten tankers, four plasma butts!"

"Bring it back down private." Rico said calmly, not wanting to betray the fear that was suddenly gripping him. Butterflies filled his stomach and remained even as Kepler landed. "Roughnecks, on me."

Everyone gathered around pretty quickly. He surveyed them; they seemed to be okay, clear, focused, alert. "All right people. I want suggestions."

There was a silence for a moment then everyone spoke at once. Rico rose his hand. "Murphy?"

"Tophetti crushers sir, take them out from the air, then have our planes follow it up with nukes. Worked on Eden." He said.

"That won't do us any good with four plasma bugs in range." Kepler said. "What about knocking their feet out?"

"Explain." Rico ordered.

"Come up underneath them sir, there's caves all through these parts. A couple of well places nukes will take the rug right out from under them." He said. Rico was impressed but knew it wouldn't work. Zim was shaking his head.

"Negative," Zim said. "Bugs will have their ears to the ground. They'll know. I recommend tightening the defenses Major. We have the walls, the Razak can't move for at least a few days. The Ticonderoga, M'Tre, and Harry Lee will cover our backs and lock the planet down while the Razak gets repairs completed to get us home." Zim took a deep breath and looked back at the lip. "Or we just throw everything we have at them right now and take some out and then see if we can make it back."

"Gossard is out there." Murphy said.

L'Ioo chimed in, "An MI does not leave one of their own behind." Her quiet voice was soothing to Rico. "Alive or dead, he deserves to be retrieved."

Rico mulled it over for a moment. Then the idea hit him. "If Goss is out there, there's a very good chance he knows something is going on and may have activated his beacon," He turned to Zim. "Sergeant, what's our maximum range?"

"Twenty-two meters on the infrared, sixteen point three on radar." Zim quickly responded.

"Kepler, Murphy, L'Ioo, this is for all three of you. Low altitude jump across the crater, keep your scanners open. The Sergeant and I will keep you covered. I want a cross of that entire crater, not one inch should be left unmapped. Be fast, be safe." Rico smiled. "We'll get him out if he's down there."

Rico patched into the Jean Razak. This was a risk, but they needed to know. The XO answered and Rico relayed their coordinates and the situation.

"Best of luck, Major." Junker said. "We'll have fresh supplies waiting for you back at base."

"Roger Razak. Rico out." Rico cut the line and looked at his troopers. "Thirty meter increments. Move out!"

The three of them quickly spread out, using their snoopers to measure out the range. Zim and Rico walked to the lip of the crater and looked down into the moving sea of death. It convulsed slowly across the gray and white ground, ceaselessly rising and falling as they ran around, for what purpose Rico couldn't tell, and he didn't care.

"Live forever apes."

JEAN RAZAK

A knock echoed on the door to the office. Carmen looked up from the most recent report on the status of the ship's repairs. She looked up and told the person to come in. The door creaked open and Junker stepped through.

"Sir," He said shutting the door behind him. "How are you feeling Admiral?" He stepped up to the desk and stood at attention.

"At ease Commander." Carmen waved her hand around the room. "I'd offer you chair but most of my furniture is damaged, but I am feeling good, thank you. To what do I owe the visit? I'm sure the repairs have you busy enough without personal check ups on me." She set the reports down.

"We just got word from the Roughnecks on the surface. They've engaged the enemy." His tone dropped and his words were slow.

"How many?" Carmen asked swiveling her chair and looking out the window.

"All of them." He said. "Probably the entire force for the planet."

"What can we do?" She turned back to him and looked him in the eye. He hesitated.

"Nothing. They're going to fight this one out."

"So all we can do is wait?" She asked. She hated not being in control, not knowing.

"Yes ma'am." His response came after a short pause. He seemed to want to say more but held it back.

"Keep me updated." She said. "Dismissed." As Junker walked out she turned back to the window and looked at the planet as they were crossing the terminator. "Come on people, get on your feet." Carmen closed her eyes and leaned back. It was quiet save for the beating of work going on outside. She was almost enveloped in sleep when the warning klaxons announced a new danger. Outside the window she could tell the ship was coming about, along with the other ships present. She hit the link on her desk and called for the bridge. The communications officer came up on the screen, Junker hadn't made it there yet.

"Status?" She asked standing up. She was straightening her coveralls.

"Transport ma'am." He said looking up at a display. "New class... it just jumped in, no warnings. But he's holding stationary just outside our weapons range."

"Maintain position. Power up all batteries, I'll be there in a few minutes." She said and cut the link. She darted across the office to the small closet and pulled out a standard uniform and quickly put it on then left the office for the bridge.

ARMSTRONG PRIME

Rico rested his finger on the trigger. It would take just the slightest pressure to unleash hell. They'd been at it for ten minutes; the bugs didn't seem to care. Attack didn't seem to be the motive. They were just waiting. But all it takes is one rock into the bees nest to anger every one of them. This was an anxious game of Russian Roulette. More had appeared recently. Three more plasma bugs, seven more tankers, countless warriors.

Seconds ticked by like minutes. Rico could notice every blink, every breath, the beat of his heart resonated in the hollow of his helmet. Couldn't call for back up. The one message to the Razak was risky enough for him. And still they waited as Kepler landed ten meters away. He shook his head and jumped back towards the sky.

"I've hated the waiting game," Zim said. He was lying about six meters away, his snoopers down, probably locked in on several bugs at once. All it would take is a couple of quick pulls on the trigger and each bullet would seek out its target. "All my life. It's so boring. I think that's why I could never be someone in charge in the field."

"Oh really?" Rico asked flipping his snoopers down and taking a survey of the scene. The counter kept rising as the helmet marked each bug with a laser sight:

Arachnid Warriors: 10,293
Arachnid Tankers: 17
Arachnid Artillery: 7

"Yeah, I just don't have the patience to do it." Zim continued. "I can sit here, take an order and accomplish an order, but to be the one actually giving the order. In the end, I'd want to just blow them off the face of whatever rock they were on. Ask questions later."

Suddenly there was a lot of shaking. Rico could see the ground breaking open in several places all around the crater. More bugs poured out and emptied into the crater. Zim cursed out loud. They watched as they kept coming. But then something happened that none of them expected. A streak of fire arched across the sky from a part of the crater opposite Rico and Zim.

"Lieutenant!" Rico shouted getting to his knees and taking sight. Murphy who was the closest was making his way there. L'Ioo and Kepler weren't far behind.

"I see it!" Zim answered standing up. Murphy landed and disappeared.

"MAJOR RICO!" Murphy shouted over the line. "I'VE FOUND HIM!"

The walls were collapsing around Gossard and his bug companion. Everything was shaking really bad, rocks bounced off his leg, sending spikes of pain shooting through his entire body. He waited, breathing deeply to try and get the pain to subside. Moment by moment the shaking grew more and more violent.

"Looks like this is it buddy." Gossard said. Everything seemed to pitch and the ground seemed to disappear, Gossard then fell what felt like a couple of feet, it felt like and the cavern was falling around him. He looked up to see a large piece of rock falling straight for him and gulped. There was a flash of yellow and black and the rock was gone. He saw 'Robert' struggling to stand, one of its legs tore off, still stuck under the boulder that had been holding it in place. More rocks fell, the bug blocked several from falling on Gossard, or at least that's the way it looked. It was eventually too much and the Robert was quickly overcome and buried. The last he could see of it was its eye. Looking straight at him.

The cavern continued to fall. Gossard looked up and saw the most beautiful thing he was sure he'd ever seen: the stars shining through a hole about ten meters high. He pulled his flare gun off his hip. 'Emergency Flare. Keep Away from Children' it read. He aimed it through the hole. One shot, and one shot only. If anyone was looking for him, hopefully they'd see this. It was going to be a hard shot with the ground moving like it was. He exhaled and squeezed. The flare shot through the hole and into the sky. He waited and looked at his gauge. Twenty minutes left. He sighed and laid his head back against the wall. He looked up.

"MAJOR RICO! I'VE FOUND HIM!" Murphy dropped into the hole. "I got you old man." He said reaching under his arms. L'Ioo and Kepler dropped in to and helped get him to his feet. They all ignited their packs and jumped into the sky.

JEAN RAZAK

Carmen settled into the command chair. The four ships settled into a battle formation, the

"Admiral," He said in a low voice. "If I may; neither you nor this ship is in any condition to be engaging this enemy at the moment. This is one of the new breeds."

"I am well aware of that Captain." She said. He stepped back and nodded. "But I will not be absent if this ship is going to have to go into battle. He's been beat once, it will not happen again." She looked at him and smiled.

The ships settled in and waited. The transport was outside of their weapons range. Carmen thought for a moment and spoke,

"Radio to all ships, maintain position. Keep us at all times outside weapons range and between it and the planet. There's a brain on that bug." She said. She looked at Junker. "This is going to be an uneasy stand off."

ARMSTRONG PRIME

The Roughnecks were returning to base when the message came in about the stand off with the transport above them. The Wolves were setting up reinforced walls as they entered the airlock two by two. Rico entered last and made his way to the infirmary. There everyone was awake. Gossard was on a bed as a machine set his leg. Muniz was hobbling about; Max was propped up with hoses feeding into his arm. The entire squad was present.

"I'm telling you," Gossard said as Rico entered. "It saved my life."

"You were losing air pretty quick," Doc said. "Maybe I should check you for brain damage too." The rest of the squad laughed.

"Maybe they are capable of value is all I'm saying." Gossard looked at the machine as it set his leg. "Maybe once they're apart from the brain, they can think for themselves and it's more than 'kill-kill-kill'. More than death."

"No," Max said. He held up his arm. It was wrapped tightly in bandages; dried blood stained most of it while wet blood still seeped out from the areas around the hoses. "They don't feel. Not in any way. Their whole purpose is simply to kill, otherwise they would negotiate. They wouldn't destroy planets, massacre millions of humans, enslave Tophetti; they wouldn't desire the entire eradication of our race. They don't think, they don't feel, they don't deserve understanding. They deserve nothing less than our contempt. They deserve to die."

"Come on, let us deal wisely with them;
lest they multiply, and it come to pass,
that, when there falleth out any war,
they join also unto our enemies,
and fight against us,
and so get them up out of the land."

Exodus 1:10