Reaper and Mathiss moved silently through the dark corridors. Their gun lights shines ahead of them, illuminating the murky hallway before them. Neither one spoke as they moved through the hall. Reaper lead the way through the hall. His senses were attuned to their surroundings. His light fell over the florescent markings of their previous mission. Bile twisted in his gut. Reaper pushed it aside and moved on.
Silently following him, Mathiss surveyed the halls. Her eyes caught sight of the markings outside the doors. Markings RRTS used when securing the area. Markings left over from RRTS 6 mission. Her eyes shifted to her XO. Something was off with him, had been since first showing up. Hazard hadn't liked him, Hazard didn't like anyone actually. Bu the way Reaper had taken to giving orders about Olduvia left a bitter feeling inside her. Up top may not care for RRTS 2, but she did. She cared for the misfits of her teams, save for Hazard and Bio. SO when up top sent them a washed up survivor soldier, it simply didn't sit well with her. Up top was up to something and Reaper seemed to know what it was. And she was sure as hell going to find out what.
"You seem to know your way around here, sir." she whispered.
Unsurprising, Reaper remained silent and turned down the next corridor. Apparently it took more to get his attention than what she had originally anticipated.
"Care to share what melted the wall on earth?" she prodded.
"No." Reaper answered.
A slight improvement.
"Cal, Bio, what's your status?"
The door to the genetics lab hissed as it slid open. Bio entered first, following closely by Cal. The door closed behind them, casting them into complete darkness, save for their gun lights. The lights scanned over counters, empty cages, work desks, and cabinets. The overpower smell and anomia, bleach, and alcohol was near enough to make a person gag. It was also enough to tell that something had happened in the lab to enforce a massive cleaning crew to sanitize, sterilize, and purify every surface in the lab.
Cal moved down through the lab, weaving between the different work stations. He kept Bio in his peripheral line of sight as he moved. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for the mission itself.
"Cal, Bios, what's your status?" Reaper asked.
Speak of the devil.
Cal thought. "We've reached Genetics. All clear."
"Copy that. Continue your sweep of the corridors." Reaper ordered.
"Copy." Cal stated.
"Man, does this mission seem shit to you?" Bio asked, heading toward the door.
Cal nodded. "Yeah, it does."
"Don't get me wrong, I know we ain't top crew with RRTS now, but when did we become mission cleanup crews?" Bio asked.
Cal shook his head and stepped out into the corridor. He waited for Bio to follow before moving through the corridor.
"This is bullshit." Bio continued. "And I think our new Sarge is bullshit too. Guy know way too much about this shit."
Bio had a point actually. Reaper seemed to know a whole lot more than he was letting on. Former RRTS 6 or not, he was hiding something. But Cal wasn't about to admit that Bio might actually be right about anything. "Let's keep moving."
Olduvia had once been a place of refuge for Sam. A place where she could burry herself in her thoughts and her work. If she ever felt lost, she walked down the dig tunnels where her parents died. It was strange to everyone who knew her parents died there, but it helped Sam. It made her feel closer to them. Closer than she could ever be with John-or at least before Carmack's studies.
Now she looked at the facility in a different, more horrific light. The halls were more narrow than she remembered, as if they were trying to suffocate her. The diminished lighting made her believe there was something following them. Sam shook her head, she had to keep her mind clear. Panicking now wouldn't do anything but get them all killed.
The soldier, Gale, lead the way through the hall toward Archeology. Gale hadn't said a word since separating with the group, but Sam could tell she was just as tense and as worried about the facility as Sam was, if not more. Sam wondered about John's choice of soldiers to escort her. Gale reached the lab door. It hissed open in front of them, revealing the completely blackened lab within. Gale stepped in first. Sam rolled in behind her. The doors hissed closed, sending them into darkness. Sam fumbled with the lights, nearly missing them completely. The lights activated, illuminating the entire lab. To their relief, nothing had seemed different with the lab. Sam looked over to Lucy, the skeletal find, feeling slightly comforted by her face.
"it's clear." Gale said. She lowered her weapon and held Sam lift the chair down to the ground floor.
Sam wheeled herself over to the console and quickly set to work.
"How much time are you going to need for the recovery?" Gale asked.
"It gonna depend." Sam answered.
"On what?"
Sam typed while she spoke. "On whether the mainframe suffered any damage. On whether the severs are still intact. On how fast the-"
Gale turned to Sam. "The what?"
Sam stared at the screen in disbelief. "This can't be right."
Gale frowned. If the Doctor was saying this now, they were screwed. "What is it?"
Same typed quickly, never taking her eyes off the screen. "The data's gone."
"Gone?"
"Everything." Sam stated.
Gale walked to Sam's side and looked over her shoulder. Them screen in front of them was competely barren of everything. "Was the mainframe damaged in the last attack?"
Sam shook her head. "No. The main frames deep in the earth's facility."
"Let me try something." Gale offered.
Sam rolled her chair from Gale, allowing the soldier to work. She watched as Gale expertly punched in several commands, bringing up the servers command bar. Sam admired the soldier work. It was good to know this woman had other skills that she was more confident with. Gale worked efficiently beside Sam, searching for anything.
Gale shook her head. "I don't get it."
"What?"
"There's nothing there."
"I know."
"No." Gale stated. "I mean, there is nothing. No time markers, no minor documents, no virus', code lines, nothing. It's like the system was wiped completely cleaned."
Sam shook her head. Had the soldier's wiped the system clean during their repairs? Were they trying to cover their tracks? No, it couldn't be them. They had sent Sam in to recover the data. They wouldn't have done so knowing there was nothing to retrieve, unless she wasn't supposed to return at all. Sam swallowed nervously. "We need to tell John."
Gale nodded. "Right. Reaper, we got a situation in Archeology."
"What kind of situation?" Reaper asked. His voice hid a twinge of unease. Sam figured it was dealt toward her wellbeing.
"The system's been wiped clean." Gale informed.
"Wiped clean?" Reaper repeated.
"Every last one of them." Gale stated. She typed furiously, trying every trick she knew. There was nothing to be found.
"You're sure?"
"Checked them all myself sir." she answered. "There's nothing to recover."
"Alright. Maintain your position. All team regroup at Archeology." Reaper ordered.
"Copy that." Cal said.
Gale sighed and moved away from the console. Sam leaned her chin on the armrest of her chair. There was something going on. Something someone hadn't told them about. no company sends a recovery team to an off planet facility when there was nothing to recover. Unless they were tying up whatever loose ends they had left. Gale wasn't one to dwell on conspiracies, but this mission and Unit 6's last mission were different. She had heard about the loss of Unit 6, everyone but Reaper had survived the mission. Well, no, two of them did. Vera Dimitrov had survived, but her transport had been destroyed just as it left base. Now the company wanted Unit 2 to secure it while Doctor Grimm was left to recover data that wasn't there. It screamed conspiracy to her.
"Hazard, Sky, do you copy?" Reaper asked.
Gale froze as the comms stayed silent. "Hazard? Sky? What's your position?"
Tense seconds passed without a response. What the hell was going on.
"Skeet, give me a read on Hazard and Sky." Reaper ordered.
"I've got nothing on their gun cams." Skeet replied.
Gale shook her head. "Hazard, this is not the time to pull your shit."
"You got a readout on their trackers?"
"Sky only. Hazard's off the grid completely."
"Where's Sky's reading?"
"It's reading with Gale and the Doctor." Skeet answered.
Gale looked around the room. "They're not here."
"Must be in the sewers right below you." Skeet stated.
"Cal, Bio, regroup at the sewer entrance near the med lab. We're going in. Gale, take Sam and head to Medical. Secure the doors and wait for further instructions." Reaper ordered.
"Copy." Gale stated. She picked up her weapon and walked toward the door. This mission was truly going to shit.
phew! done with that chapter. You guys are being so patient, thank you!