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Prologue
RDF forward research unit – location classified.
Steve Bewskeme stumbles out from the craft and gives Clyde a puzzled look. Who pushes the non regulation cowboy hat to the back of his head and adjusts the straps to his great coat. Another piece of non regulation kit.
“Well Steve?” He asks, looking at his brother Colin, who was dress in similar attire.
“I dunno, I’m a botanist not a spaceship expert. But it’s definitely part of a ship of some sort, maybe an escape or drop pod. But it’s like something I’ve never seen”. He replies.
“Maybe it’s corporation” adds Obidiah
“No, there’s no way they could operate this far out even Cerberus. Anyway where’s the pilot or occupants?” Says Clyde.
“Either way it’s a possible security beach. You better get on to control”.Clyde nods and climbs into their Pathfinder to get on the radio. Trooper Richards, the squads youngest and newest member. Who is the only RDF trooper in the squad wearing his regulation kit. Looks over his shoulder from his position in the Pathfinder drivers seat, but says nothing.
“Delta 2 to RDF control come in please, over”.
“This is control, Colonel Shields speaking go ahead”.
“Sir, we have a confirmed vehicle of unknown origin. No sign of life, over”.
There’s a pause as Shields thinks. Clyde knows this will have the Colonel worried.
“Received Colin, return to base and do a perimeter sweep as you come, report anything out of the ordinary, over”
“Received sir, and it’s Clyde sir. Out”.
Colonel Shields sighs and takes a large swig of morning coffee.
It seems that all morning they’ve been monitoring meteors and debris showers. Although not uncommon, Shields felt uneasy. Add that with the loss of two satellites yesterday. Something weird was happening and it wasn’t good.
“What’s the news on Delta 2 sir?” Asks Captain Fouquet
“It’s not good, it’s confirmed, we have a possible intruder and security beech…………no idea where it’s come from or how it got here. Still, not surprising really. I don’t know how much longer we could’ve kept this oporation a secret” he says smiling weakly.
“Well, the new relief unit should soon arrive, sir” says Fouquet
“It seems we might need the extra manpower, sooner rather than later”“Uh sir” says Trooper Hinckley. Who is up to now pulling a double shift as the base is so short staffed. Especially controllers.
“We have a power drop on the main grid. The power plant in sector 7-7-3 has gone offline sir” he reports.
“Oh great, the last thing we need right now” replies Shields.
“Could be a problem with the fuel rods” says Fouquet
“Either way we aren’t that well established in this area yet. We can’t afford any power problems” snaps Shields. “Send in an FRU (an RDF forward research unit) to take a look. Pathfinder 1-1-2 have an engineer onboard”.The RDF trooper enters the small and empty comms room. He types out an encrypted message and waits a short while in order to piggy back the signal. He knows that any reply will take time and that he might have to take the initiative.
Unanticipated developments, advise bringing forward plans. Await your reply.To be continued……….
Part One – RDF Remote Air Base, 30km west of Olympus Mons – Mars
The Brief
The Raven drop ship skirts low over the Marian terrain as it begins its landing circle.
“Sector control this is Romo, Alfa One. Requesting permission to land over” says the Pilot.
“Permission granted proceed to docking ring one, landing area Bravo” comes the reply.
Major McCallum looks around the small interior of the drop ship. With him is Sergeant Daniels and Corporal Woods. One year ago the squad discovered a secret bio weapons research lab run by Bio-Tech Industries and barely got out with their lives. Despite that: little evidence was recovered and no official charges brought. Afterwards, McCallum’s been promoted twice and now given command of a larger squad for their new assignment. As which McCallum has yet to be briefed. As well as Daniels and Woods their squad has been joined by Omega squad. Lt Frank Heap who he’s known since officer school. Trooper Wolfgang Ritter and Trooper Yan Song.
As soon as the Raven touches down McCallum and the team are out and being lead into the facility by a liaison NCO. The docking ring consisting of not just a surface air strip but also underground hangers and other various facilities too. McCallum couldn’t understand why they chose to put a docking ring this size so far out, seems isolated to him.
“I’m Corporal Hunter sir, follow me please. Our briefing room is occupied so you will be briefed in the hanger bay. Wait in bay 3 please, the General will be with you”
They enter the underground hanger and proceed to bay 3.
To be continued……..
They are lead into one of the underground hangers. Being used as a prepping bay for a Titan 5 rocket used to launch automated surveillance satellites into Mars’s atmosphere. They all cluster in bay 3 as told. Then Woods starts nattering to the technician. Working the rocket at the top of the gantry.
“Hey Bob is that you up there? it’s me Woods”
“Woods how are you? Still in the RDF is see. I left last year, got a job programming these”.
“Is that a Titan 3?”
“5…..you’re a bit behind the times”
Woods was about to reply when General Sinclaire walks into the hanger.
“Sorry this is all a bit rushed, but time is of the importance and the briefing room is taken so I’ll get straight to it” says Major General Huw Sinclaire. “What I’m about to say goes beyond classified” he continues
The RDF troopers look at each other. They all know this is somewhat unusual, but classified briefings are not uncommon.
“Two years ago a small research team made an unusual discovery within this region. Luckily it was brought back here and kept under raps. Only a small selection of people were told about it. We don’t know the origins of this particular object….but…it soon became clear it was a substantial finding” he continues
“What we had found turned out to be some sort of transwarp gate. We didn’t know how it came to be here. Nor who built it, but we had figured out how to use it. It wasn’t the only one of it’s kind too. There is another one just like it. And we control that too”. He says
He looks at the troopers who are completely star struck. Expecting them to say something but they all remain quiet. He was about to continue but stops and looks up at the Gantry.
“Haven’t you got work to do Technician? He snaps at Bob, who was looking down at the group, rubber necking.“Oh…..errrh….sir, yes sir” he’s says turning his back, burying his head back into his computer screen.
“You are all familiar with Proxima B? The Earth like planet the other side of the Sun”. He continues without looking for an answer.
“We have been sending teams out there for the last two years. Space travel as you know is scrutinising slow and so would be any attempt at surveying the planet. Until now. Well it turns out there is another gate, just like the one we have here. And it’s on Proxima B”. He pauses letting it sink in. “You pass though one gate and come out the other in the faction of the time conventional travel takes”.
“The teams we have been sending to Proxima B are only the most trusted. I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep the Corporations out. Truth be told Earth is getting worst. Within the last 24hrs a rogue Faction launched a nuclear strike against mainland Europe. The nuclear wasteland just increased tenfold. There is no hope left for Earth. Mars is all but a distant dream, terraforming is slow going and with constant corruption and aggression from a number of Corporations. Especially Cerberus, they would love to get their greedy mitts on this and make our lives harder in the process. Told be told people we are struggling keeping Mars on an even keel”. He pauses a short while. The squad now giving their undivided attention.
“We have an unprecedented chance at building a better world. A world free of war and destruction. A world that is already terraformed. A world without the greed, violence and megalomania of the Corporations” he smiles….”Well are you all ready to make history? because you people have been selected to go to Proxima B”
To be continued……….
That elevator platform rocks!
Also, I’ve been waffling for a long time about getting some of those 1/300 fighters from Brigade models, you have convinced me I need them now
.That elevator platform rocks! Also, I’ve been waffling for a long time about getting some of those 1/300 fighters from Brigade models, you have convinced me I need them now
. Yes, the Neo Soviet fighters along with the British are my favourite by far. If you want a hanger for them their 15mm garage which you see in the airfield pics are perfect.
If you want a hanger for them their 15mm garage which you see in the airfield pics are perfect.
Doh!!!
Thanks for that, I was getting frustrated trawling through the 6mm buildings trying to find it
The Interstellar drop
The RDF Troopers strap themselves into theirs seats in the Raven. It all seems a little rushed to McCallum. Still, they always were thrown into the deep end with the RDF.
McCallum waits until the last squad member is strapped in. Then he takes his seat, straps in and reachers up to put on the headset. He plugs into the crafts comms system and gets comfortable.
“This is crazy” says Trooper Song.
“I mean, we are going in a drop ship!? Should take years to get to Proximo B”
“Well not anymore apparently” says Daniels
“Yeah, no need for long hyper sleeps and weeks of recovery on large colony vessels” remarks Trooper Ritter.
“Yep, just skip all that temporal dilation stuff and just do it in 12 hours, like a bus ride.” says Woods, oozing with cynicism.
“Yeah well it’s not right. Feels like we’re cheating the universe” comments Daniels.
“What did she say” asks Woods, but before anyone could answer him General Sinclaire comes over the comms.“Ok folks, the gate is being moved into position. Colonel Shields will brief you on arrival. Any questions?” He says.
“Uh, sir are you sure this is all safe…….I mean….” says Trooper Ritter.
“We’ve been through this Trooper, yes we’ve been doing it for over a year, I’ll pass you on to the pilot, good luck” Says Sinclaire cutting him off.
“Ok people” comes the pilots voice over the comms. “I’m flight Lieutenant Jennifer Gomez : I’m your pilot for the next 12 hours. Any questions while they move the gate into position?”.
“How do they operate it?” Asks Woods
“Although the alien technology is of unknown origin and completely advanced, by our standards. We have managed to interface our technology with the gate. You see that control tower near the docking ring? Well, we can operate the gate by remote. We can move it in and out of orbit, position it where we like and open and close it”. Says Gomez.Both Woods and Lt Frank Heap stretch their necks to look out the small view port. In an attempt to see this strange technology. But only catch a short glimpse of the escort gunship and the barren Mars landscape but nothing else.
“What does this thing look like anyway?” Says Lt Heap, talking to nobody directly.
“Hard to describe, but you’ll know it when you see it” says Gomez, she continues
“Ok, you will experience a shift in the space time continuum. You will feel, like you’re here, but not really here. If that makes sense”. Says Gomez.
“Not really” says Lt Heap.
“Sinclaire never told us any of that” remarks Trooper Ritter.
“Gate in position and now active….Enjoy the ride. Out” comes Sinclaire’s voice over the comms.The RDF members all fidget around in their seats to get a look at this mysterious object out of their viewport. Then they catch a glimpse just as the Raven Dropship enters the gates vortex, for Proxima B.
The Raven Arrives – in orbit above the Northern Hemisphere Proxima B
“ETA, two minutes” comes Gomez’s voice over the comms.
McCallum rubs his face. Never had he experienced such feelings. It was like an out of body experience. After a few hours in he could feel his body adapting. Although, he still feels nauseous and strange. It was nothing like what he first felt when they entered the vortex.
“Wow, yeah baby what a rush!” Comes Woods’s over excited voice
McCallum looks around at his team. Ritter was sat silently with eyes the size of dinner plates. While Daniels chatted to Song, who didn’t seem to be paying attention. Lt Heap was sorting though the inventory in his vest.
“I feel like I’ve got a bad case of jet lag” he remarks.
The Raven exits the vortex and into the sky above the Northern hemisphere of Proxima B. Barely a minute into the flight an explosion occurs. Shaking the dropship violently. Then the Raven rapidly losses altitude.
“Mayday, mayday! We have lost our starboard engine and lateral controls! We are going down!” Screams Gomez. “Prepare for an emergency landing”.
Gomez searches around for a safe spot to land. She knows they can’t make the RDF base. She also knows this area of Proxima B well and knows that this area has lots of grassy plateaus but also rocks. Then she’s sees a rocky out crop and a small grassy plateau. That will have to do she thinks to herself.The RDF trooper looks up at the distant gate and the closing vortex. He catches sight of the crippled dropship and lowers the shoulder mounted surface to air missile launcher.
To be continued………
A soft landing – Northern Hemisphere Proxima B
McCallum looks around the interior. He could hear alarms sounding and see the lights flashing from the cockpit. Despite the rough landing, everyone seems to be okay.
“Everyone okay?” He asks, looking around and receiving the thumbs up from all team members.
“We’ve lost comms, can’t raise RDF control, activating external fire extinguisher.” says Gomez.
Once the fire was dealt with. The team stumbles out the back and into the snow.
“Welcome to Proxima B, not the landing I had in mind” says Ritter.
“The comms are shot, they may of seen us go down. If we wait, they might be sending assistance” says Gomez
“No” says McCallum. “That engine failure was no accident. That was a Missile attack”
Lt Heap, who also had been inspecting the damage chipped in.
“Not just any old missile attack, that has all the hall marks of a type 48 surface to air missile.”
“What are you saying sir? That we were shot down by our own weapons?” Says Trooper Song.
“How wonderful, we’ve hardly set foot on this bloody planet and have a bounty on ours heads already” says Woods
“There’s a solar power plant about a 1k to the east. We might find assistance there” says GomezWith little in the way of options McCallum agrees. He wasn’t sure what he’ll find at the power plant. But it was better than hanging around in the snow, waiting. McCallum looks at his PDA and the Proxima B data which he downloaded prior. He noted the some tyre tracks which seemed to run from their position straight through to sector 7-7-3. Where the solar power station is.
They all start checking their equipment. Ritter gets his mini gun from the Raven and straps it to him in the ready position. While Trooper Song screws a new canister of petroleum jelly Ethanol into his flame unit. McCallum hears magazines being loaded and weapons cocked.
“Okay folks, Keep your wits about you and let’s go”.
To be continued………
Another exiting piece.
Your terrain continues to impress, that crashed ship, and just everything really, looks so good!
Keep them coming
http://lasersandbroadswords.blogspot.com My project blog
Thanks peeps. Sorry been a while, always more work in it than you first think. Anyway, without further a do….the next instalment…..
RDF forward research unit – Somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere Prioxma B
Meanwhile……After Clyde sent the message to control he exited the Pathfinder and joined the others.
“The ground is thawing out lovely” remarks Steve happily.
“Yeah, the old potato plants are coming on. Look at the size of that one. What are these plant things called again?” Says Obidiah.
“Oh I don’t know, but the Snow Worms love em”
“And you’re the botanist Steve. Do you think we’ll see any Snow Worms this year?” Asks Obidiah
“I hope not, they’re a bloody irritation…….”
Before Steve Bewskeme could continue they get interrupted by Clyde.
“We better get going, Colonel Shields has ordered us back. We need to return at once and do a perimeter check first” says Clyde
“I just need to finish documenting this” says Steve, jabbing a thumb at the unidentified object.
“Ok, Odidiah give him a hand but be quick”. Says Clyde
Clyde makes his way back up to the PathFinder and jumps in, followed by his brother Colin.
“Pathfinder One, one, three This is Shields…..come in over”
“Go ahead sir” says Clyde.
“Just had a mayday call from a downed incoming Raven from Mars. We’ve lost contacted. On your perimeter check, search the crash site and give assistance if needed. I’m sending you the coordinates. Over”.“Great, as if we haven’t enough to do” complains Colin
He looks at the empty drivers seat.
“Oh for the love of…..where’s Richards? We need to get going and people are wondering about as if on holiday” he says irritably.
He was about to say something over his headset when a metallic clunk got his attention. He turned his head and didn’t quite register the sight of the stun grenade. Clyde, who was sat next to his brother bore the brunt of the blast.“What was that?” Remarked Steve Bewskeme
He started up towards Obidiah who was equally confused at the bang and flash. Which seemed to come from the Pathfinder. Obidiah moves closer to the Pathfinders position and sees Trooper Richards outside standing next to the vehicle.
“What was that?” He says, calling out to Trooper Richards.
Richards doesn’t reply and rises his assault rifle, levelling straight at Obidiah!A three round bust hits Obidiah square in the chest. Sending him reeling backwards into the shrubbery. Steve Bewskeme, who was puffing and panting in his enviro suit Stopped dead at the sight of the shooting. Before he could even open his mouth in response. A second burst hits him with deadly accuracy. He was dead before he hit the ground.
To be continued…….
Wow great stuff. I really like how you did the snow, what did you use for it?
Two different techniques, one for the thicker snow and one for the general dusting of snow.
I got a large bag of 0.5mm static grass. Why it’s called grass and not snow I have no idea. It’s more or less the same as static grass but this seems quite fine. To create drifts or piles of snow. I mix a bit up with PVA. Until it’s nice and thick but just thick enough to work with. Then I stipple it on, build it up a bit if I want a pile of snow etc….As the PVA dries, it then gives the effect of the snow melting back.
For the general frosting look. I spray the scenery with Matt varnish then sieve a hand full over it as it’s very fine. Then seal it in with another spray of varnish. Be careful if you are going to sieve it. It’s very fibrous and light and worse than MDF dust. So I wear a dust mask and vacuum up afterwards. First time I used it I took a lung full in. It wasn’t nice and I don’t recommend breathing it in
Glad you’re enjoying it Alexander
I should have the next bit ready soon. It’s drying as we speak.A sharp jot snaps Colin awake. His head was swimming, his ears ringing and he still felt very nauseous from the stun blast. He looked at Clyde who was still unconscious and sat slumped in his seat. Both men had their hands plastic-cuffed behind their backs. He looks over at the drivers seat and sees Richards at the controls.
“Richards…..whaaa…what are you dooo…doing? He says nauseously.
Richards remains quiet, then the Pathfinder loses power and comes to a stop. Richards thumps the controls in frustration and climbs out of the drivers seat.
“What……what’sss going on?” Asks Colin, only to get punched in the face by Richards.
“I’ve got to go outside and take a look at the main power cell. If you get up to anything while I’m gone. You’ll get a bullet in the head. Got it?” He says scornfully.
Colin couldn’t be sure how long Richards was gone, the effects of a hard punch and the stun grenade still causing ill effects. He had no idea what was happening. All he knew was that he needed to get out of the plastic-cuffs. He stumbles around clumsily as he struggles to retrieve the small flick knife which he knew Clyde always carries in his coat pocket. At one point he thought he heard gun shots from some where outside. He collapses to the floor of the Pathfinder, on his belly wriggling around in the tight confines with his hands still behind his back. Trying desperately to cut the binds. He manages to get his hands free just as he hears the rear door the the APC. Richards is back he thinks to himself. He manages to roll over on to his back, ready to defend himself with the knife. When a strong hand grabs his wrist, immobilising it……
He looks up, despite his still blurry vision he looks into a face that was not Richards!
Before his brain could process anymore information. He felt himself being dragged along the floor and out of the Pathfinder. For a surreal moment he felt himself in the air, then hits the frosted ground hard. Then before he has chance to move. The dead weight of the still unconscious body of Clyde lands on top of him. Then Colin blacks out.
Sometime later……….
Colin awoke again, this time Clyde was looking down at him.
“You ok?” He asks
“Yeah, bit of a headache though. What happened?”
“Thought you could tell me. I’ve not long come around and found myself next to you.” Says Clyde.
Colin thinks, then tells his brother about Richards, being punched and having to stop and being thrown out.
“But there’s something else. Who ever throw us out the back and on to this muddy track, wasn’t Richards. Anyway, why would Richards betray us?” Says Colin.
“Well that’s not all.” Says Clyde. He helps Colin up and shows him a body on the track.
“It’s Richards, he’s dead. But look at his wounds”
Colin turns the dead Trooper over.
“Gone straight through his Kevlar vest. No powder burns or shrapnel” says Colin
“It’s all fused and cauterised, what sort of weapon could of done this?” Replies Clyde
“I don’t know, but who ever did this must of been the same assailant that through us out of the Pathfinder”.
Then they hear, what sounds like someone running up the tracks! Colin checks and makes ready his assault rifle. While Clyde snatches up Richards Heckler Enfield rifle and makes ready. Soon a figure appears, puffing and panting. Then he stops and looks straight at the two men. They both lower their rifles and smile.“Obidiah!” Shouts Colin.
Obidiah explains about what happened and that he was left for dead. He also told them about Steve’s death.
“Lucky I was wearing my body armour under my great coat. Think I’ve cracked a few ribs though. Those Heckler Enfields pack quite a pouch”“Ok so this is what we know. Richards: as yet for reasons unknown, betrays us. Kills Steve Bewskeme and leaves you for dead” Obidiah nods and Colin continues. “Renders me and Clyde unconscious and was on route to, as yet unknown location. But never makes it, gets ambushed by an unknown assailant. Who kills him and removes me and Clyde and then nicks the Pathfinder”
“A lot of unknowns there, Colin. So what now?” Says Clyde.
“We continue to the Solar Power Plant. In sector 1-1-7. Hinz and Chapman’s team were sent there when it went off line. We were ordered to link up with them. We still can, it’s not that far. We just have to do it on foot”
“What about the downed dropship from Mars? We were supposed to looking for it on the way?” Asks Clyde.
“Nothing we can do, not without transport. We carry on to the power plant”
“If Hinz’s team is not there?”. Asks Obidiah
“There’s a few supply sheds there. If my memory is correct, there’s a radio in one. We can boost the signal and get word to Colonel Shields. Also there’s an MTV there.” Explains Colin.
“That thing has been there all Winter, it’ll be a miracle if it starts” Says Obidiah
“Ok, lets go”To be continued……..
The story so far…..After being shot down and realising that it was an RDF weapon that did it. McCallum’s team is on foot and on their way to the power station. Also Colin, Clyde and Obidiah are on their way to the same location. They are also aware that something is wrong with the RDF. After being on the receiving end of foul play by one of their own. Colonel Shields, the regional commander of Proxima B. Has dispatched a Pathfinder team to check out the power plant that has gone off line. While he’s coordinating efforts back at the RDF base he is unaware that trouble is brewing for him.
Little do any of the teams know. They are all in for more then one surprise at the power plant.
RDF Forward Research Unit, Solar Power Station 7-7-3 Proxima B
The Pathfinder stops at the base of the plateau. The crew, consisting of two RDF troopers and two engineers jump out the back.
“You two just as well stay here, me and Jonty will take a look. There could be radiation leakage”. says Vince
“Sure, what do we know about solar power cells anyway” replies Corporal Hinz.
The two engineers make their way up to the plateau and soon discover why the power station has gone offline.
“What the hell? What’s happened to these battery cells? They’re totalled!” Says Jonty.
“What is that? It looks like a piece of space junk” he continues. “Must be wreckage from one of our satellites. It’s come down, crash landed here and the heat from re entry has caused the battery cells to melt down”
“Heat doesn’t do this to solar battery cells. They would have exploded and turned this plateau into a giant crater. That’s why we build them out here, away from the base. There doesn’t seem to be any radiation though.” replies Vince, studying his particle detector.
“Still, at least the solar dish is intact” says Jonty, cheerfully.
Vince takes a closer look and soon discovers that the battery cells were aggressively drained of power, causing the cells to short out. While Jonty moves over to the space debris for a look.
“This is strange, these cells have melted down. Not because of heat, but because they have completely and rapidly drained of all power. How the hell has that happened?” He remarks.
“This is weird too, look at this. It’s some material which I’ve never seen before. Look how it reacts when I touch it. This isn’t from one of our satellites”.
Jonty raises Corporal Hinz on the personal comms and explains what they’ve found. He gets him to report the situation to Control. Hinz climbs back into the Pathfinder and gets on the radio. The Pathfinders all carry much more powerful radios than their personal comms. The RDF base and Colonel shields would be well out of range of their personal comms.
“Shields isn’t happy, he’s ordered us back” says Hinz
“Well those cells are going to take time to fix. All the while the base will have to run on auxiliary power to pug the gap” says Trooper Chapman.
“Not just that, we are not the only ones to of find an unidentifiable piece of space stuff. Colin and Clyde’s team have found something too. Colonel Shields has declared a state of alert. To top it off, the relief unit set from Mars has arrived through the gate, But they’ve gone down. Colin and Clyde’s team have been set to the Ravens crash site. We’ve been ordered to link up with them when they come though here.” says Hinz.
Hinz speaks into his comms to tell the engineers to make their way back. The repairs to the power cells will have to wait. He gets no reply, Trooper Chapman smiles to himself as if to say typical. He walks over to the path and looks up. To see if the engineers are making their way down, but see no sign of them.
“Oh, what the hell are they doing up there?” Asks Chapman. “I’ll have to go up there” he says.
He starts walking up and gets about half way. When Hinz shouts something over the radio. Chapman curses under his breath and begins to walk back down. Hinz appears round the corner, then to Chapmans horror collapses!
“HINZ” shouts Chapman
He rushes forward then realises that something is very wrong. Hinz, is hurt and: to his horror starts to regrade! As if every DNA strand in Hinz’s body starts to collapse!
Then a figure appears from around the Pathfinder. But like nothing Trooper Chapman had seen before. This person, if it was a person was huge! And Chapman soon noticed the grey object in his hands. Quite clearly a weapon! Chapman had no idea what was happening, nor who this assailant was. He took it as hostile and wasted no time, he clicked the safety off his Heckler-Enfield PBR32 assault rifle and levelled it at the white faceless assailant and fired!
To be continued……….
Last Man Standing- Sector 1-1-7 Solar Power Station
Trooper “Chippy” Chapman squeezed the trigger. Multiple rounds spat from his Heckler Enfield assault rifle and slammed into his target. Despite nearly emptying the magazine each round seemed to just get absorbed into some sort of energy shielding! Chapmen retreated further up the track losing sight of the assailant. He pulled a Mk 7 fragmentation grenade from his vest and throw it. He hit the frosty ground as the grenade exploded. He had no idea what effect, if any the grenade had. But with lightning speed he was up and loading a fresh mag into his rifle. Then something hit him, he wasn’t sure what. Chapman then collapsed to the ground and blacked out. When he came around he couldn’t be sure how long he was out for. Whether just seconds or hours, but he managed to stagger up onto the flatness of the plateau. No sign of the attacker, or anyone else at that matter. His chest hurt, his left arm hurt. He had no idea what was happening, no idea the state of his injuries.
Then he heard a noise, it seemed to be getting louder. An engine! Then he saw a very welcome sight of a Pathfinder! Thank God he thought. The Pathfinder stopped and a person got out. It must be Colin and Clyde’s team. He looked at the person as he approached and stopped right in front of him. Despite his failing eye sight he could see that it wasn’t Colin Or Clyde.
“Who are you? What’s going on?” He asked weakly
The figured looked at him then at his injuries.
“Where are they?” He asked.
“Who?” Said Chapman
“You have had contact with them. Where did they go?” He asked again.
Chapman tried to talk again but the pain intensified. His started to cough blood and his rib cage felt like it was going to explode. The figure just looked down at him as Chapman fell back into the snow as he began to haemorrhage.
To be continued…..
Solar Power Station – Proxima B
McCallum felt the Pathfinder Paladin lift into the air. Then his whole world tipped sideways and an almighty crash filled the air.
“Arrrrrrrhhhhhh! It’s an earthquake” Comes from inside the Paladin
Colin, Clyde and Obidiah just gawped up, at what appears to be a giant worm!
Then as fast as it came, it was gone.
“So you don’t get snow worms very big then? They don’t come this far south do they? And are all still in hibernation are they Colin?” Comes Clyde’s sarcastic replay.
“Well, yeah…..but….err….”
Meanwhile in the interior of the Paladin the RDF start to untangle the mass of arms and legs.
“Arrhhhh! my leg”. Screams Woods
“Woods, Woods….are you okey? Have you broken something? Asks Colin, peeping into the Paladins turret.
“No it’s ok, there’s nothing in here to break” he replies
McCallum crawls out from the turret helped by Obidiah. Followed by the rest of the team.
“Ok, that’s use the winch of the MTV and get it righted” orders Colin
Within a few minutes the Paladin is back on its wheels. The team inside and ready to go.
“Let’s just hope we have no more encounters with worms” Says Colin
“Ok, we need to get going. The sooner we reach the RDF base the better.” Says McCallum
“Daniels, the quickest way is though those two rocks and across the plateau” comes Colin’s reply.
“Roger that, but the solar dish is blocking the way” she says
“Drive through it” Says McCallum.
Daniels hits the accelerator and the Paladin races forward. Closely followed by Colin’s MTV.
To be continued……….
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