The Battery Part I
Posted on Wed Jul 23rd, 2025 @ 3:40pm by Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & 1st Lieutenant Jeksyne Vale & Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Sergeant Azure Thompson & Sergeant Tyrigus Fry & Sergeant Miranda Schultz
Edited on on Sun Aug 10th, 2025 @ 4:26pm
2,244 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Surface of Wren IX
Timeline: MD010 0805 hrs
Neil's foot skidded again. This time in goo and he felt the spur on his heel dig into the ground, keeping him upright. More grenades chuffed and his shoulder mount blasted a wider opening through the bugs that he and Jayna slipped through, getting behind this patrol. The grenades gave emphasis to their having made contact with the enemy. Rommie's voice sounded in his ear, telling him that she was picking up Vale's team net and he mapped their way to link up.
"Lieutenant Vale, this is Tremble. You have myself and Jayna inbound. Don't shoot us. We're linking up."
With the bugs coming hard and fast, Jayna could hear the stress levels rising. Part serious, part tongue-in-cheek, she added, "Fourth rule of combat: don't shoot your backup."
The line of sight indicator for the comms flickered on Neil's HUD as the flashes of weapons fire haloed on his viewplate and his passive sensors picked up shock waves from small explosions. The tunnel would their way and Neil slowed their pace, despite the pursuit he could see creeping at them on his tactical display, giving Vale time to reply.
"Solid Copy, Actual." Vale replied, momentarily hiding behind an outcropping of rock to key his suits computer with new data on their positions and updating the IFFs.
"Team One, Friendlies inbound, watch your field of fire." He commed the rest of his team.
Tyr adjusted from covering the crawling tunnel to his left, giving his full attention to the right hand one with SO MANY targets crowding their way hungrily at them. Shifting to one knee, his HUD picked up the Colonel and Lieutenant Mira's icon's suddenly appear as they gained a line of site bearing and he refocused. An indicator beeped and he swore, going to one knee as he called out, "Reloading!!"
"Covering!!" Jeksyne called out as he snapped off more phaser fire while Tyr was reloading his own phaser. Beams of orange lashing from his rifle down range. Striking at several bugs trying to charge the group.
Azure threw out another handful 'Bug bombs' that rapidly melted the surrounding bugs.
As Neil and Jayna approached a side tunnel, the half Vulcan picked up more inbound bugs. Once she verified there were no Marines or Starfleet using the tunnel, she paused just long enough to fire at the closest bugs, then launch a plasma grenade to keep them at bay and continued following Tremble.
With Neil and Jayna's added firepower, the wave of bugs was pushed back from the junction. Whatever the reason for the Team's slow start, they'd made up time so Neil let that go for the after action. "Vale," Neil said over the Team circuit. "The Fleet got ambushed and are on a secondary track. We're going to try and push to link back up. Neil set new waypoints based on twenty minute old data, then dumped the updates to Vale and the Team. "We're heading out along this route. It might be a directed ploy to ambush us and keep the detachment separated so we can be picked apart piece by piece. So we're going to move at pace. Do you have any drones left?"
Jeksyne checked his wrist computer, pulling up one last drone. "I got one left. Where ya need it?"
Grunting, Neil used his CnC suite to take control of the drone, switching pulling it back slightly and sending it to ground as they assessed. He'd waited too long though and his HUD's sensor feed showed the enemy closing all around them. "Incoming," he stated calmly on the all Team net. "Looks like they're going to bum rush us. Shield square. Vale, assign vectors while I look for a way out."
Jayna appointed herself Neil's personal backup and took out any bugs that came too close so he could have the space he needed to find a way out. She'd never been particularly fond of spiders, but now she was going to have nightmares about them for weeks.
"Team One, move into Square formation, watch fields of fire and for god sakes, don't hit our people. Marking points on TACCOM" Jeksyne ordered as he took cover behind a half height rock, bracing his rifle on the boulder and using it as support to continue firing down range. Bug after bug falling to heavy phaser bolts from his rifle.
Tyr swallowed as his HUD was consumed in all directions by incoming red blips. He began assigning the last of his smart munitions for rapid fire, and waited for the word
Azure had left this as a last resort. She fired a series of small missiles that impacted with the rock walls of the tunnels.
Moments later plant tendrils erupted from the impact zones and began attacking the bugs. The also dislodged rocks that crush the insectoids.
Shifting as rocks gave way above and below his feet, Neil jumped back, his HUD locking targets as his shoulder mount fired into the middle of one of the passages into a mass of insectoid bodies, carapaces clacking and jostling one another as they attempted to rush the Team. "Rommie," Neil bit out. Full spectral sweep. Any way out of here other than through the obvious points?"
Within heartbeats (about the time his shoulder phaser fired again) Rommie came back. "I'm picking up what looks like a river channel below us Colonel. Salt water with unidentified energy readings, but it seems like a better solution than through at the moment."
"Jayna, Fry" Neil called out, "cover my vector." In the defensive formation, they were set to crossfire into his front. Stepping back slightly, Neil processed the fight on his HUD and said, "Team" to activate all of their comms. "I'm going to make us an exit. There's a salt water channel below us. Once I make a hole and on my mark, drop into that passage. Fry, you're on point. Then Vale, Azure, Miranda, Jayna and I've got the rear. I'm going to bring the roof down to keep them from following. Looks like the river goes in the general direction we want to go. Specifically, away from here and better yet, toward the rest of the Cure."
Neil rapidly changed the settings on his shoulder mount from pulse to stream, grumbling as Rommie's voice sounded in his ear, "Estimated use of shoulder mount will deplete energy reserve for that weapon." "Can't be helped," Neil said to himself more than to anyone. Need the dwell time." He let his carbine drop and the weapon retracted on the slings attached up against his chest as he reset his backpack grenade launch pattern into a breach circle configuration using up five of his last eight grenades.
Neil's shoulder phaser began firing, a steady stream of bright green energy rotating and flashing as a three meter in diameter hole was carved down through the rock approximately two meters until the stone all dropped. Neil didn't wait. The bugs were hemming in closer and closer, trampling over their dead. Neil took a just a heartbeat to watch his Marines fight, the dead reaching near their knee's now and even deeper in the tunnels behind.
"Rommie, add tell-tails for the pathway we're talking to the HUD's. "Sergeant Fry. Execute!"
Fry was firing as fast as he could and still felt the need to edge back more and more as the bugs crowded in, their maws and spiky legs hammering at his armor. A couple had been able to bite him, but he'd been able to break their holds and get his rifle around to pulp them. As the Colonel's order sounded in his ear, a new tracking appeared on his HUD and he reacted. Ordered his suit to full seal, internal air, Fry stepped back, turning to face his new heading.
The drop was short, but Tyr felt fear or maybe anticipation (hopefully not pee) race down his torso and legs at the brief moment of free fall. Then he was in the water and it was slowing his fall and he could feel a slight tug from a current before his feet hit the mushy but firm bottom. Keying the team net, he said, "Footing feels ok. Point out," as he took a cautious little jump and felt the current starting to carry him along. It wasn't very fast, but it would help.
"Tunnel's about four meters in diameter. Bug free," Tyr announced as he got his rifle up and began bouncing ahead along their avenue of travel. It reminded him just a little of traveling in zero g.
Miranda knew she and Azure were up next. She sealed her suit against the water, held tightly to her weapon, and nodded to Azure to go.
Azure acknowledged Miranda with a nod, sealed her suit and dropped into the water. When she entered the water, she let the current carry her along.
Now it was Miranda's turn. She dropped in, took a moment to acclimatize, and followed the others. This was not her idea of fun, but neither were giant creepy crawlers. She kept her rifle at the ready, sweeping it as she looked around for something to shoot. "At least it's not snakes," she muttered to herself. "I hate snakes."
Jayna dropped in next, giving Miranda just enough time to get down and start moving. The river reminded her too much of the research facility and The entity there. She'd just gotten to the point that she no longer had nightmares--if she didn't count the one about a giant spider. She didn't remember anything about that one, except it involved a giant spider and a face she couldn't quite remember.
She shook her head. This was not the time to get distracted. They had a job to do and her job was to watch Neil's six...which was harder when he was behind her. She checked her HUD for Neil, then checked the line ahead of her before again checking on Neil.
Neil watched the bugs rushing closer, phaser fire and explosives barely keeping them at bay as his marines began to drop into the flowing water below. He noted that the water wasn't moving fast, but it would flow somewhere. His HUD indicated Vale hadn't dropped and he shouted, "Vale. Get your ass moving, marine!"
"Sir!" He was holding for the rest of the unit to make the drop. He was the fireteam leader, last man to retreat. It was something that defined him, leading from the front, making sure no one was left behind.
Jeksyne turned, dashed, and made the jump.
The distraction was brief, but in between heart beats another bug rushed at Neil tilting it's head to try and catch him about waist. His carbine forgotten, Neil got a hold of the bugs head, the servos in his armor whining at the strain as he fought to keep the vise like mandibles from scissoring him in two.
Servo's whining, Neil locked his arms around the bugs head as it tried to thrash him and it's friends crowded in very danger close. He managed to get his heels dug in, locked his arms around the bug's head as it tried to stab at him with it's appendages. Neil was able to lock his fingers and with a sharp, twisting motion ripped the head from the bug, coating his suit with green goo. Free for the moment as more playmates rushed him, Neil stepped back into the opening he'd made and as he dropped, his backpack launcher chuffed on automatic, rapid fire.
Air bursts shredded the charging bugs, clearing the marines escape route. Three high yield, photon grenades rippled out into the while four more grenades detonated on contact two seconds later, configured as shaped charges to push all of their energy up into the ceiling.
Nearly two metric tons began to rain down on Neil as he got his feet under him and moving forward. Chunks of debris rained and a few watermelon sized bounced off his shoulders and helmet before he could get clear. Then he realized he was still holding the bug's head, and had been like a life preserver clutched against his chest when he'd dropped.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Battalion Commander, The Cure
First Lieutenant Jeksyne Vale
Company Executive Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Sergeant Tyrigus Fry
Rifleman, Team 1, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Sergeant Miranda Schultz
Communications Specialist HQ, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Sergeant Azure Thompson
Corpsman, Team 1, The Cure
USS Pioneer
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