Running through a ship's corridor was a young man who looked to be no older than nineteen. He had very short brown hair that could sometimes be mistaken as black, dark green eyes, and was roughly around the height of six feet. The outfit he wore was the standard military uniform which consisted of a dark blue and grey shirt, sky blue camo pants, and black boots.
"Come on! You heard the Captain, everyone to their stations! Go! Go! Go!" An older man shouted as he motioned for him and the others that were running alongside him to get to their positions as fast as possible.
As the group moved past the man shouting for them to hurry, the ship's intercom came on, and was swiftly followed up by a command issued by the Captain.
"All hands, brace for impact."
He had stated this in a very calm manner, and not very long after he had told them to do this did the ship shake causing the young man and those who were running next to him to fall over or nearly fall over. He was one of the few who had fallen over, but was quickly helped up by one of his comrades who had called out to him while doing so.
"You okay, Carver?" His colleague inquired as he helped him to his feet. As this happened the majority of those who hadn't fallen onto the floor continued on with the exception of a few who stayed to assist the others that fell.
The person that had asked Carver this was a man that stood at a staggering height of six feet and three inches. He was a burly man with limbs that were practically thick as tree trunks, and eyes that were dark brown. His hair was short and dark brown like Carver's, but unlike him, he had a tiny mohawk. The clothing he wore was the exact same as Carver except it was bigger in size, and on his forearm was a tribal bird tattoo.
"I'm fine, James." Carver swiftly assured after getting back onto his feet. "A little banged up from falling down, but nothing that'll kill me." He added after taking a quick look at his hand that he had somehow managed to scrape.
At this, James chuckled and said, "leave it to you to somehow scrape your hand by falling over."
Carver didn't bother responding to the statement and instead said as the intercom came on once more. "Do you know who's attacking us?"
"No idea." He answered with a shrug of his shoulders before pointing at him and saying, "I was asleep just like you when we suddenly started getting attacked."
Carver furrowed his brows and frowned a little after hearing this and tried to think of who it was that would be attacking them. He wasn't able to stand there for long, mostly because James followed up his statement with how they needed to get to their stations and fast, but as they ran through the corridors and entered one of the elevators, he thought about the possible attackers.
"Do you think the guys attacking us are that insurrection group we've been hearing about on the news, the Firefoxes?" Carver queried as he looked at James.
"Maybe, but why would they be out here in this system, and how the hell would they have known we were here?" James asked him in return with a serious look of his own.
At this, Carver was hesitant to answer. He had a few guesses as to why and how, but the one he was suspecting the most was because someone told them that they were here.
"... Maybe it's because someone leaked it to them?" He declared after several long seconds of silently thinking.
"You think someone from our ship did that?" James questioned with a slightly confused expression.
"Possibly, it's either that or someone higher up the brass." Carver proclaimed as the door to the elevator opened revealing Deck 6, which was where the Armory, Shuttles, and Cargo Hold were.
"Hmph, I wouldn't be surprised if that is what actually happened." James confessed before exiting the elevator.
"James, Carver! What the fuck took you two so long!? Most of your platoon is already geared up and awaiting further orders!" A woman older than both of them yelled as she swiftly approached them with a furious look on her face.
"Sorry, Lieutenant, the explosions and shit caused a bit of a delay!" James practically yelled as he and Carver went to salute her. She looked to be in her late twenties with eyes that were hazel, hair that was pure black, and a build that was slender but athletic. She was currently decked out in her CHS, which was dark blue and steely grey with an insignia over where her heart was.
It was designed to keep the wearer alive in environmental places like space, and actually had two layers to it. The inner layer consisted of fabric armor with kinetic padding, and areas that didn't need to be as flexible, such as the torso, shins, or forearms were reinforced with sheets of lightweight ablative ceramic.
The second layer, aka the outer layer, had an automatically generated kinetic barrier that would deflect objects that were traveling at or above a certain speed. It was commonly called a shield and how this would occur would be when an object, such as a bullet, triggers the barrier's reflex system.
Upon hearing this, she silently eyed them. She did this for a few seconds before sighing and saying in a much calmer voice. "Noted, now get yourselves geared up, and then join up with the rest of your platoon."
"Yes, Ma'am!" The two basically said in unison before rushing off to go get themselves geared up.
The female officer said nothing more on the matter and merely watched them run off for a couple of seconds before noticing the intercom turn on again and directing her gaze to the ceiling.
"Fire Control teams, report to Deck 2 and 5 ASAP!"
Was the order the Captain issued before turning off the intercom which earned a little pout from the Lieutenant. "Why do I have a feeling we're not winning this battle?" She thought shortly after hearing this before tearing her gaze away from the ceiling and directing it towards a group of marines that had finished gearing up and were awaiting further commands.
----------------------------------------
After finishing getting his CHS on, Carver moved to retrieve his weapons, which happened to be a rifle and pistol, before linking up with his platoon. His CHS, like every other marines', was dark blue with the secondary color being steely-grey and a insignia over where his heart was. His armor, unlike Lieutenant Shaddock's, was a bit bulkier, but that might have been because he was bigger than her and a man whereas she was a woman.
As he approached his platoon, who were grouped up next to one of the shuttles, another marine who was not James joined up with him.
"Carver." The man greeted causing Carver to look over his right shoulder and slow down his pace a little to match his.
"Riley." Came Carver's response in the same neutral tone he had used along with a nod of his head.
"I heard from Vargas you ended up scraping your hand, you going to be okay?" Riley inquired with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"I didn't really scrape it to be honest, I mean, it wasn't like how you would scrape your knee. It was more or less me just peeling off some of my skin." Carver claimed with a small scowl that was hidden underneath his helmet. The regret of telling James about him scraping his hand was starting to sink in.
"I getcha, I was just messing with you." Riley stated as the two came to a halt in front of the marines that had gathered by the shuttle.
The two were noticed immediately by the others and received multiple greetings from them, which they did in return.
It wasn't long after this all happened the XO of their platoon finished speaking with their commanding officer, and said in a stern manner. "Alrighty, everyone shut the fuck up for a moment, need to do a headcount of who's here and who's not."
The marines fell silent almost immediately, and after ten to fifteen seconds the silence was broken by their second in command, who had said in a serious tone. "Anyone see or know where Adams, Crespo, and O'Brien are?"
"Negative, First Sergeant." One of them claimed after exchanging looks with one another. While this was happening the intercom came on again.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
"Alright, we'll just have to assume they're MIA for the time being." The XO declared in a solemn voice before directing his attention to the platoon leader and saying to him. "Besides those three missing all are accounted for."
"Noted." The CO acknowledged with a resolute look on his face. He was a bit above the age of thirty and had black hair with grey tips. He like all the other marines that were gathered wore a dark blue and steely grey CHS, except unlike most of them, he wore a beret instead of his helmet. It was also worth noting that he had an eyepatch over his right eye with a scar going down from his eyebrow to his cheekbone.
"... So, what's the plan, sir?" A marine with an Australian accent named Dalu inquired after a few seconds of silence as the intercom came on once more to notify everyone to brace for impact. He held the rank sergeant and had dirty blonde hair with greenish-blue eyes.
"Right now we just await further orders." The platoon leader nonchalantly answered as the ship quaked. "Captain Yevgenny told us to prepare for combat, so I assume we will eventually be boarding the enemy ship, but until then, we're on standby."
"Understood sir."
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile on the Bridge of the ship, a man with silvery grey hair wearing an officer's uniform stood over his subordinates and shouted with a hint of concern in his voice. "Status!?"
"Main cannon is offline sir!" One crewmember yelled while pushing multiple buttons on his console to find out what had caused this to happen.
"Same with one of our engines!" Another shouted as he tore his gaze away from the monitor in front of him and looked at his superior.
"Damn it, what about the slipspace drive?" He cursed under his breath before inquiring about the propulsion system that allowed them to make transitions to and from slipstream space which gave them the ability to do faster-than-light interstellar travel.
"Still operational, sir!" A crewmember announced after a second or two as another crewmember notified about how another set of missiles were inbound.
"Alright, Parker, Jenkins, get us the hell out of here." Yevgenny commanded in a firm and solemn tone, not even showing a trace of interest in the soon to be hit they were about to receive.
"Sir?" One of the two said in a questioning manner with a confused look written on their face as he looked at his Captain.
"I said get us the hell out of here!" Yevgenny yelled with a hint of anger in his voice.
"But sir, some of our fighters are still out there!" A crewman pointed out as he looked at Yevgenny, traces of concern etched onto his face.
"Notify them that we're leaving the system, and then prepare the jump for lightspeed." He ordered while shooting this man a look. "We're outgunned here, and I know a losing battle when I see it."
"Understood sir." The crewman declared before relaying this information to the fighters. As he did this, Jenkins, a man with brown hair, freckles, blue eyes, and an average build called out to the Captain.
"Sir, do we a destination in mind?" Was what he asked him.
At this, Yevgenny said, "anywhere but here."
----------------------------------------
After idling for a few minutes, it was revealed on the intercom by Captain Yevgenny that they would be making a jump to lightspeed and going down to Combat Alert Bravo. Following that, Captain Yevgenny then requested Platoon, Company, and Battalion Commanders to report to the CIC ASAP, which left the executive officers in charge of the groups.
"Heh, I guess we won't be seeing any combat today." Riley claimed as the commanding officers left to go to CIC.
"I wouldn't be so sure, mate. We're still in Combat Alert Bravo." A British marine named Mactavish stated while entering the shuttle and taking a seat on a crate that had been loaded up in it.
"Ehh, I'm gonna have to side with Riley on this one fellas." James confessed which had earned himself a few looks. "The odds of us actually seeing some shit go down is pretty low."
"Isn't that a good thing then?" Carver inquired after taking off his helmet with a small frown written on his face.
"Maybe, but I wouldn't have minded fighting some of those firefox guys, assuming of course it was them that attacked us." James admitted reluctantly with a shrug of his shoulders.
At this, some of the platoon members agreed with James.
"I wouldn't mind that too, but I also wouldn't mind getting shot at and possibly killed." A marine from Japanese descent claimed which earned a few chuckles from his peers.
"Same!" Another marine declared enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Carver had on a serious look and began to think once more about who their attackers were. He had believed it to be the insurrectionist group that called themselves the Firefoxes, but if that was the case wouldn't the Captain have made it known?
He didn't know Captain Yevgenny personally, since he was a grunt, but from what he's heard and seen of the man, Captain Yevgenny wasn't someone who would keep his crew in the dark. He would inform them of who they were facing as soon as possible so that they could come up with a better plan to fight.
"Hey, why the long face?" Inquired someone on his left while nudging him, which caused Carver to snap out of his train of thought and look to see his First Sergeant standing right next to him. His First Sergeant, like him, wasn't actually born on Earth and grew up one of the colonies called Atlas. However, he did have a Hungarian accent and last name, but the accent wasn't that noticeable.
"Just thinking, First Sergeant," Carver revealed before looking back ahead.
"Oooohhhh." His First Sergeant declared with slightly widen eyes. "You can do that!?" He added in a joking manner.
At this, Carver shot him an annoyed looked and with sarcasm etched into his voice. "Hahahaha, very funny."
"Thank you, I did think it was pretty funny." His First Sergeant affirmed with a hint of satisfaction in his voice, which made Carver believe he was enjoying this. "Anyways, what are you thinking about?" He then inquired in a much more serious tone.
"Our attackers," Carver began as he turned his body so that it was facing him. "I thought it might have been the Firefoxes, but then I thought about how we weren't notified of who it was by Captain Yevgenny which made me start to wonder if whoever it was that started attacking us was an unknown."
"I see..." His First Sergeant said aloud before falling silent for a few seconds. "It could have been someone we don't know, or it could have been someone we do know, and the Captain merely forgot to notify us all about who it was. Either way, I don't see why it matters anymore, we fled the system."
He had said this while shrugging his shoulders, and after taking in the possibility of that happening, Carver replied with. "You might be right."
"I might be? There is no might be, I am right, and as your superior and friend, I'm gonna tell you to stop thinking about it. You're a marine, not a scientist. Your job is to shoot and kill things, not come up with conspiracy theories or anything like that, understood?" His First Sergeant confidently claimed before telling him in a serious manner not to think about this kind of stuff.
Carver couldn't help from smiling a little after hearing this and said in response. "Got it, First Sergeant."
"Good, now-whoa!" His First Sergeant began before he, and everyone else onboard the ship, experienced what felt like some heavy turbulence. It lasted for no more than a few seconds, but picked up again almost immediately and continued to do this over and over again.
"Goddamn!" A marine shouted.
"What the hell is going on!?" Another yelled.
Cries of discord echoed throughout the shuttle bay for some time, but eventually, after who knows exactly how long, this whole ordeal came to an end, and upon it doing so, Carver's First Sergeant asked with concern evident in his voice after picking himself up off of the floor. "Everyone alright?"
He wasn't the only one that had done this, every other platoon XO had done this, so there were multiple people asking this type of question with a bunch of people sounding off.
As this happened, Carver couldn't help but ask his First Sergeant, "what the hell just happened?"
His superior didn't reply at first, but after a while, he looked at him and responded. "I don't know, to be honest, I've never really experienced something like this before, so I can't really tell you."
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile no the bridge, Captain Yevgenny was speaking with Chief Engineer Pressly about what just occurred. "So, what just happened was because of our Slipspace drive failing on us?"
"Aye, Captain." The man on the monitor affirmed while nodding his head. He was a man that stood at five feet and eleven inches with a strong build. His eyes were blue, and he had auburn hair that was cut short. The clothing he wore was similar to a jumpsuit, but not exactly one.
"I didn't notice this earlier, but apparently the core did sustain some damage in that fight." He added with a tinge of embarrassment in his voice that could easily be detected.
"Can you fix it?" Yevgenny inquired after striking a thinking pose with his right hand underneath his chin and his left hand holding up his right elbow.
"Maybe, I haven't taken a proper look at it yet, so I can't give you a definite answer, sir." Chief Engineer Pressly declared after scratching the back of his head and taking a look at the Slipspace drive. "I'll let you know after I do that, but from it looks like at this moment, we're not going to be traveling through Slipspace for some time."
"Understood, thank you for the report, Chief Engineer Pressly." Yevgenny stated before severing the connection. Once it was severed, he let loose a sigh and directed his attention back towards the group of marine officers who were gathered in the other room awaiting his return.
However, before he had the chance to do this, the screen turned on again, and on it was Ensign Williams, who was a young woman with brown hair, dark brown eyes, and olive skin. "Captain, Sir!" She began upon seeing him as he directed his attention back to the monitor.
"What is it, Williams?" He inquired in a neutral tone with a neutral expression.
"Besides multiple system failures, which I'm sure you're already aware of, we have an unknown planet directly in front of us." Ensign Williams claimed as she started to type something. "I'm patching you through one of the camera feeds right now so that you can see for yourself, but like I just said, it's an unknown planet that is not in any navigational records."
"Understood." Yevgenny affirmed before seeing her disappear and being replaced by one of the forward camera feeds. He didn't say anything else after that, instead he simply gazed at the screen.
"It looks inhabitable, but is it, and how did we not discover this sooner?" These kinds of thoughts were all he could think of as he looked at the earthy planet.
It wasn't long after he had asked himself these types of questions he said in a stern voice. "Williams, can you get me a scan of the planet?"
"Negative, sir. The ship's scanner is currently down and non-operational." She declined as she reappeared on the screen.
Yevgenny sighed upon hearing this and said, "Today is just not our day."
"It would seem so, sir." She agreed.
"Alright, compile a list of all systems that are down right now, and send it to me. In the meantime, I'm going to go speak with the Battalion Commanders and see if we can get a platoon or two down there." Yevgenny ordered in a solemn tone.
"Understood, sir. I'll have a list sent to you within the hour." She proclaimed with an affirmative nod of her head.
Yevgenny said nothing at this, and merely gave her acknowledging bow of his head, which was shortly followed by her ending the transmission.