Chapter Text
Soap glanced up from the datapad resting on the table between himself and the captain. “A rescue mission?” His tone is incredulous. When told they had a new assignment he assumed it was something along the lines of their normal work. Escorting, guarding, transporting, even extractions were steadily rising in the list of their new ‘normal’ work. This? This was new. Soap turned his gaze to Gaz, looking to gauge his friend’s reaction. Curiosity.
“Yes a rescue mission. Well its more along the lines of an investigation mission, that the client hopes will end in a rescue mission.” Price explains, running his fingers over the datapad to change the data. His tone shifting to its usual cadence when giving a debrief. Soap settled in to listen.
“This is the planet B1312, its a tidally locked planet.” Price’s fingers pull up the image of the planet, the image projected off of the pad and held a few feet in the air. One side a dusty grey, the other a dark near blue black.
And in the middle, what looked to be a rainforest. A small circle of the rainforest band was highlighted, Price zoomed in on that spot.
“Two years ago a research team was dropped here to investigate if the band could be inhabited or the planet harvested for resources. They set up a semi permanent base here and our client has spent a ton of money doing so. Last week the team sent out a mass dump of data and went quiet. Among that data was some concerning security footage.”
The floating planet pixelated into a screen, the blurry grainy security drone footage was hard to make out. But the prominent red hue and the crackling distorted screams were enough to make the hair on Soap’s arms stand on end. “So they were attacked?” Gaz confirmed, leaning over Soap’s shoulder to look at the frozen frame of the footage. A shadowed figure obscuring the flashing emergency lights. It looked far too large to be a person.
Price nodded, “Thats what the client believes. Given our military experience and the high value of both the team and the equipment on the planet, the client has provided a large sum of GCEs if we can take the job.” Soap’s eyebrow shot up skeptically without his input. “And Im assuming since you are bothering to tell us, the amount is enough to justify the risk of entering a foreign planet against a foreign threat with no clues about the situation?”
A number flashes over the screen in startling blue. 215K GCE. Gaz whistles and Soap has to lock his jaw to keep it from gaping open. There is a heartbeat of silence. Then an eloquent, “Holy damn.” from Gaz. Prize nods and the image vanishes from above the datapad. “We leave for the planet in three days. The client will send us any data they have about the facility and the incident tomorrow. And ROACH needs a few days to refuel and restock. Any questions?”
Soap swallows, the number still burning behind his eyes. “Permission to order double my usual amount of explosives?” Price laughs, a hearty belly laugh that makes Soap remember his father.
“Granted.”
***
“Departure sequence initiated, Arrival at Planet-B1312 in 37 hours, 15 minutes.”
ROACH’s message popped up in Soap’s hud as he fiddled with the last harness on the armor rack. His fingers twisting the gun holster off it’s set belt so he could clean and check it for damage. “Roach, I want to know your thoughts.” He said calmly, sitting on the bench to focus. There was a pause before the text answered.
What is it Soap?
Soap’s finger tips traced the seam of the carbon fiber barrel casing. “How dangerous do you think this mission will be?” The question is hesitant, he is uneasy with being this unsure of something, especially a mission. But something seemed off. Felt wrong. A missing piece that was setting off the alarm bells in his mind.
Given the sparse information and new environment, there are significant risks involved. |
Soap pauses his check to watch the little cursor blink. On, off, on, off.
The last data dump alongside the sudden silence seems unnatural. There were security drones and personal on site, yet no report has been received. It does not feel right or natural.
He releases the breath he was holding. At least he wasn't crazy for feeling something was wrong. ROACH had more information and processing speed that Soap and yet he agreed that something was off about this mission. It didn’t necessarily calm Soap’s nerves on the matter. But there wasn’t much he could do now, while on the way to the planet.
Was there anything else you wanted to ask?
Soap shook his head and reattached the holster to it’s belt. “No thats all. Thank you Roach. I’m going to try sleeping, let Price and Gaz know the gear check went well.” He sighed, standing and stretching out the tightness in his back. Once the gear was securely replaced in their lockers, he headed for his room.
The ship had been a repurposed minor ground force transport vehicle that Price got at an auction, so the bunk rooms were rather spacey. But given it was only ever the three of them on board, each bay was gutted and made into three main bedrooms. Soap’s was on the lowest deck, close to the storage areas, so he was usually stuck with all of the pre-mission checks.
His room was separated into three little areas, the largest being for his workshop. Four bunkbeds had been cut and rewelded to make large tables which sat full of parts and equipment to work on their guns and his own little projects. Soap spent more time in this little area than in his own bed. The whoosh of the door shutting and locking behind him resulted in almost a pavlovian response at this point. His back relaxed and the near constant hum buzz of his mind was finally silent for once.
Little gold and white lights flickered to life around the ceiling, more focused lamps turning on along the tables. Soap sighed a breath of relief and went to his sleeping section of the room, the smallest section that was separated by some curtains. He wanted to get out of his deck clothes and into something softer and warmer for his evening in.
Soap turned his gaze to his computer in the opposite corner, his hud lighting up with his previous work on the device. He selected the music feature and thundering tech rock rumbled from his speaker set up. Perfect to help him relax after an oddly busy day.
***
The planet was definitely larger than Earth. Soap could tell from the moment the screens lit up with the image of it outside their ship. It was big and far more grey on this side of the planet than he first expected. The dusty sandstone appearing nearly in grey scale. Price glanced over at Gaz, strapped into the passenger seat of their transfer rover. “We ready?” He asked, his tone implying he was asking both Gaz and ROACH.
Affermative. Ship is prepared for a preset orbit around B-1312, in allignment with it’s moons.
Gaz nodded and ran his fingertips over the control panels, their micromovements sending commands to the rover. “All clear. Ready to take off and land. It will be bumpy, there is a lot of wind from the drastic temperature differences in the atmosphere.” The rover’s internal lights dimmed as they prepared to disconnect from the ROACH141. Soap adjusted his seat harness tighter over his gear, not wanting to get tossed about. Price did the same and shot him a grin, excitement about the mission clear.
“Alright let’s get down there.” He said, turning back to the front windows to watch their decent. The rover unlatched from the ship with a sharp clang, then they were free falling. Soap had to close his eyes to keep from throwing up his breakfast. They didnt usually need to use the rover, but every time they did he hated it. Gaz turned the vehicle into a nose dive. Its platting rattling with the thin wind of the upper atmosphere. Yet every second it got louder and louder, to a near deafening pitch as they plummeted towards the fast approaching thick band of green.
What looked to be plants sprouted up and up into the air, turning whispy and stringy with vines that danced and tangled in the heavy wind of the lower atmosphere. Closer to the ground was denser, darker, with more closely packed plants making a protective blanket from the wind. Gaz and ROACH had already planned out a course through a series of clearings the research team had already established, just barely wide enough for the rover to squeeze through.
Gaz leveled out the craft and engaged the reverse thrusters to slow to a more manageable level, throwing Soap against his harness hard enough to force some of the air out of his lungs. Green filled the front windows as they sped for the barely visible clearing, just a few hundred feet from the ground. Soap had to close his eyes again and pray Gaz knew what he was doing.
He kept his eyes closed tight as branches and vines slapped the plating of the rover, the speed and wind gradually dying down in the heavily forested lower elevations. Ending in a clanging shuttering landing. “Well thats probably not good.” Price huffed. Soap’s eyes snapped open and were meet with red. Well, brownish red. Dried blood to be exact. A massive spray of the dried stuff was splattered over the doorway into the facility. The metal doorway twisted and kicked in, door hanging limply from broken hinges.
Yeah, not good for sure. Soap unclipped his seat harness and pulled on his face mask from the spot on his hip. The thick aluminum clicking into place over his jaw and nose. Price and Gaz followed suit, they had no clue what theyd find inside and it was just easier to be safe about it all.
Outside was scarily quiet for the amount of wind only a few hundred feet above. There was no sound of animal or equivalent. As well as no sound from the facility. Not even the hum of life support, which was a bad sign. Soap’s mask pinged the atmosphere as temporarily breathable, but he wasn’t going to take it off to check.
Price lead the small team, his long plasma gun in his hands, safety off. Gaz and Soap flanked slightly behind him, their own weapons at the ready. Soap set his granade pouch to unlocked just in case. There was no sign of people, or creatures, just the ruined signs of struggle. Burnt plasma holes littered the exterior walls, one security camera had taken a hit and had partially melted down the wall a few feet.
Just past the door was dark and black. No lights, not even the emergency systems. Also, a very bad sign. There wasn’t much that could take out an emergency system, that was half its point. Price stopped them at the mangled door, his voice whispering over their internal comms. “Dim vision, and start your helmet cams, the client wants evidence.” Soap and Gaz confirmed, the small cameras embedded in their helmets humming to life.
Then they entered. The light from outside only reached a few feet into the facility, and barely outside of the first bend in the hallway. Soap took up the rear, watching behind them as they walked through the exterior following hallway. It looked properly fucked up. Scorch marks and thick scratches embedded into the thick concrete walls, glass and broken plastic crunched softly underfoot. The only sound alongside their breathing in this ghost facility.
Price finally reached the first internal door, the metal of the door contorted as if powerful hands forced it open. It moved easily along its tracks to let them into what looked like a research space. Metal tables that were once bolted to the ground were thrown about, a few stacked along one wall in a mock barricade. Screens were dark or shattered, with even more glass and acrylic littering the floor.
“Soap, check that barricade for bodies.” Price ordered, entering further into the room to investigate the other door, which seemed unharmed. Soap did as asked, keeping his gun ready as he circled the edge of the barricade. Nothing. Papers were thrown about, along with a dumped out medical kit, but no bodies. Soap leaned down to inspect the kit, running a scan on the supplies left in a pile. Missing the roll of bandages, two packs of pain killers and an adrenaline shot. He sent the information to Price.
The papers didnt seem to have much of use on them. But Soap couldnt be sure, it was a lot of numbers and graphs he didnt recognize, so he scanned them just in case. When he regrouped, Price and Gaz were standing over something in front of a large machine that was tipped on its side. As Soap approached he connected to their comms. “-is there no drag paths?” Gaz was asking, looking down next to the machine. When Soap could finally see what they were looking at he was just as confused. A massive puddle of dried blood had formed nexted to the machine, which had a dent in it that implied someone or something had been thrown against it.
Yet there was no body. Despite just how much blood there was, there was no sign anything had disturbed the puddle. No drag marks or even indents from something sitting in the blood as it dried. Soap frowned behind his mask. “That is weird.” He agreed. Price looked up at the both of them, taking a step back. “Lets keep clearing the building, then we can figure out what is going on here.” He suggested. It was a good idea, they still didnt know if they were alone in the facility.
Soap and Gaz followed him to the secondary door, which was shut firmly. Price unlatched the emergency controls and switched the door to manual, allowing him to wedge a knife in the gap and pry open the heavy metal with a soft scrape. Sticking to the inner two pieces of platting was crusted dried blood that flaked off in chunks.
“Gross.” Gaz commented, before following Price into the next room. It was another hallway, they stepped over yet another puddle of blood at the doorway, and into the main hallway that would connect to the rest of the facility. “We are going to clear the place clockwise.” Price pointed to his left, down the hallway. “This hall wraps around again so we will end up back here. The outer hallway is locked down except for the door we entered. So nothing else should be able to get in.” Gaz huffed in disbelief, catching Price’s attention. “You saw what was done to that exterior door. What ever it was that attacked this place can get in again if it wants to.”
Price shot him a glare over his mask. “So lets make this quick so that hopefully doesn’t happen.” And Soap had to agree. He was feeling that off feeling yet again. Something was deeply deeply wrong with this place and he just wanted to finish this job so they could leave. Without further protest, Price lead them down the left side of the hallway and further into the dark.
Ahead sat the mangled torso of a security droid, blaster snapped in two by the torso. Dark black interior fluid had dried where its head had been, deep claw and teeth marks had been dug into its metal armor plating as easy as if it had been tin foil. Price paused to press his palm to the chest of the downed droid, but no luck, the data drive had been hit.
They continued anyway, clearing the hallway up until the first main central door. It had been completely torn from its frame. One half lay half in the furthest most wall, as if thrown. And the other lay on the floor. The room was once a bunk room. Soap would have gagged from the stench if not for his mask which warned him of the strong rot scent present. Which he could easily identify as the pulverized black red sludge that splattered out from under the fallen door. There were more chunks than any other puddle.
Price held his hand for them to pause, then a wave to sweep the room. Soap readied his rifle and took the left half of the room, dipping to check under bed frames and red stained mattresses. There he saw it. Something out of place. A fin. It looked similar to a shark's dorsal fin, dripping a deep dried red blood that looked near black at the edges. Pierced through the top ridge was a line of looped rings that trailed down to the tear off point, little glittering beads hung from the rings in deep blues and violets.
“Hey Price. You might want to check this out.” He called, nudging the fin out from under the bed it had skidded under. The captain was quick to see what Soap found, crouching down to inspect the fin. “Well that's odd.” He confirmed, poking one of the rings with the barrel of his gun. “We'll bag it, the clients might want it. Whatever, ‘it' is.” He concluded, swinging his pack off his shoulder to get the sample bags out of. Soap continued his sweep, but found nothing else odd or out of place.
Once the room was cleared the continued through the rest of the dormitory sectors, yet more dried blood and carnage, but no human bodies and no more odd fins. Once it was confirmed they were practically alone in there, they paused to take a break in one of the less bloody rooms to regroup. “We should find the operations room. There might be clues as to why there is no power and there was no reply signal from the security program.” Gaz offered up, keeping his gun within reach as he settled on the couch he flipped back over.
Price nodded, considering the idea. “We can check what happened and then head out. Im not eager to meet whatever did all of this.” Soap wasn't really paying attention. His mind too distracted with the entire situation. There was something…that they were missing. There had to be. This mission had gone by far to smoothly and his hair was on edge. Wait. His hair was on edge?
“Uh Price- you feel that?” He asked, right as a shockwave rattled the whole complex, and the boom of an explosion followed soon after.