The shuttle launched off of the Uictoria and headed for a landing area on the hub. Al’i was listening to another Lieutenant, introduced as Lieutenant Givens, give orders to his squad as she put on her air mask. Another first, she thought. The other Lieutenant turned to her and said, “Lieutenant Aurora, we are going to breach and secure, then have you join us. Stay behind the line.” She nodded, knowing once they landed, with the signal jam in place, they would have no communication with the ship.
The shuttle landed, and Al’i followed the squad as they cleared the launch pad. They then entered through a door, and Al’i had her comms wrist device check the atmosphere. It was breathable, but the team kept their gear on regardless. Al’i continued to follow the team as she sent out a signal via her comms device, “This is Thavmain Lieutenant Al’i Aurora from the TFS Uictoria. Come in.”
A response came through, “Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Help us!”
“Yes. Can you push us your location through this signal?” Al’i asked.
Al’i received a layout of the hub and a location along with it, “Stay where you are, we are coming to you.”
The team pushed on as Al’i led them to the location. They reached a barricaded hallway. Lieutenant Givens gave the command to breach the barricade. They blasted a hole through it. As they filed through the hole, a spear went through the back of Lieutenant Givens’ head. “Take cover, behind us!” Al’i shouted.
Al’i went on the other side of the barricade and drew an orb from her strap. Her morphing purple and blue skin mix changed to a crisp blue color all over. The orb in her hand changed similarly, and she threw it into the smoke screen now coming up in the hall. A loud blast was heard as the orb shattered into ice as it landed. Well at least they work.
She took her gun in her left hand and summoned another orb in her right. The smoke cleared as she ordered the team to stop shooting and peaked around the corner. Two dead bodies, a species she didn’t recognize. “Let’s go,” she ordered and the team continued on, more alert.
She pressed her comms device again, “Hello? Come in?”
The voice responded, “Yes, we are still here. Did you run into them? We heard an explosion.”
“Do you know what they were? How many are there?” Al’i asked.
“No ide-,” came over before the signal became static.
Al’i hurried to the entrance doors of the room where the location was given. She gave the order the storm in and clear the room. Screams broke out as the team charged through the doors. Al’i ordered the doors to be resealed and looked at a group of about 20 Thavmains huddled against the back wall. Before she could speak, the whole place shook with a loud rumble, knocking Al’i off her feet.
“Lieutenant Givens come in,” came through Al’i headset.
Al’i responded, “Lieutenant Givens is dead, ran into some trouble, what’s going on?”
“A ship launched from the hub and went immediately into drive. Jamming has been disable and heat mapping shows only Tiur and Thavmain present aboard.”
Al’i breathed a sigh of relief. She gave an order to take the bodies back to the Uictoria for inspection before turning back to the group of Thavmains, “is there anyone else?”
“Possibly, we don’t know,” the voice that was coming through her comms device said. “Jeci Mens”
Al’i sent the rest of the team to search the rest of the place and shook hands with the Menoetian and asked, “what is this place?”
Jeci explained, “It’s called New Thav. Formed long ago as a place to start over, away from the rest of the universe. A whole city, built almost from scratch. About 4,000 Thavmains. Until the attack, that is.”
Al’i left with Jeci back to the TFS Uictoria.
