boxofmystery | It's a Big Duty

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It's a Big Duty

[The Space Marines hadn't been on the unnamed planet for very long, but so far, this mission had been something of a disaster. Most of the Marines had been injured and they had even lost a couple. Not a good start to what was shaping up to be a long mission.

The distress call had been responded to promptly, however, even with the speed, it appears that they had gotten there much too late. There were a few survivors, but they were few and far between. The Cy-Bugs were programmed well, they took down their targets with ease in most cases.

Despite the danger, it was deemed best that everyone split up so that the area could be searched quicker. Time was of the essence, the Space Marines could defend themselves, the scientists and other civilians didn't have the resources that they did that would keep them safer. The main goal was to find all the survivors and get them to safety, then start a mass elimination of the Cy-Bugs.

The planet was on a strict quarantine, some reinforcements and supplies could be brought in, but no one could leave the planet until the Cy-Bugs were completely destroyed. They were much too dangerous to be let off the planet, just one could cause untold damage.

Ralph had been assigned to check some of the labs, he's bigger and stronger than most of the other Marines, so he was assigned some of the more dangerous sections of the planet.

He kicks down doors, scanning rooms for any signs of life. Occasionally there's a lone Cy-Bug he has to deal with, but, so far, it's been all quiet.

Every now and then, he calls out to anyone that might be able to hear him.]

Hello? Is anybody there? I'm here to rescue you.

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[That could be a lot of people. With 100 floors, the Tower was a hive of activity, it took a lot of people to run it for the many people that worked there.

Things are uneventful at first, but as soon as Ralph spots the enemies onscreen, he gives Virgil the Space Marine hand signal to stop and says.]

Hold up, we've got an incomin' crowd of Cy-Bugs.

The grenade launcher you've got is fulla plasma, so don't worry 'bout wastin' it. The explosive blasts it shoots can take out multiple enemies at once, so you don't hafta worry too much 'bout accuracy, either. Just point an' shoot an' be quick about it to take 'em out.

[Ralph shifts into a solid battle stance, holding the flamethrower at the ready. This round would be up to Virgil, because of the limited fuel for the flamethrower, but he'd scorch anything that got too close. His number one goal is to keep Virgil alive and that's what he plans on doing.]

Thenks, hy tink hy can handle it.

[When they do start coming in, the scientist seems shockingly adept at this. The plasma canon has a little kickback, but he seems to handle it alright. It becomes quickly clear that Virgil has some sort of weapons training. He's sticking close to Ralph, practically under one armored arm as he blasts away at the bugs.]

[Ralph nods to Virgil, then turns his eyes to the Cy-Bugs' entry point. They pour in, and, surprisingly, Virgil is wiping them out left and right. He's very comfortable with the gun and it doesn't take him long to adjust to it.

He's glad that Virgil's sticking so close to him, this way, if there is a problem, Ralph can take care of it right away.

So far, though, Virgil's got this covered, no bugs have even gotten close enough to them, so the precious flamethrower fuel hasn't been used yet.

The Cy-Bugs keep coming in, but Ralph's radar indicates that this group's numbers are slowly dwindling.]

[The scientis blasts another out of the air and finally has to stop and catch his breath, supporting himself against a wall. His brow, where the hair isn't hanging lank, is beaded with sweat. With the poor, near starved diet he's had for the last two weeks, he's not really fit for action. But he shows no desire to stop.]

Zo, hyu got zumvun to go home to?

[When Virgil takes a break, Ralph alternates his eyes between the scientist and the rest of the room, keeping an eye out for any Cy-Bugs that come their way.

He shakes his head.]

Not exactly, I haven't been home in a long time. I became a Space Marine so I could make sure my home planet, and my Mama, stayed safe.

What about you?

[Virgil glances back and forth occasionally, gathering himself again. Granola bars for three meals a day don't exactly prep you for field battle. He smiles nostalgically.]

Hyu should take leave sometime. After dis, if hyu can. Hy can't imagine vorking officially again after seeink a mess like dis.

[Beat]

Not cause hy's discredited. Hy just plan on gathering lots and lots ov settlement pay

[and therapy, and rehabilitation, and maybe a TV spot or two.]

and goink home to my own mama, und my sisters

[Ralph sighs softly.]

Goin' home to see my Mama would be nice, but there's always somethin' that needs taken care of.

Here's hopin' you'll be able to do that. I dunno how settlement pay works, but hopefully it'll work out for ya.

I think we're gonna be stuck here for a while, though. We're under quarantine, nobody can leave the planet until all the Cy-Bugs are destroyed.

[Dreaming about going home is nice, but right now, it's just a dream. He can't afford to be too distracted by it, if he wants to get both of them out alive.]

Ralph, dere are bigger problems in de vould den monsters und var. Hyu vent out to protect hyu mama, aint hyu gonna visit her?

[He really doesn't mean to guilt you but, seriously?]

Und jah, it better. Dey can't brush dis off; dis is deir accident.

[There was nothing they could do to pay for the fear, the pain, the Paranoia and, he'll mention it again, losing a very significant part of himself. But starting with a steak dinner might help.]

[Ralph shakes his head.]

I'd like to, but, like I said, there's always a mission that's assigned and people to help. They're countin' on the Space Marines to keep safe.

[He nods.]

Right, they gotta do somethin' to make it right by everybody who got caught up in this mess.

[It could be a while before that payment comes, and, if things go poorly, neither of them could be alive when it's time for Virgil to be paid for his suffering.]

Vell, vhatever vorks.

[He pulled the gun back up, shifting his weight around uncomfortably.]

Lets finish dis zo I can go home.

[Ralph nods and readies the flamethrower.]

All right. Which way do we need to go now? We're pretty clear at the moment, I don't have any bugs on my radar.

[The young man looked back and forth quickly, finishing regaining his bearings.]

De atrium should be de first exit on either side. Its a fifteen floor open area ov de tower. Either efferyting vill be dead or overgrown, but if dere are survivors

[Probably not, but he's got to check on his experiments and if there are survivors, that's good.]

Dey'll be inside.

Got it.

[He's glad for the overview, he can pick up some of the floorplan on his radar, but it's pretty limited.]

Is there anything else interestin' about it? Does it have a lotta windows?

[If it was a greenhouse-like area, it might have windows to bring in outside light. Unfortunately, that meant that the Cy-Bugs outside could possibly spot them or any survivors.]

Since de security system has ben set off, de outdoor vindows vill be closed. But dere are vhite sunlights, dey'll only be off if de emergency backup failed. If y'm guessing de time right, dey'll be on.

[He nodded to himself.]

De water und lighting systems all hookup through dere. De vater haz been running strangely, so someting has happened to it. Ve gotta go in and check it out. See if its survivors.

[That's good news and some interesting news, Ralph nods.]

Hey, how bright are these sunlights, anyway? You think they'd be enough to distract the Cy-Bugs?

[If they could get them to light up brighter, it could keep them occupied while him and Virgil run in and pull out the survivors.]

Dey's supposed to emulate natural sunlight, so probably not.

If dey plants have grown out, ve may have some good cover.

[Oh well, it was a thought, Ralph nods.]

I'm glad for that.

[It could also make the Cy-Bugs and the survivors harder to find, but with his radar, he should be able to spot them before they spot him.]

You said that the hookups all go through here, are there pipes or somethin' we can follow right to the source?

[If someone or something was messing with them, that would take them straight to the problem.]

Should be two floors up, vhere the atmosphere and climate control systems meet in the center.

[Virgil dug through his blood-spattered ripped coat, removing a systems map and offering it to Ralph.]

Take dis, so hyu know vhere to go.

[Ralph nods and carefully takes the map from Virgil and starts looking it over.]

Thanks.

[After a couple of minutes of looking it over, he turns his attention back to the scientist.]

Should we head up that way first? Or is our best bet of findin' survivors straight through the atrium?

Either vay. Dis is de closest access point, ve can see vhat ve pick up along the vay.

[He shrugged casually, tilting his head towards the doorway they had stopped at.]

[Ralph thinks this over.]

If that's the closest way in, I guess we better take it.

[The way upstairs may be blocked off or could take a while, he's trying to hurry this up, so the quickest way in is what seems to be the best.]

Sounds good.

[Virgil opened the door, stepping back and allowing Ralph to lead the way.]

[The atrium is teaming with life- far more than one would expect. Stalks of overgrown and underpicked corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, strawberries and so on bumped the ceiling, tendrils and vines crawling across the floor. Something enormous hung down the center, passing deep below them and high above, tangled in vines. Virgil's eyebrows shot up and he moved closer behind the solder.]

[Ralph goes in without hesitation, but he's taking it slow, in order to get a good look at the situation.

He's scanning the area for any signs of life, sudden movements, broken plants, anything that would signal that someone has been there at some recent point.

Ralph's also keeping an eye on his radar, trying to spot any Cy-Bugs or humans as soon as he can.

He remains silent, not wanting to draw any attention to their position just yet, there's still a chance this place could be full of bugs and not survivors.]

[It quickly becomes apparent that there at least someone has been here. Some corn cobs scattered the floor here and there, long dried. Apple cores sat in mulchy piles of ripe brown.]

[Observing without a word, Virgil tried to keep quiet. His leg betrayed him, hissing with each bend of the knee and the occasional squeal of strain. The young man's eyes stayed trained on the great mass, occasionally craning his head up to see. It seemed to be stemming from what used to be the climate control system, pipes holding it precariously stable.]

Dis ting vasn't here before. Is fascinating.

[His voice was hushed, but full of wonderment[

[Ralph's eyes widen when he sees the remnants of food. Cy-Bugs wouldn't leave a scrap, they ate everything. There definitely had been survivors here at some point, but it was hard to tell how long ago. He starts following the trail of debris, when Virgil speaks up.

He freezes in place and looks back towards the scientist, hissing a hasty whisper at him.]

If it hasn't been there before, then it's probably somethin' the Cy-Bugs caused. We gotta get these survivors out quick before there's any trouble.

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