Sarge steps into the empty room carefully, his eyes scanning every corner and crevice, gun in hand, but lowered. There's a few seconds as he peers around, before gesturing for us to follow, and we trail in behind; five recruits, and three carts of supplies. "Fuck," I think, nervousness running up and down my spine. I don't want to overreact, but the conclusion seems forgone, unless an entire squad of Tenno operatives all decided to step out for a smoke simultaneously. The Sarge steps over to a nondescript box, and his hand searches around before finding a switch. He toggles it, and the box spins up, a high pitched whine that sounds briefly like the cry of a creature as it echos around in the cave
I don't flinch, but the electronic sound puts my teeth on edge, adding an uncomfortable backing track to the tense situation. Dim lights come to life, filling the space with a warm yellow, closer to incandescent's than a sodium bulb. In a different situation, I could imagine the lights comforting, but in the absence of the squad, it just lends to the uncertain atmosphere. I take a moment to breathe in deep, acknowledging the sensations, and move past them to focus on the Sarge. His demeanor is serious, at stark odds with his previous behavior from the past 40 hours or so. His expression is tight, tense, and his gaze passes over all of us. "Caz, I'm officially taking command," he says, his eyes landing on the blonde haired squad member. Before Caz can react, the Sarge pushes forward, his voice quietly but forcefully assigning tasks.
"I want this place turned over. Any indication of a struggle, any sign of where they might've gone, I want it found. Thomoni, over there," he says, pointing towards a door on the left, around an awkward bend of stone. "Nova, you're in the bedroom," he tells me, pointing to a door on the right. "Tygg, Ko-lee, Caz, you're in here with me. Call out if you need anything." There's a round of "sir's" before we all quietly make our way over to our different portions of the room. I head to the door, my eyes peeled for anything odd or out of place. I don't see anything as I reach it, and I take a second to look at cool metal in front of me. It's not of Grineer make; it's pretty clearly some sort of semi-permanent Tenno structure, if the aesthetic is anything to go by. My eyes scan the solid looking bit of tech before landing on the light indicating allowance, nearly identical to the ones on the relay. It flashes yellow when I approach.
"That's new," I think, before flagging the Sarge down. "The door isn't opening," I explain as he approaches. "It's flashing yellow." He makes his way over, and as he gets within 10 feet, it swings open. "Difference in rank, maybe," I think, looking inside. The bedroom is lit the same as the rest of the cave, but I wait to enter, since the Sarge is blocking passage by standing in the frame. He reaches up to fiddle with an exposed switch near the top that was previously hidden when the door was closed, and after a few moments, he steps back, letting the door slide shut once more. Unlike the doors on the relay, it's not soundless; there's a crunching when it opens and closes, likely due to all the sand. The Sarge gestures towards the door with his head, and without needing further explanation, I step forward. This time, it blinks green, and upon seeing the light, he heads off wordlessly. I step in, and start to explore the bedroom, the door sliding shut behind me.
I look at the half made bunks dotted about within the smaller portion of the cave. There's seven beds here, which catches me off guard slightly, but I step towards the first one, checking it thoroughly for anything of note. I check the under the sheets, the pillows, and even underneath and around the foldable frame itself, before moving on to the next one. One has a puzzle of some sort, and another a tiny light clipped to the frame, but nothing that would give any indication of where the missing Tenno would be. I finish checking all seven beds, and stand at the end of the room looking down the line, my eyes slowly scanning the space from a static position. I want to be thorough, but I also don't want to spend all my time searching for something that might not be here. After one more slow scan, I start to head back towards the entrance, passing my eyes over everything and nothing in particular.
I don't quite see anything, but my brain is telling me to go back, to recheck a portion of the room. I back up a few steps, trying to get a glimpse of whatever it is that my subconscious had seen. I repeat the scan-and-walk, paying extra close attention, and catch a glint from one of the foldable bed frames as I do. "Except the bed frames are matte, not reflective," I realize, taking a step closer to investigate whatever it was that had caught the light. A piece of metal nearly entirely buried, something I hadn't noticed when on my hands and knees, is under the second bed closest to the entrance. I grab at it, the sand falling away to reveal a holopad, the screen dim, but still lit.
The screen springs to life at a touch, and I thank whoever's listening that it's not locked. I flick through a few pages, scrolling to the last couple entries, trying to get a general gist on what it says without taking too much time. There's a few mentions about the operation they had been actively working on - taking advantage of the disruption of Corpus control to nab data from both factions - as well as some mentions of the spotty radio issues. The log entry doesn't seem to indicate anything abnormal about it, and even makes references insinuating that radio contact was touch and go at the best of times. There's an entry referring to us delivering supplies, and the morale boost it was going to bring, but as I reach the final page, I find something noteworthy.
Communications have been fully knocked out. There's been an abnormal amount of troop movement around LH-3 and 4, which is too close for my liking. I'm not entirely confident, but I think it might be some sort of suppression field. I don't know if they know we're here, or if we just happened to get caught in the same net they were casting for the Corpus. Regardless, when supplies arrive, I think I'm going to make a case for extraction.
And then, nothing. I try to stretch out the tenseness I feel building in my shoulders and arms, before taking a deep breath. "It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you," I think, a grimace crossing my face. I head back into the main room, holding out the holopad as I do. "Sarge, you're gonna want to read this. Broadly, the squad thinks that the Grineer set up a suppression net, which knocked out their comms, and there was a bunch of movement nearby. They were going to ask for us to pull them out when we got here," I say, placing the device in his hands.
There's a few looks from the others; frustration and resolve in equal measure as they take in my words. The Sarge nods, clenching his jaw. "Fuck," he spits. His anger catches me off guard, and I widen my eyes, but I keep my mouth shut. "I was hoping we could fix comms and radio out. If they've got a field up, then there's nothing we can do. Fuck." I waver for a moment, unsure of how to respond. I'm tempted to ask what the plan is, because from where I'm standing, it seems sort of obvious. "They got kidnapped, or killed. Or kidnapped and killed," I think. "I would say that they need a rescue, but there were seven full Tenno here, and we're five recruits and one low level officer. I don't know what other choice we have except to try to bounce so we can pass this mess up the chain."
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"Go help the others," the Sarge says, distractedly. I nod, and make my way over towards a section of the wall that Ko-lee's up against. "Find anything?" I ask. She nods, her shoulders tense. "There were a few spots of dried blood over on that part of the wall," she says, pointing over to a patch of the cave on the left. "Some bullet holes as well." She has that familiar expression of intensity, but it's tinged with something darker; a cold fury, a desire for blood, for revenge. I want to say something to comfort, to reassure, but I've got nothing. "Fuck man, if I wasn't so worried that we'd have our shit rocked, I'd be right there with her," I think angrily. "I'm so god damn tired of the Grineer walking over us. Of us being caught on the back foot. This was supposed to be an easy, first in the field mission for some experience. Not a god damn murder mystery."
I catch myself breathing heavily, working myself up, and I take a moment to recenter. Then, I turn my attention away, scanning the floor, the walls, the shelves and tables, as well as any other nook or cranny where I might able to find something noteworthy. I don't know if I'm covering ground the other three have already covered, but I don't bother them about it. "An extra pair of eyes never hurts," I think. A few minutes later, I catch Rease coming out of the other room, before making his way over to the Sarge. The two of them have a back and forth for a minute or so, and I strain my ears to hear. I'm unable to pick up more than a preposition, and an adjective or two, but eventually, I see the pair of them head over into the room itself. Ko-lee follows my gaze for a moment before turning back to her task. I shoot Rease a message.
AN: What's over there?
It's nearly a full minute before I receive a response.
RT: There's some sort of obstruction. It's like one of the temporary doors, but there's no door. I'm pretty sure there's a tunnel behind it. I was asking the Sarge whether it was possible if they took it down, entered the tunnel, and put it back up behind them.
Before I get the chance to respond, another message comes in.
RT: Sarge said no.
The pair of them come back out, and Sarge stands in the center of the room, before calling out, "Space Trauma, front and center!" We come from every corner of the cave, lining up in front of the Sarge. His expression is severe, but professional, and there's no hint of the relaxed persona he'd had the entire trip. "Our last contact with the seven operatives stationed here - two from Cerulean Squad, and the other five from the Hand of Stoh squad - are all MIA. Officially, they are presumed to have been kidnapped, and possibly killed. It'll be hard to know for sure without a full investigation. However, that is not your role in this. Due to comms blackout, no one up there is aware that anything is wrong down here. They will eventually send someone when check in is missed, but that wouldn't be for a few days. So, our new mission is to extract with the info we have, and bring it back to Strata, so they can send a warframe down here to clean house."
He pauses a beat, his eyes scanning over the five of us before continuing. "It's likely one or more Grineer squads are somewhere in the caves. It's possible that they are unaware of our presence, but to be safe, we're going to operate under the assumption that they know we're here. That means that they would have closed around us like a snare. So, when we move out, I want everyone on high alert. That means trigger fingers limber. Does everyone understand?" The high pitched whine of the generator is the only sound, the fosfor flare on the ground lending a liminal vibe to the entire interaction, as the five of us respond with nods.
He lets out a breath, before giving his own nod. "Alright. Good. Load up on ammo. I know you all came in pretty light, so use whatever you can find in the supply carts. I want everyone taking as much as they can, as long as it won't slow you down. I know we're doing two 8 hour hikes back to back, but I can only give you 10 minutes of R and R before we head out. Use it well," he says. He dismisses us, and I head over to the supply cart, trying to avoid breaking into a sprint. I start reaching in, grabbing magazines that match for both my Lato and my Braton, magnetically attaching them in places that would be easy to reach in a firefight. "Sergeant Letmin?" I hear Ella say. I turn to watch out of the corner of my eye as I load up, strapping grenades to my thighs.
"I found a weapon earlier, I'm not sure if we should take it with us," she continues. "I left it over there." She points to a small table, where a dust covered handgun of some sort sits. The Sarge glances over, before closing the distance and reaching out to inspect the weapon. "Magnus," he says, half to himself, and half to Ella. "Solid construction. If it were something else, I'd say we leave it, cause we don't have time to field strip and clean it. However..." he presses a switch along the side, and the revolver splits in half between barrel and grip, like a breech loading shotgun. He gives it a quick once over, before making his way back over towards the supply cart, digging through to find a box of ammo. He picks one out; a hockey puck shaped object an inch or two in diameter that clicks straight in, like a cross between a revolver auto loader and a magazine.
He closes the gun back up, and the ghost of a smile passes his lips. "Thank you, Tygg," he says, looking at Ella. "Good eye." She smiles and nods a few times, nervousness coloring her expression, before turning back to the supply cart with the rest of us. It only takes me a few minutes to be fully outfitted, and I find a seat off in the corner of the cave, doing my best to relax while my heart beats heavily. I watch as Caz finishes up, looking around the cave, before locking his eyes on the seat next to mine. He heads over in my direction, his movements heavy, plodding. "Hey man," I say, as he plops down in the chair next to me. He flicks his eyes over my way, and I shoot him a sympathetic look. "Rough first day?" I quip. He lets out a wheezing chuckle before rolling his eyes. "Yeah, just a bit," he responds, after a moment. We sit there in silence, while our time ticks down both too slow and too fast.
I try to do either of the R's, but can't find it in me to rest or relax. My mind is running a mile a minute, and my muscles are wound tight, in preparation for what might be a fight for my life. Still, I go through the motions as I look over everyone else within the cave. Ella and Rease are sat at a different table on the other side of the cave. I can see Rease's lips moving, his eyes closed, his breathing steady. If I didn't know better, I'd assume he was praying, but Ella's occasional nods and shakes tell me that he's talking to her, maybe trying to calm her down. "He might be the only one actually capable of relaxing," I think, as I shift my gaze to Ko-lee.
Rather than sitting, she's stretching; one limb, then the other, in slow, methodical movements. It's the same sort of stretching I've seen her do a million times, usually right before she beats someone's ass in hand to hand combat. Finally, I land on the Sarge. He's stood near the door, just off center. Slightly in cover, but still in a position to see fully down the hall. I can't tell if he's on lookout, or if he's just staring into the darkness in thought. "I wonder if he's worried, or if he's just like this when he turns serious," I think, my eyes on the now stoic officer. "Actually, I wonder if I even want the answer to that question."
He tilts his head up, suddenly, in reaction to something, and I feel my heart skip a beat, before he turns and heads back towards the center of the room. He doesn't need to say a word; I can read it in his body language. I tap Caz on the shoulder as I stand, and all five of us make our way over in front of him, lining up in silence. The fosfor flare in the center of the room hisses, casting us onto the ceiling, our shadow selves looming. A part of me notes our arrangement is the same as the one we'd been using in training; the repetition drilling muscle memory into all five of us. "Let's move out," says the Sarge, and one by one, with eyes and ears peeled for threats, we filter back out into the gaping maw of the tunnel.
