USCMRPG

The two squads moved out. First squad took the lead and the second squad brought up the rear. They moved through the cramped corridors of the Andromedas engine deck. The corridors were just wide enought for two marines to stand abreast, here and there thick bulkheads portruded from the walls. Every now and then white steam hissed in flickering plumes from a busted pipe.

The motiontracker showed nothing. This place was empty as a tomb all the sudden. That or they, the creatures, were not moving. Waiting - Waiting for them.

After what seemed like an eternity they reached the door leading to the access corridor that in turn lead to the FTL drive room. The door opened with a hiss and a slight rumble as it disappeared into the roof. Just beyond the door in the corridor leading to the FTL a human corpse laid. A man dressed in a khaki colored overall, his head leaned against the wall. His chest had exploded, his ribs bent outwards.

The corridor seemed different here as well, it looked really strange. A sort of black resin had been secreted over the the corridor, question was - Secreted from what?

Looking at his surroundings, Jacob whistled lowly.

Bending down he looked at the open cavity, out of curiosity...and dipped a finger in the blood and drew a smily face. Looking around he realised, what if the blood had beena acidic, but hey - old habits die hard.

His pulse rifle at the ready, Jacob walked in a stooped crouch - to present a small a target as possible, sure they'd faced nothing but aliens so far...but who was to know if bullets weren't going to fly their way at some point, the whole reason they'd been called out was because of cultmembers...

Keeping alert, and in position, at all times - he commed in to the LT "ma'am, do we...carry on? I'm sure that this wasn't in our mission" He was stammering slightly - but managed to keep most of the fear out of his voice.

There was no denying that it was fear, it felt like he was looking into the very mouth of Hell...

Con looked at the mans chest "what the hell is going on here" Con asked the others "is there something your not telling me"

(OOC: I'm not sure if you guys found anything out about this in the first 2 campaigns)

Oh my god... Whispered Ronald for himself, starring at the corpse, he was one of the lucky that had missed these corpses in the earlier missions and turned around, hoping he would get to guard something that didnt got anything to do with the corpse.

"Ok people, we are moving out. I'm taking the lead. Standard formation, single column. Vaughan- you're on the flamer, you'll buddy up with Bojan, who'll be acting as tail-end charlie." Morrison told the new guy, nodding at Bojan.

"Helluva way to die" he thought as he looked at the corpse. The sight of dead bodies never really bothered him; the smell did. Since the suit blocked that out, Morrison simply took a big step over the dead man.

When he got a good look at the strange mass covering the walls, he drew a sharp breath. Remembering what had happened earlier, he spoke to the squad again: "Remember what happened to smiles- don't touch this shit."

For Morrison, the resin was much more frightening then the dead body. It was like these weird, agressive, seemingly stupid creatures had some form of higher purpose.

Bojan looked at the corpse and thought to himself that this couldn't make the job any easier. This seemed like it could be the bio-weapon smuggled on board "on" the cultists.

Bojan, who'll be acting as tail-end charlie.

Bojan nodded in reply and said, "yes, sir" as he passed the incinerator to Vaughn.

OOC: id like to point out to the new players the way we use our signatures. As soon as you get 10 posts (i think), set up your sig so we know who your character is

As first squad moved past the door and into the corridor through to the FTL drive room Nick took instance notice of the corpse lying against the wall. A thought flashed instantly through his mind, "What could cause such wounds?", but he didn't let it distract him from keeping a constant eye on the motion tracker.

First squad, with Nick attached, led the way towards the FTL drive room as second squad, including the three new marines and Lt Vincent, followed their lead.

Keeping alert, and in position, at all times - he commed in to the LT "ma'am, do we...carry on? I'm sure that this wasn't in our mission" He was stammering slightly - but managed to keep most of the fear out of his voice.

"No one promised us the scenic route, Honeysett, just keep moving. Sooner we find those survivors, sooner we leave," Eileen's tone was deceptively relaxed, despite the sight of the strangely broken corpse. She tried without success to make sense of what weapon had inflicted those wounds.

"Alright, straight into the engine room," Eileen said as first squad approached the door, "Remember Eagle, you just worry about killing anything hostile in there, second squad will be right behind to handle survivors."

The platoon headed forward towards the Engine room. The rumbling noise was now so loud that it almost drowned the voice communications. The strange resin increased and it was hard to find stable footing as they moved closer. It became darker the further down they moved, the lights seemed to have been covered in this dark matter as well.

Suddenly a human face appeared in the darkness. His body completely covered in the resin, only his pale white face was visible.

"Ok people, we are moving out. I'm taking the lead. Standard formation, single column. Vaughan- you're on the flamer, you'll buddy up with Bojan, who'll be acting as tail-end charlie."

"Got it, Corporal."

Dar took the flame unit from Bojan, and slung his rifle. He was familiar with them, but hadn't carried one in some time... being more often on recon duty. Dar set up in front of Bojan, and followed... trying hard not to stare at the corpse... something very very wrong was going on here.

The platoon headed forward towards the Engine room. The rumbling noise was now so loud that it almost drowned the voice communications. The strange resin increased and it was hard to find stable footing as they moved closer. It became darker the further down they moved, the lights seemed to have been covered in this dark matter as well.

Dar checked the flame unit again, and nearly tripped in the darkness. Catching himself, he managed to keep the weapon properly safed as he recovered... not terribly gracefully... from his stumble. Knowing the glare he probably was receiving from Bojan behind him... not to mention the eyes in the back of Morrison's head that told him his stumble *had* been noticed... Dar went back to stepping carefully and scanning below and above. When the platoon suddenly called halt, Dar readied and verified his footing...

(ooc: Nope, sig still not ready... hopefully in a post or two)

Suddenly a human face appeared in the darkness. His body completely covered in the resin, only his pale white face was visible

At the sight of the man Con did a double take. After recovering from the inital shock Con remebered his orders.
"Don't try to run, get down on the ground" he yelled "put your arms where we can see them"

from his stumble

Bojan looked at Dar with a mix of pity and dissatisfaction. This man was nervous as hell it seemed and it was not the best to have nervous and green troops in a situation like this. Even veterans could crack as shown by Green.

"Don't try to run, get down on the ground" he yelled "put your arms where we can see them"

"And how is he going to do that then Con?", said Bojan "He's looking rather friendly with that wall"

OOC: Im assuming he's attached to a wall like in the aliens movie in the reactor room. I.e. Plastered to the wall in semi solid resin.

"What in all the seven circles of hell?" Morrison thought as he saw the pale face potruding the wall, eerily lit by the marine's suitlamps. He got that creepy feeling at the nape of his neck that usually erupted when the shit hit the proverbial fan.

"Second squad! Look sharp! Check those bulkheads, own your fields of fire! And watch eachother's backs!" he barked over the comnet. Sounding alot more confident then he was at the moment, as this whole situation struck him with fear.

He then walked down the line, and placed a gloved hand on Vaughan's shoulder; "Just relax, do your job. You don't have to impress me, man. Danny here's got yer back. When we get back from this, the beer's on me."

Walking back up the line, he made it a point to stop and offer a few encouraging words to each and every marine in his squad- the new guys needed to be checked- and he needed to know that he wasn't alone in this hellhole.

Having noticed and passed the face by, Jacob bent to one knee and covered the corridor while the marines behind looked at the face.

"Can we move on? He clearly isn't a threat" he commed in softly - not wanted to catch any unwanted attention

Switching to Green's channel

"Ron, we gonna be a team, cover each other like last time? Because I don't wanna die down here 'n' I sure as hell don't wanna see someone get killed like that...together we're untouchable? Right?"

The man was obviously dead, upon closer examination he also had a similar wound in the middle of his chest to the corpse further back in the corridor. Small droplets of water formed on the Marines visors, the air humidity had to be close 100% down here.

The Marines cautiously continued down the eerie hallway.