Part Two: Descent

[Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon]

3700 Hours (local)
Lethe

She was the last one to step through the Stargate. It had been a while since she had stepped through it for a mission, which required getting back in the saddle of getting her gear on. It was the first time in years, Kim, realised just how heavy the equipment really was. Oh, what she wouldn't do to be a young for a day and be able to carry the extras -she wasn't used- easily. Coming out to the other side, she half expected Jerry to be waiting for her the team. Disappointment washed over her face at her own foolish thought. Shaking her head, she came bak to the present and felt the chill in the air. It wasn't any normal chill, but the one that would make winter back on earth seem like spring.

Covering part of her face, she looked around.Telion was already ahead with everything, as she stood and listened to the discussion going around her. "Without any survivors, his secrets aren't ever exposed. I don't think he would just up and leave. There is more to it. Let's see what we can find."

When O'Shea redirected her attention towards a incoming group. Activating her own, she asserted the newcomers. Greek? That was not good sign, "We have company people, and not the nice kind. If they belong to Hades, a wise guess is, that he back here or on a near by planet." The idea of him watching their every move crept her out. But she didn't like that he could have the ability to keep tabs on them, however he was able to do it.

Clicking off the safety, "Who's up or giving him a warm welcome home?" she asked, with a twisted smirk, which would have those who knew her shaking their heads, "Positions everyone, and NOW." If they all wanted to live, it would do some good to get moving.

< Tag: Task Group Green Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen  

Task Group Red Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart , Justin Anderson   >

[Andy Buchanan]

3702 Hours (local)

Lethe

"Who's up for giving him a warm welcome home? Positions everyone, and NOW."

Andy fell into position with a sort of automatic shuffle through the snow. A thousand questions - mostly irrelevant - tumbled through his thoughts. What if they're actually not immediately going to attack? What's the plan for retreat, because frankly, we are stuck quite literally between a snowy rock and a snowy hard place... Questions like these and more showered his thoughts and he mentally batted them away. He had never enjoyed carrying a weapon. He'd joined up with the army to become an engineer, and that was what he was damn good at. So it was with obvious reluctance that he clicked off the safety on his own rifle.

Combat command was most assuredly not his 'thing'. There had been many times over the years that Andy Buchanan's intuition, creativity and ability to think so far outside the box he was no longer even in the same country had meant that teams had followed his lead. In this situation, he was more than content to let others do the leading. His eyes skimmed the icy surroundings, data clicking in from the attached visualiser that he had connected to his own visor. It was, as were so many of Andy's 'gadgets', in its prototype stage, but it gave him what he needed to know. Topographical breakdown of his immediate area and he absorbed it all with the skill and ease of a man long practiced.

"There's a sheltered ridge about half a mile to our east," he said in his softly accented voice. "Could afford us some cover. Fairly steep gradient though, so I'd suggest you mind your footing. You know," he added, his voice maintaining a level of optimistic cheeriness that was, as ever, incongruous with the situation. "Don't fall off the cliff."


<Tag:  Task Group Green:  Adam "Sly" Collier, Marah "Tonobi" Law, Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton, Erik Sorensen
Task Group Red: 
Koren Telion, Nolen "Dragon" Syaria, Stephanie Martin, Victoria Ramel, @adaheart, Justin Anderson>

[Hades]

3715 hours (local time)
Lethe

Acting on the orders of Rhadamanthus, the Vizier of the Underworld, three dozen Hoplites ascended to the frozen surface of Lethe from their underground lodgings. Using a series of winding and concealed tunnels, the loyal warriors of Hades appeared to come out of nowhere, breaching the surface in close proximity to their enemy. Moving with drilled practice, they formed into an offensive formation and began to advance.


Image: Theo Stylianides

Clad in dark armour fashioned in the traditional style, they appeared on first glance to have been transported straight from Classic Greece. Closer inspection proved this to not be the case. Firstly, their armour was jet black in colour and adorned with the bones and skulls of their human and alien victims. Demonic motifs handed painted by each soldier adorned their armour, retelling great victories. Thick fur cloaks, also jet black, provided them with protection from the harsh elements. Secondly, the construction of their armour was about as far from Greek craftsmanship as one could get - the leather and bronze of those days long gone now replaced with lightweight alloys resistant to bullets and energy weapons.

At the rear of the two dozen stood their commander, his position marked by a silver plume of feather running down the centre line of his helmet and a greater than average variety of 'trophies' hanging from his armour. Eteocles the Younger, loyal combat veteran of the forces of Hades, would again bring victory to the battle as he has done countless times before. The enemy would fall before the strength and determination of the men and women under his command.

"Charge!" he yelled, urging the Hoplites on. Raising their energy spears, the forces of Hades began peppering the enemy position with deadly energy bursts, advancing toward them at a rapid pace.

< Tag Task Group Green [Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon , Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen , Kieran "Bear" O'Shea ] & Task Group Red [Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart & Justin Anderson ] >

OOC: I'll be needing some prisoners shortly - could one of the Task Groups be so kind as to allow themselves to be captured?

[Justin Anderson]

3715 hours (local)
Lethe

Their movement into the Ruins kept fairly steady as they went, the conversation between them all was not his primary concern, even if a a fair chunk of it was about how they were going to get back. If they were going to get back at all he stay to stay focused on keeping an eye out for trouble. The point man's fist went up and he stopped. Something was coming from the front left of the group. Looking that way it probably took him a few more seconds than most to see them, not having the experimental goggles. 

There was a quick conversation about their origin. "Sir, they're soldiers. If memory serves, Greek ones. Perhaps part of Hades group," The sergeant started "We have company people, and not the nice kind. If they belong to Hades, a wise guess is, that he back here or on a near by planet." Lt Colonel Mckinnon finished, To him it didn't matter so much, they were her and more than likely not the friendliest people.

"Who's up or giving him a warm welcome home? Positions everyone, and NOW." There wasn't much for cover but he could attempt to cover the group as they scrambled for cover. "There's a sheltered ridge about half a mile to our east, Could afford us some cover. Fairly steep gradient though, so I'd suggest you mind your footing. You know, Don't fall off the cliff." There wasn't going to be time, they'd be even more exposed running away from the enemy then standing their ground and fighting it out. 

Taking a knee he raised his rifle at the incoming 'greek' troops. As the energy bolts came at them he opened fire.

<TAG: Task Group Green: Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon, Adam "Sly" Collier, Marah "Tonobi" Law, Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton, Erik Sorensen,
          Task Group Red: Koren Telion, Nolen "Dragon" Syaria, Stephanie Martin, Victoria Ramel, Andy Buchanan, @adaheart>

[Andy Buchanan]

3715 hours (local)

Lethe



"Sir, they're soldiers. If memory serves, Greek ones. Perhaps part of Hades group." 

What joy. At least there's no danger of you being mistaken for Apollo again.

It was small comfort, but it was some. He ignored the torrent of discomfort that came with the onslaught of unwanted memories and grit his teeth against it. He too up his assigned position to the left flank of the group and neatly dodged one energy bolt that might otherwise have hit him square in the chest. He brought his weapon up and returned fire. Much as he had not particularly wanted to end up engaged in a fire fight, here he was anyway. His eyes took in the enemy and he winced inwardly. There was little point in mentioning just how outnumbered they were likely to be against the myrmidon forces. It was clear as day.

His sharp gaze settled on the obvious commander, the figure at the back in the silver plumed helmet and he turned his fire in that direction instead. Take out the leader and the structure collapses. He repeated those eight words over and over in his head like a mantra as he kept his weapon firing in steady bursts.

"Not that I'm in any way worried," he said, between another rapid round of fire, "but what's our strategy here exactly? I think..." Exactly what he thought had to wait as he moved to dodge another incoming energy bolt. His feet found an overhang of snow and the ground beneath him shifted threateningly. 

Ironic that you should have been the one to say 'don't fall off the cliff'.

By all the gods, Greek or otherwise, how he hated his snarky, sarcastic inner voice. As the ground gave way beneath his feet, he could almost have laughed about it. Instead, the yell of warning came out of his mouth as a sort of 'wooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaah' noise.

Fortunately for Andy Buchanan, some other gods were looking out for him that day and his now-rapid descent was cut short only a few feet down. He landed, with neither style nor grace, face down in the snow, on a ledge beneath where they had been standing. Several yards ahead of him was what looked to be either a cave opening in the cliff wall, or possibly just a shelter or passing ridge. Either way, the way back up was denied to him at the moment. He made his way forward cautiously on the decidedly narrow ledge.

Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't...

He looked down.

Yeah. You won't be so lucky if you pull that stunt again, Rigger, m'lad.

As he approached the opening, he clicked his comm open.

"Sir. I've found some kind of... tunnel. Can't get back up to you at the moment. Can hold position here, or see where this takes me. Your call."

<Tag: Red and Green>

[Deleted]

3715 hours (local)
Lethe


Where the enemy had come from, Shauna had no idea and the sight of them was clearly meant to put fear into there enemy. She'd be lying to say it wasn't working and she could only guess they weren't happy to see them.
Even there walk helped to give the effect of fear. They never faltered in there advance, even as there staffs let off bursts of energy they continued and showed no fear.
As bursts of energy sent snow into the air, Shauna froze, she had plenty of hours of training with a weapon and still despite all that she still froze when it came to firing at a live target. In all her service in the Irish military she had always been involved in saving life's, but never take one and till joining the program never taught she'd have to. Twenty seconds in to the fire fight, she finally picked the courage to release a volly and try to hit a target. The first volly sent snow flying into the air, the second volly clipped one of the shoulders and third hit her target. The third volly hit him center of the chest and shoulder.

For a second she slightly lowered her weapon, watching her first living kill drop to the ground and drain of its life in a matter of seconds. But she knew what was at risk, that this enemy wanted revenge and she knew she couldn't allow that at any cost. Raising her weapon again she fire once more.

<TAG: Task Groups RED & GREEN>

[Kieran "Bear" O'Shea]

3715 hours (local time)
Lethe

The soldiers were quick and outnumbered them severely. Even with the expertise of the others Kieran knew that they could be in trouble. He scrambled to find some sort of cover but a quick look around the immediate area proved that there was none. The low visibility affected everyone on his side and he had no way of telling what the enemy had to see them. He dropped to one knee a few feet from Anderson and raised his weapon, his index finger immediately finding the trigger and he fired his weapon with practiced ease. His bullets found their intended target but they seemed to cause no harm. 

"They're practically bullet proof!" He yelled out above the sound of battle and aimed down the sights, trying to find a weak spot on the enemy. When the man he was aiming at moved, Kieran caught sight of what appeared to be a design flaw in their armor and he honed in on it, aiming at the neck. One, two, three bullets and he fell. "Aim for the neck, right below the chin. They seem to have weaker armor there!"

Now that he knew it was possible to beat these soldiers he found himself shooting at another as they approached quickly, obviously angered that one of their own were killed. Kieran scrambled to his feet and continued to shoot at him, his bullets bouncing off the armor as he took a few steps to the side, drawing the man away from the rest of his team. He couldn't get a good shot in at the weak spot in the armor and when the man charged him Kieran got knocked to the ground. 

He grabbed the enemy's wrist when the man went to punch him and kicked him back before scrambling to his feet. The man was fast though and was coming right back after him despite the slight setback. Kieran lifted his weapon when the man did the same and shot right for his neck. The energy weapon that the enemy had fired and Kieran scrambled out of the way, the shot getting his arm and he cried out in pain. Another slip on the ice caused him to fall back and the enemy approached once more, this time raising his energy weapon and knocking Kieran in the head with it, knocking the Irishman unconscious. 

< Tag: Task Group Green [ Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon , Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen  ] & Task Group Red [ Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart , Justin Anderson ] >


[[ OOC: Down goes the Irishman ]]

[Hades]

3715 hours (local time)
Planet surface
Lethe

The Hoplites continued to advance on the two enemy teams mercilessly, laying down a sustained volley of energy weapons fire from their spear-like weapons. From the rear of the group Eteocles the Younger ordered their movements, arranging them in formation to quickly pin down and overwhelm the outnumbered group. The Hoplites had the home ground advantage, and were well versed in movement and combat on the frigid planet’s surface. In short order they closed the distance between themselves and the expedition personnel.

Eteocles the Younger hurried to join the war pack, satisfied that their tactical positioning was firm. Now he lusted to join the bloodshed. He advanced with purpose toward his foe as their projectile weapons bounced off his armour. A young man from what he could see under their arctic uniforms held his ground and fired on him. Eteocles swiftly closed the remaining distance, and knowing that weapons were not as effective this close, went to unarmed combat. The two men wrestled for a few moments, with the enemy solider almost gaining the upper hand. On more than one occasion Eteocles feared that was about to be bested, something he had not faced in combat in recent memory. A snap shot of his weapon caught the man in the arm, causing him to slip on the ice. The leader of the Hoplites rendered him unconscious for a blow to the head from his weapon.

Looking around he noted that the enemy were bringing to bear more effective fire than he’d anticipated. A number of Hoplites were down or wounded, and the numbers were slowly turning against them. Eteocles grabbed the stunned human, and seeing that a woman had also been captured, decided to cut his loses. Hades would not be pleased, but the two prisoners would buy him some favour in light of the defeat.

“Ledhor, delay their advance for the glory of Hades!” he called into his helmet’s communication circuit to his second in command. With the assistance of another Hoplite, he dragged the unconscious soldier back toward the hidden tunnel that he brought them to the surface, making sure than the Human woman was also being brought along.

3722 hours (local time)
Interrogation cavern
Lethe

Using small hover carts the Hoplites whisked their two prisoners through the maze of subterranean tunnels boared out beneath the planet's surface in secret. The green lighting of the tunnels gave them a sickly appearance, and without any clear signage, those unfamiliar with the tunnel network could easily become lost.

Quickly making their way deeper and deeper into the palace of Hades, Eteocles and the Hoplites eventually came to their final destination - the interrogation cavern. Only as high as two men, the circular room spread out a hundred meters from the centre. On the surface the cavern was mostly empty, with a few chairs and benches littered around for using in questioning. Only on closer inspection could you see where the prisoners were kept - the floor of the cavern was pocketed with small cells carved into the stone, their thick metal lids closing flush with the floor. Cries of pains and begs for forgiveness and freedom from prisoners filled the cavern as the hover cart approached.

Once they were stripped of their equipment and weapons, the two prisoners were deposited into one of these cells in the middle of the cavern. Posting a Hoplite to watch them, Eteocles the Younger departed to report their capture of Hades.

< Tag Task Group Green [Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon , Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen , Kieran "Bear" O'Shea ] & Task Group Red [Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart & Justin Anderson ] >

[Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon]

3715 hours (local time)
Lethe

Oh shit!!

As her eyes caught the movements from their enemy. The attack was something she should have expected, but hadn't. It seemed that as the former member of SD-5, the bad penny followed her through the gate. Sniffing for unasked trouble was the Jerry's skills; not hers. Perhaps it was something had passed on to her as well along with leadership of the SD-1. Why hadn't she had taken Travis's penny of dangerous missions. She wanted to live damn it.

Arming herself, "SCATTER!!!" she barked out as she found cover behind the gate, which itself wasn't much and over the firing she heard Andy, "Telion," she shouted over to the man who was a member of both Delta and Vedas, "Check out the tunnels. We will hold fort." She kept the firing up, but soon noticed that not one fell. Not a single one. This was bad.

Bullet proof, she wanted to groan. Just what they all needed. A reply was sitting on her lips, but O'Shea had found a weak spot, "If we get out of here alive," she told Kerien, "I'm promoting you. Even if I have to fight Wright for it."

She ducked and scrambled again, when the blast from the weapon almost hit her. "Don't these guys give up!!" she exclaimed to herself, as she aimed for the spot that was mentioned, and had one falling over. The spot itself was easy, but harder to to shoot at. And the armor didn't help. She had been too busy to even notice that someone was taking a aim for her. By the time she noticed, she quickly fired.

They had to move, but where.....her minded wondered as her breath was panting heavy. She was not conceding defeat just yet.

< Tag:Task Group Green [ Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen Task Group Red [Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart , Justin Anderson ] >

[Andy Buchanan]

3720 hours (local)
Lethe


It had seemed borderline foolish to separate himself from the rest of the group, but that was exactly the situation he'd ended up in. No matter: he'd been in worse situations. Right now, he couldn't call any of them to mind, but Andy Buchanan was sure that at some point in his career he'd been in a tighter spot than this. When he got the order to check out the tunnels he radioed his acknowledgement back and, with extreme caution, made his way into the tunnel entrance.

The interior was everything you'd expect from a tunnel carved from the icy rock of this forsaken planet, and it was obvious to Andy's eyes that it was indeed man-made and not natural. The tunnel was too straight, the sides were too smooth, the pale luminescence that glowed from the overhead lighting... yep. This was not a natural occurrence at all. Maintaining a slow and steady pace, Andy prowled through the tunnel as slowly and as quietly as he could manage. The further he walked, the more muffled and distant the firefight outside became and a sense of peaceful calm settled over him as he focused entirely on what was around him.

The tunnel dipped, going down a subtle gradient and took him further underground. He was more than aware that at some point, his comms would likely cease to be of any use whatsoever, but he kept moving forward. Somewhere, far off in the distance, he could hear the low burr of machinery. He felt it more than he heard it: a gentle thrum beneath his feet. Generators, he guessed, for powering whatever nefarious hideout these soldiers of Hades might have to hand.

Several more steps brought him to a perplexing muddle of directions with several other tunnels leading off in a variety of directions. He unhooked his utility knife and carefully carved a small rune into the icy wall. He was not so foolish as to let himself get lost in a maze of twisting passages, all alike. Or, he reasoned as the reference brought a brief smile to his face, would he be eaten by a Grue.

Cautiously, he activated his radio and very quietly spoke into the mouthpiece. He didn't know if it would be received or not, but at this point, he at least needed to try.

"Tunnel goes deep underground. Several choices. Going to see what I can find. Probably going to radio silence in a few metres. Will keep report going, just in case."

He tried very hard not to think about the very real possibility that nobody was even there to hear his message at all.

He kept pressing forward, opting for the tunnel on the left. Again, the gradient descended - more sharply this time - and the footing became difficult. After a few minutes, he came up against a dead end. Cursing softly, he turned round and went back to the junction, to try another tunnel. One down, four more to go.

Two more of the tunnels lead to dead ends and he could feel genuine frustration starting to creep over him. What, his inner engineer mused, was the point of a tunnel to nowhere? Bloody lazy if you ask me.

The right-most tunnel, however, opened out into a reasonably sized cavern - clearly a supply store of some kind. He duly reported it back, doubting now that his comms would breach the surface.

Andy had seen enough films to know that dramatic convention demanded that about now, he would hear approaching footsteps, so he to pre-empted the inevitable by scoping out the room and determining the most useful hiding spots, or places from where he could make some sort of heroic last stand. 

There were none.

"Figures," he murmured, opening the nearest storage box and checking out its contents.

<Tag: Red, Green or any passing alien who might be around>