The Remaining

[Soleil King]

2077, the Palnemon's attacked the earth, an unknown alien race, forcing the world to unite and fight the invasion. Unknown as to what their reasoning was behind their visit, fear threatened the people, driving many underground to bunker's created by the Government. The limited space under the earth's surface forced millions to be left to fight the alien's, alongside the government. Families and children were left to face certain death, especially when the world was on the brink of destruction.

A war against millions lasted for months until the decision was made, bombs were to end all. The Palnemon's, smart and with advanced techinological skills, recepted the fate that they too, might have faced. Without warning, they dropped an unknown weapon on the human's bringing nothing but a downspiral of death and destruction. For any of those who survived above ground inhaled fumes, suffered from a fallout, causing an uncontrollable disease. The disease, much like the plague, was immediately airborn people's brains were fried, their actions suddenly became violent and all they could think of doing was killing.

Years passed, the disease mutated, no longer airborn, it became an illness that was transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, or from being bitten or scratched, something that was, at that time, only seen in horror films. Going from sheer violence, it progressed into a way of living, almost zombielike, they began to feed on those poor souls who barely survived and those who were not infected.

Thus, the new world was created. Miles underground the New World slowly took shape. Life, as it was before, with the exception of none of it being real. The grass, having been grown from a lab created the solid earth the people walked on. The air...all despensed by lab's who manufactured tree's and plants. Offsetting Carbon gasses. Reusing the air filtration systems to recycle air. Tree's although providing air, had problems living in bunkers. Thus, the new computer system was evolved. Simulated rain storms, snow, cool temperatures, heat waves...everything falsified to make the manner of living underground more apprehendable. The moon, an image on a backdrop. The sun, UV lights reflected. Nothing was real, but a very good stage for humans to live and pretend.

However, above ground, the story grew to be much different. With everything destroyed, fires continuously burn from those left behind with the infection, dubbed Palnemia. The world we once new was falling apart, delapadated buildings, nothing but iron skeletons reminding those of what once stood. Car's overturned, the ground covered in ash from the rain that perpetually fell from the large circulating cloud of dust hovering high above the remains of cities and life.

Torn apart by no life, but infection, it can rain acid. Siren's, for those who collect the infected, wail when an onset of rain is about to fall allowing enough time to hide, or to go back to the underground. The nights are pitch black, no light, and so cold that within a matter of an hour you could suffer hypothermia. The infected has adapted, whereas life has progressed little, resorting to computer and science.

The reformed life has become liveable, managble, the government has created a group of daredevil's who break to the surface, hunting the infected, capturing them, bringing them back down to their labs to study, to see if there is a cure. Which was where the Renegade Squadron was formed, an offset to the good deed the government has tried to set up. An illegal orginization to go against what has tried to be reformed. Which was why Soleil King's job was more than dangerous, it is against the law.

[Sander Grey]

No one his age had known anything but the world they lived in. The world of two layers. The Surface, and The Underground, known as Atlantis. Their parents had lived through it, seen it, but the youth were adapted to living underground, understanding that the Infected were just a part of life. Just the way things were.

But bigger things happened when society's ignorance was looking away.

The Renegade Squadron. A groud of steadily growing rogues who fight against the gathering and testing of the Infected. Three branches make it up--The Subsurface Supporters. Their role was to ensure the safety of the inhabitants underground. The Surface Snipers. Second most dangerous of the three branches, they are the cautionless people who venture to the surface to hunt and kill the Infected in retaliation against the Government. And the third, and most dangerous branch. The Government Operatives. Like spies, they have planted themselves among the enemy, joining in the experiments on the Infected for the purpose of gathering information for the other renegades.

Sander Grey fell on the second rung, a Surface Sniper. An almost never-miss shot, his was one of the youngest 1st Lieutenants since the formation of the Renegade Squadron. The title of 1st Lieutenant, once considered a lower rank, was the second highest in command in recent society, and was inhabited by Sander Grey and Asia Edwards, his partner.

There were enough active soldiers to prevent Sander from knowing them all, and a constant change of shifts and rotation of positions made it almost impossible to get to know anyone but the partner to whom you were tied. It was always hard for 1st Ensigns to get accustomed to the lack of human contact usually associated with the Squadron. But soon, you learned to live without that sort of thing, got to the point where your friends were your partner, your commanding officer and maybe someone you happened to live near.

Sander's day started at seven in the morning and ended at seven at night. It left him exactly one hour to eat and do his nightly activities before he crashed sometime around ten o'clock. It was the life of a First Lieutenant. The farther up you got on the ladder, the longer your days got, the more complicated your problems got, and the more nagging your commanding officer got.

It wasn't so different from the jobs Sander had read about in books and letters, journals and magazine articles.

Yet it could never be the same.

[Soleil King]

Dead silence. That was the only sound she wanted to hear. The only sound anyone wanted to hear when on missions as dangerous as these. It wasn't unusual for her, unusual for anyone in her grouping, six people behind her, all ready, waiting for a signal of her hand to let things go wild. But it was more complicated. The constrained vision of the gas masks made things hard to see in a full panoramic view, the constant debris that never seemed to fade with time, but build up as the rains progressed. It sounded like snow, well sounded as close to it as one would think considering she had never seen a real, true earth snow. It was beginning to get cold, letting her know that it was nearing night. The small gadget on her wrist kept her aware of the temperature of the true surface, to not freeze, to not burn alive, and to not die was their way of living on the surface. That and to kill at least two Palnemian's. A quota had been set just for the hell of it, plus it became quite a game amongst the ground patrol and the snipers. During drink time, whenever that might be, they compared how many they had killed that week. It kept their minds off the true horror that lurked and kept it in the false realm of a game.

"I see two, up ahead." The small static of her mic was the only sound to break the silence of the snow, the snow that was making things hard to see. With the surface being so hot it was hard to use sensors and flashlights drew too much attention. She sighed out and looked around, sweat poured down her face, the masks made things much harder, not just for seeing, but for insilating the heat as well.

"If we get these two more will come, they are in their family setting. We'll have to run for it." Soleil didn't want to die today.

[Sander Grey]

Sander had not been included in the Recon group that had gone out that morning. His commanding officer wanted to chew on his and his partner's butts for doing a "daredevil" move on the last mission they had been on.

The killing of Palnemians was what could be called a game amongst the Snipers. They had a board in the common area of headquarters, and every name of the group that had gone out. The more tallies the more points. A quota was set each week. Sander didn't really partake in the game, he wasn't much a "game" person--especially such a morbid game--but the it kept the soldiers under his command sane, kept their minds off the stuff that was really going down...and that was what mattered to him...

Meanwhile...

"The others were doing their job, Lieutenant Grey, and you and General Edwards, here, decided it was a good idea to wander into unmarked and unsensored territory. I've told you several times, Lieutenant, that I didn't want you going into unsensored territory by yourself--and especially not with your partner being as young and inexperienced as he is. You put two lives in danger, Lieutenant, not to mention put the whole colony at risk for Infected to break through. This is your second strike, Sander, you best watch your hindparts from here on in," he finally finished, his reddened face beginning to look like a normal color.

He bid them farewell, and left he and Asia to their own devices. Sander tossed down the earpeice he had had in to communicate with the Recon group, but had had to switch the feed to another officer so he could get his buttcheek chewed.

"A lovely start to another lovely day!" Asia said, grinning like a fool as he got up from the chair he had been inhabiting. "Shame too. It's pretty out today."

Sander watched his shrug and leave. Picking up his earpeice, he put it back into his head and informed the officer that he would take the feed again. He heard one of the recon group in the middle of saying something when he tuned in. He waited a moment before speaking.

"Head Officer?" he said lowly. "This is Lieutenant Grey at Base, what's your position?"

[Soleil King]

Soleil held up her fist and pointed two fingeres to a turned car that was black from being charred by fire, covered by ashes that fell heavily now, and bent out of shape by the acidic rain. Her heart pounded as she saw two members take their position, scuffling across the debris ridden road, or what was left of a road, to the car, hunkering down and looking back at her. She looked over her shoulder, ignoring the new noise in her ear, a Lieutenant Grey. She signaled to the two at the car, signing for them to remain seated until she was in position.

She dealt out two more signals for four memebers to hide. She was left to lean against the building corner, before surveying the area. She was going to run in a beeline towards the group and quickly hide behind a fountain that was barely standing.

"This is Captain King. I am assuming position to strike. I repeat, assuming position to strike." She drew in a breathe, signaling for the others to watch her as she ran. Quickly, she leaned up, hearing her knees pop. Before she could do anything else she headed quickly towards the darkened object, staying low, staying alert. She rolled on the ground, her back finding the lip of the water collector at the base of the sculptured fountain. She looked up at it, not knowing what it was supposed to be, but that was beyond what seh needed to think of at that moment. She looked over her shoulder, back at the small grouping of three Palnemian's. A fire going, eating on something. She frowned, trying to focus in. She recalled last week an ambush had happened on another crew, two men were left to die, most likely they were eating the, right now.

She parted her lips, breathing in, trying to see if they could attack.

[Sander Grey]

This is Captain King. I am assuming position to strike. I repeat, assuming position to strike.

Sander didn't say anything else, that was all he needed to know. He booted up his computer and got a lock on their position. Almost directly above Town Square, the Recon group had spotted three Palnemians somewhere near there, according to the slowly compiling visual reports.

Turning off the mic, he watching the small red dot that was the Head Officer--one Soleil King?--and the yellow dots indicating her group. Every suit was equipped with a panic button. Essentially, a button you pressed when the crap hit the fan and you needed assisstance from base, or needed them to open up the gates for you to get back in. But Sander wasn't worried, according to her credentials, this King woman was overqualified, and certainly had her crew in good hands.

Unsure of exactly the setup of the particular area in which the Recon group was, he merely watched the screen, listening to any commands given through the head set.

[Soleil King]

Things were going smoothly, nobody had been disturbed, all things had been silent and perfected, all, of course, until she realized that there was more Palnemian's than she had counted. She sighed out, a curse puttering out somewhere.

"We've got more." She stated quietly, watching them with amazement. No matter how many times she came out, it never failed to amaze her as to what these creatures were capable of. Almost human activity, yet their flesh was rotten, eyes colors that had never been seen, the stench was something you begged to get used to, but it would always make a stomach churn.

"We're outnumbered." She said breathlessly, heat rising at every passing moment. She looked around, unable to see for the ash was beginning to cake on the eyecovering. She frowned, trying to recall when the last time it snowed like this.

"Two and three, come to my position." She ordered. Within a few moments, she heard their steps and she was quickly joined. "On my go, I am going to stand, fire, and you two spread in opposite directions shooting. The rest of you, I need you to provide cover as we go in and terminate the grouping." She listened to their agreement to the plan and on the count of three, she stood and began to fire rounds and rounds into the Palnemia.

The plan was put to use, she ran ahead shooting at whatever she could, the rest following close behind, shotting as well. The five Palnemian's hit the ground and all fireing ceased. She looked around, seeing nothing but the fire and the two coprses of fellow officers.

"Lieutenant Grey," She stated opening contact. "We have two bodies here. I am identifying them.." She walked over to the particles of clothing, bending down barely to check tags there were intact. She sat her gun down and quickly pulled out a knife and cut them off their clothes to keep and to find family, if there were any.

"I got a...Private First Class Anthony and and a Private Moore." She frowned and stood up, looking around to see nothing but a sea of waste as far as the eye could see. It was always heartbreaking to view in person. A fellow officer walked to her, leaning down to look at the remains.

<i>"Captain!"</i> An officer called out. <i>"Captain! Are censors are going off! We got a grouping coming this way!"</i>

[Sander Grey]

Sander quickly located the names in their database. Private First Class Anthony, only twenty. Private Moore only nineteen. Military got them young these days. Opening connections he confirmed their status and was just about to terminate connection when he heard the sound of an officer calling out, and almost simultaneously, the sensors set on the surface went crazy on Sander's screen. Sensors told him more Infected were coming.

"Officer King!" he called. "You have twelve more infected coming up, Northeast side of you. You're outnumbered! Stand down, Officer, I repeat, stand down. Return to base," he ordered. Somehow, Sander wasn't sure that the woman would follow his orders. He knew that if he was down there, like hell he would follow those orders. But he had to at least try to keep them safe.

[Soleil King]

Soleil heard him and she frowned, almost as soon as she heard those little annoying beeps, the sound of heavy steps came, as well as the sound of screams. Whether or not they were screaming of anger, hunger, or just because that was what they did to strike fear into others...she didn't care. She grabbed her gun off the ground and looked at the small six people gather near her, looking around, guns in hand.

"I need three to come with me." She heard the orders of the Lieutenant in her ear and she wanted to just rip it out. "You and you, follow me to that wall." She pointed with the barell of her gun to a small sectional wall that would normally have been used as a gate for a park or square...wherever they were, she knew they could hide behind it, stand up and take them out.

"We are seven, we can take them." She heard two men refuse, stating they were out of ammunition. She sighed out, looking around. "Head on back." She stated to them directly. They stood there looking at her through their heavy facial gear. "Move it!" She yelled, the sound of footsteps becoming louder.

"Still, I can take them." She looked around, her small censor getting louder indicating they were getting closer. She looked at the group as they looked at one another, the two officers running towards the nearest exit to the underground. She sighed out shook her head.

The sudden outburst of a very loud siren drug her attention up to the sky. She shivered, only for a moment, when she remembered that it meant nothing but bad news. Rain. Acid rain. She saw the Palnemia's turn a corner and the power they had in their running made her realize she was no match. She cursed and quickly began to shoot at them, taking two steps back.

"Damn it." She said to herself. "Lets go." She turned and began to jog towards the exit, looking over her shoulder to shoot behind her. She ordered everyone else to do that same.

[Sander Grey]

Sander took off the headset to jog out to the entrance they were headed for. It wasn't much farther from where he had been sitting. Running up to the gatekeeper, who was fooling around on his computer. Saner leaned over, tapping a finger on his computer.

"Open the outer chamber, we got a recon group coming...get the disinfectants ready, too," he said. The man's eyes widened a little before he started typing in the codes. Sander glanced up to the large thick plexiglass window cutting off the exit chamber to the surface. The even thicker metal door on the outside was opening up to the desolate world above.

Almost as soon as it began to raise, Sander could see the distant running boots of the recon group. He leaned down to try and see them better. The door was slowly letting up, and Sander could see them shooting wildly over their shoulders, infected running behind them. His brow furrowed. No way the door would be shut before the infected got in the chamber too. Sander turned back to the gatekeeper.

"Slide the safety glass down as soon as they are in. Infected are tailing them," he said. The man didn't say anything, only watched the screen of his computer intensely, tracing them as they drew nearer and nearer. Sander watched as the group sailed into the chamber, still shooting. The gatekeeper's hand slammed down on a blue button on his console and a thick plexiglass wall crashed down behind them as the metal outer wall began to close. Infected threw themselves against the glass, roaring and snarling, getting blood, drool, and other bodily fluids on the glass.

The gatekeeper engaged the disinfectants. White gases and liquids sprayed in abundance over top of the recon group, drenching them in disinfectants that would ensure the disease did not travel underground. The white matter sprayed for a solid thirty seonds, and was soon followed by a blue liquid--a cleanser that would wash their suits off, clean them of any Infected bodily fluid they may have gotten on them to solidify that the disease would not spread here. After ten seconds of that, clear water was poured over them to wash everything down a specialized tube that drained up to the surface.

After a moment of letting them drip, the gatekeeper keyed in the code that would open the plexiglass door on this side of the chamber. It slid up, reavealing the group of now drenched recon officers. Sander peered in at them before going in to make sure everyone was alright. Helping one man up, he checked him over.

"Everyone alright? Anyone need to be taken to the medics?"

[Soleil King]

Soleil sighed out and grabbed the bottom of her mask and pulled it off, cursing loudly as she did so before tossing it down angrily, watching the small remanents of blue puddles of water splash out in tiny droplets.

"God, damn it!" She stated again, sighed out and putting her hands on her hips, frowning as she looked down at herself not really appreciating the wet welcoming, but then again she knew it was protocal and safety procedures, but this was not her day. She didn't even get to kill the small group of Palnemian's and that was not very pleasing to one who got at least ten an outing.

She looked up with her brown eyes, scanning the small room, faintly hearing the infected behind the entrance wall screaming, hitting, kicking, anything to try and get in. She looked behind her for a moment and shook her head, finding the gatekeeper and someone else, helping one of her men off the ground.

"Damn it." She said lowly, running a hand over her head pushing back the small white frays of hair that poked out of her tight knot. She tried to catch her breath from all the running and the panic that was slowly subsiding. Seeing all her men safe and sound she nodded, lifting her chin as she glanced around licking the corner of her lip to taste the salty drop of sweat.

"Give them an hour," She stated lowly with conviction in her voice. "Time to get back to their routine." She bent down, grunting slightly as she picked her mask up off the ground, shaking it violently to rid it of the drops of infectant and water that remained. "Afterwards, we go back out."

[Sander Grey]

Sander glanced at the woman and shook his head, watching as the men began to go out to get off their wet suits. He watched her.

"No, that's it for your team today, Officer King," he said. "I've got another team going out at twelve o'clock today, they'll clean up what you weren't able to get," Sander said quietly. "Well send you back out tomorrow morning."

He was waiting for her to kick and scream all the way--he would have done the same thing--but he couldn't send them back out after all that. They needed a bigger recon group, and there was already one ready and waiting to go out, no way he could move things around that way. He was already getting his butt chewed on by his commanding officer, he didn't need his officers to be getting chewed on too.

[Soleil King]

Soleil stopped in her actions, looking up at the striking, electric blue eyes that stared at her with hidden conviction. She furrowed her brow softly, small lines being formed inbetween her two brows. She jumped her eyes back and forth to look into them, her heart was still pounding hard within, but she knew it would be beating twice as fast had she not been able to catch a quick breath before hearing, and seeing, him.

He didn't look familiar, was he knew? Certainly not, newbies weren't really allowed to work with groups without a supervisor, but he didn't have anyone else with him so she figured it was due to her no longer working nights, her nightmares were bad enough causing her sleep to be interrupted, nights were beginning to take a toll on her. Had her hair not already been white she figured it would be getting to where it was now. Soleil was taking a guess that he worked a different shift, usually, and they hadn't crossed paths yet.

Soleil listened to him protest against her wishes on going back out, another group already lined up for the task. It ticked her off, she was scheduled to work heavy duty tonight, out in the eye of the storm, normally missions lasted longer then seven hours and she hadn't even been out more than three. With no kills under her belt to boot. She sighed out and looked away from his gaze, it was causing her discomfort for she feeled he could look right through her.

"I'm sorry..." She stated, looking around to avoid eye contact for a moment, catching her breath necessary. "I am quite the adult." She finally looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "I think I can make my own decisions on whether or not I am ready to go back out." She passed a glance to some of her crew who were loosening their tight and layered outfits, some managing to walk away from the entrance, following the man's orders, unlike her. No wonder people didn't like working with her, she pushed everyone hard.

"I didn't get <i>my</i> quota."

[Sander Grey]

Sander watched her protest. He was so glad he had patience with people, or else he would have smacked her. He looked down at his hands to pull off his gloves and give her a moment to stew before looking back up at her.

"Well, you do appear to be an adult, but your tone would otherwise advise me you are a bit younger," he said cooly, looking back up at her for a moment. "I'm your newly assigned commanding officer, First Lieutenant Grey, and I'll send you back out after your team has had a chance to catch their breaths. Two casualities in the two hours you were out doesn't look good for anyone, Officer King," he paused a moment, watching the men moving out of the chamber, and then glancing over the woman's shoulder at the Infected that were grudgingly beginning to disperse.

"You're a good officer, so I've heard, and your judgment has proven well informed, according to your previous commanding officers, but you'll take my orders and I'll send you out tomorrow, bright and early," he said. He tucked his gloves into the back pocket of his uniform pants before giving her a salute and turning back out of the chamber. The gatekeeper gave him a stand and salute and Sander thanked him for his work. Sander had three groups to prep for suface work, and he needed to get onto it as soon as was possible.

[Soleil King]

Soleil leaned her head back a smidge, letting out an airy huff that was the best laugh of amusement she could give due to his response, running her tongue along the edges of her back teeth.

"You have a sharp tongue." She said with a slight nod as he walked away, so he was her new officer, striking in tongue and appearances, how wonderful! Distractions for her two female officers was something she couldn't tolerate, she knew the moment they got out of sickbay they would be all over his pretty face like flies on a carcuss. Soleil knew when she was defeated, knew how to choose her battles, and to an officer ranking higher than hers, she could not argue with a command.

Soleil lowered her head and walked out of the gateway, not giving more than a nod to the gatekeeper, salutes not necessary since she had seen him so many times, it was like a mutual agreement between the two, a nod was enough to allow them both to give their thanks and allow them to get back to their work. Soleil was burning up, she needed to get out of her wet soppy clothes if she was going to be in any kind of a mood that was pleasant to be around.

Heading down the corridor of the industrial hallway seeing a few soldiers wandering from room to room, she headed down to the shower room and rubbed her neck, frowning as she contemplated what she was to do for the rest of her shift. She was going to change at her designated locker and head back to the survey room to watch for other groups that go out, if she couldn't direct her group she was at least going to try and help others.

[Sander Grey]

Briefing was not Sander's favorite thing to do. His officers, though always very capable, tended to want to become closer to him than just officer and commanding officer relationship. For some reason wanted to be friends. Sander didn't have many friends, not because he didn't want them, but because he didn't relate to anything except music and guns, making his harsh attitude perfectly suited for commanding officer.

Luckily, his new group didn't seem all that friendly either, and as he dismissed them they all saluted and went out in silence, only waiting until they were out in the corridors to mutter, and get their places established among the others.

Most of the groups were mainly made up of men--not including the few brave female officers--and a lot of the groups made up of only men could be a lot harder to command than an entire fleet of women. Men did a lot of talk and little action, looking to show one another up, a testosterone spraying contest that was even a little hard for Sander to stomach. Luckily, his most recent group of officers were either very young and just starting out, or very old and had done this for awhile, neither of which tended to get into much trouble, and seemed to be better on the field than any other mix of men or women.

Sander went out into the hall to watch the group head out to don their suits and get ready to go out. A few men from the group beforehand passed him, still a little wet from the disinfectants, and looking a little bedraggled.

[Soleil King]

Soleil contemplated deeply as she sat in the break room drinking her coffee wanting to figure out a way to go out, she had to. She hated not being able to do what she wanted and when she wanted. Right now she was in the mood to hunt down infected and kill them simply because being rejected to go back out after a piddly few hours....it made her mad and it made her urge to just destroy something all the more powerful. She bit her lower lip, thinking of something that could get her fired, but if she did a good job without anyone noticing....

Soleil stood up and left her coffee on the table, heading back to the locker room where she took her clean and dry outfit and suited up. She knew that there was group getting ready to head on out, she figured that she could just intermingle and head on out, although it was bending the rules, it was not going against any law. After sucking in her stomach to pull the skin tight suit on she headed out into the hall looking right and left before darting to the control room to check out the new schedule. She saw the time frame on the whiteboard and bit her lower lip, finding someone she knew owed her a favor, the good thing about saving people's lives was the favors they were always glad to give.

"Hello, Private Hess." She grinned and jogged out of the room before being caught snooping around. She grabbed her small cell phone and diaeled the woman's number, waiting impatiently till she answered.

"Hey, Hess, this is Captain King...I was wondering if you could do me a favor and let me go out in your place."

[Sander Grey]

Sander was in his office when the lead officer called him up and hooked their lines up so that orders could be heard and given if need be. Sander hooked his up and stuck in it his head, pulling the mouthpiece around to his lips and pushing up his tracking computer. He projected the image onto his screen and watched as all the group began to activate their tracking chips in their suits.

Their little dots were colored by rank. He saw a red--the head officer--and several greens ad few blues...nothing he wasn't expecting. Their vitals popped up in a screen next to the main tracking screen. Sander leaned forward, watching as the flatlines jumped into normal heartbeat waves as the suits hooked in and picked up their vitals. He could see heartrate, breathing rate, temperature, even amount of adrenaline in their veins, which was high, and would flucuate througout the outing.

"Okay, I'm online and I see you all. You're looking good to me," Sander reported to the head officer who responded that they were ready anytime he was. Sander glanced down at his watch. They were ahead of schedule, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Okay, folks, pack up and head to the gate, you're heading out early today."

[Soleil King]

Okay, she had pushed the limit, she was going <i>around</i> head orders, but she didn't care, she figured they'd never know. Soleil had her mask on before she even headed down to the keep, vitals open, everythign ready to go. She met up with group, listening to that cool voice in her ear. Devilishly sexy was all she could think of as she heard his voice, allowing her brain to make the connection to his face. If she could pull off an accent she would have said he was <i>devilishly sexy</i> simply because the effect wasn't really felt unless she added that little twang.

She grinned as she held her gun on her hip, finger away from the trigger but inches away from it in case anyone decided to charge the gate. She looked at the group, all of them anxious, that little rush you got while heading out always the best feeling until you realized you were being hunted by Palnemian's, who wants to kill and perhaps eat you. Due to their lack of food anymore they had seemingly broken up into rival groups, sometimes, and ate each other. It was highly interesting, but luckily she didn't have to go undercover to study these creatures. She just wanted them dead, because if they were...they might be able to make Earth liveable again.

"Let's go." She said as the door flung open. She smiled to herself, glad that she was able to go on out instead of being stuck back in the control room watching all the people get in on the action. if there was something she would say isn't a good part of her personality, she still had that anticipation that a newbie had who wanted in on al the <i>action</i>.

They headed out to the positions that had been provided, as head officer she normally would have been barking out all the orders, but since she was supposed to be someone else....she had to keep her mouth shut. She looked around as they walked rather slow paced out into the open, that dark color that simply meant dread and death to anyone who had never seen it before. She sighed out, seeing a flash of light due to storms brewing up above. It was very disheartening to see, acidic rain might not happen, but the lightening storms were not very pleasing to be around.

"What's our goal?" She asked lowly. The man ahead turned to look at her, if he hadn't had a mask he would be giving her a look that would be curious as to where she was during the game plan breifing.

"<i>We're exterminating the group we think is responsible for killing two of our men. Pay attention.</i>" Soleil smiled. No wonder people hated ranking officers, they were douche bags. Hopefully, she wasn't as bossy.

"Hooah." She said lowly, letting him know she understood.

[Sander Grey]

Sander's head tilted a little at the new person who entered the group near the gate. His brow furrowed for a few moments before he had to turn his attention to where they were headed and what they were doing.

The Sniper groups were welltrained killers. They were smart, knew how to use their brains and their bodies to kill, but keep themselves and their mates safe at the same time. Sander had gone through so much rigorous training as anyone out there in that group, it was why he was called a First Lieutenant. But they were definately not invincible. It was why they always had a more advanced officer--him, in this case--as their Spotter. A man or woman back at base who watched the territory they could not see. Alerted them to activities they would not be able to detect, and sometimes showed them the safest way back to base.

Sander watched the group intently, his mind moved away from the officer who had just joined the group.

[Soleil King]

Soleil was burning alive the moment they had stepped out into the open, she didn't know why but she figured it was her conscience kicking in for lying to people and for disobeying peoples direct orders, but she knew now wasn't the time for her a mind to get in the way of what was at hand. This was very dangerous and she wanted to go ahead and state it but each group had their own game plan and their own motives, some dumber than others, this man, in particular, being a dumb one. She sighed out as they stacked a hide out behind a small retaining wall. Their group wasn't far off, this place was where she had been her previous outing, she knew that if they started to attack...those who were to ocme would be in massive amounts and the rate for survival incredibly small, if not zero in itself. But, she wasn't in command here, sadly, and she wasn't allowed to express herself just yet until the lives of her men were at stake, which she figured they all ready were.

Soleil looked around, she had volunteered to be the lookout for this little excersion knowing it was the dangerous task to handle while stopping. If someone saw her she'd be in deep crap and they would all have to abandon this crap mission. Most of the time they tried to have a reasoning behind what they were doing, making it sound a little bit like they had true reason, aside from the fact they just wanted them dead.

"I think we should move." Soleil stated after pacing back and forth, seeing odd shadows about where burning fires were planted strategically by the Palnemian's and those who came out as well. The man sitting looked up at her, probably ticked at her voicing her opinion.

"<i>We are fine, Private.</i>" She scoffed and looked at him. If she was a Private she would have shut up, but she wasn't and knew that if they lingered any longer or took shots, they'd be in trouble. They had very keen senses and they knew when someone was nearby.

"Look, they are gonna sense us if we don't keep moving ahead." The man stood up and walked to her, this being a bad move on his part since anything could have happened. He could have knocked something over, he could have attracted attention. Despite their earphones and censors...they couldn't hear clearly due to their masks.

"<i>I think that is enough from you Private. Do you job or else I will send you back to the base. I am ranking, I know what I am doing. Do not insinuate I am putting my team at risk.</i>"

[Sander Grey]

Sander heard the exchanged and was tipped off. That was no Private. No way in Hell would a Private ever speak to a ranking officer like that. Titlting his head he routed his mouthpiece to only the "Private's" helmet, cutting off the voice connection. No need to alert the whole team.

"I let this be between you and I for now, Officer, but be warned that you will be dealt with when you get back to the base," he said, placing her voice in his head as the woman who had come in and given him lip earlier. Swtiching his mouthpiece back off to everyone's helmet, he cleared his throat.

"Move on, Officer," he instructed the head officer, indicating to him that the Private had been dealt with. He watched the screen, a little angry now that she had thought she could get around without him figuring out one way or another that it was her. Epecially when she was going to talk back to her commanding officer right in Sander's ear. She should have been a little more discreet.

[Soleil King]

She muttered a curse. Damn her for saying something, she let out a sigh and knew that this was either immediate probation, perhaps loss of her rank, hell she might even be kicked back to doing a desk job. She figured she could count her losses later, she was just wanting to do her job at this moment. Soleil was definitely bullheaded and she didn't like being pushed back when she knew she could press forward, she was good at what she did and she knew her limits and seh had yet to reach them which was why she wanted to go back out.

"Ten-four." She stated to just the Lieutenant. She knew she'd be hung out to dry once he got his hands on her. She decided now that he knew, she best enjoy this outing for it might be her last one in a long while. "We shall."

[Sander Grey]

Sander shook his head but knocked off his anger for the moment. He would deal with her when she got back from this. For the time being, he knew her help would not be a bad thing. Sander was the first to tell that he had heard nothing but praises for this Soleil King, but now having to deal with her one-on-one, he knew why the praises had been bittersweet.

She was a little hard to work with, even though this was just their first day together. He couldn't imagine how worn out he would be after two weeks, a month, maybe even a year, depending up how long she stayed or he stayed. He had a feeling one of them would go before the other, and he was determined it would not be him.

Shaking his head, he glued his eyes back to the screen, seeing four grey dots off to the group's left. Palnemians were huddled there, probably around a fire, and chattering in their own foul language. His mind was brought off of the situation of the stubborn officer and onto what the commanding officer was planning on.

[Soleil King]

Soleil frowned as they managed to slowly wander about, keeping their heads up, but a feeling she couldn't shake off was that there wasn't something really good about this man's plan. It seemed as if he had his own hidden agenda. Normally, to avenge a fallen teammate they would do things slowly, painfully so, and would, eventually, get those who killed them, but they were walking upright out in the open. The only thing they could seriously see was the tall buildings that were shambles, see shadows being cast by fires, hear the breeze of toxic air, but aside from the creepy and eerie feeling one got wandering about, she felt that they were heading into something a lot bigger.

Soleil, like one should, kept turning in circles as she stuck a little behind the group, trying to keep sharp and on someone's good side. If the officer she was stuck with found out, it was untelling what he would do considering it was apparent he was in no mood to play. He seemed very angry and a guy she wouldn't want to mess with.

She frowned as she turned around to look behind her and the group, pointing the barrel of her gun around as she searched through the debris. She didn't know why but she had the keen sense of someone following them. Soleil paused breifly as she stood to look around, she swore she heard steps, she swore she saw something duck in the shadows. She clicked the small button on her chest that opened communications between everyone and could exclude certain memebers.

"Lueitenant Grey," She spoke lowly, glancing over her shoulder to find the group gaining a lot of space. "I need you to see if there is anyone behind me. I keep hearing and seeing things." She felt her breath being taken away, fear seeping in. A fear like she hadn't felt in a while, like she was being stalked, preyed upon slowly.

"I think I have a Palnemian tailing me." She slowly looked around, surveying the area very closely. A beat passed and she let out a small sigh.

[Sander Grey]

Sander's brow furrowed deeply. He honed out the sensors, searching the area behind him. He could see nothing, nothing at all. Even though he tried so hard to see something, there was nothing. Just empty dead space. He shook his head slowly.

"I don't see anything, Officer King..." he said quietly, still searching. His eyes were glancing between the space behind the Officer King and the rest of the group, but they were beginning to get too far apart for him to look at both. He shook his head. "Stay with your group Officer. I don't see anything, but I'll keep an eye out."

He meant that truly. He wasn't dumb enough to trust an officer's instincts. If she thought they were being followed, it was highly possible they were being followed. But if he couldn't see any Palnemian behind them, what could he think than that she was being paranoid? Unless...

No, no way that could happen.

[Soleil King]

She sighed out, not really finding him all that helpful, then again if he didn't see anything, which she hadn't sensed on her CP, she knew that there must have been <i>nothing</i>. Soleil turned around and barely glanced over her shoulder once before breaking into a quick jog to the group, feeling fear like none other. She sighed out and picked up the pace, hearing the Captain of the group talking about some B.S story about how he once saved one of the men who were deceased and who they were trying to avenge. SHe could care less, of course, their minds needed to be focused and their mouths shut.

"Do you think we can slow down and take our time searching the area....sir?" She felt she should at least sound inferior despite her knowing she wasn't. The man didn't respond, simply putting her outside of the grouping. She clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes, looking around swearing to god she was seeing things. She heard a soft scream and she stopped in her walking, the only sound she heard was that of distant cracks of fires and the crunch of debris under her groups boots as they progressed. Did they not hear that?

"Guys?" She stated a tad low, gaining their attention without bring too much to the group as a whole. "I think I heard something, up that way." She pointed with her gun and looked back at the men, for a moment they stared at her, then looking around before they conversed amongst themselves.

"Come on, we need to start walking in the shadows. We are being followed." They looked at her and the Captain stepped forward.

"<i>Private, I am gonna ask you to let me do this mission, or else I will send you back. The censors show nothing. If I weren't mistaken I'd say you were a mole for the Government.</i>" She frowned.

"Excuse me?" She looked around adn shook her head she couldn't fight a grouping off by herself, she knew, so she must protect herself more than ayone. "Yes sir." The man, after a long moment of staring at her he turned around and continued against her warnings. She knew he was being ignorant and wanting to be the hero, she figured she could at least do her job without anymore problems.

They walked ahead more, but every few feet they managed to make the more she heard someone, or something, and knew that they were out there watching them. She glanced at her wrist and saw the censor not showing anything. What was going on?

[Sander Grey]

Sander gritted his teeth, and pulled the mic a little closer to his mouth. He figured a little humility on the part of the commanding officer wouldn't hurt.

"And if I weren't mistaken, Officer Clearwater, I'd say you were trying to sabotage your own mission," he muttered, not bothering to close the conversation to only he and the officer. "If the Private hears something, she is only doing her job by reporting it to you. Now stop bitching at her and do your job officer," he paused for only two heartbeats. "You're coming up on four in front of you and to your left about ten yards."

Sander watched the screen of their dots. Something wasn't right. Years of being right where they were now told him that something just wasn't right at all. He was with the Officer King. Even though she hadn't said in so many words, Sander could tell she was a little less than comfortable with the whole situation, and even though Sander was not down there, he had that odd feeling that something very bad was about to happen. He closed his mic to only speak to the woman.

"Officer King, I want you to fall out to the right side of the formation, more into the shadows. Watch your back. I'm with you, something's not right."

[Soleil King]

Soleil smiled at the words in her ear, it was nice to know she wasn't imagining things. She bit her lower lip and did as he had asked, she slowed down as they walked, sinking into the shadow as they walked past a few large buildings with small breezeways. She wasn't lingering far, she was at least a few feet from them, but nobody could see her. She wondered if anyone would even know that she was wandering away, Soleil heard a few of the Palnemian's ahead, going along with what Grey had reported to them. At this moment there was a choice to be made...fire at them, or slowly try and get them all together and blow them to bits with bombs.

She heard something behind her and she quickly turned around to find a shadow crossing a brick wall many feet behind her. She frowned her heart almost stopping as she heard the naked feet hit the ground and rush off. It was skinheaded Palnemian she figured, something they called 'radicals' who attempted everything to kill someone. Although they were all radical and all infected and unable to perform human thoughts, there were certain classes of Palnemian's, these were like the group leaders who would conjur up many to attack them. She knew that this was getting very dangerous and that they were up to something.

"Lt. Grey," She said to him, breathing rather hard for the earth was so hot on the upper ground and she was nervous as hell. "Did you see that? Southwest of my position between an alley, a Palnemian in the shadows. I think they are up to something..."

[Sander Grey]

Sander had seen it. The briefest of flashes of a grey dot indicating a Palnemian. It wasn't long, only for half a second, but it was long enough. He clenched his jaw.

"I saw it," he said, nodding. "Watch your back, Officer." Opening up communications, he began to speak to the lead officer. "Officer Clearwater, there is a Palnemian Southwest of your position. He isn't showing up on the scanners. I believe it's possible they might be tripping our systems, evading it somehow. You'd best find a safe position, and I can call out more officers for you."

[Soleil King]

Soleil heard the orders but she feared it might be too late. She heard Palnemian's, everywhere to be exact. She frowned and watched the wall wjhere she had seen one slink away into the shadows. She frowned as she suddenly felt that there was an ambush underway. Two Palnemian's surfaced, they stood where they were, down that alleyway, and allowed her to see their silhouettes on the wall, two became three, and three became five.

"I have a collection of Palnemian's, they are grouping, I repeat grouping!" She looked over at her group and saw nothing. Had they hidden? She suddenly felt alone and suddenly felt fear like she hadn't before. "Guys?" She said lowly, fearful of the response. "Guys, where are you?" She slowly moved from her position, down the small stretch of walkway that was luckily hidden.

"State your piositions!" She said louder than intended, but it was too late. A group of Palnemian's surfaced from behind objects, alleys, anywhere they could and quickly ran towards a large piece of fallen building. She leaned back on the wall, holding in her breath, watching two members of her team being drug out by their ankles, screaming and shooting at them. The Palnemian's screamed as well, watching them attack and rip them to shreds.

Soleil had a mind to shoot, but knew she was in a bad position, unfortunately it escalated to worse. The rest of the group, including the Captain, stood out of the shadow, shooting at them and screaming obscenities.

"Lieutenant! We have a serious situation!" She called to the main quarters, not knowing what this was to do. She screamed when she felt one jump onto her back from out of nowhere, She turned around and shot it in the head, seeing the far wall of silhouetted figures now charging. She raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes. She looked at the group being ambushed and she shot in their general direction some fighting hand-to-hand, others shooting, but still they were heavily outnumbered.

Soleil ran up to the group, coming out of the shadows, shoooting at them point blank, watching some of the fall to the ground in death, others in pain. She saw the group beind spread out far and wide, some being attacked, others running out of ammo. A woman screamed as a Palnemian clawed at her, trying to kill her. Soleil ran up behind it and shot it, blood spraying everywhere. The woman screamed, her skin exposed from the claw marks.

"Damn it!" She bent down and helped the woman up to her feet, looking around finding almost everyone being killed in some form or another. She grabbed a small grenade from her belt and pulled the pin out and tossed it at a large group, she drug the woman to a safe place and heard it explode, the only sound remaining was that of falling debris, screams of those who were being slaughtered, and Palnemian's rushing to their aid.