Turai sprout from the ruined Humvee and Semo's awareness focusses to a pinpoint on the female. He can feel the Mk 48 chattering in his hands and a sudden pressure on his ribcage, but the only thing that seems to mean anything in that instant is the blood spraying every which way from his target.

There is a moment of nothingness, then Semo realizes that he's lying on the ground in a spreading pool of blood that can only be his own. Gleaming white ribs poke skyward from the miasma of his chest. Some part of his brain is yelling at him that this should hurt a lot more than it does, but he ignores it.

"Stanhill!" he coughs out. "Goddamn it... Get over here... and get me... back in this fight!" The best he can manage is an ugly growl, but it carries well across the smoking battlefield. With a grunt of effort, Semo levers himself to a sitting position and begins to check his weapon while he waits for the medic to get there.

Hugh takes a second to scream his pain into the world. There, all better.

He staggers to his feet and takes a sharp breath. His chest is on fire, but looking around, it seems like he got lucky after all. He taps his radio.

"Captain Verrill to Mesas Negras...intruders are neutralized, I repeat, intruders are neutralized. We have lost our bird and sustained heavy injuries. Require MedEvac ASAP."

Angel spares a moment to make sure the Sergeant is still alive before making sure all the Turai are dead. Finishing the job, he hurries back and gives the big Somoan whatever aid he can.

Angel helps Semo up. The big man can't really move his right upper arm, although he still has full range from his elbow down - enough to aim from the hip and squeeze the trigger. With disturbing ease, Semo gets back on his feet, acting none the worse for wear despite the bloody charred swath of cooked meat.

Angel and Semo check the fallen Turai. There are no hand grenades hidden under the dead, no last words, no seemingly-dead Turai popping up again like the end of Die Hard. The female has been perforated. Stanhill's target is missing his brain. Angel's victim bled out from the throat.

The unarmored Turais' choice of clothing is odd. The female wears a sergeant's uniform over her native black undersuit, while the male is wearing a lieutenant colonel's uniform. They carry stingers in the 9mm holsters. Angel finds one of the blue widgets on the colonel as well. It's clearly active, and given a few moments of study appears to be repeating a message.

As for the Humvee, there's one empty suit of banged-up Turai armor stashed in the back along with what looks like a terribly shiny beer keg. It bears slight indentations from the Black Hawk's miniguns and some soot from the explosion but isn't punctured. There is also a handful of slightly-cooked M16s as well as various souvenirs ranging from boots to dog tags to bobbleheads to ears.

*Verrill, Paxton. Understood; that's great news. Medevac is en route to your position. Paxton out.*

Hugh's radio clicks again, this time with Kilgore's voice. It's faint, like he's keyed his radio but isn't speaking directly into it.

---

Quote:

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Back the truck up there, Agent Sturgis. While I'm all for making sure none of those alien bastards comes through, I'm also obligated to inform you that burying the Gate might not prevent Earth from being attacked by the aforementioned not-so-nice-not-little-green-men-from-outer-space!"

*glances over to Taylor, keying radio to Hugh's command channel*

"...Furthermore, last time I checked, my paycheck doesn't come from the CIA or whatever wetworks-creepy-guys-in-skimasks Agency you work for. I'm under direct orders from Captain Verrill to keep the peace down here. Until he's countermanded, all you're entitled to right now is a front-row seat to the Freakshow that is aliens in heavy bondage!"

"Aliens. Yeah, OK," Sturgis replies, peering at Varos and She-Ra. "Look doctor, I don't know what that thing does, who these people are, or where they're from. I don't care. My job is to get you and everyone in here out safely and then bring 8 stories of rubble down on that donut. If you have a better idea, I'm all ears, but THAT" - pointing at the graveyard of bodies blocking the Gate - "is an abomination, and we are not going to leave our people like that."

Hugh keys his radio to Kilgore's frequency and taps the "transmit" button.

"Doc, put me through to Sturgis."

"Agent Sturgis, you are not going to bury this gate. We need it working again ASAP, and dropping the whole fucking structure on it won't do that. What you are going to do is sweep the sublevels for drones and let my science guys do their job. If you want to use something else to block the gate, fine, use the cargo elevator and shovel some sand in it, I don't care. But we've got a man on the other side, we're gonna get him back, and you're going to help us do whatever you can to make it happen. Is that clear?"

admiralducksauce wrote:

"Aliens. Yeah, OK," Sturgis replies, peering at Varos and She-Ra. "Look doctor, I don't know what that thing does, who these people are, or where they're from. I don't care. My job is to get you and everyone in here out safely and then bring 8 stories of rubble down on that donut. If you have a better idea, I'm all ears, but THAT" - pointing at the graveyard of bodies blocking the Gate - "is an abomination, and we are not going to leave our people like that."

"Agreed, Agent Sturgis...on all counts, save the part where you nuke the biggest scientific discovery since the Theory of Relativity."

*looks over to the Turai*

"As for our alien prisoners, they are a wiley bunch. I wouldn't trust them to flush the toilet after using it. Don't let them out of your sight, not for an instant. As far as I can tell, they nearly bested what the US Government calls the Best of the Best. My non scientific opinion is that you shoot them at the first chance you get. It will be less paperwork."

Gatac wrote:

"Agent Sturgis, you are not going to bury this gate. We need it working again ASAP, and dropping the whole fucking structure on it won't do that. What you are going to do is sweep the sublevels for drones and let my science guys do their job. If you want to use something else to block the gate, fine, use the cargo elevator and shovel some sand in it, I don't care. But we've got a man on the other side, we're gonna get him back, and you're going to help us do whatever you can to make it happen. Is that clear?"

"What Captain Verrill just said. Now, if you'll excuse me...We're a bit busy figuring out how to react to an impending alien invasion that doesn't involve cutting off our nose to spite our face."

"Huh," is all Sturgis says as he takes in this new information - that somehow you can go through the ring, it's some kind of 'eureka!' discovery, and you can break it with sand, not to mention there's a man on the 'other side' of whatever the ring does.

Max watches Sturgis' face. For a second there, Max thinks the agent was weighing "dump trucks, Army engineers, prisoner control, interrogations, oversight committees" vs. "kill everyone in here, blow the base, and be home in time for cornflakes."

"Shit," he finally says. "Get these prisoners topside. Help the doctors here get their wounded up, and Dr. Kilgore, I'm going to need that freight elevator online," Sturgis continues, muttering "Fucking dump trucks" afterwards.

The commandoes lift up She-Ra and Varos, walking them to the freight elevators.

---

Semo's arm is stiff and pained. The painkillers dull each white-hot breath, but he told Stanhill he didn't want to be out. He can push through it. Semo sweeps the Humvee wreck after Angel's search. He finds no other Turai. Nor does he encounter them inside the power plant. No tracks, no blood trails, no jimmied security doors.

Stallman walks over to the Delta team, sitting down on the asphalt. You can make out the distant chop and running lights of incoming helos now.

"I'd ask what the hell was going on, sir," Stallman says, "but I suppose it's better if I don't. Hell of a day, though."

Hugh gives Stallman a sympathetic glance.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. Hell, I don't wanna know."

He takes a look at the ruined Humvee and spits as his eyes search the bodies for any sign of life.

"How's that backstabbin' working out for you, shitheads? You're properly fucked now, aren't you? What with being fucking dead and all. Bet you didn't see that one coming!"

Ignoring the muted pain - thank God for painkillers! - Semo sweeps the power plant and finds nothing out of place. Looks like they got them all. At last, he can relax.

Returning to the wreckage, Semo jerks his beefy thumb toward the strange device in the back. "Anyone got any idea what that is?"

admiralducksauce wrote:

"Shit," he finally says. "Get these prisoners topside. Help the doctors here get their wounded up, and Dr. Kilgore, I'm going to need that freight elevator online," Sturgis continues, muttering "Fucking dump trucks" afterwards.

"Affirmative. Andy, unlock the freight elevator for Agent Sturgis."

*looks at Sturgis*

"It would be easier to just cover the entire Gate with sand, but given the fact we've already had several attempts to kibosh keeping it closed, I'd like to go with tons of Detroit Diesels."

Angel sighs, finally slinging his rifle for the first time in what feels like days.

"Chalk up one dubious, muted victory for the good guys."