Chereads / The Evergreen Files; Banshee / Chapter 25 - Part 25

Chapter 25 - Part 25

The light above the door turned green once again as the Engineers re-entered the corridor. "Door's open, ready to enter, sir, just push the door open when you're at the end. Oxygen is on, gravity is on, power is a little dodgy, I hope you brought batteries for your little flashlights!" said Engineer Barnette with a laugh that echoed as he pushed his way past the packed in soldiers. "Alpha, on me, the rest, you have your brief, let's go get them." said Solomon into his mic ensuring the whole company heard as well as their relay officer monitoring their armour camera feed and microphones.

The Pride of Lion's corridor was blackened, a red warning light was flashing a little further down the corridor, catching the eye of Solomon's team were ten people on the ground about half way down. Some lay perfectly still in obscure positions, whilst others lay propped up against the wall tending to their wounds, or weeping. Solomon and his team rushed to their aid with Lyra and her medical team quickly following at their heels. Five of the bodies showed no sign of life, two were seriously injured and needed taking back to the Evergreen immediately, the other three had minor wounds and were escorted back with the retreating medics and wounded comrades.

After half an hour of gathering of the wounded and marking the dead for cover, A familiar growl came into Solomon's ear. "Solomon, Deeph here, we are securing the Battle Bridge, it is completely sealed. This will take some time." Solomon nodded to an invisible speaker and answered "Roger, we will continue en route to the Command Bridge." Solomon stood for a moment, scanning over the debris and blood spatter over the floors and walls. "Murder" he muttered as he knelt over a young woman's corpse, who's last emotion was still clear on her once beautiful face, exulting fear.

After another hour, Solomon approached a charred sealed door with a blue glowing light above the head, Solomon knew this meant a breach into the merciless void was at the other side. Decius came up level with Solomon, the young man clearly not expecting his first smell of battle, be a massacre of a sister ship. The sickening feeling throwing itself around his stomach could be clearly seen with his body language, haunched and nervously looking at the floor, walls and the blood spatter. Solomon studied his surroundings, the walls leading to the Command Bridge are covered in scratches, gouges and dents, Solomon knew from this, that the door had not sealed when the breach ripped through the ship. A small smear of blood trailed from the wall and down towards and through the sealed metal door below the strobing blue breach light. "Decius, Kara, with me, mag-boots on. The rest, I want you behind the bulk head door down the corridor, we are going through." said Solomon with a horse hatred in his voice. As the fifteen soldiers retreated, and with the five remaining medics out of sight, as Decius played with his boot straps, his gloved hand fumbling over the shining metal, Kara jolted her head to move a troublesome strand of hair from her visor, as she pressed a command into her wrist console, a low buzz and sucking sound filled her boots as they became magnetised to the metal ground, the cold room not effecting the seasoned soldier. Decius, still clearly struggling with the concept of beyond the door, as well as his mag boots, Kara scoffed and pulled at Decius' wrist, slapping it with a stern look in her eyes, and pressed the wrist console to engage his boots. Decius thanked her with a whimper of embarrassment.

Solomon punched in a code at the door terminal, forcing the blue blinking light to change a solid green, and with a screech of metal as the door dragged its blood freckled body over the bent metal flag floor. There was a roar of vanishing air as it was mercilessly sucked from the room. Solomon and Kara swayed ever so slightly with the change in pressure, however, Decius almost fell over his ground stuck boots. The opening door complained and seized just over half way open, and refused to budge. The sucking noise continued as Solomon strode through the threshold and into the wrecked room. The once wooden panelled walls, burnt back to the bare metal bones, electrics hanging from their once confined beds. Charred consoles flanked the room, surrounding where the command chair had once stood behind the two helm seats, but now a melted metal mess, window holes missing their glass, the holes melted wider opened the room into the deadly void. Solomon let out a sigh as he hoped deeply that the crew escaped this horrible fate, but he knew deep down, from the scratches and blood smears, most will have not. Solomon's ear crackled once again, intruded by the low hoarse voice of the Captain of the Second. "Solomon, Simms is dead. It's a bad day."

With a heavy heart, Solomon moved onwards, removing himself from the scorched and torn remnants of the bridge. Decius plodded along behind him, like a puppy following a grieving master, full knowledge of his mood, with very little than soft eyes and a joke to lessen the blow. "So, this guy walks into a bar with a dog..." Solomon spun instantly and collided his fist into Decius' stomach plate, Decius fell to his knees, coughing and vomiting into his helmet. Kara then slapped the back of his helmet softly and playfully, then took the hand he had wrapped around his stomach, and pressed one of the many buttons. A harsh sucking noise, almost like a vacuum came from inside his helmet. His splutters and splatters became less frequent as his mask sucked out all the liquid and free roaming solid from his visor, leaving a red faced boy gasping for air. Solomon continued down the blood marked and dented hall, Decius following sheepishly behind him, making doubly sure to stand more than two arms length away from his commander, Kara followed not far behind once she re-sealed the Bridge, marked the door as searched, and sadly but respectfully patted the metal door.

Lucius sat at one of the technician consoles, eyes scanning over the various devices and buttons, glancing vaguely at one of the screens before he asked his question. "So. Which one of these blows up the bad guys?" most of the surviving bridge crew still sat at their consoles, trying to keep the Pride of Lions in order, but some seats had lost their human counterparts in the attack, and Lucius sat at one of the latter. "That, is a circuit board map reader, sir. It allows you to re-route power." said the dirtied vague man sat next to the massive beast. "Oh. How disappointing." retorted Lucius before lifting his hulking mass and filling his hands with a device he knew could kill. His large knife, glistening in the light of the Battle Bridge, some of the crew eyed him cautiously. He had himself bent the Battle Bridge door with a forcing tool, and then forced the door itself open with his own strength. Deeph is truly a feared man, and known by many due to his unusual temperament of brooding and easy amusement.