We arrive at our destination. The planet Raila. Located on the border of the Meklar Sector. Troops immediately make their way to the hangar to board the ships. Cadence and I follow behind them. The ships are mounted to the top of the hangar. The floor below is already open into space. The only thing keeping us from being sucked in was a thin force field sat on top of it. Cadence's ship sat in front, my ship was in the back. The last one to be dropped. I board the ship, sit in my seats, and strap in. My radio intercepts the transmission from the pilot as we prepare for drop.
"Ariel 2-1, we are ready to drop."
"Ariel 2-2, ready."
"Ariel 2-3, ready."
An alarm fires across the hangar. Everyone is to clear the area as the room decompresses and the shield opens. The shuttle shakes a little from the other ships ahead dropping before us. Finally, it was my turn.
"Dropping in five…"
The ship drops seconds later. All of my weight shifts upward as nothing but gravity pulls us down. We slightly lift out of our seats before finally equalizing as the thrusters come online. The ship drips its nose down and begins its descent, bursting through the atmosphere. The heat shield burns a bright red, lighting up through the many windows of the ship, giving a kind of eerie feeling to it.
"Okay everyone." A man yells from the front of the ship, "You know the drill, as soon as we land, establish a perimeter." He turns his attention to me. "Demi Nassa, my name is Darin, you will be with us on this mission. I expect good things."
"Only the best, sir!"
"Very good!"
We pass through the cloud layer and arrive on the surface of the planet. It is old and barren. Sand and rock ran on and on for what felt like forever. The three ships fly along the surface for some time until we arrive at a space port. Why was there a space port located here on this barren world? Well as the ship banked left, our answer was made clear. A clear view of the Starfire engine as it towers into the sky and through the clouds. The surface here is covered in pipes and wires. The ground is opened up to allow for a clear pathway for vehicles to and from the space port to the engine. And there wasn't just one. Out in the distance were two more engines. Below us sat our target. The MLK Gridlock. The ship lands just outside of the entrance to the ship. Everyone stands to their feet, guns ready in hand. The doors open and a huge plume of dust and smoke enters the ship. I hold my breath, and we all run out together. Voices start to play over the radios as we gather ourselves to the trip into the ship.
"Comms check." It says.
"We hear you loud and clear Ariel 2-1. We'll stay in the air to give firing support and orbital relays."
"Good. Everyone, move in."
I load a magazine into the rifle and release the safety. Everyone moves into formation; I am to cover the rear of the group. We follow the squad leader and cross the loading bridge onto the ship itself. The plan is to have several groups move in from different sides of the ship. The hope is we can cover more ground to find our targets.
Gridlock was covered from head to toe in dust and the air suddenly became very difficult to breathe in as we entered through the cargo hold. It was eerily empty, like someone hasn't been here in months, which is very odd. All the lights were off. The only source to give us comfort were the flashlights mounted on our guns. We exit the cargo hold through a long hall and arrive at the tram system. It too was empty. There was no noise, not even the sound was water dropping through the pipes. No one was here.
"Where is everyone?" One soldier asks.
"It feels like a trap," says another.
"Why do you say that?"
"I don't know. We are walking around through an empty ship that looks like no one has been here in months. Are we sure the intel is good?
"The intel is good." Said Darin.
"I have a hard time believing that."
"Then keep your mouth shut and focus."
The soldier stops talking, but not before slowing his step enough for me to arrive next to him and he whispers to me, "What do you think? We walking into an ambush?"
I just shrug my shoulders. We continue down the hall past the tram system until we arrive at a set of offices at the end of the hall. Darin stops the group.
"Okay, we'll split into groups of two and take each room. Return back here in 30 minutes. No more."
"Yes sir."
"Demi, you are with me."
Everyone splits up to each door. Darin stands across from me and nods his head. I nod back and he slowly opens the door and walks into the room first. The area is empty but there are several offices toward the back of the room that we need to check. The radio pings again as we make our way across the room.
"Ariel 2-1 to ground team, how copy?"
"This is ground team, Ariel, go ahead," said Darin.
"We are picking up an energy source emanating from Starfire engine number two."
"Energy source? Is it something we need to worry about?"
"We are investigating with Stellar Flare now."
"Good, keep me updated."
"Yes sir."
Darin places down his radio and stops walking for a moment, looking around the room. His body language was troubling, like he's thinking something and starting to second guess himself.
"What is it?" I ask.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"I…what if he's right?"
"Who? Your soldier?"
"Yeah. What if this is a trap?"
"Now you are starting to sound like him."
"Well, he's right about one thing, this is wrong. Something is very wrong here."
"You're starting to doubt the intel."
"Maybe."
"Well, here's one thing I didn't understand then."
"What's that?"
"If this was a trap, wouldn't we have sprung it by now?"
"Yeah, that's what I am worried about."