Roy had already settled on his course of action, and spared a moment for a terse, "Aye aye, Admiral..."  Without pausing, he said, "On my count...three...two...one..."  Where he would have said 'zero', he squeezed the trigger, the sound suppression on his rifle turning the standard 'bark' of a fired round into a throaty 'chuff', and a high-velocity round raced at the head of Roy's target...

    At  Roy's  weapon's  cough...  Lyri, Jesse , tucker and Robbins fired in order...  Supe Opened up on the    'stern' end.. he had no suppressor...

  Black  Bodies Exploded from rounds,, Two stood  headless for a moment   before collapsing..  Supe's Target area flashed  with heavy pulse impacts.  small qarl boddies blew  apart like  cheap pinatas .

    KArson Shouted...CLOSE YOUR EYES ON THREE!.....ONE!....TWO!.... he  ehaved his two projects and Ducked,..THREE!...

   Two white flashes    exploded...White Phosphorus...and the second  Magnesium ..

 Shrill cries   from the  creatures   Below,  many of the greys  covered  their   huge Black eyes  Most stumble d and  Fell, at least half of them  were   smoking    and Burning from Embedded  bits of the  melting  metal...

  Use  Filters.. or shades... it  will  burn for another  3 minutes or so....and.. so will they!

 Lyri was swearing...That's  just Great Karson... I didn't bring a filter  for a tunnel run...

 ..Comon , Master Chief.. I've been waitin' a damn long  time to do this!

 Pulling  down the  screens on their Helmets  they could see the   effect.    there was no more  fire  coming from the railing.. But bodies  writhed in pain.. smoke..in some  cases..flames  from larger  bits on the  superheated  metal,  some of the creatures  were  Blinded, whether for good.. or..for a while as the   stumble, a few of them falling of the top of the structure..

  Some  white  qarl  with Helmets on , came out to try to gather the wounded.

  Tuckers    weapon  rang out, One of the  Whites    split open, the other looked  around in a panic...

  Lyri ,still frustrated      Pulled the Bin on a frag and  Tossed it towards the  'bow" where the hatch was  opened... it  exploded, Just before hitting the   metal,  shredding  life and dead Bodies  alike...

  One More Minute   SM!

  Supe's weapon  opened  up  as   4 or  5 qarl ran towards the   small tunnels   at the stern.. None of them made it....Damn Shame Morgan isn't here, after that other dumbass  almost killed us all  at Zolth... he'd  love the payback!

"Less bitching and more shooting, Supe," Roy growled.  He kept his eye on the openings only he had a good angle on, firing anytime he saw a,Qarl move near them.  He certainly hadn't expected Karson to pop phophorus or magnesium, but he couldn't argue with the results.

Problem was, they didn't know how many Qarl they were engaging.  There'd been the numbers they observed on the hull, which he as more than confident his team could handle...but they didn't know if there were more inside, or down the tunnels...or even possibly coming down the halls behind them.  "Tucker, eyes on our six...I don't want anyone surprising us until the Fifth gets here..."

  Tucker  nods  and spins  back to the tunnel opening,..on it SM...

   Supe   squeezed  of a couple more  bursts, thjat only netted  a white and a Grey teying to  reach that  stern tunnels.....sure  looks like they want them tunnels....

  Karson  speaks up...10 more  seconds.. I have one more surprise..then  all i have is some C-10 and grenades.

  Lyri tried to peek but was  afraid of ruining her   shooting  eye,.. don't thnk.there are any left on the top that can fight...

Jesse fired when a Qarl would peep out from hiding.  She smiled at the surprise that Karson had provided.  She made an attempt to make sure that her friend and host was safe from fire, although she'd be happier if he were in the middle of this so he could get the experience.  She felt he had very little, and with some just reasoning I'm sure.

She spoke up on the COM.  I have 2 of my iMeins to use in case we need them.  Just have to give the call.

"How close am I safe to get, Karson?  Thinking it's time to start moving in..."  As much of a crossfire set-up as they had on the ship, there were still sections of it they couldn't see, and the longer they stayed in one place, the more opportunities it gave the Qarl to assess their position and numbers and formulate a responding tactic.

"Let's not give 'em time to figure out there's only a handful of us...by the time McCloud gets down here, I'd like to be ready to try going inside and making sure we've cleared them out..."  He grumbled internally...he should have thought to tell McCloud to bring some flamethrowers down with the Scots' detachment...it would make sweeping the interior a lot faster...

    As they Gathered, Tucker  says,..someone's coming.. and thier at a run?..good guess..5-10 ,minutes?

 Karson Looked over the  edge, he could see a couple  greys  rolling in the dirt ,on their side of the structure,..We can go now, SM?  Just..no one  tough the  white hot burnie things...

 well.. there's a good  2...3 dozen that won't be  fightng  anymore... Waggstaff  said.

 Lyri  Nodded,2 hatches opn?..but they are on top? We might have to see where  those things  Supe  gunned down, came from... unless we  find another way in... there has to bne a landing bay...

   The NAragran  was moving its   spindle claws  and Pointed  at   Orria's  Board, that Shade  held.

, Shade was  messing with the  screen and  began to draw with his finger.. drawing, rather  nice   'humans"..then some letters  and Numbers...

 he then put up the odd   symbols.. , pointing to the Naragrans' clas  and tapping the  board.

 Beth Watched   the screens as well as Hack, her  hands   trying to keep important Views  on the screens.

   She Let Cumming's Call  come through,..I say?  Admiral.. we seem to have  a bit of a Muck up?.... Coves unit has had a Bloody Cave in.. we don't know if the bloody thing was on Purpose or not...

 Hack  shook his head,..If they have the means to try and  dig through.. continue..If they don't.. I want them to rig their own  Cave in..is that understood...

 Rig our own Bloody Cave In sir!..

 ..Yes.. if the caved it in, they must have a way to get through it.... if not..they are stuck.... Your people blowing a few more tons of rocks for them to get through, might save them..or trap the qarl...

 ..Right then , Admiral, that's what we'll do....Cummings out...

 MC-1 Looked at Admiral Hack  and laughed,..That is your Big Plan, Admiral Hack?.. Cave in a tunnel that is already caved in?

 Hacks  eyes  shifted to MC-1.....of course... i may not  be the Military Genius  that has  his whole flotilla  trapped   by a few  Human vessels..... I did not  come here to capture a Mountain, on some moon.. I came here to capture the Moons, and defeat Nivar.. If the Cave   in  was natrual? then it is better we  seal it, all the more... if the qarl tried to  seal it  shut.. we will make sure it is damn good and sealed.....they may limit our ways in....but... we will limit their ways out.

"Right...hands off the phosphorus and magnesium..." Roy muttered.  In a clearer voice, he directed, "Supe, stick with Tucker...Karson, do what you can do rig the hall outside the hatch, in case the runners Tucker heard are NOT the Fifth...you three need to hold the backdoor until the Scots get here.  Make sure of your targets, though...we don't want any friendly-fire incidents."

He started down the stairs.  "Everyone else, sit tight until I'm down...once I clear, next one moves, then the next on that clear, and so on.  Keep the maximum number of weapons aimed into the chamber while we're moving in."

He kept moving as he spoke, and after, until he reached the bottom and dropped to one knee, bringing his weapon up to cover the space.  "Clear..."

  Garrat turns slightly, "How about we call down some more units and you explore that hallway."

 Ming calls  Up for  more troops, then says,..There are two doors  we  did not open on the right sides of  places.. and the one that is  50 yards  ahead.... do you want to  send troops down all of them?

 Thee is a Rumble.. then  another..and yet another... it sounds   far off. but  ..perhaps..not that far.

  Cummings  Voice came on,..As per  the Admiral's  orders.. we sealed a Bloody tunnel..that was already sealed... Cove's  stick is  Moving back and will take anothe branch...... I seee Ming's stick is  almost all down your way... let me know  if you need troops  from the reserves here.

   "Might as well.  We have the troops.  If there is a problem we'll back track and converge on it."

In reply to Roy Spencer (msg # 24):

Jesse quietly listened to orders but followed along as Roy gave the clear to move.  She kept attentive to the surroundings and listened for any quicker approaching footsteps.

  they were getting near the  Bottom of the stairs.. Lyri stayed on top scanning the ship , loking  for a head to peek out...

 Tucker  called out.......  Captain McCloud   and the Lt Hirr about   a Minute away...

 smoke was rising in the air.. some parts of the ship had  small fires from the  buring/melting metal , melting the skin of the structure...

  Robbins  calls out into the Mics......Found a  Door... its open...  dark inside...

 Kole stayed close to  Jesse, he fired of a few rounds of his Nivarian rifle, but it was unclkear if he hit anything.

"Well, at the very least, they're not taking this thing into orbit anytime soon..." Roy said quietly as he looked at the smoking holes from the magnesium Karson had dropped.

"When McCliud and the Felrites get here, take two people and set up overwatch on the hall and the ship exterior, send the rest down to me, so we can clear the ship.."  He turned to the group with him.  "Robbins, Wagstaff, see if there's anything noteworthy down any of these other corridors."  He gestured to the locations the Qarl had attempted to flee to.

"They had to have some way of opening up the mountain to get this thing out...if we're lucky, it was more complex than just blowing out the mountainside, and it's something we can use to get troops and techs inside."  He'd heard the speculative discussions about using the mountain as a military base...that meant getting people in, and right now, there was no way to do that efficiently.

"Jesse, you and Kole keep an eye on that open hatchway into the ship...anything that tries to come out without its hands in the air and a surrender posture, you shoot it dead where it stands.

  Kole  Nodded, but looked  more to  Jesse then Roy... Looking at the..then to  the Hatchway on the Top.

   Roy  No sooner  finished his orders,  Mccloud and  Hemsly came  down the  stairs,  LT Hirr was  right behind.. the  rest of their units came  down in relative  formation.

  Tucker   called down.....Tou still  want me  watching that other  door?

 Robbins  and Waggstaff   started  running to the stern.. from down here the  thing was a lot  taller... only about 100 feet shorter  then an ESN destroyer, it was elliptical , but  with  slanted sides and a flattened  Nose...

 the others  gathered  by the open   hatchway... the darkness   was lit  by some  dim lighting way    inside, and what appeared to be a corner.

  There was  a Crack for Lyri's  weapon, and on the far side of the carvern, a  doorway lay open, and Bits of Qarl   rained down  to the opposite side of the  structure.. Lyri said into all COMs,..yes, boys and girls, that;s why you don't  have a light on, when you open a door or window.

"Yes, Tucker...I don't want to come out of the ship into a cluster of disgruntled Qarl.  You, Supe, and Lyri are in charge of making sure we've got a safe place to exit to, using whichever of McCloud's people you tapped."  He turned to Lt. Hirr.

"We don't know if anyone's aboard, or if this thing's even operational...but there were Qarl coming and going when we opened fire and odds are good at least a few decided to hunker down inside."  He gestured at the hatch Robbins had found..  "That's the only external hatch we know is accessible...we can either go in that way, or search the ship for another, but the longer we look, the more time they get to regroup."  He grimaced, adding, "If this is the only way in, and anyone's in there, it's a good bet they've got it under watch.  Going in will be high-risk...so I won't order anyone to go.  But I'd appreciate some extra guns at my back."

  Lyri  COMed,..there'sthathatch. near..what  should be a bridge?.. its  on  top though?

 Supe added his  2  creds,..those   guys who were runnign to the   tunnels?.. they didn't  come from opurside of the thing...

  LT Hirr's  take  flicked a fee times,...my people can be  climbing up.. see what the hatch is doing?

 Tucker   grabbed Minnet  and pointed to the  door  past the  interception.. he  COMed,Ok? SM..  we have Minnet     and Myself  watching the   back tunnel... Supe  and  Master Chief  over looking the  ship-thing...

Roy processed all the answers in short order.  "That'll work, Tucker.  Lyri, if things go sideways out here, give us a yell.  If you lose comms with us, pass it along to Beth and bring in as many troops as you can muster."  He knew odds were good Beth would be monitoring, but it never hurt to have a backup plan.  He turned to Hirr.

"Go ahead and take the topside hatch.  Check in with Lyri every three minutes, at most...if we don't hear from you, we'll assume bad news."  He looked at Jesse, then his eyes flickered to Kole for a moment.  "Jesse, you and Kole take over checking the hallways on this level.  Do what you can to secure any hatches you find...look for controls of some sort, see if there's a way to open the mountain.  Catch up with Robbins and Wagstaff...that should give you enough firepower if you run into trouble."  Still looking around, he spoke again..."Karson, be on call...if anyone ends up facing more Qarl than we can handle, I want you to drop the roof on the Qarl, even if it seals us in here."

Mentally, he ran down his checklist...he'd covered all the relevant positions.  "McCloud, you and yours are with me, we're going in down here.  Let's do this..."

  Robbins  and  Waggastaff were at the  two tunnels  down, they looked around at all the  'left overs  from the qarl who tried to escape

   Lt Hirr's   commandos  fired up , thin line  as stuck to the   metal of the  structure... then they stated  climbing up like chipmonks...

   Jesse and   Kole  saw  robbins  and Waggastaff rounding the Bessel at the back, heading towards the   tunnels.

 McCloud  and Hemsly racked up there  weapons  and Nodded to  Spencer as the rest of the 5th formed up

 Karson stood  near the  entrance, he had a small back on his shoulder and  a sidearm.

 Beth's  COM  came back.Admiral is  trying to get a stick to send  down if you need it...

    Beth relayed the  message  and  Hack COMed the  Colonists   A Captain answered,..Captain?  Try to form a stick of troopers  and head to the cave mouth , LT Morrow  will send you... don't  enter until i tell you... even if you can't get a whole stick,,, gather what you can...

 Aye Sir..Already done..

 MC-1  asks,..so? that is a Qarl ship?... but..its   buried in a Mountain..what harm can it do?

 Hack shook his head,..Cavet? How long has that Mountain been there?

 Juil looked up in surprise,..i...do not know?.. it was here when i came..80..90 years ago?

 ..indeed..... he said as he rubbed his chin.

Jesse nodded for Kole to follow behind.  She took each section of wall carefully.  If she came to an entrance, she would pause, check, then send Kole across before she did. If she came to a door she checked for booby trapping or rigging after motioning Kole to keep a look out.  If there was nothing, she sprayed her iMeins on the hinges and put a tagging to let others know she was here as a warning.

Once done she'd move along the tunnel.

  As  Roy melia  and the  5ht  entered  the   one  entrance they see on their side of the   Cavern...

 The Feltites  were scrambling up their  ropes  to mapproach the Hatch at the top.

  Looking a round, there  were no other  entrance to the Cavern, other then the two tunnels at the  stern end of the   structure .

  above them, Lyri, supe, Minnet and Tucker   covere the   the tunnel  they entered  from

  Robbins and wagstaff waited  for Jesse and Kole to catch up, at the stern end  , where the tunnels  were.

 Above the  cavern, almost across the way, from Lyri was the  door  that still stood open.. a light  shone behind it, but  there were no stairs  down.
...............

 Inside  the  structure..it was  dark...with a diffused light  coming from ahead, looking like they might be a bend. about  50 yards    to the north.

Roy grimaced at the lighting conditions.  "Here's hoping the Qarl show up on IR," he grunted, setting the filter on his helmet's visor.  "Everyone keep a five-foot gap...about a meter and a half...between you and the next one in line.  Don't bunch up unless we have to, if they're going to try and ambush us, let's make them work for every single one of us they get."

He gave a curt nod, and started down the accessway toward the light, his weapon up and ready to fire.

  Moving  down the    passage, the air is  a bit more stale then in the cavern.  When they get to the  corner that bends to the east.. the see another 'rampstair' that leads up to a shut hatchway.  there is  an Image on the  wall to the  right.. a slightly scraped insignia of a Silver Comet with a Black orb as a back round.