Holly clutched suddenly at the edge of the desk as the station tilted, sending the computer crashing to the floor where it made a fizzling sound in the three inches of water or so that still remained. She muttered something uncomplimentary under her breath and staggered unsteadily to her feet, wristwatch computer beeping urgently.

Holly inspected what the miniature screen showed and her eyes widened. "Our foundations appear to be not quite as strong as we'd though."

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Carson quickly punched in his own code, paused a second to let it register, then entered the second. The doors slid open, and water rushed into the nearly empty hallway.
Suddenly, the entire base shook. Carson stumbled, grabbing a wall to steady himself.

"Well, it'll have to do." Alanna emphatically placed an autorifle in front of Holly, then turned to try and organize some sort of defensive positioning.

She was interrupted by the lab, which groaned and tilted approximately ten degrees toward lunar north.

Decidedly abnormal.

Loose equipment crates slid over the floor, followed ponderously by desks. Fortunately, the room - and presumably station - shifted again, preventing them from doing any harm. For now.

"Back to your places," she called, reaching for a radio that had slid by. Handgun in one hand, radio in the other, she began flipping through the frequencies, hoping that someone, anyone, outside the CSEA lab was still alive. "This is CSEA, I repeat, Chronotronic Systems Engineering and Analysis; is anyone out there? Repeat, come in, come in." She sent the same message several times, trying to discern variations in the heavy static that might indicate a responsive radio.

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

Still tapping furiously at her keyboard, now a hologram in midair for lack of a sufficiently solid surface to project itself onto, Holly swiftly zoomed through the frequencies herself. Channel five, four radios with unkown signatures. "Five," she reported aloud. "Channel five, four units. Unidentified but originally from Earth, so not alien."

She slung the air rifle's strap over her shoulder, should it be needed in the near future.

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Just as Thanfield reached the bottom of the ramp and began moving to flank Cortez, his radio crackled to life. ""...is CSEA... Systems Engineering and Analysis... anyone out there? ...come in..."

"I read you, CSEA. This is Private Riley Thanfield of TG41B Marine Detachment. Position - at bottom of Ramp D. Wait out." And here he disregarded the radio to get back in sync with Cortez opening fire. The first ranks of brutes, disorganized and disoriented by bloodlust as they were, went down without protest. They hit the knee-deep water with musical splashes, their plasma-inflicted wounds sending iron-tinged steam into the air.

But more Bhorki, enticed by the carnage, were swarming in with every barrage. "Sergeant, we don't have time for this!" Thanfield shouted over the din. "We should make a beeline for it!"

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"I read you.... This is ... Thanfield of TG41B Marine ...Position ...Ramp D. Wait..." The static was thick, and the group of ten techies, engineer, and scientist could barely make out the words. Just before the transmission cut out entirely, there was a burst of crackling that was definitly not static - somebody was doing something to someone else, and it was probably violent.

Alanna bit her lip. "Alright, folks. Flank the door and be ready for whatever tries to get in, but do not fire until I give the word. We don't want to hit friendlies." She fiddled with the radio, trying to improve the channel's reception. Gradually, she got the static to fade to a tolerable murmur.

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

Carson's radio crackled in his pocket as he and Michele quickly walked down the hallway. He pulled it out and turned it up, in time to hear, "...Analysis. Is anyone...come in..." He caught part of a reply. "There's marines outside." he said to Michele. That was some good news, at least. Into his radio, he said, "This is Carson Reid, scientist. Michele Deriecho, scientist is with me. We're making for your position. Over."

They stormed up the ramp in spearhead formation, Cortez on point, Thanfield and Winter covering sides and rear. Guns blazing the entire way, they blasted aside any dimwit Bhorki with the stupidity to venture out from cover - numbering only around an army or so, taking into consideration their intelligence or lack of it.

They hit the top of the ramp and halted at a corner. Thanfield risked a peek around and was met by a bloodied corridor the Bhorki had decided to convert into a mess hall. The menu special? Human flesh. Swallowing his bile, Thanfield extracted another plasma grenade - he and Winter had stuffed their packs well - and sent it around the corner. It detonated on impact, pretty much destroying the dinner banquet.

Breaking out from cover once again, the marines finished off the stragglers. At the end of the corridor was a single reinforced door labeled "CSEA Lab." Thanfield whipped out his radio. "CSEA, this is Private Thanfield. Preparing to rendezvous. Is your position secure?"

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Alanna heard the messages with relief. "This is CSEA. We copy, Reid. I'd advise you to make it fast. There are two entrances," she added for everyone's benefit. The main entrance, and the fire escape door, which is harder to access. We're secure and armed. Is there anything you need us to do?" Finally, people who knew what they were doing!

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

Michele sighed in relief, only to be replaced with rushed fear as she heard a crackle on Carson's radio. "I advise you to make it fast." Closing her eyes for a second to catch her breath, Michele headed down the corridor.

"The sooner we leave this soggy, alien infested mess the better. Come on."

_________________
You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

"Private Thanfield, this is Holly Taelor, scientist - would you happen to know anything about the current abnormally tilted position of our station?" Holly's voice broke in over the radio through her wristwatch computer. She was currently arming the air rifle, because what with the events of the last few hours, you couldn't be too careful.

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Winter clamped his hand down on a smile before it could fully form. With both Thanfield and the Sergeant now covered in alien guts, too, the entire squad now matched. Still, he had to vent the emotion somehow. Casting a furtive glance in Thanfield's direction, he laughed. He cut it short before the Private could do more than glare, but it had served its purpose.

Of course, there was the matter of the somewhat flustered-looking scientists and engineers around them. And the portal-thing, too.

"Isn't that the thing that we're supposed to go through?" he asked Cortez. If so, he could only hope it wasn't damaged--that would stink. His earlier apprehension gone, he felt very much like going through the portal right now. It might even be fun.

Of course, there was always the chance that he would be stuck getting his head smashed into the frame of the Puma again, or 'falling' down the stairs in the barracks building, or being targeted by ever other player on the paintball course. Those things he wouldn't mind missing again--everyone else thought they were funny, and even did what they could to make sure they continued, but they just annoyed him. Of course, once he was annoyed, they 'fell' down the stairs, too, or lost the paintball match. And then they got mad at him for getting upset at them, yet did it all over again a few days later.

He could never understand other people. They were just so confusing all the time, and now there were these Engineers and Scientists staring at them, confusion, relief, or both paramount on their faces. What was so confusing to them? Other people were supposed to be able to figure these things out, so they could tell him.

Maybe they had been smiling before.

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Scanning their group, Thanfield couldn't help but wince. Salvation had come for this lot incarnate in three panting pukes covered in alien guts. And one of them was laughing. He could almost see the wheels turning in the civilian scientists' nerdy heads. But then again, he was a gung ho marine who was only supposed to worry about the next enemy to shoot and finding his way to the nearest urinal.

He took his turn saluting the crowd, then went over to examine the portal and the intricate blinking consoles surrounding it. The space station complained with yet another lurch, reminding them of the desperation of their situation. A glance at the survelliance on the far wall told him the Bhorki mother ship was spawning again - not brutes, but a dozen more of the huge specimen they'd shot at earlier, a representative of which was gushed in the doorframe.

"We going to rock this party or what?" he said, shifting his gaze from the portal to Cortez.

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((I'm going to hurry us along, so y'all aren't waiting for us. lol))
After going down several more hallways, Carson and Michele were the door they needed. There hadn't been many aliens in the hallways, but the pair had been able to shoot and dodge the ones that were there.
Carson punched in his code, then the other he knew, and stepped back to let Michele enter her's.

Michele quickly entered in her code, and the doors eased open, allowing them access to the space now filled with people.

"So!" Michele spoke rather loudly as they entered, announcing their arrival, "What in the name of goodness are we going to do now?"

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

(okay, I'm going to say that you two entered through the fire escape, since there's a ravening who-knows-what trapped in the main doors)

"Well, we did," Alanna responded to the Marine sergeant's question. She paused as the fire escape door opened, admitting two more scientists - the ones on the radio. Good. Things that she didn't have to shoot. "Unfortunately we had a power spike that got past the surge protectors, so it's going to take a little attention to get it back up and running again. However, I think we have bigger problems." She nodded to the slavering jaw still struggling ferociously in the door, the target of most of the techies' weapons.

"I'm Alanna Yeh," she added. She started to hold out her hand, but looked at the sergeant's condition and thought better of it. "I'm the most senior engineer in the room right now, but my speciality is not holding off invading alien monsters - I assume that's yours." Pulling off the grease-stained denim shirt she habitually wore over her nicer, more professional clothes, Alanna offered it to the man. "You also look like you need this."

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>