64 light years away

[Omicron]

Unknown, The Shrine

Short burst rained upon the surface, failing to produce any effect other than couple of shrapnels. Giant, solid wall smothered the ripples across the surface where the bullets hit. Impervious to any attempts of breaching, blueish barrier just stood there denying further access. Walking slowly towards the force field for last time, Thunder helplessly looked through transparent confinement to continuation of the tunnel he has attempted to explore. His weapon was not an argument this particular technology would accept and neither anyone in the team managed to dent any of the force fields they have located since the battle. This quiet troubled him, instinctively looking for targets in dark corners of the Shrine. Once prompted to almost open fire at a false alarm, mistakenly taking the ambient for a warning. He hated the place, wondering how those who fell at his hand could bear living in these conditions. Some of the corridors were as wide to let a Nomad fighter through with ease, occupying his mind with thoughts as if they landed on some kind of alien hive. He has never seen any with his own eyes but heard of the Omicron 92 in particular, which The Order has disabled in course of Nomad War. He turned around, walking in slow pace back where he came from. Meeting Archer on his way, just as lucky he was in scouting for passage into depths of the station. He became even more concerned with his duties, dismissing the psychological burden of the site on his psyche.

The other teams came short as well. What has once been a hole Templar dived in, was no longer there. Arctic and Kitty’s morale were pretty low considering likely loss of a comrade for a reason that stupid as not listening to orders of superior officer. Getting lost in a Nomad maze was no small deal, they suspected. The newbie in particular debated out loud chances their second in command had for survival. In truth none of them truly could comprehend event that took place. Arctic cursed on some of the smaller ratholes he’s been sneaking through most of the day to no effect. On their return trip, they could see Valkyrie conversing with one of the scientists left behind during the purge. They insisted they have went through then-disabled Nomad forcefield and that until they find power source and way to turn it off, they will never breach through. So it was their task to locate it, cut short only to encounter more and more barriers. They wanted to just let eggheads do what they came here for and evacuate as fast as humanly possible - with or without Templar who has in no way been any relevant to the two as of yet..

Hours passed, Kate fell gradually less at peace with thought of alien station changing the rules. Explanation of defense mechanism kicking in as soon whatever controlled Shrine came into awareness of intruders was possible explanation yet still unsettling. Were they being observed? Were they facing living being, some sort of artificial intelligence or merely predictable, automated protocol? She came into awareness of prospect of Nomad created intelligence only recently, being briefed about Scorpion-class gunboats. If a task was too menial to be fulfilled by Nomad entity, such semi-organic monster may have been designed for such maintenance. Even if so far they never encountered mass-use of ‘that’, they were fully aware they were inside of nothing else they have ever encountered during The Order’s mission. It was her turn to patrol, this time exploring yet another segment of the Shrine, treading with caution well advised in first contact scenario they found themselves in. Discovery of faint shadow ahead put her into caution. Holding still, Valkyrie scanned environment and decided to advance. Slow and deliberate movements followed, thinking to both calm herself from combat high and own concealment. An error, she noted, forgetting entire armor in the way rendering stealthy approach a futile exercise. Stress of her work caught up with her yet the shadow failed to account for her presence.

Nevertheless the advantage of moving slow will pay off if in need of reacting to the development. Able to quickly jump out of danger, holding rifle at steady to address any target in front with several bursts of heavy caliber bullets. Following deeper, she make careful note of her potential escape route - leaving little to chance, avoiding possibility of frantic retreat. She wanted to have upper hand when confronting the unknown, moving from best fire line location to the other. Whether it was by miracle someone that missed the cull or Templar himself, it did not mattered as she wanted to smack the latter disciplinary anyway. Sound of heavy gunfire enhanced by claustrophobic tunnel urged her to back off to safety. She jumped.

---