The shattered edge

[Violette]

The Valentina cruised along the leviathan hull of the alien vessel, it's searchlights sweeping over the outer plating of the ship. Stacy pulled the ship out of cruise and pushed the lights back on themselves, revealing a large, Storm-sized hole in the ship.

"There!" she pointed to her second, "Looks like some asteroid damage, that'll be our way in"

She handed over control of the ship, stepping down into a small holding area where her team of Marines waited. Each one was strapped up and ready for combat, though their faces displayed a definite lack of any intelligence whatsoever.

"Alright, you lovely chaps get the pleasure of extracting the good Colonel Alvarez, if he's still alive, and backing up the fire teams already inside. I'll be making sure you do this without shooting each other in the backs..."

Stacy stripped off her flight jacket, drawing the Marine's eyes for the first time since she'd entered stepped down onto the deck, and fitted herself with a sturdy armoured vest. On top of that, she slipped on a bandoleer of rifle rounds and a large overcoat, grabbing one of the high-powered ballistic rifles from the armoury rack.

The Valentina hovered on impulse and manoeuvring thrusters above the opening, the hatch at the bottom of the Storm opened up and dropped half a dozen grappling lines, ready for the Marines to board the ship.

"Okay, let's go have some fun gentlemen!"

Stacy smiled, slipping on her helmet and strapping her rifle across her back she pulled a lever decompressing the airlocked area of the Storm. One by one the Marines followed her down the lines, through the opening in the Alien ship's hull.

The Marines expertly covered each corner of the room, floating around in the light artificial gravity of the alien vessel.

Stacy kicked off of the floor, grabbing onto a corner of the ship's opening, there she placed a small electronic device, kicking away again, she placed another parallel to the first, pushing herself back down to the ground. One of the Marine Fire Team Leaders placed a small radar dish-like object down on the floor at the center of the opening and activated it. The device's dish exploded with a bright light, energy from within reaching both of the devices above it and securing a bubble shield to cover the opening.

The Marines waited for the ship's systems to compress the area, and removed their helmets, Stacy following their lead.

"Valentina, this is Winters, you are cleared to move on, I want sweeps of the outside of the ship, check on the Social Credit, and act as a relay for Comms from the outside, I want to know if you find Alvarez or Brooks before I do"

She threw aside her EVA gear and raised her Rifle, beckoning the Marines to follow. With swift hand-signals and practised routines, the Marines moved through the corridors of the ship, splitting off into three separate teams.