Alexander saw the sergeant board the dropship. He stood up near the entrance to the dropship.

 

The sergeant then turned towards the cockpit and said:

 

"Everyone is aboard. We're cleared for takeoff."

 

as he said that, the pilot nodded and the craft started to lift off of the floor of the hanger. Alexander stared out the window of the craft as they flew into space. He could see the planet's glistening surface slightly, it was a mixture of white and pale blue, however, clouds obscured his sight significantly so it was hard to make out details.

 

However, the thought of the scream he had heard aboard the Goliath was on his mind more than anything, and all he could wonder was why command did not at all seem alarmed by this.

 

Mason turned his head towards Alex and started to speak.

"You look a bit shaken up, you okay?" He asked with genuine concern. Mason was surprised at the pale look on Alex's face, especially since besides the sergeant, Alex was the bravest soldier in the squad.

 

"I just saw something I'd rather forget.' Alex said in a neutral monotone voice.

 

Mason did not pry further, and Alex saw that the planet was coming ever closer to their view. He knew that soon enough they would be on the planet's surface. He could see the finer details of the planet now, large ice structures appeared to protrude from the surface, they must be incredibly large to be able to see them from atmosphere.

 

"Men, report to the APC, we're going to be planet side soon enough." He said, at that, all of the soldiers snapped to attention and headed for the APC in the back of the drop ship. They all climbed inside of the APC and took their positions. Alan would be driving as he was best at it, before he joined the marines he was a pilot and he wasn't too bad with ground vehicles either.

 

Soon enough Alex could see that they had entered the planet's atmosphere, the surface was getting closer.

 

"We're at the LZ, meet me back here when you have completed your objective." The pilot could be heard saying.

 

After that, the APC was deployed, it touched the snow covered ground. An objective marker appeared on the solderis' HUDs. They started to drive in that direction.

 

"So, not a standard insertion huh? This place looks absolutely deserted." Brandon says.

 

"Tough shit, we're stuck here until we have what command is after." Mason said.

 

Content with that, Brandon did not further discuss the subject. They turned their attention to the sergeant who was now talking into his radio. Alex could see through the window and saw Bravo 33's APC next to theirs as they traveled.

 

"Foxtrot 24, do you read me, this is Delta 13, have you reached the caverns?" The sergeant said into his radio.

 

"Affirmative, sir. Command has ordered our squad and Alpha 3 to go in ahead of you and report what we find." The reply came, audible to the entire squad.

 

The sergeant stood up.

 

"Men, let's review your equipment. You are armed with a H22-SAR, it is a standard assault rifle. You are also armed with a combat knife, a flashlight, and a gasmask with a strap at the back. This equipment will hopefully ensure that none of you die in the field, but no guarantees." The sergeant said.

 

"But sir, this place is deserted. Nothing here would kill us anyway." Alex said.

 

"We're not sure of the conditions in the caverns." the sergeant replied back.

 

Alex was satisfied with that answer, but his mind was wild with images of what could be inside that command thought was so important. He was interrupted in his train of thought by Alan speaking up.

 

"We are almost the entrance to the caverns." Alan said.

 

The team loaded their rifles as he said this, they would be exiting the APC because the entrance to the caverns was too small for them to continue with it. Besides, it would be easier to investigate and retrieve the objective if they were on foot, whatever the objective is.The radio suddenly started:

 

"Delta 13, we have proceeded relatively far into the structure. From what we can see, it is artificial, repeat, these caverns were built by someone...or something. It's relatively warm inside too, suggesting some kind of artificial or natural heat that the structure takes advantage of." The voice came back.

 

The APC suddenly came to a halt, they were at the entrance to whatever this place was supposed to be.

 

"Continue further into the caverns, we will regroup with you shortly." The sergeant said.

 

Everyone except Alan piled out of the vehicle. The sergeant turned to Alan and spoke.

 

"Alan, you and Bravo 33 will stay at the entrance." the sergeant said.

 

After he said that, the soldiers looked into the relatively dark caverns, and turned on their flashlights. They started to head inside, they felt a warmth swoop over them as they entered. They noticed a glowing light at one end of the short cave, they approached it. The light blinked and the wall where the light was opened up in a three-way pattern of sorts, apparently it was a door.

 

Brandon walked inside first. He signaled back an 'All-Clear'. The rest of the squad followed him into the large chamber. There appeared to be three doors they could go through, each with some strange symbol above them. It was not a language that appeared easily understood. Mason took a step towards one of the doors.

 

"Sir, should we split up?" he asked.

 

"No, I'm going to see which passage way Foxtrot and Alpha took, and we'll follow them, we can search subsequent passages on our way out." the sergeant said, before pulling out his radio.

 

"Foxtrot, which door did you take from the main passageway." the sergeant said.

 

Before Foxtrot could respond, Brandon started to speak.

 

"Sir, I think I saw something behind that door."

 

"Nonsense, there is nothing on the radar Private, you're paranoid." the sergeant replied.

 

"We took the door to the left, Delta 13. We split up with Alpha 3, they took the door in the center." The reply came.

 

"Roger that, we'll take the remaining passage, what do your surroundings look like right now?"

 

The sergeant then signaled for the squad to head to the right, while simultaneously waiting for a response to his question.The squad started heading to the door, then they stepped inside.

 

"Delta, we're held up in a large hall, it appears to have doors lined up on both sides, they all appear locked."

 

"Roger that" Sergeant Renalds replied.

 

The squad continued heading through the corridor that they now found themselves in. On the other end of the corridor there was yet another door, it too appeared unlocked. They headed towards it, and then stopped.

 

"Corporal Gray, take point." The Sergeant said.

 

Alex stepped ahead and towards the door, as he approached, it opened into what appeared to be a large chamber. At one end of the chamber was a large circular structure. There were three statues here. One appeared to be a unicorn, one a pegasus, and one a normal horse, although the proportions were off compared to an Earth horse.

 

"It's all clear, sir...all clear." He said, as the squad followed him inside.

 

They could now look at their surroundings better, on one side there were tapestries that appeared to have the sun on them, and on the other there side the tapestries bore the moon and stars. The chamber looked complex, next to the circular stone apparatus there was a lever.

 

"You think this thing might still work?" Alexander said.

 

"It's worth a try" the sergeant replied.