The First Day

[Jericho Winters]

////ALICE- Advanced Linear Integrated Combat Exercises///////
VI- ID# 4566781-HD12
Mainframe Status- Online
Sensory Data of Simulation: 0877114 - 98%
Current status.. running program...

Checks and tallies, tallies and checks: the VI ran its running totals. Observing , cataloguing, improving, and tweaking the simulations in the room below in order to carry out its programming. It wasn't linked to other parts of the Nemesis, only here as an experimental trial. It didn't care that it's sole goal- to attempt to destroy an intruding party conflicted with the safety limitations imposed upon all of the Federation's VI's. It was just a master goh player sitting behind the dejarik board.

As the group dealt with the wildlife attack successfully it collated its present findings and then began a series of subtle changes... small changes, harmless really. First over the next five kilometers some conifers slowly morphed into other deciduous trees, with high branches. The brook which had been seen earlier now fed into a wider stream, it's shores lined with rocky stones before it's current plummeted down a series of small waterfalls and shoals. In the midst of the torrent the AI began simulating sinkholes within the piedmont bottom.

More changes began to be added as well- tiny mosquito like bugs, with blood collections sacks as thick as one's eyeball and flipperflies, flittered about the area as other small animals were added, squirrelzoks and Cameliotoads were just among the few small additions. Then came the flowers- some harmless- others not so much. Ones with stems with pernicious looking spines the size of a man's finger stretching outwards, About their stems small animals corpses lay half decomposed from cardiac arrest, or half eaten by other animals from paralysis. Herbiological based Neurotoxins ALICE's database called it.

And then - finally in the midst of all of in the sixth kilometer ALICE began building a small series of traplines and two simple holocameras as the bases 'farthest perimeter' for monitoring an approach.

Content in that it was serving it's primary functions the VI patiently waited for more observations to be gathered, more data to be collated , and further test results to be weighed...
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////STOP//

Winters was himself more then quite happy to see the versatility of the new recruits, it boded well for the future. The two didn't seem to have any problem standing their ground in the face of danger when they had too. But Winters always thought there was a bit of truth to the saying, 'Discretion is the better part of valor."

He agreed with the sentiment to move on though- this time returning to as covert an approach as they might manage. Jericho smiled a little on the inside of his helmet, letting a bit of dark humor pervade into his voice. "Well at least this so far this experimental test has provided some entertainment value at least. You all are doing quite well in my opinion. Now it's just a matter to stay on track and proceed towards the objective. I suggest teams of two again- this time keeping an eye out for other 'hostile' perturbations in the program."

[Maximus]

Maximus nodded in agreement with his NCO. "Winters, I will be putting with Ceth again. I and Drack will be teamed up again. As that seemed to work great this time. We are going to proceed down this embankment. Whereupon, the two fireteams will split and assume standard skirmish interval. If the line of sight increases, then we will go to an extended skirmish interval. At all times, the two inner people must remain in eye sight of each other. No exceptions! All clear?"

Everyone nodded...

"Okay! move out..."

Maximus took the inner side with Drack on his right. He signaled Drack that he expected that things would clear out some. Drack nodded that he understood what to do.

I am sure he knows that as things widen out to take out the sniper rifle. He is a smart kid! Already proved that!

Maximus looked to his left and checked that Winters and Ceth were in position. Then he caught Drack's eye and signaled that they should advance slowly and cautiously...

The sunlight came through the needles above showing the damp and soggy ground. Their boots lefts small imprints in the soft needle covered forest floor. Maximus saw that the brown bark was black from the rain. He smiled as he smelt the fresh scent of rain. Again, he thought of home!

Up ahead, Maximus could see the conifers were thinning out and giving way to deciduous trees. There was a mix of oaks, beeches, maples and poplars. The bright green leaves were still swaying in the gusts of wind. The bark was all still dark and slightly wet.

Maximus whispered into the com, "Guys, I would suggest that we field camo up. Cause, as we get closer to the outpost. Things are gonna be watched closer. It would be best if we don't show up all nice and white against the dark colored tree-bark."

Maximus then turned and kept an eye out while Drack applied dirt, needles and dead leaves to the front of his armor. Then Maximus camouflaged Drack's back, while Drack kept an eye out. They then switched.

After Jericho signaled that they too were camouflaged, Maximus hand signaled that to continue moving out...

[Varon]

Varon smelled the damp earth and heard the sound of the nearby stream. He glanced over at Jericho and Rannek seeing them blend in with the surrounding forest. He watched the beams of sunlight coming through breaks in the canopy. "This is just like the hunts me and Kale would go on on Dxun. We'd creep through the forest making the predators the hunted." Varon walked forward slowly in a half crouch behind and staggered to the right of Maximus so he had a clear line of fire on any hostiles. They continued forward till they got to a wide stream. The banks were rocky and made walking treacherous. It looked doubtful if they could cross here with the current moving so fast. The water rushed by over sharp rocks before it went down a fifteen foot waterfall twenty feet downstream of their position. "These trees seem very different from the ones we were just at....this is odd"

"Am I the only one noticing how the trees are completely different? Its like a whole different forest."

Varon looked for a safer way across the stream and spied a shallow ford about fifty feet upstream.

"I think I see a ford upstream. Its probably a safer bet if we head up that way so we don't risk getting caught in the current and carried down the waterfall."

[Rannek Ceth]

Rannek looked around at the forest surrounding them. Varon was right, the trees had changed as they made their way closer to the objective. The height of the branches now gave them a clearer line of sight, but they could also harbor dangers of their own, if the simulation decided to generate wildlife that was capable of ambushing them from above.

For the moment the forest seemed quiet, so the two teams approached the ford that Varon had pointed out. As they stepped into the water however, it was immediately apparent that even the shallow area was not ideal for crossing the fast flowing stream. Rannek felt the strong pull of an undercurrent threatening to cause him to lose his balance, but he pressed onward, carefully choosing his steps.

One slip here and I could be swept down the stream and over the falls Rannek reflected inwardly.

At that moment, Varon, who was just in front of Rannek, stepped on a particularly slippery stone and lurched backwards. Rannek put out an arm to steady his fellow trooper, but Varon appeared to have caught himself and was already standing up straight again.

"It's a good thing you have excellent balance, Varon" Rannek quipped, "I don't think I would have been able to stop you from going for a quick and deadly voyage if you had fallen."


Varon simply smiled inside his helmet and shook his head while continuing to move forward, being particularly careful now to watch for any loose or slippery stones.

Rannek cautiously stepped around the stone that Varon had slid on and followed close behind the other Private. The group was a little more than half way across the stream when Rannek thought he heard a faint buzzing sound in the distance.

[Jericho Winters]

Winters was just going along, watchful and ready with the rope to throw it to anyone as they ventured across the stream. If anyone had fallen in he'd had been prepared to throw it to them as a lifeline. As it was- they all had made it past the strong undercurrents safely.

Now on the other side of the waters, upon the rocky embankment Winters took a moment to gaze around, quietly assessing what he saw. What was there. Very slowly his eyes were brought to small bits of movement, some type of amphibian skirted on the rocks closeby leaping down into the water when a flash of movement ripped towards it. It was a snake like creature, long and sinuous with barbed spines and long fangs. The amphibian didn't even have a chance as it was swallowed whole.

'Damn- this simulation was getting weirder.' Jericho would have thought such a vipers fangs or spikes might have even pierced ST armor if they were stepped on. And if they lived in the water... just how many more lived there?

Then something even stranger occured... The inside of the snake ballooned to about five times it's size as something inside it split the creature from within. Jericho watched in amazement as the amphibian slowly paddled back to shore with the corpse in its teeth before it began to feast.

'Not a good sign there.' How many more things in this simulation were more then what they appeared...

Very slowly in the distance Winters saw a brief cloud rise into the sky, momentarily eclipsing the artificially represented distant 'sun' on the far off horizon, opposite of the lightning storms. It was another odd occurence for a cloud to move differently from the rest of the weather. Moving horizontally in a different direction entirely...

A strange whirring noise could be heard...

A cloud, and a noise... Oh boy... He took a closer look at the cloud with his binocs, finally spotting several strange creatures ranging from the size of a golf ball to the size of an outstretched hand, palm and all.

And worse... it was moving towards them... and the local water source Winters just stood up straight and pointed, "Gentleman- looks like we have a curve ball coming..."

[Maximus]

"Crud! Gentlemen we are heading into those plants over there with the spines. I recommend the highest level of caution and alertness. Do not get separated from your partner!"

Maximus then turned and went sprinting with the rest of the men towards the plants. As they got closer Maximus realized something These are Carnivorous! The good thing is that they seem like giant Venus flytraps.

Maximus held his hand up to signal halt. He then turned around with Jericho to see if the fake cloud of insects was still on their tail. Sure enough they were! Maximus then turned to the men and nodded, "Jericho take Drack with you this time and proceed with through the grove of plants. I will work with Ceth this time. We need to be careful and cautious. Better be safe than rushed! Let's go..."

Maximus let Jericho and Drack move in first. He then followed with Ceth. They were in a column. Which enabled the two more senior officers to keep an eye on the younger two. At the same time it lessened the risk of setting off a trap. As they wouldn't be tramping through in a dispersed fashion...

The plants were green on the outside. From about a foot from the lidded and clam-like tops were spines that went down to ground level. The lowest spines were a 25.4 cm length and very sharp. They shortened to about 2.54 cm at the top. There were roots that stuck up haphazardly from the ground. These roots were probably living trip wires or sensors to tell the plant when food was nearby.

[Varon]

Varon followed closely behind Jericho while stepping over the plants roots carefully. He observed the large plants around him. He could see bodies of animals that had strayed too close to the plants and been caught in the trap. "Thats definitely something I want to avoid" Varon carefully stepped between the roots making sure not to touch them. He smelled the stench of the dead animals. He listened closely straining to here anything that could alert him to an ambush by the flying things they saw earlier. They continued traveling through the plants slowly keeping quiet and unnoticed. As they got deeper and deeper into the carnivorous plants they got bigger and the smell got worse. The whole thing was starting to make Varon feel very uneasy. "I hope these things don't like how I taste....." He looked back at Rannek and Maximus nodding to them to let them know they could continue forward again.

[Rannek Ceth]

Rannek nodded back at Varon, and continued moving cautiously through the carnivorous plant life that now surrounded their group. He took a passing glance at one of the spine covered plants and noted the dead animals that covered the soil around its stem.

Rannek was startled as something suddenly raced out of the underbrush, but was relieved to realize that it was simply a small creature that had been disturbed by the passing troopers and was attempting to escape them. As the animal passed by one of the plants, however, its hind leg nicked a protruding root. With lightning speed a spine flashed out, intersecting the small animal as it scurried across the ground. The spine impaled the creature through the shoulder with absolutely no resistance, and the animal simply stopped in its tracks. Rannek watched in appalled fascination as the animal’s breathing slowed, and then stopped completely. It was dead within seconds.

Wonderful simulation we’ve got going here, He reflected, I don’t think I should plan on going anywhere near those things.

While all of this had taken place the buzzing that they had been hearing continued to grow stronger. Rannek looked up at the approaching cloud of what he now recognized as insects, and considered his options if they turned out to be as hostile as most things in this sim had proved to be. Blasters wouldn’t be much use once the flying bugs got in close, so he opted to leave his ranged weapons holstered and instead drew his vibro-blade. It probably wouldn’t help all that much more if it really came down to a fight, but it was better than swatting at the things with his gloved hands, and he might have a chance at cutting some of the larger insects once they were in range.

I hope the L.T. knows what he’s doing, Rannek thought, These plants might offer us protection against the bugs, but they could snare us just as well.

[Maximus]

Maximus looked at Rannek, "Easy lad! We should be fine down here. Pay more attention to the plants than the bugs. Given the tops were are very safe."

Maximus looked up and eyed the feelers that jutted out in all directions around the tops of the plants. The purpose was clearly to allow the plant to detect and capture flying prey as well as ground prey. Judging from the rodent's death throws the spines contain neurotoxin. Probably the 'heads' also inject the same venom. We need to be really careful!

Maximus signaled Jericho cautiously, to slowly veer to their right so as to continue heading down stream towards the base... At the same time the buzzing sound was slowly starting to fade as the team worked their way downriver.

[Jericho Winters]

As the group passed the violent edge of the prodigiously dangerous 'cabbage' patch Winters' senses were on a hair trigger. His eyes were tracking back and forth through his helmet to focus on anything which might espy another threat to the party as overhead the swarm of insects made their way down towards the waters edge- some falling to the trailing whips of the local flora- others making it down to dive deep into the waters after those amphibious things he had seen before. Slicing them to bits before eating and drinking their fill. Others of the swarm were quickly ripped apart by those snake like growths...

Gawd- it was like some nightmarish ecosystem was being played out with everything on this world being part of a vicious cycle... How did the VI factor such things into the simulation?

... and despite their odd appearance those snake things had looked similar to something he'd seen before on a classified foray into the Unknown Regions towards Chiss space. They were like those staffs those warriors had... except less deadly. But why would the simulation seem to be so similar?

Winters didn't know- he didn't have time to guess: but he was damn sure going to try and figure out where these bits of code were coming from.

In the distance, about fifty feet away amidst a smaller tighter grove of carniverous plants where the rocky river's shoreline spread up to a steeper terrain Winters saw a bit of movement... a hint of metal gleaming from somewhere up above.

Very quickly he pumped his hand in the air, signalling the rest to 'stop'.

With closer inspection- around the largest plant he'd seen so far with whipping vines a durasteel rod was able to be glimpsed extending upwards above the two and a half meter foliage. He could see bits of gouges in the metal - from the plant's hungry ministrations towards it no doubt... but that wasn't the real threat he saw.

No the real threat- was the holocamera perched three meters high with it's photoreceptor luckily pointing in the other direction.

In order to move forward they'd have to find some means of nuetralizing it while keeping free of the plant like hazards and poisonous traps... And he didn't think it would be a good idea to use their voices either- who knew if the plants in a denser field would be capable of picking up the vibration in the air?

With a bit of quick hand signals, a fist over his voicebox with a twisting motion, he let the others know- from this point forward until the camera was nuetralized- silence- was the order of the day.

[Varon]

Varon followed Jericho's eye's seeing the camera perched up in the dense grove of plants. When he saw Jericho order everyone to silence he knew they were going to be taking out the camera. "I wonder if its possible to shoot the camera off?" It would be a tough shot with all the plants in the way and the small target. Plus the plants might attack once the shot rings out. He caught Jericho's attention by looking at him purposefully and motioned to his gun and then to the camera. Jericho shook his head indicating the distance was too far to risk. Varon continued slowly making there way along the river closer to the camera. As they got closer he gestured to Jericho pointing to there rifles and then to the camera. Varon motioned to himself and then to the other side of the stream indicating so he would have a different angle on the camera so they would both have an equal chance to hit the target. Jericho nodded and Varon slowly made his way to the waters edge seeing a few of the strange snake creatures from earlier. He figured they were pretty dangerous so he quickly made his way to the other end of the stream avoiding them. He set himself up and got his aim looking over at Jericho for the order to fire. He saw Jericho setting himself up and once he was ready he started to count down with his fingers. Varon took aim at the small camera and as soon as Jericho got to zero he fired right when Jericho did. He couldn't tell who hit the camera but it got shot clean off the top of the durasteel rod and into the growth of plants.

[Rannek Ceth]

Rannek wasn’t sure if it was the sound of his teammate’s blasters going off, or the holocam that came crashing down into the underbrush, but in a fraction of a second the large plant wrapped around the durasteel rod began to whip its vines back and forth across the area. One of the vines struck him across the chest with enough force to send him sprawling backwards onto the ground.

He looked down at his chest plate and saw that the plastoid material had been deeply dented, though he thanked the force that none of the neurotoxin thorns had hit him. Rannek quickly got to his feet and retrieved his vibro-blade from where it had fallen; being sure to keep out of the range of the still flailing vines.

As the plant continued to violently throw its weight around, the forest around them started coming to life. The smaller plants appeared to be responding to the thrashing vines and began to slowly wave about as well.

We need to get out of here now! Rannek thought, this whole place is going to be a killing ground if we don’t get away from the reach of these plants.

He turned and signaled his intentions to Maximus by jabbing an outstretched arm in the direction that the group had been heading. Maximus had his own problems however, as a thick vine came crashing down at him from above. In the same moment another plant limb shot toward Rannek and would have caught him across the throat had he not been quick enough to raise his combat knife to slash the vine in two.

As he did, a third vine swept low to the ground and took Rannek to the ground once again. This time however, he found himself rolling down a slight embankment. By the time he was able to right himself; he could not see the others over the rise in the ground. He swiftly started climbing up the mound and back toward the rest of the team.

[Jericho Winters]

////ALICE- Advanced Linear Integrated Combat Exercises///////
VI- ID# 4566781-HD12
Mainframe Status- Online
Sensory Data of Simulation: 0877114 - 98%
Current status.. running program...

It's sensors were carefully watching the ensuing conflagration of events occurring below. Coldly, calculating. Slowly- as one of the members of the party bello fell into a ravine, it saw an opportunity to register a new type of test; a test of fear...

====

Within the foliage's depths phozons and photons reintegrated to form a giant snake , this one three times larger then any before . Slowly , at first, then picking up speed the represented creature made it's way towards the struggling man, lunging forward with snapping jaws that bit into air less then an inch behind the subject's helmet before the mass of the snake carried it down and deeper into the ravine's depths...

[Rannek Ceth]

Just as Rannek reached the lip of the rise, he heard the sharp snap of closing jaws seemingly centimeters from the back of his head. The sound startled him, causing him to almost lose his footing and slip back down the embankment that he had just climbed. As his fingers scrabbled for purchase on the mossy ground, a hand appeared over the edge of the bank and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back toward the rest of the group. As he was pulled up and over the mound, Rannek risked a quick glance back at his assailant, and sighted a massive snake coiling itself as if to renew its attack on the armored man struggling above it.

Rannek had no particular fear of snakes; but he understood and respected the inherent dangers of wild animals. He knew that armor couldn’t always protect the soldier wearing it. Even something as simple as sharp teeth or stone could find the weak points in a trooper’s protective covering, however unlikely that might seem. No sooner than he recognized this when he was over the top of the hill and the snake was, for the moment, out of sight.

Rannek looked up to see who had pulled him out of danger, and saw Sergeant Jericho standing over him with an outstretched hand to pull the Private back to his feet.

“Thanks” Rannek gasped breathlessly as he reached up and took the Sergeant’s hand, “I almost lost my head back there.”

[Jericho Winters]

"Don't worry about it Ceth, Just get up, and keep moving. We're not out of the woods yet." Jericho whispered over the comline.

It was true they all weren't out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. But they were nearing to the approach to the NR outpost. From the 'satellite' maps provided it was just another click and a half to rockier ground. Ground which might be teeming with more surveillance gear. But if they were quick about it - it wouldn't matter. Just a small cliff face and a climg would bring them to a butte overlooking the installation.

It was only a matter of time until they would get there. That is - dependant upon whatever else this simulation threw at them. So far it didn't seem like anything they wouldn't be able to fully handle.

He just hoped that remained the case.

As Ceth regained his feet and steadied himself Jericho turned towards the other two. "Alright, Varon, take point. Get us through any traps and keep us out of sight of any monitoring equipment. So eyes open , and stay sharp."