Part 5: Death from Above

	Jessie Powers stop to stare for a brief moment. Given the amount of
debris headed their way, it appeared as if the whole mountain decided to
collapse. She quickly opened her comm line. "Jump-jets! Maximum burn! Get as
much altitude as you can!" Jessie felt the engines of her armor hum to life
just before they shot her skyward. The tidal wave of rock was nearing. If
they could generate enough lift, it would pass safely beneath them. On her
left, Powers could see Unholy and Dagger. On her right were Henderson and
Fugi. Drake, Sandler, and Jackson were out of sight, probably somewhere
behind her.

	"Damn, that stuff is moving fast." commented Dagger. Powers assumed
that he could hear the pebbles bouncing off his armor, a prelude to their
larger cousins.

	"We're not gonna make it, not moving this slow." said Unholy calmly.
As much as she did not want to admit it, Unholy seemed to be correct. The
falling rocks would reach them well before they could get out of range.

	Powers gave the mental command to increase thrust. "Thruster output
is already at maximum as dictated by safety protocols." stated her armor's
computer.

	"Then we got to move faster!" yelled Dagger. "I got an idea! Disable
the armor safety protocols and juice the engines!" To her left, Powers saw
the ion trail of Dagger's thrusters go from a dull blue to white hot. In
response to the power boost, Dagger bolted up and ahead of everyone. The
reason exoarmor had such safety protocols was because jumptroops didn't have
the shielding e-frame jockeys did. As a result, thruster output had to be
limited to prevent the user from scorching him or herself.

	"Uh Sarge, you realize that maneuver might cook us inside our armor."
stated Fugi.

	"I'd rather take my chances with the heat than the rock." replied
Powers. "All troops, follow Dagger's lead!"

	"Aw hell, who wants to live forever anyway?" commented Fugi.

	At first, all that was different was the speed with which the ground
below grew smaller. Then Powers began to feel the heat. It started as a
gentle warmth on the back of her legs. Then it intensified to a uncomfortable
sauna-like heat. Below, the wave front of the avalanche was passing beneath
them. There was no choice now, it was up to life or down to death. The back
of Powers' legs felt as if they had caught fire. Though she couldn't see, she
was sure her skin had already started to blister.

	"This is getting uncomfortable, Sarge." said Sandler. He sounded like
he was in pain.

	Powers gritted her teeth as she replied, "Just suck it up and keep an
eye on your gauges!" Powers took her own advice as she noted her own. Her
armor was dangerously close to overload. She backed down the power slightly
in response.

	Over the comm line, Dagger was yelling about something. "Yeah! Now
this is the fun stuff! Burn, Baby, Burn! Yea-ha!"

	Powers was momentarily pondering Dagger's sanity when Drake's voice
broke over the comm line. "Sarge, I-I can't. Its too hot!"

	"Easy, Drake, just hold it together for a few more minutes." Jessie
wished she was as confident as she sounded. Truth be told, she was on the
verge of losing it herself. It was only her focus on Dagger's bizarre antics
that kept her from instinctively shutting down her own thrusters.

	"I-I can't! My legs are on fire!" yelled Drake.

	"Drake, what do your gauges look like?"

	"My legs!"

	"Drake, I need you to focus. Tell me what your gauges read."

	"Someone stop the pain!" Jessie looked over her shoulder. Drake's
flight path was wobbly and he had already dropped his rifle. The ion trail of
his thrusters looked brighter than everyone else's. "Drake, I need you to
ease back on the power to your thrusters. Now."

	"Ahhhhhhh!" Jessie closed her eyes as Drake's armor overloaded and
exploded. The burning remains fell across Sandler's flight path and collided
with him. "Sandler!" yelled Powers. He tumbled out of control but finally
managed to separate himself from the debris. He had fallen a good distance in
doing so. After righting himself, he began to climb again only to be struck
by a small boulder from below. It flipped him around and may have knocked him
out. No one would ever know as he disappeared beneath the shifting earth a
few seconds later.

	Powers turned her attention back to the troops she had left.
"Everyone, hold position at this altitude!" The unit formed a loose
semi-circle that hovered above the moving earth below. Safe from the danger
it presented, they began the painful wait for it to end.

* * *

	"Ouch! Careful Doc!" yelled Dagger.

	Dr. Vela finished applying the last of a series of bandages to the
back of Dagger's legs. "I'm being as gentle as I can. These bandages have
been soaked in an ointment that ought to speed healing and dull the pain.
Leave them on for the next few days and the pain should go away. Though, your
total recovery will take one or two weeks. You can put your uniform back on
now." Vela removed his surgical gloves and stepped out of the curtained area.

	Dagger carefully put on his uniform. His tender backside protested
the action. "Oh, this is going to be an interesting couple of days."

	Dagger stepped out from behind the curtain and into the chaos that
passed as the Normandy's sick bay. Casualties had been so heavy, that only
the most serious cases where handled on site. The overflow was stabilized and
transported to ships in orbit for further treatment. Dirk painfully waddled
his way towards the exit. Half-way there, he saw Lt. Mengele standing with a
datapad. "Hey Lieutenant. You're looking blissfully burn-free."

	Crow gave him a lopsided grin, "Thankfully, yes."

	"Care to tell me how you pulled that off?" asked Dirk.

	"I spotted a cave near our position. I had my unit hide inside it.
Once the rock stopped falling, we blasted our way out."

	Dirk nodded, "Any losses?"

	"Yeah, a few, could have been worse though."

	Dirk scanned the sick bay and noted the shear number of patients.
"Excuse me if I can't see how."

	"I know what you mean." replied Crow. He punched a few buttons on his
datapad.

	"You're not recording deaths, are you?"

	Crow hesitated before answering. "No. Loses were so heavy, its more
efficient to count survivors."

	"That's what I thought. Don't forget to add Unholy, Fugi, Henderson,
Jackson, and the Sarge to that list."

	Crow quickly tapped out their names on his datapad, his face showing
some signs of relief. "Thanks, Dirk."

	"Don't mention it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to see a man about
a skin graft."

	"Hey buddy." Dirk turned to see Preston and Unholy traveling
alongside him, Unholy doing a waddle of their own.

	He laughed. "Do you have any idea how stupid you look?"

	"No more stupid than you." replied Unholy. A distinctive giggle was
generated ahead of them. Unholy's expression went sour at the sound of it. He
didn't need to look to see who it was. "Its official gentleman, we are in
hell."

	"Nikki! Nikki, you have to see this!" whispered Amy Haitt.

	Nicole Montgomery had come to sick bay to get her left hand looked
at. She had been helping Amy with some repair work when Amy accidentally
whacked it with a hammer. A quick x-ray showed no broken bones, so she'd been
given a mild painkiller and sent away. "This almost makes the trip down here
worth it." whispered back Nikki. They both let out an evil giggle.

	"Where's a camera when you need one?" asked Amy. The three jumptroops
tried to quietly make their way by.

	The ladies, however, weren't going to let such a choice opportunity
slide. "Hey boys." They said in unison. Unholy did the smart thing, he
politely waved and pushed onward with Preston escorting him.

	Dagger, ever the glutton for punishment - particularly of the female
persuasion, stopped to converse. He flashed his best grin. "Ladies, what may
I ask brings you to sick bay?"

	The pair sauntered over to him. "Oh nothing much." said Nikki as she
positioned herself on his right.

	"Just looking around." added Amy from his left.

	"See anything you like?" ask Dirk, still smiling.

	Amy stroked the underside of Dagger's chin. "Starting too."

	"Well, what's not to like?" said Dirk with a chuckle.

	"I've heard rumors about you." said Amy.

	"I can assure you...they're all true."

	Amy smiled playfully. "I don't believe you. You're going to have to
prove it to me."

	Dirk mulled the thought over for half a second, then began to reply.
"Well..."

	"You wanna get in on this, Nikki?" Behind Dirk, she pointed to his
backside.

	Nikki flashed a wicked grin. "Oh, definitely."

	Dirk's mind raced while considering the possibilities, then he
remembered one little snag. "Look, I'd love too - believe me when I tell you
I'd LOVE to - but I can't. Doctor's orders."

	"Someone's not on the same page as the rest of us." commented Nikki.

	"Give him a break, groundpounders can be slow." replied Amy.

	"Now wait just a second!" said Dirk angrily. Amy nodded at Nikki and
they simultaneously slapped either side of Dagger's posterior.

	The chaos of the infirmary stopped as the overwhelming sound of one
man's pain filled every corner and crevice of the area. It continued for a
solid five seconds, reverberating off every object and person it assaulted.
Any laughter that Amy Haitt and Nicole Montgomery produced could not be heard
over it. When it finally ended. Dagger was furious. His face was flushed red,
his eyes bulged, and his hands were balled into fists. "You little,
conniving, backstabbing..."

	"Don't forget unbearably cute." added Nikki.

	"Bitches!"

	"Excuse me!?" said Amy.

	"Why don't you take your smart mouth and your immature antics, and
wander back to your cushy little assignments so the rest of us can get back
to winning the war you're too busy to fight!!"

	"Oh please, while you people joke around in the hanger all day its
the rest of us that are getting the job done!" snapped Nikki.

	"That's not how it looks to me." replied Dirk. "While you're up here
playing with spare parts, or flying around in a plush little exofighter, the
rest of us are down on the planet in the thick of it!"

	"That's not true!" said Amy.

	"Really? Then what have you done lately, other than your nails?"

	"You pompous jerk!" yelled Amy.

	"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

	Although it clearly caused him pain to do so. Dagger snapped to
attention as Sergeant Powers stepped between them. She glared at Montgomery
and Haitt. Standing at 6' 5", to say she made them feel a tad small would
have been an understatement. "Do you have a problem, Trooper?"

	Nikki stood at attention as she responded, "No."

	"There's no problem here, Sergeant. You may go about your business."
said Amy as she pulled rank.

	"Oh, but I think there is, Lieutenant." Amy went into a rigid salute
upon hearing Captain Tom Jose's voice. "Sergeant, you may continue.
Montgomery, Haitt, I expect BOTH of you to listen."

	Sergeant Powers approached Montgomery. "Hold out your hand."

	"What?"

	"I SAID, HOLD OUT YOUR HAND, TROOPER!" Haitt was about to protest on
Nikki's behalf, but the sound of Jose clearing his throat silenced her. Nikki
put her hand out. Powers placed a cloth pouch in it. "Open it." Nikki did as
instructed.

	The pouch contained several metal objects in it. "Dogtags." said
Nikki.

	"38 sets of dogtags." corrected Powers. "38 sets of unique hopes and
dreams that will never be realized. 38 individual people that laid down their
lives so the rest of us can keep fighting." Nikki and Amy stared at the tags,
some were shiny and looked new, some were covered with dirt, others were
stained with blood. "Now you may not like the Jumpcorps, and that's fine.
You're entitled to your opinion. But I will be DAMNED if I have to sit here
and listen to you belittle the sacrifice these people made today. A sacrifice
that you might have make yourself one day, though I doubt either of you has
stopped to even consider that possibility." Powers snatched the pouch from
Nikki's grasp. "Dismissed."

	Jose watched the two women leave before offering a comment. "Well
said, Sergeant."

	"Thank you, sir." replied Powers. He noticed the obvious discomfort
of Dagger and a hint of something similar from Powers. "At ease."

	Jessie leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees while Dagger
spread his legs shoulder width apart and crouched a little. "I shouldn't have
listened to you." stated Jessie.

	"I'll remember that the next time I notice you're still alive."
replied Dirk.

	"Point taken." said Jessie.

	"Sergeant, if you're feeling up to it, I'd like to see you in my
office tomorrow at 0800 hours." stated Jose.

	"I'll be there, sir. May I ask what this is about?"

	Jose dismissed the comment as he said, "You'll find out when you get
there. In the meantime, get some rest, both of you. You look terrible."

	"Actually, we look medium to well." quipped Dagger. Jose gave him a
semi-hard stare. "Sir. We look medium to well, sir." added Dagger.

	Jose smiled. "Just stay out of trouble, okay?"

	"No problem, sir." said Dagger. Jose shook his head as he walked
away. Jessie failed to notice, her mind already wondering what she would
learn at tomorrow's meeting.

To be continued...