Survival
By J.P.
Part 1:

Tethys, 24 hours after the sky fell...
	Nikki stared in shock. It couldn't end like this, not like this. "Do
something!" she shouted.

	Alain Vouriot, Gamma Squad's med-tech, was preforming chest
compressions on the man before her. "Give him another dose of epi!" He
shouted.

	Another tech rushed forward, pressing the hypospray to the man's
neck. "Its in! No pulse."

	Alain grabbed a pair of defibulators from his med-kit. "Maximum
charge, now!" He positioned them over the patient. "Clear!" The patient's
body jumped from the shock. A quick feel of the neck revealed no pulse.
"Another!" yelled Vouriot.

	Nikki backed away, partly to let the techs do their job, and partly
because she couldn't handle what was happening. "Don't leave me, Crow.
Please, not now."


Tethys orbit, 30 hours earlier...
	"Hey Nik." Montgomery regarded Crow with a half-hearted glance in his
direction. One of the warmest greetings he had gotten for some time. She was
looking over her exofighter, making sure the exotechs hadn't missed any of
the items she asked be repaired. Crow Mengele had wandered into Gamma's
hanger while she was checking over the targeting computer. "Don't I at least
get a hello?" asked Crow.

	"Hello." responded Nikki.

	Crow walked nonchalantly around the nose of the fighter, pretending
to be interested in the design of the craft. "So, how have you been?"

	"Same as always." replied Nikki.

	"That bad, huh?" Nikki sent a mental command to the e-frame's main
processor. In response, the nose guns of the fighter pivoted down at Mengele.
From the cockpit, Nikki gave him an icy stare. "Still mad, huh?" It was more
of a statement than a question. Crow always had an off-beat sense of humor.
This time it was that very quality which had gotten him in trouble with
Nikki. He had thought it would be funny to catch her coming out of the
women's showers with a vidcam. He was wrong. The fact she yelled and screamed
at him should have tipped him off. But he proceeded to pass the pictures he
had snapped of Montgomery around the platoon anyway. Though a few members
found the action unbecoming for an officer. They none-the-less could not
resist getting a peak at Nikki in nothing but a towel, one that just barely
covered everything.

	"They saw my scars." hissed Nikki.

	"Still sensitive about that, huh?" asked Crow.

	The cannons returned to their normal position as Nikki disconnected
from her e-frame. "Do you know what Dagger said to me?"

	Crow inched his way around the nose and up toward the cockpit. "No."

	"He said, I was looking good until he got to my legs."

	"That's just the way Dirk is, Nikki." offered Crow.

	"He also said you were welcome to me because he's not into 'damaged
goods.'" Nikki wrapped her arms around herself, staring away from Crow as he
neared the cockpit.

	"Its Dagger, Nik. Do you really care what he says?"

	Nikki flashed a glare at him. "That's not the point."

	"What is the point?" asked Crow.

	"The point is you shouldn't have done that to me. The point is even
though Dagger said it, its what every member of your platoon is thinking. The
point is that I used to be considered beautiful and now I'm a scarred freak."

	"Only to guys who like legs." pointed out Crow. Nikki snorted under
her breath. "What was that?" asked Crow.

	"Nothing." muttered Nikki.

	"That was a laugh." stated Crow.

	"It was not." replied Nikki.

	"Yes it was. It sounded just like this." He reached forward, tickling
the area around her lower abdomen. Nikki couldn't help it. She laughed.

	"Stop it!" she giggled.

	"Stop what?" asked Crow as he continued.

	Nikki swatted his had away. "Stop that! I hate you!" she snapped.

	Crow grasped her hand in both of his, pressing the back of her
fingers against his lips. "No you don't." He held her hand gently in front of
him. "Let me make it up to you."

	Nikki stared at him, her expression softening despite the fact she
kept reminding herself of the need to hurt him. "Okay."

	He patted her hand. "Great. Stop by my quarters for dinner then. Say
around, 1700?"

	"Sure." said Nikki.

	Crow smiled softly and descended to the hanger floor. "I'll see you
then."


Tethys, 1 hour after the sky fell...
	"Give me status." ordered Mengele. Alarms blared in the background.
The recovery shuttle was a horrid mess. Machinery had been damaged and people
had been lost. The entire area Crow found himself in was bathed in red
emergency lighting. "Is anyone still alive?" asked Crow. His seat had been
ripped from its floor moorings and he found himself on his side with the
chair still attached. He worked at the restraints and quickly freed himself.
Though banged up, the cabin looked like it was still intact. He pulled off
his jumparmor helmet and breathed the stale air. His head was hurting, and he
was still a bit dizzy. In all likelihood, he had sustained a concussion from
the impact.

	Another trooper not far from him began to rouse from a forced
slumber. "Oh, my head!" he mumbled.

	"Easy Dagger, take it slow." Crow helped him to his feet.

	Dagger pulled his helmet free and scanned the shuttle's main cabin.
"Oh we really stepped in it this time, didn't we?"

	"Yes, we did." agreed Crow. "We need to assess the damages, Dagger.
I'll work my way to the bow. You head towards the aft. Check for survivors
and pick up anything that could be useful to us."

	"Right." said Dagger as he headed away from him.

	Crow looked toward the bow. The sight was none too encouraging. "To
think, I actually broke dinners plans for this."


Tethys orbit, 4 hours earlier...
	"I'm really sorry."

	Nikki crossed her arms and stared at the floor, clearly hurt. "Sure
you are."

	"Its an emergency, Nikki. I didn't know this was going to happen when
I made plans with you."

	"Fine." stated Nikki.

	Crow gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'll make it up to you when
I get back. I promise."

	"Fine." repeated Nikki. Crow looked disappointed at her indifference.
But under the circumstances it was understandable. It seemed like he built
her hopes up only to let them down again. He released her shoulder and walked
away.

* * *

	"Lt. Mengele?"

	Crow snapped from his momentary trance to glance at Commander
Xanatos. "Uh, yes sir?"

	Xanatos didn't seem pleased with his lack of attention. "Considering
the details of this briefing are invaluable if it is to be carried out
successfully, I would think you should give it your full attention."

	"Yes sir." replied Crow, suddenly more attentive. "Sorry sir."

	Xanatos returned to the briefing as Captain José proceeded to give
him a hard stare. He would have words for Crow later, that much was for
certain. "Now, as I was saying, what we have here is an old pirate clan
installation. Since allying with the clans, we know for a fact that it has
not been used by them since before the start of the Neosapian War. Therefore,
when word came our way that the base was suddenly active again, we knew the
Neos had to be involved. Sierra Three's mission will be to scout out the
base, determine its purpose, and disable it. This will be a two pronged
assault with half the platoon under the command of Captain Jose, and the
other half under the command of Lieutenant Mengele. Mengele's unit will come
in from the asteroid's polar south, whereas José's will come in from the
polar north." Crow nodded his understanding. As Xanatos began to tell them
what was known about the base, Crow's thought once again drifted back to
Nikki and how he could make amends between them.


Tethys, 2 hours after the sky fell...
	"How is she?" asked Crow.

	Dagger covered Jessie Powers with a body bag, the only available
form of cloth. "Unconscious. I'm no medic but she seems busted up pretty bad,
probably bleeding internally."

	"And the rest?" asked Crow.

	"Not much better. You and I are in the best shape. And I don't know
about you but I don't feel so hot."

	Crow nodded. Casualties had been heavy, with only a handful of
troopers surviving. While Crow was glad Jessie was counted among the living,
he had hoped she would be in better shape. She had a good head on her
shoulders, which would prove useful given their present situation. "My comm
equipment is busted, so's the shuttle's." announced Crow.

	"So we can't call for help?" asked Dagger.

	"Nope. We're running out of air too. We've only got about 23
hours-worth left."

	"More good news." mumbled Dagger. "So what do we do now?"

	Crow twiddled his thumbs a bit, then stared at Dagger. "I don't know
yet."

To be continued...