[Away Mission:] Day 3, Alemar III (Final battle)

[ten_fwd_npcs]

Something strange begins to happen underground. Those pretty, glistering crystals that twinkle from the walls and ceilings start to move, sinking down into the rock, and disappearing from all sight. In each cave and cavern, every arching ceiling and cramped tunnel, they all vanish.

The main cave where the visitors were brought during the tour feels darker now. It has weathered the trauma of the last three days better than some places, but that's all about to change.


[ooc: And welcome to the kickoff of our final leg of the Alemar III plot! Day 3 has officially begun, which means all team posts moving forward should reflect that. Below, this post is split into two sections: the first is for any teams or individuals who want to establish themselves as being in the main cave for the final action of the plot; the second is for our teams of fighters and all who wish to assist them. Bear in mind that the historians and empaths won't step in to reveal what's going on until the next group post; this is primarily for the last battle and gathering all the fractured teams back together. If you're not sure where your group is, check in with your plotting e-mails or the plotting post; if you don't want to join the main group until the fighting stops, the next post will also have a place for your characters to enter and reconnect with friends. If there are any questions, leave them in the plotting post and a mod will get back to you asap!]

Comments

[from_the_outside]

"Steve."

Being Kate isn't like any of her other UC ops. Being Kate requires very little acting, and almost no fabrication. She tends to think of Kate as herself, in another life -- one where she didn't grow up as the niece of Peggy Carter, as a legacy to something so much greater than anything as insipid as a school or sorority. Kate is the possibility of herself. She's unfiltered emotion, reaction unfettered by training and a sniper's instinct. There's no reason for Kate to be anything but trusting.

It's why she's perfect, why she gets along with Steve, who truly is the genuine article, true blue dyed-in-the-wool good, as sincere as they come.

But there are times it makes Sharon uncomfortable. Like, oh, say, now. Just as an example. Kate is worried and in no small amount of discomfort and tired and hungry and Steve, he represents safety and warmth and goodness at even the most normal of times. There's every reason for Kate's voice to carry rough relief and rising desperation.

Sharon won't think about it. Not right now. Not that, and not the odd clutch in her stomach at the edge in his voice. "I'm okay, I think -- it's open back here, we got caught when it collapsed -- Steve, can you get through?"

[stark_spangled]

He allows himself a second to breathe, but no more than that. She's OK, and even if the number of variables goes up at the simple word -- 'we' -- there's room for them to move. He relaxes, more his mind than anything else, as his whole body is now thrown into the effort of finding a way in. He pores over the hill of fallen rocks, calculating each action and subsequent reaction, predicting rocks falling in or tumbling out, structural damage, depth, difficulty.

"I think so," he calls, climbing over to the most favorable access point. "Listen, Kate. I need you to get yourself and anyone else back there away from this wall, OK? I'll keep talking, you just move as far away from this point as you can. Do you understand?"

He adjusts the straps of his shield, hand gripping tight. As much as he complains about the uniform, he wishes he had his tactical gear. The sneakers he's wearing don't grip as well, pants and shirt offering next to no protection, hands bare and already bleeding. But nothing's going to stop him from getting through. "I'm coming to get you."

[from_the_outside]

"Good line," she says, to herself, shaking her head, with a faint, wry huff that's not quite a laugh. "Damn. That's heroic."

But that's Rogers. He didn't learn to be this way; never put on an act to go with the build and height and rank the Army so miraculously handed him. He just was. He was always Cap -- that was the whole point of making him the subject of this experiment. Sincere, noble, loyal Steve Rogers, who'd fight through fallen rock or a full base's worth of enemy soldiers to reach a friend in trouble. "Okay!"

That's called out loud enough for him to hear, as she scrambles back along the half-collapsed corridor. "It's clear, Steve." She allows herself a quick smile. "See you in a minute. I'll be the one covered in dust."

It should at least occur to her that he won't be able to get through, to consider alternate scenarios, to tell him to go back and get reinforcements, but it doesn't. The thought comes, and she bats it away like it's a fly buzzing at her ear, derisive.

He's Steve Rogers. He stormed a HYDRA base all on his own. He led countless missions into the wilderness to cut off each of HYDRA's heads, on by one. He's an Avenger. Sharon knows his skill set inside and out, his strengths, his few weaknesses. She can determine the likelihood of his success with an unbiased eye.

There is no scenario in which a few rocks get in his way.

[stark_spangled]

He can't quite make out what she says at first, but that's OK. He's not going to leave her here. She can tell him when she's out.

"You know, sometime, when you're not trapped underground on an alien planet with the ceiling coming down on your head, you should tell me how you became a nurse," he says, just biding his time while he waits for her go-ahead. And when she gives it, along with that smart aside, he can't help but smile. "Gotcha. I'm coming through!"

And she's right. A task that would take a normal person hours, maybe days to complete, with no small risk attached, takes minutes. Not that it isn't uncertain at first in the gathering darkness, nothing but the faint clang of metal and the rumble of rock pointing at any kind of progress. Each time he digs, the rocks fall in a little more. But Steve's picked the right place, and the right tactic, and it isn't long before there's a spark from his shield glancing off stone, light cutting through like a spear. In moments, he's yanking the largest rocks back with nothing but his bare hands.

The dust is thick, peppering his eyebrows and gathering on his shoulders, but he sees her. "Kate!"

He reaches out his hand.

[from_the_outside]

"Tell you what," she calls, when she hears him pushing at rock, the grate and scrape of metal against stone, "get me out of here, and I'll tell you the whole story. It's pretty boring, though."

Kate has a solid backstory. She's practiced telling it before, and she's good at it.

(So it wouldn't be the same as buying him a beer to say thanks and shooting the shit, exchanging stories like this FUBAR situation would warrant at any other time, so what? She's not here to make friends with him, share war stories.

But neither is she wholly unaware of the irony in this particular situation.)

It really is pretty incredible to see him work up close; she can feel the cave walls tremble and hears rocks moving temperamentally, but nothing collapses -- which is good, because Fury would have her head on a spike if she let Steve Rogers die in a cave-in while was was trying to save her, and not the other way around -- and she moves forward, ducking, reaches her hand for his. "Steve!"

Her fingers are tiny and cold in his palm; she doesn't let herself look at them, just lets out a breath and flashes him a smile that's only a little shaky at the corners, tightening her hand in his. "It is really nice to see you."

[stark_spangled]

All at once, that worry rushes back and floods out of him again; she smiles, grips his hand, and he knows she's going to be OK.

"It's not so bad on my end, either," he answers, locking their hands tight so he can pull her out into the main cavern. "Watch your head."

His grip never slips or falters, and his support never disappears. Even with the moving rock under their feet and the tight passage he's hewn for her to escape through, he keeps her steady, sheltered, his other arm curling around her waist. He leaves the shield propped against the uneven wall as he brings her to solid ground. "Are there any others?"