Thea drops the final few feet into the shaft, landing with a soft thump. And stifles a small sob. Looking around at the ragged, sickly group of people reminds her all too much of so many similar groups she's seen over the last months. Ever since the Corax came, the Fleet had been gathering tiny groups of sick, injured, starving, barely alive survivors from colonies, stations, stranded or derelict ships. Images of Orenco Station flash into her mind. Even remembering the stench of death, filth, and sickness on that doom outpost causes her stomach to churn nervously. She does her best to push away the memories and all of the sorrow, anger and hopeless that went along with them. You've a job to do Gillis. These people need your help, so best keep it together and do this best you can.
"Yes, we are really the Fleet. We were hoping to get fuel from your station." She says making her voice as kind as possible despite the metallic sound of her suit speakers. "I'm Lieutenant Gillis. Were you the one broadcasting a bit ago?"
She looks around again at the badly injured and sickly group of survivors and then turns back to Carlsen. Her eyes gazing at the obviously traumatized man who offered himself as spokesman. "Can you tell me what happened here?" She asks pulling out her emergency medical kit. She wasn't a medic, but like everyone in Fleet, she'd passed the basic first aide courses. And like everyone in Fleet, she'd been using them pretty extensively since the invasion. Images of Orenco once again flash in her mind. So, while Carlsen talks she starts organizing people into groups who clearly needed immediate medical treatment, those who would have to wait until they had better equipment and facilities, and those who clearly just needed some food and water. For the later, she hands each one of her kits limited supply of ration bars and high energy survival juice packs.
Gunny also retrieves rations, water, and any medical supplies that are stored in his flight suit. He then offers them to Thea so she can hand them out. Adding to Thea’s important question of “what happened here,” Gunny chimed in with a second question of equal importance. “Do you guys have suits that will safely sustain you outside?”
Two hundred! Holy frak! And this bastard...whatever his name...was just going to leave them here to starve. She fumes as the miners relay their tale. She does her best to maintain a professional face, but it's pretty clear to anyone looking that she is outraged by the story. Even so, she does her best to keep her focus on the mission and task of saving these people and getting the juice. But first things first, there's a Shroom ship out there.
She nods at the small woman. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first tale of those with money and power using it to try and save themselves at the expense of anyone and everyone around them. What the fools didn't seem to understand is that their money didn't really matter anymore. Either everyone pulled together and did their part to survive or they all died. Simple as that. These miners and their skills were actually more valuable to the Fleet than a whole ship full of arrogant trillionaires and their lackeys. This wouldn't be the last time they'd need juice and having people who could actually operate and repair the equipment needed to mine and refine the stuff would be important.
"I...I'm sorry for what's happened to you. For your losses. We've...we've all lost so much..." She says her voice raw as she looks upon the desperate and angry faces. For a moment the faces looking back at her are those of her former squad mates, Rowan, her mother and sisters. So many others she couldn't help. She couldn't leave these people behind. "But by the grace of the gods the Fleet is here now and we're going to get you off this rock." She says strength and determination clear as she gazes back up the tall shaft. "I think the disk is about to rise, so we're likely stuck here for another cycle, but we should get folk into suits anyway just in case we need to move quickly. A we can rig a simple cable or rope lift to get the wounded and those can can't climb up to the airlock."
She sighs and turns back to Carlsen, her gaze flickering to Gunny. "But first, Champy mentioned the Corax. We've seen their ship parked practically atop the refinery. I need to know what they're up to. What they've done. The last refinery we were at they rigged to explode. Have they penetrated this section? Another reason to get everyone in suits. It'll give you a better chance against their blasted spores."
A pause before she adds. "And does anyone know someone named Chiang?"
She keys a secure suit-to-suit channel to Gunney and whispers quietly into her suit mic. "We've got to get word back to Cerberus and the Cranberry about the situation down here. The freighter is the only way were getting these people out of here in a single landing. With the Corax here we can't afford the time to shuttle them all back to Cerberus in our fighters."
She clicks her comm unit over to the mission frequency and gets nothing but silence and static from her small suit comm. "Can't get a signal down here, so one of us needs to get back topside while the other deals with this lot and gets them moving. What's your preference Gunny?" She asks.
Gunny takes a short moment to think and then comments. “Well, my gut instinct normally would be to extract everyone back to the fleet. That said, there are some obvious issues standing in the way of such an endeavor. We were able to get to your location under duress. Meaning, we were taking a lot of flak from the ground cannons in order to get here. I think it goes without saying that the boss doesn’t want us to know about your situation and will likely kill to keep a lid on it. Then there's the Corax ship, which we have no idea what the situation is with that. We have a couple representatives up top, speaking with the boss now. We opened up negotiations with him before knowing the full situation down here. Our attempt to reach you may have put them at risk. I'm currently in charge of a squad of four pilots who are currently flying Mark-01 Tomcat’s. Although the Tomcat’s have an empty co-pilot seat, that would only accommodate a total of five people and would require a dangerous run through the cannons. A direct attack from the fleet on this sight would likely blow this place to bits, which no one would survive. What I’m thinking might be an alternative option would be a Coup. If we were able to get our hands on some weapons, food, and water, do you think you guys are capable of fighting? The group here looks beat the f!@~ up, but you also seem pissed enough to be more than dangerous. I suspect that I might be able to make a run with a couple cockpits full of weapons.” After sharing his thoughts, he looks over at Thea. “What do you think?”
"The other option would be to negotiate with the boss for your release. I don't see a transport ship, large enough to extract two hundred people, being capable of outflying those ground cannons. Nor do I think twenty plus trips with fighters being an option. The reason I mention negotiation, is because it sounds like he is in a bind as well. Although he has stretched out his longevity by eliminating you as a mouth to feed, his time is finite. The fleet represents his only option for a long-term solution. That is if he hasn't already worked out something with the shrooms."
Thea looks around at the murmuring miners. They know something. Are they too scared to talk or hiding something? She didn't want to push them too hard, but she needed to know what the Shrooms were up to before reporting back to Cerberus. She turns to Carlsen and the woman who looked like some kind of medic.
"Look...if we're going to get out of here alive, you've got to trust me." She says, waving the two in closer, so they could talk easier. "Before we can land a ship or negotiate with your former boss, and certainly before we even consider some kind of hostile move against the main refinery, I've got to know what's happened with the Corax. How did that ship get here? What damage have they done so far? Anything you know could be helpful."
She looks the two square in the eye. "It's clear you all know something, please, now's not the time to hold back."