Hell... It was a concept that almost every single sentient species across the galaxy was familiar with. Some thought it was a fiery place, where the inhabitants were doomed to burn forever. Others thought it was a dark place, where light never shined through and where the inhabitants were doomed to forever bump in the eternal night. Others still believed hell in fact represented nothing, just an endless void in which inhabitants would forever be alone - just them, their memories and their regrets.

Although different, all those concepts - as well as many, many more - had one thing in common: they were only supposed to occur in the afterlife. Then again there were quite a few individuals across the galaxy that knew better than to believe in such fairy tales. They did not necessarily deny these beliefs, but they just knew better than to think hell could only be experienced after one's death. The reality was that hell hardly needed any philosophical or supernatural connotations. No, unfortunately enough it was quite possible for hell to be created artificially by the very sentient species that so feared it in the first place.

For some, hell could be living with another person, getting tortured on a distant Hutt world, being forgotten in some Imperial prison or being forced to fight in some violent war that has no end in sight... Seth Qorbin also believed in the existence of hell. And how could he not given the fact that the blond Human male was about to pilot a Mu-2i Infiltrator shuttle straight in the middle of it... What set this particular hell apart from some of the other ones was the fact that it possessed a set of star coordinates. Not only that but it also had a proper name as well - Lasoris Minor.

What had previously been a tiny and inconsequential little planet within the borders of the Vast Empire had suddenly turned into quite the hotspot of activity. Then again the mentioning of Hive Viruses tended to have that effect on small worlds that the galaxy never really heard before, them suddenly becoming subsequently famous as the sites for some of the biggest death tolls known throughout history. Was that fate also to be shared by the small Lasoris Minor world - this the Navy Ensign asked himself as he shot through the planet's atmosphere, bringing both himself and his team one step closer to their objective.

~~~~~~~~~~

"What about my other duties?" the Onderonian pilot inquired in a calm manner, having no intention of displaying his true feelings in regards to the orders he just received. "Suspended till notified otherwise", the officer wearing a simple grey uniform replied just as calmly. "I haven't technically received any written orders and the Captain also did not give me the impression that he was informed of this... change of plans", the Ensign pushed further, making sure he was subtle enough not to actually ask any questions but also being obvious enough in his attempt to gain some sort of guarantee and higher level confirmation.

"There will be no written orders. There will be no mission logs. There will be no after mission reports - and from what I understand this should suit you just fine, isn't that right Ensign? As to whether Captain Mihawk was informed of this mission or not... Either he was, in which case he would be unable to tell anyone else because of the signed non-disclosure agreement, or he wasn't, meaning your orders come from somewhere even higher than him. Any further questions Ensign?"

The other officer's small speech sent shivers down the Onderonian's spine. He wasn't afraid of the spook, instead he rather admired the man from a certain point of view. The fact that "the man in grey" was brave enough to basically admit this was nothing but a black op and that Drac was either just a small cog in a greater machine or not even that... well that took a certain degree of guts and confidence. The fact that the man also did not appear the least bit concerned about revealing as much - now that Qorbin found somewhat unsettling. It reminded the Ensign of a few situations he had witnessed in the past, with all those situations having one thing in common: an individual or a whole group of individuals being forced to choose the only option left open to them. The current situation felt quite similar as far as Seth was concerned.

"One question - why me?" the Wing Commander narrowed his eyes slightly as he asked the question but didn't otherwise bother hiding the fact. "Three reasons, mister Qorbin. One, you possess the skills needed to pull it off. Two, you possess the mindset needed to pull it off. Three, there are certain parts of your past that I'm certain you would much prefer they remained there. Besides, would you not rather have myself and my superiors as your friends rather than your enemies? Given your apparent taste for shadowy figures that you chose to align with both in the past as well as the present, that would certainly seem to be the case after all..."

The Onderonian's eyes further narrowed as he listened to the other man's answer. To his credit, the latter was smart enough to keep things vague so that the Razors Squadron Commander would be unable to tell just what exactly others knew about him. Did they barely scratch the surface or did they actually dug deep enough to find some really troublesome truths? As much as Seth wanted to ask this, he knew it would've been in his best interest not to.

Qorbin casually turned in his seat and next stretched his hand to one of the desk's drawers. The blond fellow found what he was looking for and just as casually produced a half-empty bottle of Whyren's Reserve which he placed on the desk. He next brought out two glasses as well, which he placed near the table. After straightening up a bit he reached for the bottle, opened it and poured equal quantities in both glasses. He pushed one glass towards the spook and grabbed the second one himself.

"We're intimate enough to trade threats so I figured that sharing a drink would hardly be a problem", Seth smiled as he raised his glass and waited for the other man's reaction. The Ensign's smile broadened as the spook picked up the glass and lightly touched it against Qorbin's. "To new friendships!" the blond officer toasted before gulping down the entire contents. "I take it we have an agreement then?" the spook asked after finishing his own drink. "Well it's an offer that I simply can't refuse, can I now?" Seth laughed out loud before pouring another round for both himself and the spook.

OOC:

WC: 1141

Seventy six minutes later all the houses had been swept clean. No more infected specimens were encountered. No living subjects either. Just three corpses - two Humans, male and female, that were found in the same house and one Gran that was found in a different shanty. The former couple appeared to have been stabbed to death though neither the murder weapon nor the reason for the act were readily apparent. As for the Gran, the alien most definitely committed suicide. He locked himself inside, took a seat at the kitchen table, pulled out an outdated slugthrower and decided to eat a bullet rather than run away and risk becoming something he had no desire of ever turning into.

Seth had mixed feelings regarding the alien. On one hand he understood and even respected the fellow's decision - if death was inevitable then better to die on your own damn terms rather than leave it up to chance. Then again the Navy officer also condemned the alien's weakness - if the fellow had time to prepare his own death, what the devil stopped him from making a run for it instead? Why weren't there any signs of struggle nearby?

Instead of dying whilst fighting for his life the Gran male merely resigned to his fate. He accepted it as unavoidable and then just rolled over and died. This Seth could simply not agree with. Unlike the rotting stiff with the big hole in his head, the Ensign was a survivor at heart. He was the sort of fellow that never gave up the fight and that would've preferred taking as many enemies as possible with him if death truly was unavoidable... A fierce fighter in life, a sore loser in death - but this Qorbin didn't mind in the slightest.

"Alright, time to check the larger structures next. Ziggy, Suro, you two keep watch outside. Everyone else stick to the two man teams as we explore inside. Doubt I need to mention it but be sure to check your targets before shooting." The Wing Commander decided to add that latter part just in case... Friendly fire was a fairly rare occurrence and when it did occur it usually wasn't fatal either - but that was under normal circumstances. Given the weapons they wielded now, as well as everyone else's state of mind, such occurrences were much more likely to occur and if so be quite more lethal as a result. As much as Seth would've hated becoming a zombie, he would've hated it even more if he got shot by his own men even before such a frightening scenario could come to pass...

"Okay, head inside", the team leader finally ordered and the five pairs carefully made their way in. The building was without a doubt the most important one in the whole town - the cantina, a place where the miners could come both before and after their shifts to throw away their pitiful salaries and get wasted enough to no longer care about their meaningless lives. Granted the latter was just guesswork on Seth's part but he did not believe he was actually mistaken though...

Lots of booze... I could try smuggling some of it back to the Warrior. Nothing like free booze to lift everyone's spirits, the man pondered as he stared at the bar. Then he also realized that the selection wouldn't be too great unfortunately. Worse still there was always a tiny, itty bitty chance that the drinks themselves were infected. Quite unlikely but not quite impossible either... Better not risk it, Qorbin decided as he turned to look around the main room.

"Everyone, check upstairs. Me and Red will look in the backroom", the Ensign instructed after feeling confident enough that there was no immediate danger lurking nearby. As the other members of his team used the creaky stairs to get upstairs, Seth and the VENI agent made their way through the only other door on the ground floor. The next section of the cantina appeared to be a kitchen of sorts. Given its state however Seth very much doubted he would've ever eaten anything from this establishment. Not unless he was literally dying of hunger and believed that not ingesting any food would've killed him faster than trying his luck otherwise.

"Did you hear that?" the agent suddenly asked. "Aye, my stomach raging against the conditions in this shithole. Surprised you heard it too though", the ensign turned to the VENI woman. "I'm serious... There! There it was again, you didn't hear that?" agent Red (that's what Seth called her earlier and since she didn't apparently mind that's what the man planned on calling her in the future too) spoke again after raising her own rifle. "I take it that was not your stomach agreeing with mine?" Qorbin joked as he turned in the direction the sound came from, also raising his disruptor rifle.

Crap, I just know it's a dead thing, the man mentally prepared himself as he further approached the large durasteel door on the other side of the room. Given the nature of this building it wasn't that hard to guess what was supposed to be held on the other side - frozen food stuffs and/or cheap beverages. Since the power was still on that also meant the temperature on the other side would likely be quite low... quite possibly low enough to prevent a living thing hiding there from staying alive for too long a time. And yet irregular bumps could be heard coming from there... Again... And again... And yet again...

"Okay Red, go ahead and open it", Seth instructed as he kept his rifle pointed at the entrance. Since most doors opened inward it was fairly easy for two members of a strike team to both cover the area inside at the same time. Since this door would on the contrary need to be pulled rather than pushed/kicked in and since its heavy frame would also end up blocking the one doing the pulling that essentially meant that only Seth would end up being able to shoot inside in the first few seconds of the engagement. Let it be a slow dead thing... Let it be a really slow dead thing... Let it be an old and crippled dead thing...

Finally the agent began opening the heavy door and as soon as she did this Seth's finger began twitching ever so slightly. At first there was nothing on the other side. Nothing but darkness and silence. That is until a shoe stepped into the light. A new shoe appeared next to it and the Onderonian pilot could tell the latter was still attached to a whole leg. With the next step, half of the creature stuck inside became visible and by the gods Seth could only describe it in a single manner - positively hideous... and dead.

The creature was a large, perhaps 300-350 lbs, Human female with a hideous face made even more hideous by the fact that it was beginning to decompose. The thing also had an axe still shoved deep in its sternum - not that the large object appeared to be an inconvenience to the massive woman. Seth was still trying to get over that initial "ewww" impression when the dead woman turned and looked straight at him. She opened her mouth, further revealing some really bad teeth, and then started limping towards him.

Hell no! the Navy officer thought as he squeezed the trigger and shot the thing right in the face, the tissue, muscles and bones immediately breaking down until nothing remained. No way I'm getting turned into that... and no bloody way in hell am I getting turned into that by THAT! Okay, so maybe the fellow's line of thinking wasn't exactly making perfect sense at the moment but as far as the Ensign was concerned he deserved to be eaten by something much better looking should it come to that...

"There might be more inside", Red mentioned and in so doing snapped the Wing Commander out of his disgusted state. "Yeah, of course... We should check it out", he replied as the two stepped inside, both disruptor rifles raised and ready to shoot anything that limped and made strange "uuuuuhhh" noises. Frak, Seth cursed as soon as he noticed three more abominations standing in a corner, feasting on what appeared to be something strangely resembling Human remains. Double frak!! the man cursed when he noticed a bony ankle pretty much confirming his initial beliefs regarding the meal. Triple frak!!! he swore inwardly when the undead turned to check on the disturbance.

"Shoot!" Seth also managed to cry out before squeezing his own trigger and taking out the closest creature. Red too managed to get another creature but the third came rushing in before either rifle had a time to cool down. They can run? was the pilot's stunned realization as he witnessed the thing coming straight for him. He knew he didn't have time to reach for his blasters, or the grenades, or the vibroblade. He also knew he would need at least three more seconds before he could shoot again but judging the creature's speed he would only have two at most.

Frak! the Ensign cursed again as he too leapt forward, punching the thing in the mouth with the butt of the rifle. The man felt something break and even saw some teeth flying - no blood though - but the zombie hardly appeared to care. No, the infected creature merely turned his head back to face the man as its grabby little hands reached out and tried to capture the armored prey. "Get back", Seth heard a cry and instinctively he pushed the creature away as he took two steps back. The zombie was preparing to lunge forward once more when the creature was suddenly hit by a yellow bolt of energy. Within moments clothes and skin disappeared, blood evaporated and bones melted into nothing.

"You alright?" the same voice from earlier asked and the man realized it was the agent besides him speaking. He also realized she was the only one that could've taken that shot and in the process possibly saved his life. Possibly... Maybe... Extremely unlikely though, as Seth quickly came to believe within mere seconds. "Aye, nice shooting by the way", the pilot nodded and complimented the redhead. He still didn't trust her but that latest feat certainly earned the Human woman some brownie points as far as he was concerned.

"Everyone, sitrep!" the Ensign demanded over the comm, wanting to make sure the other members of his team were still around and kicking. Actually... around, kicking and also thinking - cause apparently the zombies were also capable enough to mimic the first two conditions. Fraking zombies!

OOC:

WC: 1805

The elevator ride in the underground lasted for close to two full minutes. The Navy officer had no bloody idea whether that was a lot or not but from his ignorant perspective it certainly seemed like a lot. The thought of that elevator no longer working and the implication that he would need to climb for hours before reaching the surface... Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, think some damn happy thoughts instead!

"Okay, switch to nightvision everyone", Seth instructed though he likely did so solely for his own benefit as the other members of the squad had already done as much on their own initiative. "Well can you tell what I'm thinking now?" the man joked and paused for a bit before continuing in a more serious manner "Alright, follow along. We don't know whether there are any things here too but just in case assume that there are and watch your backs. More importantly, watch my back too..."

The eight members spread out and slowly began making their way forward through the thick darkness. The mine was quite the eerie place - no more functional lights, no sounds echoing through the long corridors either... It was for all intents and purposes one giant tomb. A tomb that a certain doctor and her followers chose to willingly walk into. Crazy woman, Seth shook his head but decided to otherwise stay silent.

Not two hundred meters further down, the main tunnel split into three. The middle section however was sealed with wood, durasteel and larger boulders. "What are you thinking?" Red chose to break the silence after the group did nothing but stay put for a couple of minutes. "Two things really - when was this passage sealed... and why?"

If it had been sealed at least two weeks ago then his team would only have to deal with the two remaining paths. But if it had been sealed after the doctor took refuge here then the other question was why? Was it to hold something - or rather some thing or even things - in... or out? If he were to play the odds then he had a 66% chance of either finding nothing or finding something he would not like and only a 33% shot of finding the doctor - or possibly what was left of her and her followers.

The logical choice was to ignore the issue for now and yet his gut told him otherwise. Seth couldn't quite explain it but he had a feeling that he needed to take that path rather than the other two. His instincts also never failed him up until the present day. "We need to clear this", he decided not to leave doubt and simple numbers sway him this time around either.

Even if he decided as much, making it happen was a whole different matter though. About the only weapon they had that stood a chance of clearing the passage was a thermal detonator... and using that in such closed quarters could very well cause the whole mine - or at least some portions of it - to suddenly collapse. Another idea crossed the Wing Commander's mind though - although fire wouldn't really help against steel and rock, acid might. The disruptors might also work - though likely to a lesser extent...

"Acid grenades", he asked and the other members pulled out a total of four. These should work... I think, the man pondered as he took the grenades and rushed everyone far enough away not to risk them getting accidentally hit in the process. "Fire in the hole", he cried as he threw the first one. The man decided to give it a couple of minutes to work before approaching to see the damage it had inflicted. Not bad, Seth smiled in satisfaction as he moved back to throw another one. "Fire in the hole", the Ensign once more cried out and like before he waited a few minutes before he again approached to see the damage.

The rocks weren't terribly affected but the wooden and steel portions - those the acid really ate through. One or two more blasts would've likely taken out the remains but Seth believed that would've been a waste of firepower. Instead he asked two of the larger males in the group to manually remove what was left and create a path big enough for the others to pass through. Now that took some time...

In the end though the task was successfully finished and a large enough hole allowed Seth and everyone else to get into the formerly sealed passage. "You guys can stay here and rest. Keep an eye out for the left tunnel. Muyr and Lusqar - you two also stay and watch the other tunnel. Radio in if there's any new development..." With that the pilot stepped through the hole in the wall.

"Everyone else coming or what?" his voice could be heard from the other side and both the VENI agent as well as two other Marines followed through. On the other side they found Seth crouching over a Human body, prodding it with the barrel of his rifle.

"A few days... maybe a week old. Seems to be the regular dead variety too, not the one running around and still causing trouble." The Ensign got to his feet and stared into the darkness ahead. "Think we're on the right path", he mentioned before starting to walk.

OOC:

WC: 907

I like how you integrated it with the ongoing VEN story, Deep! Like I told you in IRC, be careful with the liberties you take in regard to VENI. Other than that, no qualms and I enjoyed the story as always!

You pass the final tier of Vast Imperial Marine!