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Evolution of Darkness by Commander Demitri Wolf
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Evolution of Darkness Prologue: Helljumpers
Date: 21 December 2004, 2:08 AM
Authors Note: This series was released previously, well the first chapter was, but it needed major reconstruction so I'm going to re-release it starting with a brand spanking new Prologue, enjoy!
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1643 Hours, October 9, 2600 (Military Calendar) /
Orbital Defence Platform Olympus in geosynchronous orbit over
Delta Prime Naval Yard
Commander Jack Cooper woke to the sound of klaxons and alarms blaring. He kicked off the sheets on his bunk and jumped to the floor, his feet hitting the cold metal surface as the COM system on the wall clicked on. " Alert, Covenant boarding parties are inbound, a number of them have breached the boarders, all combat personnel to arms, all ODSTs to your stations." The cool female AI's voice sounded from the speaker and Jack quickly pulled on his black battle suit, the uniform trademark of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. There was a flaming comet insignia was on the arm of the suit and underneath read the word 'Helljumper'. He grabbed the matte black helmet off the rack and slipped it on over his head, clicking it into place with a hiss of atmosphere. He entered the weapons storage room and grabbed two Sub Machine Guns, which he slotted into the thigh holsters, and grabbed his BR55 Battle Rifle and snapped a thirty-six round magazine in. He also took time to grab another seven clips, two plasma grenades and upload the ship's layout plan to his onboard computer inside his suit.
"Ok, listen up Helljumpers." He announced stepping back into the other room where the marines where lined up in their ranks. "Those alien scum think they can walk in here and kick our asses like they did on Reach fifty years ago," he announced loudly, pausing and accenting the last three words " But times have changed, and that aint' gonna happen now is it?"
"Sir no Sir!" shouted each Marine in their battle suits with their helmets at their sides, guns holstered and eager to be fired.
"Good to hear it Marines. Heres what's happening, the Captain wants us to attempt to land on one of their pretty purple destroyers, seems this one has some precious cargo; a Prophet. Upon gaining entry to the ship we will force our way to the bridge and take the Prophet hostage and force their ground forces to retreat and their ships to self-destruct, or we assassinate their leader. Now move, triple time to the drop pods." Cooper ordered, and his company ran out the small metal blast door. Cooper bought up the front and led the ODSTs down one corridor and another where Marines braced for the onslaught of Covenant forces that would soon envelop them. They rounded a corner and entered what was commonly referred to as 'Hell's waiting room'.
Jack watched his men and women enter their Drop Pods and then went over to his. The Human Entry Vehiclehad undergone millions of dollars of re-development since the days when they were deployed on Installation-04 by the Pillar of Autumn. For a start the ceramic skins that once covered them were replaced for a new metal compound created by human scientists that would not burn up on entry into the atmosphere but would absorb the heat. This meant the extreme and sometimes fatal temperatures inside the pods no longer where a problem, but also that the outer shell of the pod would be nearly two hundred degrees Celsius and would smoulder and melt around ninety seconds after impact, so the ODSTs would have to be quick getting out, or become incinerated.
Another added feature to the HEV was the onboard guidance system that allowed the occupant to designate a landing spot, within the possible radius, at which to 'land'. Finally the addition of Light Anti-Aircraft Defence Lasers (LAADL), to the pod meant that it was no longer a target to enemy anti-aircraft weapons like Shades. The onboard computer in the HEV would detect and incoming plasma attack and fire a concentrated burst of plasma back at it, which would absorb the enemy shot and ship it 'return to sender'.
Cooper fastened his harness and checked all systems were up and running before looking up at the launch timer, just as it hit zero. His pod shot out the launch tube and he felt the familiar sensation in his stomach as his HEV rocketed through the atmosphere and towards the Covenant ship below him. He brought up a window on the small screen in front of him and selected a track that he played on the team frequency, the Helljumpers anthem, for a moral boost. A light flashed above his head and he grabbed the joystick, autopilot had disengaged, and he would be able to choose where he landed now. They brought the reticle on the screen over an open boarding shuttle launch bay and thumbed the autopilot on again. Around two kilometres from the ship one of the MAC cannons from the Olympus fired a round at it and the resulting shockwave sent the pods out of control.
"Shit." Cooper yelled, and grabbed out for the joystick, bumping the one of the buttons on the COM dashboard and killing the anthem from the team freq. Not that it was at any help to them at the moment, a situation where all their lives were in jeopardy. He grasped the joystick and pulled up on it intensely, until the pod stopped rocking and stabilized and he brought the reticle over the LZ again and it flashed green as autopilot once again took control of the decent.
"Status?" He asked over the team freq, and seventeen acknowledgment lights flashed on his HUD. Seventeen. His company had consisted of himself and twenty ODSTs; he'd lost three of them. No, it wasn't his fault; the MAC station had delayed their shot, and killed his people. "Damn it." He yelled, banging his fist into the wall of the pod, which shook slightly from the hit. But there was one good thing that came out of this, when the MAC round hit the ship its shields had flickered before dying, so now the surviving ODSTs would have a much greater chance of landing. He opened a line to the MAC station, his fists balled with rage.
"This is Commander Jack Cooper, currently attempting to board a Covenant Destroyer via HEV without getting killed. What the fuck did you think you where doing? My people where just outside the blast radius, you could have killed us all, not just three of us." He shouted over the channel, but there came no reply.
"Hello, what the hell is going on?" Cooper asked, a sick feeling in his stomach.
Only silence met his answer. Then there was a crackle of static on the line and Cooper quickly changed his view screen to the external camera that faced the ship and his worst fears where confirmed. Enemy boarding shuttles where pulling out of the station, then specks of light appeared inside the station and then the station was engulfed in a white light.
"No. No, it can't. No!" came Private Jason Grappelli's voice over the COM channel.
A gigantic boom sounded as the white light subsided where the station was, all that was left were small sections of metal and the occasional large section floating through space.
Silence filled the pods but their occupants could hear that the COM channel was still on, the sounds of others sniffling and clearing their throats over the team frequency.
"Thirty second until pod exit, please ready your self for departure." The same AI that had been on the Olympus said, opening a link the team frequency up again.
Because they were attempting to land on a ship and not on a planet, they had to exit the pod before it hit or they would end up in vacuum with minimal chances of boarding the craft, unless of course they were both an exceptional HEV pilot and completely insane.
Cooper flicked the switch to disengage the drop pod once they where within a safe distance and brought up the countdown timer on the display screen.
Time elapsed since launch: 3 mins 27 secs
Time until pod ejection: 0 mins 13 secs
Distance covered in descent: 3 km 485 m
Distance to target: 0 km 983 m
"Semper Fi." Cooper mumbled as a crude prayer to the dead marines aboard the Olympus as he and his fellow Helljumpers ejected from their pods and shot gracefully down towards the ship.
Deployment + 00 hours: 03 minutes: 58 seconds (Commander
Cooper Mission Clock) /Covenant Destroyer Noble Inquisition en route to
Delta Prime Naval Yard
Cooper and his company had landed in an empty docking bay, though it wouldn't be empty for long, the boarding shuttles where on their way back. Cooper wasn't about to let them defend their ship, so he had Private Grappelli set up invisible laser tripwire detonated C-12 explosive charges that he had taken from his pod before ejection. He set the trap and then seeled the docking bay so that the explosion wouldn't mess too much with the rest of the ship. The group stealthily set off towards the bridge, Cooper in the lead, Battle Rifles and SMGs in hand and alert to any sign of life or activity. As they passed down a corridor one of the automatic doors flashed and opened, Cooper signalled for his company to take cover and they silently sunk into the shadows and behind crates that where strewn throughout the hallway.
The door opened and a Brute Honour Guard walked out, he had a Covenant Carbine in his hands and was sweeping the corridor, looking for the humans that had boarded the vessel. He approached where a marine-First Lieutenant Simon Mazur-was crouched and stopped to sniff the air, then he snarled and beared his sharp teeth. Simon shot a glance over to the Commander and made a hand signal, Cooper nodded and Simon slowly brought his Battle Rifle up and looked over the box at the Honour Guard. His heart rate was so quick as he steaded his shaking hands, centred the targeting reticle on the alien's shaggy neck and fired a short three round burst right up through its neck. Tendons snapped and blood vessels in its neck burst open and it fell to the ground in a heap, Mazur walked over to it gun aimed at its face, but it was dead.
"Nice shot Lieutenant." Commented Jack and the other marines nodded in agreement.
The Lieutenant picked up the Carbine and tossed it to Grappelli who had only brought an S2-AM sniper rifle with him.
"Cheers mate." Thanked the Australian-an eighteen-year-old rookie, and a talented sniper- who then slipped the weapon into one of the vacant holsters on his thigh. Jack went over to the Brute and inspected the COM device on its arm, which he gave to Mazur, the communication expert among the group who slipped it over his arm and the device tightened to fit. Jack holstered his SMG, brought out his Battle Rifle and with a wave of his hand led the company through the door and into the next room, what looked like a navigation room, which was occupied by a trio of Grunts. They made no movement from their stations as the group entered, as they thought it was merely the Brute coming back. Cooper gave another signal and one of his crew brought his Battle Rifle up and fired at on of the Grunts and he fired a short burst at one of the others, the first catching him in the shoulder and the second in the spine. As he spun around to find his assailant the third and final bullet hit him in the methane breathing device which shattered and released a plume of gas into the air as the alien fell to the ground wailing over his wounds and gasping for air as he slowly chocked to death.
Mazur stepped up and put him out of his pain with a shot to the head, and the Grunt fell silent. The head Grunt gave a bark and jumped for the door only to meet another Helljumper who brought him to the ground with a quick burst from his SMG to the kneecap. It fell to the ground-face contorted with pain-as Cooper walked across and stood over it, he gave it a fake smile-though the Grunt couldn't see it through his reflective visor-and then asked him a simple question.
"Where is it?"
The Grunt squirmed in agony and opened its mouth but nothing but a low bark and a cough of blood came out. Cooper looked down on the alien in disgust and raised his rifle to it when its face registered great fear and it flung an arm out at a projection display screen on one of the walls. Cooper signalled for a marine to check it out and immediately one of them that was hanging back at the door walked forward and looked over the activator. He ran a hand in front of the motion activator and a hologram shone out in front of him-the ships map-clearly labelling where every alien on the ship was, including the Grunt that was now rocking back and forth on the ground moaning in pain as three Helljumpers trained their weapons on him. His name was Yapag, and he was a Grunt Navigation Technician.
Cooped looked over at the screen and ordered Mazur to upload it to his onboard computer, then he turned to face the Grunt.
"Thankyou for your help, Yapag, but I hope you understand that we can't let you live. Goodbye." He brought up his rifle and discharged six rounds into the aliens face, its methane device shattering and cutting into the dead creatures face as a cloud of the gas defused throughout room.
"Where?" Cooper asked Mazur, who brought the map up on his visor and replied.
"It's in its personal quarters, it knows of our presence and four Honour Guard scouts are patrolling the ship, none anywhere near us though. But there are six stationed outside his room."
"But," started Cooper, "Where is it? How far, which direction?"
"Three hundred metres that way," Mazur said pointing out through the door that Yapag tried to exit by, "I'll manually override the door system so they are all open and we don't give away our presence."
"Good, now move out Marines." Cooper ordered and the Helljumpers grabbed weapons from the fallen Grunts and proceeded out the door and straight ahead towards the Prophet.
Deployment + 00 hours: 24 minutes: 03 seconds (Commander
Cooper Mission Clock) /Covenant Destroyer Noble Inquisition en route to
Delta Prime Naval Yard
Cooper raised a hand and halted his Marines, they were now just twenty metres from the Prophets quarters and from here on in they needed to put to use all the stealth training they had received. Cooper stopped surveying the area when he noticed that Mazur was opening a COM line to him, he switched to the frequency and the Lieutenant's voice came out of the speakers in his helmet.
"Sir, the Prophet has Honour Guards, there were six but three of them have joined the scouts looking for us, none of them are anywhere near us though. I suggest that we take out the head guard, the one next to the Prophet, and then when they are confused take them out too. Then we send in three marines to secure the Prophet and you can do what you want with it."
"Yes, good. Get Grappelli ready, armour piercing exploding bullets." Cooper replied eager to take revenge on the Prophet.
"Yes Sir." Replied Mazur who then slunk away to tell the sniper.
Once he was all set the group set of slowly, the headman-Cooper-stopping them every three or four metres to check for hostiles.
They neared the bend in the corridor that led to the Prophets chamber and Grappelli unslung the sniper rifle from his back and propped it up on a box from where he could see the Prophet in his throne, anti-grav belt keeping him afloat while the three Brutes stood guard around him. The Prophet was silent but the Brutes were talking amongst themselves, idle chatter about killing humans, this just made the Marines more willing to kill them.
Grappelli popped four bullets into his gun and positioned the targeting reticle on his HUD over a gap in the Brute's armour. Soon the bullet would shoot out of the barrel and burry itself deep within the Brute's chest, Grappelli slowly squeezed the trigger down and prepared for the recoil of the gun, soon it would be over.
Bako 'Fulporamee stepped out of the boarding shuttle and into the Destroyer grinning at the fact that his battle group had been the ones that delivered the bomb that destroyed the human station. The gold armoured Elite walked over to the other shuttle with pride and turned to greet the other Commander of the mission and opened his mouth to congratulate him. The words never left his mouth as when he stepped onto the shuttle-docking bay he triggered the three-second fuse on the charge of C-12. The last thing Bako ever saw was the flash of bright light and the body of the other Commander as it flew into him and knocked him into the shuttle as the docking bay exploded.
Grappelli's finger tightened on the trigger as the ship rocked violently and the bullet shot out of his sniper rifle and missed into target. Instead it went straight past the Brute and dug into the Prophet's arm, knocking him from his throne and taking the arm off from the elbow down, the alien religious leader howling in pain.
"Shit," Grappelli cursed under his breath and brought the reticle back to the Brute, "This time I won't miss."
He was right, the bullet hit the Brute right through the tiny gap in the Brute's chest plate and exploded, blowing the main plate of armour off his chest and causing his stomach to be splattered around on he ground.
Grappelli ditched his rifle and brought out the Carbine that Mazur had salvaged from the first Brute they had killed and fired three shots, two ricocheting from the Brutes faceplate armour and clattering harmlessly to the ground the third hitting the beast in the face. It let out a roar of pain and charged at the Marines-who where firing at the other Brute-catching one by surprise and ripping off his head with its powerful claws. The second Brute fell and the Marines turned their attention to the one with the disfigured face, courtesy of Grappelli. Mazur ran up to the Brute and shoved the end of his rifle into its face, cracking noises ensuing from the blow. The beast opened its mouth and let out a roar, Mazur took his chance and quickly turned the weapon around and thrust the butt into the flailing beasts mouth. Before it could react he had fired three short bursts up into its brain, the creature hit the floor with a thud, blood and brain matter spilling out of its gaping mouth. Mazur dropped his weapon and bent over, hands on his knees, out of breath. He was soon on the move though as Cooper had them all secure the Prophet, who was on the ground grasping with his one arm for his throne, bleeding uncontrollably from the short stub that was once one of his arms.
"Fill it up with Bio-Foam, we don't want his dying. Yet." Ordered Cooper, and the Prophet suddenly became fearful with the last word Cooper added. A Lieutenant brought the Bio-Foam and filled the wound, the Prophet cried out in pain and tried to get up and stumbled, but then secured himself and sat in his throne.
"What do you want from me?" the frail creature asked in its hoarse voice, cautiously eyeing the Marines weapons.
"We want you to haul your jackass troops off of our planet, and back to the stinking hellhole you crawled out of, got that?" Cooper asked threateningly, centring the Prophet's head in the reticle on his HUD, if he tried anything he was dead.
"Very well, let me contact the rest of he fleet." Agreed the Prophet, and his eyes darted away from the guns and over Cooper's shoulder and back again quickly.
Cooper lowered the battle rifle, took out a salvaged plasma grenade and primed it, waited a second held it up to the Prophet and then spun around and hurled it at the Honour Guard that had been lurking ominously behind them, waiting to strike. The beast bellowed a cry of anguish and charged at the company, it didn't get far though as the grenade exploded and blew the giant beast back into the wall with a crash.
Grappelli smashed the Prophet across the face with his Carbine and the creature let out another howl of pain.
"We can't chance that happening again," Cooper mused out loud, "Jacobs, hack the Battle Net, I want this room locked down."
"Yes sir." Replied Jacobs, going to a console on the wall, hands dancing over keys in seconds.
Cooper turned back to the Prophet, "If we spare your life, will you turn over command of the invasion forces to the UNSC? We need to end this war, an alliance would benefit us all, what do you say?"
The Prophet looked at the ground, this human was sparing his life, the other Prophets had treated him like garbage, taking control of this operation was a test, a test that he had already failed. Refusal meant either his death at the hands of this human, or if he managed to escape-though the chances of that were slim-he would be executed by the Hierarchs. No, he would have to accept the human's offer and one day, they would overthrow the Covenant Empire.
He looked up into the Helljumper's eyes; he had retracted his reflective visor, held his gaze for moment and then give a slight nod.
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