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Halo: Soldier of Destiny Chapter.03 -- Ringfall
Posted By: GGrievous<shagohad808@yahoo.com>
Date: 9 February 2006, 8:28 am
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Zack awoke once again. He was able to sit up, but he could feel his muscles responding sluggishly. He looked around and saw he was in a ships med bay.
Then he suddenly recognized the throbbing pain in his head. He lowered his head into his hands.
"Well. Glad to see your finally awake."
Zack turned to the voice. The man who stood before him wore a jet-black uniform, and had slicked back red hair. Zack saw that the man was a second lieutenant.
"Where am I?" asked Zack
"You are on the UNSC frigate Marauder," said the man "My name is Harveson. I've been assigned to oversee your voyage."
"Whatever you say man," said Zack. Then something caught his eye. On Harveson's shoulder, were black and white eagle wings and a trio of stars. It was the symbol of ONI.
Suddenly it all came rushing back. The med lab. The officer standing in the shadows.
"Before I was here, I remember waking up in a med lab. What was I doing there?"
"Ah, you were awake were you?" said Harveson. "Well, as it were you had sustained some injury during your last campaign, and were being treated for it."
"My last campaign…" Come to think of it, he couldn't even remember where he had been before then. He tried but he couldn't. He tried to remember what happened before than. His insides ran cold. Nothing. He couldn't remember a thing.
"I can't remember. I can't remember anything!" said Zack.
Harveson frowned. "Probably a slight case of amnesia. You should recover soon."
Zack's shoulders slumped. His memory was gone. Now there was only what lay ahead for him. "Can you at least tell me where we're going?"
Harveson smiled. "Of course. We're inbound for the Epsilon Eridani system, and planet Reach.
The Eternal Treason rumbled as its energy shield took hits. Xolamee studied the display, and saw a number of small missiles streaming away from the human vessel.
"It would appear that ship still has some fight left in it," he murmured. He had to give the humans credit. The battered human cruiser looked like it was about to fall apart. Yet it continued to fight on despite being outnumbered, outgunned, and surrounded.
As does the entire human race itself, Xolamee reflected. Persistent creatures. He would see to the death of every last one if it was the last thing he did.
Xolamee shook the thought from his mind. He needed to focus on the battle. "Deploy countermeasures," he exclaimed, "And continue to monitor for additional escape craft."
"Yes excellency," said the gunnery officer named Zola Ikalamee. He input various commands into his station. Xolamee watched with satisfaction as pulse lasers swatted the missiles from space.
"Good work," said Xolamee. The humans weaponry was no match for them.
"Additional lifeboats detected," said the gunnery officer.
"Target, and destroy," commanded Xolamee.
"Roger, preparing to--"
"Excellency!" cried the navigation officer. "The human ship is changing course. It appears they're about to attack us directly."
Xolamee turned back to the view screen. Indeed, the human ship was now turning about. He also noted that they were still in close proximity to the sacred ring. If they used their torpedoes, they might damage it.
The Elite commander clicked his mandibles. "We will have to take that chance," he said under his breath. "Ready plasma torpedoes!" he commanded. "Target the human vessel!"
"But sir!" cried Ikalamee, "We have orders not to use our torpedoes against the human vessel! They are still much to close to the sacred ring! If we fire a volley, the general will have our heads!"
Xolamee glared at the officer. "I am well aware of their position, and our orders. I will not have my command contradicted, soldier!" He returned his gaze to the display panel. "As for the consequences, I will bear full responsibility. Now do it!"
"Yes excellency!" said the officer, and typed rapidly on his control station. "Charging plasma torpedoes now."
"Fire when ready." said Xolamee. He tensed as he noticed the human ship was now in perfect position to fire their main weapon.
"Torpedoes charged and ready sir!" cried Ikalamee.
"Fire!"
Several lines of crimson plasma lanced towards the human cruiser. At the same time, three red hot projectiles erupted from the human ship's main weapon. The two attacks crossed each other in mid-space. The plasma torpedoes reached their target first. They made contact and gutted the ship, boiling away several sections of it's hull.
The three shots fired by the humans however, were still speeding towards them. "Evasive action!" shouted Xolamee.
"It's too late!"
The first projectile, then the second slammed into their shields. For a moment, it looked as though they would hold. Then they winked out of existence. The entire deck shook as the third projectile tore through the Eternal Treason.
Xolamee almost lost his balance. He could hear explosions chaining up the length of the ship, complementing the klaxons ringing throughout the bridge. "Report!" he bellowed.
"Sir, main reactor damaged! Power output is at seventy-three percent and dropping!"
"Main weapon systems are off-line!" cried Ikalamee, "We can no longer fire plasma torpedoes!"
"Maximum engine output?" growled Xolamee
"Sir," said the ops officer "At current reactor output, we will have an engine capacity of fifty-five percent."
Meaning they had next to no means of fending off another assault. "Enemy ship status?"
"Sir, unable to confirm, but it appears their main weapon is off-line."
Xolamee clicked his mandibles. "In that case, move off at heading zero-four-five at maximum power. We're no good to anyone now."
The ship started to turn about. Though he didn't show it, Xolamee was humiliated at having to run from an enemy. But at least they had managed to do some damage.
Suddenly, Neju Nagamee approached the captain. "Sir, we have a communication from the Reverence and Nobility. Shall I patch it through?"
Xolamee frowned. Ah, that's right. I violated the general's orders as well. Xolamee let out a low growl. "Patch it through immediately." He stepped forward and awaited his judgment.
0135 Hours (Ship's Time), September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Cruiser Pillar of Autumn , Location Unknown
Jameson led Zack, Jake, Miccardo, Rhomer and Church down the Pillar of Autumn's corridors. They had to reach a life boat before the ship was shot down. And Zack had a feeling that that would be very soon.
They rounded a corner, and nearly slammed head-on into a Grunt. Zack and the others skidded to a halt, while the Grunt let out a cry of terror. He was fumbling for his plasma pistol as Zack rushed forward and slammed his rifle into the alien's skull with a sharp crack.
Zack looked past the fallen alien, and was dismayed to see four more of the creatures standing behind him. He was about to fall back when a resounding explosion rang through the hull, and the
ship lurched harder than it ever had before. Zack was nearly thrown off his feet, but managed to retain his balance.
The Grunts weren't as fortunate. All four of them tumbled to the ground. The marines didn't fail to take advantage of the opportunity. The aliens were all dead in seconds.
Miccardo spat on one of the corpses. "Burn in hell you son of a bitch."
Zack paused to reload his rifle. "What in the hell was that explosion?" he wondered aloud.
"Not sure," said Jameson, "But my guess is that the battle's heating up. We'd better get outta here before the ship falls apart."
Ahead was an elevator that would take them to the upper levels, where the lifeboats were located. Zack walked up to it and pressed the call button. Nothing happened.
"Let me check it out," said Miccardo. He pressed a few more buttons, then shook his head. "Dammit, the powers been cut. Nothing we can do from here."
"Where can we go to restore power?" asked Zack.
"Well, if my guess is correct, the power stations should be in the next room over," replied Miccardo. He pointed at a locked hatch. "Right through there."
Jameson nodded at Rhomer, "Corporal, see if you can bypass that lock."
Rhomer walked over and examined the control panel next to the hatch. "I probably could. But you wouldn't want me to open this door."
"And why the hell not?"
Rhomer looked back at the Sergeant. "Because there's no atmosphere on the other side."
Jake let out a sigh. "Great. Then that means we are officially screwed men."
Zack shook his head. "Not yet. Rhomer, get ready to open the lock. I'll go through."
Off to the side, Church's eyes widened. "Didn't you just hear Rhomer? There is no air over there."
Zack let out a small laugh. "Not a problem." He pressed a few buttons on the forearm portion of his armor, and there were a few metallic clicks. Sections of metal slid out from his helmet and locked together, completely sealing his head. He took in a deep breath as his helmet pressurized an the micro-air recyclers within his helmet kicked in.
His Phoenix battle armor was similar to the MJOLNIR Mk.V battle armor, and in some ways was a step up in performance. When the helmet was closed, he could survive in space for up to sixty minutes. The team members of Destiny Squad had found this function useful on zero-gee ops. When he was in an environment where he could enjoy the luxury of oxygen however, the retractable sections allowed him to breathe fresh air.
The other marines seemed impressed. "Why in hell don't we get stuff like that?" asked Jake.
Zack laughed, "One of the perks of being in a special unit."
Jameson nodded. "All right then. Rhomer, bypass the lock. Everyone else, take cover!"
The others gathered on opposite sides of the doorway. Zack strapped his weapons to his back. He crouched down on the balls of his feet, and planted himself on the palms of his hands. He nodded at Rhomer.
Rhomer flattened himself against the wall, and pressed the button. The lights on the door turned green, and the doors opened.
There was an explosion of air as the atmosphere was sucked out of the room. Zack leapt forward through the hatch, and landed in a roll as the doors closed and locked behind him.
Zack stood up and keyed his COM. "I'm in."
" Good work ," said Jameson's voice. " Not hurry up and get the power restored ."
"Roger," said Zack. He observed the room he was in, and was thankful to find there was still gravity. The room was massive. Zack saw that the roof was at least twenty feet above him, and he was on a catwalk that criss-crossed the entire room. Pillars and control panels lined the walkways.
He also saw that the wall separating them from the vacuum of space had been completely boiled away. Some of the melted Titanium-A had still burned a dull red.
Zack felt the ship rumble again. He'd have to move fast. "Where's the power station?"
" The transformers should be to your left, " said Miccardo. " They're the giant gray cylinders. "
Zack turned and looked across the room. Sure enough, there were the two massive transformers. "I see them. It looks like their intact."
" Good. Then it's probably just a disconnected power coupling. You're going to have to reconnect it. "
Zack strode over while priming his shotgun. It never hurt to be prepared. He kneeled down and examined the coupling. It was disconnected all right. He reached for it, when something caught his eye.
He had assumed that the coupling had become damaged in the explosion that gutted the room. But the break looked too clean for that. It was almost as if it were cut by some type of blade…
A chill traveled down Zack's spine. He hurriedly worked to reconnect the coupling. If something had cut it, it was probably still here.
Finally, after a bit of tinkering, the transformers hummed to life. Zack keyed his COM, "I think they're back online."
" Yeah," said Miccardo , " The control's are working now. Nice job Zack! "
"Roger, returning to---"
Zack stopped. His motion tracker registered a contact. It was very, very close.
" What's wrong? " said Jameson."
"I've got an enemy contact on radar. Stand by." Zack pressed against a pillar and waited, his eyes scanning the room.
Then he saw what his motion tracker had detected. It was an Elite, wearing some sort of atmospheric flight suit. More amazingly, he was floating above the ground, despite the gravity. He appeared to be held aloft by two horn-like objects mounted on it's back.
Had the Elite seen him? No, it looked as though he was merely on patrol. In that case, he'd have the element of surprise. The Elite moved closer still, scanning the room from side to side. As soon as the Elite had passed, Zack jumped out and landed behind him.
Zack let out a smile. "Game over, mother fucker."
He fired before the Elite even had a chance to move. His shot tore through the Elite's shields and armor, as well as his pressurized suit. Atmosphere vented from the puncture and the Elite clawed at its throat as he suffocated. Within seconds he was dead.
Zack was savoring his victory, when he saw another dot on his motion tracker. Directly behind him.
He spun around, and saw another floating Elite. Zack couldn't see his face, but judging by the two glowing Plasma Rifles pointed at him, he could tell that the alien wasn't too happy. Zack took cover again as the alien fired. The sound of the blasts were oddly muffled in the vacuum of space. He pumped a round into his weapon and then answered in kind.
The alien's shield blocked his first shot. He fired again and the shields disappeared. The Elite let out a cry of raged and then flew directly at Zack at top speed.
"Not good," said Zack. He fired again, and hit the Elite's left hand, causing him to drop one of his rifles. The massive alien however, still smashed into him full force. Zack's armor cushioned the blow, but he lost his grip on the shotgun and it flew from his hands. The Elite smashed Zack into the ground, and he felt the air leave his lungs.
The Elite had the upper hand in strength, and had the added advantage of flight. If Zack didn't do something, this fight would be over quick.
Zack delivered a kick to the Elite's knee. His leg buckled, giving Zack the opportunity to strike again, and he kicked the Elite's other weapon out of his hand.
The Elite roared and grabbed Zack by the throat. He lifted him in the air while slowly squeezing the life out of him. Zack clawed at the Elite's arms, but to no avail. He grunted, as he realized that there was only one chance left.
He lifted his leg and drew a seven inch long combat night from a sheath on is leg, and stabbed it into the Elite's jetpack.
The result was more than Zack could have hoped for. The jetpack malfunctioned, and was now flying about by itself, and taking the Elite along with it..
There was only one problem that Zack had failed to consider. The Elite hadn't let go of Zack's neck. Though he had loosened his grip, his iron hard muscles wouldn't yield. Together they flew towards the hole in the outer hull. Zack struck again and again at the Elite's midsection, until finally the Elite let go. He proceeded to speed away from the ship out into deep space.
The Elite had released Zack too late however. He was now free floating out side of the ship as well, and moving away from it at an alarming rate.
Shit, thought Zack, this is not good! He searched for something, anything to get him out of this situation.
Then, he spotted something floating a few feet ahead of him. It looked like a piece of metal. Then Zack realized that it was his shotgun that he'd lost earlier. Desperately, he reached for it, stretching as far as his muscles were allow. His fingers brushed against the slide of the gun.
" Come on! " Zack said, willing his arm to stretch even further. Then his finger caught the trigger guard, and he pulled and grasped the weapon.
He curled into a ball and spun so his back was facing the Pillar of Autumn . He fired out into space, and his outbound speed slowed. He fired again, and the force of the shot pushed him back. He fired until he was out of bullets. Finally, he floated back into the transformer room, and landed onto the deck.
For several seconds he lay there and just enjoyed being alive. Then a transmission brought him out of it. It was Jameson's voice. " Zack, respond! Are you all right?! "
Zack keyed his COM. "Roger. I'm on my way back." He stood up, and then looked at the shotgun he still held in his grip. "You my friend, are god damn lucky piece of standard-issue UNSC equipment," he said, and then slung the weapon across his back.
He walked over to the hatch, and the pressed against wall next to him. Then he contacted the other marines, "Unlock the door now, Rhomer."
" Roger that. Unlocking now. "
The lights turned green and the door open. Immediately, the air in the other room was being sucked in by the vacuum. Zack gripped the doorframe, and with all his strength pulled himself through. He swung around the door, and it closed behind him.
Jameson stepped up to him, "Are you all right Corporal?"
Zack pressed the buttons on his forearm, and the plates covering his face slid back into his helmet. "Well, I just had a near brush with death so, yes I'm fine Sarge."
Jameson grinned. "All in a days work, huh?" He turned to the rest of the marines. "All right men, lets move! Into the elevator!"
The all rushed in and Zack pressed the up button. As the elevator rose up through the ship, Zack had time to ponder the Sergeant's comment. All in a days work.
Now that he thought about it, Zack supposed that this was all he could do for a living. Seeing as how he had no memory past being assigned to Destiny Squad. Nothing about his parents, his home, his life before. He only had memories of the squad, and of war.
His train of thought was interrupted when the reached the level they were headed to, and an explosion blew a piece of shrapnel just inches from his face. He dived out of the elevator while priming his shotgun as plasma flew all around him.
He turned to the source of the fire and shot at anything that moved. Screams of agony and sprays of blue blood soon followed. He charged and butted a Grunt in the head, while kicking another one into the wall.
Ahead, there were still two Grunts firing from behind cover. Zack unpinned two grenades and flung it behind them. They both screamed before being blasted into the air.
As Fire Team Delta moved to secure the life pods, Zack walked over to two marines crouched behind a fire shield. They both stared at him in awe, taking in his appearance.
"I'm Corporal Zachary Thompson," said Zack. "Are there any wounded?"
The first, a female Warrant officer shook herself from her stupor. She had shoulder length blonde hair tucked into a cap and wore a flight suit. "No wounded, just dead. We'd be joining them too if you guys hadn't shown up." She saluted. "Petty Warrant Officer Polaski at your service."
The other marine stepped forward. "I'm Private Richardson, nice too meet you sir."
Zack nodded. "We've got to get off this ship. Can one of you pilot a lifeboat?"
Neither of them spoke at first, then Polaski said, "Well, I normally pilot dropships, but think I could take a crack at it."
"Good. Then lets move."
He'd just finished the sentence, when something down the corridor caught his eye. A split-second later, Zack realized what it was.
"Shit! Get down!" he cried, but it too late. The Elite fired a burst of plasma that hit Richardson square in the back. His eyes widened as he fell on the deck.
Zack grunted as he pushed his way past Polaski as he fired all his remaining shells at the Elite. After several hits, the alien went down.
As Zack reloaded his shotgun, he glanced down at Richardson., but didn't bother to check his pulse. There was a four inch hole burned through his torso. He looked back towards Polaski, who was staring at the corpse, frozen with shock.
"What the hell are you waiting for?" said Zack, "Get on the ship!"
Polaski looked like she'd been slapped. Then she nodded and ran for the lifeboat, with Zack following right behind.
The rest of Fire Team Delta was already strapped in. "Everything all right?" asked Jameson.
Zack nodded. "Everything's fine. Lets go."
As Zack settled into a seat, Polaski got behind the controls. "All systems green. Preparing to launch."
Jake looked dubious. "Zack, are you sure she can fly this thing?"
"Would you rather stay on the sinking ship?" growled Polaski. "If not, sit down and shut up."
Jake grimaced and gripped his crash seat tighter as the lifeboat launched. Through the rear doors, Zack watched as the Pillar of Autumn grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Then he turned to look out the cockpit windshield, and saw the massive ring structure he had observed before.
Zack stared at the structure in awe. The ring was massive. It had to be at least ten thousand kilometers in diameter. As they grew close, he could see the vast environments spread across the interior. If not for their current situation, he might have found it to be….Beautiful.
Jake let out a low whistle. "What in God's name is this thing?"
Zack shook his head. "Dunno. But we're going to be stuck on it for a while." As flames licked the lifeboat while it entered the atmosphere, Zack couldn't help but feel a certain unexplained sense of dread as to what lay in store for them.
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