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The New Reach Campaigns Chapter 7
Posted By: Gasmask
Date: 7 October 2002, 1:28 pm


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       Steven ran down the halls, looking for a way to free the other prisoners.  He kicked some doors in, but others were reinforced.
   "Have to find the cardkey," he mused to himself.  A jailor came out, pistol aimed at Steve's face.  The Spartan jumped over the line of fire, and brought his make-shift spear down into the man's skull.  He took the pistol which the man had dropped, along with some keycards.  They had cell numbers on them, and one was a prison access.  The soldiers he had already freed were behind him, ready to fight. 
    "You," Steve called, "Take this card and open cell 827.  It's down the hall."
  The soldier he called took the card, then sprinted down the hall.  Another jailor came out, this one with a live grenade in his hand, along with an assault rifle. The Spartan fired twice, and the bullets sank into his head.  The enemy dropped his grenade, and it went off in the room behind him. 
   "Let's go!" Steve shouted.  They ran as fast as they could, freeing as many prisoners as possible in the amount of time that they had.  Steve knew that an alarm would sound soon.  Then he saw another jailor.  Only this one was freeing prisoners.  The Spartan ran over to him.  He recognized the man as the one who had slipped him his armor.  The man just grinned.
   "I suppose I'm back in the UNSC now, huh?" the man asked.
   "I suppose you are," was Steve's reply.
 
    Captain Stromgarde awoke with a start.  His comm link button was blazing red.  An emergency? Why hadn't anyone raised the alarm?
   "Yes," he said, a tone of urgency in his voice, "this is Stromgarde.  What's wrong?"
   "Sir, this is one of the jailors. There's been a break, and they've killed two jailors already. Also, one of our own has defected to the UNSC.  And to top it all off, that Spartan got his armor back!"
   "Oh, no," the captain replied, "I'm initiating alpha alert. We have a situation!"

   A "situation" was nowhere near what happened.  Bullets ricocheted, barrels smoked, and men fell to the ground to drown in their own blood.  Steven was once more in his element, and that element was combat.  He fired his pistol with deadly accuracy, and took a few hits himself.  He and that jailor had to buy the rest of the troops time.  Finally, he heard the door to the outside world his and open. Steven ran out, firing behind him as he went. He turned to the jailor. 
   "Where's the armory?" he yelled above the gunfire.
   " East wing! Follow me!" the soldier replied.  They ran, taking out enemy targets as they went.  The detainees they had rescued scattered, so they wouldn't be caught very easily.  They were all to meet up at the armory.  Steve heard screams, and knew that some of the soldiers he had rescued had just bought the farm.  He stepped his pace up a bit.  Finally, they reached the armory.  Thirty-five of the fifty men Steve had rescued were there.  The jailor passed him his assault rifle.
   "Cover me! They've changed the passcode!"
   Steven fired into the oncoming throng of people, and handed his pistol to another soldier.  They both fired, defending the jailor and the ex-prisoners.
   "Got it!" the jailor said, "Everyone inside!"
  They obeyed, and grabbed all the weapons and ammo they could hold. Steven handed the assault rifle back to the jailor, and grabbed a shotgun and five boxes of shells.  He loaded up his weapon, then took a rocket launcher and eight rounds and put them in his pack. 
   "Party time," he said as he hefted his shotgun.
 
  Captain Stromgarde was in his MJOLNIR armor, and ready to kill the bums who had escaped.  He held his assault rifle high, and fired at the armory door, bursting the lock to smithereens.  He and his squad of eight men entered, with the rest of the base waiting at the door.  Suddenly, there was a loud "THWACKKKK," and one of his men went down.
  "What the..."  And then he saw it.  The enemy Spartan, with a shotgun pointed down at him from the rafters.  The enemy fired, and the Captain's head exploded in a bloody shower of pellets.  The rest of the men turned to fire, but Steven's squad opened up on them and killed them quickly.
 
   Steven knew they were being watched.  He knew that the second anyone set foot outside that door, they would die. His mind raced franticly.
   "You," he said, turning on the jailor, "What's your name?"
   "Stephan, sir."
   "Is there any other way out of this place besides the doors?" Steve asked.
   "Well, there is a secret tunnel out of here.  No one ever watches it."
   "Can you get us through there?"
   "Sure, no problem."
 
   No one saw the soldiers leave through a large pipe leading from the armory.  What they did see was a rocket hit the armory.  They never found a trace of the enemy who destroyed such a vital facility.  They never knew what hit them.
 
                    To be continued.





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