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CR.03: Chaotic Reign .03
Posted By: TheRedFaction<Hometokell@aol.com>
Date: 29 March 2003, 3:58 AM
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A New War, A Lesser Hope...
Elder Rin watched in sadness, in hatred, as his worst nightmare steadily marched towards him. He stared back at the defiant faces of those who opposed him, those who were here to bring him down, to stop his want for peace. These rebels who were destroying his people, his world, that last thing he had.
"Elder Rin!"
It was a frightened voice, one that expressed sorrow and fear.
"Yes?"
The officer approached Elder Rin with grace, savoring the moment he had the honor to meet his leader. "Elder Rin, sir, it is an honor…"
"I'm glad to here it, my good man, but we haven't the time. Please, what is it you wish to speak with me about?"
"Oh, yes, of course. Elder Rin, you must come with us, you must…"
Elder Rin stopped him, cutting his plead short. "Us?" he questioned.
The officer denied the question, "Please, sir, like you said, we haven't much time." The officer continued to look at Rin helplessly.
Rin stared back down at him, wondering what he was here to request. "Go on," he said, nodding.
The officer regained his composure, trying to hide his nervousness. "Sir, you must come with us, you have to leave this place now. We don't have any time left."
Elder Rin slowly shook his head. "I must decline," he said. "My people, they need me. I would imagine that in times like these, the last thing a person in distress would want to see is their own leader leaving them here to die."
"But, sir…" The officer almost seemed desperate.
Rin still refused. "I must be with them in their final hour…"
The officer stood straight and returned Rin's unchanged expression. His voice went cold. "Elder Rin, please. Your people…they have already left, they departed long ago, left for a new world, a world where they can live in peace, they don't have to fear a threat, where violence isn't the way we solve our problems." He was angry now, his face rigid.
Elder Rin looked down at him strangely. "Where did they go?"
The officer looked up at him, his blood curdling with anger. "Heaven, sir."
Elder Rin stepped back in shock, in disbelief. "It's true, sir," the officer went on, "we saw the colonies ablaze, flames taking everything. The screams lasted for a while, but they faded quickly. Then it got real quiet."
"No…"
"You have to come with us," the officer repeated, "please."
Elder Rin looked at him, wondering if this was the truth, if it was even real. This is all a dream, he thought. A dream.
"Elder Rin?"
Elder Rin denied this theory, finally coming to his senses. "Very well," he said.
The officer took it differently, however. He sighed in relief, filled with a small joy. "We must leave, now."
Rin nodded, saddened to leave his world behind, a world which was being torn apart by someone he had once trusted, someone who had been there in times like these. Now he watched as that same twisted fiend of a person destroyed the world he had helped him build in the first place.
They proceeded to the halls of the mansion, the very halls that Rin had walked through every day. It was a long way to the outer courtyard.
The officer led the Elder through rooms, elegant rooms that had once been thriving with activity. Rin thought of his guests, of how they came every day just to see their great leader. However, these beautiful rooms were now abandoned; the once present liveliness gone and faded away.
They had finally reached the outer courtyard, where a dropship was waiting on the grass. The officer made it to the ship first, leaped inside, then turned back to help Rin inside. Elder Rin stopped and looked back at his beloved home, empty and doomed. Then, against his best instincts, he stepped inside the ship.
The officer locked their restraints in place, securing them to the ship. The ship slowly lifted off the ground and flew skyward, away from the dead, lifeless place below. Rin continued to watch, however, as his mansion grew more and more distant. Then, out of nowhere, a trail of smoke fell from the sky and landed somewhere near the enormous house. It released a vast fireball, an explosion of such magnitude that the dropship rattled slightly and groaned.
The mansion was immediately engulfed by the flames; instantly incinerated by the blast. Glass broke and walls shattered, grass burned and trees were ripped from the earth. The outer walls that fenced the house were blown apart, wrought iron statues were torn at and burned. The mansion almost absorbed the blast at first, a sign of hope for Rin. But then, pieces began to fall, and soon thereafter the house was taken over by the force of the explosion and blown apart, piece by piece, debris flying every which way. A cloud of smoke and dust rose triumphantly over the scene, where the only evidence of its existence was the smoldering crater it left behind.
"Satellites have picked up a Magnitude 9 explosion. No injuries reported, although there was severe damage."
I imagine there would be severe damage caused by a Magnitude 9 explosion, thought Travis Ensign grimly. His satellites that were orbiting Earth had been picking up explosions for the past few weeks, but nothing like this. It was a new Covenant weapon, most likely close to a nuclear fission missile.
Great, he continued, now we're really in for a surprise.
"Magnitude 9 confirmed," came the intercom report, a rather sorrow voice that echoed through the halls and rooms and just hung there, as obvious as the sun. It was a report that didn't go away; although the voice faded into the air the horror still remained.
"Launch a rescue attempt. All ships report to the site once safety has been confirmed. Keep your distant from any explosive objects or fires that cannot be controlled. Recover any bodies that can be identified."
A few officers quickly left the room under their orders, seemingly eager to escape Ensign, who was growing angrier, as was Elder Rin and whoever was left alive.
Travis Ensign waited patiently for the relieving sound of a set of engines being fired. He then sighed, gladly leaving the rescue effort in the hands of the Marines.
"Anything, Captain?"
The officer leaned further towards the gap, the gateway to the world below. He felt the heat against the face as the dropship circled the blast site as the flames continued to burn away anything that was left. The fires ate uncontrollably at everything in the area, dissolving every single living organism that was unfortunate enough to get caught in its path.
"Negative. Radar shows nothing." The officer moved his head away from the gap, feeling his head slowly cool off after the exposure to the intense fires that swarmed the ground.
"Copy. Radar shows nothing."
The Captain was unsure of whether or not anyone was still alive. Of course, if someone was, then they would have to land and give them medical attention.
"Nothing. There's nothing here. Relay this back to base and let's head home."
Travis Ensign felt a pang of terror as his officers returned so quickly.
Still, he approached them. "Anything, gentlemen?"
The men looked at him, then turned and headed away, heads hung low. Only one stepped forward and met Ensign's fearful look. "There was nothing but fire, sir. Fire and nothing."
He shook his head sadly and walked away, forever scarred by what he saw.
Elder Rin joined Elder Orcon at the Grand Council, safe and hidden from the forces under former Elder Kaiid-Jahjun. Their meeting was urgent yet unplanned and unorganized.
"Grand Councilman," Rin began, his voice shaken and worried. "Forces under former Elder Kaiid-Jahjun have invaded our home planets and have begun murdering and capturing our people, all of whom have been innocent…"
The Grand Councilman showed no emotion towards this statement. "Yes, I realize that Kaiid-Jahjun has, well…gone off the deep end, if you will. His hunger for rule over our nation has gone to his head and he's become insane. Have you anything to say, Elder Orcon?"
Elder Rin suddenly realized that Orcon was lucky to be alive. The attack on his planet had eliminated almost everyone in existence that he knew. He could see Orcon's struggle to maintain his current state of emotion.
"Yes, Grand Councilman. My race has been destroyed by this crazed, obsessive and destructive force. With my people my planet has fallen as well. And now Earth has fallen under attack by the same force and the Humans are at risk as well. Yet the Council has done virtually nothing to stop this."
The Grand Councilman glared down at Orcon from his large chair, a look that sent a feeling of cold dread into Orcon's bones.
"What exactly do you expect us to do, Elder Orcon? The Council is a justice system that solves problems with evidence and proof and we possess no military at all. Tragic as it may seem, it is Elder Rin and his people that we are dependent on."
"This is because…"
The Grand Councilman stared at Orcon as if he'd just slapped him across the face. "Because they are the only source of power left!" His voice boomed, sending yet another chill into Orcon's body.
The Grand Councilman turned to Rin, who was staring almost defiantly back at his gaze. "Elder Rin," he said, jerking him back into the face of reality.
"Yes?"
"You have been granted permission to defend yourself in any way necessary. Do as you will when the time comes."
"And the laws that have been set?"
"In this case, we have pushed the laws aside to bring in a new order that will allow self-defense in any lethal terms when absolutely necessary."
Elder Rin still didn't feel satisfied, as if he'd finally accomplished something but then realized it wasn't what he wanted. There were still laws in effect, but he knew the Grand Councilman didn't have the nerve to say it in the most forthcoming way possible.
"Thank you, Grand Councilman," Rin replied, his feeling being buried further and further into the pit of his stomach.
He left the Council feeling worse than he did when he had first arrived.
"Enemy forces inbound, three hundred meters northeast. Estimated arrival time: Six minutes and counting."
Every Marine received the message as it cackled through some rough static on their comm. Units.
"Copy that. Enemy forces confirmed. Infantry only, approximately thirty strong. Expected to be well equipped. Keep your guard up."
The Marines remained cluttered in the forest brush and vines, the surrounding trees as their shelter walls.
"Status report on enemy forces."
"Five minutes, thirty seconds. Two hundred ninety meters and closing."
The message was followed by instant radio silence, which turned into a bad sign. Silence was never a good thing, especially in times like these. Like tornadoes, explosions are always silent before they claim their victims.
It was only a whistling sound at first; an unregistered whistling sound that became louder and louder.
"Take cover! Enemy weapon inbound!"
The message had just clicked off and the Marines had just looked up when five of them suddenly disappeared, replaced by a massive fireball that rippled across the small clearing and into the trees. Instinctively, the others fired random shots, small bursts of gunfire, into the woods before them.
There had been twenty Marines strong, minus the five that had been incinerated only seconds before. That number was reduced to thirteen when another explosion rocked the foliage, shaking trees and bushes around like rag dolls.
More gunfire, another explosion.
It became a pattern, a pattern in a fight that the Humans could not win. Already they were down to a mere twelve, and had yet to slay a single rebel.
After a small period of time, the explosions stopped. It was silent again, a signal of more chaos that was to ensue. Mere seconds after the bombardment ceased and the Humans calmed their seemingly eager weapons, bullets furiously raked into the clearing, snapping up twigs and limbs, leaves and vines. The men had been caught off-guard; the firing had commenced from behind them. It was a distraction to take advantage of the opposing force, to fire cannons and detonation charges right-smack into the middle of the enemy and thus allow the infantry to circle behind the enemy. When this was completed, the cannonade would cease and the firing of guns would take its place, eliminating the rest without a single casualty.
The Marines fell, one after the other, riddled with wounds. It had been a simple victory, one that had been taken without much effort.
Little did the rebels know that the last Marine had made radio contact with a squadron of pilots, who had begun to gain air superiority over the area and had a number of death warrants for the rebels that were oblivious to their fate.
Elder Rin didn't have much time left. His forces were fighting all over the continent and several random locations on Halo and were actually fighting losing battles everywhere.
Well, he thought to himself in slight anger, if we're going to lose, then we're going to lose on the battlefield, not in a hidden location where we hope they never find us.
A fire ignited in his eyes, a symbol of determination that could not be extinguished.
It was still just the beginning.
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