Chapter 9
Jai fell out of his cryotube and landed on the ground naked, he began to cough until the slime left his body. "Status Kit."
The holoprojector next to his tube came to life and Kit stood there looking at him. "We are thirty-seven minutes away from our target."
"Where are Mike and Adriana?" Jai asked as he stood up and began to dry himself off and prepare to climb into his armor.
"Mike is on the bridge; Adriana will be out in approximately 3 minutes." Kit said as he fiddled with his rifle.
"Get me a line to Mike." Jai said as he stepped into the armor and it began to auto link to his body.
"Mike here." His lifelong team mate said over the COM.
"Begin stealth protocols and go to red alert." Jai said as he leaned over and began activating the auto joint locks.
"And the crew?" Mike said keeping to business.
"All naval personnel, leave the marines in the freezer till they are needed. I'll be up there in 5."
"Roger." Mike said as the link cut.
"Can I do anything else for you Petty Officer?" Kit asked as he watched Jai secure his arms in the armor.
"Just inform Adriana that she is to suit up and meet Mike and I on the bridge. Also forward the last action report of the engagement at Nebeira to my suit." Jai pulled the helmet on his head and locked it into place a complete diagnostic began and as it completed the green light winked and as the screen cleared an icon appeared in the top left of the visor Jai used his controls to access the information that had been sent by Kit. Jai walked through the door and began to read as he walked. The last ship to leave the planet confirmed that it was being occupied by 12 covenant cruisers and 3 carriers. The carrier that was the last to leave claimed that the ONI facilities on the planet had been successfully destroyed before leaving the planet, however the fact that it was confirmed that they were searching for something meant that there was something more on the planet. Of course it was a possibility that the Captain had lied but it was highly unlikely given the seriousness that intelligence was given especially in times of war. Jai didn't have an opinion he just knew that it didn't make sense given the planets that had already been attacked by the covenant. He began to think about what specifically could draw the covenant to remain on the planet as he stepped into the elevator.
"Kit, please send me the debrief report of the Commanding Officer on Harvest when it was taken by the Covenant." Jai said as he opened a channel to the AI. Less than a second later another icon appeared on his visor. Jai opened it and skimmed forward to the part where it was talking about the first encounter. The LC who had written this report said that the monsters who had led the attack demanded that the planet be handed over as it was some sort of ancestral possession. And farther down the debrief it explained that the covenant were searching for some sort of an object, and that was how they had tricked them into placing their ship in a certain location to use the Mass Driver to disable it. It was a ballsy play by the LC and it was essential that it worked because it was the hinge that allowed the refugees to escape. The thought that the covenant were looking for something more than just a planet to burn told Jai what he needed to know, it was possible that the Covenant were searching for one of these objects on the planet and if that was the case then they would have to work fast. Jai felt himself go weightless for a second as the elevator passed the midpoint of the ship, he then felt himself slam back down to the floor when it reached the upper decks.
Jai cleared the visor and waited as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, he walked into the cramped bridge that was alive with the naval crew. Mike was standing over the shoulder of the Lieutenant at the ops station, he turned when he noticed that Jai had entered the room and he opened a channel.
"All ready to go dark when we drop out Jai." Mike said as he grabbed his helmet and prepared to close it over his head.
"How long till we drop out?" Adriana said as she stepped out of the elevator behind Jai.
"56 seconds." Kit said as his Holoprojector turned on next to the Captain's chair. The three Spartans moved to the Captain's chair as the ship dropped out of slip space.
"Lieutenant Seron take us dark. Kit get me a sensor readout and let's see what we are dealing with." Jai said as he moved closer to the monitor.
"We are dark, temperature and stealth package are balanced and working at full capacity." Seron replied.
"Sensors read two covenant cruisers; over the largest continent." Kit replied as he brought up the image of the planet on a secondary screen. It showed two cruisers orbiting the planet along with the two moons that orbited the planet and a large amount of ruble which remained from the battle that had occurred months ago.
Jai examined the image and looked to the AI whose image was right next to him. "Wake the marines, we are going groundside."
Adriana turned and looked at him cocking her head slightly. "How do you plan on doing that?" She said over a private channel between her and her team mates.
"We link a pelican to debris and navigate through the atmosphere with it. When it begins to burn up we will keep on path until we are below sensor range. You and I will go down with two marine squads, Mike you stay with the ship and keep an eye on these cruisers."
"What are you planning to do?" Mike said as Jai turned back toward the elevator.
"I'm going to do what we were sent out here to do. Cause havoc."
Marco fell to the deck when the cryotube opened, he quickly vomited as he had gotten so used to doing over the years that he had spent in and out of cryostasis. All the other tubes opened after his and soon the amount of a full platoon were vomiting while they were on all fours naked. Marco stood and grabbed the fatigues that sat next to his tube and quickly dressed. The door to the marine's own deck opened and one of the Spartan's walked in and linked to the PA system.
"Attention. We have arrived at our target and we are going groundside with two squads, Gunny you choose who's going with you then report to the armory and get suited up. I will be waiting for you in the cargo bay." Adriana said as she turned and left the room.
Marco quickly grabbed his data pad and started going through the men who were under his command. He began tapping certain names and they were added to the squads he would take. He chose Klane as the second squad leader and decided to leave Delmar to watch the ship. He highlighted several marines whom he had viewed closely before they entered cryo, he had looked over their service records too and all were experienced although a few had problems with authority and psychopathic tendencies. He wasn't worried though, as long as they were fighting the covenant. Marco sent the list out and everyone he chose received notifications on their data pads. Marco turned to Delmar and said. "You're staying behind Charlie, Organize the rest of them and prepare in case we need backup."
"Try to save some for me Jim." Delmar said as he pulled on his pants.
Marco walked into the armory and saw the holoprojector activate and Kit show up. "Master Gunnery Sergeant, you and your squads are to put on these tactical infiltration suits and equip with silenced weaponry any artillery will be on board the pelican."
"Well I get to look just like an ODST." Marco said as he began to put on the armor over his fatigues, normally he would wear all black with this suit but there were no rules that said it was necessary and the colors of black and green made a decent camouflage. Just as he slipped on the arm and knee guards Klane walked in with several other marines. "Put the suits on over green, I checked and we are going in the woods." The marines nodded without saying a word and began putting on the armor
Marco walked over to a gun rack and grabbed a silence M6 and slid it into his hip holster, he then looked at the strange weapon that was also in the rack. "What is this Kit?" Marco asked as he grabbed the rifle.
"That is the BB55 experimental rifle; it has a larger caliber round than the MA5K and better range along with a 2x scope. This model has been modified to equip a silencer." Kit said as he watched Marco lift the rifle to his shoulder and felt the balance, the rifle was a work of art and Marco slung it over his back and grabbed a grenade belt and a knife and secured them to the armor. Marco looked over as the rest of the two squads came into the room and began putting on the armor and equipping with silenced weapons.
"Get a move on marines; we have a mission so double time it." Marco grabbed his helmet and walked out of the armory fully armed and ready to kick some ass.
Jai and Adriana stood next to the pelican with BB55's on their backs and M6's on their hips as well as a small nuclear explosive that was hooked to their waste. Marco walked in and nodded to the two Spartan's. "Master Gunnery Sergeant Marco reporting as ordered."
Jai walked over to him and depolarized his visor. "I want your squads to guard the pelican while Adriana and I investigate the enemy compound in the Bauronian Forest. If ordered to, I will expect you to bring a squad forward and support our retreat."
"Gladly, just save some for us if you would be so kind Petty Officer." Marco replied as he saw a small smirk appear on Jai's face. Jai turned and walked aboard the Pelican; Adriana stayed put until the rest of the marines arrived fully armored and armed.
"All aboard." She said as she turned and walked onto the drop ship. The marines secured their helmets and boarded the craft, Marco watched as they all boarded; he began to feel his limbs tingle as his nerves began preparing for the fight.
Marco gripped the bar along the top of the pelican as it descended through the atmosphere; the ride was rougher than normal but that was understandable given the fact that they had attached themselves to a large plate of Titanium A. The two Spartan's were piloting the craft and pushing the throttle as much as they could to move the plate and the ship as fast as possible. Marco always hated being aboard the ship, something about going so fast that the ship would literally catch fire disturbed him beyond belief. Like most Marines he preferred to have his feet on the ground, and on those grounds he was in control of the conditions.
"Gunny, have we met before?" A Private asked as he approached Marco.
"Yes, you were part of Omen Company just before I was transferred to Knight." Marco said remembering the Private had been promising when he first joined up but after reading the Privates file he realized that he had disobeyed orders several times and been knocked down from Lance Corporal and PFC twice. The last time he did disobey, however, it cost three lives and the mission. That was often the case with marines who deviated from their orders regularly, they would do it once and it would save lives another time it wouldn't make any difference and then finally it would cost lives. He would have to keep an eye on the Private and make sure he didn't repeat the mistake that had put him in the prison he was recruited from.
"Two minutes to the forest, prepare to secure landing zone." Adriana yelled from the cockpit.
Marco unslung his rifle and attached the silencer and racked in a round. This was what he wanted, combat; the fact that he didn't have very much personal attachment to his platoon made it easier to go in without much worry.
"Mike the Pelican has made it through the atmosphere." Ensign Laramie said as he turned and looked at the Spartan.
"Good what's the status of the satellite?" Mike said as he turned and looked at the Ensign.
"Signal is strong and currently moving it into the debris field, I see an old thruster that I'm going to lock it to. And locked."
"Alright, confirm tactical and communications link to the pelican." Mike said as he grabbed a tablet and began running his own analysis of what the bridge crew was doing. They were good at what they did and while Jai, Adriana and the majority of the onboard crew were in Cryo; the bridge crew and Mike had been awake working together and getting acquainted with how one another did things.
Oshida and Laramie looked at one another and nodded in unison. "Tactical layout updated using the pelican's sensors, sending updated info to you Laramie." Oshida said as he rapidly typed in commands.
"Got it and sending on your command Mike." Laramie said as he turned to Mike again.
"Do it. Kit track the enemy ships and let me know if there is any attack options." Mike said as he continued to confirm all the work that was being done by the crew. "Lieutenant Seron, what's the stealth status?"
"Holding steady and controlling temperature, all is good Mike and the Cherenkova Radiation is completely dissipated, although at this location they would just think it was remnants of weapons left in the debris." Seron said as he continued to monitor the information on his monitor.
"Ensign Kale, engine status." Mike said as he continued down the line of his crew.
"Engine powered down and currently being maintained by Lieutenant Commander Briar and his team, energy output is all locked down. Coolant is stable and still at full levels." Kale replied.
"Good and Ensign Salomon how's the navigating going?" Mike said as he set down his tablet.
"Steady Mike, a bit tricky when avoiding the debris but I think we can stay in here as long as we don't hit a gravity well." Salomon said without turning around. Normally you could be certain that you wouldn't hit a well but the covenant used anti-gravity as thrust and the result often caused something very similar to a gravity well at close range. The technical term had not yet been coined but it was close enough to a gravity well that it was for the most part the same. If they hit the well then they would be tossed around like a rag doll and in the position they were in they would be tossed into the debris and possibly destroyed if they weren't given away and taken down by the ship that did it.
"Okay keep with it Salomon." Mike said as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm going to the mess and then I'm going to get three hours of sack time, if anyone needs me then ask Kit."
Mike had stripped out of his armor and into some fatigues so that he could actually sit like everyone else. He walked into the mess and saw that a number of marines and the naval crew were sitting in the room. As they normally would the marines were rather loud and rowdy as they showed off and demonstrated there strength. Mike shook his head as he watched a crewman and a marine arm wrestling, such things were expected especially when they had spent so much time cooped up in a cryopod for months.
Mike walked over to the mess cook who placed some stew on his plate along with a large piece of bread. Mike walked through the line and grabbed a large amount of food. Being a Spartan he had a fast metabolism which tended to cause a big appetite, several of the people turned and watched the overfilled tray as it was emptied quicker than it was filled. Mike enjoyed his meal but he never could get over the subconscious thought that always told him he had to eat and quickly or else he would lose the food.
"You look like your pretty strong Swabbie." A tall broad shouldered Marine said as he stood in front of Mike.
"So do you Jarhead, can I help you?" Mike said as he ate what was left of his stew.
"I just bet my buddies over there I could beat you in arm wrestling." The marine said as he smiled at Mike.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Mike said as he stood to take care of his tray.
The marine put his hand on the Spartans chest and continued to smile. "You're not going anywhere until I break your arm off."
"Are you sure that you want to try this Marine?" Mike said as he locked eyes with the man as though he was looking into his soul.
"Well I can't go back over there till I've beat you, so now what do you say."
Mike shrugged and sat back down and held up his hand in the proper position and the marine quickly sat down across from him and he put his hand in the Spartan's massive hand. The marine nodded to Mike who then applied an eighth of his strength and slammed the marines hand down onto the table so hard that it left a dent and made the marine wince in pain. Although the marine had been beaten he looked up at Mike and said. "2 out of 3?"
"Marine I am very busy." Mike said as he stood up.
"Please, I need to try." The marine said as he looked up at Mike.
"Once more." Mike said as he raised his hand once more. The marine put his hand in Mike's and nodded once more. Mike used a quarter of his strength this time and slammed the marines hand into the table so hard that the whole mess went quiet, but it wasn't the slam that silenced them it was the marines scream. "You may need to get that looked at." Mike said as he stood to walk away.
"What are you?" The marine said as he looked up at the Spartan.
Mike looked down at him and smiled. "I'm a Spartan."
As Mike walked away his earpiece buzzed with Kit's voice. "Mike you are needed on the bridge."
"Confirmed I'm on my way."
Jai and Adriana walked silently through the thick forest as they closed in on the Covenant digging site. They had come across a few different search parties but had managed to sneak by them without much difficulty, they weren't here to get caught and they knew that killing any covenant that weren't at the dig site could compromise their cover.
Adriana stopped abruptly in front of Jai with her head held in a fist, Jai instantly moved next to her as they crouched down. They both started hearing the strange humming sound and every three seconds they heard static discharge. They looked at each other and nodded then proceeded in a staggered formation as they drew closer to the sounds. Three minutes later they could see the light flashing through the brush and when they got to the high ground they realized that what they were hearing was some sort of covenant plasma drill. Jai and Adriana began flashing hand signals to one another, the jist of what they were saying was how they should attack and Adriana made the point that it was best to toss the nukes and follow the enemy after they leave the planet. Jai still wanted to see what they were after but he decided it wasn't essential to their mission. Jai grabbed his nuke off of his waist, and activated it; an icon appeared on his visor displaying that he could change the time setting through the interface. He looked at the drill and decided it was the best place to hide his nuke so he cocked back his arm and through the football shaped nuke towards the tower and it stuck to the drill. Adriana waited until the drill stopped then she side armed hers into the hole that was made below the drill, it fell down with several rocks that were falling down the now open hole.
They then turned around and started moving back towards the ship.
Marco had been setting up the squads in such a way to where one squad was between the trees and the ship while the other was stealthed in the woods. He had been sitting in a ditch for an hour when he heard the sounds of squeak's and barks that he knew was the sound of grunts. The gunny hit his chin against the mic three times before he spoke the signal for trouble. "I have ears on some grunts anyone have a visual?" He said as he unslung his rifle and made sure that its suppressor was still properly fixed to the weapon.
"This is corporal Whymen gunny; I have eyes on them now. Two dozen grunts half a dozen Jackals. And they are headed towards your location." The Corporal was placed at a high vantage as were two others the rest had been placed in other tactically intelligent positions throughout the area; at the moment though Marco and two other marines were the only ones on that level that could attack them. They also had their help from Whymen and the other marksmen, who were on the high ground, not impossible odds just not as favorable as he liked.
"Okay here's the plan, Black's 3 and 5 you fire after I take out the first one; 2, 4, and 6 commence fire on the jackals after my first shot keep them pinned; 7 through 12 initiate a pincer maneuver." Marco moved up to the edge of his ditch as he saw all green lights respond to him over his heads up display. He looked down the scope as he saw the grunts move into his sights. He saw that they were chattering amongst themselves without a care in the world, which was understandable since they were under the impression that all the humans on the planet had been killed months prior. The gunny watched as the grunt in a yellow tunic moved into his crosshairs, he exhaled and squeezed the trigger. The rifle didn't make a sound or show a muzzle flash as the grunt fell to the ground on its face; the others weren't immediately alerted as they thought that their comrade had just fallen they were most likely laughing at it if their species found such things funny.
The grunts began falling one after the other and the jackal with the larger spines let out a shriek as a round tore through its neck and the enemy was now aware of their presence. It was fairly easy to take down the grunts while they tried to get behind the trees and just as the grunts got in positions that were somewhat defendable the other 6 closed the option for a retreat and began by taking down the jackals who thought they were safe behind their shields. The whole skirmish only lasted about 2 minutes and luckily none of them had thrown any of their grenades which was really the only thing in the basic arsenal that wasn't fairly quiet. Marco suspected that they hadn't thrown the grenades because they didn't know where the enemy was however it was more likely that they were too shocked by the presence of humans on the planet that they had thought was empty of all life except their own.
"Good job marines, scavenge those weapons and any special gear you can find on them. Clear the area of the bodies then get back to your positions and go dark again we are out here for support." Marco said with only slight hesitation as he realized once again he was a marine and so were all the men he was in charge of. He wondered how much longer the Spartan's would be, this was just a group who appeared to be moving from one place to another but there was no doubt that they would be missed.
"What do we have?" Mike said as he walked onto the deck.
"We have a strange radiation emerging from the area around where Jai and Adriana are." Kale said as Mike sat down in the Captain's chair.
"What kind of radiation is it?" Mike asked as he grabbed the seat data pad and began going over the specifics of what they were discussing. As he did this the Holotank next to his seat turned on and Kit appeared.
"It's a radiation that is unnamed and I have files of it only being detected in small amounts when travelling incredibly long distances through slipstream space. It has been theorized what it might come from but nothing has been proven. Would you like any more information on it?" Kit said as Mike continued to look at his tablet.
"Has it ever been able to be experimented on?" Mike said as he began to analyze the information that he had on the radiation.
"Afraid not, the radiation dissipates too quickly. However it has been theorized that it could possibly enhance nuclear reactions exponentially, but due to the inability to preserve the radiation it has thus far been impossible to prove." Kit said as he seemed almost distracted for a second and Laramie looked at Mike almost as soon as he saw the icon appear on his monitor.
"We have contacts. Counting twelve covenant ships at a distance and closing on the planet." Laramie said, Kit continued to monitor what was occurring.
"And we have the pelican leaving the atmosphere now. I suggest that you set an intercept course Mike." Kit said as he began to seem more and more distracted with everything that was going on with the ship.
"Agreed, Salomon set an intercept course and prepare to move at full speed. Kale get me the Shaw-Fujikawa at full power I want to jump as soon as we have the pelican aboard. Baton down the hatches everyone. Laramie get me a line to the pelican."
"Connection acquired, it's all yours Mike." Laramie said as the COM opened.
"Jai here." The Spartan said as he sounded somewhat stressed in a way that only Mike and Adriana could know given the fact that they had known him since childhood.
"We are currently slingshoting towards you and prepping to rendezvous at the coordinates being transmitted. Prepare to kill your engines at 20 seconds to that point." Mike said as he furiously typed calculations into his tablet.
"What's your plan Mike?" Asked Adriana showing more stress than Jai.
"A hail marry. We will catch you, don't worry." Mike said as he continued to type in the numbers on his tablet.
"We are losing stealth Mike." Seron said quickly while continuing to monitor the leakage levels of heat and other things that could give away a stealth ships location.
"Turn it off and redirect the power to the Shaw-Fujikawa, besides they can't hit us we are too close to the atmosphere." Mike said as he sent his plans to all the bridge crew.
"Incoming plasma torpedo's impact in 15 seconds." Kit said as he continued to seem distracted.
"Salomon, increase decent 20 degrees and bear to starboard." Mike said as he examined the torpedos as they closed quickly.
"5, 4. Magnetic bonds dissipating and the plasma is now loose minimal damage to the outer plating, just singed the coating."
"What's the status of those ships?" Mike said as they continued to close in on the pelican.
"They are moving to intercept and will be on top of us in 3 minutes. Pelican has powered down its engines and we are preparing to catch them." Kit said as he began to speak for everything that the crew was currently doing. It wasn't that he was taking credit it was just more efficient in times where a ship was under red alert.
"Good prepare to slingshot off the planet and engage the Shaw-Fujikawa as soon as we are far enough away." Mike said as the Pelican was caught by the Prowler.
"Commencing slingshot. Jai says that the Nukes are about to go off in 3, 2, 1. Mike this is by far too large of an explosion for just two of our smallest Nuke's… The explosion is spreading and I suggest that you increase the speed." Kit said as he seemed to be concerned with what was happening.
"Agreed, and keep an eye on the explosion." Mike said as he started to tighten his grip on the arms of the chair.
"It's starting to punch through the atmosphere I estimate that this will destroy the planet at least." Kit said as he began to show that he was analyzing the properties of what might be causing the increase in the nuclear yield. "And we are clearing the atmosphere now, 20 seconds to safe transition."
"Confirmed, transition when able." Mike said as his grip continued to tighten.
"I suggest that you belay that." Kit said abruptly as his jaw dropped. "It just managed to take down half the Covenant fleet and continuing to destroy them, this explosion is cutting through their shields like fire through paper."
"Negative, jump now before we are caught in it." As Mike said this, the Prowler transitioned into Slipstream space, two minutes later the planet exploded and none of the Covenant Fleet was left.
"What caused the planet to explode like that Kit?" Jai said as he proceeded to strip off his armor.
"Well the radiation which we detected elevated amounts of was most likely responsible, it has been theorized to do exactly what occurred although never on that scale. What was happening down their Jai?" Kit said as he stared at the Spartan.
"They were digging for something, Adriana and I put the nukes there." Jai said as he paused and looked at the hologram that was standing behind him.
"To bad we didn't find out what they were looking for. It might have been helpful in many ways." Kit said as he lifted the brim of his hat pushing it towards the back of his head.
"Oh well we took out how many Covenant ships?"
"14."
"Well at least we are fulfilling our mission."
"What's our next destination Jai?"
"I was thinking Barnada sounded like a winner."
"I'll forward it to Mike. Get some rest Jai; you look like you need it." Kit said as he powered down, it's true that Jai needed the rest but that was the curse of command that he had to endure. He had split it up amongst his team mates as best as he could but overall it weighed on him. Now he knew how John must have felt as the Squad Leader.