UNSC O-MAC Reactor Complex.
Aszod, Reach, Epsilon Eridani.
August 31, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Joseph-122 regained consciousness with a sudden start, gasping for air through his suit's filters. He recovered quickly from the sudden reawakening and rose to a seated position, scanning his surroundings. There was nobody in sight, friendly or otherwise.
"Delta-Red Two, Delta-Red Five, Charlie Company, report." He yelled.
Frederic-104, Red One, had left him out of Red/Alpha to instead cover the five wounded SPARTANs of Red/Delta while they secured their fallback point at CASTLE Base. However, they were soon separated from Vinh-030, Isaac-039 and William-043, leaving just himself, Daniel-096, Carris-137 and the four marines of Charlie Company. 096's shields had been permanently disabled by Bravo 001's crash; he had then been shot through the chest by a group of Covenant Jackals armed with Particle Beam Rifles, and one unfortunate marine took one of the ionised beams to the head trying to drag the one and a half ton Spartan inside a building. The remaining five of them had subsequently entered a nearby building, in an attempt to shelter themselves from further sniper fire. However, a wing of Banshee aircraft strafed them, and the last thing Joseph could remember was green fire and his life flashing before his eyes: conscription, training, Mendez, Halsey, Déjà, the augmentations, running away, coming back to the surprisingly open arms of the rest of the Spartans, the First Contact with the Covenant, and the subsequent war that had ravaged an entire arm of the galaxy.
"Carris, Daniel, Marines? Anyone, report." he repeated. There was still no response from anywhere. His helmet, a Mark V/SCOUT model and the only custom part of his armour, lay a few feet in front of him, intact. He glanced to his armour; the sage green paint was scratched in areas, showing the silver metal beneath, and there was a gouge running diagonally along the '122' stencilled on the left side of his breastplate. He had no idea how long he had been out. It could have been days for all he knew. The Spartan leaned forward, collected his helmet, and shakily brought himself to his feet. He slipped the helmet over his head, and the HUD crackled to life. The motion sensor was offline, as was his grenade count. His vital readings still worked though, and the result troubled him. He had seen a Spartan die from wounds that had put them in the 'red zone' of the system, and Joseph was in the orange. He would have to find medical supplies soon.
About a hundred meters due north of his position, Joseph spotted two more Spartans. He stumbled over to them as quickly as his damaged legs would allow him. The armour's systems identified them as 'S-096' and 'S-137'. Daniel and Carris. He checked their vitals, and was saddened to discover that 096's had flat-lined; Daniel was dead, just like Malcolm, and probably Vinh, Isaac, and William too, and...
No. Joseph could grieve his fallen comrades later. Right now, he had to focus on saving Carris; her vitals were faint but constant. He hoisted her into a fireman's lift, and carried her back inside the shattered remains of the reactor building. He found a set of stairs that led to the basement, and found his way to the reactor station's cryo bay. He propped Carris up against one of the tubes and removed her Mark V/EVA helmet and set it next to her. He knew he had to keep her safe; there was no way in hell Joseph was going to let the damn Covenant have another one of his teammates, no, his family, without a fight. He had already lost too many.
"Hang on, Carris. Not one more. I promise." he muttered to her unconscious form. He opened the cryotube and lifted her into it. He keyed the button marked 'INIT' and watched as the door slid closed and frost covered her armour and then her face. It made her look like some sort of pale ghost, Joseph thought to himself.
He then went searching for a working beacon, or a transponder, or anything he could use to set a looped message. Eventually, he found a ship-grade emergency distress beacon in an assembly line on the other side of the building. He activated it, and stated:
"Mayday, Mayday. Olly Olly Oxen Free. Sierra One Two Two and Sierra One Three Seven. Wounded, requesting medevac. Message repeats."
With that he returned to the complex's cryo bay and pulled himself into the pod next to Cariss' one. He pressed 'INIT' and then quickly brought his arm back into the pod as it closed shut over him. He felt a rush of freezing air, took a single mist-expelling breath, and then fell into a temperature-induced slumber.
AN: This is a repost of this chapter, as I realise how far-fetched Vinh-030's rescue was, so I left her out.
R.I.P
Spartan Vinh-030.
2511-2552
Instead, I've added another named, yet seriously under-developed Spartan, in the form of Cariss-137, from Halsey's Journal. I picked Joseph and Cariss because they have nothing on them except basics (Joseph ran away, and then came back, and Cariss accidentally killed someone (poor sod never stood a chance against her anyway) after her augmentations), which gives me somewhere to start, and because my Star Fox stuff already has an OC, who is actually named after this other Joseph. So I thought, no OCs here, people who exist canonically. So, sorry if you thought you had my real name sorted there: no such luck. Lol. Joseph I am not, although the name is nice.
Anyhoo, Chapter II is in the works and it'll be up soon.
Later,
- Wing