Ryan Smith
Tattoo Assignment
Unexpected Destination
Log 1: Reach
August 30, 2552/UNSC Attack Ship SunFire, In space about 30 minutes jump away from Reach
The Captain of the UNSC Titan Class Attack Ship SunFire casually sipped his fresh brewed coffee as he oversaw morning check-ups on the ship's engines and weapons as he did every morning. He walked by a mirror hanging on the wall and stared into it. A middle aged man with brown hair and a scar across his cheek stared back at him.
"I'm getting too old for this early morning stuff," the Captain sighed "I really could use a nap right about now!"
He never thought he'd ever see the day that he became the captain of UNSC (United Nations Space Command) ship, in command of a whole arsenal of weapons and soldiers. He was born on earth, Wyoming to be exact, and was raised to be a farmer. His whole family were farmers, his brother, his sister, everyone. But his parents knew he was different. Instead of doing his chores, or helping in the fields he'd rather spend his time at the nearby UNSC base. He watched as the Warthog's (Military Vehicles with turrets on the back) drove around and also watched ships take off from the base.
As soon as he was old enough he joined the UNSC and quickly gained rank. In 30 years he became a Captain of the first Titan Class Attack Ship. Being the Captain of the SunFire was a great honor. He had been chosen to be the captain of this ship out of hundreds of other soldiers. He was the best for the job.
Tyler MacGyver walked down the hallway leading to Engineering, the room where the engine is taken care of, to inspect how the installation of the new SlipSpace Drive was going. On their most recent mission they had come across an undamaged drive from a covenant ship. Their technology was hundreds of years ahead of the humans' and getting that knowledge and using it was crucial.
"I don't see why we need a new one of these things," the Captain sounded aggravated.
One engineer who was hooking everything up turned and smiled.
"Lieutenant Gary, I think that bolt goes over there doesn't it?" The Captain said jokingly.
"It's good to see you too Tyler, I mean Captain. I've almost completed the installation of this new hardware, it should be fully operational in a bit, but I really hope this Covenant Technology we stole really works. I don't feel like blowing up mid-jump. Not something on my to-do list."
The Captain gave a friendly punch to Gary on the shoulder. He didn't dare punch him back. They may have been best friends, but after all he was the captain.
Tyler and Gary had grown up together in Wyoming. They had been best friends since they were only six years of age. It was actually Gary who got Tyler wanting to become a UNSC ship captain. Gary's father was a soldier in the UNSC and Gary heard hundreds of stores from his dad. All of which were passed on to Tyler.
"I don't think we should trust our lives to machinery we don't understand. I mean I don't even know if covenant and human technology can work together."
"Don't worry Lieutenant. I trust our enemies' engineering skills. They are better at this whole space travel thing than we are."
"At least somebody believes this junk will work."
"Let me know when it's ready, alright?"
"You got it Captain!"
Captain MacGyver left Engineering. The loudness of that section of the ship was just too much this early in the morning for his still half asleep head. Being Captain of an entire ship was long and strenuous work, giving him only about five hours of sleep a night. But no matter the hard work he still loved his job. Feeling the rumble of the engines on the metal floors, watching as planets and asteroids passed outside his home away from home. It was all amazing.
On his way to the Bridge he passed the infirmary where dozens of wounded soldiers lie, some alive and some not so alive. Passing by this section of the ship always made him think. Why was he up here in the nice safe ship while his men were out there fighting the Covenant? They shouldn't be tortured and suffer while he's drinking his coffee. He used to be on the frontline with those good men. Now he only sends his men into battle, not knowing how many of them will return. What he wouldn't give to be on the frontlines, fighting the covenant by the sides of his men.
"I should be down there helping!" the Captain said to himself.
"I believe you are doing a mighty fine job up here Captain."
The Captain looked up from the floor and recognized who had spoken to him.
"Thanks Cathy."
"No problem Captain, anytime." Cathy giggled. "What you doing coming from engineering this early?"
"I was just talking with Lieutenant Gary about some classified stuff. You know, the usual."
"Gary? He the one with the one leg and eye patch?"
"HA! No, that's Pete. Gary's the new engineer."
Tyler and Gary had been separated when he had become Captain of his own ship. They were both stationed on the Pillar of Autumn as ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers). Both Gary and Tyler enjoyed dropping from orbit into the atmosphere of a planet. It had to be the most exciting thing either of them had ever done.
After Tyler had become Captain of the SunFire he missed his old buddy from Wyoming. After a long while he decided to get back in touch with him. After he had left, Gary had become an engineer. Tyler pulled a few strings and was able to get Gary transferred onto the SunFire.
"So we still on for tonight Tyler? It's been a real long time since we've had any time to our selves." Cathy grinned.
The Captain's face turned a light red and his hands began to sweat. He may be a big strong man but when it came to the ladies he was a small and scared little boy.
"You really shouldn't be talking about this kind of stuff out loud Cathy. But yes, I'll see you tonight."
The Captain tipped his hat to the nurse he knew all too well and then made his way down the corridor to the Bridge.
Once Tyler was out of sight Cathy turned and spoke to herself. "That Tyler, always playing hard to get." She walked back into the infirmary humming to herself.
The Bridge was filled with commotion. The Captain stared through the clear floor of the Bridge and peered down below the SunFire where a small mining planet called Mable was under siege by the Covenant. They had gotten word that the Covenant had showed up, killed hundreds of civilians, and were mining for resources to fix their fleet. The SunFire was sent to clear out all the covenant and save any civilians in need of saving.
"How is it going down there COM?" loud and clear, came the Captain's booming voice.
The officer at the COM turned and looked at the Captain.
"It looks all clear down below, Captain. Seems the Covenant's getting its butt whooped."
"Good, that's what I like to hear! The Covenant might have their giant Scarabs but we have the heart and souls of all our marines!"
"Speaking of Scarabs sir, our boys are trapped in an abandoned mine shaft! There's a Scarab making sure that they can't get out of there." The woman at the weapons station looked excited. "Shall I fire the MAC gun?"
The Magnetic Accelerator Cannon fires Ferric Tungsten at 40% the speed of light. It was the most powerful weapon the UNSC has in its arsenal and it was one of the only ways to take down a giant Scarab Tank.
Down on the planet's surface, inside a small mine shaft, a Spartan, a group of ODST, and a larger group of civilians waited patiently for somebody to help. The Scarab had showed up as they were about to EVAC on a couple of Pelicans (A ship used to carry supplies, vehicles, and men to and from the battlefield). Neither of the Pelicans stood a chance against the Scarab Tank. Its massive plasma gun and turrets made it a walking fortress of amazing power.
One of the marines walked up to the Spartan who was nearest to the mouth of the mineshaft.
"You think we'll ever get out of here?" he asked trembling.
The Spartan just continued to stare forward, expressionless behind the mask he was wearing. "I believe our Captain will be helping soon." Spartan S07 spoke with a mono-tone voice.
"Are you sure?" The scared marine questioned.
"Listen marine! If you were going to join into the Navy and cry the whole time why didn't you go for nurse instead of ODST! You are supposed to be the back bone of this army!" The Spartan was annoyed with the marine's complaining. "You'll never learn. Our Captain always has our backs."
Back aboard the SunFire the Captain stared down at the planet, wondering where the Scarab that was about to be destroyed was. "Fire!" The Captain watched as a bolt of white hot metal shot from the MAC and plowed down to the planet.
The slug of metal that was shot from the SunFire blew a hole clean through the enormous monster. Sparks and purple metal shot from the gaping hole, then suddenly the reactor went. The group inside the mines felt a large explosion from outside and was sure that the scarab had been destroyed.
The Spartan turned and looked at the scarred soldier. "See?"
The man nodded.
A couple of minutes passed and then the sound of Pelican engines were heard once again. But this time there was no Scarab to ruin there EVAC. Spartan S07 and the ODST helped all the civilians into the three Pelicans that had arrived for them. Once everyone was aboard the soldiers jumped on and the Pelicans jetted back towards the SunFire.
The Captain had a big grin on his face. "Nice work!"
"Excuse me Captain MacGyver!" said Lieutenant Derrick in an uneasy tone, "there's an incoming message form Admiral Roland sir!"
"On screen Lieutenant!" barked Captain MacGyver sounding as if used to giving orders.
The screen that normally shows maps and charts for the captain's viewing changed and now a well decorated man took his place on screen. The Bridge fell silent as the Admiral prepared to speak, even though it was only a recording.
In a deep and raspy voice the Admiral spoke, "I am now initiating the Cole Protocol (Protocol that states that all vessels in outer space must make random jumps before continuing to human planets). Fermion has detected Covenant ships on approach to Reach and has self destructed under my orders. This is not a drill, the Covenant have indeed found an inner colony. They need all the help they can get right now. All ships in the area are now to rendezvous at rally point ZULU to help protect Reach against the Covenant armada. Remember that the location of anymore human systems is of up-most importance and you must now obey the Cole Protocol. Good luck Marines!" The Admiral saluted.
The transmission ended and the maps of the area returned to their places on the captain's screen and the Bridge was full of chatter once again, this time concerning what the Admiral had just said. Captain MacGyver stood there for what seemed like hours just staring at the screen where the Admiral once was.
"The Covenant has found an inner colony?" the captain uttered to himself, "Those ugly aliens are going to be in for a big surprise once see us show up! Helmsman! Get us to Reach so we can kick some ugly alien butt!"
"Yes sir!"
The Captain turned from the Helm to the COM stations.
"COM, call down and ask Lieutenant Gary if it's ready!"
Captain MacGyver swiveled his chair again this time towards the Tactical terminals.
"Get all Archer Missiles and Shiva Nukes ready for battle."
"Yes sir!"
Lieutenant Derrick turned towards the Captain to speak.
"Gary says our new toy is at 100% readiness and it's a go for launch!"
Then came the Captains booming voice, much louder than the chatter in the room, "Punch it!!!"
The SunFire's new experimental SlipSpace drive was activated and the random coordinates plotted. The large new thrusters on the SunFire warmed up and fired and the metal plating on the deck of the Bridge rumbled.
"I hope this thing works," was all the Captain was thinking "So much for that nap I wanted."
Bands of colorful light could be seen dancing at the front of the ship.
"This is all normal right?" shuddered one of the crew members.
Loud thuds were heard throughout the ship and creaking metal could be heard.
"Yeah, of course, I think," said another not so assuring crew member.
The SunFire was surrounded by an amazing lightshow of color, blues and reds. Then another loud thud was heard and the SunFire shook violently.
"What was that?" asked the Captain.
Nobody was paying attention. The show outside the windows was too spectacular.
Out the Bridge windows the Captain viewed an amazing sight as the darkness of space was replaced by swirling colors. They were now in SlipSpace and heading to Reach at faster than the speed of light.
"Get all preparation done before we break out of SlipSpace. I have a bad feeling we're going to be busy once we get there."
Around 20 minutes passed without any trouble, but that didn't last long.
"Captain, we are receiving messages from dozens of UNSC Cruisers and other ships asking for help," COM operator Lieutenant Derrick bellowed. "It seems that the Covenant came with a little more fire power than we thought that they had, and we thought the Scarabs were bad!"
"What are you talking about Lieutenant? I want to know what's going on at Reach right this instant!" demanded the Captain.
The other COM operator turned around from his console and started to speak.
"Captain Keyes of the Pillar of Autumn says that the Covenant have come with a new ship that has a new destructive power. He calls the new ship a Super Cruiser and that it is destroying ships one by one with some kind of laser beam that's somewhat like our MACs but much more powerful."
Unlike the humans who use bullets and other projectiles of the sort, the Covenant use devices that fire super hot plasma. Little is known about these weapons.
The Captain sat up from his chair at his station and walked over to the COM and took the officer's headset to listen in on the chatter.
Over the com he heard, "This is the UNSC Musashi and we are asking for assistance!" Static is overheard then the static clears. "The new Covenant ship has locked its main weapon onto us and we need help right away! Please anybody, we need assis-…" Static fills the com.
"What in god's name just happened to the Musashi?!" the Captain asked the COM officers.
Lieutenant Derrick turned around with a terrified look in his eyes "She's been split in half sir. That new ship just fired a plasma beam right at their crucial systems. They know how to cripple our ships sir!"
The Captain half walked half sprinted his way back to his chair "We have a new and better ship at our disposal. How much longer until we can actually help these guys and not just listen to them die? We have one of the most advanced ships in the UNSC arsenal and we haven't done squat!"
A shimmering, beautiful Being suddenly appeared on a terminal next to the Captain's chair. As usual the ship's AI was an attractive female. She had long hair that reached to the middle of her back, the prettiest face one could design, and her voice was that of an angel. The Ship's AI, Ginger, was the newest of the new and could do things no other AI could do. Her thinking process and memory banks were like no other. Unlike other AI's that eventually go crazy with power, this AI was different. She's said to last forever, or at least for a really long time, and isn't supposed to ever go nuts.
Ginger looked at the Captain and spoke, "We will be arriving in approximately 30.356 seconds sir."
"Why do you always have to be so precise Ginger?" the Captain stated with a half smile on his face. Ginger didn't answer. Too busy making last minute calculations.
The Captain got on the ship's COM. "Attention UNSC officers, prepare for arrival, the battle zone is hot!"
Ginger's voice replaced the Captain's on the COM. "Arriving in 5…4…3…2…1."
A familiar thud was heard and the colors vanished and explosions filled the Captain's view. Pieces of UNSC ships littered the space above Reach and not many friendlies seemed to be living.
"No, we're too late!"
All the Captain could see in his view was The Pillar of Autumn and the Super Cruiser stuck in a battle to the death. One of the crew members jumped from his seat and pointed towards the cruiser.
"Look everybody!"
Tiny explosions began blasting their way violently through the hull of the Cruiser. Then one massive explosion made the whole bridge look away from the immense brightness of explosion.
The Pillar of Autumn had used a well placed Shiva Nuclear Device to destroy the massive ship. Pieces of the once deadly ship littered the space around Reach.
"Oh yeah! That's Captain Keyes for you! He always delivers!" yelled a Marine.
The Autumn turned away from the rest of the Covenant fleet and jumped into SlipSpace, taking some of the Covenant cruisers along with her. But many remained and now it was only the SunFire left to fight or run.
"Sir, the Covenant have locked onto us and are firing their plasma guns!" yelled Lieutenant Derrick.
Three Covenant Cruisers opened up on the SunFire. Plasma was zooming towards the UNSC ship at an alarming rate, lighting up the darkness.
"Evasive Maneuvers!" Captain MacGyver yelled to the Helmsman. "Tactical stations, I want everything we got thrown at those guys right now or we are all dead! Don't let them take any more lives!"
"You got it Captain. Firing Archer missiles!"
Archer Missiles shot out from the SunFire. They managed to hit a couple plasma shots but some made it through.
"Ginger!" the Captain commanded! "Take over MAC control and fire on those Cruisers! Use your so called computer intelligence and shoot them right where it hurts. I do hope you're worth the amount of money you cost!"
"As you say, Captain! And trust me, I'm the best!" Ginger said with a digital grin.
The SunFire made a hard turn to point the MAC guns at the Cruisers. The ship shook violently as the Titanium-A armor took a direct hit from a plasma strike.
"Sir our engines are down to 75%," spoke one of the engineering officers nervously.
Space was lit up by bright blue plasma and white hot MAC blast. One Cruiser took a direct hit to the side by a MAC blast. Explosions could be seen spider webbing underneath the ship's armor plating, their shields not strong enough to block the shot. Bursts of red flames and purple metal shot from the Cruiser and there was a blast of light, as intense as the sun. The Captain stared out the window, only two ships remained.
"Got one!" Ginger boasted triumphantly.
"While we're still in one piece let's get out of here! Reach is lost; they've already begun glassing the planet!" The Captain spun his chair away from the window in disgust for what was happening to Reach and looked toward the AI terminal. "Ginger, plot us a random jump and get us the heck out of this mess."
"But Captain I was just getting to have some fun, " Ginger whined. "Just one more?"
"Now Ginger!"
The rumble of the engines got louder and the SunFire turned away from Reach and started to become engulfed in the light again. Alarms sounded and an engineering officer let a few swear words loose.
"What is it Lieutenant Harold?" the Captain asked.
The young Lieutenant turned to face the Captain. "There is a malfunction in the SlipSpace Drive. It's going haywire and there's no way of stopping it. I told them not to put an untested piece of junk in this ship. It's total bull crap! It's probably the faulty Covenant technology. Those dang aliens are terrible engineers!"
The Captain looked less than pleased with this news. "Can I get a freaking break here!! Ginger, can you stop the SlipSpace Drive?!"
"Sorry Captain. It's to late."
There was a huge crack as the SunFire passed into SlipSpace. The creaking of the ship was much louder this time and a lot more violent. The ship rocked back and forth and crew members were flung from their positions.
"Hold on to your hats everybody!!" yelled Captain MacGyver. "This is going to be one hell of a ride!!"
The loudness and roughness of what was going on was almost unbearable. Instrument Panels sparked with electricity, the lights flickered on and off, and men were flung to the floor hard. The Captain ran to his command seat and was able to strap in. Then as soon as it started there was silence and everything was black.
Log 2: Dimension Unknown
Date Unknown/UNSC Attack Ship SunFire, Location Unknown
Amber lights flickered on and off as the power struggled to stay on. The Captain opened his eyes slowly. He could see little blobs of blood floating by his head. Whatever had just happened had disabled the artificial gravity on the ship. He reached his hand up to his pounding head. He felt the warm blood on his hand and as he looked into a reflection in one of the displays he realized how badly he was hurt.
"I must have hit my head on the display," he thought.
"Is anybody okay?!" the Captain yelled. "Hello?" His voice was hoarse.
He pushed himself off of a nearby wall and floated over to a control panel. He used to work on the Bridge of another UNSC space craft and was familiar with how most of it worked.
"Hope this switch works." He flicked a switch on a control panel.
The lights on the Bridge flickered on slowly revealing a horrific sight.
"God save us now," he sighed.
Everybody on the Bridge, except him, was dead. Blood stained the ground and windows.
He floated up towards the Helm and saw that the front windows were splattered with fresh blood from one of the Helmsman.
"How many times did I tell that kid to strap in?"
The Captain was disgusted with what he saw in front of him. He floated over to the switch again and shut the lights back off and headed for the hallway. He just wanted to get out of the blood soaked Bridge. He felt responsible for what had happened to all the poor men and felt lucky that all he sported was a gash on his forehead and what felt like a few broken ribs.
As the Captain was nearing the entrance to the hallway he heard a voice coming from inside the Bridge. He turned abruptly and listened.
"Hey! Anybody in there?"
Tyler listened and headed back into the Bridge.
"Captain? Oh boy am I glad to see you!" Derrick said.
The Captain helped Derrick get right side up and wiped some blood off his cheek. Derrick had been hidden from the Captain's view by a table that had covered him.
"Do you have any idea what happened back there?" asked Captain MacGyver.
"Who the heck knows?" replied Derrick. He held his arm tightly.
"You hurt Lieutenant?" He floated over to his side and moved his hand away. He had a massive gash in his arm that looked really bad. The Captain loosened his belt and pulled it off.
"What are you doing Captain?"
"Just hold still and let me work." The Captain wrapped the Lieutenant's arm with his belt and pulled tightly.
"Ow! Think you could hurt me a little more!?"
The Captain smiled "You owe me one now."
A humming electric sound was heard by both men and Ginger appeared on her terminal, barely able to keep her holographic form. The Captain and Derrick floated over to her terminal. Derrick wiped off the blood on his face that he had run into while floating over to Ginger.
"This is just disgusting," Derrick spat. "When can we get out of this place?"
Ginger managed to make her hologram stable and started to speak.
"Captain, I do believe we have a big problem," Ginger told the Captain.
"I know Ginger. Do you know where we are?"
"No. All my sensors were knocked out after the jump," red lights pulsed on around the group.
A revving sound erupted form below the deck and the gravity turned back on. The two men crashed to the floor and the Captain hit his already injured head on the floor.
"What the heck did you do Ginger!?" asked the Captain.
"Nothing Captain, I merely turned on the gravity to make your movement a little easier sir.
"Well next time maybe give us a little warning!" the captain sighed. "Just find out what happened."
I'll analyze."
Numbers and figures ran up and down ginger's body as she analyzed the situation. She turned from blue to a deep purple and closed her "eyes".
"Got it." said Ginger. "I've looked at the ship's logs and found out what happened. My calculations say that as we were passing through SlipSpace the new SlipSpace Drive went haywire. We seem to have transported, not to a new location, but to a whole new dimension and time. We are in an alternate dimension or universe if you will."
"My god," shuttered the Captain's voice.
"Hands up humans!"
The men turned towards the entrance to the Bridge where the monstrous voice came from. They could hear the hum of the Elites plasma rifle.
The Captain pushed Derrick behind Gingers terminal and jumped to the side just as a plasma shot whizzed by and melted the metal of a console. Melted metal oozed down the wall. The Lone Elite shot again at Tyler and he jumped out of the way again. Tyler may have been old but he still was strong enough to fight an Elite.
"Missed me again you ugly alien," the Captain stopped abruptly as the Elite pulled out a Energy Sword. It sparked to life and hummed quietly. The Elite yelled furiously and charged at him full speed.
The Alien swung at him, missing him by a hair. Tyler pulled out his Magnum and began shooting at the armored Elite, but the shots only bounced off his golden armor. The Captain lunged out of the way of another slash and got a nasty cut across the chest. Tyler stumbled a little but quickly turned around and before the Elite could turn around he hit the Elite in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. The Elite tried to slash at him but was slowly losing consciousness. The sword dropped to the floor and turned off. The Elite tried to grab the human but crashed to the floor along side his sword.
"Derrick, get off your butt and tie this up for me!," the Captain yelled triumphantly. "Now that's how you bag an Alien!"
Derrick tied up the alien and propped him up against a wall. A few minutes went by.
"Hey Captain, I think he's waking up," derrick called.
Tyler was looking at some diagrams on a display. He turned around and headed back towards Derrick. The Elite lifted his head and snapped his split jaw at the lieutenant.
"Whoa," the Lieutenant jumped back. "That thing nearly bit me!"
"Let me go vermin!" the Alien screamed. "My squad will be looking for me and you will all die for your heresy. "
Elite and Grunt voices could be heard down the hall a bit. Tyler took out his Magnum once more and Derrick picked up the Elite's Energy Sword. The sword sparked to life again and Derrick held it high.
"I am so keeping this thing!," Derrick smiled an evil smile. "Come and get us you alien scum!"
There was an explosion from the same direction as the voices and then all was quiet, even the angry Elite was silent, probably realizing he wasn't going to be saved. A Marine walked in through from the hallway holding a smoking SPNKr rocket launcher.
"Miss me?" laughed Gary. "I see you've been busy yourself."
The Captain laughed, "Yea, so you mind telling me where in the world we are?"
"No clue, but if you guys can come with me to Engineering I can fix the engines and get us moving again," replied Gary. "At least I hope so."
"All right, but let me take care of this first," the Captain told Gary.
Tyler turned over to the Elite. "This is for what your kind did to my crew!" He took out his combat knife and slashed the Elite across the neck. Purple blood oozed from his neck and spilled all over the floor.
The Elite struggled furiously , trying to break his restraints and kill his captors before he died. His movements slowed and became less violent until he stopped completely. He let out one last gurgle and his head dropped.
The small group of men walked out to the hallway and started on their way to Engineering. They passed four dead Elite, one missing most of its body, and there was purple splattered all over the walls and ceiling.
"You're cleaning this up Gary," joked Tyler.
The group laughed quietly, not wanting to attract any more Covenant. One squad of well trained and well armed monsters was enough for one day. And Gary was all out of rockets.
On their way to engineering the men passed by the Infirmary and the Captain stopped and stared inside the door. Gary turned around and asked the Captain what was up.
"I'll catch up to you guys in a bit," said Captain MacGyver.
"Ok, but don't take to long," replied Derrick.
Tyler walked into the Infirmary. The lights were all out except the Amber colored alert lights. Most of the light in the room came from a small fire on one of the consoles in the back of the room.
"Hello, is anybody in here?" asked Tyler.
There was only the sound of the fire crackling in the back of the room. But then there was another noise. Much quieter though, definitely human.
"Cathy, is that you?"
The Captain listened hard to the noises around him and then he heard somebody cough from under a pile of rubble. He ran over to where the cough had come from and started pulling off metal bars and hospital trays and his heart sank when he saw who was underneath it all.
"Tyler, cough, I don't feel so good," cried Cathy, still half buried under rubble.
"It's going to be all right," Tyler said, trying not to look at the blood coming from under the pile of metal. "It's going to be all right."
"Stop lying, we both know I'm not all right," Cathy said quietly. "I can see it in your eyes."
The Captain started crying.
"It'll be ok Tyler," Cathy started to close her eyes and her voice was trailing. "I love y-,"Cathy stopped.
The Captain kissed the still women and got up from his dead girl-friend's side.
The UNSC forbade relationships while on duty but Tyler and Cathy had met and fell instantly in love. The Captain visited Cathy for "check-ups" every so often and they were planning on getting married once they got off the ship. He even had a house on Reach picked out for them to live in. Now she was dead and Reach was totally destroyed. His stomach ached. It was all just too much for him to take at one time.
He looked at the love of his life once more and covered her with his jacket. The ship was cold, the heaters were probably destroyed in the fight. The Captain breathed heavily, his icy breathe freezing instantly in the frigid air.
Derrick and Gary were both behind him when he turned around.
"How much of that you guys see?" the Captain asked, eyes still watering.
"Pretty much all of it sir," Derrick replied quietly.
The room grew quiet and the Captain walked by the two men and out the door. "I told you we should have listened to him," Derrick whispered to Gary.
"Let's get to Engineering," the Captain said as he walked out to the hallway.
The men made their way to Engineering and were surprised to see that the SlipSpace drive was gone. The floor surrounding the containment unit for the SlipSpace Drive had been turned into a puddle of molten metal, now solidified.
"What happened to the SlipSpace Drive Gary!?" asked the Captain.
"Not sure but that's not why I wanted you to come down here," replied Gary. "I need help moving this console away from that control panel so I can start the engines. After that we can get out of here.
The men each grabbed onto the heavy Console and managed to push it out of the way of the control panel to where Gary could reach the master switch.
"That should do it," said Gary "Now all I have to do is start the-"
There was a massive electric spark and then a huge explosion was felt. The metal plating on the floor shook and ceiling panels fell down from above, almost crushing the men.
"Well there goes the engines," Gary sighed.
Ginger came on the ships speakers and started to speak. "I'm reading numerous fires popping up all over the ship. And not to make you worried or anything but the fusion reactor is going critical as well. We're going to have abandon ship Captain.
"Great," Tyler said. "Derrick, take Ginger out of the ship and plug here into your helmet. Gary, how long do we have until the ship's reactors go?"
Gary ran over to another console. He typed on the digital keyboard and a timer came up on the display.
"Ten minutes," Gary said sadly.
"Let's move move move!" yelled the Captain. "Patch me in to the ship's speakers!"
The Captain ran over to the console where Gary was sat and took the headset from him.
"Attention all survivors, make your way to the escape pods, repeat, make your way to the escape pods!"
He took the headset off and sat beside Gary. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"
The Captain put his hand on Derrick's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "If we don't make it out of here in time it's been a pleasure.
The Captain looked at the two men. "Ginger all set?"
"Yes Captain. I am ready for departure." Her voice now coming from Gary's Helmet.
The men quickly ran down the long stretches of steel platted hallways to the escape pods. To the Captain's surprise they met up with many surviving crew members. He was relieved to see that most of his crew had survived whatever had happened to them.
As they made it closer to the Escape Pods the crowds grew larger and larger, but the Captain could tell a lot of people were missing. Captain MacGyver, Derrick, and Gary all made it into one of the crowded Pods. The Pilot of the Pod called back to the passengers.
"Sir we have a little problem. The Pods won't launch!"
"Somebody's going to have to manually launch them." spoke the Captain.
In order to launch the pods manually somebody was going to have to stay behind. The manual release button was outside the pod.
The group grew very quiet and Lieutenant Gary stood up.
"I'll go."
"But lieutenant, once you launch the Pods…you'll be left here to die," questioned the Captain.
"I know."
Gary pulled out a chip from the back of his helmet and handed it to the Captain. He ran out of the pod and down to a small control panel on the wall of the ship. When Gary signed up for the Marines he never knew he'd be saving all his friend's lives. This was his chance to be a hero and not just some Engineer.
He got to the panel and unlocked a safety mechanism and pulled a lever.
One by one the Pods were jettisoned from the ship and Gary watched as his last hope of survival flew away into the dark and empty abyss.
Gary ran over to the Pod with the Captain and Derrick inside and yelled inside to them. The door had closed already.
"Pilot, is there any way to open these doors?" Derrick pleaded.
"I'm sorry guys but…" The pilot turned his head away from Gary and stared forward into deep space.
"Captain, tell my wife I love her and that I'm sorry. I have to do this." Gary cried.
"You bet soldier," the Captain answered. "You're a real hero!" The Captain saluted his brave man.
The Pod shot out of the ship and the Captain watched as Lieutenant Gary got smaller and smaller until he couldn't see him anymore.
Gary turned away from the door and walked over to a nearby window and watched the Pods float away from the doomed vessel.
"Good Luck guys," Gary said.
The Captain looked out the rear window of the Pod and admired his once spectacular ship. It was the best of the best when it came to space travel and space combat. He watched as the SunFire started to spark with fire. A sudden, massive explosion began at the rear of the ship, tearing the rear end of the ship apart. Then the Nuclear Reactor went, causing the entire ship to detonate and the ship turned into a small, yet brilliant, sun. One could argue that this explosion was beautiful. In a way it was.
The Pod shook from the shockwave of the blast and the Captain fell over and hit his head off the ground, and everything went black.