My new try at a halo fic, post reading the fall of reach.
Also if you read it the first day I published my dates were way off and I corrected it a few hours later to about 1 year after the events at Requiem
Hope you like it, review!
2562
New Manila, Mars
The office was unnecessarily cold today, you'd think everyone could just be adults and accept that sometimes people got carried away. Laura Weather sighed and averted her eyes from those of her coworkers as she walked down the isle of cubicles. If it was going to be that way she was just going to ignore them. She turned left at her desk, second to the window, highly coveted second to the first to the window, despite the fact that both were in fact screened from the window still. But if she leaned back far enough to poke her head out of her little box, she got the to see the view out of the 7th story floor to ceiling windows. This is her reward for performing well, a step closer to almost having a window. Wonderful.
Friday, the party had been a splendid idea, a great way to relax and get to know one's coworkers in a non-work environment. What she hadn't planned on was the strength of the drinks handed out at said party. She'd had a few too many and one thing led to another and she was standing on top of a table assuring everyone that they were not safe, that the covies would glass everyone and they'd have nowhere to hide. Something every civilian probably worries about, from the high profile cities on Earth to the last few distant compounds out system. But no one actually talks about these things, let alone screams them from the tops of tables with a martini glass in hand.
She smoothed out her black dress slacks and kicked off her shoes beneath the desk. Her pale face and long straight jet hair reflected back at her on the hard surface of the screen projector. It clicked on at her touch and a welcome screen appeared. Her fingers glided over the surface with practiced ease as she entered in her codes and began to filter through her inbox. She assigned colored flags to each task assigned to her, setting their priority in accordance to her employer's standards. Everything she did here was watched, there was no creating one's own style, only follow corporate protocol. The idea was that if something went wrong, the error could be traced to it's source efficiently.
These idea's were crap to Laura, she figured it was more likely that the higher ups preferred that the people on the seventh floor function more like robots than people, just to eliminate risks.
At noon there was a pleasant chiming that echoed throughout the building, signalling the designated lunch time. Soon after there was a tapping sound from just behind her, she swiveled in her chair. Knowing exactly what was coming to her.
Mr. Fellers was her supervisor, the floor supervisor for the tech office and a serious dick. He was in his mid fifties from the look of him, he had greyed hair and equally dulled facial features. He wore jowls that reminded her of some angry dog and his dark eyes always held a suspicious glint to them.
" Weathers, I'd like you to report to my office during lunch." He said flatly though a grin threatened to surface at the corner of his mouth.
" It's Weather sir, not Weathers..." She said for the millionth time.
" Ten minutes Weathers." He said as he walked away, ignoring her correction.
Laura sighed and pushed herself out of her desk chair, hoping to beat the regulars to the break room to catch a cup of coffee without having to make eye contact with anyone. She walked stiffly down the side isle and heard the familiar banter coming from the break room. Someone mock shouted, "We're all gonna die!" and she decidedly passed the room and moved to the desk of Mr. Fellers' secretary.
" No breaks for you either Laura?" James asked without looking up from his screen, he was always hard at work. Doing most of Mr. Fellers' job unfortunately for him. The only thing that got him was job security and underpayment.
Laura wasn't interested in banter today, she still felt some of the sickness that had plagued her over the weekend, a case of the mondays was an understatement at this point.
" Go on in." James said after a beat, glancing up at her glum expression as she passed.
Mr. Fellers was seated behind his prized oak desk, it displayed tiny engraved famous battle scenes from centuries passed at its borders. Laura took a seat and starred down at two men spearing a skinnier man through the chest, how apt. Mr Fellers' office was like an odd museum more than a professional space. He'd spent a couple of years in the UNSC years back and was proud to display it, even though he'd never actually been on the battlefield.
He even had a small collection of guns he kept on racks in the office, just to intimidate those sitting on the opposite side of the desk. Laura's eyes wandered to the rifle to her left, she recognized it as a civilian version of a XBR55, and wondered if a) it was still semi-automatic and b) if dickhead over there had ever even shot it before. Her thoughts were cut short by Mr. Fellers' voice.
" Don't worry about that Weathers." He said with a satisfied grin.
Laura turned her head back to him, her hair wiping over her shoulders with the movement. She struggled not to show her annoyance, instead communicating nothing with a flat expression.
"I'm not Mr. Fellers, I was wondering if your rifle is the standard or the semi-automatic." She said truthfully, leaving out the other question.
Mr. Fellers was taken aback, as she expected he would be, she'd heard him go on and on about weaponry before. She'd bitten her tongue as he spouted second hand opinions, keeping her father's odd idea of an education to herself.
Recovering from her surprise question he glanced up at the weapon then back to her, eyes narrowing.
" Non of your business Ms. Weathers, I asked you here to speak on concerns brought to me over the weekend." He began, looking quite pleased with himself as she stiffened in her chair.
" While I think that voicing one's concerns is a valid activity I do not think that your actions at an official event were in anyway appropriate. I tried to deflect this but-" His hand picked up a small sheet of carbon paper, thin and pink, the writing on top blurred. She knew what it was and abandoning formality snatched it from his fat fingers, holding both edges she scanned it then looked up at him with a cold expression.
" I see." She said and put the sheet in her coat pocket, " I assume that will be all then?" She asked. Mr Fellers nodded and she rose silently and quickly exited the room. She made quick wide steps, elongating her legs and making a soft clacking sound on the tight woven carpet.
She pushed through the women's restroom door and into a stall. She stood in silence for several moments, her eyes closed as she tried to calm the fury inside her. She could not loose this job. She could not loose this job or she'd loose her apartment and she'd have to call her brother. Shame welled up inside her and she slammed her small fist against the metal dividing wall. There was a satisfying echo from the contact, she did it a few more times then gave into a sob folding down to sit against the wall. Her elbow touched the cold porcelain of the toilet and she glared at it, inching away from it and closer to the stall door.
She stayed there for the remainder of the lunch break, not wishing to share her humiliation with the rest of the office. The sharper chime that signaled the end of lunch brought butterflies to her stomach and she thought maybe she was sick again. She decided to stay awhile longer, not that it mattered if she reported back to her desk on time now.
She woke in the dark, startled she felt around and heard a splash and a cold shock as she touched the water in the bowl beside her. She must have nodded off, the whole day must be done and she was sitting in the dark in a closed office building. She stood and stretched her sore muscles wondering how the janitorial service had not found her but glad at the same time that they hadn't.
She felt around and managed to open the stall door, the room glowed ever so slightly from the small window at the top of the wall. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes. She found the door and pulled it inward just a bit to peak around for the janitors, maybe they were late or perhaps they'd skipped the ladies room tonight. A glance around the office room revealed no one, in the dark glow of the evening streets the room seemed unnaturally large, much more so than in the daylight. She made to step out when she heard an odd sound from the direction of her desk. She recoiled back and looked through the crack between the door and the frame below the hinge.
She gasped as she saw her city, now either engulfed in flames or dead dark. She shut the door and slid back against it, hugging her knees to her chest. What had happened? She wondered, though in the back of her mind she felt like she knew. She sat there for several minutes until she heard something on the other side of the door. She stiffened, held her breath and listened.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
The pilot of the pelican glanced nervously behind him, the door to the cockpit had been ripped off of it's hinges at some point and the scene behind it terrified him. He was on the last emergency rescue mission, out to pick up the last survivors in New Manila and get the hell out of there.
The few things he hadn't expected was that the team of marines assigned to this mission would be overcome by covenant forces and that currently the master chief of all people was grappling with an elite who had jumped aboard just as they'd taken off. The spartan had ordered him to maintain his flight destination, that he'd "take care of it". Taking care of it looked damn scary he thought, the refugees all cowered against the wall of the craft or inside the cockpit with him while the two armored figures fought hand to hand.
The elite snarled and threw a massive clawed hoof towards the green armored chest of the chief, he sidestepped and caught the creature in the jaw with his fist. The alien was dangerously close to the edge of the open hatch, wind wiping around the two. He lost his balance and began to fall, the passengers cheered but just as his feet lifted off the deck his massive arm swung out and encircled the shoulders of the man in MJOLNIR armor and they both disappeared. All on deck fell silent, the only sound was the wind whistling through the open compartment.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
The muffled sound of foot steps passed the door, odd sounding voices and a dull hum filled the silence. Laura listened quietly, her eyes wide and watery with terror. She was trapped, she didn't know how to get away and she didn't know where to go to next if she did. The creatures on the other side made an odd barking sound as they passed, a deeper voice farther off answered their sounds. She felt panic rising inside her, fearing they'd heard her she quickly got up and got into the last stall and hugged her knees. She put her face down and wanted to cry, feeling hopeless. She could try to run but she didn't even have a way to protect herself. Realization struck her and she shot a look towards the door.
If she listened at the door long enough she could figure out when whoever was on the other side was farthest away. If she ran fast enough she might make it to Mr. Fellers' office before they could shoot her. Of course then there were several new problems after that, what if there was no ammo in there, what if the gun didn't even work, what if there was another one of those things already in there? It didn't matter, she had to try.
After thirty minutes she thought she'd figured it out, from the sounds outside the door minus the random explosions outside it seemed like they pass the door every ten minutes. They must be pacing through the room then leaving to check another, their feet made sounds like dogs walking on tile floors when they left the carpet to enter the stairwell. That would be her window.
She hear them shuffle by again, the electric hum they seemed to expel passed by her. She took a deep breath and stretched her legs, trying to ready herself. A few moments later she heard the clacking of their feet on concrete, she threw open the door and was bathed in orange and purple light from the window. The footsteps died as they descended the stairs, she took off.
Laura ran through the middle isle and took a hard right directing herself to the office. The door was open, it was empty, she saw the gun and she felt like she could actually make it. She dove behind the door and caught herself before she slammed it shut like a bad horror movie. She clutched the door handle and shut it slowly, holding the handle so it made only the tiniest sound. Wheeling around she set herself on her next task.
The rifle was in decent shape despite it's previous position as a dust collector. She took it apart, field checking it the way her dad had always taught her. Everything was in working order. She checked the clip, empty, her heart sank. She sat on the floor staring at the empty clip while the sound of the returning patrol passed by her. Not wanting to alert any attention to her until she felt ready, she sat silently waiting for the next window. After their feet clacked on the floor again she shot up and over to Mr. Fellers desk and ripped open all of the drawers and found papers, pens and even an embarrassing magazine but not a single box of bullets.
Sighing she let herself drop back into the large plush chair, the lights from the turmoil outside danced on the ceiling. She was out of options now, glancing around the room listlessly until they fell on a curious shape on the wall. A symbol for the regiment that Mr. Fellers must have been part of, complete with two more clips for the same rifle carefully balanced to accent the symbol. She approached slowly, unsure where the patrol was now and not wanting to get her hopes up. She reached for them and the weight told her all she needed to know, they were loaded.
She bumped one clip into the rifle and stuck the other into her waistline. A test of the scope revealed that it hadn't been calibrated in years probably and it would be useless, she would have to rely on her own aim. It had been years since she'd fired a gun, let alone a semi-automatic rifle. This was going to be tough. Brushing that aside she carefully opened the door a crack and eased the barrel out the door, taking aim at the stairwell her best bet for a clean shot. She waited for a long while, holding the heavy weapon and counting her uneven breaths.
Finally three round glowing circles came into view, she stayed her weapon. The three weren't in any kind of formation, they seemed leisurely which was good she might have a chance then. The creatures behind the circles came into view, they looked like anthropomorphic bird-dinosaurs. She opened fire, one short three round burst and one dropped spreading blue blood into the carpet. The other two turned quickly and faced their circles towards her.
She cursed inwardly and dropped to the ground, hoping they hadn't quite seen her. She crawled to the edge of the cubicle walls and edged along the side towards the isle. She held her rifle up against her left shoulder and glanced quickly around the corner to her right. The two creatures were facing slightly to her left, she could see behind their glowing, what she guessed were shields.
She took a breath and turned again, this time taking aim and firing two more bursts. One on the right went down, the other opened fire as it turned. She couldn't drop anymore so she forced herself into a standing position and pelted the last one with a longer burst, the bullets pinged off the shield. That maneuver bought her enough time to sink to her knees opposite of where she stood and fire a more concise burst, the creature fell forward, it's shield dissipated.
She might have jumped for joy at her triumph but just as she let herself begin to breathe again she heard the loud thumps of something big coming up the stairwell, she looked around in a panic then ran into the center isle and took refuge in a cubicle.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
The bar on his heads-up-display was flashing red in time with it's accompanied alarm. John took a moment to verify that he could move before actually trying it. The beeping subsided and the shield cycled to recharge, it never failed to surprise him that he could fall out of the sky in total free fall and still have a working shield. The master chief stood and took in his surroundings a civilian area downtown and ridden with movement on his radar display. He reached down and retrieved his MA5D assault rifle that lay next to the dead elite from the pelican.
He tried the communication lines between he and the pelican, no go. He moved straight on to trying to contact the drop ship that had brought him down with a team of marines from the Infinity. He tried the Infinity afterward, no answer. Perhaps something was interfering with his own communication systems, it seemed like the battle above them was going smoothly, the small Covenant battalion had not expected the behemoth of a ship to appear out of slip space, he'd gone groundside to help with the clean up and secure the evacuation of New Manila before it and it's invading Covenant troops were blown to bits.
He didn't have much more time to mull this over before his sharp hearing caught the sound of human gunfire at his 3 o'clock. It seemed oddly distant, so it must be up in one of the tall buildings he'd fallen beside. He studied them a moment longer and thanked his luck that he didn't fall into one of those steel rebar and concrete buildings.
The Master Chief allowed himself a new directive, find the source of those shots, perhaps they'd lead him to a new exit strategy.
Just as he located the building he suspected was the source more shots could be heard from above. These were erratic, desperate, whoever was up there was in trouble. He pushed through the double glass doors and found two grunts with their backs to him. They were quick to neutralize and he headed up the stairwell.
He found several rooms empty as he made his way up. At each floor he stood with his back against the wall, rifle at the ready, and glanced around the corner into the rooms. He'd ascended five floors like this and was approaching the sixth flight when he heard the tell tale sounds of an elite moving awkwardly down the stairs above him. He crouched and readied himself to take him out by surprise. Instead, the warrior turned and entered the sixth floor room. From his crouching position the master chief jumped up into the center of the stairwell and caught a hand hold on the sixth floor landing. Contorting his body he threw himself over the railing and landed a boot into the elite's face. With quick precision he pulled out his combat knife and sunk it into the back of the its elongated neck. It shook then grew still, growing heavier in his grasp. He let go and retrieved his knife.
The next thing he saw surprised him, across the room from him stood a female civilian holding a rifle. Her eyes glowed in the light from the windows, in them he saw fear but also something else, he was impressed. She brandished her weapon towards him and he straightened instinctively throwing up the "Friendlies" hand signal.
" Stand down. I'm here to help." He said and she lowered her weapon. He approached her slowly, noting the three jackals on the ground.
" Did you do this?" He asked, trying to sound indifferent despite being impressed. She didn't even look like former military.
She let her weapon fall to her side, he noted she was left handed. Her stance began to waiver and he turned his eyes back to her face.
" Holy Hell..." She said as her eyes fluttered. He pushed himself forward and closed the distance between them, trying his best to be gentle as he caught her and laid her down on the floor.
Well, that was a good start.
Whew... That was long, Yay for inspiration. Some spelling and general errors fixed 12/14/12
I totally messed up and had to rewrite the last quarter so I hope it's as good the second time around. I hate rewriting, all the fun stuff was already done right?
Review please