Chapter 3:
Sykes followed Natalie out of the main room, which she had been working in opposite her uncle. Natalie was a rather short woman standing at only about five feet tall; she had light brown hair that she had put up in a bun. She was an attractive woman who reminded the Lieutenant of a girl he once dated when he was in his late teens. His mind snapped back to the war when he realized that his former girlfriend was undoubtedly dead. They walked up one level and entered a room with a strange-boxed object on a table. The object was long and sleek with a silver and blue steel color combination that made it look like one of the famous ultimate weapons you would see in bad action Vids. "Well Lieutenant I present to you the XP009 Laser Cannon."
Sykes approached the weapon and examined its Titanium A stock and noticed its experimental code name on the stock. "Well where are the other ones?" Sykes asked hoping that this wasn't the only thing she had brought him here to see.
"That's the only one we have."
"But it says right here 009, what happened to 001-8?"
"Oh they exploded during test firing, a malfunction in the capacitor. But I'm nearly certain that that problem has been solved." She said this satisfied with the answer believing that it would somehow answer his question and steady his nerves.
"Okay, what can this thing do?" Sykes asked while shaking off the unpleasant thought of a high-powered laser exploding in his hands. The thought of it made him hesitant to even touch the weapon much less fire it.
"Well we estimate that it should have enough power to easily slice straight through a scorpion tank and that being said I think it should at least be able to put a hole in a wraith."
"So it hasn't been thoroughly tested?"
"Well technically this is the first one that hasn't blown up during testing. So field testing it has been sort of out of the question."
"Okay fair enough, how does it work?"
"Well the weapon has a side scope that displays the exact path of the laser, in order to fire you must hold down the trigger until the weapon fully loads then the laser automatically discharges."
"Okay, well I guess this experimental paperweight is better than fighting the wraith with stones." The Lieutenant replied guessing as to the experimental weapons effectiveness and whether or not it would even work.
"This is my project Lieutenant, and I can say for certain that this laser is much better than a paperweight and packs one hell of a punch." She said this with aggression as she was very protective of her work, and the marine's comment had obviously taken a shot at its usefulness.
"Yes Doctor, now, let's return to your uncle. I want to get out of here in two minutes." He lifted the heavy weapon and they left the room. Time was short and he knew that his men might not survive the two minutes that he had given till departure.
Marco ducked inside of the roof access door to shield himself from the plasma that was being hurled up over the edge of the building. His team of snipers were all but dead as he turned to see only three of his twelve man team with him, one of whom had been shot in the chest by a plasma rifle shot from the ground early in the engagement. "Hang on specialist, we are about to get out of here."
The other two men looked away from their fallen comrade as he laid there on the steps, his wound patched by tape put over the BIO-Foam. "Are we going to get out of here gunny?" The specialist asked the gunny as he gasped for air.
"You bet we are son, and when we get back to Reach, I'll be sure that you get the prettiest Nurse in all of the hospital to take good care of you." The gunny smiled trying to calm the boy who was no older than nineteen. He knew that the specialist's chances of making it through this were highly unlikely, but he had to try to save them. He had seen too many of his men die on this planet and each time he watched one fall or held their hand as their eyes glazed over to a death gaze, a little more of him died along with them.
"Well gunny I'm requesting a brunette, I've always had a thing for brunettes." The specialist said as the sound of another blind plasma burst struck the top of the building.
The Gunny smiled at the marines attempt at optimism. "Sounds to me like there is a story there."
"Not much of a story. Just one hell of a heartbreak."
"Well go ahead son, we aren't going anywhere at the moment." Marco knew that they were stuck but he had to try anything to get his mind and the specialist's mind off of what they were encountering.
"Well gunny, I was fifteen in school and I had a crush on this brunette. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, I always wanted to ask her out but she was so beautiful that I couldn't ever work up the courage. It's strange, loving someone that you had only spoken to a hand full of times, but she grabbed my heart with her smile alone. I heard that she is a Nurse now with the navy. I suppose that's why I always find myself visiting military hospitals when I'm on leave, just hoping to see her smile again."
"You will son. I promise." Marco said this as another plasma shot landed dangerously close to the stairwell. He nearly fell down the steps once the shot landed, then he heard a loud explosion followed by a few more only a few seconds apart from one another.
Marco's earpiece crackled with three taps. "Gunny, are you there?" The voice of Lieutenant Sykes echoed across the Com.
"Yes sir, I'm still here. I take it you are responsible for those explosions I just heard?" Marco replied with joy in his voice as he realized that it was finally time for them to get out.
"Affirmative, you and the rest of the sniper squad are to evacuate your positions and return to the sewer. Rendezvous point is the fork between our two routes."
"Yes sir, we will meet you there." Marco said this with a smile on his face, which was mirrored by the faces of his marines who stood with him in the cramped room. Then as he looked to see the grin on the specialists face all he saw was the boy's cold, dead eyes. The smile quickly faded from his face and he found himself thinking of avenging the young fallen marine's that he had watched die on Oasis. He was going crazy thinking about it but one thing was for certain, he wasn't going to watch another one of his men die without seeking bloody retribution from all who were responsible, Covenant and Human alike.
Sykes looked over the landscape of destroyed Covenant artillery and scorched ground forces. He scoped the buildings and saw only about thirteen bodies moving, a fraction of the number he had sent to secure the buildings and give cover if needed. He felt the loss of his men and was driven even further to have those responsible for this botched operation held accountable. Sykes turned around and walked into the elevator and descended from his five stories elevated firing position as he sported his now battle tested laser. The easy part was over; the rest would be harder and much faster.
Lieutenant Sykes stepped out of the elevator that had deposited him back in the basement level where he found his personal squad along with the two scientists that they had been sent to extract. "Well let's get a move on marines, we have one hour to make it to the extraction point and I for one do not want to miss our bus."
The squad snapped to and quickly formed into their designated moving positions with the two doctors in the middle. Sykes placed the laser on his back, drew his Needler, and took point while Staff Sergeant Cools took up the rear guard. The group quickly and carefully moved out of the basement. They proceeded to back track to the manhole that would redeposit them into the sewer system and would then begin their run for the Pelicans. As he rounded the corner the Lieutenant didn't hear anything, to a civilian or navy officer this wouldn't have been of any concern. However, the Lieutenant was a marine with enough field experience to know that there was nothing more unsettling then silence. It made him remember his days as an ODST when he was the silence that the enemy feared. He and his squad moved in the shadows undetected by anyone then just as they let their guard down they would strike and kill all of them.
Things were easier back then. When the UNSC was just fighting against Insurrectionists, at least then, you could anticipate the way your enemy thought. Whereas with the covenant you would be baffled as the grunts would run right at you with plasma pistol in one hand and a grenade in the other. They didn't care if you were behind cover they would still charge without even thinking of their own well-being. Then there were the Jackals, they would hide behind their shields and attack with more precise weaponry. Of all that he knew about the Covenant and its collection of species, the one that scared him the most was the ones that were labeled the Ghosts. He had deduced that it was a Ghost that he had killed earlier but it scared him because of its strength and shield, which seemed to hang like an aura around it. Such a creature was scary enough without its cloaking abilities, with them it was a nightmare that could scare the hell out of any battle hardened Marine.
As they approached the manhole the Lieutenant heard something very familiar and as he turned he saw the ghosts familiar blur behind Sergeant Cools. He quickly raised his Needler. "DOWN." He yelled as his second in command ducked and rolled just as the enemy slashed, Sykes fired until the weapon was dry. Quickly, the whole squad turned on their Jackal Energy Shields as they looked at the now slightly visible enemy that stood in front of them. Sykes reloaded his weapon as he and his men stood there staring at the ghost. It quickly tried to strike at Singer but its weapon didn't penetrate her shield. Sykes moved forward and smashed his shield into the side of the enemy pushing it to the wall of the nearest building. "Get in the manhole." The Lieutenant ordered as he was smacked away by the enemy, he flew through the air and landed against the wall on the other side of the alley with a loud smack that was complemented by the sound of his bones cracking under the strain. He quickly raised his replenished weapon and opened fire pinning the enemy down and forcing it to dodge the rounds instead of attacking the squad.
Sykes rose to face his enemy as he tossed down the spent weapon and cast off the remains of his helmet. He reactivated his shield and stood between the manhole and the ghost. Once the last of his men entered the manhole the ghost de-cloaked revealing a near identical copy of the monster he had fought earlier in the day. The ghost was sporting an identical weapon to the one that the lieutenant carried in the back of his belt, it was a tall enemy and obviously just as strong as the one he had fought earlier. As he sized up his opponent he saw what appeared to be preparation for a strike in the way the creature was standing. As soon as he noticed it, the monster had lunged at him. Sykes deflected the strike with his energy shield and landed a right hook onto its jaws as it was pushed off to the side. Sykes quickly grabbed for his pistol ignoring the pain in his hand from the punch he had just delivered. He aimed and emptied the clip on the creature as he saw almost every round be deflected by the energy shield which was surrounding the creature.
The monster dashed at him again and he deflected the blow again, noticing that his shield would only last through one more blow. The Lieutenant reached behind his back as though he were preparing for the last blows he would ever take. At least that is what he wanted the ghost to think; as he looked upon its hideously formed face he could have sworn that he saw the beast smirk at him just before it lunged for the kill. Sykes quickly deflected and as his energy shield failed he drew out his energy sword and while he swung it towards the enemy he activated it, plunging it deep into the ghost's neck. The monster fell to the ground as purple blood flowed from the wound. Sykes secured both swords to his back. He then ejected his spent clip and inserted his last one in its place. His pistol and knife were the only two weapons he had anymore that weren't foreign to him, but at this point weapons were the secondary concern whereas escape was the most important thing they could do. Sykes dropped down the manhole and ran after his squad who had fled as he had ordered and he ran with the feeling that once again he had defied death from a superior enemy.
Sykes gave a whistle as he saw the armor of one of his men in the distance, the marine quickly turned to see his CO double timing it to catch up to the squad. "Hold!" The marine said as he shined his light on the Lieutenant. "Sir, is that really you?" The voice of Specialist Perry said.
"Bet your ass son, we'll talk about the specifics later. Let's move." As he said this, he threw his hand in a slicing motion forward as he proceeded to the front of the group where he found Sergeant Cools.
"Glad to see you're okay sir." The NCO said as he quickly traded places with the Lieutenant. They were now only two-hundred meters from the fork where they would meet what was left of the sniper squad and continue for a short distance and exit the sewer system. As he moved, he felt pain that had at first been concealed by the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins. The Lieutenant knew this pain was fractures that he could feel all throughout his body, the main focused area being his back where he had been thrown up against the wall by the alien. However, he also felt a great deal of pain in his hand from punching the enemy as he deflected its strike. He was lucky to be breathing, much less standing. He had to push himself, it was going to be three hot clicks to the EZ and he had to lead his men there as fast as possible.
Further up the way he saw something that seemed to glow, upon further investigation he found it to be the glow of energy shields in tight formation across the path. "Friend or Foe?" Sykes yelled expecting this to be the sniper squad just holding down the intersection as he raised his pistol and stared at the glowing targets.
"Lieutenant?" Marco's voice rang out. "Ready and waiting for your order sir."
Sykes and his squad quickly approached the decimated sniper squad. As they approached they could see the gloomy faces worn by their comrades, and when the Lieutenant looked at Marco he could see the shame, sorrow, and loss in the man's eyes. They had all lost something on this day, and for those in command more than others.
Sykes led the combined squad through the tunnels at a fast pace as he decided exactly how they were going to get off of this planet. He had developed a plan earlier, but this was later and the plan had to change to suit the parameters of their escape. In the best case scenario there wouldn't have been any enemy contacts and they would have snuck in and back out before anyone noticed. However, as it normally occurs, not everything fit the ideal plan and now they had to work twice as hard, if not harder to get off the planet.
As Sykes rounded the next corner, he noticed the door that lead to the Grunt sleeping quarters. He drew out the detonator to the C-12 that he had lined the doors with; just imagining what would be done after he blew the door. There was no doubt that it would open a new exit all the way through the enemy quarters and into the wide open, but what then? The Lieutenant quickly recalled the terrain and realized that he was lucky due to the fact that there were trees right next to the facility and that they lead right back into the forest. The organic behemoths weren't ideal cover in this area due to their sparse number, but it was better than nothing and they had a long distance to go.
Sykes drew out his tablet and began to look over all the possible routes. The shortest route was a dash across open ground with nothing more than weeds to protect them. The way they came would lead them there in adequate time however due to all of the action that had taken place there, more than likely it was too hot for any of them to survive. Then there was the route he had just planed out, he quickly decided that it was the best bet even though they would have to go all around their former trail they had no choice. It was the safest.
"Men activate your energy shields and completely guard this opening from the back-blast." The Lieutenant said as the Marines stepped to activating their shields and interlocking them there by creating and energy wall that would protect them from the highly dangerous back blast of the C-12. "Fire in the Hole." The Lieutenant said as he pushed the detonator switch.
A rush of flame blasted back at them and it turned the shields from blue to red almost instantly. It was a beautiful display of the chaos that could be created by a single can of C-12 High Explosive Foam. As the flames died down the shields steadily calmed back to their normal translucent blue and then they were turned off by the marines as they swept around the corner seeing the sky through the newly blasted hole in the entry building. Sykes quickly rounded the corner and ran at full speed as he went right through the room that had until moments ago contained sleeping Grunts. It was obvious that they were still in there even when the marines were just jogging through the room. The smell of methane and charred grunt bodies made a combination that would make a normal man puke without any hesitation.
As they exited the building they saw the doubled over tree line that was to serve as cover as they ran to the extraction point. The trees had caught fire and it was already engulfing the first three trees. This was both a gift and a curse, as this would make it more dangerous and more difficult for the covenant to follow them as well as making themselves harder targets to shoot, as the flames would make them appear warped and not in normal form. However, they had to move quickly because once a forest fire starts, it's very difficult to extinguish.
"Pandora, do you read?" the Lieutenant said as he quickly tapped his mic twice and wrapped a wet rag around his mouth.
"Affirmative Lieutenant, damn you sure know how to make an exit."
"We are entering the tree line and taking another path which should safely lead us to the extraction zone. Estimated time is forty minutes."
"Acknowledged Lieutenant, and might I suggest that you hurry. Long Range detection is saying that we may have company by the time that you return. So I suggest that you step on it."
"We will move as fast as we can. Sykes out."
As Sykes began to move into the now flaming path he could see branches touching one another overhead as they transferred the flame from one to the other. They had to move fast or else they wouldn't make it out of this fire.
Master Sergeant Billings sat on a fallen tree as he waited for word on the Lieutenants op. He had been waiting quite some time and it was nearing the zero hour. The thought alone of his commander, who he had served with for so long, falling while he wasn't there to assist made him sick. While he looked off into the distance a young Corporal named Barns walked up behind him.
"Sarge?"
"Yes Corporal?"
"Sir, do you think that they are alright?" he asked as he looked off into the distance and saw a plume of smoke rising in the direction of the city of Cortez.
"I have served with the LT a long time son, and if anyone could charge in there and kick some ass and still manage to get out it's our LT."
"Yes Sarge. The men are just a bit worried. We all would have gladly volunteered to go with him, but I guess we didn't make the cut."
"Easy Marine, he wasn't picking the best of us. Only those with the most experience that best fit the op. Hell, even I was sent here and not allowed to join the Lieutenants Squad."
"Yes Sarge. But don't you think we should… I don't know. Go and cover them or something?"
"Well, our orders were to report to this location and secure it while we wait for them to return. If we deviate from that plan we stand a chance of causing more harm than good, and I know neither of us wants that."
"Yes Sarge. I'm just antsy I guess."
"That makes two of us Corporal."
"You're nervous too sarge?"
"You bet."
"With all due respect you sure don't show it."
"That's because I'm not supposed to show it. You see Corporal; an NCO has a very important job. We are the go between with the Officers and the Marines, and that being said, we must show that we are always strong for both the officers to depend on us and for Marines like you to follow us. Often times it's not easy, but in times like this it's all that I can do."
"Yes sarge."
The truth was that Billings was scared out of his mind, not just antsy, he wanted to run out and kill every last covenant he could. But he had to stay at his position. For the LT.
The flames moved even faster than the strike team, the forest that had taken years to grow, was being reduced to ashes within hours. The air was thin and it was very difficult for the group to breathe, much less keep moving, but there wasn't any choice as they pushed on through the enflamed cover. This reminded Sykes of his favorite spot back on Harvest, minus the fire of course. But the set up was something he had noticed earlier in the op; earlier when his life was so much simpler when he was just a regular NCO. Now, he couldn't allow his mind to wander as he watched for enemy contacts and for falling trees, he had never before wished he was somewhere else.
Ever since Harvest was glassed, Sykes had a fear of fire that he kept to himself. The thought of his home and family being burned alive was the sort of things that kept him from sleeping at night and fueled the force that he used to squeeze the trigger on those responsible. His mind immediately went to how he wanted revenge so badly for this botched operation that he was sent on. The situation was simple, they were only meant to be there as support if needed, that was obvious given the dead ODST's that he had been shown by Geterix. The Rear Admiral was without a doubt the one responsible for this, his arrogance undoubtedly got in the way. When the ODST's failed the mission he changed the setup and sent in an entire company of marines with no air support and little to no Intel on what was waiting for them on the ground. He was wrong in every sense, but the question wasn't who to blame. The question was how do we make him be held accountable? That's where Geterix came in.
The best-case scenario was that all the rest of the men got off the planet and got back to Reach in one peace. When there, Sykes would present a report to his direct superiors underlying how the Admiral had failed to follow proper protocol when engaging the enemy on their own soil, failed to properly scout before launching the first attack, and the needless loss of life that occurred due to his ego; just to name a few. This report that he was looking so forward to writing was something that he had never had the liberty of writing before. He also hadn't been an Officer before, so now he might be able to send it up the chain where it might save some lives by keeping the Admiral's hands off them so he couldn't use them like pawns in chess. Geterix would be the key; however, it was common for ONI to interview the AI since it normally held no allegiances accept to humanity and it always supplied a third person view.
Just as all of this rushed through his head, Sykes noticed that parts of the trees started falling from the sky while they were still on fire. It immediately reminded him of reading an old story about how God had caused the skies to rain fire to force submission out of another civilization. The situation scared the Lieutenant out of his political thoughts as he turned on his energy shield and held it over his head as he walked through the falling fire. He realized that the report and proving his point wasn't going to be the hard part, the hard part was going to be getting off of Oasis because the only report they might read that would even be about him otherwise would be a Killed-in-Action report. The shield began to change to purple then red as he walked through the flames; the dance of impacting bits of fire caused a harmonious appearance on the shield, which resembled a light show. As Sykes looked behind him he saw his squad following him faithfully and the two doctors walking through it. It was as if the fire didn't exist to them as their personal body shields slightly flared as they were hit by the flames and embers.
Once they reached the end of the flaming rain, the Lieutenant pulled out his tablet and took a quick look at their current location. Once orienting himself, he turned slightly and continued to walk. "Only a short distance to go and then we are home free." He said, as he took strides over fallen limbs and underbrush, which was just starting to catch fire. The Lieutenant didn't especially like his escape plan, in fact he would have loved to have been able to call down the pelicans right on top of the roofs of Cortez, but that is the sort of thing that the Covenant notices and tends to turn their heaviest weapons on. As he glanced at the screen, Sykes saw that they would soon be walking up on a swale which would provide the men with a few minutes of breathable air as they ran through it, then just a short distance to pick up. The plan was finally starting to look like it could work.
The squad ran carelessly through the clearing and proceeded to remove the pieces of cloth they had been using to filter the smoke filled air as it entered their lungs. A crude and mostly ineffective attempt, but it was what they were trained to do in the case that they didn't have any oxygen tanks or other life-support equipment. The squad breathed in the air, which seemed to be cleaner than any they had ever tasted. The Lieutenant almost stopped to take a few deep breaths but he knew he didn't have any time; they were down to minutes until the other team was due to call in for pickup. Just as he began to catch his second wind, the Lieutenant looked in the distance and saw a not so friendly sight. He saw what appeared at first glance to simply be sets of blue florescent lights it was a sight he knew all too well from his previous encounters with the covenant. This was the sight of Jackals in firing position.
"Down. Contacts." The Lieutenant said as the whole squad dropped to their bellies in a scattered pattern.
"Someone pass me their sniper rifle!" Sykes commanded as he saw the eyes blinking and changing area of focus as their owners must have been changing their view to catch this very group. The rifle was quickly and quietly deposited to Sykes hands within moments and he was surprised to find that the rifle was his own, not dwelling on the pleasant feeling it gave him to once again be in possession of his beloved gun, he quickly zoomed in on an enemy and took a shot. The enemy fell with a thud as the others began to look more carefully around the area.
The Lieutenant crawled his way carefully over to a location twenty meters from the rest of the squad. He raised the rifle and took aim once again and shot another jackal right in the face. Not sticking around in that position to have the enemy shoot him as he gloated, he began to crawl to another location farther to the side and took aim once more. By all rules of sniping, there is no way he should survive this third shot but he had to try it anyways, so he carefully squeezed the trigger as he saw the jackals vulture-like head stir with fear at the very thought that it might be next. This time he would have to think quickly and not worry about being so stealthy, maybe if he made himself a target then the men would be able to take out the enemy with ease. No, it was a stupid idea, and just as he thought of it the round exited the chamber and flew through the air all the way to its destination as it delivered the fastest lobotomy this world had ever seen. He froze as he saw all the blue eyes lock in on his location. He was a goner for certain, and then the shots rang out. But the shots were not coming from his squad, at least not at first. The sound of three taps came over the lieutenant's earpiece and he quickly taped back and responded.
"Master Sergeant what are you doing here?"
"Well sir when we thought you might miss the bus we figured maybe you could use an escort."
"You had your orders Sergeant."
"Yes sir, I did. And quite frankly sir, I'm glad I broke them and we can worry about the Court-Marshal later. In the meantime, I think it's time to get out of here sir."
Just as Billings said that, Sykes saw the last set of eyes go dark and his squad rose and began running for the tree line to meet their brothers who had just saved their asses. They were going to make it off Oasis; they were going to survive this.
The roar of the Pelicans engines quieted as the drop ships moved into the docking bays aboard the Olympia. Sykes rose from his seat and walked down the ramp leading his men onto the only piece of metal in this entire system that they could call friendly. Admiral Weatherbee stood at the foot of the ramp and greeted the company, as they exited the drop ships.
"Well done Lieutenant Sykes, I want your team to be checked out then put in cryo for the trip back to Reach. Ahh yes, Doctor Lang, welcome aboard the Olympia. May I assume that you have brought the research on the project?" The man was speaking a mile a minute and changing focus so quickly it made Sykes wonder how much coffee the Admiral had consumed in order to induce such a caffeine buzz.
"Yes Admiral, we also managed to salvage these two suits that we are wearing. They are equipped with the beta version of the project result. And from using it in the retreat I have confirmed the fact that it works. Although it doest seem to work as well as the jackal shields yet, I expect with time it will be stronger." Lang said as he shook the Admirals presented hand. As he heard all this talk out in the open, Sykes wondered "What type of secret op was this if they were just going to talk about it in front of the occupants of the entire carrier?" But then he noticed the fact that he was the only one who was even near the Admiral and the two doctors as all the other marines were taking off their armor and being checked out by medical personnel.
"Excuse me Sir." Sykes said as he tipped his head. The Admiral nodded and Sykes turned on his heels and proceeded to walk up to Captain Atmos, the Captain of the Olympia. "Permission to come aboard sir?" Sykes said as he snapped a crisp salute.
"Permission granted, welcome home Lieutenant." The Captain said as he returned the salute with a smirk on his face. Most likely due to the fact that everyone else on the deck seemed to have forgotten basic ship protocol.
"When do we ship out sir?" Sykes asked eager to be gone from Oasis.
"Any minute now, as soon as the facility blows we are out of here. Strange. I've never seen a marine so eager to leave planet side."
"Well sir, it's different when all you encounter on the planet is Covenant, at that point a shuttle looks like a cozy abode for any marine." Sykes said as he turned to see Master Gunnery Sergeant Marco staring at the Admiral with fire in his eyes. "Excuse me Captain; I should really tend to my men."
"Of course Lieutenant, carry on." The Captain turned and exited the deck. Lieutenant Sykes turned and began to inspect the remaining members of Knight Company, while he thought about Marco and his deadly stare. He would need to keep an eye on the NCO, many had lost more than friends and soldiers down on the surface and it was obvious that Marco was one of them.
Sykes entered the briefing room and saw Admiral Weatherbee sitting at the table and Pandora standing on a holographic pad in front of him. "You wanted to see me sir?" Sykes asked fearing that the Admiral may have had some idea that Geterix was in his pocket at that moment.
"Yes Lieutenant, sit down." The admiral said as he grabbed a bottle from its resting place behind him along with two glasses. "How does the bar feel?" The Admiral said referring to his new rank.
"Heavier than I am used to sir. But I will keep the job as long as I am needed."
"After you made that mission take a 180 just by taking command I'm sure that the Corps wants you where you are right now." He said as he poured three fingers of whisky into both glasses and slid one over to the Lieutenant.
"Well sir, that's what I do it for. The Corps and my men." The Lieutenant said hinting at the fact that he was less than satisfied with the loss of life that occurred due to the lack of Intel provided by the Admiral.
"I know it was tough watching them all die there in front of you. Although I am not a regular commander and have never fought the covenant in a one on one fight, I do know what it is like to watch friends and soldiers die in front of me." The Admiral said as he looked at the wall. "Well I have decided that I will give Pandora the liberty of teaching you how to file an official commander report as I'm sure that you have never had that task to complete. Congratulations on your victory and here is to those we lost on Oasis." The Lieutenant and the Admiral clinked their glasses together and swallowed the contents.
"Well Lieutenant, I will leave you to your work. Oh and you can keep the bottle as a victory gift."
"Thank you sir." Sykes said as he saw the Admiral rise out of his chair and proceed to the doorway.
"Good night Second Lieutenant."
"Good night Rear Admiral." Sykes said as the Admiral left the room. He was relived but also shaken by what he had to do. This had given him a more human view of the Admiral and he wasn't sure if he could file his report. As he debated over the situation he finally decided the best way to decide would be to confront the man directly, a more honorable approach than an attack through the written word that he would do with an official report. Sykes stood up and looked at Pandora. "I will complete the report later in my quarters."
"Very well Lieutenant." Pandora said as she bowed her head and disappeared into the holopad on the long table.
Sykes walked out of the room and proceeded to the Admiral's quarters all the while trying to decide exactly what he would say when he got there. Would he come on as the aggressor? Or would he play the cautious role and let on like he only knew a little about the situation. Before he knew it he was standing in front of the door to the Admirals quarters as he went to knock he heard strange sounds, upon listening closer he could tell that they were whispers of fear and begs for mercy. Sykes quickly drew out his sidearm and opened the door with it leveled, he quickly found himself pointing his gun at Master Gunnery Sergeant Marco who had put the Admiral on his knees and held his side arm up to the man's forehead.
"Marco. What in the hell are you doing?" Sykes asked as he shook off the shock of seeing one of his men about to execute their commanding officer.
"He is responsible sir. He sent us down there blind and now Knight Company is nearly cut in half. All those people that he sent to die. And for what? For some shiny new toy that you hope might save humanity?"
"I know exactly what you mean gunny, but this isn't the way to solve the problem. Killing him isn't going to magically bring back the squads we've lost or the memories of the men that we watched die in our arms."
"He gave the order Lieutenant. He gave the order that sentenced all those men to die. He needs to be held accountable by those that he sent to an early grave. And I intend to make sure he isn't late for his trial date."
"It's true Gunny he ordered us to Oasis. It's true he ordered many men to their death. But so did I. I take full responsibility for all the men who died under my command, just as he does."
"But what of the dead sir? What of the men we left behind?"
"The dead speak to the mistakes of the leaders, nothing more. They are gone and all a commander can ever hope to do is save just as many as he lost. Today we lost over a hundred marines. Tomorrow we may save an entire planet with what we took from Oasis. So drop the gun, and let me handle this the official way."
"Will he be held accountable?"
"I will make sure he is." Just as Sykes said this he heard a knock.
"This is Chief Petty Officer Rogers, we are coming in."
"Hold your position Chief." The Admiral shouted.
"Well Gunny, are you going to drop the gun or are you going to make me kill one of my own?" The Lieutenant said keeping his pistol locked on Marco.
"Okay sir. I will surrender to you under the condition that he is held accountable for his actions."
"I will see to it personally Gunny." The Lieutenant grabbed the pistol from the gunny and turned to the door. "You may enter Chief." The CPO and his five-man team came into the now cramped room.
"Put the Master Gunnery Sergeant in custody and see to it that he has a psychiatric evaluation." The Admiral said as he got up off the ground and dropped the panic button out of his once clenched fist.
"Yes Sir." The CPO said as he grabbed Marco and hauled him out of the room.
"He thinks I'm responsible for all the deaths on Oasis? He must be crazy." The Admiral said as he cleared his throat and grabbed a bottle from his desk drawer and began to take swigs of it to wash away the nerves.
"Well sir, I only wish I could say that I completely disagree with him."
"What do you mean Lieutenant?"
"I know about the ODST squad you sent down there with next to no Intel, I know you sent us in blind when you already knew what had happened to the Helljumpers. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is why you did it this way. Was it pride? Or was it shame?"
"Both I suppose, so this means that you will be reporting this to ONI?"
"Absolutely sir. And I will be presenting all the evidence I have collected. It's not personal sir, it's making sure the voices of the dead are heard."