Alternate Reality
Chapter 2: "Assimilation"
Location: Unknown Time/ 22:35 GST
------------- Year: 3073/2553-------------------
"Remind me again, where is the bridge?" Specter asked. He was still unused to the purple lighting and the strange shaped walls. The elite he asked just snarled at him and brushed past him to catch up with the shipmaster. So, he addressed a marine behind him.
"Well sir, from what I've heard, they keep their bridge in the middle of the ship." The marine's voice was still shaky, and Specter could tell the man liked their current truce with these certain aliens not at all. Specter kept on walking, trusting the aliens a little too blindly.
"Do you mind my asking? But where on earth did you come from, did ONI send you?" He asked.
"I would answer that, but I don't know what ONI is." He replied, Specter stopped for a moment in thought. "In fact I have no idea where I am."
His lance was spread around the group so as to protect as many as they could from the other aliens. The leader of the aliens ran ahead and stopped before the next intersection.
"I smell your stench jiralhanae." He declared.
The other elites with him bristled and stood behind him in a wedge with their plasma rifles ready. The marines, confused, also leveled their captured alien weapons. Specter and his crew got the picture and the claws on their arms leapt out.
There was a bark, in the hall to the right, and a glowing ball of plasma landed at the feet of the shipmaster. The Golden armored elite rolled forward and snarled while gripping the hilt of a plasma sword from his belt. A white and blue blade snapped from the hilt in two long spikes. The elite leader pointed in the Brutes' direction and uttered something alien. Before his "men" dashed into the hall and pelted the group of brutes that cluttered the small area.
explosive rounds from brute grenade launchers ricocheted across the ground, walls and cieling causing one of the elites to ran ahead and looked down the corridor while charging the laser built into his suit's arm. He aimed and fired a pure green bolt of energy that cut a round hole into a brute and the one behind him.
After a minute, one brute remained. But instead of running away, he threw down his weapon and charged Beowulf... as Specter had ordered his lance to rejoin him earlier. He knocked him over and started to pound him with his fists. The armor was shattering. But he didn't panic even with his broken ribs. He extracted the claws from his right arm and started to squeeze the brute's neck with it's sharp calws. Snap. The head rolled to the floor.
"Falcon, assist Beowulf!" Specter declared.
Falcon quickly ran over Beowulf and began to help him up. He tried to brush her off of him, but he really needed to help.
"Just try to use your laser Charles." Specter chided towards his wounded lance-mate. He looked towards the alien leader. "Now we really need to take the ship, My men cannont travel through space with damaged suits."
The Shipmaster nodded with an annoyed grunt and ran farther ahead. Obviously wanting to kill the hateful humans that were walking around his ship. He clicked his mandibles and turned the next corner and stood before a locked door.
Charles was now leaning against the wall with his right arm pointed at the door, it glowed green as he waved them out of the way. "Ready grenades!"
The green beam of his laser worked like a split second burst from a blow-torch. It tore a hole right in the middle of the lock and left the door smoldering with slag sliding down from the hole.
On the the elites, or sangheili pulled a blue orb from his belt and squeezed it firmly until it flared. Then he threw it through the hole and knelt.
From the other side, there was a shock wave as unstable plasma exploded furiously from it to further damage the door and the brutes on the other side. And after that, there was a thud as a grenade was thrown from the other side towards them, but bounced off the door and fell back into the control room.
After the explosion a scowling mangy brown-furred brute stepped up to the door and raised his brute shot at the crowd of enemies cramped in the hall. This didn't please the gold alien, he decapitated it with his sword and took the brute shot from him before firing it back at the group of brutes on the other side.
The distraction allowed for Specter to use his powered arm to force the door and allow for more fire. The marines were holding a needler each, and all began to fire. The purple-pink needles flew straight at the main group of brutes and collected on the coats of several of them.
The elites were busy with plasma rifles, each holding two they were pelting the group mercilessly, burning away the flesh of the unprepared, or illprepared brutes.
Specter and his lance mates powered up their lasers and stepped inside before firing at the group and finishing off the last two brutes. The room had a ceiling way higher than that of the halls, and had several columns. In the middle was a podium with accesses down below it and several holo panels floating around the top.
The elites immediately ran towards it, but stopped in their tracks. An armored brute stood on the podium with a large hammer resting in its hands casually. It snarled before leaping upon the closest elite and pounded its head with the hammer before it could respond.
Everyone else began to fire. Needles, plasma bolts, and everyone once in a while a green beam of energy when Specter's lance had recharged their weapons. And whenever they hadn't, they pulled rifles from their backs and fire with their machine guns.
Unfortunately the brute's shields held through the first barrage, it was laughing all the way as it crushed a total of three allies. One elite and two humans fell with ease.
Their alien ally ran forward and feinted with an attack with his sword while he primed a plasma grenade and stuck it to the beast's side. With the flare of the grenade went the brute's overshield, but it was not dead. He doubled back and kicked the brute's hammer hand with his hoof and knocked the hammer out of it grasp while grabbing it and swinging it for the brute's head.
It seemed that he was either lucky, or really good, but the brute managed to dodge the throw and pummel the elite hard enough to throw him several meters away and into the bulkhead.
Annoyed, Specter fired his charged laser once more and drained the brute's recharging shields, and charred a little bit of the brute's armor as well.
He had regained his footing by this time, and swept the hammer up and readied it like a batter ready to swing. Knowing what would happen if the brute wasn't distracted, Specter yelled "Fire" as quickely as he could.
The marines and elites seemed to get the picture and fired at the fasted rate they could. Success, the brute was off balance and injured, he didn't even see the swing that crushed his skull into the floor.
The all relaxed visibly, the elites ran to the controls and started pressing in commands at the holographic terminal.
With a nod at Charles, specter sighed. "We need to guard the exits while they, do whatever. Have Falcon help you out, where's Hannibal?"
"I'm here sir." He rumbled in his low voice.
"Good, I was beginning to get worried. I think these soldiers are out of ammo, see what you can find for them. I'm going to talk to this alien shipmaster." He ordered with a calm setting into his voice as a bulkhead covered the broken door, and the others had the lights in the center turn red; indicating their locked position.
"Is this the bridge?" Specter asked looking around.
"No human, it is not." The alien looked contempously down at him and chuckled.
"Then where is it? And what is this room?" He demanded tiredly.
"This is an auxillery control room, the bridge is occupied, and from here we can vent the ship's atmosphere and deactivate their control of the weapons." The alien also had a tone that carried a hint of resignation.
"Well, can we deactivate this ship and then travel to the bridge?" John inquired.
"Yes, but it will take a few moments." He sighed, "There, I have dealt with the ship, and will open a communication line to your ship.
"Sir! They've stopped firing!" The weapons officer exclaimed.
"They are attemping to open a line sir." The Comms officer said while he swiveled his chair. "I'm patching it through."
They were all taken aback as Specter's voice issued over the line and through the speakers. "The fighting's all done over here captain."
"What are you doing over there commander?" The captain demanded.
"I thought that the big guns could use a break." He took an audible breath, "And besides that, we made some friends."
"I'll send a shuttle." Replied the Captain, the tone of resignation set in his voice.
"Thank you sir, and uh, send a medic or two."
He glanced back at the barely concious Beowulf, and shook his head. He hadn't expected the alien to go berserk. He turned to the other side, where the remaining marines sat against the cold metal wall.
He walked over to them, already having gotten out of his armor, and sat next to a marine who was busy handing out his remaining cigars. Specter nodded and spoke up. "The captain is going to need a briefing when we get back."
The shipmaster clicked his foot on the floor, "I just sent the coordinates for your ship to dock." He announced.
Satisfied, Specter relaxed, Hanibal was keeping Beowulf alive and seemed to be relaxed as well. However, Falcon was still on edge, ridgid as always, and standing with a bitter expression on her face.
He shook his head and stood up. "Alien!" Specter declared. "Which way is that docking bay?"
Specter didn't really think he was being rude, but the alien stiffened at being called upon like a dog. Ridgid, like a rod of iron, the alien stalked to confront him.
"I have a name human, even if you are not worthy to say it!" He spat and spread his mandibles in a show of his teeth.
"Uh... Sorry?" Specter raised his shoulders and spread his hands in a calming manner. "Do you think you can tell me what it is? I did help you take back your ship..."
"I tell you only so I am not refered to as a pet or inferior." The Shipmaster clicked his mandibles in a slightly amused manner. "You just convinced me to tell you... quite clever aren't you human? You have amused me, so I will tell you my name. I am Shipmaster Xan Zalconee... If you really need to talk to me, just call me Zalconee."
Xan grunted and brushed past Specter roughly and nearly dropped him to the floor. Appeased, the alien's face took on the appearance of what Specter considered a grin. "This way human."
Hanibal shook his head and exchanged knowing looks with Falcon, who just donned her armor and helped to raise Beowulf. Specter put on his armor, as it was much harder to carry around, than to use its power to help lift it. The marines decided to stay quiet and leaped onto the feet and stamped out their cigars.
The little party was in for a trek, the ship was rather large and the bodies of aliens weren't always easy to step over. Eventually they reached the docking bay, the sounds coming from within were not those that they had expected. Sounds of gunfire and deep throated roars.
The shipmaster stopped in front of the door. "It sounds as if some of them were smart enough to get into pressure suits."
The elite next to him chuckled. "They'll die like the rest of them."
Xan grinned, "Open the door."
"Powering up!" Hanibal said as his laser arm, which was not wrapped around Beowulf's shoulders, glowed a hot emerald green.
The door parted, and the scene inside could only be described as chaos. The merc. crew were all holding assault rifles and firing to nearly useless effect. About twenty brutes were holding cruel weapons with blades attached to them. One kind was a grenade launcher, the other fired spikes about a foot long, and in rapid succession. Specter fired his jets and blew through the open door and into the space between the men and monsters with his machine gun raised.
The marines all ran through the door and found debris they could use as cover and to fire at the brutes. But it was the elites who had the best entrance. They all summersualted into the room, one after the other and leaped to their feet with a glowing blue-flamed grenade in their hands. Some of the grenades impacted on the brutes' bodies and faces and stuck, making their fate marked. They all burned and were thrown by the shockwave of the explosions.
Hanibal reached through the door and fired his laser into the midst of a clump of them, searing off limbs and bodies, letting them bite the dust.
Specter stood with his gun raised, the explosions cleared, and five or six brutes emerged from the smoke. He immedietly pulled the trigger on his rifle, and released the stream of metal slugs, they seemed to impact the brutes, and only slow them down, one fell, combined fired from the marines and marcs cut down another, his movements seemed sluggish. Three more fell from gunfire just as the last one was getting close.
Specter stood his ground, his life flashed before his eyes, old Christmases from long ago, his training to be a pilot, his defeat of the archon and adventures on the ship.
Just as he though he was going to die, a blue flame stabbed in to the back of the beast and into the heart. An alien face appeared behind the shoulder of the squirming, dying brute.
"I wasn't about to let you die like that." Mocked the shipmaster.
Specter was taken aback. "I'm not dead?" He asked.
"Not really." The alien deactivated its sword and crossed its arms. "Go."
Sorry it took me so long to get an update. I hope you enjoy. And I also hope everyone had a great Christmas.
-Tremble Wolf