Chapter 2: Scavenger Hunt
Abregado, Melanar System
Kyle Carter cursed as a grenade blast shattered the rocks behind him. Even with his protective EXCALIBUR powered armor, he could still feel the shockwave rattle his bones and teeth. To make things worse, he was now being showered with debris. Rocks and pebbles rained down and bounced and clattered off his armor. Suddenly, his helmet HUD blared:
WARNING! YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK!
"Yeah, what a timely warning." Kyle growled as he heard more grenades clattering on the ground.
Kyle shunted power to his leg servos and leapt high into the air. He looked down to see three more explosions at the spot where he was standing before landing in another craggy outcrop of rocks.
He cursed again. He wasn't sure who his assailants were, but he was definitely sure of what they were after, the data crystal in his pack. Kyle was one of the many individuals known as Scavengers, or "scavs" as they tended to be called. Like their namesake, Scavengers basically spent their time roaming the galactic void searching for pre-Exodus data. Success was low, but the rewards were great. Many Exile fleets would gladly hand over one of their ships or pay a great sum to obtain even a single line of uncorrupted pre-Exodus code.
Of course, a job like this certainly had its downsides. Many scavengers were considered outcasts, mainly because most of them decided to abandon their Exile fleets. All scavengers had their reasons, ranging from the need to be free, to explore the galaxy, or were motivated by just plain old greed. Also, there were a lot of hazards to think about. There were the hazards associated with prolonged space travel, Covenant encounters, and in Kyle's case, rival scavengers.
"Come on, just give me a direction." Kyle said to his suit.
ERROR: DIRECTIONAL THREAT ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS OFFLINE
"Typical." Kyle really had to get a new suit of armor. "It looks like I'll have to do this the old fashioned way."
Kyle slowly and carefully peeked over the edge of the outcropping. He caught sight of several bright flashes a few hundred meters to his left and ducked as the top of the outcropping was incinerated.
Kyle took a brief glance at the damage and figured that his rivals had particle weaponry. These guys were certainly decked out with some high-tech stuff, which meant they were veterans. Kyle looked at his own, relatively paltry armament. All he had were a handful of grenades, an M8 pistol, and his MA10 rail rifle.
During the past two centuries, Humanity slowly began to realize that their current small arms weaponry was quickly becoming outmoded. Some research and the discovery of revolutionary, small-scale power sources led to the development of MPMACs, Man Portable Magnetic Accelerator Cannons. Before that, a man-portable MAC usually required a battery pack the size of a Warthog. However, the discovery of high-yield, super efficient Covenant and Forerunner batteries allowed Exile engineers to scale down the destructive power of MACs into the hands of the individual soldier. This proved to a blessing against the higher-tier Covenant troops, who tended to be physically tougher and shielded. Of course, research into other weapon types took place, such as particle cannons, though they tended to be used for anti-vehicular purposes. Unfortunately, Kyle was currently on the receiving end that that particular project.
Another blue beam of light flashed by, superheating the air and softening the surrounding rock. Kyle knew that particle weaponry tended to perform better at long distances, which meant he had to close in if he could stand any chance.
"I hope the optic camo function still works." Kyle growled.
OPTICAL CAMOFLAUGE ACTIVATED: APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 6:00
Kyle knew he wouldn't have much time. He leapt to the ground below and began to sprint towards the enemy position, putting as much power as he could into his legs.
WARNING: ARMOR USE IS EXCEEDING RECOMMENDED SAFEGUARDS. EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN IN-
Kyle quickly pressed a rapid button sequence in response to the prompt.
MANUAL OVERRIDE CONFIRMED. SAFEGUARDS DISENGAGED.
Of course, the armor's safeguards were meant to prevent the suit from killing its wearer. It was a tragic and painful lesson, but engineers finally figured out that the suits were infinitely stronger and more robust than the people wearing them, and a lot of injuries resulted from too much sensitivity and powered movement. The true potential of the suits had to be scaled back significantly to run on only a fraction of their power. However, some individuals were daring or capable enough to bypass these limitations. Lynn for example could utilize her suit more efficiently, using her mental capabilities to more precisely control her movements, but that was only the exception.
Kyle knew he was getting close. He could hear the gentle hum of a particle cannon recharging. He rounded another rock and finally caught sight of his assailants. There were three individuals wearing black armor highlighted with crimson stripes. Two were armed with rail rifles while the third was using a large shoulder-mounted weapon which Kyle assumed was the particle beam. Without hesitation, he took aim and fired. His first burst blew the third person's head off, splattering the area with bone shards and pieces of brain. Kyle fired again and caught the first person full in the chest. The man gurgled and twitched as rail rounds pierced his ribs and heart.
By this time, the force of Kyle's rail rifle firing disrupted his optic camouflage, rendering him visible again. The first person caught sight of Kyle, whipped around, and aimed his rifle, but Kyle was faster.
Rail rounds slammed into the hapless enemy, but he was still standing, completely unscathed. Kyle noticed the faint blue shimmer on the edges of the other person's armor and realized he was equipped with energy shielding. It was rare to see something like that, as the size and weight of the equipment required to create and power a practical shielding system would exceed normal safeguards.
However, this guy didn't seem too concerned. Kyle dove to the ground as rail rounds flew through the air. Kyle thought for a second. He could try to get back up and return fire, but that meant he would have to break cover. In a one-on-one fight like this, the guy with the shields would inevitably win, so that tactic was out of the question.
Kyle then felt around his belt for anything useful. He had four frag grenades, and was surprised when he realized he was carrying a pair of plasma grenades. He usually didn't carry Covenant weaponry with him, but he had only done so at Lynn's suggestion.
"You'll probably need them." She said as she handed those grenades to him several weeks back. Kyle could still remember the innocent smile on her face.
That was the creepy thing whenever he was with her. He could never tell whether Lynn was kidding or actually being deadly serious.
Acting quickly, Kyle lobbed his first grenade. The ball of fuzzy blue energy stuck itself to the surface of the rival scavenger's shield like a barnacle. The scavenger looked down blankly at the grenade stuck to his chest a split second before it exploded. The blast was enough to overpower the scavenger's shields and knock him to the ground. Unfortunately, as Kyle began to aim his rifle, he remembered that he had forgotten to reengage his armor's safeguards. His arm servos overcompensated and moved with enough power to yank Kyle's right elbow out its socket. Kyle bit back a curse and dropped his rifle, opting to use his last plasma grenade instead. The sticky grenade stuck to the still dazed rival's head and exploded, incinerating it and the top half of his body.
Seeing that the threat was over, Kyle finally began to relax. Making sure his safeguards were engaged this time, Kyle bit down and popped his elbow back into place.
"I swear, sometimes I hate my job." Kyle muttered as he checked the data crystal he was carrying. He looked to see if he could scavenge the particle cannon, only to find that the two plasma grenade explosions had totally trashed it. "Just my luck."
Kyle bent down and scavenged what he could from the dead scavengers. It wasn't all bad, as he had managed to collect a satchel of spare rail rifle clips, battery packs, and rations. He also managed to procure a few data crystals from them, but he had no idea what kind of data they possessed. He would have to get to a proper terminal to analyze them.
His task done, Kyle brushed the dust off of his armor and began to make his way to the rendezvous point.
Half Rock Flats
Kyle watched as the Pelican transport slowly set down next to the rock he was sitting on. Now came, in Kyle's opinion, the most dangerous part of the job, the actual deal with the client. Though he knew that the people from Exile Fleet Earth could be trusted, he knew it would be better to be prepared for anything, hence the pistol he had concealed under a nearby rock.
"Kyle Carter, it's been a while since I've seen you." A familiar voice said. A woman with short white hair and an angular, military face strode down the Pelican's ramp.
Kyle then relaxed and replied, "Same to you. I hope you haven't gained too much weight sitting in that desk on Pegasus, Lieutenant Blackwater."
Lieutenant Jillian Blackwater was Kyle's field contact for Exile Fleet Earth. He knew that he could trust her.
"Ha ha, very funny." Jillian smirked, "and since when did you start calling me by my rank, Kyle? It just sounds damn creepy."
"Must be the lack of sleep." Kyle shrugged.
"Anyways, I was told that you've managed to get your hands on some uncorrupted pre-Exodus data."
"That's right." Kyle took out the data crystal and handed it over to Jillian. "All in one piece."
"I'm sure." Jillian said. She took the crystal and inserted it into a portable data pad. It would automatically scan the crystal for any signs of corruption or error. "So, while we wait for this thing to finish, what've you been up to since our last contact?"
"Oh, the usual, dodging rival scavengers, risking life and limb in the vague hope of finding something big, the usual." Kyle shrugged, "So how are things going with the Fleet? It's been a long time since I've bothered to check."
"Not good." Jillian frowned, "There are a lot of rumors floating around that the Covenant Imperium and Republic are considering a truce, which would be really bad for us."
"Because that means the Imperium would have more resources to hunt us down."
"That's right." Jillian sighed, "What I hate is the fact that combined, the fleets probably have the numbers and the tech to repel any Covenant assault, yet that would never happen. None of the fleets are really united in any way, and there's very little to motivate most of them into banding together or fighting the Covenant. It's as if they've decided to just float in space for one of two choices: whither and die or be hunted down by the Covenant."
"This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper." Kyle said sagely.
"Where'd you get that?" Jillian asked, surprised, "I never thought you to be the intellectual type."
"Oh, I just got that quote from a book I happened to find down here." Kyle gave a sloppy grin and pulled a tattered book out of his pack and showed it to Jillian. "I didn't really have much else to do for the past few days waiting for you to get your fat ass down here."
Jillian ignored Kyle's insult and examined the book. "The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot."
"Never knew him."
"This is a hardcover. These things are extremely rare." Jillian's eyes glimmered with fascination, like a child getting free candy. "You mind if I keep it?"
"Sure, go ahead." Kyle sniffed.
Suddenly, the data pad pinged, notifying that it was finished. Jillian examined the results and said, "Unbelievable, no corruption and brimming with data. Do you want to see it?"
"No thanks." Kyle shook his head. "I never look at what I get. Keeps things simple to not know things like this. Oh, and you now about your end of the deal, right?"
"Yeah, a complete overhaul of your ship, a full upgrade cycle on all primary systems, as well as complete resupply, all free of charge."
"Pretty much."
"You don't ask for much, do you?." Jillian sighed and began to pack up her equipment and looked up at the darkening sky. "It's almost nightfall. You want me to give you a ride back to your ship?"
"Nah, I'm good." Kyle sat back and began to stare at the brightening stars. "Anything else?"
"Well, now that you mention it…" Jillian scratched her head, "You might want to make your way back to the Fleet ASAP. There are a lot of things going down, and there are quite a few people who would feel a whole lot better if you were around to help sort it all out."
"The drama never ends, does it?"
"No, I suppose not." Jillian walked up to her Pelican and saluted, "Until next time."
Kyle waved in response. He then laid back on the ground as he watched the Pelican disappear into the night sky. Soon, it was reduced a tiny, bright twinkle of light, just one of many in the endless sea of stars in the night sky.
"I love my job." Kyle said proudly.