Chapter Two
0802 Hours, September 17,
2547 (Military Calendar) /
Arcadia, Bravo Base 070,
Outskirts of Abaskun City
Major Josh Meyers turned his back on his two troopers leading the interloper away, knowing they could easily handle it if she should attempt to escape. She hadn't even tried to fight back. Coward, Meyers thought.
Although he was glad the thief had been caught, and would be thoroughly punished, he still felt a pang in the back of his mind.
She was so young. Meyers had no compassion for the rebels, but it was shameful what they had resorted to, using children to do their bidding. He made a mental note to lodge an extra bullet in every one of their skulls. Disgusted, the major made his way to his temporary quarters. His team had been called off-duty in order to catch this "cerebral assassin." It had taken a matter of seconds and no shots were fired. Normally, the base security would have handled it, but she had escaped so many times and caused such a ruckus the big guns had to be brought in to handle the situation and stop the continuous leak of intel.
Meyers was sure his men would have preferred she went down swinging, though.
He ordered the remaining six Helljumpers back to the weapons armory to stock up, as they would most likely be deployed soon. He could sense they were itching to get back into the war against the Covenant and kick some "slag" as the A.I.'s always said. He had only been promoted to a major for a few months, but had served with his squad for over a decade and knew them like the back of his faceplate.
The ODST major continued down the hallway, walking silently besides his armor. The intense boot-camp that had dragged him through the ringer did have its benefits.
His COM buzzed in his ear, and he clicked it onto an open channel.
"Major Josh Meyers?" a gruff voice asked.
"Here," he grumbled into the mic.
"The colonel needs you in the control room, sir." The voice answered back.
"Noted."
He turned around and came back the way he had come, bringing up the map he memorized of the base before being deployed here. Everything looked the same these days, nobody had time or the spirit to care about looks. Along with millions of lives, the Covenant had stolen that too.
As to why he was needed in the control room, he hadn't the slightest clue, but orders were orders. Meyer made his way across the base until he pulled open the door to the control room.
The rectangular room had three rows of tables, all covered with tangled wires and computers. People sat around the desks, muttering to themselves and to their fellow workers. The front of the room had strategic maps with circles and x's scribbled all over them, marking the rebel's movements.
This base was specifically designed to keep the rebellion under control on this planet, small as it was, without needing to bring in outside resources. The UNSC was stretched thin enough as is. This planet, Arcadia, was attacked by the covenant in 2531, destroying most of its colonies and driving its people into unexplored regions. Abaskun City was also besieged, and was now only a fraction of its former glory. The UNSC was somehow able to fend them off with a single ship, and SPARTAN teams Red and Omega. Although a victory then, everyone knew they would return with a vengeance. Now, 2547, the rebels had caused a new battle on Arcadia.
Meyers saw an older man standing close to the planets map, studying them closely. He had black hair streaked with grey and a cleanly shaven face. He wore a dark green suit with a freshly pressed tie, and Meyers saw the gold badges he wore. A brigadier general. What was a one star general doing on a planet like this? Meyers wondered, before quickly snapping off a crisp salute.
"At ease, Helljumper." The general said, his voice was surprisingly young for his appearance. Field age, Meyers realized. Meyers lowered his hand, but stayed standing erect.
"How is your team, major?"
"Ready for deployment, sir." Meyers replied.
"Good. I'm General Shane Walker; I have a new assignment for you and your team." Walker said plainly, as if this was no big deal, a minor bump in his busy schedule.
"Yes sir."
"Exactly nine minutes ago, Alpha Base was infiltrated, stolen of both its Pelicans and one Scorpion, and had its security system disabled. As to how the Innies got the knowledge of how to get inside, de-activate the security system, power up the vehicles without using the security code, and enter the weapons army and steal a handful of RPG's is a mystery to me. The only digital recording of this information was in the data core of the base your team protected from being hacked into. Go to Alpha Base and recover the stolen equipment."
Meyer's nodded, "Yes sir." The major quickly saluted and turned to jog out the door.
"ODST's this is Major Meyers, ready your equipment and meet in the cargo bay in three." Meyers said into his COM link.
"Yes sir!" came a chorus of voices.
Meyers ran down corridor after corridor taking the quickest route to the cargo bay, where the base's Pelicans sat at the ready. He stopped and grabbed a M5 assault rifle hanging from an armory depot on the wall, two frag grenades and enough clips to put down a rebel mob. Time to bloody some faces.
He slung the assault rifle over his shoulder and continued jogging towards the bay.
The door slid open as he arrived, only to find his team standing ready. Meyers took a look at his men; all clad in top-notch ODST suits. Each one of their face-plates were down, hiding their expressions. All of them twitched with anticipation, ready for whatever the Innie trash had to throw at them. They were all equipped with various guns, grenades, and knives. Nick even had a RPG strapped to his back.
The cargo bay was mostly empty, except for a lone Pelican that sat with its pilots lounging on the outside as the back door swung down.
"Everything is ready, sir." Nevar stated, motioning to the Pelican.
"Good. I'll brief you on the way." Meyers said before marching past his men and climbing into the back of the Pelican. Eight Helljumpers piled in around him, taking up seats to his right and left.
"Clear for departure." The pilot announced out of the speakers. The drop door slid closed with a thwump, and the Pelican rumbled to life. The bird spun a one-eighty, before slowly gliding out the hangar door.
"Drop point twenty-three clicks southeast of our current position, ETA in forty-seven minutes." the pilot informed them as her voice blasted over the speakers.
The Pelican flew out of a lush, green forest, with towering mountains in the distance. They slowly gained altitude until they could see over the huge mound of hardened land, revealing nothing but more staggeringly tall trees. They rounded the first mountain, heading southeast, just as a plume of smoke erupted from Bravo Base 070.