November 22nd 3238
Planet Vert, Lamonde Continent
Near La Côte Vert
The water was cold. Not unpleasant, but cold. It was also some of the filthiest water Callard had ever seen courtesy of Eggman's toxic waste dumps in the area. The water would be purified by the offshore detoxifying centers, but still, it was dirty as hell.
The first thing the squad saw was the keel of the massive freighter. "OK, guys. Let's catch us a boat ride." He said. "OOH RAH!" Martinez crowed. The Helljumpers kicked and made their way through the water, pushing aside a few strays of driftwood and dead fish carcasses. A few empty cans of beer and cola also littered the water. Lucas scowled in disgust. On Mobius, littering was one of the most horrible things one could do to the environment. Even dangerous criminals had all the decency of tossing their waste in the recycling bin. "I swear when I get ahold of that fat fucker…" "Calm down, Lucas. We all want a piece of him. OK, Marines grab hold!"
The freighter was very close. Each Helljumper adjusted their position and gripped on to the hull. Their boots hit the hull with a slight clong. The sound was small enough to be looked over. They walked a little along the hull until they were right next to the keel. They just stood there and let the boat take them along.
"02 check, Billy" Jonathon ordered. Maybell looked. "22 minutes, Sarge. We should be entering the base shortly. We're going at a speed of 30 knots." Callard nodded. His helmet bobbed underwater. The water suddenly turned even darker. "Sarge," Martinez whispered. "I think we're in the factory now." Then, the freighter stopped. Red light flooded the area. Lucas raised his weapon and held it tightly. The magnetic gloves kept the gun in his palms but he was scared. "Sarge…" "Shut up, and relax. They're probably just checking the boat to see if it's one of theirs.
The lights vanished and the motor started again. "OK, we're clear. Remember, check for hostiles before exiting the water. Keep your guard up and you'll be fine." Lucas glanced toward the edge of the boat. "Are you SURE they didn't see us?" "I'm sure. Now shut up or I'll make sure they see YOU first." "Remember what Sergeant Maybell said about alternate frequencies?" "Shut up, Lucas. You're making me nervous now." Billy said. "I just can't shake the feeling that he's watching us."
Lucas was right. Unbeknownst to any of the squad, Eggman WAS using different frequencies to track them down. Only this particular brand was one of his own, unable to be detected by Human or Mobian scanners. The wavelengths were less than a nanometer across and emanated from underwater scanners. The "So Simple It's Brilliant" plan was covered. An evil genius would consider all points of insertion, even underneath a ship. He had everything, even barnacles and lichen catalogued and cross-referenced with enemy forces.
Dr. Eggman sat in his revolving chair staring at the screen. The scanners underwater had painted a digital picture of the ODSTs. He tugged his moustache playfully. "Oho! Helljumpers! Now the UNSC is getting creative." He leaned foreward and the chair creaked with stress. "Tsk, tsk. What a small attack force. I was expecting at least an army this time around. Well, you have to admire persistence." He turned to a robotic guard:
"Unit 41." He addressed. The guard raised a metallic hand towards its head. "Yes, Doctor?" it chirped. "Order all attack robots to disengage from the loading dock and wait for further orders." The robot's head creaked to the side, imitating human puzzlement. "Sir?" it said. Eggman's glasses flashed in the sunlight. "I gave you an order, robot! I expect you to follow it!"
The guard shuddered and activated its COM pack. "This is an APB, Calling all units, calling all units! Orders are to disengage from the loading docks and wait for further commands. DO NOT attack ODSTs on sight. Repeat, the ODSTs are not to be harmed. U-41 out!" The robot saluted again. Eggman rubbed his hands together in anticipation and a wide smile broke his face. He gave a small lingering laugh and turned to the display.
"It's a fucking ghost town here Sarge." Martinez noted shaking himself off. The Marines had climbed out of the water to discover that the loading dock was empty. "Where are they?" Lucas said heaving his assault rifle to shoulder height. "Over There!" he yipped pointing the MA5' at a stack of crates. The young Mobian was about to pull the trigger when Callard barked, "STAND DOWN! Look!" A small robot barely the size of a bike skittered out from the crates and went to pick up cargo from the ship. "See, just a mover. Shipping, handling that sort of shit." Martinez scolded. Callard had his turn.
"You have a lot of balls to pull that shit, Lucas. You nearly gave away our position over something that you can buy at the hardware store!" "I'm sorry!" Lucas said somberly. "Let's keep moving." Callard said paying no attention to the ODST who endangered the mission. Lucas was almost forgotten. He followed the squad after taking one more look at the mover suspiciously.
"Shit, it's ALL empty." Martinez said quietly as they moved further into the compound. "Billy, you're picking up no signatures?" "Not a thing, Jon." Maybell said checking the scanner. Maybe if I had that 'NICOLE' unit I could do some good here." "Well, you know what the Corps is like, barely enough funding to keep us standing. They blow it all on propaganda. Save the world, earn honor and glory, amazing locales…" Martinez snickered. "When I was in college, it was a commercial with a bunch of busty babes that got me signed on." Callard looked over his shoulder with a funny look. "You're thick, Joe, real thick." "Maybe so, but hey, it worked!"
Five minutes later, Callard's team emerged into an open courtyard. A small helipad was in the center with hawk-like VTOL in the center. Its side mounted turrets were empty also. What was more; there were no mover drones or peppy maintenance bots. Callard took no chances.
Billy, Check the Egg Hawk. Martinez, stick with her. If there's a bomb in that armor plating, I want you to diffuse it. Joe saluted and followed Maybell to the Egg Hawk's forward Gatling gun. The belts of ammunition swayed in the light wind that entered the courtyard. A small creak was heard and Martinez raised his gun, but it turned out to just be the metal "breathing" in the heat. "See anything?" Callard called from the sidelines. "Nothing, Sarge! This bird is clean."
This was just plain disturbing to the Sergeant Major. First off, no enemies detected in the landing bay for the boat, not a single flicker of life, and suddenly a deserted Egg Hawk? Something wasn't right. Lucas' senses were tingling. You didn't just have these emotions. True, they were common for Mobians like him, but this was important. Someone was watching them. Then he saw it: A slight flash of light in a guardhouse tower. "GET DOWN!" He screamed to his squad. Maybell ducked in time but Martinez caught a bullet in his shoulder pad.
Joe got lucky. The bullet's path was right into the back of Martinez's neck. When he was told to duck, he raised his arm slightly to lower his head. The projectile nicked the padding and it flung off from the force of the blow.
"Sniper!" Callard called to his squad. "In the guard tower, sir!" Lucas proclaimed pointing to the raised metal structure." The sergeant major launched a 40mm grenade into the tower and blew it up debris flew in all directions as the tower fell with a resounding thud. Maybell looked around. "JON! My motion sensors are going crazy! I'm counting 20 blips approaching our position fast!" Callard cursed. "FUCK! They were waiting for us! How?!"
Lucas swept his head around. "We're boxed in! There's no way out!" Robots filed out of higher leveled doors. They took up firing positions and activated laser sights. The ODSTs saw their armor sport little red dots that went around them. "They're not firing!" Lucas whispered. "They're waiting for us to make a move." Callard whispered back. Then a voice crackled from the speaker systems:
"Oho! So this is the best the UNSC has to offer this time? One measly fireteam of helljumpers? Pathetic. You really are, you know. Don't bother responding so hear this: I knew you were inside my fortress the second you entered under that ship. Very ingenious. But I have to say, it wasn't enough. I can only imagine what your mission today is but one thing is for certain, you won't catch me."
That's when a rumble filled the air. Just over the mountains, a gigantic cruiser took flight. It was in the shape of a giant swordfish. Twin escort frigates followed the cruiser into the air. "This base of operations has become a giant liability for my presence. I'll have to relocate somewhere else. Good luck trying to catch me again! Ohohohoho!" The cruiser's engines flared and the strships rocketed into the sky. "Christ!" Joe muttered. "Done in again by that fat prick!" "Shut up, let me think." The sergeant growled.
Eggman's pawns were cheap tin cans. All of his fancy gadgetry went into the bigger models or his 'Mechs. Thus being said, maybe they could trick the Eggbots. "Martinez, I need you to prime two smoke grenades on your belt. No sudden movements. My back should be blocking your right arm." Martinez nodded. The smoke would blind the optical sensors of the robots. Callard looked to Lucas. "OK, furry. Activate two flares; same procedure. On my mark: three, two, one, MARK!"
Lucas and Martinez pulled the rings on their grenades. A small pop came from the smokes and a flash erupted from the flares. Immediately, a cloud of smoke enveloped the ODSTs and the cloud turned bright red. The plan worked. The smoke blinded the robots and the heat from the flares rendered their thermal imagers useless.
Two Eggbot commanders witnessed the event. E-172, the superior conversed with E-442. "What are they doing?" 172 said with curiosity, but still keeping his weapon on the four marines. "If it's a ruse, it won't work with us." 442 responded calmly. The two drones zoomed in on the cloud. Suddenly an Exception message scrolled across their HUDs:
"Wait, something's wrong." 442 said slowly. "Yeah, I see it too. Thermals are whacked up." 172 responded to his subordinate. "I can't see them!" He added angrily. The dark cloud hat showed four white men was now a shining white storm. Many robots lowered their weapons in surprise. Suddenly, the HUDs began to static up. "DAMN! Must be some chaff in there. Fall-" A hail of bullets peppered 172's faceplate. He gave a metallic groan and fell off the upper level.
"Open fire, Marines!" Callard roared. Safe within their cloud, the ODSTs began their dirty work. It began with Lucas. He sighted his weapon and sent a three-round burst into two robotic soldiers. They died instantly and a third got wounded by microshrapnel. Maybell and Martinez assisted each other in clearing section by section of Eggbots while Callard had a party with his BR55-A5 Battle Rifle. An underslung grenade shot decimated an entire platoon of the blinded troopers. Suddenly, alarms sounded and a doorway straight ahead of them opened. Callard, only wanting to get out alive, took this new road, not considering the risks.
"Through that door! Move it, Marines! MOVE IT!" Instantly, the Spec Ops soldiers ran. The tiny bits of chaff wore off and the surviving robots came to their senses. They fired multiple shots at the UNSC soldiers. A couple rounds splashed in front of Lucas. The timid Mobian lost his footing and tripped. He landed on the ground with a sharp exhale. His MA5C landed behind him. He reached. "LEAVE IT!" Maybell ordered. He grabbed Lucas' collar guard and brought him up. Big mistake. By extending her arm, Wilhelmina had made herself a bigger target. A single bullet emerged from a robot sharpshooter's sniper rifle. The heavy-caliber round tore through the sergeant's shoulder, through armor, flesh and bone.
Things happened in slow motion for Tom Lucas. He saw Sergeant Maybell's shoulder get hit, totally unlike Joe. A long spurt of blood emerged from the exit wound. It spattered Maybell's faceplate and the ground around her. She cried in pain. "BILLY!" Lucas screamed. Callard heard the noise and looked. Concern washed across his face that the others couldn't see. "Lucas! Get her in here!"
With bullets impacting the ground and glancing off his armor, Lucas summoned as much strength as he could to raise Billy over his right shoulder and carry her through the doorway. He urged himself no to look at the hole where the round tore through his superior. Not that it was only disrespectful; it was frightening to see the other side…
The squirrel set Maybell down beside a wall. He noticed that his entire arm was drenched in blood. Martinez stood by the Sergeant and injected morphine into her forearm. He also removed her helmet to allow her to take deep breaths. She coughed and pointed behind Callard.
The Sergeant Major took the hint and whipped out his M39 Beretta Combat Pistol. He squeezed four rounds into an incoming robot's face. He took one last look, checked his load and returned to Billy. She was doing better. "Sarge, how you feeling?" Lucas asked cautiously. She looked at him. "You saved my life, Lucas. I would have been shot to death if it wasn't for you." Lucas blushed, and thanked God that his helmet was mirrored. "Who the hell thought of the chaff grenade?" Callard asked. "I did." Martinez said glancing over his shoulder. "Bloody brilliant, man." Jon said approvingly. He saw that the previously disabled troopers jump to the main level. He shot the door controls and the portal snapped shut with a clang that echoed.
"How's she, then?" Callard asked. "Heh, bullet punched right through her arm. That idiota made sure it nearly got her Axillary artery. If that thing got breached, she would be as juiceless as a raisin in two minutes. She'll need a few days in a healing tank to repair the damage. The bone on the other hand can be repaired after spending a few weeks in a splint. "Fuck." Callard cursed. Martinez finished off by spraying her wound up with biofoam and wrapping a bandage around it. "Her left arm is as good as useless. She can still fire a weapon that's one handed like an M7 or an M6." She croaked, "Gimme the SMG. I'll be fine with it.
Martinez reluctantly handed over his Submash and reminded Maybell that she wouldn't be able to reload with one arm and recommended a larger mag. She took his advice with a tubular 180 round clip. "OK, Marines, we're active again. Load up, we move out in five." He turned to Lucas who was clutching a stitch in his side. "How you holding up, kid?" Tom gulped. "I lost my MA5, Sarge." Callard groaned. Tom was a bright kid, but he was very clumsy at times. He unhooked his M39 and handed it to the Mobian along with three clips of ammo. "I want that back when we find a weapon." He said. "Yes sir!" Lucas said saluting
Martinez and Callard walked a bit down the hallway. "This op is seriously fucked up." Joe complained. "Really? I thought it was within our capability." His sergeant quipped. The sarcasm made a slight swishing noise as it passed over Joe's head. "I mean, is this place really just a fortress. There are WAY too many robots for that. They came up to a room and gasped.
They must have been under the mountains because the room was HUGE. Iron forges dripped molten metal into assembly lines. Robots skittered across catwalks to attend to mechanisms. Presses made armor, weapons, and components and somewhere in the distance, a battleship's engines flared up. Callard came to the realization. "This isn't a fortress. It's a factory. "Ah shit." Joe muttered.
