Chapter 4: Battle Cries
Everyone's had a déjà vu right? Yeah, I've had them before, and I personally think they can be kind of creepy, especially when you sit there forever thinking I've seen this before…but where! Only this time my déjà vu is probably something you've never experienced before, and I hope you never have to because it hurts like hell; the searing pain of a plasma bolt caught me in the arm. It was just like the first time I had felt that pain back when my base was attacked. It was excruciating and I cried out, remembering perfectly well where I had felt this one before.
So why was I getting hit with plasma? Because someone up high on the chain of command had decided I needed to be reassigned to Fox Company and fight on the front lines. Those assholes, I vehemently hated them all as I clenched my arm and wrapped a white cloth around the burn mark. I shook my head clear of the pain when I heard the familiar cry for help somewhere across the battle field. My hate turned to concern and I rushed towards the sound, taking cover where I could behind smashed warthogs, crashed hornets, and fallen trees.
After that eventful night with the Arbiter I had met my squad in the barracks of the Dawn. They were a tough group of marines and seemed to me to have a lot of potential. They welcomed me warmly, despite the fact I was late, and all seemed to be glad I was a part of their team…well all of them that is except Corporal Sofia Dylan. There's always got to be that person that just has to hate you for some reason no matter how nice you try to be. That was Sofia in my case. She glared at me with those dark brown eyes when I first introduced myself and was very short when speaking to me. I really didn't see what her problem was. She was definitely a better soldier than I was and not to mention far prettier than me as well. She had that satiny dark brown hair and bronze skin that would make most guys look twice.
The rest of them were nice enough. There was our Gunnery Sergeant, Bruce Pike, he was in charge of Fox company. Then there was Private First Class Hendricks and Private First Class Wang who were both eagerly looking to get promoted soon. Last but not least was Sergeant Calloway. He was Pike's second in command and one tough customer I can tell you that. I was to be their medic, and once introductions were made and that was established I was eager to go to bed, especially when they informed me that we would be assisting the ODSTs to drive more Covenant from another planet that was being attacked. We were deploying within the next ten hours.
"It seems to me like the Covenant is looking for something," Calloway had told me. "Why else would they be ransacking planets?"
I took that into consideration as I went to bed. He was right, but just how right was he, and what were they looking for?
But, hey, that was all a flashback to relatively happier times. Right now I was in the middle of the battle on that planet we were transported down to, Epsilon 7. I had gotten separated from my team at the start. The fight was already raging when our company jumped off the pelican and things were getting hot. We had to split to find cover and since then I had just been making my way from one wounded soldier to the next. There seemed to be an endless supply of those who needed help.
Thankfully, though, it seemed like our side was winning. There was no Covenant cruiser in the area to cause problems for the Dawn. We were basically just taking out an alien base that had already been established. Of course we had the ODSTs fighting with us, and did I mention the Master Chief and the Arbiter too? Luck seemed to be on our side. The Arbiter had even brought a bunch of Elites to help out. I was beginning to see the value of have aliens on our side for once!
So I was currently running through the vegetation and carnage, trying to get to that call for help I had heard moments ago, when I couldn't hear it anymore. I stopped and tried to be as still as I could in hope I might pick it up again over the sounds of gunfire and machine engines, but I never could. I prayed another medic had gotten to him and quieted him down rather than him being dead, but there was no way I would ever know. The pain in my arm started up again as I reverted back into my depressed state about the whole business. War was terrible, and it seemed like it would never end.
Another cry sounded out over the battlefield and I whipped my head around, determining the direction it was coming from. I sprinted quickly that way, medical bag banging on my thigh as I prayed I wouldn't be too late this time. The cries kept getting louder and louder so I knew I was headed in the right direction, but I was stressed and scared, the only thing my mind was thinking about at the time was getting there, so it wasn't until I was right on top of him that I realized the cries I had heard were different. They weren't the sound of a human voice; they were deeper, louder, and almost animal like. They were, as I soon found out when I stumbled upon him and almost screamed in fright, the cries of an Elite warrior in a lot of pain.
So what was I supposed to do? Here I was standing in complete shock next to a very large alien who was just now noticing I was there. My medical bag hung limp in my hand where I had been preparing it to help a fellow human and my heart pounded in my chest to the point I was sure anyone near could hear it. The Elite was trapped by his legs under a Covenant tank known by us as a "wraith." I assumed he was helping to destroy it and got caught underneath. I wondered why none of his kind had helped him out from under it, but all thoughts I had had on the subject were soon erased from my mind when I saw that he was watching me.
I was first alerted to the fact he knew I was there when I noticed he had stopped growling and was now completely silent. He had also stilled and wasn't struggling against the weight of the tank in order to free himself, but the big indicator was the forceful stare I felt from his large brown eyes burrowing deep into my skull. We both stared at each other as the battle raged on all around us; the elite daring me to make a move and me not daring to even breathe. I wondered how long we'd be locked in each other's gaze. From what I know about Elites, a hell of a long time, I finally thought to myself. So, eager to make as good of an impression as I could…and also to avoid the bullets that were flying over my head…I knelt down very slowly to my knees in front of him. He followed my actions with his eyes, and when he saw I was making no other moves, he slowly gestured towards an alien plasma pistol lying a few feet out of his reach.
Now I'm no expert on Elites, but it seemed he wanted me to give it to him. I certainly didn't see any reason too, though. All he could possibly do with it was shoot himself or me, neither of which sounded like good options, so I shook my head and told him no. I assumed he would know what that meant, who doesn't know what "no" means, but whatever he got from my response made him fighting mad and he started to growl again and shove at the tank with his powerful arms, shaking it but not able to move it. He was pointedly ignoring me, I could tell. Fine, if you want to be that way then by all means, knock yourself out.
I looked around the area we were in and my gaze fell on an abandoned warthog off to one side near a small hill. An idea suddenly sprang into my head and, without thinking about what a stupid idea it really was, I dashed over to the armored vehicle and jumped in the driver's seat. It started with a loud rumble and I backed it up a considerable distance from the tank, straightened it out, and floored it straight towards the wraith. I'm sure you can see all the flaws with this plan, but hey, it was a spur of the moment thing and I didn't really see any other way to get that alien out from under the tank. Luckily nothing that could have gone wrong did…except for the part when the warthog slammed into the side of the tank and I went flying out of the front, over the tank, and landed with a thud in the dirt on the other side. This was an extreme shock for the Elite as he watched me with wide eyes catapult over his head after I had purposefully crashed into the side of a tank. The overall outcome was the tank moved from the impact just enough so that the Elite could move his lower half out from under it. I'd say mission success, for the most part.
I picked myself up off the ground, shakily checking for broken bones and satisfied that I didn't find any. There were bruises and scrapes, but nothing I couldn't live with. I then turned my attention to the Elite I had just rescued. He was standing up, blue battle armor all covered in mud and dirt, and when he had finally gotten shakily to his feet, he fell over again after yelping in a dog like manner. I would like to point out though it was amazing how he fell back down with so much grace. He didn't just collapse like I would have, but he sort of just softly and calmly lay back down in the dirt, though it was obvious he was in pain. I couldn't imagine how something that big could fall with that much agility. I then noticed the indigo colored blood seeping from a wound in his left leg.
I ran over to his side, thinking nothing of my own safety, and kicked the plasma pistol away that he had started reaching for again. He roared vehemently at me, his quadruple hinged jaws spread wide open so that his four mandibles were just inches from my face. His hot sticky breath blew forcefully in my face and I cringed at the putrid meat like smell. I'll admit, it scared the shit out of me, but I'm a medic and he was an ally. I had a job to do and no matter how much he protested he wasn't going to stop me…unless he killed me, then I would be dead and he could shoot himself if he wanted.
"Oh shut up!" I yelled at him, sick and tired of being treated like I wasn't wanted. "I'm going to take a look at that leg and you are going to sit still and let me."
He growled again and scooted away from me, hatred for me and what I was trying to do boiled in his eyes that were already glazed over with pain. I tried to approach him again and this time he pushed me away and I flew backwards a couple feet. These guys were a lot stronger than I thought!
"All right, I didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice," I mumbled and pulled out my sedative supply. I wasn't really sure how much to give him, so I figured I'd quadruple the amount I'd give a regular human and hopefully it wouldn't kill him. Now to get close enough to inject him with it.
I stood back up, brushed myself off again, and circled him. The Elite watched me move around him and roared warningly at me telling me to stay away. I kept coming, determination driving me on, and when I was just out of his reach I stopped, tensed, and jumped at him. I felt the needle on the sedation shot plunge into his tough gray skin and then snap off as he violently twisted and threw me to the ground again. He seemed to laugh at my feeble attempts to save his life, but then stopped laughing after awhile and suddenly became very still. I looked up from the ground with a triumphant grin. It seems the amount of sedative I had given him hadn't been enough to knock him out, but it was enough to make him limp and unable to move. Another successful mission completed; maybe this battle wasn't turning out so bad after all.
Picking up my bag of supplies, I walked back over to him again and knelt down beside the injured leg. I could see the big gash where something sharp had ripped into his flesh, but I knew there was probably something else wrong since the wound, though very deep and painful looking, probably wouldn't cause a full grown Elite male to be unable to stand on it. I was probably going to have to feel it a little to see if there were any broken bones, a task I was pretty nervous about doing. I was used to dealing with human bodies and there wasn't much in the way of human anatomy that I was uneasy attending too, but Elite anatomy was a whole new world to me and it just didn't feel natural being so close to a seemingly indestructible life form and realizing that they bled and felt pain too.
I hesitated to touch him, feeling as if something terrible would occur the moment I did, but there was a slight curiosity that pushed me on and I let my sweaty, trembling hands finally come to rest on his lower leg where the injury was. I stole a look at the Elite to see what his reaction was and all I got was more of that fiery hatred reflected in his eyes as he stared at me, chest heaving up and down in rage. I knew all he wanted to do was get me back for what I was doing to him, so I decided to work as quickly as possible.
There was a plate of armor partly covering the gash so I used a pair of heavy duty scissors, built for cutting through pieces of equipment, on the tight bindings that held the armor in place. I heard him huff as I removed the armor, but he didn't really make any more loud noises and threats. I think he realized there was nothing he could do about his situation. The first thing I noticed once his leg was more visible was that his leg structure was very different from a human leg. It was a lot more similar to that of a dog or cat where his "feet" were actually the bones of his toes, and what would correspond to the human ankle was positioned higher up on him. If you have a pet dog or cat, just look at their back legs and you'll see what I mean. His knees also seemed to bend forward rather than backwards, so you can see how stumped I had become just by looking at his leg. It was almost as if he needed a vet, not a doctor.
Well, even if his leg was weird I still knew how to tell if a bone was broken, so I gently began to feel along the lower half of his leg where the wound was located. As my hands moved against his skin he grunted and I couldn't tell if it was because it hurt or because he felt just as weird being touched by me as I did touching him. As soon as I found the break in his leg I set it back in place, which took a lot of work since Elite legs are heavier than human ones, and then filled the wound with biofoam. I wrapped a protective covering around it to hold it in place, though the biofoam should do the majority of the job, and then surveyed my work.
It was messy, and I probably did everything completely wrong, but I had at least tried to help an injured ally who's anatomy I knew nothing about. Satisfied that I could do no more for the wound I turned my attention to the patient. He hadn't made another indication of discomfort, even after the stinging biofoam, and seemed to be putting on a very brave front. He was still clearly angry with me, but now, for some odd reason, he also seemed to be somewhat sad, like he was disappointed with himself. He turned his angry eyes away from me and did not look at me again for the rest of the time I stood there. I wasn't sure what else to do; I couldn't move him because he was too heavy. So I made sure the area was relatively safe and placed a retrieval beacon next to him so that any passing evacuation transport would be able to find him. I felt bad about just leaving him there unable to move after I had caused him so much stress, but there was nothing else I could do and there were more people out there that could use a medic.
"You're gonna be okay," I said, even though he couldn't understand me, "I'm sure someone will find you." He continued to avert his gaze from mine and I finally gave up and sprinted back into the fight. Some thanks for saving his life.
Unfortunately for me that was not to be the last of my encounters with our alien allies during the battle. After I had patched up a kid with a missing eye and a girl who had received serious face burns from a heated plasma charge, I came across another Elite collapsed on the ground. Most of the other marines in the area were moving around him and continuing on, but I stopped to check him out. This one was near unconsciousness and was a lot easier to work with than the first. A plasma bolt had taken about half of his face off and he was lying on his back, again reaching for any weapon he could find. I applied antiseptic to the wound and bandaged his face grateful that the blast hadn't damaged his brain. He may be missing and eye and would only be able to hear out of one ear, but at least he would live. I placed another beacon next to him as well and moved on to the next patient I could find.
I had by now doctored a few more soldiers as well as two other Elites, but this time I was faced with a tough situation. I was attending to yet another unconscious Elite I had come across when right next to me a fellow marine fell to the ground with a pink needle from a "needler" protruding from his thigh. I had never been hit by one, but those things looked painful as I had seen them blow a soldier into pieces. I winced when the needle in the marine's leg exploded and sent chunks of his thigh flying. He screamed, of course, and yelled out for a medic. I was nearly finished with the Elite I was working on and told him to hold on a little longer and that I'd be right there. That was when things started to get a little nasty.
"What! What the hell do you mean by that! You're not going to keep working on that alien when you could be helping me are you?" he shouted at me, enraged that I hadn't rushed to his assistance right away.
"Um, yeah, I am. I was helping him first," I replied and turned back to the alien. I had to keep my mind on the job and finish up fast because the Elite was starting to stir.
"I can't believe this! The son of a bitch is an alien! I'm a human! Are you betraying your own race here?" he yelled again. He was clearly enraged and the pain he was feeling wasn't helping the situation. I knew how hard battle could be on the mind and nerves so I tried not to snap back at him to calm him down, but you couldn't really blame me if I sounded a little sharp.
"He's our ally and has just as much right as you do to be treated. You're wound really isn't that bad. I'm sure you can hold out a little longer."
The Elite started to slowly open his eyes and I felt his muscles tense underneath my hands, he knew something wasn't right and I wanted to get out of his way by the time he fully came around, unfortunately the marine had other thoughts in mind and I felt my arm being forcefully grabbed as he pulled me down to his face. His eyes were all scrunched up and he was red in the face as he said in a voice full of held back fury, "Now you listen here, bitch, I am in a lot of pain and you had better get the hell over here and fix me up. No alien life is worth mine! He's probably killed more of us than I have of them. Now I will have you court marshaled unless you do as I say."
I looked at his jacket and saw the Warrant Officer bars on his sleeve. Oh shit, I thought as I saw what he said was true. I could get into a lot of trouble for this…but it just wasn't right. He had no right to threaten me in that way and he had no right to take medical care away from someone just because he couldn't deal with pain and because he had something against them. I didn't care who he was and what he threatened me with, I was going to finish my job.
I ripped my arm out of his and turned back to the Elite to finish what I was doing. By now, however, the alien was wide awake and was staring at me. He hadn't made any moves against me, which was surprising when all of the others I had worked with had. It was as if he was in shock that I had disobeyed a direct order to help him, but I didn't have a chance to find out more because the Warrant Officer had now grabbed me again and angrily yanked me away. I was terrified, but thankfully never found out what he might have done to me because my rescuer arrived just in time.
The strong, iron hard hand of the giant Spartan II pulled me away from the anger driven Warrant Officer and pushed me behind his massive frame as he turned to glare at the man who had treated me so harshly.
"I would suggest saving your anger for the enemy, Sir," The Master Chief said. The Warrant Officer said nothing and remained on the ground, staring up at the Master Chief. Nobody wanted to mess with the thousand pound Spartan, not even the angry Warrant Officer. All I could do was finally breathe in relief and thank God in heaven for the Spartan that I had now come to respect a great deal more.
A warthog drove up from behind a hill, bouncing on it's shock absorbent springs, and came to a halt near where we stood. I saw another medic jump out and run to the Warrant Officer's wounded leg. A couple more men, that had been in the warthog with the other medic, jumped out as well and helped to lift the Warrant Officer off the ground and place him in the back of the armored vehicle. I was relieved they were taking him away, but as he was placed into the back of the ATV he glared back at me where I stood with the Master Chief and I got the feeling I wasn't seeing the last of him.
One of the men stayed behind as they drove away with the wounded warrant officer and turned towards me with a smile. The dirt and grime that covered his face hid a lot of his features, but the smile and the green eyes gave it all away, it was Jet.
"Hey, Zoey!" he said, "Didn't you here? We won! Mission success and we're pulling the wounded out."
"What…it seemed like it just started," I replied, a little confused.
"I know, but it's over now. I've agreed to help the Master Chief escort you back to the Dawn. It seems like there is something that the Commander would like to discuss with you," he explained.
"What, what did I do?" I asked alarmed.
"That will be revealed in time. Follow me," the Master Chief cut in.
The Spartan started to walk away, but I stopped him asking, "What about him?" And I pointed to the Elite that was silently watching the whole seen from the ground. His arm was still oozing indigo blood from where pieces of debris had gotten stuck. I had removed the debris, but hadn't had time to close him up.
The Spartan thought about it for a moment and then said, "Given the situation I think it's best we leave him here. The other Sangheili will look after him."
He moved off again and this time Jet gently pushed me from behind, giving me a sympathetic glance, and I reluctantly followed the Spartan back towards the Dawn. I guess I was in a lot of trouble…but for what I didn't know.
Thank you, thank you for your awesome reviews everyone! Now I have to study for a quiz I've got tomorrow, so I'll see y'all next update when we see what else Zoey can get herself into!
