3: Rescue
August 2571
Ancora
Lake Razelm
Red Team crested a hill, and finally caught sight of Lake Razelm. The river from Mt Valvur rolled around the mountain and weaved through endless spurs, before ending up in the lake. It looked like a partially unravelled ball of blue yarn. Between the lake and the SPARTANs was a dusty plateau, with a rocky mesa jutting out of the ground at uneven angles, and several canyons etched into the ground.
"Damn, it didn't look this far from inside the Phantom." Colin grunted, barely able to make out the glittering turquoise waters of the distant lake. He craned his neck and saw that the lake stretched for on for miles on either side. The left side went past the horizon, the right side was the river that went to the mountain. As his eyes scanned the lake, he saw some blocks of what appeared to be houses.
"You didn't say that we're going to a village, did you sir?" he asked Joshua, already dreading the answer.
"I did, why?"
"Cos it's on the other side of the lake."
"Then we'll go around, it's a lake isn't it?"
"It isn't"
"What? Why isn't..." Joshua trailed off as he too saw that the lake stretched on for miles on either side. Much more of an extremely wide river than a typical lake. "No wonder they went to the mine."
"Well, I ain't swimming today" He shook his head, there had to be another way.
"Red One! Scout out ahead; find another way across the lake. Use your camo, stay hidden and watch out for Brutes."
"I have done this before you know," Lora replied. Her armour shimmered, before she was enveloped with transparency.
"Not here you haven't" Joshua briefly flicked on his thermographic camera, and saw footprints that glowed white against the red rock.
This was the Covenant's active camouflage's only flaw. They would be perfectly invisible to the naked eye, but would light up a thermal imaging camera like a firework.
Human had active camouflage that carried all the heat of the user, and released it into the ground. From a distance, even thermal imaging cameras couldn't make out the user. The irony was that humans had reverse-engineered the technology from captured Elite Combat Harnesses. And then when the official treaty was made between the two species, and technology shared, the Elites also updated their systems with the idea.
Joshua approached Vidar, who seemed particularly content with his new armament.
During the Phantom journey, he had asked the Elites if he could 'borrow' a Type-42 Directed Energy Weapon. He had seen its elongated barrel protruding from their crate, seemingly unwanted by them.
Desiring no need for such a weapon on a stealth mission, the Elites had wholeheartedly agreed.
The Type 42 Plasma Cannon was less powerful than the more recent Type 52s that were attached to the Phantom, but it was a lot more compact and didn't hinder mobility as much. The weapon was a dark shade of green, as most Sangheili ordinance, and was essentially a much larger version of their fundamental weapon, the plasma rifle.
Vidar now possessed four weapons; including his dual M7 Sub-machine guns stuck to the outside of his thighs, and the battle rifle on his back. Joshua assumed the plasma cannon was to be dropped in an overwhelming situation.
Vidar caught Joshua staring at plasma cannon, and laughed hoarsely.
Years ago, Joshua first thought that the SPARTAN had tuned his helmets speakers to deliver that harsh voice, but no.
His voice had always sounded like that, as if he had a constant sore throat. Vidar's thyroid augmentations had had some side-effect, and probably caused some permanent damage to his larynx. He seldom talked, never mind laughed.
Joshua guessed it must have been his lucky day, before Colin spotted something and instinctively levelled his plasma rifle.
"Multiple contacts up ahead. Four Minors, one Ultra"
Joshua briskly jogged forward, stopping before Colin. Then he saw the Brutes. They were walking nonchalantly towards the lake; great hairy paws flying up and down, trying to make a point. They were obviously in a deep discussion.
Joshua immediately contacted Lora, astounded at how she had missed the patrol.
"Lora?" He waited for a reply as Vidar caught up, setting his plasma cannon down and resting his hands upon his hips. "Red One, please respond."
"This is Red One responding. Red Leader?"
"We have five contacts below the ridge. You see 'em?"
"Negative. I'm already at the lake."
"What..." He choked on his sentence and coughed. "Already? Hmm... Make your way back, as soon as the first Brute falls, you are to engage" He wanted the Brutes to be under the illusion that the SPARTANs were outnumbered. Lora would surprise them while their backs were turned. He activated TEAMCOM.
"Colin? You engage directly. Vidar? You and I will find higher ground and provide suppressing fire. Lora will flank and finish."
"Copy that, sir" the three replies came simultaneously.
Joshua ran up the small valley that provided a direct line of fire on the unsuspecting Brutes below. He saw Vidar heft the plasma cannon and trace his steps, he would be much more suited to the role. But where he had to expose his whole body to fire, Joshua only had to reveal his BR over the edge.
Colin ran straight at the pack of meandering Brutes, making a beeline for the rear guard. When he was around fifty meters away, he slowed down and reached for a plasma grenade. He lifted his arm and waited.
"On my mark," Joshua went prone, his crosshair landed upon a Brute's ugly, bald head. He was mere milliseconds away from pressing the trigger when a sharp beep coursed through his armour.
"I have received a message from the Elites, it is on the E-band" a calm, female voice told him. "Shall I present it on screen?"
The voice belonged to Hysi, the AI assigned to Red Team. Hysi was a sixth-generation 'smart AI'. She sounded Scandinavian and her accent deepened when using more processing power. In times of nearly zero activity – such as now – she sounded eerily calm.
"Go on"
His mission objectives were replaced by the message. 'Brutes took one of my warriors. Need AI assistance. Please make haste!'
Hysi's miniature figure in the corner of Joshua's HUD put its hands on its hips. "I like it when I'm wanted"
He stifled a laugh, shook his head and opened TEAMCOM.
"Mark", he had to deal with these Brutes first. He saw the plasma grenade fly upwards, aimed at the centre of the patrol. Just before it landed, he squeezed the trigger.
The Brue jerked its head to the side from the blow, and its shields flared. The rest of the Brutes reacted with a growl and spotted Colin. With impeccable timing, the grenade exploded, draining the shields of three Brutes. Joshua shot his target again, and caught without shields, the anti-material bullets pierced clean through its skull.
Two loud cracks rang out, and the other two Brutes dropped. The Ultra turned around to face the new threat and sprayed plasma wildly in Lora's direction.
Joshua looked up to see Lora's camo flicker as she caught some shots to her chest. She ducked, and the curvature of the valley blocked the rest of the plasma.
Its plasma rifle overheated, and the Ultra rolled behind a boulder. In doing so, it unknowingly presented its back to Vidar, who unleashed a hail of plasma. The plasma quickly caused its shields to fail, and Joshua shot it once in the head. It fell without a sound. The remaining Brute went berserk and threw its Spiker Rifle at Colin, then charged at him.
Lora shot it twice in quick succession. However, the impact of the first shot forced the Brute's head down, and the second shot sailed overhead.
Colin stepped back to avoid a massive fist. Then he took a step to the side and shoved his plasma rifle into the bewildered alien's face, destroying it's already damaged shields. As the Brute reeled back, the SPARTAN melted its face off with a few rounds of plasma. The Brute fell onto its back, missing half a head.
Joshua stood up and observed the carnage.
"Colin and Lora, tidy up this area. There are probably more patrols and this mess'll blow our cover." He pressed something on his gauntlet's mini datapad. "And Hysi? Give everyone the message."
"Done"
He glanced at Vidar in time to see him shake his head.
"How did they get caught? I thought they were invisible."
Joshua shrugged. "That's all I got"
The SPARTANs doubled timed it back to the mine, weaving in and out of trees. Colin was by far the fastest of the four and was already talking to the Elites when Joshua came up to the door.
"We're here, what happened?" He asked. Colin turned to face Joshua and walked up to him.
"They say they were ambushed by two Brutes when they tried to go inside. The Brutes shot and took one of the Elites. One of his hearts has experienced an SCA so he is unconscious." He pointed to a terminal embedded in the ground. "They needed something to bypass the firewalls on the security terminal, so they called us."
Joshua walked over to the terminal and observed it.
"Hysi?"
"Yes sir?"
"There aren't any ports, can you find any wireless connections?"
"Yes, permission to go aboard?"
"Open the door. And you might want to leave a sub-routine in the system to open further doors and to check surveillance."
"On it."
The doors opened, and the Joshua saw the Elites crouch down and take point. The adjacent room was actually a corridor, and it was empty. Purple blood left a trail from the terminal into the depths of the corridor.
"All surveillance systems were disabled. I can't see anything. The encryption used here was far more complex than the usual Brute tech. Something...seems wrong"
"Like what?" Joshua saw the two Elites follow the blood trail. Colin turned around and pointed at himself, then the Elites. Joshua shook his head.
"As soon as I break through a firewall; another, more complicated one immediately pops ups. It's like I'm being tested."
"Another AI?"
"Probably not, but I can't make direct contact." Hysi's Scandinavian brogue was deepening significantly. "It seems pretty powerful"
"Get out of there, now"
"Not as powerful as me though"
"Now!"
Joshua shivered as the brief freezing effect took place when Hysi reluctantly returned to his armour. She resided in the gel/crystal layers between his underlay and the metal plates, helping to quicken his already incredible reflexes.
"I could have easily beaten a first generation Brute AI. You've got to let me try."
"No, I can't afford to lose you. Perhaps once the mission is over I'll le..."
"Your choice" She interrupted, "But if it were up to me, I'd want it over and done with"
Joshua didn't want to spend time arguing with an AI when one of his allies was literally bleeding out. They needed Hysi in this mission. Captain Wilson, their ONI operative, had tasked them with a secret secondary objective: to gather as much info on the Elites as possible. It was the reason why something as precious as an AI was given to Red Team in the first place.
Joshua called his team forward, they needed to talk.
