Chapter 4: New Rivals, Old Rivals.
Location: Dante Inner Sphere, Lyran controlled space.
Date: 3073 AD. February 2nd 20:54 GST.
Word of Blake jump ship: Destiny
Disclaimer: I don't own mechwarrior, or Halo. Microsoft does. And er. Bungie gets the credit for Halo.
Preceptor Jerome Trent paced the deck of his ship. "Where did this infidel ship go?" He glared at the subordinate that had clasped his hands behind his back and stood rigid to face him.
"Sir. We have input the exact coordinates we received from the satellite; Blessed Blake has made this easy, for we shall intercept them soon." He smiled pleasantly as the appeased commander relaxed.
"That thorn in our side will be ours at last; that mercenary scum will pay for all their obstinacies." He paused. "Just like the Wolf's Dragoons."
The subordinate bowed.
"Make the jump." The Preceptor ordered as he turned to face the window.
"Blake's will be done." The subordinate stated as he turned on his heel and walked off.
The large jump ship accelerated to FTL speeds and entered the same anomaly that transported Specter to the alternate reality. But the WOB ship had a more awkward exit, one that included a solar wind "storm" and debris. As soon as the jump ship had entered normal space there were alarms and quick orders sent throughout all the ships connected to the jump ship.
"Sir!" One of the officers yelled above the others. "There is a strange anomaly, a distortion in space of the port bow! An object is near it, it appears to be a human!"
"Pick it up." The Preceptor ordered as he brushed the front of his red robe out of the way.
One of the drop ships detached from the jump ship and flew toward the object of interest. Once it was close, the hangar door of the spherical Hrothgar opened and several techs in space suits attached to life-lines floated toward the human.
From the nearby view-screen the Preceptor watched as they grappled with a tall, large, green armored figure that had the built of a colossus. They finally tethered it and brought it slowly back into the ship. Once they had piloted the drop ship back into the locks of the jump ship, an onboard vision came in on the screen. The newly captured figure was in the medical ward and they were busy trying to take the armor off. But as hard as they tried, they could not de-active the energy shielding that surrounded it, so as to take off the plating.
In annoyance the Preceptor finally intervened. "If it is Blake's will he will wake. Leave him be!"
The doctors shrugged and left the room, completely empty. One of the techs appeared on the monitor with his report. "Honored one," he began, "he appears to be alive, but he was out in the void for a long time, several hours I would think. But… his air supply lasted him long enough for us to rescue him."
"How is his air now?" Jerome asked.
"As soon as we had brought him into a stabilized atmosphere his suit vented the remaining air and began to cycle a fresh supply. He will be fine in a couple hours." The tech smiled and then walked back to a large thirteen meter mech that stood behind him, an Atlas, one of the great assault mechs of the time. The Atlas was a humanoid machine that had a skull-like head with red eyes that the pilot used as windshields. The arms housed gauss rifles and Particle projector cannons. The Atlas was also heavy enough to equip a small amount a missiles, small lasers, and an Anti-missile system, simply called AMS.
The tech was grinning at his leader. "Your primary mech is fully repaired from your last encounter with the mercs. Do you like the new color scheme?"
The Atlas was painted black, with blood-red detailing and a hand-print on the thighs and left shoulder that looked like it was placed with blood dripping down it.
The Preceptor grinned as well. "Well done."
"Hello? How many fingers am I holding up?" Cortana's worried voice woke the Chief from his dazed state. "Finally!" she complained. "I don't know where we are, but this is not a Covenant ship."
"How long?" The chief paused. "Aren't you supposed to be on the Dawn?"
"Technically, but I couldn't let you die in space." Her tone changed to one that held worry. "After you fell unconscious, you were about to fall out of the ship again, and I entered your suit as you slipped by. That is before using your momentum to get through the portal to here…"
He didn't say anything; after all she was in his head. Instead he swung his legs over the edge of the bed; it creaked terribly, and walked toward the door. But as he looked at the emblem on the door, a red open hand, he stopped.
"Cortana, what is that?"
"I'm not sure, maybe it is a pirate symbol, or from one of the rebel factions. But if it is either of those, we need to get out of here fast." The urgency in her voice was unnecessary because he already felt his stomach knot not from fear, but from annoyance at the prospect of another war.
He approached the door, but it did not open, he had to force it in his own way before Cortana had the chance to find a way to unlock it.
"I am a very valuable part of this team. Use me for what I'm good at." She commented.
"Ok. Where do I go?" The chief waited in the empty hall until she replied.
"We are in a large installation, it looks like one large station with multiple ships docked on it, we are in one of them. Head this way, I'll give you directions on the way, there seems to be a docking bay for some fighters over at this marker."
The chief mentally nodded and ran at full speed; he moved like a blur to the end of the hall and kicked off the wall to make a turn at full speed. He had a clear shot so far, being merely fifty meters from the door, he stopped. Thus far, he had only encountered a few people, they looked like doctors and techs, but their alarmed cries didn't slow him down one mille-second.
He dashed to the door; it was locked, and sounded very busy on the other side. Machines and people were working loud and hard and didn't notice that he had forced the door. The large hangar had a metal door cutting it off from space, and there were four fighters of different shapes and sizes and designs lined up in front of it.
John looked at the pad of paper nailed hastily by the door and read it. There was a duty roster showing who was on duty and when they signed out. And there was a list of the fighters and the reports on them. John took them down and let Cortana absorb the information before quickly placing the sheets back before someone noticed their absence.
"Chief, we won't have to wait long; they are going off duty in fifteen minutes. Also, if you want my advice on which fighter to steal," Cortana paused, "Take the one at the end. The streamlined one with the VTOL engine installed."
"Why?"
"That one, is faster, more fuel efficient, kept in the best condition, easiest to keep that way, has better weaponry, has anti-radar systems, and anti-missile systems… Why would a human fighter have anti-missile systems?" Cortana mused.
"Only because they fight other humans, the Covenant doesn't use that technology." The chief confirmed. "They are an enemy."
"Agreed, we need to find a way to sneak out of here and link up with a comm. Buoy and inform High com." The chief could hear the tension in her voice.
"Calm down… They are packing up." He said as much for her and for himself.
The techs finished with their work, signed the roster and left the room with the lights off and an unlocked door.
"Get over to that fighter and get in fast!" Cortana complained and groaned inwardly as she could not control his movements.
The chief was beside the fighter in moments; he popped the seal of the cock-pit's shield and climbed in. He inserted Cortana into the fighter's computer and waited for her analysis.
"Nice fighter. Nice design." She hummed. "Overriding security and unlocking all controls. And uh, don't power up until I tell you."
The chief followed her instructions and she ordered him to unplug the cable from a helmet that sat on the arm of the command couch and plugged it into the back of his own helmet. He waited for a few more seconds until Cortana urged him to power up while the hangar door opened to reveal space.
The VTOL turbine spouted fire and lifted the fighter off the ground. The chief then pushed the joystick forward and shot from the hangar into the cold of space. It was then that Cortana got a good look at the station.
"Oh my!" She exclaimed. "That is not a station; it is a giant ship, all engines and clamps to carry other ships!"
"Get a communiqué ready, I'm searching for the nearest comm. Buoy to deliver the message. Where are we?"
"We are in what was left of Reach after it was detonated by our NOVA." He frowned on the console. "They didn't let me tell you earlier, but now that they think you are dead…" She smirked, "Oh well."
"Are there any probes?" He asked hopefully.
"Actually yes, ever since the Covenant left this system, we replaced probes and spy satellites so we could still detect Covenant movements." Cortana linked to the nearest Comm. buoy and sent the message under the UNSC E-band to the brass at High Com.
"How far can we get with this?" The chief asked.
"We cannot leave this system." Cortana replied sadly. "This fighter is for short range/distance fighting an atmosphere or in orbit. And it does not carry a slip-drive."
"Alright, land us on one of these large asteroids and send our coordinates for pick-up with that message."
"I already sent it."
The chief leaned his head back. "Then send another message after it with our location and request for pick-up."
Cortana shrugged on the console and made it look like she was throwing an envelope toward the buoy. Then she piloted the fighter and made sure that it would not leave the spot she landed, and turned off all non-essential elements of the craft.
Back on the mercenary drop ship Specter was having a relaxing time. Or what he might call relaxing after his recent fight with the unknown. The salvage turned up a few odd items; plasma weaponry for one, and the strange alien metal they salvaged from the wreck.
Gator had been found, in a strange state; he had been hanging from a cliff edge by his parachute and hadn't had the heart to disconnect the cables. Of course, now there were two injured crew that came from his own personal team. The alien was quite impressed by the performance of Specter's lance and recently invited them aboard his ship so they could tell him all about.
Specter was walking down the hall in the direction of the jump ship's hangar; it carried a civilian shuttle that he could use to fly into the alien docking bay.
He chose Falcon and Hannibal to come with him, Hannibal he had known the longest, and Falcon was undisputedly his most talented pilot. He wasn't far from the hangar, the jump-ship was not as "professional" as his ship, and it bugged him somehow. The square, angular, nondescript walls of the metal hallway were silent as he was one of the few people traversing through that particular hall.
As he passed through the sliding metal doors to the hangar he caught a glimpse of Falcon sitting in the pilot's seat of the shuttle and Hannibal sitting in one of the leather chairs that occupied the back. The shuttle was exactly what it looked like; a shuttle, for carrying people short distances through space. It was a rounded, angular shaped vehicle that looked rather expensive.
Once Specter came in through the rounded door, he looked at Falcon and shook his head, "no".
She huffed and got up and sat next to Hannibal, who held the old look of "I told you so." She didn't like it, and punched him in the shoulder.
Specter ignored their fight as he sat comfortably in the pilot's seat. "Right where I belong." He thought. He powered up the shuttle, and the alarm went off in the hangar. Pretty soon Castle's voice came over the line; "Hangar three, warning, bulkhead doors opening in five." The whole room was cleared, and the doors groaned open at a slow pace.
Once the door was completely open, Specter gunned the shuttle's engines and jetted from the jump ship. "Lose your lunch!" He screamed happily as he pulled a loop outside the ship.
The bulbous alien vessel came into view, and he steered for the open hangar that graced its starboard side. As he neared the ship, he noticed how some of the scarring had been repaired, and so fast.
He flew into the hangar gently, and it was closed off from space by a plasma shield. He landed and settled the shuttle with a little rocking on purpose, and got a grimace from his friends.
The circular door popped its seal and opened with a hiss. Specter stepped out and looked around at the empty hangar and sighed. Half a second later, he was flanked by Hannibal and Falcon. He stepped toward the only door that didn't have a red light indicating it was locked and peered into the empty hall.
"Come on!" He complained. "Anybody home?"
There was a high-pitched chattering noise behind him; Specter whirled around to see what it was. What met his eyes made him jump, what he saw was what the Covenant called Huragok, an engineer. The purple blob of jelly was floating on a strange bladder looking item, and making happy noises as it repaired the wall with its hands, or what could be called hands. They spread into tiny cilia and worked on a minute level.
The creature ignored him, even as he poked it with his finger in the side. Specter laughed, quite disgusted. "What is that thing?"
While he was enjoying himself by tickling the engineer's back, an annoyed elite came from behind him and shouted after him.
"Stop that!" He ran up to meet them. "Don't do that, your hands are dirty, and it distracts him."
"Are you here to lead us to the Shipmaster?" Hannibal inquired.
"Follow me." The alien spat.
Specter and the others followed their guide into a gravity lift at the end of an adjoining hall. He floated up first, and the others followed. Specter exclaimed sharply as the weird sensation brought him to a higher level. They continued following him until he pointed to a door to their right. The door parted for them and they walked into what looked like a common room. There were several couches, designed for alien shapes, potted plants, and one occupant who held a glass in his hand.
"Greetings, sit down." Xalconee motioned to the couch that sat across from the table in front of his.
Specter opened a pouch in his bag and pulled an aluminum can out and set it on the table, it was silver, red and blue colored with a title that read, "Red Bull."
Xalconee snarled in distaste. "Please don't drink that foul-smelling beverage here."
Specter shrugged disappointedly and placed it back in his bag. "Anything I can drink?"
He pointed at the glass pitcher on the table that had several empty glasses sitting there. "Clean water."
With a grunt, Specter poured them all a glass of water and took a sip from his own. "Any particular reason you invited us aboard the ship?"
"My leader has made peace with your kind. And if he can, I will do my best." Xalconee struggled to say. "I wanted to congratulate you on your raid."
Specter smiled proudly. "The Snake Div. of the Northwind Highlanders is the best of the best." He looked at Hannibal, "Right?"
"The very best." He replied.
"But my main question was where you got those vehicles; I have never seen their like." Xalconee inquired.
Specter leaned forward in his seat. "Neither have you seen their equal." He uttered proudly. "I always keep my gear it tip-top shape with the best weapons and armor money can buy."
Preceptor Jerome sighed from his chair. "Where did the subject go?"
His assistant frowned. "He took one of the Star Mantas… But we have been unable to find him."
"He couldn't have gotten far!" Jerome demanded.
"No, he couldn't, it is just a short range fighter. He has enough fuel to be several thousand kilometers from here." The assistant worried his hands. "Perhaps even as far as the edge of the system."
Jerome stood and stared down the assistant. "I want every ship to scan the system. Every moon, planet, and asteroid must be searched. Blake had us find that man for a reason, we cannot let him go."
Meanwhile, the chief waited in his ship, still on the asteroid. He sat there for hours until Cortana excitedly started to talk from the computer. "They sent a reply!"
-I know this was a lame chapter, but I had to incorporate these in sometime. So, I hope this was a decent chapter. If not, send your tips and constructive criticism so I can fix the chapter. And now this has been edited with the separations in place. I hope this is better.
-Tremble Wolf