Red vs. Blue: Dissent
Chapter Four
Author's note: Chapter Four, huh? Not a bad start. I know so many of you adoring fan(s) have been asking me, "When will you finish?" (How encouraging) so I am saying "I'm thinking at least twenty chapters." I have a fair bit of storyline left to write. Well, I say storyline. I definitely don't just write as I think (shifty eyes). Anyway, the story is going to expand a lot from where we are at the moment and I am genuinely excited about writing. Oh, and an answer to another question you fan(s) have been asking is "No, I don't just use this bit at the start and end to throw some bad joke pie at your face as you read." So… yeah.
Project Freelancer frigate Wave of Dissent
Many Years Ago…
Agent Indiana was sitting on the side of his bed in the med-wing. He had a broken shoulder and four broken ribs. Usually it would take weeks to recover but during the past decade, there had been giant leaps in the science of medical technology derived from alien technology and altered for humans. With the new technology, Indiana would be back in action in a matter of hours. However for now at least, his arm was in a sling and he had thick bandages wrapped around his torso.
A woman came in. She was holding a data pad which she handed to Indiana. "The Director is on the line." She said.
"Thanks," Indiana replied with a smile. The woman didn't return the smile and walked out of the med-wing. Indiana shrugged and looked to the data pad which he turned on. The grave face of the Director appeared on the screen. It was extremely difficult to tell what mood the Director was in, he rarely gave off any emotion at all. There were no face-twitches, nothing. "Sir," Indiana said.
"Agent Indiana," the Director said, "You are injured," this seemed like not a question but a statement.
"Yes sir," Indiana said, "Had to avoid direct confrontation, sir. I couldn't risk the Level-1 package."
"I am aware of the protocols, agent." The Director stated, "I assume that the package is intact and in your possession."
"Yes, sir," Indiana replied.
"Is there anything I should be aware of?"
"Beta's test run showed good signs sir. Apart from that, nothing that won't be in my report. It should be in within the hour."
"Very good. Unfortunately, I am going to have to cut your break short, agent. I have another mission for you. The Wave of Dissent has already changed course and will arrive in twelve hours. Your injuries are not too extensive?"
"Negative, sir. I'll be match-fit."
"Your briefing is attached to this message. I would prefer if you made sure no one else has the opportunity to read it."
"Affirmative, sir."
The Director's face disappeared and a file replaced it. Indiana presumed this was the briefing. He'll read it in his quarters.
New Harkens
Carolina woke to feel a chilling cold smother her face. She looked around and saw two soldiers, one in white armour and one in green armour. It was night. The soldier in white looked up and said in his traditional English accent, "Well rise and shine, my dear. I guess it takes more than an eighty floor fall to kill you." Carolina tried to talk but could only manage a groan, "Don't try to talk yet. That fall didn't kill you but you can bet your last penny that it took a lot out of you."
Carolina laid her head back and closed her eyes, "See," Agent Wyoming of Project Freelancer said, "Isn't it easier when you just listen to us?"
When she woke, it was day. She could see the sunlight seeping through the curtains that were pulled across the windows. She tried getting up but this time she succeeded. Her body felt stronger than last night but when she tried to talk, her voice came out as a whisper, "Wyoming."
The soldier in white stepped into view and said, "What can I do for you?"
"What happened?"
Wyoming took a seat on the ground. The green soldier, Colorado also stepped into view. "Well when our drop pods were attacked by the Insurrection, I managed to get out pretty much unscathed," Wyoming's helmet was off so she could see his eyes look to the ground slightly but Carolina caught it, "I saw what happened to Wash," he continued, "then you got shot out of the sky almost immediately afterwards so the radio connection was broken. I didn't see what happened to York and South but Colorado and I happened to land fairly close to each other and managed to meet up when we heard your little kerfuffle with the aliens." His voice dropped considerably, "Yeah, I saw the Covenant too. We saw the building explode. I think they must have use some sort of medium grade missile from one of the outer wall turrets. The entire building must have collapsed by now.
"Anyway, Colorado and I snuck over to investigate and we managed to find your body in the rubble before the Covenant did. We all know what they would have done if they had found you." Carolina flinched; she had seen what some of the more… carnivorous aliens did to prisoners. They wouldn't have made it slow either; not much to do in the city. "Thankfully though, we found you and brought you back here where you slept the day off.
Carolina tried speaking again. Her voice a little stronger but she didn't want to exert it too early, "Have we had any contact with command?"
Wyoming shook his head, "None. We've had radio silence ever since we landed." Colorado beckoned outside, "Oh yeah," Wyoming said, "There are a lot of Covenant and Insurrection soldiers out there. There's a reason that they have been able to keep our forces out this long. In all probability, they could turn this on us and take down all our forces in one attack if they were ready to reveal their alien allies. The Covenant don't seem to be full strength but well capable of handling our forces even if we did manage to breach their defences. They just have sheer numbers and strength."
Wyoming looked at Colorado then back at Carolina, "My advice," Wyoming said warningly, "Regroup. Find York and South if we can, then get out of this damn city. Retreat to our forces outside the city and take the first ship to the Mother of Invention. Even if we do our original mission, all we will do is let our forces walk into a losing battle. There's nothing we can do here."
There was something nagging at Carolina that now she couldn't put her finger on, "If they have the strength to destroy our forces, then why haven't they strolled out there and killed us?"
Wyoming shrugged, "Because the Covenant don't want to reveal themselves until they have to."
There was still something nagging at the back of Carolina's mind. "What if, they haven't attacked because there is something here they are protecting."
"Like what?"
"No idea but until we are actually out of the city, we should keep an eye out for something in case we are needed in here."
"With all due respect, we'll be lucky if we manage to escape this with any survivors. We can't risk our own lives for something that may or may not exist."
Carolina shrugged, "Either way, we have to go to the rendezvous point and see if York and South are alive. Protocol suggests that they wait four days after the landing for any help from us. That gives us about two days to get to the rendezvous and find York and South."
"How are we going to get to the rendezvous point?" Wyoming asked, "The Covenant will be searching for us. It won't be easy to sneak through the city without being seen."
Carolina thought for a moment but came up with nothing, "We don't have a choice. We either abandon York and South to fend for themselves or sneak through the city on foot. We won't last five minutes in a fire fight." Then Carolina had a thought, "Not without reinforcements. How far is the rendezvous point?"
Wyoming checked his map, "Fifteen klicks. Why?"
"That'll give us a day and a half spare. I have an idea."
Wyoming leaned forward. Colorado also sat down to listen. "We stick to the plan, the original plan. We find a way to let at least some of our forces in, and while they cause a distraction, we find York and South then get out of this damn city."
Wyoming leant back, "It won't be easy. The Insurrection will be on red-alert. They don't quite have our technology but they aren't idiots. They'll have figured out what our plan was and will be waiting for us. And our forces won't be able to distract the Insurrection and the Covenant for long. Like you said, there's too many of the hinge-heads."
"It's either that or trying to extract York and South by ourselves without a clear exit. Which do you prefer?"
Wyoming glanced at Colorado who simply shrugged so Wyoming looked back at Carolina, "Ok, how are we going to do this?"
Carolina leant back finally, "Give me a map and until nightfall and I'll figure out a plan."
Wyoming sighed, "Today just gets better and better."
Night came quickly and when the sun had dipped behind the skyscrapers, the three Freelancers moved out. Carolina felt almost at full strength but if she exerted herself too much for too long, then she would get a little woozy and she would require a stop.
They got to the outskirts of the city without incident. There were patrols out looking for them but at night, the Freelancers became very difficult to spot when they didn't want to be. At the city wall though, that was a different story. The city had obviously been designed to keep something out when required; there were large walls that surrounded the city that were easy to defend. Carolina had to give one to the Insurrection, they weren't found wanting on guards to patrol the defences.
She looked back at her two teammates who watched the defences. By their body language, she could tell that they weren't sure about this attack. "This is what we're going to do," Wyoming and Colorado both turned their attention to her. "Colorado, you and I are going to infiltrate their defences while Wyoming covers us from a distance. Wyoming, make sure you find somewhere where you can keep watch for patrols but somewhere you aren't completely exposed in case something goes wrong."
Wyoming nodded and said, "Should be ok, what's our target?"
"Gate controls. It should be over there according to our information for the original plan."
"Although we were expecting another three Freelancers to keep us covered." Wyoming muttered.
"Plans change, we were trained to adapt so that is what we're going to do. While I breach the gate controls, Colorado will break off and find something to send a signal to our forces. They're expecting us to open up the defences for them but will also be alert for a trap so we will still have to send a signal to verify our identity." She passed a grenade to Colorado. "Find something nice and flammable. It'll have to be something big." Colorado nodded.
"I won't be able to keep a watch out for patrols for both of you." Wyoming stated.
"We'll have to make do; if we don't send the signal then our forces won't advance. When that gate opens, this place will get very loud. Rendezvous back here then we'll look for York and South," Carolina tried to think of something else to say but nothing came up. "Let's try and get this done before sun rise." Wyoming nodded and ran off in search of a vantage point. Carolina gave a few moments before turning to Colorado and saying, "Let's go."
The two moved off towards the direction of the defences. They kept low and silent and somehow managed to avoid detection. Carolina had no way to tell if Wyoming was in position or not. None of them would have risked open comms in a situation like this even if any of their radios worked. Wyoming and Colorado's radios didn't work while Carolina's entire helmet had been smashed and she had been forced to discard it.
They reached a cross-roads and Carolina turned to Colorado, "I won't open the gate until you start the signal. Make it loud." Colorado nodded and turned right. Carolina went left.
She was about fifty metres from the gate control building when she saw a patrol heading her way. There was nowhere to hide except for one place. She was on a fairly high bridge-like structure. Carolina climbed over the side and over the side. She climbed down so that she was practically invisible to someone who wasn't specifically looking. She saw two guards walk over the bridge structure and join the two guards who were guarding the door into the gate controls building, which was effectively a shed. The four guards began talking amongst themselves and it didn't seem like they were going to stop soon. Hurry up and leave already, Carolina thought angrily. Colorado was going to blow the signal any moment.
He did. It was almost like an answer. The loud boom was like a thunderclap and the night lit up by the large explosion. The entire defence network shook. She had run out of time to wait. She pulled herself up onto the bridge with a flourish, drew her rifle and shot two of the guards, stealth no longer an issue. She was about to take out the other two who were raising their guns almost in slow-motion when they were taken out by sniper fire. At least Wyoming isn't too bored.
She entered the gate controls building and shot the single worker inside. She rushed to the controls and studied them. She fumbled with the controls and after about a minute of fiddling, the gates started to open. The opening of the gate started the music. The sounds of distant Warthogs filled the air as the Freelancer forces moved in on the now open defences. There was the noise of yelling outside responded to by sniper fire which resulted in screaming. The door opened to reveal a guard trying to avoid the sniper fire by hiding inside the building, momentarily forgetting why they were there in the first place. He realised much too late. As he began to turn, Carolina shot him. She moved out of the gate control building and began moving towards the rendezvous point.
By now Warthogs were entering the city and opening fire on the Insurrection soldiers. Carolina took care to keep down when a Warthog drove by. Even though she was on their side, in this darkness, the blood fuelled soldiers were likely going to fire on her before they realise that she is on their team. So she tried to stay out of their way.
She met Colorado and Wyoming at the rendezvous point as planned and they all nodded to each other. "Good job, Colorado," Carolina said. Colorado nodded before something else drew his attention. Wyoming and Carolina spotted it a moment later. A flaming Warthog came tumbling towards them and they all had to dive out of the way to avoid being squashed. Following it was a large purple tank, a Wraith. They had all been expecting this. The Project Freelancer forces never really stood a chance. If it had just been the Insurrection then the Freelancers should have been able to overwhelm the enemy but this changed the game entirely for the Freelancer forces. They weren't prepared, they were outnumbered and outgunned. All because of one reason.
The Covenant had come to play.
Is this chapter okay? It starts off a little slow with all the talking but it was kind of necessary. Sometimes you need a change of pace to gather you're thoughts. I didn't leave you guys without any action though, did I? Anyway, more action coming up next time. Love you all! X0X0
Nimoy has spoken…