Chapter 4
Zeta Doradus System
North Island, Zone 67, Onyx
December 06, 2552 0341 Hours
Ryan looked out of the cabin of the UNSC Pelican dropship over the rows of Asiac trees that cluttered Onyx's North island, just below Zone 67, the forbidden zone that he trained near for several years. He heard the tales, about how the Spartan-III team on an exercise there were never seen again. He didn't believe the tales, but rather ignored them instead. Ryan looked straight in front of him, his pelican took lead as three more pelicans that carried the rest of Gladius company followed close behind. They would be touching down near the training camp, that's where they would start their search. He climbed up to the pilots chambers, looking out from the front of the dropship, the Camp was insight, it was trashed, smoke erupting from the mess hall and the Commanders quarters. Ryan's pelican decelerated, coming to a halt in front of the Commanders Quarters.
Gladius Company jumped from their dropships, going right into action, three teams setting up defense perimeters around the Camp. Ryan lead Vega to the center of the camp, heading for cover behind a damaged warthog. Alexis scanned the area with her S2AM Sniper rifle, giving cover while the rest provided cover in each direction. Ryan pulled up his TACMAP and analyzed the Intel, it showed a digital image of the entire Training camp, and part of Zone 67. He tapped Kevin on the shoulder, and pointing to their position, "We're here," Ryan stated pointing to a part of the Camp. Kevin acknowledged, his acknowledge link burning green.
Team Vega became suddenly alert by the sound of automatic fire. Ryan tapped his COM, "Theodore respond, do you have contact with the sentinel?"There was just silence, dead silence, no frequency what so ever. Spartan-G036 tapped TEAMCOM, "All Gladius teams, report back to my position immediately, Theodore is not responding repeat, report to my position ASAP."
Omega and Delta appeared from the north and the south, taking cover behind burning warthogs and buildings until they reached Vega Team.They took up defensive positions around Vega, looking for the "sentinels" that Theodore may have encountered. Ryan turned to Gladius, "Alright, Theodore is missing, no radio frequency from them, we are going to look for them, if we stay together then we'll have a better chance of making an offensive stand, we had reports from Team Katana when they encountered these sentinels, they've said they can be harmless, do not engage them, if we cooperate then maybe we will have a chance of finding Katana and the Spartan-II's."Green lights winked green on Ryan's HUD. They moved out, Vega taking lead, And Omega and Delta following close behind. They would search for Theodore first, then continue on to Zone 67, the center of this mayhem. They moved as one through the dense forest, barely visible to the naked eye, hid in their SPI suits.
Ryan tapped his communicator, "No radio contact, only for emergencies, they can pick up the frequency, hand signals from here on out." And he turned his COM off.Ryan halted, holding up a fist, Gladius took cover among the shrubbery. He pulled out his Sniper rifle, looking through the Oracle scope he recently obtained. The sound was coming from a sphere, with an A-symmetrical shape to it, three booms surrounded one central 'eye', it hovered 500 ft off the ground. 'These much be the sentinels that katana encountered' Ryan thought to himself. He crouched by the tree he hid behind a thick bush. The Sentinel hovered down to the top of the forest canopy, searching for anything, its gold eye scanning every inch of the forest floor. Its 'eye' finally coming upon Gladius company; its three booms spreading out, floating down, hovering 10 feet off the ground, its eye scanning where Gladius hid. Ryan knew they had been spotted, the only thing that bothered him was that the sentinel could call for more of themselves, over whelming Gladius.
Its eye scanned the bush Ryan hid behind, he stood up, letting the sentinel know what he was, trying to signal he wasn't a threat. He holstered his weapon, and held up his hands, making sure the machine got his message. He held up his index finger, signaling Gladius to reveal themselves. Vega, Delta and Omega came from their concealment; the sentinel seemed to be stunned by the number of Spartans that appeared, to Ryan it seemed the sentinel only suspected him to be the only one. Gladius holstered their weapons, and held up their hands, following Ryan's lead. The sentinels three booms shined a bluish silver aurora, and over the horizon appeared ten more sentinels, the lone sentry had called for reinforcements. Ryan was astonished by the intelligence of this machine, 'it must be forerunner' Ryan thought to himself. The sentry formed a v- formation with its fellow sentinels, they then split up into two v-formations, one formed on the rear of Gladius and the second taking leading in front of the Spartan company. The sentry that encountered them previously approached Ryan, gesturing Gladius follow the sentinels, Ryan nodded, giving an o.k. sign to the forerunner machine.
The sentinels took lead, Gladius following close behind, with their weapons holstered. The sentinels led Gladius deeper and deeper into Zone 67, the sentinels surrounding the Spartan-III's keep a close eye. Ryan noticed the side of Mt. Heron, the Mountain closest to the entrance to Zone 67. Smoke erupted from the side, a deep hole inside the mountain was the center of the epidemic. Gladius continued on with their new companions. Ryan noticed dozens of Sentinels hovering in groups of three, with two more 300 ft above the others, scanning the forest canopy.
He then noticed hundreds of Sentinels on the mountain top, moving tons of soil and rock formations into large piles. Ryan realized that their were several 'classes' of sentinels, they shared a caste system much like our own. The worker sentinels did not have but two booms that surrounded a smaller eye than the combat sentinels. Gladius continued on for another hour, walking through am oasis they had recently entered. Ryan was the only one that wasn't tired, Gladius dragged behind, Kevin taking the lead behind Ryan. The Sentinels stopped, 50 meters from what looked to be the entrance to something, something rather massive. The gates opened, revealing what looked to be a grav lift. The sentinels that lead Gladius broke their formation, forming a straight line, right up to the Grav lift. Vega took lead, stepping onto the lift, Omega and Delta stepping on last. Ryan looked up to see the Sentinels that had led them for and hour and a half evaporate into thin air. Spartan-G036 felt something grip him around his skull, he felt nauseas and Gladius company vanished into thin air.