Ch 7 Unexpected Events
20 January, 2553 Military Calendar
On board the UNSC prowler Siege Breaker
Dante-L382
My boots snapped together, along with the other 40 Spartan-III's that were present in the prowler's hangar bay. Colonel John Zakaev had entered the room and made his way to a raised platform in front of our formation. We snapped a crisp salute and he returned it.
"At ease Spartans," he ordered. I placed my hands behind my ramrod straight back. I had never seen colonel Zakaev before today. The man had plasma burns and scars almost everywhere his flesh was exposed. "Well let's get this briefing underway," the colonel sighed. "We are en route to this little jewel on the rim of what used to be the outer colonies."
A holo projector behind the colonel came to life and displayed a green and blue ball and some of its surrounding moons. The planet reminded me of the human home world of Earth. "This is the planet Insigna, an Earth size planet with several moons that has several tons of uranium under the surface," Zakaev continued. "Insigna has refined the nuclear material and built up a stockpile in the past few months, until a recent discovery on the fifth moon Lipus drew the attention of the Covenant's attention."
The colonel looked nervous when he mentioned a discovery and that worried me, but I didn't show it. The picture of the planet changed to an overview of a large city.
"There is a battalion of marines in the capital city of Haven. Spartan's your mission is to link up with those marines, reinforce them, and then push north to the nuclear stockpiles. Any questions so far?"
Hell yeah there are questions.
I raised my hand. The colonel acknowledged me with a slight nod. "Sir what condition are the marines in," I asked. "How do we know they haven't been routed or driven out of the city by hostile forces?"
Zakaev scratched his chin before speaking. "All very good questions Spartan," he said. "The truth is, I don't know. We lost contact with them two days ago. And the last bit of video we got was this."
He tapped a command into a data tab.
A video feed replaced the picture of Haven city. The video was from the helmet camera of a marine Sergeant Major Daniel Muller on the front lines. Muller downed a carbine wielding elite with his assault rifle. The rifle clicked empty, and he ducked down to reload. Muller had just finished inserting a new magazine when an explosion erupted behind him and propelled him forward.
Muller remained motionless for several seconds before someone off screen hauled him up. "Sir Command has ordered a full retreat," the second marine said.
Muller dusted himself off and retrieved his assault rifle. "Thanks Kovac," Muller said.
Colonel Zakaev skipped the video ahead several minutes. When the video played at normal speed again the Sergeant Major had joined up with two more marines. Their IFF tags identified them as Lance Corporal Rias and Private First Class Alyssa. The whine of covenant air support filled the air and Muller constantly scanned the air for banshees. After another minute a banshee finally decided to strafe his squad with its plasma cannons. Muller dived out of the way just in time.
"Is everyone ok," Muller asked. Before anyone could answer, Zakaev skipped ahead.
The video resumed. Muller had called his team to a halt so he could consult his TACMAP. "We should be five blocks from our fall back point," Muller whispered.
Kovac was crouched down beside him. "Then we should be home free."
Muller shook his head. "Should is the key word in that sentence," he said. "I'm wondering where the covies are. It's been long enough for them to catch up, at least their recon force. And yet we've seen and heard nothing."
"And it's got you worried," Kovac concluded.
"Damn straight it's got me worried," he answered immediately. "If we're going to make it then we have to stay sharp, and keep our heads on a swivel."
He glanced over his shoulder at the others. "That applies to everyone." Zakaev skipped ahead.
Come on I want to watch it all
Three ghosts had found and engaged the squad. Rias fired his jack hammer rocket launcher at two of the ghosts. The vehicles exploded into a bright fireball. The last ghost had boosted and slammed into Rias and Kovac before they had a chance to dive to the side. Muller watched as Kovac's body sailed though the air and landed several feet away from him. He ran over to the fallen marine and rolled him over. Kovac didn't look too good.
"Tell my kids," Kovac coughed up a lot of blood. "Tell my kids, that daddy loves them."
Muller shook his head. "Don't say that," he pleaded. "It's only a little internal bleeding. You can make it to a medic."
Kovac managed to crack a smile. "See you in hell Dan." Kovac closed his eyes.
"Zach don't die on me," Muller knew it was no use. He bowed his head to say a prayer, and cry. A minute passed before Muller moved. He pulled the bolt on his assault rifle and ejected a round from the magazine. He placed it in Kovac's hand, before standing. "Good bye old friend," he whispered.
Zakaev skipped ahead. Now two jackals had their back to Muller.
Sucks to be them
Muller charged forward, assault rifle firing on full auto. One jackal danced as the rounds struck it in the back. The second whipped around to face its attacker, it fired its beam rifle and scored a glancing blow to Muller's mid section. Again Muller's assault rifle clicked empty. He lowered a shoulder and slammed into the jackal. The jackal dropped its weapon and began to furiously swipe at him with its claws. Muller reached down, un holstered his M6D magnum, placed it under the jackals chin and fired. Purple blood and brains covered the wall next to him.
An Elite rounded the corner down the street from Muller's position. He brought his pistol up and fired at the elite. Its shields drained and dropped as Muller's pistol clicked empty.
Damn you had a good run Muller.
Pfc Alyssa surged forward, hitting the unshielded elite with assault rifle fire. The split jawed alien danced and then dropped.
Zakaev killed the feed. "You know as much as I know," he said. "You have one hour to prepare before inserting via pelican. I'll update you about the discovery on the moons. Spartans fall out."
I did an about face. A squad of four Orbital Drop Shock Troopers was gathered around a work bench; all of them but one was in pt gear. The only one in full combat gear motioned for me to come over.
The helmeted ODST examined my ghostly white face.
"Three words kid," he said. "Get a tan."
I knew about the hatred that ODST had towards Spartans, I decided not to give them a reason to hate me even more. I examined each one of them. All of them had red eyes, just like me. I looked at the armored one last. His armor was camouflaged to match a forest setting.
"Are all of you from Charon," I asked.
They nodded and pulled out curved, black blades similar to mine.
"Yes we are and I'm going to assume you are too," the helmeted one said. I nodded "And you look old enough to receive the marks, so why don't you?"
I tried to recall from my memories of home what he meant by "the marks". That's when I noticed the lines that had been carved into each of their faces.
"It's supposed to be all ceremonial but we don't have time for that," the girl stated. She nodded and the two ODST beside her moved to grab my arms. I shrugged them off. "Trust me kid, it's for your own safety."
I sighed. She pointed at the work bench. "Lie down."
I reluctantly followed her orders and hopped onto the bench. The two ODST restrained me. The helmeted ODST held my head with both of his hands. The girl climbed on top of the bench right beside me, her two ulaks in one hand and a plasma torch in the other. She began to heat the tips.
Not looking good for me
She looked at my worried expression. She grinned. "Don't worry kid," she joked. "I did this to Frost over there, and he survived."
"Barely," the helmeted Frost chuckled.
She glared at Frost. He held up his hands in a mock surrender. "This is going to hurt," she told me.
I laughed. "No shit it's going to hurt."
She slowly lowered the tips of the blade towards my face until they broke the surface. I winced in pain as she traced lines starting at my tear ducts, curving down to my mouth, and ending in a point on my right cheek. When she had finished she spoke again, "You are now a reaper of Charon. Continue the traditions of death dealing that are people were famous for."
I sat up on the work bench. The entire right side of my face burned with pain.
"You did good kid," Frost patted me on the back. "You did better than Sanchez over there. He screamed like a girl the whole time."
I looked at the hispanic ODST, he retracted his middle finger. "I have to get ready for the mission," I said. I hopped off the bench.
Frost nodded. "Good luck kid," he said. He held out a hand. I grasped it.
I turned to walk away and made it to the elevator, before I turned and yelled across the small hangar. "What's the name of your unit?"
Frost looked over at me. "We're the Red Reapers of the 113th ODST battalion," pride filled his voice.
I grinned. "Well if your ass ever needs saving, then ask for Cerberus. And I'll come save you from hell."
Frost's laughter echoed through the hangar. "Right kid," he joked.
The elevator doors closed and I descended to the makeshift Spartan barracks.
This is going to be fun to explain to Whitney and the others.
