In Infinitum
Chapter 9: Silent Sun Goddess
Arcturus Station-Debriefing room 012-0850 hours
Fred was there again, before the Systems Alliance high brass again and he was beginning to wonder if maybe this reality wasn't as peaceful as Halsey said it was. Not that he minded, he and his Spartans often grew bored.
"Lieutenant Commander," Hackett spoke after putting down a datapad. "We've just received word our colony on Amaterasu has gone silent, we'd like to send you and three other Spartans to investigate the colony," the Admiral paused. "Report back any findings, if we're lucky its just a downed communications platform…"
Fred waited a heartbeat then asked. "And if we're not?"
"Then it's something bad."
Fred nodded, saluted and said. "Sir! I'll get it done," with those words he turned and left the briefing room, he already know who he was going to take with him, sadly that meant a few of his Spartans would be left behind to help Mendez train the marines.
As he walked through the halls and corridors of Arcturus Station the leader of Blue Team let his thoughts wonder momentarily to the past, to all his brethren that had been consumed by the war with the Covenant and now, here they were in some entirely new universe with a whole new army to serve.
What bothered him was what could have happened to their reality, did the UNSC survive? Somehow pull a crushing victory over the Covenant and continue to survive… or was Earth glassed and the final blow struck?
Did he and his Spartans run from a battle?
The thought that he and his team were coward struck him, they couldn't be. They had fought valiantly, they were not here by choice. No, they were not cowards, they were unlucky. Just unlucky.
Almost giving a tired sigh from behind the visor of his MJOLNIR armor he entered the SPARTAN barracks to inform his team of the upcoming mission.
Unknown planet in Unknown system. 2230 hours. SSV-Normandy
Kelly grumbled slightly to herself as she moved another large vine from her path, the forest on this planet was really thick and even in her temperature controlled MJOLNIR suit she could tell it was hot outside by the way the air bent at a distance as if in a desert, but these odd plants must thrive on such temperatures.
She paused when she saw a brief flicker of light shifting, she knew it was Mark before his Photo-Reactive Plates ceased working and his armor returned to its usual soft green with a yellow tinted visor, he was facing forward with his newly acquired Viper semi automatic sniper rifle and Kelly herself was just getting used to the, in her opinion, too light Avenger assault rifle in her grip.
Slowly Mark raised a hand with his thumb pressed to his palm while his fingers curled inward. Kelly stopped, dropped silently to her knee and raised the Avenger at the ready. Tom had informed her that was the Spartan-III "Unknown ahead" gesture.
For a moment Mark stood with his hand in that same position before finally he gestured forward slowly before his armor reactivated and he blended into the textures of the forest, the only sign he had moved was the brief flicker of light here and there as he moved along. Kelly followed after him, silently wondering if Dr. Halsey could implement the same PR plates to her MJOLNIR armor as she felt exposed in the brown, bright green and muddy environment.
That was until she noticed something and the feeling increased ten fold. Mark was nowhere to be seen, no flickers or moving plants to signal he was pushing through them, crouching she moved to her knee and raised the Avenger to the ready and scanned the area, eyes focused.
For what seemed like hour she crouched there on the ground waiting for something, anything, to happen. Finally tired of the waiting she flashed her red light twice.
A green light winked once, twice and finally a red.
Kelly snapped around and her elbow connected with something, which from the way the light bend around it she guessed it used an active camoflage cloak, whatever it was landed in the mud, the cloak sputtered and revealed the crumbled figure of a woman, hooded and from the way her face was relaxed, she was out cold.
There was a softy click as something, most likely a pistol, was pressed to the side of her MJOLNIR helmet, then came a calm, oddly deadly voice that Kelly associated with ONI spooks who were about to tell you that you were safe and then killed you. "Do not move," it said, male.
Kelly considered a quick "And if I do?" but fought that back.
There was a small rustle of fabric and the same voice lightly exhaled before saying. "You are as skilled as Shepard informed us, forgive our actions… we were," the voice paused, searching for the words. "Testing you."
Kelly felt the pressure off her Helmet leave and stepped to the side and brought her Avenger up the aliens face, pausing at what she saw. He had green skin, black eyes and no hair that she could see, if she remembered from some of the lessons Dr. Halsey had given them, he was a Drell.
The Spartan-II then noticed there was a floating Viper pressed to his side as well and then Mark's armor stopped shifting and the revealed the sniper, who winked green three times, it was all clear then.
"You Thane?" Kelly asked, knowing that Mark preferred her to do the talking.
The Drell nodded. "Yes."
"So she must be Kasumi…" Kelly flicked her head towards the unconscious woman on the ground. The Drell nodded again. "Alright, stand down…" Kelly, after a brief hesitation, pulled her weapon away from Thane along with Mark.
The Drell nodded, turned and walked over to Kasumi to check her over, before lifting her in his arms and saying. "Zaeed is holding his location at our base camp where we will we be heading to inform you of the situation we face." With those words Thane carried Kasumi off.
The Spartans followed after the pair back to their camp.
Once there Kelly observed the "Base camp" with some measure of disbelief, it was nothing but a clearing with a small long range communications device that could only send and receive messages, but not in real time, it often took minutes to do so. In the field she and the other Spartans often had to work with what they took with them, but aside from the single communication device and a small container of food, nothing else was around the camp.
"This is our base?" she asked finally, finding her voice.
"It was quickly set up close to the enemy base, but far enough to avoid their patrols," Thane explained, apparently understanding the hidden tone of her voice. "We are sorry for if you find it unsuitable, but it is all we have for now."
The crunching of wood made the Spartans turn and aim in time to see another human, heavily scarred in the face and hefting a weapon in a non hostile position, the two lowered their weapons, that must have been Zaeed.
"Hey, the two Spartans…" he said with a greeting wave. "Your… reminds me of something I saw several years ago on-"
Thane raised a hand and said. "Perhaps later, Zaeed, first we must inform the two of what we have found here and how we're going to destroy the base," turning to the Spartans Thane continued. "The base in question is surprisingly fortified, but the patrols are sloppy at best, I sent Kasumi inside the base to retrieve some basic information and so far, a few notable facts are there are two hundred plus batarians on site, not to mention the dozens of Varren they will employ," Thane paused. "They also have a large Ground to Orbit cannon in the center of the base, this is surprising as it doesn't appear to have been made by the Batarians, I am thinking it is Prothean."
"Prothean?" Kelly tilted her slightly ever so slightly. Protheans, some super advanced race that had disappeared and apparently left the Mass Relays and Citadel around.
"Yes," Thane nodded. "You do not know much about them?" when Kelly didn't reply he nodded again. "I see, Shepard told us of your… unique situation." The Drell turned when there was a soft feminine groan, the group then looked to Kasumi, who was lightly rubbing where Kelly had struck. "Kasumi, are you alright?" Thane asked.
"Yeah… a little sore though," the master thief replied, then looked at Kelly and Mark. "I heard you were good… didn't think you saw me," she said, sighing softly and standing, followed by a stretch. "Now… what did you tell them about the base?"
"The cannon, the number of guards…"
"Oh, so… the fact it's going to be a run through hell?" Kasumi asked, receiving a now.
"Oh," everyone turned to Kelly when she spoke, her voice oddly confident. "Two Spartans and three apparently talented individuals can, have and will make all the difference," There was a more smug tone in the larger Spartan's voice. "Lets work on a battle plan, shall we?"
Amaterasu Colony planet, SSV-Valor. 2240 hours.
Fred observed the growing planet, currently they were aboard the Frigate-class Valor. A small ship meant for scouting and patrols rather the combat, but for now, this thing would be good enough as its orders were to drop the Spartan team groundside then wait for orders to extract them after their investigation was complete. But Fred was getting that feeling that this wasn't going to be that simple.
"A gut feeling" Fred remembered what Kurt had called his own feelings when he "sensed" traps, this talent made Kurt one of the most efficient leaders within the program. It was often Kurt who had defeated both John and Fred's teams.
But now, as he saw the Colony growing in side as they descended to the surface and the feeling growing with it, maybe he too was developing that same sense. Shaking his mind from his thoughts he opened his com. "Tom, status?"
"Lucy and I have loaded the shuttle up with spare Thermal clips as ordered, Linda is also set, we're just waiting on you and the go signal, sir," came Tom's voice through the channel.
Fred was impressed with how efficient Tom and Lucy were, they were still 'fresh' in his eyes but they were already proving to be one of his most valuable pair of Spartans for missions and something told him they would only be further proven on this operation.
What bothered him was the fact Halsey had made the Spartan-IIIs wear the Alliance issue Combat Hard Suits for this operation, he could see some of the logic in the decision. They had shields, or rather kinetic barriers, decent enough protection when the shields dropped and were airtight for much longer then SPI armor.
But it lacked several key features that he knew the S-IIIs valued, PR plates, the usual HUD and communication options, meaning Fred would have to issue orders manually rather then with the flashing of his status lights. That irked Fred to a degree, but he would adapt.
"Lieutenant Commander, Captain Sharon here, we're two minutes from the drop zone, you sure you don't want us to take you fully to ground?" came the voice of the captain, she was also a fresh Captain by his greeting with her, the rank was new to her, Likely just promoted.
"Yes, I am sure, we don't know what's down there and I'm not taking a chance risking the Valor by going to ground, just drop us off and wait in orbit for our signal to come down," Fred replied as he turned and made his way out of the observation post towards the elevator.
By the time he had reached the shuttle bay there was Tom and Lucy, adorned in their Onyx combat armor, standard issue for Alliance marines. Avengers in their grips while Linda, after some browsing and convincing from Dr. Halsey, was sporting a M98 Widow AM rifle. Each one sported a M5-Predator as their backup weapons.
Oddly enough Fred found she looked like a child that got her favorite toy taken away from them when she was informed that her rifle would be out of her hands for a few days.
When he approached Tom, Lucy and Linda snapped off simultaneous salutes. Which Fred returned and said. "At ease," before he looked at the shuttle. "Pile in and be ready, we're a minute to drop, ROE for this mission is Search and if necessary, Rescue. We're still newcomers here so lets play it by return fire only," Fred paused. "Understood?"
"Sir!" the three Spartans nodded and the team piled into the Shuttle, closed it and Tom manned the controls, since they all shared the common distrust of the autopilot function.
"We're at the drop zone, take off Spartans!" came the Captains voice.
"Take us out, Tom," Fred said.
The shuttle jerked and moved forward as the bay doors opened, then it sped out and over the light green forest and plain regions of the colony, it looked a lot like Earth in regards to the grass and forests, giving Fred a familiar feeling of discomfort when he remembered how many of these beautiful planets had been glassed by the Covenant.
He didn't stay in thoughts long before Tom's voice cracked over the com. "Approaching what looks like a city, want me to take us down there? Or the outskirts?"
"Outskirts, we'll enter the city via-"
There was a warning alarm and then Tom's voice came over the com again, this time more urgent. "Incoming heat sources! Evading!" the shuttle jerked to the right and Fred caught brief glimpses of blue speeding past the smaller shuttle, each was as large as the shuttle and it sped upwards, it was clear the shots weren't meant for them and the shuttle.
Fred quickly opened the com. "Valor! Evasive manoeuvres now! I repeat! Break off and head into high orbit!"
Captain Sharon's voice came back, but it was garbled in heavy static. "Say again Spartan? We're getting som-" Her voice took on a more surprised and shocked tone. "Evade! Hard righ-" the coms cut off.
In low orbit, the Valor exploded as the three large plasma bolts struck their target center mass, vaporizing the unshielded frigate before turning into a burning mass of debris. Several larger pieces flew past the shuttle, which began to evade. "Hang tight!" Fred hissed over the coms as he braced.
The shuttle was nearly taken down by a large segment of the Valor's wing before they were clear they landed on the ground inside a forested area, the moment the doors opened Fred ordered his team out and scan the area for hostiles.
When the area was declared clear Tom said over the com. "Plasma fire? I thought this reality didn't use those types of weapons…" he said, just the barest hints of frustration in his voice.
Fred wondered the same thing, but for now he wouldn't question it. The Valor was destroyed and from the interference they got when trying to warn the Valor meant that communications were being jammed as well. These tactics sounded all too familiar to Fred now.
"Linda, find a clear view of the city and report back in thirty," Fred watched as Linda nodded, turned and moved off into the forest, silent as a shadow, before she disappeared and he opened a com Tom and Lucy. "Tom, Lucy, secure the surrounding area, report back any findings every five minutes, I'm going to disguise the shuttle."
The pair nodded and moved off, weapons raised. Fred turned to the shuttle and then to the surrounding trees to gather branches and brush to cover it, as it was their only transport for now.
Unknown planet in Unknown system. 2300 hours.
Mark-G254 sat atop a large tree, his PR plates masking him from the enemy patrols that circle the medium sized base, guard towers with auto turrets, a few APC vehicles and dozens of infantry, even a few shuttles that were being unloaded and loaded. Zooming in on one particularly important looking Batarian he considered the taking the shot, but didn't and instead resumed his scanning of the base.
He paused when one of the pirates was dragged into the shadow by an unseen force, opening his com Mark said. "Kasumi is in,"
That was good, Kasumi had infiltrated the base once before to gather details that Thane had explained to them and now she had did again and was charged with planting some charges in three key locations, the barracks, communications array and finally the armory. Each would be detonated by Mark manually when the times were right.
First detonation would be the coms array, that would also be the signal for Kelly, Thane and Zaeed to advance on a small blind spot which was a river then ran into the base, where they used the water to drink. This was where luck came into play, it counted on the fact that the water readying equipment was either fully automated or lightly manned with workers distracted by the explosion.
If it worked, the enemy won't be expecting a small team to start shooting them from inside their own base, it if it didn't and they were discovered, Mark was to blow the remaining charges and begin providing sniper support for their retreat.
The sniper seriously hoped it didn't come to retreat, they had lost too many allies retreating. Lieutenant Commander Ambrose, Dante… those names stuck out to him more then most. LTCDR. Ambrose and "The Chief" Mendez were, to Mark, like older brothers. They had taught him things and honed him into what he was, who he was. No longer was he a cry baby child, he was a Spartan.
He would honor their names by keeping his allies safe. "Kelly, status?"
"We're in the river now and making our way down, smooth and slow, how does it look with Kasumi?" Kelly replied.
"She's just finished planting the first charge on the coms array," Mark replied, barely able to keep track of her cloaked figure through his scope. Soon Kasumi disappeared from his view and he com'd Kelly. "Lost sight of her."
"Alright, we're almost in position, how does our approach look?"
Mark shifted his aim over the base towards the river, seeing Kelly, Thane and Zaeed moving along slowly in crouches, the water reaching their stomachs as they moved along the barely covered area, Then he focused on the guards who overlooked the area. "They're very lax, looking over the base rather then the river," he reported. "It's clear."
Kelly's light winked green and the group advanced a bit quicker to cover a long straight away towards the base, making it to the drain where the water entered they were covered now. Mark then moved the scope over the guards. They were still oblivious to the team's presence.
Finally Kasumi's voice came over the com. "Charges are placed, I'm going to go find some high ground and get my Carnifex ready." with that the com closed.
Mark paused and saw Kelly, Thane and Zaeed enter the base's water treatment area through the drain and so he lost of them all for several moments before a green light winked on his HUD. He winked green back and brought out the charge detonator from his armor compartment and readied to blow the first charge.
Amaterasu Colony planet, 2300 hours.
Fred observed his work, he had covered the shuttle well enough and gotten some smaller trees then stabbed them into the ground to make it seem part of the forest, it was a bit of a tough job but it would work well enough at a passing glance overhead but not an up close inspection.
But now he had a new set of worried on his mind, He had received a series of all clears across from Tom and Lucy, but Linda had yet to report in. An oddity for the otherwise professional Spartan, one he found discomforting.
Turning he snapped his Avenger up and aimed, then lowered it upon seeing Tom and Lucy leave the trees. "All clear," Tom said when they neared Fred. "These suits feel… different."
Lucy nodded her agreement.
Fred nodded. "I'll talk to The Chief about getting your SPI armor back quickly from Dr. Halsey before the next op, for now…" he paused, should he say his next words? Quickly deciding he should he added. "Have you two heard from Linda?"
The pair shook their heads. "She hasn't reported in?" Tom asked, and Lucy's expression took one of slight concern.
"No, she's thirty minutes overdue," Fred replied simply, sounding thoughtful. "I-"
Linda's voice came over the com. "Lieutenant Commander, setting a Nav point, you gotta see this."
Fred's HUD lit up with a Nav beacon that showed Linda's location at about 214 metres away. Quickly ordering Tom and Lucy to fall in, then they moved towards the Sniper's location in a brisk pace through the forest, carefully advancing when they neared Linda's location.
Pausing Fred saw Linda prone on the ground, her rifle sighted down at the distant city from her high rise edge of a cliff, she was unmoving except for the slight raises of her shoulders to breathe. Moving up he went prone and crawled up beside her. "What did I need to see?" he asked.
"Edge of the city, straight ahead…" Linda replied in her trance like state.
Fred turned forward, then activated the magnification function on visor and scanned the edge of the city for whatever he was supposed to see.
He stopped when he saw it, it was barely visible, just the barrel that peaked over the tops of some buildings, the purple sheen, the smoke from recently discharged plasma shots. He had seen them on Reach when the Covenant tried to establish footholds on the surface. It was a Type-38 Anti Aircraft Cannon, or 'Tyrant' as the UNSC had taken to calling them and it proved one thing.
The Covenant were on Amaterasu.
"We have to establish an uplink to Arcturus, they need to send a fleet here…" Fred stated, receiving a small nod. "Fall back, we're going to need to think of a plan," with those words the four Spartans traced back their way to the shuttle to formulate another plan to counter a possible Covenant invasion.
End of chapter 9
Dun Dun Dunnnnn! Where did these Covenant come from? What are their plans? Why did I update so fast? Review and I may tell!