Chapter 10
"ODST groups 12 through 24 are away, Sir," an ensign called from the crew pit.
"Helm, continue to rotate us till we're upright again, and get us moving forward, full speed ahead." Standing facing forward, Captain Cutter folded his arms across his chest as he surveyed the growing list of damage reports on a diagnostic screen. The red script had slowed as the UNSC ship was finally able to return a devastating volley into the smaller Covenant ship's port side weaponry. Fire erupted along the hull of the cruiser, but just as soon died as blast doors and emergency protocols caught up with the sudden loss of atmosphere. From somewhere in the crew pit, an officer let out a short, victorious yelp.
As the Spirit of Fire continued its maneuver to get out from underneath the cruiser, the battle quickly shifted from full-out engagement to both sides seeking to limit their own attrition. But James was able to spot a slight window of opportunity when the cruiser began to pull away from the asteroid. "Hard to starboard. All weapons, prepare to fire on their engines," he ordered, now watching the secondary viewscreen that was showing a rear view. If I play this right, I could end this fight now.
As James watched his ship make the turn he saw his luck evaporate. As if anticipating his own weakness, the shipmaster brought his ship's bow around and exchanged a few long distance barrages from his undamaged starboard side with the Spirit of Fire's remaining deck guns. Neither did much damage as the distance separating the two vessels grew.
James frowned at the apparent retreat of the cruiser. "Sensors, what's their hull integrity look like? Can they still jump?" He chewed on the inside of his cheek, hoping that his ODSTs could quickly overwhelm the Covenant on board and take the ship before it could slip away. Those alien bastards were looking for something, and I need to find out what exactly they were after.
"Believe it or not, Sir, the enemy ship has only suffered ten percent power loss throughout her frame," the sensors officer replied. "But it will still have to clear the debris field around the asteroid in order to jump. There's too much magnetic distortion and rock to be able to accurately plot a course."
He nodded. "Weapons, keep them pinned down. Conical-patterned fire."
James let out a quiet sigh. For all intents and purposes, logical strategy would be to neutralize the target and get the hell out of here. But his gut instinct was telling him that he needed to find out why this mystery cruiser was out here all alone. If the ODSTs could regroup on the enemy ship then he would hopefully have his answers soon.
With his vision still spinning, Nathan Parker reached forward to key the hatch on his HEV open.
Then a muffled crash echoed in the bay.
Suddenly remembering where he was, Nathan's finger froze over the release button and immediately hit a few switches on his side panel, killing all unnecessary power to his pod. He leaned forward, trying to focus his hearing on the distant noise, but the rumbling thrum of the cruiser's engines masked any other sound.
When his HEV had passed through the magnetic containment field, his pod's momentum pitched him upward to bounce off the ceiling and land into the left corner of a second-tier, semi-wraparound balcony. The upper level layout was an odd design, using purple balustrades to support glowing pink handrails that separated the level into three sections, each with their own unique decor. Nothing looked utilitarian through his brief visual scan of the area, but then again anything truly alien never did.
Nathan figured the bay most likely served as a personal bolt hole for the shipmaster or a high ranking official. Either way, the banners draped down from the rafters still wavered in an artificial breeze, demanding respect.
Instead of popping off his hatch, he opted for the more silent easing of the hydraulics and crept out into the darkened upper portion of the small hangar bay. Retrieving his sidearm and SRS from his HEV, he immediately flipped on his helmet's VISR mode and scanned the area. The balcony was surprisingly void of any real activity and apart from his pod's dent left in the ceiling and the corner where it landed, he wondered if the enemy knew anyone was up here.
Keeping his pace quick but quiet, he ran to the glowing handrail and leaned his head out to peer below. Through the invisible magcon field he could see neither the Spirit of Fire or the asteroid, only open space. To the right of the large opening was a row of crumpled crates . . . and settled on its side was Toril Holmen's HEV billowing a small cloud of black smoke.
Movement down and to his left brought his head around and he spotted two Sangheili guards emerging from an opened door carrying long metal staves with glowing blades at the top end. Crap. One of them appeared to sniff the air, while the other pointed to the direction of the crates. Instinctively, Parker raised his sniper rifle and magnified his scope till both Sangheili's heads filled the reticule.
Nathan leaned back against a circular support pillar, seeking to steady his shaky aim. But the Elites were already on the move, marching with their deadly poles lowered in attack position. Swearing silently to himself, he dropped down to one knee to rest his SRS on the handrail. While the move did help him line up a shot on the guard to the right, the glowing pink bar sizzled and crackled under his weight.
Both Elites halted in their tracks and craned their necks up to spot him, but Nathan was already squeezing the trigger. The first alien collapsed to the ground with a piercing shot between the eyes. He shifted his aim to the left and only found empty space where the other guard had been standing. Nathan lifted his head up and spotted the other Sangheili running for the door where he would surely be able to call for help.
Taking a few steps sideways to get a better angle on the alien's retreat, he aimed down the sight once more and fired. His first shot sailed overhead, striking the ground a few meters from the doorway. Due to the Elite's proximity to the flower petal-shaped door, it started to open. Gritting his teeth, Nathan fired again and the round hit its mark square in the back. With a gasping grunt, the Sangheili fell forward to the ground with his stave still in hand. The glowing blade extinguished, sending an audible crack that almost masked the last few reverberate reflections of the SRS firing.
Cringing at the loudness of his weapon, Nathan pulled his sniper rifle back and strained his ears for the sounds of approaching soldiers. But none came through the still opened doorway, and he let out the breath he had been holding. Whether the Covenant were tied up fight off the other UNSC troops or massing for an attack on this particular bay, Parker had to be quick and get to Holmen before anyone else showed up.
After a brief negotiation in sliding down a support pillar, Nathan was in a full-out sprint to Toril's HEV. He took a long stride to reach the top of one crumbled crate and found purchase with both hands on the next stack over. He pulled himself up over the edge and jumped down where the fellow soldier's pod had crushed the crates underneath. Hold on Toril.
The pod itself was intact, but one of the hinges on its hatch was mangled beyond repair. Nathan grabbed the lip at the base of the hatch and pulled up for all he was worth. Even with all his strength, he was only able to crack it open. Pulling out his sniper rifle, he slammed the butt end down on the broken hinge a half dozen times. He stopped to examine his handiwork and found that the hinge had separated from the pod's frame.
Nathan tried prying it open once more and was able to expand the crack wide enough to fit a hand through. Blindly groping for the emergency release, he came across the embedded button. Preparing himself, he hit the button and hastily backed away. A few undamaged red lights flickered on in warning and the entire front part of the HEV hissed. Due to the warped upper hinge and the damaged state of the pod, the hatch merely fell open like an instrument case, spilling out Toril Holmen in the process.
"Toril!" Nathan was immediately at her side, cradling her neck in his hands. She was breathing, but her body was still lifeless. Pulling out his field medkit, he found the tiny bottle filled with a pungent odor. He carefully removed her helmet and brilliant blond hair fell around her face to frame it. Nathan paused with the bottle still in hand and just stared at her. Toril looked as if she was just peacefully sleeping, and the contrast of her beauty with the dire straits they were in caused his heart to warm and freeze at the same time. He gently brushed a loose strand of hair from her forehead and waved the smelling salt under her nose.
With a sudden jerk that even startled Nathan, Toril's eyes shot open. She worked her jaw for a moment, seeking to produce some moisture in her mouth, and looked up at him. "Parker?" she said with a frown. She tried to sit upright by propping an arm underneath, but Nathan quickly forced her back down.
"Easy," he soothed. "You might have taken a knock to the head."
Experimentally, she brought her left hand up and felt around her scalp. Next, she pulled her legs up and tried her best to hide a wince. "I'll be okay. I'm just a little banged up."
Nathan eyed her suspiciously but did help her into a sitting position.
Toril lifted her gaze up, past Nathan's face, to stare at the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where are we?" she asked, holding up a hand to forestall his protest of her getting to her feet.
"I'm not sure. This might be a personal bay for the shipmaster or a dignitary," Nathan answered, watching her fasten her hair in a tight bun and handing over her helmet.
"Nice," she said mildly. Securing her helmet on her head, Toril bent down and retrieved her SMG and pistol from inside her pod. "Where's everyone else?"
"When your HEV got hit by a plasma turret, your trajectory changed and you missed the LZ." He gave her a weak smile. "You were in trouble so I followed you here."
Still keeping her head moving to the left and right to look past him, she snorted. "Well that was dumb."
Her snide comment nearly rocked Nathan back on his heels. "What?"
"Oh, don't get all defensive," she joked. "Now Williams will be missing two members of his squad, not just one," she casually pointed out. "Have you tried raising him on the comm?"
"Not yet," he said, still off kilter from her comments. "Though we probably should try to maintain comm silence until we know how to get over to the LZ."
Toril nodded. "Don't want to alert the Covies of our whereabouts." Her head seemed to perk up, as if a thought had just occurred to her. "Then these could be useful." She unfastened two short, black barrels attached to her left hip and held them out.
Nathan frowned. "How did you know to bring sound suppressors?"
She playfully bounced the metal rods off his chest and smiled through her visor. "You boys never think past your next meal." She then brought her hand over her chest and gave a theatrical sigh. "I, on the other hand, figured we might be in a different sort of trouble."
His expression shifted over to a more confused look. Why didn't I think of that? He hefted his SRS in his hands and stared blankly at the loudest weapon of the lot, second to a rocket launcher.
"Yeah, that thing isn't so subtle," she said with a smile. Toril reset her shoulders and shifted into the professional manner the situation demanded. "So how do we get out of here?"
Turning to look at the door from which the two Elite guards had come, he pointed at the dead bodies. "I already got those two over there, but that door will most likely be the source of more Covies."
"More targets," she corrected him. "What, so up then?" Toril asked while motioning to the balcony with her SMG.
"Looks that way."
Alice watched the distant leading Phantom disappear into the small, forward hangar bay, away from the compromised central bays, and pointed. "There they go."
Douglas gave a short nod. "I see them." He took their commandeered ship into a tight turn and gunned the throttle. "You think there will be a committee to greet us?"
Cracking a smile, she shook her head. "I think they had no choice but to head towards a bow docking bay. Cutter really gave them a sucker punch with the MAC," she commented. The two giant vessels were now breaking off from one another which meant self preservation was now seen as a viable tactic.
"You want to link up with the ODSTs on board before we go romping around?"
Alice pursed her lips. If all the Covenant wanted was to nab the Monitor and jet off, then the Spartan's allies would need to carry out their orders of disabling the ship. She personally didn't have the slightest idea how to do that, but then again, her expertise was in killing, not contemplating. Still, she felt a twinge of guilt for not reading up on Covenant vessel design more than she had. "No, I'd say we've got a Priority 1 asset that needs securing."
"Yeah. And if the Covenant don't know we are coming, so much more the tactical advantage," he replied with a clipped, mocking tone, doing a fairly good impersonation of Serina.
Alice tilted her head in thought. "You know, it's times like these I kind of wish she were-"
"Don't say it," Douglas cut her off, flashing a warning stare. "Besides, once we land and drop out of this thing we kill some Elites, rescue the Monitor, and get the hell out of there."
"Simple enough," she agreed.
Douglas steered them gently through the containment field and settled their ship to the left of their target Phantom. The Covenant troops had already exited the transport and were regrouping just off the port bow of the ship, giving Alice almost a bird's eye view of the enemy. One Elite was barking at another and pointed off to the right. Alice leaned forward to try and peer around the other Phantom, but couldn't see what had gotten their attention.
"We better hurry, Alice," Douglas said, flipping a few switches on the console in the process.
"Wait, can you bring this thing's cannons online?" she asked shrugging off her restraints and getting to her feet.
Douglas reseated himself and quickly brought up a visual feed from the starboard bow plasma cannon. "Done."
"Good. Give me fifteen seconds, and then take them down." Alice patted him on the shoulder. "And Doug . . ."
"Don't hit the Monitor, I got it," he said in a knowing tone.
She smiled. "Mark."
Alice carried the mental countdown in her thoughts as she flew to the back of the Phantom. She quickly reloaded both of her weapons and made sure she procured some plasma grenades. She took a deep breath . . . three, two, one.
She activated the gravity lift and jumped down to the deck of the hangar bay. Alice hit the ground running even as Douglas rained down fiery pink plasma from the forward cannons. She saw two Sangheili take three quick bursts and their charred bodies fell to the ground. Another Elite tripped over one of his fallen comrades and Alice obligingly unloaded six pistol rounds into his torso.
Douglas continued to rake his fire across the floor, super heating large metal plates and vaporizing limbs that were unfortunate enough to be caught in its path. Billowing clouds of acrid smoke began to fill the area as Alice finally spotted Contrite Variant still attached to the odd device the Sangheili was holding, only now the Monitor was being dragged in the alien's wake. She quickened her pace towards her target just a dozen meters away and switched to her assault rifle.
By now a few Covenant troops were returning sporadic needler rounds and yellow plasma bursts, but it only help Douglas pinpoint those still fighting. Alice was almost within range when a hollow shot rang out. Her first thought was to suddenly find cover, but Alice faltered in mid stride when she recognized the sound.
It was a UNSC SRS sniper rifle.
Way off to her right, two Sangheili warriors toppled to the ground when two white streaks passed through helmet and skull. Alice traced the source by snapping her head up and around. Half concealed on an upper floor behind a glowing railing was an ODST. Apparently his squad has already made it this far forward.
Above her, Douglas ceased fire, allowing Alice to quickly overrun the last Elite. The alien snarled a challenge, placing one of his hooves on top of the Monitor. He looked as if he was threatening her with Contrite Variant's destruction, and Alice skidded to a halt, her weapon up and ready to fire.
Whether or not the Sangheili in question had heard the previous three SRS rounds, he surely heard the fourth. The ODST was accurate if not subtle, and put the Elite down with a bullet through its temple.
Covering the distance to the lifeless Monitor in two seconds, Alice quickly deactivated the energy device used to capture it by depressing the trigger underneath the dead Sangheili's long-fingered hand. With a short pop and crackle, Contrite Variant's eye flashed a brilliant orange before returning to its normal blue hue. Disengaged from the device, the Monitor backed away from Alice and lifted up off the ground.
"It's okay," Alice said, holding up her left hand and maintaining vigilance with her eyes. "You're free now."
"Oh, my." After stopping his retreat, Contrite Variant gave an approximation of a nod. "Thank you, Reclaimer. I didn't realize that-" The floating machine stopped in mid comment and took in the alien hangar bay with a panoramic sweep of his eye. "Is this your vessel?"
"No, this is the Covenant Cruiser," she replied.
Behind her, Douglas landed hard on the deck and was at Alice's side in seconds, shifting his SMGs aim at the various smoldering bodies. "What a mess," he commented and nodded to Alice. "Is Cyclops okay?"
Either Contrite Variant didn't understand the jab or chose to ignore it. "So we are aboard a ship capable of entering the Slipstream?"
"Yeah . . . so?" Douglas asked slowly.
Alice could detect his frowning expression by the way he shaped his words. "But we need to get you out of here," she quickly added. The Monitor was looking back and forth between the two Spartans as a kid wanting permission to venture off. And she didn't like it one bit.
"Splendid! Then we can finally be on our way." And with those words the Monitor turned to go.
"Grab him!" Douglas yelled, reaching with both arms extended.
Alice took one long stride and lunged for the Monitor. Her hands made contact with its hardened shell and she immediately felt a jolt of pain in her hands that quickly ran up her arm. Little lightning tendrils played over her armor and increased in intensity. "Aah!" she belted out and let go of the floating machine.
Douglas abandoned his pursuit of the fleeing AI and caught Alice on her way to the floor. She had suffered a partial armor lock and her suit was now quickly dissipating the charge she had received. "I'm fine," she grounded out between clenched teeth. "Just get him."
But Contrite Variant was moving faster than Alice had ever seen, and the AI was already through the only door on the far side of the bay. With a resounding thud, the petal-shaped door closed and glowed a dark purple, signaling it was locked.
"Great, now we've got an alien AI on the loose," Douglas growled. He pulled Alice up to her feet. "You sure you'll be alright?"
She flexed her fingers and found the tingling sensation nearly completely gone. "Yeah."
He looked down at the dead Elites. "Who gave you the assists?"
A short whistle from above turned both of their heads around. There were two UNSC soldiers now waving at them, beckoning the Spartan's upward.
"Well what do ya know, ODSTs." Douglas picked up the long barrel-shaped device the Elite had used to secure the Monitor and inclined his head at the pair above. "You want to tag along with them?" he asked Alice.
She just gave a silent smirk and nodded.
After a short climb, the Spartans were face to face with the two ODSTs. Alice was slightly surprised to find them with very different postures. The sniper had his visor depolarized and stood with a rigid back as if he had a wooden stick straightening him up. The other ODST was a female who appeared almost casual as her fingers drummed against the barrel of her silenced SMG.
Expectantly, the sniper spoke first. "Corporal Nathan Parker," he identified himself. "And this is Corporal Toril Holmen," he said with a slight nod of his head towards his companion. "It's good to see you two."
"Spartan 130," Alice introduced herself. "Thanks for the help."
Parker shrugged uneasily. "I'm afraid I might have been the one that brought them here. I had already taken down two guardsmen."
Alice waved a hand to dismiss the thought. "No, we were pursuing that lead Phantom."
"And anytime we can get sniper support it is much appreciated," Douglas cut in. "Spartan 042," he said as he offered an armored hand.
The ODST shook it in return. "Then you're welcome," he said with a forced smile. His expression turned grim and he gestured toward the locked door below. "I take it you were after that . . . thing?"
"Yeah," Alice sighed. "It's an unknown AI that has been blabbering on about some mission since we found it."
"And it's what we're after," Douglas added. He brought his chin up. "We could use some backup."
Holmen stirred and mumbled something to Parker. The male ODST gave an abbreviated nod. "We have our orders, but since we're cut off from the main group-"
"Sure, you can form up with us," Douglas quickly offered diplomatically. He looked down at Parker's weapon of choice. "Though an SRS isn't going to be much good inside a Covenant cruiser."
"It sure did the job of saving your ass earlier," Holmen butted in with a pointed finger.
Alice watched the color in Parker's face nearly flush white and she suppressed a smile. Holmen was a sassy one and her unexpected demeanor was a little humorous. "Point taken."
When Parker realized the two Spartans were not going to rip the ODSTs apart for insubordination, he nodded. "Ma'am," he said to Alice. He poked a thumb over his shoulder. "There's several doors that lead out of here."
"Shall we?" Douglas asked, moving past the ODSTs to head toward the nearest arched doorway. If he was annoyed at the lack of respect by Holmen, he didn't show it.
Alice had only taken two steps when she heard the first tell-tale signs that the ship was maneuvering. "Doug?"
042's response was to bolt for the door.
It was then that the normal hum of the space-faring vessel picked up and the ominous tone of a Covenant Slipstream drive vibrated the floor underneath.
"Radiation detected!"
James Cutter's eyes darted to the tactical readouts of the cruiser. "What?" But his vague question needed no clarification as the enemy ship's bow lurched upward, it's nose pointing to the relative sky.
"It's going to jump," one of the ensigns breathed.
"Impossible, there's too much debris. The shipmaster wouldn't dare risk tearing his ship apart," another commented.
Narrowing his eyes, James peered at the secondary screen. "Sensors?"
"Confirmed, Sir. Slipstream rupture is inevitable."
Cutter pursed his lips. There was nothing he could do. If the shipmaster had truly lost his alien mind and wanted to jump in such a hazard environment, there was no way to stop him. But maybe talking to him will reveal his plans. "Open up a comm channel to them." He got a nod from the communications officer and he swallowed. "To the shipmaster aboard the Covenant Cruiser, this is Captain Cutter of the Spirit of Fire."
The main viewscreen flickered when the transmissions were linked, but the Sangheili captain did not appear. Instead, the image was of a single glowing eye that filled the entire screen. "If you will not return me to Installation B-23, then I shall use this vessel," Contrite Variant replied bitterly.
Shock and confusion fought for control over James' facial features as the image of the Monitor winked out of existence. The bridge suddenly fell silent for a long, bated breath.
Finally, the helmsman cleared his throat. "Do we pursue, Sir?"
But even as words were forming in the Captain's mouth, the circular, sparking void of slipspace formed and swallowed the Covenant cruiser. And with it, two Spartans, nearly half his ODSTs . . . and a renegade artificial intelligence.
Jerome paced back and forth along the edge of the Starboard Dock Bay of Tradewind. His impatience was forming a knot in his stomach that was quickly brewing with the empty feeling in his chest, seeking to erupt into an all-out internal storm.
He could see the pair of Pelicans off in the distance swooping their way down to him and they seemed to be moving in slow motion. "C'mon, c'mon."
Jerome really didn't know how one would be able to steer the cumbersome transport past the cruiser's point defense systems, but he had to board that enemy ship. A Longsword would be better, he thought to himself and wondered about making the request over the comm.
He started waving the approaching Pelicans down, all the while keeping his magnified gaze on the cruiser. The sleek enemy ship suddenly turned upward, making a mad dash away from the moon-sized asteroid. A large black circle blossomed just off the cruiser's bow, and Jerome knew his chances were now shot.
Multiple chunks of rock and debris followed in the cruisers wake, some fairly sizable while smaller ones dinged off the ship's hull. The slipspace rupture closed as quickly as it opened, leaving a large empty space in the thin atmosphere of the asteroid.
As the blast of the Pelicans' engines washed over him, Jerome dropped to his knees in defeat. Of all the battles he had fought with both Douglas and Alice, he had never been separated from them for long. Nor had he ever been without at least one of them within comm's reach. And now, that old demon of survivor's guilt was latching onto his shoulders, seeking to tear his armor off and seize his heart for good.
For the first time in a long time, he felt fear begin to swirl around in his skull. Fear he would truly be alone.
And he was alone, destined to deal with the guilt by himself.