Red vs. Blue: Dissent

Chapter Eleven

I hope you guys are mostly satisfied with the story so far. I'm trying my best to make sure that this story doesn't completely fall apart. Any suggestions on ways to improve this story would be deeply appreciated and can be expressed through a review. Yes this is just me trying to get you guys to review. You're looking awfully nice today… that shirt looks great on you…

UNSC Archive File

Location: Oblivion

Phoenix One's body screamed at him when he tried to rise. His right arm instantly collapsed when he tried to put weight on it. Bugger… that isn't good. Since when did the Covenant have tractor beams? This is becoming more and more like some cliché alien video game. Slowly he managed to force himself to rise on his left arm and he gathered his legs under his torso and he stood. His legs shook horribly but they held. Phoenix One's right arm hung limply at his side and slowly he trudged away from the river.

Phoenix One activated his in-helmet radio, "Phoenix Team, do you copy? Respond dammit."

Phoenix Two's voice responded, "This is Phoenix Two, I copy. I have Four and Six with me however Four is injured. We lost the co-pilot on descent."

Phoenix One already knew that, "I understand, what is your location?"

A moment passed then Phoenix Two replied, "Alpha-6-3-Whiskey-2-7."

Phoenix One set the coordinates into his GPS and said, "Roger that."

It took Phoenix One a while to reach the coordinates Phoenix Two had sent him. Slowly, Phoenix One's legs started to regain their strength and he transitioned from requiring to lean against rocks to being able to walk, albeit fairly slowly, on his own. On the way, Phoenix One scanned the terrain around him. The area was mostly barren rock and centred around the river that ran through the heart of the terrain. The area itself was a gap between two rock walls following the river downhill. The sun was setting behind the rock wall to the west and darkness started to engulf the area.

He found Phoenix Team in a secluded area. Phoenix One saw Phoenix Six first, as Six was keeping an eye out. Phoenix One nodded and passed Six without a word; he was too tired to do much talking. He found Phoenix Two crouched over the lying down figure of Phoenix Four. Both their helmets were off and as Phoenix One approached, he noticed the sweat pouring down Four's face.

Phoenix Two looked up at Phoenix One as he approached for a moment then went back to addressing Four's wound. Phoenix One stopped beside him and checked the injured man over. He had taken a bullet to the leg and a bullet to the shoulder. It was messy.

Phoenix Two answered before Phoenix One could even ask, "He got hit on the way down, wounds to the leg and shoulder. I've done what I can but I have limited supplies and as you can see, there isn't much around here that can help. I'm not sure what else I can do, we lost Three yesterday, he would be able to do a better job than I could. Phoenix One remembered. He was right there when Three was killed. He was a good field medic.

"You did your best, Riley." Phoenix One murmured, "I'm sorry Rick."

Four panted a quick, "It's okay." Phoenix One gently placed a hand on Four's shoulder (the shoulder without a bullet wound), then got up and left. Chalk up another soldier that Phoenix One had lost in the past week. He doubted Four would last the night.

He approached Six, "How's it looking?" he asked.

"I haven't spotted any Covies yet but no doubt they'll be searching for us. They'll look to catch us at night when we're sleeping."

"Agreed," Phoenix One glanced back Phoenix Four. "We won't be moving with Four in that condition. Looks like we're stuck here until morning at least."

Phoenix Two joined the two and muttered, "I've done everything I can for him. Now we're practically just waiting for him to die."

Phoenix One sighed, "We can't move him in that condition which means we're stuck here," Two nodded and Phoenix One continued. "There's a UNSC base north of here and if the sun set over there," One gestured at one of the rock walls, "Then we need to head upriver." The other two nodded. "How are we doing for weapons?"

It was Phoenix Two who answered, "We have two assault rifles and a DMR but we are very limited in ammunition and we have no grenades."

Phoenix One groaned, he didn't expect much more, "I've got an DMR with a bit of ammo but that won't last long in a firefight."

Phoenix Six asked, "What's the plan?"

"We wait out here until Rick… passes then we head out. We move at night then get some rest in the day. We head north towards the UNSC outpost quickly but quietly. We're being hunted and if they catch up with us then we surrender. If we try to fight they will kill us. We don't have the ammo to fight them off so if we are caught, we surrender and wait for the opportunity to escape. We can't do any more than that."

There was quiet but eventually the others agreed. Allowing oneself to be captured by the Covenant doesn't leave a much higher probability of survival then trying to fight off the Covenant and it will be painful but Phoenix One knew that trying to have a supposedly noble death with a last stand was just stupid and that was not going to be his last action as leader.

Phoenix Four didn't last two hours. What was left of Phoenix Team didn't bury him, there was no time. Instead they left him with his helmet at his side and his empty assault rifle on his lap and with the sorrow of the loss of a team member, Phoenix Team moved out.

They tried to be a quiet as possible but visibility was even with their night vision and Phoenix One cringed every time a pebble was noisily knocked into the river and every footstep sounded like giant drums to him. However, they managed to get through the night without crossing paths with any Covenant and by the time the sun rose in the east and spread its rays on the water of the river, Phoenix Team had shuffled into an empty cave. Phoenix Two volunteered to take the first watch and gratefully, Phoenix One curled into sleep.

He was woken by Phoenix Six. Phoenix One felt awful. His shoulder hurt like hell. The previous night, Phoenix Two had decided that it was dislocated and had readjusted it back in place however movement was still very restricted and last night's numbness was replaced by searing pain. He was also tired. His sleep was restless as he dreamt of blood and fire and horrible creatures that brimmed of brutality. However he took up the watch and did a good job of staying alert.

An hour into his four hour stint, Phoenix Two joined him at the mouth of the cave, "You should be getting some rest." Phoenix One stated.

Phoenix Two sighed, "I tried but I kept finding myself waking to escape the nightmares. We're going to have one hell of a time when this war is over."

Phoenix One couldn't help but doubt that they would outlive this war. Still he murmured, "Yeah, I guess."

Apparently Phoenix Two could guess what Phoenix One was thinking about, "You know it's not your fault, Kane. None of this is your fault. You shouldn't feel guilty for Rick or any of the others death. They knew the risks of joining the UNSC."

"I guess," Phoenix One muttered.

Phoenix Two sighed, "I guess this war really does change everyone."

"What do you mean?"

Phoenix Two laughed, it was quiet and short and mostly devoid of humour, "Since when was I the one who got you out of a mood?"

Phoenix One didn't respond. It was pretty much true. Ever since they were children, it was always Phoenix One who would take the lead and it was always him who was the voice of reason when Phoenix Two was down. Getting depressed wasn't something that Phoenix One did, where others got depressed, he got determined to do whatever he could to make things better. Even if he couldn't bring back the rest of his team, he couldn't let his emotions deprive what was left of his team's slim chances of survival. He owed it to them as leader to make sure they had as big a chance of survival as possible.

Suddenly feeling better if only slightly, he grabbed his childhood friend by the hand then gave him an embrace, "Thanks," he said. "We will get out of this, no matter how long it takes."

The sun fell and Phoenix Team slipped out of the cave as darkness enveloped the rocky terrain. As they moved silently, they kept a paranoid eye all around. There was something about those rock walls like they were leading the team into a trap. Phoenix One had heard about new armour updates that included motion trackers. Phoenix One really wanted something like that at that point. He looked at his rifle, Maybe more ammunition would be good as well. He looked at his teammates, Maybe more men as well. He looked at the ground, And maybe some sort of evac out of here.

Slowly, the ground began to steepen and Phoenix team moved up until the rock walls were below them. As they walked, trees began to appear, deepening until they were in a thick forest. The trees were huge and Phoenix One had an idea. "Six, scale this tree and try to find the outpost."

Phoenix Six looked at the tree in question and nodded. There were many strong branches that Six could use to climb the tree. Clipping his rifle to his back, Six grabbed two branches and lifted himself up, an impressive task considering the weight of the armour he was wearing. The speed he was climbing at quickly increased until Phoenix One lost sight of him in the leaves. Minutes passed which felt like hours until finally Phoenix One heard Six's voice over the radio, "I'm as high as I can climb now," he whispered. Silence ensued for what felt like a millennia until he spoke again, there was excitement in his voice, "I see it! I see the outpost, it can't be further than ten kliks from our position!"

Phoenix One felt his heart racing, "That's brilliant. Come back…" Phoenix One stopped talking abruptly. He was sure he heard something. "Hold up…" he whispered. Phoenix One raised his rifle, searching the darkness furiously. It can't be. Not now, not when we're so close. His heart was beating even faster than when they had found the outpost. It wasn't fair.

The silent night was broken by Phoenix Two shouting, "Kane! Left!"

There was a roar to Phoenix One's left and a blinding blue light. Instinctively, Phoenix One dived and rolled. He felt something swing just over his head. When he got out of the roll something knocked him back. Phoenix One went down hard. Before he could get back up, something large and heavy pinned him on his back. The object materialised and revealed a snarling Elite. It stood menacingly over Phoenix One and pinned him down with its large foot. The hinge-like jaws on the Elite's face curled into what Phoenix One guessed was the Elite version of a smirk.

Phoenix One heard Phoenix Two spitting curses at the Elites met with much louder roars. "Riley," Phoenix One called. Phoenix Two remembered what they would do if they were caught and fell silent. Resisting would only get them killed. Maybe Phoenix Six could get to the outpost safely but for Phoenix One and Two, that possibility was gone.

Phoenix One felt the pressure release off his chest as the Elite moved its foot then the soldier was lifted into the air. Phoenix One was lifted face to face with the alien. When he had first joined the military, he had expected the Covenant to have eyes of red fire and to be able to bust through dozens of men single-handedly. When he had finally seen one, he realised that they weren't quite the indestructible rage monsters that he had imagined. They, like everything else, could be brought down with the right ordnance. That comforted him when he was on the battlefield. Not really at the moment.

The Elite was holding him by the shoulders and the pain on his right shoulder was excruciating. However Phoenix One just stared the Elite in the eyes and even though the alien couldn't see through his reflective visor, he glared at it, wishing for a thousand burning hot knives to plunge into the Elite's soul. Evidently, the Elite had had enough because all of a sudden it threw Phoenix One to the ground and before he could defend himself, kicked him in the head, smashing his visor into a thousand pieces. It kicked again and Phoenix One's world switched off.

Oh No! Will our dynamic duo escape the clutches of the Covenant? Will our Freelancers find a way to free the Wave of Dissent from the Covenant Blockade? Will our secondary characters have any effect on the storyline? Find out eventually! As long as you review.