ODST RED ALERT

Part 12

"So, what rank were you when you two started going out?" Pasagoa asked.

"That's Private I'm afraid." Delta said with a grin on his face.

"Come on! No secrets between friends." Thea said.

"Like I said, it's Private." A grin appeared on their faces as they caught the hint he was giving them.

"Andrew? A word please?" Kiara called to him from the door to Crow's office.

"Oh, someone's in trouble." Assrak said, presuming that it was over what Delta had just told them.

"I'll be back in a minute." Delta said as he rushed over to Kiara. They stood at the doorway talking for a few seconds before they both vanished into Crow's Office.

"Right. We've all been up for about 12 hours so you all must be tired. Go and grab some R and R." Irish told them. As they all dispersed to the different corners of the saferoom, he tried to contact Hunter. He tried twice but was met with the same interference. "Must be out of range or something." Irish told himself and found a nice spot to fall asleep.

"You're positive?" Delta said as Professor Crow told him that he had found a way to disrupt the Falling spores.

"Yes, but I will need to insert it into the station's ventilation system."

"That's crazy. The Ventilation Control Centre is 2 levels below us, along with the rest of the Falling."

"That's why I will need to requisition some of the ODST's here...including some of HELLFIRE."

Delta looked at him. "You will have to ask Irish about that, but how are they supposed to put the cure into the vent system."

"I'll be going with them," Crow said, "As well as Miss Sanders." Delta looked at Kiara with an expression of worry. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

"He only found out about your plan just now." Kiara told him.

"How are you supposed to make it down to the Control Centre in a wheel chair?" Delta asked him.

"I won't be." Crow said as he lifted himself out of his chair and walked over towards Delta, who was stunned. "I had to determine how and why the Falling could regenerate so fast. The answer. The spores." He motioned towards the Falling that he had asked for. It lay on the examination table, dead. "I infected myself with Falling DNA to see how I would react to it. Almost immediately my legs started to grow back. I injected myself with my cure and the rapid cell division has stopped. I believe it to be because the spores have now effect on me anymore."

"That's all well and good but how is this going to help us?"

"If they can't use the spores to regenerate then they are as vulnerable as we are."

"I don't see why you need to take Kiara along."

"It's encase I turn into a Falling or am killed on the way to the Ventilation Controls. That's why I'm asking for some of HELLFIRE." Eventually, after running out of arguments, Delta submits to the plan.

"I don't like this plan." Irish said when Crow asked for some of his ODSTs.

"We don't really have a choice." Delta said before Crow could reply. "It's either we do this and risk a few men or risk a lot more when we move up towards HUNTER, speaking of which, have you been able to get in contact with him?"

"No. I think we must be out of range or something." Irish said.

"Hmm." Crow said as he pondered something. "Could it be that the spores also affect communication?"

"If that were true, then even if we managed to get up to HUNTER's position, we still wouldn't be able to call for an extraction." Delta said. They all stood for a few minutes before Irish said that he would not order his men to go to the Control centre, but that if they volunteered to do it, he wouldn't stop them.

"I only have one problem." Irish asked. "The power is still out in most of the station. How do you propose to get the Ventilation System powered up?"

"I thought that you had sorted the power out before you arrived here?" Delta asked.

"We were on our way to the Power Relay station when we stopped here." Irish told him.

"Well, I guess that we will have to take care of that now won't we?" Delta told him. He turned to go brief the rest of HELLFIRE.

It was a few minutes before the operation was to begin and everyone was making their last minute preparations. Irish was giving orders to the soldiers who were staying to defend the saferoom, Assrak was saying good bye to a girl he had spent most of his time with before he met up with Pasagoa and the rest of the ODSTs who were going with Crow to the Ventilation Control Centre, Thea was packing a backpack full of all the things he would need to restore the stations power and Delta was sitting on the ground with his sword in front of him as if he were meditating. He was wearing ALPHA 06's helmet because it was the only spare helmet available to him. Kiara came over to him just as he was getting up.

"Why did you agree to let me go with the Professor?" She asked him.

"I didn't but there's no choice. Either I let you go with him and increase our chances of getting out of here or I will have to destroy the station to kill every one of these monsters." Delta said just as he put his helmet on.

"Why is that only you, Irish and Thea are going to reboot the power relay?"

"If we took anyone else then there wouldn't be enough people to protect everyone here. Besides, in a smaller team, we can slip past most of the Falling and get to the relay in no time. This is the best way for us to complete this mission. Don't worry. I'll have Irish and Thea covering my back, and no Falling can best me."

"I hope so because if you die, I'm going to drag you back from hell and kill you myself."

Delta burst out laughing. "I love you too." They hugged and moved to their teams for the mission. Soon after they all pilled out through the saferoom doors and split up, Delta, Irish and Thea proceeded towards the power relay where as Crow, Kiara, Assrak, Pasagoa and a few of the other ODSTs went the opposite direction towards the Ventilation Control Centre.

"Assrak? Pasagoa?" Delta called over the radio.

"Yes Delta?" they both answered in unison.

"Protect Kiara for me would ya? 'Cause if she gets hurt out there, I'll kill both of you." They laughed. "I'm serious." They stopped laughing and, Delta was sure that he heard them gulp.

"Delta, stop terrorising my squad and help me get this vent open." Irish ordered.