Chapter XXIV: Immortality
Reach, Epsilon Eridani system
March 8th, 2532 UNSC Calendar
Private First Class Anson Hawkins
7th ODST's, Hotel Squad
Honestly, I hate Innies more than I hate the Covenant, simply because we're at war with a homicidal alien race, and they still feel the need to fight against the people protecting them. I never really understood their motivation against the UNSC, if you keep out of government business, the government will keep out of yours, unless you're an ODST.
I think about these things while sitting inside of a Pelican, flying across Reach to another Innie attack, but why they needed ODSTs for this, I have no idea.
"Listen up ladies!" McCal yells over the loud engine. "We've got reports of something big the Innie's are pulling out, big to the point where three buildings have been a part of a hostile takeover and are now in ruins, no explosives used!" He yells, we look at each other, confused. "We're headed to Szurdock Ridge, there's a mining corporation there being targeted by the Innies, get ready for a quick insert." McCal says, putting his helmet on to his head, we all do the same.
I look around me and I groan at all of the new guys we had received in the last couple of weeks, two of them. Dougherty is the squad medic, and Granger carries the DMR, but he's only a spotter unless McCal cannot shoot, and then he's allowed to shoot. Dougherty tells us to call him Dee all the time, but we don't because that's not how nicknames work in the ODST's, and he's gonna figure that out. However, Granger got his first nickname when he dug around in the barracks' trash can to see if we threw his shit out, therefore we now call him Trash Can
And yet I still can't meet their eyes.
I remember very clearly how the two soldiers died, Cairns had died in my arms, I still have nightmares about the Elite punching straight through her helmet like that.
The Pelican slows down and starts to descend, the cargo bay shakes slightly when it touches the ground. The squeal of metal on metal takes up the sound in the room as the doors of the cargo bay open. We all run out, facing all around the Pelican as it lifts off, zooming back towards New Alexandria.
"I wonder why the local militia couldn't handle this." Dougherty mutters over whisper.
"They wanted the best, and they got it." Volker responds.
We start to move up towards the mine, it's not like one of those old mines but a gigantic building connected to a series of underground tunnels that lead to Titanium deposits. And that's what the Innies want.
We move up to the entrance of the mine, the sound of voices ahead forces us to stop and take cover, weapons aimed down the tunnel. Two men wielding MA5B military grade rifle's walk around the corner, talking to each other about something.
"-Sophie said I should leave the Insurrection and come home to see the kid." The guard on the left complains, still walking towards us.
"On my go, we get them to drop their weapons." McCal says over whisper.
"Yeah Bruce, staying here is the biggest priority, what if the UNSC sends someone to attack? You'll be one less guard and we need you." The guard says, clapping Bruce on the shoulder, I peek my head over the crate I hide behind. They both wear titanium armor, much like the UNSCMC's armor but a different color.
They walk past McCal, still talking, McCal stands and puts his hands on both of their shoulders.
"I know how you feel man." He says, Bruce turns and nearly shrieks, the entire squad jumps up, aiming their weapons.
"Drop them!" I yell.
"On the fucking ground!" Dougherty yells, his finger wrapped tightly around the trigger of his weapon. I scoot over to Dougherty and I push the barrel of his weapon down.
The two Innies drop their rifles and put their hands on the back of their heads, McCal zip ties both of them to a support beam, checking them and the area around them for anything sharp they could use to break free.
"Please, I have kids." Bruce says.
"You don't seem very fond of seeing them." I say to him coldly, looking down at the helpless man.
"That's because I am needed here." He says firmly.
McCal brings out his SOCOM magnum, pressing it against the other guard's head.
"Bruce." He says to the worried Innie. "I have some questions, lie about one answer and his brains go all over your armor." He says, the other guard looks extremely worried.
"Bruce, do what they say." He says, hesitantly.
"Question one." McCal says, cocking back the hammer of his magnum. "Why are you harvesting titanium?" McCal asks.
"Armor, weapons, vehicles, you name it." He says nervously.
"What is your plan here?" McCal asks.
"Suicide bombers at several locations that a guy like me cannot know about, once the bombs go off, we attack." He says.
"Last question, how many of your superiors are here?" He asks.
"All of them."
"Thank you for your time." McCal says, he pulls the trigger of his SOCOM on one guard and does the same to Bruce, leaving the bodies zip tied to the post.
"McCal, the fuck?" Reid asks.
"I made it easier for them, Hawkins what is the punishment for rebelling under the UNSC?" McCal asks.
"Public execution." I answer.
"They didn't have to face that, now help me hide the bodies." McCal says, I grab Bruce by his arms and I drag him over to the crate I was hiding behind, I open it and peak inside before throwing the lid off and lifting Bruce into it. I close the crate before walking over to my squad.
"Let's keep moving." McCal says, we walk forward with our guns raised, I switch from my SAW to my silenced SMG, I wouldn't need the SAW unless the enemy found us.
Giggling sounds from up the hall and footsteps run towards us, we stop and aim down the hall, ready for anything.
A little boy and girl run around the corner, the girl trying to catch the boy, they couldn't be more than five. They run pas McCal but stop and look at me hiding behind a pillar, I look down at them and depolarize my visor. I kneel down and look the boy in the eye.
"Hey buddy." I say to him in a calm voice.
"Hi!" The boy says cheerfully.
"Listen, my name is Anson, what's yours?" He asks.
"Tim, but mommy calls me Timmy." He says with a laugh.
"Is your mommy here?" I ask him.
"No; daddy took me here, said mommy didn't love me anymore, we left her in the big city." He says.
I go into whisper comm, blocking anything coming out of my helmet. "Somebody look up recent AMBER alerts that match this kids' description." I say before logging off whisper.
"Listen, this place is not gonna be very safe soon, very had things are going to happen." I tell the boy, the girl looks at me confused.
"Like what?" The boy says.
"Don't worry about that, I need you to wait here, ok? We'll be back and we can take you to your mommy, is this your sister?" I ask him.
He nods. "Her name is Trina!" He says.
"Hey!" She complains.
"What?" The boy asks her.
"I can say my own name!" She complains, crossing her arms and making a pouty face.
"Stay here Tim, protect your sister." I tell him, Tim nods and I stand, my helmet polarizes and I start to walk up the hallway, the rest of my squad follows.
McCal takes lead and we continue, the sounds of many voices gets very close. The hallway ends in what looks like a giant common room.
"We have four targets here, Jed the Priest, Taroff the Executioner, Fallker, and Udiah the Healer." McCal says.
"Jed is the leader of a cult within this insurrection group, recently convinced around eighty people to drink mercury." McCal says. "You can guess what Taroff has been doing with his hands, Fallker is the leader of this insurrection and a close friend to Howard Graves, who is one of two Head of State's for the URF." McCal explains.
"Fallker is the only one we can't kill." Reid adds.
"Right, let's get going." McCal says, we all run into the room, guns aimed at the crowd in front of us.
"On the fucking ground!"
"On the ground or you WILL be shot!"
"Any weapons will result in death so drop them!"
The crowd explodes with chatter and screams, half the crowd gets on to the ground while the other half grabs their weapons from their sides, backs, holsters and starts to kneels down to place them down.
I hear a shot from the crowd and a huge force slamming into my armor, I almost fall over but my armor's shock absorbers do their job.
I grab my SAW and I start to fire into the crowd, any surrendering Innie is on the ground on the other side of the room.
The four leaders stand on the stage in the center of the room, in shock as Reid, Chorei, and Volker grab them and start running them to the exit, Reid has two of the leaders.
I move forward after the crowd has either died of surrendered.
"Calling in the Marines for prisoner extraction." McCal says.
_
Private Gerald Redwood
UNSC Marine Corps
I clench my teeth as the Pelican lands a little too hard on the ground, I grab my MA5B from the holder next to me and I charge out the door with the rest of the Marines in my platoon. We jog into the mine shaft, after jogging for two minutes we find two kids waiting.
"These are the kids the Troopers were talking about." My Sergeant says over the radio. Two Marines step out of line and pick up the kids, the boy sits near one of their shoulders while the girl gets a free piggyback ride from the other Marine.
"Be careful with them." Sergeant orders as the Marines jog up the hall. We continue moving until we find the four prisoners the Troopers are extracting.
Three troopers stand by them, they turn to us and one of them nods.
"There's an entire crowd of Innies in there, you can take them." One of the Troopers says, we walk in and start to zip tie the members of the crowd. Several Marines walk the crowd out back to a prisoner transport while we cover them.
I hear the sound of running feet, one of the prisoners runs towards me and the other Marines. His hands come out from his back, something clenched in his hand.
I raise my MA5B as he gets close to me, I pull the trigger and I watch him drop, a spray of blood flying from his neck.
And that's when he explodes.
I fall backwards and I feel an extreme pain in my leg, bullets start flying as I black out.
_
I watch the Innie explode and I jump into action as four giant Innies and around twenty armed men and women burst out on to the stage, firing on the Marines. The larger Innies wear bulky armor, complete titanium armor.
I depress the trigger and watch a couple of them fall, their chest cavities being ripped open by my bullets. One of the large Innies walks over to a Marine who open fires on him the Innie doesn't seem to notice the bullets as he bitch slaps the Marine, sending him flying and crashing on top of the Marine who had just lost both of his legs, his intestines hang out of the bottom of his torso, blood pooling out of it.
The giants run towards the crowds, Reid, Chorei, and Volker open fire on the giants, allowing the leaders to run towards the stage where the Innies uncuff them, McCal and I rush forward, I throw my SAW over my back and I grab my SOCOM, I take out the Innies on the stage one by one, McCal follows my lead and fires while I reload.
I reach Jed first and I shove him to the ground, he grabs my magnum and tries to reverse it, I slam my armored glove into Jed's mouth, all of his teeth crack and fall into the back of his throat as I press the magnum against his head, pulling the trigger and splattering his brains on to the floor next to us before he can even scream.
Udiah rushes forward and tries to kick me, he screams as his foot connects with my armor and he falls back. I jump up I aim my magnum at him while McCal secure Fallker. Udiah starts to laugh, he shoves his hand into his mouth, it starts to foam up, his eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls back.
Fallker is secure now, Taroff jumps on to the stage in an attempt to run, I put a magnum bullet into his leg, he screams and collapses, McCal jumps on to the stage and grabs his Ka-Bar knife from his side, slamming it down on Taroff's neck, his head rolls off the stage.
I feel myself being lifted off of the ground, I fly and slide along the floor, one of the big guys has literally thrown me. I hear giant footsteps making their way towards me, I reach for my SMG, my magnum now back near the stage. I spray the giant, all sixty bullets connect with him but he continues to walk towards me, I reload and spray him again.
The Innie takes off his helmet and coughs blood on to the floor, he looks down as an SMG bullet shoots straight through his head.
"One down!" I yell.
"Hawkins, help!" Volker yells, I turn and see him getting punched, he flies backwards, a loud cracking sound emits from his helmet as his visor spider webs.
I aim my SMG at the behemoth of a man. Click. I curse and I throw my SMG away, looking around for a weapon. A blow torch sits on one of the crates, I run forward and I grab it, sprinting to where Volker is trying his best to fight off the armored man.
I yell as I leap forward, grabbing around the giant around his neck and clawing at his helmet to try and get it off, no joy. I slam the bottom of the blow torch into the visor of his helmet over and over again until it breaks. The man tries to throw me off, but I remain planted on him as I shove the nozzle of the blow torch into his face and pulling the trigger, keeping it held down until his screams cease, he falls face first and I go with him. Melted skin and titanium drip out of his visor.
I breathe heavily. 'Two to go.' I think to myself as I help Volker to his feet, I spin the blow torch before dropping it and grabbing my Ka-Bar from my side. The other two are fighting Chorei, Reid and McCal, McCal defends Fallker while Chorei and Reid defend him, firing their shotguns to try and pierce the enemy's armor with some success.
I run forward with Volker next to me, he has since grabbed the blow torch and has followed me, I look at him.
"Volk, melt off the back of their armor." I tell him, he nods as we approach, Volker gets to work, the back panel of the Innies' armor falls off right as he notices us, I stab my large knife straight through him, my knife clinks against the inside of his chest armor.
I pull the knife out as the other giant slams into me, sending me sliding towards the stage, the top of my helmet slams against the metal stage and I cry out, the vibrations inside of my skull making me dizzy.
The giant continues to fight off Reid and Chorei, Volker runs to where I dropped my magnum and grabs it, running over to the Innie and jumping on to his back. Volker slams the muzzle of the magnum into the giant's visor and fires, the giant staggers back, a clean hole straight through his head.
But he's still standing.
He looks up to the sky, blood drips from his bullet wound. "Forever immortal!" He screams, the last thing I see is the giant explode, causing the cavern around us to collapse before I black out.
_
Four hours post Immortal attack
My head throbs as I wake up, I can't move my legs. Cracks spiderweb all over my visor, making my HUD flicker and flash every couple of seconds. I plant my hands on the ground and I pull my legs from the rock they were just under.
I look around, I have around a ten foot area that is uncovered, the rest I cannot see.
"Anybody up?" I ask over the radio, hoping someone will hear me.
"Hawkins?" Asks McCal.
"That's my lovely name." I reply.
"Holy shit, we've already left the area." McCal was in disbelief.
"I thought the motto was no man left behind." I retort, my eyes narrowing.
"Hawkins-" McCal starts.
"Nononono, I don't want excuses, I want to go home." I answer.
"Hawkins we left you because your vitals flatlined."
"What?!"
_
Authors note
Y'know, it's been a little while since I left on a cliffhanger, I have a lot of explaining to do for why I am no longer frequent with my chapters. So this week we've had this test called the HSA which is a graduation requirement and if I fail it I have to retake it next year, so I dedicated time to that, along with this I recently bought a new Laptop which I have been setting up and tinkering with, which has been a lot of fun considering I can run most games at around 90 FPS.
Anyway, enough about me, let's talk about the story. This chapter was a particularly gory one because I'm that kind've person, if you haven't figured out that I can be very descriptive with these things then I will come and read the entire fic to you. I thought about each death very carefully and I wondered what would happen if...? For instance: what would happen if you were punched in the mouth by a titanium glove? I also switched characters and killed him, which was completely necessary to get my point across about this, to make somebody think about how quickly life can be taken. I brought the Immortals back, but I am unsure about how tough they should be, the bullets in Halo easily punch through Innie armor, so I don't know if I should give them shields or make them bullet sponges.
After some research I figured out that right now titanium is one of the strongest metals on Earth and can actually shatter a persons skull if it were being used as an effective weapon. So an entire mouth full of teeth is nothing to titanium. I also made every death other than Jed's really ironic. Uriah the healer kills himself with cyanide, Taroff the executioner gets his head cut off, get it? I thought it was funny...
Anyway, I'm sharing the credit of these deaths with my friend Griffin because he sat there as I explained every death in detail and how I wanted it to play out, so good for him I guess.
If you enjoyed the chapter I really would not mind a couple more followers and more love for the story to keep my inspiration going, I actually looked at the traffic graph and we have around 3.2k views which is a huge achievement for me. If you enjoyed leave a review telling me how awesome or how fucking stupid I am and I will respond to it in the next authors note, see you all next time.
I dunno if you could tell or not, but I'm bringing back Sins, I've overcome my writers block of.. Two years now? And I'm writing for it again, expect more chapters soon!
Read on
-Rsk