Message from the general: Sorry for another long wait, the untimely demise of my previous computer and the difficulty in replacing it played a part. On another note, if you've checked out the latest 'News From Me' update on my profile, you'll know about the situation with my formatting marks. If you haven't, I'll give you the lowdown right now.
The double dash marks (ex: -) I used to indicate a scene/small time change have been removed from all of my stories, past and present, thanks to a formatting update on this site. They'll be replaced with three Xs for all subsequent chapters and stories. As for my past stories, I don't have the time to fix all the chapters that have been affected presently. So to any new readers of this fic, if you were wondering why my scene changes seemed like a mess, this is why. Blame the admins as it's their fault.
Anyway, hang on for yet another ride as this is another of those shocker chapters that'll start to bring things full circle.
Disclaimer: I don't own Halo, all OCs are mine
chapter 25: stand, part 3
April 30, 2009
location: somewhere in the Nevada desert- Area 51
"I need a complete casualty assessment now!"
Captain Williams and Major Stevens were still going over the damage to their forces as they regrouped to man the final defense line. The estimates they had gotten indicated the Covenant had now suffered between forty and fifty percent losses, including the unexplained loss of two of their scarabs. Thankfully, they had halted their advance to presumably lick their wounds as the human defenders were doing just now.
"Estimates for our forces ate roughly the same as the Covenant, looks like your people got off fairly easy," Williams said to the Major.
"All of our artillery pieces had to be left behind, along with eight of our tanks," Alan reported, "that only leaves us a dozen on our side, yours?"
"We had sixty Scorpion tanks, we're down to roughly twenty. We've only lost a few warthogs and hornets. Ammo for the cobras is down to seven percent, enough to halfway arm three of them."
"What about manpower?"
"Over two hundred dead or missing, seventy eight wounded at last count. Gives us roughly five hundred combat ready Marines."
"We have just over eighty dead or missing, twice that wounded."
Williams sighed, "One line of defense protecting this place."
"We should evacuate the wounded while we have this respite," Alan suggested.
"Who's gonna escort them out?"
"That's what I was about to discuss."
Both Alan and Williams knew that each would suggest the other's forces to get the wounded to safety. Williams went first in their predictable argument.
"You and I both know my forces have the better shot at defending this place than you."
"All the more reason they should escort the wounded," Alan retorted, "if you can fight off the Covenant better than we can then you're the logical choice to go."
"And leave you to be rolled over and slaughtered? That's not the corps' credo."
With a bit of reluctance in his voice, Alan said "I never said we'd get slaughtered."
"What's that supposed to mean..."
"Sirs, we have a message coming in from NORAD," the COM tech reported.
"Pipe it in here." Alan said as he turned around to face the display screen. General Denning once more appeared, with a look that was a mix of anger and concern.
"The satellite images I'm getting aren't painting a pretty picture, Major."
"I'm afraid they're accurate, sir. The Covenant have broke through our two defense lines and are poised to hit the base directly. Now we've inflicted considerable damage and they have paused to regroup."
"I'm sensing a 'but' here, Major."
"Our forces have been equally damaged, and our air wing has expended their ordinance. They've retreated south to Creech; the UNSC are heading for Edwards. Our ground forces have lost a lot of material, but we're still good in manpower. I am preparing to EVAC our wounded."
"Stevens, you're essentially telling me I have to initiate the hammer-down protocol."
"General, I believe that if we can get some bombers in the air with conventional ordinance..."
"You just told me you're without fighter cover, I'm not about to order more pilots into the air on a suicide run that won't even succeed, nor can I mobilize more squadrons for a coordinated attack in time. You knew the risks when you were briefed and were told what would happen if you were in danger of being overrun."
"Say again, you're breaking up" Williams yelled into her headset, "what do you mean you're calling a Code Hydra? There's nothing down there but dust... well how did the balloon parasites get down there then!"
"Wait one, General" Alan said before turning to Williams. What's going on?
"Spartan-091 just said there's hostile parasites in the Forerunner complex underground. He doesn't know how many there are or how they got there. Most of the SEAL team was wiped out."
Alan had read the Halo books after his son's departure the last time and knew immediately what Captain Williams was talking about; the Flood.
"General, I've just been informed the Flood are in the Forerunner complex, and they are hostile; SEAL team 6 is confirmed KIA."
"The Flood is there, now?" The General ran a hand over his head, "get your people out of there. I'm calling the president and authorizing the B2 to proceed. Tell the UNSC if they want to live into the next hour they'll get the hell out of there..." the screen cut to static.
"Get him back." Alan ordered.
"Sorry, sir, the Covenant just started jamming all frequencies, looks like their computers finally broke our counter scramblers," the COM tech reported.
"Start tracing the source of their ECM, maybe we can knock it out," Williams instructed to the techs in the ops center. She then turned to Alan, "what's this hammer-down protocol?"
"Since I was ordered to warn you, there's no sense in keeping it secret anymore. A B2 stealth bomber took off from Missouri when the battle began... its carrying a nuclear bomb. To be used in the event the base is overrun."
Williams groaned as she pinched her nose with her fingers, "ok, how long until it gets here?"
"I don't know where it is, but by now its holding position roughly an hour out."
"Which means we have an hour to EVAC the wounded and fight off the Covenant," Williams defiantly said.
"Did you not hear what I said, the Air Force is going to drop a nuke on us if we don't leave now!"
"And what's to stop the Covenant from gaining control of the Forerunner complex, taking the combat sentinels and doing to us what we were going to do to them?"
"I would imagine the Flood" Alan said.
"Either way, we have a plan to deal with both problems that's a little less costly than yours."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're not the only one who brought a nuke to this party."
XXX
The Spartans reached the staging point behind the final defense line in time to meet up with Cassandra who was gearing up. The Haz-team along with the rest of rescued soldiers and Spartans disembarked the elephant and began replenishing their ammo.
"Have you heard anything from command?" Fred asked Cassandra.
"Nothing, the ranking officer, Lieutenant Elliot has ordered all the Marines back to the front for a final stand. He also sent word to get the aircraft in the air. The US forces are still waiting for orders, but a few units are already out there."
Before Fred could issue orders to join them, they got a message over the general COM.
"This is Captain Williams. I've just been informed that given our desperate situation, the US Air Force is planning to use nuclear weapons on the base within the hour to stop the Covenant. Given the tactical situation we face, I don't blame them. We're preparing to evacuate our wounded and all US forces have been instructed to escort them out. Despite the threat we face, I'm ordering all UNSC forces to stay put, as well as extending an invitation to any US forces willing to fight off the Covenant long enough to get the Forerunner complex weapons activated. You know what needs to be done, that is all."
The soldiers gathered seemed to stop everything they were doing as they let the information sink in. It was almost a minute before some people began moving, most of them US military as they ran in some cases to vehicles to take part in the evacuation. At the firebase, warthogs and Humvees were prepared as the wounded were being rushed out of the barracks, which had been made into battlefield hospitals. Despite the threat, some US servicemen decided to stay and fight, most being the crews manning the AA guns and tanks; some however included the Haz-team who walked up to the Spartans shortly after the announcement was made. Lieutenant Florence was looking worse for wear with his uniform caked in the blood of the late Corporal Grimm.
"Look, I'm not the one for profound complements, but you saved our asses out there and we'd be damned if we didn't repay you. Wherever you need us, we'll go."
"I appreciate that," Fred replied as he extended his hand, Florence taking it.
"They're moving!" A soldier yelled.
Sure enough, the lone scarab and its assorted force had begun its advance once more towards the base. UNSC Marines and US soldiers began a dash to get into the trenches and various other positions of cover. Other soldiers merely sped up their evacuation.
"Lieutenant, follow me," Fred practically ordered. The surviving members of the Haz-Team gladly followed their former saviors over to where the UNSC equipment was stored. Fred opened it and began passing out a pair of SPNKr launchers to the Lieutenant's men.
"We'll need some heavy support watching our backs, feel up to it?"
Florence lifted one of the rocket launchers himself, "no problem"
XXX
"We just finished loading the wounded now. Those UNSC types are finishing loading their wounded on their Pelicans, they're flying to Edwards now."
"Understood, and tell the doc I can't get any helicopters in from Creech, we don't have any fight cover to protect them. He's just going to have to triage his patents on the move."
Major Stevens was finishing up a radio call with Lieutenant Colonel Brigham of the Army Rangers, who was the leader of the EVAC convoy. Despite being of a higher rank than Alan, it was Stevens who had been selected over Brigham for his greater familiarity of the situation, Brigham's own desire to personally command his troops, and the lack of time to get a more qualified superior officer briefed in time. All part of the president and Joint Chief's plan to limit the amount of information that had been disseminated so far. Colonel Brigham now had taken charge of US forces as they prepared to abandon Area 51. Stevens knew quite a few soldiers had technically defied orders by staying behind to help the UNSC hold the base, Brigham wasn't wasting manpower trying to get them to comply.
"Sir, what exactly are we going to do with the men refusing the EVAC order?"
"The nuke will sort them out, Major. They'd face a court martial and prison anyway, why not go out futility fighting."
"They've got more balls than you," Alan said to himself.
"Major, you've got five minutes to get your affairs in order and get down here."
"Stevens," Williams called to him.
"Understood, Colonel," Alan said before walking over to Williams.
"I'm giving your guys a few warthogs to augment your EVAC. Hopefully the Covenant will be too busy with us to notice your group."
"Thanks for the help, and good luck," Alan said as he shook hands with the UNSC Captain.
"I kinda wish you were sticking around, good luck to your guys too."
She spun around and walked to the observation window to witness the US convoy's departure. Alan made for the door, but as he reached it he stopped. He had been ready to abandon Earth just a few days ago and leave with Kyle when defeating the Covenant didn't seem likely. Even with the president's pledge of support it was still a long shot, and here he was in the middle of that very same scenario. Soldiers of the US and UNSC had already decided to throw their lives into defying the odds, and yet here he was getting ready to run for the hills with a Colonel who was more content to leave his own people behind.
We don't leave our people behind.
That credo had been drilled into his very fiber, and no matter which way he tried to justify it, leaving now would be leaving the soldiers who volunteered to defy imposable odds, behind.
"Screw it"
Allan pulled out his radio and hailed Colonel Brigham.
"Colonel, leave now, I'm staying."
"Major, I do believe my saying you get down here wasn't a request. If you do this you're..."
"Frankly you can court martial me if I live, sir. Either way I'll see you in hell."
With that, Stevens clicked off his radio and walked over to join Williams, who no doubt heard the whole exchange. They both watched the Colonel's convoy leave and pass behind the back of the firebase to the south, and to safety.
"Looks like you're with us for the duration," Williams said. "You'd better organize whoever is left from your contingent, they're moving again."
Alan looked out to see the massive form of the scarab move closer and closer to the base, this time without the aid of binoculars.
"Lieutenant, lock us up."
"Aye, Captain" one of the other Marines in the ops center said before initiating commands that caused the ops center to retract backward. Blast shutters closed over the observation windows and the main ramp into the firebase, effectively sealing it up.
"We've got an extraction plan parked out back, in case things get hairy here", Williams said to Alan.
"With our luck, things are bound to get hairy."
April 30, 2009
location: Alaska, MT McKinley- presidential bunker
The president sat in one of the lavishly decorated conference rooms as he watched General Denning's briefing on the large projector screen mounted on the far wall. The bunker he was in was half a mile under the largest mountain in North America and probably cost billions of dollars during whatever administration it had been built during. Despite the millions of tons of rock over his head, the president felt his days were numbered thanks to the report Denning was delivering.
"These satellite images were taken just a few minutes ago which seems to indicate the majority of our forces have retreated to the south. This will put them down wind of the blast."
"Are you sure there's no way we can reestablish communications with the base?"
"We've tried, sir. There aren't any landlines for obvious security reasons. We can only assume that the UNSC's own ECCM has failed and the Covenant have jammed communications. Sir, the last communique warned of a biological threat from the Forerunner structure, we need to send the bomber in now."
The president had only a cursory briefing about the capabilities of the Flood, that coupled with the Covenant threat made his next decision the hardest of his young presidency.
"General, tell the bomber..." he swallowed before continuing "they have a go."
"Understood. I suggest we also begin taking steps to ready the country for reprisals from the fleet in orbit; activating the Guard and grounding air traffic."
"Get started," the president replied, "keep me apprised of any developments. And keep trying to get through to Area 51."
With a salute, Denning winked off the screen.
"Its the right decision, sir," the president's Chief of staff told him.
"That's what they kept telling Truman," the president replied.
April 30, 2009
location: somewhere in the Nevada desert- Forerunner complex
Kyle had ran as fast as he could until he could get a message to the surface telling Captain Williams they had a Flood infestation. Kyle knew his shots hadn't done enough damage to the former SEALs that another infection form couldn't come along and revive the bodies. They'd most likely be merged into a pure form, something Kyle might have trouble holding off.
"Reclaimer, I'm afraid I mist implement level 10 infection containment protocols on this instillation immediately."
"That's fine, Flash. Lets concentrate on making sure the Flood doesn't follow us up."
"I have already begun sealing the passages behind us and have deactivated all gravity lifts to the lower levels. Without more power I cannot effect full quarantine of the lower levels I'm afraid. To that end I am recalling all available sentinels from the surface."
"Kyle stopped in his tracks in the hall, Are you crazy? Without those the forces on the surface will be slaughtered."
"I will leave the enforcer sentinels due to their size makes them unable to get inside in a timely manner. The others are necessary if you wish the Flood to be contained on the lower levels."
"Damnit," Kyle swore under his breath, "fine have them come in and take care of this quickly. Its not going to matter if we kill the Flood only for the Covenant to burst in on us."
Kyle resumed his run through the myriad of corridors until he finally arrived on the level containing the infirmary, one of the remaining SEALs was standing guard outside it. His mother, Marc and Kelly were still inside, Kelly lying on a bed being examined by a device situated at the head of the bed and connected to one of the monitors on the wall. Marc had swapped his hospital scrubs for a set of military fatigues brought down from the surface. Kyle quickly sighted the case Kelly brought down and snatched it up.
"Kyle, what's wrong?" Marlyn asked.
"I'm afraid we have a a Flood contamination in this facility, lady" Flash replied to her instead.
"We need to move upstairs, the control room is our best bet," Kyle said as he set the case down for a moment. By this time the lone SEAL had come into the room and Kyle was forced to explain what had happened to Commander Madison and the rest of his team.
"Jesus," the soldier muttered, "we..we gotta call the surface."
"No, the monitor can deal with it, last thing we need are valuable troops being brought down here to contain the Flood. We don't want to deal with the Covenant down here either."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" The SEAL asked frantically.
"Listen, take the kid upstairs to the control room and you and your buddy guard it. You see anything that doesn't look like us, you shoot. Simple enough?"
"Damn straight, man," the SEAL said before motioning for Marc to follow him. The teenager crossed the room before chirping to Kyle, "Flood, seriously? Why are you such a danger magnet." He quickly followed the soldier out of the room and to relative safety. Kyle then turned his attention to his mother who was monitoring Kelly.
"Is it true?" She asked grimly, Kyle could only nod his head.
"Oh god," Marlyn cried, "not again. I remember some of the darkest conflicts of the war, I can't do that again. We need to stop them."
Flash hovered next to her head and in a surprisingly kindly voice said, "Rest assured, Lady Marlyn, infection protocols have already been put into place and the sentinels are being routed in as we speak. The Flood will not take this complex so long as I am synced to its operating system."
"Well that's the most courageous stance I've heard from a monitor, well ever," Kalmiya commented.
"However for your own safety I recommend we evacuate this area immediately due to its proximity to the infected areas."
"We'll go as soon as we're done," Kyle said, "we are almost done, right?"
Marlyn sighed, "I've injected Kelly with the medical nanites, they'll inspect the brain tissue to see if her memories can be recovered. She's been rendered unconscious for the duration."
"I hate to rush you..."
The monitor suddenly began wailing, "reclaimer, internal systems below this level have just failed. Possibility that the parasite is sabotaging systems is ninety-nine point six percent likely."
"Mom, we need to help her, now."
Marlyn looked up from the console with a less than enthusiastic look.
"What is it?" Kyle asked.
"The scans are incomplete, I can't tell for certain if there are even memories to recover at this point."
It hit Kyle like a ton of bricks, the possibility hadn't been entirely on his mind, he always knew it could happen. He though that with all this danger and peril he was facing, there might be one small miracle to help turn the tide. It wasn't meant to be.
"There has to be something left, just something!" Kyle stammered. You have to save her."
"I'm not a doctor, I can barely understand half the data its showing, but the part I do understand is that her neurons are functioning like they're brand new. It could mean any number of things; she might have her memories and she might not."
"No, no she remembered certain things back on the Spirit," Kyle said, "she couldn't have forgotten everything!"
"Kyle, I don't know what to tell you, I'm not a doctor."
"Reclaimer, we must leave this level before the Flood can access it," the monitor said impatiently.
"Wake her up. Now."
Marlyn entered commands into the controls and walked over to Kelly's bedside. Kyle also joined her and helped Kelly up as she stirred.
"I guess it didn't work?" She asked Kyle.
"No," Kyle said. He looked into her eyes and caught a brief glimmer of disappointment, but at the same time it didn't look like she was phased by the outcome, despite her body language.
"We need to move upstairs, so just stick close to me," Kyle said to her.
Kelly nodded in agreement and got out of bed, as she walked to the door Kyle picked up the case. His mother was just about to ask about its contents when Kyle thrust one of his sidearms into her hands.
"Just in case," he muttered.
Marlyn nodded in agreement and Kyle took the rear while the monitor led the group up through the myriad of passages and levels until they arrived near the control room. Kyle took the lead and as they neared a corner in the corridor he yelled "Star!"
"Texas" came a reply.
Kyle motioned for the rest of the group to follow him around the corner where the two SEALs, standing guard at the door to the control room, were lowering their weapons. They waved Kyle and his group into the room and returned to their vigilant duty. Kyle set the case down against a wall and walked over to Halsey who was still busy at the main console.
"How's it coming?"
"Good actually. This neutrino-ion reactor's power levels are off the scale, and it isn't even at full power yet!" Halsey was marveling at the practical treasure trove of Forerunner technology despite the new danger they faced with the Flood infestation.
"What about the weapons?" Kyle asked.
"The combat sentinels might be ready to launch in 20 minutes or so," Halsey said.
"Do anything you can to speed that up, same goes for you," Kyle said as he wagged his finger at the monitor.
"Kyle" his mother said as she pointed to the commotion going on outside. Kyle went to the control room door and saw multiple US soldiers streaming past, their fatigues identified them as Air Force SFs. Leading the group was none other than Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell, the base commander.
"What are you doing?" Kyle asked him.
"Taking care of that Flood problem your Navy buddies were telling us over the radio about," gesturing to the two Navy SEALs. "Now if you'll excuse us."
"Why the hell are you trying to face the Flood head on, haven't you been told what they are?"
"It beats guarding a bunch of empty buildings that are going to be vaporized anyway. Least down here we have a chance at surviving a direct hit."
With that, Mitchell ran off to join his men. The SEALs stayed to guard the control room as Kyle was tempted to join the Colonel, but knew he was on a suicide mission to buy Kyle's group time to save Earth. In the end, Kyle knew the control room stood a better chance at remaining safe with a Spartan guarding it. Kyle returned to the room.
"Reclaimer, my sentinels have entered the complex and will assist the local forces in eradicating the Flood infection."
"Maybe they'll stand a better chance after all," Kyle said aloud.
"However we must discuss contingency plans in the event this course of action fails."
"What do you have in mind?"
"The only other option to contain the outbreak is to use the neutron purge function," the monitor said.
"Neutron purge?"
"The neutrino-ion reactor will release a concentration of neutron radiation particles sufficient to kill all Flood inside the complex. This process however is also fatal to all other organic life forms. The radiation will be contained inside the complex and there is no danger to the surface."
"Can you put it on a time delay?"
"I'm afraid to ensure against the possibility of it being deactivated, the purge will be triggered moments after the order is given, and that order can only come from this room. Yourself, another reclaimer or Lady Marlyn are the only ones capable of activating it."
"In other words, someone is going to need to stay behind to ensure it goes off?"
"Precisely," the monitor answered.
"Plan B then" Kyle said as he walked over to the case and cracked it open. Inside was the familiar half sphere shape of a HAVOK tactical nuke. Kyle gingerly pulled the device out and began inspecting it. Marc, who was leaning against a wall saw Kyle and the nuke, and using Kyle's memories deduced what it was.
"Oh why do I feel like I'm in a MacGruber skit?" He muttered to himself.
April 30, 2009
location: somewhere in the Nevada desert, Area 51
They waited.
After loading up on ordinance and ammo the Spartans and the marines ran for the closest trench they could find. The scarab was coming ever closer along with its ground force. Since they were flying too low for flak guns to hit them, all the AA batteries were being repositioned to fire as the Covenant 's air forces flew close formation with their ground force.
"All forces, this is Captain Williams, stand by on the mines."
As they retreated from the second defense line, UNSC forces had laid an assortment of LOTUS mines to slow the Covenant advance. As the Covenant entered range, and concern over the Covenant finding one or two, Williams sent the signal from the firebase to detonate the mines. A dozen smoke plumes and in a few cases the fire of explosions bellowed up from the ground in front of the Covenant force. Before the smoke cleared it was swatted aside by the main gun of the scarab as it swept the ground in front of it. The beam then began moving toward the defense line and started cutting swaths of destruction in the trenches, instantly vaporizing the defenders within."Shit, they hit the CP!" Was one of many frantic cries that had come through the com channel. With it, Fred knew Lieutenant Elliot had been killed, and command had effectively fallen to him.
"This is Spartan-104, I'm assuming tactical command. Cobras, weapons free, open fire on all targets of opportunity."
The remaining Cobras had all been positioned, despite having only three armed. Hopefully the Covenant would target the unarmed ones in the hopes of drawing fire from the armed ones. A dozen shots rang out and struck a dozen targets, a couple even went for the scarab. Despite the loss of another few Wraiths and Choppers along with some minor damage to the scarab, the Covenant continued to press on towards the trenches.
"All forces open fire" Fred ordered as he gripped his own assault rifle and began firing into the Covenant force. The Covenant in turn began firing as well, and despite their reduced numbers they fought with an increased vigor as plasma mortars rained down. Snipers on both sides began picking off one another's troops. What few Warthogs and Humvees were on the battlefield began firing at their Covenant counterparts, tanks also doing the same. When the two sides troops finally clashed, the result was bloody. The Brutes overwhelmed the outlying trenches which were undermanned due to bombardment casualties, and thus they quickly gained ground on the Marines.
David Stevens was still with his team in the Spartan's trench when the Covenant made a push deep into the UNSC lines. Raising his SCAR-H over the top of the trench and promptly opened fire on a pack of grunts that were running towards their position.
"Damn things are more rabid then before," Maria commented on the Grunts as she put down two.
"They've been living under the Brutes for a while, I'm not surprised," Linda replied.
"Stevens, give me a hand with this, I need a spotter Florence said to the corporal as he hefted a SPNKr and prepared to use it. David removed his binoculars from his vest and began sighting for a target of opportunity. Florence sighted down the scope of the launcher and was surprised to see it had already calculated the bearing of a nearby target, a Wraith tank.
"Hmm, slimmer version of a Javelin" Florence mused, comparing the difference between the UNSC weapon and its bulky 21st century counterpart.
"Forget what I said, Corporal, cover your ears."
Florence let loose two rockets that promptly struck the Wraith in quick succession, destroying the Covenant tank. Florence dropped the empty launcher and picked up his SCAR-H, firing at the Covenant. This scene was repeated across a dozen trenches as the Marines tried desperately to combat the Covenant vehicles now that their Cobras were out of ammo. Scorpions made up some of the difference, and to a minor degree their US counterparts, but it wasn't enough. The scarab had been slowly walking forward the entire time until it had reached the edge of the trenches, once in position, it fired its main weapon and cut a swath through the entire defense line destroying men and vehicles alike. With the defense line effectively bisected, the main Covenant force began to pour through into the relatively undefended Area 51.
"Captain Williams, they've broke through," Fred said into the COM as the defense slowly began to crumble before him.
XXX
"We see them, Lieutenant. Rally whoever your can and stage a counter attack ASAP."
In the firebase, Williams and Major Stevens watched the feed from the external cameras as the Covenant force rallied around their scarab and pushed onto the Groom dry lake. A separate force immediately split off from the main group and made its way towards the hangers and buildings of Area 51. The Scarab and the rest of the Covenant force set their sights on the only other target they could see, the firebase.
"Is this place rated to survive that thing's main gun?" Alan asked.
"Not even close." Williams began shifting COM frequencies until she found the air dispatch one, "flight one, go, go go!"
On the south side of the base, three UNSC Vultures lifted off and quickly accelerated toward the firebase. The scarab saw their approach and decided they were the greater threat; orienting itself to face the oncoming aircraft, it fired its main weapon. One of the Vultures took it head on, getting blown to pieces in a matter of seconds. The pilots of the other two quickly primed their main armament of ANVIL missiles and began firing their forward cannons. The shells causes small explosions to ripple across the Scarab as it fired its main weapon again, catching another Vulture. The beam of plasma quickly switched to the third Vulture, but not before the pilot depressed the trigger on his joystick firing the six missiles on the aircraft's back, moments before being vaporized along with his cockpit.
The missiles however struck the Scarab, one scoring a lucky hit in the passageway to the cockpit of the walker, ripping it open. The Scarab could only be described as headless as it boasted a massive hole where its cockpit and main gun had been, spewing plasma and sparks. The walker wobbled for a minute before collapsing on its legs and it was shortly destroyed as its main reactor's containment gave out. The firebase was not out of the woods yet as the remaining Covenant force was still sufficient to roll over the small structure and take the rest of Area 51 with ease. Two Grizzlies, manned by Douglas and Jerome were all that stood in their way. However they were soon joined by the few Enforcer Sentinels that the monitor had brought with him from the shipyard.
"Where the hell are the rest of those little robots, there were supposed to be dozens!" Williams was pissed, but also scared at the same time. Alan couldn't blame her, he was a little of both too. The Major gripped the holotable as the first stray impact hit the firebase. He could hear the distant thud of the auto-turrets as they returned fire.
XXX
"Gotcha!" Tom cried as he took down the last Brute in their area. Blue team had fanned out under Fred's orders and had begun mopping up straggling Covenant still caught in the myriad of trenches that made up the battered and breached defense line. UNSC and the few US forces quickly extracted themselves from the trenches and assessed their ammo situation. With their staging area destroyed by the Covenant advance, the Marines and Army personnel had to scrounge off the dead for ammo, a few UNSC resorting to pilfering Covenant weapons.
Fred was still in his trench with Maria, Linda, Cassandra and the Haz-Team, letting the two snipers assist in the cleanup efforts while Fred consulted with the surviving platoon leaders over the COM.
"Stevens, look!" Corporal Parker cried to David as they looked out on the battle progressing on the Groom lakebed. David watched as the the Covenant scarab was destroyed by a suicide charge of three Vultures. Cheers rang out across the trenches as Marines raised their weapons into the air in brief celebration. Florence heard the cries, but instead turned to Fred who had just finished his conversation.
"Most of our men have been badly wounded, we're at a little over half strength," Fred admitted bluntly.
"Our guys can look after your wounded, you have the experience fighting those things. It should be you going back in there," Florence replied to the Spartan.
"From what we know that nuke is still on its way here, tell your men to head north with the wounded, the way the Covenant came. You might make it out in time."
"I'll round up whatever vehicles I can find, good luck." Florence extended his hand which Fred took. After a brief shake the two parted company and the Haz-Team began collecting the wounded.
"Boss, you really think we can get out of here in time?" Parker asked.
"After everything I've seen today, I don't know," Florence replied as he helped a UNSC Marine out of a trench.
David looked on at the Marines that were pouring out of the trenches and following the Spartans straight into the battle.
Straight into hell.
XXX
Fred's group was quickly met by a picket force of a Wraith and half a dozen Brutes. Before they could engage, the Wraith suddenly stopped and fell straight to the ground, before exploding shortly after. Two Brutes were killed in the blast and another was skewered by a plasma sword that appeared out of thin air; the remaining Brutes were dispatched promptly by Linda. The Master Chief de-cloaked and his steal generator gave a spark before dying for good.
"Chief, we thought you had been on that Scarab," Fred said.
"I managed to get out in time and I hitched a ride on that Wraith," he replied, "I saw what the last Scarab did, what's your plan?"
"Counter attack, hopefully we can wedge ourselves between the Covenant and the base and push them to the east," motioning to the Marines and few vehicles behind him. "First things first, we need to save the firebase."
XXX
"I'm afraid you're too little too late with that counter offensive, Lieutenant" Williams said as she dodged a hail of sparks, "the firebase is lost, get your men out of here I'm sending in the Pelicans. We'll have to hope the nukes will take care of the Covenant force."
"Understood, Captain."
Alan ducked as a piece of the ceiling fell down after a banshee scored a lucky hit. It was soon dispatched by one of the quad barreled defense guns. The forward two guns were running low on ammo, a situation that had forced Jerome and Douglas to retreat leaving the Enforcer Sentinels to try and hold back the Covenant, two of which had been destroyed already.
"All personnel, evacuate the firebase immediately!" Williams said over the COM.
The technicians quickly dropped what they were doing and proceeded to the door while Williams pulled open a panel on the floor revealing a red lever. "Help me with this" she said to Alan. He rushed over to her position and helped pull the leaver up. All the screens in the ops center shut off and began displaying a simple countdown of four minutes. Alarms accompanied the countdown.
"Self-destruct should take care of the Covenant if they get close enough," Williams said, "come on, we gotta go."
Alan followed Williams out of the ops center and down the hall, passing the small elevator that lead to the garage.
"What exactly is our exit plan here?" Alan asked as they weaved through pieces of broken metal and more wires.
"There's an elephant parked behind the landing pad. Its slow but armored, it should get us safely away."
The pair ran until they reached the back of the firebase. An emergency escape hatch had been opened by the evacuating personnel who were in the process of climbing down the ladder that led up to the escape hatch. Williams bounded down the ladder followed by Alan and another Marine. Just as Williams reached the bottom, there was an explosion above Alan that knocked him off the ladder and onto his back. The eviscerated body of the Marine following Alan down landed next to him. The hard impact on the ground left Alan dazed, but he could see Williams firing her sidearm at a large creature carrying some type of heavy looking weapon. Alan recognized them from a cursory briefing and his own research into Halo; the Brutes.
The brute, enraged by Williams' actions charged her and tackled the Marine Captain into the staircase leading to the landing pads. She gave a loud grunt on impact and coughed up blood; the Brute marched over to her and prepared to skewer her on his Brute shot's blade. Alan was still dazed, but he reached for his own side arm and pulled it free from its holster, taking aim he fired his entire clip at the Brute, most of the shots going wide. He succeeded in drawing the giant alien's attention as it let out a roar and charged towards him. Alan tried desperately to try and stand up into some sort of fighting stance, but thankfully he didn't have to. The Brute was suddenly forced into the ground by the impact of a Spartan that had jumped from the landing pad. The Brute's spine had been thoroughly crushed, killing it instantly.
"You ok?" Alice asked Alan.
"Fine... help her," Alan's breathing was strained as he pointed to Williams who was still sprawled out on the stairs. Alice gingerly picked up the Captain, who cried out in pain which only emphasized the severity of her injuries. Alan had managed to pick himself up, and although he was still dizzy he managed to summon enough strength to follow Alice around to the elephant parked behind the landing pads. The remaining staff from the firebase were crammed inside the bulky vehicle and quickly cleared a space for Alice to place Williams down. Alan managed to get aboard just as the engine rumbled to life and began to carry the survivors away from the firebase.
"Biofoam, now!" Alice said to a Marine who quickly removed his backpack and produced the canister. Alice quickly inserted the tip into Williams' chest cavity and filled it with the healing polymer. Alice finished her work and walked into the cockpit while Alan knelt by Williams' side.
"You owe me one," she said to him.
"I saved you from being skewered, consider us even," Alan replied just as the Elephant shook from the impact of pieces of the now destroyed firebase.
"The blast damaged the Covenant force, looks like we won't have trouble getting out of here," Alice called out from the cockpit.
"Major," Williams croaked, "I just wanna say you're less of an ass then I thought."
"I'll take that as a complement," Alan chuckled, "I hope that foam stuff can hold you together until we can reach a hospital.
"I've had worse," Williams replied.
As the fled the base Alan could only wonder how worse it was going to get for the people trapped in Area 51, his son included.
April 30, 2009
location: Earth orbit- UNSC Spirit of Fire
Cutter watched the holotable with interest as the Spirit's sensors indicated the Covenant fleet was pulling back towards a lunar orbit, effectively cutting their ground force off from any potential reinforcements. The Spirit was now coordinating with the Light of Truth on their next strike against the Covenant that hopefully would eliminate most of the ships. The problem they were working out was the limited nuclear arsenal the Spirit possessed.
"We have one Shiva warhead, Captain, it should be prioritized for the assault carrier."
"I agree, Serina, however if we engage the assault carrier we'll need to hold off its escorts. The Shiva's yield might be enough to weaken their shields so the Light of Truth can punch through with their plasma lances."
Cutter was no Admiral, he had the basic training on fleet deployments that every command officer received, but that was it. What was worse was that for all intents and purposes he was commanding an oversized transport. The Forerunner technology had made up in some of the ship's weaknesses, however the lack of proper weapons was a weakness Cutter was trying to overcome. They no longer had the element of surprise despite being invisible at the moment. The Covenant was on guard. The remaining thirteen Covenant ships had broken up into small battlegroups positioned around the Unyielding Apocalypse.
"The Light of Truth could possibly decloak first and draw the carrier's escorts away."
"That might work," Cutter pondered as Serina ran a quick simulation on the holotable. The results gave the Spirit a 90 second window to attack the assault carrier. Cutter deemed the plan worthy and ordered Serina to implement it. Cutter released the safeties on the Shiva warhead and ordered it armed. Orders were relayed to the Light of Truth which then took position near the escorts. The battlecruiser decloaked and immediately attacked its enemy counterparts, which as Serina predicted gave chase. However the assault carrier also powered up and began following its escorts, releasing scores of fighters to assist. The Spirit was traveling roughly parallel to the carrier when it turned upward to follow the Light of Truth. The Spirit shimmered into view and released a sole Shiva missile at close range; this part of the plan was the riskiest. In order for the missile to be not shot down, it had to be fired close enough that the automated defenses couldn't lock on in time, this however put the Spirit in the blast zone; the plan now hinged on the Forerunner shields.
The missile struck the Covenant carrier amidships, and the blast engulfed the Spirit, knocking the vessel around. The Forerunner shield however held up against the powerful anti-ship nuke. The carrier's shields were practically non existent. The carrier wasted no time in powering up its plasma torpedoes as the UNSC ship oriented itself to fire its MAC gun. In the end, the Spirit struck first with the MAC slug traveling through the length that connected the bulbous prow to the engine/hanger section. Secondary explosions in that area completely severed the front of the ship from the aft and the two sections were left to drift. The Light of Truth damaged one of its pursuers before cloaking and the Spirit soon followed suit; the Covenant now only had one assault carrier left.
XXX
"You are to find the human scum and their heretic allies immediately. I do not care if you must fire blindly into the void, kill them at once!"
The prophet had just ordered the execution of the previous Jiralhanae fleet master and had finished 'briefing' his successor. He was enraged that the Jiralhanae's incompetence in matters of fleet affairs had cost him another valuable ship, an assault carrier no less. Contact had also been lost with the force on the surface, however they had reported they'd breached the humans' line of defense and were close to securing their prize. While the Jiralhanae's grasp of space combat was negligible, they were ferocious in ground combat and the prophet had no doubt they would succeed in the end. However whether or not they were around to claim the Forerunner ruin depended on whether or not the prophet could neutralize the two ships giving him so much trouble.
"If you constantly engage in replacing your subordinates, you might find that nothing will ever be accomplished," said the voice from the shadows.
"The fleet master failed me, its only right that he be replaced and punished for his incompetence."
"That may be true, but this change has not brought you closer to destroying your enemies."
"They are just as much your enemies as they are mine!" The prophet was in no mood to play games with his guest. "If this station is destroyed then you will perish along with me."
"I will assist you in such a simple task. The solution is to attack the human vessel, this will draw their allies out of hiding to assist. You can then crush them both."
"And how do I do that?" The prophet's patience was wearing thin. He was prepared to simply bombard empty space until he struck one of the two ships.
"I require access to your sensors. To modify them to detect 'our' enemies."
The prophet was not happy about letting his ally have access to the station's key systems, however sensors were something that the prophet desperately needed modified if he was to find the human ship. The prophet tapped a few commands into his chair and an interactive display of the main sensor systems appeared in front of him.
"The human vessel is most likely using Forerunner technologies to generate its shield and stealth. This means their shield is susceptible to attract large amounts of a certain sub atomic particle. These particles are a byproduct of large scale fusion events, such as the crude nuclear weapon that was detonated near their ship. Their ship is now coated with a generous amount of these particles, and those cannot be hidden by their stealth technology. All it takes is a simple reconfiguration."
He reconfigured the holograms which in turn instructed the scanners to scan for the certain particle. A visual feed came up and sure enough, the blurry, green outline of the Spirit of Fire appeared. The prophet grinned, and began issuing orders to his fleet. He pressed his fingers together and watched as plasma torpedoes struck the aft section of the Spirit. Now things were going according to plan.
XXX
"The Light of Truth is going to try and infiltrate the computer systems of one of the Covenant battlegroups. They say they have a prototype malware virus created using Forerunner coding. Should prove quite effective."
"Lets see if we can give them a distraction. Helm, bring us towards the station, I think its overdue for an attack."
Cutter returned to his chair to quickly plot a strafing run that would distract enough ships. At the same time two of the Covenant battlegroups closed in and charged their torpedoes. By the time Serena's sensors determined that it was likely that the Covenant had penetrated their stealth, the torpedoes were halfway to the ship.
"Captain! The stealth has been compromised!"
Cutter looked up from the datapad he was doing calculations and saw the blue plasma pass over the bridge and out of his line of sight. Serina overrode the helm control and activated the dorsal emergency thrusters in a last ditch attempt to push the Spirit out of the way. The torpedoes simply tracked their target and struck the Spirit's engineering section, causing massive damage to one of the two massive fusion generators. The cloak failed moments later as the damaged reactors triggered failures of the power distribution system aboard the stricken UNSC ship.
"Serina, switch to shield and return fire on the closest Covenant ship!"
The power hungry Forerunner shield generator struggled to form a complete field around the Spirit, but was unable to do so. The result was numerous 'holes' in the shield where it was severely weakened. Plasma torpedoes struck everywhere on the shield, but a few lucky shots penetrated these weak points and struck the vulnerable hull. On the bridge, a console exploded and caught the ensign manning it in the face. The remaining few bridge personnel tended to him, but their cries for a medic were drowned out over Serena's urgent damage report. Another strike ignited a small fire on the bridge as emergency personnel entered and tended to the wounded ensign while damage control extinguished the fire.
"Main reactor 1 is damaged, the chief engineer has had to flood the reaction chamber with coolant to prevent a meltdown. He's taking it offline. Reactor 2 is still functional but without the other one we can't power the shields fully."
"What about the MAC?" Cutter asked. The cannon was the Spirit's only real defensive option.
"The shield is taking up all of our remaining power," Serina reported, "I can charge the MAC, but it will take several minutes, time we simply do not have."
Cutter ignored her brash stating of the obvious as he tried to get a handle on controlling the ship. The bridge staff returned to their stations and the helmsmen tried his best to pilot the Spirit through the converging Covenant armada on reduced engine power. It looked as though the Spirit was effectively boxed in by the encroaching Covenant ships.
"We'll still have to shoot our way out. Prepare deck guns and auto canons for fighter suppression and standby to fire Archer pods." Cutter knew damn well that their only option was to fight their way through the Covenant ships. Off in the distance the Light of Truth decloaked and began attacking the four ships that had yet to rendezvous for the attack on the Spirit of Fire. A few hits from plasma lances gutted one of the ships, however the remaining three ganged up on the Light of Truth, and were soon joined by the Unyielding Apocalypse's own weapons. The defenders of Earth were now helpless, and it seemed that the planet would soon fall to a much greater Covenant force than the one on the surface.
April 30, 2009
Location: somewhere in the Nevada desert- Forerunner complex
Aside from Kyle and Kelly, no one else in the room could hear the distant gunshots as the air force SFs engaged the Flood. Kelly didn't understand what was really going on, but was still worried. Kyle on the other hand, was seriously concerned. There had been an explosion consistent with a few grenades a few minutes earlier, that everyone had heard. Since then, the sounds of gunfire were slowly dropping off, until Kyle heard just a few gunshots, and then no more.
"Flash, we need those Sentinels, now," Kyle said.
"I'm afraid they entered the facility some time ago. They've been engaged with the parasite on multiple levels. Attack patterns indicate that the parasite is being coordinated by a proto-intelligence. I must also report on a situation developing in orbit of the planet."
On the main display, a tactical map appeared showing the position of every ship around the Earth. The icon that was identified as the Spirit of Fire was surrounded by Covenant icons, while the Light of Truth was likewise engaged.
"We have to activate the Sentinels," Halsey stated.
"The reactor is just reaching optimal output..."
The monitor was harshly cut off by Kyle who said "get them up there!"
"Initiating slipspace projector, standing by on subspace power transfer," the monitor began listing another dozen start up procedures. Kyle gathered everyone in the room together and began giving instructions.
"I'm gonna stay behind and make sure that fleet is destroyed. I'll arm the nuke and then follow you up; make sure there's a Pelican waiting for me. I have no idea how much of the explosion will be absorbed by the complex itself."
Marlyn was the first to reject his plan, "Kyle, that's way too risky. If the Flood get past the Sentinels..."
"Then I'll stop them. I only need to hold them off long enough to arm the nuke. Its tamper proof so there's no chance of them disarming it." Kyle was adamant about his plan.
"I will remain, reclaimer," the monitor said, "my onboard weapon systems are far superior to your own. I can guard the control room while you and your companions escape to the surface."
"I appreciate that, but I need to make absolutely sure the nuke isn't tampered with for as long as possible. Go, now."
Marc was the first one out of the room and to the waiting SEALs who were to escort them to the surface. Marlyn gave a quick nod to her son as she too left the room. Halsey muttered "good luck" to him as she was leaving. That only left Kelly.
"Let me stay and help you," she asked.
"Absolutely not," if she hadn't suffered amnesia, then maybe, just maybe Kyle would have considered her request. Not with the state she was in; he didn't even know if she could remember how to use a handgun even.
"I can help," Kelly protested.
"You don't have armor, or a weapon, I don't even know if you remember your training. The best thing you can do is head for the surface, now."
Kelly knew she wasn't going to make him budge, and so she left to join the others. Kyle sighed and finished assembling the HAVOK nuke, attaching it to the far wall and inserting the detonator card, programed for remote detonation.
"Test signal went through the relay and to the surface ok," Kalmiya reported. "You made the right call with Kelly."
"I know, but that determination of hers, it showed. She's gotta still be in there somewhere, Kalmiya."
"Once we deal with the Covenant and get back to our Earth I'm sure the doctors there can help her," Kalmiya was doing all she could to reassure Kyle things were going to turn out ok.
"Reclaimer, I am launching the combat, Sentinels."
The wall that looked out into the storage room became transparent and Kyle watched the process with great interest. The metal rods and the gold balls were commanded by some force to rise up and combine in mid air into the configuration Kyle saw on Onyx. Suddenly, a ripple appeared in the ceiling that resolved into a small, black ball with blue energy rippling across it; a slipspace portal. The sentinels started flying through, and straight into battle. For now, Kyle could only guard the nuke.
XXX
The Master Chief had volunteered to go back into the base and get Kyle's group out before the Covenant completely overran Area 51. Right now what was left of the Covenant force had moved on from the remains of the UNSC firebase and were now ransacking the outer hangers, drawing slowly closer to the secret building with the main elevator. The Chief knew that Kyle would evacuate everyone first and let the sentinels deal with the recently discovered Flood threat. All the Chief had to do was hold the elevator building long enough for Kyle to get his group out.
"Cortana, I need to know the enemy positions."
"I'm working on it chief, but your MJOLNIR motion tracker isn't the best equipment for the job."
Cortana was piecing together the Covenant forces movement through Area 51 with sporadic contact readings from the Master Chief's motion tracker. Using a few algorithms she wrote for tactical planning, Cortana generated a rough outline of the Covenant battle plan and estimated how much time they had before the Brutes reached the far side of the base. Seven minutes.
A countdown timer appeared on the chief's HUD to that effect. The Chief eventually reached the building containing the elevator and set up on and adjacent one, unpacking the sniper rifle he borrowed from Maria. He had only two magazines though; ammo was hard to come by with the loss of the staging area and they didn't have the time to search and strip dead UNSC snipers for bullets. Fred had given the Master Chief fifteen minutes to get in and set up an extraction site for a Pelican to come in and evac everyone; while he and the remaining Spartans got everyone to safety to the north for Pelican extraction. Fred was also optimistic if they even had fifteen minutes due to the fact a US stealth bomber was close nearby with orders to nuke the base.
"Chief, contacts inbound!" Cortana warned.
The Chief sighted down the scope to see a dozen Covenant come marching down the road and blow apart the doors to the elevator building, almost five minutes early.
"Cortana, I thought we had more time."
"I did the best I could with the resources at hand, chief."
"It doesn't matter, see if you can contact Kyle through the radio relay, I'll clear the door."
With that, the chief began firing on the Brutes leading the group. Two shots and the leader's shields were gone and his power armor fried, another quick shot to the head started a confusion that the Master Chief took advantage of with a few quick grenade lobs into their formation. Another four Covenant dead and the chief's position was exposed to the survivors who quickly returned fire as they dashed inside. The chief leaped down from the building and killed two grunts who were lagging behind. Unfortunately the Brutes had melted part of the elevator floor away and had jumped the 15 or so feet to the lower level with the rest of their entourage, the Chief was only able to stop a late jackal who was covering the Brute's entry.
"Do we follow them?" Cortana asked.
"No, signal the evac Pelican. We need to hold this building for as long as possible. Kyle's gonna have to fight his way out now."
XXX
"This way," the lead SEAL said, who was leading the group of civilians alongside his surviving teammate to the elevators up to the main lobby and the surface access. They had cleared the Forerunner complex safely and without encountering the Flood. Now they navigated the empty research labs on their way to the surface.
"This place looks nothing like the one in Independence Day," Marc commented.
"That makes two of us," one of the SEALs said, the UNSC group didn't get the reference but didn't care either way.
"Just make sure you don't talk about what you see here, kid," the other SEAL warned Marc.
Marc couldn't agree more, "Believe me, I don't want to remember these past few days. You'll get no complaints from me."
"This is it," the lead SEAL said as hie pointed to a set of three elevator doors at the end of the hall. They ran the rest of the distance and pressed all three call buttons, hoping for a speedy arrival of a elevator car.
"Are we gonna have a way out of here once we get to the surface?" Marlyn asked.
"Fred most likely has a Pelican and a guard force on the surface for us" Halsey replied, "we'll be safe."
A soft chime signaled the arrival of the middle elevator, however when it opened a brute and two grunts stepped out. The two SEALs quickly opened fire on the grunts, but ducked when the brute laid down a spread of spiker rounds. Kelly had dived in the opposite direction and was positioned behind the Brute. Without even thinking about it, she sprang up from the floor, jumped and delivered a kick to the brute's back that damaged it's power armor. The brute spun around, but this proved to be a fatal mistake as the SEALs discharged their weapons into the brute's legs. The massive beast went down and the SEALs pounced, firing point blank into its ugly head. They were silent for a moment before a painful yelp drew their attention. Marc hadn't been so lucky as he was now pinned to the wall with a spiker round through his shoulder.
"Get it out!" He screamed.
Halsey and Marlyn were the first to his side, Halsey pulling a small pouch from her bag and pulling out a pen sized syringe. She pressed it to Marc's neck and injected a high power pain killer into his bloodstream.
"It hurts!" He kept screaming.
"Hold on, it takes a few seconds," Halsey reassured.
True to her word, Marc's face changed from one of twisted pain to a more calm, but still frightened.
"Jeez, they don't lie about morphine" Marc said almost in a haze, thankfully the adrenaline was keeping him lucid.
"We have to pull it out, the lead," SEAL said, "we can't stay here."
"I wish it was that easy, but the spiker round is pressed against a vital artery I believe. If we pull it out the rough surface of the spike will almost certainly cut it open. He'll bleed to death in minutes." Halsey's prognosis only made Marc's dull pain worse.
"Oh no, get this cut or something. I don't wanna die!"
"If I had biofoam I could stabilize him until we got to a hospital," Halsey said
"We'll use our field tourniquets," one of the SEALs said as he reached into his vest. Unfortunately neither of them were looking when the other two elevators finally reached their floor, and one wasn't empty. One of the SEALs dropped as a carbine round struck him in the back. Two jackals, two brutes and a lone grunt emerged, firing.
"In the elevator, now!" the surviving SEAL screamed as he dove into the empty elevator car. Halsey and Marlyn were forced to abandon Marc and run for the elevator, however Kelly was cut off by the Jackals and grunt, the brutes were having trouble getting through the elevator doors at the same time. Kelly panicked and ran back the way they came, her speed assured a quick getaway.
"Kelly!" Halsey called out as the elevator doors closed and the car began its ascent. The two brutes had managed to force themselves free meanwhile.
"Pursue the female, she is most likely going back to the holy relic. Find her and kill her! Then claim our prize!" the lead brute said to its companion who took the jackals and grunt. Meanwhile the lone brute turned its attention to Marc who was trapped and utterly helpless.
"Oh god no! Please don't! Ahhhh!" Marc shrieked in terror as the brute slowly stalked up to him, its brute shot blade poised to eviscerate the helpless teenager. However, the brute overlooked the fact the SEAL that had been shot was still alive. He was paralyzed from the waist down and close to death from radiation poisoning from the carbine round, but had enough strength to pull out and prime a grenade. With a final breath he let the explosive roll towards the brute where it bumped into its foot. Looking down, he realized what it was just before it went off, killing the brute and sparing Marc a slow, painful death, but still didn't survive none the less.
April 30, 2009
Location: Space between Earth and the Moon - UNSC Spirit of Fire
"Serina I need options!"
The Spirit was taking a severe pounding and shooting their way out proved impossible after a lucky hit disabled the ship's sub light engines.
"Shields are weakening below ten percent, hull integrity also isn't looking better. I estimate we can survive only another three... Captain, slipspace rupture to port."
Cutter looked to port to see dozens of sentinels of an unknown configuration emerge and immediately begin firing on the Covenant ships. Several of them formed up into a formation and combined the energies of their main weapon in a blast that gutted the last assault carrier. The Covenant fleet was utterly helpless as they faced the power of their very own 'gods'.
"Serina, get us clear of the battle," Cutter ordered.
With whatever power that was left in their sublights along with maneuvering thrusters, the battered UNSC ship limped away from the carnage. The Light of Truth was also able to break away as the Covenant realized what the greater threat was.
XXX
"It seems these humans aren't so primitive and helpless as you thought"
That voice wreaked of a taunt and the prophet knew it. His fleet's destruction was all but assured thanks to the timely intervention of Forerunner combat sentinels. It also meant that the humans had full control of the facility on the surface and any hope of harvesting its technologies was impossible. Quickly, the prophet began entering commands into his chair that would be relayed to the station's navigational bridge. He ordered a jump closer to earth for a final strike against the planet with the station's weapons.
A massive slipspace rupture swallowed the Unyielding Apocalypse and spat it out a few seconds and several hundred thousand kilometers away, right above the Earth. The Light of Truth already broke away to follow and was being escorted by a flotilla of Sentinels. The Unyielding Apocalypse was scanning for a large and heavily populated city to strike first and had their sights set on Honolulu, Hawaii as their orbital path took them over the pacific ocean. Little did they know that all the US pacific fleet's ballistic missile carrying submarines were on high alert, and one was in a position to strike. When NORAD detected the station's approach they contacted the navy and set things in motion. The sub quickly cruised to launch depth and unleashed three of its Trident D5 missiles, each carrying a whopping six nuclear warheads. Twelve nukes now sped towards their target, and the people on the ground were unsure if their strike would succeed.
"They launch primitive weapons against you."
"Those primitive weapons successfully destroyed many of my vessels, however even their yield will not easily bring down such an immense target. I will burn their cities from above and swat their missiles from the sky."
A signal from the ground force diverted his attention as a brute, not the appointed field master, contacted him.
"Holy prophet, our force has been smashed by the humans but they are in retreat. Their outpost is ours and we will soon have the complex of the forerunners."
"They already control the complex and its value, you have failed. Take what you can return to whatever ships you have and make for orbit immediately."
"As you wish."
"Things are not going well for you it seems."
"If you continue to blatantly point out the obvious then you will have no more place in my presence!" The prophet was no longer in the mood for his ally's games.
"You've failed to secure the Forerunner and failed to secure the complex. Its high time to cut your losses and leave, you still have the crystal to return to your own time."
The prophet admitted to himself that the situation was dire, and planned to use the crystal as soon as the phantoms returned with survivors. He would sooner abandon them, but with his fleet destroyed, he would need those soldiers in the coming days.
XXX
"I'm detecting a few dropships exiting the upper atmosphere, five in total. They're all on course for the station. The missiles launched by the US Navy are still on course and will impact in five minutes assuming they're not shot down. The Light of Truth will intercept in three minutes. The dropships will be aboard in two."
"Keep us moving away from the Covenant fleet, we don't need them becoming bold and taking a shot at us. I need a damage report ASAP."
Cutter didn't know how badly damaged his ship was and partly didn't want to know. However the damage to the Spirit was the least of his worries.
"Sir, the Sentinels have gone inactive."
"What do you mean inactive?"
"They're adrift, no power readings and they're definitely not firing on the Covenant fleet."
Granted there was no more fleet to speak of, only a heavily damaged Covenant destroyer had survived the Sentinels' onslaught. They still had the Covenant station to deal with.
"Divert what power you can to the engines and charge the MAC. If we ave any nukes left I want them primed and loaded. We have to destroy the station ourselves."
"I don't think that's necessary, I'm picking up a radiation surge consistent with a crystal activation," Serina reported.
Shortly after the drop ships boarded, there was a bright flash and the Unyielding Apocalypse vanished completely from earth orbit. The Light of Truth slowed to a halt and half a dozen small flashes signaled the safe destruction of the inbound nukes. It was over, the battle was as good as over.
"Get us over Area 51 as soon as possible, I want to deploy the remaining ODSTs to mop up and secure the base," Cutter ordered, "also, contact the ground force and find out what happened with the Sentinels."
"I can't raise the firebase on the surface, I've been trying for the last five minutes." Serena's avatar seemed deep in concentration as she directed their functional sensors towards the surface. "I'm detecting a diminishing EMP effect consistent with a... Captain, you're not going to like this."
"What is it?" Cutter swiveled his chair around to face Serina.
"My proximity sensors were just tripped. That Covenant destroyer is moving."
On the holotable, an icon representing the sole surviving ship of the Covenant fleet was accelerating at close to its maximum speed, on a direct course for Earth.
"Does it have any functional weapons?" Cutter asked as he turned his chair to the viewport to look at the ship in question as it raced towards Earth. "Get the Light of Truth to intercept."
"They're out of optimal position, we might be the only ones capable of interception."
"What are my options Serina?" Cutter said as the crew assumed positions, their brief respite over.
"We currently have three-quarters speed available. Archer pods are offline. The MAC is functioning, however the targeting array is damaged. Manual control only."
That made the stakes much greater. From their position behind the Covenant destroyer, they would have to hit the ship on the dot, or risk the slug missing and striking Earth as well. Such an impact would be catastrophic on both land and sea, far more damage than one Covenant ship could do.
"Serina I need better options than that. Get us behind them anyway, we'll ram them if we have to."
The battered Spirit fired her engines and raced to catch up with the destroyer which was now being picked up by US space radar. They also scrambled to launch more missiles to deal with the Covenant destroyer.
"The Covenant destroyer is speeding up by decompressing their decks. We may not be able to reach them in time."
"We have to try, Serina. Push the engines past overload if we have to."
"We're risking damage to the radiation containment on the reactors."
"Serina..."
The AI let out a sigh before overriding the safeties, there was a slight increase in G forces as the ship accelerated. Cutter held his breath as they raced to catch the destroyer before it did harm to the planet. Serina was deep in thought as she attempted to adjust for a thousand factors in order to pull off a precise, manual MAC shot. However the targeting sensors were too badly damaged and the computer leads from her CPU to the sensors were all but severed. Thus Serina could only compensate for about forty percent of outlying factors.
"Captain, I don't think the MAC is an option anymore."
"Then get me missiles!" Cutter barked, the Covenant destroyer was just out of reach. He couldn't let all they had accomplished over the last few hours go to waste. Cutter was forced to watch as the flames of reentry formed around the destroyer.
April 30, 2009
Location: Forerunner complex
Kyle set about his task soon after the others had left the facility, a task he knew had to be done. He had Kalmiya train his armor's motion tracker on Autonomous Flash, concerned over a repeat of Guilty Spark since this monitor had become linked to the complex in some way. If the monitor tried to stop him from activating the nuke, he would have to stop him. However Kyle was also faced with the prospect of destroying the monitor before he left to escape the blast, or remain with the nuke and ensure it detonated.
"Reclaimer, are you still sure that destroying this facility is the correct answer? The neutron purge..."
"Would kill anyone left to set it off, not to mention leave this place and its tech intact," Kyle retorted. "He didn't want the US government to gain the technology here, even if that meant effectively betraying his home universe."
"Very well. I will see to it that your explosive is not disarmed by the parasite. Finish your work and go quickly, reclaimer, I fear the Flood my reach this level soon."
Kyle quickly finished setting up the nuke and inserted the detonator card, programed for a remote detonation from his COM only. Once that was set he removed his assault rifle and checked his ammo supply.
"Kyle, do you read." It was the Chief calling from the surface.
"I'm here, how's our extraction plan looking?"
"The pelican's en route, but you've got incoming. A patrol got past me and into the base, they're gonna find their way into the complex. You'd better get everyone out of there I don't know how long I can hold this position."
"I already sent everyone but myself..." Kyle just realized that he had effectively sent everyone into a possible Covenant ambush.
Kelly!
Kyle quickly dashed from the control room, ignoring the monitor's inquiring cries. He ran as fast as he could, past a few sentinels rushing to combat the Flood. Kyle had just cleared the grav lift and entered the exit corridor where the radio rely was placed when he saw her. Kelly was running for her life, she'd just entered the lab and was running for the open entryway when she saw Kyle.
"They're right behind me!" She screamed.
"Come on," Kyle called back as he ran to meet her. Just as she entered the Forerunner hallway, two jackals and a grunt came through in hot pursuit; the jackals began to sprint ahead of the grunt. Kyle dropped to one knee, leveled his assault rifle and and said, "get down". Kelly it the floor as Kyle fired his rifle at the jackals and grunt, killing all three. By this time though, their brute had arrived and had anticipated resistance; he charged and began firing his brute shot wildly. The explosive charges began impacting the hall as Kyle fired at the brute, penetrating his combat armor. Unfortunately, three charges struck Kyle directly and kicked him back and to the floor.
Kelly watched this happen and could only react in mute horror as she sensed the wounded brute approach her from behind. She rolled over to see the brute fumbling with its weapon, preparing to use the blade on its tip. Suddenly, it was struck in the head by what looked like half an assault rifle, the brute looked up and was met by a hail of bullets to the face. As the body dropped to the floor, Kelly got up to see Kyle picking himself off the floor, his SMG in hand thanks to the brute destroying his assault rifle with the brute shot.
"You ok?" She asked.
"I'm fine, what about you?"
"I wasn't hurt. I thought they were going to get me before I could make it back here," Kelly was still shaken up.
"What about everyone else? What happened to them?" Kyle didn't know if he mother was dead or alive.
"Halsey and the other woman got away with one of the soldiers. That kid was cornered by the aliens, I don't know what happened to him," Kelly explained.
Kyle knew Marc was most likely dead, after all he had put the kid through Kyle couldn't help but feel that this was his fault. He didn't have time to worry, right now they needed to get the hell out of there and destroy the complex.
"Chief, do you read?" Kyle didn't know how many Covenant had infiltrated the underground complex, the chief was the only one who knew for sure, and whether or not the surface was still secure. However, all Kyle got was static.
"Kalmiya, run a diagnostic and find out what's happening with the COM."
"I don't need to, Kyle... behind you."
Kyle turned around in response to his AIs cryptic reply and saw the reason why. One of the charges from the brute shot had struck the COM relay, destroying it. Time was almost at a standstill as the gravity of the situation set in. They now lost the ability to remote detonate the nuke, and also to check if they way was even clear to the surface.
"What's wrong?" Kelly asked after Kyle didn't speak for a minute.
He turned to look at her and didn't know what to really say, he didn't know what to do about the situation either.
"Follow me" was all Kyle could manage as he led her back the way he came to the control room, trying desperately to come up with an escape plan that quelled the growing fear inside him.
XXX
Twenty miles to the north of the base a massive, black aircraft cruised steadily in a holding pattern. The B2 stealth bomber had been dispatched hours ago under the guise of a training exercise, only instead of dummy ordinance they carried a live nuclear warhead with orders to launch it if they received the necessary codes. The very same codes that flashed across their screen. The two pilots looked at each other, thinking this whole thing was a readiness test; apparently not. They were loyal men and knew better than to question what were genuine orders. They had been briefed before takeoff that they might have to drop the nuke, but only assumed it was another part of the 'test'.
The two men began the sequence needed to launch their payload. Once that was complete, the pilot turned the master key that started the final process. The belly of the bomber opened up and a missile dropped from it. A set of wings extended during free fall and its own rocket motor kicked in and propelled the weapon for the rest of its journey. Their grim task complete, the pilots set their bomber on a course back to base, contemplating what they had done.
XXX
The Master Chief was relieved to see the massive elevator activate and bring up the group from the surface, however that turned to concern when only Halsey, Marlyn and a Navy SEAL emerged.
"Where are the others?" He asked Halsey.
"We were ambushed by the Covenant, we got separated from everyone else. Kyle was going to follow after he finished with the nuke." Halsey explained.
"We've gotta go back for them," Marlyn protested.
"I don't think we have the time," the Chief replied, "the US is going to nuke the base any minute. I have to get you out of here."
"I'm not leaving without my son!" Marlyn firmly decreed.
"The Covenant are also closing in, we can't hold this position," the Chief replied.
"I'll distract them if I have to," Marlyn said, "I'm some kind of god in their eyes, right? They wouldn't harm me."
"They'll only see a human, Marlyn," Halsey said, "John's right we need to leave."
On que, a Pelican descended behind the Chief just down the road from the building. However the Covenant choose that moment to storm from the opposite side and began firing on their position. The Master Chief and the SEAL returned fire, but the SEAL wasn't so fortunate as a lucky carbine shot caught him in the head.
"Go!" the chief barked to the women who made a dash for the Pelican. The Chief stayed behind and kept the Covenant distracted long enough for the Pelican to take off to safety.
"I think its time for a retreat," Cortana said as a pair of wraith tanks finally arrived. The chief dashed down the road from the building as the Covenant choose instead to swarm inside the underground complex. Once there were no Covenant in sight, the Chief stopped and weighed his options.
"I need a new escape plan, Cortana."
"Hold on, I'm scanning frequencies," she replied. "I've got it, there's a helicopter evacuating US military stragglers on the north side of the base. If you run you might still catch it."
"I'm on it," the Chief replied.
XXX
Kyle had made it with Kelly back to the control room, much to the monitor's surprise who was immediately assaulted with questions.
"I need to know about any other way out of here, right now!"
"I'm sorry, reclaimer but this facility was designed to keep the Flood contained, one way in and out," the monitor said.
"What about a teleporter? A shuttle? There has to be something!" Kyle was becoming increasingly agitated at the looming prospect of being trapped. He was trying to avoid the other subject on his mind, the nuke that needed to be detonated.
"I am sorry, reclaimer, the logic of your situation does not escape me. You have no other way out and will perish when your people detonate the fusion weapon."
"When I do it," he mumbled.
"You mean we can't get out?" Kelly asked, "there has to be a way. How about fighting out way to the surface?"
"Even if we did, I have no way of detonating the nuke," Kyle said, "without the COM relay my armor can't send a signal all the way down here on its own."
"Reclaimer, there is always this facility's own communication systems which posses enough power to reach the surface."
"It won't accept foreign signals, I keyed it to my armor..." Kyle realized the utter stupidity of his simple security procedure when setting up the nuke. It only made him feel more miserable.
"Kyle we could hot wire the nuke to a console, plug me in and I'll detonate it," Kalmiya offered.
"No, you won't die because of me," Kyle said as he yanked her chip and marched over to the console. Holding it close enough, she flash transferred over to the Forerunner systems and her avatar appeared over the holographic controls.
"I want you to use the COM systems and upload yourself back to the ship right now."
"I am not abandoning you." She stated.
"This isn't a debate, get out of here now, I won't be responsible for your death as well. You have a chance and I'm ordering you to take it!"
"Kyle..." Kalmiya said, ".. I... I'll go, just..."
"Look, tell my daughter... tell her I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. Do that for me?"
"Absolutely the AI replied. If she had the ability to cry she would be doing so. "Its been fun... goodbye Kyle."
Her avatar shimmered and faded as she was safely uploaded away. The reality of the situation finally set in, he was going to die. There would be no miraculous recovery, no coming back, there wouldn't even be a body leftover. The guilt of his life also began to flood in as he remembered everyone he couldn't save. Sam, the first person he failed to save, one of the few to befriend him when he was first stranded in the halo universe. Kurt, who's pride and sense of duty forced him to sacrifice himself so Kyle and the others could live. The Spartan IIIs, Ash, Holly and the others. Even Kelly.
He hadn't noticed that Kelly was right behind him until he'd turned around. She had a stern face, but was marred by sadness.
"Your daughter, is ours, right?" She asked.
"Yeah," Kyle replied.
Kelly slowly embraced the armored spartan which Kyle automatically returned. It felt good to hold her one more time.
"I'm sorry I can't be the woman you were involved with," she said, "I wish I could be her so she could be here for you."
"It doesn't matter, you're still her," Kyle said back.
"Reclaimer, you must use your fusion device, the Flood have penetrated this level. I will get you as much time as I am capable of doing so." The monitor's eye glowed red as he raced from the room and into the halls, his weapon discharged moments later.
"I have to do this," Kyle said as he let go of Kelly and went over to the far wall. The HAVOK nuke was still attached to the wall so Kyle pried it off with all his strength and set it on the floor. Kneeling down, he opened the plastic cover protecting a red button, the manual detonator. He placed his palm over it and tried to think of something one last time, his final thought. It was interrupted when Kelly placed on of her hands over his gauntlet. He looked at her and saw a determination in her eyes, the same he used to see in hers all the time. That sight gave Kyle his last bit of joy as it proved she wasn't totally gone, she was always in there.
The monitor was suddenly whipped back into the room by a Flood tentacle that seemed to search the room until it saw the two of them. It seem poised to strike at Kelly, so it was at that moment that he pressed the button, as if in some way to protect her one last time.
XXX
"Come on!"
The Master Chief had located the helicopter and was now running to meet it. A lone soldier stood at the open hatch of the CH-47, beckoning for the Chief to hurry aboard. The Master Chief bounded up the ramp and into the passenger hold, followed closly by the US soldier. There were only three others in the passenger compartment, all who were surprised to see a spartan hitching a ride with them.
"Are we good?" The pilot called out.
"There's no one else, get us the hell out of here", the soldier near the hatch cried back.
The helicopter lifted off from the ground and into the sky, heading north to where everyone else had gone on foot. After a few minutes The Chief's COM buzzed with activity on the US channel that he was tuned into.
"All forces, Hammerdown, repeat Hammerdown. Hit the deck and brace for detonation."
"Shit! Hang on back there this is gonna get rough." The pilot yelled.
The four soldiers buckled themselves in, however the chief looked out the open hatch to see Area 51, right before the ground seemed to open up and swallow most of the base and the dry lakebed, forming a roughly circular crater in a matter of seconds.
"An underground nuclear explosion," Cortana said, "the HAVOK went off."
Before the chief had time to think, a massive flash appeared over the remains of the base. The soldiers shielded their eyes and the Master Chief's visor automatically polarized to block the harmful light. As his HUD readouts were covered in static from the EMP effect, the chief was treated to the sight of a nuclear fireball forming, before the shock wave slammed into the helicopter. The pilot instantly lost control and the soldiers inside braced themselves as he tried to send of a mayday.
"Mayday, mayday, Kilo-25 is going down, three clicks northwest of..."