The drive to the ODG facility passes in silence, each of us inevitably drawn inwards to our personal ruminations. I see the frigate in my mind, falling from the sky, dozens of black, uniformed specs spraying from its broken hull like blood from a deep wound. Unprepared again. Is humanity doomed to always be on the back foot? Are we fighting a war we can even win? It felt like we were so close, and yet already the cost was so high. I think back to why I joined the ODST in the first place and a grim thought passes through my mind; Isn't this what you wanted? An unwinnable fight?
"ETA ten mikes." Chance says over the radio.
We've exited Szurdok Ridge and entered the Huron Valley where the ODG is located. It is surrounded on all sides by a circular imprint of cliffs, nestled deep into a wooded valley in the center of what I imagine was once the impact site of a large meteorite eons before humanity ever set foot on the planet. We're driving down a secondary feeder road next to the main highway. Unpaved and rural, the Warthog bounces along over the rough ground towards our objective at top speed. With Naomi behind the wheel the ride has taken on an uncharacteristically smooth quality. Her reaction time far outpaces our own, and she menuevers the heavy vehicle with deft grace.
"I'm picking up multiple Spirit signatures." Wink says.
"The enemy has already landed and is assaulting the loading bay." Naomi comments.
"Are they in the facility?" Chance inquires.
"Unknown." Naomi replies, "I have lost contact with the facilities' AI."
Just then a Spirit dropship passes overhead, its two arms stretching forwards like a strange tuning fork, each packed with dozens of able-bodied troops. The gun emplacement on the bottom of the dropship pivots backwards, locking onto our position with a whirl of mechanical precision.
"They've spotted us!" Scratch calls from his position on the gun of the other Warthog.
Purple bolts of heated plasma rain down from the aircraft's turret, hitting the ground just left of our vehicle. Naomi jerks the wheel, and the Warthog skids sideways on the loose gravel beneath us. The bolt detonates, kicking up dirt and rocks that loudly pepper the side of my helmet. I grab onto the Warthog's passenger handle, and try to brace my rifle to acquire a shot on the craft's gun but another bolt hits the front of the truck. The engine bay sparks and the RPM plummets as the cylinders are fused together under intense heat. Flames belch out around the hood as excess oil is ignited. Scratch and Viking open fire with their turrets but the Phantom passes us almost as quickly as it arrived and before they can land any good hits it's gone.
"It doesn't care about us, it's going to the facility." Viking growls with irritation.
Naomi tries to start the Warthog again but only the click click click of the starter answers her request. She looks around for a moment and then her helmet pans to me and she shrugs.
"We're walking." She says, and for the first time I think I detect a tone of genuine humor in her voice.
"Dismount, grab ammo." Chance calls. "You know the drill."
I watch Scratch jump off the back of the Warthog and grab his shotgun from its stowed position, pumping it once with a satisfying noise of prepared armament as the shell is fed into the chamber.
"Let's get some payback." He says.
The wooded valley provides plenty of cover for our advance. Naomi is up front with Chance, jogging through the underbrush as the squad and I follow a few yards apart. We arrive at the perimeter walls of the facility. They stand sixteen feet tall, constructed of reinforced steel and crowned with barbed wire.
"That's a big hole." Viking says just as we arrive.
A gap in the wall about the size of an eighteen wheeler is punched through the perimeter. Plasma burns and melted metal rim the breach, making it clear what happened.
"Plasma charges." I comment, and see Chance nodding his head.
"The ground forces arrived first, blew through and hit the facility to make way for the dropships." Chance's assessment is undeniably accurate. He pushes through the gap, cautiously raising his rifle to clear the corners. The rest of the squad follows.
At equal spacing across the outer wall are circular platforms upon which are mounted M71 emplacements, automated anti-aircraft rotary guns, similar to those mounted on the back of our Warthogs. One such emplacement is about twenty yards to our right, and the gun is lowered, drooping downwards, unpowered and inactive.
"Guns are down." Wink says, motioning with her rifle. In the distance the crack of gunfire carries over the treetops.
"Any UNSC forces present at ODG B-242, this is ODST Kilo-Five, respond." Chance motions for us to take up a wedge formation as he speaks. I do so, moving to the leftern wing and raising my rifle.
"This is Sergeant Killroy, base-sec for B-242. We're reading you." The Sergeant's voice is strained, controlled panic deep in his gut and the sound of heavy plasma and rifle fire is heard in the background of his response.
"Killroy, this is Sergeant Chance, we're at the perimeter fence South-West of the loading bay. What's your situation?"
"We've lost the control deck for the facility- God damnit, get fire on that plasma emplacement before we're shredded!" The Sergeant pauses as shouts of alarm are heard. "The bastards keep dropping troops right on top of us!"
"What's your position?" Chance asks.
"We've been pushed out of the control room. We're pinned down at the facilities' main elevator, we're trying to get the blast door shut so we can fall back but the damn things jammed. Listen, Chance, if you can't get to the control room and get our AA back up there isn't any point. They're just going to keep coming. We need these dropships off our ass."
Chance doesn't bother responding, "Let's move." He says, breaking into a run. "Naomi do you know where the control room is?" He asks.
She nods and wordlessly takes point, moving forwards, shoulders down and rifle pressed to her chest. I struggle to keep pace, but it gets easier the further into the facility we get. The woods and uneven terrain give way to metal and concrete as we break through the outer parmeter. Quick-fab buildings made of corrugated metal and cinder blocks are crowded around a central building, which is bunker-like in its appearance. Naomi hits a wall for cover, and looks out onto the center structure which is about 100 yards away. We fall in behind her, each of us smoothly taking up different zones of cover.
"What do you see?" I ask.
"The center building is the focus of the enemies' attack." Naomi replies. "They're landing all their troops there. Five Spirits, more on the way."
I peak past her armored shoulder and see a newly arrived Spirit disgorge a full squad of grunts and jackals onto the battlefield. One of them catches a bullet to the neck, spilling bright blue blood onto the ground but it doesn't slow the alien's advance. They're pushing towards the open bunker, just inside of which is a loading bay large enough for a Pelican dropship. Past that I can see the squad of blue-uniformed base security troopers held up behind makeshift barricades in front of an industrial elevator that leads down into the bowels of the facility.
"What happens if they get to the elevator?" Viking asks.
"They cut the facility link and the big guns with big booms that defend our sorry asses no longer go boom." Wink says.
"That's bad, right?" Viking jokes.
Without a word Naomi moves out of cover, running alongside the buildings towards a watchtower near the back of the central bunker. I scramble to follow, keeping my head down and hoping our movement doesn't attract the attention of the Spirit's main guns. Naomi makes it to the control tower's door first unsurprisingly, and stores her weapon on her back.
"It's locked?" Chance asks.
"Cover me." Naomi says. I watch as she presses her fingers to the center of the door and digs in, prying the metal outwards until she can get a proper grip. Then with a grunt of effort she slowly pulls the doors open from the center. The heavy locks sequel in protest as their upper limits are tested and succeeded, snapping the metal with a loud pop. The whole process takes only a few seconds and the door slides open. Naomi pushes inside, drawing her rifle as she moves into the relatively dark stairwell of the tower's base.
I move in behind her, and Scratch behind me. Inside is a central reinforced column of steel and concrete upon which the tower is built. Around that is a metal-grated, industrial-looking stairwell that leads upwards into the control tower where the bases' automated defenses and initial security measures are handled. We progress up the stairwell, our bootfalls echoing loudly on the metal, surely alerting the Covenant strike team if they are still here. I hear the guttural barks and croaks of the Elites as they realise what is happening and then the electronic whine of a plasma grenade being activated. The blue ball of sticky plasma drops down the stairwell from above and lands at my feet. Before I can react Naomi's grabbed my breastplate and yanked me into her arms. She turns, putting her back to the grenade. It explodes with a deafening crack of released energy. An incredibly bright blue light washes through the stairwell. Naomi's shields flare into existence before breaking apart with gold arches of discharge crackling across her armor.
"Naomi!?" I shout, staring at the blank visor pressed against my own.
She releases me, and my heart starts beating again as she moves past, ever upwards. I watch her backside as she grabs her discarded rifle and sprint up the stairs. Down below, Scratch is sprawled out in Viking's arms, having been thrown back by the blast. The others are trying to push him upwards and back onto his feet. He's cursing, irritated but unharmed, and struggling to get his footing once more.
"We gotta go!" I shout to the squad and move to follow Naomi.
I hear rifle shots and plasma before I get to the top of the stairs, and as I reach the control room I see Naomi charging into an Elite. She smashes her shoulder into the alien's stomach, knocking the wind from his lungs and crushing him against a control console. She fires into the Elite's chest a heartbeat later and before it knows what's happened it's already dead.
I scan the area and see three more Elites. One has a power sword in hand, the bright energy blade crackling as he advances on Naomi's position. I aim and fire, the DMR barking angrily in my hands. The first shot bounces off the creature's shielding, but the second hits him in the side, punching a hole through his lower abdomen and destroying his liver - assuming he has one. Only after do I realise my mistake, as the other Elite who is much closer to my position raises his plasma rifle towards my head. There isn't enough time and I reflexively close my eyes and grit my teeth in anticipation of death.
Scratches' shotgun roars next to my head, and pellets slam into the Elite's rifle before it has a chance to fire, mangling the weapon beyond repair. I push forwards, giving him more room. Another blast from the shotgun sends purple blood spraying from the Elites chest as it falls backwards. Naomi has already impaled the Elite I had previously shot with his own energy sword which now juts out from his back. The final Elite is showered with shots from her assault rifle as she dumps the rest of her magazine into his shields. Several rounds breach, punching into the flesh beneath, and the alien howls in pain. I turn and fire into him, pumping a shot into his chest and the final into the side of his misshapen skull. The scream stops and the Elite clangs to the floor, dark blood pooling beneath him. Just like that, the room goes still.
Chance, Wink, and Viking file into the room, kicking their weapons away. The control room is a mess. Bodies are strewn about, not just the newly added Elites, but the remains of the traffic control team who worked here. Most have died trying to hide behind desks, chairs, or whatever else they could find. Naomi is already in front of the main console, hammering away at the keys.
"What's it look like?" I ask.
"System damage is minor, but damage to the power system is more extensive."
"Do we have enough to get the guns online?" Chance questions, walking up alongside us and looking out the control tower's window towards the Spirits, still hovering over the bunker's main entrance.
Just then a groan croaks out followed by the garbled alien language. I whirl about to see the Elite who had previously been impaled speaking into his comms unit. Wink is the fastest, putting a bolt from her sniper through the back of the creature's skull. We all turn to the window and watch breathlessly as the Spirits continue to hover… Then slowly turn towards our position.
"Shit." Viking curses.
"We've got to go." Chance says and moves towards the stairwell. I fall in, but Naomi is still at the console.
"Naomi, we've got to leave - there's no cover from those turrets up here."
She doesn't reply and I look back at Chance who has nothing to add, motioning for others to move down the stairwell. "Come on." He says.
I shake my head and shoulder my rifle. I start to move to Naomi's position, ready to cover her as best I can when she stops typing. Just as the dropships get in range the M71's open up. Streams of yellow tracers slam into their sides, puncturing holes in the purple metal and causing colorful smoke to plume moments later. One Spirit drops immediately, dipping down and crashing into a warehouse roof. The others pull off, their engines straining as they gain altitude as rapidly as possible.
Naomi turns and regards me standing there for a moment, "Trust me." She says, and pats me on the shoulder as she walks past.
As we head back down the stairwell Chance is trying to raise the Sergeant from earlier.
"Killroy, this is Chance, AA is back up and enemy dropships have pulled off, what's your situation?"
"Shit, that's good news but we had to pull back into the facility. I've lost too many men to hold the hanger and there's still Covenant forces pouring into the place. The elevator is compromised. I'm sorry we couldn't hold them longer."
"We're on our way to your position." Chance says but Killroy doesn't reply.
"That's five dropships full of Covenant assault teams…" Wink comments. "No way we're getting through that in time."
"There is a maintenance stairwell," Naomi interjects. "Here."
On my HUD a digital overlay of the facility appears. The facility is about a hundred stories deep, with the generators located on the final 10. The main elevator shaft is the only practical access to the facility but a small, single stairwell links the lower levels to the surface probably due to safety regulations.
"We'll need access codes." Viking says.
"I got them from the console." Naomi replies, a hint of pride coloring her voice. Always a few steps ahead.
"Then let's go." Chance says.
It doesn't take long to locate the service entrance, a thick security door in the side of the main bunker complex. Inside is a stairwell, endless in its appearance, sprially forever downwards into a black abyss. The shaft is lit by cold, white, fluorescent lights.
"I can't even see the bottom." Scratch says.
"Then you better get moving." Chance replies.
Soon we're ten flights down, all but sprinting, jumping over multiple steps at a time while trying not to trip. Naomi is of course keeping pace, effortlessly leading us down into the facility. I have a feeling she's moving slower than she needs to. Ten turns into twenty, and then twenty into thirty. I'm sweating, and I can hear Viking huffing with effort just in front of me.
"Keep moving." Wink says back at him, as he slows at the top of one flight to catch his breath.
He nods, not having enough breath to make a quip of his own and drags himself down another.
"We're not going to make it." Scratch says between breaths.
It's already been ten minutes and we're just crossing the halfway point.
"Don't talk." Chance says. Even he sounds winded.
Sweat is running down my brow when we finally reach floor eighty. A tremor ripples through the facility, just enough to cause Naomi to stop in her tracks. Her helmet perks up like a predator detecting danger. For a second all I can hear is my own breathing inside my helmet, and then the world descends into chaos. The explosion rips through the lower levels. Dust and debris falls onto us, chips of concrete flying from the walls. Above us the crack and crumble of compromised construction can be heard and Naomi's voice roars over the radio.
"RUN!" She shouts.
A burst of energy rampages through my system as survival kicks in. I rush down the stairs, taking five steps at a time, and slamming myself into the walls at every plateau.
"We're not going to fucking make it!" Viking howls.
All around us the sounds of destruction can be hard. Cracks run up the walls, more and more of the stairwell collapsing under its own weight. Ninety. Ninety-five. Five more flights! The lights go out, and I kick my headlamp on as does the rest of the squad. I see Naomi sprint ahead and I push harder, damn near tripping as I all but throw myself down the remaining flights. I crash down to the hundreth's floor, and see Naomi. She's already pried the door open and is waving me through. I throw myself into the hallway, hitting the ground hard and sliding a few feet. The rest follow and just as Viking's feet clear the doorframe a chunk of rubble collapses down, sealing the stairwell.
Seconds later the facilities' emergency lighting kicks on bathing us in red light, but even that flicks a few moments later, then dims and shuts off completely.
"Tell me that wasn't what I think it was." Viking says, shaking his head in disbelief.
"The generator has been destroyed." Naomi says.
"Killroy, this is Chance, come in." Nothing but static.
I push myself up by my knees, still trying to catch my breath as I look down the hall. The facility is almost medical in its appearance. Stark white walls and polished granite floors, with colored arrows painted with plain lettering inside them directing you to various areas in the facility.
"Command this is Kilo-Five, come in." Chance presses a hand to the side of his helmet to try and hear something through the static.
I point my rifle towards the end of the hall, the flashlight attached to its barrel illuminating a plain metal door at its end. "What do we do?"
"I can't raise anyone." Chance says.
"Without the radio boosters this deep our coms unit cannot reach a receiver." Naomi says.
"So what does that mean?" Viking asks.
"It means we're trapped, and unless you're really good at digging with your teeth, we're not getting out the way we came in." Wink motions with her rifle towards the blocked stairwell door.
"I can dig pretty fucking fast if it means I don't die of dehydration." Viking retorts.
"We should proceed to the main elevator shaft and assess the damage." Naomi says, and without waiting for a reply she walks forwards with her rifle raised. I fall in behind her as does the rest of the squad in short order.
"You think the Covenant made it out?" I ask.
"It is likely," she says, "but remain alert."
Hallway after hallway we follow arrows towards the main generator and the elevator shaft linking it to the surface. Each time we reach a doorway we stack up and Naomi prys it open for us to clear. So far we haven't seen a single Covenant, or anybody for that matter.
"Here it is." Chance says, looking down at the datapad on his wrist where he's been manually tracking our progress through the facility. Naomi takes position, gripping the seal at the middle of the door and for one more time we stack up. She pulls open the heavy security door and I'm first through, rifle raised, with Viking and Wink right behind.
Dead bodies litter the atrium's wide hallway, Covenant and base security alike. Elites clutching their wounds and men whose faces are contorted with the last moments of their agony. Down here there is little cover, and as a result the firefight simply turned into a slaughter. Each wave of Covenant that came down the elevator was met with a hail of fire, cutting their numbers down almost as soon as they arrived. But with every wave one or two of the defenders would fall, and soon it was too much. At the back of the hallway, in front of a door that has been cut open by plasma, is a large, muscular man. He has a dead Elite held to his chest, with his hand on a combat knife plunged into the alien's neck.
"Fuck me…" Wink comments.
"They gave the Covenant hell." Viking says, examining the body of the large man . "Looks like this is Killroy." He points to a name stitched into the front of the large man's uniforme, now splattered with blood from a charred hole in his chest.
I watch Naomi move past the scene and through the plasma cut doors that lead into the generator room. I follow and observe the destruction of our primary objective. The huge generators are fifty yards long and maybe twenty wide and they line the room. In the center of the room is a series of power converters attached to various cables and other equipment that transmits the power up through the rock and to the nearest relay station. A huge hole has been blown in the central tower, and from the looks of it, intentionally or not, caused a feedback surge that overloaded the generators.
"The overload was the second explosion. The big one." I comment.
Naomi nods slowly. Each generator's belly has been ripped outwards, exposing coils and electronics. The entire room has been doused in fire suppressant, thick white foam the same texture as whipped cream designed to fight electrical fires. It's the only reason the entire floor isn't an inferno.
Viking walks up alongside us and the rest of the squad follows. "That doesn't look good." He comments.
"Scratch, assessment?" Chance asks.
He shrugs. "I can repair most things but this? No chance, Sarge."
Chance shakes his head. "Don't care about full repairs, not our job. What about getting us enough power to get that elevator working?" He points back through the atrium. It had occurred to me that without power there was no way to get back to the surface.
"I don't know." Scratch confessed.
Just then I remember the red lights that briefly appeared. "What about the backup generator? It came on after the explosion."
"Yeah and then shut off a handful of seconds later." Wink grumbles.
"Could just be its missing oil or basic maintenance." I say.
"Won't know until we find it." Scratch says.
"Here." Chance interrupts, lifting his wrist so we can see what he's pointing at on the datapad. "Access shaft off the East wing leads to a small backup generator underneath the main room."
Scratch nods and beckons for Viking to follow. "We'll check it out and get you a sitrep."
"Ginger," Naomi's voice makes me look up and I see her leaving the room. "Let's check out the elevator."
At the other end of the atrium there is a vast pit where the elevator would usually be. It looks like the Covenant hitched the last ride out of here. The shaft would also normally be sealed by a second set of blast doors, but those seem to have been damaged during the security team's retreat. I look up and my flashlight can barely pierce the darkness even enhanced by my helmet's night vision. A hundred stories is a lot deeper than it sounds. My legs throb, remembering the stairs.
"No ladder. I guess climbing is out of the question." I sigh, though am not sure I'd have the strength to climb the distance even if there was a ladder. I wonder if a ladder would even be able to support Naomi's weight?
"I wanted to thank you." Naomi states.
I blink, trying to think of something I did worthy of thanks. So far all I can remember is Naomi saving my ass. "Umm, for what?"
"You chose to fire at the Elite approaching me instead of the one threatening your life. Then you were going to stay behind to try and cover me despite the likelihood of your death."
I frown. I don't feel either of those are worthy of thanks. The first one I did without thinking, and might as well have been considered a mistake, and the other well - I couldn't just leave her to take on a small airforce on her own, could I?
"It really wasn't…"
"Smart." She finishes the sentence for me.
I breath in sharply, promptly inhaling my own spit. I start coughing. "Y-yeah." I managed to croak between gasps. Naomi simply observes from behind the faceless helmet. I feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"Thank you." She repeats. "But I can take care of myself, and you're going to end up dying trying to save me."
I can't really say she's wrong. Hell, even when I'm doing it half the time I know it's just a pointless gesture. "Naomi I don't do those things because you do or don't need me, I do them because you're family. You're part of Kilo-Five. You're part of our squad. I know you're not a normal soldier but… All of us, Kilo-Five, ODST in general, we're good at what we do because in the thick of it we don't forget the people beside us."
"The others don't feel that way." She says softly.
I frown. "They do, they're just... " I pause trying to word it carefully in my mind. "They just don't see you like I do. They will with time but to them you're still a Spartan. You don't need them and that makes them uncomfortable."
She looks at me for a long moment. "How do you see me?"
"As a human." I reply without hesitation. "Just like us."
She doesn't reply, her helmet turning away to look back up the elevator shaft. The silence grows and I wonder if what I said properly communicated what I was trying to. I take a deep breath and sigh. "So are you still mad at me?"
Naomi turns back and I wish I could see those blue-grey eyes behind the silver visor. "Ginger…" She starts but before she can finish the bright white of a flashlight spills over us.
Chance approaches, coming up alongside Naomi's flank and peering into the elevator shaft. "Scratch and Viking are down at the generator." He starts, helmet light pivoting around probably looking for a maintenance ladder just as I had. "Says something about burnt out power coils. Good news, he can fix it. Bad news he'll have to salvage parts from the other generators so there's no telling how long it'll take."
"Do we have an estimate?" I ask.
"Anywhere from twelve hours to four days." Wink comments, having just arrived behind Chance.
"Great." I say sarcastically.
"Alright." Chance claps his hands together. "Let's start stacking the bodies in the shaft. The Covenant ones. The security force we'll lay out in the hallway connected to the atrium. We'll sleep in the atrium."
Wink nods and walks over to slap my shoulder. "Lets go, Ginger."
I nod and follow her, leaving Naomi and Chance to talk about the plan.