!WARNING!
This story contains content not suited for younger readers, such as Violence, Blood and Gore, Language, and Explicit Sexual Content. This Chapter's Rating will be placed at T-Rated. Future Chapters may, and most likely, will switch back and forth between the T and M ratings.
Regardless, Reader Discretion for this Chapter is advised.
I don't own Halo or Naruto.
Bold-My Own Words
Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar
Normal-Narrative
"Normal"-Person Speaking
'Normal'-Thoughts
"Italic"-Foreign Language
'Italic'-Radio Chatter
/Italic\-AI/Computer typing
Shinsei Seasons:
Spring: April 25 - August 4
Summer: August 5 - October 11
Fall: October 12 - January 6
Winter: January 7 - April 24
Episode 2
-Reorganize, Reform, and Retrain Pt. 1/Sepulcra Maiorum-
(Part 2)
1133 Hours Local Time
November 12, 2543
Yosai System
Shinsei
Uzushio Islands
Timur Island (Iwamoto to Native Populace)
UNSC Fort Custer, 7 miles North-Northwest of New Tripolis
UNSC Army Training Facility Charlie
"Let's go, Rangers! Get your asses moving!" Captain Sotan Nishida thundered out into the speaker as Alpha Company continued working through the combat simulation course in full combat gear. Newly promoted 2nd Lieutenant Ian Malcolm, still confined to his wheelchair, stayed on the sidelines with the Captain in an observation tower, observing the unit work through the obstacles of the combat course. In his hands, he was cleaning, taking apart, and inspecting a new rifle. His new rifle and what was to eventually become the new standard service rifle of all UNSC forces out in the Aquarii Star Cluster.
A VT40 ICWS*, from Velikov Tactical Weapons Incorporated*.
Superficially, it was just a modernized MA37 but Velikov Tactical, or VelTac as they were more popularly known, had overhauled the entire assault rifle from the ground up. An improved barrel and rifling for higher velocity, accuracy, and stopping power. No more of the absurd 1-in-7 twist-rate, instead now having a 1-in-11 twist-rate; Even easier disassembly and modularity for customization for mission-specifics, which the MA37 was already well known for; A revamped bolt and gas system resulting in a higher rate of fire, at 700 rpm as opposed to the MA37's 550 rpm. And unlike the MA37, every VT40 came equipped with a new state-of-the-art computer housing shroud on top of the rifle, which gave the MA5 series its rather iconic look. It was now sleeker and shorter, with the computer inside having been upgraded in computing power and reduced in size, helping save on weight. The computer's display was still there, showing the ammo count and compass pointing towards the planet's magnetic north but was easily customizable, with a rail system underneath the cowling to attach a variety of scopes. Though like all MA5s, it still retains a set of iron sights built into the weapon's frame.
Overall, Malcolm liked what he had seen in this new rifle. It handled like a dream and the recoil was far better than on any other MA5 series rifle he'd fired, even on full auto. Apparently, they were going to be issued to Task Force Hestati and the other special forces units in the Cluster first, as surplus was extremely limited at about 50,000 rifles. But something struck him as odd. Velikov Tactical was a subsidiary of Misriah Armory, operating mainly in the Outer Colonies. (Back when they still... existed.) But when contact was lost Velikov's home planet, Ludogorie in the Visok System, in 2538, Misriah took over what few remaining holdings and factories the company still had and shut down the company. (That hadn't been destroyed by the Covenant.) But yet, here was a weapon supposedly developed by VelTac, despite the company being officially defunct for nearly 6 years now, and its home planet supposedly having been glassed by the Covenant. And the company had no presence out here in the Aquarii Star Cluster. Malcolm had checked when looking for a new job. The only weapons company out here was Agrivos Defense Manufacturing*, a small-time weapons firm from Hellas that largely produced civilian and police-grade firearms and gear, though they had had a few contracts with WST* and AMG* to produce some of their equipment. So how did a supposedly dead company from a supposedly destroyed planet bring one of its products here? There was only one answer that made sense to him.
Simple. Rumors of Ludogorie's destruction must have been wrong.
Like many of the other troopers, he'd been hearing rumors about the navy pulling some significant numbers of its warships for some secret assignment, supposedly a rescue mission. (Which also meant that the Navy would be stretched even thinner until they got back from wherever they were going.) No destinations had been said, but if it was in fact Ludogorie...
He had shared these thoughts with Captain Nishida and the other officers. None of them had heard anything as to where this battlegroup was going but agreed that Visok and Ludogorie made the most sense. Ludogorie was one of seven fortress worlds within UEG Space, and not only was it the only one in the Outer Colonies, but it was also the only one that was firmly under Colonial Military Administration control. With a population of 325 million (not including the tens of millions of refugees there.), a very militarized population with tens of millions of soldiers stationed there, one of the best naval logistic centers, and the largest military-industrial complex outside the Inner Colonies, Ludogorie would be a massive boon to the UNSC-elements here in the Aquarii Star Cluster if it could be successfully evacuated. Even if only half of the population, equipment, and industry could be evacuated before any Covenant show up, it would be a massive boost in morale and capabilities for them.
If this was in fact where they were going, Malcolm wished the Battlegroup being sent all the luck they could muster. They were all going to need it in the coming months ahead.
"Hustle up, Rangers! You're approaching Jarhead-time! Get a move on!" Nishida growled out into the intercom, trying to encourage the rangers to move faster. As he turned it off, he glanced at Lieutenant Malcolm and slowly grinned, "I think they might actually beat last week's record, at this rate. They're clocked at 21 minutes and have only got three more buildings to clear." A new barrage of gunfire and radio chatter could be heard echoing out from the comm units as the Rangers continued engaging the OPFOR* trainers. According to the holo-map, Alpha Company was assaulting Building 9, looking to divided and isolate Buildings 8 and 10 from supporting one another while they could pick them off piecemeal. In an infantry-only battle like this, where you knew there wouldn't be any armor or aircraft in play (This was to help test their abilities against enemy infantry.), it was easier to be a little more aggressive with your tactics. Especially when your company outnumbered OPFOR by almost 100 men.
"7 buildings cleared of hostiles, with only 15 casualties, in 21 minutes is damn good. They're gonna give the ODST a run for their money at this rate." Malcolm agreed, "Record set was... what? 25 minutes for all ten buildings?"
"25:14. Airborne currently has the record on this course, but I don't think our boys will be quite that quick. They'll definitely beat the 29:33 record they had last week, though, if they keep up the pace." Nishida replied, taking a sip from his hydration-pack before continuing, "But the next test we're gonna put them through is really gonna test them like never before."
The atmosphere in the room felt like it had dropped a few degrees when the Captain said that. "The Shinsei Combatants Exercise?" Malcolm asked grimly, to which the Captain nodded. This was a new exercise being developed with the help of shinobi allies, namely their Moon and Marsh allies or ones they'd captured in the Sea Confederacy Campaign and in ops against Pirates in Marsh Country and 'persuaded' them to work for them. How were the rogues persuaded? Officially, they'd been contracted and persuaded using a large amount of money and various other incentives. (They were mercenaries, after all.) Unofficially? A neural implant had been installed into their heads that may or may not have a small explosive charge built into it. If the ninjas try to desert or betray the UNSC, the inside of their skulls will quickly get turned into a gory, chunky soup. This was just a rumor, though. (As by UEG laws, that was illegal to do, but was understandable given the circumstances.) No one knew if the claim about the neural implants with a bomb in them was true or not. All that was known was that Mil-Int* had given each of them a neural implant to keep track of them. The UNSC wanted its personnel, particularly those assigned to the Yosai System, to begin training for possible combat ops against enemy shinobi on Shinsei. A wise decision, no doubt, but as Malcolm had feared, the UNSC was finding it impossibly difficult to develop an effective strategy against shinobi, that didn't involve heavy use of artillery or air support. Or just overwhelming firepower.
And pretty soon, the Rangers were going to be getting a crack at it. A three-week long training event to try and help improve their capabilities against shinobi, learning everything from their tactics, their weapons, typical jutsus likely to be encountered, and how best to combat them. A couple of the ODST Companies were going to be getting the first go at this new course in a few days, followed by the Airborne and Rangers sometime in Early December. With roughly twenty to thirty ninjas available to 'assist,' the UNSC should be able to get some valuable data on the combat capabilities of the natives, while also helping their own soldiers learn how to better combat shinobi opponents or any other individuals of similar capabilities.
And there was only one way to do that. Actually fighting the shinobi. Malcolm was already grimacing, not looking forward to such an event.
"They've almost clear the course, sir." A Warrant Officer commented, which earned a nod from Nishida, "Inform me of when they complete the course. I'm going to go speak to the... 'leader' of the shinobi course to discuss some things." And with that, the Captain made his leave as Malcolm stayed with the group in the tower to watch the mop-up of the obstacle course as the Ranger Company finished off the last elements of OPFOR.
"You heard the rumors about the shinobi course?" Malcolm heard a couple of the soldiers in the tower conversing quietly, "Yeah, dude. I don't about it. Sounds like a lot of bad shit, bro."
"I mean, I get why they have the course. Obviously. But using live ninjas? And ones captured from the Qushan Campaign? That really a good idea?"
"Hey, they've taken precautions. No way they wouldn't have."
"Still, what happens if one of the fuckers tries to kill us? I mean, I can't see them just going along with this willingly."
"Like I said, bud. Relax. Higher-ups have taken precautions. No way they'd just let these guys run loose without some kind of leash."
If the rumors Malcolm had heard was true, then these soldiers didn't know half of it.
Night
Later that day
Fort Custer Barracks-411
Just as the Captain had suspected, Alpha Company managed to beat their previous record. 27:05 ended up being the final time. For completing the course in record time, the Rangers were given the next couple of days off and were even provided a pizza party as a reward.
The Rangers were now enjoying their time off, lying in their bunks and talking to loved ones back home. Chatting and joking with one another as they conversed about random topics or told stories from their past. In Malcolm's case, he was enjoying a game of poker with a few others of the platoon on an improvised table next to his bunk. There were several boxes full of delicious pizza and parmesan breadsticks, with a cooler full of beer next to them. And the stakes couldn't have been higher at that moment. A very special item had been wagered that all of the troopers playing wanted.
A Deluxe Edition 2500 'New Century Issue' KittyKat Magazine, with beloved pornstar Jesse Lynn on the cover. Her supple c-cup breasts and bountiful hips were fully displayed with nothing covering them as she stared lustfully at the camera. It was a special issue not only because it was KittyKat's first new magazine of the century, but because this was also when Jesse Lynn's career really started to explode and when she first began performing some more exotic acts, like Bondage and Zero-G DP.*
It was a must-have mag, especially when you have an asshole command that censors all the local Waypoint porn-sites on the soldiers' datapads.
Right now, Malcolm was trailing behind in a close second place with chips, but Specialist Fred 'Freddy' Kinsley had the definitive league with most of the chips in his possession. He'd already won several of the items that had been put up for wager on the table, but this was the item that everyone wanted. However, the sham-shield* was on a winning streak and was looking very confident of his chances as he eyed his hand.
"It's hopeless, gents!" Freddy started boasting, "The porno's mine! And once it is, I hope none of you plan on sleeping tonight. Tonight's masturbation session is gonna be violently physical and aggressively vocal!" This earned a chorus of laughs from the group.
"Great. So we're gonna have to listen to a retarded turtle fucking all night." Somebody commented, earning more laughs as several people starting mimicking the 'Eh~' sound turtles are known to make when they mate. Freddy waved a middle finger to the group as he grabbed his beer bottle and took a swig. "How 'bout it, LT? Wanna go ahead and save face? Or do I need to embarrass ya again like the last hand?"
"For someone within Shit Detail distance, you're talking an awful lot of shit to your CO." Malcolm smartly remarked, which earned some hoots and laughs from the group, even Freddy. Ian glanced down at his hand. Four sixes and a seven. A Four-of-a-Kind. Not a strong hand, but still winnable depending on what his three remaining competitors had. Sergeant Harris was one hand away from being knocked out of the game, and judging from her glances she wasn't too confident about this one, while Private Dewulf had been hit or miss the entire time with his hands, being inexperienced at poker. Kinsley had the most chips at the moment, being a former professional poker player giving him an advantage over everyone, while Malcolm had a modest amount of chips left himself.
"Alright, fuck-nuggets! Let's see them hands!" One of the soldiers called out, as all four of the soldiers revealed their hands. Harris, unsurprisingly, had a junk hand and folded. Malcolm's four-of-a-kind was beaten by Kingsly's superior four-of-a-kind, four nines and a five. However-
"WHAT THE FUCK, DEWULF!? WHY WOULD YOU FUCK ME OVER NOW OF ALL TIMES?!" Freddy exclaimed as everyone looked at Dewulf's hand. A king, ten, joker, queen, and an ace. Straight Flush. The room erupted with uproar and laughs as the previously cocky Specialist started throwing insults and accusations of cheating while everyone laughed at him. Dewulf, meanwhile, found himself being congratulated and joked at by everyone, save for an irate Kingsley. Malcolm laughed at the antics as Kingsley walked over, glaring down at the victorious private, leaned over, and said, "I hope you don't mind a cramped bunk, cause you're gonna have some company tonight." Everyone started laughing at the comment, hooting and howling as Freddy, having lost the prized porn mag, proceeded to terrorize its new owner.
"Enjoying the butter-bar* life so far, Lieutenant?" Malcolm heard his new Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Nazo Marri, asked as she took a seat in one of the vacant chairs. Staff Sergeant Allens, his old Platoon Sergeant, had tragically died at Qushan, along with most of the NCOs in the platoon save for Harris who'd gotten lucky. Marri had been transferred from the 121st Regiment's reserve company to fill the position, now that both Allens was dead and he was now an officer. So far, in the limited time that she'd been with them, she'd proven a hesitant but overall okay platoon sergeant. She knew her stuff but would need a little push every now and then.
"Yeah," Malcolm snorted, taking a sip of his beer, "loads of fun. Makes it almost worth the pay."
"Well, there's that I suppose." Marri conceded, fidgeting with her own drink as she watched her fellow rangers goof off. "Still, you've fared better than most since we've gotten here. I still can't believe what they... you had to endure at Qushan. It's honestly a miracle any of you survived."
"Luckier than I should be, to be honest," Malcolm admitted, "Some deserve it more than I do."
Malcolm's gaze went down to a bunk several rows down, where a ranger sat by his lonesome on his bunk. Several empty beer bottles were standing on top of the nightstand next to the bunk, while the soldier in question had another beer in his hand as he quietly cleaned his MA40. His face had a bit of stubble, and his short dark brown hair was starting to grow out of regs. Though the man was intently cleaning his rifle, his eyes seemed to have a blank, distant look to them.
Corporal Michael Torrens, one of only three known survivors of 4th Platoon's 1st Squad. Graves and Choosak had been sent to a hospital to recover from their grievous injuries and had yet to return, but Torrens' ribs were an easy fix, resulting in him being sent back to his unit after only barely a couple of weeks on a medical profile. Torrens hadn't taken it well learning what had become of his squadmates, or rather the lack of knowledge. Being promoted to corporal hadn't helped ease the guilt, blaming himself for not going with his squadmates, even if the decision to leave the wounded behind was the right decision. From what Malcolm understood, most of the men and women in Torrens' squad had been through thick and thin together since the 2537 Mamore Insurrection. To suddenly find out that most of them were just gone and with no firm explanation...
Malcolm had seen combat and had watched friends die over the years, against both Covenant and Insurrectionists. It was never easy seeing someone you'd known for years up and die in front of you. And it was easy to get frustrated, especially with yourself thinking that if you had done something differently or if you had made this choice instead of that. That was exactly what Malcolm felt when he thought about sending 1st Squad after Vesuvius. Was it a necessary decision? As much as he hated to admit it, yes. Even if he hadn't wanted to send them, Cooper had been right. That ninja needed to be killed before he could escape and wreak havoc somewhere else. Should he have done something differently? Like what? There were so many choices that could have been made differently to change the outcome of events. But it didn't matter anymore. What was done was done and nothing would change it or the fact that Cooper and his squad were missing. From what Toussaint and Nishida knew, Cooper and his squad weren't the only ones to mysteriously vanish in Qushan. A total of 21 soldiers were still unaccounted for with the BIOS still registering them as alive. As far as the UNSC was concerned, this meant that they must have been captured. But how and by who?
Enter one First Lieutenant Viktor Katona, Executive Officer of the 419th's Alpha Company.
Not only did this soldier survive the onslaught of Vesuvius' attack, but managed to send out a message to HQ, bypassing several encryptions doing so, to warn them that he and several other UNSC soldiers had been captured by an individual named 'Jiraiya' who supposedly was working for a hidden village going by the name of 'Konoha.' HIGHCOM suspected that this 'Jiraiya' may be responsible for 4-1's disappearance, but wouldn't tell Malcolm anything else beyond this. (Either they were waiting until they had more solid information or they decided he didn't need to distract himself with something out of his control.)
Not that any of this helped Torrens at the moment. And in all honesty, nothing truly would until he snapped himself out of this stupor of his. All he could do was try and support his soldiers as best he could.
2022 Hours Local Time
November 14, 2543 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Continent Esura
Approx. 6,000 miles East-Northeast of Timur Island
UNSC Excavation Site/Firebase Pompeii, inside the 'Dead-Zone'
Victoria Colonial Guards' 1st CBRN Battalion, Alpha Company
200 miles West from the borders of UNSC Colonial Territory of New Pella
372 miles West from UNSC Colony of Fort Kartaša (Regional Capital of New Pella Territory)
307 miles Southeast from the borders of the Romanus Empire
36 miles South of "Ground-Zero"
107 miles from Coastline of the 'Midas Sea'
Excavation Site 'Alpha-4'
Barracks Bravo-2
47 Sievert* an Hour. That's how much radiation on average was being experienced in the epicenter of the "Esuran Dead-Zone," as it was known. Across the entire zone, the average dropped considerably, to a more 'tolerable' 11-14 Sievert an Hour, but this roughly 792,000 square mile area of irradiated land was extremely lacking in the wildlife department, save for radiation eating fungi, flax plants, Ginkgoaceae and pseudo-Ginkgoaceae trees, and the hardiest of arthropod/arthropod-like creatures, pseudo-mammalians and reptiles that lived in the area. For a continent roughly a third again bigger than the size of Earth's Australian Continent, (but having a temperament, geography, and climate more like that of Earth's Siberia and Northeast China, due to much of the continent being further north of the planet's equator than the Elemental Nations), that meant there wasn't a lot of real-estate available for human habitation or farming, which limited the total number of people that could live on the continent. (Current estimates put the continent's population at somewhere at around 100-115 million. There were even entire regions of the continent, particularly in the east, that were uninhabited.) It didn't help that the majority of the Dead-Zone included vast amounts of land that, if not irradiated to hell, would have made decent farmland. Not now.
Even with the latest in UEG terraforming and radiation-removal technology, it would be decades before this region could be made habitable again. 30 or so years, if Private First Class Galela Bishara had to guess. And that was if they got enough gear to even do large-scale de-radiating. (Which they won't, likely for several years.)
This was, without a doubt, the most bullshit assignment she had ever been on. Granted, as a 74-Delta (CBRN Specialist) of the Victoria Colonial Guards and a mining specialist (Civilian, of course.) with a bachelor's degree, this was well within both of her contracts for things she could do, but who the hell wants to be stuck in the middle of an irradiated wasteland? Guarding a bunch of egg-heads digging up a 'possible' alien site? God, this couldn't get any more boring. At least the brass was generous enough to ship them TVs, games, and a decent ChatterNet connection so that they weren't completely isolated or bored to insanity. Chow wasn't too bad, either, considering it was mostly MREs and preserved foods. (At least they were getting root beer, coffee, and some of those awesome Wondo-Bars.)
Still, it was interesting to hear the scientists coming up with several hypotheses regarding how this dead-zone came to be. The most widely accepted theory, based on what evidence had been gathered so far, was that approximately 2,000 years ago, an extinct comet or an asteroid at least 6 kilometers in diameter burst over the continent in a Tunguska-like event from a height of roughly a couple kilometers. The only difference from Earth's Tunguska Event was that this comet/asteroid was filled with large quantities of Uranium, and Beryllium. (They've found fragments and traces of said elements all across the continent and even in a handful of areas in the Elemental Nations. All of which were geologically related in origin, suggesting a large comet or asteroid.) And when these radioactive elements ignited, the effect was essentially the equivalent of two Tsar Bomba*, the most powerful pre-interstellar nuclear weapons produced by humanity, going off simultaneously. Huge swaths of land were irradiated within a matter of hours or days as the wind spread the radiation out across the continent, irradiating as much as 45% of the continent with at least 5 Sievert an Hour. By the end of the month, everything but the hardiest of lifeforms was either dead or dying off across half the entire continent, whatever hadn't been killed in the initial blast or shockwave, leaving a literal land of death and devastation. Hundreds of miles of once green vibrant forests and grass were killed off, leaving nothing but a barren wasteland for hundreds of miles around ground zero.
Over time, much of the radiation dissipated and receded, allow more 'fragile' lifeforms to return to their former homelands, but much of the damage had been simply too much for some species to recover. Human civilization had been flourishing in the region before its untimely demise. The remains of hundreds of settlements and cities were sprawled out across the dead zone, their architecture eerily similar to that of European, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and even Indian Antiquity in some places. From what little archeological research had been done so far, the civilization had roughly been in the equivalent of an Early or Late Medieval Age in terms of technology and progression. Kind of interesting to Galela that the human civilization here had been relatively on par or just slightly ahead of Earth's Humanity at that time, but not anymore. With the collapse of the 'Esuran Civilizations,' the whole region essentially degraded back to that of an Iron Age or worse and had slowly been recovering ever since. Even odder was the discovery of human archeological sites going as far back as almost 5,000 years ago, while there have been human remains recovered that date as far back as 72,000 years ago, which again shouldn't have been possible.
Christ, maybe those ancient alien nuts were on to something after all. Maybe some aliens did kidnap a bunch of prehistoric humans and dumped them here. But why? What was the point?
Not that it mattered at the moment. So far, no diplomatic contacts had been made with any of the fiefdoms, tribes, or kingdoms on the Esuran Continent, but that was likely to change soon as the UNSC established itself more firmly on the planet. Attention and colonization efforts on Shinsei were slowly being prioritized more towards this rather quiet and secure sector of the planet, while exploration was being done on the region to identify deposits and suitable farmland in a region with subpar farmable land. (Which wasn't anything some hydroponic farms couldn't solve.) From what had been gathered, much of the eastern half of Esura was uninhabited save for the northern coastline where a few large tribes of some people called the Austrvegr and Ultultar, both of which seemed rather similar to that of ancient Germanic and Persian/Indian people from Earth, respectively.
For now, however, they had more than enough on their plate, if what she'd heard about what had been happening in the 'Elemental Nations' (Weird fucking name for a region, if anyone asked her.) was even remotely true.
The chestnut-colored woman was currently on her bunk, her dark glossy hair in a bun as she laid there watching an episode from the old show 'Battleship Andromeda*' on her datapad. Sci-Fi Shows, particularly those involving anything positive with aliens like this classic series, had lost a lot of popularity in the wake of the Human-Covenant War breaking out. A shame, really. For Galela, this was one of the better shows to have come out in the last 50 years. (That wasn't mindless 'reality' shows or pop entertainment.) Nowadays, it was largely forgotten due to its portrayal of aliens in a more positive light and humanizing light. For most in this day and age, that was enough to immediately disregard it, but for her, it was a good way to kill time and pretend just for a little bit that there wasn't a massive alien empire hellbent on humanity's extinction. Besides, it had been a long day in the motor pool doing maintenance and decontamination on their CBRN-model Mastodon APC. It was time for some R&R before bed. One more episode and she was calling it a night.
"Yo, Bishara. We still scheduled to head down to the 'graveyard' with the eggheads?" Private First Class Harrison walked into the room, with a Wondo-Bar in his mouth as he cradled a box of MREs onto his bed.
"Yeah, Harrison. We still are. And no, there's no way we're getting out of it, so quit asking. Be in your Vacuum Suit by 0630 hours." Galela answered, much to the private's disappointment. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to go down to what the soldiers at the base had started calling the 'Graveyard.' No one did. The whole place was just too damn creepy and devoid of anything. It reminded her too much of those photos and videos of the aftermath of a Covenant Glassing. She was honestly grateful she'd never had to go through anything like that herself. (And hopefully never would.)
"Hey, lights are about to go out. Get some rest, troopers. We've got a long day tomorrow." She heard her Fireteam leader, Corporal Greer, call out to the platoon as people started shuffling to their bunks or to hang out with friends and play games such as cards. Galela contemplated for a moment, then rolled over to place her datapad down beside her bunk while she heard Corporal Cardenas shuffle above her. She could finish the episode later. Sleep was more important, especially since they were going to be out there for at least 8 hours.
She could watch her show later.
Next Morning; 0722 Hours Local Time
Inside Mastodon; Callsign 'Saber 2-2'
Destination: Alpha-4 Excavation Site; 'The Graveyard'
The Mastodon's suspension rocked gently back and forth as the vehicle drove down what had once been a cobbled road. Corporal Greer was scanning for targets with the Mastodon's M41 DEFENDER RWS*, though out here they weren't expecting any trouble. Didn't necessarily mean there wasn't any trouble, though. While there were some critters out here that didn't hesitate to take a bite out of a person, there wasn't anything out here that would openly hunt humans (That they knew of), so for the most part the troopers and scientists were safe from the wildlife. Outside, it was cloudy as a light rain gently fell down onto the irradiated land. Thunder could be faintly heard in the distant skies.
Plus, to be fair, she'd rather take her chances with angry alien arthropods than radiation any day of the week.
"We're about 200 meters from the city limits. Do last-minute checks on your suits and weapons, and make sure your filters are working. I don't want any fuck ups while we're out here." Corporal Greer barked out. Galela did exactly that, checking each of the seals on her Hazmat BDU to make sure there were no leaks even if she's done this a hundred times beforehand today. There was no such thing as too careful. The whole of her team was following suit, making sure no seals were unsecured and that all of their gear was good for what was expected to be an 8-hour endeavor into what the troopers and eggheads had come to start calling 'The Graveyard.' The Graveyard was the ruins of a city of immense size, likely having had hundreds of thousands living in it at some time in the ancient past before the disastrous 'Esura-Cataclysm.'
The city itself was set up on the banks of a mighty river, that diverted into several other tributaries. Vast streets and architectural wonders could be seen on both banks of the vast river, though most of the bridges that linked both halves of the city had long since collapsed into the river, having gone millennia without repairs. On the southern side or 'half' of the city, there was a towering building near the riverside that overlooked much of the cityscape within this ruin. No one had explored it yet, but it was believed that it may in fact be either a center of power for the city or even a library of sorts. Either way, the xeno-archeologists were convinced that there would be some important information in there that may help shed some light on not only the people of this land but also perhaps provide clues as to how there were humans on a world hundreds of light-years from the cradle of humanity.
"Saber 2-Actual, this is Saber 2-2, we've reached the city outskirts. Grinding to a halt. No contacts at this time, over." The platoon's platoon leader, 2nd Lieutenant Vadekar, spoke on the radio to their company commander.
'2-2, this is 2-Actual. Solid Copy. Proceed to deploy your platoon and provide escort for the scientists while they do their work. 2-Actual, out.'
"You heard him. Get ready to exfil." Greer barked out, as the Mastodon slowly rolled to a halt. All 27 soldiers of the platoon stood up, prepping their gear. The three scientists also prepped their gear, making sure their Hazmats were secured, too. The scientists were fellow Victorian natives, members of the small but vibrant and professional scientific community that Victoria boasted. Of the 63 million that called Victoria home, (Which had been reduced to some 35 million now that the colony was being evacuated for the Aquarii Star Cluster.) less than 2,000 could call themselves apart of the Academia. And few of those could be considered specialists in Archeology or Xenoarcheology. Yet, sure enough, they'd been brought to Shinsei in hopes of figuring out just how the hell there were humans hundreds of light-years from the cradle of humanity.
"What's the current radiological readings, Corporal?" Doctor Fabian White asked.
"Well, we're in luck, doctor." Corporal Greer joked, "We're looking at a very 'tolerable' 25 Sievert."
Even with the helmet and polarized visor on, Galela could practically feel the eye roll the doctor gave as he retorted, "How comforting. Here I was worried about it being over 30."
"Well, either way, if you get exposed to it, you're pretty much bound to be a dead man. What's a couple of sieverts when compared to that?"
"If you're all done messing around, I'd like to go ahead and get started on our expedition today." Came an abruptly stern voice, as one of the other doctors stared at the group. Doctor Shanti Anagal, one of Victoria's leading experts of Archeology and Xenoarcheology, and at the moment, the leading expert for the UNSC out here in the Aquarii Star Cluster. A bit stuck-up and to the point, Galela didn't really like the doctor's attitude towards her troopers, seeing them as nothing more than a bunch of trigger-happy apes.
"Alright, you all know the drill! Pile out and spread out. Maintain a good spread but don't lose sight of each other. Just 'cause the bigwigs say the area's safe from hostile wildlife doesn't necessarily mean that's true." Lieutenant Vadekar called out through comms as the ramps on the Mastodon unlocked and dropped down. The rain was still pouring down softly, making the soft earth muddy and slick if stepped on incorrectly. The same couldn't be said for the stone-cobbled roads that the town used. Though having long since lost the concrete that helped keep the road nice and smoothly flat, the roads still retained a surprising level of smoothness on the surface that made them easy to walk on compared to the sludge-like mud offroad. The city's defensive walls, massive constructs of brick, concrete, and mason that rose some fifty feet above them had seen much better days. Constant wind, rain, and exposure to the harsh elements without maintenance had worn down the impressive structures, with small bits of vegetation overgrowth covering some sections of the wall. The city gates were wide open, the wooden doors that were once there having long since rotted away and collapsed.
The soldiers fanned out from the Mastodon, maintaining a firm visual of their surroundings while the scientists gathered their gear, "Stay frosty." One of the corporals called out, "That road's slick if you're not careful. Good way to bust your ass."
"Noted, corporal. Can we now get a move on? I'd like to reach the Palace as soon as possible." Doctor Anagal bluntly commented as she brushed past the soldiers assigned to protect her team, with the other two doctors briskly tried to keep up while carrying various equipment. Anagal had merely a datapad in her hand that she was using to scan the city architecture.
"And we get to deal with that for the next 12 hours... yaaaay." Galela muttered as she fell into line with her squad. Overhearing her, PFC Patel remarked, "Could be worse. We could be over in those Elemental Nations, dealing with those bloody super-ninjas or whatever the hell they're called."
True. They hadn't been deployed to 'Edo' as it was known by the locals, though Elemental Nations seemed to be the more popular name for it. But Galela was honestly glad they hadn't been. Everyone had heard about what went down in the city of Qushan, and it had put everyone, from the civilians to the soldiers, on edge. If a couple of hundred people armed with nothing but knives, swords, and weird-ass magical powers could devastate entire battalions worth of battle-hardened UNSC troopers, what kind of destructive maelstrom would an entire battalions' worth, a brigade, or hell, an entire division of those super-powered bastards be capable of?
She did not want to find out, and worse still, the damn URF had decided to set up a colony on an island chain right in the middle of these super-powered nuts. Why Cole had agreed to this, nobody understood, but it had been giving the UNSC headaches from day one since they got here.
"Let's get a fireteam to scout the route ahead. Make sure it's safe to traverse while we unload all the gear." Lieutenant Vadekar spoke through the comms, "Corporal Greer. Take your fireteam and scout ahead for us."
"Yes, sir." Greer responded, turning to his fireteam, "Alright, chumps. Let's go on a walk. Bishara! You've got good eyes. Take point."
"Roger," Galela answered as her 4-man fireteam quickly moved ahead of the platoon, passing through the city gates and winding down several streets full of decayed buildings. Aerial and drone-based recon had been limited due to the severe levels of radiation affecting the instruments, leaving satellite imagery the only real way to conduct unmanned recon. But that could only show and do so much, so despite all the advancements in technology, boots on the ground were still the best method for conducting reconnaissance. This was exactly the reason the various militaries throughout human history from the 21st Century onward never replaced their soldiers with drones, even with the development of AIs. Drones and unmanned vehicles can only do so much.
The city was silent and void of life, the only sounds audible being the soft downpour of rain, wind, and distant thunder. It was eerie to be in a city and not hear the sounds of people or wildlife. No birds could be heard singing their songs. No insects buzzing about. Nothing. Just the sound of silence in a dead city. And dead city was exactly the right choice of words as Galela and the fireteam observed the buildings around them. Centuries of lack of maintenance had worn down the colors and wear down the stone and marble used as the construction material. Small amounts of vegetation overgrowth had begun covering some of the buildings as nature slowly made its return to this irradiated wasteland, but much of the plant life in the city was still barren and dead.
Then they came upon their first human remains.
For most of the bodies, centuries upon centuries of exposure to the elements had rotted away any flesh while much of the clothing had been degraded to the point where there was little of it left. Many of the corpses were seen to be in their houses, as if they'd died in their sleep, or sprawled out on the sides of the streets as if they had simply collapsed in place. 'Poor bastards. They probably didn't realize something was wrong until it was far too late.' Galela thought sadly. Interestingly despite being exposed to the elements for millennia, most of the corpses had enough of their clothing remaining to more or less show in detail what they looked like. Most of the clothing was rather simplistic in design philosophy, more like tunics and for practicality than any true fashion. That said, there were some that seemed to look more like a toga or some more fashionable or higher status attire worn in antiquity.
For Galela, it was odd seeing some much architecture and clothing that seemed so reminiscent of Ancient Roman or Greek society, especially when she was 400 light-years away from Earth.
"Hey, Bishara. You ever thought you'd be walking through ancient human ruins on another planet?" Corporal Greer asked suddenly, catching her attention, "I bet the little history bookworm in you is loving all this."
Galela laughed, "Yeah. It's... definitely not what I was expecting when we came out here. It's weird."
"What? The whole fact that there are humans living on a planet hundreds of light-years from the nearest UEG colony?" PFC Patel smartly remarked, raising up a so-so hand, "Eh, only a little, love."
"It's still so odd, though," Galela stated, "how similar a lot of the architecture is to that of civilizations of old back on Earth."
"Probably just human ingenuity, I say. They come up with a similar solution to a similar problem or whatnot." PFC Harrison piped in.
"It's not just that," Galela replied, glancing at one of the buildings to her right, a decayed body lying slumped in the doorway. "The design philosophy is just too similar to that of societies like Rome or Ancient Greece. I feel like I'm walking through the ruins of an ancient Roman city if it had somehow been preserved in a time capsule."
"Oi, that's right. You took Latin and European Antiquity back when you were in college, Bishara. How'd that go for you, your holiness?" Patel suddenly commented, earning a sigh from her. 'Oh, boy. Here we go.' She thought as both Patel and Greer started chuckling.
Harrison, who didn't know the story, looked around confused, "Huh? What're they on about, Bishara?"
Rolling her eyes, Galela began explaining the story for what was probably the thousandth time, "My parents are deeply catholic and obsessed with the Papacy's history. A lot of their lives revolve around the church. So much so that when I went to college, they wanted me to get a degree in religious science and study, then go join the Victorian Papacy's Priesthood. So in order to keep them off my back while I was in college, I learned Latin, took classes in European History, History of Catholicism, etcetera. Needless to say, I had no interest in becoming a fucking priest annnnnd they weren't too thrilled when they found out I had actually gotten a bachelor's degree in mining engineering, instead." She paused for a moment as the bitter memory replayed in her mind, "We're still not on speaking terms because of it."
"No shit? They wanted you to become a bloody priest and told you to sod off 'cause you didn't want to?! That's fucked up, love. Do Catholics even allow women to become priests?" Harrison asked.
"They only started allowing back after the Interplanetary War ended, so yeah for a few hundred years they have. And much of the 'old-school' Catholics are still not fans of it, from what I've heard. Victoria's Papacy Branch was considered one of the more 'liberal' sects of the church." She answered.
"Huh... Interesting. Of course, my family's been atheist for generations, so most of this church politics goes over my head." Harrison replied. Patel quickly followed up with a remark, "Most are, nowadays. Religion's going the way of the dinosaur. Two, three hundred years from now, there might not be any religions left."
"Doubt it. There's always gonna be folks who're just superstitious."
"Enough chit-chat." Corporal Greer barked out, "We're at the bridge, so I want everyone on alert." The bridge in question was a worn down and damaged cobblestone bridge the spanned the length of the massive river. Roughly a third of the way across, something had collided with the bridge's support pillars, damaging them and causing a few sections of the bridge to partially collapse. While normally, they would have just not taken the risk and looked for an alternate route, the heavy irradiation of the environment meant that time wasn't on their side. Though their suits were designed to withstand such levels of radiation, they could only stay out there for as long as their oxygen tanks would permit. They couldn't afford to waste time.
Luckily, their destination was just on the other side of the bridge. They just had to get to it.
"Take it nice and easy. We don't know how stable this thing is." Sergeant Greer said, before tapping into his comms to communicate with Lieutenant Vadekar, "Lieutenant? Corporal Greer, here. Can you read me, over?"
'There's a tiny bit of interference, but you're coming through clear for the most part, Corporal. Have you reached the building, over?'
"We're approaching it now, just got to get across this shite bridge, first. We'll let you know when we've gotten across and have entered the building. Out." Corporal Greer took the lead as the squad maneuvered its way across the bridge. Galela had never handled heights very well, so she did her best not to look down at the dark eerie waters below. She could have sworn she saw something swimming in the water but was certain she must have been seeing things. Surely with so much radiation, nothing could be living here. Right? "Nice and slow, everyone. Keep it steady." Greer reassured as everyone slowly traversed the bridge. Strong gusts of winds blew across the bridge, straining their efforts slightly as they crossed. Ultimately though, they managed to cross without incident.
The building that was their destination was now towering before them. Like an ancient skyscraper that rose up to the heavens, the massive building was the tallest in the city at some 205 feet in height. It had an eerily distinct Roman/Byzantine architect to it, with Galela being reminded of the Haghia Sophia on Earth when looking at the structure. Up a small flight of stairs, there had been seven pillars in front of the entrance, six of which having a statue of a man or woman in the nude. All but the central pillar had collapsed, two of which collapsing onto the entrance of the building, blocking it off. All of the statues had been worn time by the sands of time and exposure to the elements, but still retained enough details to show off the characteristics of the individual. Were these gods they worshipped? People of great importance? Who knew for sure, and it wasn't important as they needed to get inside to try and find any literature that may be of use.
"Anybody seeing a way in that doesn't involve blowing a damn hole in the wall? Eggheads'll throw a fit if we damage it any further." Greer asked the fireteam as they walked up the stairs and scanned the entrance.
"Nothing here, Greer," Galela answered, shaking her head as she scanned the front of the building entrance, followed by a couple more noes from the other two fireteam members.
"Right, figures," Greer growled out in annoyance. Tapping into his comm set, he radioed for the Lieutenant, "Lieutenant, it's Corporal Greer. We've reached the target building but are unable to enter the building. The entrance is blocked off with debris. How copy, over?"
'Corporal, we read you loud and clear. Look around the building and see if there's another entrance. We're maybe 10 minutes out and will make it to you as soon as possible. Vandekar, ou-' The Lieutenant was almost finished, but another voice cut into the comms, 'Corporal! I would like to remind you that you and your men are not allowed to damage the structure in any way, shape, or form. No explosives!' Even through a tinted visor, she could practically see Greer rolling his eyes as he didn't even bother answering the irritable doctor Anagal. He cut off communications before the doctor could try and bark at him any further.
"Like we even brought any explosives like that. Right, let's see what we can find." Patel retorted in annoyance. The soldiers started looking around to see if maybe there was a hole or another entrance. Galela went back towards the statues and pillars at the front entrance. Though the statues had been damaged by both their fall and the erosion of time, it was still impressive to see them in such fairly decent condition. Perhaps they'll be taken back to Fort Kartaša and be cleaned up for display in a museum. The central pillar, which was square instead of circular like the other six, didn't have a statue on top of it. Instead, it had what appeared to be an allegorical scene with a plaque beneath it. The scene portrayed was vibrant and incredibly detailed. It showed legions of troops, thousands from the looks of it in pristine fearsome-looking armor, standing before a trio of men who stood before the soldiers on the steps of the very building. The three men, two of which were likely officers or generals given their armor and helmets, and a civilian in the middle that was likely a ruler of some kind, were given extraordinary attention to detail by whoever sculpted the scene, with fine detail given to even their hair and facial expressions. The two officers were holding their swords high and proud, while the king or city mayor in the center was holding his hands up towards some kind of... unknown silver colored sphere, with a glowing eye and that seemed to float above the humans. And the plaque beneath it... wait...
What did that say? Wait, how could she be reading it? It...
...
...
...
Silence followed as Galela Bishara continued reading the plaque over and over again, trying to see if her mind was playing tricks on here or something. But... the fact that she could read and understand the words on the plaque stupefied her. This... this couldn't be right. There was no way this was right. This had to be a mistake. Someone must have been playing a joke on them. Something. Anything. But no logical explanation came to her mind that could explain what she was seeing. What she was reading. They were the first people to have arrived at this building, to this sector of the city, in thousands of years...
'This... can't be right.'
"G-guys!" She suddenly cried out, "Get over here! Now!"
The others quickly rushed over, weapons at the ready thinking something was horribly wrong. But all they saw was Bishara staring dumbly at the plaque on the pillar. "Bishara, what the fuck's the matter with you?!" Corporal Greer angrily called out, "We thought something had happened to you!"
"Look at this." Was all she said, "Listen to what it says."
"Wait, what? You've translated that-" Greer started to ask, but Galela started reading aloud the inscription, silencing everyone else.
"Urbs Aeterna potest in perpetuum nobis perdidit, sed nos sumus filii Roma in aeternum."
Cossus Fulvius Aurelianus - Legatus Augusti pro Praetore, Novum Roma
Paulus Cominius Rogelius - Legatus legionis, Legio IX Hispana
Sisenna Matius Sellic - Legatus legionis, Legio vigesima secunda Deiotariana
Maius XXI CMV
"The Eternal City may be forever lost to us, but we are forever Sons of Rome."
Cossus Fulvius Aurelianus -Legate of the Emporer, New Rome
Paulus Cominius Rogelius - Commanding Officer, 9th Legion Hispana
Sisenna Matius Sellic - Commanding Officer, 22nd Legion Deiotariana
May 21 905 AUC/152 AD(CE)
"... What. The. Fuck?" was all Greer could say at the revelation, which summed up the thoughts of everyone present as they silently stared at what appeared to be... Romans. Legionnaires. On a world hundreds of light-years from home. Forget the Asiatics and ninjas of the Elemental Nations. What the hell were the Romans doing here?
Instead of answering some of the questions they had, the mysterious city now seemingly called 'New Rome' had only brought up more questions... and deepened the Mystery of the world called Shinsei.
*Sepulcra Maiorum= Roughly translates to 'Tomb of the Ancestors.'
*VT40 ICWS= This is the MA40 of Halo Infinite, or rather what it is eventually known as. I know it's going to be different from the in-game lore that Halo Infinite will have, but I pictured this as a modernization and upgrade of the old MA37 or MA5, meant to replace all the other MA5 models in service. This little bit of Lore I'm creating will be expanded on later on. Essentially in my story, VelTac was already working on this rifle early in the 2520s, but it never got approved by Misriah Armory, who weren't too keen on being told that one of their iconic and most popular weapons systems could be made better by an Outer Colony Subsidiary. So, the prototypes that had been built were stored away. But after communications with the rest of humanity was cut off in 2538, ValTec ended being tasked by the Visok Government to see if they could streamline production, particularly in infantry weapons and body armor, for the vast number of CMA and UNSC armed forces they had in the Visok System. Ultimately, they went back to work on their rifle, and in 2540 introduced the VT40, which was then accepted and adopted by all armed forces in-system, and by the time Visok sent a call for help to the proto-United Dominion in 2543, they had equipped their entire military with the new rifles and already had developed a sizeable surplus of the new rifles, thanks to Ludogorie's large military industry.
*Velikov Tactical Weapons Incorporated= A creation of my own, Velikov was pictured by me as essentially the Outer Colonies' equivalent to Misriah Armory, operating primarily in the Outer Colonies as opposed to Misriah which had a massive presence in the Inner Colonies. (Though VelTac had a few offices and factories set up in the Inner Colonies, which were quickly swallowed up by Misriah when its Headquarters was supposedly destroyed, or rather cut communications.) A subsidiary of Misriah Armory based on Ludogorie and founded in 2410, Velikov Tactical or VelTac as it's more popularly known, produces a large number of infantry weapons and equipment for the UNSC and CMA when it was still a significant presence in human space, having over 300 years of experience in the field of military weapons production, originating from a merger of several Southeastern and Eastern European Military Defense Contractors in Humanity's pre-interstellar age that later moved out to the outer colonies. They pride themselves on providing quality over quantity, though they do have the industrial basin to produce a large surplus of military equipment in a short time.
*Agrivos Defense Manufacturing= Another creation of mine, this is a more localized company that produces the majority of military equipment on Hellas prior to its evacuation, with multitudes of contracts with other companies like Misriah, WST, and AMG to locally produce their hardware. They've successfully resettled in the Aquarii Star Cluster with the rest of Hellas' population, and for the moment, enjoy a slow but steady expansion of operations and sheer dominance of the military/police equipment markets, being as they're the only defense company currently in the proto-United Dominion. (Though to their disappointment, that's going to quickly change in the near future. This also says nothing of other independent colonies like Falkirk or the Confederacy, who have their own defense companies.)
*WST= Weapon Systems Technologies. They produce several firearms for the UNSC and law enforcement, such as the M90 shotgun. They are a Halo-canon company.
*AMG= AMG Transport Dynamics, also referred to as Asklon. They are a vehicle manufacturer that produces many of the UNSC's light-armored vehicles, including the famous M12 Warthog. They are a Halo-canon company.
*OPFOR= Opposing Forces. A typical designation for enemy forces.
*Mil-Int= Abbreviation for Military Intelligence.
*Zero-G DP= ... I don't think this one really needs an explanation, (Especially for some of the degenerates on this site... You know who you are.) so I'll leave it to your imagination. Also yeah, porn mags and paper are still a thing in the future!
*Shame-shield= A nickname for a US Army Specialist, considering their rank looks like a shield and specialists have a reputation for 'shaming' out of work details. (As an Army Specialist, I can confirm this to be true. We love shaming our way out of work and not doing mundane stuff or 'shit-details' as we like to call them.)
*Butter Bar/Bars= A nickname for a 2nd Lieutenant, especially in the US Army, as their rank looks like a bar of butter. Kinda self-explanatory.
*Sievert= A unit of measurement for Radiation.
*Battleship Andromeda= Fictional Show. Not canon. A play on Battlestar Galactica. Funnily enough, there's also a heavy carrier in my universe that's called the Andromeda. (Hasn't appeared yet.)
*DEFENDER RWS= A fictional Remote Weapons System (RWS) used by the UNSC on a number of their vehicle platforms, typically mounting a M247, an M247H (.50 cal variant), a missile launcher, a Gauss Cannon, or a 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher, depending on the type or mission parameters. While it's not the only RWS used by the UNSC, it is the most common as it's reliability, modularity, and ease of maintenance have made it a popular choice. In the case of the Mastodon, it's typically equipped with an M41 Chaingun for defense, though it can be outfitted with other weapons like the Gauss Cannon.
*Tsar Bomba= Tsar Bomb. A nuclear bomb developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, which currently holds the title of most powerful nuclear weapon ever developed. When it was tested, the blast yield was estimated to be around 50 megatons.
And that's it for this chapter. Took a little longer than I was hoping, but it came out pretty good. Let me know your thoughts in the review section, and I'll see you next time.
-Azores