Chapter 14: Svenson

Put simply: the swamp sucked. The Autumn and its crew were put together and equipped for a specific mission, and this sure as hell wasn't it. Half the time the Marines were wading through chest-high water that was uncomfortably warm. And when they got out, they still had their gear stuck to their bodies from getting drenched.

They were in the middle of getting drenched by rain, which was somehow better than the ponds they moved through, when they got an intel update saying there were multiple entrances to the weapons facility, and they were heading to a different one than Keyes's and Johnson's squads. They weren't that close to each other either.

"Bad intel was bound to happen," O'Hale said, trying to soften the blow of having to go through this shit for a little longer.

"But God damn, why did it have to be now?" Kamal cursed.

"God just wants to punish us a little more before he puts us down," Private Clarke responded. He was in the middle of putting up a tent to shelter them from the rain while they took a little break.

"Let's make this break quick," O'Hale said as she stuffed a cigar in her mouth and began to light it. "The faster we move, the less resistance we face."

Svenson didn't have much to do during the break. He would have gone out on watch with Lopes, Kormanyos, and Arceneaux, but he really didn't feel like getting drenched by the rain any more than he already had.

Clarke moved to set up a second tent, since the one wasn't big enough to fit all of Fireteam Delta under it. They were easy to put up and take down, so it wasn't too much of a hassle. But Svenson helped him anyway.

This was the first time he was really ready for a fight since Autumn got attacked. The first time any of them really were. He was itching with anticipation. Dreading the fight that was to come the same way he always dreaded getting shot at by aliens with impossibly better weapons than him.

Clarke patted him on the shoulder in thanks for helping to set up the tent, and Svenson gave him a nod that meant you're welcome. He scanned the crowd for Faraday. She was sitting with Hanoi, who had quickly recovered from her wounds at Alpha Base, and Seguin who were having a conversation. She didn't seem to really be a part of the conversation, she was probably just there for the company.

Svenson felt a hand clasp his shoulder, and he didn't even need to look to know it was Kamal.

"So what's been goin' on between you and Faraday?" Kamal said loud enough to be heard over the rain, but quiet enough that only Svenson could hear him.

"It's none of your business," Svenson replied.

"Man, it's all of our business. The whole team sees you lookin' at her all the time."

Svenson looked down at the mushy swamp ground. Faraday wasn't someone he was really attracted to, he wasn't in love or anything. He saw her as more of like a long lost sister. Someone he knew, but didn't know. Someone he wanted to see live a long and happy life. But then again, everyone who had lost something to the Covenant was like that to him. And that was everyone.

"Hey, you in there?" Kamal knocked his knuckles against Svenson's helmet.

"Yeah, yeah," Svenson said. "Look, I'm not in love with her or anything, she's just someone that I want to see getting out of this alive."

Kamal chuckled and grinned. "You want to see all of us out of here alive, don't you? I don't see you lookin' at me like that."

"We've just got… similar life experiences."

Kamal shrugged at that. "Whatever. Just remember to tell the Sergeant if you two start fuckin' or something."

Svenson rolled his eyes. And as soon as he did, the Marines all rose.

"Time to move out!" O'Hale called out to them.

O'Hale took the group's lead. Arceneaux brought up the rear. Everyone else was in between them. They trudged through the swamp the way they had before, the way they'd been doing it for hours.

When some action finally did come, Svenson was surprised to find he felt relieved. A crack came from a treeline ahead of them, followed by a trio of melting hot plasma bolts. Luckily no one was hit. The sound of the plasma splashing and boiling the water behind them almost drowned out the shouting from Arceneaux.

"Shade turret!" he shouted at what sounded like the top of his lungs.

Everyone rushed towards the riverbed and took cover behind the land that rose above it. The shade turret couldn't see them from there, but the Covenant would most likely send troops out to surround them. If that happened, it would be a slaughter. And all their time spent preparing would have been wasted. Fireteam Delta made sure that wasn't going to happen.

"Kamal, Svenson, Kormanyos, Clarke, with me!" Arceneaux shouted over the cracking sound of the shade turret firing.

"Everyone else with me!" shouted O'Hale.

Svenson followed Arceneaux, they moved along the left side of the riverbed, while O'Hale and her group moved to the right.

"Switch to thermal," Arceneaux said more quietly this time. He grabbed a smoke grenade from his belt and tossed it into the foliage ahead of them.

Svenson and the others tapped keys on their helmets, their visors switched to thermal vision. The group advanced into the smoke as it began to fill the area. The swamp made it a little harder to pick out targets, but they were able to see Covenant forces moving toward them. Hopefully they weren't also packing thermal optics.

Kamal raised his rifle, and fired. The outline of a Grunt went cold. Two Jackals approached from where the Grunt had died. Svenson raised his rifle next, he aimed for the hole in the shield of one and fired, stunning it and allowing him to take it out with a headshot. Arceneaux took out the second one.

Gunfire sounded from behind them. O'Hale had engaged the enemy as well. They continued through the foliage. The smoke from the grenade slowly faded away, and they saw the shade turret. It appeared to be lining up a shot on O'Hale's group. Svenson got an idea.

"We should kill the gunner and take that thing," Svenson whispered.

Arceneaux didn't give it much thought before he said "Alright."

They got a good angle on the gunner in the shade turret, a Grunt that bounced with the stationary gun's seat each time it fired. Arceneaux took one shot, and it went straight through the Grunt's skull.

"Svenson! You're up!" Arceneaux shouted, "give him cover, guys!"

Svenson ran towards the shade turret. A Jackal rose up from the foliage to its side, but it was cut down by a hail of gunfire before it could do anything. Svenson climbed up the side of the shade turret and pushed the dead Grunt out. Bright blue blood covered the thing's control panel, not that he would be able to read it anyway. But guns had a universal language. They all had handles, and they all had triggers.

Svenson gripped the handles in the shade turret's seat and moved them, the turret moved wherever he moved them. Arceneaux and the others approached and took positions around the turret.

"We're pinned down!" O'Hale shouted over the radio, "think you can get behind them?"

"Nah, but we've got a plan," Arceneaux said back.

Svenson used his thermal vision and spotted the Covenant that were pinning O'Hale down. An Elite with a mixed squad of Grunts and Jackals. He pulled the triggers. The barrel of the shade turret cracked, and hot plasma ripped through the trees in front of him. The blasts shot straight towards the Covenant soldiers, tearing down the Elite's shields before blowing it into a hot mess of purple ribbons.

The Grunts went down easier than the Elite, the plasma ignited their methane-filled backpacks and caused them to explode, which also helped to take out some of the Jackals. One Jackal was left standing. It quickly raised its shield, but it went down just as fast.

"Well thank God for you fuckers," O'Hale said over the radio.

"Looks clear," Arceneaux said, "let's move before more of them show up."

"Agreed. Form up on me."

Svenson climbed out of the seat of the shade turret, a little disappointed that he wouldn't be able to take it with him. That was the fastest he'd seen a group of Covenant be killed. Their group met up with O'Hale's, and they moved forward.

As he walked, Svenson noticed his pants were covered in blood from the turret's original gunner. Eh. It'll wash off. That would be the one time he actually looked forward to trudging through that swamp.


Fireteam Delta arrived at the entrance to the facility, or at least the entrance they were directed to go to. It was a miracle that they had gotten there without losing anyone to the Covenant guards and patrols, no one was even wounded.

Every patrol they encountered, they were able to sidestep. Every set of guards they came across weren't as well set-up as the shade turret encampment. For the first time since the Autumn was attacked, Fireteam Delta was fighting at full strength. Well, full strength minus the Marines they had lost along the way.

The entrance Keyes and the others used was already clear, and now it was Delta's job to keep it that way. Delta stayed inside the facility's entrance to keep out of the rain. They were all huddled in the corner of a large room with what looked like an elevator in the centre.

For the past ten minutes, O'Hale had been attempting to contact Keyes to no avail. She figured the place went down deep into the ring, and comms wouldn't penetrate to wherever Keyes and the others were.

Svenson and Kamal moved to the entrance, they were taking over watch from Kormanyos and Seguin. Both of them rested on the once-shiny floor that was now covered with mud and wet footprints, and they watched the trees outside.

Svenson knew Kamal was going to strike up a conversation, because that was something he always did. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when it wasn't another conversation about Faraday.

"So what do you think is gonna happen if we find out Keyes is dead down there," Kamal asked, not taking his gaze away from the trees.

"That's not something I really want to think about," Svenson replied.

That was true. Keyes was essential to the survival of the UNSC's forces on the ring. He wasn't sure if they would be able to coordinate well without him, if they would be able to coordinate at all.

"But if he is dead," Svenson continued, "then we should probably be going down there. Sooner rather than later."

"Yeah," Kamal agreed, "I'd give my life avenging that bastard any day of the week."

"Maybe Master Chief will take over for him, you know, if he is dead."

"That guy is more of a fighter than a talker. Where is he anyway? A mission as important as securing a Covenant weapons cache, I think he should be here."

"I heard he's out fighting the Covenant at uh… what was it… the control room?"

"Yeah, something like that," Kamal nodded.

Footsteps sounded behind them. It's not time for us to leave watch already, is it? Svenson looked behind him, it was Arceneaux. His expression was serious, maybe a little scared.

"We got a problem. The Captain's not responding, and he hasn't sent anyone up to tell us what's going on. We gotta get down there and see what's happening."

"All of us?" Kamal asked.

"Rizo and Dunn are staying to watch. Sarge wants both of you down there with us."

Kamal chuckled as he stood up. "That means we're better at kicking ass than Riz and Dun."

Svenson stood up too and cracked a little smile. That was exactly what that meant.

"We can't waste time," Arceneaux said before jogging off to the elevator. Svenson and Kamal followed him.

"You see any Covies, you come down here as fast as you can," O'Hale shouted to Rizo and Dunn, "don't bother trying to fight 'em."

The two of them replied yes sir and took positions in the entrance.

Lopes was messing with the panel next to the elevator once everyone was on. Eventually she figured out how it worked, and they went down into the facility.