Disclaimer: As ever, I own nothing from this story. Even the original
idea is someone else's. Read that story. It's good.
Anyway, on with the show!
&&&&&&
The doors that separated the passageway to the Command Centre creaked open ponderously, and a white veil of snow and ice blew inside, covering the glass floor with a type of icing.
Uoolusarmun looked up from one of the portable terminals that were strewn about the corridor. The Covenant forces had occupied this area many hours ago, having being left with orders to hold the position until their engineers relieved them of this ridiculous baby-sitting operation in this thrice-damned temple. He looked at the terminal's chronometer. The engineers were early.
"Greetings of the battle-day brothers!" He called as he turned away from the terminal, walking towards the doorway. He looked around with mounting curiosity. No one was there.
"Brethren? Are you there?" Uoolusarmun walked forward cautiously towards the chilled air. His feet scraped against snow, and he winced at the sudden cold.
"Breth-" His voice caught in his throat. The perimeter guards were strewn about the ground, their blood colouring the snow a deep violet. With mounting shock he realised that they had all been killed with one blow. They had no time for retaliation.
His hand flew to his holstered weapon, and he levelled it at the ramp leading to the level, then he adjusted his aim to the ramp which led up to the vantage point. He had heard rumours of an unseen opponent who slaughtered Covenant forces on a space-port. He had laughed at those rumours then, but now...
The gun trembled in his hand, and he stepped backwards. Slight glimmers in the air made him aim the weapon wildly. He took another step back. His mind was racing. He knew that he should warn the rest of the guards further inside, but his limbs were as paralyzed as if the snow had froze them in place. On the verges of his hearing, a slight scuffle came from behind him, followed by the skin-crawling sound of metal piercing flesh. He was too late. The enemy had already infiltrated the Centre...
He turned around just in time to see Idaho swing his rapier with a grim finality, cutting his throat open effortlessly.
&&&&&&
Ingsley was crouching at the lip of the abyss, staring down at its unimaginable depths, when the radio crackled into life.
"-gsley? Ingsley? Are you there?" Idaho's uncouth voice yelled.
"This is Ingsley. What is your status?"
"We have infiltrated the Command Centre and are ready to transfer control to your position. Are you prepared?"
Ingsley quickly scanned the Cartographer's controls. "That's affirmative, Idaho. Begin transmission as soon as possible."
"Agreed." The transmission cut off, leaving Ingsley in silence. All he could do now was wait...
&&&&&&
Idaho's hands quickly flew over the lighted controls, following the procedure Bomoko had instructed him to do. Alien runes and signals lit up as he began to send control over to the small island where Ingsley was.
Idaho stepped back. "There," he stated to the Sardaukar arranged around the control room. "We have approximately five minutes before complete control has been sent to the island. Until then..." he stepped back, and turned to face the doorway where already alien cries were echoing through. "We have to prevent any enemy interference."
The Sardaukar nodded in unison and drew their flensing knives while activating their personal shields. Idaho picked his rapier off from the floor and flourished it, holding it in the 'ready' position favoured by the Swordmasters of Ginaz. The alien sounds became louder. The soldiers stepped forward, ready to battle.
The first alien rounded the corner and, seeing the Sardaukar in front of him, opened fire with a plasma pistol. All the fiery green globes hit, but they spattered uselessly against the personal shields.
The humans charged forward, bellowing battle cries for the Emperor. More aliens rounded the corner and charged forward too, drowning out the human's voices with their screams of rage.
&&&&&&
Byrnes ducked behind cover as alien fire crackled overhead. Another conscript was not so fast, and died, his face a burning mass of flesh. Pardee responded by emptying an entire magazine at the aliens while hidden behind cover. More plasma fire was his reply, and Byrnes jerked back from the metal as it increased in temperature. He cursed Idaho's name, wondering why in the name of hell had he not transferred control?
&&&&&&
The grunt screamed briefly until his head was removed from his shoulder with a spray of bight blue blood. Idaho twisted around, stabbing out, causing another creature to impale themselves on his blade with their momentum.
A human yell distracted him, and he turned to see one Sardaukar flail about, bright purple shards sticking out of his body. Those alien rifles fired projectiles slow enough to penetrate the Holtzman generator. There was a purple explosion, and the man collapsed, quite dead.
Idaho swung back to the fight around him, noticing a large alien swing it's rifle like a club. His shield absorbed the blow effortlessly, and Idaho preformed a slight riposte with a flick of his rapier. The blue shielding flared, but did not burn out.
There was another human cry. One soldier had been swarmed by the small Covenant who managed to get through the shielding. Their pistols quickly broiled the man to death when fired within the shield boundary.
Idaho cursed and ducked another rifle blow. He fell to the ground, kicking out at the creature's knee, trying to trip it. The alien avoided the blow, hooting aggressively. It lunged out with its foot, trying to smash Idaho's face. The shield absorbed the blow, but the elite pressed on with the attack. The limb slipped through the shield and landed on Idaho's head, pressing it into the glass floor mercilessly. Idaho yelled in pain, but could not lift his head off the ground. The creature pressed more weight onto its limb, attempting to crush his opponent's skull.
Idaho deactivated his shield, and swung his blade up through the creature's shin. The alien collapsed, screaming as blood spurted out from the stump. Idaho quickly placed both his feet against the creature's neck, and stabbed upwards, impaling one of the diminutive aliens. Then, using both of the Covenant's bodies as a type of springboard, twirled off of the ground, breaking the elite's neck as he did so. He quickly activated his shield, in time to see another soldier collapse under the press of alien bodies.
"Back to the Command Centre!" Idaho yelled, swinging out at an opponent wildly. "We make our stand there!" The Sardaukar quickly disengaged from their duels, flinging throwing knives at point-blank range to occupy their opponents. The squad quickly retreated to their previous position, the Covenant snapping at their heels.
Idaho slammed at the controls to shut the door, a tactic that would delay the Covenant for only a few seconds, but those were seconds, which could mean victory or defeat.
His eyes quickly scanned the timer. With a jolt of shock, he realised that according to this terminal, command control had been sent for some time. He gaped in disbelief, then tears stung his eyes as he came to the conclusion that there must have been a transmitting error. He turned back to the door, which was already opening, and prepared to die.
There was a flash of orange-yellow.
The door opened up to an empty room..
&&&&&&
Idaho opened his eyes in shock. There was an unpleasant sensation of rapid movement, but he knew he had not moved from a standing position. Then he, and the laws of centrifugal force, realised that he was upside- down.
He twisted, landing on his shoulder sharply. Other impacts alerted him that the remaining Sardaukar were also here... wherever here was.
"Excellent!" A tidy voice said. "The ringworld's teleportation device still appears to function!"
Idaho looked up from his prone position. "Ingsley?" He asked in disbelief.
"The very one." Ingsley smiled, and held out a hand to the grateful Idaho, who accepted it. "I'm sorry about the transport method, but I'm afraid I had no time or option to consider an alternative. I'm sure I can compensate for my earlier error. For some bizarre reason the original architects of this place have inversed pitch and rotation, but I am sure I could-"
"Ingsley..." Idaho said slowly. "What just happened?"
"It appears to be one of the options available to users of the ringworld. Some type of matter-energy converter, which allows transportation of solids, liquids and gases by converting them to a form of radiation. Such conversion allows for almost instantaneous movement of aforesaid objects." Ingsley smiled condescendingly. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, fine..." Idaho cut himself off. "What is the condition of the frigate under assault? Have you sent a mes-"
"Do not worry, Captain." Ingsley reassured. "I have already sent a message to Bomoko. He will arrange the evacuation of the frigate, and hopefully most of the personnel will escape."
"What about the Command Centre back at the arctic area?"
Ingsley grinned the type of grin somebody wore when something unpleasant was about to happen to somebody else. "Don't worry, Captain, I have left the Covenant a... a little surprise..."
&&&&&&
Kwentin'tar'Nteeno levelled his rifle at the empty room. A brief gesture, and the remainder of the squad moved in, their weapons aiming from one point to another.
"Where have the humans gone?" He asked in wonder, lowering his weapon cautiously. Another blue-armoured elite walked forward to the main control panel.
"Curious... we still appear to have full Halo control. In fact, nothing appears to have changed." The elite looked at Kwentin'tar'Nteeno with a quizzical expression. "Why would they attempt to take over this area, and then do nothing to it?"
"Who can fathom the human mind?" He replied. "Quickly, activate the Halo's schematics." The elite nodded, and her hands flickered over the panel. There was a faint chiming sound, then the control panel deactivated, and a large rectangular device teleported on the bridge leading to the Command Centre.
"Odd..." The elite said. "That wasn't supposed to happen..."
Kwentin'tar'Nteeno walked towards it slowly, his rifle armed. Three steps away... Two steps... One... He tilted his head to one side. "This device appears to be static." He proclaimed, lowering the rifle.
A slight movement caught his eye. "No, wait. There are some lights here..." Kwentin'tar'Nteeno peered at the strange shapes. First there was a vertical line to the left of a circle, then a circle to the left of a vertical line which had a smaller circle attached to the upper-left hand side of it... "Sister, can you decipher these symbols?" He called out.
The elite walked over to the device. She peered at them for a short while. "Well, they are not repeating themselves, so it is not some type of condition monitor." She fell silent. "I am at a loss as to what it is."
Kwentin'tar'Nteeno looked back at the symbols. Now it was a circle to the left of a rather complex rune made of two vertical lines and three horizontal lines. Then it was a circle to the left of a horizontal line which had three vertical lines attached to it, two above it, one below it.
He slowly felt a hollow feeling in his abdomen. He had heard of such times when somebody could accurately predict what was going to happen without any evidence. He had a prediction from these symbols. And it was not a good one...
A circle to the left of one vertical line... Two circles, side-by-side...
Boom.
&&&&&&
"This is Bomoko." The tannoy snapped. An explosion and a wave of heat nearly destroyed the speaker entirely. "Evacuate the frigate using the landed 'thopters at the flight deck. I say again, evacuate the ship." The tannoy crackled off.
Byrnes coughed on the greasy smoke, and rubbed his red-raw eyes. A flurry of plasma impacted around his position. His gaze wandered over to Pardee, who was reloading his rifle. Pardee met his gaze.
"Do you have a feeling of déjà vu, too?" He called over as he slammed the magazine into the breach and chambered a round. He quickly emptied the magazine in short, sharp bursts. "Come on, lets get out of here!"
Byrnes nodded, stepping up. The frigate seemed to shake and become unsteady under his feet, and he had to lunge a hand out against the wall to keep from falling over. Pardee gripped him roughly, and began tugging him down a corridor, leaving the position.
They came to a fork. Byrnes quickly looked up at the signs. "We need to go left!" He yelled at Pardee. Pardee shook his head, and indicated the right passageway. Byrnes looked at the sign. Armoury.
A burst of alien gunfire made him duck slightly, then he helped Pardee hobble off towards their destination.
A few hundred yards on, and a doorseal blocked their passage. Byrnes cursed, and punched his numeric pass into the badly-abused keypad at the side. There was a dull tone, and the keypad shattered, flames pouring out of the cracks.
"We have to fall back!" He yelled at Pardee. "We cannot pass through this doorseal!"
Pardee shook him off, and looked at the ocular input device. He knelt down, and pressed his face against it. Alien cries caused Byrnes to spin around in fear. He pulled at Pardee's shoulder.
"We can't use that! We don't have the-" There was a chiming sound, and the door opened. "-permission..." Byrnes looked at Pardee with a raised eyebrow.
"Tricks of the trade, friend." He quickly ran through, tugging Byrnes along as he did so. The door closed behind them and locked again.
"That'll hold them off for a while..." Pardee muttered, scanning the corridors for a sign for the armoury. Some lettering caught his eye, and he limped off in the direction it indicated, Byrnes in tow.
A plasma charge shook the frigate, and the moan of tortured metal reverberated through the entire ship. Another explosion, up ahead, came into view. Some other conscripts ran up to it, firing wildly. There were the crashes and bangs of a close-range firefight. The two troopers stepped into a small alcove.
"Look!" Byrnes whispered. Two doors on their left was a door with 'Armoury' over it. It was only a few feet away, but with the Covenant so close... Byrnes chewed his lip, checking how many rounds he had left in his rifle. Not much.
"Oh, hell, let's go!" Pardee snapped, pulling Byrnes once again with him. They sprinted to the door, and pulled it open. A few aliens noted their movement, and fired at them. One shot sparked against Byrnes helmet, causing him to throw it away instinctively. Another flourish of fire, and Byrnes fell into the Armoury.
"We haven't got much time. Get what you need..." Pardee muttered, shoving Byrnes at a weapons rack. Byrnes quickly scanned the rack, then picked up a fifteen-millimetre machine gun with a few magazines. He picked up a small flechette pistol as an afterthought, slotting it into a holster.
He heard a slow whistle from behind him, and he turned to see Pardee pick up a large, bulky and crude looking rifle. Byrnes himself nearly stood back in awe. A fabled lasgun. The favoured weapon of the Sardaukar... he shivered briefly at knowing that this frigate had one. Pardee walked past him, fully armed, his new rifle slung over his shoulder awkwardly. "C'mon! If we hurry, we can make it!"
Pardee sidestepped out into the corridor, where some Covenant were now walking out of the smog-like smoke. One of the creatures, the newt-like creature that held some type of energy shield, hissed at the sight of him, and lowered its shield in front of it.
The purple beam from the lasgun overloaded the shield almost immediately. The beam continued, severing the shield-arm from the body, the stump cauterised to a burning lump of steaming flesh. Another blow cut both legs off of the creature. It was dead before it hit the ground.
Another Covenant opened fire with one of the alien weapons. Pardee rolled, and fired again. Another Covenant met a violent burning death.
Byrnes tugged at Pardee, ducking as a near miss burned hairs off of his naked head. Pardee fired off another purplish beam, laughing in a bloodlust. Byrnes turned and ran down the corridor, Pardee following him slightly slower, firing his weapon off into the static-filled smoke.
On and on they ran. They hot air they breathed seemed to drown them. Each step was agony. Hot lead ran in their over-strained veins, but on they ran. A corridor advertising that it led to the 'thopter bay appeared to their right. Byrnes turned and sprinted, his limbs ready to go on strike any second now.
Byrnes jammed his heels into the metal grill, stumbling as he tried to slow down his momentum. His feet seesawed in an exaggerated fashion on the lip of the hull breach, causing him to lean forward.
The ground was so far below him that when he would hit it, there would be a mere smear on the ground, nothing else. As he tottered about in an extravagant manner, he saw several 'thopters fly out of the bay. Blue-and- purple fire impacted around two 'thopters, causing them to melt and explode in fiery conflagrations. A blow from behind caused him to over-balance, and he tipped over...
A hand gripped his suit collar roughly. He was suspended over the drop again, and he noted with a type of surreal, out-of-body way that people on the ground were actually the size of ants. He thought that had just been a metaphor...
There was a clatter of the lasgun falling over the edge, and he felt another hand grip his shoulder. His eyes followed the pin-wheeling weapon as it bounced off of the side of the frigate, splintering into small, unimaginable pieces... he shook himself mentally, and braced his legs against the edge, pushing himself back into the ship, collapsing onto Pardee who made a loud 'oof!' sound.
Byrnes got up, staring at more 'thopters leaving the frigate, then turned to Pardee. "Oh, thanks a lot, Pardee!" He snapped. "If we hadn't stopped to get weapons, we could've reached the bay in time! Now we're stuck here!" He wiped his forehead in a distracted fashion as the adrenaline in his body was overcome by the disbelief of shock. "What the fuck do we do now?!" He asked, a trifle hysterically.
Pardee peered around the corner they had just left, then ducked his head back. "There's a slim chance..." he muttered, "...but you need to stay calm."
"Oh, sure! Sure! I'll be calm! Yeah, I'm fine! I'm so cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month! I'm so relaxed people think I'm in a coma! Now will you shut up and tell me what the hell we are going to do?!"
"Fear not, Byrnes..." Pardee muttered. "I have a cunning plan..."
&&&&&&
Bomoko shuddered as plasma tracer stitched the skies next to his 'thopter. Cold, stinking sweat drowned his skin, and his eyes were frantic. Not even his logical Mentat mind could keep him from panic.
He looked back at the rapidly disappearing frigate and glared furiously. Only a quarter-wing of 'thopters made it out. And few of those were armed 'thopters...
He leaned his head back on the vibrating metal surface and wondered if the remaining troops had any chance of escape...
&&&&&&
Byrnes stared at the object in front of him, then stared at Pardee. "You're insane." He said levelly.
Pardee shrugged, then jumped up to the multi-barrelled machine gun, arming it. "If you have a better idea, Byrnes, I'd like to hear it." He adjusted the grip, and began to swing it from side-to-side, testing its manoeuvrability.
Byrnes shook his head, then jumped into the driver's seat. A brief check, all systems go. He gunned the engine, and immediately reversed into the frigate wall.
Pardee lurched forward, then glared at Byrnes, who shrugged apologetically, and put the quad into gear. The vehicle lurched forward, then spun off, heading towards the main exit, following the 'thopters into the distance...
&&&&&&
R&R everyone! Finally! It's over!
Anyway, on with the show!
&&&&&&
The doors that separated the passageway to the Command Centre creaked open ponderously, and a white veil of snow and ice blew inside, covering the glass floor with a type of icing.
Uoolusarmun looked up from one of the portable terminals that were strewn about the corridor. The Covenant forces had occupied this area many hours ago, having being left with orders to hold the position until their engineers relieved them of this ridiculous baby-sitting operation in this thrice-damned temple. He looked at the terminal's chronometer. The engineers were early.
"Greetings of the battle-day brothers!" He called as he turned away from the terminal, walking towards the doorway. He looked around with mounting curiosity. No one was there.
"Brethren? Are you there?" Uoolusarmun walked forward cautiously towards the chilled air. His feet scraped against snow, and he winced at the sudden cold.
"Breth-" His voice caught in his throat. The perimeter guards were strewn about the ground, their blood colouring the snow a deep violet. With mounting shock he realised that they had all been killed with one blow. They had no time for retaliation.
His hand flew to his holstered weapon, and he levelled it at the ramp leading to the level, then he adjusted his aim to the ramp which led up to the vantage point. He had heard rumours of an unseen opponent who slaughtered Covenant forces on a space-port. He had laughed at those rumours then, but now...
The gun trembled in his hand, and he stepped backwards. Slight glimmers in the air made him aim the weapon wildly. He took another step back. His mind was racing. He knew that he should warn the rest of the guards further inside, but his limbs were as paralyzed as if the snow had froze them in place. On the verges of his hearing, a slight scuffle came from behind him, followed by the skin-crawling sound of metal piercing flesh. He was too late. The enemy had already infiltrated the Centre...
He turned around just in time to see Idaho swing his rapier with a grim finality, cutting his throat open effortlessly.
&&&&&&
Ingsley was crouching at the lip of the abyss, staring down at its unimaginable depths, when the radio crackled into life.
"-gsley? Ingsley? Are you there?" Idaho's uncouth voice yelled.
"This is Ingsley. What is your status?"
"We have infiltrated the Command Centre and are ready to transfer control to your position. Are you prepared?"
Ingsley quickly scanned the Cartographer's controls. "That's affirmative, Idaho. Begin transmission as soon as possible."
"Agreed." The transmission cut off, leaving Ingsley in silence. All he could do now was wait...
&&&&&&
Idaho's hands quickly flew over the lighted controls, following the procedure Bomoko had instructed him to do. Alien runes and signals lit up as he began to send control over to the small island where Ingsley was.
Idaho stepped back. "There," he stated to the Sardaukar arranged around the control room. "We have approximately five minutes before complete control has been sent to the island. Until then..." he stepped back, and turned to face the doorway where already alien cries were echoing through. "We have to prevent any enemy interference."
The Sardaukar nodded in unison and drew their flensing knives while activating their personal shields. Idaho picked his rapier off from the floor and flourished it, holding it in the 'ready' position favoured by the Swordmasters of Ginaz. The alien sounds became louder. The soldiers stepped forward, ready to battle.
The first alien rounded the corner and, seeing the Sardaukar in front of him, opened fire with a plasma pistol. All the fiery green globes hit, but they spattered uselessly against the personal shields.
The humans charged forward, bellowing battle cries for the Emperor. More aliens rounded the corner and charged forward too, drowning out the human's voices with their screams of rage.
&&&&&&
Byrnes ducked behind cover as alien fire crackled overhead. Another conscript was not so fast, and died, his face a burning mass of flesh. Pardee responded by emptying an entire magazine at the aliens while hidden behind cover. More plasma fire was his reply, and Byrnes jerked back from the metal as it increased in temperature. He cursed Idaho's name, wondering why in the name of hell had he not transferred control?
&&&&&&
The grunt screamed briefly until his head was removed from his shoulder with a spray of bight blue blood. Idaho twisted around, stabbing out, causing another creature to impale themselves on his blade with their momentum.
A human yell distracted him, and he turned to see one Sardaukar flail about, bright purple shards sticking out of his body. Those alien rifles fired projectiles slow enough to penetrate the Holtzman generator. There was a purple explosion, and the man collapsed, quite dead.
Idaho swung back to the fight around him, noticing a large alien swing it's rifle like a club. His shield absorbed the blow effortlessly, and Idaho preformed a slight riposte with a flick of his rapier. The blue shielding flared, but did not burn out.
There was another human cry. One soldier had been swarmed by the small Covenant who managed to get through the shielding. Their pistols quickly broiled the man to death when fired within the shield boundary.
Idaho cursed and ducked another rifle blow. He fell to the ground, kicking out at the creature's knee, trying to trip it. The alien avoided the blow, hooting aggressively. It lunged out with its foot, trying to smash Idaho's face. The shield absorbed the blow, but the elite pressed on with the attack. The limb slipped through the shield and landed on Idaho's head, pressing it into the glass floor mercilessly. Idaho yelled in pain, but could not lift his head off the ground. The creature pressed more weight onto its limb, attempting to crush his opponent's skull.
Idaho deactivated his shield, and swung his blade up through the creature's shin. The alien collapsed, screaming as blood spurted out from the stump. Idaho quickly placed both his feet against the creature's neck, and stabbed upwards, impaling one of the diminutive aliens. Then, using both of the Covenant's bodies as a type of springboard, twirled off of the ground, breaking the elite's neck as he did so. He quickly activated his shield, in time to see another soldier collapse under the press of alien bodies.
"Back to the Command Centre!" Idaho yelled, swinging out at an opponent wildly. "We make our stand there!" The Sardaukar quickly disengaged from their duels, flinging throwing knives at point-blank range to occupy their opponents. The squad quickly retreated to their previous position, the Covenant snapping at their heels.
Idaho slammed at the controls to shut the door, a tactic that would delay the Covenant for only a few seconds, but those were seconds, which could mean victory or defeat.
His eyes quickly scanned the timer. With a jolt of shock, he realised that according to this terminal, command control had been sent for some time. He gaped in disbelief, then tears stung his eyes as he came to the conclusion that there must have been a transmitting error. He turned back to the door, which was already opening, and prepared to die.
There was a flash of orange-yellow.
The door opened up to an empty room..
&&&&&&
Idaho opened his eyes in shock. There was an unpleasant sensation of rapid movement, but he knew he had not moved from a standing position. Then he, and the laws of centrifugal force, realised that he was upside- down.
He twisted, landing on his shoulder sharply. Other impacts alerted him that the remaining Sardaukar were also here... wherever here was.
"Excellent!" A tidy voice said. "The ringworld's teleportation device still appears to function!"
Idaho looked up from his prone position. "Ingsley?" He asked in disbelief.
"The very one." Ingsley smiled, and held out a hand to the grateful Idaho, who accepted it. "I'm sorry about the transport method, but I'm afraid I had no time or option to consider an alternative. I'm sure I can compensate for my earlier error. For some bizarre reason the original architects of this place have inversed pitch and rotation, but I am sure I could-"
"Ingsley..." Idaho said slowly. "What just happened?"
"It appears to be one of the options available to users of the ringworld. Some type of matter-energy converter, which allows transportation of solids, liquids and gases by converting them to a form of radiation. Such conversion allows for almost instantaneous movement of aforesaid objects." Ingsley smiled condescendingly. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, fine..." Idaho cut himself off. "What is the condition of the frigate under assault? Have you sent a mes-"
"Do not worry, Captain." Ingsley reassured. "I have already sent a message to Bomoko. He will arrange the evacuation of the frigate, and hopefully most of the personnel will escape."
"What about the Command Centre back at the arctic area?"
Ingsley grinned the type of grin somebody wore when something unpleasant was about to happen to somebody else. "Don't worry, Captain, I have left the Covenant a... a little surprise..."
&&&&&&
Kwentin'tar'Nteeno levelled his rifle at the empty room. A brief gesture, and the remainder of the squad moved in, their weapons aiming from one point to another.
"Where have the humans gone?" He asked in wonder, lowering his weapon cautiously. Another blue-armoured elite walked forward to the main control panel.
"Curious... we still appear to have full Halo control. In fact, nothing appears to have changed." The elite looked at Kwentin'tar'Nteeno with a quizzical expression. "Why would they attempt to take over this area, and then do nothing to it?"
"Who can fathom the human mind?" He replied. "Quickly, activate the Halo's schematics." The elite nodded, and her hands flickered over the panel. There was a faint chiming sound, then the control panel deactivated, and a large rectangular device teleported on the bridge leading to the Command Centre.
"Odd..." The elite said. "That wasn't supposed to happen..."
Kwentin'tar'Nteeno walked towards it slowly, his rifle armed. Three steps away... Two steps... One... He tilted his head to one side. "This device appears to be static." He proclaimed, lowering the rifle.
A slight movement caught his eye. "No, wait. There are some lights here..." Kwentin'tar'Nteeno peered at the strange shapes. First there was a vertical line to the left of a circle, then a circle to the left of a vertical line which had a smaller circle attached to the upper-left hand side of it... "Sister, can you decipher these symbols?" He called out.
The elite walked over to the device. She peered at them for a short while. "Well, they are not repeating themselves, so it is not some type of condition monitor." She fell silent. "I am at a loss as to what it is."
Kwentin'tar'Nteeno looked back at the symbols. Now it was a circle to the left of a rather complex rune made of two vertical lines and three horizontal lines. Then it was a circle to the left of a horizontal line which had three vertical lines attached to it, two above it, one below it.
He slowly felt a hollow feeling in his abdomen. He had heard of such times when somebody could accurately predict what was going to happen without any evidence. He had a prediction from these symbols. And it was not a good one...
A circle to the left of one vertical line... Two circles, side-by-side...
Boom.
&&&&&&
"This is Bomoko." The tannoy snapped. An explosion and a wave of heat nearly destroyed the speaker entirely. "Evacuate the frigate using the landed 'thopters at the flight deck. I say again, evacuate the ship." The tannoy crackled off.
Byrnes coughed on the greasy smoke, and rubbed his red-raw eyes. A flurry of plasma impacted around his position. His gaze wandered over to Pardee, who was reloading his rifle. Pardee met his gaze.
"Do you have a feeling of déjà vu, too?" He called over as he slammed the magazine into the breach and chambered a round. He quickly emptied the magazine in short, sharp bursts. "Come on, lets get out of here!"
Byrnes nodded, stepping up. The frigate seemed to shake and become unsteady under his feet, and he had to lunge a hand out against the wall to keep from falling over. Pardee gripped him roughly, and began tugging him down a corridor, leaving the position.
They came to a fork. Byrnes quickly looked up at the signs. "We need to go left!" He yelled at Pardee. Pardee shook his head, and indicated the right passageway. Byrnes looked at the sign. Armoury.
A burst of alien gunfire made him duck slightly, then he helped Pardee hobble off towards their destination.
A few hundred yards on, and a doorseal blocked their passage. Byrnes cursed, and punched his numeric pass into the badly-abused keypad at the side. There was a dull tone, and the keypad shattered, flames pouring out of the cracks.
"We have to fall back!" He yelled at Pardee. "We cannot pass through this doorseal!"
Pardee shook him off, and looked at the ocular input device. He knelt down, and pressed his face against it. Alien cries caused Byrnes to spin around in fear. He pulled at Pardee's shoulder.
"We can't use that! We don't have the-" There was a chiming sound, and the door opened. "-permission..." Byrnes looked at Pardee with a raised eyebrow.
"Tricks of the trade, friend." He quickly ran through, tugging Byrnes along as he did so. The door closed behind them and locked again.
"That'll hold them off for a while..." Pardee muttered, scanning the corridors for a sign for the armoury. Some lettering caught his eye, and he limped off in the direction it indicated, Byrnes in tow.
A plasma charge shook the frigate, and the moan of tortured metal reverberated through the entire ship. Another explosion, up ahead, came into view. Some other conscripts ran up to it, firing wildly. There were the crashes and bangs of a close-range firefight. The two troopers stepped into a small alcove.
"Look!" Byrnes whispered. Two doors on their left was a door with 'Armoury' over it. It was only a few feet away, but with the Covenant so close... Byrnes chewed his lip, checking how many rounds he had left in his rifle. Not much.
"Oh, hell, let's go!" Pardee snapped, pulling Byrnes once again with him. They sprinted to the door, and pulled it open. A few aliens noted their movement, and fired at them. One shot sparked against Byrnes helmet, causing him to throw it away instinctively. Another flourish of fire, and Byrnes fell into the Armoury.
"We haven't got much time. Get what you need..." Pardee muttered, shoving Byrnes at a weapons rack. Byrnes quickly scanned the rack, then picked up a fifteen-millimetre machine gun with a few magazines. He picked up a small flechette pistol as an afterthought, slotting it into a holster.
He heard a slow whistle from behind him, and he turned to see Pardee pick up a large, bulky and crude looking rifle. Byrnes himself nearly stood back in awe. A fabled lasgun. The favoured weapon of the Sardaukar... he shivered briefly at knowing that this frigate had one. Pardee walked past him, fully armed, his new rifle slung over his shoulder awkwardly. "C'mon! If we hurry, we can make it!"
Pardee sidestepped out into the corridor, where some Covenant were now walking out of the smog-like smoke. One of the creatures, the newt-like creature that held some type of energy shield, hissed at the sight of him, and lowered its shield in front of it.
The purple beam from the lasgun overloaded the shield almost immediately. The beam continued, severing the shield-arm from the body, the stump cauterised to a burning lump of steaming flesh. Another blow cut both legs off of the creature. It was dead before it hit the ground.
Another Covenant opened fire with one of the alien weapons. Pardee rolled, and fired again. Another Covenant met a violent burning death.
Byrnes tugged at Pardee, ducking as a near miss burned hairs off of his naked head. Pardee fired off another purplish beam, laughing in a bloodlust. Byrnes turned and ran down the corridor, Pardee following him slightly slower, firing his weapon off into the static-filled smoke.
On and on they ran. They hot air they breathed seemed to drown them. Each step was agony. Hot lead ran in their over-strained veins, but on they ran. A corridor advertising that it led to the 'thopter bay appeared to their right. Byrnes turned and sprinted, his limbs ready to go on strike any second now.
Byrnes jammed his heels into the metal grill, stumbling as he tried to slow down his momentum. His feet seesawed in an exaggerated fashion on the lip of the hull breach, causing him to lean forward.
The ground was so far below him that when he would hit it, there would be a mere smear on the ground, nothing else. As he tottered about in an extravagant manner, he saw several 'thopters fly out of the bay. Blue-and- purple fire impacted around two 'thopters, causing them to melt and explode in fiery conflagrations. A blow from behind caused him to over-balance, and he tipped over...
A hand gripped his suit collar roughly. He was suspended over the drop again, and he noted with a type of surreal, out-of-body way that people on the ground were actually the size of ants. He thought that had just been a metaphor...
There was a clatter of the lasgun falling over the edge, and he felt another hand grip his shoulder. His eyes followed the pin-wheeling weapon as it bounced off of the side of the frigate, splintering into small, unimaginable pieces... he shook himself mentally, and braced his legs against the edge, pushing himself back into the ship, collapsing onto Pardee who made a loud 'oof!' sound.
Byrnes got up, staring at more 'thopters leaving the frigate, then turned to Pardee. "Oh, thanks a lot, Pardee!" He snapped. "If we hadn't stopped to get weapons, we could've reached the bay in time! Now we're stuck here!" He wiped his forehead in a distracted fashion as the adrenaline in his body was overcome by the disbelief of shock. "What the fuck do we do now?!" He asked, a trifle hysterically.
Pardee peered around the corner they had just left, then ducked his head back. "There's a slim chance..." he muttered, "...but you need to stay calm."
"Oh, sure! Sure! I'll be calm! Yeah, I'm fine! I'm so cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month! I'm so relaxed people think I'm in a coma! Now will you shut up and tell me what the hell we are going to do?!"
"Fear not, Byrnes..." Pardee muttered. "I have a cunning plan..."
&&&&&&
Bomoko shuddered as plasma tracer stitched the skies next to his 'thopter. Cold, stinking sweat drowned his skin, and his eyes were frantic. Not even his logical Mentat mind could keep him from panic.
He looked back at the rapidly disappearing frigate and glared furiously. Only a quarter-wing of 'thopters made it out. And few of those were armed 'thopters...
He leaned his head back on the vibrating metal surface and wondered if the remaining troops had any chance of escape...
&&&&&&
Byrnes stared at the object in front of him, then stared at Pardee. "You're insane." He said levelly.
Pardee shrugged, then jumped up to the multi-barrelled machine gun, arming it. "If you have a better idea, Byrnes, I'd like to hear it." He adjusted the grip, and began to swing it from side-to-side, testing its manoeuvrability.
Byrnes shook his head, then jumped into the driver's seat. A brief check, all systems go. He gunned the engine, and immediately reversed into the frigate wall.
Pardee lurched forward, then glared at Byrnes, who shrugged apologetically, and put the quad into gear. The vehicle lurched forward, then spun off, heading towards the main exit, following the 'thopters into the distance...
&&&&&&
R&R everyone! Finally! It's over!