AU: Argh, I know it's been a very, VERY long time since I've updated, but school and fiendish video games have kept me from writing. Here's to hoping I can get this thing back on track!
Chapter 25: Something Always Goes Wrong
Robles
Leo rushed over and knelt down next to his injured friend. Sam was in seriously bad shape. Whoever, whatever, attacked her had mauled her pretty badly. There were bruises and cuts all over her body, and there was a gaping wound in her left shoulder, which looked as if something tried to bite her entire arm off. Her skin was as pale as a sheet, but she still seemed alert, and quite lucid.
"About damn time Leo, I was… waiting for you…" she muttered faintly.
Leo told her to stay quiet, and checked her wounds. Fortunately, Kumi was with him, and she immediately went to work.
"Carter! Leeds!" Paccone shouted, "Pick up the pace! They're getting closer!"
Paccone then handed off the wounded civilian he was carrying to Mann, shouted some orders, and took out his submachine guns. Mann took the civilian and began making his way south. Paccone rushed over to Leo and Kumi's position, with Siler following up close behind.
Meanwhile, Kumi had already sprayed Sam's wound with biofoam, and covered it up with a fibrin bandage, which stopped the bleeding almost instantaneously. She was in the middle of administering a stimulant to spike Sam's blood pressure when a voice spoke up behind Leo.
"Is she going to be okay?"
Leo straightened up in surprise and as if by reflex, whipped around with his battle rifle drawn. He suddenly realized, however, that it was just a girl. He sighed in relief and lower his weapon. Strangely enough, the girl didn't seem phased at the sight of a jumpy Marine pointing a loaded weapon at her. She just continued to stare at Sam.
"She doesn't look too well." Said the girl.
Leo watched as Kumi helped Sam up and said, "She'll be fine, I'm sure of it."
The girl looked back at Leo, and said, "Do you really think so?" The serious tone of her voice unnerved Leo, as if she knew something he didn't.
Suddenly, the air was pierced with shrieks and hoots, and the sounds began to get louder.
"That's it, time's up!" Paccone yelled, "We're outta here!"
Omega
Karla and the rest of her squad crept farther down the corridor. They had already cleared the lower levels, and had found nothing to suggest there was anything alive down there. Now, they were two levels up from the cells, in what looked like an administrative branch. Cubicles filled up most of the space, with offices and holo screens simulating windows lining the walls. Like the previous two levels, this one seemed fairly quiet, and besides a few spatters of blood, some flickering lights, broken machinery and piles of paper scattered around, everything seemed fine.
"Alright," She said, "lets spread out and clear those offices. I want everybody in four man teams. Lets go."
The rest of the squad nodded, and each team split off to search different sectors of the room. Karla and Holy moved off to check the northern side of the area.
"What do you believe they were doing down here?" Holy asked curiously, glancing around at the drab surroundings. He was unused to the stark and utilitarian look of a human office complex, having lived in the massive and glorious halls of the Prophets.
"Could've been anything." Karla said coolly, "Probably researching the next generation nuke, or just looking to see whether Marine uniforms are machine washable."
Nearing an office, Karla readied her battle rifle, cueing Holy to do the same, and she kicked the door. Inside, the office was empty, with the exception of a dead man sitting in a chair behind a desk in the middle of the office. Karla held her breath and leaned forward to take a closer look. Judging from his clothes, the dead man looked to be a manager, or even the administrator of the complex. Not to mention that the body had several days's worth of decay on it. Karla turned away from the sight, and saw a pile of documents scattered on the desk. She picked one up and examined it.
TO: HEAD ADMINSTRATOR JENNINGS, ONI OMEGA COMPLEX IV
FROM: OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE: SECTION THREE
DATE: FEBRUARY 16, 2549
FURTHER ANALYSIS OF THE VIABILITY OF THE V2 PROJECT COMPLETE. PROJECT CONSIDERED TOO UNECONOMICAL AND UNSTABLE FOR PRACTICAL USE. AS OF TODAY, V2 PROJECT IS OFFICIALLY CANCELLED. ALL PERSONNEL ARE TO REPORT TO THE HUMAN RESOURCES DEPT. FOR REASSIGNMENT. ALL EQUIPMENT AND RESOURCES BE SHUT DOWN AND PACKAGED. ALL SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS AND RESEARCH ARE TO BE SENT DIRECTLY TO SECTION THREE AND ALL COPIES DESTROYED.
Karla frowned at the date. According to the memo, it was at least fifty years old. She checked and rechecked the date. It seemed genuine enough, but Karla picked up another document just to make sure.
TO: HEAD ADMINSTRATOR KERNS, ONI OMEGA COMLEX IV
FROM: OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE: SECTION THREE
DATE: JUNE 4, 2540
CURRENT V2 PROJECT NOW REVOKED. V2 PROJECT NOW OPERATIONAL AGAIN. ALL RESEARCH, PERSONNEL, AND EQUIPMENT ARE TO BE OBTAINED AND GATHERED. PROJECT NOW FULLY FUNDED AND ON ACCELERATED DEADLINE.
Well, she thought, this one was more recent. Around the time where the Human-Covenant war was heating up. Whatever this V2 project was, it had enough pull to get ONI to exhume it from its red-tape coffin and give full funding. She was hardly surprised, however. It was at this point things were going straight downhill for the UNSC, and the heads in charge were desperately looking for anything that could give them an edge over their technologically superior enemy-
Suddenly, Karla's thoughts were shattered by the sound of gunfire from the other side of the complex. She and Holy turned around and ran off in the direction of the fighting, leaving the pile of documents to flutter down to the ground.