Soldiers of a Different Kind (Revised)

by SCM7

In the closing days of the Requiem Occupational Campaign, a SPARTAN-IV fireteam goes AWOL, heading after a supposed Forerunner technology cache. Deemed KIA by the UNSC Infinity's command crew in the aftermath of the Shield World's destruction, the UNSC moved on, unknowing of the partial success of the Fireteam's mission...

5. 5: Beachhead, Phase 2

CHAPTER FIVE: BEACHHEAD, PHASE TWO

UNKNOWN ISLAND-CITY LANDMASS - DESERT REFUGIA
ARRIVAL CANYON - WEST OF COMMAND MODULE
4H EST (EARTH-STANDARD-TIME) POST-ARRIVAL

"OY," PFC Delve bellowed over TEAMCOM, "WE GOT SOMETHING HERE!" With the report thus filed and the navpoint no doubt deployed, the Army Trooper bent to observe his discovery more closely.
Gerald and Wilfrom had been on "patrol" when they had stumbled over the object - literally. It had been mostly buried under a layer of sand, with only a small section of it at the surface. And, of course, Delve had tripped directly over it, his attention having been drawn to one of the immense walls of the canyon around them at the time. Or rather, the massive rockslide lying more than a kilometer ahead of them.

Half a minute later, rapid footsteps pounding behind the duo - accompanied by the hum of Sentinel impulse drives - signified the approach of one of the Spartans and some of the AI's proxies.

"What did you find?" The Spartan inquired as he came up alongside the pair of Troopers. "A... Aeona, what am I looking at?"
"Everybody stand back," the intelligence replied.

Six angular Forerunner constructs circled around the three UNSC personnel as they complied; five of the Sentinels subsequently descending towards ground level and beginning to excavate around the object with their manipulator arms, while the sixth turned to face them. The Sentinel's blue optic flickered, projecting a holographic image of Aeona's avatar in front of the group.

"I have taken a scan of the construct," Aeona stated, holding out her arm. Another holographic image spun into existence alongside the intelligence's; that of a bipedal, decidedly robotic being with menacing implements welded into its arms. Its elongated head displayed a short pair of mandibles and sported a pair of curved protrusions underneath what could have been considered its jawline had it been biological - or biomechanical. Multi-jointed legs kept the construct upright. As the group watched, the mechanical creature reconfigured itself into a quadruped form; with its head, arms, and legs swiveling a full 180-degrees before it stalked around in place, using its weapons as improvised legs to hold itself up from the front. "It matches the profile of the active constructs observed by Module C3 in the Canal Refugia, albeit with slight differences in armament design. They are quite dangerous, though this particular one has been rendered inert. Very interesting. Two sample groups is not enough to draw a conclusion from, but perhaps each refugia has - or had - their own individual subvariants of constructs?"

The AI turned around to stare at the Sentinel projecting her image. "That is interesting. But now that I know what to look for... oh."
The Spartan's VISR pulsed, as did the HUDs of the two Troopers. The half-excavated construct was subsequently highlighted by a dull orange color, surrounded by a crimson outline. More highlighted shapes began to appear around the group, all of which were buried under the sand. Both Chez and Delve drew their new M6C sidearms, covering their respective flanks, while the Spartan reached for his rifle.

"There is no danger. All of these constructs are currently inert."

"Yeah, for now," Delve responded. "What happens when they reactivate?"

"I detect no energy signatures from any of the constructs. Some of them have been damaged as well, though the manner in which they were does not match the capabilities of the local apex superpredators, outside of standard kinetic impact. Some manner of battle was fought here against something other than the biomech-insects, and these constructs lost. The likelihood of spontaneous successful self-reactivation is minimal." Eight more Aggressor Sentinels flew overhead, escorting a flock of smaller Constructors. "I will set up a structure in this area to study these constructs further. The rockslide further west shall provide enough raw materials for construction purposes. The rest of you should return to base. The tunnel is nearly complete, and so are your transports. Time is short."

UNKNOWN ISLAND CITY LANDMASS – CANAL REFUGIA
MODULE CHARLE/THREE

ALRT: QUATERNARY DEFENSIVE CORDON ENGAGED BY OPPOSING ARACHIND APEX SUPERPREDATOR GROUP AT POINT C3-J34901
-ENEMY FORCE NEUTRALIZED
-SIXTY-NINE PERCENT OF ENGAGED COMBAT PATROL UNITS REMAINING

PRIORALRT: TOTAL POPULATION OF ARACHNID APEX SUPERPREDATORS IN CANAL REFUGIA INCREASING, HOSTILE ACTION GROUPS MASSING AROUND SPIRES 3-1 THROUGH 3-5
CONCLUSION: MASSED ENEMY ASSAULT LIKELY
-CONSOLIDATION OF TERRITORY AND AVAILABLE ASSETS COMMENCING
-TERITARY AND QUATERNARY DEFENSIVE CORDONS RETREATING TO SECONDARY DEFENSIVE CORDON POSITIONS

ALRT: LOCAL CONSTRUCTS UNDER OBSERVATION BY EXPLORATORY PATROL SIGMA-3190 ON COLLISION COURSE WITH ARACHNID APEX SUPERPREDATOR FORCE AT C3-J34988
-SIGMA-3190 SET ON OBSERVATION MODE, NO INTERFERENCE

ALRT: RECOVERED CONSTRUCT CPU DAMAGED, DATA RETRIEVAL INCOMPLETE - DECRYPTION IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT FURTHER STUDY
ALRT: RECOVERED CONSTRUCT WEAPON SYSTEM STILL OPERATIONAL - HIGH-INTENSITY DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPON
-PREVIOUSLY DAMAGED FROM EXPOSURE TO EXTREME ENERGY DISCHARGE, SEVERAL COMPONENTS INSIDE HAVE BEEN MELTED
-POSSIBLY OPERATING AT REDUCED EFFICIENCY OR CAPABILITIES

ALRT: MULTIPLE TABLETS FOUND IN ROSETTA CENTER DETAILING ARRANGEMENTS OF CURRENTLY-RECORDED THIRTY-FIVE DIFFERING CIRCULAR SYMBOLS
-POSSIBLE LANGUAGE?
-ADDITIONAL RESEARCH IS REQUIRED
-ROSETTA CENTER NOW MARKED AS LATCHKEY SITE
PRIORALRT: MAINTAINING CONTROL OF ROSETTA CENTER NOW PRIMARY TARGET
PRIORALRT: BASIC COUNTERMEASURE PRODUCTION FACILITY MUST BE SET UP IN IMMEDIATE LOCAL AREA AROUND ROSETTA CENTER

UNKNOWN ISLAND-CITY LANDMASS - UNDER OCEAN SURFACE
MODULE DELTA/FOUR

PRIORALRT: TYPE-A LEVIATHAN HAS CEASED ALL MOVEMENT
PRIORALRT: CURRENT LOCATION IMPOSSIBLE TO DETERMINE
-DEPTH AT EIGHT POINT FOUR KILOMETERS FROM SEA LEVEL, ESTIMATED FROM LIQUID PRESSURE
-CANNOT CONTACT OTHER MODULES
-BASIC COUNTERMEASURES UNABLE TO DEPLOY
-CONSTRUCTING AND DEPLOYING CONVENTIONAL ANCHORS

PRIORALRT: ALL NON-CRITICAL SYSTEMS TO GO INTO QUIESCENCE UNTIL CONTACT REESTABLISHED
-SENSORS TO REMAIN ACTIVE TO CATALOG LOCAL AQUATIC SPECIES
-CONSTRUCTION OF COMMUNICATION AND SENSOR BUOY INITIATED
-CONSTRUCTION OF DEFENSIVE MEASURES INITIATED

UNKNOWN ISLAND-CITY LANDMASS - DESERT REFUGIA
ARRIVAL CANYON - COMMAND MODULE EXTERIOR

"Alright. We're short on time, so let's make this quick. Module Two's not too far away from us, so the ride there shouldn't be much of an issue. We'll be approaching the module from the west, but the only entrance is on the northmost point of the structure. Aeona's sealed up the rest. Once we get inside, Zebra-Charlie is to head directly for the Pelican and get it ready for launch. Apex Four, you take Zebra-Bravo and secure the other aircraft in the module. Aeona should be able to direct you to them. If the pilots are still with them, we'll need one of them to fly the Pelican to Module Three. I'll head to the central core and realign Module Two to Alpha." Spartan Clarke clapped his armored hands together. "Right now, the Sentinels are keeping the bugs at bay, but that won't last for long. If we don't get that module realigned, we'll lose that position - and Alpha can't stand alone."

Clarke turned around and settled into his seat, before flicking the Warthog's activation switch. "Let's move!" he bellowed over the hum of the electric engine, the vehicle in question jerking forward and proceeding into the artificial tunnel ahead. Two more M12s followed behind, one almost colliding with the side of the entrance were it not for a last-second course correction.

The tunnel swiftly developed a noticeable incline, which became steadily steeper as the group ascended. Sapphire light shone from indents in the walls and ceiling positioned in five meter intervals, with thick bands of silver material surrounding the illumination sources. Every twenty meters, the expeditionary force passed by an alcove, each of which were completely bare of any contents other than the ubiquitous light sources. On two separate occasions, the last vehicle in line almost veered off course and into the alcoves, but once again barely avoided the imminent crashes. Scraping the walls, however, occurred more often.

One minute later, the small convoy emerged from the tunnel and onto the surface once again. In front of the group, a plateau stretched off for a while into the distance, but eventually terminated in yet another cliff. Northeast of the convoy, the plateau continued on out of visual range, yet a swift consultation of their map systems would show that it, too, eventually met its end close to the sea. To the south of the of the group stretched a semi-flat ridgeline, bordered on both the eastern and western sides by precipices leading to unsurvivable drops.
Across that line and the subsequent plateau laid their objective. Module Two rose out of its own valley, its peak reaching nearly sixty-four meters above its neighboring cliffs, while the rest of its bulk was still obscured by the geological features between the group and the structure. The convoy swiftly traversed the path between the two plateaus, the hindmost vehicle once again wavering from side to side, though nowhere near the bordering cliffs.

The vehicular force swept across the next plateau and rolled to a stop around forty meters from the edge of the precipice between them and Module Two. The third vehicle also ceased its forward travel, power-sliding to its right side and kicking up a small dust cloud in the process.
Spartan Clarke exited the lead vehicle and walked up to the edge, peering over the side.
While the module's impact had damaged its surroundings to some extent, the few sections of the precipice that had collapsed were still quite insurmountable to those lacking power armor, and were certifiably inaccessible by most ground-bound vehicles in the UNSC's arsenal.

"What now, Aeona?" Clarke inquired. A simple glance over the edge confirmed the theory that his armor's thruster pack alone would not be sufficient enough to negate the pull of gravity enough to render the fall survivable. "The Marines can't make the descent, and none of us are carrying jetpacks."

"One moment," the intelligence replied. "Odd. There should have been an interface console nearby... though I do not detect any in your immediate vicinity. Expanding search - oh."
A navpoint flashed up on Clarke's HUD, directing his attention to a spot around twelve feet away from the edge. A small oval-shaped object was buried beneath the rock, the device in question being highlighted in orange.
"It would seem that my local counterpart failed to initiate the design seed before planting it. Fortunately, this can be done remotely. If you will please direct your-"

"Same thing as before," Clarke inquired, already stretching out his left arm, opening up the relevant menu on his Forerunner interface device, and establishing a connection between the design seed and the command module. The seed almost immediately unfolded, rapidly taking rock into its small foundry and forging a rectangular pedestal, which less than twenty second later punched through the now thin cover of stone between it and the surface. A familiar display appeared near the top of the podium; a series of concentric circles with an open hemispherical line surrounding the upper half of the image, with two small circles on either end of the line.

"There, that should do it," Aeona announced over TEAMCOM as SIV-311 strode towards the pedestal. "I have linked it to Module Two's northwestern access bridge, which should become active once the console is activated-"

Clarke pressed his palm against the centermost circle before turning back to the lead 'Hog and jogging in its direction, not bothering to watch as the two outer circles traveled up the hemispherical line and meshed together at the top, before the entire display cracked away as the hardlight interface was dispersed.
A sapphire surface coalesced into existence, spanning between the edge of the cliff and a section of the module. Less than three seconds later, a massive cloud of Sentinels erupted from the base of the monolithic structure, flowing in two distinct streams to the south of Module Two.

"My counterpart in the Module has just deployed the last of its current stockpile of Aggressor Sentinels. There is a forty-three percent chance of victory through sheer force of arms in their upcoming engagement, given the current strength of the enemy force and their distance from their own established holdings. However, this is unlikely to deter the local superpredator species for long, and the next organized super-pack sent our way will possibly plan against our current strategies."

"All the more reason to hurry up," Clarke said, climbing back into the driver's seat of the Warthog. "Zebra Squad, move out!"

As the UNSC convoy raced across the illuminated span, Aeona continued to speak. "I have uploaded schematics of Module Two to your TACPADs. Internal illumination is spotty in certain areas, though there is no risk of falling off of any ledges once inside. On a less serious matter, I have also decided to construct a vehicle testing track here, instead of at the Command Module. There are a number of subterranean passages below this area, and two of them have met criteria for conversion into obstacle courses. Once this Module has been realigned, I can begin construction in earnest."

A hole opened up as the group approached the end of the bridge, with five thick rectangular plates sliding up into reccessed slits in the wall. All three Warthogs hummed inside, quickly reaching the end of the immediate passageway beyond their access point.

Jeremy was the first to disembark, drawing his custom-built sidearm and clutching the inactive hilt of his energy machete in his other hand. "There's no need for that, Spartan Martinez. There are no hostile combatants in the immediate vicinity of the module... yet," Aeona assured the SPARTAN-IV.

"Better safe than sorry," the gunsmith rumbled in response, before pointing his fingers at the locked door in front of the group. "Are you going to open it or am I?"

The red line at the center of the door flashed green, with the former barrier subsequently splitting into three sections and the components sliding into the frame. Behind the group, the quintuple-segmented hatch slid closed once more, the ambient light surrounding the access point shifting from a soft blue to dark crimson.

"Alright. Apex Four, take the Troopers and secure the hangars," Clarke ordered. "I'll realign the module and meet you at the Pelicans. Let's get this done quick."

UNKNOWN ISLAND-CITY LANDMASS - DESERT REFUGIA
ALPHA BASE

Aeona was following the progress of the forward-deployed UNSC personnel when the alert came in. It was faint, almost a whisper, but the contents were troubling... if the report was correct.

There was another module in the immense cavern that surrounded the island-city; one that was nowhere near the landmass in question, instead being located near the southern area of the cavern wall. In other words, a module seperate from those that had been deployed from the mortally-stricken dreadnought as it had passed over the island.
The potential eventualities from such an occurence were troubling. Was this some form of trickery or aggression from Lochagos, or perhaps the Covenant had somehow managed to engage modular dispersial of that particular section while the dreadnought was in its holding pattern? The latter seemed more likely, given the contents of the alert.

PRIORALRT: SIGNIFICANT ENERGY DISCHARGE DETECTED
PRIORALRT: ENERGY DISCHARGE EQUIVALENT TO THAT OF TYPE-47A MINING/RETREVIAL PLATFORM

The origin of the message was signed off as Module Delta/Four, but the errant module being the source of the alert was unlikely. The distance involved was too great. The likeliest explanation was that the Covenant destroyer that had been overseeing the salvage operation back on Requiem had somehow managed to track their passage through slipspace, and had pursued them to their current location, albeit being unsucessful in transitioning into the humongous cavern for some unknown reason. The Covenant were therefore attempting to bore their way into the cavern, where they would undoubtedly have their destroyer make a microjump inside the colossal space after discovering the sheer scale of what lies inside.

Without at least five modules realigned to Alpha Base, there was very little that Aeona could bring to bear against a RDV - let alone a CPV - that could unduly threaten it in any significant manner.

And if the report was correct, the Covenant were less than a minute away from gaining entrance to the cavern.
Their adventure was about to be over before it had even truly begun. And without the modules aligned to Alpha, there was no way to deconstruct the complexes before the Covenant would inevitably reach them. Her only hope would be that Lochagos would challenge the Covenant over the destruction of the former Warrior-Servant's old flagship, and seal off the database from Covenant access... or else significantly more human lives would be at stake then just their small group of deserters.