Lost in Space Pt.2

"What's our chances of getting out of this in one piece?" Leo asked his new A.I. companion. The ODST threw himself down the empty elevator shaft from the bridge, looking for the open door he had previously entered from. With only a magnum, a knife, and a spare magazine, he didn't fancy his changes if he was honest with himself, but he also believed it would be comforting to know what he was working with. Plus, the A.I. could give him a more detailed map of the ship, even if it had missing pieces and was falling apart.

"It's Saya, and as for our chances... well, there are too many unknown variables to make an accurate assessment." She answered in his ears.

"Really? Not even a guess?" Leo questioned, a little disappointed in the 'super-intelligent A.I.'s lack of an answer.

"Would it make you feel any better if I told you that we had a fifty percent chance of success?" 'Saya' asked with a bit of sarcasm in her tone. She did have a point there, with the most if not all the ship's major systems down, the duo might as well be blind.

"It'd boost my confidence." Leo replied with a sarcastic tone of his own as he continued to float through the darkened corridors. With the new presence of an unknown threat aboard, he'd be lying if he said he was at ease—obviously—but so far there hasn't been so much as a sound from anyone but himself and Saya. No fleet-com, no remnants, no surviving vessels looking for survivors and bailing, Leo was starting to get a little worried. "Say, do we have a plan for once we get off this scrap-" The man cut himself off. Just as he turned a corner, his eyes fell upon three figures: a trio of blacks, light blues, stubby little arms and legs, and all three carrying plasma pistols. "Shit!" Leo cursed in fright, managing to score at least one kill with three wild shots before yanking himself back behind the corner for cover. The remaining startled figures started firing green bolts of plasma past him.

"Ok- ok- ok!" Saya panicked, "We're actually doing this!" She said in a raised voice before recomposing herself. "Three- I mean- Two Grunt Rangers left!" She informed her partner of the obvious. Wanting to save at least a few precious bullets, Leo equipped his knife into his left hand in a reverse grip. "Leonard, if you're going to do what I think you are, then-" She was cut off by the ODST lashing out at the first sight of the glowing end of a plasma pistol. The blade of his knife punctured under the Grunt's chin and through its more vulnerable suit, killing it. Then, he followed up by pulling himself back out in the corridor, using his deceased foe as a shield. It only bought him a few seconds, but it was just enough time for him to take aim and, with a well-aimed shots to the alien's neck and head, the last target went down, Leo's eyes scanned his surroundings for any more hostiles before his back hit the wall with a light thud. As if she were the one out of breath, Saya let out a relieved breath, "That was... 'exciting' to say the least."

"Did you panic?" Asked the bewildered ODST who reclaimed his now bloodied knife from the body of his dead foe.

"No!" Saya tried to claim before backtracking, "Well-" She sighed in defeat, "Look, that was just my first real firefight is all. Never believed I'd actually get that experience..." She grumbled. Leo chuckled to himself. "Hey, don't laugh at me! My service record is short is all; Barely a few months!" the girl angrily defended herself.

"Ha, well, you can put it on your resume then." The man joked. "What's the Covenant doing here anyways? Figured they'd be more interested with things on the ground." He changed subjects, continuing his journey through the derelict hull and gently pushing aside debris or the occasional body.

"They must really want to make sure they're thorough in their genocide, though I don't know why they'd bother with a single ship with a single survivor." Saya answered.

"Maybe to capture you?" Leo suggested, "Covies' put a lot of effort to look for us."

"A frightening possibility that I won't rule out. However, they're already at Earth, I don't know if they'd even bother with anything other than slaughter anymore..." She answered, her voice lowering back down to a somber tone like when they had first met.

"Easy there. We're not out of this fight yet." Leo reassured, passing through a storage room with little more than work tools and crates of now useless scraps. The more he thought about Earth, the more he worried for everyone on the planet. It was naive and unrealistic to truly care for them all, but he knew the Covenant were butchering men, women, and children alike by the millions. The millions. Like Saya said, it was a frightening prospect and as far as he could see, there was not a soul able to stop it. Leo shook those thoughts from his head and continued through the cold, lifeless corridors, magnum in his hands and at the ready.

There was a long silence between the two minus the occasional notification of a new waypoint, but before long, the A.I. spoke up again. "Oxygen at 30%." Saya notified her companion, flashing a little warning that he could see from the corner of his eye. Leo gave no reply. The ODST followed the waypoints his companion gave him, but when he entered through another storage room, he encountered their second challenge: A pair of Jackals. The avian-like aliens were quick on their trigger, forcing Leo behind the cover of a collection of crates tied together. He was pinned by the two plasma pistols and it'd be inevitable that the two new foes would try to flank him. He needed to think; fast. "Displaying layout of the room." Saya stated, forcing a quick display of the storage room with himself and the estimated positions of the two Jackals, "There a structural support in the center. Try to shove the crates over and set up an ambush for one of them." Saya suggested, but from Leo's view, it was too late for such a plan. He could see the edge of the signature blue hand-shield the savage aliens were known for, but that didn't deter him.

"Improvising!" He shouted, letting his magnum float while he grabbed a different, loose crate from in front of him and chucked it at the Jackals, the first one put up its shield to block the incoming object while the second jumped in surprise from Leo's ridiculous throw. However, when the second looked back at its prey, the ODST was already upon it, shooting its foot twice before smacking the first Jackal in the head with the bottom of his fist. Two shots to the first Jackals dome took it out and the second looked up only to find itself at the end of Leo's Magnum's barrel. The man emptied the remaining rounds into the Jackal to make certain it was dead and to give him an excuse to put in a new magazine.

"You think they know we're here?" Saya asked Leo as he rushed past the door the Jackals had previously come through. They were close to their destination, but they weren't the only ones coming from there. Just outside one of the hangar bay doors was a pair of Grunts napping. It wasn't a good sign, but there wasn't much choice now was there? Leo didn't take a risk and opted to shoot the two with precise shots to the head instead. The door looked like it had been used frequently which was nothing new, but what alarmed the man was seeing that it appeared to already have power to it. Opening up the doors, Leo and Saya were greeted with a sight of horror...

Inside the hangar bay was a trio of phantoms with the wrecks of pelicans thrown to the side to make room. The hangar doors had been blown open, Covenant supplies and gadgets littered the floor, and worst of all: All eyes turned to him. Seconds of stunned confusion before Leo open fired and hastily retreated back the way he came while plasma fire was returned. "Well, they do now!" Leo shouted in panic.

"Careful, oxygen down to 20%!" Saya shouted. "Oh, what do we do? What do we do!"

There goes 'Plan A'. Right now, Leo only cared about getting away and buying himself more time. Unfortunately, the hunters were now upon him and if he didn't come up with a plan soon, it'd soon be game over for him. The Covenant had already set up shop and he'd bet it was the same for the other half of the hangars on the opposite side of the ship. Damn. Those hangars were their only ride out of... out of... no... no it wasn't. No, it wasn't!

"Leonard?" Saya chimed in, sounding a little 'knock' sound as if she were actually knocking on his helmet.

"What's the quickest route to the pod-bay?" Leo asked the A.I.

"You aren't-"

"Saya!"

"Right, uh- make a left up at this corner!" Saya directed. The ODST did as he was told. Three more Grunts had the misfortune of getting in his way, but this time, Leo put the pressure on them with an aggressive charge. The first went down, then the second, but upon reaching the third, his magnum did nothing more than let off a quiet 'click'. Still terrified of the ODST, the Grunt didn't put up any more resistance, only serving as another foe to be cut down with his knife. Green bolts of plasma flew over Leo's head, alerting him of new hostiles. Glancing back, there was a new group of five Grunts with one being a noticeably different color to the others, likely an officer of sorts. Leo scrambled to get away, floating through a squad of dead marines who looked to be ferrying supplies before meeting their end. Behind the bodies was another pair of Jackals armed with carbines that were infamous for their lethality, especially in the hands of one of those avians. "Strange, looking back, I don't think I saw any Elites as part of the boarding party." Saya made the observation, but Leo was too busy to listen. He threw his empty sidearm at one of the Jackals, snatching a battle rifle from among the bodies of his fallen comrades and taking out the second Jackal. Still going relatively fast, Leo slammed his shoulder into the surviving avian, stunning it before firing two bursts into its chest. "Right! Go right!" Saya gave another direction, "There's a small maintenance shaft we can take, it'll be a clear shot to our new destination! I do hope you know what you're doing."

"I don't think we have much of a choice." Leo returned, lifting the security grate and entering just as more Covenant forces started converging on his position.

Eventually, Leo would make it to the airless bay with half the room and most of the pods missing. Earth shined below, orange and aflame from the rigors of war, glassing, and humanity's desperate fight for survival. "Drop me off on Jackal the pedestal by the door." Saya instructed. The ODST pulled Saya's chip and inserted it, waiting for her figure to appear again before continuing their conversation. "I know what you're thinking, and I for one am not so eager to 'jump feet first' as it were." She voiced her concerns with her bright, light-blue form giving him finger quotes, "Even if we get there safely who are we going to... going to." She paused, staring out the torn half of the room, "Was... Was that always there?"

Leo turned to see what she was looking at, but it wasn't something that could be so easily avoidable. Aside from the obvious heart-breaking scene that was seeing Africa half-glassed, there it was, a huge black and blue orb sitting above a tiny portion of the continent. Sure, it looked small from orbit, but they could still see it from orbit. "Let's uh, try to avoid that. Anyways, do we have access to an armory?" He changed subjects.

"Not unless you want to go out these blast doors and ask our friends."

Leo cursed to himself, "Open the remaining pod doors, I'll see if there's anything we can take from inside. Some of 'em are bound to be already equipped..." He muttered.

"Just so you know, I can program a launch sequence for your pod with what reserve power we have access to, but once you unplug me, that timer will start ticking."

"Noted." Leo acknowledged, managing to come up with an SMG and a few extra magazines for it. An SMG, and a half-empty battle rifle, such wonders. He hurried himself, securing his rifle, the SMG and its ammo, and whatever other supplies he could steal from the other abandoned pods.

"Uh, Leonard?" Saya called out. The man looked back, seeing the all too easily recognizable sparking of someone trying to cut their way into the bay. The ODST dropped whatever he had left in his arms, prioritizing his companion over the rest.

"Ready?"

"Yeah." And in a flash, she was gone, ejected, and replugged into his helmet for the second time. He slipped into his pod just as it closed behind him, he wasn't even in its seat when the pod warned him of the imminent detachment and drop.

"Estimated drop zone?"

"If we're lucky- and I do mean lucky- we might hit somewhere around the Mediterranean; Europe or North Africa."

"Can we make-" The bay doors blasted open, but by the time the sights cleared and the Covenant showed themselves, the pod had fired away, "-that a little more accurate?"

"Depends on how well you fly this brick. I can help, but I'll need your hands and ears to listen to me without even a fraction of a second thought. Understood?"

"Got it, you've got the controls." Leo said, awaiting her specific instructions. He closed his eyes, half wanting to let go and fully embrace the A.I.s decisions, half simply not wanting to see the devastation of what was left of the UNSC's fleet and his home. Saya listed off bearings for him to follow. Eyes still closed; the man let his hands input her work while his mind subtly blanked away with the troubled, somber thoughts of his home. The people he grew up with, the friends he made over the years, his family. Were they alive? Would there be anything left for him to return to? Was he already too late? He couldn't help but feel a pit growing in his chest at the thought of being all alone in this somber reality of theirs. It just wasn't fair. However, he knew better than to let those sorrow-filled thoughts consume him. If nothing else, they'd have wanted him to fight on until his last breath. For his family and friends, for his comrades and siblings-in-arms, and for all of mankind...

He wasn't sure when he landed, but the crash tore him from his drifting mind and the noise he heard almost brought a tear of joy to his eyes. The first was faint radio chatter; the UNSC was still coordinated, they were still in the fight, and they have not given up, which means there was still something left to fight for, but the second was Saya's little cheer and two words that gave him the extra fire he needed to press on in this apocalyptic war: "Leo, we're home."


A. Note: So this brings us to the end. Thank you for reading this short piece. Their story will continue as all stories do, but that is to be told at another time. For now, they made it back home, and they will join the remaining defenders of Earth in its finest hour and in its final stand .

Edit: Thanks for the reminder for the fix(es). Also looking at the version with the glass helm, but let's just change/clear up that confusion instead.

As always, enjoy!

~Firetoast312