Chapter 41
Central Byzas, Thracia Province
May 7, 2545
0545 (T minus fifteen minutes to H-Hour)
Selene
Selene stumbled and fell.
Landing heavily in the snow, Selene quietly suppressed a groan of pain. God dammit.
"Let me ask you something, Riddle," Shin conversationally began as he reached down and help Selene up to her feet for the third time in the last two hours. "Are you normally this clumsy in real life?"
"I can't help it: my feet are frozen again," Selene mumbled as she tried to brush the snow off her clothes. Not that it helped: her clothes were already soaking wet.
"Didn't you dry yourself off in front of that kid's fire a couple hours ago? How are you cold already?"
As much as she really wanted to, Selene found she was just too cold to even roll her eyes.
"I can't help how small I am," she numbly pointed out instead. "I don't have the mass to retain heat as long as you."
"Well, try to keep up," Shin insisted. "Hopefully it'll be warmer where we're going… where are we going by the way?"
"Ingalls Financial," Selene replied through chattering teeth.
"That's sounds like a bank."
"Good. Because that's what it is."
"Ah," Shin replied with a nod. "And why exactly are we going to a bank?"
"Because they had an underground vault," Selene tiredly answered.
Out of the corner of her eye, Selene could see Shin's head snapping up.
"They have a vault?" Shin replied, sounding amused. "Why the hell would those dumbass spend money on building a damn vault? With digitization, who still uses actual, physical money anymore?"
"…you know people put more than just money inside vaults, right? People also put stuff that, maybe don't necessarily have monetary value attached, but are valuable on a sentimental and emotional level."
"Yeah? Like what?" Shin asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"Like…" Selene trailed off as she realized she couldn't actually think of any examples off the top of her head. "…the point is, the vault is underground and very secure. We should be safe."
"Unless we take a direct hit," Shin announced in a sort of singsongy voice. "Then we'll be a safe."
He let out a loud chortle, only to immediately stop at the odd look Selene gave him.
"You know… because we'll be blown to smithereens? So, we would be coating the inside of the vault with our guts?" Shin prompted, before frowning. "Come on. That was funny. Laugh."
Selene decided to ignore him. Instead, she looked around the area, just in case they were about to accidently run into a Covenant patrol, but there was no one around. And as odd as that may have sounded, that kind of scared her. She hated to be cliché, but it was just a bit too quiet around here for her liking. Fact of the matter was, despite this area nominally being under Covenant control, there was a surprisingly lack of Covenant activity. Or activity in general. And Selene couldn't help but wonder why.
Without warning, Selene felt a shiver travel down her spine, one that had nothing to do with the cold. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she suddenly had a bad feeling about this place. Her mother used to describe the sensation as "someone walking across her grave," which Selene never quite understood even if she was able to grasp the sentiment.
Slowly scanning the area around her, Selene found herself reaching for her waistband and pulling out her sidearm.
"What is it?" she heard Shin ask, all traces of humor gone from his voice and replaced with deadly seriousness.
"I'm not sure," Selene quietly admitted. "It's just… do you get the feeling that we're being watched?"
"No…" Shin skeptically said. Yet, nevertheless, out of the corner of Selene's eye, she could see him pulling out the extendable baton she had given yesterday. "What direction?"
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Selene couldn't help but roll her eyes. If she knew that…
clatter
Without warning, a small stone abruptly rolled out into the middle of the street from a nearby pile of rubble. Selene instinctively pointed her weapon in that direction, but before she could do anything, Shin abruptly grabbed her arm and practically dragged her down the street before shoving her into cover behind a nearby car.
Realizing she had been standing out in the open like an idiot, Selene silently nodded her thanks, only Shin wasn't even looking at her. Instead, he was carefully scanning the area.
"See anything?" she whispered after a few seconds.
"No," Shin quietly replied without breaking eye contact. "Check our six."
Selene immediately did a half pivot and glanced down the road behind them. With it being still as dark as it was, her sightlines were limited, but it was clear there was no one behind them.
"Clear," she mutely reported.
"Come on you fucker," she heard Shin whisper. "Where you hiding?"
Nervously, Selene lowered her pistol and did a quick chamber check to make sure her firearm was loaded, before raising it up once more. For the next few seconds, the two of them stayed there, crouched behind that car until –
"Delta Six Zero?"
Selene automatically tensed at the sound of someone's call, and because of that, it took her a few moments to realize what had been said. Delta Six Zer… wait a minute… that was her. That was her police call sign. And the only people who would have known that would have been officers from her precinct. And, given the accent of the voice, it could only be one person…
Ignoring the warning hiss Shin directed at her, Selene raised her head.
"Charlie One Seven?" she experimentally yelled out.
To her immense relief, the same voice from before immediately replied, "Yea! Hold your fire, we're coming out!"
Selene excitedly gestured at Shin to hold his fire – even though he didn't even have a gun – as, about halfway down the block, she could see the shadowy outline of five figures emerging from behind a large pile of rubble. Selene hurriedly stood up and waved at them, and immediately all five figures began jogging in her direction.
Putting her pistol away, Selene ignored the questioning looks Shin was sending her way as she waited for the first figure to reach her, hoping she wasn't wrong about the man's identity. Fortunately she wasn't as, looming out of the darkness came –
"Sergeant Dawlish!" Selene greeted, doing her best to remain quiet yet, at the same time, she couldn't quite hide her excitement.
"Officer Riddle," Dawlish returned as he transferred the SMG he was carrying from one hand to the other before glancing at the figures behind him. "Come on, you lot, hurry up!"
Selene waited a bit impatiently as the remaining four people – which consisted of one young man, an older woman, and presumably her two children – came scrambling around the car to join them.
"Cadet Mathews, watch our arse while I talk to Officer Riddle here," Dawlish hissed at the young man, who nodded in response. "Officer Riddle, I – blimey Riddle, is that all you got for the cold? Here, take this 'fore you freeze to death."
Before Selene could even protest, Dawlish was removing his leather jacket and throwing it over Selene's shoulders. The jacket stunk of sweat, spit, chewing tobacco, and gunpowder, but it was warm, so Selene swallowed her protest and accepted the jacket without raising a fuss.
"Sergeant Dawlish," Selene said as soon as she found her words once more. "What are you doing here?"
"Could ask ta same 'bout you, Riddle," Dawlish immediately retorted. "Woulda reckoned you'd been evacuated off-world by now."
"Volunteered to help man a military roadblock, ended up getting cut off," Selene hurriedly explained, before pausing as she suddenly remembered something. "Dawlish: Kingsley's… he's gone."
"Wot?" Dawlish asked, sounding shocked.
"Lieutenant Kingsley," Selene repeated. "He's… he's dead."
Dawlish very slowly let out a loud exhale.
"It would seem, so is half the department," he sadly reported as soon as he was done. "Lost half me team to Covenant snipers, other half to mortar bombs and the like. Ended up having to do a runner. Accidently ran into this lot," he jerked his head towards the civilians, "and now, here we are."
Selene sadly nodded as she looked the civilians over, and as she did, she happened to notice the young man – Mathews, as Dawlish had called him – was wearing what appeared to be some sort of uniform.
"The kid military?" Selene asked.
"Not exactly, ma'am," Mathews replied. "JROTC."
"Mathews is me girlfriends boy," Dawlish announced, seemingly as way of explanation. "He's a good lad."
Selene nodded, not really having a reason to doubt Dawlish. "Where are you going Dawlish?"
"Trying to find a way outta this shitehole," he gruffly replied. "You?"
"Trying to find some place to hide," Selene admitted. "Guess there's a UNSC counterattack coming, and I'd rather not get caught in the crossfire."
Dawlish stared at her for a full minute, before he unexpectedly reached up and smacked himself in the face.
"Oh naff," Selene heard him muttering. "You bloody plonker. Here I was, wonderin' where all the Covenant were. Didn't even think of a UNSC attack was incoming."
He suddenly fixed Selene with a hard gaze. "Who warned you about this attack?"
Selene briefly wondered if she should be offended, but then decided now wasn't the time. "Shin."
"Who the bloody hell is that?"
Selene jumped as she realized she had forgotten all about Shin. She glanced behind her where Shin was standing, idly watching the conversation, and gestured for him to step forward.
"Dawlish, this is Joshua Shin," Selene introduced. "He's a soldier with the… Marines?"
"Air Force," Shin corrected. "And I'm not a Soldier, I'm an Airman."
"Right…" Selene skeptically replied. "At any case, this is Sergeant John Dawlish, my supervisor."
"How ya doin'?" Shin greeted, extending his hand.
To Selene's surprise, Dawlish ignored the hand and instead, opted to stare at Shin with an intense expression on his face.
"Oy. Dun I know you?" he abruptly asked.
Selene could see Shin blinking in confusion.
"I don't think so," Shin simply said as he lowered his hand.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure I do," Dawlish insisted. "I def seen you face before."
"Well, I did get arrested yesterday morning, so maybe you saw me when Officer Riddle was bringing me into the station," Shin suggested, but Selene immediately shook her head.
"No, Dawlish was gone by the time I returned," Selene pointed out, trying to do her best to keep the annoyance out of her voice, but failing. After all, the reason why Dawlish hadn't been there was because he had tricked Selene into taking a double shift, while he had only worked one.
Maybe that was the reason why Selene was having trouble staying focused. She had already started the invasion with a deficit in sleep…
At any case, Shin was shrugging his shoulders.
"Then, I don't know," he dismissively replied. "Maybe we ran into each other on a different colony?"
A thought occurred to Selene. "Hey, Dawlish, didn't you say you were in the Army before you were a cop? Maybe you guys ran into each other on the battlefield at some point."
"Mebbe," Dawlish with a suspicious glare. "Where'd you see action?"
Shin gave another indifferent shrug. "All over. If you're a veteran, then you know how it is."
"Where. Specifically," Dawlish insisted.
Selene could see Shin throwing her a questioning look, but all she could do was shrug. She had no idea where Dawlish was going with this line of questioning.
"Draco III," Shin finally said. "Miridem back in '44. And Alluvion in '42."
"Alluvion, huh? Ever make it to Fallow 'fore the end?"
Shin gave an absentminded nod. "Yeah. Was there when the Covies arrived."
Now it was Selene's turn to be confused and she turned to stare at Dawlish.
"Dawlish, didn't you always tell us that you spent your entire time on Fallow guarding a military prison?" she asked.
"I did," Dawlish bluntly replied.
Maybe it was a combination of the cold and her exhaustion, but it took an embarrassingly long amount of time for Selene to realize the implications of that statement. But when she did, Selene felt her eyes widen.
"Well…" Selene slowly began, even as she found herself taking an involuntary step away from Shin. "Shin, you said you're a military cop, right? Maybe… maybe he was one of the guards?"
"Weren't no Rock Apes at that glasshouse," Dawlish bluntly stated as the rest of the group began to look at Shin with a bit of hint and suspicion. Shin didn't say a word, but Selene did notice what almost seemed like a hint of a smirk appearing on his face.
"Well, maybe it was something else?" Selene meekly suggested even though she had admit, she was starting to wonder why she was even trying to defend Shin.
"Sorry to interrupt."
Selene reflexively jumped as Mathews unexpectedly spoke up from behind her, and she glanced at him, only to see him cocking his head, looking puzzled.
"But does anyone else hear that car?" he continued.
Selene blinked and then started to listen to the area around her. Now that Mathews mentioned it, there almost did seem to be a growing roar of an engine or something -
"INCOMING!" Shin suddenly roared, causing Selene to jump.
KABOOM KABOOM!
Without warning, a series of earth-shaking explosions ripped through the buildings at the very end of the block, tearing the walls apart and throwing shrapnel, masonry, and steel in all directions. The shockwave shot down the street, bringing with it one massive cloud of dust and knocking everyone down to the ground, and Selene found herself gasping for air as she struggled to get back up.
But unfortunately it didn't end there…
The sound of inhuman shrieking continued to fill the air as more and more metal objects began dropping from the sky, like some sort of strangely shaped hailstones, only these hailstones exploded into fiery orange-red fireballs the moment they hit the ground. The thudding of falling debris was quickly drowned out by the whistling of shrapnel and other such material whipping by overhead flooded Selene's ears, as did the terrified screams of everyone around her.
"THE ATTACK HAS BEGUN!" Shin yelled at the top of his lungs, even as a nearby building took several direct hits and promptly collapsed with a bone-rattling roar. "WE GOTTA FIND SOME COVER! RIDDLE! WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE GOING!?"
"INGALLS FINANCIAL!" Selene yelled back. "IT'S THIS WAY!"
She pointed in the direction of the bank, which was fortunately in the complete opposite direction of where the heaviest of explosions were taking part, though it was hard to tell as there were explosions everywhere. Nevertheless, there appeared to be a very small clearing through the hailstorm of steel, though it was rapidly closing.
"ALRIGHT YOU LOT, EVERYONE ON YOUR FEET!" Dawlish hollered, taking over. "GO, AND DON'T LOOK BACK!"
Selene didn't think, she just surged to her feet and started running. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Dawlish scooping up one of the kids before he too took off, but that was all Selene could see as she was too focused on trying to stay alive. All the while, all sorts of shells just continued to rain down from above.
Chunks of rocks were landing all around all around and on Selene, but fortunately the jacket that Dawlish had given her was thick enough that it was able to protect her from getting too seriously injured, even though she knew she was going to be black and blue for a month, regardless. The bigger issue was trying to maintain her footing: with each explosion, the very ground seemed to rock, making Selene feel like she standing on a boat in the middle of the ocean during a really bad hurricane.
But with more shells dropping down by the second, Selene found she didn't have a choice but to figure out a way to manage.
Selene didn't know whether it was because of an explosion or simply because of her numb feet, but she unexpectedly found herself falling forward and landing flat on her face. She hurriedly moved to scramble to her feet even as the rest of the group dodged past her, but with the way the ground was buckling, even something as simple as getting back on her feet was difficult.
A pair of hands suddenly grabbed her.
"Come on! Get up! Get up!" the young kid, Mathews, was suddenly screaming in her ear.
"Just go! I'll be fine, get out of here!" Selene yelled back. "Keep moving, kid, don't worry about me!"
WABOOM!
Selene reflexively ducked as she felt something hot whip past her head, missing her skull by mere millimeters, and at first she didn't think anything of it until the sound of Mathews screaming in pain caused her to look up.
Mathews was gripping his upper right leg. A jagged piece of metal was sticking out from his flesh and vibrant red blood was just gushing from the wound. The sight electrified Selene, and she hurtled herself upright and towards Mathews.
"Hang in there kid!" Selene yelled, grabbing a hold of one of his arms and throwing it around her shoulder. "You're going to be alright! Just hang on! Just hang – "
BOOM PEWWWWW!
Something warm splashed across Selene's face, causing her to blink even as she struggled to maintain her footing as Mathews suddenly pitched forward. Trying to clear her eyes even as she continued down the street as best she could, it took Selene a couple of seconds to realize Mathews was no longer screaming, and she looked down to figure out why. What she saw horrified her.
A piece of shrapnel had struck Mathews in the back of the head in such a way, it had essentially scalped him. The top chuck of his head and skull were gone, leaving behind a bloody hole that, if Selene stared at it carefully, she could almost see Mathews' brain matter. The sight nearly caused Selene to empty her stomach and she would have if another explosion hadn't gone off nearby, showering her debris and reminding her where she was.
"Shit. Fuck!" she screamed as she started to drag the body with her, but then she just happened to glance behind her to see the car she and rest of the group had been cowering behind not even a minute ago take a direct hit, and it made her realize the explosions were getting closer by the second. She had to focus on saving herself now.
Throwing one last mournful look at Mathews, she allowed his body to slide to the ground before taking off once more. With a sense of regret, shame, and anger driving her forward, it didn't take Selene long to reach the bank.
"COME ON COME ON COME ON!" Dawlish was urging from the entrance of the building. "INSIDE, GET INSIDE! SELENE, HURRY UP!"
Stumbling as yet another explosion erupted behind her, Selene managed to maintain her footing and make it to the entrance, with Dawlish dashing inside right behind on her heels.
"DAWLISH!" she started to scream as soon as she was close enough. "DAWLISH! MATHEWS IS – "
"WAIT!" Dawlish yelled before Selene could finish. "WHERE'S MATHEWS!? DID WE LEAVE HIM!?"
Without another word, Dawlish headed back outside and back down the street in the direction they had just come from.
"No, WAIT!" Selene yelled, even as she reach out to try and stop –
There was no noise. There was no warning. One moment, Selene was reaching for Dawlish, the next, her ears were ringing and she found herself on her back looking straight up at the ceiling.
Coughing, Selene sat up and looked towards the entrance to see –
- nothing. Much of the sidewalk outside, the entrance itself, and Dawlish were all gone. Left in its place was a small, bloodied crater.
Selene stared at the crater, shocked, for nearly a full minute, before numbly picking herself off the ground and stumbling towards the rear of the building where the vault was. As she did, she felt something warm roll down her face, and when she reached up to feel what it was, she wasn't surprised to find it was a combination of blood and tears.
Dawlish was gone. And so was Mathews.
Selene could only hope the Covenant were suffering as much as she was right now.
XXXXX
Covenant designated Landing Zone: Deliverance
Forerunner Designated World: MS 222-53 a
9th Age of Reclamation
3rd Planet Cycle
Zek
"Blessed Ancestors, I humbly beg thee to offer your divine protection to those most devote and righteous who follow your wisdom and – "
boom.
"- who seek nothing more than to bask in your most holy greatness in the hopes that one day the wretched will – "
Boom.
" – be allowed admittance into thy most Holy Kingdom. But if – "
Boom.
" – it is your will that your most devote follower shall fall, I humbly beg thee for guidance whilst traveling along the most Great Jour- "
KABOOM!
Zek jumped and Rezan let out a loud screech of alarm as one of the human's mortar bombs exploded directly overhead, causing the entire shelter they were in to shake. Mountains of dust came pouring down from the ceiling, covering Zek in a fine layer, but he dared not even move to brush it off as the screaming of another three approaching shells filled the air.
BABABABOOM!
The three shells exploded in such rapid succession, the noise of the explosions seemed to meld together and become one massive blast instead. An ominous creaking filled the shelter, and Zek waited to see if the next breath he took was to be his last. But then, slowly but surely, the noise of the eruptions began to fade away. They didn't entirely stop, as the human bombardment of the city continued without abatement, however it was clear the mortars were no longer landing within the vicinity of the building Zek and his comrades were cowering in.
Zek slowly released his breath. They were safe.
For now…
"Holy Ancestors, protect us with your divine light, grant us the strength to carry on, and should we falter, guide us back to the path with your ever comforting talon. For we are but hatchlings, begging to bathe in your mere presence!"
Zek couldn't help but snarl as Rezan immediately began praying again. Rezan had started praying the moment the bombardment had begun, and he hadn't stopped since. While Zek understand Rezan's need to ask for both protection and guidance, he had to admit, between Rezan's nonstop nattering, coupled with the stress and concussion forces from all the explosions, Zek found himself nearly at his wit's end.
"May your divine light guide us through the canopy of darkness," Rezan continued to chant, seemingly unaware of the annoyed glare Zek was sending his way. "May you not allow evil to touch us. May the Holy Rings be set alight and all those heretics be purified!"
As Rezan continued in this manner, Zek did his best to ignore him as the world above them was ripped apart, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so.
"Help us, Holy Ones, and hear our plea!"
Finally, Zek decided he couldn't take it anymore.
"Will you cease your incessant chirping!?" he snapped.
In response, Rezan bared his teeth in Zek's direction, before promptly ignoring him.
"Oh Great Ones!" he wailed. "We are weak! Protect us from those who wish us harm!"
"Stop it," Zek insisted. "Stop it!"
"We are the faithful! Protect us from those who wish to take away our faith!"
"Stop it!" Zek snarled. "STOP IT! STOPITSTOPITSTOPIT!"
"YOU STOP IT!" Rezan retorted. "Oh Mighty Matriarchs, hear my plea!"
That gave Zek pause, and he stared at him, incredulous.
"What… what madness is this?" he demanded to know. "Rezan, have you taken leave of your senses? You're praying to the Old Gods?"
"I'M PRAYING TO WHOMEVER WILL LISTEN!" Rezan screeched. "Oh Might Matriarchs of the old! Help us through these troubling times!"
"Stop it!" Zek roared. "Praying to the Ancestors is one thing, but praying to the Matriarchs of old? This is blasphemy!"
Without warning, a heavy weight landed on Zek's shoulder, causing him to jump with fright and whirl around, but fortunately it was only Ziik.
"Tranquility, Zek, tranquility," Ziik urged in a soothing voice as he gave a comforting pat on Zek's shoulder. "Brother Rezan means no harm, and I am certain the Ancestors will understand his desperation, and overlook his current blasphemous nature. You need not worry about the wrath of the Gods."
"Tis not the wrath of the Gods that concern me, but that of the Sangheili," Zek snarled as he shrugged Ziik's hand off. "And that of the humans."
Ziik gestured indifferently and opened his mouth to respond, but then the sound of the human cannons began to grow in pitch once more, causing all present within the shelter to look up at the ceiling once more.
"The human guns return!" Ziik called out. "Take shelter!"
Zek immediately dropped down into a crouch, trying to make himself as small as possible, as the explosions started to come closer and louder to the shelter once again.
boom. Boom. BABOOM.
With every explosion, Zek found himself gasping for breath. He wasn't sure how much more this he could take but unfortunately, as the blasts continued, he knew there would be no respite.
. And yet, the blasts continued, regardless.
BOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!
Zek found himself trembling as the shells started exploding directly overhead, with each explosion sounding like a crack of lightning. And it acted like one too: with every eruption, the very building Zek was in rattled and shook, and… was that his imagination, or were cracks beginning to form in the ceiling?
He glanced at his comrades to see if they were seeing the same thing he was. Rezan was still praying under his breath, so he wasn't paying attention, however Ziik had a very alarmed look on his face.
Voi paska…
"WE MUST FIND NEW SHELTER!" Ziik hollered over the increasing sound of explosions.
"WHAT!? HAVE YOU GONE MAD? IF WE LEAVE, WE WILL DIE!" Rezan screamed back.
"RYÖKÄLE! IF WE DON'T LEAVE, WE WILL ALSO DIE! LOOK!" Zek yelled, jabbing a finger in the direction of the ceiling.
"I AM NOT LEAVING!"
"IF YOU DO NOT, THEN THIS SHALL BE YOUR TOMB! THIS SHELTER CANNOT SUSTAIN MUCH MORE DAMAGE!"
"IT WILL HOLD!" Rezan insisted. "WE MERELY NEED PRAY – "
SCREEEEEEEEE!
Without warning, the loud shriek of tearing metal filled the air and Zek's ears were suddenly filled with a typhoon of noise as the roof to their shelter was unexpectedly torn away, leaving them exposed in the open. Zek's senses were instantly overloaded as all sorts of sights, smells, sounds, and concussive forces hit him simultaneously: bright flashes, the acrid smell of explosive residue, the screeching of shrapnel being propelled through the air at high speeds, and of course the nonstop concussion forces as bomb after bomb rained down on the city.
"WE NEED NEW SHELTER!" Zek screamed at the top of his lungs and this time, Rezan didn't protest. Instead, he activated his pavise and held it over his head like an umbrella. Not that it would protect him against a direct hit…
"WE MUST GO! FOLLOW ME!" Ziik roared before taking off and without pausing to even think, Zek took off after him.
Zek sprinted down the street faster than he had ever ran before in his life. He skipped through crater after crater like they were nothing more than puddles after a rainstorm, and leapt over mounds of debris like he was a sleipnir. Anything and everything he could do to survive this nightmare.
Behind him, he could feel more shells hitting the building they had just vacated, causing the entire thing to collapse and engulfing Zek in a cloud of dust, but he dared not look back. Instead, he merely tucked his head down and ran faster.
"WHERE ARE WE GOING!?" he heard Rezan holler.
"ANOTHER SHELTER! JUST DOWN THIS PATH!" Ziik yelled back. "RUN FASTER!"
Zek didn't bother wasting breath trying to reply.
Stumbling over the broken and shattered road, trying to maintain his balance as the very ground buckled and heaved, Zek looked up to see another shelter looming out of the darkness. This one was very similar to the one Zek and his comrades had just abandoned: dug slightly into the ground, it was directly integrated into a nearby building for added protection, and then reinforced utilizing material scavenged from the various human vehicles strewn about. Unlike the one Zek had built, this shelter had a few gun slits carved into the side, in order to act as a firing pit, however whether or not it was currently manned, Zek couldn't tell.
Nevertheless, the sight of the shelter filled Zek with a sense of hope, and he found himself somehow finding just a bit more speed.
"ALMOST THERE!" he heard Ziik yell out. "JUST A BIT MORE!"
"WHERE IS THE ENTRANCE!?" Zek demanded to know.
Before Ziik could reply, the answer presented itself when a panel on the side suddenly swung open, and two T'vaoans poked their heads out.
"BROTHERS!" they yelled. "OVER HERE! HURRY!"
With safety just a short distance away, Zek found himself overcome with a frantic energy. He hurriedly tossed his rifle aside so that he wouldn't be as burdened, and then dug his claws deeper into the ground and found himself pulling ahead of both Rezan and Ziik.
Gesturing at the two unknown T'vaoans to move out of the way, Zek angled himself towards the entrance and was just about to leap through when –
SWOOOSHHHHHH! BOOOMMMM!
Zek was blown head over heels backwards!
Landing heavily on the ground on his back, Zek instinctively rolled to the side and was thus able to avoid getting skewered in the abdomen by a large chunk of metal.
Rolling upright, Zek glanced at the shelter only to see it had taken a direct hit from one of the human shells, thoroughly destroying it. Flames were already consuming what remained and even as Zek watched, there was a fury blue explosion reminiscent of a plasma grenade detonation. Of the two T'vaoans that had been calling out to him, there was no sign.
Zek wasn't given long to dwell on the tragedy as a piece of shrapnel unexpectedly ricocheted off his shoulder armor, leaving his arm sporting. He frantically looked around for someplace else to hide, but with the entire city seemingly being ripped apart, there wasn't anywhere he could go.
No! He wasn't going to die like this!
"ZEK! OVER HERE!"
Rezan's shout somehow managed to carry over all explosions, and Zek looked over to his right in time to see Rezan crawling through one of the small slits in the ground that Zek knew lead to the humans' sewage retention system. Without hesitation, Zek hauled himself to his feet and dashed over to the hole and threw himself into a slide.
Under normal circumstances, the slit would have been far too narrow for Zek to have fit, but somehow, in his desperation, Zek was able to make his way inside without complication. He found himself inside a cramped concrete box. The entire box smelled of refuse, the bottom third was filled with dirty frozen water, and there was barely enough room to fit one Kig-Yar, much less three, so Zek found his face pressed up against Rezan's armpit, but with the humans still doing their best to destroy their own city, Zek was in no condition to complain.
Without warning, a tsunami of dust came hurtling through the slit as a bomb detonated just outside their hiding spot, filling the air and making it difficult to breath. Nevertheless, Zek heard someone screaming with fright at the top of their lungs, and it took him a minute to realize it was himself. The bombardment continued and just when Zek was about to make his peace with the Ancestors –
- a miracle happened.
Because Zek was trembling so much, both out of fear and all the concussive forces, he almost didn't notice it at first. But when the dust inside the basin began to settle, it became rather obvious.
"The guns…" Rezan said, his voice full of wonder. "They've stopped…"
Zek cocked his head. Sure enough, he no longer heard the thumping of explosions, the whistling of incoming shells, and the screaming of shrapnel flying through the air. Aside from the mute noise of falling rubble, it was quiet.
"We… we survived?" Zek said, astonished. "We are still among the living? HAHA! We LIVE!"
With relief flooding his veins, Zek couldn't help but start to laugh out loud and beside him, he could feel Rezan doing the same. They were alive!
"Quiet."
Zek instantly fell silent at Ziik's harsh demand. For a moment, he stood there, waiting. But unfortunately, he couldn't figure out why Ziik had demanded silence and after a while, he began to grow impatient.
"What is it Brother?" he demanded to know.
Even in the dark, cramp place, he could see Ziik throwing a questioning look in his direction.
"Do you not hear that noise?"
Having been nearly rendered deaf by all the explosions, it was rather difficult for Zek to hear anything. Regardless, he did his best to strain his ears.
At first, he was unsuccessful. But then… he heard it. A low but steady roar that was only growing in pitch.
"What is that?" he heard Rezan asking.
Zek shivered.
"Enemy aircraft," he reluctantly replied as he mentally began bracing himself, his relief at his survival having already all but dissipated. "And they are coming this way."
It would appear the humans were not done with their attack just yet.
XXXXX
North Euxine Ocean, Actium
May 7, 2545
0625
Zelda
Zelda had to admit, he was feeling more like himself now. He didn't know why, but there was just something about flying that made him feel so alive. Perhaps it was all the space, or maybe it was all the freedom, but whatever the case was, as long as Zelda was in the air, he would instantly be in a better mood, even if all they were currently doing was some basic formation flying instead of the fancy aerobics he was used to.
He glanced around. At the moment, he and the rest of his squadron were flying ass-end of one massive formation of Air Force aircraft. Consisting of several dozen Wombats, Broadswords, Shortswords, and even a few Longswords, this formation represented the vast majority of the combat assets the 112th Air Division that was being dedicating towards Operation: SUDDEN PURGE II. Armed to the teeth with several hundred kilograms worth of explosives, the entire formation was at present, making their way towards the city of Byzas in order to drop their payload.
And what a payload it was. During their briefing, Lieutenant General Gordon Shreve, commander of the 112th AirDiv, had informed his pilots he wanted the Air Force - and not the Army or the Marines - to be the ones to break the Covenant's spine, and so had equipped his aircraft with enough ordnance to practically level the city.
Of course, having an appropriate payload was one thing, but being able to deliver it was another; the problem was, there wasn't enough room over the city for all of the Air Force's aircraft to hit Byzas at the same time, so instead, the planes would approach in waves.
Hitting the city first would be an entire group of Wombats. Armed with anti-radiation missiles and Mark 208 one hundred twenty kilogram bombs, it would be the job of the Wombats to clear out any potential Covenant AA the mud crunchers might have missed.
Following in their wake would be a squadron of SS-110 Longsword air superiority fighters, ready to engage any Covenant aircraft foolish enough to try and attempt to contest the air. None were really expected as it simply wouldn't make much sense, so the Longswords were more of an insurance policy than anything. But, in the event there was no opposition, the Longswords would at least be able to strafe the city with their 110mm rotary cannons.
Of course, once the sky was confirmed to be clear, that was when the main body of the attack would hit: the Shortsword bombers.
Consisting of exactly seventeen bombers pulled from the No 23 and 321 Bombardment Squadrons, each Shortsword was carrying sixteen Mark 211 one thousand kilogram bombs, for a total of two hundred and seventy-two bombs, or nearly a hundred and thirty thousand kilograms worth of high explosives. Not only did each bomb pack one hell of a punch, they were also rated for bunker busting meaning they were capable of punching through a wide variety of obstacles such as walls, roofs, and even asphalt roads; perfect for a densely packed city look Byzas as that meant there would be no place the Covenant could hide.
However, if that wasn't enough, there was one final wave of aircraft following the bombers. Consisting of four Broadsword squadrons – including Zelda's – each Broadsword was carrying either four BLU-328/C fuel air explosives or CBU-777 cluster munitions, half a dozen Scorpion ATGMs, and a handful of AAMs for self-defense.
All in all, it was going to be one hell of a light show, and Zelda couldn't wait to see it.
"Sorry, but… is someone humming?"
Zelda absentmindedly looked up at the sound of Omega-3's comment before, with a start, he realized the person in question was actually himself: apparently, at some point in his good cheer, Zelda had started humming to himself which, unfortunately, his microphone had picked up on and transmitted across the squadron dedicated channel.
Zelda could feel his cheeks start to warm up in embarrassment, but rather than stay quiet or even deny it, he decided he would own it instead.
"Yeah, that's me," Zelda announced as cockily and as confidently as he could. "What… you got a problem with it?"
"Ehhh," Omega-3 began. "I'll be the first to admit, you're not quite strangling the cat, but… don't quit your day job."
"Yeah?" Zelda shot back as he glanced to his left in Omega-3's direction. "Well, maybe you should quit yours, JT."
"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Omega-3/JT, demanded to know.
"It means your flying sucks dude!"
"What!? What's wrong with my flying!?"
"You fly like an old dude, man," Zelda sneered. "All timid and slow like. Like you can't see the damn sky in front of you. Turtle."
"Ha!" JT triumphantly declared. "Joke's on you, Zelda: I am an old man."
Zelda blinked and then mentally swore. At the age of thirty-six, JT was the oldest pilot in their entire fighter group, which was something Zelda had forgotten in the heat of the moment.
"Yeah, well, you don't have to do your best to reinforce that fact," Zelda lamely retorted.
"Oh, come on: lay off him, man," JT's wing mate, Omega-9, suddenly interjected. "He's doing fine. Not everyone can be as good as you or Odessa."
"Hey! 303. I don't remember asking you a damn thing," Zelda retorted, then paused. "And what you mean as good as me and Odessa? We all know I'm a much better pilot than Odessa is."
"Uh huh. Sure…" 303 dragged out.
"Oh, fuck you," Zelda said with an annoyed sigh. He suddenly heard Odessa laughing over the radio. "What."
"Typical Zelda: always got to pick a fight with everybody," he mocked. "What were you humming for anyways?"
"What, I can't enjoy myself now?"
"What's there to enjoy right now?"
"What isn't there to enjoy?" Zelda retorted. "We're all alive and healthy, we're flying, the weather is great…"
"Wow," Odessa dryly scoffed. "If you consider this 'great' weather, I hate to see what you consider 'bad weather.'"
Zelda glance out his window and had to admit, Odessa had a point. Currently it was very cloud and over casted; while it hadn't snowed just yet, it was threatening to at some point during the course of the day. To put it bluntly, it was not exactly Zelda's kind of weather.
"Okay, so maybe the weather's not that great," Zelda allowed. "But, hey! Mother always told me to enjoy what I do."
"Even if what you do involves killing people?" Odessa jeered.
"Well… it's not like the Covenant are actually people…"
"Actually…" Skeeter, Omega-12, suddenly interjected. "If we define 'people' merely as a group of beings belonging to a particular race or species… then the Covenant technically are people."
Zelda didn't bother hiding his groan.
"Oh, fuck off Skeeter. No one gives a shit about 'technicalities,'" he growled.
"Yeah," he heard JT agreeing. "I'm with Zelda on this one – which, by the way, is a statement I never thought I would ever seriously say - there's no way Covenant are people. Not after the shit they've been doing for the last two decades."
"Fortunately, the English language doesn't care what you think JT," Skeeter retorted. "The Covenant have a religion, a culture, and can think for themselves. Ergo, they have souls. Ergo, they are people. What they have done or haven't done doesn't change that."
"You only say that because you've never had to fight the Covies on the ground," JT angrily snapped. "I have. And trust me, if you could see firsthand the things the Covies have done, you'd be singing a different tone."
Zelda couldn't help but start to grin to himself: he loved it when his squadron mates started gang piling on each other as opposed to him.
But before the growing argument could continue, there was a soft pop noise as the radio frequency was taken over by Omega Leader.
"As much as I enjoy listening to my pilots having a spirited philosophical debate," Bellum began with a hint of sarcasm, "let's shelve it for now. We're about thirty seconds from reaching Waypoint Dog where Organ is supposed to tell us whether the operation is still a go or not; I suspect it is, so let's focus up. All Omega Flight pilots, sound off in sequence."
"This is Omega-3," JT immediately said. "Check."
"Omega-5, reporting in," Odessa calmly stated. Zelda reached for his radio.
"Yeah, Omega-6: I'm here," he reported with a yawn.
"Omega-9, standing by," 303 announced.
"This is Omega-12: reporting in," Skeeter pompously announced.
"This is Omega Leader: all Omega Flight pilots standing by," Bellum finished. "Alright, hang tight: should be hearing from the AWACS any moment now."
Then, as if on cue: "Attention all aircraft, this is Organ Leader: Operation Heavy Rain is a go. I say again, Operation Heavy Rain is a go."
Zelda silently nodded to himself but internally, he was cheering: Operation Heavy Rain was the designation for the Air Force's part in Operation: SUDDEN PURGE II.
"All aircraft," Organ Leader was saying in the meantime, "divert to heading two nine seven and climb to bombing altitude. All squadrons, acknowledge."
At that, a chorus of replies filled the radio.
"Yellow Wing," "Cello and Violin Squadrons – " "-anker Squadron acknowledges."
"This is Omega Flight: solid copy," Zelda heard Bellum declare in a firm voice.
"Copy that, all squadrons acknowledge," Organ declared. "All squadrons, begin advancing to bombing altitude by waves… now."
Zelda looked forward as the aircraft flying ahead of him began to do just that. At the moment and for the last forty minutes, the entire formation had been flying at a little less than a hundred meters over the Euxine Ocean as they traveled in a northwestern direction from the airbase to Byzas. They had been flying this low, both to minimize their radar signature – thereby preventing Covenant search radars from picking up on their approach until the last second – as well to minimize the chances of them being detected by the Covenant fleet sitting in orbit. However, attempting to bomb at that altitude would of course be suicide, therefore once the formation had gotten close enough to where stealth no longer mattered, they were to climb to an altitude of about nine to ten thousand meters.
Which is what they were doing now.
Given that each wave was spaced roughly a thousand meters apart to avoid mid-air collisions, the Wombats that made up the first wave were way outside of Zelda's visual range. However, looking forward, he could see the blue flares from the engines of the Shortsword bombers that made up the third wave in front as they ignited their afterburners and began their ascent skyward. Watching them, he knew it wouldn't be long before it was his turn, and he quickly took one last look around him.
To his left, were the other Broadswords of his squadron. To the right, he spotted two ships from the Actium Navy in the distance – his HUD flagged them as the ANS Serenity and the ANS Firefly. Even as he watched, a cloud of smoke suddenly blossomed from the deck of the Serenity as she fired a series of missiles in the direction Byzas. The Navy attempting to steal some of the Air Force's glory? Zelda didn't know but at any case, glancing behind him, he could see no one else, and he suddenly felt quite lonely.
That feeling didn't last though as Bellum abruptly called out, "Omega Flight! Follow me up!"
Looking forward, Zelda watched as Bellum ignited her afterburners and began rapidly climbing, and he quickly followed suit.
His Broadsword began vibrating as they quickly gained altitude. They weren't climbing nearly as fast as they could – they didn't want to accidently overshoot the Shortswords, after all – but they were going fast enough Zelda could feel it, therefore it came as some relief when Bellum abruptly leveled out.
"Wombats are engaging," she reported without preamble. "No signs of resistance from the Covenant. Might be saving it for us though, so keep sharp."
"Copy," Zelda absentmindedly said into his microphone, before looking around.
At nine thousand meters above sea level, they were far above the clouds which Zelda could no longer see what was happening in the ground. All he could see were his fellow Broadswords on either side of him, and the Shortsword bombers in front of him, all of which he had seen a million times so they didn't interest him. Instead, he sat there and listened on the radio as reports from the first few waves came flying through.
"Longswords are engaging," Bellum reported. "Again, no sign of resistance."
Zelda frowned to himself. He couldn't figure out if the lack of resistance was a good thing or a bad thing. If the ground pounders had done their job correctly, then it made sense there would be no ground fire. However, the lack of enemy Banshees was interesting. Did the Covenant somehow lose all their airframes yesterday? Or were they just saving them for future battles? Or perhaps they were waiting for a target worth engaging like, say, a bunch of heavily laden bombers about to pass over the city?
Zelda had no idea, but he figured he was about to find out as, over the radio, he heard one of the Shortsword pilots get on.
"All call signs, this is Cello Actual," the man declared. "We've reached the target area, and standing by to engage. All Cello and Violin bombers, open bomb bay doors."
Zelda looked forward and watched as, in the distance, the underside bay doors to all the Shortswords slid open.
"Target acquired… and… all pilots, engage! Bombs away, bombs away, bombs away."
Zelda watched as several massive metal cylinders came tumbling out of each bomber and instantly begin heading down to the ground. He obviously couldn't hear them, but his brain immediately filled in the whistling noise they generated as they fell to the earth. The sight of nearly three hundred bombs simultaneously dropping towards the city reminded Zelda of the holovids he had seen in school, of all the Allied B-17s and Lancasters laying down the hate in Nazi Germany, only the bombs he was watching now were all precision guided munitions so with their GPS coordinates locked in, instead of just falling, all of the bombs began to separate as they headed straight for their individual targets. Seconds later, the clouds below them began to light up.
boom. boomboomboom.
Such was the explosive power stored in those bombs that even this high up, Zelda could feel the shockwave.
KABOOM!
Without warning, there was a giant blue flash and the clouds parted for half a second to reveal a massive electric-blue fireball raising up from the surface.
"Well, that hit something!" Zelda crowed as everyone else exploded into cheers. "Now that's what I call a dead Covie. FUCK YEAH!"
Fortunately, Bellum was a bit more focused than everyone else.
"Omega Flight Leader to Organ: any sign of enemy Banshees?" she asked, causing Zelda to instantly sober up.
"Negative Omega, we're not picking up anything," Organ reported. "You're cleared hot to engage."
"Copy. Rolling in, break. Omega Leader to all Omega pilots: you heard the man. Arm all weapons and standby to follow me in."
Zelda reached out and flicked a series of switches to arm his FAE and cluster munitions as, ahead of him, the Shortswords quickly shut their bomb bay doors as they finished their bombing run and moved to clear the area for the following Broadswords. Having been assured there was no opposition to be worried about, Zelda went ahead and activated his TADS and began searching the ground for his assigned targets. The city had been set ablaze – though whether that was the result of the Army and Marine artillery bombardment, the Navy cruise missile strikes, or the Air Force bombing run, Zelda had no idea – sending massive plumes of smoke into the air, but fortunately he was able to lock onto the places he needed to hit. Without looking, he reached for his ordnance release lever and disabled the safety.
"Organ Leader to Delta Wave: abort. I say again: abort!"
Zelda's heart immediately jumped to his throat and he snapped his head up to search for the incoming threats, even as he heard Bellum acknowledging the order.
"Organ Leader, this is Bayonet Leader: all Broadswords are aborting their run. What's the sitrep, over?"
The concerned voice of Lieutenant Colonel Juan "Birddog" Yaipan, the temporary commander of all Broadswords for this operation, filled Zelda's ears.
"Bayonet, Organ: be advised, we're actually not seeing any more targets worth hitting down there. Looks like Cello and Violin Squadrons have achieved nearly a hundred percent 'good effect' on target. So, rather than waste ordnance on a bunch of rumble, we're diverting your wave south to hit Covenant positions there, over."
Zelda let out a sigh of relief. Good: they aborting because they were shifting targets was all. Not because of enemy Banshees. Or worse: their attack had been scrubbed.
"Flanker and Hornet Squadrons, turn to heading one five oh. Bayonet and Omega, turn to heading two three two."
"Copy," Bellum replied. "Break. Alright guys, we're leaving the city behind. Come on."
Disarmed his bombs for the moment, Zelda turned and headed towards the southern edge of the city. As he did, his HUD let out a small chime.
"Organ to all Broadswords: you should have just received updated targeting grid coordinates. All Broadswords, confirm recipient of new grids, over."
Zelda glanced at his HUD. Sure enough, new coordinates had been established. Plugging them into his computer, he tapped his mic. "Omega-6 confirms."
As everyone else began to confirm, he glanced at his TADS to see where they were. They were now through the edge and fast approaching the edge of what was being considered the "Southern Front." From where he was at, he couldn't see what he was supposed to be hitting, but he supposed it made sense: the Covenant, after all, would have made sure to camouflage their positions in order to make it harder for the UNSC to target them. Zelda could only hope the AWACS knew what they were doing.
"Coming up to the release point," Bellum called out and Zelda reached for his release lever once more. "Standby… engage!"
"Bombs away, bombs always, bombs away!" Zelda called out as he yanked on his release and watched with satisfaction as all of his bombs made a clean separation from his bird.
Closing his bomb doors, Zelda hurriedly accelerated to clear the area, but even as he did, he kept an eye on his TADS as the bombs got closer and closer to the ground then –
WABOOM!
He could see a visible bubble of air expanding through the air as his bombs – specifically the FAE ones – exploded in a furious explosion, instantly turning much of the snow and ice on the ground to steam, as well as setting ablaze anything left in the area.
"Ha-ha!" Zelda cheered.
"Bayonet to Organ: all ordnance expended, we are Winchester on munitions. Requesting permission to return to base, over?"
"Granted. All Broadswords, RTB for refueling and rearmament."
"Wilco. Bayonet, out."
"Alright guys," Bellum called out as soon as Birddog fell silent. "RTB, RTB. Good work."
Zelda felt a wide grin gracing his face as he turned his fighter in the direction of the airbase. Today was turning out to be a good day: he got to fly and blow up a bunch of fucking aliens. What more could a warrior like him ask for?
As he passed over friendly positions, he glanced at his TADS to see a large amount of armored vehicles were beginning to advance across no man's land. Even though there was no way for them to see him, Zelda reached up and gave them a quick salute. The Air Force had done their job.
Now it was up to the ground pounders to bring it home.
1. Rock Ape: this is actually a British Royal Air Force nickname for members of the RAF Regiment, which is the RAF equivalent of the USAF Security Forces (or rather, I should say the USAF SFs are the American equivalent of the RAF Regiment as the RAF Regiment was founded first.)
2. Glasshouse: as implied by its usage in the chapter, this is a slang term for a military prison. It is, however, a British military term, not an American.
Going back to what I mentioned back in my author's notes for chapter 40, I'm trying to add a bit more of an international flavor to this story, and the British seemed the easiest to implement first.
3. Sleipnir: Sleipnir is actually the name of Odin's eight-legged horse from Norse mythology. In my headcanon, I'm going to treat it like it's the name of some sort of horse-like alien native to the Kig-Yar home world; seeing as how I already started dabbing into Norse mythology for alien names (see chapter 19,) I figured I might as well stay consistent.