Heads up; the chapter after this might not be related to FOZ/ZNT at all, or at least the anime... I had a special idea in which I could add some halo elements... which might even be incorporated into this chapter... if I have time...
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Louise and I walked through the streets of the capital city, of which I still didn't know the name of... people filled the streets and were cheering for Henrietta and claiming victory over Albion...
"What's all the cheering about?"
Louise pulled my hand "Look! The first battle is a victory for Tristain!" she exclaimed, showing me a poster pinned up on the town message board.
Now, I could have translated the pages by now, if I wanted to stand there for ten minutes looking like a fool... which I didn't... "So what's it say?" I asked.
Louise leaned towards the paper. "It says here that; a week after declaring war, the combined foreces of Tristain and Germania, of about 500 platoons worth, encountered the enemy forces before reaching Albion. They dealt a heavy blow by eliminating their forces... and the casualties on our side were... minimal by comparison..." Louise tensed up on the last three words... which I did as well... "What the hell does by comparison mean!?" she hissed
"Probably they were still pretty high but considering you won the propaganda is trying to play it down..." I said. Still... it looked like the common populace was eating up the news better than an old grandpa with a Sunday edition newspaper.
I nodded and walked away, with Louise abruptly following me "Hey what's your problem!? Tristain won the battle!"
"Yeah, and I'm glad for you... but I was under the impression that Henrietta didn't want to declare war..." I said
"Pressure from the populace and nobility I would assume..." replied Louise "Probably made her cave...still I doubt she took the decision lightly..."
"Hah!" I laughed "And people said this wasn't a democracy!" to which Louise just raised an eyebrow...
"Hey, what's that!?" I exclaimed noticing something for sale in one of the booths nearby...
"It's a piece of clothing..." said Louise
"No shit..." I replied. I stared at the top making sure what I was seeing was right... "What the hell is that doing here!?" I said trying to hold in the exitment... I casually walked up to the stall... and pointed at the top. "Hey where'd you get this?"
"Ahh!" sighed the shopkeeper "I got this item off a man who had claimed to have gotten it from a man who summoned it from another world, and since it's a rarity and most likely one of a kind it's very expensive..."
"I'll give you 50 Ecu" I said
"Deal."
I'd seen the girls on Reach wear this all the time... it was basically a sweater which had been cropped along the stomach line so that it showed off the stomach up to about the mid torso just below the rib cage... there was only one piece missing from this...
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We'd been called into the small barracks building which had been erected to house the G.P Squad while they trained the new recruits at the Academy.
"Anies, you called for us?" I asked while me and Lousie stood in front of her desk. And... after a bit of confused explaining... "A secret... underground... Library? This sounds familiar..."
"Yes, there is a place under the academy where secret documents are kept. I'd gotten permission from Her Majesty to browse the contents of the books and records stored in there... but... Headmaster Osmond said he didn't receive any orders to unlock the entrance... hence he refuses to open it..." explained Anies.
"Not even after getting permission from Her Majesty?" said Louise a bit baffled
"Well... it must be dangerous down there" added Julio, who for whatever reason had also come to this... meeting... conference... thing... "I mean since it's an artifact of over thousands of years, the library that is, it must be filled with traps..."
"Of course..." I sighed "Because what kind of old ruin would it be if there were no Indiana Jones style traps in there... if we need to replace something on a stone pedestal, might I suggest not using a rock that looks similar to what we are going to take... cuz seriously it won't work..."
"What are you rambling about?" said Louise
"Oh nothing... but besides, Anies, what the hell is so important that's down there that you are trying to retrieve?" I said
"It's... regarding a grudge I've held over the past many so years..." replied Anies to which I raised an eyebrow...
"It's only natural to help our friend in need right?" asked Julio "and since this is how I see it, I figured you guys should come as well..."
"Friends eh?"
"Well, rather than friends... you're more like my best friends..."
For some reason that statement sent a chill down my spine... I obviously hated the guy be he seemed to refuse to see it...
"Louise, you're capable of doing some impressive magic right? Surely a lock like this won't be a problem for you right?" continued Julio
"Well... we could try Void Magic... but if the concentration isn't there it won't work..."
"Well then Julio my man" I said with sarcasm then my voice turned to a more humorous one... this was probably going to bite me in the ass, but I figure it was well over due for an insult at her expense... "Louise is only capable of magic of the explosive kind, she's kinda stubborn that way... Boom over here... Pow over there... Ka-boom from the rear... she's not capable of something as complicated as picking a lock... something that takes time, patience and discipline..."
"Aaaalllleeeexxxx..." Louise hissed... yup, I'd done it! "and since I'm so stubborn!"
And I could tell she was about to prove me right as the small of gunpowder and lead filled the air...
"OH SHIT!" we all exclaimed
*Ka-PEW!*
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"Picking a lock huh?" said Eleanor after we all wandered over to her lab after peeling ourselves off the dirt, rock and grass from our trip out the window courtesy of Louise... herself included...
Everyone nodded... meekly...
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We all entered the women's bathroom... yeah... the women's bathroom... all of us... I'd also secretly invited Fireteam Delta to accompany us... not known to the others, all the ODSTs of FT Delta were cloaked using Active Camo... I wouldn't have ordered them along if I didn't have a bad feeling about this... the plan was that FT Delta would wait until the door was locked and then run to the library and wait for us there. Also, Private Woods had volunteered to come along...
"This is the enterance" said Anies as she opened the door to what must have been a broom/mop closet... the proceded to push aside a revolving hidden door in the wall opposite of the closet door... wow... just... how clichéd can you get?
We all then followed Anies down a set of shallow stairs... all the while others voiced their opinions on why there would be such a secret library here.
"Seriously they might as well have burned the books and records than hide them here..." said Louise.
"How could they simply throw away royal documents? But... although they can't destroy or really throw them out... it don't think it would be a good idea for them to become publicly known..." added Eleanor.
"Wow... seriously... this is screaming democracy..." I added "Hidden documents, hidden from public knowledge... etc, etc... Sounds like most governments since the... well... ok forever in my knowledge, but still!"
"We're here" said Anies and we all focused on a solid rusting iron door with wooden panels with carvings in the door.
"The lock is formed by three groups" said Eleanor as she looked the locks over. It's easy for each individual lock... but if the combination is messed up, it won't open."
"So, it's like a magical combination lock? Like a keypad or revolving numbers lock?" I compared
"Kinda like a number lock, yes" said Eleanor
"so can you open it?" Anies asked
Eleanor simply held out her wand "Lock! Behold the key and unlock yourself!" she said and all the locking mechanicms swung open, unlatching the door.
"Well... that was anti-climactic" I said morosely
"Thank you, Miss Valliére, but it will be dangerous from here on out, I will go alone from here." Said Anies
"And it's because it's dangerous that we will stay with you." Said Julio
"Besides" added Eleanor "I only opened the lock because I'm curious as to what's in there myself. Who knows, there might be records of past top secret magic experiments remaining in there."
We all showed that same determined look which made Anies cave. "Thanks guys..." she said...
"We'll lets get to it then?" said Julio... we all turned and started to head for the now unlocked door when.
"Hey what do you think your doing down here?" said a voice I knew all too well from the stairs... we turned around.
"Mr. Colbert?" I asked to the teacher man who was holding a lantern in one hand and a tome under his free arm.
"Anies..." he said "The headmaster has already rejected your request."
"Answers from cowards are unacceptable!" Anies shot in reply with disgust and she stormed through the door to the library.
"Anies!" shouted Colbert...
"Wait Anies!" exclaimed Louise and ran after her, naturally I followed, which enticed everyone else to do the same...
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"Grudges you say?" asked Colbert as we walked through the dank dark ruined hallway towards the library, our only light being from a few lanterns some of us held and the head lights on my helmet and flashlight on my rifle.
"Well, that's what she said." I replied...
Then Anies blew aside the comments "If our army manages to suppress Albion's shipping port, then Her Majesty will personally go to the frontlines. And I'll be following along of course. But first I wanted to tie up some loose ends..."
"Her Majesty will be going to the front?" asked Louise.
Anies nodded "She said that since she signed the declaration of war, causing the army to risk their lives fighting, that it was only fitting that there be no way that she'd simply let others risk themselves while she stayed behind in a safe place."
"So... then who is the enemy Anies is referring to?" asked Colbert
"Shh!" hissed Anies "Someone is following us!"
We all turned around, I flicked off my headlight and lowered my rifle... we all stared behind us into the black void from which we had come... I could hear hurried footsteps... light and somewhat dainty footsteps... and... was that bouncing? I narrowed my eyes... but didn't raise my rifle's light to see what was down there... as I had a hunch... but eventually Anies stepped forward and raised her lantern.
"Alexander!" exclaimed the voice belonging to none other than Siesta... who came running out of the darkness... wearing... the same Red cropped sweater that I'd gotten at the market... along with black stockings under a mini denim skirt. It was a common look back on Reach with the civilian women...
The reactions displayed on everyone's faces took on a range of dazzling colors... Anies's face was that of What the hell is she doing here, while Colbert's was more of a jaw dropped WTF. Eleanor looked like she was just at a bit of a loss for words... while Julio looked disappointed and Louise looked highly unimpressed...
"Siesta!?" I exclaimed, both not knowing what the hell she was doing here and also having a bit of a nostalgic rush seeing that outfit on her... reminded me of the days back in... oh I'm sorry... I never had days like that... *sigh*
"Look I'm wearing the top you gave me this morning! How is it?" she chirped... then took notice of the others. "Oh I thought it was only you here... I didn't expect everyone else here... hi guys!"
"T-that's the shirt... top... thing... that Alex bought at the market earlier isn't it?" muttered Louise
"And that skirt is from one of my civilian outfits isn't it?" growled Jenny, who had been quiet for some time now...
"Erm... no..."
"Yeah, I think it is!" she hissed
"20 Ecu says it's not"
"And I'm shutting up!" Jenny chirped
Anyways back to the current events...
"In Alex's world young women wore outfits like this all the time... it was fairly common he says..."
"Oh right" said Julio "You're supposed to have said to have come from some far away country isn't that right?"
"You could say that" I said "But that's the reason I wanted her to wear that, a bit of a... nostalgic feeling if you will..."
"But sir, UNSC is here..." said Jenny
"Shut up Private Woods"
"Sorry..."
"He also said that it would fit Siesta well so he gave it to me" added Siesta "He said Louise doesn't have the breasts so it wouldn't look good on her... oh... wait... shit..."
"R-r-r-right..." stuttered Louise... "I-I-I don't have breasts do I!? Flat as a fucking airport runway, eh?! Totally unattractive right?!"
"You. And you're fucking. Big. Mouth!" I shouted as Siesta
"Aleeeeex!"
I glanced up at the weakened ceiling structure "SHIT!"
*KA-PEW*
*Wa-Ping!*
"Ough" I grunted "blackout..."
*flump*
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*Crinkle*
Someone pulled me out from under a pile of rubble... "Ooooouuuggghhhh..." I moaned "my head... I see stars... and we're underground... is that normal?" I shook my head and looked up at Siesta.
"Alex are you ok?!" she exclaimed
"Yeah, I'm fine... but seriously! Learn to watch what you say!"
"Hey! Siesta is good at keeping secrets! I mean what about the-" I glared at her. "Never mind..."
I stood up and saw Eleanor already giving Louise hell; grabbing and pulling her cheek, calling her a runt and scolding her on when the appropriate time to use magic is. To which Colbert seemed a little insulted by...
It was then that we all noticed the cave in behind us...
"Well... we're not going out that way..." I said
"Without a mage that specializes in Earth Magic, I'm afraid that there is no way out..." said Colbert
"S-so what do we do!?" panicked Louise
"Starve half way to death before resorting to cannibalism and drinking their blood to keep hydrated?" suggested Jenny in a grim but light hearted tone, trying to imply a joke... unfortunately it just made Louise panic even more...
Anies sighed "Well, if your all done joking around, we need to get moving, we will cross that bridge when we get to it." and we started down the hallway again, passing a side corridor partway down...
"Yeah, but we don't need to cross a bridge, we need to dig a tunnel..." added Jenny.
I shook my head and sighed "Shut up Woods..." I said
"Yes sir..." she sighed
We returned to our long brisk walk down this god forsaken ruined hall... every now and then I unintentionally glanced at Siesta in a way that would probably have gotten me exploded by Louise.
"So" said Julio from behind
"Hmm?"
"Do the young girls in your hometown participate in war?"
"By hometown I assume you mean world... and yes, they do." I answered
"You have a lot of war in your country then?" asked Colbert
"We, the recent conflict just ended, so there's no war now, and actually, since the end of the twenty-first century in my world, we went war free for nearly four centuries. It wasn't until contact with the Covenant that we were officially at war. Sure there had been terrorist insurrectionists every now and then but they were for the most part easily handled. But now, there is no war that I'm aware of... in times of peace an army wasn't needed as much, however being such a vast... erm... I guess you could call it an empire, but we're not a dictatorship... anyways having such a vast empire does require a large armed force to protect just in case, since not all planets we settled were exactly hospitable."
"I'd love to visit you country then some time if there's ever a chance then." Said Colbert.
"There's still a shit load of conflict though..." I murmured
"Seeing young teens participating in war and sacrificing their lives... that hurts me..."
"Huh!" scoffed Anies "This is wartime "Guiding them to fight for their country, it's the duty of teacher like you!"
"But young teens! Anies, he's talking about people hardly into puberty here! Back in my world you need to be at least 18 to serve in the armed forces, mind you people 16 have lied about their age and joined anyways..."
"What you are saying is absurd Anies! You just say such things because you don't know the true face of war!" shot Colbert.
"So, Mr. Colbert, have you seen it?" I asked
"Well... erm... that is..." he stuttered
"I have" said Anies "In the village which I was born, it was destroyed by the army. Rather than a war I'd call it a massacre."
"What...?" I asked, dumbfounded...
"20 years ago, using the upbringing of rebellion as an excuse, the army began the execution of the religious leaders, which was actually all plotted by Lishmond, he eliminated the so called rebels and in turn gained a foothold for himself... it's because of him that my friends and family..." Anies stuttered a bit "Innocent people were turned to ash just like that, with no one to take pity or remorse on them... it was a ignite and run strike... I have come to believe that I'm the only survivor..." we had paused while Anies told us her story. "Although I've killed Lishmond with my own hands, the actual person who committed those acts must still be out there somewhere and I want to know his identity!"
We continued onwards, everyone was silent for a while... the silence seemed a bit of a mockery of the drama which had just played out. I'd remembered my time on Reach, on other worlds glassed by the Covenant... and then... I laughed...
"You. Holding a grudge. Like this... for twenty years?!" I asked "Wake up Anies! The world is in flames here and you only care about events long since passed? Call me a cold hearted bastard but I've seen and dealt with much worse than you. I've seen whole worlds, wiped off the galactic map! Billions upon billions incinerated and turned to glass in an instant. Do you see me, seeking revenge? No! You don't! That being said I still highly dislike the Covies, but guess what!? The ones who did the glassing... some of them became our allies! You sure as hell can't forgive someone for committing such heinous acts, but you can move past it! get on with your life rather than dedicating it to finishing a fight which in the end won't change a damned thing! The world is a sick and fucked up place and you'd better get used to it Anies! People like to hurt one another, it's how the world works, it's why battles and wars are fought! If you kill him, will it really make you feel better? It won't bring back your friends and family, trust me on that one, I've tried. And It's because of your grudges that we're most likely to starve to death in this damned hole in the ground! Oh, and Louise's fault as well!"
"Hey!"
"Don't deny it!" I shouted
"Why you..." started Anies before a bright light his us...
"Look ahead!" exclaimed Siesta.
We all looked ahead and after our eyes adjusted to the bright light we could make out a temple looking building carved into the side of a cliff at the end of a bridge... crossing... a bottomless... pit... naturally...
Jenny stood beside Siesta and gazed down the pit, she glanced at a loose stone next to her foot before kicking it down...
...
...
...
...
...
...
We all heard a very faint *pop* as the stone hit another hard surface which echoed throughout the cavern creating a very eerie effect...
Siesta yelped and abruptly embraced me. "Scary!" she squealed, pushing her breasts into me as she pulled on me. My face was probably a rather derpy one...
Jenny who rolled her eyes then commented "Well, it's not bottomless... oh and Louise, don't you fucking dare explode now!" she then turned to me "Sir, control yourself!"
"Hey it's not my fault Siesta's scared of falling to her death!" I retorted
"You're not helping!" exclaimed Siesta.
I sighed and we crossed the bridge, I had hoped the ODST team had made it here already, and none had been trapped in the blast caused by Louise earlier... as the others made their way forth, I stuck back a little and whispered.
"Delta team? You here?"
I got a tap on my shoulder and I could vaguely see the shimmering glisten of Active-Camo, the A. Ced ODST nodded and waved his hand, signalling other Cammoed ODSTs to follow him, but at this range I couldn't make any others out properly. I ran and caught up with Louise and the others.
"Anyone who disobeys the rules will be cursed to death" said Eleanor who seemed to be translating the runes carved into the archway of the Temple/Library
"What's this about cursing?" I asked
"No magic or damaging of the records here" stated Anies.
"Ah I see..." I groaned and followed the group inside, releasing a gasp along with all the others... I think I even heard a few ODSTs gasp in the background.
"This is amazing!" said Julio as he brushed his hand along one of the many bookshelves in the library. "It's just like Romalia's religious library."
This was amazing, it reminded me of the old Library I'd seen in history books, the one in Alexandria in ancient Greece, only it was darker and more medieval looking...
"So what is it we are looking for?" asked Louise
"It will be from 20 years ago, let's look in the more recent sections." She suggested.
I went and found the proper section, however still, there were thousands of books in this section, which I doubted that there'd really be this much secret information accumulated in just twenty years but hey, this isn't my country! I skimmed through the books, looking for any that might hint at a conspiracy, military assault or assassination. So far; nothing.
Louise pulled out a book and read off the title. "The incident of Danguteal? This isn't it..." she threw it over her shoulder, but Anies caught it before it hit the ground.
"This is the one!" she exclaimed, her hands shaking... she went over to a set of stairs in the middle of the library to read the book. Meanwhile I went and looked around the place. It was massive! I went to the very back, to records maybe ten thousand years old... they were all worn out and dusty... then one book caught my eye... it wasn't dusty or worn like the others... in reality, it wasn't even a real book... I pulled it out and the book case slid aside, revealing a hidden passage way in the wall behind it.
"Well I'll be damned..." I muttered... and was thinking about telling the others when the ground shook... and I heard Louise yell
"Geez! Eleanor! Don't you know to only use magic at the appropriate time and place!?"
"Nevermind that! RUN!"
I saw them all head for the exit but just as they started making for it, the archway collapsed.
"We're trapped!" screamed Louise... and to make matters worse the ceiling started to lower... "And we'll be crushed to death!"
"Everyone!" I yelled "I found a secret passage! Let's go! Move it move it!" I glanced over at the stairs to see Anies still reading away at the book despite the danger. "Anies! Let's go! I grabbed her wrist despite her protests and flailing and pulled her along through the secret passage... once we'd all entered the bookshelf slid back into place, shutting us off from the library.
The room we were in had a familiar look to it... white walls and orange lighting... Forerunner architecture at it's most obvious.
"This... this is Forerunner..." said Anies... "I recognize this from the facility we were at a few days ago..."
"Yeah..." I muttered "Well... there might be an alternate route out then since it's connected to the library, maybe this was intended as an alternate route?"
"Wait, what are you getting at?" asked Anies.
"I'm thinking that Brimir, your founder, either was, or was closely related to the forerunners... why else would there be forerunner facilities near each of the capitals for his countries? Why else can you use magic? It's all forerunner tech!"
"What!?" exclaimed the others
"Maybe Magic isn't real! Maybe it's all a forerunner experiment!? Maybe that's why not everyone can use magic! The Forerunners chose Brimir as the founder for magic, and all his off spring in the thousands and thousands of years since have gotten his magical abilities! It makes sense if you think about it!"
"I don't believe it!" Said Louise
"Well..." I paused "It's only a theory... there's no hard evidence to prove the last part... but I am certain that Brimir was related to the Forerunners somehow."
We were all silent for a while before Siesta spoke up "Well... I'm hungry, and I doubt there is any food down here... let's try and find the exit!" she chirped
"I sure hope there aren't any of those Prometheans down here..." mused Jenny...
We headed down the forerunner hallway until we reached a large round room... it was a junction, with three – minus the way we just came – ways to go.
"Shit..." I muttered, then I remembered something... "Oh shit! Delta! Are you still here!?"
"Delta?" asked Anies... then she face palmed... "Don't tell me..."
A team of ODSTs came out of Active Camo... Sgt. Dempsey was present along with all the others... "Sir! Awaiting your orders sir!" he said. "And by the way... we go left."
He held up a small digital subsonic map. "We did some tests recently and found this hollowed area, we didn't know it was forerunner though." He explained.
We turned left and walked through the hall with our guns, wands and swords ready... there was no telling what was down here... I nervously glanced at the walls on either side of me... They were all covered in blue, purple and orange glowing lines that ran back and forth like veins of data being pumped to and fro throughout the facility... or maybe just power... still... it made me feel uncomfortable...
I heard skittering along the hard metal floor up ahead at an intersection... I signaled for everyone to get down and turn off their lights... if we did that, the lights from the lines on the walls wouldn't be enough to illuminate us properly.
We all hit the deck and turned out flashlights, headlights, lanterns and wands off. Up ahead I could see a tall robotic figure glowing orange along with a small flying unit that looked like a mini Hornet gunship, along with several small doglike robots... the Prometheans were here alright...
"W-what are those?" stuttered Siesta.
"Shh!" I hissed as they went down the hallway horizontal to our direction... we'd go straight in that case... better to avoid detection for now... but then I though... if this place was under the school... and it lead back up to it... if we opened whatever was keeping the Prometheans in here... we could put not only the school in danger, but the whole world of Halkenginia! I turned around to face everyone, kneeling on the floor.
"Ok guys, new objective... we're gonna disable this facility, maybe destroying it's generator or cutting off power will either seal or destroy the Prometheans in here, or at least prevent the creation of anymore. If that doesn't work, we just need to hunt down as many of the bastards as possible." I said "If we don't, the whole of Halkenginia could be at risk!"
Everyone nodded and we continued, going straight as to avoid current contact with the Prometheans who had just left.
We came across a sealed room with a keypad next to the door...
"I can get that for you." Said Cortana "Just touch the pad so I can interface with it... maybe I can even access the facility from here."
I touched the keypad and Cortana dissipated into the facility... the door light turned green and it opened... Cortana then opened a communication channel with me from inside the facility's system.
"Look there" she said and highlighted a rack of... somethings... to my right...
It was a small room with a few racks of what looked like weapons. There were also armor abilities, grenades and tools...
I approached the rack cautiously... and touched one of the weapons... it was long and narrow with a holographic scope on it... white and orange with the signature forerunner colors.
As soon as I touched it is fell into thirty pieces and then reformed in my hand, vibrating like crazy... "Holy shit!" I exclaimed "This is awesome!" I aimed away from the others and pressed, what I thought was the trigger and a three round sounding burst of searing hot solid light shot out. I looked down the scope, the outline of which made me feel like I was wearing 3D glasses since all the icons and notifications in the scope like; ammo, range and direction were all holographic.
"This is awesome" I repeated "Guys, everyone take one of these just in case... I'm calling this one the Light Rifle, since it shoots Light... duh..."
An ODST took a smaller more SMG looking weapons from the rack and tried firing off a few rounds with surprising speed and a manageable spread. "I'll call this the Suppressor!" he said "Since it sounds quiet and has a huge rate of fire!"
Jenny took a smaller one that resembled an orange plasma pistol with a barrel attached to it. She fired a shot which came out as a longer more solid and wider shot that resembled a crossbow bolt. "This should be the Boltshot" she said "Since the rounds are much larger than the other ones."
"Let's get moving" I said after all the ODSTs, Jenny, Julio and even Anies took some weapons... I took one of the newly dubbed Boltshots and gave it to Siesta "Hold onto it just in case ok?"
She gulped and took the pistol from me before nodding.
We headed back out and Cortana was able to guide us through the facility. She said that the main reactor was one level down in the middle of that floor... she said that if we destroyed it, it would blow up the facility, which in turn would destroy all the Prometheans inside. However the walls were solid enough so that it would hardly effect the school. To them it would feel like a small earthquake.
So that's what we set out to do...
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We had split up. Colbert, Siesta and Louise, along with Sgt. Dempsey and Pvt. Woods and one other ODST had gone up to secure the exit and to make sure it was really there before we blew the place up... hopefully without us in it.
In the end this was probably a better idea... I didn't want Louise or Siesta to be harmed, and sending them up was probably the safer option... although the word safe isn't exactly accurate when dealing with a facility filled with psychotic and bloodthirsty robots... it was also just our luck that we had to come to a large open room and immediately engage in a firefight...
It was a large room with the generator in the middle, a small opal shaped egg looking thing which hummed with orange energy and crackled every now and then. There were two raised platforms on either side, like raised halls with one open end so you could see down to the lower floor, along with some lesser raised platforms which made the room look like sort of a valley or canyon. We were at the far end of the center of the room, so both overlooks were on either side of us. Thankfully there were enough forerunner crate to provide cover for all of us... well... almost enough... before reaching cover two of the ODSTs with us were shot down by the Prometheans... we'd have to leave their bodies if we wanted to make it out of here alive. I popped up and shot one of the Prometheans on the overlook which I'd dubbed a Knight due looking like a suit of future knights armor you'd see in the fantasy sci-fi crossover worlds.
It's shields went down and Anies followed up my burst with one of her own, using a DMR from a fallen ODST. She shot it right in its metallic head, popping it right off as It died and dissipated into golden dust.
"That thing!" exclaimed Cortana as the Knight died "It just let out a surge of data, almost like a memory wipe or something!"
"What do you mean?" I asked
"Not sure... analyzing..." she replied...
We kept firing... taking down scores of the dog like crawlers and the guardian Watchers that floated around their Knight Masters. It was actually really fucking annoying... the moment we got our sights on a Knight, they had a tendency to teleport away and reappear near us... only to be gunned down by another one of us. Of if it was near death a Watcher would create a hardlight shield in front of it and we'd need to take out the watcher... which once it started taking damage would fly away in crazy patterns like a pussy until it was out of sight... then come back at us once it was recharged! Or they'd throw our grenades back at us... or they'd even resurrect any Knights we'd killed! It really pissed me off... it pissed me off so much that I'd taken to just calling them Those-Little-Fucking-Bastards.
"HELP!" shouted Private Kashlow. I turned just in time to see him disintegrate into nothing as a beam of intense red light hit him... not even ash was left behind...
"Kashlow!" Exclaimed Cpl. Hamlin.
"Get down Corporal!" I yelled "Sniper at the far left end of the room!"
"Got him!" said Anies and she popped out and took aim... only to get hit a second later.
"ANIES!" I yelled, but she only fell back against the crate panting hard... she had switched to her ODST armor and had removed her helmet as she tried to get her breath back... luckily for her she managed to stay calmed after getting her DMR shot out of her hands which was now disintegrating next to her... "I think I'll sit this one out..." she stammered
"Ok I got this... Hamlin, Bradley, Conners, Foley, Brown, I want suppressing fire on the Prometheans to the right... I'm going to the left to take out that sniper, once I've done that I'll circle around and pick off any stragglers to the right then one of you move up and plant the charges."
"Yes sir!" said the ODSTs
"What about me?" asked Julio
"I dunno... do what you can..." I said... I kinda hope he got hit... not to be an ass or anything... but I really wish he did...
The ODSTs opened up on the Prometheans on the right and I took off, using my arm mounted grapping hook for the first time to pull myself up onto the overhang... once I was up in instinctively rolled to the side, avoiding a shot from the enemy Binary Rifle, since it shot two beams of light rather than one... I shot the Knight with my magnum a few times before running up to it, yanking its red arm mounted Forerunner energy sword off and running it through...
I then took the Binary rifle and picked off the remaining Prometheans... sadly, it wasn't before Hamlin, Conners and Brown got hit... and even worse... Julio didn't... but still, I couldn't believe we'd already lost six ODSTs to these walking bags of fancy bolts... then once it was all clear Cpl. Bradley ran up the generator and planted a nice big block of classic C4 explosives... the remote detonator wouldn't work under here so the timer was set to 5 minutes...
Once the charges were set...
"Let's go, Let's go!" Bradley yelled and we all made towards the top, not even stopping as more Prometheans took notice of us.
"Julio, Left!" I yelled as we ran and Julio fired a charged shot from the Boltshot, which resulted in a sort of scattershot like that from a shotgun, which blew away the Knight.
I dared to look back and saw at least thirty Crawlers on our heels... "Shiiiit!" I yelled
"Take one turn right then head up the ramp." Said Cortana "Oh and pick me up from the next Holopad of Keypad!"
We followed her instructions. Bolts and rounds of hardlight whisking past our bodies... I passed a holopad and scooped up Cortana. We turned right again then left before finding the others at an open door... it led out into the forests near the Academy of Magic...
"Get out now!" I yelled
The others looked back and paled at the number of Prometheans after us... there was no complaining as they fled the facility.
"Detonation imminent!" warned Cortana.
We all dove out of the facility entrance which was built into the side of a cliff...
"Get down!" I yelled and pulled Anies behind a rock as a wave of heat and fire exploded out of the facility.
"Core systems crashing, power failing and key systems are detonating due to lack of safety systems!" said Cortana.
It was a beautiful sight to behold... bits of robot being flung out of the facility and a spectacular light show... all that was missing was popcorn...
Once the fire died down, I looked back at the facility... there was a smoking and sparking Forerunner box next to the entrance.
"A cloaking device" offered Cortana "It must have been hiding the facility from prying eyes..."
"That's a possibility..." I replied... "For now... I'm tired, and It's been a long day... we lost allot of good men as well..." I turned to Anies... "So did you find anything useful out?"
"No..." she said "No I did not..."
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And there you have it! Chapter 20! It feels good to get a story out that's this long...
I do say, I must prefer only updating twice a week, gives me an extra day to work... I think I'll do that instead, update twice a week (or at least try for it) so probably on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Oh and since I took the time to write this out, why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?
Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.
WTYL guys :D
-Rogue