Colonial Natural Resources Department Earth and Luna Headquarters
Vancouver, URNA
November 12, 2557
"Who are-"
"Quiet!" Austal hissed as he firmly clamped a hand over the other person's mouth. In the distance, they heard more male voices drift from the hallways. He felt the person relax and removed his glove to reset it underneath his M57.
Remaining perfectly still, he allowed the camo to cycle again and he seemed to vanish in one swift pulse that ran down from his head to his legs until he had disappeared completely.
The module was the newest version thanks to breakthroughs of reverse engineering Covenant versions employed by the sangheili special operations. Although the UNSC counterpart, designated as the T-4 Advanced Refraction Dissonance Modifier/Camouflage was the best in service, it was expensive to produce and so far, the 37th was the only Spartan unit to employ the modules. In addition, it still wore off the faster Austal moved or fired. They had yet to produce a module that kept the user concealed while performing such actions.
If there was one good thing, it was that when the module's battery was exhausted, it would then begin to draw power from his MJOLNIR armor while it recharged itself.
The damage of the other three Spartans might mean that they would have to be outfitted with the standard issue until replacements could be ordered.
The voices had faded and Austal finally deactivated his camo, allowing himself to slowly fade into view. He looked over at the person who he had silenced before and crept towards them, keeping a careful eye on his motion tracker.
He was in a small conference room and the dark shapes huddled all along the back wall were people that hid during the takeover.
As part of any building's security in the sense of armed gunmen marching up to overtake, instructions were to hide until an all clear was given and authorities were able to debrief those involved about the situation.
There were many places where it went south. An incident on Reach before its collapse had civilians evacuating after an all-clear was given, only to realize that the gunmen were actually the ones who gave the signal, fooling them into going straight into their massacre. A live video feed mysteriously leaked past ONI's sensors and was a gruesome display that shocked the public.
Never again would that ever happen.
Or so Austal hoped.
He knelt down next to the group, flicking on the safety of his weapon, a sign that he meant no harm.
"Hello."
"Who are you?" The man stammered, finally able to say it without his interruption.
"My name's Austal. I'm a Spartan. I'm here to get all of you out of here."
"How are you going to do that?" Someone else asked.
"I don't know."
"Aren't there more Spartans."
"Unfortunately not. I'm all that was sent." Austal said, ignoring the frightened griping that followed that even a Spartan couldn't fight all the terrorists. He was right, Gustafson and his baddies wouldn't stand a chance.
"Listen," He began, "I'm sent in here to neutralize those who have taken control of the place. I need to know where they went."
"Okay." The man said, "I'll tell you everything." His breathing suddenly became irregular as he tried to recall what had happened.
Austal saw his predicament and reached up to remove his helmet.
That's when he heard the voices again. The group suddenly fell silent again and he disappeared in a simple pulse that covered his armor. Slowly, he crept to the side of the door, now aware of the multiple pings coming from his nine.
"See I told you that there are still people down here. Passed them on my last patrol, but we didn't have enough guys to round everyone up."
"Yeah, they'll be scared shitless."
Austal now began to see their outlines as they jogged down the hall. He counted five men, all armed with assault rifles.
They halted at the front door and one illuminated a flashlight, casting a single bright beam of light into the dark room.
"Well well well." He snickered as he knelt down in front of the huddled group. "You should know that it's safe to come out by now."
In his position in the shadows, Austal saw that the man had been shot in the stomach and his shirt was stained crimson from the torso down.
Countless times have nagged him to lunge as soon as the enemy presented themselves, but at the same time, he fought the urge. There would be a time to strike out, but now wasn't it.
This was another one of the countless hostage situations he had been in and it had no less pressure than the previous ones. This time it was much different. He had no backup, no support. The only thing he could trust was himself to get it entirely done. One slip up would mean his own demise and likely all the hostages inside this building. He shifted from his position, careful not to make his presence known.
"Get up now." One of them said to the group. When they remained glued to their area, he fired a round into the side of the wall. The loud sound of brass certainly made many of them jump or scream in fright.
Instantly, one of the terrorists reached over, hauling a woman up. The rest soon followed and for a second, Austal had thought that they were just another group that had hidden from the gunmen.
Another terrorist shined a light into each of their new hostages as they passed the door. He paused when he saw an older man wearing thin glasses and white hair.
"Stay here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a datapad. He held it still in front of the man's face and brightened when he was done. Austal realized that it was a facial recognition scanner.
"Just the man we were looking for." He said, "The Vice Minister."
"What do you want from me?"
"Me?" The gunmen chuckled, "It's my boss who needs you. I'm just doing my job, just like you. Honestly, it's nothing personal."
"You won't get anything. Trust me; threaten me with death and torture, but I've seen it all. You won't break me."
"Like I said. I won't be the one to come to your aid when you cry for help."
The terrorist put the barrel to the Vice Minister's back and began to escort him out.
Now was the time to strike out.
Austal unsheathed his knife, a simple tool, yet he possessed incredible skill as a knife fighter. He had only began martial arts when he had joined the UNSC which was only for a year before being requisitioned for the Spartans. Knife combat was among his specialties.
In one swift motion, he flipped it around so that the blade was in his fingers. His hand came down in an ax chopping motion as he calmly released it from his grasp. They weren't his specialty sting knives he normally carried, but it still performed its job admirably.
His camo deactivated, Austal had already shifted his focus to the other tangos, knowing that the sound of the knife sinking into his original target's back had already sealed his fate. His pistol was in his hand and he rushed against the wall, a clear line of fire wasn't visible with all the hostages spread between the Gustafson's men.
He scrambled partly up the wall, just as they began to realize they were under attack. Two of them never got a chance to retaliate. He quickly set them both within the aperture sights of his pistol and took them both out with a single shot, the weapon's specialized cartridge designed to bypass body armor, and thankfully they weren't wearing any.
Crouching low, he struck out as he stood up again, fist catching the next tango straight in the jaw. The force from the blow had flung him backwards where he crashed against a frame on the wall and slumped over unmoving.
His presence known, all the hostages in the escort immediately got flat on the floor, a mandatory procedure should there ever be a gunfight in the vicinity. He was almost baffled by their utter calmness when doing so, but saw some of the bodies trembling as fear would often take over any other logic in a situation like this, no matter how many drills were conducted prior.
Austal sprinted to the first tango he had taken down when he heard the sound of a cocking rifle. The last terrorist had aimed down and the pressure on his rifle's trigger was increasing.
The knife cleanly slipped out where it was buried and he tossed it as easily as a throwing disc. It arced through the air at a speed faster than the eye could follow and made a wet thwack.
Blood began to seep through the clothes of the impaled man as his eyes went wide and he finally toppled over.
With all the tangos down, Austal activated his camouflage and observed his motion tracker to see if anyone was coming afterwards. It wouldn't be long before Gustafson found out about his missing men and sent even more his way. He was holed up higher with another group and would need a different tactic.
Deactivating his cloaking, Austal strode to the end and knelt down in an alert position.
"Everyone okay?"
The group of people looked over to him, whispering to one another in awe. Perhaps they have never seen a Spartan before, that or they were still astonished to see his flawless elimination of a half dozen men all armed to the teeth in a matter of seconds.
The Vice Minister that was being heckled by the terrorist earlier looked over everyone else that was hiding with him stepped forward, "Yes we're all fine. Thanks to you Spartan."
"Good." Austal looked around.
"Vice Minister Clark." He extended his hand, which Austal firmly shook, "I head the future operations for the Colonial Natural Resources Department."
"Marcus Austal…Spartan. I'm here to get all of you out."
"You're the only one?"
"I'm all that's left." He lied, "I'm under orders to clear out the tangos and free the remaining hostages."
"Understood." Clark said, "Still, it troubles me how they managed to get past our security."
"We'll worry about that when this is all over." The Spartan finished, however the exact same questions were lingering in his mind, "I saw the gunmen say that you're important to their boss. Any idea what Gustafson's interest is in you?"
"No. Perhaps it's on data, but the CNRD seldom acts in self-interest."
"What about secrets?" When Clark gave him a blank stare, he continued, "Everyone has their secrets Vice Minister."
"I couldn't tell you because I have no idea. I'm sorry."
"Don't sweat it." Marcus dismissed the conversation, knowing his frustration at not being helpful, "We're on the twelfth floor. I want everyone here to head to the main meeting room and stay there. Once it's all clear, we'll send police and counter-terror teams to extract you."
"What about you?"
"Once I've escorted you all there, I'm going to confront the leader," Austal said as he looked over his weapon. "And find out why he's doing all of this."
Out across the street on the rooftop of an adjacent building, Pine casually observed through a pair of optics as Gustafson conversed with one of his men. He had no manners or sense of civility, especially when waving a handgun right in front of his lackey's face. No doubt they knew the situation was falling apart. He found it rather amusing because many times in holo-movies that involved terrorist takeovers were that the longer it took, the more tense the situation got. Add a growing distrust between the groups and it was possible that a rescue team wasn't even necessary. Many times evil forces turned on one another, doing enough work for themselves.
Sure enough, the hostages were scared out of their minds being all in the corner and watched by four men all armed with MA2 rifles, weapons that now had limited use in UNSC spec ops forces.
Bowman was next to him, watching another section.
Their comms crackled again, the countless time since the jamming and suddenly they stopped, allowing silence to descend across their helmets.
Knowing the same fact, both Spartans exchanged a glance that still carried on a conversation despite the polarization of the visors concealing their faces.
"Clear?" They heard Major Boost's voice over the comms again. To his relief, Bowman was actually glad he could be able to stay touch with support. "Eon, this is the Major. Come in."
"Could it be a trap?" Pine asked. Unless Austal neutralized the jammer, they wouldn't turn it off for no reason at all.
"Doubt it. If this goes south, then we'll be ready." Bowman switched on his own channel, "Major, this is Eon Lead. Go ahead."
"Gustafson's halted the jamming sequence. I want you to organize your team and prepare to retake the facility. Have you heard from your man yet?"
"Negative, Eon Four is still dark."
Boost sighed, "We'll have to assume he's dead."
"I won't until I see a body." Bowman cut the line and turned to Ross next to him, "She comes back online, keep her busy." He opened a private channel to Austal, noting that it took little time to connect, "Austal, do you read?"
"Captain? I thought we were jammed."
"Your comms have been off and even through that I was unable to get you on. What's your position?"
"Heading upstairs to where Gustafson is holed up. What am I up against?"
"Plenty. If we go unnoticed, Ross and I can lend marksman support."
"Understood. We may have to take Gustafson alive though."
Bowman's body turned to ice, "Why?"
"This operation runs further than just a typical takeover." Austal explained.
"He killed your parents."
"I know, but for this situation today, I don't think their aim is to uncover the CNRD's data centers."
More than what meets the eye! The answer might be closer than what Eon thinks.
I wasn't kidding when I said that there would be bigger gaps in updates. Nearly three weeks and the last update felt like it was done yesterday!
Thank you very much for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.