New Addie, Providence
November 30, 2557
"It'll hold for now." Bowman flicked away the tweezers that held the blackened spike embedding itself into Adrian's thigh. "You need a minute to rest?"
"Nah, I'm good." Adrian hopped off the medical table and pulled her pant leg back down, leaning on it to make sure it wasn't going to be a hassle later on. She made a grimace from feeling the pain shooting up her leg, but it was bearable and it had escaped the Spartan's notice.
Upon their escape from Sierno, Eon and Adrian miraculously come across an abandoned warthog and mongoose from a downed pelican just outside the city. A quick check indicated that both vehicles were functional, although the M12's mounted chaingun had about a minute's worth of ammunition by sustained fire. They drove for hours on end until reaching New Addie and ditching the vehicles to get inside the city towards the Lumbar Mountain Range.
Adrian's wound had started to become a major bother and more than a mere annoyance. Thus Eon had located a medical clinic where Bowman had expertly applied biofoam and a dressing.
Night was beginning to fall over the deserted city once more, causing what streetlights that still functioned to activate and bathe the ground with an eerie yellow glow.
"It's getting dark outside." Pine stated, "We better get moving."
The other members agreed.
"Damn." Fowler said after a forty minute silence, "Think anybody got out?"
"Can't do anything for them now."
When Eon had entered the city, they immediately noticed all the dead. They had made it to the medical ward of an office building just at the city's suburban edge when they already came across two dozen bodies.
The UNSC had tried their hardest attempts when the Covenant assaulted New Addie to break through and initiate an evac. The brutes had organized overwhelming defensive positions guided by their Prophet of Clairvoyance to smash the UNSC armor sent to break their blockade. In essence, the civilians were trapped and any means to rescue anyone had failed.
With the city under their watch, the brutes then searched the entire metropolitan area for survivors. Honed by the hunting skills on their homeworld, the jiralhanae, unggoy and kig-yar prowled the streets at night, relishing in the terror of the civilians trapped inside the besieged area. The news was highly publicized when it was initially discovered on Waypoint network and known as the New Addie massacre. It was right now the top story, headlining the entire newscast.
The corpses varied in everything. Race, sex, age, body shape, the Covenant had no prejudice. The only thing that always remained the same was that they were hunted like animals.
The sight had gnawed away at the five of them as they traversed the city and it only got worse.
The newest victim they saw had set it off. An undeniable lusting rage of vengeance was building inside their hearts. Adrian saw subtle changes in the Spartans' body language upon examination, most notably with Fowler and Austal. Bowman lowered his head in respect and Pine's own expression was indifferent although she knew that he wasn't unaffected too.
The mangled pile of dried flesh had the small stubby limbs of a newborn infant, laid on its back and lacerated right open from the jaws of a bloodthirsty jackal. The mother was found nearby, a half dozen burns from a plasma weapon in her back as she tried to crawl and provide whatever protection possible.
Adrian had visibly blanched at the scene and knew that the Spartans were going to be moved too. Even the battle hardened warriors had nothing to say at first.
"Animals." Austal raised a fist.
Sensing what the younger Spartan was about to do, Bowman calmly put a hand on his wrist, essentially restraining him from hitting the wall. The dead had affected him too, but his posture told her that he wasn't letting it get the best of him. Revenge did the nasty honors of clouding judgment and dulling common sense. He needed everyone to focus, as it wasn't an area for mistakes.
"Austal. Revenge is best served cold."
Putting the grisly scene behind them, they continued on, heading to the east side to avoid direct confrontation with the brute occupiers. Their destination, the Lumbar Mountains loomed in the distance with the closest peak being their destination.
It wasn't an easy task to traverse through the entire city; there were hunting parties of various sizes constantly sweeping the area. Fortunately, the Spartans' heads-up-displays had now resumed their normal functions, the motion tracker kept them alert of any blips.
Once a patrol was headed their way, the Spartans and Adrian quickly found a place to hide, hunkering down in an alleyway, store or remarkably in plain sight. Even without their active camo in operation, Eon's jet black armor blended into the night shadows and were practically invisible.
Adrian was the wildcard. She had no sealed armor and instead applied a scentless deodorant they had found at a convenience store to mask the smell of her sweat. Even the faintest trace of an aroma or odor could be enough to catch the notice of the jiralhanae.
"The highway route up to the mountains is all clogged." Pine said, just emerging from the lobby. He had taken position atop a hotel to scope out the highway that ran right up to the closest peak at the Lumbar. "No way we'd be able to drive out of here."
"Not to mention using an engine's going to make a whole lot of noise." Fowler added, "We've seen phantoms and banshees in the sky like flies and I don't doubt that there's a Covenant ship up there too."
A loud screech suddenly came from outside, sending all five of them into high alert. Eon snatched up their weapons and was already scanning around. The cawing sound was easily distinguishable as a jackal.
Movement caught their eye as they witnessed the source of the screech sprint to the edge of the building across the street and it took a leap, easily crossing the gap and landing on the adjacent roof.
"Trouble?" Adrian asked.
"Covenant wouldn't get riled up for no reason." Fowler replied, "I bet they found another victim."
"Let's make sure they don't become a victim." Bowman unslung his rifle from the magnetic plate on his back, "Move out Eon."
Eon followed the jackal sniper for ten minutes, egressing north towards the mountains and keeping a sizeable distance while maintaining a sight on their target. Austal on point with Adrian bringing up the rear. They kept their eyes upward, watching their target if it deviated from its course, but it remained constantly on the move with a surprising show of stamina. Even Spartans had a small degree of difficulty making bounds over the gaps of separate buildings some times. However, the kig-yar anatomy was accustomed to such rolling and leaping.
The Spartans' motion trackers found multiple blips, four additional ones plus the one they had been following. Their location put them at the entrance of a grocery store in between a pair of apartment complexes. The jackals seemed quite interested in whatever lay inside.
"Something tells me they're not after the weekly special." Pine deadpanned.
"Agreed."
A piercing scream suddenly broke the silence, this time belonging to a human. The jackals responded with delighted squawks and suddenly fired inside the grocer with a volley of green bullets, all rounds from the ubiquitous Covenant carbine.
There was no mistaking the terror in the woman who made the scream.
"Weapons free!" Bowman shouted.
They couldn't see the other jackals or the woman inside, but the lone marksman atop the building was scoped in upon by Ross. He quickly centered the crosshairs on the sharpshooter's head and pulled the trigger.
With a muted cough, the sniper merely shook as the Spartan braced himself from the rifle's kick. His aim was dead-on; although he couldn't see it, the round had taken off the jackal's head.
"Moving inside." Bowman took Austal with him as Fowler, Pine and Adrian secured the entrance and kept watch for reinforcements. If any Covenant had keen ears, they'd flock to this location in a short amount of time.
The front automatic doors to the grocer had lost power and the glass had been shattered, allowing the duo to step through. They kept an eye on their motion trackers, noticing an unidentified contact that was abnormally large towards the back area of the store. The entire area was dark and containers of food were knocked askew, some of them torn open with their contents spilled across the floor.
"I see it too." Austal echoed Bowman's thoughts, "Too big to be a hunter…or two."
"Eyes sharp. Watch your fire, potential civvies in the vicinity." Bowman waved his hand being on point. Austal separated from him, moving to the next aisle. All clear.
The jackals made another raspy hissing sound and a gunshot came from one of the store departments. The Spartans easily triangulated its location.
Following their motion trackers, Austal was on point and saw two of the jackals plus the human they were gloating over. A closer observation made him realize that the closest person was a young boy, maybe seven years old. The avian Covenant soldier held a pink crystalline device in his hand, a needler version of a covie combat knife.
Bowman flashed him a green light, painting a jackal out of Austal's sightline on his HUD.
Careful not to make his presence known yet, the Spartan slid one of his Sting knives out of its sheath and deftly held the tool in his left hand. He absentmindedly twirled it around in between his fingers as if it were a toy. Bowman had one jackal right in the center of his battle rifle's crosshairs which meant that his position made it unable to engage the other three for a brief amount of time. Had there not been civilians where timing was critical, they could have a bit more insulation on how to eliminate the civilian's captors.
A trio of shots told him that Bowman's man was already dead. Austal exploded from his spot, easily jumping right over the store counter, already spotting the remaining three jackals. One of them had exceptionally quick reflexes and whirled around, eyes widening rather quickly seeing a freaky armored hulk airborne and headed straight towards it.
Austal wasted no time snapping his pistol out in both hands and aiming squarely at the jackal. His finger was an ounce away from squeezing the trigger when he noticed it.
A trio of children, all about seven years old, directly behind the jackal were staring at him, wide eyed with fear. He was there to rescue them, but it wasn't their fault to be afraid. The child in the center, a girl had buried her head into the arms of her two companions in a desperate huddle.
The jackal must have known it had the upper hand. Sure, Marcus was a lethal Spartan, but he wouldn't dare shoot an innocent, let alone one that was barely a decade old.
Unfortunately for it, the thought of being able to counter-attack never occurred, at least while it was alive. Austal lashed out, a lightning strike with the blade impacting directly on the Covenant soldier's chin. The stab jerked it and he pulled it out with a grunt, watching as it collapsed to the ground, blood already leaking from the sizable hole.
"Bowman watch your fire!" He hissed, "We got civvies back here!"
"How many?"
"Numerous." Austal heard a cackle of another jackal and quickly activated his camouflage. The two other assailants were looking for their deceased partner.
A loud crash interrupted his concentration and he rushed around the corner.
Bowman had jumped the counter similar to how Austal had crossed over, except he headed close enough to grab the jackal by its leg. His half-ton weight plus the vector he was falling at quickly overwhelmed the jackal's weaker bones and there was a sickening snapping sound as it was twisted at an unnatural angle. He delivered a hammering blow from his left arm to put the creature down.
A sizzling sound caused him to whirl around; the final jackal stared back defiantly with the ghostly blue glow of a plasma grenade in its hand. It looked bent on avenging its dead comrades.
"DOWN NOW!" Bowman had a split second to make his decision. He grabbed a nearby table and easily tilted it on its side. The thing must've weighed fifty pounds plus whatever half-eaten food was on top had fallen off onto the floor.
With a flick of his hands, he shoved it forward, throwing the object in a way most people didn't believe was possible. The jackal's hand slipped and the grenade touched the table, a high-pitched sound emitted from the center, indicating that it had now adhered to the surface.
Austal scooped up the three kids and shielded them with his body. Amazingly, they knew what was going to happen and he felt their grip tighten.
The grenade exploded in a white hot blaze. Marcus felt the heat wash over his back and his shield alarms were whining with the red blinking klaxon already telling him that the blast had completely dissipated his energy shields.
A pair of gunshots later, the final jackal collapsed in a pool of its own blood. Bowman holstered his pistol, smoke still curling off the barrel.
"All clear?" Austal set down the kids.
"Yeah. Final hostile neutralized." Bowman flashed a green light and got three in return.
Turning back he had finally gotten a chance to look at the kids. There wasn't just three of them.
All huddled at the back wall, in between tables and underneath hiding places had to be at least three dozen of them. Two adults were also nearby as well, looking over another kid who was completely transfixed with fear. The fact that they had survived the Covenant for this long gave the Spartans hope that many more could be rescued.
Both of the older adults were women and they tensed up with nervousness upon seeing the Spartans. The Captain saw their discomfort and casually took off his helmet. To his right, Austal was softly speaking to the trio of kids he had just saved and did likewise.
"Ma'am, I'm Captain Jacob Bowman, leader of Spartan Fireteam Eon. Surprised to find you all here."
The younger of the two women stepped forward, almost as if she was expecting him to attack her. "Captain, we're so grateful for your presence." Traces of tears began to form in her eyes, further adding to her disheveled look, "If you haven't come across us we would've been killed by those animals." She made a disgusted face towards the jackal corpses.
"Glad we could be of assistance, but why haven't you all evacuated during the initial order?"
"The Covenant specifically attacked all the evacuation transports as they rushed to flee the place. We were on a field trip when they had started the invasion and knew that our school had been overrun. Therefore we took shelter in this store."
"You do know that nighttime is the worst time to expect enemies?" Austal asked. "These brutes have surrounded the city and cut off all means of escape. They then send out search parties by nightfall and basically hunt any survivors left in the city."
"To be a little blunt," Bowman added, "We did not expect anyone to be in New Addie at all."
In the middle of the night in a city locked down by brute patrols. The problems keep coming and they don't seem like they're going to stop anytime soon. But if anyone can pull it off, it's Eon.
Thanks for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.