Chapter Three - Intruder
0803 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Aboard Covenant destroyer, Epsilon Eridani System
Jack, Rachel, and Logan were already at the Longsword's door as Ashley and Eric un-strapped themselves and moved to join them. Jack motioned with his hand for them to fan out once they were outside. He touched the panel, only to find the hatch jammed. With a nod, he and Logan slammed a foot against the steel. The door groaned free and skid across the deck with a screech.
A semicircle of a dozen Grunts and Jackals waited outside, charging their plasma pistols. But before any could discharge their weapons, three frag grenades arced from inside the Longsword out over the deck, detonating a triplet of fiery shrapnel amongst the Covenant ranks. Assault rifle fire blazed from inside the Longsword as the Spartans poured from the opening, falling into crouched positions. Grunts and Jackals alike were torn apart as Jack, Rachel, and Ashley unloaded the rest of their clips in full auto. There was no time for precision shooting; they were hard pressed enough to shake off enemy fire and simply drowned the aliens in bullets. Logan and Eric moved forward as the others fell back to reload, pumping several rounds from their shotguns into the withering throng of enemies.
But by then the four remaining Jackals had organized themselves into a small phalanx, their blue and orange glowing shields overlapping one another in a defensive wall. Having refreshed his ammo, Jack began to call the signal for the Spartans to encircle the Jackals and thereby flank them. He was halted as one Jackal released the trigger on his trembling plasma pistol, unleashing a searing blob of green plasma towards its nearest target: Logan. The Spartan saw the incoming missile, and had only time to fall into a defensive crouch and reduce his target size as his shields were simmered to nothing.
"Cover!" Logan managed as he inched backwards in retreat, feeding more shells into his shotgun as he did so. But Jack had already signaled the others, and he, Ashley, and Rachel darted into a defensive cluster in front of Logan, unloading their fresh magazines at the advancing Jackals, the bullets pinging off their energy shields.
Eric, meanwhile, had finished reloading, but was caught in the open. To his surprise, two Elites leapt down from atop the Longsword, one forcefully grabbing him and holding him still while the other activated an energy sword with a crackling hiss.
All fighters paused and turned as the Elite with the sword spoke to them, his dialect roughly translated straight to the Spartans' COM Channel.
"Surrender your weapons, or we will be forced to take your lives."
Jack grinned behind his faceplate. They don't want to fight us. They know they'll lose. But they have Eric…
Jack nudged Logan, who finished sliding the last shell into his shotgun as his energy shields enveloped him, restored. A blue acknowledgement light winked back at Jack inside his HUD. Jack stepped forward slowly, buying Logan time as he crept away from the group of Spartans, now obscuring him from view.
The Elites tensed as Jack neared, but he held up a reassuring hand as he knelt and set his assault rifle upon the deck, the white shimmer of the energy sword reflecting off the floor's metallic sheen.
Jack slowly rose, waving for the others to lower their weapons as well. They did so tentatively, wondering what exactly Jack had in mind. The Elite clicked his mandibles in what might have been a satisfied chuckle. Jack noticed automatic doors hissing open as more Covenant troops entered the hangar bay from behind them. He could almost feel them begin to enclose their exposed flank, attempting stealth as they clinked quietly across the deck.
The Elite gave one last wicked click of its mandibles before raising the energy sword to stab Eric in the chest.
A shotgun blast pumped lead into the Elite's torso, tearing through its shielding and armor alike, sending the Elite falling limply to the deck in a growing pool of purple blood.
Logan.
The other Elite stepped back, Eric wrestling tightly in his arms, and primed a plasma grenade, moving to stick it on Eric's faceplate. Jack lunged and reached out a palm, his momentum slapping the Elite's fist, still clutching the fizzing sphere, against its mandible. Grabbing Eric by the wrist, Jack threw himself to the deck, rolling in the air to place Eric beneath him as they clanked and skid across the metal. A warbled roar, the high whine of the plasma grenade charging, and then the ensuing explosion reached their ears in a flash of blue and bits of smoldering, purple-trailing flesh. Jack's shields flickered and faded, his indicator beeping.
Jack and Eric scrambled to their feet, each un-holstering their side arms as they turned and fired upon the amassing enemies across the hangar bay. Ashley and Rachel were already pounding away with their pistols as they backed towards them. Logan had already slung his shotgun over his back and drawn his own M6D, unloading cover fire across the crowd of advancing Covenant as the others drew back.
Jack noticed the hangar bay exit doors sliding shut to trap them inside, and swung his foot out towards his emptied assault rifle lying on the deck. The kicked weapon slid across the floor and wedged itself between the closing panels, holding it open just a crack.
"To the door!" Jack shouted as he and Eric threw themselves against the jammed doors. Each took a side and latched their fingers around the edges, straining to pry them further open. Logan, Ashley, and Rachel turned from their subduing methods and reached the door just as it was wrenched open. They passed through, each taking a few last shots at the Covenant soldiers now charging en masse towards the door, hailing plasma and vibrant pink needles alike. Jack nodded for Eric to pass through, and the Spartan let go and jumped into the corridor into Ashley's waiting grip. Jack thrust himself bodily onto the floor inside as the doors hissed shut, locking into place as its lights turned red.
Jack was offered Rachel's hand and took it, rising to his feet, panting. Even for a Spartan, that had been one hell of a minute. All were safe and uninjured, though everyone's shields were still recharging as he glanced at them all.
"Nice work. We're safe for now, but they'll no doubt unlock these doors in a moment," Jack began, when he was interrupted by Logan.
"So then, we head down this corridor and navigate our way to the command room. Understood…sir," Logan quietly slid a fresh magazine into his M6D as a tentative silence filled the chamber.
Is he mocking me? Jack wondered inside his head. There was no doubt a hint of sarcastic impatience in his voice when he had said it. It was strange. One minute, on the battlefield, they were best buds; their minds thought as one. How else could Logan have understood to sneak around the Longsword and jump the Elite? Yet now that the adrenaline was slipping from their bodies, he had returned to this new, cold attitude towards him. But leaders had a job to do, and a disloyal soldier is an enemy on the battlefield.
Jack had taken enough of this passive hostility.
"SPARTAN-109, do you mind telling me just what the hell your problem is?" Jack asked, a finger straying near his pistol. This was ridiculous. Was he really considering drawing a weapon on a fellow Spartan? This last half hour had invoked the strangest feelings from him. For some reason, Jack had an urge to abort the mission, to haul his and everyone else's asses off this ship and book it for Earth, no…for the middle of nowhere, where no one could find them.
What was this? Fear? No, Jack had long ago erased fear from his memory, save the intensifying adrenaline that kept him and his comrades alive. It wasn't quite despair, either, though many recent events should no doubt have led to utter hopelessness. No, it was something different, something simpler. Part of it was…exhaustion. It was as if Jack had just woken up and realized how long ago this brutal life had started. His time in this universe was over the crest; any action he took from here on was downhill, towards fate.
But it wasn't death he loathed at the bottom of that hill, it was…
What was it?
"Boys, we don't have time for this," Rachel said, stepping in between them. By her tense movements, it seemed she could feel the waves of hate rippling between them. Jack took a step forward, mumbling something about authority to kick Logan's ass, Logan moving to intercept him as well, when Rachel shoved them both away with each hand. She turned to Jack first.
"Jack, you're acting like an idiot. We need to keep moving. We'll follow these corridors…" Rachel began. Jack felt a slight trill in his chest. That's right, yell at me, Rachel. Tell me why I'm stupid. Leave Logan out of this.
She then swiveled on Logan, who took a wary step back.
"And you need to respect our leader, not chip at his patience, like, like some child!"
Jack tightened his grip on his pistol. Don't even talk to him, Rachel; tell me why I'm stupid.
"Understood?" Rachel finished, hands on hips, looking back and forth at them both like some admonishing grandmother. Jack put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, just as Logan hooked his fingers around her elbow to guide her away.
As one, they muttered through gritted teeth, "Don't touch her."
Rachel looked between them, rather confused. Ashley and Eric stood by, secretly amused. They understood quite well what was going on. It was too bad the other three didn't. Then again, that made it more interesting for them to watch. It was strange what life-threatening combat did to provoke humor during stressful situations.
All of a sudden, a strange hissing sound carried out continuously through the corridor. Everyone seemed to forget their childish behavior and returned to their uniform Spartan selves, each one drawing their side arms and aiming at each door and hallway.
"What is that?" Eric wondered aloud from the back. Suddenly it dawned on Jack as he measured the atmosphere levels from inside his HUD.
"No wonder they haven't come for us yet…" Jack said, lowering his pistol in grim resignation, "…they're draining the oxygen out of these corridors."