Chapter 6: Early Retirement
Base Control Center
Commander Mogran panicked slightly when he heard the frantic calls for help and reinforcements flooding all of the communication channels. From what he was seeing, there was heavy fighting occurring near the storage bunkers on the lower levels of the base. However, there was some sort of jamming or interference, which was hampering his ability to communicate with his forces.
Mogran picked up his personal sidearm, an old M6D pistol, and nodded to several of his bodyguards. The elite troopers quickly realized what was going on and armed their weapons.
"Captain Dellings, you have command of the base." Mogran strode out of the control center with his guards. "I will handle this matter personally."
Storage Bunker B
"Shit, we're pinned down!" Audie cried as he ducked behind a cargo crate.
Wolfman growled as he reloaded his carbine. He had no idea how many enemies there were, but from their accuracy and tactics, he knew that these were highly trained veterans, contrary to what Finn portrayed the Scarlet Soldiers to be.
"Maverick! We need some intel!"
Maverick nodded and pulled two small objects out of his belt. Once was a fragmentation grenade while the other was a small sticky camera. Maverick lobbed the fragmentation grenade first. Wolfman could hear a pause in the gunfire and shouting before a loud bang. When he was sure the enemies were scattered, Maverick lobbed the sticky camera out. They checked the camera feeds and winced as Wolfman cursed.
"Shit, we gotta get out of here!" He yelled. "Warn Maya and the others!"
"Can't! I can't get a signal through!" Audie cried as more bullets flew over his head.
Wolf-man quickly looked around to find a possible exit. Unfortunately, there was only one way out of the bunker, and that was the door. Wolfman looked to the other side of the bunker and saw cargo lifter unit. It was one of those failed attempts at creating combat practical power armor that was relegated to cargo lifting duty. Though not rated for combat, Wolfman felt it was good enough to suit their needs.
"Audie! Maverick! Give me some covering fire!" Wolfman yelled as he dashed for the cargo lifter.
He pulled himself into the power armor and quickly started to activate the systems, nervously aware of the bullets bouncing off the suit around him. The power lifter slowly began to move. By this time, the enemy soldiers finally got the idea to start firing at Wolfman. However, Wolfman had anticipated this and used the lifter's massive claws to pick up a steel cargo container, using it as a makeshift shield.
"Let's get out of here!" Wolfman yelled as the power lifter slowly lumbered forward.
Maverick and Audie quickly took positions on the power lifter's flank, firing at their assailants behind the protection of their mobile barrier.
"Yes!" Audie cheered as he saw several fall over. "Got the bas-"
Unfortunately, Audie never had a chance to finish his sentence. Several high powered rifle rounds burst through his ballistic armor and into his chest, killing him instantly.
"Keep going!" Wolfman yelled to Maverick. "He's gone!"
Wolfman looked on in horror as he saw the bunker door begin to close. Thinking quickly, he tossed the cargo container he was holding aside, scattering a squad of soldiers. With just seconds to spare, he managed to slip the power lifter's claws underneath the door and hold it up.
"Go!" He yelled to Maverick.
"You first!" Maverick yelled back. "I'll cover you!"
Wolfman got out of the power lifter, leaving the controls on automatic to keep the door up. He rolled through the opening and came up to his knees, scanning the hallway for any threats.
"Come on Maverick!"
"You keep going sir! I'll hold em back for you!" Maverick yelled over the gunfire.
"Don't be crazy! You'll die!"
"To tell the truth, I've always wanted to go down in a hail of gunfire!" Maverick flashed his fiendish grin. "This one's for Audie!"
"Damnit Maverick!" Wolfman was about to reach under the door and pull him through, but he was too late.
Maverick shot out the power lifter's hydraulic arms, causing them to lose power and drop the doors.
"I regret nothing sir!" He yelled as the door slammed shut. "Go and warn Maya and the others! They've got more to lose than either of us!"
Wolfman cursed loudly to himself and ran down the hallway, gunfire still echoing through the door. Even with the door closed, Wolfman could hear Maverick shout, "I regret nothing!"
Meanwhile, back in the bunker, Maverick was observing his predicament. He was surrounded by at least two dozen soldiers. Outgunned, outnumbered, Maverick was not going down without a fight. He picked up Audie's dropped carbine with one hand and his own carbine in the other, pointing them both at the oncoming soldiers.
"Say hello to my little friends, you fuckers!"
The battle only lasted for five minutes, but the damage was done. Once the shooting finally stopped, Maverick had used up nearly three hundred rounds of ammunition, two carbines, three pistols, five grenades, and a combat knife to kill ten of the estimated two dozen attackers. Maverick himself took at least seven wounds to various parts of his body before he was finally felled by a point blank shotgun blast to the back.
His last word was "Bang." Before he drew a concealed pistol from his boot and shot his attacker in the gut.
Fusion Reactor
"Are you guys going to be finished any time soon?" Maya asked impatiently, anxious from Wolfman's final transmission.
"Almost done." Wonderboy said as he hacked into the reactor systems. "Just a few more seconds."
"I'm afraid that it's really not necessary." A familiar voice said confidently from the door.
Maya quickly whipped around, carbine raised and gaped in surprise.
"What the hell are you doing here?
Storage Bunker B
Commander Mogran and his troops slowly entered the bunker, weapons drawn. He glanced around and saw signs of a fight. Bullet casings, weapon damage, and bodies littered the entire room. What made Mogran even more suspicious was the fact that he didn't have any troops posted in this area.
As his men scattered to search the rest of the bunker, Mogran bent down to inspect one of the bodies. They were all dead, just as he expected. What he didn't expect was all the bodies to be UNSC soldiers.
However, before Mogran could have any choice to voice his alarm, gunfire and yelling suddenly erupted all over the bunker. Mogran instinctively ducked as two of his bodyguards were cut down by precise rifle fire. His remaining troops quickly returned fire at the unseen assailants. Mogran hazarded a peek out from the cargo crate he was taking cover behind and saw roughly a dozen men firing from a defensive position in a very well-disciplined manner. His remaining men returned fire, but most of it was ineffectual at best.
Focusing on a shape in the darkness, Mogran drew his pistol and fired. He was satisfied to see a human silhouette suddenly jerk and fall over.
"Commander!" Dellings yelled through the radio, robbing Mogran of his feeling of momentary triumph. "We're receiving reports of attacks all over!"
"Impossible!" Mogran shouted. "Scramble our troops!"
"We did sir!" Dellings was frantic now. "But they're all being cut apart! I don't know how long we can- holy shit! They're here!"
The transmission suddenly devolved into shouting and gunfire. Mogran cursed as he cut the transmission.
"All troops fall back! We must secure and protect the reactor!"
Fusion Reactor
"Major Finn?" Maya said incredulously as she lowered her weapon. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Just seeing to my assets." Finn said matter-of-factly. "Oh, and you can put those weapons down. You really won't be needing them any more."
Before Maya or her squadmates had any chance to protest, a dozen black-clad, heavily armed commandoes suddenly entered the room. Seeing that they were grossly outmatched and outnumbered, Maya, Wonderboy, Jonesin, and Cutter reluctantly dropped their weapons to the floor.
"Oh, and don't forget all those concealed weapons of yours as well. I know how all you special forces types work." Fin added.
More weapons clattered onto the ground.
"What the hell is all this about?
"Merely collecting something of great value." Finn nodded to one of the commandoes, who picked up a small lead box from a hidden compartment near the reactor.
The commando then handed the box, which was plastered with warning labels, to Finn. Finn graciously took the box and examined it for a second.
"You're probably wondering why I'm doing this. Unfortunately, I can't be bothered to waste any more time."
"Who the fuck are these clowns?" Jonesin growled.
"Oh? Them?" Finn motioned to the commando squad. "My own little personal army. You won't find them on any official UNSC payrolls though. Now if you'll be so kind, I'll be taking my leave now."
The moment Finn pocketed the mysterious box, one of his men tumbled over. Finn turned to give a harsh reprimand, but it was caught in his throat when he saw the blood spattered all over the floor. Before he could react, Jonesin tackled him to the ground.
Maya took the chance and forcefully elbowed the commando behind her in the face. The man staggered backward, holding onto this broken face. She then brought out a holdout knife she kept hidden in her sleeve and stabbed the commando in the throat, careful not to hit his armored vest. The commando gurgled and fell over. Maya grabbed his rifle and quickly aimed at and shot two more commandoes.
Cutter and Wonderboy similarly brought down their nearby captors in hand-to-hand combat and procured either their own or the enemies' weapons. The remaining commandoes attempted to fight back, but they were all quickly killed by an unseen ally behind them.
"Wolfman!" Maya shouted as she saw him limp into the room. "What the hell happened?"
"We were backstabbed, that's what happened." Wolfman glared at Finn. "By this little piece of shit, and Audie and Maverick paid for it."
Maya and the others gasped. Though they were all used to squadmates being killed in action, one never got used to it.
Wolfman kicked Finn as he lay on the ground. "Okay Finn, we're going to talk, and it will be short, but very very nasty, depending on how you answer."
"Go to hell." Finn spat, only to be rewarded with swift kick to the ribs by Wolfman.
"Now Finn, you know what we can do to forcibly retrieve information from individuals. You've seen us do it. Hell, you've even taught us a few techniques yourself. Do you really want to test us?"
Finn's eyes darted from one soldier to the next and realized that they were all pissed, and all meant business. Now, devious and evil he may be, Finn was not a terribly brave man, and he quickly caved into the pressure.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk." Finn said glumly.
"Then start by telling us what the hell is going on here." Wolfman said.
"Alright, I wasn't completely truthful when I briefed you…"
Jonesin snorted.
"To tell you the truth, this base was never abandoned in the first place. It was just a cover story to conduct secret research."
Maya bent down and picked up the mysterious box from Finn's pocket.
"On this thing, you mean?"
"Don't open that!" Finn said frantically. "You can kill us all!"
Maya raised an eyebrow at the warning and pocketed the box herself.
"What exactly is it?"
"We don't know. It's called the Artifact, and we honestly don't know what it is, what it's for, or what it does. We found it buried under the base in a hidden chamber while attempting to expand the base. All we know is that the Artifact produces huge amounts of radiation and amounts of power that makes even the most advanced fusion reactors look like matches."
"How come it's sitting in a backwater dump like this?"
"It was the only secure place we could keep it. Whenever we tried to move it off planet, it produced massive amounts of radiation, not only in real space, but in Slipspace as well, which meant that it could be tracked if not properly shielded. We sealed it in this shielded box and kept it stored within to reactor to hide its radiation signature."
"It obviously didn't work." Wolfman said wryly.
"I can assure you, the Scarlet Soldiers knew nothing of the Artifact when they attacked the base. They did, however, find it while securing the area, but I doubt those simple-minded fools can truly comprehend what they had in their possession."
"So why all this lying and deception? Why betray us when we could have easily retrieved this?"
"You don't get it, do you?" Finn laughed. "The UNSC isn't the only party interested in the Artifact. There are some…. Individuals… who would like to pay a great deal to have something as rare as this in their personal possession."
"Like your superiors at ONI?" Wolfman narrowed his eyes. "Because I sure as hell know you don't have the guts or the smarts to try and pull something off like this on your own."
Finn grinned. "Besides, we needed a good cover story to explain to the UNSC how such a valuable asset was lost. It would be simple to tell them that a black ops team decided to cash in and went rogue."
"So we were just scapegoats?" Cutter coughed.
"That's right. And who would ever know? UNSC doesn't like to talk about their secret projects much."
"Wonderboy, you have the reactor override codes, right?" Wolfman said grimly.
"Of course I do."
"Tie this bastard up onto the reactor and set it blow in thirty minutes."
"Wait, you can't do this!" Finn yelled.
"Watch me." Wolfman glared, instantly shutting Finn up. "Do it."
"You won't get away with this!" Finn yelled. "There are fifty more of my men in this base, not to mention the Scarlet Soldiers! They know you're here, and you'll never get out of here alive!"
"Gag him too, his voice is starting to annoy me."
"Roger that sir." Maya said enthusiastically as she jammed a cloth into Finn's mouth.
"Now lets get the hell out of here." Wolfman picked up and loaded his weapon. "I'm pretty sure Major Traitor here has a ship ready and waiting to take him off this rock. Plus I'm sure he won't mind if we borrow it."
Finn, unable to move or speak, merely glared at Wolfman.
"Sir, we've got company." Jonesin said as he looked out of the reactor entrance. "Scarlet Soldiers. Twenty at least."
"What do we do sir?" Wonderboy asked.
"We do what we do best." Maya said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Kill everything that moves."