Chapter 3
May 27, 18:12
"Exobis", Polaris system
Ben removed the chip that held Jill from the back of his helmet. He handed it over to Hannah, who inserted it into Byron's helmet. Green Team made it into the caves, however to say they escaped alive is questionable. They carried Byron 100 meters into the cave, but the Covenant did not seem to follow. Now they sat there, in a cave nearly 10 meters high and almost 8 meters in width, with four openings.
Well, only Hannah and sat there. Will, Joe, and Peter had each taken one of the openings, only exploring about 50 meters in. Ben took point at the entrance of the cave that they sat in, wielding a M90A Shotgun, knelt down on one knee. Byron lay on a rock ledge, a little bit off the ground; biofoam was, oozing out of his left shoulder, and the left side of his helmet was covered in black.
Saying Byron was an asset to the team was an understatement, in Hannah's book. He far exceeded his role as a leader, making sure the team was always at its best, and that whatever decision he made was best for them. Without him, they would never get out of this alive.
"Analysis done" Jill finally said. The mere second between those two words and Jill's next were so silent that Hannah thought she might have gone deaf. "Vitals normal; Two wounds, one 3rd degree burn on his left shoulder, due to a direct plasma hit. Biofoam has healed it enough to not cause extensive damage. Amputation…" Jill paused, as the rest of Green team returned from the caves. Come on! Hannah thought, annoyed at unfortunate timing. "Amputation not required." Jill finished. Hannah let out a sigh of relief. "I wouldn't get your hopes up yet." The AI told them. "The second wound is a due to a plasma bolt to the head."
Hannah's heart sank. She hoped that the armor had protected him from that. She noticed that the black mark stretched across his helmet from almost the lower left side, covering a quarter of the golden visor. No one dared to ask how bad it was.
Jill continued her analysis, "the helmet absorbed most of the damage and heat, and needs extensive repai-" Hannah was sick of hearing this computer talking, she wanted to know what happened to Byron.
"Jill!" The Spartan finally lost her patience. "What is the wound?" More silence, this time due to surprise, and this one was for much longer than a mere second.
"He has lost all hearing in his ear, as well as his ear." She said flatly. "The hairs around his ear are singed, and the cartilage making up his ear is gone." Hannah's heart sank a little more. "Brain damage, little." Jill finished. Hannah's heart rose. "Wake up time, approximately 6 hours." Jill said, completing her analysis.
"You heard her." Hannah said. "Six hours to get our act together before he's up." Hannah had no problem filing Byron's shoes; she had a few times before when he was compromised. Hannah never knew is she would be able to do it so easily if she knew he wouldn't be taking his position back, though; she had always guessed she could, but never wanted to find out. The rest of Green team had no problem with the temporarily exchange of command either. Ben stood at the entrance, but Peter, Will, and Joe approached her, obviously with something to say. "What did you find?" Hannah looks at the three figures, identical save the "1", "2", or "3" on their left shoulders.
"We found dead ends." Joe and Peter state in unison, so Hannah turned to Will and instantly he gave her a report.
"About 45 meters in the tunnel split off into five separate paths. There was a whole in the floor about a meter wide going straight down, a meter wide whole in the ceiling directly above it going directly up. To the left and right were tunnels at 30 degree slope. One descended, the other ascended. Finally one was directly across from the cave I came from, being level." Will reported without a single pause.
Hannah raised an eyebrow, even though no one could see it. That sounds extremely precise, according to his description. She thought in awe. Those can't just be natural. Someone had to have built them.