Chapter XV
—Priority Beta—
2402 Hours, March 18, 2551 (Military Calendar) \
UNSC/ONI Frigate Day Breaker, 16 Cygni star system.
Jace and Jeremiah stepped up to the fore, draining the shields from a pair of charging Spec Ops Elites. The aliens doubled back, taking a few rounds to their exposed armor before spinning behind their deployable cover. Jeremiah primed a frag grenade, cooked it, then threw it at the base of the shimmering field of protective energy. In a flash of light, the Elites were engulfed in a cloud of smoke and fire, leaving their lifeless bodies on the floor. Blood pooled beneath their mass, while some splashed against the walls.
The Lieutenant edged forward, lining down the sights of his DMR. He moved pass the fallen alien warriors, taking a quick glance around the next corner. Jace saw nothing, and that worried him. They'd encounted just seven Elites prior to taking out the two that found Dr. Asari and Erikson. If they wanted this relic bad enough, you'd think the Covenant would be sending in more.
But he wouldn't complain, not in the least. The Lieutenant looked back to his team, giving the "all clear" hand gesture. Jeremiah hurried to Jace's side, sweeping his scoped rifle down the empty corridor. Alex and Lukas brought up the rear, having Dr. Asari and Erikson tight between them like protective pachyderm mothers. Nova-One doubled-checked himself, pulling up his thermal vision for a better analysis. From what he could ascertain, it was clear.
Nova-One and -Two rounded the corner, rifle butts pressed hard against their shoulders. The moment Nova-Three and –Four eased up behind the others, the air rippled before the Lieutenant's eyes.
"Contacts!" he exclaimed.
The corridor suddenly swarmed with plasma bolts like angry bees, stinging against the Spartans' armor. Lukas grabbed Dr. Erikson and Asari by the collar of their coats and whisked them into cover. Jeremiah unloaded into the empty air; the ballistic rounds made contact, flaring the shields of Elites in active camouflage. Jace cursed at the sight of them. His sensors hadn't detected them.
A trio of Elites donned in jet-black armor blocked the corridor, seemingly waiting to spring their trap. Losing their tactical advantage, Jace and Jeremiah fell back, diving inside a darkened conference room as Alex and Lukas covered them. Once Alex beat down the shields of one of the Elites, Lukas motioned around cover, hitting it dead-center between its eyes.
"Scratch one," Nova-Four taunted.
The alien reeled, splattering blood against the armor of its allies. Coated with blood, the remaining Elites' camouflage overloaded, fluctuating it in and out. Jeremiah leaned out from the conference room, marking the speckles of blood on the alien's armor. "You're mine now," he said, his whisper in ear-shot of Jace.
"Roll out on three…?" the Lieutenant suggested.
Nova-Two switched for his shotgun, silently answering the question.
"…Three!"
The two Headhunters rolled out from inside the conference room; Jace taking one, Jeremiah taking the other. The Warrant Officer rushed forward, aimed the M45, and fired a shell at point blank range. Blowback coated Jeremiah's armor as the Elite was lifted off its feet from the blast. By the time the alien hit the ground, its ally had already suffered a lethal headshot and had already hit the floor.
"Clear," the Lieutenant announced.
"Let's not do that again," Alex voiced through the COM.
"Noted," Jace replied, going over to the ONI scientists. "Injuried?"
"No, but…"
"Then you're fine," Nova-One said, ignoring Dr. Erikson's complaint before it started. He switched to his TEAMCOM, privately speaking with the team. "Nova, assemble on me."
The Spartans stood around the Lieutenant, turning off their external speakers. The last thing they needed was a couple of ONI scientists giving them tactical suggestions.
Free from earshot, Jeremiah relaxed. "These nerds are gonna get us killed. Covenant's playing hardball now - stealth teams, traps. They'll resort to anything."
"I know," Jace responded. "Can't afford keep them exposed, not with the Covenant resorting to these tactics." Nova-One switched over to the Nightfire. "Mirage, status?"
"Marginal," the AI replied, as if mulling it over. "What do you need, Lieutenant?"
"An alternate route to the hangar; the safest you can find."
"Working. Stand by, Lieutenant."
There was a two second pause.
"I've located a service elevator, Nova-One. It operates at minimal power and weight capacity, so I would suggest Dr. Asari should be its only occupant. The rest of your team will have to descend on your own, Lieutenant."
"That's fine," Jace impatiently shuffled.
"Uploading," Mirage stated. "Done."
The service elevator's location flashed onto Nova's TACMAP, and Jace dropped a NAV marker on top of it.
"Everyone set?"
Three acknowledgement lights winked.
With the ONI scientists tucked in the middle of the Spartans, they continued down the corridor, passing through the automated door. An injured crewman suddenly fell through the door, collapsing into Jeremiah's arms. She bled profusely from her mid-section that soaked through her gray fatigues. The crewman had been hit by a round from a needle rifle, and it had detonated in her side. Her body went limp in Nova-Two's arms. He gently set her body down on the floor and placed her up against the wall.
It would unfortunately her resting place..
Ahead, the rest of the crewmen were caught in a heated firefight. They scrambled about, using anything to shield them from the superheated projectiles.
"Clear this sector, Nova!" Jace reacted.
Jeremiah, Alex and Lukas rushed forward, while the Lieutenant remained with the doctors. He pointed to an angled wall, which blocked the view from the rest of the H-shaped corridor... and the Covenant.
"Stay here and don't move," ordered Nova-One.
Dr. Asari nodded, gripping the relic even tighter.
Jace rounded the sharp corner, instantly being struck with a needler shard that embedded into his right shoulder plate. A team of five blood-red armored Elites took up position on the opposite side of the corridor, showering heavy fire onto the crewmen. Despite being armed with assault rifles and pistols, the crew of the Day Breaker was your basic ship operational personnel. They weren't trained for this type of combat, and this worried Jace.
Why would you bring a ship into Covenant-controlled space without some defensive contingency? Pity.
The Lieutenant moved up beside Nova-Four, crouching low behind a barrier of resilient workstations, desks, and even a refrigerator from a nearby break room. Jace pressed against the frigid coils behind the refrigerator, leaned right, and dispensed a dozen rounds into one of the Elites before it spotted him and returned fire.
Lukas didn't flinch, keeping his aim steady as he took hits to his shoulders and chest. He finished off the alien's shields, looking for a quick headshot to end it. The Elite stepped into cover, however. Lukas grunted, taking a knee to reload as he caught Jeremiah's movements in the corner of this eye. He had surged forward, hurling a grenade in the midst of the Elites.
The alien warrior scooped up the 'nade, drawing back its arm to throw it back. Jeremiah acted. He drew his M90 and blasted the Elite scum. Drawn off by the hit, the Elite's grip on the grenade loosened, and it blew. Its shields vanished and the prideful alien was neutralized. Collateral damage washed over the other Elites' shields, draining them an ounce.
"Boom, baby!" Nova-Two cheered."That's how we do it in Beta Company!"
Alex made a devious grin behind her faceplate, quickly picking off one of the stunned aliens. "Three more," she notified.
No sooner than the words had flowed from her lips, the three Elites dropped their weapons and disappeared into cover. The crewmen ceased fire.
"They're retreating! We won!" one of them joyfully exclaimed.
Jace ignored the premature celebration. The Covenant never retreated, and surely they never ran from a fight.
Something was up.
"Stand ready, Spartans," he braced.
Nova Team reloaded their weapons, eased back into cover, and waited. At that moment, the Elites roaring around the corner, energy swords slung behind them.
"Drop 'em, quick!" the Lieutenant shouted.
All at once, Nova Team and the Day Breaker's crew opened up on the charging Elites. The aliens kept coming full speed, shifting positions as they ran to retain the integrity of their shields. This maneuver was clever, too. No one Elite took the brunt of the assault, for each one took a few rounds, moved, and was replaced with another. These Elites were going to slaughter everyone.
The first Elite hurdled over an overturned workstation, grabbed a crewman by the neck, and ran it's sword through his abdomen. The second and third Elites ran around the first, cutting down the crewmen as if they were nothing. Alex sprung for the second Elite, bashing the side of its head with the butt of her DMR as it raced by. The Elite stumbled left, recovered, and lashed out against its enemy.
It growled at the sight of Nova-Three, coming toward her with its sword high over its crescent head armor. Alex took her rifle, swinging it like a baseball bat into the Elite's forearm. Despite the blow, the alien held onto its sword, but was subsequently spun around. With its back to her, Alex kicked the Elite behind its peculiar knees, forcing it to kneel.
She curled her fingers around the Elite's neck, but the very sensation of the human's fingers touching it brought great fury. It shot up to its full height if 8'6", supporting the Spartan's weight on its back. The Elite churned its legs backwards, looking to slam Alex against to wall.
Nova-Three would have nothing of it.
She let go of the Elite, slipped in front of it, and used the alien's own momentum to crush it against the wall. Chunks of concrete crumbled, and the Elite found itself with a pistol pressed against its forehead.
"See ya," Alex grinned, pulling the trigger.
The Elite's dark eyes rolled in the back of its head, slid down the wall, and slumped over. Behind her, the third Elite threw a screaming crewman over its shoulder, blocked a right hook from Lukas, and drove the Headhunter into the floor. The Spartan sniper rolled upright, nearly having his helmet crushed under the alien's vicious stomp.
In the corner of his eye, Nova-Four marked the familiar barrel of an M90 and hit the floor. The shotgun's discharge nearly took the Elite's head from its shoulders, but Jeremiah was satisfied with a disfigured face. The final Elite wrestled with the Lieutenant, with Jace trying his best to keep the aggressive beast from spotting Dr. Asari and the relic. He squeezed the Elite's powerful wrists, having its energy sword inches from his faceplate. The Special Operations Elite swept its leg across Jaces', and the Spartan began to lose his balance; but if he was going down, the enemy was going down as well.
The two dropped to the floor, and one of the ionized blade tips sunk into Jace's right forearm. He cried out painfully, feeling the blade burn through tendons and sizzling the bone. The Elite motioned its mandibles of what seemed like a smirk. As it drew back the sword to take another strike, it froze. Nova-One lifted up his head, seeing one of the Elite's fallen energy swords sticking out of his attacker's neck and back. The alien's dead weight fell upon Jace, and he quickly shoved it off.
The Lieutenant sat up on his knees, his forearm streaming with blood. He looked over to Lukas, watching his arm slowly descend from throwing the energy sword. It was a perfect throw. Jace obliged with a nod to Nova-Four, and he returned the gesture. Agonizing pain rippled through Nova-One's arm, feeling as it was being deliberately held over a flame. Blood bubbled and streamed from the wound, forming a small pool on the floor.
Dr. Asari inched her out from behind cover, pondering whether or not over. Erikson, however, had his head wedged between his knees and eyes shut. Jace met her eyes, gesturing for her to come out. The doctor crawled out from where she'd been, tucking the relic and its casing into her pocket. Her dark eyes traveled throughout the corridor, bouncing off the dead Elites, the mangled crewman, and the blood.
It made her sick.
Dr. Erikson, however, was fascinated. If only he'd had the time to properly study a Sangheili Elite; the knowledge that could be learned. As irritating as a swarm of gnats, the Lieutenant's COM open, venting the aggravated tone of Lt. Commander Nolan.
"Lieutenant, I need a progress report. We're taking damage here; and the more the Covenant gets impatient, the more liberties they start to take. I need you on this vessel so we can leave this system. How copy?"
"Copy that, Commander – we're moving," Jace replied, grimacing in pain.
"And Commander Vasher – is he with you?" Nolan added.
"Negative, sir," Nova-One answered back.
The Spartan heard the Lt. Commander curse Vasher under his breath. "Alright, just focus on the mission, Spartan. If he doesn't rendezvous with you before you depart, we'll have to continue on without him. I just want that artifact and the Covenant separate from one another, so double-time it. Nolan out."
Jace took his assault rifle from the floor, deliberately keeping his conversation with Nolan from the team. The Lieutenant didn't know how important Commander Vasher was to Jeremiah and Lukas, but he couldn't risk the sake of the mission for one man.
"Battle's getting hot for the Nightfire," Jace told them. "We have to move. Two and Four, take point."
He quickly pointed to one of the few crewmen who weren't injured. "You, do what you can for the wounded, but keep them out of sight."
Jeremiah and Lukas took up positions on both sides of the automated door leading toward their destination. Members of the crew moved about, dragging the wounded into compartments as Dr. Asari and Erikson were huddled between Jace and Alex.
The Spartans aimed their rifles as the door parted. Nothing was there, or at least they could see. Jeremiah and Lukas keyed their thermal vision, heavily scanning the space before them. It was clear, although Nova-Two had his doubts. Their equipment had failed once before when attempting to see cloaked Elites. SPI armor, however, wasn't made to last for extended periods of time.
'SPARTAN-IIs had all the fun,' Jeremiah mentally complained.
Pressing forward, the team of Spartans picked up the pace, moving in what a normal soldier would consider a morning run. To the Spartans, it was likened to a lazy jog. Before long, and without incident, they reached the service elevator. Its outer doors were transparent, having an aged control panel by its side. Jace raised the Nightfire over the COM.
"Mirage, we've reached the elevator, but it requires a code to access it."
"One moment, Lieutenant," she responded, opening the doors a second later. "There you are. Just a warning, Nova-One - its load capacity is just 500 pounds. Anything exceeding that will cause the lift to fail."
Jace glanced at the scientists, assuming they weighed no more than 375 pounds combined.
"That won't be a problem," he ensured the AI. "Can you reroute power from some of the Day Breaker's systems to quicken the descent of the elevator?"
"Affirmitive, Nova-One," complied Mirage. "Be advised - you have hostiles en route to your position. I count seven Elites: six Special Operations-class and one Zealot-class. At their pace, they should reach you in ETA three minutes, twenty seconds."
"Thanks," Jace sarcastically retorted.
"Anytime, Lieutenant,"she responded, returning the tone.
Nova-One gestured to the interior of the elevator as he stared at the scientists. "In you go," he said.
Dr. Asari and Erikson went inside, stepping upon the chain link-like flooring.
"When you reach the hangar, there's a Longsword. Get inside it and prep it for launch," instructed SPARTAN-A290.
Dr. Erikson winced. "I don't know to prep a Longsword."
"Neither do I," Asari added.
"Contacts closing," Alex informed. "One minute."
"Mirage will talk you through the process. Go!"
Jace hit the button for the hangar, forced transparent doors close, and watched them descend out of his sight. Barely a second had ticked away before a bluish, static-like explosion rumbled at the opposite end of the corridor. Nova Team aimed their weapons toward the explosion as they simultaneously took cover. The Elites came barreling around the corner like Mexican fighting bulls, and the Spartans didn't hesitate before firing.
The lead Elite—the Zealot—somersaulted into cover, taking a few hits to its shields. Nova Team held their ground. They had to keep fighting until the elevator had safely reached the hangar. The power flickered on and off, a consequence from stray plasma rounds impacting the Day Breaker. While some sections remained online, other sectors throughout the Frigate went dark.
"Nova-One," Mirage tapped in. "Nova-One?"
"Wait one," the Lieutenant said, squeezing off a last second shot. "Go ahead."
"Power to the elevator shaft has been subsequently killed, burning most of the required circuitry. Rerouting additional power now, though it might take some time."
"How much time?" barked Jace, chucking a frag grenade.
"Seven minutes," the AI estimated.
Jace groaned. That was practically an eternity.
In cover, the Zealot glanced at the throbbing energy read-out on his HUD. The sudden spike in energy originated from the elevator shaft, and the source strongly resembled that of the holy relic they were sent to reclaim. The Zealot tightened his focus. It had to succeed in obtaining the relic, for Zen'dé 'Vanamdee expected nothing less. He'd rather die in combat than face the repercussions 'Vanamdee would unleash.
With that, the Zealot barked orders to his Elites, telling them to coat the "Demons" with heavy suppressing fire as he retrieved the relic. His subordinates did just so. Plasma rifles in hand, they fired the weapons until they overheated, waited for them to cool, then started up again. When the human Spartans had ceased fire and dug deep into cover, the Zealot made his move. He primed a plasma grenade and threw it onto the elevator doors. The grenade detonated, blowing open the doors and sending a shower of safety glass across the floor.
Nova-One sprung his head up from the blast, watching the Zealot sprint across the corridor and leap down into the elevator shaft.
"That Zealot went for the relic," he announced over the TEAMCOM.
"Go, we'll cover you!" Alex exclaimed, priming a grenade.
The moment she threw it, Jace darted from where he was, ignoring the bolts of plasma that struck his side. He dived down the elevator shaft headfirst, switched on his night vision in the darkened shaft, and spotted the Zealot right away. He had landed atop the stalled lift, gearing itself up to tear open the top with its energy sword.
The Zealot removed the hilt from its waist, and the Lieutenant dropped down onto it from the suspension cables. It dropped the hilt into the darkness, roared, and turned back at whom attacked him. The Zealot's dark eyes met the reflective faceplate of the Spartan, balled his fists, and erupted into fury.