This chapter will be a lot less somber than the last one, and a bit more action packed.
Anyways, onto chapter 24.
Chapter 24
The trek across the last fringes of the prairie and into sparse woodland was made in a depressed silence, tinged with anger and grief. A good few of the IAOC soldiers had lost their loved ones in the village massacre, and the vengeful mood had carried to the rest of the troopers. Even North felt an irrepressible rage forming in his heart. He himself had seen the reports and the damage caused by the Insurrectionists in other parts of UNSC space. However, the most the Innies THERE did was displace civilians. It was mischievous destruction everywhere else, but the brutality that he had witnessed was savagery on an entirely new level. Theta was still having a hard time accepting the horrors that he had seen, and remained sequestered in the back of North's mind, huddled in on himself and rarely seeking North's comfort. It would take time and experience for Theta to get used to such horrors.
North's main worry, however, was how Dawn was taking the wanton destruction of that village they had passed. She had been silent ever since they left, her shoulders hunched and her manner almost on the verge of defeat. He couldn't say he blamed her for what happened, though. It was something that she had to tough out on her own, but he would be there to help her if she needed it.
Suddenly, their guide, Renee, halted while holding up a clenched fist. Everyone in the party stopped, surrounded by trees on all sides. Weapons were readied as they waited, listening. Renee pointed somewhere overhead, and Dawn readied her bow. She drew the string back and let an arrow fly into the canopy of the trees. With a gurgled scream, a dark body fell to the ground from the top of the trees, garbed in deep crimson and white and wearing an altered ODST helmet with an olive-green visor.
"We're not alone in here," Texas remarked as Renee went to examine the body and Dawn readied her bow in case of another Insurrectionist. Texas shifted York on her back so that the injured Freelancer was a little more secure. Ahead of them, the Spartan stood up, storing extra rifle bullets from the Insurrectionist in her belt.
"Let's keep movi-" Renee started, when a gunshot rang out. Blood spurted as a soldier three feet from North fell to the ground, the bullet puncturing his lungs. "SCATTER!" The Spartan revised her order, and they all made for the trees in separate directions. North made sure to stay close to Texas and York, and he fired off a shot into the tops of the trees whenever he saw a flash of unfamiliar armor. Insurrectionists were firing at them from the canopy of the woodland, ready to pick off as many soldiers as they could. However, for every IAOC soldier that they were managing to hit, two or three Innies fell under the vengeful gunfire of the Outer Colonists. The Freelancers all ducked into the cavity of a fallen tree, and both Texas and North began firing shots at whatever Insurrectionists they could see.
Dawn slid into the cavity with them, cursing as a bullet grazed her shoulder. "This is getting to dangerous," she muttered as she surveyed her surroundings. She tapped North's shoulder and pointed to a gap in the trees. "New Taipei is just through those trees there," she explained. "I want you to take York and make a run for it."
"What about you?" he asked, concerned, while he fired off another few shots into the trees.
"I'll cover you from behind and make sure that no one follows you," Dawn responded. "No, don't argue," she cut across North's protest. "I need to make sure that my soldiers make it through alright, but I also need to get you, York, and Texas to safety as soon as possible. Once you cross into the city's boundaries, you'll be safe."
"I-" North started, but he had to admit that she was right. Dawn had two duties to fulfill: the protection of the Freelancers, and the safety of her soldiers. "I got it."
"Texas, you got that?" Dawn asked, and the black Freelancer nodded, hoisting York onto her back again. "On my mark, run to that gap in the trees and keep going. Synch?"
"Synch," they responded, tensing in preparation. Dawn fired off two more shots from her Magnum. With a pause in the bullet fire, she shouted, "Mark!"
"Synch!" Texas and North shouted, and they took off running through the leaf litter of the trees. A few stray bullets sprayed the ground at their feet, but the gunmen that had fired them fell under North's and Dawn's own gunfire.
The Freelancers exploded out of the trees and onto a flat plain once more, where a group of buildings surrounded an enormous metal structure, like a tower, that stretched up towards the sky. Agricultural fields sprawled behind the city and a flowered lake stood at the forest's edge, but they had no time to enjoy the scenic view. Texas kept running to get York to the medical attention that he needed, and North started coming up behind.
"Chi!" Theta called back to his sister AI, and North paused to look behind him. A few of the Insurrectionists had bravely blocked Dawn's path and were going for close combat with the warrior. Dawn had drawn her katana for the fight, but was being pushed back from the edge of the woods.
"Get going!" Dawn shouted to North when she saw that he wasn't running anymore. North was about ready to ignore her order when Theta tugged at North's mind.
"North, we have to leave," Theta insisted, and North was about ready to resist. However, he had to recognize that he too had two conflicting duties: one to his lover, and the other to his AI. Right now, he needed to focus on getting out of Dawn's way and getting York to Red Stallion safely. Dawn could handle herself; the Freelancers were at a disadvantage. With one last tortured glance at his lover, North took off after Texas and York.
The Insurrectionists seemed determined not to let anyone make it to New Taipei in one piece. Bullets tore the foliage of the forest apart, and peppered the air and ground as Texas and North ran towards the tower along the shore of the lake. North ran in a way so that York could be protected from the mad gunfire raining down on them from behind. Bullets tore at their personal shields, diminishing them with each contact.
"Wait a minute," North stopped all of a sudden, and Tex stopped too.
"What the hell are you doing?" she snapped.
"You keep running," North said. "I'm gonna use my shield to buy you guys some time."
"Are you mad?!" Texas demanded. "There's no way that you can keep it up for long."
"Maybe not," North agreed. "But, it should be long enough for you to get to the city boundaries and to safety. I'll be right behind," he assured the other woman.
"If you're sure," Texas responded uncertainly, and she backed up as more bullets came down on them. She took off again with York on her back.
"Theta, you ready?" North asked the small purple AI, and Theta nodded anxiously. With a hiss, the domed energy shield formed around them in a protective, transparent casing. Bullets ricocheted off the shield with little flashes of light. "Theta, let's try and expand the shield so that we can shield Tex and York, too," he said. "Just in a straight panel in front of us. You think you can do that?"
"I'll try," Theta responded, though he sounded unsure.
"Let's do it," North said confidently, and the shield morphed into a panel of hexagonal blocks of energy, connected together and expanding in front of him. The bullets further to his left and right continued to bounce off the rectangular shield, but it was taking a lot of energy from North's power reserves to keep the shield in its current shape.
"I can't keep it up!" Theta exclaimed in dismay, his hologram flickering.
"Don't give up, Theta," North hissed through gritted teeth as his armor started weighing down on him. "Just a little longer."
"North," a voice crackled through his com link. "We're in the city."
"Copy that, Tex," North responded to the radio call just in time. The shield disintegrated in a shower of energy shards, and Theta disappeared in a tired flash of light. "Theta!" North exclaimed tiredly, before no less than three bullets struck him in the upper body: two in the shoulder, and one in his chest. With a pained cry, North collapsed into the lake beside him, while gunfire sounded from somewhere behind him.
"At least they're safe," was North's last thought as the water dragged him under and darkness consumed him.
Starlight of Blessed Victory woke suddenly with a startled gasp and almost collapsed face-first from his upright position. Something strained to hold his weight, but eventually kept him upright. He tiredly looked to either side of him. Bonds of hard light coiled up along the length of his arm in a snake-like manner, holding him fast to a metal wall.
"Imprisoned by my own family," he said aloud. "Of course."
"You expected this?" a voice sounded outside of the metal door of Victory's cell, and he saw his father's face in the small window, an eyebrow cocked disbelievingly.
"You know, I can honestly say that I expected something along these lines," Blessed Victory responded acidly to War for Ascendant Destiny's question. "I didn't think like you, and you wanted to get me out of your way so that I couldn't mess with what you had planned. How basic of you, father," he continued, spitting out the last word like it was an insult. A force reached through the metal door and grabbed Victory's throat, cutting off his words and slowly choking the younger Forerunner.
"There is nothing basic about what I do, you insolent brat," Ascendant Destiny snarled to his son, squeezing a little harder to emphasize his point. "I do this for the greatness of the Forerunners. Don't begin to understand the complexity of my actions." With a low growl, the force from Ascendant Destiny slammed his son's upper body into the wall behind him, stunning his son.
"You certainly learned SOMETHING from Grandfather," Victory taunted his father hoarsely, coughing slightly. "It is no wonder the Domain is lost to us, with what the finest examples of Forerunners have been reduced to."
"Do you wish to reclaim the Domain, Starlight of Blessed Victory?" War for Ascendant Destiny hissed. "Do you wish for me to kill you?"
"It would be a mercy to die and rejoin my ancestors," Blessed Victory argued, "and to free myself of your tyranny."
"You deserve no mercy for your dishonor of us," his father hissed. "You will remain here, where you will remain alive, and you WILL learn obedience."
"You will not make me," Blessed Victory retorted.
"Oh, but I will," Ascendant Destiny insisted. "One way or another, I will have you obey me." With that, War for Ascendant Destiny abandoned his son to his thoughts, leaving Starlight of Blessed Victory to pray to his ancestors for a quick, painless death and return to the safety of the domain, rather than to continue living in the presence of his father's madness.
...That was a lot shorter than I anticipated.
For reference: If you can imagine the scene in 'Mulan' where the Imperial Army is in the mountains and the Huns start attacking, you kind of get the idea of what I'm trying to do here.
I'll post a longer chapter next time, and we get to meet Red Stallion and be introduced to the team from the UNSC that will be heading to Terra Beta. I'm also working on more flashbacks. Are those helpful for you guys? Let me know, please.
Hope you guys like where this is going. If you have any questions, just leave it in a review, and I will answer it. I love hearing from you guys. Have a happy, safe holiday!
Bazinga,
anna1795