*A/N*
Alright guys. I'm back with another chapter, but first an apology. I'm sorry first off because I forgot about Jaguar in the last chapter. When I was close to finishing it I had a feeling that I forgot to include her in the story, and just didn't change it because I was wanting to get it posted.. She is supposed to be with Reagan and Alicia, but I just completely forgot to include her. So I'm really sorry about that. To make up for it here is another chapter with Jaguar in it.
Sorry OpticSniper2K.
End *A/N*
Reagan's POV
The rusted, yet oiled gate to the exterior service elevator slammed down with a sense of finality. I pressed the button on the console, the lift began its slow ascent. Alicia slapped a fresh mag into her scout rifle. Jaguar had started to flip a throwing knife up in the air. Hunters were known to do that; it was something of a tick for them. Titans polish their armor, and Warlocks read and study, but Hunters play with knives.
The lift stalled about halfway up its track with a shake accompanied by the cables letting out a groan. We grabbed the side of the cart to keep ourselves standing as it listed to the side. Then as fast as the disruption had come, it was gone.
"Who the hell is using the lift!" Came a stern voice over the open comms.
I pressed a finger to my unit; "Fire Team Sunrise. We're here to reinforce the defense."
"Well get the hell off the lift. I told those fuckwits running the medical tents down there not to let anyone on it. There isn't enough power in this section of the grid and were siphoning everything we can to power the point defences. The lift takes too much power from the grid! Get off on level three and make your way up from there. Should be flares or something to follow."
"Well he seems happy." Jaguar sayed with every ounce of sarcasm she could muster -at the moment.
Alicia shrugged and then lifted the gate up. She hopped over the small gap between the elevator cart and the wall with us following suit. Together we moved through the dusty interiors and rusted corridors of the wall.
True to his word, a flare marked the correct path to take every five meters. It wasn't much longer after that till we found what we were looking. A bright red flare laid at the foot of a service ladder. A sign on the wall marked it as a service hatch to the top of the wall.
I holstered my handcannon and grabbed the first rung on the ladder. Hand over hand I went up, and when the ladder started to shake from below I knew that the team was following close behind. Just as I was about to reach the hatch, it swung open.
Some shouted something I couldn't make out before they turned their attention to the hatch. The man in question, who was another Titan, seemed taken aback at the trio of Guardians on the ladder below.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing down there! The fight for humanity is up here fuckwits!" This was definitely the guy from earlier, and I was beginning to like him less and less. He proffered a hand up.
"Well come on then!"
I grabbed his hand, and he hauled me up out of the hatch followed by Alicia and Jaguar. I glanced out over the expanse in front of the wall, and felt my body go slack with disbelief. Fallen Skiffs descended from the sky in thick droves, too many to count. They hovered for a second, their turret mounts a non stop show of ruination. Once they dropped their payload of troops and ammo, they took off to wherever they came from. The ground was blotted out with alien figures both living and dead. They were too numerous to count, and the only breaks in their ranks were armored walker tanks. The Fallen fired an endless barrage at the wall, boiling away chunks at a time. They're going to cut a boiling swath of extinction through the City if we can't hold the line here.
In retaliation to this affront, Guardians manned the wall with a fierce determination only seen in those with everything to lose. This holds true in this regard. If we fail here, the City, Earth, Humanity as a whole will forever be put on the run. This is our last bastion against the ravages of the darkness. The loss of this bastion would mean the end of Humanity. Those who could would take to the stars, perhaps even attempt to seek refuge from the Awoken or try to start anew again on a different planet. But they would be hunted down and slaughtered in time as would the Awoken. After all, it was only through their own tenacity that they survived this long. Once Humanity was out of the way, the Darkness would turn its full, undivided attention to the floating space station. No amount of tenacity would save them from that. That's why I never understood their indifference to our plight. It would be in their best interests to assist Humanity, yet they turn us away from their colony with weapons trained and cold words of banishment.
A heavy shaking brought me out of my reverie. The wall underfoot seemed to be shaking itself apart. For a few seconds I fully thought that it was caving in under the onslaught of arc, but that idea was quickly dismissed when none of the other Guardians showed any signs of the same notion. I dove into the cover of the railing when a an arc round streaked past just missing by a few precious inches. The others were already in cover by this point,
"Fucking A! The point defences are back online."
I glanced down at the housing spaces were the point defence batteries were housed. They rumbled to life, the layers of rust seemingly nothing more than a time tested camouflage. The City's point defences were 40mm autocannons that rotated on a ball joint mount.
The guns rotated for a second as if trying to decide what to prioritize first. Then, with a heavy click, the guns went live. As one, the turrets opened up, and poured thousands of rounds on the alien invaders. The skiffs were targeted first. The large caliber projectiles ripped through the light armor and toar into the insides, effectively gutting the transport.
An explosion sounded within the cockpit of the closest transports; it began to list and then completely fell from the sky. When it smashed into the ground, it took a large sum of Fallen with it. A secondary explosion lit up the crash site, furthered the collateral damage. A round of relief infused cheers sounded off across the wall.
The Fallen did not seem deterred at the loss of their air support. They continued on in their fervent path to the wall despite the shuttles falling down around them. The Walker Tanks diverted their fire towards the now active point defense system.
I pulled out my LMG and began to lay down suppressing fire on the gun crews trying to set up heavy weapon positions. The stock bucked back into my shoulder with the first squeeze of the trigger. The barrel roaring to life and spitting out hellfire. A constant flash illuminated the muzzle while the vents became superheated as gasses rushed out from within. The belt disappeared at a steady pace within the chamber of the mighty weapon only to be chopped up and discarded as spent brass and scraps. As the brass cascaded out of the weapon and fell to the floor, I swung the weapon in slow shallow arcs across the field. Some of the aliens fell to the barrage of molten lead, but most were only grazed before forcing themselves into cover.
Alicia had swapped her rifle out in favor of the pristine sniper rifle she so adored. Every few seconds of steady automatic and small arms fire was punctuated by a viscous boom from the high caliber weapon. And for every boom, another Fallen breathed his last. The weapon itself kicked back into her small frame. Yet she handled it with practiced ease. A true Hunter in her element.
Jaguar had taken a much more supportive role. She was using her Ghost to coordinate with the other Guardians and the Tower. Information had to be relayed to gun crews and strike teams across the City to continue a solid defense. No battle was ever won without communication within your army. Without it, you fall into disarray and the enemy wins.
"Guardians! Rockets up; target the tanks!" Across the wall, Guardians laid down their precious firearms in favor of the heavy armament. I had no such weapon; instead I opted for firing another stream of death at the enemy invaders.
Seemingly all at once, rockets were let loose in an admirable display of ferocity. Warheads of different shapes and sizes streaked through the air trailing vapor streams in their wake. Time seemed to halt as the weapons of destruction sent forth with their explosive payload closed in on their unfortunate targets. Guardians stood hopefully vigilant, wishing for the destruction of the enemy war machines. Fallen stopped mid charge to gaze at the rocket propelled explosives that surely spelled death for whatever it was directed at.
And in one glorious moment of triumph, the rockets connected. Two of the walker tanks were outright eliminated while a third and fourth were reduced to ruins. Another one was sent into a critical repair state after having shed a large portion of its armored plating in the blast. The point defenses roared in testament against the defiance of the machine's refusal to die. Heavy AP shells rained down upon its beaten frame spelling slaughter for those residing inside the premature coffin. And in another brilliant display of combustion, the vehicle shuddered as secondary explosions resounded inside then collapsed as it went up in flames. The point defenses, finally satisfied with the demise of the infamous creation of the Fallen, turned their aim back to the skies.
Even without the support from air and groundside siege weapons, the Fallen still swarmed over the landscape in a mad scramble for Humanity. They still had the occasional Pike intermingled within their ranks. And what was open ground before the wall was now a war torn landscape with downed vehicles and burning wrecks at different intervals; craters pockmarked the landscape here and there. All of these contributions turned what was a suicidal charge across open ground into a chaotic system of hopping from cover to cover with the occasional bouht of returned fire in the form of arc streams. The rate at which we were eliminating the alien scavengers was at a substantially lesser number.
"Get on the horn and radio for danger close on my coordinates!" The Titan from earlier was screaming at Jaguar while dumping the now spent launcher over the side of the wall. A minutes of intense firefight later, Jaguar yelled back over the din of combat.
"Danger close inbound, ETA thirty seconds! Get down!" Guardians across the wall ducked down into the minimum cover of the railing. Those who had the room to do so completely hit the deck. I followed suit and counted down in my head from thirty. At around ten seconds, I could hear the roar of engines steadily closing in. On the horizon, a squadron of fighters, bearing the mark of the Vanguard, dipped down in an attack formation.
"Heads down people! Rolling out the carpet!" One of the pilots yelled over the teamcom.
They came in at a low altitude and leveled off at a lethal speed. As they streaked by, the underside of their respective ships opened up. Pod like objects fell out at a steady pace and plummeted into the ranks below. The objects stabbed themselves into the ground in an upright position. Some of them bounced off the hulls of destroyed vehicles, skidding farther into the ranks and crushing the enemy.
"Detonation in three, two, one!" And in the same order that the pods fell, they ignited in a vibrant show of fire and shrapnel. The entirety of the field in front of the fall was alight in fire for a few brief seconds, and when the smoke cleared, only charred remains of the enemy remained. The ground was vaporized into a thin layer of glass were the bombs had detonated, and charred patterns and bodies flowered out from the impact site. When the wind picked up, it carried the foul stench of burnt corpses and acrid smoke.
"How's it looking down there?" The pilot called out.
"Looks like a fucking barbecue from where I'm standing. Thanks for the help." The Titan answered.
"Solid copy; we're RTB for fuel and ammo. Stay safe down there."
"Same goes for you." The Titan shot back.
An uproar of whoops and congratulations sounded off across the wall once more. The invaders were driven back from this section. Hopefully the rest of the defenses were going just as successfully. I looked at Jaguar, who was still manning the coms. She looked like she was in listening in on something. Her form was tense and hunched over on a crate, one hand bracing herself against it while the other was mashed to the side of her helmet. Alicia noticed this a few seconds after I did and we both approached her. We waited till she was done listening before speaking.
"So?" Alicia asked.
"Reports are coming in from across the other sectors."
"And…?" I trailed off expectantly. This was it, the moment of truth. If it was all for not would be decided right now. Everyone else seemed to notice and silently crowded around in a half circle. We were tense; the very air seemed tense.
Jaguar took off her helmet; a neutral look adorned her face. She looked at each of us, her eyes giving nothing away. Then, she broke out in a shit eating grin before bellowing out…
"We won! Reports are flooding in of Fallen in a full scale RETREAT! We drove them off! We fucking WON!" She threw her arms in the air with a cry of relief.
We stood there for a fair amount of time trying to come to terms with the sudden words, and when they finally registered the entire group broke out into cries of victory, relief, and jubilance.
"Tower to South East Wall, come in; over." The comms came to life once more.
I stepped away from the cheering group of Guardians before answering the radio hail.
"This is Fireteam Sundown; go ahead Tower."
"Fireteam Sundown, you are ordered to RTB for debrief; how copy?"
"Solid copy, Tower. RTB for debrief."
"Transport is inbound to your position, ETA two minutes out."
"Acknowledged, over and out." I severed the coms and opened one up with the other members of the team. "Lily, sitrep."
"We've sealed up the breach and the Fallen have been eliminated."
"Good copy. Transport is in bound for pickup, ETA two minutes. Regroup on my position."
"What's going on out there. It doesn't sound like a warzone anymore. Did we Win?"
"Yeah, we drove them off on all fronts."
"Alright, we'll head up top. See you in a few."
SIX'S POV
I could hear the smile plastered on her face when she finished talking to Reagon. We had sealed up the breach and set up sentries on them to make sure the Fallen didn't go and reopen them. Just as we finished the sounds of heavy weapon fire coming from the top of the wall came to a standstill. I counted twenty seconds from the point of ceasefire before I picked up the sound of engines. I put two and two together and braced for the incoming airstrike. Lily and the commandos adopted similar stances. Then, another five seconds went by before the wall gave a shudder and the air grew a few degrees warmer.
I looked at Lily for confirmation.
"Incinedary carpet bombing. Must have been mostly infantry if they used fire." I gave a nod back.
Then Lily was hailed by Reagan, and she relayed the news about our recent victory.
"The has a shuttle inbound for pick up. We should regroup with the others. Sergeant, can your men hold this position?"
"We're a little low on ammo, but it'll last us if we place our shots."
Lily gave a nod before signaling me to follow her back the way we had come. We walked in near silence with nothing to fill the void except the sounds of the groaning skeleton of the wall as if all the fighting had awoken some sort of sentience. I decided to break the silence with a question.
"So, what is a Nova Bomb?" I asked.
Lily gave a sigh, either out of exhaustion or because of the timing I couldn't tell.
"Every Guardian is reborn in the Traveler's light. We are imbued with powers and strength to protect Humanity. We have the ability to jump higher and farther than others. We can generate energy at will, or bend matter around us. Every class of Guardian has the chance of having one of three abilities unique to that Guardian's class; we call them subclasses. Warlocks have: Voidwalker, Sunsinger, and Storm Caller. What you saw earlier was a culmination of all my light forged into an unstable manifestation on the physical plain."
I mulled over this new information for a bit. The whole thing seemed out of it, like it didn't belong. Then again, I suppose I'm the one who doesn't belong here; I'm supposed to be dead.
"What do the others have?"
"Hunters have Gunslinger, Bladedancer, and Nightstalker although I think the latter is rather rare. As for the Titans, you'll have to talk to another Titan about that. I only know about the Hunters from Alicia."
At this point we rounded the corner and came to a halt in front of a service ladder. I signaled for her to go first while I kept watch. Once she was up far enough, I let the magnetic locks secure my rifle to my back while I went up after her. The hatch opened and light filtered in from the outside. Lily reached the top and crawled out and offered a hand up. I enclosed my hand around hers. She hauled me out of the hatch and to my feet.
Looking around, I bore witness to the burnt killing fields. Corpses both on fire and charred beyond recognition laid strewn about the plains while molten husks of vehicles provided a break every so often. Lily gave a low whistle in appreciation of the large display of destruction.
"Hey, over here!" It was Reagan standing in the troop compartment of a shuttle. Alicia and Jaguar sat further within. We broke out into a light jog for the transport, eager to head back to the Tower.
Once inside the transport the doors slid closed, and the overhead light went from green to red. The shuttle shook as the engines flared to life. The feeling of weightlessness took over for a few seconds before settling back down.
The ride to the Tower was set in relative silence. Reagan wiped down his LMG with a rag he produced from one of the shuttle compartments. Alicia set about loading spent magazines with fresh bullets after adjusting her scope. Lily fell into a much needed slumber if the slack shoulders and slump of her helmet was any indication; she did keep a secure grip on her rifle though. Jaguar produced a wet stone from a pocket, and started to sharpen one of her various knives. I resigned myself to inspecting my new arm.
It was obviously more advanced than the robotic prosthesis we had from where I'm from. Made from some sort of lightweight plaiting with a matt black finish. It was modeled to look like an actual arm instead of just a functioning prosthetic. The fingers were rather impressive. The plates shifted over each other on a ball joint to allow full motion with them. The undersides were layered with some sort of synthetic rubber in a pattern to provide functional gripping. Overall, it was a marvel of modern engineering and something to be extremely grateful for. The only thing that I had a problem with was that I didn't know how to perform maintenance on it, and I wasn't about to take it apart and guess. I would have to inquire about it, maybe to Alicia or Lily; they more than likely know something about it being Exo's.
The shuttle lurched a bit, then shuttered, and finally the engines died down to a small hum. Reagan and Alicia holstered their weapons, Jaguar slipped her knife into a sheathe, and Lily awoke with the sudden stop of the overhead light changed from the deep red to the bright green, and Reagan hit the door release on the side. The doors slid back into their open positions and we dismounted the vehicle. The shuttle had dropped us off at the base of the Tower near the entrance. Other shuttles were steadily making their way to and fro the base of the Tower dropping off fellow Guardians.
"Why did we get dropped off here?" Jaguar asked while tipping her head to look at the top of the Tower..
"If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the top from landing pads are being reserved for wounded or something like that."
Alicia shrugged at the conundrum and walked forth to the entrance, us in tow. Inside the lobby, people ran about this way and that while people carried crates of supplies and equipment around. We walked past them and to the elevators located at the back of the room. The receptionist did stop mid phone call to gawk at me, if only for a second. We crammed into an elevator and selected the top floor. The ride was rather awkward as we stood uncomfortably close to one another while the elevator was filled with off key music from an unseen speaker system. The elevator opened up into the hangar and we pile out.
Just as Reagan had guessed, the top floor landing pads were being reserved for the medevaced wounded. Shuttles streamed in at a steady pace, and EMT's rushed to greet the newest cases. They carried stretchers between themselves, some had gauze, and others had towels and tourniquets. The deck in some places was slick with fresh blood. Soldiers stumbled out of the ship and headed for triage if they could. Others had to be assisted or even carried out of the shuttles.
We left the hangar at a brisk pace, eager to get out of the way before one of the medics gave them an earful. The Tower Atrium was little better. Instead of blood and bodies being carried around, ammunition and reports were rushed back and forth. Officers shouted out at others requesting items, reports, and updates. We walked through the chaos with the intent on heading to the Vanguard War Room.
We went down the steps and walked past the crucible handlers. The inside of the War Room was a mess. Maps were strewn about the table with a fresh layer of battlefield reports being steadily added to the layers as they came in. Zavala stood at the end of the table engaged in a heated argument with Cayde-6 over something, and Ikora Rey stood on her side of the table looking intently at something on her tablet.
We stood at the top of the steps leading down to the indention that housed the war table and the three leaders. We didn't have to stand there long before Ikora took sudden notice to our presence. She regarded us for a few seconds before tossing her tablet to the table. Cayde and Zavala took little notice and continued on in their own little world.
"You four have done commendable work, and for that...you have the City's thanks. With being said, we all know that this has only just begun." She had a hard set frown adorning her unmarked face.
I gave a nod while Jaguar spoke up for the group. "What are those two arguing about now?"
"A plan of retaliation. Zavala wants to muster forces and intelligence before launching a retaliatory strike. Cayde wants to take a team and go after them before they have a chance to regroup. Both a valid options, each with their own consequences."
"So what do you think we should do?" Alicia spoke up.
"For know, I think your team needs a bit of rest before anything further can be discussed. Rearm and rest while you can because you are sure to be leading the charge into enemy territory."
"When you say team, do you mean...?" Lily trailed off at the end with a tinge of hope.
"Yes, you four have operated excellently together and have distinguished yourselves from the rest. From henceforth, you will all be one team. Fight together, watch each other's backs, and be the best that you can." Ikora had a small smile gracing her face.
Feeling that this conversation was at an end, I gave a salute and turned to leave. The others simply turned away from the women and walked up the steps.
"Six, a word if you will." I halted in my footsteps and turned around to face the warlock. She made a gesture to join her at the table. I looked back at the others who also stood watching. I waved them on before joining Ikora at the table.
"Cayde, Zavala!" Ikora shouted over the argument. They quickly stopped and finally seemed to take notice of the six-foot tall super soldier in the room. They regarded me for a second before glancing back to each other. Cayde shrugged and tapped a few buttons on the side of the war table. The projection came to life and bathed the room in orange. Shutters slid down over the windows at the back of the room, blotting outside lotting.
"I'm sure you're wondering why we had you stick around, right?" The question was rhetorical as Cayde grabbed a tablet from the table and resumed tapping on it.
"Well...we need your input on some sensitive matters, so to speak. I don't suppose you were informed about the Awoken?"
"No sir."
"Drop that sir nonsense. I hate it when you military types do that. Anyways, the Awoken are a seclusive race of Humans out on the edge of safe space, and safe is a relative term. Long ago during the Collapse, they for the stars and got stranded all the way out there. Then they hobbled together a massive space station out of their ships, and have been living happily ever after out there. Don't get any ideas about visiting them by the way; they have a really nice kill box set up around their station. They don't much like us Guardian types, something about abandonment issues when they fled the Collapse." Cayde was about to continue his monologue when Ikora jumped in.
"To make this rather painful explanation short," she threw glare in Cayde's direction and he pretended not to notice, "the Awoken are rather reclusive and we want to improve relations with them. They have requested help with an anomaly that appeared on the edge of their long range scanners. They say it's been floating seemingly derelict. There is scoring and loss of plating in some areas on the hull, obviously it's some kind of warship. They don't dare risk their limited fighters investigating it, and have requested our assistance in this matter. Zavala, if you will."
The stoic Titan pressed some buttons from his end of the table and the display in the center of the table morphed into the object that resulted in my being here. The elongated front. The thin middle and fat aft section. The bulbous head rounding off the front. There was no mistaking it; it's the SDV Heavy Class Warship, Ardent Prayer.
From the look of it, the ship was largely intact. Some hull breaches were evident and the engines were still blown marking it dead in the water. But if the ship is intact, then that means the crew could still possibly be alive as well, provided the vacuum didn't claim them.
They knew what it was. They saw the video footage from my helmet feeds back on Reach. Yes, they knew what it was, but not what it entails.
"Do you have any insight to the situation?" Ikora was looking into my vizor, her hopeful eyes mirrored on the opaque surface.
"That...is a Covenant Warship. The very one I detonated the slipspace bomb on. From the looks of it…" I gave the hologram another look over, "it's largely intact. From my standpoint, it looks like it only bears minor hull breaches and abrasive scouring along the aft and mid sections were the Savannah targeted her engines and deployment bays."
Cayde braced his hands on the table top and leaned in to study the hologram closer, as if the picture would answer all his unspoken questions. "If there are only minor hull breaches...then could the crew still be alive?"
"...It's a possibility."
"Then what should be do?"
The question hung in the air creating an almost tangible silence.
"Nuke it." They looked at me, and then back to the hologram.
"Yeah...no. We can't do that. One: we don't have any nukes. Most of them were lost during the collapse and the others decayed overtime. And two: there could be a potential ally in there. They could help us turn back the tide, or at the very least we could use their tech."
"The Covenant want nothing more than to burn all traces of Humanity from existence. Once they get that ship operational again, they will come for the City. First they'll send in the air support and target key facilities. Then, infantry mop up what the fighters missed. They will kill indiscriminately. Every man, woman, and child is a target to be eliminated with extreme prejudice. When the infantry has had its fun, they'll bug out and the ship will fire its excavation beam. It will render the targeted site to molten glass and radiation. They are not to be confused with allies. The only option is a preemptive strike against them!" My hands were balled into shaking fists fueled by hatred. The thought that another war with the Covenant could break out with the City is absolutely unthinkable. This would not come to pass no matter what.
It was the duty of Spartans to defend Humanity against all threats. Even if this isn't the Humanity from where I'm from, these are still innocent people who will be slaughtered if the Covenant find them. I would stop that ship from ever becoming operational...even if I have to go and do myself.
"You believe this to be true?" Zavala was regarding me with a cautious gaze. It was his job to protect the City and its inhabitants. He would see reason, he had too.
"Yes sir!"
"Then your team will board that ship. Like Cayde said, our nukes are long gone. That means you have to blow it from within. I'm assuming I'm correct in thinking a ship that size has a reactor of some sort?" I gave a nod, satisfied that this was going in the desired direction. "Good. Your team will be outfitted with whatever you need. You'll have full autonomy on this one. You know what you're up against, don't take any unnecessary risks. Get in, plant the charges, and get out. You leave tomorrow."
I opened my mouth to voice my protests but he beat me to it, "We still have to get the wounded sorted in the hangar and Holliday has her hands full with repairs. You still need a ship of your own before you roll out so be patient and brief your team. You might be ready to keep fighting, but they aren't. You ought to know that a tired soldier is a dead soldier. Dismissed." His tone and accompanying scowl left little room for argument.
I gave a salute and left up the stairs. The others were waiting up at the top of the stairs. They gave me questioning glances.
"We have a new mission tomorrow."
"So soon. We just defended the City from an all out siege." Jaguar huffed.
"They gave me command over the operation. We leave tomorrow." I walked off to the hangar. I was still angry from the reminder of what the Covenant was capable of. I needed something to do, something productive. I knew an extensive amount of first aid, all spartans did. The UNSC couldn't have their precious savior's dying in the field because they didn't know how to patch themselves up. The medical staff in the Hanger could probably use a hand in treating the influx of wounded.
Inside the cavernous section of the Tower, it was still as chaotic as it was before if not more so. Shuttles arrived in droves bearing wounded and dead from the outlying walls. One of the staff addressed me; it was the woman from earlier, the one that guided me out of the medical ward.
"Either lend a hand or get the hell out of the way!" she was huffing and red in the face. The white nurse's scrubs she wore were doused in blood as were the latex gloves covering her delicately small hands. She obviously was trying to keep a level head, but was failing. She looked like she wanted to find a corner and break down.
"Where do you need me?" I asked while casting another look over the hangar. They had a small triage center set up in an office on the second level for those waiting for the elevator to the medical ward.
"You know first aid?" She seemed taken aback at the offer.
"Yes mam. Where do you need me?" I repeated.
"Over in triage. The docs need someone with a steady set of hands."
I gave a nod before taking the stairs up to the second level. There were cots laid out for the men and women who couldn't stand on their own. Most of those brought in couldn't which led to a rather large amount of cots filled with warm bodies. Several Doctors ran in between the cots with clip boards and pressure bandages. One of them turned to me.
"Guardian, give us a hand here will ya?" I nodded.
The first patient to have my attention was a combat marine in burnt IBA padding. He was sporting a large fourth degree burn just above his knee on his right leg. He mumbled something incoherent.
"Mmmh...eehh...goddamm Fallen with your...hnnn...grenades."
I applied a thick helping of severe burn cream to the wound and rolled it up in bandages. The next was a woman who had suffered a concussive blow to the head. She showed signs of PTSD as well. She laid comatose the cot and remained unresponsive as I applied stitches to the shallow cut just below her hairline. On I went. I lost track of the time, and the faces of those I treated. One after the other, the shuttles came in dropping off dozens at a time. I all but threw myself into my work. When one patient was stabilized, another took their place. Always another in line waiting desperately for treatment.
Eventually, when the sun had long since spread the last of its rays, the other members of my fireteam found me in the Hangar. I was just finishing up with a soldier who caught some shrapnel in his midsection when they approached me.
"Six, what are you still doing here? You should be resting." Lily spoke first.
"These people need my help. The medical staff…" "Can take it here." Jaguar interrupted. "You need to rest up for the mission tomorrow." Reagan gave a solid nod in approval as he glanced about the triage. "You did good work here. Now let medical take over from here. You won't be doing them any favors by ending up in here yourself because you got sloppy on the job." They were talking sense and I knew it. I just didn't want it to make sense.
With a sigh, I set down the pressure bandage I had in hand. They took the action as my acclimation to get some rest. They left for the elevator with me following suit. However, I was stopped at the threshold of the elevator. "Guardian!"
The nurse from earlier jogged over to me with a smile breaking across her face. It didn't look entirely right amongst all the sweat and dried blood adorning her face, yet at the same time it was a welcome sight.
"I wanted to let you know that what you did here, helping these people, has been a huge help to all of us. We never would have been able to help as many as we did today without your help. My name is Grace, and if you ever need something just ask. I think I speak for everyone when I say we owe you. Thank you." She was called back over to one of her patients. She offered a small smile of gratitude and then left. I looked at the other faces around the room. Sure enough, small smiles graced the faces of those who could when they turned in my direction. It felt...nice to be appreciated. With the UNSC, it was always just a few words of thanks, then off to the next front. I turned and went into the elevator.
The doors opened to an empty hallway. The display next to the doors marked this as the barracks for the Guardians. The others advanced forward down the hall. Reagan took a branching hallway with a mumbled "goodnight". Alicia unlocked a door farther down the hallway and entered the room with Lily in tow. Jaguar turned to me.
"This way. While you were patching up the wounded, we talked to the administrators and secured you a room on the same level as ours. It's this way." She waved me to follow as she walked farther down the hall. She handed me a key when we stopped in front of a door labeled thirty one in brass lettering.
"This is it. Try and get some rest. I'd hate it if I had to drive your heavy ass out of the fight if you fell asleep in a fight." She gave a hollow chuckle as she walked back down the hall. I opened the door to the room.
Inside, it was rather small. An unfurnished room greeted me with a tiny kitchenette in the back. Two three doors branched off from the room. One led to a small bedroom, the other a closet, and finally the third held the bathroom. I inspected the bedroom finding nothing more than a dresser and a bed inside. A full body mirror hung on the wall.
I removed pieces of my armor before climbing into the bed. The mattress was a little stiff from disuse but that would change overtime. Once my head touched the pillow, the day's events finally caught up to me, and in full force. What energy I thought I had was immediately siphoned out into the pillow as exhaustion forced my eyelids to slip shut.
AN
Hey guys, I decided to work a little faster on this one. Hopefully the quality hasn't diminished any. Anyways, hope you like and remember to post a review or something. I always like hearing from you guys. Makes me think that people like it enough to talk about it. As always, let me know if you spot any problems and I will be sure to fix them. Flame if you want, but try and keep it constructive. Demonicalfox777 out…
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