Shield World Requiem
February 12, 2558
Marcus Eric Austal was formerly a UNSC Navy Para-Rescue Expeditionary scout. It was a strictly volunteer force that was among the highest risk out of all active combat units.
They weren't Helljumpers, had less armor, less advanced equipment and their training was a whole lot of different. The evolution of Pararescue forces from the early twentieth century, the Navy's own Expeditionary force developed a group of specialized operators who dropped in the middle of hot combat zones to extract important personnel, assets and direct civilians from hot warzones. The selection process was open to anyone who was over the age of eighteen; physically and mentally capable of meeting the standards. Marcus enlisted the first chance he got and being completely new to warfare, the DIs were convinced he was going to be one of the first ones either cut or voluntarily withdrawing from the program.
The attrition rate for a Para-Rescueman was seventy-five percent, fifteen more than for Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. However, there were fewer enlistees.
He didn't know what to expect; in addition to basic training done by the Navy, he was also taking courses in indoctrination, survival, combat exercises, paramedics and even having to learn how to perform an entry through a SOEIV pod. Pararescuemen did occasionally enter battle from all levels, flight, jumps and even pod drops.
In his class, he was training alongside veterans, former Army, Navy, Marines, none of them expected this kid to stick with them for so long.
In the end, it was all worth it for him. The coveted maroon beret, a symbol of the specialists was awarded to him after eighteen months of intensive training. By the time he had graduated at the age of eighteen, he was the fifth youngest member to serve.
The training was now second nature to him, except today he was destroying assets instead of saving them.
Concealed in the blades of grass, Austal didn't see any active patrols save for the grunts sleeping and a few elites patrolling around the hangar where the vehicles were parked.
This facility had to have sort of a "master" shield control, a central terminal where all the shields in the camp would be able to deactivate. Disarm that and Eon could make a heated escape with the marker planted and the drone raining fire down on the bastards, sending them at the feet of their gods.
DI Parsons would be so proud.
The shield swallowed him as he continued his approach, sending back a green light to the rest of the team to let them know he was in.
The hangars were about fifteen feet tall and the dormant chassis of the wraiths were lined up. There were four docks, with one tank in each. On the other side, there were double as many ghosts. In the center were containers of tools.
His HUD flashed and he froze, eyes glued to the single contact headed in his direction. He was fairly sure that he hadn't caused any noticeable disturbances, but it always seemed that even the most oblivious grunt that came his way had some nagging superstition that someone was hiding.
The tiny alien came into view, trotting alongside the ghosts and still headed Austal's way. He slowly slinked to one of the wraith's side, taking care to not move fast enough to give away his position. While the camouflage was excellent and enough to fool most, it did cause a slight distortion and attentive foes could quickly catch on.
After a minute, the grunt turned around and headed back into the entrance of the main base, humming a rather flat tune to itself.
"Austal, you've got company headed your way," Pine said, "I count a few grunts and a couple elites. Think they're readying another patrol."
"Roger that." He took out one of the target designators and slapped it on the side of the wall. At the same time, a low rumble thundered from his left as the Covenant had entered and started powering up a wraith. Two of the grunts had gotten into ghosts and the small convoy headed out.
"Spartan Austal, I read your target, ready to fire upon your command."
"Understood sir. Need to lower these shields first."
The operator came back on the channel, "I see a central hub just adjacent to your position."
"I'll check it out."
"Austal, you need to hurry," Lusana said, "We're on a tight schedule here and can't afford any more vehicles coming out of that motor pool."
"I understand sir,"
He eased his MA5D rifle into his hands, clicking off the safety and setting its fire mode to automatic. A suppressor was mounted on the barrel and its recon sight, a holographic reflex optic was smart-linked to his HUD. The same was equipped on his second weapon; an Acheron A9S.
He waited until the patrol was out of sight before slipping out of cover. Still in camo, he cautiously moved forward, scanning the rear entrance in case any stragglers decided to come back.
Marcus stacked on the side and then entered in a swift motion with his weapon drawn. The area was still clear, branching out to his right and a ramp that led up into another room, that was his destination.
The inside was rather small with a U-shaped array of holo-displays and an even larger tank for feed outside the base. The only two occupants were a pair of sleek armored storm sangheili.
He approached from behind as the two were chatting to one another in their guttural language. They were so absorbed in their conversation, his presence wasn't even acknowledged.
Raising his assault rifle, he placed a neat burst straight into the skull of the first one. The body jerked before going limp onto the floor.
The second elite turned around in complete confusion. His hand was reaching for the rifle on his back when Austal fired again, deactivating his camouflage. This one took several more of the armor-piercing bullets to break and the armor's personal energy shield was overloaded.
The elite swung with the stock of the storm rifle, the attack merely brushing off Austal's shields. He smashed his own weapon into the alien's stomach and did it again as he doubled over. The second blow was just enough force to cave in part of the helmet, which had pierced the storm's brain.
He turned from the kills and raised his hand, his translation software easily bridging the language barrier between the two species. The controls were on the left, so he grabbed one of the bright symbols marked as shields and closed his fist, bringing it down as far as possible.
"That did it," The drone operator confirmed, "Shields down."
"I'm extracting," Austal replied, "Fire in thirty."
He was halfway out the door when a flurry of plasma bolts flew his way. They sizzled past, scorching the metal walls.
A pair of elites and a few grunts had found him and didn't hesitate to figure out what was going on, they just fired.
"Shit!" Austal vaulted over one of the sides and took cover, "My position's been compromised!"
"Get on it boys!" Lusana barked over the comms, "Our man's in trouble there!"
Marcus waited for a heartbeat before he rose from his position, targeting the grunts. The rifle kicked viciously in his hands as it spewed a steady stream of brass into the tiny aliens. The elites were returning fire, causing some of his shields to flicker. The smaller aliens squealed in terror and ran around the legs of their larger superiors. One of them snarled and swatted aside one of the panicking grunts, sprinting closer.
Austal fluidly reloaded his weapon, before turning the sights on the approaching elite. Another long stream of battering bullets cut down his shield and the remainder of the clip was emptied into center mass. His attacker went down in a shower of purple blood.
"On my way out!"
Both Lusana and Pine held onto the warthog as it plowed through the tall plains. The shields had been lowered and their last contact with Austal was when he was still inside. If he didn't get out within twenty seconds, he was going to be vaporized along with the rest of the covies.
Lusana had no intention on writing a letter to his newlywed wife, who had no idea she could be widowed in less than a minute.
A pair of ghosts manned by two elites had come out of the hangar area and immediately spotted the hog. They peeled off their patrol course and sped up to intercept.
Ross pivoted the M41 LAAG and squeezed the trigger. Like rapid streaming thunderbolts, a flurry of armor piercing rounds began striking their hills, causing metal to screech in protest. Concentrating his fire on one of them as Lusana threw the car into a turn to avoid incoming fire, Pine kept the sight of the chaingun battery right at the center.
Four of the kinetic rounds hit the cylinder reactor dead center, causing the ghost to combust.
"Good shot," Lusana turned to face the other one. Pine followed his lead, immediately tracking the second one.
This one was definitely not wanting to fall for the same trick as his partner and he was likely calling for help. The warthog shot over the grass, barreling into the ghost's side with Pine jamming his finger down on the guns. The rounds flew all around the purple vehicle before Lusana smashed his quarry up against the side of one of the shield generators.
"Eon Lead!" Bailey's girlish voice was rife with concern, "Back up now!"
The urgency in her voice negated any of the men's concerns. Lusana thrust the vehicle backwards and it lurched out with the elite inside the ghost still dazed, but alive.
Both Spartans felt it before they saw it. The wraith and its two ghost escorts had returned and the driver immediately launched a mortar headed right for them.
Having moved back in time, they saw the mortar arc right above their heads, less than five feet before it curved downward, impacting the ghost dead center. Both the elite and his ride vanished from sight when their visors had adjusted to let them see again.
Before the wraith could launch another mortar, Pine had already rotated the chaingun around, blasting the bigger vehicle with hot brass. As if it was laughing at their attempt, the wraith had stood still, enduring their assault. The turret gunner seated just behind the driver had taken notice and showered the hog with plasma fire.
Lusana threw the hog into full acceleration, heading straight for the wraith and ignoring the gunner as he tried to get a bead on the attacking vehicle. Pine once again shot at the hatch protecting the driver, but the thick armor continued to hold its own, despite the vicious beating it was taking.
The timer read ten more seconds.
"Austal, you need to get out of the facility NOW!"
"I'm out!" His tag popped up a half second later and he sprinted out towards where the two of them were battling. "Keep it busy."
"Trying our best." Lusana grumbled, "Fowler, how's it looking?"
"I've lost sight of Bailey, but you're all in the clear."
"Bailey? What is your position?"
"Give me a second and you'll know."
"Negative," Tony snapped, "Move to assist Austal and get his pursuers off his back."
"That's what I'm doing!"
The wraith had noticed the Spartan creeping from the side and pivoted to give its gunner a good shot. As it did, Austal circled it, causing his target to circle as well. What he didn't expect was for him to suddenly plant a foot on the tank and change direction. Flipping over the top like an acrobat, he latched onto the wraith's rear, facing the exposed engine port.
Marcus pulled a frag grenade from his belt and jammed it inside, leaping off. It detonated inside, with a following blast muffled by the walls. The wraith's repulsor drive stopped and it dropped a foot to the ground, both the driver canopy and mortar both exploding.
Just to his left, a maroon-armored elite wearing an sleek insectoid armor had emerged from active camouflage and upon seeing the Spartan, he activated his energy sword.
Austal fired his rifle, which the zealot walked through without stopping or its shields breaking. In one clean swipe, the blade bisected his weapon in two.
He automatically switched to his sidearm and fired three shots before the zealot struck again, the sword coming dangerously close to his stomach.
Seeing the sangheili's burning yellow eyes through the diamond helmet, Marcus wiggled an arm down to his back. When he pulled it out, he blindly struck at the elite with one of his sting knives.
Laced with a carbon nanotube, the Sting knife was another one of his signature weapons. Inside, a power cell linked to his MJOLNIR armor heated the blade hot enough to carve and cauterize wounds on a target. Not only was it sharp. But they were also adept at stabbing, cutting and burning the foe if need be. It was also balanced with throwing; a skill he had honed for years.
The tip had sliced through the sangheili's neck, causing purple blood to leak from the breach. It stumbled back and snarled.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another one of the ghosts headed his way, but it was the figure on top who caught his attention.
Bailey?
She jumped on the back of the attack bike and fired her magnum at the elite driver, planting herself in the seat once he was dead. The front was on fire and a warning alarm for an imminent destruction was blaring.
The elite turned to see her jump on top of the vehicle and bail right out, rolling to catch herself as she fell. What he didn't know was that she had slipped a live frag grenade inside, stuck to the controls as it boosted straight towards him.
Then all at once, missiles fired from the drone rained down from above on the Covenant camp, obliterating nearly everything.
When the airstrike was over, Austal surveyed the wreckage, being very surprised that the zealot had stayed intact from the blast. He had no idea if it was still alive, but it wasn't his problem right now. The ground still felt like it was shaking from the danger close airstrike and the Spartans shook their heads and made an effort to clear the ringing noise from their helmets.
Bailey jogged over to Austal, "You okay?"
Rather than express his gratitude for being alive, he put his weapons away and grabbed her shoulders with such force she couldn't help but wince, "What the fuck was that?! You could have gotten yourself killed doing that crazy stunt!"
"Spartan!" Lusana warned.
"I-"
Austal ignored him, "I had everything under control! That elite was mine!"
"SPARTAN AUSTAL!" Eon Lead bellowed, much more sternly this time, "Stand down Spartan Austal. We don't need two Fowlers on something like this."
Eon Four looked over as the rest of the group gathered together, "She unnecessarily risked herself to help me in a situation I had complete control of. That's not what I need having my back."
"I knew exactly what I was doing." Bailey placed her hands on her hips, "You don't have to thank me for saving your life Marcus."
"Don't you dare do that shit again,"
"Spartan Austal, stand down. I'm not going to order it again." Lusana came in between the two, "If the two of you are going to continue to squabble, I will assign you both an evaluation on your teamworking skills with one another complimented by wargame exercises with Roland." That shut him up, but Blake felt Eon Four glaring at her through his visor.
"Tyrant, this is Eon Lead."
"Tyrant here, what's the situation?"
"We've gotten the outpost neutralized. En route to the extraction zone Bravo."
"Copy that, I'll get a bird to meet you there."
So the new kid and Austal begin to rub shoulders. She saved your life man, you should be grateful about that...whatever.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.