Chapter III: Delta Station

Recommended Listening: Cigarettes by Fort Minor

Alex sat back with a heavy sigh, happy to be seated just for the moment. The dropship was headed off in the direction of the good news. The good news being that a whole bunch of survivors had gotten together and formed a secondary outpost called Delta Station, the main outpost was called Alpha Base. Apparently Delta Station was where those at Alpha Base went to if everything went to shit there. That was the good news, these guys were quick on their feet. The bad news was that Captain Keyes and the entire surviving command crew had been captured by the Covenant. This was the bad news. There was some other good news though. Apparently the Spartan had made it off and was currently working with Sergeant Johnson and a few others in a rescue attempt; and assault on a Covenant cruiser.

The dropship rocked back and forth, swaying in the winds very gently and Alex found himself falling into a weary sleep. He actually considered nodding off, until Jackson came over and sat down next to him.

"Hey man, wonder if there's going to be any mmmhmms at this place." he said.

"Holy Christ, man. You really need to relax, we're in the middle of a friggin war zone on some giant floating hula-Hoop in the assend of space; and that's all you can think about?" Alex responded, already slightly pissed because he was damn tired and just wanted a break. He really regretted not taking a nap on the Autumn when she was fleeing in subspace. Plus, Jackson had a way of getting on his nerves with his constant talk of sin and vice.

"Man, I really don't know how you live." Jackson responded. Alex sighed and unconsciously reached for the pocket where he always kept his cigarettes, but came up empty; he sighed again and let his hand drop.

"I live through their deaths." Alex replied.

"Tell me something, when was the last time you did it?" Jackson questioned.

"Did what?"

"You know what."

"I haven't." Alex stated in a way that suggested this was a normal conversation. Jackson opened his mouth, then closed it; staring at his friend as if he was as alien as the Covenant they were fighting.

"How...how do you live?" Jackson asked finally in a harsh whisper.

"I told you, through their deaths." Alex responded calmly.

"Holy God man, is it cause you never got the chance?"

"Oh no, I've had many chances; dozens. Just never had a thing for whores or one night stands."

"You're a better man than I." Jackson whispered, and Alex actually didn't expect this reaction. In his own way, Jackson respected Alex. Mostly he just got ridicule or sympathy, but never respect; especially from a sexually immoral guy like Jackson. Alex finally just put his head back and closed his eyes, but just as he was about to drift off he heard the intercom click on,

"Alright guys, we're comin' in on Delta Station." The pilot stated, then the comm clicked off and silence reigned in the cabin. Alex became alert and aware quickly, shoving aside his lethargy; always be prepared for every possible horrible scenario. Worst case. A thousand situations ran through his mind, everyone could be dead, they could have landed in the middle of a war zone, they could-the dropship landed with a loud clink and the back ramp began to open. Alex rose to his feet, holding his assault rifle steadily, he was the first one down the ramp; followed by Jackson, Kelly and the others. The Marine looked around, quietly impressed. They were situated on a large, flat landing pad; made of instacrete. There were three pads laid out and they each contained four ships, Pelicans and a few Longswords.

Around the pads were about a dozen or so M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, or LRV, Warthogs. On the back of each was an M41 LAAG, or Light Anti-Aircraft Gun; which fired around five hundred 12.7x99mm armor piercing rounds a minute. Alex had always marveled at the sheer insane fury of the LAAG. Small clusters of techs were working on some of the Warthogs and the ships, repairing any damage that had been done. Marines manned the LAAGs vigilantly, staring out across the vast landscape with hawk like eyes. Behind all of this was a structure similar to the one Alex had just been rescued from, except bigger. It was of the same basic design, except there were doorways leading into and out of it. There was also a small cluster of smaller, square buildings scattered around the area.

Each of these buildings had an open doorway leading into it, in which Marines and techs were coming and going from. Dozens of men and women, clad in either jumpsuits or armor, moved around; everyone with a purpose on their minds.

"Damn." Jackson muttered. The other Marines and Kelly had moved on, but Jackson stood beside Alex; staring at the base as well. "Not bad." he said. Alex could see storm clouds off in the distance, over a sea a few miles off; they looked like they were moving in. Surrounding them were rolling hills and bubbling streams and craggy rock outcroppings. The Marine moved off towards the main building, he decided to explore the base for himself just for something to do. No doubt he'd be shoved on a transport soon enough and sent off to battle somewhere on the godforsaken ringworld. There was much to be done, and he doubted he'd get to do it all before he died. He approached one of the entrances, which was propped open somehow; it looked like alien technology. But not Covenant, almost familiar.

A tech was knelt down with an open toolbox next to him, fussing over a panel fused into the wall next to the doorway. Alex came in and found himself in a small hallway, which immediately opened up into a larger square room. A few dozen techs and some Marines moved about, they all looked busy. Alex was impressed again, they had managed to set up a hell of a command center. Small, portable laptops were set up either on the ground, in laps or on a few foldout tables and metallic crates. Alex studied the place, there were three other entrances, each in the middle of each wall. He figured that there were four entrances total, one on each side of the structure; and they led into this square room. He spotted a tech in an orange jumpsuit leaning just inside one of the small passageways with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Hey, man." Alex said, coming up to the guy and standing next to him. "Can you spare a cig?" he asked. The tech looked at him for a moment, as if sizing him up, then finally shrugged and pulled a pack out. He slid a cigarette out and handed it over to Alex, who produced a small black zippo with a silver cross on it and lit the cig up.

"Tell me, how'd you guys get this up so fast?" Alex asked, leaning on the wall next to the tech.

"We move fast." The tech replied. "Someone was a quick thinker up on the Autumn, and shoved a crapload of stuff into a few Pelicans during the time we were in transit. He anticipated that we'd be hitting dirt and abandoning ship as soon as we dropped out of hyperspace. Sergeant Anderson is in charge around here, he's the genius. He gathered up a whole group of Pelicans and survivors and brought them here, establishing this outpost. All within a few hours. But this is just the beginning, he's putting together rescue ops and supply runs, survivors and ships are scattered all over this place." The tech took a long drag off of his cigarette, killed it and then tossed it onto the ground and stamped on it.

"Thanks for the cig." Alex said as the man walked off, he nodded and disappeared into the crowd. Alex looked over the sea of faces, then turned and left the command room. He came out into the sunlight and fresh air again and just stood there for a moment. He noticed that the air tasted a lot cleaner than normal, at first he just chalked it up to the fact that he had spent the last few hours sucking down recycled air; but then he realized that it wasn't that. This was even better than normal oxygen, perhaps it was because pollution had yet to touch this place. At least, it seemed that way. He figured that whoever had enough engineering genius to build a place like this; they could manage some fresh air.

He spotted one of the buildings with an open doorway and wondered if that's where everything else had been set up, i.e. living quarters, messhall, showers; whatever they could pack in there. He already figured the smaller buildings led to an underground section, it just made sense. This was confirmed as he entered the structure and found himself staring at a pathway that led downwards. He followed it and could hear overlapping voices carrying up and out. He made his way down the passageway and found himself in a large room, dozens of Marines and technicians and other UNSC personnel milled about. Some slept in small clusters on rolled out sleeping bags, others sat in groups around foldout tables; mostly they just stood about. There was a small area in one corner that was obviously an armory.

Alex could see a few crates popped open, inside were dozens of shotguns, assault rifles and pistols. Plus a few hundred clips of ammo and lots of grenades, medical kits and everything else a growing soldier could want. But most appealing of all were the beds, he spotted an unused sleeping mat unrolled on the ground a little ways away from the general cluster and made a beeline for it. Not even bothering to take off his armor, he laid his assault rifle and helmet down next to him then passed out.

"Son, it's time to get up." Alex came awake immediately clutching for his assault rifle next to him, he slowly realized that he wasn't in any immediate danger and rolled over. Looking up, he could see Sergeant Kelly's large frame looming over him, blocking out the light from the overhead illumination fixtures.

"Um...sir?" Alex asked, sitting up.

"Seems Sergeant Anderson knows who you are and recognizes you as a good soldier. He wants you, we're about to launch a mission. A rescue op." Kelly explained, Alex nodded and made himself become more focused; forcing the sleep from his mind. He didn't feel any more rested than when he'd laid down and after checking his watch in his helmet, he found that just over two hours had passed. He secured his helmet and then rose to his feet, holding his assault rifle double handedly. Sergeant Kelly led the way through the general mayhem of a few dozen Marines and techs still milling about, gathering up a few other troops with his eyes. Three or four other Marines came to him and soon the half dozen men made their way up the exit ramp towards the surface. They came outside and Alex winced briefly away from the bright sunshine, he did perk up a bit at the feel of a cool breeze across his bare flesh.

They made their way towards the landing pads where Sergeant Anderson and a few others waited. Alex wracked his brain trying to figure out when he'd ever run into Anderson before, the man did look slightly familiar; but the name didn't ring many, if any, bells. Finally, the group all lined up and Sergeant Kelly came to stand next to Sergeant Anderson.

"Alright men, listen up. Seems a contingent of Helljumpers have got themselves in some trouble a few miles north of here, they've been captured by the Covenant and are being held in a small makeshift Covenant camp. Your job is to infiltrate the camp, kill all the Covenant there, rescue the Hell Jumpers and secure any supplies and vehicles and weapons you can. Sergeant Kelly will be in charge of the operation. Dismissed and good hunting." Anderson said, he then about faced and began to head back towards Delta Station. Alex looked around at the congregation of Marines as they headed towards one of the Pelicans, which he recognized as the one that had originally rescued them; Delta 342.

Including Alex and Sergeant Kelly, there were a dozen men and women. Among the crowd were a few familiar faces, namely Jackson and Jones, one of the Marines they'd discovered just a few hours previous. All the men held an assortment of weapons, mostly MA5Bs but there were a few shotguns mixed in. Alex yearned ever so briefly for a shotgun, for their raw stopping power; but had learned to rely on the MA5B. The trusty rifle design had kept him alive in a number of situations. The group pounded up the loading ramp and situated themselves in the seats. After strapping in, the pilot began to close the ramp and then took off. Alex sat back in the seat as he finished attaching the straps, and readied himself for combat once more.