Chapter 3
Drake woke exactly two minutes before his alarm went off, as he always did.
His first thoughts awake for the day were, Check perimeter and find that asshole on the comms.
He struggled up from the sleeping bag he had slumbered in, opting to stagger to his gear. He wiped out the last groggy bouts of sleep as he began to instinctively strap on his uniform, then body armor.
Last shift had been a pain in the ass, and that self serving son-of-a-bitch Vickenson had not helped the matter one bit. Because of the bug issue he wanted increased patrols? Drake grimaced; the security crew was already overworked, and if he and Jackson doubled up shifts for everyone, that would only make their actual shifts less effective.
The prick also seems to forget that security doesn't just keep things secure, they do all the other daily shit too while your people retrieve all that forerunner crap. What a wonderful start to his morning.
He completed his routine when he retrieved an MA5B assault rifle from it's rack in the armory, and slid a clip into the bullpup receiver. He slung the rifle over his shoulder as he left the armory, and proceeded to the command center, in the vain attempt that he could convince Vickenson of his stupidity.
Why does that man insist on meddling in everything? He raged. Vickenson was the commander and the commander gave the order while the men executed it. That was how it worked and how it had always worked. However, the commander was truly a fool if he thought that he could run everything by himself.
Drake was ripped from his thoughts as he was caught off guard in the halls. His hand instinctively reached for his pistol, but he managed to stay it before he made any rash decisions. He had almost just shot Kel Vhen. She glanced at him before walking past.
He was usually fine with the Jackals at this point, but seeing a now fully armor-clad skirmisher was jarring after not seeing a Kig-Yar in a combat harness for years.
Red armor, major.
T'vaoan NCO's were the bane among the UNSC marine corps. Elites were predictable commanders, but Kig-Yar skirmishers? It was like fighting a fighter jet on wheels. They hit hard, then disappeared just as fast as they came, and at the head of it all was those red armored majors.
As much as Drake hated ex-covenant, his respect for Kel, however minute, grew. Still, he didn't think on it for long, he had better things to worry about than some Jackal's raiment.
He entered the command center at a brisk pace, his drowsiness completely eliminated, instead replaced with a cold vigor. Vickenson was indeed there, along with Jackson.
At least I'm not alone here, he thought.
"Sir," Drake stated. It wasn't a question, he knew not to ask those, but rather an announcement of his presence.
"Drake," Vickenson said, turning to him, "I think you'll like this next assignment.
For his own part, Drake only raised an eyebrow. I highly doubt that.
"I'm listening."
Jackson took over at that point, "We need to eliminate any of the bugs that might have gotten through after the breach and that means search teams. I'll go and clean off any that might have gotten to the thermo generators, you and a few others will hunt outside."
Not completely idiotic at least, he thought. "I assume that we can't neglect our usual patrols much, how big will the outside team be?"
"Five including you," Vickenson said. "I planned for three, but Jackson advised against it."
Now if he'd only listen to us about the night watch too.
"Who do you have for the teams?" he asked.
"Jagger and Conner will be the first team," Jackson said. "You'll be going with Eric and Kel."
Drake had no idea why fate might twist his arm like this, but he supposed that it could be worse. "Understood."
"Good," Vickenson started, "You'll leave in ten."
Eric, Kel, and Drake moved through the rocky chasms for what seemed like the millionth time. Maybe it has been, he thought. Eric, for his part was tired of the whole job. He had been stuck here on this rock for months now, and while yes, they were almost done, it would probably take another several months to actually get paid. Forerunner artifacts were notoriously dangerous to sell, and you had to be careful who you spoke about them to. As far as he was concerned, nothing good had come out of this job so far.
Well, except for Kel. Eric made a mental note. Remember, I made at least one good friend from all this crap; that makes this planet technically a thousand times better than Reach.
Of course that was nothing to compare anything to. He admitted though that Kel had caught him of guard. Seeing a fully armored skirmisher was not something he expected.
I suppose I already knew, he considered.
While Kel had never specifically told him that she was ex covenant, there were enough hints that Eric wasn't surprised now.
I still would have thought that she'd tell me herself.
"I see you've been keeping some things to yourself," Eric commented, his tone having a slight edge to it.
Kel, for her part, seemed to keep defensive as she spoke. "Eric, I didn't wish to lie to you but…" She paused for a second and Eric looked at Drake. He was ahead of them; he was either giving them some space, or he simply didn't care enough to listen.
"Well," she continued, "it's not exactly the way I introduce myself; especially to former UNSC."
Eric wasn't angry at her, at least not enough to truly want to hurt her, and as such, he felt ever so slightly pained as the subject got more and more uncomfortable for Kel. All of the feathers at the back of her head were twitching violently and her hands didn't seem to know what to do.
"Why start going out in armor now?" he asked.
She spoke quickly in return, "Everything else is bloodsoaked."
"Fair enough."
The conversation fizzled out at that. Eric didn't want to make Kel any more uncomfortable than she already was.
Why do I care what some overgrown space chicken thinks of me?
Even as he thought about it though, he knew the answer. Space chicken was unsurprisingly a derogatory term, and even as he thought it, he immediately regretted it. He couldn't in good conscience think of Kel as the enemy anymore. Hell, they had almost just died yesterday.
Damn me and my conscience.
"Hey Kel sorry about, uh…" He stopped.
Damn it, how do you screw up an apology!
"Shit, I'm not good at this."
"No." Kel replied.
"No, I'm really not. Do you know how few friends I hav-" Eric paused once he recognized her tone of voice. "Wait, was that sarcasm?"
Kel let a wicked smile tear itself onto her face. "How did I do?"
"Not bad for your first try. But seriously, I'm sorry about that. I don't mean to intrude on things that-"
Eric was cut of at that by Kel. "It's fine, I understand your concern. Know that I put that behind me a long time ago."
Eric nodded, "Great, I'd love to continue this further, but Drake's gonna leave us behind if we keep at it."
Just then she seemed to notice how far behind they'd fallen, and without a word the two rushed to catch up.
Even as they reached him, Drake stopped them with a raised fist. "Be ready, base just detected a signature.
Eric's face grew concerned almost immediately. "What kind?"
"Don't know, but it landed about a klick out northeast."
"We best not waste any time then," Kel said.
Drake nodded at that statement and gestured ahead. "Through here.
The group didn't find any more bugs on their way to their new destination, not that Eric was complaining. He had had more than enough excitement in the past few days, and he certainly didn't feel the need for more.
The landscape was slowly changing though as the group made it to the edge of the perimeter, then passed it. Instead of the rocky crags that had once dominated the place, now, as they exited the mountainous terrain, a flat tundra of solid rock coated the ground. Deep ravines and cliffs pockmarked the entire area, though one on the right was particularly massive.
"The signal's just half a klick out. Eric, provide cover down on that outcropping," Drake ordered.
"Which one?"
"The large one, two hundred meters, ten o'clock."
"Got it."
"Bird, you're with me."
"Understood."
Eric moved to his position after that, while the other two began to make a beeline for the signal. He moved up to the outcropping. It wasn't much more than an elevated pile of boulders, but it provided a good vantage point and good cover.
He settled down prone and looked through the scope of his rifle. There was nothing yet. He scanned the rocks, but there wasn't much at all, definitely nothing that would give off a signal.
"Eric, what do you see?" Drake said over his comlink.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." He continued scanning. "Wait!"
"What is it?"
"I've got movement, about two hundred meters from your position!"
"Bugs?"
"No."
Kel spoke up at that. "I have a visual, Kig-Yar, six of them."
"What the hell? why would we have Jackals here?" Eric asked, though he figured out the answer even before Drake said it.
"The transmitter."
"Well shit."
Drake responded, "That about describes the situation."
Then Eric caught a glimpse of one. The Jackal wasn't what he was used to seeing. It was muscular, leanly built, and sported a reptile-like face with several red quills sticking from the top of its head. The thing looked like a damned dinosaur with a bad underbite. It held in it's hands a weapon that made Eric groan. It was a beam rifle. The strangest part about it though was how the Jackal held it. It held it like the creature was right handed, yet the targeting optic was positioned over the left eye.
"I've got one sniper. Dinosaur has a beam rifle."
Kel responded, "Understood, I have one marksman and another sniper."
"I've got eyes on three shieldbearers."
That was when Eric saw them too. "I don't think they know we're here."
"Then we have the element of surprise," Drake said.
"We're engaging?" Eric asked.
"Those things are a threat to the base, it's only a matter of time till they're found. At least this way, we buy ourselves some time."
"Copy that."
"Eric, Take out that sniper of yours. I'll pin down the shieldbearers. Bir-, Kel, take out the other snipers.
"Understood." Her voice gave away almost no emotion. If it wasn't for the fact that he could see her just a short distance away, he would have thought her voice was a robot.
"I copy, got him lined up, just say the word."
Kel aimed down the sights of her needle rifle, the other sniper wasn't aware that she had her crosshairs lined up on his head yet. She allowed a brief moment of satisfaction to slip through her visage. At least she wasn't on the receiving end of UNSC tactics this time. She thought about her and Eric's conversation earlier. She still liked night better, but she could definitely see the appeal of the day now that she was on the giving end of the ambush.
She eyed the T'vaoan next to her current target. He had a needle rifle like her, though he wore Covenant commando armor, the green markings and distinct helmet giving him away immediately. She could tell from the way he walked that he hadn't just stolen the armor either; no, he had been a real commando, no doubt.
"Fire."
The command rang numbly in Kel's ears as she squeezed the trigger. Blamite flew from her rifle in a bright flare before impacting with the other sniper's head. He was dead before his body hit the ground and Kel immediately changed targets.
The remaining commando was already in motion, having reacted the instant the round had made impact, sprinting for the cover of a small boulder. She fired again, though she couldn't tell if the round hit as her target dived behind the rock.
She could make out the sound of Drake's assault rifle firing into the three shieldbearers through the blood pounding in her ears, though only just. All she could think about was that other sniper.
"Drake, that sniper I was trying to hit just dove for cover," Eric yelled over the comms, his voice still barely coming through over the sound of battle.
Damn it, of all the times to miss.
Drake fired another volley of rounds from his rifle before ducking back behind a rock. He could keep this up for a while, so long as Eric and Kel kept the snipers at bay. The three jackals in front of him were using their shields to slowly advance on him. On the bright side, the shields allowed him to pop up and pick his target almost immediately due to the bright blue hue that they gave off. Still, he decided that they could ease up on the trigger a little.
He scowled at his lack of preparedness. If he had a grenade with him, this would have been over already, but of course he didn't. Instead he made due with the prodigious magazine size his rifle afforded him. He checked his ammo counter. He still had forty rounds left.
That number went down to twenty as he swept his rifle across the field, forcing his assailants to duck down into cover.
"Eric, status." He could really do with some sniper support.
"Gimme a minute."
Drake waited only a few more seconds before another sharp crack rang out above the current gunfight. "Ha ha! Got the bastard, moving to support you.
He finished the rest of his magazine as he ducked down to reload. Just as he finished, another crack sounded from Eric's position, and this time, one of the Jackals fell down to the ground with no head.
Kel wasn't having it. The commando was still firing from his position. He had dug in and now it was practically a stalemate. I need to break it.
He couldn't move to his right, if that happened, he'd be exposing himself to Eric and Drake. Need to flank right. She eyed the ravine in the way of her plan as she fired another couple of rounds.
I can jump that. It was a good ten foot gap at it's narrowest point, but she had made farther jumps in worse situations.
She fired another shot at her opponent, making him duck down before she broke from her cover. Kel didn't waste anymore time. Speed was her greatest asset here and she intended to make full use of it, knowing that if she stopped, that commando was more than capable of blowing a hole though her in a matter of seconds. She barely felt her feet touch the ground as she practically flew across the rocky field. Everything was level enough that she didn't have to worry much about tripping. With that in mind, she went full speed at the ravine, ignoring the needle rifle fire that was now flying past her. She jumped at the last possible minute, letting the feathers in her arms catch the air as much as possible while still holding a rifle as she tucked her legs in. She easily sailed over the gap, and if anything, she overshot as she landed almost ten feet away.
Kel tucked into a roll to bleed her momentum before she was back on her feet and turned almost ninety degrees, heading for another rock. A pink blur passed just under her chin as she slid to the rock and opened fire.
The commando was fast as he hopped to the side just as the needle flew from her rifle but it wouldn't matter. He had no cover and it was only a matter of time until she managed to land a hit. Then, the commando did something astonishing.
He sprinted right for her, firing back all the way. The shots made her flinch and she shot wide. She had just readjusted her aim when he jumped, her second shot landing just under him. He didn't jump across the ravine though. Instead, he jumped into it.
"All targets neutralized," Drake's voice said over the comms.
"One jumped into the ravine," Kel responded. "The fall should kill him, still, he might have survived."
"Copy, still not a problem, regroup on my location.
Eric watched as Kel sailed across the gap with an almost casual air about it. He forgot how far her kind could leap. He then looked down to the spot where he had shot the sniper. There wasn't a body anywhere, Only a dark indigo stain upon the rocks.
"Drake, that sniper crawled away."
"Shit. well it would have shot one of us by now if it was keen on engaging. You see it, plug it, if not, we'll deal with it later."
Gaz held back a cry of pain as he popped the joint back into place. He was lucky a dislocated leg was all that he was getting from that fall. He hadn't expected resistance so soon.
"Otten, do you copy?"
"Yes."
The commando whirled around to find his friend. Blood was pouring down his face in droves, but he seemed unconcerned. Indeed, the Ibie'shan had survived far worse.
"What do you think the casualties are?" Gaz asked.
"The rest."
"Syn's going to be pissed."
"her problem."
"True. How'd you survive?"
"Got lucky, shot grazed me.'
The commando shook his head. "No, that was obvious, I meant the fall."
Otten looked down to his grey, mechanical right leg. The mechanized appendage had been installed directly into his hip socket, mimicking a typical Kig-Yar leg, with various pouches and tools being strapped to it. "Shifted weight."
"Forgot how useful that thing can be."
Otten used to be a hunter. He had hunted everything from the legendary Sangheili Rafakrit, all the way to the Saycean Reaper, Eayn's most feared ocean hunter. In between those hunts, his prey had decided to fight back. Considering the size of the monsters he had faced, Otten was lucky that a leg was the only thing he had lost.
The former hunter spoke up again. "Need to contact Syn, tell her to start the attack."
"Right, right." Gaz clicked on his comlink. "Heavens, this is ground team over."
There was static on the line before the voice of the communications officer called back. "I copy ground team, what is it?"
"We were ambushed, the element of surprise is gone, tell Syn to start the main attack."
"I copy, were there any casualties?"
"Four," he answered."
"Damn it, Syn won't like that."
"She'll like it even less if they're prepared for us, Ground team, over and out."
The recent firefight had sparked a renewed interest in Kel's mind and it only grew when they realized that they couldn't reach command over comms.
"They must be jamming us," Drake realized.
The one at the transmitter relay. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the sonic emitters were down this close to the attack.
She looked to Eric as Drake went ahead. They were already heading back towards the base, even as he tried in vain to communicate the situation to base. "Eric?"
"Yeah?"
She took a breath. "I do not think that the transmitter relay was an accident."
"Wait, you think that-"
"There are too many coincidences happening at once. The emitter beacons were down the day before and I found that guy on the transmitter only an hour before that swarm hit. If we hadn't gotten up the beacon, we would have only managed to hold the swarm off long enough for these Kig-Yar to show up and finish us off."
"It could have been an accident. Like you said, coincidence."
Kel looked down. "Maybe, yes. Yes, you are probably right," she said, though it was more to herself than to Eric.
"Come on you two," Drake shouted, "I can't get a line to base so we need to double time it over there and tell them what happened, c'mon."
