Hello again everyone, and welcome back to my Halo - MechWarrior/BattleTech crossover.
Thank you all for your wonderful patience and support. I deeply appreciate it.
My apologies for the delay in getting this chapter out. I was getting some much needed repairs done to my laptop. Now that it is fixed, I'll be able to begin posting chapters again.
This is the final revised chapter from the original version of BattleTech: Combat Evolved. After this chapter, we will be seeing brand new chapters coming out. The next story arc will be something special. I will not spoil anything except for one thing: an ol' ship is going to be going on a crazy adventure.
As always, leave a review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or MechWarrior/BattleTech franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, WizKids, Catalyst Game Labs, Piranha Games Inc., etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
Circinus IV
Corbulo Academy of Military Science
April 26th, 2526, 2030 Hrs
Running up the steps towards Corbulo Academy's Space Elevator Tether, Lasky winced at the deafening screech of the warning klaxons and felt his heart thudding with terror and adrenaline. What's going on? This an Innie attack, or something else?
Then Lasky saw a familiar face in the growing crowd of panicked students. "Chyler?"
"Lasky!" Chyler, a young woman Lasky's age, broke through the crowd and joined him, her eyes wide with alarm. "Is it the Innies?"
Lasky grabbed Chyler's hand. "I don't know. Come on!"
They pushed their way through the panicked crowd and reached the building's front doors, where a single, well-armed marine stood guard. "Proceed to the Tether, now! This is not a drill!" he roared over the din.
Once inside, Lasky winced at the increased chaos, with Marines shouting orders to the cadets as they raced for the Tether. Dammit, this is getting worse by the second! But at least Colonel Mehaffey was here, standing like a pillar of courage and calm in the chaos.
"Colonel!" Chyler cried, waving her free arm. "What's going on?"
"Get to the tether and regroup with your squad," Colonel Kennedy barked imperiously.
"Yes, ma'am!" Lasky and Chyler cried in unison and doubled their haste through the building's crowded hallways. Next, they ran across a dark-skinned, spectacled young man, a look of relief plastered on his face upon noticing them in.
"Chen. Glad you're okay," Lasky panted.
"Likewise. The rest of the squad's at the Tether. Come on, it's not much further." Chen motioned and hurried down a side hallway, with Lasky and Chyler tailing him the whole way. Near the Tether's entrance, stood the rest of Lasky's squad, primed and ready for whatever came next. Lasky and his friends rushed over, with Michael Sullivan, April Orenski and Walter Vickers welcoming them along with Dima Tchakova in the rear.
Lasky finally let go of Chyler's hand and wiped his brow. "Seriously, what the hell is going on? An Insurrection attack?"
Michael shook his head. "I have no idea, man. We were just ordered here to the Tether's cable cars."
"The sooner we get up there, the better," Lasky said tensely. Any second now...
Everyone hastily looked up when they heard a sudden, thunderous sound, and through the academy's glass ceiling, Lasky recognized several vapor trails. "They're dropping in ODSTs," he realized out loud. Just as the words left his mouth, an ODST pod slammed down nearby, and an armed ODST trooper stepped out.
"What the fuck?" Vickers blurted out.
"Why are ODSTs dropping here?!" Michael yelped. "This doesn't make sense!"
Lasky couldn't deny the truth any longer, horrible as it was. "Because we're under attack," he said. "This is the real deal." Chyler and the others were terrified at the thought of it, and Lasky couldn't blame them, but he didn't dare let it show. He needed the others to believe in him and Orenski . Whatever it took.
Dima, who was clearly overwhelmed, clenched her fists and made an aggravated noise. "Screw this! We're getting into that cable car! Right now!"
Orenski recoiled. "No! We must wait in line!" Things were chaotic enough as it was.
"We'll die if we stay here! Look at all this!" Dima cried, motioning with her arms. "We gotta protect ourselves."
"Dima." Lasky reached out and took hold of her shoulders. "Wait! Don't go! It's not our turn!"
"He's right," Chyler added gently, taking Dima's hand.
Dima hesitated, then tore her hand free from Chyler's. "You wanna die, fine! I'm going!" She pushed her way through the crowd of babbling cadets, fighting her way toward the nearest Tether cable car.
"Dima!" Lasky shouted. He shot out a hand to stop her, but he was too late.
"Dima!" Michael shouted. "Come back!"
Then a Marine intervened and held up a hand to stop the runaway Dima. "Return to your squad, cadet!" he ordered.
"I'm getting on that Tether. Get out of my way!" Dima cried, clearly panicking.
"It's filled to capacity, cadet! Wait with your squad for the next one!"
Dima bared her teeth. "My mother is Secretary of FLEETCOM." She growled. "Your choice, Marine!"
With a sigh, the guard stepped to the side. "Go." Dima didn't waste a second.
"This evacuation is taking too long," Michael groaned. "You know what, maybe we should bum-rush it like Dima."
"No!" Orenski cried. "Dima made her choice. But the rest of us have to stick together."
Michael hung his head. Honestly, Lasky wanted to as well. Come on, bring the next one already...!
Dima's cable car shut its doors, and it shot straight up the Tether. Seconds later, the air shuddered violently. A few lost their footing and fell, and Lasky had to extend his arms to maintain his balance. What the...?
Looking up, he saw a corvette sized ship descending toward the academy. Another one descended next to the first, then a third, violet striped, purple hulls gloomily hovering over the academy.
Lasky stared in disbelief, his stomach tightening. "What the hell are those things?"
"I've never seen 'em before," Chen admitted.
"Maybe -" Michael started, and then all hell broke loose.
In a flash of sudden light, the nearest ship fired. A blue-white beam cut through the tether, severing cables and blasting away a considerable chunk of the structural rings lining it. The tether swayed, cables fighting to compensate. Then, to Lasky's horror, the Tether's cables snapped with a loud TWANG, sending the lowest portion of the cable falling to the ground with a crash.
Chunks of debris came hurtling, smashing into the ground like meteorites. A wave of dust swept through the hallway, while the aftershock raced toward them like a tidal wave. Lasky had barely enough time to shout, "GO!" before everyone all inside began fleeing the approaching dust cloud.
Screams of terror filled the air as the cadets ran. One cadet tripped, screaming before one of her squadmates roughly threw her back onto her feet. Two others were promptly swallowed by the dust cloud, while Lasky and the others kept running. All sound faded away, with the only thing he could hear being his own harsh breathing.
A loud rumble ended his run, knocking him to the ground. The cloud of dust flew over his head, obscuring his vision and casting the entire place into darkness. Dust stuck to the back of his throat, making him gag and cough as he struggled to get his bearings. Grunting, he began to force himself back onto his feet. He thought heard a muffled voice calling him by name. "Tom?"
"Hastati?" came Orenski 's voice. Lasky winced.
He was jolted out of his stunned state when something hit the nearby window with a loud THUMP. He jumped as he heard a loud, inhuman sound that resembled the squawk of a bird. Head snapping to the left, he watched as an ODST fired his rifle, while what looked like pink colored crystals whipped past him. Then he heard a deep growl that rumbled through the air. Purple lights appeared in the outside fog.
"Oh my God! What is that?!" Chyler whispered in horror.
They got their reply moments later.
Lasky watched as a two-pronged blade popped into existence, casting a light on the inhuman figure approaching them. Two digitigrade legs supported an armored torso, while two arms ending in hands connected to a pair of broad shoulders. It's head was elongated, the helmet obscuring all but the eyes. It approached a statue shaped in the likeness of the Roman Centurion that was the namesake of the academy. Growling loudly, the alien swiped at the statue with the two bladed sword. Lasky gazed in horror as the statue was promptly cut in half.
Horrified, Chyler shouted, "Tom, come on! Come on!"
Shaking off his stupor, Lasky quickly scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain from his stomach and chest. "What was that?" he asked.
"I don't know!" Chyler said, her face a mask of fear.
"What was that?" Orenski asked.
Just as she did, Lasky heard a scream, then all of them jumped as someone fell through the glass ceiling while shards of sharp glass scattered everywhere, cutting and gashing anyone that was too close. A flash of light revealed a pair of familiar brown eyes and blond colored hair, causing him to bellow in horror. "DIMA!" he heard Sullivan scream.
Sullivan rushed forwards to help when Orenski grabbed him and pulled him back. "No, Michael!" she shouted. "We can't help her! GO!" Another harsh thump followed, along with the sound of shattering glass as the people that had been on the elevator car minutes earlier came falling to the ground. All of them began to run like mad, even as glass flew everywhere, and bodies landed with meaty thumps. Lasky's breath came in quick, sharp gasps, even as tears began to sting his eyes.
Racing through the corridor, the cadets quickly found themselves at one of the exits to the building. Vickers, running on full adrenaline, smashed through the door, shattering the central glass body. Holding the door open, he waited for everyone to get out before rejoining them. "Where do we go?!" he shouted.
"The barracks!" Orenski shouted. "We can hide there. Get -"
"Look out!" Michael screamed, tackling Orenski to the ground. A pink crystal flew where her head had been, embedding itself halfway into the wall. "We can't stay here! RUN!"
All the cadets ran like mad, terror and adrenaline lending speed to their limbs. Lasky watched as something blue-white stuck onto an ODST before detonating, blasting armor apart and sending the ODST's limbs flying. "Incoming!" an ODST shouted as he spotted the cadets.
"Hold on!" another shouted. Shouting at them, he said, "Move it!"
"Watch out!" a Marine screamed, before a green glowing blob hit his head. A flash of light later, the Marine fell headless to the ground.
Running as fast as he could, Lasky only caught glimpses of what was going on. A large squad of Marines and ODSTs were fighting like mad against aliens that seemed to have been plucked straight out of a sci-fi film. A large bird-like alien fired more pink crystals at a Marine, gutting the man and sending him tumbling to the ground, while another alien was gunned down by an ODST. Pieces of the space elevator continued to fall down around them, causing even more dust to obscure the air.
Orenski, continuing to lead the team through the chaos, shouted, "Come on! Let's go!"
Stumbling, Lasky hit the ground and rolled. Getting to his feet, he tried to look around for the other members of his squad, only to find no one. All around him, cadets were running in all directions, while Marines and ODSTs continued to fight valiantly against the alien invaders. Turning around, Lasky watched as a Marine was hit in the back by a bright green crystal, sending the Marine screaming to the ground. Another of the large, hunched over aliens fired from a blue-colored rifle, sending two more blue-white bolts into a pair of cadets. Both cadets fell down dead, their bodies burning as the plasma bored into them. "CHYLER!" he screamed in fear and desperation. "HASTATI!"
He was about to pick a direction and run when he felt someone grabbing his hand. Shouting as he raised a fist to fight, he stopped when he saw the familiar face of Colonel Mehaffey. "Colonel Mehaffey?" he asked. "What -"
"No time!" Mehaffey shouted. "Get to the dorms! GO, GO, GO!" Jerking Lasky's arm in the general direction, she began firing her rifle at the aliens
It wasn't to last. Time seemed to slow down to Lasky as he watched six pink crystals tear into Mehaffey's chest. The woman fell to the ground with a cry, before the crystal's glow intensified. There was a loud BANG as they detonated, tearing Mehaffey in half and sending chunks of flesh and bone flying. Lasky screamed, his body splattered by the charred remains. Glancing to the left, he spotted more cadets running, while to the right, a Marine roared defiantly at another alien as it raised its rifle to end his life.
Then, another hand grabbed him by the arm, jerking Lasky out of his trance. Gazing distantly in that direction, his mind snapped back to reality when he recognized Chyler's face. "TOM!" she shouted. "COME ON, LET'S GO!"
As the aliens continued to whittle down UNSC personnel, another familiar face ran over and grabbed the two of them. "JJ, is that you?!" Lasky shouted.
"COME ON!" Silva screamed.
"TO THE DORMS!" Chen thundered.
Somehow, in all the chaos and madness that was happening, they stumbled onto the entrance to the dorms. Coughing as they entered, Lasky nearly shouted when Michael and the rest of Hastati squad came into the place. "What's happened?!" Sullivan shouted. His question went unanswered.
Running to his dorm's door, Vickers tried to open it. A loud buzzing sound rewarded his efforts. He kicked the door in frustration. "Doors are locked!" he snarled.
"Over here, in Lasky's dorm!" Michael shouted.
"Come on, come on!" Silva shouted. Everyone quickly piled into the room, gasping for breath as their hearts hammered inside of their chests.
As they entered, Lasky suddenly had a terrible thought. "Where's James?!" he asked.
"The exchange student?" Silva asked.
"Yeah!"
Silva frowned. "I don't know. Maybe he's with his exchange officer. Maybe they got out."
At that moment, they heard footsteps pounding down the hall. Then another young man with brown hair and blue eyes burst into the room, gasping, and wheezing for air, Collapsing to his knees, he heaved in and out. Rising to stand, he revealed his name tag, as well as the eight-point Cameron Star on his chest.
"I'm here!" James gasped as soon as he could speak.
"Where's your exchange officer?" Lasky asked. "Where's Anestia?!"
James shook his head. "She's dead!" he said between gasps. "One of those bastards got her!"
As the room fell silent, the reality of the situation began to hit them. Sullivan's face became a mask of grief and horror. "Oh my god… Dimah, she's dead," he sobbed out.
Lasky was in a similar state of grief, even as he wiped chunks of gore off his face. "Colonel Mehaffey…" he mumbled.
"We will be too if we don't do something!" Vickers said angrily.
Moving to where Lasky's computer was, Orenski tried to activate it, her hands brushing aside expended cartridges and shotgun shells. When she got no response from the computer, she said, "Comms are offline."
"It's a whole new war," Vickers said. For a few seconds, that thought dominated their minds.
Their silence was shattered when they heard a woman's scream echo through the dormitory, only for a buzzing, stabbing sound to ring out, with the woman's scream falling silent. "That sounded close!" Vickers gasped.
Lasky moved towards the door and opened it ever so slightly. Peering through the crack, his eyes widened in terror as he saw one of the large aliens he'd seen earlier in the hallway, its blade piercing through the body of another cadet. He looked on in terror, even as the alien pulled its blade out. Then, to his utter horror, it seemingly vanished into thin air. Jumping back, he said, "It's invisible."
"What the hell's invisible?"
"The alien," James said, his mind beyond all horror now. "One of those fucking things is in here with us, and it's invisible!"
Leaning out into the corridor again, Lasky couldn't see the alien. He could, however, hear it growling. Then, the glass for another one of the dormitory's doors shattered. Screams of terror erupted before becoming wails and bellows of agony. Lasky flinched as blood splattered onto the floor outside of the dormitory.
At that moment, he realized that the dormitory was no longer a haven. It was now a prison, with the rooms being cages and the alien the executioner. A courage he'd never felt before rose up in him, silencing the fear that had been present before. "Let's go," he said. "We gotta get out of here."
Sullivan was aghast. "No, no, no, no, screw that! We stay here!"
"Where're we gonna go?" Chen whispered.
James stumbled over his words, then said, "The training room! The guns are there!"
"He's right," Orenski said. "We'll go to the training room. We're gonna get prepped. We're gonna get weapons."
"I'll take point," Chen said. "I know the way best."
"Come on! Come on, line up!" Everyone quickly formed a line, with Chen at the front. "All right. Tell us when. Tell us when, alright?"
Chen remained silent, jumping when the sound of glass being shattered erupted through the place again. Peering around the bend, he waited until he saw the glass next to their dorm shatter, then he shouted, "NOW!"
Everyone bolted out of the room as though hell itself was chasing after them. Lasky heard the alien roar in anger as they flew out of the dorm. Reaching a T-Junction, Chen took the left-hand turn. Just as Lasky followed him, Chen stopped suddenly, an expression of shock on his face. Orenski, running around the corner, shouted, "Go, go, go! Hurry! What -" she stopped when she spotted Chen.
"Guys?" Sullivan asked.
"Why'd you -" Vickers asked.
It was James, just behind Lasky and Chen, that spotted what Chen had seen. Gazing directly ahead, he spotted a shimmer. Hearing a growl, he screamed, "RUN LIKE HELL!", before throwing himself backwards. At the exact same moment, two pronged blades stabbed through Chen's abdomen, with the young man being hurled over the shoulder of another invisible alien.
"JJ!" Vickers screamed.
"RUN! RUN!" James hollered, with everyone quickly following him.
After what seemed like hours of running, they stumbled into the training room. Missing a step, James tumbled to the ground, forcing the others to run over him. As the cadet picked himself up with a grumble, Orenski said, "Lasky, send the distress beacon. Chyler, help me get the weapons." Seeing that James was back onto his feet, she asked, "Orenski, what should we grab?"
"Grab the Mauser IIs!" Orenski suggested. "James, Vickers, get the lockers open!" Vickers nodded, before taking James and the others towards the weapon lockers.
Moving to the door, Lasky began working on closing it and sending the distress beacon, while Orenski began working on the lockers for the weapons. She swore as she got a negative beep from the keypad. "It's locked! My code isn't working." Vickers and Sullivan, trying a different method, kicked the doors to the lockers. Sullivan didn't get through, and all Vickers earned was a stubbed toe.
"Lasky, door!" Sullivan shouted.
"Yeah, I'm-I'm trying!" Lasky replied.
"April, come on!" Silva shouted.
"It's not working!" Orenski huffed in frustration.
There was a slight jolt as the door began to close. As it did, Lasky keyed the distress beacon. "Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is Cadet Thomas Lasky! I repeat: mayday! Mayday! There's been an attack on Corbulo Academy! Excessive casualties! I repeat: excessive casualties!"
At the weapons locker, Orenski stepped back, frustrated. "I don't have access to the live rounds."
"I think the beacon's down as well," Lasky said.
"We're dead," Sullivan moaned. "We're fucking dead!"
Angered by the comment, James slapped Sullivan in the face. "Get your act together, asshole!" he shouted, shaking the terrified cadet. Sullivan shoved him back, then caught himself.
Hysteria began to take hold. Shaking somewhat, Orenski mumbled, "Okay, alright. Think, think, think, think…"
Lasky advanced towards her. "We can't stay in here, April."
"We can't go out there!" April retorted.
At that moment, Vickers had a moment of inspiration. Advancing towards a fire extinguisher, he pulled it out, then returned to the locker and began giving the locker doors a sound thrashing. For a moment, everyone wondered what he was doing. Then they saw that the metal on the locker door was starting to give. Seeing this, Lasky shouted, "Come on, Vickers! Harder!"
"Harder, Vickers!" Sullivan added. Encouraged, Vickers began hammering at the doors harder and harder. Soon, there was a prodigious dent in the wire frame door, but most importantly, a gap between the door and the frame.
"A little more!" James shouted. "I'll use one of the table legs as a crowbar!" Finding a suitable table, he quickly began undoing the nuts and bolts holding one of the legs to the table.
Any sign of hope almost instantly faded when they all heard a loud banging sound. Everyone promptly stopped, then looked at the door. Horror blossomed in their hearts when they realized what that sound meant.
"Hide!" Orenski hissed. The cadets promptly scrambled to the back of the room, with Vickers and James going right, while the others went left. As they pressed into the alcove, Vickers noticed that James was holding something. He opened his mouth to ask, only for James to put his finger to his lips.
There was a roar as the alien outside of the room found that the door was withstanding its efforts. There was a pop as the lights failed, sending the entire training room into pure blackness. Then several large thudding sounds, like something heavy was being thrown at the door, erupted. There was another bout of silence, then a loud CRASH as the door finally gave in. When it slid past their position, Lasky noticed it had a massive dent near the lower portion of the door.
Almost everyone moved further around the lockers, to avoid being found out. Only James and Vickers didn't move. Peering around the corner, Vickers looked at Lasky, who put a finger to his lips. Nodding, Vickers slid back into cover, while James shifted his grip on the leg of the table he'd pilfered. Moving quietly to the corner of the locker they were behind, James leaned out to see the intruder.
He quickly moved back behind the locker when something bumped into the door, causing it to scrape loudly on the floor. All of them recoiled and froze as they heard the alien stepping into the room. "Go," Lasky whispered, before beginning to move forwards. Sparks erupted from debris that had come from a part of the room that had collapsed, making him pull back. Crouching down on all fours, he began to slowly crawl behind the lockers, with the others following. James and Vickers remained where they were at.
Moving beneath the debris, Lasky came to a stop near the end of the small tunnel the debris had formed behind the lockers. As the others gathered, Sullivan whispered, "Lasky, go for the door!"
"We can't leave Vickers and James behind," Lasky whispered.
"Where is it?" Silva asked.
Dropping quietly to his stomach, Lasky peered out beneath one of the lockers. The flickering lights made it hard to see, and he knew that the creature was still invisible. He was about to look at Silva when he heard a meaty thump, as though something had fallen. A small puddle ahead of him suddenly distorted, with three small indentations forming in its surface. Lasky's heart leaped into his throat. Quickly getting up, he whispered, "Right there."
"What's it doing?" Orenski asked.
"It's doubling back," Lasky said. That was bad news. If the alien doubled back while they were trying to get out, it would spot them, and then the pursuit would start anew. They had to either wait until the alien lost interest and left the room, or they would until it wasn't looking at the door or their hiding spots before escaping. On top of that, we can't leave Vickers and James, he thought.
There were more footsteps, then a blue glow filled their hiding space as the alien activated its twin blades. Everyone froze, then a beeping sounded, and alien words came over what sounded like a radio. The alien uncloaked, it's body visible for the cadets to see, before it began to talk. Apparently, it wasn't too happy, as its voice, if it could be called one, had a growling undertone.
On the other side of the room, James and Vickers were still holding position. Checking on Vickers, James watched as a look of determination came across him, hand clenching the extinguisher. James shook his head quickly, hefting what he had in his hand. Vickers shook his head and began to inch towards the edge of the locker. Before James could react fast enough, Vickers charged out of cover and shouted, "Hey! GUYS, RUN!" Raising his fire extinguisher, he threw it at the alien with every ounce of strength he had.
The alien turned just in time for the fire extinguisher to slam into its face. The shields flared, with the fire extinguisher bouncing off and hitting the ground. The alien fired its plasma weapon, hitting Vicker's square in the chest. The cadet didn't even utter a sound as he fell to the ground, dead.
"VICKERS!" Sullivan shouted, drawing the alien's attention. It stepped forwards, the energy blade illuminating the crawl space they were in. Upon seeing the cadets, the alien began laughing menacingly as it raised its weapon.
At that moment, James acted. There was no sound from his mouth as he charged forward, before striking the back of the alien's legs with his makeshift bludgeon. A meaty WHUMP filled the air as the bludgeon connected solidly. It was a good aim, but James had underestimated the force that he needed for the blow. For all his efforts, he might as well have been trying to move the moon.
Surprised nonetheless, the alien threw an arm back, catching James in the bottom of his chin. The young cadet flew backwards, his head smacking into one of the locker doors. Slumping to the ground, dazed, he looked up to see the alien drawing its arm back. He had just regained full consciousness when the alien moved in to kill him.
The blow never came.
The alien was about to stab downwards when a loud, steely scrape filled the air. The alien roared, then gurgled as purple blood erupted from the front of its throat. It slumped forwards, then toppled to the ground next to James with a meaty thump. Looking up, the cadets saw what had saved them.
To their infinite relief, it was another UNSC soldier, though it wasn't like any they'd ever seen. Covered in armor from head to toe, the soldier was taller than any of them, and had been only slightly shorter than the alien. There were no identifying features, save for three numbers on the chest plate: 117. Switching on the helmet's lights, the soldier advanced towards the cadets and said, "We don't have much time. Let's go."
The man hefted James to his feet. Seeing the broken off table leg in James hand, he nodded, then keyed his COM unit. "Blue-3, I've got five survivors. Take your team north. Rendezvous at Evac Alpha for Pelican extraction. Blue-2, take Blue-4 and perform a sweep of the perimeter. We'll meet you there. Blue Actual out."
"How'd you find us?" Lasky asked.
"A distress beacon."
"Why did you come for us?" Sullivan asked.
"You're the only survivors," the man said.
"In the school?"
The soldier's answer was a damning one. "On the planet."
James' shoulders slumped, a frown on his face. Lasky and Silva looked away in shock. We're the only ones left? he thought, his heart sinking.
His saddened bewilderment was broken when the green giant said, "We've got fifteen minutes to reach the Evac Point. Armor up."
"We can't," Sullivan said. "The doors are locked."
The armored soldier advanced towards the locker doors. With the ease of a man opening a door, he smashed the locker doors inward, then pulled them out. The sound of metal tearing filled the air as each of the locker doors fell to the ground.
Minutes later, the cadets were following him out of the training room, weapons ready as they advanced. As they followed, Lasky watched James, his movements practiced and comfortable He is a big guy, he thought, remembering how he'd torn off one of the table legs after bending it back and forth a few times once the bolts were undone. But then a big guy wouldn't move so well in that gear unless they were trained to do so.
The super-soldier before them raised a fist in the air. The entire group stopped dead in their tracks. Turning to the cadets, he said, "Stay quiet. Do not leave, no matter what you hear outside."
"Wait!" Lasky said. "Who are you?"
"Call me Master Chief." Without another word, the super-soldier turned and proceeded down the hallway. Before long, the cadets were alone again.
Silva slowly slumped to the ground, with Lasky sitting down next to her. Sullivan began to moan again. "I knew those ONI vids were bad news. Now we're the only ones alive, and -"
"Sully, shush," Orenski interrupted.
"What the hell's going on?" Sullivan continued. "We're all following a giant robot. Who knows if he's coming back?"
"He's gotta come back," Lasky said. "I believe him." Turning to Silva, he noted that she looked uneasy. "You OK?"
Silva shook her head. "I don't know," she half-whispered, half-sobbed.
Lasky patted her on the shoulder. "Hang on. We'll be all right." Taking her helmet into his hands, he began putting it on for her. Seeing her about to cry, he said, "Hey. Hey, you're gonna be fine." Tightening the strap for her helmet, he began putting his own on.
"Thanks," she said. Lasky simply smiled.
As he put his helmet on, he looked at James. Gone was the usually cheery faced cadet that was here as part of an exchange program. Instead, Lasky saw only a tired man with a sad frown. "You OK?" he asked. "You look like you've been through this before?"
"I have," James said with a nod.
"Where?"
"The Amaris Coup," James said. "I was… born on Terra during that time. My dad was part of the resistance against Amaris. I had to learn how to kill when I was seven."
Lasky frowned. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know."
"It's all right," James said. "It was a long time ago. After we left the Inner Sphere, and during the peace we had since we arrived here, my grandfather trained me himself. Didn't want any more of his grandchildren to die."
"He sounds like a good person."
"He was," James agreed.
Any conversation that was to be had ended when they heard footsteps. Snapping their rifles up, the cadets aimed at the darkness ahead, fearful of what might come out. Lasky's finger rested on the trigger of his rifle.
A pair of familiar lights came on. The cadets relaxed as the Master Chief walked back into view. "Who's the best shot here?" Chief asked.
The cadets looked at him in confusion. "… you, probably?" Silva asked.
Chief didn't reply. "Chyler is," Lasky said as he finished getting his helmet on.
Chyler nodded. "I'm good."
"I am too," Oreski said.
"So am I," James said.
"Cadet Lasky," Chief asked, "can you drive a Warthog?"
What? Lasky thought. Of all the people here, he asks me to drive a Warthog? Looking around, he said, "Um… yeah. Sure."
"Good. That's where we're headed. Shooters on the left and right. Driver in the center. Stay close to me. It's your best chance of survival." The cadets quickly followed him, eyes peeled for anything resembling an alien.
. . .
If Lasky had thought the carnage inside was bad, the carnage outside was worse. As they moved along the pedestrian walkway leading to their destination, the cadets looked around. Lasky frowned as he looked at the body of a cadet that was lying on the ground, skin and clothes charred and melted from the plasma that had killed her. Behind him, Oreski looked at the body of an ODST that had died recently, his right arm missing below the elbow. Sullivan gazed at the body of a cadet that was buried in rubble, while tears streamed down Silva's face as she saw the body of a cadet lying under the body of the instructor that had likely been trying to protect him.
Seeing another exchange student's body, James bent down and closed her open eyes. "Requiescat en pace," he whispered to the boy before rejoining the others. Looking at the Cameron Star on his chest, he noticed that it was charred. With a sad frown, he laid it onto the cadet's body, then moved on.
An explosion rang out, startling Sullivan. "Sully, keep up," James said.
Sullivan looked around nervously. "Where – where'd they all go?"
Before anyone could reply, a sharp, whistling sound erupted from nearby. Sullivan gasped, then screamed as a pink crystal lodged in his right leg. As it spun his body around, he spotted one of the bird-like aliens firing its weapon, sending another pink crystal at his face. Before it could reach him, Chief moved in front of him, blocking the incoming bow with his armor. Rifle raised, he fired at the alien, sending white light directly at the alien, blasting its head cleanly off. "GET DOWN!" he shouted, knocking Sullivan to the ground.
Almost immediately, more pink crystals began to fly towards them, as more of the bird-like aliens began firing at them from the building above. Lasky and the other cadets dove behind cover. Magenta crystals bounced off Chief's armor "Get to the 'Hog!" Chief shouted. "I'll draw their fire!" An explosion rang out, obscuring the cadets view of Chief. When it faded, to their shock, he was gone.
"Where'd he go?" Orenski asked confusedly.
"Chief!" Lasky shouted.
"No time!" James shouted. "Oreski, get into position alongside him!"
"Lasky, go!" she shouted.
Looking at Silva, Lasky asked, "You OK?"
"I've got Sully," Silva said with a nod. "Let's go."
Lasky nodded back. "MOVING! COVER ME!" In response, James and Orenski focused their fire on the aliens, while Lasky began a mad dash towards the Warthog. Magenta colored crystals and green colored projectiles whipped past him, yet he resolutely continued.
While the others crawled towards the Warthog, Lasky reached the vehicle and ran to the driver's side. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the corpse in the seat. The cause of death was plainly visible: a hole in the man's head. General Black, Lasky thought. Pushing his shock aside, he pulled the General's body out of the seat and got in.
While he was doing this, Orenski and James continued to lay down covering fire. A click from Orenski's rifle indicated her mag had run dry. "Chyler, I'm out!" she shouted. "Give me Sully!" Chyler nodded, before tossing Sully towards Orenski. She pulled him towards her, just in time to avoid an explosion. "I've got you!" she shouted. Behind her, James continued firing his rifle.
At the Warthog, Lasky began trying to get the vehicle started. Flicking a few switches, he groaned in frustration as the vehicle failed to activate. "Come on!" he shouted.
Further away, Silva fired her rifle at the aliens, only to hear a click from her rifle. In desperation, she searched for another weapon. Spotting one of the alien rifles on the ground, she pulled it out from under some rubble, inadvertently firing a shot. The weapon was heavy, but solid in her arms. Shrugging, she took aim at one of the aliens and fired a single shot. Her aim was true, with the green crystal it fired nailing one of the aliens in the chest, sending falling to the ground below with a scream.
Nearby, James fired a few more shots, then a green plasma bolt exploded near him, sending him to the ground. "James!" Chyler shouted.
"I'm OK!" James shouted. "RUN!" Both he and she reached the Warthog just as Lasky managed to fully turn it on. As soon as he did, they all heard gunshots from behind them.
Turning around, Lasky watched as the Master Chief ran along one of the walkways, M6D barking loudly as he terminated the aliens on the building one at a time. Twelve rounds were fired, twelve aliens died. In a blur, he jumped down from the walkway, landed, then leaped onto the back of the Warthog. "Go!" he shouted.
Slamming his foot onto the accelerator pedal, Lasky felt and heard the engine roar, with the Warthog quickly gaining speed. Quickly making a left-hand turn, they began to drive into the forest.
The minutes continued to tick by, with the Warthog speeding down the dirt road. Keying his COM, Chief said, "Blue-4, Blue-2, SITREP!"
"Taking a lot of fire here!" Sam shouted. "We got pushed back! Moving to LZ now!"
"Solid copy. Break off and head for Evac Point Alpha. Terminate any resistance in your path."
"Wilco! Blue-2 out!"
"What were those aliens?" James asked. "I've never seen them before!"
"Jackals," Chief informed them. "Ambush troops and cannon fodder for the enemy."
"What enemy?" Orenski asked.
"The Covenant."
As they drove along the road, Lasky could hear Sullivan groaning in pain every time he took a turn down the road. "Lasky!" Orenski shouted.
"It's harder than it looks!" he snapped back.
"Hang in there, Sully!"
"…Sorry," Lasky said after Sullivan groaned loudly after a turn.
"You're doing fine!" Chyler shouted. "Just keep it steady!"
"Bear right, cadet," Chief instructed Lasky. "There's an exit directly ahead."
"Here!" James shouted, handing Orenski and Silva their rifles "Guns are loaded!"
"Faster, cadet," Chief informed Lasky. "Four minutes to the Pelican. We have to get off the planet!"
Just as he said this, Lasky saw something roll into the roadway. Before he could determine what it was, it exploded. The blast missed, though Lasky felt a wave of heat wash over him. Plasma flew up against the windscreen, while some rocks bounced off of Chief's armor. Magenta colored crystals, bolts of plasma and green crystals flew all around them.
"AMBUSH!" James shouted as he fired back. Two crystals smacked into the Warthog, with a warning coming up on the dash. Lasky felt the vehicle slow down. Hitting the gas pedal, he forced the vehicle to go ever faster, overriding the warning on the console.
"Controlled bursts!" Chief shouted. "No spray and pray!" Chyler, Orenski and James opened fire, pelting the Jackals with bullets and laser beams. "Cadet, two o'clock!" Hearing Chief's command, Orenski adjusted her fire, nailing one of the Jackals in the head.
Lasky leaned to avoid being hit. "Chyler, cover fire!" he shouted.
"Covering!" Chyler shouted. Standing up, she fired twice, sending two of the Jackals falling to the ground. With those two kills, the Warthog sped away from the ambush site.
Keying his COM, Chief said, "Kelly, track our position for evac."
"I think we're clear," Orenski said.
"LOOK OUT!" James shouted. Snapping his gaze forwards, Lasky was unable to react as the Warthog plowed into one of the Jackals. The alien screeched as it was splattered all over the hood, with the alien flipping ass over teakettle. Its hand reflexively pulled the trigger on its weapon, sending magenta-colored crystals flying everywhere.
Out of reflex, Lasky hammered the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a stop. Sullivan groaned loudly, while Silva and Orenski were jerked forwards by the stop. James fell out, a single hand on one of the handlebars stopping him from falling out completely. "SHIT!" he shouted.
"Everyone OK?" Orenski asked.
"I'm good!" James shouted. "Just a little rattled."
Chief stepped off the Warthog as Lasky began working to get it going. Reaching inside, he carried Sullivan out. Looking at Orenski, he said, "Hand me the biofoam and man the gun." Tossing him a can of biofoam, Orenski quickly manned the gun. "This will help you walk," he told Sullivan as he began injecting biofoam into the wound.
Lasky beat at the wheel in frustration as the vehicle's engine spluttered. "Come on, come on! Come on!" Frustrated, he placed his helmet onto the dash and continued to work at the controls.
He was so focused that he barely heard Silva saying, "Tom?" Turning to face her, he saw a sight that made his stomach drop. A single, magenta colored crystal had embedded itself into Chyler's stomach, the one area that wasn't protected by her body armor.
His heart hammered in panic. "Chief! Chyler's been hit!" he shouted. As Silva began to openly groan in pain, he went to remove the crystal from her stomach.
"NO!" James shouted. "DON'T TOUCH IT!" When Lasky looked at him, James said, "If you remove it, she'll bleed out! Leave it in her!"
"Cadet is right," Chief said. "We have to get her to the Pelican now."
As they talked, Orenski could hear various creatures moving quickly away from them. "They're retreating!" she realized. "Why would they do that now?"
"We're being hunted," Chief said, spotting an unearthly green glow behind them. "Keep moving north. You'll see my team. Run as fast as you can and don't stop for anything, including me." The cadets quickly complied, with James lifting Chyler in both arms, sweat beading on his forehead. A monstrous roar erupted from behind them, spurring them to move even faster.
"Can you walk?" Orenski asked Sullivan.
"Yeah," Sullivan said.
"Just keep breathing," Lasky reassured Silva as James made sure she was comfortable. "Just hang in there, OK? Hang in there, come on."
"We've got to get her somewhere," Orenski said.
"But we're blind," Sullivan protested.
"Keep going north!" Lasky said. As they continued, they heard heavy footsteps. "It's close by."
James eyes widened when he turned around. "Oh HELL NO!" he shouted, a finger pointed directly at the source of the glow. When they all saw it, their blood froze.
Standing before the Master Chief was an enormous creature. It stood taller than him, with thick, bulky armor plating that looked torn off a ship and made into a suit of armor. One of its arms was a massive shield, while the other was an enormous cannon. A series of spines grew from its back, while its head was a massive plate of metal that was flat on the top. It towered over the Master Chief. Roaring it charged, with Chief dodging the blow in the nick of time.
"Guys, go!" Lasky shouted. Shaken out of their stupor, the cadets began running as quickly as they could. Branches snapped and bushes shook as they moved through the forest.
"Sully, you with us?" Orenski asked.
"Yeah," Sullivan said.
"Hang in there, Chyler," Lasky said. Chyler winced.
"Be careful!" Lasky grunted to James.
"I'm being as careful as I can!" James retorted. He looked at the crystal in Chyler's stomach. "Something's wrong! The bleeding isn't stopping!"
"We're at the training course!" James said suddenly. "Look!" Following his gaze, Lasky quickly spotted a concrete overhang that they used during some of their exercises. Once they reached it, James set Chyler down, while Orenski and the others secured the area.
"We're going to get you out of here," Lasky reassured Chyler.
"Lasky," Chlyer said, her voice strained. "I don't think I'm gonna make it."
"You will!" Lasky said. "You have to!"
"I'm not sure she will," James said, turning towards Lasky. His blood chilled when he saw that much of James BDUs were covered in blood. "She's bleeding out. We need something to plug that hole in her, aside from what's already in her."
"April, stun rounds," Sullivan said.
Pulling a few stun rounds out, Orenski broke them and spilled the contents onto Chyler's wound. "This will numb the pain and slow the bleeding," she said. Chyler screamed, then her screams became moans again.
"Hang in there, Chyler," Lasky begged her. "Come on, hang in there." Chyler gasped, then reached up towards her neck. Jerking something sharply, she pulled her dog tags into view. Tears streamed down her eyes as she pushed the tags into Lasky's hands. Realizing what this mean, he began to babble. "No.. no, no, no, no, no! You're gonna make it!"
"It's OK, Tom," she choked out. "I'm… I'm sorry I didn't meet you sooner. I… I hope we can see each other again." Coughing loudly, she gasped one more time, then a heavy sigh escaped her lips.
James, holding a finger to her neck, shook his head mournfully. "I'm sorry," he said. "She's… she's gone."
For Lasky, his entire world had shattered like glass. Tears streamed down his face as he reluctantly closed her eyes with his fingers. Holding back a sob, he cradled her dog tags and said, "Chyler…" The others looked on mournfully at Chyler's body. For a while, Lasky sat there, cradling her dog tags while weeping.
Their moment of silence was interrupted when Chief appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Resting a hand on the young cadet's shoulder, he said, "I'm sorry." Turning to the others, he said, "I need your weapons and ammo. It took everything I had to bring that thing down."
"Here," Orenski said, handing Chief the Mauser II James had given her. "This is all I got, and the batteries too." Still in despair, Lasky handed Chief a single M9 frag grenade.
"Thanks," Chief said.
A loud roar interrupted them. "Guys?" Sullivan asked.
"There's another one," Chief said. "Move, now."
Lasky hesitated, looking at Chyler's body one last time. "We have to leave her now, Tom," Sullivan said. "I… I'm sorry." Lasky remained there for a few seconds, before slowly getting up and shuffling after them. "Lasky, come on!" Sullivan shouted. Standing up, Lasky began to slowly shuffle after them, gazing at his reflection in a pool of water.
"Lasky, come on!" Orenski shouted. Shaken out of his stupor, he quickly began running after them.
All of them continued to run towards the extraction point, with Chief in the lead. As they did, massive green bolts of plasma shot past them, blasting out small craters on either side of their path. Reaching a shallow depression, they quickly hopped in. "There," Chief said, flashing a light onto a small hollow up ahead.
Once they were all inside, he keyed his COM and said, "Blue-3, negative. Need more time. Cannot make it to the rendezvous." There was silence as he received a reply, then he said, "You have to hold the Pelican. I won't leave them. Chief out." Closing the COM, he said, "I'll engage. Get to the Pelican as fast as you can."
As Chief spoke, Lasky looked down at the dog tags in his hand. All the memories of his time at the academy flashed into his mind like freeze-frame images. He recalled Chyler's laughter, as well as the times he was with her. He then remembered something that the Colonel had once told him. "When the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box," came her voice.
Then it came to him. It was a desperate plan, and one that would likely end in his death, but it was the necessary one. As Chief got up to begin engaging the Hunter, Lasky grabbed his shoulder. "No sir!" he said. "I'll be the decoy!"
"Lasky, no!" Orenski shouted.
"You'll sweep them from behind."
"Cadet," Chief said. Lasky tucked Silva's dogtags into his chest plate. Gone was the grief and fear in his eyes. Now, there was rage, and determination.
"Lasky!" Orenski shouted.
Lasky ignored her. "Axios!" he said before charging out of the hollow.
"LASKY!" Orenski shouted.
Running like mad, Lasky spotted the alien firing at him. Pushing all fear and hesitation out of his mind, he charged forwards, with Chyler's face as the only image in his mind. Something flew to his left and exploded, knocking him to the ground. Getting up, he spotted the alien charging its weapon once more. Scrambling to his feet, he continued his mad sprint through the forest. Roaring as its view was blocked, the alien moved to target him.
Seeing his opportunity, Chief primed the frag grenade in his hand and charged forwards, ready to slam the grenade into the colony of worms that the Hunter was. Spotting him, the alien swatted him aside with it's shield, before turning to fire at Lasky. Undaunted, Chief charged forwards again, using the alien's shield arm as a step ladder. The action threw off it's aim, missing Lasky, though the young cadet was hurled through the air.
On its back, Chief planted both feet and shoved the grenade into its back. Before the Hunter could react, he jumped off and rolled to a safe distance. The alien growled in confusion, just before the grenade detonated, tearing the creature apart. Luminescent orange goo splattered the ground. The cadets stared at the Master Chief, awed.
It was James who asked "Where's Lasky?" The question shook them out of their stupor, with the cadets quickly scrambling to find him. Following the path where they had seen him take off, they soon found armor fragments. "Lasky?!" Orenski shouted.
"He's over here!" James shouted, pointing at a figure lying on the ground. Running over, they found Lasky lying on his side, unmoving.
"Lasky!" Orenski shouted. "Lasky! Lasky!"
"Lasky?" Sullivan asked.
"Oh, fuck no," James said. Racing over, he checked his pulse. "Lasky? Lasky?!"
For a moment, it seemed as though the worst had happened. Then Lasky coughed violently, before starting to wake up. James, picking Lasky up, slapped him and said, "Don't ever do that again to us! Ever!" Then he gripped his fellow cadet in a bear hug.
"Blue-3, bring it down," Chief said…
A few minutes later, they were at the hill where the Pelican was at. As they moved along, Lasky spotted more soldiers in similar armor as the chief. One of them, walking over, said, "You're no longer cadets today. You're soldiers now. Be proud of that."
"Thanks," Lasky said.
Chief, walking over to Kelly, said, "We have three survivors."
"I've alerted Command," Kelly responded.
"Lets go." They quickly boarded, with the Pelican taking off soon after. All the cadets looked tired and weary. There was little talk or weeping, for the dead were beyond the count of grief.
As they flew up, Lasky noticed that James was gazing off into the distance, a sad look on his face. Off in the distance, they could see the forest and facility they were at burning as the Covenant began to glass it.
Kelly and Fred took off their helmets, leaving the cadets in shock and awe as they perceived Kelly's eyes and Fred's scars "How old are you guys?" Sullivan asked.
"That's classified," Kelly said. Sullivan shrugged, then looked to a different direction. Orenski took off her helmet while James continued to look on out of the troop bay.
As the door closed and the Pelican accelerated, Chief lowered his weapon and turned his gaze towards Lasky. To his surprise, he handed him a shard of the Hunter's armor. "Well done, soldier," he said.
Shocked, Lasky looked to Chief, who nodded at him. A new sense of confidence filled him as he realized what that meant. Gripping the shard and Silva's dog tags tightly, he took what comfort he could in that reply. It was one of the few times he would receive such comfort.
A/N: And now, another bit of lore for the story:
Avatar II-class WarShip
Production Information
Manufacturer: SinoViet Heavy Machinery, Reyes McLees Shipyards, Charybdis Defense Solutions, Dudyn Sky GmbH, Conklin AeroDynamix
Introduced: 2520
Production Year: 2520
Use: Cruiser
Tech Base: Advanced Star League/United Earth Government
Mass: 5,850,000 tons
Cost: 15,244,140,000 UEG Credits
Technical Specifications
Length: 855 meters
Width: 214 meters
Fuel: 5,000 tons
Burn Rate: 39.95 tons
Cruising Acceleration: 20 g
Maximum Acceleration: 40 g
K-F Drive Integrity: 31
Lithium Fusion Battery: Yes
Armament:
6x NL55
30x NL35
20x Heavy N-PPC
10x NAC/20
4x NAC/30
18x AR-10
24x LRM-20 + Artemis IV FCS
24x ER Large Laser
1x Heavy Mass Driver
Armor: 70,200 tons of Lamellor Ferro-Carbide
DropShip Capacity: 6
Crew: 1,512 personnel
112 Gunners
220 Bay Personnel
185 Officers
400 Marines
595 Enlisted
Bays:
Bay 1: 30 Aerospace Fighters
Bay 2: 10 Small Craft
Bay 3: 1,111,006 tons of Cargo
Heat Sinks: 5,000 (Double)
Escape Pods/Life Boats: 80/60
Structural Integrity: 600
Description:
The Avatar II-class WarShip is another of the SLDF's major refits. Designed around the same time as the Texas II refit, the Avatar II was built to be both a standalone cruiser, as well as a fleet escort for larger WarShips.
While the design entered production during the Insurrection, it wasn't until the Covenant-UNSC War that the WarShip class saw heavy use. While capable of taking on Covenant WarShips of a similar size, the ship struggled against Covenant WarShips of larger sizes, often requiring help from multiple other WarShips to take on larger ships. However, it's mostly energy based loadout did alleviate this to a degree, though not to the same extent as the weapons used by larger WarShips. This frequently led to the Avatar II-class being relegated to being a fleet escort, though there were times where it was able to act as a standalone cruiser.
Following the Covenant-UNSC War, the Avatar II-class was replaced by the Avatar III-class, which saw heavier armor, a more energy oriented ship loadout, and a reactor powerful enough to supply the power hungry weapons.
Variants:
2539 Refit:
The 2539 refit of the Avatar II-class saw major improvements to the overall design of the ship. The use of a stronger structure enabled the WarShip increase it's armor tonnage by 200%, from 70,200 tons to 140,400 tons of Lamellor Ferro-Carbide. Improvements to the reactor led to dramatically increased output, and a faster safe and maximum acceleration of 35 g and 53 g respectively. Beyond that, little was changed about the WarShip, aside from the installation of an improved Compact K-F Drive, which led to reduced recharge times, the ability to jump outside of Jump Points and a longer FTL flight range. A L-F Battery Bank was installed to help increase the already improved range to levels that were previously thought to be ludicrous.