Chapter 3: Here to stay


FOB Shangri La

3 days after Firebase was deployed.

Lieutenant Blackburn

I find myself walking around our base perimeter. In under 5 hours, the engineers have finished setting up the Firebase that has been dropped from Sol. We were put on high alert after it had been dropped because the damn firebase turned night into day for 10 seconds. We were expecting contact with the local inhabitants but this place is a barren wasteland from the looks of it.

The FOB expanded quickly after that. We now have a vehicle hangar, Barracks that can house 500 soldiers and men to operate the FOB, a small airfield a mess hall, an OPS Center, and a Large radio tower to intercept local radio frequencies. Although the radio tower isn't operational, the Reactor is still being built.

"Whoah! Watch it!" I shout at the Marines manning the Mammoth and accompanying warthogs as they leave the FOB nearly running me over as I try to cross the newly built road. Wonder where they are going, Probably going to establish an outpost somewhere in this shitty desert.

"Dammit, this place is hot." Exclaimed while making my way to my platoon's Barracks. Fucking heat, of course, it has to be 34 degrees Celsius outside. At least the Barracks have an AC. "Yoh Tom you in here?"

"Yeah I'm here LT, what can I help you with?"…Says Tom while only in his underwear. "Tom, where the fuck are your clothes?" Shrugging while continuing to scroll on his tablet he responds. "They are in my locker and before you get mad, I'm not wearing them because it is hotter than a glassed planet today." '

"Tom please don't ever make such a joke again. I guarantee the entire base will be on your ass in an instant and did you ever think about turning the AC on."

"Hold up! We have an AC!?" Tom exclaims while jumping out of his cot with the biggest smile.

"Yes, Tom. We have an AC. So please put on some clothes will ya, it's our turn next to go out and patrol the surrounding area." I can't help but tell Tom in a deadpan tone. Seriously how did he even get into the Marines? A loaf of bread has more common sense than him…at least he doesn't question orders.

"You got it LT, when are we going out to Patrol?" Tom asks as he quickly puts on his pants and boots. "We are to leave the base in 1 hour." As he pulls his combat shirt over his head he asks. "So what are we going to do now to pass the time?"

"We are going to the Mess Hall to grab some food, after all our patrol is said to last 6 hours before our platoon rotates with the second platoon." As we walk to the Mess Hall we observe a Condor dropping off another Prefab structure, probably for the medical facility that is being built. "Is the rest of the platoon at the Mess Hall?" Tom asks while watching the Condor fly back into space.

"Yeah, I volunteered to walk all this way to come and fetch your lazy ass, so you should feel honored." Tom suddenly bows down next to me while saying. "Oh thank you kindly dear sir for fetching me so that we all may enjoy our fine meal together as a family."

I can't help but sigh and mutter with a small smile on my face. "Fucking clown." Which causes Tom to just burst out laughing. "Yeah well someone has to make everyone smile, by the way, the base is coming along nicely."

"Yeah it truly is, I hear the Fleet Admiral wants to transform the base from a FOB to a full-on Military base complete with all the essentials." Explains to Tom as we near the Mess Hall. In response Tom whistles before exclaiming. "Guess the higher-ups are serious about staying here and making this planet our new home. I just hope the UNSC back home has compensated my wife and daughter for me "Dying" in a Slipspace accident….do you have family Blackburn?"

"No my blood-related family died on Charybdis when it was glassed back in 35, but this is embarrassing to admit." I hesitate for a moment before continuing. "I consider you guys my family, I mean I consider everyone in the UNSC my family."

"Aww that is so sweet, our stoic Lieutenant has a heart after all. But I am glad to be a part of your family LT." Tom says with a…genuine smile on his face.

"Not a word about this to the others," I say as Tom and I enter the mess hall to grab our food and head to our table where the rest of the platoon is seated. And of course, the first thing I hear is bickering between them. "Allen, you can't just have sex with a female Sangheli! How are you even going to put your dick in when our biology is different from each other!" Shouts our heavy weapon specialist Jessica.

I could see from a kilometer away that Jessica had just fallen for Allen's trap. "Oh, my Jessica. Are you by any chance jealous that I would rather fuck a dirty Xeno than you?" Allen asks with the smuggest smirk that has ever graced this planet. "Wh-what no…" Jessica slightly panics with her face turning as red as a tomato. But Allen pushes onto the offensive. "Since you are our heavy weapons specialist, how about you handle my heavy weapon? Wink, wink."

Before their bickering could continue Private Xiao interrupts. "Can you two just fuck already, it's embarrassing to hear this shitty flirting."

Deciding to also join in on the fun I add. "Just wear protection Allen, we aren't allowed to get anyone pregnant at the moment." Earning a couple of snickers from some of the marines at the table we quietly finish our lunch before heading to the vehicle hangar.

"Okay platoon listen up, the recon satellites we launched from Sol are having trouble mapping out the surrounding area, according to Command there seems to be electromagnetic interference in the atmosphere, not just that, 1 hour ago we received reports that the weather in a 50km radius from the FOB is acting up."

I silently observe everyones reaction to see if some are them are nervous or anxious. So far they seem to be doing well mentally. "So since the satellites aren't working at the moment Command has sent 10 recon planes to manually map out the surrounding area. Command also wants a ground view of the surrounding area and that's where we come in."

"Us along five other platoons are to move into different directions and search for any abnormalities our recon planes might have missed. Colonel Eckart has been kind enough to provide us with 2 warthogs and 1 bison IFV to take us on this great journey. I will be in the front Warthog, the rest of you can fight over the rest of the seats. We move out in 5 minutes. Hoorah?"

"Hoorah" Everyone responds enthusiastically before moving to mount their warthog or climb into the back of the Bison IFV. "Tom, Xiao you two with me, Xiao you have the turret, and Tom you're driving."

"You got it LT."

"Affirmative"

"Is everyone ready?" I ask over the comms, in under ten seconds I receive the green light from the other two vehicles in our miniature convoy. "1st platoon roll out." And with that, all three vehicles hit the road with me in the front Warthog. "Okay, people we are heading North, and second platoon is moving North East. Remember, report any abnormalities you spot."

We are ten minutes into our recon journey and so far the only thing we saw was one bloody cactus. "This really is a barren wasteland." I can't help but mutter. "You got that right LT, I wish we could be back in our barracks sleeping under the nice cool AC, but nooooo here we are looking for anything suspicious. I think the cactus we saw 14 kilometers ago was pretty suspicious honestly." Tom responds.

"Yeah I hear you, Tom, we just have to scout 20 more kilometers then we can return to base to get some dinner and some well-deserved fucking sleep."

*Beep*Beep*Beep* Oh shit Command is calling better answer fast. "Overlord this is Metal Zero One, send traffic over." I quickly respond. "Metal Zero One, one of our scout planes has picked up an unknown heat signature moving at a speed of 52km per hour directly northwest of your position. You are to intercept whatever the hell that is and capture it, lethal force is authorized if the HVT is hostile. Overlord out.":

Quickly switching to the platoon's frequency, I inform them about our new orders. "Platoon listen up, we received orders from Command to intercept an unknown HVT due northwest of our current position. The Xeno is to be taken prisoner and if it resists, we have permission to eliminate it."

The 3 vehicles in the convoy increase their speed to intercept the target, but the warthog has to slow down to match the pace of the slower Bison IFV.

Xiao suddenly interrupts my train of thought. "Sir I don't like the look of the clouds forming above our heads…it just looks wrong sir." Looking up into the sky I can see what Xiao means. The clouds have a sickly grey look to them. Almost as if a hurricane wants to touch down but is refusing to do so. Not to forget the yellow lighting all around the giant cloud. "Yeah I agree Xiao, nothing looks natural about it. Almost looks like the clouds are just waiting for the perfect moment to drop a hurricane on our heads."

"But we need to ignore this weird weather for now. I am certain Command and the egg heads are looking into the strange weather patterns that are happening right now. We just need to focus on our objective." With that, I turn back around in my seat and do a quick inspection of my assault rifle to make sure it is combat-ready

"Copy that sir.".


Duncan Wallenstein

"Fuck, come on! Can't this truck get out of here faster?" Panicking I hit the dashboard of the truck trying to speed it up, but as predicted my attempts were in vain. "Of course, the bloody mobile city left this area of Sargon while I went to recapture these damn slaves. Fucking Charles just left without warning me about the incoming Catastrophe….Im gonna fucking kill you, Charles!."

Upon screaming the 6 slaves in the back of the truck start crying out of fear for their lives. Just 30 more kilometers and then we'll be out of the Catastrophe impact area. Suddenly a yellow lighting bolt barely misses the truck and hits just a couple of meters to the side of us causing the slaves and myself to start panicking even more.

Looking up at the sky through the front window I felt a pit starting to form in my stomach. The catastrophe is going to hit soon. Shit…I might die here. Mom, I'm sorry. Before I could start praying to every god I saw something out of the corner of my eye. "What's that?" Focusing my eyes on the 3 objects to my right side I can barely make out what seems to be the silhouettes of "Cars!"

That's not good. The local mobile city already left the area as well as everyone else caught up in this soon-to-be Catastrophe. The only people that would remain here are my dumbass and…raiders! "Fuck why now of all places." Maybe they are also trying to escape the area before the Catastrophe hits. Looking again at the vehicles the pit in my stomach seems to grow. 'They are on an intercept course towards me! Maybe they are after the slaves in the back of the truck or just want to join up with me and escape together?' I can't help but try to convince myself.


Lieutenant Blackburn

Removing the binoculars from my eyes and putting them down on the dashboard of the Warthog with my hands shaking. "Th-that's a-" Human truck. The object that we were meant to intercept is a truck whose design and layout just scream human…

Question after question started flooding my mind. Why is there a truck that is human in design speeding out of the AO? Are there other humans stranded here? Or worse are the Xenos human? Why is the truck speeding out of this place? Stop it…Questions can come later. We need to intercept the truck and capture the Xenos and bring them back to Shangri La.

"Overlord this is Metal Zero One, do you read me over."

"We hear you loud and clear Metal Zero One."

"Copy that, Overlord the object we were sent to intercept is in fact a truck that looks very similar to 21st Century Earth trucks. I believe the Xenos biology could be very similar to ours. How should we proceed over?"

"Wait one Metal Zero One."

After waiting for about a minute Overlord quickly radios back in. "Metal Zero One your platoon is now tasked to intercept, capture its driver and passengers, and bring them back to Shangri La. This comes from the Admiral himself, Overlord out."

Great I already know that the situation we have at the moment is serious. But for the Admiral himself to give these orders…. that's troublesome and I can feel my stomach start to churn from anxiousness.

Quickly tuning into the platoon frequency I start issuing out commands to the 3 vehicles. "Platoon we have new orders from the Admiral himself, we are to capture the Xenos in the truck and bring them back to base. So here's the plan. Jackie I want your Warthog on the right side of the truck, mine will be on the left side and I want the Bison in front of the truck to slow the fucker down."

"Let's do this people."


Minutes later

"Tom bring us in closer." Shouting at Tom as we pull up to the driver's side of the truck which is now surrounded from three sides. Looking into the window of the truck I see…what…no this can't be. My eyes behind my tactical visor widen, my entire body stiffens, and my breath is caught in my mouth because staring back at me are terrified…human…eyes. The Xeno looks almost identical to any human except for the…goat horns. "What the fuck."

"LT what's wrong?" Tom quickly takes his eyes off the road to stare at what I am staring "What the bloody hell is that!? The alien looks like a human sir!"

"I can see that Tom, focus on where your fucking driving." I need to calm down. Now's not the time to panic that there's a human-like Xeno in the truck next to us. "Pull over now!" I shout at the driver of the truck. It seems to understand me because it suddenly hit its brakes causing it to slow down.

With all the vehicles now at a standstill we move to surround the truck. The other marines rushed out of the back of the Bison IFV and joined us in surrounding the vehicle. With said Bison's turret trained on the front of the truck to unleash into the driver in case he tries anything.

I quickly move up to the door of the truck with my assault rifle trained on it before pulling the door open, grabbing the driver by his shirt, and throwing him onto the hard ground beneath us causing dust to rise around the area he impacted. "Tom secure the front of the truck, Jessica you secure the back of the truck and find out what this Xeno has been transporting."

After issuing the orders I take a closer look at the Xenos's terrified curled-up form. It's honestly disturbing and amazing to look at. It's completely human except for the goat horns that grew out of its head. "Please, please don't kill me." The Xeno pleads in English, wait English!? No that should be impossible. The chances for English to develop on two different planets spread out across the universe should be fucking zero. Something isn't right here…

"It speaks English?" Asks one of the marines while pointing his rifle at the goat-human hybrid. "English! I'm speaking Victorian you jack and apes. What the fuck are you anyway!? You all have guns yet you aren't Sankta?" Before I could respond Xioa stomps on the man's causing him to howl out in pain. "We are human dumbass."

Undeterred the Xeno continues. "What type of human are you!?" He has to be dumb if he thinks we are gonna answer that. And from the way he words, his sentence means there are other humanoids on this planet. "What race are you!?" I demand with multiple gun barrels still pointed in his face. "I-I am a Caprinae." He answers fearfully.

Caprinae huh? I don't know what the fuck that is. "What are you transporting in that truck?"

"M-my merchandise that I bought which ran away." He answers with tears starting to fill up in the corner of his eyes. "Merchandise that ran away…..Oh fuck." Exclaimed one of the marines. "Sir I think this sick fuck is talking about slaves." Slavery…such a barbaric practice. "Affirmative. Jessica! what do you have back there?" I ask while moving to the back of the truck while five marines still surround the prisoner.

"Sir we have multiple human-like women in the back here. They have horns growing out of their heads and one even has a halo. They look exactly like humans sir." Upon hearing the word 'halo' my body and mind temporarily freezes before moving to the back of the truck to see around six women. Some of them are naked or are wearing torn clothes. But all of them have clearly been brutally beaten and are staring at them afraid.

"I see. Jessica this situation is a complete shitshow right now. You either back away from the truck or keep these…women company." Before Jessica could respond one woman with horns on the side of her hair whispers something. "Th-the Cata-Catastrophe is coming." Catastrophe? What the hell is that? Is that a threat?

Moving away from the truck I decide it is best to radio in command. "Overlord, this is Metal Zero One. Our situation just got a lot more complicated over." After not receiving a response after two minutes there could be only one conclusion. "Fuck, Coms are down."

"Lietenant our Geiger counter is going off." The commander of the Bison shouts at me. "What? Are you certain commander?" asks him desperately while wondering if this situation could get any worse.

"Yes, sir I am certain." Nodding my head at him I continue. "Okay, we need to get the hell out of here fast. We also lost contact with Command."

"We need to leave! We need to get out of here now! The Catastrophe is coming. We are all going to die!" There it is again Catastrophe…I have to agree with him, we need to RTB ASAP.

"Look over there!" Turning my gaze to what the marine is pointing at, my heart sinks at the sight. What could be described as a Category 6 Tornado just touched down 10 kilometers from our position.

"Fuck me."


One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

Dale Carnegie


Author notes.

Well, here ya go, the next chapter. Dammit, I have one massive headache right now. This is my longest chapter so far…

And as for the timeline that the fanfiction is taking place in. It is six months before the Chernobog uprising, but I am going to make Originium Dust take place earlier than in canon.

Same as last, if you have any suggestions send me a PM or leave them in the Reviews.

Until next time.