Great Deserts, Old United States
Elysion Unit, Callsign:'The Scouts', Detachment Two, callsign:Rozvidka
Despite it all, this place had been one of the lands where the United Forces of Humanity had fought the very bloody last battles of the War. Sprawling across the deserts, amidst the peakless mountains and plateaus and hills and on the sandy dunes, destroyed vehicles, ancient skeletal remains and the corpses of century-old Nikkes lay, half-buried by the sandstorms that now permeated this place.
Distant craters still glowed a faint emerald on the Night Vision systems of the girls' eyes. Nadya cradled her Kalash-style, heavily modified rifle in her arms, watching the distant shapes of the destroyed armor and dead men and women of the Old War pass them by, alongside the corpses of the dead Raptures they'd managed to kill.
She rode atop an Oryx, a UNSC Infantry Fighting Vehicle that was powerful enough to even the odds against the Raptures and provide them cover. One of her legs hanged off the side of the vehicle as she looked around, then licked her lips. The dry cold of the desert chapped her lips, a strange experience even for a Nikke.
The quiet strum of a guitar filled her ears, one of her girls gently playing a tune and singing in a long-lost language her parents and those of Nadya knew. She looked back at the troop, maybe a dozen 'Mass Production' Scout models meant to supplement Delta and Signal and back them up, though those girls rarely needed it.
Even less now, being part of the famed Lucky Strikes. They still kept up correspondence, though, as did Stella. It was wonderful to know the girls were all doing so well. Doubly so that Aly was alive and more than just well. That he was the Commander of the Counters, the Up-And-Coming, the possible new Legendary Commander.
"You really grew up, huh, Aly?" She mumbled to herself, taking a deep puff of the Cigarette between her lips. She looked over at one of the other members of the MP Squad reinforcing the Scouts, then said to her, "How are the Drone links?" while, in the heavens above, a thermal cam from a drone peered over toward them.
"Green across the board, Tavarisch kommandir," The woman replied, smiling. She pushed a strand of black hair from between her eyes, patted down her beret and the headset of her com device, then looked at the tablet again. She checked the feed of three separate scout Wombats on one screen, stating, "And the Raptures are maintaining their distance."
"Good for us," The girl replied, then cast a glance back at three other ground vehicles behind them. There were two Scorpions with newly-mounted and experimental 120mm magnetic cannons and 14,5 MGs based off of upgrades meant for the SRS series of snipers. One was at the rear. In front of it and behind the second tank, there was a behemoth of a transport vehicle.
Colored desert tan for the environment, like the other vehicles, with splotches of darker browns and even a little red mixed in to fit with what was once the Nevada desert area, an Elephant Mobile Forward Operating Base gently rolled on its massive tracks, gunnery crews manning anti-air and ground defense weapons, which now included railguns based off of the Stanchions and Anti-Tank(or Rapture) Guided Missile tubes.
The vehicle bay within the massive transport was also covered by Goddessium armor, reinforced and painted the same tan to provide desert camouflage. Their intended target was a nearby plateau that would provide them line of sight for their intended targets. Even as their tracks crunched sand and the remnants of old battles, they only thought of their intended targets.
"This is Laika Actual to all Laika elements," Nadya spoke over the radio, "We're approaching our deployment zone," before shifting her rifle off of her back. She jumped off the vehicle, stumbling forward two steps before springing back into proper step. She marched in-time with the transport, the rest of her squad joining her as they walked.
Nastiya beside her, nicknamed Nas, said, "This place is desolate," as she picked up a helmet with splotches of blood and a hole drilled clean through the middle of the forehead. She sighed and tucked her ginger hair back behind her cap and lifted her own PKM-style general purpose machine gun and shouldered it.
"Command seems to think it's important enough to assign not just us, but a whole Forward Base here," Kalina, the orange-haired team Quartermaster, quipped as she shifted a shorter-barreled carbine AKS forward, too. She slid the thermal night vision device attached to her helmet down to her right eye and looked around. She then chuckled and quipped, "I'm partial to being outside more, though. It's nice."
"Truth be told, boss Ingrid has been keeping us out of the workplace for a while," Nastiya stated, "The only action we got was when the Counter-Coup happened and even then, it was escort duty for science staff at a nearby laboratory to the HQ," and she paused as the ground started becoming slightly uneven. It suddenly sloped up in front of the group and vehicles, revealing the pathway up to the top of the Plateau.
Nadiya stated, "I wouldn't complain too much about lack of work," as she flicked the butt of the used cigarette aside, leading the climb and guiding the vehicles on the narrow road. The tanks and IFV were not problematic, seeing as the road was wide enough for them to have plenty of leeway, but the Elephant was the offending issue.
As they climbed, she guided the man in the driver's seat with hand chops and motions, continuing to talk to her girls as she walked backward, "Note that we've had a longer break than most Elysion teams because we're Scouts and because Delta and Signal, God bless their souls, have been keeping us safe and sound by being on duty."
"Amen to that," The others nodded.
She continued, "So, calm your tits… Or lack thereof, Nas," only to get a few laughs and an angry bark from her comrade. She chuckled, then continued, "We'll get some action here. That much you can be sure of, but we're only here as a Reconnaissance team…" as they finally reached the peak. The plateau had some sparse vegetation on it, but it was a good point to set up the vehicles.
Moving away from the edge, the Elephant slowly rolled to its designated position, then it began to deploy, its legs and drills extending to lock it into place. Its rear hatch popped open, revealing two more platoons of Nikkes, including some Mass Production units on bikes and Mongoose ATVs meant as further assistance for the Scouts.
The Oryx also disgorged a force of Marines under Sergeant Forge, who nodded to Nadya and said, "Alright, gents! Unpack your gear and move it out! We got some work to do!" as he looked around. He breathed a deep sigh, putting his hands on his hips, then commented, "Man, it's both good and strange to be back home."
"You Earthborn then, Sarge," Nastiya inquired as she walked over to him, taking a knee in front of the man and scanning the vast expanse of desert and other flat-topped mountains for hostile movement. There were distant Rapture Patrols, but most of it seemed incredibly more calm than they'd have thought it'd be.
Pockets of scrap metal, hulks of destroyed armor and fighting vehicles and even Nikkes lay spread out across the whole area of this Desert. Forge answered with a nod, replying vocally, "Born and raised. Quite possibly nearby, even, considering… Was born in Vegas," with a smirk. He checked his datapad, then connected to the Captain and said, "We've made it to the DZ, sir. Eggheads are setting up the transmitters as we speak."
He cast a glance back at some of the staff that had come with them on board the Elephant. Scientists belonging to both the Ark and UNSC set up various technological items and tents with the help of the UNSC Marine staff present, all while the few Construction Battalion members present scoped out the Plateau they were on to see if it could sustain a proper 'Citadel-class' base.
Ether, the purple-haired, buxom and somewhat psychopathic scientist stepped out of the tent, a smirk on her face. She arranged her desert camouflage uniform and vest on her chest and torso, then said, pulled out a scanning device. She walked over to Forge and Nadya, with the latter's shoulders sagging as she breathed a deep sigh. She pushed her glasses onto the bridge of her nose and said, "Greetings, Sergeants. I've calibrated my scanner for our search."
"Good work, doc," Forge replied warily, "I'd be more concerned over why the Raptures seem to be avoiding us, though…"
"Oh, relax," The woman replied with her somewhat nasal, annoying voice as she stepped up to the edge. She stretched out her hands and said, "This is going to be an endearing area to experiment in! So free and open!" which got a few Marines and the members of Rozvidka to look upon each-other with unease.
Nadya showed them to calm down with a single sideways swipe of her hand, then crossed her arms and spoke, her face impassive and voice calm, to Ether, "Doctor, need I remind you that Doctor Halsey has assigned you to this mission under the pretense that you will focus solely on helping us retrieve this Forerunner Artifact? Added upon that, the Search begins tomorrow. Our troops require rest."
Ether's shoulders sagged. She sighed deeply, donning her labcoat and sliding her scanner into her pocket. She waved away the concerns and replied dismissively, "Yes, yes, I know. I will be continuing my examinations of the UNSC's staff for now. Come to me if you need medical aid, please," then she turned back and marched her way toward the isolated tent.
The leader of Rozvidka squad let out a deep sigh, rubbing her eyes, then mumbled, "Why did we get stuck with her? I would have taken Mana any day of the week… Or, hell, Doctor Halsey could allow poor Pirozhka Anders to walk around outside," before she saw Forge raise a brow at her. She snorted and asked, "What?"
"I've seen how Anders works when she's out in the field, ma'am," The man replied rather warily, "All due respect to the good Doctor? I'd miss Ether less than I would her," then he crossed his arms to his chest, hugging his shotgun. He told her, "Let's get some shuteye. Marines and your girls will be alternating patrols."
Nadya nodded, "Remember to send out Decoys, just in case. Raptures may be avoiding us, but I wouldn't put it past the svoloch to decide to attack us in the middle of the night," then she smirked. The two Sergeants nodded to each-other, then walked back to help set up their Tents and the sleeping areas, plus the landing zones for any future air assets.
… Come next morning and the break of dawn, the Marines, Nikkes and Sergeant were riding a troop Warthog alongside a pair of biker Nikkes toward an area Ether, who was riding beside Forge(the Driver), indicated via her scanner. Overhead, the Drones of the UNSC hovered, scanning the area and deploying distant decoys from their modified missile racks.
The sandy flatlands ahead, burial fields for the soldiers of the Final Battles, soon dipped into a depression. A large canyon, long and winding, appeared ahead of the group, the valleys ahead providing a calm descent down inside. The vehicles trundled down gently into the place, to the sight of rising, jagged cliff faces and a beautiful river.
As they descended down to the lowest level of the canyon, they found that foliage was growing. Though they were small, shrubs and trees grew around the water as it gently flowed down the canyon, having presumably dug through the place in millions of years, providing a beautiful sight to all the crew present as they dismounted.
Nadya spoke, "So, Sarge… You single?"
"Interested?" Joked Forge as they approached the water.
"Hah. No, sorry, Sarge," The seemingly-Russian girl replied with a smirk as they waded down to the water. She added, "I go for the same team," which seemed to surprise the UNSC Marine Sergeant. A few distant, disappointed groans echoed from the male Marines, while one female Marine snorted loudly and pumped her fist.
"That's gonna make Rapi a bit more at-ease," Forge mumbled. He then asked, "And you got a girlfriend?" while he cast a glance back at the female Marine in question, who immediately shrunk. The others went back to their posts, though, securing the area around them. Some even went to search the dead and the destroyed vehicles to make sure there were no booby traps left behind.
"Yes," Nadya replied, grinning, too, "Back in the Ark, waiting for me. She's human, funnily enough," and that got a few more people turning. Human female and Nikke, huh. Truly an interesting pairing, one would think, but when Nikkes were built based on the 'perfect human form' in that person's mind, well…
"Haha! Ain't that something! How did her family take it?" Forge raised a brow. Honestly, Forge wasn't sure how he'd take his own daughter dating a Nikke if he was born here. Right now, though, he had no problem with the thought. Even if Rion was light-years away from him, probably with her grandparents. Or working, considering the Spirit itself had been through years and a whole new fight after his death.
"Surprisingly open about it, honestly," Nadya shrugged, rather happy. She then added, "Though they're worried I'll get myself killed," as she arranged her webbing and armor. A couple chuckles came from the squad as they followed Ether deeper into the canyon, their supporting scout Nikkes rolling out around them to maintain a perimeter on the Mongooses.
"As a Nikke? Heh. If the enemy doesn't hit the head," The Sergeant shrugged, well aware that the main reason Nikkes were so dangerous was the fact that they could tank damage to most of their body without issue. The head was the main target for a lot of Rapture units for a reason, then, what with the brain and NIMPH being there.
"True enough, eh…" Nadya shrugged, then pulled out a cigarette box and slid a fresh one between her lips as she asked, "So, are you?" while pulling out her silver zippo. She flicked it open, ran her thumb over the flint wheel to cause a spark and ignited it, then lit her cigarette. She flicked the lighter closed with a resounding metallic click and some flourish, then smirked.
"Honestly, normally I'd say no," Forge shrugged, then replied, "But I'm not sure where I stand with my probably-Ex-Wife on that anymore…" then he mumbled to himself, "Or Anders…" as he shifted his shotgun off his back, a bad feeling slowly overtaking him as he saw the silhouettes of Rapture scout units on top of the cliffs.
"Darn. Nastiya thought you're cute," Nadya joked, which caused the Sergeant to double-over.
"STARSHIY SERZHANT!" Nastiya barked, her voice sharp, all while the rest of the team began to laugh. She was blushing while Kalina pat her on the shoulder, giggling a little while trying to reassure her. The embarrassment, however, was palpable, to the point the poor girl was shivering slightly despite it all.
"Heh. Relax, Nas-" Nadya joked, but she suddenly grew serious…
"Come to me…" That Voice, a female voice, sweet and warm, whispered to them from what felt like both miles away and so close she could touch it. To all Nikkes, all of them. They all froze in place, several of them with wide eyes. Forge and the Marines noticed this and soon realized what it was:The Signal. The reason so many Nikke had supposedly gone missing in this general area.
"... And there it is…" The Nikke NCO whispered to herself, grip tightening on her firearm, her cigarette falling out of her mouth as she prepared herself. She'd seen the Rapture scouts, too, but the second most terrifying thing to ever happen was also happening:The Raptures were moving away from them, away from their position.
"You hearing it now?" The human sergeant asked, scratching the top of his head. He took the safety off of his shotgun and looked around, stunned to see that the Rapture units that were eyeing them had moved away. He sighed deeply, already hating this a lot more than he thought he would. He noticed Ether's enthralled gaze as she looked around.
"Yeah…" Nadya scoffed, thumbing the safety of her rifle off and shouldering it as they started on their march again, following Ether. She told Forge, "It's distant, but just close enough for the noise to be audible… Like the metaphorical carrot on a stick," before she pulled out another cigarette and lit it in the same motions as before, dragging deeply of it to calm herself down.
"We all heard it, too," Ether stated as she drew her strange concoction of a machine gun, readying herself just in case. The scanner was now attached to her belt and letting out repeated pings as if to signal the way they were going was the right way, in ever-increasing frequency. She shifted uneasily, smiling a bit…
"I'm seeing a Ping on my HUD, tavarisch Serzhant," Kalina stated as her Heads-Up Display's NAV-point showed up, like a ghostly apparition, nearly see-through. She asked, "Should we go?" with a ton of unease in her voice. She checked her AK, then breathed a little heavily, feeling a mild headache coming on.
"No… Steady advance. Ether, keep your head in the game," Forge ordered, trying to keep the team in line. He waved to his Marines, each separately, then made several movements with his hand. He pointed at his eyes, then at the Nikkes, then formed an angle with his hands that he spread further and further out, basically showing the Marines to form a perimeter.
"Yeah, yeah," Ether waved it off dismissively again as they marched forward. Humans and their pretentious little worries, she thought to herself. Like she'd go without escort to explore something so strange. No, she'd need to figure out just how this signal affected the NIMPH to the point it actually caused her to wanna go there.
"I'm serious…" Forge frowned, staring her dead in her green eyes. She paused, to which he ordered loudly, "No Nikke leaves our line of sight. Form a perimeter, keep eyes on one-another. You find us that artifact first things first," garnering thumbs up and nods of approval from his Marine fireteam. The Scout biker Nikkes folded back into the formation as well, dismounting and leaving their bikes nearby just in case.
"Roger that," Ether breathed an annoyed sigh, shifting her weapon forward and leading them to their intended target from the middle of the formation. That Artifact, she thought, damn well better be worth it. The group continued their march down the canyon, the whispers, though infrequent, sending chills up the Nikkes' spines with their persuasiveness.
Come to me. Come and rest. Your war is over. Sisters, come home…
Sweet and dulcet tones mixed with an urging for desertion. Nadya kept an eye on all of her girls and on Ether as they delved deeper into the crags and rocks, moving past caves from which the few remaining animals in the area peered. She scoffed at it, then thought about turning her auditory sensors off. She only realized that the voice might be in their noggins when she felt her NIMPH's nanomachines actively gyrate at another whisper.
She hit herself with the base of her palm, then shook her head and said to Ether, "We're going to need PSY Protection at this point, Stalker," which got a short chortle out of the MMR scientist. Though the Reference was a bit lost on Forge, he didn't dare ask. He only listened to the ping of the scanner get louder and the time between them reduce to the point it was slowly becoming an incessantly loud and continuous screech.
When they arrived at the area where the scanner's noise became just white, tinnitus-like screaming, Ether turned it off. The group was wide-eyed, however, staring at something in the cliff face that felt all too familiar, yet so completely different:A massive reinforced concrete arc containing a door made out of glimmering metal was embedded in it.
"That's Goddessium alloy," Whispered Nadya, "A door made of Goddessium…" and she paused, noticing the blood smears on the door itself. Hand prints, dragged down by the dead. The faint traces of bullet impacts also marred the semi-alien metal's form, but the writing on it had never faded. It was odd… 'HANGAR-051-D', written in bright, bold red letters against the white Goddessium.
The damn thing was also built into an alcove and a massive cave that shielded it. Ether spoke, "Early Goddessium. Note the pallor and light-refracting capabilities, like porcelain," and she approached it, gently reaching out. Forge grabbed her hand, to which she asked, "What?" before Forge pointed below. She looked down and saw a human corpse, half-buried in the sand…
And an untouched human hand, smeared with fresh blood… Attached to a desiccated Skeleton.
Ether's eyes grew wide. She whispered, "What in the name of…?" as she knelt beside the corpse. She pulled out the scanner and scanned the hand and the rest of the corpse, stating, "Yes, this has been here for a century…" before she pulled a pen out of her breast pocket and poked the hand, dragging a string of fresh blood from it. She whispered, "But the hand and blood are as fresh as the day this woman died…"
"How the fuck is that possible?" A Marine inquired, looking over the door.
Ether hummed, lifted the scanner and ran it over the door, then whispered, "Incredible… Do you gentlemen remember what Fireteam Auburn recovered a few months ago?" which caused the rest of the squad, sans Forge, to scratch their heads. Metaphorically speaking. She smiled a little, knowing the Sergeant knew.
"The Cheese Cave," Forge mumbled, "We were making jokes about it on the daily. Please, tell me we didn't come all the way out here for another one?" only to get a shake of the head from Ether. She knelt beside the hand again, noticed the diamond-topped gold ring and frowning a little. She checked the hand again.
Then, she replied, "No, this is most certainly the Forerunner artifact Doctor Halsey has sent us to recover… Hangar Zero-Five-One Delta…" she then looked over to the right to notice a keypad, still working. She mumbled, "Right…" before activating her com system and stating, "Command, this is Ether. I require the access codes to HANGAR ZERO-FIVE-ONE DELTA, off-site storage for Codename:AREA 51."
While the rest of the team blanked, the girl smiled and walked over to the keypad. The touch screen activated and she punched in the code, only to sigh as a secondary security system, namely a blood-smeared handprint scanner, appeared. She walked over to the skeleton, retrieved the hand and made sure it was still in the field that retained 'youth'.
She put the hand over the device and heard it ping, telling the confused lot, "Yes, this is an old Area 51 storage site. Hence Hangar Oh-Five-One Delta. The United Forces of Humanity utilized a lot of ancient bases on Earth that they repurposed. Most were storage areas for combat vehicles and replacement parts, but some, like this one, were used with one goal in mind:Storing possible weapons or research projects to help defeat the Raptures."
As the door's seals hissed, the glowing field around it began to intensify. She stated, "Additionally, certain areas deemed important for the restoration of humanity post-War were imbued with experimental nanomachine lattices, meant to keep the places as clean and pristine as possible for future explorers. Such as in that "Cheese Cave' that Auburn found… Or, here…"
Indeed, the door slid open fully, folding in on itself like some non-euclidean material and peeling away to reveal the insides of the bunker. Blood smears and pools, fresh as can be, corpses spread out around the ground, all of soldiers and Nikkes clad in UFH equipment and untouched equipment and materiel still on its shelves.
"Holy shit…" Forge whispered, noticing the item at the center:Glowing silver and surrounded by pedestals arranged in two concentric circles, an alien machine of incredible size sat in the middle of the room, its silver alloy glowing in the LED lights as they powered on. It, in itself, was smeared with blood… And ash piles permeated the room, some still bearing resemblance to ancient Raptures.
"Command?" Ether grinned as she radioed in, "We have Jackpot."