Bleeding Out
Disclaimer: I do not in any shape or form own Halo. It belongs to Bungie, 343 Industries, and Microsoft, nor am I associated with them in any way. This is a non-profit fan work written solely for the purpose of entertainment. This is in no way canon.
Responses to questions or statements:
-Gwynx: Thank you very much. Hope this chapter was enjoyable.
-rancorlover: Thanks. As for the speculations... perhaps.
-Mythic Imagination: Thanks for the review! You made fair points and I do agree with them. In that scene, I was trying to show that despite Casper being fundamentally a good person, he still has moments where he enjoys himself a little too much in situations where he knows he shouldn't, but does it anyway because he can't help himself. Gunfights is where Casper feels the most alive and since he was by himself and not having to worry about anything else, he figured he could have some fun. Admittedly, I think I could've done it better, so apologies for that.
-Plus, I was listening to the Darktide soundtrack when writing the chapter. So, it's not like I could resist putting it in.
-Tryndamer95: Thanks, man. Hope you like this chapter.
-GloGang214: At this moment, I don't plan to. I still intend to have some moments where they question some stuff. But as of now, I don't plan to have Casper to reveal his future knowledge and the whole he comes from another world where the one he's currently in is fictional.
-Krieger Techpreist: Yeah... Game's Workshop sucks. I mean seriously, we have lost SO MANY 40k animations and works because of them. Literally everyone would benefit if they had just stayed away. The creators would be able to create works of the franchise, the viewers as they would get to watch something epic, and Game's Workshop THEMSELVES would get free advertisement of an IP they own. Absolutely stupid. Warhammer 40k will always be one of my favorite IPs, but I hate GW with a passion.
- In my humble opinion, the entire Darktide soundtrack is baller. It was my favorite soundtrack of the year. I need whatever Jesper Kyd was smoking when he was making it.
-Yep. All that's left now is to make sure that Carter and Emile make it.
-Yea, that's got to be one of the worst moves ANY company could've done. I'm still really mad about RVB's removal at the time of me posting this. I know that's probably not healthy, but I don't care. When I found out, the rage I had in me was so much it would have made a khornate berserker said chill bro. That's how mad I was. I mean, I know Rooster teeth has fallen substantially over the years, but I never believed they would do something like this. I mean, my expectations were low for you Rooster teeth, but come on.
-Guest: Thank you very much! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
-Nitroman98: Thanks! Hope you enjoy reading this chapter.
-Guest: Maybe, at this moment I haven't seen marathon. But if I do in the future then maybe.
-WarCorgi: Yeah... unfortunately RVB was removed from youtube. Some people managed to upload some seasons, but not all of it which is rather unfortunate. I'm still angry about it. I'm not giving Rooster teeth a single cent no matter what they do, especially after pulling this.
-Yeah, I suppose you're right. I missed the info that said that humans can only take four-hundred Roetgens when I was doing my research on the subject. So, I supposed my change was for naught. Like I said, I don't know anything about radiation.
-Lostsouls13: Sorry for the long wait. As for the latter question, you're going to have to wait to find out.
-The Hellbound: Yes, this is intended to be a prequel to Unbreakable. And yes, I do have plans to continue this.
Now, onto the story!
Chapter 13
(Time: August 24 ,2552)
(Location: New Alexandria, Reach)
A day had passed when the Spartans of NOBLE team were forced into fallout shelter A-13 in order to escape the Covenant glassing of the city of New Alexandria along with hundreds of others. Shockwaves could be felt by the bunker's occupants and the sounds of explosions and what sounded like buildings collapsing could be heard off in the distance which resulted in massive vibrations throughout the ground and dust falling from the ceiling. The power and lights turning off occasionally thanks to the shockwaves, but fortunately they always came back on a few moments later. Thanks in no small part to the workers in the electrical room maintaining the bunker's generators.
The bunker they were in was one of many located throughout the city, in every major metropolis across the planet. Part of a program carried out by many human planets as a place of refuge in the event of a Covenant invasion. Built to withstand glassing's and filled to the brim with enough food and supplies to last for several months and sealed by reinforced doors several meters thick and concrete walls reinforced by steel. It also connected to a rail system that was used to transport the occupants of the bunker outside of the city. From there, they were to head to the nearest off world evacuation sites where they will board a transport ship and hopefully be able escape the planet before it eventually falls- a fact that even the most deluded people could tell by this point.
The planetary evacuation order was given roughly a few hours ago. As it became clear to everyone that Reach had already fallen, and there was nothing the UNSC can do to fix that. As such, HIGHCOM had decided to cut their losses and authorized CENTCOM to begin evacuation procedures. Any and all spare-faring ships- even those that weren't military in origin such as cargo ships and passenger vessels, but whose crews had decided to stay out of a desire to help and save as many people as people- not engaging the Covenant fleet in orbit and haven't already left were re-tasked with the evacuating the populace of Reach.
This also included the people who had managed to take refuge in the bunker with them. As soon as they had received the evacuation signal, the bunker's staff along with the military and emergency services personnel who had also reached the shelter began directing people to the lower levels to board the tram system which would take them out of the city to the designated emergency evacuation sites.
Slowly, but surely, the inhabitants headed deeper underground to the underground metro stations and boarded the trains. The bunker going from cramped and full to essential deserted over the day.
During that time, the Spartans of NOBLE team were left with some down time. Carter spent the majority of his time planning out their next move while Jorge assisted with the evacuation of the civilians. Taking the time to talk with some of them, especially with the kids, in an attempt to ease their fear. Something that he was well skilled in as he had done it many times over the course of the Human-Covenant war. Jun and Emile on the other hand were gathering up all the spare gear and supplies they could and taking stock of what equipment they still had on them.
Kat was performing some repairs on her robotic arm, as it beginning acting up such as being slow to respond to her mental commands and sometimes freeze in place when she attempted to move it. Obviously, since they weren't in danger of being shot at for the moment she figured it was the best time to do some field maintenance on it as having an army be unreliable, especially in the middle of a gunfight, was a big no-no.
As she continued with her soldering of the arm, she found herself frequently thinking about the event that occurred barely a day ago. Where her fellow Spartan-III and latest addition to NOBLE team push her way out of the path of a needler shot that would've most likely pierced through her helmet and kill her.
While she was extremely grateful for the timely rescue, she found her mind wandering back to that moment every few hours. Where she asked herself the same question that no matter how hard she tried, she just could not come up with a definite answer for.
'Just how did Casper know?'
During her frantic sprint to cover before the Covenant glassing could begin, she did not see any signs of the Phantom being where it was. And as she talked earlier with the others, they didn't see it either.
Perhaps she was overthinking it and Casper just managed to spot the Covenant dropship hovering as they ran to the bunker. After all, she herself was busy asking herself where Holland got authorization to order a demolishing op on an ONI facility. Jorge was still behind them and the others had their view blocked by what remained of the roof. Perhaps Casper just saw it when they ran underneath the opening in the roof and instantly pushed her out of the way. It was certainly possible thanks to their enhanced speed and movement.
Removing her welding faceplate once she was done with her repairs, she picked up the robotic arm and inserted it into the socket before syncing it via her neural interface. The metallic fingers moving in a rhythmic movement as the prosthetic connected with her mind. Movement the arm around, she saw that the slowness to response to input was no longer there and that the sudden pauses in movement no longer occurred.
Satisfied with her work, she grabbed her Air Assault helmet, holding it under her sole organic arm and stood up from the makeshift work bench. Leaving the room and walking down the deserted corridors of the bunker. Which was due to the fact that everyone else except for them had already moved down to the lower levels or had already left the city via the tram. After a few minutes of walking, she found herself at the entrance to the shelter, where she saw Jorge and Emile sitting down on a bench, eating a meal in the form of MRE rations. Not exactly the most delicious nourishment, but one that did it's job. Beside, they were Spartans. They wouldn't complain about something so small as a tasteless snack.
Well... except for maybe Casper, that is. Sometimes he did like to complain about things such as when he was feeling tired (which happened a lot of the time), calling something out when he felt it was stupid, or even when he was just feeling hungry. When asked why, he replied that "it is the only right the brass gives to gunfighters and I'm just saying what's on everyone's mind, but are too polite not to." Still, it didn't happened too often, but it did annoy her and Carter at times.
"Hey, Kat." Emile greeted the team's tech expert with Jorge giving her a nod, as Noble four handed her an unopened chicken stew MRE. Which she responded with a thanks but declined, as she wasn't hungry.
"Suit yourself," The CQC expert of the team shrugged as he placed he packet back into his assault pack before resuming his makeshift meal.
"Something wrong?" Noble five inquired, as he could tell that Kat was deep in thought.
"Just...thinking is all."
"About?"
"It's nothing." She deflected with a wave of her hand.
"Any of you know where Casper is?" Kat asked.
"He's down the way, back the way you just came, take the fourth door on your left. As for what he's doing-"
"Let me guess. He's taking a nap."
"Yup." Noble four confirmed. "Went in there about an hour ago to get some shut-eye. Hasn't come out since then."
"How is it that no matter how much sleep he gets, it never seems to be enough?" Jorge questioned aloud.
"Man's just a heavy sleeper." Emile said with a shrug as the two of them got back to eating their MREs.
With nothing else to do but wait, Kat decided to ask what was on her mind ever since her fellow Beta company Spartan saved her from the needler round that very likely would have killed her instantly.
It didn't take long to find him. Exactly where Emile said he was, laying on the floor in an alcove against the concrete wall. His helmet off and used as a makeshift headrest
Shaking her head as she quietly chucked to herself, she kneeled down and positioned herself so she was staring down at him. "Six? Can you hear me? Come on, it's time to wake up."
"Ugh... Don't take this the wrong way, Kat. But please go away. I'm trying to get some sleep here." Casper muttered sleepily, wishing not to be disturbed from his slumber.
Rolling her eyes, she placed her hand and his shoulder and began lightly shaking. "Come on, Casper. Just make this easier for both of us and get up, will you? Don't make me get Carter down here."
Reluctantly, Six complied as he yawned loudly as he began stirring from his slumber. Stretching his arms as he turned his attention to his fellow Spartan-III from Beta company as he sat up. Having an unhappy look on his face as he gave the Lieutenant Commander a pointed look.
"Hey, Casper." Noble two greeted with a smirk.
"Hey, Kat. Ugh...What does a man have to do to get some sleep around here." Six complained as he raised his armored hand and rubbed his eyes to force himself awake. Leaning against the wall behind him as he pushed himself up.
"Casper...Emile told me you've been sleeping for about an hour now, I think you've had enough rest. Can't you stop complaining for once?"
"You know I ain't a morning person, Kat. And also, I may whine, but I still do what I'm told."
"One: it isn't the morning, it's five in the afternoon. Two: I'll give you that, though you could quit whining. And three, how is it you always seem to be tired no matter how much sleep you get?"
"First off, I already know that so no need to remind me. Secondly, the day I stop complaining about stuff I don't like is the day I finally bite it or lose my mind. Third, I'm a shammer, Kat. It's what we do, avoiding work so we can do nothing-which often means taking a nap. And what we do is pretty tiring, if we were still normal humans, we would collapse from sheer exhaustion. So, I think just wanting to sit down and maybe take a nap is a step up from that. Besides, we're not exactly knee deep in work at the moment, so what's the harm. " Casper argued with a shrug.
"At least I try to do something productive with my available time. Unlike you."
"Not everyone is an over achiever like you, Kat. Some of us just want to sit down when we can and just not do anything."
"Still, it would kill you if you didn't have your ten hours of beauty sleep."
"What are you? A sleep expert." The hyper-lethal replied jokingly as he gave her a playful shove, which she returned in kind with a slight smile on her face.
Rolling her eyes at her friend's lazy attitude, she took off and placed her helmet on the concrete floor beside her before sitting down next to her teammate.
"Six..." She began.
"Yeah..."
"Thanks...for saving me back there. If it wasn't for you, I would be dead."
"Don't mention it." Six waved off, which Kat ignored as she continued.
"But still, if you don't mind me asking... how exactly did you know about the Phantom."
"Heard it's engines as we were making out way to the bunker. When I looked up, I saw the Zealot taking aim at you." He answered bluntly.
Noble Two didn't answer as she became lost in her thoughts. While she had no reason to doubt him, she couldn't shake off the feeling that he wasn't giving her the whole story.
Maybe she was just overthinking it. She had no evidence he was hiding something from her, and even if he was, it probably wasn't anything big.
She didn't think more on it as she heard the door open and a familiar voice with a slight Slavic accent fill the room.
"Hey Kat, Casper."
The aforementioned Spartans turned their heads to the direction of the voice. Which turned out to be none other than Jun, who was approaching them with his SCOUT helmet tucked under his arm.
"Carter wants us at the exit the bunker. The last of the evacuees have already left. A Pelican's inbound to take us to SWORD."
The two Spartans didn't inquire further as they stood up from where they were sitting an followed him to the entrance. Unbeknownst to Jun and Kat, Casper let out an internal sigh of relief that Noble two didn't inquire further.
'That's half down. Only two more to go.'
That's it for now. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks again for everyone for taking the time to read and comment on my fanfics.
I would've uploaded this sooner, but I've been rather addicted to Red Dead Redemption 2 and 40K: Rouge Trader, plus I've started getting into Armored Core 6 . Also, I've been rather addicted to Helldivers 2 as of late, which got me rewatching Starship Troopers again. Add Super Earth to fictional nations that I'm extremely patriotic for. GLORY TO SUPER EARTH! FOR LIBER-TEA! FOR FREEDOM! FOR MANANGED DEMOCRACY! FREEDOM FOREVER!
But on a more serious note, I recently got into an accident where I injured my hand and left several of my fingers swollen. It really hurts when I try to move it and I was only able to finish this chapter with one hand and only two fingers on the other one. It's been getting better recently but it still stings when I try to move the fingers that were injured. As such, I was unable to write as much as I wanted to for this chapter since I wanted to get this out before the end of the day, as I'm going to be busy with work for the next few days and will be unable to write. Hope this chapter was still satisfactory and that you guys understand. I apologize if this chapter was disappointing and I hope you guys understand. If you guys don't like it, I suppose I can take it down to rewrite it when I have the time and my fingers heal.
Until next time, guys. And remember...
stay frosty, gents.
