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And now all hell will break loose by metallicafan
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And now all hell will break loose Part 1
Date: 30 August 2003, 3:07 AM
Location: Somewhere in Columbia,South America.
Date: August 17th,2552.
"Gotcha! You dumb Covenant bastard!" Captain Charles "Chuck" Lancer yelled out as he blew a hunter in half with his Sniper Rifle. Him and his squad had been fighting in the dense jungles of Columbia against the Covenant for what had seemed like years,but had only really been a few weeks. It had taken a toll on him and his men. The jungles were hot and VERY muggy,and the Covenant had ample hiding places for ambushes. However,Chuck's squad,part of the 101st Airborne, had picked up on their tactics, which is where this story starts.
"Dropship!" a Marine yelled out.
"O,Jesus Christ Almighty! What in the hell is that?!" Another shouted.
The ship had the strange look of a mix of the Covenant's Bandit dropship,and a Banshee. It stopped in midair,and started spewing out Banshees at almost unimaginable rates.
Chuck screamed into his radio. "We need air support NO....."
The dropship suddenly blew up.
"Already on it, Captain." Captain John Martez of the newly commissioned Black Day squadron butted in. "We'll mop up the rest. Those Banshees don't have a chance.
A collective sigh of relief could be heard from the Marines.
"Oh,yeah,almost forgot.There is a group of Pelicans off to your northeast.They're coming to pick you guys up. The top brass has decided just to nuke the damn place."
"I see 'em!"
"Alright men,gather up your shit,and prepare to hopefully get some R&R."
The Pelicans landed,and the squad piled in. They took off,and the voice of the pilot of the main Pelican came over the intercom.
"Ladies,Gentlemen,and Sergeant Martin,I would like to welcome you aboard Pelican group 55903,and would like to wish you a happy trip,cause my orders are to take you to South Africa after a short layover in D.C."
All the Marines groaned.
"Yea,yea,yea,shut up. The nuke should be arriving any second now...." His voice trailed off as a rumble and a flash of light came over them. They looked out the viewports,and saw a horrible sight. The entire jungle they had been in,including ground that was JUST under them,had been vaporized!
"Holy shit......must be a new nuke.Damn powerful too then." Chuck said.
"No shit Cap'n,I think your glowing!" A private said.
"Uhh...you might want a look at this!" Captain Martez said,only a few feet behind the Pelican. Chuck went over to the rear viewports,and saw a horrific sight.
A massive blue creature,easily 500 feet tall,was standing in the middle of the now fading mushroom cloud,roaring.It had a long,muscular body and tail,with a 3 fingered hand,all of its fingers ending in razor sharp claws,and a head with no nose or mouth.
"Oh,now aint THIS just so damn predicable! Every damn time the Army does something new, shit like THIS springs up!" Staff Sergeant Zahn piped up.
"Watch it,Zahn" Chuck rebuked."For all we know this could be what the Army unleashed!"
"C'mon man,the top guys are dumb,but not THAT dumb!"
"Awww hell I'm losing altitude!" The pilot yelled out.Looking at the viewports,Chuck could see that the other planes were falling too.Something must have happened.
"Alright men,prepare for a crash landing.We're going throught trees." He purposely forgot to add "Don't forget to pray" The Pelican hit the trees,its weight literally bending some trees out of the way.
"I see a clearing,I'm heading for it!" Chuck held on to the emergency restraints tighter as the Pelican continued dropping. The Pelican finally hit,its front end hitting first and getting totally decimated.Both pilots were chopped up and killed instantly. The main body of the craft didn't far much better.When the plane came to rest,the body was in 2 parts,one at the south edge of the clearing,and one at the north,with alot of debris between them. Chuck carefully unstrapped himself,stood up,and fell back down. "Broken leg" he thought,and hobbled over to the other Marines.Out of his original 7 other men,he only had 2 left,but had only 2 bodies to account for. The 2 Marines alive were Corporal Michael Merker,and Private First Class J.J. Fox.
"oh man,wheres everybody man!?" Fox yelped upon seeing Chuck.
"Calm down.I have no idea.They are probably dead tho.Any info on the other 2 groups and the fighters?"
"Can't really say,Captain" Merker replied" I think I saw a Pelican go off to the west though."
"Well,we'll have to go for that then.Get your weapons,max out on ammo and grenades.You have five." He set out to set words to action.Five minutes later,they were ready,with Chuck carrying the S2 AM Sniper,and the M9D Pistol,Fox carrying the M90 Shotgun and the M19 SLM Rocket Launcher,and Merker carrying MA5B Assault Rifle with the M7D Pistol,with a Plasma Rifle with a full charge.
"Lets head out" Chuck said
"Damn,I have a bad feeling about this!" Fox said.
"Oh SHUT UP!" Merker replied.
***TO BE CONTINUED***
And now all hell will break loose Part 2
Date: 1 September 2003, 6:32 AM
"Verify drop on target"
"Right on target.Captain Lancer out" Chuck looked over at the 3 boxes that Fox and Merker were bringing over to thier main "camp," if you could call it that.Just a shady area with only a few fields of fire. It was the last of the supply drops they had recieved on their impromptu trip to Cali, the Marine Corps stronghold in the South American Theater ever since Bogota,Columbia's capital,had been largely taken over by Covenant troops.
It had been 3 days since they had been deep in the jungles of Columbia,with almost no real idea where the actually were.[later on,they would learn from operational maps and radio conversations that they were near the end of the Rio Guaviare river.]
In the 3 days since their dustoff Pelican had been "shot" down,they had proceeded to the west,where they found another Pelican that had been somehow raided and all of its contents,bodies,weapons,were gone.However,they were able to get a good radio signal to the HQ,based in the city of Cali,southwest of Bogota.Bogota had been largely taken over by Covenant troops.Then they were given orders to get to Cali,due west of
them,ASAP. They had met no resistance,and had made a very good pace.However,they were expected to meet some Covenant troops on their final leg of the journey,so the supply drop had been called in.
"Ooooh.This one looks promising." Fox noted with a smile,pointing at a big box with the word "WEAPONS" stenciled on it.He opened it up."Looks like a new type of rifle.Three of them.It says on the case that they are called "Battle Rifle's." He passed them out to Merker and Chuck.
"No number.Weird" Merker noted.He took aim at a tree and fired."O,yeah.I could like this." He said with a grin.
"Must be experimental or something.O,and here's an M9 to replace that M7,Corporal." Fox threw the pistol to Merker,who gladly caught it and threw out his M7D pistol,which were notorious for its inaccuracy.Fox took out the fake bottom that had contained the 3 Battle Rifles and the M9,and uncovered more new weapons. "Hmmm...it says they are SMG's.More experimental stuff." He threw 2 each to Merker and Chuck.They came with thigh holsters,so all three soldier's strapped them on since it would allow them to carry the Battle Rifle sitll.
Merker raised an SMG to test fire it.
"Don't fire that one.It looks noisy.Might attract
some unwanted attention." Chuck said quickly.Merker put the SMG back in its holster.
"O,and of course there is more ammo." Fox passed that out too.
The other 2 boxes contained medical supplies,food,maps and such.When they were all ready,Chuck had a Battle Rifle,2 SMG's,his M9D,and his Sniper Rifle.Fox had a Battle RIfle,2 SMG's,and had managed to somehow tie his Rocket Launcher and his Shotgun together so that with a flip of one gun the other could be brought up to fire,and Merker had a Battle Rifle,2 SMG's, his M9D,and his Assault Rifle.They set out for the beginning of a weeks worth of hiking due west over mountains to Cali.
* 4 days later.........*
"Stop! I hear something!" Fox,who was at point,said.
Chuck and Merker stopped and listened.They heard gunfire and plasma shots,and instantly ran towards the sounds. Fox was running at full speed and almost got cut in half by an Elite that was hiding in the vines. He raised his Shotgun and fired one blast into the Elites gut,dropping him. A contrail appeared from Chucks sniper and Fox turned around,to see an Elite,with its Plasma Sword about to strike and split him in half,bloody with half of its face gone. They ran on until they came to a small clearing,where a fiece battle between Marines and Covenant forces was going on below them,since they had come out on a small ledge.Fox saw a Hunter trying to charge up its cannon,and fired a rocket.This killed the Hunter,but also attracted attention toward them. Plasma filled the air around them as Fox readied and fired off a rocket into the main Covenant group,but by the time the rocket got there half the force had been killed by Chuck's and Merker's excellent marksmenship. Seeing that the battle was not going in their favor,the Covenant turned tail and ran,but not before sustaining more losses to Chuck's Sniper. The Marines in the clearing ran up to them. A Lieutenant stopped and saluted Chuck before speaking.
"Thanks man.You sure did save our asses back there!"
"Who are you?" Chuck asked.
"Lieutenant Jon Steele. Me and my recon squad were on patrol in this area looking for Covenant.Obviously,we found them. This was supposed to be our evac point,but the fight was underway and the ship had to pull back.Which reminds me." He pointed to a radio officer."Tommy.Call the dropship and tell them the LZ is clear.Anyway,I think we can take you back to Cali with us.That ok with you?"
"Yes." Now that he had time to study them,Chuck could see that not only were they a recon group,they were a poorely armed one.Each was equipped with only the MA2B Assault Rifle. They were lucky that he and the others had come along,even tho the fact they survived this long with little weapons was a testament to their training.
The Pelican arrived shortly,and all the Marines piled aboard. They were in Cali within 4 hours.Luckily for Chuck and his men,they were not to be debriefed until morning,so they had a night to sleep.
________________________________________
NOTE: Sorry about the crappy ending for Part 2.If I were to go any farther I would mess up the story unless I did almost another full part at once,
And now all hell will break loose Part 3
Date: 7 September 2003, 5:29 AM
Chuck woke at 0700 hours and began his morning routine. He made coffee,got dressed,and was surprised to find that the Army daily newspaper, The Armed Forces Newsletter, was already on his desk. He picked it up, and threw it in the trash. The paper was too biased for his taste. It had even been quoted as saying "We are killing
Covenant left and right and we conclusively forsee an end to the war in 2 months." That's when Chuck stopped reading it, 3 months before. He saw something fly out of the paper, and quickly grabbed it in its decent. It was a tiny slip of paper, saying only, "2 hours, my office." Judging by the handwriting and shortness, he instantly knew who it was.
2 hours later,in his dress uniform, Chuck was in Brigadier General Justin Clark's office. Fox and Merker, having both received that same message, were there also, with an empty seat to Fox's right.
"Hello gentlemen." Clark said in his thick Midwestern accent, waving his trademark cigar around. "First off, I would like to congratulate you on your excellent performance on your last tour out in the jungles. How you made it back from that mess is beyond me. Anyway, the reason I brought you three together is because I need a platoon of excellent soldiers to reinforce our troops still at Bogota and evac them quickly. You three have proven your worth against Covenant, and will be part of this op. As you can see, there are only three of you, and six is needed for a platoon. We are still looking for two more, but we have a fourth already lined up."
Chuck didn't see it, but he knew that Clark must have hit a button, as a second later the door hissed open, and a metal *clank* announced their visitor. Stand six feet tall, in his already battled-scarred armor, Master Chief John-117 of the Spartan-II program snapped to attention and saluted.
"Howdy, Master Chief. At ease." Clark said, returning the salute without getting up. John walked over and sat in the one empty chair. Fox just stared the entire time. "As I was saying, we have a fourth lined up. You probably already know his name, so I'll just introduce you to him." He went through the introductions. A few seconds after he was done his intercom rang with his secretary's voice.
"Sir, your intel director is here. He says he has something urgent."
Clark spoke into the intercom. "Send him in then." He turned off the intercom. "Damn right this better be urgent."
The intelligence director walked in the door, carrying papers.
"Sir, I have new information about the Bogota attack! A few of the radio signals sent out by the surviving Marines state that during the attack a huge blue Elite-looking monster appeared and leveled EVERYTHING in its path! It has been blamed for at least half of the casualties inflicted, sir. The worst part is that..." He trailed off after John suddenly went running out of the office at full speed, with nobody able to catch him. The director looked stunned. "Anyway, the creature soon left, and hasn't been found since. But the part that has everyone worried is that if the creature headed straight after all this time, it would be right in line with us." A brief silence followed."
"Well," Clark began, obviously shaken. "I think it's safe to assume that the monster probably hasn't stayed on course that......" He trailed off.
Chuck had felt it too. A rumble in the ground.
"Oh shit...." Merker said.
By the time he had finished that sentence, Chuck was already out the door, with Fox and then Merker close behind. They emerged from the building on a porch-like terrace with steps. They heard an engine whine and John pulled up in a Warthog.
"Need a lift?" He asked. Chuck hopped in the passenger seat, Fox took the gunners position, and Merker wedged himself between the gunners seat and between the drivers and passengers seat, bracing himself and praying. John gunned the gas and soon pulled up to the ammunition dump. Chuck, Fox, and Merker grabbed their gear, still not even cleaned from their last fight, and John got his Battle Rifle and M9D. They all got back in, and head for where the sounds seemed to be coming from. The base was in chaos, with people going every which way to prepare for the fight. The communication airwaves were in a never-ending state of confusion. The only pieces of info the group could pick up was that the monster had appeared, with a sizeable Covenant force in tow. John finally got the "Hog out of the base, and into the jungle. He deftly maneuvered it around trees and vines, following a path that was fading in the ground. Suddenly a Grunt popped out of the foilage and waved something in his hand that made Chuck's heart stop.
_____________________________________________
muahahaha....now I'm just being evil :)
But in all seriousness, this series is getting too complicated for now. Gotta fix all this in the next few weeks,which is about how long it'll take to write part 4!
And now all hell will break loose Part 4
Date: 18 September 2003, 1:39 AM
The Grunt wasn't holding a bomb.
It wasn't holding a gun.
Hell,it wasn't holding a weapon of any sort.
It was holding a flag.
A white one.
Before Chuck had time to even collect his thoughts, John jumped out of the Warthog and leveled his gun at the Grunt. Chuck followed suit.
"Speak." John said with a hint of curiosity.
"Well," The Grunt started with a hint of worry in his voice." My commander, the great Zanozi, hero of many battles, defeater of many enemies..."
"Get to the point!"
"Sorry, sir Human. My commander wishes that you would not fire upon us. We wish to at least temporarily establish a....a....a..."
"Cease fire?" Chuck said with an incredulous look on his face.
"Yes. He wishes to meet with your commander. But until then, he says, we are fighting against your enemy, this monster. Do you agree?"
John simply nodded to Fox,who was closest to the radio. Fox got the point, and dialed in the frequency. The air was filled with traffic.
"This is Private First Class John Jay Fox acting under orders from Master Chief John 117." He paused a bit before going on. "All Covenant should be marked as friendlies. I repeat, the Covenant are our allies."
The conversations stopped.
"What in the hell are you smoking young man?" An astonished voice boomed over the radio.
"What the fuck is it to you? I said...." Fox began before John took the microphone away.
"This is Master Chief John 117 of the Spartan-II program," John began with a heavy emphasis on his title. "I ORDER you to stop firing on Covenant attacking the monster!"
"Confirm Covenant friendlies. I just ran into a bunch of them."
John put the microphone back in its holder, turned around.....and walked right into the biggest damn Elite he had ever saw.
"You are Master Chief?" The Elite asked in broken English.
"Y...yes." John said. His years of training hadn't prepared him for seeing an Elite in front of him and him not being able to shoot.
"Pardon my master's lack of fully understanding your language." The Grunt piped up from behind the Warthog.
"I take it your Zanozi then?" John asked, his feeling now under control.
"Yes.But no time for introductions, I must meet your commander. Also, in about 5 of your minutes, all our cannons, Banshee's, and tanks will attack the 'monster.' I believe we have given that information to your side. I have my ways of getting to your base. You must leave now. In case somebody misses."
He sprinted off into the foilage, with the Grunt close behind.
John didn't stop to watch. He jumped in the Warthog, started it, and mashed the pedal to the floor.
A few minutes later, they were back at base. Zanozi and his group had already beaten them there. Brigadier General Clark went up to meet them as they jumped out.
"Hello there. You're just in time for the show." He pointed towards the monster just as green streaks from the Banshee's and smoke trails from the Longswords arced in. WIth near perfect timing, the missles hit within seconds of each other. A bright flash, and the monster was gone. Wild cheers and many 'Drinks are on me!"''s erupted from the crowd of Marines and radios broadcasting pilot radios.
Zanozi stepped up to Clark. "Tell your men that there is not much to celebrate. The monster is still out there." He said that last part in a whisper.
"Yes, I figured as much. Come into my office, and we'll discuss this." He motioned for Zanozi, Merker, Fox, Chuck, and John to follow him.
A few minutes later they were in Clark's office.
"Well, care to explain about the monster?" Clark asked ."Like first of all, what the hell is it?!"
"Ah, yes. He is one of our race's original ancestor's. We miraculously found hints of his DNA and managed to clone him.....with a few "modifications." He curled his mandibles back into what Chuck realized must have been his interpretation of a human smile.
"Yea, like making him 500 feet tall!" Merker exclaimed.
"He is able to go to just about any height he wants. From 500 feet, to little as 1."
"Which explains why we haven't been able to see him." Clark said.
"No, actually. He is also able to travel in an alternate demension." He "smiled" again as everybody's mouth dropped open."That's what he was for. Surprise attacks to demolish cities. But it get's worse. He feeds off the energy the demension gives him. He enters our demension fueled and energetic. As long as he can warp back to that demension, he is almost invincible. That is what happened earlier."
"Aww man......we're screwed!" Fox yelled out.
"Not exactly. The portal can be destroyed."
"With what?" Clark asked.
"A good size atomic bomb."
"We don't have one. They were outlawed 200 years ago. Nukes just barely made it through also."
"Actually we do have one." A new visitor announced. He stepped away from the wall he had been leaning on for the past few minutes. Clark took one look at him and jumped to his feet.
"Sir!" he said with a salute.
--------------------------------------
argh...the length limit is killing me. I had a good ending point about 600 words in but noooooooo...
And now all hell will break loose Part 5
Date: 21 September 2003, 3:32 AM
Chuck turned around in his seat, saw 5 reflections of lights in a circle, jumped up, and saluted. Fox and Merker did the same, while Zanozi bowed shallowly.
General of the Army David Wayne, the first 5 Star general since John Parker of the Rain Forest Wars in 2162, stepped away from the wall he had been standing by, unnoticed. "We have a small scale atomic bomb. It's small, so it can be fired from a shoulder mounted rocket launcher, but it should do the job."
Clark began to speak."Sir, are...are..are you sure we can DO that? If this is found out the United Nations will..."
"Be good little boys and not do a thing. They and their damn rules went out the window when the Covenant landed. The bomb we have is simply the second of many. The first is what you have already seen," Wayne said, pointing to Chuck." It is the bomb that set off the monster. Instead of wasting energy upwards, it sends its energy sideways, allowing for a bigger damage radius and closer deployment to airborn units. How it does it, that's for the lab rats to know." He finished with a smirk.
Merker let out a low whistle.
"Well, I guess that is it then." Zanozi said. "But how can it be known that the bomb is of good enough size and strength?"
"After this little meeting is over you can send your experts to our lab."
"Suitable."
"W..well I geuss that's all that needs to be discussd then...." Clark said with a hint of new nervousness."
Standing in the corner, unusually silent, John spoke. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"I'm speaking to Zanozi."
"You mean why are we helping you?"
"Yes."
"Well, I'll start from the beginning. My group and I were part of the group that was transporting our ancestor, who we called Kaani, to his final modifications. We had him in a small capsule that rendered him immobile and docile. There was only one of them, and it was destroyed in the blast. My group was the forward recon, so we survived the blast. The capsule was the only thing we could carry him in, and now it is gone. When we saw your planes coming in, we fired our disrupter field projectors, and raided the ships that we could find, and burned the bodies. As to why we are helping you, it is that in Kaani's attack on Bogota, he killed 5 times as many Covenant as Humans, and he couldn't be stopped. He was to be modified at our destination to tell the difference between allies and enemies, but now he attacks anything in sight. He is just as much a threat to us as to you. We felt that without us joining forces with you, he couldn't be stopped and Earth, everybody's goal in this war, would be lost. Does that satisfy you?"
"Yes."
"Anything else?" Wayne asked. Nobody spoke up. "Well then, Zanozi, come with me, and I'll show you to the labs." He and Zanozi left.
"I guess that's it then." Clark said. "Sleep on it, kids, its Midnight."
Chuck looked at his watched, and was amazed to see that he had been here for the past 4 hours. Sleep didn't sound too bad...........
***14 HOURS LATER***
"We have seen your bomb, and we have determined it to be the right size." Zanozi said. They were all now back in Clark's office, with the addition of two of Zanozi's scientists, both Gold Elites.
"Before I went to sleep, I thought of two questions," Fox began. "One: how big is the target, and two, since I'm the one who has to fire the rocket, how am I supposed to hit the damn thing without getting killed?
"The portal is anywhere from 10 to 15 feet in height, and about 10 in length. An easy target. As for not getting killed, my scientists have added a chip to the warhead that will detect the difference between demensions, and only then well it explode. You miss, and it won't blow up. The shock wave will not travel between demensions either."
Fox looked more at ease after that.
"One more problem. How do we find the mon...Kaani?" Chuck said.
"We have to get a tracking device on him." Zanozi said. "The trick will be finding him. After that its a matter of following him, and destroying the portal."
"Sounds like a good plan so far. I'll have all my recon units and then some look for the monster." Clark said.
"Correction. MY units, Clark." Wayne said. "Orders by the President."
---------------------------------
I think that stopping point'll do fine. I got rid of the biggest plot pains[I HOPE!]
And now all hell will break loose Part 6
Date: 30 September 2003, 2:06 AM
Somewhere in Venezuala....
"Chavez! Nail that sonuvabitch!" Sergeant Jake Strucker yelled out to his demolitions expert, Ringo Chavez, who had a modified rocket launcher that would fire Covenant tracking devices to monitor Kaani in both of his known traveling demensions. They were flying in a Pelican, hanging out the back of it, part of the recon groups looking for Kaani.
"You got lock on that, Sarge?" The tracking devices had a laser guider that would lead them to the target. The laser was slaved to Strucker's Sniper Rifle sight. Kaani was at his full height which made it dangerous to go near him, but made him an easy target.
"Yea! Now hit it already!
Chavez took a deep breath, and fired. It was a tracer, so he could see it arc in toward Kaani, and hit perfectly and wedged in tight.
"Nice shot muchacho!" Strucker exclaimed. They gave each other high-fives and looked out at Kaani again. He reared his head back and gave a strident animal roar. He turned around, lifted his hand, and struck the Pelican.
The pilot barely had time to react. Kaani's hand tore off a wing and crumpled the right side of the aircraft in. The co-pilot was killed instantly when piece of glass slit his throat. Chavez and Strucker were belted in, so they didn't fall out. The Pelican rose up a few feet from the force of the hit, then circled back to earth, with no power. It hit front first, with the cockpit being squashed in to a mere fraction of its size, and the pilot's head getting the same treatment. The crash set off the ammo stored in the Pelican, making it fly out at all angles. Chavez was behind Strucker, so he survived, though badly shot, while Strucker was shot so bad he looked like swiss cheese. Chavez managed to get out, but with no help, no radio, no food, no water, and no ammo, he soon sucumbed to his injuries.
*Back at the Marine base*
In the radar tower of the base, a small office was converted to the hunt for Kanni. A radar officer was sitting back in his seat smoking a cigarette, staring blankly at the screen. Suddenly it started beeping mad.
"Sir! We have a lock!" He yelled out from his station.
"Good. Where is it?" Clark said.
"Just north of San Cristobal"
Clark picked up the phone on the desk in the office. Back at the other end, Wayne was waiting for his call, along with John, Chuck, Fox, and Merker. The call came through, and Wayne picked up the phone.
"Wayne here." He glanced at the LCD panel telling where the call came from and said. "You must have information."
"We have him. He is in Venezula. I recommend us tracking him actively instead of us waiting for him."
"Good idea." Wayne hung up the phone. "Well boys, you now have your marching orders. Come back here in 20 minutes. Go get your gear." With that everybody left except for Wayne.
John sprinted to the motor pool, picked up a troop Warthog, and gunned it to where the rest where waiting. The group clambered in and John gunned it again. Upon stopping at the armory, the attendents, who had been notified of their arrival, started piling gear into the back of the troop carrier. Chuck spotted his bag for his gear and picked it up. An attendent nervously brought out a small ammo box and gave it to Fox. John went into quick U-turn and came back to what was Clark's office, which was now Wayne's office.
"You're late." Wayne said in a joking manner." Well, I see you have your gear. I assume you can guess what's in that ammo box...."
Fox nodded in agreement.
"Well then, here's the deal. Our brilliant mechanics have modified a long distance recon Pelican to carry even more fuel, and have living spaces. It's being prepped as of now. You will board it fully prepared for a long trip, and you will be flown along the path he his taking until we can kill him. You will be up for a bit, and any supplies will come from the air. Once you spot him, and if the portal is still open, Fox, you have to nail the portal. The rocket will pass through and detonate, eliminating the portal. You can either aim it the old way, or with a button press, slave the rocket to Chuck's sniper. You then have to radio back to us success, then get the hell out of dodge, as soon after we will detonate a nuke over it. Understand?"
Everybody nodded in agreement.
"Good. You have 10 minutes to get to the Pelican. Good luck."
And now all hell will break loose Part 7
Date: 31 October 2003, 3:10 AM
As one person leaves another comes along for the ride........
5 minutes later they all had gotten their gear and John was driving to the hangar. When they got there the Pelican was not hard to spot. It was easily four or five times bigger then a normal Pelican. It also had green painted on to look like a forest on top and blue-white paint on bottom. There was a flurry of activity there. The final walkover was being done by four engineers. John drove up to the the Pelican and everybody jumped off the Warthog.
"Sir!" A young corporal yelled as he ran up to John. "New orders for you. You are to take the Pelican 2984 to New Mombasa immediately along with the a platoon from the 101st. He handed a slip of paper explaining the orders.
"Aww shit........" Merker trailed off.
"Corporal, follow me." John said and started walking off, but grabbing the corporal as he walked past him. He walked behind a Longsword far enough so that Fox, Merker, and Chuck couldn't hear them. The looks on the nearby mechanic's faces told the story though.
"Damn, he's giving him one helluva yelling at." Chuck needlessly pointed out.
"But it's really not the corps fault."
Then Wayne walked in, apparently being alerted by a mechanic.
"Master Chief John 117!" He yelled those words loud enough to be heard across the hangar. He then trailed off to a more normal tone.
5 minutes later, John walked across the hanger and boarded his Pelican, while Wayne and the corporal left through the main exit.
"Well ain't that just a bitch!" Fox yelled and slammed his hand on the rail.
"What now? Merker asked.
"We go on I guess." Fox replied, now massaging his hand.
"We're gonna need some help now." Chuck said,shaking his head. He didn't add what he was thinking, "We're screwed."
They proceeded up into the Pelicans bay. It looked like an ordinary Pelican until they opened the door leading to the living area portion in the bow.
"Hey Chuck! Do I look like a kid in a candy store?" Fox asked, looking around at the inside of the obviously very heavily modified Pelican.
"Yes you do."
"Thought so." He had good reason too. The base's engineers had completely redone the inside and outside of the Pelican, adding bigger wings, and an overall bigger chassis and side passages that ran down the new parts into living spaces. The normal soldier hold had been redecorated and lowered to about half the normal size. Overall, it was much bigger and better then a normal Pelican.
"Man, the General wasn't kidding when he said we were gonna be up here for awhile apparently!" Fox said, taking a peek at the storage lockers.
"No crap." Merker replied from across the bay.
"I see you like it." A black clad pilot opened the door that separated the renovated bay with the normal bay, raised the visor on his helmet.
"John! Where the hell did you come from?!" Chuck yelled, jumping back.
"I got picked up by that Covenant force you met. I guess General Wayne decided it would be a nice 'coincidence'for me to be on this mission." Martez smiled.
"Sheesh. I swear that guy's demented." Fox said and sat down on a crate.
A crew chief walked in. "Your up for takeoff. Get the hell outta here!"
Martez walked on to the cockpit. He wouldn't have a co-pilot. He sat down, and ran through the power up check-list. After he was done, he took the joystick in his hand and activated the Vertical TakeOff and Landing engines. The Pelican lifted off, and Martez twisted the stick to the left to position it for takeoff.
Meanwhile, Chuck, Fox, and Merker were strapped into their seats, ready for takeoff. Martez's voice came over the speakers in their seats.
"Alright guys, judging by the bug's position, we are going to.....Maturin, Venezuela. Damn. He went THAT far!"
"What!?" Fox yelled out, jumping from his seat. "That's 6 days from here if we try to go undetected, 8 if we go around the Covenant!"
"Correction. Look out the port window." Martez paused, then added as an afterthought; "And sit down too, so I can fly us outta here."
Fox sat down in a seat and looked out the window. He scanned down the wings, past the engines, and craned his head to try to see farther down the wing. He saw what Martez had been hinting at attached to the Pelican's side, and reeled back in shock. "Holy crap! Those are FTL engines!"
"Yep. It'll take us 3 days for this mission if we hit Kanni the first time through, since we are going to go around the Covenant." Now that he was up in the air, he began the new Pre-FTL checklist he had.
"You know, I'm not an engineering expert, but last time I checked, Pelicans couldn't handle FTL." Merker quipped.
A bang announced somebody's presence. The door opened, and a person wearing an engineering medal pinned to the laple of his combat fatigues walked in.
"Who in the hell are you?" Chuck and Fox said together.
"And how the hell did you get up here?" Merker said a split second later.
"Lieutenant James O'Conner, the head engineer on this baby, and through the catwalk John raised up to, respectively." He sat down and adjusted the straps on the seat to fit him. "Those engines you see are the hard work of me and my crew. Spent a few weeks on this. It's been in the making since before the cease-fire between us and that outcast Covenant was established, and in research for much longer. Those FTL engines are prototype stage, which is the main reason why I'm aboard."
"Where's your stuff? You know, guns, ammo..." Chuck trailed off.
"Loaded before you got here. And on your question, those wings are made out of the toughest alloys we have. Also when the Pelican is about to enter FTL the wings go back for the entry. When the pressure lowers in FTL flight they return to normal. One more thing before we lift off. Feel under the armrest. When you feel a button, hit it." He suited action to words by pressing his seats' button. The chair revolved around to face the front. Fox and Merker followed. Chuck felt, couldn't find the button, so he felt under the seat, leaned over to take a look, and inadvertantly triggered the chair, which spun around so fast he hit his head against the wall.
"Owww...." He rubbed his head and drew away blood. He got out of his seat to go to the medical case. It was at that moment Martez was finished with the pre-FTL and started the main engines. They powered the Pelican a few feet forward very fast before Martez engaged the brake. Chuck flew back and landed in his seat. "It can wait." He decided. Martez pushed the throttle forward gently, easing the Pelican out of the hanger. He raised the nose a little, raised the Pelican to 700 feet, stopped, turned the Pelican, and hit the switch for the FTL engines. The engines glew red, then white with heat, growing rapidly louder, until they became a strident scream. The Pelican inched forward. Martez engaged the main engines, hoping to help the Pelican. The engines died sputtered, then caught up again. This time they worked, and Martez was sent farther back into the pilot's chair's cushion then he had ever been before. The tachometer and speedometer on the sensors maxed out. Sensing this, the computer inside the Pelican retracted the wings. The Pelican shaked violently. Martez was in a full sweat now.
"Just a little more..."
O'Conner was getting worried too. If those engines blew, well, it would kill them probably, and waste billions of dollars and thousands of man-hours. Suddenly the horizon behind them started fading to black. They were going too fast for their eyes to catch the light of the sun. Suddenly the entire sky became black. They had entered FTL travel, the first for a craft of its size. Outside, the Pelican winked out of site. Everybody aboard heaved a sigh. Martez looked at the special instruments for the engines.
"2,000 more degrees and they would have blown." It came as a shock to him. A few seconds more and they all would have died. It felt funny to him to know that his death was that close. He lowered the speed of the FTL engines and cut the main engines entirely, just enough to keep them in FTL. He had piloted battlecruisers before, and knew that there was no sense in wasting the engine. The entry was always the most taxing, after that, it was normally smooth flying.
*****************************************************
A button on the cockpit's control panel flashed red and a siren began to blare. Martez quickly hit the switch by reflex. The area of black in front of him colored in and then the Pelican was out of FTL travel. The decelaration caused him to be be pulled tight against his straps. Blood rushed to his head. He heard crashes behind him of things that hadn't been strapped down. He looked at his diagnostics display. It showed the left FTL engine as being disabled. He swore and banked the ship left to avoid a tree. The rest of the world caught up with the Pelican and Martez rested back in his seat. O'Conner came rushing into the cockpit.
"What the hell did you do to my ba...it!?"
"Left FTL went out." He tapped the diagnostic touch screen to bring up more information. "Hydraulics and cooling are down. Fixable?"
"Yes, but for me to even get to the problem I'll have to spend hours dismantling the thing."
"Get to it when we land. Tell everybody what happened."
When O'Conner got to the hold, he found Chuck tossed into the near wall amist the parts of his gun, which he had been cleaning. Fox and Merker were picking up chess pieces. Merker was the first to speak up.
"Now what happened?"
"Left FTL engine went out. It's gonna take awhile to fix." O'Conner headed over to the place where his gear was housed, and took out the bag made for this situation He braced himself near the door, ready for landing.
Martez circled around looking for a spot to land. He found a clearing, and landed in it. Before the Pelican had settled down on its wheels O'Conner jumped out and headed to the engine. Martez did an accelerated power-down and jumped out of his seat and headed for the bay. When he entered he saw Chuck in the corner, just waking up, and Merker and Fox restarting their game.
"C'mon ladies this isn't a rest stop. There could be enemies. Get your shit and start a patrol." He said without missing a step toward the exit. He flung open the door and walked to the end of the cargo/secondary hold and jumped down from the hold with Chuck, Fox, and Merker following. Chuck and Fox went to the southeast, the highest ground, to cover the clearing, while Merker started partrolling the near area.
"Well, any progress?" Martez asked O'Conner.
"Like hell there is. You gotta give me more time!"
"Fuck." Martez walked back into Pelican. He walked to the galley and got out a shot glass and a bottle of Russian vodka. He decided he would need it that day. He poured a shot and threw it down his throat. He sat down and poured another.
************************************************
O'Conner laid down the tool and sighed. It had been 2 hours, and he had just gotten ready to pull off the outer casing. He gripped the casing and pulled. It came off with a good amount of difficulty, but it was off nontheless. He turned on a flashlight and took a peek inside. It took him a minute, but as he scanned for the problem he noticed something. Where there should have been a group of wires, very important wires, there was nothing but a few specks of dirt or something and a blob of goo. He picked up the goo. It had a hard center. He called to Fox, who came running over.
"Hey, what does this look like to you?"
"Some type of explosive."
"From who?"
"I don't really....oh shit. It's Covenant manufacture."
"Great. Just great!. How could this have gotten in here?
"The same way you took it out.
They didn't need to say anything else. Both knew what had happened. They had been fooled. O'Conner took another look inside. He spotted something and picked it up. It was a restrictor plate that had been melted off.
"I think that bomb was a back-up. Look. This type of thing, if it had stayed on, would have not allowed the engine to go to FTL travel, so the engine would have blown up and killed us all."
"It must have fallen off early. That would explain why the engine sputtered and then caught. Go get Merker and Chuck. Meet me and Martez in the bay. We need to contact the base too." Fox ran for the hill where Chuck was and O'Conner went into the Pelican.
"Martez! Get over here!" No answer. "Martez?" He looked in the cockpit. Martez wasn't there. He looked in the right wing living spaces. Nobody. He looked in the first part of the left wing. Nothing. He moved onto the galley. Martez was sitting at the table, passed out, with his bottle of vodka spilt on the floor. O'Conner ran to him and shook him. Martez's eye opened.
"Whaaaa...?" He asked, obviously drunk.
"Why the hell did you do this?"
"I...........couldn't........take......it........."Martez slurred his words. He passed out again.
"Damn." He ran out to the bay where everybody was waiting.
"Where's Martez?" Chuck asked.
"Passed out in the galley."
Everybody rushed into the galley at those words.
"Damn............" Merker said.
"Alright you guys get working on him, I'm going out to fix that damn engine. Fox, contact Base and tell them the situation." As O'Conner left the galley he overheard Merker saying "He is gonna have one helluva hangover. Two-Thirds of a vodka bottle..."
Once O'Conner got outside he immediately went to work inspecting the engine. He found nothing. To be safe, he inspected both the other FTL engine and the main engines. Nothing. Suddenly he heard Fox swearing. He looked up as Fox stood next to him.
"What's up?" He asked.
"The radio is dead! The crystals were replaced with fakes that made the radio look like it was working, but no messages can be sent or received." Fox said with more then a hint of anger.
"Great."
"Yea, just great."
"Somebody sabotaged this one good. Do we have any backups?"
"Stolen."
"Damn. Hell if I have any idea on what to do. Ask Chuck. He is the Commanding Officer now."
"I did. He said we should try to continue on while that transmitter is working."
"Whatever he says."
Fox left, so O'Conner started working on the wiring that had been lost. "Thank god I have enough spares." He thought. Soon he was done. He then double-checked his work and inspected that engine again. The last thing he needed now was another failure. He packed up his tools and went back inside. He saw Fox and Chuck, who was decked out in pilot's gear, waiting for him.
"Hey, how's he doing?" O'Conner asked as he put his tools in the storage locker.
"He woke up, then we gave him some medicine to calm him down and put him back asleep. He was delirious." Fox said.
"I ain't heard about hangovers like that since college."
"Thankfully, Chuck can pilot to some degree."
"Basic Pilot's Training at MacDill a few years back for crosstraining." Chuck chimed in. "Is the engine fixed?"
"Yes."
"Good." He got up and walked to the cockpit. "Liftoff in 10 minutes."
Chuck sat down and looked at the controls. "Oh dear God what have I got myself into?" He muttered under his breath. Gauges hadn't been like this on the training plane he had flown. He looked around for the start-up checklist screen. There had to be one. He checked the ships internal computer and found it. Thankfully, while searching for it he found a file that was made for occasions where trainees had to fly it. He activated it. It gave specific instructions on how to operate the Pelican. He followed them, and eventually got the Pelican powered up. After making sure everybody was secured in, he lifted off. When he cleared the treetops he set the heading into the computer. He hesitated, then hit the FTL switch. The engines caught the first time and the Pelican went to FTL without a hitch.
************************************************
Chuck made sure everybody was strapped in just in case the decelaration was as bad as the last re-entry, then hit the switch to bring them back to sub-light speed. When the process was complete, he checked his radar. No Kaani. Fox rushed in.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know. Hold on." Chuck changed the screen to show the transmitters location.
"He's near the halfway point between here and Caracas."
"Shit. He's heading to another capital."
"My thoughts exactly." He swung the Pelican to the left to put it on a heading in the direction of Kaani.
"How's Martez doing?" Chuck asked.
"He's doing fine. He should be able to fly us back."
"Good. Get back in your seat." Fox ran out of the cockpit. Chuck set the flight plan to have them exit FTL travel just a little ahead of Kaani's current path. It would an 8 hour trip. He put the Pelican into FTL travel as fast as he could.
*************************************************
It was Martez who took the Pelican back out of FTL travel. He had recovered fast from his binge. As he took the Pelican back to sub-light speed, he kept his eye firmly on the tracking screen. They were going to revert to sub-light at a low altitude, so he had to be aware at all times. The Pelican snapped back to sub-light speed and a blip appeared on the screen at the Pelican's 6 o'clock. Martez pulled the stick as close to his chest as far as he could. The altitude gauge flew upwards. Close to 600 feet, Martez heard a crash to his right, and the Pelican inverted and started flying downwards. He looked up at the ground.
"Shit! That sonuvabitch can jump!" He commented on Kaani, who was just returning to the ground after hitting the Pelican mid-jump.
Martez looked at the diagnostic display. It showed his right wing as gone, not just not working, gone. He didn't need to think much about it to realize half his power and steering was gone. Normal Pelican's could fly under this kind of situation, because they were light. The version was easily 4 times as heavy. The Pelican started dropping. Martez looked for a possible, and safe, landing zone. There wasn't a clearing to be found. He kept looking. He found a good spot in a cave not too far away. He aimed for it, and prayed the Pelican could not only reach it, but fit in the cave too. He put the flaps to full, reversed the engines, and extended the landing gear. He had to fight to keep the Pelican in line with the cave. The cave lept up and filled the windshield even though the Pelican was only going at 50 miles per hour, relatively slow.
"Brace for impact!" He yelled into the microphone. He braced, and then saw the pillar of rock sticking up in the cave's mouth that he hadn't seen before just before the Pelican hit,and ducked. The rock shattered against the Pelican, and chunks blew threw the windshield, sending glass and rock all over the cockpit and Martez. Half a second later the left wing hit and was ripped off by the side of the cave. The force that was exerted on the Pelican to rip off the wing transferred to the fuselage and spun the Pelican a few degrees and sent the Pelican into the wall. The Pelican then bounced off and down, into the other wall and then ricocheted at an angle, turning it 90 degrees and it flew down the cave's length sideways. It hit one more time against a wall before crashing into the back of the cave, then falling to the bottom of the cave. It rocked a bit, then finally settled in at an awkward angle, upside down and on an incline from cockpit to engines.
The Pelican didn't move for an hour.
And now all hell will break loose Part 8
Date: 11 November 2003, 5:52 AM
Finally, movement could be seen from the inside of the Pelican. It was Chuck. As he gradually woke up, he realized three things:
A: He was upside down,
B: The Pelican had crashed,
and C: He was the only one awake.
He carefully loosened the straps, then flipped down onto the Pelicans floor--roof-- with a dull thud. The Pelican was dark, yet there was barely enough light filtering down from the mouth of the cavern to see. Barely. He walked over to Fox and tapped him. Fox stirred.
"Hey man what the . . . " He trailed off as he realized the situation. "Whoa!" That was loud enough to wake up Merker and O' Conner. All three unstrapped and landed, more or less.
"Sheesh. We hit hard." Fox commented, pointing at a bent-in portion of the wall.
"No crap. I feel it. I'll go get Martez." Merker ran to the cockpit. "Hey man get up!" He yelled and crouched next to the pilot's seat where Martez was curled up in a fetal position, with glass over him. Martez stirred when Merker shook him, then opened his eyes.
"Bad crash, huh?" He asked
"Yea. Everybody's okay though."
"Good. Now get off me, I can't breath."
Merker did so, then Martez stood up and brushed the rest of the glass off of himself.
"You're bleeding." Merker pointed at a bloody part of Martez's forehead.
"No biggie. Just a shallow cut." Martez almost ran out of the cockpit. When he got there Fox opened his mouth and began to speak. Martez cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"What now?" Martez asked.
"John, I don't know if you've realized this, but we've been awake for only five minutes now."
First name basis now, eh? Martez thought.
"Yea, and the Pelican is also now officially beat to hell!" Fox added.
"Merker, did you bother checking the transmitter screen when you got to the cockpit?" Chuck asked. He was now using the command that came with being the senior Captain.
"Err . . . no."
"Do it now."
Merker ran, again, to the cockpit, only to report with bad news.
"Power's gone."
"What!?"
"Start it manually." O' Conner said slowly.
"What?" Merker had a confused look on his face.
"Pelicans' don't come with backup generators. Too much money for a craft its size." Fox rolled his eyes at that. "However, if you have direct access to the engine, there is a crank you can . . . well . . . crank to give enough power for emergencies."
"What about the doors?" Fox asked.
"Oh. Those things." O' Conner shook his head. The ramp/door to the bay of the Pelican was easily 200 pounds, and it was closed.
"Damn. What about getting our gear out?" Chuck asked.
"I say open the door, get out, start the engine, then get our stuff." Martez said.
"Will the power be enough to lift and hold the door?" Chuck asked O' Conner.
"Yes. Once it is all the way up, there is a locking mechanism to hold it in place. Granted, gravity is not supposed to be against the door for it to work, but it's worth a shot. The door needs to be higher up then we can lift it, so cold-starting the engine is the only way."
"Let's go. Wait, didn't the cockpit glass shatter?"
"Yes, but in case you're thinking of going through it, the cockpit is bent up, with metal poking out of the bigger ways we can get out. Plus there is glass everywhere. Real mess."
Chuck grunted in agreement, then started toward the bay, with everybody following.
It was actually easier then it looked, or at least that's what Chuck thought. All five of them crouched down and were able to push open the door manually, and hold it up long enough for everybody to exit the Pelican. Everyone ran to the bow of the Pelican, and Chuck opened the hatch for entry into the bottom of the engine. The Pelican was geared for service right side up, and upside down in emergencies, so Martez extracted the crank handle from the compartment, and hooked it to the engine. The handle was long enough, once extended fully, that Martez, Chuck, and O' Conner were all able to help. They cranked the handle ten times rapidly, and the battery that the crank powered had enough juice to cold-start the engine. The battery did so ,and the emergency systems came to life. Because they were the two lowest in rank, Fox and Merker stayed and continued to crank, while everyone else walked to the rear of the Pelican. Once there, Chuck pressed the button to raise the bay ramp. To everyone's relief, the ramp "raised" and locked in place. Martez ran inside and proceeded directly to the cockpit. The lights and gauges were on. He studied the diagnostic gauge first. The VTOL thrusters were out. "Too bad," he decided. Those could have been used to lift the Pelican upright. No chance of recovering it then most likely. He moved his eyes over to tracking gauge. He couldn't believe what he saw. The gauge said that Kaani had not moved since the Pelican had crashed. The gauge was made to be portable, so Martez snapped the case out, and from behind the place where the gauge had been, pulled out a battery pack and hooked it to the gauge. He ran out to the bay where Chuck and O' Conner were packing up supplies and gear.
"Anything?" Chuck asked.
"He hasn't moved." Martez replied.
"You gotta be kidding me." Chuck dropped a bag and walked over to Martez to look at the gauge. "Damn."
"What do we do?"
"Well, the range says he's about 3 miles from here. I say we go after him, and follow him until we get a shot off."
"I'm for it."
"Good. Gather the rest of the gear with O' Conner and meet me outside. I'll be telling the others about this." He stepped outside.
Fox's reaction to the information was about the same as Chuck's. Merker just stood and listened. 5 minutes later, they were all assembled outside of the Pelican. Fox, being the demolitions expert, was rigging up an explosive to blow up the Pelican to prevent Covenant from retrieving it. The rest were in a circle, readying. Chuck initially picked up his Sniper Rifle, M9 Pistol, and the two SMG's that were his standard issue. After a few moments, he decided that the Battle Rifle's extra weight was worth it, so he took it instead of his Pistol. Merker picked up his Battle Rifle, M9, two SMG's, a few grenades, and laid aside Fox's Shotgun and Rocket Launcher for him. He was also sure to put down the box which contained the nuke very gently, even though he knew that the engineers had deemed the bomb stable. O' Conner picked up his Assault Rifle and Battle Rifle, with the two SMG's and a few grenades. Martez picked a Battle Rifle and a Pistol and carried no extra weapons. After all, he was a pilot. They all packed lot's of extra ammunition. By then Fox was done and was ready too.
"Is that all?" Chuck asked.
"Yes it........Wait! There is one more compartment I forgot to check!" O' Conner ran toward the front of the Pelican, and opened one of the outside storage compartments. Inside were five suits of armor, in separate bags. He lugged them out of the compartment and brought them out to the rest.
"These are. . ." He set them down. ". . . older versions of the suit you have seen on the Master Chief. They were just declassified for normal use, and we are one of the first to get them.
They are a little confusing to put on though." Everybody came forth and picked up a bag. Around
ten minutes later, everyone had agreed that O' Conner had been right about the suits being annoying
to put on. When everybody had finally put a suit on, and had re-gathered their gear, Fox broke the
silence over their radios.
"Dear God is it hot in here!"
O' Conner answered him. "See that little panel on your right? It flips up. Inside there should be a. . . " Fox and everyone else quickly got the point, and activated the interior air flow that would cool them down.
"Much better."
"How far away is that thing we're after?" Chuck asked.
Martez studied the tracking screen, which was now attached to his suit's wrist. "6 miles."
"Easy little Sunday walk." Nobody could see it, but everyone else rolled their eyes.
They headed out.
***********************************************************************
After 3 hours of marching, they finally came to a rather forced clearing. Kaani was there, and what he was doing astounded Martez.
"He sleeps!" Martez started at it from behind his visor. Kaani was indeed sleeping on a bed of trees which he had knocked down, hence the new clearing.
"Damn man, I'm starting to feel like I'm on the Discovery Channel!" Fox yelled.
"Yea no crap."
"Now what? We have to wait for him to travel in another dimension to shoot the portal!" Merker said.
"Um. . .wake him up?" Fox said uncertainly.
"That's it. I'm gonna shoot ya." Chuck raised his gun half-seriously.
"He doesn't need to be waken anyway." Martez pointed at Kaani with his gun. Everyone looked just in time to see Kaani's tail flap around and smash into the ground. Kaani was awake, but had no idea he was not alone.
"Let's follow him. If he goes to another...." Chuck trailed off as a blue light appeared about 30 feet in the air, and growing bigger.
"And we could never see that why!?" Fox said.
"Screw that get your rockets loaded." Chuck heaved his Sniper up to his shoulder after going to the prone position.
"Oh yea. . ." Fox followed suit, and loaded the atomic rocket.
By that time the blue light had grown to reach to the ground, and about 50 feet up in the air total. Kaani resized himself to fit, and started walking near it.
"Oh shit man this is it!" Chuck yelled. He settled his sight over the portal, and set the laser. "Got a lock!"
"Fox readied himself, and fired. The rocket took off, but it was at its normal, slow pace. Time seemed to pass in slow motion, the rocket spiraling closer to the portal, but Kaani was also getting closer. Kaani reached the portal, and took a step through when the rocket was about 100 feet away. Chuck was in a full sweat, and worried. The rocket flew within 50 feet, and Kaani stepped completely through. The portal started becoming lighter, then the rocket finally hit the portal.
It went through it.
And now all hell will break loose Part 9
Date: 23 December 2003, 5:11 PM
"Sonuvabitch!" Fox yelled out.
"We're screwed now." Merker said, amazingly calm.
Suddenly the portal grew darker.
"Oh shit he's coming back! Shoot shoot shoot!" Chuck yelled.
Fox centered the portal in his own crosshairs, and fired. The backup bomb sailed through the space between them and Kaani as slow as the first. The portal grew darker and darker, and Kaani stepped halfway through. The rocket "hit" and passed through the portal just as Kaani stepped clear. The portal grew bright blue with lightning bolts running through it. It bulged up and outward, nearly doubling its size, then snapped back and imploded silently and without any explosion.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Fox began jumping up and down with excitement.
************************************************************
The same thing was happening at the center that was set up to oversee that mission. All the people in the room were out of their seats laughing and hugging. Some were even crying. Wayne heard all this in his office next door and ran over to investigate. When he entered the room, he pulled aside the first supervisor he saw.
"What just happened?" He asked.
"They did it!"
"Did what?"
"Killed the portal!"
"What! Their Pelican went down almost 4 hours ago!"
"I know! I don't know how they did it, but they did!"
"Where is our closest force to pick them up?"
"Umm....Carl!" The supervisor called to his assistant and asked him the same question. After the assistant studied the forces map the supervisor told Wayne the answer.
"The Covenant Zanaziz whatever his name is forces."
"Zanozi's?"
"Yea, him."
"Good. Contact them, tell them to get there ASAP. After we confirm, and ONLY if we have totally confirmed it, do we launch the nuke."
"Will do, sir." The supervisor saluted and left.
Wayne exited the room and went back to his office. He would have to leave it in other people's hands now. He hated that.
************************************************************
"Hey Martez, what's up with you? You're sweating." Merker asked.
"Its...its nothing. Just from the excitement I guess."
Fox was still jumping up and down. In the apex of one of his jumps, a rock of some sort landed at his feet. While still jumping, he looked down at it to see what it was. The flashbang, what Fox thought was a rock, went off, blinding and deafening him. Even the protection on his helmet couldn't protect him enough. He crumbled to the ground, and fainted from his disorientation. The flashbang had similar effects on everyone else. Martez, being farthest away, lasted the longest, about four seconds, until he blacked out too.
"Marvelous little human devices, no?" Zanozi said in his own language. His lieutenant nodded in agreement.
"After our modifications, of course."
"Did we get the green one?"
The lieutenant hesitated. "No, sir."
"What! Fool! Where could he have gone!?"
"Sir, I. . .I think he was never here."
"You're the one who told me he was!"
"Your greatness, I thought he. . ."
Zanzoi grabbed the lieutenant by the head and stomach armor and slammed him against a tree. "I do not settle for 'you thought.'! I need facts! Incompetent!" He reared his arm back and slammed his fist against the lieutenants throat. With his air supply cut off, the lieutenant gasped for breath. Zanozi dropped him on the ground. He looked at the rest of the Elites, and called the next highest rank, what would be equal to a human Sergeant. He "smiled" and said: "Tie them up and attach them to our Ghosts, and go to the rendevous we discussed earlier."
"Yes, your greatness." The underling backed away quickly. No need to anger his superior. He personally saw to the job of taking some of the "rope" that the infidels had with them to attach them to the wings of their Ghosts. He then mounted his Ghost and started it up. Zanozi and the other three Elites did the same. Before Zanozi led them out of the area, he threw a grenade on the lieutenants body, blasting it and the lieutenant's Ghost into pieces. He then led them on to a predesignated strip of cleared away land. There a Phantom raced across the area just slower then the Ghosts, and one by one the Ghosts ran up its ramp into the bay, and the Phantom just made it over the treetops. Zanozi dismounted and a Major Elite ran up to him.
"Your greatness, a message is waiting for you in the communications room."
"From whom?" Zanozi answered.
"He wishes not to say. He does say that it is urgent."
"Very well. Oversee the normal procedures for after a mission."
Zanozi walked into the communications "room." It was nothing like the ones on battle cruisers, which were large and spacious. Instead, it was so small Zanozi, with his greater body then the average Elite, could just barely slide onto the bench that was in front of the console and display. When he had wedged himself in, he saw a message button flashing on the console's touch screen, and accepted the message. An image of a Prophet, about 10 inches high and 20 wide, popped up.
Zanozi reeled back. It was J'Rahsa, the leader of his caste, fittingly a member of royalty, and near the top of the Temple. One could barely hope for more power then that in the Covenant. J'Rahsa spoke.
"Zanozi. Hello. Success?" J'Rahsa was known for his bluntness.
"No, your highness." Zanozi prepared for the rebuke.
"Well then. Are we having a problem?" J'Rahsa asked sarcastically.
"No. Not at all."
"Very well. I expect his head in my lap by two weeks from now! Do it, or you will have failed a Prophet." J'Rahsa's image went out.
Zanozi shuddered. Failing a Prophet, the mortal beings closest to the Covenant's gods, meant that for him there would be no everlasting paradise for him when he died. It was a Covenant's worst fear. He squeezed himself out of the seat, and walked to his "quarters",which were nothing more then a bed. It was at least better then the crew and underlings. He slept until the Phantom docked with its mothership. He was woken by his lieutenant, and left to his quarters.
Meanwhile, Chuck and the rest were being hauled off to separate interrogation rooms. In each there was a bed that was inclined to a 60 degree angle. There the person being interrogated would be placed and drugged. Also there was a few seats for the scientists and interrogators. The rooms were arrayed in a circle, so that observers, located in a central, circular room, could see all of the rooms by just turning. Chuck, Fox, Merker, O' Conner, and Martez were strapped in. They all were being prepared for the interrogation, when the Elite administering the drugs to Martez pointed something out to his commander. Martez was instantly unstrapped and hauled away. Everyone else though, was interrogated. With their condition alone, none of them could have withstood the interrogation, which bordered on torture. Add the drugs into the equation and they all either passed out or were taken away before any good information could have been gotten out of them.
Zanozi, now refreshed, walked into the room which held the observers of the interrogation. He tapped the chief interrogator on the shoulder.
"What information have we gotten?"
"None, sir. All the humans could say anything in their state. One of them was "special" and couldn't be interrogated."
"Damn. Will there be another try?"
"Not soon. That is as much as I can say, sir."
"Tell me when you have a date set." Zanozi walked out of the room. He suddenly remembered he had unfinished business. He ran to the communications room and contacted General Wayne.
"What?" Wayne was in view.
"It is me, Zanozi."
Wayne ran into view and sat down. "Did you retrieve them?"
"Yes. Well, all but one. It seems that the one you call.......Master Chief, he was not with them. I am sorry to......" Wayne cut him off.
"He wasn't there. He was ordered to New Mombasa before they left."
It took all of Zanozi's willpower to keep his face straight. "Ah......well, then I guess there is no worries."
"Great. When can we expect them back?
Zanozi hesitated. He was a fool for not expecting that. "Soon. We are quite far away from your base, as you should understand. We are also low on fuel. There is a base nearby, and it will take a day for re-fueling."
Wayne's face stayed impassive. "Ok." He closed the line. Zanozi breathed a sigh of relief.
**********************************
On the other side of the line, Wayne was furious. He picked up his phone and angrily dialed three numbers.
An intelligence officer picked up the phone in his office. "292"
"This is Wayne. What's the information on the tracker?"
The officer looked at the screen in front of him. "Heading is 220.........."
Wayne cut him off. "Is there a base in that path?"
"No sir, the nearest one is behind them."
"Fuel?"
"Full, sir."
"Shit." Wayne hung up the phone. He had been had.
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