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Blood and Ashes - 1
Posted By: BlackValkyire<BlackValkyire@aol.com>
Date: 4 December 2005, 6:36 pm
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Slowly, the disorientation passed. Private Mendez yawned and rubbed his eyes, fighting the impulse to roll over, hit a switch, and return to cryo-sleep. As his senses gradually became more aware, he realized something was diffrent about the bay. Other people were milling about, in combat armor, and carrying rifles. His senses slowly translated the scene before his eyes, and he pushed himself out of the tank, stumbling. A technician ran towards him, and nearly knocked him over when he clasped a hand on his shoulder, shoving a pile of things into his chest. Rise and shine sir, we've got probolems he said, a hint of fear in his voice and the loaded pistol in a leg holster obvious signs that something was definitely amiss.
Mendez examined what he had been given - his combat gear, including pants, boots, shirts, and smaller armor pieces for his shins, forearms, thighs, and elbows. He stood dazed no more, and moved his legs. People were shouting orders everywhere, marines were running about half dressed, combat dressed, or with dressed wounds that looked rather nasty. Mendez guessed they had been boarded, or were in the process of boarding an enemy vessel. He strolled into the hallway, tugging on his pants, the cold metals of the floor sending a chill through his feet as he walked into the more empty hall. One marine was standing guard by a door nervously, his battle rifle looking like it had been fired quite a bit, the barrel completely black.
Mendez, or 'Cutter' as he was called by his squad, quickly got the rest of his uniform and armor plating on, and went to the sentry. Hey, you ok? What's going on here? he asked. The soldier blinked and seemed to digest his words for a moment before he replied. Ah, yeah, ahhhh...you see, we found...ah, that is, a ship. A covenant ship. Its uh...on the uh, ground, planet, yeah, uh...well, yeah. But it had no covenants on it...they're...so fast...so...sneaky...I don't understand...anyway, look, uh...get to an armory, then find an officer...ah...they'll ah, tell you where to, uh, go that is, ah, if you, ah-uh, think you can take it, uh, yeah. Through here? he stammered in what sounded like a massive lack of mental stability. Mendez just nodded and trotted down the corridor. He detected no signs of small arms fire, there were no vibrations through the hull, no sounds, no orders over the intercom, and nothing out of the ordinary.
Finally, he came to a lift, where a man with a sergeant's stripes was holding the door. Mendez waved and ran into the lift just as it began ascending. Excuse me sir, mind telling me whats going on here? he asked. Son, I don't think any of us really know whats going on. All we know is they're big, they're not covenant, they're not flood, but they're certianly bad ass. Even when you kill em' they still got you. Evil mothers have blood that works exactly like acid, eats right through anything. If you havn't been yet, stay sharp. We can't let them get in. he said. Mendez had nothing to say in response as he tried to decide what kind of creatures they were fighting, and why they couldn't retreat. If it wasn't a covenant vessel, then what could it be?
The lift deposited Mendez and the Sergeant on an upper level. The higher ranked soldier wished Mendez good luck, and ran off, shouting for his squad to sound off. Mendez stepped forward, and began looking for his own unit, which he found in the upper right corner of the room, going through a weapons check. As soon as he stepped up, he was tossed an armor plate. Mendez instinctivly put it on. Mendez, glad you're here. We need every man we can get, have you been briefed? the sarge asked. Mendez muttered something under his breath before responding. Slightly, I know its not covenant, and apparently whatever it is 'bleeds acid' or something like that. Whats the deal? he asked. Alright listen up, all of you, we're goin over this one more time. Watch the monitor the sarge ordered, pressing a button on a nearby mounted wall screen, that promptly lit up, showing Mendez what could only be described as a nightmare's monster.
It was tall, about 7 feet, maybe more. Its body was completely covered by a black carapace, it had massive teeth on a long head that ended in a snout, but no eyes, no ears, no nose to speak of. Claws on both 5 digit hands, talons on the feet, and a long tail with a nasty looking stinger on the end. The mere look of the beast send a chill down Mendez's spine. This is it, unknown species, so for now we're just calling them aliens, enemies, targets, whatever fits. As you can tell, they got no eyes, nose, or ears, but they can hear, see, and smell you. They're fast as hell, strong as hell, and clever as hell. They bleed acid, so check your target isn't right on you or your fellow marines before you fire. Use short controlled bursts, and they go down, don't step over em' or you'll probably end up falling through the floor" he said. Mendez was speechless, but someone handed him an MA-5B assault rifle and he automatically cycled the bolt.
Alright, settle down, I'm not done yet Mendez the sarge snapped. Mendez blinked and managed to stutter, Uh, yes sir, sorry sir.
The sarge pressed another button and something that looked like a cross between a spider, a skeleton of a human hand, and a horseshoe crab appeared on the screen. It had a pale cream color to its skin, and a long tail that looked like a crocodiles but was clearly not. Now these are small, but even worse. They pop out of nowhere and hook onto your face. Apparently, if they get you, you turn into one of those other ones, or you give birth, or something. I don't know to be honest, but I know this. If it isn't human, back up and keep shooting. They don't use weapons, but from the way they fight, they don't need them. We go in in five ladies, lets pack it up the sarge said. Mendez stood still, digesting the massive amount of information he had just been given, then finally moved as the rest of his squad began checking weapons and grabbing ammo.
Mendez collected a standard 5 spare magazines for his rifle, and watched jealously as other soldiers with newer battle rifles inspected their weapons. Time blurred into nothing, and he seemed to be in fast forward, everyone moving about until the sarge called for them to assemble. They went to the hanger, they got into the drop ships, they blasted off into space.
All that seemed like another typical mission. But Mendez had this feeling, this instinct in his gut, telling him that something was very wrong with where they were going, and especially with what they were fighting. In reality, they hadn't even been given mission objectives, at least not yet. The drop ship began to shake as it entered the planets atmosphere. Another interesting point, they hadn't even been told where they were. But then again, they were just grunts, why should it matter? However, just as he was about to dismiss it all, the tiny heads up display over his left eye flashed to get his attention, and a small briefing came scrolling up. ATTENTION - MEDICAL RESEARCH FACILITY ON PLANET BELOW COMPLETELY OVERRUN BY UNKNOWN ORGANISMS. POSSIBLE COVENANT INVOLVEMENT. MISSION OBJECTIVES AS FOLLOWS:
1. SECURE THE COMMAND CENTER OF THE FACILITY
2. RETRIEVE OR DESTROY COMPLEX AI SYSTEM
3. ALL OTHER PRIORITIES ARE SECONDARY TO OBJECTIVE 2
Private Reese chuckled. "Hey boys, check it out We're cannon fodder " he laughed. Mendez smirked. It was unlikely, considering their unit, along with four other drop ships full of marines were setting down. The pilot came on over the intercom out of nowhere, startling the marine when he said. "Clear of the atmosphere, lowering rear hatch."
Mendez turned to look as the hatch slowly slid open and the noise from the engines and wind speed doubled. The world was made of ice. An endless tundra stretched below for what seemed to be forever. "We're coming over the complex now, we've got the south landing field. Other teams will land at north, east, and west fields, all teams will converge on the command center and retrieve the AI. We land in twenty seconds ladies, look sharp " The sarge followed up. Mendez waited until the drop ship hit the ground, then leapt from the platform to the ground, the sarge shouting "GO GO GO "
The marines moved like crazy for the obvious location, a large open loading bay. Mendez was appalled at the state of it. There was damage to just about everything, what appeared to be hits from pistols and maybe some sub-machine guns. There were various patches of the ground burned away as well. Mendez shivered in the cold and kept moving as the marines rapidly swept the loading bay. Nothing moved. "Area sec..." Mendez started to say when he heard the weapons fire, coming from the south. The sarge put his hand to his radio on his helmet. "Second squad, come in, what's going on ?" he shouted. The link came back immediatly to a terrified voice. "They're kshhhhhhhhhhhhhh from the roof Kshhhhhhhh overrun Fall Kshhhhhhhhhh Fallback to the kshhhhhhhhhhhhh ship " said a panicked marine, the sounds of battle rifles and assault rifles firing, and some sort of horrible scream coming through. "Alright marines, get inside, lets go Double time it to the command center " the sarge ordered. The marines responded instantly, and began running. The point man, a huge guy named Jackson, crashed through the only door into the interior of the building with his shoulder. He burst inside, and the corridor was in the same condition as the rest of the loading bay. Bullet holes, melted metal, bodies everywhere. Interestingly enough, only alien bodies. But there was no time to satisfy curiosity as they ran as fast as they could.
A small beep went off on every marines movement tracker at once, and gradually, the blip got larger. "Behind us Closing fast " Mendez shouted. The 12 men kept running, deciding to deal with any attackers when they got to the command center. "Distance to objective is twenty meters, hostile at 30 meters, keep moving " the sarge shouted. But there was something in his voice, that tiny droplet of fear. But not fear of the unknown, it sounded like a fear of what was going to happen. Mendez was brave, but THAT scared him. "There it is, Jackson, get us in, marines, cover Jackson " the sarge yelled. Jackson slammed into the door and began tearing out the locking circuitry. The other 11 men spun around, and readied themselves. Mendez checked his MA-5B assault rifle was ready, and cycled the bolt. The ammo counter read 60, and the barrel was clean and cool. Then he saw it, the monsters he had seen in the briefing. "OPEN FIRE " the sarge yelled. Mendez's finger squeezed the trigger, and a burst of 10mm slugs ripped into the first alien. It yelled as it was blown apart, its blood spraying onto the wall...and just as the briefing had said, the green blood was highly acidic, and began to melt the bulkhead. Dozens of aliens began appearing from the corridor, air shafts, and even gratings in the floor. Mendez kept firing, short, controlled bursts, his fellow marines shooting as well, their battle rifles spitting hot lead fists to punch into their target's hideous maws. Blood spewed, but the aliens still came. "Jackson Get that door open " Mendez shouted as he clipped an alien in the arm with a burst of fire, following up with a few rounds to the head structure.
Jackson struggled with the circuitry, trying to fight the instinct to turn around and add his rifle's ammunition to the fray. But it just wouldn't open, finally, in frustration, he slammed his fist into the panel. To his surprise, the door whipped open. To his even further surprise, a large black shape was blocking the door...
Mendez turned briefly and saw an alien rip Jackson apart. "BEHIND US!" he yelled, spinning and firing. The heavy rounds blew the alien apart as Jackson screamed from a brutal claw wound. But then the blood from the creature sprayed onto his face and eyes, and he went down howling in agony. There was no hope for him, and no hope for anyone. "Get out of here, RUN!"someone yelled. The sarge seconded that, with a cry of, "Regroup at the landing field, fall back marines, fall back!"
But for Mendez, there was no time to fall back and regroup, there was only time to come face to face with death. An alien leapt from an air duct, then leapt again, straight at Mendez, who half countered, half dodged, by turning his shoulder into the thing as he attempted to spin out of the way. The result was the two went skidding into the command center, the doors automatically sealing as the two passed in. The alien was rolled off him, and Mendez slammed into a console, stunned. But adrenaline soon kicked in, and he leapt to his feet, pulling his sidearm, seeing as the tackle had sent his rifle flying into another corner. The alien hissed and charged. Mendez leapt sideways and fired, amazed at the brutal speed of the creature, noticing the chatter of rifle fire rapidly fading away. His shot smacked into the alien's right arm, but didn't slow it down in the slightest. The beast skidded to a halt next to the door, and turned to face him, but Mendez was ready. His finger slammed into the trigger twice, and two rounds blew large chunks of the creature's head apart, causing it to fall down, dead. The blood from the being began to melt the floor, but also splashed onto the door's control panel, causing it to explode. Mendez swore, but knew that somehow, that alien had been in the room and managed to open the door, which was a terrifying sign of intelligence.
Mendez quickly located his assault rifle, then started looking for ways in and out of the room. There was one air shaft in the roof, but he could neither get into it or seal it off, so he simply put a chair underneath it to give him an alarm if anything was coming. The only other thing he saw was a window, but it was intact. Mendez was considering shooting it out, then climbing through, but the chair he placed under the air duct suddenly broke. He spun, and saw exactly what he had feared. The aliens had come for him, and as he took aim at the first, more began to drop in. Mendez yelled wordlessly and fired. His rifle spit lead, the heavy rounds ripping into alien flesh, spraying the green blood all over the other ones...which unsurprisingly did nothing. Mendez picked another target, and put a burst into its chest area, causing it to stagger, then fall as another burst hit it in the head. He kept firing, and firing and firing, and the aliens kept coming and coming...and then he was dry. His hand moved on instinct to get a spare clip, but he knew he wouldn't make it. He slapped it in, and cycled the bolt just as an alien dove. Mendez looked up, saw the...
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