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The Battle for Gamdon VI (Chapter Four): Time Shift Part II
Posted By: Mech<xxmitsurxx@hotmail.com>
Date: 3 November 2006, 4:18 am
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The Battle for Gamdon VI (Chapter Four): Time Shift Part II
Jesus Christ! They're breaking through! Someone help us! Repeat, this is Gamdon VI! The covies are breaking through! Our position is about to be overrun! UNSC command, please respond! WE ARE BEING OVER- [static]
-Radio Transmission received from Gamdon VI, five standard minutes before drop ship containing a recon party from the UNSC Destroyer Thor
Mech pushed the thick wooden doors of City Hall open. They seemed a bit too thick. Then again, it coincided with that old saying about power perfectly.
Those with power are afraid to lose it.
At least one of the council members must have ordered it. Mech filed the doors away as probable cover, in case things went ugly. Although less 'complete' as the S-II's training with Mendez, Mech had learned his own share of lessons while in his own 'training and building'. He strode forward, following the still-terrified assistant up the long hallway. The metronome-like tap, tap, tap of his and the soldier's boots echoed around Mech. Various paintings from around the system were mounted on the wall. Mech glanced at each, noting the rarity and expense the paintings must have been. Money that could have gone to improving the city, instead of city hall. Politics. Again.
Finally, they reached another set of huge wooden doors. This time, though, the assistant walked up to a shiny metal intercom. Just as he was about to press the SPEAK button, Mech walked up to the doors, noted their weight, and pushed. The doors swung forward slowly, the hydraulic holders braced against the other side screeching against the pressure. Finally, the holders finally gave it. With a crack that echoed around the hall like a gunshot, the doors swung in. Mech could almost sense the soldiers behind him give a slight grin of approval. Mech was not going to wait for some toady to let them in to meet a rich and greedy excuse for a mayor.
Mech walked into the room, while a quivering secretary pushed herself deeper into a dark corner. The assistant was already gone; he had taken off as soon as Mech had broken the doors. Mech turned toward her, and as he did, the secretary gave a frightened little squeak. The room was a plain, brown-painted office that contrasted with the hallway's grandeur. Two ornate doors lead off to other rooms.
"Which door is the mayor's office?" Mech spoke it kindly, feeling slightly bad about scaring her. The secretary seemed startled by the kindness in his voice, and Mech's anger at the SPARTAN project burned a little hotter. Damn those UNSC higher-ups who spread the lies that SPARTANs were like machines on the battlefield. The rumors alienated the other SPARTANs to everyone but themselves. The secretary meekly pointed to the left door, and Mech nodded to her, motioned to his soldiers to follow, and pushed through the door.
Mech looked around. The room was empty. A mahogany desk, glinting dully, sat in the middle of a rug that must have been from Egypt itself. Files, still open, sat on the desk. Huge windows with lush red curtains were behind the desk, offering a magnificent view of the capital below. Delicate artwork and furniture dotted the room. But, most interesting of all, a gargantuan bookcase, worthy of the UNSC library, dominated the wall on the left. Stacks upon stacks off books jostled for Mech's attention, with titles like 'MOBY DICK', 'THE JUNGLE', and multiple other classic books that were older than the antique shuttles from the year 2000. But this did not interest the soldiers standing in the room. One of the bookcases had swung away, revealing a dark flight of steps that lead who-knows-where. Mech checked his motion sensor. Nothing.
Mech turned around, and spoke to his soldiers.
"Jacob, Stanley, you two come with me. We'll investigate where this rabbit hole goes. The rest of you, stay here and hold position, just in case someone tries to catch us by surprise. I think the Mayor here thinks we're trying to put him down, and doesn't want that. If we're not back in-" Mech checked his mission timer. "-an hour, head back to the drop ship and go back to the ship. Then tell the Captain what happened. He'll know what to do." He put his gauntleted hand of each of his soldiers. "Good luck men, I hope we see each other again. Close the bookcase behind us." The men nodded, but rolled their eyes. Mech smiled behind his faceplate. They all thought he was invincible. He hoped he wouldn't let them down. He glanced at Jacob and Stanley, nodded, and then strode down the stairs. The men behind them shut the fake bookcase behind them with a thunk.
Mech's boots made clunking noises that a deaf man couldn't have heard. Mech didn't care. The way he saw it, if the mayor ran, it meant he was guilty of something, since he wouldn't have run in the first place. Hell, he had technically already run by going through this stupid secret passage. If Mech was lucky, the mayor would be cowering down in some bunker he had undoubtedly built for an emergency. Cheap, electric torches shined up at the ceiling, revealing a damp, medieval-like stone wall. Finally, he got to the bottom. In front of him was a pair off titanium elevator doors. Unless a pair of missiles or high-explosives appeared out of mid-air, they were stuck until someone opened the doors from the inside. The two soldiers behind him stirred uneasily. Mech felt something, too. His soldier sense was buzzing. Something was wrong. Mech glanced around, a saw a speaker-box similar to the one on the door he had broken into. Mech pressed the SPEAK button, and spoke.
"Mr. Mayor? This is Mech, also known as SPARTAN-666 in some black-ops circles. We are here to answer questions according to the emergency distress transmissions being sent to the UNSC high-command. We are not here to demote you, hurt you, or send you to prison. I repeat, we just want to know what's going on here. Please respond."
"Yeah, sure you are. I'm not moving unless you can guarantee me what you just said. Or you can send in one of your men, unarmed, as a hostage. Then you can come in and talk. You'll be unarmed, yourselves." The mayor's reedy voice crackled over the speaker. Mech thought through the deal. It seemed reasonable, even if it was a bit stupid. Even without weapons, the mayor should know Mech was dangerous. Still, it was the best he could get right now. Mech clicked the speaker.
"Agreed. I'll send in my guy, and you can pat him down before we come in. We'll even wait until you say to come in. Then I and my other soldier will come in, also unarmed. I will not remove my armor though. Is that satisfactory?" Mech unclicked the button. A long silence was heard in reply. Just when he thought of asking again, the doors slid open. A second set of steel elevator doors were just across the threshold. Mech nodded at Stanley, and the man nodded in reply. He put down all of his weapons, and smartly stepped across. The doors behind him closed, and when they opened again, he was gone.
"Okay, you next, SPARTAN-boy." The voice called out. Mech rolled his eyes. He turned to Jacob, and signaled him to stay in case of trouble. Jacob nodded, and Mech put down his own weapons, deactivated his shields visibly, and stepped in the elevator. The doors hissed shut behind him, and then opened in front. Mech gazed in a mixture of contempt and awe at the furnished 'bunker' before him.
Luxurious carpets, furniture, and paintings dotted the room, much like the regular office above. The only hint that he was in a bunker were the heavy concrete walls with reinforcing steel beams. Otherwise, this could have been a presidential suite at the most expensive hotel Mech could imagine. Standing in the middle of the room, with a pistol to Stanley's forehead (who was remarkably calm, considering the circumstances), was a medium-build, old-looking man. His hand was shaking visibly, as with most people when they saw a fully armored SPARTAN. But not enough that he could be taken advantage of. The gun he held was a M6D. The pistol was old, but it was much, much stronger than the wimpy little M6C, which had awestruck Mech that an army would throw away such a useful little weapon in favor of something worse.
The mayor gestured toward an empty chair that was probably worth more than a middle-class citizen. Mech understood and sat in it, being careful not to exert his weight on it, lest he broke it. The mayor eyed him again, and spoke.
"Okay sonny, you've got some explaining to do. You just barge into our sector, land without a transmission, and then barge into my office. All of this without stating your intentions. Now give me a reason." Mech sighed. This was going to be much more complicated and weird than he had thought. He exhaled again, and replied.
"Sir, like I said, we are not here to throw you out of power or whatever, even if it does seem you're spending the money for yourself." The mayor threw him a venomous look, but Mech ignored him and pressed on. "We're just here to find out what the hell is happening. Listen to this." Mech played an audio recording over his external speakers. A frightened, tired voice sounded, with sounds of a battle behind him.
Jesus Christ! They're breaking through! Someone help us! Repeat, this is Gamdon VI! The covies are breaking through! Our position is about to be overrun! UNSC command, please respond! WE ARE BEING OVER-
Mech cut off the transmission as static enveloped.
"As you can see, sir, UNSC did send a rescue force. Us. Currently, there are twenty warships above our heads, since this planet is such a valuable natural resource, compared to other planets. We arrive approximately two standard hours ago, and spent about half of that monitoring radio signals, as well as the planet itself. Although this planet is unharmed, the ships were still receiving messages asking for help. Now, sir, I'll ask you the questions. What is going on here?"
The mayor shook his head wonderingly. He seemed bewildered, and he slowly put the pistol on a coffee table next to him, which did not escape Mech's notice.
"I don't know how you did it, but that's the voice of my highest-ranked military officer, a man by the name of-" Before the mayor could finish, sudden alarms went off, and a radio in the corner of the room went off. Everyone in the room jumped, but the mayor was halfway to the radio by the time Mech's soldiers.
"What's the matter, son?" The mayor asked. A frightened, tired voice replied.
"Sir, we h-have ju-just spotted mul-multiple contacts on our long r-range radar. We h-have received reports of-" the voice paused, and an audible gulp was heard. "- twenty Covenant ships inbound. We'll try to- What!? What's the readings!? Oh my god. They fired on us! Sir! We are under attack, incoming plasma is about to hit the reactor!" Static exploded onto the radio as the line went dead for a moment, then the voice came back. "We've been hit…sir, I'm-I'm getting dizzy. I-I think they h-hit the life support system. We…we don't have much longer. I think…I think I was the only one who…who made it. Please…send some backup. Wait…some alarm is going off…what? The AI is saying the coolant pipe just failed. Well. I guess this is h-how I'm going to d-" Static came as a tremendous explosion rocked the bunker.
"What the hell was that!?" Stanley demanded. He had slowly been inching his way toward the pistol, until he was thrown out of the chair. Mech felt a cold pit of fear in his stomach. This was the Covenant attack. Training sims about worst-case scenarios instantly kicked in. He grabbed the mayor by the cuff of his expensive shirt and slammed him against the wall.
"Is there a more secure room than this? Something that dosen't have heavy furniture that can fly around in it?" Mech snarled the words out. The mayor gulped and nodded, and shakily pointed to a side room. Satisfied, Mech said, "Okay. Stanley, you go out and check on the guys. Jacob is probably already up there. Report back ASAP. If the reports are true, we need to set up a defensive perimeter down here. Double time!" Stanley punched in the door controls, and dashed out when they opened. Mech jogged to the side room the mayor had pointed out, with the politician following behind him. Mech opened the doors, and glanced around.
There was a long hall, with multiple concrete barriers spaced far enough to make it easy to dash from one cover to the next without fear of being hit, but far enough that enemies trying to take the hallway would still be hard-pressed to stay under cover. At the end, another set of elevator-like door stood. Mech went up, and the mayor put in a code. Instantly, the doors opened, and Mech went inside. The room was a survivalist's and defender's dream. Auto-turrets with friend/foe settings were attached to the walls, but welded into a position that prevented them from aiming anywhere but the door. A hallway that branched into two sections, each with two more elevator door, completed it. More concrete barriers dotted the way. The mayor pointed at each door in turn.
"This door-" he pointed at the left, "leads to the command center, while the other leads to a store room and barracks, with a secret hangar at the end." Mech nodded admiringly. The mayor may have spent tons of tax money, but he sure knew how to make a fallback point.
"Okay, I'll head back to my men. You stay here and prep the place. I'll be back in about twenty minutes." He put a hand on the man's shoulder. "You planned this out pretty smart."
The mayor grinned back. "'Those with power are afraid to lose it.'" He quoted. "I made sure I won't be the one to do that." Mech smiled under his faceplate, and dashed back.
Five minutes later, Mech arrived at the top of the stairs.
At least, what was left of them.
A smoking, still burning crater was all that was left. Mech's hearts suddenly seemed to stop beating. He took two shaky steps forward, and fell to the ground, his knees crushing the burnt wood beneath him. Stanley lay face-up in the wreckage, multiple plasma burns on his chest and face. He was quite clearly dead. Mech glanced up. What he saw chilled him.
A monstrous-looking Covenant ship floated about him, gravity elevator glowing and humming. Small, black dots sped toward Mech, and adrenaline kicked in as he realized they were Elite drop-pods. He turned, and then seemed to remember something. He grabbed Stanley's grenades, set the detonator to five minutes, and buried them far enough so they wouldn't be seen. Then he primed them, and dashed back down the stairs. Hell rained down demons and fire around him.
He didn't look back.
-Mech
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