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Prodigal Son: Part 11 Scott (beginning)
Posted By: Scott D
Date: 2 June 2004, 2:35 AM
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Two hours ago Scott had careened through the sky only to have his parachute melt away under white hot plasma fire. He had crashed through a skylight and broken his fall on a bizarre iron and glass piece of artwork that adorned the entryway to Physics Lab B4 in the south end of the ONI military complex affectionately known as Citadel. Scott knew this because his suit's data recorders knew this, he knew he had blacked out because his suit had injected him adrenalin to wake him up. Scott had awoken to a very surprised Corporal and four black faced marines; they were all completely covered in a burned residue that had erupted in the laboratory when plasma explosions had ignited an oxygen fire that proceeded to gut the lab's primary experiment wing. Scott knew this, because Corporal Gunny Hayes of the four fifty one knew this.
Scott reeled from his fall, his ribs, one was definitely broken, and it would feel like four or five until his suit could try and compensate for it. Scott didn't care, he could deal with worse, and he had been tortured and trained all his life, being beaten and broken didn't matter any more. The Corporal had relayed the situation to him, the Yellow Squad drop had been botched, Hayes had watched the covenant pick them out of the sky, and some of them dropped, some just burned away.
Scott's weaponry was slag, crushed under his body, warped by the heat of the near plasma miss. "I need a gun, and whatever explosives you have to spare." He had said to Hayes, the man mournfully obliged, stripping the weapons off of the dead bodies of his men.
"You have orders to protect this building Corporal?" Scott asked, feeling defiance in his words.
"I did once, until the evac came for the science team sir," Hayes replied, spitting into the black soot. "That was before they all died being burned alive, now we're just waiting for our next chance to give it back to those pig faced sons of bitches one last time."
"You and your men have a death wish?" Scott had asked, noting how much of his suit was covered with the black residue, sticking to his armor, the more he brushed it, the more it spread around him. It was then Scott realized his shield was off, and wouldn't reactivate.
"We're certainly dressed for the occasion sir," one of the marines had spoken in a hard deep voice.
Scott's comm. link winked on, a clamor of battle field chatter filtered through, and then suddenly he saw them. Four acknowledgement lights winked on, a mission go signal flashed on his HUD. "I think I might have a damn good mission for you and your men Corporal, we need to move to that fusion plant to the north, fleet comm. needs the orbital guns powered, think you and your men are up to it?"
"We're ready to roll whenever you are sir, it'd be an honor to fight with you and yours." Hayes grinned pulling back the breech on his sniper rifle, "Christ, never thought I'd see the day when I'd be pushing all hell back with a squad of Spartans..." he was interrupted by one of the younger looking soot covered marines.
"Corporal, we can't do that sir! There are still civilians in the area! Don't you remember Tycho's plan? If we don't get moving again they're all as good as dead!" the marine was agitated, there was more to the story than Scott knew.
"Civilians?" Scott felt something wrong in his stomach just then, as if the clarity given by his righteous return to the Pillar of Autumn had suddenly vanished.
Hayes sighed and looked up at Scott, "the science labs were on full duty, our company was supposed to be evacuating them to the bunkers. The plan was ONI would put them all underground in the hard shells, until transports could get them out of here. But then Tycho caught word..." Hayes stopped, looking back to the crushed foyer.
"Word of what?" Scott found himself asking more insistently.
"ONI closed the gates to the bunkers during the first wave, there were still a thousand people outside, but even with a full company they didn't think...." Hayes looked back at Scott, "it doesn't matter, and they're all dead now we need get on our horses and ride, if fleet command needs those damn fusion plants we're going to make sure they're still running!"
Scott was getting orders, his squad knew where he was, and it was time for them to do what no one else could do. Born to fight, fight till you die. Scott thought of Adrian Yu and what he had asked him, "You got something to fight for Corporal?"
"You're damn right I do, it's called blood, sweat, tears, and my men dead under those goddamn aliens' boots right now!" Hayes replied starting towards the door.
"I need the manifest of civilians, which ones are still alive." Scott said following the Marines.
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