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Behind The Horror by Kinotrica 'Mocka'
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Harvest
Date: 20 November 2003, 2:47 AM
Chapter 1: 7:00 am. Sunday, August 24, 2531. Harvest colony world.
Some say the future is peace..... ......thats lie. It was one cloudy Sunday morning. The year was 2531. I got up and had my usual cup of coffee. The day seemed low already, and a bad feeling spread across me. Enough to send a cold shiver down my spine adn back into the cold floor. My feet made a hollow tapping sound as I crossed the room. I looked at the green screen on the wall. I held my finger towards the glow and scrolled down to find where my squad was positioned this day. "L7," I said to myself. "..... damn." I walked back to my room and changed. On the way out the door I grabbed my helmet and a jacket. I stood there for a couple of seconds serveying the area that was my 'neighborhood'. The 35 degree weather was odd for this time of year, but normal. The street was paved with a mix between cement and different metals. It made the streets less vulnerable to tremors, which happened quite frequently.
To ST's were parked to the side of the street. Several guys were hanging out in front of it, whispering amongst themselves. The expensive cars were thousands of dollars, sometimes even $300,000,000. The kind of car the rich would buy adn the poor would look at. A group of outsiders must have arrived to buy stock in our company. It was a small company that had huge opportunities. We dug for oil, and did some mining in the planets huge underground shafts. It was minimum wage, but the company provided food adn housing for their employees.
Shawn stepped out of his housing complex to the right of mine. "Some weather, aye. Wonder if it will be like this all day?" he said, putting on his gloves and coat. I nodded solemnly. I looked up towards the sun, it was blocked by clouds, but was still visible.
"Lets get this day over with, I'm already freezing." I said to Shawn without turning to look at him. I could tell he was nodding. I swung the jacket over my shoulders and walked out onto the metal bridge. It crossed the street 20 feet high, then led to several shops and stores. We followed the winding walkways which let to L7, our mining structure.
"Mr. Sampson says that your gonna have to be moved to Foresen. Says...you aren't making progress on the mining." Shawn said, trying to get me to talk. He glanced at me waiting for me to respond.
We both entered a elevator. "Well you can tell him to go to hell." I said simply. Shawn looked at me and wasn't surprised at my rebel characteristic's. He was used to it and therefore wasn't amazed.
Upon arrival to L7, I noticed that most of my crew was already in place. They had pick-axes, and jackhammers. With the company being so low on money, they made us use 19th century technology.
"Hey boss," they all beltched together in unison. They began working now that their leading officer was with them. We all got to work, I mapped out our destination 30 feet northwest. It was a hard goal to reach but i knew in the next two weeks my team would make it. The only problem was that the cranite on L7 was harder than the usual. For every hour we gained 3 1/2 inches.
"Dang this it tough!" Maveric yelled, which echoed through the small tunnel. All of us looked at him dumbfounded.
"No-Really! What did you think Harvest was, a tropical paradise?!" Harrison growled. We all had have enough of his bellyaching, ever since our other Jackhammer was destroyed. There was no way out of this planet, it was more of a prison than a mining facitlity. But sometimes they let us out to see friends or relatives on other settlements around the planet.
The planet was cold where we were, but in some places there was rich savanna, untouched by farmers, or land buyers. It was a perfect little place to start a family. I looked off into ablivion and thought to myself before awaking to reality. I rarely got time to do this, and when I did I favored each moment.
Chapter 2: 11:00 am. Sunday, August 24, 2531. Somewhere in space.
The Prophet hovered into the bridge. Glancing at the Elite with his back turned to him, he only imagined it was good news. He sat, silent waiting for the Elite named Gulai 'Fage to respond. "So...... ......" the Prophet began, "you've found them?" The Elites eyes slid open as he awoke from his deep thought. He turned around to the Prophet and smiled evily. The Elites, black armor reflected in the light, nearly blinding the Prophet.
"Yes, My Lord. We have found them." Gulai muttered to himself. The Prophet raised a long, boney hand to his mouth. The Elite turned to face his master. Lowering his hand the Prophet smiled revealing is sharp raiser like teeth. "Shall I steer the ship in the direction?"
"Yes, you may. How far away are they?" The Hovering chair of the Prophet moved into the light.
The Elite checked a panel to his right and muttered, "350, 000 units and closing. All weapons are heating as we speak." The Prophet smiled, and the Elite saw this. "This is gonna be one hell of a war." They both laughed as the cruiser grew closer and closer to the war.
Chapter 3: 9:00 am. Monday, August 25, 2531. Harvest colony world.
The day was just like any other. The gray clouds seemed to spill out over the mountains like wine does on the floor. The sense of pain was in the air. My group had done great on L7, we had progressed 7 feet. Everyone was at work drilling into the hard rock, and shoveling it into machines.
"Screeee!" The loud sound of dissapointment echoed throughout the dark cave. Harrison threw down the Jackhammer and yelled horribly. He grasped his hand and turned his back to us. We surrounded him, wanting to know what had happened.
Then we found that a stone, 3x4 inches, was sticking out the middle of his hand. "Damn." I said quietly. I turned around and walked to the phone in one of the electrical boxes. Touching the screen, I proceeded to call my boss, Mr. Sampson. "Mr. Sampson," I said into the speaker. No responce came, I waited and waited. Nothing came from the bellows of the box, other than the sound of static, which was odd for such a good COM system.
The others walked up beside me. "Well, is he sending help?" Maveric said with worry in his voice. He then glanced at the phone, and then back at me. He walked closer and took it from my hand, then holding it up to his ear. "Its-dead.....I thought these things were controled by satelite?"
"They are." I looked from his face to the cold sky. "The troubles on that end." He followed my glance. Curiosity filled his stern face.
He grabbed my collar with stained hands from Harrison's blood. "What are you saying." I was taller and higher in command than he was and therefore didn't care if he beat the hell out of me.
"I'm saying that theres something wrong with the satelite!" The others that were calming Harrison looked at me. I didn't like the feeling of being alienated from my group. I looked at the bleeding Harrison, if we didn't do something fast he was gonna lose conscienceness. Then we would have to drag his body through the snow.
"Throw him in the Jeep, we're bugging outta here!" I hollared at my men. They reacted and threw Harrison into the back of the off road vehicle. Mavric walked towards the drivers side I stopped him, "I'm driving." He frowned and walked to the back of the car. I grabbed the cold steering wheel, I hadn't practiced driving for a while. I smiled, it was gonna be a bumpy ride.
The car accelerated and flew down the road. I had to get to town, then get Harrison up the flight of stairs to the medic. I was pretty sure he was going to lose conscienceness. The stone had hit an artery, and even though we wrapped bandages and cloth around the wound, we couldn't stop the bleeding. His face turned as white as the snow on the mountains.
I saw a shadow behind the clouds, and guessed it was a UNSC ship, but as the layers of gray cleared I changed my guess. To my wonder, and fright, a unmarked cruiser dropped out of the sky like a rock, and then stabalized. "What the hell?" I asked myself. The sleek craft wasn't the only ship to enter our atmosphere, two other ones followed. Each similare to the last.
"Is that Rebels, Sir?" Dane called to me from the back. My mouth dropped open, I knew it wasn't. The Rebel's had always been lower in technology than the UNSC. It would take them ten years to get a ship of such gracefullness. The city was in the distance, we were close to the medic, but I had a strange feeling that it wouldn't matter.
The cruisers suddenly blasted blinding light from its middle section. The light floated down burning as it went, but the light was still blinding. The light was heading for the city, my mouth went dry, and I stopped the car, so that I wouldn't crash. I scanned though my brain for the right word to call the light. Plasma, thats what it was. Before the plasma hit the town, the tall sky-scrapers bend under the force and heat of the missle.
Fire, light, and debris filtered out of the city, as the structures peeled away. A sonic boom followed the explosion, several seconds later. Some pieces hurled through the air, some almost reaching the ship. "What the......." Everyone in the car except Harrison sat, silent, and still in their position.
"Master," Gaulai 'Flage said from the bridge. "The city has been glassed, as according to plan. Shall I move onto groudn invasion?" The Prophet turned from the circular window. He loved to see the beauty, and agression his own design had caused. He woke from his trance like state.
"You shall do as you please, Gaulai. This craft is now in your hands." The Elite smiled and headed for his control panel. He barked orders to the Grunts at their positions. They did what he said, and touched the hollow panels emiting from the computers.
"Your Excellency! We've got 18 life pods attempting to exit the atmosphere!" One Grunt barked hideously. The Elite looked towards him and smiled.
"I think you know what to do." Gaulai muttered. The Grunt whooped and continued his duety.
I had turned as soon as the massive cruiser had started deploying crude, pod-like craft. They were roughly 12 feet high. I didn't want to see what was inside them. I figured if they didn't explode, we had best get away from them. Nothing good came from that ship, just pain and evil.
I drove the car around a bend leading to another city, and slammed on the brakes. One of the pods had landed on the side of the road sitting straight up. I didn't wanna get suprised by anything when I drove past, so I waited to see if anything was gonna happen to it. I drove cautiously around it, stopping only to get a look at the front. The side of it was gone, not damaged, but open. I continued my driving, at a slow rate. To my left was a plateau of tall grass. I watched it carefully. Then turning back to the road, desided no one was in this part of the country. I was wrong. The Jeep dipped down, as we took on another passenger. He flew 2 feet high in the air before landing on out ride. He was a 7 foot tall, black armored creature with a bad tempter and a blue glowing stick in one hand.
Immediately he grabbed Dane's neck and wipped him around to hit Maveric. Both were instantly killed. He tossed them out of the car and onto the road like rag dolls. A tear ran down my cheek, they were my friends, my family. And they were not to go unavenged! I swerved the car from right to left, attempting to toss out the creature. Daniel rushed the creature, but he only stunned him. He was tossed back to the end of the edge of the car. The alien pushed a button on the glowing stick and revealed his weapon. It was plasma, as Josh had just found out. His arms went out the left side and the legs fell out the right. I continued to swerve. Alex stepped into where the front of the car meets the back and turned to me scared as hell.
The plasma sword wipped around and cut him across his neck. Blood covered my face, the steering wheel, and part of the seat. A sharp pointed hand grabbed his shirt and moved him out of the way. A head popped out from the back, and the creature smiled as the flaps of teeth, and gum opened up. He bellowed, and showed me his sword, intimidating me. I threw on the brakes, at 60 miles per hour! The creature flew through the windshield and out onto the snow covered ground. Purple blood stained a trail to the edge of the car. I stopped the car, turned off its engine and walked out the door. I walked to the front of the car and saw the culprit. His black armor was cut up and the flesh showing was bloody, and pulsing. He was still alive, but not for long, a thick piece of glass was in his throat. He shifted and tried to pull it from him, but every attempt failed, and he would end up screaming like a mountain lion.
I didn't pity a creature who could do so much damage, and destruction. I even thought of spitting on him, when I found my mouth was still dry I dismissed this idea. The sword had retreated back into the blowing stick. I saw it reach to its waist. I didn't think it was a big idea, he couldn't even stand up let alone cut me with another weapon. But through the blood, I saw a smile.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha." The laugh grew louder, and higher pitched each time. He pulled out a circular object from his pocket. I had no idea what the object was or was use for. He puched a red rectangular button on the circle and a blue glow exploded from it, reflecting off his shield and onto the snow covered ground. The sound that came from the light was a screech, I glanced at the aliens palm, he was grasping it with his strong, tough fingers that seemed to curl around.
He rose from the ground, grunting and panting at the pain which followed. He threw out the object at me, I jumped to the side in surprise. The blue circle flew through the air and landed on the silent front of the Jeep. The circle bounced brilliantly then settled on the winch. The creature seemed mad at his miss, but glad. I backed away slowly from the Jeep, worried and confused. The creature collasped to the ground dead.
"Crash!!" The circle exploded with layers of plasma. Heat melted the paint job, and burned through the battery, and tough metal covering. The little pools of blood boiled with excitement. The car pushed back five feet from its parked position. In the end I sat with my eyes closed and with my back turned to the light. I turned around to meet my fate, the Jeep was beyond repair ans theresfore useless. I was miles from the city, with no means of transportation. I wasn't even sure there would have been a city when I got there. The aliens surely would have destroyed every city on the planet with the plasma weapons.
Chapter 4: 10:00 am. Monday, August 25, 2531. Covenant cruiser.
The bridge bubbled with excitement, the Grunts tapped at the controls busy, and the Prophet sat, barely able to contain his excitement. He bounced in his elevated seat with a grin on his brown skinned face. "My, oh my. What a beautiful day!" He sang out over the room. "Now all we have to do is-"
"Your Excellency! We've got four hostile crafts approaching the planet!" A Grunt screamed, and wiggled in his chair to face his superior. Worry covered his face. He had to push some tubes to the side which was his cooled methane supply. The creatures had evolved on a cold, icy planet. So they were forced to wear environmental suits almost every hour of the day. "Orders!"
Gaulai 'Flage turned to face the crew member with startling speed. "We accomplished what we came to do.....get us out of here. The Gohol, and the Devit will handle those humans. As for us, we're reporting back to Ll'eh to inform the civilians of our victory." The Grunt turned around and started changing the ships direction. The cruiser spun 135 degree's and diverted all energy toward the engines. For once in three hours the cruisers plasma barrels lay silent, and empty.
The Prophet pressed one of the 12 buttons on his hovering chair, and immediately a magnet attached to the side was activated and connected with a square pillar. The Elite braced himself. Soaring through the air at 1,245mph, the cruiser blasted through the atmosphere and almost ran into one of the human crafts. The Prophet leaned back inhis seat as they slipped into slipstream space. After getting 502,450 units from the planet, the Covenant ship was sure nothing could have followed it.
"Congratulations, Gaulai 'Flage. You have just become the most valuable captain in the Covenant army." The Prophet said raising his head ever so slightly. The Elite grinned the best he could. He turned away from the Prophet and started commmanding his crew. The Prophet turned and glided through the air out of the room, back to his chambers.
I had walked four miles, and progressed little. The city was off in the distance, badly damaged, but still standing. Several of the UNSC cruisers must have been passing by on a routine fly by, for right then, they were battling the strange alien crafts high up in the sky. They were fighting both in and above the atmosphere. The alien ships must have been immuned, while the UNSC ships struggled to hold themselves above the atmosphere. Each was firing almost point blank range.
I crossed my arms to maintain my body heat. Why the aliens had to do this on a cold day, was beyond me. The torn up pieces of clothing I wore was not enough. In the crash, pieces of glass had ripped through my suit letting out warm air. I didn't know if any of those creatures were still out there, so I carried around a rock and was aware of any unnatural sounds.
So for the next two hours, they fought in the skies, and I fought to survive the cold. I was sure that even if the creatures survived the crash, they wouldn't survive the weather. From what I saw of the one back towards the car, they didn't believe in warm clothing. I took my mind off the battle in the heavens, as flashes of my crew dying haunted every step I took. Images of Dane, being thrown out of the car, and seeing how his neck spun like a drill. Alex's blood was still on me, making me a red target basically. I guess I could be seen from meters away......which could actually work for me, when the UNSC won the war above. I was losing hope in them, little by little. Every blue line that ran towards and struck them, I began to think I was gonna die here.
I was almost at the beginning of the city, when I heard a loud bussing sound. I looked up and saw the last alien caft begin losing altitude. But glancing behind the UNSC ships I found that there was another one. Possible from the same group. Being surrounded by a firing enemy was hard, and was definetally the better strategy. The aliens must have been smart enough to box enemies in and take them down from all sides. I began walking towards the middle of the small city, as the dead alien cruiser was falling faster and faster out of the sky. Like a angle desending to earth. I shook that thought out of my mind and punched myself across the face, "This angle killed your crew!" I screamed at myself. I resumed walking to my destination. As I did I wondered when the UNSC would win, and if they did would they send down a search and rescue party. I had no idea, and at the time it hurt for mr to stop walking and stand to glance at them, or to think. I remembered when I had little time to think to myself, I laughed, now I wished I hadn't.
As I stood in the center of the city, I glanced towards the heavens. "Help me....." I said quietly. I waited for a sign that He would give me. Nothing came. I sat down and started to sob. When all hope was lost and I was nearly dead, a different sound entered through my ears. It was soft, but grew louder and louder by the second. Then I looked up towards the frozen grass land, and found a bird shaped ship comming towards me. Standing up suddenly, I knew my prayer had been answered, a Pelican dropship made a pass over me. It circled around the city, I looked at the blood covered clothes, and immediately took off my jacket only to wave in the air. While I did this the snow, which had settled on it had lifted off and floated to the ground.
"Here! Here! Over here!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Both adrenaline and fear pulsed through my veins. I watched as the Pelican changed direction and flew over to me. The mark on the sign read Bravo 041. I fell to my knee's and collapsed into unconscienceness.
When I woke up, I was sitting inside one of the ships. I was bandaged up, and covered in warm clothes. A heater sat next to me. Little clanks echoed through out the hull of the ship. I knew I was saved, I knew I was alive, and I knew I would take revenge on the enemy.
To fully understand this story, you will have to be familiar with the Halo 2 E3 Demo, and the great book, Halo: the Fall of Reach. More of my stories may be comming. Based on the many untold story's turning the Covenant- Human War. The story of the civilians at Draco III, will be next.
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