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The Dust Part 1
Date: 6 July 2006, 9:04 pm
Note, sorry but i might not respond to e-emails.
Also, i'm going on vacation soon, so i might not add more
stories for a LONG time. I apologise for not double spacing after periods in some instances. It won't happen again.
THE DUST
Part One
Miles Carrington watched the swirling dust; it was impossible to see for more than fifty feet. The dust was colored a brownish red, like dried blood. Blood. He remembered the blood. When he ran from his home four years ago, he had seen blood. One of the big bastards…a Hunter had launched a shot from those fuel rod weapons, totally obliterating his house, and everyone in it. Accept for him. He'd been in the basement. When he heard the noise, he'd gone upstairs to check. Blood and charred bone everywhere. He ran at the sight, so the second shot missed him. It went right through the huge hole the first shot had made through his home, missing him completely. He kept on running, until he got to a wooden fence. He vaulted over the fence with ease; he'd always been top of his class in physical education.
Something had followed him…an Elite. It just burned its way through the fence and stepped through…it aimed its weapon at him at prepared to fire. Then it's head exploded. A marine stood over the corpse, holding a shotgun. The marine cocked his head and said…
"You okay son?"
Miles jerked out of his remembrance. It was his job to watch the perimeter and make sure nothing got past, into the camp. The camp had been set up a month ago as a temporary base for the civilians on Trau III. Trau III was a colony world that was under siege by the Covenant. The space battle had been quick and painful for the human ships sent to protect it, but instead of glassing the planet, the Covies had sent troops to the surface. The camp had learned through intercepted transmissions that the Covies where searching for some sort of artifact. Command had ordered them to stay put until more UNSC ships could arrive and breach the Covie blockade around the planet, and then send down marines to take care of the forces on the surface. More info had come in lately. For some reason, the Covenant had stopped supplying forces to the planet, Miles was thankful for this, but also worried. Whatever the Covies were planning it wouldn't be good.
Myles's eyes jerked open. He'd been drifting off again. He had to stop dreaming on the job, he had people to protect.
Hours passed. It was almost time for his replacement. He checked his battle rifle.
The dust had clogged the barrel. The Dust.
When the UNSC had first colonized Trau III, they hadn't bothered about the dust.
They paid for it. The entire colonization group was caught un-aware by a dust storm. With in minutes their lungs had filled with the dust. A new team was sent down, this time with filtering masks. They died to, another storm came in, and it ripped the masks right of their faces. This got the ministry of colonization worried, so they sent down buildings for the next group to hide in. That worked, and so the colonization of Trau III went on efficiently…but with the constant threat of the dust over the colonist's heads.
No one knows where it comes from and no one knows where it goes, all we know is that it's here…it's here to stay.
For the third time that day, Miles Carrington berated himself for falling asleep on the job.
Five minutes later, his friend Brian came to relieve him.
Miles nodded, and sat up from his chair.
Brian slumped in the chair and said; "see you in five…hours, Miles"
"Right"
Miles took one last look at the swirling dust…and turned to go.
He stopped dead in his tracks. He'd seen something…or had he?
Was he just daydreaming? No…he saw it. A blurred shape, slightly humanoid…but something was wrong.
Brain yelled, "I see something!"
That clinched it. Miles turned and dashed back to the post.
Brain was craning his neck, squinting against the dust that irritated his eyes.
Miles saw it again…it was an Elite. But there was something else. Something dragging behind it. A body. The body of another Elite. It didn't matter; he had to sound the alarm. Miles grabbed the bell and tugged it three times, the signal for seeing a Covie.
The reaction was instantaneous. People scurried indoors like mice. Marines barreled out of their quarters. Parents, or older children tugged children inside. Up at the head building, a siren sounded of.
Brain unholstered his shotgun and hid behind the bags of sand at the post.
Miles snatched his battle rifle from his back and went prone. He poked his head out past the sand bags, and lifted the BR's scope to his eye.
He looked through the scope to get a good shot at the Elite. Something stopped him. The color of its armor was different; he'd never seen it before. And he new all the colors.
The color was…several colors. And it was done in some sort of splash style. The under lay was a dark purple, over that was a brighter purple, over that was smatterings of bright cyan, and over that was a huge blotch of orange around the hands and arms. The were odd spherical objects hanging from the Elite's back and shoulders. Also interesting was the weapon it carried in its right hand. It looked like a sword, made from the blade of a brute shot. The sword was tied to a shotgun, and under slung on the shotgun was a plasma pistol. It was all tied together with a fine flat cord.
As the Elite got closer, Miles gasped. He could see the Elite clearly now.
It wasn't a new armor color. The armor was blue. But it was hard to tell that under the layers of…of…blood. It wasn't human blood. It was Covenant blood.
A myriad of Covenant blood. Jackal, Grunt, Hunter, and even Elite. The blood dripped of his armor. The blood left a trail in the dust. Miles examined the body the bloody Elite was carrying in his left hand. It was an Elite that he was dragging. It was dead…from plasma burns? Friendly fire? That wouldn't surprise Miles, considering the blood on the other one.
Then he noticed what the spherical objects were. Skulls. Covie skulls.
What was this guy? A traitor? Or just a nut? The Elite was only five feet away from him. Miles jumped up and aimed his BR at the Elite.
"FREEZE"
The Elite kept on coming. Three feet now. Two feet. One foot.
Miles squeezed of a burst at the Elite from his BR. The bullets impacted on his shielding, and were absorbed. The Elites gaze snapped up to Miles as he prepared to lose another burst. The alien's hand shot forward and grabbed the BR. Miles pulled back, but he wasn't strong enough. The BR was jerked from his grasp. The Elite tossed the battle rifle at Brian, who was raising his shotgun.
The BR slammed into Brian's face and threw him backwards onto the ground, where he lay unconscious. Miles snatched his M6D from his holster, and pointed it straight at the blood drenched Elite. Before he could fire, the Elites foot connected with his stomach. Miles doubled over, and the Elite's elbow slammed down on the back of his head. He tasted his own blood and collapsed to the ground. As he fell, he saw the face of the elite that the blood drenched one was carrying….the bloody one hadn't let go of corpse to beat both him and Brian down.
Time passed. He heard gunfire. Screams. He awoke. He sat up on the dusty ground and surveyed his surroundings. The Marines where all on the ground. Dead? Or unconscious? The bloody Elite kept on walking.
Miles stood up, and scooped up Brian's shotgun. The Elite hadn't noticed that he was up. He charged forwards, and brought down the butt of the shotgun on the Elites head. He expected it to weaken the shields, but they were already gone, and the blow knocked the Elite to the ground where it lay still. Miles motioned the civilians to come out of the houses, and directed them to take the marines bodies to the infirmary. Himself, he picked up the Elite to bring him to the main building, where Miles Carrington, the leader of the camp, was located.
As he dragged the body, the Elite stirred. It was alive. Miles wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
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