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The Gladsheim Few by Kateston
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The Gladsheim Few: Chapter 1 + 2
Date: 2 August 2009, 10:58 pm
Chapter 1: Recruitment
//February 19th 2552// Harvest //Edda, Gladsheim//
Private Pedersen, son of Rol Pedersen, ran in his colonial militia outfit and gentley placed the large suitcase brimming with clothes and belongings onto the trailer. The screams of civilians behind him deafened the sounds of explosions as a Covenant ship began to set fire to the city of Gladsheim. Percy Pedersen was seventeen years old, muscular built, pale white skin. He had lived under the name of "Percy Peterson" so that his Sergeants wouldn't suspect him of his family ties with the Atterny General incase they rejected to train him. Percy wished his father's medical talents where inheritable, as he looked around at the crowd of people with burns and broken bones, he wish he could help. A five year old girl with blonde pigtails cried on his right leg. Percy gently lifted her and placed her on the trailer where an elderly man took hold of her. The old man cried as he gazed up into the orange smokey skies. No one foretold this. The people of Harvest weren't informed of attacks, they were ceartainly unprepared.
The Gladsheim highway was full with pick-up trucks towing trailers of luggage and people. The civilians of a burning city. Percy tapped the backend of the trailer loudly, the driver of the rusty red tractor gave a thumbs-up out of his window and the engine stuttered to life. Within ten minutes the congestion of vehicles flooded down the highway out of sight, praying their alien attackers weren't aware.
Percy along with two other colonial militia soldiers stared at the empty highway, now littered in packets, odd clothing, and junk people discarded to make travelling easier.
"Group up guys, we need to discuss our route back." Percy said as he brought out his BR55 Battle Rifle from behind his shoulders. Private Cruise was first to meet up with him, he was obese, bald and short. He was badly sunburny around the face and held an M6D pistol. The second member of the three man team was Private Grantley, in his mid forties, slim and had a glass left eye. He had short silver hair cropt close to the skull. He too had a Battle Rifle.
"Peterson, here." Grantley said panting and wiping away sweat from his forehead.
"Going back into Gladsheim would be suicide. We've gotten as many people out as possible, we have to assume all other civilians are dead." Percy said sternly, the other two nodded in agreement, "Let's find a vehicle and meet back up with the others before..."
Percy's headset pulsed white noise into his ear which caused him to wince. The noise suddenly cleared and a husky voice spoke to him.
"Private Percy Pedersen, I know your real name, my name is Loki. I am the AI for this planets security. Your going to do a job for me."
Grantley and Cruise looked oddly at Percy as he gazed confounded at the skies. Cruise mouthed the words 'Who is it' but Percy didn't reply to him
"We... I'm not familiar with you..." Percy said eventually.
"Go to the nearest holopad, there will be one at the Gladseim tool booth." The AI replied. Percy swore loudly and began to pace up and down the tarmac.
"Thats four clicks back the way we just goddamn came!" He said angrily, "Not to mention the aliens burning it up!"
"I'm not negotiating, Harvest needs your little group to go hustle up some alien ass. I'm tied up with other issues at this moment in time which require my undivided attention. Get there and we'll speak again." And with that 'Loki' killed the COM. Percy sighed, looked at his two friends who would be less then pleased to here their new orders and began to plan how to explain the new mission.
Chapter 2: The First Fragment
They were three clicks of the way to the Toll Booth when a Spirit Dropship flew overhead. Percy had no trouble diving behind the cover of a upturned school bus. Cruise and Grantley on the otherhand were too slow. Before they releasied a dropship was looming over them they had been spotted. The Spirit's neareast compartment bay opened and one of the armoured aliens, a large brown furred beast jumped out of the ship midflight onto the hard tarmac cracking the surface. It had turquoise armor and held a vicious looking weapon with two blades on either side. Cruise and Grantley just managed to waddle into the shadows as the alien landed. It growled, sniffed at the air and began to thud towards Percy's position. The tall gourilla like creature marched over to the school bus and gave it a curious sniff. It smelt the tyres the couplings and then the fuel tank of the over turned vehicle. Cruise's eyes lit up. He could take the shot of the flammable region of the vehicle which would ceartainly kill the alien. But there was also the problem of Percy being on the other side of the bus. Cruise flapped his hand side to side slowly, trying to get Pedersen's attention.
Percy on the other hand had his heart in his mouth. The beating echoed in his head as he felt the alien catch his scent. It would almost ceartainly sniff him out. Percy didn't want to be on the otherside of those blades. He was there when an alien very similar to this one shot his father in the chest. A large spike right through him. It was all he could do not to cry or fire madly at the murdering brute. But that would of comprimised everything. He wanted to help his people so bad, but thought his ties would make him useless as a private. But Percy couldn't do anything else useful, he didn't want to run away, he wanted to fight.
The alien ran his thick paws over the fuel tank. Percy began to crawl slowly over to the front of the bus, so he could see his friends. He began to claw his way along the road. He hit a crisp packet with his boot but it made minimal noise. In the adreneline rush he felt Percy raised himself into a crouch and began to waddle. Pedersen slowly moved, concentrating on the edge of the bus, half expecting the alien to walk around. Final he reached the edge. He peered round battle rifle raised. Nothing. Percy sighed and leant against the wing mirror of the bus to steady himself. In instantly snapped off its arm and clattered noisily on the floor. Percy could here the alien growl in anticipation for a kill.
"Move Percy!" Cruise bellowed as he aimed his pistol at the alien. The Brute turned round at Cruise and Grantley and bared its teeth in rage or an evil smile. Pedersen ran from out of cover, so did the Brute. Both heading towards the party of two. Cruise fired three bullets. One went wide, one pinged of the alien's headdress slowing its progress. The third bullet hit the fuel tank igniting it. The cyclindrical container erupted in orange, tinged with green flames, that consumed the Brute. Percy dived to the floor as tyres, metal and glass rained ontop of him. The alien howled in rage, it clawed itself out of the flames leaving a trail of burning fur and dried blood. Grantley was about to run over to finish it with a burst from his rifle when the Spirit (which had appeared seemingly motionless in the air) circled round to face them.
"The hell with this lads, run!" Grantley shouted. All three privates ran for their lives. The turret on the underside of the Spirit fired a trio or purple plasma bolts with every shot. The plasma burned into the tarmac, struck vehicles and roadsigns and missed the group as they ran.
Eventually the Spirit circled back round towards the smoke of the bus wreckage, most likely to pick up the injured alien. With adreneline and fear urging them on, the trio ran down the deserted highway road up to a row of booths. They made it. Percy pulled ahead of the others, jumped over a barrier and burst into the main booth at the centre of the line. He paced around, waiting for the voice to speak to him. He was rewarded by white noise.
"Good work Pedersen, find the Holopad... By the monitor, there we go." Percy found the grey round platform and pressed the two green buttons. The circle lit up blue, flickered off, then appeared with the avatar of a cowboy. This figure was completely blue except the eyes which where a dark red. This must be Loki.
"I've uploaded a fragment of myself into this spare data-chip. This segment of me can be used to guide you along to the next stage of the mission. I have a limited lifespan, you'll have to find holopads as you go." Loki said staring blankly at Percy. Cruise nervously shifted outside the booth as Grantley scouted around.
"I don't understand why us? We're not special!" Percy said frustrated at the lack of answers, just more questions.
"To me at this exact moment in time Private, you three are the key to saving about a hundred children inside Gladsheim's Primary sch..."
"Back up Loki!" Percy said with sudden rage, Cruise stepped into the booth curiously, unnoticed by Pedersen, "You want us to go back into a city currently being glassed? To save some kids?" Cruise looked at Percy with wide eyes after that remark. He coughed, starteling him.
"Peterson, with all respect if there's a chance of saving lives I'm willing to do whatever it takes." Cruise said scrathing his flaking forehead. The avatar of 'Loki' nodded in approval. Percy breathed in deeply.
"Are you two also aware that Private Grantley's son, William is one of those survivors?" Loki said with no hint of emotion. Pedersen looked at the AI in shock. He believed he and Grantley could persuade Cruise to scrub this mission. But if Grantley had a motive, his hands were tied.
"But this is SUICIDE!" Percy shouted.
Loki raised his voice too.
"If you go back your dead. That Spirit Dropship is patrolling this highway. If you follow MY orders, and do what I TELL YOU TO DO, you three might make it out here alive, and as heroes." There was a silence as Loki's words hit home.
"I've finished installing a fragment of myself on this chip under to holopad, keep it safe. It is of limited use to you, I've copied programs of geographical, enemy and motion intel. Go through the service tunnels, the next holopad is in SquadCar K2P0 in the Noble District og Gladsheim outskirts. Good luck."
And with that the holopad turned itself off, and the team of three with a datachip of no immediate use, where left in the dark.
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