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The War of Humans: Chapter Two
Posted By: Andrea Halcyon<tara_halcyon@hotmail.com>
Date: 27 August 2006, 9:11 pm
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The Space Marines slowly moved their guns across the trenches' marked holes, made for their huge Bolter guns' muzzles to fit through. Space Marines armed with Rocket Launchers hid in the rocks behind the trench, on the higher ground as the Scout Marine snipers hid in the surrounding hills. The two flags of the Blood Ravens and the Ultramarines were hung on the posts on the backs of the Sergeants, fluttering with the wind. The open plain in front of the mile-long trench was filed with bodies of humans and the xenos, which caused Tex to wince slightly as he picked up his mobile communication's headset from his belt. Tapping it twice, he had access into the Space Marine's communication's network.
-Radio Transmissions-
SGTIsguil-This is Sergeant Isguil, report in.
SQ1: Scout Squad One, all clear.
SQ2: Scout Squad Two, everything's clear.
SQ3: This is Scout Squad Three, picking up possible xeno activity. Permission to investigate, sir.
SGTIsguil: Permission granted. Update every...
SQ3: Wait...what the hell is that?! Leader, take a look...
SGTIsguil: Report, Squad Three.
SQ3: Sir, I'm reading Eldar forces! A huge load of them, attacking the xenos on the foggy side sir!
SGTIsguil: Verify for check, Squad Leader.
SQL: Verifing...verifing...Hot damn! Biel-Tan cronkers, and they're diverse. I see traitors, assault mechs, everything. They're fighting the xenos to the death, but the xenos are holding out. Should we attack?
SGTIsguil: And let them know our position? No, they can wait. Relay the corrodinates to Assassin Halcyon, she'll take care of this situation.
-End Transmissions-
----
Andrea was the last person to be issued a room, but she was walking with John towards her quarters and she now figured it would be a good time to ask a question.
"John, why are you called One One Seven? Is that Code?" She asked, in a quiet yet somewhat demanding voice that surprised John a bit. It reminds me too much of me. Which explains why I feel welcomed near her. I think she feels the same way John thought, as he looked around with his blue eyes. Andrea looked upon his face with her own as they locked eyes, blue meeting blue, gaze meeting gaze, understanding meeting understanding.
"I was taken away as a child..." John began, sitting down on the nearby rock, which Andrea sat on the nearby rock next to John. "I was six. They replaced me with a flash clone, but the clone died of heart complications about a month after I left. I was born on a planet in the Eriadnus system, far away from here, where pirates and the UNSC touched each other with the sword. What little I remember about my parents, it's nothing to regain the so called 'happiness' I had during those times."
Andrea listened carefully, hands on her armored knees as she let her ears touch over the words of John himself.
"I trained my whole life. From six to now, I've trained to kill any enemy, any place, any time. Six months ago, UNSC personnell and I were marooned on a fortress-world called Halo. There, I nearly lost my sanity, but I managed to escape. Look, I would like to ask you the same question you asked me. Why are you called Assassin Halcyon?" He asked, the blue eyes making more contact with hers, except for the tear stain on his face. She could tell it pained him to talk about his past, which meant under the skin of the warrior in front of her was a man who could love.
"I was born on the world of Xerian IV, to the parents of wealthly shippers and traders. When I was nineteen I applied to be a member of the Imperial Guard, as an officer. I was able to become one due to my parents being members of the High Order. Like nobles. I became an Commisar and helped with two mass battles with the 105th Cadian Regiment on Arax Prime and Tervive V. I led a platoon of Kashrin, elite Imperial Guard, before I proved my shooting skills with a lasgun on Arax Prime. I was accepted into the Vindicare Assassin Temple, and now I do what I am ordered to."
John was confused, almost as confused as Andrea was when he told his tale, but like her, he made no contact. She was different from him, no doubt, but he could relate to her on her soldiering experience. That's when a buzzing was heard, to which Andrea grabbed a device on her web belt, flipping the flap on top of it off as clear transmissions came into its receiver.
"Assassin Halcyon, please respond."
"I'm here. Who's asking?"
"Sergeant Isguil."
She smiled.
"Sergeant, it's good to hear you. Command thought they lost you in the inital landing. What's the problem?"
"Andrea, we got problems. One of my scout crews reports Eldar battling the xenos on the other side of...what is it, Sergeant...Mount Crisco. Thinks it's Gabriel's ghosts, Biel-Tan."
"I know where that is." John chipped in, looking at her as she lifted her head from the communications device to her companion sitting next to her. She nodded, a small smile forming at the edges of her lips, before she went down to the communication device.
"I got a guide to take me to the mountain. I'll check this claim out, Tex."
"Gotcha Andy. I'll see you with the ground pounders. Emperor Protects." He added in, but the last two words were said with drowned out annoyance that caused Andrea to smile. Neither enjoyed saying the required goodbye. She looked up at John, now her eyes contained a hint of easeness.
"Well, let's go."
---
Andrea held her sniper rifle close to her, the butt of the rifle into her shoulder as he carefully watched the dirt path ahead of her while the rain made the trail muddy. John, behind her with a M90 shotgun, watched the area around her left and right, occasionally turning his head to check both of their backs before turning it back to check on Andrea. It was quiet, too quiet for John, and that's what started the goosebumps trailing up his arm. He gripped the shotgun tightly, watching Andrea as she sulked. Then, the unexpected happened.
She simply dropped to the ground, spralled out as if a ragdoll. The Chief nearly dove onto her, taking off her helmet to get a visual conformation of her being okay. Her face was normal, except for the eyes. They darted along, confused, scaried.
"What's the matter, Andrea?" He asked, with as much senerity as he could muster, before he saw what happened.
Something shimmered in front of him, and instincts told him stealthed Elite, so he rose the shotgun in a flash, shooting the shells out forward before they connected. The thing fell, but the stealth camouflage did not deactivate. He saw more shimmers, which caused him to fire again and again. He saw the things fell, but then stopped as he felt something puntructered his skin, his eyes opening as he felt a needle hit his skin. He figured it was a injection, but he ignored it due to his resiliance to drugs of the sort. He fired his shotgun again, heard the thump of a body, but then looked as he knew he was out of ammo.
"Dammit!" He cursed, throwing his shotgun in the direction of the enemies on the road. He took a rock, and threw it at one of the shimmers. He heard the crack of glass, as if he broke a visor, and then screams as the thing ran away. Suddenly, four more needles hit him in the back, causing him to yell in pain as he arched his back, before falling on the body of Andrea...
---
The room was small, at least that's how John saw it with tired eyes as he awoke. It was naturally dark, which was good for his eyes as he tried to stand up, but couldn't. He looked down to his legs and hands, tied to a chair as he sighed. That's when the nearby door opened, or rathered slammed, and into the room stepped in a man that John immediately, and for once in his life, became down right disturbed and strickened with overwhelming fear.
The man wore huge armor, but walked around as if it weighed nothing. His face was covered in tatoos of death and destruction, and blood was dripping from his chin, as if he drank it moments before and rather enjoyed the taste. He smiled, the blood stained teeth giving him the ulitmate look of evil as he closed the door behind him, a light slowly turning on. He walked over to John, and lifted his chin rather easily, even while John resisted.
"Never saw a human like you." He quoted, in a rather dry voice that sounded on the verge of manical lust of death and evil as he viewed the man before he took out a long dagger-like knife, hooked and blood stained. He stabbed deep into John's leg, but not a word nor sound exited John. Only the slight eye bulge and the clencing of teeth that followed.
"It hurts, doesn't it?!" He said, laughing as he twisted it, which John gave a very low moan as he held onto the arms of the chair tightly. The man laughed again, before the door opened gently, and another man dressed in armor entered in the same design, only he wore a oddly evil looking helmet and a long staff.
"Anton, that's all wrong." He said, in a gentle and soft voice that reminded John of proper English, without the accent. It was somewhat nerving to John, but he felt he was a bit more merciful than so called 'Anton'.
"Gah, I need to kill or hurt something! Matthias, I've haven't killed anything in a day or so and the bloodlust is killing me!" He said, laughing as he accented killing. Matthias chuckled himself, snapping his fingers. A man, wearing a neck brace and some sort of clothing around his extremities, walked in like an ape.
"What does Masters want?!" He asked, in a happy and pleased voice. Matthias smiled as Anton screamed, ripping out the knife out of the Chief's leg and throwing it into the eye of the man. He screamed, falling backwards before Anton was upon him, driving his knife into the man's stomach and heart in a bloodlust. Matthias just laughed menicilly as John threw up, his puke flying out of his mouth onto the floor. He looked up, and nearly threw up again as he saw Anton grab the head of the man and rip it off the neck, blood squrting out at a fast rate.
John's eyes were open, but he had no movement as he sat in the ten feet by ten feet white room, with a large machine hooked up to his eyes and his head. A figure, in some kind of armored suit, operated the machine as John tried to move off the chair. The door to the room opened wide, and in stepped another armored figure. However, this figure appeared more female than the other one, and her helmet delegated to something not human, but humanoid in nature.
"Has he revealed any information yet?" She asked, in a slippery like voice that sounded like wind ontop of water.
"Not yet, Farseer. I think we should try to directly ask him questions, he appears to be trained to handle the type of interrogations the Chaos use."
Farseer Macha nodded, and closed the door behind her as the other figure, who spoke with the same slippery water voice but somewhat rougher, turned off the machine. John shook his head, looking around in the room as the machine was totted away by the other figure. Macha walked up to John, then knelt on one knee as she was now looking at him face to face.
"I apologize for the rough simulation, but we had to imploy it since humans have been torturing our people. It's what you call an eye for an eye. My name is not important right now, but you must know something is not right on this world, and for me to tell you I have to know things. Simple things, no defense plans or battle strageties. Simple things." She said, with a slight delacour to her voice.
John was not sure about this. The pain was gone, but that machine made it feel so...real in nature that it frighten him. But this woman, or whatever she was, was asking simple questions. He finally nodded in agreement.
"What is your name?"
"John, I.D number One One Seven. Serial Number..." Riika's hand went up, as if to stop him.
"I said simple questions. I do not need to know your serial number, nor your I.D. John would of been just right. What were doing in the mountain area?"
"Hunting down these people called..."
"Eldar. Yes. My people.We followed Gabriel and his forces here to this planet, to find an artifact. That's besides the point. Can you relay the details of your childhood?"
John immediately spoke up at this.
"No, you can't! That's private information that I am not telling you!' He yelled, his face in the faceplate of Macha's. The Eldar Farseer sighed, and in a flash her hands were on his head, grabbing around his head as her open palms closed around his ears.
"I did not want to do this, but you force this upon yourself."
He clenched his teeth, his eyes wide with terror as it felt like his mind was being ripped out slowly, painfully, and...the feeling was awkward. It was against his permission, like he was being raped. He arched his back as he groaned in pain, but the Farseer did the same. John grabbed the sides of the chair to grip something. The pain he was feeling was unbearable, and the thoughts he had being viewed at will...it was an odd feeling.
Finally, she let her hands drop from John's head, her helmeted head directly staring into John's eyes. John, knowing the situation, did not back down from this challenge. How could he, being the last Spartan and, perhaps, the only human with knowledge of these aliens.
"You...you weren't playing dumb with me..." She said, rubbing her head. Strangely, John could feel why as he felt the headache within his head as well.
"John...I know about the Flood. We have the same problems, perhaps even more so than you do. The only difference, between our problem, is that the Tyranids are capible of starship travel...and...perhaps...everyone is at risk."
John shook his head, and his thoughts travelled towards the battles he had on countless worlds against them...No...these were not his. They were her's...her battles against the 'Tyranids'...the battles against the green skins, the battles against the dark armored skeletons...but, he looked up at her, when she reached the battles with Humans.
One thought clicked. The death of her.
He lanched himself off of his chair, his strength and adrenline breaking the straps as he reached for her neck...
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