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Battles of Alpha Halo 4 (part five): Lifeline
Posted By: Collins Okonkwo<collinsist@yahoo.com>
Date: 10 May 2007, 10:35 am
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BOAH4 Part five
Lifeline
"Akindele, you have point," Sergeant Brad said, cocking his MA5B Assault rifle. "Alright men lets get to that floor mega double time." The Marines began to obey the order. Natoli, still squatted and peering down the gap, adjusted his glasses and said: "I don't think we'll ever make it there on time sir, before that rope breaks." Sergeant Brad turned his attention to the lanky Marine, asked: "What then do you suggest, Corporal." Natoli rose, faced the Sergeant and added: "Making it down there sir, would be the best way we can rescue the Chief, but considering the time we've got before that rope breaks, I suggest we figure out a way of acting immediately. And Apart from that, how are we sure we're not gonna encounter enemy reinforcements on our way down."
The Sergeant was taken in muse as he thought the suggestion through. So did the others who all glared at Natoli presently. Natoli faced Chris. "Supposing we had a rope," he said. Chris quickly freed the pack that hugged his back. It thumped the floor and he un-strapped, un-knotted, and rummaged through. "Let's just hope it'll be strong enough to hold the weight of a Spartan," Natoli said. Akindele's thick arm was already outstretched when Chris finally handled the rope into view. "At least it looks long enough," Sergeant Brad said, observing the bundle of rope. Akindele was quick to snatch it from Chris, waited for the Sergeant's consent of a nod before he made straight for the edge of the un-girded space.
He untangled the rope with hurried dexterity. When it was free, he threw the shorter end behind him. "What are you all waiting for?" he growled, not caring to look back at his comrades. "Take the rope, and do not expect that our Spartan is going to make a light load." He heard what he knew to be Hegins and Chris hustle behind him before he swung the longer length of the rope down toward the Master Chief. Natoli and Sergeant Brad joined behind the rest, and the Marines firmed trained soldier grips on the hard rope. "Master Chief Sir!" Akindele hollered. His free hand was cupped over mouth as he watched the rope make a snaky drop. "If you can hear me Master Chief, grab the rope and we will pull you up!" Akindele's eyes suddenly bulged. Just as he watched the rope lower past the Chief, he also saw the thin wire that had held him and the Covenant snap.
Master Chief knew that the fall had begun. It was free fall for him and the golden armored Covenant. He finally felt the alien free its grip of his neck. But it wouldn't make any difference now. The Spartan II program had failed as long as he was concerned. He was the last remaining Spartan and he was soon to drop hard as a brick on a Covenant docking bay, to crush all the bones in his physical human body, genetically enhanced or not. The pain still remained in his left leg while he fell, and the head felt like it was near to pulling out of its socket. He finally managed to open his eyes.
All was blurry and whitish and he could still hear Cortana's voice which sounded like a distant echo in the cavity of his Spartan helmet. His entire life as a young boy of six snatched from his parents, till the present, flashed through his mind faster than the speed of light. After which he could suddenly see something through the blur of his vision. It was like a dream, it was like…something. A dark rope was silhouetted against the white background. It was hope...It was fate. He was almost sure that his brain never stimulated his hands to move. But the quickness with which his hands moved left questions in his mind. It was as though there was someone else in there. Not in the Mjolnir amour but within himself. He had been thought in the totality of science but in this moment he believed in what many humans had always referred to as the spirit. He knew it was his spirit and not him, that quickened those hands to move and grab the rope.
Akindele's grief was even more as he watched the Master Chief drop helplessly and oblivious of the rope that dangled right in front of him. Suddenly, and with much relief…he saw the Chief stretch out his hands and reach for the rope. With this, Akindele fled away from the edge of the fall-space, scrambled backwards and tightened his muscular hands against the rope which he held. The other Marines knew what this meant, and equally tightened their grips also. They waited determinedly. The rope abruptly jerked fiercely forcing the five men forward, such that their feet continued sliding against the hard ground. They clenched teeth and wore grimaces. Managing to, they halted the forward slide. Grunting and gasping, they pulled back. They pulled back again…and again, before a stronger jerk of the rope threw them forward once more.
The force almost lifted the men off their feet as they launched forward, and it was just a few inches to the edge of the drop that Akindele's feet managed to gain bearing again. "The bastard alien," Akindele growled. The words escaped through gnashed teeth. Perspiration already drew glistening lines across his strained face. The Marine had trusted in his strength when he knowingly took the rope from Chris. And were it not for that strength, even his comrades knew there was no way they would have held the rope from that last tug. "The bastard alien must have grabbed the line also," the huge Marine added, panting as he did. The other men behind him were also getting bathed in sweat. With a sudden loud grunt he tugged at the rope, gaining about three steps backwards, away from the edge.
Like the stubborn Canines of a hunting dog would cling to a tasty bone, such was Spartan 117's grip of the rescue line. At least he was no longer upside down. Just a few moments of rest hanging onto the rope and he was beginning to feel life and energy flow back into him. It was moments like this that always made a Spartan II Super Soldier realize there was more to him than the average human. He felt like a machine of war as he continued to regain full consciousness. His vision was clearing and he could slowly make out his environment. He noticed the floor after floor of the strangely modeled covenant cruiser. He looked down; saw that even the remaining distance from his position on the rope could still kill him in a fall. He noticed the docking bay floor and it was littered with corpses of both human and Covenant. The rest of the rope below him, he equally observed, was supposed to be loose but it stretched thick as though it held some other weight.
That was when the Master Chief remembered the Covenant that had almost decapitated him while he hung upside down. Though there was still pain in his neck, he allowed his head to cock lower giving him better view of the base of the rope. His ugly segmented mandible stretched wide apart revealing the pit of his black mouth as the Covenant Elite growled incoherent gutturals hanging on to the lower end of the rope. John wished he still possessed a weapon, especially one of theirs. He had come to love the effectiveness of the alien weapons, and sending heated plasma beams into the gaping mouth of this Covenant would have given him some form of satisfaction.
"Chief," Cortana piped. "I'm sure you can hear me now Chief." Trying to answer his AI partner left the Chief's throat burning in flames. But he managed. "I…(Pants)…can."
"Whew, that was the closest I've come to loosing you," Cortana added. "But now is not just the time to for you to die, because we're gonna go by your own words, Chief. We're gonna rescue Captain Keyes and we're gonna make it out of this Covenant ship alive." The rope suddenly pulled upwards, causing the Spartan to drive a gaze there. "It's Sergeant Brad and the rest of our reinforcement," Cortana explained. John could not see anyone but the underside and ceiling of the floor from where the rope hung from. "Motions sensors reveal guards heading toward the floor facing us, Chief," Cortana informed.
Just then, the Master Chief heard a louder growl by the Covenant that hung below. He looked down again…and the stubborn beast was climbing. The Chief wondered what the Covenant planned to do on reaching him. And considered how badly he would perform against a Sangheili Elite warrior in a rope brawl. The deftness with which the Covenant climbed made this very evident to John. The rope pulled up again. "Hopefully the men should be able to pull us past this floor before those guards get here," Cortana said. "And what about him?" John asked, looking down at the quickly approaching Covenant. She had never heard the Spartan sound so weak, such that she even felt the severe weakness in his voice. On a good day, not being equipped with a weapon didn't mean that Spartan 117 could not stand against one equally unarmed alien. The rope pulled up again. Master Chief began considering his options against his infuriated opponent. He still had his knife, a weapon of last resort. "That's unlike you Chief," Cortana told him. "That's just one weaponless Covenant. And you should be able to improvise like you've always done."
Not with a strained ankle, he thought. An injured neck; and one arm to make sure you remain on the rope while you tackle the damn alien. The door to the left side of the corridor of that floor suddenly opened, and Covenant ranks emptied into view. "They're here already," Cortana informed. The aliens, two blue armored Sangheilis and two groups of Unggoys, opened fire at the Chief without hesitation. Brilliant plasma bolts darted in the Master Chief's direction, some impacting his amour, some running wide. The ascending Sangheili was about three yards closer to the Chief at this point. He suddenly halted his climb, blathered loudly at his mates things the Master Chief could not understand.
His mandible parted and gathered: "Stop shooting you fools! Can you not see that I will fall, should you hit the line by mistake? Especially you maladroit Unggoys." The shooting abruptly seized. And they all stood staring at their commander who hung from the rope. The rope lifted, lifted, and lifted some more. His grip of the line was a bit too confident as the Sangheili freed his other hand and passed an order to the band of reinforcement. He pointed a large finger upwards. "Now make yourselves more useful and go destroy the other humans that make hold of this line!" He returned the hand to the rope. "I can also see that orders have come for the demon to be destroyed!"
"Affirmative, commander Orgriah!" one of the blue armored Sangheilis hollered back.
"Good!" he enjoyably said. "Now make hurry and carry out your task!" He looked up at the Master Chief. "The demon is mine." He sent one hand to his belt region, reached for a small shaft which he now stuck between the partings of his jaw so he could still climb as efficiently as before. He resumed the ascent, strong Sangheili arms swiftly reaching up one after the other. The Chief had recovered enough strength so that he was also climbing now. But the speed with which the Elite ascended could be equaled to two times that of the Spartan's. The rope continued to lift even as the two figures upon it climbed. And they were not very far away from the floor from where the rope hung down.
Getting about a yard closer to the Master Chief, the Covenant stopped again, and what could be considered a smile in Covenant standards, shot across his face as he grabbed the shaft from his mouth with one hand. He spoke in the Spartan's understanding: "It is on this grand day among ignoble days, demon; and by my hand---that you shall breathe your last."
The shaft in his hand was activated with a loud hiss that revealed a glowing energy blade.
Master Chief looking down at his opponent, did not like the look of the weapon in his hand at all. He wondered of what use his knife was against that thing. But then…it was now that the thought struck his mind. He quickly handled his knife out of its hiding. Even though the rope was still being pulled by the Marines and John and the alien were very near the edge of the floor, he began to slash at the rope just below the wrist of his grip arm. The Covenant bellowed a protest noticing the Chief's contrivance. Methodically placing the glowing end of his blade away from the rope, he increased pace rushing upwards. Master Chief sliced faster. It was not supposed to take more than a second but the special Spartan knives were designed more for stabbing than cutting. The Elite got close enough…close enough to be able to half the Chief's legs with one slash of his sword. Sword glowing brightly on it, he drove his hand sideways for the slash.
Sweat glistened, veins swelled across Akindele's dark arms as he made another yank of the rope. "Do you hear that?" Natoli asked from the rear of the line. "Gun shots," Hegins said; and they spoke through heavy breaths. "We have to get the Chief up here before---
"Ngghaaaarh!" Akindele did not wait for Hegins to finish that statement before he roared his next effort of three consecutive pulls, gathering more rope behind him. "Ngghaaaarh, Ouuurrhuaaaa!" It took a lot out of him and Akindele wondered if they would really succeed in completing this task. "The alien sir!" he puffed. "It should be close enough for a clear shot by now."
The Sergeant who was second to last in the line of tugging Marines was soaked in sweat. He managed to free an arm, whisked sweat off his nose with a thumb before he glanced at Natoli who was last in line. "Get to it Natoli. Gun the alien down and make this job easier for us."
Natoli snappily let go of the line, reached for his pistol as he rushed toward the edge. He got there, squatted. He spotted the Covenant not very far below the Chief. The gunshots had stopped and he could observe the alien involved in some kind of conversation with whatever number of his comrades were on that floor. Corporal Natoli kept his M6D pistol aimed and on the ready while he watched the Covenant Elite. Covenant armor was very effective, he knew. He wanted a more precise shot, perhaps one to the eye region, or the exposed jaw which were the only weak spots he could mark out in the Sangheili armor. The Elite drew out a shaft which Natoli wondered of what use it was. He was tempted to pull the trigger as the alien looked upward and spoke, revealing the innards of his split jaw. But he did not, waited for a clearer shot instead.
"Well, what are you up to Marine, don't have a clear shot yet?" It was Sergeant Brad's voice from the rear of the line. Natoli looked back at his commanding officer, sent a finger to the side of his nose in adjustment of his glasses. "Not yet sir!"
Looking back down revealed the Covenant swiftly climbing after the Chief who was clearly slower than the pursuing alien. And so remarkable was that climb in Natoli's opinion. The alien stopped again, removed the shaft which it had stuck between its split jaw, and spoke looking up at the Chief. The next surprising thing was that the shaft ignited into a fiercely glowing sword weapon which almost caused a wide-eyed Natoli to gasp.
The Marine noticed that the Chief had also stopped climbing at this point. Though the others behind Natoli still pulled in the rope, he knew that the Chief was surely not trying to depend on that. It was then that he observed what the Spartan was up to. The Master Chief's armored elbow darted in and out as he slashed at the line with a Spartan knife. Natoli saw that the Covenant had noticed, and had increased his pace up the rope. Before Natoli could realize how close to the Master Chief the alien was by now, he drove his sword aside for a slice at the Spartan's legs. The Marine had been aiming all this while, scoping out an opening where he could effectively bury a bullet. And it was now or never. It had to be now.
Natoli narrowed large brown eyes that hid behind his enhanced impairment-specific eyeglasses steadying his aim of the Elite's parted jaw. He pulled the trigger to release a rapidly traveling slug. It was one precise shot just as he planned, and it tunneled right into the Sangheili's throat stilling the alien's entire body for a second. There was no need of it at this point considering the fact that the sword tumbled out of the Elite's hand while the other hand lost grip of the line, but the Chief was through cutting the rope; and rope…sword…and an already dead Sangheili tumbled down the height.
Akindele and the other Marines suddenly felt the load get lighter as they continued to pull the rope in. They watched Natoli drop his weapon on the floor, and the next thing they saw was the green color of an armored Spartan hand as it braced the floor. Natoli grabbed the other hand as it came up also, before they saw the yellow visor that always hid any expressions a Spartan ever felt. Just as the rest of his body came into view, "Thanks," the Chief said, looking at Natoli. Kneeling on one knee, he looked at the Marines before him, and looked around the room. He straightened to his feet before he commended: "Good job Marines." They nodded in response, finally letting the rope drop to the ground.
Master Chief placing both hands on his neck, shook his head vigorously. The pain was quickly settling and he knew he could manage. He began a stroll forward looking around the floor, checking out the mess the men had made of the place with Covenant corpses. Following behind, Natoli noticed a very slight limping in the Chief's stride. "That was quite a tangle, Chief," Cortana said. "But we haven't really got much time to celebrate anything just yet."
"The guards, right?" Master Chief asked.
"Yes," Cortana replied.
"Which door?"
"The one to your right."
The Chief looked to the right door which was nearer them than the other. "Alright Sergeant," he began: "We're gonna have Covenant reinforcement coming through that door any minute."
Master Chief after that, turned to look at the Sergeant: "I need a weapon."
To be continued.
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