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Flames of Perdition Ch. 2
Posted By: Colossus<xhalcyon713x@yahoo.com>
Date: 26 April 2006, 1:39 am
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Chapter 2
Even before they had crossed the threshold into Outpost Alpha, nicknamed by the soldiers under Zadeka's command as Outpost Angel, the soldiers inside threw up a loud cheer for the Captain and the sergeant. The bright interior lights threw out in stark contrast to the cloudy, moonless night.
The captain took in the sight at a glance. The men had broken into the ale, again. He didn't blame them. What his men had done that day was nothing short of a miracle. An entire Covenant recon team eliminated.
A corporal was slumped unconscious in a corner, and one of the overhead lamps was twisted at an odd angle. Men sat around the long tables with large, frosty mugs of ale in one hand, and a cigar or cigarette or the occasional pipe in the other. Beer and ale was sloshed all around the room. On the tables, the counters, on the floor, on the pool table. There were men hugging each other, fighting each other, anything. Then again, the captain couldn't blame them. These men had so far lived through over three weeks of hell. They deserved the reward.
The captain walked briskly towards the other end of the mess hall. He flung open the door, and proceeded down a hallway, Sergeant Gaunt following swiftly at his heels. He reached the end of the hallway, and found the elevator that ran between the first, second, and basement floors of the small outpost. The sergeant stepped inside with him, and hit the button for the second floor.
"What are we going to do now, captain?" the sergeant asked nonchalantly.
"What do you mean, sergeant?"
"You know damn well what I mean, sir. The Covenant will be here by tomorrow. An entire recon force was completely and utterly eliminated. They're not going to sit idly by and let this go. They'll come again. In force."
"I understand what you're saying, sergeant," the captain said. The elevator reached the second floor, and the doors slid open silently. A corporal and a private stood guard at the top, MA5B assault rifles at the ready. There was only one room on the second floor, the Captain's office. Captain Zadeka walked briskly down the hallway, one arm crooked behind his back, the other still clutching his BR55 rifle by the optics rack.
The captain entered his office with the sergeant close on his heels. The office was large, and spacious. Off to the left was a door that lead to the Captain's private bathroom. There was a tactical map that showed force deployments, artillery locations, and troop movements of both the Covenant and UNSC forces. A ceiling fan twirled above their heads, sending motes of dust spinning in an invisible cyclone. Several weapons were propped against a wall. A large steel desk dominated the center of the room, with a computer to one side of it, a chess set in the middle, and a pair of overly stuffed chairs on either side. Papers and half-empty coffee cups were littered across the room. A large cactus was potted near an enormous book shelf on the right wall.
"Please, be seated sergeant," the captain said. "And let's have us a little, friendly game, shall we?"
"I'll be black this time, sir. Give you an advantage," the sergeant added almost dully. They set up the pieces, and the captain moved first, moving his queen pawn out two spaces.
"So, sergeant, what do you suggest we do? If the Covenant are coming, and we both know they are, what are we going to do?"
Gaunt moved his right knight pawn out one space. "I suggest we start setting up additional defensive fortifications. Booby traps, fall back point, reinforcing certain points of the outpost."
"That won't stop them forever."
"Of course it won't, sir," moving knight out into the field. "But it will stall them long enough for reinforcements to arrive,"
Bishop to take knight. "And if reinforcements don't arrive?"
Rook into the fray. "Then we hold out as long as we can. Fight to the very last man, if we have to. Take as much as a toll on them as we can."
King-side castle. "Not the best advice. I don't like it. I want to get these men out of here sergeant. We need a ride, and we need it fast."
Queen to take rook. "And how do you suppose we do that, captain?"
Queen to take queen. "We've been intercepting communications from the Covenant for quite some time now. There's a Covenant Prophet here onboard an enemy destroyer."
King-side castle. "And how is this supposed to help us?"
Bishop to take left rook pawn. "We board the destroyed, capture the Prophet, and use it to buy us a ride home."
Left knight out. "Easier said then done, sir. It'll be crawling with enemy forces, to say the least. And we have no idea how to fly the ship, let alone get aboard. What do you suggest we do, now?"
"Simple," the captain said. "We draw them into us. Give them the bait, and see if they follow. If they do, we lure them in, and," moves queen next to bishop, ending the game. "Checkmate."
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