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Echoes of the Past: Chapter 2: Old Alliances
Posted By: Omega 505<omega505@ymail.com>
Date: 15 February 2009, 4:41 am
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Chapter 2
Old Alliances
Prologue:
Three weeks earlier
"And we, to this day, support the full and continued operation of this archeological site. Thank you all for coming, and enjoy your day exploring the ruins." The CO stepped down from the high podium and bowed to his audience. He turned to a corporal and whispered, "Is the infection secure?"
"Uh, we don't know sir. We think we have it contained on the lower levels. As long as we keep guests away from there, it should be fine." The corporal seemed shaken, a sign of his long station here.
The CO sighed, "Good, as long as we keep this contain…" Sudden screams erupted from the ruins. "What the hell is that?" People scrambled from the entrance as gunfire spilled from the access. "Get those warthogs over here, cover that door. Let any inhuman bastard die the instant they see light. The warthog opened fire into the opening. Shots rang out, bullets and rockets flew from the ruins.
It all ended there. Flood sprung from the darkness, ripping the drivers from the cars. Bulbous forms scurried over and covered the survivors. No one was left standing.
The flood had begun.
_________________________
Present Day
20:24
"Lucas? But…but how?" Susan blinked and stared at the other Spartan.
"Ha, so you do have a name," Sergeant Hails laughed, "Not so tough now, are you."
Lucas 115 ignored him and moved closer to Susan. "Susan… I don't know how to say this but, you're dead…" His mind flicked back to the horror he saw earlier. "I saw you, you were one of them." He stared her up and down. "I don't know what to believe anymore." He laughed stared at the wall behind her. "Where are the others?"
She stared at him blankly, still trying to get over the shock. "They…they should be right behind me."
"Well they better hurry, I don't know how many holes there are in this place, but the Flood are getting in here one way or another."
_________________________
Two weeks earlier
20:27
"You think we should follow her?" Kurtz stared nervously at the wall of energy.
"She didn't say anything," Ward shook, "She just disappeared, into the wall."
"I'm telling you she's probably dead." Mark barley had time to say it before Kurtz slammed him into a wall.
"Look here," He hissed," That is the last thing I want to hear from you, you understand? She's coming back, now stop being so negative and think." He pulled Mark away from the wall and shoved him deeper into the chamber.
"You know what, I'm sick of taking orders from you. I'm the same rank as any of you idiots, and none of you can really do anything to me, so…" Kurtz slammed his fist into Marks face. Blood splashed from the broken nose and torn cheek. Mark stumbled back and fell through the energy wall.
Kurtz turned to Ward and shrugged. "The bastard deserved it. Someone needed to cut him down." Ward grinned wickedly. "Alright, come on. We got nothing to lose now, over the breach?"
"Why not," Ward laughed, "Everyone else has." Kurtz hefted Ward and the stumbled into the wall, and into the breach once more.
_________________________
Present Day
20:28
Lucas sighed, "You sure they're coming?"
"I'm certain," Susan glanced worriedly at the wall. "They've got to."
Suddenly Mark came rolling through the wall. Blood gushed from his open wounds. Hails ran over and unclipped the med kit from his belt. "You were saying?" He popped the can of biofoam and closed the gap on Mark's cheek.
"He….he….he" Mark stuttered, trying to regain control. "He fucking punched me."
Susan leaned closer, "Wait, who punched you?"
Kurtz and Ward stumbled out of the wall. "Hey, I told you he'd be alright." Kurtz ginned at Susan. "Hey Sus, you mind telling us before you do something like that?" He froze and stared at Lucas. "Oh, so you found… him? Great, another hothead who can't seem to work with a team."
"Hey, what's happened has happened. I was willing to let the past rest, but you feel it necessary to open those wounds…" Lucas started, anger building up in his face.
"I feel it necessary that everyone remembers what you did. We thought you were dead. Ten years, you've been dead to us. We can't just drop what happened." Kurtz started toward Lucas, anger focused on one objective. "You moved in, left us to die, you didn't even say anything, and you just expect us to forget?"
Hails sat down next to Ward. "Hey, should I be making popcorn or something? This is getting heated." Ward just continued to stare at the warring Spartans.
"I did what I had to. Now if you want be to blame the success of the mission…"
"The mission, the mission? That's all you're about. Mission this, mission that, what about us? You just can't leave like that."
"Alright, both of you knock it off. The past is dead." Susan cut in between the two, glaring them down. She turned to Kurtz, "You can't keep living in the past. It's done. If any of us had been in his position, we would have done the same thing."
She spun and faced Lucas, "And you, you fuel his anger and get angry at him for the results? You're going to split this team apart. Let's just leave this be and figure it out some other time, because we have people to save. Ward, Mark, the sergeant, they need us, and we can't have you two fighting the entire way."
The two continued to stare each other down, but silently moved away. "Alright, let's pull this together. Mark, can you walk?" He nodded weakly and stood. "Good, Kurtz you keep helping Ward. Alright Spartans, lets move out."
_________________________
10 years ago
Lucas's story
ONI interrogative facility
"So, what happened, where's your squad?" The ONI officer stared Lucas down from across the table. "How do we know you didn't betray us?"
Lucas shook his head, "You can't, that's why you'll follow protocol and question me to see. Then you'll cross reference that with reports from the field and..."
"Look, I don't need to know my job, just tell me what happened and we can all be on our way." The officer sat down and crossed his arms
"Alright, but I'll have to start from the beginning..."
_________________________
Present Day
23:11
A strange man stood obscured in the darkness. Susan ran for him, calling out his name. Every time she ran closer, he got farther away. Voices rang out in the darkness, cries of pain, death. The man turned to her, and she cried out.
"…I love you." She gasped, missing the words as they came out of her own mouth, wanting them back already. The man smiled something wrong. Another voice added to the sounds, this one clear, and harsh.
"Erh, you are weak. Emotions run your lives as you press on toward your own demise. Your kind is weak, but they will make us stronger…" A shape lurched out of the shadows, beating the man down. Susan cried, tears streaming down her face. The shape turned and moved towered her. The Mjolnir armor sat bent and twisted on the shape's body. Its face mangled, she recognized herself…
"Susan," it called, "Come with us Susan, join us in the peace of death…"
Susan lurched up, sweat streaming down her face. Kurtz ran over to her, "Hey Sus, you okay? " She nodded weakly. "You get some rest, our brilliant seems to think we still have some time left to sleep. I'll wake you when we need to move, okay?" She nodded again, and then laid back. Slowly, she fell into a fretful sleep.
Kurtz walked over to Lucas. Lucas turned to him, "She going to be alright?"
Kurtz sighed, "I think so. She's been like this since the attack." He leaned against a wall and sighed again. "I don't trust you, but it seems like old alliances are the best we've got against these things."
Lucas shrugged, "Who knows what we have. All I know is that there's a ship up there that we've got to get to. Past or not, we're Spartans, we've got a job to do." He got up and checked the others. "How's the front Hails?"
"Not good, those things are getting smarter." Hails looked out deeper into the woods, listening to the sounds of death. "Those things aren't going to give up. We have to get out of here. You know what protocol is. We don't get out soon, then there's not going to be anything left to rescue."
Lucas nodded, "We'll find a way. We've got nothing to lose."
"You strive to greet every passing moment, but fail to see the truth. All things must come to an end, but death is not it. Death is not the end of thought. As I have shown you, it will all be clear soon enough." Susan cried, long and hard as the voice pressed inward. "Your friends will all die, and you shall join me. I am the past, I create the present, and I control the future!" The shape limped over to the man's dark figure. It lifted him, pulling him to his feet.
"No…" she tried to yell, but her voice failed her.
"Yes, it shall all come to be as I have foreseen. Fate can not be denied!" The shape plunged an arm through the man. He gasped for air as he fell back to the floor. Susan sobbed, watching the man she once knew becoming one of them.
"Susan?" Lucas shook Susan's arm, trying to wake her up. "Hey Susan, wake up. We have to get moving." Susan jumped up gasping. She stared at Lucas and embraced him. "Whoa, what's with the sudden affection?" She continued to sob, gasping into Lucas's armor.
She looked up to him, "I… I thought I lost you."
Lucas frowned, "Why? I never left. We were right here the whole time." He squeezed her hand. "Come on, we have to get moving." She nodded and got up, grabbing a rifle. "Are you going to be okay?"
She nodded again, "I… I'm fine. Let's get moving." They turned and headed off with the group, deeper into the forest.
_________________________
Present Day
01:24
Kurtz slowed and paced himself with Susan. "Hey Sus, you alright?" He saw Lucas turn away.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that…" She blushed and looked away. "I thought he was dead again."
"You're back on that? He never loved you, don't beat yourself up for it. You're too good for him any way."
She smiled, "Thanks, but I still love him, I think I always will." She sighed and sped up so she was next to Lucas.
Ward moved next to Kurtz. "So, how is she?"
Kurtz shook his head, "She still loves him. She's too damn stubborn to see that he isn't interested."
"Is he really? All he used to talk about was her. Damn near inseparable they were. Why don't you just let it be?"
"Because, I'm her brother, that's what I'm supposed to do. I can't see her hurt again." He stared at his feet, "I know he'll let her down."
Ward slapped him on his back, "Don't worry about it, you'll be there to pick her back up. She'll be fine, trust her," Ward grinned.
"I guess, but I can't shake the feeling. I don't think it's right to let it be. She started having those dreams again, the ones about him. I told him they were nightmares about the attack."
"You lied? What if she tells him?"
"I'll burn that bridge when I come to it. Let's get moving before hot-head notices." They jogged back up towered the group.
Ward turned to Lucas, "You think we lost them yet?"
Lucas laughed, "No, we'll never lose these buggers. Damn things are persistent, I'll give'em that."
"You tried the radio yet?" Mark asked.
"No, we're just walking it for fun. Of course I tried the radio, trees block the transmission." Lucas sighed, "Even if we could get a signal through, command wouldn't send a pick-up, with protocol and all. They might not even know the flood is even here."
Suddenly a roar filled the forest. Three Pelican drop ships screamed over the treetops. Mark started jumping, "Call them, get out the damned radio."
"We can't get a signal through the damn trees. They couldn't hear us even if we tried." Lucas shook his head, "They're doomed…"
_________________________
10 Years ago
ONI interrogative facility
"Wouldn't want it any other way," The man leaned back in the chair, "So, are you going to start or are we just going to stare at each other from across the table."
"Look, this isn't a joke… I lied to them to finish the mission. They still think I'm dead, and your spooks won't let me see them." Lucas slammed his fist into the metal table, leaving a sizable dent. "Are we finished, or are you going to keep me here?"
"Alright, but it's not my call. If they don't want you to see your squad then trust me, you aren't going to see them. We have a few propositions for you. Then, maybe, you would be returned to active duty."
"Dammit, I don't have time for more of ONI's games. I have a duty to uphold, a promise I made to them, and I can't let them down."
"Or you can't let her down…"
"What did you say?"
"Oh, nothing, but I'd watch who you go talking back to. Some may not take well to threats." The man placed a piece of paper on the desk, then stood up and moved toward the door. Before opening it he turned back to Lucas, "And by the way, I don't work for ONI," with that he opened the door and walked out.
Lucas sighed and rubbed his temples. He reached out and grabbed the paper the man left and looked over it. In the top corner blazed a silver sphere with the letters URF shining under a deep grey eye.
_________________________
Present Day
01:28
Dark clouds rolled across the night sky, blocking out the stars. Not more than a few seconds passed when rain suddenly blanketed the group of marines as they trudged on toward where they believed the pelicans headed. They marched solemnly deeper into the forest when a light shone on the edge of the trees.
Lucas stopped and looked out into the darkness. Inhuman sounds echoed back, quietly moving parallel to the group. He shivered at the thought of the creatures and kept moving forward, toward the light.
The trees dropped back from the forest into scattered groups. Shadows danced in the Spartan's flashlights, giving the open space an eerie sensation. Large shapes lunged across the clearing toward large towers in the distance. The skyscrapers reached up into the storm, challenging it as they stood tall and majestic against the windswept terrain.
Susan moved next to Lucas and whispered, staring out at the structure. "What is it? I don't remember it here before."
Lucas shook his head, "I… I don't know. There aren't any colonies here, but it sure as hell looks like a city." Lights flashed from above the closest tower. "Look, running lights. That's where the pelicans went."
Hails looked out, fear showing in his face, but his voice was strong. "So we have to go in there? Fine, just point me in the right direction." He cocked his rifle and charged a clip into the chamber with a loud click. The noise echoed into the darkness.
They didn't see them coming. Inhuman arms reached out and grabbed Hails, dragging him into the night. "Hails!" Ward yelled out as he limped toward where the sergeant had been seconds before. "Dammit, where did they come from?" He swept the dark with his rifle, and then lowered it.
Lucas shook his head, frustration clear on his face. "Anywhere out here there could be armies of Flood, but it's too damn dark to see them. I don't know where they came from, but I know here they're going." He pointed toward the city and then turned to the other Spartans. "We have two options, go into the city and go down fighting, or die out here being picked off like cowards. We have to find Hails and get to those pelicans before the Flood. Let's move Spartans, we have work to do."
Without another word, the group headed toward the city, toward their friend, toward salvation, and unknowingly toward the truth.
End of Chapter 2
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