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A Marine Named Peters: Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here
Posted By: GLADIATRRR3000<GLADIATRRR3000@army.com>
Date: 6 January 2004, 4:17 AM
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"It'll be right on top of us in ten minutes."
Rodriguez swore and put her hair in a pony tail. "Alright. Make sure everyone is at their battle stations. I want three squads of marines all equipped with close range weapons ready in case the Covenant board the craft. Ready the MAC rounds and remove the safety on a Shiva tactical nuke." She took a deep breath and turned towards Peters. "Peters, meet me on the bridge. Grab your gun, some clips, and a backpack with medical supplies. I need to check with something."
Peters nodded and ran off towards the table he was just standing at. He heard Rodriguez say something to Aristotle. The AI nodded and disappeared. Rodriguez ran to the door, which opened automatically, and turned the corner. Peters grabbed a M6D, an MA5B, and several clips for both. He stuffed the pistol magazines in one pocket, and the assault rifle magazines in another to make sure he wouldn't mix them up. He grabbed a backpack, stuffed two med packs into it, and closed it.
He ran towards the door. It failed to open automatically, and Peters slammed headfirst into it. He hit the ground hard, rubbed his nose, and swore loudly. He stood up and pulled the door open. It wasn't easy, and it took a lot of energy, but Peters did it. It shut behind him with a slam, shaking the floor beneath him. He wondered why it didn't open on its own and ran towards the elevator. It too didn't operate. He pressed the button several times before he gave up and headed for the stairs.
After two minutes, he reached the bridge, short of breath and sweating bullets. Rodriguez turned towards him, saw the condition that he was in, and explained. "We don't know what happened. The Covenant have apparently found a way to shut off power in our ships. Luckily for us, its only small things, like doors, elevators, and intercoms. Although I'd rather have them operational, we can do without them."
Rodriguez turned back to the screens, which showed pictures of the Covenant ship. Numbers and letters were scrolling across the screen. What make Peters feel more scared than before was it appeared to be...
"...Dead in space..." Rodriguez whispered.
Aristotle popped up from a panel, and the light from the projector made the room a strange turquoise color. "Correct. I did thorough heat scans and scanned for movement. There were several fires, which means the ship is still pressurized, but the motion signatures..." The screen with the Covenant ship zoomed in on an area, peeled apart the ship's armor, and showed the halls and rooms inside. They were a dark red. "Were all over the place."
Rodriguez stood for a moment. "Do another scan if you can. Check to see if there are any sounds in that ship, I want to know if the Covenant are in there and talking."
Aristotle disappeared for a moment, and then came back. "The only sounds I got were the sounds of fire, clanking of the broken walls, and... a dripping noise."
"Dripping?" Peters asked.
"Yes, dripping." Aristotle said harshly. "As if they had a leak somewhere... but the sound was everywhere."
"We're going in." Rodriguez said suddenly.
"WHAT?" Peters and Aristotle said in unison.
"Well, it's obvious there are little to no Covenant in there, or we would have been fired at several times by now. Also, the ship is powered down, which is strange for any Covenant ship." Rodriguez said. "Get those three squads of marines I ordered into three Pelicans. I also want six more squads in heavy armor, with assault rifles and shotguns. Tell them to use explosive and normal rounds."
"Peters... You lead two squads. I'll lead two, and..." Rodriguez said.
Karls ran into the room, juggling three guns in his arms, ammo falling out of his pocket, and sweat pouring down his face. "Je-j-Jesus Christ... Do you know how hard it is to carry 80 pounds of equipment up three flights of stairs?"
Rodriguez smiled for a moment, but it quickly disappeared. "...And Karls will take the other two squads. I'll tell you more when everyone's in the drop ships heading towards the ships."
Several minutes later, Peters was in a Pelican with 9 other soldiers and a pilot. Peters, Karls, and Rodriguez were held in three separate Pelicans, with 9 soldiers armed with shotguns. They would enter through the docking bays on the Frigate's starboard side, while the other 6 Pelicans, holding 60 marines armed with assault rifles, would circle the ship once, checking for any signs of activities the scanners could have missed. After they were done, they would enter the same docking port as the first 3 Pelicans, drop the marines, and head back to their ship.
Peters was skeptical at first, but seeing as he had nine heavily armed body guards and 89 other marines behind him, he felt almost safe. The radio was filled with Rodriguez's orders, music from another Pelican, and he could swear he heard Karls telling a joke.
"Rodriguez says she just double and triple checked, the Covenant's shields are off, so you don't need to worry about hitting it and blowing up before we see any action." The pilot yelled out of the cockpit.
Peters checked out his un-used gun. He took out the magazine, checked the bullets, and slid it back into his MA5B. The soldier next to him tapped his shoulder, and Peters looked at him. "Here, take this." The soldier said, handing him a huge magazine filled with bullets. "It's my modification no one ever looked at. I put three times as many bullets in this, so it holds 180 bullets. And one in the barrel. Add on the explosive caps, and you have one hell of a getaway gun."
Peters looked at, held out his hand, and dropped it when he found out how heavy it was. It was easily 20 pounds or more. Putting it in his MA5B, held completely horizontal, the magazine would go down to his waist. It was no surprise that no one would use it. It would make the gun so inaccurate, he doubted he could hit anything.
"Er... Thanks..." Peters said.
"It's Evans. Private Evans." Evan said.
"Right. Good luck out there."
Just then static filled the Pelican, and Peters heard Rodriguez's voice.
"Alright, men. And women. Our mission is to find the bridge of the ship, insert Aristotle into any machine, and retrieve as much information as we can. If we could somehow PILOT this ship, we would call for technicians, engineers, and pilots and see if we could get this to earth. The least I want to get is the locations of Covenant occupied worlds, their defenses, and what the hell this war is about. Aristotle was able to work out a map, so just follow the NAV points if you can. If you don't have a visor, just follow the rest of your squad there. Be on the lookout for any Covenant. I don't want any casualties."
There was a murmur of voices in the Pelican, and several people put on helmets, made sure they could see the NAV points, and tightened the straps on the helmets. Peters stared through the cockpit at the Covenant docking bay that was getting closer and closer. It was pitch black. The only lick was from the incoming Pelicans. This was almost like a ghost ship.
The pilot started speaking. "Aristotle is going to try to start the power supply by hacking into the system. We need to get the shields up in this room, or we're going to need to put on some space suits."
Peters sat down for a minute. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled, getting ready for a long wait. "...Ok, the shields are on." The pilot said, amazement in his voice. "Apparently, all safeties on the Covenant hard drive were disabled. Lucky us. Atmosphere is in the room, and the door is.... Opened."
The door opened, and the darkness filled Peters' vision. Their footsteps echoed in the bay, making the only noise they could hear. One marine turned on his flashlight. Peters made no notice of it, until the flashlight revealed something horrible.
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