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Hunter Ch. 2; Blooded.
Posted By: LordsFire<EarthMartianSpaceBob@hotmail.com>
Date: 29 December 2004, 11:30 PM
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(if you haven't read the previous chapter, you aren't going to understand Evans hardly at all. It won't take you more than 10 minutes, so I'd reccommend you do that first. FYI, in case you don't know, continuous means without break. I use the word later.)
I ran into a slight hitch getting dressed for my leave. While on leave, I was not supposed to wear my uniform, but I had little else with me, except my armor. I was probably going to get a lot of strange looks, but I really didn't care. I reported to the hangar bay at 0800, clad in my plate mail, with my sidearm holstered on my right hip, just behind my sword.
I did indeed get a few strange looks. It was interesting though, that more regular marines spoke to me while I wasn't wearing my ODST emblem, one of them in particular. As I was looking out the front viewport, a deep voice behind me sounded;
"Are you sure your in the right century"?
I turned around, and saw a marine corporal in full dress uniform, with sidearm. He was about 6', and was of stocky build. Deep brown eyes rode in a fair skinned face, with a shock of red hair above the whole ensemble.
"Sir"? I asked somewhat hesitantly.
"Whats with the plate-mail and sword? And judging by your siring me, you're a marine, so what are you doing out of uniform"?
"I'm on leave sir."
"Ah. Well no siring me then." This caught my curiousity. Most NCO's I had run in would have you sir them if you met ten feet underwater without scuba gear.
"So what are you doing here then, Corporal"?
"Corporal Peters, John Peters. And what I'm doing is playing escort to the good captain," he thumbed at Commander Keyes sitting in dress uniform further back in the transport, "To the station and back. Who are you"?
"I'm Private Evans." I replied.
"What brings you to the Cairo Private?? Malta's the one with the Theatre, and Athens is the one with the low G gym. Unless you find all the plants particularly interesting... Oh, of course, your here to see the legendary Master Chief."
"Not really sir. I hear that there were some Active camoflouge modules amongst the loot brought back with the POA and Reach survivors, and I have something of a hobby with Photon/Wave mechanics. I'm hoping to get a look at them."
Corporal Peterson looked at me strangely. I suppose it was strange seeing someone who looked like he belonged in the 11th century expressing interest in the way light was refracted and bent. "I doubt you'll be able to get your hands on one of them, but they might let you watch if you ask nice."
"I'll keep that in mind sir."
The ship began to decelerate for docking, and I moved towards the exit hatch. With a loud clank, the station grabbed the transport, and the hatch shortly opened. I moved off towards the lower levels, where the labs were, but I saw that most were moving towards where the Master Chief was apparently going to show up for further decoration. I had looked at the public part of his file once, and it seemed he had enough decorations to absorb a plasma torpedo. I chuckled to myself, maybe thats why he was so hard to kill.
As I arrived on the lower levels, I looked around for staffed labs, guessing that the photon/wave team would be the only one with anything new to be working on. I only found one staffed lab, but they didn't seem to actully be doing anything. I surveyed the lab through the glass window, all the technicians and other white coats seemed to be bored out of their skulls, like the rest of us. However, the equipment was correct for experiments with light, so I knocked on the door. The door said "photon mechanics" Duh. Read the sign on the door idiot.
One of the white coats walked to the door, and opened it. He looked me up and down. As said before, I was wearing full plate mail, covering every inch of my skin except for my head, with a sword and a pistol on my hip, and my helmet under my arm. "You lost son"?
I pointed at the sign on the door. "Unless this belongs on another door, no, I'm not."
The scientist looked me up and down again, clearly thinking I was confused. "So what are you here for then"?
"I have something of a hobby with Photon/wave mechanics, and heard this was where the captured active camo modules were to be tested."
Now the techie just looked confused. "Well, you might as well come in, we really can't do anything much until the Spartan comes down." He said.
"Why not"?
"The modules only work with surfaces that already refract light, and are continuous. That's why he's been able to use them before, Spartans armor is designed to refract and absorb plasma fire, which also serves the purpose of a carrier for the active camo."
I smiled. The quartz coating my armor would do the trick nicely, and it was continous.
"My armor might serve." I said
"Whats it consist of"? Asked one of the other techies, as I walked in.
"Better than 99% pure titanium, the remaining is nickel trace, the ore we extracted it from was also nickel streaked. The coating is quartz, three milimeters thick. We applied it when I announced my decision to join the Core."
"So you're a marine"? The second techie asked.
"Yes, I'm with the ODST's. My names Evans."
The five techies in the room gathered around, and gave me their names. The one who had answered the door was Carter, a tall, thin guy, with steady blue eyes. The tech who had asked about my armor was Yung, he had oriental features, and an energetic air, like he could never be at rest. Both of them specialized in metallurgy and conductivity, Yung also in electronics, and a half dozen other things. Next came Johnson and Spalding, both short, blond haired, blue eyed, and looking born to their pocket protectors. The last was Erikson, who looked like a Viking. He was muscular, with light blond hair, a bushy beard, and tall. If you'd given him an axe and put a snarl on his face, the civilians would be hiding the woman and children. All three of these specialized in Photon wave mechanics and light refraction. They checked my file to see if I was an eligible guinea pig, and it turned out that since I was an ODST I was certified for testing experimental equipment. I was required to thumb a "test user" agreement stating I wouldn't sue the core if the "combat experimants" went badly and caused me harm, and that I would not talk about the test equipment with anyone not engaged in said testing, or of less than Commander rank.
Over the next two hours, they explained what they knew so far of the active camo modules. Apparently they distributed some sort of energy flow through refraction matrices that translated light through the matrix. They had no idea how it knew where to release the light again, or what kind of energy it was, although labs earthside were working on it. They were here for product testing, and as the Master Chief wasn't available, I would do. Yung asked for my helmet while the others began installed the module along the beltline of my armor. Johnson explained where to press for activation, where to press for deactivation, and how badly I did NOT want to have the thing active under various conditions, including an EMP wave, nuclear radiation and other things that I would probably already be dead for. Apparently, the thing would be able to maintain the field from anywhere from 25 seconds to two days, depending on how compatible my armor was with the system. Once the field completely decayed it would stop trying to generate and self-recharge, and would not reactivate till fully charged. If I deactivated it before the field completely decayed, I would still have to wait for full charge. Recharge time would be roughly equivalent to the time it took to drain. Also, if I found a pyramidal glass case with a blue energy ball in it, I could use it to function as a full charge, if I touched any surface of my armor to the case.
At the end of two hours, Yung brought me back my helmet, with an idiot grin on his face. He gestured for me to don it. I did so, and to my surprise, a HUD popped up. Yung explained;
"I installed a comm unit along the jawline, voice activated. Set the frequency with this." He held up a small remote with a keypad and numerical display, and then put it on my belt. "The main thing is that I added a display that will roughly show how much charge remains in the camo module, although it will have to calibrate itself the first time you activate it, so it won't show anything the first time you run the system. Being the hardware happy tech nut I am, I added a couple other gimmicks, primarily a small but very high capacity hard drive which can store pretty much anything that fits, I suspect you'll use it mostly for vids, which you can throw up on the HUD, or recording comm traffic..." He broke trailed.
An alarm sounded, the one used when hostile starships were approaching. We all bolted to the labs exterior window, which look out into space above earth. Blue flashes popped in and out of view, although what was jumping in was not visible from this distance.
"Say 'magnify'" Young said.
"Magnify." my view on the visor jumped forward, and I could make out a small fleet of bluish Covenant ships.
"How bad is it"? Spalding asked.
"I see twelve ships. Looks like ten cruisers and a pair of assault carriers."
The techies let out a collective breath. "I installed a small lense and digital camera construct directly above the helmet's visor. It should give about 16x magnification. You can record the data onto the hard drive."
I cursed under my breath, interrupting Yung's monologue.
"The ships are coming this way. And fast. How do I turn of the magnification"?
"Say 'zoom out'" Yung said absently, staring out of the multiplex window, at the ships which were now becoming visible to unaided eyes. Before I deactivated the magnification, I saw many smaller ships break off.
"They're sending bording craft this way. Are any of you armed"?
Surprisingly enough, it was Spalding and Johnson who produced a pair of M6E's, although the others were totally unarmed.
"What are you supposed to do in case of attack"?
Erikson spoke up for the first time since giving me his name. "Take the elevators to the mid level, and go to security station two."
"I'll escort you." The techies had not objection.
I unholstered my pistol, loaded, it, and we set out for the elevators.
The Loudspeakers blared about where boarding craft were docking, accompanied to slight vibrations in the deck as elsewhere on the station Covenant craft grappled the station. We reached the elevator just as the speaker announced a craft latching on the science level, and found a major hitch. The elevator was locked down. Yung immediately moved to the control panel and swore.
"One button control panel, basically a call button. I could open up the panel and put a call through even though it's deactivated, but the elevator won't respond, during lock down it is physically clamped on the command deck."
"Could you command the clamps to unlock"? Carter asked.
"With ten minutes at the junction box, which is also on the command deck." Replied Yung.
"Are there marines stationed on this level"? I asked.
Erikson spoke agian, in his deep rumbling voice.
"There's a nuke squad assigned to drop an EMP in the labs if it looks like we're going to loose the level to Covenant."
"Marine Core directives require me to report to the nearest squad in a combat situation. They also require me to keep civilians under as good protection as possible when they cannot be evacuated." I recited, and non of the scientists seemed to object to this either. "So where will this squad be"?
"I don't know." Said Erikson.
"Here," said Yung, and picked up the remote he had placed on my belt earlier and punched a few buttons. I began to pick up voices in the new headset in my helmet. "That should get you onto the local combat frequency. The HUD should display when you get a lock on the frequency. Indeed, my visor displayed in glowing red letters in the bottom left corner 'frequency locked'.
"This is Private Evans on level A-4, by the elevator, with five noncombatants, looking for the nearest fire team."
"This is Seargant Perezz. What is your sitrep and unit info Private"?
"I am wearing non-standard armor, armed with an M6E, and escorting a lab team, five total, two also armed with M6E's. My unit is stationed aboard the In Amber clad, I came here on leave."
"We are stationed outside the chemical lab, escort the civvies down here. Lockdown all blast doors along the way, Covenant are going to be on this level soon, and we don't want them flanking us if we need to retreat to the elevator."
Five minutes later, I was just this side of my first fire-fight. Perezz had five marines holding a T-junction by one of the legs, two with SMG's, and himself and another with Battle Rifles. The last had a Shotgun. The men with the short range weapons were stationed behind a pair of fire shields, Perezz placed himself, the other battl rifle wielder and I behind an overturned steel table about ten yards down the hall from the other marines. The techies watched our rear in case the covenant broke through one of the blast doors. Perezz had ordered silence until a fight began.
Harsh voices sounded from around the corner of the junction, at first fain, but growing more distinct. An elite was telling his grunts to move up, and the jackals to stop running ahead of the grunts. I tensed, and gripped my M6 with both hands, sighting on a point just off the corner of the junction.
Suddenly, a Grunt head popped around the corner. I reflexively fired, and missed. The private with the Shotgun fired a shot as well, and it is hard to miss at that range, especially with a shotgun. I realized that I was breathing quickly, and I consciously controlled my breathing. Silence resounded for a moment, and Sgt. Perezz asked,
"First fight"?
"First with the Covies."
A pair of Jackals ran out into the open, and presented their shields to us. Grunts crowded into the corridor, and a storm of plasma fire erupted in our direction. For a moment I halfway ducked, then started as Battle Rifles sounded almost on top of me. I rose to firing position again, and sighted on a grunt that was out of the Jackals shield cover. I pulled the trigger twice, the first bullet dinging the grunts chest armor, the second going through it's neck. I started to line up on a second grunt, but it collapsed in a hail of SMG fire.
"GRENADE!" Yelled one of the marines, and I saw a grunt lob a grenade at the table covering us. We leapt back, but the grenade failed to clear the tables edge. I thought us safe, but a moment later the Grenade detonated, and the table suddenly leapt at us. I reflexively dropped under the giant projectile, and Perezz was still on the ground from his earlier dive, but the other marine was caught in the chest, and knocked down the corridor.
Perezz saw where I was staring, and yelled at me to keep firing. Turning around, I rose smoothly to a crouch, and entered what my father referred to as "the zone". I locked my eyes onto one target, fired until it fell, and then moved to the other. The only concern other than target nuetralization was which targets were targeting me. Feeling somehow unattached, I watched as half the grunts were mown down, and another of the marines succumbed to plasma fire from one of the jackals, taking an overcharged bolt through the chest. Then Perezz threw a grenade, which landed dead center between the jackals.
It detonated, ripping the jackals to shreds, and killing most the rest of the grunts. The remaining marine with an SMG hosed down the rest of the grunts, but for some reason I didn't seem to be able to hear any of the shots, only see them. Something didn't seem right. I bumped the remote on my belt as I grabbed a fresh clip for my pistol, and a record icon appeared in the top left of my helmet's visor. As my hearing faded back in, I heard Perezz yelling at one of the marines as he strode towards their position.
"Any left Cortez"?
The marine with the shotgun was peering around the corner.
"No sir."
Thats what was wrong. I had heard Elite voices before the fight began.
A huge blast sounded behind me, and I whirled, to see huge fragments of half melted door smack against the wall opposite a new gaping hole in one of the blast doors. I saw Erikson yell something at the other techies as he grabbed the inert form of the wounded marine, and drag him behind the half melted remnants of the table I had used as cover before. The other techies stumbled behind it as well.
Two Blue clad elites stormed through the gaping hole in the wall, wheeling towards the noise on their right. They spewed plasma fire willy nilly at the techies, taking Yung in the left shoulder just as he reached cover. Johnson and Spalding popped up, spraying pistol fire at the elites, most shots dinging against the wall, but a few impacting their shields.
Instinct kicked in. I dropped my pistol, and unsheathed my sword. The nearer elite whirled towards the noise of metal ringing, just in time to catch my sword stroke accross his chest. His shields absorbed the blow, but weakened. A pistel shot from one of the techies wiped his shields the rest of the way out, and I drove my sword upwards through the gap in the center of his armor, blade buried to the hilt. Looking down on me, the elite screamed disbelief at the sword jutting from his chest, but the cry trailed off as blood poured from his mouth, and his eyes darkened. A corpse slid to the ground, and I pulled my sword free, as the other elite turned towards me. The Techies dropped back behind cover to reload, and for a moment I stood alone against the second elite.
He lunged at me, trying to hit me in the helmet with the butt of his plasma rifle, but I sidestepped. I flicked my blade at his extended arm, but it struck energy shielding. Remembering that Elites were far stronger than humans, I stepped back as he swung a balled fist at me. I laid a lightening quick series of slashes accross his chest, encountering his shields every time. He stepped back and fired his plasma rifle at me. Three shots scored accross my chest plate, my armor absorbing them, but the kinetic force nocked me off my feet.
Roaring triumph, the elite ran up to me, and, planted a foot on my chest, pinned me to the deck and kicked my sword from my hand.
"I want to see the fear in your eyes, human." he growled. Contemptuously, he flicked off my helmet with his free hand, and leaned down till our faces were inches apart. He growled into my face, a deep rumbling noise, and his mandibles twitched as he inhaled my scent. I growled right back. He recoiled slightly in surprise, pulling his head back. Immediately, a burst of fire sounded, and the elite was knocked off me as a trio of bullets thudded against his shields, finishing them. I rolled into a crouch, and launched myself at him, snarling. I knocked him to his back, and repeatedly pounded my mailed fist into his nose. His eyes crossed, and then closed, and I saw purple blood spatter the deck.
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I leapt back to my feet, and spun around, fist raised. It was Seargant Perezz. I lowered my fist, and realized my chest was heaving as I breathed. Slowing my breathing, I heard dripping noises, and looked down to see purple blood coating my gauntlet.
End chapter.
Sorry about how long it took to finish the set up, but I hadn't realized more characters were going to be entering. This was my first time writing a fire-fight, so please tell me how it turned out.
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