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In Chaos and Despair: Bellerophon 3
Posted By: Maraxus6<deathperson@att.net>
Date: 26 January 2004, 2:55 AM
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Excerpt from The 2nd Fall of Harvest
...Along the way to the pelican bay, the pair found a heap of alien bodies, and a squad of marines stood around it, some dying, others wounded. It was horrible to see the effectiveness of the creatures' weapons; they created 2nd to 3rd degree burns, and marines who were obviously hit by the weapons lay writhing on the ground. "What are you all doing here?!" yelled Pyro. "You should be evacuating! Get the hell outta here! Run-"
His words were cut short by a hail of energy bursts that flew into the thick of the marine squad. Half of one man's head was seared off after being hit a multitude of times. Others were not so lucky with an instant death. They took hits in the torso, arms, legs, virtually anywhere. To top that all off, human blood sprayed everywhere, blinding other marines, who also consequently died in the fire fight, engulfed in burst after burst of buzzing energy.
Sanchez ran. He ran for his life, faster than he had ever remembered running before. The only thought in his mind was to stay alive. The concern he had shown towards others was gone. He never looked back. Looking back could mean death, and Sanchez wasnt ready to die. He just kept running for the pelican bay.
He got to the bay just in time. There was one last ship, laden with around 4 ODSTs and maybe 2 or 3 marines. They montioned to him, and he hopped in.
Just as the pelican sped off toward an unknown destination, a bolt of green was seen speeding towards the craft. Just as it hit... Sanchez's chest, the world before him went black, and he neither heard nor felt anything.
Chapter 2: Bellerophon 3
Sanchez opened his eyes only to shut them again because of too many bright lights. It was as if the room he was in was completely white the walls, curtains, blankets, tubes. Tubes! Sanchez almost screamed out. Yes, there were about 3 tubes going into his arm, all connected to a bag filled with transparent fluid. The third tube was connected to a sack of blood. Sanchez examined the rest of himself to see if he was still in one piece.
The most frightening result of his self-examination was his chest. He saw the nastiest burn right there, smack dab between his heart and stomach. Some of the flesh was charred, but not nearly as much as he thought. Sanchez wondered aloud how he survived that green energy burst until he saw his armor on the wall to his left, or at least, what remained of it. For right where the energy bolt hit, there was a gaping hole in his armor, exactly the same size as the burn on his chest. Sanchez also noticed a red cross on the same wall, not a foot away from his shattered armor.
"Hmm, since I must be in a hospital of some kind, maybe I could call for a doctor around here. Doctor!"
Immediately, a doctor came rushing in, white lab coat flowing behind him. He was tall, probably in his mid-sixties, but yet he seemed to defy his elderly age with his quick movements. "What is it? Do you need anything? Are you in pain?" Sanchez shook his head side to side to negate the barrage of questions; he had to figure what was going on around here.
"Where am I, and what the hell happened down on the planet?"
The doctor's face contorted into a frown at the mention of the word planet. Sanchez knew the doctor would only give him more of what he already had. Bad news.
"I regret to inform you that the planet Harvest has been taken over- or rather was taken over for a short time. Just shortly after you arrived aboard one of our ships, the Viceroy, and initiated an FTL jump, the creatures glassed the planet. No one survived but yourself and the few other marines who made it out. As for where you are, you are currently on the planet Bellerophon 3. The Viceroy dropped off the survivors from Harvest here, and then left to survey the full extent of the damage on the planet, I doubt they'll find anything left."
"Then why didn't those things glass the planet in the first place? They invaded, and then glassed the planet? That doesn't even make sense!"
"It sure doesnt. Nonetheless, I was given orders to tell you that as soon as you're well, you're to depart for Earth with the rest of the survivors. The UNSC leaders will need to hear exactly what happened. Then we can put a stop to this madness."
Sanchez let out a deep sigh, he was in the middle of a newly formed war- there was no time to waste.
"Well, then Id better be going. I feel fine now." Said Sanchez eagerly.
"Hold on, soldier! Its my job to make sure that youre in tip-top shape before you can leave. The UNSC leaders wont want to deal with sick and injured marines, so you'll just have to sit it out for the time being. Think of it this way, this planet is well-defended; so don't be getting all worried about some space-aliens trying to come and get you in your sleep."
Sanchez smiled for the first time in months. "All right, I guess Ill stick around here after all."
"Good, so what division are you-"
A woman's voice on the intercom abruptly cut the doctor off. "All available medical personnel, report to docking bay 3F immediately. Bring emergency equipment- we've got trouble."
"What's going on down there, Smythe?"
"Cant go into details right now doctor, just get down here ASAP."
"I guess Ill be seeing you in a little while," The doctor hastily said to Sanchez, and then half-sprinted out the door.
Sanchez relaxed his head and stared up into the ceiling, pondering his situation. "What is going on here, why did the doctor need to leave like that?" Ever since leaving Harvest, something was wrong, dead wrong. He just couldn't put a finger on what it was yet.
This was all out of his hands, he thought. He was just a Marine, better just get some sleep while he still could and leave the strategy to the admirals. He was a soldier, his purpose wasn't to ask questions, it was to take orders.
"When this is all over I'm gonna need some serious holiday-time." And with that he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Sanchez woke up to a loud noise. He opened his eyes to see what was going on. He had no idea how long he had been asleep; it could have been for mere minutes, or hours.
Wait; there was the noise again. He heard it clearly now, it was a scream from someone close by. He didn't know who, or what they originated from, but he heard other voices trying to calm the source. Sanchez then saw a medical cart being rushed down the hall, bearing a blood-soaked, screeching occupant. Some of the doctors pulled the cart, while others appeared to be vainly attempting to staunch a fountain of blood from the man's shoulder. The cart passed soon, however, and was promptly followed by several more. The occupants of these carts weren't screaming, but were obviously in pain.
The doctor he had been with earlier bustled into the room with a distraught look on his face. His former youthful step fatigued down into a slow paced walk with a slight shuffle. His eyes seemed to just to be barely staying open.
"Im sorry, Sanchez, but Im gonna need to move your bed over to the side of the room and you'd better get ready for some company."
"What happened to those guys? It wasnt-"
"It was. They invaded the planet just like at Harvest, but they didn't glass it. From what Ive overheard from the officers, apparently those things were looking around for something. What is was I have no idea."
"Hmmm, That's strange; they're going at pretty long lengths to look around."
Sanchez and the Doctor moved his bed, and Sanchez hopped back in.
"What time is it?" Asked Sanchez.
"Oh, Id say its pretty late by now. Ive had to work for quite awhile getting those wounded down here to the medical wing. It was a very busy day."
"I can tell. you look horrible."
The doctor chuckled for a moment at that, and then said, "Old age catches up with you one of these days, I guess. However hard I try I will always be getting older."
The same woman's voice that Sanchez heard earlier from the intercom abruptly cut into the conversation.
"He may be getting old, but he has his quirks."
The doctor looked a little angry at first, but then quickly regained his composure.
"Ah, I almost forgot to introduce you two. Sanchez, I'd like you to meet the medical AI, Smythe. Here, let me show you to my office so that we can properly meet her."
Sanchez really had nothing better to do, so he got up and started to follow the doctor to his office.
Surveillance officer Robertson sat quietly in the control room that received constant video and audio feed from the satellites orbiting Bellerophon 3. He had been working there so long that he could blot out the noises of the radars pinging. He walked quietly, monitoring every screen in the room. Occasionally he would see a blip, but before the men at the stations could explain, he already knew that it was an asteroid, comet, or the like.
However, when he passed one of the monitors, he noticed a very peculiar looking blip. The radar always created an outline of the objects it hit, but this outline definitely wasnt that of an asteroid. It looked more like a ship.
"Private, don't think that that's a Covenant ship. Ive seen so many of em on radar, I could visualize their outlines on the palm of my hand with my eyes closed. So don't just jump to conclusions. It's not a Covenant Vessel."
"Then, what is it, sir?"
"I don't know."
At that instant, the outline faded, and then disappeared. Whatever it was, it was gone. Robertson got the wise idea to call the general. He may be in bed, but this could be a matter of interstellar security. The Surveillance Officer went over to a screen, and next to it, the Surveillance station A.I called Brutus appeared.
"Its late sir, whoever youre trying to contact would definitely be asleep."
"I don't care. Contact the general, and tell him that it's a matter of security."
"What happened?" Inquired Brutus. "Did you detect something odd?"
"You bet we did."
Suddenly, the screen clicked on, and a very drowsy and ruffled man sat in his bed, Staring at Robertson.
"What the blazes are you doing, waking me up at this time of night?"
"Sir, we've detected a ship. Its not one of ours, and its not one of the Covenants, either. I think that we should send the survivors from Harvest back to Earth. It'll get them out of the way in case any of those things decide to attack this planet just like at Harvest."
"Fine, but be quiet and discreet about it. Send doctors to help the patients. And tell them to talk about this to no one. I don't want a panic if that ship contains what we now dread."
"Yes sir. Ill give the order right away."
The man on the screen stood up and looked Robertson right in the eyes.
"Were going to get off this planet while we still can."
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