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Red Luck
Posted By: MT<brevard1986@hotmail.com>
Date: 21 April 2004, 2:04 PM
Read/Post Comments
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Author's message:
Well, this is pretty long at over 20kb and about 3700 words. My longest one still remains my first, though. I hope you enjoy reading this one.
Corporal Ying grunted as she tightened the makeshift tourniquet.
The Private moaned in pain and tried to slap away the Corporal's hands.
"Dammit Nico," Ying said, frustration in her voice. "Keep still or I'll blast the rest of your damn arm!"
The female crewmember behind them paced back and fourth nervously. She bit her lower lip and looked around the area nervously, constantly glancing back at the two. The worried expression on her face indicated that the three weren't out of danger yet.
A silence in their surroundings would have been more liberating then oppressive.
The light breeze caused a constant rustle in the leaves, and the women flinched at every sharp splash or crack from the small stream.
"Tess." Ying spared a fleeting look back. "You got a canteen?"
"No," Crewmen Tess replied quickly.
"Here," Ying said, taking a water canteen from her belt and passing it to Tess. "Take this and fill it with water."
"Is it safe?" Tess indicated to the running stream.
Ying frowned. It was a valid question, after all. They crashed landed on this alien construct in the shape of a ring a mere hour ago. Who knows if the water or anything else was safe to consume. She waved the Crewmen away.
"It doesn't matter. We've got to move out as soon as possible."
"Right," replied Tess, frowning.
Ying looked back at the Private and grinned. She prepared a bandage for his arm.
"Suck it up Marine," Ying said when she saw him wince. "We've got to get moving. Your legs not busted are they?"
"Roger that, sir," Nico muttered. He was grimacing at the pain in his right arm. "Just don't think I'm combat-able, Corporal."
Ying started to get up, helping the Private up along side her. She saw the Crewmen appear from behind some bushes, holding the water canteen.
The Corporal hoped that they evaded the Covenant.
It seemed that they did not.
Ying cursed as another plasma bolt splashed in the tree trunk behind her.
The three had given up trying to give technical biological terms for the environment. If something looks like trees or grass, they'll be called a tree or grass from now on.
The water they had seemed safe enough to drink, and tasted like water, so they weren't too bothered when they found another stream.
It was there where they ran into the five Grunts.
Tess spotted them first and cried out in surprise. Nico attempted to fire his pistol, but his aim was wild and his left arm couldn't cope with the recoil. He always hated his weakness, and was distraught at his reliance on it.
Ying was barely able to fire a round when the first bolt flew past her. She dived for cover, and now readied her self to fight.
Four more bolts impacted against the thick trunk. The Corporal could smell the burning wood, and checked the ammo indicator on her assault rifle. Thirty seven rounds. She had two more clips strapped to her ammo belt. More then enough.
Ying pushed out with a grunt, and swivelled the rifle. The recoil was jarring, but she was able to keep the gun relatively stable.
She sprinted to another tree, firing her gun all the way.
Two rounds smashed into a Red Grunt's chest. The red armour, cracked apart by the impact, revealed the knobbly blue body underneath. Suddenly, bright sky-blue blood spurted out landing a foot ahead of the Grunt. The creature fell back, landing awkwardly on the pyramid shaped object on its back.
A Yellow Grunt had its head split open as one armour piercing round found it. Abruptly, the Grunt stopped and fell forward. It low stubby legs collapsing underneath.
Ying reached the tree and spun, putting her back up against the reassuringly thick trunk. A series of green plasma bolts struck the trunk, instantly burning away the wood.
Ying breathed in deeply, taking in the moment respite.
"Tess! Nico!" she shouted over the noise of plasma. "Keep your heads down."
Of course, none of them replied.
Ying ducked out from the side of the tree and aimed at the closest Grunt.
The Red Grunt gave a comic squeak of surprise and tried to raise its gun. The single armour piercing round hit its skull.
The Yellow behind cried in fear and started running. Ying drew a bead on the fleeing Grunt, and fire. The Grunt fell sideways, the area just below its head a blue bloody mess.
Ying feared that there would be others. As if to confirm it, she heard an Elite roar and the high pitch squawks of Jackals.
"Down the stream," the Corporal shouted to the other two.
They moved quickly down stream, half stumbling and running. When Ying saw that there would be wet mud ahead she ordered the pair across the stream and into the trees.
It was almost half an hour later when Nico faltered and fell. His wounded arm hit the side of a jagged rock as he fell, causing him to scream in agony. He laid there on the elevation, groaning in pain.
Tess bent to help him up, Ying coming to her aid. Between the two of them, they dragged the Marine over to a small clearing.
A fallen tree was the only main feature.
Quickly, Ying got the rude bandages off and checked on the wound. Nico's blood gushed out and went down his arm.
He cried out in agony at his exposed wound.
"Hey, Nic," Ying said tersely to the Private, fearing the Covenant will hear them. "Don't you know you are lucky?"
"What? My friggin' arm is gonna drop off!"
"You're bleeding," Ying replied, looking at Nico drolly. "My mother kept telling me that red is good luck. From the look of things-" she indicated at the pool of blood on the ground, "-you're a very lucky man."
Nico stared at the Corporal for a moment, and said, "My mother always told me that red meant passion. Why don't we fuck each other, eh?"
Ying smacked him in the back of his head and Tess gave a startled laugh.
"Ow!" Nico groaned, "I'm wounded!"
"Shaddap, Private," Ying said. "That damn arm of yours is too much of a problem for me."
The three moved off again at a slower pace. Ying took point again and head off away from the clearing.
After some time, Tess moved beside Nico.
"She's right, you're damn lucky."
"Yeah, I'm so lucky to bust my arm leaving me virtually useless," he muttered.
"You were in the escape pod I was flying." She pointed to her self. "I barely passed basic; no wonder why I messed up."
"Hey, you did not mess up," Nico berated her. "You got everyone in that pod here alive-"
"Just not in one piece," Tess interrupted, and snorted in disgust.
"It's better to be wounded then dead..." Nico trailed off, suddenly very silent.
There were two others with them: Taylor and Habin. They died when the Covenant dropship appeared, firing. Ying and Nico were able to get to cover, but Taylor died almost instantly. Habin was helping the Crewmen out, and the two dashed towards a rocky outcrop as soon as they could. Habin died inches away from the safety of the rocks.
Taylor was the worst injured in their emergency landing, the wound in his leg caused his death. Maybe if Tess hit the air brakes earlier, or tilted the craft that bit higher there wouldn't have been any injuries.
Nico saw Tess looking down on the floor.
She had a hard time of it when Habin was killed. He could still see Habin's chest burst open, his blood splattering against her.
Strangely, the Private didn't feel sad or angry at their deaths. He felt something but he couldn't tell what emotion. Remorse? No, it wasn't that. Hopeful... yes, hopeful. But for what?
"What are you two yapping about?" Ying called to them. What were they doing so far behind?
Nico and Tess quickened their pace to catch up to the Corporal.
"It wasn't your fault Tess," Nico whispered.
They reached Ying who was gazing at the large savannah ahead of her. It stretched off in the distance and was wide, the forest lining up to the right of it. A region of tall grass swayed in the light breeze, the sun glaring down at them; drying them up.
There was no evidence of a Covenant presence, and Nico didn't see anything in the clear blue sky.
Ying started to walk to the right, along the perimeter of the thick forest. She wasn't going to take any chances out in the open.
Four hours later, they reached a large clearing just inside the forest. Trees enveloped it on all sides, but they were sparse.
A few dozen dead Marines littered the clearing, and a smouldering Scorpion main battle tank near the centre. Even more Covenant corpses; Grunts, Jackals and Elites, was on the field.
Random plasma scorches and bullet holes on the trunks of the trees and ground indicated that the two enemies practically stumbled upon each other.
"Strip the field, people," Ying ordered, displaying no emotion.
The three walked through the clearing, passing an over turned Warthog. Nico could see that it was a wreck, and gave it a brief glance over. Tess knelt beside a dead Marine and started taking equipment from his pouch. It was medical supplies, but not much of it. Somebody must have taken what they could from the Marines already. She sighed and walked away from the dead medic.
Ying could not see a single weapon other than the plasma weapons on the ground. Even the ammo belts were empty. She kicked viciously at a fallen Elite, her heavy boot cracking the armour.
They needed ammunition and supplies. Even the ration packs were almost all empty.
"Hey, Corporal! Tank tracks, over here."
Ying and Tess moved to where the Private was standing. There were indeed deep tank tracks. They were leading out of the clearing.
"Guess we'll follow the survivors," Ying mumbled.
They found another clearing a while later. Only a few dead Marines and Grunts in this one, along with a burnt out Warthog.
Ying's spirits lifted when she saw a few assault rifles on the ground. She quickly went for the nearest gun and checked its ammo counter. The cool blue light indicated that the weapon still had fifty eight rounds. Ying looked down at the dead Marine at her feet. Poor bastard barely let off two rounds before a bolt struck in the head.
She gave the rifle to Tess who reluctantly took it. The girl probably only ever held a rifle in training, thought Ying. Tess was oddly quiet as well. Her first time seeing so many dead? She was a navy girl after all, but the battle on the Pillar of Autumn above was pretty intense. No, this shouldn't be the first time.
Ying unloaded her own ammo clip and slammed in a new one with a satisfying slap. She quickly gathered eight more full ammo clips around her and clipped them to her belt. She picked and three more clips and threw them at Tess, who barely caught each one in time.
Nico found some ammunition for his pistol, and gazed longingly at an assault rifle in front of him. Damn his arm!
They moved off.
They reached the edge of the forest, and the tracks went on.
They went on into an arid desert, inches away from the forest floor. Ying never knew such an abrupt change in environment could take place.
The Corporal cursed under her breath and started back into the dense forest. The three couldn't hope to travel through there.
Nico kicked the air and spun around to follow Ying. Tess waited a moment, looking out into the desert. The sky darkened, but the sun was only just past its zenith. She could see that a large dark shadow fell on the other side of this ring world, and it would soon fall upon them.
Night would come quickly.
The three found a stream with a clearing. They didn't bother making camp, and didn't dare light a fire. They just sat down, with their backs against a thick and wide trunk.
Ying didn't even plan to set up some sort of watch. Exhausted as they were, she doubted any would find sleep this night. Especially not in this place.
"Hey, Corporal," Nico said softly. "You reckon we'll make it this time?"
Ying responded as she always had to such questions. "You were paid to fight and die Marine; it doesn't matter." She rubbed her eyes. "Just as long as you do some killing, I don't care if you sit on top of a grenade and blow your ass off."
Nico chuckled and then barked, "Yessir!"
"What else did your mother say, Corporal?" Tess's question startled Ying. The girl was silent most of the time, and asking something that personal...
"She told me to remember our past," Ying replied slowly. "'Our' meaning the human race mind you. I don't know why any body would want to. I've seen enough action before the Covenant decided to kick our asses."
"Amen," sang the Private. He was picking at the grass at his side.
"You know about the ancient history? Before we even got to space?" Tess asked.
"Hell no," Ying said with vehement. "Who wants to know about that."
"They say there were two big wars. Millions were killed." Tess paused. "Nothing compared to the billions we've lost when we got to space, but the human race kept telling itself that never again would they allow this to happen."
"We say a lot of things," Ying replied pointedly. She didn't like where this conversation was going.
"Even before the Covies, we lost billions in war. Any war; it doesn't matter. We keep-"
"Hey, Tess," Nico interrupted, suddenly very angry. "You think that graveyard back there was bad? You think that see your first dozen broken bodies entitles you to get all philosophical on us? I know some history myself, and throughout history we have guys questioning our need to fight. You think we should quit because you seen some shit that you shouldn't have? Well, me and the Corporal seen worst shit than that. If you think that somehow seeing the guy next to you have his chest blast open means that you can quit, you have another thing coming. The Marines don't take quitters, right, Corporal?"
"Shut up, Nico," Ying growled in the low voice she uses to reprimand the Marines under her command. She found that a low commanding voice worked well with dogs and men. Something she learnt from the Sergeant.
Ying was thinking up something to say that might explain why this happened. She didn't know what. How could she? After all, she was just a grunt. The Marines paid her to fight and die. To hell with everything else!
Suddenly, the two Marines could hear Tess sobbing.
Tess, her head down, was evidently crying.
Neither Ying nor Nico knew at what the girl was crying about. Whether it was Nico's harsh words or Tess's own fears, they didn't know. They looked away, feeling awkward.
Ying tried to drone out the sound of soft sobbing, but couldn't. She never did know how to cope with emotions. Did she even have any anymore? Or had ten years leading men through blood and guts made her cold to it all?
No, she did have feeling.
She did have emotions.
Ying just didn't have any idea what to do here.
Let the girl cry it out; that was best. Yes, that was best.
Private Nico threw the small rock playfully at the Corporal.
Immediately, Ying ducked to avoid its trajectory. She got up smiling, and blinked at the sun. This place could have been paradise, she told her self.
"Damn, Nico, you throw better than you can shoot with your left."
"Maybe," Nico said with a grin. "I should throw rocks at the Covie bastards instead. What do you think, Corporal?"
Ying laughed. The high lilt was soft, light and melodious, only a slight tremble breaking the illusion of angelic hymn. It was the first time either Tess or Nico heard the Corporal laugh. She should do it more often.
The Corporal abruptly stopped, slightly embarrassed.
Ying gave the Private a reproachful look, and said, "Don't even think about giving up that side arm, Marine."
Before Nico could reply, a blue plasma bolt smashed into his side.
He cried out in agony.
Ying fell on one knee and swivelled to aim at the location where the shot came from. Tess moved forward to intercept the Private, her assault rifle raised. A large group of Grunts and Jackals, and a pair of Elites were outlined against the foliage.
A torrent of blue and green plasma bolt flew past the three, striking at trunks and dirt.
Ying was barely able to get to cover when the blue bolt slashed at her shoulder. She reached down to the one grenade she found. Instantly, she pulled the pin and threw it towards the Covenant.
The explosion was strangely large, some plasma grenade adding to the devastation it caused. Tree trunks splintered and Covenant body parts flew into the air.
A large piece of shrapnel pierced through Tess's shoulder, just above her right breast, causing her to cry out in pain. Nico was firing wildly at the Covenant, oblivious to the lethal flying shrapnel around him. Tess got over her pain and started firing away at a wounded Jackal.
Ying got up, and fired at the pair of Elites. Rapidly the first fell as the hail of armour piercing bullets engulfed it. The second was lucky in that it only had twelve rounds pummelled into its exposed armour. It was staggering back up, bleeding heavily.
It saw the human running up to it.
Ying bashed the butt of the rifle into the back of the neck of the Elite. The alien was on all fours and Ying hit it again on the back of the neck.
The alien snarled, gathering its wits, and quickly stretched its head to look up at the Corporal, trying to protect its neck from another, fatal blow.
Instantly, Ying slammed the rifle into the side of the Elite's head with one vicious strike, using all her reserved energy.
The Elite collapsed onto the ground and let out a weak roar.
Dead.
Ying was completely exhausted, and knelt beside the two dead Elites a moment longer than she should have. Slowly, she got up, facing Nico and Tess. There was fear in their eyes.
Something melted away her knee and a sledgehammer smashed into her back.
She fell forward, the plasma scorch on her back smoking. Her knee was a bloody mess. The plasma went straight through the spine, instantly crippling her, and burnt some of her internal organs. Blood started to ooze out, coming deep from her throat into her mouth.
She was annoyed that she couldn't feel the burning pain.
Nico, forgetting his arm, darted forward towards the Corporal. Tess followed close behind, firing at the pair of surviving Grunts.
Nico fell beside Ying, and was disgusted to see the charred flesh on her back. Blood started to seep out through cauterised but broken skin.
Hesitantly, he turned the Corporal over, fearing the pool of blood around her head.
Yings' eyes were wide and... she was smiling. "Guess I'm the lucky one now, Nic." She spat out some blood, the coppery taste some how comforting to her.
"C'mon C-Corporal," Nico stammered. "Y-You can't leave us now. Not now!"
"Suck it up, soldier," she whispered. "You're a Marine."
Ying's eyes rolled upwards, and Nico could feel her life drifting away.
He got up, gripping his pistol and sprinted towards the pair of Grunts. They were so intent on firing at Tess, they barely saw the Private in time.
The closest one started to turn and five rounds slammed into its side and head from Tess's rifle. When the Private started to fire, the second Grunt yelped in fear and aimed at Nico.
All of Nico's shots went wild even ten feet away from the alien. The Grunt's first shot, however, was true, severing Nico's wounded arm. Nico tripped and fell forward, the Grunt's second shot going straight through Nico's throat.
Nico's final round finally found the Grunt's head, the high explosive round leaving a bloody stomp of a neck.
Lucky shot. He thought to himself, just before he landed on the ground.
Tess could see Nico fall face down onto the ground.
The Private's body raised and dropped to his desperate breathing. Was he concious?
Suddenly, he was motionless.
Tess was too exhausted from blood loss and collapsed onto the fallen trunk in front of her. Her assault rifle hung limply at the tip of her fingers, and she let it drop onto the ground. She mustered the energy to turn her head to look around her.
The body of Corporal Ying to her left, two Elites near her. Nico's body about a dozen meters ahead. Nothing moved.
Tess closed her eyes.
She didn't care about the harsh pain in her shoulder. She didn't move at the sounds of fighting she could hear nearby. She didn't see the dead around her. She uttered not a sound when arms turn her over, or when they asked her for her name. She didn't feel anything when they pulled the splinter away from her shoulder and applied bandages.
She did not care when the Captain ordered his men to strip the field for ammunition.
The Marines around her secured the area, taking what they needed from the bodies of Ying and Nico, and chatted away. They ignored the body parts and the blood, and they tried to ignore her.
"Those Covies were almost on her." She could hear them say. "We got here just in time. She's damn lucky, that's for sure."
She looked down at the blood seeping from her bandages. Red.
Yes, she was lucky.
Wasn't she?
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