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The Revelation of War, Chapter One: Part II
Posted By: russ687<russ687@hotmail.com>
Date: 15 July 2004, 10:09 PM
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1000 hours, September 6, 2552 (Military Calendar)
City of Jameson, one mile south of UNSC Outpost
Renard Prime System, planet Westwind
The three Warthogs Light Reconnaissance Vehicles and two five-ton transport trucks moved slowly through the dusty streets of the city. Civilians walked out of the homes, stores and buildings as the small convoy of vehicles and troops moved steadily through the streets.
The landscape was flat, with fields of brown grass, rocks, and the occasional tree extending beyond the city of ten-thousand. In the far of distance of the horizon were rocky mountains that jetted up into the sky to the east, and to the west of the city was the shining blue ocean the dominated most of the planet. The terrain was rough but flat, and it looked similar to the landscape of Earth's most prominent continent: Africa.
The city was fairly modern, with most streets being paved but still having its fair share of alleys composed of rock-hard dirt. The buildings were made out of steel and cement and had dark tinted windows; the highest building rose only ten stories. Personal vehicles were parked sparingly along the side of the streets, and very few cars were out this time of day. The majority of the city was at work, which made perfect timing for the convoy to make it to the UNSC outpost on the outskirts of the city.
First Lieutenant Todd Kren walked silently ahead of the convoy and took a long drink from his hydration pack; this planet's normal high was close to one hundred degrees, and it was the middle of winter.
Kren walked next to his Platoon Sergeant and the Squad's comm. specialist as they made the last leg of their journey through the streets. He watched cautiously as some people and children came out and stared at the military convoy moving through their streets. Some young kids ran around excitedly, while others just stared in silence. The feel of this city was a little off, but he didn't think much of it. The only thing he was concerned about was getting the cargo safely to the outpost where someone would be waiting for them.
They passed an alleyway and he felt the cool westward wind that this planet was named after. For some strange, meteoritic reason the planet had a pre-dominate westward wind that blew constantly in that direction. While it was soft at the surface, about three hundred meters up it was something of a jet stream, blowing at high velocities. He remembered the trip to the surface in the Pelican and feeling them go through it before they entered the safety of a canyon for landing; the wind kept and ships from safely landing at the outpost or even in the city, which forced them to make the ten-mile journey on by land.
Every planet had its own quirks.
They rounded a corner and found the outpost straight ahead along the dusty, hot road half a mile away. The sight was relieving, but they were still out in the heat. He watched as the heat created illusions along the surface of the road, this was not a place to retire on, especially if winters normal temperature was in the triple digits and summer was nearly unbearable to the human body.
"A change of scenery," Gunnery Sergeant Jeff McCollum said, beckoning around them.
Kren grunted. From wet to hot.
The Marines immediately brought their long rifles to bear as a trio of men walked out of an alley way, sporting clubs. McCollum held his fist up and the convoy stopped behind them. The three dirty looking men walked along the sidewalk and stared at the group. The M7A1's in the hands of the Marine's followed the men's temples.
"Lieutenant, this is the men we told you about at the landing zone." The cities mayor called out over the comm. link from the Warthog behind them, his voice partially conveying fear. Kren recalled the short lecture the mayor had given them about how the city did not have an adequate law enforcement department and gangs pretty much ruled the streets, even in broad daylight.
The mayor also told them of the local militias that seemingly controlled everything, including his city. There was an obvious relationship between the city gangs and the local militias, and the combination proved quite troublesome, even for the UNSC outpost charged with keeping the city safe from these threats. Kren had witnessed similar situations on other planets; ever since the UNSC had been stretched thin with the war, it had left many colonies open to control by war lords or any other group with guns and men.
"What are they going to do, charge a passing tax?" McCollum asked quietly, the reticule in his scope centered between one of the man's eyes.
Kren watched them; they looked drunk and wondered back and forth, before shouting at the convoy. The M7A1 rifles slowly lowered as they made loose threats, yelling about how great their leader was; the name of some militia. He area began getting extremely bright, and Kren shielded his eyes. Suddenly, it retuned to normal
Kren turned at the sound an object landing ten meters to his left. He quickly spotted the small black object and a fuse burning down. He caught the figure of a men just stepping back behind some cover in an alleyway.
Kren saw the bright flash of the explosions and felt a sharp pain spike into him across his left side.
McCollum raised his rifle and fired a trio of rounds into the alley way as the figure disappeared. Dust, rocks, and pieces of cement flew up into the air as the explosive rang out. The flash momentarily disoriented him and he looked around dazed, the sound of rifle fire rang out around them.
Kren clutched his left side and saw shrapnel imbedded in his body armor; none had penetrated. He quickly looked around them as the dust cleared from the first explosive, had it been one man?
"Enemy contact, all directions." Came a voice over the comm. link.
Kren cursed silently and looked around them. His platoon began dismounting from the vehicles and set up a perimeter, rifle fire ringing out periodically. He looked up onto the roof tops and spotted some figures.
An ambush?
"Contact, roof tops." Kren transmitted. He aimed and fired at the silhouetted figure, the sun gleaming back down at him. The rounds impacted the figure and it fell back out of sight.
He quickly ran to the sidewalk, out of the middle of the street. There were more figures on the roof tops. He aimed his rifle and fired two bursts, taking down the threat. McCollum and Corporal Ryder were firing down an alleyway.
The gunner aboard the only armed Warthog leading the convoy opened up, the large chain gun shattering the air around it as it spewed out hundreds of rounds into to roof tops; debris flew up and rained down upon the convoy as if it were hail.
Kren spotted three more contacts appear at the roof top on the other side of the street, two were carrying large objects. He fired at the first but missed, then his clip ran out. He ejected it and began the reloading process as he watched one of the figures aim down at the truck, then fire. Smoke erupted from the launcher as a rocket screamed down at the first Warthog, impacting and sending an explosive force of fragments in all directions. Smoke filled the street as more fire broke out.
Kren looked around as the area began getting bright again. He couldn't tell where it was emitting from, but it lit up everything without casting shadows.
Kren blinked and found himself walking along the road, McCollum walking next to him, along with his comm. specialist Corporal Ryder. They were in the city, but had not made the final turn towards the outpost. He looked behind him quickly and found the entire convoy untouched, following them like nothing happened.
He looked around at where they were. Nothing had happened.
He shook his head and rubbed his face.
"You okay, sir?" McCollum asked, noticing his CO.
Kren thought as the continued walking. This was not the first time this had happened; ever since Milestone something had been different. He wasn't sure what had caused it, maybe the short period of time he had with the chrome-ball, or the artifacts, or the combination. Whatever it was, it was telling him something.
He looked ahead at the final turn to the outpost, and his stomach tightened up. Never make the same mistake twice.
"Meyers: bring up the map of the city and find us another route to the outpost." Kren said over the comm. link.
Lieutenant Meyers responded. "Sir? Take a left at the next street, that's the most direct route."
"Another route, give it to me." Kren said more forcefully.
There was a short silence. "Continue along this road until we reach the following road, about another block, then turn down that road." Meyers said, not understanding the order.
McCollum looked over at him, but nodded in acceptance. Kren didn't want to explain it.
"Inform our drivers and guests about the detour," Kren said over the comm. to Meyers. The Lieutenant acknowledged and passed the word on.
They walked up to the first road and Kren stared down it. He noticed the exact same spot where the convoy stopped and the roof-tops where the figures appeared. He looked down into the distance and saw the outpost, the heat coming of the road, the empty street.
Kren wasn't sure if he was losing his mind or not. Something had somehow indicated the future of him, his men, and the convoy they were escorting through the hot, dusty streets of this city. He couldn't help but remember the experience back on Milestone when he was able to do the same thing in real time; except this time, he was able to foresee it. He was able to see what would happen in the future, not what was happening right then and there.
They continued on past that road. Did that fate really lay down that road? Was what he saw really going to happen?
He shook his head. Never make the same mistake twice.
Never.
1030 hours, September 6, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard ONI Stealth Frigate Valiant Knight
Renard Prime System, in orbit above planet Westwind
The ONI officers stared intently down at the images on the table in front of them. The silence that dominated the room was only broken by the steady breathing of the men trying to piece the puzzle together, trying to figure out what they were looking at. Time was of the essence, and the sooner they figured out the puzzle before them, the sooner they could get their mission underway.
The ONI Lieutenant of Section VI cocked his head sideways and moved the images around, reorganizing them. Before him were a set of images taken while the artifact aboard the Valiant Knight was showing them something while returning from Milestone. The suspicions were that where ever this was, it was where the third and final artifact was.
He looked intently at a mountain range in the background of the picture. It they jetted up thousands of feet and were capped with white ice and snow. In the valley before the mountains were lush forests and strong rivers. The sky was blue and had only high wispy clouds. He shook his head; this could be anywhere.
He was about to walk away when he looked at the river again. It had a unique S-pattern to it before a high waterfall that emptied into a deep, clear green lake. He had seen this before, not in person, but on a topography map.
He walked over to accessed the topography maps of that type. He pulled up the most likely match and looked at it from every angle. It matched.
He looked up the location of this map.
"Ensign! Get Lieutenant Colonel Reinker and Major Senderling online!" the young Lieutenant said.
"What do you want me to tell them, sir?" The technician asked.
"Tell them we found the location of the last artifact."
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