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The Revelation of War, Chapter Five: Part I
Posted By: russ687<russ687@hotmail.com>
Date: 28 September 2004, 12:54 AM
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Chapter Five: Turning to Final
1500 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
20 kilometers from possible locations
Imbari System, planet Imbari V
The Blackspear dropped out of the scattered cloud cover and began a steady descent towards the ground. Kren gripped the handles tightly and watched through the front windscreen as the ship rocketed through mild turbulence. Ahead he saw nothing but endless hills covered with thick brush; not an ideal place to try a ground search.
They did have, nonetheless, and very accurate lead, and good place to start. After hearing the frantic transmissions from space, they knew something had happened to Foxtrot Company near the locations of the last artifact. This only gave Kren more confidence that this was where the artifact was.
Weisfield kept his eyes on the controls as he asked. "Are you sure you want to land at Foxtrot's last position?" The pilot was obviously weary of the situation, and continued in a lower voice. "We just lost over a hundred men there in a mere second."
Kren didn't take his gaze off the terrain passing by as he stared out the front cockpit window. While the type of vegetation was different from Milestone, the area seemed to remind him of it. But more importantly, he thought about what had been discovered there, and he knew now what had caused it.
The artifacts. They seemed to be the root cause of the all the abnormal events that took place around them. The disappearances of thousands of Covenant soldiers from the garrison around the first artifact was not accident or coincident. Somehow, these artifacts were controlled and manipulated to change and alter the future or past. Kren thought about this; he had first hand experienced the insight these forces were capable of giving, and he had seen just what effects they could have against beings in real time.
The disappearance of Foxtrot Company was more then proof of that.
The real base question that now remained was what controlled or induced these changes made by the artifacts. This was something that he may never find out.
Kren nodded in the silence of the turbulent ride aboard the drop ship. "Yes, we need to land there."
The ship adjusted course to the landing zone for the missing Foxtrot Company. In the distance, seven plumes of smoke rose into the air.
1505 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Imbari System, in orbit around planet Imbari V
Baker stood and walked to the command console as his XO worked to get the target data aligned with their weapons. The three incoming enemy ships had decided to take this fight in the old fashioned way, and continued on towards them steadily. The sight on the Primary and Secondary Viewing screens was not hopeful.
"Make sure the Valiant Knight and Triton are in their positions." Baker ordered. "This is not going to be a fair three on three fight."
The bridge crew worked to get their tasks accomplished, but in all their minds Baker could tell they were thinking the same thing. In order for them to even have a good fighting chance, they needed three or four more ships. The Covenant had had the upper hand in space combat ever since First Contact, and nothing had changed in the time he had become Captain of the Melbourne.
The one pure exception was the fight in the Alpha 1265+90 system. He was completely surprised himself at their stunning victory, but he knew luck, if it played any role, would soon run out for them.
But they were fighting for a just cause, and in addition to trying to save humanity; they were trying to keep the Covenant from acquiring the most powerful weapon ever known. Baker, as well as the other two Captains, staring down this onslaught, knew that the stakes of humanity now rested upon their shoulders, and their fight in this system on this day would ultimately decide the fate of humanity in the future.
Baker watched his crew worked, and could feel the MAC charging up in the deep belly of the ship. The fight was about to begin.
"Incoming transmission from the Valiant Knight, Captain." Cmdr. Grover announced. The secondary viewing screen changed views to show that of Captain Rayford.
"Captain Baker," Rayford began, his voice projected through the speakers around the bridge. "If this is going to work, we're going to have to flank them somehow. My plan is to remain undetected until they pass by us, and we will flank them."
Baker nodded, his face grim.
"That would mean, then, that you and Scorzio must face them head on."
Baker rubbed his weathered face. The Valiant Knight didn't even have a MAC, which made them ineffective until the Covenant close to Archer missile range. Flanking was the only effective means of action for the stealth frigate.
"That would be the only course of action for you, Rayford." Baker said, looking down at the sensor screen. "You have thirty seconds to get into position until all Hell breaks loose."
Rayford nodded on the screen. The two Captains paused in silence.
"Good luck, Captain Baker. I hope to see you after this." Rayford said.
Baker looked up at the secondary viewing screen. A feeling washed over him as he looked into the other Captain's eyes; this would be the last time they ever spoke.
"And to you," Baker said. The connection was severed.
"Enemy ships are within range," Grover announced.
Baker turned and faced the bridge, all eyes were on him. The looks of young men and women who had already given up their lives to fight for humanity's cause. Now was the pivotal moment that would define their lives, whether it be for good or bad. Within the next minutes, they would either live to see another day or join their brothers in arms in an everlasting place. Which path they took would solely depend upon what fate lay in the space around the small green planet.
"Fire."
1500 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
15 kilometers from possible locations, at LZ for Foxtrot Company
Imbari System, planet Imbari V
Kren swept the field back and forth with his rifle as he walked into the open field. In the forest nearby and scattered in the field were seven burning hulks, sending black plumes skyward. He looked down into the thick lush grass and saw metal.
Rifles.
He looked around and noticed them lying everywhere, hundreds of them. The only remnants of Foxtrot Company. Kren turned around and saw his platoon moving to secure the area, rifles shouldered. McCollum was walking his way.
"Sir, there are no survivors." McCollum said, as the circling Blackspear headed back towards the city. He knew he was stating the obvious, but there was nothing impossible in situations like this. The Gunnery Sergeant scanned the area as he stood next to his CO.
"All gone," Kren said. "Just like that, they're all gone."
McCollum remained silent. What was anyone expected to say in a situation like this?
Kren kneeled down next to the rifle at his feet. He looked at it carefully and thought about why this may have happened. There was no way to stop the Covenant from getting that chrome ball, but getting to the artifact first was still within their grasp. Dealing with the lone Elite that would survive the blue flash purge in the near future would have to take second place to their priorities.
Kren instinctively dropped face first into the ground, as did the rest of the ODSTs, as the flash followed by a loud explosion rang out nearby. The flash temporarily blinded them all and the shockwave displaced their prone bodies two feet in the air as it rippled through.
Kren could then feel the heat wash over him as it passed by. The force of the explosion passed by in a mere second, but it felt longer. His body ached from the shockwave and the heat wave flashed upon his exposed skin. He rolled over and felt his face; it was unusually hard and numb.
McCollum looked up with his rifle scanning the area. His face was much redder than usual. The Platoon Sergeant cursed loudly.
Kren looked around and tried to find where the explosion originated from. His vision was a filled with bright spots, something he had experienced only during training when using flahsbangs. His vision began to slowly clear and he could see the massive fireball rising thousands of feet into the air. In the space around them, the grass was flattened, and the trees were keeled over as if they were toothpicks in the face of an avalanche.
He stumbled to a kneeling position and quickly tried to scan the area with his rifle, doing so in a rather sloppy manner as the concussion of the explosion set in. The once lush forest around them was a flat wasteland.
"Squads, report." Kren said through the comm. link. Only static responded.
He looked over to where the three squads had generally been, and slowly saw his troops recovering, securing the area wearily, and rather sloppy, but Kren knew why. He was having the same problems.
He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on where the explosion had originated. It was way too far away to tell, and his scope was cracked and out of service. He wondered even if his M7A1 even worked.
Kren reached into his Load Bearing Vest and pulled out his binoculars; they were seemingly still in good working order. He brought them up to his eyes and looked off into the direction of the explosion.
Ahead of him, with no more trees in the way, was a depression. The laser range finder read in at 15300 meters. But what caught his attention was the blue beam of light emitting directly straight up into the sky from the hole. He followed it and found it went far enough that it was into space.
Kren stood up and stowed his binoculars. That was where the last artifact was, and it was active. He didn't know what it was doing, but it needed to be in their possession before the Covenant could deploy forces to get to it.
Kren brought his rifle immediately to bear as a ghost-like figure raced across the field and stopped ten meters in front of him. It was that Elite, the lone survivor of the first search party, and it had the chrome ball in its hand. The Elite stared at him, and without making a sound, appeared to roar in obvious rage at their presence so close to the artifact. The Elite, having the chrome ball, had no doubt seen where it was, and was now going to try and get reinforcements to this area.
Kren gave them less then an hour before the Covenant arrived in force.
The Elite walked up to him and stood no more then a meter away, towering over him. It then disappeared.
It knew everything, and it was about to tell it to the one force in the universe who wanted humanity dead.
This was the final run.
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