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Present Darkness, Chapter Three: Part II
Posted By: russ687<russ687@hotmail.com>
Date: 2 December 2004, 7:47 AM
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0645 hours, November 21, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Unknown Structure, 8 Kilometers North-Northeast of Drop Zone Mike X-Ray
Planet Red Dawn (Codename), Theta 1440+90 System
Lynn thought the smell on the surface was bad, but down in this tunnel things smelled far worse. It wasn't a rotting smell, however, it was something else. Something that was beyond that point.
He looked ahead, his rifle up and pointing forward to the downward sloping tunnel as they continued into the darkness. After finally getting the door to open, they turned on their rifle-mounted lights and began venturing into the depths of this underground path.
The walls and floor were the same metal type as the exterior of the structure on the surface. There was no lighting or reflective materials along the tunnel, nothing that was meant to illuminate the path sloping deeper into the ground. The only thing that gave them a little comfort in this dark tunnel was the purple light at what appeared to be the bottom of the tunnel.
No one spoke. The only thing that kept moving was their bodies and their lights that danced across the walls. Lynn lead the way silently, keeping his rifle at the ready, but he knew nothing was about to jump out and attack them. He had the uncanny ability to sense a hostile presence, despite the fact that fear resounded in his gut. He wasn't going to try and fool himself with every step down the tunnel that he was ready or even willing to face whatever was ahead; he was scared. But the need to see what was down here, possibly why he was still alive, overcame the fear that kept his heart beating harder than usual.
Lynn slowed down a little as he began to make out what the purple light was ahead of him. The light was dim and faintly reflected off the metallic walls, but was stronger at the source, which was the floor. His light finally began to penetrate far enough for him to see that this was, in fact, the end of the downward sloping tunnel, and that the purple light ahead of him lead to a sizable hole in the floor.
Keeton, brandishing his M6C-SD, moved up next to him. "A Covenant anti-gravity lift."
Lynn nodded; it was the same thing he had seen come down from carriers and ships, except smaller; more like it was meant to handle nothing larger then a Warthog-size object. He walked up to the purple-filled hole and looked down it; it continued farther down then he could see. They had dropped at least forty meters underground, but apparently this Covenant installation was far deeper.
He waited for everyone to get a good view before he spoke up. "You all ready?"
The ODSTs, Force Recon snipers, and single Marine Pelican gunner nodded slightly, ready to use this device. None of them, for obvious reasons, had ever used a Covenant lift; the closest anyone had been was watching one work. They seemed efficient, reliable, and safe, but actually setting foot on it and using it was almost beyond what any off them were willing to do. Lynn noticed the reluctant looks on them all to be the first to step onto it, and stepped forward himself, looking down the hole one last time.
He took the step out and suddenly felt weightless. His body was being suspended perfectly over this vertical shaft by this purple light that filled the air around him. The soft buzzing noise from the apparatus filled his hearing as he felt himself moving downward.
Lynn didn't expect it to start working so fast and tried to get off, but he had already sunk below the tunnel floor and was now completely in this purple shaft, moving downward at some unknown speed. He looked down and finally saw a bottom coming up towards him, and fast. He estimated this would be fast enough to, if it didn't kill him, break his legs.
Without feeling any change in velocity, he slowed to a soft landing, and suddenly the weightlessness lifted, and he was firmly on the bottom of this shaft. He instinctively brought his rifle up and scanned the area around him.
He was in the middle of a large room, easily large enough to fit several Scorpion tanks. The ceiling was high above him, and the walls stretched out far in a rectangular shape. The lighting was white and purple, common with Covenant ships. Purple crates dotted the area, most overturned; objects that dotted the area were a mess, with their contents spilled out onto the floor. The previous, featureless tunnel above him was a world apart form this torn-up room under the surface. It looked as of someone either went too far with explosives or something had just torn up the room. The smell down here was the same as in the tunnel: bad.
While most of the lights were functional on the ceiling, some were smashed out; some electrical lines running across the ceiling and walls were ripped and torn, sparking periodically. This entire room bore testimony to some furious beings that apparently either wanted to inflict damage everywhere or had no self-control. Lynn wondered which of those two assessments was right.
He noticed two large exits on opposite ends of the room, each large enough for a vehicle of substantial size to pass through. They disappeared into darkness, leaving the feeling in this room somewhere between curiosity and utter fear; for all he knew, the answer to his questions lay within an arms reach, or a formidable foe.
Lynn sent the barrel of his rifle into Johnson's face as the ODST lightly landed next to him. The other Marine took a step back as Lynn lowered the rifle, his eyes larger then usual. The rest of the group began coming down around him, and they all took in the surroundings of this torn-up room.
"Fan out, stay awake." Lynn said silently.
The Marines took cautious steps outward into the room, keeping their weapons up and scanning the area. The possibility of finding some of those creatures, or even some Covenant, seemed light, but Lynn knew that the culprits of this situation could not be far away.
He side-stepped around an overturned crate and looked at the scene before him. Laying on the ground was a grotesque sight that caused him to feel the light nausea that came with these types of situations. Before him was a dead Elite, it's hands in a death grip about one of those creatures; a crazed Jackal. The Elite was back first, mangled in a pool of its own blood. The creature's beak-mouth was deeply thrust into the Elites head, the obvious fatal wound, and the Elites strong grasp was around the Jackal's neck was the apparent cause of death for the smaller, but ferocious, creature.
Even these much feared Covenant warriors found themselves unable to defeat this enemy.
90 Minutes Earlier
"Master, the beings have broken through our test chambers."
The higher ranking Elite looked over at the Blue Elite standing before him. Norenee' had already received word that those creatures, considered a filth by each Elite in the facility, had begun overpowering their chambers and breaching through their security stations.
His duty was straightforward: keep the underground lift-room secure from anyone with inadequate security clearance from proceeding from the turbo-lift into the testing and experimental chambers. And also, in the event of some terribly wrong failure, keep this filth from entering or going beyond his post. No one, not his superiors nor the skeptics, thought these beings would ever break out or that control over them would be lost. He grunted silently. What fool had allowed this breach of security to happen?
The Red Elite looked towards one of the two main entrances to this room; he was confident his team could contain any threat that made it this far, and keep them from making their way to the surface, if they even held the intelligence to do so.
Part of him was furious with the situation, not with the breach in security, but in the fact that these twisted experiments were going on with support from the Prophets. Why was there a need for this? His race of Elites was proving itself to be a conquering force against these humans without problem, yet these experiments were being done anyways. Granted, they were not perfect in putting an end to this scum that inhabited the universe, but what more did the Prophets need? They were accomplishing their tasks, so why start down this series of events that could lead to failure?
We are reliable, Norenee' thought, moving toward his team gathering in the center of the large room. We are accomplishing and winning this cleansing of the humans, why tamper with our success? The tall Elite put aside those thoughts; he would secure this room without further thought of the nonsense that seemed to surround him.
He directed his detail of Elites and Grunts to secure both entrances, and also the last remaining few, including himself, as the final guards around the turbo-lift itself in case any of the unclean slipped through.
The next few moments were uneventful, to his pleasure. If the filth made its way this far, the other security teams were far too incompetent for military service. He was confident this breach would be contained quickly and effortlessly by his comrades in this underground facility; how hard could it be to fight this foe that they created?
Norenee' watched in utter silence as several Grunts, none of which were under his command, came running into the room from one of the entrances, the small beings making headway past the stacks of crates for the turbo-lift. What were they up to? The Grunts stumbled onto the lift and began rising up the shaft, the Elites guarding the lift silently letting the fools go. Their time was more valuable then redirecting crazed, ineffective Grunts.
The mood changed as four Elites came running into the room from the same entrance, making their way to the lift as well. Norenee' was not used to seeing Elites run in the corridors of this facility, which prompted him to find out what was going on.
"Derarnee', my comrade, what is the situation?" Norenee' asked, recognizing the fellow Red Elite.
Derarnee' paused, the others getting onto the lift and disappearing from view. "There has been a containment breach in all chambers; I must secure the surface door as protocol demands."
Norenee' remained motionless, had the situation gotten that bad?
Plasma fire broke out at each entrance almost simultaneously. He looked past the numerous crates to see his teams engaging the filth moving up on them from the hallways; so they had made it this far. Slight rage crept into his mind as the unclean became visible, attacking his troops. What fools had allowed these beings to be free?
"Master, we are losing ground." Came the deep report from one of his Elites stationed at the first entrance.
He growled orders to his comrades, and to the Grunts near him, to move out and help with the situation. How could this filth be winning against his trained troops?
Norenee' looked over at his Red Elite comrade, standing tall and silent next to the turbo lift. "Secure the surface door, we shall buy you some time."
Derarnee' nodded and stepped onto the lift, disappearing up the shaft.
He looked back out to the entrances as the voice came through. "They are overtaking us, we must pull back!" This report infuriated Norenee'; how many of these beings could there even be?
He set off from the bottom of the turbo-lift to help his comrades. Plasma fire continued long and hard, as well as yells of his Elites and squeals of the Grunts. So it had come down to him and his team, and they needed to stop these beings; keep this breach contained in the facility. If the situation worsened to that point, he would see to it that every last one of them met and painful death.
The Red Elite felt the hit blindside him from behind, and skidded across the ground, losing grip of his Plasma Rifle. He recovered and jumped to his feet, staring at the enemy that had attacked him. His mind quickly tried to recognize the enemy, and he put his finger on it. Rage inside him began to build as the monster before him stared back. He had seen such a foe before, but never like this; never possessed. It was large, bigger then himself, and he could tell from its eyes that it was one of them; it was a filth plaguing this facility.
The energy-sword came to life in his hands as he ran full force into the being, slicing its torso and sending black-red blood from the being onto the ground. The creature let out a loud, deep growl of pain and fell to the floor.
That was not it, though. He turned to see more coming at him, smaller ones he recognized as Jackals and the larger beings. There were dozens upon dozens, more then he could count in the short split-second he had to think; he didn't even know there were this many beings at the facility.
He looked about for his team, his comrades, but nothing caught his eye; only the unclean heading for him. Had his entire team been consumed by these monsters? Was he the last one left?
He let his instincts takeover and ducked under the first small creature that flew at him; it was unusually fast. A large creature lunged forward at him, and he send his sword through the threat's skull, ending the beings miserable life. Another large being hit him hard, sending him flying backwards. He sprang back to his feet quickly, ready to keep fighting, but noticed his shield was down. These large beings were stronger then usual.
A small Jackal attacked him, ripping the sword from his grasp. The sword partially cut the creature and then impaled it, deactivating as the dead Jackal and sword hit the ground. He tried to get his bearings from the attack, but there were too many enemies crowding in on him. How could it have come to this?
He reached out and grabbed a Jackal mid-flight heading towards him, stopping it a mere finger-length from his own head. He tighten his squeeze on the creature and began suffocating it, staring into its blood-red eyes; in them hatred and death. These beings were hideous and had something in them that made them crazed.
Berserkers.
The Jackal let out a high-pitched squealing, one of its last dying acts. The Red Elite stared into the hate-filled eyes, and blinked as the Jackal made one more last act; sending its sharp beak directly at him.
Death. Something the proud warrior never feared, but never wanted.
"There's quite a few Covenant bodies, along with those creatures..."
Lynn looked up from the bloody scene before him. By the looks of things, these Covenant were trying to keep these beings from reaching the surface, something they utterly failed to accomplish. If these creatures could defeat Elite warriors, how much of a chance did they stand?
He brushed that thought aside. He was still alive, regardless.
He turned around and saw the large body of another alien being, lying in a dark pool of blood a short distance away. He moved closer to get a better look; he had never seen such a figure before. It was large, having a thick, black coat of fur-like skin around its body. He didn't get a look of the being's head, choosing to turn away from the bloody mess and move on, but kept the figure noted in his mind. Jackals weren't the only creatures to come from this facility; there were bigger ones.
Lynn walked over to where Wilson and Tanner stood, looking down upon several Grunts and dead rogue Jackals. The scene everywhere seemed to be bloody, and the sight was hard on everyone's eyes. These creatures were far from sanity, and their method of attack proved that they were not simple killing machines.
They were crazed, possessed beings.
He turned and walked cautiously to one of the entrances to the room, passing over bodies and walking though pools of blood from both the Covenant and these creatures. Lynn looked into the darkness at the faint light in the distance. What was this facility meant for? These creatures obviously originated from here, and it was Covenant operated; all the Covenant technology and systems proof of that. So what was the purpose of the Covenant harboring such a ruthless, crazed populous of these creatures? And why would they turn their own into these crazed beings?
The questions seemed to eat away, building his curiosity, but also adding to the gut-wrenching fear. Such a twisted idea seemed very irrational to him, but then again, he was not the Covenant. The Covenant had other motives and "logic" for their actions. Why they did anything, he determined, he may never understand. But one thing was still clear.
The answers lay in the pathway ahead.
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