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Project Myrmidon- Part 2
Posted By: spartan shot<farfrompuken191@cs.com>
Date: 4 December 2009, 11:11 pm
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I exited through the heavy steel door. Right behind me was Menachite Mountain. After walking around for a few minutes, I entered one of the mountain's outlying buildings. It was a residential dormitory for the base's staff. I knew that Fhajad had stayed there in the past. I can only hope he was there now.
I walked past the front desk and straight to the elevator. After riding it to the third floor, I walked down several white halls to the room where Fhajad had stayed. In front of the door was a marine in a black uniform. I walked up to him.
"Good morning marine, is Lieutenant Commander Fhajad-084 here?" I asked.
"No sir. I've never heard of such a person" he replied.
"You sure? He's usually staying in this room" I said.
"I'm positive sir" he replied.
"Then why are you standing here guarding this door?"
"There was an incident earlier. I'm guarding the culprit until security arrives."
Just then, I heard a muffled sound from behind the door. The marine and I both looked at the door, then at each other. He stared at me, then extended an electrified baton. He swung it and missed. I grabbed his forearm and twisted it, loosening his grip. I then pried the baton from his grasp and turned it towards him. After pushing him away, I stuck him with it. He thrashed violently and collapsed on the floor, unconscious.
I cracked the door open and peaked through. Fhajad was sitting there in his wheelchair with his hands tied to the arms and a cloth around his mouth. I immediately ran over and untied him. He lightly shook uncontrollably, a symptom of his disease.
"Thank you DeCorzo" he said.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Well, a few days ago, I was searching through ONI files and discovered Ackerson's surprise meeting. I came here to attend but, at the gate, security took me here and had my orderly taken away. They tied me down and posted that marine outside my door. I guess Ackerson didn't want me here" he said.
I quickly walked outside and dragged the marine's limp body into the room. After shutting and locking the door, I tied the marine down in a chair.
"What was the meeting about anyway? Why would Ackerson not want me there?" Fhajad asked.
"He's developing a new weapon. I've been given access to the files. I'll show you" I said as I sat down in front of the computer.
It took me a few minutes, but I logged on to my ONI page. I searched for Project Myrmidon. After locating it, I revealed it to Fhajad.
"Oh my" he said. "This could completely uproot the SPARTAN-II Project."
"I know. I made that known to the entire meeting."
The blue model of the mecha-warrior rotated on the screen. It showed all the different variations and assortments of weapons.
"It could also save humanity" said Fhajad.
"It could. But look at it. It shows many weaknesses. Ackerson would not risk this failure unless he really wanted something. My guess is he wants to put the Spartans out of business."
Fhajad looked the model over. He was confused.
"What weaknesses do you see?" he asked.
"Fhajad" I said. "You're a Spartan. You know that you can never put all your reliance on a machine. Machines break. And when they do, you're fucked."
"A lesson only a soldier could learn" he said.
A message appeared on my page. It was from Ackerson.
"What's this?" Fhajad asked.
I opened the file contained within.
"Ackerson's holding a weapons test on the Myrmidon in one month" I said. "I've been invited to attend."
"Good" said Fhajad. "Gather information on the project. If it is as reliable as Ackerson says, then let it go. Humanity could use the morale boost."
"And if it's not?" I asked.
"Then we go to Halsey. She will help us stop Ackerson."
"Right. We better get out of here. When is guy wakes up, he won't be happy" I said pointing to the unconscious marine.
"Where will we go" asked Fhajad.
"I now a place" I said. "Can you erase the security recording of me throughout the base?"
"Of course" said Fhajad.
Fhajad got to work on erasing the security recordings. Since he could not type, he spoke into a headset which made his words appear on the screen. In the earpiece of this headset was a neural uplink which could let him type classified things just by thinking. However, this took away some of his energy and made tired.
"DeCorzo, go into my duffle bag and pull out the medical kit" he said.
I went over to the bag which lay in the corner of the room where it had been carelessly tossed by the marines. As I dug through it, I discovered an M6C/SOCOM sidearm, several clothes, and computer equipment. After digging for about thirty seconds, I pulled out the med kit. I sat down in the computer chair and opened it up.
"What do we need this for?" I asked.
"Fill the syringe with Comoderick Lendecine" Fhajad replied. "Inject it into his arm."
"What will it do?" I asked.
"It will give him short term memory loss."
"Why do you have this?" I asked as I stuck the needle into the small vile and extracted the liquid.
"Just in case my orderly finds out something he shouldn't" he replied.
I tapped the needle and injected into the marine's arm. A few minutes later, Fhajad finished erasing the recordings.
"Done" he said. "I've shut the cameras down for five minutes and scheduled for the fire alarms in the all buildings on the far side of the base to go off in two. We better move."
I grabbed Fhajad's bag and slung it on my shoulder. I pushed his chair outside the door. Once we got to the building's exit, all the fire alarms in the buildings on the far end of the complex went off. Every guard ran over in the confusion. This was our chance. I pushed Fhajad's chair outside. I ran him over to a bus and hopped in the driver seat. After I hit a few switches and made a ramp appear from the door, Fhajad boarded and we were off.
Interior: Phoenix-Class Colony Ship, UNSC Tyr's Hand. One Day Later.
Thanks to some quick thinking and calling in a favor from an old friend, I managed to get Fhajad and I on a ship back to Earth. I had saved the life of Lieutenant Paul Heller during an engagement with the Covenant many years ago. He was now the Captain of one of the last Phoenix-Class ships in service to the UNSC, the Tyr's Hand. He made sure that we would get back to Earth unnoticed. I stood at his side in the bridge.
"I can't thank you enough for this captain" I said.
"It's no problem. You saved me from those Hunters" said Heller. "For that, we'll never be even."
"Just make sure your crew doesn't leak any word of our asset."
"Don't worry. My men can keep their mouths shut" he replied. "Speaking of the asset, where is he?"
"He was in the mess hall last time I saw" I said. "I'll go check up on him."
"Make sure he stays out of trouble" said the captain.
I exited the bridge and made my way to the mess hall. The whole time I wondered if Ackerson had been watching us. ONI had eyes everywhere. I still didn't even know if he suspected me. He definitely knew that Fhajad was missing and I along with him. I can only hope that he did not anticipate where I was taking him.
As I continued through the halls of the old ship, I felt as if all the crew members were watching me. I did not stand out much, but Fhajad did. It's not so often you see a man in a wheelchair with Parkinson's Disease and an ONI patch on his chest. Captain Heller assured me that his crew would not rat us out but I could not shake this feeling of paranoia.
Finally, I made it to the mess hall. Fhajad sat there in his wheelchair. His computer sat on his lap. I could see his concentration. He was using the neural uplink to work. I walked up to him.
"What's the word on Reach?" I asked. "Do they suspect anything?"
"No" he replied. "Well, not from you anyway."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes. They think I escaped by myself."
I cracked a smile. So did he.
"So where is it we're going?" he asked. "You have yet to tell me."
"Yeah, about that" I said hesitantly.
He looked up at me.
"What is it?"
"Well one of two things will happen when we get there. And neither of them good."
His look changed to a confused one.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, one is that Ackerson will have found us out and get there before we do. And that's the lighter situation."
"What's the other?" he asked.
"My wife will castrate me" I said.
December 31, 2543. 12:43 P.M. Staten Island, New York. Planet Earth.
The last five days went by without incident. We kept our mouths shut and no one asked questions. Finally, we got back to Earth. Heller stayed in orbit to refuel while Fhajad and I were sent down in a Pelican. After landing, we got a ride back to my home on Staten Island. Fhajad and I got off of the bus. I stood on the sidewalk and looked up at my house.
"Uh, you may want to stay here for a few minutes" I said.
"You know there are people after me right?" said Fhajad.
"Trust me" I said. "Whatever Ackerson would do to both of us is nothing compared to what my wife's about to do to me."
"Good luck then" he said.
"Nice knowing you" I said as I walked towards the front door.
The house was an old mansion in the somewhat suburban area of the city. It was three stories tall with large windows. I walked up the stairs and cracked the door open. I stuck my head in and saw the Christmas Tree in the living room to my left.
"Honey?" I said lightly.
I slowly turned my head right. In an instant a fist drove right into my nose. I fell back on the floor. My nose dripped blood.
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!" was all I heard as I blacked out.
I saw things flash before me as I drifted in my unconscious state. When I was shot three times in the gut during a firefight with Insurrectionists. Forge put me on his shoulder and jumped into the Pelican. After we were landed at a safe distance, I saw her for the first time. She got out of the cockpit and helped Forge carry me to a med station.
The next things I saw were memories of Forge and I hopping into the Pelican, narrowly escaping explosions and bullets. Then, I saw her again. She was in the cockpit flying us to safety.
I saw Forge and I sitting in a launch bay sharing a canteen when we saw her working on her ship. Forge had told me to go talk to her, and I did. I then saw my wedding. She was standing next to me in her dress and I in my uniform.
I saw my children being born. These two separate events seemed to be mashed into one as if they were occurring simultaneously. I asked my wife what to name our son. Only one name came to both of our minds. We named him after our late friend.
I was dreaming. I then felt my head throb and my nose sting. My eyes remained shut, but I was awake. Voices rang threw my head. They were familiar.
"Fhajad?" I asked as my eyes cracked.
"I'm here DeCorzo" his voice replied.
I began to lean up. I recognized my surroundings. I was on the couch in my living room. The Christmas tree was in front of me. Fhajad sat across from me.
"How long was I out for?" I asked.
"Three hours" he replied.
"Only one woman could do that to me" I said.
"You're damn right" said a familiar voice.
I looked to my left and saw her standing there. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She stood with her arms crossed.
"Sorry I wasn't here" I said.
"Don't worry. Your friend explained it all" she said.
I looked at Fhajad.
"You told her everything?" I asked.
"She can be very persuasive" he replied.
"Tell me about it" I said.
I got up and walked over to her.
"He needs to stay here for a while" I said. "Just until we figure this whole thing out."
"Where's he gonna stay?" she asked.
"Well, he could stay in the bunker" I replied.
"Bunker?" Fhajad asked.
I turned to him.
"Yeah. I had a bunker built beneath the house a while ago" I said.
"Really? A bunker?" he asked.
"Yeah. It even has an uplink to ONI so you could monitor them and find out what they're doing. I can get my A.I. to help you" I replied.
We walked Fhajad to the elevator. I typed in the clearance code for the basement level and it moved down. After exiting, we took him past the security doors and down a ramp into the bunker.
On all sides, between two 2 inch layers of Titanium-A, was six feet of enforced concrete. Within the bunker was a small arsenal of weapons, enough food to last five years, and computers and screens all around. There were six backup generators to power and cool all this equipment.
"Wow" said Fhajad. "This is impressive."
"Yeah. I had it built to withstand a Covenant attack" I said. "I never thought I'd be hiding from my own people down here."
"Well, it's a good thing you're not the one hiding" said Fhajad.
Leila went over and turned on the power. The main screen and several smaller screens to each side of it blinked on. They displayed the UNSC logo of the eagle holding the banner with a blue background.
On a holo-tank, next to one of the central computer modules, appeared a small light blue hologram of a person. He had hair that touched down to his shoulders and wore glasses on his somewhat large nose. He was wearing a military jacket, which would appear green if the avatar was not blue, with a peace button on his lapel.
"Hello sir" he said with an English accent.
"Hello Lennon" I replied.
Fhajad looked at me.
"That's you're A.I.?" he asked.
"Yeah. He takes care of things down here and around the house" I said. "He can help you snoop around ONI without getting caught."
"I'll do my best sir" said Lennon.
Fhajad went over to the desk next to the holo-tank. He spoke into his headset and entered ONI's files. He was surprised that he had accessed them so easily. He had completely jumped passed most of the security protocols.
"I did that" said Lennon.
Fhajad looked up at Lennon. He was impressed at the AI's efficiency.
"Not bad" he said.
Fhajad continued to enter ONI's files. With his hacking abilities along with Lennon's help, he would be able to sneak in and out of ONI's files without being noticed.
I stood next to Leila and watched as Fhajad scrolled through the restricted sections of ONI's pages.
"Well if you're OK down here then we'll just leave you alone" I said.
"Of course" said Fhajad. "I'll be fine."
"If you need anything then tell Lennon. He'll let us know" said Leila.
"Thank you" said Fhajad. "But I'm alright for now."
Leila and I went upstairs and went about our business. I needed to spend some time with the kids. I was home now and glad to be.
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