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Elven Suicide: part one-never trust a bunch of annoying elves
Posted By: The Arbitress
Date: 14 December 2004, 10:01 PM
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Christine sat in her tiny cubicle with her head in her hands, trying to get some sleep. They had been aboard this damn ship for four days now, and she had gotten about seven hours of rest overall. Her thoughts just wouldn't leave her alone.
This mission was absurd. Did ONI actually want them all dead? How could a group of thirteen year olds do something that battle-hardened soldiers had failed at for years? The one remote base on the planet Amaethon in the Arduinna galaxy had been captured by the Covenant in the early years of the war. Anyway, if it was at, literally, the far reaches of the universe, what was the point of getting it back? Recapturing the base was useless in every angle. If ONI was only doing this to test their skills, that also made no sense. They had seen-
"So, may I ask what you are doing sitting here?"
Oh lord I am going to scream.
The mini data port on the desk suddenly flashed to life. The ship's AI had come to pester her. What else is new? Chris raised her head and stared sleepily at Forseti, the AI.
"What the hell do you want?" she barely managed to mutter through her sleep-induced monotone.
"Christine, I am shocked. You are a day away from your destination and you still haven't addressed your soldiers. What are they supposed to do when they get down to the planet? Sit and wait even longer for you? You need to go brief them on their duties!"
"You know what? Your name doesn't fit you at all."
"What do you mean?"
"Forseti is the Norse god of justice."
"Yes, well, that is why I chose that name. I think I can pride myself on-"
Chris reached down under the desk and pulled the plug to the port. The hologram flashed, then shut off.
"Thank you for boring me beyond all reason. Maybe now I'll actually be able to get some sleep."
With that, she laid her face against the desk, and was asleep within minutes.
Elizabeth paced her office. It had only been a few days since the eldar had left for the Arduinna system, she was already pulling her hair out. The admiral had forced her to stay behind, so she had no idea how they were doing. And it was driving her crazy.
Elizabeth couldn't stop thinking about nearly everything. But one thought kept returning. The Spartans.
"Damn that bitch Halsey!"
Elizabeth fell into her chair and nearly started crying. Halsey was a perfectionist who really didn't care about lives, only getting the job done. She herself had once believed the same morals, that for the good of the many the few must be sacrificed. That's why she had agreed to running the eldar training. But she had gotten to know these children, and she knew that every life must be saved. For years Elizabeth had tried to tell herself that the eldar had grown beyond their original purpose. That they now actually mattered. But now she knew it was all yet again a lie. Why else would the ONI send them on this mission? And to see their reactions to the mission made her sick. These kids trusted her, and she was sending them to die.
Chris awoke with a start. Something had...its gone. She couldn't remember why she woke up. Something about...no. It slipped past her as the last dregs of sleep drained off.
Christine looked out the window, and nearly fell out of her seat. Nothing could prepare her for what she saw. There, in the distance, was Amaethon.
Christine sat there staring for a full 10 minutes before she finally cam to her senses. It was unbelievable.
Well, as much as I hate to say it, maybe Forseti was right.
She reached down to plug the data port back in. Immediately, the annoying AI popped up.
"Ah. Christine. Decided to heed my suggestion, you have."
"Star Wars was made over 500 years ago. Please, if you are going to start going retro, do it somewhere else. Do me a favor and call all the eldar to the armory."
"Star Wars? Oh, never mind. I will call them for you."
"Thank you."
Before the AI could say anything back, Chris was out the door on her way to briefing.
Christine sat on a box of combat knives and waited for her squad to arrive. Occasionally she would look out the window. She still couldn't believe it. That had once been a human colony. Now, it resembled nothing she had ever seen before.
A soft voice ripped her out of her thoughts.
"Um...Christine?"
Chris spun around to face the gathering crowd. She had been so zoned on the view outside, she had completely forgotten about the meeting.
"Sorry, just a little...never mind."
Good. As she had been entranced by the view out the window, all the eldar had gathered into the tight space.
"So, I'm not going to waste time with nice talk. You already got the lowdown from Liz."
She glanced at the crowd. Perfect, they were all listening.
"So here's the deal. I've seen you all fight, I know we can all do this. The plan is simple. Basic split maneuver. We break into the old teams from training, red, blue, green, and black. We are attacking a simple base, so same formations. Red, you take the back. Blue, the right, green, the left, and black attacks the front. Any questions?"
Kevin, one of the shortest, and rather annoying, shot his hand into the air.
When Chris gestured to him, he stood up and saluted.
"What about snipers?"
Kevin was also one of the best snipers. He wasn't very modest about it, either.
Christine signed. She had to take a moment to compose herself. He was a valuable member of the squad, but he annoyed the hell out of her. Kevin never shut up about sniping.
"We have no need. We're attacking at night."
That set a ripple of concern among the eldar. Whispers started to go around the crowd.
"Ok..." Chris started with growing confusion. "May I ask what is wrong with that?"
One of the quietist, Whitney, hesitantly stood up and saluted.
"With respect," she started shakily, "don't you think that's going a little overboard?"
"Not at all," Chris stated through clenched teeth, trying to keep her voice under control. She thought these soldiers trusted her judgment enough not to be this doubtful.
She opened her mouth to try again.
"I understand that you all may think me silly for reading the old textbooks, but they actually have good ideas. Has anyone every heard of the American Revolution? The battle of Trenton?"
She once again glanced at the crowd to check their reaction, and wasn't very surprised to find several bewildered faces.
"Of course not. Trust me, please, I know this will work. I trust you all enough, I hope that you can trust that this is the best decision possible."
Chris reached down to pick up an SMG and a combat knife.
She straightened up to address them for the last time her patience could handle.
"I'll let you decide what weapons to use, just keep in mind that this needs to be kept quiet."
Without another backward glance at her squad, she walked out of the armory, with growing concern for the safety of her soldiers.
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