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CR.02: Chaotic Reign .02
Posted By: TheRedFaction<Hometokell@aol.com>
Date: 19 March 2003, 4:23 AM
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"Well, this is perfect. Elder Kaiid-Jahjun has gone insane and is intending to defy all laws so he can rule the Races himself…"
"Yes, I know. But we can't talk like this. He could start another war in no time."
Elder Rin clenched his fists. "At least we know we have permission from the Council to fight back if he tries."
"That's not good enough. I want to live in a place where we don't have to fight just to get what we want."
"That's the way it's going to be if Elder Kaiid-Jahjun doesn't back down."
"Well…"
The bunker rocked from the explosion. It was deafening; one that is loud enough to drown out any other sounds.
From a watchtower, Lieutenant Nick Jones observed the outpost as it was almost entirely eaten by the fireball. He watched, not hearing the screams of those who were caught in the middle of it. He gritted his teeth in anger.
People fled the outpost, screaming, and crying. Some stayed, tending to the dead whom could not be saved, as if they expected there was still hope.
Nick felt like ending himself right then in there, but he knew that the world depended on him.
In the distance, he could see the missile batteries launching more and more rockets, raining death on the Human outpost. He could see them coming closer. He saw the military flag landcruiser of Elder Kaiid-Jahjun. He saw the Covenant signal of no mercy.
Nobody could fight back; they had no chance, no weapons, no time.
Nick wanted to wish for their survival, that they would live on and make it to victory. He knew that wishing for such a thing was futile.
The one thing he did wish for that did come true: That Elder Rin was not here to see this.
After he closed his eyes and imagined that all this was missing was the sad, epic music in the background, he reopened them to greet a Covenant missile, which was destined to bring him to his knees.
I will accept my fate.
Meanwhile…
On the home planet of Elder Orcon, the Rankai outpost at the entrance to the Elder's Grand Mansion met a similar fate to that of the Humans.
Rankai people swarmed from the outpost in fear, pain, confusion and anger.
Unlike Elder Rin, however, Elder Orcon suffered the pain of witnessing his guards, his own people being murdered in front of his peaceful home. He felt like crying.
He watched a few brave guards fire back with their rifles at the oncoming army of Grunts and Elites, all dressed in red and silver armor and warfare attire. They marched in unison, slowly approaching the very few men who fought for the safety of Elder Orcon, the last hope for the Rankai.
One after the other they fell, meeting their ultimate destiny as the unstoppable force advanced, hardly even fazed by the attacks.
Elder Orcon refused to abandon the planet. He ordered his servants and officers to take the ships and leave the world at once. Reluctantly, they agreed.
Then, alone in his room, Elder Orcon gazed out the window as the Covenant force began bombarding the mansion.
"Elder Kaiid-Jahjun, reports are in."
The Covenant leader turned away from his view of space. "Yes?"
"Our forces on the Rankai home planet have made it to Elder Orcon's mansion and are breaking through the defenses."
"And Earth?"
"We have destroyed a vital outpost in the forests near Elder Rin's predicted location."
Kaiid-Jahjun returned his look towards the blackness before him.
"Good," he said, emotionless.
A dropship lowered itself outside the ruins of an outpost on Earth. The base was gone, replaced entirely by debris, rubble, and flames.
The dropship was Human. Several Human officers leaped from the ship and surrounded the outpost, searching for survivors as others tended to the spreading fires. A few officers approached a fallen watchtower that had once overlooked the base and had probably allowed whomever was inside to see the advancing Covenant force as they obliterated the outpost.
The watchtower had been brought down by a sort of explosive, a missile, most likely. One officer stumbled upon the body of Lieutenant Nick Jones, which lay face down next to the watchtower.
"I found one!"
A few more officers came to help. The first checked for a pulse, then for respiration.
"He's alive!" he shouted, turning to three attendants who had stepped forward.
They turned him over to lift him onto the stretcher. He had not lost any body parts, internal organs, or anything else. His clothes were torn, he had a scrape down his forehead and down his cheek, which would leave a very unnoticeable scar.
Other than that, he seemed perfectly fine. The missile had missed the watchtower, and struck the ground nearby, weakening the supports and causing it to fall.
Nick Jones was the only survivor. Others were alive, but died as they were assisted.
The dropship lifted off with Jones onboard. Quickly they left, trying desperately to avoid witnessing the scene any more.
Back on the Rankai planet…
The Grand Mansion was almost gone. Covenant plasma turrets assaulted the facility while tanks destroyed towers and spires.
Grunts and Elites continued to advance towards the front doors. Elder Orcon didn't care; he was saddened by the vision of his cities, his people, being brought down. Clouds of smoke rose miles into the sky. Screams filled the air, constantly drowned out by explosions and fireballs and bursts of plasma. Gunfire could be heard as well as his Orcon's soldiers defended the cities and people to the end.
A few hundred Grunts made it through the front gates and were storming across the yard like mad and made a crazy attempt to bust through the door.
The fired at it, kicked it and pushed at it. At last, the door fell away, burned off its hinges. They started into the mansion but were stopped by a sudden, high whine.
They turned their attention to the sky, where the sound was coming from. Nothing could be seen, although Orcon himself was searching for the sound's origin.
Out from behind the mansion, a hovercraft roared into view, making its presence known. It screamed over the Grunts and Elites, releasing a payload that signed their death warrant. They fled from the yard, but were swallowed in the flames that erupted from the bomb that planted itself in the middle of the crowd.
Two more ships cruised by, delivering more explosives to the Covenant forces that waited in the forests.
Lieutenant Nick Jones woke up with a fiery inferno in his chest.
"Ow," he muttered, trying to lift his right arm to massage his burning chest. His arm, however, was in a sling, fractured in several places.
The pain spread now, increasing the fire that engulfed him. He felt that a thousand knives protruding into his flesh could not feel any worse than this. His muscles throbbed even as he tried to open his eyes to see and open his mouth to scream.
And then, the pain stopped.
He opened his eyes and sucked in air. He sat bolt upright.
A nurse stood next to him with a needle in her hand.
"Oh, my," she said, looking at the needle. "Did I poke too hard?"
Nick stared at her. She looked at him in worry, her face carved with fear.
"You were losing consciousness so I injected morphine into your arm. Did I hit the bone?"
She placed a gloved hand on his right arm, where a small hold had been made as the needle was forced into his skin.
He continued to look at her, then at his arm. "No, no. The pain…it…it was too much."
"Well, I suppose the morphine has taken care of that. Are you okay?" She seemed calm now as she placed the needle graciously on a tray next to her.
"Yeah…I guess."
"So what was it like?" She was staring at him in a serious mood now.
"What was what like, ma'am?"
"The attack, of course. The fall of the outpost where you were stationed."
"Oh, yes." Nick though a moment, searching his memory blindly in hopes he could remember what happened. It hit him like the blade of a shovel across the face.
"Oh, God…you don't want to know," he told her, trying to get her to drop the matter.
"No, I do. Regardless of how horrible it was."
"It wasn't horrible…it was, it was…more than that. The end of the world. People fled into the trees nearby, but most were shot by Covenant troops. So many men and women, screaming, running for the life they still had to live. Cut down, cut like a blade of grass. Like a warm knife through butter. Plasma ripping through the air, claiming one after the other. Missiles and bombs rained on us. People tried to hide, to run, but were eaten by the flames, by the inferno that swept through. The screams…I remember the screams the most, piercing screams, useless screams that showed emotion, and fear, but wouldn't stop anything. The making of a cemetery, of a field of death. Some died first, the lucky ones, if they were going to die anyway. I was the unfortunate one."
"But you lived."
"Sure, one can survive something like that. But to watch your friends, people you considered family, people you had known for so long, to watch them die, so fast, so horribly, and then live long enough to watch it, and then be able to tell it to someone who shouldn't know what it was like anyway, that is cruel. I feel guilty having told you all this. It'd be better if I was the only witness."
He looked at the nurse. Her dark, straight hair hung at her shoulders as she wept openly, almost experiencing the scene all over again.
"I'm sorry," was all she said.
A hologram cackled to life before Elder Orcon.
"Elder Orcon," called a Rankai hovercraft pilot. "Please, come with us."
"I cannot."
"Why not?"
"I refuse to leave my people in suffering, Captain Kakaron," Orcon responded, showing no fear as a new Covenant force advanced towards the mansion.
"You don't understand!"
"No, it is you who does not understand. My people need me as long as we are here on this planet."
"Elder Orcon," said Kakaron in a strong, gentle voice. "Your people are dead. We've searched the ruins of our cities, we have checked everywhere. The temples, the churches, everywhere. There is nobody left. We need you to make decisions for us. You are our leader. This is no time to be a hero, to stand for no fear."
Orcon said nothing. The floor below him rumbled violently as Wraiths assaulted the mansion.
"Please, Elder Orcon. We are the last ones left."
"Very well," Orcon said at last.
"Thank you. Meet us in the docking bay."
With those eight words, the hologram vaporized and disappeared. All Orcon could do was shed a single tear.
"Ten seconds."
"Thank you, Captain."
The nurse returned her attention to Nick. "Are you still feeling okay?"
"Yes, thank you."
"This may sting a little." She raised another needle and again injected a fluid into Nick's right arm. He winced.
"What was that?" he asked her as she removed the needle and bandaged the spot.
"A healing fluid. It increases internal healing activity to speed up the reconnection of your fractured bones. It'll also stabilize your arm, making it stronger and less prone to breaking or fracturing."
Nick nodded. "Have we landed?"
The nurse nodded. "About twenty seconds ago."
Nick looked at her as she packed her equipment up. "Again, I'm sorry about what you had to witness."
"You're lucky you weren't there."
"Thanks to you, I have been."
"Elder Rin."
Rin turned, expecting to see the face of one of his officers, here to report the damages to his people and their Earth. Instead, however, he found the sad and weak face of Elder Orcon.
"Yes."
"I need your help."
"Don't we all."
"I have nowhere to turn. I need defense from you."
"Your people…"
"They're dead. All of them but me and a few pilots."
"I'm…I'm sorry."
"Nothing could be done," Orcon said, his voice breaking.
"No, but I wish I could have been there."
"You wouldn't if you had been."
Elder Rin placed a hand on Orcon's shoulder.
"It isn't over yet."
Next: CR.03: Chaotic Reign .03
A New War, a Lesser Hope
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