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Shadows of an Empire: Chapter 6
Posted By: tsukahara10
Date: 6 December 2006, 4:38 pm
Read/Post Comments
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Chapter 6: An Unexpected Arrival
1642 Hours, April 5th, 2561 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Somewhere outside the Beta Cassiopeia system
Markus shivered slightly as he munched on the last bit of his MRE. The temperature inside the Pelican had slowly been dropping since their life support systems died. When the power failed in the Pelicans, the Longswords came back and hooked themselves up to the Pelicans so they could feed off the Longswords power. To make their fuel supply last longer, the Longswords also fed off the Pelicans' unused fuel when theirs ran out. Unfortunately, the Marines had been stranded out in space for nearly five days, and their fuel was only meant to last thirty-six hours. The Marines had been able to make their fuel last for almost four days by shutting down all engines and powering only the life support systems. So for the last day, the Marines had been without proper life support. The air temperature had dropped below the freezing point, and the oxygen supply was running dangerously low. They were on the last of their MREs as well, they had to make them last as long as they could. If that destroyer the UNSC supposedly sent didn't show up soon, the Marines would slowly asphyxiate and starve.
They could do nothing but sit and wait. The Marines tried to stay calm and tried to take their minds off the fact that they might die stranded out in space. For a Marine, there's no worse way to die than to suffocate in the void of space. They were ground-pounders. They weren't even supposed to be in space. At least if they were to die on the ground, they would've died while fighting. Out in space, stuck in ships with no power, they had no control over their fate.
They were lucky one of the Marines in Markus' Pelican always kept a deck of cards with him. They played hundreds of rounds of different styles of poker to keep themselves occupied. Five Card Stud, Texas Hold'em, Sigma Octanus Scrambler, they played them all. However, they had stopped playing after the fourth day. They were so cold the thought of doing anything but making a fire never crossed their minds.
Markus finished off his MRE and went over to the cockpit. He grimaced as he stood. Any movement caused his arm to hurt like hell. He wished he had a medic onboard. He was able to find a splint, a sling, some biofoam, and morphine in the Pelican, but he couldn't set the bone without someone with proper medical training.
"How are you doing up here?" Markus asked the pilot.
"Cold," replied Warrant Officer Peter Stone.
"Still nothing?"
"Nothing but stars, sir."
Markus slumped against the back wall of the cockpit. There was no hope anymore. Markus was sure the UNSC wouldn't come. He sighed heavily and made his way back to the rear compartment to sit down.
About another hour passed before Warrant Officer Stone called back to Markus, "Major, come quickly! You've gotta see this!"
Markus winced as he stood up, and quickly made his way to the cockpit again.
"Look out to starboard," Stone said.
Several kilometers off the starboard side of the Pelican, a small portion of space started to ripple and boil, and a large vessel materialized out of the void.
Markus' heart sunk. The ship that had appeared next to them was no UNSC destroyer. A Covenant battlecruiser floated mere kilometers away from the Marines. Despite forming a truce after the Humans decimated their forces, the Covenant still wanted to see every Human dead. Markus wondered what the Covenant would do with the defenseless Marines.
A few minutes passed and Markus could see several tugboat-like ships approaching the UNSC forces. They looked as if they had stuck two of their old U-shaped Apparition dropships together and put an energy field in between the four arms. A tug approached Markus' Pelican and the Longsword attached to them and maneuvered itself so that the two ships were in the tug's energy field. The tugs then brought what was left of the Marine forces back to the cruiser.
When the ships had docked in the cruiser's hangar, the rear hatch to Markus' Pelican opened. Shaking from both the cold and sheer nervousness, Markus slowly walked out. The warm, Oxygen rich air in the hangar felt good and made it easier to breathe. He looked over to the Pelican to his left and saw Lieutenant Colonel O'Brian walk out of her Pelican. He did a quick survey of the hangar and saw several Elite guards. It wasn't a Covenant ship after all. It actually belonged to the faction of races that had broken away from the Covenant near the end of the war, the Holy Crusaders. At least they were somewhat friendly to the Humans.
"Welcome to the Dauntless Judicator," a voice greeted them. An Elite clad in gold armor walked towards Gundersen and O'Brian, since they were the only ones brave enough to step out of the Pelicans. He paused in front of Markus and put his right hand on Markus' left shoulder. Knowing this as the Elites' sign of friendship, Markus returned the gesture.
"We mean you no harm, Humans," the Elite said as he repeated the gesture with Sarah. "Our scouts saw you stranded without power and since your brethren helped ours years ago, I wanted to return the favor. Might I ask what happened?"
"Well, it's quite a long story," O'Brian said. "Shall we go somewhere a little more comfortable first?"
"But of course," the Elite replied. "You must be tired. We shall get your troops medical assistance if needed and proper living quarters while we are at it."
"Thank you," said the Lieutenant Colonel. She clicked on her radio and told the Marines, "It's all clear. We've been offered hospitality and we're gonna take it."
The rest of the Pelicans Longswords opened their rear hatches and about a hundred Marines piled out, some being carried, others limping along. The Elite growled an order in his native tongue and within minutes several Elites entered the hangar pushing floating gurneys. The injured Marines were set on the gurneys and taken to the medical bay while the rest were led to an empty barracks where they could stay as long as needed.
"Your soldiers are in good hands," the golden-armored Elite assured. "Come with me."
The Elite led Markus and Sarah through winding hallways and into a small circular room. In the center was a small circular table with several large chairs.
"Please, have a seat," the Elite said. The two Humans sat down in the awkwardly shaped chairs, and the Elite sat across the table from them. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I am Zoku 'Talamee, Ship Master of the Dauntless Judicator. I assume you two are the commanding officers of your group?
"Yes, I am Lieutenant Colonel Sarah O'Brian, Commanding Officer of the First Battalion Thirty-Fifth Marines, and this is my Executive Officer, Major Markus Gundersen. We were sent to take care of a rebellion at Beta Cassiopeia III, but when we didn't receive reinforcements when we asked for them, we were quickly overrun," O'Brian began to explain. She went into detail about the rebellion, the pirate attack, and the incompetence of the UNSC as 'Talamee listened intently.
When she finished, 'Talamee looked confused. "So your own people abandoned you?" he asked.
"Basically," Gundersen replied. "The problem is that the newly elected HIGHCOM is overconfident and stubborn, so when reinforcements are requested they simply say 'We have full faith that you can do this with what you have, so that's what you're going to do.'"
"I see," Zoku said. "Reminds me of the old days when we took orders from the Prophets. I had a brother who was a Field Master during the war, and when faced against your Spartans the Prophets told him 'We don't care if you've lost half your men. Lose the other half, or lose yourself.' He fell in battle that day, and ever since I have had nothing but hatred for the Prophets."
"Yeah, sometimes I think that siding with the rebellion might not be such a bad idea," Sarah said. "Well, we really appreciate your hospitality, Ship Master. It's been a long two weeks and we really need the rest."
"You are most welcome," 'Talamee bowed his head slightly. "Is there anywhere you need to go?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Sarah sighed. "We need to get back to New Reach and report to the Colonial Defense Committee. Take your time getting there though. The longer I'm away from those bungling bastards the better."
Zoku chuckled as he stood up, "It will take us about four days to get there from here. Is that enough time?"
"Yes, thank you. We should really get back to the troops to see how they are doing."
"I'll take you to them. The ones receiving medical attention should be ready for action by the time you get to New Reach," Zoku then noticed Markus's arm in a sling. "Speaking of which, I will take you to the medical bay to mend your arm, Major Gundersen."
"Thank you," Markus replied.
"My pleasure. While you're here would you like us to repair your ships for you?"
"No thanks, the UNSC can repair them," Sarah said as she and Markus followed the Ship Master through the halls. "It's their fault our ships are in such bad shape. We never would've had to retreat from the planet and get caught in the pirates' attack if they had just sent reinforcements."
"Very well."
0617 Hours, April 10th, 2561 (UNSC Military Calendar)
UNSC Flagship Invincible¸ in orbit around New Reach
"Sir, I'm reading a slipspace rupture about one point two million kilometers to port," announced Lieutenant Brian Daniels, the sensors officer. He paused a second and continued, "The ship that just came through is Covenant, sir."
"Arm all Archers and charge the MAC guns," Captain Nakano said as he stood from his. He knew the Humans and Covenant had a truce, but he wanted to be prepared just in case. "Be ready for anything."
"All weapons are armed, sir," replied the Lieutenant Walsh. He contemplated asking what Nakano was doing, but he knew better than to question the Captain's motives. He decided to just trust that Captain Nakano knew what he was doing.
"Receiving request for video communication, sir," said the communications officer, Lieutenant Toby Feldman. "It's from the Covenant ship."
"Patch it through to the main screen," the Captain said.
The main viewscreen flickered and a golden armored Elite's face appeared, "Greetings Humans! There is no need for your weapons, ours are powered down."
Captain Nakano wiped a bead of sweat from his temple and sat down. "Power down all weapons, Walsh," he sighed. He was both happy to avoid a conflict, but frustrated that he still hasn't tested his new ship out on a real enemy. "I apologize, Ship Master, but we are always cautious when we see your ships. We never know which ones are still Covenant controlled."
"I understand. It is hard to trust anyone after what you Humans have been through."
"So what business do you have here?"
"We found several of your soldiers stranded in space. They asked to be brought here."
"Very well, who is the officer in charge?"
"Her name is Lieutenant Colonel Sarah O'Brian."
"Good, the Fleet Admiral wants to have a talk with her. Dock with this ship as soon as you get here."
"Will do."
That woman is gonna get her head chewed off by the brass, Nakano said to himself. There's no way she's gonna dig herself out of this one.
After several minutes, a loud clunk was heard and the massive Invincible shook. The Holy Crusader battlecruiser docked with the Human flagship. The Invincible had two massive arms on each side that could be extended outwards and latch onto large vessels like the UNSC destroyers and frigates. Once secured, an umbilical extended from the Invincible so personnel could walk between ships. This was a very convenient feature of the Flagship, because now Pelicans didn't have to be used if people needed to get from the Flagship to another ship.
Captain Nakano waited at the starboard umbilical for O'Brian. She and Major Gundersen came out of the umbilical's airlock and greeted the Captain with a salute.
"The Colonial Defense Committee has been notified that you're here," the Captain said as he returned the salute. "They would like to speak with you two immediately."
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