- Wolverfrog
- |
- Fabled Legendary Member
And without further ado, here is Part 32! Finally breaking the rut. I'm loving writing this again.
Part 32 - Rescued
The Covenant struck in the night.
It had been two weeks since I'd arrived at the URF camp, and in that time I'd learnt to be a good leader, thanks to the teachings of Blade. Since the original incident with the recruit Blade shot, which Commander Mains deemed as "a shame", none of the other recruits had hassled me.
The day had been hard, and everyone was tired out. Blade and I were about to retire to our quarters when we saw it.
Five Covenant drop ships soared over the hill, and rained plasma down on the base, catching many recruits by surprise. The atmosphere instantly changed, as everyone began to run around cursing and trying to find cover, forgetting their training. We took cover within a nearby building, and I leaned against the wall.
"These guys just don't give up do they?" I shouted over the roar of the streaming plasma, and Blade grimaced. I looked down at my side, and realised I had no weapon. Nor did Blade.
"We need to make a break for the armory!" Blade shouted, and I nodded. Without weapons we were vulnerable.
After the count of three, we broke out of cover and ran north. Screams of dying men echoed around us, but we blanked them out. A frightened recruit spotted us and ran over, his head covered by his arms. As if that would stop a superheated bolt of energy.
"Sirs!" He screamed. "What do we do? Why are they attacking? What did we ever do to them?"
Blade grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked the recruit in the eye.
"They're attacking because they can. And I'll you what we do. We fight! And god damn it soldier, we will win!"
To my surprise the recruit shook his head violently at Blade's words, and shoved away from his grip.
"No...no!" The recruit cried, stumbling backwards. "We can't fight that. You nutters can stay if you want, I'm making a run for it!"
"No! Wait!" Blade shouted, lunging out for the recruit's arm. But it was too late. The recruit was already running down the camp, sprinting as fast as he could. He was suddenly stopped as he hit a wall of air, and fell to the ground.
The invisible Elite disengaged it's camouflage technology and brought down it's burning blade upon the shocked man's neck. The screams ended.
Before the Elite could spot us, we moved out of the area, and carried on towards the armory. As we ran, a different recruit latched onto my leg. His lower torso was missing, and he was screaming and coughing up blood. There was no way he was going to make it. With a look of both pity and disgust, I pushed the man off. No sense in us both dying.
Blade and I finally reached the armory, and slammed the heavy steel door behind us. I leaned against the metal wall, and breathed deeply.
A voice then sounded from deep within the shadows of the armory.
"Who's there?" The voice spoke hoarsely.
"That depends on who's asking." Blade replied, grabbing an Assault Rifle from a nearby rack and aiming it at the voice.
The figure emerged from the shadows, and I let out a sigh of relief. It was Commander Mains.
"I sure am glad to see you two." Mains spoke. "What's going on out there?"
"It's a massacre...sir." I replied solemnly. "We don't have anything that can stop them."
"Is there any chance of getting reinforcements in Mains?" Blade demanded, asserting control. Mains shook his head wearily.
"The nearest URF base is --", his words were drowned about by a large explosion outside of the armory. "-- is on the other side of Harvest's equator. There is another option, but..."
Blade was on him in a second.
"But what?" Blade asked. "Dammit Mains, don't hold anything back!"
The URF Commander looked surprised by Blade's air of authority.
"Well, there's a UNSC base some thirty miles back south. But they wouldn't help us we're rebels."
A gleam of hope crossed into Blade's eye.
"Can you set up a radio connection with them?" Blade asked, and after a few moments Mains nodded.
"Probably...but I'd need time. And the radio transmitter's in my office, one the other side of the compound. We'd have to go through a legion of Covenant. And even if we do set up a link, they UNSC will just laugh in our faces."
Blade smiled; that mad smile he always wore when about to embark on something ridiculously dangerous.
"No they won't, I can guarantee it. You just set up a link, and I'll have reinforcements here in minutes." he said, grabbing equipment from the rack next to him.
"What about those Covenant?" I asked.
"We're in an armory son, take your pick of weapons. We're gonna battle our way to that office. You ready for combat Mains?"
"I guess so." Mains replied uncertainly.
"Guess so?" Blade scoffed. "That's no way for a Helljumper to talk, even a retired one. You'll need all the confidence you can muster if you want to get out of this mess alive."
*****************************
"I swear to god, that plasma bolt missed my head by inches!" I swore as we barged through the doors of Commander Mains' office.
"Stop moaning lad, and be vigilant. We're not safe yet. Not by a long way. Mains, get that radio set up stat!"
"Yes sir!" Mains unconsciously said back. He stopped, and looked confused. "Why did I just say sir?"
"Trust me, you'll get used to it." I replied. "Now go on, get the radio link up quick."
Mains nodded, and hurried over to the old looking equipment at his desk. He began to turn dials, and his face was set into a look of concentration.
Blade and I waited for the inevitable wave of Covenant, but none came. Odd, perhaps they were waiting for us to come out. After all, the building had only one exit.
A few moments later though, and a crow of triumph came from Mains.
"Yes! Connection established Andrew!" He cried, referring to Blade. Blade ran over and shoved Mains out of the way rather rudely.
"Hello? You are contacting an unauthorised frequency, who is this?" A voice echoed from the radio.
"This is Staff Sergeant Blade of the ODST 106th division. Who am I speaking to?" Blade replied, and my stomach curled. Blade had just announced in front of Mains that he was actually UNSC.
"Wait, what?" Mains began to question, but he was drowned out by the reply of the UNSC person on the radio frequency.
"And why should I believe that? My private here has just told me that your signal is coming from a known URF base. And I'm Corporal Firez, and I don't think you're being entirely honest."
Blade swore, and I noticed his face get red.
"God damn it man, I don't have time for this. The Covenant are literally right outside, and we need reinforcements now!" He shouted down the radio. I felt kind of sorry for the man on the other end.
"Well I'm going to need your UNSC serial number." Corporal Firez muttered through the radio, sounding a lot less arrogant.
Blade sighed, and spouted out a ridiculously long code. I realised I should know my serial number, but I didn't.
At the least, the code had an effect.
"The code matches...and so do your vocal cords. I'm sorry Staff Sergeant, please forgive my confusion." Firez apologised anxiously. "Shortswords are en route to your position sir. We'll flush out those Covenant for you."
"Yeah, well good. Thank you Corporal." The link terminated.
There was an awkward silence in the room for a few seconds, until Mains broke it.
"So...you're still UNSC." He said to Blade. "And I take it you are too?" He asked of me.
I looked down at the floor, feeling incredibly guilty for betraying his trust.
"I'm sorry Mains, we would have said, but --"
My excuse was suddenly cut out as a deafening roar surged outside, accompanied by explosions and shouts of marines. As one, we all rushed outside. The Covenant were being massacred by the forces attacking. Drop ships fell to barrages of missiles, Elites were dropped by rifles. I let out a sigh of relief, and saw a squad of marines running over to us.
"Sir!" The lead one saluted at Blade. "I'm Lance Corporal Garns! Let's get you out of this war zone, you must need some rest."
Blade nodded and we followed the Lance Corporal to a Pelican drop ship some hundred meters away. Mains hesitated for a moment, as if unsure what to do; then he followed too.
We boarded, and for the first time in weeks, I truly felt safe. A medic was examining Blade, and I assumed he'd come over to me in due time soon. He did.
"Who's your friend?" Garns asked, looking at Mains suspiciously.
"Mains. I'm comma-- That is to say...sir -- I'm no one." Mains quickly answered, stumbling a bit.
"He's a friend." I said definitely, and Mains gave me an empty, but grateful smile.
"Yeah, well, he can join us if he wants. The UNSC needs all the help it can get." Garns offered.
"So where are we headed?" Blade asked, interrupting. "To that base you came from?"
Lance Corporal Garns shook his head.
"Have you not heard? Oh, of course you wouldn't have. Vice Admiral Cole has just arrived in system, with the largest fleet ever assembled! He's gonna kick these Covenant scum right out of Harvest! We're to rendezvous with his flagship."
"Cole?" Blade suddenly asked, looking up. "Did you just say Cole?" Garns nodded. "He told m--I thought he'd retired."
"Well he did sir, but I guess he's back. He asked to see you personally as soon as he heard about you. Why is that sir? Do you know him?"
Blade's eyes got a distant look in them.
"You could say that."
I looked down at the ground, and saw the dead Covenant bodies. Had any of the recruits survived? I doubted it. The marines below were cheering now, and moving back into their Shortswords.
The Pelican's hatch closed, and we broke out of Harvest's atmosphere.