- Sergeant Murph
- |
- Noble Legendary Member
Chapter 9
Please Refrain From Touching the Bomb
The location was set. Kovalee made his ascention, then took off, leaving the empty outpost and the dying Human behind. He had managed to get valuable information out of the soldier.
The bomb, code named Last Resort, was a weapon that would do damage overtime, until finally going off, destroying everything within miles. It was stored in a Human weapon manufacturing base.
Not only would the bomb kill the Humans, but it would take him as well. He knew he wouldn't make it out in time before the explosion, which the Human had said would be about twenty minutes after arming, although it could cut the landscape in half with its smaller detonations in the course of ten minutes.
Now all that was left to do was extract the bomb, using the Phantoms Gravity Lift, then find a mountain where he could laugh at the rest of the galaxy, show them what he could do with a bomb and a finger.
************************************************************* ****************************************
"So where do we go?" I asked Anderson, eager to know what the plan was. We had no base, so sleeping was out of the question. Anderson looked stumped, then came up with an idea.
"Well, I could teach you some fighting tactics," said Anderson, half dissagreeing wth his own idea.
"I know how to fight,"
"Oh, please. Tackling a guy, then trying to strangle him is not fighting. That guy wants you dead, and you had better be ready when he comes,"
I turned away, remembering the hatred that I had felt when I fought Kovalee, remembering how good it felt to tighten my hands around his neck.
After a short silence, Zanakee spoke up.
"I can teach you to wield a sword," said Zanakee
I looked back at the Special Operations Officer, and for reasons I couldn't explain, I agreed.
Outside of the base, we both drew our swords, and Zanakee started teaching, with the seven other Elites and six humans watching.
"To duel with an sword, you must not be aggressive. You must be calm, using your weapon only for defence, until your opponent slips. Go on, attack me,"
I was uneasy with this idea, not wanting to harm my teacher, but I did it anyway. I charged at him, swinging the sword downward. Instantly, our swords met, and he pushed up, sending me sailing to the ground.
"Wrong! You must not be aggressive! We will get this right!"
We practiced for hours, outside that base, everyone watching, waiting for me to become the perfect swordsman, but I couldn't.
"I can't do it. It is two complicated," I bellowed, out of breath.
Zanakee looked disgusted. "Tell that to Zens Kovalee,"
************************************************************* ****************************************
Hours Kovalee searched, looking for the large dome-like structure that held the bomb, until he finally found it, placed in between two mountains. A perfect placement.
As he descended, several Humans, and nine elites came into view. It seemed as though there was more than one Heretic to dispose of, although Solonee was his number one priority.
He didn't fire the cannon, instead, he snuck the dropship around the back of the dome, where no one could see his entrance, landing the Phantom.
Before extracting it, Kovalee needed a good idea of it's placement, rather than just shooting up the whole base and hoping he didn't destroy the bomb.
He climbed up the side of the base using his sword to aid him, than cut a small whole at the very top, so that he could peer down into it.
It was probably thr biggest room he had ever seen, with countless walls of Human and Covenant weapons, all held neatly on their own rack. On the floor there were vehicles, turrets, any weapon imaginable. There was one small door on his left, presumably the entrance, another small door straight ahead, the Emergency Room, and in between, there was a great big door, with a keypad on it. The door read AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
He had found the bomb.
************************************************************* ****************************************
Anderson yawned. It had gotten boring after watching two Elites practice with swords for three hours. He hadn't gone back inside because he wanted to be as supportive as possible to the Elite that had saved his life twice.
All of his Marines felt the same way, but the Elites were into it, shouting out tips to Sol, hoping that they could assist him.
It wasn't long before one of the Elites, Cholahee, called out.
"There's someone over there!" pointing to the opposite side of the base.
His partner, Sikanoy, objected.
"I see nothing,"
"No! There was an Elite on top of the roof! I saw it!"
As the two SpecOps Elites continued arguing, the rest of the squad looked up in awe at the Phantom, taking flight behind their base.
Zanakee and Sol stopped fighting, confused by their allie's strange gazes.
Sol turned around, and two things hit his mind.
Kovalee. The bomb.
************************************************************* ****************************************
The battle station was in hell as the Phantom's main gun began to cut through their roof.
"What are you waiting for? Get the Rocket Launchers, ASAP! Take that dropship down!" yelled Conners to the rest of his puzzled Marines.
Every soldier ran for the Rocket Launchers rack, then for the ammo. The gun cut through the base, causing a large portion of the ceiling to colapse on them.
The Captain, coming to a sudden obvious realization, claimed to himself, "They're here for the bomb,"
Another Plasma burst and Captain Conners was blown back into the wall, dead.
Every Marine in and around that room came with Rocket Launchers, firing mindlessly at the Phantom. Nothing seemed to stop it, and the Gun continued firing, killing two Marines every two seconds.
Slowly, the Phantom left that open spot, causing relief for the Humans, until more shots fired at the place they couldn't get to: Last Resort's holding room.
"Does anyone know the password? Anyone?" yelled a Marine, typing random numbers into the keypad.
All of the Marines shook their heads, running around the base, as if it would give them an idea.
The ceiling was finally shattered from the outside, revealing a giant Plasma Grenande shaped object. Kovalee laughed, activating the Gravity Lift.
The bomb, held in a cage with no roof, easily soared up into the Air, and finally landing inside the Phantom, where Kovalee had a chance to arm it, destroying everything in twenty minutes. But he didn't. Instead, he started to turn the Phantom around, about to go full speed to the top of the mountain beside the base, where he could look back at the suffering Humans
************************************************************* ****************************************
We all piled down the secret passage, running down the long hallways in search of weapons. Finally, we reached the main room. half of the Marines were wounded, half dead. The ceiling had colapsed, causing a giant gap in the metal roof.
We all scurried around for weapons, each Human arming themselves with their favorite gun, so if they died, they would die happy.
I looked around for a weapon that suited me. I wasn't skilled with any weapon besides a Carbine, but there was only one remaining, and it had only ten shots left.
Four Marines had already ran out the door, SMG's in hand, soon followed by the four Elites, Burns, and the Marine that despised me, leaving only Anderson and me.
"Well, what are you gonna take then? The guys got a bomb for gods sakes! You'd better hurry it up!"
"I can't do it," the words flew out of my mouth so easily, and I wished I could eat them back. William Anderson looked me in the eyes so hard, so steadily, and scolded me.
"We've come this far, Sol. Two weeks ago you were nothing. You were a coward, a liar. Look whats become of you now? You're a soldier, and a gifted one at that. You made the choice to flee from that tower. You made the choice to warn me about Kovalee. You made the choice to come back and save me!" he yelled, taking a short pause.
"And now its time to make this choice: what are you, a heretic, or a hero?"
He continued to stare me down, letting the words sink in. Then shook his head, and was out the door, leaving me alone in the giant room.
I felt ashamed that I hadn't believed in myself. I turned around, and made my way to the weapon racks.
End Transmisson
Well, you heard it here. One more chapter until the three part finale, and the final battle for Humanity. Stick around, the next chapter is in preparation for the Finale, and there won't be too much action.
Just saving it for the finale, ya know?
[Edited on 08.05.2008 2:51 PM PDT]