- soulguard
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- Exalted Mythic Member
“What happened down there, lieutenant?” The project head questioned. She sat the table and gazed at Wesley out of the corner of her eyes, but kept her focus on Eric.
“Ma’am.” Eric began. He retold the battle inside the facility and how his men fought bravely. He then arrived at the part where they locked themselves inside the lab. The project head then waved her hand cutting the story short.
“You’re stalling, lieutenant.” She softly stated. The other ONI officials and UNSC brass became even more eager to know the full details. “How did it end up in the covenants hands, while you and your men lived to tell this tale?” She questioned strongly.
“I gave it to them.” Rose whispered from her seat. The room filled with rumbles of disapproval as the officials became enraged.
“Why did you do that?” The project head demanded in a confused and astonished tone. Her voice cut through the uproar with a rage that startled everyone. Rose froze and slowly lowered her head.
“They would have killed us, and I didn’t know what else to do.” Rose pleaded.
“Private, anything to add?” The project head asked Wesley. Wesley was frozen in shock and could barely muster the strength to stand.
“No ma’am.” Wesley stuttered. Eric and Rose were a little shocked that Wesley didn’t say anything.
“Private, are you aware that her actions, as well as your own, constitute as high treason?” The project head stated harshly. She was well beyond the limit of containing her anger. “You have no secrets from us Private! If she goes in front of the firing squad, you’ll go as well! We know everything about you and Doctor Santos!” Eric cocked his head back swiftly and looked at Rose, with questions flooding into his mind.
“He had nothing to do with this, he tried to stop me!” Rose shouted.
“Shut up, Doctor!” The woman demanded. “Don’t think for a moment that we are not aware of the power of female seduction. You’re relationship with Private First Class Wesley Williams has been under investigation for quite some time.” Eric gritted his teeth and simply listened. “You may have kept the details of your involvement with the Private a secret to some, but within our ranks we can not afford to let such acts go unnoticed.”
“If I may interrupt?” A UNSC official questioned. The older man walked to the project heads side and looked to the marines that survived with them. “Does one of you men have your Recorder Chip on hand?” The surviving marines looked to each other and one of them shock his head yes, and pulled the chip from his helmet recorder. “Could you please queue it up in that terminal?” The marine nodded and walked to the terminal. He inserted the chip into the terminal’s digital reader and began to play back the data from the battle.
“Lieutenant, explain what we’re seeing?” The project head stated.
“Ma’am, this is just before we sealed ourselves in the lab.” Eric stated as the marines point of view showed a covenant assault team pushing down the hall. It quickly shifted and the marine began to race toward the lab, he turned and threw a grenade and the door to the lab closed. The quality became fuzzy and the screen once again shifted as he took off his helmet. Everything that was said was easily heard, and everyone recognized their voices. Soon the picture darkened and you could no longer see what was going on, but you could hear what everyone was saying.
Every word was crystal clear; Wesley’s shouting, Eric demanding Wesley to drop the gun, and Rose disobeying Wesley’s demand to close the box. There was a loud shout as Wesley screamed, then a gunshot, followed by tussling and then a loud hiss as the doors opened. Rose yelled to Eric to close the door, and Wesley shouting to the marine to stop her. The screen began to glow pink and soon the roar of the Elites was heard. The pink glow faded and the sound of the door closing filled the speakers.
“Enough.” The project head stated. “Turn it off. This is clearly treason. Private, there is no doubt that your threat toward Doctor Santos was true, but at the time you couldn’t bring yourself to actually kill her and protect the artifact. Had you not had a relationship with her then perhaps you could have affectively stopped her. Lieutenant, you should have stopped her from even trying to open the box. And Doctor, you gave the covenant an artifact that could very well cost us this war, and all of our lives.” The project head lowered her head and sighed. “Marines, you are dismissed. Locate the command bunker two clicks north, and find a new squad. As for the rest of you; Private First class Wesley Williams, Lieutenant Eric Raynord, and Doctor Roselyn Santos, you are all hereby found guilty of conspiring with the enemy, according to the United Nations Space Command and Office of Naval Intelligence Terms of War. According to this doctrine, the highest ranking official on the scene has the right to deal with you, without the approval of the committee, in any way they see fit.” The head then turned and looked to the UNSC commanding officer. The naval officer was a Lieutenant Commander and was clearly torn about what to do.
“This is interesting.” The man stated. “I have never made such a decision as dealing with traitors, and the only possible decision is death by firing squad.” Eric remained focused and didn’t let the commander’s words phase him, but Wesley and Rose were clearly bothered by it. The room was quiet, no one wanted to agree that the punishment fit the crime, but no one spoke against it either. “Lieutenant Eric Raynord, you were in command of defending the artifact, crystal thing. Do you have anything to say on your behalf?”
“Sir, only that if I am to die, then let me die fighting.” Eric stated sharply. “We need every man we can against the covenant, and while mandate may demand that we deserve to be shot, I say let us die on the battlefield. The situation got out of hand, I understand that, but in reality sir, the covenant would have gotten their hands on that crystal no matter how hard we fought. I’m not agreeing that what the Doctor did was correct, but it happened, she wanted to live and we lost control of the situation. Allow us to fight, all of us. Put us on the front line. Sir, let us repay our error in battle.” This was all Eric wanted; a chance to plead his case and get to fight for his home.
Eric’s words gave the Lieutenant Commander something to contemplate. Everyone was fully aware that they weren’t truly traitors. They were simply victims of their emotions and one woman’s desperation to live. But the punishment for treason was death, and this left the commander with a rather large decision to make.
“One thing is for sure, we really should look beyond this situation as if they are traitors. The commander stated. “I think most of us here know that the loss of that crystal isn’t at all that bad, seeing that we cracked its code several weeks ago.” The commander looked to the project head and she frowned angrily. “We can discuss that information in private. But none the less, an act against Earth was committed and I agree to the Lieutenants terms.” A heavy sigh echoed across the room; no one wanted to see them die.
It was the human condition to live, and if put in the situation how many wouldn’t have done the same. Even the best soldiers could crack under overwhelming conditions, but a civilian with no training was bound to do whatever was necessary to survive. Despite the commander’s decision, the project head had nothing to say, she simply sat in silence.
“If there are no objections, I hereby reprimand PFC Williams and Lieutenant Raynord with full demotions.” The commander addressed as he lit his pipe. He took a deep puff and exhaled the light grey smoke into the air. “First Lieutenant Eric Raynord, demoted to Sergeant, your skill and leadership will be needed out there. PFC Wesley Williams you are hereby demoted and repositioned to Marine core Private. You will serve directly under Sergeant Raynord.” The commander then focused his attention to Rose and stared at her deeply. “As for you Doctor, you have no training in combat but you are fairly physically fit, as evident in your ability to out maneuver four marines. Therefore, you’ll be assigned to Sergeant Raynord’s squad on the front line. He can position you however he feels. Pray, young lady that this past battle is all the covenant intends to do, however unlikely that is.”
“Sergeant, you are all dismissed.” The project headed stated abruptly. She was clearly not happy that the commander disregarded her anger. Eric saluted the brass and the ONI officials then escorted Wesley and Rose out of the room. Once the door closed behind him the officials began barking and shouting at each other over how the situation had been handled.
Wesley walked ahead of Eric and pushed the doors open to the outside. He inhaled heavily and vomited on the sidewalk. He leaned against the building and gasped for air. He was happy to be alive, but the pressure from dealing with all the higher ups and then hearing the words ‘firing squad’ had torn him up inside. He was grateful that he held it in until he got outside.
“I’d rather face the covenant any day.” Wesley gasped as he cleared his throat. Eric and Rose walked out and gave Wesley a quick glance. Ross looked to Eric but he didn’t share her gaze.