- Gamer3427
- |
- Noble Heroic Member
Boom goes the enemy...........
Chris woke up and coughed the gunk out of his lungs. As soon as he had gotten on the ship they put him in a cryo-chamber. At first he was afraid to get into it, since his family had died before he was even a year old because of the chambers. The crew had eventually convinced him to get in, but he wasn't sure that he would wake up afterward. This was the third and last time they would wake him up. They had been in and out of slipspace for nearly a year, and they would wake him up every few months to check his vitals and for him to exercise.
During his free time he would explore the ship and learn about how it worked. Most of the time, he would go to the bridge and watch the crew at work. Doing that, he had more or less learned how the ship was controlled. He was sure that with a little time he would be able to do the basic work at some of the stations. He wouldn't get a chance though, they were reaching their destination.
During the year that he had been on board, most of which he had spent in the cryo-chamber, the members of the crew had been gathering more and more people for the Spartan Project. By now there had to be over a hundred recruits, and the ship was starting to feel crowded. There had only been a few people on board, other than the crew, when he was brought in.
As he got dressed, Chris noticed that it was extremely busy. The ship doctors put him through his tests and gave him his a ok. They then sent him on his way so they could examine the next person. As he started on his way to the exercise are of the ship, there was an announcement over the ship's intercom.
"Attention, attention, all recruits please report to docking bay alpha."
As he changed direction to go to the other end of the ship, he heard "It's time," and "The ship is gonna be empty now." From that, Chris deduced that they were going to send the recruits off the ship.
He got to the hanger and found his spot among the recruits, and waited. Eventually, when everyone was there, a man who was dressed like a pilot said, "Everyone line up, to board the pelicans. You will get on in order by number."
They had been given a service number when they got on board. He was recruit number 054. They were put on the pelicans, which had been designed to hold twenty-five troops. Because of this, he was put on the third pelican. Once on board, he found his seat and strapped himself in. This was only the second time in his life that he had been on this type of dropship, and he was fairly sure that this was the same ship that had brought him to the cruiser.
He was positive that it was the same one when the man that was with Dr. Halsey came in wearing a pilot uniform. He was only slightly surprised that the man had been a pilot, but he was surprised that he was once again his pilot. He hadn't actually seen him fly the first pelican, but was fairly sure that no one else had gotten on.
When the pilot noticed him, he came over and said, "Hey, your Chris right?"
Chris replied, "Yea, but I am surprised you remember me."
"You remember it when a six-year old sends you to the ground. I heard that you have been stalking the bridge."
"I was not exactly 'Stalking.'"
"Well, whatever you were up to, you must've been bored to be able to sit there watching them press buttons. How would you like to see some real flying, from the front view?"
Feeling excited for the first time since his when he first left Survivor, Chris could only answer with a simple, "Sure."
He barely noticed the others as he followed the pilot to the cockpit. Once inside he did, however, notice that it looked nothing like the bridge of the cruiser. Instead of flat screens with readouts, there was a view of the hanger. Instead of just a few buttons and knobs, there were dials, buttons, switches, levers, and two steering sticks.
"Take a seat," the pilot said, motioning to the empty co-pilot seat.
"What about the co-pilot?"
"He got some bad rations, messed him up pretty bad."
For a few minutes he just sat there, watching as people ran around outside, getting ready for departure, and making sure they were out of the way.
"Pelican 402 to hanger bay," said the pilot over the radio, "all systems are go."
"Roger," came the reply.
Over the radio, Chris could hear echoes of the pilot's statement. That went on for about five minutes, and then hanger bay said, "All ships are cleared for launch. All personnel stand clear. Opening hanger doors. Pilots, you are free to launch!"
To this there was a unanimous, "Roger," and then, one by one, the pelicans left the hanger.
Chris felt a rumbling of the ship as it lifted up and left the hanger. For the first time he saw the planet. Comparing it to videos and pictures he had seen of other planets, he decided that this one was more or less average. It was similar in size, had plants, water, and overall looked the same. Even though, it somehow seemed, different. He was not sure if it was the fact that it was only the second planet he had seen or what, but something did not sit right with him about the planet.
He was brought out of his thoughts by the voice of Dr. Halsey, which was being broadcasted over the ship intercom. "Attention, we are currently in orbit around a planet called Reach. This planet is the center of the Spartan II Project. It will be your new home for the next few years, and you will begin your new lives here. You will forget the live you had before you joined; the person that you were is now dead. You are now Spartan recruits, and you are now family to each other.
"You will eat, breath, sleep, and live together. You will experience things that would kill others, and that may kill some of you. You will achieve great things when this is over. You will endure pain, loss, and worse, but you will save lives and stop wars before they begin. Once you boarded that ship," she said, referring to the cruiser, "you left yourselves behind, and there is no going back. You were all chosen because you are different than everyone else, and while others would fail, you will survive!"
With that, she signed off. Before Chris could comprehend what she meant, the pilot said, "Everyone strap in. We're entering the atmosphere, and it's going to get bumpy."
Chris did as he said, and strapped in. Outside the windshield, he could see the pelicans starting to heat up upon re-entry, and for a moment he was worried, until the pilot told him that they could withstand the heat.
After that things went pretty smoothly. They had re-entered a few hours from their destination, so he had plenty of time to learn the basics of how to fly from the pilot. For a few minutes the pilot had even let him take control, and while it caused a few problems when he got close to another ship, it wasn't too bad.
Once they were in sight of the landing zone, it seemed that everything would go off without a hitch, but as things usually happen, that was when the problems occurred. Chris was asking a few final questions about what certain things did, and he realized that he had never learned the pilot's name.
"Hey, what is" he started.
He was cut off as the pelican did a violent jerk to the side. If he hadn't been wearing his harness, he would have flown into the windshield. He looked over to the pilot and saw that he was unconscious. Realizing that the pelican would crash into the ground if he didn't do something, he flipped the switch that gave his seat control, and did his best to right the falling ship.
He got the ship up right, but realized that it was coming in too low and too fast. If he didn't do something, fast, then they were going to become part of the landing zone. He did everything he could to slow them down, but they still hit with bone jarring force. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of it as the ship started sliding across the tarmac. It clipped a few ships that had already landed, but did not cause any serious injuries.
Chris saw that it was headed straight for a wall, and he braced himself. His last thought was that he had never learned who the guy was. Then it was over.