CHAPTER 2
The crippled shuttle swooped and dived, flying through the air like a crazy roller coaster.
"What the hell just happened!?" Frank called out over the roar of the air. "I think we lost engine 1!" Markus called back. The once still surface of the planet was now roaring towards them. As the shuttle drew closer Frank saw red sunlight reflecting off of something. It looked like the Covenant communication bases he had seen on Eridanus and Sigma Octanus III.
"Grab on to something! We're going to have a bumpy landing!" Markus yelled over the noise. Frank braced himself against a weapons rack and looked at the altimeter. 5000 ft...3000...1000..500..150... The shuttle pulled up slightly and Frank slipped from his handhold. The shuttle slammed down and Frank was thrust back, he knew the door was right behind...
Frank opened his eyes slowly. He felt a pain in the back of his head and reached over to feel it, feeling bandages instead. "Hey, he's awake!" Tim called out. He looked around and saw he was on the floor of the shuttle, and some medical equipment had been opened.
"You took quite a hit there, banged your head against the door as we were comin' down." Tim said in his familiar southern accent, closing a first aid kit. "Ol' Marky thought you was good as dead."
"How long have I been out?" said Frank, sitting up. "Oh, about three hours. If you're wonderin' where the others are, they went into a nearby factory too look for some supplies, so me and Dick stayed behind to take care of ya"
Frank looked over and saw Dick Hall polishing his favorite shotgun, which had gotten dirty in the crash. "Any casualties?" Frank asked.
"Well, Freddy got his arm yanked pretty good as we was comin' in, Marky thinks he dislocated his arm, But that's about it, other than these here cuts and bruises." said Tim as he pulled back his sleeve, revealing where a gash had been cut on his arm.
Frank was about to ask how Tim managed to get such a cut, but then he heard a familiar voice.
"Well if it's not Lt. Frank Wills. I prefer to wait until the door is open until I run for it, but hey, that's just me." Markus joked. Normally frank would have laughed at the wisecrack, but he was more concerned with the fuel rod that had shot them down. "See any Covenant?" Frank asked.
"Nope, not a single one. We did see one of their bases off in the distance, but we lost just short of all our ammo in the crash, so we aren't getting too nosy."
"How far are we from the LZ?" Frank asked. "Hmmm...looks like about...let's see.." Markus muttered as he looked at his TacPad. "Looks like about 50 klicks from here, give or take." Markus clicked off the small device and put it in his rucksack. "Well, we've been waiting for you, we might as well get moving."
Frank looked at the crippled shuttle as they walked out. He examined the cargo hold, which had been crushed flat, leaving them with, like Makus said, almost no ammo. "What'd you find in the factory?" Frank asked.
"Not much." said Pvt. Fred Lansky, who had a bandage on the arm he had dislocated. "Just a couple of M6D's and about 30 ammo cartridges." he said, as he held up one of the pistols, which were badly scratched and looked corroded. "As you can see, these probably aren't going to get us very far. The place looked like it had been abandoned for years. Some old paperwork was dated 2509."
Frank thought about their situation. Several BR55s, two with bent barrels, five MA5Cs, three M90As, four 50-year-old M6s, and assorted supplies and food canisters. To make matters worse, they only had about 3 rounds for each gun, 10 for the MA5s.
"Well, grab a gun and lets move out." said Frank. "My TacPad shows an AMG factory about 10 klicks south, probably some 'hogs there, or at least a few Mongooses." He waited for the team to grab weapons, and picked up and M90A and one of the pistols. It was going to be a long day.
It was about 8pm Luster time now, and the squad could see the factory in the distance, dimly outlined by starlight.
"I wonder why there's no lights on. They 'ought to still be at work at this hour." Tim said suspiciously as they reached the door. Markus knocked twice. "Anybody home?" he called.
He slowly pushed open the door, surprised it was unlocked, and flipped a switch. Instantly the florescent lights flicked on, revealing machinery, vehicle parts, and... dead factory workers.
"What the..." Markus trailed off. Frank stuck his head inside, and saw the floor was littered with at least 20 bodies. "The hell happened here? Office party gone wrong?" Tim said, looking over the factory's main floor.
Frank took a few cautious steps inside, shotgun at the ready. He heard something rustle behind a
large piece of equipment and jumped behind it, finger on the trigger.
"No! Don't shoot!" came a panicked voice, as one worker crouched behind the large machine. "Geez, you could have said something, damn near gave me a heart attack!" Frank said. "S-sorry," the man spoke. "I just thought you were one of them."
"You mean the Covenant? They were here?" said Frank, motioning for the squad to come over.
"The aliens! Th-they killed all of them, then they just...left. I think they were looking for something." The worker said, his his word coming out in short gasps.
"You got any rides here?" Markus questioned the man. "Well yeah, I-I mean, I think we do, right over here." the worker led them over to where a row of four civilian Hogs. "Sorry they're not military, but we manufacture those at our Springdale plant." The workers said. Frank was the only other one who knew what he mean, as Springdale was one of the worker towns, about 15 klicks east.
Markus hopped in a Hog and started the ignition. "Well come on, mount up!" he called to the others. Just then, a buzzing noise filled the factory. The noise grew louder and in a second Drones began pouring out of the two large ceiling vents.
"Buggers! Get down!" Shouted Tim.
[Edited on 02.23.2010 3:15 PM PST]