- kingwrench
- |
- Noble Member
Gah, I haven't written for so long. I started writing a comic, then I wrote the first chapter of another fan fiction, and then I was active in a group forum. Well, here it is, lucky part number 16! Sorry it's so short.
16. The Vacuum Is Our Friend
"Fighting Spirit, are those reactors ready to detonate yet?" Richard stood unsteadily on his feet. The Zealot that he'd been attacked by did a number on him. His skull hurt badly and dried blood lined the inside of his helmet, coating his brown hair. He was dizzy and used the bulkhead to keep him from smashing to the ground. Red was staring at him without her helmet on. She looked very concerned, a frown expressing all her emotions. She'd have to wait to get a chance to keep her helmet off, though; it was time for them to go into space.
"Yes," Fighting Spirit responded, his voice echoing through Richard's helmet. "We've got five minutes to get off this ship."
"That's just the amount of time we need," Ralph stated coolly. He sauntered over to the air lock and turned to face the others. "Everyone sealed up and EVA ready?"
There was a quick group nod and the sound of armors sealing up to keep their user alive in the vacuum.
"Should I open up the hatch?" Fighting Spirit asked simply.
"No, I got it," Ralph said, as he ripped open the airlock with his bare hands, sending them all into the vacuum.
*****
A few yards away from the ship's hull, War Dog was floating with Finn and the engineer inside the pelican he currently inhabited. Finn was looking out the view port for any hint of Stiletto Squad. It wasn't necessary, though; War Dog was tracking the beacon made by their neural uplinks using his radar. Suddenly, the beacons all moved quickly in the same direction and then slowed down, almost stopping completely. War Dog knew that they had just been sucked into space.
"Alright, Finn, it's time we pick up the rest of your squad."
*****
Richard drifted through space silent as a ghost. Red was floating next to him. At one point, she had drifted closer to him than the rest of Stiletto; he wasn't sure if it was intentional or not. Whichever it was, there hands were locked together as they drifted a bit farther from their fellow squad mates.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Richard looked at Red's helmet. They had both depolarized their visors so he could see every detail of her face. Richard stared into her emerald eyes for a while, losing himself in them.
"You mean Reach?" Richard looked down at the planet below them. Though much of it was obscured by orbital defense platforms and Covenant ships, he could make out parts of the surface. And it was beautiful, despite the planet's harsh surface. The clear blue sky, the sparkling seas, it was like a masterpiece created by the greatest artist who ever lived. Richard stared down at the planet for a while, then looked back up at Red and smiled. "It is," he said, smiling and holding her hand tighter.
"Well, hello, Lieutenant Martin, Private O'Harisson," War Dog's pelican drifted over to the two soldiers while simultaneously opening up the back for Red and Richard to enter. "Glad to see that you're alive."
Richard looked at Red for a second. Your last name is O'Harisson? Was all he could think. He realized that even after Red started being open with him he still hadn't learned her name. I'll ask her later, he decided as he pulled himself into the pelican and polarized his visor. He sat down next to Cowboy on the left side of the pelican. Red sat down in the seat next to him. The pelican closed and pressurized, sealing in the oxygen. All of Stiletto took off their helmets.
Suddenly, Finn burst from the cockpit, dashing into the pelican's tray.
"You're all alive!" Finn cried out happily. Everyone stood up to greet Finn.
"Yes, Finn. We're all alive. Where'd the engineer go? And what happened to your armor?" Richard looked at Finn curiously. He was only wearing his black under suit instead of full SPI. Finn looked at Richard and smiled at the question.
"The engineers doing something to it. He's adding shielding, I think. As it turns out, he grabbed an elite's shield generator. And he's upgrading the camo panels. He's pretty smart for an octopus."
"Good," Richard said, taking a glance into the cockpit, "When will he finish-?'
As if on queue, the engineer drifted out of the cockpit. Its many cilia were holding the SPI armor just off the ground, showing every detail of it. Grafted on at the waist was a Covenant Personal Shield Generator. It was deactivated. Finn quickly put on his modified armor.
"This is amazing," Finn declared, securing the helmet onto his head. The shield generator hummed to life, and a blow glow quickly spread around Finn before disappearing, practically unseen on his armor. Finn then activated the camo. He was nearly invisible, only leaving a shimmering outline where he stood. "This is more than just amazing. It's spectacular."
Richard studied Finn's armor carefully. He noticed the camo panels looked different somehow, changed. Then he realized that all of them were now doubling as solar panels to power the additions to the armor. That engineer was smart. ONI would be glad that they had grabbed it.
Richard decided to walk into the cockpit. It was empty since the engineer had left, so he might as well sit in the pilot's chair and think alone. As soon as he sat down, however, Red entered through the door and sat in the co-pilot chair. She smiled at Richard warmly.
"You do know we're breaking protocol with this 'romance'?" Richard just had to speak up. He was always following protocol. If anyone ever broke it, he would give them a hard time. Now, however, it was him breaking protocol. How should he react to that?
"Technically, we're breaking UNSC protocol. But we work for ONI now. We're allowed to have this 'romance.' " Red was looking at Richard amused. He would never be able to tell what she was thinking.
"How are you so sure about that?" Richard asked, looking at Red curiously. He noticed she had a mischievous grin on her face.
"I checked the protocol. It said it was perfectly okay for us to do something like..." Red suddenly leaned forward and embraced Richard tightly. They began to kiss. Luckily the cockpit door was sealed, or else the rest of Stiletto would have seen what they were doing.
Gently, Red pulled herself away from Richard and put her hands on her lap. She was still grinning, but now Richard shared the look on her face. "...something like that."
[Edited on 05.15.2010 8:21 PM PDT]