- OfTheBloodguard
- |
- Fabled Heroic Member
The tide is turning, brothers! Let us take our kingdom back!
Supported by his team, Henry managed to get inside the Spirit's bay door, and took his time getting seated, making sure he didn't aggravate his injury any further. Once they'd all boarded, Rodney tapped the function again, and the doors retreated back inward, like birds huddling towards their parent. He'd spent the time waiting for his companions deciphering the ship's controls with his TAC-PAD's translating systems, and with a few more precise taps, the ship began to hover.
Rodney took hold of the rather cumbersome flight yoke, needing both hands to swing the Spirit around. He tapped a few more functions until a bar showed up on its panel. He slid his fingers forward over the bar, and the dropship suddenly lurched forward as if it was whipped by a cruel higher power. Once he felt sure enough of his ability to fly the ship, he re-accessed the movement panel and slid the bar fully forward, and the ship responded with a jolt as it took off into the last few moments of the night. Rodney could see hints of the sun's return in the sky above; the black of night had softened, now showing hints of swirling blue and grey.
Finding himself idle, Rodney skimmed over the alien languages once more, searching for a way to contact his allies out at the site they sped towards. After a painstaking ordeal, he eventually found the function that switched the ship's transceiver on. After a few more deft taps, an input screen showed itself, and Rodney stopped short. Who am I going to contact? He searched the screen over, his mind actively working over any possible solutions to his dilemma. An icon stood meekly in the corner of the screen, and Rodney pressed it anxiously, finding that it read "search" in his own language.
For a moment, the screen stood still, as if it was now aware of the intrusion of humans and refused to help him any longer. But the screen flickered back with a view of the canyon around him, and to his relief, a mass of icons dotted the map before him. He was instantly able to determine the different symbols, and soon learnt their meaning. He tapped one of the three "enemy" signals, and requested to hail them. A lump of ice grew in his throat as a reply boomed through. "You've got a lot of guts hailing this firebase here in the middle of all of this, scum. This better be a message of surrender." The tone of the responding voice carried acid, and though there seemed to be a lack of accumulated hatred associated with veterans of war, the man's voice sounded bitter enough to send his message across.
"Sir, this is SPARTAN Rodney-257 of Team Theta, en route to your location. My team and I experienced some... complications on the escort over here, and we've been forced to board an enemy craft to make the rest of the journey. Am I understood?" Rodney asked authoritatively, hoping whoever was on the receiving end didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary. Not that their situation was at all ordinary.
"SPARTAN, are you in any danger?" came the reply, visceral tones changing on reflex to alertness and lucidity. "Are there any immediate threats to you on board your vessel? Have you been taken hostage?"
"No, sir," Rodney answered, hoping that their situation was at least believable enough for them. "All hostiles were eliminated prior to boarding this ship. Our only immediate concern is a wounded SPARTAN of my team, but that will have to be dealt with on site. I request that you spread the message to your men, or whoever's in charge, if you aren't in position to do so. You'll spot our service tags before you spot our vessel. We don't want to be taken out by anyone on our side."
"Understood," the voice replied again after a couple of seconds. "I just hope you realise how this sounds to me. Your arrival will be anticipated." With that, the frequency was terminated, and Rodney sat a little easier. After informing his team of the conversation, he began going over their course of action once they arrived.
"We're going to be inhibited by Henry's injury, so we'll have to quickly set him up at a sniper post," he instructed, to which Henry replied with a small, apologetic grunt. "Once we're sure that no harm will come of you, Henry, then we'll move out and restock ourselves." His team acknowledged their leader's orders, and for the rest of the journey, all was quiet, save for the whine of the Spirit as it glided over the canyon below.
A short time later, Rodney banked left, remembering the battle placements on the Spirit's frequency layout map, hoping to avoid any Covenant resistance. He didn't trust their cover enough to try to sneak behind enemy lines. They flew over a squadron of M140SPR Mobile Artillery Assault Platforms, better known to the UNSC as Fox Cannons. Used from range to bombard enemy forces with 175mm shells, the squad rained hell on the attacking Covenant armada from the protection of higher ground. The squadron was largely numbered, and Rodney guessed it wouldn't be the only one up on the lip of the canyon.
The artifact site came into view as they burned through the distance, and the battleground below raged with malice and desperation. The UNSC had fortified themselves within the crater-like canyon, positioned mainly towards the rear, but a large number of front-line forces ventured further out into the canyon, and the expeditionary forces seemed to be positioned in front of a large, metallic grey platform, unlike anything he had seen before. Also, he noticed a similar looking structure built into the wall behind the UNSC's embankment. This must be what everyone's here for today, Rodney mused.
But the wonder of the spectacle quickly passed in place of a returning fear that had been pestering them ever since they had boarded the Spirit; though they had been assured of their safety upon their arrival, Theta still tensed as they glided over death and hatred, fearful of their own men. It was not a pleasant thought, and the SPARTANs clamped it down into the festering pit of other thoughts they had no time for.
Coming around the rear of the UNSC's position, they managed to avoid most of the monolithic battle waging all throughout Jacinto Canyon. The Covenant charged headlong into a thoroughly fortified UNSC defence force, meeting strategy and rugged determination with brute force and religious fanaticism. Almost all of Atlas's planet-wide might had congregated on a single point, and a vast variety of vehicles and soldiers alike stood their ground as plasma and blood-curdling roars swept towards them like a force of nature, wishing to purge the land of the heresy of humanity.
They landed near one of three firebases which had been set up in anticipation of the Covenant's assault, and a few officers gathered around as Rodney gently descended, unseen signals ordering a platoon of soldiers to stand guard with them as the alien craft descended before them. Landing the ship with a quickly learned skill, Rodney opened both the cockpit door and the left troop bay door, allowing his team to exit. Rodney quickly darted around to the side, where his team was helping Henry off, and where the officers stood to greet their new arrival. Theta quickly snapped to attention and saluted their superiors, to which the salute was returned.
On an order scarcely picked up by anyone else watching, the platoon raised their weaponry, instructing Theta to move aside as they inspected the outside of the Spirit from head to tail, running a number of technological scans to minimize the doubt of their commanding officers. Once their outside inspection was deemed satisfactory, another order was given to search the inside of the ship.
Having looked over the already open troop bay door upon their first inspection, the platoon divided into two groups. The first ten strode around the vessel, intending to inspect its middle and cockpit, while the other ten positioned themselves around the right troop bay door, weapons at the ready in case of Covenant stowaways or masterminds.
The leader of the platoon walked back over to Rodney, beckoning him over to his team and addressing him by name and rank. As he met back up with his team, he gestured to the open cockpit door and looked back up at the armour-clad giant.
"Sir, please open the other door," he instructed, his awe at the SPARTAN concealed by duty and mistrust. Rodney hopped back into the cockpit, and without the need of any translation, tapped the function he recognized to be the other door. As soon as it began to open, the platoon met back up again, rounding on whatever might be inside. But, to their relief, not a thing was visible to any eye or scan.
Peering around the ship, the officers assured themselves that there were no Covenant aboard the Spirit, and that the SPARTANs weren't the victims of an ambush with the potential to end the lives of as many UNSC infantry around as possible. As Rodney rejoined his team, three officers briskly stepped over, unfazed by the cries of war all around them as they looked up at Theta, expecting the salute they were given. Returning the salute, the head officer spoke up, and Rodney immediately recognized his voice.
"Looks like you're the real deal, son," the man replied, sounding far warmer than he had before. "You gave our logistics and surveillance units a hell of a scare." Theta smiled under their helmets, but the man showed no humour in his impression. "We better let you get to the front lines then."
Satisfied with their approval, Rodney prepared to move his team into one of the firebases for a proper rearming, but was stopped short by an alien humming emanating far below the rock they stood on, as deep as the melodies of giants. Theta looked to the officers, but they, too, wore the expression of lack of understanding. Wordlessly, the canyon watched as the platform behind the UNSC's main force began to split in two, making way for whatever resided below.
[Edited on 12.14.2011 12:10 AM PST]