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Nowhere to Run. by Ski200
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Nowhere to Run. ~Part 1~
Date: 6 February 2005, 2:00 AM
"Get up Marines! Go, go, go!"
Those were the first words Jim Katera heard as he awoke out of cryo sleep.
This sucks, he thought as he gagged on the slimy blob in his mouth. He spit most of it out, and swallowed the rest.
His vision cleared, and he saw the gleaming bulkhead of the UNSC cruiser. Jim didn't know the name. He'd always had a bad reaction to cryo sleep. One time his skin blistered all over, and he was out of commission for weeks. Now it was temporary amnesia.
Jim looked to the right, and saw a pale Sargeant. That was who was giving the orders for now. Just by looking at the Sarge, he knew something was wrong.
"Get to the locker room and suit up!" The Sarge barked.
All of the marines forced themselves up and out of the cryo tubes and clumsily walked to the door. They all piled in and found their locker, except for Jim.
He wandered around for about thirty seconds, trying to remember his own name. Then it came to him. Jim Katera. He repeated it in his mind. He found his locker in the third row, and headed for it.
Jim paused to look at his locker. It was an olive drab, with rusty hinges and an ancient combination lock. He pounded his head, as if to help him remember.
49... The numbers came one at a time. 17......15... He twisted the lock and opened the locker.
Jim felt a small sense of accomplishment, then was embaressed.
Was it that much of a feat to open my locker? He asked himself.
He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, and put on his olive drab jumpsuit.
What a boring color... He thought.
Jim reached into the bottom of his locker and grabbed his armor plates. They were stored in a fairly large cardboard box that took up the better part of the bottom.
He had all of his armor on in about a minute. He grabbed his helmet from a small shelf near the top of his locker. Jim stared into the shiny helmet, looking at his reflection. Then he slipped the helmet on and prepared to get out of there.
Jim slipped through the door and back into the cryo chamber. Some technicians had just climbed out of their cryo tubes, their skin sickly pale. Jim guessed it was because they rarely ventured out of the ship.
"Marines. Chill here for a couple of minutes and wait to be briefed." The sargeant rasped through trembling lips.
The doors leading to the rest of the ship silently slid open, revealing a tall lieutenant. He faced Jim and took large strides towards him.
"Jim Katera, correct?" The lieutenant said in a booming voice.
Jim's reaction was delayed, as if he had to think about what to do next.
"Yes sir!" Jim said and snapped to attention.
"At ease, soldier. You remember your name then, I trust?"
"Yes sir." Jim said as he lowered his arm from the saluting position.
"Follow me to the orientation center, soldier. You know the drill."
Jim followed the lieutenant to a fairly large room. They walked to the center of the room and were met by a marine standing next to a small rifle rack.
"Jim, we're just going to run a few tests to make sure you are functioning fine. You know that cryo sleep has a bad effect on you."
Jim was ready to take the tests. After all, he had taken them dozens of times before.
Jim stood in front of the chrome rifle rack and waited for either of the marines to say something. He would give anything to get out of this awkward silence.
The Luitenant nodded to the other marine, and the marine outstretched his arm and took a small contraption from the back of the rack.
It looked like a camera, with a microchip slapped on the side. He could just make out the small gold parts that would save tons of information.
The marine snapped it into Jim's data slot on his helmet. Then he spoke in a scratchy voice:
"Look at the lights when they come on. We need to make sure your eyes are alright."
Jim felt awkward with the sensor on, as if his helmet was lopsided. But he focused on looking at the lights.
The first light came on. It cast a red glow over the wall around it. Jim focused directly on it.
"Good." The marine said, tapping keys on a keyboard.
"Now look at the next one." Another light came on, this one green.
Jim had started to focus when a glow of blue clouded his vision somewhat. Then ripples appeared in the air, bending the walls and ceiling. They reminded him of heat waves coming from a barbecue.
The blue hue grew more, making a cloud that he could barely see through.
Then it hit him. But it was too late. The wall exploded in a brilliant blue flash, and Covenant poured in.
Everything seemed to happen at once. Jim turned to run or get a weapon. The lieutenant fell, globs of flashing plasma scorching his skin. A pistol was loosely clutched in his hand. Jim instantly recognized it as a M6D.
He picked up the gun and ducked behind the gun rack, which was now nothing more than melting metal falling on the floor. He found himself face to face with the other Marine there, who had also ducked for cover.
Both of them ducked in and out of their cover to shoot the Covenant until a group of black-clad Grunts and an Elite advanced on their position.
"Run, dammit!" The soldier next to him yelled.
Jim and the marine ran to the right, plasma shots rocketing through the air next to them. They ducked and dodged most of the shots, but a shot collided with Jim's chest. His shirt tore open, revealing coal black skin underneath. He'd been burnt pretty badly. The intense heat closed the wound almost instantly, but blood still seeped onto his uniform. He winced in pain, but refused to slow down for fear that a shot would hit him again.
Jim and the marine ran into the twisting hallways, attempting to get away from the monsterous beings. Eventually, they both ducked into a maintnance accessway. They both watched through the tightly wound wires as the Covenant troops ran right past them.
Jim looked to the marine.
"Jim Katera." He said with confidence.
The marine looked at him, sheer terror in his eyes. He blinked it away, and then replied.
"Sam Parker." He said, "And what the hell were those things?"
"Covenant. The badguys. We're going to fight them, and we're going to win."
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