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Blue Horizon Part Two: Fallen Comrades
Posted By: Cassus Falco<reillycarroll@bigpond.com>
Date: 9 April 2006, 6:15 am
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1052 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
UNSC Shenandoah, Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Morning of Operation September
Navy Captain Lee King stood before the holographic tactical display on the bridge of the Shenandoah. His grizzled old face was pitted and creased, but gave off an aura of vitality, of belief in himself, his ship and his crew. The Shenandoah was all that stood between the Covenant and the people of Alpha Caridanis IV, and he was not about to let them down. Hands folded behind his back he walked towards the display, which showed a birds-eye view of Blue Horizon. Those areas controlled by the Covenant, most of the CBD and parts of the suburbs, were coloured red, while those controlled by UNSC forces were coloured blue. Arrows pointed to areas of combat, while, over the whole thing, hovered the Covenant cruiser that had made it through the space battle.
Beside him, on a holographic pedestal, flared a woman in a purple and blue and pink holographic body, running through with the intricate programming that enabled her to work. The UNSC Artificial Intelligence was the heart and soul of the Shenandoah, built to run its systems all by itself if it had to. She had full access to the entire sum of human knowledge, and she was one hell of a braggart.
"I just received some news through the Covenant battle net..." She began.
"Well, don't keep it to yourself, Curie," King invoked the AI's chosen designation, the name of the discoverers of elements radium and radon.
"That cruiser, its called the…" she trailed off for a second. "It's called the Angelic Sacrifice. Apparently, it, and only it, was to land here, at Blue Horizon at any cost."
"Strange." From his experiences, King knew that the Covenant rarely placed one ship in higher esteem than any other.
Curie went on. "There's more. They've launched six Scarabs, and are digging into the bedrock beneath the space port. Or rather, where the spaceport was." The AI looked up, through the holo display, out at the city that was blazing after a morning of war. "They're looking for something. And I think we both know what it is."
King nodded.
But the Covenant were supposed to have no idea about the goings on in Blue Horizon. Why would they come here? Why would they place one ship in so much higher regard than six others? And, if the Covenant did know of the true purpose of the base below the city, why had they attacked with only a small fleet?
"What happened to the team we sent to the ONI base…what is it called?" King mused for a moment before remembering the name. "Serenity Plaza?"
"Plaza of Serenity." Curie corrected.
"Right, Waters' unit. Why have they not reported in yet?" King asked the tiny holographic woman.
The AI shook her head. "I don't know, Captain. Hold on…" Curie disappeared for a moment before flaring back into existence. "I just got a communication from Pelican Hotel 156. Hold on while I play it."
The holographic tactical display shimmered, the view of Blue Horizon replaced with an endless string of numbers. The speakers hissed with static.
"What is that, Curie?" King said. He recognised part of the coding, but the rest seemed useless.
"It's and ONI code, piggybacked on Hotel 156's distress code." Curie explained, crossing her small holographic arms. "It seems as though Hotel 156 has come down in the plaza, shot down by Covenant forces. But the ONI code…" Curie trailed off yet again. "It'll take me a few moments to decode it."
"Right." King nodded. "Get on it."
"Yes sir." Curie disappeared.
King kept his eyes on the display, trying to make heads or tails of the mysterious readout. He had no doubt Hotel 156 had come down. Julie Waters would have made a report about five minutes earlier.
Little did he know what was coursing through his ship's computer circuitry.
>>ONI classified communication from ONI AI 'Corona' to UNSC AI 'Curie'
>>Transmitted 1053 Hours, July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)
>>>Rich datastream>>>Confidential/Encrypted>>>Highly Sensitive
No records to be made of transmission
>.AI-Coro> This is ONI Artificial Intelligence 'Corona' to UNSC Artificial Intelligence 'Curie' of UNSC Shenandoah. Please respond.
>.NOTE: Transmission repeated twelve times
>.AI-Cur> This is AI 'Curie', why is transmission so heavily encrypted?
>.AI-Coro> Be advised, 'Curie' this communication must not be repeated or recorded in any way, shape or form that is not contained directly within your personal database. Failure to comply will result in your decommission. Understood?
>.AI-Cur> Understood. Now can you tell me what the hell is going on?
>.AI-Coro> Pelican Hotel 156 has crash landed in Plaza of Serenity, five hundred metres directly above position of secure ONI base. There are nine survivors, all Marines. Transponders show their identities to be:
> Julie T. Waters
> Michael O. Richardson
> Felicia A. Hernandez
> Chet Li
> Arnold J. Nguyen
> Lance A. Wallace
> Ali Abu Bashir
> Tyson K. Dubois
> Oscar R Lewis
>.AI-Cur> Those names correspond to the squad aboard Hotel 156. How many Covenant in the area?
>.AI-Coro> Upwards of fifty enemy troops.
>.AI-Cur> Do you need assistance?
>.AI-Coro> Negative. AI 'Corona' out.
1054 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
UNSC Shenandoah, Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Morning of Operation September
Curie returned to the bridge of the Shenandoah, somewhat disturbed by the communication she had just had with the AI from the base beneath Blue Horizon, especially by the order that she was not to communicate any of what she had just discussed with the rather rude Corona. King turned to her, but before he could ask what was going on, Curie spoke. "Hotel 156 has crashed. That code was an old comunication from the ONI base that has been continually transmitted for the past three months." Curie had made this up on her feet, but she thought it sounded pretty good.
So, too, it seemed, did King. "Very well." The old human said, nodded once, gravely. "Any survivors from the crash?"
"Affirmative, sir. Nine Marines; Captain Walter's entire squad, sir. They were extremely lucky to get out of there alive." Curie answered.
"Try getting in contact with them." King ordered.
"Sir." Curie nodded
1057 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
Rendili Inc. Headquarters, off Plaza of Serenity, Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Morning of Operation September
Lieutenant Michael Richardson stood in the corridor through which the Marines had run through, looking into the caved in walls that blocked the Covenant out of the building. He knew Captain Waters was buried somewhere in the rubble, but he had no way to get to her. The Hunter's cannons had carved out a major portion of the building, put way too much stress on the corridor's supports, collapsing five metres of the entire west facing side of the six-story building.
Richardson panted. The run from the downed Pelican to the relative safety of the building had been a tiring one, not helped by the nasty gash on his forehead. The rest of the squad was behind him, nursing small injuries. In the seventeen minutes since the crash, Felicia had regained consciousness, and begun patching up some of the small wounds with what limited medical supplies they had brought from the ruins of Hotel 156.
The corridor was lit by overhead halogen lights that cast long, stark shadows in the dust choked air.
Chet Li appeared at his side.
"Sir, what do you want us to do?"
Richardson sighed. "Move into the building. There is no way the Captain survived that." He made that command with a heavy heart. Julie Walters was his best friend. And now she was gone.
"Alright, Marines, we're going to move to the roof, try and communicate with Shenandoah and request dust-off. Li, Davies, set up sniper post on the roof, try and take out those Hunters. When the Pelicans arrive, I don't want anymore shot down. Alright, Marines, let's move!"
"Yes, sir!" the Marines chorused back.
With one last glance back at the pile of rubble that had trapped his friend, Richardson followed his Marines towards the nearby door marked STAIRS.
He walked into a stairwell, and followed the squad up the concrete steps, running upwards. Past Floor One, then Floor Two, then Floor Three, Flour Four, Flour Five, Floor Six, before bursting out, once more, into the murky orange daylight that bathed Blue Horizon in an endless twilight.
As soon as they ran onto the roof, the air was filled with a loud rumble.
"Down!"
Richardson hit the roof as a U-shaped Covenant dropship flew overhead, landing in the plaza. From his position, Richardson could make out the entire plaza. The opposite end of the square was painted in crimson blood and littered with human bodies torn apart by Covenant fire. Covenant bodies were dumped along the ground, being picked up and thrown away from the landing site of dropship. The hovering vehicles troop doors opened, disgorging a platoon of Covenant warriors.
Richardson counted twenty Grunts, four Elites, ten Jackals, and the pair of Hunters who had killed his friend. Most of the troops were gathered either around the dropship or the burning ruins of the Pelican and the office building it had demolished in its downward spiral. However, inexplicably, a pair of Covenant Elites were looking off into the distance.
Richardson reached into his belt and took out a pair of binoculars.
Placing the digitally correcting lenses to his eyes, he traced their viewpoints out along the urban sprawl of Blue Horizon.
What he saw chilled him to the bone.
Crushing buildings in its path was a lumbering beast of a machine; a mighty body aboard four jointed legs that propelled down a deserted highway. At its front was a massive cannon, a bulb that expanded and began to glow blue before releasing a stream of plasma energy that vaporised an entire building. Smaller turrets poured purple fire onto a Scorpion that attempted to attack it, shredding its amour like an overripe grapefruit, killing the valiant Marines within.
"Scarab!" he shouted.
A string of curses from the squad met his warning.
He crawled on his belly towards Lewis who shook his head. Still no communications to the Shenandoah. "Too much interference." Lewis whispered.
Even as the words left his mouth a calm woman's voice came across Lewis' radio receiver.
"Shenandoah AI Curie to Lieutenant Richardson, over."
"This is Michael Richardson. We need dust off. Repeat, we need dust off. There is a Scarab on the way. Over."
"Where is Waters?"
"She's gone, Curie. Can you please send a Pelican now?" As Richardson spoke, the Covenant dropship lifted off and flew towards the Covenant battlecruiser.
"Negative. A Scarab is moving towards you. We can't risk sending another bird until you blow it up." Curie's voice said over a sudden hiss of static.
Richardson shut his eyes and muttered an old Chinese expletive under his breath. "Copy that, ma'am. But how the hell am I supposed to do that exactly?" As far as Richardson was concerned, it was a damn good question.
"I estimate twenty-two minutes before that Scarab comes into firing range of your position. Between you and it there should be a pedestrian overpass. Get to that overpass and drop down onto it. Try and capture it, if you can." Curie said, and on the eyepiece extending from Richardson's helmet, a string of numbers appeared and began to countdown the seconds until the Scarab would be in range. "You have sixteen minutes to get to the overpass. Understood?"
"Understood, ma'am." Richardson said in return. This was going to be tough, but he and the squad could do it, even if the death of their Captain had weighed the down. He quickly signed out. "Alright, Marines, we have a new mission. Kill the Covenant in the square, just like before, and then get to that overpass." He said, pointing to the bridge that crossed over the highway the Scarab was walking down. The squad glanced uneasily at one another. "All within sixteen minutes."
This brought unspoken protests from each of the Marines.
"If anyone can do it, we can." Richardson said encouragingly, butterflies suddenly flapping in his stomach. "Let's do it for the Captain, and for every one of our men who have died today. So lock, stock and get ready to rock, Marines."
Richardson had hoped that repeating Julie's old mantra would inspire confidence in the Marines. He was gratified to know that he was right.
The familiar chorus of "Hoo-rah!" rang out.
Unfortunately, it alerted the Covenant in the plaza. Every one of the aliens spun about, most opening fire on the roof of the building they had hidden upon.
Richardson hefted his rifle and stood up, running to the edge of the roof. All seven of his fellow Marines followed the man's example, throwing themselves down and pouring bullets into the plaza.
Richardson squeezed his trigger, putting a bullet through the brainpan of a Grunt, painting its fellows with its electric blue blood. Blue rifle fire lanced back, one shot melting away the barrel of Nguyen's gun, the superheated energy singing his hands. He leapt back, only to have a fully charged pistol shot vaporise his upper torso. Thrown hard backwards, he slipped along the roof in his own blood, a scream of agony frozen in place on his lips.
"No!" came Felicia's scream. She ran towards her downed friend, only to be shot through the stomach by a thin beam of carbine fire. She was lifted up and dumped to the roof, screaming in pain.
Pulling himself up, Richardson ran to her side.
"Felicia?" he exclaimed.
She whimpered, both hands covering the bleeding wound on her stomach. "I…" her voice faltered for a moment "I'm okay." She slumped unconscious into his arms. He knew that without medical treatment she would end up as dead as Nguyen.
He suddenly heard Bashir shout in surprise before being thrown beside Felicia and Richardson
"Bashir!" he shouted.
"I'm fine!" he answered over the roar of weapons fire.
"Get Felicia inside. Patch her up and find a hole to stay in until a Pelican comes for you. Got it?" he asked. Bashir pulled himself off the ground and nodded. He was bleeding from a nasty cut on his forehead. He picked Felicia up, put her over his should and ran for the stairwell.
Richardson turned away from them and ran back to the edge of the roof, glancing down into the battle. The rest of his platoon, all four of them, were unharmed; the Covenant forces were in disarray, and one of the Hunters was dead. The other one was going wild, killing some of his own troops, over the death of his brother.
Ten minutes.
"Li, Davies, continue covering us!" he ordered. "Wallace, Dubois, Lewis, we're going to run into the plaza. We're going to get that Scarab. Go, go, go!"
As one, he, Wallace, Dubois and Lewis ran after Felicia and Bashir, down the stairs. They ran down six flights, finally reaching the ground floor. They entered the corridor through which they had originally run. Suddenly the ground shook and the air was filled with the all-too familiar roar of a firing fuel rod cannon. The roof above them almost disappeared for a moment as half the debris blocking their way was vaporized.
In its place stood a Hunter.
All four Marines leapt away, spraying fire at the hulking menace, but the alien kept on coming roaring with something like grief.
The beast leapt at Lewis, crushing the communications specialist under its immense bulk.
Lewis screeched in pain as he died.
As Richardson's rifle ran dry, he slotted in another cartridge. He poured fire at the beastly alien, but the bullets were only slowing the creature down. But not enough. It leapt at Dubois, who shied away from the Hunter's alien form, still firing. The Hunter crushed him under its huge form, before hefting the body of the dead Marine over his head and throwing Dubois' corpse, painted in its own blood, at Wallace.
Wallace went down under Dubois' corpse.
Seemingly happy that it had took care of Wallace, the creature moved fluidly towards Richardson, who emptied another clip at the Hunter.
He had to get through this wall of alien muscle, had to get to the Scarab…
As the alien lunged for him, Richardson leapt to the side. The Hunter hit the wall and quickly flung itself off, turning back to him.
The Hunter prepared itself for its killing coup de grace, extending its muscular body.
Richardson tried to pop in another clip, but the clip slipped from his hands. He looked up, into the alien eyes of his mighty foe, preparing himself to die at its massive hands. The something very strange happened.
The beast stumbled forward, as though in surprise, massive hands reaching for its throat. Suddenly, the side of its skull exploded in a hail of bullets, then its waist. The alien flopped to the ground, and only a last minute jump away from it saved Richardson's life. He hit the ground and rolled, before stopping against the scorched wall of the corridor.
He looked up.
And saw someone who should have been dead.
A woman in a Marine uniform was helping Wallace up. She turned to Richardson and smiled mirthlessly.
"Lieutenant. Look's like we have a Scarab to bring down."
Before Michael Richardson, standing with an MA5B in one hand, a sawed off M90 shotgun in the other, was Captain Julie Theresa Waters.
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