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Blue Horizon Part Five: Devestating Betrayal
Posted By: Cassus Falco
Date: 9 September 2006, 8:34 am
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Previously on Blue Horizon.
Julie Waters and her small team of Marines have been sent on a mission to find a UNSC Artificial Intelligence, in the hands of a survivor from the UNSC Majestic. What they don't know is, the man they are searching for is already dead.
1205 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
Makeshift UNSC encampment, fifty kilometres from Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Afternoon of Operation September
William Russo had chosen an excellent site for the little holding point he and the other survivors of Tango Tango Foxtrot 89 had established. Backing onto a jumble of rocks, stacked in a way that provided excellent cover against attack from the rear, and looking out on the wooded foothills down onto the grassy plain his Bumblebee had landed on. After establishing the small base, he and Ari Mohammad had gone to rescue other survivors. Four hours later, a little less than fifty Marines and twelve Navy personnel had gathered, a collection of Majestic, Crockett and Kyushu survivors. A cavern beneath a rock fall had become a makeshift medical centre, with a Navy MD and two Marine Corpsmen attending the wounded. In the forest were several scout and advance warning parties.
Russo stood outside the cave entrance, looking into the forest. For two hours Covenant dropships had been landing just past the trees. He could only guess at the number of enemy troops down there.
"Flight Officer?"
Russo turned to look at the man who addressed him.
"Yes, sir?"
It was Marine Lieutenant Glenn Hazelbrook, the highest-ranking officer in the sixty-odd strong band of survivors. He had a perennially solemn expression that seemed to be multiplying in severity every time a dropship descended. Russo guessed the emptiness, the desperation, in his eyes had partly been born of the destruction of his ship, the Kyushu. The man opened his mouth, and hesitated before speaking. "We just picked up a transmission from our men in the forest. The Covies are on the move. An entire regiment of the bastards. We'll be overrun."
"What about support from the guys in Blue Horizon? I think I saw the Shenandoah over there." Russo said, more as a way of encouraging the young lieutenant than anything.
"We can't get transmissions out to them. I don't know what's happening over there, but it can't be good." Hazelbrook sighed, the pistol he held dropping to his side, hanging limply from his hand. "It doesn't matter. Those alien bitches'll be here in about ten minutes."
"Fine." Russo grunted, beginning to lose patience with the Lieutenant. "So what are we going to do?"
"We'll have to hold our position. It's the only thing we can do."
"Well, what resources do we have?"
"Sixty three soldiers, fifty-five capable of fighting. Enough ammo for every one of us, plus a bit more. Those Lotus anti-tank mines we buried out there. But there are one hundred twenty Covenant out there. More. We don't stand a chance." Hazelbrook said, his eyes suddenly widening. He looked at Russo, fear blazing from his every action. "We're all going to die!"
Russo, forgetting all etiquette, punched the man in the jaw, flooring him. "Hold it together, son. We'll get out of this yet." Russo looked into the area of grass that lead into the forest. He raised his voice and boomed. "Alright. All Marines get back up here now! Grab a gun and take up positions in the rocks! We got Covenant, a lot, and we are going to take each and every one of them down! Savvy?"
On the grass, dozens of Marines threw their fists in the air, cheering.
Russo looked down at the man on the ground.
Hazelbrook stared back up at him, a wounded expression on his face.
"Now you listen, Lieutenant Nancy, and you listen good. I did not get off the Majestic just to wind up dying down here. If you say another word my fist is gonna be so far up your ass, you'll turn inside out, mmm' kay, Honey-bunch?"
Hazelbrook nodded. "You know I'm going to bust you down so fast you'll be seeing stars."
The Lieutenant pulled himself to his feet, but even as he did, Russo threw a punch, connecting with the Lieutenant's jaw, sending the man sprawling.
"Don't say another word." Russo glared down at the young lieutenant. Suddenly, he felt something strange in the pocket of his flight suit. Reaching into the pocket he pulled out a data crystal. "What in the hell…?"
1305 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
UNSC Shenandoah, above Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Afternoon of Operation September
Commander Frederick Walker and Ensign Aki Sato of the Shenandoah stood on the bridge of the Kennedy-class Escort Destroyer. Sato handed the Commander a datapad, which he promptly took. He nodded to the young officer and looked over the contents of the data storage device. He stood behind the primary tactical readout, a holographic screen located behind the pilot, co-pilot and engineer's stations. Beside him, the holotank flared to life as he read through the datapad.
"Commander?" came the gentle voice of the shipboard AI, Curie.
"Yes, Curie?" Walker said, putting aside the pad.
"Long range communication from the UNSC Ghandi, Commander. Flagship of the Eleventh Battle Group, under the command of Rear Admiral Kamala Singh. She's requesting a direct communications uplink to Captain King. With your permission I'll patch her through to the Captain's Scarab."
"Fine." Walker grunted. He wasn't a big fan of Lee King, CO of the Shenandoah. The man was a stubborn marionette. And Walker knew he wouldn't be happy about accepting help from Singh. "But I want to be able to talk to her as well, once he's done."
1307 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
Tango Tango Foxtrot 89 crash site, 50 kilometres Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Afternoon of Operation September
Julie Waters and her squad leapt from the troop bay of Pelican Yankee 912 as the dropship descended through the smoke obscured skies of Alpha Caridanis IV. She was the first out, onto a grassy field that stretched for miles in all directions, eventually ending against a forest on three sides and Blue Horizon on the remaining side. Less than ten metres away lay the remains of a Bumblebee lifeboat.
She was garbed in the battle dress of a UNSC Marine, her blonde hair snug beneath a Sergeant's cap. She was carrying two portable turrets, like she had earlier that day, just before the Plaza of Serenity…
Her Marines followed, most of them also carrying heavy ordinance; four more turrets, Lotus anti-tank mines and sacks of ammunition. The first out behind her were Lieutenant Michael Richardson and Sergeant Anna Muniz. Both were battle-hardened Marines, and though Julie had known, and served with, the former for thirteen years, she had only met Muniz half an hour earlier, and already trusted her implicitly.
Behind them came Lynette Davies and Chet Li, the other two survivors of her original team. Both of them carried sacks of ammunition and sniper rifles. After these two came the final three members of the squad; Varishna Singh, Travis Harriman and Jonathan Haynes.
The third was a Navy man and a special adjunct for this specific mission.
The Pelican began to bank away from the field and its engines flared, sending the dropship speeding away.
Waters gestured to her team and then pointed at the downed Bumblebee.
Within thirty seconds they were at the scorched furrow of dirt the Bumblebee had kicked up during its descent into the field.
"Spread out!" Julie shouted. "Cover every inch of that lifeboat. We have got to find that goddamn AI." The Marines ran past her, but Julie reached out and grabbed Muniz on the shoulder. "I want you to cover us, Marine."
"Yes ma'am." Muniz said, letting her cargo fall to the grass.
Julie offered the Marine a quick smile.
Then, the Captain ran down to join the rest of the squad.
Within five minutes, they were done.
Nothing.
"Captain! Down!" came Muniz's sudden cry. Julie threw herself to the ground, as did the rest of the squad. Up at her sentry position, Muniz was already on the ground. And, then, Julie saw why.
Banking overhead were three U-shaped Covenant dropships.
"Oh, holy hell!" she groaned, casting a glance around at her people. And, to her horror, she saw Travis Harriman…
Standing up.
"Good God, Harriman, get down!" she cried.
He just stood there, eyes wide with…what?
And then Julie saw a thin trail of smoke escape his lips. "Oh, no…" she trailed off as he slumped to his knees. With a hacking cough, he vomited a fine mist of crimson. And then, he hit the ground, face down.
A black crater sat between his shoulder blades.
Then, past the Bumblebee, Julie saw what had killed him.
"Contacts!" Julie shouted and pulled her MA5B, and pointed the Assault Rifle towards the coming Covenant squad; three Elites and six grunts, backed up by a shield-bearing Jackal.
The dropships accelerated suddenly, towards the foothills of the mountains.
"Fire!" Julie shouted.
A cacophony of sound met her ears as eight Marines and a Navy man turned their guns on the inbound Covenant. The Elites' shields flared, but three quick shots from the sniper rifles of Li and Davies took them all down, plumes of purplish blood covering the Grunts behind them. Still, the Jackals behind them pushed them on.
Beside her, Richardson shouted "Grenade!", and lobbed a frag grenade towards the Covenant formation.
The tiny grenade hit the ground between three Grunts and a Jackal.
The grenade promptly exploded, peppering all four of the alien bastards with shrapnel that tore apart the Grunt's tiny bodies. The Jackal, however, hid beneath his powerful, wrist-mounted energy shield.
Well, mostly.
A burst of superheated shrapnel made a pretty bad mess of one of his ankles. The Jackal screamed, but none of the remaining Covenant bothered to turn around.
Within seconds, it was over…
Julie stood, and ran over to Harrison's prone form. He was dead, not doubt about it.
Muniz appeared at her side. "Damn!" she said, taking off her helmet. "Damn!"
"I'm sorry, Anna." Julie said, and was surprised that she really felt. She had not known Harrison, had barely spoken two words to him, but she was devastated by his loss.
Anna shook her head. "No…no, it's fine."
Julie patted the woman on the shoulder, and turned to the rest of her squad. "Okay, what's our plan?"
"We have to find Sherlock, Captain." Lieutenant Haynes said.
"I agree, Lieutenant, but how do you suggest we do that? We have no leads, no trace of anyone from this Bumblebee." Julie asked.
"There are three bodies in that Bumblebee, one outside. Six more people were on this craft. Now, we just need to find where they are." Haynes said, offering an encouraging smile. "They're probably somewhere in the foothills."
"He's right, Captain. Maybe we should follow those dropships." Richardson spoke up.
Julie cast an odd glance at the annihilated Covenant squad that had tried to catch them off guard. "Sure."
She turned towards the mountains.
And her jaw dropped.
Because, standing between the downed Bumblebee and the forest that lead into the foothills were five people. Humans. Marines!
They were walking slowly towards the Bumblebee, MA5B rifles raised and pointed at her squad. From this distance, Julie couldn't see much, but she noticed that their uniforms were scorched and muddied, their movements sloppy and out of time.
Either rookies, or shell-shocked.
Julie sincerely hoped the former.
"Looks like we found our ticket to the survivors." Julie said.
1325 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
UNSC Shenandoah, above Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Afternoon of Operation September
"Commander Walker, I have Admiral Singh for you."
"Thank you, Curie, put her through." Walker said with a smile.
Curie looked up from her holodisk. "Sure thing, Commander. Heads up, Captain King really pissed her off."
Walker smiled at Curie's odd personality. "Thanks. Curie."
The holotank shimmered, and Curie's hologrammic figure was replaced by the disembodied three-dimensional head of Admiral Singh.
"Make it quick, Commander…"
1231 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
Makeshift UNSC encampment, fifty kilometres from Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Afternoon of Operation September
"Welcome to the Alpha Caridanis IV Hilton, Captain Waters." William Russo offered Julie his hand. "But I have to ask, why did the Shenandoah only send eight people to evacuate us all. Where are the Pelicans?"
Julie offered a sympathetic smile. She was about to tell the man the truth, that they were only there to find the AI, but Haynes cut her off.
"We were sent to find you, help you stand against any incoming Covies, then pull you out ASAP." Julie stared in shock at the Navy Lieutenant, who simply smiled at Russo. Sincerely. Julie felt stabs of hatred towards the man. "Sorry."
Julie glanced back at Richardson, who shrugged.
"Well…thanks." He said, but Julie had no doubt that the man was disappointed.
The small clearing that lead up to the UNSC encampment had been littered with Covenant bodies, scorched Ghosts and pockmarks where Lotus mines and grenades had exploded. Apparently, the Covenant had been making continual runs on the UNSC troops that had sheltered among the boulders.
"I'm sorry, Russo. We'll get you outta here as soon as we can." Haynes said. "Now, tell me, where is Jeffrey Tyler?"
Russo shrugged, his brow furrowing. "Why…?"
"He was carrying a data crystal with a Smart AI embedded in it. We need to take back to Shenandoah."
Russo absent-mindedly slid his hand into a pocket on his flight suit. "A data crystal…?"
"Incoming!"
The shout came from a Marine overlooking the clearing on one of the boulders. Julie looked up. And saw a fluffy electric blue ball of plasma arcing towards the encampment. Somewhere out there was a Wraith tank.
Then two more plasma mortars followed.
Or maybe there were two or three.
"Covenant in the clearing!" another Marine shouted.
"Alert!" Russo shouted. "Everyone take positions!" He beckoned towards Julie, Haynes and Richardson, grabbed an MA5B, and made his way to higher ground. Throwing himself onto the rock, he looked down into the clearing. Julie, Michael and Haynes went down beside him. "Damn!"
Dozens of Grunts were making their way across the clearing, backed up by three Wraiths. A phalanx of Elites followed, and, to Julie's horror, two pairs of Hunters.
"Oh, God. We're screwed." Russo groaned.
Julie had to agree. Though they may have originally had sixty people at this encampment, only forty were left following the continual Covenant attacks.
"We have to get the hell out of here, and we have to go now." Russo said.
"What are you talking about, Flight Officer?" Julie asked him.
"There's a cave beneath the rocks. If we move now, I think we could get everybody down there before the Covenant reaches us. I'm not sure, but I think it comes out on the other side of the mountains. It'll take about an hour to get over there, and there had better be Pelicans over there." He said with a glance at Haynes.
Even as he spoke, that initial round of Wraith fire hit the towering boulders above their position, shaking the ground.
"Fine, but we'd better move now. Richardson, Russo find everybody you can, then get down there. Haynes, you're with me." Julie said. "Grab medical supplies, rations, water, but leave the machine gun turrets."
The two men nodded and ran down the side of the massive boulder the four lay upon.
"You." She said to Haynes. "Why the hell did you lie to that man?"
"We have to maintain morale, Captain Waters. If we don't we may never find that data crystal."
"You son of a bitch. Get on the horn to Walker; get me enough Pelicans to evac all of these people to Blue Horizon. Got it?" she said through gritted teeth.
"Got it, ma'am." Julie passed Haynes a short wave wireless. She stood, and left him, running to join a group of Marine who were running towards the clump of boulders that Russo had said contained the tunnel.
Haynes adjusted the frequency. "Haynes to Shenandoah, Haynes to Shenandoah."
The radio crackled with static. Curie's soft feminine voice sounded. "This is Shenandoah what do you need Lieutenant?"
"Give me a Pelican, ma'am."
"One?"
"Affirmative."
"Understood."
Haynes shut off the radio and ran to join Waters, who was standing with the rest of her reformed squad, helping the UNSC personnel run through the tunnel, which appeared to be nothing but a rocky burrow into the side of the mountain.
"Come on, come on, get the lead out of your pants!" she shouted as he neared.
"How many through so far?" he asked.
"I count seventeen."
At that moment, Richardson ran past them, leading a contingent of at least fifteen. Haynes made to follow them. Only to feel the barrel of a M90 pistol pressed into the back of his head.
"You're not going anywhere, Lieutenant. Not until every last one of those people are through, do you hear me?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good, then stand back, and let these people through."
Haynes turned around, to find Water's sidearm in his face. Haynes put his hands up and moved to the Captain's side as another round of Wraith fire turned the rock above them into slag.
"Captain!" came Russo's cry.
Waters turned towards the rocks where the main encampment had been located. Russo was indeed running towards them, helping injured Marines. Muniz and Singh were with him, assisting in carrying wounded people.
And behind them were Chet Li and Lynette Davies. And behind them was a ravenous horde of Grunts and that pair of hulking Hunters.
There was no way that the only other members of her original squad besides Richardson were going to make it.
Russo reached them first, then Muniz, then Singh, then the rest of the wounded Marines and those that had been guarding them.
"Go, Haynes!" Waters shouted.
The Navy Lieutenant didn't even bother pretending to be interested in Water's safety.
Hefting her MA5B, Waters began to lay down cover fire, but it was of little use; the Grunts and Elites pouring through the gaps between the massive boulders were already reforming into a viable phalanx.
Once they got it into their alien skulls to open fire on the two humans desperately trying to make it into a cluster of rocks, Li and Davies would be screwed.
And Waters would lose two more friends.
"Run!" she shouted. "Run!"
It seemed both of her friends were only too happy to comply.
And then she saw them. The Hunters. Standing behinds the company of Covenant troops. Their wrist mounted fuel rod cannons began to power up, glowing a mysterious, otherworldly green…
They were about to fire.
"Run!" Julie reaffirmed. "Please!"
Lynette tripped. In a horrifying instant, Julie saw her friend's foot strike a rock. She saw the sniper tumble down. Li didn't see it. He kept on running. And by the time Lynette recovered, Li was too far away to help.
Still, Lynette pulled herself up.
She began to run for Julie's position.
She didn't get very far before she fell again; her ankle had been twisted.
Li reached Julie's position, and pelted into the tunnel. But Julie barely noticed him run past. She was way too focused on Lynette.
Lynette looked up. Her eyes found Julie's. Lynette mouthed something, a look of pure, unadulterated fear on her face.
"NO!" Julie called.
The Hunters fired in unison.
Two beams of radioactive green energy arced towards Lynette. Well, at least one did. The other was coming straight for Julie. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She felt that hand pull her into the cave.
And the first beam hit Lynette.
It tore up the ground, and Lynette seemed to hover there for a moment, her eyes directed upwards, as though praying for deliverance.
And then she was gone; dissolved into green nothing.
Then the second beam found its mark. The tunnel shook madly. There was a sudden roar as the roof of cave began to give way. Dust and rocks began to fall from the rough hewn ceiling.
And for the second time that day, Julie's world went black.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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