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Episode-III A shot from the Darkness
Posted By: Jon Michael Marlowe<jedipiranha@hotmail.com>
Date: 23 May 2003, 8:55 PM


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Waiting is Hell
It's been seven hours since our departure from the Mercury. The men in the vessel are bored as can be. They just got away from action and it seemed when they where in it they hated it, but now, they long for it. I'm sure that once we land many of them will long for this silence again. Two more hours and then we should be protecting scientists that are working on new weapons and tech. from an attack that came yesterday. Which means that they most likely are on the run, or pinned down somewhere. I've been gone for seven hours and I already miss Jason. His jokes would have come in handy. But most of all I miss Melissa, I can't stop thinking about getting back to her, I try not to think about her to much. It just puts me in a worse condition. "Coming into the system in five minutes." Came a voice from the cockpit. We must be early, we left early aswell, hope we aren't to early though, we might miss the parade. Orders came in that I was to lead Panther squadron on this mission. There would only be two squads. The Panther squadron, and the Falcon squadron. The commander of the Falcons was some guy I'd never heard of. It was up to me to succure the north side of the installation. The Falcons got the South. As time went on I could do nothing but check my squads list over and over. The squad list is a list of the names of all men in the squad, there specialities, there stats, and there ranks. It continued to make me shiver, the fact that I was leading over five hounded men and women into battle just made me nervous I guess. As time goes on Nathan continues to think, he is trying desperately to hide his feelings from his men. They wouldn't understand, they?d think I was afraid of going to battle, and that would make them uneasy. When in truth I am afraid of something completely different, and some odd feeling inside tells me it's coming. "Sir, what's wrong?" I hear a Russian voice ask me. He somehow knows I'm not going to answer and so he continues to talk to me, telling me how he is scared of going in the day after graduation, and all. His name was Ivan, he was indeed Russian, he had come to the academy because he was following in his brothers footsteps. For the rest of the journey he had talked to me until a voice sounded over the intercom. "Attention all units, we have just received a journal of today's events from the science facility. It will now be displayed, you all need to see this." The voice said.
01:00- The Alliance men attacked and took hold of section B after they finished their sweep of A.
05:00- The Alliance has just had another flight of reinforcements, they know outmatch us 6 to 1
16:00- The enemy forces have attacked C, but we are still holding it.
19:00- All Tech has been moved to section E for security
21:00- The Alliance has made their way into section C
As you all should know we are about 5 minutes away from landing, you will be landing in the middle of a battle folks, expect a hot LZ.

A hot LZ on Alpha Genius
"It's a hot LZ guys, prepare for rope drop!" the pilot screamed at us as we where admiring the light of the bullets heading straight for us. I was about to demand that everyone be in full gear but they already where, they where already throwing the ropes out and the first to drop where ready. As we hovered there with gunfire all around us, I decided to jump before the schedule. "I don't care if they plan on giving us support for our drop, there aint gunna be nothin to help land if we stay here!" I screamed to the pilot. "Men move out!" The men started dropping down the ropes with caution. I hadn't had time to grab my guns so I went to do that while I didn't have some dork screaming help at me because he was scared, or something didn't work, or something broke. I walked over to where I was sitting and took a sniper rifle, my pistol was already on me, and I decided to take the AR aswell, only because there weren't any Plasma riffles but hey what ya gunna do. l could hear the men down on the ground screaming for backup, and what not. I turned on my com link and could hear it allot clearer. there where still 15 or so men in the Havoc and so I ordered three more to stand ready to jump with me, the rest where to stay on the ship until ordered otherwise. I gave orders to the pilot to go down low so the stationary guns on the sides could be used to clear the area, drop off the last remaining soldiers and get out of this place. As I jumped I could feel the air around me, the noise from the ammo going towards me dimmed, I could hear it allot fainter now, but I could hear more for some odd reason, I could hear the empty shells hitting the floor, the men falling to the floor, the very footsteps of each soldier. It was as if loud was soft and soft was loud, at this moment, that fast was slow and that slow was fast. I could see the bullets coming towards me. It felt like an hour but lasted only about eight seconds. It stopped as I hit the LZ with my feet. Everything was back to normal. I shot in all directions and continued to bring down the enemies around us. All went according to plan, the Havoc came down killed off the remaining threats, and the rest of the men jumped out. As soon as the last man hit the ground, the pilot asked for permission to leave. I granted it and then he said the last thing he would say to any of us. "good luck out there, I'll be praying for you. And don't get killed!"

News from home
It was the start of my thirteenth day on this installation and still we where battling the invading Alliance forces off of Alpha-G as we have come to call it. When I came here I was moved by my friends being torn apart by shrapnel, seeing dead bodies be shot again for fun. But now, I've grown so accustom to it, I don't move a muscle, all I think about is killing those assholes who killed my men. The idea of leading five hinder men was no longer a burden for me as only fifty eight remained. Sure I got new men yesterday , and so I am in command of one hundred and three men. the truth is I really don't give a shit anymore. I've been shot crushed, burnt, and hit enough times to have been killed six times. The enemy forces where in retreat however, Alpha G was being defended after all. The only place still inhabited by the Alliance was section A. Which mainly comprised of corters and service providers, such as water pumps and such. The labs where safe though and the scientists where back at work. It was nice of them to give me the Eagle's Claw, a new type of Sniper rifle, and to give me their version of a Plasma rifle, it had the same shape as the covenant one but was black and metallic instead of Purple and what not, it also took clips which where small round things that you stuck in the bottom. The benefits where however that it had a scope like the one on a pistol, laser guiding, and charge up shot. it was by far the best hand held weapon I'd ever seen. They also gave us new types of tanks and Whorthogs. Most where pieces of junk and where destroyed. Some however where very clever. There was a new type of Whorthog, a.k.a. the hedgehog. It had the same stuff as the Whorthog, accept that the driver could lay mines as they drove on. The mines where kept in bullet proof containers behind the gunner, there where five on each side, giving him ten mines to work with. Then they told us they had improved that one yesterday, they put twelve small lightweight missiles on the sides of the gunners turret. They didn't do much damage but could come in handy, if you need a small explosion. They didn't know what to call it though so they asked me. I classified it as the Porcupine, but they said that nothing was going to be called something that stupid nomatter how much scence it made. They ended up with the name Hedgehog, even though it didn?t make scence. Then there was the Panther, a motorcycle kind of thing that had a covering like a tank but you laid on your stomach with your hands in the sides of the front. It was the fastest vehicle we had developed so far that was used in the battle field. it has to missiles and twin plasma rifle fire on the front, well they weren't Plasma riffles put they did the same thing, they shot blue plasma at the enemy, at the same speed as a plasma riffle, they didn't over heat as easily though, and the bike contained a cooling system for cooling the guns. Those where my favourites. The only ones that I got in and liked. All the others where painful, or didn?t work, obviously still in the experimental stage. "They're coming!" a young sergeant screams at everyone. As if something else is new, they're probably sending a final strike against us. They'll retreat before the day is gone, before we arrived the Ali's outnumbered us 6 to 1 now we outnumber them 2 to 1. The sergeant however looked thrilled, exited. Then a lone Cadet came in with news for us all, there was a message from the academy where I graduated, less than a month ago. I walked up and asked the Cadet if anything had come that was interesting. "Well there is a general message for everyone." He said in a soft voice. He gave me a chip to watch. He gave one to everyone that had come from the same place. We all watched it together, but it was not what we expected at all. you could see a massive Covenant fleet jump in. A breaking voice started to speak as the video continued. "Oh my...., they're attack....ng.... the .......command.....save...civil...ns..." It went quite, you could see the fleet starting it's attack, fighters came out and started firing massive amounts of plasma into the command centre. They wouldn't stop. you could just barely see a few escape shuttles blast off from the station. The Covenant quickly attacked them aswell. I also could see the Empirial vessels all firing at the same ship. By the end of the video there was nothing left only two or three covenant ships made it, but they left, afraid of reinforcements probably. The rest was gone, the whole installation was gone. I was pail anyone could tell that. And they knew why. The cadet that had come with this ill news walked up to me and gave me an extra chip. I was afraid, it looked torn up a bit. I was afraid of what it might hold, what might be said, what I might see. With a shaking hand I put it in the reader. It was the inside of an escape pod. Centralised was Jason. He started talking, he looked beet, his arm was hurt and his leg had a bandage. He talked as he cried softly, he was trying to hide it, but couldn't. His hand was covered in blood so I knew he had to be hurt on his arm, by the way he was clutching it and how blood was all over his hands. "I, hate to be the one to tell you this stuff. I.... we needed you, we needed you badly. I know you where probably needed there to but, I don't know, you would probably have suffered the same fate. We're joining you down there, we'll probably be a few days though, if we survive. Mel's dad is dead Nathan, he... was sucked out into space by a break in the hull. So are Terry, Trevor, Sam, Devon, Greg, Sarah, Joanna. They're all dead." He was about to die of crying, I wanted to speak to him, but it was a recording and so he might not even be alive anymore. There was a long pause. He started to say something but stopped and said, "be strong." The screen went black and as I started to stop the video he came back on. He immediately started talking. "I'm sorry bro, but... I." He constantly paused as if he wanted to use the right words. He took a deep breath and let it all out, as tears rolled down his cheeks he continued. "I'm sorry, I did all I could, I didn't want this, I don't want to tell you so you'll have to see it. It was close, she almost made it." with that the video moved down and I could see Melissa, laying there with a puddle of blood on her chest. Blood was on her face, Jason wasn't hurt at all, it was Melissa's blood that he had on his hands. I was about to faint, I had tears all over my face, my body was covered in sweet. He went on. "I didn't know whether to tell you, She was at the pod and as the doors closed a piece of shrapnel hit her in the back, it went through. I couldn't stop it. Kill the bastards, Nait." With that it ended, the video stopped. I felt like I'd been stabbed in the chest, my heart had left me, all I could feel was this pain in my chest. I gasped and screamed in pain. without being able to stop it I fell face first on the ground, like I had just been shot and was dead. I continued to breath with difficulty, my neck hurt when I tried to live. I blinked, and as my eyes opened the pain decreased, my neck stopped hurting. every muscle in my body was flexing, and I wasn't thinking. The veins in my neck popped out, they could clearly be seen. I stood up and screamed. It was a frightening deep scream. My teeth where showing. I didn't care, all I could think was the last sentence I'd herd, kill the bastards. Then I didn't know what I did, I saw it, I herd it, I felt it, but it wasn't me I was in a dark spot. My body had left my soul for what it was. I ran towards the enemy forces which where camped across a valley, and stated shooting randomly, I shot at anything I could. My men where following me, but everyone staid away from me, all of my fellow men had fear in there eyes. It seemed like no time at all when I had reached the enemy camp. I was starting to come back to my sences, the veins in my neck weren't visible, I felt tired and relaxed my muscles. The camp was in ruins, I had destroyed it. In my anger I took what I had herd and made it literal I killed the bastards, there where dead bodies all over the place. my men which where around me where terrified, I wondered why, the enemy was gone a few had fled but the battle was won. Then I realised it, they never where afraid of charging the leftover enemies as I thought they where when I was going mad. They where terrified of me, of what I had done. of how recluse I had just been. I realised this just in time as I feel down again just like the last time. The pain returned I clutched my side, and fell unconscious.

Reunited
As I wake up the first thing I see is that I am in the hospital ward of section C. The fact that my eyesight is still completely fuzzy and I can't see anything but blobs, tells me that I'd been on this planet for to long. I saw a figure walk to the door. "He's awake now." a woman's voice said softly. "Mel...." I tried to say her name but I couldn't get it out. "Melissa." I finally said. The nurse looked at me and turned away. I stuck my arm out, trying to reach her but I couldn't. My eyesight returned to me as, a young soldier walked in. I realised that I had been calling a random nurse that the soldier called Katie. I'm blinking allot because of the light and my eyesight being a bit fuzzy. But after hearing the voice of the soldier I know I'm in good hands. "So Jason, what's new. Dead doctors, torn apart soldiers. is my mother dead?" I ask him sarcastically. "That's not funny and you know it." he replied. "Cause she died ten years ago." he continued after a pause. He exploded in laughter, and so did I. Defiantly not at the joke, but we where happy, it was good to see each other again. I got out of my bed, asked Jason to wait outside for a sec. And as he waited I sliped on my uniform and joined him. It was so good to see him, the only piece of joy that was left in my life was my best friend. "Let's get some food." I said enthusiastically. Jason looked puzzled, I could tell he didn't expect me to take it this well. Infact I was suprising myself. The madness must have dimed the pain of loosing her. I decided to put it behind me, that I'd be me, and that I'd flirt with girls as much as I used to, which was just about constantly. We ate together and talked about everything that had happened since we left eachother. As we walked to the victory ceremony that night I asked him something that was on my mind. "Jason, what about MC, did he make it?" His reply was very comforting. "I don't know, it's like he vanished in the middle of the battle. He's probably still out there though." We arrived at the ceremony a bit late. We looked around for some place to sit, when a young cadet walked up "May I escort you to your table sir?" He asked with a salute. I thanked him and he brought us to a small table in the middle of the hall, it was fancy more fancy than the other tables, and I wondered why our names where on the seats in gold writing. We took our seats. It was obviously the table for the important people, there was a spotlight right on it, so I tried to stay still. During the whole celebration I got the feeling I was being looked at by one person or another. I tried to think nothing of it. So the night carried on, it was a big party. Lots of food, the scientists presented their newly developed, things. And then it came, something I wasn't expecting at all. Jason and I where both decorated with the Imperial Medal of Bravery. In addition I was given a good conduct medal, and the marksmanship award. The night was filled with suprises, from that point forward. The Scientists presented me with two gifts, one for leading the attack and the second for showing such courage in the battle field to protect them. They gave me a one of their plasma disigned plasma riffles that had yet to get a name, and a Panther. The party ended around three o'clock in the morning and we all went straight to bed. The long days of battling the enemy where tiring ones. We where scheduled to leave the installation at 07:00. I couldn't get to sleep that night, every time I closed my eyes she was standing right in front of me. I had slept for about an hour, an hour filed with nightmares, I was missing her, if this carried on much longer I'd have to have my memory of it taken out by surgery. As the hour of five approached I got up, dressed in full gear and got ready to go. After doing that I came out here to see the orange light of the planet's second star descend past the landscape, a sort of "star set." This was supposed to be a beautiful sight. The only problem was, anything beautiful reminded me of Mell. It isn't as painful anymore, I miss her but, for some reason it's ok. She's comforting me. As I stand out here tonight I finally have figured out how I can move on, if you call it moving on. I will dedicate this time of every day to Melissa, the girl who was taken from me to soon. An old saying says that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. That?s bull, I know now the truth. Love is like a drug, it is great when you have it, but when you're without it, you become weak, and sad. But love makes you strong, nothing can hurt you more than loosing a loved one, that?s the most painful experience ever. It is however my job as something that can love to take this pain, and I can overcome it, for as another old saying goes, no pain, no gain. Love all you can, a man that can not love is not human. Love goes on, the saying It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all is wrong for only one reason. That reason is that love isn't lost, you can't loose it. If you could, there would be no pain. Love goes on.





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