Hopestar chapter 1
Posted By: sam_fisha<sam_fisha@yahoo.com>
Date: 6 January 2005, 7:51 PM
Read/Post Comments
|
Author's note: I may not submit sequels to this very often as I am busy with my other stories.
Hopestar chapter 1, Operation Exodus:
Captain Wellington studied the console screen several times before believing it was true. Just to be sure he read it again.
As of now all MAC stations have been destroyed and our ships are in full retreat. The Covenant have withdrawn their ground forces and are preparing to glass the planet. With this only two systems remain under our control and they will soon fall. Operation Hopestar is to commence.
The Captain shook his head and rubbed his eyes. It's happened. He thought. He walked to his desk and poured himself a generous half cup of wine. In seconds he had gulped the entire glass and was still unready. He straightened his uniform and walked to the bridge. When he arrived he was welcomed by the bridge crew with a round of salutes. He sat in his chair and sighed deeply. "Is something wrong sir?" Ensign Herby asked. "You'll know in a second." The Captain replied as he activated the ship wide intercom. "Attention all crew and civilians, this is your Captain speaking." As he spoke the bridge crew turned from their menial tasks and gave him their full attention. "As of oh six hundred this morning..." He gulped and prepared for the crew's reaction. "Earth has fallen." He heard the expected gasps and half iterations of 'OH MY GOD!' resound through the bridge. He stared blankly at the large situation screen at the end of the bridge.
"In twelve hours we will embark on our journey as the last chance to save mankind, by then all personnel are to be at ready." He paused and searched for something to say but could think of nothing. He deactivated the com link and leaned back in his chair. 'Sir?" Ensign Herby asked to get his attention. "Is this a drill? Is it just practice?" The Ensign asked hopefully. The Captain sighed. "I hope so."
The ship Captain Wellington is in command of is the UNSC Hopestar, a battle cruiser retrofitted to be a colony ship. It was jammed with two thousand civilians as well as its regular crew. Its one and only mission was to escort the six colony ships as a last chance for humanity, a relocation for the entire race. By now the Covenant had destroyed every system of the Humans save two, the Tara system which is currently under attack, and the Fel system which the Hopestar was currently stationed at.
Marine barracks on the Hopestar:
Private Kells sat up in his bunk as he listened to the conversation between the two marines in the bunk next to him. "So the Master Chief died?" One of them asked the other. "Apparently." The other responded. "I heard after he killed the Prophet that the other Covenant ship shot the hell out of that big ass Forerunner thing he was on." Another marine cut in. "No, here's how it happened, the Chief got to the Prophet and held him at gunpoint, okay? So he was like "Call the ships off." and of course the Prophet says no and the Chief caps him, then all the split chins go crazy and shoot him, but he kills them and triggers the self destruct on the ship and then he gets out before it blows." One of the other marines snorted. "Yeah right, how could he trigger the self destruct? He can't read Covenant shit."
"Yeah he can, he's got that wicked A.I., what's er name, uh, Catena." The other marine shook his head. "No you idiot its Cortana. An that's not how it happened." Kells watched as the Sergeant appeared in the doorway. "I SAID LIGHTS OUT! NOW SHUT IT OR I'll SHOOT IT!" He yelled. By now every marine had gotten used to his empty threats. The Sergeant walked away and the marines laid in their bunks. Kells rolled over and whispered to the marine in the bunk bellow him. "Hey, Jake, do you think the Chief could be alive?" The marine rolled over. "Maybe, but all I care about is getting away from these Covenant."
Civilian quarters 3 C, Hopestar:
The room was filled with activity as the people shoved bags into bulkheads and spread sleeping bags on the floor. Several families huddled together and talked about Earth being lost as Hillers cleaned his weapon. A m6c magnum which a friend who was in the marines had given him. His friend was station on Athens station, orbiting Earth. Was orbiting Earth. He thought. He watched as the hundred other civilians in his section bustled about preparing for their journey.
Hillers watched curiously as an MP walked into the room and glanced about. He covered his pistol in a blanket at sat innocently. The MP walked by him and collected contraband from other civs. A rifle and two bags of some kind of narcotic. For some reason the Captain wasn't allowing civilians to have weapons on his ship. At least two marines were always station in each civilian block for defense.
One of the marines glanced at a paper in his hand and walked over to Hillers. "Are you R. Hillers?" He asked without looking up from the paper. "Yeah." The marine dropped the paper at Hillers' feet. "Message for you." The marine said as he turned and walked away. Hillers picked up the paper and read.
Hey Rich, if you're reading this I'm dead. So I guess this is a message from the beyond. Anyway I want you to know that I expect you to keep my family safe.
See you when you die, Katie.
Hillers managed a weak smile as he read Katie's small joke about the message from beyond. By now Katie's family was plasma burned. Hillers leaned back on his sleeping bag. Guess that means I failed. He thought as he folded the paper and put it in his pack.
He reached down and recovered his pistol which he loaded and quickly hid in his sleeping bag. He glanced around him and saw the hundred or so other people as they tried to cope with the fact they were to be all of human kind. Hillers stretched out and closed his eyes. For us the war is over. He thought as he fell asleep. Soon to be proven wrong.
AN: Well that's it for now. I'll submit the next in a week or two.
|
