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Nothing to Lose Part IV
Posted By: hornet34<hornet34x@hotmail.com>
Date: 12 September 2003, 7:36 AM
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Nothing to Lose Part IV
Captain Fredrick L. Simms felt his knees buckle as his once mighty ship, the Corrian, was pummeled by enemy plasma torpedoes. He struggled against the constant shaking and stood back up, only to be thrown down once more by a particularly violent tremor.
"Doc, what's our status!" he yelled above the clamor.
"Doesn't look good, Captain. The Covenant targeted our vitals. The Main Hangar is a shell, not that we have any Longswords left anyway. Our engines are crippled, and our weapons capacity has been cut in half. They took out one of our MACs, sir" he added remorsefully.
"Rezendez, did we get the frigate."
"Negative sir. She in real bad shape, though. Shields gone, hull integrity severely weakened, she trying to manuever to save herself."
"We can't have that. Guns, stay on her, I want that ship down before we are."
"Captain," came Rezendez's reply. "The way that frigate is manuvering; well, sir, if we hit those port engines with enough firepower, she'll be a sitting duck and we can take all the time we need to finish her."
"We don't have time, Rezendez. Just hit that ship with everything you got and we'll pray she breaks up on us."
Medical patient 0343 opened his eyes to a blinding white light. The unfamiliar room and strange sounds expounded on his feeling that he should be elsewhere. The cries of wounded men and the smell of biofoam did little to jog his memory. He tried to sitting up too fast and was rewarded with a massive pain that racked the left side of his body. A sudden tremor shook the room, doing little to help with the pain. He laid back down and tried to cut through the haze in his mind.
"Ah, Sergeant Mayer," came a melodious voice. Mayer judged by the accent that the young doctor was originally from somewhere in the British Isles. "Nice to see you functioning. Just in time too. Ta' Captain 'as a special order for you. You're supposed to be in the bridge immediately, if you t'ink you're physically able."
"Hell yea," came his natural marine response. "I mean, yes, I'm functioning. What's he want."
"No time for explanation, just follow the private t'ere, and do be quick," the young doctor urged.
Mayer painfully straightened up and began to follow the private. On the short trip he pieced together what must have happened. The pain in his side made it obvious he had been shot. He thought about how stupid it was to lead such a foolish charge, but it must have been somewhat successful; he wasn't dead. He also figured he couldn't have been out for too long, seeing as how the ship hadn't been overrun yet. He rounded the last corner into the bridge, and came into a flurry of activity. Mayer followed the Private as they pushed past marines and excited crewman. He saw one gunner slumped over in his chair, his monitor having blown up in his face, as they made their way to the Captian.
"Sir, Private Lee and Sergeant Mayer reporting, sir."
"At ease, Private," Captain Simms replied. "Sergeant, we don't have much time, so I'll be brief. The Corrian is a complete loss, although we did get one of their frigates first." Mayer saw a grim smile flash across the Captain's face. "Anyway, our marines are holding up boarding parties for now, but time's short. Now I have a personal escape pod down the hallway, and I want you to take a squad of marines and get planetside to continue resistance. Liason with Lieutanant Matthews when you get there. I sent him down with the first wave, so he should have things under control. He's a good man, and you two should be able to give those Covies a run for their money."
"But Captain, what about you and th-"
"Don't worry this old soldier," he interrupted. "I always knew if my ship was going down, I'd go with her. I guess its good for you I had an escape pod installed anyway. Now get moving, there isn't much time left, I've already begun the self-destruct."
Mayer looked past the Captain to the main monitor, and saw 12:27 in big red numbers. He turned to the Captain, trying to think of a proper parting remark, but the emotion of the situation overwhelmed him. So instead he saluted, and briskly turned and marched out, followed in unison by nine marines.
One of the marines handed the Sergeant a battle rifle as they walked out of the bridge. They made their way down the short hallway to the Captain's escape pod, every now and then bracing themselves as the shipped shuddered under fire. They made it to the escape pod without incident and the marines piled in and began strapping down, preparing for the ride.
Sergeant Mayer mechanically strapped himself in. He barely noticed the jerk made from his escape pod detaching, his mind raced as emotions swirled. He tried to target his emotions; a kind of grief from the loss of his ship combined with guilt at being spared its destruction. In some ways he wished he could have made his last stand on the bridge, but it wasn't his decision. He was a soldier and would do as he was told. The pilots voice snapped him back to reality.
"Entering the atmosphere. You know, not one of you has paid for his ticket."
"Hey, I left my wallet back on the ship, could you pull a quick u-turn," one of the marines joked."
The buffeting from the atmosphere quelled the need for a rejoinder, as each man sat rigid in his seat. A dull roar came from the back of the pod as the airbrakes started working. Mayer could see out the front viewport, as the land below rapidly closed. Something resembling a human structure flashed by, but before he could say anything, before he could even think what it meant, the escape pod plowed into the soft dirt.
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