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On Their Shields: The Exodus, pt. 2
Posted By: mad_jackal<streifen_ex@hotmail.com>
Date: 1 October 2002, 12:15 am
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Alarms sounded throughout the complex. The Spartans ran on towards the Command Center. The walls and corridors shook with each step they took. Joshua checked his HUD. Green Three and Four, Reiko and Paul, had finished setting the HAVOK tactical nuke in the generator room. They were on their way back to the Dauntless. Green Five and Six, Pedro and Mary, were at the Dauntless assisting Sgt. Barnes in getting the survivors aboard. He opened a COMlink channel to Deja.
" Deja, this is Joshua. I need access to the Hathcock automated defenses. Can you slice into it? "
" Of, course. Cortana showed me a few tricks before she was assigned to the Pillar of Autumn. Standby. "
Deja reached out to the Hathcock processor cores. She allowed her consciousness to probe and pry until she found the safety interlocks on the automated defense systems. She linked the remote fire control unit to Joshua's Mjolnir armor. When she was done with that task, Deja continued to tweak the Dauntless' translight engines to eighty percent.
" Joshua. You now have access to the Hathcock Intruder-Intercept System. All safety interlocks have been disengaged. I confirm that all remaining personnel, with the exception of you and April, are aboard the Dauntless. I'll see you both on board. Good Hunting. "
" Thanks, Deja. Joshua out. "
The Spartans reached the Command Center. They took their time scanning the immediate area. No contacts on their motion detectors, nothing on any of the multi-optics on their HUDs. April pointed to the holotank. Joshua saw the screen was full of enemy blips. The Covenant had arrived to deliver the coup-de-grace. The Spartans had other ideas.
" Spartan 921 to Dauntless. "
" Dauntless here. This is Lieutenant Stark. "
" Lieutenant Stark, as of 2200 Hrs. you are hereby placed in command of the UNSC battleship Dauntless per Article Twenty-Two, paragraph A under the 'exigencies of combat service '. You will still report to the chain of command here under NavSpecWeps. That means me and the rest of my Spartans. "
" Understood, sir. "
" Your first mission is to get the Dauntless in orbit and away from any pursuing Covenant ships. You are cleared to engage the enemy. Do not get our ride home vaporized. Is that understood? "
" Aye, sir! "
" You have your orders, Lieutenant. Godspeed. Spartan 921 out. "
Joshua closed the COMlink. His fingers flew over the console in front of him, inputting commands to the Intruder-Intercept System. He smiled. Let the Covenant eat shit and die screaming. On his HUD Green Four's icon was blinking. Joshua took the incoming call.
" Green Four to Green Leader. "
" Leader. Go. "
" Linking digital remote to your systems. HAVOK ready. "
" Roger that, Four. Go on. I'll see you later. Green Leader out. "
April signaled that she was ready. She had rigged the whole center with Lotus anti-tank mines and tripwires. She also had left a clear path to the computer terminals. If the Covenant tried to access the databanks, it would activate a nasty virus to be uploaded onto their mothership. This virus was developed by Cortana and the ONI spooks who were here a few months ago. It would also release nerve gas and a flare to barbecue these nosy bastards. Joshua gave her a thumbs-up.
" Let's go. It's time we said goodbye. "
Joshua activated a new window on his HUD. He scanned the listing until he found what he was looking for. A M808 Scorpion Main Battle Tank. He highlighted it and started up its engine. Then he loaded a single round into the main gun. Joshua interfaced with the targeting system and put the reticle right on the Covenant dropship. The Scorpion fired once into the dropship's engines. The resulting fireball and the shrieks of the enemy injured made him smile. He and April left the center. They ran down to a turbolift and heard a series of explosions behind them. The Covenant was near. Joshua reloaded his MA5B assault rifle with AP-HE ( armor piercing-high explosive ) rounds. April still had her S2- AM sniper rifle but she also carried an M90 shotgun. Both of them carried a few grenades. The Spartans boarded the turbolift and descended further into the bowels of Camp Hathcock.
2200 HRS/ August 27th, 2552 (Military Calendar)/Episilon Eridani System/ planet Reach/ Aboard the UNSC Dauntless
Lieutenant Stark had just closed the COMlink channel with the Spartan Commander. It was incredible. Spartan 921 had just given him the keys to the most powerful warship in the UNSC Navy. He had just graduated from the Naval Academy here on Reach three days ago. His initial assignment was supposed to be as helmsman on the UNSC frigate Cole.
David Stark dreamed to be sitting in the Captain's chair someday. He never believed it would be now. With hundreds of other sailors and marines depending on the decisions he made in the next hour or so. And in the middle of a full blown Covenant invasion. He wiped his palms on his trousers.
Here goes nothing, he thought to himself. You just need to get this crate off-planet while the Covenant takes pot-shots at you all the way to orbit. Yeah, no problem. He was surprised to hear his voice had a steady timbre to it.
" Helm. Release mooring cables. One-third engines. Sound battle stations. "
" Aye, aye sir. One-third engines. Mooring cables released. "
The Dauntless moved away from the drydock, slowly rising into the air. The vectored thrusters and jets fired in synch, providing much of the lift necessary to get this battleship moving. She was a fine ship. Ensign Montoya enjoyed the responsive controls and goosed the engines just a bit more.
" Ops. Upload current positions of enemy vessels. I want you to call out every time one of those Covies even move a parsec. You savvy? "
" Aye, sir. Two Covenant frigates over the horizon. A cruiser above Reach's north pole. Some single-seat fighters and a carrier directly to our east. Nothing within five clicks, except for some burning dropships. "
Ensign Romanov wasn't sure how this cruise was going to turn out. She didn't know enough about the rest of the bridge crew nor about their captain. Right now, though, their very lives depended on what he decided to do next. She hoped that it wouldn't end with their deaths in fiery plasma.
" Weps. Status on the MACs. Arm Archer-II pods A1 through C4. Prepare the sandcasters to screen us when we make the break for orbit. Make sure to disengage all interlocks before you take the shot. Prepare a solution for those frigates. "
" Aye, sir. Both MACs are charged to seventy percent. Archer-II pods A1 through C4 armed. Sandcasters are primed ready to disperse Titanium-A dust to deflect enemy fire. Preparing solutions for the frigates and uploading them to your screen now. "
Ensign Liao was one year junior to Stark in the Academy. While she trusted the Spartans in everything related to ground combat, space was another matter entirely. She remembered in strategy & tactics classes how fond Stark was of risky maneuvers. How he gamble his ships to achieve victory. Liao hoped Spartan 921 didn't doom them all.
" Nav. Per the Cole Protocol, plot a jump away from here to the Serpentis system. Calculate a second jump to the Taurus system. Find in our databases where the closest UNSC outpost is. "
" Aye, sir. Plotting new course. "
Ensign Harrison was a third-year cadet fresh from the Escape and Evasion course in the Wilderness Preserve. He always believed that he had another year of preparation before it was his turn to fight the Covenant. His time ran out. Now he was a serving officer aboard a newly commissioned warship. A warship about to sail in harm's way against the Covenant.
The Dauntless continued to rise in the launch corridor and paused before the hangar doors. Lieutenant Stark keyed in a sequence of numbers on his keypad and sent it to the Hathcock Central Command. Nothing happened. He keyed in the sequence again. Again, the doors refused to open.
" Deja. Can you find out why the doors aren't responding? "
Deja appeared in the holotank, still wearing her Greek battle armor. She held a sword in one hand. It sparked once and pointed to a series of points on the Hathcock systems pathway. It wasn't good news.
" Lieutenant, the controls are fused. The Command Center must have been destroyed when the Covenant triggered the Lotus anti-tank mines. My suggestion is to contact Spartans 921 and 421 to find the secondary controls. Otherwise, we're all going up with Camp Hathcock when the HAVOK detonates. "
2210 HRS/August 27th, 2552 (Military Calendar )/Episilon Eridani System/ Camp Hathcock subbasement-four/ planet Reach
" Cover me. "
Joshua fired another fifteen round burst at the Grunts blocking their way to the auxiliary vehicle pool. Bits of rock and molten iron flew from the corridor as plasma bolts impacted nearby. April moved to a better position and dropped two more Grunts with her sniper rifle. He clicked on the COMlink.
" April. We've got to break through. That HAVOK will detonate in twenty. If we're not out of here... "
" Standby. " She took aim at another Jackal and pulled the trigger. The supersonic < crack! > boomed off the corridor walls. A 14.5 mm round entered the Jackal's head and exited into the rock behind him. Still deadly as ever, Joshua thought to himself. April reloaded a second magazine into the rifle. " I agree with you. We need to end this now. "
Joshua had expended the majority of the Intruder-Intercept system. Ultrasonic bombardment. Sentry chain-guns firing fifty-millimeter depleted uranium rounds. Nerve gas. Static laser grids. C12 explosives in pre-positioned spots. Lotus anti-tank mines. Stationary M12 " Jackhammer " launchers. The Covenant still kept on coming.
" Got an idea. See those barrels? " Joshua highlighted it on the mapscreen they shared on their HUDs.
" Yeah. Reactor coolant. So? "
" Target those barrels and flash-freeze those Etees! "
" Ok. Take notes. I may quiz you later... "
April brought up the 10x magnification on her scope. She adjusted her aim by five degrees and shot the barrels. The air became filled with icy plumes that covered the Grunts there. Joshua popped a grenade and tossed into the newly minted snowmen. Seconds later, an explosion ripped through the corridor showering frozen alien bits on both Spartans.
" Is this coming out of my pay? ', joked April.
" It's covered under ' massive unplanned urban renewal '. Move your ass, Spartan. "
" Consider it in motion, sir. ", she quipped.
Joshua watched the timer blink on his HUD. The HAVOK was armed and ticking. He took a running start and kicked in the entrance to the motor pool. Rows of Warthogs, Pelican dropships, and other assorted UNSC vehicles were parked here. He pointed to the first Pelican he saw and motioned for April to start it up.
" Deja to Joshua and April. "
Joshua clicked on his COMlink.
" Go ahead, Deja. "
" The Dauntless is still locked in the launch corridor. Lieutenant Stark tried the priority codes but nothing's happening. I also tried slicing into the Hathcock MPUs but it was no good. "
Joshua sighed heavily. When Mr. Murphy shat on your parade, he didn't do anything half-assed. The Spartan commander checked his HUD and brought up a map of the camp's subterranean levels. He looked at the timer for the HAVOK. Eighteen minutes to go. Time to earn his pay.
" Ok, Deja. Prepare for immediate departure. I'm uploading co-ordinates for a pick-up of April and myself. Try to make sure that the bridge crew doesn't get the ship blown up. "
" Give them some credit Joshua. You were young once... "
April hid a grin. She busied herself with the pre-flight check and the weapons. She knew Joshua had a sensitive side. He just preferred that no one ever saw it.
" Alright. Dust-off in five. Joshua out. "
He checked his assault rifle and noted he was down to five magazines of AP-HE rounds. In his pouch were three white phosphorous grenades. His M6D auto-pistol with two clips of Magnashok rounds. It would be enough. If he needed anything else, he could always take it from the dead Covies.
" April, if I - "
She turned around and head-butted him with her visor.
" Go. I'll keep the meter running. "
The Spartan became a blur. April was glad he was gone. She didn't want Joshua to notice her tears.
Joshua followed the pathway outlined to him on his HUD. The manual back-up was two floors above the motor pool. The timer still was counting down towards zero. If the Dauntless and the rest of the UNSC forces here were to survive, he needed to complete this task. Hefting his MA5B assault rifle at port arms, the Spartan streaked down the corridor. He shifted his multi-optics to check for Covenant forces. Nothing. His armored fist reached for the door controls. Then his motion detector started to ping.
The Elite shimmered out of nowhere brandishing a huge vibro-sword. Joshua rolled out of the way. A huge gash was left on the floor where he was. The Spartan flipped the selector to full-auto on his assault rifle and unleashed sixty rounds of armor-piercing/high-explosive ammo. The first fifteen rounds bounced off the Elite's shield. The second fifteen rounds caused the shield to flicker. The final thirty blew apart the alien's armor and insides, crumpling him to the floor. He was catching his breath when the second Elite appeared and nailed him with a plasma bolt.
His shield meter decreased by half. His assault rifle was now so much molten slag. He spun and planted a front kick on the alien's torso, smashing the Elite into the wall. The Elite's bulk was firmly stuck. He raised his plasma rifle to fire...
And blasted the AP-HE magazines that Joshua tossed at him. The Elite was struck by three hundred rounds of superheated metal and slag burning him where he stood. Joshua sat on the floor for a minute watching the Covenant warrior burn. His shield meter refilled and he keyed in an override code for the hangar doors. Unholstering his M6D auto-pistol he moved towards the exit. He clicked on his COMlink.
" Spartan 921 to Dauntless. You're now cleared for take-off. "
Joshua ran down the hallway to the motor pool. He smiled underneath his visor. They were going to live to fight another day.
TO BE CONTINUED
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