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In Chaos and Despair: Escape to Earth
Posted By: Maraxus6<deathperson@att.net>
Date: 4 March 2004, 10:09 PM
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Sanchez was once again jostled awake by the doctor, who looked like he was going to pass out in a few minutes.
"What the-" he mumbled.
"There's no time. We need to get out of here. Be as quiet as possible." Said the doctor. The doctor seemed almost paranoid, constantly looking down the hallway. He then motioned to Sanchez to follow him.
"That's it, doctor." Sanchez growled. "I know I'm not supposed to ask questions, but at least tell me what we're doing!" Sanchez was starting to get angry. He felt like his body was running on pure adrenaline. The doctor motioned to Sanchez once again, and raced around a corner and down a hallway. Sanchez didn't need to do his best to keep up; the doctor's age slowed him down considerably.
After several minutes of moving down hallways, the doctor stopped outside a door. "Alright, we're going on board a pelican that's going to deliver us to a ship. Once on board the ship, we're going straight to Earth. Any questions?"
"Not anymore," Sanchez replied.
"Good. Follow me to the landing pad."
The pair rushed out the door and onto a landing pad that boasted enough space for four pelicans. They hopped into one of the pelicans, and waited. Several more minutes had passed before a man carrying a large crate hopped into the pelican. "Alright, you two might need these, in case the worst happens." He opened the crate, revealing half a dozen MA5B Assault Rifles. Sanchez and the doctor took one each, along with 3 clips of extra ammunition. Several more people bustled into the craft, and grabbed a rifle for themselves. That being done, the pelican hovered into the air, and blasted off into the night sky.
The ride was nice. Almost fun. Sanchez enjoyed the feeling of cool air on his face, as wind currents entered the pelican as it made the occasional turn. Several hours of this passed before the pelican landed on another pad. The pad had a down-escalator that carried everyone down into a starship hangar.
The ship was ready for launch, since the engines were powered up. All it needed was all the people from Sanchez's pelican on board.
Sanchez and the doctor entered the ship, and were led to a cafeteria, where they were given seats for the journey.
A realization sprang into Sanchez's mind. "Doctor, we're leaving because They're coming, aren't they?"
"To be honest, Sanchez, you're probably right. I can't think of any other reason myself. Maybe the guys at the radar station saw something, and sounded the alert." The doctor stated. He looked especially tired now.
The whole ship trembled. Obviously they were headed up into space. It took a while for the trembling to stop, but as soon as it did, Sanchez knew that they were in space.
Suddenly, the whole ship shook violently. Amidst the shaking, everyone heard an explosion, coming from down the outside hallways. The marines in the cafeteria grabbed their assault rifles, clicked off the safeties, and aimed them at the door opening into the hallway.
Sanchez barely heard low voices in the hallway, speaking in a low, guttural tongue that he couldn't decipher. All of a sudden, the voices stopped, and a dull clinking noise was heard bouncing and scraping across the hallway floor. A small egg-shaped object then rolled in through the doorway.
"Grenade!" someone yelled. Many of the marines, including Sanchez and the doctor, averted their eyes immediately. Others didn't.
Sanchez then saw an immensely bright flash against the wall. He also heard screams of "I'm blind! I'm blind!" and "I can't see!" Those many voices were drowned out by a multitude of buzzing noises and screams. The buzzing was answered in a hail of bullets. After several seconds, six marines lay dead, along with 8 winged, elite-like creatures. Sanchez immediately knew what they were. The ship had been boarded.
A sergeant next to Sanchez stood up on a table and spoke in a low voice. "Alright. Since it seems that the ship's been boarded, we'll have to clean out the damn things. We have to get to Earth at all costs. So, I want all of you monkeys to form groups of six. Check all the hallways, and don't hesitate to shoot. Now move like you've got a purpose!"
The marines began organizing themselves. It wasn't long before they started leaving the cafeteria, and slowly making their way down the hallways. The sergeant turned to Sanchez. "I've never seen you here before. Are you one the guys going to Earth to talk about the recent disasters?"
"Yeah. That being the case, what should I do?" Sanchez said eagerly.
"Get to the bridge." The sergeant ordered.
It took roughly four minutes for Sanchez and the doctor to get to the bridge. When he got there, a grim-looking marine walked up to him. "What are you here for?" He asked. He was blocking the threshold to the bridge.
"I'm here because one of the sergeants told me to go up here. I'm supposed to go to Earth to report on these recent incursions into human territory." Sanchez replied.
"Alright." The marine let him pass, and gave him a seat. "Stay here." He ordered.
"Sure thing. I'll do my best to stay out of the way." Sanchez replied once again.
It was about an hour before the sergeant Sanchez had spoken to earlier walked onto the bridge, holding a clipboard. The sergeant stopped in front of the ship's captain, who was easily recognizable from all the awards on his uniform.
"Sir, we've cleaned the damn things out. Here's the final tally regarding losses on both sides." The sergeant gave up the clipboard. The phrase 'both sides' made Sanchez almost queasy.
The captain looked at the report for a while. "So, we've lost about 40 men, and they lost 120. Those odds aren't bad, although we've got a shit-load of wounded. What's the average condition of the wounded?"
The sergeant sighed. "Critical. Their weapons have been taking their toll, especially since our armor seems to conduct it... like it's some kind of electricity." He said sadly.
The captain then said more quietly, "What about our friends in the cryo bay?"
"They're all right. None of those things got in there." The sergeant replied.
The captain turned around and said to a crewman: "Initiate the jump. We're going to Earth." The crewman obeyed. Sanchez could now see the stars stretching into lines, and, overcome by fatigue, fell asleep, leaning on the doctor.
After several hours, Sanchez awoke, although the doctor was snoring. It was amusing, watching the doctor snore. It made Sanchez feel like a kid again, being amused by the slightest things that most adults would take for granted. All of a sudden, the ship shuddered as it stopped from its FTL jump. A bright object caught Sanchez's eye.
It was Earth. As beautiful at it had ever been. The oceans glittered below, and he could almost sense trees swaying in the breeze on some tropical island, or a waterfall in some peaceful jungle.
Not all of Earth was that pretty. Some areas were dominated by huge grayish objects, which were the bigger floating cities of Earth. Sanchez could recognize a few of them, such as New Rome and Chicago. He remembered what happened to the first Rome. It had been invaded about ten years ago when the Covenant found Earth. The Covenant had gone into Rome, and, oddly enough, seemed to be specifically trying to get into Vatican City. Sanchez remembered hearing on the news that snipers had spotted Covenant troops burning religious artifacts, and collecting the other, larger artifacts into huge piles and watching as Hunters smashed and blew them to bits.
But the resistance from the people of Earth eventually prevailed, and the Covenant were almost kicked off the planet and forced to retreat when losses became too great. What a glorious day that was. It was made a worldwide holiday, and it was called: "The Turning of the Tide". It wasn't very original, but it fit well with the public.
So, the ship started to land. Sanchez would have a big day ahead of him.
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