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Terminus Part Four
Posted By: monitor101<wasup1989@hotmail.com>
Date: 1 September 2006, 3:15 am
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Ninth Age of Reclamation / Covenant destroyer Eminent Sacrosanct, Orionis system
'Voramee's long index finger tapped at the holopanel that floated before him. The distant rumbling sound that accompanied a ship in Slipspace faded away as the Eminent Sacrosanct came into normal space. For a split second, 'Voramee felt inertia tugging at him as the ship made the transition to normal space. Immediately data scrolled across the holopanel, his eyes taking it all in. They were fifteen million miles out system. There were several local stars, but four stood out over all the rest. 'Voramee began a scan for any outlandish objects within the system. The ship's highly advanced radar scanned any object bigger than a pebble. Five seconds past, the scanners picked up nothing. 'Voramee rubbed his lower mandibles in thought. He ran the scan again, not expecting anything to show up. However, a klaxon blared, the scanners had detected something. It was in the Rigel solar system. With a surge of excitement he centered in on the object, data readouts poured onto the screen. The unidentified object was purely metallic which ruled out asteroid. It was in geosynchronous orbit around one of the planets. 'Voramee was almost certain it was a Human ship. Nevertheless, he had to be positive. He matched the shape of the object with that of the known Human ships. It was an exact match, a class C-III ship, what the Humans called a frigate.
'Voramee nearly salivated. This was perfect, time to engage in battle with the Human pests, which was always a rush. There was nothing like peeling the boiling metal skin back with plasma torpedoes.
He reached his arm out to hit the command for a plasma volley, but stopped, a thought crossed his mind. He tapped another button on the light panel, pulling up an image of the Human frigate. The image flashed onto the holo display. The ship was simply gliding in orbit around the planet. It was not taking evasive maneuvers or preparing for a battle. Had it been abandoned by it's crew? By now, the Humans would certainly have detected the Eminent Sacrosanct. 'Voramee's mandibles formed a smile. The frigate had to be derelict.
He pulled his hand away; there would be no easy victory this time today. No, they were going to board the ship and take it as a prize for the Hierarchs. They would bestow great honor upon 'Voramee, a promotion would certainly be in hand. 'Voramee would at last be able to command his own fleet.
He flexed his muscles in anticipation, the blood flowing through his veins like a raging river. He tapped the light panel, the icon turned red. "A Human ship has been detected. It is possibly a derelict craft. Prepare for boarding action. I want fighters prepared and ready for departure," he commanded into the ship wide intercom.
Even if there were Humans present, it would not make a difference. His forces would squash their defenses and take the ship. He glanced down at his energy sword attached to his armor and beamed. There was glory in destroying ships, but spilling blood was unrivaled.
A.D. 2551, 16 September 0210 Hours / ONI Research Frigate Asilomar, orbiting Orion 3, Orionis system
Nathan grabbed Simmons hand and with ease pulled the fat man up through the shaft. Simmons launched into the airlock, jetting above Nathan, and barely stopping himself from slamming into the upper ceiling.
Nathan rolled his eyes; the man was obviously new to a zero gravity environment. "You alright?" he asked.
"N…no, I hate not having any dirt beneath my feet," Simmons yelped.
"Can you make it to the door?"
Floating upside down opposite the airlock door, Simmons tilted his back and stared at the door a good eight feet away, it seemed like a mile. He began to sweat like a pig, "I'll try."
Nathan impatiently watched as Simmons tried to stroke his arms in the air as if he were swimming. He rolled his eyes and bounded off the wall and landed next to the struggling Scientist. In one swift motion, Nathan grabbed Simmons' wrist and pushed off the wall. They covered the eight feet in less than a second. A brief squeal escaped Simmons as they came up on the door and gravity that would pull them to the ground. Remembering his first encounter with this transition, Nathan quickly judged the width of the doorway. It was wide enough. He opened his legs and stretched them out before him, planting each foot on the opposite walls Nathan absorbing their momentum with his knees.
"Please never do that again," Simmons rasped in between breaths, drifting below Nathan.
Nathan floated away from the door and lowered Simmons to the ground. His feet touched the airlock floor and he quickly stepped through the doorway and into gravity. Nathan swung down from the ceiling and smoothly landed in the hallway.
He looked around. The ODSTs were spread out down the hallway, their guns sweeping every corner. The group of five ONI scientists was huddled against the wall chattering quietly to each other. Simmons was hunched over, breathing heavily. The large crates of equipment were next to the scientists on a metal pallet held suspended by a robotic dolly that resembled a miniature forklift. Webber was pulling out suitcases from one of the crates and handing them to scientists. He looked edgily at Nathan.
"We have to get to bridge; from there we can upload the virus into the AI's databank and the ship's functions. Then we have to go to the Engine and start a meltdown of the core," Webber said.
"Are we in any rush?" Nathan asked.
Webber looked at him blatantly. "No, we're gonna kick back and have margaritas. Of course we're in a hurry."
"We should split up," Lieutenant Masden interjected.
Nathan's eyes shifted to Masden. Her short, slender yet lean frame was hidden beneath the HEPA suit that was too bulky for her, the hood stood several inches above her head of beautiful blond hair that she had pulled back into a bun. Masden caught him looking at her almost instantly. Nathan stood rigid and instantly averted his eyes.
"She's right, is anyone else in your team capable of implementing the meltdown procedures?" Nathan asked Webber.
He nodded. "Nicole here and Dr. Metz," he turned to the small crowd of the five other scientists and signaled for Simmons and Metz to come over.
They stepped forward. Metz was a tall Middle Eastern man with a thick mustache who was slightly taller than Masden.
"Sergeant Brawl," Nathan said.
"Yeah," Brawl shouted from down the hallway behind Nathan.
Nathan spun around. Brawl was on a knee with two others covering a corridor that turned to the right. "I'll need three of your Helljumpers."
"Right," he looked around until he found his three picks, "Fowler! Apone! Rivera! You've got reactor duty with the big guy!"
Nathan glared at Brawl. The bastard had but Apone in his squad, the Helljumper whom Nathan had almost smashed into a wall. He thought he saw a mischievous little grin across Brawls face. The three Helljumpers came up to Nathan.
Apone smiled, "Looks like we're going to working together."
"Wonderful," Nathan groaned.
Webber activated the dolly and looked back at them. "We'll rally at the bridge. Make it fast, but also make it stealthy. We don't want any attention. We'll maintain radio contact, we're red, you're blue. And don't be surprised if the lights suddenly turn on, that will be us, Good luck," he snapped his fingers and the group began to move, the dolly crawled along behind them. Brawl and the two others from behind Nathan ran past him and joined up with the rest. Nathan turned to the others.
"So how do we find the Engineering deck?" Rivera asked.
Nathan pulled up a schematic of the ship and scanned through the layout of it's innards until he found a path. "We're in middle of the ship, the Engine Room is towards the back about three hundred feet. Let's go to the main passageway and from their we can go directly to it."
"Which way?" Masden asked.
Nathan pointed down the hall to a pair of pressure doors. They went to the doors, and using a bypass control, opened them.
0215 Hours
The doors slid open and Webber cautiously made his way onto the bridge. Like a crypt, it was dark and dead silent. There were no occupants; the crypt had been robbed. A storm of static flickered on the main viewscreen lighting up the darkness with an occasional white flash. The stations that lined the walls were empty. So was the Captain's seat in the middle. Four Helljumpers fanned out around the room. Two were left to guard the entrance.
"Okay people, let's get to work," Webber said to the other scientists.
He slowly felt his way over to the Captain's chair in the dark and hopped into it. He tried to adjust himself, the HEPA suit made him too big for the chair. Finding a comfortable position, he pulled out a laptop that he had his a suitcase and plugged it into the captain's portable control pad. He set it in his lap and waited.
Three of the other Scientists sat down at the COM, Weapons, and NAV stations, and began to link in their laptops like Webber. Simmons went to a large metal door that was marked ELECTRICAL MAIN TERMINAL. He ran a bypass, opened it, and linked his laptop into the terminal.
Webber turned his head back impatiently. "Hurry up, Simmons."
"We should be having power…now!" he cheered and typed a command into his laptop.
The overhead lights flickered for a moment then came to life, illuminating the bridge.
Webber was sure that Nathan's team would get jumpy at the sudden occurrence and hopped they remembered what he said. The screen of his laptop came to life and he began to type away.
"We are in business," Brawl said from the hallway.
Webber took a deep breath of cool air that came in through the HEPA filter and sighed with relief. This was going to go smoothly. He took another deep breath. This time the air that came through was a harsh, acrid metallic smell. At first, it was small, but it grew until it was a stinging taste in his mouth, like cordite. Then it hit him…the smell was very familiar. "Doctors," he uttered barely above a whisper.
"What?" Simmons and the three others almost said in unison.
He blinked as pinheads of sweat ran down into his eyes. "Please hurry."
~
"Do you see it?!" Apone yelled. He clutched his MA5B assault rifle with sweaty hands not taking it off the corner where he had seen it.
Nathan had his MA2B drawn and switched to three round bursts. He peered down the bright hallway in front of them. They had seen a dark shape that had moved in front of them seconds before Webber's team had activated the lights. "No, I don't see it. Anybody?"
"Nothing," Rivera said back. He and Fowler were standing in front of Metz and Masden.
"I'll go forward. Cover Me," Nathan said.
"Yeah, you go," Apone said sardonically.
He hit the wall, waited a second, and then jumped out of the corner. In a split second, something smashed into the side of his head. The blow thrust him to the ground, he landed on his stomach. His vision blurred and he tasted copper in his mouth.
Somewhere in the background, he heard Apone yell, "What the hell is that black cloud!"
Nathan tried to get to his feet but a foot slammed onto his neck, pinning him to the ground. He looked up and through a haze; he was able to make out his attacker. A tall figure clad in scraped and dented black armor. A faceless visor that shined in the light stared back at him. It was a Spartan.
To Be Continued…
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