Beckoning to Doom: Prologue
Posted By: Nick Kang<digitai430@yahoo.com>
Date: 7 April 2004, 7:48 PM
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After a Rebel counter-offense goes terribly wrong, an elite regiment of ODSTs must face a renegade Covenant ship. The two sides meet on the same battlefield, ready for war.
Two sides waging a bloody battle.
Two commanders waging a private war.
One Alien, one Human, one victor.
2600 UNITS (COVENANT STANDARD TIME)
ABOARD THE COVENANT CRUISER BECKONING TO JUSTICE
ALTOYT 34, 27 YEARS AFTER HUMAN CLEANSING BEGAN (COVENANT MILITARY CALENDAR)
CURRENTLY STATIONED OVER ALASKA, U.S.A.
Ship Master Nolto 'Henifamee observed the frozen Human tundra through the Beckoning to Justice's holographic view screens. An invisible wind whipped up a hail of snow and cast it out of sight. A pack of strange, four-legged animals stood milling around eating what few frozen shrubs there were. The Ship Master clicked his mandibles in disgust. The scene seemed so primitive, though 'Henifamee was not sure why. Perhaps his hate for Humankind had spread to envelope the Human habitats and environments as well.
Nolto's mission was to hold the worthless real estate. That was all the Intel he had been given, and the Prophets had said they would give him more information once he reached the objective. His ship had been stationed there for half a week and still there had been no transmission from the Covenant high command.
Ship Master Nolto 'Henifamee was beginning to wonder
if he had been abandoned.
0200 HOURS (HUMAN MILITARY TIME)
JANUARY 2, 2553 (HUMAN MILITARY CALENDAR)
EPSILON-ERIDANUS SYSTEM
IN THE MIDST OF A REBEL COUNTER-OFFENSE
"Drop it! Drop the gun now!"
Master Sergeant Nicholas Tesler watched the rebel drop the MA2B and hold his hands up. He cautiously walked up to the cowardly insurgent and kicked the small assault rifle out of reaching distance.
"Get 'im in cuffs and drag 'im into one of the drop ships." Tesler said to Private George McDonald.
"Yes, sir!" McDonald responded in his heavy British accent. Slapping the heavy steel handcuffs on the rebel, he held his M6D pistol to the man's back and made him march down the titanium-A corridor.
"We've gotta capture the hangar," Tesler said to his Helljumpers, "If we can secure the flight deck, we can have reinforcements brought in at will."
The one-Pelican worth of ODSTs nodded, few saying anything other than a series of quiet grunts. Tesler turned back around, SMG held at his hip; ready to take on anything that may come around the corner. Walking slowly down the Titanium corridor of the rebel base, Tesler reached the corner of the hallway. Opening a pouch on his belt, he withdrew a fiber-optic probe from the small pocket and slipped it around the sharp ninety-degree curb. Through the small hole of view, he saw a pair of rebel guards ready to open fire whenever they had to. They stood in front of double-doors with a sign above it that read
MESS HALL
Tesler made a series of hand-signals to his squad and tossed a frag grenade around the corner. He heard the two men scream just before the explosion. Then all was silent. He peeked around the corner. Two burnt corpses lay in a jet-black burn on the floor. The Mess Hall doors had also been partly blown open, and Tesler could see movement through the small crack.
'Henifamee heard a beeping sound coming from one of the main console. He gently keyed a sensor, activating the sound message.
"Beckoning to Justice, we are the Covenant Cruiser, Cleanser."
Ah, good. News at last. 'Henifamee thought.
"The Prophet of Truth has declared you and your crew Unstable. Prepare to be eliminated."
What?! 'Henifamee frantically thought. Punching the in-ship COM button, he yelled into the speaker.
"All on-ship warriors! Prepare for battle! I want these halls patrolled by twelve-man groups! Go, go, GO!"
Looking out the aft camera view, 'Henifamee noticed the surge of Covenant warriors charging for the ship's gavity-lift. Punching the COM button again, 'Henifamee screamed,
"Five groups of twelve patrol the halls! The rest of you secure the gravity-lift loading zone! You will be fighting your own kind! Prepare to kill and be killed!
The Mess Hall door flew open with another well placed grenade. Before the smoke cleared, Tesler and his men were in, guns blazing. Five rebels were down before they even knew what was happening. The rest regrouped, shook off the confusion, and charged in at the ODSTs. Bullets hammered the walls on both sides as men yelled and screamed. Tesler felt the SMG shake violently after holding the trigger. He watched as three rebels ran into his hail of bullets. Blood spattered everywhere, from both the rebels and his ODSTs. The rebels had an advantage of sheer numbers, outnumbering the Helljumpers three to one. But the ODSTs had better weaponry, more efficient armor, and grueling training, making the battle easily slip in the Marines' favor.
With one final grenade, the last three rebels went flying. Tesler walked up to the door on the opposite end, stepping over the bloody bodies and spent ammunition cases. He touched the green button next to the steel barrier and it slid apart, revealing a large metal box. It beeped every second, and had several green lights lit up in a row. At the very end of the row, there was a single red light. With every beep, another green light lit up. Tesler realized what it was and started running.
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