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Present Darkness, Chapter Seven: Part II
Posted By: russ687<russ687@hotmail.com>
Date: 9 January 2005, 8:44 AM
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0830 hours, November 21, 2552 (Military Calendar)
ODST AO, One Kilometer from Extraction Zone
Planet Red Dawn (Codename), Theta 1440+90 System
Lynn held up a fist.
Something did not seem right ahead. They had been traversing down the slop of Hill 203 and were now making their way through the tight valley that would lead them to the Extraction Zone. Nothing so far had caught his eye, but he could tell when something seemed out of place.
The sight ahead of him was seemingly normal, but he could faintly pick out the moving objects just over a hundred meters ahead. The small figures darted around skillfully, some even up in the trees. There was no mistaking it; those were crazed Jackals.
He ducked instinctively as plasma fire erupted from the slopes, concentrated on the Jackals ahead of him. He stayed low and noticed the source of fire from the hills ahead of him to his left and right. Covenant squads began tearing a path through the vegetation towards those beings, beginning to eradicate them from existence.
Clever bastards, Lynn thought. The Covenant had flanked the beings.
High-pitched screams echoed through the valley floor as the Jackals began to fall from the continuous Plasma fire. He could see them darting around, moving up the slopes towards them, but the Covenant quickly dispatched the creatures. Part of him was glad that the Covenant were getting rid of those crazed beings, and the other half worried.
Either way, there was still a threat left for them to deal with.
The deep-growls came into existence. Lynn looked up to the group of Covenant on the slope, and saw the large beings' instantly. The large, black-haired creatures began tearing through Grunts and even Elites, who were caught entirely off guard. Those large creatures effortlessly tore through the ranks, beating down their oppressors as if they were mere hindrances.
The second group of Covenant on the opposite side of the hill continued their reign of fire on the Jackals in the valley. They were completely cutoff on both sides from going around this mess, which left only one option.
Lynn motioned for Keeton to come forward. The two Marines observed the fighting for one more second before Lynn spoke up, whispering to the sniper just loud enough to be heard.
"I'm going to go up the slope towards the group of Covenant still unscathed, you lead they way straight through. I should attract enough attention."
Keeton nodded. The sniper didn't object to the seemingly insane plan, knowing their time constraints. If they didn't make it through this death trap within the next few minutes, they may as well plan on spending the rest of the lives on this planet.
"Keep moving, I'll met you on the other side."
Keeton looked at the ODST Sergeant he had known only for a few hours. The soldier had proven himself more then worthy to lead them, and he had an unusual amount of respect for the man. Seeing many battles and coming across plenty of soldiers, the sniper didn't find many Marines as capable as this man. Force Recon had taught Keeton to be the best, but the fact remained; there were others out there like him.
Others who were willing to sacrifice their lives.
Lynn crouched and moved off towards the slope of the hill, unnoticed by their common enemies engaged in the firefight. Part of him was anxious; fearful. He didn't want to die, and he sure as hell didn't want to die on this planet, forgotten forever, but he had a higher purpose. He had men to save.
He silently ran up behind a tree and peered around it. Ahead of him, no more then fifty-meters, were several Grunts and three Blue Elites, all of them preoccupied with their targets in the valley below. He kept his rifle shouldered and made a silent run to the next tree, bringing him ten meters closer. He was partly surprised there were no regular Jackals among this Covenant group, but it was actually a good sign. Those smaller creatures had superb senses, and were often the vanguard for any Covenant squad in battle. Without them present, he would be able to get far closer then normal.
One more tree lay between him and the group. Lynn carefully stepped out and walked slowly towards it, carefully planting his feet around sticks or twigs that could announce his presence. The heat from the plasma fire was now beginning to warm the air as he continued his slow, stealthy walk towards the group. He kept his sights on the head of an Elite, but none of the creatures even suspected his presence.
He silently came up against the tree and peered around. Fifteen meters was all the remained between him and his foe. He was thankful, at least at this moment, that those crazed Jackals were hard to hit, since it kept the Grunts and Elites occupied and focused on their darting movements. Lynn watched carefully as the aliens ahead of him continued their firing, and noticed the slight signs of the weapons overheating. If he timed it right, he might just be able to pull this off.
Four grenades were still strapped to his LBV, none had been used since his insertion to this planet. Had these just been Grunts, one fragmentation grenade would have easily done it, but up against three Elites with shielding, he was sure all of them would be needed. He slung his rifle and detached two of them, holding one in each hand and removing the pins with his teeth. The time had almost come...
Three Grunts and an Elite nearly simultaneously stopped firing, their weapons overheating. Lynn leaned out a little farther and tossed the first Grenade, landing without a bounce in the dirt near the Grunts. His second throw put another grenade barely in front of the Elites. None, however, noticed the object fall at their feet.
Lynn quickly pulled off his last two grenades and repeating the process, hiding behind the tree as the fuses burnt down. The three seconds seemed like an hour, but finally the satisfying thump resounded, and debris flew past him.
There were screams and growls from the aliens, and Lynn leaned back out and threw the grenades blindly into the smoke and debris. He pulled back in from behind the tree and pulled out his rifle. Two further explosions rattled his teeth, sending dirt and even body parts flying past him.
One, two...three.
Lynn shouldered his rifle and moved out from behind the tree, dark smoke and dirt consuming the air ahead of him. He took careful, but steady steps towards the smoke, scanning back and forth quickly with his BR55, trying to pick out in survivors.
He snapped to his right as a black, charred Elite stumbled out of the haze, the alien obviously disoriented and wounded from the explosions. The trigger depressed twice, and six rounds tore into the unshielded warrior, sending the alien to the ground.
A smaller figure emerged directly ahead. Lynn saw the blood running from the shrapnel wounds of the small Grunt, and settled the sight at the ugly creatures head. Three rounds entered the alien's skull, sending a slight burst of methane into the air.
He began strafing up the hill a little more as the dust settled. Slight groans were evident from somewhere ahead of him, but the area was still obscured. Lynn stopped moving and kept his rifle shouldered.
There. Lynn saw a large figure crawling from the haze. The Elite was pulling itself with its two arms, its armor charred and riddled with wounds from the grenades. Lynn withheld fire as the entire alien came within his sight; it was missing both its legs.
Six more rounds depleted the life out of the Elite, and he turned to move around the scene. He had to get past this slaughter pit before those crazed-Jackals began charging up the hill, and he also had to get to his fellow teammates that were hopefully sneaking past the fight in the valley. With any luck, they were be on a Pelican in ten minutes.
Lynn heard the noise, but couldn't react in time as a body crashed over him, sending him to the ground. He quickly rolled out of the attack, sending his foe over and off of him. He brought himself up to a knee and spotted the small creature.
Red eyes from the small, ugly Jackal analyzed him for a second before darting off behind some cover. Lynn turned at some more sounds, and noticed the movement ahead of him. Over a dozen crazed Jackals were darting towards him. Death in their eyes.
Was his luck that bad? Lynn aimed at the first being and fired twice, missing the alien altogether as it closed the distance quickly. He fired again at a second Jackal, hitting the alien and sending it out of sight.
The BR55 spat out more rounds, most missing as the Jackals closed to within thirty-meters. He couldn't believe how fast they were; it seemed as if they could nearly dodge his bullets. The trigger depressed again, but the charging lever snapped forward and nothing but a soft click resounded.
Lynn turned from the incoming aliens towards his extraction zone. Only one thing came to his mind as he pulled out another magazine for the rifle.
Run.
There it was, just up the treeless hill. The sweet sight of their savior.
Keeton looked up the two-hundred meter long slope to the black Pelican settling into a hover and descending. This was their ticket out, and it was the only thing that kept them moving through the continuous fighting.
Their silent endeavor through the valley behind them proved rather flawless, with the Covenant fire into the valley stopping shortly after several blasts; all of which were by the ODST Sergeant, Keeton thought. To top it off, the creatures lurking through the valley began running for those explosions, leaving them with a clear path out.
He knew that Lynn was in trouble, but he had to make sure the Marines with him got to the safety of the extraction zone before going back to help. He helped Tanner and Westfield carrying Wilson up the barren slope, the injured Marine clenching his jaw from the pain of his leg wound. They would be off this rock in a few minutes.
They stumbled to the top of the small hill as the Pelican settled a meter above the ground. He looked about to see at least four Squads-worth of Marines emerge from the slope to the top as well, panting from their own run to this evac location. The sight of fellow soldiers was encouraging, but another daunting fact came to mind.
Would they have enough room?
"Get him aboard," Keeton ordered as two Marines ran over to help with Wilson. The sniper turned to what appeared to be the highest-ranking ODST with them. "How many do you have?"
The Gunnery Sergeant took in a deep breath, obviously fatigued, and replied, yelling over the sound of the Pelican. "I have twelve, plus this other Squad we hooked up with before climbing this hill, so a total of seventeen."
Damnit. Keeton looked back to them loading Wilson, who grunted in pain. "We have one more in the valley below," Keeton yelled to the Gunnery Sergeant as he positioned his men in a security circle around the craft. "I need to go back and get him."
The Sergeant looked at him, his face full of concern. "Still alive?"
The nod answered the Drop Shock's question.
"Peters, Mansen, Rogers, and Neadson, get your asses over here!" The four Marines quickly responded to the Sergeant's order, and the remaining Marines adjusted their security circle accordingly. Keeton looked on, confused for a moment.
The Gunnery Sergeant turned back at him, a serious tone washing across the middle-aged man's face. "Lead the way. No way in Hell we're leaving someone behind."
Lynn could feel the presence of those Jackals behind him, and turned around, continuing to run backwards as his rifle came up. Three rounds dispatched a target less then five meters behind him. He turned quickly to see another crazed Jackal begin a lunge at him, its red eyes staring him down from behind two outstretched arms.
Six rounds killed the being in midair, its body falling to the ground and tripping another Jackal directly behind it. He was tired, and the Jackals had seemingly closed his lead effortlessly. He was in excellent shape, and could run thirteen kilometers with all his gear on without too much exhaustion, but these creatures were on a different scale. They were enhanced, and had a far better advantage over him.
He fired another burst at a Jackal drawing close, then turned back around and began running full bore. He was so close, and the hill that the extraction zone was on was just around the valley turn ahead. He was sure that Keeton and the rest had made it, otherwise he would have noticed their bodies along the way in this tight canyon.
He turned and fired another burst, his rifle's charging level snapping forward yet again as his magazine ran dry. They were practically on top of him, and their deadly attacks were imminent.
This hadn't been in vain; he had saved the lives of four of his Marines. He took comfort in the fact that his plan had worked well enough for them to escape, and that was the only thing that had really mattered to him. While he fought for his own life now, he had done his job. He had done his duty.
He had saved his men.
The inevitable tackled him, sending him painfully face first into the dirt. He let his grasp of the rifle go, it was empty always, and rolled to the side, forcing his assailant off. He reached to his right leg and pulled out the M6C sidearm, slipping the safety off in one fluid motion.
Another Jackal jumped on top of him, its red eyes glowing with hate; its mouth dripping with drool. It took a swipe at his chest, not comprehending the armor plating. Lynn was thankful for once that he put this heavy stuff on, and shoved the barrel in the creature's face, pulling the trigger once.
He instinctively rolled to a new location as another Jackal pounced down, claws first. It landed at his previous location and snapped a look over at him, its dirty, bloody teeth coming into view. Lynn aimed with his right arm and fired twice, sending the creature back first to the ground. He rolled to a knee and saw three of the being's charging him simultaneously, their jaws open; high-pitched screams of death echoing through the small valley. The three-point sight settled on the first one, sending a Magnum round through the creature's neck, and he pivoted to aim at the second, firing twice into the being's chest.
He flinched as a loud crack echoed through the valley. He blinked as the head of the third creature disappeared in a mist of body fluids as the slight contrail continued on into the dirt. The fight wasn't over.
He fired at another incoming Jackal as rifle fire broke out from the direction of the extraction zone, rounds and tracers ripping through the terrain just ahead of him, sending blood into the air and bodies to the ground. Three more rounds spat out from his pistol before the receiver snapped back.
Lynn turned to see the figures continuing to fire beyond him. A wave of hope washed over him as he recognized the lone sniper and five ODSTs. He had men he could count on covering his back.
"Move, Marine!" The Gunnery Sergeant yelled as he fired another burst.
Keeton stopped to reload and watched Lynn jump up and start running for them, Jackals emerging from the vegetation to chase him down. He slapped the large clip into the sniper rifle and gazed through the scope.
What the hell...?
Without thinking, he fired a round through the temple of a large creature that emerged from the forest. He had seen the bodies of those things in the underground facility, by never one alive. It was larger then an Elite, and ran like an ape. The large body slumped forward as his round erased the beast from existence, but more appeared behind it.
He expertly began eliminating each of those large beings, but four rounds per clip didn't give him much of an advantage. He reached back into his LBV and felt for another clip. There wasn't one.
Keeton cursed and slung the large rifle, bringing out his M6C-SD pistol, the long silencer protruding from his grip. He aimed as best he could at another large beast, but at such a distance he couldn't guarantee a hit.
Battle Rifle fire cut down any creatures continuing the chase, and the few remaining beings immediately stopped and turned back towards the thicker vegetation. Keeton watched in curiosity as the crazed Jackals and beasts, which were relentlessly attacking them a moment earlier, ran from them, disappearing from view. The rifle fire discontinued a second later as the ODSTs looked on in question as well.
Lynn reloaded the pistol as he neared the Marines, their covering fire coming to a halt. He looked over his shoulder and didn't notice a single creature chasing him. Had they all been killed?
"Ok, son, let's get off this rock." The Gunnery Sergeant yelled at him, reloading his rifle.
Lynn wanted to fall at their feet and thank them for their actions, which saved his life without a doubt, but their time was probably already up, and they needed to get aboard the Pelican.
"Mansen, contact the Pelican over the LRISC, tell them we'll be there in five mikes." The Gunnery Sergeant said, turning to run back to the evac location.
Lynn took a deep breath, and looked up the valley floor to the barren hill several hundred meters away, a single Pelican waiting atop of it.
0845 hours, November 21, 2552 (Military Calendar)
ODST AO, Emergency Extraction Zone
Planet Red Dawn (Codename), Theta 1440+90 System
"Zulu 143, what's your status?"
Warrant Officer Ken Maxwell immediately reached for the volume button, turning the radio communications down from its abnormally loud state. His copilot adjusted the squelch level of the radio, and the transmission came in more clearly.
Maxwell depressed the transmit button as he looked out the side window from the cockpit of the Pelican, hovering steadily several meters above the ground, waiting for word from the rear gunner that all the Marines had been loaded.
"143 reports no contact, currently on station at Extraction Zone Echo Four."
The reply came back far quicker then the pilot would have expected, and the tone was far from what he wanted. "Zulu 143, you are overdue on your departure by five mikes, you are hereby ordered to exit to Area of Operations and proceed with all due speed to the Stanton Bay. Acknowledge."
He looked out the window yet again and spotted the figures now just coming up the base of the hill. "Negative, 143 cannot leave our station, we have six Marines still on the surface."
The reply was far more harsh; the FAC was probably in a bad situation. "143, I say again, lift off now or concede to being left on this rock."
His copilot looked over, swearing at the reply from their Forward Air Controller. "We can't leave them, they're only about five minutes out."
Maxwell nodded, watching the Marines begin their ascent up the hill. "I say again, 143 will not comply until all Marines are aboard."
The ship shuddered, and Maxwell quickly scanned the instruments. They had been hit by something. "Damnit, losing hydraulic pressure on rear starboard control surface. Turning on auxiliary support." The pilot looked out the window again and saw the Plasma charges skim over the craft from somewhere down the hill slope. The Marines still in a security position around them began returning fire.
"Sir, the Marines are reporting inbound resistance up the opposite hill slope," the rear door gunner announced through the intercom system.
"Shit, we've got to got off the ground before they stick us good," the copilot said.
Maxwell nodded. "Get those Marines aboard, we'll circle around."
The call was given to the rear gunner, and the Marines around them boarded the Pelican quickly. Maxwell could feel the vibration of the gunner firing rounds as the "green" signal was given over the intercom. He reached down to the collective stick and raised it all the way up, forcing the Pelican into the air.
"We're overloaded," the copilot said, noticing the diminished performance as the craft climbed for altitude. The engine readouts were rising into the red, meaning they were overworking the engines at a critical point. The Pelican could take that kind of abuse, but not indefinitely. "How many Marines do we have back there?"
Maxwell shook his head as the altitude reader hit triple digits, Plasma charges flying up after them from the ground below. "Nineteen or so."
The pilots leveled off the collective stick and hit the throttle forward, changing the directional thrusters to the rear and accelerating the craft forward. They were in a bad situation; if any Plasma charges contested the aircrafts structural integrity, getting into space would be impossible.
"Zulu 143, this is Oscar Tango Three, we are still on the ground!"
Maxwell cursed. The Marines had seen them depart. "Roger, we know. There are enemy forces on the opposite side of the hill; LZ is too hot for a pickup at this time."
There was no reply as he banked the ship back around, giving the rear gunner an easy line of sight to the Covenant forces firing at them. The rear gun opened up a hail of bullets, and the chin turret, operated by the copilot, added to the firestorm of rounds that tore up the ground around the Covenant.
"Going back around."
Lynn and the rest stopped and watched the Pelican circle back around, firing down upon some unseen enemies on the other side of this hill. Plasma charges chased after the craft, some impacting it. All the ODSTs knew the dangers of the craft being compromised, rendering it incapable of space transitions until after repairs could be made, but they were out of time for that option to work.
"Oh shit..."
Two large charges shot up after the craft. Fuel Rode Cannons, the only hand-held weapon capable of inflicting serious damage on the craft. The ship side-slipped and dodged the first, but the second shot was well placed.
The copilot yelled as the second charge hit their port wing.
"We're hit, number three thruster is overheating, shutting it down."
Maxwell gritted his teeth. The hit threw the craft a bit, but the impact wasn't the bad part. It was the damage done to his bird. "Damage?"
"Severe to the right side, but we're still operational. I don't think we could sustain another hit like that, though."
The swearing in the cabin was followed by that of the pilots.
They Marines watched as the craft began emitting smoke from one side. They ceased climbing the hill and stayed low after word of enemy forces on the other side was heard; they couldn't afford get in a firefight with the Covenant who had weapons like that.
Lynn let his head drop. There were at least nineteen Marines aboard that ship, and all of them were risking their lives for theirs. He wanted to get off this rock, he wanted to go home, but how much was he worth? How much were the seven of them worth? It was obviously logical that nineteen lives took precedence over seven, but he couldn't quite condemn himself, and the others next to him, to their deaths.
Why couldn't he? He had nearly died so the four Marines in his Squad could live. He had gone on alone to give them the fighting chance they needed; he had willingly sacrificed his life for that. The reason he was still alive was nothing short of a miracle.
They had a choice, and more importantly, they had a duty to put the greater good of those lives above their own. The chances, the odds, the risks; all of it was too high.
The mind. That's where the decisions were made, that's where the perspectives were born. He looked up and grabbed the radio from the Marine next to him. If they let the Pelican keep trying to evac them, they were condemning the lives of all those aboard that ship, not their own.
The Marine looked back in question as Lynn depressed the button. This was for those Marines.
"Zulu 143, this is Oscar Tango Three, abort the pickup."
The Marines around him, except Keeton and the Gunnery Sergeant, immediately spoke up. Lynn ignored them and continued his transmission.
"I say again, abort the pickup."
Maxwell frowned at the radio transmission as he tried to keep the craft level. Were these Marines crazy? Who would want to be left on this planet?
"Oscar Tango Three, we're not going to leave you down there."
The reply was calm and collective; the very two attributes that made it painful to hear. "Negative, get back to the carrier. You know the risks, and you're already packed with Marines. Don't risk their lives."
The copilot looked over. "Shit. We can't stay around here much longer."
Maxwell gazed off into the horizon. They wanted to be left behind, so that we could live. These men were making the ultimate decision for our gain.
They were making the ultimate sacrifice.
Lynn looked back up at the Pelican one last time. The scene around him was mixed; the Marines next to him were angered with his transmission, except for the Force Recon Sniper and the Platoon Sergeant. The trees were swaying back and forth in the mid-morning breeze, the sky was lightening to its mid-day blue state, and the sun was continuing its rise over the landscape.
The distant sounds of Covenant firing their weapons was slightly drowned out by the wailing engines from the Pelican. Emotions were tense, and the feeling consuming them all was settling in. They weren't going to make it off this planet.
They were going to join their comrades lost here.
"Zulu 143," Lynn said, his voice steady. "I have three Marines aboard there. One last thing before you leave."
The reply was low-tone; the pilots obviously not in favor of their decision. "Anything, Tango Two."
"Make sure they let everyone know what we saw down here. Make sure that what we found here isn't forgotten. Papa Tango Two, out."
It was quiet. The Marines looked at him with hate, but Lynn knew it was the only real option. No matter how hard those pilots tried, they would never leave this planet. They just weren't meant to.
"Will do." There was a pause. "Zulu 143 is RTB."
Their lives were lived short, and their goals were left unaccomplished. Every one of the Marines watching the Pelican turn and ascend away from them was too young to die. Their lives were being ended in front of them.
Lynn dropped the transmitter and looked at the Marines around them. Depression washed over them, and their will to fight dropped from existence. He saw the look in their eyes; the longing to leave, but the revelation that they never would. He could feel their pain, their heart ache, their want for freedom of this war, but none of them would ever see it. The peace they all longed for would be left up to another man, at another time. They had been left here, and the reality of it sunk in.
Lynn closed his eyes and leaned against a rock, the silence a welcoming factor for him to think. He thought of his life, and how much he had accomplished, and also how much he had passed up. He thought about his family, his past, and his decisions that led up to this point.
He opened his eyes and looked one more time at the men around him. He hadn't done anything wrong; he hadn't made a mistake. He was destined to be on this planet at this point in time, and so were the Marines around him. This was no accident. This was their fate.
He thought to his beliefs, and he ruled out the religion. He once believed in God, in an entity of supernatural powers. He had gone to church with his family as a boy, and had lost those beliefs after breaking away and growing up. Something pricked him, though. Something called out to him. He could feel the presence of something, and he knew that there was something greater then him, something remotely present in this war torn planet.
It was hope.
Their fate had left them here, but it had not condemned them to death. He looked at the Marines around him once again, their silence testimony to the realization of their short-lived lives. Their hearts, however, were still beating.
Keeton looked over and read his eyes. The Force Recon Sniper understanding him before the words came out of his mouth. The older Gunnery Sergeant was already in that place, having served his life for the Cause of the war. And these young Marines would soon see it too.
The fight for them was just beginning.
"It's not over."
The silence was broken by his words.
"It's not over."
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