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Discovery of an Enemy, Chapter Six: Part I
Posted By: russ687<russ687@hotmail.com>
Date: 28 June 2004, 5:28 PM
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________________________________________________________________
Chapter Six: Answers to Questions
1510, July 21, 2552 (Military Calendar)
System Designation Classified, Planet Codename Milestone
Gunnery Sergeant McCollum watched as the stealth drop-ship came flying over, its engines whining as the pilot banked to the right. The ship, which was the one that had dropped them off over a day ago, opened fire at the field with a pair of MK IVA3 twenty-millimeter cannons. Flash suppressors subdued the muzzle flash but the sound of it was nowhere close to being silenced or suppressed. The loud rounds echoed throughout the area as round casings fell to the earth before the Marines; 20-millimeter rounds threw water and mud in all directions.
McCollum watched as crates, tents, and even a threesome of Ghosts were shattered as plumes of water rose around the field. The sight was relieving and frightening at the same time. He noticed the creatures immediately begin evading as fast as they could. Damn, so they weren't oblivious to fire from above.
He turned as he heard the LRISC crackle to life. "Delta Four-One is on station, over." The craft banked and disappeared behind some nearby hills.
Lance Corporal Wessern grabbed and keyed up the microphone as the loud echo of the MK IVA3 cannons ceased. "Foxtrot Sierra copies and requests continued air support."
Wessern turned to Lt. Meyers, who surveyed the destruction through his rifle the scope. The shooting had slowed down as soon as the UAS-9A appeared on the horizon. The still-in-testing Utility Air and Space craft, affectionately already receiving the name Blackspear from the pilots who flew it, was ONI's pet job for creating their own standard ship that could perform the same missions as the much vaunted Pelican drop-ship; close air support; transportation, and special warfare. To the Marines who had seen it, which number was well under triple digits, it was nothing more then a fancy Pelican with a Longsword-like appearance. But to ONI, it was the craft to have.
McCollum did notice that the UAS-9A was much quicker, quieter and stealthier then the Pelican. The offset, whether or not it was justifiable, was the trillions put into the Blackspear program.
"Anything for Delta 4-1, sir?" The comm. specialist asked.
Meyers looked around them and noticed only a few creatures coming at them. The rest has disappeared either into the jungle, or were hiding among the newly created ruins of that portion of the massive Covenant base. "Tell them to stay on station until we need evac, roughly ten mikes."
Wessern turned and relayed the orders to the Blackspear now roughly hovering over some hills three kilometers away. Meyers turned to face McCollum.
"Okay, now we have to get off this rock, and we have ten minutes to do so." Meyers said, hinting at the fact that First Squad was still under ground. "Let's make sure we all leave."
McCollum nodded and turned to run back down the tunnel.
___________________________________________________________
1510, July 21, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard ONI Stealth Frigate Valiant Knight,
in orbit around Planet Codename Milestone
"Captain!"
Gary Rayford turned to face his first officer. Nothing had caused his crew to yell out about anything in the last three days, so he knew this was serious. He leaned forward in his captain's chair on the bridge and beckoned for his executive officer to tell him what was going on.
"Sir, two Covenant frigates are moving towards the continent on the planet where we sent our the UAS-9A. They appear to have detected it somehow near the location we dropped our troops."
Captain Rayford frowned and looked at the main screen as it magnified to show the two frigates moving toward the planet, specifically where the Marines were sent. He checked the sensors; the Valiant Knight has not detecting anything unusual. What caused it?
"What did they detect?" Rayford asked. The two enemy frigates had been orbiting the planet since they arrived, and had failed to detect the Blackspear the first time it went in. Something must have happened down there.
The first officer was busy tapping commands into his computer console, but pointed directly across the bridge to the Communications Officer. Rayford turned to face the Petty Officer at that station.
The Petty Officer looked up and saw the Captain's hard gaze boring down on him. Sweat began to form on his forward as he brought up some information at his own console. "Well, sir, it looks like the UAS-9A provided a quick covering fire at the coordinates of the structure. Possibly the craft was detected by some Covenant ground force near there when it strafed the field."
"Damn," Rayford said under his breath. "I thought the last report was that the Covenant base down there was deserted?"
The Comm. Officer tapped some commands in as he talked. "Yes, sir, possibly they or some scout party returned to that location. There could be other possibilities, but I believe that is now not an issue, sir. "
Rayford nodded, quickly trying to compose a quick tactical plan. "XO."
"Sir?"
"Move us in closer, we may have to try and cut some time off the return evac flight." Rayford said. "Also, get the slip-stream generators warmed up, we will have a hot egress."
"Yes, sir."
The captain sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Being on a stealth ship had its advantages, such as being completely undetected unless the Covenant got very close. It also had one big disadvantage: no MAC. The Valiant Knight would not survive a fight with the Covenant.
___________________________________________________________
1512, July 21, 2552 (Military Calendar)
System Designation Classified, Planet Codename Milestone
Wessern pushed the earphone harder against his ear as he strained to hear the static transmission coming in from space. "...I repeat, Foxtrot Oscar, Sierra, and Tango, this is Victor Kilo, extraction must be completed on the double. Reports of two enemy Frigates in orbit are moving in on your position. Please acknowledge."
Wessern flipped the transmit button on the LRISC. "Victor Kilo, Foxtrot Sierra copies. Please advise how much time we have."
The crackled reply was not reassuring. "Five mikes."
"Foxtrot Sierra clear." Wessern severed the link.
Lt. Meyers frowned as he overheard the order from the Valiant Knight . "How did they detect us? The Blackspear is supposed to be a stealth ship, if the Covenant can detect it why the hell did ONI even try and make it 'undetectable'?"
Random shots came out from his Squad as the Marines dispatched anything that moved in the field. The air cover done by the Blackspear was more then efficient, even if all it really did was tear the place to bits. Meyers did not witness a single kill by the 20-millimeter rounds, but it did get rid of them somehow. Or something out there made them stop.
"Sir, wondering why the creatures left us?" Sergeant Galvin asked, staring through the large scope mounted on the S2B.
Meyers grunted, pulling out his binoculars.
"New contacts, 210 meters out, just beyond the tree line." The sniper said, his voice becoming flat.
Meyers peered through the binoculars and froze. The mindless assault by these creatures was enough for him and his men for one day, but now it appeared that it wasn't over yet.
That's how those Covenant frigates detected us, he thought, fatigue slowly beginning to overwhelm him. Or rather, that's how they found out we were here. The lieutenant put the binoculars down and let his head drop as he rubbed his face. He looked back up to see that the Marines around him were in the same state he was. No food, sleep, shelter, or rest for over 26 hours; it was all starting to wear on the battle-fatigued men.
"Wessern, get First Squad on the horn and tell them we must pull out immediately." Meyers ordered, his voice calm but hinting at a deep stress. "Get Delta 4-1 online as well, tell them he will need a hot evac on our command."
The Marine nodded and immediately pulled out the LRISC.
He brought the binoculars back to his eyes as he thought of something he heard back when he was going through Officer Candidate School.
Training only takes you so far, after it stops, after everything you learn and practice ceases, only willpower and teamwork will carry you through.
They would need those two aspects more then ever now: willpower and teamwork.
He sighted the movement in the tree line: The Covenant.
___________________________________________________________
First Squad comm. specialist Corporal Ryder flinched as he heard the familiar beep emit from the LRISC strapped to his back. He reached behind and pulled out the headset and strapped it on. There was unusual static over the net, and the incoming transmission was difficult to understand at best. Being underground definitely had its disadvantages.
"Foxtrot Oscar, this is Foxtrot Sierra, get Lieutenant Kren on the line." The voice said, barely audible above the static background.
Ryder turned to his fire team leader. "Sergeant Brooks, Second Squad wants to talk to the Lieutenant."
Brooks walked over to the comm. specialist and grabbed the headphones. "This is Foxtrot Oscar, the lieutenant is not with us, he went--"
There was a shuffling noise above the static. "I don't care where the hell he is...and that we need evac ASAP...no circumstances can this happen. Covenant forces sighted in the tree line, as well as reports that...Foxtrot Oscar do you copy?"
Brooks stared at the microphone in his hand; that was the unmistakable voice of Lt. Meyers, even though the static kept him form hearing the complete message. "Negative, Foxtrot Sierra, I do not copy."
The line hit a high of static, but the voice broke through a second later. "...frigates heading towards this location, we need to evac now, do you copy?"
Brooks sighed, but he got the general idea. "Sierra Oscar copies." The line went dead promptly after that.
He handed the equipment back to Ryder, then activated the squad comm. "Spencer, where's the el-tee?" The fire team leader looked toward the tunnel where the squad and his CO went into.
"Down a freaking hole, he said he would be back in...now."
Brooks hated this. Something or someone is always missing when they needed to get the hell out of dodge. Naturally, he thought, anger cursing through his veins. He had seen this happen before many times. Someone goes off to take a piss and before he knows it, a squad of Marines is dead because of it. "Well get him out of there! We don't got time for anything, Second and Third Squad are on the surface claiming some Covenant frigate is closing in on us."
Spencer's voice suddeny pictched up. "Wait, the Covenant are inbound? When? From where?"
Brooks was still grasping the fragility of the situation. "I don't know, but its bad news, you know that. Now get Lt. Kren out of there so we can get the hell out of here."
The was a short pause. "Standby."
___________________________________________________________
"Lieutenant? This is Spencer, we need to get you out of there now. Lt. Meyers says our position has been compromised and is going to be under attack by Covenant forces soon. Do you copy?"
Nothing but light static filled the comm. link.
"Brooks, he's down there and I can't raise him."
The other fire team leader cursed loudly over the comm. link.
Spencer looked down the hole; something must have happened to his CO
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