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Attack on Sol (Part 21)
Posted By: Slit Throat<halo_boy16@yahoo.com>
Date: 18 December 2004, 1:39 AM
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Colonel Ackerson cut the transmission from the Master Chief. His plan was coming to fruition. Although it would have been much easier if the Spartans had simply been killed on this mission, but he was not worried. His own plan was perfect. Still, Ackerson was a cautious man and he did not want any witnesses of what he was about to do. So when he quietly stood, walked over behind the pilot and hit him over the head with the butt of his pistol, it was merely a precaution. Even so, the way the pilot's unconscious body fell to the floor was quite pleasing.
Ackerson sat down in the pilot's former seat and ran his hands over the controls of the Cormorant. It had been a long while since he had been trained in single ship use, but he knew enough to take off, land and fire the weapons, which was all he needed.
After a few minutes, the sensors on the ship showed four incoming green blips. The Spartans. He very nearly rubbed his hands together with glee.
The Master Chief topped a low rise and saw the Cormorant sitting in the center of a depression just a few dozen meters away. He began to walk toward the craft when it suddenly fired its atmospheric thrusters and rose into the air.
Colonel Ackerson's voice broke through on the com, "look out, behind you!" The Spartans all spun around, weapons raised, expecting an assault from either the Flood or the Covenant. Instead, there was nothing, only dust blowing over the blackened lava flow. Just as the Chief realized this, he heard an evil sounding chuckle over the com and a puffing sound. A missile being fired. The Chief waited a heartbeat then dove to the side shouting one word over the com; "Down!"
He could not see whether or not the other Spartans had been able to dodge in time, but he had no time to think either as the missile impacted, throwing the Chief several meters and knocking the wind out of him. His shields were completely drained.
Once he hit the ground, the Chief held perfectly still, knowing that even the slightest movement would show up on the ships sensors and alert the Colonel that he was still alive. The Chief remained in that position for several minutes until he heard the sound of the Cormorant's engines fade into the distance, then slowly got to his feet.
"That's the second time he's tried to kill us," muttered Cortana. "He's not going to get away with it this time," but even she sounded shaken.
The Chief was not injured aside from a few bruises and so was able to stand easily and look around for the other Spartans. They lay scattered across a large radius from the impact crater and had evidently all followed the same tactic as the Chief. They were all standing now, except one: Will.
He lay stretched out on the ground only a few meters from the Chief, who immediately ran over and knelt at his side. His armor was punctured in many places and blood and hydraulic fluid flowed out of his wounds. Will was still alive, but his breathing was labored and when the Chief pulled up his bio-signs on his HUD, they were dangerously low. The Chief glanced around hopelessly. There was no way they were going to get Will or themselves off of the planet before the NOVA blew it to smithereens. The Chief froze; the NOVA was being carried by Longswords! Even as this thought entered his head, the Chief heard the sound of engines in the distance. He fumbled in his equipment case for the smoke grenade, pulled the pin and lobbed it into the center of the depression.
As the engine noise grew louder, the Chief looked up at the blood red sky searching for the Longswords. Blue smoke from the grenade clouded his vision somewhat, but he could still see well enough to glimpse the Longswords as they passed overhead. Neither of them slowed down however.
The smoke from the grenade dissipated just as the Chief's hope had. He was suddenly filled with a new emotion. Despair. There had never been a situation that the Spartans had been in that had not seemed so hopeless. Even in the battle for Reach, they had always known where their path of retreat was, and even if they hadn't made it, they would have gone down fighting. Now, they could do nothing to affect the outcome of this mission. There was no escape.
Even as the Chief hung his head, acknowledging defeat, Linda cried out. "They're coming back!" The Master Chief was instantly on his feet, weapon at the ready. Sure enough one of the Longswords was coming in low directly towards them. The Spartans fired off a few rounds to show their position, then backed away, carrying Will, as the ship began a landing sequence.
As soon as the Longsword touched down, the Spartans ran forward and climbed in. The pilot appeared surprised that the Spartans actually needed a ride, but willingly gave a status report.
"The Fleet's distraction was successful and, although we took heavy casualties, the NOVA bomb was deposited successfully sir. All UNSC ground forces are beginning to evacuate. We have two hours to detonation." He paused, then added, "with all due respect sir, why are you here? I thought you would already have a ship waiting to get you off planet."
"We did," replied the Chief, "but we were betrayed and one of my men was severely injured. It is imperative that we return to the Fleet as soon as possible."
"You got it sir." With that, the pilot activated the Longsword's lift off sequence and the ship lifted into the sky.
Captain Matthew Tyler of the frigate Jericho turned as the bridge elevator door opened and Colonel Ackerson stepped out. "Welcome aboard Colonel," he said saluting. His mouth tightened when Ackerson did not return the salute. Instead, he walked to the main viewport and gazed at the planet thousands of kilometers off.
"This is the ship ordered to remain here to report?" asked Ackerson. There was something odd about the Colonel's tone, Tyler would have said it was regret if his hadn't known that Ackerson rarely showed emotion. Verbally or otherwise.
"It is," replied Tyler as he moved to stand beside Ackerson.
Ackerson nodded thoughtfully. "When will you be breaking system?" Now Tyler knew that something was amiss. Ackerson knew the plan as well as anyone and he never let anyone know that he was not informed of something.
"Once we know the result of the Spartan's mission... Is something wrong?" He could have sworn that Ackerson had flinched when he said Spartan.
"The Spartans never made it to the ship. The last I heard from them was that they were pinned down in a mine shaft by overwhelming odds. I flew over the area but there was nothing left. It was if a huge bomb had detonated and flattened the entire area."
Tyler was silent for a few moments. The Spartans were dead and Earth's last hope was gone. If they had not disabled the AA guns, the Longswords would not have made it in and the Covenant would ultimately win the war.
Tyler's stupor was interrupted by a shout from his targeting officer. "Sir, we have two friendly contacts inbound! Looks like the Longswords!"
"Are all Marine and Navy personnel aboard?" asked Tyler.
"They all boarded about a half-hour ago," responded the officer.
"Good. Break system once the Longswords are on board, but keep us within sensor range," ordered Tyler.
"Yes sir!"
He turned back to face Ackerson who wore just a hint of a smile. It didn't touch his eyes however.
The Longsword containing the Master Chief and his team set down gently inside the hanger of the Jericho. According to the pilot, the rest of the Fleet had left the system about a half-hour ago on their way back to Earth, leaving the Jericho to observe the doom of the Covenant homeworld.
As the Chief stepped onto the deck, he felt the ship accelerate. Ackerson must already be onboard, likely on the bridge. A stretcher and medical staff waited outside the Longsword for Will. His injuries were severe, but then, Linda had been revived from the edge. Will should survive.
The Chief waited for the rest of his team to exit the Longsword then started for the elevator that linked the ship's decks. Once they were inside, the Chief punched the button for the bridge and the elevator began to rise.
Captain Tyler turned as the bridge elevator door opened once again. Colonel Ackerson, who stood beside him merely turned his head, then started and spun the rest of his body around. The four figures that stepped out of the elevator were dead, according to Ackerson, but Tyler didn't believe in ghosts and he doubted that a ghost would have a very real looking pistol pointed straight at the colonel's chest.
"Colonel Ackerson," announced the lead Spartan, undoubtedly the Master Chief, "you are under arrest for treason and attempted murder." Beside him, Ackerson went bug-eyed and made a soft choking sound. Before either officers could react to this statement, one of the other Spartans stepped up to the colonel and pinned his arms behind his back.
"Master Chief," responded Tyler angrily, "what is the meaning of this? You do not have the authority to arrest a colonel even under such serious circumstances!"
"I know that sir," said the Spartan calmly, "so I am hoping you will do it for me." He stepped over to the holopanel and inserted a small disk. Tyler recognized it as one of those that contained a soldier's mission records. The Master Chief pressed a button and the screen flickered to life.
The recording showed the Spartans crossing a dry, barren wasteland covered by dried lava. He watched as the Spartans reached the top of a small rise and spotted the Cormorant waiting for them. What followed after was a huge shock. Tyler knew that Colonel Ackerson hated anything to do with the Spartans, but even he had grudgingly acknowledged that they were humanity's best hope for the moment. That he would try to kill them was simply astounding.
The bridge was completely silent as Captain Tyler turned to face Ackerson. The colonel avoided meeting his eyes and kept his gaze fixed on the deck plating. Tyler motioned for one of the bridge Marines to take him to the brig. As he was being led off, however, the colonel flashed a glance of pure hatred at them. Tyler shivered and was glad when the colonel and his guard turned into the hallway leading from the bridge.
"Master Chief," he said, "you've done an excellent job down there. I admit I doubted you'd make it back." He glanced in the direction Ackerson and his guard had gone and sighed. "We will be staying within sensor range until the detonation," Tyler said, looking back at the Chief. "We have an hour and a half."
Kalit and his squad exited the air defense facility and moved at a jog down the hill on which it sat. The battle inside had been a long one and it had not looked good for the Covenant forces, especially when the Humans arrived. They had left quickly though and since they had disrupted the Flood attackers, the Covenant had been able to mount a counterattack that eliminated most of the foul creatures.
Now, Kalit and what remained of his squad were enroute to a nearby underground weapons storage facility to make sure it had not been infested. They were nearing the entrance when a huge shudder shook the ground under Kalit's feet almost knocking him over. Several of his squadmates were thrown to the ground. Another quake did knock him to the ground and when he raised his head, he was looking directly at the volcano.
Kalit had just enough time to open his mouth and emit a high pitched shriek before his world was enveloped in fire.
"Recall the probes," barked Captain Tyler. The bridge had been completely silent for what seemed the last eternity. The Master Chief had expected there to be cries of joy and celebration, but there was nothing. Only dead silence. The Spartans had been initially trained to prevent a bloody civil war. But even though they had been bred in violence and death, none of their training had prepared them for this, the ultimate measure of defense. The destruction of an entire world.
Still. the Covenant had done their best to wipe humanity from the face of the galaxy and humanity was merely returning the favor. The Chief had no sympathy for those who had killed so many of his teammates. He had completed his mission.
The Jericho turned slowly around, picked up speed and entered Slipspace on its way back to Earth. There seemed no reason to follow the Cole Protocol any longer as the Covenant already knew the location of Earth. Behind the ship, pieces of debris drifted like motes of dust in the air. Covenant ships drifted randomly throughout as well as if looking for something among the wreckage that had once been their homeworld.
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