The Past is Renewed
By: Zachary Crabtree
Prelude:
It has been forty years since the events of Alpha Halo II. The long Human-Covenant war has come to a close and the universe seems to be at peace. This, however is not the case. Civil unrest is taking hold of Earth and her colonies. A man by the name of Wilhelm Markov, leader of one of the Insurrectionist groups, has gained high popularity with many of the colonies. Insurrection attacks on UNSC bases are growing larger and more deadly by the day. On earth, protests to stop the killing of the colonists have rose to an all time high, and the UEG is now fighting a war against its own citizens, trying to calm down the civilians while still maintaining sovereignty of them all. This is all part of Markov's plan, cause unrest, draw attention to his side, and finally seize power.
It all culminates with one single act. Explosions rocked the the main parliament building of the UEG, thousands watch as the building crumbles to the ground. The world is stunned when reports come in that there were no survivors. The government had been effectively demolished in one single act. Markov then initiated the second phase of his plan.
Covertly arranging meeting with key Covenant resistance leaders, a fragile, but worthwhile deal was struck. Money, ships and weaponry, for a share in the glory. Markov accepted. Soon, the peaceful skies of Earth were filled with the sights of what appeared to be covenant frigates and cruisers guarding three CCS Battle-cruisers. Nobody knew what to expect, but a global broadcast message soon told them what was coming. Cruisers were placed above every UNSC shipyard, Naval base or barracks, poised to decimated the UNSC if they did not surrender. They didn't.
In an instant, Markov's private covenant armada fired up the glassing beams and pulse cannons, and started the siege on the UNSC. Few ships escaped unscathed, and those that did, fled rather than fight the armada. Earth soon surrendered to the might and will of Markov as his personal army, composed of members of every insurrection group mixed with Markov's newly allied Covenant fighters. They took the streets by storm, killing any person that dared stand in their way. Soon Markov stood at the steps of the newly conquered UNSC Headquarters, a building left deliberately left intact during the siege. Markov addressed his empire, from the desk of Admiral Holland. He told the UNSC "rebels" their leader was dead, as his ship was reported destroyed as it tried to flee Earth. He then showed the bodies of all other top UNSC Commanders and Admirals, who were exterminated upon the siege of UNSC HQ.
The ultimatum came, surrender or be exterminated. Some did, others fled with what ships, supplies and equipment they could and fled the colonies, as Markov took to the skies, crowning himself emperor, and tuning the UNSC into the SCF, his personal space armada. With his power growing, and funding from the Covenant loyalists growing, it seems as if nothing can stop him.
Chapter I: The Kommandant
The officer sits in his quarters aboard his ship. He begins to put on a black uniform, not the standard uniform for the UNSC. But this was not the UNSC, after losing its leadership, the UNSC fell apart. Kommisar Wilhelm Markov was the leader of this new force, the Space Command of the Fuhrer. Under his command, the construction of twenty new super carriers, the largest ships in the galaxy. This was his reign now, a reign no one would soon forget.
Kommisar Markov had taken command about ten years ago, and was the tyrant that no one expected. He had unified the nations of Earth, into a single force. Leading his cause was none other than Lieutenant Zachary Crabtree. Now promoted to Kommandant, he was in command of the galaxy’s most powerful vessel, the SCF Tirpitz. Under his command were twenty others that followed his every order. His battle group was now approaching Jericho VII.
With Markov’s orders, the SCF had successfully taken back all the colonies that the UNSC had lost. Now they are approaching Jericho VII, the last of the outer colonies that remained unconquered. But unbeknownst to the Kommandant and his fleet, the UNSC rebels lay in wait, cloaked near their location.
The Kommandant looked through the glass as the battle group approached the planet.
“Kommodore, stop the battle group. Prepare to drop the troops.”
“Yes Herr Kommandant!”
The officer walked away from the commander. He watched as the drop ships left the hangers and headed towards the planet’s surface. As he watched, he noticed something strange. When he had turned his eyes away from the planet, he saw what he had feared. De-cloaking ahead of him were twelve UNSC vessels. They had opened fire on the first few vessels, destroying them instantly.
The Kommandant watched in horror as his ships were being destroyed before his eyes. Soon his Kommodore came up the bridge… a look of horror was struck upon his face.
“Kommandant, the UNSC have destroyed nine of our vessels!”
Crabtree looked over at the young officer, and then looked back towards the observation deck. He went stiff as he saw one of the enemy ships pointed in his direction. He began to run as the vessel fired his MAC cannon.
The shot impacted the vessel right under Crabtree’s location. His Kommodore was killed in the explosion, along with everyone else in the bridge. Crabtree fell motionless to the floor as his ship floated through space.
The UNSC left his fleet in ruins, and Crabtree did not move. He was pulled by a nearby crewmember to a life pod, but did not move, or make any sign that he was okay. For him, this seemed like the end.
Chapter II: An un-reusable Offer
Sirens were heard throughout the city as the convoy of police cars and the ambulance rolled into the hospital gates. It seemed unusual for all this security for one injured person, but no one knew who was inside.
The ambulance entered the Emergency entrance of the Berlin National Hospital, the preferred hospital that the fuhrer wished his SS officers to be treated. The doctors were all Commu-Socialist party officials, who majored in the medical field. As the patient was unloaded, the doctors had grave looks on their faces.
The gurney was pushed along the hallways to the E.R. Its passenger was still unconscious, and was hooked to a multitude of devices. The doctors that were pushing him were heard talking amongst their selves.
“Herr Doktor, if we do not operate now this person now, he will not make it!”
“I know, I know, I know! Quick wheel him into surgery, god help him.”
The gurney was wheeled into to double doors and they slammed shut. The fate of the unknown patient remained unknown.
In the operating room, the doctors worked endlessly to save their patient. After twelve hours of surgery, they exited the operating room. A nurse wheeled the injured person out and into another room, where he would stay until his release.
In the room, the patient lay with about thirty others who were just like him. On the other side of the room, a man dressed in the SS officers uniform walked in.
“Is he in this room?”
“Yes sir Colonel, right over there, the fifth bed from the end.”
“Thank you, doktor.”
The Unknown Soldier walked towards the bed the doctor indicated. He reached it to find the patient staring through the window. His injuries were severe, his left eye was covered in gauze, and he no longer had a right hand. The doctors had amputated it just above the wrist. There were several wounds that were stitched together, but altogether, he was lucky.
The patient had glanced up from his lifeless stare to see the SS Officer looking down at him.
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
His words had a bit of sarcasm in them, but the officer took no notice. Instead he chuckled at his words.
“Of course you can my friend. I have a proposition for you, which one would have to be completely insane to refuse.”
“I’m listening.”
The officer pulled out a few papers from his briefcase and handed them to the patient. The first thing noticeable on them, was the black SS thunderbolts on the top of the page.
“General Von Streizer wishes to have you imprisoned on the terms of high treason. I can get you out of your inevitable execution. I need an assistant at the Reich War Ministry to aid General Roth and myself.”
The patient looked at the imprisonment orders. They were indeed for him, on the top; underneath the date was his name, Crabtree, Zachary-Kommandant. The orders were clear, failure to hold position and aiding in a victory for the rebels.
“Why would Von Streizer want to have me arrested?”
“Because Herr Kommandant, he thinks you should have died on that carrier. But this is behind us. If you wish to take my offer, I will be at the Ministry. Ask for Colonel Stauffer”
Then the officer left the kommandant on his bed, in a vast array of confusion.
Chapter III: The UNSC and Her Secrets
Back at Jericho VII, Nicole looked out the window in her personal quarters. She did not know what to thing of the world now that her home had been taken over by the SCF and Markov’s men. She was deep in thought when she heard a voice behind her.
“Nicole, can I talk to you?”
Nicole was a young officer, with long black hair. She was a normal sized girl at about 5’ 8” and bright blue eyes. She looked almost exactly like her mother, and bared almost no resemblance to her father.
She turned around to see the face of Ashlee Miller, the daughter of Madeline Ramirez and Sergeant John Miller, of the UNSC Black rangers. She had her mother’s long blonde hair, but her father’s blue eyes.
“Yeah Ash, what do you need?”
Ashlee closed the door behind her as she sat on the bed next to Nicole. She had an expression on her face of extreme sadness; it was something Nicole did not want to see.
“Remember earlier how we received word that there was a high ranking officer onboard the lead SCF vessel in that battle group?”
Nicole looked at Ashlee for a second. She could not comprehend why she was saddened at the death of one officer that was her sworn enemy.
“Yes, Ashlee what’s wrong? Why are you sad about this?”
“Nicole, I think you should look at this.”
Ashlee handed Nicole some papers that she held in her hand. It was a crew report of the Tirpitz, and its commanding officer’s name struck a chord in Nicole’s heart. She recognized the name Crabtree, Zachary-Kommandant almost immediately. This was her idol; she had always looked up to him.
“This must be some kind of joke right!?”
Ashlee looked at Nicole who was now clearly angered by the news.
“Ashlee I swear to god if this some kind of sick joke I will kill you!”
“Nicole, it’s the truth. That man sided with the enemy.”
“I don’t care if he did, I looked up to him, and now he’s dead because of me.”
Ashlee stood there a moment, shocked at what her CO was saying. Here she was, the leader of a company of the best troopers that seceded from the SCF, crying at the loss of one officer. Ashlee understood why, but she didn’t know why it bothered Nicole so much.
“Nicole, listen I know this must be hard, but, it was him or your immediate family.”
“That man was just as close to being family as anyone could get. He was almost like a second grandfather to me!”
Ashlee was shocked, she had never known any of Nicole’s past, except for her parents. She didn’t know what else to say to her commanding officer. After asking to leave, Ashlee walked down the corridor to her bunk, contemplating what she had just heard from Nicole.
Ashlee sat on her bed and starred out the window, she knew her history and her parents, but as for Nicole’s she just hit the tip of the iceberg.
Chapter IV: Operation Soaring Eagle
Crabtree looked up through the only eye he had left. The words inscribed in the arch of the gate read clear “Das Reichstag”. When he approached the front desk, he saw only the older officers of the SCF walking around.
“Yes can I help you?”
Crabtree looked at the young woman working the front desk. She couldn’t have been older than twenty. She reminded him so much of his Melissa, whom he had not seen in three years. Seeing the young woman happily serving Markov, he wondered if he’d ever see his family ever again.
“Yes, I am looking for Colonel Stauffer, working with General Roth.”
“Ah yes, down the hall, last room on your left. You wouldn’t happen to be Kommandant Crabtree would you?”
This question almost made Crabtree laugh a little. Even as an officer in the service of a dictator, he had a reputation, one that he wants to be rid of as quickly as possible.
Crabtree walked down the hall the woman mentioned until he came to a door. Written on the window was this “Stauffer, Friedrich—Executive Officer, Reserve Army”. Crabtree knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, he heard a voice call him into the room.
“Colonel Stauffer, you asked that I should see you?”
“Ah, Kommandant, I was expecting you. I knew my offer would not be refused.”
“Yes, now why did you want me to aid you and General Roth?”
Stauffer looked across the desk at the Kommandant. His face lost all expression as he began to speak again.
“Kommandant, my aide was killed a few days ago. General Von Streizer deemed him a traitor to the fuhrer and to the state. You know the value of loyalty in these times, and you were the only person I could turn to.”
Crabtree looked at the colonel. He could not have been more than thirty-five, and had dark black hair. He spoke with a noticeable accent and was about the same size and build as Crabtree.
“So what do you mean by, I was the only person you could turn to?”
“Please Kommandant; your reputation hides itself within all that modesty. I know of your hatred of Markov and Von Streizer. And let’s put this bluntly, I do as well. That is precisely why I wanted you to be my assistant. We have a plan to kill both of them. Markov’s funding is dwindling; he will not be able to fund this effort much longer. This paired with the UNSC attacks on the rise; we will face defeat sooner than you think.”
Crabtree looked at Stauffer, and stood there with a blank stare upon his face. He had wished that Markov and Streizer were dead, but now it seemed that his dreams were coming true.
“How do you expect to accomplish this plot?”
Colonel Stauffer grinned and let out a small chuckle at this question. He then replied still chuckling and grinning.
“Operation Soaring Eagle mien Kommandant, Operation Soaring Eagle.”
Chapter V: Retaking Reach
Nicole stood on the bridge of the UNSC George S. Patton along side Ashlee and Captain Rorke. Even after all this time, the Patton still stood as the flagship of the UNSC, and Rorke still stood as her captain. Rorke was considerably older, aged now in his early 60’s. His hair had gone grey, and looked older than he actually was.
The days grew longer as the fleet neared its destination. Prepping for the assault on Reach seemed to take a lifetime, but for Nicole and her comrades, it was worth the wait. Long had the SCF commanded Reach’s inhabitants, putting them through the same tyrannical leadership as Earth itself! Reach had been turned into a militaristic colony with Lieutenant General Kurtz von Rundstedt at its command.
General Rundstedt was almost as evil as Kommisar Markov, and was specially picked to command the fuhrer’s armies on Reach. Under his command was Admiral Matthew Holt, commander of the Death’s head fleet, a force of about thirty-five individual ships. Admiral Holt was not the biggest supporter of Markov’s leadership, but had managed to keep his rank and leadership within the SCF.
Holt was onboard the flagship of the fleet, the SCF Hammer of the Gods, when von Rundstedt hailed him.
“Admiral, my radar overseer has detected a slip space rupture near your location. Can you confirm?”
“No sir general. I will post my lookouts on full alert.”
“Good, I expect a report from you tomorrow!”
Holt called over Mr. Holland, a midshipman onboard the vessel.
“Mr. Holland, you are on middle watch! And I don’t want to hear any ‘ifs ands or buts’ about it.”
Holland looked at the Admiral and almost let out a heavy sigh. Out of all the jobs aboard a naval vessel, middle watch was the far worst.
There were three watch posts through out the day. There was dawn, middle and dusk watch. Middle was about a twelve hour shift from 7 Am to 7 Pm.
After about six hours standing watch, Mr. Holland spotted what he though was a shape emerging from the dark side of the planet.
“Mr. Smith, get over here!”
“What is it Mr. Holland?”
“Sound the alarm; I think we may have our enemy vessels!”
Soon alarms were sounding all over the ship. Admiral Holt was harshly woken up and ran to the observation deck, where Mr. Holland and Smith stood with Captain McCullin.
“Captain what is going on here!?”
“Sir Mr. Holland says he saw a shape, two points off the starboard bow.”
Holt stepped forward and grabbed the binoculars from Holland’s hands. He looked through them trying to scan for the enemy vessel. He saw no signs of them, and began to address the young officer.
“You did the right thing by sounding the alarm Holland. Now, get to your bunk, I’ll take over.”
Holland and the others walked off leaving Holt there by himself. He watched as the others walked away and turned back towards the observation windows.
Holt pulled the binoculars up to his face and began to scan the horizon for any sign of Holland’s phantom ship. He was almost about to give up when he though he saw something himself.
As Holt focused on the shape, he noticed a flash of light come from it. His eyes widened as he saw what he had feared. He knew that flash anywhere, it was none other than the flash of a MAC round exiting the barrel.
Not soon after he saw the flash, the round found its mark, completely destroying the vessel underneath the Hammer. The blast was large enough to severely damage some of the Hammer’s systems. Holt knew this would be the battle of his life time as he began to sound the alarm to prep the crew for battle.
When he had finished he looked back through the window to see the twenty enemy vessels de cloaking right in front of him. The second battle for Reach had begun.
Chapter VI: The sound of Treachery
Crabtree looked at Colonel Stauffer with a confused look on his face. He had known of operation Soaring Eagle for a long time, but had never heard of something as preposterous as using it to assassinate the fuhrer.
“You must be mad Stauffer. Soaring Eagle is a plan to be enacted AFTER the fuhrer is dead. This will be of no use to us in trying to kill him and Streizer.”
Stauffer let out a small chuckle and began to grin a little. He knew more than the Kommandant would ever dream of. And he already had his plan ready for any type of intervention.
“Come with me Kommandant, I have someone I would like to introduce you to.”
Stauffer walked out of the room and down the hallway with Crabtree following him. He had no idea why Stauffer said that in a peculiar way, other that he might be ready to betray him.
As they reached the end of the hall, they came upon a room whose door was left black. Stauffer opened the door to reveal not but a large table in the center of the room.
At the end of the table sat a lone person, smoking a cigar. He was not dressed in the usual SCF Grey dress uniform, as per regulation of all SCF Officers, but instead he wore the older white dress uniform of the UNSC.
He began to speak to Crabtree directly without turning around. His voice seemed all too familiar to the Kommandant.
“Ah, Lieutenant, it’s good to see you again.”
Crabtree stood perplexed at the voice. He could almost remember who was speaking to him, but he seemed like a total stranger.
“Who are you and how do you know my name?!”
Crabtree’s face went blank as the stranger turned around and faced him.
“Can it be? Admiral Holland, is that you sir!?”
The stranger grinned when Crabtree figured out who he was. Then he began to speak again, his tone was more serious this time.
“Don’t tell me you believed that I was dead. My ship was “reported missing” son, not myself. I’ve been here working in the ministry under the assumed name of General Kelso. Hearing about Stauffer and Roth’s little plan, I decided to include myself in the scheming”
Crabtree looked over at Stauffer, who remained silent through out the whole scenario.
“Kommandant, Admiral Holland has agreed to take over Lord Hood’s position once the coup is over with. Now, he has also advocated using Soaring Eagle as the method of choice. So I will ask you one last time, are you with us?”
Crabtree looked towards the floor and then back to Stauffer. He was still in disbelief that Holland was there, staring right at him. He knew that going with the plan might end in his own death, but he would rather die as a soldier of the UNSC, than a lapdog of a tyrant.
“Admiral, you’ve convinced me. I shall aide you, Stauffer, Roth and all others involved. Let’s take down this tyrant!”
Chapter VII: Blitzkrieg
The blasts continued all around Admiral Fuller and the battle seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. Filler had already lost eight of his thirty five vessels were already destroyed.
“Admiral the ships just keep coming! Soon we will be overrun! What should we do?”
Fuller looked over at his lieutenant and then back to the observation deck. The UNSC Ships just kept pounding his own fleet with round upon round of MAC fire. His fleet had managed to destroy a few of the attacking vessels, but the odds were now against him.
“Lieutenant, hail General Rundstedt. Tell him that the fleet is lost and that the UNSC have arrived in full force.”
“Admiral, we still have a fighting chance!”
As the lieutenant finished his sentence, a massive explosion threw the men to the ground. As they got back onto their feet, a crewman spoke up.
“Admiral, the engines have gone critical. Secondary cooling systems are offline as are the primary ones! The ship will reach critical mass in two minutes!”
“Lieutenant, get the men off this ship now! I don’t care what you have to say, just do it!”
The lieutenant nodded his head and saluted Admiral Fuller before departing the bridge.
Admiral Fuller was now alone on his strickened ship. He griped the ships wheel with his left hand and looked out at his new fate. He walked over to the radio and began to hail Rundstedt.
“General this is Admiral Fuller. The orbital defense fleet has been destroyed. I am sorry sir, but I have failed. I regret noting sir, God’s speed to your forces, general.”
“ADMIRAL!? ADMIRAL!! ADMIRAL ANSWER THIS RADIO NOW!! THAT IS AN………”
Before the message finished, the engines went critical and enveloped the ship on a massive fire explosion. The surrounding two ships were also engulfed. The blast was so massive that it knocked a few of the remaining UNSC vessels around.
The Death’s head fleet had been eradicated, along with the SCF’s leading naval officer. UNSC forces were now on the ground and approaching Rundstedt’s position in full force.
On board the lead pelican, Lieutenant Nicole Silva waited for the touch down on the planet. As the troops grew nearer to the position, she made sure that all of her troops were in position.
“Lieutenant Silva to all ground units, check in over!”
“This is Marine Battalion 1; we are nearing the ridge ma’am. ETA to deployment is 60 seconds.”
“This is the UNSC Army Rangers 2nd Battalion, on course and preparing to touch down of the enemy’s western flank. 90 seconds to drop.”
Nicole was glad to hear all units were dropping in perfectly, and radioed back with one simple and short message.
“Okay this is the UNSC Marines 2nd Battalion on course and ready for deployment. Let’s show these bastards who they are messing with! Remember the plan, all battalions regroup at the Babd Catha Ice Shelf.”
“Ma’am 10 seconds to deployment, get ready, no signs of enemy activity though. It’s too quiet, I don’t like this.”
Then the large group of pelicans landed and the masses of marines ran forward trying to secure a position on the beach head.
“Lieutenant, have you secured a position?”
The voice sounded all too familiar to Nicole. She turned to find her father, the now Major Michael Silva, standing behind her.
“Dad, I’m so glad to see you.” Nicole said as she ran back and gave her father a hug.
“We have this position secured but I—”
As Nicole tried to finish her sentence, a hail of bullets came from over the ridge. When she turned, she saw massive amounts of SCF troops and armored vehicles pouring over the horizon.
“SHIT! EVERYONE GET THE FUCK DOWN, AND FOR GOD’S SAKE FIRE GODDAMMIT!!!!”
Nicole and her battalion of marines poured on the lead, but it seemed to do no good against the massing amounts of troops facing them. As the battle raged on, the radio cackled to live.
“Lieutenant Silva, we have encountered heavy resistance on the west flank, there must be al least 2 fucking battalions coming towards us!!!!!”
“1st Battalion here, ma’am we too are receiving heavy fire from the SCF troops, there are just too many, we are pulling back to your position I repeat falling back!!!!”
Michael knew exactly what was going on as he began to take cover from the hail of bullets and explosives being hurled at the marines.
“Nicole!!! It’s a fucking Blitzkrieg!! We’ve got to hold this position here!! We can not falter!”
Chapter VIII: Taking the Beach
Nicole and the troops grabbed what little cover they could as massive amounts of SCF troops and armored vehicles poured over the horizon. No one had ever seen a force this great. With the UNSC Troopers holding what little beach they had been able to secure, all hope of taking back Reach seemed lost.
Nicole and Michael looked around at their fellow comrades, and what they saw will haunt them for the rest of their lives. As the bullets flew and explosions heard all around them, these battle hardened troopers, broke down into cowering boys.
Men were crowding together behind rocks; some were dropping their weapons, trying to stay hidden. Some began to pray, as if this was their last day. Nicole looked at these soldiers for a minute, and then began to speak, yelling to get her voice heard over the sound of the explosions.
“WE NEED TO KEEP FIRING!! SUPRESS THOSE SOLDIERS NOW MEN. WE WILL NOT LOSE THIS POSITION!!” The few that heard her began to pass the word down the lines, and suddenly it seemed as though their morale suddenly sparked up.
The men grabbed their weapons and began to fire on the entrenched SCF Troopers. With every kill the UNSC made, they slowly made their way up the beach. The SCF machine gunners, who were entrenched inside bunkers, accounted for this, and began to sight their guns in front of the advancing troopers. Michael looked around, and saw the soldiers being cut down one after one by these gunners.
He took cover behind a large rock, and noticed a team of troopers with him.
“What’s your name soldier!?” he asked one of them.
“Staff Sergeant Louis, 501st Airborne Division Sir! We were sent in to take care of any armored units, but our Pvt. Wilkes got hit a ways back. We lost him and our rockets sir!”
Michael looked at the trooper and then peered over the rock at the bunker covering this sector of beach. “Trooper listen, where’s your man at!?”
“Sir, back that a ways sir!” SSgt Louis pointed back down the beach. Michael looked and saw nothing but a crater. “He’s in the bottom of that shell hole sir!”
“Alright, here’s what I want you to do,” Michael said. “We’ll give you covering fire, and I want you to grab that rocket, and get your ass back here as soon as possible you hear!?”
Wilkes looked over the rock and then back down to Michael. He gave a nod then crossed his chest in prayer.
“COVERING FIRE!!” Michael shouted. The few men stood up and began to fire on what positions they could see. SSgt. Louis ran towards the shell hole, dodging fire from every direction. After what seemed like an era, he managed to reach the shell hole. In the bottom, next to the launcher lay Pvt. Wilkes, or rather what was left of him.
“Mère de Dieu, Rest in Peace soldier.” He said as he grabbed the launcher and made a run for the cover he had just left. Michael and the others had stopped firing and were stuck huddling behind the rock.
“Monsieur, I have the weapon!” Louis said, noticing that none of the men could move, and neither could he.
“Great job soldier, now listen. If you hit that bunker window, you’ll free up this sector of the beach. We need you to destroy that bunker, if one unit gets through, all units get through!” Michael said, over the roar of bullets and artillery.
Louis looked out of the shell hole at the bunker that Michael was talking about. There were at least four different heavy machine guns firing from the window, all covering different sections of the beach. He prepped the charge for the rocket, a shot like this, would be difficult at best. He gave Michael a nod, and signaled them to provide suppressive fire, for what time they could.
Louis stood up and took aim at the window and fired the rocket. It impacted slightly below the opening, doing nothing but alerting the machine gunners to his position.
“SHIT!!!!” Louis said as the rounds hit all around him. He fell down to the bottom of the hole and waited for the gunners to find another target.
Soon Louis heard the shots fade away, and climbed back to the top of the shell hole. Michael was still behind the rock, but one of the other troopers with him was lying beside him, his chest littered with holes.
“DAMMIT SON HIT THAT FUCKING BUNKER!!” Michael screamed at Louis, desperately hoping that he could destroy the bunker.
Louis took aim once again, this time increasing his sight significantly. “Well here goes nothing,” he said. The rocket fired, this time going straight through the bunkers firing window and setting the entire complex ablaze.
Louis ran back to the rock, still shocked at his accomplishment. “I did it sir!” he said after a few moments.
Michael looked over at the young trooper and then over their cover. He saw the remaining forces begin to fall back. He picked up the radio and signaled all forces to move up towards the cliffs.
All around them, men jumped at the chance to move forward, some tripping in their excitement. The UNSC had shown the SCF what they were made of, and sent this military organization running for the hills. But the cost of this was great.
Along the beach, bodies and debris littered the battle site. Taking this beach had cost the UNSC dearly, but the men believed that it was at a good cost.
In a make shift command post at the base of the cliffs, Michael and Nicole were talking to each other about the casualties.
“Nicole, do you have a list of our casualties?” He said, his face bearing a grim look.
“Yes dad,” she replied, “From what I’ve gathered we have 1,975 dead, over 2,500 wounded and 747 missing.”
“We hit the beach with a massive force and expected to have minimal casualties. What the hell were we thinking?” Nicole said after she had read the numbers.
“Listen,” Michael replied “The enemy didn’t think we would be able to take this beach either. It just goes to show that anything is possible in a war. Don’t dwell on the past Nicole; just look forward to a brighter future.”
Nicole smiled, and left the tent. The battle was over, and the SCF were in full retreat. The first step in re taking Reach had been accomplished, now the race to the capitol was just beginning.
Chapter IX: Orders are Orders
Nicole walked down the encampment towards the edge of the cliff overlooking the beach. Sitting at the edge, as she had predicted, was Ashlee. She was sitting on a rock facing towards the ocean and beach, still littered with the bodies of their dead comrades.
“I’ve never seen so much death in one place,” Ashlee said, noticing Nicole behind her.
“Ash, I know it’s hard, but they will be remembered.” Nicole noticed that Ashlee now had tears in her eyes. She hadn’t noticed how bad this was taking its toll on her. Nicole moved forward and sat down beside her friend.
“You know Ash, you don’t have to be down here, fighting. If you want, I can get a Pelican to take you back up to the ship, away from all this madness.” Nicole said. She may have been saying this, but in her mind she was thinking how nice it would be, away from everything.
“No, really its okay,” Ashlee said as she began to stand up. “Besides, we have a job to do, and I won’t stop till all these bastards pay for what they have done!” With that said, Ashlee walked off leaving Nicole by the Cliffside.
“Well alright then, I guess I’ll walk off too.” She said. She made her way back to the 1st Marine Division HQ tent and heard quite a commotion from inside. She walked closer to the tent opening and began to listen to the conversation.
She heard three voices from within the tent, one of which she recognized as her fathers, began to speak. “I’m not against the operation sir; I just think that it isn’t safe to send HER in there is the right decision!”
One of the other two voices began to speak, Nicole was wondering who they were talking about. “Look Major, I don’t give a damn what you think, I am your superior and you will obey what I say! The complex should be too populated and it will be a very—
This time a third voice cut off the unknown speaker. He sounded much younger that the others, and spoke in a harsher tone as well. “LESS POPULATED!? We just fought off five divisions of SCF Troops and armored divisions! I can remember their retreat too well, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen five divisions of soldiers run THAT fast! Please tell him Colonel!”
The room went silent for a bit, Nicole began to worry, she was completely lost, and she didn’t know who they were talking about and what complex.
After a shot amount of time the first speaker started back, obviously angered by the incompliance of his fellow officers.
“LISTEN TO ME NOW! That complex could contain vital information as to the SCF’s plans! So Colonel Silva, go find Commander Miller and tell her that her Company is in charge of the assault on the complex. As for YOU Sergeant Louis, since you hate the idea of fighting in that complex, you just volunteered yourself for the job!”
The speaker walked out of the tent shortly after finishing his sentence. He rushed past Nicole not even noticing her. Michael followed, but noticed his daughter sitting by the tent opening.
“Nicole, how much did you hear?” Michael said. He noticed that she was in shock.
“Dad, I don’t feel comfortable about this. Ashlee, Ashlee’s not the leader that I am. I don’t think she’ll be able to handle herself down there.”
Michael looked down at his daughter, and at this point, Sergeant Louis, the army soldier from the beach invasion walked out of the tent.
“SSgt come over here,” Michael said. Louis walked over to Nicole and Michael. He stood there and faced Michael.
“You need me sir?” He said, making a quick glance down at Nicole and saw her face. She was terror struck, and obviously worried about her friend.
“Louis, this is my daughter Nicole. Commander Miller is her friend and I want you to look after her okay?” Michael said and looked back down at Nicole. “Nicole, Louis is a born soldier and a damn fine man. He’ll keep Ashlee safe, wont you SSgt?”
Jean looked at Michael and began to smile. “Sir, yes Sir!” Louis walked off to find Ashlee and inform her of the news, leaving Michael and Nicole by themselves.
“Fell better honey?” Michael said to Nicole obviously trying to inject some humor into the situation.
Nicole smiled and stood up and hugged her father. “Thanks dad, maybe she’ll be okay.”
Chapter X: The Complex
Jean walked through the bas camp trying to find Ashlee. He didn’t know whether to feel excited or nervous about the upcoming operation. But these feeling were pushed aside, as he found Ashlee, sitting in her quarters, alone.
“Commander Miller,” Jean said, poking his head through the tent opening.
Ashlee turned around, barely noticing the young soldier in the tent opening. Jean wasn’t much older than she was, probably a year or two at the most. He had black hair and the same blue eyes as Ashlee.
“Yes, soldier” She said after a few moments. “What do you want?”
Jean looked at Ashlee for a moment, he seemed lost for words. Stories had been spreading throughout the unit of Commander Miller’s beauty, but Jean had never taken much part in it. To him, they were just words said by lonely G.I’s.
But after Jean got a look at Ashlee, he saw the rumors were true. He was amazed at her beauty, and quite frankly, had a hard time keeping his jaw off the floor.
“Uhh, I uhh, I just came by to give your orders, ma’am. These…these are straight from the top.”
Jean handed her a small envelope containing the written orders. Ashlee looked over them for a bit, and her face lost all expression, then she began to speak again.
“So, they are sending my platoon, alone into this large bunker complex without any back up?” She asked Jean.
Jean nodded quietly, and Ashlee looked back down at the paper. This time she had somewhat of a smile on her face.
“So, since you are the one delivering the letter, I guess that means you are Jean Louis, the man attached to my unit to protect me?”
Jean too had a smile as he nodded confirming what Ashlee had said.
Ashlee bit her lip and looked back down to the paper, as she did she mumbled under her breath “Well this, should be fun” then gave a silent giggle before dismissing Jean and walking out to assemble her troops.
Jean stood there for a moment and then walked outside the tent and joined up with Ashlee.
As he stood beside her, she began to address her troops. She spoke with a certain uneasiness that was unmistakable to her troops. They all knew that she was scared of the operation.
Jean, meanwhile, had not even paid any attention to the words. His attention was focused mainly on Captain Miller herself.
He became caught up in her beauty, but never made it obvious. To the troops however, they saw subtle signs of the two’s interest in each other. Every once in a while Ashlee would glance over at Jean, who would always be casually looking into the crown whenever she did, trying to hide his own interest in her.
Soon she had finished speaking and the troop moved forward towards the unknown that was the bunker’s complex.
Jean walked beside Ashlee, leading the way. As they neared the large metal door, Ashlee spoke to jean, this time her fear was evident.
“Jean, I’m really scared right now. I don’t like the looks of this place.” She said. In his career as a soldier, Jean had never met someone this scared of their orders.
“Relax Ashlee,” Jean said calmly. “It can’t be too bad, besides you have me here to protect you.” Saying this, Jean began to smile a bit and slid open the large metal door.
The group entered, turning on their weapon mounted flashlights to see the complex. The entry way was a large sloped ramp, possibly the entrance through trucks and other vehicles may have entered.
“Scan this place top to bottom” Ashlee said, “We don’t need any surprises.” She stood by Jean as they scanned the far reaches and corners of the large open vehicle bay.
The sight that awaited them was sickening to most of the men. Along the walls and floor were pools and trails of blood. Several bodies, both SCF and Reach Militia members littered the floors and cabs of the few trucks that were there.
“My god,” one of the men said. “This…this isn’t human. What the hell happened here?”
Some of the men went over to examine the bodies of the dead. Some were intact, minus the bullet wounds, signaling a small battle here. But the rest, the rest of the bodies were torn to shreds, most being dismembered or ripped apart.
The trails led off into the distance, and there were many of them spreading off into different directions. The men froze, their light illuminating the blood soaked vehicle bay ahead. Everyone, including Jean and Ashlee, was too frightened to move another step.
“Alright men,” Ashlee said, fighting back her own fear. “We…we have orders, so umm, we need to clear this bunker now. Jean” Then she turned to Jean, who was still freaked at the sight.
“Ye…yes Captain,” He said after a few moments and looked over at Ashlee.
“You stand beside me; we’ll be taking point on this one.”
Jean nodded, and moved forward with Ashlee. He may be interested in her, but the sights here just made him think about getting out alive. And so the group ventured forth, walking down the blood soaked ramp, to the place of extreme mystery and horror.
Chapter XI: Nacht Der Untoten
Ashlee led her team down the halls of the complex. Everywhere seemed to look the same, blood was splattered everywhere. Finally the came to the mess hall and were forced to stop. Besides the doors that led into the kitchen, there were four leading off in separate directions.
“Ma’am, I think we need to split up to search this place effectively.” Jean said. “It may be risky, but if we stay together as one unit, we might be down here for days”
Some of the soldiers expressed their concerns for the idea, many saying that it would surely result in their deaths.
“Enough,” Ashlee finally said. “We need to search this place as quick as possible. Lieutenant, you take 20 of the men and search for the barracks. Master Sergeant Collins, take your 20 and find the generators, we need the power. And you, Sergeant Major Black, take that door to the right, where ever that leads. The rest of you are with me, now let’s get going.”
Finishing her statement, the four groups broke off into their separate directions.
MSG Collins led his team down the deserted hallway, having no clue as to where it was going.
“Hey Sarge, what the hell is this place” One of the soldiers asked him. Collins didn’t say a word, but kept focused on the direction ahead of him. Eventually, their attempts to follow the blood trails gave them some kind of success.
Ahead of them was a large door marked only with the word “Kaserne” and massive pools of blood. With no power, the men would have to manually force the large door open to gain access.
As they began to force the door open, Collins heard something strange behind it, something un-human.
“Collins sir, I don’t like the looks of this!” One of the men said as they finally managed to open the door, and with good reason too.
The door led them straight to the barracks, and to a sight none of the men will soon forget. Inside, many of the beds were occupied, with the dead, mutilated bodies of the SCF Guards and Scientists of the installation. Pools of blood were spread across the room and the walls were seemingly painted with the soldiers’ blood.
“Oh, god I think I am going to be sick!” Collins said as he looked at the bodies. He had heard stories of flood encounters, but this, this was something of which he had never heard of. He began to look around the room until he came across one of the scientists clenching a book in his left hand, and a crucifix in his right.
Collins pried the book from his hand and began to read the last few entries:
Day 54
We have stabilized the test subjects and placed them in stabilization tubes. Some of the subjects have woken up during the process and had to be put down. One particular subject woke up midway through the fusing process. This made a perfect experiment for testing; however, he was unresponsive to any attempts to communicate. Kurtz believes that the projects are going at full capacity; however, this whole idea seems problematic. I put these ideas behind me now, best to get the most amount of sleep possible in this hell hole.
Day 60
I have not had time to write as of late, the last few weeks have been rather, hectic. Some of the test subjects have escaped from the tubes and are now running rampant throughout the complex. And on top of this, Kurtz was with one of the teams to find them. He was found dead, mutilated along with the bodies of several of the guards. I don’t know how long we will last here, but this place needs to be sealed off as quickly as possible, the infection cannot reach the surface!
Day I don’t know anymore!
It has been four weeks, I think, since the outbreak of the infections amongst the guards. I have my doubts that we will make it out of here alive, and so do most of the guards. My fellow scientists have all been killed by these monsters, and I dare not venture outside of the barracks for fear of death. Ach! I must stop writing for now; I am starting to hear noises in the ventilation systems.
Mein Last entry…….
There is no escape for us now, everyone outside this door has either died or been infected. There are only twelve of us here in the barracks, and we are all scared. If anyone should find this journal, please leave this place now these creatures are…….
The journal ended here, signaling the time of the unlucky scientist’s demise, as well as the demise of the other SCF guards.
Collins dropped the book and raised his weapon, his taclight scanning the room for any signs of life. As he turned towards the door, the ventilation system behind him began to shake and rattle.
“Hello?” Collins said as he aimed his weapon at the ductwork. “Hello, is you can here me come out with your hands behind your head!”
Some of the other troopers aimed their weapons as well, many fearing for their lives. Then, an almost bloodcurdling screech emitted from the vents, making the soldiers blood run cold, then, out of nowhere a noise from behind made the men turn.
The figure was dressed in the typical SCF clothing, but was clearly not of this world. In place of his arms, large, almost claw like members hung by its side. Its face was completely obscured, except for its eyes, which glowed bright blue.
It stopped in the middle of the doorway and watched the startled Army Troops. It began to lift its head, as if acknowledging the presence of someone who was clearly not wanted in this place.
None of the men could speak or move as the lone creature just stared at them. Collins however moved forward with his weapon raised, and attempted to make contact with the creature.
“You there, show me your hands!” Collins said, his voice quivering with fear. Then the creature did something unexpected. It seemingly acknowledged Collins’ command and raised its “arms” in the air
Collins didn’t know what to do, but continued to aim his weapon at the creature. Then its cooperation stopped, and it lowered its arms. When it began to raise his head, Collins got a good look at its face. The seemingly skeletal body was covered with dried, blackened flesh where it remained. As its head leveled some of the rotting flesh fell off revealing the decaying muscular tissue underneath.
It then opened its mouth, uttering nothing more then a kind of gurgling noise. Then the creature began to speak in some unknown language. “AAV DILON!” It said in a creaky voice and “pointed” at Collins and his men.
After uttering these unknown words, several of the bodies in the barracks rose up, as if the words reanimated their corpses. The men were now scared out of their wits, and began firing madly into the bodies of these monsters. Their bullets, however, seemed to do no good as the creatures kept coming towards them. The ones attacking Collins and his troops were not nearly as mutated at the one in the hallway, but were just as frightening. Their flesh was just as black and rotten as the other one, and their eyes glow the same blue color.
As the neared the troops, the reaches of their abilities became apparent. Men were dismembered with ease, and friends watched as their comrades became nothing more than food for these creatures.
The seeming “commander” still stood in the hallway, watching Collins as he watched his men get slaughtered before his eyes.
Within second of the attack, the 20 soldiers that Collins took with him were dead and mutilated. The forms then surrounded Collins, but did not harm him. Instead the “leader” walked into the circle and stood in front of him. Its arm reached out and grabbed Collins by the chin and pulled his head close to the creatures own.
It then opened its mouth once more, and this time Collins breathed in the stench of its breath. “Blóð ok ótti, vísdómr ok kvöl, Aaf dauða er líf, dýrð deyr en ótti ríkir!!!!” Then the creature bit down on Collins’ neck, and he let out an earsplitting cry of pain. Then his body went limp, and the creature released him. Collins hit the floor, and then began to attempt to rise up. His flesh began to slowly rot like the others, and his eyes began to glow blue.
He finally managed to stand up, now completely transformed into one of these monsters by their leader. The large one approached Collins, and uttered one sentence to him “Ídauða er líf” It said, and MSG Collins joined the ranks of the undead minions of this haunted Compound.
Chapter XII: Answers
Ashlee walked with her group of soldiers down the hallway. They had heard none of the screams from Collins and his men, and had no contact with her executive officer or Sergeant Major Black, and had no luck finding out what this place was.
Jean stood at the front of the formation, with Ashlee by his side. The entire formation could see the bond between the two of them but no one dared say a word. They were far too scared to begin to crack jokes, and most were barely hanging on to the sanity that they had left. The hallway was exactly like the rest of the complex, a tangled mess of blood and bodies were strewn along its length. The bodies were all mangled and unrecognizable.
“Damn,” one of the troopers said “Whatever this place is its one twisted sideshow.” A meek laugh came from some of the men; most other just aimed their weapons in every direction, scanning for life or information. They finally arrived at a large set of doors, forcibly pried open. A few exposed wires sparked occasionally, and here and there a light flickered.
“Alright team,” Ashlee said, “we’ll split up and search this location. Teams of five, move out.” The group spilt, however Ashlee and Jean stayed close together. She watched him as they walked into the abyss.
Jean moved carefully, shining his taclight around the room until it came to rest on a glass sphere which rested on the floor. Jean could not see inside it but dared not move towards it. Ashlee pointer her M6D pistol towards the tube as well and motioned for the others to stop. Jean carefully moved towards the tube and shined his light in it.
“What the heck is in there?” He said to himself and began to wipe off the blood smeared glass. The clearing he made showed the gruesome sight within. Inside the tube, held in suspended animation, was a creature so grotesque, that he himself could not stomach looking at it for long.
“What is it?” Ashlee said as she slowly crept up to the tube.
“I… I think it’s some kind of cryo tube.” Jean replied. “Now what is inside, I have yet to figure out.”
The soldiers’ attention was then drawn to a crashing sound on the other side of the room, drawing their focus away from the tube.
“The hell was that!” one of the men said raising his rifle towards the sound. A test tube began to roll across the floor, away from an overturned desk.
“There’s something over there. It almost looks like a person.” Another soldier said. Everyone raised their weapons over to the desk, and did see a humanoid shape hiding behind it.
“You there, show yourself!!!!!” Ashlee shouted
The figure slowly rose to its feet, and lights revealed it to be a man, ghost white, and dressed in a bloody lab coat. He ran towards to the soldiers, but no one dared shoot.
“Please, please! You must get out of here! There are evil things in this bunker! Flee while you have the chance!!!!!” he began to try to say another sentence, but a quick slap across the face from Ashlee was enough to calm him down.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT!” she said. “What the hell is this place, and what the hell is in that tube?”
The scientist looked around at the soldiers, still terrified. He stood motionless for a moment, and then he began to stutter out a sentence. “We……we…….we made a slight miscalculation. The…..the subjects were too strong for….for our plans…..they…they killed everyone, and NOW THEY WILL KILL US AS WELL! WE MUST GO NOW!
His words alone were enough to strike fear into the already breaking soldiers. Many, now, had lost what little sanity they had left. One then sat down, dropping his weapon on the floor beside him.
“That’s it man…game over….GAME OVER MAN. We’re all going to fucking die in this place man….we’re all going to fucking die!!
Jean turned around, his face flush with anger. “STAND UP SOLDIER! You are a Marine, and we do not quite! Now grab your weapon and prepare to move. Captain I think we…….” His speech was interrupted by the soldier, this time, now completely insane.
“I ain’t fucking dying in this shit hole man!!” He then proceeded to run out of the room and around the corner. As he did they could still hear him shouting.
“I ain’t fucking dyi…..wait, who the hell are you! No, no, no, NO AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
The group immediately turned towards the door, their weapons aimed and ready. Ashlee spoke again to the scientist.
“Doc, what exactly were you trying to do down here?”
“We….we tried, to…to design, super soldiers unlike the Spartans. UNDEAD super soldiers that is. Using the bodies of our comrades, we injected them with an element, 115. It was dangerous at best, but its effects were glorious.”
Ashlee was slowly becoming more and more disgusted with this man, and all like him. He continued his speech.
“The element reanimated the corpses yes, and it increased the strength to that of at least twenty men…….. But……we did not count on…the adverse effects.”
A loud stomping sound emitted from the hallway ahead of them. Several soldiers shakily clung to their weapons, while others focused on clinging onto their remaining sanity.
“We thought we could control them………we thought wrong! They soon began to over run the facility, killing and mutating everyone inside!!! ” A bloodcurdling screech then echoed throughout the facility, piercing the darkness.
Soon, pairs of glowing blue eyes began to appear in the dark corners of the rooms, and others came slowly walking in the doorway.
“YOU MUST KILL THEM!” The doctor shouted. “KILL THEM NOW!! PLEASE!!!”
Ashlee hesitated for a moment; it seemed she too was losing her grip on reality. Jean quickly noticed this, and assumed command.
“Troopers, OPEN FIRE!!!!” he shouted. The nineteen remaining marines began spraying into the hoards of the approaching monsters.
“IT’S NOT WORKING! THEY JUST KEEP COMING!” one of the marines shouted. The doctor then said above the sound bursts of the rifles, “YOU MUST DESTROY THEIR HEADS, WITHOUT THEM THEY…………” One of the creatures appeared behind him suddenly and without warning. It then grabbed his arms and lifted him off the ground.
“Please, please no…..I……I am your father, YOUR LEADER, STOOOOOAAAGAGGGHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!!!!!!!!!!” With one swift movement, the creature, with its superior strength, tore, quite literally, the doctor in half.
The soldiers who saw were aghast at the sight; however the creature’s blood lust was no fulfilled. It charged forward, pushing past several soldiers, straight for Ashlee. She stood petrified by what she was witnessing, and did nothing to stop the creatures fatal attack.
BOOM! A shotgun blast tore through the monster’s chest, delaying it. Jean came forward, holstering the shotgun and pulling for a magnum.
“Goodbye foul beast!” he said, unleashing three shots between the creature’s eyes. The other soldiers, exploiting their weakness, quickly began to mop up the few remaining creatures.
“Ashlee, do not EVER scare me like that again!” Jean said to her as he put away the pistol.
Ashlee stood there momentarily, and the lunged forward, embracing Jean tightly. “Please get me out of here; I don’t want to die, please.” Jean could feel the tears running down his uniform, and just like that, a fire, one he had never felt before, burned inside him.
“Alright men listen up; we are getting out of this hell hole, ALL OF US! Sergeant, I want you to link up with the Sgt. Maj and the LT. tell them we are leaving, and they have 5 minutes to get their asses back to the gate or they are trapped!”
“Yes sir!”
“And, Ash….” he paused here and lifted her head from his shoulder. “Nothing will happen to you while I am still here.” he smiled, as if to give her reassurance to what he said. Ashlee blushed, and then moved behind Jean as he led the men out of the depths of hell itself.
Chapter XIII: From the Depths
Jean watched as the small group of marines prepared themselves for the battle ahead. The men shook and trembled as they loaded their weapons.
Some just sat on the ground doing nothing, others prayed, but the smell of fear surrounded the men and Jean knew what this may bring.
He was surrounded in deep thought when a hand tapped his shoulder. He was ready to pull his weapon but a voice sounded off before he could do so.
“Sergeant, I’ve got word in from the other units. The LT is gone, but the survivors are mobilizing towards to entrance. They’re pretty banged up sir. ” the soldier said.
Jean breathed a heavy sigh, and looked down to the ground. He did not make any eye contact with the solder as he spoke. “What of SgtMaj Black?” He asked.
The soldier sighed, “No sir. I checked vital signs of Black’s men. They’re gone sir, all of them.”
“Then we’re on our own for now.” Jean said. “There is nothing we can do for the Sergeant Major. We must save ourselves.”
Jean raised his head and turned around to the soldier. “Tell what’s left of the LT’s men we will meet them shortly.” Then pulling his magnum out of his holster and turned to Ashlee. “Now, Miss Miller, stay close to me, I’ll protect you.”
Ashlee started to blush a bit, half turning away from Jean. The time she had spent in this hell hole drew her closer to Jean. “He will be mine” She thought.
Jean looked around at the soldiers and said. “Okay, lets move. Bravo Team this is SSgt. Louis, Alpha Team leader, we are Oscar Mike. How copy over?”
The radio crackled to life, “Roger Alpha, we read you loud and clear. We are three klicks away from the exit. We’ll hold and…….hold up, TANGOS LEFT! BRAVO ENGAGE, ENGAGE!!!!”
Not soon after the radio ceased its transmission, sounds began to come from the hallway. Drawing the attention of all the troopers, the doorway was soon lit up by the flashlights.
“Stay frosty men,” Jean said, his finger twitching on the trigger of his weapon. A figure slowly limped into view of the men. It was clothed in a bloody mass of what appeared to be a UNSC uniform.
“IT’S THE SERGEANT MAJOR!” One of the men shouted as he lowered his weapon.
Jean looked at the figure and it did appear to be SgtMaj. Black, albeit extremely bloody. However, he made no move, he just stood in the doorway, his head drooping downwards, facing the floor.
Slowly, it raised its head up, allowing the soldiers to see the face that greeted them. It’s bright blue eyes glowed fierce, and with the aide of the flashlights, the rotting and broken and bloody flesh on its face was completely visible.
“Holy hell, that ain’t Black!!” Jean said anticipating a charge from the infected figure. However it just stood in the doorway, watching, and almost…..waiting. Jean stared back, his hand firmly gripping his rifle and his finger jittering on the trigger. The standoff continued, no one making a move. The soldiers stood, aiming at the figure, and it stood staring at them. Suddenly, he raised one of his limbs towards the soldiers. Immediately they tensed up, most losing all bits of sanity the clung to.
The creature’s mouth opened, a foul stench filled the air, and all that were present could smell it. Black was gone, that was certain, but no one knew how far.
It made a few guttural noises and then, as if by a miricale spoke, in plain but broken English.
“Run….go……….NOWWARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!”
The building shook and the walls quaked as the infected Black fell to the ground. Jean stood in front of the motionless body, his pistol raised by his face. “Everybody move now!
The soldiers, hastened at the chance to finally leave the hell that they had entered. It was clear however, that the undead would not allow them to leave from this place alive. The ventilation ducts that had sat so vacant upon their entry now served as the tunnels for the undead creations to filter through the entire complex. By the time that the small group had begun their long and perilous trek back to the entrance, four of the men had already fallen prey to the monstrosities that followed close en suit.
Jean heard a scream, and turned to see Ashlee pinned to the ground, trying her best to kill the helpless woman. In and instinct, Jean ran back, grabbing his knife from his pouch on his hip, and with one fowl swoop drove the knife into the beast’s neck.
A scream erupted from its mouth as it fell to the floor, its wound, far from healable.
“Ashlee, are you okay?” Jean asked, inspecting the female trooper thoroughly. His eyes met hers for a moment, and the two saw deep into each other.
“No. I’m…I’m….fine.” Ashlee stammered out, as the blood and creatures filled the room.
“Stay here, behind everyone.” He placed his shotgun in her small, delicate hands. “If they get too close, you know what to do. I’m going to clear us a path out of here.” And with that, Jean left the stunned Captain hidden in the wall of UNSC soldiers.
“Team three this is team two, how copy over?” Jean shouted as he ran to the forefront of the dwindling group of men. He fired his pistol into the head of an oncoming member of the horde as he walked towards the exit, the shots piercing its skull, sending the beast onto the floor. Another of the horde came running headfirst at Jean almost as soon as the first had hit the floor.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
He looked down and ejected the magazine into his hand, it was empty.
Jean now stood helpless as the monster came lumbering towards him. He felt around for a spare mag, none. The others were engaged in their own conflicts as well, and were unable to assist the lone sergeant.
Just as the beast was about to strike, and Jean feared his life lost, a single, and deafening explosion rocked the foundations of the facility. Catching the creature’s attention, more and more similar explosions began to erupt throughout the entire complex.
Then, machineguns erupted into what sounded like ten buzz saws starting up at once. Slicing into the creatures, and clearing a path up to the loading bay. The soldiers of Alpha Team hit the floor as to not be caught in the wave of friendly fire coming from the blood encrusted halls of the cargo bay.
Jean raised his head to look for a location of the unknown fire, and saw shadows emerging from the darkness ahead.
“Hold Fire!” a voice shouted from the group ahead, “I think they’re friendlies! FLASH!”
“THUNDER!” Jean shouted, knowing the correct response to the outdated, but effective, method of determining one’s allegiance. “Is that you Bravo?!”
By: Zachary Crabtree
Prelude:
It has been forty years since the events of Alpha Halo II. The long Human-Covenant war has come to a close and the universe seems to be at peace. This, however is not the case. Civil unrest is taking hold of Earth and her colonies. A man by the name of Wilhelm Markov, leader of one of the Insurrectionist groups, has gained high popularity with many of the colonies. Insurrection attacks on UNSC bases are growing larger and more deadly by the day. On earth, protests to stop the killing of the colonists have rose to an all time high, and the UEG is now fighting a war against its own citizens, trying to calm down the civilians while still maintaining sovereignty of them all. This is all part of Markov's plan, cause unrest, draw attention to his side, and finally seize power.
It all culminates with one single act. Explosions rocked the the main parliament building of the UEG, thousands watch as the building crumbles to the ground. The world is stunned when reports come in that there were no survivors. The government had been effectively demolished in one single act. Markov then initiated the second phase of his plan.
Covertly arranging meeting with key Covenant resistance leaders, a fragile, but worthwhile deal was struck. Money, ships and weaponry, for a share in the glory. Markov accepted. Soon, the peaceful skies of Earth were filled with the sights of what appeared to be covenant frigates and cruisers guarding three CCS Battle-cruisers. Nobody knew what to expect, but a global broadcast message soon told them what was coming. Cruisers were placed above every UNSC shipyard, Naval base or barracks, poised to decimated the UNSC if they did not surrender. They didn't.
In an instant, Markov's private covenant armada fired up the glassing beams and pulse cannons, and started the siege on the UNSC. Few ships escaped unscathed, and those that did, fled rather than fight the armada. Earth soon surrendered to the might and will of Markov as his personal army, composed of members of every insurrection group mixed with Markov's newly allied Covenant fighters. They took the streets by storm, killing any person that dared stand in their way. Soon Markov stood at the steps of the newly conquered UNSC Headquarters, a building left deliberately left intact during the siege. Markov addressed his empire, from the desk of Admiral Holland. He told the UNSC "rebels" their leader was dead, as his ship was reported destroyed as it tried to flee Earth. He then showed the bodies of all other top UNSC Commanders and Admirals, who were exterminated upon the siege of UNSC HQ.
The ultimatum came, surrender or be exterminated. Some did, others fled with what ships, supplies and equipment they could and fled the colonies, as Markov took to the skies, crowning himself emperor, and tuning the UNSC into the SCF, his personal space armada. With his power growing, and funding from the Covenant loyalists growing, it seems as if nothing can stop him.
Chapter I: The Kommandant
The officer sits in his quarters aboard his ship. He begins to put on a black uniform, not the standard uniform for the UNSC. But this was not the UNSC, after losing its leadership, the UNSC fell apart. Kommisar Wilhelm Markov was the leader of this new force, the Space Command of the Fuhrer. Under his command, the construction of twenty new super carriers, the largest ships in the galaxy. This was his reign now, a reign no one would soon forget.
Kommisar Markov had taken command about ten years ago, and was the tyrant that no one expected. He had unified the nations of Earth, into a single force. Leading his cause was none other than Lieutenant Zachary Crabtree. Now promoted to Kommandant, he was in command of the galaxy’s most powerful vessel, the SCF Tirpitz. Under his command were twenty others that followed his every order. His battle group was now approaching Jericho VII.
With Markov’s orders, the SCF had successfully taken back all the colonies that the UNSC had lost. Now they are approaching Jericho VII, the last of the outer colonies that remained unconquered. But unbeknownst to the Kommandant and his fleet, the UNSC rebels lay in wait, cloaked near their location.
The Kommandant looked through the glass as the battle group approached the planet.
“Kommodore, stop the battle group. Prepare to drop the troops.”
“Yes Herr Kommandant!”
The officer walked away from the commander. He watched as the drop ships left the hangers and headed towards the planet’s surface. As he watched, he noticed something strange. When he had turned his eyes away from the planet, he saw what he had feared. De-cloaking ahead of him were twelve UNSC vessels. They had opened fire on the first few vessels, destroying them instantly.
The Kommandant watched in horror as his ships were being destroyed before his eyes. Soon his Kommodore came up the bridge… a look of horror was struck upon his face.
“Kommandant, the UNSC have destroyed nine of our vessels!”
Crabtree looked over at the young officer, and then looked back towards the observation deck. He went stiff as he saw one of the enemy ships pointed in his direction. He began to run as the vessel fired his MAC cannon.
The shot impacted the vessel right under Crabtree’s location. His Kommodore was killed in the explosion, along with everyone else in the bridge. Crabtree fell motionless to the floor as his ship floated through space.
The UNSC left his fleet in ruins, and Crabtree did not move. He was pulled by a nearby crewmember to a life pod, but did not move, or make any sign that he was okay. For him, this seemed like the end.
Chapter II: An un-reusable Offer
Sirens were heard throughout the city as the convoy of police cars and the ambulance rolled into the hospital gates. It seemed unusual for all this security for one injured person, but no one knew who was inside.
The ambulance entered the Emergency entrance of the Berlin National Hospital, the preferred hospital that the fuhrer wished his SS officers to be treated. The doctors were all Commu-Socialist party officials, who majored in the medical field. As the patient was unloaded, the doctors had grave looks on their faces.
The gurney was pushed along the hallways to the E.R. Its passenger was still unconscious, and was hooked to a multitude of devices. The doctors that were pushing him were heard talking amongst their selves.
“Herr Doktor, if we do not operate now this person now, he will not make it!”
“I know, I know, I know! Quick wheel him into surgery, god help him.”
The gurney was wheeled into to double doors and they slammed shut. The fate of the unknown patient remained unknown.
In the operating room, the doctors worked endlessly to save their patient. After twelve hours of surgery, they exited the operating room. A nurse wheeled the injured person out and into another room, where he would stay until his release.
In the room, the patient lay with about thirty others who were just like him. On the other side of the room, a man dressed in the SS officers uniform walked in.
“Is he in this room?”
“Yes sir Colonel, right over there, the fifth bed from the end.”
“Thank you, doktor.”
The Unknown Soldier walked towards the bed the doctor indicated. He reached it to find the patient staring through the window. His injuries were severe, his left eye was covered in gauze, and he no longer had a right hand. The doctors had amputated it just above the wrist. There were several wounds that were stitched together, but altogether, he was lucky.
The patient had glanced up from his lifeless stare to see the SS Officer looking down at him.
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
His words had a bit of sarcasm in them, but the officer took no notice. Instead he chuckled at his words.
“Of course you can my friend. I have a proposition for you, which one would have to be completely insane to refuse.”
“I’m listening.”
The officer pulled out a few papers from his briefcase and handed them to the patient. The first thing noticeable on them, was the black SS thunderbolts on the top of the page.
“General Von Streizer wishes to have you imprisoned on the terms of high treason. I can get you out of your inevitable execution. I need an assistant at the Reich War Ministry to aid General Roth and myself.”
The patient looked at the imprisonment orders. They were indeed for him, on the top; underneath the date was his name, Crabtree, Zachary-Kommandant. The orders were clear, failure to hold position and aiding in a victory for the rebels.
“Why would Von Streizer want to have me arrested?”
“Because Herr Kommandant, he thinks you should have died on that carrier. But this is behind us. If you wish to take my offer, I will be at the Ministry. Ask for Colonel Stauffer”
Then the officer left the kommandant on his bed, in a vast array of confusion.
Chapter III: The UNSC and Her Secrets
Back at Jericho VII, Nicole looked out the window in her personal quarters. She did not know what to thing of the world now that her home had been taken over by the SCF and Markov’s men. She was deep in thought when she heard a voice behind her.
“Nicole, can I talk to you?”
Nicole was a young officer, with long black hair. She was a normal sized girl at about 5’ 8” and bright blue eyes. She looked almost exactly like her mother, and bared almost no resemblance to her father.
She turned around to see the face of Ashlee Miller, the daughter of Madeline Ramirez and Sergeant John Miller, of the UNSC Black rangers. She had her mother’s long blonde hair, but her father’s blue eyes.
“Yeah Ash, what do you need?”
Ashlee closed the door behind her as she sat on the bed next to Nicole. She had an expression on her face of extreme sadness; it was something Nicole did not want to see.
“Remember earlier how we received word that there was a high ranking officer onboard the lead SCF vessel in that battle group?”
Nicole looked at Ashlee for a second. She could not comprehend why she was saddened at the death of one officer that was her sworn enemy.
“Yes, Ashlee what’s wrong? Why are you sad about this?”
“Nicole, I think you should look at this.”
Ashlee handed Nicole some papers that she held in her hand. It was a crew report of the Tirpitz, and its commanding officer’s name struck a chord in Nicole’s heart. She recognized the name Crabtree, Zachary-Kommandant almost immediately. This was her idol; she had always looked up to him.
“This must be some kind of joke right!?”
Ashlee looked at Nicole who was now clearly angered by the news.
“Ashlee I swear to god if this some kind of sick joke I will kill you!”
“Nicole, it’s the truth. That man sided with the enemy.”
“I don’t care if he did, I looked up to him, and now he’s dead because of me.”
Ashlee stood there a moment, shocked at what her CO was saying. Here she was, the leader of a company of the best troopers that seceded from the SCF, crying at the loss of one officer. Ashlee understood why, but she didn’t know why it bothered Nicole so much.
“Nicole, listen I know this must be hard, but, it was him or your immediate family.”
“That man was just as close to being family as anyone could get. He was almost like a second grandfather to me!”
Ashlee was shocked, she had never known any of Nicole’s past, except for her parents. She didn’t know what else to say to her commanding officer. After asking to leave, Ashlee walked down the corridor to her bunk, contemplating what she had just heard from Nicole.
Ashlee sat on her bed and starred out the window, she knew her history and her parents, but as for Nicole’s she just hit the tip of the iceberg.
Chapter IV: Operation Soaring Eagle
Crabtree looked up through the only eye he had left. The words inscribed in the arch of the gate read clear “Das Reichstag”. When he approached the front desk, he saw only the older officers of the SCF walking around.
“Yes can I help you?”
Crabtree looked at the young woman working the front desk. She couldn’t have been older than twenty. She reminded him so much of his Melissa, whom he had not seen in three years. Seeing the young woman happily serving Markov, he wondered if he’d ever see his family ever again.
“Yes, I am looking for Colonel Stauffer, working with General Roth.”
“Ah yes, down the hall, last room on your left. You wouldn’t happen to be Kommandant Crabtree would you?”
This question almost made Crabtree laugh a little. Even as an officer in the service of a dictator, he had a reputation, one that he wants to be rid of as quickly as possible.
Crabtree walked down the hall the woman mentioned until he came to a door. Written on the window was this “Stauffer, Friedrich—Executive Officer, Reserve Army”. Crabtree knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, he heard a voice call him into the room.
“Colonel Stauffer, you asked that I should see you?”
“Ah, Kommandant, I was expecting you. I knew my offer would not be refused.”
“Yes, now why did you want me to aid you and General Roth?”
Stauffer looked across the desk at the Kommandant. His face lost all expression as he began to speak again.
“Kommandant, my aide was killed a few days ago. General Von Streizer deemed him a traitor to the fuhrer and to the state. You know the value of loyalty in these times, and you were the only person I could turn to.”
Crabtree looked at the colonel. He could not have been more than thirty-five, and had dark black hair. He spoke with a noticeable accent and was about the same size and build as Crabtree.
“So what do you mean by, I was the only person you could turn to?”
“Please Kommandant; your reputation hides itself within all that modesty. I know of your hatred of Markov and Von Streizer. And let’s put this bluntly, I do as well. That is precisely why I wanted you to be my assistant. We have a plan to kill both of them. Markov’s funding is dwindling; he will not be able to fund this effort much longer. This paired with the UNSC attacks on the rise; we will face defeat sooner than you think.”
Crabtree looked at Stauffer, and stood there with a blank stare upon his face. He had wished that Markov and Streizer were dead, but now it seemed that his dreams were coming true.
“How do you expect to accomplish this plot?”
Colonel Stauffer grinned and let out a small chuckle at this question. He then replied still chuckling and grinning.
“Operation Soaring Eagle mien Kommandant, Operation Soaring Eagle.”
Chapter V: Retaking Reach
Nicole stood on the bridge of the UNSC George S. Patton along side Ashlee and Captain Rorke. Even after all this time, the Patton still stood as the flagship of the UNSC, and Rorke still stood as her captain. Rorke was considerably older, aged now in his early 60’s. His hair had gone grey, and looked older than he actually was.
The days grew longer as the fleet neared its destination. Prepping for the assault on Reach seemed to take a lifetime, but for Nicole and her comrades, it was worth the wait. Long had the SCF commanded Reach’s inhabitants, putting them through the same tyrannical leadership as Earth itself! Reach had been turned into a militaristic colony with Lieutenant General Kurtz von Rundstedt at its command.
General Rundstedt was almost as evil as Kommisar Markov, and was specially picked to command the fuhrer’s armies on Reach. Under his command was Admiral Matthew Holt, commander of the Death’s head fleet, a force of about thirty-five individual ships. Admiral Holt was not the biggest supporter of Markov’s leadership, but had managed to keep his rank and leadership within the SCF.
Holt was onboard the flagship of the fleet, the SCF Hammer of the Gods, when von Rundstedt hailed him.
“Admiral, my radar overseer has detected a slip space rupture near your location. Can you confirm?”
“No sir general. I will post my lookouts on full alert.”
“Good, I expect a report from you tomorrow!”
Holt called over Mr. Holland, a midshipman onboard the vessel.
“Mr. Holland, you are on middle watch! And I don’t want to hear any ‘ifs ands or buts’ about it.”
Holland looked at the Admiral and almost let out a heavy sigh. Out of all the jobs aboard a naval vessel, middle watch was the far worst.
There were three watch posts through out the day. There was dawn, middle and dusk watch. Middle was about a twelve hour shift from 7 Am to 7 Pm.
After about six hours standing watch, Mr. Holland spotted what he though was a shape emerging from the dark side of the planet.
“Mr. Smith, get over here!”
“What is it Mr. Holland?”
“Sound the alarm; I think we may have our enemy vessels!”
Soon alarms were sounding all over the ship. Admiral Holt was harshly woken up and ran to the observation deck, where Mr. Holland and Smith stood with Captain McCullin.
“Captain what is going on here!?”
“Sir Mr. Holland says he saw a shape, two points off the starboard bow.”
Holt stepped forward and grabbed the binoculars from Holland’s hands. He looked through them trying to scan for the enemy vessel. He saw no signs of them, and began to address the young officer.
“You did the right thing by sounding the alarm Holland. Now, get to your bunk, I’ll take over.”
Holland and the others walked off leaving Holt there by himself. He watched as the others walked away and turned back towards the observation windows.
Holt pulled the binoculars up to his face and began to scan the horizon for any sign of Holland’s phantom ship. He was almost about to give up when he though he saw something himself.
As Holt focused on the shape, he noticed a flash of light come from it. His eyes widened as he saw what he had feared. He knew that flash anywhere, it was none other than the flash of a MAC round exiting the barrel.
Not soon after he saw the flash, the round found its mark, completely destroying the vessel underneath the Hammer. The blast was large enough to severely damage some of the Hammer’s systems. Holt knew this would be the battle of his life time as he began to sound the alarm to prep the crew for battle.
When he had finished he looked back through the window to see the twenty enemy vessels de cloaking right in front of him. The second battle for Reach had begun.
Chapter VI: The sound of Treachery
Crabtree looked at Colonel Stauffer with a confused look on his face. He had known of operation Soaring Eagle for a long time, but had never heard of something as preposterous as using it to assassinate the fuhrer.
“You must be mad Stauffer. Soaring Eagle is a plan to be enacted AFTER the fuhrer is dead. This will be of no use to us in trying to kill him and Streizer.”
Stauffer let out a small chuckle and began to grin a little. He knew more than the Kommandant would ever dream of. And he already had his plan ready for any type of intervention.
“Come with me Kommandant, I have someone I would like to introduce you to.”
Stauffer walked out of the room and down the hallway with Crabtree following him. He had no idea why Stauffer said that in a peculiar way, other that he might be ready to betray him.
As they reached the end of the hall, they came upon a room whose door was left black. Stauffer opened the door to reveal not but a large table in the center of the room.
At the end of the table sat a lone person, smoking a cigar. He was not dressed in the usual SCF Grey dress uniform, as per regulation of all SCF Officers, but instead he wore the older white dress uniform of the UNSC.
He began to speak to Crabtree directly without turning around. His voice seemed all too familiar to the Kommandant.
“Ah, Lieutenant, it’s good to see you again.”
Crabtree stood perplexed at the voice. He could almost remember who was speaking to him, but he seemed like a total stranger.
“Who are you and how do you know my name?!”
Crabtree’s face went blank as the stranger turned around and faced him.
“Can it be? Admiral Holland, is that you sir!?”
The stranger grinned when Crabtree figured out who he was. Then he began to speak again, his tone was more serious this time.
“Don’t tell me you believed that I was dead. My ship was “reported missing” son, not myself. I’ve been here working in the ministry under the assumed name of General Kelso. Hearing about Stauffer and Roth’s little plan, I decided to include myself in the scheming”
Crabtree looked over at Stauffer, who remained silent through out the whole scenario.
“Kommandant, Admiral Holland has agreed to take over Lord Hood’s position once the coup is over with. Now, he has also advocated using Soaring Eagle as the method of choice. So I will ask you one last time, are you with us?”
Crabtree looked towards the floor and then back to Stauffer. He was still in disbelief that Holland was there, staring right at him. He knew that going with the plan might end in his own death, but he would rather die as a soldier of the UNSC, than a lapdog of a tyrant.
“Admiral, you’ve convinced me. I shall aide you, Stauffer, Roth and all others involved. Let’s take down this tyrant!”
Chapter VII: Blitzkrieg
The blasts continued all around Admiral Fuller and the battle seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. Filler had already lost eight of his thirty five vessels were already destroyed.
“Admiral the ships just keep coming! Soon we will be overrun! What should we do?”
Fuller looked over at his lieutenant and then back to the observation deck. The UNSC Ships just kept pounding his own fleet with round upon round of MAC fire. His fleet had managed to destroy a few of the attacking vessels, but the odds were now against him.
“Lieutenant, hail General Rundstedt. Tell him that the fleet is lost and that the UNSC have arrived in full force.”
“Admiral, we still have a fighting chance!”
As the lieutenant finished his sentence, a massive explosion threw the men to the ground. As they got back onto their feet, a crewman spoke up.
“Admiral, the engines have gone critical. Secondary cooling systems are offline as are the primary ones! The ship will reach critical mass in two minutes!”
“Lieutenant, get the men off this ship now! I don’t care what you have to say, just do it!”
The lieutenant nodded his head and saluted Admiral Fuller before departing the bridge.
Admiral Fuller was now alone on his strickened ship. He griped the ships wheel with his left hand and looked out at his new fate. He walked over to the radio and began to hail Rundstedt.
“General this is Admiral Fuller. The orbital defense fleet has been destroyed. I am sorry sir, but I have failed. I regret noting sir, God’s speed to your forces, general.”
“ADMIRAL!? ADMIRAL!! ADMIRAL ANSWER THIS RADIO NOW!! THAT IS AN………”
Before the message finished, the engines went critical and enveloped the ship on a massive fire explosion. The surrounding two ships were also engulfed. The blast was so massive that it knocked a few of the remaining UNSC vessels around.
The Death’s head fleet had been eradicated, along with the SCF’s leading naval officer. UNSC forces were now on the ground and approaching Rundstedt’s position in full force.
On board the lead pelican, Lieutenant Nicole Silva waited for the touch down on the planet. As the troops grew nearer to the position, she made sure that all of her troops were in position.
“Lieutenant Silva to all ground units, check in over!”
“This is Marine Battalion 1; we are nearing the ridge ma’am. ETA to deployment is 60 seconds.”
“This is the UNSC Army Rangers 2nd Battalion, on course and preparing to touch down of the enemy’s western flank. 90 seconds to drop.”
Nicole was glad to hear all units were dropping in perfectly, and radioed back with one simple and short message.
“Okay this is the UNSC Marines 2nd Battalion on course and ready for deployment. Let’s show these bastards who they are messing with! Remember the plan, all battalions regroup at the Babd Catha Ice Shelf.”
“Ma’am 10 seconds to deployment, get ready, no signs of enemy activity though. It’s too quiet, I don’t like this.”
Then the large group of pelicans landed and the masses of marines ran forward trying to secure a position on the beach head.
“Lieutenant, have you secured a position?”
The voice sounded all too familiar to Nicole. She turned to find her father, the now Major Michael Silva, standing behind her.
“Dad, I’m so glad to see you.” Nicole said as she ran back and gave her father a hug.
“We have this position secured but I—”
As Nicole tried to finish her sentence, a hail of bullets came from over the ridge. When she turned, she saw massive amounts of SCF troops and armored vehicles pouring over the horizon.
“SHIT! EVERYONE GET THE FUCK DOWN, AND FOR GOD’S SAKE FIRE GODDAMMIT!!!!”
Nicole and her battalion of marines poured on the lead, but it seemed to do no good against the massing amounts of troops facing them. As the battle raged on, the radio cackled to live.
“Lieutenant Silva, we have encountered heavy resistance on the west flank, there must be al least 2 fucking battalions coming towards us!!!!!”
“1st Battalion here, ma’am we too are receiving heavy fire from the SCF troops, there are just too many, we are pulling back to your position I repeat falling back!!!!”
Michael knew exactly what was going on as he began to take cover from the hail of bullets and explosives being hurled at the marines.
“Nicole!!! It’s a fucking Blitzkrieg!! We’ve got to hold this position here!! We can not falter!”
Chapter VIII: Taking the Beach
Nicole and the troops grabbed what little cover they could as massive amounts of SCF troops and armored vehicles poured over the horizon. No one had ever seen a force this great. With the UNSC Troopers holding what little beach they had been able to secure, all hope of taking back Reach seemed lost.
Nicole and Michael looked around at their fellow comrades, and what they saw will haunt them for the rest of their lives. As the bullets flew and explosions heard all around them, these battle hardened troopers, broke down into cowering boys.
Men were crowding together behind rocks; some were dropping their weapons, trying to stay hidden. Some began to pray, as if this was their last day. Nicole looked at these soldiers for a minute, and then began to speak, yelling to get her voice heard over the sound of the explosions.
“WE NEED TO KEEP FIRING!! SUPRESS THOSE SOLDIERS NOW MEN. WE WILL NOT LOSE THIS POSITION!!” The few that heard her began to pass the word down the lines, and suddenly it seemed as though their morale suddenly sparked up.
The men grabbed their weapons and began to fire on the entrenched SCF Troopers. With every kill the UNSC made, they slowly made their way up the beach. The SCF machine gunners, who were entrenched inside bunkers, accounted for this, and began to sight their guns in front of the advancing troopers. Michael looked around, and saw the soldiers being cut down one after one by these gunners.
He took cover behind a large rock, and noticed a team of troopers with him.
“What’s your name soldier!?” he asked one of them.
“Staff Sergeant Louis, 501st Airborne Division Sir! We were sent in to take care of any armored units, but our Pvt. Wilkes got hit a ways back. We lost him and our rockets sir!”
Michael looked at the trooper and then peered over the rock at the bunker covering this sector of beach. “Trooper listen, where’s your man at!?”
“Sir, back that a ways sir!” SSgt Louis pointed back down the beach. Michael looked and saw nothing but a crater. “He’s in the bottom of that shell hole sir!”
“Alright, here’s what I want you to do,” Michael said. “We’ll give you covering fire, and I want you to grab that rocket, and get your ass back here as soon as possible you hear!?”
Wilkes looked over the rock and then back down to Michael. He gave a nod then crossed his chest in prayer.
“COVERING FIRE!!” Michael shouted. The few men stood up and began to fire on what positions they could see. SSgt. Louis ran towards the shell hole, dodging fire from every direction. After what seemed like an era, he managed to reach the shell hole. In the bottom, next to the launcher lay Pvt. Wilkes, or rather what was left of him.
“Mère de Dieu, Rest in Peace soldier.” He said as he grabbed the launcher and made a run for the cover he had just left. Michael and the others had stopped firing and were stuck huddling behind the rock.
“Monsieur, I have the weapon!” Louis said, noticing that none of the men could move, and neither could he.
“Great job soldier, now listen. If you hit that bunker window, you’ll free up this sector of the beach. We need you to destroy that bunker, if one unit gets through, all units get through!” Michael said, over the roar of bullets and artillery.
Louis looked out of the shell hole at the bunker that Michael was talking about. There were at least four different heavy machine guns firing from the window, all covering different sections of the beach. He prepped the charge for the rocket, a shot like this, would be difficult at best. He gave Michael a nod, and signaled them to provide suppressive fire, for what time they could.
Louis stood up and took aim at the window and fired the rocket. It impacted slightly below the opening, doing nothing but alerting the machine gunners to his position.
“SHIT!!!!” Louis said as the rounds hit all around him. He fell down to the bottom of the hole and waited for the gunners to find another target.
Soon Louis heard the shots fade away, and climbed back to the top of the shell hole. Michael was still behind the rock, but one of the other troopers with him was lying beside him, his chest littered with holes.
“DAMMIT SON HIT THAT FUCKING BUNKER!!” Michael screamed at Louis, desperately hoping that he could destroy the bunker.
Louis took aim once again, this time increasing his sight significantly. “Well here goes nothing,” he said. The rocket fired, this time going straight through the bunkers firing window and setting the entire complex ablaze.
Louis ran back to the rock, still shocked at his accomplishment. “I did it sir!” he said after a few moments.
Michael looked over at the young trooper and then over their cover. He saw the remaining forces begin to fall back. He picked up the radio and signaled all forces to move up towards the cliffs.
All around them, men jumped at the chance to move forward, some tripping in their excitement. The UNSC had shown the SCF what they were made of, and sent this military organization running for the hills. But the cost of this was great.
Along the beach, bodies and debris littered the battle site. Taking this beach had cost the UNSC dearly, but the men believed that it was at a good cost.
In a make shift command post at the base of the cliffs, Michael and Nicole were talking to each other about the casualties.
“Nicole, do you have a list of our casualties?” He said, his face bearing a grim look.
“Yes dad,” she replied, “From what I’ve gathered we have 1,975 dead, over 2,500 wounded and 747 missing.”
“We hit the beach with a massive force and expected to have minimal casualties. What the hell were we thinking?” Nicole said after she had read the numbers.
“Listen,” Michael replied “The enemy didn’t think we would be able to take this beach either. It just goes to show that anything is possible in a war. Don’t dwell on the past Nicole; just look forward to a brighter future.”
Nicole smiled, and left the tent. The battle was over, and the SCF were in full retreat. The first step in re taking Reach had been accomplished, now the race to the capitol was just beginning.
Chapter IX: Orders are Orders
Nicole walked down the encampment towards the edge of the cliff overlooking the beach. Sitting at the edge, as she had predicted, was Ashlee. She was sitting on a rock facing towards the ocean and beach, still littered with the bodies of their dead comrades.
“I’ve never seen so much death in one place,” Ashlee said, noticing Nicole behind her.
“Ash, I know it’s hard, but they will be remembered.” Nicole noticed that Ashlee now had tears in her eyes. She hadn’t noticed how bad this was taking its toll on her. Nicole moved forward and sat down beside her friend.
“You know Ash, you don’t have to be down here, fighting. If you want, I can get a Pelican to take you back up to the ship, away from all this madness.” Nicole said. She may have been saying this, but in her mind she was thinking how nice it would be, away from everything.
“No, really its okay,” Ashlee said as she began to stand up. “Besides, we have a job to do, and I won’t stop till all these bastards pay for what they have done!” With that said, Ashlee walked off leaving Nicole by the Cliffside.
“Well alright then, I guess I’ll walk off too.” She said. She made her way back to the 1st Marine Division HQ tent and heard quite a commotion from inside. She walked closer to the tent opening and began to listen to the conversation.
She heard three voices from within the tent, one of which she recognized as her fathers, began to speak. “I’m not against the operation sir; I just think that it isn’t safe to send HER in there is the right decision!”
One of the other two voices began to speak, Nicole was wondering who they were talking about. “Look Major, I don’t give a damn what you think, I am your superior and you will obey what I say! The complex should be too populated and it will be a very—
This time a third voice cut off the unknown speaker. He sounded much younger that the others, and spoke in a harsher tone as well. “LESS POPULATED!? We just fought off five divisions of SCF Troops and armored divisions! I can remember their retreat too well, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen five divisions of soldiers run THAT fast! Please tell him Colonel!”
The room went silent for a bit, Nicole began to worry, she was completely lost, and she didn’t know who they were talking about and what complex.
After a shot amount of time the first speaker started back, obviously angered by the incompliance of his fellow officers.
“LISTEN TO ME NOW! That complex could contain vital information as to the SCF’s plans! So Colonel Silva, go find Commander Miller and tell her that her Company is in charge of the assault on the complex. As for YOU Sergeant Louis, since you hate the idea of fighting in that complex, you just volunteered yourself for the job!”
The speaker walked out of the tent shortly after finishing his sentence. He rushed past Nicole not even noticing her. Michael followed, but noticed his daughter sitting by the tent opening.
“Nicole, how much did you hear?” Michael said. He noticed that she was in shock.
“Dad, I don’t feel comfortable about this. Ashlee, Ashlee’s not the leader that I am. I don’t think she’ll be able to handle herself down there.”
Michael looked down at his daughter, and at this point, Sergeant Louis, the army soldier from the beach invasion walked out of the tent.
“SSgt come over here,” Michael said. Louis walked over to Nicole and Michael. He stood there and faced Michael.
“You need me sir?” He said, making a quick glance down at Nicole and saw her face. She was terror struck, and obviously worried about her friend.
“Louis, this is my daughter Nicole. Commander Miller is her friend and I want you to look after her okay?” Michael said and looked back down at Nicole. “Nicole, Louis is a born soldier and a damn fine man. He’ll keep Ashlee safe, wont you SSgt?”
Jean looked at Michael and began to smile. “Sir, yes Sir!” Louis walked off to find Ashlee and inform her of the news, leaving Michael and Nicole by themselves.
“Fell better honey?” Michael said to Nicole obviously trying to inject some humor into the situation.
Nicole smiled and stood up and hugged her father. “Thanks dad, maybe she’ll be okay.”
Chapter X: The Complex
Jean walked through the bas camp trying to find Ashlee. He didn’t know whether to feel excited or nervous about the upcoming operation. But these feeling were pushed aside, as he found Ashlee, sitting in her quarters, alone.
“Commander Miller,” Jean said, poking his head through the tent opening.
Ashlee turned around, barely noticing the young soldier in the tent opening. Jean wasn’t much older than she was, probably a year or two at the most. He had black hair and the same blue eyes as Ashlee.
“Yes, soldier” She said after a few moments. “What do you want?”
Jean looked at Ashlee for a moment, he seemed lost for words. Stories had been spreading throughout the unit of Commander Miller’s beauty, but Jean had never taken much part in it. To him, they were just words said by lonely G.I’s.
But after Jean got a look at Ashlee, he saw the rumors were true. He was amazed at her beauty, and quite frankly, had a hard time keeping his jaw off the floor.
“Uhh, I uhh, I just came by to give your orders, ma’am. These…these are straight from the top.”
Jean handed her a small envelope containing the written orders. Ashlee looked over them for a bit, and her face lost all expression, then she began to speak again.
“So, they are sending my platoon, alone into this large bunker complex without any back up?” She asked Jean.
Jean nodded quietly, and Ashlee looked back down at the paper. This time she had somewhat of a smile on her face.
“So, since you are the one delivering the letter, I guess that means you are Jean Louis, the man attached to my unit to protect me?”
Jean too had a smile as he nodded confirming what Ashlee had said.
Ashlee bit her lip and looked back down to the paper, as she did she mumbled under her breath “Well this, should be fun” then gave a silent giggle before dismissing Jean and walking out to assemble her troops.
Jean stood there for a moment and then walked outside the tent and joined up with Ashlee.
As he stood beside her, she began to address her troops. She spoke with a certain uneasiness that was unmistakable to her troops. They all knew that she was scared of the operation.
Jean, meanwhile, had not even paid any attention to the words. His attention was focused mainly on Captain Miller herself.
He became caught up in her beauty, but never made it obvious. To the troops however, they saw subtle signs of the two’s interest in each other. Every once in a while Ashlee would glance over at Jean, who would always be casually looking into the crown whenever she did, trying to hide his own interest in her.
Soon she had finished speaking and the troop moved forward towards the unknown that was the bunker’s complex.
Jean walked beside Ashlee, leading the way. As they neared the large metal door, Ashlee spoke to jean, this time her fear was evident.
“Jean, I’m really scared right now. I don’t like the looks of this place.” She said. In his career as a soldier, Jean had never met someone this scared of their orders.
“Relax Ashlee,” Jean said calmly. “It can’t be too bad, besides you have me here to protect you.” Saying this, Jean began to smile a bit and slid open the large metal door.
The group entered, turning on their weapon mounted flashlights to see the complex. The entry way was a large sloped ramp, possibly the entrance through trucks and other vehicles may have entered.
“Scan this place top to bottom” Ashlee said, “We don’t need any surprises.” She stood by Jean as they scanned the far reaches and corners of the large open vehicle bay.
The sight that awaited them was sickening to most of the men. Along the walls and floor were pools and trails of blood. Several bodies, both SCF and Reach Militia members littered the floors and cabs of the few trucks that were there.
“My god,” one of the men said. “This…this isn’t human. What the hell happened here?”
Some of the men went over to examine the bodies of the dead. Some were intact, minus the bullet wounds, signaling a small battle here. But the rest, the rest of the bodies were torn to shreds, most being dismembered or ripped apart.
The trails led off into the distance, and there were many of them spreading off into different directions. The men froze, their light illuminating the blood soaked vehicle bay ahead. Everyone, including Jean and Ashlee, was too frightened to move another step.
“Alright men,” Ashlee said, fighting back her own fear. “We…we have orders, so umm, we need to clear this bunker now. Jean” Then she turned to Jean, who was still freaked at the sight.
“Ye…yes Captain,” He said after a few moments and looked over at Ashlee.
“You stand beside me; we’ll be taking point on this one.”
Jean nodded, and moved forward with Ashlee. He may be interested in her, but the sights here just made him think about getting out alive. And so the group ventured forth, walking down the blood soaked ramp, to the place of extreme mystery and horror.
Chapter XI: Nacht Der Untoten
Ashlee led her team down the halls of the complex. Everywhere seemed to look the same, blood was splattered everywhere. Finally the came to the mess hall and were forced to stop. Besides the doors that led into the kitchen, there were four leading off in separate directions.
“Ma’am, I think we need to split up to search this place effectively.” Jean said. “It may be risky, but if we stay together as one unit, we might be down here for days”
Some of the soldiers expressed their concerns for the idea, many saying that it would surely result in their deaths.
“Enough,” Ashlee finally said. “We need to search this place as quick as possible. Lieutenant, you take 20 of the men and search for the barracks. Master Sergeant Collins, take your 20 and find the generators, we need the power. And you, Sergeant Major Black, take that door to the right, where ever that leads. The rest of you are with me, now let’s get going.”
Finishing her statement, the four groups broke off into their separate directions.
MSG Collins led his team down the deserted hallway, having no clue as to where it was going.
“Hey Sarge, what the hell is this place” One of the soldiers asked him. Collins didn’t say a word, but kept focused on the direction ahead of him. Eventually, their attempts to follow the blood trails gave them some kind of success.
Ahead of them was a large door marked only with the word “Kaserne” and massive pools of blood. With no power, the men would have to manually force the large door open to gain access.
As they began to force the door open, Collins heard something strange behind it, something un-human.
“Collins sir, I don’t like the looks of this!” One of the men said as they finally managed to open the door, and with good reason too.
The door led them straight to the barracks, and to a sight none of the men will soon forget. Inside, many of the beds were occupied, with the dead, mutilated bodies of the SCF Guards and Scientists of the installation. Pools of blood were spread across the room and the walls were seemingly painted with the soldiers’ blood.
“Oh, god I think I am going to be sick!” Collins said as he looked at the bodies. He had heard stories of flood encounters, but this, this was something of which he had never heard of. He began to look around the room until he came across one of the scientists clenching a book in his left hand, and a crucifix in his right.
Collins pried the book from his hand and began to read the last few entries:
Day 54
We have stabilized the test subjects and placed them in stabilization tubes. Some of the subjects have woken up during the process and had to be put down. One particular subject woke up midway through the fusing process. This made a perfect experiment for testing; however, he was unresponsive to any attempts to communicate. Kurtz believes that the projects are going at full capacity; however, this whole idea seems problematic. I put these ideas behind me now, best to get the most amount of sleep possible in this hell hole.
Day 60
I have not had time to write as of late, the last few weeks have been rather, hectic. Some of the test subjects have escaped from the tubes and are now running rampant throughout the complex. And on top of this, Kurtz was with one of the teams to find them. He was found dead, mutilated along with the bodies of several of the guards. I don’t know how long we will last here, but this place needs to be sealed off as quickly as possible, the infection cannot reach the surface!
Day I don’t know anymore!
It has been four weeks, I think, since the outbreak of the infections amongst the guards. I have my doubts that we will make it out of here alive, and so do most of the guards. My fellow scientists have all been killed by these monsters, and I dare not venture outside of the barracks for fear of death. Ach! I must stop writing for now; I am starting to hear noises in the ventilation systems.
Mein Last entry…….
There is no escape for us now, everyone outside this door has either died or been infected. There are only twelve of us here in the barracks, and we are all scared. If anyone should find this journal, please leave this place now these creatures are…….
The journal ended here, signaling the time of the unlucky scientist’s demise, as well as the demise of the other SCF guards.
Collins dropped the book and raised his weapon, his taclight scanning the room for any signs of life. As he turned towards the door, the ventilation system behind him began to shake and rattle.
“Hello?” Collins said as he aimed his weapon at the ductwork. “Hello, is you can here me come out with your hands behind your head!”
Some of the other troopers aimed their weapons as well, many fearing for their lives. Then, an almost bloodcurdling screech emitted from the vents, making the soldiers blood run cold, then, out of nowhere a noise from behind made the men turn.
The figure was dressed in the typical SCF clothing, but was clearly not of this world. In place of his arms, large, almost claw like members hung by its side. Its face was completely obscured, except for its eyes, which glowed bright blue.
It stopped in the middle of the doorway and watched the startled Army Troops. It began to lift its head, as if acknowledging the presence of someone who was clearly not wanted in this place.
None of the men could speak or move as the lone creature just stared at them. Collins however moved forward with his weapon raised, and attempted to make contact with the creature.
“You there, show me your hands!” Collins said, his voice quivering with fear. Then the creature did something unexpected. It seemingly acknowledged Collins’ command and raised its “arms” in the air
Collins didn’t know what to do, but continued to aim his weapon at the creature. Then its cooperation stopped, and it lowered its arms. When it began to raise his head, Collins got a good look at its face. The seemingly skeletal body was covered with dried, blackened flesh where it remained. As its head leveled some of the rotting flesh fell off revealing the decaying muscular tissue underneath.
It then opened its mouth, uttering nothing more then a kind of gurgling noise. Then the creature began to speak in some unknown language. “AAV DILON!” It said in a creaky voice and “pointed” at Collins and his men.
After uttering these unknown words, several of the bodies in the barracks rose up, as if the words reanimated their corpses. The men were now scared out of their wits, and began firing madly into the bodies of these monsters. Their bullets, however, seemed to do no good as the creatures kept coming towards them. The ones attacking Collins and his troops were not nearly as mutated at the one in the hallway, but were just as frightening. Their flesh was just as black and rotten as the other one, and their eyes glow the same blue color.
As the neared the troops, the reaches of their abilities became apparent. Men were dismembered with ease, and friends watched as their comrades became nothing more than food for these creatures.
The seeming “commander” still stood in the hallway, watching Collins as he watched his men get slaughtered before his eyes.
Within second of the attack, the 20 soldiers that Collins took with him were dead and mutilated. The forms then surrounded Collins, but did not harm him. Instead the “leader” walked into the circle and stood in front of him. Its arm reached out and grabbed Collins by the chin and pulled his head close to the creatures own.
It then opened its mouth once more, and this time Collins breathed in the stench of its breath. “Blóð ok ótti, vísdómr ok kvöl, Aaf dauða er líf, dýrð deyr en ótti ríkir!!!!” Then the creature bit down on Collins’ neck, and he let out an earsplitting cry of pain. Then his body went limp, and the creature released him. Collins hit the floor, and then began to attempt to rise up. His flesh began to slowly rot like the others, and his eyes began to glow blue.
He finally managed to stand up, now completely transformed into one of these monsters by their leader. The large one approached Collins, and uttered one sentence to him “Ídauða er líf” It said, and MSG Collins joined the ranks of the undead minions of this haunted Compound.
Chapter XII: Answers
Ashlee walked with her group of soldiers down the hallway. They had heard none of the screams from Collins and his men, and had no contact with her executive officer or Sergeant Major Black, and had no luck finding out what this place was.
Jean stood at the front of the formation, with Ashlee by his side. The entire formation could see the bond between the two of them but no one dared say a word. They were far too scared to begin to crack jokes, and most were barely hanging on to the sanity that they had left. The hallway was exactly like the rest of the complex, a tangled mess of blood and bodies were strewn along its length. The bodies were all mangled and unrecognizable.
“Damn,” one of the troopers said “Whatever this place is its one twisted sideshow.” A meek laugh came from some of the men; most other just aimed their weapons in every direction, scanning for life or information. They finally arrived at a large set of doors, forcibly pried open. A few exposed wires sparked occasionally, and here and there a light flickered.
“Alright team,” Ashlee said, “we’ll split up and search this location. Teams of five, move out.” The group spilt, however Ashlee and Jean stayed close together. She watched him as they walked into the abyss.
Jean moved carefully, shining his taclight around the room until it came to rest on a glass sphere which rested on the floor. Jean could not see inside it but dared not move towards it. Ashlee pointer her M6D pistol towards the tube as well and motioned for the others to stop. Jean carefully moved towards the tube and shined his light in it.
“What the heck is in there?” He said to himself and began to wipe off the blood smeared glass. The clearing he made showed the gruesome sight within. Inside the tube, held in suspended animation, was a creature so grotesque, that he himself could not stomach looking at it for long.
“What is it?” Ashlee said as she slowly crept up to the tube.
“I… I think it’s some kind of cryo tube.” Jean replied. “Now what is inside, I have yet to figure out.”
The soldiers’ attention was then drawn to a crashing sound on the other side of the room, drawing their focus away from the tube.
“The hell was that!” one of the men said raising his rifle towards the sound. A test tube began to roll across the floor, away from an overturned desk.
“There’s something over there. It almost looks like a person.” Another soldier said. Everyone raised their weapons over to the desk, and did see a humanoid shape hiding behind it.
“You there, show yourself!!!!!” Ashlee shouted
The figure slowly rose to its feet, and lights revealed it to be a man, ghost white, and dressed in a bloody lab coat. He ran towards to the soldiers, but no one dared shoot.
“Please, please! You must get out of here! There are evil things in this bunker! Flee while you have the chance!!!!!” he began to try to say another sentence, but a quick slap across the face from Ashlee was enough to calm him down.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT!” she said. “What the hell is this place, and what the hell is in that tube?”
The scientist looked around at the soldiers, still terrified. He stood motionless for a moment, and then he began to stutter out a sentence. “We……we…….we made a slight miscalculation. The…..the subjects were too strong for….for our plans…..they…they killed everyone, and NOW THEY WILL KILL US AS WELL! WE MUST GO NOW!
His words alone were enough to strike fear into the already breaking soldiers. Many, now, had lost what little sanity they had left. One then sat down, dropping his weapon on the floor beside him.
“That’s it man…game over….GAME OVER MAN. We’re all going to fucking die in this place man….we’re all going to fucking die!!
Jean turned around, his face flush with anger. “STAND UP SOLDIER! You are a Marine, and we do not quite! Now grab your weapon and prepare to move. Captain I think we…….” His speech was interrupted by the soldier, this time, now completely insane.
“I ain’t fucking dying in this shit hole man!!” He then proceeded to run out of the room and around the corner. As he did they could still hear him shouting.
“I ain’t fucking dyi…..wait, who the hell are you! No, no, no, NO AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
The group immediately turned towards the door, their weapons aimed and ready. Ashlee spoke again to the scientist.
“Doc, what exactly were you trying to do down here?”
“We….we tried, to…to design, super soldiers unlike the Spartans. UNDEAD super soldiers that is. Using the bodies of our comrades, we injected them with an element, 115. It was dangerous at best, but its effects were glorious.”
Ashlee was slowly becoming more and more disgusted with this man, and all like him. He continued his speech.
“The element reanimated the corpses yes, and it increased the strength to that of at least twenty men…….. But……we did not count on…the adverse effects.”
A loud stomping sound emitted from the hallway ahead of them. Several soldiers shakily clung to their weapons, while others focused on clinging onto their remaining sanity.
“We thought we could control them………we thought wrong! They soon began to over run the facility, killing and mutating everyone inside!!! ” A bloodcurdling screech then echoed throughout the facility, piercing the darkness.
Soon, pairs of glowing blue eyes began to appear in the dark corners of the rooms, and others came slowly walking in the doorway.
“YOU MUST KILL THEM!” The doctor shouted. “KILL THEM NOW!! PLEASE!!!”
Ashlee hesitated for a moment; it seemed she too was losing her grip on reality. Jean quickly noticed this, and assumed command.
“Troopers, OPEN FIRE!!!!” he shouted. The nineteen remaining marines began spraying into the hoards of the approaching monsters.
“IT’S NOT WORKING! THEY JUST KEEP COMING!” one of the marines shouted. The doctor then said above the sound bursts of the rifles, “YOU MUST DESTROY THEIR HEADS, WITHOUT THEM THEY…………” One of the creatures appeared behind him suddenly and without warning. It then grabbed his arms and lifted him off the ground.
“Please, please no…..I……I am your father, YOUR LEADER, STOOOOOAAAGAGGGHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!!!!!!!!!!” With one swift movement, the creature, with its superior strength, tore, quite literally, the doctor in half.
The soldiers who saw were aghast at the sight; however the creature’s blood lust was no fulfilled. It charged forward, pushing past several soldiers, straight for Ashlee. She stood petrified by what she was witnessing, and did nothing to stop the creatures fatal attack.
BOOM! A shotgun blast tore through the monster’s chest, delaying it. Jean came forward, holstering the shotgun and pulling for a magnum.
“Goodbye foul beast!” he said, unleashing three shots between the creature’s eyes. The other soldiers, exploiting their weakness, quickly began to mop up the few remaining creatures.
“Ashlee, do not EVER scare me like that again!” Jean said to her as he put away the pistol.
Ashlee stood there momentarily, and the lunged forward, embracing Jean tightly. “Please get me out of here; I don’t want to die, please.” Jean could feel the tears running down his uniform, and just like that, a fire, one he had never felt before, burned inside him.
“Alright men listen up; we are getting out of this hell hole, ALL OF US! Sergeant, I want you to link up with the Sgt. Maj and the LT. tell them we are leaving, and they have 5 minutes to get their asses back to the gate or they are trapped!”
“Yes sir!”
“And, Ash….” he paused here and lifted her head from his shoulder. “Nothing will happen to you while I am still here.” he smiled, as if to give her reassurance to what he said. Ashlee blushed, and then moved behind Jean as he led the men out of the depths of hell itself.
Chapter XIII: From the Depths
Jean watched as the small group of marines prepared themselves for the battle ahead. The men shook and trembled as they loaded their weapons.
Some just sat on the ground doing nothing, others prayed, but the smell of fear surrounded the men and Jean knew what this may bring.
He was surrounded in deep thought when a hand tapped his shoulder. He was ready to pull his weapon but a voice sounded off before he could do so.
“Sergeant, I’ve got word in from the other units. The LT is gone, but the survivors are mobilizing towards to entrance. They’re pretty banged up sir. ” the soldier said.
Jean breathed a heavy sigh, and looked down to the ground. He did not make any eye contact with the solder as he spoke. “What of SgtMaj Black?” He asked.
The soldier sighed, “No sir. I checked vital signs of Black’s men. They’re gone sir, all of them.”
“Then we’re on our own for now.” Jean said. “There is nothing we can do for the Sergeant Major. We must save ourselves.”
Jean raised his head and turned around to the soldier. “Tell what’s left of the LT’s men we will meet them shortly.” Then pulling his magnum out of his holster and turned to Ashlee. “Now, Miss Miller, stay close to me, I’ll protect you.”
Ashlee started to blush a bit, half turning away from Jean. The time she had spent in this hell hole drew her closer to Jean. “He will be mine” She thought.
Jean looked around at the soldiers and said. “Okay, lets move. Bravo Team this is SSgt. Louis, Alpha Team leader, we are Oscar Mike. How copy over?”
The radio crackled to life, “Roger Alpha, we read you loud and clear. We are three klicks away from the exit. We’ll hold and…….hold up, TANGOS LEFT! BRAVO ENGAGE, ENGAGE!!!!”
Not soon after the radio ceased its transmission, sounds began to come from the hallway. Drawing the attention of all the troopers, the doorway was soon lit up by the flashlights.
“Stay frosty men,” Jean said, his finger twitching on the trigger of his weapon. A figure slowly limped into view of the men. It was clothed in a bloody mass of what appeared to be a UNSC uniform.
“IT’S THE SERGEANT MAJOR!” One of the men shouted as he lowered his weapon.
Jean looked at the figure and it did appear to be SgtMaj. Black, albeit extremely bloody. However, he made no move, he just stood in the doorway, his head drooping downwards, facing the floor.
Slowly, it raised its head up, allowing the soldiers to see the face that greeted them. It’s bright blue eyes glowed fierce, and with the aide of the flashlights, the rotting and broken and bloody flesh on its face was completely visible.
“Holy hell, that ain’t Black!!” Jean said anticipating a charge from the infected figure. However it just stood in the doorway, watching, and almost…..waiting. Jean stared back, his hand firmly gripping his rifle and his finger jittering on the trigger. The standoff continued, no one making a move. The soldiers stood, aiming at the figure, and it stood staring at them. Suddenly, he raised one of his limbs towards the soldiers. Immediately they tensed up, most losing all bits of sanity the clung to.
The creature’s mouth opened, a foul stench filled the air, and all that were present could smell it. Black was gone, that was certain, but no one knew how far.
It made a few guttural noises and then, as if by a miricale spoke, in plain but broken English.
“Run….go……….NOWWARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!”
The building shook and the walls quaked as the infected Black fell to the ground. Jean stood in front of the motionless body, his pistol raised by his face. “Everybody move now!
The soldiers, hastened at the chance to finally leave the hell that they had entered. It was clear however, that the undead would not allow them to leave from this place alive. The ventilation ducts that had sat so vacant upon their entry now served as the tunnels for the undead creations to filter through the entire complex. By the time that the small group had begun their long and perilous trek back to the entrance, four of the men had already fallen prey to the monstrosities that followed close en suit.
Jean heard a scream, and turned to see Ashlee pinned to the ground, trying her best to kill the helpless woman. In and instinct, Jean ran back, grabbing his knife from his pouch on his hip, and with one fowl swoop drove the knife into the beast’s neck.
A scream erupted from its mouth as it fell to the floor, its wound, far from healable.
“Ashlee, are you okay?” Jean asked, inspecting the female trooper thoroughly. His eyes met hers for a moment, and the two saw deep into each other.
“No. I’m…I’m….fine.” Ashlee stammered out, as the blood and creatures filled the room.
“Stay here, behind everyone.” He placed his shotgun in her small, delicate hands. “If they get too close, you know what to do. I’m going to clear us a path out of here.” And with that, Jean left the stunned Captain hidden in the wall of UNSC soldiers.
“Team three this is team two, how copy over?” Jean shouted as he ran to the forefront of the dwindling group of men. He fired his pistol into the head of an oncoming member of the horde as he walked towards the exit, the shots piercing its skull, sending the beast onto the floor. Another of the horde came running headfirst at Jean almost as soon as the first had hit the floor.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
He looked down and ejected the magazine into his hand, it was empty.
Jean now stood helpless as the monster came lumbering towards him. He felt around for a spare mag, none. The others were engaged in their own conflicts as well, and were unable to assist the lone sergeant.
Just as the beast was about to strike, and Jean feared his life lost, a single, and deafening explosion rocked the foundations of the facility. Catching the creature’s attention, more and more similar explosions began to erupt throughout the entire complex.
Then, machineguns erupted into what sounded like ten buzz saws starting up at once. Slicing into the creatures, and clearing a path up to the loading bay. The soldiers of Alpha Team hit the floor as to not be caught in the wave of friendly fire coming from the blood encrusted halls of the cargo bay.
Jean raised his head to look for a location of the unknown fire, and saw shadows emerging from the darkness ahead.
“Hold Fire!” a voice shouted from the group ahead, “I think they’re friendlies! FLASH!”
“THUNDER!” Jean shouted, knowing the correct response to the outdated, but effective, method of determining one’s allegiance. “Is that you Bravo?!”
Last edited by zman007playr on October 31st 2013, 8:12 pm; edited 3 times in total
the guy shooting the shotgun right there.
Good job, Z.
