Chapter VIII
Planet Iridanus, Polaris System
0410 22 January 2540
Downtown Rubidard, Delfanus
I don’t know how long I had laid there. I could still feel the tremors of the wraith shots, landing all around me. It had been going on for around ten minutes until it had halted. After that, banshees screaming by were doing strafing runs and throwing fuel rod shots to turn the area into utter chaos. Soldiers and tanks were firing into the air to repel the attack. That had lasted for fifteen minutes. All the while, I just lay motionless, becoming one with nothingness. Time had slowed, and the explosions, chaos, and screams happening around me were barely heard, as they were muffled by the shock of the attack. I can’t seem to remember anything anymore. It all became one massive blur of a memory. After all was said and done, soldiers kicked bodies to check the living. A soldier came up to me and kicked me in the ribs, hard. I gave a gasp of pain.
“Ugh!”
“You alive there?”
“***.”
“Get up.”
The snow had covered me pretty deeply, so much so that it took some effort to get up from under it. I had felt a sharp pain go through my shoulder.
“***!!”
The soldier gave me a horrified look. “MEDIC!!”
I glanced at my shoulder. It had seemed that a tank nozzle had flung at my arm and broke it. The nozzle itself shattered and some of it delved into my shoulder. .50 cal ammo from the machine gun turret could be seen engraved into my armor. The medic came over to check my condition.
“You’re messed up like a ***. Name?”
“SGT Harper."
“SIR!” the soldier and medic said unanimously.
The medic spoke up. “Sir, let me pop your arm back into place.”
The grabbed my arm firmly with both of his and without warning twisted it back into place. I would’ve loved to shriek in pain, but training had taught me different. No pain, no fear, no emotion.
“That hurts like a ***.”
“Heh. Now let’s see about that shrapnel.”
He crudely yanked out the tank nozzle. “***!!!”
He threw me a quick grin. After, he injected biofoam directly in the cut, and then injected steroids to keep me going. The medic searched through his pack.
“Here, let me give you new shoulder armor. It doubles as a bandage and fits right over your current one.” He strapped it around my arm. “Good as new!”
I looked around. Flaming wreckage was found everywhere. All you could see lying around are wheels, plates of armor, and if you’re lucky, a skeleton structure of a vehicle. I took count of the remaining soldiers. Only about 60 soldiers remained, 1 Scorpion, and 2 Warthogs.
“Sir, what are you’re orders?” the soldier asked.
“Soldier, state yourself.”
“Aye, sir. Corporal Ruhl, Delfan Defense Force 12th Division.”
“Congrats on your promotion, Staff Sergeant.”
“Sir?”
“I want you to organize the soldiers into their squads again. Get a group to collect dog tags, and recover weaponry and distribute them as you see fit.”
“YES, SIR!” He seemed rather ecstatic.
I need to contact my squad.
“Gilbert, do you read?”
Static.
“Gilbert”
More static.
“GILBERT, ARE YOU THERE?”
Nothing. No response.
“***!”
I took ten minutes to check maps, the feeds of sentries’ infrared visuals, coordinate defenses, and set up plans for every possible scenario. There’s been reports of a Scarab in the vicinity, but the loftily falling snow had become a dangerous snowstorm, where you could hardly see ten meters in any direction. The sound of whining machinery could be heard in the distance, though.
It seemed that the Division of Covenant troops in the valley below us that Gilbert and I had targeted before had given us the slip. They were nowhere to be found. S Sgt. Ruhl came with the report.
“Sir, I’ve set up a defensive perimeter around this valley. What are your orders?”
I knew we couldn’t stay in the open for much longer in this storm. It’ll take a terrible toll on the troops and on their morale. Maybe the Covenant fortifications might do us well. I decided to comm. for some support.
“Any high ranking son of *** higher than staff sergeant present yourself to the Field CP!!”
I only had to wait several moments for men to step forward. I had a line of about twelve.
“***, I had to wait how long S Sgt?”
“Three minutes, sir!” Ruhl replied.
“Damn, that’s too long!”
“Aye, sir!” sang the chorus of gathered men.
“Sound OFF!!” I screamed.
“Sergeant, First Class, Hernandez, sir!”
“Sergeant, First Class, Rodriguez, sir!”
“Sergeant, First Class, Bohr, sir!”
“First Sergeant Blake, sir!”
“Sergeant, First Class, Thomas, sir!”
“Sergeant, First Class, Hopkins, sir!”
“Master Sergeant Higgins, sir!”
“Gunnery Sergeant Flowers, sir!”
“Sergeant, First Class, Rotwell, sir!”
“Chief Petty Officer Padilla, sir!” Hmm… A ranking Daemon.
“First Sergeant Oswell, sir!”
“Sergeant, First Class, Watson, sir!”
Goddamn there were a lot of First Classes’.
“All right!! First Sergeant Oswell, Chief Petty Officer Padilla, and Sergeant, First Class Bohr, you’re with me.” I ordered.
“Yes, sir!!” was the response.
“Master Sergeant Higgins, You are in charge here. Do not lose an inch of the ground we stand on, or you better make sure they kill you. If they don’t, I will.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Gunny, you’re 2nd in command while I’m gone.”
“Yes, sir!!”
“Everyone else, get the *** out of my face!!”
“YES, SIR!!!”
With that, all the extras scrambled back to their respective posts and foxholes. Everyone else came to the table set-up in the Field CP.
“All right, Oswell, Padilla, Bohr, and myself are going to scout out the abandoned Covenant position to see if we can use it for cover. Master Sergeant, you’ll hold this area, and send men in increments if we find the area suitable.”
“Of course, sir.” replied Higgins.
“Gunnery Sergeant Flowers, you take his commands and act as his advisor.”
“Aye, sir.” was the reply.
“Oswell; Padilla; Bohr, let’s move out.”
“Yes, sir!!”
My squad had walked several meters outside of the perimeter.
“Well, what now, sir?” asked Oswell.
“Take point, Padilla.”
“Aye, sir.”
We started to move out, sliding down whatever slope we could. We just kept moving; just kept rushing forward. It was hard to keep track of direction and distance, let alone making sure we’re in reach of each other. The snow storm had grown out of control and incredibly dangerous. Flinging snowflakes thud on our armor, and the howling and screaming wind made it hard to hear, even on our comm. sets. Oswell was in process of sliding down a slope when it had abruptly ended and he fell into a dirt entrenchment. Bohr jumped down to check if he’s alright; SFC Padilla jumped nearby them and checked to see if the perimeter was safe. I happened upon a damaged Shade facing the direction opposite the Field Command Post. I looked around and noticed that the earth was dug in a massive amount of area.
“Is there something wrong, sir?” asked SFC Padilla.
“No, sergeant. I think something happened here. Let’s move on and see what we can find.”
“Aye.”
We searched along debris and pillars of unearthed rock. It was a while until we came upon scores of lifeless grunts. The damage seems to be of mostly multiple bullet wounds. The further we search, the more corpses, craters we came upon. It seemed that there was a large engagement, but the Covenant seemed to dig deep and held their ground at the cost of hundreds. There seems to be no sign of close quarters combat whatsoever. Weaponry was lying everywhere, so I picked up two plasma grenades, just in case. Of the battlefield spoils I picked up, I now have three energy blades, two plasma rifles, a plasma pistol, a jackel shield, and now two plasma grenades.
“Sir!! Over here!!” yelled Oswell.
We all came rushing over. What Oswell had found has a tunnel leading hundreds of meters deep into the earth. Each of us pulled out our binoculars. At the end of the rabbit hole was a door, but no ordinary door. This one had an alien language on it that was unknown to us.
“It’s not Covenant, sir.” replied Padilla.
He was right. Then all of a sudden a whining machinery sound came to a halt behind us. I didn’t know why we didn’t notice it until it was too late. Bohr was the first to turn around.
“Oh ***…”
"...You might think I'm losing my mind, but I will shy away from the specifics..."
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