PART 24


    Kasan led Brice and Harper over to where the doctor was propped up against the Controller. Brice knelt down and helped Canner up. The doctor draped his left arm over Brice’s shoulders and limped a couple steps. “Thank you,” Canner managed.

    “Where is Culver going?” Brice asked.

    “Beats me, but we have to get out of here, now!” Harper keyed his communicator. “Carrizo, how are things up at the front entrance?” Ian cringed and partially pulled his earpiece out when the sounds of gunfire overpowered Carrizo’s reply. “Okay, looks like that way is out of the question. Any ideas?”

    Shalan coughed and his body shook. “There’s an emergency exit on this level.” He pulled out his commpad and handed it to Ian. “It should take us to the surface along the cliff wall of the valley where your ship is currently docked.” He raised his head and pointed to the far wall where a single hatchway was carved from the blue texture.

    “What about Hannah?” Kasan opened her hands. "If she—"

    “If she is not out of this base by the time we blow the Power Station, she won’t be a problem anymore.” Brice gave her an icy stare that cut off any further discussion. “Let’s go!” Brice picked up the pale-faced doctor and slung him over his shoulder like a wounded comrade.

    Kasan planted her hands on her hips and sighed. “I guess there’s no choice.” There never really is, anymore. She grabbed the detonator that the doctor dropped and pocketed it.

    Ian took her hand and started running towards the escape route. Brice had already kicked open the door causing an overhead light to blurt out an alarm. Harper and Kasan stepped through the doorway, and a metal-framed staircase led them upwards. Leaping up the steps two and sometimes three at a time, the four made it to a small shuttle car that sat inside a long corridor. The tunnel vanished into darkness, promising the evacuees an unknown time frame of the journey to the surface. Brice keyed the doors open and they corralled inside. Ian closed the doors and joined Kasan at the control panel.

    Brice set the doctor down on a benched seat, none too gently, and Kasan heard him cry out in agony. “Careful, Brice. He’s lost a lot of blood.” Kasan exchanged places with the pilot and began to reapply the blood-soaked bandage. “You’re going to be okay, Shalan, just sit still.”

    Up at the control panel Brice and Harper finally got the shuttle moving at a snail’s pace, then it increased its speed. Harper joined Kasan on the padded seats, and he touched her arm gently. “We’re moving now. Not much we can do, but just sit tight.”

    On Kasan’s left, the doctor moaned. “I’m sorry, Miss Abrams. I should have told you the truth.” He reached up to grab her hand and Kasan felt his lack of strength in the grip. “I should have never placed you in the situation without proper explanation.”

    Brice called back over his shoulder. “You can say that again.”

    Kasan was about to reply with condescension of her own, but Canner quickly spoke up. “No, it’s alright. I deserve that.” He gave a slight squeeze of the hand. “There is so much going on with Hexil that you don’t know. That only a few know, really.” He gave a laugh that turned into a wet cough. “Hell, the Crath aren’t even indigenous to Passium.”

    “What?” Kasan’s eyes grew wide and Ian stood up.

He gripped an overhead bar to keep himself steady. “Keep talking, Doc.”

“It didn’t make sense to me at all until now.” He tried to sit up, but Kasan placed a stiff hand on his chest. He gave a weak smile and remained where he lay. “When I lived with the Crath, I learned their language, and I was also taught their history. Their elder spoke of the Calling. He said that thousands of years ago, his people were brought to Passium. This was not their original home planet, and they were once a large race on the verge of space exploration. His ancestors were wiped out, it is unknown to him what caused such genocide, but a handful was transported here and left to repopulate. Passium is their second home, albeit a little too warm for their tastes, but they have adapted well.”

Kasan closed her eyes and shook her head. Her mind was travelling a million miles an hour and shifting direction every second. “How does this make sense now?”

“The hologram Culver talked with, Eran, I didn’t know existed. An AI with full sentience, can you imagine that? If what she told us is true, then I fear there is much more going on here, that even she realizes.” He frowned. “If Eran told Culver that we needed to get ready for war, who knows if we would be on the right side?”  He suppressed another cough. “If Eran brought the Crath here, and is asking for our help too, wouldn’t Eran seek to find all other races of the galaxy and bring them here?”

Ian snorted. “This planet is a little too small to fit all of humanity, let alone other races.”

“Then maybe it’s a staging area,” Kasan offered. “Bring us here, then head we all head out together?”

The doctor gave a short nod. “Yes, and how many more species like ours is out there?”

Brice turned around, leaned against the control panel, and folded his arms. “Whatever that Watchman said, let the next team Hexil sends out here deal with it. We are a colonization crew, not an investigative unit specialized in alien encounters. We need to get off this planet.”

Oh, crap. Kasan’s hands shot up to halt the conversation. “Wait. Hannah said that it was Eran that activated the shield, right? So what happens when we destroy Eran’s ability to power the shield?”

Ian’s face grew long and his eyes widened. “I doubt it will be very happy with us.”

Brice unfolded his arms. “Then we must hurry and get on board Pioneer. Dealing with Culver’s people is one thing, but battling it out with an alien AI? No, thank you.”

Kasan leaned back on the bench, its soft fabric doing little to comfort her in any way.




****************************************



Jonas sat up in his command chair on the bridge. He listened with one ear to the reports of the battle outside, and with the other ear he received constant system updates from his technicians. He scratched at the stubble on his chin. I never liked facial hair.

His attention shifted to the tactical readout on the main viewscreen. It showed a topical layout of the valley and positions of his men, who were retreating with all haste back to the docking bay. Captain Relo had told Fahas and his Crath warriors to vacate the valley before Pioneer lifted off. The alien seemed reluctant at first, but agreed to leave. He probably didn’t realize how powerful our thrusters could be. While Pioneer was capable of atmospheric flight, it had never lifted off of an uneven surface as this valley floor. Talk about a christening of our maiden voyage.

“Sir, we are being pursued by multiple enemy contacts. Requesting suppressing fire!” Thomas Hill’s voice boomed over the comm.

Jonas swiveled to his right. He made eye contact with his ground unit coordinator. “Get Carrizo’s men into the defensive positions in the docking bay.” He pointed back to the viewscreen. “And try to raise Harper’s team on the comm. We are not leaving them behind.”




**************************************



Sergeant Hill fired over his left shoulder once again and dropped an armored Crath to the grassy plain. His left arm pulsed with pain, but he shunted it aside. During the frantic retreat, they had stopped several times to tend to the wounded and took cover in the random rock formations scattered throughout the valley. The enemy force would overwhelm them, forcing Hill’s men to retreat to the next outcropping, and attrition began to take its horrible effect. The only bright spot during the engagement was watching Private Jonathan Brooks become a true warrior. Brooks took up the rear position, ordering commandos to pick up the pace. When the rear guard would receive a salvo from the Crathian soldiers, he would single-handedly fend off a dozen targets at once, while instructing others to gather the fallen or wounded. He did all this without sustaining an injury.

That was until a round struck Brooks in the neck.

It happened in slow motion for Thomas. Brooks turned around to see the last hundred meters to Pioneer’s docking bay and shouted an encouragement to those around him. “Look, men! We’re almost—“ His body jerked forward and blood sprayed out his mouth. The round had pierced his spine, then traveled through his neck to rip his throat open. He instantly collapsed to the ground, blood quickly turning the grass a blackened hue.

Disbelief and anger swelled inside Thomas. He started running towards the flatted grassy grave, but was caught up in the wave of commandos pushing him back. He knew he heard voices telling him that it was of no use, that Brooks was gone, but they rang shallow in his ears. Planting his feet, he raised his weapon and started firing madly at the enemy line. He didn’t care for accuracy, only that he would avenge Brooks’ death by slaying his murderer. He gritted his teeth and held the trigger down. He yelled out a cry as tears began to blur his vision. The clip emptied and he quickly replaced it. Thomas felt a tug on his arm and he shrugged it off, pouring more rounds into the approaching army.

Return fire began whizzing past his head, and enemy rounds kicked up the dirt in front of him. There’s nothing more you can do. Get back to the ship. He heard the voice of reason in his head and he chose to ignore it. Saliva seeped through the gaps in his teeth as he let out a muffled growl. When a round sliced through his loosened right sleeve he snapped out of his rage. He blinked his eyes a few times, clearing them with his left hand. He gave Jonathan Brooks’ body one last look and saluted his fallen friend.

He turned around and started sprinting in a random zigzag pattern. He cleared his throat. “Let’s go! Move it!” Others echoed his command, as Carrizo’s snipers began picking off the enemy soldiers in hot pursuit. He did his best to quicken his pace.




******************




Jay Carrizo circled around the left side of his sniper team. The scoped rifles filled the docking bay with a consistent tempo of fired shots. He dropped down off of the perch of boxes and got his balance. The commandos with Sergeant Hill just started to file into the hangar. He waved a couple past and a few collapsed on the deck from exhaustion. He looked out on the chaos filling the valley. A seemingly endless amount of Crath soldiers filled in the ranks of the fallen and continued to pummel both flanks, seeking to pinch off the group.

Carrizo cupped his hands to be heard over the gunfire. “Theta squad concentrate all fire on the left flank! Lambda squad take their right side down!” The two forward-most groups opened up with rifles ablaze. Their firepower momentarily weakened the enemy columns seeking to overrun Hill’s group. “Keep it up, boys!”

His new communicator chimed in his right ear, and he stepped back away from the opening. “Captain?”

“Sergeant Carrizo, we have contact with Lt. Harper and Miss Abrams. They’re inbound, coming from the port side of the ship.”

Jay pulled out his macrolenses and zeroed in on the cliff wall to the left. He scanned the ridgeline and found four individuals making their way down the steep incline. “Copy, Sir. I see them.” He lowered his visual enhancement and squinted across the haze of dust forming outside. He calculated the distance and time. Sh*t. “Harper, do you read me?”

There was soft pop over the comm. “We’re here, Sergeant. Battered and bruised, but we’re here. Looks like we’re a little late.”

Jay’s eyebrow narrowed. “Better late than never, Lt.” At the moment, the Crath soldiers were not attentive to their presence. The last of Sergeant Hill’s men were entering the hangar and Jay’s men were fending off the continued attack. Great. What now? Jay thought about sending out a team that could create a wedge in the enemy line in order to bring back the four stranded on the cliff’s side. But the time needed to rescue them would be short-lived when their foes overwhelmed them with shear numbers.

Sergeant Hill joined him by his side, slightly out of breath. “Situation,” he gasped.

Jay turned to face the worn out commando. “All accounted for?” He realized his poor selection of questions and brought his hands up. “Look, I’m sorry. We’ve both lost a lot of good men today.” He sighed and pointed to Harper’s position. “We have Harper, Brice, Abrams, and the doctor stuck out there unless we find a way to bring them in safely.”

Thomas nodded, and then he titled his head to the side in realization. “What about using one of the dropships? We could fly one over there, pick them up, and make it back in no time.”

Carrizo snapped his fingers. “Great idea.” He keyed his comm unit once more. “Do we have any dropships prepped and ready for launch?” He looked back to the row of unused craft and caught the attention from a mechanic waving his arms in the air. The two sergeants trotted over to meet the grease-covered man.

The sounds of gunfire were now forcing everyone to shout to be heard. Carrizo pointed to the nearest dropship. “How fast can you get her ready?”

Jay leaned in, offering his right ear to the mechanic. “Give us five minutes! We’ll have her out the door!”

Jay looked up at Thomas, then back to the mechanic. “Five minutes? Make it three, if you can!”

“We’ll do our best, Sir.”

Jay patted the man on the back, and the mechanic hurried off to a huddle of other techs and pointed to the dropship at the end of the row.

"Sir!”

The two sergeants ran back to the docking bay doors. Jay got to the commando that had yelled him over. “What, Private?”

The younger soldier simply pointed out to the port side. Jay’s gaze swept across the countless Crath bodies and to the viewpoint on the horizon.

The Crath army had spotted Harper’s group.

Carizzo swore to himself. We need more time! At a distance of a couple hundred meters from Harper, the Crath divided their force and set off to eliminate their new threat.

Thomas finally reached Jay’s side and his mouth hung open when he saw the chances of rescue evaporate before his eyes.

---

New story out! Halo: Below the Brine
(it's the best story you're not reading!)

Part 25



Jonas Relo slammed his fist down hard on the command chair when he saw the Crath soldiers making their way towards Harper’s position. The weapons systems were still offline, and Jonas cursed Culver once more.  “Lieutenant Harper, you have inbound hostiles. Try and find some cover, while we get our team together.”

"Copy, Captain.” Slight despair soaked into Ian’s words. “Sir, we’ll try and hold them off as long as we can. Harper out.”

Jonas shot up to his feet and marched to the viewscreen. “Close the docking bay doors. Propulsion,” he bellowed, “I want thrusters on full when I give the signal.” If we seal the docking bay, we can fry up a good portion of the enemy Crath where they stand.

“Sir?”

Jonas turned on his heal and gave an icy stare. “When I give the order, you follow it, right?”

The propulsion’s officer visibly swallowed and gave a blank stare in return. The sensor’s officer spoke up instead, his face turning pale. “Sir, we have an inbound contact.”

*******************************************

 

Sweat pasted random locks of hair over her face as Kasan crouched down behind the small pile of boulders and glanced over the top to see the enemy forthcoming. Brice had set Canner down near a large rock a few meters away and used himself as an extra shield for the wounded doctor. Harper squatted down beside her. She tugged at the loosened ponytail and dark wavy hair pooled around her shoulders.

Ian brought his arm up. “I’m sorry, Kasan.” He slowly rubbed her back with his left hand. “If we could have gotten to you sooner we wouldn’t even be in this mess.” He sighed and reached his hand around her side and pulled her in for an awkward hug. “I think given different circumstances, we could’ve hit it off, you know?” Kasan could detect his tone wasn’t filled with the flirtatiousness of earlier conversations, but it held a concern and disappointment of a lost future.

"I know." Kasan smiled and leaned in to return the hug; their foreheads touched. She whispered to him as her hair cascaded down to cocoon their faces from the world. Sunlight bled through the waves in her hair and she released her grip on her pistol, causing it to clatter to the ground.
Ian followed suit and took her hands in his. “Kasan, I…” He frowned slightly. “I wish I could hit the reset button on the galaxy and start over with you.” He chuckled to himself. “I wish we could start this whole colonization thing over, for that matter.”

Kasan reached up with her right hand and stroked his cheek. He closed his eyes, smiled,  and gently grabbed her hand, basking in the softness of her skin. He traced the outline of her face with his other hand and paused over her moistened lips. Without further hesitation, he reached behind her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. When their lips met, Kasan could taste the saltiness of his skin. She breathed in deeply and placed her hands on his ears, locking him in place. With Ian’s head slightly tilted to the right, he slowly opened his mouth and their tongues met. Kasan playfully massaged his tongue with hers.

Kasan's heart fluttered in her chest.



*****************************************************



Ian inhaled through his noise and smelled the wonderful, sweet scent of Kasan's perfume. It was from an extract of a type of flower his father had placed on his mother's grave so long ago. Old emotions forged in his past reached up from the depths of his soul to haunt him, but he pushed them back down as he held on to Kasan. It reminded him of home and being someplace far away from here. He worked his jaw to thrust his tongue against hers. Warmth filled his being, and for once in a very long time, Ian felt... whole. He knew it was more that mere lust. He knew it was more than just adrenaline pumping through his veins from the day's events. He truly loved Kasan Abrams. The good. The bad. The indifferent. Ian loved her completely and he wanted to remain locked in her embrace forever.



***************************************



Brice popped in a fresh clip and set himself against the rock. He could see that Kasan and Ian were exchanging a private moment, and he gave it to them. He shook his head in amusement. Never thought those two would ever hit it off. He looked back down at the doctor who was patting the bloody wound with a jacket sleeve.

Shalan Canner raised his head and squinted his eyes at the brightness silhouetting Brice's face. "It is a pity we never got to meet this Watchman."

Brice snorted. "Well, if you see it before I do, ask Eran if it could get me a beer, would you?" He turned back around to face the marching army of corrupted Crath. They were almost in range of his weapon, which also meant they were in range, as well. He looked over to the two lovebirds and started to tell them to get ready.

A loud, deafening roar filled the air, totally masking the sound of the soldiers marching. He looked around the ridgeline expecting to see his Crathian allies about which the doctor informed him.

Instead he saw a blur fly overhead, and the pressurized air caused the grass to lie flat on the ground. Kasan and Harper abruptly snapped into combat mode and searched the skies. Likewise, the enemy Crath raised their heads up high. The aircraft swooped around in a tight arc and rolled over on its side.

"Verra Two! Its Verra Two!" He pointed to his once sister ship.

Brice's comm unit crackled. "Miss us, Brice?" The voice of Flight Officer John Thompson was unmistakable. "Need a hand?"

Brice let a huge smile blossom on his face. "Those armored troops down here are hostiles. If you can eliminate them for us, we could finally get out of here."

Over the comm, Captain Relo entered the conversation. "Verra Two? Where the hell have you been?"

The aircraft leveled out and fired his main weapon. A continuous stream of miniature MAC rounds carved up the landscape and anything that happened to be in their way. Some of the Crath were evaporated instantly and others had portions of their body ripped off by shear velocity. Two lifted up and came back around for another pass, but by then the Crath army was in complete disarray, leaving easy targets for the three firing from cover.

Brice gladly put down five more soldiers with two headshots and three torso hits. Ian and Kasan added to the body count with their tandem firing. Thompson, along with his co-pilot, swooped down at the scattering army. Rounds harmlessly bounced off of the hull and Two launched the ship's flash missiles. The weapon, which was designed to flash heat a large area of ice to provide fresh drinking water, proved just as effective against living targets. The large crack sounded like a thunderclap that died down as fast as it emanated. The valley walls brightened when the yellow fire burst into existence. Brice had to hunker down from the massive amount of heat he felt roll over him. All that was left of the blast zone were charred remains and blackened grass.

The comm crackled once more. "Sorry, Captain. Had to finish up some things."

Brice laughed aloud and heard Relo doing the same. "Understandable." Jonas cleared his throat loudly. "So?"

Thompson paused over the comm for a second. "Well, when that last jamming signal went out, we were able to ditch the plane safely in the snow. If you didn't know, I went to Uni for Aeronautical Engineering, so we were able to locate to source of the problem: an added on commbox that wired into the main electrical circuits." Two came around for one final pass and silenced a pocket of small arms fire with his primary weapon. "We spent all night and morning patching her up. We couldn't even transmit past a couple hundred yards via line-of-sight. It was just luck that we landed on a snowy slope."

"Very well, Thompson," the Captain murmured. "We're just about to launch a dropship to pick up Brice and his companions. Would you mind escorting them in?"

"Not at all, Sir."



**************************************



As the docking bay doors opened back up, the entire crew that was inside the hangar erupted in a cheer for Verra Two's return. The sleek ship slowed to a hover over the tattered landscape. Thomas Hill gave an exaggerated salute to the pilot and marched back towards the prepped and waiting dropship. After a quick examination by a medical technician, he had a fresh bandage on his wounded left arm and he was given a local anesthetic. He rotated his shoulder to test his range of movement. Not bad. Still a little stiff.

Jay Carrizo was waiting at the dropship’s side, his firearm still in hand. “You don’t need to go, Sergeant. The area is secure.”

Thomas lowered his gaze for a second as he took a step inside the small ship’s entrance. “No, I need to see this through all the way. I’ve lost friends here, and it’s my responsibility to see Kasan and Harper return safe.” He gave Jay a smile and reached out to shake his hand. “You did well out there, Carrizo. I’ll request that your promotion remain permanent.”

Jay put his rifle in his left and shook Hill’s hand with the other. “Thank you, Sir.” The engine wine of the dropship began to scale up to its frequency threshold just out of human hearing range. “See you soon.”

Thomas nodded and stepped inside the dropship's cargo bay. Taking a seat at the end of the row on the starboard side, he leaned back and closed his eyes. War is hell, and I’ve just about had enough.




**********************************************



    Jonas did his best to hide his nervousness as he waited for the dropship to arrive and pick up the four remaining in the valley. With Verra Two, the smaller ship departed from Pioneer and covered the distance in a matter of seconds. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Quickly, guys.

Jonas felt his legs quiver, but then realized the floor was rumbling. “Propulsion?”

    “It’s not us, Sir.”

    His Sensors officer cleared his throat loudly. “Uh, Sir? I’m picking up some strange readings.”

    Jonas hustled over to the officer’s station. “Is it those machines again?”

    The tech typed away on his keypad. “No, Sir. I’m picking up random seismic anomalies.” He pressed a few more keys and his display popped up on the main viewscreen.

    The rumbling was increasing.

    Relo looked up and slowly walked forward towards the large display. Tiny blips began to fill the screen and circles traced in blue pulsed out, revealing a connecting pattern. The way Pioneer had touched down on the ground had left it bisected in the middle by the small river that ran underneath its hull. The vibrations on the ground began to drastically increase— and the fault line became clear.

    The river was opening up and would swallow them whole.

    Jonas braced himself on the railing in front of the viewsreen. “Get us airborne, now!”

    “Thrusters engaged.” The Propulsions officer got on the comm. “Seal the hangar bay doors!”

    Jonas held on tightly to the railing as Pioneer sluggishly lifted up off the valley floor. He keyed his comm unit that was wireless connected to his command chair. “Standby to blow those charges. I want that shield down before we exit this valley.” A tremor rippled through the deck and Jonas fell to his knees. “Sergeant Hill, get Harper and his team aboard and get out of there. We’re going to blow the Power Station, and we’ll get your dropship and Verra Two aboard once we’ve made it past the shield's range.”

    “Aye, Sir. It’s getting pretty shaking here, but we’re almost finished.”

    “Hurry, Sergeant.” Hurry.

---

New story out! Halo: Below the Brine
(it's the best story you're not reading!)

Part 26

 

Ian Harper felt like the world could end and he’d die happy. Well, it would be nice to stick around for a while. Hand in hand, he and Kasan stepped inside the dropship. They took a seat beside each other and embraced once more.

Sergeant Hill, along with several commandos, had disembarked from the ship and were helping get Shalan Canner on a medical stretcher. Brice was still outside, firing rounds at twitching Crath bodies that were strewn across the clearing. Ian let out a sigh. He never gives up.

The ground began to quake and an overhead storage compartment bounced open, spilling its contents onto the floor. Spare harnesses and straps for the seats were now littering the deck, so Ian got up to gather them. Kasan held on to his arm to steady him as he collected with the other.

He glanced outside and saw Brice running back with the remaining commandos and the doctor, being carried on the stretcher. Another vibration knocked Brice off of his feet and he scrambled back up. Ian turned back around to face Kasan. Her face was filled with fear.

The pilot called back. "Let's move! The Captain wants us airborne ASAP!"

The dropship’s thrusters were kicking up dust, but clouds were forming as the rumbling escalated. Screeching, like metal against an abrasive surface, echoed off the valley walls, and it seemed as if the planet itself was crying out in pain. The four commandos carrying Canner reached the cargo bay and leaped inside, causing the doctor to bounce off his stretcher and land on his bad leg. He cried out in pain and his wound reopened. Ignoring him, Sgt. Hill marched up to the cockpit.

The ship lifted a meter off the ground, and some of the vibrations subsided. Brice was still on his way to the ship when a tremor rippled over the grassy plain like an ocean's wave and tossed Lt. Brice in the air. He landed face first on the ground, several meters away.

Ian stood up, grabbed the frame of the door, and felt his heart stop momentarily. "Brice! Get up!"

The dust cloud billowed over the downed pilot, but he slowly gathered his weight underneath him and stood. He shook his head to clear some of the fuzziness he was obviously experiencing and stretched his hands out to help balance himself. The ground looked like it was disintegrating before Ian's very eyes and Brice gave him a blank, helpless stare.

"Sergeant!" Ian screamed at the top of his lungs. "Back the ship up. Brice is still out there!"

Thomas Hill was at his side in an instant. "Pilot!" He yelled over his shoulder. "Back us up a couple meters!" He took Harper's hand and began to extent himself farther out the rear of the dropship. The ship slowly started to creep backwards as the ground began to collapse in small sections. Brice leaped onto a rocky platform as the dirt he just occupied gave way and disappeared below.

What the hell?! Ian clenched his teeth and stretched his arms as much as he could. Hill slipped and fell to the deck. Ian crouched down and snagged a hold of the sergeant's leg.

Lying on his stomach, Hill reached out for the stranded pilot and yelled, "jump, Brice!"

Brice was directly below Thomas' outstretched hand when the rock he lept off of gave way and plummeted to the unknown depths below. Their hands gripped each other's forearms, and they reinforced the link with their other hands. "Pull!"

Ian reeled them in with all his strength. Thomas was able to get in a sitting position and he pulled Brice over the lip of the cargo bay. Exhausted, the three rolled back away from the closing bay door.

"We're clear. Get us out of this valley," Hill ordered to the pilot.

Visibly shaking, Brice took a seat across from Kasan, and Hill and Harper ran to the cockpit. Ian looked forward through the glass and could barely comprehend what was happening outside. His view rotated with the dropship, giving him a front row seat to the utter destruction. The river had completely vanished and the ground opened up like some giant sea creature feeding on plankton. Pioneer's bow pitched up and it's aft soon joined it. At first, it looked as if the colony ship would be consumed by the beast, given Ian's angle of view, but Pioneer was maintaining altitude.  

Pioneer began to shrink as the dropship pulled backwards out of the valley. The ridgeline then appeared just below his view, and the pilot breathed a sigh of relief. "We're clear of the valley."

Ian patted the pilot on the shoulder and let out a breath he didn't remember holding. "That was too close."

 

************************************************************

"Full power to thrusters!" Captain Relo commanded. He had returned to his chair and was strapped in safely. The main viewsreen displayed the horrific sight before his eyes. Pioneer was ascending meters at a time. Given this pace, we might make it to the vacuum of space by next week. "Propulsion, can you move us any faster?"

"One moment, Sir." The officer keyed in a quick command. "Brace yourself!"

The colony ship rocked forward and its bow sunk slightly. Without a moment to ask the officer what the hell he was doing, the bow lurched up, higher than its previous altitude. With no ground to push off of, the Propulsions officer was transferring the energy from bow to stern to rock Pioneer out of the now sunken hole.

Jonas smiled. "Keep it up." He glanced down to the detonator in his hand. Harper had given it to Sergeant Hill in case the Lieutenant didn’t make it out. In turn, Thomas had sent it to Jonas, and he was primed to light the fuse. He keyed his comm. "I’m blowing the charges in three, two, one. Mark!"

The eruption from the cave was the only indicator that an explosion had taken place. It completely obliterated any signs that technology was once a part of the valley. Blue plasma rolled forth like an ocean’s tide, only to evaporate once it reached the brim of the cave. The hangar bay collapsed in on itself and falling rocks quickly filled in the gap along the valley wall. The shockwave hit Pioneer hard, but it favored its trajectory, helping push the mighty colony ship farther into the air.

"What is the status of that shield?" Jonas asked.

The tech hesitated. "Uh, still at— wait. Eighty-five percent. Fifty percent. Ten percent!"

Jonas switched the main display to the tactical view and it showed the hazy sphere around the planet flicker back and forth between pink and purple.

Then it completely vanished.

"Zero percent!" The technician raised his voice and cheers resounded on the bridge. "We’re clear!"

Jonas pointed to the screen. "Get us off this planet, Helmsman."

"Aye, Sir." He nodded once to the Propulsions officer. "One more rock back and forth should do it."

Once again, Pioneer’s bow dipped down. The main viewport shifted into focus, revealing the panoramic view of the area where the lush valley floor once existed. Tiny points of soft blue lights suddenly illuminated the gaping hole in the planet.

Captain Jonas Relo narrowed his eyes and tried to understand this change in events. "Sensors?" he called, as sweat formed on his brow.

"Contact, bearing 270 degrees directly below us!"

"Hard to starboard. Get us out of the way! Weapons, prepare—" He curled his hand into a fist. Sh*t, nevermind. "Verra Two, we have something exiting the valley’s depths, most likely hostile. Standby to engage."

The colony ship sluggishly shifted to the right, clearing a path for whatever was coming up from Passium’s bowels.

 

**************************************

When Kasan heard the gasps from the cockpit, she got out of her seat and took a position behind Ian. Out the window, Verra Two was poised for action, hovering off to their left. Pioneer was straight ahead and had broke right, pushing them farther away from the dropship. The floor began to vibrate once more, and the pilot held on to the controls with a white-knuckled grip. The three standing in the cockpit stabilized themselves by holding on to each other and anything else they could find. Their collective gaze never wavered.

An enormous ship rose from the depths, its size more than tripled that of Pioneer’s. It immediately shielded Kasan’s view of Pioneer as it continued to rise. The nose of the great ship looked like a pyramid that was placed on its side and stretched along its axis. The fuselage was long and rectangular with four wing-like protrusions creating a flattened X along the rear or the black-colored ship. It roared out of its lair, paying little, if any, attention to the three Hexil ships in the vicinity.

Kasan’s mouth hung open. "What is that?"

Harper shook his head. "I’ve never seen anything that big before. And that design…"

The flight console beeped, and the pilot looked down at his radar and cleared his throat. "Um, we seem to have lost Pioneer."

"What?"

Sergeant Hill looked down at the screen and was quick to action. Leaning over the console, he grabbed the comm from the pilot. "Verra Two, do you have a visual on Pioneer?"

"Yes, Sir. She’s clear of the valley, but it was close. Anyone recognize that ship from anywhere?" Thompson’s voice almost sounded mechanical as he somehow managed to keep his head on straight.

Hill frowned. "We’ve never seen that design before. Brice?" The Sergeant turned around to see the rattled pilot slowly coming forward.

Kasan’s head snapped to the side. "Shalan? Do you know what that is?"

Two commandos helped the doctor up and supported him on either side. By the time all were gathered in the cramped cockpit, the pilot had backed up to encompass the gigantic ship. Kasan watched the dimming eyes of Dr. Canner as he stood in awe of what he saw. "I, I don’t know what it is."

"You don’t know, or you don’t want to tell us?" Hill growled.

The older man turned to give him a cold look. "I do not know, Sergeant."

"Look!" Ian pointed out the window.

The unknown ship accelerated, and as it reached higher altitudes, clouds began to swirl around its hull. The sky darkened in a matter of seconds and a storm instantly brewed. Flashes of lightning stabbed down to engulf the great ship causing a strobe effect before Kasan’s eyes.

Her heart caught in her throat when she saw a multi-colored, translucent sphere form in the clouds and swell large enough to take in the ship. Slipstream rupture. "Is it going to jump in atmosphere?" Kasan squeaked out.

Ian shook his head. "It can’t. The atmosphere would—"

"It’s not going into Slipspace. The signature is too strong," the pilot butted in, as he keyed in his inquiry. His console beeped after a few seconds of silence. "The computer can’t decipher the energy readings, but it’s not a Slipstream rupture."

Hill scratched his neck. "It doesn’t even look like a true rupture."

The large craft’s nose pierced the bubble of energy and disappeared. The rest of the ship followed suit and it was soon halfway enveloped.

The doctor gasped. "My, God."

************************************************

There was stunned silence on the bridge of Pioneer. Jonas leaned forward. "Sensors? If that’s not a Slipstream rupture, then what is it?"

"It’s very similar, Sir, but the energy signature is off the charts."

Over the comm, a voice crackled in and out of clarity. A voice, Captain Relo did not expect to hear.

"Kasan Abr…..th….nnah Cul….please resp….." Hannah Culver’s voice was unmistakable through the static. It repeated itself over again.

"Communications, where is that transmission coming from?" Relo asked.

The officer typed away on his keypad. "Uh, I can’t get a lock. It’s bouncing around all over the place. The storm is probably affecting it."

The Sensors officer raised his voice. "Sir, the contact is… leaving." His head came up and pointed to the main viewscreen.

The tactical overlay switched to a zoomed-in view of the energy sphere. At the apex, where the unknown craft met the sphere’s edge, it sizzled and crackled lightning. The wind increased around the giant ship and a vortex started to form.

Recalling his quick course in meteorology, Relo knew what would happen next. "Full speed away! I want us as distant from that rupture as possible." He keyed his comm unit. "Verra Two, Sergeant Hill, get clear. That vortex will tear us apart."

His last words caught in his throat when he saw the dropship buckled under the sudden atmospheric pressure and started spinning awkwardly on its side. The unknown ship was just about through the portal when Hill’s tiny craft lurched into the whirlwind. He was back on the comm in an instant. "Verra Two, can you reach them?"

"Already on my way, Sir." Thompson took the fighter through a series of turns and loops to avoid the gathering debris being sucking up by the wind. A large segmented rock came within meters of hitting the aircraft, but Thompson deftly maneuvered out of the way. Verra Two extended its grappling claws and positioned itself over the dropship. When it came in range, the wind died down just enough to slow the spin of the dropship. Two latched on and fired its thrusters on full.

It remained frozen in the air. The vortex wind had picked back up and hurled the two connected ships deeper into the maw.

"No!" Jonas screamed.

The two ships looked as if they were dancing to out-of-sync music, then followed in the gigantic craft’s wake. Verra Two, along with the dropship, disappeared into the rolling sphere of energy.

Captain Relo slammed his fist down on his thigh and ripped off his restraints. "No!" He marched over to Sensors. "Can you track them?"

"No, Sir. They vanished inside the sphere." He swallowed. "Do we attempt to follow them, Sir?"

As if answering for the captain, Pioneer creaked and moaned as it was pulled into the whirlwind. Crewmembers fell to the floor as the colony ship struggled against the powerful winds.

The Captain crawled into his command chair and strapped himself in. Jonas wiped blood from his busted his lip, an injury he sustained when he fell to the ground. "It seems we have no choice."

Pioneer was caught up in the vortex, and could do nothing to change its fate.

 

*********************************************************

 

Harper blinked his eyes several times. Am I dead? Ian surely felt he belonged with the deceased; his body pulsed with pain. No, I must be alive. Death would be less painful, right? The hum of the dropship's engines was replaced by a chilling silence. Wait, that's not good. If the engines are off, then we're on battery backup. His muscles tingled all over, so he tried to move. Ian opened his eyes fully but they failed to focus. He sighed in frustration, but furrowed his brow when the stale stench of his breath rebounded back to his nose. Ian forced his left hand to his face, but it met the cool surface of the cargo bay wall. With his hand regaining circulation, he traced the outline where the wall met the floor. Great, stuck in a corner. His thoughts wandered back to his childhood when a swift punishment meant sitting in a chair facing the corner. Apparently, not much has changed.

Ian frowned at himself for his utter lack of concern over his present state. Synapses fired off, igniting fire in his nerves, and he started to recollect himself. As the needle-like pain began to ease, feeling returned to his extremities. Okay, so I am alive. He remained facedown in the corner for several moments until he could fully feel his right arm on which he laid. He rolled over on his back and flexed his fingers, generating warmth in the process. His neck was stiff as a board, so all he could see was the ceiling of the cargo bay. It was bathed in shimmering aqua-blue light, and the illumination gave the impression of reflecting off the surface of water. Hmm.

His mind began to think about the last thing he remembered. We were being sucked into that sphere, which looked a lot like a slipstream rupture, and the ship was spinning out of control. Then… well, I guess that’s it. So where am I?

Ian willed his body to sit up, and he succeeded. While still feeling groggy he rubbed his eyes to further his journey back to conscious functionality. It took a few seconds for his vision to refocus, but he got his first good look at the interior of the ship since his awakening. Everyone was still sprawled out on the deck. A commando was laying to his immediate left so he shook him to try to coax a reaction. He didn’t move but appeared to be breathing normally. He lifted his gaze to seek out Kasan. There you are. He smiled when he found her balled into a fetal position along the portside wall. She looked peaceful and Ian was relieved when he heard her rhythmic breathing. Right now, all he wanted to do was to curl up with Kasan and hold her. Ian got to his knees and crawled over to her. He pushed Kasan’s hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He bent down and kissed her cheek. He was hoping for her to wake, but he left her there instead. You need your rest.

He set his jaw and reminded himself to stay focused. He straightened and stood up, his legs only slightly shaking. He turned towards the cockpit and his steps faltered at what he saw. It felt to Ian as if he was floating through the hatchway. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. What? He moved next to the pilot’s seat, its occupant unconscious. Placing his hands on the console, he leaned forward in astonishment.

It was like nothing he’d ever seen before. Distant, swirling clouds of brilliant color lazily shifted around each other, sometimes merging together. The blackness of space was all but covered by the soft hues of orange, green, purple, and pink. Stars twinkled through the vivid haze and formed patterns of unrecognizable constellations. He found the source of the aqua-blue light he’d seen reflect off the cargo bay ceiling. Sitting just below his plane of sight was a rotating circle of what looked like rolling plasma. Without anything to give it scale, Ian couldn’t determine the size of the suspended pool. In the center was a bright green star that somehow subdued its shimmer.

Without warning, the dropship shook violently, but Ian held his balance. The rumbling continued as the same giant, unknown ship burst into view on his right. It was riding a trail of blue flame as it sped on towards the green and aqua-blue mass. The ship quickly shrunk in size. It must have a unique type of drive to be barreling through space that fast. He shook his head at the enormous ship.

He heard a groan from the floor and reluctantly tore his eyes from the developing scene outside the cockpit. Sergeant Thomas Hill was coming to, and Ian helped him to his feet. "You okay, Sergeant?"

Hill braced himself against a bulkhead. "Where are we?" He squinted his eyes at first, but then they shot open when he looked out the viewport. "What is that?"

Ian shook his head in response to both questions. "I don’t know."

The two men gazed in silence as over a dozen more gigantic ships appeared and headed for the central green star. The stern of the dropship pitched up and they were soon moving forward at an accelerated pace.

Ian narrowed his eyes. "It seems our real journey has just begun."

 

 

To be continued....

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New story out! Halo: Below the Brine
(it's the best story you're not reading!)

                                                         --bump--

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New story out! Halo: Below the Brine
(it's the best story you're not reading!)