Prologue
"Is something wrong sir?"
There was a pause at the dinner table as the General mulled it over.
"That man. He keeps glancing over at me."
Colonel
Darrell looked over to where the General was indicating, and saw a
young man of around 20 years old, sitting at a table under the patio,
reading a paperback and sipping a beer. The man seemed harmless. Just
another tourist enjoying the sunset on the colony world Serenity.
"I'm
sure it's nothing General." the Colonel assured, relaxing into his seat
a little. Darrell's superior didn't seem to be put at ease though.
"Maybe
we should leave." the General murmured, beginning to grab his thick
winter coat, rising out of his chair as he did so. Darrell sighed.
"General
Roberts sir, you do this all the time. If you don't mind me saying so
sir, there's no need for it. We're completely safe, the UNSC don't give
a *** about what happens on Serenity; it's too far out from the inner
colonies." the Colonel assured. The older man paused, before nodding
slowly, sitting down again.
"I suppose I am being a little
paranoid." the General mumbled, returning to his Martini. Colonel
Darrell gave a satisfied smile, nodding in relief.
"You are sir."
That
was when the sniper bullet hit the Colonel in the temple, knocking his
head from his shoulders. Darrell's lifeless head rolled under the
mahogany table, a smile still on his face.
General Roberts
swore, immediately diving under the table. He looked to the side and
saw the Colonel's head, smiling eerily at him. With a cry of horror,
Roberts tossed the head away. The General's hand was exposed for a mere
second as he did so, and a bullet came inches within striking it. The
frightened General brought an encrypted radio to his mouth.
"I'm
under attack! Sniper in an unknown location, killed the Colonel. I need
an extract now!" Roberts shouted. Outside the table he cowered beneath,
dozens of panicking civilians were fleeing the bar, hands over heads as
if that would stop a sniper bullet. Still, the turmoil would be useful.
After a view seconds, the General's chief of security replied.
"Roger that General, we're Oscar Mike sir. Stay out of the sniper's line of fire."
A little hard to do that when you don't know where the sniper is.
Roberts thought to himself, but out loud merely shouted 'hurry', and
gave a vague threat involving execution if something happened to him.
As
a particularly large crowed of screaming people ran by the table, the
General joined them, staying in the middle of the mob and likewise
crying out for help. Hiding in plain site.
Roberts stole a look
over at the table where the young man looking over before had been
sitting. The chair was now empty, the paperback calmly rested on the
table, even with a bookmark in between. The beer had been drank with a
few dollars of change left beside it, and the chair was tucked
underneath the table. Those weren't the actions of a fleeing man. The
General's blood ran cold, and for the first time in years, he was truly
afraid.
Still, Roberts kept running, taking the time to reload
the M6D at his side as he did so. He was out of the sniper's view, and
so he was safe.
He saw an alleyway, and quickly dove into it,
breathing heavily. He rose the radio to his mouth once again, and spoke
over the encrypted channel.
"Where the hell are you Jerome?" the General demanded to the man on the other side, who replied back calmly.
"Keep
your cool sir, we will get you out of this. There's a chance that the
sniper had been ordered to take out the Colonel and only the Colonel."
Roberts' chief of security, a burly, Zen like man named Jerome
explained back.
"Yeah, and my Granddad was an Elite. Just get
your ass over here." the General instructed, as he ran along the
backstreet, heart beating a mile a minute. At the rate he was going, if
the sniper didn't get him, his heart problem would.
"India one is en route sir. Where exactly are you?" Jerome questioned, and Roberts stopped for a moment to think.
"North of the bar, down a little chain of alleyways." the General informed to chief of security, who grunted.
"Roger that, thanks."
"No mate, I should be the one giving thanks." an unknown voice spoke over the channel.
Roberts' blood ran cold.
"Who
are you?" Jerome demanded over the channel, his voice breaking slightly
mid sentence. There was no response. Jerome growled.
"Sir, your position has been compromised. I recommend you get out of there, ASAP."
There was no argument from Roberts' end. He ran faster than he had ever ran before, clipping the radio to his collar.
"How
did that person hear us? This channel's encrypted!" Roberts cried out
to Jerome as he was sprinting, vaulting over a crate a few seconds
later. A dog barked viciously at him as he ran passed an iron fence.
The General nearly had a heart attack then and then.
"I don't
know sir, India one has a lock onto you. Just keep moving, they're
nearly--" Jerome began to call back, when suddenly his voice cut off.
Roberts' heart turned to ice, and his eyes widened.
"Jerome? Jerome!" the General cried out nervously.
"Sorry about that sir, radio slipped out of my hands. Like I said, keep moving, we've got a Pelican ready and waiting for--"
The voice cut off again. The General couldn't believe it, what a clumsy fool!
"Jerome
you butter fingered moron, keep hold of that radio or get someone to
tape it to your hands dammit!" Roberts barked over the channel angrily.
A few moments later there was a response, but not one the General had
been expected.
"I'm terribly sorry General, but Jerome is no
longer with us. It was quick, don't worry." the creepily calm voice
mocked. Roberts froze, forgetting to run. He looked around him, tall,
shabby buildings rising around three stories each surrounded him in the
dimly lit alley. In the distance, the sun of Osiris VII was all but set.
"Who--who are you? Jerome, if this is some kind of joke--"
"Dead
men don't joke Roberts. Otherwise they wouldn't be dead would they?"
the voice said over the channel. "You may as well give it up, we've got
a whole team converging in on you. And that rescue team, India one?
Lying face down in a ditch. Now their deaths, they weren't quick. One
of them offered to tell me where you were in exchange for his life. I
denied. I do enjoy a good chase, don't you?"
This was bad,
very bad. The General was alone with no rescue, no contact. Nothing but
a weak side arm and rusty training from his days in service.
"Listen,
I'm a wealthy man. I can make you rich, just don't do anything hasty."
Roberts attempted to persuade, but his bribe was met with a vindictive
laugh.
"I have no need for money you scum. I'll speak to you in person shortly."
The
channel clicked dead, leaving Roberts to stand in silence. He recovered
from the shock soon enough though, and carried on moving. He'd reach
the nearest space port, charter a ship, paid for with his card.
Everything would be fine then.
Light glared a few hundreds yard
down the alleyway. In the distance, the General could hear the faint
roar of ships. The space port wasn't too far off! Roberts blindly ran
for the exit of the close quarters dim chase, eager to put this
horrible ordeal behind him.
Only fifty yard down though, he ran
into a big surprise. A figure stepped out from behind a wall, small
smile on face and arms folded. The General jumped back, raising his
pistol.
"Nice to see you too General." the man spoke, a warm,
greeting smile on his face. Roberts frowned for a few moments, before
facial recognition kicked in. The General sighed in relief, lowering
the pistol.
"Commander,
I haven't seen you in years. We thought you'd died at Harvest." Roberts
exclaimed, collapsing against the wall happily, breathing shallow
breaths.
"Part of me did," the Commander replied ambiguously,
staring straight at the General, wearing a big smile. Almost a little
too big.
"What do you mean Mains?" Roberts asked uncertainly,
frowning slightly. Commander Mains chuckled, before bringing out his
own gun, aiming it squarely between Roberts' eyes. Mains wore a very
serious expression now. The General slowly rose his hands.
"Commander--"
"Quiet,
you low life. I'm not your Commander any more," Mains replied
aggressively, digging the rusty steel end of the pistol into Roberts'
forehead, which was lined with beads of sweat.
"Then what--" the
General then looked down at the Commander's uncovered shoulder. There
was a familiar tattoo there which he had seen before, Roberts knew
Mains had once been an ODST. Yet something was wrong. The tattoo wasn't
faded.
"You've switched sides. You're an ODST again." the
General breathed, staring into Mains' eyes, the horrible realisation
dawning upon him.
"I was never on your side, murderer." the
traitor Mains spat in Roberts' face. The General automatically recoiled
away in disgust, looking down at the floor for a moment.
"Good
work Mains, you got him," a new voice congratulated from the end of the
alleyway, walking towards Roberts. Except it wasn't new; Roberts had
heard it before over the radio. And the face belonged to the paperback
reading young man back at the bar.
Two other men stepped out of
the shadow's, guns levelled at Roberts' torso. Four men, four bullets.
The General's vest wouldn't be able to withstand that.
"What do
you want from me?" the General demanded angrily. He heard the sound of
four pistols cocking themselves to fire. The youngest of the four held
up a hand, walking forward, staring Roberts right in the eyes.
"Why'd you do it, you Innie ***?" the young man questioned, his voice a hoarse whisper. Roberts' eyes grew wide. They know. How do they know?
"I
don't know what you're talking about," the General spat back, a little
too hastily. He received a punch in the jaw for that, which sent him
crashing into the rough brick of the house he was backed up against.
"Don't
play stupid with me! We know! Did you think doing it would save you?
Did you think, by helping them, the Covenant would allow you and your
little asteroid operation to survive?" the young man demanded, and from
the tattoo on his shoulder, Roberts guessed he was an ODST too. He
seemed too young for it.
"I--" the General began to explain, before being shouted down by the young ODST.
"Ten million people lived on that colony. Ten. Million. What does it feel like Roberts, to have the blood of ten million on your hands? Tell me."
Roberts' eyes flared.
"I did not kill those people." he growled back at the ODST, who gave a mocking laugh, shaking his head.
"Oh
really now? Selling out the co-ordinates of Eridanus II to the
Covenant, just to buy your little asteroid cluster a bit of safety? You
killed them Insurrectionist, don't tell yourself otherwise."
The
General felt his eyes well up with tears. He had never told himself
otherwise. Ever since Eridanus II had been attacked -- because of him
--, Roberts had known only sleepless nights. He wished he could go
back, undo would he had done. But although they may be able to travel
faster than light, humanity could not travel back in time.
"I
didn't know--they told me they would just occupy the planet. They
didn't say they would--" the General began to protest weakly.
"Glass
the planet? You didn't know they would glass the planet? You're a fool
then Roberts, and a dangerous, sick, twisted one at that." the young
ODST accused. The General had no response.
"Please, I don't want
to die." Roberts pleaded, shaking his head. He couldn't die. He had too
much to do. Too much money to make. And perhaps, one day, he would be
able to do what the UNSC couldn't; wouldn't. Perhaps he'd find a way to
make peace with the Covenant. No, Roberts couldn't die. Not here, not
now. And not like this.
"I've got good news and bad news for you
General. The good news is that the UNSC told me to bring you in alive,"
the young ODST with the dark hair told Roberts, whose heart soared. He
had contacts in the justice system, he wouldn't stay in any prison for
long.
"And the bad news?" the General asked tentatively, too
relieved to feel worried about whatever the ODST would say. The young
man chuckled to himself, raising his pistol.
"I'm not prepared to comply with that order. Have a nice time in hell General."
The ODST fired the pistol, a direct shot at Roberts' stomach. The General's eyes widened, his mouth opening.
"No!
Not like this!" Roberts screamed out, collapsing to the ground in
agony. His vision was already beginning to dim, the flame of his frail
human life extinguishing.
"Good call Arch." one of the ODSTs
said to the youngest as the group turned away. Roberts reached after
them, screaming a silent scream. They didn't look back as they walked
away slowly, talking as if nothing had happened.
"Bastards like
that don't deserve the luxury of prison. And may I say Switch, that was
some fancy hacking on that channel. And you Rook, good job on wiping
out that India one team." the young ODST said back, his voice growing
quieter and quieter in the General's ears.
"Feels wrong to be
killing humans, after fighting the Covenant." the one named Rook
replied, his voice a mere whisper to the General now.
"Those weren't humans Rook. They were monsters."
Roberts' senses disabled, and he was alone in the dark with his dying thoughts.
Not like this. Not like this...
"This one has forgotten whether it's heatsink is over capacity. It wonders whether the criminal scum considers itself fortunate" ~ Blasto, the only Hanar Spectre.