The Proto-Spartan Project: Precaution

4:34 AM

"Did you just hear that?" Jay asked the Lieutenant after he heard a distant thump.

"It sounded like thunder to me." Jared. They both stopped and looked around for any following lightning. After a minute, another, more drawn out and higher pitched noise weakly floated through the air. "Doesn't sound like thunder now."

Jay looked back in the direction of the sound and realized. "I think that was the Pelican."

"Really?"

"Sounded close enough. We at least now have solid confirmation that someone made it."

Jared agreed eagerly with the sergeant, and followed behind him as they turned around, in search for the dropship.

Jay kept walking, but in his mind, he had realized a giant oversight in his reasoning: The insurrectionists also could be in that Pelican. He didn't really know what to do, and he didn't want to ask the Lieutenant, he was now just finally starting to crawl out of his depression, and he did not want to put up with a broken down officer. Jay instinctively grabbed the sling to his assault rifle that stretched across his chest, but after a few seconds of groping, realized that he had no rifle. He checked his person, and realized that the only thing to actually stay on him was his M6C Auto-Mag. "Sir?"

"What is it Jay?"

"Do you have any of your guns on you?"

Jared felt around and realized that he was missing his weapon and sidearm. "No. They must have fallen off. Why? Are you missing yours?"

"I still have my pistol."

"Well, we can reload up with the Pelican."

"True" is what Jay said, but his thoughts ran 'if that Pelican doesn't shoot us.' He normally didn't spend much time with Jared, or anyone specifically besides Chris, but as far as the last half-hour, Jared seemed to be quite the incompetent Lieutenant. The officer didn't seem to consider any alternatives and didn't even question what was brought before him, which could easily lead him into some very bad situations as a leader.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that their squad's leadership seemed to be haphazard at best. The squad only held seven soldiers, and almost half of them were officers. Three people out ranked him, Jared, Kevin and Jordan. Major Rogers had promoted Jared from a corporal straight to lieutenant, right past him, a staff sergeant. Whenever he asked Jordan about why Jared was promoted, Jordan told him off about being jealous of others. This wasn't so much jealousy so much now as just plain old curiosity as why he was usurped. Which wasn't to say that Jared was not deserving of accolades. Jay knew that he himself was a skilled fighter, but Jared could, hands down, beat the living shit out of anyone he chose to fight, but Jared, while not a pacifist, wasn't too big on confrontation. Maybe that was the reason: Jared just wasn't at ease on the battlefield, and was better suited to lead, even though, as a lieutenant fought along side the squad.

Kevin, in even a more bizarre conundrum, was a staff captain. What really puzzled Jay was that the pilot had earned that ranking before he transferred to their squad. Bluntly, whoever decided to make him a captain was off their rocker. Kevin was an even worse officer than Jared; he had almost no initiative in battle, save for retreating. When he used to actually command part of the squad, he was so kept up in keeping the Pelican unscratched; he and his fire team never even entered the battle. Shortly following, Jordan stopped letting Kevin lead troops, and he went back to being ordered. Jay still had a bit of respect for the pilot, he was a complete coward on foot, but in a vehicle, he was almost untouchable. Kevin wouldn't voluntarily go into battle, but if the Major gave him the order, he would almost unquestionably follow, save for his sarcasm, which could grate on his nerves, especially in battle, when the last thing he needed was humor.

Their leader, Jordan; however, was the oddest. By the letter of the law, he should be a lieutenant. But after their original leader, Cap'n Peterson, died, Jordan was the next highest ranked, and just unofficially took the rank as captain, promoting Jared to fill in the gap he left. Later, when Kevin would be transferred to their team, Jordan raised his ranking again in order to properly hold his role as leader, even though he wasn't even sent in to be a new leader. Overall, Jordan had never done anything bad or wrong as a leader, but he wasn't to willing to engage enemy targets, which kept the Major from being a great leader in Jay's eyes.

Jay put a halt to his thoughts after realizing that he could hear a car alarm now, the two soldiers locked gazes and then ran off, full sprint in the direction of the klaxon.

4:52 AM

"This on looks pretty good." Kevin said to the team as they continued their march down the parking garage.

Keigan looked back and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"This car." The pilot strode over to a small blue sedan that was parked nearby.

"A car? Are you that lazy?" Jordan asked, "We're almost down from this garage now. The roads are probably too clogged to drive anything."

"It still couldn't hurt to try, the sidewalks may still be acceptably clear." Kevin had pulled out a card from inside a zipped pocket. Holding the card to the car door's key reader, the door unlocked and lifted up. "Come on." He climbed in and started the car. Jordan and Keigan decided that it really wouldn't hurt to ride a car down the last two floors.

"How did that card unlock the car?" queried Keigan as he sat down in the back seat.

"Used my T4-V.A.C." Kevin answered as he shifted the car into drive and pulled out into the lane.

"A what?"

Jordan answered for the pilot, "It's called a Tier 4-Vehicle Access Card. Any vehicle lock or ignition system that reads it automatically allows the cardholder to operate it. It's to allow pilots to have access to most vehicles in case of an emergency."

"So, does Tier 4 mean he has full access?"

"To any vehicle, save for Federal vehicles, but he can commandeer anything up to military hardware."

"Why don't I have one?"

"You don't need one. Only pilots and radio operators have this style of cards. For instance, since Jared works our communication, he has a similar card for taking priority on different frequencies."

"I'd figure I'd have one for acquiring medical supplies or something."

"Field doctors can carry cards like that I think, but you're just a medic, and the army doesn't feel the need to issue them to medics."

"That doesn't sound too fair," Keigan looked out his window at the vaguely lit parking structure passing by. "Medics never seem to be treated fairly."

Jordan turned around in his seat and asked with a bemused smile, "How's that?"

"We're almost never a true part of a team."

"Keigan, you've been a full-time member of my squad for well over a year, and I have had no plans of ever letting you go."

"I know that with 'our' kind of soldiers, the medic is more important, but in conventional squads, of real Marines, medics are usually on loan."

"For the standard Marines, which is infinitely larger than what remains of the Millianists, such a way of dividing up troops helps out for combat purposes. Marines are trained to be all around soldiers, good with rifle, pistol, launcher, and such. They, however, are not trained in medical aid, demolitions, sniping, piloting or other similar things, and squads have to call in support from other specialized units. That works for the Marines, but we need to be set up like we are to function." Jordan kept looking back, just incase Keigan had any other questions--the major didn't want to look like he didn't care—but, Keigan didn't speak, he just stared past him. It looked like Keigan was trying to say something, but couldn't seem to form words in his mouth. He felt inertia start to carry him backwards, to the front of the car, but he tightened his grip on the leather seat. The air was full of screeching wheels, and abruptly ended by a brief, horrendous symphony of metal compacting upon much stronger metal.

The car bounced to a stop, and Jordan noticed he was still holding onto his seat, so the crash must not have been too bad. He turned around to figure out what that pilot had run into, thinking that the pilot must have misjudged a tight squeeze or the car's ability to run through something. But looking out over the warped hood, his eyes fell upon two interconnected materials. Dull blue metal, warped slightly from the impact, and writhing, orange eels, some of which had fallen from the mass and wiggled around on the car.

Panic seized Jordan. Not the kind that makes a body freeze, that was what consumed Keigan. Not the variety that causes the mind to lock into trying to bulldoze it's way through a situation, which was what Kevin was trying to do, literally with the now concave sedan. Jordan's panic had increased his reflexes and his dexterity out of sheer adrenaline, but his reasoning had faltered; instead of jumping to safety from the car, Jordan deftly drew his M6 sidearm and fired into the slimy mass of eels. Just barely heard between the pistol's retorts, he could hear the low frequency anguish of the Hunter.

Jordan kept pressing the trigger, the excitement fueling his desire to overtake this monster. But the slide locked back, and the blood rushed from his face. Jordan realized that he had been a fool to even think about taking on a Hunter, at point blank, with a pistol and even inside a car! Every realization made him cringe at how silly his futile resistance had been in face of certain death.

He had never been in 'real' combat with these aliens before, but he knew one thing, they were the Covenant equivalent to a walking tank. Armor that could withstand a direct rocket hit, and they even were outfitted with fuel rod guns, which basically functioned like a very heavy grenade launcher. Jordan waited for the Hunter to level its cannon and blast them to bits, but after a few seconds, he realized that it wasn't going to atomize them.

The hulking beast bent down and seized hold of the car's chassis, and in one deft toss, sent the sedan skidding back down the parking structure, through a damaged section of the parking garage's wall, the car rolled back over, fell a few feet and was finally stopped by another parked car. Jordan felt his head impact the deployed airbags and he could vaguely taste blood; he could hear the alarm issuing from the other vehicle. However, he couldn't recall what had put him into his present condition, but he knew to always assume that things were going badly.

“Think! Think! Focus!” Jordan shouted at himself, trying to fight off the airbag that engulfed his vision. He shouted out for Keigan and Kevin, hoping they were all aright, he was answered by Keigan shouting.

“Out! Out! Get the Hell out!”

Jordan reached over the airbag and felt along the door for its handle. He found purchase and pulled up. The door gave way, and he pushed his way out as quickly as he could, he fell down onto the black concrete, his helmet reverberating from the impact. He looked to his right and saw Keigan struggling to stand up, then watched as the Medic ran from the car. Jordan had no ideas of his own for what to do, so he followed suit and scrambled away from the car. The air behind him heated to a very uncomfortable level, and Jordan was shoved onto the ground by the bothersome air.

Jay saw a flash of green light two blocks ahead of his position, a second later, he heard the rumble from the explosion.

"Did you just hear something?" Jared asked.

"Did you not just see that up there?" He pointed ahead.

"Uh...no. I've been watching our six."

"Oh. I guess that explains why you keep stumbling around. Wait. You said you lost your guns. What are you using for a weapon?"

"My hands."

Jay snorted at the idea of Jared as a fighter. "And I thought the pistol was going to be useless." He toyed with the M6C AM in his hand.

"Are you forgetting what I'm trained in?" Jared asked challengingly.

"Trained? You're telling me people on this team are trained?"

Jared took a quick step towards the sergeant, grabbed his pistol and twisted it from his grasp. He used his free hand to grab Jay's left arm as he pulled hard and spun him around 180 degrees. He then administered a quick kick to the back of the soldier's knees. Jay quickly fell backwards onto the ground and looked up in amazement to see Jared standing over him, wielding his own pistol, ready to strike at a moment's notice. "I'm trained in close quarters combat. Weapon's don't have to shoot bullets." He ejected the magazine to the pistol, ejected the chambered round, and tossed the gun back to Jay.

Jay looked at the gun in his hand, the bullet and magazine a meter away from him, and then into the face of Jared: smug, waiting for him to pick up his ammunition.

"Who the Hell do you think you are?" He stood up to face him.

"I am Lieutenant Jared Baxter, Sergeant. Now put your gun back together and..."

Jared had turned around to continue walking, but Jay used this to his advantage. Holding the pistol in one hand, he lightly spun it in the air, grabbing hold of the barrel and reached with it over Jared's shoulder. He brought the gun straight back, letting the pistol's grip clothesline Jared. The sharp blow stunned him, and he couldn't move for a second, trying to figure out what had happened to his Adam's apple, grasping at his throat. Jay casually walked around into Jared's view, clouded by tears, and he stood in front of him, arms crossed, waiting for him to recover.

"Come on you pansy."

"Fuck. Off." Jared panted as he straightened up. "How the Hell d'you do that?"

"I was an ODST before this shitty job."

"What?"

"Yeah. Only ODSTs are issued Auto Mags. I also have a M7S in my weapon locker at the base."

"You've never said you were an ODST."

"Did I have to? Besides, being an ODST is just being a marine with better armor and weapons. Joining the Millianists a few years ago, I was able to become a Special Forces soldier. Now I can function by myself for our reconnaissance and stealth work, I actually can specialize in something now."

Jared was almost speechless, except for one question that now started to nag at him. "What were we even arguing about?"

"I have no idea. You were talking about watching—" Jay was cut off as he heard another explosion, except this time, much clearer and louder.

Both soldiers turned to look down the street, now fairly lit due to the slowly rising sun. Up ahead, Jay could see a figure climb up on top of a car, then jump down off of it. Another head could be seen nearby moving back and forth between the vehicles. Correction, there were two darting between cars. The first one was now actually jumping across a few at a time. Behind the silhouettes, streaks of light blue and green could be vaguely seen. In the back of his mind, Jay knew the three people were being shot at, and were fleeing in his direction; but it just didn't seem to be all that deadly at this distance, still over a block away. A third explosion changed his opinion quicker than the change in structural integrity of a trash bin changes after being hit by a comet. The third explosion detonated between the running group and the standing group. Pieces of partially melted metal flew about, a piece of what Jay assumed to be a door landed near his feet.

Jay and Jared ran forward, waving their arms, trying to attract the runner's attention, which apparently worked as the one on the cars shouted something and pointed at them. Jay and Jared ran into a nearby building and waited for the others. After a dozen seconds or so, Keigan, Jordan and Kevin came running in. Jared barred the door with a sofa.

"We need to get to higher ground." Jay suggested, "That will slow them down, we can jump to the next building once we reach the roof."

"Sounds good enough." Jordan panted, and the squad ran for the stairs. An explosion shook the building behind them, the Hunter's must have blown down the door. They kept climbing, and the explosions got slightly softer with each step.

Keigan laughed as they reached the top. "Ha! We're almost to the roof, and from the sounds of things, the Hunters are still just shooting up the ground floor."

Jay joined in on the group laugh, but he suddenly felt a shake that didn't correspond to the soft explosions. Nobody else seemed to have noticed, as they kept climbing the stairs, but he felt another, gentler shift. "Crap! We need to Move! Now!" He shouted to the others.

"We are moving!" Kevin panted.

"Not fast enough! They're not going to chase us. They're destroying the building's foundation!"

The others slowed to a brief halt, listening to the continuing explosions, growing not louder, but more real in their heads.

"Dammit! Stopping isn't going to help! We're only a floor away! Go!"

The team scrambled up the last flight of stairs, busting through the doorway on top of the building. The roof suddenly tilted towards the road.

Jay pointed to the neighboring building, about the same height, minus a floor. "Jump! Now!"

The team ran across the sloping roof and jumped across the eight-foot gap between the buildings. Jay rolled as he hit and just as quickly righted himself in a crouch, pistol at the ready. Jordan and Jared also rolled, but they just lay on the roof once they stopped moving. Keigan and Kevin both fell on their faces, unable to move for a few minutes. The entire team stayed quiet for another few minutes, waiting to see if the Hunters knew if they escaped. After fifteen minutes, Jay looked over the edge and told the team the coast was clear.

The team worked its way down the building and back onto the street. The team took a few minutes to rest on the curb. Jordan figured that Chris and Tyler might have survived the fall, especially Tyler due to his EOD armor. He also conjectured that they should continue searching down the main road away from the Pelican. They hadn't run into them anywhere between the five of them, so that direction was the only reasonable way to search. Jordan tallied the weapons that they still had on them; to make sure they knew what they could stand up against. Jay had his Auto Mag, Keigan had a Plasma Pistol on him, but noted that it was almost empty of charge, Jordan had his assault rifle, Kevin had a firm grip on his shotgun and Jay was quick to also point out that Jared would beat the living daylights out of anything. Jordan looked at his M6C pistol, its matte black coating tainted by the orange blood from that Hunter. He inserted a spare magazine in and pressed the slide release. "Okay, this will have to do."