Haha, RTs attacking Marines? That would be scary. By the way, I don't think RTs are actually moving creatures. It's your story, though.
Few grammatical and spelling errors, but good chapter otherwise.
Full Version: Natural Selection - The Behemoth : Source
Hehehe, poor gorgey got rockt
Jack got newbified
BTW- where do you live Fire Eel? I might be able to help with your PC, depending on what the problem is- virus/spyware/adware/other random ****, and I can get rid of it. Any other SMALL problem I should be able to handle, and serious ones I can get my techie to help
Jack got newbified
BTW- where do you live Fire Eel? I might be able to help with your PC, depending on what the problem is- virus/spyware/adware/other random ****, and I can get rid of it. Any other SMALL problem I should be able to handle, and serious ones I can get my techie to help
as scary as it would be, RT's should be able to defend themselves and i think thats something for them to think about for NS 2 
dont hurt da gorges 
nice chapter tho
nice chapter tho
Chapter 4h - Power Disruption
Pressing repeatedly at the ‘up’ button for the lift did not toggle any response. Irritated, Mike pounded the ‘up’ button but to no avail. They waited for a few seconds before being convinced the lift was not functional.
At last, Reza said “I guess the lift's stuck, we got no other choice other than to force it open.”
Burt tried to slide his fingers into the middle of the door and pulled it open, but the door but his fingers couldn't even get in. Meanwhile, Mike glanced behind constantly, ever worried that a Kharaa might sneak up on them. They had lingered here way too long, anytime now, the Kharaa would come.
Reza jammed the tip of his knife into the middle of the lift and pushed sideways, trying to force the door open. He wringed the knife left and right but the door remained shut. Reza breathed heavily as he hammered the handle of his knife and pushed it all the way between the two doors before he pushed sideways again.
“Look!” Jack said excitedly. “It’s working!”
At last, a small narrow gap was made, and Reza smiled as he continued to push.
“Reza, let us help.” Burt said.
Reza nodded his head and everyone inserted their fingers into the gap and pulled sideways with all their strength. On both sides, the door slid open slowly; its gap continued to widen.
“Hurry up!” Reza urged. “We can’t stay here for too long, the Kharaa might come!”
“One…two…three, pull! One…two…three, pull!” Burt grunted as he spent his strength with every pull.
With every count, the door slid inwards about a centimetre. With never ending vigour, they pulled with the last bit of their strength and there was finally a gap wide enough for a man to squeeze through.
“Careful. I do not yet know what we may encounter, prepare yourselves.” Reza warned.
He raised his HMG and shone his flashlight into the lift shaft as he peered through. There was no sound, no sign of any lurking Skulks or the lift. There was nothing but the dull grey walls of the lift shaft. Reza could even hear his own breathes as he peered in again. The silence was downright frightening.
This was strange, way too strange. Reza knew they had been in a vulnerable position for a long time; killing the Gorge and opening the lift door. All these could have attracted the Kharaa. Worst still, the Fade that he encountered could have alerted the other Kharaa of their presense. Why then, have no other Kharaas approached them yet?
Reza studied the lift shaft carefully, hoping and at the same time, not hoping he would see the Kharaa. It was much too dark for him to see the end of the top, even as he pointed his flashlight upwards; the light ran out eventually. There was a ladder on the left, and a metal catwalk on every level. In the middle were several cables that ran downwards to a grisly sight.
“It’s clear. They are not around.” Reza announced reluctantly. “Take a look yourself, but be careful.”
Jack took a glance into the mysterious darkness. To tell the truth, he had never seen the interior of the passage for a lift. After roughly making out what was ahead, Jack suddenly reared back, fearful that he would accidentally fall in.
“What?” Sophie questioned.
“I know why the lift didn't work.” Jack replied and moved away.
Sophie, Burt and Mike took turns to see what was on the inside. At the bottom of the pit were the ruins and debris of a lift that had crashed down all the way. It was a messy sight, the lift was in the middle, but looked like a badly beaten-up metallic box with pieces of metal and wires scattered about. The pit was stained a dull brown on all sides – From dried blood. Apparently, some unfortunate people must had been in the lift when it fell, and got crushed.
“Now what?” Jack asked, hoping that Reza was not going to suggest what he already had in mind.
“We will all have to climb the ladder to the third floor and from then, we open the door and get to Sub-Control Room. Any questions?” Reza answered without any signs of fear.
“What if we fall? What if we don't make it?” Jack clearly was not enjoying this.
“Then it's your own problem.” Reza answered coldly.
Reza glanced in again, ever watchful for signs of the Kharaa. Was this an ambush? When they had felt certain the Kharaa were not around, then they would be attacked? Reza didn't like this feeling. It was like when the Fade left him suddenly. Something bad was going to happen.
When Reza was finally satisfied that he was safe, he slinged the HMG around his shoulders and braced himself for the jump. Making a swift leap towards the ladder, Reza easily hooked onto the bars with his arms. He then climbed upwards. Next to follow Reza was Burt, who too had an easy time reaching onto the ladder.
Reza climbed to the third floor where there was another door and a narrow catwalk. He scanned the area with his flashlight and realized the lift door was partially open. He then climbed onto the catwalk, and pressed his body against the wall. He inched slowly towards the door as Burt watched nervously.
Reza squeezed between the lift doors and stopped. He then turned to face Burt with an annoyed expression.
“Erm, Reza?” Burt asked, confused.
“I…am…stuck.” Reza said irritatedly.
“Don’t move!” Burt shouted. “I am coming up to help you.”
“Screw it.” Reza replied.
Reza didn't have the lurxury of wating for Burt to come. Anytime, he knew the Kharaa might suddenly pounch up on him, especially when he was stuck like this. They were good at seizing the tiniest of chances to attack.
Reza smashed his right fist into the door so hard that a loud bang was heard. He then pounded the door with both knuckles as the loud thumps reverberated through the walls. When he had finally stopped, the door had retreated about a feet into the wall. Reza held up his HMG once more and then disappeared through the open door, as Burt stared in amazement and followed through.
“Remind me not to get into a fist fight with Reza.” Jack said.
“My turn!” Mike pounced on the ladder and hooked it with his arms.
He begun climbing up and soon was out of sight, leaving Jack and Sophie on the second floor.
Jack took a deep breath. Certainly, this looked easy to do, just jump, grab the ladder and climb up. He threw the entire weight of his body forward, only to hit the ladder harder than expected. Jack failed to get a good hold on the ladder and his heart skipped a beat as he fell downwards into the pit.
“NOOO!!!” Jack cried and desperately swung his arms forward. This saved his life, for he managed to hook one of his arms on the ladder.
Reza stared down at Jack as he breathed deeply and sighed in relief loudly before hugging the ladder for dear life.
“Watch it Private.” Reza seemingly taunted Jack.
“I ain’t gonna climb down to save your arse if you fall.” Sophie commented.
Jack now made sure he always had at least three of his limbs on the ladder before he proceeded upwards cautiously. He made slow progress as everyone looked on impatiently. When Jack had reached the catwalk at last, Sophie leapt forward, hooked onto the ladder easily and climbed up rapidly like an agile monkey.
All of a sudden, the area began to shake violently as if there was an earthquake. Reza, Burt and Mike steadied themselves as they held on to the door and pipes to keep balance. Electricity sparkled on the cables as lights started flickering constantly while the vibrations continued on.
Jack held on the ladder and catwalk desperately as the lift shaft rumbled; yet Sophie continued to climb. Without any warning, a part of the ladder below the catwalk snapped just as Sophie was reaching out for the catwalk.
“SOPHIE!!!” Mike yelled.
She knew what was happening. She pushed her body upwards and grabbed the catwalk with a hand. It was too late; a portion of the ladder in front of her broke off and she lost her grip. Sophie screamed as she hurled downwards along with the broken ladder.
“GOT YOU!!!” Jack cried as he managed to get a firm grip on one of Sophie’s hands. “DON’T LET GO!!!”
“I don’t intend to!” She shouted back as her feet kicked in the air.
Jack strained to pull Sophie up with a hand on the upper ladder and another hand on her wrist. He gritted his teeth as he used all his strength to support both their weight. Sophie stopped moving and stared at him with frightened eyes; she knew he lacked the power to pull her up, and that he was barely able to even hold on in this position. Right now, she would rather let go and die to save him than to risk him falling off as well.
“Don’t be a fool Jack! Let go!” Sophie said loudly.
“No! I must save you!” Jack yelled back and gripped her hand even tighter.
“You can’t save us both! You must let me go!” Sophie screamed.
“NO!” Jack cried.
Mike was suddenly beside him, and grabbed on to Sophie’s hand as well. With his aid, she was pulled up. The two of them went through the door before collapsing, too exhausted to even talk.
There was another sudden rumble, Mike stumbled and almost fell down the pit but he grabbed on to the door. The lights abruptly faded, and the group were thrown into total darkness. Jack cried out and raised his LMG and pointed it everywhere, thinking that the Kharaa was responsible for this.
The group braced themselves for the attack as they stood their ground. Experience and info told them the Kharaa favoured ambushes like these. After several seconds of waiting however, nothing happened.
“Is it them?” Burt asked.
“Nah. I don’t see them around. This might be something else.” Reza replied.
“Power failure?” Burt suggested.
Reza switched on his flashlights and aimed at the light bulbs above them. Unexpectedly, the lights flickered on again and Mike sighed in relief.
Everyone could feel BH vibrating less now; nonetheless it was still hard enough to affect their aiming. The disruption in power soon faded, but something was wrong.
The Kharaa were meddling with The Behemoths power supply and they had to get to Sub-Control Room quickly to figure out what was going on.
Pressing repeatedly at the ‘up’ button for the lift did not toggle any response. Irritated, Mike pounded the ‘up’ button but to no avail. They waited for a few seconds before being convinced the lift was not functional.
At last, Reza said “I guess the lift's stuck, we got no other choice other than to force it open.”
Burt tried to slide his fingers into the middle of the door and pulled it open, but the door but his fingers couldn't even get in. Meanwhile, Mike glanced behind constantly, ever worried that a Kharaa might sneak up on them. They had lingered here way too long, anytime now, the Kharaa would come.
Reza jammed the tip of his knife into the middle of the lift and pushed sideways, trying to force the door open. He wringed the knife left and right but the door remained shut. Reza breathed heavily as he hammered the handle of his knife and pushed it all the way between the two doors before he pushed sideways again.
“Look!” Jack said excitedly. “It’s working!”
At last, a small narrow gap was made, and Reza smiled as he continued to push.
“Reza, let us help.” Burt said.
Reza nodded his head and everyone inserted their fingers into the gap and pulled sideways with all their strength. On both sides, the door slid open slowly; its gap continued to widen.
“Hurry up!” Reza urged. “We can’t stay here for too long, the Kharaa might come!”
“One…two…three, pull! One…two…three, pull!” Burt grunted as he spent his strength with every pull.
With every count, the door slid inwards about a centimetre. With never ending vigour, they pulled with the last bit of their strength and there was finally a gap wide enough for a man to squeeze through.
“Careful. I do not yet know what we may encounter, prepare yourselves.” Reza warned.
He raised his HMG and shone his flashlight into the lift shaft as he peered through. There was no sound, no sign of any lurking Skulks or the lift. There was nothing but the dull grey walls of the lift shaft. Reza could even hear his own breathes as he peered in again. The silence was downright frightening.
This was strange, way too strange. Reza knew they had been in a vulnerable position for a long time; killing the Gorge and opening the lift door. All these could have attracted the Kharaa. Worst still, the Fade that he encountered could have alerted the other Kharaa of their presense. Why then, have no other Kharaas approached them yet?
Reza studied the lift shaft carefully, hoping and at the same time, not hoping he would see the Kharaa. It was much too dark for him to see the end of the top, even as he pointed his flashlight upwards; the light ran out eventually. There was a ladder on the left, and a metal catwalk on every level. In the middle were several cables that ran downwards to a grisly sight.
“It’s clear. They are not around.” Reza announced reluctantly. “Take a look yourself, but be careful.”
Jack took a glance into the mysterious darkness. To tell the truth, he had never seen the interior of the passage for a lift. After roughly making out what was ahead, Jack suddenly reared back, fearful that he would accidentally fall in.
“What?” Sophie questioned.
“I know why the lift didn't work.” Jack replied and moved away.
Sophie, Burt and Mike took turns to see what was on the inside. At the bottom of the pit were the ruins and debris of a lift that had crashed down all the way. It was a messy sight, the lift was in the middle, but looked like a badly beaten-up metallic box with pieces of metal and wires scattered about. The pit was stained a dull brown on all sides – From dried blood. Apparently, some unfortunate people must had been in the lift when it fell, and got crushed.
“Now what?” Jack asked, hoping that Reza was not going to suggest what he already had in mind.
“We will all have to climb the ladder to the third floor and from then, we open the door and get to Sub-Control Room. Any questions?” Reza answered without any signs of fear.
“What if we fall? What if we don't make it?” Jack clearly was not enjoying this.
“Then it's your own problem.” Reza answered coldly.
Reza glanced in again, ever watchful for signs of the Kharaa. Was this an ambush? When they had felt certain the Kharaa were not around, then they would be attacked? Reza didn't like this feeling. It was like when the Fade left him suddenly. Something bad was going to happen.
When Reza was finally satisfied that he was safe, he slinged the HMG around his shoulders and braced himself for the jump. Making a swift leap towards the ladder, Reza easily hooked onto the bars with his arms. He then climbed upwards. Next to follow Reza was Burt, who too had an easy time reaching onto the ladder.
Reza climbed to the third floor where there was another door and a narrow catwalk. He scanned the area with his flashlight and realized the lift door was partially open. He then climbed onto the catwalk, and pressed his body against the wall. He inched slowly towards the door as Burt watched nervously.
Reza squeezed between the lift doors and stopped. He then turned to face Burt with an annoyed expression.
“Erm, Reza?” Burt asked, confused.
“I…am…stuck.” Reza said irritatedly.
“Don’t move!” Burt shouted. “I am coming up to help you.”
“Screw it.” Reza replied.
Reza didn't have the lurxury of wating for Burt to come. Anytime, he knew the Kharaa might suddenly pounch up on him, especially when he was stuck like this. They were good at seizing the tiniest of chances to attack.
Reza smashed his right fist into the door so hard that a loud bang was heard. He then pounded the door with both knuckles as the loud thumps reverberated through the walls. When he had finally stopped, the door had retreated about a feet into the wall. Reza held up his HMG once more and then disappeared through the open door, as Burt stared in amazement and followed through.
“Remind me not to get into a fist fight with Reza.” Jack said.
“My turn!” Mike pounced on the ladder and hooked it with his arms.
He begun climbing up and soon was out of sight, leaving Jack and Sophie on the second floor.
Jack took a deep breath. Certainly, this looked easy to do, just jump, grab the ladder and climb up. He threw the entire weight of his body forward, only to hit the ladder harder than expected. Jack failed to get a good hold on the ladder and his heart skipped a beat as he fell downwards into the pit.
“NOOO!!!” Jack cried and desperately swung his arms forward. This saved his life, for he managed to hook one of his arms on the ladder.
Reza stared down at Jack as he breathed deeply and sighed in relief loudly before hugging the ladder for dear life.
“Watch it Private.” Reza seemingly taunted Jack.
“I ain’t gonna climb down to save your arse if you fall.” Sophie commented.
Jack now made sure he always had at least three of his limbs on the ladder before he proceeded upwards cautiously. He made slow progress as everyone looked on impatiently. When Jack had reached the catwalk at last, Sophie leapt forward, hooked onto the ladder easily and climbed up rapidly like an agile monkey.
All of a sudden, the area began to shake violently as if there was an earthquake. Reza, Burt and Mike steadied themselves as they held on to the door and pipes to keep balance. Electricity sparkled on the cables as lights started flickering constantly while the vibrations continued on.
Jack held on the ladder and catwalk desperately as the lift shaft rumbled; yet Sophie continued to climb. Without any warning, a part of the ladder below the catwalk snapped just as Sophie was reaching out for the catwalk.
“SOPHIE!!!” Mike yelled.
She knew what was happening. She pushed her body upwards and grabbed the catwalk with a hand. It was too late; a portion of the ladder in front of her broke off and she lost her grip. Sophie screamed as she hurled downwards along with the broken ladder.
“GOT YOU!!!” Jack cried as he managed to get a firm grip on one of Sophie’s hands. “DON’T LET GO!!!”
“I don’t intend to!” She shouted back as her feet kicked in the air.
Jack strained to pull Sophie up with a hand on the upper ladder and another hand on her wrist. He gritted his teeth as he used all his strength to support both their weight. Sophie stopped moving and stared at him with frightened eyes; she knew he lacked the power to pull her up, and that he was barely able to even hold on in this position. Right now, she would rather let go and die to save him than to risk him falling off as well.
“Don’t be a fool Jack! Let go!” Sophie said loudly.
“No! I must save you!” Jack yelled back and gripped her hand even tighter.
“You can’t save us both! You must let me go!” Sophie screamed.
“NO!” Jack cried.
Mike was suddenly beside him, and grabbed on to Sophie’s hand as well. With his aid, she was pulled up. The two of them went through the door before collapsing, too exhausted to even talk.
There was another sudden rumble, Mike stumbled and almost fell down the pit but he grabbed on to the door. The lights abruptly faded, and the group were thrown into total darkness. Jack cried out and raised his LMG and pointed it everywhere, thinking that the Kharaa was responsible for this.
The group braced themselves for the attack as they stood their ground. Experience and info told them the Kharaa favoured ambushes like these. After several seconds of waiting however, nothing happened.
“Is it them?” Burt asked.
“Nah. I don’t see them around. This might be something else.” Reza replied.
“Power failure?” Burt suggested.
Reza switched on his flashlights and aimed at the light bulbs above them. Unexpectedly, the lights flickered on again and Mike sighed in relief.
Everyone could feel BH vibrating less now; nonetheless it was still hard enough to affect their aiming. The disruption in power soon faded, but something was wrong.
The Kharaa were meddling with The Behemoths power supply and they had to get to Sub-Control Room quickly to figure out what was going on.
Just keeps getting better and better Keep up the great work! I need more Behemoth!
nice chapter. showed what a selfless person Jack is. Slight humour thrown in. however, i dont feel the atmosphere. and one suggestion. stop making jack so newb!!!
Jack i a newb tho lol
Its good chapter keep them coming plz
Its good chapter keep them coming plz
it didnt quite have the feel of the previous chapters but still damn good for something u find on a fan fic forum, keep up the excellent work.
is your computer finally fixed?
This is the best I ever read on a Fan-Fic forum. Good work mate.
EDIT : Added the atmosphere for that chapter.
Hope it looks better now.
Yes, that's the way people. Tell me the problems that my story face, so I can improve it. Thanks so much!
Sigh....Behemoth Source is turning out to be longer than expected. There are 16 freaking chapters, and I just completed 4. This means I am still only at 1/4 of the whole damn story. Is this turning out to be too draggy or something? Maybe I should reduce my chapters?
Hope it looks better now.
Yes, that's the way people. Tell me the problems that my story face, so I can improve it. Thanks so much!
Sigh....Behemoth Source is turning out to be longer than expected. There are 16 freaking chapters, and I just completed 4. This means I am still only at 1/4 of the whole damn story. Is this turning out to be too draggy or something? Maybe I should reduce my chapters?
nooooooo! i wub the long chapters. there fun to read and get into.
I love the story so far, is there any chance you'll post the stories in a zip or something, when your finished writting it all, in case we'd want to dl them to our hard drive or something?
dude you really need to try and get this story published, it pulled me right in like the halo books did and i think that is a damn hard to do. so leave the story at its current length, the longer the better
Chapter 6 – Crisis
6a) Atmospheric Situation
“Guys?” Sophie asked suddenly as they walked on ahead.
Reza turned to face her. “Yes?”
Sophie frowned. “Do you guys find the atmosphere.......weird?”
“As in?” Reza asked.
“It felt rather cool at first, but as time went on, I thought that this place is freezing.” Sophie explained.
“Freezing?” Burt said.
“Also, I feel – kind of dizzy, or weird, as in, there seems to be a sudden change in the atmosphere.” Sophie added.
Jack spun around. “What? You too?”
“Wait a second…” Mike whispered. “I mean…I thought it was just me all along, but yeah. I think we all felt the cold.”
Reza nodded his head. “Certainly, all this could be linked to the unusual disruption in power just now.”
Burt placed his hand on a metal bar for test and jerked his hand away immediately. The metal bar was freezing, so much that it hurt like dry ice on skin.
“Holy crap!” Burt said loudly.
“What?” Reza questioned.
Burt faced him with serious eyes. “Reza, this place is.....beyond freezing.”
“Stop! Everyone!” Reza requested and the group went to a standstill.
Sophie rubbed her hands together for warmth while the others inspected the surrounding. It was at this point in time, that they realised that they were suddenly very light. Sophie’s MREs floated out of her pocket. At the same time, a strange unwavering white mist had now formed around them. It almost looked like a ghostly cloud.
Jack glanced about. It seemed the smoky mist magically formed through the ground and through the walls. As Mike fanned the mist, he was alarmed to know how chilling the mist was, and that it was getting thicker.
Reza rubbed his index finger over the ground and stared at it in confusion, as his finger was covered in frost. The gravity was unstable and the temperature was dropping at an alarming rate.
This was highly unfavourable for them, as nano does not react well to environmental changes. Too high or too low a gravity change could greatly affect the accuracy of their weapons. Also, nano is resistant to heat but not to cold. After prolonged exposure to coldness, their nano armors would freeze, the nanos would break, increase in weight, lost effectiveness, and finally, no longer serve as a reliable form of protection. A slight frost now formed on their armor, the increasingly evident fact their armor was failing.
“Reza, you have a plan?” Mike asked hurrily.
Reza looked up. “I am not sure about this, but I suggest we all get to Sub-Control Room. Hopefully, enough, we will be able to re-adjust the power flow.”
“And if we can’t?” Jack added.
“Then we are screwed. It’s a long way from here to the room. If we got the time to waste here, we better get our arses there now!” Reza yelled.
Reza got up and gasped. The sole of his boots were stuck to the metal floor. A thin sheet of ice froze his boots to the floor. He pulled for a while, and finally yanked his boots off. It was cold, very cold. And as he spun around to face the others, they were experiencing the same problem, but soon all of them had broken the ice and got themselves free.
With Reza leading the way, the group now literally half-floated forward hastily, as they could not run easily in a low-gravity environment.
With every step they took, a loud crunch sounded below their feet. Columns of pointy icicles soon formed on the ceiling. They passed by rooms, doors, frosty-blue bacterium stains, corridors, corners, and continued on without stopping. Reza had long memorized the route to the Sub-Control Room, once again thanks to his photographic memory. Before this, he still could not understand why was there not even a single Kharaa at the third floor. Now however, it was becoming increasingly clear.
The Kharaa had known about this coldness. That was why they were not around. The bastards had anticipated this all along!
Jack felt giddy and unwell, and his stomach was quensy. The coldness, the uneven atmosphere and the disrupted gravity were affecting him. He looked at the others as they moved, and couldn’t help but realise their pace was slowing down. Their faces were swallowed in expressions of cold and uneasiness. They were shivering, just like him. With every passing second, his boots felt heavier despite the lowering gravity. His body was now wet with water, melted from the frost. And frost there was, forming on his face, his armour, his guns; even his eyebrows were not spared. He couldn’t feel his lips, and as he licked his lips with his tongue, he was appalled to find out just how cold it was. It was like ice on his face, slowly dragging him down into the darkness. If the Kharaa didn’t take him, the chill would. His energy was drained from his body, it was getting harder than ever to breathe, let alone move. Where did the others find the vigour from? How do they keep on moving ahead, oblivious to the cold and frost? Jack told himself internally to stop thinking about anything else; and keep moving no matter what.
A ray of light streamed out of a half-opened door. Under the frost and bacterium stains, the words ‘Sub-Control Room’ were written clearly on a notice beside the door. They had reached the Sub-Control Room at last. Bursting into the room, Reza felt a burning sensation on his eyes from the bright light as he struggled to check the surrounding.
The Sub-Control Room consisted of a main room that had a huge screen, several super computers and some desks. Joint to the main room were four other smaller rooms labelled B, C, D and E that contained computers, files, desks, lockers and smaller screens.
Reza looked about worriedly. Everywhere was covered in frost, and the chilling white mist engulfed the area. They were running out of time.
Jack, Mike, Burt and Sophie each went to Room B, C, D and E respectively as Reza remained in the main room and switched on all of the super computers. To his disappointment, only one was in working condition.
In Room B, Jack switched on all of the computers and monitors and waited impatiently for everything to start up.
In Room C, there were nothing but rows of cardboards, shelves and desks. Mike checked all files and manuals for any clue to how they should take back The Behemoth or at least, warn Earth.
In Room D, Burt inspected all the lockers, kicking open those that were locked. However, nothing useful could be found. The lockers only contained clothes, bags, LMGs and ammo, snacks and an occasional nude photo of women.
Sophie left Room E after a while, all of the screens and control panels were badly damaged beyond her control.
“Guys!” Reza shouted at the top of voice suddenly.
“What?!” Everyone else shouted back.
“I think all of you better come look at this!” Reza replied loudly.
The others gathered beside Reza as he typed commands rapidly into the super computer he was working on.
Reza shook his head. “Nano-Gridlock.”
Sophie frowned. “As I thought, Bacterium must be interfering with BH then.”
“Now I know.” Reza said. “The Kharaa were missing from these three levels because they had intended to shut off the atmospheric control. They knew it would be extremely cold so they left this area. Even the Fade…the other Kharaa must had communicated with it through telepathy, and told it to escape before it got caught in the freeze. That was why it left me so suddenly.”
“Those creatures? The Kharaa are trying to freeze us all to death down here?” Mike mumbled.
“Yes, I am going to re-activated the heater system and gravity system.” Reza said. “The Kharaa were re-allocating the power supply to somewhere else.”
Everyone stared carefully at the screen, where there were white words against a black screen.
Trans System Authority
Frontiersmen
The Behemoth
System Core of Unicorn Wing Level 1 through 3
Status : Unstable
Reason : Gravitational Control and Atmospheric Control not functioning properly
Warning : System Core is highly unstable. Further fluctuations may result in a breakdown and possible fuel-line explosion
Gravitational Control
Status : Unstable
Reason : Control has been turned off
Warning : Gravitational Control has been shut down. Please turn it on.
Atmospheric Control
Status : Off
Average Temperature : – 6 Degree Celsius
Reason : Control has been turned off
Warning : Atmospheric Control has been shut down. Current average temperature is negative six degree Celsius and continually dropping. Please turn it on.
Alert : Please revert back to Version S66. Press tab to reboot the system, or backspace to access main menu.
Reza considered the words for a moment, before he pressed the ‘tab’ button. Meanwhile, everyone watched intently.
System Rebooting
Please Stand By
For several minutes, enormous quantities of words and letters flooded the screen. Reza remained in his seat, while the others walked about, rubbing their hands and faces, trying their best to keep warm.
System Rebooted
Please Stay Clear Of Gravitational Control Chamber and Atmospheric Control Room
Gravitational Control
Status : Functional
Gravity stabilised in estimated time of four minutes and thirty seconds
Atmospheric Control
Status : Functional
Average Temperature : – 5 Degree Celsius…– 4 Degree Celsius…– 3 Degree Celsius… …
There was a loud hiss and everyone looked up. The white mist begun to dissipate and was sucked into several slits of ventilation on the ceiling. There was another whoosh and from the metal gratings on the floor, a steam-like gas ejected out and disappeared into the air.
Jack fanned the steam for a while and was delighted to find out just how warm and comfortable it felt. Water dripped onto their heads as the icicles on the ceiling melted. The walls and floor were wet with melting ice, and so were their body and faces from the melting frost.
“Ahhh…” Sophie ran her fingers through her hair. “Just like a refreshing bath.”
Even Reza smiled. It did feel like a bath, in fact, a pretty damn good one. He and everyone else here needed a bath. He watched as the greenish bloodstains on his body armour were washed off along with the dripping water. The wound on his face stinged again, but he didn’t care.
Alert
Rebooting Incomplete
Unable to restore Version S66
Disruption Detected
Checking… … … … … … …
Reza swallowed his breath as he continued to stare at the screen without turning.
… … … … … … … …
Anomaly In Speed Detected
Status : Current speed above Version S66
Warning : Top speed unknown. Please reboot again or do a manual adjustment to current speed
Reason : Unknown
“Reza?” Jack pointed out. “The speed?”
“What’s wrong with the current speed?” Mike asked.
“I don’t know…” Reza replied. “Let me check.”
Reza now clicked at several folders and opened them, and he carefully inspected all of the files. He then went on to check the power supply.
“Oh God…” Reza murmured.
“What?” Burt asked.
“The Kharra just…got smarter.” Reza said grimly.
“What do you mean by that?” Jack asked.
“The Kharaa has learnt to control BH on the overall, which explains why they could send BH heading back to Earth. However, they were also meddling with the weapons system and speed.” Reza replied.
Jack frowned. “Huh? Like earlier when they shot us with the turrets?”
Reza nodded his head. “That was just the tip of the iceberg. Different weapons have different level of security, depending on how powerful the weapon is. When no one is in command of BH, the security systems for all the weapons activate.”
“I don't get it.” Jack muttered.
“Example, the Sonic Cannon Turret can only be operated by a master hacker, the vulcans can be operated by anyone with a decent amount of computering skills. However, BH also has got purified hydrogen bombs. The Kharaa has learnt to use it all.” Reza explained.
“WHAT?!” Everyone else in the room cried out.
“Obviously, the more dangerous weapons would be protected by a top-notch security system along with firewalls. However, it won’t last. The Kharaa are constantly adapting, always getting smarter. They used Bacterium to combat the security system, only until recently, they won through the use of Nano Gridlock.” Reza added.
Jack raised his hands suddenly. “Wait a minute guys! Just what is this ‘Nano-Gridlock’ thing you all are talking about?”
Sophie let out a sigh. “In short Jack, it means a failure of the nanotech in an area caused by Bacterium. It is the reason why we Frontiersmen always get so much damn trouble.”
Burt placed a hand on Reza’s seat. “Can you stop them? The hydrogen bombs and all?”
“Definitely not. At least, not from here.” Reza said. “I do not have access to the missile silos.”
“The speed of BH then. Try to alter the speed, or better yet, stop BH from moving entirely.” Burt added.
“I will try.” Reza replied and entered more commands into the computer again.
Trans System Authority
Frontiersmen
Encryption Code : ******
0028I8D
578146693512574
826197632489053
028765319888765
564521287631068
Encryption Code : ******
Pass Code : _ _ _ _ _ _
Reza froze as he looked at the menacing words on the screen.
“Pass code?!” Mike murmured. “You need a pass code?”
“What the hell did the Kharaa do? Set a password or something?” Jack questioned.
“Not exactly.” Burt answered. “But they got through first, and probably altered the cruising speed of BH before anyone else did. Now we can’t change it.”
“Why not?” Jack asked.
Reza gritted his teeth in frustration. “Because once we give a wrong pass code three times, the security system activates. Right now BH is on yellow alert. When the security system activates for this area, all the computers will be instantly locked down, and their current commands impossible for us to change. The only people capable of putting the computers down to yellow alert are the highest ranking Officers and I think they are all dead now.”
“How?” Sophie shook her head disbelievingly. “How did they do it?”
Reza looked at her in the eye, and she immediately gasped in realisation.
“I told you before. What was needed to activate the weapons.” Reza said.
“You don’t mean…Nano-Gridlock…and not just that, they learnt how to hack into the system? Bacterium was causing it all along?!” Sophie cried.
Reza nodded his head and then looked down sadly.
Jack rubbed his hands impatiently. “What has all these told us then?”
“It means, the Kharaa are ready to fire all of our – I mean, BH’s weapons at Earth. The purified hydrogen bomb and all…” Burt answered.
Jack’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh Christ, have they fired yet?”
Reza turned back to his screen. “No, no, not yet. BH is not in firing range yet.”
“So exactly how long do we have?” Mike asked.
“Until just now, BH has started moving faster than before. The Kharaa wanted to reach Earth as quickly as possible, to eliminate any chance of the Frontiersmen having a chance to retaliate. At this current speed, BH would reach firing range in about thirteen hours.” Reza said as he checked the statistics on the screen.
“You said a day before this.” Jack pointed out.
“It WAS a day.” Reza growled. “Until BH started moving faster.”
Sophie swallowed her breath and she asked, “What kind of damage would Earth....”
“Suffer?” Reza interrupted. “Based on my rough calculations, it would eradicate somewhat an area as large as Asia, and the life that lives there. In short, everyone and everything would die. Next, the Kharaa moves in for the kill. You know how fast they reproduce. I didn’t take my Physics, but I believe that a purified hydrogen bomb specially destroys life on a catastrophic scale.”
Fear itself seemed to stretch out a vast hand, like a dark cloud rising up and looming in to engulf them all. For a long moment, no one said anything as they deeply considered what to do, and if they mildly even had a chance to stop the Kharaa.
Burt broke the silence. “We must stop the Kharaa from firing the nuclear warheads!”
Reza looked up at him. “Yes, certainly and we need to warn Earth as well.”
“How do you intend to do that?” Mike asked.
Reza frowned thoughtfully. “I have no idea, we must first devise a plan.”
“What about the unusual tremors, screwed-up atmosphere and weird energy disturbance just now?” Jack questioned.
Reza clicked on the folders to show the statistics. “It appears that the missile silo take somewhat – several hours to charge up, if you want to fire all the bombs at once. To speed up the charge-up process and also to increase BH’s cruising speed, the Kharaa meddled with the power supply. At first, they were interfering with the boosters and fuel-jet cells, however, this not only caused a terrible disturbance to BH's boosters, it also screwed up the lights and almost caused a crash down of BH's entire power supply which were the tremors and light-outs we experienced. Following suit, the Kharaa then re-adjusted the power supply for Unicorn Wing first floor to the third floor. The atmospheric maintainence and the gravity used up a lot of energy, thus, they re-adjusted the energy supply and directed it towards the missile silo and boosters.”
“If I am not wrong, shouldn’t Earth have sent any help here at least? Another spaceship or anything? Just to check on the EX-200 or something?” Mike asked.
“Yes.” Jack replied. “That was what the computers I set were for. To tell us of something like that.”
“Yes! That would mean a better chance for us! If another spaceship came, we can probably meet up with the other marines and together, we could stop the missile silo!” Mike said, clearly excited.
A loud beeping siren echoed through the Sub-Control Room, it was the alarm signal for the smaller computers which Jack was working on. Everyone gathered in front of the computers as the image of a new spaceship was shown, heading towards BH from Earth.
“Speak of the Devil…” Mike grinned.
“Yeah…that’s what I am talking.” Jack nodded. “Hope at last.”
Reza instantly recognized the spaceship. “That’s the EX-209, that’s Major Juo's ship!”
Burt looked at him in surprise. “Your friend, Major Juo! That’s him coming here?!”
A beep suddenly sounded on another computer and attracted their attention.
Trans System Authority
Frontiersmen
The Behemoth
Anti-Ship Defense System Magma A05 Activated
“Oh crap…” Jack muttered.
“BH will shoot it down! We must warn them!” Sophie cried.
“How?” Burt asked.
Reza was already in front of the computer and trying to change the weaponry system. Unfortunately, he was confronted with the same screen requiring a pass code again.
“Just communicate with them somehow! We must stop BH!” Sophie wailed.
“I AM TRYING!!!” Reza roared as he switched to another computer.
“Look!” Jack yelled as he pointed at the screen.
A shockwave was seen hitting the EX-209 directly, and the ship exploded immediately. None of its crew was seen escaping. A fiery ball of flame was all that remained before fading into charred debris several seconds later.
Everyone stared at the screen, stunned with horror.
“They…were…destroyed…all of them…utterly destroyed…” Reza murmured and slumped back, devastated by the lost of his friend.
No one else said anything, as they looked down sadly, mourning internally for the death of the fellow marines, and at the same time more convinced that there was no longer any hope.
This was the crisis, the crisis of all humanity.
6a) Atmospheric Situation
“Guys?” Sophie asked suddenly as they walked on ahead.
Reza turned to face her. “Yes?”
Sophie frowned. “Do you guys find the atmosphere.......weird?”
“As in?” Reza asked.
“It felt rather cool at first, but as time went on, I thought that this place is freezing.” Sophie explained.
“Freezing?” Burt said.
“Also, I feel – kind of dizzy, or weird, as in, there seems to be a sudden change in the atmosphere.” Sophie added.
Jack spun around. “What? You too?”
“Wait a second…” Mike whispered. “I mean…I thought it was just me all along, but yeah. I think we all felt the cold.”
Reza nodded his head. “Certainly, all this could be linked to the unusual disruption in power just now.”
Burt placed his hand on a metal bar for test and jerked his hand away immediately. The metal bar was freezing, so much that it hurt like dry ice on skin.
“Holy crap!” Burt said loudly.
“What?” Reza questioned.
Burt faced him with serious eyes. “Reza, this place is.....beyond freezing.”
“Stop! Everyone!” Reza requested and the group went to a standstill.
Sophie rubbed her hands together for warmth while the others inspected the surrounding. It was at this point in time, that they realised that they were suddenly very light. Sophie’s MREs floated out of her pocket. At the same time, a strange unwavering white mist had now formed around them. It almost looked like a ghostly cloud.
Jack glanced about. It seemed the smoky mist magically formed through the ground and through the walls. As Mike fanned the mist, he was alarmed to know how chilling the mist was, and that it was getting thicker.
Reza rubbed his index finger over the ground and stared at it in confusion, as his finger was covered in frost. The gravity was unstable and the temperature was dropping at an alarming rate.
This was highly unfavourable for them, as nano does not react well to environmental changes. Too high or too low a gravity change could greatly affect the accuracy of their weapons. Also, nano is resistant to heat but not to cold. After prolonged exposure to coldness, their nano armors would freeze, the nanos would break, increase in weight, lost effectiveness, and finally, no longer serve as a reliable form of protection. A slight frost now formed on their armor, the increasingly evident fact their armor was failing.
“Reza, you have a plan?” Mike asked hurrily.
Reza looked up. “I am not sure about this, but I suggest we all get to Sub-Control Room. Hopefully, enough, we will be able to re-adjust the power flow.”
“And if we can’t?” Jack added.
“Then we are screwed. It’s a long way from here to the room. If we got the time to waste here, we better get our arses there now!” Reza yelled.
Reza got up and gasped. The sole of his boots were stuck to the metal floor. A thin sheet of ice froze his boots to the floor. He pulled for a while, and finally yanked his boots off. It was cold, very cold. And as he spun around to face the others, they were experiencing the same problem, but soon all of them had broken the ice and got themselves free.
With Reza leading the way, the group now literally half-floated forward hastily, as they could not run easily in a low-gravity environment.
With every step they took, a loud crunch sounded below their feet. Columns of pointy icicles soon formed on the ceiling. They passed by rooms, doors, frosty-blue bacterium stains, corridors, corners, and continued on without stopping. Reza had long memorized the route to the Sub-Control Room, once again thanks to his photographic memory. Before this, he still could not understand why was there not even a single Kharaa at the third floor. Now however, it was becoming increasingly clear.
The Kharaa had known about this coldness. That was why they were not around. The bastards had anticipated this all along!
Jack felt giddy and unwell, and his stomach was quensy. The coldness, the uneven atmosphere and the disrupted gravity were affecting him. He looked at the others as they moved, and couldn’t help but realise their pace was slowing down. Their faces were swallowed in expressions of cold and uneasiness. They were shivering, just like him. With every passing second, his boots felt heavier despite the lowering gravity. His body was now wet with water, melted from the frost. And frost there was, forming on his face, his armour, his guns; even his eyebrows were not spared. He couldn’t feel his lips, and as he licked his lips with his tongue, he was appalled to find out just how cold it was. It was like ice on his face, slowly dragging him down into the darkness. If the Kharaa didn’t take him, the chill would. His energy was drained from his body, it was getting harder than ever to breathe, let alone move. Where did the others find the vigour from? How do they keep on moving ahead, oblivious to the cold and frost? Jack told himself internally to stop thinking about anything else; and keep moving no matter what.
A ray of light streamed out of a half-opened door. Under the frost and bacterium stains, the words ‘Sub-Control Room’ were written clearly on a notice beside the door. They had reached the Sub-Control Room at last. Bursting into the room, Reza felt a burning sensation on his eyes from the bright light as he struggled to check the surrounding.
The Sub-Control Room consisted of a main room that had a huge screen, several super computers and some desks. Joint to the main room were four other smaller rooms labelled B, C, D and E that contained computers, files, desks, lockers and smaller screens.
Reza looked about worriedly. Everywhere was covered in frost, and the chilling white mist engulfed the area. They were running out of time.
Jack, Mike, Burt and Sophie each went to Room B, C, D and E respectively as Reza remained in the main room and switched on all of the super computers. To his disappointment, only one was in working condition.
In Room B, Jack switched on all of the computers and monitors and waited impatiently for everything to start up.
In Room C, there were nothing but rows of cardboards, shelves and desks. Mike checked all files and manuals for any clue to how they should take back The Behemoth or at least, warn Earth.
In Room D, Burt inspected all the lockers, kicking open those that were locked. However, nothing useful could be found. The lockers only contained clothes, bags, LMGs and ammo, snacks and an occasional nude photo of women.
Sophie left Room E after a while, all of the screens and control panels were badly damaged beyond her control.
“Guys!” Reza shouted at the top of voice suddenly.
“What?!” Everyone else shouted back.
“I think all of you better come look at this!” Reza replied loudly.
The others gathered beside Reza as he typed commands rapidly into the super computer he was working on.
Reza shook his head. “Nano-Gridlock.”
Sophie frowned. “As I thought, Bacterium must be interfering with BH then.”
“Now I know.” Reza said. “The Kharaa were missing from these three levels because they had intended to shut off the atmospheric control. They knew it would be extremely cold so they left this area. Even the Fade…the other Kharaa must had communicated with it through telepathy, and told it to escape before it got caught in the freeze. That was why it left me so suddenly.”
“Those creatures? The Kharaa are trying to freeze us all to death down here?” Mike mumbled.
“Yes, I am going to re-activated the heater system and gravity system.” Reza said. “The Kharaa were re-allocating the power supply to somewhere else.”
Everyone stared carefully at the screen, where there were white words against a black screen.
Trans System Authority
Frontiersmen
The Behemoth
System Core of Unicorn Wing Level 1 through 3
Status : Unstable
Reason : Gravitational Control and Atmospheric Control not functioning properly
Warning : System Core is highly unstable. Further fluctuations may result in a breakdown and possible fuel-line explosion
Gravitational Control
Status : Unstable
Reason : Control has been turned off
Warning : Gravitational Control has been shut down. Please turn it on.
Atmospheric Control
Status : Off
Average Temperature : – 6 Degree Celsius
Reason : Control has been turned off
Warning : Atmospheric Control has been shut down. Current average temperature is negative six degree Celsius and continually dropping. Please turn it on.
Alert : Please revert back to Version S66. Press tab to reboot the system, or backspace to access main menu.
Reza considered the words for a moment, before he pressed the ‘tab’ button. Meanwhile, everyone watched intently.
System Rebooting
Please Stand By
For several minutes, enormous quantities of words and letters flooded the screen. Reza remained in his seat, while the others walked about, rubbing their hands and faces, trying their best to keep warm.
System Rebooted
Please Stay Clear Of Gravitational Control Chamber and Atmospheric Control Room
Gravitational Control
Status : Functional
Gravity stabilised in estimated time of four minutes and thirty seconds
Atmospheric Control
Status : Functional
Average Temperature : – 5 Degree Celsius…– 4 Degree Celsius…– 3 Degree Celsius… …
There was a loud hiss and everyone looked up. The white mist begun to dissipate and was sucked into several slits of ventilation on the ceiling. There was another whoosh and from the metal gratings on the floor, a steam-like gas ejected out and disappeared into the air.
Jack fanned the steam for a while and was delighted to find out just how warm and comfortable it felt. Water dripped onto their heads as the icicles on the ceiling melted. The walls and floor were wet with melting ice, and so were their body and faces from the melting frost.
“Ahhh…” Sophie ran her fingers through her hair. “Just like a refreshing bath.”
Even Reza smiled. It did feel like a bath, in fact, a pretty damn good one. He and everyone else here needed a bath. He watched as the greenish bloodstains on his body armour were washed off along with the dripping water. The wound on his face stinged again, but he didn’t care.
Alert
Rebooting Incomplete
Unable to restore Version S66
Disruption Detected
Checking… … … … … … …
Reza swallowed his breath as he continued to stare at the screen without turning.
… … … … … … … …
Anomaly In Speed Detected
Status : Current speed above Version S66
Warning : Top speed unknown. Please reboot again or do a manual adjustment to current speed
Reason : Unknown
“Reza?” Jack pointed out. “The speed?”
“What’s wrong with the current speed?” Mike asked.
“I don’t know…” Reza replied. “Let me check.”
Reza now clicked at several folders and opened them, and he carefully inspected all of the files. He then went on to check the power supply.
“Oh God…” Reza murmured.
“What?” Burt asked.
“The Kharra just…got smarter.” Reza said grimly.
“What do you mean by that?” Jack asked.
“The Kharaa has learnt to control BH on the overall, which explains why they could send BH heading back to Earth. However, they were also meddling with the weapons system and speed.” Reza replied.
Jack frowned. “Huh? Like earlier when they shot us with the turrets?”
Reza nodded his head. “That was just the tip of the iceberg. Different weapons have different level of security, depending on how powerful the weapon is. When no one is in command of BH, the security systems for all the weapons activate.”
“I don't get it.” Jack muttered.
“Example, the Sonic Cannon Turret can only be operated by a master hacker, the vulcans can be operated by anyone with a decent amount of computering skills. However, BH also has got purified hydrogen bombs. The Kharaa has learnt to use it all.” Reza explained.
“WHAT?!” Everyone else in the room cried out.
“Obviously, the more dangerous weapons would be protected by a top-notch security system along with firewalls. However, it won’t last. The Kharaa are constantly adapting, always getting smarter. They used Bacterium to combat the security system, only until recently, they won through the use of Nano Gridlock.” Reza added.
Jack raised his hands suddenly. “Wait a minute guys! Just what is this ‘Nano-Gridlock’ thing you all are talking about?”
Sophie let out a sigh. “In short Jack, it means a failure of the nanotech in an area caused by Bacterium. It is the reason why we Frontiersmen always get so much damn trouble.”
Burt placed a hand on Reza’s seat. “Can you stop them? The hydrogen bombs and all?”
“Definitely not. At least, not from here.” Reza said. “I do not have access to the missile silos.”
“The speed of BH then. Try to alter the speed, or better yet, stop BH from moving entirely.” Burt added.
“I will try.” Reza replied and entered more commands into the computer again.
Trans System Authority
Frontiersmen
Encryption Code : ******
0028I8D
578146693512574
826197632489053
028765319888765
564521287631068
Encryption Code : ******
Pass Code : _ _ _ _ _ _
Reza froze as he looked at the menacing words on the screen.
“Pass code?!” Mike murmured. “You need a pass code?”
“What the hell did the Kharaa do? Set a password or something?” Jack questioned.
“Not exactly.” Burt answered. “But they got through first, and probably altered the cruising speed of BH before anyone else did. Now we can’t change it.”
“Why not?” Jack asked.
Reza gritted his teeth in frustration. “Because once we give a wrong pass code three times, the security system activates. Right now BH is on yellow alert. When the security system activates for this area, all the computers will be instantly locked down, and their current commands impossible for us to change. The only people capable of putting the computers down to yellow alert are the highest ranking Officers and I think they are all dead now.”
“How?” Sophie shook her head disbelievingly. “How did they do it?”
Reza looked at her in the eye, and she immediately gasped in realisation.
“I told you before. What was needed to activate the weapons.” Reza said.
“You don’t mean…Nano-Gridlock…and not just that, they learnt how to hack into the system? Bacterium was causing it all along?!” Sophie cried.
Reza nodded his head and then looked down sadly.
Jack rubbed his hands impatiently. “What has all these told us then?”
“It means, the Kharaa are ready to fire all of our – I mean, BH’s weapons at Earth. The purified hydrogen bomb and all…” Burt answered.
Jack’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh Christ, have they fired yet?”
Reza turned back to his screen. “No, no, not yet. BH is not in firing range yet.”
“So exactly how long do we have?” Mike asked.
“Until just now, BH has started moving faster than before. The Kharaa wanted to reach Earth as quickly as possible, to eliminate any chance of the Frontiersmen having a chance to retaliate. At this current speed, BH would reach firing range in about thirteen hours.” Reza said as he checked the statistics on the screen.
“You said a day before this.” Jack pointed out.
“It WAS a day.” Reza growled. “Until BH started moving faster.”
Sophie swallowed her breath and she asked, “What kind of damage would Earth....”
“Suffer?” Reza interrupted. “Based on my rough calculations, it would eradicate somewhat an area as large as Asia, and the life that lives there. In short, everyone and everything would die. Next, the Kharaa moves in for the kill. You know how fast they reproduce. I didn’t take my Physics, but I believe that a purified hydrogen bomb specially destroys life on a catastrophic scale.”
Fear itself seemed to stretch out a vast hand, like a dark cloud rising up and looming in to engulf them all. For a long moment, no one said anything as they deeply considered what to do, and if they mildly even had a chance to stop the Kharaa.
Burt broke the silence. “We must stop the Kharaa from firing the nuclear warheads!”
Reza looked up at him. “Yes, certainly and we need to warn Earth as well.”
“How do you intend to do that?” Mike asked.
Reza frowned thoughtfully. “I have no idea, we must first devise a plan.”
“What about the unusual tremors, screwed-up atmosphere and weird energy disturbance just now?” Jack questioned.
Reza clicked on the folders to show the statistics. “It appears that the missile silo take somewhat – several hours to charge up, if you want to fire all the bombs at once. To speed up the charge-up process and also to increase BH’s cruising speed, the Kharaa meddled with the power supply. At first, they were interfering with the boosters and fuel-jet cells, however, this not only caused a terrible disturbance to BH's boosters, it also screwed up the lights and almost caused a crash down of BH's entire power supply which were the tremors and light-outs we experienced. Following suit, the Kharaa then re-adjusted the power supply for Unicorn Wing first floor to the third floor. The atmospheric maintainence and the gravity used up a lot of energy, thus, they re-adjusted the energy supply and directed it towards the missile silo and boosters.”
“If I am not wrong, shouldn’t Earth have sent any help here at least? Another spaceship or anything? Just to check on the EX-200 or something?” Mike asked.
“Yes.” Jack replied. “That was what the computers I set were for. To tell us of something like that.”
“Yes! That would mean a better chance for us! If another spaceship came, we can probably meet up with the other marines and together, we could stop the missile silo!” Mike said, clearly excited.
A loud beeping siren echoed through the Sub-Control Room, it was the alarm signal for the smaller computers which Jack was working on. Everyone gathered in front of the computers as the image of a new spaceship was shown, heading towards BH from Earth.
“Speak of the Devil…” Mike grinned.
“Yeah…that’s what I am talking.” Jack nodded. “Hope at last.”
Reza instantly recognized the spaceship. “That’s the EX-209, that’s Major Juo's ship!”
Burt looked at him in surprise. “Your friend, Major Juo! That’s him coming here?!”
A beep suddenly sounded on another computer and attracted their attention.
Trans System Authority
Frontiersmen
The Behemoth
Anti-Ship Defense System Magma A05 Activated
“Oh crap…” Jack muttered.
“BH will shoot it down! We must warn them!” Sophie cried.
“How?” Burt asked.
Reza was already in front of the computer and trying to change the weaponry system. Unfortunately, he was confronted with the same screen requiring a pass code again.
“Just communicate with them somehow! We must stop BH!” Sophie wailed.
“I AM TRYING!!!” Reza roared as he switched to another computer.
“Look!” Jack yelled as he pointed at the screen.
A shockwave was seen hitting the EX-209 directly, and the ship exploded immediately. None of its crew was seen escaping. A fiery ball of flame was all that remained before fading into charred debris several seconds later.
Everyone stared at the screen, stunned with horror.
“They…were…destroyed…all of them…utterly destroyed…” Reza murmured and slumped back, devastated by the lost of his friend.
No one else said anything, as they looked down sadly, mourning internally for the death of the fellow marines, and at the same time more convinced that there was no longer any hope.
This was the crisis, the crisis of all humanity.
well of course the other ship wasnt going to make it. that would kinda make the story not as frightening
but AWSOME CHAPTER
but AWSOME CHAPTER
I don't know if I can get The Behemoth published or not. Afterall, Natural Selection belongs to Flayra. I would definitely need his permission to publish it, what's more, I am going to Polytechnic education soon, and I lack the capital to publish it.
mate what happened to Chapter 5?
Nice chapter tho where is ya good olde chapter 5 lol
yeah. where is chapter 5.
nice chapter. interesting and captivating. however, i would have preferred it if you had described how cold they were at the early part of the chapter. you described it somewhere in the middle. and i dont think you managed to convey the message that they were very cold. you described it as cold, not freezing
other than that, gd chapter.
nice chapter. interesting and captivating. however, i would have preferred it if you had described how cold they were at the early part of the chapter. you described it somewhere in the middle. and i dont think you managed to convey the message that they were very cold. you described it as cold, not freezing
other than that, gd chapter.
6b) For Earth
Sophie stared at the screen again, hoping to catch a glimpse of a marine still alive among the debris.
“All the ships coming to BH would be shot down. They wouldn’t stand a chance against the Sonic Cannons…” Sophie murmured sadly.
“Yes, and even if the survivors manages to get here, I doubt they will survive the Kharaa like we did.” Mike said.
Hearing all these, Jack slumped against the wall. He had seen so many deaths, felt so much pain, and now, Earth is going to get destroyed, and they had no way of stopping the Kharaa, nor could they warn Earth. Of his entire life, Jack never felt so utterly devastated and hopeless. What hope was there? All hopes have been lost......
Jack suddenly felt weak and light. As if he was a pale banner floating in a field of tornados, watching as they wreck havoc and chaos upon everything else. The tornados were too powerful; yet he was so weak, powerless to stop the tornados. His body had no strength in it, no strength to move him on, no strength to fight the Kharaa.
Tears of fright and sadness dripped down his face as Jack clenched his fist in frustration. His family…his friends…even Doris…everyone was going to get killed. Once BH has reached Earth, everything and everyone shall be destroyed. And yet! He lacked the strength to protect his loved ones, he lacked the strength to protect Earth!
“I wished I had never came on this mission to witness all these......I wished they had never built BH.......Earth had never meant for the Kharaa to take over BH and use it against us.........how I wish all these didn't happen......” Jack muttered glumly.
Reza stepped towards him and bent down. “No one had meant for this things to happen, Jack. No one could have predict, nor stop the Kharaa the time. Juo did what he could, he tried to come to BH, but he failed. Every single Frontiersman out there who was once part of the EX-200 and EX-209 had things to do in their lives; missions to accomplish. They are gone now, but it is up to us to carry their hopes and their will. We must do what they failed to do. We accomplish what we are meant to do in the time that is given to us. If we do not do anything, if we do not help to warn Earth, if we do not stop the Kharaa, then we are not worthy of living this life that we possess. For it is our duty, as Frontiersmen of the TSA, it is what we must do! To put a halt to the Kharaa!”
Jack looked up at Reza. Suddenly, Reza didn’t seem to be the man Jack once knew. He seemed to be a mighty fighter, engulfed in light; an aura of awe and power around him. Looks of valour and courage were in Reza’s eyes and he stood high up and stared down at Jack with his hand reached out. Flash of hope had gone back to Jack’s eyes, and he now understood fully what was he to do. He reached out his hand and Reza pulled him up.
Sophie, Mike and Burt looked at Reza as well. They too, suddenly felt that hope had been restored. They had something else to accomplish in their lives too; they had to protect Earth.
Jack forced a confident look onto his face. “Now…what shall we do first to stop them?”
“Can’t you stop BH from moving straight ahead to Earth? Do another reboot or something?” Sophie asked.
Reza shook his head. “No, I am afraid not. The Kharaa are using Bacterium to block us off, preventing us from manually controlling or overwriting the command. This is what Nano-Gridlock is about.”
“Is there no other way?!” Sophie probed.
Reza thought for a while. “Just one. We get right to the source of the controls, but it won’t be easy. There’s a high possibility that the Kharaa are concentrated at BH’s key structure points. Follow me.”
They went back into the main room and Reza entered several commands into the super computer.
For several minutes, three-dimensional images of several parts of The Behemoth were being displayed as Reza worked feverishly.
“There! At last!” He said, satisfied.
A square and pixel inside view of BH was now being uploaded into the screen of the computer. Among the layout, enormous quantities of red dots, some clumped up into a huge mass could be seen. Small red dots were scattered about while others were massively grouped up together at several areas.
Jack swallowed his breath uneasily. “I assume those are the Kharaa?”
“Yes, from what I can see, there appears to be no less than a thousand of them on BH.” Reza replied.
“So…the many red dots squeezed together means many a huge swarm of Kharaa?” Jack asked.
Reza nodded his head slowly. “Yes, there are apparently several key structure points where the Kharaa are staying together. I would call these areas ‘choke points’. Fortunately, of several choke points, we are going to only one. It is the Main Bridge.”
“If I am not wrong, this is an advanced form of Motion Tracking right? Where BH basically detects all moving life form. Humans would be classed as ‘green’ while Kharaa is classed as ‘red’, isn’t it?” Sophie muttered thoughtfully.
“You are right.” Reza said.
Sophie pointed randomly to a part of BH where not even a single red dot was present. “If this only detects movement, then what if there is another enormous group of Kharaa which are not moving, what if they are in our way?”
Reza remained quiet. Clearly, he was pondering over what she had just pointed out.
“We will just have to dispatch them then, just like what we would do to any other alien son-of-a-b!tch.” He answered.
Deciding to move on, Reza then pointed to a square joint with four smaller squares and five green dots in the middle.
“Humans!” Jack cried out excitedly. “We are not the only ones left! Look! There are five more! They are – Wait…these five dots refers to us right?”
“Quick thinking, doofus.” Mike whispered.
Reza ignored him. “This is the Sub-Control Room which is where we are at. We will return to the lift through another route, a short-cut I just found through this computer; and move up to the Main-Communications Room, which would be on the thirty-third floor.”
“Hold on Reza. I thought the lift weren’t working?” Mike asked.
“Yes it isn’t.” Reza said.
“Isn’t there like any other working lifts?” Jack added.
“Uh uh…” Reza shook his head. “Too loud, too much attention. I don’t want to risk getting the Kharaa back here again.”
Jack raised his hand. “So exactly how the hell are we going to get up to the thirty-third floor?”
“We climb.” came the reply.
Everyone except Reza and Burt groaned in displeasure. How long and tiring was that going to be?
Reza continued on. “From the Main-Communications Room, we can contact Earth and warn the TSA. Following suit, we then move to the Main Bridge that is also on the same level. However, the Main Bridge is a choke point. I estimate there to be at least two hundred Kharaas there. Maybe more.”
Sophie gasped aloud, while Jack tried to picture the image of a few hundred Kharaa facing him. Mike too felt a sudden chill of fear, while Reza and Burt remained motionless as ever.
“Regardless though, we must move there and attempt to drive away all the Kharaa. The Main Bridge contacts more information than I can retrieve from this super computer, including the secret location of the Missile Silo.” Reza said.
Jack raised his hand again. “Sorry to interrupt, but isn’t there like – several hundred Kharaa there?”
“I know that,” Reza said. “But even if it costs our lives, we must take back the Main Bridge no matter what.”
“Reza, I am not usually the one to say this. But isn't it kind of reckless?” Mike interrupted.
“I know.” Reza said. “I understand about the danger, and the chances that we might not survive them. But unless we take this risk, this near-zero success rate risk; there is no other way out. Even if we are to die, at least a person will have to get to the control panel and stop BH. I have – I mean, I may have a plan. But unless I see the Main Bridge myself, I can't be sure if my plan will work or not.”
“What exactly is so important about the Main Bridge?” Sophie asked.
“If we can drive away the Kharaa, we can basically control the entire BH from the Main Bridge, stop it from firing the bombs and even send BH away from Earth, and hopefully crash into another planet and kill off every single Kharaa here.” Reza explained.
Sophie nodded her head. “Okay, pretending that we do take back the Main Bridge, how can we escape from BH? Any lifeboats?”
Reza faced her first; then turned and glanced at every single one of them slowly in the face with a you-know-it expression.
“I 've checked the layout for BH, there doesn’t appear to be even a single lifeboat or escape pod. They must have been destroyed already.” Reza answered.
“But what matters now is saving Earth isn’t it?” Jack asked.
Reza smiled gladly. “Well said, Jack.”
“What do we do once we communicate Earth?” Mike questioned.
“We would first warn them of the situation,” Reza begun. “Of the Kharaa and their plans, then try to come up with a solution.”
“What if that doesn’t work?” Sophie said.
“Then we call them to fire a nuke back at BH, and wipe her existence off the universe.” Reza answered.
No one else said anything. The safety of Earth and their loved ones were many times more important and precious than their own lives. Every one of them gladly give up his or her life in exchange for their families’ well-being.
Reza stepped away from the computer and turned towards the others and he suddenly reached out his hand.
Burt stared at Reza in surprise for a brief moment before he smiled and reached out his hand as well. Reza, Burt, Mike, Sophie and Jack stood in a circle, and placed their hands together.
“For Glory.” Said Reza.
“For Revenge.” Said Burt.
“For Honor.” Said Mike.
“For Hope.” Said Sophie.
Jack looked at everyone in the eye before he said firmly. “For Earth!”
Sophie stared at the screen again, hoping to catch a glimpse of a marine still alive among the debris.
“All the ships coming to BH would be shot down. They wouldn’t stand a chance against the Sonic Cannons…” Sophie murmured sadly.
“Yes, and even if the survivors manages to get here, I doubt they will survive the Kharaa like we did.” Mike said.
Hearing all these, Jack slumped against the wall. He had seen so many deaths, felt so much pain, and now, Earth is going to get destroyed, and they had no way of stopping the Kharaa, nor could they warn Earth. Of his entire life, Jack never felt so utterly devastated and hopeless. What hope was there? All hopes have been lost......
Jack suddenly felt weak and light. As if he was a pale banner floating in a field of tornados, watching as they wreck havoc and chaos upon everything else. The tornados were too powerful; yet he was so weak, powerless to stop the tornados. His body had no strength in it, no strength to move him on, no strength to fight the Kharaa.
Tears of fright and sadness dripped down his face as Jack clenched his fist in frustration. His family…his friends…even Doris…everyone was going to get killed. Once BH has reached Earth, everything and everyone shall be destroyed. And yet! He lacked the strength to protect his loved ones, he lacked the strength to protect Earth!
“I wished I had never came on this mission to witness all these......I wished they had never built BH.......Earth had never meant for the Kharaa to take over BH and use it against us.........how I wish all these didn't happen......” Jack muttered glumly.
Reza stepped towards him and bent down. “No one had meant for this things to happen, Jack. No one could have predict, nor stop the Kharaa the time. Juo did what he could, he tried to come to BH, but he failed. Every single Frontiersman out there who was once part of the EX-200 and EX-209 had things to do in their lives; missions to accomplish. They are gone now, but it is up to us to carry their hopes and their will. We must do what they failed to do. We accomplish what we are meant to do in the time that is given to us. If we do not do anything, if we do not help to warn Earth, if we do not stop the Kharaa, then we are not worthy of living this life that we possess. For it is our duty, as Frontiersmen of the TSA, it is what we must do! To put a halt to the Kharaa!”
Jack looked up at Reza. Suddenly, Reza didn’t seem to be the man Jack once knew. He seemed to be a mighty fighter, engulfed in light; an aura of awe and power around him. Looks of valour and courage were in Reza’s eyes and he stood high up and stared down at Jack with his hand reached out. Flash of hope had gone back to Jack’s eyes, and he now understood fully what was he to do. He reached out his hand and Reza pulled him up.
Sophie, Mike and Burt looked at Reza as well. They too, suddenly felt that hope had been restored. They had something else to accomplish in their lives too; they had to protect Earth.
Jack forced a confident look onto his face. “Now…what shall we do first to stop them?”
“Can’t you stop BH from moving straight ahead to Earth? Do another reboot or something?” Sophie asked.
Reza shook his head. “No, I am afraid not. The Kharaa are using Bacterium to block us off, preventing us from manually controlling or overwriting the command. This is what Nano-Gridlock is about.”
“Is there no other way?!” Sophie probed.
Reza thought for a while. “Just one. We get right to the source of the controls, but it won’t be easy. There’s a high possibility that the Kharaa are concentrated at BH’s key structure points. Follow me.”
They went back into the main room and Reza entered several commands into the super computer.
For several minutes, three-dimensional images of several parts of The Behemoth were being displayed as Reza worked feverishly.
“There! At last!” He said, satisfied.
A square and pixel inside view of BH was now being uploaded into the screen of the computer. Among the layout, enormous quantities of red dots, some clumped up into a huge mass could be seen. Small red dots were scattered about while others were massively grouped up together at several areas.
Jack swallowed his breath uneasily. “I assume those are the Kharaa?”
“Yes, from what I can see, there appears to be no less than a thousand of them on BH.” Reza replied.
“So…the many red dots squeezed together means many a huge swarm of Kharaa?” Jack asked.
Reza nodded his head slowly. “Yes, there are apparently several key structure points where the Kharaa are staying together. I would call these areas ‘choke points’. Fortunately, of several choke points, we are going to only one. It is the Main Bridge.”
“If I am not wrong, this is an advanced form of Motion Tracking right? Where BH basically detects all moving life form. Humans would be classed as ‘green’ while Kharaa is classed as ‘red’, isn’t it?” Sophie muttered thoughtfully.
“You are right.” Reza said.
Sophie pointed randomly to a part of BH where not even a single red dot was present. “If this only detects movement, then what if there is another enormous group of Kharaa which are not moving, what if they are in our way?”
Reza remained quiet. Clearly, he was pondering over what she had just pointed out.
“We will just have to dispatch them then, just like what we would do to any other alien son-of-a-b!tch.” He answered.
Deciding to move on, Reza then pointed to a square joint with four smaller squares and five green dots in the middle.
“Humans!” Jack cried out excitedly. “We are not the only ones left! Look! There are five more! They are – Wait…these five dots refers to us right?”
“Quick thinking, doofus.” Mike whispered.
Reza ignored him. “This is the Sub-Control Room which is where we are at. We will return to the lift through another route, a short-cut I just found through this computer; and move up to the Main-Communications Room, which would be on the thirty-third floor.”
“Hold on Reza. I thought the lift weren’t working?” Mike asked.
“Yes it isn’t.” Reza said.
“Isn’t there like any other working lifts?” Jack added.
“Uh uh…” Reza shook his head. “Too loud, too much attention. I don’t want to risk getting the Kharaa back here again.”
Jack raised his hand. “So exactly how the hell are we going to get up to the thirty-third floor?”
“We climb.” came the reply.
Everyone except Reza and Burt groaned in displeasure. How long and tiring was that going to be?
Reza continued on. “From the Main-Communications Room, we can contact Earth and warn the TSA. Following suit, we then move to the Main Bridge that is also on the same level. However, the Main Bridge is a choke point. I estimate there to be at least two hundred Kharaas there. Maybe more.”
Sophie gasped aloud, while Jack tried to picture the image of a few hundred Kharaa facing him. Mike too felt a sudden chill of fear, while Reza and Burt remained motionless as ever.
“Regardless though, we must move there and attempt to drive away all the Kharaa. The Main Bridge contacts more information than I can retrieve from this super computer, including the secret location of the Missile Silo.” Reza said.
Jack raised his hand again. “Sorry to interrupt, but isn’t there like – several hundred Kharaa there?”
“I know that,” Reza said. “But even if it costs our lives, we must take back the Main Bridge no matter what.”
“Reza, I am not usually the one to say this. But isn't it kind of reckless?” Mike interrupted.
“I know.” Reza said. “I understand about the danger, and the chances that we might not survive them. But unless we take this risk, this near-zero success rate risk; there is no other way out. Even if we are to die, at least a person will have to get to the control panel and stop BH. I have – I mean, I may have a plan. But unless I see the Main Bridge myself, I can't be sure if my plan will work or not.”
“What exactly is so important about the Main Bridge?” Sophie asked.
“If we can drive away the Kharaa, we can basically control the entire BH from the Main Bridge, stop it from firing the bombs and even send BH away from Earth, and hopefully crash into another planet and kill off every single Kharaa here.” Reza explained.
Sophie nodded her head. “Okay, pretending that we do take back the Main Bridge, how can we escape from BH? Any lifeboats?”
Reza faced her first; then turned and glanced at every single one of them slowly in the face with a you-know-it expression.
“I 've checked the layout for BH, there doesn’t appear to be even a single lifeboat or escape pod. They must have been destroyed already.” Reza answered.
“But what matters now is saving Earth isn’t it?” Jack asked.
Reza smiled gladly. “Well said, Jack.”
“What do we do once we communicate Earth?” Mike questioned.
“We would first warn them of the situation,” Reza begun. “Of the Kharaa and their plans, then try to come up with a solution.”
“What if that doesn’t work?” Sophie said.
“Then we call them to fire a nuke back at BH, and wipe her existence off the universe.” Reza answered.
No one else said anything. The safety of Earth and their loved ones were many times more important and precious than their own lives. Every one of them gladly give up his or her life in exchange for their families’ well-being.
Reza stepped away from the computer and turned towards the others and he suddenly reached out his hand.
Burt stared at Reza in surprise for a brief moment before he smiled and reached out his hand as well. Reza, Burt, Mike, Sophie and Jack stood in a circle, and placed their hands together.
“For Glory.” Said Reza.
“For Revenge.” Said Burt.
“For Honor.” Said Mike.
“For Hope.” Said Sophie.
Jack looked at everyone in the eye before he said firmly. “For Earth!”
Oh yes, just to let everyone know. Chapter 5 is in fact in chapter 4. If you notice carefully, chapter 4 went up to 4g. That was because I forgot to rename the later parts into chapter 5. So fear not people, I did not miss out any chapters.
Next Chapter : He's Back...
P.S : Hi BadMouth! I know your reading my latest chapter right now ain't ya!
Next Chapter : He's Back...
P.S : Hi BadMouth! I know your reading my latest chapter right now ain't ya!
a well written chapter. the use of imagery is very strong. it produces a series of emotions. now about reza and gang taking on a hundred kharaa, i think that is not only stupid, it does not use strategy. i would have tot rezam wld have come up wif something smarter. and the last few lines, i likes them, except for Jack's. his was cheesy.
I hope Jack dies
Maybe I'm just weird like that...
Maybe I'm just weird like that...
Am I the only person here that wishes that there were still other Frontiersmen on board? As much as i'ed like to see Reza and Co. take on over 100+ kharra on the front bridge on their own, it would just seem to much like a Hollywood flick then (Rambo anyone?)
Anyways, great job so far Fire Eel, although the last lines for the chapter were too corny.....
Anyways, great job so far Fire Eel, although the last lines for the chapter were too corny.....
more!
He can't keep up with the demand!
Come on Fire Eel we need more
Come on Fire Eel we need more
| QUOTE (TheJim @ Mar 31 2005, 06:11 AM) |
Come on Fire Eel we need more |
read what u write 1 line above
tho i agree... MORE MORE MORE!
OR:
Reza + co are about to lose, then BOOM, lots of newb skulks trigger a mine and brings reza's kill count to 75-0.
!!
...=/
Reza + co are about to lose, then BOOM, lots of newb skulks trigger a mine and brings reza's kill count to 75-0.
!!
...=/
next chapter when will it come>?
Lets all pressure fire eel!
*stares at fire eel*
*stares at fire eel*
*Me helps BadMouth and stares at fire eel also*
we all want more comeone fire eel
we all want more comeone fire eel
has he gone on holiday to the next solar system or something 
come back and post the next chapter Fire Eel or i will have to take time off work to come hunt you down for it
come back and post the next chapter Fire Eel or i will have to take time off work to come hunt you down for it
Why am i waiting i am suffocating oh why am i waiting..
forgot the rest
come on fire Eel we need more, more, more, mmoooooooooorree i telll u moooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeee hahahahahaha!
*coughs*
I think i will calm down now! You get the point
forgot the rest
come on fire Eel we need more, more, more, mmoooooooooorree i telll u moooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeee hahahahahaha!
*coughs*
I think i will calm down now! You get the point
Chapter 7) He's Back
7a) Awareness
Trans System Authority Docking-and-Resupply Satellite
Codename : Hyperpulse XX20
Status : Slow orbit around Earth
"Greg?" Boston murmured as he stared at his fusion television in horror.
Out of the huge bundles of trunk-thick cables and rod-like wires behind him, loud bangs and wheezing were heard. Movement could be seen within the coils as they heaved outwards and rebounded back to their positions.
"Greg, dammit! Come here!" Boston yelled, his eyes still rooted on the screen.
"I am trying! I am trying! Whose fault is it that you think caused me to get in here?" Greg shouted, his voice muffed by the hissing of the pipes around him.
The cables pushed much harder than before, and a hand holding a silver wrench suddenly poked out through the mess. The wrench was dropped with a loud clang and Boston jumped at the noise.
"You idiot Greg! You almost made me swallow my gum!" Boston growled as he spun around to look at the wrench.
"Yeah...yeah...those days fighting the Kharaa still haunt you huh? And for one thing, you don't even have a gum in your mouth right now." Greg taunted.
Using the strong cables like a ladder, Greg climbed over the top of the mess and jumped down. He was a small frame person, much smaller than the six-foot Boston; and both wore simply grey suits although Greg had an additional engineer's helmet. Ashes were stained on his clothes, and his face had several dark stains.
Boston paused the television, and spun around to face Greg.
"Boston." Greg said. "Those valves...half of them are still not functioning properly. I think after this I will try again to repair them."
"Don't bother. We got a more serious problem." Boston interupted.
Greg dropped his helmet on the floor. "You serious?"
"Yeah. Very serious. You know the EX-209? The one that just left from here?" Boston asked.
Greg wiped his face. "Juo's ship? What about it? Did we not refuel it properly? Did we miss out something? Did we do a crappy job? Did we make them unhappy? Did we plss them off? Did we..."
"Shut up." Boston cut in.
"Are they going to lodge a complain or something stupid?" Greg questioned.
"Nah." Boston shook his head. "They are dead."
"YES!!! I knew it! That w@nker! What stupid thing did he do this time? Plss his superiors off?" Greg shouted in glee.
"EX-209 was destroyed about twenty minutes ago. None of the crew survived." Boston said in a grim and serious tone, and he resumed the television.
Greg gasped aloud, and he looked at the television. On the screen was a well-recognized figure - TSA President, Mark Stellas.
"......but we will not send another spaceship to BH for now. However, General Flinch has decided to have the Eradicater, Tauhaser FV, EX-150, EX-260 and EX-800 Mk ll standby. If another situation arises, then the brave commanders of the five spaceships will be ever ready to sacrifice their lifes for the good of all men, and for Earth. To this date, it is still unknown as to why BH would return to Earth, my personal belief is that......"
"Stellas!" Greg remarked. "The big boss! If he comes out to do a speech, then this must be pretty goddarn important!"
"You have no idea..." Boston muttered.
Mark Stellas had a tall and statue figure, he stood impossibly still with two hands clinging onto the side of his table. He wore a dull grey suit that had a huge TSA logo imprinted onto his heart and stared straight ahead with wise and yet, youthful eyes. Shades of grey were in his neatly combed hair, yet not a single wrinkle could be caught on his complexion.
"......despite what many are accusing us of, I will not admit to the false claims that I had personally approved Major Juo's EX-209 to confront BH. Neither will I admit that we have actually lost any other spaceships to BH so far - with the exception of the ill-faded EX-200. Commander Reza died valiently, as did every crew and marine that went with him. TSA is ready to attack BH if necessary, but we have not done so yet. This is still little proof that BH has indeed been taken over by the Kharaa, and think of what we could reclaim from BH if we successfully retrieve it back. I would say......"
"Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!" Boston yelled at the top of his voice.
"No shlt man. Stellas actually......lied?!" Greg said disbelievingly.
"Like hell he didn't! He is simply trying to cover up his own stupid mistakes!" Boston mummbled angrily.
Greg turned to face Boston as he wiped ash off his face. "What mistake?"
"He sent EX-209 to BH, and it was totally destroyed! He wasted one pretty darn expensive good spaceship, and wasted the lives of twenty other marines! Despite what happened to EX-200!" Boston answered. "I always knew Stellas couldn't be trusted!"
"So exactly what happened?" Greg questioned.
"Well.......about half an hour ago," Boston replied. "EX-209 was getting pretty close to BH. Now, first, we already knew what happened to the EX-200 when it tried to get close. Now, Stellas just made a foolish choice by testing his - no, by testing Juo's luck and sent the EX-209 to BH, thinking that was a chance BH wouldn't attack."
"It did." Greg interupted.
"Yeah. Same thing as EX-200, total destruction. Everyone died." Boston said.
"So what's next?" Greg asked.
"This." Boston held up his Personal Digital Assistant.
Greg read the words on the PDA carefully. It was a standard transmission from General Dwan, informing them that the Eradicater and EX-150 would be docking with their satellite within an hour.
"More work!" Greg groaned.
"What do you expect us to do? This is the price for our high pay you know?" Boston shrugged his shoulders.
"It's seriously not worth it! Now I suppose I will have to get back to fixing the valves?" Greg growled.
"Not yet. There is something else. Come...." Boston said suddenly in a low and dangerous voice.
Boston led Greg to a small safety vault and pushed a button. Immediately, a small numberical pad popped up. Boston's fingers moved in a blur; punching in a dozen numbers in less than a second. The safety vault flipped open, and a cool mist erupted from inside. Boston reached into the unseen interior of the vault and pulled out another PDA.
"What are you..." Greg mumbled.
Boston placed a finger abruptly on Greg's lips, and then passed the PDA to him.
Protocol HornetCaterpillar
Top Secret
Eyes Only
The EX-209 has just been destroyed. BH is unsafe. We are unable to stop BH now. However, we will attempt to retrieve BH by sending in the Eradicater and EX-150 at once. Once the refuel for the two spaceships is done, lead the infiltration mission. Your Hyperpulse XX20 satellite is able to withstand the firepower of BH. The Eradicater and EX-150 will stay behind your satellite until approachable distance of a hundred and fifty metres and they will detach. Once the infiltration is completed, leave BH, and return to your present course of orbital.
Please delete the message immediately after reading it. Failure to comply may result in violation of Code R9, and result in according martial punishment.
"You were supposed to keep something this important from me?!" Greg yelled.
"I didn't." Boston replied calmly.
Greg threw the PDA back at Boston. "Okay then. Originally, why was I not to know that piece of information?"
"I am the superior. Also, the reason why you were transferred here was because of your failure to comply a Commander's important order." Boston explained.
"And that is - to sacrifice myself for the good of the team? And be a bait for the Onos? No shlt man. And now, you are the one who's not obeying orders." Greg said unkindly.
"It is up to you whether or not you feel like appreciating my kindness. But back to the task at hand, those two spaceships are coming, you know it will be our turn soon." Boston spoke grimly.
"Great! So we are supposed to lead the assault now?!" Greg muttered.
Boston shook his head. "No, we are supposed to be a shield for the Eradicater and EX-150. Despite what THAT message says, we will definitely not live through it. This satellite couldn't last five minutes against that kind of firepower, the armor would simply crumple like bullets through a cookie. The best possible outcome is that we sacrifice ourselves, but the crew of the Eradicater and EX-150 manages to infiltrate into BH."
"Looks like TSA and Stellas really are intent on SCREWING US OVER!!!" Greg roared and flung his helmet on the floor.
"Stop that. I might have to turn off the artifical-gravity if you are going to damage my place." Boston reprimanded him.
"For what? Why must they take back BH no matter what?" Greg asked angrily.
"Because no one is there to prove BH has been taken over by the Kharaa. TSA has got way too much pride to admit it. BH is afterall, worth a lot of money. For one thing, it is the biggest, and stupidest project ever taken by TSA, you think they would willingly destroy it? After it has returned after so long a wait?" Boston said.
"How the heck do they explain why BH keeps shooting down our ships then?" Greg asked.
"A glitch in the self-defense system." Boston replied. "They keep on recycling that damn excuse."
"Alright. So all we have to do is prove that BH is indeed overrun by the Kharaa, right? And then TSA will destroy BH, and our lives will be saved. Right? Boston?" Greg questioned, clearly excited.
"Right." came the reply.
"Great! So...erm...what are we waiting for?" Greg said hesitantly.
"And exactly, HOW do you intend to prove that BH is infested by Kharaa?" Boston raised his voice suddenly.
To that, Greg could find no answer.
---------------------------------------------
Firstly, my sincere apologies to everyone for the lack of update for 3 whole months. The reason for this was because I got a job, and a bug somehow keeps deleting my microsoft word : my number one tool in writing stories.
Oh well, this chapter was done sometime back, but I had not edited it or anything yet, due to the lack of microsoft word.
I didn't come back to tell you guys about my job because.....well.....I just didn't want to face you guys with such a lousy excuse.
But the good news is! I am quitting my job soon! Look forward to a return of my stories soon!
Have a nice day.
P.S : Badmouth, ya reading this, buddy? I guess I lied, looks like I am posting this story even before I quit my job.
7a) Awareness
Trans System Authority Docking-and-Resupply Satellite
Codename : Hyperpulse XX20
Status : Slow orbit around Earth
"Greg?" Boston murmured as he stared at his fusion television in horror.
Out of the huge bundles of trunk-thick cables and rod-like wires behind him, loud bangs and wheezing were heard. Movement could be seen within the coils as they heaved outwards and rebounded back to their positions.
"Greg, dammit! Come here!" Boston yelled, his eyes still rooted on the screen.
"I am trying! I am trying! Whose fault is it that you think caused me to get in here?" Greg shouted, his voice muffed by the hissing of the pipes around him.
The cables pushed much harder than before, and a hand holding a silver wrench suddenly poked out through the mess. The wrench was dropped with a loud clang and Boston jumped at the noise.
"You idiot Greg! You almost made me swallow my gum!" Boston growled as he spun around to look at the wrench.
"Yeah...yeah...those days fighting the Kharaa still haunt you huh? And for one thing, you don't even have a gum in your mouth right now." Greg taunted.
Using the strong cables like a ladder, Greg climbed over the top of the mess and jumped down. He was a small frame person, much smaller than the six-foot Boston; and both wore simply grey suits although Greg had an additional engineer's helmet. Ashes were stained on his clothes, and his face had several dark stains.
Boston paused the television, and spun around to face Greg.
"Boston." Greg said. "Those valves...half of them are still not functioning properly. I think after this I will try again to repair them."
"Don't bother. We got a more serious problem." Boston interupted.
Greg dropped his helmet on the floor. "You serious?"
"Yeah. Very serious. You know the EX-209? The one that just left from here?" Boston asked.
Greg wiped his face. "Juo's ship? What about it? Did we not refuel it properly? Did we miss out something? Did we do a crappy job? Did we make them unhappy? Did we plss them off? Did we..."
"Shut up." Boston cut in.
"Are they going to lodge a complain or something stupid?" Greg questioned.
"Nah." Boston shook his head. "They are dead."
"YES!!! I knew it! That w@nker! What stupid thing did he do this time? Plss his superiors off?" Greg shouted in glee.
"EX-209 was destroyed about twenty minutes ago. None of the crew survived." Boston said in a grim and serious tone, and he resumed the television.
Greg gasped aloud, and he looked at the television. On the screen was a well-recognized figure - TSA President, Mark Stellas.
"......but we will not send another spaceship to BH for now. However, General Flinch has decided to have the Eradicater, Tauhaser FV, EX-150, EX-260 and EX-800 Mk ll standby. If another situation arises, then the brave commanders of the five spaceships will be ever ready to sacrifice their lifes for the good of all men, and for Earth. To this date, it is still unknown as to why BH would return to Earth, my personal belief is that......"
"Stellas!" Greg remarked. "The big boss! If he comes out to do a speech, then this must be pretty goddarn important!"
"You have no idea..." Boston muttered.
Mark Stellas had a tall and statue figure, he stood impossibly still with two hands clinging onto the side of his table. He wore a dull grey suit that had a huge TSA logo imprinted onto his heart and stared straight ahead with wise and yet, youthful eyes. Shades of grey were in his neatly combed hair, yet not a single wrinkle could be caught on his complexion.
"......despite what many are accusing us of, I will not admit to the false claims that I had personally approved Major Juo's EX-209 to confront BH. Neither will I admit that we have actually lost any other spaceships to BH so far - with the exception of the ill-faded EX-200. Commander Reza died valiently, as did every crew and marine that went with him. TSA is ready to attack BH if necessary, but we have not done so yet. This is still little proof that BH has indeed been taken over by the Kharaa, and think of what we could reclaim from BH if we successfully retrieve it back. I would say......"
"Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!" Boston yelled at the top of his voice.
"No shlt man. Stellas actually......lied?!" Greg said disbelievingly.
"Like hell he didn't! He is simply trying to cover up his own stupid mistakes!" Boston mummbled angrily.
Greg turned to face Boston as he wiped ash off his face. "What mistake?"
"He sent EX-209 to BH, and it was totally destroyed! He wasted one pretty darn expensive good spaceship, and wasted the lives of twenty other marines! Despite what happened to EX-200!" Boston answered. "I always knew Stellas couldn't be trusted!"
"So exactly what happened?" Greg questioned.
"Well.......about half an hour ago," Boston replied. "EX-209 was getting pretty close to BH. Now, first, we already knew what happened to the EX-200 when it tried to get close. Now, Stellas just made a foolish choice by testing his - no, by testing Juo's luck and sent the EX-209 to BH, thinking that was a chance BH wouldn't attack."
"It did." Greg interupted.
"Yeah. Same thing as EX-200, total destruction. Everyone died." Boston said.
"So what's next?" Greg asked.
"This." Boston held up his Personal Digital Assistant.
Greg read the words on the PDA carefully. It was a standard transmission from General Dwan, informing them that the Eradicater and EX-150 would be docking with their satellite within an hour.
"More work!" Greg groaned.
"What do you expect us to do? This is the price for our high pay you know?" Boston shrugged his shoulders.
"It's seriously not worth it! Now I suppose I will have to get back to fixing the valves?" Greg growled.
"Not yet. There is something else. Come...." Boston said suddenly in a low and dangerous voice.
Boston led Greg to a small safety vault and pushed a button. Immediately, a small numberical pad popped up. Boston's fingers moved in a blur; punching in a dozen numbers in less than a second. The safety vault flipped open, and a cool mist erupted from inside. Boston reached into the unseen interior of the vault and pulled out another PDA.
"What are you..." Greg mumbled.
Boston placed a finger abruptly on Greg's lips, and then passed the PDA to him.
Protocol HornetCaterpillar
Top Secret
Eyes Only
The EX-209 has just been destroyed. BH is unsafe. We are unable to stop BH now. However, we will attempt to retrieve BH by sending in the Eradicater and EX-150 at once. Once the refuel for the two spaceships is done, lead the infiltration mission. Your Hyperpulse XX20 satellite is able to withstand the firepower of BH. The Eradicater and EX-150 will stay behind your satellite until approachable distance of a hundred and fifty metres and they will detach. Once the infiltration is completed, leave BH, and return to your present course of orbital.
Please delete the message immediately after reading it. Failure to comply may result in violation of Code R9, and result in according martial punishment.
"You were supposed to keep something this important from me?!" Greg yelled.
"I didn't." Boston replied calmly.
Greg threw the PDA back at Boston. "Okay then. Originally, why was I not to know that piece of information?"
"I am the superior. Also, the reason why you were transferred here was because of your failure to comply a Commander's important order." Boston explained.
"And that is - to sacrifice myself for the good of the team? And be a bait for the Onos? No shlt man. And now, you are the one who's not obeying orders." Greg said unkindly.
"It is up to you whether or not you feel like appreciating my kindness. But back to the task at hand, those two spaceships are coming, you know it will be our turn soon." Boston spoke grimly.
"Great! So we are supposed to lead the assault now?!" Greg muttered.
Boston shook his head. "No, we are supposed to be a shield for the Eradicater and EX-150. Despite what THAT message says, we will definitely not live through it. This satellite couldn't last five minutes against that kind of firepower, the armor would simply crumple like bullets through a cookie. The best possible outcome is that we sacrifice ourselves, but the crew of the Eradicater and EX-150 manages to infiltrate into BH."
"Looks like TSA and Stellas really are intent on SCREWING US OVER!!!" Greg roared and flung his helmet on the floor.
"Stop that. I might have to turn off the artifical-gravity if you are going to damage my place." Boston reprimanded him.
"For what? Why must they take back BH no matter what?" Greg asked angrily.
"Because no one is there to prove BH has been taken over by the Kharaa. TSA has got way too much pride to admit it. BH is afterall, worth a lot of money. For one thing, it is the biggest, and stupidest project ever taken by TSA, you think they would willingly destroy it? After it has returned after so long a wait?" Boston said.
"How the heck do they explain why BH keeps shooting down our ships then?" Greg asked.
"A glitch in the self-defense system." Boston replied. "They keep on recycling that damn excuse."
"Alright. So all we have to do is prove that BH is indeed overrun by the Kharaa, right? And then TSA will destroy BH, and our lives will be saved. Right? Boston?" Greg questioned, clearly excited.
"Right." came the reply.
"Great! So...erm...what are we waiting for?" Greg said hesitantly.
"And exactly, HOW do you intend to prove that BH is infested by Kharaa?" Boston raised his voice suddenly.
To that, Greg could find no answer.
---------------------------------------------
Firstly, my sincere apologies to everyone for the lack of update for 3 whole months. The reason for this was because I got a job, and a bug somehow keeps deleting my microsoft word : my number one tool in writing stories.
Oh well, this chapter was done sometime back, but I had not edited it or anything yet, due to the lack of microsoft word.
I didn't come back to tell you guys about my job because.....well.....I just didn't want to face you guys with such a lousy excuse.
But the good news is! I am quitting my job soon! Look forward to a return of my stories soon!
Have a nice day.
P.S : Badmouth, ya reading this, buddy? I guess I lied, looks like I am posting this story even before I quit my job.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!
I haven't read it yet as i will save it for work but the yes thing is for finaly YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS ya back
I haven't read it yet as i will save it for work but the yes thing is for finaly YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS ya back
Very nice
finally your back
It's pretty good, well done
It's pretty good, well done
wonderful! great to be reading your work again. This chapter is really a nice interlude from all the action and lets us take a look at what's happening outside the BH.
7b) It's Not A Who, It's A What
Done with their final weapon checks, they finished half of their MREs and drank a bottle of water each. No toilet was available in the area and they had to make do in one of the smaller rooms.
"God! Reza! Your shlt stinks!" Jack murmured loudly as he entered the room to do his business. "What the hell have you been eating?!"
Reza chuckled loudly, and the others looked at him for a moment, surprised, before they too laughed as well. In the midst of all the action, they had forgot that Reza was simply another marine like him. In the past missions and briefings, there always was an invisible barrier between them and Reza. They simply couldn't treat him like one of their own, and no matter what they did, they would stay a distance from him. When there was a funny joke being spread about, no one said it to Reza, for fear of him disapproving. When someone made a mistake such as taking the wrong ammo, none told Reza, as they were worried he might get angry. Always, Reza would be left out from things, but now, seeing him joke and laugh like one of them was unexpected, but very much welcomed.
"You guys do your stuff. I will make a final look for anything useful to us." Burt said and he went into another room.
Reza smiled. Burt has always been so helpful to the squad, he simply couldn't sum up his gratitude in words.
"Let me help." Reza muttered and he got up.
"Me too." Sophie added and she entered the same room as Burt.
As soon as Jack was done, the four of them were searching the rooms again while Jack stayed on guard, trying his best to forget the smell of their waste products.
Sophie rummaged through a stack of wet files and papers, and picked up a small silver device. She wiped it and examined it for a while before she smiled with satisfaction.
"I found a PDA!" she yelled as she tapped into its contents.
The PDA was in perfect working condition. It must had belonged to one of the crew previously. The content were useless to them, but Reza managed to upload BH's layout into it. It lacked motion tracking, or a radar to locate the Kharaa, but having the map of a four-thousand metre spaceship was better than nothing.
Jack studied the PDA for awhile. "Who will- "
"Reza will keep it." Burt interrupted. "He's still the leader."
Jack nodded in approval, and they studied the map for a few more minutes before Reza shut it off and kept it. He was worried about the power left, which showed a quarter bar flashing repeatedly.
"Firstly. We will go through another route to the lift again. There is a possibility that the Kharaa have already learnt that we have restored the temperature and gravity. If they did, they might be on the same level as us, and might have picked up our trail. The last thing we want is to have them hot on our trail, so we will attempt to throw them off by taking a totally different path." Reza instructed. "I happen to know an unhappy Fade that wants my head."
The plan was now to return to the lift where they would climb up to the twenty-third level. They would proceed to the Main-Communications Room to contact Earth. Next, they would move to the Main Bridge, fight the Kharaas and retake BH, stopping the bombs, and hopefully crashing the spaceship somewhere.
It all sounded good, but Reza knew their chances of completing this mission was near to none. He would die happily if he could even manage to warn Earth.
Finally, the group set out, leaving the Sub-Control Room. The atmosphere disturbance was totally gone, and the floor and walls were drenched in water.
Reza led the way, and he twisted through maze-like paths, turned corners and through cross-junctions. Jack wondered how Reza even knew the way, considering that Reza wasn't even glancing at his PDA.
Their heavy weaponry were lowered, but their senses were perked. With Reza at the lead with a HMG, Sophie behind with a Shotgun, Burt in the middle with a HMG, Jack at fourth position holding a HMG, and Mike the shot-gunner at their end turning back constantly, this was a formation that the marines have employed for many missions. It was a nearly flawless tactic as it guarded well against backstabbing Skulks, as well as placed the marines with a good line of sight with their respective weapons. No Skulk or Lerk could come close without ending up with plenty of holes.
They passed by doors after doors, walls of scars and bullet holes, daunting vents and snake-like pipes, eyes rolling left and right, fully-concentrated on getting to their destination as well as looking out for any Kharaa. Past experience had told them that the Kharaa was most likely to approach at times that seemed the most peaceful. Right now, they were focused on being stealthy. The Kharaa had this entire place to them. Worst still, they had been forced to engage in combat, and already alerted the entire spaceship of their presence, now all they could hope was that the Kharaa might be fooled into thinking they were dead.
Reza suddenly raised a hand, and everyone stopped instantly and listened.
A pipe overhead hissed, and Jack glanced up abruptly. The others faced the front while Mike turned to the back. There was a low rumbling, barely noticeable, and everyone looked around for the source of the sound.
There was nothing. No life, no hint of the Kharaa, nor were there any movement at all. They were alone in that place.
After a while, Reza dismissed the sound as being important and made a waving gesture with his hand. The four of them followed him and walked on ahead into a huge room.
It was clearly used to transport cargo, as several cranes laid stationary, while large conveyer belts spun round endlessly and forklift vehicles laid overturned. An enormous escalator door six metres wide was at the end, its control panel still blinking with lights.
"Reza," Burt whispered. "That lift...could it still be working?"
"Perhaps. But it's best to let it remain as it is. When I checked our map, that escalator only transports cargo from level one to level eleven." Reza explained.
"Why don't we activate it then? Let it run up to level eleven. I bet that thing makes a hell lot of noise. It could probably distract them or something, confuse them into thinking we are going up to level eleven." Sophie suggested.
The rumbling noise was getting louder. Reza stared at the door for a moment before it hit him. The sound was coming from the escalator!
Something was coming up!
Before Reza could say anything more, a loud 'ping' sounded. Double red lights begun to flicker at sides of the door.
"Alert! Alert! Cargo coming through. Please stand clear of the escalator door!" a computer voice wailed.
"Cargo?" Jack whispered, confused. "Who could possibly be using that escalator now?"
As if in answer to his question, there was a grunt from the other side of the door. It was a grunt that every seasoned marine instantly recognized, and one that every marine fears.
"Onos!" Burt warned.
"Dammit! Of all the foes to come!" Reza muttered under his voice angrily. "Everyone! Prepare to fire! Mike, stand guard behind us to watch out for attacking Skulks."
The four of them stood in a neat line, three HMGs and one Shotgun raised and aiming at the door, while Mike had his back against them, watching out for their back.
The door divided from the middle, and slowly begun to slide open.
The shape of a big and inhuman creature was behind, its massive body slowly unveiled as the door opened. The door was four metres tall, yet the monster behind filled the entire space.
A great horn suddenly poked through the middle, and they stared at it, stunned and horrified. Even Mike was forced to turn, for it was no mere Onos that was coming through.
"ONII!!!" Jack wailed.
Done with their final weapon checks, they finished half of their MREs and drank a bottle of water each. No toilet was available in the area and they had to make do in one of the smaller rooms.
"God! Reza! Your shlt stinks!" Jack murmured loudly as he entered the room to do his business. "What the hell have you been eating?!"
Reza chuckled loudly, and the others looked at him for a moment, surprised, before they too laughed as well. In the midst of all the action, they had forgot that Reza was simply another marine like him. In the past missions and briefings, there always was an invisible barrier between them and Reza. They simply couldn't treat him like one of their own, and no matter what they did, they would stay a distance from him. When there was a funny joke being spread about, no one said it to Reza, for fear of him disapproving. When someone made a mistake such as taking the wrong ammo, none told Reza, as they were worried he might get angry. Always, Reza would be left out from things, but now, seeing him joke and laugh like one of them was unexpected, but very much welcomed.
"You guys do your stuff. I will make a final look for anything useful to us." Burt said and he went into another room.
Reza smiled. Burt has always been so helpful to the squad, he simply couldn't sum up his gratitude in words.
"Let me help." Reza muttered and he got up.
"Me too." Sophie added and she entered the same room as Burt.
As soon as Jack was done, the four of them were searching the rooms again while Jack stayed on guard, trying his best to forget the smell of their waste products.
Sophie rummaged through a stack of wet files and papers, and picked up a small silver device. She wiped it and examined it for a while before she smiled with satisfaction.
"I found a PDA!" she yelled as she tapped into its contents.
The PDA was in perfect working condition. It must had belonged to one of the crew previously. The content were useless to them, but Reza managed to upload BH's layout into it. It lacked motion tracking, or a radar to locate the Kharaa, but having the map of a four-thousand metre spaceship was better than nothing.
Jack studied the PDA for awhile. "Who will- "
"Reza will keep it." Burt interrupted. "He's still the leader."
Jack nodded in approval, and they studied the map for a few more minutes before Reza shut it off and kept it. He was worried about the power left, which showed a quarter bar flashing repeatedly.
"Firstly. We will go through another route to the lift again. There is a possibility that the Kharaa have already learnt that we have restored the temperature and gravity. If they did, they might be on the same level as us, and might have picked up our trail. The last thing we want is to have them hot on our trail, so we will attempt to throw them off by taking a totally different path." Reza instructed. "I happen to know an unhappy Fade that wants my head."
The plan was now to return to the lift where they would climb up to the twenty-third level. They would proceed to the Main-Communications Room to contact Earth. Next, they would move to the Main Bridge, fight the Kharaas and retake BH, stopping the bombs, and hopefully crashing the spaceship somewhere.
It all sounded good, but Reza knew their chances of completing this mission was near to none. He would die happily if he could even manage to warn Earth.
Finally, the group set out, leaving the Sub-Control Room. The atmosphere disturbance was totally gone, and the floor and walls were drenched in water.
Reza led the way, and he twisted through maze-like paths, turned corners and through cross-junctions. Jack wondered how Reza even knew the way, considering that Reza wasn't even glancing at his PDA.
Their heavy weaponry were lowered, but their senses were perked. With Reza at the lead with a HMG, Sophie behind with a Shotgun, Burt in the middle with a HMG, Jack at fourth position holding a HMG, and Mike the shot-gunner at their end turning back constantly, this was a formation that the marines have employed for many missions. It was a nearly flawless tactic as it guarded well against backstabbing Skulks, as well as placed the marines with a good line of sight with their respective weapons. No Skulk or Lerk could come close without ending up with plenty of holes.
They passed by doors after doors, walls of scars and bullet holes, daunting vents and snake-like pipes, eyes rolling left and right, fully-concentrated on getting to their destination as well as looking out for any Kharaa. Past experience had told them that the Kharaa was most likely to approach at times that seemed the most peaceful. Right now, they were focused on being stealthy. The Kharaa had this entire place to them. Worst still, they had been forced to engage in combat, and already alerted the entire spaceship of their presence, now all they could hope was that the Kharaa might be fooled into thinking they were dead.
Reza suddenly raised a hand, and everyone stopped instantly and listened.
A pipe overhead hissed, and Jack glanced up abruptly. The others faced the front while Mike turned to the back. There was a low rumbling, barely noticeable, and everyone looked around for the source of the sound.
There was nothing. No life, no hint of the Kharaa, nor were there any movement at all. They were alone in that place.
After a while, Reza dismissed the sound as being important and made a waving gesture with his hand. The four of them followed him and walked on ahead into a huge room.
It was clearly used to transport cargo, as several cranes laid stationary, while large conveyer belts spun round endlessly and forklift vehicles laid overturned. An enormous escalator door six metres wide was at the end, its control panel still blinking with lights.
"Reza," Burt whispered. "That lift...could it still be working?"
"Perhaps. But it's best to let it remain as it is. When I checked our map, that escalator only transports cargo from level one to level eleven." Reza explained.
"Why don't we activate it then? Let it run up to level eleven. I bet that thing makes a hell lot of noise. It could probably distract them or something, confuse them into thinking we are going up to level eleven." Sophie suggested.
The rumbling noise was getting louder. Reza stared at the door for a moment before it hit him. The sound was coming from the escalator!
Something was coming up!
Before Reza could say anything more, a loud 'ping' sounded. Double red lights begun to flicker at sides of the door.
"Alert! Alert! Cargo coming through. Please stand clear of the escalator door!" a computer voice wailed.
"Cargo?" Jack whispered, confused. "Who could possibly be using that escalator now?"
As if in answer to his question, there was a grunt from the other side of the door. It was a grunt that every seasoned marine instantly recognized, and one that every marine fears.
"Onos!" Burt warned.
"Dammit! Of all the foes to come!" Reza muttered under his voice angrily. "Everyone! Prepare to fire! Mike, stand guard behind us to watch out for attacking Skulks."
The four of them stood in a neat line, three HMGs and one Shotgun raised and aiming at the door, while Mike had his back against them, watching out for their back.
The door divided from the middle, and slowly begun to slide open.
The shape of a big and inhuman creature was behind, its massive body slowly unveiled as the door opened. The door was four metres tall, yet the monster behind filled the entire space.
A great horn suddenly poked through the middle, and they stared at it, stunned and horrified. Even Mike was forced to turn, for it was no mere Onos that was coming through.
"ONII!!!" Jack wailed.
Wow. Just, Wow.
I'm speechless.
Talk about a cliffhanger.
You remind me of Charles Dickens, and how he wrote his monthly stories.
Good work 
I'm speechless.
Talk about a cliffhanger.
You remind me of Charles Dickens, and how he wrote his monthly stories.
Good work
OMG! He's, he's.... HES ALIVE!!!!!
Man, i thought FireEel was in an accident or something seeing as he didnt write something in over 30 days.
Anywho, good to have u back and kicking eel.
Man, i thought FireEel was in an accident or something seeing as he didnt write something in over 30 days.
Anywho, good to have u back and kicking eel.
You BET I am alive!
Haha, fear not, I was just at the mercy of my job, and not in any accident at all. I must admit also, that the reason I didn't write for over two months was also out of laziness. After I get back from a hot day in work, spending an hour+ writing was not exactly on my "desired-to-do" list. Instead, I simply on the air con, sat in front of my comp and played NS or CS S.
I am glad you fellas are still here to read my fanfic. Its you nice guys that keeps me going.
Haha, fear not, I was just at the mercy of my job, and not in any accident at all. I must admit also, that the reason I didn't write for over two months was also out of laziness. After I get back from a hot day in work, spending an hour+ writing was not exactly on my "desired-to-do" list. Instead, I simply on the air con, sat in front of my comp and played NS or CS S.
I am glad you fellas are still here to read my fanfic. Its you nice guys that keeps me going.
Very good matey nice to hear ONII again
1 error spotted
1 error spotted
| QUOTE |
| They simply couldn't treat them like one of their own, and no matter what they did, they would stay a distance from him |
I believe them should be him
And this bit i love
| QUOTE |
| The door divided from the middle, and slowly begun to slide open. The shape of a big and inhuman creature was behind, its massive body slowly unveiled as the door opened. The door was four metres tall, yet the monster behind filled the entire space. A great horn suddenly poked through the middle, and they stared at it, stunned and horrified. Even Mike was forced to turn, for it was no mere Onos that was coming through. "ONII!!!" Jack wailed. |
OWND
very interesting way how u "personalised" Reza and how you "humanized" the characters. I have read many books and stories but few shows ppl taking a s***. i tot it was quite funny. although im sure there is a better way to do it...
i also liked the build-up to the onii. atomosphere and environment was great for the story as a whole. it would be better if u could use mroe sophisticated language though.
i also liked the build-up to the onii. atomosphere and environment was great for the story as a whole. it would be better if u could use mroe sophisticated language though.
7c) Separation
Blood-thirsty eyes focused on the five marines as the door continued to open, every inch widened sending them closer to their doom.
"Oh God........it's him." Sophie murmured, her lips shaking with fear.
Even Reza was frozen in terror for a moment, before he suddenly yelled, "God dammit! Shoot! Shoot!"
He pulled the trigger first, and let loose a round of HMG bullets into Onii's face.
The other abruptly awoke from their trance, and fired as well.
Metal shredding bullets tore into the door and machines in the way, creating bright sparks and ricochets spraying everywhere. Shotgun pellets and HMG bullets hit and bounced off Onii's nose horn and armored frill, doing barely any damage at all.
Without any warning, Onii let out a scream of primal rage, and charged right through the lift at them at super breakneck speed, curling both sides of the door outwards.
Metal crates and forklifts were crushed under his feet, as the floor rumbled with every step Onii took. Nothing could stand in its wake of destruction.
"This way!" Reza shouted and bolted towards a motionless conveyer belt. It was futile to stand against it anymore.
The five of them ran at the tracks of the conveyerer belt, firing at Onii's face as they moved. It was almost upon them when they entered the conveyer belt pathway into the wall, and it crashed into the wall, sending the whole place shaking.
"Reza! Where exactly is the other route?!" Mike said loudly as he ran.
"This is it! This belt runs into another room, which is located very near to the lift!" Reza yelled.
Their footsteps and shouts echoed in the endless tunnel-like belt pathway, which was completely empty, and so dim that they could barely see twenty metres ahead.
Jack glanced back a few times, and was relieved to see that Onii wasn't behind.
After a little while, their paces slowed down to a strolling speed, and they caught their breathes. Onii was nowhere to be seen, it was unlikely that it had followed them into this belt pathway, which ceiling was slightly below four metres.
"Well, Reza! Are you very sure this pathway goes to the lift?" Jack muttered, as he breathed heavily.
"Positive." Reza replied. "This belt divides into two directions later. And both would bring us to cargo storage rooms located less than forty metres from the lift."
They started to walk slowly, once-more resuming their single-file position, ever-vigilant to watch out for other Kharaa. There was no need to run anymore, Onii couldn't follow them inside.
boom......
They glanced back, darkly aware the source of the sound was from where they had ran from.
The walls trembled a little, and dust fell from the pipes overhead. The lights flickered several times, and electricity sparkled on the ceiling.
"What's that?" Jack questioned, his eyes visible with fear.
"Don't tell me..." Mike whispered as he focused his eyes, trying hard to make out what was in the distance as the dim light prevented him from seeing far.
Another boom sounded, and the belt rose and sank slightly.
Jack swallowed his breath. From the distance away, the dim light appeared to be swallowed up. An unexplained shadowry darkness was slowly creeping towards them.
boom...boom...boom...
The boom echoed throughout the belt pathway, getting louder and louder with every following boom. It almost sounded like thunder.
Sophie kept repeating to herself internally, it couldn't be Onii...it couldn't be Onii...Never before had she ever felt such fear from an enemy. Never before, had she ever regreted so much getting into this kind of situation. She was almost certain Onii was invincible, and nothing but death awaits them should they confront Onii again.
boom.boom.boom.boom
The sound was getting more frequent, and louder than ever.
"Guys." Burt said. "We should get going."
"He's right." Reza agreed. "Every second we delay here..."
Suddenly, there was an earthshaking roar, and the blood instantly froze in their body as they finally saw Onii.
The "darkness" was from its body, as it walked towards them, slowly but steadily. The walls were narrow, and the ceiling was too low for it. Onii's body was lowered, yet its great nose horn touched the ceiling, ripping a huge cut across, bursting pipes and shattering light bulbs. His entire body filled the pathway, drowning out all the light. Every step he took resulted in another thunder-like boom, the belt was crushed under his foot, and the walls buckled against his massive body.
Burt raised his HMG but Mike stopped him.
"Its no use." Mike said grimly.
Burt stared at Mike in bewilderment. "What? Why?"
"His head plate is thick and invulnerable, this creature is beyond any of us." Mike replied.
"But he is stuck right now. Look! He can't even run towards us!" Jack said and pointed towards Onii.
Onii let out another blood-chilling yowl, and suddenly charged towards them.
The entire area shook crazily as the walls and ceilings were crushed against his body. Onii picked up speed every second, the resistance of the surroundings doing little to slow him.
"Holy shlt! What kind of a monster is he?!" Jack screamed and took off with them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The belt sprung up and down under their feet constantly, as if invisible springs were underneth. It was getting hellish tough for them to run.
The footsteps were right behind them, Onii was gaining on them. The pipes above them twisted left and right, and massive cracks appeared on the walls around them, and huge amount of dust fell everywhere. Onii's sheer bulk was destroying the entire belt pathway, as it was intent on eating his former preys which managed to escape from it earlier.
Onii roared again, and snapped its jaws at their back, sending out thunderous cracks which sent chills down their spines.
"There!" Reza shouted.
About fifty metres ahead, it was a dead end, and the belt divided in two directions. It would lead them to the two cargo storage rooms.
Glancing back every now and then, Sophie was dismayed to see that the Onii was hot on their heels, and the tip of its horns was just inches from her. She was lacking the furtherest behind. Screaming, she sprinted faster than ever as curses flew out of her mouth.
Onii's jaws opened wide, its prey were almost within reach.
Pieces of tiles and metals rained down around them. The entire belt pathway was getting devasted, and ready to collapse anytime now.
RUN! RUN! RUN!!!
Sophie screamed in her own mind. Don't stop! Don't give up now! The exit is almost within reach! She could almost feel Onii's hot breath on her neck. She could almost picture her own demise, similar to Jeff's.
"Dead ahead!" Reza shouted at the top of his voice.
Burt's H-Grenade was already in his hand, and he pulled the pin off with his teeth before tossing it in front of them, right before the ending wall.
The moment the five of them hit the V-division of the belt, they scattered, Burt and Reza towards the left, Mike and Jack towards the right.
Sophie screamed and launched her body towards the right exit. There was a whoosh of air as Onii missed her feet by mere inches. She landed onto the floor painfully and curled up into a protective ball, counting the one second left for the H-Grenade.
Onii, not expecting the sudden dead end, continued blindly ahead and rammed straight into the wall ahead. There was a huge wham, and the entire place rumbled from the powerful impact. At this exact moment, the H-Grenade exploded, and the ceiling, already weakened by Onii's forceful advance, finally gave way. The entire belt pathway crumpled and crashed onto its back. Tonnes of metal, dust and tiles rained down on Onii, burying it alive as it struggled helplessly to escape. There was a final bellow of anger and pain, before silence took over.
Amidst the cloud of dust, Jack, Mike and Sophie came dashing out from the room. Sophie had several brusies on her body, but was otherwise unharmed. They had all managed to get away before the debris buried them as well.
The three of them rested against the wall for support, as they coughed and regained their breath. It was only seconds later, before the thoughts of the past event hit them.
Onii was dead.
"We did it!" Jack yelled in glee. "We killed Onii!"
"Hell yeah! Looks like it won't be bothering us now!" Mike muttered happily.
"One for Jeff!" Sophie cheered gladly.
They looked around desperately, but only three of them stood there. Reza and Burt were nowhere to be seen.
"What about Reza and Burt?" Sophie questioned, as she glanced about for them.
Mike smiled confidently. "They will make it, they always did. Now what we need to do is to find the lift."
Sophie nodded her head. "He's right. Reza and Burt are most likely heading towards the lift. If we go there, we might be able to meet them. What's more, these explosion must had attracted the Kharaa's attention. We can't linger here any longer, we must go now!"
"But...where do we go?" Jack asked. "We don't have the map."
Mike frowned at Jack's words. He was right. Although the lift was less than forty metres away, as Reza had mentioned, they had no idea of the way to go. A wrong turn might lead them even further away.
"No...wait..." Sophie said suddenly. "We have been here before."
Mike studied the surrounding for a moment before he remembered as well. Earlier on during the atmospheric disturbance, they had passed by this way before. He still recognized the way, although he wasn't as good as Reza, he was still slightly confident of his abilities.
"This way." Mike said.
The three of them drank a little more of their limited water before they moved on ahead. Walking through the familiar way and listening intently for hints of Reza and Burt, they glanced about constantly, but were more concerned on finding the two more than watching out for Kharaa.
Five minutes later, after making a couple of slight mistakes ending in the wrong way, they finally arrived at the lift once more. The lift door was still stuck, and there was only enough space for a single person to fit through.
Unfortunately, Burt and Reza were nowhere to be seen.
Blood-thirsty eyes focused on the five marines as the door continued to open, every inch widened sending them closer to their doom.
"Oh God........it's him." Sophie murmured, her lips shaking with fear.
Even Reza was frozen in terror for a moment, before he suddenly yelled, "God dammit! Shoot! Shoot!"
He pulled the trigger first, and let loose a round of HMG bullets into Onii's face.
The other abruptly awoke from their trance, and fired as well.
Metal shredding bullets tore into the door and machines in the way, creating bright sparks and ricochets spraying everywhere. Shotgun pellets and HMG bullets hit and bounced off Onii's nose horn and armored frill, doing barely any damage at all.
Without any warning, Onii let out a scream of primal rage, and charged right through the lift at them at super breakneck speed, curling both sides of the door outwards.
Metal crates and forklifts were crushed under his feet, as the floor rumbled with every step Onii took. Nothing could stand in its wake of destruction.
"This way!" Reza shouted and bolted towards a motionless conveyer belt. It was futile to stand against it anymore.
The five of them ran at the tracks of the conveyerer belt, firing at Onii's face as they moved. It was almost upon them when they entered the conveyer belt pathway into the wall, and it crashed into the wall, sending the whole place shaking.
"Reza! Where exactly is the other route?!" Mike said loudly as he ran.
"This is it! This belt runs into another room, which is located very near to the lift!" Reza yelled.
Their footsteps and shouts echoed in the endless tunnel-like belt pathway, which was completely empty, and so dim that they could barely see twenty metres ahead.
Jack glanced back a few times, and was relieved to see that Onii wasn't behind.
After a little while, their paces slowed down to a strolling speed, and they caught their breathes. Onii was nowhere to be seen, it was unlikely that it had followed them into this belt pathway, which ceiling was slightly below four metres.
"Well, Reza! Are you very sure this pathway goes to the lift?" Jack muttered, as he breathed heavily.
"Positive." Reza replied. "This belt divides into two directions later. And both would bring us to cargo storage rooms located less than forty metres from the lift."
They started to walk slowly, once-more resuming their single-file position, ever-vigilant to watch out for other Kharaa. There was no need to run anymore, Onii couldn't follow them inside.
boom......
They glanced back, darkly aware the source of the sound was from where they had ran from.
The walls trembled a little, and dust fell from the pipes overhead. The lights flickered several times, and electricity sparkled on the ceiling.
"What's that?" Jack questioned, his eyes visible with fear.
"Don't tell me..." Mike whispered as he focused his eyes, trying hard to make out what was in the distance as the dim light prevented him from seeing far.
Another boom sounded, and the belt rose and sank slightly.
Jack swallowed his breath. From the distance away, the dim light appeared to be swallowed up. An unexplained shadowry darkness was slowly creeping towards them.
boom...boom...boom...
The boom echoed throughout the belt pathway, getting louder and louder with every following boom. It almost sounded like thunder.
Sophie kept repeating to herself internally, it couldn't be Onii...it couldn't be Onii...Never before had she ever felt such fear from an enemy. Never before, had she ever regreted so much getting into this kind of situation. She was almost certain Onii was invincible, and nothing but death awaits them should they confront Onii again.
boom.boom.boom.boom
The sound was getting more frequent, and louder than ever.
"Guys." Burt said. "We should get going."
"He's right." Reza agreed. "Every second we delay here..."
Suddenly, there was an earthshaking roar, and the blood instantly froze in their body as they finally saw Onii.
The "darkness" was from its body, as it walked towards them, slowly but steadily. The walls were narrow, and the ceiling was too low for it. Onii's body was lowered, yet its great nose horn touched the ceiling, ripping a huge cut across, bursting pipes and shattering light bulbs. His entire body filled the pathway, drowning out all the light. Every step he took resulted in another thunder-like boom, the belt was crushed under his foot, and the walls buckled against his massive body.
Burt raised his HMG but Mike stopped him.
"Its no use." Mike said grimly.
Burt stared at Mike in bewilderment. "What? Why?"
"His head plate is thick and invulnerable, this creature is beyond any of us." Mike replied.
"But he is stuck right now. Look! He can't even run towards us!" Jack said and pointed towards Onii.
Onii let out another blood-chilling yowl, and suddenly charged towards them.
The entire area shook crazily as the walls and ceilings were crushed against his body. Onii picked up speed every second, the resistance of the surroundings doing little to slow him.
"Holy shlt! What kind of a monster is he?!" Jack screamed and took off with them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The belt sprung up and down under their feet constantly, as if invisible springs were underneth. It was getting hellish tough for them to run.
The footsteps were right behind them, Onii was gaining on them. The pipes above them twisted left and right, and massive cracks appeared on the walls around them, and huge amount of dust fell everywhere. Onii's sheer bulk was destroying the entire belt pathway, as it was intent on eating his former preys which managed to escape from it earlier.
Onii roared again, and snapped its jaws at their back, sending out thunderous cracks which sent chills down their spines.
"There!" Reza shouted.
About fifty metres ahead, it was a dead end, and the belt divided in two directions. It would lead them to the two cargo storage rooms.
Glancing back every now and then, Sophie was dismayed to see that the Onii was hot on their heels, and the tip of its horns was just inches from her. She was lacking the furtherest behind. Screaming, she sprinted faster than ever as curses flew out of her mouth.
Onii's jaws opened wide, its prey were almost within reach.
Pieces of tiles and metals rained down around them. The entire belt pathway was getting devasted, and ready to collapse anytime now.
RUN! RUN! RUN!!!
Sophie screamed in her own mind. Don't stop! Don't give up now! The exit is almost within reach! She could almost feel Onii's hot breath on her neck. She could almost picture her own demise, similar to Jeff's.
"Dead ahead!" Reza shouted at the top of his voice.
Burt's H-Grenade was already in his hand, and he pulled the pin off with his teeth before tossing it in front of them, right before the ending wall.
The moment the five of them hit the V-division of the belt, they scattered, Burt and Reza towards the left, Mike and Jack towards the right.
Sophie screamed and launched her body towards the right exit. There was a whoosh of air as Onii missed her feet by mere inches. She landed onto the floor painfully and curled up into a protective ball, counting the one second left for the H-Grenade.
Onii, not expecting the sudden dead end, continued blindly ahead and rammed straight into the wall ahead. There was a huge wham, and the entire place rumbled from the powerful impact. At this exact moment, the H-Grenade exploded, and the ceiling, already weakened by Onii's forceful advance, finally gave way. The entire belt pathway crumpled and crashed onto its back. Tonnes of metal, dust and tiles rained down on Onii, burying it alive as it struggled helplessly to escape. There was a final bellow of anger and pain, before silence took over.
Amidst the cloud of dust, Jack, Mike and Sophie came dashing out from the room. Sophie had several brusies on her body, but was otherwise unharmed. They had all managed to get away before the debris buried them as well.
The three of them rested against the wall for support, as they coughed and regained their breath. It was only seconds later, before the thoughts of the past event hit them.
Onii was dead.
"We did it!" Jack yelled in glee. "We killed Onii!"
"Hell yeah! Looks like it won't be bothering us now!" Mike muttered happily.
"One for Jeff!" Sophie cheered gladly.
They looked around desperately, but only three of them stood there. Reza and Burt were nowhere to be seen.
"What about Reza and Burt?" Sophie questioned, as she glanced about for them.
Mike smiled confidently. "They will make it, they always did. Now what we need to do is to find the lift."
Sophie nodded her head. "He's right. Reza and Burt are most likely heading towards the lift. If we go there, we might be able to meet them. What's more, these explosion must had attracted the Kharaa's attention. We can't linger here any longer, we must go now!"
"But...where do we go?" Jack asked. "We don't have the map."
Mike frowned at Jack's words. He was right. Although the lift was less than forty metres away, as Reza had mentioned, they had no idea of the way to go. A wrong turn might lead them even further away.
"No...wait..." Sophie said suddenly. "We have been here before."
Mike studied the surrounding for a moment before he remembered as well. Earlier on during the atmospheric disturbance, they had passed by this way before. He still recognized the way, although he wasn't as good as Reza, he was still slightly confident of his abilities.
"This way." Mike said.
The three of them drank a little more of their limited water before they moved on ahead. Walking through the familiar way and listening intently for hints of Reza and Burt, they glanced about constantly, but were more concerned on finding the two more than watching out for Kharaa.
Five minutes later, after making a couple of slight mistakes ending in the wrong way, they finally arrived at the lift once more. The lift door was still stuck, and there was only enough space for a single person to fit through.
Unfortunately, Burt and Reza were nowhere to be seen.
hmmm...
It is good but tbh i don't think that would of killed ONII so i guess i will have to wait and see if ONII returns
It is good but tbh i don't think that would of killed ONII so i guess i will have to wait and see if ONII returns
Go ahead! Post constructive comments, and tell me what is wrong with that chapter!
To me at least, something is missing from it. I just don't know what. In short, it is a "raw". I haven't really edited it yet, so I really need you ppl's frank comments on how bad it is, and how to improve it.
Thanks so much!
To me at least, something is missing from it. I just don't know what. In short, it is a "raw". I haven't really edited it yet, so I really need you ppl's frank comments on how bad it is, and how to improve it.
Thanks so much!
he isn't dead...
he's just unconcious
Onii must die by a direct hit from a spaceships PPC Turret
he's just unconcious
Onii must die by a direct hit from a spaceships PPC Turret
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