The Forsaken Ones

[Carsew]

"You heard him, let's get a move on.

 

Jack smirked and quickly put on his helmet as he walked to the armory. The HUD booted up as Jack took a Battle Rifle and two pistols from the rack. He grabbed a few mags and holstered the pistols. Good to go, he thought.

 

"Team 2 report in." Jack heard from Captain Evans over the TEAMCOM. He located Evans with the HUD and quickly ran over to him.

 

"Sergeant Jack Adelt, reporting sir."

[Jedi_Man]

Sam stood up and went to the armory. He oepened the locker and pulled out his rifle and a few mags. He thought for a second, then he grabbed the pistol. He may be heavily proficient with his rifle, but they always had stealth generators that could make them nearly invisible. He wanted something that he could grab and use in fights under five feet in distance.

Sam aimed through the scope and smiled as the reticle came to life at his touch. Putting the rifle down, Sam started putting on his armor, trying to remember all the specifics that the tech guy had said back at base. After three minutes of fidgeting, he was in, and Ares did a diagnostic.

"Your suit is vacuum sealed, you'll be alright in space, sir."

[Cyborg Ninja]

Null made his way to the armory as quickly as he could. He took a look around before picking up an smg with a scope and silencer attachment. He grabbed three stun grenades, and a silencer for his custom made pistol. He gave his knife a quick sharpening before returning to the group. He placed the pistol at his side and had he smg on his back.

 

"Alright then, Azrael send out the signal and activate the holo image."

 

"Our ship now looks like there's, and a very lovely distress signal has been sent. They should be here in 10 minutes."

 

------------

 

Titon looked over at his crew. He could tell they were all tired as was he, however they could not let the Plague down. The insectoid captain rubbed his antenna to keep him going. Suddenly a loud beeping was heard through the cruiser. An image was displayed on a holo screen in front of the captain. It was another Kandoid and by the looks of it he was injured.

 

"Attention anyone, this is Corporal Hanun. Our ship has been attacked. Our engines are dead and our shields are down. We have 7 dead and 16 wounded, we need help asap. Our coordinates are 140, 65..."

 

The message ended there. Titon scratched his head for a few seconds. He could never leave a fellow Kandoid in danger like that.

 

"Make those coordinates our new priority, we're getting are brethren out of there."

[DrPhil2501]

Deck joined the others in the Armory, where he walked up to the locker marked with his name. He undressed himself down to his underwear. He slipped on one of the Vacuum Sealed Zero-G suits, and placed his helmet on.

 

"These damn helmets make my ears uncomfortable..." he mumbled. He flicked the HUD system on, which displayed his status and radiation levels. He strapped the holster containing his Revolver around his leg, and attached his Automatic Sniper Rifle to his back. "Just incase..." he thought, noting the Silencer attachment.

 

He joined Null and the others outside of the armory to await for the next phase.

[ForeverNight]

"Sergeant Jack Adelt, reporting sir."

 

"I hear you Sergeant." Evans replied, already adding Adelt's vitals to his HUD's readout. After realizing that Larson wasn't going to answer anytime soon, Evans keyed in his vitals as well.

 

Damn, mental activity is above normal, must be going through some damn bad memories. Evans thought to himself, watching the MASR readout.

 

With the addition of Larson's vitals, the 'radar' in his HUD showed where Larson and Adelt were relative to him.

 

"Alright people, make sure your suits are vaccum ready and prepare for hot LZ." Evans said into the TEAMCOM before keying Team 2's frequency and thowing a line to Null.

 

"Anybody have the floor plans of a cruiser at all?" He asked. "While I know my way around, roughly, I always like having some idea of where I'm going."

 

He idly played with a revolver while the unknown Cruiser approached.

[Jedi_Man]

"Well, lets see is Ares has anything. Ares?" Sam said.

"Sir, using the sounds and mathematics, the floor plan is somewhat crazy. But, I can guarentee a 90% correctness on this map." Ares responded, putting a map on Sam's and everyone else's HUD.

"There, are you happy sir?" Sam asked Evans.

[Ping]

Sullivan joined the others and saw the fast approaching ship. "This is where all the fun begins," he said to no one in particular, relishing the fact he'd get to crack a few Plague heads.

 

"Sir, using the sounds and mathematics, the floor plan is somewhat crazy. But, I can guarentee a 90% correctness on this map."

 

Sullivan looked at the map that appeared on his HUD. "That floor plan is crazy. I'm surprised that the crew doesn't get lost. Oh, and what's the other 10%?" he asked Ares, feeling a bit apprehensive of getting lost himself in the ship.

[ForeverNight]

Evans looked at the map in displayed on his HUD. "Well," he said over the TEAMCOM to Team 2, "at least it's pretty much a straight line from our projected entry point," he highlighted a point on the ship's port. "To the Engine Room," he highlighted another point.

 

"Looks like we're going to need much more explosives than I thought." He muttered as he bent down and grabbed several pounds of what looked like old Plastic Explosives. "Compound D," He said, "Gotta love this stuff."

[Cyborg Ninja]

"Sir, using the sounds and mathematics, the floor plan is somewhat crazy. But, I can guarentee a 90% correctness on this map." Ares responded, putting a map on Sam's and everyone else's HUD.

"There, are you happy sir?"

 

Azrael couldn't help but laugh over the groups team chat.

 

"Fear not Mr. Sullivan, for you have a real AI with you. Don't use a common connection to do an entire network's job is what I always say, metaphorically that is. I'm downloading and updating your maps as we speak. There we go, not only is it 100% correct but it covers the every level of the ship, including each and every object. I've also updated your motion trackers."

 

Null shook his head as Azrael one upped the other AI. That's one thing Null couldn't stand was how everyone was beneath him, even his own kind.

 

"Well before Azrael decides to do something else we better head to the airlock."

[Jedi_Man]

"The other ten percent would have been soldiers, sir, or other anomalys, seeing how Azreal put out one better then me, I yield this round."

Sam chuckled, he'd paid millions of dollars for that AI, and it had been beaten.

"There's always one better."

[Cyborg Ninja]

Null made his way to the airlock just as quickly as he gave the order. That cruiser would be here any minute and he needed to be ready. His leg gave a slight twitch but he shook it off.

 

"Alright Azrael, cut off all power."

 

The engines stopped moving and the lights went out. Null's visor kicked in within a matter of seconds. Another good thing about the Torakian battle suit was the helmets ability to have a variety of different visor settings including night vision.

 

"Alright men, once Azrael gives the signal, he'll open the airlock and we make our move to the bottom of the ship. Remember, we have 30 minutes of air supply inside the helmets so we need to move fast."

[ForeverNight]

"Alright men, once Azrael gives the signal, he'll open the airlock and we make our move to the bottom of the ship. Remember, we have 30 minutes of air supply inside the helmets so we need to move fast."

 

Evans sighed. He hated time constraints like that, never allowed for the proper work.

 

He checked the assault rifle and flicked the safety off, the click was unnaturally loud in the silenced ship. After patting the explosives he had in his pack he moved over to the airlock, ready for quick boarding ops. "Just nobody hit my pack for now, okay?" He said over the TEAMCOM to everybody.

[Carsew]

"Alright men, once Azrael gives the signal, he'll open the airlock and we make our move to the bottom of the ship. Remember, we have 30 minutes of air supply inside the helmets so we need to move fast."

 

Jack nodded and started doing standard military stretching. In thirty seconds, all stiffness had dissappeared from his body.

 

He grabbed his battle rifle again, flicking the saftey off. He laid it casually on his shoulder and waited.

[Cyborg Ninja]

The plague cruiser darted through space as quickly as it could. Titon nervously watched out the window looking to see anything other than stars. His brethren were out there somewhere and needed his help. He thought he saw something in the distance so he leaned forward to see if it would help. It looked like Plague technology but it was too hard to tell.

 

"Sir, our radar has picked up and object with life on it."

 

"That's them, take us over there now!"

 

"Yes sir!"

 

---------------------

 

"Looks like the Plague has gotten my invitation for tea. Thank you for traveling Azrael Air. You are now free to exit the ship."

 

Null shook his head at Azreal's odd sense of humor. If it wasn't sadistic it was just random.

 

Null heard a crack as the air lock opened up. He nodded to his team before jumping out into space. He let his body float for a few seconds before pushing himself downward using the ship to move. He continued on this path until he wad underneath the ship. He attached a cable from his belt to the ship to prevent him from floating away.

 

"We wait here until Azrael tells us its okay to move through our teamchat. Has everyone got their cables hooked up?"

[Jedi_Man]

Sam smiled and hooked his cable to the socket in the wall.

He cocked the action on his rifle and flicked the safety off. He sighted in the scope, ensuring accuracy. Then, he sat down and said a prayer, finishing with the Lords Prayer.

"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day...."

[Ping]

"We wait here until Azrael tells us its okay to move through our teamchat. Has everyone got their cables hooked up?"

 

Sullivan connected his cable and then followed Null's lead. He checked the safety on his shotgun and set it to semi-automatic. Sullivan wanted to put it to fully automatic, but he figured that as this was a stealth mission, the fewer shots, the better. He also removed the safety on his sniper rifle and pistols, just in case.

[Carsew]

"We wait here until Azrael tells us its okay to move through our teamchat. Has everyone got their cables hooked up?"

 

Jack hooked his cable and stood readily, eager to move inte the other ship.

[ForeverNight]

Evans found a cable and quickly tied it onto the anchor point on his suit using a quick release knot, it just wouldn't do if the knot was still strong when he was moving to board.

 

He braced himself against the walls of the airlock, when the air left, it wasn't going to be pretty...

[DrPhil2501]

"We wait here until Azrael tells us its okay to move through our teamchat. Has everyone got their cables hooked up?"

 

Deck hooked his cable up to his suit, and made sure he secured it. He leaned against the wall and waited patiently.

 

""Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day...."

 

Deck glanced over at Sam, who was muttering his prayer. He rolled his eyes. "Crap... We've got a religeous fanatic on board..." he muttered under his breath. He stared up at the ceiling. "He better not preach us with his "Jesus" Words, I hope..." he thought.

 

"When is this door gonna open already?" Deck yawned.

[Cyborg Ninja]

The cruiser was now in plain sight. It took only a matter of minutes for it to get near the human ship. A large cylinder extended from the cruiser to the human ship. Azrael heard the doors open up and felt the rescue party board it.

 

"The Plague have taken the bait and now the rest is up to you, don't screw it up." Azrael said in his sadistic tone.

 

Null nodded to the group and made his way to the top once more. He floated his way towards the cylinder and pulled out a small laser. The aimed it at the top of the cylinder and created a hole. Null detached his cable and pushed his way inside. He created a larger hole in the door and tossed the remains aside. He rolled through the door and pulled out his pistol.

 

"Split up into your groups, Team 1 behind me."

[Jedi_Man]

Sam looked at Deck, smiling. "Religous, yes. Fanatic, no. But, You can believe it won't get in the way of the mission." He said. He pulled out his rifle and flicked off the safety, and then he did the same to his pistol. He got into his team and called up the map.

"Sir, the Plague is sending us a hail. They don't see us, the soldiers, but they seem a bit cautious." Ares said over TEAMCOM.

>Plague Recon Squad 418<

Char'ock looked at his reflection in the holographic mirror. His eyes were sunken in, bags hanged under them. He'd fought in wars before, but he'd never had to interrogate a... Human. He shivered at the thought of it. He'd been trained in guerrila warfare, it was his life, but he new how to make a man talk. He'd used in skills of persuasion not but three days ago. Normal interrogation on his kind was different. He hadn't expected the mans innards to fall out. The sight wasn't as bad as the smell, and he was still catching wiff's of it randmomly.

And the blood, it was repulsive, it was sticky and it felt as if it was still on his hands. It was unbearable, he hadn't had much sleep since then. He looked at his sword, a large blade, five feet long and wider than a foot. It was a fearsome sight to behold, and not many people were able to recount tales of it in a fight.

He put the blade back in its sheat and looked at his rifle. His instincts never failed him, something told him a fight was coming.

[ForeverNight]

"Split up into your groups, Team 1 behind me."

 

"Team 2 with me." Evans whispered into his mic as Null gave his orders. "We're using the old fallback, force and surprise. Don't stay to kill as many as you can, don't hang around and try to fight them, follow me in and guard my back as I blow open walls to get at the engine core; we're trying to stop this ship dead with as few holes as possible, on the outside."

 

"Sir, the Plague is sending us a hail. They don't see us, the soldiers, but they seem a bit cautious."

 

"Damn right they're cautious." Evans grunted, he still had issues with Nulls plans, this felt like something that would fall apart with only a slight nudge. He opened up a channel to Null through the TEAMCOM. "Team 2 is ready to blow walls as we make our way to the Engine Core. How do you want it, rare? Medium? Well-Done? Extra-crispy?" Evans was grinning slightly behind his face mask, it was a joy to be able to take the fight openly to the plague instead of simple assassination and terrorism.

 

<40 years ago, Boston Massachusets. Friday, July 3rd>

 

Mark Evans looked up at the sky in fear. His young body was too short for the BlasTek body armor he wore and his arms weren't the right length to heft the FN-MAR he was grasping, but still he had them. He looked at the rest of his 'company', 104 14 to 17year olds, just like him... and he was in command.

 

"When we see them, throw everything we've got at them!" He yelled out to his company over the TEAMCOM. "We're going to take casualties, I'm not going to lie, some of you will wake up in Valhalla today, but we shall not let them take this spacehead!" It wasn't until he heard the roar of the many companies around his position that he knew his TEAMCOM was broadcasting on the public frequency.

 

"Cadet Evans, please refrain from doing that again." The tinny voice of his assigned AI whispered over his TEAMCOM's private channel. "UNWDC doesn't like it when people say such things to other people's command."

 

"Of course, Nike, of course." It was impossible to tell with the distortion of the 2nd Generation AI's voice, but he swore up and down that his AI was a she.

 

With a rumble that shook the very Earth, the large ovaloid troop transports floated down to the ground, landing near the wreckage of the Space Elevator that had been destroyed 3 months ago, in the opening stages of this invasion.

 

The doors on the transports opened, disgorging thousands of Plague soldiers. Elsewhere the event was going on as well, Boston, Cairo, Murmansk, Melbourne, Kyoto, Rio, every major city or data node in the world was being invaded.

 

The soldiers opened fire upon the few exposed soldiers of the UNWDF, but that was it as they advanced towards the child soldiers.

 

"I need artillery and CAS now!" Evans yelled into his TEAMCOM, on the supervisor's channel.

 

"CAS is inbound from the UNSS Columbia, ETA is 5 minutes." Nike said in her tinny voice into his ear after conferring with the Supervisor AI. "Now you can answer the ages old question, what would you do with five minutes to live?"

 

Bringing up his rifle so the Iron Sights could be used, Evans took aim on an approaching soldier and fired off his rounds, the thing shrugged off the first 4 rounds, but the fifth and sixth killed it. Instantly, 3 others turned to face him.

 

Then Hell erupted around him. The X-Ray pumped lasers on the Plague ships in orbit struck all around Evans' position and the positions of everybody in the area. Tanks that had been engaged in a vicious battle with Plague Armor, simply disappeared in a nuclear hell, arty positions simply ceased to exist. "How long?" He choked out to Nike, surveying the destruction around him, and the destruction that continued to pour out.

 

"Four minutes, twenty seconds."

 

Cursing violently, Evans fired off all his rounds at Plague Soldiers within his sight well, his Armor support steadily vanished under the onslaught from orbit. Suddenly, the barrage from space started to abate, and little suns illuminated the area even more as Plague battleships started dying.

 

No one on the ground cheered, they were too embroiled in their own conflict. The plague continued in towards the survivors of the laser barrage. They now dropped weapons to pick up their dead comrades' as opposed to reloading. Totally out of ammo, Evans threw his rifle at a Plague soldier, who was dumbfounded by the move, until his brain met .455 caliber slugs from Evans' pistol.

 

"How long, Nike?"

 

"One minute, two seconds." The tinny voice was becoming more distinct, or was it just his imagination and the stress of combat.

 

Already, Evans could hear the screams of the UNSF Fighter-Bombers entering the athmosphere from the Carrier Columbia. He could visualize how they would swoop in gracefully and pound the hell out of these Plague bastards with their Mass Drivers.

 

Gratitude turned to horror when Evans saw what was under the F/B-204's, nuclear tipped missiles!

 

He turned and started to run from the hell that was to be, the Plague ignored him, but his second in command didn't.

 

"Why are you running Evans?" Nikki Bremies asked angrily as she grabbed his arm. Nike repeated the same question.

 

"Those fighters are carrying nukes," he managed to choke out before the fighters launched off their missiles into the troop transports.

 

The shockwave blew Evans and Nikki back into a depression in the ground, Nikki landed on top of him.

 

That probably saved his life.

 

Shards of metal from the hull landed around Evans and Nikki, and one even landed on top of them, slicing through Nikki entirely and cutting open Evans gut.

 

Seeing black around the edges of his vision, he managed to get out only a few words to Nike. "Get....... help........"

 

His visioned cleared..... he was on a gurney? Where was he? Was this a hospital? Evans tried turning his head to look around, only to find that his head was immobilized.... He looked down at his gut, ugliest damn wound he'd ever seen...... This room was grey.... military.... a throbing thrum indicated FTL engines.... the stolen Plague drives applied to the UNSF Carriers?

 

"Earth has been..... destroyed." Nike whispered in his ear, her voice was no longer tinny, instead it was almost... human....

 

"Show..... me...." He whispered.

 

And he saw.

 

And he screamed.

 

<Present Day>

 

Evans blinked away tears, he hadn't known were there. It had been more than a few years since he'd throught about Boston, but he still missed Nike's familiar presance in his... mind? He'd never quite known where she was, but she'd been with him ever since Boston, until she'd been..... lost.....

 

"Religous, yes. Fanatic, no. But, You can believe it won't get in the way of the mission."

 

"A man's got to have something keeping him going," Evans said in partial agreement. "Get ready to vent the athmosphere."

 

((Yeah, a bit of backfill on the Fall of Earth, other than that, not much))

[DrPhil2501]

""Religous, yes. Fanatic, no. But, You can believe it won't get in the way of the mission."

 

"I suppose thats good to hear." he placed his rifle over his shoulder. "Still, its you're choice."

 

"Split up into your groups, Team 1 behind me."

 

Deck followed and stood behind Null. "All ready to go on your command, sir."

[Jedi_Man]

Sam fell into Team two with Evans, after responding to his comment, " You know it!", with a grin, which was skin deep.

The soldiers had put their helmets on and the doors opened. They pushed off and made their way to the ship, avoiding any major movement that would send them into a zero g tumble, they all knew that would be the end of them most likely.

[Ping]

Sullivan followed Null and his team toward the Plague cruiser, propelling himself off the spaceship. He always felt somewhat apprehensive just floating or flying with nothing above or below you, but that was just part of the job.