Halo: Defenders' Fall
Disclaimer: My story. Not my game, movie, book, or anything, but my story. Mine.
A/N: Chapter One is one-and-done. Full speed ahead to Chapter Two! I'm sorry it took so long, Writer's Block is a cruel mistress.
Halo: Defenders' Fall
-Chapter Two-
Welcome Home
Jesus Christ, it was hot.
Shyam Zakir Patel had just gotten used to the cold chill of the assembly room, and then he came out of the glacier and into the frying pan, so to speak. He really hated teleporting. Honestly, he'd much rather waste time in a Hornet and enjoy the view. Sure, the gas cost would be outrageous, but Shyam figured it was better than feeling like every part of your body was sneezing backwards. As Sid peeled rubber into the teleporter, the sudden momentum had thrown Patel back…only to lurch forward when the teleporter slowed the Warthog…only to be thrown back even further once the interdimensional travel began. So besides his muscles trying to force their way inside of his bones, he now had whiplash to boot.
And the heat! Shyam had passed all of the training regimens: he aced desert survival, dehydration simulation, hell, even a simulation asking him to fix his ship before it crashed into a star. But no heat ever out-burned a 'port. Shyam felt as if he eyes were trying to force their ways into Hell itself. He absolutely hated teleporting. Complete waste of research in his opinion.
Struggling to move his helmet, Shyam looked to his right. Elijah, always trying to look like nothing bothered him, when he always took everybody else's problems as his own. Sure enough, Smith had his jaw clenched and face straight, but Shyam could see beads of sweat on his brow and what he had for muscles tensed up to the extreme. In his gunner's seat, Josh seemed to be enjoying the travel. He leaned back and propped one of his Goliath arms on the gun, like he was riding in a godforsaken Cadillac. Ben seemed…well, Ben seemed like he was just sitting in a car. Then again, Shyam wasn't sure The Teleporter, or anything else for that matter, could affect Ben's well-being more than it had already been affected.
In his own hog, Carter, Mr. Insanity himself, was clinging onto the gun for dear life, the force of the travel lifting his feet and causing him to have to hold on to the chain gun like a piece of paper stuck on a tree in a hurricane. Shyam could see his mouth moving, but Jesus only knew what kind of words he was spouting. Mentally willing himself to change directions, he glanced at Sid. Sid's face seemed to reflect Shyam's mood. Pissed. Stewart hated 'porting just as much as he did, but Shyam always thought Sid hated it more, because it normally takes a lot to get Gentle Giant mad.
Finally, the light of God appeared. It starts off small, and then gets larger and larger until you reach your destination on the other side, much to the relief of many a soldier induced with motion sickness. As it grew, Shyam breathed a small sigh of relief. This joyride was finally over. He longed to have ground underneath him, where he could think on his feet like he was born to do. The Warthogs accelerated even more, reaching the light with almost literal breakneck speed. The closer they got the more detail Shyam could make out. There were trees…canyons…grass…a bit of shade…as the Warthogs finally slowed down to a complete stop, Shyam smiled, leaned back…
…and realized he was forty feet in the air.
The millisecond before they began to fall, Carter uttered what was on everyone's mind.
"Shit."
If the Potentialists were there and they didn't know they had arrived, Shyam figured, then the terrified screams of five soldiers and one not-as-bright soldier yelling "Whee!" would certainly alert them of the Reclaimer presence.
As always, in tough spots, and this most definitely qualified as a tough spot, Elijah was the first to think, the first to react, the first to come up with an eloquent plan to save their skins.
"BAIL!"
Close enough.
All six TBOMers abandoned ship at the same time, waiting until the distance was right, then tucking into a roll and rising unharmed. Except for Ben, who managed to spread-eagle the ground and rise unharmed. Idiotic as he was, Ben amazed Shyam with his toughness and resilience. Not to mention his best friend made him laugh, which was hard to do nowadays for Shyam. Ever since the assassination attempt, Shyam had questioned the Parliaments' decisions. He saw no need for an open attack when your opponent is basically about to surrender to you, or so Shyam thought the Sovereign was going to. But no, they had to go shoot up the estate, kill his wife, and send Peak into an inconsolable rage. Way to go, Parliament.
Shyam ignored his political aggravations and did the first priority as team leader: check and make sure you have a team left.
"Everybody okay?" he spouted.
Scanning the area, Shyam noticed everyone was getting up groggily, but seemed to be in good enough shape. They weren't dead yet, so he took that as a good sign. He checked himself over, finding nothing out of the ordinary, brushed off the dirt, and tried to keep a cool head as he issued orders to his squad.
"All right, let's go! No funny business, get into that base on the double!" he barked, doing his best to sound official and high-ranking. Authority positions were hard for Shyam. Since his first day in the Academy, he preferred working on his own, not having to trifle with other people's opinions and personalities. He stayed quiet, stayed focused, and stayed alive. That changed when he was assigned to Squad Hurley K. 44, which Latham had affectionately renamed TBOM. Shyam never really knew what that was supposed to stand for. Hurley K. 44 was unlike any other group of soldiers Shyam had ever been around. You had Elijah, the natural leader. He may have not been a superb military standout, but he unknowingly assumed the role amongst his allies, with his quick thinking and logical decisions. What amazed Shyam the most about Elijah wasn't that he could influence his comrades so easily, it was the fact that he didn't mean to. Everyone listens to Elijah, he mused, except for Elijah.
Then there were Joshua and Sidney, the twin towers of his squad. Joshua was gigantic, and Sid's demeanor alone added a good three inches to him. Shyam was trained to fear no enemy, but he was also trained not to be stupid. He preferred to stay on their good sides, which, despite their physical presence, was a pretty easy task with those two. He looked barbaric, but Latham was just a fun-loving soldier…who really liked to kill things. Sidney didn't say much, but in this group Shyam liked that about him.
Carter, on the other hand, was a wild card in Shyam's book. Trigger happy, irrational, and driven solely by testosterone, Yates was the physical embodiment of everything Shyam hated in a soldier. However, when he dropped the crazy-gunman mask, Shyam found Carter to be a respectful, loyal warrior whose fierce devotion to the Reclaimers could not be denied.
Despite their not-so-subtle quirks and differences, Shyam had never seen such chemistry between teammates. During field exercises, or at least the ones where Ben didn't dominate anything that breathed, there was an unspoken understanding between teammates. Elijah and Ben would eliminate any enemies they found, with Carter and Sidney providing sufficient backup, and Joshua being the random spark of military genius they needed in tight spots. All of this without previous experience with each other. The rarity of such still caught Shyam in awe. When he first joined Hurley K. 44, he was sure there was some sort of mistake. He was Shyam Zakir Patel, first in his class, and he was assigned to play babysitter with masochists and physical freaks of nature. Over time and training, however, he came to embrace the fatherly role he played. Ironically, since he was considered by many to be young strategical genius, he bonded quickly with Snyder, appreciating the comic relief and bluntness of the blonde killing machine.
Shyam smiled underneath his helmet as he dashed with his comrades into the giant stone monolith that was to be their new home. On the sides, two symmetrical ramps led to the roof, which had a sunroof-like opening in the center of it. The soldiers entered the front, which led down and then split left and right, both ways leading to the center of the base. On the floor was a large spray-painted symbol, the navy insignia of the Reclaimers. The symbol gave Shyam a sense of pride, a way to remember why he was here.
Scattered about the room were multiple boxes, each customized in different ways, all of them labeled. Shyam found his, a cold, grey box with PATEL scratched into it by way of a combat knife. Opening it, he found it was exactly as he left it; organized and efficient. He unloaded his weapons, four identical assault rifles, each with custom scopes and three different modes of fire: full, single shot and three-round burst. He removed the standard medpacks and ammunition, equipped them as necessary, then did his routine check on his squad, something he felt like he would be doing a lot from here on out.
Elijah was excitedly rambling on about something, the way he did when something interested him. He had already holstered two plasma rifles and a UNSC pistol, and was trying to explain the "beauty" of the Needler to Joshua. Shyam knew this would be in vain. Latham lost his left hand as a child, in one of the last known raids by Covenant soldiers. Besides his trusty shotgun, battle rifle, and normal pistol, Joshua had a customized pistol, about 1.5x larger than the standard issued. One side, in blood, was the word REVENGE. The opposite side was inscribed HATE. Latham's pure hatred gave Shyam shudders, considering he was normally a mellow personality. Sid and Ben were holstering their respective weapons, random assortments of heavy weapons. Ben had somehow smuggled two Jackhammer rocket launchers, something that made every soldier uneasy. Sid had a pair of shotguns, multiple grenades, and the like.
From the corner came a whimper, and Shyam rolled his eyes as he saw William Carter James Yates III, on his knees, clutching a Sniper Rifle. But not just any ordinary sniper rifle. Carter wasn't just a homicidal maniac, his bloodlust was hereditary. His father, and his father's father, and his father, and his father, were all wizards with a firearm. This rifle, first created by Carter's great-great-grandfather, had its scope magnified with the generations, with the current version having a 35x zoom. Not to mention being able to hold thirty-two shots instead of the standard sixteen. Carter loved all of that destructive power in single rifle. Thirty-two shots of headshots, body shots, and even foot shots to make them suffer. Sometimes, Shyam thought, Carter could be one sick bastard.
Once everyone was equipped, Shyam's nervousness overcame him. Why hadn't the Potentialists arrived yet? Surely somebody heard the commotion. He normally made sure that nobody would be aware of their presence, but during a forty-foot-free-fall you find more important things on your mind.
Shyam couldn't ignore his intuition. "Carter!" he barked, with a not-so-well hidden tone of worry in his voice, "Topside, make double-sure there is no Potentialist presence."
Carter scoffed. "Geez…a please would be nice…"
Shyam replied with a cold stare.
The redhead shrugged as he walked outside. As he turned to walk up the ramp, he flashed a grin and grabbed his rifle tighter.
Once he had left, Elijah had already begun sketching a map into the wall with his knife. "Okay, while we were falling towards our probable deaths…" he groaned with annoyance, "I got a quick look at our surroundings. From the looks of it we're flanked by mountain paths…"
As he spoke, he added his aforementioned details. "If I'm right, then the Potentialist's half of the canyon is probably symmetrical, although their left side seems a bit more open, leaving them vulnerable to-"
Before Elijah finished his sentence, two loud, low cracks were heard from above, followed by muffled yells of high-pitched obscenities. Shyam's gut took a deep turn, and he mentally prepared himself as Sid touched his helmet mic.
"Carter! Status!"
"What does it SOUND like up here? Reds! WHOOOLE buncha reds! You boys wanna get your share you better hop on it!"
The mic was then filled with Carter's maniacal laughter. "I swear," Josh mumbled, "he is one sick-"
"-bastard." Shyam finished with a sigh. "Sid! Head topside and cover Carter. 'Lijah, Latham, I need you to pull a Code 37, then-"
"-Code 37? What is that?" Josh asked with a coy grin.
"Why, I have no idea, Josh my good man." Elijah responded.
Shyam sighed again. " We don't have time for this!"
Josh couldn't lose his grin. "Then I guess we don't have time for Code 37. Might just have to provide backup…" He egged Shyam on with a facial expression.
His face in his hand, Shyam conceded. "Run 'Code Zoom Boom'."
With a loud "Woo!" the two leapt out the door.
"All right…and Ben?"
"Yezzir?"
"Just…don't blow up anything important."
Like a confused pup, Ben cocked his head, although his mindless grin still sat on his face. "Gotcha, bud. I promise, there won't be anything like last time."
"Last time you completely dismembered a security guard with a dull knife."
"He shouldn't have snuck up on me!"
"It was a stealth exercise…"
"And I was carrying a rocket launcher! That implies that I am not being stealthy!"
Shyam smiled and shook his head, then quickly donned his black helmet. As he became adjusted to the full suit, his HUD pinged to life. The adrenaline pumping through his veins, his trigger finger itching, and his bloodlust on full gear, he stepped out into the light.
Temporarily blinded by the artificial suns made for this planet, Shyam took the moment to shield his eyes with his Assault Rifle. Once his sight was restored, he instantly calculated his situation. There were five green dots on the top of his HUD, all of them pulsing with beating hearts. Their respective tags soon faded into view.
ES02
SS03
JL04
WY05
BS00
To the left there was his own tag, SP01, along with a vertical shield gauge and a horizontal ammunition gauge. A heartbeat monitor stood at the top right, and just beneath it was an electronic labeling: SHYAM ZAKIR PATEL.
"Carter! Eyesight!"
"We're talking twenty to thirty reds here, sir. By the looks of them a majority aren't well trained, probably just grunt soldiers. One or two high ranking ones, but nothing we can't handle. Before you got here there were about thirty or forty. Sid and I got us a head start." Carter added this last part with an audible chuckle.
Before Shyam could ask anything else about the Potentialist threat, his thoughts were drowned out by the unmistakable sound of the Warthog. Still dented from their rough entrance, it now sported one Joshua Latham and one Elijah Smith, taking wide turns, jumping hills, and basically making as much racket as possible towards the red militia.
"YEEEEEE-OOOOO!"
Shyam mused. He was outnumbered five to one. His enemy had already studied the terrain. He had roughly five to ten minutes to get settled and make a plan before he was attacked. And he was stuck against this force with Hurley K. 44.
He liked those odds.
A/N: Okay, I know it's a lot of plot, but it's time for the action parts. lol I can't help it, I'm a plot junkie. R/R! :)
~Jay Diez