Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:16 am
Fireteam Glory Part 144
Lawrence slid down into a shallow trench in the ground, boots splashing in a small stream of water at the bottom. He had walked across the jungle in silence, only stopping once to eat and do his business. He had heard the Covenant’s camp before he had seen it, the roars of Brutes eerily echoing across the forest. He hadn’t seen any of the beasts, but he had stumbled upon one of their messes. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but Lawrence filed the location away in his mind as a landmark. The sun was beginning to set now and it was becoming dark in the jungle. The landscape had shifted downhill slowly, with trees getting fewer and fewer in number. He lowered himself into the undergrowth as he reached a clearing. It was a road, paved and marked. It looked terrible, torn up by craters and burned by weapons fire. Suddenly, he could hear the rumble of an engine. It almost sounded like a tractor, but with a strange droning hum backing it up. He tucked himself deeper into the bushes, keeping his sight on the road. A large vehicle shot by, a machine with one singular large wheel in the front and a jet on the back. It roared fiercely as it rolled by Lawrence’s position. He caught a glimpse of the driver, a Brute clad in blue armor. The wheel was covered in large blades that occasionally ripped into the road’s surface and there were two weapon barrels that he couldn’t identify on the sides. It rumbled down the road, eventually leaving his field of view. After making sure there weren’t any following that one, he crept out onto the road and examined the area. The first thing to catch his attention was a sign that had been knocked over. Reading it, he learned that there was a town identified as Arusha thirty miles away. There was a part of him that wanted to check it out, but he opted to scout the base first and verify if there were any prisoners being kept there. He turned around and went back into the jungle, heading in the same direction as the Brute vehicle he had seen. The sun continued its descent towards the horizon as he slunk along the forest floor. Looking out at the road, he saw the burned out husks of civilian vehicles. A spike of fear shot through him, imagining the streets of Seattle, his home, covered in them. His father’s truck was among them. He stopped for a moment to snap himself out of his sudden fear.
“This is not the time to worry about them, they’re safe for now.” he muttered angrily. “Focus on the current mission. Scout the enemy, confirm POWs, then link up with UNSC troops.”
He repeated that to himself a few times as he continued on his path, weaving his way through the trees. He could see a pale glow in the distance, a large wall of energy it looked like. As he got closer, he could see that it was a long wall spanning the length of an entire valley. He could still see the road, and that it was the only gap he could see in the entire fortification. Two towers flanked either side of it, but the trees were too thick for him to see their tops. He travelled parallel to the wall until he reached a spot where he could see no towers for a good distance in either direction. Then, he ran for the wall. It moved in slow motion, his mind racing as he hoped that he would not be spotted. When he reached the imposing blue-white barrier, he hid next to one of the huge pylons he assumed were powering it. His arm was starting to itch, but he ignored the irritation. He peeked through the wavy distortions, scanning the Covenant base he now saw before him. It was a collection of simple prefabricated structures. Up towards the north of the valley there was a vehicle depot full of Ghosts, Wraiths, troop transports, and more of those one-wheeled vehicles. Along with that, there was a spot for several Banshees and Phantoms to land. He could see plenty of Covenant troops walking down there. Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals patrolled the area. He even saw two Hunters near the depot.
“No Elites, though.” he said to himself. “They’re usually in the thick of it barking orders to everyone else, so where are they?”
His focus changed quickly as he saw three circular energy pens near the center of the encampment. His helmet’s telescopic vision still worked, so he zoomed in on the pens to examine them. The first one was filled with only five people, all huddled in groups or laying in the mud.
“So there are prisoners here…” he whispered grimly. “Poor souls.”
The second one was similar to the first, eight people grouped together as they looked around nervously. As he shifted his view to the final pen and looked at the people within, he saw them. He almost had to stop himself from yelling in joy as he saw Teresa’s face. Most of the others were angled in ways that made it hard to see their faces, but from body shapes and hair colors he determined that they were all there. Booth, Santos, Parvisal, and Cass were all there. Kip was lying next to Teresa, using a shirt as a pillow. The only person he didn’t see was Donovan. His mind raced. Quickly, he brought out his assault rifle and checked the flashlight. The bright beam, with some quick adjustment, would be his method to send a message to the groups down there. It was risky, but he didn’t know what else to do. None of them had helmets, so the radio was no good even if the jammers he saw close to the pens were down. After a few deep breaths, he began to turn the light on and off in intervals.
Teresa watched as Kip’s chest feebly rose and sank. He hadn’t moved at all since he had fainted during the fight earlier in the day. Now the sun was setting, and he almost looked like he was dead. Nothing had happened since the fight. Now everyone was content to sit, or in Cass’s case, pace endlessly while staring out at the jungle. The Brutes were content to stand guard across the camp, or huddle around holograms of a Covenant Prophet and listen to sermons spoken in an alien tongue. People still cried in the other holding areas, some from injuries and others from an increasing hunger. The Brutes seemed to have no intentions of feeding their captives.
“Hunting down injured and starving people in the jungle? I knew the Brutes were cruel, but this is horrible.” Teresa angrily thought as she looked out into the jungle, now mostly a dark silhouette in the setting sun. “If there’s anyone out there, I hope you find us in time.”
She didn’t notice it at first, a flashing light in the corner of her vision. It was so small that she almost missed it entirely, the energy fields distorting it even further. It was coming from the west, up high in the jungle. She quickly made sure that no Covenant soldier was watching her before fully turning to examine the light. Her heart began to beat faster and faster, it was a signal! The pattern became clearer as she waited, a message in Morse code. Letters began to form from the flashes, albeit a little hard to read.
She spelled them out in her head. “…W-R-E-N-C-E-T-O…” Her pulse picked up even more as she read more letters. The flashes were a looping message. They suddenly stopped, but she had gotten all he had needed her to see.
“Lawrence to west. Help will come soon.”
Nearby, Santos and Booth were talking. “So,” Santos said, “did you mean what you said to Kip earlier, about pilots having it easy?”
Booth looked up at him and shook her head quickly. “No, not at all. It was such a stupid thing to say to him.” She took a look up at the sky. “I’ve been on enough birds that were shot down to know that pilots get the worst of it most of the time in combat. In all of the crashes we’ve had, the pilots rarely ever make it.”
“Well, I suppose you’ll have to apologize to him then. If we make it out of here.” Santos looked away. “If he lives that long.”
Booth knew things didn’t look good for them, but she wanted to believe that Teresa was right. As if the universe had heard her, Teresa suddenly sat down at their side. There was a look on her face, a grin so big it looked like it might permanently hurt her face if she kept it up.
“He’s here!” she whispered excitedly.
Booth wondered if maybe Teresa had taken a hit to the head as well, but she knew better than to assume that. “What do you mean? Who’s here?”
“Lawrence made it.” Teresa replied.
“WHAT!?” Santos shouted before Booth shushed him. “Oops, sorry. But seriously, Lawrence? Where?”
Teresa subtly gestured towards the west. “Up on the edge of the valley, behind the walls. He used a light to give us this message: Lawrence to west. Help will come soon.”
Booth smiled. “Glad to see he’s still kicking, apparently.”
“Well duh,” Santos said matter-of-factly, “if a tussle with a Chieftain couldn’t keep him down what chance does gravity have?”
“C’mon you two,” Booth said as she stood up, “we need to tell the others about this now.”
His timing was extremely sloppy due to his burnt arm, but Lawrence didn’t know how long he had before the Covenant spotted him so he didn’t want to waste any time. He signalled the last few letters with his rifle’s flashlight, looking at Teresa’s face as it had changed from somber to hopeful as she watched his message play out. He quickly crawled back into the undergrowth of the jungle, taking one last look out at the Covenant prison camp. His friends were right there, not to mention all of the other civilians and soldiers stuck with them. They were within his reach, but still so far away. A one-man assault would be the end of him, he knew that. But still, this was good. Even if he couldn't save them right now, they at least knew they weren’t alone out here.
“And I know that they’re all here,” he said to himself quietly, “all I need to do is find a way to contact other UNSC forces. Stay safe down there, guys.”