Concurrence Chapter 8-4

3109 words.

*****

“Let us complete your mission,” Seela said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “I am interested to see this weapon, does it have as much recoil as your gun?”

“Not really,” he answered, leading the way as he stepped into the threshold. They made their way down the hallway cautiously, the passage ending at another doorway, this one open as well.

They stepped into the tower proper, the corridor petering out into a small room. It was dark, the Major activating his visor to cut back the shadows. Lining the base of the walls were tall, blocky machines, each one sporting a terminal where users could access the data stored on the servers. There were ten of these data banks cramping the space, five on each side, there tops stretching all the way to the roof. The place reminded him of a vault.

He swept his flashlight over a large machine in the middle of the room. At five meters across and just as long, its silver surface decorated with a circle of light not so different from the Superintendent’s logo, it stood out as the most important piece of equipment in the room.

“Well?” Seela asked, appraising the darkness. “I do not see any weapon.”

“Got a confession to make,” the Major began, stepping up to the large machine, slinging his shotgun over his back. “I said my mission was to retrieve a weapon, but you probably thought I was being literal. Remember how I told you about my sleeper agent?”

“Yes…” she said, her tone implying she wasn’t following.

“Well, my objective and him are one in the same. My team was sent here to get him out.”

“But there is no one here,” she said. “Unless there is a human hiding in the shadows back there. Come out!” she called. “We are here to rescue you!”

“He’s not human,” he explained. “He’s the AI that controls the city systems, he helped us through all those blast doors, remember? Everything the Covenant’s done up to now, has been recorded by the AI, and with that data, we’ll know what they’re after, and how we can stop it.”

She watched as he moved over to one of the terminals, pressing a button that powered on the little screen. “Sorry that I didn’t tell you before,” he added. “Wasn’t sure if I could trust you.”

“It is no matter, all I need to know is where our charge is,” she answered. “Speaking of, where is it?”

“Just a sec. What the….” He furrowed his brow as he tapped into the storage banks.

“Problem?” she asked.

“It’s not here,” he said, navigating through the menus. “The AI core is right here in front of me, but it’s… empty.”

He recalled his orders on how to compress the AI into a portable storage unit, but none of the subroutines were responding. Confused, he checked through the recent activity logs, and the very last one caught his attention. Data transfer complete. Emergency shutdown initiated.

“Did your team already extract your AI?” Seela asked, the Major shrugging at her.

“Don’t know, it says here the AI shut itself off after a data transfer, but it doesn’t say to where. I don’t recognise these passcodes used, either. It couldn’t have been one of my squad mates.”

“Other humans, then?”

“Maybe, but no one outside of ONI would know how to access the data core, unless the Brutes managed to splice in, but I doubt that.”

“So,” Seela began after a pause. “have we wasted our time? We came all this way only to find someone has already done the work for us? Perfect…”

“Not exactly,” he said, returning to the terminal. “The core was shut down, but the data is still here, I can make our own copy and wipe the rest, make sure the Covenant never learns what the Superintendent learned…”

After extracting the data onto one of the drives and purging the rest, he walked over to one of the data vaults, pulling one of the portable drives out by the handle. It was the size and shape of a book, and he clipped it onto his belt, giving Seela a thumbs up when it was secured.

“That’s it?” Seela asked.

“That’s it. We can get out of here now.”

“Why bother copying the data?” she asked, glancing at the drive dangling from his hip. “someone has already made off with the core.”

“Never hurts to have a backup,” he said, shrugging. “Besides, I’d rather not leave this city empty-handed after all this trouble.”

“Fair enough,” Seela replied. “Let us return to the surface, and pray the Alpha Site has not collapsed in the meantime.”

-xXx-

Fortunately, ONI headquarters was still standing when he and Seela backtracked their way to the surface, if one could call a building engulfed in flames as standing. Rings of flame still engulfed the high walls, the wreckage turned black within the smouldering inferno. As the two clambered out of the shaft, they heard one of the supports collapse somewhere above them, the clanging metal ringing out like a gong. The Major imagined that had they been delayed during their return trip, this way might have been blocked for good.

They had no choice but to retrace their steps through the Hive, as he had no sense of direction in the mazes on those sublevels. They had prepared for another fight with the buggers, Seela refilling on ammo by one of the dead Brutes, but the catwalks were conspicuously absent of drones when they returned, only a few handful of drones were waiting for them, nothing for the hardened pair to worry about. Either they had killed enough of the aliens to keep them from mounting another attack, or the insects had simply lost interest in them. Seela thought it was a combination of both.

“The Covenant may have deployed the Yanme’e to help secure your data core,” she’d said. “Now that is gone, they left behind only a small holding force, and the rest moved on. That is my assumption.”

“Remind me to tell the Navy to burn out the city underground when we kick the Covenant outta here,” he said. “Place is infested.”

When they emerged from the burning headquarters, the Major had to shield his eyes as golden light poured down on the pair from above. This light wasn’t born from flames, however. It was sunlight, struggling to filter in through the cloudy sky. The rain had even ceased as well, the ground still covered in a wet sheen, but beginning to dry in the morning heat.

While the warmth of the sunrise was a welcome sensation, he and Seela still swept their weapons about as they moved out of the ruined Site, ready for any Covenant that might be waiting. The artificial island was still deserted, thankfully, the two lowering their guns as the battlefield loomed ahead of them.

As they began to walk down the island, the ground suddenly began to quake, the two jerking their heads around in alarm. The noise morphed into a cracking sound, not unlike thunder, and a massive shape appeared in the sky above the city.

It was a Covenant cruiser, its purple hull glittering in the morning light. It was flying so low that the skyscrapers in the distance would touch their undersides if the pilots flew over them, the ship looking enormous at this low altitude.

At the centre of its bulbous hull was a giant circle of light, beginning to glow with collecting energy. It discharged without warning, a pillar of plasma descending from the circle and lancing towards the city. He and Seela weren’t in immediate danger, the cruiser drifting towards something further inland, the roar of its devastating cannon soon drifting into a low thrum.

“The fleet begins its glassing,” Seela said, her head raised as she tracked another massive shape in the sky. Two more cruisers jumped in, the world trembling as they warped into the atmosphere, simply appearing in the span of a few seconds, the shimmering air the only indication of their imminent arrival.

“I knew a few people who said the homeworld would never get glassed,” the Major muttered, watching as the newly arrived cruisers activated their belly cannons. Glassing was the Covenant’s way of making a world unable to support life, melting away the crust of a planet until all that was left was a layer of superheated bedrock. “Guess they were wrong.”

“This is your homeworld?” Seela asked, her eyes wide. “I’m… sorry. I had no idea.”

“Don’t be,” he said. “You’re not the one burning our world. If these cruisers managed to get through the orbital defences, New Mombasa’s just the beginning…”

“Then we will stop them before that happens,” Seela said, patting him on the arm. “Your data, it will help the humans fight back, yes? We must get it to your superiors as soon as possible.”

“You’re right,” he said, pushing his gloomy thoughts aside, there was no point getting distracted on something he couldn’t control. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They made their way back across the former battlegrounds littering the artificial island, the various alien species and the humans laying exactly where they’d left them on their initial trip through. They passed beneath the gate on the far side, rushing around the Brute Choppers and moving for the idling Warthog.

He climbed into the driver’s seat, slotting his shotgun into the rack behind his seat, hitting the ignition with his thumb. Like before, the dashboard lights flickered on, joined by the satisfying purr of the engine as the vehicle rumbled to life.

He pressed down on the accelerator a little, the satisfying rev startling Seela as she rounded the hood, lifting a hoof over the passenger side of the chassis.

“It’s too cramped,” she complained, the chassis creaking as she clambered into the seat.

“Gun’s there if you want,” he suggested, jerking a thumb at the flatbed.

She climbed back out, moving to the rear of the Warthog, the suspension shifting as she gripped the mounted gun by the handles, hauling herself up. The weapon was mounted on a rotating dial, and she brought the weapon forwards, the Major explaining how to fire it. She was a little tall to use the gun properly, but as long as they didn’t pass underneath any overhanging bridges, she’d be fine.

“Ready?” he asked, looking over the backrest at her, Seela giving him a thumbs up as the barrels of the chain gun spun round.

“Oh yes,” Seela replied. “Drive us to victory, Major.”

Pulling the vehicle into gear, he floored it, swerving round the Choppers and angling towards the light bridge. The horizontal plane was a little faded in the sunlight, but still activate, the Warthog lurching like they’d driven over a speed bump as they transitioned to its off-blue surface.

Driving over the hardened light was an odd experience to put it lightly. There were no flaws, no bumps, the suspension completely level as they crossed the alien pontoon. It was like driving over ice, not a hint of friction until they made it to the other side.

Warthogs were armoured enough to withstand small arms fire, the Major ramming straight into a derelict vehicle sitting on the street, the small car simply crumpling as the Warthog rolled over it.

“We should have found one of these things much sooner!” Seela laughed, the Warthog ploughing through the street and leaving a clear path in their wake.

The Major chuckled, driving through the blast door imbedded in the wall that circled the lake, returning once more to New Mombasa’s streets. Unlike before, the claustrophobic sensation he’d felt in the dingy city was no longer there, the Warthog bulldozing into anything blocking the way. Nothing short of another heavy vehicle would stop them now, and the Major wasn’t about to waste demonstrating the fact.

He gunned the engine, Seela’s joyful chuckling just reaching his ears as the speedometer ticked up to eighty, then ninety. The lack of rain, the heat of the sun, it was enough to make them feel both feel good for the moment.

He made a handbrake turn as the street split off in two directions, the Major spinning the wheel so they went to the right. Despite his lack of orientation in the streets, he knew off by heart where the extraction point was in relation to the Alpha Site, so he didn’t need the kiosks anymore.

The wind swept past his visor as he drove down the twisting streets, dozens of buildings and windows whipping by on either side, another junction closing in up ahead. As he made to make the turn, something further up the street caught his eye. There was a figure standing on the sidewalk, waving its arms above its head, and it wasn’t an alien.

“Who is that?” Seela called out, swivelling the mounted gun down, not quite aiming at the figure, but close enough to warrant caution.

The Major slowed down, the tires squeaking as they pulled up to the figure. They were dressed in armour not so different from the Major’s own getup, orange paint strips trailing down the chest plate breaking up the darkly-coloured Kevlar. It spread its two arms out in surprise, a battle rifle clutched in one of the gloves.

“Holy shit! Major is that you?”

“Good to see you, Joker,” he answered, just able to contain his relief. He hadn’t seen any sign of his squad mates after their botched crash, and he was relived to find at least one of them had made it.

“Likewise Sir. What the hell happened to you? Been trying to raise you all night, and…” Joker did a double-take on Seela, the alien giving him a friendly wave as he stared up at her as though only now noticing her presence. “Um, why do you have an Elite on the Vulkan?”

“Why do you have that Gods awful thing on your helmet?” Seela shot back. She was talking about the smiley face decal on Joker’s visor, the man struggling to form a sentence at the odd reply.

“I… how… when… you…?”

“She’s a friend, I’ll explain it all later when we’re outta here,” the Major said. “Get in, we’re exfilling.”

“I… okay!” Joker answered with a resigned shake of his head, taking the Major’s offered hand, hauling himself into the passenger seat. “Guess I’ve got shotgun,” he added, stowing his rifle as he settled in.

The Warthog roared to life once more, the Major pulling a one-eighty as they turned round, making for the junction. “So aside from picking up a hitchhiker, where have you been Sir?” Joker asked. “Hellwould be my guess, you’re covered in blood and scratches, both of you.”

“We secured the Superintendent’s data,” the Major answered, patting the harddrive on his belt. “There were a few... complications, but it’s mission accomplished.”

“Really? We scrapped the mission soon as we realised the Covenant were all over the Site,” Joker said, lurching in his seat as they drove over a piece of rubble.

“’We’?” the Major asked. “The rest of the team, they’re…?”

“Holiday and Rebar were moving to the evac last I heard,” Joker said, the Major relaxing in his seat. He’d assumed the worst, but they were all still kicking, it was a massive weight off his shoulders.

“You didn’t go with them?” the Major asked.

“Nah, doubled back to check on your pod while they did a little subterfuging. Didn’t fancy going around solo, but they drew enough attention for me to slip through. When I couldn’t find you, I didn’t know what to think, either you were dead or out there someplace, and I couldn’t get you on the horn.”

“Busted my helmet during the drop,” the Major explained. “Comms were shot.”

“Well I had to assume the worst after you didn’t check in. I was making my way to the evac when I heard the Warthog, and what do you know? It’s my CO with an Elite at his back. Fucking crazy night.”

He imagined Joker must have gone through some shit if he searched for his pod by himself, he probably had all sorts of encounters he wanted to share when they were as far away from New Mombasa as possible.

“And what’s your story?” Joker asked, looking over his seat as Seela, the alien jerking the mounted gun to the side. He didn’t seem all that fussed after the initial shock, maybe because she was clearly on their side, being on the gun and all that. “Noticed a bit of infighting in the Covenant recently. You an outcast? Turncoat?”

“Protector,” Seela answered. “the Major’s cause is my own, and I have saved him many times during our mission.”

“It was a group effort,” the Major interjected. “Plus I saved you in more ways than one, didn’t I?”

“And I rewarded your efforts to my fullest capability,” she replied, the two sharing a knowing look. Joker wasn’t quite following along, glancing between them as he settled in his seat.

They weaved through the streets, knocking aside any obstacles in their way. The road began to slope lower and lower, the urban landscape slowly losing its density as they transitioned into the outer limits of the city. In the distance, hills of earth began to take precedence, their peaks capped with rock formations with the occasional leafy canopy sprouting between them. It was almost like they were driving up to a Safari, and in a way that was exactly what it was.

Like the walled-in lake surrounding the Alpha Site, a twenty-foot tall barrier enclosed these distant hills, the Major driving the Warthog down one of the streets that ringed the wall, the team soon pulling up to a gate. He drove beneath the arch, the fluorescents on the roof lighting up a small stretch of sheltered road, and then the world opened up once more.

Marula trees dotted the yellow landscape stretching out before them, their leaves waving in the gentle breeze. Walls of rock broke up the sight lines, dirt tracks between them creating wide paths for vehicles to follow. Strips of grass added a splash of green to the otherwise dry surroundings, the air shimmering as the sun began to bake the rocky ground. In the backdrop, the towering skyscrapers of the city loomed, the urbanicity contrasting with the sudden blanket of nature.

“What is this place, Andrew?” Seela asked breathlessly, the mounted gun swivelling as she drank in the sights.

“Did she just call you Andrew?” Joker balked.