Fireteam Omega

Chapter 1-Humble Beginning

0213 Hours
December 15th, 2542
Military Calender
Alli System-Colony Alluvion
Chaso, Capital City

The sirens across the city blared with a two tone intensity. Everyone groggily awoke from their slumber, expecting it to be just another drill. The Holo screens blared with a red background and golden writing “Warning. Warning. This is not a Drill. Proceed to the nearest evacuation point. Warning Warning…” The message repeated. George Young quickly grabbed his two kids, his three year old daughter Samantha and his Five year old son Reed. His wife was already standing at the open door “George, hurry!” She urged him on. Without saying a word he ran to her, passing off his daughter to her and setting his son on the ground.

His own blood looked up at him with his light blue eyes and sandy brown hair, nearly a perfect match of his fathers. “Reed, we’ve got to go now okay? We won’t be able to come back here for a long time but we’ll be safe.” The Five year old looked at him, fear evident in his eyes and nodded. George lifted him up again and the husband and wife began to carry them through the dark streets. Black clouds filled the sky above them, but some of them began to flow a purplish color at the edges of the city.

Three oddly shaped ships descended below the clouds and Georges heart sank. It was obvious what exactly was happening, they were under attack from the Covenant. The Family of four quickly moved through the waves of other civilians that were screaming and crying in panic. Above them came a strange whine, then two Covenant dropships reared around a corner of the building. The two ships opened up the bay doors from the two tubes locked behind the cockpit. 

Scorching plasma filled the air, the large cannons on the ship opening fire on the crowd. Out of the bay doors, towering aliens in glimmering white armor with blue visors that covered their head dropped. Someone in the crowd, presumably a member of the local Army Garrison yelled out “Rangers!”

Gunfire and Plasma now fully engulfed the street, with the few men that had guns firing at the aliens who in turn fired their deadly plasma weapons that burned holes through those in the crowd and those resisting.

George grabbed his wife’s arm with his free hand, ducking inside of one of the buildings lining the street as the fighting began in earnest. He half dragged them through what appeared to be some sort of mechanical shop, before ducking behind the counter with his family. The roaring of the massacre was momentarily muted, with the thick glass blocking out a good majority of the sound.  Outside screams still filled the air, causing him to cover the ears of his son while his wife did the same with their daughter “It’ll be okay” He whispered, a harmless lie. The man knew what fate lay at the end of this road but he didn’t want his family to be scared in their final moments.

There was the shattering of glass and the sounds outside grew to a crescendo. Heavy footfalls filled the space along with a low growl. George heard what sounded like a series of growls and the occasional odd bark, guessing that whatever was in the store with them was not human.

He steeled himself and waited, knowing what needed to happen. He whispered urgently to his wife “Listen, I’m gonna distract it and I need you to take the kids and run out the back as fast as you can.” He gave her a kiss on the lips before quickly retracting. Tears glistened in both of their eyes “I love you.” The steps now sounded only a few feet away. Nodding he crept towards the corner of the counter.

He gave one last glance at his kids before turning and slamming his body into the midsection of the alien, catching it by surprise briefly and sending them both stumbling backwards. At this moment Reed watched as his mom and sister rose, just starting their run. A mighty roar filled the lobby combined with the crash of something large being tossed around like a ragdoll. Reed was just about to rise when blue plasma scorched the air, the blobs slamming into his mom and sister before him. The superheated bubbles burst, burning their way through flesh and bone. The two were dead after only a second of hitting the ground. 

There was another roar and this time another sound filled the lobby, the spatter of assault rifle fire. Bullets ripped along the lobby, tearing into anything they encountered, mostly burying themselves into the wall. Reed all the while remained in a half crouched state, frozen by the events that had just unfolded before his eyes.

“Clear!” A voice called out
“Like hell it is. Check that civvie and see about the other two” The second voice spoke with authority that Reed had only ever heard when his father had done very well during work that week. A man stepped around the corner, rifle raised and it’s flashlight covered the five year old in it’s beam.

“Holy shit! Sarge we got a live one back here.” Another man stepped around, glanced at the two bodies of the woman and child before speaking in a soft and gentle tone while lowering himself into a crouch.

“Hey, why don’t you come on over here. We can get you out of here.” Reed didn’t know what else to do, he was still frozen. The man held out his hand now for him to take. The child, not knowing what else to do, grabbed the stranger's hand, before he was swept up to be carried. Only now did Reed begin to let tears fall from his face at the death of his entire family.

The man carrying him spoke again “Alright, let’s get to the pelican back in the alley and get the hell off of this rock.” When the soldier brought him into his arms Reed could see that there were actually five soldiers in the room.

He couldn't see his dad, only boots sticking out from behind the man with the authoritative voice. Purple blood was oozing out of the 9 foot tall alien in white armor, the visor shattered and face a bloody mess. The Sergeant pointed to the back door "Lets move it Marines!"

The ran for the door, bursting through it into a large alley. In the center was a Pelican drop ship, used for transporting troops and equipment in its large frame. The back ramp was open and the six people piled in. The soldier carrying Reed set him into a seat, sliding the harness over him before saying "Hold on Tight okay. We'll get you out of here." The screams and roar of gunfire still echoed from outside but he nodded his head, tears clouding his vision. 

The Sergeant yelled "Go Go! We're on board!" Then he talked again, seemingly to no one, but Reed figured it must be someone he couldn't see "Yes Sir we're enroute, plus one Civvie, 5 year old kid...family didn't make it...Yes sir." Another roar filtered in from outside as flames of blue fire shot out from pelicans engines as it slowly lifted off the ground. 

The door started to close and everyone strapped in but something was transmitted over the speakers of the ship "Banshees Six o clock! Someone get on that gun!" The man sitting next to Reed jumped up, strapping into the magnetic harness of the triple barrel machine fun off the back. The gun started spinning and right as three fast flying ships appeared Fire spewed out of the barrels. The sound was monstrous and Reed cowered and covered his ears. 

"One down! Another was smoking and they're pulling back!" The pelican shot off into the atmosphere, the bay door closing and sealing the craft before it entered space.  Reed could see the plant below them as well as streaks of fire and the surface glowing red. He didn't know it but the covenant were glossing the planet, sending down beams of plasma that scorched the ground and melted it away into molten slag.

The ship was still going fast and they entered into another large metal box with more pelicans inside of it. "We're on board sir!" The Sergeant said. Reed could still see outside the airtight shield as the craft jolted, no it wasn't the pelican. They were inside a much larger ship. Suddenly there was a tingling all over his body and the stars, planet, and ships disappeared. The blue shield was replaced by a metal bulkhead in second and the entire marine compliment breathed a sigh of relief. The Sergeant squatted in front of him "Good job kid. You were super brave."

Reed felt anything but. However there weren't tears in his eyes. He remembered the image of the dead alien, its backward bending knees and four mandibles splayed open. The 5 year old savored it and made the determination that thats how he wanted to make every Alien look.