The Vet's Life After...

The Next Journey - Part Five

     Alex walked down the hall, a new purpose behind his steps. The words swam around his skull, eating away at him....

"His name- his name is Keith! I-I don't know anything else, please.... please I'm just- just a lackey!"

He didn't know what to think, it was a possibility but there were no guarantees. "It's not likely, let it go."

     Alex continued on his path, chasing after the mercenaries trying to take a hold of the bridge. The former O.D.S.T. returned to his training, holding a steady pace as he timed his breathing. 'Focus. In, out. In, out. Focus on your footsteps, listen to the rhythm. Let it be your sole focus, let go of everything else; focus!'

Alex felt at peace in his mindset, once again feeling like a soldier listening to his Drill Sergeant. It washed over him like water, releasing built up nerves and tension in his muscles as he prepared for the fight ahead.

"I'll have one chance, I need to remove as many combatants from play as I can before it becomes a big firefight." He pondered his options, the steady footfalls and breathing helping him hone in on his tactical instincts. 'Maybe I can just lure them into an inclosed space? Well-place I.E.D.s and selective fire will eliminate most and scare the rest.... no, I wouldn't be able to trick all of them into that without more people and careful coordination.

'Selective firefights may be my best hope, that or rallying enough volunteers to run a suicide mission with me; I'll go without help. Don't need anymore innocent blood on my hands.' Alex nodded his head, accepting his new directive: careful and cautious elimination of small groups, slowly closing in on the bridge.

     Alex continued on, watching his surroundings for hostiles or injured civilians. Approximately two minutes passed, Alex's thoughts repeated continuously as he returned to his soldier's mindset.

He was quickly pulled from his thoughts by voices coming through his commandeered radio.

*Charlie, Jones, you guys there?*
*Yeah, but we found Jason and Rich; they're in bad condition. Someone took them out.*
'There goes remaining undetected....' Alex sighed inwardly, continuing his trek through the halls.
*Where are you?*
*We just entered the West Wing on the lower level, we came from the East Wing.*
'I must be heading towards Engineering, I can disable the ship and sabotage security. This'll make things more manageable.'
*Their radio may have been compromised, switch to the secondary frequency.*
*Wilco.*

"Fuck." Alex knew better than trying to find a new frequency, he would need more time than he had to guarantee finding the correct one before being captured or shot. He decided to begin running, noticing missing shuttles along the halls towards engineering. 'Must have ran when the shooting started....'

Alex returned to his focus induced trance, keeping his running pace timed and his breath steady. His firearm held with a secure grip and maintaining awareness of muzzle trajectory, trigger held against the trigger guard but ready to fire at any moment.

Once Alex found Engineering he quickly scanned the large room for enemies, spotting three going through the engineering equipment.

"Holy shit, do you know how expensive these tools are?" A shorter man with a muscle-heavy build looked at a plasma welder utilizing Covenant designs, holding it in his hands.

"How bad can some tools be? I can get a welder just like it for 50cR." An woman with average height and an athletic build looked around as though uninterested with her surroundings. "It probably just costs a lot because of how fancy it is."