Grey Lines

Chapter 6 - Must Come Down

Aegis let out a groan as his body slowly brought itself back to life. His vision was dark and for a moment he thought maybe the explosive force of the impact had cost him his eyesight. As his vision cleared up he was thankful that his sudden lack of sight wasn't from a medical condition, it was due to his helmet's multi-million dollar electronic systems being reduced to nothing more than a paperweight. He reached a gloved hand up to the side-mounted controls of his helm and attempted a restart. Nothing changed, not even the familiar audible click that indicated a successfully registered valid key input. The ringing in his ears had finally subsided enough for him to notice his internal speakers were also destroyed. The raging sounds of fighting surrounding him sounded as if they were taking place miles from where he currently lay prone.

"God I'm so tired of getting hit on this damn mission." He mumbled to himself as he attempted to undo his helmet latch located just below the chin guard.

As the catches released he slowly lifted the helmet from his head. His ears were suddenly filled with the harsh roar of battle taking place around him. The sunlight was blinding after his eyes had adjusted to the darkened tint of his helmet's visor. For a moment his world was nothing more than bright searing white light. His pupils adjusted eventually and a familiar figure came into view standing over him in cobalt blue battle plate. A vibrant red visor was staring down at Aegis, a gloved hand outstretched towards him. Even over the deafening sounds of combat Captain Athion Verretta's voice carried loud and clear.

"Up you come Aegis, now's hardly the time to be sleeping." He called to him. Aegis gripped the Captain's offered hand allowing himself to be lifted back to his feet.

"Apologies Sir, thought I'd grab a few Zs while I could." He responded, attempting to raise his voice loud enough to overcome the sounds of gunfire and explosions.

With his vision returned Aegis was able to get a decent picture of the progression of their current predicament. Several of the Bison troop carriers were either disabled or destroyed. Odin 3-1's Combat Engineers clearly working overtime to attempt to keep the massive weapon systems of the damaged vehicles online. What remained of the UNSC forces were still holding a defensive gunline behind the APCs. Aegis could make out the familiar navy blue markings of Combat Team 1-1 'Nomad' as they darted between the Bisons to support the marine forces. The Insurrectionists had hit them hard and fast but the Marines and ODST's superior training was keeping them from being overrun without a fight.

"How's the helmet?" Athion asked looking down at the dead piece of hardware clutched in Aegis' left hand.

"Scrapped," Aegis replied with a shrug. "No better than a display piece now."

Athion nodded in understanding. "Does your headset still work?"

Aegis pulled at the internal headset built into the helmet. The detachable headset came free without much effort and he affixed it over his head. After positioning the mouthpiece in front of his lips he attempted a brief radio check.

"This is Pathfinder-7 anyone read me on this net?" He called out to the void of static. After an entirely too long moment of silence a response cut through.

"I read you loud and clear Pathfinder-7 you still alive out there? Need an Assist?" The response came from the designated Autorifleman of Combat Team Misfit, Lance Corporal Telemon. Aegis had only had a few run-ins with him during Divison training days but he had always been a fan of his positive outlook, even in the heat of combat.

"Negative, wouldn't want to pull you away from your fun."

Aegis gave a quick thanks to whatever gods there were in the universe that his comms unit was still working. No head protection was bad enough but not even having basic communication capabilities would have been a nightmare in this chaotic environment. He checked his tactical display pad integrated in his left vambrace which gave him an updated readout of the current status of his long-range radio pack clasped to his back plate. All signs were green, he was starting to wonder how much luck he still had in reserve at the rate he was using it up.