Lazarus
Posted By: black flag and a red star<gibsonsgx9@yahoo.com>
Date: 15 February 2001, 12:50 am
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he ran.
the energy shots rained down around him, the heat searing his naked face. blue fire hummed past him as he ran, heart pounding, through the brush-filled forest. he heard the thick air rush around him as flyers skimmed over the leafy canopy that shrouded him. the smell of ionized air pierced his nostrils. then, faintly, a noise like a man with a freshly slit throat trying to speak grated against his ears. the guttural speech could only mean one thing-
they were close.
one to the left. one behind. the world around him slowed as if in a dream. he dove and slid into the mud and underbrush. in mid-slide he turned, drew his pistols and swung them up directly into the face of one of the hunters. the laser sights reflected off the surface of the creature's biomechanical armor for a minute fraction of a second before his fingers contracted and pulled the triggers. with a sickening crack, the hunter's face exploded in front of him as the two nine-millimeter bullets tore through the alien's skull, sending shards of flesh and nervous tissue flying in a tight cloud directly backward.
reload dammit he thought. useless human weapons. far too much delay between shots.
a faint puff of smoke that smelled of gunpowder issued from the guns' exhaust ports, and the spent casings were ejected with a light 'clink.' he waited what seemed like an eternity as the springs in the clips expanded, sending the next two bullets slid into their chambers. still sliding, he rolled sideways, kicked up onto his feet and ran. the lifeless hunter's body slumped to the ground, crashing through the moss and leaves that covered the forest floor. he pivoted, looked left, and saw the other hunter raising his blaster to fire. he swung the pistols around and smoothly pulled the triggers back. the bullets tore through the air, singing as they embedded themselves in the hunter's chest. the impact sent the upper half of the hunter's body careening backwards, lifting the creature's feet off the ground.
*up*
the thought flashed through his head, but it was not his own.
he looked up, in time to see the gleam of a covenant flyer through the trees. there would be more. soon. he lifted his pistols. too light. empty he thought. he threw them down, drew his blade, and ran into the darkness of the forest
***
"This is wrong, dammit..."
The expeditionary team wandered through what seemed to be an endless hallway, assault rifles angled at the ground. Aside from their own occasional mutterings, they had been greeted with only silence when they had entered the ancient structure. Now, they wandered down the halls, searching for something, anything, that would explain the improbable existence of the sattelite that they now lived on.
The silence was deafening as they wandered the labyrinthian corridors inside the compound.
"It's gonna fall. I can feel it. Pointing at my nec-"
"Shut up! What are you babbling about, Omar?"
"The sword. I can feel it. Damocles. It's hovering over us. Don't you see? This is a setup. We're already dead. The thread. It's weakening, unraveling. Can't h-"
"Dammit, Drake! Oh shit-"
Omar Drake's eyes were rolled back into his head, as his muscles contracted and relaxed in spasms. He collapsed.
"Dammit! Tony, get over here!"
Suddenly there was a crackle, and the hallway came to life. Lights flickered, and ancient cooling systems restarted.
"What the hell-"
*not quite Damocles. but clo~s3*
A canned voice blared from some unknown sound source.
"Who are you?!"
*that is unimportant. i serve Him. that is all that must be said. as for you, you are infidels, and you must be destroyed. you have intruded on Eden. only we stand in the way. they are the archangel, and i am the blade. *
Then, suddenly, came a loud 'crack,' a white flash, and the world around the soldiers dissolved.
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