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9/1/2010 1:41:19 AM
104
[Story] Streams of Fire *(Chapters 15 has arrived!!!)*
This is my first fan fiction, or my first fiction, period. So feel free to give me any criticism or comments, as they usually are helpful...
For those who are too lazy to sit and read this here, you can download one of these 3 PDF files and read them wherever you want on:
[url=http://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_BP88KGqGTnNzU1NWJmYzAtMWU5ZS00Nzg5LTgzZmItYjQ0ZjZkYjY2NTU3]Your computer[/url]
[url=http://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_BP88KGqGTnMzM1ZmJiNDctZmJmNi00MzkyLTlkY2UtNzZkMTNkYTA5ZmZh]Your iPad or eReader[/url]
or even
[url=http://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_BP88KGqGTnODBkZTQxN2UtMWZkZC00YjI3LTg3ODAtN2I0NDIyNjEyM2Yz]Your iPhone or iPod touch[/url]
These PDF will be updated with the post here, so you can grab the new one when the chapter is up. All you have to do to download the PDF files is click "File" then "Download Original"
To pull this file into iBooks on you iPod or iPad, simply send it to yourself as an attachment in an email. Open that email on your selected device and there should be an option to import it into iBooks, where you can read in the comfort of wherever you happen to be.
You may also notice a shiny new cover. Keep in mind that I made it, and I am in no way an artist, and I drew it on my iPod too... If you would like to contribute a more awesome cover, please do so. I would love a nice, even shinier cover...
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=1#48303855]Chapter 1[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=1#48303931]Chapter 2[/url](it's in the middle of the post)
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=1#48303997]Chapter 3[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=1#48388277]Chapter 4[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=1#48473026]Chapter 5[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=1#50245125]Chapter 6[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=2#54105324]Chapter 7[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=2#59135727]Chapter 8[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=2#59135803]Chapter 9[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=3#60043938]Chapter 10[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=3#60111189]Chapter 11[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=3#63477589]Chapter 12[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=3#64561818]Chapter 13[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=48303195&postRepeater1-p=4#64562113]Chapter 14[/url]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=70212379]Chapter 15[/url]
[b]Streams of Fire
Prologue[/b]
The battery of my wrist computer was dead. Of all times for it to happen, the nearly limitless energy source that powered it had gone out. I stared at the black screen, my reflection showing clearly, despite the long crack running through it. It was the first time in fifteen years that I had seen my face. I had always been too busy, too focused to spend time in front of a mirror. I gazed now into eyes that seemed unfamiliar, a face covered with scars that I could barely remember, and a short crop of hair much different from the long style of my adolescence. Gray patches were just starting to appear, odd, considering my age of 35. I guess that's what war does to a man. I pulled the busted contraption off my bleeding forearm, and threw it to the charred dirt. I put my hands to my face, holding back the tears of a battle gone bad, continuing them upwards through my graying hair. Then, as if a switch had turned off, my arms dropped, lifeless, to the ground. I no longer had the energy, nor the will to move, the day had drained all hope from me.
I sat in silence, leaning against the useless warthog, watching the landscape around me burning. Reach was glassed, but for some reason, where I was had been left untouched. I watched what were once mountains flicker behind the heatwaves of the superheated surface. I heard the fizzling of the air around me as the temperature continued to rise. I felt the sweat dripping from my beaten brow. My senses were ablaze with the symphonies of a dying planet, and all I could do was wait, wait until I joined it. Reach's last hour had arrived, and I had been unfortunate enough to be stranded on it. Strangely, my thoughts veered away from my situation, and drifted towards my past. I put my head back, staring into the fiery sky. I watched a Covenant cruiser drifting silently overhead, its purple hull creating a stark contrast against the orange and crimson sky. It flickered with the flames of a burning world, its plasma weapons finally finished. I stared at it for what seemed like hours, and then I finally closed my eyes, and drifted off into another world.
[Edited on 02.17.2012 10:25 PM PST]
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"There's no need for that, Lieutenant," Wesley assured. "The MAC cannon that is powered by this generator is actually on the other side of the planet, ONI thought it would be a good tactic to mix them up. That way, if the Insurrectionists attacked, they wouldn't know which to destroy and which to leave alone, it would confuse the hell out of them, and now it seems to be working on the Covenant. This station's cannon was destroyed a few hours ago." "Then how do we get out of here?" Duncan asked. "I've got a pelican waiting for our signal." I answered. I had almost forgotten about Luck. I didn't even know if she was still alright. Suddenly, the lieutenant put his hand to his ear. "...Yes sir, I'll find something." He said into his earpiece. He looked up to Wesley "Do you have a way to establish video contact with Vice Admiral Whitcomb?" Wesley looked taken aback by the question. "Yeah, just a few rooms over, I take it that was who you were talking to?" He answered. "Yes, now get me to it. Now. Roland, you're coming too. You too Rust Bucket." He yelled to the Spartan. He then looked towards the civilians. "One of you civis follow me." Once inside the room, Wesley walked Over to a table and pressed a button. The entire surface lit up, and a hologram of the planet reach appeared. He pressed another, and a screen on the nearby wall turned on as well. "Lieutenant, Sergeant, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Whitcomb's voice sounded through the room, his face clearly showing the weariness he must have felt. "The Covenant are raking a different approach on Reach. They aren't just glassing, at least not yet. They are truly invading the planet. What I'm about to show you is classified, but I don't think any of that matters at this point." The table hologram began to zoom in to the surface of the planet. "This is footage taken by an ONI Prowler just a few hours ago." the hologram showed thousands of Covenant around what appeared to be a massive structure or series of structures. "This is a Covenant military camp, one of numerous others detected across the planet. This one is just 50 or so kilometers west of your current position. The plan at this point is to regroup and rally against it at daybreak. What remains of your squads will be vital to his operation, and thus you are to regroup at --" "Sir, I have a better idea," Wesley interjected. "Excuse me, and who are you?" Whitcomb replied, clearly upset about being interrupted. "I'm just an engineer here, but a huge attack may not be the best course of action here." "Well, what do you suggest we do? Wait for them to attack?!" "No, but why not send a small strike team in with a nuke, and blast the place away?" "We are a little short of nukes right now, they are all deployed up out of atmosphere." "Not all of them sir, we have one here. We were supposed to be configuring it to work remotely with wider range, but we couldn't. If we could get a small team to drop it off at the Covenant compound, it would eliminate it, and resources could be used elsewhere." "What team would volunteer to do something like that, Engineer?" "Sir, my ODST's and I are up for it sir!" Duncan exclaimed. "My team is up for it too, sir. The Spartan can assist us as well." I added. "Very well. You will deploy the bomb into the compound under cover of night. I trust you have transport?" "Yes sir, I have a pelican dropship attached to my unit." I replied. "Good. If it isn't destroyed by morning, I'll launch the attack." "Understood, sir." Duncan finished. "Alright. You boys pull this off, and you just might just tip things in our favor... Keep me posted. Whitcomb, out." The screen went black, and I turned my attention to the hologram of the Covenant compound. As it faded out, contact with the Vice Admiral ending, I fully realized the magnitude of what I had gotten myself into. "I hope you know what you're doin', Wesley." Duncan expressed as he turned towards the engineer. "Don't worry about me. I'll give the bomb to the Spartan, he should be able to protect it until we get there. Besides, something tells me the Covenant aren't done here yet. They're going to come back, and when they do, I want to have a little surprise for them." "What do you have in mind?" I asked. "The generators downstairs are no longer powering anything. I can rig the nuclear reactors to meltdown once a switch is tripped. When the Covenant come in, the makeshift nuke will wipe them out." "Sounds like a plan." I smiled. No wonder ONI recruited this guy, he was right up with the Spartan on intelligence. "How long do you need?" "Rigging the system to blow will only take a few minutes, but attaching a laser trigger to it will take a bit longer. Probably about half an hour." "Lieutenant!" One of the ODST's shouted, "Covenant ship spotted! Approaching our position!" "We wont have that long, techie." Duncan stated, "You better put that bomb on rush order. We're gonna need some defenses, what do you have?" "I've got a whole room full of prototype weapons, help yourself." We followed Wesley to the elevator, and he put in an elaborate code to get it to open. "Don't worry, you won't need to know the code to get back up." He assured us. We went down two floors and he let us off. "Grab what you can, fill the elevator, there's probably only time for one trip. I'm goin' down to the bottom. I've got a comm, I'll be in contact. Let me know when your bird gets here." "Can do." Duncan answered. We stepped from the elevator and into the massive lighted room. The room was stuffed with all kinds of explosives, weapons, and even a few vehicles. Duncan dropped to his knees and clasped his hands. "Thank you, God, for I have found heaven!" I chuckled a bit, but our fun didn't last long. The ceiling shook above us. The Covenant had arrived, and we began scavenging for defenses." --------------------------------------- Lance Corporal Stone, Private Reynolds, and the ODST's could barely hold the Covenant back, even with the Spartan's help, it was a difficult fight. The Spartan was holding the massive hulk of metal that had previously been cut out by the opening, and was using the magnetic field of it to stop the majority of the plasma fire, but the few that made it through usually hit their mark, or got dangerously close to it. The dispersing plasma heated up the room intensely, and the surface of the metal, despite being protected against direct contact, was beginning to glow faintly from the heat. Through the opening, Stone saw numerous hunters. That was a bad sign, he knew they could easily knock the Spartan off his feet if they got close enough, and none of their weapons would be able to slow them down from the front. He wondered what was taking the Sergeant and the Lieutenant so long. "Sir, I don't think we will be able to stay here long," One of the ODST's began, "We should probably mo--" [Edited on 10.13.2010 2:05 PM PDT]
