Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2010 22:40:51 GMT -5
((One-shot Last Stand, just because I felt like it. May or may not be canon. No, I'm not back. I'm just putting this out there in case Lilam still wanted to read it.))
Sinking Feeling
The world was falling apart around them. Jacinto was disintegrating, buildings sinking into the earth and the roads collapsing. Nyvar chewed on his lip as he looked out from a window; they had to get out of the building before it fell, too. Unfortunately, there was a small problem.
"Sh*t," Marov muttered as he and Ty pried opened the elevator doors, looking down the shaft. "Elevator cable's been cut. We're going to have to either go down the stairs or rappel down the shaft."
Naleena, her signature white bandana torn in several places, fired another round of her Longshot. Down the hallway, a grub's grisly maw exploded in a satisfying way, the body twitching as it fell to the floor. Jason smiled grimly and took out another one turning the corner. Gore coated the walls as the grub's corpse slowly slid down toward the floor.
Nyvar peeked over the overturned table, bringing his gun up with him. He fired off a few rounds at a Boltok-carrying grub, the thing's body twisting around and falling to the floor. He wasn't sure where the things were coming from, but eventually his team would make a mistake. They had to go, now, so Nyvar made his decision.
"Break out the ropes; we're going down the shaft. With our luck, the staircase is probably trashed anyway," Nyvar said, pulling out his own rope from the belt around his waist. Jason had the other one and Ty took them both, tying them to a small granite decoration.
"It's anchored to the floor; it'll hold the weight," Ty said confidently. Nyvar believed him; he was always talking about his dead being an architect back before E-Day. One of knots came loose when Ty tugged on it experimentally so the man carefully tied it again. When he tugged it again, it stayed firm.
"Alright, Jason, Ty, you go down first," Nyvar said, pointing toward the shaft with an armored glove as Ty threw the rope down into the space. "Marov and Naleena, you're up next. I'll cover you."
"Think you can hold 'em back, sir?" Jason said worriedly as he attached himself to the rope and stood on the edge. The tough rope held even his heavily armored form. Ty dropped off into the shaft, the rope bobbing slightly against the weight.
"Well, not exactly, but we kind of don't have a choice," Nyvar replied loudly, smirking at his son as bullets whizzed over his improvised cover, some impacting the metal and denting it. Naleena cracked off another shot and the fire subsided. "Get going, Jason. I'll meet you at the bottom."
"Yes, sir," his son replied, disappearing over the edge after Ty. Nyvar smiled, glad his son trusted him. As he turned his attention back to the battle a large shape came around the corner.
"BOOM!"
Nyvar cursed as a rocket flew by over his cover, impacting a window and blowing out the wall around it. Cold wind ripped into the hallway, scattering the debris with all the ferocity of a miniature hurricane.
"We're on the ground, sir," Ty's voice came over the comm, but Nyvar couldn't take the time to reach up to his ear to confirm. Besides, the wind was too loud to hear anything but the loudest shouts.
Another round from the longshot rang out, quickly followed by Marov squeezing off a burst of fire. Nyvar peeked over the table and chucked a grenade down the hallway, grunting with satisfaction as the spikes on the grenade stuck to the Boomer. A beep preceded an explosion far more powerful than a simple bolo grenade could make. The rockets must have ignited, too.
"Damn! You blew a hole in the floor," Marov's voice rang out, surprised, turning toward Nyvar and laughing.
"We've got trouble," Naleena's voice yelled over the din caused by the massive amounts of wind whistling through the windows. She pointed outside, where a couple of Reavers were darting around the sky. With sinister purpose, they turned toward the building Nyvar's team resided in.
"Aw, hell. Marov, 'Leena, get down that shaft, now!"
"What about you?" Naleena asked as she attached herself to the rope, her modified Gear armor looking compact compared to Marov's regular armor.
"I'll hold 'em off. Just get down there so I can hop on the rope, too!" They complied, disappearing from sight. When he looked back to track the Reaver's progress, he yelled out, "Sh*t!"
A rocket flew through one of the unbroken windows, blowing a hole in the opposite wall close to the elevator and revealing a conference room. Chairs were scattered around haphazardly, but worst of all, a bunch of grubs were wading through the debris.
"God dammit, those grubs aren't supposed to be this smart," Nyvar griped, annoyed that the Locust had found a way around the hole in the hallway floor. A burst of fire came through the small gap, but Nyvar was still covered for the moment. He looked around, trying to find something to delay the Locust long enough to get away. However, he couldn't see anything that would help.
Suddenly, the Reavers had finally shown up, their massive claws digging into the side of the building as they entered through the demolished walls. One of them was behind him in the gap the Boomer had made earlier. That wasn't going to be good for his health. He looked at the ropes next to him, seeing them still bouncing with weight; they wouldn't hold more than one person. Then he spotted something that could get him out of the situation, even if it was likely to get him killed. Still, if he stayed here, he'd die for sure. One of the Reavers shot a rocket toward him.
"Sh*t, I'm f*cking insane," Nyvar muttered, jumping into the shaft and reaching for the cable that had held one of the elevators at the top floor. An explosion rumbled after him from the hallway as he fell, grabbing for the cable. The rope was slipping through his hands at a high speed, but he closed them, hard. His terminal velocity slowed as he hung from the cable, breathing heavily, the gloves warm from the friction. His arms strained with the weight of his armor; his muscles would not last much longer.
"What the hell, 'Seph," Marov called over the comm, "did you suffer some kind of brain damage back there!?"
Nyvar smiled as he let go, carefully adjusting the speed of his descent with opening and closing of his hands. He passed Naleena and Marov a few seconds before he hit the ground, rolling to absorb the impact. He ended up on his back, staring up at Ty and Jason's concerned expressions.
"Dad, that was. . ." Jason could not even finish his sentence. Fortunately, Marov was more than happy to oblige.
"Stupid, crazy, retarded?" Marov asked throwing his hands up in the air and rolling his eyes. "What the hell, man?"
"There were Reavers," Nyvar griped as he stood up, grabbing his Lancer from the magnetic clamps on his back and clutching it to his chest. Marov just looked at him, then moved away and grumbled to himself about Nyvar's stupidity.
"So what now?" Naleena asked, coming up with her Longshot slung around her shoulder.
"We call for evac," Nyvar responded, reaching up to his ear. "This is Sergeant Nyvar to Control. What's the situation? Jacinto's sinking down all around us!"
Static rushed into his ears, causing him to wince in pain. He pressed a button on his earpiece, wishing Sparks was still around. The static cleared, a feminine voice coming over the speaker.
"This is Control, Echo. We're evacuating the city; Delta is going to sink Jacinto."
"Sink the city? Did I hear that right, Control?" Nyvar asked incredulously the others stared at him with confusion.
"Affirmative, Nyvar," a new voice came on, gruff and angry. Hoffman, Nyvar thought. "Fenix and his boys figure it's the only way to stop the Locust and I happen to agree. Sit tight, Sergeant, I won't leave anyone behind." the voice paused. "Anya, divert a Raven."
"Unfortunately, all our Ravens are occup- wait one," Anya paused, talking with someone off the line. "Scratch that. Raven is on the way for pick up, ETA 5 minutes. Hold out till then, Echo Three."
"Yes ma'am," Nyvar said, closing the circuit, relieved. "We've got 5 minutes 'til the evac bird gets here. Let's set up some defenses in front of the hotel."
A chorus of 'yes sir's' came back as his team started shifting debris into makeshift barriers. There was no shortage of stone pillars and metal girders from all the devastation going on around them. Another building in the distance started to fall, dust rising from underneath it as it collapsed.
Suddenly the ground shook violently, causing Nyvar to wobble unsteadily. He wondered if there was a Corpser nearby. Then he shook his head; the granite base of Jacinto wouldn't allow it.
"That didn't sound good," Jason muttered, bringing his Lancer up, ready for the ground to burst with monsters. The rest of his team did the same, their backs to each other as they waited for some kind of trouble.
The hotel in front of them shifted, cracks forming around its base and extending toward them. Nyvar grabbed Marov and pulled him toward the hotel as a crack ran under them. A jet of water poured out of the gap, separating them from the rest of the team.
"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t," Marov said, staring past the water at the other three. The way was impassable. The water turned into rain as it came back down, soaking the area, including the two soldiers. "It always has to rain, doesn't it? No matter what."
"Looks like you guys could use some help!" A voice said over Nyvar's comm, hyper and cheerful. Nyvar looked up, spying a Raven descending toward them with a familiar face in the tiny viewport.
"Jonesy!?" Ty's voice came over the comm, surprised. The helicopter set down without trouble on Jason, Ty, and Naleena's side of the wall of water.
"The one and only," came the sarcastic reply. Nyvar smiled while Marov just chuckled. Of course it would be Jonesy; after all, the man owned them a ride. He was just about to lower his weapon when a glint of metal appeared in the corner of his eye. He turned, seeing a Longshot poking out of a window and brought his gun up, trying to warn Marov. A shot rang out before he could stop the sniper.
Marov's chuckle cut short and turned into a gurgle. Nyvar's expression shifted to horror as he looked at his friend, blood bubbling out from a hole in his throat. The man's eyes grew wide as he brought his hands up to his throat, trying to stem the flow.
"NO," Nyvar yelled, catching his best friend as he fell, ducking into cover as another shot flew into the place he had been. The man's eyes flickered open and closed, the blood dripping onto Nyvar's armor. "C'mon, Sy, stay with me!"
The man closed his eyes tight, his mustache coated in blood as he tried to breath through the crimson fluid. He started to twitch, coughing roughly, reaching up for the chain around his neck. With his last act, he ripped the dog tags off and put them in Nyvar's hands, staring at his best friend with an expression that said "Thank you."
Hysteria seized Nyvar as his friend fell limp in his arms, shaking Marov and telling him to get up. It was happening again. They always died around him, everyone. He looked up in rage at a bunch of grubs streaming out of the hotel, his son yelling through the comm line in his ear.
He stood up, and looked at the dog tags in his gloved hand, reaching up and tearing off his own. Jason looked at him through the water wall as Nyvar threw Marov and his own dog tags over the geyser. They landed in front of his son, who picked them up and stared at them. The torrent of water grew smaller while the crack slowly spread until the ground started collapsing inward. Naleena and Ty pulled Jason into the Raven; it lifted off just as the ground fell in.
Behind Nyvar, the Hotel started sinking, debris submitting to gravity and slamming into the ground, as well as a few grubs, with crushing force.*A harsh gust kicked up around him and he looked up to see a line dropping from the Raven. Before it could reach Nyvar, a Reaver flashed by, severing the rope and causing the helicopter to spin.
Jonesy regained control just as it was about to hit the ground, gaining altitude to return to the original position to try and save Nyvar. However, Joseph had other plans.
"Get out of here, Jonesy. There isn't enough time to-," Nyvar cut off as a bullet flashed by his head. He dashed behind a pillar of granite and lowered himself to get out of the line of fire, blind firing over it at the incoming grubs. "I'm trusting you with my son, pilot. Get the hell out, that's an order! Bye son. I love you. And Ty; sorry I couldn't keep your sister's promise. Take care of yourself."
Nyvar ripped out his mic and threw it on the ground, letting his rage and hysteria take him wholly. Adrenaline pumped in his ears as the world slowed down, the helicopter turning and moving out. Nyvar smiled and started to laugh as he jumped over his cover, firing into the oncoming grubs. Ven. Marov. Kathryn. All three stood by him as he mowed down the first two grubs with Lancer fire. Shots ricocheted off of his armor as he dropped a Theron, its weapon knocked down, forcing the arrow off course and into Nyvar's left leg. The impact knocked him down against a steel girder, pain from the puncture wound feeling like it was far, far away.
White filled his vision for a second before a dull pain flashed through his nerves. He could hardly even feel anything as he looked down at where his leg had been. Most of his waist was gone, bone showing through. He looked back up at the oncoming grubs and fired until his clip emptied, the hotel above them finally collapsing underground. The courtyard where Nyvar was lying started sinking into the ground, water rising up and swallowing the grubs. And then he fell, blacking out, into the waves. His last thought was of his wife.
I hope to see you when GoW3 comes around! *huggles* 
