| abstract
| - When rebels take over a remote ONI outpost, Roy Koel finds himself pinned down without his team. But even if the mission succeeds, all is not as it seems. Roy Koel crouched behind the wall’s corner, readying another frag grenade. He tossed it around the corner, counted to three then dashed out in step with a lot thud and a scream. Sliding into cover, Roy shot quickly twice as took cover. “Can anyone still hear me?!” Roy yelled into his COM. Silence again. Dammit. Not a single message in ten minutes. This can’t be good. Roy’s team had entered this floor of ONI Scylla Base over half an hour ago. They had traversed the majority of the facility without a single sign of any targets, despite intelligence saying it should be swarming with soldiers. The facility’s head researcher, Codename: IAPETUS, had gone dark four days prior after deals with an Inner Colony rebel faction had leaked out. Team Dragoon of Trojan Division had been sent in capture Iapetus and eliminate any threats in the facility. Now the two-man teams were spread out throughout the lab floor, communications jammed. Roy had made it to the main server room before he and his partner, Matthew Frank, had been ambushed. Koel looked back at Matthew’s corpse, barely hurt save a few precise bullet holes in his skull. Dammit all, Roy cursed. He only had seconds, he knew: the footsteps of one of the soldiers was drawing closer. He took scope of his situation once more: at least six hostiles and numerous data servers in his way that needed to be recovered, not destroyed. He had one more grenade that was worthless at this point and no way to call for aid, or even any way to know if aid would come. Roy threw himself out and over his cover, kicking the oncoming soldier in the throat before ducking behind server stacks. His gamble paid off as no bullets fired: obviously the rogues weren’t done with the servers either. Weaving between machinery, Roy slipped up behind another soldier, snapping his neck then slipping back out of sight as two more soldiers opened fire. All his years of training were in overdrive, coupling with his Spartan-I augments to keep his body focused and his mind one step ahead of his attacks. They’re getting panicked now, he thought to himself, popping out of hiding to fire three precision shots into another soldier. Better finish this before they get desperate. Within a few quick steps, Roy had pushed up on top of the servers and was leaping down onto the remaining soldiers, firing at their leader to the side as he fell. Landing and springing to his feet, Roy came up swinging, knocking the first soldier with a fierce uppercut. The other two tried to retaliate, but Koel blocked their attacks before quickly returning one of the soldier’s blows. A few punches and the soldier’s ribs cracked, with a final blow knocking him to the ground. The other rogue agent threw several punches at Roy, but his reflexes were too fast, allowing him to dodge and counter with a neck-snapping grapple. Turning to head for the main server, Roy suddenly stopped. Pain shot through his shoulder: a bullet wound showed itself. The leader of the soldiers held a rifle aloft, the barrel smoking slightly, and prepared to fire again. Roy’s body braced to move, but there was not enough time. The shot rang out. A second passed. And then slowly, the rogue soldier crumpled to the floor. Turning around, Roy smiled slightly as he saw a fellow warrior walking towards him, his pistol still letting out a wisp of smoke. “Better watch yourself next time, old man,” said the newcomer. “You’re looking a little tired there, Koel.” “I’m fine, Jim,” Roy said curtly, nodding. He began to walk towards the main computer, clutching his shoulder and trying to hold off the pain. “Matthew didn’t make it.” “I saw,” Jim Wilson replied. “It’s a shame to believe though. He was a good kid.” Roy stand down a chair at the computer, black dots appearing in his vision. “He died for his beliefs. Can’t ask much more than that. What about the others? And Iapetus?” “The others are dead, Koel. And Iapetus… he was never here.” “Never here? But the intel said -” As Roy turned to look at Jim, he saw the soldier’s gun raised once more. “Jim, what are you doing?” “I’m sorry, Koel. Greater good and all that. Thanks for taking one for the team though.” The pistol fired twice into Koel’s gut and then the blackness took him. As his mind faded, he heard Wilson speak once more. “Such a shame....”
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