Day by Day/To Hell and Not Back

"Atkinson, status report?"

"All good here Ulan, no intruders detected."

"Excellent, keep a watch out."

"Will do, out"

Returning his radio to its position on his web belt, Major Ulan scratched his stubble as he looked around the dull gray walls of his quarters in his destroyer, Revolutionary Fervor. Pulling out one of the drawers on his polished wood bureau, Ulan pulled out his M6C/SOCOM, and stuck it in its holster. Tapping in a code, Ulan opened the thick door leading to his quarters, and stepped out into the hallway, which were the same gun metal gray as the walls of his room. As a team of engineers rounded the corner, Ulan pulled one aside, and asked, "What are you doing? Has there been a breach?"

"Nothing major sir, just another problem with the outer hull. One of our bolted on Titanium-A plates fell off in Section 9, most likely due to stresses."

"I see. Get a security team to come with you though", Ulan responded. At this, the engineer nodded, and began to move out.

Although these things had happened before, Ulan was cautious. The UNSC would more than love to neutralize him after his recent string of successes, including the theft of the Fervor, and there had already been multiple attempts on his life by ONI agents in the past years. Being cautious had kept him alive, and he wasn't about to let up now.

Continuing through the hallways, Ulan began his trek to the bridge, which he had changed the position of to the middle of the ship, with the former bridge turned into an observation center. As he passed through the mess hall, Ulan grabbed an MRE breakfast bar, which he consumed on his way to the bridge. Entering it, the entire bridge, which wasn't very busy as compared to other days, snapped to attention, or at least a loose approximation of it at their stations.

"At ease.", Ulan said with a quick wave of his hand. Pacing past the United Rebel Front flag that adorned one of the bridge's bulkheads, Ulan approached the surveillance officer, Lieutenant Harrington, he asked, "How're the repairs going?", he asked, "Any incursions?", Ulan continued.

"No sir, nothing that I can see. However, would you like me to contact the security team?"

"Yes Lieutenant, I would."

Nodding, Harrington brought his microphone up to his mouth, and said, "Security Team Four-Tango, what is the situation?"

Silence followed, and again, Harrington repeated his statement, to no response.

"They might be having some trouble with their radios. Ask one of the teams nearby.", Ulan said, clenching his fists.

Nodding, Harrington spoke into the radio once again. "Security Team Ten-Yankee, any activity in your area?"

Once again, there was nothing, only silence. Ulan was now convinced that this was no simple accident. Getting on his own radio, he stated, "To all security teams of this ship, we are on high alert. All teams, begin sweeping the ship, with focus on Section 9, over".

Checking his M6/SOCOM, the Major flipped off the safety. Turning to the rest of the bridge crew, he ordered, "Lock the entrances to the bridge". Nodding, the systems operator, Captain Burke, turned to his station, and four distinct thumps sounded through the room.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, Ulan began to pace back and forth across the room, his footfalls distinctive amongst the silence that had enveloped the bridge. Although the UNSC had made attempts on his life before, none of them had ever breached the Revolutionary Fervor.

Turning back to Harrington, he asked, "Can you show me what's going on out there?"

Nodding, the Lieutenant swallowed hard, then responded, "Yes sir, I can. Do you really want to?"

"Yes, I would."

"Understood", said Harrington as he pulled up the security feed.

Ulan's mouth turned dry, and he felt queasy. On the screen, in the mess hall, one of his sergeants pointed out a target from behind a flipped over table that was acting as a makeshift piece of cover for he and his squad, but before he was even able to get a shot off, he fell to the ground. The rest of the unit was in complete chaos, some holding their ground, others begging and praying, hoping to survive. But it did not matter, it all fell silent as each man died.

Taking a deep breath, Ulan saw his hands shaking uncontrollably. As he continued to force himself to watch the massacre on the fuzzy screens, he felt a tiny wet drop run down his cheek. As the battle neared his position, Ulan began to hear the muffled crackle of gunfire through the hull as each security team was taken down one by one. All of a sudden, Ulan felt extremely queasy, as though he had a terrible flu.

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a thumping outside the bridge door. Unholstering his pistol, Ulan took up a position next to the bulkhead, waiting.

After two more minutes of thumping, an explosion threw both riveted gun metal gray doors off their hinges, and two black armored personnel, Ulan could only assume they were ONI, breached the room. Any bridge officers who were quick enough to draw a weapon were quickly neutralized by the ONI agents, splattering blood and gray matter across the consoles.

Ulan had decided already he wasn't going to die in some UNSC prison. Lashing out with a sidekick at one of the agents' midsections, he heard a series of snaps as the agent tensed. Taking advantage of his sudden lapse in concentration, Ulan put the man in a headlock, and stared at the man's female partner, a scowl of anger on his face.

"Make another move, and your friend gets it!", the Major screamed, spittle flying from his lips. He had no qualms whatsoever about killing the agent, but he was worth more as a bargaining chip to stall for time for now.

As the seconds ticked by, the standoff continued, until Ulan released his grip on the agent, and kicked him towards his partner. Charging forward, his head down, Ulan aimed for the other agent's midsection. However, she deftly sidestepped him, and her partner took the hit, his head slamming into the bulkhead with a thud, before falling down, limp.

Turning around, Ulan raised both of his fists, and watched for the agent to make a move. Twitching, and adrenaline running through his veins, Ulan threw a quick left hook at her midsection, which made a series of snaps, but despite these noises, the agent's face stayed stoic, as if nothing had happened.

Despite the damage already done, Ulan was in no mood to be merciful to her. Yelling a war cry, he threw a roundhouse kick, aiming to hit her in the ribcage again. But she quickly caught his kick, and, using it as leverage to force him to the ground, she stood over him, threw one last punch, and he was enveloped in darkness.

Awakening, Ulan was all but certain he was now on a UNSC prison ship. But, opening his eyes, he saw three of the Fervor's security personnel and a medic, standing above him. "Steady there.", said one of the troops, who he recognized as Jack Carlson, as he helped the Major to sit up.

"What happened?", Ulan asked groggily. "Where am I?"

"You're still on the Fervor sir. You're alright, you just got coldcocked."

"What happened to the other agent?"

"I don't know sir. We saw 'er hauling ass off the bridge as soon as we and a couple other squads rounded the corner, but I don't know where she went.  Probably escaped aboard one of our Pelicans."

"Shit. Casualty report?"

"Almost all security teams sent to intercept the agents were killed."

At this news, Ulan did a double take. "What?", he asked. "Did you say that everyone, who intercepted them is dead?"

"Yes sir. Us, and a few other squads are the only survivors."

At Carlson's confirmation, Ulan knew that almost all of his friends were now dead. Although his outward appearance was completely calm, his only thought was: "I'm going to kill that agent, and destroy the UNSC. They've taken everything that matters from me now, and for that, I won't just make them suffer, I'll torment and attack them until they beg me to stop, and then annihilate them!  Complete annihilation of the UNSC, that agent, or death are now my options."

"Are you ok sir?", Carlson asked, concern evident in his voice.

"What? Yes, I'm alright, I just need a moment to myself", Ulan responded as he staggered off the bridge. Stumbling through the bloodstained hallways, Ulan came face to face with a dead Sergeant Danson, a comrade he had known for his entire time in the Insurrection. Rushing into the nearest latrine, Ulan began retching heavily.

Sitting with his head against the wall of one of the stalls, Ulan yelled, "Goddamnit! I'll kill them all!  I'll fucking make them all suffer and die!  UNSC, ONI, I don't give a damn!  They're all fair goddamn game!"