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Operation One: Basic
Date: 11 March 2003, 3:05 AM
MARINES
Earth was disadvantaged before we even started. The Covie ships- that even now are in orbit- jumped out of subspace and annihilated a third of our docked fleet. Some called it the third pearl harbor. The soldiers called it a massacre. We still don't know what tipped them off, how they found the homeworld. Most of us think it was that meddling AI Guilty Spark. It doesn't matter, anyways. it's a miracle we've survived this long. We're actually winning now. Don't get me wrong- god knows we've had casualties. But us, we were the lucky ones. We're Charlie company.
Operation One: Basic
Week 8
"Jim...Where are they?"
It was week eight of basic training. One week to go 'till they made it into the core. It was Charlie companies last trial: Survival. The exercise put them in a combat scenario. They were being hunted by experienced marines, using paint ammo. But it was enough to make each one nervous. They we're currently laying down in the mud of a dried stream bed. The thick forest made it near impossible to see. The Major of Alpha platoon, Jim Morris, huddled against the bed wall, leaning against a tree root. The map he was sweating over made no sense.
"I.. I dunno.. This doesn't make sense. At all. This stream bed shouldn't be here..." his voice trailed off. And he sunk into the dirt. Nothing seemed to make sense. His XO, Ryan Patterson, was not too far away, and stared thoughtfully at a tree.
"Sir... Doesn't.. Doesn't moss grow facing north?"
Jim continued to stare at the map. "Yeah. What of it?"
Ryan picked up the compass, and pointed to his forward left. "Moss is growing that way. Compass," he pointed to his right, "Says north is that way. We're way off course." he tossed down t he compass. Neither of them picked it up.
Jim sighed. "Right.. Figures. We'll rest here for the night. We move out 0400, I don't know where the GIs are." he turned, looked down the ravine towards the rest of Charlie company. "Recruits! We rest here for the night. We move at 0400, I want a head start on our hunters. Get some sleep." There seemed to be a simultaneous sigh of relief from the marines, and more than one grumble of thanks.
0300
Jim awoke to the sound of rustling leaves. He froze, and listened. He decided it was just the wind, or an animal. He looked behind him. His two guards had fallen asleep. They could have all been killed because of them. Something still wasn't right, he decided. He rolled over and nudged his XO in the arm. "Ryan.. Wake up. Assemble the marines, we move now."
Ryan sleepily checked his watch. "Christ, Jim, it's three, we still have an hour before-" Ryan froze, obviously alerted to something. He nodded to the Major, and crawled through the ravine, gently and quietly waking each soldier. Within 5 minutes they all stood huddled in files, ready to move out.
Jim signaled to Ryan with his hands, who in turn gestured for the marines to follow him. They all filed quietly out through the side, nervously looking around. Jim waited for half of the marines to pass, and followed at the side of them. And so they walked.
0600
Jim quietly trudged through the underbrush, watching for trouble. He motioned behind him for the marines to stop, and walked a few paces forward. He listened. He turned, satisfied, and took a step back towards the marines. A rustling in the bushes told him to stop. He turned around. Two GIs stood before him, dressed in full camouflage and paint. Out of the corner of his eye he saw three more quietly stand up. He looked over his shoulder, and saw at least 16 more surrounding his company. The leader of the group stepped forward.
"Bang. Your dead, Major." With that they slipped back into the forest, and disappeared. Jim stood in shock. The marines grumbled their displeasure. He didn't blame them.
0900
They all sat in the mess hall back at camp, eating the mush that was given the odd term breakfast. Each one of them was put out about the failure of the mission, though the commander had assured them they all preformed brilliantly under the circumstances. The cafeteria was alive with the sounds of laughter of talking, though no one was in a particularly good mood. The commander walked in and stood at the front of the room. After a moment, there was silence.
"Men, we've had an unfortunate change of plans. There has been a slight... Complication. Basic training will have to be cut short. As of today, your marines. I wish we could give you something more formal, but fleet command needs every man he can get ASAP. I don't know any more than that. We need you packed and ready to go within two hours." he turned, and left.
MARINES: Operation 2
Date: 12 March 2003, 3:01 AM
MARINES
Operation 2: Feet First into Hell (part one)
Jim stood at the back of the pelican, gripping an overhead handle. The pelican shook so much it was almost as if it would fall apart. It always did. It was dark outside. The rumbling of the jet engines filled the room with a constant noise. Ryan sat harnessed to one of the chairs that formed a long row down the left side of the craft. Other paratroopers did the same. Charlie company was part of the 105th Helljumpers. Able company was what earned the group its infamous cowboy reputation, in the battle of Signi. They were on a mission toward which they had been training. Fleet Command had cut their training short to deal with a crisis that needed their immediate attention.
A group of rebel Covenant sympathizers, calling themselves the Hammer of Light, made them selves known by bombing many key locations, which were not disclosed. They had seized control of France and parts of Germany, and were retaliating against the UN Hegemony. On top of that, Covenant forces had jumped in-system and were being momentarily held off at Jupiter. The 105th- Including Charlie team, were being sent in behind enemy lines, much as the 101st did on D-Day nearly 600 years before. As far as they knew, they were going in hot.
Other marines filled the pelican, 13 in all. Twelve other pelicans flew along side them, containing other companies. Ryan ran his fingers over over his necklace, shaped in the form of a cross. Other marines did other things to prepare themselves mentally. They were all terrified. This was their first mission, and their training that had been cut short made them all dangerously green.
A marine awoke to the sound of a bang. Ahead of them the clouds flashed with lightning. One of the two pilots looked outside. The clouds passed, and revealed the flashes to be the onslaught of possibly a dozen FLAK cannons. The pilot thumbed a button.
Jim looked as he saw the red jump light come on. He turned around and faced the others. He held up three fingers. "Get ready!" he had to yell to be heard over the scream of the engines. The marines looked up at him, and struggled to fasten their helmets as they bounced around from the shaking. Jim lifted his hand palm up. "Stand up!" Immediately every soldier stood, gripping something for support. The room was filled with red light. He motioned again, this time with his finger hooked. "Hook up!" A succession of metallic pangs, and each one was tethered to the safety rail above them. "Equipment check!" each marines turned around, and checked each others harnesses and straps. "Sound off for equipment check!" each marine called off their numbers.
"Ten OK!"
"Nine OK!"
"Eight OK!"
"Seven OK!"
"Six OK!"
"Five OK!"
"Four OK!"
"Three OK!"
"Two OK!"
"One OK!"
A blast rocked the plane, each marine braced himself. The FLAK was getting closer, the shell barely missed the plane. Across the fly, other pelicans were in the same situation. A blast hit under the wing, severely rocking the plane, but the wing remained intact. Marines fell over from the shock, others staggered.
Jim jumped back as a blast almost hit the door, a wave of heat fell over him. He looked back outside. The other pelicans were no better off. The pelican next to them was hit directly in its middle. The hull collapsed upon itself, exploded, and fell off towards the ground.
An explosion shattered one of the windows; glass flew into a marines face, and he screamed as blood leaked from the wound. "Guaaahh!! I've been hit! Christ!" other marines attended to him. Another blast rocked the plane. The pilot looked out the side. Flames licked out of the engines, then spread and covered it. "Jesus.. Tell him to get them out of there!" his co pilot nodded, and flicked a switch above him. A pelican in front of them's wing exploded, and it fell straight in to their flight path. The pilot tried to swerve the plane, but the crippled pelican fell out and spiraled towards the earth at the last second.
The light went green. "GO, GO, GO!" Jim stepped back, and "helped" the other paratroopers with their fears by nudging them as they passed. One by one they jumped out, their parachutes opening almost immediately. "Jump, jump, jump!"
A shock rocked the craft, and a marine was thrown out. His parachute didn't open. Finally, when Ryan and the others had jumped, Jim jumped out. He tumbled for a second, found his rip cord, pulled it, and felt like he was being yanked back as it opened. Flack blasts exploded in every direction; their explosions illuminating the dozens upon dozens of paratroopers in the air. Some themselves got struck. A blast exploded nearby, barely missing him, but striking a marine above. Finally he passed the safe point, where the flack couldn't touch him. He looked down, the ground seemed to grow, and he felt a wave of vertigo. He hung there, watching the scene in front of him. He hit the ground, rolled, and immediately got up and struggled to get his chute off. He did so, kneeled, and went through his supplies. He had lost his gun, and one of his packs on the way down. A marine dropped next to him, Paren, from his company. Jim ran up to him, kneeled. Paren struggled with his gear, hurriedly trying to unfasten everything. Jim helped him, clipped off his parachute. He nodded to a pack around his waist. "Loose that pack, soldier." "Yes sir! I dropped my gun on the way down , sir! And my radio, and my batteries..." "Yeah? Me too." they looked around, Jim waited for Paren to catch his breath. It was pitch black, except for the constant flack explosions. The sound of the turrets and the planes overhead filled the air. Jim patted Paren on the shoulder. "Follow me."
MARINES: Operation 2 (part 2)
Date: 13 March 2003, 7:44 PM
MARINES
Operation 2: Feet First into Hell (part 2)
Jim held up his hand, telling paren to stop. They crawled under the shelter of a twisted oak tree. In front of them, a flak turret's barrels flashed into the sky. Jim leaned over and whispered to Paren. "Wait until they reload..." After a moment, the firing stopped, and shadowed figures ran about, handing each other shells and reloading. They shouted in what sounded like polish. Jim crept into the woods, nearby.
"Aren't you D company?" Paren shook his head. "Able, sir... Guess that means one of us is in the wrong drop zone. Sir." "Yeah. Or both of us..." They continued walking, quietly, in case any Symp soldiers were nearby. The booming of flak, and pelican engines was constantly overhead. "Do you have a weapon, sir?" Jim shook his head. "No. Just my knife." "Do you have any idea where we are, sir?" Jim stopped, looked around. "Stop..." Paren caught up, breathing heavily. Jim continued to look around.
"So you're a radio man?"
"Yes sir. Well I was until I lost my radio on the jump... I'm sure I'll get chewed out for that."
"I'll see if I can get you a new one. First, I need your help... We'll need some landmarks to get our bearings. Keep your eyes out for buildings. Foreign houses. Bridges, roads... Trees..." They both laughed nervously, the irony being that they were in a forest.
"I wonder if the others are as lost as we are," Paren wondered.
"We're not lost, Private. We're in Normandy."
They found a road, and walked along it for a ways. Jim slowed, then dashed behind a tree. In front of them was a river, on the other side figures moved through the underbrush. He pulled out a clicker- a small metal device that made a click similar to a frog- and prssed it a few times. A couple of marines splashed out into the river. "Whos that.... Lieutenant Morris?" Jim stood, and ran over to meet them. Three more marines splashed out and followed from the trees. They ran to dry land and huddled together. Jim looked at them. "You guys got a weapon?" they shook their heads. One trooper said, "No, sir. I lost my leg bag as soon as jumped. All I got is this knife and some TNT." He pointed to a marine next to him. "This is 82nd boy scout Jerry Mundo." Paren shook his head. "Man... 82nd? Where the hell are we?"
Jim pulled out a map, and looked at it. "We're about seven kilometers away from our next objective. Only four hours away from when we need to have it secured. So. We got a lotta walking ahead of us. You men will stick with us until we find you a unit. Lets go."
They walked for a few minutes, along an old railroad they found. "I didn't here about any railroad in our objective..." one marine complained. Another assured him, "I'm telling ya, this is the spur line that runs parallel to the river. We should be coming up to a road and bridge ahead." "Yeah? How would you know." "Cause I studied the sand tails, Alright?" Jim help up his hand, and the troopers kneeled. Again the trooper complained, "It's probly a frickin' train or something-" "Shh...." Jim whispered, "Flash." Behind them came a series of, "Thunder!" A group of marines stumbled out of the forest. "hey sir, that you?" Jim walked up, the rest of the troopers stood up and sighed relief. Troopers nodded as they went past, greeting each other. Jim stopped one. "Garner?" "Yeah, sir?" "You and Paren up front." "Who the hell is Paren?" Garner walked past to the front.
They continued walking a little ways. Again, Jim held up his hand, and he crouched and ran to an opening overlooking a road. Shortly he ran back, and signaled to the rest. "Lantern, Go! Garner, Go!" the troopers took up position along side the road, hiding in the brush. Soon they heard the sound of soldiers walking towards them, talking loudly. The troopers steadied their guns. Jim nodded to a trooper, who in turn changed position to cover their flank. Garner ran his finger over his trigger nervously. Jim noticed, and whispered, "Wait for my command." The soldiers came closer, their language was either polish or German. Jim held up his hand, telling them again to wait.
As they go almost parallel to the troopers, Garner jumped up and sprayed rounds into the soldiers, who screamed In terror, surprise, and pain. Jim covered his ears, and glared at Garner. The rest of the troopers sprang out and fired their weapons into the group, who continued to scream out in terror and pain. One stopped, raised his hands in surrender, and yelled out, but was quickly shot down. A few of them tried to return fire, but resistance was hopeless. A soldier trying to run away was shot in the back of the helmet and in the back, red mist sprayed out on contact.
Soon the screaming quieted and died, Jim ran over and grabbed Garner, who was still firing. "Garner, that's enough!" The two stared at each other for a minute. Finally Jim yelled to the others, without taking his eyes off Garner, "Everyone okay?" the troopers murmured affirmatives. Jim continued to glare at Garner. "Nest time I say wait for my command, you wait for my command, sergeant!" Garner muttered a forced, "Yes sir..." Jim walked off, and the others started to follow. "Alright, lets move out! Quietly." they followed Jim and Paren's lead, a couple of troopers nudging dead Symp soldiers with their feet.
At dawn, they came across a small battle zone. Fighting had finished. Before them was a shelled-out farmhouse, still on fire. A wrecked car was nearby. They walked closer, and saw a dead trooper hanging from a tree. His parachute had gotten caught on a branch and strangled him. Across the field a few cattle grazed. Dead paratroopers were all around. Obviously they had landed in the middle of a group of Symp soldiers. They stopped, and looked around. Jim walked over and kneeled next to a dead soldier, checking his pockets. "Anyone need supplies or ammo, now's the time to get it."
The troopers walked around the bodies, grabbing guns, ammo, water, anything they could. One stayed behind. "McDowell, you okay?" the trooper that stayed behind looked over at Jim. "Yes sir." "Well lets go." the trooper walked over and grabbed some ammo. One trooper kneeled by a symp soldier. "Hey I promised my kid brother I'd fetch him back an M6D pistol, so I got first dibs ok? Check that one..." The scream of an artillary shell flew overhead. Jim stood up. "it's the navy..." "The landings have started, lets go." "Move it out!" a marine checked his watch. "Right on time..." Garner pointed to a dead trooper. "Yeah? Tell that to him, cowboy." "My named Paren." "That so?" "Move it out..."
They walked a little ways along a dirt road, the artillery became a more constant sound now. They passed a group of captured symps, a few troopers stood guard. Jim addressed the ranking officer. "Good morning." "Good morning, sir. The townies sure will be happy to see you guys." "Where?" "At the farm shed." the troopers laughed at the symps as they passed them. "Top of the morning to ya fellows, enjoying the war?" the troopers laughed, and continued on their way.
Before long they come upon a small village, troopers covered the streets talking. Most of the companies were here. Jim saw a group of his soldiers. "Hey!" "Hey, Charlie company!" the troopers all greeted each other. Glad to see there hadn't been any casualties. "Hey, this here's Paren, Able company." "we know him as cowboy." "You from Texas?" Paren shook his head. "Manhattan."
Jim wandered around. "Lieutenant Morris!" Jim looked and saw Ryan, he walked over. "What's going on?" "What's the hold up?" Ryan asked. "Not sure." marines walked passed. "Its good to see you, Jim." "You too, Ryan. What's the situation?" "Well, not good. Nine percent of our men are still unaccounted for." "Lieutenant Mennen?" "No ones seen him. Or anyone from his Pelican." Jim looked down. Ryan continued to speak. "You know if he's missing, wouldn't that put you in line to be the next commander of Charlie?" Jim nodded, tired. "Hello, Lieutenant Moore." a man walked up, shook hands with Jim. "How many men of Dog Company have you got assembled?" Moore shook his head. "Handful. Maybe Twenty." "And you're the only officer that made it?" Moore nodded. "So far. Still waiting for orders." he turned to Ryan. "You got some cigarettes?" "Yeah." Ryan pulled out a pack and gave it to Moore, who walked off. "Hey, keep the pack!"
A trooper ran through the crowds of soldiers. "Charlie company? Charlie? Hey any of these guys know where Charlie company is?" he spotted Ryan. "You seen Lieutenant Mennen?" "No, not yet..." "well Straighter wants Charlie company's CO up front." the trooper walked off. "Well I guess that's you, Jim." Ryan said. Jim got up, and walked in the direction the trooper was headed.
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