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Operation MACHETE by lemonhead900
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Operation MACHETE: Chapter 1
Date: 3 September 2007, 7:22 pm
"Wraith Tank!" Sergeant Garry Martindale roared as he dived out from behind a flipped Warthog with two jackhammer rocket launchers on each massive arm. He didn't need to aim, the idiot Covenant were advancing strait down the street not even bothering to use cover as they shot at anything that moved and a lot of stuff that didn't. The Wraith tank in the middle of their formation fired white hot balls of energy at the retreating marines. Sgt. Martindale pointed the launchers at the tank and let loose, the 102mm projectiles hurtled down the center of what was once a busy road of Forsera's largest city and UNSC base. The rockets hit the Covenant behemoth dead center causing fire, plasma, and charred armor to rain down on a formation of aliens who foolishly decided to stand to close to a massive target.
Sgt. Martindale used the Covenant's brief distraction at the loss of their tank to dive back under cover before they returned fire. The two privates who had been crouching behind the Warthog providing cover fire as Martindale had attempted his maneuver now primed a grenade each and tossed them at Covenant forces now rushing at their position. Twin explosions were the signal for all three marines to get up and run as fast as their legs could carry them to catch up with the rest of their unit.
First Lieutenant Carlos Rodriguez crouched behind a large piece of debris; his 130 man company was in full retreat down Main Street. He had 19 snipers left one had gotten hit when the building he was in had been targeted by Covenant artillery fire. All of them were lined up behind debris in the road and a smoking Scorpion Main Battle Tank, MBT. They were covering the rest of the company's retreat into the large courtyard where they were preparing to set up a second line of defense. He had his second in command Master Gunnery Sergeant Harold Keels setting up their defenses in a hotel. Lieutenant Rodriguez felt a surge of pride as he saw Sgt. Garry Martindale blow up the advancing Covenant tank, his boys were real good.
The steady crack, crack of sniper rifles was causing line after line of advancing covenant troops to stop dead in their tracks and fall headless in the road. No matter how many Covenant seemed to fall, however, three more had already taken its place and the aliens were advancing up the road through sheer numbers. The real killer however was that none of the aliens they were killing were Elites, they would take out the occasional Jackal, but most of the ones falling were Grunts, the cannon fodder that the aliens' leaders liked to use to overwhelm the marines.
More than half his surviving men were still not inside the defense point and Lieutenant Rodriguez was running out of options. He got on the company radio and spoke to the two engineers he had assigned to making some effective means of slowing the Covenant offensive. "Forman, Slick time to give the Covenant surprise number one." This was all he had to say, moments later Sgt. Martindale's late cover, the Warthog, exploded. The fire ball enveloped thirty Covenant and causing chain reactions as all the little Grunts' methane packs also exploded. All in all about fifty or sixty Covenant went up with Warthog causing the advance to slow momentarily as the fires now blocked the road.
Lieutenant Rodriguez heard the cheers of the retreating marines and felt like joining in. Suddenly, however, two massive shadows appeared beyond the fire and a second later a hunter and its blood brother charged through the flames smashing the burning Warthog out of the road and clearing a path for the rest of the Covenant. The massive aliens now crouched behind their huge shields protecting themselves from all incoming fire. The marine snipers realized they couldn't hit the monsters and began concentrating on the smaller aliens running around them. As long as the Hunters stayed behind their shields they couldn't advance fast enough to engage the marines. Then the fuel rod guns attached to each aliens fore arm pulsed green and fired globules of energy at the snipers. The Lieutenant had momentarily forgotten about the Hunter's main weapon. The two shots hit just as several of the snipers dived aside, one screamed as the lower half of his body melted and two others never made another sound.
"Lieutenant, this is Martindale I've still got ammo in these launchers, standby." Rodriguez realized too late what the Sgt. was intending to do. Even the massive jackhammer rockets couldn't hurt those aliens from behind their shields, an old veteran like Martindale knew that so as the monsters, still in the lead of the Covenant formation, came level with the Sgt.'s hiding spot he fired first one then the other of the jackhammers' at their less protected back sides. Unfortunately now the advancing Covenant also knew where Martindale was hiding.
"Snipers, covering fire protect the Sgt.!" Roared Rodriguez, he fully intended for Sgt. Garry Martindale to make it back alive so he could kill him personally and then buy him a drink. Several other marines closer to the front also turned, threw a couple grenades, and covered the huge man with their assault rifles. Martindale didn't stop running until he reached the snipers last line and then he collapsed next to Lieutenant Rodriguez. Before Rodriguez could say anything to the man however he had one last detail to take care of. "Foreman, Slick give the Covenant our second gift of the day."
"Aye, aye sir!" they chanted in unison. Seconds later four massive explosions shook the whole block as hidden packs of C12 detonated collapsing two massive buildings on top of the whole advancing Covenant unit. It was a beautiful site even the exhausted Martindale watched as the aliens were buried under two waves of falling concrete and steel. That would buy the marines a respite as the Covenant organized another assault on the city. It would also give them time to prepare for said attack and maybe get some reinforcements.
"UNSC Pelican Dropship K-1129 inbound. Heard Delta company of the 101st needed some back up." Jennet "Thor" McCarson's Pelican strafed a line of Covenant pining down a squad of marines then flew into the large courtyard Delta was using as a base of operations. "I've got heavy armor and another squad ready to role Rodriguez" She said jovially "Figures you guys have to have a lady around to pull you asses out of the fire"
"Thanks for the back up Jan, we're in deep shit here that's for sure." Rodriguez replied. The Pelican dropped a scorpion in the middle of the courtyard and then touched down to allow the 12 marines in the rear to disembark. As soon as she was clear Jennet soared away returning to the UNSC Defense Force Command Center at their base just outside the city.
Five of the newly arrived marines went directly to the Scorpion climbing aboard and taking position on its four massive treads while the fifth climbed into the cockpit. With a roar the massive tank moved towards the sole entrance to the courtyard already targeting its main gun on a Covenant Hunter that had been pinning down the marine fire squads. An explosion roared from the Scorpion's cannon and turned the massive creature before it into a pile of goo along with several other Jackals standing near it. The marines on its treads opened fire and the Covenant forces that were out in the open trying to press their advantage fell under a hellish storm of bullets.
The rest of the marine forces took this opportunity to come out from their cover and support the tank's advance. Then a voice came over the radio, "Hold it marines I didn't order that tank to do anything get it back inside the perimeter." Lieutenant Rodriguez didn't want to lose that tank already he would keep it back and hold the line as it stood until the rest of the 101st got their act together and organized a counter offensive.
"Covenant artillery inbound! Take cover, everyone get under cover!" a sniper shouted over the radio and moments later six massive balls of blue/white energy soared over the compound's walls some impacting on marine positions, but most doing no damage having hit in the center of the courtyard where there was nothing but grass. The second wave was not visible until it burned through the compound's walls. Their whole left flank which had been protected by the wall collapsed and Covenant troops poured into the breach.
"Get that Scorpions cannon around fire on those Covenant troops!" Rodriguez shouted into the mike. The Scorpion was already half way there and in a few second the roar of it cannon was heard again and half the Covenant were blown to ribbons as they charged through the gap. "Fall back, Fall back. All positions fall back!" Rodriguez was determined not to lose his entire force. "Scorpion, cover our retreat."
It was chaos the marines who had lately felt so victorious and confident were now in full retreat over an open field with plasma and needles raining around them. Many turned and fired on the Covenant, but many also ran blindly trying to outstrip their fellows in the race for their fall back point. The Scorpion which was going backwards covering the retreating marines was firing as quickly as its cannon could recycle and its secondary weapon and the marines on its treads fired with out stop at the wave of enemies in front of them. One after the other the supporting marines fell until it was only the one still firing as quickly as he could, but of little use against the Covenant's numbers.
When Lieutenant Rodriguez reached the fall back point he turned to the see the tank three fourths of the way there and taking heavy enemy fire explode as it was hit by the shot from a Hunter's main weapon. He turned to his officers and made a snap decision, with that covenant artillery holding any one position was suicide. Earlier when they had retreated to this point he had had his engineer's set up another series of bombs to take down this whole building on top of whoever was inside. "Everyone keep going, Jacobson ring this place to blow in thirty second lets move it people."
So with the Covenant hot on their tale the marines ran through the building's main lobby and through the corridors behind. As they passed through certain points engineers threw Lotus anti-tank mines behind them to slow down their pursuers. Rodriguez got on his radio again and tuned into the UNSC command frequency. "This is Delta company of the 101st marine brigade we have been over run requesting immediate pick up at the following coordinates by any UNSC forces." For a heart stopping second there was no answer then.
"This is UNSC Albatross dropship D-2347 and D-2348; we are inbound to the coordinates hold tight." It was like a voice from heaven Lieutenant Rodriguez would easily be able to fit all his men onto two Albatross dropships. As the marines flew out of the doomed building Lance Corporal Luke Jacobson hit the detonator and the hotel exploded and collapsed on the pursuing covenant.
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