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The Battle For Sigma Octanus by moniter101
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The Battle For Sigma Octanus Chapter 1 surprise attack
Date: 4 February 2003, 12:29 am
(Sigma Octanus UNSC military base 05:00 hours)
Sergeant Bryan Stacker wiped away the beads of sweat running from his pores. He walked past the marine barracks and entered the command building. Stacker came to a short man wearing a dress uniform. "Anything colonel" he asked? "Not a thing Sergeant"
Colonel Jim Smith answered. "How much longer are we gonna be here my men are tired of this damn heat" Stacker said. I know command said that if anything doesn't show up for the next couple a days then they'll transfer us to hopefully to an ice planet''. Well sir I'll tell the men and we'll stay battle ready until that transfer comes" Stacker said. He saluted and exited the building.
"Anything Harrell" Smith asked. "Nothing sir wait it looks like a ghost" Corporal Nick Harrell said as he looked through a pair of high powered binoculars. "How far out". "About 300 yards to the west." Smith picked up a pair of binoculars to have a look for himself. Sure enough a ghost floated along the landscape manned by an elite. He looked at the ghost for several seconds. "Sound the alarm I want a patrol to take that out" He ordered Harrell.
Stacker was slowly eating a ration bar when the alarm sounded. He threw down the ration bar and ran to the command center. When he got there the place was busy with movement. "What the hell is going on" he asked Smith? There's a ghost 300 yards to the west it could be a scout for a patrol were sending two warthogs to take it out." Smith said. Stacker looked out the window to see two warthogs racing towards the ghost.
Corporal Mat Stanford sat in the passenger seat of the second warthog. "Stop here" He said to the driver. He gave the same order to the other warthog. The hog screeched to a halt. "Sir we're about 100 yards from the target eliminating it now" He said into his comm Link. "Roger that" Smith's voice crackled over the static.
"Murphy use a jackhammer." Stanford said. Private Kevin Murphy nodded and jumped out of the first hog. He took a knee and aimed. The jackhammer rocket launcher jerked Murphy back as the projectile raced towards the ghost. There was a brilliant flash as the ghost exploded sending parts of the elite flying into the air. "Nice shot" Stanford said to Murphy.
Suddenly the first warthog disappeared in a bright green flash. Immediately Stanford knew what it was. The Banshee swooped around for another gun run. "Where the hell did that come from" Murphy yelled. The Banshee fired a salvo of plasma bolts at the remaining warthog. Murphy was hit in the chest sending blood into the air. Private Cameron Wilson fired at the Banshee with the 50 caliber three barreled gatling machine gun. The tracers burned through the air but missed the Banshee. Only a few rounds hit it doing minimal damage. Wilson was hit in the shoulder and neck burning through his artery. Blood sprayed from his neck. Wilson gave a blood choked gasp and fell from the back of the warthog. Stanford was covered in Wilson's blood. "Drive damn it, drive get us back to the Base" He screamed at the driver. But the driver was hit in the head spattering blood and brain matter onto the windshield. The Banshee swerved around for another gun run.
The Banshee erupted into a ball of flame and fell from the sky. Stanford looked above to see a Longsword fighter race overhead. "Thank god" He thought. But the Longsword began to smoke. "Holy crap there's about a thousand of those grunt things and those elites and jackals comin straight at you" the pilot said. "Can you provide air support until we can get an evac" He said. "Negative were takin heavy enemy fire we can barley stay
Airborne can you get that hog back to base." "Negative the axles broken and I think I'm the only one capable of moving." He said. "Roger good luck buddy" the pilot radioed back.
Stanford got out and picked up his MA5B assault rifle. He took aim at the hill where the covenant would be coming from. Several grunts came into view. He began picking off targets. Fluorescent blood stained the landscape as grunt after grunt fell. He reloaded and opened up with full auto fire. Several elites came and returned fire.
Stanford was hit in the leg. He screamed in pain. An elite ran up to him and whacked him with the butt of its plasma pistol. Stanford's vision blurred he felt a burning sensation in his stomach the last thing he saw were thousands of grunts running past him in the direction of the base then all went black. To Be Continued ...
The Battle For Sigma Octanus Chapter 2
Date: 6 February 2003, 3:52 am
(Sigma Octanus UNSC Military base 05:00 hours)
Stacker looked in disbelieve as thousands of grunts charged towards the base. Several elites were among them. In back of the massive armada of covenant troops were wraith tanks. Jackals brought up the rear.
" Sound the alarm get ever man who can fight get the scorpion tanks manned and ready I want warthogs to counter attack those wraiths and hurry" Smith ordered. "Stacker get your marines ready were gonna have one hell of a fight". Stacker nodded and ran out to the barracks. "Men were already getting their gear on. " Hurry up we got at least a thousand or so grunts charging this place the turrets can't hold them off for long" He shouted. He ran to the armory and got an MA2B assault rifle. He picked up a couple of grenades and holstered an M6D pistol.
Private Nick Olsen fired away with the 50.cal mounted on a guard tower. The first wave of grunts fell as the armor piercing rounds ripped through them. Hot plasma bolts zipped past him. The grunts shot in every direction. Every plasma bolt missed him. He fired until his shoulders went numb. A grunt got a lucky shot and hit the barrel of the gun it melted.
Stacker ran outside, the gun turrets were beginning to where off. He quickly raised his MA2B as two grunts came running at him. Blue blood splashed from the wounds as they fell. A plasma grenade came from some where and stuck to the marine standing next to him. Stacker jumped to the ground as the grenade exploded tearing the marine apart.
Stacker's mouth had a metallic taste stuck to it. His ears rung, when he finally came to himself a lot of bodies surrounded him. Grunts were running cowardly away. A warthog pulled up to him the passenger seat empty. "Sir get in we gotta take out those wraiths'' the driver yelled. He nodded his head and got in.
"What's your name soldier'' he asked. " Harland sir corporal James Harland" the marine answered. It was a bumpy ride as the warthog drove over the sea of bodies.
Stacker looked around to see six scorpion tanks scorched and burning. Their metal bodies melted from plasma, a lot of human bodies surrounded each of them.
The warthog came to a halt. Ahead scorpions and wraiths were exchanging fire. Marines were hiding behind destroyed warthogs as hundreds of elites shot a salvo of plasma at them. The gunner hosed down the few remaining grunts scattered around.
Stacker fired into the crowds of elites their shields became visible as the rounds bounced off them. Over head one longsword was airborne and it took out the elites. The wraiths erupted into flame as it dropped bombs on them. "Damn I love the smell of victory," Stacker smiled.
Suddenly one of the few remaining warthogs flipped over from an explosion. "What the hell was that?" Harland looked surprised. "Banshees" someone screamed over the command net. Stacker looked to see four Banshees swooping down for gun runs.
The gunner took one out as he unleashed a full auto spray at it. Another was destroyed by a jackhammer rocket. The last two were taken out by the longsword. A bright white flash caused the longsword to catch fire. "Mayday mayday were going down" the pilot's voice was heard in the comm link. "What the hell is going on" Harland screamed.
Stacker's mouthed dropped he could only guess how many covenant dropships there were. "Colonel Smith were gonna need a lot a help." he said into the comm link. Most of the dropships were headed in the direction of Corte d' Azures. A major population center. "Everyone back to the base now damn it" he screamed into the comm link.
Smith's eyes widened as the he watched the covenant dropships fly by. He counted seventeen that landed behind the base and twenty in front. The rest flew off in the direction of Corte d' Azures. "Get as many men as you can to protect the front of the base and the rest in the back their going to try and flank us" he barked out his orders. "And each of you get a weapon". He watched as the longsword fighter crashed into the ground and erupted into a fire ball. This was going to be one hell of a fight indeed.
The Battle For Sigma Octanus 3
Date: 11 February 2003, 12:01 am
(Sigma Octanus UNSC Military base 05:10 hours)
Colonel Smith stared with a blank look on his face. The sheer numbers of the enemy left him dumfound. The aliens who were exiting the dropships were not all grunts, several commander elites in gold armor jumped out. Hundreds of jackals took point strategically putting their plasma shields at the front. The covenant began advancing from all directions instead of charging the base head on.
Stacker jumped out of the warthog. He took a knee and began to search for targets. Marines were already shooting at the jackals but the rounds just bounced off their shields.
He began to feel something hitting his head. Stacker looked up, hundreds of spent casings were raining down on him from the 50 Cal. Stacker ran away from the warthog to avoid the distraction. Just as he did a plasma grenade landed on the gunner. The warthog exploded.
Stacker lobbed a grenade at the jackals. The explosion tore through their shields sending shrapnel into the crowd of grunts who were standing behind the jackals. The jackals stopped advancing and began firing. Hundreds of grunts ran towards the base.
Stacker picked off a few grunts. He killed two jackals. An elite came from behind him and shot the marine crouching next to him with a needler. Stacker jumped up and fired. The elites shields flared as the bullets bounced off. He empted the clip as the elite's shield was disabled. Stacker quickly pulled his pistol from its holster and fired a volley of rounds into its chest. The elite grunted as the armor piercing rounds tore through it. Purple blood splashed onto Stacker. He ejected the spent clip and reloaded.
Several men were getting hit. One marine was hit in the knee, the lower half of his leg was mangled. Another man was about to throw a grenade when a plasma grenade landed on his foot. The man screamed as the grenade sizzled then exploded sending the marine into the air. He landed next to Stacker. Stacker looked at him, his legs were masses of blood and gore and his face was badly burned. Stacker looked away in disgust. He knew the marine was dead.
Stacker saw a few men with sniper rifles he quickly ran to them. "You boys better get on top of a building sniper rifles are no more use at this range" he said. "Roger that sir we'll take out the jackals and elites an' leave the grunts to you guys" the marine replied. Stacker nodded and aimed for more targets.
Stacker could see tracer rounds ricochet off the jackal's shields. One round bounced off and ripped through his shoulder. Stacker yelled in pain as the armor piercing bullet exited through his shoulder. Almost immediately a grunt shot several needles at him. Most missed him but two hit him in the same shoulder that the round tore through. The needles exploded. Blood sprayed from the wound. Stacker screamed in pain. He fired at the grunt with his usable arm. The grunt's throat was torn open as the rounds ripped through it. "Dammit" Stacker hissed. He tried to ignore the pain but it was too intense.
Medic Sam Jones was covered in blood. He ran from one wounded man to the next.
He had been ordered to make a casualty count by some sergeant. So far he had counted ninety six. A lot of men who he had been helping had died. Jones thought it was the end of humanity. It was a desperate struggle to hold the covenant at bay. Their only cover was snipers who were taking out the bigger targets. The marine forces of the base were down to 150 men (there was 300 men at first). There were only five warthogs left. Only two badly damaged scorpions were still fighting a losing battle.
Jones saw Stacker who was his fire team's commanding officer. Jones ran up to him ducking every so often from the continuous fire. "Sarge you all right" he asked? I'm ok just got a bad shoulder wound" He replied. "Here sir let me patch ya up". Jones saw just how deep the wound was. The bullet that had ricocheted off the jackals shield had gone right through the bone. But the plasma melted the skin right off and most of the bone. Jones filled the wound up with bio foam and wrapped some gauze over it and fixed a field dressing around it. Stacker felt a prick as Jones injected painkiller into him. "There ya go sarge you shouldn't feel a thing. Stacker was surprised that he could actually move his arm. He thanked Jones and got up. He reloaded and fired off a few more rounds.
Suddenly someone shouted over the pops of gunfire "Banshees". Stacker turned around and sure enough two Banshees whooshed overhead. Colonel Smith's voice crackled over the comm net "Sergeant Stacker if your still alive then get your ass up to command".
Stacker didn't even bother to answer. He scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could to the command building.
"Thank god your still alive we got covies swarming all over this damn base." Smith said nervously. "I know sir were down to the last few hogs." Stacker said. "I know Once the scorpions are destroyed were all screwed and me-Smith was cut off by a techs voice. "Sir two warthogs destroyed one scorpion tank beyond repair Cote d'Azur has sent a distress signal." "Oh god help them look Stacker I'm sending you and a fire team to go aid Cote d' Azur take the few remaining hogs and get the hell over there." Smith said.
Before Stacker could respond the ground shook and a blinding flash lit up the command room. The windows around the room shattered. Stacker fell to the floor and shielded himself with his arms from the shards of glass that fell on him. "What the hell was that" Smith barked. "Sir the barracks are gone." a tech said. Smith jumped to his feet and screamed into the intercom. "All men fall back to secondary positions set up a perimeter all medics bring what wounded you can to the medic compound and marines find what weapons you can and conserve your ammo fire team Alpha report to command I want three warthogs on standby in front of command now." He turned around and faced Stacker. "Good luck sergeant we'll do what we can I've already called for an evac and give em' hell". They shook hands and Stacker was out the door.
Fire team Charlie was already waiting for orders. "Listen up were taken the remaining warthogs and are going to help Corte D' Azures now load up." Stacker ducked as plasma shot passed him. He told the men in the hogs to exit and go help the few remaining marines. Stacker got into the passenger seat of a warthog. Corporal Harland manned the 50.cal in another. All the marines were loaded on and the hogs sped away towards Cote d' Azur.
The Battle For Sigma Octanus Chapter 4 Overrun
Date: 26 February 2003, 10:55 pm
(Sigma Octanus UNSC Military base Bravo 05:10 hours)
Colonel Smith stared with a blank look on his face. The sheer numbers of the enemy left him dumfound. The aliens who were exiting the dropships were not all grunts, several commander elites in gold armor jumped out. Hundreds of jackals took point strategically putting their plasma shields at the front. The covenant began advancing from all directions instead of charging the base head on.
Stacker jumped out of the warthog. He took a knee and began to search for targets. Marines were already shooting at the jackals but the rounds just bounced off their shields.
He began to feel something hitting his head. Stacker looked up, hundreds of spent casings were raining down on him from the 50 Cal. Stacker ran away from the warthog to avoid the distraction. Just as he did a plasma grenade landed on the gunner. The warthog exploded.
Stacker lobbed a grenade at the jackals. The explosion tore through their shields sending shrapnel into the crowd of grunts who were standing behind the jackals. The jackals stopped advancing and began firing. Hundreds of grunts ran towards the base.
Stacker picked off a few grunts. He killed two jackals. An Elite came from behind him and shot the marine crouching next to him with a needler. Stacker jumped up and fired. The elites shields flared as the bullets bounced off. He empted the clip as the elite?s shield was disabled. Stacker quickly pulled his pistol from its holster and fired a volley of rounds into its chest. The elite grunted as the armor piercing rounds tore through it. Purple blood splashed onto Stacker. He ejected the spent clip and reloaded.
Several men were getting hit. One marine was hit in the knee, the lower half of his leg was mangled. Another man was about to throw a grenade when a plasma grenade landed on his foot. The man screamed as the grenade sizzled then exploded sending the marine into the air. He landed next to Stacker. Stacker looked at him, his legs were masses of blood and gore and his face was badly burned. Stacker looked away in disgust. He knew the marine was close to death.
Stacker saw a few men with sniper rifles he quickly ran to them. ?You boys better get on top of a building sniper rifles are no more use at this range.? he said. ?Roger that sir we?ll take out the jackals and elites an? leave the grunts to you guys.? the marine replied. Stacker nodded and aimed for more targets.
Stacker could see tracer rounds ricochet off the jackal?s shields. One round bounced off and ripped through his shoulder. Stacker yelled in pain as the armor piercing bullet exited through his shoulder. Almost immediately a grunt shot several needles at him. Most missed him but five hit him in the same shoulder that the round tore through. The needles exploded. Blood sprayed from the wound. Stacker screamed in pain. He fired at the grunt with his usable arm. The grunt?s throat was torn open as the rounds ripped through it. ?Dammit? Stacker hissed. He tried to ignore the pain but it was too intense.
Medic Sam Jones was covered in blood. He ran from one wounded man to the next.
He had been ordered to make a casualty count by some sergeant. So far he had counted 256 wounded and190 dead. A lot of men who he had been helping had died. Jones thought it was the end of humanity. It was a desperate struggle to hold the covenant at bay. Their only cover was snipers who were taking out the bigger targets. The marine forces of the base were down to 250 men (there was 800 men at first). There were only five warthogs left. Only two badly damaged scorpions were still fighting a losing battle. All the pelicans had been taken out.
Jones saw Stacker who was his fire team?s commanding officer. Jones ran up to him ducking every so often from the continuous fire. ?Sarge you all right? he asked? I?m ok just got a bad shoulder wound? He replied. ?Here sir let me patch ya up?. Jones saw just how deep the wound was. The bullet that had ricocheted off the jackals shield had gone right through the bone. But the plasma melted the cartilage off and most of the bone. Jones filled the wound up with ?self sealing? bio- foam and wrapped some gauze over it and fixed a field dressing around it. Stacker felt a prick as Jones injected painkiller into him. ?There ya go Sarge you shouldn?t feel a thing.? Stacker was surprised that he could actually move his arm. He thanked Jones and got up. He reloaded and fired off a few more rounds.
Suddenly someone shouted over the pops of gunfire ?Banshees?. Stacker turned around and sure enough two Banshees whooshed overhead. Colonel Smith?s voice crackled over the Com net ?Sergeant Stacker if you?re still alive then get your ass up to command?.
Stacker didn?t even bother to answer. He scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could to the command building.
?Thank god your still alive we got covies swarming all over this damn base.? Smith said nervously. ?I know sir were down to the last few hogs.? Stacker said. ?I know Once the scorpions are destroyed were all screwed and me-Smith was cut off by a techs voice. ?Sir two warthogs destroyed one scorpion tank beyond repair Cote d?Azur has sent a distress signal.? ?Oh god help them look Stacker I?m sending you and a fire team to go aid Cote d? Azur take the few remaining hogs and get the hell over there.? Smith said.
Before Stacker could respond the ground shook and a blinding flash lit up the command room. The windows around the room shattered. Stacker fell to the floor and shielded himself with his arms from the shards of glass that fell on him. ?What the hell was that? Smith barked. ?Sir the hospital is gone.? a tech said. Smith jumped to his feet and screamed into the intercom. ?All men fall back to secondary positions set up a perimeter all medics bring what wounded you can to the barracks and marines find what weapons you can and conserve your ammo protect the armory at all costs fire team Alpha report to command I want three warthogs on standby in front of command now.? He turned around and faced Stacker. ?Good luck sergeant we?ll do what we can I?ve already called for an evac and give em? hell?. They shook hands and Stacker was out the door.
Fire team Alpha was already waiting for orders. ?Listen up we?re taken the remaining warthogs and are going to help Cote d? Azur now load up.? Stacker ducked as plasma shot passed him. He told the men in the hogs to exit and go help the remaining marines. Stacker got into the passenger seat of a warthog. Corporal Harland manned the 50.cal in another. All the marines were loaded on and the hogs sped away towards Cote d? Azur.
To Be Continued...
The Battle For Sigma Octanus Chapter 5 Casualties of War
Date: 1 March 2003, 3:54 am
(Sigma Octanus Grid 13 by 24, 3 Klicks west of UNSC military base Bravo 0530 hours)
The warthog?s massive tires spun in the mud. Stacker felt the hog shake violently as the driver struggled to get it out of the dried up river bed.
?Sir I think were lost.? The driver said. Stacker looked at the radar. ?Cote d? Azur should be due west of us but I have no friggin? idea as to where we are.? he said. ?How long we been driving.? Said a marine. ?I don?t know 20 maybe 30 minutes.? Stacker got pissed; they have been driving through thick foliage and mud. Everything looked the same. ?We are lost but the damn map says that it?s due east.? Stacker gave an annoyed look. ?How old is it sir?? Harland asked. Stacker looked at the copyright. ?Damn its ten years old.? Stacker threw down the map.
?Ok we head back to the base and get directions.? ?Sir what direction is the base.? Harland asked? Stacker picked up the warthog?s Com link. ?Command this is Alpha we?re lost the map isn?t up to date and we have no idea where Azur is over.? He said into the link. A panic filled voice crackled back, ?Alpha we can?t help you at the moment the only building left is the armory they?ve already taken out the scorpions and we?re already down to 120 men we?ve already been overrun oh god their coming into command look Alpha do what ever you have to get to the city the covies have already called for reinforcements and there?s gotta? be a thousand of them I called for evac but the orbiting fleet is in a similar situation Command out.? Then static filled the battle net.
?Lets try north and hopefully that?ll lead us to Azur move out.? The three warthogs sped north. Stacker kept an eye on the compass. As the three warthogs raced through the jungle a red dot filled the radar. ?Stop? Stacker yelled into the link. The warthog screeched to a halt. ?Oh crap sir I got hell a covies about 100 yards straight ahead must be a patrol cause their movin? fast.? A marine said. ?I know first hog take their left second go to the right we?ll take their flank hail merry.? Stacker ordered. He took a glance at the radar to more patrols were to the south some 1500 yards. The drivers acknowledged and took their positions. The first warthog was concealed under thick bushes. The second was nearly invisible behind several trees. Stacker?s hog took a position sixteen feet behind the other two. The plan was simple Stacker?s hog would wait until the patrol had past ten feet ahead of them then drive out into their path to flank them and hose them down while the other two would rain hell on them. The field tactic known as hail merry had been practiced many times before in training and on the battlefield, ask any marine and they would know what it was.
Slowly the covenant patrol came into view. It consisted of seven grunts five jackals with their shields down and four minor Elites. Stacker watched the radar five feet...eight feet...ten feet. He signaled the driver. The warthog pulled out into the open and the gunner fired a volley of tracers into the patrol of sixteen covie suckers. Rounds tore through the grunts. All they could do was jump when the two other warthogs sprayed them with continuous fire. All the grunts died instantly as rounds ripped through them. The jackals had only a split second to react when bullets tore through their weak bodies they didn?t stand a chance. Most of the Elites died but two managed to return fire at Stackers warthog. One plasma bolt came dangerously close to Stacker?s wounded shoulder. The gunner was shielded by the protective armory plate mounted on the 50 CAL. But the driver wasn?t so lucky. A plasma charge from one of the dying jackals smacked into his leg and then an Elite shot at him hitting his chest. The man screamed in pain as he sprayed blood onto the windshield.
He collapsed in his seat. As the last elite fell Stacker jumped from his seat and ran around to the driver?s seat and pulled him out. The driver?s face was pale blood was streaming from his mouth his chest was black and red. Stacker called for the team medic. The marine was drifting in and out of consciousness and it would be a matter of time before death. The second bolt had burned through the left ventricle of the heart which was completely burned and also it had burned through the pulmonary artery. The leg scoring had punctured the femoral artery (the main blood passage for the lower half of the body).
Scarlet colored blood pumped from the leg as if it was pumping from a jug. Stacker moved as the medic went to work on him. The marine opened his eyes. ?What?s your name soldier?? Stacker asked. ?John...Johnson sir.? The marine said weakly his voice faint. ?I?m glad I could die for human...humanity.? Johnson eyes rolled into the back of his head. He died shortly after.
?Damn it asshole covies.? Stacker swore bitterly. He fired half a clip into the heap of covenant bodies. Stacker had all the men gather around the marine and said a quick prayer ?God take thy fallen brothers into thee hands and bring them to salvation?. He ordered a quick break. Stacker sat under a tree looking at the lifeless body of Johnson. The blood had formed a sticky pool in the dirt around Johnson. His face had a peaceful look on it.
Stacker got up and checked him for any ID. He found his tags along with a cross. He checked his pockets and found a picture of Johnson?s family. The man was happily married with two children. Stacker fell to the ground fighting back the tears. He seemed like the type of man who knew no fear but deep inside he was more scared than anything. He feared for his men the marines who fought for humanity but in return received no support.
Harland came and sat next to him. ?It?s hard to send men to their deaths but they died for a cause and a race.? He said. Stacker looked at him and turned away. ?We did all we could sir but it was his time to go there was nothing else we could do.? ?Do you have family sir?? Harland asked.
?When I was old enough to determine what I was going to do with my life the covenant attacked our home world.? My dad died saving me and I watched helplessly from the window of one of the only ships that escaped as the covenant rounded up my family killed them and 2 million others like them. It was then that I decided to spend my life defending humanity to make sure something like that never happened again.? He said quietly almost at a whisper. ?I married and had two kids they live on earth and I will do whatever it takes to protect them.?
Harland said nothing. He had heard the stories of the ?infamous show no mercy? Sergeant Stacker who knew no fear. But hear he was the most decorated and battle hardened marine in the core on telling him something that he had never spoke of and on the verge of tears.
?Sir we?re all casualties of war as soon as you step on that transport ready to ship out and see the universe you?re a casualty. When I go home people will say why are you goin to get yourself killed and I won?t say a damn thing they don?t know that it?s not about them it?s about the man next to you and that?s it.? He said.
?I?ve seen this happen a thousand times and Johnson is just one of billions lost in this war so maybe we?re all casualties of war.? Stacker said. He Got up and walked over to Johnson?s lifeless body. He bowed his head in prayer then raised it he snapped a crisp salute. He walked over and set the picture, dog tags, and Cross in a breast pocket. ?Move out? he said and hopped in the driver?s seat. The three warthogs disappeared into the jungle. To Be Continued...
Chapter 5 A New Enemy
Date: 11 March 2003, 2:23 AM
(Sigma Octanus 200 yards south of Cote d' Azur)
Stacker's radar screen filled with red,covenant patrols swarmed the outskirts of Cote d' Azur. Stacker stepped on the brake and told the other drivers to do the same. "We should be close theres enemy activity everywhere," he said to Private Travis. Travis glanced at his radar which was filled with red. "Ok Travis you take point, Harland take the back the I'll stay in the middle if you see any covies send 'em to hell."
The three warthogs took formation and slowly drove to a long narrow clearing. "Activate mufflers lock and load the .50 cals keep an eye out theres covie patrols within 500 yards on our left," Stacker said into his com link. He flipped a switch and activated the warthog's muffler. The drone of the engine died as it was silenced. He heard the same from the other two warthogs.
Harland kept his sweaty hands glued to the firing control of the 50mm chain gun. He ajusted the small optical scope mounted on top of it to thermal imaging. He put his eye to it and looked through it. Something caught his eye. Several small and large masses stood walking parallel to their position, a lot of heat came off of them. Harland counted eight of them walking in the opposite direction of them.
"Sir I got a possible covie patrol about 20 feet to the right of our position walking in the opposite direction," he said into his link.
"Well do they look like covenant?" Stacker's voice crackled back.
"Yes sir they do," he answered. "Then don't give them a chance to notice us," stacker said.
Harland acknowleged, took aim and squeezed the trigger. He watched as tracers burnt through the air and ripped into the heat masses. The bushes ahead of him exploded into clouds of dust and leaves. Plamsa bolts shot past him and some slammed into the proctective plate mounted on the 50mm. He fired until he could no longer feel his shoulders. The entire warthog shook violently. The driver stopped the warthog and began spraying the area with his MA5B. Stacker stopped and looked back. Travis stopped and turned around to see what was happening.
Harland saw several of the red masses disappear. The masses were now unmistakably covennant. harland watched as the last of them vanished from red to blue. "Nice shootin," Stacker said. Harland nodded with a big grin on his face.
Stacker's attention turned to the radar. the red dots were now moving towards them. The little firefight must of caught every single covie patrols's attention. "Move out now we must of awoken up every damn covie on this planet," he yelled.
Travis immediatly stepped on the gas and the warthog sped ahead. Stacker told his gunner to cover their left and right. He got a brief ackowlegement as he concentrated on driving. Harland jerked back as the warthog sped ahead.
Travis was ordered to turn left out of the clearing and find a hiding spot otherwise they would have a lot of covie patrols on their ass. Travis was about to turn out of the clearing when he saw it.
The shape was only a blurr at first but then came into focus. The large blue creature came from out of no where. Travis saw it for only a second. He barley remembered it, saying it wore blue armor was very tall and had exposed blue flesh in the middle of its abdomen. A bright green light of regenerated plasma shot from its arm.
Stacker looked ahead to see Travis's warthog disapear in a bright green flash. He immediatly hopped out of the driver's seat and ran towards the first warthog.
Stacker's gunner Private Maddox swerved the 50mm around to see at least four covenant patrols running towards him. He sprayed a concentrated burst at the closest then opened up with full auto on them. Then gunfire erupted like a volcano as plasma shot from all directions. Maddoz swerzed the turret around and fired in what seemed like every direction. Plasma seemed to come from everywhere. The warthog looked like a sponge as it was pocket marked with plasma.
A commander Elite in bright gold armor popped out from behind a bush and lobbed a plasma grenade at the him. Maddox ditched the 50 and hit the dirt as the grenade landed on the chain gun. The grenade sizzled and exploded. The blast lifted Maddox into the air and came crashing down several feet from the warthog. A plasma bolt smacked into his leg. Hot blood poured from the wound and onto the ground. Maddox screamed in pain as he struggled to drag himself to the barley operable warthog then he passed out.
Stacker ran as fast as he could to Travis's warthog. The hog was flipped over on its side the front end completly melted.
The only one moving was Travis. He was sprawled on the ground shaking uncontrollably his pale face was covered in mud and dirt. Stacker had no time for chitchat he flung Travis over his shoulder and ran towards his warthog. His hog was riddled with plasma scoring. He ducked ducked behind a rock as plasma slammed into it sending bits of glassy rock into the air. He got up and ran to his hog taking cover behind it. He hopped out from behind it and blasted five Grunts with his MA2B. The gold Elite popped out and threw another grneade but Stacker shot it detonating it in mid-air.
Stacker had no time to waste he lifted Travis into the passenger seat and threw his assault rifle in the back and saw Maddox lying unconsious on the ground. He ran out grabbed him and dragged him to the warthog and lifted him in. Stacker ran to the drivers seat and turned the ignition switch...nothing happened. "Damn it com on," he screamed. Already the four covenant ppatrols were advancing towards him. He then remembered the muffler. He jammed his foot on the accelarator and sped ahead running over the covenant patrols.
Harland opened up with the 50mm chain gun on the remaining covenant patrols. The Grunts ran in confusion and cowardice as they were torn to pieces. Those blue things he had saw had disapeared.
"Sir wheres the Sarge?" Private Fincher the driver looked up at him his face full of confusion.
"Hell if I know, but we're gonna find out. Everybody hop out! We're going to find the sarge," Harland said.
The four men hopped out of the hog and slowly made their way towards the clearing. Harland took point, his MA5B at the ready.
They slowly made their way to Travis's warthog. There was a deep glassy crater. The warthog was a heap of twisted burnt metal. Two charred bodies lay beside it. Stacker's warthog was nowhere to be found.
"Sir-Grunts! Hundreds of them. Closing fast." Walker, the heavy weapons specialist screamed.
"Retreat! Fall back to the hog," Harland yelled as the hundreds of Grunts charged after them. They ran, blindly firing their assault rigles at anything that moved.
The world around them exploded as the Grunts shot needles at them. The four marines ran into a dried steambed where their warthog was parked and ran towards it. The Grunts were slow as they charged in en masse after them, slipping in the mud. The rest tripped over the others.
A banshee flew overhead. They instantly dropped to the gound in the red mud, staying until it flew past. "Damn, that was close!" Private Cochran said with a sigh of relief. He got up and stretched as he did a pink needle smacked into his stomach and exploded. He screamed and crumpled to the ground.
Micro shrapnel sprayed onto Harland. "Go, go, go!" He screamed. He got up and saw that the crowd of Grunts had caught up.
He picked up Cochran and ran as fast as he could towards the warthog. He didn't look back. The brainless Grunts ran past. When he came to the warhog Walker and Fincher were already there.
Harland laid Cochran down and looked at his wound. Harland pried Cochran's hands from the wound. A river of blood flowed from the gaping hole in Cochran's gut and mixed with the soil forming a sticky brown-colored pool. His insides were ground meat.
"Walker, get the bio-foam and seal him up. Fincher hook him up to an IV drip, and pump some painkiller into him," Harland barked.
"Yes, Sir," They said in unison. Walker grabbed the "self-sealing" bio foam and sealed the wound. Fincher came back with a med kit. He opened it and pulled out a small clear plastic container of morphine painkiller needles. He took one out and poked it into Cochran's upper thigh. Then, he took out a clear bag containing the intravenous solution. He stuck it in Cochran's arm. They managed to stop the bleeding.
Harland relaxed and pulled out a cigarette. He pulled off the safety strap and tapped the end to ignite it. The cigarette's end flared and he puffed a cloud of smoke.
"Sir, several covie patrols closing fast on our six. I'd say about two--maybe three of them," Fincher blurted.
"Okay, move out/ Let's get these covie suckers. Finch, see if you can get LT. McCaskey on the narrow band. If not, then try firebase Alpha," Harland ordered.
The warhog roared to life and headed back to the ambush point.
To be continued...
The Battle For Sigma Octanus Chapter 6 New Orders
Date: 14 March 2003, 6:38 PM
(Sigma Octanus star system Sigma Octanus IV location unknown time unknown)
Stacker had no idea how long he was driving. He had driven in the same direction for what seemed like an eternity. The only thing that was on his mind was to get his men out.
Stacker remembered seeing Harland and his warthog. He hoped that they made it out alive. The pain in his shoulder increased with each movement. The painkiller was starting to where off. Stacker tried to reach Harland but his com link was dead. He heard a distant pop of gunfire,most likely Halrnad.
(Sigma Octanus 300 yards south of Cote d' Azur)
Harland sent the last Elite to the ground with its chest pocketmarked with holes. He let go of the chain gun and let the blood flow again. He had been firing for ten minutes straight when the enemy finally stopped coming. "Eighteen covies dead and I killed them," Harland murmured to himself with relief.
"Sir its those blue things," Fincher screamed at him.
"Drive dammit drive, drive," Harland screamed back he gripped the fire control on the chain in a death grip.
Fincher stomped on the gas and the warthog drove off ahead into the direction of grid 13by24.
(Sigma Octanus location unknown)
Stacker had set Travis and Maddox against a tree to tend to their wounds."Whats your ammocount?" he asked.
"I'm down to two clips for my MA5B and one grenade," Travis said.
"One clip and no grenades," Maddox said weakly as he held a blood drenched rag to his leg.
Stacker nodded and ran over to the warthogs ammo locker. He opened it up and inside was the mother load. He found an M90 shotgun with two cases of ammo, an ammo belt full of MA5B and MA2B ammo, and the last things he found were a bandolier of grenades, and a thermite charge.
Stacker handed the bandolier of grenades to Maddox and the thermite charge to Travis. He strapped the ammo belt around his waist and slung his MA2B around his shoulder. Stacker checked his pistol, he had two clips for it. He handed each of them extra clips.
Then he remembered something. He ran over to the passenger seat and opened the glove compartment. Inside was a lock box.
He pulled it outand set it on his lap. Stacker pulled out his pistol and shot the lock open. Inside was a portable motion tracker and a GPS pad.
"Hell yah we're in business," Stacker grined widly as he palmed the pad.
The GPS was used by satellite, he was suprised it was still in orbit. The small map display zoomed in on their position.
Stacker hopped out of the passenger seat and went over to the drivers seat. He turned the ignition switch...nothing. "Well we're gonna have to move on foot now, the hog must of been badly damaged during the ambush," he said.
"Ah hell what am I supposed to do I can't even walk," Maddox grumbled.
"I know but we have two chices we either move on foot or wait for covie patrols to come and fry our ass's," Stacker hated complainers
Maddox nodded and gave a quick grunt of frustration and looked away.
"So what do we do now where do we go?" Travis asked.
"Well we're two klicks west of command base Alpha and now five klicks south of Azur and three klicks from Bravo where we came from so I say we hall ass to Alpha the closest one and get an evac," Stacker said.
Travis nodded adn Maddox mumbled something to himself and turned away.
"Okay we take a quick breather and rest for five then we move out," Stacker said.
Stacker pulled out a william cigar one which he had been saving for a fiing occasion but he figured he would never get another chance. He pulled out his lighter and lit it. Stacker relaxed as he puffed a cloud of smoke and stuck the stogie inbetween his clenched teeth.
Travis was about to fall asleep when he heard the unmistakable roar of pelican engines. He jumped to his feet and looked up. The pelican screamed past low over the treetops. He listened as the sound became distant and faint. "Did anyone else hear that," he asked.
"Yep alright boys lets sattle up and move out we gotta hurry and catch a ride," Stacker said as he loaded his M90.
Travis acknowledged and picked up his assault rifle. Stacker and Travis helped Maddox to his feet. The bandage fixed around his leg wound was beginning to leak but he was able to limp. The three marines headed west towards the UNSC military base Alpha.
To Be Continued...
The Battle For Sigma Octanus Chapter 7 No Way out
Date: 18 March 2003, 4:11 AM
(Sigma Octanus 300 yards from UNSC military base Alpha HQ time unknown)
Stacker almost collapsed in the mud, he was so tired. They had been running for what seemed like eternity when the motion tracker showed that they were 300 yards from Alpha base. Stacker set Maddox down and sat down under a tree to rest.
"we can rest here for a short time, the nearest covie patrol is a klick behind us we'll rest for five then get the hell over toAlpha," Stacker told them. But they didn't answer they were to tired. The two klick run had took it out of them. That wouldn't be hard for a Navy Seal or an ODST but marines lacked their training.
As the three of them sat there without a word listening to the sound of the jungle, a rustling noise came from the bushes behind them. Stacker instantly trained his shotgun on the bushes.
"Sarge is it the covies?" Travis asked in a whisper he lay next to Stacker with his eyes glued to the bushes.
"Theres no way in hell the motion tracker would have picked them up," Stacker whispered back.
"No...th..the cov...covenant can mask their...ther..their signatures...thats h...ow they can hide from the motin..tacker because it...picks up...the heat that comes off of covenant," Maddox stuttered.
"Well why of all the other covenant on this planet are they wearing thermal mask things or whatever?" Travis looked at Maddox with a puzzled look.
"Well maybe thei-a bolt of plasma that smacked into the tree interupted Maddox.
Stacker pumped five casings into the bushes, which erupted into a shower of green. Blue blood spattered the trees around the thick foilage and two dead Grunts fell to the ground.
More Grunts at least a dozen of them charged from out of the bushes and fired their plasma rifles and needlers.
Stacker ducked as needles bounced off the stump that he had taken cover behind and shot shot two shells at them killing half. The rest fled in cowardice but were mowed down by Travis and Maddox.
Travis glanced at the motion tracker which flashed with red. "Sarge covie patrols on our six," he screamed.
Stacker fired off the last of his rounds and looked at the motion tracker. "Travis you cover our six, Maddox take the leftand right, and I'll get take the front," Stacker barked.
Travis took one look at the motion tracker which showed no enemies on their left or right. He aimed he scanned their six with his assault rifle. Several bushes moved. He blasted away with the assault rifle until they were still. But from out of no where five Jackals popped out and rained hell on Travis. He ducked...returned fire...ducked...returned fire, the rounds bounced off their energy sheilds.
Maddox looked at the tracker and saw that there were no patrols trying to take their right and left flanks. He put his back against a tree and fired at the waves of Grunts who fell to the ground as their attempts to overthrow them failed.
Stacker quickly reloaded and fired off another two shells at the last of the aproaching Grunts. He couldn't waste his shotgun shells on the little Grunts who proved no threat.
A gold commander Elite with a plasma sword popped out and charged at them.
Travis shot at it but the rounds bounced off its energy sheild. The Elite came face to face with Stacker and brought its sword down on him. Stacker jumped back as the edge of the blade grazed his cheek. Stacker blasted away with his shotgun as he fell to the ground.
The buckshot at such a close range took out the Elites sheild. Stacker shot off another round which ripped off its arm with the sword. The Elite growled and held its stump of an arm,blood spurted through its fingers. Stacker jammed the barrel into the Elites head and squeezed the trigger.
The Elites head exploded spattering brain, bone, and blood on Stacker. The corpse was propelled backwards into a tree.
Stacker felt the deep cut on his cheek. That was going to leave a deep scar.
The fire from the covenant was tremendous. They had taken cover behind trees and rocks that scattered the jungle. The three marines couldn't hold them off for long.
Stacker pumped the last two casings for the shotgun, into an advancing Elite. He ditched the shotgun and pulled out his
MA2B assault rifle. He quickly emptied the first magazine. He exhausted the clip and reloaded. "Hold the line," he yelled at Maddox.
"Sarge I need a 5B mag I'm out," Travis yelled over the pop of gunfire.
Stacker yanked an MA5B mag from the ammo belt and tossed it to Travis.
"Maddox use a grenade," Stacker yelled as more plasma peppered the trees around them.
Maddox nodded and pulled four grenades from the bandolier of grenades. He handed Stacker two frags.
Stacker pulled the pins and lobbed the two frags. Maddox did the same.
"Frags out get down," Stacker yelled, he hit the dirt as the grenades exploded.
Four consecutive blossoms of fire bloomed into the air. Covenant were hurled into the air and came crashing down severl yards from their perveously occupied positions.
"Hey when I throw this thermite charge get up and hall ass outta here," Stacker said. He turned around, pulled the pin on the charge, and hurled it. He immediatly got up and picked up Maddox and ran as fats as he could. Travis closely followed.
The charge detonated making one hell of a barbaque of anything that was within its blast radius.
The world around Stacker grew hot. His back burned and blistered. Stacker stopped as two Jackals who survived shot a salvo of plasma at them. He put Maddox down and opened up with his MA2B. The rounds bounced off their shields. Stacker switched to shredder rounds and exhausted the spent AP clip. A bolt of plasma smacked into the ammo belt on him. Stacker tore it off and chucked it away as the superheated plasma melted the rounds inside and exploded. The belt exploded and bits of metal pinged off Stacker's steele reinforced titanium body armor.
Another plasma bolt grazed his arm. Stacker screamed and held the fresh wound. Stacker took aim and fired the last of his clip as a plasma bolt hit the MA2B disabling it. Stacker swore bitterly and pulled out his pistol.
Maddox chucked two grenades and the Jackals were blown into the air.
"Sarge more covies closing fast," Travis yelled,looking at the tracker.
Stacker signaled for them to move out. As they ran the trees around them exploded and plasma shot past.
Travis was hit in the back and fell to the ground in the mud.
Maddox who was limping turned around and shot a quick burst at the advancing covenant. A dozen bolts of plasma slammed into his chest and stomach. Plasma hit the bandolier of grenades slung around him. The plasma melted into a grenade and sparked the explosive.
Maddox was torn to pieces as grenade after grenade exploded sneding the advancing covenant back.
Stacker hit the ground and waited until the explosions past. Shrapnel pinged off his body armor. When the dust settled he got up and ran over to the unconcious Travis. He picked him up and ran towards Alpha HQ.
To Be Continued...
The Battle For Sigma Octanus Chapter 8 The Spartans (Conclusion)
Date: 22 March 2003, 9:55 PM
(Sigma Octanus IV 10 yards west of military base Alpha HQ)
Stacker ran as fast as he could. He slipped in the mud and fell into the dried river bed. Plasma shot passed only inches from his head. He felt the air crackle and an intense heat above him. Stacker scrambled to his feet and took cover behind a large boulder. He popped out from behind the boulder and lobbed his last two grenades at the mob of advancing Grunts.
The ground shook as the grenades detonated. The two dozen grunts were blown into the air,the remaining five cowardly retreated.
Stacker shot three of them with his pistol and the rest disapeared in the jungle. Stacker ran over to the unconcious Travis who was sprawled on the ground. He picked him up and ran for the base.
AS he was runiing he felt a sudden burning pain that hit his side and ran up along his spine. He crumpled to the ground as the pain increasd. Stacker looked around to see a Gruntrunning towards him. Stacker pulled out his pistol and pumped five rounds into it. The Grunt hit the ground in a pool of flouresent methane and blood that spouted from the bullet holes that pocket marked its chest.
Stacker exhausted the spent clip and loaded another one in his pistol. He tore off a piece of cloth and held it tp his side. He looked at the wound. Blood flowed from the wound and formed a pool. Already the cloth was soaked in blood. Stacker took his blood smeared hands and got up he picked up Travis and slowly made his way to the base.
After a half hour of running since they had fled the ambush, Stacker and the unconscious Travis, made it to military base Alpha.
Stacker's green eyes widened at what he saw. Hundreds of men lay on the ground in the blood laden mud either dead or wounded. Some were trying to crawl away. Dozens of burnt warthogs scattered across the base burnt to a crisp, with several charred bodies laying around them. In the distance thick black smoke filled the air. Fires were everywhere. Stacker looked straight ahead to see dozens of tall figures in iridesent green armor,standing around a pelican. They were Spartans.
Stacker had heard of them before but he thought they were only rumors. Stacker set Travis down. His vision blurred. He collapsed and slowly drifted in and out of consiousnes. He saw a towering green figure looming over him then all was black.
Stacker awoke again to hear the sound of pelican engines and voices.
"Sir we got two hundred banshees on our six closing fast," a female voice said.
"I'll take care of it prepare for EMP," a male voice answered.
Stacker looked around, he saw several civilians and Spartans sitting in seats. Lying next to him were several marines either wounded or untouched. He looked at Travis who was breathing steadily. He was glad to see that Harland had made it out alive.
Stacker lifted his head and pulled off his sergeant cap and scratched his blond hair. Stacke let the tears stream down his face and mix with the dried mud, and blood that covered his face. Why had he made it out and not his men? Were they lives wasted or spent? He pondered the thought searching for an answer.
The pelican shook as the HAVOK tactical nuke that the spartans had placed in Cote d' Azur exploded lighting up Sigma Octanus IV. They had won but not without a cost.
Stacker found the answer he was looking for. They wern't casualties of war, they were casualties of society. As soon as you steped on that transport you were a casualtie of society. Society didn't give a damn about the soldiers fighting for them. All they cared about was their lives and living them.
The covenant didn't give a damn about humanity. All they cared about was carrying out their holy war and killing the pathetic human race that was desparetly clinging to their boot, fighting not to get scrpaed off.
In Stackers mind, humanity was a flower adn the covenant was a bee. The bee wanted to suck the flower dry of is nectar. But the flower was no ordinary flower they were going to fight off the bee and protect its nectar.
This war was an unexpected one. Only one race was going to make it out alive. Stacker was going to make sur that they made it out alive. He may not be the one to do it,but someone else would someone far more powerful and skilled than Stacker.
Stacker fell into a long deep sleep as the pelican disapeared over the horizon.
The End
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