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The Fall of Rye by teemus
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The Fall of Rye: Chapter 1: The Seige
Date: 26 February 2004, 1:29 AM
Rye system, July 2nd
Norman sat in the gunner's seat of the lead Warthog. He glanced behind him and saw the rest of the 20-vehicle convoy coming over the hill. Norman knew something was up, why else would they of scrambled such a large convoy to assist a Fire Base. He was brought down to reality when there was a huge explosion followed by a scream. Norman quickly pivoted the gun as the driver stepped on the brake, "What the hell was that?" asked the driver.
Norman was too shocked to get the words out of his mouth; over half the convoy had been wiped out. The marine in the passenger seat turned to the driver and shouted, "Go, Go, Go, Lets move!"
"I'm going!" shouted the driver back. Norman watched as the rest of the convoy rumbled back to life. There was a screeching noise and Norman looked to the sky, out of the clouds burst hundreds of the Covenant U-shaped dropships. Norman quickly gathered his senses and opened fire with the LAAG. The guns tracer rounds tore through the lead ships fuselage and caused it to explode. By then the enemy dropships had returned fire. There was yet another explosion as the LAAV (Light Anti-Armor Vehicle) traveling behind Normans 'Hog went up in flames. There was a bright flash and Norman's vision turned to black.
Fire Base Charlie
Captain Luther walked into the command tower and took a look at the monitor in front of him. It showed all clear and right then that wasn't a good thing. "Jackson! Where the hell is that convoy?" questioned the bulky Captain.
"I don't know sir; they vanished off of our radar about ten minutes ago."
"I don't like the sound of that," replied Luther, "Send out a squad of 'Hogs to check it out."
"Yes sir."
Just as Luther was about to walk back out of the door somebody burst in, Luther recognized the man from one of the planets outposts. Then the man walked up to Luther and spoke in ragged breaths, "Sir, We spotted hundreds of enemy dropships inbound."
"What?" replied Luther, "Where are they headed?"
"They branched off; they're all headed towards different UNSC outposts."
"Goddamn, Jackson, cancel that request. Warn the other fire bases and get all Marines on full alert. Today just got a lot more exciting."
Carrier Deception, in orbit around Rye.
PFC Jason sat in the front chair and listened to Major Garcia brief them on the situation. The Covenant had just started a raid of the planet and had taken control of many valuable areas. The call for help came roughly thirty minutes before and within ten the 2nd ODST Battalion had been scrambled. Once the major was done giving his talk he looked around at the men and women of the 2nd ODST battalion and said, "The 3rd and 5th forward Infantry will be going in on Pelicans. How will you be going in?"
"Feet first sir!" shouted the Helljumpers.
"Damn right you will!" shouted the major back, "You got 5." And with that the ODST's got out their seats and made ready.
Jason walked up to his friend Vince and spoke, "How bad do you think it is?"
"I don't know... it had to be pretty bad, the guy on the radio sounded pretty panicked."
"Yeah, hope it's not too bad."
Jason stopped talking when the major walked up to them, "Having a nice conversation?"
"Yes, sir," replied Vince with a fake-seriousness in his voice.
"Well, it's gonna get worse if you don't get your ass into that drop pod!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" shouted both Vince and Jason as they grabbed their gear and went to their pods. Jason pulled the shoulder straps tight and looked at the drop clock, 5...4...3...2...1. There was a sudden lurching and Jason felt his stomach rise as the pod blasted free of the ship. Jason gritted his teeth as the HEV shook violently. He felt the temperature of the pod rise and the skin on the outside began to slowly peal away. Beads of sweat rolled down Jason's forehead and fell to his feet. The pod began to shake more fiercely as it entered the atmosphere. The Private managed to let out a scream as the temperature in the pod rose to 60 degrees Celsius. There was a ripping sound as what was left of the skin of the HEV tore away. Then the pod lurched up as the parachute deployed. Jason took a sigh of relief as the temperature quickly dropped and the rolling hills of Rye came up from under him.
There was a crashing noise as the pod made contact with the ground. Jason quickly tore off his shoulder straps and jumped out of the oval pod. He kicked open the weapons locker located on the exterior of the HEV, weapons were held in place by a rack along with boxes of ammunition. Jason grabbed his MA5B, Pistol, some grenades, and extra bullets for both guns. He walked back into the pod and disabled all of the controls. The last thing they wanted was for the Covenant to find this pod and be able to use it to their advantage, whatever that would be. A faint beeping sound echoed into the PFC's mind; on Jason's transparent screen located in front of his eye, a pulsing red dot appeared.
Above the dot scrolled a name of Major J. Garcia, Jason made his way to the blinking red point. As he got closer he watched the Major stood in middle of a field with his hands on his hips and saw Helljumpers come in from every direction.
To be continued...
The Fall of Rye: Chapter 2: Ambush
Date: 2 March 2004, 5:27 AM
Rye system, July 2nd
Jason quickly ran up where the other ODST's had gathered and fell into line. The Major glanced over at them and then shouted, "Gear up and follow me!"
The Helljumpers responded quickly as they pulled their packs over their backs, loaded their weapons, and made sure the safeties were off. Major Garcia made sure that everybody was ready, loaded his own weapon, and then marched off into the deep wood that surrounded them, all his men followed. The Helljumper's first objective was to retake one of planets' main power plants; it was the most important thing that was in the enemies' hands. Jason spotted Vince at the head of the marching column of ODST's and made his way to him.
"What do ya think?" asked Jason as he pointing at the bullet casings littering the ground.
"Well, so far there's only blue and purple blood on the trees," Vince responded, giving Jason a serious look, "Maybe there won't be any blood that belong to Humans."
Jason was about to reply but stopped dead in his tracks, as did the rest of the 2nd ODST battalion, the section of woodland in front of them lay about 50 dead marines, each in awkward, motionless, positions. Red blood stained the trees. Every few meters a small patch of blue or purple blood would appear, but the scarlet-red dominated the area. There was a faint groan and Garcia ran up to one of the largest mound of Human carcasses lay. The groan came again, but this time louder and more desperate. The Major turned and shouted, "Where are you? Don't worry, we're not Covenant, were here to help."
Just as Garcia was about to give up on his search, one of the medics shouted, "Over here sir! I've found a live one!"
The Major walked up to where the medic stood and pushed him aside. He then turned to the body on the floor and spoke, "What happened here, son?"
The wounded man then replied calmly, blood bubbled out of his mouth as he spoke, "They ambushed us... they're still out there."
Garcia turned to the medic and demanded him a safe return back to where the HEV's had landed; two medics lifted the injured Marine and carried him slowly back. Garcia turned to the rest of the ODST's and barked, "Search the rest of the bodies! I want First Company to keep an eye out while Second does a thorough search of every dead soldier here."
The ODST's began the gruesome search of the bodies, Jason who was on watch, thought he saw a faint movement in the trees. Just to confirm the occurrence he clicked on his COM, "Major, you better come look at this."
"I'm coming, this better be good, Jason." replied Garcia, "What is it?" asked the Major in a stern voice as he jogged up to Jason.
"I think I saw movement in the trees, sir."
"Alright, just to make sure..." The Major clicked on his COM and spoke to the whole Division, "Ladies! Stop what your doing and fire a three round burst into the trees. Stay alert!" The Major then held his hand up and counted down from three. When he reached zero, he threw his arm down in a guillotine-like motion and everybody fired. After the rumble of weapons fire, there was silence, but then came a bloodcurdling roar from inside the trees. Without warning, a Covenant attack team stormed out of the trees, weapons blazing.
Within in the first five seconds, ten troopers hit the ground dead. The rest of the Division acted suddenly and swiftly. They dove behind stacked bodies and rocks for cover; and then they fired at the Covenant with everything that they had. "This is shit!" yelled Jason as he slammed a fresh magazine into his AR.
"Yeah, they should have at least told us they were coming." replied Vince sarcastically.
Jason put his MA5B on top of the boulder that he and Vince had taken shelter behind, and fired another full clip at nothing. It was too risky to stick you head out and aim, Jason ejected his used magazine and swapped his MA5B for a Shotgun which was held onto by a Marine. With effort, he managed to pry the gun out of a dead troopers hand and take some extra shells from the Marines pack. Jason reloaded the gun and risked poking his head out to see the situation. Most of the ODST's had taken cover behind the many rocks that littered the area. Some of the more desperate Helljumpers had stacked up dead Covenant and were hiding behind those. The thing that got to Jason was the fact that in some places, fresh red blood covered the area.
The problem was that they could not see the enemy and the enemy could see them. Jason planned on fixing that, he quickly clicked on the COM and spoke to the whole Division, "On my mark, throw grenades at the front line of trees, we may blow some of their cover."
Jason was just a PFC, but right now everybody wasn't really worried about the chain of command, he clicked the COM on and barked, "Mark!"
There was the sound of a hundred or more grenades being primed and then thrown. Three seconds past and there was an earsplitting explosion. Shrubs and trees were obliterated in the blast; some of trees fell from the roots and revealed some of the Covenant on the other side. The rest of the Division acted swiftly, the Covenant had been caught by surprise. A few of the troops darted for better cover during the momentary silence. Then, all hell broke loose, the entire Division opened fire at the same time as the enemy. The front lines of Covenant—which mostly consisted of Grunts and Jackals, ones that hadn't activated their shields—didn't stand a chance; the tracer rounds from the guns tore the alien bodies in half. The rest of the Covenant attempted to run but were cut down as they did so. There was a cheer from the troops as the last Grunt hit the ground in a puddle of its own—and others—blood.
Jason sat behind the rock smiling on how his plan had worked, the Major made his way to him, "Nice work Jason, you handle yourself well."
"Thank you, sir," replied Jason with the grin still on his face and smartly saluted. His smile soon disappeared when he saw Vince on the dirt holding his chest. Jason quickly bent over his friend and spoke; frustration bordered his voice as he wondered why he hadn't noticed it before, "Vince! Vince, wake up man, we won." The wounded ODST did not reply, but instead started straight into the sky. Jason collapsed in tears on Vince's bloody chest. The Covenant had hit him with an overcharged plasma-blast in the chest. As the Major ordered everybody to continue a search of the bodies—but this time with higher precautions—Jason swore to avenge his best friend.
To be continued...
The Fall of Rye: Chapter 3: Taking the Bait
Date: 7 March 2004, 10:42 PM
Rye system, July 2nd
The ODST battalion finished the rest of the search without any more assaults or finding survivors. The Helljumpers continued their march through the dense forest to make their way to the power plant. Jason walked by himself near the back of the ODST column; the thought of seeing his best friend's death still haunted him. It seemed as if a major battle had taken place in the forest, chunks of trees were missing or they were either engulfed in large flames. There was red, blue, and purple blood everywhere, bullet casings littered the ground but there were no bodies. This puzzled Jason, either the Covenant had already cleaned the area, or the Humans had—but the young Helljumper doubted that. The ODST saw the Major put up his hand and the entire battalion stopped in its tracks, the sound was immediately drowned out from the cawing of birds and animals.
The COM clicked on and Garcia spoke directly to the Helljumper, "Jason, get your ass up here now."
"Yes, sir," replied Jason as he began to make his way through the lines of men to the noncom, the confused ODST walked up from behind the Major who turned around, Jason snapped a quick salute.
The Major returned the salute and spoke, "We need drivers."
"Drivers for what?"
"We found quite a few abandoned 'Hogs in the trees; there are also two Scorpion tanks and enough troop transports to carry half of the battalion. I looked up your record and it said you were a best driver back in boot. Am I correct?"
"Yes, sir," replied Jason with a sly grin on his face.
"Good, I'm putting you in charge of the other two men riding with you, you'll lead the column to the power plant and start a fight; we'll join up with you later. By the way, Corporal Howard is in charge of the overall convoy, so you will take and receive orders from him, do you understand?
"Yes, sir," replied Jason, he then left the Major and found Corporal Howard and half of the ODST battalion standing by the tree line.
"It's about time you decided to show up," said the Corporal with a grim look on his face, "Follow me."
After about a ten-minute walk through more forest, the Helljumpers came across the vehicles. It was soon found out why the convoy had been abandoned, several of the Warthogs were on fire; a troop transport had even been ripped in half. Most of the vehicles had red bloodstains splattered on the polished metal. There were still Human carcasses on the ground, and by the way it looked; it couldn't of happened more then an hour ago. The ODST's—with a great effort—flipped the overturned cars back onto their wheels and hopped in.
Jason let out a groan as he got into his seat; there was wet blood that stained the seat, which had then been transferred to his ass. The steering wheel was also covered in scarlet red blood, the nervous Helljumper watched as the passenger jumped into his seat and scowled. Once the gunner was locked and loaded, the convoy set out. They zigzagged to avoid trees, and the forest slowly started to thin; and eventually turned into a valley with low rolling hills.
Jason was starting to daydream about eating a fresh hot meal when the gunner let out a surprised yelp. He stomped on the brake and turned around, "What is it?"
"There's a Grunt, just over there," replied the gunner pointing to a large rock.
Jason turned and saw a panic stricken Grunt standing next to a boulder. Jason clicked on his COM and spoke to the Corporal who was two vehicles back, "Sir, we found a Grunt; he's trying to make a run for it." the ODST reported as the Grunt gathered its senses and ran farther into the valley.
"Don't open fire; maybe if we follow it then it will lead us to the power plant."
"Yes, sir," replied Jason, he then clicked the COM off and stepped on the gas, the ODST followed the Grunt with the rest of convoy on the Covenant creature's tail. They had to be careful not to run over it or not get too close. The Grunt picked up speed and disappeared over the edge of a hill, Jason and the rest of the convoy came over the hill, but their actions were unwise and regrettable. Standing on the other end of the hill were two Hunters, behind the lumbering aliens stood Jackals with their shields overlapping, behind the Jackals were Elites, it was a formidable army. The Hunters were the first to open fire, the twin Fuel Rod blasts caught Jason's vehicle and flipped it. He was sent flying out of the driver's seat and landed face first in the dirt. The ODST quickly got up and looked behind him. The rest of the Convoy also ran into the same problem, more than half the vehicles were flipped and the others were in the process.
He clicked on his COM and spoke to the Corporal, fear and adrenaline made his voice shake and waver, "Sir, I suggest you tell the Scorpions to stay on the other end of hill; they're too valuable."
"I've already taken care of that Jason, just get to shooting at those bastards," replied the Corporal.
Jason ran to the flipped Warthog and took cover behind it with the gunner; the gunner was a tall dark-skinned man, he had lost his helmet and revealed his dark red hair. Unlike Jason, he was extremely built; Jason had been scrawny ever since he was little, even when he had finished boot.
"Where's the passenger?" asked Jason to the gunner over the rattle of gunfire.
"He's over there," the man replied and pointed behind Jason as he slammed a fresh clip into his MA5B.
Jason followed his finger and almost threw up when he saw the passenger—or the remains of him. He had flown out of his seat when the 'Hog had flipped and landed in a deep pile of dirt, Then a troop transport came crashing down on him and cut him in two, his torso was on a nearby rock while his upper body was still stuck under the transport. Jason drew his gaze away from the body and instead at one of the Warthogs that had survived the attack. The gunner was screaming and he hammered at the trigger buttons, while the 'Hogs driver was limp in his seat along with the passenger. Jason pulled out the Shotgun that he had obtained earlier and loaded some shells into it. He flicked off the safety and fired a shot over the top of the Warthog. He fired another shot and was awarded with the panicked scream of a dying Grunt.
"You realize we shouldn't have followed that Grunt." the other ODST remarked.
"Why?" replied Jason.
"Because, they knew we were coming, they sent the Grunt out as bait."
"Well, it's a bit too late for that now," replied Jason, "What's your name any ways?"
"Botowski Hex is the name, but you can call me Bubba."
"Hello Bubba," said Jason as plasma shot over his head, "The names Jason, call me...Jason."
Bubba let out a small laugh and continued to shot at the Covenant. The COM burped static and the Corporal spoke to what was left of the convoy, "I was able to send out a distress call, it'll be a while before any help shows up though, so make your self's at home."
Just great, hope I can out last this one, thought Jason as he poked his head out from cover and fired off another round at an oncoming Grunt. The Grunts' methane-breathing rig snapped off and the creature grabbed at its throat. Jason looked up and saw one of the Hunters shift towards them and charge its Fuel Rod Gun. The Helljumper quickly grabbed Bubba by his uniform and pulled him away from the 'Hog, just as the green plasma impacted with the vehicle and tore it into two. Bubba got up and they both ran for cover. The closest thing they could find was a small boulder, which was already sheltering a few ODST's.
"Thanks for that," calmly said Bubba as they dove behind the boulder.
"Don't mention it," replied Jason as there was a sudden screeching noise and someone shouted "Banshees!"
To be continued...
The Fall of Rye: Chapter 4: Death From Above
Date: 25 March 2004, 11:44 PM
July 2nd, Rye system
Jason peered over the boulder and saw 5 banshees flying over the crest of a hill in a loose V formation. The sun was glistening off of their sleek polished purple noses. For a second it looked almost beautiful until the Banshees opened fire and killed a group of ODST's. Jason swore under his breath and returned to the cover of the boulder. The field in which they had been ambushed now was almost black from the fighting. The Scorpion tanks had managed to shell some of the Covenant but couldn't get to the hunters without the risk of being destroyed. Warthogs and Troop transports lay everywhere, along with the bodies of ODST's and Covenant alike.
Most of the battalion was scattered all over the football-sized field. Most had taken cover behind flipped vehicles or boulders. The snipers were ordered to fall back to the tank positions and hopefully take some of the Covenant out. There was a sudden bang and one of the Hunters fell to the ground with a loud thud. Jason looked behind him and saw one of the snipers holding a smoking gun with a grin on her face. Jason was about to say something but was cut short when there was a loud boom and one of the Banshees fell out of the sky trailing smoke. The rest of the crafts quickly responded by opening fire with their Fuel Road guns at a group of Helljumpers who had take cover behind a flipped Hog. Jason winced as he saw the bodies flying through the air on fire. The COM suddenly burst open and Garcia spoke, "All Rocket Jockeys, open fire on the Banshees."
All but two of the Rocket Jockeys had been killed in the beginning of the engagement. Two rockets streamed into the sky after the Banshees. The lead craft took a hit in the nose and sent the pilot flying free of his craft. The second craft dogged the second rocket only to fly strait into the path of another. The remaining two Banshees broke formation and started firing at random targets. Some of the shots would score a hit and you could hear the screams of the victims. Two more rockets went flying into the sky and hit another Banshee. The very last craft pulled out of its dive and turned around and began to go back from where it had come. It was pretty hard to miss it due to the smoke it was trailing. It didn't get very far before one of the tanks got a lock on it and fired. The craft came crashing down to the ground while the driver was airborne for a few second before he came crashing down in a sickening crunch.
There was a cheer from the Helljumpers, but their victory was short lived when the last Hunter enraged by his bond brothers death came charging up the hill meleing troops out of his way. ODST's were flying here and their as they got into the covenant Hunters way. A few troops threw grenades, which detonated at the Hunters feet; this just made him more enraged and motivated him more to charge up the hill. Jason looked over the boulder and saw the Hunter charging strait for them. Bubba also saw this and raised his AR and fired a burst at the Hunter. The Bullets bounced harmlessly off of the Hunters armour.
Bubba ejected his clip and slammed in a new one. He then turned to Jason and the other ODST and shouted, "Get out of the way!"
"What are you doing?!" yelled Jason back as he saw Bubba pull a grenade out of his belt. Bubba ignored Jason and grabbed him and the other ODST and threw them from behind the boulder and behind a smoking Hog. Jason then watched in horror as Bubba ran from behind the boulder and charged the Hunter. Just before he reached it he pulled the pin on the grenade and practically hugged the Hunter. After a few seconds, the Hunter and Bubba were blown into a hundred pieces.
Jason winced as pieces of hot flesh went by his face. With out knowing it he slammed some shells into his Shotgun and fired random shots over the top of the Hog. Jason felt so much hate for the Covenant rushing into him, ever since he had joined the UNSC, he had seen about ten of his closes friends go down screaming from pain, and he was sick of it. Jason was about to jump from behind the Hog and charge the Covenant but was stopped by the other ODST. Jason looked down at him and recognized him as one of the regular marines, the same guy that had saved his life about a year ago when the Covenant attacked a ship he was stationed aboard.
"What are you doing here?" asked Jason, "I thought you were marine?"
"Yea I was, but after that day on that cruiser I wanted a more active unit, so I went back to Reach to take ODST training. My ship was the last to leave the system just before the attack begun. We were ordered to return and help defend, but we got their to late. The Covenant almost spotted us but we were able to make the jump out of system."
Jason was about to reply but was cut short when their was a sudden boom. He peered over the Hog and saw Shades advancing on the Helljumpers positions. Jason activated his COM and spoke to the Corporal, "Sir, how long is it gonna take to get some reinforcements?"
"I've radioed the Major, they said there on their way. Could take them a while."
"I don't think we can last much longer." Replied Jason as the Shades opened fire and killed two Helljumpers.
"Just hang in there!" shouted the Corporal back to Jason.
Jason cursed under his breath and turned back to the other ODST, "What's your name anyways?"
"Russlle, Russlle Drohan." replied the man.
"Alright Russlle, as you probably know, we aint gonna last very long back here, so I say we fall back a bit and then take care of the Shadows. I'm gonna run first, when I get to that boulder, im gonna turn around and cover you." Said Jason while pointing to a Farley large sized boulder.
Russlle looked over to the boulder and winced when he saw the bodies lying around it. He managed to get off a nod and then placed his Battle Rifle on top of the Hog to provide covering fire. Jason turned around and darted from behind the Hog, after about a second he could hear the loud and constant bang of Russlle's gun. Jason reached the boulder and turned around and waved for Russlle to come. As Russlle started running, Jason let out a small groan as he saw one of the Shade turrets on the Shadows pivot and begin tracking Russlle. Jason could see a grin spreading across the face of the Elite in the gunners seat as his fingers reached for the trigger buttons.
Fall of Rye: Chapter 5: Beginning of a Suicide Mission
Date: 6 April 2004, 3:23 AM
July 2nd, Rye system
Jason started to scream for Russlle to turn back, but when he opened his mouth not a sound came out. There was a sudden rumbling noise and then without warning, a white streak made its way towards the Shadow. When the streak hit, the Covenant craft was engulfed in a giant fireball. Jason looked to the sky and saw as a squad of Longsword Bombers fly over the battlefield firing at random Covenant targets.
"The cavalry has arrived!" whooped a marine over the COM system.
Russlle dove behind Jason with a grin on his face, "What the hell are you grinning about? You almost died!" shouted Jason to Russlle.
"I know, but it was kind of fun," replied the ODST.
Jason grunted and returned his attention to the battlefield; the Shadows lay in flames alongside the 'Hogs and Troop Transports. Jason could see Grunts screaming as they ran away and Elites shouting orders trying to stop the mad panic that had upraised in the Covenant forces. The Bombers came in for one last run and took out most of the remaining Covenant forces, the Helljumpers ran up the hill singing the ODST anthem and cheering. Once the battle was over, the ODST's set up their tents and began the process of cleaning up, there was no time for celebration; they still had a job to do.
Later that night the Major and his company showed up and set up camp along side them. The tents were set up in long rows and were camouflaged to help give some cover. At the corners of the square formation, small guard towers were erected as lookout points. Jason did not know how long they intended to stay here, but by the looks of the 'easy-to-make' tents and the collapsible guard tower, it didn't seem like long.
The Helljumper sat on top of the hill looking down on the field where the battle had taken place, the field was charred and not a single blade of grass could be seen. The destroyed vehicles had been moved into a pile in one corner of the field while the still able ones were moved to another. Jason grunted and lifted himself up, and turned to head back to his tent; there was still a job to do.
July 3rd, Rye System
Jason woke the next morning to find Russlle standing over him. Jason lifted himself up and grabbed a glass of water before he spoke, "What is it?"
"The Major is having us all put into squads, this is yours," said Russlle while holding out a slip of paper.
Jason grabbed the slip of paper and unfolded it, written in bold writing in the canter of the strip were the words; Foxtrot and Corporal Higgins. Jason looked up to Russlle, "What's yours say?"
"Uh, Foxtrot and Corporal Higgins, you?
"Same, why are they doing this anyways?"
"I don't know, I think Garcia came up with some sort of plan."
"Well, it better be good," replied Jason as he stood up and walked towards his armour. He stuffed his chin guards on and then tied up the black UNSC boots. He then grabbed the arm padding and placed that on. Jason called Russlle over to help him with his chest plates. Once that was done Jason grabbed his confiscated shotgun and some rounds and left the tent. Outside the sun was bright and birds were chirping while Marines played poker. To them it was like nothing had happened at all, but the sight of seeing Bubba and Vince die were still fresh in his memory.
There was a sudden screeching noise as one of the guards on the towers turned on his loudspeaker. He put it to his mouth and spoke, "All personnel, move down to the command tent for briefing immediately." With that there was more feedback as the loudspeaker was turned off. Jason nodded to Russlle and they both made off towards the command tent in silence. As they walked Jason could see that many of the troops had taken their tents down and were still in the process of placing on their armour. After a minute or two they reached the area that the Covenant had occupied just yesterday. This area had no tents on it due to the fact that purple blood stained the field. Every once in a while you would come across a blackened body of a Grunt or Elite.
Jason stepped over a body of a dead Elite and watched the command tent loom up on them. The command ten seemed small and was put up just on the crest of the hill. The top of the tent was green so it was harder to detect from the air while the sides were sloped and coloured brown to make it look like a big pile of dirt. Jason lifted up the flap and waited for his eyes to adjust to the extreme darkness of the tent. Once they did he could see that the tent was much bigger on the inside then it was on the outside. There was a pedestal in the centre of the room while temporary bleachers came up on either side.
Jason and Russlle took a seat in near the top and watched as the surviving men and women of the 2nd ODST battalion walked into the room. Jason could tell that the force had been greatly down-sized. Usually Helljumpers operated in squads or platoons, but the 2nd Battalion was an exception. They were sort of the reserve troops. Only called on when something had to be done fast and with great force.
Garcia walked up to the makeshift podium and turned on the microphone. He then glanced around and finally spoke, "Alright ladies, if you're wondering why you were suddenly placed into squads, you will soon find out." He then looked around the room again before speaking, "This is a map of the power plant," said Garcia as a map came up on the holo display. It was a birds-eye view of the plant. The power plant was a rectangular building with smaller buildings surrounding it. The Major looked up and spoke, "The Covenant have guards posted here, here, here, and here," he said while he highlighted four spots on the map, "The only ways in are the spots where the guards are and a door on the roof. We have also found out that there is a changing of guards every two hours. This gives us a window of opportunity for 30 seconds at the most."
A trooper raised his hand and the Major pointed at him, "Sir, if we do get in during that time period, how do we make it all the way into the building without getting detected?"
"Yes, I'm getting there. Now, we have also captured a Covenant Phantom and uploaded the AI Morris onto it. Morris will fly the ship and squad Foxtrot onto the building during the 30 seconds. Once Foxtrot touches down, they will bail out and attack the Covenant stationed on the rooftop, hopefully this will distract the guards and allow the other four squads to make a dash to the side doors." He said as he highlighted two doors on either side of the building, "Once Foxtrot has destroyed the troops on the roof, they will make there way into the building using roof access. From there, each squad has a different objective; Charlie is to activate power to the outskirts of the city while Foxtrot is to retake the boiler room. Alpha is too reactivate the main power conductor while Beta and Zulu will meet up with Foxtrot and assist with the boiler room. Now, get up and meet with your squad leaders for further instructions."
With that the Helljumpers got up from there seats and made there way back to the blackened battle field. "It kinda seems like suicide, doesn't it?" said Russlle as they made there way over to where Corporal Higgins was standing. They waited for the rest of the squad to show up before the Corporal started there second briefing. Higgins just pulled up a map of the power plant and highlighted their course. He then had them all upload it to there neural laces.
The loudspeaker then opened up and the same Marine spoke, "All personnel are to take down tents and be ready to go in ten minutes."
Jason said his good-byes to his friends from other squads before making his way to his tent. Once inside he grabbed extra ammo and loaded up his pack with food rations. He then took his tent down and made off towards the sight of the battle. As he came over the crest of the hill he saw a Covenant Phantom hovering in the air with its ramp lowered. The ODST picked up his pace and ran down the hill, he reached the Phantom panting and was confronted by Higgins, "Thought you fell asleep Jason, wouldn't want to leave you behind, your one of my best men." said the Corporal with a grin on his face.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," replied Jason still panting. The Private walked up the ramp and into the dark interior of the dropship. A dim purple lamp was flickering near the centre of the ship, Jason didn't get why the Covenant liked purple so much. He took a seat in the hard lumpy seats and felt the ship rise along with his stomach, for once he felt like just going home.
To be continued...
The Fall of Rye: Part 6: A New Enemy
Date: 16 May 2004, 5:58 AM
I'm back, sorry about the wait people, my computer crashed and I couldn't write, I hope you enjoy. Leave a comment.
-teemus
July 2nd, Rye system
The Covenant dropship lurched to the side as it hit an air pocket and sent loose equipment tumbling around. Jason looked out of the view port in front of him and saw the rest of the unit trailing behind them in Warthogs and Scorpions. He took a glance in front of him and saw the Human Power-plant looming up and over the horizon, it was much bigger then Jason had thought. It was like an over sized cube surrounded by barbed wire gates and watchtowers. It was Marine green; the same colour the UNSC painted the Pelicans. There were also large windows every few meters.
"All clear, doesn't look like there's any patrols, go ahead and deploy troops on the rooftops," said the stern voice of the Major.
"Yes sir, moving to deploy now," replied Morris. The troopship picked up speed and headed straight towards the power-plant.
"Alright boys, gear up, we hit the dirt in five!" barked the Corporal over the noise of the engines. Jason loaded a fresh clip into his Battle Rifle and checked the pins on his grenades. Once every man in the squad had issued a ready, the dropship doors fell open with a soft hiss and the ODST's ran out shouting ready to shoot anything that wasn't human. The yelling stopped as fast as it had started, the Helljumpers charged out onto the rooftop and found nothing; nothing but the dead bodies of Covenant.
Jason quickly turned around and watched as the Phantoms doors closed and it lifted higher and left towards the horizon. "What the hell happened here?" asked a confused Helljumper.
"I dunno, you think it was friendly fire?" replied Russlle as he poked the body of a dead Elite.
"Must've been," said Jason as he turned back around, "The bodies were riddled by plasma."
"Then how the hell do you explain this?" said the Corporal as he pointed to one of the Shades that were on the rooftop. Jason moved closer and almost vomited at what he saw; the Grunt in the operators' seat was laying motionless at the controls and had a giant cavity in its chest. It looked as if something had tried to burrow its way into the Grunts' body.
Jason turned his gaze away, but his eye caught something else, it was a greenish liquid stuck to the ledge of the roof. "Sir, I think you better look at this," said the ODST.
"What the hell is that?" asked the Corporal as he stood next to Jason and eyed the greenish liquid.
"Beats the hell out of me," replied Jason.
There was a sudden burst of static as the COM burst open and out came the voice of a panicked Marine, "This is squad Zulu! We're being attacked... can't hold on much longer!" There was a pause in which gunfire continued and people were shouting, "They're not Covenant! Take That SOB down Holland! Need back u---can't ho---ahh--get it of—me---hel—"
"Come in! I repeat, come in Zulu!" barked the Corporal back into the COM once it had gone dead, "Fuck! Piece of shit!" he yelled as he ripped the COM off and threw it across the rooftop. "Jones, give me your goddamn COM."
"Yes sir," replied Jones as he took his COM off and handed it to the Corporal.
The non-com grabbed it out from Jones's grip and placed it over his head, "Major, do you read me?"
"I read you, what is it?"
"Did you hear that transmission from Zulu?"
"I did. And no Corporal, I have no idea what it is that attacked them."
"Alright sir, I also wanted to report something strange up here on the roof."
"What is it?"
"Sir, we met no resistance. Instead we found the remains of a Covenant squad..."
"We ran into the same problem, we found the remains of a Covenant Patrol party, but continue on the mission; any further problems... then radio me, over and out."
"Yes, sir, over and out," the Corporal took the COM link off and handed it back to Jones. "Alright ladies, we are to continue on mission and defend the Reactor Core, follow me, and keep your guard up, who the hell knows what's in here."
Jones moved up to the roof access door and pulled it open, he was motionless for a little bit before he vomited. Jones came running back and vomited some more over the ledge of the room. "What happened to him?" asked Russlle in disgust as he stared after the still-vomiting Jones.
"That's what happened," said another shaky Marine who stared into the hallway. Jason moved up and stared in horror at the scene in front of him. There was purple and green blood all over the walls, as well as torn apart bodies of Covenant.
"There's no way in hell that this was friendly fire," said Russlle.
"Stop staring and let's go," barked the Corporal as he stepped over the body of decapitated Jackal, and then hop scotched his way through the rest, the rest of the squad followed.
They traveled for about ten minutes with their guard always up but there never was any resistance. Every once in a while they would come across a dead body, but other then that it was all quiet. Jason relaxed a bit and thought that maybe this would be a milk run, but just as the thought exited his brain, the Corporal ordered the squad to a halt.
"What is it boss?" asked Marty.
"Listen," replied the Corporal, he held up a hand and looked around cautiously.
The squad went quiet as Jason strained his ears for a sound, but there was none. Just as they were about to give up, there it was; it was like the sound of a thousand insects scrambling over each other at the same time, it sounded sickening and amazing at the same time. There was a sudden shout and a blast of gunfire, Jason turned around and saw Jones shooting a group of small squid-like objects. "What are you all waiting for? Fire your goddamn weapons!" barked the Corporal. The squad turned and began firing at their unknown enemy. If the Helljumpers hit one of the creatures, it would explode and take two more with it, but soon after four more would come up to take their fallen comrades place. There was another scream and Jason watched in horror as one of the infectors jumped onto Jones's chest and drove a needle-like penetrator into his flesh. Two more jumped on and Jones soon fell under a wave of the creatures.
"Run! Make your way to the Power Core!" shouted the Corporal. Jason didn't even look back, but instead just turned around and took off as fast as he could with the rest of the squad hot on his heals.
To be continued...
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