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The Marines of Charlie Company by Sykotik Marine
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The Marines of Charlie Company: Chapter 1
Date: 24 May 2006, 1:14 am
The depths of life are filled with unknowns; what is the destiny of man? Does he choose his own path through life, or is his course predetermined as if the hand of Fate itself were hovering over him, influencing man's choices that lead him down the road he 'chooses'? Fate, as it would seem, has a rather intriguing sense of humor, often choosing those who would be content to stay in the background of all that would happen and drag them to the front of the crowd, while pushing those supposedly destined for fame, glory and an eternal place in Human structure to the rear and obscurity.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
That sound was constant to the interior on the surface of Reach as the last remaining survivors fled to the Pelicans, among whom was a young Marine Corporal by the name of David Carson.
"Go! Go! Pick it up!" he cried as his sniper rifle carefully picked apart the Covenant chasing what was left of his unit. He scrambled aboard the Pelican drop ship that was waiting for him and shouted for the pilot to get them the hell out of dodge, and the pilot had to agree. The Covenant had begun to close for a bombardment, and they didn't have much time to get to the Autumn. Immense sadness washed over the young Marine as he took a seat next to his sergeant, Laurna Kelly. David's brother was still out there somewhere, and they were going to have to leave the man behind…
As the Pelican ascended, David could see the once luscious forests on Reach engulfed in flames, as if the depths of Hell itself had engulfed them, and that description fit the Covenant rather well. From what little information David (or anyone else) knew, the Covenant were a band of different alien races all with the same religious belief…which apparently included the destruction of the human race. He recalled that the whole war had begun thirty two years prior, eight years before his birth, and humanity had been getting it's ass handed to it on a shiny silver platter at just about every battle ever since. In terms of tactics, the humans had the upper hand by far; Captain Keies and others like him had defeated the Covenant in a series of battles using tactics that few could ever conceive…but the Covenant had technology on their side.
He blew out a sigh as he removed the helmet that had been clasped to his head and set it in his lap. There was a thick coating of soot on his face and uniform from the plumes of smoke caused by the massive fires on Reach, and several of the other soldiers from what little was left of Charlie Company were about in the same shape. All hope was gone, now; Reach was Earth's last line of defense, and it had fallen…just like all the others had been. David's hand clenched into a fist as he watched the forests and cities of Reach grow smaller and smaller in the background as a hangar seemed to close around the Pelican; they had arrived.
As the Pelican lowered down to the floor with a dull 'clang', the Marines already started to leap out of the back and assemble before the Captain, who had apparently come down to meet them. Since their Lieutenant had been KIA, Sergeant Kelly had assumed control of the squad and therefore stood at the front of their battered little unit that consisted of maybe a dozen men proudly, as if she had accomplished some great deed…and deserved to stand that way. It was thanks to Sergeant Kelly that the few of them that were standing here were because of her leadership and guidance. The young man shifted slightly under the Captain's gaze as he felt the seasoned naval officer's eyes fall upon him, but David managed somehow to return the same steely stare he was receiving…and the Captain found that amusing, apparently.
"What's your name, corporal?"
"David Carson, sir. See-Company."
The Captain nodded and gestured to David's weapon.
"Do you always keep your firearms in that condition, Corporal?"
"Not normally, sir; I just thought I'd make it look like I'd been doing something."
For a moment, David froze up; did he just smart off to his new Commanding Officer? If the Captain took offense, then there could be some serious problems for him…but, if he didn't then things might be decent enough. For a moment, no one moved except for Sergeant Kelly, who gave David that familiar 'Way to go, idiot…' look but Captain Keyes soon smiled and began to laugh out of the blue. This went on for several moments before he stopped and congratulated the Marines for making it; they were the last ones to arrive. The Autumn lurched and sped off and away as the Captain ordered them to take a rest; they'd need it. A chorus of 'yes sirs' and salutes was the response as the Marines filed out with David in the rear.
Since none of the Marines had been assigned quarters, they all just split up and found empty ones to collapse in. David found one not too far from the bridge and collapsed there after delivering his SR2-AM sniper rifle to the armory and picking up an MA5B…just to be safe. The Covenant were all around Reach and would probably board the ship to execute the Humans aboard it; blasting the Autumn to atoms would just be too simple for them. Once David managed to slog his way back to 'his' room, dropped the MA5B next to the door and collapsed on the bed in his armor without a second thought. His body was completely exhausted from the combat he'd seen, as was his mind. Sleep was quite necessary.
Not too much later, a powerful bolt of plasma nailed the hull of the Pillar of Autumn and shook the entire frame of the ship. The jolt of energy jarred Marine David Carson from his restless slumber and caused him to sit straight up in his bed. His eyes were wide up and bloodshot from not enough sleep, he had just managed to get some rest right as the Pillar of Autumn had made its run from Reach; barely three hours ago. He had gone to sleep in both his uniform and armor, not comfortable but logical since he assumed that the Covenant would catch up with them at one point or another. Carson got to his feet and hit the light switch. His room was flooded with illumination, everything was made clear in the new titanium white light. He heard the shipwide intercom click on and alarms began to blare loudly.
"Combat teams Alpha through Sierra, report to defensive positions immediately. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!"
It was Cortana, the Artificially Intelligence that pretty much ran the ship. Carson knew that the Covenant had boarded now, he yanked on his combat helmet, grabbed his MA5B Assault Rifle, slid the M6D Pistol into its holster, grabbed a few extra clips of ammo and then exited his room. He could already see that some combat had passed through here, plasma scarring and bullet holes marked the walls and some red blood was splattered onto the floor. Carson moved slowly down the hallway in a defensive position, for the moment he was all alone, but he felt that that was about to change damned quickly. And sure enough it did, there was suddenly a surprised yip as Carson ran smack into a Grunt as he turned the corner in the corridor. It uttered a cry of surprise and then its two friends turned to face Carson, he grinned evilly and then mowed them all down with an almost careless swing of his Assault Rifle, squeezing the trigger. They shrieked in pain as their blood was splattered all across the corridor, dripping thickly from the floor and ceiling. Carsons head snapped up as he heard approaching footsteps, he saw some other Marines in his squad approaching him from the opposite direction.
"Hey man, Captain wants you on the bridge, hurry up." Carpenter, one of his friends, said.
Carson nodded and began to head towards the bridge, he took the most direct route possible and arrived there quickly. He stood at attention and then saluted when the Captain turned to acknowledge him.
"I've got a job for you son, the Master Chief is on his way here, he is unarmed. I want you to get to a specific point and escort him here. This is top priority, so don't let me down." Captain Keyes explained.
"Sir yes sir! Carson replied with a phrase that had been hammered into him during bootcamp, he turned on his heel and then left the bridge.
Cortana's voice suddenly sounded within his helmet and began guiding him to a specific point. When he arrived, Carson spotted some crewman fending off some Covenant and was about to engage the enemy when Master Chief suddenly appeared. Standing at seven feet tall and encased in green armor, he looked every inch the hero and God of battle that he was. The blast doors began to close, separating the warring Covenant and Humans…for the moment. Carson cleared his throat to get Chief's attention.
"Sir! The Captain needs us on the bridge ASAP. You'd better follow me!" Carson called above the racket of battles throughout the ship.
The Master Chief nodded wordlessly and followed Carson deeper into the Pillar of Autumns interior. They entered a corridor filled with Humans and Covenant, a huge battle going on. A Grunt suddenly lobbed a plasma grenade through the air.
"Get clear Chief!" Carson called out just before the grenade exploded, sending a technician flying through the air and splattering his blood all across the bulkheads. A blast door began to close between the Humans and Covenant once again. The rest of the trip to the bridge was unhindered and soon they arrived there. Carson went to stand in an unused part of the bridge,
"Captain Keyes is waiting for you sir. He said, the Chief nodded soundlessly again and then left Carson. He had barely enough time to let out a breath he had been holding, before his helmet based comms unit crackled to life.
"Carson! Get your ass to the messhall across from the bridge! We got trouble!" Sergeant Kelly's voice boomed in his headset.
Carson ran out of the bridge, across the corridor and into the messhall. It was total chaos, bodies were strewn everywhere and their blood was splattered all over the place. Carson saw some Grunts shooting a fellow Marine and let loose on them, mowing most of them down with an entire clip. The survivors turned and began to lob grenades towards the Marines. Two of them stuck and then there were two powerful explosions and screams.
He cursed angrily, but lightened up as two Marines each threw a frag grenade towards the Covenant. The rest of the Grunts were wiped out in the blast and one of the Elites were as well. They were just managing to wipe out the last of the Covenant when the doors at the other end of the room open and more of them began to pour in. Carson cursed, they were done for. Then he heard the door open behind him and Master Chief came into the room. He began to systematically wipe out all the Covenant in the room, blowing them away with the help of the Marines it was very quickly all over with.
The next ten minutes were spent searching the messhall for any Covenant survivors. His luck seemed to run out as he spotted a hidden Grunt. It had shoved itself under the table and managed to get off half a dozen rounds from its plasma pistol before Carson shot it in the face. He gritted his teeth against the pain as he felt that one of the plasma bolts had gotten through his chestplate armor. One of the Marines came over and examined him. David winced as the piece of metal was removed from his chest and the man above him sighed; apparently the damage was not too terribly bad.
"You'll live, Corporal. But right now we need to get the Hell off of this ship. Come on, let's get going."
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