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The Sergeant's Story by Keyes



Prologue
Date: 21 April 2004, 7:06 PM

As the entered the forest, Sergeant A. J. Johnson turned up his music. Jenkins groaned and rolled his eyes. "Hey Sarge, what if the Covenant hear that music and find us? That would make this a short mission." "We're too high up to get hit by any Covenant AA guns, especially with this tree cover," said Julie, the Pelicans pilot who was as good with a gun as with her ship, and could hold a position for a good four hours under critical conditions. She had also gotten only about four hours of sleep sense they arrived on Halo. However, she was still going strong. "And the only thing that this bird needs to watch out for is a Fuel Rod Burst, and there's no way a Hunter can climb a tree. Besides, I like this band." "Finally, someone who has good taste," said Johnson with a laugh. After about ten minutes, Mendoza spoke up. "Why do we always have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?" "Watch your mouth, son. This "stuff" is your history. It should remind you grunts what we're fightin' to protect." Mendoza shook his head, "Hey... if the Covenant wanna wipe out this particular part of my history, that's fine by me." "Yeah... better it than us," Bisenti said with a laugh. "You ask 'em REAL nice next time you see 'em Bisenti. I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige." Julie spoke up. "LZ looks clear! I'm brining us down!" "Go, go, go," the Sarge yelled. Mendoza hit ground first, only to find it wasn't ground, but a marsh. Bisenti and Jenkins both hopped out at the same time, followed by Johnson, then Franky, demolitions, and Anthony, the squad's sniper, taking up the rear. "Good luck, see you in three," Julie's voice came over the headset. The Pelican lifted up and zoomed of into the mist. As they moved through the mist, they noticed the occasional spark of yellow on there motion trackers, then red. They came around a corner and found themselves staring at seven grunts, all asleep. "Hey Bisenti, now's your chance, go ahead, ask 'em." Bisenti smiled, "Ok, but we gotta wake 'em up first." He, Johnson, Mendoza, Franky, and Jenkins all opened fire simultaneously, only one was able to get up in time to realize what was going on, but it was to late by then. Suddenly two Jackals and an Elite came out from behind a tree. "Wort, wort, wo..." It began to say before Anthony's sniper rifle shot punched through its shields and into its skull. The two Jackals were quickly mowed down by a frag , complements of Franky. They moved up to where the Elite had fallen. They found that a tree had been pushed over and began to trek over it. Suddenly Anthony dropped to one knee and fired a two round burst into the mist. The team froze, squinting through the mist. A second later Anthony stood. They moved forward and found what he had shot at. An Elite lay draped over a ridge, just under the Shade he had been stationed at. As they watched, gravity and its armor caused it to fall off the ridge and into the little pit just below the tree. "Nice shot," said Jenkins. As they crested a hill, they saw a small, squat structure. It was set up in a position so that from the air, it would look as though it were just an extension of the hill, if not for the lights set up by the Covenant. As they closed in on the structure, Jenkins spotted a strange mark on the ground. It was a greenish color, with a yellowish flesh like substance. "Stay close Jenkins!" Sarge's gruff voice broke Jenkins's thoughts, and realized he had fallen behind the group. He closed in behind Sarge. "Mendoza! Move it up!" Mendoza snuck up towards the opening. He scanned the area, then signaled Anthony to do a sweep with the Sniper rifle. He motioned it was clear, then turned to watch there flank. "Wait here for the Captain and his squad, then get your ass inside," said Sarge to Franky. "Sir!" Johnson signaled to the rest of them. "Okay, let's move!" Franky and Anthony moved to a defensive position near the entrance of the structure as Johnson, Mendoza, Jenkins, and Bisenti moved to the elevator. As they approached, the elevator rose, ushering them in. "What a warm welcome," Johnson said. "Looks like the Covenant rigged it to come up when someone get close enough." Mendoza said, looking at a small box attached to the controls of the elevator. He pressed a button, and the elevator descended at a medium speed into the complex.



Escape
Date: 8 May 2004, 2:29 AM

Sergeant A. J. Johnson thought he was still in bed, and that what he had seen was a dream. However, when he opened his eyes, he knew differently. He was still in that room, those little creatures were scurrying around, and the pain in back told him this wasn't a dream either. He didn't want to move, for fear of being caught, but they seemed to take no notice of him. He saw his MA5B on the ground in front of him, but just out of reach. Keyes's pistol, however, was right next to him. Keyes, Jenkins, Bisenti, or the rest of them were nowhere to be seen. There was, however, a lot of blood spilled everywhere. Then it finally came to him that he was bleeding.
He saw Mendoza in the far side of the room, hand on his rifle, perfectly still, a hole in his right side, visibly in pain, his eye's, which after searching the room, fell on Johnson. He signaled him with his flashlight, not really wanting to move too much due to the pain in his back. Mendoza nodded back to him, and then winced with the pain. They waited till the coast looked clear, and then took off towards the door. Johnson turned and fired the last of Keyes's clip into the several of those things. Suddenly, a vaguely humanoid shaped thing vaulted the length of the room in one jump, landing right in front of the Sarge. Mendoza put fifteen shots into it, and then the gun ran dry.
Mendoza reached back, pushed Johnson out the door, shut and locked the door, then charged. Sarge heard a muffled thump, and then it was quiet. He quickly left. He ran through hallway after hallway, finding no resistance. As he entered a hallway, his motion tracker flared up. Normally he would have jumped on and beat to death whatever the thing the hall was, but with the wounds he had, though he'd never admit it out loud, were pretty bad. He ducked into the shadows and say it pass into the room he had just been in. He entered the next room, dropped down to the bottom floor, and found himself face to face with Franky. He sat, pistol up, against the wall.
"Sarge?" he asked, his voice cracking.
"Get up Marine. We need to get the **** out of here." Now Franky had no question it was the Sarge.
"Ready to go, Sir," He said, trying to stand, but almost lost his balance. Sarge quickly steadied him. "Thanks Sir."
"No problem Marine. Now let's move," He said. Together, they made there way to the elevator shaft. There motion trackers showed red in the area. "How much you got?" Sarge asked Franky.
"Not enough," He responded, "and if that elevator is not down on the ground floor, then this is going to be a short escape attempt."
"On three, we charge." "OK Sarge."
"Ready? One... two... three!" They both came around the corner and opened fire. The things, taken by surprise, turned to look at them. Johnson hopped up and onto one's head, then jumped onto the elevator. Franky took a more direct approach. He fired thirty rounds into its chest, then hit it with the butt of his weapon. He barely made it on, and turned around to find the one he had just shot getting back to his feet. He emptied the rest of the clip into it, and then it went out of sight as the elevator went up. When they reached the top, they found themselves staring down the barrel of Anthony's shotgun, Clay's pistol, and Chris's rifle. Chris was Keyes's best riflemen.
"Sir, good to see you, sir," said Chris, raising his rifle, "We hoped at least some would make it up from inside."
Johnson turned to Franky. "Rig this thing with as much C12 as you got and let's get out of here."
"Sir!" Franky pulled a small bag out and began placing charges on the elevator.
"Sir, I think someone went inside a little while ago." "When?"
"Not to long sir. We were pulling back and driving the Covenant out and Clay here had the brilliant idea to through a frag at that turret over there." He pointed to a downed turret outside.
"Hey, it looked like a good idea at the time." "Anyway, we all dove for cover and waited. We heard the elevator go down and would have investigated except for the fact that the Covenant should up again and started shooting at us."
Franky stood up, his cool composer back now that he was out of that hell hole. "Done sir. Should I set the timer?" Johnson thought about it for a minute. Certainly anyone who went down there was dead. But what if there were more survivors? He turned to Franky,
"Blow it private." Franky nodded, turned around, and set the timers for thirty seconds. They ran as fast as possible to the entrance of the structure, and turned to watch as the explosion engulfed the elevator. The elevator, however, appeared to be intact at first glance, but a closer look showed that there were several cracks in it. Suddenly, the control panel for the elevator came online, and the elevator fell, in pieces, to the next floor. They did not, however, here it stop. Johnson motioned for them to move it out, then took one last look down the shaft. Then he turned and ran after them. As he caught up with them, Julie's voice came over the COM channel. "Sorry I'm late, guys. Got a couple of weird things on my ship and had to clear them off. Foehammer is in the area and said the Chief went into the structure. Have you seen him?"
"Negative, but tell Foehammer to stay on station for him. He won't be coming out of this exit though, so she needs to find an alternate way out for him." "Roger that," Julie answered, setting the Pelican down, "hop in and let's get out of here."

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I hope to squeeze as much out of Halo 1 and the book First Strike as I can. But, if all goes as planned, I will continue this story as much as possible through Halo 2. As you might know, this is my third Fanfic. If you are trying to send me E-mail, please don't send me an attachment. They usually have viruses, and since I get Yahoo for free, I can't open them. So please, just send me an attachment free E-mail. Thanks.



S.O.S
Date: 10 May 2004, 7:20 PM

As they flew out of the forest, those things came at them. They climbed trees, hopped over rivers, and one even got in the dropship. Johnson had to kick him out, and he made a lovely splat on the rocks below. When they cleared the forest, the found themselves overlooking a large lake. They followed a river for a while, and then headed of towards the downed covenant ship they were using as a temporary HQ.
As they flew over an icy area, Sarge thought he heard a small phloosh. A second later, all he could hear was bells ringing in the back of his ears as the Pelican's engine exploded in a burst of flames and shrapnel. A chunk of engine punched through Clay's leg like it was paper. He screamed and grabbed his leg. Another piece flew through the air and knocked the door separating the pilots from the passengers down. Julie looked back to see what happened, and saw the piece of shrapnel fly right at her. It hit her in the face, and she slumped over.
Johnson leaned out of the Pelicans back door and saw what hit them a second later, as a rocket flew past. So those things had taken our weapons. A minute later, a pair of rockets came screaming up at them, and hit the other engine and the bottom of the craft. Sarge, reacting quickly, closed the back door of the Pelican when he heard the rockets fire again. The last thing the saw was the engine blow apart before the door closed. Shrapnel pounded the door, leaving large dents.
The Pelican began to descend rapidly. They braced for impact, then everything went black. Johnson woke a minute later, and could hardly see due to all the smoke. It was a wonder the gas didn't explode. Then he realized that was a bad thing, since that meant it would blow any time now. He tried to open the door, but to no avail. He looked around, and then saw that the Pelicans front window had shattered. Anthony was starting to get up, and Chris was already moving towards the door.
"Don't bother Marine, its locked. Help me get the rest out of here." Chris grabbed the two pilots, Anthony hit Franky, causing him to get up, and Johnson tossed the wounded Clay over his shoulder. "Let's move." Johnson yelled, and they all made there way through the window.
They ran, and after about thirty seconds, the Pelican exploded. The hit the dirt, or rather, snow, and waited. As the debris settled, they slowly got up and scouted around for anything they could salvage. They found the weapons locker flung open with two MA5B's, three M9D's, and one M90, not to mention a lot of ammo, scattered around it.
After a minute they were on their way. They found a way into an underground tunnel, and worked there way through it. There were a lot of rocks down here, a perfect place for an ambush. Yet, there was nothing. After a while, they found a large door. Sarge hit the panel and was greeted by those things pouring out of the door. Anthony, Franky, and Johnson all opened fire. After a minute the coast was clear. They entered the doorway, and found a large, open area in front of them. A large gap filled most of the room, with only one way across. The other bridge looked destroyed, so the only way across was the bridge on their left. Suddenly, the passage behind them was filled with those things, and Franky hit the door. Johnson and Anthony held them off as Franky began setting C12 charges around the door. When it closed, he said to them.
"If anything tries to come through this door, these charges should short it out, not to mention leave a little surprise for the one opening it." They made there way across a bridge and through an already open door. Franky closed it behind them. When they reached the surface, they found the Covenant and those things fighting. Wraiths, Shades, Ghosts, and three Banshees seemed to be fighting an endless wave of those things. They made their way to a cave off in the distance, avoiding the fight by hugging the canyon wall. Johnson wanted nothing more than to jump into the fight, but he had no ammo left. When they reached the cave, they found four ODST, six Marines, and a pile of bodies. Johnson set Clay down near the Medic, and then went over to the marine and ODST leaders.
"Sir," said the ODST leader, also a Sergeant. The ODST leader was a Corporal. "Corporal Locklear, Sir. This is Sergeant Eversman"
"So, what's our status?" Johnson asked, looking at the two men. "We have a lot of wounded, but enough ammo to hold this cave for weeks."
"Good," said Johnson, "Now let's get to work."

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Incase anyone is wondering, Chapter 3, and 4 take place in Two Betrayals. See if you can spot the connections. Also, I hope you like the rest. Please give me comments. I need them.



Sergeants Story Ch. 4: Cocoa anyone?
Date: 25 September 2004, 3:17 AM

"The Covenant is holding those things off at the mouth of the canyon pretty well, but we have determined that a crashed Pelican is located in that area." He pointed to a pile of rocks at the back of the cave. Three Marines, obviously assigned to keep that area secure, stood near a gap in the wall.
"That hole connects two caves together, so we can probable go through there to get out and get the Pelican. That's how we found out about the Pelican in the first place. If we let those things distract the Covenant, we can slip in and hold the ship till takeoff."
"So why didn't you leave already?" asked Franky, walking over after He and Anthony grabbed ammo and explosives, "I mean, with all the ammo you have, you could have held that Pelican for hours."
"We wanted to," said Eversman, "but we don't have a pilot." "Well," said Johnson, "once they come around, we'll have two." Clay limped over, held up by Sheila. "I'm afraid not sir. Julie's dead, killed by some shrapnel. A piece punched right through her neck. You can't see it just by looking, but it's quite obvious on the snow." "Can you fly that thing alone?" Eversman asked.
Sheila looked around. "Is it ready?"
"Assuming those things didn't tear it apart, it's good to go as soon as you're set." "Then let's go." Sheila said determination in her voice. "After all, it's cold out here." They made there way through the hole, coming out on the other side of the cave.
Those things hadn't noticed them yet. Clay, Anthony, and a sniper from Eversman's squad would stay here with Chris, Franky and Eversman and provide cover. Sarge, Locklear, Locklear's four ODST soldiers, Eversman's three Marines, and Sheila would make their way to the Pelican and fly it into the cave to pick the rest to them up. Then they would fly out and see if they could find anymore survivors. Clay, guarded by Chris and Anthony, guarded by Franky, and Josh, Eversman's sniper, who was guarded by Eversman, took positions around the mouth of the cave. Sarge waited for the signal, Locklear took up the task of making sure Sheila got to the Pelican unharmed. The rest of the Marines were caring wounded. One Marine, Private Simmons, had taken an active Camouflage unit off of an Elite, and was moving quietly towards the Pelican. When he arrived, he checked the outer hull, and then ducked inside. The Pelican's hover engines roared to life, and the Marines took off. The Things realized this was a distraction and attacked, hitting the Covenant with full force. Clay fired with a vengeance, getting headshot after headshot after headshot.
"Come on, let's go, you want some?"
"That's the way you do it, ya," said Chris as he opened up on those things. The Marines carrying the wounded, Sarge, and Locklear's ODST took off, running for the Pelican, while Locklear and Sheila held position for a moment, then took off after them. Simmons climbed out of the Pelican and laid down some covering. When they reached the Pelican, Locklear Turned and began firing as Sheila, the ODST, the Marines with the wounded, and Sarge climbed in. Sheila began to fire up the main thrusters, and brought guns online.
As she peppered the Canyon opening with gunfire, the Sniper team made their way to the Pelican. Clay stopped in the middle, covered by Chris, and opened fire. Locklear and Simmons climbed into the Pelican, and then it lifted up, flying low towards Clay and Chris. Anthony, firing out of the back of the Pelican, took several of them out as Clay hopped in, but before Chris could turn to climb in, one of those things jumped on him, knocking him out. Clay tried to grab him, but was just out of reach. The Pelican took off towards the opening in the other side of the canyon, only to find a Covenant blockade of Wraith Tanks, Banshees, and Shade Turrets.
"Hold on," she yelled over the COM unit, and then closed the Pelicans bay door. She fired off the only two rockets in the Pelican had, the pulled up and over, flying out of the Canyon. Clay sat slumped in a corner, head down in silent memory of his lost friend. Johnson, however, had made his way to the Co-pilot's seat and sat down.
"So now what," asked Locklear, coming into the Cockpit, closely followed by Eversman, and closing the door? "We need to make contact with the others and let them know where we are," said Johnson, "Simple as that." Sheila looked up.
"I'm afraid not," She said. "Why not," said Eversman? "Because the Covenant is following us," she said, pointing at the radar, which showed about fifteen Banshees flying full speed at them.


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Sorry I've been gone so long. Fell behind in school. Back with the rest of The Sergeant's story. Can't finish till Halo 2, though.



The Sergeant's Story Ch. 5: The Holy Ghost
Date: 25 September 2004, 3:26 AM

Johnson took the initiative and ran to the back, then yelled, "Everyone strap in. We are reengaging the enemy." Johnson helped Clay into his seat, then strapped him in. "Suck it up son. You want revenge? Well, let's take it."
"K, Sarge." Johnson nodded, then turned around and kicked the door release on the Pelican. The main door popped off, causing the air to suck at them, cold air and snow rushed past the Pelican, and a howling filled the air. He knew that the howling wasn't the wind, though, but the sound of Banshees. The howling of their engines was how they got their names. That and it's the last thing you hear before you die. He could see, through the half fog, half snow, seven Banshees, but knew there were more.
"Anyone remember to bring a Jackhammer," asked Johnson, "because we're gonna need it." Fred, Eversman's Heavy weapons expert, hefted it towards him. Fred used to be a pastor, but now he fought for, not taught, gods name. He still preaches, but mostly to ask for forgiveness for killing god's creatures, and asking forgiveness for those creatures. He began saying the Lord's Prayer, and other joined in. Only Franky, Anthony, Clay, and Johnson didn't join in. Franky and Anthony because they weren't exactly believers, Johnson because he was lining up the shot, and Clay because he had his sniper scope set on the nearest Banshee's grav-pod.
"...and the Glory forever. Amen." "Amen," echoed the other occupants of the Pelican. "Amen," said Johnson, and let the rocket fly. Clay held fire, though, and a second later, Johnson knew why.
The sound of the sniper round cracked throughout the Pelican, hitting dead on in the center of the Leader's wingman's Banshee, then passing through it, going into the cockpit of another Banshee. The Wingman, losing control, wheeled around and accidentally hit another Banshee. They both exploded, and fell to the ground, chasing the two pilots, who had fallen out. Even if they did survive the fall, the crushing weight of the Banshee would kill them.
The Rocket flew right towards the leader, but he wasn't the leader on his good looks. He dodged it, but forgot to warn the Banshee behind him. It exploded, and coincidentally, the Fuel Rod gun went off, flying at another Banshee. It dodged it, but didn't dodge its Wingmate as they smacked into each other, exploding and falling towards the ground. As Clay fired two more rounds, Johnson looked back towards Eversman, who was standing in the door.
"How many left?" Eversman looked back at the Radar, and then put up 8 fingers. Johnson looked back, saw Clay take out another one, then realized what was about to happen.
"Brace yourself, Marines," he yelled! He ducked back, and a minute later seven Fuel Rod Guns went off. Only three hit, but it still shook them up pretty bad. Johnson threw the Jackhammer back to Fred, and then grabbed a sniper from the weapons pile.
He, Anthony and Clay fired shot after shot, punching through the Banshees. Unfortunately, one of them must have gotten out a distress signal, because more Banshees showed up. They fired and fired, taking them out. Plasma and Sniper rounds flew in a furious crossfire, and even the Marines closest to the door fired their MA5B's at them. Finally, only the leader remained. He fired a Fuel Rod blast, but missed. Plasma spit out at them, but Sheila was dodging between mountains, making them extremely hard to hit. However, the weaving caused them to slow down. The Banshee slowly gained on them. Clay yelled to Sheila,
"Get ready to stop!" She looked at him as if he was crazy, and then looked at Johnson, who nodded, then got ready. Johnson saw him pull out a Plasma Grenade. It only took a minute to realize what he was going to do. "Now," he yelled! He armed and tossed the Grenade in one swift movement, and it landed and stuck to the front of the Banshee. It shot past, and there was a loud bang, then a thump as the banshee hit and rolled off the top of the Pelican.
"Well, that was easy," said Clay with a sigh. Suddenly, the Elite piloting that last Banshee swung into the Pelican. His active Plasma sword cut through Josh. Josh's eye's bugged out, and then he fell forward, into the Elite. The Elite, who obviously wasn't expecting that, lost his balance, and Clay pulled Josh off the sword as Johnson kicked the Elite in the chest. It teetered, and then fell out of the Pelican. Josh lay on the floor, a hole in his chest. He looked at Fred.
"Tell me that passage again, Fred. The one I really like." Fred nodded, and then began to talk. "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life," Josh joined in with, "and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." "Amen," he said with a smile, and then died.
They stood for a moment, letting the wind be the only sound. For a moment, then Johnson, Fred and Anthony lifted him up, Clay took his dog tag, and then they tossed him out. Johnson hit the blast door button, and the fell into place.

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For all you religious people out there, I hope you're not offended by the title. Still, I'm very religious so just don't be offended, please? If you are, please let me know.





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