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The 2nd Thermopylae
Posted By: Just another 8th grader
Date: 17 October 2005, 11:37 pm
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In the year 480 B.C. the Greek city-states were in great distress, by helping an unsuccessful rebellion, they had enraged the Persian Empire. Though they successfully defeated the emperor Xerxi's troops on the shores of marathon, that had not stopped him. Now he was marching troops into the area from Asia Minor, and the Greeks had nothing that could stop them. But then the hated rivals of the Athenians, the Spartans agreed to put up a defense against the Persian onslaught. The Spartans were elite warriors, and experts in the phalanx formation, they were raised from child hood to do nothing but fight, and die. They brave warriors created a stead fast defense in a narrow mountain pass known as Thermopylae. The 300 warriors fought off an approaching army many times their size, they took every thing the Persians could throw at them and threw it back. They fought until there weapons broke, there shields shattered, and only stopped when killed. Eventually, a traitor showed the Persians a way around the Elite solders, and the Spartans found them selves weaponless, surrounded and hopelessly out numbered, but they continued to fight, for surrender was the greatest dishonor. Finally, all of the Spartans lay dead, and the Persians were victorious, but there sacrifice was not in vain, they bought time for Athens to rally an army, and destroy the Persians.
Lt. Colonel Michael shamus O'Connor remembered this section from one of his text books as he surveyed his defense. He and a group of 150 men, mostly Spartans, were to defend the last space port on the doomed planet. The colonel ran his hand through his short white hair. he had spent most of his life in the military, Michael had enlisted at the age of seventeen as a buck private, he worked his way to master sergeant, then accepted a battle field commission, He then rose to the rank of lieutenant Colonel.
"Sir, all chain guns and rockets in place, we'll give them hell," A Spartan announced, walking up behind him.
"alright son, Urah," Although he was a normal marine, he was well respected and like by the Spartans. Mostly because the Colonel had seen more action than most could imagine. He wondered how exactly he ended up on this god forsaken coast, knowing full well he was leading a suicide mission. He spotted a Warthog speeding his way, a scout. A Spartan hopped out and gave a salute.
"They're about half a click out sir, and there are a lot of them,"
"Alright soldier, pick a fox hole and prepare for hell," no sooner than he said that, the colonel felt the heat of a plasma bolt fly past his head.
"Get down Sir!" the Spartan yelled and pushed him to the ground.
"203, kill that bastard!" The colonel yelled as he laid prone, un-holstering his 44. Magnum. Spartan-203 who had a sniper rifle fired a shot, which killed the enemy sniper. O'Connor stood up and brought up his binoculars, he zoomed in on the bend in the road, about 200m ahead of the front line. Suddenly a set of hunters and brutes rounded it in a full sprint, followed by jackals and elites.
"Show time Marines, Fire at will," he announced, not averting his gaze. Spartans with BR-55s, rocket launchers and on the five chain guns opened up on the massive beasts heading towards them. At 75m three of the four hunters we're dead, and the brutes we're decimated, by 50m only the elites were left, by 25m, the probing party was obliterated. Next to come was a group of seven hunters, and again, they were all dead by the time they were within 25m of the barricades. The third group was larger, consisting of forty jackals, brutes and grunts. This time they got a little to close, one Spartan was killed when a brute fired his brute shot at one of the chain guns. The colonel now realized that the enemy had or was figuring out that this was a tiny group. This time they sent a mob of every type of alien, including drones. One hunter took out a pair of machine guns before he was killed, and a group of drones killed four Spartans. The line was still holding, but the combat was now getting to be hand to hand.
"Sir you're going to need this," said a Spartan, holding a BR-55, bayonet attached.
"Thanks son," the colonel responded, before he could even finish that, the Spartan was hit in the head by two bolts of plasma, killing him. The colonel brought up the rifle and shot the jackal who fired the shots. The Defenders had now lost 60 men, most from the vicious and to hand combat now taking place. The colonel now hurried to a fox hole, and started shooting into the mass of aliens. He saw one Spartan, fire a burst into a grunt a point blank, turn and beat a brute to death, the stabbed a jackal through the throat. After that, he was stuck with a plasma grenade, then dove into a squad of grunts and killed all of them. The Colonel was reloading when he spotted a scarab zooming in at low level, then opened up on the crowd. The plasma sliced through everybody, human, grunts, brutes, elites, and jackals.
"Do those bastards even care about there own men?" he yelled as he popped a clip into his rifle.
An hour later
Colonel O'Connor was surprised that he had held this long, or that any of his me were left. The once clearly defined lines of his defense, was now a mob of covenant and Spartans. The colonel wasn't picking targets anymore, he had acquired a pair of SMGs and was hosing the crowd with 5.54mm ammo. The ground was splattered with blood, both purple and red, and bodies were piling upon each other. The colonel spotted a brute charging towards him, he reached for a battle rifle with a bayonet attached, and chucked it into the beast like an old lance. He then peppered the ape with bullets. He then ran to a low barricade and reloaded.
"I am way to old for this shit," he muttered. The colonel hadn't noticed it, but the entire mob of covenant we're advancing on him, and him self alone. He popped back out and sprayed the crowd with bullets. Someone threw a plasma grenade at him, but by luck alone it stuck to one of his SMGs, which he threw into the crowd. He continued to fire at the covenant until he heard the Click Click Click of an empty clip. He drew his pistol and continued to fire. The colonel emptied the gun, dropped the clip and reloaded when he realized something. Out of the 150 Spartans, he was the only left, he was trying to stop a army of troops with nothing but a hand gun. By the luck of who knows, he was had not been hit by one of the blasts of plasma that were flying through the air. The colonel took a deep sigh, fired all of his bullets except one.
"Mission accomplished" he muttered as he placed the gun next to his head, and pulled the trigger.
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