 |
About This Site
Daily Musings
News
News Archive
Site Resources
FAQ
Screenshots
Concept Art
Halo 2 Updates
Interviews
Movies
Music
Miscellaneous
Mailbag
HBO PAL
Game Fun
The Halo Story
Tips and Tricks
Fan Creations
Wallpaper
Misc. Art
Fan Fiction
Comics
Logos
Banners
Press Coverage
Halo Reviews
Halo 2 Previews
Press Scans
Community
HBO Forum
Clan HBO Forum
HBO IRC Channel
Links
Admin
Submissions
FTP Uploads
HTTP Uploads
Contact
|
|
|
Invasion of Collovia 4: Part 1.
Posted By: Sgt. Hardick<thug13669@yahoo.com>
Date: 19 October 2006, 10:56 pm
Read/Post Comments
|
The storm had hit sooner then expected. The pelican shook as gust after gust struck it's sensitive wings. The high winds had begun to push the invasion force apart, as the pelicans couldn't stand up to the grueling conditions. Added to that the blue streaks of plasma that continued to soar up at them, despite multiple bombing runs from Longsword interceptors, and it made for one helluva ride. Out the window, Myk's gut churned as a pilot lost control, and his pelican collided with another. They formed together for a split second, before exploding in a ball of light, and engulfing the 28 unfortunate men. He checked the status of his other squads, and was somewhat calmed to discover that none of his men had been onboard. This was the only part of fighting he hated, when you had no real control over your life, and prayed that a lucky shot didn't hit you...
The pelicans finally cleared the clouds, below them they saw rolling plains and briefly wooded areas. Craters marked the landscape, evidence that the navy had been doing their job. The 32 remaining pelicans continued their descent. Through the rain they could make out glowing objects coming in their direction. It didn't take long to identify them as banshees, quickly Sky Hawks broke formation, charging forward to defend the transports. The lead pelican, the one on which Major Baker was on, took 3 hits. It broke formation trailing smoke, landing hard on the plains. As the pelicans finally reached their drop zone, they deployed landing gear and came down with a dull "thud". Marines quickly began exciting and forming into squads, even as banshees continued to harass them from above. Seun saw a pelican mere meters from the ground. It was hit by a fuel rod cannon, and pancaked hard into the grass. It was quickly engulfed in flame, and marines rushed to escape a painful death. A medic ran over and attempted to put out a fellow marine with his canteen, as the marine rolled trying to survive. As the last of the marines jumped off the deck, the pelicans armed their chin guns and tried to aid the fighters.
The 372 marines didn't even have battalion strength, but they'd fight regardless. Whiskey company was the first to assemble, and moved out towards a covenant supply base they had been ordered to destroy. Cpt. Mitchell finally found his platoon leaders, and convened a brief mission report. "Myk, Seun, Rob, Derrick. You guys know the drill, command wants us to launch an attack on a superior covenant force located 5 clicks to our north. We're to keep them occupied long enough for the rest of the division to finish their objectives. I know this mission is FUBAR, but its vital none the less. We move out in 10, 1st platoon has our left flank, and 4th will take the right. Ill be riding along with 3rd platoon in left center, and Myk will have 2nd in right center. We have very little cover on the route, so we'll have to move fast. We should be getting some scorpion tanks to assist with the heavy stuff, but God knows if they'll make it. Good luck, dismissed."
It was time to move out. Myk took up position in the front of his platoon. They where spread out in skirmish formation, to avoid multiple casualties from heavy ordnance. The other platoons where about 10 meters apart. They moved at a brisk jog, as canteens and ammo pouches clattered together. It took them 30 minutes to reach their objective, a raised hill that looked over a long valley. They had orders to dig in and await attack. Scott had snipers and launchers dig in up front, while the rest of the company dug in behind them. The first two rows would be a trench system, with those following being firing holes. Only one scorpion had made it to reinforce them. The others had been lost by the high winds and low visibility. By 13:45 hours every thing was in place. Command had estimated the covenants arrival at 15:00 hours, so all they could do was wait. Scott, Myk, and Seun all held another brief meeting. They decided that if they were overwhelmed, 4th platoon, under Seun, would stay and cover the companies retreat. It became the longest hour Myk or anyone else had ever had to wait...
Myk looked out through his binoculars, seeing a vast sea of purple, red and the rest of the rainbow. "Command estimates at least 1,000 troops. Snipers and launchers engage when ready. Everyone else wait until ordered.". echoing reports followed each S2-AM shot, and soon plasma fire began to fall around the men. The covenant had plenty of armored support, including some 12 ghosts and 3 wraiths. One sniper nest took a direct hit from a mortar round, and as the light faded, all that remained was charred ground and bone. The covenant took casualties too however, as a wraith exploded from a 120mm tank round. Grunts charged the forward position, once they were within 100 meters of the snipers, they triggered claymore and C-7 charges. The grunt line exploded as bodies were blown apart. More kept coming however, and the snipers where forced to abandon their pits and fall back.
Lt. Rob saw one of his snipers take a hit in the leg, and ran over to help him. He tossed his rifle and picked up the young Private. They limped to the trench line, Rob felt his arm go cold just as they fell in. A medic quickly ran over to give first aid, shoving the nuzzle for a can of biofoam into the wound. It would stop the bleeding but hurt like hell. He slapped on a battle dressing and moved to Rob. A beam rifle round had torn through Rob's arm. A large hole remained just above the elbow. It had apparently melted away the bone, and also cauterized the wound. He put a make shift splint onto it to keep it attached, then had him go to the rear line.
The front line opened fire on the covenant troops, taking down row after row. As half the men dropped to reload, the other half opened fire. Sgt. Hood stood next to Myk. A fuel rod round hit him square in the chest. Melting away half his armor and burning through his skin. Myk dropped to aid his fallen comrade, "MEDIC! MEDIC!".A medic came running as soon as he heard, unfortunately their wasn't much he could do. He covered the whole wound in Bio Foam, and did his best to slap a dressing on. " Sir he isn't going to make it unless we can get immediate medical EVAC. It might be a good time to try and get a pelican in here." Myk radioed Cpt. Mitchell, and explained the situation. It would take 20 minutes for a pelican to make it, but it was coming. Myk left the medic's to carry Hood to the aid station, and continued firing at wave after wave.
The first trench line was forced to retreat, leaving behind several dead troops. Around 80 of the original 120 men where still fighting. 10 men where dead and another 30 too seriously wounded to continue fighting. When the Med Evac pelican arrived, it took aboard 8 of the most critically wounded. Another pelican was on the way, ready to evac more troops. It would be another 10 minutes before it arrived. The pilot told Mitchell that Whiskey company had completed their objective, and were loading warthogs to come to their aid. It would be a while before they arrived however. The pelican fell under fire, and was forced to lift off. The rear gunner was hit by a beam rifle, and his body fell out the back. He was stuck dangling from his safety harness
|
