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Halo 2: Dark Decent: Ch. 2
Posted By: Blanchette<ron0704@msn.com>
Date: 24 August 2004, 9:06 PM
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Blanchette stepped down off the back of the Pelican's Drop Platform and onto the hard cement that awaited below, his boots clanging harshly against the hard surface, he cocked his "Battle Rifle" and followed his ODST Team down a small ramp outlooking over a deep man-made chasm of buildings and sky-scrapers, all-in-all a long way down. He refocused his attention back on his Captain and the Squad of Marines in front of them, they were copping rather well with the loss of their Company Sergeant. As the stairs ended Blanchette nervously checked around corners for any signs of hostiles, even though they were still far from the front-line, better to be safe than sorry, he always told himself, even though half his life was pretty much based on risk. They all ran through a dark stone-gray alley, he could barely see ahead of him through the shifting movements of the Marines in front, but from the looks of the shinny gray metal, and dust being stirred, it looked to be another Pelican. Must have had to make an emergency landing behind these structures; probably too close to the front-line for take-off; he thought to himself, but as they got closer he could see the Pilot waving him on, were they supposed to take another aerial insertion? His Captain talked to the Pilot before he hoped aboard, as well as the others, and out of instinct, so did Blanchette, we all sat down and watched the outside through the back of the Pelican, the Marines were standing their ground, covering us for take-off, a good thing, seeing as how this very well could be their last flight on Earth, or any other Planet. Just then, the Pilot hoped up onto the Platform, walking in between the rows of seats on either side, he spoke to us as he walked to the cockpit. "Alright, everyone there's been a change in plans here, the UNSC Forces Defense Positioning Plans around the area have caused a Covenant Resistance Grouping to occur around their Capital Ship above New Mombasa, you have been given orders to break this Grouping up so the UNSC can get their Forces to their Gravity-Lift for entry of the vessel. I'll get as close as I can for your jump, but this won't be a smooth ride and we will encounter aerial resistance, and the even worse news is that UNSC ASC doesn't cover our dropping-territory, this will be a tough job, but I have confidence you will see it through..." He spoke to us in an honored voice, his chants still ringing in my ears, giving me a strong boost confidence needed to complete the task at hand. Blanchette walked to the edge of the Pelican and took one last look at the Marines and at the area around them before strapping himself to the edge seat, still watching, when all of a sudden a green blur tore through the air in front of him, hitting the roof of the Pelican, then shots could be heard, the Marines had engaged some Covenant, he could now see the group of shaggy aliens, stumbling out from the alleys in between the buildings, Blanchette instantly grabbed his "Battle Rifle" from it's strap on his back and unbuckled the strapping on his seat as he put the scope of the Rifle up to his Masking, aiming strait at the Grunt Militia heading out from another alley-way in the buildings, he lets loose a few rounds, neatly punching holes in the heads of the first few before a startling jolt knocked his aim off. The Pelican was taking off, the Pilot's voice came over the intercom system of the vehicle. "Alright, we gotta get the hell outta here! There'll probably be more coming in soon enough, and we don't need that kind of attention in this position. Get ready, cause its going to be a bumpy ride!" He shouted enthusiastically. Blanchette sat back down and buckled up, after seeing what happened to that Sergeant, he wasn't taking any chances, especially behind enemy lines...
The Pelican shook him steadily, no hard jolting as of lately, they were now positioned directly over the front-line, not a sure form of Covenant in sight though, they must of all retreated back to their Capital Ship, great; more to deal with. Then the Pilot's voice came back over the intercom. "Can get somebody to man that "Heel Gun" back there, things might get toasty pretty soon, and UNSC ASC has already retreated their service territory, I have a feeling there's gonna be some strong winds tonight!" He shouted jokingly. I looked back at everybody on the Platform, they were all staring at me, their heads bobbling gently when shaken, I sighed and unbuckled, holding on to the support railing lining the roof of the Pelican, slowly moving closer to the edge, and with one leap of faith; pulled the "Heel Gun" down from stow-away position, holding the handles tightly, bracing himself between the frame and the gun in case of a strong impact. But, there was none, at least not until now, the Pilot came over the intercom for the third time. "We have been engaged, I hope one of you is covering that gun there, cause we got two hostiles approaching on our position, assumed ready to engage, be ready guys, here they come! I repeat, ready yourselves for combat!" Blanchette's breathing became harsh and irregular, his heart thumping erratically in his chest, causing him an annoying pain, but it all ended as soon as he saw the Banshees, two, as predicted, in fact, now it seemed that his heart had stopped all together. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" Came a shout from the back, but the voice was unfamiliar to him, had no idea who it was, but whoever he was, he was right! The Banshees opened fire on the Pelican, jolting the vessel a little with every shot, Blanchette shot into action, pulling back the two large triggers on either side of the handles; exploding out came hundreds of bullets, hitting the foreign machines in tiny ripples, smoke began to emit from the first as chips of it's metallic surface peeled away, now exposing wiring and mechanics, then it caught fire and exploded, falling back down to Earth. Then he pivoted the giant weapon over to the second which was now focusing it's fire on the starboard thrusters, he immediately shot at it, the bullets hitting it squarely on it's direction flaps, tearing away at the foreign metal exposing the mechanics inside again, this time the machine involuntarily dropped to it left, falling uncontrollably into the city below. "Damn, he got our Airfoil, I'm going to have to make this as strait as possible, keep them off of me, or were sitting ducks here!" The Pilot yelled, not over the intercom but through the cockpit opening. I turned around to listen to his calling, then refocused my attention on the rear of the Pelican, nothing, we were loosing altitude though, going down hard and fast, I didn't know what he was trying to pull off, but it was certainly wasn't going to be a joy-ride. The Pelican shook violently, nearly knocking Blanchette off the Platform, something had hit them, but it wasn't visible yet, he would have to wait until it got within range to open fire, then another jolt hit the vessel, still nothing behind them. "@#%$! We've been hit! The starboard thrusters are completely out, I'm going to have to shave it in, this could get very risky! Take a seat son!" The Pilot yelled again. I turned my attention back to the seats, then at the railing on the roof, then back outside at the city below us, it was all haze that happened in seconds; a giant explosion rocked the Pelican, fire and debris sprayed onto the Platform, sirens blazing, red flashing throughout the Platform, as a huge purple Covenant vessel slammed through the rear tail-fin of the Pelican, taking it clean-off! The thing plummeted, air rushing everywhere around Blanchette, everything spinning in a dizzying haze, then he saw a blur of black and gray, it was his teammates, and they were getting farther away, light passing between them, and then black...
Blanchette awoke with his face in the dirt and the smell of burnt fuel in the air, smoke hazed around him, making his head spin and hurt, he thought he had died, but it looked like this was only the beginning...
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