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The Road to Zaxheoa: Chapter 2: Extraction
Posted By: Nike<jimmyneedles09@aol.com>
Date: 5 May 2003, 9:03 PM


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A/N: Well, Chapter 2 is here. I hope that you will enjoy the action sequences and the plot. More importantly, let's get on with this story, shall we not? *looks around for the latest issue of Victoria's Secret* Ah damn! Where did I put that issue? It was right here, too. . .ahhhh, never mind I'll look for it later. . . (Note: Web and Webb are the same person).

The Road to Zaxheoa: Chapter 2: Extraction

0423 Hours September 21, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Hangar, Alpha-Tango Base, Key IX, Earth star system


Corporal Owens glanced around. A huge fire-fight had broken out inside the bay. Smaller fights were being battle from within the large fight.

"Sir!" Private O'Neil said. "There's a cluster of Marines pinned down by a pair of Hunters approximately half a klick northwest of our current position. They require our help." They were a half klick away because the hangar bay was so tall and so wide.

"Understood," Neo replied. "Tell Webb that he's to take two other Marines with him to help those men." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Yes sir." Bryan contacted Webb via the COM line. Pat heard Webb ackenowledge the order, and he stared at Private Jason Webb, Private Mark O'Connor, and Private Jane Green as the trio sprinted toward the area in which O'Neil had indicated.


Private Webb had one of the Hunters in his line of sight. He fired two bursts in rapid succesion, six armor-piercing rounds speeding toward the lumbering monstrosity. The first three bullets pinged off the Hunter's strange blue armor, but, however, two bullets from the second burst slammed into the Hunter's gut. Spotches of orange blood squirted out from the Covenant bastard. He remained unfazed though. No wounds or any damage was visible. It didn't do a thing.

The sudden burst of automatic weapons fire only pissed the big guy off. The Hunter Webb had fired at turned to where the enemy fire had come from. Inside the beast's fuel rod gun, a green glow pulsed from within.

"Aww sh*t!" Jason screamed. "Mark, Jane, get down!" Webb and Green dived for cover behind a stack of crates where the pinned-down Marines were hiding and firing. Mark wasn't so lucky.

The sphereical green blob discharged from the barrel of the fuel rod gun, and traveled at a slightly curved trajectory toward its intended target.

The green bolt of hot melting plasma smashed into the demo man's chest, hurling his body backwards end-over-end. The blast also set off a chain-reaction, detonating all the grenades and remaining blocks of C-12 that had been strapped to O'Connor's belt and combat armor.

When the thick smoke cleared, half of Mark's entire body had been eaten off by the explosion. It had literally been vaporized by the shrapnel and fire from the grenades and C-12. The remaining half of Mark's mutilated corpse was lying in a huge pool of his own blood. Some of his organs spilled out of him too.

Green had looked over her shoulder, watching this event unfold before her eyes. When it was over, she whispered, "Damn it!"

To her right, an African American by the name of Corporal Miguel Drert tossed a frag grenade toward the remaining Hunter. "Try this on!" he screamed.

The frag was just short of the Covenant bastard. It exploded, sending shrapnel in a column into the air, directly in front of the monstrosity. No damage done.

Private Green hefted her S2 AM sniper rifle to her shoulder, and took aim at the Hunter's soft fleshy stomach.

(Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor)!

Jane pulled the trigger, the rifle's blam reverberating through her ears. The Hunter groaned as it slumped forward to the ground face first. Orange blood slowly leaked out of the bullet hole, and formed a pool.

The Marine lowered the sniper rifle, and admired her handy work. One more notch to carve into my rifle once we get off this godforsaken planet! she thought joyfully.

A horn honked behind her. "Hey," Corporal Owens called from the driver seat of a Warthog, "hop in. Let's find the RV zone so we can get the hell off of this planet."

Private Green grinned. "Sir, yes, sir!" she said cheerfully. She walked to the chain-gunner's place, strapped her S2 AM to her back, and gripped the handles that fired the chain-gun. Owens was driving, O'Neil was riding shotgun, and she was manning the chain-gun. Combined with her ability to take out targets from long-range, she was practically a crack shot.


Corporal Patrick "Neo" Owens slammed down on the accelerator. The Warthog fishtailed, and shot forth, out of the hangar and into a lush green forest. He stopped the vehicle to make an announcement. "RV zone is about 7-10 klicks north of our current position," he said.

O'Neil and Green nodded. Then Owens pushed the accelerator again, and the Warthog zoomed forward, bumping over fallen tree banches and dead wildlife.

Suddenly, a distant whir caught the attention of Private Bryan O'Neil. He crooked his head, and saw what it was: a Covenant Banshee.

"Aw crap!" he shouted. "Covenant Banshee sighted to my right!"

"Firing!" Jane immediately spun the chain gun to face this new threat, and fired madly. A moment later, the Covenant sky vehicle exploded into plumes of fire and smoke as it lost control and spun sideways to the dirt.

"Yeah, are we bad or what?" Green said.

"Uh-huh!" Owens replied. He glanced ahead of him, and abruptly slammed on the brake. Everyone went flying forward. Steph almost fell off.

"What? Why did we stop?" Bryan asked.

"Covenant mine-field," he asserted slowly. Sweat started dripping from his brow. He wiped it away with his sleeve.

"Ah hell no!" Private Green cursed. "Is there another way around?"

"I'm afraid not," he replied, looking around him. "But that clearing at the far end will dump us out at the RV zone. I think it's worth it. Should we take the risk, Marines?!"

The two hesitated briefly, then nodded, and said, "Yes sir!"

"That's what I want to hear! Now let's go!" He put the Warthog in reverse until he thought he would have enough speed. He said a quick prayer, and hoped for the best.

Neo jammed his foot on the accelerator, and the LRV blasted forward. The front tires snapped the first trip wire. The trip wires were placed at even intervals. When one was snapped, blue and green plasma cannons and grenades mixed together would fire from one side of the path and also on the other side in perfect unison.

Plasma that glowed a deadly blue and green detonated and shot out on the Warthog's flanks. But the nimble vehicle was too fast. Pretty soon, all the trip wires had been snapped, and the trio had dodged all the explosions.

However, when they emerged at the RV zone, an Elite officer hurled a plasma grenade at the LRV's engine hood. It stuck.

"Bail!" O'Neil screamed as he jumped from the passenger seat and forward towards the Pelican dropship awaiting them.

"Ditto!" Jane replied. She hopped off the back, and Pat jumped out of the driver's seat. They all slammed into the ground as the plasma grenade detonated and sent the Warthog flying over the lip of a cliff. The Pelican was hovering above the cliff's lip.

"Lieutenant, how much longer are you going to be waiting for us?" he asked the Pelican pilot.

"Not too much longer, Corporal," the man replied. "There are too many Covies firing at us. Get inside quickly!"

"Let's go Marines! Triple time!" Corporal Owens yelled to O'Neil and Green. They all sprinted to the Pelican, and jumped because the Pelican was pulling away. All three Marines gripped the ramp of the Pelican as the dropship banked hard left and right, threatning to shake Owensa, O'Neil, and Green off.

Eavise manuevers, Private O'Neil thought. Three other Marines helped to pull up the trio and into the passenger area.

"Welcome back, Corporal!" Private Webb shouted happily.

"Yeah, thanks," he replied. He wasn't in the mood for celebrating right now; he was just glad to have escaped another hellhole.

"Good thing you got aboard," the junior lieutenant asserted over the COM line as he closed the hatch doors, "because if you hadn't jumped, you would've been left behind, doomed to be glassed by the Covenant."

"Those bastards were going to glass Key IX?!" O'Neil asked angirly.

"Yes, they were. Hopefully, our battle fleet up in space can take down their ships before they bombard the planet."

"The fleet's here? Oh lord yes! A better meal! A comfortable bed!" one Marine shouted joyfully. Then he sighed.

A couple Marines gave him strange looks. A few laughed or chuckled.

Thank god the fleet's here, Neo thought. I hope that we will be able to blow up some of their ships before they can glass the planet. But there might not be enough time to stop them. He sighed. Let's hope for the best.

The Pelican quickly pulled into the atmosphere, did a few more evasive manuevers, and escaped into Key IX's atmosphere.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: *finds the latest issue of Victoria's Secret* Yay! I found the issue! Yay! *pauses* Oh, sorry. Did you enjoy this chapter? I know there was more talking than action, but was it still enjoyable? Chapter 3 is coming soon, I swear.





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