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The Legends of Sgt. Johnson: Halo-Part 3
Posted By: Samslink14<Samslink14@AOL.com>
Date: 21 November 2004, 4:06 AM
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A few minutes passed before the Pelican pilot designated as "Foehammer" made it to their position, but the pickup was quick. The last Marine made the "all onboard" sign to Johnson and the Pelican lifted up and fired its thrusters. "Step on it!" Johnson yelled to the Master Chief. The pedal slammed against the Warthog's floor and the vehicle flew forward. They came out of the pass leading out of the valley and followed a small river for a while.
Going upstream, they came to another spot that the Spartan seemed to think as a likely area for survivors, but Johnson suspected that it was Cortana that made that calculation. They came to a huge rockslide with Covenant in every nook and cranny. They crushed a couple Jackals that were standing next to a downed but empty UNSC lifeboat. The Chief leaped out of the drivers seat long enough to grab some sniper ammo from the weapons locker in the lifeboat before moving on.
They came to the other end of the rockslide and passed up a blue-armored Elite and a group of Grunts. They skipped over them and parked the Warthog up at the top of the hill. Fitzgerald stayed in the LAAG, but the Spartan and Johnson leaped out. They both ran more uphill towards motion tracker contacts tagged as UNSC forces. The Spartan stopped for several seconds to fire off a few rounds at the group of Covies that they had passed up before, but kept moving after bringing down the leader.
They reached a large boulder that was actually a huge chunk of ground, and they ran up it to find several survivors. One spotted the two other humans and gave a greeting. "Good to see you sir!"
The Chief reached the top of the boulder and activated the x10 scope on the sniper rifle. He saw Fitzgerald firing at the Grunts attacking him and a Covenant drop ship landing troops. He sighted in on the drop ship and waited for its doors to open.
***
Pok heard the pilot's voice sound, announcing first in the Elite language, then the Jackals, and lastly the Grunts. "Attention, warriors loyal to the Covenant. We have contact with the infidels and are landing in less than half a unit. Be ready! Die well! Fight for the Prophets!" then the intercom signed off. The Jackal kept a firm grip on the handhold just above his head with one hand, and used the other to hold his blue-colored shield. His plasma pistol was holstered at his side, and he checked to make sure that it was there. His cousin, Fak, was two units away on his right, wielding a gold shield. On his left was the third Jackal, one who was new and had not yet been introduced to the squad. Pok was glad he was in this pocket, instead of the other with the commanding Elite and the gas-suckers. They didn't even have a voice low enough to make a grunt. Pok allowed a faint trace of a smile to touch his face. He was proud to be in this battle, proud to fight the infidels.
He thought of what he would do when he saw the enemy, how he would fire his pistol at the enemy, just like in training and overcharge it into vehicles. He was thinking of his moment of glory in taking the first kill before the Elite when the doors opened and instantly Fak's head exploded. Before the doors had even fully opened a second white line appeared and blew a hole in the new Jackal's chest. Pok cried out as purple blood sprayed the side of his face and instinctively activated his shield. The act saved his life. A third white line slammed into his shield and was deflected, the shot slamming into the roof of the drop ship. He stood there, breathing hard with his shield in front of him, when a call came over the com from the pilot. "Come on, you fool! Jump!" Pok reacted quickly and leaped from the drop ship to the ground. He hit hard, but recovered instantly and stood, with his shield held protectively in front of him. The commanding Elite was fired upon three times. The second infidel projectile missed, but the third broke through the blue armor, unprotected by the energy shield, which was taken by the first shot. The Elite fell backward with a scream. The Grunts yelled in panic and ran for cover, waving their arms in panic.
Pok advanced slowly, with his shield always in front of him, while he pulled out his plasma pistol and swept the area cautiously. He reached the rocks safely and sighed with relief. He realized that his hands were shaking. The Jackal had never imagined that this was what it was really like, fighting infidels that had superior range. Unfortunately, the group here at Halo had been here for a while, so they didn't have the latest new technology in plasma snipers.
The Jackal forced himself to keep going. The instant he rounded the corner, a white flash appeared before his eyes and his shield shook with great force. Forcing the shield to stay still, he peeked around his flashing white shield and saw a human vehicle there. It wasn't on, but on the back there was a mounted human weapon, and there was one of the infidels manning it. He focused to control his fear and overcharged his plasma pistol. It reached the peak of its power and he released the energy at the enemy weapon. The firing stopped and Pok looked again. The human was laid back against the side of the vehicle, still alive but wounded. It said something in its language with a harsh voice and pulled out its large weapon and aimed it at him. The Jackal fired at him with the pistol, lowering his shield. He was learning just how important the shield was to his existence in battle. He kept firing, but he couldn't see well. He heard another drop ship behind him and knew that reinforcements were on the way.
Pok started forward with his shield raised, firing as he came. The infidel took another hit and fell from its seat, behind the vehicle and cover. Curses! Pok ran forward while charging up his pistol. He approached the side of the vehicle and saw the human lying there, not moving. The Jackal sighed with relief and powered down his weapon. He was safe. In a few moments more Covenant warriors would arrive and they could continue on toward the infidel's position. He heard steps behind him and turned to greet the newcomers. Two Grunts rounded the corner and yelped at the sight of the Jackal. Realizing the fact that they were on the same side, they breathed deeply and ran forward. "Where is the rest of your squad sir?" one asked. Half of ours was killed before they touched the soil." The Jackal stared stupidly at the Grunts.
"You are the last of your group?" He finally managed.
"Oh no sir. Our commanding Elite charged the infidels over there." He pointed towards a different crack between boulders. "But we do not know what has become of him after that. We are the only other two. The others were killed as the doors opened!"
The Jackal swore and started to run away from the infidel position. There was no way he could kill an entire group of humans with just himself and a couple of Grunts. They were smart enough to follow him without question, and the Jackal would wait with them in cover for either reinforcements or evac.
As the units went by, a few more drop ships came, but every time at least half the Covenant soldiers were dead before leaving the transport.
Pok thought of Fak. He had saved two Jackal lives, Pok and one other. The third was killed and replaced by the new one while the 2nd Jackal, named Uop, was transferred to a different unit. In cause of Fak's actions, he had recently been promoted to honorary Jackal. Now he was headless, lying like carrion in the dirt. Pok clenched his fist and wished for revenge.
***
Fitzgerald shook uncontrollably. Bio-foam filled the wound, but he still couldn't stop the shaking. The pain he felt was excruciating. Hidden by the Warthog, Covenant soldiers passed him constantly, but he stayed where he was and lived. Within ten minutes, the Spartan and Johnson returned, followed by several survivors. They expressed concern for him, but couldn't do much more. Johnson tried to comfort him verbally. "Don't worry soldier, we've called for evac. You'll be out of here soon."
Another Marine, one of the survivors, dashed forward and jumped in the gunner seat for the LAAG to take Fitzgerald's place. "I haven't had enough of these bastards yet! Let's go!" They loaded the severely wounded onto the Warthog and drove them to the waiting Pelican. They were loaded on and taken care of. The other survivors jogged down and hopped in. As the Pelican lifted off, the Warthog was already headed for the next point.
***
"Are they gone?" asked one of the Grunts, Layap.
"Yes," said Pok. "They are gone. One day I shall have my revenge."
***
"Heads up!" Johnson yelled. A trio of Jackals fired at the Warthog, burning away metal. The new gunner opened up on them and took out the leader while the driver crushed the second and barely missed the third, which Johnson was responsible for killing. The three humans came to the entrance of the structure and checked above them, just in case the Spartan had missed any Covenant in his sniping before they had entered the area. He hadn't, so they moved inside. They literally ran into four Jackals on the way in, but a frag and a burst of the assault rifle was sufficient to silence them all. Seven Grunts were running around, but they were all easy prey. They killed two Elites from behind with a scavenged plasma grenade before they knew they were flanked. On the other side of the Elite's were two bridges only about a foot wide each. Below it was a pit that didn't seem to have a bottom. A dozen Marines greeted them and moved out. A Pelican was already waiting for them beside a cliff. Everyone boarded with relief. The human drop ship picked up the Warthog and flew for a rendezvous point.
From the data, Johnson found that a group of Hell jumpers had already taken over a Covenant outpost and made it a successful operational base. Designated "Alpha Base", it was in the process of making plans for scavenging supplies from the Autumn, which had crashed on the ring construct. Things were happening incredulously fast. The sooner they got to this "Alpha Base", the better. He was looking forward to seeing Mendoza and Jenkins again.
Continuing in The Legends of Sgt. Johnson: The Truth and Reconciliation.
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