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Earth, A Place for Death. by FuManChu
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Earth, A Place for Death. Part 1: NYC
Date: 27 July 2003, 12:52 AM
"Get down marine!" yelled Sgt. Atkinson to his radioman. The man didn't hear him and was blown into a smoldering pile of flesh and bones.
"Damnit Damnit Damnit," said the Sgt, "Alright, Kirby and Pile I need you two to give me supporting fire. I'm going to make a run for that building over there. We need to get out of here."
"Yes sir!" yelled the marines. Atkinson raised his hand. The marines knew that as soon as it dropped they needed to pop up and fire on the covenant. His hand dropped. Kirby and Pile came up with their MA6B Battle Rifles and opened fire.
Atkinson ran and made it to the building, when he looked back he saw Kirby get hit in the face with a needler round. The needle stuck in for a second and then blew up in his face sending bits of skull and meat everywhere. Pile got hit in the side of the head with a plasma bolt as he turned to look at the dead man behind him.
"Uh-oh," said Atkinson to himself as he turned and ran down an alley somewhere in the middle of New York City. He spotted a door to his right and went into the stairway of an apartment building. The Sgt. ran to the roof and crept to an edge. He peeked his head over and saw a squad of Grunts walking down a bloodstained street. Atkinson primed a grenade and dropped it off the top of the building. It landed in the front of the group and the grunts just stared at it. A second later it blew up sending shrapnel into six of the ten grunts and killing them. Atkinson finished off the other four with his Battle Rifle. After that he leaned up against the wall and let himself relax. He was awakened by a whining sound. He had been dreaming of his wife. He looked up to see five Banshees patrolling the skies. He got up and started to run for cover but two of the Banshees spotted him and raced in for the kill. They both shot their fuel rod cannons. The first one missed but the second one hit him square in the back, vaporizing his torso.
"Alpha Base" (Radisson Hotel) NYC
0130. 7 Aug. 2554
Commander Cooper leaned back in his chair. He had just got word of half his force dying in southern NYC.
"Hey you," he said pointing to the soldier at the back of the room, "go tell the radio man to call in sixty troops to our position."
[indent"Yes sir," said the soldier and walked out. 'These forces needed to be expanded', the commander thought to himself. From intelligence gathered from the field they had figured out the location of the Covenants temporary HQ, and every attempt to capture it has failed. The Covenant was too advanced and outnumbered the humans.
"Sir," said the soldier peeking his head through the door, "the troops will be here by tomorrow afternoon."
"Thank you," replied Cooper, and he thought 'good once those marines arrive I will take over the covies HQ'. He had a plan, they had stocked up on captured covenant vehicles. They had 6 Ghosts, 2 Banshees and 1 Wraith. Plus the 5 Warthogs and 3 ATV's that they had, and tomorrow night he was going to load up half of those vehicles and send in 1/4 of the remaining troops to attack the HQ. 'This can't fail,' he thought to himself, 'it just cant...
Locked in battle, somewhere in lower NYC
0200 7 Aug. 2554
Lt. Jones was alone. He had gotten separated from his squad during a firefight. He was also scared. He had seen Covenant forces trailing behind him. Where the hell was he? He checked his map again and looked for some buildings to identify. There! The Jackrabbit Pub. Good, he found it on his map. Then he checked for the Radisson Hotel, his HQ. He found it towards the top of the map. Shit, it was four clicks away. He had to get back and get some rations soon, or he was going to die. He checked his Battle Rifle. He had three more magazines, 2 grenades and his M6D pistol along with five magazines for that. 'Okay,' he told himself 'I can do this'.
Jones set out down an alleyway. He was headed north. As he was coming to the opening to a main street he saw something. He ducked behind a trashcan. It looked like a monkey... a monkey with armor and a mean looking weapon.
"What the hell..." Jones whispered to himself. The animal turned its head towards the alley. Whatever it was it had good hearing. The animal resumed its walk after a few seconds. 'Ok time to get out of here'. Jones turned around and headed for another street.
Camp Camero (on the outskirts of New York)
0301 7 Aug. 2554
"Ok men listen up," said the camp leader to the group of sixty marines in front of him," There are eight drop ships outside waiting for you. You are being dropped into the heart of New York City at the Radisson Hotel, dubbed Alpha Base. They just called in and need some reinforcements. So, you guys need to get your weapons and armor and head out to those drop ships.
"Yes sir," yelled the marines. They all dispersed into their barracks. In ten minutes they were flying away to Alpha Base.
To Be Continued...
P.S. this is my first story so please use constructive criticism and comments to help me please.
Earth, A Place for Death. Part 2: NYC(cont.)
Date: 31 July 2003, 1:09 AM
Half a click away from Alpha Base
0630, 7 Aug. 2554
The Lt. looked around for any Covenant. There were none in sight so he ran across a street into another alley. He checked his map again. Half a click away. Jones crept up to another corner. He heard voices. He pulled out an optic camera and put an uplink to his eyepiece. Jones slipped the camera around the corner and saw a terrible sight. Three monket creatures, ten spec ops grunts, and two golden elites.
'shit,' he thought. The Lt. took his Battle Rifle and put it around the corner. He sighted in on a monkey creature and opened fire. The monkey fell and he went to the next. After his ammo ran out he leaned back around the corner and reloaded. He had taken three monkeys and half of the grunts out. Jones primed a grenade and threw it out into the group. It killed the rest of the grunts and two elites. It took just a few shots to kill the last elite.
Jones reloaded and headed to Alpha Base
En Route to Alpha Base
0700, 7 Aug. 2554
"Okay marines," said the pilot of Pelican Charlie 333,"we are headed out of the safe zone and into dangerous territory. Be ready for anything." The pilot heard replies from some marines and smiled. It was her time to shine.
"everyone this is Echo 239, I am picking up some movement in that forest ahead. I advise pulling up out of range of any weapons."
The Pelicans started climbing just as plasma flak started exploding all around them. Luckily none of the dropships got hit.
Private Hill and a group of his buddies sat in their assigned Pelican as it started to climb. An explosion rocked the ship
"What the hell was that?" demanded Hill
"I think that the Covenant are firing flak at us," said Private Green, one of Hills friends. Hill stared out into the sky and then down at the flak. It was comforting, in a way. The blue clouds made him feel good. But he couldn't wait to be on ground. He had a friend down there, a Lt., Hill just hoped that he was alive. All he could think of doing was trying to get some sleep.
Alpha Base
1030, 7 Aug. 2554
The Commander leaned back in his chair as a person came through the door. It was a Lt. His name was Jones.
"Hello Lieutenant," he said.
"Hello sir," Jones replied,"I have to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"Have any of your men reported seeing monkey-like creatures?"
"Why yes they have, we qualified them as the working class of the Covenant. We call them brutes."
"Okay, that sure makes me feel better. I ambushed a squad of Covenant with three 'brutes' in it. They aren't that hard to kill butthey look tough. Well I better get going, I need some rations. Good bye sir," Jones said.
"Good bye," replied Cooper as the Lt. walked out. Just then the intercom rang."Sir, I was just letting you know that our forces have surrounded the enemies HQ and are waiting for your reinforcements."
"Thank you, the orces should be here in about two and a half hours."
"Yes sir," it said and clicked off.
Cooper leaned back and thought,'we are going to take back NYC. We will win this war.
Alpha Base
1100, 7 Aug. 2554
Jones walked into the cafetorium and got some food. He picked out some beef and corn and also took a bowl of jello. He walked over to an empty table and sat down. He wondered about the private he had met and how he was doing. If he was assigned here he would take Hill under his shoulder. He finished that thought and ate his food. Just as he finished an alarm rang out over the intercom and a voice said," warning Covenant forces are massing to the south, this is not a drill. All able bodied marines get over there now."
Jones dropped his plate and ran out to the south end of the hotel. He ran outside into the cool air. The ground shook as the sky clouded and started to rain. The steam rose off of the hot pavement and reduced visibility. Jones could hear the bark of Battle Rifles and the spitting of the submachine guns. Then there was the sizzling of the plasma weapons. It was all coming from his left. He ran out and met up with a lone marine firing on a covenant position.
"Whats your name soldier?" shouted the Lt.
"I am private second class Mann," the marine replied.
"Alright, you stick with me and we will get out of hear alive." The marine grunted and fired again. Jones raised his rifle and fired. Plasma flew past his head just inches from his ears. He ducked down and got a better position. In a few minutes the skirmish was over. Both Mann and Jones survived.
"Good job marine," saide Jones," you can stick by me. Ill be a good friend."
"Thanks, your the first person to even acknowledge me. Thanks for being my friend."
"No problem son. You will do good. We make a good team." And with that the two marines walked back into the hotel and went to get some rest.
The Commander sat back again. He stepped to his window and saw the Pelicans land.'Good,' he thought,' now we can plan our massive attack and take back New York.' City.' Cooper had a good feeling about this one.
To Be Continued...
Earth, A Place for Death. Part 3: NYC final action
Date: 31 July 2003, 6:16 PM
Alpha Base
2200, 7 Aug. 2554
" Alright," said Cooper standing in front of a group of about one hundred marines, " tonight at 2300 we are going to raid the enemies HQ. We have captured some of their vehicles and have repaired some of our own. We also got news that five ATVs are headed here and will arrive shortly. Here is our plan. First, we will send in an attack from the air, the attack will be from enemy banshees. The pilots are being trained to fly them now. After taking care of their air defenses we will send in our wraith tank and hit the front gate. Once that barrier is broken we will send any remaining vehicles inside." The commander paused for a moment, then said, " I am about to put you in harms way. If you do not wish to go on this mission please walk out of the room now." No one did. " Good. Okay marines get with your teams and prepare for combat. Dismissed." The marines exited out of the ball room.
Hill walked around with his friend Green. They were looking for Lt. Jones, Hills other friend. After walking around for ten minutes he recognized a voice. It was Jones'. Hill headed over there and saw his face.
" Jones!" he shouted, " how's it goin?"
"Not bad," replied Jones, " not too bad. Hey I got a private I want you to meet. His name is Mann." Mann shook Greens hand and was holding his chest. He was sweating too.
" I also want you to meet a friend of mine, his name is Green." Green and Jones shook hands and Green commented on how pale Mann looked. Everyone seemed to notice now. Then Mann fell on the floor and complained of chest pains.
" Do we have a medic here!" shouted Jones as he chexked for a pulse. It was slowing down. A man ran through the crowd, "I'm a medic, what do you need?"
"This man is having a heart attack or something." yelled Jones. The medic checked his chest and shook his head. Manns heart stopped beating. he died of a heart attack.
"DAMN, he was a good soldier, but it was his time to go," said Jones," Come on Hill, and bring your friend too." Hill, Green and Jones walked away. They went and sat down at an empty table.
Jones said," Okay you guys, we are going to make a pact. We wont leave anyone behind and we wont run away. We are a group now. We will get through this war." The group vowed and then got some refreshments. They needed all the strength they had for this battle.
"Okay marines it is 2250. We have ten minutes until we move out." said the commander," I will assign groups now." Cooper read off the list of names in the infantry. Then the wraith pilot and protectors. After that it was banshee and ghost pilots and finally the warthog groups. Hill, Green and Jones were assigned to a warthog. The three men walked out to their four-wheeled killing machine. Jones took the drivers seat. Hill got the gunner, and Green hopped into the passengers seat.
"Alright guys, let go kick some ass." said Jones and the others agreed. The clock hit 2300 and the men were off to fight the enemy.
A click away from Covenant HQ in NYC
time: 2315, 7 Aug. 2554
The warthogs were in the back. Jones,Hill and green watched as the banshees flew over head and wiped out the enemies air defenses. Then they turned their attention to a huge ball od plasma that came from the covenant. It soared over their heads and landend on their tank and caused it to explode. The explosion disabled a warthog and killed two other men. Then the gates flew open and covenant poured out. The Warthogs chainguns fired and mowed the covenant down. They were mostly made up of Grunts but there were a few elites too. Jones floored it and plowed right into then forces. Hill fired the chaingun and Green shot his Battle Rifle. The three men were inside and cleard the outer defenses along with another warthog and about twenty men. Then plasma raind from above and scorched the ground. Jones could hear the air crackle. He drove under a balcony and hopped out. Hill and Green did the same.
" Okay guys, the main part of their HQ is in there, we will breach it and clear a way for the mechanics to take their technology." Jones said in a raspy voice. Hill and green ran in and Jones looked back. They were lucky. The large group outside had gotten flanked and lost half of their forces. No time to think about that now. Jones turned and headed in.
The place was fairly empty. Only a few rooms had aliens in them. It was no problem for the three men. Jones and the other two made their way to the roof. Jones crept up to the door. He opened it about an inch and peeked through. Then he shut it and said, "There are three shade turrets we need to take out. And there are five Brutes. When I open the door we will take out the shades first. Hill you take the far left one, I will take the middle and Green will take the far right. Got it?"
"Yes sir," said Hill and Green in unison. Jones opened the door and primed his grenade. The shades blew up all at once and the brutes fired on them. The guns fired red plasma and had a huge blade on the bottom of it. When the plasma hit the wall behind them it blew up and sent concrete everywhere. The three men ducked behined cover. Green popped up and fired his rifle. It barked and took down two brutes. Jones and Hill got up and killed the last three.
The three men walked to the front of the roof and helped clear out the remaining forces, then they waved the group in. The engineers got data from the covenant computers and stored them on disks. once everything was done a demolition team rigged the building to blow. The group got to a safe distance and blew it up. The sight was magical to Jones. He was glad to have this city back in human hands. The rain stopped and the clouds opened. The burden was finally gone.
Alpha Base
time: 0800, 8 Aug. 2554
The group only lost fourty men. And they were happy to be back at Alpha Base. The men were ordered to report to the cafetorium for a debriefing and some new information. Jones, Hill and Green sat at a table on the far right of the room. The room quieted as the commander walked in. Cooper walked to the center of the room and said," Okay men. You did a very good job at overrunning the building. The information the technicians extracted from their computers is still being analyzed and decoded. Now we can move into the lower part of New York. Now for some other buisness. We need thirty men on each side of the room." The men split up and Jones and the other two stayed to the right side. The commander spoke again, " Good, now all of those on the left will head to the front in lower New York and those of you to the right will head to New Mombosa, Africa. Go get your gear and head out. Dismissed."
Jones looked at the other two men and said," Okay guys lets go get ready and take back New Mombosa." The three of them headed out to get their gear and then hopped on a pelican to Africa.
To Be Continued...
Earth, A Place for Death. Part 4: New Mombosa
Date: 4 August 2003, 12:12 AM
En Route to New Mombosa
Time: 0830, 9 Aug. 2554
The com crackeled, " Ok marines. This is Pelican Bravo 198, we will be arriving at New Mombosa in about three hours. We will stop to refill once and then head over to the front lines." A few mumbles were heard but nothing else.
"You think that we are going to get through this one?" asked Green.
"Of course man, we will get through anything," replied Jones.
"Alright, thanks for the reassurance." Jones grunted and laid back. They needed some rest. New Mombosa was mostly populated by Covenant. These men were being sent in to break the way for the reenforcements. That was the last thought that Jones could remember before he fell fast asleep.
"Marines, you can get some refreshments and use the bathroom. We are refueling and will take off in five minutes," said the sergeant. Jones awoke and stood up to stretch. Hill and Green were nowhere to be seen. They were probablt getting something to eat. Jones decided to do the same. He walked down a hall of a building. There was some barf in the corner. No one had cleaned it up and flies swarmed it. Jones gagged and rushed ahead. He opened up a door and was surrounded by chatter. He could here something about Spartans and here. He sure hoped there weren't any spartans coming. That would mean that there were heavy Covenant forces. Jones dismissed the thought and got an MRE. Pork was what the label said. Jones opened it up and ate. It was good. Just as he felt comforatable a sergeant came in and said," alight marines, we are lifting off. Report to your pelicans now!"
"YES SIR!" the marines yelled and ran out the doors to their dropships.
New Mombosa
Time: 1130, 9 Aug. 2554
The flight took an hour and a half. As soon as they hit the ground they were pounded with plasma fire. The blue and green plasma screamed past Jones' head as he ran for cover.
"Hill, Green get over here." The two men ran twards Jones but Hill was hit in the leg.
"Shit," Jones whispered to himself. Green ran over to Hill and picked him up. Green brought Hill to Jones.
"It's not bleeding too bad, but we need to get him to a medic. Once the Covenant forces are cleared we can set up a base camp. Green, stay with him," said Jones.
"Yes sir."
Jones popped up and fired his battle rifle. He hit a grunt in the head and methane spewed out from the mask. Jones could hear a sream as an elite was hit by a turret. His rifle barked again and two more grunts went down. Click. Jones' rifle wouldnt shoot. The ammo counter read at fifteen bullets. His rifle jammed.
"Shit," he said and tossed the rifle aside. A plasma bolt skimmed the side of his helmet and left a small crevise. The helmet heated up and he yanked it off. Once he was ok he drew his side arm. He popped up again and his submachine gun spit. Bullets flew everywhere. More grunts fell and another elite died. Finally after ten minutes of fighting the Covenant were cleared. There were minimal casualties. But there were still a lot more Covenant on the other side of the building in front of them. Luckily none were getting through. Finally a base camp was established and Hill was carried to a makeshift hospital. Jones and Green stayed with him. Jones heard medics say some things like," damn, he's gone," and, "Damn, he wont make it. Death at 1000."
"Hill, your going to be okay. You barely got hit in the leg and you will recover in a day or two. Plus I hear a dropship so some more marines will be here." Jones tried to comfort him.
Green looked outside and saw a green figure walk by," w...was that a spartan?!"
'My God,' Jones thought,'that was a spartan. There must be a lot of trouble ahead.' Jones nodded to confirm Greens' question. Jones leaned against a wall and thought about his parents. He didn't want to leave them, no not yet.
"Marines, tomorrow we will lead an attack against a covenant ship outside of this city. We want to extract information and technology then we will blow it up. So get some rest and a good meal 'cause tomorrow we will put up a helluva fight." The general walked out and left the men. Jones sat down and laid back his head. He needed some rest. He told Hill and Green to get some rest and he walked off to his barrack.
To Be Continued...
Earth, A Place for Death. Part 5: Attack on the Gods Hands.
Date: 6 August 2003, 9:54 PM
Preparing for the attack on the covenant cruiser GODS HANDS
2100 hours, 10, Aug. 2554
"Ok marines, we will be heading out in ten minutes. We will lead an attack on the Covenant ship floating above the city." said the sergeant to the group of sixty marines in front of him.
"Yes sir."
The marines headed out of the room and got geared up. Jones and Green walked over to Hill, who was still in the hospital, and gave him a battle rifle and two SMGs. Hill took them and stood up. He let out a little cry of pain but remained standing.
"This sucks," Hill said.
"I'll bet," said Jones,"we are going to lead an attack on that cruiser tonight."
"I'll be fine," Hill said and walked outside. He looked into the night sky. The stars were shining bright. They twinkeled redish blue and back to white.
"C'mon Hill, lets get to our vehicle. We are going in with a Scorpion battle tank," Green told the other two and they walked away. The tank was specially fitted with extra plates of armor and a better machine gun that was more accurate. Jones climbed into the drivers' seat and Hill got the gunners' seat. Green hopped on a tread and three other marines did the same.
"Ok marines lets get the hell out of here and kick some covie ass!" yelled Jones.
"Ooh-Rah!" yelled the five other marines on board. The tank rooled out onto the street. Three warthogs drove in front of them as an escort. Two ATVs raced ahead as scouts so that they could report any covenant movement. The covenant craft grew bigger as the neared. About two clicks away from the ship a whole bunch of lights appeared in the sky. They were flying down to the ground. Three of the pod-like craft landed in front of the warthogs. Everyone stopped. The pods opened up and an elite jumped out of each. The gunners in the warthogs mowed them down. Once the threat was gone they moved forward again. As they got close to the ship they met up with ground forces. The infantry was composed of twenty marines, five engineers and five demolitions men. The infantry got in to position behind the tank. The gravity lift was in sight. Then thirty covenant troops came out of the lift. Green got a lock on and fired a shell from the tank. The blast killed all but five of the troops and the warthogs cleared the rest. The men waited to see if anymore would come. None did. The men hopped out of the vehicles and ran up onto the gravity lift. They started to hear a whining sound. Then the troops saw five dropships headed their way. As the dropships landed the marines were being lifted up. The dropships fired at them. One engineer was hit in the head and brain matter flew to the ground. That was the only casualty.
Inside covenant cruiser
2130 hours, 10, Aug. 2554
The men split up into groups of three. Naturally Jones, Green and Hill grouped up. They were going to head to the bridge of the ship and clear it out for the engineers so that they could get important information.
"C'mon guys, lets go," said Jones and the three men headed into an alien hallway. Everything was a matallic puprle. It was creepy to Green. As they came up to a dorr it detected their presence and slid open almost noiselessly. Inside there were three elites patrolling. Each one had a plasma sword. The three men split up and stayed in the shadows. Then all at once their battle rifles barked and the three elites fell dead. Their screams echoed in the big room. Jones checked his map and motioned for the other two to follow him. As they neared a door he said,"The ships bridge is right out there. I expect heavy resistance so be prepared."
"Yes sir," said the other two. The three men charged the room with rifles ready. To their suprise there was no covenant.
"Jones to engineers, the bridge is ready for you to move in. Repeat, the bridge is ready."
"Yes sir, I will come up myself along with an escort of two marines." The radio clicked off and they waited. In five minutes the engineer was there. He ran to the computers and started converting the data to disks. After ten minutes they were ready to head out. Three fourths of the forces in the ship were cleared and the last ones were being killed right now. Once all the covenant were dead the demo team planted their explosives.
Jones spoke to the other marines once they were gathered around the gravity lift,"Ok we know that there are covenant troops below us so, when we land we need the technicians to be covered and the warthogs' LAAGs to be manned. Green, Hill and myself will take the tank and help clear out the forces. Once they are dead we get back to base camp. Got it?"
"YES SIR!" the group yelled back. The marines stood on the gravity lift and were let down. As soon as they landed plasma hammered their position. Jones rolled to the right and got behind a boulder. He popped up and shot at a group of grunts. They didn't know what hit them. Then plasma wizzed by his head and hit a marine behind him, spilling out his guts. The marine cried and finally passed out. Jones looked over at the tank. Hill and Green were already there. He glanced around and saw a plasma grenade land on a marine. It detonated and killed three more men.
"Jesus Christ we are getting fucked up," Jones said to himself. He worked up the last bit of courage he had and stood. He ran for the tank. Plasma and bulets zoomed past his head and he nearly got stuck with a plasma grenade but he made it to the tank. The three men got on and the cannon boomed. Alien bodies went flying. The head of a grunt landed on Jones and he jerked. It was very ugly. He primed a grenade, stuffed it into the grunts neck and tossed the head back. It blew up sending shrapnel and bone fragments everywhere. Two more shots of the cannon and the last covenant died. The marines regrouped and head back to base camp.
Base Camp
0100 hours, 11, Aug, 2554
The marines gathered in the dark outside of base camp. The general there walked out and stood at the center of them.
He said,"Good job marines. We are just now getting the data sorted out and we have another job for you. Their data says that covenant troops are massing at the south end of New Mombosa. The spartan some of you may have seen is headed there now. Once you and the spartan clear that group you can rest for a couple of days. Then we have an attack that will hit their homeworld." a few gasps were heard."Thats right, you heard me. We will plan an attack on the covenants homeworld. Our target there is their Master Prophet. He is the one with control over the covenant. Anyways, you guys get some rations and sleep. We will head out at 1500 hours today. Oh, I almost forgot. Look at that cruiser over there." The marines tirned and looked at the ship. It exploded in the air and metal flew everywhere. The ship crashed down in to the buildings below and sent up a huge cloud of dust. The marines cheered and went to get some food. There was still a job to do. Green thought of how tired he was and told the others that he was going to get some sleep. They left and did the same.
To Be Continued...
Earth, A Place for Death. Part 6: Helping out the Chief
Date: 11 August 2003, 6:53 PM
Lower New Mombosa
Time: 1530 hours, 10, Aug. 2554
They were at a deadlock. The marines moved in and supported the Master Chief. Now there was only a few groups of covenant remaining. But the marines had suffered some casualties.
"Jones, get over here and help this man out," said a medic who was standing over a mans body.
"Alright," Jones replied. Jones walked over to the man lying down. He looked... funny. His face was a greenish color and he had blisters all over.
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" asked Jones, "and what the hell is wrong with him?"
"Just hold his hand sir. He needs someone. And here is whats wrong. He said he was out fighting some covenant when his group was attack with some sort of gas. He was the only survivor. We think that this gas seeps into the skin and eats away at it. Plus it burns like hell and thats why he has blisters."
"Damn." Jones looked at his face. It was filled with agony. Jones turned away. He looked at Green and Hill who were firing off a few rounds at straggling grunts.
"Shit he's gone," said the medic as he let go and left. Jones let go of the dead marines hand and walked over to his two friends.
"Guys," he said, "the covenant have developed some kind of gas that eats away at your skin and organs, so if you come under attack be ready for it."
"Ok," they both said. Jones saw the Master Chief standing in a corner talking to his AI, Cortana. He wondered what it was like to be a Spartan. Was it cool? Did it suck? Jones forgot all about that as hordes of plasma rained down on them. One-third of the men were taken down instantly, their bodies being sliced in two be the plasma. Hill and Green ducked and rolled into cover and popped up with their battle rifles blasting. Jones grabbed his own battle rifle and made his way to Green and Hill, stopping every few feet as to make sure he was ok. In a minute he was over there and they were all shooting. Five elites,seven brutes and ten grunts ran out into the open. Plasma melted sand and plastic. Nine out of the ten grunts died from a grenade. An elite pulled out his own plasma grenade and primed it, but when he threw the last grunt ran into it.
"GET IT OFF!" he yelled in his high pitched voice as he ran to the brutes. The grenade blew up and took out all of the brutes. Jones focused on the elites and took one down. In the next two minutes the other elites died.
"Shit, I wasn't expecting that one," said Green. Hill and Jones agreed. Jones turned to look for the Chief, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"If your looking for the chief then you can forget about," said a private, "I saw him take off at the begining of the battle."
"Ok, thanks marine."
"No problem sir." Jones headed back to Green and Hill who were sitting on the ground. They were listening to the sergeant there. The sergeant got up and left.
"What did he say?" asked Jones.
Green answered,"he said that our work here is done but we will only rest for a couple of days. After that we will board a ship called The Lone Wolf and that will take us close to the covenants home planet. From there fifty dropships will land troops all over the planet and we will search for the Master Prophet."
"Sounds good, lets go and head back to base camp. There we can eat and rest." said Jones. The others agreed and got up. As they were walking back Jones' hand started to burn. He shook it off and kept walking. He needed some more sleep.
Base Camp
Time: 1900 hours, 10, Aug. 2554
The commander debriefed them as usual and they all set out for the cafetorium. Jones felt a pain in his hand again but it disappeared in an instant. He grabbed a tray and moved down the line of food. He picked up a chicken wing, some mashed potatoes and a coke. He went and sat down by himself. Hill and Green had already gone to their bunks. He scarfed down the food and threw away his tray. He wasn't full but he didn't care. He walked into the lounge and sat down to watch some TV. Only the news was on. All they talked about was the Master Chief and how he single handedly took down a covenant base in the middle of Africa. Jones started to dose off but just as he was about to fall asleep the pain in his hand returned. It was also in his arm. Jones smacked his arm and got up. He took two tablets of Tylenol. Then he walked to his bunk and climed in bed. He fell into an uneasy sleep. Jones woke up from a dream. He had thought that he was infected with that gas stuff. He thought that was silly and fell back asleep in a few minutes.
To Be Continued...
Earth, A Place for Death. Part 7: Lifting off
Date: 4 September 2003, 10:10 PM
Base Camp
Time:0800 hours, 12, Aug. 2554
Jones walked down the corridor nervously. His body was burning and he wanted it checked out. He arrived at the infirmary and knocked on the door.
"Hold on," said a voice inside.
"I CAN'T," yelled Jones.
"Alright alright," said the man and opened the door," what do you want?
"My whole body is burning," Jones said. The medic nodded and led him over to a table. He looked at him for a few seconds and said," Okay, just stay there. I think you have that gas poisoning crap that another guy had. You came in at the right time. I'll get it all fixed."
"Thanks," Jones said. The doctor pulled out a syringe and filled it with a liquid. He came over and motioned for Jones to stick out his arms. Jones complied and the medic stuck it in. The pain was unbearable and Jones passed out.
Green walked over to Hill and they talked about random things; wives, kids, cars, and other stuff. The camp commander interrupted them.
"Front and center marines," he yelled," I have some things to tell you boys. First, the Covenant has developed a new weapon. Some type of nerve gas. It eats away at your skin on contact causing blisters, sores and finally death." The commander stopped for a minute, then said, "So now we will wear full bodied suits and gas masks whenever we get into battle. And today we will take off at 2100 hours and meet with a cruiser called The Lone Wolf. From there we will enter slipstream space and get in close to the covenants home planet. From there drop ships will take you to the surface. You will receive further orders upon arrival. That is all, dismissed," The commander left and the marines started talking.
"Shit man, I hope we aren't infected," Hill said.
"Man we are not infected, otherwise we would be burning up and it would hurt like a mother," replied Green.
Jones awoke feeling a slight discomfort. He didn't know where he was. Then it all came back at once; Base camp, hospital, disease, needle, medic, and the pain. Jones turned his head to the right and saw the medic standing there.
"How's it going?" asked the medic.
"Uh ... I think I'm okay, but my muscles hurt a bit.
"Yeah, that shot causes all your muscles to cramp but it should subside in a minute or two." The medic paused, said," you better hurry up, we are lifting off in an hour." Jones nodded and in a few seconds the pain was gone. He sat up and then slowly got to his feet.
Green and Hill headed to the armory. In an hour they would be lifting off and they didn't want to leave without a weapon. The men got to the door and opened it up. Everyone was getting ready to fight. Hill and Green walked to a battle rifle rack. None were left.
"Damn," said Hill, "now we don't have a machine gun."
"Don't worry. We'll find something else."
They found some SMGs and they both took one. Hill picked one up for Jones. They holstered them and walked over to the shotguns. Hill picked two of them up and looked at Green. Green looked back and said," I am going to go over here and look for an assault rifle. I hate those things."
"Whatever man," said Hill," meet me outside. Green nodded and mumbled something. Hill walked out the door and waited. He was examining a shotgun shell as Green walked out.
"Look at this," said Hill
"What," said Green as he bent over," that's a hippo. HAHA," he laughed. They had a little laugh and walked over to the infirmary. On the way they met Jones.
"Hey Jones," yelled Hill," I brought you some weapons. Jones walked over and they shook hands.
"Thanks man," he said. Hill nodded and they started walking down the hall. Just as Jones was about to say something the intercom cut in," All soldiers report to the pelicans. We are leaving early. We detect Covenant drop ships and missiles. This is not a drill. I repeat, all soldiers to the pelicans now," the COM went off.
"Shit," said Jones," lets hurry up," The men ran to a pelican outside and hopped in. In seconds the pelican was full.
"Pilot of Pelican Bravo 333 your ship is full and ready for takeoff."
"Roger that," the pilot said and the door was shut. The men felt the ship rumble and the engines came to life. In seconds they were up in the air. Jones looked out of the little porthole in the back of the ship. Three pelicans were still on the ground. Just then missiles hit and exploded sending chemical gas everywhere. The men on the ground fell down and the drop ships were gone. The missiles had hit them directly. Jones looked away and laid back.
The pelicans sailed silently through space. In an hour they were at the cruiser. They docked and walked to the main deck. A commander was there and he told them to get some food and sleep. They were going to need it if they wanted to fight their way to the Master Prophet.
To Be Continued...
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