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Legends of Sgt. Johnson by Samslink14
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Legends of Sgt. Johnson:Assault on the Control Room
Date: 8 October 2004, 7:43 AM
Mendosa slammed a fresh clip into his Assault Rifle and aimed at a nearby Grunt. He gave a small double burst. The first pierced the covenant armor easily, causing it to yelp and hold its stomach. The second burst caught its upper chest, sending it flying on its back.
"Get that lead out Marines!" Sergeant Johnson yelled. Beside him, Private Jenkins took aim at a nearby Elite. Two other Marines, including Johnson, opened fire on it, breaking through its shield in seconds. Armor-piercing rounds punched through its lungs and throat, throwing it backwards in silent death.
"Yeah! That's it!" yelled another Marine. The squad pushed up the hill and leaped down it, meeting dozens of Covenant soldiers straight in the face, screaming defiance.
Chris Radley took a hit in the shoulder and yelled out, but kept going. Ben Grath didn't have that much grit. He took a couple hits in the stomach and went down, screaming and writhing in pain. A green blob with high velocity and struck the ground right next to him, sending his body rolling away and spraying blood all over the place, staining the snow red. Grath screamed, spilling his intestines on the ground. His whole front was black with plasma burns. As his voice went silent, the squad turned to the source of the blast. A Hunter leveled a huge weapon, releasing another large bolt of energy at them. The whole squad hit the dirt, firing their rifles and cursing in dismay. After three hours of constant battle with the Covenant they'd finally had their first casualty.
The blast flew over them and shook the earth. As always, Sgt. Johnson was the first on his feet, yelling at the others to get up and, "fight like hell if they wanted to live". They ran at full speed towards the pair of hunters, recklessly charging towards what would probably be the end of all of them. The group split up, attempting to confuse and flank the Hunters, but with no avail. Instead, they got another surprise.
A single rocket appeared and buried itself inside the first Hunter, shattering its body and tossing it into the air. A figure in dark green armor ran forward with incredible speed straight at the remaining Hunter. He, or maybe it, threw the smoking rocket launcher on the ground and drew out a pistol. The figure closed the distance faster then the Hunter could calculate, and it ended up backing up in confused suspicion. It looked for a moment at its blood brother, then roared in fearsome rage and charged. The moment the Hunter swung at him, the figure changed direction and rolled away from the bone-crushing impact. The shield blocked the Hunter's view with the swing, so when the attack was complete, it found air in front of it. Before it had a chance to turn around, a slug from the pistol silenced its frustration.
Silence ensued for several seconds before the group ran forward, shouting with astonishment. "Holy shit! Did you see that? He just ran past and shot before it knew what was coming!" the figure turned to face the Marines.
The whole group stopped to stare. MJOLNIR armor glinted in the sun, or what would be the sun if they were on earth. The armor was battered and stained in the blood of the enemy. Purple from the Jackals and Elites spread along his left arm, blue Grunt blood was sprayed across his legs and stomach. Even the orange blood of the Hunters was splattered across his chest and helmet. A Spartan.
Surprisingly, Mendosa felt like he had seen him before. Sgt. Johnson walked forward with a big grin on his face. "Good to see you again, Spartan-117. Or should I say Master Chief?"
Mendosa frowned. Master Chief. Where have we met up with any Spartans? Of course! When Reach was being attacked, and Johnson's group had been pinned down by a bunch of Jackals. He would never forget that day. Sniper shots took out half of them in half a second, and the rest were mopped up in the other half of the same second. You need to concentrate on one Jackal at a time, or they will keep you at bay till your dead. Not his exact words, but more or less, that was what he had said when they parted.
Explanations came and went quickly, and within a minute the whole group moved off. The Master Chief led them to a Scorpion and they all got on. The tank included a warthog, therefore they could take everyone. They passed out of the huge, frozen valley soon, and came to a cave. The Chief got out and walked in, telling the others to do the same. Inside they found another two dozen Marines, two warthogs, and three captured ghosts. Looking up, Mendosa found that the roof of the cave had been carved out and on a small shelf was a Banshee with two Marines standing guard over it.
The Master Chief was talking with Sgt. Johnson and another Marine while the others ate and rested. Soon they came over and organized a trio to patrol in one of the warthogs. Mendosa soon found out that a scout troop consisting of three Marines in a warthog had been expected back sixteen minutes past. Going were the Master Chief, Sgt. Johnson, and Mendosa had been picked for the third.
They drove hard for twelve minutes with light Covenant contact. They finally stumbled across an overturned warthog. Next to it lying on the ground was a bloody carcass of a Marine, still clutching an empty assault rifle. The Spartan got out and jogged over to it, checking the dog tags on the Marine and identification number on the warthog.
"That ours?" Johnson yelled.
"The Master Chief nodded. "That's ours."
"Damn!" Mendosa said, slamming a fist on the LAAG, which he was manning. "Mystery solved, but all in the wrong way!"
Both of the others turned to him. "No, not yet." Said the Spartan. "We've got one Marine here, and I sent out three. We have to find the other two, and fast. The Covenant are obviously chasing them, or both the Marines and the Covenant would be here. We'll take this warthog too."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Mendosa asked. "The damn thing's flat on its back!"
"Simple." The Chief walked over to the hog and firmly gripped its side. With incredible strength, he flipped it several feet into the air. It landed almost gracefully on it tires, the shocks absorbing its momentum. He then calmly took the Marines dog tags as a custom and got in the vehicle while the two Marines looked on in astonishment.
They needed two extra spots for the other two soldiers, so they could not take their fallen comrade with them. Neither could they bury him then, for they needed speed to get to the others before the Covenant did. But they did at least set him out of sight by the cliff, so they could come back for him if they had the chance.
The Master Chief went first, then Johnson with Mendosa as gunner. It was a good thing too, for the two Marines would not have survived what would have hit them had they been in the lead. As they rounded a tight corner, a huge blue plasma bolt hit dead-on the Chief's hog, flipping it several times before stopping and throwing the Spartan out and causing his shields to flare in response to the danger.
Johnson slammed on the brakes, stopping and backing up behind the cliff. Mendosa knew that a warthog in such close-ranged combat with a Wraith tank was worthless. Helpless, the Marines watched with more astonishment as the Chief calmly stepped behind a large white bolder and switched from a sniper rifle to a pistol. Timing it carefully, he ran just as the Wraith fired, blowing away half the bolder. Without hesitating, Spartan-117 dashed forward, firing rounds into the tank. Just before it fired again, he threw a plasma grenade on top of it and slid under it. Igniting another plasma grenade on its underside, he slid out from under it on the other side just as the first exploded, shattering most of the outer hull, breaking through armor like it was designed to do. The second blew into the inner area of the Wraith tank, detonating the power core. The Master Chief appeared and began walking back to the Warthog while the Wraith erupted into a huge ball of flame.
After this, Mendosa silently vowed that he would never be surprised again unless it was a Spartan doing the surprising.
* * *
That's it for now dudes! I'll be writing part two next weekend.
Be sure to check it out!
P.S.
I plan to do one of these for every Halo level pretty much, so by the time most of you read this, I may have done it already. Check it out!
Legends of Sgt. Johnson: Assault on the Control Room-Part Two
Date: 17 October 2004, 8:25 AM
"Contacts!" the Master Chief yelled.
"How can you tell?" Mendoza yelled back.
The Master Chief tapped his helmet. "Motion tracker! No vehicles, just a ground troop! Be ready!"
* * *
Grapt scowled at his commanding Elite and held back to the rest of the troop. He knew the Grunts would listen; they were of his own kind and knew his situation. But he was worried about the Jackals.
"We're holding up here! Yatsk, Rokt, Lanh wants you up as scouts. Report to him!" he yelled. Yatsk sneered.
"So, the Grunts will now give us orders shall they? I'll tear you apart Grapt, no matter what the consequences if you get so arrogant as to give an order to one of us." Grapt's feelings sank. Just as he feared.
"It is not I that gives the command but our Elite." He reasoned. "You know that. Disobedience is sacrilege."
"Disobedience of the Elite, not the Grunt." He shot back, taking a step forward and raising his plasma pistol slightly.
"The order is from the Elite! Obey at once!" the Grunt yelled, failing at the attempt to be ferocious with his high-pitched voice. The Jackal raised the plasma pistol and overcharged it. The instant before he released the bolt of energy, the other Jackal, Rokt, stiffened.
"What's that sound?" he asked. Yatsk lowered and charged down his weapon, listening. They all knew that sound.
"Infidels!" he screamed. The Elite ahead with his attachment turned and started running back just as two infidel vehicles rounded the corner. The first expertly pulled out of the turn and crushed the three Jackals that were holding position as rear guard. The second vehicle fish-tailed for a moment and charged through the middle ranks firing hundreds of rounds into Covenant flesh.
The whole troop opened fire and chipped away at them but did no real damage. Useless! A ground troop against two infidel vehicles known as "Warthogs" was brutally against them.
* * *
Within seconds it was all over. The troop was a bunch of trainees, and were no match for the superior Marines.
A few miles past before they saw more Covenant, and they were few. Crushing them with out even stopping, the three-man rescue team eventually caught up with several Ghosts that were being given a rest. Half of the pilots of the Ghosts were dead before any of them could react, and the others were dispatched easily.
Continuing onward, the two warthogs come upon a small structure surrounded by at least several drop ships worth of Elites, Jackals, and Grunts. Two more drop ships were unloading troops while Covenant raced up several different ramps leading to the top of the structure. Their objective was clear. At the top were two Marines fighting for all they were worth, using the most insane tactics any of the three had ever seen for a Marine.
"Johnson!" the Master Chief yelled. "Hold off those two drop ships! I'm going for the Marines!" he then drove straight through the wall of Covenant soldiers and drove up the ramp, crushing others and forcing them to jump off the ledge. "Need a ride?" asked the Spartan as he reached the top. The Marines stared for a moment and then jogged over and got in. The gas pedal hit the floor and the Warthog flew off the top of the structure and landed several stories lower, sending Grunts diving away. Sergeant Johnson and Mendoza had already split the reinforcing drop ships forces by half. With almost no damage at all, both Warthogs broke off and escaped. The two rescued Marines whooped up and yelled.
"Those bastards had to unload seven Ghosts, eight drop ships, and a ground troop of twenty soldiers and they still can't beat us! We're safe now!"
"Not yet!" shouted the Master Chief as two shadows of pursuing drop ships fell in behind them. The Marine stared in disbelief, but the Spartan wasn't worried. They had just unloaded, so all they had was their plasma turret mounted on the bottom. Several beams of plasma hit their Warthogs while a fuel rod cannon released green bolts of energy. Or not. Thought the Chief grimly. Four Banshees dived at them, again releasing a barrage of fire at them.
The Warthogs swerved away from each other and began to return fire. One of the enemy aircraft turned away from the armor-piercing rounds to crash into its own drop ship. Both crafts went down, exploding into balls of fire that burnt the ground, melting the snow into puddles. The other drop ship backed off, flying over the hills while the three remaining Banshees gave no mercy upon the humans.
The Master Chief pulled out the sniper rifle and took his hands off the wheel for a fourth of a second, found the tiny vulnerable crack in the back of one of the Banshees and fired twice. The first round brushed against the Elite inside. The second went right through its torso, snapping the spinal chord and killing it mercifully quick. The aircraft lost altitude and fell on top of the other below it, pushing it to the ground. The force cracked both stubby wings and broke the control line for the engines, permanently crippling it. The last Banshee broke away and ran.
* * *
"Nice job. Too bad about the other though." Said one of the Marines back at the cave, referring to the dead soldier that they had found. The two survivors spent the next several hours eating and sleeping. After all, they had earned it. Holding off seven loads of Covenant with only one other person required skill, luck, and bravery. Their wounds were taken care of, and by the evening they were filled with bio foam.
"I'll see you around, Johnson." Sad the Master Chief. I'm taking one of the Warthogs and continuing the assault on the control room. We've got to take Halo before the Covenant, and I've already spent too much time here. I understand from Keyes that your next assignment with him. I'll see you there when I finish here."
Johnson nodded and shook his hand. "Good luck Chief. Hope we all get off this damn place without the Covenant breathing down our necks."
Mendoza watched the Spartan drive off and went back to talk to the other Marines. They'd called for evac, and someone was expected within fifteen minutes to come pick up them and the stolen/recovered vehicles. So he spent that having the last fun he would have backing up the story on how the two Marines held off dozens of Covenant soldiers at the top of a structure.
The Legends of Sgt. Johnson: The Pillar of Autumn
Date: 6 November 2004, 9:30 AM
"You heard the Lady! Move like you got a purpose!" Sgt. Johnson yelled as a female voice boomed across the deck from a loudspeaker. Mendoza stood at attention with the rest of the Marines in Johnson's squad. The Sgt. now walked down the rows of Marines, talking encouragement to them. "Once again, it is our job to finish what the flyboys started. We are leaving this ship platoon, and engaging the Covenant on solid ground. When we meet the enemy, we will rip their skulls from their spine, and toss 'em away, laughin'!" Johnson reached the end of the line of Marines and turned to face them. "Am I right, Marines?" he yelled loudly.
"Sir, yes Sir!" the Marines yelled in unison.
"Uh huh, damn right I am. Now move it out! Double time!" Johnson gestured with the assault rifle and turned to walk out himself.
***
"Contact!" yelled Mendoza. Several other Marines spotted the trio of Grunts and opened up on them. They went down easily, but a lurking Elite appeared from the shadows and gave a war cry. Before any of the Marines could take it down, it charged right up to the entire squad and swung a crushing blow at the front Marines head. The Marine, Bisenti, ducked and dived away. One of the others toss a frag at its feet and ended its troubles.
The squad moved on until they met up with a large group of Covenant unleashing hell on a few crew members with pistols. Not expected, the squad did a good deal of damage before given attention. Three frags blew half a dozen Grunts and an Elite away. A remaining maroon-armored Elite fired a few plasma bolts, but assault rifle fire put him down almost too easily. Two Grunts primed plasma grenades and prepared to throw. Reflexively, Jenkins and Mendoza put down one before it had a chance to complete its toss, but the other was able to complete the throw before killed. The object didn't land on anyone, but it was in the direct middle of the entire squad. Everyone dived in opposite directions, and Mendoza heard someone yell as the grenade exploded. "Dammit!"
Mendoza was instantly on his feet, but two Elites and several Grunts had already made their way too close to miss. He fired a sustained burst at an Elite, but didn't quite put him down. He unloaded the rest of the clip into the Grunts. The rest of the squad was on their feet and firing then, and it was enough to take down the rest of the group. The Elites were targeted first, sending the Grunts running for protection. They were hosed with assault rifle fire.
After a few more hallways and battles, they came to a flight of stairs. The place quickly got hot, Covenant poured out of doors above, firing as they came. The Marines were outnumbered, outgunned, and losing, but Sgt. Johnson had to leave this place cleared. Several Marines took hits and went down from plasma bursts, and several more were stuck with clinging plasma grenades. Blood exploded against the wall and Johnson was ready to pull back and take a new position when a figure ran out of nowhere and put seven Grunts down with explosive rounds to the head. An Elite's shield flared, protecting it for a moment, but the rounds won through and blew its guts through the backside of its armor. As the figure recklessly leaped forward, Mendoza caught a glimpse of him. Dark green MJOLNIR armor glimmered for a moment in the light from the roof. Covenant blood was sprayed across the figures torso. "A Mach 5!" one of the Marines said. The Spartan leaped up the steps, firing the whole way. There were still at least half a dozen Elites with seven or eight Grunts each, but the Spartan didn't seem to care. The kills came effortlessly and quickly. Armor-piercing rounds tore through a group of Grunts as he switched to an assault rifle and put down two Elites for good. He took a hit, but the legend of Spartan shields came to life before Mendoza's eyes as a golden light waved around the length of his body, deflecting the shot. Within a minute, the whole area was cleared. Without saying a word, the Spartan kept going and soon left them behind.
The loudspeaker sounded, letting out Captain Keyes' voice. "All hands. This is the Captain. Prepare to abandon ship. Combat teams, repel boarders until Ops personnel are away. Good luck. Keyes out."
"What the hell?" Kappus yelled. "Abandon ship? Holy shit, the Autumn's gonna crash!"
"Stow it Marine!" Johnson yelled. "You all heard him, so shut the hell up and move it out. Let's find a lifeboat!" They passed a lifeboat area, but all of them were gone. They continued onward and eventually met up with another group of Marines, lead by Corporal Lovik. They continued together, crushing small groups of Covenant. It seemed like most of them were gone though, indicating the Autumn really was going down. They came to an airlock with three lifeboats left. One was full and just closed up. Lovik and Johnson's squads filed out into their separate lifeboats and strapped in. "I'll see you down there, or in hell, Johnson!" Lovik yelled as a final greeting as the lifeboat doors closed. A couple Marines snickered, but most were solemn. Their ship was going down.
***
Continued in "The Legends of Sgt. Johnson: Halo".
The Legends of Sgt. Johnson: Halo
Date: 19 November 2004, 1:31 AM
_____________Author's Note:I spent the past three days attempting to perfect this one. I finally read comments on my other three and did my best to make changes to improve according to them. I feel that I did a lot better and hope you do too. I'm open to any comments you may have and you can even E-Mail me if that serves you. Special Thanks to the Master Chief's cousin and BlasTech. Hope you enjoy it!
_______________________Samslink14
P.S.
Sorry BlasTech, but once I start a series I can never bear to stop in the middle. I'm going to at least finish The Legends of Sgt. Johnson before I move on. Hope you like the changes!
PPS
I spent over a week trying to get indents on my paragraphs. I tried everything I could think of, spaces, tabs; I even put it up in FAQs. But I still haven't got it, so I'm finally just posting the story with lines for indents. If you know what to do in order to get indents, please post it in comments. Thanks.
_________"Damn it!" the pilot yelled.
_________"Problems pilot?" Sgt. Johnson yelled in question.
_________"I can't land on that cliff, but the valley after it is gonna be the biggest damn fit anyone's ever done. Its only a few hundred meters across, and at these speeds, if we hit the other side of the valley we'd be dead!"
_________"We won't be able to get over the hill on the opposite side pilot! We're going to have to try for the valley!"
_________ "Roger that Sir! We've got about forty-five seconds to dirt!"
_________While the seconds ticked off, the whole life boat's hull shook with tremendous force until half the Marines were under the impression that they were going to break apart while still in the air.
_________About .000958 seconds late, the life boat shook with even more ferocity as it skidded across the ground, reverse burners struggling to bring the momentum of the boat to a stop. Mendoza uttered a short prayer and tried to hide it, but his superior officer still caught it.
_________ "Don't worry men, we'll get out of here alive and without a scratch! Every one of us!" Johnson yelled, though no one could really hear him above the sound of dirt scraping the bottom of the hull. As if to underline his words, the hull finally disengaged it's shaking and came to a stop. There was about a half a second of silence until Johnson yelled as if to keep them on their toes. "Hit it Marines! Go, go, go!"
_________Knowing the drill, the Marines unbuckled the straps holding them in their seats and attempted to open the door. As lifeboats always did, the doors were jammed from the crash, so someone hit the secondary door accessing button and blew it open. The Marines piled out and formed a loose formation.
_________Mendoza squinted in the bright sunlight and blinked in surprise. He didn't expect to see the large structure a few dozen meters away when he got out. Johnson, as always, shouted at the Marines, giving orders. He took advantage of the structure and ordered the few crew members with them on top for protection, including the pilot. He incorporated several Marines on the zenith just in case Covenant forces put a drop ship on top of it. The rest of the Marines, including himself, patrolled the area around the structure, just to make sure that it was all clear.
_________Johnson seemed to be making a decision. He could stay at the structure, which offered a superior defense position but allowed easier finding right next the heat signals the life boat put out, or he could leave, on foot with crew to watch over and no protection except staying hidden. Just as he had finished his decision with the fact that the risk of detection was too great, a Covenant drop ship appeared and landed troops.
_________Several Marines cursed and opened up on them. Two or three men had already gone down by the time the drop ship left, but its absence gave no one any comfort, since it had left behind several troops and another was coming anyway.
_________Covenant troops were already starting to pour over the lines and take the battle field when the second drop ship came to a low hover several meters above the ground, unloading another group of troops.
_________Mendoza sighted in on a Jackal and blew its head off before it could bring up its shield. Three Marines had started on an Elite and had brought down its shields when Mendoza jumped in. The Elite, with no support from his Grunts, which had scurried behind some trees, had sections of its armor blown off, pushing it off balance. Mendoza sighted in, closed, and put two in its head. But there were still at least three or four Elites and dozens of Jackals and Grunts to deal with.
_________They were still being overrun, and were beginning to pull back when four Grunts fell nearly instantaneously. A Jackals head exploded and an Elite had its shields dropped sixty percent before finding cover. This still didn't do it much good, since within moments it was attacked again and this time put down under a hail of bullets. Grunts who ran around in confusion dropped three a second. A maroon-armored Elite seemed to have found where the attack was coming from and charged a small group of trees. Before it could leap aside, a frag grenade fell before it and detonated. The Covenant was not out of the fight, however, and merely stumbled with a groan and continued forward. Twenty armor-piercing rounds punctured its chest and threw it back, spurting blood for a full meter behind it.
_________However, the other Covenant soldiers, still numerous, got the idea of what their fallen comrade was doing and half of them charged the trees at once. The other half kept on the Marines. Mendoza fired a few rounds at an incoming Jackal, but kept an eye on the other Covies. A plasma grenade latched onto a Grunt and blew him away while assault rifle fire was concentrating on the Elites. The Elite's shields weren't even down by seventy percent by the time it reached the trees, and what happened next was confusing to Mendoza.
_________The Elite spotted its objective and gave a roar. It leaped at something with plasma rifle in hand and hit something with a solid thud. A bright gold glared and went out as the Elite fired. It appeared that the Elite was pushed backwards, but Mendoza wasn't sure from his angle.
_________He then forced himself to ignore the action at the trees momentarily and opened fire at a Grunt. Without the support that the commanding Elite usually gave them, the Marines slaughtered the charging Grunts, but the Jackals were another problem. Their shields gave them the advantage, but they were still in the open while the Marines had the cover of the rocks and structure. A few frags silenced a couple, but not all of them. Mendoza was considering finding a new position when slugs blew open the side a Jackal's face. Another was wounded when the fire stopped. Mendoza looked back at the trees just in time to see the unmistakable MJOLNIR armor stained in purple and blue blood. Two Elites were firing with vigor at the figure and keeping him pinned down, while the Jackals prevented support from the Marines. The Spartan was trying to at least take down a few Jackals so that the Marines could come and help him out, but the Elite's knew their job too well and were keeping him from getting off more than a couple rounds from his standard pistol.
_________One of the few remaining Grunts tossed a plasma grenade at the Spartan's path, forcing him to double back the other way, right into the Elite's fire. Two plasma bolts smacked against his body, causing his shields, to flare, then fail as a third hit. Another hit his arm, melting away armor. The assault rifle barked and outlined one of the Elites, but it was too slow. A perfectly placed frag caused both Elites to dive away, splitting up. This distraction was enough to allow thirty rounds to burn away at the shield until the Spartan ran up and smacked it with super-human strength. The Covenant growled and received another smack in answer, finally draining its shields. Then the other Elite got back into the fight and fired on him, draining his recharged shields and forcing him to retreat back into the trees. Knowing this would allow the wounded Elite's shields to recharge, Mendoza left his position and charged forward, dodging plasma bolts from the Jackals and opened up on the Elite duo position. He didn't hurt them much, but he distracted them enough. The instant their back was turned, the Spartan leaped from the trees and punched the unshielded Elite's vulnerable back, snapping its spinal chord in half and killing it instantly. This brought the other Elite's attention back to the Spartan, but that was enough. A pistol opened up and dropped its shields down to zero percent. The Spartan could have switched to his assault rifle, but instead he used the second that his shields bought him to reload the pistol. He fired instantly upon completing his reload and blew its guts through the other side of its body.
_________Mendoza was about to cheer when a small green plasma bolt hit him in the side, burning away armor and slightly blistering flesh. He grit his teeth and ducked behind a tall tree. Flanked by the Spartan and the Marines, the remaining Jackals and Grunts didn't have a chance. Johnson burned away a lot of his ammo on a Jackal until the Spartan put a round in its back, piercing its armor and causing it to clutch at its chest and fall to its knees until the Sergeant put it down for good. A Grunt activated a plasma grenade, but found an explosive round to the head before he could toss it. The grenade exploded, blowing away three others. The last Jackal was focusing on the Marines when the Spartan charged forward with his assault rifle and put half a clip into its side. The Jackal screamed and fell to the ground.
_________Sgt. Johnson jogged forward to meet the Spartan, backed up by Medoza and two other Marines. He gave a sigh and began to speak. "It's a mess Sir, we're scattered all over this valley. We called for evac, but until you showed up, I thought we were cooked."
_________The ship AI, which the Master Chief was apparently protecting, opened up a comlink and spoke. "Don't worry Sergeant, we'll stay here until evac arrives.
_________Another Marine called out a greeting. "Good to see you Sir!"
_________One of the Marines on the other side of the structure yelled with alarm into the radio. "Look sharp! Covenant drop ship, inbound! I could use some help over here!"
_________The Spartan seemed to listen to a voice inside his head for a moment, then jogged towards the other side of the structure.
_________From the radio chatter, it seemed that actually three drop ships had landed and unloaded troops. Even with the Spartan, the defenses were having trouble with resisting the sudden attack. Someone announced the forced retreat to the top of a hill and a few minutes later, Covenant forces began to come from the other side. The Marines were able to retaliate momentarily, but were forced back as Covenant reinforcements arrived. By the time the Spartan came to help, Johnson's forces were being pushed to the top of the structure.
_________Plasma tore into an Elite's back, quickly diminishing its shield and leaving the rest to pistol work. It retaliated and fired a trio of blasts at the Chief before the Marines fired on it from on top of the structure. Scores of bullets rained down on its head, ripping mercilessly through the helmet and forcing it to the ground, dead. The other Covenant forces then opened fire on the Spartan, leaving the Marines free. They didn't waste the chance and took down several Grunts and a Jackal before attention was again given to them. The Spartan was starting to seem like he was having problems. His shield was gone and his armor was a miracle just for still staying together, not to mention taking two more hits from plasma rifles. He finally made it to the top of the structure and waited for his shields to recharge. He reloaded the pistol and opened fire on the more vulnerable Grunts just to even out the odds a little before dueling it out with the Elites.
_________The other Marines meanwhile were attempting to hold off the Covenant forces from the other ramp but failing badly. They lacked the shields and training to wreak the havoc that the Spartan could. An Elite made a charge up the ramp, backed by several Grunts and three Jackals. It fired three quick shots, ate thirty rounds of ammo, and swung a blow at a Marine's head with the plasma rifle it held. The Marines tried duck away and disengage, but it was too late. The kid's skull caved in and allowed his lifeless body to hit the ground. Half a dozen other Marines retreated several steps, firing in panic. The Elite took two more lives before losing its shields. After that, it seemed that a Grunt had fired several Needler rounds at a Marines in its eagerness, but the rounds followed the closest life form: the Elite. Five needles blew open its torso, and the sixth finally finished it off. The Grunt seemed confused and scared, until Bisenti put sixty holes in him. The Covenant formation of Grunts broke and ran, cut down by a collection of pistols and assault rifles. The third Jackal had joined with the cowards, but the first two kept their shields up, firing in unison. A couple frags were sufficient to silence them. The other two ship loads of Covenant darted around the trees and rocks, firing few shots with little cover, but little casualties.
_________On the other side of the structure, Covenant forces were starting to overwhelm human defenses. A single Jackal remained, and all Grunts were taken out, but the superiority of the Elites was showing. Two blue-armored ones, with a maroon-armored in the lead, made a charge up the ramp.
_________The lead Elite's shields were down to about fifteen percent when it reached the top, breaching the defense. Marines held their positions directly above the ramp, but the Spartan was forced to move backwards, away from the ramps. Spraying the area with plasma fire, the Covenant warrior leaped into the air, thereby escaping three grenades, two frags from the Marines and a plasma from the Spartan. His weapon shook as rounds poured from it. The Elite's shields finally dropped, allowing a decent chance of killing it before support from the two blue-armored Elites came. Someone had the sense to throw a frag down though, buying several precious seconds of time. The Spartan finished the assault rifle's clip off, switched to the pistol, and blew a hole in its throat.
_________ Not a moment too soon. thought Mendoza as the two other Elites reached the top. Two frags blew away ones shields, but the other escaped with a tremendous leap into the air. It landed two feet behind one of the Marines defending the other ramp and delivered a crushing blow to his back, throwing him forward and off the structure. Five assault rifles barked and dropped thirty percent of its shields. An overcharged plasma pistol went off, bringing it to zero percent. The Master Chief tossed the alien weapon away and picked up the assault rifle again, firing a sustained burst. Twenty-five rounds punctured its armor, causing it to stumble while leaking purple blood, but before the Spartan could finish it off, the second Elite struck his head with its plasma rifle, causing his shields to flare brightly. 117 rolled backwards and drained the rest of the assault rifle's clip into the Elite's halfway recharged shields. He made a switch to his pistol and reached for a clip to reload. His armored glove found his leg. No more ammo for the pistol. The Master Chief cursed and flung the empty weapon into the enemy's face. Its armor didn't allow it to even be felt, but the action surprised it long enough to rip a weapon from a startled pilot's hands and open fire. The Elite started forward, then stumbled as a wave of bullets hit it, from the front and back. It struggled to rise, the attack was too much, and it hit the ground for good. The first Elite had taken out another Marine and wounded two more when the Master Chief finally gave support. It ate two hundred rounds before falling. The remaining Jackal below suffered three slugs into its chest. With that side cleared, things were a lot simpler.
_________The Spartan offered the pistol back to the pilot, but he shook his head. "You can use it better than I can." 117 accepted the weapon and reloaded that and the assault rifle.
Continued in "The Legends of Sgt. Johnson: Halo-Part 2"
The Legends of Sgt. Johnson: Halo-Part 2
Date: 19 November 2004, 1:36 AM
_________The Spartan moved to the far side of the structure and opened up on the Jackals. Marines could concentrate on the Grunts, but shielded enemies were more of a problem for them.
_________Once the Jackals were depleted, a few grenades were tossed to keep the Covenant on their toes. Then the Spartan charged down the ramp and singled out a blue-armored Elite. When he was on the ground and closer, a plasma grenade on its arm was sufficient to end its existence without too much trouble. However a single blast from its plasma rifle had hit the Spartan during his charge. Therefore the second Elite, this one in maroon armor, was able to sound the alarms on the interior of the Spartan's helmet with two plasma bolts. With his armor already battered up as it was, the Master Chief was taking no chances. He fired ten rounds into the Elite's shields, forcing it to retreat behind a small bolder to recharge its shields. The Spartan did the same on the opposite side of the rock, but since he was hit first, his shields recharged first. The moment he started to regain his protection the last Spartan threw a plasma grenade on one side, then charged around the other way, firing at the Elite crouching there. The Elite was forced to retreat and moved backwards right into the grenade just as it exploded. Its body flew several meters away and tumbled into a heap.
_________There was no joy in the kill as two remaining Grunts that escaped the Marines on top of the structure ran out into the open and tossed plasma grenades. They weren't too worrisome to the Master Chief, as one was silenced instantly with a burst from a Marine's assault rifle, but the two Elite's behind them were. The two grenades, courtesy of the Grunts, took place on either side of the Spartan, forcing him to go forward or back, and fast. The Spartan was not about to go forward right into two Elites and a Grunt, so he was forced backward.
_________Taking place behind the boulder, he fired the clip dry and switched to the pistol again. Taking careful aim, the Grunt was dropped just before the grenades exploded, and the first Elite took six rounds to the head as it concentrated on the distraction. It too late realized its error and tried to find cover, but with the Marines added fire with the pistol, it was dropped. The second was smarter and didn't rush in recklessly like the first. Instead, it stayed behind a tree and waited. Since it was determined to wait for a target, and/or reinforcements, the Spartan had to go after it. The second he was in the open, high-pitched whines of plasma sounded and bolts of blue energy struck the area behind him, throwing up chunks of dirt. Surviving the short trip to the tree with only a couple hits, the Master Chief waited for his shields to recharge and motioned to the Marines on top of the structure. He then darted to another point; two small boulders provided his cover from the enemy.
_________As the Elite concentrated on the Spartan, three Marines, including Sgt. Johnson, Mendoza, and Bisenti jogged silently down the ramp and filed out on opposite sides of the tree that hid the Elite. They spotted the alien and could have thrown a grenade to silence it, but Johnson held them back, knowing that they could use the grenades later and that it was probably better to take the risk of getting hit. As all three Marines opened up on it, the warrior realized its error and turned to fire at the Humans, but almost instantly M6D slugs slammed into its vulnerable back, pushing its shields offline and biting away at the armor. Too late the Elite found its second mistake in forgetting the Spartan, and three rounds to its head was satisfactory to kill it.
_________Before the Marines could rejoice as their last enemy fell, another Covenant drop ship flew in nearly on top of the Spartan. Johnson, Bisenti, and Mendoza moved back to the structure while the Spartan, too far away to make it in time to escape the oncoming wave of attackers or the drop ships plasma turret, moved closer towards it and took cover behind the downed lifeboat.
_________Two Elites, two Jackals and four Grunts leaped to the ground and immediately began to charge the lifeboat. They knew where he was. The Marines were out of range and too vulnerable on the ground, so the Spartan was on his own.
_________Mendoza used a pistol's x2 scope to watch. The rounds could reach the Spartan's position, but the Covenant were still just out of range for the pistols. He heard someone say "Oh man, he screwed, man."
_________Johnson verbally beat the man down. "Watch your mouth son, and listen up. That man out there is a Spartan, and one helluva soldier. You just watch him kick their ass !"
_________Mendoza knew the Spartans were supposedly invincible, but he didn't see how he could take on a full drop ship load of Covenant while cornered and far outgunned and out numbered with little cover and a plasma turret pinning him down.
_________As he watched, the impossible opened up before his eyes. An eager Elite leaped around the side of the lifeboat and found a frag at its feet. It was blown away and the Grunts that it was leading were confused about where their commanding officer went. The last one saw his leader's crumpled body fifteen meters away before he died. The second Elite, the maroon-armored one, came around the opposite side that the first Elite had come around and got off a quick shot before having to dodge a plasma grenade. While it was recovering, armor-piercing rounds were wearing down its shield the whole time. Another grenade caused it to dive away. By the time it had recovered from the second attack, its shields were gone. Five rounds penetrated the armor, and ten more were deflected, but the Jackals were now into the fray.
_________Since the Covenant were now in range for pistols, the Marines who had them opened up. One Jackal was wounded long enough to be ripped apart from the Master Chief's assault rifle. Then the Elite fired six shots and added a grenade for more assurance. The Spartan leaped to the other side of the lifeboat for cover just as the Covenant drop ship flew away. Another one came though, and that was bad news. A Marine shouted in warning to the others in the comlink. "Uh oh, another bandit droppin' in behind us! They're tryin' to flank us!"
_________At this, several Marines went to the other side of the structure to defend the upcoming attack, but Mendoza couldn't take his eyes off the battle. "Mendoza!" Johnson. Crap. "What the hell are you doing? Did you or did you not hear that call? Get your ass up and moving before I have to kick it!" as Mendoza leaped to his feet, he saw the other Jackal fall to six pistol rounds, and the Elite was being hosed with an assault rifle. Well, I guess the Covenant aren't flanking us today. He thought, and took position on the other side of the structure.
_________Once again, the Spartan barely arrived in time. The Covenant were already bold enough to flow up the ramp when two plasma grenades were flung amongst them. One fourth of the Covenant were now wounded or dead. All of the others were stunned long enough to allow the Marines to drop some unescaped frags. Elites were targeted by Mendoza until they recovered. Then it was Grunts. Grunts, Grunts, Grunts. It seemed logical to Mendoza to kill the Grunts first, since they were vulnerable without shields and without them, the Covenant were weakened. Slightly, but it still made it easier to kill the rest.
_________The Spartan was now duking it out with two Elites and no grenades. He had his hands full, so Mendoza did his best to help him out by annoying one of the Elites enough to be a distraction. The Elite looked up for a moment, looking for the human attacker while trusting his race brother to protect him momentarily. This allowed the Spartan to have a few seconds with only one target to focus on, and he took advantage of it well. A sustained burst from the assault rifle dropped the Elite's shields fifty percent. The pistol came out and blew down another forty percent before the distracted Elite got back into the battle. He took two more hits, braved it out and kept firing at the more vulnerable Elite. Its shields dropped, and the alien took two to the gut. It stumbled to its knees, but the Chief was unable to take advantage of it since the other began firing vigorously to hold him off. It worked, and 117 was forced to hide behind a tree and wait for his shields to recharge. He still fired a few rounds anyway and further wounded the Elite before fired upon again. Mendoza turned his attention to a trio of Jackals for a few seconds then, and when he looked back, the Spartan was firing the killing shot to the head of the hurt Elite. The other gave a roar and charged, attempting to smack him with his weapon. The Chief had other plans however, and charged right back at the Elite, firing the whole way. The clip was depleted just as they met, and he used his advantage in speed to smack it with super-human strength, throwing it back a few meters and causing its remaining shields to flare. He used the moment of free time the stunned Elite gave him to reload the pistol and open up. It then went down without a problem. Without the extra support, most of the other Covenant were dispatched easily, even the remaining Elite. Jackals were hosed down from the rear, and the Elite didn't have time to turn around before the Spartan scooped up a plasma grenade and activated it. The toss was perfect, latching directly onto the Elite's helmet. The Grunts were nothing and dead within seconds.
_________Still more Covenant were landing, on the other side again this time, with another one inbound. The Spartan scavenged grenades from dead Covenant along the way, and the new reinforcements were met with the plasma powered mini-bombs. Half a dozen were slaughtered instantly, including a blue-armored Elite. Two Jackals went down from pistol shots, and more Grunts died from whatever had been given them. Within seven seconds of the drop ship landing more troops, all of them were annihilated except two Elites, one of which was badly wounded with no shields. A few pistol slugs put him down and another plasma grenade latched onto the remaining one just after two of its shots slapped down gold shields.
_________The Spartan turned to see another drop ship unloading fresh troops. Two Elites were on his side, and the Marines had four Grunts in their sights. The last grenade in the Spartan's stock was tossed at them. It failed to hit them, but it did cause a distraction. As his shields recharged, he opened fire with the assault rifle and severely dropped one of the Elite's shields. The clip ran dry and he made a switch to the pistol again. The rounds forced the maroon-armored one running for cover and the other down. The firing continued until a hole was blown through its throat. Gasping for air, the Covenant still toughed it out and fired a few final shots at the Spartan before dying.
_________The Marines had a joy time with the Grunts, and their blood was sprayed all over the ground. A couple with pistols tried to snipe the Elite fighting the Spartan, but the range was too great. This meant that once again, the super-soldier was on his own. Just his luck to run out of grenades. However, he still had an explosive weapon. As the Elite came from cover, the Chief used the pistol and aimed carefully. The slug hit dead-on the plasma grenades hooked onto the Elite's armor and detonated them. The last drop ship flew away, empty of troops with a displeasing report for the commanders.
_________The Marines cheered when a radio call came in. "This is Pelican Echo 419. Does anybody read me? Repeat: any UNSC personnel, respond." The AI inside of the Spartan's head opened up a channel.
_________ "Roger, Echo 419, this is Fire Team Charlie. We read you 5-by-5. That you, Foehammer?"
_________ "Roger, Fire Team Charlie, it's good to hear from you!" Mendoza and the other Marines ran down the ramp and headed towards the incoming Pelican while the AI and the pilot conversed about something. Mendoza saw more lifeboats coming down, and was starting to wonder about their safety when the radio chatter between Artificial Intelligence and pilot informed him that the Master Chief was going after them. He no longer had any worries for them. While he and the other Marines escorted the pilot and crewmembers to the Pelican, Johnson and Fitzgerald moved towards the Warthog that the drop ship had deployed. He heard Fitzgerald call out, "Hey, Chief! Sergeant Johnson said you could use a gunner." The Chief said something, and Fitzgerald got in the gunner seat while Johnson hopped in shotgun.
_________As usual, he had to give a last shout at his squad. "All right, us two are headin' out with the Master Chief to save some soldiers, the rest of you get in that Pelican and get to safety!"
_________Mendoza sighed as the last Marine leaped in and leaned against the Pelican's side while it lifted off. His battle was over.
***
_________Fitzgerald was praying while they crossed the light bridge. It was scary to be suspended above a bottomless chasm on nothing but light. The Marine gave a sigh of relief as they made it to the other side.
_________They passed through the tunnel and came into bright sunlight. Hills went by and they drove through a small passageway and ended up at another structure surrounded by Covenant. They burned their way through them and drove to the top of the hill above the structure. There they found a boatload of Marines killing of the last of a small Covenant attack. One shouted, "The cavalry has arrived!"
_________Two more loads of Covenant were on the way up, so the Master chief got out of the driver's seat and prepared to fight. Lying next to a Marine lay a sniper's rifle. He took it and activated the scope. The crack of the weapon sounded a few seconds later and a Jackal several hundred meters away fell to the ground. Someone commented, "Nice shot." Two more shots were fired and a severely wounded Elite ran for cover, but a final shot blew its head off.
_________The Spartan reloaded and took aim at the center of a large group of Covenant and took the big prize, a maroon-armored Elite, with all four shots. Half the Grunts panicked as their leader fell and ran away, cut down less than seconds later. The Jackals with the group were confused, and one of them brought up its shield. The other two died instantly, but he stayed a few seconds longer than they. One sniper round hit the Jackal's unprotected left hand, blowing it off and causing the Jackal to jerk away in half alarm and half reflexive action. The second round passed through its chest and threw it back down the hill.
_________Fitzgerald was starting to think that they weren't going to have to fight with the Spartan sniping when two more Covenant drop ships landed. Sniper shots rang out very fast, but a single sniper couldn't kill that many in time, not even a Spartan. The Spartan jogged backwards while still firing the rifle, and as Covenant started pouring over the top of the hill, the Marines opened up and slowed their assault. The LAAG gun on the warthog was a distinct advantage, and the Marines didn't hesitate to use it. An Elite fell to hundreds of rounds and several Jackals and Grunts were blown away by frags. Almost as suddenly as the attack began, it was stalled and thrown back. Fleeing Grunts were taken down three by three. There were few Jackals to begin with, but what was there was taken quickly. There was only one more drop ship, and its load of soldiers was weak with only a single Elite, mostly composed of Grunts. Johnson took them down almost as fast as the Spartan, and combining that with the artillery from the Warthog, they escaped that attack with only one slightly wounded Marine.
_________ "This is Echo 419. Foehammer's on station, and ready for another pickup."
_________Cortana, the ship's AI inside the Master Chief's helmet, opened a channel to Foehammer and began to converse with her. "We read you Echo 419. We have survivors and need immediate dust off."
_________"Roger, Cortana. I'm on my way."
***
Sorry about that, but to conserve space in the different fan fiction parts, I'm splitting it up again. See the rest by searching for Samslink14 as writer. Or you can click on more by this writer. Go ahead and look it up.
The Legends of Sgt. Johnson: Halo-Part 3
Date: 21 November 2004, 4:06 AM
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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