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Tides of Destruction(Part 1, Incoming) by teemus
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Tides of Destruction(Part 1, Incoming)
Date: 13 December 2003, 10:38 PM
Jado System February 6th
(Capt. Wells, Cruiser Hammer head)
The Capt walked into his private room and picked up the mission briefings. The Covenant had invaded the Jado system early in the war. The Covenant did not glass the planed for some reason. ONI believes they are using it as an airfield to refuel their ships to get them in range of Earth. In order to prevent this a force was formed to go in and retake the planet. The fleet organized to carry the troops and supplies to the area was that to rival the Harvest fleet. The Covenant had established a main HQ on the planet, the idea was to send in the 10th armoured mountain division, along with the forward infantry to attack from the rear. The 10th armoured division was one of the biggest in all of the UNSC. It contained Scorpion tanks, Wart Hogs, and the newly made Ground Cruisers. The Ground Cruisers could hold a crew of up to 5. It had two mounted laag guns. While the 10th mountain and forward infantry distracted the Covenant 3 more divisions would be sent in to attack from the front.
The Captain then put down the folder and sighed, "This is gonna be one helluva campaign."
(Sgt. Briggs, Pelican 224, enrout to surface of Jado)
Briggs sat in the first seat of the Pelican. Normally he would have taken a seat at the back, but this time he wanted to be the first one out. Briggs sat looking at the faces of his fellow Marines, they all looked pale and dry. Briggs was part of the forward infantry, and their first mission was to secure an LZ for the 10th mountain and all of the other divisions to land. Briggs sat thinking about home and his wife and children. He hadn't seen them in 2 years. With the war going on, there was no time to leave and see your loved ones. He looked around the Pelican again and thought that more then half of these men would never even see their home planet again. Then over the teams frequency the pilots voice burst in, "Five to dirt"
Briggs acknowledged this and turned to his troopers, "Alright Ladies, the Covenant is holding a picnic down their, and each of you is invited!" Then there was a small cheer from all of the troops on the Pelican. "Check that your weapons are loaded, we hit it in 5." With this he watched as the troops picked up their MA5B's, M6D's, Sniper Rifles, Rocker Launchers, the whole enchilada and made sure the safeties were on and the weapon was loaded.
The Pelican began to shake back and forth as it hit air pockets on its decent to the surface. Then over the COM link, the pilots voice burst in again, "Hang on! We've got enemy banshees incoming!" Briggs turned to look out of the nearest view port. The Pelican made a sharp turn and got a lock on one of the banshees. The whole Pelican shook as two rockets streaked after the doomed craft. Briggs watched as the enemy flier was engulfed in a giant fireball. Briggs felt his spirits rise; only to have them drop again as an enemy flier got lock on one of the other Pelicans. He watched as the Banshee fired its fuel rod cannon. The shot must have hit the fuel tank because the Pelican was absorbed in flames. Briggs swore to him self and continued to look out of the view port. He watched as two more Pelicans went up in flames. Within ten minutes the Pelicans had managed to destroy all of the Banshees, but they paid for it with two full Pelicans. The Pelican did a full 180 and the doors opened up.
Briggs jumped out and took a knee to cover the other people bailing out of the Pelican. Once the Pelicans had gone Briggs scanned the area and yelled, "Clear!" After that he waited till every man had called in a clear. Briggs was nervous, there should have been a lot more resistance. He then heard a squealing noise and turned to find a Grunt carrying an over charged Plasma pistol. Briggs tried to yell duck but it was to late, the Grunt had fired and nailed the Marine next to him on the back of his head. The marine fell to the floor with a large hole in the back of his head. The rest of the squad turned and saw the Grunt. The Grunt jumped with surprise and tried to run. All he got in return was a hail of bullets.
Briggs activated his COM link and spoke into it, "Keep a sharp eye out, there could be more."
Just then a Private yelled, "Contact! To the east!" All of the marines turned to see Jackals and Elites pouring over the hill. Briggs took a moment to look at the force the Covenant had just deployed. He then looked at the Human force and realized that they out numbered the Covenant. This was no time to determine rations; there was a fight to win.
To be continued...
Tides of Destruction (part 2, Invasion)
Date: 18 December 2003, 2:06 AM
Jado system February 6th
Briggs kneeled down and slammed a fresh clip home. He then turned to his right and killed the group of Grunts that were harassing two marines. After the screams of the Grunts had died away, there was silence. A Sgt on the left of Briggs then called the 'all clear'. The marines then got back onto their feet and gathered around Briggs. Briggs then assigned a 5-man team to clean up the human bodies and gather spare ammo.
Once the clean up crew began their work, the rest of the marines followed Briggs up the hill. Once on top Briggs jumped into the Covenant drug trenches and watched as his fellow marines made their way up. As soon as the last member of his team and gotten into the trench he grabbed his binoculars. What he saw was amazing, the Covenant had taken refuge to the hill opposite of the one he and his marines sat in. The Covenant had dug trenches for their troops and artillery. Briggs then turned and looked at the terrain leading to the opposite hill. It was a large valley with not to much cover. Their mission was to secure this valley so all of the other divisions could arrive. Briggs didn't plan to run across the valley and be sitting ducks to he Artillery, so instead he picked up a radio and contacted the ship closest to their position, "We need bombing run on the following coordinates, 13 west, 14 north of our position."
A voice of a tired and over worked officer then replied, "Roger that, presents on the way." Briggs and his marines waited in the trench. Briggs was about to radio in and bitch at the officer for not sending in the planes when suddenly there was a rumbling noise. Briggs turned to the sky and saw a group of Long Sword bombers and Fighters coming in over them. Him and the marines all followed them and watched as the bombers released their loads.
After the bombers were done with their first run and were headed in for a second Briggs yelled to his marines, "Lets go! Move, move move!" There was an eruption of cheers as the marines jumped out of the trench and headed down hill. Once half way down, Briggs saw the bushes as the base of the hill starting to shake, then without warning a group of Elites and Grunts jumped out. Briggs quickly clicked on his COM link and warned the others. As soon as they were in range Briggs told all of the marines to open fire. Before any marine could even get a shot off the Elites opened fire. Within the first ten seconds five marines hit the floor dead. The Elites laughed at the dieing marines, their laughs were cut short by a hail of bullets. Briggs slammed in a fresh clip after dumping a full one into the chest of an Elite, he saw on of the blue armoured basterds trying to make a run for it. Briggs leavled his rifle and eased his finger on the trigger. He then watched as the Elites head exploded. Briggs stared in wonder, he hadn't even fired as shot. He then looked over his shoulder and saw a smoking sniper rifle. He looked at the man who was carrying it and saw Bryans face. Briggs blamed Bryans for stealing his kill, after a short argument him and the marines were running across the field again.
By the time he and the other marines had reached the base of the opposing hill, Briggs COM link opend up, "Alright boys, this our last run, so youll be on your own from here."
"Roger that," Briggs replied to the pilot. By the time the first bomber was over them they were half way up the hill. Briggs then came to a stop and orderd the marines to do so as well. Once the last marine was no longer moving Briggs order Bryans to him.
Bryans made his way up the line of marines to the point wher Briggs was, "What is it?"
"Once these bombers are done with this run, there leaving back to the ship. So I need you to take your sniping team and move to a good position. Once there, first you will do a recon and tell me the Covenants situation. When I give the order, you and your men will provide sniper cover for us."
"Sure thing," replied Bryans.
Briggs watched as Bryans and his team made for some high ground. Briggs wished that he had a lot more like Brian and then turned to the marines, "Lock'n load your weapons, we move out on my mark."
Briggs COM link then opened, "Sir, their alltillery has been disabled. They have no idea we are here. There are mabey around 100 survivors."
"Roger that, open fire," Briggs then heard the click of sniper rifles and turned to his men, "What are you waiting for, an invitation? Charge!"
To be continued...
Tides of Destruction(part 3, valley of death)
Date: 20 December 2003, 5:42 AM
Jado system February 6th
Briggs sprinted up the hill in front of the rest of the unit. He quickly clicked on his COM link and ordered Bryans and his men to see's fire and move up. Briggs came up over the ridge of the hill and caught a jackal from behind. He quickly put the alien down with a few controlled MA5B bursts. As soon as the wails of the Jackal ended, the rest of the 80 remaining troops turned to look at him. At first they looked shocked to see one human standing over the corpse of a smoking Jackal. One of the Elites was about to laugh when the rest of the unit ran over the hilltop as well. Half of the Covenant didn't even have time to react, tracer bullets cut down the first line of Elites and the rest began to retreat to the cover of the trenches.
Briggs turned to the marines who were shooting at various targets, "Slit up and take em on from different sides!"
"Roger that," the marines replied. Briggs then turned back to shooting at a group of closely packed grunts.
"Sir, we took em completely by surprise! There are only about 20 of them left!" Briggs second in command yelled. Briggs started to turn to acknowledge this when he heard his second in command scream. Briggs turned and saw the soldiers smoking body lying in a pool of blood.
"Holy shit," Briggs said to him self while jogging over to the marines' body. "Medic, we need a medic over here!" barked Briggs.
Quick to the response was Davies, the units' medic, "What happened to him sarge?"
"I don't know, just hurry up!"
"Ok, im gonna need some room."
"What ever you say," replied Briggs. Briggs then turned to face the Covenant in the trenches again. He slammed a new clip into his MA5B only to throw it down and draw his pistol as an Elite charged him. Briggs preferred to use his pistol when the aliens decided to charge. He levled the pistol and activated the 2x zoom. Briggs took aim at the alien's forehead and opened fire. The first 5 shots brought the Elites shields down. This is when Briggs realized that the alien was close to him, to close for comfort. Briggs hostlerd the pistol and picked up the Assault Rifle. He took aim again and opend fire. The Elites already weak shields were able to stop the first few bullets, a few more good placed shots and the Elite was lying on the floor in front of Briggs. Briggs to the time to reload his pistol and Assault Rifle. He pulled his pistol out and ordered the unit forward. The remaining members of the unit were able to cross the short distance to the trenches without taking on any fire. The unit jumped into the trenches to find that nobody had survived the lightning fast assault.
Briggs started in wonder at the empty shade emplacements. The area around the shade was untouched by combat. Briggs wondered why the Covenant didn't man the shade implements; they could have easily taken out the whole entire unit with the 5 shade emplacements. Briggs ignored this thought, there was still more work to be done. Briggs picked up a radio and contacted the Angle, "This is strike force Bravo, we have secured the LZ, we are ready for the rest of the division."
"Roger that strike force Bravo, good work down there, other divisions are on their way."
Briggs turned the radio off and turned to his men, "Good work guys, I need a body count for our side."
"Sir, we lost 30 marines in the whole raid so far."
"Alright, we wait for the rest of the Divisions and the command crew to get down here." The marines' began to dig graves in the valley for those who had lost their lives in the raid. In the process of digging a grave for his second in command, Briggs heard a rumbling noise and turned to the sky. Out of the clouds hundreds of Pelicans began to appear. The Pelicans came in and dropped of troops, supplies, Wart Hogs, Scorpions, Land Cruisers, supplies, the whole enchilada. Once the supplies were dropped, the Pelicans took off again and landed about 20 meters away from Briggs position. Briggs guessed that this was gonna be where the air base and HQ's location.
Briggs was still staring at the Pelicans when Major Saran walked up to him, "It's a good location, but there is still a lot of work to do on it, I did want to make one of the towns out HQ, but that would take many more men to storm. I want you to know that you and your men did a fine job today."
"Yes sir, we sure showed them," replied Briggs.
"Yea, you sure did," Replied the Major, and with that he walked away.
To be continued...
Tides of Destruction(Part 1, The Cavelry)
Date: 23 December 2003, 4:13 AM
Jado System February 6th
Briggs sat up in his sleeping bag sweaty. He had been dreaming about Earth and it being attacked. He saw the face of his wife and children being slaughtered by the Covenant. Briggs got out of the sleeping bag and made for the tent opening. As soon as he walked out he was greeted by a sudden brightness. His eyes adjusted to the light and he realized that there were many flood lights illuminating the area. Holly shit, Briggs thought ot him self. Briggs then heard men shouting out orders and the noise of engines. Briggs looked into the sky and saw many Pelican drop ships coming in with some sort of long metal plates strapped to their bellies.
Briggs walked up to a nearby corporal and spoke, "Can you tell me what the hell is going on here?"
"Those are the parts for the Run Way. Some Pelicans came in earlier and dropped off the Bunkers and Command post."
"Thank you for your help private."
"No problem Sir," replied the private. Briggs then turned to back to look at the spot that the Pelicans were hovering over. He found that the Private was correct. Line after line of bunkers surrounded the area, off to the left was a very large square building, Briggs guessed that this is the command post. Briggs then heard more shouting and turned to see marines with ropes bringing down the metal plates. One by one the plates came down and were put down in a strait line. After a few minutes of watching the Marines struggle with the ropes, Briggs became sleepy and walked back into the tent. Briggs fell asleep as soon as his head hit the hard pillow.
3 hours later the same Private burst into the tent yelling, "Get up! The Covenant are attacking!" and with that ran back out.
Briggs sat up and heard gunfire out side. Why do they have to attack now? Thought Briggs. Briggs quickly awoke everybody else in the tent, strapped on his body armour, grabbed his MA5B, some extra ammo and ran out. When Briggs ran out, he realized that the Covenant did not deploy many troops. Briggs heard a rumbling and turned to see a Wart Hog coming his way. The Wart Hog stopped in front of Briggs and the driver shouted, "We could use a gunner sir!"
"Be happy to," replied Briggs. With that he jumped into the back of the Hog and pulled the leaver on the laag back towards his chest. The Hogs tiers spun, caught grip and pulled the Hog forward. As they drove to the opening in the valley Briggs saw that over night the UNSC had strengthen the defences here. On the two hills surrounding the Valley were Shade emplacements manned by Marines. Next to that there were Stationary guns placed on various points on the hills. There were Jack Hammer crews running here and there on the hilltops firing various shots. It wasn't until Briggs heard a loud boom and turned to find a MBT dug into the hill that he realized the Covenant didn't really stand a chance in this poor planed raid.
Briggs then saw off to the left a whole human artillery regiment. Suddenly the Hogs radio burst with static and then the voice of a marine burst in, "All units, fall back beyond the hills, we are sending in bombers and artillery strikes to weaken the Covies. After the runs, units may proceed to the battle and mop up what is left."
"Ahh man, I was finally gonna get to run over some Covies with this thing!" the drivers said jokingly. The driver then put the Hog to a stop in a line of Hogs and Land Cruisers waiting for the bombing runs to end. Briggs turned and saw a whole squadron of Long Sword bombers taking off from the newly made run way, the artillery cannons starting to rise and marines loading them, he even saw the 5 or so tanks dug into the hill shifting for a better aim. Then all at once the tanks and artillery opened fire. The bombers soared over them and dropped their loads on top of the Covenant position. Briggs could here the muffled screams of dieing Grunts and Elites.
This lasted about 5 minutes when the last cannon shot off one last shell. A few seconds after the last shell exploded the radio burst open again, "All units, move in and engage the survivors, good luck."
"Yee Haw! Here comes the Cavalrly!" yelled the driver and floored it as the vehicles in front of him began to move. As soon as the Hog cleared the Gap between the two hills the smell of rotting flesh reached Briggs nose. The once green field was now black, with the occasional purple patch of blood. There were not many of the Covenant left, but there still were plenty. Briggs pivoted the gun and opened fire at a stray jackal. The first few rounds missed but the last few caught it and killed it. Briggs heard a screeching noise and looked up to the sky. A banshee was coming in for a dive on the vehicles in the field. Briggs got a lock on the aircraft and opened fire. His whole body was shaking as he fired the laag at the craft. The bullets were bouncing harmlessly off of the armoured nose of the craft. Why wont this piece of shit die? Briggs thought to himself.
"Get me a better angle!" Briggs yelled to the driver. The driver nodded and turned the wheel. The Hog turned so Briggs was behind of the craft now. Briggs took aim and fired. Once again his whole body was shacking, it was as if a giant earthquake was occurring. Just as the banshee started to pull up it fired a fuel rod shot and hit a Land Cruiser from above. Briggs watched as the Land cruiser went up in flames. Briggs became angrier and fired again. Briggs didn't know if he had gotten lucky, because a few bullets hit the Banshees fuel tanks and the craft was engulfed in flames.
It took about 15 minutes to mop up the rest of the stragglers. Briggs knew that this wasn't the main assault; to him it just didn't fell right. I don't like the feeling, why didn't they launch out a full assault? Briggs thought to himself. The hog crossed back into the valley and stopped out side of Briggs's tent. Briggs said a good bye to the driver who was very depressed for his buddy who was lying in a pool of blood in the passengers seat. Briggs walked into the tent, took of his armour and went to catch some much needed hours of sleep.
To be continued...
Tides of Desturction (Part 5, The Hook and the Fish)
Date: 25 December 2003, 1:29 AM
This story might be a little short and kind of boring, but its leading up to the next one which will have lots of action. Thanks to Cold Blooded and Awacar I think I finally got the code right. Hope you enjoy!
___________________________________________________________
Jado system, February 6th
Alpha base command post
The Major sat in his chair behind the command desk going over the tasks that lay ahead. Today the 10th mountain and forward Infantry were to move out and engage the enemies rear. After they gave word that a lot of the Covenants defences were focused on them, they would radio in and the 3rd mountain, 2nd mountain, and the ODST battalions would move in to attack from the front. The Major sighed, picked up his pipe and left the command post.
Briggs awoke to see PFC Jackson standing over him, "Wake up sir, were moving out today. You know how the Major gets before a big mission, he wants every body ready 20 minutes early."
"Alright, thank you Jackson," and with that the private walked out of the tent. Why couldn't they just wait another hour? Briggs thought to him self. He got out of his sleeping bag and went to take a short shower. There was not much water in this area of the planet, so ever person was allowed a two-minute shower. Briggs wanted to stay longer, but he still enjoyed every second of the hot water.
Briggs dried him self off, strapped on his armour, grabbed his MA5B, some grenades, and extra ammo. The Sgt opened the tent flap and walked head into the Major, "Wow, Major, nice to see you."
"Nice to see you to Sgt. So, are you ready for the day ahead?"
"Yes sir, can I ask you a question sir?"
"Go ahead Sgt."
"Sir, is this a suicide mission? Is there even a chance that were gonna make it out alive?"
"Don't worry Sgt. This is not a suicide mission, you guys will do fine." And with that the Major walked off.
Great, now i feel anything but comforted. Briggs thought to himself. Briggs stood there for a few minutes watching the marine personal running around, when suddenly the Majors voice burst in over the loud speaker "All personal of the 10th mountain and forward Infantry, report to the command post immediately"
Briggs then joined up with the flood of marines heading towards the command post. As he opened the door to the command post he saw everybody headed towards a door with the words THEATER in gold righting above it. Briggs walked in and saw a huge circular room with seats surrounding it. In the middle of the room was a raised platform with a podium in the very middle. Briggs walked in and took a seat in the 5th row next to Jackson.
"So, any idea on what this is about?"
"Nope, its probably about our mission and stuff."
"Yea, it probably just is abou...what the..."
Jason's sentences were cut short when the lights went out and a holographic image of some sort of building in middle of a field appeared. The Major walked into the room and stood next to the holographic image.
The Major walked onto the podium and looked at the many faces staring at him, he saw the ranks of brown, white, and black. All he saw were marines.
Briggs watched as the Major made his way to the podium and spoke, "Alright, men and women of the 10th mountain and forward infantry, you guys are gonna be in front of the whole damn task force. Right now you are the back bone of this operation." The Major paused his speech and looked around, "This is an image of a strongly guarded Covenant out post, it stands in your way." Said the Major pointing at the holographic image, "When you find it, what are you going to do to it?" the Major barked.
"Kill every last basterd in it!" all of the marines shouted together.
"Now go and make me proud" and with that the marines got out of their seats and made for the hangers. Just great, that makes me feel even more uncomfortable. Briggs thought to himself.
Briggs followed Jackson out of the theatre and back into the sunlight, "I'm driving!" Jackson shouted as he walked into the hanger. Right now Briggs was not in the mood for driving, so instead he jumped onto the sidetrack pods of a Scorpion. Briggs watched as the hanger was flooded with marines. Some of them jumped into the driver seats of Hogs while others decided to walk. 3 other marines jumped onto the Scorpion and saluted Briggs. Briggs returned the salute and watched as a man made his way towards the Scorpion. The man followed by another jumped into the cockpit of the tank, "Welcome ladies and gentle men, my name Mike Harris and ill be your driver for today. If you must throw up, please do it over the side of the vehicle. One more thing, please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle while it is in motion." The marines including Briggs all laughed as the Scorpion roared to life and left the hanger.
___________________________________________________________
Commander Goga, On board cruiser Baron
Field Commander Goga sat in the command chair of the Covenant cruiser Baron. "Excelency, the humans are moving." said a lower ranking Elite.
"Very well, Launch the first wave of ghosts."
"Yes Excelency." and with that walked off of the command deck.
___________________________________________________________
As the scorpion left the hanger it joined in the long line of Hogs, Land Cruisers, and Scorpions heading towards the gap in the two hills. There were Marines walking and singing while others joked around. As the Tank made its way out of the valley and onto the burnt field in front of it, Briggs saw what looked like a splotch of dry human blood and remembered the battle that had happened here. As the Scorpion turned another corner the voice of a marine burst into the COM link, "Contacts! Lots of Contacts!" Briggs then looked towards the horizon and saw a giant dust cloud headed towards the division. Ohh Great, ghosts. Briggs thought to himself and loaded his Assault riffle.
To be continued...
Tides of Destruction (Part 6, Camp)
Date: 27 December 2003, 5:01 AM
This story may not be up to standard with my other ones. I was having a writers block while writing this.
teemus
___________________________________________________________
Jado System February 8th
Briggs levled his MA5B and waited for the first unlucky bastard to pass over the horizon. Briggs eased his finger on the trigger when the COM link burst open, "All Scorpion tanks and Land cruisers fall back. Also, only the front units may engage the Ghosts, we are doing this to avoid casualties from friendly fire."
"Screw this!" yelled the marine next to Briggs as he jumped off of the Scorpion. The Sgt watched as the other 2 marines followed suite and jumped off of the tank. Might as well join them. Thought Briggs as he jumped off of the tank. He followed the other 3 marines through the lines of marines running towards the battle. As the Sgt came closer to where the battle was taking place he could here the thud of automatic weapon fire and the screams of wounded marines. Briggs ran up to an overturned Wart Hog and took cover behind it with a few other marines. He looked over the edge of the Hog and saw a Ghost advancing on his position. He took aim and emptied an entire clip in the Alien craft. Most of the bullets bounced off of the armoured hull, but a few of them managed to get past and hit the vehicles sweet spot. There was a small hiss and then the craft went up in flames.
"Forward Infantry, move up and engage the enemy while the 10th mountain will provide cover," a marine said of the COM link.
"Alright, you heard the man. MOVE UP!" a major shouted over the noise of gunfire. By the time the marines were moving again most of the Ghosts had already been destroyed.
Briggs ran forward putting half a clip into the chest of a wounded Elite who had the misfortune of falling off of its Ghost. The Sgt looked up at the hill that was looming in front of them and saw a Wraith tank positioned on top of the hill. Briggs activated his COM link and spoke; "I need a jack hammer launcher over here."
"Roger that sarge, im on my way." Replied one of the Infantries jackhammer launchers. After about a minute Harland ran towards his position, "You rang."
Briggs gave a small giggle and then turned to look at the hill, "Do you see that Wraith up there?"
"How could I miss it," replied Harlander.
"I need you to fire a volley at it and take it out, were pinned down and can't move until that bastard is dead."
"Ill take care of it." Harlander replied and activated the launchers 2x zoom. There were two small thuds and Harlander shook as two rockets left the launcher. The marine then lowered the launcher and watched as the two rockets raced towards the tank. The first rocket hit the tank in the nose causing it to trail smoke as it attempted to dodge the second. Briggs could tell that the driver was a rookie, because he ran strait into the 2nd rocket. There was an eruption of cheers as the tank went up in flames.
"Forward Infantry, hold position, 10th mountain move up and mop up the rest of them." Briggs watched as the ranks of Hogs, Land Cruisers, and Scorpions moved past the cheering marines. For Briggs it looked like a movie scene. After about ten minutes the voice of the same marine was back in the COM link, "Forward Infantry, you are now clear to move up."
"Lets go! Get up you stragglers! Move!" yelled Sgt. Norman as he moved down the ranks of marines ushering them up. The Sgt came to a stop in front of Briggs, "You did good out their Briggs."
"Yea, stow the bull shit. I already know the whole speech."
"Im not here to give you bull shit."
"Really, then what are you here for?"
"The Major radioed in, he said that you're promoted to a company commander." With those words the Sgt continued down the lines waking up sleeping marines. Briggs stood in shock for a little, wow, he thought to himself. Briggs walked up the hill and to see another valley with burn marks and the bodies of Covenant soldiers littering the floors. He soon found the same tank that he had ridden on earlier. Briggs listened as the other marines argued about who had gotten more kills in the battle.
The marines rode for another few hours without any encounters. They rolled into a field which could provide them with good cover and decided to set up camp their. The scorpion came to a stop and Briggs jumped off. He walked through the field looking for a good spot to set up his tent when he ran into to Norman again. "Hey, heres the list of the marines in your squad."
Briggs opened the piece of paper and read the names. "What the hell, non of these guys have combat experience." Briggs said looking up at Norman.
"Not my idea. The Major said you gotta start small. Hey I must go take care of stuff. Your on guard duty by the way." Norman said and walked away. Just great
. Briggs thought to himself and continued to look for a spot to set up his tent.
To be continued...
Tides of Destruction (Part 7, Rolling Thunder)
Date: 28 December 2003, 5:54 AM
Jado system February 9th
Briggs pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch; according to Earth standard it was 3:00 in the morning right now. He pulled his sleeve back down and took another sip of coffee. Briggs was about to fall asleep when he felt something on his shoulder. He jumped up, turned around and grabbed the attacker by the neck and threw them to the ground. Briggs heard a moan and realized that he had just thrown a private to the ground. He quickly ran over to the private and held out a hand, "Sorry about that, I thought that you were an Elite or something."
"Its alright," said the private as he grabbed Briggs's hand, "I'm here to take your place, you can go to bed now."
"Ohh, right," replied Briggs as he pulled the private off of the ground. The private got up, dusted himself off and gave Briggs a salute. He returned the salute and turned to walk to his tent. In about ten minutes Briggs found himself in front of his tent flap. He opened the flap and collapsed onto his sleeping bag, in ten seconds he was asleep in his armour.
Briggs woke up in a couple of hours to see a marine standing over him, "Wake up sir, your squad is ready."
"Alright, tell them ill be there in 5."
"Yes sir," replied the marine and walked out. Briggs got out of his sleeping bag to find that his arm was hurting. He rolled up his sleeve to find that the armour had dug into his arm while he was sleeping. That's the last time I sleep with armour on. Briggs thought to himself. He took off his chest and arm plates so only the shirt underneath was left. He grabbed his MA5B and left the tent. The marine had said to meet them in the temporary mess hall. Briggs didn't know where the hell the temporary mess hall was. So he just followed all of the other marines headed towards breakfast. He soon found himself in a clearing where a large tent had been set up with the words MESS HALL written above the flap. He opened the flap and found himself in a large room with tables in the middle. Off to the side were 2 tables set up in a line with pots on them. Briggs looked around and soon spotted the same marine with a few others sitting at a table near the back talking to each other. He made his way over to the two tables that had the food on them. The Sgt grabbed a pack of ready to go waffles and began making his way towards the back of the room.
He came to the table that the other marines were sitting and sat next to the one he had talked to earlier. The other marines saw him and saluted, "So, do you guys have names our should I number you off?" Briggs said.
"I'm PFC Richardson sir," said the marine in front of Briggs.
"Well Richardson, what do you do?"
"Ill be doing explosives sir." Replied Richardson
"You already know me sir." Said the marine next to Richardson.
Briggs turned to look at him and recognized him as Harlander. Looks like there not all rookies after all. Thought Briggs. They spent the next ten minutes introducing everyone. It turned out that most of them had seen almost as much combat as Briggs him self. As soon as Briggs finished the last bite to his waffle the loud speaker burst open, "All personal, you have 20 minutes to clear out, were moving out."
"Alright, you heard the man. Get up." Briggs said. He and his newly obtained squad got up from the table and made for the tent flap. Once out side Briggs spoke again, "Gather you stuff and meet me over by the vehicle bays." Each of the marines saluted and left. Briggs then turned and headed back towards his tent. He had always wanted his own squad, but now that he had one, he didn't want one any more. He was in charge of the lives of these men. They're not going to die while they're under my command. Briggs thought to himself. He quickly rolled up his sleeping bag, strapped his armour back on, dismantled his tent as was headed towards the vehicle bays with a full load on his back. The Forward Infantry was mostly all foot, but it did have a few Wart Hogs and Land cruisers. Briggs planned to grab one of the few Land Cruisers so they wouldn't have to haul their loads all over the place. As Briggs turned the corner he was almost run over by an oncoming Land Cruiser. Who the hell is driving this? Briggs thought to himself.
"Wow, Sarge are you alright?" said a voice from the drive seat. It took Briggs a while but he soon remembered the voice as Richardson's.
He learned that it was Richardson inside the vehicle when he heard Harlander yelling, "Richardson, you blind bastard. You almost ran the sarge over. I'm driving now."
Briggs walked around the Cruiser to find that Harlander and all of the others had already gotten a Land cruiser. "Welcome aboard the destroyer!" yelled Richardson, "This is why having me in you squad really pays off. Turns out, im the right full owner of this baby."
Briggs smiled and tossed his gear into the vehicle. Land Cruisers were shaped like amphibious vehicle. The differences were that Land Cruisers were not amphibious. Also, amphibious vehicles were entirely closed. The land cruisers were entirely open. The only part of the vehicle that had a roof was the cockpit. In the back on either side was a raised laag gun. Unlike the Wart Hogs, these laags were raised and had seats. Next to the drivers seat was a passenger's seat. Behind the two seats were some navigation consoles, behind the navigation consoles was the door that led to the back.
As Briggs jumped on he saw that half of the squad was inside of the cockpit while the other half was outside. He also saw that one of the laag guns was unmanned. Right now Briggs didn't want to sit on the ground so he jumped onto the laags chair. He jumped into the comfortable leather chair and pulled the straps around his shoulder. The Sgt then grabbed a leaver from under the chair and pulled it. The chair began to move forward, Briggs let go of the leaver once his shoulders fit firmly into the shoulder guards of the laag.
After about 20 minutes the entire division was ready to move again. Briggs felt the vehicle rumble to life and begin moving. AS the vehicle turned the corner it joined up with the rest of the division leaving the camp area. The marines rode for about an hour when the COM link opened up, "We are moving into position to attack the outpost, Forward Infantry move up and 10th mountain provide cover." There was a cheer from Richardson as the vehicle caught more speed. Briggs pulled the leaver back towards his chest. Its gonna be a long day. He thought to himself.
To be continued...
Tides of Destruction (Part 8, End of Ends)
Date: 2 January 2004, 3:44 AM
I gotta give credit to Hawk 7886 for revising this for me. I hope you enjoy this Finale!
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Jado system February 8th
Briggs took aim at one of the shades that were stationed on top of the out post. He got a good lock on the Grunt in the Gunner's Seat and jammed down the trigger buttons.
His whole body shook as the LAAG gun spat out a hail storm of bullets. After about two seconds the Grunt fell out of the Gunner's Seat into a puddle of its own blood. Briggs pivoted the gun and heard a scream from behind him. He turned to find a smoking 'Hog with a marine stuck underneath it.
"Harlander, get that man out of there!" Shouted someone behind him.
"Yes, sir!" Replied Harlander as he jumped off of the Land Cruiser.
Briggs watched as Harlander ran up to the marine and started to take him out from underneath the 'Hog. Harlander got the marine out and was running back up the hill when a Plasma Bomb landed right on top of him.
"Holly shit!" yelled Richardson.
Briggs waited until the smoke cleared and winced when he saw Harlanders body torn in half.
"You little bitches! I'll kill you all!" yelled Richardson as he jumped onto the Gunner's Seat to take Harlanders place.
Briggs took his eyes away from the smoking corpse that used to be Harlander. He returned to firing at the Covenant positioned on the outpost. Briggs heard a rumbling noise and turned to the sky. Five Longsword Bombers were coming in.
"Open fire! Don't let them get a shot off at the Bombers!" yelled a marine.
Briggs looked up at the outpost and saw the shade turrets shifting to open fire at the bombers.
Not today, Briggs thought as he opened fire at the shades.
The guns were forced to concentrate their fire on the marines in the valley below them. One by one each of the guns went up in flames as a bomb landed on it or near it. By the time the Bombers were leaving for Alpha base most of the Covenant had been wiped out.
The Land Cruiser shook as it hit a bump on its way up the hill towards the out post. Briggs heard a scream and glanced up the hill. A marine ran down the hill with a plasma grenade stuck to his arm. The Sergeant didn't turn to look as he heard the boom of the grenade.
About half way up the hill all hell broke loose again. Apparently more Covenant had survived the bomardment then Briggs had expected. He leveled the LAAG and fired at a Golden Armored Elite.
The first few bullets bounced harmlessly off of the aliens' shields. Briggs kept the trigger down and watched as the Elites shields flickered and died. He then moved the gun up and took aim at the running aliens back. Once again his body shook as he kept the triggers down. He watched as the alien let out one last roar and collapsed. For once since coming to the Jado system Briggs was happy. He was soon brought back down to reality when plasma went past his head. Briggs turned the gun and opened fire at the tightly packed group of Grunts.
Why are the Covenant trying so hard to defend this outpost? Briggs thought to himself.
He once again levelled the LAAG and opened fire again.
After about ten minutes the same marine came back onto the COM link, "Looks like its clear. Move into the structure."
Briggs jumped off of the Land Cruiser and walked to the other end where Richardson was sitting.
"Look, it will be alright," He said as he patted Richardson on the back.
Briggs then picked up his MA5B and walked towards the door. He and a few other marines kicked the door open and shot the Grunt that stood on the other end. Briggs turned on the flashlight that was connected with the gun and continued to move down the hall. He turned another corner and caught an Elite by surprise. Briggs emptied a clip into the alien as he backed up. The alien let out a roar and charged. Briggs reloaded the rifle and fired again. After another clip the alien hit the floor.
The marines continued through the entire structure without meeting any more resistance. There was one last door left and Briggs kicked it open. The inside was completely empty except for one monitor in the middle. "Jackson, can you hack that computer?" asked Briggs
"Ill try sir," replied Jackson. Jackson ran up to the computer and sat down on the chair in front of the monitor. Briggs watched as Jackson's fingers danced across the keyboard. After about ten minutes Jackson spoke again, "Sir, you better look a this."
"What is it?" replied Briggs as he walked over to Jackson.
"Holly shit," Briggs mumbeled to himself, "What the hell is that?" he said again pointing at a hologram of a purple planet.
Field commander Zilf 'Oohamie, Covenant Command Post
"How could you have let the out post fall?!" shouted Zilf as he slammed his fist into the table. "That out post contains the locations of our home planet! This could mean the end!"
"I'm sorry, Excellency." Replied the lower ranking Elite, Jono. "Shall I launch an attack on the outpost to retake it?"
"No, that will take to long. Pull everybody back into orbit. Move in the rear fleet. We are going to glass the planet."
"Yes Excellency," replied Jono. he turned to leave the room and carry out the task.
Capt Wells, Cruiser Hammer Head. In orbit of Jado
Wells walked onto the bridge and took his seat in the Command Chair. "Sir! The Covenant are moving in!" yelled a Leutenant.
"What? Put it on screen." Replied Wells.
The Capt watched as the screen flickered and then showed a Covenant fleet 3 times as big as the entire Human Fleet.
"My god, sound the alarm!"
Wells moved closer to the view screen and watched as one of the Frigates fired a Plasma Torpedo. Wells moved away from the view screen and came to the nearest view port. He saw a purple orb headed right towards him. Wells then moved away from the view port and turned to his crew.
"I am releasing you all from my command."
The crew looked at him dumb struck. Lt. Cole was about to argue, but her words were cut short when the Plasma Torpedo impacted.
Briggs picked up a radio and spoke to the Major at Alpha base.
"Sir, we found somethi-" the Major had cut his words short when he started to speak.
"Briggs, right now I don't care what you found. Our fleet was attacked about 10 minutes ago. It was entirely obliterated; only one carrier and two frigates were able to escape. They say that the Covenant is moving in to glass the planet. We've sent Pelicans to the 2nd and 3rd Mountain already. We have Pelicans headed towards your position as we speak."
"What does that mean, sir?"
"It means were leaving the planet," Replied the Major.
Briggs dropped the radio stunned. He then turned to face everyone in the room.
"Everybody, move back to the field, Now!"
Nobody argued, they just got up and left the room. Briggs walked back into the sunlight and looked towards the sky. Over the horizon he saw about a hundred Pelicans headed their way. Briggs then turned to Jackson and spoke.
"Did you get the co-ordinates to the planet?"
"No sir, I couldn't understand it. Sir, what the hell is going on. Why are we leaving?"
"The Covenant are going to glass the planet." Replied Briggs. Jackson didn't reply but instead continued to look at the oncoming Pelicans.
The COM link opened up again and the Major spoke to the entire Division, "Men and women of the 10th Mountain and Forward Infantry, you did good out here, you did so good that the little bastards got scared and retreated. They are moving in to glass the planet as we speak, we are retreating. That is all."
Briggs then looked back at the Pelicans and saw them coming in for landings. He grabbed Jackson and ran onto the nearest Pelican. The Sergeant watched as marines tried to load the Scorpions into troop bays of Pelicans. "Marines, we don't have time to load the Tanks. Quickly strap on the Land Cruisers and 'Hogs and lets get the hell out of here!" Briggs watched as the marines abandoned the Tanks and jumped onto Pelicans. The Pelican that Briggs was on lowered a little bit and activated the magnet slung on the tail of the Pelican. Briggs watched as the Pelican hovered over a Land cruiser, the vehicle shook and lifted off of the ground. The Pelican shook as the vehicle attached itself to it.
The COM link opened up again and a panicked marine spoke, "Forget the vehicles! We got two minutes! Take off now!" The Pelicans troop bay door rumbled and closed. The Pelican shook and lifted off of the ground along with the others. About half way out of the atmosphere Briggs saw the Covenant fleet firing their energy weapons, he watched as the entire planet went up in flames.
All of those men and women died for this? To watch the planet go up in flames? Briggs though to himself. If it's the last thing I do, I swear I will get revenge on those bastards.
The whole journey up to the Carrier Black Knight nobody spoke, no jokes were being told, nobody was playing cards, everybody was quiet.
The Pelican shook as it made contact with the carrier, after about ten seconds the bay doors opened up and revelled a busy deck. As the men and women stepped off of each Pelican they were greeted with cheers, but none of the marines responded to the cheers, they just kept their heads down and continued to walk.
Briggs walked up to one of the view ports in the deck and looked down and the burning planet. The Major walked up to Briggs and put a hand on his shoulder and spoke, "Don't worry, you did good down there. Those men and women didn't die for no reason."
"I know, sir, just I thought that this time we actually had a chance to repay the Covenant."
"You'll get you chance Sgt. By the way, what was it you wanted to tell me down there?" Briggs had forgotten about the Purple Planet, and he didn't feel like talking about it.
Hell, probably just a bunch of BS anyway, thought Briggs.
"It was nothing, sir," Briggs said and walked off of the deck leaving the Major behind.
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