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John-117 Chapter 2: Welcome to Hell
Posted By: Markos Ubieta<markosubieta@bellsouth.net>
Date: 11 October 2007, 3:03 am
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1100 hours (planet time) June 13, 2551(Military calendar) Surface, location: New Ardennes woodland outpost, Planet Cronos III
The Chief stepped off the pelican that brought him down from the frigate and looked around. Marines ran in orderly files to their posts, and he saw ordinance techs carrying crates of ammunition and weapons. The clearing was circular, and surrounded with dense woods. The marines had four buildings in a cross pattern, the center was dotted with an entrance to the tunnel system. Each building was equipped with motion sensors and two M247 GP machine guns. Even with the firepower, something made him feel unsafe, vulnerable, and isolated. Maybe it was just the adrenaline still pumping through his blood. Carson tapped him on the shoulder, "Eh, Chief, the barracks are down through the tunnel, you can unload your stuff there." The Chief quietly nodded in reply, even though he really didn't have any "stuff". He looked over at the entrance to the tunnels; it was very wide, wide enough to drive a Scorpion through. The interior of the base was reminiscent of a UNSC cruiser. The walls were a dull gray, lit brightly by overhead floodlights. He walked through the twisting corridors, down a lift, and down a long hallway. This base was one of fifteen on the planet. It was buried under meters of Titanium-A and rock, much like the ONI bases on Reach. This base could be self sufficient for three months without additional supplies. The Chief strolled into the tunnel and followed the signs to the barracks. He casually found an empty bunk and sat down, ignoring the awestruck marines. He thought about the battle he had just fought, and he wondered if he'd made the right choices, if he could've saved some of those soldiers. He, as a Spartan, could do better. But he could only do so much without his team. Though he was trained to be an all-around killer, his team brought out the best in him. Kelly, Linda, Fred, Will, they were his family, and their absence took a toll on his morale. It had been almost a year since he'd heard about them. Apparently, soon after they lost Kurt, the rest of Blue team had been reassigned, and he was sent back to Reach. The Chief spent the last twenty years fighting the Covenant and putting down small rebellions within the inner colonies. He didn't even know if they were all dead or not. But like any good Spartan, he disregarded his personal feelings and focused on his mission. He then took off his hunkering MJOLNIR battle suit and stowed in the footlocker. He took a hot shower and spent the next three hours sleeping hard.
He was awoken suddenly by marine. He yawned, stretched, and looked up at the marine. He noticed that it was Carson, and hopped out of the bunk, giving a quick salute. "At ease, son." The Colonel said almost laughingly. "We've got orders, get in your tin can and meet me topside." "Yes sir!" The Chief replied groggily. He watched Carson exit the room, and then started to don his suit. It took about six minutes to get it all in place without an assistant, but as soon as he was finished, he powered up and made his way to the entrance. It was still dark out, and he saw a dozen pelicans waiting in the clearing. He saw Carson and snapped to attention, "Reporting as ordered, sir." He said, "Come here, Chief," Carson said, ignoring the Spartan's salute. "We've got a problem. The Covenant have just captured our groundside SATCOM station. Our orbital MAC cannons have held the Covenant at bay so far, but with the SATCOM station out, our communications are completely and utterly screwed. That's where we come in. I'll fill you in on the rest when we near the objective. For now, ready your equipment and wait for the others." He turned and gestured like if he was going to say something else, but stayed quiet. "Yes sir." The Chief answered. He then saluted and made his way down to the base's armory. He walked through the doors to the armory and was glad to see that he was the first one there. He paced through the large room, observing the walls of freshly stocked weapons. He grabbed his duffel bag and began shopping. He grabbed an MA5C, checked the breach, and tossed it in the bag. He grabbed six magazines of AP rounds, and four clips of shredder rounds. He also tossed in a M6D pistol, five frag grenades, and pistol ammunition in the bag. He made his way back to the barracks, disassembled, cleaned, and inspected his weapons, tossed them in the bag and made his way topside once more. The pelicans roared to life and he saw dozens of marines load up onto them, along with two warthogs, at least four mongooses, and a M808 Scorpion MBT. Seeing all this military might almost made him crack a smile under his helmet… almost. He slung his rifle, holstered his pistol, stowed his ammo, and climbed aboard the lead pelican.
Eighth cycle, 253 units (Covenant Battle Calendar) Aboard assault carrier Divine Flame In orbit over planet CronosIII
Field Master Noga 'Putumee strolled single-mindedly through twisting purple corridors, along with two other Sangheili warriors. He strode in his luminous gold armor, and was instantaneously saluted by passing Unggoy and Kig-Yar. Though he loved his power 'Putumee was annoyed by this. The narrow walkways seemed to drag on until finally he reached the bridge of the mighty ship. The room was massive, and filled with ship master 'Tokumee's finest warriors. Lights danced across the ceiling, and 'Putumee found it hard not to simply gaze at the age-old displays of the Covenant's greatest victories over his head. These battles dated back to the Age of Conflict. Yes, 'Tokumee was obsessed with the accomplishments of his forefathers. His tactics seemed to emulate them. 'Putumee expelled the thought from his mind he started. Noticing 'Putumee had entered, he turned and spoke in a loud, elated voice, "Ah, 'Putumee, is the first wave of ground troops ready?" The Field Master replied "Yes, yes. They are assembled in the launch bay. Do I have clearance to the drop ships?" "Of course brother." The Ship Master answered. "Why do you seem so..." He searched for the word, "Jubilant, Tokumee?" The Ship Master gave a puzzled look to him. "Why, we are on the eve of the obliteration of yet another of the humans' havens, of course. Do you know something that I don't?" He asked, shooting a playful, yet stern glance at him. The Ship Master was very overconfident, but nonetheless exceptionally sharp. "No, it's just… well, never mind, brother." 'Tokumee turned his head back to the holographic interface panels quietly and resumed his former task. 'Putumee was going to point out that he was greatly underestimating the cunning of these humans, but undermining a Ship Master was never a good idea. He turned and proceeded back through the automatic doors. 'Putumee then rode a lift, proceeded through a maze of winding corridors, and entered the launch bay. This room was truly colossal. He saw Spirit and Phantom drop ships lined up by the dozens. The Sangheili walked past bustling engineers and onto a lift. He stood on the third floor of the dimly-lit, cavernous space. 'Putumee was not the least bit awestruck at the sight of one hundred Major Domo Sangheili warriors, four Lekgolo pairs, hundreds of veteran Unggoy, and scores of Kig-Yar standing at attention in front of him. He wasted no time in proceeding, "You, you are warriors of the Covenant, the arm of the Prophets." There was a thundering roar heard throughout much of the enormous ship. He let out a satisfied humph. "Yes, and you have been called to destroy the human infestation on this planet. Good luck, and may the will of the prophets be fulfilled." He then began the age-old Covenant maxim, "The path to salvation…" he was drowned out by the loud uproar of his warriors "… is soaked in the blood of our adversaries!" He nodded to the bay master, and the sudden calm of his warriors turned into a frenzy of movement, noise, and confusion. He walked through the nearest bulkhead, and proceeded to his Seraph fighter. He jumped inside and the craft roared to life. He tapped the holographic displays, and the Seraph screamed out of the launch bay. Though he was a Field Master, he spent many years behind the controls of a Seraph. He destroyed a squadron of human fighters alone in the battle above Sigma Octanus IV. He closed his eyes and counted his heartbeats. He then whispered something to himself, and pushed the acceleration of his Seraph to 100 percent. His fighter was followed by countless drop ships, all roaring to the surface of the planet.
0503 hours (planet time) June 14, 2551(Military calendar) Surface, location: In transit, Planet Cronos III.
Colonel Carson was pacing through the pelican giving a pep talk to the skittish marines. "Now, we're going to land in that valley. The Covenant are going to be coming in via that ridge on the North-West side. If we can take the structure and hold that ridge, we can begin landing more ground troops in this area. Fox and Ace companies are behind us. First platoon, you're with me, we need to take that building. Second and third platoons, hold off the Covenant until we can be reinforced." As they moved closer, the Master Chief gazed at the vast landscape. The valley was about a kilometer wide and about a kilometer and a half long. The light from the rising sun cast a shadow across the hundreds of square meters of trees, foliage, and tall grass. The Spartan relished the sight, it reminded him of his only true home, Reach. A wave of memories then flashed in his head. The thought of his fellow Spartans burned in his mind. He gave a quick thought as to their whereabouts, and quickly returned to the task at hand. He looked at the structure in the far West side of the valley, it was surrounded by elites. There were Wraiths covering from behind the hills, and plasma cannons providing the perfect hell-hole situation. Soon before they set down, shadow turrets, carefully concealed in the foliage, opened up, damaging the right wing of the pelican. "Hang on!" The pilot shouted. The pelican went down hard, the Chief had banged his helmet, he quickly shook it off to hear Carson's yelling "GO, GO, GO! Get the hell out of the damn pelican!" Chief saw the first two marines in front of him fall in a spray of blood and plasma. He turned and saw wart hog speed by just before being disintegrated by a wraith. Chief ran and jumped behind some covenant supply crates. Carson and his troops moved along to the structure and took hold, taking heavy casualties along the way. Lieutenant Jerico, panting, took cover next to the Chief. "What's going on?" Chief asked in an eerily relaxed voice. "Ace company, along with the Scorpion tank has just been blown to hell by those wraiths, and those shadow turrets have Fox Company pinned down." He said. "If we don't get F company out now, this is going to be a hopeless fight." He continued. Then, Master Chief called four marines to his side and ran towards the shadow turrets. "Covering fire!" he yelled, with explosions draining his shields left and right. Then he tossed a smoke grenade, ran up to the guns, beat down the grunts manning them, and killed the supervising elite. "Advance!" he yelled. He then leveled his MA5C and shot a pair of jackals hiding in the bushes.
The Covenant were smart, the Chief thought, they have us in a bowl, with only one way in or out. He had to do something, fast. He glanced over at the ridge. It was about 250 meters wide, and the Covenant had plasma cannons and wraiths raining down hell. He also noticed a stream of elites and jackals coming down in single file order. He knew what that meant. If those jackals could come out in front and form a phalanx, the marines would stand little chance. He tried to open up a COM channel with Carson, but failed, his COM output was damaged in the crash. He tried several times before he finally succeeded, but when he did, was answered with static. "Carson, Carson!" He yelled, but he got no reply. "Damn it!" Carson was dead, and with his COM busted, it meant that issuing orders would become nearly impossible. Chief ordered a pair of marines to link up with Fox Company, now that the turrets were out of commission. They gave him a quick nod and waited for his signal. "Covering fire!" He yelled. The two marines started off, sprinting towards Fox's position. Plasma burned the ground around them. They were only half of the way there when a streak of purple-blue plasma stuck one of the marines in the head. The other marine, in shock, took cover and fired blindly into the distance. "Snipers!" Jerico yelled. This was not good, they were running out of time, and if those jackals could form a phalanx, they would certainly crush the marines. Jerico whirled around and took aim at the Covenant snipers on the ridge. He emptied his S2 AMB sniper rifle, quickly reloaded and let four more rounds loose. Plasma bolts had scorched his cover, and when he sat back down, the Chief noticed Jerico had pissed himself. He sighed and said "All clear." The Chief then yelled at the other marine to keep going. He wondered if the other marine had pissed himself, too. He ran, faster than the Chief had seen any marine run, and made it to Fox Company.
He looked over his cover and increased the magnification on his face plate. He got a sinking feeling when he noticed that he was too late, that the phalanx of jackals was already moving his way. These jackals were moving fast, and their overlapping shields deflected the marines' rounds. The wraiths ceased fire as the phalanx advanced. He saw the marines manning the forward positions fall helplessly in a hail of plasma. He was running out of time, he knew he had to act. He quickly turned to Jerico, who was still panting "Where are the heavy weapons?" he demanded. "Ace company's pelican was carrying SPNKrs, LMGs, ammo, and grenades." he replied. "And what happened to that pelican?" The Chief asked, growing frustrated, "They were shot down by those shadow turrets before they landed." He then ordered all the marines within yelling distance to fall back, and the rest soon caught on. He ran to the structure, a two story orbital communications facility, and made his way inside. He saw mangled, burned, and bloody bodies of marines and elites. The Chief wondered why the Covenant had not just leveled it. He pondered it for a moment, and then moved on. He made his way to the roof and saw several marines shooting frantically on the Covenant below. One of them noticed the Chief and quickly addressed him "Thank God you're here! The Covenant have formed a phalanx and-" "I know" the Chief cut him off. "Who's in charge here?" The marine straightened up and grunted "Uh, I am, sir. Lieutenant first class Stillman." "Where's Ace's pelican?" "Um, about half a click South East of here…I think." The Chief contemplated the situation. Though he trusted these marines, they were not, and never could be his Spartans. He was stuck, and the Covenant had finally outsmarted him. They had no where to retreat to, and had limited firepower.
"Do you have a working COM output?" The Chief asked, "Yeah, hang on a sec, Corporal, front and center!" "Yes sir! Corporal Jason Eckett- whoa, it's the Chief." "No time for introductions, Corporal. Get that COM over here." The Spartan barked, "Yes sir!" He replied enthusiastically. The Chief then turned to Stillman, "You, ring up what's left of first platoon and set up a perimeter around the structure, second platoon is to fall back and cover first platoon, and you make sure to get the attention of the phalanx. Fox Company is to then flank them and fire on the phalanx. Am I clear?" The marine seemed perplexed, as if he was processing the Chief's words, and then softly replied "Yes sir." The Chief then surveyed the rooftop, and saw Carson's body in a pool of blood beside the other marines. He sighed and picked up three clips of AP rounds from his body. He then waved over two marines, loaded his weapon and barked "On me."
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