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THE WAR OF EAYN.
PROLOGUE
Location: Eayn; Kig Yar homeworld. 0534 Hours, 28th September (Military calendar) Nubian province, Frontline…

Private Jacky sprinted for the cover of a large boulder. Plasma tore shreds out of a tree near him. He dived to the floor as a piece of Artillery landed close by. He felt a stitch coming on and knew he couldn't carry on. He ran past a wounded comrade with a hole in his chest. He was crying out in pain as rain dropped into the wound. Jacky kept running. He had to. An explosion landed close to him. He felt pieces of rubble bounce off his armour. He was covered in dust now. Thunder streaked across the sky and illuminated a Wraith. It was firing the artillery at him. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!!!" That was all that went through his mind as the Wraith turned on him. It whined and spewed a great ball of plasma forth. He dived and landed behind the boulder. He felt the impact shake the ground around him and he thanked God for the boulder. It was huge. More like a mountain. He was safe… For now at least. He felt rubble slide off the boulder. There was only one opening. He turned towards it with a look of horror on his face as the entrance was blocked with debris.

"FUCK!!!" He screamed. He felt for his torch. He felt something crunch as he grabbed it. He felt around and inhaled sharply as he cut himself on the broken bulb. He shoved his finger in his mouth and sucked it. It was a deep cut. Blood oozed from the wound and trickled slowly down his glove. He had to get out of here but he couldn't see anything. He could hear the distant rattle of gunfire and the thump of explosions. He pulled a flare out of his pack and lit it. He put it the middle of the floor and looked around. This boulder covered a huge cave. He saw the mouth of it. It was terribly dark and he knew he had to take the flare with him.

After stumbling around for what seemed like hours, he came to a small wooden door. He saw light creeping out from underneath it. He extinguished the flare and silently opened the door. Inside was a Jackal. It had no weapon in it's hand and no shield either. It was standing over a table with a bunch of papers. It squawked and banged the table with frustration every now and then. Jacky slowly pulled out his combat knife and advanced on the Jackal. He grabbed it by the head, pulled it's head back and slit it's throat in one quick motion. Blood gushed over the knife and his wrist as the Jackal went limp in his arms. He dropped it and sheathed his knife. He saw a door that he assumed led outside. He opened it and found himself facing an army of Jackals. They all turned to face him. He turned around to run but heard the whine of discharging plasma. He was almost through the door when he was hit square in the back and his world went black…





















CHAPTER ONE: THE ASTEROID BELT


Location: Asteroid belt around Eayn, 1841 Hours, 14th September 2723 (Military Calendar) On board UNSC Earthworm.


Jacky dropped the spoon in his half eaten soup and walked off hurriedly toward his bunk. He had a roommate. A fellow Private named Sheppard. He was very hyper and eager to be sent out fighting the Jackal bases in the Asteroids. "Hey Jack, how long till they send us out you reckon?"
"I don't know Shep but it's gotta be soon. My gun is getting restless!"
"Yeah, your gun!"
"That's what I said numbnuts.
"That would have been so much funnier, if you hadn't said it."
"Lighten up Shep, we'll be killing aliens soon. Sending trophies home to our families."
"Yeah, I promised I'd bring my little sister a gun back."
"That's a little dangerous isn't Shep?"
"Nah! I'll take the battery out." Jacky lay on his bed and closed his eyes. Shep did the same.
"Night Shep."
"Night Jack." They soon fell asleep.

16 HOURS LATER…

Jacky launched his duffel bag onto the back of the Wolf. He sat down next to a Corporal with a nasty looking scar down his face. "Umm Sir? If you don't mind me asking, how'd you get that?" The Corporal wearily looked at Jacky and drew out a captured enemy plasma pistol. He pointed to his face and then down at the gun. Jacky winced. The Wolf's engine started up with a roar and Jacky was taken from one side of the ship to the other. It was a shame Shepherd had been assigned to a different battalion but they would meet up again. Jacky knew it. There was a Falcon loaded up with 30 troops. Jacky looked around the docking bay and saw a glimpse of Shepherd, but he was quickly lost from sight by the hundreds of troops awaiting departure to a nearby asteroid. He had simply argued with a Lieutenant why they couldn't just blow them up. His reply was: "Kid, those Asteroids house Jackals. Jackals with valuable information. If we can figure out the lay of this planet and their defensive positions, why; we would win it within weeks. So stow it Private! And finish your gruel…"

The Falcon shook as it lifted from the bay. They were protected from the vacuum by oxygenised thermal battle suits. The Falcon lurched out into space. Jacky felt nervous now. What would he be like under fire? Would he fight back? Would he win? Or lose…? "Land in 5!" The pilots voice boomed through his helmet speakers. He lay his head back against the wall and listened to the hum of the engines. He was drifting off to sleep.

He was lay face down in the dirt. He sat up, coughing and spluttering. He spat handfuls of mud out and felt around for a weapon. He saw one. It was the alien gun he had seen on the lieutenant. He ran towards it, but was tripped. He turned around and saw eyes looking into his. "Shep? Man am I glad to see you!" Shepherds head dropped onto the floor and rolled away leaving a trail of gore behind it. He looked back and saw a tall shadow. It hefted a gun at him and fired repeatedly at his face.

"YOU BASTARD! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" He looked around and saw he was back in the Falcon. The other soldiers were staring at him. "Drop in 1! Get ready!" The soldiers all stood stock straight. Jacky hurriedly stood and smacked his knee on a chair. He sucked in air sharply and held his tongue. The craft lurched and shuddered violently. "Ok, GO! GO! GO!" They all filed out in a line. Jacky lifted his MK58 and followed the man in front of him. They were aware it wasn't safe to take off the helmets yet. Not until they were deep inside the Asteroid. A captain stood at the front of the line. He briefed the 30 men. "Ok maggots! Listen up! I am not one for speeches, so I'll keep it short! The Jackals have set up base here shortly after we arrived and they have been filling it for days. We have to find out what they want here." The Captain cocked his shotgun and turned his back on the others. "Now move it leathernecks!!" The soldiers jogged forward after him. Jacky followed suit. After a few minutes of jogging, they heard distant gunfire. They quickened the pace. There was a door that was blown open. Charred alien bodies lay face down on the floor. Jacky gaped as he saw the creatures for the first time. Bird like, but bipedal like Humans. They were tall and slender and looked very strong. He was hurried along though and soon he wasn't able to see them. The gunfire was closer. Jacky saw a wounded marine propped up against a wall. He had a hole in his armour around the chest. It was safe to take off the helmets but no one did. A hallway opened up but it was strewn with bodies, Human and alien alike. The gunfire sounded close enough that Jacky wanted to run for cover. A scream sounded. He shuddered. The Captain fired a short burst and yelled. "OPEN FIRE MAGGOTS!" He ran from sight firing his weapon. The soldiers followed him and he soon saw a large group of Jackals huddled in a Turtle formation. Green energy bolts impacted on the various metal crates strewn around the spacious room. Jacky leaned around a crate and fired a short burst into a Jackal's shield. The bullets deflected harmlessly and the Jackal fired at him. Several plasma bolts slammed into the crate and missed Jacky by inches. A marine yelled as he was pelted by dozens of green bolts. His body fell to the floor, a gaping hole in his suit and smoke rising from the wound. The Captain lobbed a grenade. The Jackals saw the grenade but were too slow backing away from it. The explosion collapsed two Jackals shields and shredded them, while the rest were knocked to the ground by the concussive blast. The Marines saw their chance. Only three Jackals still stood after the grenade but they were quickly flanked and killed before they could regroup. The ones lying on the floor were put down with quick shots to the head.

Jacky was still shaking from the adrenaline that the small skirmish had instilled in him. Word was they had secured most of the Asteroid and that only small forces of Jackals remained but they were digging in hard and refusing to surrender. Surely they must have realised that they weren't going to be rescued? They had amazing will but that wasn't going to save them from a force of 20,000 Marines hell-bent for revenge. His small group rounded a corner and immediately wished they hadn't. A group of eight Jackals opened fire on them immediately. Two Marines fell under very concentrated fire. Jacky tripped over and the bolt that was meant for him smashed through a Privates visor, sending him screaming to the ground. Jacky crawled back around the corner and saw the survivors. Four soldiers remained. One of them clutched a bloody thigh as his friend tried to bandage it. Jacky peeked around the corner and a plasma bolt flew at him in seconds. He had managed to see them moving slowly up the passageway. "What the fuck man? There aren't supposed to be any Jackals in this sector!" the angry Private slapped a fresh clip into his gun. Jacky looked around the corner again and the Jackals were even closer. One of them was prepping a grenade. "MOVE!" His yell did the trick as the startled soldiers stood quickly and moved further back down the passage. The wounded soldier took a little longer but he was fast enough. A grenade soon flew from around the corner. It detonated harmlessly. Jacky stared intently down the weapons sights as he waited for them to round the corner. The others did the same. A shield peeked around the corner and sidled its way out. Jacky opened fire on it and the others followed suit. The shield collapsed and the Jackal fell from combined fire. The other seven leaped out. They appeared angry. Jacky noticed for the first time that these Jackals had green shields as opposed to the traditional blue and gold. They were angry at the death of a comrade. They charged recklessly into the guns of Jacky and the other Marines. Two marines fell from plasma wounds before the Jackals finally died. Whoever those Jackals were, they were smart and worked as a team. They were enraged at the death of another Jackal and that imposed they were close. Little did Jacky know, these Jackals with the green shields would make the war last more than three years. And Jacky would fight them.








CHAPTER TWO
LIKE THE VIETNAMESE

Location: Orbit over Kig-Yar homeworld, Eayn. Inside local Asteroid belt in Jaffna sector.
0700 hours 16th September 2723 (Military Calendar) Command briefing room.

The Generals, Commanders and Colonels of the Eayn campaign were all gathered in one room. It would be a perfect opportunity to destabilise the Human forces over Eayn, but the Jackals had no ships able to fight UNSC fleets and the only ones they had left were carriers and fighters. And there was no way they were getting past the airtight defences over in the Jaffna sector. Commander James Redford waited in earnest for the meeting to begin. He had to assemble the ground forces for the attack he knew had to be prepared. A General stood and cleared his throat. There was no need, no one talked anyway. "Hello fellow commanders. I have called you all here to view our options. We all knew we would have to invade the planet sooner or later and now that time has come. The clearing of the remaining Asteroids will fall to Major Hacker in the 21st ODST's. Redford, I will put you in charge of the initial assault. You will have command of 300,000 Marines and 200,000 ODST's. You have to clear the marked position on the planet. If you fail, we will send another 500,000 soldiers to assist. They will be under the command of Colonel Bennington. You have a lot of vehicle and air support. The air support will be managed by Commander Mitchell. Be ready to face hell down their. The Jackals don't want to give up their home so easily. Also, try and capture a few Elites. We have reports that Elites were guarding the Asteroids. We don't know why, but we need to find out. So, capture of at least three is needed. If you don't have any questions, you are excused to make preparations."

No one remained. They all quickly walked out of the room and to gather soldiers from the ships. They would be sent to their departure positions today and be transported down tomorrow. Redford hated being in command. His requests to go down and fight with the Infantry had been denied every time. He was apparently "Too valuable an asset to the invasion." Horseshit. They only wanted him alive to keep moral raised. Redford was the most well respected officer in the Eayn campaign. The soldiers loved him. The two ODST guards saluted him as he left the room. He nodded back and proceeded down to the Hangar to head out to the fleet. Pleading with the Admirals for men wasn't going to be the highlight of his day…

17TH SEPTEMBER 2723

Jacky had been reunited with Sheppard for a few hours yesterday before being mobilized with thousands of other soldiers for a big attack. Sheppard, being an ODST was told to head out to the Athens sector of the Asteroid belt. This was in the danger zone. Jacky knew he would be able to keep alive. Jacky only had to have a brief fly out to the Rome Sector and that was as close to the planet as the Asteroids could get. He was ushered into his Falcon with 29 others and strapped himself in. The engines were started and his heart beat faster and faster as he realised the scale of the battle to come. He turned to the Corporal next to him. "Umm, excuse me Sir, do you know what we're doing?"
"I think we might be assaulting the Jackals on their own soil. This is payback Private, so cheer up!" The Corporal slapped Jacky's shoulder and turned back to talk to his friend with a smile. Jacky knew why he was calm. He had fought more than one battle with the Jackals, he knew what to expect. Jacky still didn't like the thought of a one and one with an alien. An order boomed through the ships speakers. "Okay, all birds, lift out with your cargo. And keep 'em safe, we need 'em all. Soldiers take a while to arrive from Empire and all the other colonies, so make sure they're in mint condition when they drop."
Commander Redford. Everyone knew who he was. The hero of the Civil War on New Reach. An inspiration to men. A large rumble shook the life out of everyone aboard as the ship rose into the air quickly. Jacky held onto his straps for dear life as he prayed to whatever God would listen. There was a whine as the ship jumped out into the inky darkness of Space.

Jacky felt the settle as gravity returned. They must have entered the planet. His stomach knotted itself and he groaned with fear. The Pilots voice came through. "Stay cool boys, we'll have you down there in no time." A whir sounded throughout the craft as the metal shutters around the windows opened. He saw a lush verdant forest stretching out underneath him. Distant flashes lit up and blue balls of light streaked towards the ship. "Oh shit, they've got AA hidden in the forest!" An outburst from the startled Private brought nervous murmuring around the ship.
"Private, shut the f*ck up!" The Sergeant of the group slapped him around the back of the head and sighed heavily. "Calm down everyone, I trust in the Pilots. They'll get us safe-" The Sergeant never finished his sentence as a loud boom cut him off. Screams rang in Jacky's ears as the whine of the ships engine almost deafened him. Smoke filled his vision and violent G-Force kept him pinned to the seat and the wall. Voices managed to come into earshot but they were very faint. One was screaming while the other calmly said "Mayday! Mayday! We're going down!" Then, there was darkness.

Jacky heard the distant rattle of gunfire and boom of artillery and suddenly, memories came flooding back to him as he remembered what was happening. He opened his eyes and found himself still strapped into his seat. Although, it was tattered and ripped all over, he was alive. Above him was a horrific sight. The Sergeant was swinging upside down with his chest torn open. The only thing keeping him suspended, was the seat strap that had knotted itself around his foot. Jacky felt a surge of fear as he wondered if he was the only survivor. He undid the strap and slowly stood up. He rubbed his head and noticed his helmet had been knocked off. Feeling a steady trickle of blood, he ripped a piece of fabric off a mutilated Marine and tied it around his head. The vehicle had split in two. He had been extremely lucky not to have been sat any nearer to the front or end of the ship as anyone between Jacky and the two doors had been ripped to pieces by the blast and the crash. Bodies that had been asphyxiated were the ones opposite Jacky's side of the ship. He had really pulled this one out of his ass. He was one lucky bastard and he would never forget how close he had come to death today.

The effect of the hot sun was dulled by the canopy of trees. Jacky was kept cool enough to keep up a steady pace towards the gunfire. He had found his helmet, some medical supplies, a couple of grenades, an MK78 Armour piercing Battle Rifle and a ZA H22 Sniper rifle with 4 clips. He heard a faint rustle behind him. He dropped to one knee and turned. A Marine stumbled out of the trees, a large wound in his arm. He collapsed to the floor and faced back into the trees, a look of fear etched onto his face. He crawled backwards on his hands and screamed as a blur of movement sped towards the downed soldier. A large cut appeared on his stomach and his entrails spilled out. A growl sounded and Jacky fired around the body of the Marine. A shimmer appeared out of no-where and illuminated a tall figure. Its active camouflage soon disengaged and a blue armoured alien stood easily 8 feet tall with a blue sword which looked as though it was made of plasma. Jacky's gun clicked empty and the alien continued to shimmer. It swung its sword in a vicious arc and walked towards him with an enormous stride. He quickly reloaded and fired again. This time, the shield broke and the alien collapsed to one knee. It stabbed the sword into the ground and pushed itself back up using the sword as a support. Jacky fired another burst into its chest. It groaned and clutched its chest, blood flowing between its fingers. It swung its arms around as if trying to deflect the incoming bullets and eventually fell with a gaping hole in its head. Jacky walked over and kicked it in the mouth, making teeth fly in all directions. The thing had mandibles and hooves. Whatever it was, it could take a lot of punishment and had stealth technology.

Jacky took a look around the dense forest before moving forward again. There were Jackal and Human bodies everywhere. Some Humans looked as though they had been killed by traps laid out in the forest. He had to watch his step. He saw a very small metal object sticking out of the ground. He stepped over it and wondered what it did. An artillery shell slammed into the ground a few meters away and sent him down to the ground. The edge of his gun tapped the object and it beeped once before exploding. He shielded his eyes and looked at his gun. The muzzle had been bent and twisted and smoke poured from the magazine clip. Enough force to blow a leg off someone. Crap. This war became a hell of a lot more dangerous suddenly. He got back up slowly and walked towards the sounds of battle.

Redford watched the battle from Live video feeds in helmet cams. He was watching a Sergeant lead a bunch of men through a heavily fortified Jackal position. Bolts slammed into the men around the Sergeant until the camera fizzled out and static replaced the image. He pressed a button and it flicked to a Private. The name tag read out PRIVATE JACKY. He watched as he survived a Jackal trap and got ready to watch this soldier die like the rest.

Jacky ran for cover as green bolts of plasma slammed into the ground and kicked up dirt in all directions. A bolt flew into the sole of his boot and melted right through. He tripped and landed behind a fallen tree. Splinters of wood rained down on him as the Jackals chipped away at his cover. He hadn't seen them. They were using Green shields and had blended in with the trees. Clever bastards! He peeked over and saw them advancing in a pincer manoeuvre. They would flank him from the sides and keep him pinned from the front. He couldn't believe it, but his luck had run out. A loud boom sounded over the thud of artillery and crackle of gunfire. Jacky looked up to see a fireball streaking towards the Jackals. It slammed into them all and dismembered body parts flew in all directions. Some on fire and some just slightly charred. Jacky laughed as hard as he could. He raised his hands in the air and cheered. He laughed and sobbed at the same time as he came to terms with what just happened. He ran over to the wreckage and discovered it to be a Falcon. He saw only a little destruction as the pilot had managed to land it on its stomach and not on its side. The fire had extinguished itself and only three Marines were dead in their seats. The other 27 shook their heads from the bumpy landing and started to leave the broken ship. Jacky saluted the Sergeant. "Private Jacky? You weren't on my ship. What are you doing out here? You're at least three miles from the main assault."
"Same reason you're out here Sir, we both got shot down. Only thing was, I'm the only survivor of the crash. Sir, why are you coming into the fight so late?"
"Late? We're right on time! The first attack force suffered unacceptable losses. We're the reinforcements."
"Reinforcements? That makes 1 million soldiers who have fought and died for this lump of crappy rock."
"Well, we have to fight something right? Get with us and we'll get each other to the front. Watch out for Jackal skirmishers and guards. They won't be professional fighters, but they're still deadly. MOVE IT MAGGOTS!"

Redford was angry. 400,000 soldiers killed by vehicles and large groups of unidentified aliens that intelligence had no idea of. How they had managed to get so much air support and AA there was beyond him but they had managed it. Plus, the way they set traps in the jungle was like fighting the Vietnamese again. And everyone remembered how that war turned out. Hopefully, this one wouldn't be as bad. Private Jacky was a lucky bastard. He would be keeping an eye on him.

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