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Against All Odds Part 3: The Punch That Breaks Your Knuckles
Posted By: Torr<corey_waterman@hotmail.com>
Date: 23 October 2005, 7:39 pm
Read/Post Comments
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I hope you enjoy this one.
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Part 3: The Punch That Breaks Your Knuckles
Cochran, Parker, and the other surviving marines moved into the small building that stood on a hill overlooking the entrance to the tunnel. Three Orbital Drop Shock Troopers stood there, nodding at each one of them as they entered. As the last Marine entered, Lt. Rander stood up to brief them.
"Welcome. Our mission was to clear the entrance to the tunnel leading to New Mombosa so that groups of surviving defenders like yourselves could move into the city easily and merge with other units. From what I understand you were under the command of Lieutenant Hillgred and your mission was to hold the northern part of Old Mombosa. Is this correct?" Rander asked.
"Yes sir. We met a scarab and Lieutenant Hillgred was killed, sir. This is all that's left of our unit." Sgt. Cochran said, his head down.
"That's unfortunate that Lt. Hillgred was killed. And you encountered a scarab, you say?" Rander asked, seeming surprised.
"Yes sir. It's most likely moved on by now. It tore our platoon apart and separated most of us, but I managed to find these guys and get the hell outta there." Cochran explained to him.
"Those bastards are powerful… I'm surprised HQ didn't send a pelican to get you all out of there." Lt. Rander said.
"I asked for one, but they can't commit any to this region. It also seems, of the three platoons deployed in this area, ours is the only one with any survivors…" Parker said.
"Damn. Well I hate to put you to work again, but like I said, you need to get to New Mombosa and we need to clear that tunnel. I lost one man when we touched down, so we are going to need all the help we can get. You boys are now under my command and for the time being I need you. The Covenant keep dropping more and more troops here to defend this tunnel; something we weren't prepared for." Lt. Rander said.
"First, I would like you to meet the team." Rander told them and motioned toward the other two Helljumpers. He pointed towards one of them who was holding a sniper rifle.
"That's Private Roderick. He is our sharpshooter and team scout." Roderick nodded at them, but his helmet was on so none of them could see his face. Next, Rander motioned towards a fellow who was toting a jackhammer rocket launcher.
"Private Winslow. He is our heavy weapons specialist and he is now our demolitions expert as well, taking the place of the man we lost. And I am Lieutenant Rander, team leader." He finished, and nodded.
Parker and the rest of the men introduced themselves, and then they got down to business.
"Winslow is going to fire first and take out that tank, then the turrets. Roderick will eliminate any enemy snipers and then attempt to bring down some of the officers. Thing is, we only have three clips, that means twelve shots. There are eighty-five Covenant up there by the entrance. Elites go down first. No hunters, mostly grunts and jackals." Rander explained.
"How the hell are we going to get across that wide, open stretch of dirt between us and them? There is hardly any cover!" Collins objected.
"You are right, that's why you guys are going to hug the concrete wall on the left while we take the right. We only really have to worry about the elites once the snipers are taken out. Some of the elites have carbines, but the grunts and jackals all have plasma pistols and rifles. Needlers can fire very far but are inaccurate so we should only have to worry about the elites as we close in." Rander explained.
"Once your time makes it to the enemy position I want you to engage immediately and cause as much chaos as possible. We will be approaching in the open so hopefully this will draw the fire away from us. After both teams get there its simply us pushing from both sides on the center. We should be able to clean them all up nicely. Air support is unavailable so we will be alone out there. Any questions?" Rander asked.
Everyone replied 'no sir' and then they began to move out.
Winslow took out the tank like an expert with only two rockets needed to penetrate that thick armor. Roderick took the two jackal snipers down quickly and then began to take out the elite officers.
Cochran and his team sprinted along the wall utilizing the cover they had and they drew fire as they were supposed to once they got within range. They all threw grenades and tore into the front lines of grunts. Then, faster than anyone expected, the ODSTs engaged. Rander, Winslow, and Roderick found cover and put some good fire on the Covenant.
Cochran kept watching the ODSTs move when suddenly a charged plasma bolt barely missed his head. He dove to the ground and began to focus on his job instead of watching the ODSTs do theirs.
Cochran moved up to take cover behind a flipped over Covenant supply crate as Borrail and Colburn gave him covering fire. Cochran was right in the middle of the grunts now and he used an SMG to mow many of them down rather quickly. The grunts somehow gathered themselves and most of them fell back, except for a few confused and scared individuals who ran off in different directions. Collins took care of them.
Parker moved up beside Cochran and the two of them used their battle rifles to cover the rest of the Marines. Several grunts with needlers moved up to cover their retreating allies and they unloaded their weapons towards the Marines.
Cochran ordered everyone to find cover immediately and he instinctively dove on Pvt. Heber to keep him down. Colburn was caught in the open and took a dozen or so needles in the chest. Cochran turned away, unable to watch, as his insides exploded and the young marine let out a horrible scream as he fell to his knees and died. Borrail raced to help his friend and he too was hit, but by only two needles. Still, that was enough to do damage and the needles dug into his flesh and the pain forced him to the ground.
"MAN DOWN! Shit, Borrail is wounded too!" Cochran said into the comm.
"Keep advancing, we can't let them organize. Choke them!" Rander ordered.
Parker had time to grab Borrail and hurdle him towards cover before the next wave of needles hit. Borrail was going crazy; he screamed out in pain as Collins stuffed him with bio-foam. The young marine soon went into shock and Cochran told him to stay there with Borrail while they moved up.
Hesitantly, Cochran ordered another advance. He moved first, followed by Heber. Parker covered, them shooting several of the needler-toting grunts. There were still two elite officers alive and they were crouched behind cover, watching the battle anxiously.
Seeing that some of the humans had been killed and wounded, they ordered the remaining grunts to charge. Meanwhile, twelve jackals were still alive and they were fighting the ODSTs on the other side.
Cochran was about to advance but he saw a wall of grunts rushing towards him. He exchanged a fearful look with Parker and then ducked back down, narrowly being missed by hundreds of needles and plasma bolts.
"What the hell… they are charging! The grunts are charging. Rander how is your team doing over there?" Cochran shouted into the comm.
"Jackals are almost cleared now, only five left." Lt. Rander reported.
The grunts reached them. Several plasma grenades erupted nearby and Cochran watched as the grunts ran past him, towards the wounded man behind the cover, further back.
With a step and a quick roll, Cochran engaged the grunts, firing his SMG into them at point blank range. He spun around, kicking one behind him and punching one that nearly ran into him from the charge. He emptied his last SMG clip then used his M6C pistol to kill the rest. Parker and Heber used their battle rifles to clear the rest of them around him.
Cochran threw down his empty pistol and brought his battle rifle to bear, turning around just in time to see an elite in red armor coming at him. He was hit hard and knocked several meters back, bouncing like a toy.
Heber and Parker fired at the alien from close range, but it leapt up and moved towards them. Parker scooted back and dove behind the other side of a crate as the elite fired at him. Heber wasn't as quick and the elite hit him in the face with the side of it's plasma rifle and then finished him off with several more shots, stomping angrily on the dead human.
Cochran struggled to get up. He looked towards Borrail and saw Collins standing over him, firing a pistol at the grunts and kicking and swinging madly at them. Cochran's battle rifle lay too far away to reach so he could only watch as Collins was swarmed by the grunts. Taking another pistol from the unconscious Borrail, Pvt. Collins emptied both of them into the crowd then used a dropped plasma rifle, all the while jumping and dodging about. Finally, the last grunt fell and Collin's collapsed, having taken numerous plasma bolts at close range. Cochran hoped he was okay.
Somehow, Cochran managed to slowly stand up. Parker was exchanging fire with the elite and Cochran had no weapon… except his combat knife. Parker took another hit in the shoulder and fell over, shouting out in pain.
In a dazed attempt to save his friend, Cochran tackled the elite and kicked the plasma rifle out of its hand. He plunged the knife into the alien's shoulder and received several punches to the face because of this. His face bloodied and his nose broken, Cochran no longer tried to defend himself and he suddenly remembered some of his earliest moments, playing with his next-door neighbor and building sandcastles on the beach of his home planet.
The beating got worse and the elite started hitting him in the chest too, Cochran felt as if he was being mashed into a wall and he thought he could feel bones breaking, but the pain was so distant. He was there and yet he wasn't, and he had somehow lost track of what was going on. Now he wished only for the pain to stop and all he wanted to do was die.
Suddenly, the pounding stopped, and he heard gunfire and shouting from close by and felt the elite fall onto him, dead. Finally, Cochran could just lay there… and die…
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