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Destiny Chapter 4
Posted By: Crazy_Canuck<chief_16@cogeco.ca>
Date: 24 June 2004, 1:07 AM
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0400 Hours February 5th 2550 (Military Calendar)/ Destiny, M.F.B. Aqua, Sharks Barracks
"Everybody up!" screamed Sean.
The Marines rolled over and got out of bed.
"Damn Serge, it's early," yawned Doc, looking at the clock beside his bed.
"We've got patrol today," said Sean already dressed in his full combat suit, "We should get a head start."
Since Sean was already dressed and loaded up he split the teams ammo that they would be taking and put it into the two Warthogs. He had grabbed ammo for the SMGs, Battle Rifles, Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle, as well as two shotguns and ammo, and extra two pistols and ammo.
The Marines got dressed then headed to the weapons storage room to grab their guns, armour, and all the other personnel equipment that they carried. This included a small map of the area, a water canteen, grenades, a small but powerful com pack for sending and receiving signals from sources other than the squads private com channel, a tiny pair of binoculars, and a small survival kit.
They put all this equipment in their pockets and a small, almost weightless backpack that fit under the back plate of their armour.
All of this equipment plus the weight of ammo and guns felt like a lot when you didn't have adrenaline pumping through your system, and it was four in the morning.
"Damn, this shit weights a lot," whined Louse, who had the team's long distance radio, which was quite large.
"Quit your complaining, man," said Parsons, "Dings got it the worst with the rocket launcher, and you don't hear him complaining." That shut Louse up.
After that Doc grabbed the sandwiches they had made for lunch the night before, and put them in the Warthogs. The team was ready to go in under 15 minutes. They opened the huge hangar door and drove out, shutting it behind them.
They slowly drove through the quiet base, coming to the massive titanium A doors 10 minutes later. The guards on duty opened the doors after writing down the team's name and time of departure.
The squad watched silently as the huge doors slide apart allowing them to drive out into the wilderness, and the unknown.
The Marines were always a little nervous about going out on patrol, but after a few years they got used to it.
What they didn't know was that going out on duty this day, may have saved their lives.
The sky was overcast and the sun had yet to climb into view, as the team drove down a side path that led away from the bases main road.
They didn't talk much, just to report in every so often.
After they drove for a couple of hours, they reached the base of a tall hill. It wasn't the same one that they had attacked the Covenant patrol on the other say, but it was about the same size. They parked the Hog's off to the side of the path and climbed the hill to get a good look at the surrounding area, and have a break.
"Stay sharp everyone," Sean said, "You all heard the Intel. last night, there is increased Covenant activity in the area, so keep your eyes peeled."
The squad acknowledged their Sergeant, and set up positions around the top of the hill. Once again Archer climbed a tree and set the radar dish at the top, then found a nice branch that gave him a clear view and started to scan the area with his sniper rifle. Sean and Louse were sitting under the tree looking east, and watching the radar screen.
"O.K." Sean said to Louse, "Scan for any movement starting at one mile, then work your way out one mile at a time."
They were all silent for a while, carrying out their orders in silence. Sean was fiddling with the large radio Louse had carried up to the top of the hill with them. He was trying to get the range as far as possible, to hear the reports from the base. It was along shot but he didn't have anything better to do, with all the eyes watching, nothing would be able to sneak up on them. All of a sudden there was a loud crackle and an urgent voice interrupted by a lot of static. The voice identified its self as Major Weasley of Aqua Base.
"...attack, repeat we are und... ttack. This is Major Weasley of Aqua base and we ...under attack. Send any and all help immediately, ... message is set to repeat every 15 seconds. All patrols are ordered to return as quickly as possible."
Sean looked up, "Holy Shit!" "Boys, Aqua base is under attack and we've been ordered to return now!"
"What?" Archer said grinning, from 20 feet above in the tree, "Are you sure you got enough sleep last night?"
"I heard it," piped in Louse, "Major Weasley said they were under attack and we had to get back now!"
"That Prick?" Ding said, "Why would he be radioing that in, shouldn't the General be sending that out?"
"Maybe the General is dead," Sean said quickly, "It doesn't matter, were going now!" "So pack up your shit up, and haul ass back to the Hogs!"
The squad did as they were ordered and began to trot down the hill, now realising that their Sergeant was serious they ran even faster. The Marines hopped in the Hogs and took off, it had taken them three and a half hours to get here, but if they put the pedal to the metal they might be able to shave off an hour.
After an hour and a half of driving at top speed they could start hearing garbled voices, issuing orders and reports.
It didn't sound good; the Covenant had gotten through the Eastern gate and had taken out most of the guns on that wall. Though they had suffered heavy casualties on the first attempt to breach the wall, they had attempted to overwhelm the guns with as many targets as possible, but it didn't work. On the second attempt they threw everything they had and managed to get the one gate, and open it. (Or melt through it) Letting in the rest of their forces, was a huge advantage for the Covenant and the Marines were having some serious trouble holding them at the gate. The Covenant were slowly getting into the rest of the base and wreaking havoc.
"We have to get back there now!" shouted Sean over the roar of the engines.
"We're going as fast as we can Sir!" yelled Parsons, who was driving Sean's Hog.
The path was narrow, winding and very broken rough ground. It was little more than a cow path and they were already doing 50 miles an hour, going any faster and they could loose it going around a turn.
After another hour , they were getting close and they started to see signs of battle; bits of purple metal and charred bodies of vehicles and their occupants. Most looked as if they had been hit by hundreds of bullets but some had huge holes in the side which were most likely from the bases huge Argent VIII missile batteries.
"Damn, looks like the Covenant took one helluva beating," said Ding.
"Just wait 'till we get in the base, then you'll see some of our boys, like that," said Doc.
The team finally made it back to the base entrance they had left through this morning to find it half ajar and bent inwards about 80 degrees. They were horrified at the raw power it must have taken to melt those doors enough to do that.
"Shit," Sean said quietly to himself. Then more loudly he said over the com., "All right boys, lock and load your weapons it's party time! Eyes open, drivers take us around the streets to the mess hall and we'll see what we can do to help."
The drivers gunned the Warthogs and sent the team in with good speed. The base was a mess; there were dead bodies everywhere. Firefights were raging all along the streets, and the command frequency was in disarray.
There were orders and please for help flooding the channel until it was almost impossible to hear anything.
The squad was now half way to the mess hall and had run into a roadblock, it was straight ahead, so they veered around the left corner of the four-way intersection, while the Laags poured fire onto the Covenant and their vehicles clogging up the road. There were two ghosts, and a Covenant 'Bus', there was a grunt in the top turret and the rest of the soldiers who had ridden in on it were taking cover around it and the two ghosts.
"O.K." Sean's voice came over the com, "Ding pull out a Rocket Launcher and load it up. When we hit the intersection take out the 'Bus' and the ghosts, then we'll ram through with the Hogs."
Ding pulled the launcher out and loaded it, "Ready," he said over the com.
"O.K." lets go!" ordered Sean through the teams com.
Parsons and Doc floored the gas pedals and the Hogs, flew up to the intersection. Ding let a rocket loose and it struck the 'Bus'. Four jackals that were crouched behind their shields nearby were blown sideways. The rest of the Covenant were showered with hot metal as the rocket blew the 'Bus' sideways.
It tipped to its left side, and tottered there for a second then came crashing down on top of the three Grunts who couldn't run fast enough to get out of the way. The Grunt in the turret fell out and scampered for cover.
Ding had just let the second rocket go. It sailed straight and detonated on the Ghost to the left of the Bus, flipping it over and onto the Elite standing next to it.
By this time the Covenant had figured out what was going on and started to return fire. Most of the plasma bolts flew wide as the two Hogs raced through the debris. Though some connected and splashed over the windshield and hood causing minimal damage.
"Yahoo!" screamed Louse who was gunning on the second Warthog, mowing down the Elite as it tried to struggled to get from under the Ghost.
The squad was very close to the mess hall now, and heard a sudden roar of engines. Up ahead they saw the two Condors taking off from the landing pads. They began to draw fire, and one of them had explosions rip through the left side, it keeled over to the left and dropped like a stone. It smashed into a hangar and everything went up in a huge ball of flames.
"Oh, shit," yelled Archer through the com. "They must have landed on the gas pumps!"
The second Condor managed to get up and the pilot gunned the engines, and took them out at high speed, heading west.
Just as they were about to head deeper into the base, a voice broke through the command channel, "This is Major Weasley, I am herby ordering all Marine forces from the base. You are to scramble; do not lead the Covenant to any other bases. As soon as you are sure that you are not being followed report to the nearest outpost."
"Whoa, did you hear that, Sir?" asked Doc.
"Yes I did," Sean replied," Turn these Hogs around, we're heading back to the barracks, boys. As soon as we get there I want Parsons warming up the Pelican, Doc grabbing all the food and water he can find. Ding and Louse gassing up the least damaged Warthog and attaching it to the Pelican. Archer I want you to fill up the spare gas tank with fuel for the Pelican and store it in the tail section, I'll grab the ammo crates and any other equipment I can, understood?"
Five acknowledgment lights winked, then Sean added, "I want this done in ten minutes, no more."
The team raced back through the streets, there were more Covenant inside the base now, and the Marines were running, driving and flying out of the base. The Sharks came up to their barracks and used a remote opener to open the hangar door, just enough to fit the Warthogs through. They quickly drove inside and closed the door, then set about their tasks.
Parsons ran over and opened the roof door before hopping in the Pelican and firing up the engines. Ding and Louse refuelled the Warthog that was in the best condition and filled the Laag's ammunition chamber before pulling down the four arms on the Pelicans tail and latching them onto the Warthog.
Doc ran into the team's small storage area and grabbed all that was there. It wasn't much but he thought that the 10 cans of soup, dried beef jerky and 20, one-litre bottles of water were better than nothing. He stuffed it all into a large duffel bag he found on the floor and ran back to the Pelican, throwing the bag onto one of the seats he kept running right into the weapons/equipment storage where Sean was.
"What can I help you with?" Doc said to Sean as he skidded to a halt.
"Grab one of the HP 700 radios, all the field medical kits and all the extra body armour you can carry, throw it in the Pelican than come back and help me load these crates with MA5B and ammo."
Doc quickly ran out into the hangar -his arms full- to find Archer, Louse and Ding wrestling the spare gas tank into the Pelicans tail section. He threw the gear in the back (they'd have to arrange it all once they got into the air) and ran back to Sean.
"Almost got it all," Sean said grabbing the last armful of ammunition for the MA5Bs. They sealed the three crates and piled them onto a trolley (with difficulty, since they weighed more now than when they had first got them) and wheeled them out as fast as possible without dumping the crates everywhere- because the trolley was not meant for that kind of weight.
"Everything ready?" asked Sean.
"Yes, Sir," replied Archer, "The spare gas tank is loaded, and we've just quickly moved all of the gear to the middle compartment so we don't lose it."
They all pitched in and hauled the heavy crates to the small middle storage section. And it was smalll, the first two crates had to be slid in sideways on either side of the path to the cockpit, while the third crate was stacked on top of the left crate to fit it all. The other gear, which included Doc's food and equipment in the duffel, was strapped down in a web like bag on top of the right crate.
All this only took nine minutes, but it was nine minutes the Covenant had used to move deeper into the base and start entering buildings to clear out stragglers.
There was a sudden sizzling and popping sound heard, everyone looked around, but Parsons who was up in the cockpit was the one who found where it was coming from.
"Oh, shit! They're melting through the hangar door!"
He quickly activated the Pelicans 70mm chin gun and opened fire on the door. Hundreds of rounds dimpled the door, allowing the bright sunlight to shine through the bullet holes. The squeals of Grunts and the wail of an Elite told Parsons that he had done the job well.
"Sir," Parsons said quickly over the com. "I think we should leave now the Covenant are trying to get in, and they won't give up that easily."
"I agree," said Sean. "We've spent too long here, most of the Marines will have left by now. We should go too."
The Sharks all quickly hopped into the pelican, Doc (Parsons co-pilot) ran up to the cockpit to help out.
Parsons voice came over the team's com. "I suggest everyone sit down and buckle up until we're clear of the base, this is gonna be one helluva ride!"
They all did as he suggested, Ding sat on the left side, in the seat closest to the open back of the Pelican with a Rocket Launcher. He was ready to take out any Banshees that might harass them when they got into the air.
"Here we go," said Parsons over the com.
The Pelican lifted off the ground, and the four legs supporting them off the ground retracted into the side of the Pelican. They quickly got into the air above the hangar and saw a scene straight from hell.
There were Banshees everywhere; Pelicans trying to take off were taking fire from the air and the ground. Many exploded in mid air and fell back onto the hangars where they came from. Some made it up and managed to get going but they were still taking heavy fire from everywhere.
"Hang on!" Parsons yelled and gunned the Pelicans engines before they were at optimum height to start moving.
As soon as they moved four Banshees turned and chased them.
"Ding," Sean yelled, "Take out those Banshees!"
"I'll try" he responded, " But I gotta shoot around this Warthog too!"
The Banshees were gaining ground on them and started firing. The Pelican swerved to avoid the plasma bolts and threw everyone against their harnesses. Ding recovered quickly and tracked one of the banshees.
He pulled the trigger and sent a 102mm rocket to intercept the Banshee. When it hit, it completely obliterated the aircraft. Ding quickly tracked another and blew it out of the air as well.
"I'm out of rockets!" he called over the com.
"Shit," Sean swore.
He was wondering what he could do to get rid of the Banshees, because getting up and walking over to the storage room where more were sitting wasn't really an option since he didn't feel like being thrown out the back by the constantly swerving Pelican. As soon as he had decided to do just that the closest Banshee exploded, quickly followed by the last one.
"What did you do?" he asked Ding.
"Nothing, they just exploded," he answered, looking confused.
Parsons voice came over the com. "Sir, we just received a transmission from the bases defensive A.I. It was the Argent VIII Missile Batteries took care of the Banshees for us. It also said that we are clear of any pursuits and sent the trajectory of the Condor, advising us to follow it since it sustained heavy damage on take off. It suggested that we give any assistance that they require. What would you like me to do, it's off course from the nearest base by 75 degrees and if we follow it very far we will be along way from any other base."
Sean processed the information for a few seconds, then said, "Follow the Condor's trajectory and notify me if we catch it, or if we find it crashed along the way."
"Roger that, Sir," Parsons replied, "I'd like to take us to 500 feet so we save some fuel, we'll also be able to see the Condor on the ground if it landed, if our sensors don't pick it up."
"Proceed. All right boys, lets get some shuteye. Doc and Parsons keep flying and wake us up in six hours, if nothing happens before then."
Everyone understood, so Ding, Archer, Louse and Sean pulled their helmets over their eyes, strapped themselves into their seats and tried to get some sleep over the roar of the Pelican.
Sean intended to head towards the nearest base, when he woke up, if they hadn't run across the Condor by that time.
The Condor had a lot more fuel capacity than the Pelican, though Sean doubted that the Condor's tank would be full, since they were doing repairs when the Covenant attacked, and it was standard procedures to empty the aircraft of all fuels before starting any major repair.
With any luck though, they would find the Condor and get the hell out of there. The day had already taken a turn for the worst; Sean just hoped it wouldn't get any messier.
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