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Halo Side Story Chapter Three: Hoofing it
Posted By: Jordan Dotson<juniormint37@hotmail.com>
Date: 30 September 2002, 3:29 am
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It was very, very cold. Dotson guessed the temperature to be somewhere around zero degrees Fahrenheit. Him and the Angels had been running for at least three miles, they were all exhausted. But they knew if they stopped they would die. Dotson had turned his radio off some time ago, he got tired of hearing the screams, sobs, and cries of pain from the remnants of his assault force. The only thing he could do now was run. How could this have happened, he asked himself silently, why didn't anyone see this?
He checked on the Angels. Jzou was still carrying Daniela, holding an M6D pistol in one hand. Daniela appeared to be unconscious. Trevor's head was bowed forward; he was trying to run after his strength had given out. David ran behind Dotson, He still carried his sniper rifle. James was on Dotson's right; he still had his jackhammer launcher and M-73 SSW. Stephen led the squad; Dotson could hear Stephen's breath rasping in his throat. Matt was right behind Stephen, he had lost his MA5B back at the battle and had brought out an MA2B sub machine gun. Keira ran just to the left of Dotson, she still had her assault rifle. Keira staggered and collapsed. Dotson grabbed her by the Combat harness and hauled her upright.
"Just a little farther" he managed between gasps of breath.
Keira nodded and continued running. Dotson couldn't help but think, were the Angels the only survivors? Was the evac point secure? Was any one coming to get them? These questions ricocheted around his mind like stray bullets. He didn't want to think about what had just happened, he just tried to focus on getting out alive. He remembered his martial arts training; a lack of focus was deadly. In the ring he had learned that if you didn't focus, someone mopped the floor with your ass. The same applied to marine Special Forces. He began wondering if Sifu was worrying about him, then he put the thoughts aside. He needed to stay focused.
He heard someone yell "Ghost!" then he heard the swoosh of a rocket launcher firing. Dotson turned just in time to see a Ghost cartwheel across the snowy plains of Capelli. He saw James pitch the rocket launcher aside and unshoulder his M-73. Damn, no more rockets, he thought. If they ran into any heavy stuff they would be screwed.
The Angels kept running. To Dotson it felt like millennia, but it might've been minutes, hours, or even days for all he knew. As the Angels crested a rise he saw the greatest sight of his life, a pelican surrounded by Spartan-II's, the UNSC's elite powered armored soldiers. He urged the Angels on. Once they reached the drop site Spartans rushed to their aid. Jzou passed Daniela off to a Spartans and collapsed. James doubled over at his waist and kneeled down coughing. Keira dropped to her knees and slumped over backward. Dotson simply doubled over and vomited. He continued heaving even after he had emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground. The Spartans began rushing to aid the Angels, a Spartan rushed over to him and handed him an ORT, or Oral Re-hydration Therapy, (a mixture of sugar, salt, and water). He drank most of the canteen then used the rest to rinse the dirt and blood off his face. He stared at the Spartan's faceplate; the Spartan opened it's faceplate to reveal a pair of distinctly feminine features. The eyes stared at Dotson with compassion and worry, something he never expected to see from a Spartan. This was a sight Dotson would take to the grave with him, a pair of sky-blue eyes peering into his eyes with such unexpected compassion, almost like a mother watching her sick child.
"What's your name?" Dotson managed through gasps of air and coughs.
The Spartan looked uncomfortable, asking such a question was breaking the regs, but she answered anyway.
"Kelly," she said uneasily, then with more affirmation in her voice, "My name's Kelly."
Dotson nodded as the Spartan helped him up to his feet, he leaned his weight on Kelly's shoulder as they walked towards the Pelican. A second SPARTAN stood in front of the Pelican, this was Master Chief Petty Officer John 117, the SPARTAN's squad leader. Kelly saluted and helped Dotson sit down on one of the Pelican's seats. The Chief saluted Dotson; he barely had the strength to return the salute.
The Master Chief studied Dotson; he seemed to have the signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder setting in. He looked tired and drained; this was not how humans were supposed to look. Dotson lay across the seats; he wasn't going to be recovering from this any time soon. The Chief was worried, not much could make an Angel crack, this was not promising to be an easy mission.
"How many made it back?" Dotson asked.
The Chief hesitated before answering; he didn't know how Dotson would take the news.
"Thirty." He answered, trying not to show his emotions
Dotson groaned and curled up into a ball on the seats of the pelican. The next hour talking with the Chief passed almost without Dotson's knowledge. The Chief asked questions and some part of Dotson answered. But inside himself Dotson was reliving every second of the battle over and over again. Every death replayed itself endlessly in his mind. He hardly noticed as Kelly helped him to a tent where the assault force's survivors now resided. He promptly lay down on one of the cots and fell into a tortured sleep.
The Master Chief was waiting for Kelly outside of the tent.
"What's the mission status?" Kelly asked
"We have the go-ahead to proceed with the mission." Chief responded
"Our orders?"
"Neutralize the Covenant on Capelli by any means necessary, protect the remaining survivors." The Chief
"And how do we do that?" Kelly responded
The Chief was shocked and worried; Kelly never talked back to him or any other superiors.
" A Warthog NLV" Chief responded
The Warthog Nuclear Launch Vehicle was a standard Warthog but instead the standard M41 Light Anti Aircraft Gun it carried a recoilless rifle loaded with a HAVOK nuclear warhead. After launch the warhead relied on small thrusters to maneuver it to it's target. It was so accurate it could hit a license plate from over three miles away. Not that accuracy mattered with a 30-megaton nuke. The NLV required two Soldiers to pilot it, one driver and one gunnery officer who controlled the nuke.
Kelly stared straight at the Chief. She was worried, there wasn't much that could make an Angel crack, and the entire squad was looking like they had seen the end of the world.
"This isn't going to be easy." Kelly said to the Chief.
"None of our missions are" The Chief said as he turned away.
The Spartans loaded into Warthogs for the two and a half mile drive to the launch site. None of the Spartans spoke during the drive to the launch site, all of them were worried. None of them voiced it, but they all felt it. Even though the Spartans were several miles from the battle site the thought of being spotted by covenant patrols and having to face over a thousand covenant chilled their blood. The only thing in their favor was the nuclear weapon mounted on the Chief's Warthog. At the predetermined launch site the Chief signaled for the Spartans to stop. They did not stop immediately; instead they formed a protective ring around the NLV. The Chief waited for all of his Spartans to signal their readiness, the began punching in the launch codes for the NLV's launch mechanism. The recoilless rifle on the NLV began moving, as if of it's own accord, towards the target. According to satellite imagery the Covenant were still trying to clear the landslide from the canyon and were tightly clustered in that area, perfect for a nuclear strike. The launched stopped moving and signaled it's readiness via a small beep. The Chief nodded to the Spartans, flipped the safety cover off the launch button, and pressed it down to it's stop.
The nuke launched with a tremendous thump. The nuke would arrive on target within 30 seconds. All of the Spartans watched in the direction of the launch site for the impending fireball and mushroom cloud. The seconds ticked by like hours, each Spartans waited impatiently for the impending blast. They were not disappointed.
There was a brilliant flash, as Capelli seemed to get a second sun, as thirty megatons of nuclear fury were unleashed into the atmosphere. The Covenant forces clearing the landslide were reduced to their component atoms, the Wraith Mortar Tanks the Covenant had brought with as armor support were boiled away into vapor, then into subatomic particles. Grunts, Elites, Jackals, and even Hunters were completely vaporized. The nuclear blast favored none and spared none.
The Chief turned away from the dimming fireball and blossoming mushroom cloud and gave the order to move out. Cold, Clean, Efficient; that was the Spartans way.
The Military inquiry into Capelli was torture for the Angels. Dotson took it especially hard, he watched every member of the squad humiliated and tormented by military judges. Every surviving participant in the battle gave testimonies, even the Spartans. After a month of trials, testimonies, emotional moments, and massive news coverage. The inquiry board reached a controversial verdict, although Dotson had done everything in accordance to his training, he had still failed. His command position in the Angels was revoked, and a new commander was to be elected from a set of candidates rather than one of the Angels.
The entire spec ops community was outraged at the decision; many soldiers burned their uniforms as an act of contempt for the UNSC. Admiral Preston Cole himself expressed his outrage at the verdict of the inquiry, stating that "No man who gives such a verdict is a rightful member of the UNSC." Even the civilian population was angered. News nets were flooded with angry citizens protesting the verdict, demanding that it be reversed. UNSC enlistment dropped to an all time low. Dotson's Angels were heroes to the people much like the Spartans except more real. To the public they were ordinary citizens who joined the military and did extraordinary things. But the board's decision was irreversible, Dotson was to be demoted and the Angels placed under the command of someone else.
But the Angels had their own little act of revenge against the decision. Within 24 hours of the verdict all of the Angels turned in reassignment requests. The Angels were dissolved by their own free will. The UNSC attempted to reform the Angels several times, but no one wanted to joined a squad with such a bad history. * * "So are we going to at least say hi or will we keep strolling down memory lane?" Keira said irritably
The entire squad broke down in laughter. They had all been thinking about Capelli, and they were all glad to finally put it behind them.
"Well, hi." Dotson said making a small wave.
This triggered another wave of laughter; the Angels were overjoyed at being a unit again. The entire squad was still smiling when they got to the Mandolin spaceport, it was unnaturally quiet. Dotson sensed something was up. He climbed out of the back of the truck to be greeted by loud cheers. The entire ground crew of the Spaceport was there along with civilian and military pilots, reporters from various news networks, Marines, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, and most prominently were Dotson's trainees. Dotson smiled and began to feel tears well up in his eyes. He turned to the Angels and signaled for them to form up, the Angels shouldered their duffel bags and ran off at a jog towards the Archimedes, the ship the Angels were assigned to, the crowd formed a path of cheering and applauding people to the loading ramp of the Archimedes, where a pedestal and a microphone awaited. Dotson leapt up to the pedestal and took the mike. He cleared his throat and began speaking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Marines and ODSTs, and my trainees; I'd like to thank you for the sendoff. I didn't know I had this many fans," this drew a small wave of laughter, "but any way, I know why I'm here, I'm here because two days ago Reach fell and the Spartans were killed on Reach. I'm here because the Angels and I may be the best chance that humanity has to survive. Although our future looks bleak, we still have a chance. I remember back in middle school there was a poster on the wall of the nurse's office. It said, 'The little stars often shine when the great sun is eclipsed.' When the Spartans died it seemed as if all hope for humanity was lost, but the eclipse of the Spartans has allowed the little stars, The Angels, ODSTs, The MEU, and others. It has fallen upon us to finish the mission the Spartans started. We will take the war to the Covenant! We will see this war to the end! And we will not cease, we will not die, we will not stop until we stand over the Covenant home world victorious!"
A tremendous cheer rose over the crowd. Dotson looked over the gathered crowd and nodded. He drew in a breath.
"MARINES!" he barked.
"YES SIR!" the entire crowd responded.
"MOUNT UP!"
Every member of the UNSC charged towards the loading ramp of the Archimedes. Dotson and the Angels led the Charge up the ramp. They wouldn't fail this time. They would take this war to the Covenant.
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