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Night Assault: The Mystic Savior
Posted By: Dredwing
Date: 12 March 2001, 5:12 AM
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I looked out to the horizon of the night sky. It was clearly dark, yet I could still make out the point where the land ended and the void of space and stars began. It was the kind of darkness that let you see more clearly from the corner of your eye. Often on nights like these I have seen shapes to my side and when I turned to make out what I had just barely noticed, it simply disappeared with the rest of the night. Of course, those nights were on earth.
When your blind spot is directly in front of your face other senses take over and become crisp. I could smell the grass, or what I suspected was some sort of grass. Whatever it was it grasped to the damp earth directly beneath my nose as I lay in it, sending a musky yet fresh aroma to my nostrils. All was quiet. I could hear the wind, but not the wind whisping past my ear or through the few lone trees near by. I heard a far off wind. It was indeed everywhere. I could feel it on my face. I could see it in the grass beneath my nose and in the leaves of the lone tress standing like long distorted statues sleeping against the landscape. Yet I heard the wind from far away. It was from the sky, or perhaps across the land and far beyond. The area around myself however was quiet. Not a sound. Nights like these make you feel small and alone on the bleak backdrop it holds. I felt as though I should not be there, I should not be out in the dark damp night on the ground. I should be somewhere familiar. I should be at home, perhaps by a fire reading a book of past heroic deeds, perhaps asleep in my bed. I should be oblivious to this night. It only holds the time that passes between days. What purpose holds the night? This night held a purpose indeed.
As I lied under the dark atmosphere I scanned the horizon again... waiting. It ran under the empty heavens until it started to arch upward. It curved up, farther and farther, until it arched its way vertically into the peak of the sky where it became so small and distant it blurred out of eye's sight, only to bend back down to the horizon again. I became drowsy and began to hear something far away. It was like a droning hum, blending with the wind. I was telling myself I should wake up and become keen for the task at hand. The deep distant noise was peaceful and opposed my conscious thought, whispering me to sleep. Soon my thoughts became as distant as the sound. Then I heard a whisper from my right penetrate the dead air, "Here they come."
Suddenly I snapped back into the night, onto the ground I was lying on, onto the ring construct drifting in the void that had me so lost before. The drone became clearer and sharper. It was getting closer. Then I saw it to the left. A small shape was moving towards us like a phantom. I dared not look directly at it for fear it would vanish. "This is it," called a faint voice near by. "No hesitation."
As the small shape moved closer to our position it formed into 3 small shapes, the center about 3 times as big as the other two. It seemed as if they were moving slowly, their journey being cumbersome, until they were only a few hundred yards away. They knew the pass was dangerous because of the steep ground on the sides and that they had better get through it as quickly as possible. We weren't going to let them do that. When they reached the beginning of the pass I was able to see exactly what we were going to bombard. A large armored vehicle was moving smoothly across the ground. It was made of an odd metal that gave off an almost purple glare even in the night. I could see a blue ambient light beneath it. There were no wheels, treads, or legs of any sort. It was hovering about a foot or two off the ground, a giant piece of machinery quietly sliding across the terrain. There were odd extrusions coming from each side, almost like wings. On the top some type of weapon peaked from the otherwise smooth outside. On either side of the tank-like transport were smaller vehicles gliding along like ghosts. They both had wing like projections in the front with weapon mounts on each side. Each held one figure. Who knows how many the larger one held.
They were almost right below us now. All 4 of us readied our weapons. Syphin had his anti-armor rocket launcher mounted on his shoulder. Galt, Kelvis, and I were ready with our assault rifles. Just when I thought Syphin had choked in the moment, I heard a roar and then an explosion. A large plume of dust and fire burst through the surface in front of the Covenant unit. Then a second roar, and this time one of the small vehicles got hit. It ruptured and exploded, sending the figure it held flying in 3 different directions.
I hurled myself out into the open air, and for a moment it felt as if I was floating in mid air. I brought my piece to my right shoulder and with my left hand aimed my pistol. My muzzle flash blinded me shot after shot while I flew downward straight at the small hovering craft. I'm sure my three brothers of battle were doing the same, though I did not take my eyes off my target. My feet hit on the hard plating of the right wing and the vehicle tilted downward. The alien inside used the momentum of the tilt along with his own weight to fling his body at me. I brought my knee up and caught him in the stomach, then flipped him over my body and into the steep wall of the pass. I slid off the wing and onto the ground, dropping my pistol, where for an instant I saw my squad. Galt and Kelvis were running to the large tank. Syphin was just coming down, holding his shotgun.
I got up and turned to my foe just in time to see him raise his weapon. He shot and some sort of blue energy pulsed from the pistol. It hit behind me, and I quickly reacted. I managed a shot from my grenade launcher on my rifle. It detonated to his left, far from where I was aiming; yet the explosion was enough to toss him over and rip the weapon from his hands. With remarkably fast reflexes he rolled to his left in the direction of the rest of the combat and suddenly he wielded some kind of energy blade. I held down on my trigger and rounds spread through the air. A few hit him in his side, but he wrenched forward at me. Then I heard a loud electrical buzz, almost a screeching, and saw a blinding blue light from behind my attacker. The large Covenant tank fired its huge weapon, filling the pass with aqua radiance. The great ball of energy scorched right through Galt and Kelvis. For a moment I was able to make out Syphin's scream. He had been near the area where the large mass of plasma hit, and I saw him drop to the ground. Then I felt a warm sting in my chest, and when I looked down I saw the crystal blue blade withdraw from my armor. I fell.
I saw the stars and Basic shining above me, giving off a halo of light in my watering eyes. I felt nothing at all, which for some reason seemed not all that strange. With the last bit of strength I turned my head to see 2 figures emerge from the tank. Then they heavily dropped to the ground, as if they had just been shot. My executioner turned in the direction I was looking just in time to catch a glimpse of his fate. His chest erupted when he was hit. I saw a silhouette in the darkness. He came over to me.
"It looks like I was too late," a muffled yet soothing voice echoed from the armored figure. "Don't worry, all will be..." The voice became faint and low and I was unable to make out the rest of the vow. I looked back up at the halo of light in the void of space. Then it faded...
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