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Spartan III's, Part III
Posted By: FOrunnER
Date: 1 September 2003, 1:50 AM
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Typical. He never got a break. He and his Spartans had just barely made it out of one engagement only to make it to another. He motioned his Spartans to fan out in a rough delta formation. As they advanced the Chief asked, "So. What's the situation".
"Unsure. Radio traffic is cluttered beyond recognition and most of the recon satellites were destroyed in the crossfire of space. I think there is a force of Grunts and Jackals with armor support, but I can't give specifics. I can't tell you how H12 is holding out".
The Chief was a little taken aback, "Well, I'll need to record this day. The day Cortana didn't know everything". She didn't respond. They rounded a corner onto a main road, then continued from there. Now there were no buildings in the way to obstruct there view and the Chief and his squad could see the base clearly. Surprisingly H12 had the situation under control. Only a couple dozen Grunts and Jackals were left with a single bullet riddled Ghost. He watched as one of the rocket jockeys popped up from behind his cover and fired a rocket. It was slightly off target and nailed the ground behind the Ghost. The shockwave forced the Ghost into a front flip, landing on its backside. The Grunt driver was thrown forward from the explosion but not far enough as his own vehicle landed on top of him, crushing his lower torso and allowing a marine to finish him off. Now with no armor support, the Grunts and Jackals were in full retreat . By that time the Spartans were there and a grenade and quick gunfire was sufficient for putting the fleeing cowards down.
They moved over to H12 were they were met by a Private. He saluted rigidly, "Sirs, Colonel Toriens wishes to speak with you", said the Private.
MC nodded, "Lead the way Private".
The Private up to H12's perimeter gate. The Master Chief could tell that the situation had been much more critical before they had gotten here. Grunt, Jackal, and plenty of Marine corpses were scattered around. The perimeter gate had been electrified with 1,000 volts of electricity, but now it was knocked down and judging by the way the Private fearlessly stepped over it, it was powered down. In addition to the bodies he also found other Ghost husks, he counted at least fifty Ghosts. There were also numerous Warthog husks, at least a couple dozen. He knew that if it hadn't been for the massive artillery emplacements the base sported, the end results of the battle might have been much different. The Private led them through numerous weapons cashes, vehicle bays, artillery emplacements, and most importantly groups of marines scattered around the base. As they walked through they caught curious side glances and hushed whispers but they ignored it. It wasn't there concern.
Finally they made it to a man, his dress suit wore the rank of Colonel. The Spartans all went into salutes, at full attention. Although he did not show it, inside the Colonel was intimidated by there presence. Even with his higher rank, he knew each of these Spartans could beat him a hundred times over, not to mention what they could do to Covenant solders. They were totally fearless, totally impassive solders, the perfect killing machines. After a brief lapse of five seconds the Colonel said "At ease".
They dropped there hands, still at attention, but not saluting.
He coughed then continued, "Admiral Bankman has made me aware of you situation. You'll rendezvous with Armor Squads 1-5, and ODST company 12. Unfortunately I cant spare any air or artillery support, we do need some defenses in case the Covies come back for another round".
The lead Spartan, the legendary Master Chief, stepped forward, "Sir, we'll make do".
He nodded, "Good. You can restock and reload in ammo cache 3. Be ready in 10".
"We'll be ready in 5".
And with that the Spartans turned and made there way to ammo cache 3. MC grabbed 10 full Battle Rifle clips, as did e-X and Glock. Hunter loaded up on Rockets (he had been down to two left) and SAW magazines. Inferno fed shells into his Shotgun and used one of the refueling tanks for Pelicans in his Flamethrower (which he had kept after he ran out of lighter fluid in case he got a chance to reload it later). Fox was having trouble. Her MX had been issued to her exclusively so H12 didn't have MX ammo. However she did find CP ammo, so she would just have to do with that and use her MX rifle sparingly.
Like promised they were ready in five minutes. Outside they met up with armor Squads 1-5 and ODST company 12. They had been given 25 Warthogs total and 4 Scorpion tanks. 15 of those Warthogs had the standard chain gun, but 10 had the newly commissioned Argent V missiles. Company 12 consisted of 180 persons. Most had either Battle Rifles, Shotguns, or Sniper rifles with M6D or SMG side arms. 75 people would get to ride the Hogs, plus 20 for the Scorpions, which meant 95 total would ride vehicles and 85 would walk. The Spartans would all ride. But not in the same vehicles as to group themselves together. MC drove Hog 1, Hunter took shotgun in Hog 7 so he could couple his firepower with the Hogs Argent V missiles. Fox rode Scorpion 3, and eX drove it. Glock was the gunner in Hog 11 and Inferno was gunner in Hog 20.
As soon as everybody was ready they moved out. They were moving south-east, where the ship was hovering. In this part of town it was eclipsing the sun, casting its enormous shadow over the city. The area they were moving through was secured by the Covenant, so they could expect frequent firefights before they got there. Since there was plenty of time on there hands the Chief got a chance to speak with Cortana, "So, what were those monkey things".
"I've been working on that. The people around here call them 'Brutes'. There's been confirmed contacts with them outside New Mombassa, mostly in London, Brasilia, and New York. However there have been numerous unconfirmed reports of them throughout Rome, Beijing, Columbia, Western Australia, and Los Angeles. From what I can gather from the Covenant network, they hold rank above Hunters but below Elites".
"What about those guns. They were pretty powerful, they knocked out my shields in one blow and knocked me on my but. And that's saying something because my combined weight with the suit is a ton".
"Yes, new Covenant prototype weapons. They've been using them as makeshift sniper rifles due to there obvious tracking ability. As you said there powerful rapid fire guns that are powerful but not as powerful as fuel rods. Oh, here is something interesting. Those red cylinders you saw on the Brutes belt were grenades. Chemical grenades, apparently from battle reports they release a cloud of acid that eats away at your flesh and east you from your insides out if you breath it. Had it not been for your suit you would have died. Odd, I've never heard of Covenant chemical weapons before this".
"Something that they acquired from this new race?", he put in.
"Perhaps, lets just hope that they don't start messing with biological weapons".
He tried to imagine a Covenant biological weapon. The Flood came to mind, even though the Covenant hadn't 'created' it. "Yes, lets hope".......................................
As expected, the trip there was very eventful. During the trip they had to fight off two infantry attacks, one mix armor-infantry attack, and one air attack. They were taking casualties but the Scorpions were giving them a big advantage, for some reason none of the attacks had tank units. Most killed were the people walking, there were only 15 left, but they had also lost 12 Warthogs but still had all there Scorpions and Spartans.
It was starting to get dark, the sun was setting in the west, and some of the stars were already visible. However soon he realized that they weren't stars, but pieces of starships from the epic space battle that had taken place, reflecting light from the setting sun. This stopped the sudden moment of peace he had felt why looking over the 'stars'. He spent 10 more minutes brooding over all the lives the Covenant had taken during this war until Cortana spoke to him.
" The Covenant gravity lift is now a half-click away. Proceed with caution. I've persuaded a couple Longsword units to do a strafing run for us, but they request we perform a recon scout so they can know what kind of anti-aircraft capabilities there up against".
He nodded. A reasonable request. "Warthog units 1,7, 11, and 20. Were gonna pull ahead. The gravity lift is a half-click away and were going to do recon so a few of our Longsword buddies can do a strafing run. Hold here while we continue, then pull up to engage as soon as I give the signal".
As said, Warthogs units 1, 7, 11 and 20 pulled ahead. Eventually they came just outside the perimeter of the gravity-lift. It was placed at the bottom of a large crater, no doubt caused by some sort of bomb. Good, they could probably just get there Scorpions on the ridge of the crater and blow the defenses to oblivion while the Chain Gun Hogs and the Argent V Hogs moved in close. But then he saw what the defenses were.
It was pretty standard infantry, Grunts, Jackals, and a few commando gold Elites. But the armor was what was going to be a problem. They had 20 stationary guns, 10 Shades and 10 Reapers. The Reapers were a different type of stationary gun, they fired large overcharged shots like a giant plasma pistol. They were made specifically for anti-tank, anti-aircraft roles. Besides that there were also 11 Ghosts in the perimeter along with 7 Shadows, 4 Creeps ( a large troop transport that carried up to 10 passengers and had a stationary gun mounted at the top), and one Wraith tank. Besides that there were also numerous Covenant 'gear crates' and purple set up structures that would offer them cover. However there was no air cover, which was odd. Still, they probably thought they had enough anti-aircraft fire to make up for it, which they probably did.
"All units, what do you see?". They answered and nobody had seen anything different, no guns or vehicles he had missed. "Alright, lets report back". They moved back to the main squads position. Where he explained there situation.
" Okay team. We've got heavy armor. 20 stationary guns, Ghosts, Shadows, Creeps, and one Wraith. No air support. Our Longsword buddies probably won't be able to take everything out so get ready for heavy fighting. Once we get there all the remaining Warthog and infantry will move up close, while the Scorpions will stay back and snipe out remaining armor and reinforcements from that may spill from the gravity lift. The gravity-lift perimeter is at the bottom of a crater so you'll have a commanding field of fire. Understood".
The squad leaders all replied 'Yes Sir'. "Cortana" he said in his head. "Tell the Longswords of the Covenants firepower".
"Done", she said. A few moments later "The Longsword squads leader says you owe him a beer after this one".
"Fair enough"................................................................................................
The Grunt Ekaj was calm and relaxed. He slumped slightly at the gun of his Reaper, his eyes slowly drooping closed. The chance that this base would come under attack was very slim. One his fellow Grunts, Ittanal, said he had been receiving scattered reports of attacks nearby but the Elite leader, Hurramee, placed little concern on them. Saying that the opposing humans would eventually be squashed by one of the outposts scattered about. After that he had relaxed greatly. If there squad leader said it was true then it must. Just as he was in the begging in stages of a Grunt sleep, which consisted a decrease of body tempature and slight drooling, the Screaming sound of a Longsword engine woke him up. There were five, the lead launched a missile which destroyed two Shades and a nearby Ghost. Fully awake and adreniline pumping he swiveled his gun around and fired an overcharged shot, the sickly green-white ball of plasma nailing into one of the Longswords. Its engine exploded and it crashed just outside the crater. He rejoiced for a split second until another Longsword fired. The last thing Ekaj saw was a large human missile rushing towards his face...........................................................
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