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Halo: Liberation of Earth - Section 1
Posted By: HawkEye<muse_aholic@hotmail.com>
Date: 15 February 2004, 4:12 PM
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Halo: The Liberation of Earth
Chapter 1
"We are five to dirt; repeat, five to dirt"
The Master Chief looked round the Pelican's interior. Nine marines equipped with combat armour were seated in its 10-capacity troop bay. All of the marines were armed with the Battle Rifle, a variation of the MA 5B assault rifle. It had a 2x scope, was more accurate, but had a slower rate of fire and a smaller clip. During the bitter street fights that occurred all throughout Earth City, however, it was incredibly useful. They were also armed with a multitude of grenades.
The Pelican's door gunner was surveying the sky behind the aircraft as it approached the LZ. Suddenly, a Banshee emerged from the clouds, and the gunner promptly shot off one of its short stubby "wings." The alien aircraft spiralled down out of sight, and there was a dull explosion a few seconds later.
The Master Chief was also armed with the battle rifle and varying types of grenade, but also with two SMG's which were secured in holsters on his thighs. The SMG's were extremely useful in close quarters, sporting a high rate of fire and a large ammo clip. The rounds were also caseless.
"We are two to dirt; repeat, two to dirt," the pilot spoke over the COM. "The LZ is hot."
"Roger that," Sergeant Wallis spoke. "OK marines, those Covenant freaks are swamped all over this city like methane on a grunt. I want the LZ secured 10 minutes ago, now lock-and-load!"
At once, the marines checked their battle rifles and loaded fresh magazines into them. They also put on their combat helmets.
The whining of plasma fire was heard, and all around them, something alike to flak cannons, plasma exploded in the air. The Pelican was manoeuvring tightly now to escape the lethal plasma. Then the aircraft began its descent.
"Touchdown - hit it marines!" the pilot yelled, and 9 marines and the Master Chief leapt out into the fray.
Chapter 2
The Master Chief pulled out his SMG's and opened fire. Grunts fell as the high-velocity rounds tore through them, methane leaking out of their breathing apparatus. The sound of a Ghost reached his ears, and in one fluid motion he pulled out a plasma grenade, ignited and threw it. His aim was perfect; the grenade sailed through the air and landed on the engine compartment of the vehicle, and the Elite pilot was still trying to abandon the doomed craft when it exploded into a ball of flame.
The marines had tackled the grunts and jackals, leaving him to deal with the Elites. One of them charged at him, and he dropped the SMG's, neatly rolled to the side, turned 180 degrees, and caved in the back of the alien's head with the butt of his battle rifle. Then he turned again and put 12 rounds through the chest of another Elite.
Suddenly, a ball of green plasma sailed through the air and hit him squarely in the chest. His shields bleeped furiously and he saw two hunters emerge from a side alley. The Master Chief knelt down and activated the rifle's scope, he aimed at the first Hunter and put the rest of the clip into the alien warrior. It fell, and he heard the howl of rage from the fallen creature's bond brother. The creature charged recklessly, and the Master Chief was forced to back-pedal furiously to avoid being hit by the Hunters shield or worse, its razor-sharp spines. It was almost upon him, when the distant crack of a sniper rifle was heard and the creature fell in a pool of its own blood. The Master Chief calculated the trajectory of the shot mentally, and saw that it came from a skyscraper 2 miles away. That was some sniper, he thought, and re-entered the fray.
"Pelican Delta 194 to fire team Alpha; LZ secured."
"Roger that Delta 194; on route to rendezvous point. Over," Sgt. Wallis said. "OK marines, fall in quickly. Head to the NAV point."
The marines moved out. The rendezvous point was 2km from the LZ, and there they would meet up with the rest of the UNSC ground forces at the city's military headquarters.
The journey took 20 minutes, and they met little opposition along the way. Then they were at HQ. It was still held by the marines, but there had visibly been some form of Covenant attack during the past 24 hours.
"Good to see you, Master Chief, Sir" one of the marines on guard said. He was manning a stationary gauss cannon, the type seen on the new Warthog variant. "The rest of UNSC ground forces are in the armoury."
Fire team Alpha was cleared to enter and headed towards the armoury.
Chapter 3
"OK everybody hustle," Lieutenant Kellett said. "The Covenant have cut off a large group of UNSC forces in this industrial complex here." He highlighted an area of the holographic map. "our task is to insert a squad in aerially and push through to the survivors. Then they must reinforce them and call for evac." The plan looked dangerous, but it was their only option. There were hundreds of Covenant within that area, and there were only a few areas of open ground within which a Pelican could deploy its troops, and these areas of open ground were held by the Covenant.
"With all due respect Sir," the Master Chief said. "Judging by the strength of the Covenant in that area, our best bet would be to send in aerial support before deploying as many marines as we can spare, with vehicular support to hold the LZ's for extraction." The Lieutenant stared at him, then nodded. "Very well. OK marines, you heard the Master Chief. I want the minimal amount of marines left to guard this place, the rest of you, prepare for battle!"
The strength of the marines numbered 138 for the assault - and when the number required for the vehicles (15 warthogs and 8 Scorpion tanks) was subtracted, it left them with 100 combat-ready marines. The tanks and the warthogs would patrol the LZ's, whilst the rest of the marines would enter the structure and find the survivors. Fully half of the combat force were mounted on ATV's to push through quickly and protect the survivors whilst the over marines on foot would work their way through, clearing the way ready for evac. The ATV's were to be secured to the D-rings in the Pelicans deck, and were to be in the Pelicans which weren't burdened by Scorpion tanks and Warthog's.
The Master Chief would be one of those on an ATV, and he had devised a plan for a quick deployment of the vehicles - when the Pelicans had descended to 10 metres, the ATV's would be released from the d-rings and the drivers would jump out of the aircraft and speed off towards the complex. Modifications had been made to the Pelicans so each dropship could carry five ATVs. Also, there were special quick-release levers attached to each d-ring so that the ATV's could be released quickly.
The marines using the ATVs were armed with plasma grenades, twin SMG's and magnums as their sidearms. The non-mobilised marines were split into five fire teams of 10 troops each - designated fire teams Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo and Foxtrot. Two of the marines in each fire team were armed with the S2 AM sniper rifle, two were armed with the M19 SSM "Jackhammer" rocket launcher, and the rest were armed with MA 5B assault rifles. Everyone had a shotgun for close-in work.
Five minutes later, a fleet of Pelican dropships designated Sierras 1 through 33 set off for the objective.
To Be Continued...
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