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Nothing to Lose Part II
Posted By: hornet34<hornet34x@hotmail.com>
Date: 1 September 2003, 4:45 PM
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Nothing to Lose Part II
Captain Simms peered out of his viewport. In the distance, three Covenant warships loomed; menacing, lethal, they brought only death and destruction and cared nothing for the people they destroyed. What seperated them was the cold darkness of space, periodically illuminated as Scarabs and Longswords exploded. He wondered how much longer his pilots would last, how long it would be until the boarding parties overran his marines, how long until there was nothing left but a hollowed out shell of his ship.
"Doc, what's the status of our starfighters."
"Twenty percent have already been destroyed or disabled. They're putting up a valiant fight, Captain, but they are outnumbered badly. I don't see how its possible they can engage those Scarabs, try and disrupt boarding attempts, and stop the enemy from harrassing our escape pods."
The Captain paused to consider his next words, knowing that every last one of his pilots would die today. "Send the order for them to disengage. Their new priority is to stop those landing craft." He turned to address the bridge crew. "We are locked in a battle we can't possibly win. It was my choice to sacrifice our ship. Our duty now is to hold these Covenant ships here as long as possible, to make them sacrifice more than they ever thought they would have to, because every second we keep these ships occupied, every Covie bastard we kill, is one less second our friends have to fear their presence, one less enemy to endanger our comrades. But if anyone wants to leave, to have a chance at making it out of this alive, there is no shame in that."
The crew looked at the captain for several long seconds, each man silently considering what must be the hardest decision they would ever face. Finally First Lieutanant Richard Pearson spoke up.
"Captain, I think I can speak for everyone when I say it would be our honor to accompany you on this final mission."
A cheer broke out throughout the crew.
Captain Simms couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Alright, well lets show those Covenant assholes how to fight a war. Rezendez, I want a full report on sheild and hull strength on all three vessels, especially the second frigate. You show us where they're weak and we'll rip them apart. De Gaulle."
"Yes sir"
"Why aren't we in firing range yet."
"The Covenant have stopped, sir. They're letting us come to them. I estimate it we'll be in firing range in thirty seconds. Also, the Destroyers are breaking off. It looks like they're going planetside, probably to send troops down after our dropships."
"Sir, the first Covenant boarding craft have landed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sergeant Mayer checked his scanner, looked up at the door, and then checked it again. Initially four boarding craft were headed towards the docking bays his team controlled, but a pair of Longswords had put an end to one of them.
"Alright Marines, first boarding craft coming in. Throw everything at 'em, we got nothing to lose."
The Sarge heard a loud thump on the hull. Suddenly the door erupted in a blinding blue flash, followed instantly by a charging elite. Just as quick the mine went off, sending the elite hurtling back through the hole he'd just created. Two grunts had been hot on his tail, but both were off-balance from the mine and stumbled out. Mayer squeezed the trigger on his shotgun and pumped buckshot into the closer grunt. Assault rifles chattered as the marines opened up, and both grunts fell before being able to fire a shot.
Mayer quickly jammed shells back into the shotgun as two jackals came pouring out. But rather than charge heedlessly in battle, they crept forward carefully, each one turned to provide cover from both sides. Once more the sound of assault rifles filled the air, but this time bullets pinged harmlessly off the jackal's shields. Mayer popped off two rounds, only to hit sheilds. Across the room he saw one of his soldiers go down, the victim of a well placed plasma shot.
A grunt joined the Jackals assault and began chucking grenades, only to have the marines answer with no less than three of their own. Mayer closed his eyes as the room became engulfed in fire from the resulting explosions. All three Covenant fighters were obliterated, leaving only a splattering of purple blood on the walls. Mayer fingered his trigger, expecting more enemies, but an uneasy calm ensued. Something didn't feel right, but he shrugged it off.
"Injury Report."
"Sarge, Morris took a shot to the shoulder. Armor caught most of the damage, but I don't think he'll be able to fire a weapon."
"Then get him out of here and to a escape pod, he's no more use here. Anyone else."
"Sir it Webber."
The Sergeant looked at the private; his armor blackened, his hair singed, he had what looked like a horrible sunburn on his face.
"I got a little too close to the plasma grenade, but I'm good to go."
"Good to go, son, you look like your well-done. Get to a first aid kit and patch yourself up and then hustle your ass back here. Everyone else alright. Then look sharp, we got two more coming in."
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