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Oblivion Chapter 4: Welcome to Mars
Posted By: Reclaimer<Xenoragnarok@aol.com>
Date: 17 July 2003, 4:52 AM
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Author's notes: In the last chapter, I made the mistake of giving Linda blonde hair. She's actually a redhead. Sorry to all the carrot tops! Represent!
Location: Mars
Time: Zero Hour
Mission: Suicide
Space: the ultimate chess board. 3-dimensional, infinitely large, and able to field chess pieces of immense shape and power. Cortana ran the space chess program. A thousand chess pieces on each side, the dark chess pieces replaced by sleek, purple star fighters, the white side represented by crude space-faring vessels engineered more for utility's sake rather than beauty. The flagship, Hand of God, super-cruiser and coordinator of the "black" fleet juxtaposed with the Orion, most powerful ship in the mortal realm and leader of the valiant "white" defenders of Earth. They did do heavenly battle, man versus his nemesis, on that ancient day of Ragnarok.
And far away slept the last chance for humanity. He would not be their ultimate savior, but he would make his indelible mark on this glorious space opera. As the opening salvos of the chess game were fired, his eyes began to open. In the blink of an eye, the Spartan stood up, pulled on his undergarment and entered his Mark 5 battle armor. Though the armored knight's steed had changed, he still rode toward battle with the same swiftness.
"I'm glad you are up. We're approaching Mars, and it sounds like the Martians really need our help. The Covenant have already secured sections of the planet, and the Martians are trying to take it back. I think those Covenant could use a helping of genuine super soldier, Chief, so we're going in hot" reported Cortana.
"Agreed. What about Earth?"
"Earth can take care of itself for now."
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me."
The Master Chief checked and re-checked the shotgun and rocket launcher that had delivered him from Halo. If they were going in hot, he'd need them. He made sure his trusty M6D pistol was loaded and ready to fire and attached it to his leg plate.
The Long sword began to buck and shake as it entered Martian atmosphere. It was a bumpy ride, vomit-inducing to most people, yet the Spartan was immune to the effects. The aircraft began to trail thick, brown smoke as it streaked across the sky. Below, Covenant ground forces were fighting a pitched battle with a group of grizzled marines backed by air and armor support. The Martian landscape, against impossible odds, had become even more pitted and cratered than before the Covenant arrived.
Master Chief felt the impact. It was hard but not as hard as the landing on Halo.
"Nice one," he told Cortana as he literally put her into his head.
"Be careful, Chief. We landed in the middle of a firefight. Don't get sloppy."
Hoisting the rocket launcher onto his shoulder, he hit the door controls and watched as a group of surprised Jackals and Grunts walked up to the downed bird. The Master Chief, stood, cloaked in the darkness of the entrance, rocket launcher pointed at the center of the Covenant.
The Jackal corporal ordered one of the grunts to check it out. The grunt reluctantly stepped up the ramp and was enveloped by darkness.
The Spartan instinctively slung his rocket launcher, disabled the grunt, and slit the neck of the grunt with his commando knife. He threw the grunt back down the ramp as if it were a bowling ball.
The Jackal hopped out of the way of the grunt and ordered his subordinates to fire, but it was too late. A rocket streaked out of the darkness and hit the platoon dead center. The Jackal felt shrapnel tear through his body, took his last gasping breath, and died.
Other Covenant weren't so lucky, however. The ground had been covered in Covenant parts and Covenant blood. A limbless grunt was sprawled across the ramp. Another jackal had been blown to bits, but his head remained. It would have made an excellent soccer ball, if he had had the time.
Thus, the Spartan slung his Rocket launcher and said goodbye to the ship that had saved him from Halo. He ran down the ramp in a blur, hopped into a trench, and checked his position. The Covenant had the upper hand on the marines... for now.
"Look, above us... It's beautiful."
Above Mars, above the moon, and above the Earth, the deadly game of chess was being played. Thousands of spacecraft and thousands of bursts of light, brighter than any star or planet, could be seen waging their deadly war for the fate of the universe and for all to see.
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