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ODST Saga: Chapter 7
Posted By: Robo42786<Robo42786@aol.com>
Date: 23 May 2002, 1:41 am
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I looked out the back of the Pelican at the fifteen other drop ships. Some had Serpents or Scorpions attached to them. The five Skyhawks and two Longsword Interceptors were patrolling on the edge of the group. I had never been in a battle group this large. General Eastward wasn't taking any chances. As time passed I began to get worried because there was no sign of the Covenant Invasion Force. I kept up hope that we would get there in time to help out Alpha HQ, it had been my home for the past five years. It wasn't looking good for us; the base wouldn't be expecting such a large attack. Back in the field I noticed tracks from ten Hover Tanks, maybe pulling Covenant troop carriers which could hold fifty to one hundred soldiers depending on the various species inside. There were also crater marks that indicated at least five Banshees although there were most likely four to five times more than that given the number of tanks. This was not good at all, if the one thousand marines, fifteen Skyhawks, five Scorpions, and the one Longsword got caught off guard by an enemy that large they wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight.
Lt. Lewis came over the radio. "Sir I have some bad news, I'm seeing bright flashes of light on the horizon, I think the Covenant may have beaten us to HQ. I'll patch the vid. through to your HUD." Lt. Lewis got the link up. It was definitely The Covenant. The blue mortar blasts from the tanks and the green fuel rod shots from the banshees was unmistakable. I didn't see any Skyhawks engaged in the battle, either they hadn't gotten a chance to life off before the Covenant struck or they had already been shot down. Our Skyhawks and Longswords broke formation. Each Longsword fired 6 Archer Missiles; 12 Banshees were vaporized. Next the Skyhawks broke formation and attacked with their chain guns. The bullets ripped off Banshee wings and penetrated the tops of the crafts killing their pilots; 5 more Banshees went down. I counted the remaining Banshees; somewhere around 14 remained and turned their attention to the Skyhawks and Longswords, as did the tanks. 8 mortar blasts shot through the group of quarreling Banshees and Skyhawks, one Skyhawk was destroyed and another was heavily damaged, it got finished off by a Banshee. In the surge or mortar rounds the tanks killed 3 of their own Banshees.
As the enemy was distracted we made a landing without any initial casualties. However, the exiting of the Pelicans was a different story. It looked like the invasion at Normandy in World War II. Soldier's lives were being claimed by enemy fire almost immediately. There was 6 Plasma turrets along the West Side of the base where we had landed. The turrets were protected by portable shields, which made them hard to destroy without explosives. Problem solved: several squads hurled grenades at the turrets, a good deal of the grenades actually landed near to the turrets. A smirk came across my face as I watched the pilot's futile attempts to escape their fiery deaths. ::BOOM!!!!::
It was like a chain reaction; the turrets exploded in rapid succession. Several Grunts and Elites emerged from the west entrance but were quickly overwhelmed. We hadn't even gotten into the base and already lost 25 men to the plasma turrets.
"Marines, divide up I want 5 groups at 50 men per group except for the ODST that General Eastward sent. Then the rest of you are with me." I addressed the highest-ranking officer in each group; they were all Lt.s. I assigned codenames to each group. "My name is Captain Robert Clower and my squad will be known as Red Team. We will enter the from here on the West Side of the base." I walked to the nearest group. "Lt. your group will be known as Blue Team. You will enter the base from the north entrance." I moved on to the next group "and you, Lt. will be in charge of this squad which will go by Green Team. You will enter the base from the south entrance." And onto the final group. I recognized the Lt. leading the last group. "Ah, Lt. Baker, good to see you again."
"Thank you sir, likewise"
"Lt. Baker you will lead Gold Team, you and your men take the 4 Serpents and the 2 Scorpions along with all heavy weapons experts we have and assist in destroying the enemy tanks and Banshees. Once you are done with that patrol the perimeter for Covenant. Blue and Green teams are to radio back to me once they are at the entrances then wait for my signal to enter. The squad of ODST will be known as Silver Team, you secure the hangars."
"Yes, Sir!"
"Move it!"
Gold Team got into the vehicles, 5 per Scorpion, and 6 per Serpent. Blue and Green Teams double timed it along the north and south walls of the base.
"Blue leader here, we are in position."
"Green Team ready to go."
"On my mark enter the base, when you come to a fork in the hallway, split up equally to cover all paths...Now!" We ran down the hall splitting up when necessary. As I rounded a corner I ran into a Jackal, knocking him down and throwing his shield from his arm. "Whoops!" I said and put 3 pistol rounds in his chest, tearing through flesh and spilling blood. I got up and as everyone was catching up to me 5 more Jackals came running to aid their fallen comrade. "Shit get back around that corner!" I yelled. We hurried back around and as we did I was hit in the back by a plasma bolt. I stumbled to safety. My suit held up against the shot but I still felt some of the heat. "Arrrggg!' I cried out.
"Captain" shouted Brett "you've taken damage!"
"No shit, smart-ass." I snapped back "the suit is just a little hot from that plasma, I'm fine. Does one of you want to blow the shit out of those Jackals before they catch up to us?"
One of the marines stepped out, primed a grenade and tossed it at the aliens. One approached it, oblivious to what was about to happen. His luck ran out and the grenade exploded sending purple blood everywhere. I got up and we continued down the hallway towards the cafeteria. As we walked up to the doors which opened up into the dining area I could hear high-pitched grunts and barks. We entered with our ARs ready and searched around.
::CLANG::
"That sounded like it came from the storage area in the back room." Whispered Kevin
"Right." I replied. I made 2 hand signals for Chad and Kevin to cover my 6 while I investigated. Another hand signal told Brett to kill whatever came out of the door when I opened it. I opened the large metal door and Brett rushed in.
"Oh my God!" He yelled
"What is it?" I asked.
"The little bastards actually like the Vitamin Omega!"
I looked inside and 3 Grunts were passed out with empty cans of Vitamin Omega around them.
"Diieee! Sons of bitches!" Yelled Brett as he fired his AR at the helpless aliens. They didn't even bother to try and escape. The shredder rounds tore through their armor and hit the soft flesh underneath rupturing vital organs and sending blood and Vitamin Omega spraying everywhere. One of the Pvt.s that General Eastward had sent got sick at the site and lost it in the corner. It didn't even phase me; I had seen this for 10 years. After the Pvt was feeling better we checked the bodies in the dining area for survivors. No survivors, we took their ammo and grenades then exited back into the hall. We had reached the point where the Covenant and marines engaged each other in bloody combat. There were bodies all over the place, Human and Covenant alike. The bodies were like paint pallets and the floor and walls of the base were their canvas.
We passed several barricades upon which lifeless bodies were hanging. One Elite was badly injured but still alive. I put a 5 round burst of armor piercing rounds into his back. It looked like the Covenant had moved swiftly deep into the base towards the data banks and prison cells. We were almost to the center of the first floor. The data banks and prison cells were on the third floor, where presumably the Covenant were. The center of the base was sort of an information/directory station and it fed into the main hallways. There were 3 hallways unchecked for any Covenant or survivors. Brett and I went to secure one, Chad and Kevin went to another and Alex, David, and Jonathan checked the last one while the rest of the marines stayed behind in the room and waited. Out of the 25 marines that originally accompanied us 5 of them were with us now. The rest had split up, none had been killed. The lack of resistance inside the base was unnerving to me. I had seen 2 troop carriers and not enough bodies to account for 2 carriers full of troops. Green and Blue Teams should be checking in soon and I hoped they encountered the same lax resistance that we did.
"Aaahhh!" Screams from behind us followed by gun shots. Brett and I ran back to check on the 5 marines. 4 red armored Elites had surrounded them and by the time we got there the 5 Pvt.s were already dead. Kevin, Chad, Alex, David and Jonathan emerged from the hallways at the same time Brett and I did and opened fire. "Waste the bastards!" I shouted. Our bullets, while almost every one of them hit their mark, weren't doing damage quick enough. We backed up into the halls while laying down suppressive fire at our attackers. Jonathan took out his shotgun and had little trouble killing both of the Elites that followed him and the 2 brothers so he went and assisted Kevin and Chad. Brett and I however were having equipment problems. My gun jammed and Brett was out of ammo. We managed to take down the Elite's shields with our last few shots. It was now his turn to shoot at us. 5 plasma rounds hit me in the chest and burned through the suit, the 6th and 7th rounds connected with skin. I fell to my knees then to the floor writhing in pain. Brett reached for his pistol but a plasma shot welded it to his holster. He pulled out his combat knife and slashed the Elite across the belly. As he clutched his bleeding wound Brett shoved the entire 8 inches into the Elite's rib cage and then twisted it a full 180 degrees. The sound was a sickening cracking made by the ribs being wedged apart.
Chad got to us and took out his med kit. He administered some anti-burn balm to the spot on my chest where the plasma burned me. It did such a good job of relieving the pain; the same spot that had felt like a hundred white-hot pokers just moments ago only felt like minor sunburn now.
"Captain, your sternum and part of a few ribs are exposed; I'm going to cover up the spot with a patch of plastic putty. It should stop infection as well as provide a small amount of protection. Are you going to be ok?" He asked.
"Yes I'll be fine just give me a few seconds to catch my breath." When I got up I told everyone to drop their AR's and pick up plasma rifles since they would be more effective. Brett refused to swap his AR. Me, Chad, Kevin, and Alex picked up the dead Elite's plasma rifles. I flipped on my radio. "This is Red Leader, all of Red Team is to meet me at the information center right now, we will be moving down to the second floor; Armory, Experimental tech lab, and the indoor firing range. Blue team is to stay topside. Green Team is to rendezvous and go to the third floor and eliminate the Covenant there. Silver Team, what is your status?"
"No casualties, we have almost wiped out all the Covenant in this area."
"Good, once you're done stay there and prepare to take on human survivors."
As we waited the members of Red Team filed in. They had lost 5 men and all together we had suffered a total of 10 deaths, now there was 7 ODST and 15 marines remaining. We went down a flight of stairs to the second floor and made our way to the armory. We entered the armory and it looked like we had missed the action again. Bullet holes and plasma burned metal peppered the walls of the armory. Not very many bodies; 7 marines, 10 Grunts, and 2 Jackals. Several gun racks were tipped over and one had even crushed a hapless Grunt. We all swapped our plasma rifles for M90 Shotguns and picked up some ammo.
We left in despair; no survivors and things weren't looking good for the rest of the base's occupants. I wondered what happened to Corporal Andrews when the base got hit. He had always been lucky. While walking down the hall towards the tech lab we passed a spot where another battle had taken place. 2 of the bodies looked familiar, one was a Lt. and the other had a hole in her stomach. Oh God these were from J.D.'s squad. I searched the other bodies for him but had no success. Good, maybe he escaped. The next hallway would lead to the tech lab. The lab's doors should have sealed shut when the base was attacked but that most likely wont hold off the Covenant for very long. I told everyone to be ready to face a group of Covs at the door. Just as I thought, an Elite and 2 Hunters. The Elite was attempting to bypass security at one of the nearby control panels while the Hunters were simply trying to break down the door. "Jonathan do you still have those Lotus anti-tank mines?"
"Yea, right here."
"Arm one and put it on a 10-second timer then give it to me."
He did so and it took almost all of my strength to throw the mine down the hall. It bounced once and landed right in between the 2 Hunters who didn't even notice it. "Get your asses the hell away!" It's amazing how fast you'll run when there's an anti-tank mine about to blow up just down the hallway from you. The massive explosion rocked the building and several marines were flung to the ground. A whole minute passed before I decided to get up and go make sure the Hunters were dead, no doubt they would be. When the smoke and dust cleared there was a gaping hole in the floor and the door along with some of the wall it was attached to were completely missing. Several support beams in the floor were exposed. "I only want a few of us to cross those; they don't look too stable. Chad and Brett will come with me and the rest of you stay here." The metal was still hot; I could feel the heat through my boots. Inside there were several tables with seemingly normal weapons on them. A partially disassembled shotgun. Above it read "M90A Automatic Shotgun" There was also a strange pistol type gun but the label above it was distorted from debris hitting it and I couldn't see what its name was. A table without anything on it. The label above read "MA6B Assault Rifle." And on the other side of the room was something that caught my attention. It was the handle of a sword. The label above said "Prototype Plasma Sword." This was truly interesting, a human plasma sword. The scientist here must have back engineered the Covenant technology. The Covenant version was much feared by marines, especially ones that had wasted their ammo and were at the mercy of a Covenant Elite wielding one. The glass case it was in had been shattered by a chunk of the wall so I picked it up. No "On" button. I shrugged and made a last check over the room, so sign of any people. They must have escaped and locked the door. Too bad I couldn't figure out how to turn on the plasma sword, those fencing lessons at the UNSC academy would have come in handy if I encountered another gun malfunction.
"Ok, lets get out of here and check the firing range then see if Green or Silver Team needs any help." When I got across the makeshift bridge I thought I saw something out of the corner of my left eye. I looked nothing there. Then I realized what happened to that Elite who had been trying to crack the security system. "Everyone get down the hall and find cover." The Elite realized his cover had been blown so he charged at us. He moved like lightning and I didn't have my gun ready. I tried to turn and run but I tripped on some rubble. He was right over me and in a last ditch effort I closed my eyes and swung the plasma saber handle at him. I herd a sort of electrical buzzing sound followed by the sensation of a warm liquid splashing in my face. I opened my eyes and saw a pair of legs missing a torso, which had landed right next to me. A green beam was extended from the handle. So the plasma saber worked after all. "Whoa I didn't feel any resistance at all; it just sliced right through those shields and armor like nothing at all."
"Captain, that was the single coolest thing I have ever seen." Said Kevin.
I was stunned and finally managed to say "yeah, me too."
I gazed at the glowing blade for a moment marveling at the aura that surrounded this magnificent weapon. "How did I turn it on and how do I turn it off?" I tried several things and finally I squeezed the handle and the blade retracted. "Must be pressure activated." I mumbled "Ok, lets go check the firing range." We jogged to the firing range and walked through the blown down door. The range itself was dark so Kevin turned on the emergency floodlights revealing a dozen Grunts and half that many Jackals gathered around a body, feeding like vultures.
"Send them to Hell!" The resounding boom of 12 shotguns startled the aliens. 4 of them were impacted by the shells and torn apart. The Jackals never had a chance to turn on their shields and face us before being pelted by unrelenting shotgun fire. The gunfire lasted for 30 seconds; all the aliens were dead in only 15 but that didn't stop anyone from emptying their chambers. I turned on my radio and called for all teams to report.
"Blue Team here, we have found 7 survivors and haven't taken any additional casualties."
"Gold Team has taken heavy losses; we have found 2 survivors in bad shape."
"Gold Team reporting all Covenant tanks and Banshees eliminated. We lost a Scorpion and a Serpent and the other Scorpion has lost a tread but is still functional. One Longsword was destroyed the other suffered medium damage."
"Silver Team here, the hangar is all clear, we have a lot of survivors from around the base and we lost one man in the fight."
"Good job Teams, meet in the hangar."
When I arrived I learned the General Harris had been killed, his body was found in the command center with some survivors. The highest-ranking officer on the base now was Commander Wilkins. I had spoken with him before but I didn't really know him. He told us we were not permitted to leave the hangar until debriefing had been finished and he also said that ONI had a demonstration prepared for us; the MA6B. It took several hours before he even begun the debriefing which also lasted a few hours. When he was done 3 men in black suits came in with a large crate. They were ONI personal. One of the men holding an AR spoke. "Ok marines we have a little surprise for you. Can any of you guess what this is? No this isn't a MA5B, this is a MA6B. This is new. The MA6B fires 8.83mm rounds instead of the MA5B's 7.62mm rounds. The MA6B also has a longer barrel for accuracy and some silenced fire. The MA6B fires 8.83mm AP, Shredder, and the new type of bullet, which is an explosive tipped bullet or an EX, round. The EX rounds do more damage than the other bullets and have a greater affect against Hunter armor, not much though. One other thing about the MA6B is that it can also fire the MA5B's 7.62mm rounds." He lifted the gun and fired at a target completely destroying it. "Ok that is the end of our demonstration, we will assign the MA6Bs to their owners in ten minutes."
We were handed the ARs and a few clips of each kind of ammo. Personally I liked the shredder rounds best so I decided to try out the EX rounds later. I walked towards the wreckage of a Banshee and took aim. As I looked down the scope I thought I saw something move. It must have been nothing. I squeezed the trigger and the rounds cause purple blood to spray out from the air and an Elite's body fell to the ground. "Uh-oh." I said. Dozens of energy swords powered up all around the hanger. "Stealth Elites!" I shouted. "Look out!" Alien war cries resonated through the hanger and the glowing swords advanced towards the group of marines who began firing wildly. A few Elites went down but not many. The soldiers on the perimeter were cut down but the other marines opened fire close range and didn't miss. They became more organized and took smarter shots.
Brett had become isolated from the rest of the group by 2 Elites. Their swords danced around him, lashing out trying to inflict a lot of pain but not kill him yet. I couldn't get off a clear shot at them. Finally they became bored with their human toy and thrusted their blades into Brett's gut and ribs, lifting him off the ground several inches before withdrawing the swords and letting his limp body fall to the ground. "No!" I screamed as I let loose a barrage of shredder rounds separating their pitiful souls from their mortal bodies. I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder. One of the bastards was behind me. I reached for my sword handle and squeezed it as I turned to face my attacker. The blade sliced through the air and severed a cloaked Elite's stomach spilling its visceral mass onto the already blood stained floor. I followed up with a quick slash, which decapitated the beast. The base rocked violently as the hanger door was blown open revealing a small shielded Covenant ship, which deployed spec ops Grunts and Jackals and 5 Hunters. A Warthog engaged them but was overturned throwing out its passengers who seemed ok but were attacked by the Covenant troops who had just landed. "ODST break away from the fight and engage the troops. Load up your EX rounds if you haven't already done so." My squad and the other ODST broke away from the battle and fired their EX rounds at the behemoths. I was first to get there and also first to run out of EX ammo. I dropped my AR as a Hunter was preparing to squash a marine with its huge shield. One slash of the plasma sword cut through the shield, arm, body, and other arm of the Hunter. The other Hunters were badly hurt and eventually killed by the onslaught of the EX rounds. I noticed one of the marines was Cpl. Andrews. He was bandaged up and the patch of a Sgt. on his shoulder caught my eye. "Sergeant Andrews?"
"Yes sir that's right, Sgt. Andrews. I got a promotion not too long ago."
"So I see. Congrat-"
When I came too there was a sharp pain in the back of my head and an Elite soldier was holding me up as I lifted my head to look out the back of what appeared to be the Covenant ship. Marines were firing at it and I could see the flicker of its shields. "Where am I and what have you done with my men?"
"Shut your mouth, human!" Came the reply in a cold, deep, guttural voice.
"No, shit bag, answer me."
"Watch your tongue, Human! You and your 'Men' are going to various places. Some will be used in experiments; the others will be given a chance to fight for their lives."
I reached to my side holster for a knife or pistol or something. He laughed and said "do you take me for a fool? I have disarmed you but you will receive your weapons when you fight in the Coliseum for your life and for the amusement of the Royal Family and millions of other Covenant."
"Great." I mumbled as I slipped back into unconsciousness.
The End
CONTINUED IN "A Will To Survive"
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