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All Roads Lead To Sol...Just Make Sure To Bypass Mars: Chapter 15
Posted By: S7N<n.j.r.jones@brighton.ac.uk>
Date: 1 December 2003, 4:06 AM
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Chapter 15
1130 Hours, August 30th, 2549 (Military Calendar) /
Coron, Corona III, Theater
Of Operations
When the plasma bolt hit, Manny didn't know what to do. At first anger raged through him, then sadness, then anger again. When the second bolt hit, Manny was almost at her side, a bitter taste entering his mouth. As she fell to the ground, he was at her side, grabbing at her, hoping, wishing for her to be alive. He didn't care that a Jackal was firing off round after round at him, trying to kill him. He lay on the ground, cradling Sarah in his hands, tears streaming down his face. Fincher and the others rushed passed him and put down the Jackal, but even though Sarah's killer was down, it didn't make him feel any better.
He ripped off her helmet and pulled her head towards his, kissing her forehead, her cheek, her neck, just wishing that she'd come back to life. He clutched at something that wasn't there any more, felt everything disappear out of his grasp. Harris, Fincher and Walker came to kneel by him, Cochran standing just off from them, his eyes watering a little. He buried his head into her chest, letting himself go completely. He didn't even notice Raynes or Harland come up behind him. Didn't feel them grabbing at him, trying to console him.
It felt like eternity that he sat there. The battle that he was in the middle of didn't seem to matter any more. His dead comrades all pushed out of his mind. He put his lips to her ear and whispered into it.
"I love you."
"I love you to," a croaky voice said. Manny almost jumped. He stared down at Sarah and saw her eyes open, a painful smile on her face. Relief filled him and he felt sudden elation override his system. If it was possible, he cried even more, but this time in happiness.
"My god I thought you were dead," he lifted her up into a sitting position and knelt beside her. Hutchins appeared at their side, a medic next to him with his kit open the moment he got to them. Sarah stared up at Manny, the look of deep emotion in her eyes. All he could do was stare back.
"Hey, Manny," Raynes said "we are in the middle of a battle here, so if you don't mind..." Manny knew Raynes was only half serious, but he got the idea.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Manny said to the medic, not taking his eyes off of her.
"She's gonna be fine," the medic replied "just some second degree burns, that's all. It looks more like two glancing blows, so she's lucky to say the least. But she won't be able to fight, not just now."
"Hey doc, I am conscious you know." The medic blushed and apologised. Sarah grabbed Manny's hand, squeezing it hard. "Go." She said, her eyes drowsy from the painkillers the medic had given her. "Go be a hero, it's what you're good at," he leaned in and kissed her, then got to his feet.
The others looked at him approvingly, then Raynes stepped forwards and motioned them on. They ran along the length of the trench, putting down any resistance they came across, and helping any friendlies as they went. Whilst Manny had been cradling the love of his life, believing she was dead, Raynes, Harland and Hutchins had been putting down the last of the defence. Manny's plan to take out the tank had not only done that, but taken out all but one of the bunkers, as well as every turret and most of the Covenant that were entrenched here. Raynes congratulated him on his masterful thinking, but also said that someone was bound to come up with it sooner or later.
They made their way to the end of the trench, finding nothing but a handful of dead Grunts. In silence, the marines exited the deeply dug ditch and made their way onto a main road. An electric car lay burned and overturned nearby, its passengers nothing but blackened skeletons. They hunched behind it, searching the area for any sign of life. A mile down the road was nothing. Back the other way led them into the Covenant defensive area, a place they'd rather avoid.
Beyond the other side of the road was the main city, but that was a days walk. In between that was thick woodland, a place that would keep them hidden well, but also put them in a sticky situation if they needed extraction. Lieutenant McCasky came over the frequency, sitting high up in the Pliskin, and told them what was going on. 1st and 3rd Platoons, or what was left of them, were heading towards the enemy defensive zone. 4th platoon was taking up a flanking position to help them out, and Bravo and Echo squads from 2nd Platoon were waiting on the beach for the armoured support.
"We'll scout around and see what we can find, sir." Raynes replied when he had finished giving them the battle analysis. "Raynes, out." He exhaled sharply and turned to his men. "Right, we're gonna take a little scout around here, see what we can find. With first and third on the offensive, we need to be looking for ways to help them. Armoured support is goin' to take a while."
"What do you suggest?" Harland said. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Manny and Walker did the same.
"We'll scout out the woods, and get as close to their defence as we can without raising any alarms. I want Fincher on point, Cochran bring up the rear. Keep you spacing tight. Let's go." They came out of their crouches and one by one, made it across the street and into the mouth of the woods. Fincher rushed off ahead, stopping at every third tree. Although they didn't feel tense, the squad knew something was going to happened sooner or later.
Twenty minutes passed, and they had managed to make some distance, but still found nothing. Raynes ordered Fincher to take them more towards the Covenant, and they carried on for a further five minutes before something caught his attention.
Fincher stopped suddenly and held his hand out, signalling them to stop, then motioned for them to get down. He edged forwards slightly, rifle raised. Suddenly without warning the forest erupted in a shower of fire, and the squad were blinded for a split second.
When Manny's vision came back to him, he saw a man in jungle fatigues standing in front of them, leaning against a tree. The pattern on his uniform matched his face paint, and Manny realised that he had been standing in front of them all along. The man grinned and a white crack appeared in his face.
"That was lucky." He said, his voice thick and husky. He turned to where the explosion had come from, walked over to a blackened patch of earth and lifted up the body of a Grunt, missing an arm and half a leg. "If he hadn't set that off, I bet you would have."
"Who are you, soldier?" Raynes said, his voice irritable. And Manny could hardly blame him. This was the second time in his career that he had encountered someone who he had no clue about.
"Corporal Lance Givens, UNSC Rangers, sir." He saluted crisply, but it seemed more like he was taking the piss. Manny looked over at Raynes, his face was a little red, but he had learnt to keep his anger in check since meeting Manny's brother. Harland stood directly behind the Sergeant, a look of bemusement on his face. Rangers had been around for centuries, one of the most elite group of men you'd ever get. Trained to be the best. And for some reason, every one was an arrogant bastard.
"Rangers," Harland muttered, "Figures."
"What you doing here, Corporal?" Raynes snapped. "Your zone is ten klicks that-a-way!" he pointed off to his right. The Corporal just stared back at him, the smile still on his face.
"Just having a little, detour, sir." He replied. The man's cocky attitude seemed to be grating Raynes more and more. At times like this, it was Harland's job to step in and take control, but instead he just stood there, waiting for his superior officer to explode. Maybe he wanted him to.
"Well, don't you think you've come far enough?" Raynes replied sternly.
"Why? You lost or something?" the man smiled even more.
"No, Corporal we're not lo..."
"You are lost, aren't you." The man laughed. "I'm not out of my zone, your out of mine! Ha! Dumb ass marines!" Raynes started towards him but a scream from behind made them turn around. Hutchins was dancing in terror, his body whirling round in a blind panic as if he had been possessed. But he wasn't possessed. Not by a long way.
A blue orb glistened and sparkled on his back, turning everything nearby hazy. There was nothing that could be done; the plasma grenade was stuck on for good, and would be for the rest of Hutchins' life. All the others could do was find cover and kiss the dirt. And although it was the most disgraceful thing they could do, run from a comrade in need, they all knew it was right. Hutchins, too would have no quarrels with it, he would rather die alone than take his friends with him.
The grenade exploded and showered the trees with blood. The moment the ringing stopped in Manny's ears, he got up off the ground and showered the forest with bullets. Fincher and Cochran joined in, hoping to get whatever did this.
Manny's rifle clicked empty and he released the trigger. He stood and went to where Hutchins had been a few moments ago; all that was left was a boot and half an arm. There wasn't even enough left to consider it a proper burial. Harland came up and patted Manny on the shoulder.
"Nobody should deserve a death like that, not even that idiot." Harland flung his head back to where the Ranger had been. They both turned and saw Raynes pinning the Ranger up against the tree. He was yelling at him, screaming into the Corporal's face, telling him that what just happened was all his fault. And it looked as if the Ranger actually seemed stunned by it all, a rare occurrence, since the Ranger's were known to be cocky wise-asses. Harris and Walker were already rushing over to them, trying to pry the two apart.
Manny was just about to go over to them when a hail of green plasma sailed passed his head. He dropped to the floor and yelled to the others. Once again, all hell broke loose. Manny rolled behind a tree, narrowly avoiding another lethal volley of plasma. He poked his head out and gasped at what he saw.
Beyond where Harris and Walker lay with the Sarge, the Ranger was nowhere to be seen, were hundreds and hundreds of Grunt and Jackals. And all of them were heading this way. They seemed to be firing wildly, but Manny knew that the ones that had given him a hair cut were too accurate for wildfire. He scrambled to his feet and yelled into his mic.
"Fall back! Fall back! Let's get the hell outta here!" he found himself running faster than he'd ever ran faster before. He threw whatever he didn't need to the ground, and sprinted. He didn't know if anyone had heard him, or if anyone was following him. He fired randomly behind him, then heard a crackle in his headset,
"Jesus, Manny, stop firing will ya?!" Harland yelled through his ears "We're right behind ya!" he threw his rifle over his shoulder, then glanced behind him. Sure enough, they were all behind him, running at full pelt. The Covenant force was visible behind them, but they seemed to be slowing a little.
After ten minutes they found themselves out on the road. And there was not a soul in sight. They made their way across and onto the beach, only to find more carnage than when they had left. Scorpion tanks sat burnt out and crumpled, overturned Warthogs and ATVs littered the sand, and if it was possible, there were more dead bodies.
"What the hell?" Walker whispered. They stood and stared at the massacre. The armoured support that had come in had been completely obliterated, along with the reinforcements. Dread filled Manny suddenly as he thought of Sarah. He ran as fast as he could to the trench, dived in it and pelted down the narrow passage. He came across dozens and dozens of dead bodies, all wearing marine green, and feared the worst. But as he rounded a familiar corner he found her.
At first he thought she was dead, partially hidden under the body of the medic that had been helping her, but when he saw her chest rise ever so slightly, he knew she was just playing dead. He ran over to her and pulled the body off of her, shouting her name.
"Oh, Jon!" she cried, bursting into tears as he flung his arms round her. "I thought you were dead!"
"C'mon, we have to get you out of here." He shouted. "There's a Covenant force the size of New York heading this way." He slipped his arm around her and lifted her up. "Can you walk?" she nodded, and they made their way over the trench. "Sarge, you there?"
"Yeah, Manors, where the hell are you?"
"Just coming out of the trench now, sir" the two of them came out of the trench and saw Raynes and the others huddled round a burning Warthog not far away.
"We got a Pelican coming in for extraction. So get your butt over here...is that McCain with you or a weird looking Covenant?"
"It's McCain, sir." He said, with a chuckle.
They slowly made it over to the Warthog. Fincher and Cochran had taken up guard positions, Harris and Walker were looking for survivors, but so far there was no sign of the Covenant. Manny lay Sarah against the tire of the jeep and covered her with his jacket, kissing her on the forehead as he did so. He glanced up at Raynes. The elder man was speaking quietly into a SATCOM receiver. After a few seconds, he signalled off, hanging up the receiver. He looked grim. "What happened, sir?"
"They were ambushed. First and Third platoons came up against heavy resistance and were forced back to here. Fourth is still out there, hiding in the forests, their numbers down to half. The armoured support came ashore, but before anyone could do anything, they were overrun by Covenant. A squadron of Banshees took out the tanks, which luckily they weren't manned. The survivors got back into what working boats they could find and made it out to sea, waiting for an extraction."
"What's the body count, sir?" Manny prepared himself.
"Just under half." Raynes cursed. "Half a company wiped out in a few hours." He wiped at the sweat on his forehead, replacing it with grime and blood. They gazed off into the distance, trying to spot any hint of movement, be it human or otherwise.
Nothing. There was nothing.
Walker and Harris appeared at Raynes' side, their faces grey, if that was possible. Walker wordlessly handed something to him then the two of them turned around and took up guard positions. Raynes sighed; a sigh of grief, a sigh of loss, a sigh of defeat. He looked down at Manny and handed him what Walker had given him.
It was a blood-stained dog tag.
He flipped it over in his hand and saw that the name read 'Robson, Tanya. H'. He looked down at Sarah who had either fallen asleep or fallen unconscious. He would tell her later, she didn't need this now.
The Pelican came shortly afterwards, but despite the fact that they were getting off of this god-forsaken place, it did not raise their hopes in any shape or form.
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