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Defense of Fire Base Epsilon Ch.4 Pt. 1
Posted By: S7NN3R<janet.johnson8@comcast.net>
Date: 19 April 2005, 12:06 AM
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Chapter4: Vaminos!
Towers parked next to the gatehouse. Corisca and Delgado hopped out and approached the nearest marine.
"Who's in charge here, Marine?" Corisca asked sternly.
The Marine shifted uneasily on his feet. He had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, and gripped his MA5B assault rifle with white knuckles. His green eyes showed the signs of fatigue, and his dusty brown hair was grayed with gunpowder. The Marine stammered.
"Uh, that'd be Major Fitzgerald. He's over by one of the Pelicans, Bravo-335, I think," he pointed over in the direction of one of the Pelicans. Corisca and Delgado moved over to the Pelicans while observing the other Marines. They all had dead, far-off looks in their eyes. They all seemed to be border-lining on shock.
Corisca couldn't blame them, given the stuff he'd seen today, he was surprised he hadn't frozen up.
The docks were a massacre. Thousands of spent brass casings rolled around on the ground, reflecting the golden sun. A pair of destroyed Wraiths smoldered outside the dock walls. Large meter wide plasma burns marked the concrete walls and floors of the docks. The bodies of fallen Covenant were stacked in piles, while the bodies of fallen Marines were lined up neatly, covered in tarps. The destroyed Pelicans billowed streams of black smoke. Heat from the wreckage could probably be read by sensors clear out in space.
Corisca approached Major Fitzgerald. The man was middle-aged, slightly over-weight, with a thick, black mustache. He had a bandage around his mid-section. He held a plasma rifle, and had an M6Db pistol at his side. Corisca and Delgado saluted, and the Major returned the gesture.
"Where you boys from?" the Major asked gruffly. His accent was slightly Polish.
"Sir," Corisca began. "We came from Fire Base Epsilon. I have a critically wounded man back in the Warthog, and he needs immediate evac to a ship-board med-bay."
"Hm," the Major began. "I understand your situation son, but we're all in the same boat here. There isn't a UNSC ship for light-years. It take at least three days for the nearest ship to get here."
"Sir," Delgado began. "Permission to speak freely?"
"Granted. Speak your mind."
"Sir, what the hell happened here? This is a massacre."
"A massacre, eh? Well I got some bad news for you," he said grimly. "This was just round one. The main invasion force should be arriving here shortly."
That was quite possibly the worst news Corisca had gotten all day. There were less than forty Marines left to defend the docks. Another wave of Covenant would quite possibly wipe them out.
"How much longer till they arrive sir?" Corisca asked.
"Oh, an hour I'd say," Major Fitzgerald said. "Two, tops," he added.
Two hours, Corisca thought. Two hours till he had the biggest battle of his life. There was so many preparations to be made, and so little time.
"Sir, permission to try and fortify our position?" Corisca asked.
"Permission?" Fitzgerald said bluntly. "You don't need permission to try and save our asses. Go right ahead."
"Yes, sir."
The final fortifications to the landing docks had been made. And it came just in time. A quintet of Covenant Phantoms touched down just outside the landing docks, followed by a trio of Shadows close on their heels.
Sergeant Dan Corisca looked up from behind the insta-crete barricade that had been put in place. The Phantoms emptied their troops, dropped whatever vehicles they had, and took off. The Shadows parked, driver side forward, and dropped their troops.
"Alright, men!" Corisca shouted. "This is what we're waiting for, now let's get em'!"
Corisca shouldered the rocket launcher he was holding, and fired both rounds straight and true at a pair of Hunters. The behemoths fell to the ground, orange blood pooling into the earth. A steady crack crack crack from S2 AM sniper rifles filled the air, and Covenant warriors fell in ones, twos, and threes. A Shadow exploded under two cannon shells from a Scorpion tank. Charging Covenant soldiers fell under hundreds of 7.62mm rounds. A captured Covenant Shade turret lay suppressive fire onto the area below the docks.
Corisca thought that the battle was going perfectly, until someone shouted, "Banshees!"
The prophecy was true. A dozen Banshees flew through the sky like obese mosquitoes. Fuel rod rounds impacted Warthogs, sending geysers of flame into the air.
"Rocket jockeys!" Corisca shouted. "Concentrate your fire on those Banshees!" A moment later, a score of rockets impacted the Banshees above them, leaving only two remaining Banshees to slowly limp away.
A half dozen Marines had already died in the battle, not to mention a valuable Warthog LRV had been destroyed. More Marines fell every minute as the slowly advancing Covenant troops inched closer to the barricade to the docks.
"Man, this can't get any worse," some fool said. Then, the Wraiths showed up. A pair of Wraiths moved into position in front of the docks, spewing plasma mortars everywhere. A trio of rocket wielding Marines died as a mortar impacted them, leaving a meter deep where they had just been.
"Delgado!" Corisca shouted up to Private Delgado, seated behind the controls of the Scorpion tank. "Take out those Wraiths now! On the double!"
Delgado complied, and three minutes later, the Wraiths were smoking heaps on the battle field.
That left the Shadows and foot soldiers. The captured Shade turret the humans had came spiraling off its post after being hit by a fuel rod round, courtesy of cannon wielding Grunts. The Grunts went down a split-second later, after a hundred 7.62mm rounds cut it to ribbons.
Another Shadow exploded under a pair of rockets, killing a file of Jackals that had been shooting nearby.
Corisca exchanged his rocket launcher for a Marine private's sniper rifle. He targeted a sword wielding Elite that was charging straight towards the dock's gatehouse. The Covenant warrior fell under a quartet of 14.2mm rounds.
A tank shell exploded to the left of Corisca, erasing a charging squad of Grunts.
More of Delgado's handy-work, Corisca thought. He reloaded his sniper rifle, sighted a black armored Elite, and fired. The round punched through the Elite's shield. The alien jumped behind a Shadow.
"Delgado," Corisca said. "Target that Shadow transport." A second later, the alien transport exploded, no doubt killing the sneaky Elite. Corisca reloaded again. Four sniper shots rang out, and three Elites fell.
Major Black came pounding out of one of the remaining Pelicans. He ran over to Corisca.
"Sergeant, we've got trouble," Black said, his face grim.
"What's the problem sir?" Corisca asked. "The battle is going great."
"Not for long,"
Private Delgado got out of the Scorpion, which was taken over by a Corporal, and came over.
"What's the problem sirs?" the Private asked. He looked up as the sky darkened, and his mouth dropped. "Holy shit," he cursed under his breath.
"That's the problem," Major Black said, and pointed at an incoming Scarab.
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