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Attack on ERISTOCK Part 13: Perimeter Defenders
Posted By: xitWOUND117
Date: 29 October 2003, 9:14 PM
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Deployment +09 hours:21 minutes:17 seconds (SPARTAN-218 Mission Clock)/Surface
As George's now smaller team put distance between themselves and the Ghosts, Public burst into the COM channel. "I've just received a transmission from Richard, but he's not on the Hymir....odd. It says evac is coming for the SPARTAN II. Looks like you're leaving, John. But we need to get to a suitable place for the dropship to land then send him our coordinates. Hold on..." As Public scanned the satellite maps for a clear patch of land, George could hear the Ghost engines slowly getting louder. "Got it! There's an area one hundred meters in front of us. I'll send him the coordinates..." said Public.
Mark, meanwhile, was not listening to the conversation between George and Public. He was talking to his AI, Xeon. "Surely you can come up with something on this guy, can't you?" he asked Xeon. "Well, I might, except it's kind of hard to access the UNSC records from a Covenant infested planet. Hold on, I've got a connection. Let's see...I'm in. Illyadar Gruenovic... Wow. They have got a lot of stuff here about him. They've been searching for him since 2540," said Xeon. "Why are they looking for him?" Mark asked. "Hold on! It says here he ran a huge smuggling operation, he also built a huge pirate base up in the Armastrose asteroid field. The UNSC managed to almost completely eliminate his operations and were trailing Gruenovic himself until 2540, when they lost him."
Mark thoughtfully processed this. A once infamous pirate and smuggler had hired Luke to try to stop the UNSC from gaining control of the structure the Covenant had found. Why? he thought. And why the hell did Luke do it? Mark was somehow going to get revenge. Revenge was the only thing on his mind, but he was not about to abandon George and the mission.
C-Team quickly ran up a hill and burst out into a field of tall brown grass. George unslung his assault rifle and hid himself in the grass. The others followed suit. Slowly the sound of Ghost engines was getting louder. And louder. But another noise abruptly cut in: a Longsword engine. As the Ghosts came rushing out of the forest into the field a Longsword flew down to the field preparing to land, firing it's Archer missiles and 30mm chain guns. Mayhem and destruction was everywhere. The SPARTAN's were desperately trying to dodge the wreckages of Ghosts and the bullets flying everywhere. Soon the Ghosts were destroyed and the Longsword had landed in the field.
The Longsword's ramp opened and a Marine with all black armor on, including a helmet that resembled MJOLNIR helmets, stepped out of the fighter. In his hands was his MA8B assault rifle. George and the rest of his team emerged from the grass. "Who are you?" George asked, pointing his rifle at the Marine. The Marine answered, "I know who you are, George. And I know who the rest of you are. But where are Luke, John, and Sarah?" "I did not ask if you knew us, for we do not know who you are. Who are you?" George asked again. "I am Karl Morrurs, and I have come to evac the SPARTAN II," the Marine said. George lowered his rifle, puzzled. Where had he heard that name before? Public gasped. "It's the weapons officer of the Hymir. But how'd he get his hands on a Longsword?" The Marine laughed, as if he had heard Public, in fact he had.
"Yes, I was the weapons officer on the Hymir, but I am not really a Lieutenant. I am an ONI agent, and I was sent to ensure the Hymir carried out it's mission without any snags," Morrurs said. "Well I'd say it hit a snag," burst out Xeon. "The ship got attacked and the crew's probably all dead. Great job. I'm sure that they'll be happy with your report." Morrurs acted like he heard nothing. "Where is the rest of your team, George?" the Marine asked again. "Luke killed Sarah and John before we killed him," said Mark.
Suddenly there was a loud 'BOOM' as a plasma bomb, probably hurled from a Wraith, slammed into the field twenty meters away from the Longsword. "Get down and into the forest!" yelled George as more plasma bombs were flung into the air. Karl Morrurs jumped away from the Longsword as two plasma bombs hit it and it exploded in a ball of fire. He jumped up and ran after the SPARTAN's. "Come on!" yelled George, and he charged into the forest. The Covenant were sending too many troops after them, so they were going to have to run from the Covenant rather than fight.
'Ilramamee and his rebellious followers had managed to force their way up the High Assembly's building, now they were standing in the same room with the Prophets and their head guard, Kura 'Eralamee. 'Eralamee was a huge Elite, he could probably kill two normal sized Elites bare-handed, but he was standing before 'Ilramamee with a plasma sword in one hand and a plasma rifle in the other. 'Ilramamee motioned for one of his Elite followers to attack 'Eralamee. The Elite rushed forward, his plasma sword out, but 'Eralamee countered with lightning quick speed, knocking away the sword and slicing apart the Elite in a second. The dead Elite's plasma sword, unpowered, bounced over to 'Ilramamee. He picked it up and activated it, so that now he had a sword in each hand. "Impressive," he said, "but you will not stand in our way. Charge!" The Elites ran forward to attack 'Eralamee. 'Eralamee dodged or blocked the thrusts of their swords, shooting his rifle at them all the while. An Elite screamed as the blue plasma shots penetrated his shields and fried his brain. Another was knocked to the ground when 'Eralamee hit him in the jaw with his rifle. Then 'Eralamee shoved his sword through the Elite's chest and pulled it back out in time to block another attack. 'Kapilamee slashed at 'Eralamee with his sword as 'Eralamee blocked 'Ilramamee's attack. 'Eralamee jumped back, but the tip of the sword cut through his armor and purple blood gushed from the wound. 'Eralamee roared and sliced off 'Kapilamee's head. Purple blood flowed from 'Kapilamee's headless body as it crumpled to the floor. 'Eralamee dodged another attack by 'Ilramamee and he shot at another Elite, the plasma shots penetrating his shields and chewing up his body with ultra-hot blasts. The Elite screamed in pain as he fell backward, clutching his freely bleeding stomach.
Only 'Ilramamee and 'Eralamee remained. 'Ilramamee charged at 'Eralamee, but the Elite dodged the thrust and smacked him in the head with his rifle. 'Eralamee swung his sword at 'Ilramamee. 'Ilramamee blocked it with his left sword then slammed his right sword into 'Eralamee's chest. 'Eralamee dropped his weapons as his face changed to a display of pain and disbelief, but then quickly reverted to rage, and he punched 'Ilramamee in the face. 'Ilramamee roared at the dying Elite and sliced off his head with his other sword. 'Eralamee's body went limp and collapsed. 'Ilramamee laughed and turned to the Prophets. The head Prophet began to laugh himself, which quickly made 'Ilramamee shut up. "Did you really think you could just barge in here, kill us, then wield the entire Covenant army at will?" said the Prophet. "Then you are gravely mistaken. Every single soldier in the army, down to the last Grunt, knows of your rebellion, so none shall listen to you. As for you..."
'Ilramamee ran from the room as a wave of needler shots chased him. He ran as fast as he could, killing any who stood in his way. Running behind a corner, he watched the needler shots slam into the wall in front of him and explode. But he had to keep running, they were going to kill him. There was only one thing left to do to. Since he could not have power, he would not let them have the structure. The little voice in his head resurfaced, Release them! They can take the structure and the planet! Yes, only one thing left to do...
Deployment +13 hours:42 minutes:36 seconds (SPARTAN-218 Mission Clock)/Surface
George and his team, after running for four hours from the Covenant, finally stopped to take a break. It was mainly to give Morrurs a chance to catch his breath, though. The SPARTAN's were ready to keep running, but the Marine was exhausted. They had been running extremely fast, even for SPARTAN's, and Morrurs had trouble keeping up. As far as he was concerned, it was easier fighting the Covenant than running.
Public broke into the COM channel, "George, the UNSC fleet is expected to arrive in orbit in twenty-four hours." "What fleet?" George asked. "We were supposed to weaken the planet for invasion, remember?" replied Public. Xeon said, "How do you know when they're supposed to get here?" "They sent out a transmission to all the team leaders," Public answered, "Now don't you think we should get moving? Twenty-four hours left and we haven't even gotten within sight of the structure." "You're right," said George, "Alright! Everybody up and let's move!" Mark and John leapt to their feet, ready to go. Morrurs slowly got up with a groan. "Come on! Get up faster soldier! You're in SPARTAN boot camp now!" George yelled at him and walked away with a slight chuckle. "Mark, you've got point. I'll take the rear," George said.
Mark began to lead the way with the help of Xeon's directions. They quickly left their rest area, running at a very fast pace for the Marine. Still, George could faintly hear the sound of the Banshees and dropships that were chasing them. He clutched his assault rifle tighter and followed the rest of his team. Or at least what was left of it.
After another hour of nonstop running they came upon a rather large Covenant installation. "Perimeter defense," said Cortana. "They set it up after the structure was uncovered." "Sir, there's no way we can get through there," said Mark, laying on the ground observing the installation. "And even if we did the others that are chasing us will surely have caught up by then. We can't take on that many troops, even if we hadn't lost three of our team." "No, we may not be able to take them head on," replied George, "but we don't have to." He unslung the sniper rifle from his back. Mark and John unslung theirs. "John, move down the right about one hundred meters, and Mark, you go to the left," ordered George. Karl Morrurs just lay on the ground near George, desperately trying to regain his strength before they began to run again. George rested his rifle on the ground and zoomed in on the Covenant building. Hunters were everywhere. Two were guarding every door and dozens more were patrolling the area. A huge wall went behind the building and stretched off into the horizon. Elites and Grunts patrolled on the wall while Jackals stood guard, facing the forest.
Suddenly there was a far off gunshot and a Hunter fell dead; a faint line of white smoke was fading away from it's body. George took aim at a Hunter and fired. There was a loud 'BANG' and the Hunter fell dead. George heard another faint gunshot and another Hunter fell. George moved his recticle onto an Elite, because by then all the Hunters had put their shields out in front of them. Slowly George and his team began picking off those that guarded the wall. Elites fell screaming from the highest point on the wall as Grunts were blown backwards by bullets ripping through their skulls, and Jackals hid behind their shields, occasionally getting shot in the tiniest place left uncovered. Hunters would sometimes charge at where the shots were coming from, but soon they were killed by a bullet coming from a different angle and a different SPARTAN.
After about ten minutes of sniping they had eliminated the installation's forces down to a group of Hunters and Jackals hiding behind their shields and some Elites that had managed to find some cover. George was getting nervous. He could hear the Banshees and dropships coming closer and closer. "Alright team, charge!" he yelled through the COM channel. Then he took out his rifle and started to run, but he quickly stopped. He walked over to Morrurs and picked him up, handing him his MA8B. "Move," he ordered, pushing the Marine towards the installation. Morrurs groaned then began to run. George started running again, quickly passing Morrurs, and soon he was almost in range of the huddled group of Hunters and Jackals. "Frags!" George yelled. John, Mark, and George all stopped and took out fragmentation grenades, pulled the pins, then threw them at the bunch of Covenant. Panic took the group of Covenant and they broke. Hunter jumped away from the grenades and Jackals ran away. Three explosions went off, throwing dirt and bodies into the air. "Open fire!" George yelled and the air became full of 7.62mm bullets. Hunters fell under the hail of bullets and Jackals twitched and jerked as their bodies were ripped apart. Blood covered the ground.
All and any survivors had been eliminated very quickly, but now the SPARTAN's had to deal with a new wave of Covenant. Huge shadows covered the ground as the dropships and Banshees caught up with them. The Banshees immediatly flew in to attack while the dropships began to land. "Onto the wall!" George yelled, and they quickly climbed up ladders onto the wall. Blue streaks of plasma scorched the wall around them and fuel rod cannon blasts shook it. George hid behind a small three foot metal plate extending past the walkway on the top of the wall. The others did the same. One Banshee dived in for an attack and Morrurs stood up and threw a plasma grenade onto the front of the Covenant craft. "Eat that you piece of sh-" Morrurs was cut off by a single blast of plasma cutting through his armor and into his stomach. There was an explosion and the wrecked Banshee fell through the air two feet above their head and crashed on the ground beyond the wall.
George reached out and pulled Morrurs over to him, behind the plate. Karl clutched his stomach, blood covered his arms. He said nothing, but his face was twisted in pain. George shouted into the COM, "I'm going to make a run for the buiding! Cover me!" Then he flung Morrurs over his back and climbed down the ladder using one hand. Once his feet hit the ground he ran over to the Covenant installation. A door opened, and George ran inside, the Marine over his back. The room was dark with a purple metallic glow. He set Morrurs down on the floor and leaned out of the door, his assault rifle out in front.
John and Mark had already taken down another Banshee, but plenty more were still in the air and firing at the SPARTAN's. And the dropships had already dropped off their troops and began their trip back home. What looked like one hundred Grunts and Jackals charged forward at the wall, pushed onward by close to thirty Elites in the rear. Strangely, none of them seemed to notice George. George pulled back into the building a few feet and waited for the wave of Grunts to begin their advance on the wall. By then he had an excellent shot at the tightly packed aliens. "Okay," George said through the COM channel, "Throw a frag on my mark!" He pulled out a grenade. "Mark!" he shouted, pulling the pin and he threw it into the mass of Covenant. Three explosions ripped up the Covenant troops, blood and bits of bone splattered all over the wall and bodies flew everywhere.
George raised his assault rifle and held down the trigger, spraying sixty bullets into the backs of the Covenant soldiers. John and Mark did the same, and the Grunts began to panic. They tried to scramble up the wall, but John or Mark would throw a plasma grenade on their faces or fire a burst of bullets at them. George let his spent clip fall out of the gun. He slammed in a new one and resumed slaughtering the Covenant.
About two minutes and seven clips later, the group of Grunts and Jackals were almost completely gone. But now the SPARTAN's had a large group of pissed off Elites to deal with. George remembered the rocket launchers they had carried along with their equipment. "Mark," George said, "do you have the rocket launchers up there with you?" "No sir! I left them back in the forest. I didn't think we'd face this many!" was the reply. Damn, George thought. He checked his grenades. He had two frags and three plasma grenades. He pulled them all out. Pulling the pins on the fragmentation grenades and activating the plamas, he threw them at the Elites one by one. John and Mark also threw their grenades. Explosions tore apart the Covenant ranks, ripping apart their bodies and showering those nearby with dirt and blood.
Despite the SPARTAN's efforts to slow the Elites, the Covenant warriors began swarming up the ladders. George dropped his rifle and pulled out his M6D and tried kill those closest to the top. John and Mark emptied clip after clip into the Elites, but they were getting closer and closer to the top.
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