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A New Fight - Chapter One: Newer Generation
Date: 9 February 2008, 11:41 pm
"Enemies, 20 feet, left." Zach heard Steppenwolf over the COM. No duh… he thought dully as he spun to his left, faster then any other SPARTAN before, throwing a grenade. Half a dozen Grunts met their fate to an explosion, which tore apart their midsections, their luminescent blue blood splattering the battlefield. Zach turned the bubbled head of the EVA armour towards the trees where Aleks was stationed. Without warning, a deafening bang rang through the air and Zach felt a round narrowly miss his head, and the sound of a gurgling Brute behind him. He smiled to himself.
The SPARTAN ran back over a hill towards the main firefight. Plasma scored rocks and earth and ammunition ripped up dirt as both Covenant and human fought to kill the other. Lance Corporal Bradley Morse was trying to move his men back over the hill until needles from the Brute spiker impaled his body and cut his life short. Marines were running and firing like chickens with their heads cut off, completely disorganized. Zach ran full force, attaching his MA5C Assault Rifle to his back, and picking up a brute shot as he ran.
He leapt, firing four shots into the Covenant ranks. Grunt screams and cries mixed with Brute howls rewarded him as he landed. "Beautiful shot Z-12." Steppenwolf told him.
"For the last time Stepp, call me Zach…" That was his AI's one flaw, to him anyway. He never called Zach by name. It was always by his identification number.
"Then call me Steppenwolf." He replied coldly. Ignoring him, Zach fired the last of the shots and reloaded the grenade launcher equivalent. He hoped the other SPARTANs were doing well. They were his family after all…
***
"Why didn't you just tell him there was a Brute behind him?" Mudd Vein asked.
"'Cause, that would've taken too long, now SHUT UP!" Aleks snapped, trying to aim at a Jackal. Once the head was lined up in the sights, the gold colored SPARTAN pulled the trigger and watched its brain matter fly into the air. Reloading the rifle, Aleks attached it too his back and drew his BR55HB SR Battle Rifle. Just watch 'em drop, he thought, running towards the hill Zach had run over, hearing explosions of a brute shot. But, he thought better of himself; he wasn't as brainless as Zach was. Running straight over the hill would mean trouble for him. So, he veered to the right, planning to flank the Covenant. Ever since the deaths of the Prophets years ago, the San 'Shyuum (Prophet race) had been furious. They raised an army twice the size of the original Covenant, and waged war against the humans yet again. It was a real piss off.
Rounding the hill slowly, he saw that they weren't faring so well. "God damn it…" The numbers of remaining Brutes, Grunts and Jackals far exceeded the marines. So he'd just have to fix that he thought as he levelled the battle rifle at his enemies. "Such language-"
"Shut it!" Aleks hissed, firing a volley of shots, causing some confusion among the Covenant forces. Drawing back behind the hill as he reloaded, he spoke briefly with Mudd Vein "Look, I, am the SPARTAN. I am a covenant killer. And this is a battle with the Covenant. So shut the hell up for the rest of the fight while I work." Without another word he turned back to firing against the Grunts and Brutes, killing a few and wounding more. "Fair enough, but I should warn-"
"Shut it…"
"But there's-"
"You want me to yank you and you leave here?"
"A Brute behind you."
"What?!" Aleks whirled around and sure enough, a Brute captain stood behind him, winding up a gravity hammer. "OH SHIT!" Now, most wouldn't jumped back but Aleks wasn't as simple minded. He dove straight forward, towards the Brute's feet. As the hammer swung over his body, Aleks rolled through the Brute's legs and landed in as crouching position behind it. Before the Brute knew what was happening, Aleks snapped its spine with a well-aimed swing of his rifle. As it squirmed on the ground, paralysed from the waist down, Aleks levelled the his gun at it's head. Mudd Vein didn't even try to hide his amusement "I told you s-"
"Shut up…" Aleks interrupted as he ended the Brute's life.
***
Near some cliffs to the east of the main battle, Grunts and marksmen Jackals were dropping and not one of them knew why. But then, you're not supposed to know when you're going to be assassinated. And First Sergeant David Frost was best at it. Another Grunt came into view through the visor of the CQB armour. Turning the combat knife over in his hand, David slowly crept closer to the little alien, scarcely making a sound. The next the Grunt knew, the serrated edge gripped its throat and tore it open.
Letting it drop, the SPARTAN moved further along the cliff structure. Just then, a series of clicks sounded over his COM. He nodded, responding to them, "Got it…" The clicks were from David's AI companion, Silent Killer. This was a stubborn AI, never speaking. Only clicking and using SPARTAN hand gestures, which Dave could understand perfectly well. The clicks heard before translated to "Half a dozen targets ahead. Waiting." This meant the Covenant knew that he was there.
Dave started formulating a plan in his head, to which Silent Killer responded to with a whistle and a few more clicks. "Yeah, it is pretty crazy huh?" David answered. Without another word, he ran out, drawing his MG6 pistol. The moment the Grunts, led by a single Jackal spotted him, they opened fire with plasma pistols and a carbine. Don't they know by now that I'm to fast for that? David thought, zigzagging left and right to avoid the fire. Turning hard to the right, he began running up the wall and leapt off, barrel rolling in the air. The aliens just stared in wonder at the feat as David opened fire with the pistol, which Aleks dubbed "The Doom Bringer" for it's power. While not as good a shot as the other SPARTANS, he was skilled enough to drop four of the Grunts and mortally wound the Jackal with the twelve shots.
The force of his jump was too much to land him back on the edge, no matter what David tried, so he overshot the ledge slightly, scrapping along the cliff face. Reloading his gun and putting his knife back into its pouch in the armour, he shifted into the running position and ran straight down the rock wall towards the ground. Gotta judge this juuuuust right… When he reached approximately 10 metres from the dirt floor, Dave pushed off the rock face, tucking in his legs into a mid-air roll. Balancing out in the air, David hit the ground running and kept running, taking a quick glance back at the cliff. "I so stuck the landing on that one," he said, smiling to himself.
***
Gunnery Sergeant Richard Burton drove the Mongoose like no one else could. He ran down, Grunts like they were no different from the blades of grass below him. Sometimes, even the occasional Jackal. For the Brutes he fired his assault rifle while driving. He was a little disappointed though. The Covenant didn't bring any of their Choppers. Oh how Richard loved watching one rip an alien apart. Oh well, what're ya gonna do? He asked himself as another Grunt met the front wheels. Inside his head he could hear Battery laughing like a lunatic. Richard himself loved killing the Covenant as more than any other person but she loved it a little too much. Then again, she wasn't a person.
One Grunt was crazy enough to jump and cling to the side of the little ATV. Richard kicked it in the face, which gave a satisfying CRUNCH! But then the thing he expected last happened. There was a slight hissing noise coming from where the Grunt had been. Looking down, Richard gazed upon a bright, glowing blue plasma grenade. "WHY THAT LITTLE SHIT!" he screamed before the grenade exploded, sending him and the Mongoose flipping through the air.
He landed hard on his face and skid about two metres before stopping. The Burning wreckage that was once the ATV lay a few feet away from him. Shaking his head he stood up which shocked even him. "This armour does its job well…" he said to himself, staring at his hands. Richard was wearing new, black EOD armour. Specifically designed to reduce injury and lessen chances of dismemberment. It was all scorched and scratched to Hell to be sure, but he was still intact.
But now wasn't the time to think about that. The Covenant were surrounding him and his rifle was nowhere to be seen. Richard didn't mind that too much though. He was one crazy bastard. Priming a grenade, he threw it towards the Brute leading this little group and ran towards a Grunt unarmed. Palming the little alien's face, he swiftly crushed its skull, picking up its fallen plasma pistol. Aiming it at the rest of the Grunts and very pissed off Brute, he grinned to himself. "Hey, Battery," he asked "any ideas?"
"Just one…" she replied, in a psychotic voice "Take as many of 'em to Hell with ya."
He shrugged, "Works for me," he said firing searing plasma into the nearest Grunt's face.
***
Corporal Shane Wigmore, current leader of the SPARTAN IV's hadn't an idea what kind of trouble his team was into. He didn't' have the time. The Corporal was too busy leading these marines in a way that at least a few would survive. He watched as a Brute spike grenade stuck in the arm of one of the unlucky men and watched emotionlessly as it exploded, ripping apart the marine. There would be time to mourn later. On the battlefield, you couldn't become too emotional. If you did, your judgement became clouded and right now, that was the last thing he needed. In the spirit of irony, that was just what he was getting.
Private Kaitlyn Stol was a newer member of the SPARTANs and had a lot to learn. She was far too emotional. Every time one of their soldiers died and she was there to see, you could here her choking up over the COM. Shane had tried explaining that she couldn't act like that in a battle but she just couldn't help it.
Wielding a M7 Caseless Sub Machine Gun in one hand and a Brute spiker in the other, Shane was dealing death in the war. He fired the weapons alternately, so when one was in need of reloading he could still fire with the other. Also, if any Covenant got too close to him he would use the bladed end of the spiker to cut them down. It was a brilliant strategy, and it was working. Other than the occasional stray shot, the Corporal was untouchable. Ducking, dodging and weaving through the Hell called war. He had too. Just like all the others, he didn't want to die.
The Private, Kaitlyn, wasn't fairing as well. Using her assault rifle, she was firing randomly and enemies. Potent to hold them back for a short time, yes, but there was very little damage being done to the oncoming Grunts and Brutes. They were coming, and Kate had very little defence. By the looks of the situation, she was doomed to be the first SPARTAN IV to meet their end.
***
The final SPARTAN in the battle, was Private Taylor Kelts, dubbed "Most Useless" by those he fought alongside. By SPARTAN standards, he was terrible. His weapon skills were far below average and his tactical skills were anything but well. However, of all of the SPARTAN IVs, he was, without a doubt, the strongest and he was proving it to the Covenant.
Having run out of ammunition for his MA5C, his only other weapon was the M6 SPARTAN Laser, which was useless at the range he was fighting at. At least, it was supposed to be. Using his immense strength, the Private was swinging the "Human Death Cannon" (as described by Sergeant Major Gingras) towards the skulls of the Covenant. Heads were crushed and bones shattered as the massive weapon fell before them.
There was no deep strategy to Taylor's plan though. It was rather simple actually: Swing, hope to hit something, pray you don't die. Inside the Mk. V armour, Private Kelts was having cold sweats. This was by far the most extreme condition he'd ever been in. Even more so than his suicide missions with Gunnery Sergeant Burton.
Though, while the situation seemed dire, surrounded on all sides by Covenant armed with only a weapon useful for melee attacks, it wasn't as dire as it first sounded. The "gigantic Covenant armada" as he would describe it later, was merely a wave of Grunts, whose only real tactic against this SPARTAN giant was to bury by their shear numbers. But the Private would leave out this little detail when retelling the events of this story.
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