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Caught on Film by Dropship Pilot
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Caught on Film, Chapter 1
Date: 10 November 2003, 12:43 AM
Caught on Film
Chapter I
"You got everything you need for this Iverson?" Lieutenant James asked me as I gathered my equipment in the barracks of the UNSC cruiser Atlantis.
" I think so sir. Got my camera, sidearm, spare batteries and the like. Thanks for asking though sir," I replied, mentally checking off my items.
" No problem Corporal. It's my duty to get you on the field, keep you safe, then get you back to ONI. Well, that's what those spooks said anyway," he said as he patted my shoulder and walked away to inspect the rest of his company.
I thought about what he said. Spooks. The word the enlisted ranks often associated with ONI, people like me. The men of the 130th Marine Spearhead Division had treated me so far like some sort of overseer, which I immediately hated. They figured if they committed some sort of violation, I would report it to Intelligence or something.
I sighed. I knew joining ONI would have its drawbacks.
A trooper walked past me on his way to the john. I nodded, but the man ignored me. This is going to be difficult, I thought.
"LETS GO MARINES! INTO THE ASSUALT CRAFT! DOUBLE TIME!" Sergeant Clyde barked as we grabbed our gear and hustled towards the ship's bay.
"Yeah, c'mon Charlie, don't wanna miss all the fun do ya'?" a young PFC asked his buddy. The friend smiled and nodded.
I threw my rucksack onto my back, made sure my weapon was holstered, then fell into step behind a dark-skinned Master Sergeant. Our column jogged down the maze of hallways towards the docking bay. The technicians and crewmembers we passed stared at us solemnly as we passed. The looks on their faces did not comfort me.
Finally we reached a door that read: DOCKING BAY: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. Pretty tight security, I said to myself.
Then we were inside. The hanger was huge; it could accommodate at least 7 Pelican dropships and mabey 16 Longsword fighters. However, all that was there now were 13 C-7 Armed Landing Assault Craft, and 6 escort fighters. Pilots ran to their ships and ground crew wove in and out of the confusion.
"Okay marines, you know what were why we're here, and what gonna do, so I'll keep this short," Lieutenant James said as we filed out in front of the ships, " You are the Maine Spearhead Division. The best the Corp has to offer humanity. You men have never failed to complete an objective, and I know you men will go anywhere for the good of Earth. This mission will be different however. Today, you will be capturing a member of the Covenant government, guys they like to call Prophets. These suckers tend to be hardcore SOBs, and they'll probably have a whole mess of guards protecting 'em. I want the godamn animals destroyed, save the Prophet. Once you capture him, make for the RV point as fast as possible. So, lets get down there, grab the leader, then get the hell out of Dodge, and lets kill some Covenant aswell!"
The men roared in approval. The El-tee looked over his troops for the last time. I tried to stand as straight as I could as he gave the order.
"Alright ladies! Now get on those dropships and beat the shit out of those Covie bastards! I'll be with you all the way! DISMISSED!"
With that, the squad leaders took command and filed their men into the correct assault craft. I double-checked to see that my camera was ready for use. Everyone checked their weapons and glanced around nervously as we got on board.
I glanced around the assault boat. The C-7's looked like armored flying rocks, with a set of nose cannons, and two manual chain guns sticking out. Not exactly ideal for an assault such as this. Pretty soon the pilot hopped on, followed by the two gunners. All of them looked calm, as is making a landing in enemy held territory was as routine as buying groceries.
The pilot, whose jump suit read: BARNES, strapped himself in at the controls, took a moment to review the mission data on his view screen attached to his helmet, then turned around and gave the thumbs up to Lieutenant, who returned it. The gunners, a couple of mean-looking guys, sat heavily down in their seats, and placing the firing helmets over their heads, activated the top and ball gun turrets.
"All right gentlemen, this is it. I'll be your pilot today, and are destination today is Grid 767 on the sunny planet of Sarintaan. Please make sure all weapons are stored in the overhead storage compartments, and your seats and tray tables are in the upright position," the pilot said overhead the COM system. They laughed loudly.
"Here we go marines!"
"Approaching enemy held airspace. LZ acquired. Get the guns warmed up guys, this is going to be a shaky landing," Barnes said as his radar painted multiple Covenant fighters inbound.
"Iverson, start filming. ONI might want some footage of the landing," Lieutenant James instructed.
"Yes sir. Right away,"
"Contact! Here they come! Carter! Hutch! Open up as soon as they get in range!"
"Copy that sir!" they gunners replied, their faces hidden by the view masks.
I put my camera lens to the tiny porthole behind me and looked into the eyepiece. Though the darkness I could see 8 little dots speeding towards our formation. The outside assault craft's gunners let loose. Armor piercing rounds and tracers streaked across the blackness. The lead Covenant ship swerved then burst into flame. Pretty soon the other gunboats had begun firing.
"Put that bastard out of action," the gunner named Hutch muttered as another enemy fighter tumbled towards the planet.
"We're.........taking fire..........." another dropship pilot screamed over the COM channel, " I............too much damage.........AHHHH!!!!!" As I looked the camera the craft behind us exploded, showering debris downwards. I winced. But their deaths were avenged.
After about 15 minutes, the two remaining Covenant ships flew smoking away from the battle. It was over.
"What the hell? They're running away! But-that was too easy! Where's the ground fire?" the leatherneck next to me asked incredulously.
"Haven't got a clue. Mabey they left?" the gunner Carter said.
Suddenly our ship shook violently and the warning light flashed overhead. The air outside filled with plasma fire.
"I think we found the damned ground fire!" the pilot swore.
Caught on Film,Chapter 2
Date: 12 November 2003, 10:25 PM
Chapter 2
"Holy shit! That was a little too close Barnes! The objective's to get us on the ground alive!" Lieutenant James screamed into his boom mike. Barnes ignored him.
This was amazing footage I thought. I couldn't see the enemy AA guns, but they sure were putting up one hell of a defense. The ship in front of us took a direct hit, and melted away completely.
"Damnit!" James cried, "that was our heavy weapons squad! Looks like we're goin' in without launchers boys!"
I could see the men weren't happy about that. My knuckles were white from gripping the camera, and I became even more terrified when I saw the surface of the planet.
The Covenant had been surprised by the attack, there was no doubt about that. The barracks, or what I thought were the barracks, were pouring out Grunts and Jackals, and what ONI labeled Elites. They all scrambled for their guns, be they small arms or the anti-aircraft weapons; anything they could use to stop our landing. I saw one Jackal fire an overcharged plasma bolt at the lead dropship. The bolt did not do much, just popped and sizzled on the metal hull. Then, before I knew it, the ground came up fast, and our pilot was yelling:
"FIVE TO DIRT! GET READY TO HIT IT MARINES!"
Then the ramp was down, and the Lieutenant was shoving us out. I stumbled out, and was startled by the bright sun on my eyes. I set the tint on my camera and made sure I was still rolling.
"IVERSON! Follow the rest of the god damn squad!"
I looked back, and saw a sergeant I didn't know shouting and waving his arms at me. The rest of his words were drowned out by the whine of passing plasma. I heeded his words, and ran after the squad.
As I reached the rest of the guys, I looked up to see what they were firing at. What I saw made me wish I hadn't.
In front of us, on a little grassy dune, sat at least 30 Grunts and Jackals, all entrenched behind fat rocks.
"Oh god no........." a marine muttered as he looked at a ragged cut across his chest. The cut was quickly blossoming red across his armor. I made sure I didn't pan over him.
"Fire in the hole!" the El-tee shouted as he tossed a frag grenade into the trench. The bastards tried to jump out of the way, but were too late and spattered their blood over the ground.
"Move it marines! Through the gap! NOW!" he cried at us.
We all sprinted up the rise, dodging as much fire as possible. The guy next to took an overcharged plasma bolt to the chest, stopped in his tracks, groaned, the fell backwards. Another man got a series of rounds in the face and dropped.
Then we were in the ditch. This was when all hell broke loose. Covenant on all sides of us. Men were expending their ammunition in seconds. Long pink needles exploded in a mans arm, sending him flying backwards. I drew my sidearm, and taking aim at an oncoming Grunt, squeezed the trigger and put 3 rounds in the little guy's head. There was so much going on, I made sure the camera was getting everything for ONI.
Suddenly the enemy in front of us was ripped to shreds by something behind us. We all tuned and looked at the beachhead. This was one hell of a battle.
3 UNSC Pelican dropships had landed behind us, and each one had brought along an M12 LRV, or Warthog, as it was called At least 15 regular marines jumped out as well. The Pelicans were using their coaxial chain guns to pummel the fleeing resistance. The marines manned the 'Hogs, and their tri-barreled rear machine-guns were also making short work of the enemy defending the beach. We all cheered in relief. The beach had been taken.
After about half an hour the area was clear of any enemy pockets, 30 more marines plus Warthogs had landed, and our squad was ready to push forward. I noticed the low battery light on my camera was on, so I discarded the old ones and snapped in a fresh pair.
"Alright! Listen up marines!" the burly black Master Sgt. I had seen on the Atlantis ordered, " now here is the rundown of phase two, in case you fools forgot. We're gonna' take a couple of these 'Hogs and follow the Wang Sui river all the way up to an old mining post the UNSC set up before the Covenant occupation. There we will clear out any enemy units, and wait for reinforcements. Any questions?"
"Sir? Will we have any help now? I mean, our squad is pretty thin," a sandy haired guy asked.
"Good question Baker. Yes, we will have 8 men from Company C along with one of their Jackhammer launchers. Now get in gear marines, 'cause we're moving out in 5 minutes!"
"Yes Sergeant!" we replied.
I walked over and sat on a piece of driftwood. The scenery was so beautiful, I wondered how there could actually have been a battle here. I was drinking from my canteen when the sandy haired man came and sat next to me.
"Here kid, take these" he said, offering me a bandoleer with 5 frag grenades on it, "you might need these,"
"That's okay. I'm not really supposed to get involved too much in combat," I replied.
"Just take 'em okay? These bastards don't care who you are. The slaughter innocent civilians. They see humans, they kill them; whether they've got a camera or a shotgun. These things here, they might help ya' survive. So just take them," he stuffed the bandoleer into my hands and walked away.
What he said haunted me. Actually, it was the way he said it. He sounded so sad, like he'd seen the Covenant murder people a thousand times before. He probably had, I thought again. I shuddered.
"Okay grunts! Lets go!"
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