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Colossus
Date: 16 January 2006, 10:04 pm
Colossus
Chapter 1
Snow.
Snow fell heavily on the arctic tundra wasteland of Colossus. Great drifts of the white stuff came tumbling down from the heavens. Wave after wave after wave of snow, with no end in sight. Meters upon meters of snow stacked high off the ground.
Sergeant Damien Winters stood on a frost-bitten steel parapet, looking over a great, vast frozen plain. He hugged his parka closer to his chest, shivering. As far as the eye could see, there was snow. Far, far off in the distance, the great Blanco mountains towered high into the clouds, beyond sight.
Although it was technically daytime on Colossus, there was no sun in sight, obscured as it was by the great dark-grey storm clouds that shadowed the desolate world of Colossus, morning, noon, and night.
Located far from Sol system, Colossus was the only colonizable planet in the Beta Serpentis system. It also happened to be farthest from the sun. Seasons were all indistinguishable from one another on Colossus. Snow was the only constant on the planet, making meteorologist's jobs easy. Constant, unending snow fell everywhere on the planet, casting it in a permanent ice age.
Sergeant Winters had been standing on top of Alpha base for a long time, monitoring any incoming signals. This was the only place that a satellite dish could be placed on the entire planet, the winds often being too harsh or the snow being too heavy to be placed anywhere else.
"Heard anything yet, Damien?" Lance Corporal Craig McPherson asked from behind him. The corporal was tall and lanky with red hair and sharp green eyes. This was in stark contrast to the Sergeant. He was built like a bear, with long brown hair that cascaded down from his helmet, and ice-burg blue eyes.
"Goddamnit Craig. There hasn't been anything. There hasn't been a communiqué in over a month, and there isn't going to be one anytime soon. So just, just quit asking. Alright?" he spat.
"Sorry for asking," the corporal said, and turned back to his post. Being stuck on top of the base, monitoring the satellites was a fool's job. There was just no Goddamned reason for it. No ships ever passed through here. The Covenant didn't even bother with them because they were in the back ass of nowhere. There was only one city on the whole of Colossus, the promptly named city of Leviathan. The only reason Colossus hadn't been abandoned from the start of the war was because it was an ideal refugee camp. The Covenant probably had no idea of the frozen ice-ball, tucked far away in the unknown reaches of UNSC space.
There were several dozen fire-bases and other military buildings sprinkled throughout the city of Leviathan, and other smaller fortresses across the whole of Colossus. The only communication between these fortresses were underground cables, laid out centuries ago. There were no lakes or oceans on Colossus, they had all been frozen over millennia ago, and any hope of finding them had long since vanished, buried beneath the impenetrable infinitude of the snow.
"Hey, Sarge, you'd better come take a look at this," Corporal McPherson said. He was standing over the reception terminal that monitored for deep-space messages. He was typing furiously.
"Craig, if this is another one of your jokes, I swear to God, I'm going to just-"
"This isn't a joke, Damien. I just got a message. There's a UNSC ship coming in, seems to be…a cruiser."
"A cruiser? That can't be, I thought they were all being pulled back to defend the Inner Colonies."
[indent["Uh, nope. It's the, the cruiser Behemoth. They've just sent a message. Damien approached the terminal. Corporal McPherson hit several buttons in rapid unison, and a static transmission played.
"This is A---iral Mikhail Moskal, req--sting eme-gen-y dock. Over."
Sergeant Winters picked up the microphone, cleared his throat, and spoke directly into it. "This is Sergeant Damien Winters of Alpha Base here on Leviathan. We understand your situation, and will send a message to the dock-workers immediately. What is the nature of your emergency? Over."
"We were en—aged in a battle the next s-stem over wit- the C-ovena-t. They have f-ll-ed us int- this sy-tem, and we ne-d emergency re-airs. Over."
"Understood, Admiral. Sergeant Winters over and out," the sergeant said and turned off the microphone.
"What do we do, boss?" Corporal McPherson asked. Winters turned. The boy was shaking, clutching his parka closer to himself. The corporal's eyes were large, and seemed to bug out of his head. "The Covenant are coming, and we aren't prepared."
"What are we going to do? We're going to tell Major Cornwallace, and then we're going to prepare for an invasion."
Colossus Ch. 2
Date: 3 February 2006, 1:24 am
Chapter 2
As the snow fell over the barren wastes of Colossus, larger, darker particles began to appear as well. Covenant Phantoms and drop-pods fell rapidly through the freezing air.
The pods slammed into the sides of buildings and into the frozen tundra of Colossus. Elites burst from their pods and stormed the city, driving like an iron spear towards the very heart of the human city. As they captured ground, they brought in armored reinforcements from the drop-ships.
At the center of the city of Leviathan was the planets HQ. There were more than three battalions of men stationed at the headquarters. It contained the main satellite dish, the anti-air batteries, and the air-docks for Pelicans transports and Longsword fighters.
The air defense batteries at the HQ opened up on the enemy drop-ships as soon as they came in range. The powerful 50mm 65mm cannons blew ragged holes out of the incoming drop-ships, but it was to no avail. A wave of alien metal blocked out the sky. The alien forces drove deeper and deeper into the city behind an armored spear-head of tanks and heavy infantry. They drove straight towards the Colossus HQ, and it was here that the human defenders put up their toughest resistance. Wave after wave of the alien foes broke against the stonewall defense the humans threw up.
Flesh, metal, and courage met plasma and blind hate at the front defenses of the HQ. Here the fighting was at its thickest, and often resulted in hand to hand combat. Periodically, the Covenant wave against the facility seemed to break off, and a dull lull in the combat could be found. Here we come upon Sergeant Damien Winters as he relishes the break in the hellish combat that had been dragging on for more than an hour.
The sergeant removed him helmet and let it fall from his hand. The helmet hit the floor with a metallic clang. He ejected the nearly spent clip from his battle-rifle and slapped a new one into place. He took a one of his strike-anywhere matches from his front pocket and hit it against the rampart. It sparked in his hands and he put it in his mouth. Warm relief spread over his face.
Raymond, the squad's radio-man, spoke: "Incoming!" He shouted. "More Covenant coming in from over on Belmont Street. They've got Wraiths!"
Winters inhaled deeply, removed the cigarette, tossing it away with the flick of a wrist, and exhaled through his nostrils. He sighted the battle-rifle over the concrete barrier in front of him, and waited for the enemies to appear. He wasn't prepared for a Wraith to first round the corner.
Someone bellowed for the rocket-jockeys to sight and fire on the Wraith. Three rockets tracked and sped towards the oncoming armored behemoth. The Wraith exploded outwards in a fiery flower and crashed into the ground amongst the other corpses and charred vehicle remains. A Phantom drop-ship, flying close to the ground, appeared over the Wraith's remains and dropped it's troops at the foot of the barricade. A 65mm auto cannon shell slammed into the ship. Its shields flickered and failed, and then a second round slammed into its prow. The Phantom listed to the right and crashed sideways into a building. A cheer went up as it's smoldering remains fell to the earth.
Meanwhile, the Covenant forces had been advancing under the distraction of their drop-ship. They were nearly at the foot of the barricade. Sergeant Winters leaned over the barricade and fired a trio of rounds into a Grunt's head. The Sergeant turned and fired into an advancing veteran Elite even before the Grunt's body hit the ground. The Elite fell under the combined fire of three battle-rifles.
Another Elite, this one a gold armored commander, through a glistening plastisene rope up onto the barricade and climbed over. The alien whipped it's energy sword, cleanly bisecting a Marine in half and neatly cutting his battle-rifle in two. The Marines gave the alien leader a wide berth, firing even as they fell back. A stocky, young Private, with curly red hair and bright, emerald eyes charged at the Elite with a shotgun. He yelled deeply, and fired a round directly at the Elite. The rounds bounced off the powerful energy shielding, and the alien cut him in half at the hips. The yell was still leaving the young private's throat, even as his torso landed atop a pile of his own innards, and his legs fell backwards.
Such a waste. Damien thought as he fired at the Elite's head. The sergeant had faced Elites before, but not one of this caliber. Round after round bounced harmlessly off of the Elite's shield. The alien turned it's attention to Damien and charged. The sergeant back-peddled, emptying his clip into the Elite. The Elite's shields collapsed, but it didn't go down. Damien tripped over something and fell down onto his back, certain that death was soon to arrive. The Elite stood over him, energy sword high in the air. A bullet hole appeared in the dead center of its elongated forehead, and it collapsed onto Damien, knocking the breath out of him with its considerable weight. The energy sword landed in the ground, not a foot away from his head.
The sergeant struggled and threw the dead Elite off of him. A hand appeared and he grabbed it. He was pulled to his feet and looked dead in the eyes of Corporal McPherson.
"Thanks, Corporal," Damien said.
"No problem, Sarge," McPherson said with a smile. He handed him a cigarette. "Come on, we got more Covenant to kill."
Winters was about to take the cigarette, when a lance of energy pierced through McPherson's head, and he toppled over, the smile still on his face.
Winters threw himself onto the ground, and came eye to eye with the dead face of the corporal. He bellowed: "Snipers!"
Colossus Ch.3
Date: 11 February 2006, 7:17 pm
Chapter 3
Sergeant Damien Winters was laying flat on the ground, staring into the dead eyes of Corporal McPherson. Purple-tinted bolts of energy rained down all around his ears as Covenant snipers pinned down the UNSC defenders.
Other Marines either hurled themselves to the ground or were struck down by sniper shots.
"Can't anyone do anything about those snipers?" a private bellowed.
"Jesus Christ! Raymond!" Winters bellowed to the squad's radio man. "Can't you get some armor in here or something?"
"Armor's on the way, sir! Two Scorpion MBTs inbound," the radio man bellowed. Sniper shots continued to rain down around their ears as they waited. Seconds ticked by into minutes as the snipers continued to rain purple fire. Then there was the distant roar of engines, deep as thunder. There was a twin thunderclap of sound, followed by a deafening explosion. Then the sniper fire stopped.
Winters stayed on the ground another full minute, fully expecting more enemy sniper fire to pin him down. When none came, he cautiously climbed to his feet. He braced…
Nothing came.
"Come on, everyone! To your feet! We need to get ready for the next wave of enemies," Winters said. The marines around him climbed slowly to their feet, checked their weapons, and then readied themselves for the next Covenant advance. The two Scorpion tanks were parked in front of the HQ, waiting for the next attack.
There was a space of maybe five minutes before a pair of Covenant drop-ships teetered into view. They came speeding at the reinforced Marine position, all three turrets on both Phantoms pounding incandescent purple fire everywhere. Men were fused into the ground by the powerful airborne fire.
The drop-ships immediately dropped their troops and started to turn. A pair of 65mm shells collided with the lead drop-ship. Its shields flickered and died, and a pair of Scorpion shells struck it aft. The drop-ship started to spurt fire, and crashed into the second Phantom. The second Phantom began to crash, and her pilot regained control of the ship, when a 50mm shell collided with it, sending the ship spiraling into the streets. The two downed Phantoms created a large barrier in between buildings, blocking off the streets.
[indents] A pair of Hunters had been dropped out of the first phantom, and a quartet of Elites and a trio of Jackals from the second. The Scorpion tanks instantly turned to track the new targets. A pair of tank shells slammed into the lead Hunter, sending its body flying into oblivion. The second Hunter roared a challenge. Its gun glowed green and spat twins bolts of green fire at the Marines position. Marines threw themselves in every which direction. Marines unlucky enough to get away from the blasts were utterly destroyed, leaving nothing more than fused skeletons stuck to the cement.
Snipers opened fire onto the second Hunter, and it fell under eight sniper rounds. A machine-gun turret opened fire onto the advancing Covenant infantry. The Elites crouched behind the Jackals, preventing the turret to do much damage. They advanced slowly under the cover of the shields. They were nearing the wall of the HQ, when a Scorpion fired directly at them. Bodies flew everywhere, the Jackal's shields notwithstanding to the powerful tank shells.
There was a distant droning sound. Sergeant Winters turned his attention to the sky to see ten Covenant Banshees inbound.
"Rockets!" The sergeant bellowed. "Front and center! Take out those Banshees before they can take out our tanks!"
Rocket jockeys tracked the incoming aircraft. They led them in, and fired. A pair of tank shells joined the volley of eight rockets. Three of the rockets and one of the tank shells were clean misses, leaving four undamaged Banshees left to assault the tanks. Thousand of plasma bolts and four fuel rod rounds impacted the tanks, which exploded and bellowed smoke. The rocket jockeys reloaded and fired, removing the remaining air support.
A cry went up, and men hoisted their weapons into the air. There was a deep bellow: "Easy marines! Easy!" The voice was that of Major Fitzgerald. The Major was a giant of a man, standing 6'7" and easily two-hundred and eighty pounds. He had a gunslinger mustache and a clean-shaved head. He held a shotgun in one hand and magnum in the other.
"Who's in charge here?" the Major asked. Sergeant Winters looked around and noticed that he was the only remaining noncom.
"I guess that would be me, sir," Winters said.
"Very well, what's the-" he was cut off. The radio-man, Raymond, spoke up.
"Sir! Message from the other side of the base! They say they have intruders!"
"Very well. Sergeant, grab two men and follow me," the major said.
"Sir!"
There were a pair of earth-shattering explosions that reverberated through the ground. The shockwaves were strong enough to rattle the teeth in Winters' head. The steel-reinforced doors that lead to the interior of the facility burst apart, and a trio of black armored Elites emerged, each one spitting plasma from dual plasma rifles. A pair of Marine PFCs fell under the initial assault.
Everyone outside the doors opened up on the Elites. Four shotgun blasts, hundreds of 7.62mm armor piercing rounds, and an octet of 14.2mm sniper rifle rounds tore through the Elites.
"With me, sergeant! With me!" the Major shouted. He brought up his shotgun and charged into the facility. Sergeant Winters charged after, stopping at the door. He turned. "You two, follow me," he selected Corporal Lang and PFC Norris and followed the Major into the interior of Colossus HQ.
Colossus Ch.4
Date: 20 February 2006, 6:57 pm
Chapter 4
Sergeant Damien Winters screamed as he emptied the last rounds of his Battle Rifle into charging Elite. The Elite crashed into the steel floor, a yard away from the sergeant, its energy sword useless. Smoke filled the hallway and scorch marks lined the hall.
Corporal Lang had died from a plasma grenade, his body a distorted tattered mess of blood and gore. The bloody battle in the hallway that ran from the west side of Colossus HQ and the command center had raged for nearly five minutes. The small squad of the Sergeant, Major Fitzgerald, PFC Norris, and Corporal Lang had encountered heavy resistance while en route to the command center.
"This way to the command center, son," the Major said. He turned a corner and ran down the hallway. A white armored Grunt turned the corner, and squealed in surprise. The Major lifted his shotgun with one arm and fired it. The wide spread of shells smashed into the Grunt, and it toppled over.
An Elite turned the corner and sighted it's Carbine onto the Major. Major Fitzgerald fired another shot from his shotgun and the Elite's shields collapsed. The Major, in an act of bravado, punched the Elite across the jaw with his other arm. The Elite simply shrugged off the punch, and back handed the Major, who tumbled head over heels down the hall.
The Major rolled with the blow, discarding the shotgun and pulling out an M6 pistol. He somersaulted and brought up the pistol and fired. The pistol bucked in his hands three times, and the Elite fell to the ground.
Sergeant Winters ran to the Major's side.
"You alright, sir?" he asked.
"I'm fine, sergeant, just fine," he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his shotgun. "Now let's get going. Sergeant, you've got point," the Major said.
"Yes sir!" Winters replied. He slung his battle rifle over his shoulder and picked up the shotgun that Corporal Norris had dropped. He ran ahead of the Major and turned the corner. Down the hall was a Grunt sitting behind a plasma turret. The sergeant threw himself behind the wall as superheated plasma rained down the hallway. Winters pulled a grenade from his bandolier, primed it, and hurled it at the wall. It bounced off the wall and down the hallway. A second later, there was an explosion and the plasma fire ceased.
Sergeant Winters peeked his gun around the corner first, then stuck his head out to see if there was any fire. When none came, he looked and saw that the plasma turret had been destroyed. He waved the two other men forward, and they double-timed it down the hallway.
The group came to a stop at a solid steel doorway at the end of the hall.
"The control room," the Major muttered.
"Motion tracker is picking up FOF tags on the other side, sir," Winters muttered. He took up a position by the door controls. Private Norris took the other side of the door, and the Major stood with his shotgun leveled. He nodded at the sergeant, who hit the door open command.
There was a whir and a clacking as the doors opened. The sergeant and the private swung around, Winters high, Norris low, guns leveled. There was another clacking sound and instantly six magnums were leveled at the Marines. There were two Navy personnel and a marine captain in the room, each dual wielding magnums.
Each man lowered their weapons slowly and smiled.
The marine captain approached Major Fitzgerald. "Good to see you sir, it's a real mess down here."
Winters looked around. There was blood smeared all over the instruments panels. There were two piles of bodies in the room, a pile of Covenant dead containing Elites, Jackals, Grunts, and a pair of Brutes were stacked in a bloody pile four feet high in a corner. There were eight Marine and Navy casualties laying motionless under tarps in a row.
Blood, both Covenant and Human, covered the walls, floors, instruments panels, and even the ceiling of the room. Dismembered Covenant body parts were still on the floor, and there was a fresh trail of blood that streaked across the entire floor. Bullet holes and plasma burns covered the entire room. The smell of gunpowder and o-zone was acrid and all consuming. A pair of human legs in fatigues were lying on the floor by the Covenant body pile.
One of the Naval personnel, an ensign, by the look, had a bloody bandage around his entire left arm. He coughed blood, which spattered across the already gory floor. The gratuitous sight made Winters visibly flinch.
"Damn good to see you, Zadeka. How long have you been here?"
"Since the first word of invasion. The bastards dropped in at 0600, and we've been here since 0630, when there was a report of intruders."
"Damn good work, marine. Damn good. Sorry about your buddies."
Captain Zadeka was a tough as nails Marine. But the mention of his lost commarades made even this iron-hard Marine uneasy. Very subtle things that Winters picked up on. A slight narrowing of the captain's green eyes, a clinching of his stalwart jaw, a furrowing of the brow.
"They were good men, sir," the captain said. He removed his helmet and ran his hand over his cleanly shaven head. There was another whir and a clacking, and the doors at the other end of the room opened, and a trio of black armored commando Elite's burst into the room. Their leader carried a sword, and the other two had modified Carbines.
The two carbiners fired rapidly, killing PFC Norris and the injured Naval personnel quickly. Major Fitzgerald fired his shotgun directly at one of the carbiner's head, killing him instantly. Captain Zadeka, Sergeant Fitzgerald, and the other Navy man fired at the second carbineer, dual magnums and Battle Rifle pounding away at his shields. The Elite's shields collapsed, and a pair of magnum rounds put it down.
The Elite with the energy sword took a mighty step forward, swinging his energy sword in a broad horizontal ark, decapitating Major Fitzgerald's head from his shoulders/
The Major's body collapsed to the ground, and the Elite rounded. Blood ran down its shimmering shields. It warbled and smiled, then charged at the Sergeant.
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