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Corporal Barnes and Corporal Smith; A Marines Tale part 1 by Zak



Coporal Barnes and Corporal Smith; A Marine's Tale part 1
Date: 4 June 2004, 12:17 AM

Silent. Completely silent. Not a noise was heard except Corporal Barnes's heavy breathing running down the halls of the Leviathan. Ever since the Covenant had boarded the ship, everyone was on the run. Half of the small cruiser's crew had already been murdered by the Covenant. The ship was not very heavily armored, which made it easy to break into the ship. The first thing the Covenant went for was the power. It was completely dark everywhere in the ship. "oh god," Barnes uttered under his breath because of how tired he was. He was hoping he had lost the Covenant that were on his tail. He stopped running and started walking down the Service Corridor 5a. He walked up to an access door. The keypad was completely offline, but it was half open. He took a deep breath and rammed the butt of his MA5B into the half open door. It flung open with a loud "BANG" as the remains of the door hit the cold, steel floor of the ship. He looked down at the ammo counter on his gun. It read 00. "oh well, I can still use it as a flashlight." As he continued down the pitch black steel jungle that was the ship's training course, he recapped in his mind what had just happened. He, and his company, dubbed Bravo 27, were doing a routine patrol of the ship. He, of course, was doing his patrol with his best friend Corporal Smith. They were just walking by the Terminal Room 09 when they heard a very loud explosion. Corporal Barnes was flung into the hard wall and blacked out, he has still not found Corporal Smith. When he had came to, an Elite was standing over him, and, what Barnes had thought, was grinning. Cold sweat had formed on Barnes's neck. The Elite then leveled his plasma rifle right at Barnes's face, slowly pulling back the trigger until...........FLASH, complete darkness had just then overcome the ship. Barnes seized the moment to get up and run, still clutching onto his MA5B. He heard the confused cry of the Elite:"Wort, wort, wort." Barnes then slammed hard into a cold wall. Barnes gave himself a mental dummy slap and rounded a corner. He had waited until he was sure the Elite wasn't behind him before he turned on his flashlight. And that is where our story begins. What Barnes was trying to do was either find the Armory, or Corporal Smith, whichever one comes first. Corporal Barnes walked up a small, metal catwalk that led up out of the Training Course. He walked up to an access door and, to his surprise, it opened automatically. As the metal slab door opened he found himself in the Cryo Chamber 02. "Too bad we don't have any spartans in those." He said to himself. Corporal Barnes scanned the Chamber with his flashlight. As the light scanned over the south corner of the room, Corporal Barnes almost jumped back against the wall at what he saw. 3 Grunt bodies covered in aqua blood and a Seriously injured marine lying in a pool of his own blood. Barnes slowly walked toward the marine. As he got closer, the marine gurgled up blood and his eyes closed because of the light that just blinded him. As Barnes moved even closer, he noticed that the marine was Smith!. "KYLE!" Barnes shouted as he ran towards him. Barnes knelt down beside Smith and uttered:"Kyle, what happened?!?" Kyle gurgled "Attacked....Covenant......left for dead." "This can't be!" "I'll get you out of here!" "No.....don't" Kyle said weakly. Barnes looked down at Smith's stomach and saw the great blood loss that Kyle had suffered. There was a giant hole in his stomach, and it was still smoking. Barnes glanced over beside Kyle and saw a M6D. "Is that yours?" Barnes questioned. "yes." Gurgled Kyle. Barnes picked it up and checked the clip. The clip was still full. "Do you have any more clips?" Asked Barnes. Kyle Smith slowly reached down to his military belt and unclipped 2 more M6D clips and handed them to Barnes. Barnes then clipped them to his belt, took the flashlight out of his MA5B and clipped it to his helmet, and hoisted Smith over his shoulders. He started walking towards the Cryo Chamber exit when the intercom blared:"Any remaining personnel aboard the Leviathan make it to the lifeboats, on the double, the cole protocol has been initiated, the ship will be self-destructing in 15:00." "Come on, we've got to get the crap out of here!" It was then that Barnes started running. He ran twice the speed he could've if he didn't have Kyle on his shoulders. It was like something was working through him. There he was, running as fast as a cheetah with Kyle on his shoulders. Just as he was about to round a corner into a Service Corridor that led to the lifeboats, He heard the noise of grunts. Barnes gently sat Kyle down and put his back up against the wall. He peeked around the corner to see 4 grunts all standing around. Apparently they couldn't understand English or they would be trying to get out. Just then, Barnes flashed around the corner and popped a HE round into every grunt. He then picked up Kyle and started running to the lifeboats. As he reached the end of the Service Corridor, he heard a loud explosion behind him that blew him and Kyle throught the damaged door. He looked up shook off the pain and ran into one of the lifeboats with Kyle. This lifeboat was one of the medical versions, so it had a medic onboard and a medical bed. He strapped kyle to the bed and strapped himself to a chair. One of the marines inside he recognized. "Looks like you two got lucky." The marine said. "Would you turn that dang flashlight off!" Yelled one of the marines. "Sorry." Barnes had completely forgot about the flashlight. The medic then walked over to Kyle and started operating. "Is he going to be okay?" Barnes asked. "Don't hold your breath." He responded. "It looks like your hurt too." The pilot said pointing at Barnes's shoulder. Barnes looked at his shoulder and saw it was covered with blood. "Oh,no that's not a wound, that was where I was carrying Smith."Oh, sorry!" He responded. "Okay, were getting the heck out of here!" Said the pilot. The lifeboat shook as it took off. Barnes looked up at the pilot's computer. It read:Destination,Beta System,Sector Four,planet Heta VII,Halyclon Colony. Barnes looked out the lifeboat's back window hatch to see the ship he had been stationed on, his home, Kyle's home, explode in a giant fiery explosion. Barnes hung his head, and, before long, fell asleep.



Corporal Barnes and Corporal Smith; A Marine's tale part 2
Date: 4 June 2004, 4:46 PM

Barnes was awakened by a loud whooshing sound. His vision was blurred by the sudden overflow of light. He heard the lifeboat's landing gear hit the ground and the intercom on the lifeboat blared:"We have landed on Heta VII, prepare to pile out." Barnes and the other marines unstrapped themselves and the pressure door on the back end of the lifeboat hissed open. Barnes walked over to Corporal Smith's medical bed and was relieved at what he saw.
The gaping hole in Smith's stomach was sewed and patched up and he was given painkillers to ease the pain. He was smiling up at Barnes. "How you doing, Smith?" Barnes asked. "Pretty good now that the bleeding stopped." He answered. "Your friend here was lucky, Corporal Barnes." The medic chimed in. "Thanks doc." Barnes said. "He's okay now but he needs a few more hours in the base's infirmary to rest." A few marines dressed in medical suits rolled Kyle to the infirmary on a medical bed. "Were not gettin' any younger out here, Barnes!" A high ranking officer yelled from outside. Barnes quickly ran out of the lifeboat to meet a soldier he had heard rumors about. It was Colonel Rodriguez. A highly decorated soldier from the Battle Of The Wildflower. "Yes sir!" Said Barnes as he saluted. "Your needed in the auditorium on the double." "Yes sir!" Barnes obediently said again. Barnes dared not ask Rodriguez where the auditorium was.
As Barnes headed in through the main access door, two marines came by him arguing about who was the better sniper. Barnes stifled a laugh. What appeared to be a base map caught his eye. Barnes walked over to it and figured out where the auditorium was. Walk down the hall and take a left, it's the first door on the right. As Barnes walked down the bright, bustling hallway, he tried to squeeze the thought of what had happened back at the Leviathan out of his mind. "And why do they want me at the auditorium?" Barnes said to himself. "What have I done?" As he turned a left he walked into the doorway into the auditorium. The auditorium was bustling with movement. "Ah, there's the man of the hour!" The officer at the podium said as he pointed to the back of the auditorium. Everything got quiet. "Come on down, son!" The officer said again. As Barnes walked down to the stage, sweat beaded on his neck, he was a little shy. When he made it up to the officer, the officer said over the microphone,"You have done a great thing, son!" The officer said,"Today, you are being recognized for not only bravely making it out of the Leviathan, but for heroicly rescuing and saving one of our own, give this man a hand!" The crowd roared with applause and hoops and hollers of happiness and approval. "And for such feats, we are presenting upon you the Distinguished Service Cross of the UNSC." The crowd again roared. A tear of joy rolled down Barnes's cheek. "Thank you, sir!" Barnes said with joy. It was the only award he had got all his life.
As Barnes walked out of the auditorium, marines slapped him on the back and gave him shouts of approval. But his happiness was immediately stopped as he walked out of the auditorium. He heard and saw a marine telling what looked like the commander of the base something horrible. "Sir, our scanners have picked up Covenant ground forces converging on our position!" The marine had said. "WHAT!?!" The Commander yelled. "GET OUR FORCES OUT THERE AND DEFEND THE PERIMETER!" "GET A MAN ON EVERY AUTOMATED DEFENSE AROUND THIS COLONY!" "WE CAN'T LET THE COVENANT OBTAIN THE INTEL IN THIS BASE, IT'LL RUIN THE UNSC'S USEFULLNESS IN THIS WAR!" The Commander finished. "Yes sir!" The marine said. Just then every alarm in the base was blaring. And the Intercoms were saying:"Every available force needs to be outside and armed defending the base perimeter within 2 minutes! Covenant attack imminent!" Every single marine around was grabbing a gun and adding to the utter chaos. As soon as Barnes heard those words he ran up to a glass case, punched through it, and grabbed the MA5B that was inside. He then rounded a corner and ran otside. He ducked behind a waist high wall just as blue and green plasma fire flew past. The fire hit a new Private just accepted into the UNSC. Three other marines were beside him firing. As soon as there was a pause in the firing, Barnes raised up and unloaded into the advancing covenant forces. He took down 7 grunts, 2 Elites, and 1 jackal. He continued pushing them back until he heard a loud explosion. He looked up and saw a green fuel rod cannon blast blow apart an upper platform that killed 5 marines. One of the dead marine's M6D's fell from above. Barnes grabbed it and looked through it's 2x zoom. He aimed until he was sure he was going to hit the Hunter's weak orange spot. He pulled the trigger and the Hunter's waist exploded in an orange blast. This made practically every grunt cower and start running back. "Nice shot!" One of the marines beside him said. But then the marine's face of approval turned into a face of horror. He pointed behind Barnes and froze. Barnes flashed around and was greeted by the smack of an Elite. Barnes hit the wall and the elite ripped his cross of of his neck. Then the elite started running toward a Covenant Dropship that had just landed. Barnes wasn't going to let that happen, so he shook off the pain and started running after the elite. The Covenant started firing at Barnes, but they all missed.
"Barnes, come back!" He heard Corporal Smith say behind him. But he was not going to stop, he was going to get his cross back. He looked down at the ammo counter on his MA5B, it was empty, his kind of luck. So he dropped it and started running faster. Just then the Elite jumped into one of the dropship's hatches, then the hatch started closing. Barnes didn't care, he jumped up and grabbed the edge of the closing hatch and pulled himself up just in time. He was in a very small personnel hatch. The elite was nowhere to be found.....



Corporal Barnes and Corporal Smith; A Marine's Tale part 3, the FINALE (sad)
Date: 6 June 2004, 9:00 PM

      Corporal Barnes was awakened suddenly by the loud noise of the dropship's engines."What," Corporal Barnes thought, "I fell asleep on a Covenant dropship and i'm still alive!" Corporal Barnes felt the dropship land and heard the pilot's dismount. They spoke with each other in their native tongues and Barnes heard them walk away."Why would the Covenant want my cross, they can't use it for anything?" Barnes thought. When Barnes was sure the Covenant were away, he started pushing really hard on the hatch that had him enclosed. After 2 minutes of trying, he gave up on pushing and just rammed himself into the hatch. It gave and Barnes fell on the cold, purple floor. He looked around and saw that he was in a large, Covenant hangar. He looked around for an exit and saw a huge hallway in the west corner of the hangar. He started walking down it until, just then, the huge shadow of an Elite started forming just around the corner. Barnes put his back up against the wall and stopped breathing. Finally, the Elite came, it was the same exact one that had took his cross, and he had it in a satchel around his waist. Barnes was about to curse loudly at the Elite, but that would have been a death wish. But just then, the Elite stopped and sniffed the air. Barnes didn't even think the saliva in his mouth was moving. But, to Barnes's relief, the Elite started walking again. For the next ten minutes, Barnes trailed the Elite through the base. It was pretty smooth sailing from there, until the Elite went into what looked like a Hunter Hangout. Barnes was definately not going to go in there. Barnes saw the Elite throw the hunter's a dark look, then he exited the room. Barnes was about to give up hope when he noticed a vent above the door. He pulled out his combat knife, reached up to the vent and pried of the top. Unfortunately, the lid slammed against the floor which grabbed all of the hunters'attention. "Oh, crap!" Barnes yelled as he jumped into the vent. The hunter's all walked out. One of the hunter's noticed the lid of of the vent. He then looked in the vent and saw Barnes. This angered the Hunter, so much, that the hunter pointed his fuel rod gun down the vent and fired. Barnes then crawled faster than a spider to the other end. He made it out just in time but the explosion blew him into the opposite wall when he made it out. His vision blurred. "Ohhhhh.." Barnes moaned. When he regained his vision, the Elite was standing right over him, grinning. That grin, he knew that grin. It was the same Elite that had almost killed him on the ship! "Remember me, human!" Barnes's heart had almost stopped, the Elite had spoken! "That's right, I can speak you're pathetic language," The Elite said, "Hmmm, this situation seems oddly familiar, oh, that's right." The Elite said as he leveled his plasma rifle at Barnes's face. "This time, your the one who's lights are going to go out." Just then, Barnes launched off the ground right into the Elite's stomach. They both hit the ground. "I believe you have something that's mine." Barnes said in a strained voice. The Elite then fired madly with the plasma rifle. When he did that, Barnes pushed the firing end of the plasma rifle right into the Elite's face, which melted it off completely. Barnes then ripped the cross from the Elite's satchel. "Thanks." Barnes said to the Elite's dead body. As he rounded a corner, he bumped into what he thought was another Elite. But, to his very big suprise, it was Kyle! "Kyle, what the crap are you doing here!?!" "It's a long story but it has something to do with that." Kyle said pointing at my shoulder. "What?" Barnes asked. "There's a GPS tracker chip made into the fibers in your shoulder armor." Barnes was stunned, but then he heard the rumbling of hunter's feet. the hunter's were still chasing him! "Oh, crap, we've gotta run!" "Why?" Said Kyle as he was trying to catch up. "Hunters!" Yelled Barnes. "OH NO!" Kyle yelled, now caught up with Barnes. But then Barnes thought something. "So this is how it ends up, running away from something like always." Barnes stopped running. "BARNES, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Kyle yelled going back for Barnes. "Kyle, think about it, we always end up running away from something, let's take a stand for once, even if it means dying." "Barnes you......you are.........right, we have to stand for something." The Hunters were now 20 meters away. "Oh, and, by the way, thanks for saving me." Kyle said as the hunter raised it's gun. They knew they were going to die, but they didn't care. "Goodbye, Kyle." Barnes said. They never did look at the fuel rod gun as it fired...............





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