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Halo 3: The Campaign Novel by SlayerMan118
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Halo 3 - Chapter 1: Sierra-117
Date: 19 June 2008, 9:58 pm
Part I: Walk it off
"First squad you're my scouts. Move out, quiet as you can." Ordered Johnson. John stayed in close with The Arbiter and the Sargeant Major. "Bravo team this is Johnson, we got him. Fall back to the extraction point. Over."
"Roger that, Reynolds out." replied Bravo team's CO; Staff Sargeant Drew Reynolds. "Johnson you'd be advised, hostiles are on the move. I've got eyes on a Brute pack." The end of Reynolds' message was cut off by static.
"Say it again Gunner, you're breaking up." Johnson said.
One of the Marines spotted a Phantom Dropship moving in on their location.
"If we stay together we're gonna get spotted. Chief you take first squad and go with The Arbiter. Second squad you're with me, we'll rendezvous for evac at the river," he instructed.
John climbed to the top of the cliff and unslung his Assault Rifle. He opened fire on the Brute Captain, but by the time he'd removed the Brute's power armor, his Assault Rifle's clip was empty and he had to reload.
'32 rounds, that a pretty shallow clip. Have to remember that.' John thought. His HUD read 320 rounds left for the rifle. The Brute started charging towards him as John was reloading, so he slammed the back of the rifle into its chest killing it.
He finished reloading as The Arbiter and the marines finished off the grunts, which were leaderless and now panicking. A second Phantom arrived and dropped off another Brute Captain, and about a dozen Grunts into the shallow pool of water they were above. John really wished he had a grenade.
The Brute fired his spiker at him. Getting behind cover, John let his shields recharge. He could hear the Brute grunting and roaring as The Arbiter continued to fire his Carbine before succeeding and killing it. John jumped down into the pool and killed all of the grunts with one clip.
The Arbiter led the marines to the next camp, as John slammed a fresh clip into the Assault Rifle and fired at the Brute leader. He fired half a clip this time and then charged at it and slammed the back of his rifle into it twice. The Grunts however did not flee as usual. John thought this through as he resumed firing on them. Until the last Grunt did something completely unexpected, as it lit both of its Plasma Grenades and started charging at the chief with the lit grenades still in its hands.
It was a Kamikaze Grunt and had every intention of taking him with it. John unloaded what he had left in his current clip into the suicidal Grunt. He killed it as the grenades exploded and sent it flying into the large lagoon off the cliff.
"Man these Brutes are tough." Stacker remarked.
"Grunts ain't no slouches either." Agreed a marine.
"The Grunts Newfound courage is but fear. When we are victorious. All who serve the Prophets will be punished." Declared the Arbiter. They proceeded to a ledge overlooking a creek. The Arbiter engaged his armor's active camouflage and shot out the Jackal Marksmen in the trees above them.
John went low, knocking out the sleeping Grunts along the creek bed. A Brute Captain spotted John and started firing at him. He returned fire, but the Brute deployed a Bubble Shield, a new piece of Equipment that was secretly developed by ONI for use by the Marines. John couldn't fire into it, but he wondered if he could still walk into it.
He decided to find out, and he walked through the shield and knocked out the Brute. The Jackals were closing in on him. So John picked up a Grunt's Plasma Pistol and overcharged it. He released the overcharged bolt at the Jackal's Shield and punched it out. He did this same thing to the one other Jackal, as The Arbiter led Stacker and his men up to where he was.
"Pelicans are en route Chief, but I can't reach Bravo."
"Find 'em. Get 'em to the extraction point." Johnson said over the radio.
John could hear Reynolds struggling with something not too far from where he was. As John rounded the corner he saw a Brute Captain holding the Sargeant by his throat. Apparently trying to get information out of him.
"Tell me its location." The Brute demanded.
"Kiss. My. Ass." Reynolds retorted.
The Arbiter snuck up behind the Brute and slid his Energy Sword into the Brute's back, for a silent kill. As John and the marines dealt with the Grunts, all but Stacker were killed. A Gracious Sargeant Reynolds told John what had happened.
"Brute Chieftain... Phantom..." "Pinned us down... Killed my men."
Stacker ran ahead to scout. "Chief, Arbiter I'm counting 3 Brutes and about 6 Grunts."
"Got a Grenade Reynolds?" John asked him.
"Yes Chief." He replied.
"Let me have it." John ordered.
"Here you go Chief, Catch!" Reynolds tossed the chief a BR-55 Battle Rifle, in addition to the Grenade.
'This will work nicely' he thought. John waited to be sure the Brutes couldn't see him before activating the Fragmentation Grenade's electric fuse. It would explode in 3 seconds upon contact with a surface or object. "FRAG OUT!" He yelled, the grenade bounced off a tree and into the middle of the Covenant Troops there. A single Brute was still alive but a headshot from John's BR changed that.
"The river…hurry!" yelled the Arbiter. The path to the river was about a 10-foot jump down into the cave below. As the chief landed, an odd interference played through his Neural Lace.
"Would you sacrifice me to complete your mission?"
'Cortana?' thought John.
"Could you watch me die?"
'Cortana!'
The Mark VI filtered out the interference and rebooted.
"Is something wrong Spartan?" the Arbiter asked.
"Your vitals just beamed KIA." Stacker told him.
"I'm okay." He replied.
Part II: Charlie Foxtrot
"Chief, the Pelicans are at the river. We got company, so hustle up." Johnson radioed.
John found plenty of Grenades and took two for him, and handed two each to Stacker and Reynolds who were both out. Pelicans Echo-51 and Oscar-34 were waiting for them above the river; Johnson was manning the gun in the back hatch of E-51 and showed no signs of letting up.
"Hold on…. got a contact. BANSHEES! FAST AND LOW!"
"Break off now! Watch yourself! Lost a thruster, hang on!"
"Get a hold of her!" Johnson yelled to his pilot.
"Negative we're goin' down!"
John and the Arbiter had just killed most of the Covenant, but a Phantom soon arrived and dropped off 3 Brutes and about a dozen Grunts. John had 3 grenades, 1 frag, and 2 Plasmas. Stacker and Reynolds were pinned down. He'd have to get multiple casualties with one grenade. He checked his ammo count.
The Chief stepped up to the platform and threw a Plasma Grenade; the grenade exploded and took about 7 Grunts with it. He slammed his rifle into the remaining Grunts. The Arbiter was under heavy fire from the Brutes.
John used his one Frag Grenade and killed 2 of the Brutes, as The Arbiter finally killed his attacker.
"The Banshees will return… quick Spartan back into the Jungle." The Arbiter advised. Stacker and Reynolds followed.
"Chief… my bird's down about… half a klick from your position." Johnson sounded like he had the wind knocked out of him.
"Arbiter!" John had just spotted 5 Jackal Marksmen and about 2 Jackal Snipers in the Trees and Ledges around them. "You take left, I take right, and anything in the middle is fair game."
"Agreed." He replied.
John unslung his Battle Rifle and activated the 2x scope. He killed his Jackals in 4 bursts, so had The Arbiter.
"Come on you big apes. If you want breakfast you gotta catch it!" Johnson taunted.
There were two-dozen Grunts up ahead so John used another grenade and killed half of them. Once all of them were dead, John took Stacker and Reynolds to go and check out the crash site.
'No bodies? Crap, I think I might be too late.' John thought. Nonetheless he had to find Johnson. He was key in the war effort. Stacker handed him an SRS-99D Sniper Rifle he had found. And John handed him his Battle Rifle that he wouldn't need. "Let's go." John said. "Reynolds, what's the next facility along this river?" John asked, not knowing where the hell he was.
"A large dam sir, I can hear the Phantoms from here. The Covenant has definitely set up shop there." He answered.
They got to the Dam by taking a shortcut through a nearby cave.
Part III: Quid Pro Quo
John and The Arbiter stood atop the edge of a cliff, giving them a good view of the whole dam. Johnson was struggling, unarmed, against a Brute wearing unnecessarily elaborate grandiose Steel and Orange colored armor. It also had a large oversized hammer slung to its back.
"Let me guess. That's a Chieftain isn't it," John said bluntly.
"Yes. See how they lay the bait for their trap?" The Chieftain kicked Johnson into a room. It beat its chest proudly after accomplishing the deed.
"I will help you spring it," he finished.
Unbeknownst to them a Jackal Sniper was sneaking up behind them. John noticed it just as it had lined up its Beam rifle. He slammed the back of his Sniper Rifle into the Jackal's eyepiece.
"How about we snipe?" John suggested, offering the Beam Rifle to The Arbiter.
"It would be a better option." The Arbiter accepted the weapon from him.
"Look for any snipers first. They'll give us trouble later." The Arbiter acknowledged and activated his Active camo. John found a good spot that gave him an over view of the whole dam. He could see two Snipers through the 99D's 10x scope, but what he couldn't see was the attentive Jackal that saw him, and alerted all the other snipers to his location.
John was pinned down, with no way to fight back.
"Spartan, are you injured?" the Arbiter asked.
"Something saw me. Need assistance."
"Hold firm." 'Cowards, you were fools to do the Prophet's bidding. Now you shall see the error of serving that liar.' The Arbiter calmly lined up his scope with the head of one of the snipers. He fired. A perfect Headshot, as the Jackal's indigo blood splashed out from the new wound. Not wasting any time he scored two more headshots with one beam.
By now a Brute Captain had noticed that all of their snipers were killed.
"Arbiter I can see a Brute and 4 Jackals moving in on your position." John shot one of the Jackals in the leg killing it. "Sorry make that 3 Jackals. Go after the Brute, I'll cover you." The Brute kept dodging the Arbiter's Carbine fire. This was frustrating him greatly.
Finally the Brute got The Arbiter so pissed off that he lit his Energy Sword. He swung once at it destroying the Captain's armor. He went in with a lunge for the kill. But it didn't kill it, and the sword was now sticking out of the Brute's chest. It went berserk and began charging at The Arbiter.
"Get out of there Arbiter, I have a clear shot!" John warned.
"No I must kill it! To restore the honor the Brutes and Prophets took from me!" he insisted. The Arbiter waited until the last possible minute to jump out of the way. He landed on its back. Sure to make it pay, he slammed his boot on its neck and shot it point blank with his Beam Rifle.
"Unworthy of my Blades." he said scornfully, kicking the Brute onto its back. The Arbiter stepped on the beast's stomach and pulled his sword out from it. It was crackling and smoking with the Brute's crimson colored blood dripping off of it.
"Note to self: Don't get The Arbiter in a bad mood." John said to himself. "Okay Reynolds, I want you and Stacker to stay here until evac arrives."
"Gotcha Chief!" he responded
"There a high perch!" The Arbiter had just noticed a ladder which gave them a good overview of the top deck of the Dam. "Spartan up here, this is a good range for us to shoot from." John followed him up.
"Shoot his bodyguards first?" John asked unslinging his Sniper Rifle.
"Yes." He replied readying his Beam Rifle.
John steadied the rifle's sights on the Bodyguard's head. Headshot. The Arbiter got a Headshot too. They thinned out what was left until they couldn't see any more Covenant.
But something wasn't right, John could feel it. This was way too easy. Unfortunately he was right and the Brute Chieftain came storming up the ladder, Hammer in tow, and immediately threw The Arbiter back to where they started from, causing him to drop his weapons too.
John didn't have much choice; he tossed his sniper rifle out a window onto the main deck. He scooped up The Arbiter's sword and made a jump for the main deck, narrowly missing a swing from the Chieftain's Hammer.
"What's the matter Demon? Afraid of me and my Little Hammer?!" the Brute taunted.
It was closing fast. John had no way to get his sniper rifle. All he had on him was his Assault rifle, two Frags, and The Arbiter's Sword. It was going to be tough, but he knew he could do it, as he unclipped a frag from his belt. He lit it and gave it a good toss.
The grenade exploded but it didn't faze the Chieftain. The smoke cleared and the Brute was now covered with white rings around its body.
"This can't be good." John said, the Chieftain bounded recklessly toward him before jumping 4 feet in the air and slamming the hammer into the concrete. John dived out of the way just in time, and lit the Sword. The white rings faded and the Chieftain was struggling to pull its Hammer out from the surface. Seeing opportunity, John sliced into the Brute's back. It was finally over.
He retrieved the Sniper Rifle and found The Arbiter who had only found his Carbine.
"Well done Spartan." He said. John handed the sword back to him. They went back to the destroyed bridge and killed the Grunts that a Phantom had dropped off. They decide to proceed through the dam's lower deck. They got to the other side. No surprises awaited them.
Johnson was behind a Plasma Shield, nothing could get in, nor could anybody get out.
"Johnson." John got the Sargeant Major's attention.
"Chief… This isn't as fun as it looks. Cut the power." He ordered. John found the power controls and deactivated the shield. "We're even, as long as we're only counting today."
"Yes Sir. Here, brought you something." John handed Johnson the sniper rifle.
"Thanks Chief." Johnson happily accepted the rifle from him. "Hocus, what's your ETA?"
"Imminent Sargeant. Find some cover, I got a clear path." Hocus replied.
"Roger that. Friendly Gunship coming in hot." Johnson instructed. Then both Phantoms returned and proceeded to fire on the small room.
"Sargeant Major." John alerted him to their uninvited guests.
"Men get inside, we got Phantoms. Chief, Arbiter focus fire on the main gun." Johnson ordered, as he sniped out one of the Grunt gunners.
"Yes Sir." They both said. John went back into the room and grabbed two Spikers. He opened fire on the large plasma cannon, periodically ducking back into the room the reload and let his shields recharge. Finally he heard the welcome sound of a Pelican's engines as Kilo-23 arrived.
"Hocus we got 2 Phantoms." Johnson alerted her.
"I see 'em. Standby and get to cover. I'm going loud." She said. A pair of rocket pods opened up on the Pelican and a hail of 50 missiles struck the first Phantom, destroying it. "Problem solved, scratch one Phantom." She turned her attention to the other Phantom.
John had no clue what kind of missiles she was using, but they were doing the job. Phantom number two didn't fare any better as 50 missiles struck it. It wailed and exploded the wreckage floating downriver. "Scratch Two."
Hocus fired more rockets at the reinforcements the Phantoms had dropped off. They went flying off in all different directions. "Johnson I'm ready to evac." She said.
"Affirmative. Chief, Arbiter let's go." He said.
John and the Arbiter climbed into Kilo-23's troop bay with Reynolds, Stacker, and Johnson's marines getting aboard last. Hocus took off and made her way back to the UNSC's base. The Crow's Nest.
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