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Stories from the front by sam_fisha
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Highlanders War cp 1 pt 1
Date: 2 January 2005, 5:02 AM
Authors note: "I submitted this already but have recently checked through it again and have several chapters ready to go."
Chapter 1: Mission for success. The Captain walked on the bridge and examined his crew, all of them too young to be manning this ship, but the Covenant had been to work on the UNSC fleet, they hardly had the personnel to man his ship. The UNSC Frigate Highlander, a strange model, new but strange. It had its own gravity generator capable of making .4 g's, not as much as some but good given the low power output of the reactors on the ship. He was always amused by how the ship looked like a tube with outcropping bulk heads, he could see it in the design from inside the ship, compact, rounded, the hallways had small alcoves running along them with an access terminal and a chair, the engineers crammed things wherever they could. Especially in the crew quarters, he was used to larger areas but he was already getting used to sleeping in what looked like an armoire, he stopped a chuckle when he thought of the crew being 3 people to one of these rooms.
Even on the bridge it was small; it reminded him of being in a close system fighter, monitors on every side of you and hardly enough room to breath, at least this time he had crew. In front of him was his helmsman, Ensign Dordly, an odd fellow but the only one with much experience. To his left was his tactical officer, Ensign Vew, he didn't know her but her training class recommended her. The only one that hadn't cut her hair to regulation. And to his right was the one he hated but couldn't lose, the engineer Ed Lok. He had the strangest name, but plenty of crewmen had already learned not to joke about it. Lok walked strangely because years ago a reactor conduit had over loaded and exploded, blowing both his legs off at the knee. The surgeons did a good job but he lost a foot and two inches and walked slowly. And standing at attention next to him was Corporal Hayes, a tall man who looked strange in the compact confines of the Highlander.
Corporal Hayes was the commander of all Marine forces on the highlander. He stood well over six feet and his dark brown hair seemed somehow fitting with the amount of scars on his face. He proudly wore a medal on his chest that showed the insignia of a Lieutenant inside a black circle, this medal meant he had temporary status as a Lieutenant until a Captain or above said otherwise. Hayes was a quiet type unless he thought some one was getting in his line of fire. the Captain knew him from when they both served as marines on the UNSC cruiser Harkon, until it was destroyed defending the Rigel system. Suddenly Ed's console erupted into a series of beeps and lights, Ed turned to the Captain looking surprised. "Captain, message for you from FLEETCOM."
"Put it up." The screen at the end of the narrow bridge had looked like a window straight to the stars a second before but now it was only the steely gaze of Admiral Jike. "Admiral!" The Captain snapped a salute." "I suppose your wondering why I had your ship put in the yard." The admiral talked slowly, too slowly for the Captain. "It may have crossed my mind" The Captain said. "First let me send you the info on what's been done so far." The view screen filled with green type. The Captain read quickly.
2 Shiva warheads were now on his ship as well as 10 extra archer pods and 20 point defense chain guns, then one acronym he wasn't familiar with, ODSTSIIIP. Before the Captain could ask about it the admiral jumped in, talking fast for once. "You and your ship have been slated for a special mission." A picture of a Covenant Carrier appeared on his screen. The Captain almost yelled battle stations. "This Covenant Carrier has been seen near the Rigel system. We want you to make best speed for it." "But that system has been glassed admiral, why should we go there?" "Patience Captain, This Carrier appears to be one damaged in a battle near this system, we believe its engines are down as well as its weapons" The screen snapped back to the admiral. "We may never have a chance like this again." "You want me to capture it don't you admiral."
"In laymen's terms yes, but this is something special." A picture of a Covenant prophet appeared on the screen. "As far as we can tell, this is one of their admirals, spy satellites have seen a ship believed to be carrying this land on this Carrier before it was damaged as well as three other such ships. this must be some kind of strategic meeting that was ruined when our ships found the fleet; With this many important people on board the Covenant are sure to send a rescue party soon." "Do you want me to capture these creatures or kill them?" The Captain asked.
"Capture them and bring them to the O.N.I. frigate station out side of the Tara system, and while your at it search the ship for anything interesting." "When do I leave admiral?" "You already have, my personnel activated your engines, and you will arrive at you heading in 32 hours, at the half way point engage Cole protocol except for the heading to the O.N.I. ship which will be 45.6 units to starboard of the heading. Oh, and I left something for you in cargo bay two." The picture of the admiral flickered and changed back to the stars. The Captain turned to the Corporal.
"Let's see what the admiral left us." The pressure doors of Cargo Bay 2 glided open to reveal racks of stowed Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, SMGs, Rocket Launchers, and Shotguns. Along the walls were crates of Frag Grenades, Satchel Charges, Anti-personnel and Anti-tank mines, Deployable Motion Sensors, and Space Combat suits, but what he noticed most were 20 cots bolted to the floor. Military cots. He walked past the wall of weapon racks towards the cots, next to each cot he saw an oversized footlocker, open. He peered into one of the footlockers; there was a service pistol, two dress uniforms, polished and folded, a pair of service boots and a ration pack. He heard a foot step and then the clunk of a stand at attention. Then from behind another row of weapons he heard someone bellow. "CAPTAIN ON DECK! LOCKER INSPECTION! FORM UP!"
The Captain and the Corporal both turned at the same time towards the sound. Standing next to a crate was a 6'7 tall armored ODST soldier, holding his helmet in his left arm and saluting with his right. This must have been the admiral's help, a group of ODSTs. "At ease soldier." The soldier let down his salute but continued to stand straight as 19 other soldiers formed behind him ready for inspection. "I am Lieutenant Stat of the first ODSTSIIIP division." The first soldier barked. the soldier had dusty blonde hair at regulation length, he looked young, maybe 19 or 20, but his rank was too high to be a greenhorn. He seemed healthy but somehow sick, like a witness to a horrible murder, his face was pale and his eyes never moved, they were stuck at attention. "Ready for inspection." The soldiers said at once. The Captain stood, the soldiers didn't move an inch, they were too willing, like a dog that hadn't been fed, and they didn't even appear to be breathing. "As you were soldiers, no inspection, I would like to speak with you Lieutenant." "Yes sir." The Captain watched as the Corporal walked over to observe the new soldiers. "Perhaps you can tell me what ODSTSIIIP stands for Lieutenant." "No sir, that information is classified to rank of admiral and above." "Very well, have you been briefed on our mission?" "Yes sir." The soldier seemed to think as if it was strange to be asked these questions by a person in command. "Corporal get over here." The Corporal walked over beside the Captain. "Yes Captain?"
"Corporal, as of now you are the active CO of this division; you may pick a sergeant to be your number two." "Thank you sir, I'll make sure these men are ready." "And Lieutenant." The Lieutenant eyes opened even wider, eager to accept an order. "I want your men ready to go 30 seconds after I give the call.' "I'll have them ready in 15 sir." The Captain turned on his heel and walked out while the Corporal gave his speech on a life used and a life wasted and how he would use theirs in a heartbeat. On his way back to the bridge he stopped by the mess hall and grabbed his favorite food, Ration 3: turkey and mashed potatoes, it almost tasted right. On his way in and out of the mess hall marines and crewmen saluted, he had been a Captain for years but he still remembered being the one saluting and licking the tread of the Captain's boot. He walked onto the bridge quietly to see what the three did when he was gone, but it was hard with all the crewmen at their station make a lot of noise out of saluting. When he got on the bridge everything seemed just as he had left it. Ensign view turned and made a quick salute. "Captain, we might have a long fight when we get there, it might be good if you got some rest." The Captain stared at the Ensign, she was only the second to tell the Captain when to sleep, the other had been years ago, he was killed when a bulkhead exploded, a bulkhead the Captain would have been killed by if he hadn't been taking the Ensign's advice. "Ensign, I'll sleep when I'm dead and that might be very soon if I'm sleeping when the Covenant finds us, if you need me I'll be on deck C. "Nice." Lok said under his breath, he had always liked quick comebacks, even if the comeback wasn't a palm strike to the face.
The Captain grabbed his data pad and left for the stairs. He was still uncomfortable with half a g; it was hard to look serious when you hop into the room like a rabbit. He arrived in the marine exercise room where he received yet another round of salutes. One of the sergeants yelled "YOU CALL THAT A SALUTE! THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN!" A second later the sergeant kicked the soldier in the back so he was in a bowing position. The Captain remembered his own marine barracks like this on the Harkon, he was boxing heavy weight for month, and he got taken out by the Corporal. He walked over to the weight lifters and selected a 400 pound weight to start with. It was annoying to have to work out to keep from being too weak to walk on a planet but he had to do it like every other person on the ship. Before he even knew what was happening he was in a weight lifting contest with a sergeant and the marines were around yelling lift! lift! lift! He was about to win when his muscles started to burn and his bones started to feel like jelly. He was right about to give up when the ship shook and the intercom said "Captain we need you on the bridge." He dropped his weight and left as marines fought over who would have won. He ran onto the bridge "REPORT!" "An asteroid field sir." Dordly replied.
"Why were we plotted to fly through an asteroid field?" The Captain was genuinely pissed. "We weren't sir; this field wasn't here a day ago when a cargo shipment came through!" "Dordly, are you saying this entire field came here in one day? this is an entire asteroid ring!" A console beeped. Ensign Vew turned "Captain, I may have the answer. The view screen flickered from a view of the asteroids to what looked like a research station. "that's a Covenant orbital battle station, we've seen them along their supply lines orbiting asteroids or even ships, but this one is bigger, see that tube that looks like a fighter bay? It's full of extra engines, and right now half the asteroids here have them on them." "So the Covenant are putting engines on asteroids and flying them in the way of our supply lines?" The Captain said as he leaned towards the screen. "It looks that way sir, but I would guess they put a ship in an asteroid field and then opened slip space and are using the engines to move the asteroids into a pattern." the Captain thought for a second. "But would the Covenant go to all this trouble to stop a supply line? And the time seems suspicious for them to just have moved it here, maybe the Covenant know about our mission." Ensign Vew turned in her chair.
"I wouldn't think so sir, people have been pretty tight lipped about this mission, maybe the Covenant are trying to stop a different mission, and our ships use this supply line a lot." "Good idea Ensign, check FLEETCOM about any taskforces moving through this area in the next week or so." The Ensign turned back to the console and started typing, after a second she turned back. "Sir, there's a taskforce of cruisers moving along this supply line and will be here in two days." The Captain nodded. "Well, we might as well take this station out before it causes any trouble. Ready the" The Captain was cut off by Dordly. "Sir, two asteroids have initiated their engines and are moving towards us, one dead ahead and one starboard, it's moving in front of the station sir, both will collide with us in fifteen seconds."
"Evasive maneuvers, if there is one thing we can out maneuver it's an asteroid." The ship lulled to port and accelerated as it rolled on its side, the asteroid from starboard flew past, but rotated bringing a large outcropping of frozen rock straight at the Highlander, like a large fist the rock collided with the side of the ship. The Captain was thrown into a bulkhead by a sudden and violent movement of the ship. "WHAT HAPPENED?" The Captain barked. "SIR!" Dordly said panicked. "The asteroid hit us, it knocked us into a straight course with the station, I can't get control of the engines, they just keep going, we have thirty seconds!" "DORDLY! Trigger two of the starboard emergency maneuvering pods." Dordly took a second to find the command. He finally found the button and punched it. For the second time the Captain was thrown into a bulkhead as the ship rippled and a loud BROOM sound echoed through the corridors. "It did it, we missed the station, we are directly to port of the station, our starboard side is right next to them." "Excellent Dordly put the image up."
The view screen flicked from the asteroids to the strange floating station, one spot on the station began to glow a pleasant indigo blue, then quickly turned to a horridly bright blue and white orb. "Ensign Vew, arm archer pods S 1 through 5, light those Covenant bastards up. Fire in a shield buster pattern" The Captain sat down in his seat to prevent being thrown into a bulkhead for a third time. "With pleasure sir." Vew typed commands on her console then turned towards the main view screen, apparently wanting to get a good view of the chaos. Fifty orange lights followed by pillars of smoke streaked towards the station. Small streaks of plasma fire intercepted several missiles. The remnants of the first salvo of missiles neared the station, and exploded on the hull. "What? No shields?" Vew exclaimed. Spheres of explosions and fire peppered the station, the Captain watched as the strange purple metal twisted and broke. In seconds a large cloud of atmosphere began venting and hovering around the fallen station. The near ready plasma torpedo dissipated. "Sir, we must have hit the power conduit for the plasma torpedo. The engines on all the asteroids just went dead; they must have been powered by the same magnetic field that the plasma torpedo uses." "Excellent, Lok, how much of the station appears as though it could have some Covenant hiding in it?" "Lok stared at his screen for a second then turned back to the Captain. "It looks like about 3 cargo bays have been sealed, give or take." The Captain tapped the intercom button on his command console. "Corporal Hayes, get a pelican of your best marines, I want your men to take that station.
Prologue to Stories from the front, Highlander's War
Date: 3 January 2005, 3:55 AM
Prologue to Stories from the front, Highlander's War. By sam_fisha AKA Ty
"It has become abundantly clear that more ships must be utilized to discover the few remaining worlds of the Humans." Said the Prophet of Chivalry. "Perhaps..." Said the Prophet of Brotherhood. "But I hold the discovery of our lord's creations above the eradication of the Humans." Chivalry shook his head. "How can you say that when the eradication of the Humans is the will of our creators?" Brotherhood knew the eyes of the other Prophets were on him. "The war against the Humans is important." He said, searching for any way to convey his slight distaste for the war. "Given that our creator's will was interpreted correctly." Loyalty leaned forward in his chair. "You question that the Hierarchs channel the almighty?!" He yelled.
"No, I simply am saying ..." Chivalry interrupted. "NO! What you say is HERESY!" Brotherhood shook at this accusation. "I HAVE SAID NO SUCH THING!" Strife motioned for silence with a wave of his hand. "Let there be pardons all around so we may continue with a civilized discussion." He said. The other Prophets silenced and slightly nodded to each other. "Okay." Strife said. "As it is I believe the eradication of the Humans and searching for artifacts are not mutually exclusive." Strife said as Brotherhood muttered. "And how is that, Strife?" Strife motioned to one of his guards and the Holographic screen displayed an image of a large bulky yet elegant carrier. "This is the health of the Covenant." Strife said. "A carrier currently station with a large fleet within a months jump of the Human system known as Tara." Brotherhood examined the carrier. "And how is this important?"
"Patience Brotherhood, patience." Strife motioned again and the screen displayed a rough image of a planet. "This is the fourth planet in the system. With what we have gleaned from artifacts found recently we believe this planet contains a forerunner facility which may contain the sacred icon or perhaps this."
The screen changed to show a large green crystal which was cleanly cut to make a perfect octagon. "The power crystal we believe was used to power such facilities as the late sacred ring." Strife shot a look at Hardship who was in charge of appointing the ship commander who had followed the Human ship and allowed the sacred ring to be destroyed.
"As far as we can tell when a large amount of energy is run through it the crystal can emit a strong magnetic pulse which is perfect for activating our newly developed weapon, the Arm, and this carrier is outfitted with this weapon. With this crystal we may be able to increase the effectiveness of the weapon ten fold." Strife finished.
Brotherhood looked around the table to see all the Prophets nodding their agreement. "Then you are proposing a strike on the system?" Brotherhood inquired. "Yes, Chivalry Hardship Loyalty and I will oversee the assault from The Health of the Covenant." Chivalry watched Brotherhood closely. "And you shall be in charge of ensuring the Carrier is well defended by the time we arrive.
The lesser Prophets nodded their agreement.
On a drop ship sending personnel to The Health of the Covenant"
Leeyap stood beside his old friend Grooky on the drop ship. Leeyap looked at his own yellowish armor and then at Grooky's red armor. Leeyap looked away, trying not to think about how Grooky had been promoted and he hadn't, talk about emasculating. He looked to his left where a Sangheili in black armor stood leaning against the wall of the ship as he counted the men onboard.
"Were short a Kig-yar." He said to the entire ship. Leeyap spoke up. "He's in sick bay for a reaction to an immunity shot." He said. The Sangheili looked down to him as if he expected that Leeyap couldn't talk. He snorted and walked to the opposite side of the ship and spoke to the pilot. Grooky looked back at Leeyap. "You should try not to be noticed; those Sangheili will rip your head off." One of the Kig-yar nodded. Leeyap shook his head. "How am I going to get promoted if I'm noticed?" Grooky laughed. "Don't fall asleep when you're on guard." Leeyap got mad. "I was awake for two days! It was Unavoidable!" "Yeah Leeyap, rap that lie around yourself like a methane tank."
Leeyap nearly fell over when the ship suddenly accelerated and launched out of the ship bay. It a week Leeyap would be serving on The Health of the Covenant.
On the UNSC frigate Highlander:
The Captain braced himself as a volley of plasma collided with his beloved ship. The Covenant Cruiser turned to face the other UNSC frigate, the Worldly. The Cruiser launched six brilliant balls of plasma and the Worldly was pelted with superheated gas. Its titanium armor melted away and exposed several decks as gases escaped from the ship. "FIRE PODS B SIX THROUGH EIGHT!" The Captain yelled. His tactical officer typed a few commands and in seconds missiles streaked from the Highlander's bow and quickly closed the gap between it and the Covenant cruiser.
The missiles collided with the cruiser's shields and created red and blue balls of fire. The cruiser turned from the Worldly and readied a broadside for the Highlander. "Sir, they're going to fire again, I don't know if we can take it." Head engineer Lok said. "Full speed ahead, activate an emergency pod when the plasma nears us and fire all remaining missiles on the bow, how's that MAC doing?" The bridge crew scrambled around. "MAC is at eighty three percent sir." The Captain looked at the view screen and watched as the cruiser fired six balls of plasma directly at him. "Keep me posted, and sound brace for impact."
An alarm sounded through the ship as the plasma neared. The Captain sat in his chair and held to a bar placed beside it. A loud explosion echoed through the ship and the metal groaned as the ship jerked to the left. The plasma streaked by and was unable to turn. "The Worldly is firing sir, our missiles will take the shields and theirs should hurt it." Said his tactical officer. "Fire the MAC when it charges and ready some engineering teams to help fix the Worldly." The Captain said as he thought of what might come next. "MAC away sire, our missiles will impact in ten...nine." The Highlander's missiles struck the cruiser's shields and they flashed as they tried to hold. The missiles from the Worldly impacted with the unprotected cruiser and blew away its armor. A split second later the MAC round collided with the cruiser and it buckled and folded in on itself. Plating ripped apart from the stress as gasses escaped and formed a cloud around the ship.
In seconds the ship's engines exploded and sent a ripple through what remained. The Captain watched as another wreckage was added to the belt of metal and half ships that littered the area. "Any idea why the Covenant where coming through here?" He asked. "It looks like they were heading towards Tara, and FLEET COM reports several similar engagements." One of his crew responded. "Sir, priority message from Admiral Jike." The crewman added. "Put it up." The Captain said. The view screen flicked from the view of the wreckages to the gaze of the slow speaking but brilliant Admiral Jike. "Sir!" The captain said as he snapped a salute. "Hello Abler, good job with the Covenant force." "Thank you Admiral." Jike looked at something off screen. "We need you at repair station A seventeen for retrofitting."
"Yes sir, can you tell me why?"
"No Captain, just do it."
Council chamber, High Charity:
Brotherhood looked into the steely gaze of the Prophet of Redemption. "Several of your brothers have noted you for heresy." Redemption said. "Is it true you oppose the holy crusade against the humans?" Brotherhood gathered the courage to look redemption in the face. Around him the Prophets and Sangheili which composed the council hollered at the accusation, unsure of Brotherhood's loyalty. "I simply wish to convey my thoughts that the decision not to allow the Humans the chance to join the Covenant may have been..."
"Let the Humans join the Covenant! How could you say such a thing, they're death is the will of the almighty!" One of the council members yelled. Brotherhood turned his head to the council member. "Does not every creature have the right to their salvation?" The council member grew silent. Redemption raised a hand and motioned for silence. "Why do you say the Humans should be allowed the chance? Do you wish them to be with us on the great journey?" Brotherhood pondered for a moment. Should I tell them some of my soldiers have found an oracle? Are they ready to learn the truth of the great journey? He thought silently as the council watched him intently. No. He thought. They are not ready to learn, they will not understand, stay silent for now. "The same was said when the war of the Unggoy started and now they are some of our loyalist soldiers." The council roared and Redemption shook his head. "The Unggoy were at first our enemies, not the enemies of the almighty."
Brotherhood leaned in his chair uneasily. "Putting that aside, Is it not more important to find more of our Lord's creations as have been indicated by recently uncovered artifacts?" The council grew quiet as they pondered. Redemption looked at the council and turned to Brotherhood. "The council will make their decision, for now you will wait." The lights of the council chamber dimmed to a faint red as the council exited the chamber. Redemption walked to Brotherhood, who sat in a large round chair known as the heretic's chair. Redemption looked at Brotherhood. "I can only presume that you do not mean this heresy you have spoken." Brotherhood stayed completely still. "If you knew."
He said. Redemption looked down at Brotherhood. "Do you remember the oath to the great journey you took?" Redemption said as he walked around Brotherhood. "Yes." Redemption stopped circling him. "Recite the second verse." Brotherhood stayed still as he began to recite the oath. "And he shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." When Brotherhood finished Redemption smiled with his thin gray lips. "Good, now can you tell me what those abominations that walk the world and make it desolate are?" Brotherhood stayed completely still. Redemption leaned close to Brotherhood. "Think about it." He whispered. Then Redemption left Brotherhood alone in the chamber as he pondered its meaning. Wait it the enemy of the Covenant who is the abomination? He thought as he sat in the dark chamber. Or is it something else, something I am not thinking of. Brotherhood shifted uneasily in his chair as his communicator buzzed.
He pressed its button and answered the communication. "This is Brotherhood." He said into it. "You excellence, the oracle has revealed a secret of the infection." The voice of his soldiers came through. "Yes Azaleas, what is it? What should I know of the infection?" The Sangheili hesitated. "I would rather speak in private you excellence, can you send someone to meet me at block three-nine-thirty to discuss it?" Brotherhood looked around the chamber suspiciously. "Of course. Have you begun transmitting the truth to possible followers?" Brotherhood waited for an answer; instead he heard a loud crack and his soldier exhaled sharply as the communication was cut. The hierarchs were on to him.
Highlander's War ch1 pt2
Date: 6 January 2005, 3:10 AM
Authors note: "I eagerly await reader input, enjoy the story!"
On the pelican flying to the station: "I WANT EVERY MAN HERE READY TO LOOK THOSE UGLY FUCKERS IN THE EYE, SHOVE YOUR GUN DOWN THEIR THROATS AND MAKE 'EM EVEN UGLIER!" The Corporal yelled to the 8 men on his pelican. The co-pilot turned back and held five fingers up. "WE LAND IN FIVE MINUTES AND EVERY ONE OF YOU BETTER HAVE YOUR GAME FACES ON!" The Corporal continued to yell at his men.
The copilot looked back some time later and flashed 5 fingers twice. "GET TACTICAL MARINES!" The back end of the pelican exploded into action as they grabbed battle rifles hooked to the cargo net and clipped ammo to their belts. The marines held the rifles to their chests and braced for impact. There was a loud crash and the marines donned their pressure helmets. "Okay marines, when that door drops make your way to the cargo bay on our left, private Wilkes will blow the door while the rest of you hold support positions, inside we should find a pressure door leading to where the surviving Covenant are hiding, we kill any of them with holding weapons and try to capture one of those engineer balloon types, GO!"
The door of the pelican dropped and the men hustled off the ship and straight to the large doors. "We'll wait here until you can find a secure location to offload Corporal." One of the pelican pilots said. "Roger that flyboy." The Corporal responded. Private Wilkes ran to door and slapped on a det pack, pressed a few buttons and set it to a fifteen second timer. He flipped on the com channel and said "Pack is down, hold on to something and get out of the way." The marines cleared to fifteen yards of the door. After fifteen seconds nothing happened, after thirty seconds nothing happened. "I'll check-. "Wilkes started to say, "No, I'll take care of it." The Corporal said. Running back to the pelican, he hefted a rocket launcher and fired at the door. Orange and red fire rolled over the door, buckling the door inward, before it was blown out by the pressure of the air in the corridor. Chunks of door blew out of the crater, by crates and large boxes, one of which collided with private Wilkes. "SON OF A BITCH!" Corporal Hayes yelled as he sprinted off towards the floating Private, moving quickly towards the hole leading into the asteroid field.
The Corporal ran full speed towards the private and reached up to his helmet and hit a small toggle, turning off his electro-magnets in his boots. The Corporal jumped at the private and grabbed his flailing arm, with a quick throwing motion the Corporal flung the private towards the busted door. Now the Corporal was the one going along with the vented atmosphere straight towards the hole into space, he could be rescued but it would foul up the mission. The Corporal spread eagle and began to spin himself, which brought one of his arms next to a flying crate. He reached out a pushed himself from the crate as hard as he could so he was going straight for the floor of the installation, as he was falling he flipped his electro magnets back on and stuck to the floor. He looked back at the marines who where crouching to the sides of the large door. "It's almost done venting, get inside, and private, when you tell people to watch themselves you should watch yourself as well jackass." The marines walked cautiously into the now empty cargo bay.
"I found the air lock that should lead to the rest of the facility." Said Private Wilkes as he looked at a strange hovering control panel. "Open it up private." It took several minutes to open the air lock but when it did they saw it was small, very small. "Private Wilkes, stay at this end incase the airlock fucks up so you can open it. You four come with me, the rest of you go back to the pelican and grab the box of extra vac suits, GO DAMNIT!" The Corporal walked into the air lock, it was barely big enough for him and the four marines, and the glossy purple was annoying as shit. The small double doors on the air lock slid closed and two small vents started spraying the cloudy white air.
As it stopped spraying the air evened out and was clear. He looked over at Private Hicks. "Hicks, atmosphere reading on the double!" Hicks looked down at a bright blue panel on the arm of his suit. He looked up. "Density is 1.67, it's a heavy mix of oxygen, a bit of nitrogen and a tiny bit of methane, it safe to breath but might burn your throat a little." The Corporal readied his battle rifle. "Then were going in. Wilkes, open the doors, let's kill these bastards.' The doors in front of them slid open into yet another purple and blue room, it had a long curved walkway going from where they were on the airlock doors down around the wide round room into the bottom, where there was what looked like a garden surrounded command consoles, where the ramp met the ground floor there was a black circle, like a closed man hole.
The Corporal swept his battle rifle around the room but saw no activity. "Move in and search the area." The marines squeezed out of the air lock and down the ramp, holding their rifles to their shoulders, ready to eliminate any threat. The first marine in the formation, Private Hicks, stepped of the ramp on to the black disc which was about the size of three people lined up. Everyone froze as they heard a strange hum, then Hicks snapped to looking down at the disc and realized it had opened, revealing a brilliant blue light, like plasma weapons fire, but not only that, Hicks was hovering a few inches above the floor. "SHIT!" he yelled as he was suddenly pulled down through the light by an invisible force. "HICKS! ARE YOU OK!" The Corporal was answered by another "SHIT!" and the obvious sound of fast battle rifle fire, and then the thap trhap of a plasma pistol. "OUT OF THE WAY!" The Corporal yelled as he sprinted down the ramp and jumped on the open disc; it brought him up a few inches and hovered him for a second before pulling him down like it had done to Hicks. When he landed the Corporal was next to Hicks, who was in a crouch behind a flipped Covenant crate.
The Corporal crouched and looked over the crate around the room, it was also a round room but it had no garden and a lot of crates and command stations, this was more like the Covenant ships he had seen. But about fifteen feet ahead of them hiding behind another crate were two Grunts, both of them poking their heads over and the large pointed packs on their backs were in plain view. What the Corporal saw as strange was that their armor color wasn't the orange of a rookie, the red of a veteran, or even the gray of a special ops, it was a dull green, a rank the Corporal hadn't seen before. THWAT THWAT! The Grunts each fired twice.
Their rank must not be for accuracy because both shots were horrible misses to the left. The Corporal stood up to get a better view and readied his rifle, firing a burst into the pack of each of the Grunts, they screamed in a high pitched squeal as they tried to breath and received another burst in the head. The Grunts fell silent into a heap on the floor as the Corporal talked into the mic. "I need two more men down here and one to guard that lift from up there, and Wilkes, bring a couple of shotguns in, it's more close quarters than I thought it would be." After ten minutes of frantic movement the marines had unloaded the pelican and set up the area as Base 1. The marines also found the grav lift to the airlock room was on the other end of the room. As defense Private Renton set up a 30 cal with plenty of ammo facing the only door out and in to the room base 1 was in. The Corporal took privates Hicks and Wilkes, all equipped with shotguns, on a recon mission through the door. Wilkes hacked the door as the Corporal and Hicks stood beside the door to give the 30 cal at Base 1 a clear shot.
The door made a pssh sound and slid open, revealing a long rectangular room, like a widened hall way with a small purple pillar running along the right side every yard or so with a large white light emanating from the top. The marine at the 30 cal gave the sign for area clear. The Corporal and Hicks swung around and rolled through the door, then they stood still, waiting for some kind of ambush. Both men almost fired when they heard the SQEEERSH of a Jackal's warning call. The Corporal motioned for Wilkes to move in. As Wilkes ran into the room another Jackal call was heard, but the room seemed empty except for the pillars and the door at the other side. Then Wilkes yelled "LOOK!" And pointed with his shotgun at the curved wall on the left side of the hall war.
The Corporal looked over and saw the source of the screeching, built into the wall were rows of what appeared to be steal bars, holding cells. The wall had five individual holding cells, each about five feet wide and five feet deep and the one closest to the Corporal had three jackals in it. The Corporal raised his shotgun to give the bastards an 8 gauge salute to the face when he stopped himself. "If they were thrown in the brig maybe it was because they didn't follow command to kill Humans, but it could just as easily be for sleeping on duty." The Corporal thought. "Either way they would be good POWs, maybe we can interrogate them." The Corporal looked at the rest of the cells. One contained a lone Grunt. The Jackals looked strange without their armor, instead they wore a dull black armless robe, and on their shoulder they had a strange tattoo, no a burn. And the Grunt wore the same except he had a breather attached to his face which was connected to a short blue tube.
The Corporal mulled over his options. He spoke into his mic. "Wilkes, place a nav beacon and inform the others what we found, I want these things as prisoners." The Corporal walked over to the door at the other end of the hallway. When he approached it the door emitted a small beep and slid open. On the other side stood three Jackals and four Grunts, all surprised by the door opening. The Corporal shouldered his shotgun and fired twice at the unshielded Jackals. One of them was hit in the side and crumpled instantly, the others started their shield and returned fire as the Grunts ran for cover. Wilkes had already left the room to go back to base one but Hicks moved up beside the Corporal and began firing his shotgun. One of the Jackals fell when he failed to turn his shield to block Hicks fire. The last remaining Jackal fired a burst of three plasma rounds which barely missed the Corporal. Hicks ran forward as the jackal continued firing at the Corporal as he took cover.
The Jackal saw Hicks coming and turned, firing his plasma pistol straight into Hicks' stomach. Hicks doubled over but kept running at the Jackal, he plowed into him like a football player and knocked him onto the ground while repeatedly punching it in its ugly face. Hicks began yelling hysterically. "DIE YOU UGLY FUCKER! SEE WHAT YOU DID! YOU FUCKING SHOT ME!" Hicks continued to punch the jackal even after it stopped moving and its brains was in plain sight. By now the Grunts had stopped their retreat at the other end of the room as they frantically punched buttons on the door but it refused to open. Hicks stood half up looking at the four Grunts. He put his shoulder in front of him and ran straight at the closest Grunt.
One turned and saw Hicks in time to say "WEET!" Before it was rammed into the door by the 230 pound marine. The Grunt's thick blood painted the door as the other Grunts screamed with their clicks and barks. The Grunts turned and struggled with their plasma pistols but were shaking too much to get them off of their clasps.
Hicks drew his service pistol from its holster and leveled at the head of the nearest Grunt which trembled and continued fidgeting with its pistol. Hicks squeezed the trigger and sent three rounds into the Grunt's head. The Grunt standing next to it had raised its pistol and fired a round at Hicks, hitting him in his left leg."ARGHSONOFA!" Hicks screamed as he buckled to one knee, he raised his pistol again and pumped five rounds into the Grunt; it toppled over and received four more rounds in its side.
The last Grunt screamed. Hicks aimed his pistol at it and squeezed the trigger. Click. The pistol was empty, and the Grunt had his weapon aimed at Hicks' head. The green sphere of an overcharged shot started to gather on the prongs of the pistol.
Highlander's War ch2 pt1 - Stranded
Date: 19 January 2005, 8:43 PM
The Captain walked into the barracks of the ODSTs given to him by Admiral Jike. The doors slipped open and the metallic smell of gunpowder wafted into the Captain's nose. Around the room several weapons were displayed on tables with their parts lying around, being experimented with by the soldiers clad in dark army fatigues. "Captain on deck!" One of them yelled as they stood at attention and snapped a crisp salute.
Lieutenant Stat walked over to the Captain as his boots made a loud clack on the metal floor. "Is there anything I can help you with sir?" He asked as he stared forewords, as if he were looking beyond the Captain.
"Yes Lieutenant, the men I've sent to the Covenant installation haven't responded to my hails. I want to see your men on Pelican three in two minutes." The Captain said slowly as the skin hanging from his chin wobbled slightly as he spoke, distracting Lieutenant Stat.
"Yes sir, they'll be ready." The Lieutenant replied as he continued to stand stiff as a board, as if there were more to be said. "That's all Lieutenant." The Captain said as he sensed the Lieutenant wanted to be dismissed. With that the soldier turned and spoke to the rest of his squad. "Henson, Cordon, Hues, Jorgen, suit up and move out."
Seeing that the soldiers were preparing to leave the Captain turned and left that barracks. When he arrived at the bridge he asked his crew if there was any response from the team but got none. He sat slowly in his chair which squeaked slightly as it absorbed his weight. "Lok, get two Pelicans ready for a hot drop, full combat load." He instructed his idle engineer. Then he turned to Ensign Vew, who was running system diagnostics. "Call for ten Marines to get vac suits and equipment to be on Pelican two." The Ensign nodded as the Captain climbed out of his chair and left the room to go back to his quarters.
He sighed as he stared into the reflection of his scarred and wrinkled face in the small mirror above his sink. He rubbed the coarse stubble of a beard which had grown on his face as he muttered softly about never getting a good razor. He ran his hand through his dark graying hair and tried to remember how many times Corporal Hayes had saved his life. Without knowing why his eyes snapped to the left as he thought he had saw movement.
He dismissed it as a reflection of the mirror when he heard his door activate. He turned to see who it was but saw nothing save for an empty door leading into an empty hallway. He peered out into the hallway to see it was deserted as all personnel were repairing the ship or sleeping. He reached into his quarters and removed his service pistol from a drawer next to his bed. He promptly loaded it and turned to his intercom to call security when he noticed the area where the intercom should have been was now a large plasma burn. Shit, Covenant. The Captain thought as he turned and walked out of his quarters and towards the bridge.
The Grunt dropped to the floor of the station, several wounds bleeding profusely with shotgun pellets embedded in them. "Thanks." Hicks said while he struggled from the ground as the Corporal offered him a hand. The Corporal helped him up. "Anytime soldier..." The Corporal replied as he trailed off and stared blankly at the thick Grunt that had adhered to the locked door. The Corporal was brought back to the real world as a burst of static came through his comm unit.
The Corporal spoke into his mic. "I can't hear you, go to channel three." A few seconds after giving his instructions the Corporal heard a voice come through. "This is Base one, under attack, they came in through a hidden grav lift, need assistance, repeat need assistance." The voice was fast and panicked and machinegun fire could be heard in the background.
The Corporal spoke into his mic as he held his shotgun loosely in his hand. "This is Corporal Hayes; I have wounded but will help as soon as I can." He said as calmly as he could.
"Roger that, hurry!" The voice cut out and the Corporal turned to the injured Hicks. His stomach was eaten away and burned, his kneecap burned away into a hole in his leg where melted ballistic plate had settled in a total mess of armor and blood creating a gray mix of gore.
Hicks looked down at his leg. His face flushed to a pale white and his eyes seemed to sink. "Fuck." He said quietly like a schoolchild not wanting to be heard. The Corporal kneeled beside him and looked at his wounds.
"I think I can patch this up." He said. Hicks laid down from his crouch and gritted his teeth as the Corporal sprayed biofoam into his wounds and quickly wrapped them with an elastic bandage.
"Can you walk soldier?" The Corporal asked as he finished dressing the soldier's wounds. "I'll try sir." With the Corporals help he managed a teetering stand and put his leg forward to take a step but fell to the ground and winced as his injured knee collided with the cold metal. The Corporal dragged Hicks to a wall and handed him a shotgun.
"Stay here and keep out of the way, I'm going to help Base one." The Corporal instructed as he started to walk for the door into the dark prison room which led to Base one. As he entered the prison room he checked and saw that the Jackals were still sitting in their cell watching him hungrily. Wart wart wart . Was heard somewhere down the hallway. The Corporal readied his shotgun and continued towards Base One when he heard one of the Jackal yelp. He turned to look at the Jackals but instead saw an Elite's forearm collide with his face and grip his neck. Were it not for his armor his windpipe would have been crushed.
The Elite raised the Corporal so his feet were hovering above the ground and his face was even with the Elite, who parted his mandibles in an alien grin. The Elite's blue armor glow luminously in the red light and made his face seem like a strange apparition.
It laughed as it batted away the Corporals shotgun out of his hand and gripped his neck tightly, choking him. The Corporal scrambled and tugged at the Elites strong fingers but couldn't loosen their grip on his throat He grew lightheaded and began flailing back and forth in the Elite's grip.
"Drop him split chin" The Corporal looked to where he had come from to see the injured Hicks dragging himself across the floor with his shotgun leveled at the Elites side. Hicks fired, the pellets leaped from the barrel like synchronized divers and jumped into the blue of the Elites shields, which flickered and dyed. The large monster turned the plasma rifle in its idle hand to Hicks and fired. The blue streaks of heat colliding with Hicks' face as he screamed. He slumped over as the plasma bolts caught him and grew silent, still clutching his weapon.
In the small time the Elites attention was elsewhere the Corporal drew his pistol from its holster and stuck it to the Elites chest in between the two main armor plates. The Elite looked down to see the pistol and yelped as five explosive rounds ripped into its body and sent shards into its organs. It growled weakly as it fell to its side, releasing the Corporal as its eyes unfocused and its muscled relaxed in surrender to the most natural of things, death.
The Corporal struggled up and walked to Hicks who was lying face down after he had saved the Corporal's life. He bent down and flipped him over, a second later wishing he hadn't. Hicks' face was melted into his brain cavity and the smell of burnt flesh lingered strongly. All that was left of Hicks' face was his lower jaw, which was burned and its teeth blacked to small stones. The Corporal retrieved the shiny dog tags and turned to walk through the door into Base One, and another struggle.
Highlander's War : Cp 2 Pt 2
Date: 28 January 2005, 7:45 PM
Highlander's War Chapter 2 part 2
The Captain ran down the halls of the Highlander in a desperate attempt to reach the bridge. Somewhere on the ship a Covenant saboteur was waiting for him. He stopped when he heard a loud clunk behind him. He turned around and aimed his pistol at the source of the sound but saw nothing.
He backed away from the sound and turned to continue towards the bridge when he was pushed down by some invisible force. He toppled to the ground and felt as if he were covered with a hundred pounds of mud, holding him down. He struggled to his knees but was unable to stand as the weight held him to the floor.
"Reheehef!" An Elite laughed somewhere where he couldn't see it. The Captain flipped over so he was facing up against the weight. On the ceiling above him, clutching to several pipes, was a cloaked Elite. The shimmering figure dropped down beside him, chuckling in its strange tongue.
"Engineering team A, get to section b-fourteen, we're getting some strong gravity fluctuations here." The Captain heard Lok's voice over the P.A. The Elite next to him deactivated its cloak and reached down to his shoulder. It appeared that even the strong Elite was having trouble with the increased gravity. The Captain thought for a second. They must have messed with the grav generator.
The Elite picked the Captain up and threw him over his shoulder, carrying him like a rolled rug down the hallways to main engineering.
As the door slid open the Captain saw what the Covenant had transformed his ship into. Engineering was littered with Covenant soldiers and weapons. On the raised platform that dominated the center of the room the Covenant had set up one of their plasma cannons, devastation against infantry and it had a clear view of the only door into the room. Beside the cannons stood two Jackals who held Carbines rather than their large shields. On the ground level packs of heavily armed Grunts patrolled the area. And in one of the corners stood a group of engineers and three Marines, all of them bound by a thick wire.
The Elite who was carrying him howled something and one of the frolicking Grunts hobbled over to them as the Elite put the Captain on the floor. The gravity had returned to its normal half 'G.
The Elite barked something at the Grunt who began speaking a slaughtered version of the English language, similar to that of a drunken Marine who had just gotten out of a bar fight. "Why you come here in ship?" It asked as if it was a chipmunk begging for nuts.
"So I can kill every one of you ugly bastards." The Captain said calmly, hoping it would keep the little creature from talking again. The Grunt turned to the Elite and chirped something, the Elite barked something back. The Elite then turned to the Captain and kicked him in the side, hard. The air rushed from his lungs and he fell to the ground. He tried to gulp in air while also gagging as if he were about to vomit.
"Answer our questioning." The Grunt chirped in its high pitched voice. The Captain got up off the floor slowly, standing his full height so he stood above the small Grunt who was now slightly shaking inside its reddish armor. "You answer my questions you tiny pile of shit, why did you attack our ships on sight?! Why did you destroy Harvest?!" The Captain yelled, drops of his saliva landing on the sparkly clean armor of the Grunt.
"Because of you're demons." The Grunt said, its chirpy voice lowering to a less annoying level.
"Demons? Demons!? I'll tell you who's a demon; you ugly bastards ATE my wife ALIVE !" The Captain yelled, barley able to keep his sight from glazing over as he filled with rage. He lurched forward, freeing himself from the Elite's grip and sat on the Grunt, pinning him and trying to pull his breath mask off. The Elite pulled the Captain off and threw him across the room into a wall. The Grunt recovered and yelled at the Captain. "Bastard!" It then turned and ran wailing back to its small comrades, which seemed to be comforting it. "Kill the Grunt!" Yelled one of the bound Marines, who quickly received a kick from one of the Elite guards standing next to him. The Captain was quickly bound with some kind of wire and placed by the other prisoners.
"I'm getting worried Dordly, the Captain hasn't responded for twenty minutes and I'm losing engineering teams left and right, no one is responding." Lok said as he tried frantically to reach his engineers. Vew looked back at Lok. "I'm calling the Marines."
Five minutes later.
Vew reached under her bunk and pulled out a shotgun. There was Covenant on the ship and she wanted to kill it. She turned to leave her room when she saw five of the elite ODST standing in the doorway, equipped for combat. "The Sergeant ordered us to accompany you in searching for the Captain." Said one of the soldiers.
After twenty minutes of searching the corridors none of the search parties had found the Captain or the missing engineers. Vew turned to her army of ODST. "Next we check main engineering, then the armory. Let's get moving." Soon she and the ODSTs had arrived at the door to main engineering, which refused to open. Around them a group of ten Marines had gathered, curious to see if there was any Covenant inside.
The Corporal finally managed to get the door leading into base on open. It slid aside to reveal the war zone that Base One had become. Human and Covenant bodies alike littered the ground, burned and perforated. The smell of burning metal wafted through the area and the staccato hammering machinegun fire echoed though the area. The soldier manning the thirty caliber fired relentlessly at a group of five Jackals which approached, their shields overlapping and backs turned to the Corporal.
Another soldier was leaning against a crate, blood coating the area around him as he fired at a group of Grunts who were trying to find cover. Another soldier stayed crouched behind a crate, popping up occasionally to fire his SMG at an Elite.
The Corporal saw the easiest target and took it. He armed a frag grenade and gently tossed it into the group of Jackals, who squealed and screeched before being turned into a clumpy mush disturbingly similar to that of the mess hall's massed potatoes. The Elite turned and fired its plasma rifle at him; the blue white bolts lashed out and missed the Corporal, burning into the bulkhead a few inches from his chest.
The man at the thirty caliber swung the barrel of the weapon to face the Elite and fired, sending an onslaught of bullets into its body. The Elite yelped as it was filled with holes and sent to the ground. The Corporal quickly turned and fired his shotgun into the group of Grunts, without any cover they made easy targets and were quickly dispatched.
The Corporal walked to the Marines and took a moment to read his FOF identifier. "Are you the only ones left? I left seven men here!" The Corporal asked as he counted the bodies that littered the ground.
"No sir." Private Freddy said. "Private Bert went into that shaft to find a way out." He said as he pointed at a large maintenance shaft on the far end of the room.
"How'd the Covenant get in here?" The Corporal asked as he absent mindedly pumped two shells into his shotgun.
"A grav lift hidden behind some of their crates, over there." The Private responded as he motioned to a group of crated with his thumb. "And they sealed all the exits before we knew what happened, that's when Bert left."
The Corporal nodded as he sorted out the information. "Then put on a fresh vac suit, if they've sealed us in then the next thing they'll do is decompress this compartment."
Vew continued to try to open the door as it continued to refuse. She glanced around at the group of soldiers around her and felt slightly embarrassed at her inability to open it. "May I assist?" On of the elite ODST asked. She looked up at where she assumed his eyes were behind the dull gray glass that covered his face. "Sure."
"Stand back." The soldier said as he set down a black duffel bag and began to unzip it. Vew and the others took a small step back. The out of the bag the soldier pulled a M19 SSM rocket launcher and hefted it onto his shoulder easily. Vew and the others took a lot more steps back.
Then the soldier set down the rocket launcher and picked a small det pack from the bag and placed it on the door. "The rocket launcher is for what's inside." The ODST explained as he set the det pack.
The Captain talked quietly with the other prisoners the Covenant had taken. One of the Marines had smuggled in a combat knife and cut the thin wire that bound the prisoners. Their hands free they continued to act as if they were bound while they planned an escape. Around them a small army of Grunts, Elites and Jackals patrolled the room. But most of all a Covenant plasma cannon on the raised platform had a clear shot to their position. To the left and right of the prisoners were two Elites, loosely clutching carbines in their hands. The Captain leaned over to one of the captive Marines who were sitting next to him. "You take the one on the left and I get the one on the right." He whispered. "And the engineers will run for that access way, have them hide." He finished.
The Marine leaned to the rest of the prisoners and relayed the message. Then he nodded to the Captain, who lurched forward and ripped the carbine from the Elite's hands and quickly placed the barrel on the Elites back.
The Marine did the same to the other Elite as the Engineers ran to the maintenance way which was only twenty feet away. The Grunts in the middle of the room turned and saw the running engineers and open fire. Two of the runners were caught by the plasma and tumbled to the floor; the rest entered the tunnel and closed it behind them. The Captain had no time to react as the Elite he was holding hostage whipped around and grabbed the carbine by its barrel and clubbed him with it. The Captain fell to the ground with pain splitting into his head.
To his left the other Elite was forcing off the three Marines who were struggling to keep control of the carbine. The Elite which had taken back his carbine barked something and aimed his rifle at the Marines, who quickly raised their hands and backed away.
The Captain backed into the corner with the other Marines as the two Elites chuckled and brandished their weapons. Slowly the Elites backed away fro them, leaving the plasma cannon a clear shot at them, an execution.
The Captain knew he had no chance. A brilliant bright flash filled his vision and he was blinded for a second, the sound of ripping and burning metal and screams filled is ears as he gritted his teeth, waiting to be shot down. When his vision returned he saw that the prisoners around him were still alive, the bright flash had been the main doors being blown apart. Where a group of Grunts had earlier been sitting there were now bodies and blood. Storming into the room were ODSTs and Marines, firing their weapons at any Covenant they saw.
The Jackals defending the plasma cannon were cut down by the fire and the Elite manning the weapon quickly met the same fate. The Elites guarding the Prisoners fell to the ground with their heads replaced by a void of air. Within seconds the Covenant stronghold was turned into a body pile. The soldiers grouped in the middle of the room and began kicking the lifeless bodies. The Marines took the raised platform leaving the elite ODST in the center of the room.
The Captain noticed a shimmering shape in the doorway and yelled to the soldier. "Watch out!" The ODST ducked and turned to face the shimmering images.
The shimmers transformed into two Elites as their camouflage deactivated and left them in the open. Both of the Elites were holding a plasma rifle in each hand, ready to fire. They let loose their plasma on the ODST who were in the open and filled the room with blue bolts of energy.
Ensign Vew flung herself to the ground underneath the wall of plasma fire and rolled behind a crate where she had partial cover. The Marines on the raised platform fired at the Elites who eventually dropped, propelled backwards by the force of the bullets.
The Captain looked at the area of the room where the elite ODSTs had been when the plasma wall descended on them. He knew no Marine could survive that kind of firepower.
He was unable to react when he saw what he did. Standing in the middle of the room where all of the ODSTs, with a yellow orange haze enveloping their armor, gradually dimming as the shields regained strength. "You're...Spartans?" The Captain asked, dumbstruck. "Perhaps should discuss this in private." One of them responded. The Captain could only nod.
Highlander's War : Cp3 : Reinforcements
Date: 5 February 2005, 3:24 AM
Chapter 3, Reinforcements:
The two Pelicans slowed and landed on the cold purple metal of the Covenant station. Ten Marines disembarked from the first Pelican and started scouting the landing bay. From the other five of the elite ODST emerged.
Lieutenant Stat walked to the abandoned Pelican that had inserted the first team to see that the door to the cockpit had been wrenched open and that both the pilot and the copilot were burned beyond recognition, their skin transformed into a black cinder like that of a marshmallow caught on fire. By his feet laid a plasma rifle of a dark red hue. Stat exited the Pelicans and rejoined the men who were unlocking the airlock which hopefully lead to the Marine force.
He vividly remembered a mission which had started similar to this, he remembered seeing twenty Marines lying on the ground, their bodies ripped apart and their organs out for display. That was the first time Stat had encountered what was being called a Brute, the large gorilla like beasts.
Stat snapped from his daydream at the sound of his team informing him the airlock was open. "Red team come with me, blue secure the area and wait for my signal to enter." Stat said as he walked into the cramped airlock, followed by his ODSTs. The door slid closed and the small room began to pressurize as jets of thick gas streamed from hidden vents and created a light fog, which quickly settled.
The doors of the airlock slid open with an audible beep and revealed the large room beyond. A winding ramp led around the room up to the airlock doors, sloping down the walls of the circular room. It the center there stood a small garden filled with brown plants which seemed healthy despite their sick color. Stat noted that at the end of the ramp the small black disk of a grav lift stood innocently.
After surveying the room and being sure there was no other way in Stat jumped onto the grav lift, which slid open to reveal a bright light. Stat was hovered a few inches off the ground before being zipped down with a whoosh . Somewhere below Stat could hear the rhythmic sound of repeated Battle rifle fire. When the lift dropped him off Stat saw there were only four Marines left of the eight sent in.
His FOF tags identified them with clean green text. Standing near him was a tall man with several scars and blood dried to his armor, Corporal Hayes. To his left, shooting his rifle into the dead body of an Elite, stood Private Keel, a short man who, judging by his lack of scars, seemed to be straight from boot. Propped up by a crated was Private Wilkes, who was badly injured with several plasma burns on his chest. And the other marine was Private Freddy crouched on the machinegun, he was also injured but seemed to be doing fine.
Corporal Hayes turned to Stat as his squad dropped through the grav lift. He was clearly happy to get reinforcements and showed little effort to hide it. "Glad you made it, the Covenant don't want to give this station up." The Corporal said as he studied Stat's armor, his arm hair standing on end from some invisible static force.
"Get your men on the Pelican, the Captain has ordered a mission abort." Stat said as the Corporal helped Wilkes to his feet. Then he nodded and looked back to the other Marines. "You heard the man, to the Pelican and double time it, grab some new vac suits." The Corporal ordered the Marines who quickly hobbled to the lift and were whisked away.
"My orders are to get every body out sir, which includes you." Stat repeated as the Corporal glanced around the room. "Not so fast, I understand that a Private Bert crawled through that access way to find a means of escape, until his condition is confirmed this mission continues." The Corporal said as he pointed to a small tube, barely big enough for a man in armor to crawl through.
Lieutenant Stat hated taking orders from a Corporal but he had orders straight from the Captain that Hayes was his commanding officer. "Yes sir." Stat said reluctantly.
Five minutes later the Corporal and the ODSTs were crawling through a dark cramped tunnel. The Corporal rounded a corner and found a small grate leading straight into a square room full of hovering chairs and holographic panels.
The Corporal punched out the grate which landed with a clang onto the floor a few feet below. Then he crawled out into the room and quickly readied his rifle, suspicious of the empty room. The other ODSTs followed him and fell into a tight delta formation. He walked over to a holographic panel and saw it showed a picture of the Highlander, and attached to it near its engines stood a long purple tube with two prongs latched to the ship.
"Bastards, landing ships." The Corporal said as he leaned closer to the holographic display, studying the ship. "Get a man to the Pelicans and contact the Highlander, tell them they have a boarding craft attached." The Corporal ordered Stat.
Sergeant Jorgen volunteered and quickly re-entered the access way and began wriggling his way back to the Pelicans. Stat noticed another Grav lift sitting behind some stacked crates. "I'll go first." He volunteered before anyone else noticed it.
Stat was whisked up by the grav lift and followed by the ODSTs and the Corporal. They landed silently behind an over turned Covenant table. The Corporal peered over the table and almost saw his soldier, Private Bert, splayed out on the floor, with his blood soaking a rug he was laying on. Bert's head was down at the floor even though his body was pointed towards the ground, showing his neck had been snapped. His ribcage was ripped apart at a ninety degree angle so they stuck out like pillars from his chest, and his organs were fried to a black crisp by plasma fire.
The Corporal peered about the room and noticed a giant mat of fur bundled into the corner. To the Corporal's surprise the fur abruptly snorted and began to snore. In the corner lay a Brute, sleeping contently after his feast. The ODSTs also peered over the table. Without a word Stat drew a frag grenade and armed it. With one sweeping motion he threw the grenade so it rested between the Brute and the corner it was facing in its sleep and flung himself under the cover the table provided. The Corporal and the others did the same, crouching behind the table as the grenade detonated, sending ribbons of flesh and thick fur flying throughout the room.
The Corporal stood, watching the last of the gore drip from where it stuck to the ceiling. "I guess we can go home now." He said to the ODST as he headed towards the door at the far end of the room. "Wait, take a look at this." Sergeant Henson said from where he stood behind a holographic display. "I just pressed a few buttons and this popped up."
The Corporal and the ODST walked over to stand beside Sergeant Henson. On the screen in front of him stood the holographic display showing several solar systems with representations of ships floating around them, Covenant ships. And several of the Ship groups had color coded lines leading to other systems, a chart of Covenant ship movement. The Corporal checked to make sure his helmet recorder was on as he watched the screen intently. "Ruwoor!" Everyone turned to see an Elite in brilliant golden armor standing in the doorway, a plasma sword in his hands. The Elite lunged at them with his dazzling sword outstretched.
The Corporal leapt out of the way leaving Sergeant Cordon in the path of the sword. Blue and yellow shields flared as the two locked in hand to hand combat, the Elite swinging his sword and the ODST using his Battle rifle like a bat. The Corporal raised his own Battle rifle and fired at the Elite. The bullets reflected from the shields harmlessly. The others did the same, the onslaught of bullets ate away the Elites shields and ripped its flesh apart. It fell to the ground and struggled to swing its sword as its life drained from it as fast as the blood draining from its wounds.
The Corporal looked at Sergeant Cordon to see he was enveloped in a yellow field of energy, a shield. "Holy...You're Spartans?" The Corporal stumbled as he watched the field strengthen.
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