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Complete HAVOK: One Soldiers Escape Part 1
Posted By: Aleks Gingras<haloaleks1992@hotmail.com>
Date: 10 January 2007, 2:42 am


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The Pelican rumbled and flared its lift thrusters as it neared the ocean. The water stretched into a long foaming V-shape under the pressure of the heavily-laden crafts bow wave as it skimmed a few meters above the white caps. Cpl. James Smyth stood on the rear lip of the ship's troop bay, letting the water spray his face, it had been a while since he had seen earth water, and he loved every microscopic droplet of it, even though it was against regulation for him to be unstrapped and standing near the open end of the pelican, his commanding officer ignored it, he'd always say "let my men enjoy the last hour of their lives" he hoped that wasn't what he was doing.

"All Right, let's go over the plan one more time" A loud and in charge voice commanded every eye in the Pelican. James knew it was Sargeant "Covie" Atkinson, known for his suicidal get-the-job-done-at-any-cost tactics, which made him a lot like the Covenant, and his lack of fear for his own, or his men's lives made him a respectable man for any man of any rank. James turned right into Atkinson, who was glaring at him from a centimeter away, he saluted, and "Covie" returned it, spun on his heel and continued.

"We will fly in under the covenant detection systems, drop the most elite team I could get my hands on, and detonate the HAVOK's inside their home base near the former New Mombassa and send them on their own great journey to the stratosphere."
"HOORAH!" The men all cheered.
"Most of you- well... None of you will make it out alive, but if by some miracle you get away, just radio in, and we'll pick you up."

The men cheered again, they were all ready to die for the protection of earth, James wasn't so sure. He sat down and was about to fasten his crash strap when an explosion rocked the pelican and threw him from the seat. He landed face first on the floor, and jumped up and ran for the front to check the damage. He groaned as he touched the door, it must have been at least 400 degrees, and he suddenly knew what happened, the ship leaned forward violently and headed for the water. He ran to the back and jumped, narrowly missing the shield on the chain gun as he flew through the air. He looked back and saw other marines desperately trying to release their straps just before his vision blurred.

He hit the water hard and it blurred his entire mind for a moment, when he regained his sense he swam for the surface, he came up just in time to see the tail jets of the pelican going under, just a few hundred meters away. He swam for the sinking ship, but he was never a strong swimmer, or a good diver, so he waited just below the surface watching the pelican reach the bottom. He surfaced for air and went under to keep watching for survivors. He gave up and surfaced to look around for what had shot the D77, but the air was clear. He groaned, this was not the way he wanted to die, drowning in the ocean alone, especially not now.

Something rammed him from below, not a small hit either, but a heavy object moving at about 40 miles per hour shoved him out of the water. He glanced around and noticed the fog light that had almost broken his back, the Warthog; its pontoons must have disconnected it from the pelicans back and brought it to the surface. The warthog was completely waterproofed for the UNSC after a battle in the Tribeca Vitranii System had forced marines to walk while the rebels had outfitted their warthogs with waterproof gear and dominated the defenseless UNSC. That particular battle mirrored the many battles the UNSC had with the covenant, they were outnumbered and outgunned. The pontoons that brought the Warthog up were just an extra feature in case of deep submersion, he never thought they would come in handy, but there he was, sitting on a floating four-wheeler.

He leaned forward to cough and suddenly snapped to attention when he heard groaning, he spun around and saw a man in the driver seat gasping for air, James' rubber-coated boots squealed on the wet windshield as he slid off of it and into the passenger seat, trying to get into a better position for CPR, while old; the technique still had some uses on the battlefield. The man coughed water onto the already wet dashboard and took a deep, ragged breath, he leaned over panting, and a glint behind him caught James' eye.





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