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Harvest:The Lost Colony Part 2
Posted By: Half-Jaw<alex.brooks6@btinternet.com>
Date: 27 June 2006, 7:10 pm
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The Harvest Colony…
2525 A.D…
February 3rd…
3.35 am…
The windows erupted inwards, spraying jagged shards of crystal-clear glass all over the bunks. The ground quaked, violently, several objects (alarm clocks, for example) slid smoothly from the bedside tables and shattered on the floor. A draught of red-hot, scorching air rushed in through the now empty window frames. Shadows wheeled overhead, dark masses of purple dashing through the sky, spraying the earth beneath them with white-hot plasma, people running to and fro.
* * * * *
Colonel Robert Joseph Wallace woke with a start, cold sweat dripping steadily down his face. The noise was incredible; the wind blasting in, the chatter of rapid machine gun fire rebounding off metal, the sound of earth-shattering explosions, and the sound of men yelling, shouting, screaming. He hurled the quilt backwards and away, leapt out of bed and hastened to the window. It was chaos. Men were sprinting to the left; the ones that weren't, the ones that were fighting back, were being slowly obliterated, by goodness knows what. The others in the East Dormitories had woken also, and were hurriedly beginning to strap on their body armour. Wallace rapidly imitated them; within half a minute, he was adorned in shining, glittering silver chest plates, compact helmet with attached viewfinder and broad, weighty boots. What the hell is going on? Snatching up the MA5B Assault Rifle stashed in his bedside table's smoothly, elegantly polished oak drawer, he joined the other troops as they filed outside…fast.
* * * * *
Aboard the Covenant CCS-Class Battle Cruiser, Repentant Saviour , now overlooking the slow, painful destruction of the Human colony Harvest, Zealot Esra Vonoromee surveyed the event with modest satisfaction. They never even saw what hit them . He watched with growing interest as buildings were destroyed at the push of a button, flames cascading upwards rapidly, debris scattered everywhere, and as the pathetic, snivelling humans were slaughtered mercilessly as they fled, blue bolts of hyper-velocity plasma slamming into them from behind, scorching their flesh, shredding their armour like paper. Vonoromee sneered evilly, his slender golden mandibles clicking together. This shouldn't be too difficult , he thought silently.
" Where are Ontramee and Egudo Rota Harru?" he barked, in a deep, throaty Covenant tongue, his gaze fixed on the ferocious, ruthless massacre now taking place.
"Ontramee is behind you, Supreme Commander, but Harru is in a state of depression, after the death of his brother. Although our Lekgolo brethren are indeed mightily fierce and possess almost infinite strength, ironically Harru's brother was killed in a riot. Apparently, he had hurled one of the Unggoy over a balcony , and, well, the others fought back". A tall, muscular Ultra Elite strode up to Vonoromee, clad heavily in bleach-white, segmented armour, a long, gleaming Energy Sword grasped in his hand against his side.
"I need you to assemble your squad as soon as possible. You are to travel to the surface; your objective being to eliminate any remaining human resistance, and to recover as much intel as possible. Anything from weapons research, force deployment, the locations of any nearby bases are all crucial".
Ontramee bowed his head, both in obedience and acknowledgment of his mission. As he pivoted smoothly and began to saunter away, he overheard the Commander roar, "Be ready within five!". With a respectful huff, he continued his tedious journey towards the Hangar Bays.
* * * * *
Wallace stumbled clumsily as he dashed away from what everyone now considered the enemy. Falling ungracefully onto the dusty, rough surface of the planet, his Assault Rifle was thrown from his grip and landed with a resounding thud about a yard away. His mouth collided hard with the ground, and his lower lip burst, fresh blood now seeping through onto his once-white teeth. The freezing wind bit away at his bare hands and face, that were both fast becoming extremely numb. The Barracks on his left erupted violently and vociferously , spraying him with glass and stone chips, the searing heat washing over him with devastating temperature. As dangerously-close streams of multi-coloured plasma flew overhead, he scrambled forwards, as fast as he could. Grabbing his magazine-fed, half-empty Rifle, he spun round instantly. UNSC Troops and ODTSs were scattering rapidly, running for their lives, many being shot down simultaneously. In that single moment, everything happened at once; an enemy transport flying low above bathed him and several others in shadow; a shaft of bright light emerged from its underbelly; some kind of bipedal creature floated slowly down towards the ground; a neon blue orb was thrown at Wallace's feet. It didn't take him long to figure out what it was exactly. Hurriedly and deliberately, he snatched it up in one hand, brought his arm back as far as it would go, and hurled it with tremendous power at the creature he had just seen. Only, it wasn't there anymore. It was as if it had vanished into thin air. The grenade landed softly, and exploded deafeningly, sapphire energy sprayed out at all angles. Bringing himself back to his feet, he watched, puzzled, as the enemy ships continued to tear through their defences like a hot knife through butter.
" Retreat! Fall back! We're outnumbered!" came the cry that rang through the ebony-black sky. Wallace didn't need telling twice; he simply turned and ran.
* * * * *
"When we joined our beloved Covenant, we took an oath. A binding oath…an oath to defend our precious brotherhood from any who would seek to break us".
"According to our station! All without exception!" came the thunderous reply.
"On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons, we pledged our allegiance. We shall confront our enemy with honour, and wage open war upon them, crushing their weak, pathetic bodies underneath our feet as we advance!"
"Even to our dying breath!"
"Any who would dare to break this oath are Heretics, worthy of neither pity nor mercy! Remember this, comrades!"
"We shall grind them into dust!"
"And continue our march to glorious salvation!". Ontramee's 'pep talk' was over. As his troops prepared each other for battle, thoroughly examining their Plasma Pistols and Carbines twice over, he strolled heavily into the Phantom's cramped cockpit.
The Phantom's controls were scattered all over; the main dashboard was situated quite comfortably in front of the pilots' seats, whilst auxiliary turret controls were integrate into the violet, metallic wall panels on either side. Any other, secondary functions were usually the buttons built in to the roof. Vital information, such as altitude and speed, were displayed via holographic projection onto the main window, which also provided an excellent 90 degree view to either side of the battlefield. Which was exactly what it was at this moment in time.
They were steadily nearing the Drop-Zone. The cloaked Phantom slid smoothly through the night sky, many unaware of the gentle wheeze of its engines as it gradually lost altitude. Hovering (almost) silently above the ground, Ontramee ducked back inside the Phantom's Rear Bay. The others were standing by; the Unggoy arranged neatly in their lines, environment suits fitting snugly over their tiny bodies, Plasma Pistols held firmly by their sides. The Kig-Yar stood there eagerly, Beam Rifles cradled in their long, spindly arms, their mouths held wide open in anticipation, rows of razor-sharp teeth jutting out at intervals. The other Sangheili muttering to each other enthusiastically, predicting the events of the forthcoming battle, their jet-black and deep-amethyst battle armour fixed securely over their bodies, Energy Swords, inactive at the present, grasped powerfully in their claws. They were ready. They had seen many battles before, and they would live to see many more before they died. He could tell. These were his troops. He had faith in them. They would not disappoint.
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