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Firestorm - Prologue
Posted By: HawkEye<say-it-if-you-mean-it@hotmail.com>
Date: 12 September 2005, 7:12 pm
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The 5-man Marine patrol moved stealthily towards their objective, the top of the mountain overlooking the Covenant's main recon camp. This part of Earth – Scotland – had, for some unknown reason, not been targeted by any of the Covenant's main assault force. Instead, their main target in the UK was Southern England. They had descended upon it with terrifying speed and force, and the defence had been overrun within days. The rest of the military stationed in the UK managed to flee to their TWP (Tactical Withdrawal Point) – located in the Scottish highlands.
The TWP (code-named: Mount Griffin) had some of the best defences possible, as it was the main ONI location in Europe. Included in these defences were high-resolution scanners (operated by Smart-AI's), a number of miniature MAC cannons camouflaged amongst the rocks, a 4-metre thick wall of the new Tungsten-Titanium armour plating, and the Rapid Response Network.
The RRN was essentially a network of high-speed elevators and tunnels leading from the main vehicle hangar to various strategic points on the surface. When necessary, a large force of 300 modified Scorpion Main Battle Tanks, and 550 Warthog Light Reconnaissance Vehicles (225 of both variants) could be deployed anywhere in a radius of 50 square miles surrounding Mount Griffin. Deployment time: 12.85 minutes.
However, there were more tricks hidden within Mount Griffin. Another large hangar, closer to the surface than the vehicle hangar, contained the impressive airforce of some 500 Longsword fighter-bombers, 500 Pelican Troop Transports, and even 220 Halberdier high-speed fighters, newly developed by the UNSC to combat all the Phantoms flying about. The Longswords and Halberdiers could be launched and be patrolling the area surrounding Mount Griffin within a radius of 100 square miles. Deployment time: 6.2 minutes. The pelicans could also land up to 5000 Marines anywhere within 50 square miles within 5.5 minutes.
There were also undersea transport tunnels linking Mount Griffin to other ONI high-security locales around the world, such as New York, Los Angeles, Rome, Moscow, and even Tokyo. These tunnels were fitted with high-speed transport trains, and the passengers were transported in a cryogenic state.
Sergeant Lister was in the centre of the patrol when the Marine on point, Corporal Sherman, held up her fist abruptly. Instantly, the Marines froze, their weapons held at ready. Lister waited fifteen seconds, then, signalling for the other Marines to hold, he crept up alongside Sherman.
"Status?" he whispered. The patrol had travelled without mics, relying only upon hand signals and quiet speech. The Covenant had recently developed a nasty habit of listening in on the human radio traffic, to try and discover their fallback point.
"Coming up on the ridge now, Sarge," Sherman replied quietly. Lister nodded. Removing an optical sight from his front pocket, he lay prone and crawled forward to the ridge. Positioning the sight to his eye, he scanned the scene before him and swore under his breath.
The Covenant hadn't established a recon camp as he'd thought, but what lay below could only be described as an assault force. Wraiths idled at the centre of the camp, alongside the sleeping quarters for the Elites and Brutes. The Grunts' methane tank lay closest to Lister, and the aliens scuttled in and out of it as he watched. A number of Spectres patrolled the perimeter of the camp; the Elite's manning the turrets alert for any sign of human life. One of the Elites focuses straight on Lister, and he broke into a sweat, as the Elite seemed to decide there was nothing there. Exhaling, Lister wiped the sweat from his forehead with his free hand, and was glad the Covenant didn't have any air support.
Calmly, he pressed the record button mounted on the side of the scope. This would store the video footage recorded inside a small chip, which could be removed, inserted into a computer back at base, and the video could be played and replayed on a big screen for the spooks at ONI to analyse. He slowly moved the scope back and forth, making sure there was footage of the entire camp, and he zoomed in and out on the key areas, such as the Wraiths. Then, the job done, he crawled backwards until he rejoined the rest of the patrol. Replacing the optical sight, he stood up and issued orders via hand signals for the patrol to turn back for Mount Griffin. The patrol moved out.
Halfway back, they encountered an advance scout of 2 Elites and 6 Jackals. The patrol opened fire with silenced weapons, and the aliens fell to the ground, riddled with bullets. Private Martin (on rear duty) commandeered their weapons, stowed them in his pack, and the patrol headed back home.
They located the nearest entry point into Mount Griffin, and, after passing through an extensive series of top-of-the-range security systems, they entered the high-speed elevator and plummeted straight sown, toward the heart of Mount Griffin. The Marines sat down on the floor, and Lister replayed the images of the camp in his mind. "There's no way that's just a recon camp", he thought. "Something's up…"
"Something wrong, sir?" Sherman asked. The Sarge looked up at her. 27 years old, with black hair and piercing blue eyes, Sherman was one helluva soldier, and he was glad to have her in his squad. He'd picked her for the patrol due to her keen eyesight, and she was the best shot in the squad, with any weapon.
"Nope," he sighed. "Just wondering when we'll launch an offensive, that's all. I'm sick of all this creeping around."
"Hoo-rah," Martin piped up. "We shouldn't have to play this recon game on our own planet. The sooner we get a crack at those bastards, the better." He was a tough young Marine, at 22, with brown hair and green eyes. "Well on his way to being promoted to Lance Corporal", Lister thought. Martin was an excellent soldier, and excelled with the Covenants own weaponry. He also managed to keep a cool head during battle, something not many young soldiers could do.
Feeling the elevator slow, Lister got to his feet. Whilst the other Marines would go to the barracks and get some food and a shower, Lister had to go visit the spooks in ONI, to hand over the video footage and give his report on the mission. Only then could he relax. The elevator stopped, the doors slid noiselessly open, and he strode down the hallway towards Debriefing. Entering the room, he stood sharply to attention, and saluted Admiral Denver.
"At ease, Sergeant," the Admiral said, and Lister relaxed and crossed the room to hand him the video chip.
"Mission accomplished sir," Lister said, as the Admiral inserted the chip into the computer. The large viewscreen on the back wall flickered to life, and Lister began his report as the video provided visual confirmation.
Afterward, when the Admiral dismissed him, Lister asked "Sir, with all due respect, my squad, and the rest of our troops here, are growing sick of having to recon our own country. When are we gonna get a crack at those Covies?"
The Admiral smiled. "You'll find out tomorrow, son."
Lister smiled back, saluted the Admiral again, and headed for the barracks.
To Be Continued
Authors note: The Firestorm series is in no way connected with my previous works (Halo: The Liberation Of Earth). I have used the time between this work and my previous stories to try and improve my style of writing. Comments would be much appreciated – either leave them in the space provided, or email me at say-it-if-you-mean-it@hotmail.com
HawkEye.
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