Bravo squad: Angels in the sky
Posted By: Helljumper 552390<Helljumper2258@yahoo.com.au>
Date: 13 December 2007, 5:15 am
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Angels in the Sky
0830 Hours, June 17th, 2552/
Covenant Controlled New Mombassa
There was an almost electric atmosphere at the landing zone as the marines hunkered down behind their crudely made defences. Drake had moved some debris in front of a ditch made by a fragmentation grenade during the bombardment of the brute squad. It wasn't deep but Drake had also managed to pull the enormous body of a brute over to his ditch and it now lay on top of hunks of wreckage acting as a barrier between him and the Covenant. He looked across at his squad mates and surveyed their defences.
The Helljumpers had taken up a position to the right flank that was most exposed. Rouge had nestled his M41 on top of a pile of concrete uplifted from the blast of fragmentation grenades. Drake couldn't see past the soldier's helmet but he knew that he was worried. They were all worried, all except Blake who was still cracking jokes out a loud. His squad had taken cover on the left flank, it was scattered with motor vehicle hulks and other fragments of New Mombassa. Drake pulled down his visor and looked across at his squad. Ramirez and Reynolds where stationed up further down the highway about fifteen meters from Drake.
Shifty and Blake were spread out only a few meters from Drake and right next to him was Jayne. He was lying against his cover with his gun fixed upon the highway. Due to his wound Jayne could only operate one hand but Drake was surprised at the courage and endurance of the Helljumper as he proceeded to keep fighting even after have a spike impale his shoulder. Blake was still trying to get a laugh out of the squad. Drake figured it was his way of dealing with hardship and as much as Drake didn't want to he couldn't help but laugh.
"Bloody flyboys, I could have been home by now if had ran all the way back to base." Drake did feel that every minute they waited for the dropship seemed to stretch for an eternity. "I tell you if I get back hot meals and warm sheets is the only-" Blackstone suddenly barked at Blake on the comm.
"Shut up!" Drake was pulled back into reality and quickly the squad went silent.
The Helljumpers moved uneasily it seemed that something was up. Drake closed his eyes and blocked the visual distractions and tried to focus on his hearing. He listened to the howling wind that blew past them and cooled the sweat on their faces. Drake could almost pick up on the panting of the men around him. He could hear Jayne's laboured breathes and long exhales. Then as if on queue there was a slight drone. He quickly opened his eyes and looked around to confirm whether anyone else had heard it. He spotted Shifty's face light up and he grinned,
"There here!" Reynolds looked back at Shifty and yelled at him.
"Get your head down marine!" Blake grabbed him and pulled him back into cover. Then Drake listened to the drone again, it was louder and becoming more distinct. Drake heard the ominous click, clack of the BR55HB battle rifle and noticed that the Helljumpers had stiffed up and ducked low behind their cover. Then as the sound became louder Drake realised that it wasn't the roar of a dropships engines but the howl of the Covenant war machines.
He braced himself and checked his supplies. He had one fragmentation grenade left and four clips of ammunition for his rifle. His heart sank as the sound of wailing Covenant fliers encroached closer. Squinting he could see the metallic shine of dark purple and blue in the sky. Two banshee's flew gracefully through the air sailing towards them.
"Banshee's take cover!" Blackstone yelled into his mike. Drake followed his advice and curled into a ball behind his cover. The shriek became so loud that it drowned out all other sounds. Drake took a glance up and noticed that the banshee was circling around the highway almost searching for them. The ODST sergeant had been right, the Covenant were aware of their presence on the highway. Drake gripped his rifle and almost felt like screaming as the shriek of the banshee's blasted his ears. Even through his helmet their shriek was loud and frighting, Drake almost cowered as it flew closer.
Then he looked at the Helljumpers. Rouge stood up from his cover and braced himself and fired his M41. The bloom of smoke blew out the end of rocket launcher and Drake watched as the rocket soared towards the banshee. The banshee saw it coming and tired an evasive mauver but it was too slow. The rocket smashed into the side as it tried to pull away and the hellish flier was engulfed in flame.
The sound of the blast of the rocket smashing into the banshee was glorious. Drake cheered and watched as Rouge fired another rocket with deadly procession. The rocket sped towards its target and the second banshee veered to the left and the rocket caught it's wing. The two extended pieces of alien metal that made up the right wing flew off at an incredible speed as the rocket detonated on its wing. The banshee fired a few plasma blots at the highway then swung into a flat spin and spiralled off down towards the ground.
Drake looked on in pure awe as the once dreaded banshee crashed into the side of building and the metal screeched as it's wings were torn off. Drake caught a glimpse of its insides and he saw the blue panels and sparks before the flier was torn in two and its remains plummeted into the ground. There was a mighty cheer as the second banshee went down and Drake howled with his comrades.
"Nice shot son, alright Bravo get ready." Reynolds warned them. Blackstone responded by issuing an order to his squad as well.
"Like the sergeant said watch out, Rouge reload and get ready for heavy contact. We're about to enter the thick of it men!"
Drake heard the loud drone of the Covenant dropships.
"Phantoms" Drake looked down the highway and spotted two phantoms soaring towards them like Dog had described. One stopped and lowered itself towards the ground, while the second kept moving towards them. Drake watched in horror as the phantoms panels opened and a whole assortment of Covenant troops flooded fourth. Drake tried to identify them and he could spot, a few jackals holding their shields. A squad of grunts lead by a brute and one brute leader of some sort. He wore red robes and battle armour and carried a nasty looking hammer with large apparatus attached to the end.
Blackstone stood up and roared,
"Get some!" Drake rose and fired his MA5C at the Covenant and watched as they reacted under fire. The first line of grunts was wiped out as the bullets shredded right through them. The second phantom spotted their forces and opened fire with its plasma weapons.
Drake felt his heart stop as the main cannon aimed at him and he dove behind his makeshift cover and prayed that it didn't hit him. There was a loud pulse sound and he felt his neck and back burn as the intense heat washed over his body. There was loud bang and Drake felt the heat subside and looked up and noticed that the second phantom's cannon had been blown off. He looked over at Rouge who didn't even take notice that he had saved his life. Drake felt his nostrils flare as he smelt the foul odour of burning flesh.
He looked at the brutes corpse and averted his eyes when he noticed that the flesh had been melted and it was partly still glowing red. Its chest was a mangled mix of raw muscle and cauterized plasma burns.
Drake winced as he peered down the highway and found that within the brief moment he had ducked down the Covenant troops were already closing on their position. Drake fired his rifle and tried to catch any of the jackals off guard. Unfortunately for him they had grouped together and placed their shields in a small barrier between them and the other troops. The two brutes had taken cover but were still returning fire. Drake aimed at the jackals and fired. His bullets pinged off their shields and landed in the concrete. Drake cursed and took cover,
"Aim for the small openings near their pistols!" Blackstone advised, Drake rose again and aimed at the jackals small opening in their shields. He noticed that it extremely small but Drake took a chance. He fired a small burst only to watch in agony as it pinged once again off their shields harmlessly. He ducked as green plasma bolts streaked through the air crackling as they went.
There was a bang and Drake saw that Blackstone and found a gap in their defences and nailed one of the bastards with his sniper rifle. The SRS sounded off again and another jackal fell to ground it's head a messy pulp of purple blood. The jackals moved to regain their shield but they were too slow. Ramirez fired his shotgun and the blast caught one of the jackals in the side. It stammered and Drake fired and watched in astonishment as the front line was cut down under a barrage of bullets.
"Take that you bastards, how do you like it!" Drake cheered with Blake and suddenly he could hear his marines screaming taunts at the approaching Covenant force. He had lost track of the phantoms and noticed that they'd pulled back to a safer location. The remaining jackals tried to defend themselves but the marines and ODST's positions had them beat. They we're walking right into their trap. They had charged the middle and now where being hammered on their left and right flank. Drake could hear the occasional burst from Jayne and he marvelled at the Helljumper's strength. Drake ducked to reload and looked at Jayne who had removed his helmet.
"I bet that recoil kills!" Jayne looked at Drake with a hint of bravado in his eye and laughed.
"Beats a hard kick in teeth!" Drake laughed and brought himself back up and became increasingly alarmed as the Covenant drew closer.
Plasma bolts began to pin some of his squad and Drake ducked down again after only a few shots as the grunts lay down suppressive fire. Drake grabbed his fragmentation grenade and bounced it off the concrete so it rose at about waist height at the approaching Covenant assault. It was a little trick he had picked up while training with some seasoned veterans back in Voi. Drake watched as the grenade detonated and took three grunts instantly. He rose after the explosion and continued to fire at them. Ramirez and Reynolds had become only a few meters from the grunts and he could see they were in a tight spot.
"Sarge, you got to get out there, covering fire Sergeant Reynolds!" He hoped that his squad and the Helljumpers would respond to his call for help. He fired at the little grunts and tried to take down as many as he could. The little bastards had entered their small perimeter and had begun to hide behind their defences and wreckage. Reynolds got on his comm.
"Cover Ramirez!" Ramirez turned and ran for some cover near Blake. A plasma blot streaked across and burned the ground around him. Ramirez kept running and Drake watched on in amazement as he sprinted through the volley of plasma fire. Ramirez approached Blake's cover but then a plasma blot struck his left arm. Ramirez toppled down under its force and stumbled. He was moving too fast and the blot had pushed him sideways. He collapsed a meter from Blake's cover and tried to crawl into his ditch. Blake grabbed him and dragged him behind cover. Reynolds had become stranded behind the wreckage and was now cut off. Drake reloaded and then fired another burst at a charging grunt. The grunt was caught by his fire and then collapsed as his methane tank hissed. He tried to regain his feet but Drake discharged a burst into it's head.
The collapsed and Drake focused his attention on other enemies. The two brutes had now charged and the smaller one with the spiker fired three shots at Rogue. He ducked and they dug into his small chunks of concrete. The Helljumpers hadn't taken any shots but they we're slowly becoming cut off from Bravo squad as the Covenant assault cut right down the middle. In an instant the battle had turned. Bravo squad now faced an entrenched number of about a dozen grunts and one brute chieftain who was heading straight for Reynolds. The chieftain swung the hammer back and swiped it right into the truck hulk Reynolds was behind.
There was a discharge of small electricity and Drake watched in horror as the whole truck wreckage was thrown three meters in the air. Reynolds was thrown across the highway and he rolled to a stop near some creates. The chieftain roared and it sent a chill down Drake's spine.
The chieftain ran for the wounded Reynolds. The beast was blood drunk and it was roaring and shaking its hammer like the berserker tales Reynolds had told his squad about. It raised the hammer above Reynolds and Drake fired at the beast in a futile effort to stop if from smashing his sergeant's head in.
The beast stammered back as the bullets collided with its armour. It rose it's hammer up and then it's head exploded in a spray of purple blood.
Drake looked at his rifle and wondered whether he had done it. Then he noticed that Blackstone had nailed it with his SRS. A sniper round tear through its chest and the headless body collapsed backwards. The remaining brute came out of cover and looked over at Blackstone and aimed its spiker for him. It discharged and a spike ricocheted off the ground and penetrated his lower leg. Blackstone pivoted on his good leg and fell back behind cover.
Rouge arose from his cover and fired a rocket at the brute. It soared across the highway and blasted into the crate the brute was behind. The crate smashed open and the brute was flung five meters across the highway. Phoenix and Dog charged up and sprayed the grunts attacking Blackstone. Dog fired her M6G pistol and Drake become aware of it's power as it blew clean off one of the grunts breathing apparatus. Drake followed their example and sprinted from out behind his cover towards Reynolds.
"Charge marines, we're killing the bastards!" Blake and Shifty rose as the only able handed men there and ran with him. Drake sifted through the crates and wreckage mopping up the remaining grunt resistance that had dug in. He felt the courage stir in him as the grunts cowered and ran from their counter attack.
Drake ran towards Reynolds and found a grunt running away from their assault. Drake shoved the butt of his rifle into the grunt's face and then as it stumbled fired a burst into it's chest. Light blue blood splattered Drake's green armour and he proceeded to Reynolds. Drake grabbed him and dragged him back to the other wounded soldiers. Drake placed him next to Ramirez who was groaning in pain as he clutched his plasma burn. Drake ran over to Jayne who was ducking behind his cover.
"You alright?" Jayne nodded and Drake ran back to his squad. Blackstone the appealed for order on his com,
"Alright, regroup!"
The Helljumpers had gathered around Bravo Squad and they all hunkered back down in cover. They had survived the Covenant assault barely, another wave would surely finish them. Reynolds had regained his grip on reality and pulled himself out of shock.
Reynolds stood up and placed his helmet back on. Drake wiped the blood and sweat from his face and looked into the sky. There was no dropship in sight and Drake felt the cold grip of fear grasp him. Dog scurried around assessing wounds and applying field dressings and biofoam. Dog came over to Drake and she looked at him,
"You hit?" Drake shook his head and sat back down. She then moved onto helping Sergeant Blackstone. Drake watched on as the ODST sergeant groaned at the spike in his leg. Dog looked at it then shook her head.
"I'm sorry sir but I don't have much biofoam left. If we remove this you could bleed out. I'll apply a field dressing and then we'll leave it as it is." Blackstone was placed next to Jayne who looked at him with a grin.
"Join the club sir." Blackstone reloaded his SRS and then pulled the stand out and laid down. Ramirez was tensing and flexing his arm while Shifty put what bandages they had. He grabbed his shotgun and loaded a few shells into it. His armour had taken most of the burn but his arm was still badly burned. He gritted his teeth as Shifty tightened the bandage.
"There you're good to go!" Ramirez nodded and crouched down and lent against the small pile of debris that had built up around him. Rouge reloaded his M41 and shook his head.
"Sir this is all I got left" Blackstone nodded,
"That's okay, Helljumpers dig in!" The ODST's ran across the highway and took up position among cover. Drake sat and listened to the wind howl. His arms and legs ached and his head throbbed. He clutched his MA5C and rested his head against it.
Drake snapped to attention as Blake swore and pointed down the highway.
"It's another bloody Phantom!" The Covenant flier soared towards them stopped at where the first assault had been made. They we're no longer in set positions. They were clustered together in cover and had lost the element of surprise. The phantoms ramps did not lower though instead a ring of purple and white light lit up and pulsed on its underbelly. Then Drake's fears were realised as two gigantic walking tanks were lowered on the small grav lift onto the highway.
"It's the terrible twos!" Drake screamed. Blackstone then shuddered and looked at Jayne who sat next to him.
"Hunters!" Jayne nodded and Drake braced himself as the large bipeds edged closer with their shields lowered. He fired a burst at them and the squad responded the same by laying down fire. This was in vain though as every round from there weapon pinged off their armour. Blackstone fired the sniper rifle and a round found its target as it hit the biped's chest through a small gap.
The gigantic thing recoiled and then kept edging closer. Drake reloaded and noticed he was on his last clip. One of the biped's weapons glowed brightly then a beam of plasma discharge crackled through the air and burnt the area around them. Blake grabbed his grenade and flung it at the two beasts.
"How do you like that mate?" The grenade exploded and the shrapnel from the blast flew into the bipeds. Orange ooze splattered onto the highway and Shifty screamed in anger.
"They're not stopping!" He fired his MA5C and Drake looked across at Reynolds.
"Marines take cover!" A second barrage of plasma sprayed the area and Drake could smell the foul odour of burnt flesh. He looked at the brute and noticed that now its whole body had been burnt.
He also took note that the plasma burning from the phantom and the bipeds weapon were about the same. He'd seen the bipeds take out warthogs with their cannons and Drake had never seen one killed. He fired another burst and watched as the bullets barely made a scratch on their bright blue armour.
Drake ducked and felt doom take a hold of him and he realised that he about to die at the hands of these giants. Then as if answering his prayers the roar of human engines could be heard. Drake rose and spotted two Hornets fly past and then turn back to circle them. The roaring engulfed them and the two Hornets opened fire on the bipeds with their mounted guns. The bullets ripped into the backs and sides of the hunters and the creatures lurched to try and get into position as to defend themselves but they were too late.
The creatures moaned and collapsed to the ground with a mighty thump. The marines cheered as the bipeds fell and the Hornets flew over them. There comm's sparked to life and one of the pilots voices entered their ears.
"Good to see you boys hung on, hold on we'll clear the area!" The Hornets then gracefully turned and fired rockets at the Phantom which returned fire with plasma bolds from his main cannon. The rockets blew one of the engines and the phantom turned to escape but suddenly an albatross dropship flew in from amongst the buildings and fired its rocket pods.
Drake averted his eyes as the intense display of blue light and flames engulfed the phantom. He moved his arm from his visor and looked at the burning wreckage of the phantom as it plummeted to the ground in pieces. The marines cheered as its ruins were cast ablaze on the highway.
"This is Hocus, load up the wounded and let's hightail it back to base!" Drake looked at the Hornets and then Reynolds,
"Sir what are those things?" Reynolds laughed and looked at the Hornets as they circled the landing zone.
"They're our angels in the sky soldier." The dropship turned and landed near them in a small clearing behind the marines. Phoenix and Rouge picked up Jayne and Blackstone limped to the dropship with the help of Dog. Shifty, Ramirez and Reynolds and ran for the dropship and hopped aboard. Drake took one last glance at the battlefield and spotted the body of Tedros lying amongst the dozen's of Covenant. They'd done the impossible, they had held out but Drake couldn't help but wonder.
'Was the lives 405th and Tedros wasted or spent?'
He turned and boarded the dropship. He took a seat next to Reynolds and relaxed. He was safe, Drake placed his MA5C on top of the netting above his seat and he sat down.
They had finally escaped New Mombassa but Drake still felt that the storm was near and he knew it was about to hit.
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