halo.bungie.org

They're Random, Baby!

Fan Fiction


The Lost Race: Part Two
Posted By: Imperorator_Jon<darthbalfy@yahoo.com>
Date: 9 August 2006, 9:56 pm


Read/Post Comments

      Eric, his mind set on the task ahead, drove the Warthog through the abandoned streets, the desolate roads and hastily-abandoned shops reminding him of the last time the invasion sirens were activated, when a ship of pirates had invaded his home. How he loathed invaders, warmongers, and evil doers of every type! Yet his home was not defenseless, it had the first division to keep it's peace.

      The first division, given the mighty title of Panthers, was the most powerful outfit on the entire planet. Those few men were trained for every imaginable form of combat possible, everything from guerilla warfare to open street fighting. They were the best of the best, and fittingly named the Panthers for their strength and talent. They were what all Marines on Orion hoped to become. Not even command was considered worthy enough for the Panthers, even though they required brilliant leaders.

      Alas, Eric was not one of them, but he had aspirations. The invasion, which he prayed it was not, would be a jumping point for him to join the Panthers. The marine instantly snapped from his daydreaming when he swerved to miss a rock, berating himself for letting his mind wander in a combat situation. Is that how you plan to join the Panthers? He questioned himself, knowing he had to focus.

      The gunner, who had long, blonde hair that was covered by his full-visored helmet, swiveled the large missile rack, aiming it towards the sky. Eric looked up, seeing the sky open up as hundreds, if not thousands, of dots rained from the sky, each one leaving a massive trail of dark smoke behind it. "An invasion... a fucking invasion..." Was all the gunner whispered, his eyes wide with fear. Eric also looked at the alien devices with awe, his training soon taking over to gun it to one of the closest checkpoints, using the rickety form of GPS installed on the LRV to find it.

      As the marine driver cursed his luck, he saw a U-shaped craft fly overhead, a trio of strange poles aimed at his armored vehicle. The gunner, wasting no time to see what it would do, fired a trio of rockets at the vividly-colored craft. As the trio of rockets impacted, a flurry of beams fired from the craft, missing due to the impact. As Eric began to try and outrun the aircraft, the blonde-haired gunner fired a second salvo, slamming the hovering aircraft into a stone building. The second shot must have hit something vital, for the large craft ceased to move, stuck into the side of the building.

      Eric gunned the Warthog even faster to try and reach the nearby checkpoint, which was only six miles away, but six miles in combat was a world away. The Marine only prayed as his passenger and gunner scanned as quickly as they could for any hiding enemies, unknowing of what to shoot at. Eric sighed in relief as he saw a clear shot at the checkpoint, where a large group of soldiers were holed up in a large concrete and stone building.




      In the skies of Orion, Joseph Brandenburg piloted his Longsword through the skies. He may have been a talented pilot, but the teardrop-shaped fighters he was against piloted like madmen. He had already lost two of his wingmates due to the strange blue orbs of energy the craft fired, each one ripping into the fighters with ease. Joseph had modified his movements to adjust to the head-on attacks, which were due to the fixed barrel the fighters fired from. He hadn't encountered missiles or missile-defense systems yet, but hadn't had many kills either.

      The pilot heard a faint whine as one of the alien fighters painted him. The trained pilot pulled his fighter back, the G's pushing him into the gelled seat of his Longsword. The fighter quickly pulled a complete loop, moving behind the agile enemy fighter, who's pilot was wondering where it's prey went.

      Joseph merely smiled as the two reticules he used to aim the weapon systems gave a pitch as they locked onto the purple craft, he jammed down the firing trigger, causing armor-piercing bullets to pound into the craft, crumpling it's back end. As the bullets cleared away a shot into the rear, the pilot grinned and fired a duo of high-yield missiles into the back end, destroying the aircraft in a pair of bright explosions. "Longsword-zero-one to base, I have a kill. Searching for next target now." The pilot smiled as he saw a pair of U-shaped dropships move towards one of the newer checkpoints, he would earn many kills today.

      The lone fighter, armed with more than enough ammunition and missiles to do it's job, streaked towards the descending dropships, it's pair of autocannons ripping into the thick armor, tearing one of the U-shaped craft to shreds. The pilot merely smiled, hearing a faint whine as his missiles received a lock. The pilot once more thumbed the red button on the joystick, sending a new pair of missiles into it's brother. Joseph smiled once more gave a whoop as the first missile ripped an unsightly hole into the middle of the dropship, it's companion detonating inside of the ship.

      The pilot smirked as he swerve around once more, his hand firmly on the joystick. He had only just begun to fight!




      On the ground, Eric felt his heart go off like a jackhammer in his chest- his blood rushing through his body. The marine driver slammed on the breaks as the barricade of metal containers, with two LRVs parked horizontally to help create the checkpoint. Eric drove closer, coasting the jeep until he finally parked it in the alley way.

      As his passenger- a stout man of five foot nine that had grey hair- exited the jeep, Eric also watched as his gunner dismounted from his turret. The marine driver only sighed, turning off the rumbling LRV and deciding to join whoever was at the checkpoint. Yet he was no fool, and grabbed two MA4Bs for the others. The large driver also picked up his shotgun, ensuring it was fully loaded. If that strange aircraft was any indication, these guys were far more advanced than what a simple pistol bullet or tazer could do harm to.

      Eric tossed each rifle carefully to his companions, each of the two catching the rifle and flicking the safety off, shouldering the rifle to keep an eye on anything inhuman. Eric, the naval shotgun moving with his sweaty palms, slowly scanned through the abandoned buildings, slowly walking backwards towards the barricades as he did so. The trio moved with tactical grace, their decades of drills and practice paying off as they finally advanced to the checkpoint.

      Eric, finally turning around to welcoming faces of Marines, in this battlefield he knew that any group of Marines was a sign for the better, for where there were Marines, there was hope. The Marine looked around near the LRVs, where scattered rounds and gouge marks were across the paved road. The jeeps in question were manned by a lone marine each, and Eric could see movement inside of a two-story building.

      The Lance Corporal looked up to one of the gunners, who kept a firm watch on the road. "Take care of them both, give them proper food and drink." His two companions, wasting no time, quickly set off towards exploring the buildings taken over by the Marines.

      Eric walked towards what seemed to be the command center, which had a pair of heavily-armed Marines outside, each one carrying four HE grenades, and four strange baby-blue orbs. Another thing to ask the commander... The marine thought absent-mindedly. As the soldier walked through the halls, he noticed more and more strange devices in Marine possession. He also noticed that the halls themselves were old and worn, as if the halls he was walking through served as an ancient bunker. He dismissed the thought, thinking more and more about the alien technology he was seeing appear all over the place.

      The off turn ahead of him had a faint blue stain on it, likely a soda or drink, but a man mopping it was having little luck cleaning it off. Eric, suddenly smelling a rank odor, focused on it for a second. Is that... is that blood? Eric quickly jogged forward, trying to follow the freshly-painted arrows to the command center. This was just getting even more serious than he thought.





bungie.org