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Defense of Shangri La
Posted By: SHNwars<shnwar@aol.com>
Date: 12 November 2005, 11:14 pm
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Specialist 4 Erik Shearwater trudged along the mountain trail. Exhausted from the long hike, he mentally reviewed the history of the planet he was on.
Way back in 2254, a colonist vessel, the UNSC Ventura, appeared out of slip space into the Alpha Centurai system. The crew and passengers were tired of traveling, and set down on the first habitable planet they could find. Amazed by the pristine, Earth-like planet, the 1st mate on the ship called it "Shangri La" after the mythical paradise in the Himalayas. The name stuck, and it became a major stronghold at the beginning of the Human-Covenant war. Despite a permanent Covenant base on one of the planet's five continents, "Paradise Base" was still the UNSC's premier outpost and naval base.
"Specialist!" The gruff call of the platoon Sergeant brought Erik back to where he was. "I need you to take out those shielded turrets across the valley so we can cross!" Erik replied with a curt "Yes Sir!" and unlimbered the big S2 AM sniper's rifle he carried. He checked the magazine to make sure that it had a full load of the massive 14.5mm rounds, set the digital scope to 5x, and then studied the turrets.
There were six of the turrets, each with a frontal gun shield and the double-barreled heavy plasma cannon, similar to the type carried by Phantoms. Each was being manned by a Grunt clad in dull green armor. If he remembered the Intel briefing correctly, green armor meant that these were gunners, train to proficiently use turrets. Not that it mattered to him, these were just more targets to add to his checklist.
Erik practiced moving the crosshairs between targets as quickly as he could. When he was sure he could take them all out, he clicked off the safety and rested his finger on the trigger guard. All of the sudden he remembered something. Erik called to his Lieutenant.
"Sir, I'm going to have to reload, so have everybody else take cover, they'll start shooting where my bullets come from."
Lieutenant Jackson Chalmers had worked with Erik for a long time, so he knew that he was right. "All right boys and girls, you heard what the Specialist said, take cover!"
Erik outlined his plan to his spotter, PFC Dan Thompson. Dan held his SMG one-handed and toyed with it. Even though it didn't look like it, Dan was paying close attention. After agreeing on the course of action, Erik looked back into his scope, zoomed in to 10x, and rested his finger on the modified light-pressure trigger.
Gimgee the Grunt sat behind his plasma turret, waiting for permission to come off station. After discovering that Humans liked to attack during the early hours of light, the Prophets had given orders for every soldier to go to their defensive posts in case the Humans decided to attack that day. Gimgee, who was an extremely smart Grunt, knew that it was asking for a sniper to put a round through his head, but orders were orders, so every morning he would wake up, put on his green gunner's armor and methane tank, strap on his needler, and march out to relive the night watch.
This particular morning a blue-clad minor Elite was sleeping nearby, leaning on a weapons container holding extra beam rifles for the Jackal snipers who would occasionally come to the ledge. He had piled his plasma grenades and his plasma rifle in plain view, another thing Gimgee objected to. But Elites, no matter what rank, were higher than any Grunt, so Gimgee said nothing.
Gimgee had been talking to the Grunt on the turret to the left of him when he saw a flash out across the small valley. I just know something very bad is about to happen, Gimgee thought.
Erik Shearwater checked the rangefinder on his S2 AM, which read 955 feet to his targets. Well within range, he thought. With that he gently squeezed the trigger.
The 14.5mm round inside the sniper's rifle ignited, and the discarding SABOT round shot down the long barrel. As it traveled, the 14.5mm plastic SABOT disintegrated, revealing the 12.7mm API round inside. As soon as the bullet left the barrel, the spring-loaded fins popped out of the bullet, and the fin stabilized round traveled at 4,000 feet per second towards its target.
Gimgee had just looked toward the end turret on the left when its gunner flew backwards and phosphorous blue blood spattered the cliff face behind him. He noticed the tell tale white smoke trail of a Human sniper's rifle and knew what was going on. Before his brain could register the thought, the next Grunt in line got a SABOT in the head and sprayed the cliff behind him with blood. Gimgee knew about how long there was between shots, and he had a plan. Then the Grunt to the left of him went down, and Gimgee knew he had only one chance. As soon as he saw the flash of a firing gun, he jumped backwards out of the turret and hit the ground hard. The bullet whizzed just over his head and nicked his methane tank. Then the two turrets on his right opened fire.
Erik and Dan watched as the two surviving gunners swiveled their guns and opened fire. Because of the extreme range, the sniper and the PFC had time to climb up the small, steep hill nearby. The large red balls of superheated plasma harmlessly scorched the ground behind them. As he scampered up the hill, Erik thought about the Grunts. The first three were definitely dead, but he was not so sure about the fourth one. By this time he was hidden in a berry bush on top of the hill. He zoomed back in to 10x, and then he noticed the plasma grenade pile near the weapons crate.
By then the four repeating cracks of the sniper fire had reached the far ridge. Gimgee, lying on the ground, watched the minor Elite wake up and see the dead Grunts. He did a double take, then drew his plasma pistol sidearm and hid behind the weapons crate. Gimgee wondered why the sniper hadn't shot yet, then had just enough time to realize why when the quartet of plasma grenades went off.
Erik watched in grim satisfaction as the pile of grenades he had shot exploded, destroying the two manned turrets and sending the minor Elite's body over the edge of the cliff. Down below, Lt. Jackson scanned the gore-splattered, scorched ridge for signs of life with his binoculars. Upon seeing nothing move, he ordered his troops out of their hiding spots. Erik reloaded his S2 AM, then slung the big rifle over his shoulder and continued to march up the trail.
Gimgee waited until he saw the figures of the Human patrol disappear, then stood up. He pulled out his needler and ran up the ramp to report to the Elites in charge of the camp nearby.
Several hours later, Jackson's platoon had made it to a battle in progress at an area called the "frying pan" because it was a small flat area in the center of several huge hills. Normally a Lieutenant would have a company, not just a platoon, but Lt. Jackson had stuck with B platoon, his most experienced group of soldiers. Due to their 3-hour hike, B platoon was in a perfect flanking position. Once Lt. Jackson and B platoon had secured part of the frying pan, he would radio in and Pelican troopships would airlift in A & C platoons. Specialist Erik and PFC Dan Thompson climbed up one of the surrounding hills and established a sniper cover.
Gimgee toted the portable plasma turret on his shoulder, disappointed that he didn't get the promotion he deserved. Even though I survive an attack that killed an Elite and five of my companions and all I get is a lousy little turret and a death sentence, he thought. Angry, he marched across the plateau in the center of the frying pan, not knowing what lay ahead.
The Elite at the head of the column had just taken another step when he thought he felt something shudder the ground beneath his feet. He shouldered his carbine; unaware that Erik's sniper scope was pointed at his head. Upon seeing a few Marines in the distance, he zoomed in the carbine's scope and fired a trio of rounds, but the range was too far. He had just turned and taken a step towards the marines when the Antilon landmine he had stepped on exploded, killing him and sending his crimson-armored body soaring 20 feet in the air. Purple blood splattered the area where his body landed. His second in command requested a minesweeper on the COM device, while a group of Grunts panicked and ran into the minefield.
Erik watched through his S2 AM's scope as a half dozen Grunts ran into the mines and a chain reaction of a quartet of Antilons exploding sent the six Grunts soaring, landing in a pile of blue gore. Erik checked the ranks of the dead Grunts. Two were Red-clad major Grunts, while the rest were yellow wearing minor Grunts. The Grunt with a plasma turret stayed calm while the major Elite talked animatedly on the radio. Unexpectedly, a Phantom dropship appeared over the frying pan and Erik hunkered down into the rigged-up camouflage net, hoping the Phantom's gunners wouldn't notice. The more visible marines on the other side of the basin distracted the gunners, and the nose and left-side cannons opened up, pouring bright red plasma bolts downrange. The range was too extreme, however, and it was easy for the marines to dodge the slow-moving balls of superheated plasma. Erik peered out of the camo shelter, watching what jumped out of the Phantom.
To his dismay a pair of Hunters accompanied the quartet of Elites and the six Jackals the jumped out of the hovering Phantom. One of the Elites was a zealot clad in bright gold armor and was wielding an energy sword. The other Elites were all wearing the blackish armor of SpecOps troops, and two were carrying strange gear the Erik took to be minesweepers. The gunner Grunt had set up his plasma turret and was firing at the marines, who were still out of range. Erik knew that engaging the Elites and Hunters would be suicide without A and C platoons, so he called Lt. Jackson and spoke quickly into the mike. Lt. Jackson told his radioman the pre-arranged code word, and that was all he needed to hear.
Gimgee had figured out that the group of Humans he was shooting at was out of range, so he had picked up the bulky plasma turret and was waiting for orders to move up when he heard a loud screech and turned. What he saw made him do something he had never done before. Gimgee screeched in horror and ran, screaming, from the battlefield.
Captain Sam H. Nilles sat in the cockpit of his C709 Longsword fighter and checked his payload. His pair of 110mm forward rotary cannons and his 120mm radar-guided tail gun checked out, each with a full load of cannon shells. Inside of his forward payload bay he carried 4 AGSM-10 missiles and in his rear bay were 6 bomb-set Type 14 Magnetic/Anti-tank mines. Each mine detonated with the force of 2,000 pounds of TNT, and had a magnetic attachment device that would stick to any vehicles that passed by. The standard way to deploy this weapon set was to fire all the AGSM-10 missiles first to clear the area. Then he would use the rotary and tail cannons to mop up the survivors, and then seed the Type 14's in the minefield. The magnetic attachment devices of the mines were strong enough to jump 30 feet in the air and latch onto a Phantom, something Sam thought was not only useful, but pretty funny as well. And the Covenant never figured it out. As his Longsword roared towards the frying pan at 1,200 mph, Captain Sam Nilles armed his weapons and opened the bomb bay doors.
Specialist Erik Shearwater and PFC Dan Thompson heard the Longsword heavy fighter scream overhead, then watched as the four AGSM-10 Missiles detonated on top of the group of Covenant troops. The Hunters had time to howl in defiance before one of the 10-foot long missiles struck them dead center and exploded, sending orange blood and bits of alloy armor all over the battlefield. The only survivor was the Grunt who had fled the battlefield when he saw the fighter and the golden Elite. Before Erik could put his crosshairs on the zealot's head, a score of 110mm rounds shredded through the Elite's shields and tore him to bits. The C709 roared overhead, then the oval shapes of Type 14 Magnetic/Anti-tank mines fell to the ground in the center of the frying pan. Just then a Phantom came overhead and began to deposit its load of troops when one of the huge mines leapt up into the troop bay. Erik heard a loud screaming roar as the Elites inside the vessel realized what the big heavy ball was. Then there was an ear-splitting BOOM! as the mine exploded and tiny pieces of the Phantom dribbled out of the sky. Well, this is going to be a long day, Erik thought
16 hours later, the marines had secured the frying pan and wiped out the Covenant invasion force. Each soldier counted his or her scores. Specialist Erik Shearwater had killed 3 minor Grunts, 4 major Grunts, 2 SpecOps Grunts, 2 minor Jackals, 3 major Jackals, 5 Jackal snipers, 3 minor Elites, 2 major Elites, 2 SpecOps Elites, 1 stealth Elite, and 1 zealot Elite. He only had 3 sniper rifle rounds left when the battle ended. Captain Sam Nilles had killed 3 SpecOps Elites, 2 zealot Elites, 6 Banshees, 4 Ghosts, and 2 Specters with his 110mm rotary cannons, a further 2 Banshees and a Ghost with the 120mm tail gun, and shot down 4 Phantoms and 2 Banshees with Ardent V air to air missiles. His Mines killed 2 Phantoms, a Shadow, and 3 Wraiths. UNSC forces lost 39 marines and a Pelican troopship. The Covenant withdrew from a planet for the first time ever. Thus ended the UNSC's defense of the planet Shangri La.
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