Ascendant Part II
Posted By: Archangel's Blade<archangels_blade@hotmail.com>
Date: 6 June 2002, 12:07 am
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Colony Summer
Marine Barracks #109
8:16 p.m.
Pte. Michael A. Sheener
It's been 7 days since the destruction of Reach. I never thought it possible that the Covenant could push us past our best military base besides Earth itself. If I was there, maybe we could have turned the tide of the battle.
The entire "Upfront Assassins" platoon was pulled out 3 weeks beforehand along with the rest of our division and 9 other divisions. Riding out with an entire fleet of Battlecruiser-types, we knew that the lives of the entire human race rested on our shoulders. 3 Battlecruisers would be enough to take on a taskforce of 50 Cov cruisers! We left our friends, family, and comrades behind, not knowing that we would never see them again.
We were supposed to strike as soon as the Spartans secured the coordinates of the Covenant home planet. The Spartans, however, never knew that they would have to face an entire Covenant fleet before they left Reach. They never stood a ghost of a chance.
Maybe if we were there-.
Now we must stand, isolated from Earth, on an outer colony that the Covenant thankfully missed. But not for long. We have an inbound Cov taskforce who obviously want to annihilate us to fulfill their jihad.
We still really don't know what the hell the jihad is about. As all of us know, the Covs hate us, and declare us an affront to their gods. Why that is, and who's telling them this, we don't know.
My two surviving squadmates died about 12 weeks ago when their pelican was shot down by banshees on the Colony of Arianna. I was sick with salmonella from the messhall meals, so I thankfully missed that. But I don't miss the Bulldog's chief cook!
The scorpion pilot from my first mission was transferred to the Pillar of Autumn shortly before we left. I wonder if the Autumn ever made it out with any Spartans?
The last survivor from the first battle was transferred over to my squad, so Jamie, or Leftovers as we call him, is still alive. However, he might not make it out when the Covs start landing. None of us might, but that's a sacrifice we accepted when we signed on as marines.
Touchdown Zone
11:09
I hate pelicans. They are fragile, unarmed, and slow. They should be called "sitting ducks", because that's essentially what they are. I saw 2 of them shot down as we went in.
Watching through what I could see of the cockpit window, the party was already underway. Bursts of gunfire and blasts of plasma were visible from two miles away. A massive explosion alerted me to the fact that someone took out a Cov dropship with a frag grenade. Maybe we will win this after all.
My LT had a friend on the Bulldog, the flagship of our small Battlecruiser fleet, and he said that the fighting was pretty intense up there. Boy am I glad I'm a marine and not a pilot! Seraphs scare the hell out of me, and I don't think I could hit a banshee at any rate. As I've said before, and probably will say many more times in my life, accuracy never was my best attribute.
Coming up on the dropzone, I began loading my MA5B Assault Rifle, and my standard issue M-202 pistol. As we lowered toward the ground, I was preparing to leap out the door, when a ball of blue streaked into the passenger area! A brave marine shot it out the door somehow, where it promptly exploded. Whoever shot the grenade would probably make a good sniper!
Upon hitting the ground, I rolled from my old position to avoid plasma. I looked around for some cover, and spotted a crate not too far away. However, the jackal that was currently targeting me noticed it as well, and seemed determined not to let me reach it.
Unloading my clip at the jackal as I ran, I managed to keep the jackal behind its shield until I reached the crate.
How was I supposed to know that the crate was full of grenades?
The last thing I saw after flying 12 meters was a man dressed in white run up and open a big white box. After that, everything went black.
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