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The Fallen : Chapter 2, Section 3
Posted By: Hikaru-119<hikaru119@email.com>
Date: 23 June 2003, 5:30 PM
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Chapter 2 Section 3: Earth City
2051 Hours November 15, 2553 (Military Calender)
New Mombasa, East African Protectorate
The Chief ran towards the lift with his weapon blazing. He concentrated on only one of the Hunters and emptied the last of his magazine. The Hunter brought up its shield to cover itself and bullets ricocheted off the massive piece of impenetrable armor. The four Hunters fired their weapons sending the green flaming projectiles at the Master Chief and the marines. The Chief dodged the blasts, reloaded, and got in close. Before he had finished reloading the Hunters began to split up into five meter intervals and fired again.
The squad of ten marines engaged and were running around taking cover where cover could be given. The smarter ones ran for the forward defense shields the Grunts would normally use if they were there. Ten machine guns began to fire at the twelve foot behemoths. The Chief was in close and engaged the Hunter on his terms. The blue armored Covenant warrior stopped charging its main gun and swung its shield at the Chief. The Chief stepped back barely avoiding the intial and fall down swings. Again the Hunter tried this and missed as the Chief got in behind the beast and fired his rifle into the small orange blood sack that was unprotected.
Bullets made their way in, but did not cause any major part to rupture. The Hunter turned around and hit the Chief sending him flying into another Hunter. He shook his head and ducked out of the way of the second Hunter. His shields had been knocked down to an eighth and he quickly avoided the next blow. He fired his rifle again and it was worthless as the bullets just bounced off the armor. Knowing the weakpoints and being unable to get to them with his normal rifle he switched to his sniper rifle instead. He ran towards the first Hunter again and let it swing.
He aimed the long barreled rifle at the weak point when the arm lifted up into the air. The Chief fired an anti-material bullet and orange blood splashed onto his shields. The Hunter fell to its left and helplessly bled to death. The Chief's shields were back up and he did the same trick taking out another. While going for the next Hunter he suddenly felt something hit him from his back and his shields dropped a bit. He got off the gravity lift when he realized he was inside the marines' line of fire.
There was a sudden flash of light and three streaks of blue plasma went by him. He turned and zoomed in on the Shade turret that the blast originated from. The Master Chief almost fired the weapon until he saw it was a marine manning the gun. He turned back and took a quick look at the Hunter the man was targeting. The blasts did almost nothing to the Hunter as most flew off of its shield. It charged up its main weapon and fired at the turret. The bolt of green fire hit the base of the turret and sent the soldier off in two seperate directions. Entrails were flung every direction and littered the area. The Hunter was taken out a second later by a pair of grenades thrown by the marines. The final one attempted too relocate to a better firing position and was taken down by the Chief who had snuck up on its rear flank.
" Area secure! " Johnson yelled, " Get on that pad marines! Time for boarding! " The squad ran towards the flat pad and waited for the Chief. The Master Chief took one last look around and made sure the area was clear. Confident he wouldn't have any enemy reinforcement coming in from behind he stepped onto the gravity lift. Loose particles began to float upwards and the Chief felt himself rising. Tiny orange globules of blood lifted up and sky rocketed towards the ship. Soon after he and the squad was lifted into the vessel.
Once inside they notice it was running dark for some reason. Only the light given off by the four smaller doors was visible. The Chief activated his flashlight and the marines put their's onto the rifles they were carrying. Having previous experience from before coming in this way the Master Chief immediately informed the men to watch the doors from the center pad. They quickly formed a defensive circle and sure enough a security team came to investigate the situation. The team of Grunts and Jackals were silenced before they had a chance to fire off a shot. A rather large blob of red showed up on the Chief's motion tracker and he relocated to engage the new comers. A power door slid open and three veteran Elites rushed into the room.
Everyone concentrated on the Covenant at hand and fired in five round bursts. The Elites returned fire with needlers and plasma rifles. Soldiers were hit and bullets bounced off the shields of the new threats. A streak of magenta flew into one of the marines that had not moved far enough away from his spot. He felt the spikes pierce their way into his body. The man coughed up blood and went up in an explosion of schrapnel. Micro shards hit the nearby marines and their fire stumbled for a second. The Elites attempted to take advantage of this when they were suddenly stopped by the quick moving Master Chief.
He had slipped through the confusion and used the momentary lapse of when the marine died to get in behind the Elites. His S2 AM was at point blank range when he pumped out three rounds into the back of an Elite's head. It shields flicker, popped, and the eight foot tall warrior fell with a loud thump. The Chief fired his last round at the closest Elite and missed. The Covenant quickly reput its attention back onto the Chief. He could have reloaded his rifle, but the plasma rounds would have torn right through his shields and into his armor before he even had a chance. Instead he ditched his rifle and scooped up the plasma weapon neraby on the ground and fired.
Blue lances of fire and red tracers took out the shielding and tore into the body. Only a pock marked and burned corpse remained. The Chief retook his position and waited for more Covenant to show. The waited there for three minutes and nothing had shown.
" Chief let's get moving. " Cortana advised bringing up a NAV marker. He had to agree with her and followed it. The marines followed the Chief and made sure the area was secure before moving on. He moved his flashlight over the area the marker was pointing and saw the main doors leading to the supply rooms were open.
They ran into the massive corridor on the left and went down the ramp and out the door at the bottom. When they entered the supply room they scanned for an Covenant and came up empty. The entire room was barren, not even a supply crate was in the two story room.
" Is it just me, " a marine spoke up, " or is this suddenly a ghost ship? "
" Shut it marine we don't have time for that kind of talk. " Johnson said. They quickly left the room and went through several more open doors and another corridor leading into a shuttle bay. The bay was illuminated only by the city lights from outside. The shields on the main launch ways were down and this room to was empty. The Chief was starting to get alittle uneasy. Covenant ships were not supposed to be this empty.
" Cortana, " Johsnon said, " Where the hell are they? " They left the bay and went up a level not encountering a thing before Johnson got a response.
" Don't know sergeant. After we boarded everything was shut down. I'm assuming their main power grid was heavilly damaged when the ship was hit and came into the atmosphere. " Cortana responded. When Cortana finished her sentence suddenly the lights flashed on. Their eyes barely had time to adjust as a group of eight Jackals came in from two directions.
Eight over charged shots of plasma headed for the human group. Almost everyone was hit including the Chief. His shields flared and gave out. Two of the marines could not take the extreme heat and fell dead. A frag grenade was thrown and the Covenant warriors quickly adapted by locking their shields together.
The blast forced the line back a little, but no damage was done to the Jackals. With the marines surrounded it was a free shoot for the security team. Bullets were fired in reponse and one blue shielded Jackal was taken down. It writhed in pain as the AP bullets tore into its body. The Chief was taking cover as his shields regenerated and the fighting went on. When they were up he rushed the smaller group as fast as he was able to go.
The Covenant tried to track the Chief and failed. He got in behind them quickly and hit one square in the back. Armor dented and bones shattered by the force of the blow. The Jackal was still alive, but definitely paralyzed. The Chief used this to his advantage and grabbed the falling enemy in his right arm and tore out the plasma pistol from its claws with his left. He used the Jackal as an extra plasma shield and fired on the back side of the two remaining enemies in that particular grouping.
He fired the claw like weapon as fast as he could at one until it over heated and had to give off the excess heat. The first Jackal fell dead by time the last of the energy blasts had hit. The weapon cooled and the Chief did the same on the other. He targeted the other group holding the body up still. He fired and was met by a ricocheting bullet in the head. He was glad the suit had shields and continued firing. The remaining Jackals fired in return and finished off their comrade instead of the Chief.
Even though it was dead he kept his cover. He fired again and several more shots came at him and burned through the dangling corpse hitting him in the gut. The bottom half was burned off and the Jackals paid the price for ignoring the marines right in front them. A rather common problem for that particular level in the Covenant warrior caste. Suddenly A grenade was rolled behind them and they were sent flying forward. Their backs were ripped to shreads and black blood painted the deck floor. Three marines were lost in the exchange of fire and a few others were wounded. In addition there was no medic was available to give any aid. Which meant they'd have to rough it out.
The bodies were scavenged for ammo and the squad continued onto the next deck up towards the ships command center. Again there was zero resistance on their way up. They only prayed nothing was waiting in ambush. When they made it to the command deck they stopped and noticed that only the emergency lights were active and the doors were sealed to the control center. His NAV point disappeared marking the end of their run to the center.
There were three doors that they could use to enter the control center. The Chief knew this and ordered the marines to split up into smaller groups of two or three and charge in when he gave the signal. They acknowledged his orders and split up. To lessen the risk of losing both non-coms Johnson went to the far door with two others. One of the marines stayed with the Chief and was sweating hard.
" Think we can take them on if their in there sir? " the marines asked anxiously. The Chief turned his head to the marine and nodded. " What if they outnumber us ten to one? " The Master Chief closed his eyes for a second and didn't give any response to the marine's question. He knew full well that with his superior training and suit he'd probably make it, but the marine would most likely die.
The Chief opened up his COM link and spoke quietly. " Marines five seconds. " Those five seonds passed and the Chief gave them the signal, " Mark! " The seven humans rushed into the room and were starled. Six Brutes were standing there waiting and behind them was the ship's commanding officer, a golden Elite. Several of the marines came to a sliding halt and fell to the floor. Some were so scared by the creatures occupying the doorways that they didn't even fire their weapons.
" Take 'em down marines! " Johnson yelled firing his rifle. The Brutes yelled out in anger and made their move. Most fired their plasma rifles at point blank, while the others simply made grabs at the marines. The Chief fired a sustained burst into the skull of one that tried to get him. His bullets hit a piece of armor guarding the forehead and barely scratched it. Before the Brute had a chance to make another swing he aimed down and forced the barrel into its mouth and fired a six round burst.
The bullets made their way through the medulla oblengotta and instantly fried the Brute's mind. The Chief pulled his rifle out of the creature's mouth dragging bits of brain along with it and ducked as a hairy arm swung at his head. The blow missed and slammed into the nearby wall denting it. He moved into the room and slammed the butt of his rifle into its side and delivered a quick shot to the stomach. After he fired he heard the screams of two nearby marines and the snapping of armor plating and bones, he fired the last of his magazine and slapped in a new one. A dead marine was tossed and hit his feet. The man's rib cage had been busted open and bones protruted outward from the multiple wounds than ran along the entire body.
Two of the Brutes remained in the room as well as the Elite. Johnson had gotten his group of now two inside and fired on the officer up on the elevated platform. The Elite returned fire and hit Johnson's left shoulder. Bullets pinged off the silver shields and slowly drained them while lances of blue fire came towards the marines. The Chief looked at the situation at hand and was not about to let the Brutes flank the marines after they were down pounding on the corpse that occupied them.
He threw a plasma grenade onto one of the hairy beasts and it latched onto the back. Its buddy noticed the grenade and tried to back away, but was running into a wall. The blast enveloped both of them killing one, and badly damaging the other. The survivor writhed in pain as muscle was exposed to the air and every hair on its body had been burned off. The smell of burnt flesh was heavy and the Chief switched too the air inside his suit too avoid it. He fired three rounds into the Brute lying on the ground finishing it off and spun around facing the Elite. Its shields had dropped and the officer backed away hoping to regenerate its shields. The Chief wasn't going too let this happen. He primed a frag and tossed it at the ceiling above the platform. The grenade bounced off and fell a meter above it detonating.
The threat was neutralized and the room was clear. The remaining members of the squad went up the platform with the Chief. The corpse of the Elite was full of holes and its black blood was seeping out. He stood their waiting for instructions from Cortana.
" Chief I've hacked into the ships engine controls and I'm plotting a crash course now. " She said. He and the marines felt the ship suddenly move and begin to accelerate. " I'm going to crash it in the nearby Indian Ocean. " The Chief was a bit shocked that she was going to crash it.
" I know we were given orders to kill the cruiser, but..." he began to protest and was suddenly cut off.
" No Chief we can't salvage this ship. Everything on board is ground side, the shields are fried beyond repair, the gravity lift is now busted, engines are practically dead, artifical gravity is no longer intact, and the life support systems are down. As a matter of fact the NAV database is also been cleared. " She paused for a moment, " So effectively this ship is dead and besides I've already been given clearence by Admiral Stanforth himself to crash this vessel. " The Master Chief was certainly put in his place and fought back the embaressment of being shot down before he could finish his sentence.
" So how are going to get off if the grav lift is down Cortana? " Johnson said.
" There is a Pelican already in launch bay six. We already went through it on our way to the control room. " she replied. " Now then there is one piece of information that I'd thought you might want to know. The ship we are on is called the Deceit and command has renamed our new ship in orbit the Revelation. Now let's get off, we have ten minutes till this thing reaches maximum speed and another three before it crashes. " The Chief had to agree and went for the launch bay alongside the marines.
The Pelican was the one they had been dropped off in, but a little bit different this time. Its armor was blackened in several spots and a meter long chunk was taken off the back end. Still the dropship would fly pretty much the same, just with a little studder in its movements from time to time. They got on and the dropship left the Covenant ship and dove to avoid being hit by the back end of the massive craft. The Chief watched as the cruiser slowly went downward and towards the not so distant ocean.
" Hang onto your hats we aren't done yet here people." the pilot said. The Chief realized what the pilot had meant. The remaining Covenant armor was massing up and preparing an assualt on the 405th's position. About twenty pieces of Covenant armor were heading out. Alongside them were at least a hundred Covenant troops. The tail gunner began to fire the chain gun and took out a line of seven infantry and damaged a Creep.
A sudden boom was heard from above and then another was seen on the ground. Ten of the Covenant vehicles and at least thirty infantry were taken down. The Chief looked up and saw a pair of Longsword fighters accelerating off.
" This is Major Easley. Delivery of remaining ordinance completed. Hope that helps out enough groundside. Good luck. Over. " The Pelican's tail gunner saluted and fired off the last of his ammo. He pulled back two levers and the ammunition drum fell out and onto the ground two hundred meters below. He reloaded the weapon, pulled back the reloading handle, and fired a quick burst at the Covenant line below.
" Three hundred meters till drop! Master Chief you're on your own from this bird. Marines are on the ground waiting for you! " the Copilot yelled back to the Chief. The Chief understood the situation and gauged the enemy on the ground. After doing so he topped off his ammo supply and grabbed a J8-HR7 rocket launcher and six extra rockets. The J8-HR7 was better known as the " Jackhammer " because of its high level of fire power. It would easilly knock out a Covenant tank in three shots. The Pelican touched down and the Chief jumped off and went over to a group of about five marines leaning up against some cover. One of them turned and saluted the Chief, it was Corporal Perez.
" Welcome back Master Chief. Glad you could spare a hand. " Perez said. The Corporal took a look around. Three warthogs were positioned at ten meter intervals guarding the street the Covenant were about to come up on. In addition about twenty marines were seperated into five man teams, with each team having a .30 caliber machine gun turret. The Chief saw the defenses as well and went up fifty meters ahead of the marines and entered a building on the east side of the street.
When he ducked in he quickly went to the top level and looked out from the roof. He took up his MA8A battle rifle and zoomed in down the road. The Covenant vehicles gave off a big dust signature as they came towards the human location. He recounted the amount of Covenant armor that was incoming. There were four Ghosts, five Creeps, and a smoking Wraith mortar tank. The tank would have to go first.
The Chief pulled out his Jackhammer rocket launcher and sighted the tank. He waited until it was within a hundred meters of his position. He squeezed the trigger and a flaming rocket was sent screaming out. The projectile made its way to the tank and made contact. The explosive was set off and the hovering tank jolted backwards a few meters still intact, but slowed considerably. He fired again as the tank let out a single randomly fired round. The blue swirling comet like plasma shot flew high into the air and made contact with a building near the Chief. The side of the structure was blown off and the shockwave could be felt remendously on the roof where the Chief was located. The second rocket had made contact and the Wraith was destroyed.
The Covenant armor and infantry rushed after the tank was down. The Creep's doors opened up and let loose their infantry. Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and even Hunters were released onto the street. The Ghosts had slipped past the Chief as he reloaded his launcher and launched another two shots at the on coming hoard of troops. Two plumes of smoke and fire erupted sending bits of Covenant into the sky. He reloaded once more and heard heavy machine gun fire from behind.
The Chief quickly switched weapons and targeted the Ghosts' rear flank. He fired in short bursts chipping away at the armor plating on one of the LRVs. The Ghosts continued forward and met up with the Warthogs that were in position. Two M46 LATGs opened up on the Covenant vehicles sending them into flaming wreckage. Satisfied that the marines could hold their own the Chief began to target infantry from a distance. He was able to take down several Grunts and wound a few Jackals, but was unable to stop the group of veteran Elites that ran beneath his field of fire. The Elites quickly ganged up on the marines and wiped out nearly half of them before they were taken down by heavy machine gun fire.
A sudden roar was heard coming in from the Covenant location followed by several explosions. The Chief's visor had barely adjusted in time to the intense glare that was set off among the Covenant armor column. Large pillars of orange and blue fire went upward and enveloped the nearby infantry. The Chief looked up into the air a moment later and saw a single Pelican fly out of the inferno. Following it close behind were two others that set down near the marines, while the first set down on top of the roof the Chief was on. A NAV marker was set to the troop bay on the Pelican.
" Chief reinforcement has arrived and you are needed somewhere else right now. " Cortana said. The Chief didn't want to even imagine where he was being sent to next. Instead he would listen to Cortana and find out where he was due next. The Chief gave a quick scan of the battle area to amek sure nothing had survived and boarded the nearly full dropship taking the seat just outside of the cockpit. He leaned back and watched as the Pelican lifted high above the war torn city and flew off towards the Northwest.
Note to the reader: I think I sort of failed on parts of this section. Tell what I did wrong, if anything, so that it'll help in later chapters. Thanks.
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