Nothing to Lose Part V
Posted By: hornet34<hornet34x@hotmail.com>
Date: 20 September 2003, 7:15 PM
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Nothing to Lose Part V
First Lieutenant Byron Matthews nodded in approval as he watched his marines prepare for battle. He decided that the abandoned base, acting as their theoretical "Alamo," was as good a place as any to make a last stand. He stopped to inspect a machine gun nest, and was peering down the barrel when his radio scared half the life out of him.
"Sir, radar shows another escape pod coming in."
Byron recovered his senses and thumbed the radio, "Get a couple of 'hogs out there and get 'em back to base, I'll meet 'em at the gate."
The marines had been lucky enough to find a vehicle depot that still had a number of Warthogs. Apparently the last residents had left in quite a hurry. With help of some of the ship's mechanics, the marines had persuaded three of the jeeps to start. The rest were towed to various points in the base, their LAAGs supplementing the base defenses. Captain Simms had said the base was abandoned due to increasing Covenant activity: the plasma scoring on the base exterior gave mute testimony to that claim.
'Abandoned' wasn't really the right term, though. After the initial search of the compound, a scout found a hidden door, cleverly cut to look like part of the paneling. Inside was a testing lab and a shell of a man. Byron shuddered when he thought of his first look at the survivor. The man was haggard, his beard and hair overgrown and frayed. His body had a very lean look, as if the nutrient paste he had been subsiding on was just sufficent to keep him alive without killing him. He wore marine fatigues, but his armor and clothes sported several rips and dried splotches of blood. Initially the man said nothing, only moaning and muttering to himself. Byron found this man interesting, if a little repulsive, and would have stayed to interrogate him had the impending assualt not been of bigger concern.
A trio of Warthogs rambled into the base, its occupants disengaging and lining up smartly before the Lieutenant.
"Sir, Sergeant Mayer reporting."
"Welcome Sergeant. No time for formalities. We're operating on the standard marine frequency for all radio messeges, not the Corrian's encryption. Your men can take up positions on the south wall, we'll have someone brief them."
Mayer nodded and his companions jogged off. He began following the Lieutenant as they headed towards the control room. "So, how does it look?"
"Well, defenses look pretty solid. The base sported an impressive anti-air defense, which is functional for the most part. Thats why you haven't seen drop ships swarming all around. I've had marines giving quick training lessons to the crewman we brought, so all we have to hope is that for is they grow a spine. In all, everyone is well equiped. The ammo should outlast us." Byron paused, his eyes scanning the horizon. "Only problem is that we've estimated that the troops on one of those Destroyers alone outnumbers us three to one, and that doesn't include armor and artillery. You've seen the only running warthogs we've got. I'm saving them to engage any ghost that come in, unless you've got a better idea."
Mayer was slow in replying, obviously Byron's frank evaluation of the situation had surprised him. "What about a flanking end run when the first wave gets into range, that will cause a little confusion and buy us some more kills. Warthogs have never been particularly efficient against ghosts anyway."
"That should work. It'll give us a chance to reload and spit out another clip at least. God it's hard to try and plan a battle when you know it'll end in defeat. The Corps never really trained us for that, did they."
Mayer was relieved of the need to reply as the conversation had taken both men into the control room.
"Liuetenant, I was just about to radio you." A deep voice bellowed. "Covenant have began moving from their base camp, proceeding cautiously. Probably scared after the beating we gave them up there." The heavyset crewman had a smug look on his face as he pointed to the monitor showing the space battle. The Corrian looked like a wreck, with flames issuing from all side, but the Covenant frigate was split in half and the second frigate showed battle damage. The monitor suddenly dimmed, and when it flickered back on, the Corrian was replaced with a massive fireball.
"Oh, I don't think they're to frightened." Byron replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Mayer had noticed that the Liuetenant had a very fatalistic attitude, but in light of the circumstances, he could probably be classified as a realist.
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