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Nothing to Lose Part VI
Posted By: hornet34<hornet34x@hotmail.com>
Date: 23 September 2003, 12:28 AM
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Nothing to Lose Part VI
"Covenant will be in firing range in approximately three minutes."
Byron leaned over to check the radar, confirmed the crewman's report, and turned to Mayer, "Well, looks like this is it. I've got my personal sniper rifle, along with a spare. Did you ever train with one of these?"
"No. I always stuck to close combat. I feel like that's where I belong, and if you don't mind, I think I'll join my men on the front."
"No, go ahead. To every man his own, I always saw." Byron watched as the Sergeant walked out. He checked the radar again to get a good sense of how the battle would shape up, and then ascended the steps to a sniper's nest he had personally reserved for himself.
Byron laid out his weapons and ammo. He was a stickler for routine and always kept his spare clips in perfect readiness so as not to waste time. He jammed the first clip in and began presighting his scope. Far in the distance he could barely make out the shape of the Covenant horde. Scattered trees would provide some cover for the attackers, but Byron felt that the relative open ground and uphill slope really was a sniper's paradise.
"Hey Sarge, glad you could join us."
"Yea, we had to tell the Covenant to wait. Didn't your mom ever teach you to be on time."
"I thought you were my mom."
"Lorenzo, when you ever been on time. We gotta raise the base alarm each morning just to get you out of bed."
Several other marines chimed in as Mayer made his way up the front line. After meeting the eternally pessimistic Lieutenant, he enjoyed this good-natured ribbing. He slid down in one of the few unoccupied firing slots and readied his battle rifle.
A baby-faced private yelled out to Mayer, "So, how far away are they. I figured we'd at least be sending some mail over by now."
As if to punctuate his words, the air rang with the distinctive thumps of mortars, affectionately termed 'outgoing mail.' Several thin disturbances in the air could be spotted as snipers added to the carnage. In the distance Mayer saw Wraiths launch mortars in a lazy arc towards his position.
Byron sized up an elite in his scope. He was impressed with the creatures speed and fluid movement, but it's blue armor and lack of evasive maneuvers suggested that the poor thing had never learned the fine art of avoiding snipers. Byron squeezed off a two-shot education and shifted his aim to a jackal. A mortar hit close by and the jackal spun as if to assess this new threat, offering a beautiful side shot to the sniper. Byron expened his last two rounds and plugged in a fresh clip, once more taking aim on the battlefield. This time his aim drifted across a hunter. After wasting three rounds on its impenetrable shield, Byron took his aggression out on a hapless grunt. With his third clip, Byron was able to take out another elite and a grunt, but the Covenant had closed to firing range and were gladly returning the punishment.
As planned, three Warthogs ripped out of hiding and flew behind the first wave of Covenant troops, guns blazing. The sudden attack caught them off-guard, and some grunts broke and ran. Byron fought the temptation to pick off the easy targets and instead took aim on an elite. The Warthogs circled around, but this time the Covenant were ready for them. Three ghosts broke off in pursuit and a hail off small arms fire cut down the gunners on two jeeps. By the third pass, all three warthogs had been disabled.
Sergeant Mayer winced as another mortar hit close by, showering him with debris. The Covenant had pushed along, despite the nagging snipers and destructive mortars, and were entering firing range.
"Let 'em have it!"
Mayer utilized his battle rifle's scope, firing into a jackals unprotected flank. He turned his aim to an elite, but couldn't pull off more than two shots before enemy fire forced him to duck.
"Lorenzo!" he yelled over the din of battle.
"Yea, Sarge!"
"You wanna join me in a grenade shower."
"Haven't bathed all week, but I'll oblige."
Mayer and Lorenzo each tossed a pair of frag grenades and rose to continue the assault. Mayer saw the blast knock an elite down and finished it off before he could rise. He sprayed the rest of his clip at a pack of grunts, not taking time to count kills. Once more return fire forced him to duck and he used the oppurtunity to reload. In the distance he heard engines revving and rose in time to see the warthogs make their heroic charge. Mayer emptyed two more clips into the Covenant ranks, not bothering to duck as all the enemy's attention was on the Warthogs. The first wave was effectively cut off, and Mayer did his part to finish mopping up.
Byron dabbed at the trickle of blood running down his forehead. A Wraith mortar shell had come close to dropping on top of him, but his time wasn't up yet. He picked himself up and grabbed his sniper rifle. In his scope he saw that the Warthog assault had done its job. The first wave of Covenant were all but eradicated, but countless troops hung back waiting to advance. He added the formidible power of his sniper rifle to the cleanup effort and then turned to address the inevitable oncoming second wave, but what the Covenant did next shocked him to his very soul.
After wiping out the first wave, Mayer sat anxious for the next assault. He jammed a fresh clip into his battle rifle and prepared his last two frag grenades, but the sound of a fresh assault still couldn't be heard. Confused, he peeked over the wall to see what was going on.
"Lorenzo, you seeing what I'm seeing."
"Yea Sarge, and it don't make any sense. Why they leaving."
"Something's fishy. I smell a trap. I'm calling headquaters." Mayer dragged out his battered radio. "This is Sergeant Mayer, I'm here on the south wall, and we've just repelled the first Covenant assault. They've disengaged and are heading due south. Any idea where they're going."
"Home, Sarge," came the jubliant reply. "Which is where we're going too."
"You want to explain all this."
"Come back to headquaters, the Lieutanent will inform you."
Mayer walked into a full-blown party. Someone had scrounged up a barrel of rum and glassed were being passed all around, everyone sneering at the UNSC no drinking policy. Mayer pushed his way past excited crewman and found the Lieutanent with a fresh wound on his forehead and two stiff drinks in his hand. He also had a big smile on his face, which assured Mayer that something good really must have happened.
"Sarge, here, have a drink. Local stuff, its got a good aftertaste."
Mayer took a sip, "So, do I get to find out what happenned?"
"Certainly, Certainly." Mayer eyed Byron suspiciously, he sensed that the Lieutanent had already drank his share. "Goes like this. About a month ago, ONI finally realized that the Covenant were on our backs out here. So, when they sent this last convoy, they beefed up the escort to twice its size."
Mayer drained his cup, "We've been telling them that all along. It still doesn't explain why the ground troops took off."
"Come on Sarge, do I have to spell it out for you?"
"What's in this stuff, your acting unusually giddy."
Byron brushed the comment aside. "Refill?
"Just explain."
"Well, Tessel thought it unfair to leave us out here hanging, so he took his improved fleet and ambushed the Covies. From what I hear, they got the cruiser and the other frigate. The Destroyers were close to ground and saw they were overmatched, so they took off. Which means all the troops that we attacking us hightailed it back to camp to catch a ride, 'cuz you know they didn't want to be left on this rock. Now ya get it."
"Perfectly clear. Lieutanent, I think I'll join you for another round."
"That's the spirit. Ya know, we could all be courtmartialed for this."
"After today, I couldn't think of anything I'd like better."
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