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The Marine
Posted By: Mr Bill Jr V<mr_bill_jr_5@hotmail.com>
Date: 20 September 2001, 3:56 am


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    "Scan indicates no enemy ships, sir"
    "Confirmed. No enemy ships within scan range. Set us down at point 7-5-X-3"

The marines were uneasy. The real struggle was about to began.
The pilot turned his head away from the controls at the helm of the dropship.

    "Were coming in, no ships yet but we expect resistance."
    "Hear that boys?"

The marines nodded, to confirm that they indeed had.

    "Engage landing supports-"

The pilot never finished his sentence, as the engines of the drop ship were blown apart by laser fire. The explosion opened a gapping hole in the back of the dropship, air was sucked out. Less then a second later the pilot and his second in commander were hit by laser fire from the front, incinerating them.

    "Oh god..."
    "Someone stop this!"
    "She's burning up, sir. Sir?"
    "We have to get off now..."

The dropship plummeted ever onwards, spiraling towards the ground as if kicked from the back. The shaded figure of two alien light fighters, arched towards the sky; two vultures, circling for the kill . They rushed sky wards, moving with terrific speed.

    "I've got the helm, sir!"
    "Sir?"
    "He's dead you idiot."
    "Can you land us?"
    "Maybe, I-"

With incredible force the small human craft collided with the ground, throwing up a plume of snow. It skipped once, then slid; rolled upside down, then righted itself. She slowed and came to a halt.

Snow drifted in through the shattered cockpit. The moonlight tossed quite shadows on the craft as the snow fell. The right escape hatch explode off with such force that it shook the entire craft. A marine dropped the 20 odd feet to the ground, landing silently. He pulled himself to his full height, and began to move through the shifting shadows.

The first thing he noticed was the speed at which the alien ships moved: a single Covenant transport craft was closing on the wreck of the human dropship, moving with incredible speed. It stopped and hovered above the wreck. Its searchlights shot out into the dark, cutting apart the shadows. The marine waited in the dark. The space around the transport shimmered insanely; a mix of shifting light and displaced dark.

Shields, thought the marine.

The shimmering faded and with the audible clicking sound, multiple doors opened on the transports sides. Small blue light activated, as multiple Covenant troops jumped from their perch on the transports side doors. They fell into the snow and quickly approached the smoking wreck of the dropship.

The marine reached for one of his grenades. He slid it down the barrel of his Mk III sub machine gun. Silently praying, he calmed himself for the coming struggle. The Covenants where closer now. They shone their lights through the wreck, and quipped gibberish to each other. The alien transport hovered nearby, piercing the darkness with its lights, the shimmering still temporally gone.

The marine jumped into the air, pushing himself onto the top of the wreck, then ran like a wolf hunting its prey, moving with the speed of a cheetah, and the agility of a leopard. The marine raised his gun and fired. A grenade lobbed high into air, arching towards the transport. A bright red blossom of fire engulfed the mid upper portion of the alien ship. The top of the transport was torn open, showering metal into the snow, causing the searchlights to flicker. The marine slid across the snow covered roof of the wrecked dropship, and turned, suddenly dropping into the wreck. He sprayed the room with gun fire, the sound of bullets pulping flesh surrounded his ears. A Covenant, now missing his head, fell forwards and onto the dropship's steel floor. The second didn't even have time to wince, as it fell backwards, kicked by the impact of the bullets. The marine rushed the next Covenant and smashed it's head with his gun. The Covenant reared, and tried to compose itself. As the Covenant turned to face the marine it found itself looking down the, still smoking, barrel of a Mk III. The marine didn't think twice. The alien fell to the floor, and slumped over. The marine tossed the spent clip and replaced it, breathing heavily, but well aware of his situation. He vaulted out of the smashed cockpit window, landing in the bright cornea of the dropship's search light, he ducked and ran. Laser fire lanced out, but missed, singeing the snow. The marine could see that the shimmering had returned to the outer hull of the ship.

Bloody shields, thought the ever vigilant marine. His brain raced to formulate a plan.

The answer appeared in the form of a Covenant attack fighter, which swooped passed the wreck, scanning for the marine. The marine loaded another grenade into his barrel. He jumped into the light, and dashed towards the hovering transport. As he ran he half jumped, turning backwards at the same time, firing the grenade towards the Covenant fighter. The fighter lurched, as it's right stabilizer wing was ripped apart, and tumbled down wards. The fighter never hit the ground. It slammed into the shields of the transport showering purifying flame, and smoking debris. The shimmering disappeared as the transports shields overloaded, and the craft began to fly out of control. The marine made one last jump, his boots landing on the transports jumping off ramp.

The wind whipped at the ship as it's pilots tried to regain control. The marine's visor was covered in quickly melting snow, but he didn't care. Reaching around to the release mechanism on the access door, he pulled himself onto the access ramp.

The marine fired a shot into the locking system of the door, disabling it. He pushed the door open, and moved inside. Sparks shot out form the interior. The wind's continuous whine was audible over the drone of the engines. The marine produced a small timed explosive device, from one of his side pouches. He attached it to the inside of the craft, still trying to hold onto the craning ship. With out a second thought he dived from the ship. The craft pulled away still out of control, and burning. Halfway through the air, he was tossed by the explosion. Flame rained from the sky, covering the ground, burning the snow. The marine fell into a large snow bank, sinking a few feet into the ground. Flaming debris showered the area around him. Upside down, and buried in snow, but alive, the marine stood up.

Grinning insanely inside his snow coated helmet, he ejected his smoking clip, and walked back into the darkness. The shadows slowly covered the area, returning it to its past tranquility. The snow fell once again, covering the scene with an eerie stillness.

The Covenant is going to pay with their lives... thought the marine.

He vanished into the endless shadows seconds later.





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