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Scorpion Strike
Posted By: MT<brevard1986@hotmail.com>
Date: 1 April 2004, 9:57 PM
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The sand dune was pressed upon as 66 tons of armour rolled over it. The four independent track pods on the tank rolled at a seemingly inevitable pace. The metallic tracks groaned at the continued movement. It climbed the dunes effortlessly and nothing so much as slowed it down. For all intents and purposes, the M808B Scorpion Main Battle Tank was armoured beast hell bent on delivering destruction.
Four Marines were seated on the track pods. The four squinted at the lone bright star just past its zenith, hidden by part of the ring world, and tried to see what was over the next dune.
One of the Marines struggled to loosen some of his armour against the sweltering heat. In fact, all the Marines on the hard metallic slabs of the Scorpion were uncomfortable. They constantly wiped beads of sweat dripping from their brows, but it was to no avail. It was just too damn hot, and they didn't dare drink whatever water they had left.
The four gave little notice to the pair of M12 light reconnaissance vehicles, "Warthogs". Both swept along each of the Scorpion's flanks and were manned by three Marines respectively. These were more alert than the four on the tank, and they were ready for action.
Corporal Hailey, riding on the passenger seat of one of the Warthogs, scorned at his driver. They hit another dune at high speed and flew into the air, before crashing down in a harsh thud.
"Damn it, Fas," Hailey shouted over the vehicle's roaring engine. The gunner whooped with glee and the driver simply grinned. "You better keep all four wheels on the ground! I don't want to throw up the crap left in my stomach."
"Hell Jake, that space crap in your stomach looks and tastes the same anyway." The driver's grin widened, and the gunner continued to laugh.
Hailey shot gunner Yi a look before grumbling his agreement. Space food did look and tastes the same as the vomit, but he hadn't eaten anything new for hours. However, nor did any of the squad, now under his command.
Their company was attacked en route to the Covenant camp. Both Captain Rimmel and Sergeant Sangi were killed, along with three dozen of the company. A Scorpion tank was also destroyed in the melee.
Hailey lost a further squad of Marines in his attempt to retreat.
The Marines soon found themselves having to fight their way out. With only a single Scorpion and three Warthogs, Hailey was able to fight off the pair of Banshees and the large company of Covenants. All the Elites were killed and the remaining Grunts fled into the hills. Hailey had chase down a group of Marines and stop them from pursuing the fleeing Grunts.
Hailey decided to continue the mission with only half the company left. He still had a Scorpion and that was all he would need.
Almost an hour later, the surviving Marines were ambushed by large company of Grunts led by a pair of Elites. Hailey found his small company cut down to a squad consisting of twelve, including himself. Amazingly, the Scorpion survived, protected by a burning Warthog from most of the plasma bolts.
He had to continue on.
They were approaching the Covenant camp now.
The vehicles slowed and all the Marines watched out for patrols. There were none.
Hailey sent a Warthog to move around the perimeter of the camp to see what was on the other side.
He climbed a dune with Private Yi and examined the Covenants. He instantly saw the alien construct, protruding out from the gaudy orange sand plane. It was like nothing he ever saw before: Its grey dust colour of metal contrast against the desert dunes and purple Covenant objects scattered around its base. The odd pyramid shape structure on top was split in half, leaving a gap of air from base to tip.
Suddenly, bright blue energy spewed into the gap, flying upward to the other end of the ring world. The sound of the energy blast reached him a split second later. It was soft, muffled by the distance, but it seemed louder.
Hailey had his mouth opened in amazement. He never saw something like that before. It looked like plasma energy, but seemed vastly more powerful than anything the Covenant had. Even the burning ice-blue balls of superheated energy that the Wraiths fired seemed like spit balls in comparison. He didn't watch the blue blast reach the other side, as he remembered what he was doing.
The Corporal looked back down at the Covenant. He immediately noticed the two Wraiths, the Covenant mortar tank. Their lateral fins, low in the front, protected the gravity drives underneath. Like a human tank, it was more armoured in the front than any of the other sides.
The two Wraiths were on a tight patrol route circling the camp. Most of the time, their sides, the weakest part of the alien vehicle, was exposed. Hailey smiled, instantly forgetting the display he witnessed beforehand and the heat. One of the Wraiths went around the alien construct out of sight.
Hailey thought he could position a small team on the over side of the construct. They could distract or even take out one of the Wraiths causing the entire Covenant to turn away from the rest of the Marines. The Scorpion will then charge down and take out the other Wraith.
Yes, it might work.
The Corporal then realised it wouldn't. There was what looked like three small companies of Covenant in the camp. There was no Banshee cover but many Ghosts and Shades. What advantage of surprise they may have would soon be lost. Hailey gave a moment consideration to abandoning the mission and instantly waved the notion away. He signalled for Yi that they were going back. He noticed that the Private had a very dark expression set.
He told the rest of the squad what he saw. The tank driver, Gilron, and his gunner, Cet, remained quiet throughout. They knew that what ever plan the Corporal had, the Scorpion will be at its core. Gilron could only hope that the old girl would last this mission. He looked affectionately over at the Scorpion tank, smiling at the image of a scorpion painted onto the gun base below the squat turret head, connecting to the gun barrel.
The driver, Private Scott, was the first to voice what they were all thinking. "Jake - I mean Corporal, this is a suicide run." He waited for somebody to nod their agreement. Nobody did. "Why don't we just head back to camp and tell them that the Captain and Sarge are dead."
"You want to go back to God-knows-what Fasqi?" Hailey asked the Private.
Scott was silenced.
The Corporal snorted his annoyance. "I sure as hell don't want to stumble into another company of Covies. I say we hit this one we can see. I ain't Captain or even Sarge-" some of the Marines smiled, knowing Hailey mirrored the Sergeant in almost every respect other than skin colour, "-But I got us here so we can do this mission
"Not in one piece," Yi said softly, but audibly.
Hailey pointedly ignored the remark and went on. "Gil, Cet, you guys are going to do this..."
The Corporal started to draw a crude map in the sand and tell the squad what he wanted them to do.
Private Yi peered over the sandy ridge. The Covenant camp was still there at the base. So much for hoping they disappeared, he thought to himself.
The two Wraiths would soon lose sight of each other. Yi glanced back at the Warthog and saw Scott's anxious expression. He risked clicking on his COM to Scott.
"Relax Fas," Yi said drolly. "We've been in deeper crap before."
"Yeah? Like what man?" Scott asked defiantly.
Yi had to think for a moment, his eyes narrowed in concentration, and finally said, "Siege of Paris IV."
"We had a full company that time," Scott pointed out.
Yi scowled at the vehicle and looked back at the camp. He watched a pair of Grunts carrying a crate towards a large group of Elites. The shorter alien's waddling gait looked more clumsy than usual. They move this way and that under the weight of the crate.
Yi wondered what was in the crate and had his question answered when one Grunt dropped its end. The crate smashed onto the sand causing both Grunts to yelp in fear and hobble off. The crate opened slightly, revealing blue orbs of inert plasma grenades.
Yi instantly clicked a COM to Hailey.
"Sir, there's a crate of grenades down there. In the middle of the Elites," he added.
There was a pause of soft static as Hailey went to confirm this with his own eyes. "Yes, and there's half a dozen of the same crates around that structure: The area with the sleeping Grunts and Jackals."
Yi could see the same purple crates too. The pair of Grunts was roared at by a Blue Elite, who back handed one of them. The Grunts quickly picked up and carried the crate deeper into the group of Elites, placing it beside another Covenant box structure.
There was an open COM for the whole squad from Hailey. Yi smiled.
"Listen up," The Corporal barked. "Private Yi had his eyes open and spotted our new opening attack. That's right Gil, your precious Scorpion is off the hook now. There's low crates strewed throughout the camp and they're full of 'nades. Darley and Ven, whip out your pistol and take aim at the crates with the Elites. You snipers are the best shots with those HEs, and I don't want any mess ups. The rest of first team will fire at many of the remaining crates as possible. Gil, you and Cet better be right on our asses."
They might actually have a chance.
Hailey looked along the ridge at the men laying there beside him. He saw another drop of sweat fall into the dry sand from Private Ven's nose ridge.
Hailey wrinkled his own nose, and concentrated on another bead of perspiration forming quickly on Ven's nose. Hailey knew that if Ven caught him timing the attack to drops of sweat from the Private's nose, he would be throttled regardless of rank or friendship.
Finally, the Corporal saw it drop and ordered the attack.
At that exact moment, a large gust of wind swept the dunes, spewing sand dust high and everywhere. It was only a matter of two heartbeats before the sand storm was so thick, the Marines could barely see the Covenant camp and alien structure, let alone the Covenant soldiers.
The Marines on the ridge had to cover their eyes against the sand, and nobody was able to fire a shot. Hailey cursed quietly, and then realized the Scorpion would continue on. He cursed louder, surprising Ven beside him.
The engine of the Scorpion roared to life and moved up the dune slope. Its two front tracks slanting down to take the shape of the slope in front, whilst its rear tracks remained level. The turret rotated and the gun barrel was lowered.
Its attack was rather simple: Take out one of the Wraiths and shoot everything else after. Gil picked the Wraith which would remain stationary long enough for them to fire at it. He told Hailey that he and Cet could do it with their eyes close. It seems like that was exactly what they were doing.
The Scorpion fired.
The 90mm high velocity shell smashed into the lower side of the Wrath. Instantly, it punctured the Wraiths armour and exploded inside. The entire side deformed from the blast and large pieces of the Wraith's armour was thrown outward. Suddenly, the plasma in the Wraith also erupted and the blue energy almost vaporised what was left of the Wraith.
Ven and Darley started to fire their pistols at the areas where they remembered the crates of plasma grenades to be. At the same time, the rest of Marines fired their weapons into the haze.
It seemed like a long time before one of Ven's shots hit a crate, but Hailey was relieved when he heard the loud explosion and snarls of dying Elites. A moment later, Darley hit his target and soon both snipers were hitting crates. Hailey couldn't help but be amazed at the two snipers ability to remember the position of the grenades.
As more explosions erupted within the sand storm, the sound of assault rifle firing was soon joined by the sound of the two Warthogs' mounted chain-gun spewing 12.7mm armour piercing rounds. The Scorpion also fired its wild 7.62mm armour piercing with tracer rounds, and the air at the base of the dunes was soon covered in metallic hail of death.
The haze lightened to a degree that the Marines could see outlines of Covenant Grunts, stumbling into the outskirts of the camp. They were quickly killed as Marines now had a target to fire upon. The return fire of plasma bolt was still wild and Hailey could only deduce that the Covenant couldn't see a thing, even the Marines' weapon flash.
Two Ghosts suddenly shot pass their fallen comrades right towards them. Cet lowered the Scorpion gun at the one closest to the tank. He lowered his aim to fire at the ground right below the sleek Covenant craft. An outline of an Elite, hunched low over the Ghost controls, could be seen against the soft, purple hue of the craft.
Cet fired. The high velocity shell exploded on impact in the sand. The left side of the Ghost deformed and the craft tipped to the right before exploding. The Elite was thrown to the right, a part of one of its lower limb was missing.
The gunners on the Warthog fired upon the remaining Ghost. The armour piercing round ripped into the Ghost and smashed into the Elites armour. Soon, the craft was shot to pieces and the Elite was thrown back, out of the Ghost. What was left of the Ghost lost its gravity drives, and crashed it into the sand. The Elite, a Red, was on the sand roaring wildly before it was silenced by a well placed shot from Darley's pistol.
A group of Jackals and a pair of Grunts soon staggered into the sights of the Scorpion guns. The vulture-like Jackals waved their blue or yellow shields wildly in the air, their beaks were opened wide as if they were screaming.
The Scorpion machine gun raked the dirt around them, and killed two Jackals.
Quickly, the Jackals attempted to form a defensive formation. It was rendered useless as a 90mm shell exploded in the group. Bits and pieces of Jackals flew into the air, landing around a dark, smouldering shell crater.
Three Elites appeared and started firing accurately at the Scorpion. Gil cursed when he heard the loud thuds of plasma bolts, impacting upon the Scorpion. Cet attempted to fire the machine gun at the Elites, waiting for the main gun to be ready.
The 7.62mm armour piercing rounds had little effect on the Elites shield. Due its inaccurate nature, what rounds did hit the Elites did not penetrate, simply ricocheting off the energy shields of the large aliens.
Hailey could see what was happening and primed a fragmentation grenade. He threw it at the Elites, and the grenade landed right in front of them. The explosion instantly engulfed the Elites, and all that was left was a dark patch in the sand.
Before Hailey could congratulate himself, a Gold Elite appeared, sprinting towards the Marines. It cat-like gait, tall, predatory figure and yellow golden hue, quickly sent a shiver of fear through them all.
Immediately, every weapon swivelled to aim at the Elite apart from the Scorpion, which could see the second Wraith appearing.
The Elite kept running even as armour piercing rounds took out its energy shield. Soon, the rounds pierced the Elites armour, and dark purple blood spurted out from the exit wounds. A high explosive round from one of the snipers impacted upon the Gold's exposed right pauldron. The upper arm armour shattered, and flew off. The Elite, spun by the impact, stopped its mad sprint. Series of 12.7mm ripped into the Elites side and the alien was flung onto the ground.
A pool of purple blood oozed from every orifice of the alien. Its lower mandibles were shattered, and its mouth was wide open. The Elite still clutched tightly at its Plasma rifle. Hailey would remember later that the Gold Elite didn't even fire a single shot.
Two separate explosions caused all the Marines to focus on the task at hand. The Wraith was flipped onto its back; a dark tower of dark smoke in front of the upturn Wraith indicated that the Scorpion blast was the perpetrator.
The Wraith's shot went wild.
The sand storm lifted as abruptly as it descended upon them.
Instantly, the Marines could see what they accomplished so far, and they were amazed at the scale of destruction in front of them: Over a hundred bodies (whole and pieces of bodies) littered the areas around dark explosion craters. Half a dozen Ghosts were smouldering or up turned and the Shades were nearly all empty. Hailey could see only one Covenant plasma gun turret occupied by a dead Grunt, slumped over the gun controls.
There were survivors.
A small group of Grunts and Jackals with a pair of Elites, almost twenty in total, hunkered behind fallen crates and smouldering wrecks.
They started firing as soon as they could.
Plasma bolts screamed through the air towards the Marines and the Scorpion. Cet took aim at the Grunts and fired. A pair of Grunts flew into the air from the subsequent explosion, and a handful of Grunts and Jackals were thrown onto the ground. The Elites continued to fire.
Hailey heard the scream of agony to his right, and saw Darley clutching the side of his neck. Before he could stop him, Ven snatched away his assault rifle and sprung up from the ridge, bellowing a war cry. The sniper ran down the dune slope towards the two Elites, oblivious to the storm of plasma around him.
As if the sniper acted like a trigger, four more Marines sprang from their high ground advantage and charged the Covenant line. The vehicles fired at what was left of the Covenants. Hailey could only watch helplessly, not even thinking of opening his COM.
A moment later, Hailey, without a weapon, rolled over to Darley to see how badly he was hurt. It was a nasty scorching of the neck, but not in the least fatal to the injured sniper. He tried to reassure Darley with a smile and a touch to the shoulder, at the same time, attempting to block out the gun battle at the base of the dune.
Suddenly, the firing stopped.
Ven was smacking at one of the Elites with the butt of his assault rifle. The metal stock smashed into the Elite's face again and again, blood spurting upwards onto Ven. He was panting hard, uttering something incomprehensible every time he came down with the weapon. He was not injured in the slightest, only sweating heavily and looking exhausted.
The Marines around him didn't dare to touch him, and only stared stone faced at the display before them.
When Hailey arrived, he shouted orders to them to stop Ven. When nobody moved, the Corporal threw himself at Ven.
He tried to grab the assault rifle, whilst at the same time, pull Ven away. The sniper resisted, and Hailey had to use all of his energy to finally pull the Marine down onto the sand. Hailey wasn't in the least surprised at the extra strength the Marine acquired in this moment of rage.
The two lay beside each other, looking up in the air and panting heavily. Hailey unconsciously checked his weapon. Empty.
He opened his COM and said, "Status everybody."
All the Marines, apart from Ven, answered. Everybody was alive. Amazing.
Hailey suddenly burst out laughing. Quickly he groaned as a pain in his chest stopped him. He was coughing when he said, "Everybody, we fucking did it. Gil, Cet, great job. You've got to tell me how you got that Wraith up side down."
They won. That was all Hailey thought as another loud eruption of blue energy sped into the sky above him. He ignored the irony of the moment and the scorching sand against his back. He forgot all the deaths in company and the silent Ven beside him. He cared not for the wounded Darley, or the hundred Covenants around him.
They won.
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