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A Spartan's Path - Chapter 10
Posted By: Myth
Date: 24 December 2003, 10:39 PM


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~Author's Note
Dang, I made an error in one of my early stories; The First Lieutenant Ryan "Myth" Barkley is supposed to be a Master Sergeant, I just realized that the Master Chief is supposed to rank the younger Spartan, sorry guys, try to make do, Enjoy.

~End Note



~*six months later*~



       Danny 248 a.k.a. "Razor" swept his arm across the armory shelf, taking five fragmentation grenades. A team of marines stood on the docking racks just outside the armory, checking weapons and ammunition. He clipped the frags to his belt, and then reached for an assault rifle. His duel plasma coated swords rested in their sheaths attached to his back. The door was already opened, exposing several pelican dropships. The massive floor below sported MA808 MBT Scorpion tanks, M12 LRV Warthogs-both editions, and swarms of marines ready to leave the ship. The Threshold UNSC cruiser, edged toward the human planet. Earth, it was called, A thick weave of Covenant battle ships sat stationary, sending routes of troopships and Phantoms towards the surface. A few of the ring space stations were constructing more of the orbital MAC guns, but other than that, the UNSC was counting on recruiting marines and ODSTs from The planet called Cadia, another Reach like planet, in fact, its could pass as Reach's twin. The Cadians were skilled fighters, though not marines, these once pirates were allied with their human defenders. Rumor was that Cadia had, or was training another group of Spartans. Danny was returning from the lush planet and headed for Earth. MAC guns on the ship came alive, firing golden heavy shells into the Covenant ranks. A carrier was struck in one of its bulbous shuttle bays, which smashed into the main portion of the ship, which therefore detonated in a blue-white explosion. The UNSC cruiser accelerated and put itself into position for its dropships to disengage.
       Danny patted a marine sergeant on his shoulder, signaling it was show time. The name SGT. BLACKWELL, AJ was stenciled over his right pectoral. Another field officer was in charge of this mission, his name: Lt. Jeremy Pearson. Razor slapped back the charging lever, slid a fresh clip into his rifle and secured the weapon under his fusion pack. A team of marines sat ready, shotguns, assault rifles and some carried SMG 900s. One member carried the team's M19 SSM jackhammer rocket launcher. A door burst at the far end of the docking bay. Covenant mercenaries flowed into the bay. That was their downfall. One of the MA808 Scorpions turned its cannon barrel to the door, it fired, destroying the aliens and igniting several fuel canisters. "All right marines, that would be our cue, move it!" Blackwell ordered. His team saluted and ran into the drop craft. Another team of Covenant opened a door on Danny's docking rack. The Spartan unleashed both his blades and signaled for the marines to keep going. The swords glowed dull silver, slicing from side to side beheading two Elites. The third slung a vicious blow with its rifle, but Razor jammed both blades through its stomach. A sword wielding Elite charged, tackled and was set to kill the Spartan when the barrel of a M6D pistol was pressed to the Elites forehead. A muffled clap erupted from the weapon. Even the alien's energy shield couldn't protect him from that range. Razor looked up to see Flight Lieutenant Patrick Folly standing with a smoking pistol. Folly took his position in the pilot chair of the pelican and lifted off. A marine on the edge grabbed his hand and pulled him in. The pelican glided through the air, and then was joined by eight more and a wing of Longswords to fly cover. Danny put his pistol into its holster and looked out the window. Covenant warships were attempting to fall back into formation but the UNSC kept them at bane.

       Meanwhile on the surface of Earth, A team of Spartans stood in front of a human outpost. Kelly 087, John 117, Frederic 104, and Ryan 417 stood just outside a human outpost, location: Sydney, Australia. Kelly and Fred were some of the few survivors of Reach. John's and all of Earth's defenders' hopes were that Cadia would remain a secret to the Covenant. Ryan stood in attention, usually quiet around the veteran Spartans; of course, it wasn't that much of a change, seeing that he was usually fairly quiet. Myth's helmet rested sealed on his head, his MA5B slung over his shoulder. The three other Spartans had similar weapons. Frederic carried an M90 close assault shotgun; Kelly carried a battle rifle and an assault rifle, the Chief carried an M90 and two M6D pistols. A squad of marines bailed from troop carrier and headed into the jungle. "All right, Ryan and Fred, you head for the Covenant outpost with that marine team. Kelly and I will take the back route." John said over the SQUADCOM. Three acknowledgment lights winked in the Master Chief's HUD.
       Ryan led the way down the slender path. Frederic was in the rear, the marines in between. His assault weapon was up and ready. Foliage surrounded the humans. A Grunt popped out of some bushes and stumbled onto the trail. It squealed and reached for a communicator on its belt, before it could the marines had its head full of lead. The small alien keeled over, neon blue blood pooling at its body. After pushing through a few more trees, Myth raised his hand in a fist. Fred jogged up and saw the clearing with a decent sized outpost sitting on the far edge of it. Stationary energy shields surrounded the complex, and were guarded by five Shade guns. The sniper looking through his scope cursed and passed the rifle to the black clad Spartan. Myth saw the sniper's reaction cause. Behind each Shade, the Covenant had erected 'tents' or the Covie version anyway, barracks and even a vehicle yard sat at the far end. Two Banshees hovered overhead as well. Myth caught sight of a few Grunts head for the Shade turrets. Myth handed the rifle to Fred then back to the sniper. "Oh crap, we're screwed now, those Banshees and Shades are gonna tear us to pieces." A marine said. Fred waved forward the launcher wielding private. He then motioned to the sniper; "You boys stay here and cover us, Private Andrews: take out those Banshees." Fred said to the two men. He searched for Myth and found him on the side of a hill, concealed by foliage, pistol out. Two coughs erupted from the pistol. Two Grunts on patrol dropped in their tracks. Fred tapped him on the shoulder and he led the way down. The marines kept silent, battle rifles up and ready. Myth held his M6D at chest level, shot three more rounds taking out two Jackals.

       Ridley 'Garamee saw the Jackal atop a building tumble off it, two bullet pocks in his forehead. The Elite kicked the corpse and found the Jackal's brother with half its face blown off. "Kor, Bok, and Fawk, get here now!" The black clad Elite ordered. Three Spec Ops Jackals appeared in front of him. "Scout." He said curtly. Kor took his Needler off his belt; being the leader of his squad he also carried a cut down plasma sword. The others both donned their standard issue plasma pistols. The bird-like aliens hopped off the structure and waved their weapons from side to side, looking for a target. Kor and Fawk activated their energy shields, crouching behind the venerable Bok, who by Kor, was forced to go ahead with stealth. Kor's golden shield gleamed, his treasured Needler rifle resting in a groove of the shield that allowed firing.
       Bok walked forward his plasma pistol searching for a purpose. The Jackal noticed the heat rising around his paw. Bok calmly hit one button that settled the weapon down. The Jackal cursed as he saw traces of humans: three bullet casings. He wanted to fall back but kept going, intrigued by the tracks not usually made by a human marine. After finally allowing his head to drop and look to the ground, he felt his pistol being wrenched from his paw. A clap sounded and the Jackal tumbled backwards, dead. Kor activated his comm. "Bok? Are you there? Come in." he said in the Jackal tongue.

       Kelly stood over the corpse of a Covenant Jackal. The overcharged pistol fired and hit a lone tree, setting it ablaze. Covenant soldiers awoke from their tents, most not in armor. They waved their weapons in fury and fired upon the Chief and the other Spartan. The two humans opened up on the surrounding enemies, the aliens crumbled under the projectiles. A Banshee screamed overhead, John swore and fell back, firing his two pistols. His shotgun lay on the ground next to three dead covies. He turned the corner to see two Jackals. He fired, which struck the blue shield wielding creature in the forehead. The other turned and let loose a fury of glassy needles. The purple projectiles sprang and stuck into his armor. The Jackal dropped the weapon and activated an energy sword. It charged, but John issued it a full magazine into the creature. Fred and Ryan were on the other side of the outpost, firing at a crouch. The creatures charged firing wildly. The Spartans fired at the wave, cutting them down. A volley of 14.7mm blasts suddenly tore down the wave. Ryan threw his vision behind him to see a team of UNSC snipers standing atop a rock. Ryan smiled and finished the last of the aliens then walked further into the base. A Jackal was hiding behind one of the 'tents' holding one plasma grenade. Ryan jammed a combat knife into the base of the alien's skull and signaled to his squad mates he had found a door. He pushed through to see a deep valley lined with Covenant barracks's and two motor pools along with a landing platform. Two Spartans lay on their stomachs on top of a few overlooking rocks. On John's HUD they were tagged as Vince 093 or "Arrow" and Will 043. Both held sniper rifles, gazing through the 10x scopes, surveying the alien activities. Kelly braced herself between a rock and a wall, ready to fire. Ryan dropped to his knees and readied his MA5B. John 117 was along side him, both pistols' scopes at 2x. It was 0435 hours in the morning, and the Covenant was getting ready for something. Will's finger was on his trigger but restrained from firing. Wraith tanks hovered close to the ground, sluggishly moving into a vehicle dropship. Everyone down there was clad in jet black armor, Elites and Jackals climbed into Banshees and drifted gracefully through the dark sky. The Spartans saw an armory station on either side of the canyon which evidently held active camouflage generators, over shields, and a wealth of weapons. John signaled to Kelly and Fred. Both Spartans sneaked down a steep canyon wall and to the back of the complex. Two Grunts were curled up and asleep at their posts. Kelly snapped both their necks and drew a silenced pistol and a combat knife. Kelly scaled the wall and Fred slipped an armored hand over the control panel. The Spartan tore the panel off and grabbed a handful of wires and gave them a tug. The front doors slid shut, and Fred snapped back the action of his silenced M6D. Kelly dropped into the armory from the roof door and killed the Covenant inside. Fred pried open the door and slipped inside. The shelves on the right held plasma rifles, needlers, and below held plasma pistols, the shelves in the middle held camo generators, over shields and energy swords, and the last shelf to the left held plasma sniper weapons, fuel rod cannons and mini fuel blast guns. The room was packed to the brim. Fred checked his team's biometers; John, Kelly, and Will looked good. Vince had been hit a few times, some broken ribs and internal bleeding. Ryan was hurt pretty badly. He had barely ever said anything around the older Spartans, which included never complaining or informing them of an injury. He had had his left kidney severed by what looked to be a sword burn, and his right humorous was broken and his tibia was fractured. Fred signaled to a marine medic and pulled Myth into the armory. The young Spartan removed a piece of his armor and black-red blood spilled out of the wound. The Spartan removed his helmet and Fred could see traces of a wince hinted on the man's face. The medic removed a few more portions of the armor and opened the med pack. The marine raised a needle to his eye for inspection and eased it into the Spartan's side. Myth winced and the medic retrieved three canisters of bio foam and sealed several of the man's wounds. His humorous was gently lined up and his tibia set to place. The medic sealed the sections of removed armor and clipped up the med kit and jogged back up the hill.
       "Sergeant AJ Blackwell to the Master Chief-Operation Battle axe is a go!"

To be continued
By: Myth





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