Hit Hard Ch. 3: --Siege--
Posted By: Nick Kang<digitai430@yahoo.com>
Date: 14 February 2004, 9:02 PM
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The sun streamed through the charred, blackened trees. A thin layer of snow had fallen that night, and it covered the ground in a blanket of white. Patterson might have been able to enjoy the peaceful winter morning, had it been more peaceful. Right now the Covenant had taken the city of San Francisco away from UNSC possession. It was his company's job to take it back, and the city was already coming into view as the tanks and Warthogs made their wasy along the partially destroyed highway. The Covenant seemed to have hit North America particularly hard, leaving only a meager several million more to take the rest of the world.
But there was no time to think about the status of Earth, and Patterson realized it as a giant blue and white fireball leapt from the ruined California city and impacted the ground mere yards away from the quickly traveling convoy. They were expecting his company. Almost no sooner had the plasma bolt hit the ground than Ghosts and Shadows came out to meet them.
Patterson fired his rocket launcher from his position in the back-seat of one of the Warthogs. The projectile flew forward trailing smoke and hit a Ghost. It penetrated the first layer of armor and exploded from within, sending the driver high into the sky. The LAAG of his Warthog fire, as well as all of the others on the other Warthogs. Ghosts and Shadows flew apart and drivers were cast out to join an ever-growing pile of bodies. The blue and purple plasma blasts that lanced from the Covenant vehicles melted parts on the armor of the vehicles and even killed a few Marines that were foolish enough to poke their heads out the side of the Warthogs.
After deciding that he wanted in on the fun, one of the tank operators fired the cannon on his Scorpion. A cluster of Ghosts exploded in a gout of flame. Debris showered the moving UNSC convoy. Patterson fired again. This one was a bit too high and blew the gunner of a Shadow to pieces as well as blowing off the stationary plasma turret he had been using. The Warthigs continued to fire and one by one the Covenant vehicles exploded and burned metal. Soon there were so few remaining Covenant vehicles that they were forced to retreat back into the city. The Wraiths inside the city limits resumed fire. They fired more rapidly than before and rocked Patterson's Warthog. He glanced at the Warthog next to him, this one driven and manned by Spartans. He hoped they weren't hit by the plasma barrage, or else this entire mission would go totally downhill. He looked back up into the sky just in time to see a Wraith plasma blast heading right for his Warthog.
Field Master Ricto 'Nelemee kept his eye on the Human convoy that was rapidly making it's way to the city, even under heavy fire from their many Wraiths. a Wraith shot flipped a Warthog loaded with 'Mreens'. The convoy came within twenty yards. He activated his plasma sword. The meter-long green beam shot out of the handle. The Human vehicles entered the city limits and fired on his comrades posted on the outer limts of the city. He could hear Lower Races screaming and God-kings grunting. There were none of his kind on the outer limits, they were too valuable. He could see plasma flying at the Humans as they fired. Once their 'Wrthaugs' and 'Scrpyins' got inside the city, almost nothing would be able to stop them. One of their tanks fired. 'Nelemee had never seen one of those behemoths in action before, and what he saw scarred his confidence. In a single shot, a Scrpyin took out a Wraith, something tht was a huge achievement, even for Covenant themselves. The Scrpyins also came fitted with the rapidly firing projectile launchers that slaughtered his comrades. This as most likely a battle that him and his comrades wouldn't be able to win. The battle waged for several minutes with minimal casualties on the Human side. Not even the mighty Godkings could inflict much damage with the Human's sheer efficiency.
'Nelemee dove behind a crumbling wall and waited for the Humans to come. They did. A Wrthaug drove up near the ruined wall. 'Nelemee jumped out and with one swift stroke from his sword...missed the Wrthaug and got sucked under the wheels.
The Grunt Fafaw fired his pistol. He knew it wouldn't do much to the Human war machine that was slowly converging upon his unit. The giant machine rolled over a hill, four of the Human soldiers seated above the strange, linked wheels. A large tube extended from the top turret. Being of the unitelligent Grunt origin, he had absolutely no idea what it was supposed to do until it fired and destroyed a Wraith. Seeing the immense power of the machine, his unit scattered.
"Run away! Run away!" he yelled as half of his unit disappeared under the metal beast. He saw a few Godkings line up and fire their arm-mounted plasma blasters. They fired. The Humans on top of the tank were blown off, but other than that the armor was only partially melted. The machine fired and blew the Godkings away. He ran inter the inner limits, where Field Master Ricto 'Nelemee was waiting with his mighty unit of Godkings and Overlords. He got there just in time to see 'Nelemee swing for a Human vehicle with his plasma sword, miss, and get sucked under the vehicles wheels. All hope for him immediately disappeared. He grabbed a shoulder-mounted plasma blast from one of his fallen comrades and turned around. The machine hadn't seen him yet, and he fired right at the mesh where the operator was. The mesh exploded and a Human flew from the cockpit. Fafaw felt extremely proud of himself, taking out a machine that had killed six Godkings as well as probably a quarter of the outer defenses. Him, a Lower Race, had taken out the mightiest Human vehicle. He was so glad, he nearly got run over by a Human car that drove by and tried to hit him. He turned around and fired. The green blob flew but missed. He fired another shot at the fleeing Human vehicle, missed again as the car banked a hard right to avoid the blast, and the battery went dead. The plasma blaster stopped functioning. He discarded it and took out his plasma pistol, just as a bullet fired from a Human rapid projectile launcher tore through his left arm. He squaeked in pain and dove behind a large trash disposer just as the rest of the bullets ricocheted off the charred metal of the disposer. He bandaged his arm, crawled through a huge crack in the wall, where he came out behind the big trash disposer, and fainted from pain.
The Chief stepped on the gas as hard as he could as an Elite wearing gold armor and brandishing a plasma sword disappeared under the Warthog. He heard an explosion and looked back to see a tank operator being killed by a Grunt carrying a fuel rod launcher. He turned and aimed to run down the Grunt. The Grunt dove just in time and fired a green blob. It missed. It fired another, this one would have hit if the Chief hadn't turned a steep right. The gunner of the Warthog fired. The Chief heard the Grunt squeak. That should take care of him. The usual wall of Jackals and Elites formed up ahead. That didn't stop the attackers, they just plowed through and fired. There was a shrieking sound and a fuel rod blast came from the sky and hit the ground near a Warthog. Four Banshees had taken off from the Covenant airfield somewhaere in the massive city. The Warthog fired. Bullets sparked as they hit the armor of the Covenant fighters. They all exploded in showers of molten metal. Four Hunters waddled out of hiding in an alley and fired. Four fuel rod blasts hit the ground and flipped a Warthog. The three remaining Scorpions fired and blew the Hunters to pieces. The convoy continued on but encountered no real resistance, other than a few scattered Elites and Grunts. Their mission was successful. San Francisco had been taken back.
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