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Attack on Sol (Part 6)
Posted By: Slit Throat
Date: 4 June 2004, 10:51 PM
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At 1800, the four Spartans met outside the hanger that contained the Covenant dropship. General Ketin and a Marine escort were standing by the small side door.
"Master Chief," acknowledged Ketin, "lets get going. I can't spare any Marines so you're going in alone. Your objectives are to infiltrate the enemy base, capture or kill the commander, destroy several key facilities and escape."
"Is that all?" asked Will wryly. Ketin glanced at him.
"The base is heavily defended. Upwards of a legion if recon was accurate. There are also many turrets covering both the ground and air approaches to the base. Be careful and good luck."
Ketin stepped aside and the Spartans entered the hanger and boarded the dropship. A few minutes later, the ship zoomed out of the hanger and disappeared into the night.
Ketin watched the sky for a few moments then motioned for his escort to follow him as he walked back to his office. The Spartans would either complete their mission or they would not. If they succeeded, the battle for Earth would begin to swing in the human's favor. If they failed and died, Colonel Ackerson would be pleased. It was a win-win situation for Ketin.
The Master Chief watched space roll by through the view port in the side of the Covenant dropship. Occasionally, he saw the shimmery grayish-purple length of a Covenant ship orbiting the planet, but those ships had no reason to suspect the tiny dropship.
"Five minutes to dirt," called Will from the cockpit.
"Okay team, check your weapons," ordered the Chief. His own arsenal included a Battle Rifle, SMG and M6D along with a bandolier of grenades, both frag and plasma. He was also carrying an optical probe and two field medkits.
"Equipment is one hundred percent," announced Fred, "we're ready for anything!"
"One minute to dirt," called Will. The dropship was to put down on the outskirts of the Lunar City, the first city built on the Moon. From there, the Spartans would work their way to the center of the city where the Covenant HQ was set up. The dropship would be rigged with explosives and blown, if needed, to attract attention while the Spartans slipped inside the base.
The Covenant dropship quietly touched down and opened the troop hatches. The Spartans quickly piled out and set charges around the craft. Will grabbed the timer and some more charges, and the small strike team set out.
Lunar City was, for the most part, deserted. The Covenant had crushed the small garrison stationed there and left no survivors, civilian or military. There was rubble and ash spread liberally in the streets and nothing above two stories was left standing. Covenant soldiers did patrol the perimeter of the city in regular patterns and inside apparently at random.
As the Spartans moved deeper into the city, they encountered more such patrols but did not engage. Security was sure to be tight around the base and they did not want to draw any unwanted attention.
As they ducked behind an abandoned house to avoid a patrol of Special Ops Grunts, John caught his first glimpse of the enemy HQ.
It reared up out of the ground like a mountain of purple metal. The slightly domed roof was defended by at least twenty turrets and several flights of Banshees. The ground was patrolled by many fleets of Ghosts and many more troops.
"They obviously don't want any guests," noted Cortana.
"Any ideas on how to get in?" asked the Chief grimly.
"I've determined three possible entry points, not including the main entrances," said Cortana. "One of which is the sewer system. It is not guarded so it seems like the most logical choice."
"Where is the entry to the sewers?" asked the Chief.
"It's on the other side of the complex, but there are sure to be street level entry points that lead to the city's main sewer system. The Covenant have likely attached their sewers to the existing ones," explained Cortana, "so I advise that you look for one of those."
"Thank you Cortana," said the Chief. "Spartans, we have a way into the base that is not guarded. The sewers seem to be the best bet and street level entrance points are the safest access. We need to find one."
"We'll get on it Chief," agreed Fred. The four Spartans spread out, still cautious of enemy patrols. They searched for five minutes before Linda announced over her com, "Found one. It's behind what used to be an apartment building. I'll load a NAV point." An orange arrow appeared on the Chief's HUD pointing to a location a few hundred meters away.
The Spartans rendezvoused with Linda behind the pile of rubble that had been an apartment building. The sewer entrance was a metal grate bolted to the asphalt. Fred easily wrenched the grate up and set it to one side. The Spartans then dropped one by one into the darkness below.
There was a small splash as each of the Spartans landed in the dark water. They formed a line, ducking since the top of the tunnel was too low for them to stand erect. The tunnel was pitch black so Fred, who was point as usual, activated his helmet lamp. The wide beam of light showed the metal walls of the tunnel and the low ceiling.
"Not a lot of space in here," commented Linda as the Spartans walked quickly down the tunnel. Soon, they came to a split in the piping, one tunnel went straight, the other branched off left.
"Which way Cortana?" asked the Chief.
"Straight ahead," answered Cortana. "We're about three hundred meters from the outer wall of the base. There is a covered maintenance grate twenty meters beyond that. That's our way up."
"Thanks," said the Chief and motioned the Spartans to go straight.
As the Spartans drew closer to the base, they began to hear faint footsteps above them. Then, silence.
"We're under the wall," whispered Cortana, "just twenty meters to go. I must warn you, I have no schematics of the base so once inside, you're on your own."
On the right hand wall Fred saw a ladder and called a halt. The Chief moved up and climbed the ladder, almost to the top, and pushed against the grate. To his surprise, it creaked softly and began to lift. The Chief hurriedly lowered it so as not to be discovered. He pulled out an optical probe and linked it's view to his HUD. Then he opened the grate a few centimeters and slipped the probe through.
There were no Covenant in the vicinity but there was plenty of equipment. Plasma weapons, portable shields, crates of grenades and many other items. A lurid blue light cast shadows everywhere so the Chief could not assume anything. He motioned the rest of the Spartans to follow him as he pulled himself slowly out of the hole, Battle Rifle at the ready, Covenant or no.
He moved to the large blast door that seemed to be the only other way in or out. The other Spartans searched the room and signaled clear.
"Well, we made it," said Will.
"We made it in, " responded the Chief, "now we have a mission to complete. Stay alert team, the hard part is about to begin."
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