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Helljumper's Reach Campaign, Part 1
Posted By: Spartan-507<destroyer3707@aol.com>
Date: 8 January 2005, 11:08 PM


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The alarm rang all throughout the UNSC cruiser Saratoga, waking the entire crew. Down in the barracks of the 105th Division(the Helljumpers), D company, Sgt. Bob Smith cursed silently to himself. Corporal Matthew Caceres sat wide-eyed on his cot," What the hell is going on now?!". "Ease up Marine", said a gruff voice down the end of the barracks. It was their Lieutenant, Mike Shaw. "Whatever reason the Commander woke us up for, I'm sure as hell that it's a good one." "It better be", said yet another voice. This time it belonged to Lance Corporal Eric Gutierrez. Then the intercom blasted, "All combat personnel report to battle stations. Repeat, all combat personnel report to battle stations. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. Reach has come under attack." By the time the announcement was over, all the Helljumpers were already gone. After about 4 and a half minutes of running to their battle stations, they suited up in theirr full body armor. Sgt. Smith grabbed 2 Pistols and one MA5B Assault Rifle. The companies sniper, PFC Anthony Gonzalez grabbed a sniper rifle,two sound mufflers and a fully loaded rocket launcher. "Alright men, the Covenant think that they can have Reach. Well, we're here to let them know that the only thing they can have is a swift kick in the ass. Now lets drop feet first into hell" said Shaw. The men responded with a quick "Hoorah". They loaded up into their HEV's and braced themselves for the sudden lurch all drops like these had. As they were just about ready to drop down to the South Pole of Reach to defend the generator that powered the Orbital MAC guns, they got a new order from Commander David Terrance." Marines, the Covenant cruiser, Hailing Glory, has crash landed just north of the city of Apacanopo. We're sending you there to stop them from creating any civilian casualties." Shaw responded "Roger that, sir."
As the pods dropped toward their destination, Sgt. Smith remembered that his wife was on a business trip in Apacanopo. He hoped that he would get to her before the Covenant. After a few short minutes, the pods finally crashed onto the surface of Reach. PFC Armand Ruiz approached the Sgt. and reported "Sir, drop successful. No casualties. we've landed about 3 miles west of Apacanopo". "Thank you, Private" Smith returned. As they neared Apacanopo, they recieved a communication. ".....all over. They're overwhelming us. We can't protect the generators...longer. They've also got a new soldier here. Something called Elites...wicked strong and.. oh shit, look out behind you.....". The communication failed. "Was that to us, Loot?" asked PFC Robert Byrnes. "Well, in a matter of speaking, no. It was directed to everyone in-system." reported Shaw. Sgt. Smith was just about to say somehting when they recieved yet another communication, this one directed to them. " Hey boys, need a ride?" 3 Pelicans came into view, 2 carrying Warthogs, and one carrying a Scorpion battle tank. It wasn't enough to carry all of them, but it will do."Thanks" said the Sgt. He mounted the guner seat of one of the Warthog, while Ruiz manned the turret and Caceres drove. Shaw boarded the gunner seat of the other LRV, and Gonzalez mounted a side seat on the tank while Byrnes drove the thing. Those who were fast got a seat on one of the vehicles, while the others walked alongside the tank. In total, there were 14 men in D Company, and one woman, PFC Melisa Perez. As they entered Apacanopo, they were greeted by a barrage of plasma fire, and a sea of mortar blasts from 3 Wraiths down the street. Gonzalez opened up with the rocket launcher, eliminating one of the Wraiths and damaging another. The remaining Wraiths answered in kind, delivering mortar after mortar of blasts, finally killing PFC Joe Pykins and ripping apart PFC John Mahvoic. About 14 Jackals ran down the street, plasma pistols charging. just as Anthony was about to fire another salvo of rockets at the Wraiths, a bolt hit him square in the chest, causing his rockets to take out an entire truck. Ruiz put the petal to the metal, trampling 9 of the 14 Jackals into paste. The remaining ones were then greeted with a storm of molten lead from the Warthogs' chaingun. Smith then sprayed the bodies still struggling to get up with an entire clip from his AR. Only one of the Wraiths was still operating, thanks to the Scorpion's main weapon. More and more reports of these "Elites" kep flooding in, but none gave a direct description. One tried to send an electronic picture, but all that came through was a bunch of badly pixilated pictures of something. Then, an ear-splitting explosion shook the city. The Helljumpers looked up and saw a UNSC cruiser hurtling down towards the south. A communication from the downed ship was intercepted."Mayday!Mayday! This is Commander David Terrance of the Saratoga. We are going down." the ship then disappeared into the horizon, followed by a faint rumble on the ground. "Damn, damn, damn, damn!" screamed Sgt. Smith. As they turned the corner of the block, the Warthog screeched to a halt. Something was looking at them. It was looking at them from 4 blocks away. It was a Scarab. "Fall back, fall back!' ordered Smith. But the Scorpion still turned the corner. The Scarab's "head" was glowing a violent green. Anthony screamed "Everybody off!!" the ones riding on the sides jumped off, but not Byrnes. He was struggling to get his harness free and open the hatch. "C'mon Byrnes move your ass!" shouted Smith. Byrns opened the hatch, and got up, but it was too late. A green beam of plasma stuck the tank. Smith saw Byrnes' outline for a millisecond, then it disappeared. The tank melted and exploded, sending liquid metal everywhere. Then the Scarab started it's way towards them.





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