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The Fall of Rye: Chapter 3: Taking the Bait
Posted By: teemus<teemusligg@hotmail.com>
Date: 7 March 2004, 10:42 PM
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Rye system, July 2nd
The ODST battalion finished the rest of the search without any more assaults or finding survivors. The Helljumpers continued their march through the dense forest to make their way to the power plant. Jason walked by himself near the back of the ODST column; the thought of seeing his best friend's death still haunted him. It seemed as if a major battle had taken place in the forest, chunks of trees were missing or they were either engulfed in large flames. There was red, blue, and purple blood everywhere, bullet casings littered the ground but there were no bodies. This puzzled Jason, either the Covenant had already cleaned the area, or the Humans had—but the young Helljumper doubted that. The ODST saw the Major put up his hand and the entire battalion stopped in its tracks, the sound was immediately drowned out from the cawing of birds and animals.
The COM clicked on and Garcia spoke directly to the Helljumper, "Jason, get your ass up here now."
"Yes, sir," replied Jason as he began to make his way through the lines of men to the noncom, the confused ODST walked up from behind the Major who turned around, Jason snapped a quick salute.
The Major returned the salute and spoke, "We need drivers."
"Drivers for what?"
"We found quite a few abandoned 'Hogs in the trees; there are also two Scorpion tanks and enough troop transports to carry half of the battalion. I looked up your record and it said you were a best driver back in boot. Am I correct?"
"Yes, sir," replied Jason with a sly grin on his face.
"Good, I'm putting you in charge of the other two men riding with you, you'll lead the column to the power plant and start a fight; we'll join up with you later. By the way, Corporal Howard is in charge of the overall convoy, so you will take and receive orders from him, do you understand?
"Yes, sir," replied Jason, he then left the Major and found Corporal Howard and half of the ODST battalion standing by the tree line.
"It's about time you decided to show up," said the Corporal with a grim look on his face, "Follow me."
After about a ten-minute walk through more forest, the Helljumpers came across the vehicles. It was soon found out why the convoy had been abandoned, several of the Warthogs were on fire; a troop transport had even been ripped in half. Most of the vehicles had red bloodstains splattered on the polished metal. There were still Human carcasses on the ground, and by the way it looked; it couldn't of happened more then an hour ago. The ODST's—with a great effort—flipped the overturned cars back onto their wheels and hopped in.
Jason let out a groan as he got into his seat; there was wet blood that stained the seat, which had then been transferred to his ass. The steering wheel was also covered in scarlet red blood, the nervous Helljumper watched as the passenger jumped into his seat and scowled. Once the gunner was locked and loaded, the convoy set out. They zigzagged to avoid trees, and the forest slowly started to thin; and eventually turned into a valley with low rolling hills.
Jason was starting to daydream about eating a fresh hot meal when the gunner let out a surprised yelp. He stomped on the brake and turned around, "What is it?"
"There's a Grunt, just over there," replied the gunner pointing to a large rock.
Jason turned and saw a panic stricken Grunt standing next to a boulder. Jason clicked on his COM and spoke to the Corporal who was two vehicles back, "Sir, we found a Grunt; he's trying to make a run for it." the ODST reported as the Grunt gathered its senses and ran farther into the valley.
"Don't open fire; maybe if we follow it then it will lead us to the power plant."
"Yes, sir," replied Jason, he then clicked the COM off and stepped on the gas, the ODST followed the Grunt with the rest of convoy on the Covenant creature's tail. They had to be careful not to run over it or not get too close. The Grunt picked up speed and disappeared over the edge of a hill, Jason and the rest of the convoy came over the hill, but their actions were unwise and regrettable. Standing on the other end of the hill were two Hunters, behind the lumbering aliens stood Jackals with their shields overlapping, behind the Jackals were Elites, it was a formidable army. The Hunters were the first to open fire, the twin Fuel Rod blasts caught Jason's vehicle and flipped it. He was sent flying out of the driver's seat and landed face first in the dirt. The ODST quickly got up and looked behind him. The rest of the Convoy also ran into the same problem, more than half the vehicles were flipped and the others were in the process.
He clicked on his COM and spoke to the Corporal, fear and adrenaline made his voice shake and waver, "Sir, I suggest you tell the Scorpions to stay on the other end of hill; they're too valuable."
"I've already taken care of that Jason, just get to shooting at those bastards," replied the Corporal.
Jason ran to the flipped Warthog and took cover behind it with the gunner; the gunner was a tall dark-skinned man, he had lost his helmet and revealed his dark red hair. Unlike Jason, he was extremely built; Jason had been scrawny ever since he was little, even when he had finished boot.
"Where's the passenger?" asked Jason to the gunner over the rattle of gunfire.
"He's over there," the man replied and pointed behind Jason as he slammed a fresh clip into his MA5B.
Jason followed his finger and almost threw up when he saw the passenger—or the remains of him. He had flown out of his seat when the 'Hog had flipped and landed in a deep pile of dirt, Then a troop transport came crashing down on him and cut him in two, his torso was on a nearby rock while his upper body was still stuck under the transport. Jason drew his gaze away from the body and instead at one of the Warthogs that had survived the attack. The gunner was screaming and he hammered at the trigger buttons, while the 'Hogs driver was limp in his seat along with the passenger. Jason pulled out the Shotgun that he had obtained earlier and loaded some shells into it. He flicked off the safety and fired a shot over the top of the Warthog. He fired another shot and was awarded with the panicked scream of a dying Grunt.
"You realize we shouldn't have followed that Grunt." the other ODST remarked.
"Why?" replied Jason.
"Because, they knew we were coming, they sent the Grunt out as bait."
"Well, it's a bit too late for that now," replied Jason, "What's your name any ways?"
"Botowski Hex is the name, but you can call me Bubba."
"Hello Bubba," said Jason as plasma shot over his head, "The names Jason, call me...Jason."
Bubba let out a small laugh and continued to shot at the Covenant. The COM burped static and the Corporal spoke to what was left of the convoy, "I was able to send out a distress call, it'll be a while before any help shows up though, so make your self's at home."
Just great, hope I can out last this one, thought Jason as he poked his head out from cover and fired off another round at an oncoming Grunt. The Grunts' methane-breathing rig snapped off and the creature grabbed at its throat. Jason looked up and saw one of the Hunters shift towards them and charge its Fuel Rod Gun. The Helljumper quickly grabbed Bubba by his uniform and pulled him away from the 'Hog, just as the green plasma impacted with the vehicle and tore it into two. Bubba got up and they both ran for cover. The closest thing they could find was a small boulder, which was already sheltering a few ODST's.
"Thanks for that," calmly said Bubba as they dove behind the boulder.
"Don't mention it," replied Jason as there was a sudden screeching noise and someone shouted "Banshees!"
To be continued...
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