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Into the City
Posted By: The Scribe<nero@cinci.rr.com>
Date: 23 July 2003, 7:23 PM
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*Note: You should probably read the prequels.*
___________________________________________________________
The Master Chief ducked down as the charred remains of an Elite flew right over the top of his helmet. Utter pandemonium surrounded him. Dead marines and Covenant alike were scattered in the grass, some not even recognizable.
"Sir!" someone "human" shouted. "Master Chief, sir!"
A Seraph, pursued by a Longsword bomber flew over head, their screaming jets drowning out the sound of battle for a brief moment. The Longsword fired its guns and the hits were dead on. The Seraph caught fire and took a nose dive into the landing pad that the Chief had arrived on. The pad exploded into a bright blue cloud of fire that sent soldiers, both alien and human, flying everywhere.
"MASTER CHIEF, SIR!" the voice shouted again.
The Spartan turned around and behind a battle-hardened Colonel crouched.
"Sir!" he said. "You need to come with me. There's a trench for my troops a few meters this way. Follow me!"
The Chief and the Colonel got on their stomachs and began inching their way forward through the bodies. A marine tumbled over onto the Chief's back and began screaming.
The man's lower legs were gone.
The Master Chief kept crawling. Nothing would stop him.
A fallen Elite landed right in front him, but he kept crawling.
Finally, they arrived.
The Chief hopped down into the safety of the trench. The Colonel's marines would stick their heads up every one in awhile and shoot a few rounds. There were only fifteen of them.
"See these fifteen?" the Colonel asked.
The Chief nodded.
"They're all that's left of the one hundred men I was given to command."
Tuka Hanamee stood in the observation room, staring from the large window out into space. He had watched the human transport leave. It had gone to Dracon, and tomorrow, so would he and his squad. They would crush the human in the palms of their fists and let his particles drift from their hands like sand. It would be glorious. The humans knew him as "The Scar" and he would strike even more fear into them after crushing their green super soldier.
"By the way, the name's Winter!" the Colonel shouted over the sounds of combat.
"Nice to meet you, Colonel!" the Chief raised hi voice. "How'd you know I was coming?"
"UNSC HQ radioed in and told me you were coming! That's how I knew to be ready for your arrival at the landing pad! By the way, I'm sorry about what happened to those escort guards! I saw the whole thing!"
The Chief ignored the apology and continued on with his business-like attitude.
"I've just got instructions for us to head to city limits and meet up with a pair of Spec Op marines," Cortana alerted.
"Roger that," the Master Chief responded. He turned to the Colonel. "I've just got instructions to make my way to the city."
"My squad and I'll escort you, Chief," Winter said. "The limits are about three miles through that tree line."
It suddenly became clear to the Spartan how earth-like the planet of Dracon really was. There were trees and grass and clouds. However, the clouds had a pinkish tint to them, but they were clouds none the less. The Chief had never really had time to look, but he now saw that the Covenant and human troops had been fighting on a huge plain. It would take a dead sprint to get to the woods, and there would be no cover.
The Colonel interrupted his thoughts.
"UNSC's ordering our boys to move back! They're calling in some Longswords to glass the Covenant occupation in the area! Here's the plan: the second our boys with wings fry those bastards, we begin running the three hundred yards to those woods a..."
The Colonel was interrupted when a shot-up marine toppled over and into the trench. Winter continued.
"Anyway, as I was saying, I don't know if there's any hostile occupation in those trees, Chief. We'll just have to pray."
The Spartan nodded and looked to the sky as five black triangular shapes came into view off in the distance.
"Get ready, to move marines!" the Colonel shouted. "When those Covenant fry, we fly!"
The Longswords began to get closer and closer.
Seeing this, the Covenant began running back in the human's opposite direction. Hundreds of marines cheered, but quickly stowed the happiness and began to leap into the trenches. The blasts would be large.
The Longswords roared right over head, leaving tumbling black bombs in their wake. The explosives hit their marks. Hundreds of Covenant blood and body parts littered the air as bright yellow clouds of fire engulfed the army.
The Chief, along with many other marines, hugged the trench bottom as a fiery rage passed overhead. A Jackal came sailing from nowhere and landed on the Colonel. The unfortunate alien was fire and Winter's uniform began to catch flame. Quickly withdrawing his M6D, the Chief leaned over and shoved the barrel into creatures face.
Purple blood splattered the trench.
The Spartan, lying on his back, took the Jackal with his arms and tossed it straight up into the air. It drifted away in the river of fire that passed over the trench. Once the hell above ceased, the Colonel shouted something that no one could understand, due to the ringing in their ears, but everyone knew that it was time.
It was when the Chief climbed out of the trench that the adrenaline kicked in. He began sprinting towards the woods, full speed. Some Covenant, who had been far off from the blasts, began sharp shooting at the squad of sprinting marines. A man ahead of the Spartan dropped onto his face as a plasma bolt passed through his kidney area and out of his left thigh.
He fell to the ground screaming, "Help me! Help me! Oh god it hurts!"
But his cries were soon silenced when a fuel rod projectile slammed into the wounded soldier's position.
The Chief kept running. Only a hundred yards to go now. Almost there.
The Spartan thanked god when he reached the shade of the forest. He had made it. Looking back, he only saw two surviving marines running for his position.
Colonel Winter and some other man that he didn't know sprinted wildly.
A plasma bolt struck the man next to Winter in the neck, and he limply dove forward as he lost his strength, and along with it, his footing.
Finally, the Colonel reached the wood.
"Jesus, they wiped us out," he panted, bending over to catch his breath.
"We'd better get moving, Colonel," Cortana said, over the com channel.
Winter nodded and the two began making their way deeper into the forest.
Eventually, as the pair walked on, it became quieter and quieter. The sounds of exotic birds and strange animals were all that could be heard. Although all was peaceful, the Chief was on high alert. Every click or animal mating call made him flinch. Any suspicious looking shape or tree was put in his sights until confirmed harmless. It was uneventful walk, but the sound of battle and random firing could be heard ahead.
It was when the Master Chief and Colonel Winter came to the forest's end, that they saw the huge city of Dracon. Named after the planet, Dracon was a metropolis, housing millions of residents and offering all kinds of jobs that attracted people.
However, many of the buildings were in ruins, or on fire. Dead bodies and charred cars littered the streets. And every one in awhile, a lost marine or Covenant troop would pass by, running in and out of buildings and ruins. Even the combat was destroyed. There was no organization. It was every man for himself.
"Holy shit..." Winters said, staring in amazement at the urban environment.
"We'd better go in," the Chief said doubtfully. "But stay on high alert, Colonel."
A Grunt came waddling into Hanamee's quarters.
"Please forgive any interruption, your Excellency, but our landing pad army was obliterated and the green soldier has run off in the direction of the city. The ship's commander said you will board a transport along with your squad at this very moment," the small alien squeaked the words cautiously, trying not to piss the great Elite off.
"Very well," Hanamee growled, shoving the Grunt towards the doorway with his foot. "I will board with along with my squad shortly.
Once the squad had boarded the drop ship, it rocketed off and into space, it's purple, U shaped body nearing Dracon.
A lost Grunt quietly tiptoed in front of the Master Chief. It's back was turned to him, and the heavy sound of its methane breathing signified that it was nervous. The Chief stuck his hand out behind him and made a "come here" sign to the Colonel.
Winter knew what he wanted and handed him a combat knife. The Spartan grasped it tightly and stealthily moved up to the back of the alien. A swoosh and a hack rang out, and the Grunt's head rolled from its shoulders and onto the ground. Its small little body collapsed forward and began to twitch violently.
Colonel Winter had to admit that the Chief knew his stealth tactics. He was an expert at silent killing. So good, it almost scared him.
It was after the two humans had covered a hundred yards by sneaking, that another Covenant soldier came into view. A Jackal stood, fidgeting anxiously, its back facing them both. With knife in hand, the Master Chief, shoved the blade through the back of its neck, damaging its much needed vocal cords. It let out what sounded like a very hoarse cry and fell dead. Its shield hit the powdery rubble and dust, causing a sizzling sound.
A powerful Elite apprentice stood straight up nearby. His excellent sense of hearing told him something. The sizzling sound. It was a shield. Knowing something was wrong, the powerful warrior charged out from behind an overturned car. Screaming wildly, it ran at the Chief firing accurate bursts of plasma fire.
Startled, the Spartan squeezed his assault rifle's trigger. The sounds of bullet and plasma fire collided, the two noises battling over each other.
In the end, the Elite lay on its back, its body full of small, smoking holes. A purple puddle grew larger and larger from underneath the corpse.
Just then, the smell of burning hair reached the Chief's nostrils. He down to his right and there beside him, lay the body of Colonel Winter. A plasma bolt had hit him directly above the forehead, apparently frying some of his hair. The Master Chief turned the body over so that the Colonel's eyes stared up at the pinkish sky. With two fingers, the Spartan closed the valiant soldier's eyes. He was now on his own, and had no idea of where in the hell he was supposed to be.
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