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Up to E3
Posted By: Steve<EaGLesAllThEwaY2@aol.com>
Date: 29 November 2003, 9:21 PM
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Many Marines in the building felt doomed. They were running out of ammo, surrounded by Covenant, there were only fifteen of the original fifty-man team remaining, and they're mission, get to the building across the street where some Marines and civilians hid, exploded by the time they got to this building. They were too stunned to retreat, and too scared to charge. So even when they saw a fleet of Warthogs go by, they didn't dare move.
Wrong answer.
Most of the Covenant Banshees, Ghosts, and Shadows following them kept going, but one Ghost and two Shadows towards the end of the line knew they'd never catch up and stopped right in front of their position. And if things couldn't get any worse, two of the new Covenant dropships deposited four Brutes each right behind their position.
The fifty Marines split up into two squads, twenty-five men each. One squad aimed at the vehicles in the front, the other aimed at the Brutes. Each Marine carried one grenade, which they delivered to start with.
The Elites toppled out of the two Shadows, making a grand total of eight Elites on the ground, two pilots, and two gunners at the turrets. Suddenly, twenty-five glowing balls flew towards their position. All the Elites had time to do was scream and begin to run or drive away when the grenades came to a rest and exploded.
A cobalt Elite was flown five meters in the air out of his turret, and crashed in a heap on the ground. Both Shadows, as well as every single one of the Elites, Jackles, and Grunts, were engulfed by shrapnel and fire. An Elite in the Ghost was wounded and his hovercraft was damaged, but alive and working.
The leader of the Marines, Lieutenant Lynch, was cheering and high-fiving his men, when a Ghost turned right in front of the double doors.
"Duck!" he yelled, but only those around him heard him. It took five of his men's heads exploding before the Marines realized what was going on. Lynch gained his composure, regretted not having a rocket launcher, grabbed his Battle Rifle hard, and popped up above the small meter-tall wall they took cover behind.
The Elite's shield was just beginning to recharge, when Lynch poked his head up wielding his rifle and shot the Elite dead in the chest. His limp body fell forward, and pushed the throttle. The Ghost headed right for the Marines, who dove out of the way. The bottom of the tip of the nose hit the wall, bounced up, had the back of the Ghost hit the wall, did a foward vertical flip, and landed upside down, propped up against the other wall the second team hid behind. No one was injured.
No one, until four of Lynch's men collapsed under the Brute's yellow, white, blue, and green plasma bolt. The second team was so worried about the Ghost, they had forgot the Brutes. Lynch pulled out his SMG and fired an entire clip at them, as well as the rest of the team. One Brute fell, two more were wounded, and the fourth skulked outside.
Six more Marines went down, five from fire, the sixth from a blow to the head, before the two Brutes were dead. The fourth Brute never appeared. From the back, at least.
Unbeknownst to the surviving thirty-five Marines, the Brute had climbed the building to the second floor, found a hole in the floor, and jumped down right behind Lynch.
He turned around just in time for this thing to punch his throat, crushing his esophagus, suffocating him. The Brute used the butt of his rifle to force three men's faces in, and shot four more. A private, Private Henry, shot the beast with his Battle Rifle, hitting it just below the left ribs, which went through and hit a private behind it.
All the Brute did was grunt, and then swing his arm at the private, crushing his skull and throwing him five meters away.
Corporal Valentine through a grenade at it, but it swung it's arm, hitting the grenade like a baseball, which flew into his chest and fell to the floor. Valentine gasped, then exploded, taking seven other men with him.
The Brute shot two more men, before the now commanding officer, 1st Sargent Niece, shot the thing from behind in the skull with his Battle Rifle.
That Brute must have called in back up, because a few minutes later, there were dropships everywhere, and just about everyone was hit. They were screwed, running low on ammo, soldiers, and hope. There were Elites and Grunts at the front door, and Brutes and Jackles at the back, with dropships circling them, taking shots through windows.
Their battle for Earth was over.
In the back door, there were five Jackles coming through the double doors in the back, followed by Brutes behind them.
"Give 'em everything you got, Marines!" Niece said, and he fired his Battle Rifle at the gaps in the Jackles' shields.
Just then, a glowing ball rolled beneath the Jackles and Brutes, and it exploded, killing the Jackles and two of the four Brutes. Three black armored figures came through the door and killed the remaining Brutes. Because the sun was low to the ground (it was 1800 hours), all Niece could see was the outline and some reflection of a two and a half meter tall, greenish/golden armored-clad soldier stroll through the doors, upright, a Battle Rifle in his hands. He walked up to Niece.
"Are you the CO here?" said a raspy, hardcore male voice.
"Yes, sir," Niece replied.
"This all your men here?"
"Yes sir. We had fifty, but they're dead. We were trying to get to the other building, but then it exploded and we were pinned down." Plasma bolts were raining overhead. The three men in black each had acquired rocket launchers, and taken up flanking positions on the door. A drop ship flew down the street, and three rockets zoomed towards it, then six. Five hit their mark, and the dropship fell to the Earth, crushing two Shadows under it.
Niece looked to the left towards the doors that the black-armored men were around just in time to see the flaming carcass of the lavender ship streak down the street.
"Sir, can I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead, Sargent."
"Who are they, and what are you guys doing here?"
"They are ODST's, which is all I can say for now. We are saving Marines and killing Covenant. Get you and your men to the Warthogs outside."
"What Wart-," was all he had time to say before the remaining Covenant outside was mowed down, then ran across as a fleet of Warthogs with LAAG's and Gauss Cannons drove by, along with the Warthogs modified for troop transport. "Sir, yes sir. Let's move!" he yelled to his Marines, and they got in the 'Hogs.
"Sargent," the Chief said, "You're with me. Get in the passenger seat. I'll be gunner." The moment the Chief got behind the gun, the 'Hogs peeled out, fish-tailing for about ten meters, before straightening out and driving away.
Niece asked, "Sir, where are we going?"
"We're going to a temp base, Charlie Base. It will reequip us, and get you what you need."
Just then, the driver said, "Ghost, nine o'clock!" John pointed the Gauss Cannon to the left to see a purple/pink hovercraft take a few shots at him. They hit the side of the Warthog just below the driver. He cursed.
But seconds later, the Ghost exploded from two direct hits. There were two more 'Hogs behind him, each with LAAG's, then a few troop transports, then three more armed 'Hogs.
The road up ahead made a forty-five degree turn, and coming right for them out of this turn were two Shadows and three Ghosts.
"Hang on!" the driver yelled, and he made a sharp left at an intersection to avoid not only the Covenant craft, but the incoming blue and green fire. The Chief fired his cannon, killing a Ghost and damaging a Shadow. The two 'Hogs behind him fired their LAAG's, causing the damaged Shadow to explode, and tearing a Ghost in half.
The first of three transport 'Hogs behind them had the first half of Niece's men, and they fired their weapons out of the side. One Private took a face full of Ghost plasma. The second 'Hog took a few hits, but kept driving. The third got its right-front tire shot off, dug into the duracrete, flipped a few times, and exploded, taking the second half of Niece's team with it. But this provided cover for the remaining Warthogs who shot the Ghost, and damaged the Shadow.
The straight road ahead of them was clear on the ground. But a flock of Banshees ruined their little parade, and dove in for the attack. The last 'Hog fired its Gauss Cannon, and took one of the seven Banshees with it, as a fuel rod cannon ate away at the metal and flesh that comprised the Warthog.
The driver of John's Warthog, Lieutenant Simpson, made a hard right to get back on course and lose the Banshees. The second transport 'Hog got strafed just before it turned. The three men in the back that survived didn't last long because the driver was shot, and the 'Hog crashed into a small gas depot, sending tiny bits of hail on the back two Warthogs, who took two more Banshees down.
Another hard right, and up ahead was the Shadow they missed. Two hits from the Chief's Gauss were sufficient enough to kill the damaged Shadow. The 'Hog screeched as it slide towards the right, front pointing past the Shadow. The four remaining 'Hogs drove down the street, until they heard a buzz. Simpson awed at the purple behemoth behind him.
"Covenant dropship right behind us!"
John tagged the "all freq" command on his radio. "Transport 'Hog and first back armored 'Hog, go left. Other armored 'Hog, go right. We'll go straight. Rendevous at base. Out." At the next intersection, Niece's men's 'Hog, with Corporal Stilcheski's went left. Ford's 'Hog went right, and John's went straight.
The dropship stayed with John, who was firing his Gauss to no avail. Pink plasma rained down on them, lowing his shields dangerously. From up in front, four Ghosts came screeching down the street.
"Whatta we do now?" Simpson questioned nervously.
"That subway tunnel to the left," Cortana said. "Go there. Now!" she screamed, and Simpson veered left down into the tunnel just as the Ghosts zoomed past, one went right into the dropship's pink fire and caused the Ghost's engine to smoke as the Elite cursed the dumb Brute pilot.
The tunnel was only as wide as the 'Hog, and Simpson had trouble keeping from bouncing around inside there.
"Uh-oh," Simpson muttered. The Chief's eyes widened. A Ghost was headed right for them down the tunnel, and it wasn't slowing down.
"Uh, Cortana?!"
"You're the one with the gun!" John fired the Gauss cannon at the incoming Ghost, and gave thanks when it exploded. But this left a smoking, charred obstacle that would have to be dealt with.
"Duck!" Niece yelled back to the Chief, and he took his advice. John slid down the pole the Gauss Cannon sat on, and sat in a fetal position at its base. The Warthog ramped on the Ghost's remains, hit the top of the tunnel, broke the windshield and ripped the Gauss Cannon clean off. The 'Hog landed still running, and after a brief break to make sure everyone was alright, they were off again.
"We're almost there!" John yelled. They rounded a slight curve to see another Ghost heading right for them.
"Oh crap. Whatta we do?" Niece asked. John pulled out his Battle Rifle, aimed, fired two rounds at the floating obstacle, before a click was heard. He had forgotten to reload after his previous engagement, and there was no time.
"I got an idea," Simpson said, as blue bolts ricocheted of the Warthog's armor. Simpson swerved, left, to right, to left, to right, in bigger swerves each time, until he was close enough to touch the Ghost, before he swerved hard to the right, up the side of the circular tunnel, over the Ghost, on the ceiling and partially down the left side, before the 'Hog came down to ground. It bounced a little, then became steady.
Meanwhile, the four Ghosts that had forced John into here followed a little ways behind and were rounding a curve, when they saw a Ghost heading right for them. Each one swerved, but that did nothing as the two collided, as did the three behind the first in one big blue-white fireball.
"Go onto the street here," Cortana said, and Simpson forced the LRV up the small incline and onto Earth's surface. Banshees and dropships fought with Longswords and Pelicans above them. A dead Banshee landed fifteen meters in front of them as Simpson avoided it.
"There's the base," John said. The beautiful olive drab of Marines waited at a checkpoint. The gate was lifted as John went under it, followed by the remaining three 'Hogs.
"Thanks, Chief. Couldn't have done it without ya, sir," Niece said. All four 'Hogs came to rest beside each other as the three armored figures jumped down from their driver seat, gunner, and passenger seat. Sargent Johnson walked up to the Chief and his ODST's.
"We have a situation, Chief. There's a cruiser threatening the entire city. Take your ODST's and destroy it. We'll take this Pelican." Johnson pointed towards a running Pelican. John picked up some ammo and an SMG, putting down his new pistol. He and his ODST's got onto the Pelican with Sargent Johnson, and lifted off into the sky, before then, finally going back through the clouds onto a landing pad, where he met Corporal Perez, A Company, who led him to the CP.
-Steve
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