Sam's Halo Story Chapter 1
Posted By: Mr. Bobo<samf@nc.rr.com>
Date: 19 May 2002, 3:57 pm
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Private First Class John Black unsteadily unfastened his safety harness. He looked out the back of the Pelican dropship. It had crashed into a green forest; it looked like a deciduous forest like the training camp back on Reach. The warthog's mag-locks had disengaged, leaving the 50 cal. crumpled into a rock. It looked otherwise usable, though. Warthogs were known for their toughness...
John looked around the interior of the dropship. Ammo and weapons littered the ground. He went around, trying the battered marines' necks for a pulse. Computer specialist Frank Luca had a strong pulse, and a cut across his forehead from a broken wall plate fragment. John sealed it up with the sealant foam in the emergency medpack.
Several marines had been severely injured from the crash. The ones, sadly, that hadn't been wearing their safety harness were launched clear from the back of the Pelican. S Sgt. Rico had been strangled by his safety harness that came loose in the crash, leaving him dangling out the back.
John wondered what to do next. He picked up a MA5B standard assault rifle. He policed a few clips from the overhead racks. He also loaded an assault rifle for Frankie. A few M9 frag grenades rolled around the Pelican. John hopped out the rear of the Pelican. The hog was precariously perched on top of a rock. Under the warthog was what he had been looking for: the Pelican's standard M19 SSM rocket launcher. He hefted the large weapon. Strapped behind the rear seat, there were some 102 mm rockets.
John Black heard a groan from inside the Pelican dropship. He picked up the MA5B and walked slowly around it. "Halt! Who is it?!" John called.
"Dammit, man, what happened here?!!" replied Frankie.
"Don't ask me."
"I'm guessing we crashed, eh?"
"Sure."
Frankie undid the harness. "Try the comm. yet?"
"Guess. Thought I'd leave that to you."
Frankie opened the cockpit door and walked in. "Lieutenant? Where is she? She's gone!"
Frankie sat down in the pilot's seat and opened the comm. channel. "This is Pelican dropship Foxtrot 890. We have crash-landed in some sort of forest. All crew dead except Private Luca and PFC Black. Requesting evac at my coordinates."
Suddenly there was a sound. John rotated around and leveled the assault rifle.
"Who's there?"
"Quiet down, son, it's just me and Lieutenant Cauldwell."
"Sarge? Lieuntenant? I thought both of you were dead!" John said.
Their mission had been to help support the mysterious MasterChief's mission to find the Silent Cartographer. It had been two squads, Fire-team Foxtrot 890, who usually used this dropship, and Special-Forces-Team Tango-Delta-12. Tango-Delta-12 was a team of the second-best soldiers they had. The first best was, of course, the MasterChief.
Sergeant Jimmy Johnson asked, "You boys get this hog workin' yet?"
John Black replied, "Nope, I just work up, sarge."
"Hmmm. Hey you, computer kid, come get this piece of excrement warthog to work."
Frankie came up to the crashed hog. He started pushing against the underside, trying to flip it. "Can I get some help over here?"
The other marines grouped around the warthog.
Jimmy shouted, "On three! One... Two... Three... Push!"
All 4 marines shoved in unison. The warthog fell from the rock, landing with a sickening metallic thud. It rolled over to stop on all four wheels. The marines surveyed their situation. They all had assault rifles, with enough ammo to last a while, one M19 rocket launcher, and an inoperative warthog. Lieutenant Eliza Mitchell had picked up a S2 AM sniper rifle.
John said, "Lets get this piece-a-junk workin'!"
He got in and pressed the ignition switched. It sputtered and tried to turn over, then stopped. He tried again. Same result.
Frankie went to the emergency repair kit located on the exterior of the Pelican. He got what looked like jumper cables. Then he opened a panel on the side. There was a large battery and two electrodes. Frankie attached the cables to the battery and went over to the hog. He opened to hood and hooked them up.
"Someone start it up."
John got in and pressed the ignition. The warthog started up with a satisfyingly loud purr.
"Damn right! Let's get this baby on the road! Where'd the 50 go?"
"Guess it got killed in the crash," Eliza replied.
Eliza yelled "Shotgun" and hopped into the "passenger" seat. Sergeant jimmy sat down next to the warthog's broken gun and said, "Son, hand me that rocket launcher." He propped it up so he could easily fire over the warthog. Frankie gathered up his medpack and repair kit and got on the other side of the gun.
"I'll set up a portable commlink to the Pelican's, so we can pick up any transmissions here," Frankie said.
"Gun it!" Eliza shouted.
John hit the gas, and the warthog accelerated through the forest. After it got to its full speed of 45 mph, the warthog's speed evened out. Once, John hit a log hard. The warthog went sailing over it. Ahead, John saw red blips all over his miniature viewscreen's motion tracker. Jimmy also saw the same thing.
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