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Fire Team Echo: Darkest Hours by Dark-NiTe
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Fire Team Echo: Darkest Hours: Chapter I
Date: 9 May 2004, 5:13 AM
The rain fell lightly but in thick drops, pelting the foliage over the grassy feilds. A storm was brewing on Halo. The hills rolled on out into the dark horizon; dusk was coming to a close. This was the time of day that Corbin Anderson hated the most.
Yet there he was, along with the rest of fire team Echo. He stared out into the coming darkness at the Covenant outpost. As the rain spattered on his face, curiously warm, he had a bad feeling already about the battle to come. Something didn't feel right. He'd had this feeling before, many a time actually, but he could never ignore it.
"This is crazy!" Geoff Bradley hissed a fierce whisper as he lay on his stomach next to him. The fire team was stationed on top of a large hill, lying in the wet grass until the moment of attack. "Three teams are supposed to take this outpost? It's too big! They're have to be a ton of them in there!" Geoff continued.
Corbin felt the same way. He turned his head and whispered back, "I don't know what the hell HQ's thinking. I've already told Maddox I don't think our forces are adiquate for this operation, but he just tells me that those were his orders. I just think they want to conserve men."
"Conserve men?! I don't even 'wanna hear that bullshit!" Quentin Paciano said, almost being heard by Captain Maddox. "They got marines out there dyin' every day!"
Behind them, Colin Varick whispered, "It's not like we can just leave. We have to fight for this thing and there's not a damn thing any of us can do about it."
"Okay men," Captain Prestin Maddox said more audibly. "We have the short end of the straw. Our orders are to storm the front."
"Figures," Paciano muttered.
"Alpha and Bravo will be taking both sides of the establishment, and we get to play the decoys," Maddox said. "I don't want you uppity bastards running in there thinking you have to blast everything to hell. Stay low until you are fired upon, or are in position. You hear me?"
A slight clattering of helmets was heard as the team nodded in unison, all looking ahead.
Maddox nodded to Alpha and Bravo on either side of his team, and then lead Echo quietly as possible down the slope. He crawled down the hill head first, feeling the moist and muddy ground beneath his uniform. The tall and raincovered grass bent in his path on both sides, brushing his face.
Corbin felt a distinct sense of anxiety and nausea crawling down that hill. The grass smell was strong. He looked up breifly at the dim blue sky. Dark clouds loomed over them with a forboding presence. The rain started slowly, but surely.
Geoff was right beside him. The rain fell steadily over them, pattering against their uniforms and trailing down their helmets in lines. It was uncomfortably humid for such a late hour. He felt uneasy like they could be fired upon any moment.
They were less than halfway there, when Maddox heard a rustling he knew wasn't one of his men. He threw a cautious hand up, stopping their progress. His ears tensed.
"What is it Captain?" whispered Sebastien Sanders.
"Quiet,"
...
"Damn it all!" Maddox's voice rose.
The Jackal's screech rang out through the dusk, and he saw it throwing its arm forward suggesting a charge. The Jackal came up the hill firing, and four more of its kind followed.
"It's an ambush! Fire at will!" Maddox yelled. There was no point in being discrete anymore. Either way this screwed up the whole operation. No one was breifed that there might've been a possibility of outside patrols of the structure. Therefor it wasn't factored in to the plan. That was so stupid it made Maddox sick. He knew he was smarter than that. Even if he wasn't briefed he should've suspected it...
Golden flashes from assault rifles lit up the feilds in short bursts. Some of the men started yelling, panicked. Corbin wasn't the most experienced of soldiers, but it made him mad how some of the men on this fire team were still so green.
Blood spattered across the grass right past him, Geoff couldn't tell which kind it was. It unnearved him but he kept firing, seeing a Jackal twist and flail back. He followed the rest of his team, now running down the hill.
Equipment on their uniforms shook and clicked as the soldiers ran down the embankment, their footsteps splashing up rainwater as they went. Geoff shot another Jackal and watched it tumbled down the hill, leaving a dark streak. The rain started heavier now.
Corbin ran toward the outpost, a dark, octagonal establishment. His heart shot up near his throat as he saw the plasma beginning to rain from it. It was a bright contrast to the darkening sky. He felt his heart thumping in his chest, his vision was bobbing wildly under his loose helmet and steps over uneven ground.
"Turrets, turrets, turrets!" Quentin Paciano called out, his loud call still almost inaudible over the gunfire.
Corbin saw them. The triangular purple blasts. He focused his MA5B on the top of the outpost and began burst firing the assumed location of the turrets. A warm substance sprayed onto his face. He cried out in surprise and wiped it off quickly with his sleeve. It was blood. "Ahh...oh shit!" his voice was shaky. He didn't know if it was human or Covenant, which relieved him slightly, but also terrified him. He ran and rolled behind a rock, dodging a turret blast. The purple plasma drove into the ground with a burst of water and muck. He leaned back against the rock panting and holding his AR close. He was starting to feel like that feeling of uneasiness before the battle was rightful this time... "Man...where the hell's Geoff," Corbin said aloud. He sometimes talked to himself aloud in battle when in a bad or nervous situation.
"I'm right here!" Geoff said, throwing himself down beside Corbin behind the same rock. They both felt a couple jolts as the plasma following Geoff hit the rock. They both didn't notice, but the rain intensified. "Having fun?"
"Fuck you Geoff," Corbin sighed, breathing laboriously. He closed his eyes.
"Comon, get up. We're not helping anybody like this!" Geoff pulled Corbin up by the arm and they both started firing at the turrets. The muzzle flash lit the details of their faces.
Elsewhere, Varick was contending with an Elite closer to the outpost. He laughed sinisterly, ready for the challenge. He ran forward, firing through the rain and hitting his target. He meleed it in the face with a thwack, not really doing much. Varick ducked the aliens swipe, grabbed a plasma grenade off of it, and stuck it to the it. He rolled back and fired off more rounds, and the Elite went up in a blue explosion. Varick loved it when that move worked.
He felt a sharp pain in his back then that took the wind out of him and knocked him back. Another Elite. It roared menicingly, ready for the kill. Just as it charged, Quentin killed it with two shotgun blasts to and near the head. It grunted and died, falling to the muck with a heavy splat. Quentin went and helped Varick up. "Don't get cocky right now. Nobody needs that."
"Mind your own, Paciano," Varick said.
"No thanks for saving you?"
"No. None. Stay out of my way." Varick shoved Paciano aside and ran toward the rest of Echo. Quentin shook his head with a puzzled and slightly angered look and followed him.
Geoff and Corbin had almost finished up with the turrets when the rest of the fire teams focused their attention to the Covenant footmen pouring out of the entrance. Corbin cursed under his breath, realizing this thing was just starting.
The battle raged for another half-hour when an alarming message came over the com. Corbin was behind a weathered old tree under cover when he heard it in his helmet. "This -s H-! We hav- - seriou-- --oble-! A anomal--- bio--- is att-----! Help! We can't ----" and then it went dead. "What the hell are they talking about?!" Corbin said aloud.
Fire Team Echo: Darkest Hours: Chapter II
Date: 10 May 2004, 9:16 PM
Author's note: Before reading this, I want to bring the reader's attention to the fact that this is more of a sidestory than an actual installment of the series. However, it is an important event within the happenings of the series, so I decided to include it. Enjoy.
The Vulcan Column was what the marines of fire teams Alpha, Bravo, Delta, and Echo called HQ. The ship had crash landed on Halo in a brush with Covenant fighters, and was its passengers' campsite on the alien world.
Their last sanction was about to be lost.
Gabriel Jasper ran through the dark corridors of the ship, pleading for his life. Sweat trickled down his brow as he sprinted through the darkness. There had to be a place to hide...
He could hear them coming. The sound made him sick. What were they? Where did they come from? Gabe mind raced as he crouched behind some cargo crates in the storage room, pulling the netting over his head in a desperate attempt to blend in. The red alarm light strobed on and off, painting black lines of shadow over Gabe's face as he hid. The grinding drone of it had been on for a half-hour, but he didn't even notice.
Suddenly, he heard a scream that made his stomach churn. He cried out as something heavy slammed into the crates in front of him. Peering around a metal box, Gabe vaguely saw the dead crewman in the dark, slumped against the crate. And there it was.
Gabe tried to keep quiet as the monstrosity loomed forward. Its distorted figure was outlined by the red light in the shadows. It crept forward with an odd sense of caution, but Gabe felt like it could lash out any minute.
He didn't know it, but this creature was one of the Flood.
It made some kind of sound and leaped forward with astounding distance and tenacity, slamming one of its tenticle ridden hands into the crates with a bang.
Gabe couldn't stand it, he shreiked and pushed the overturned crates out of the way to run, still tangled in the netting. He fought desperately to get the rope netting off of him as he ran, and finally tossed it to the ground and increased his stride.
Get help. Get to the bridge. The bridge.
An explosion tore through a hallway behind him, and he prayed that it killed the beast. He almost felt relieved as he looked back seeing nothing was after him. He ran on for a couple strides, and then felt the strange need to look back once more. He wished he hadn't.
Seemingly impossible, the Flood warrior came bounding out of the flames.
Gabe ran with his soul behind his strides. He was close to the bridge. If he could just call for help... What good would it do though? Right now, he didn't care. At least it was a chance of hope.
He rounded a corner into the bridge seeing a small band of marines fighting off the monsters, their efforts futile. The creature swatted the 3 marines aside with one swipe, killing them all on impact. Their dead bodies slammed into the wall and their weapons clattered to the floor.
Another group rushed in firing as well. The 4 determined soldiers had no will to give up or run from the battle, and Gabe could see it in their eyes. He only wished he was that courageous.
Gabe scrambled over to the panel, fumbling for the intercom. A marine flew into the air behind him, slamming into the ceiling and then down with a thud. A shower of sparks emitted from the point of impact, and a section of the lighting fickered out. He heard a distant explosion. Another marine fell at his feet. Everything seemed to be going to hell.
He stayed focused, firing up the com. He input the destination of the message, and it reached all the ears of the marines in Alpha, Bravo, and Echo. Gabe said the words clearly but in alarm. His thoughts were blurry and fragmented. "This is HQ! We have serious trouble! An anomalous bioform is attacking! Help! We can't take these things alone!" He felt a club-like object hit the back of his head, and before it registered with his brain, he was flying through the air. He lost his vision instantly after the hit, and then died shortly after hitting a wall. Those calls of distress were his last words.
Fire Team Echo: Darkest Hours: Chapter III
Date: 14 May 2004, 2:50 AM
"What the hell are they talking about?" Corbin repeated more audibly this time. Bio? Something attacked them? The rain was still pouring.
"Get over here!" Geoff yelled over the rain, gesturing to Corbin with his AR. The sky was still a dark dusk blue as lightning spidered across its arial canvas. Corbin turned his flashlight on in the darkening environment and went to aid Echo in battle.
Jackals and Grunts were surprisingly numerous around the outpost's entrance, holding a heavy resistance toward the human attackers. They fell somewhat easily under the fire tems' relentless wall of fire, but their sheer numbers made up for lost bodies.
Geoff was shoulder to shoulder with some of his fellow team, fighting off the Covenant inch by inch. He fired precise, yet concentrated shots toward the barricade of aliens, picking off Grunts closer to the front. He looked over his shoulder every now and then to see Sanders, still alive and well. He had that tendency ever since Ed Kriegs died right before his eyes... He was a man that Geoff would always have some debt toward. He had made Geoff a better soldier, a better man.
Since Kriegs was killed, Geoff's first priority in battle was to look out for his comrads. He never wanted to lose a friend again... Didn't want to feel that pain...
"Geoff! Our link with HQ's been cut off!" Corbin yelled, dashing to Geoff's position through the unforgiving veil of stinging rain.
"I know! I heard it too!" Geoff turned his head to yell back. He shot a Grunt, spattering its blue blood across the walls of the outpost.
"Did you hear any more of the transmission than I did?"
"I don't know. What did you hear?" Geoff replied, almost half-laughing.
Corbin crouched down next to him now. Geoff was behind some brush along with Sanders, located on the outer region of the large circular dirt (now mud from the rain) clearing made for the outpost. A small rockslide was located to their behind right, and the hills were directly behind them. To the left it was grass filled plains until the swamp-like region some way off. Some weathered trees peppered the landscpae all around. The rain covered everything. "They said somthing about bio... Bioforms maybe. Something attacked them."
"Exactly." Geoff had heard the same.
Suddenly, a fleeting cry escaped a Grunt, "Grenade!" It slapped into the mud right next to their position.
Sanders started, "Oh shi-" and then it exploded. Corbin barely was able to dive away, feeling the warm rush of the plasma grenade gaining at the heels of his boots. He landed hard in the muck, rolling for a minute to abruptly stop. He scrambled up, wiping the grime from his face and looking around, ears ringing. He didn't see any one. None from his fire team at least... "Geoff! Sand-" he started, but was clubbed in the back with frightening intensity.
Corbin cried out and flew forward, his body twisting in the air. He turned 180 degrees, facing the Elite now, in the air from the blow and landed on his back. He slid through the mud, kicking it up as he went, and then toppled over to land on his stomach. He could barely breath, barely think it hurt so bad.
The reaper-like Elite started its charge, after expelling a outward and disconserting chortle, to end Corbin's life.
40 feet away, perched in the small rockslide, Captain Prestin Maddox had the bastard right in his sights. The raindrops smeared and trailed across his sniper rifle's scope, slightly obscuring his view of the target. Regardless, he had to take the shot. The cold and grim sound of the sniper rifle resounded through the air like the crack of a whip.
The Elite shrieked in agony as the bullet passed right through its head, an explosion of purple blood erupting from its cranium. Its lifeless body hit an outer wall of the outpost hard before slumping to the ground in a pool of its own blood.
Corbin opened his eyes, and realized he wasn't dead.
Still at his location, Maddox said inaudibly, "No problem kid. No problem." He went to find a new position.
Corbin burst into tears. It wasn't the first time. No one had ever seen him cry, and he intended to keep it that way as he saw Quentin rush up to him. He choked back his tears, wiping the dirt off his face.
"Damn that was a rough blow..." Quentin muttered. "Okay, we need to get you up and 'outta here!" he said, now being heard by Corbin. He gently moved Corbin's neck with his palm. "Hurt?"
"No," Corbin said, trying this best to stifle his sobs.
Quentin picked him up under the arms and started dragging him to a rock farther away from the battle. Bullets and plasma whizzed past them everywhere, the sounds mingling and deafening. Once there, he propped Corbin up against the rock and stood his ground, firing bursts into the now slightly more distant fray. "Quentin..." Corbin started.
"Save it," Quentin said between trigger pulls. "You know I wouldn't leave you behind.
Geoff rose to his feet, dazed and hard of hearing. He was so close to the blast at the time... He looked around with trailed vision, seeing the bullets fly, the explosions, showers of dirt... It occured to him that marines were dying... A lot of them. He had no idea the battle turned around. Weren't they just sweeping the Covenant forces, owning them? What happened?
Then the sounds slammed into him like a frieght-train, and it was all real again. He had to move.
He ran through the muck trying to find anyone. He knew that was a weakeness, and that he needed to get used to fighting alone, but he couldn't. Companionship and friends and family were some of the things he held dearest...
He then realized he was at a blindside of the outpost. He thought about it, but knew that now was not the time for heroics. Geoff put his back to the wall, and crept over to peek around a corner. The frontal force of Jackals and Grunts were totally exposed and un-attended from the side. This moment was so opportune, Geoff wanted badly not to waste it. He pulled a grenade from his belt, and pulled the pin...
1...2...
Geoff chucked the grenade right into the central mass of them. The blast rocked the ground, and Covenant bodies flew every which way. Blue and purple blood showered the frontal walls of the establishment, staining a large portion of it. The Jackals and Grunts fell to the ground everywhere. A exalting warcry resounded from the extatic marines. "Alright!" Geoff hollered. He charged back toward his team with a new sense of confidence. The defense force had been critically depleted. Still got the old arm... Geoff mused in his thoughts.
Corbin had a smile on his face, sitting against that rock. "You did it again, Geoff," he said. Quentin was still defending Corbin. Corbin's pain was staggering, but he knew he would have to fight again, eventually.
He knew this battle was far from over.
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