Mombassa: Desperate times by Ben McAleer
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Mombassa: Desperate times (1)
Date: 12 January 2008, 6:05 pm
MOMBASSA OUTSKIRTS 08:22hours Zanzibar Hotel:
Sgt. Jefferson lunged behind an upturned bus as pink projectiles cut through the air by his head. He stumbled and fell to the cobbled floor. Quickly he jumped up, reloading his SMG. The Grunt that had fired at him clumsily waddled round the corner and recieved a spray of bullet in his crown. It slumped to the floor dead. Jefferson policed the Needler and reloaded it with a fresh clip of needles he had luckily picked up the day before. With both weapons fully armed he lunged back out into the road.
An Elite, faced back from Jefferson was greeted by several pink needles and some bullets in its back. It turned around to fight but the detontaion of the needles ripped apart his vital organs and it was a hazard no more. The commotion had attracted a pack of Grunts who barked angrily at their leader's death.
"Our leader is dead! Avenge his loss!" One Grunt yelled firing its plasma pistol wildly. Jefferson lunged behind his Warthog. It would provide cover from what he was about to do next. Jefferson tossed three fragmentation grenades and ducked for cover. The yelps of the Grunts were silenced by three explosiond. A Grunt's carcas splattered on the road near Jefferson. No more enemies were around. Jefferson grabbed the radio microphone from the Warthog's driver door compartment and he tuned it into the frequency.
"Sgt. Jefferson requesting ground support at the Zanzibar Hotel over."
The radio crackled but a faint voice coudl be heard, "We just sent four marines in a Scorpion down, where the hell are they?"
Jefferson peered round to glance at the burning wreckage of the tank and a pile of marien corpses in blood by it's side. "They've gone. I need support double time. All's quiet but their sending in reinforcements, I know it!" The voice over the radio hummed thoughtfully.
"You've got a Warthog haven't you boy? Cause I'm detecting two Phantoms heading your way."
Jefferson looked around at the orange skies. Sure enough the shadow of two Covenant dropships appeared from behind the commercial building blocks.
"I got a Warthog, but I'm pretty much a sitting duck out here." Sgt. Jefferson yelled rapidly losing his temper. The radio sounded white noise then went dead. Suddenly a Pelican soared in a cloud of its own smoke towards the Zanzibar Hotel. Two Phantoms bombarded it with red plasma pulses and the poor Pelican helplessly collided into the building. The impact shook the whole street. All at once nearly every building seemed to collapse, rubble, glass and wood splintered at it hit the road. Jefferson lunged into his Warthog and ignited the engines. He sped off down the cracked road avoiding the deadly rain of solids as the bounched along the road. Jefferson was sure the person he was speaking to moments ago was in that Pelican, and the chances were probaly dead.
Suddenly a window frame smashed on the Warthog's bonet, the glass cutting into the tyres. The vehicle swerved sideways and rolled over, and over. It finaly lay still on the road on it's side.
*
Private Yokle fired his magnum pistol at the fleeing Grunts. Amoung the Covenant ranks that invaded Mombassa there was fear as "Regret's ship" vanished into Slipspace. Hundreds of Covenant infantry had no orders so they paniced. Yokle laughed as the Grunts fell one by one by his bullets. His life-long friend Furgus rushed to his side to join the slaughter. He fired his battle rifle landing kills in several Grunts. He left one or two to get away
"And don't come back!" Yokle chorted trying to catch his breath. "This is as fun it gets buddy."
"My children used to cry to me at night thinking one of these creatures were coming to get them." Furgus laughed,"I wish they were here right now so they can shoot one dead and be satisfied."
Suddenly the earth trembled, Furgus fell to the floor as Yokle held himself up by holding onto a lampost.
"What was that?" Yokle asked as the rubbling started to slow. Furgus held up his computerised data pad.
"The whole of downtown Mombassa's collapsed! Jesus, there are marines falling down everywhere!" Furgus exclaimed watching the marine ID tags vanish on his data pad's map.
"This is bad, I take it." Yokle said standing up as the ground stopped shaking.
"We only felt the aftershcok. There are marines trapped or dying. It's our duty to save them!" Furgus boldly said.
"Mate, I'm not risking my life to save some dying marines. It's now a red area. Covenant will be swarming the place. It's dangerous, and 'save and rescue' is not our area of expertise." Yokle siad asthough Furgus wasn't beign serious.
Furgus hung his head, he was never taken seriously.
"Come on, let's get some evac. I don't want to stay in a dying city." Yokle said looking round.
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