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Neverland: A New Beginning
Date: 13 November 2003, 1:57 AM
[just a little author's note. As you probably know I am SOS.Odin. Odin of SOS in some ppls chapters at bungie.net. This is a new series for me. I felt that Sons of Sparta wasn't too great. Ill probably keep writing for it every once in while. This one was inspired by a show I saw. So if you saw this show too. Itll still be different in quite a few ways. Thanks for reading my stuff. It might not be anywhere close to one of the good ones like Mainevents, Alphas, Walkers, Jillybean, all you pimp writers but im just startin out. Have fun. :D]
Pvt. Steve Wilson woke up in the freezing rain, butt naked. He looked around and noticed a few dozen others in the same situation as him. They were all wearing their birthday suits and sitting in middle of a large field. Many of the females and a few males quickly covered themselves and ran from the rest of the group. Few were unembarrassed, either by superior figure or carelessness. The rest were simply covering themselves a bit, but cared not to run.
Pvt. Steve Wilson noticed a few men among the many who he recognized. He ran up to them as they were talking to conversing.
"James, Staten, Souder, what the hell's going on here?"
Cpl. David James, Pvt. Ian Staten, and Pvts. Kevin and Brian Souder were clueless as to what was going on.
Cpl. James ordered Staten and the Souders to start asking around to try to find anything out. James and Wilson started walking the other way and tried to answer some questions.
"Wilson, what's the last thing you remember?"
"Well, sir, last I knew, me, you, Staten, and the Souders were fighting a Hunter. He was pissed because we killed his bro. They tried to take the D.C. building with the big hat man. I SAW you and Kevin die. The Hunter was chasing me down and Brian was helping Ian. He lost his legs in the same blast that killed you and Kevin."
"I remember that blast coming at me. I guess I died. But then how the hell did I wind up here?"
"Corporal James."
"What's up Ian?"
"Nobody knows what the hell's going on around here."
"Very well. What do you remember before you wound up here?"
"Uhh....I remember you and Kevin dieing in a blast from that faggoty Hunter, I lost my legs and Brian here was helping me get out of there. Wilson was being chased around and then the Hunter smacked him in the back of his head with his big frickin shield. Then he turned and fired a round at me and Brian....S'all I remember."
"We should all be dead right now. We gotta find something out. This is too confusing."
The five Marines decided to continue asking around. Many were positive that they were supposed to be dead. They also found two Army Rangers and an ONI Spec Op.
The spook and soldiers decided to follow the team. Spc. Randy Norris and Pfc. Ellison were Rangers that "died" in a fight while taking out a Covenant artillery position. Pvt. Trey Mascari was on his second ONI mission when his team was ambushed and after a fierce fight he was fatally wounded in the chest.
After talking to everyone else that didn't run, these were the only military men there. Cpl. James steeped forward and decided to take command. The only others to even be able to oppose him were Spec. Norris and the spook. Fortunately, the both of them were glad to let James take control.
Cpl. James decided it was his duty to make sure nothing would happen to the civilians that were there. With the booming voice of a drill instructor, James stole the attention of the civvies.
"LISTEN UP PEOPLE. I AM CORPORAL DAVID JAMES OF THE UNSC MARINE CORPS. THESE SEVEN MEN ARE ALSO SERVICE MEN. WE ARE TAKING RESPONSIBILTY OF YOU PEOPLE. ANY OF YOU WHO DECIDE THIS WOULD NOT BE FOR THE BETTER MAY LEAVE. I NEED EVERYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO COME WITH US, TO FIND SOME ANSWERS, TO FORM UP. MAKE LINES OF FIVE, ARM LENGTHS APART."
Many of the civilians there were glad to go with the military men. A few people decided to venture off by themselves. The count turned up with 42 civilian responsibilities. Cpl. James ordered Kevin and Brian to take off and check the ridge of the woods that surrounded the field they were in.
During the absence of the Souders, James decided to ask everyone where they were from. Surprisingly they were all from Earth. All of them were between 16 and 30. That was good. A few of them were planning on joining the Marines or the Army after high school. Unfortunately they were unable to live that long.
After about fifteen minutes, Kevin returned, he was wearing a whole suit made of giant leaves and vines. He didn't find anything and decided to make himself some clothes.
About two minutes later, Brian returned. He was wearing gray fatigues and combat boots. James and everyone else were dumbfounded.
James stomped up into Brian's face. "Where did you get those clothes Marine?"
Brian simply pulled out a small box from his pant leg pocket. It was the size of a cigar box and had a button right in the center of what seemed to be the top. Brian pressed the button and chucked the box onto the ground. The box's sided extended to twenty times their original length. The top also extended but only to about hip height.
James was awestruck. What he just witnessed was not physically possible. But it happened. He moved to the box and the top opened up to reveal many compartments. James opened one of the compartment doors and pulled out an undershirt. The civilians rushed the box with the newfound clothing.
After a few minutes everyone was dressed and back in formation. Everyone was wearing gray fatigues and combat boots now. James just now had time to actually ask Brian where he found the gear.
Brian found four little boxes inside a large metal crate near the edge of the field. He led James back to it and they retrieved the other three boxes. They returned to the civilians and they opened the other boxes. Two of them were filled with clothes. The last one was filled with weapons. There were MA8B machine guns, MA5B and MA6B rifles, RA2 Battle Rifles, M7D pistols, Jackhammer rocket launchers, M90 shotguns, a few S2 AM sniper rifles, thousands of rounds for all the guns, and hundreds of grenades.
James and Brian were in love. Never before had they seen such an armory. They didn't even see this many guns in the armories on the starships. James had the two Rangers round up everyone who had fired a gun before, and was willing to fight, line up in front of the crate. The Marines, Rangers and ONI SO grabbed their gear before handing out weapons.
Surprisingly, 31 of the 42 civilians had fired a gun or were willing to learn how to. Everyone who had not fired a weapon before received an MA5B assault rifle, anyone who had, was allowed to grab any weapon they were familiar with.
Everyone received a weapon; no civilians were allowed to carry grenades though. Everybody was back in formation again when James was approached by Randy Norris.
"Sir, from what I gathered, were all supposed to be dead right?"
"Yes"
"Then we all appear in this field stark naked, right?"
"Yeah"
"Then we find a cache of clothing"
"Thank God."
"The clothes were to help protect us from the elements right"
"Right"
"Right....so what are these guns to protect us from..."
Neverland: A New Home
Date: 18 November 2003, 12:00 AM
Neverland: A New Home
Cpl. James ordered a quick recon of the surrounding areas. The Souders moved to the north, the Rangers moves west, and Ian, stuck with the spook, moved east. James had everyone follow him to the south side of the field. Two men walked up to his position at point.
"Uhh...sir...."
"Yeah?"
"We just wanted to tell you that back home we were awesome hunters. We might be able to help you check these woods for anything."
"Thanks. The help is greatly appreciated. You do realize that we have no idea where we are and we might find anything in these woods, right?"
"Yeah, we understand."
"Good, move slow and quiet."
James waved everyone else down and moved forward. The two gentlemen followed closely behind. At the edge of the woods James stopped. He turned around to face the two men.
"All right, watch where you step and keep your eyes open. We're not hunting we're on recon. Big difference."
James received two nods of understanding. He then moved in quietly. After about ten minutes of searching, they found nothing. Upon retreating out of the woods they met up with the other military figures.
"I found nothing here. How bout you guys?"
"Nothin."
"Yeah, ain't a damn thing here."
"Same."
"All right then. Let's make us a firebase so we're not just sitting in this fuckin field."
"Sir, that'd be easy, if we had some tools."
"Improvise. Break off some of the lids to those clothing containers and use them as shovels. Fill some of the unused shirts and use them as sandbags. Use your imagination.
We gotta get these guys out of the open."
The Marines moved to secure the containment lids while the Rangers instructed the civilians on what was going on. James walked to the edge of the woods and broke a stick off of on of the trees. Then he started kicking grass out of the ground. The spook looked on at the comedic sight.
After a few minutes of kicking, James had made a nice square patch of dirt. He stood up and motioned to the Marines and Rangers to come over. Trey was already there, realizing what James was doing.
"All right guys. This will be the blueprints for Firebase Neverland. Right here, about twenty-five yards from the edge of the woods, set up a perimeter. That should give us about....a gravball field size base. I want a command center setup in the middle right here. How many extra shirts we got?"
"Plenty sir, we only used half of the first crate."
"Good. Keep the rest of that first crate for reserves. And maybe in case any of those people that ran off come back. Dig some trenches all around from here to here to here and bring it from here to here. At the end of this trench dig a pit and make a roof. That'll be the barracks. Let's make another pit ten yards from there and make that the armory. Store all weapons not in use there. Set up MA8B machine guns here, here, here, here, and at two at the command center."
"Where will we put the command center sir?"
"That, my boy, will go in the very center of the base. I want all of this space right here set up for training. We need to teach these people how to fight. Trey, Ian, and Kevin, you guys teach these civvies how to be sevicemen. How many females we got?"
"Thirteen sir."
"Ask them if they wanna fight. Any that don't won't be discriminated. Let them know that. If any men don't wanna fight...teach them anyways. If they don't wanna fight they don't hafta. But make sure they know how to. Starting tomorrow I want patrols going out every other hour. We need to find out what's out there. I will lead the first patrol. If there's anything out there, I wanna see it first. Let's see it happen men."
The eight servicemen moved out to instruct the waiting civilians on what was going on.
TWO DAYS LATER
"Beautiful base boys and girls. And now after your "training" we might be able to find some stuff out. Tomorrow we will be going on a patrol." James loved making speeches. He thought it to be a sign of power. "I will lead the first patrol. Each patrol will be lead by either me or one of these men behind me." Behind Cpl. David James was Ian, Kevin, Brian, Trey, Randy, Steve, and D'Lano Ellison. Everyone else was standing at attention in row on the training field. They all passed their one day training session. "Tomorrow I will take ten volunteers on patrol. If there are no volunteers I will choose ten I think would do good."
The next day James asked for volunteers. Only three men volunteered. The two hunters from the first day, and a rather large, rather pale man. The hunter's names were Brett Cox and Phil Whitman. When the third man was asked his name, he simply said John.
Neverland: The First Patrol
Date: 25 November 2003, 1:01 AM
Neverland: The First Patrol
"All right gimme your names."
The ten "volunteers" stood at attention before Cpl. David James, waiting to go on the first patrol in ,comicaly named, Neverland. Only three of them were actual volunteers. The other seven were picked from the crowd on the qualities that they showed during their day of training. There were to be more days of training in the future. Right now though, they needed to find out where they were, and what they were doing there. They also needed to find out if there was any wildlife. The food that was stored with one of the clothing crates was running low.
"Brett Cox, sir." Brett was a heavy man, not fat, but big. His hair was short, red, and naturally quite shiny.
"Phil Whitman, sir." Phil was Brett's best friend. They used to hunt every weekend, back in the Republic of the Northern States, formerly known as Canada. Phil was taller than Brett, but much less muscular.
"Steven Simpson" Steve was a short chubby man, but he knew how to scrap. During the day of training he got into a fight with three other men. They were all bigger and stronger than him. Steven was surprisingly fast, and very smart. The physical arguement didn't last long.
Six more names sounded off, each of them showed promise during the training.
"David Wehlermann"
"Anthony Royer"
"Shannon Nichols"
"Patrick VanDeWeile"
"Chris Frost"
"Ashley DeMattei"
Cpl. James walked up to the last man in the line. He was by far the largest man there. Very nice muscular structure. He made the well fit Marine look like nothing. Cpl. James did not back down from him. He would not be dwarfed by a civilian. The unnaturally pale man stood at perfect attention.
"Name civilian."
"Sp.." The man faulted and then blinked and spoke again."John."
"John? Got a last name John."
"...No Sir."
"Very well."
Cpl. James stepped away from the seven foot titan before him and walked back down the ranks.
"Listen up people. This is going to be a patrol. The purpose of a patrol is either to explore new land, or to make sure Covvies don't come near that land. The Covenant might not be a problem here though. We will be making the first patrol here in Neverland. That means this patrol will quite possibly be the most dangerous. In a few minutes we will be moving to the armory. There we will equip ourselves with close combat weapons. I want two of you to pick up MA8B Machine Guns, two MA5B Assault Rifles, three MA6B Assault Rifles, and three M90 Shotguns. Pick what you are familiar with. One grenade per person. On the patrol we will move in single file line. I will be at point. I want everyone at my six in two meter intervals. Let's not fuck this up people. Get your gear and report back here in five." James pondered on wether or not trained Marines could do that easily in five.
"Make that ten."
Trey Mascari of ONI was working in the armory when the ten volunteers came rushing in demanding weapons. From the back a monster of a man calmed all the quarelling civilians and placed an order for all the weapons and ammo that they needed. Trey was taken back by the professional front of the civilian monstrocity before him.
After two minutes John was back on the training field. James was very surprised. We moved to inspect the hasty civilian standing on his field.
"What are you doing back on my field, JOHN?"
"Sir, waiting to go on patrol sir."
James was baffled at the response. To his surprise John was fully prepared and actually up to par with Marine standards, if not exceeding them. James was getting agry at how this civilian was seeming to be superior to his fellow service men. It just wasn't possible that a civilian could be as militarily perfect as this man seemed to be. He quickly discarded it from his mind.
After about twelve more minutes the rest of the group had finally arrived.
"All right ladies and gentlemen are you all good to go?"
"YESSIR!" resounded down the line.
"Good. Let's move out people."
The team moved out to the bordering wall and followed it down to an opening being guarded by two MA8Bs. The two gate guardians acknowledged their exit and covered them until they entered the edge of the woods.
Upon entering the woods, James motioned everyone to a high crouch. They moved slowly keeping their eyes on anything that might move. There were trees as far as the eye could see. After about twenty minutes of searching, they patrol came up on a large creek bed. It stretched across about ten meters. It was about five meters deep and had two trees stretching across. James moved up to one of the trees and inspected the trunk. It had been cut clean, not broken by the forces of nature. James looked at the other tree, which was cut down from the other side of the creek bed.
"These are plasma incisions."
James quickly turned around to see John examining the serated tree.
"How did you know that?"
"I've seen a lot of this."
James had no idea how John knew. Only someone who had fought the Covenant for a good while would be able to notice tiny burnings from plasma in a tree.
"Remind me to have a talk with you when we get back." If we get back. James thought to himself. "All right people let's cross this creek bed."
James was crossing first. John was crossing on the tree adjescent to him. Two people were scanning the trees across the creek bed and the rest were making sure nothing came from behind.
In five minutes everyone was across the makeshift bridges. James had just orded the team to move out when John called for his attention.
"What do you want John we're moving on"
"Sir, these tracks, they're Elites."
James looked down at John's little discovery, and to his surprise John was right. James looked at John quizzicaly. James examined the surrounding ground and found many more tracks. Tracks of Grunts were everywhere. Jackals, Brutes, and even a few Hunter tracks were discovered. James was horrified. He had to get back to the base. He had to tell everyone about the Covenant.
"Everyone come here." James looked up and scanned the area, making sure there weren't any hosties still around. "These tracks here, they belong to Covenant. We got to get back to base. Back over the bridge."
James looked across the creek just in time to see a body move back into the trees.
"HOLY! There's something over there. TAKE COVER!"
Everyone dove behind trees and rocks and scanned the opposite side of the bed. Nothing was moving.There was about five whole minutes of silenceThen, some bushes moved behind the team. A paranoid civilian with an MA8B turned and fired. All the other civilians did the same. Only John and James weren't shooting. John turned and noticed a blur moving between trees.
The civilians were relentless. The blur dodged bullets and hid behind rocks. Further back John noticed silouhettes of others moving between trees. John knew that there were no known Covenant that moved as fast as the being twelve meters in front of him. John waited a few more seconds to confrirm what he was seeing.
John stood up and with the vocals of a lion scared the civilians down, "CEASE FIRE! THEY'RE FRIENDLIES!"
All the firing stopped and everyone looked up at the giant like he was a god.
Just then a woman with stubby hair and dirty cams walked out of the treeline. She smiled at John and slowly walked towards the patrol.
Two civilians leveled their guns on the woman. John quickly waved them down. He then stood up and walked in the direction of the female.
James stood up and wasn't understanding anything going on. He then looked across the creek and found a dozen more figures on the other side. They were all armed, but none of them were acting hostile. James looked back at John, then at the woman, then at the people emerging from the woods behind her.
John walked up to the female and gave her a hug. "How ya been Kelly?"
Neverland: Answers for the Unasked Questions
Date: 14 December 2003, 1:09 AM
Neverland: Answers for the Unasked Questions
[AN] I'm trying to create some type of fan base here ppl. So....if yall could be so kind as to recommend my work...if ya think its good enough....to people ya know. thanks if ya do. and its no big thing if ya dont. Enjoy. - Odin -
James stood up and didn't understand anything going on. He then looked across the creek and found a dozen more figures on the other side. They were all armed, but none of them were acting hostile. James looked back at John, then at the woman, then at the people emerging from the woods behind her.
John walked up to the female and gave her a hug. "How ya been Kelly?"
Kelly returned the hug. She then scratched the stubbles on her head and looked quizzically at John.
"What the heck are you doing here John?"
"What do you mean?" John thought it to be a strange way to start a conversation.
"Far as I know, you gotta be dead to be here."
John just again realized where he was. "Guess I'm dead." John said with a chuckle.
"Who the hells gonna save Earth?" Kelly asked the question that many were thinking.
"The Marines! That's who. Those guys can take care of the Big Blue."
Kelly and John let out a light laugh.
John looked behind Kelly at some of the other people emerging from the bushes. After locking his view onto a figure John squinted in disbelief.
"Fred?!?!" Spartan-104 Frederic was standing behind Kelly twirling a combat knife. Just like the old days. "How the hell did both of you guys buy the farm?"
John looked around and noticed that everyone emerging from the bushes were Spartans that he once fought with. There were twelve of them. Four Spartans crossed the makeshift bridges behind him, bringing the total to eighteen Spartans, including John.
"I mean, as far as I know you have to have died on Earth to be here. How'd you guys get off of Reach?" John had wondered of the fate of his comrades since the day he left on the Pillar of Autumn.
"I'll explain everything later John."
John cocked his head in wonder. Then he noticed the Spartans raising their weapons and fading back into the trees.
"John, do you have anymore people here? Anymore civilians?"
"We have a base built back that way a few clicks. There's thirty-four more civilians and seven more military men."
John pointed at David and said, "That's Cpl. David James, he's been running the show. He got the base built and organized everyone up. He still has no idea who we are."
Cpl. James was standing with the eight civilians, none of them had any idea what was going on. James hated not knowing what was going on. He decided to see what was up.
"John, can you please tell me who the hell those people were and who the hell you are."
"We can explain all of this when we get back to your base. Get those civilians ready to go. You lead them back to the base. I'll have three of my men follow you. I have to take John and show him something." Kelly butted in and motioned across the creek.
James still had no idea who these people were, and to make it worse she was ordering him around. However, after seeing hundreds of rounds be pumped into these people's position, and none of them die, he decided they knew what they were talking about.
"Fine, I'll do what you say, but I want some answers when you guys get there." With that, James walked towards the civilians to give them their new instructions. James couldn't decide if the first patrol was a success or not.
Kelly looked at John and turned around. "Follow me, we have something to show you." She then walked back into the brush.
John didn't know what Kelly was up to but he knew it had to be pretty important. John double-timed it to catch up with her. The two moved north, away from the base. The twelve other Spartan IIs were walking around their two leaders, guns were scanning the area around them.
John examined Kelly from behind. He was not looking at her figure, but her clothes. She was wearing the same gray fatigues that he was, but she had armor over it. It looked like the standard issue armor that the Marines wore. On the back of the armor were six crosses. John made a mental note to ask her what they were for. On the bottom of her back plate were three P's and a K carved in. He needed to know what all that was too. She had a Battle Rifle slung over her shoulder and an M6D at each of her thighs. As John was examining Kelly's thighs, she turned around.
"What the hell are you looking at John?" Kelly seemed furious.
"Your sidearms, what else would I look at? I've seen you naked since you were six." John was wondering why she was mad. They had been trained not to think like that.
"Oh. I'm sorry John. It's just that I've been with too many civilians lately. You know, civilian males are nothing like the Marines or you. They're just plain mad."
John felt sorry for any guy that tried to make any sort of move on Kelly. Then another question slammed into John like a ton of bricks.
"Hey, Kelly, how exactly did you die?"
"I was hit by an artillery round when the Covenant attacked Paris. I just got there too. It makes me mad thinking about how retarded that death was. I've always imagined a valiant death. Like if I died on Reach. Left behind surrounded by thousands of enemies. But I escaped and made it back to Earth. Paris was my first mission. I was killed standing outside my Pelican." Kelly stopped and stared at the ground for a minute.
"How'd you die John?"
"I was on a special operations mission with a squad of Force Recon Marines in Sydney. Sydney was the Covenant HQ on Earth. We were supposed to sneak in and assassinate the Prophets.We got them but were spotted and an alarm was set off. We held out it the Prophet's confrence room for an hour. Eventually we ran out of ammo. Two Black Elites ran in and we engaged in hand to hand combat. It was me and three of the eight Marines that I came with. I took one of them by myself. Broke his neck. When I looked at the other Elite, two Marines were holding him down and another was about to boot his head in. Then they exploded in an evil green fire. Two Hunters busted in the room after that and shot at me. I dodged one of the shots. The second one grazed my arm. Destroyed my shields and my arm with it. The damn beast rushed me after that and pinned me to the wall with his shield. A Gold Elite and a Black Elite walked in after that. The Gold Elite walked up to me and then looked at the dead Prophets around the room. And funny enough, he thanked me, then the flamer ordered the Hunter to kill me. He smashed me against the wall until it broke. They left thinking I was dead. My armor helped hold off most of the pressure. I fell with the wall into the room next to us. I tried to move but couldn't. I just layed there on the ground and bled to death." John stared into the sky.
Both of these soldiers were legends and actually thought of as more of a myth. Yet both of them died without anyone even realizing. Neither of them talked for ten more minutes.
John could see an edge to the woods twenty more meters ahead of them. Kelly held up her hand and all the Spartans stopped and hid themselves. John has seen them do this thousands of times.
Kelly motioned John up to her side. The both of them crawled to the edge of the woods and Kelly pulled out a pair of binoculars. Kelly searched around and spotted what she was looking for. Then she handed John the binoculars and pointed to something in the distance. John took the binoculars and looked at what Kelly was pointing at.
John put the nocs up to his eyes and adjusted to the distance. The first thing he saw was a pair of Hunters. John scanned the area real quick and realized he was staring at a Covenant base. The base was positioned on top of a hill two hundred yards from the edge of the woods. There were just trenches and broken tree branches and trunks. The wood was made into barracades and shelters. John then looked at the area where Kelly was pointing. There didn't seem to be anything surprising, until he saw the cage. In the center of the base was a wooden cage with a dozen Elites and a platoon of Grunts guarding it. Inside five Humans stood. Three of them were ordinary looking men. They could have been Marines, or just ordinary civilians. One of them was a skinny pale old woman. Another was a rigid gray haired physically fit man. John recognized them. It was Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez.
Neverland: Plans for an assault
Date: 29 January 2004, 1:42 AM
Neverland: Plans for an Assault
[authors note] I know this ones awful short folks, but im just tryin to get back in the groove. theyll get longer, i promise. -SoS.Odin-
John put the nocs up to his eyes and adjusted to the distance. The first thing he saw was a pair of Hunters. John scanned the area real quick and realized he was staring at a Covenant base. The base was positioned on top of a hill two hundred yards from the edge of the woods. There were just trenches and broken tree branches and trunks. The wood was made into barracades and shelters. John then looked at the area where Kelly was pointing. There didn't seem to be anything surprising, until he saw the cage. In the center of the base was a wooden cage with a dozen Elites and a platoon of Grunts guarding it. Inside five Humans stood. Three of them were ordinary looking men. They could have been Marines, or just ordinary civilians. One of them was a skinny pale old woman. Another was a rigid gray haired physically fit man. John recognized them as Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez.
John sat back against a nearby tree. Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez were like his father and mother. Seeing them in the hands of the Covenant pained him greatly. John had thought Mendez dead when Reach was taken. He had no idea what happened to Dr. Halsey after she left with Kelly. So he decided to find out.
"Kelly, what happened after Dr. Halsey ran off with you?"
Kelly had known this question was inevitable,"What happened isn't very important. All you need to know is that we got back to Earth. I don't know how she died, and I sure as hell ain't gonna let here stay pent up in that cage. The other Spartans.."
"About them. How are all of them here? I've only seen people who died on Earth here."
"Dead Earth people return in this sector only. There are six known sectors here. One for each of the galaxies we've traveled to. Any person with the potential to become a great warrior comes here after death."
"How the hell do you know this?"
"Prophets. We've captured a few and killed one. We interrogated the three we captured and apparently this is what they believe to be Heaven. Any Covenant warrior who has proven himself comes here. They think that since they've invaded our territory, humans from Covenant occupied land come here as well. Naturally, Spartans make the cut. The three "P's" on my back represent the three Prophets we've captured. The "K" reps a Knight."
"What the hell are Knights?"
"Not the Medieval knights we were taught about as kids, but Covenant Knights. They're twice as good as Brutes and, luckily, twice as rare as Spartans. They wear armor similar to a Hunters, and are about as big, but they're fast and strong like Brutes and smart as frick. We lost two Spartans killing the one. The six crosses on my back represent Spartans lost here."
"Who died?"
"David, James, Isaac, Chris, Erica, and..."
"And?"
"Sam."
John was motionless for ten minutes. Every name Kelly sounded off hit him like a charged up plasma pistol, but when she said Sam, it was like being crushed by that Hunter all over again. John, Kelly, and Sam were closer than brother and sister.
"When'd he die?" John finally worked up the guts to ask.
"A while ago. Six months maybe. He was runnin this show when I got here. Surprisingly, he was fully grown. He had already constructed a base, captured eight Prophets, killed two Knights, and was able to take full control of one of the galactic sectors. I was able to work with him for a month. We took another sector and still hold it. Sam found out about another Knight that had appeared, and decided to go take it out. When we ambushed it, it was asleep, so we thought. There were five cloaked Elites already there. They set up a trap and we walked right into it. During the fight the Knight got a hold of Sam, and without our armor or shields, it's not so easy to fight of a beast that strong. We killed the Knight before he could kill Sam, but Sam was too wounded to make it. Sam said he was glad he didn't see you here, but maybe he'll see you on the next level."
"What do you mean 'next level'?"
"After you die here, if you're worthy enough, you go on to the divine level. There the Gods make you into a Guardian. No dout Sam's there."
John and Kelly walked back to the base and decided to attack the Covenant base and rescue Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez. Before the sun breaks the horizon, John, Kelly, and ten other Spartan II's would sneak onto the Covenant base, take out the guards, and rescue the captives. Before the sun would hide back behind the horizon, they would return and wipe the base out of existence.
Neverland: The Rescue
Date: 5 February 2004, 9:32 PM
John and Kelly walked back to the base and decided to attack the Covenant base and rescue Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez. Before the sun breaks the horizon, John, Kelly, and ten others would sneak onto the Covenant base, take out the guards, and rescue the captives. Before the sun would hide back behind the horizon, they would return and wipe the base out of existence.
John peeked over the hill and reviewed the Covenant base one more time. It was around mid-night, nine other humans were positioned at various other spots along the ridge of the woods. Kelly was just ten meters to John's right. She was supposed to sprint across the open field in front of them and avoid the sight of the guards. Then she would take out specific guards, allowing the rest of the team to move in.
John motioned her to move in. Kelly was already twenty meters across the field when John's hand came back to rest on his rifle. Kelly had always been the fastest Spartan, tough as nails too. In another two seconds Kelly had closed the hundred meter gap to fifty. Just then John noticed an Elite he had not seen earlier. The Elite was in the direct path of Kelly, he was sure to see her soon.
Kelly saw him too and dove. She landed on her hands and pushed back off performin a series of front flips. This was the signal for Anthony. Anthony was a sniper waiting in a tree above John. He saw the Elite as well. Two silenced cracks later, the Elite was on the ground.
Kelly landed from her front flips and started back towards the base. There were no walls to this base, just towers every hundred meters. Kelly was to take out the two closest towers and signal for red and blue team to move in. Then they were to move in towards the prisoner cells and covertly eliminate the guards. After that they were to make it back out the same way.
Spatans John, Anthony, Kyle, Kelly, and Max made up red team. Blue team was made of Marines. Cpl. James was the leader of blue team. His teammates were Pvts. Ian Staten, Brian Souder, Kevin Souder, and Steve Wilson. They were equipped with MA7Bs and battle rifles. Their job was to shoot anything that came chasing the Spartans out of the Covenant base.
Cpl. James watched with amazement at the speed of the Spartan. In less than two minutes a single Spartan had eliminated eight Grunts and four Elites before they knew what happened. A signal came over his comm, it sounded like a child's rhyme. A second later, three more Spartans were running across the field. Anthony stayed in the tree. Cpl. James signaled for his men to stay frosty.
John stopped under a Covenant tower and waited for all of his Spartans to gather. Once regrouped the four Spartans moved forward in a high crouch with Max covering the rear. Each of them were equipped with silenced battle rifles and M6D pistols. They moved as one in the shadows and towards the cage.
John raised a fist, signaling to halt. The four Spartans stopped at the corner of a building. Four Grunts were heard around the corner. It was a patrol. John lowered his hand, palm down, ordering the Spartans to go down and blend with the shadows. The four Grunts passed by, pistols holstered and chattering away in some alien tongue. John pointed to his gun and raised two fingers then pointed at each Spartan. This meant for each Spartan to discharge two rounds on his command. All four Spartans aimed and readied. John clicked his finger nail on his rifle and a quick volley of rounds flew through the air. All four Grunts fell to the ground and remained motionless. John motioned for Kyle to hide the bodies, while the remaining three moved forward.
Red team came upon an open courtyard with a cage in the center twenty meters from anything. Five Elites and a dozen Grunts were on night guard. John waited until Kyle caught back up until giving any orders.
"Fan out, pick off Elites first, then target the Grunts. Wait for my shot first. I'm almost positive those Elite's shields aren't even up." John's orders were too quiet for a human, but crystal clear to a Spartan.
John posted up and aimed at the nearest Elite. He figured a whole minute would be sufficient for the Spartans to sneak into their positions. John took a quick peek at Dr. Halsey, the lady who had given him that silver disc when they first met. She was the closest thing to his mother, and seeing her there was killing him.
John looked to his left and right, spotting his Spartans aiming at their targets. He resighted on the Elite closest to him and discharged. The Elites chest filled with armor piercing rounds and he fell. Three more dropped soon after. John aimed at a startled trio of Grunts and opened up. A silent baa resounded from his gun as he dropped all three of them.
John surveyed the area. Five dead Elites, twelve dead Grunts, and four scared humans in a cage. John stepped from the shadows and ran towards the cage. The other three Spartans also moved out and scanned the buildings behind them for any movement. John snapped a wooden bar from the cage and the humans squeezed out.
"Thank you John." Dr. Halsey had tears running down her face.
Chief Mendez was less happy to see the Spartans, "Damn it! I taught you guys better than to be here!"
John knew he meant in that twisted world and not specifically at that base, "Good to see you too Sir."
John motioned for them to follow him and for Max and Kyle to cover the rear. Kelly ran ahead to make sure the exit was still clear. The seven humans slowly made their way towards the edge of the base. There they met up with Kelly, who gave them the thumbs up. John picked up Dr. Halsey and they all ran across the field to the woods where blue team was waiting.
Halfway across the field four white tracer streams streaked over the humans heads. John took a quick glance back and saw each round deflect off the armor of a monstrous creature. It was a Knight and it was running.
Knights didn't use weapons, they didn't need to. They were the size of four Hunters, fast as and Elite, and tougher than Brutes. They didn't use shields either, just armor to thick to penetrate.
John's comm ficked on and Kelly announced to everyone, "Aim for the space in between his head and chest and the space in between his chest and pelvis! Knights don't have armor there!"
Soon after the announcement the Marines opened up. The staccato of automatic weapons fire no doubt alerted the base to their presence, but it didn't matter, the mission was almost over.
Kyle, Max, and Kelly picked up the three remaining humans and sprinted for the woods. Chief Mendez, on Kelly's shoulder, unholstered her pistol and opeded fire on the Knight.
Red team hit the woods and dropped their cargo. They then spun and opened up. All of red and blue team were firing on the lone Knight for a full four seconds before he hit the woods.
The Knight, covered in blood, grabbed hold of Pvt. Wilson. Wilson screamed before he was crushed like an aluminum can. Blue team unleashed Hell on the Knight. Hundreds of rounds were pumped into it. The Knight turned around and grabbed a hold of Pvt. Staten. It's hand wrapped around his body and held one arm down. Staten refused to die and opened up point blank into the Knights neck with his free arm.
The damage was too much for the Knight and it fell, loosing it's grip on Pvt. Staten. Staten could not move though. He had a broken arm and probably some broken ribs. Cpl. James picked Staten up into a fireman's carry and started to fall back to their firebase.
Pvts. Kevin and Brian Souder turned back to the field and opened up on some Grunts who were crazy enough to run out in an open field. The whole time Anthony was removing Elites from the whole combatical equation. Red and blue teams started moving back into the woods as the Covenant decided not to follow across the field.
The mission was a success and the sun was just peeking over the hills. They would be back later that day to clear out the rest of the Covenant.
Neverland: Eradication
Date: 24 February 2004, 3:03 AM
Red and blue teams started moving back into the woods as the Covenant decided not to follow across the field.
The mission was a success and the sun was just peeking over the hills. They would be back later that day to clear out the rest of the Covenant
John and Kelly were back in their scouting spots on the edge of the woods. This time there were twenty Spartan IIs and eighty UNSC Marines in the woods with them. It was about three fourths of the way through the day and the sun was closing towards the horizon. The Covenant base was crawling with patrols. Security had been boosted due to the early morning events.
Cpl. James was to the left flank. He had been assigned to the 1st Marine Battalion. There were seven Marine Battalions in Neverland. There were only five Army Battalions and only a single Company from the UNSC Air Navy Corps.
Cpl. James was made a platoon leader and promoted to Sergeant. He then volunteered for a spot in the assault to prove himself. He was given the Souders, and Staten when he got better, and seventeen other Marines. He was the fourth platoon Sgt. in Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. Dog Company were the only Marines to go on this assault. Intel told it would be enough.
James motioned for his men to stay low and stay quiet. An order for snipers went over the comm and James waved for his sniper to positon himself in the tree next to him. A single sniper was to report the strength of the enemy over the comm so everyone knew what was in there.
"I got two Elites in each of the twelve towers. Around 100 Grunts, it looks like. Three patrols of five Jackals moving around the perimeter. Probably about a dozen more Elites inside the base and around ten more Jackals." The sniper paused for a moment, probably scanning for more. "I see six Hunters standing by a big building close to the command center. There are four Brutes outside as well, and...Shit! There are two Knights behind the command center!"
The MC was already thinking the overview was a bit grimm, but two Knights made it impossible. From what he saw the night before, and past experiences, it'd probably take all twenty of the Spartans just to overtake the command center.
The MC turned towards Kelly, "Radio back to your base and send for the rest of 1st Battalion. We're going to have to attack at night, not like that's a bad thing."
Kelly accessed her comm and ordered the reinforcement, giving a sit wrap and their current position. John turned back to the base and accessed his comm system. "Sit tight boys and girls, we're waiting for reinforcements on this one."
A ton of weight was just lifted off of Sgt. James' shoulders. He turned towards his platoon and motioned a stand down. The snipers were ordered to alternate watch. James decided to open up his MRE and have dinner.
It was two hours before the reinforcements arrived and were in place. James' platoon was one of ten ordered to crawl across the field and wait. They were to be the first wave of assailants. Everyone else was to run in from the edge of the woods. Six Spartans were also ordered to move in with them.
The signal was sent across the comm and James ordered his men to hit the dirt. They crawled for ten minutes and then signaled back to confirm their postion. Fourty seconds later the last platoon signalled in and another signal went across the comm. Seconds later seventeen sniper rounds cracked across the night sky. A single round from each platoon in each company, and one from a Spartan. Seventeen of the twenty Elites in the towers fell from a mortal wound to the head.
The fire at will command crackled across the comm and the snipers finished off their clips. All of the tower guards were killed as ten of the Elites in the base and all of the Jackals on patrol. Eight more Elites came out of the command center and one of the Knights moved towards the entrance of the base.
The signal for the attack went out and James got up. Behind him, his nineteen Marines and all the others in the woods emerged and started out in a sprint. James got to the front gate right as a demolitions Marine called the "Fire in the Hole!". The explosion blew the gate inwards and killed a group of Grunts. James was the third Marine inside and he fired upon a trio of Grunts on his right. He ran that way to clear the area and was hit in the chest by a plasma round.
Pvt. Brian Souder entered the Covenant base just in time to see Sgt. James hit the ground. He fired six rounds from his MA6B Assault Rifle into the wounded Grunt in front of his platoon leader. When Brian got to James he was gasping for air and bleeding profusely. Souder pulled his biofome out and filled the wound while his brother shot another Grunt emerging from the buildings and called for a Medic.
A Medic got there and examined the Sgt. "He'll be o.k. if I get him back and treat him right now."
Pvt. Kevin Souder nodded and helped the Medic carry him out of the base.
Pvt. Brian Souder stood and took in the situation. The Marines had pushed into the base and were clearing out the rows of barracks to the left. In the middle more Marines and a handfull of Spartans were in a firefight with a few Elites and Jackals close to the center of the base. To Souder's right were more barracks were the rest of his platoon were clearing out Grunts. Brian started to run that way when a Knight emerged from behind a barrack and crushed the roof.
The Knight broke into the barrack and pounded two Marines to the ground with its massive, hairy fists. Brian commed his company and relayed the position of the Knight. He then opened fire and moved towards a position where three more Marines were. They also witnessed the Knights emergence and opened fire as well. The Knight started to move towards them, but was then stopped by a rocket into his back. The Knight turned around to see three Spartans and a Marine with a SPNKr rocket launcher. The Spartans opened up and the Knight was now taking fire from two different directions.
Brian dropped his spent clip and slammed a fresh one in. He couldn't believe the Knight was still standing. Brian peered at the three pale warriors on the opposite side of the Knight. They were unleashing all of Hell on the Knight and it was still ticking. Brian primed a grenade and lobbed it at the Knight's feet.
The Knight was still confused as to which way to attack and took the full force of the grenade. The Knight staggered and launched itself at the Spartans. It grabbed a hold of one of them and slammed her against the Marine. The Marine died instantly, but the Spartan's superstructure kept her alive. The other two Spartans lobbed plasma grenades onto the Knight's chest and ran past it, firing into its weak spots the whole time. The grenades exploded and the Knight fell. The Spartans helped up their comrade and moved on.
Brian and the three Marines with him moved on towards the command center. The main force was already in the base and past them.
Grace was still staggering from attack by the Knight. If it weren't for John and Max she probably would have probablems walking. They trudged on nonetheless.
When Brian reached the command center it was all caos. There were three Brutes and four Hunters standing by a destroyed command center. Rockets completely decimated the building. The Brutes and Hunters were fighting against three platoons of Marines, and losing. There were dead Marines and dead Covenant all over the ground. In the midst of another platoon of Marines was the second Knight. It smashed a Marine and backhanded two more, all while taking the full assault of the platoon. It took out four more Marines with another swing of it's hand.
It came down with a double fisted pound but hit nothing but ground. While bent down a single Marine leaped on it's back and grabbed onto it's armor. The Knight twirled around like a carousel. The Marine held hard and jammed the muzzle of his rifle into the Knight's flesh. He unloaded a full clip into the beast and it slowed down substantially. The Marine leaped off, but the Knight caught him in mid-air and crushed his body. The rest of the platoon renewed their assault and quickly brought down the Knight.
An hour and a half later the base was completely cleared. Covenant losses amounted to 256 dead, 12 captured. Eight Grunts, two Jackals, and Elite, and a Prophet forfeit their freedom to the Humans. Marine losses were 56 dead, 87 injured, and 3 wounded Spartans. The operation was a success, but came at a high price.
Neverland: On the Way Home
Date: 3 March 2004, 1:05 AM
An hour and a half later the base was completely cleared. Covenant losses amounted to 256 dead, 12 captured. Eight Grunts, two Jackals, an Elite, and a Prophet forfeit their freedom to the Humans. Marine losses were 56 dead, 87 injured, and 3 wounded Spartans. The operation was a success, but came at a high price.
John sat in a chair in a debris scattered room. Kelly, Fred, Grace, and Lt. General Lejeune sat in various other spots as well.
Lt. General Lejeune stood and the Spartans snapped to attention.
"At ease. Great job out there today. Unfortunately the Prophet is not speaking. Don't worry though, the Corps has it's ways of making Covenant talk. Rally the other Spartans, we're heading home. I want you guys to torch this place. Report to me when you get back to home base. I got another mission for you." With a smile the General headed towards the door.
The Spartans saluted and filed out the door. John motioned for the rest of the Spartans to assemble.
"We gotta torch this place people. Then we get a mission straight from the General." This brought smiles to all of their faces. Lt. General Lejeune was notorious for dishing out near impossible battle plans and missions.
Only John, Max, Fred, Will, Erica, and Kelly stayed to blaze the base. After all of the Marines had exited the Covenant base the Spartans essembled C4 packages and placed them at vital points. The base went up like a G.I. Joe on the 4th of July. The Spartans mission was complete.
The six Spartans assembled and headed towards the woods. It was a ten mile hike back to the makeshift firebase that John's civilians created. Once there they would radio in and get a transport back to Camp Lejeune.
The Spartans formed two fire teams and split up to reduce the chance of being spotted. John, Fred, and Will moved together. Fifty yards to their left, Kelly led Erica and Max.
John clicked his safety on and then back off. Fred and Will raised their weapons and they all went into a high crouch. John and Fred scanned the area in front of them. Will covered their six, making sure nothing would sneak up. John needed to make sure they were not being followed by anyone.
After five minutes of walking this way the trio paused. They waited there for another five minutes until they started off again. There was little talk and various noised caused them to go low often.
After about eight miles or so John clicked his safety off and on again. This time he knelt and stayed low. The sounds of bird calls and insects were spamming the area. John scanned the area and watched the bushes.
Five minutes passed and John stood. As he took his first step his peripheal vision picked up movement. He dropped and aimed. Nothing moved. He listened again. This time he heard nothing. Two minutes passed and nothing. Then there was an explosion fifty meters behind John.
John turned and then looked back in front of him. Out of the shadows a Brute lept towards the Master Chief. John pivoted and ducked. The Brute landed on his shoulder and John burst upwards. The Brute flew behind John and slammed into a tree.
John took this moment to check his team. Fred was in a grappling match with another Brute and Will was firing into the bushes at another Brute no doubt. John was about to face his opponent again when a train hit him in the face.
John's reiforced jaw barely stood the force of the Brute's blow. John staggered and nearly lost his balance. The Brute came in for another attack but John countered with his Battle Rifle. He swung the rifle in a baseball style attack and connected with the jaw of the beast.
The Brute stepped back and lunged again. John pulled his combat knife and ducked again. He was planning on slashing through the Brute's belly, but it was too smart. The Brute stepped, twisted it's torso and kicked the Master Chief in the shoulder. John hit the dirt, his knife skipped into the bushes.
The Brute raised his leg to stomp on the Master Chief. John disagreed and punched the bottom of the Brute's foot. The Brute lost it's balance and fell. When got back on it's knees, John hopped onto it's back.
John put the Brute into a headlock and squeezed. The Brute flailed about swinging at the Chief. John release one hand and dug into the Brute's eye sockets. He squeezed his fingers between the eyeball and skull and pulled up. The Brute's sockets shattered while flesh and bone ripped away from it's skull.
John jumped off and the Brute fell to the ground, holding it's eyes and roaring in pain. John retreived his combat knife and pulled the Brute's head back. He stabbed into the Brute's throat and severed his spine. The Brute fell to the ground, motionless.
John turned back to his team and found one Brute with over twenty AP rounds in it's skull and Will holding his side. Ten feet further Fred sat atop the third Brute. He was still punching the Brute's face. The Brute looked like a deformed monkey run over by one too many Warthogs.
John walked over to Fred and place his hand on his shoulder. "Let's go. We have to see how Kelly's doing."
Neverland: Home to Sparta
Date: 29 March 2004, 11:07 PM
John walked over to Fred and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Let's go. We have to see how Kelly's doing."
John helped Fred up and turned to Will. Will gave him the thumbs up and they moved out.
Kelly was to their left flank and about fifty yards back. The three Spartans made it there in six seconds.
Before reaching their comrades, the staccato of rifle fire was heard. John burst through some trees and came to a clearing. Will and Fred came out right behind and scanned the area. The area was clear, spare a few plasma scarring and a small crater. More rifle fire was heard about twenty yards to their right and the Spartans ran.
There was an explosion and a scream. Fred dove through a bush and slammed into an Elite. John and Will came through moments later and unloaded a few dozen rounds into the Elite, killing it. Fred stood and raised his rifle. A few yards in front of him lay the body of a two Brutes and Max. Will checked on Max and Fred and John ran further to find Kelly and Erica.
The two Spartans heard a twig snap twice and took cover behind nearby trees. John picked up a twig and snapped it twice. Another twig snapped and John turned to his left. About ten yards and a few feet forward, Kelly was hiding behind a rock with Erica in her arms. Kelly raised two fingers, closed them pointed beyond the rock and raised three fingers sideways.
John nodded and turned to Fred, "We got two Elites ahead of us hiding together. Kelly and Erica look fine."
Fred nodded and reloaded his MA5B. The two Spartans went low and crept forward. Fred spotted the two Elites ahead of Kelly hiding in the foliage of a fallen tree. The Chief raised his finger and twirled it then slapped the butt of his rifle. Fred acknowledged with a grin.
They crept more slowly and silently. Even more so when they passed the tree where the Elites were hiding out. They slowly crept up behind the location of the Elites, and John stopped. He pointed his thumb at himself and his pinkie at Fred, clicked his tongue and pointed over the tree. Fred nodded and produced two grenades.
The Master Chief recieved a grenade and readied to throw it. Fred did the same. John clicked his tongue again and the two Spartans lobbed their grenades. They immediately readied themselves to charge.
The grenades landed five yards in front of the Elites and they ducked. John and Fred rushed into the foliage just as the grenades detonated. The Elites heard nothing but the explosion. Fred made it to them first. He pivoted his hips, took a large step, and with the form of a professional baseball player, swunge his rifle into the spine of the Elite. It's spine shattered and it fell.
The second Elite raised it's rifle and prepared to fire on Fred. Before it got the chance though, John slammed the butt of his rifle into the base of it's neck. The Elite dropped and the Master Chief fired a few rounds into it's head. The two Spartans checked the area for more enemies and headed back to Kelly and Erica.
When they got there Will was checking on Erica, Max didn't make it. After Will finished his check the five Spartans moved out together. They stopped by Max and Fred picked him up in a fireman's carry. John and Will took point while Linda covered the rear. Fred was in the middle and Kelly ran scout.
They walked this way for what seemed like hours. Kelly would return every once in a while and check in. After a while Kelly came back and said it was clear until the extraction point. The five Spartans sprinted the rest of the way.
Kelly exited the woods and set up the radio. "Homeland this is Bomber Baby. Mission complete. Waiting for evac."
Static was heard then a burly voice replied, "Roger that Bomber Baby. Evac ETA ten minutes. Good job."
Kelly returned to the woods and relayed the message to the Spartans. The radio was left behind as a homing becon for the Evac.
John walked up to Kelly with a quizzical look. "How are we getting out of here again?" He never really thought about it, he was always used to pelicans.
Kelly smiled, "Pelicans Chief. We've got ninety-six of them. Don't ask where they came from. Probably the same place as the rest of everyone else's gear."
The whine of a Pelican was heard a few minutes later. The Pelican hovered above the field for a while and it's landing gear slowly lowered. The Pelican began its decent and landed. The Spartans loaded up and the Pelicans engines roared with power. The flying transport ascended and began it's flight.
Kelly moved to the front of the Pelican walked into the cockpit. John took a seat and layed back. Fred and Erica layed Max's body on the deck and took seats for themselves. Will sat next to the Master Chief and handed him his canteen. The Chief took a drink and handed it back.
Will had been in that land only a few months before John. "How ya like it here Chief?"
"It's great." A hint of sarcasm was in his voice. "I still have no idea what this place is though."
"Neither do I. I don't really care though. If ya wanna know you'll have to talk to Intel."
Twenty minutes later Kelly pointed out the window and John looked. Below was a city. There were buildings everywhere. A wall surrounded the city. The wall towered above most of the buildings. Scorpion tanks dotted the top of the wall. Three massive gates were the only ground entrances into the city.
John turned to Kelly and asked, "What is this place?"
"This is the stongest Human city here. The HQ of all operations. Capitol of Human controlled land. This is Sparta."
Neverland: A New Mission
Date: 20 May 2004, 1:09 AM
John turned to Kelly and asked, "What is this place?"
"This is the strongest Human city here. The HQ of all operations. Capitol of Human controlled land. This is Sparta."
John, strapped on the standard issue UNSC Marine ballistics armor that was given to him. The Office of Neverland Intelligence, ONI, told him that shipments of clothing, food, weapons, and sometimes vehicles just appeared every once in a while. He didn't care where it came from, he was just glad to have it.
He left his tent and took in the scenery. He stood at the edge of a row of tents. Rows upon rows of tents were neatly stretched throughout an open field. This was the makeshift barracks of the 1st Neverland Expeditionary Force. One thousand Marines were assigned to the 1st NEF, ten Scorpion MBTs, and a fleet of 30 Warthogs .John was just recently assigned to command Dog Company.
Cpl. Brian Souder approached and saluted. John returned the salute and motioned for the Marine to follow him. "What's the status of Staten and James?"
"Dead sir." Brian had checked on the two just that morning.
John lowered and shook his head. He approached the 1st NEF HQ and motioned for Cpl. Souder to wait back at the tents. John approached the door and the guard saluted, opened the door, and went back to the position of attention.
John's eyes quickly adjusted to the room. It was dark and musky in the room. Ten men chatted, read maps, and wrote down various notes. This was the usual sight right before an operation. Lt. General Lejeune noticed John and motioned him to wait.
John waited patiently for five more minutes. He was getting aggravated and prepared to talk when a Marine burst into the tent. The Marine's clothes were tattered and he was covered in dirt and blood, blue and red.
The Marine dropped to the ground and struggled to get back up. John helped the man up and sat him against a nearby crate. Moments later, the two guards and a medic entered the tent and tended to him.
General Lejeune approached the man and recognized him instantly. "Sgt. Kesinger. What happened?"
"We were...ambushed...before we...got to the temple." The man was barely able to sit up. "Knights and Elites...had to fall back."
Gen. Lejeune nodded and placed his hand on the Marine's shoulder. "Rest easy, where's the rest of your platoon?"
Kesinger sat erect, wide eyed, and tears began to form. "Sir, I have no more platoon."
Gen. Lejeune stood and stepped back. Forty Marines, lost. Gen. Lejeune ordered the Sgt. to follow the medic to the hospital. He sat back down and dwelled on the events. That platoon of Marines was supposed to recon a possible site with answers to questions about Neverland.
At that moment he noticed John still standing near the entrance. "Master Chief Petty Officer, come here." John walked to him and stood at the POA. "That man was on another ONI mission. ONI is trying to find out where the hell we are and what the hell we're doing here. This mission is quit important. It is now apparent that the Covenant are in the area, and that means there's something important there. I need you to take your company and take that temple. If you request it, Charlie Company will assist you. You will be in complete command of how this mission goes down."
"Yes sir, Dog Company should be enough to take the temple. I do however request the assistance of a few fellow Spartans, sir."
"I'll see what I can do. Good luck Master Chief. Check in with ONI HQ for the details." Gen. Lejeune stood and saluted John.
John returned the salute, tuned on his heel and exited the tent. Outside, Cpl. Souder was waiting. John waved him to follow. "Tell the Platoon Leaders to meet me at my tent. We have a mission."
John sat with four of his Platoon Leaders and his Company First Sergeant. They studied recon information, map layouts, and went over the battle plan. John's request had been granted, Kelly, Fred, and Will were going with him. A Spartan was to follow each platoon.
"Get your men some sleep. We leave tonight at 2200." John stood and saluted the men that were soon to follow him into battle.
John walked slowly through the brush. Trees covered the land, John was starting to get real tired of trees. His MA5B assault rifle was leveled and ready to open on anything inhuman. Behind him, scattered half a mile across, were 175 battle hardened Marines.
A mile from where the temple was supposed to be, John came upon an opening. Not a natural opening. The trees were splintered, burnt, or just plain uprooted. Bodies lay strewn across the ground. Most of the bodies wore grey. A Knight lay alone surrounded by Marine corpses. A dozen Elites scattered the area.
John hit him comm. mic and opened channels to Platoon Leaders and Spartans. "2nd, 3rd, and 4th platoons halt and set up a perimeter around 1st platoons position. 1st platoon, police these bodies, collect dog tags and set a nav point for BC."
John dragged two bodies to the edge of the opening and collected their dog tags, Pvt. Lewis and Pvt. Thompson. He pocketed the tags and searched for another body. He just spotted one close by and was walking toward it when the staccato of rifle fire resounded through the trees.
Will came over John's comm. system, "Third platoon under attack. Knights, Brutes, Elites. Need back up."
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