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Teridan, Part II: Death of a soldier.
Posted By: Duckfoot<duckfoot_2@hotmail.com>
Date: 12 September 2005, 4:26 pm
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19/7
0911h
Jones, Ensign
There were a few fragments still flying when I looked. Dust swarmed around my head, my goggles blocking out the various eye-damaging elements in the air. The hunter was gone. That was good. Just a few metal fragments on the floor. Turns out a young marine named Yu became a martyr for us. Touching. I knew Dr. Hasley from my post at reach – I was the guy outside her room. She talked to me on the radio. Sick of the sacrificing one to save them all. Rings true with this situation I guess. But I'm alive. Doesn't matter.
The clattering minigun finally fell silent, the lucky guy in the control room realising the hunter was gone. Peering over the table in the corner, his face a brilliant white, Lieutenant Jacobs flipped his HUD down. We still had the old green kit, a tactical display, but it did wonders when it comes to guerrilla warfare. His voice crackled through my headset.
"Jones, get your men formed up. We need to move up, now."
"May I ask why?"
"Listen."
Reaching up to my helmet, I flicked up the amplification control. Static roared for a split second, then silence. No, not silence. A rasping sound. Sounded like it came from above, so I gazed towards the ceiling. An air vent. It was vibrating. A small fragment of hunter fell down, landing on a charred marine's body. Sighing silently, I flicked my own HUD down, and checked the marine's life signs. Just over half were dead. Looking back up towards the ceiling, I saw a vibration again. More clearly this time.
I tapped the magazine release, and slid the loose mag into my hand. Without my eyes leaving the vent, I tapped it lightly against my helmet, and the marines still sane enough to realise what was about to happen followed suit, following my movement, and raising their rifles to the ceiling. With a crash, the grate fell down in slow motion, and landed with a crash on the floor.
Following the vent, screaming as it went, came a Grunt. With a squeal, it landed on the ground, bouncing a little. It pulled itself up, and gazed across the room. The Marines weapons were still swinging down from the roof. It let out a squeal of surprise, and raised its plasma pistol to aim at the nearest soot-blackened face. Too late, however. The marines opened fire on the unfortunate alien, shredding its fragile body. A bullet must have clipped one of its plasma grenades, as an explosion ripped through the room. The covenant knew exactly where we were.
Three Elites dropped from the roof, plasma splattering on the surrounding furniture. I raised my rifle and let off a burst of about five rounds, before the weapon clicked, signalling an empty magazine. Cursing myself, I swung my arm upwards, simultaneously picking up a magazine from my side, and clipping the magazine release, sending the magazine clattering to the floor. The three elites shields were just failing, lead pattering against their weak armour. The security minigun was just beginning to spin up, and a few marines were writhing on the floor, plasma burns on their body. Covenant then began to drop from the roof. I could see Elites, Grunts, Jackals, Drones, everything. Swearing under my breath, I began to let loose upon the mass that was gathering in the centre of the room.
The minigun was having a field day. Covenant bodies began to build up in a pile in the centre of the room, still spurting blood from where the minigun rounds hit them. The commander gave the order to retreat, so I turned round to pass on the order to my squad. All three of them. Two marines were on the floor as well, writhing in their death throes. Looking into the eyes of Sergeant Thorne, his face disfigured by a piece of shrapnel embedded in his face, blood streaming down his face. I asked him to do the same for me, and before he could comprehend this, I issued a mercy round to each of the mortally wounded marines, knowing that the covenant would love to see them suffer if we left them behind. The Sergeant stared at me for a moment, then understood, and his expression returned to what we like to call 'the marine face' – i.e. no emotion.
The minigun was dealing with the covenant – barely. More and more were throwing their lives down before us, the pile of dead mounting. The surviving marines dodged from cover to cover, attempting to evade the thick covenant fire. The door at the back, close to an inch thick, opened, but only enough to allow us to dodge through. I was second to last through, Corporal Patel was behind me, and he too saw the end of the minigun. A brave Grunt jumped to his feet, and let loose a plasma grenade, which landed directly on the barrels of the gun. It spun along with the barrels comically for a split second, and then detonated, sending small parts of minigun around the room.
It appeared that we had underestimated the numbers of covenant dropping into the room. As soon as the minigun ceased its wall of fire, the mass began to build up in the room, Elites taking the initiative, and ordering the other species to move up, leading them from the front. The corporal turned around, snapped me a salute, and moved his lips in what looked like the old marine motto. He slammed me through the door, and then hit the door close button, a weak smile on his face as it slid shut.
A few moments later, I heard a massive explosion. The security cameras reported that the Corporal had dived into the oncoming mass, and then detonated the explosives around his body, ripping his body apart, but taking most of the Covenant in the room with him. There was no time to mourn him and his sacrifice, so I pulled myself up with the help of the sergeant, and sprinted down the hallway. I counted only twelve marines running down, including Jacobs. Two left from my squad, the rest, I have no idea.
To our left, an empty corridor. To our right, another empty corridor. Jacobs seemed to know where we were going, however, so everyone followed his lead. Ahead, another empty corridor. I risked a look behind. Nothing. It looked like we would be able to make it. As I turned my head to look forward again, time seemed to slow. A single Jackal rounded the corner, and froze, glued to the spot. We quickly crouched to one knee, but it was too late. The alien's plasma pistol let out a supercharged glob of glowing plasma, and it arced towards our group. In the half second or so it took to fly towards us, I did not realise that it would hit me. The classic denial of a soldier in battle. It won't be me. It cant be me. However, I realised too late what was happening, and flung myself to the side too late. It hit me full on below the ribcage, and I collapsed on the floor. Eerie. No pain at all.
I woke up on a stretcher. Lights swam from below to above, fuzzy. I snapped to awareness in a second. Pain flooded me. An older corporal leaned over me, his stubble clearly visible, the rest of the scene, however, was blank. He said something into my ear, but I couldn't hear it. A buzzing sound again began to permeate. Black filled my eyes, as if being poured from a jug. All of a sudden, it stopped. Everything stopped. I was just still. I was dead.
Postscript: This one ended a bit surreal, ill try and keep it in the norm next time ^_^
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