Chapter Two: Stranded Eagle
Posted By: Blue Jaguar<crazymadsh33p@netscape.net>
Date: 25 August 2003, 9:56 PM
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Chapter Two
13:45 Local Time, Saturday, October 17th
Alpha Company reached the top of the ridge. He looked out over the vast jungle below, not much to see except several burning fires in the distance and several plasma bursts flying through the air. He looked to the north and saw a large smoke cloud moving east, it was coming from Firebase Soshia, the main artillery base in the region. Radio contact had been lost with them a few hours ago, and they were the relay station for communications to higher up places. The loss of this base meant that: A, there would be no artillery support, B, no contact with the outside world for several days, in which the world might not exist, and C, no resupply shipments.
There were many positive things going for them though. The edge of the volcano was too steep for Covenant hover vehicles, and the Mortar rounds from the Wraiths couldn't fire over the ridge. The Covenant would have to make an infantry assault straight up a rocky cliff. They had some cover from the rocks, but the ODSTs were expert marksmen, and many of them carried long range rifles.
As Captain Rashon discussed the situation with Captain Lukas, they decided on a common battle strategy. The base guards would be left at there posts in case of an attack from the south, in which the Covenant could move quickly through with vehicles and large amounts of infantry. Bravo Company would split into two groups and cover the north and east ridges. Alpha Company would stay on the West ridge for now, and see what the Covenant decided to do, while Charlie Company would stay at the base and add extra security, and also act as a fast response force in case a defensive line was failing.
Adrian brought his troops south to secure Captain Lukas' left flank. He would then be in position to move and assist troops protecting the southern border if needed. The 20x binoculars with adjustable zoom really were helpful. Compared with earlier models they had many huge advantages, mostly size and weight. Rashon peered out into the jungle, searching for area's with thick Covenant concentration. "Just 1 howitzer, that's all I want" he thought. At least the 319th brought some 96mm mortars with them. He turned the comm set on and gave the mortar crews the coordinates of the thickest Covie concentrations. He listened to the loud thuds come from the mortars and watched the shells streak through the air. He was rewarded 10 seconds later when they slammed down into their targets. Bodies of grunts and limbs from Elites flew through the air. The Covenant troops immediately spread out, they wouldn't be so dumb as to concentrate themselves like they had been before, so mortar rounds wouldn't be so effective.
"INCOMING!" Adrian dove behind a large rock, he looked upwards into the sky and saw a large green flare move quickly over his head and hit harmlessly into the ridge above him. The fuel rod was followed up by large blue plasma bursts from the front of the banshee, which were silenced when two Jackhammer rockets slammed into the craft destroying it in mid-air. He got up and looked out into the jungle, the Covenant were preparing for a massive assault, through his binoculars he could see the Covenant troops forming lines, Grunts first, Jackals, then Elites. He grabbed his comm set and ordered all units to target Elites and Jackals only unless the range was less than 50 metres. He didn't want his marines wasting priceless sniper ammo on worthless grunts, that really couldn't do any damage at more than that range anyway.
Behind him he saw at least 20 Banshee's orbiting the volcano, diving down 4 at a time on specific targets in the base. They rarely fired more than one fuel rod and a quick plasma burst before being mowed down by heavy machine gun fire or blasted from the air by a rocket. A few however, managed to get off devastating shots. One scored a direct hit on the Command centre, knocking out power to the base, while another hit the repair depot. The Covenant where however, losing to many banshee's on each pass. Nearly 30 had been shot down in the last hour, and several more before that. He knew however, they were just trying to shock the marines, before the main attack came.
In the mean time, he needed some sleep. Only a few hours before the attack might begin, and it wouldn't end until one group was gone.
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