Rites of Passage: Arrival
Posted By: Elitehunter676<brent_winfield@yahoo.com>
Date: 30 December 2004, 9:47 PM
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Authors note
Well I think maybe some of you have been waiting (Doughtful) so here it is, Rites of Passage the new version. I've have worked long and hard, reading war book and Halo book alike. I've completely redevoted myself to Halo and the UNSC military.
Hell I even know the name of the Marine Corp issue armour the M52B and the S90 gas mask and the MK71 emergancy food prep. station. And the SL23 field radio and much more. Trust me none of this is made up, it's all come straight from the game and books. Also by using the books, game and websites I've managed to plot out a timeline for the Human-Covenant war. Which I will have to submit sometime.
But until then,I hope you enjoy this story.
I was seventeen when I joined the Marine Corps, extremely naive, and dangerously close to competence in several fields of endeaver that served absolutely no purpose: football, baseball, and basketball. Obviously I was in no danger of being classified a genius. I remember sincerely fearing that the war would be over before I got there. Like I said, in no danger of being a genius.
Four days after I sighned the enlistment papers, me and a bunch of kids about my age were herded onto a huge, (This was before I saw a UNSC crusier.) fleet ship and taken to Reach for a fun filled year of basic training. But it wasn't until the day me, and the rest of my training platoon was shipped off on a UNSC troop ship to a colony in the heart of the Colons sysyem that that "Oh no, what have I done?" feeling hit me.
You know, the feeling you get deep in the pit of your stomach when you step in a pile of dog crap and don't realize it until you've walked across the living room carpet. I didn't smell anything, but my stomach said "check your boots" as the pelican dropship left the docking bay of the troop ship and headed for the large green globe of Draco 3.
The one comforting thought was that I wasn't alone. The pelican bulged with young Marine Corps faces. Private first class Richard Chang was the only one I knew very well. We had been together since Camp Smitherson, one of the hundreds of Marine Corps training camps on Reach.
We couldn't get away from each other. Bunkies at Smitherson, bunkies at ITR (Infantry Training Regiment) School, bunkies at warfare school in Camp Tampa, another training school on Reach and now we sat next to each other on a pelican landing at Trenact airbase on Draco 3.
The blistering sun stung my eyes as I steped off the rear ramp of the pelican. I tried to be ready to duck. The pilot had hollered back during the approach that one pelican load of Marines had gotten hit on landing pad, but I couldn't hear any gunshots or plasma fire, just a moronic sergeant screaming, "Move it! Move it! Move it!" By the time my feet touched the solid ground my eyes adjusted enough to see a hot blue sky without a single cloud. A sleek impressive jet-black Longsword fighter-bomber floated down onto the landing pad nearby with a loud whine. Missile batteries launched deadly payloads of artillery into the sky nearby. The Marine in front of me whistled. "Man! They mean business." God, I thought, this is the real thing. I'm in a war. I mumbled a quick prayer, something I hadn't done since I was fourteen.
A second pelican floated down one hundred meters to our right. Except this pelicans stubby wings were equipped with Anville 2 missle pods, and it's 70mm auto cannon had two foot longer barrel for higher accuracy. The roar of another Longsword streaking through the sky snatched my eyes as it climbed sharply above the steep green moutains surrounding Trenact.
We double-timed over to a processing area. It was a couple of hundred yards away, but by the time we stopped, I was dripping wet. The pilot of the pelican said it was 119 degrees. I'd thought he'd been joking.
The battle for Draco 3 was in full swing, luckily for us all the major fighting was consintrated around a place called Liberty City. It had been the top story on Reach for weeks, on TV the urban fighting looked like old World War 2 documenteries.
Chang stood in front of me in the alphabetical line of Marines filing past a loud dispersing officer. Each man handed him a set of orders which he grabbed quickly and stamped with a big rubber stamp as he screamed, "Fifth Marines!" I tapped Chang on the shoulder.
"Why's everbody going to the Fifth Marines? They can't need this many replacements."
Chang looked over his shoulder with one of those "Boy have I got news for you" looks. "Oh, I think they might have accomidations for us. That's the one of the regiments that's fighting for Liberty City.
"Thanks, buddy," I said with a hard slap on his back. "I can always depend on you to find a bright spot in all this."
"Move it! Move it! Move it!" shouted the sergeant.
A moment later the big rubber stamp came down on my orders like the authority of God. "Fifth Marines!"
Authors note
Well I hope you enjoyed it, and yes I know it was boring but the begining of stories always are. But don't worry it will get better.
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