"Harsh Reality"
Posted By: Tycho [OSC]<eaglsfanatic@halo-net.com>
Date: 21 January 2000, 3:32 p.m.
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The last thing I remember was that the Cov were down our throats, slaughtering us like wounded animals. They had breached the outer defenses, and had gotten into our wounded, which made the 109th fight like daemons. I remember getting my knife stuck in the back of one of the aliens who had tried to bear hug me, when I saw that Jackson needed help. I tried to run to him, but the last thing I saw was a large foot on a direct path with my armoured head. After that, not much stays with me. I recall the terrifying sounds of war, but I saw nothing, nor could I move to help my comrades. It was horrifying hearing the screams of my squad and not being able to do anything about it.
As I was in my blackness I fondly recalled the days prior to our ill fated mission. I recalled how I had been the HQ's local Poker god, amassing countless IOU's and other necessities. Speaking of which, wasn't it Private Hill who still owes me 3 months worth of gun cleaning?, too bad he left on an assignment before I could clarify my winnings with him. I also seemed to remember all the secrecy going on about the camp, like that no one was to talk openly about the location of some of the larger parts of the Pillar of Autumn. There was also a new Colonel in the barracks too, talking to some of my unit, I had just assumed he was being polite. It was also strange that we weren't given the complete specs on the mission until we were already in flight. Strange things were said to happen around Colonel Shaefer - but I had dismissed them as idle conversation. I couldn't have been more wrong.
It was dark when I awoke in a heap of bodies. I assumed that I had been left for dead - seeing as how my HUD said I had almost no life signature. I had been running to Private Jackson when I had been taken from behind. As I looked to my right from my prone position I could see his twisted body laid across the trench - as if he were played with like a rag doll. At the sight f this all my memories came flooding back - and it wasn't at all pleasant. It took the damned Covenant forces almost 4 days to take out little bunker, which the unit had named " The Alamo" after some ancient human story. The last raid on our line had happened at almost 0700 of the 3rd day, right when we were doing a line change. They caught us with our pants down, and it didn't take them long at all to get into our trenches. I remembered how my squad - the Lucky Eight - had managed to pull back into the main complex with no casualties. It didn't stay like that for long.
The good Colonel had an air about him that invoked both fear and absolute loyalty from his command. There had been rumours surrounding him that said he gave suicide missions just to scout the Covenant weaknesses. Being an officer myself, I had believed that with the situation we were in that no commander would willingly sacrifice what precious little troops we have. 2 days before the mission we were told that we, the 109th Light Recon, had been selected for a standard insertion about 10 klicks from the HQ. We were told that a small Covenant force had been spotted clearing the forest, presumably to make a base or staging point with which to land more troops. Our orders were simple: Drop into Bravo at 0300 and set up base at an old bunker complex. We were then to head southwest to the sighted Cov base and engage as needed. We were told that this was going to be an easy mission, by the book and we were all coming home. Little did I know that I was about to lose everything.
My Squad was given orders to stay with the wounded and protect them if the Cov ever got through Sergeant Wilkes and his Squad of Devil Dogs. It took the Covenant less than 30 seconds to get into the hospital. What was once a clean field hospital became a carnal house in which my troops had no chance of living through. The Covenant forces went trough my people like a wind through leaves. Only Johnson and I had made it out of the hospital relatively intact. We made it out into the trenches, and into hell. There were Covenant forces all around us, with tiny pockets of marines attempting to stem the tide of alien zealots. Here one marine was fighting with his left arm severed at the elbow, and over to my left another marine, who was cradling a fallen comrade, threw his spent pistol at a charging Shock Trooper, all the while screaming the 109th's battle cry. I remember getting up and jabbing a knife into the back of one cow that was busy dismembering one of Sgt.. Wilkes squad. I saw Jackson getting engaged by 2 Cov troopers from the corner of my HUD, all the while he was asking as to where our promised reinforcements were. The last thing I remember hearing from him was a shouted " Wheeeee!" as he threw his gun down and charged with his combat knife. I remember having tried to get to him, but I didn't make it before the Cov got to him.
As I pushed myself out of my revelry and the mud, I took in my situation. I realized that I was the only marine moving, out of the 50 marines laying around me. I tried to stand, but as I did my leg gave out and my HUD went all fuzzy. I saw that my leg ligaments were all shot to hell and would need days to fix, if not an entire new leg. AS I stripped my helmet off I saw the damage that had been cause by the foot of the cow who had hit me. I was amazed to be alive. I jury rigged some wires to my leg, reconnecting the power relay from my main unit back into the joints. I scavenged for a working gun and a few clips that weren't completely spend, but I only managed to find one unspent clip - and it only had 15 rounds in it. As I gathered up the company standard I got my bearings on which direction HQ was, I head a faint cry from the trenches. To my wonder I saw a one legged marine ( it had been his flesh leg too ) holding a broken combat knife and a covenant troopers head. It was going to be a long, arduous hike carrying back the wounded marine back to HQ. Darkness had fallen before we decided to set out, and only could hope that I could find my way back to HQ without my nav data. It was going to be a rough hike indeed...........
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