The Fallen: Halo 2- Chapter 6 Section 3: Claiming Territory
Posted By: Hikaru-119<hikaru119@email.com>
Date: 11 December 2003, 4:04 PM
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After six rewrites this section is finally finished. Would have it out last week, but it just wasn't what I wanted. Well I hope you guys/gals like it.
Chapter 6 Section 3: Claiming Territory
1017 Hours November 23, 2553 (Military Calendar)
Canyon 4 Access way
The Chief stopped in front of the massive metal door before him. He steadied his aim and waved Kirika forward. The other Spartan nodded and slowly approached the door. A hiss of air sounded as it opened by the proximity of the soldier. Beyond there was nothing but darkness. Still the faintest light was enough for any Spartan to see. Kirika walked into the room and cleared it.
She walked in a few meters and saw a faint glow to her right. She examined the source and saw it was that of a pair of flashlights lying on the metal floor. Two horribly ravaged soldiers accompanied the lights clutching them as if they had no idea what had hit them. Both were covered in blood and deep cuts. Kirika signaled for the Chief and Mirielle to come in.
" Look sir. " she said pointing to the corpses. The Chief saw them and shook his head. " Any idea what could have done this? " she asked.
" I haven't a clue. " he replied. Mirielle walked over to the bodies. She knealt down and examined the pair.
" Brutes maybe? " Mirielle suggested looking at the wounds. " Very similar to the blade they wield on their rifles. " The Chief disagreed with that.
" No, it doesn't seem right. There aren't any plasma burns and their bodies haven't been too horribly torn apart. " The Chief then bent down and picked up one of the MA5Bs laying there. " Look, " he said gesturing to the ammo counter, " weapon's full. These guys didn't even put up a fight. With Brutes they would have a chance of shooting. "
The Chief set the rifle down and stood up. As he did a small click was heard from above him. He immediately looked upward and turned on his flashlight. The other two did as well and looked up. Nothing was seen. They scanned the ceiling twice and shrugged it off as something mechanical in the walls of the ring. They had been hearing a lot of that since they had landed on Installation 12.
" What was it? " Kirika asked. Before the Chief could respond three red flashes came down from the ceiling hitting Mirielle's shields. They flared and suddenly a man sized object landed on her shoulders forcing her to the ground. Kirika and the Chief drew their weapons and aimed at the mass that hit their comrade.
They hesitated as they watched Mirielle wrestle this new threat that had landed on her. The pair were moving fast and nothing but a blur of motions could be seen. Four seconds had passed and the Chief heard the snapping of bones with an accompanying screech of pain and anger. Another second passed and Mirielle had the creature's head pinned to the floor. She pulled out her M6D and unloaded half a clip into one of its thin luminous blue eyes. All motion stopped as bright orange blood splattered onto the floor.
" Damn little Stalker, " Mirielle said getting up and brushing the thick blood off her shields, " Next time you'll know better than to ambush a Spartan now won't you? " Kirika chuckled at this. The Chief said nothing. Instead he examine the new opponent.
He picked up one of the scaly gray arms and looked at the four elongated finger on its hand. On them were sharp, three inch long claws that could easily of torn apart the two dead militia on the floor next to them. They also looked strong enough to support the alien's weight. Impressive.
The Chief then looked at the device on the alien's wrist. A small blue-gray weapon was mounted there. It had two barrels and an odd looking firing device. One look and the Chief new he couldn't use the weapon even if he wanted to. At least not at its full potential. Still he took it and strapped it to his armor.
" So what do you think Cortana? the Chief inquired.
" About Mirielle's 'Stalker'? Not much. Physically it can support its own weight with those talons it wields. Probably be a major problem for someone unarmored like our two poor guests. Other than that I'd say this guy was a scout. A Stalker, more or less, as Mirielle commented before. " Cortana replied.
" Great. Well let's keep moving. Command is expecting us to help take the area. Soon. " The Chief said. He gave one last look at the Stalker followed by the dead soldiers. He and his squad then left the are.
The trio continued their advance for several minutes until they had reached another door leading to the next canyon. They could hear the faint crack of rifles and the whine of discharging plasma weapons from inside. There was a sudden explosion that rocked the cliff side they were contained in. Dust fell from the ceiling and settled on the floor. Immediately the Spartans ran for the exit in the attempt to reach the conflict before it was over. Hoping to be of some use before the Covenant overwhelmed whom ever it was outside.
When they had made it out they saw what had made the land rock so violently. Two Scorpions and a Lobster tank were exchanging fire with a half a dozen or so Demons. Between them were several of human and Covenant infantry. The Spartans suddenly dropped to their knees and began firing on the Covenant infantry.
The enemy tanks charged their weapons and fired at the human line. Twelve blue-green streaks of fire raced across the sky and detonated near the human tanks obliterating one of the Scorpions.
The tank shuddered and suddenly exploded in an orange ball of fire. Armored plates were flung high into the air impacting into the ground with great force. A thick cloud of smoke formed over the wreckage. After the tank was destroyed the other two moved at top speed away from the smoldering chassis and fired on the enemy as they went.
Three white streaks formed in the air and damaged two of the enemy Demons. The floating crab like tanks were forced back several meters and began smoking. One became so filled with smoke that the Elite pilot inside bailed out and began engaging on foot after it had regained its breath.
The Spartans watched through their scopes, killing what they could, as the battle raged on. Both tank lines got off another salvo hitting each other. Three tanks exploded and became blossoms of fire and secondary explosions. Both the Scorpion and Lobster were taken out forcing the marines that were engaged to run. There were howls from the remaining Covenant infantry as they blindly attacked the retreating survivors..
The Covenant, now unhindered by any armor, were free to advance quickly and they did so with extreme force. The remaining tanks opened up taking out a dozen marines in a single salvo. Their other shots missed, but made large burning craters that no one could not with stand walking into. Plasma fire refilled the air killing and or wounding all but four who managed to escape.
The Chief watched as they ran helpless against the superior enemy. They continued to run until the came to edge of the opposing canyon wall. The Chief zoomed in and got a total of eight FOF identification tags. To his amazement four of which were his Spartans.
" Blue-one to Green-One and Red-One. Do you copy? Over. " he said over a secure COM channel.
" Copy Blue-One. This is Green-One. What is it sir? " Joshua responded.
" Have you picked up any anti-tank weapons? We need those things taken out or they will burn us up real fast. " the Chief asked.
" Negative sir. We have zero. I repeat zero anti-tank ordinance. " The Chief let out a disappointed sigh and thought quickly. He had to or his team would be torn to shreads. For some odd reason in this moment of stress the Chief remembered about the briefing and the General's orders for the HAC-7 Wasps.
" Cortana what is the ETA on the HAC-7 arrivals? " he asked.
" They are already in the ring's atmosphere and are doing patrol runs. I'll see what I can drum up. " she responded. A few seconds had passed by and Cortana gave the ETA on the air support. They had to wait another three minutes.
" Okay then. Everyone fall back into the canyon walls as best you can. Air support is on its way. ETA three minutes. " he ordered. He got six blue acknowledgement lights on his HUD. Everyone did as they were told and not a moment too soon.
The Demons had locked onto their positions and begun firing on the canyon walls. Massive boulders were forced out of the side as the flaming projectiles splashed over them. Large shards of glass fell and ash slowly dropped like black snow in the rain. The bombardment continued for four minutes. The air support was late. Another two minutes went by and the shooting suddenly stopped.
Te Chief walked over to the door and looked up into the sky after seeing the tanks reorienting themselves. In the distance three black shadows came from the clouds. He saw multiple flashes of fire and heard them a second later. Tracers and rockets straight for the tanks and hit them relentlessly. Explosions rocked the tanks damaging them badly. The Covenant turned for a counter attack and fired into the air.
The plasma was too slow and missed the three small craft. They sped by and delivered a final knock out punch. The Chief saw the craft as they sped by. A rare grin ran across his face as he watched the vaguely Pelican like craft speed by. The trio disappeared as quickly as they came.
" Okay squad move out. Keep an eye open for straglers. " the Chief said over the COM. The others made there way back to the exit. The door way had been completely boiled down to a molten slag. A dozen impact craters remained along side a pool of molten metal and rock. The squad moved past this and examined the damage doen by the air strike.
Nine columns of smoke rose into the air adding to the darkness of the clouds above. The ground near the tanks was tossed up from armor piercing bullets and rockets. At least four dozen bodies, all Covenant, lie dead in and around the Demons. There was a suuden rumble of a car engine as the humans examined the wreckage. The Spartans turned towards the sound and saw a Warthog along with two Squirrels. They came to a slow halt as they approached the Chief.
" Heard you people could use a hand. " a marine said hopping out of the driver seat of the Warthog.
" Thank God we've got a hog. " one of the few surviving marines said. The soldier and the three others mounted up in the troop carriage.
" Who are you people? " the Chief ordered stepping towards the driver. The marine shook his head real quick and gave the Chief a half-hearted salute.
" Sorry sir. Forgot about the pleasantries. Name's Corporal Yu Aida. I'm your transport to the real front. General Kits has got the rest of the battalion down ahead two klicks from here fighting off a bunch of armor. I was given specific orders to take any survivors from the rear line up to main armor compliment. So if you don't mind sir we should get moving. " The Chief nodded to this and got into the passenger seat. His Spartans filled in the last seats as the engine was revved. After everyone was aboard they peeled out along with their Squirrel escort.
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The Warthog passed another smoldering tank as they approached the battle ahead of them. The Chief, as did the others, looked over and saw the dead bodies sprawled out all over the ground. Their ashen bodies made the air smell horrid. In the distance they could hear the sounds of combat raging.
Several minutes went by as they passed several more flaming chassis. After about the twelfth wreck the Chief stopped observing the slaughter that had happened. Everyone's morale had been a little drained after seeing this much death. Including the Spartans with all of their training and experience. Not much, but enough that they noticed the decline.
" We're almost there! Kits says this area is top priority right now! So hang tight people because once I stop you all need to bail! " Aida yelled. He accelerated and they could see the valley where the battle was taking place.
It was an image of hell. Dozens of Scorpions, Warthogs, and lobsters exchanged fire with the Covenant tanks on the far end. On the ground were wounded, dead, and dozens of destroyed Covenant and UNSC armored vehicles. The air was filled with bullets, fire, dirt, and shrapnel. The screams of the desperate humans echoed off the canyon walls, but were quickly drowned out by the never ending howls of the Covenant and their guns. Not getting hit here was almost like avoiding the rain. Damn near impossible. The Chief became tensed when he looked at the ridge at the far end.
Roughly two dozen Wraiths and Demons lined the top ridge over looking the canyon and the massive cavern beneath it. Accompanying them were several Shade and Specter gun turrets. The guns rarely ever stopped shooting down at the humans. The only time they did is when the barrels had over heated and even then it was only temporary.
" Spartans once we're dropped head to the any cover you can get behind and take out what you can. Remain hidden and don't draw attention. " the Chief ordered. " Now then Green Team I want you to take left and aim for those turrets. Red Team take infantry up the center. Blue Team you're on me. Aim for what you can hit. All teams, if you find anti-tank weapons use them on the Demons and Wraiths if at all possible. Blue-One out. " He got six blue acknowledgement lights on his HUD after a three second pause.
He let out a long breath and prepared to launch himself out of his seat and into battle. He had to have faith in his team. The Warthog slowed and was suddenly thrown into a violent spin as a mortar round hit next to the vehicle.
The Chief was torn from his seat and thrown to the ground. There was an alarm in his helmet as his shields went dead. He rolled for several meters and saw the flaming wreck he was once in. The whole front left side was blown off. He squelched the noise of the alarm in his helmet as he reoriented himself. Seeing the first available cover he ran and hid behind a nearby crashed Pelican. He looked back to the wreckage of the Warthog and searched for his Spartans.
He saw Green Team running from the flaming vehicle and then they disappeared behind another piece of destroyed armor. The Chief continued to search for the other members, but found none. He shook his head briefly and checked inside the back hatch of the Pelican for any survivors or something he could use. There was a medic inside with a critically wounded soldier. Both were stained in bright red blood. A moment had passed and the patient went into a coma. Blood gurgled from his mouth as he drowned in his own fluids. The medic beat the side armor panel and cursed. There was nothing he could have done with the limited supplies he had left.
The Chief shook his head and propped himself on the Pelican's tail over looking the canyon floor. So much was going on that the carnage seemed to be totally uncontrolled. For the most part that was the case. The only exceptions were the turrets, tanks, and a hand full of Jackals that were firing at a disabled Lobster nearby.
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A plasma bolt zinged over the private's head splashing some where far behind him. Several more shots came by missing him and his squad by mere inches. The man squirmed away and hid underneath the carcass of a Lobster light recon tank. Along with him were three others, all of which were badly wounded.
" Damn it! " the private's sergeant yelled as his shoulder was hit by one of the fiery projectiles. " Jones get your ass over here! " Private Jones reluctantly obeyed orders and crawled over to his squad leader. The man fired his weapon at the enemies' feet in a vain effort to knock out the shielded Covenant. AP bullets simply ricocheted and hit the muddy earth.
" I can't hit them Sarge! " Jones yelled. The mud encrusted sergeant handed the man a frag grenade.
" Roll it past them! " he said as Jones grabbed it. The Private turned to the Jackals that were giving them hell and saw three of the original seven suddenly fell dead. Jones gave an confused expression as he saw two more drop. He almost fired instead when he saw the last one turn to its right and fired its weapon.
He looked to where the enemy had concerned itself and saw a tall green figure unloading the last of an MA8A on its shields. It suddenly ran forward closing range hitting the alien square in the forehead. Black blood was forced out of the Jackal's skull as a trio of hits struck with extreme force crushing its head. Jones looked on his eye HUD piece and saw the rank of MCPO-117 appear.
" That was amazing sir you really kicked the shit out of them! " Jones commented. The Spartan heard the comment and looked at the survivors underneath the tank. Jones and his Sergeant crawled out taking cover.
" Thank God you showed up Chief. " the sergeant said wiping the mud from his face.
" Hello Sergeant Johnson. Long time no see. " the Chief added. Sarge gave a small laugh and jumped back as he saw the Chief turn to his right and fire a burst. The Grunt at the receiving end flopped head over heels and landed dead in a puddle. The Chief reloaded and turned his attention back to the marines. " Sergeant how many have you got with you? "
" There are five of us sir. Three are unable to move. Brutes got to them. " Johnson said with a strong hint of anger in his voice. The Chief nodded and looked to the far end where the Covenant armor was stationed. He noticed the guns were disabled. Compliments of Green Team. " Any suggestions sir? "
" Stay low and follow the Chief. We'll need every man up near those tanks. " Cortana said over the COM channels.
" Still have a women stuck in your head Chief? " Johnson replied. Cortana gave a huff of disliking as the Chief said nothing. The Chief looked at his radar and saw more friendlies coming his direction. He turned seeing they were the rest of Blue Team. Sergeant Johnson gave a low whistle. The Spartans nodded to the Chief and the marines. One of them hefted a Jackhammer missile launcher.
" Blue-Three put her to use. " the Chief said. Kirika grinned on the inside of her helmet and aimed for the lead Demon. She knelt down and locked the anti-tank gun on her sights. A second later and both tubes of the launcher were emptied.
Twin projectiles screamed across the valley and hit the Covenant tank. A blossom of fire erupted as the first round impacted. The second hit in the gun port and the Demon was neutralized. Jones gave a cheer of victory. There was a sudden silence from the Covenant. The humans, however did not stop shooting. Several Covenant warriors cleared the valley and were picked off by marines and Spartans alike.
" Oh God... " Cortana said with fear in her voice. The Chief looked down to the ground confused. If Cortana was willing enough to say something and express an emotion of fear than something was wrong.
" Cortana what is it? " he asked. Cortana suddenly screamed over every COM channel in the canyon.
" INCOMING GHOULS! TAKE COVER! "
To be Continued in The Fallen Halo 2- Chapter 6 Section 4: Claiming Territory Part 2
Comment from the author: I will laugh my ass off if Bungie has something like the Stalker lined up for Halo 2.
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