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Pelican Charlie 223 Chapter Two
Posted By: James Kinsella<jckinsella@redrunr.net>
Date: 30 April 2003, 8:39 PM
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Pelican Charlie 223
Chapter Two
1123 Hours, December 23, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Pelican Charlie 223 assaulting Covenant Colony Repentance
James watched as the last of their cover disappeared into the fray. He knew that most of those men and women had almost no chance. On the other hand, it didn't look like he had much of a chance either. He could only hope that somehow the fleet would hold out against the Covenant attack. If they lost the space battle the fight on the ground would hit the fan, fast. He suddenly realized that the boys in back knew nothing of the current predicament. He decided to keep it that way. If they went into this fight expecting to lose, they would.
Purcell kicked on the air brake and watched his speed bleed off. He put the throttle to full and redirected the engines to ninety degrees. It usually took everything the pelican had to break descent, and this time wouldn't be any easier. It was at this point that James saw the first anti-aircraft burst. It had no effect on him, but he saw what it did to Charlie 222. A gout of plasma hit the side of his thruster. Under normal circumstances this would barely hurt, but on an atmospheric entry, it meant death. The hole bled thrust, the thrust necessary to keep the ship level. The pelican started to spin, and James said a prayer, fully knowing that in a few seconds that ship would be a burning hunk of metal. He looked away.
The rest of the descent was bumpy, everybody took hits, but nobody else received the critical blows that Charlie 222 had. As they pulled in for landing, James lost contact with the fleet. The last he had heard the Covenant had been stopped, but they were regrouping, and had caused serious damage already. Purcell knew that the odds were now almost none that he would make it out alive.
The Marines had found out about the crisis. They still wanted to continue with the mission saying that it could help the next invasion force if the assault failed. As they came up on their target LZ Purcell dropped the cargo bay door and prepared for battle. Due to the battle in space, the pelicans wouldn't be leaving the troops there, but rather staying as aerial support for the mission. The entire point of this drop had been to take the city, Enlightenment. The city was a small one, only thirty thousand inhabitants, but that would be almost too much to handle without the backup planned for the assault.
As the troops slowly proceeded towards the city, a new threat arose. A wing of Banshees had decided that they didn't want us invading their city, and the attacked. The Vulcan turret on the pelican had no trouble dealing with the fighter, and the battle was over in moments. To James it seemed that the banshees had all been in decrepit condition, and he reasoned that maybe they were running low on resources as he had thought earlier. Maybe this was their version of the Battle of the Bulge, from ancient Earth history. He could only hope they fared as well as the Hundred-and-First Screaming Eagles.
1424 Hours, December 24, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Pelican Charlie 223 assaulting Covenant Colony Repentance
James knew they were faring well. The Marines had had minimal losses, and the Pelicans had proven capable of handling anything the Covenant threw at them. The only trouble was supplies. They had taken almost half of the city, and still found nothing resembling food. On top of that, moral was low. On most invasions, the Marines had backup to control the situation behind them. On this occasion they had no such backup, forcing them to execute a scorched-earth policy. Some of the combat troops had never seen battle before, and were now being forced to kill everything they saw. It was a harrowing experience, to say the least.
Purcell was cleaning out the cockpit of his pelican that night, when he saw something. The date on his navigation console said December Twenty-Fourth. That meant tomorrow was Christmas. Once again, James would miss his daughter's Christmas. Third time in a row, he thought to himself. This whole war was ripping everything anybody had ever known apart. He hoped that it was over soon, cause he didn't know how much more he could take.
It was at that precise moment that the Covenant chose to attack. The Banshees had flown in silently, and there were more of them than James had ever seen before. He jumped in the seat, lit the afterburners, and took off vertically right into the midst of the assault. Activating the Vulcan turret, he took three ships out immediately. Unfortunately that would barely even slow the attack down. All the Marines on the ground were taking cover, but from what Earendil could see, they wouldn't last long. He flew into the fray, determined to at least slow the attack. As he did this he prayed that someone would take care of his wife and daughter...
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