To Survive IV
Posted By: OpeningAct<OA@Aol.com>
Date: 10 June 2004, 9:02 AM
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To Survive IV
4th January 2553
On downed UNSC ship the Project
On oil rig offshore of Russia
On UNSC controlled planet Earth
Spartan-117 stood on the scaffolding surrounding the Project. He had been on guard all night and all he had had for company were some POW Covenant engineers. They had been used for repairing the Project as they didn't need much rest and were much faster and more knowledgeable than any human engineer. They'd finished repairing the cruiser two hours ago and had begun to fit in a new MAC, the ship's fourth.
Day began to break and the Chief heard a long loud yawn behind him. The Spartan turned to see Staff Sergeant McKenzie approach him, looking completely refreshed.
"Mornin' Chief. Those engineers finished?" he asked.
"Repairs are complete. They're just adding some more weaponry to it now" announced the Chief.
"Those engineers don't care who they work for do they? They just want something to do" exclaimed McKenzie. The Chief nodded as McKenzie joined him leaning over the railing.
"Cortana, do we really have time to be adding more weaponry?" questioned the sergeant.
"I'm afraid were going to need all the weaponry we can get from the UNSC" said Cortana. McKenzie paused and then nodded. The sergeant looked up into the sky.
"Look at the colour of the sky. Look at those shades of purple" exclaimed McKenzie.
"Purple!" said the Chief suddenly. He looked up into the air and shouted :
"That isn't the sky, that's a legion of banshees!". The Spartan and the sergeant hit the deck as hot plasma hit the scaffolds. McKenzie crawled to the edge of the ship and reached to press the alarm.
Private Andy Reeves stumbled out of his hammock, still half-asleep. The alarm continued to echo around the living quarters of the Project. Reeves pulled his uniform on and picked up his MA7B Battle Rifle. It was gonna be a long day.
The Master Chief repelled another pass from the legion of banshees as he shot another two down. Marines had begun to march out of the Project and had joined him, firing at the banshees. The seven remaining crafts had begun another pass, firing round after round of heavy burning plasma. Another scaffold was hit and six more marines fell into the ocean. Sergeant McKenzie followed the tail of the rear banshee and fired 11.42mm armor-piercing bullets again and again at the Covenant ship. Smoke rose as the burning banshee hit the salty water.
"Where are those jackhammers!" bellowed McKenzie, frustrated.
"We're here sir!" yelled a marine. Four marines emerged from the inside of the UNSC cruiser holding Jackhammer launchers. They reloaded two large projectiles into each of their launchers and prepared for the banshee's next pass. The soft droning began to get louder as the flying vehicles appeared into view. The rockets launched from behind the Chief's head as the projectiles powered their way towards the banshees and the marines followed up with battle rifle fire. The rockets impacted on two of the crafts destroying them instantly in a ball of flame. The rest of the banshees broke formation, avoiding the rockets. This gave the marines their chance to finish off the last three. As the last smoking banshee fell into the depths of the ocean the Master Chief reloaded.
"Reinforce your positions!" shouted the Chief. "You can be sure more of them are coming!". Just as the Chief said this a marine shouted :
"Up there! Dropships!". Up in the sky nine dropships approached their position.
"All marines with Jackhammers stay here! Everyone else get to the hangars!" yelled the Spartan.
Captain Dunter and his crew ran up to the bridge of the Project.
"Man your stations people!" Dunter bellowed. The twenty-seven men got to their places and activated their stations. Dunter's plan was to use the actual cruiser's defences against the oncoming Covenant onslaught.
"Marshell, arm those archer missiles now!" Dunter yelled. Ensign Marshell activated the archer missiles, that longswords also carry, and set a target trajectory.
"Fire" the Captain shouted. The thirty missiles launched and blasted their way towards the dropships. The nine inbound Covenant dropships were incinerated by the heavy missiles.
"Good job Marshell" said the Captain.
Even as the first wave of dropships were decimated by the archer missiles another eleven appeared on the horizon. This time they got through and only one was taken down by the combined firepower from all the Jackhammer launchers. The remaining ten soared towards the Project and landed in it's multiple hangars.
The Chief ducked down behind a ammo crate as plasma tore up hangar B-1. The Spartan and three marines from Fire Team Monsoon stood guard as the dropship flew into the hangar. It landed with a thud, plasma turret still firing. The Chief and the marines kept their cover as the dropship's hatches screeched open and the ship released it's occupants. The Chief turned and stood up, rifle raised, as the Covenant dropship lurched into the air. Where were these dropships coming from? The Spartan and the marines opened fire on the infidels. The Chief fired three heavy rounds into an rookie elite's head. The elite's corpse fell on a hapless grunt, crushing him instantly. The marines took care of a few more grunts as the Chief hurled a fragmentation grenade. Seconds later the battle was over as a few more charred Covenant corpses fell to the floor.
"Marines, this is the Chief. What's your situation?" asked the Spartan over his comm.
"All hangars clear except B-6. Reinforcements are securing the hangar now though sir" announced the familiar voice of sergeant McKenzie.
"Roger that. Good work marines!" exclaimed the Chief. The Spartan sat on the ammo crate he'd taken cover behind and reloaded his MA7B Battle Rifle.
"Um..Chief, would you care to take a look outside?" questioned Cortana. The Chief stood up and strolled to the edge of the hangar. Outside, hovering about two-hundred meters above the rough ocean was a small Covenant Cruiser. That's where the dropships were coming from.
"How did they know the Project was here?" the Chief asked.
"They must have intercepted a transmission. They probably know what we're up to!" shouted Cortana.
"MAC one through three are hot! Preparing a firing solution sir!" bellowed Ensign Marshell. He quickly typed up several solutions and chose the best of them.
"Fire that MAC" yelled Dunter. The three MAC's fired in quick succession and sped their way towards the cruiser. As the first two projectiles hit, the shields flickered and died. The third impacted on the unprotected hull and the cruiser began to fall out of the air, burning. A cheer echoed throughout the Project.
"Sir, three more cruisers inbound!" shouted Jack Dean, the ship's navigator.
"Damn it! Marshell, recharge those MAC's!" exclaimed Captain Dunter.
The Chief watched as three more Covenant Cruiser's soared through the clouds.
"They really don't want us to leave" said Cortana thoughtfully. "We don't have a chance against three cruisers. Maybe I should order an evacuation" pondered the A.I.
"Wait Cortana. Couldn't we use that technology you got from the Ascendant Justice to launch into slipspace from within the atmosphere?" questioned the Chief.
"Damn, I should have thought of that" said Cortana. "Let's get to the bridge Chief!" she exclaimed.
"Is that possible Cortana?" asked Dunter. He really seemed shocked by the whole concept of using slipspace from within a planet's atmosphere.
"Yes, we managed it at Threshold and that's a gas giant" announced Cortana.
"Very well, give it a try!" exclaimed the Captain. The Chief stepped up to the CPU and inserted Cortana.
"Preparing slipspace solution.......done! Get ready!" yelled Cortana.
"Roger" growled the Captain. He stepped up to the intercom and said :
"All marines to the cryo-bay. We're about to enter slipspace".
"Alright Cortana, amaze me" Dunter commanded. The Project lifted into the air and blasted itself into slipspace as the Covenant cruisers opened fire.
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