Running Riot-Part 2
Posted By: Simon James<simonjames290@hotmail.com>
Date: 17 July 2003, 8:42 PM
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Part 2
"How could you be so stupid?"Yelled Sarge. "You could have killed us and yourself!" He was directing his wrath at one Private Johnston, who sat next to him in the Warthog. Joe, on the gun at the back was also glaring daggers at Johnston. "And now we're lost because of it." Added Joe. This was correct. They had had to use violant evasive action to evade their Covenant pursuers. This had lead to their subsiquant plight.
The ancient road system of highways that connected most places on the contenant had not seen regular use since the invaison of Earth 20 years ago. The roads fell apart in neglect and with battle damage. They 'hog had to dodge continualy to avoid craters, burnt out hulks of human and Covenant vehicles alike, and concrete wreakage.
"Well, you must be good for something." Said Sarge. "Start looking for a map, food and ammo. Those will be first priority." Johnston did as he was told. The man next to him had an air of authority. He rummaged in the cargo bin under his seat. In it was some MREs, ammo, and first aid kits. But no map. Johnston popped the glove compartment. In there was a small datapad. He took it out eagerly.
But when he turned it on, Johnston found it had a password on it. Joe had been watching and now said,"Here, let me see." Johnston handed over the pad. Joe had swung around the gun and sat on the bulkhead behind Sarge. Johnston went back to looking. Then Joe handed the pad back silently and straped ito the gun again.Johnston looked at the pad in amazment. The password was cracked and he had full access to all files.
Sarge laughed when he saw the look on Johnston's face. "Our boy Joe has some hidden talents." "Yeah."Argeeed Johnston, while he looked through all the files aas fast as possible."Damn!" Shouted Johnston. "No map." Sarge replied in kind, as did Joe.
They refrained from further elaboration when they saw a Covenant dropship aprroach. Joe traversed the gun to fire on it but Sarge stopped him. Firing would only give them away. Instead, he drove into an old water pipe by the side of the road. Then he shut down the 'hog. Joe trained the gun onto the entrance of the tunnel. Johnston hopped out, as did Sarge. They also trained their weapons on the tunnel entrance.
Then Joe had a thought. He jumped down from the gun and pulled his sniper rifle out of the storeage bin. Johnston jumped into the gunner position while Joe sat and reconfigured his rifle. He added a sound and flash suppressor. He then moved part way down the tunnel and knelt down.
Sarge knew the drill and went back to his driver's position. Joe fired his first shot. There was barly any sound from the weapon, and Johnston didn't even know what was hit. But smething was, judging from the wild plasma fire outside. Joe fired two more rounds in quick succesion. They resulted in yet more confused fire. Not one blast entered the tunnel. Joe fired off his final round and ran back to the passenger seat.
Now the Covies knew where they were. Elites ran towards the tunnels entrance, with plasma rifles at the ready. Before they could fire, Johnston opened up with the chain gun. Two Elites went down and a third was injured. The rest took cover. Some fired from a prone position but the shots were wild and missed by a long shot. Sarge gunned the engine and they took off down the tunnel, leaving the Elites far behind.
The 'hog's headlights lite up the way ahead. Johnston watched carefully front and behind but saw nothing. Then they heard a familuar sounds. A sort a whining humm.
The three Ghosts rounded the corner behind them. The Elites behind the controls gunned the engines. They were not the normal Elites who often crashed into each other in their eagerness to kill. These were experianced pilots. They fired short blasts towards the 'hog. Most missed, but some hit the rear bumper. Johnston fired long sustained bursts at them. The first burst stiched holes across the front of the lead Ghost. It dropped down with smoke coming out of the bottom. It hit the ground and disintigrated.
The other Ghosts drifted apart to present a smaller target. They were successful in this. Most of Johnston's shot went wide. The Ghost's pilots were more successful at shooting as well. Johnston had to duck to avoid the rounds. They approached a turn in the tunnel. Johnston took yet another shot. This time it hit the Elite on the left. He slumped over in his seat and the Ghost took a turn towards it's partner. The second pilot tried to dodge and rammed the wall at the corner.The other was only seconds behind. Johnston poured fire into the whole time.
Just around this corner was the exit of the tunnel. They burst into the light and back onto the highway. Unfortunatly, a Covenant vehicular patrol was right behind them. It consisted of four Ghosts and two of the new Shadows. The Shadow was equil to a Warthog. It had room for two passengers, plus the driver. It also had a plasma turret in the back.
The Ghosts abruptly turned around for some reason. But the Shadows accelerated. They were slightly faster thn a Warthog, so they couldn't catch up quickly. The Elites in their passenger seats fired on the 'hog and Johnston did his best to fire back. In each Shadow , a grunt crawled into the plama turret and took aim. One was prevented from firing when an over-excited Elite stood up to get a better shot. The other fired though. It's shots melted the ground behind the 'hog, dangerously close to it's wheels. Sarge veered away and Johnston fired at the offending grunt. It screamed and fell out of the gun turret.
Joe hadn't done much thus far except for a burst when he got the chance. Now as one of the Shadows drew up close on his side, he readied a grenade. Johnston was concentrating on the other Shadow and couldn't get this one. Joe saw the plasma turret slowly turn in his direction and the guns of the Elite passengers do the same. He threw the grenade and it landed in the passenger compartment. This caused some panic with the Elites. Before they could get to it, they grenade went off. It destroyed the Shadow.
Johnston was having almost no trouble with the other Shadow. He fired sustained bursts into the driver's compartment. The driver was killed instantly. The Shadow nearly instantly crashed into the road in a firey crash.
But what about the Ghosts that had run off earlier, wondered all three ocupants of the 'hog. They had returned to the nearest city to report the 'hog. In response, the Covenant leader there sent three drop ships, each with three Ghosts attached. Soon the Ghosts had caught up to the 'hog and engaged it.
End of Part 2
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