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Fan Fiction


Glimpse of a Spectre
Posted By: Tycho [OSC]<eaglsfanatic@halo-net.com>
Date: 04 June 2000, 7:09 am


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The marines waited quietly, waiting the slaughter to come.

Each soldier in line hid behind the reflecting shield of his helmet, hiding his fears. As the torrential rain beat off the silent warriors' visors, each looked to the other, hoping for some confident jibe or uneasy joke to break the tension. These Marines of the 101st Infantry had been placed as the anvil in a hammer and anvil maneuver to squeeze the local covenant contingent in this sector. The Marines were spaced 10 feet apart and well dug in, seemingly ready for anything. The rain continued to fall and cast a heavy fog upon the awaiting marine's field of vision.

The Marines waited quietly, waiting the slaughter to come.

Soon, fire could be heard in the distance, along with the roar of jeeps straining engines. The fire was getting closer. Green highlights were soon seen casting ghostly images on the fog and storm clouds visible in the lightning. The clamor of battle was heard getting closer and closer.

The Marines waited quietly, waiting the slaughter to come.

Soon radio chatter from the hammer squads was audible over the ComNet. The marines requested support. The awaiting Marines again glanced in the direction of the next Marine in ambush, eager to help their comrades under fire. No communications were permitted; the hammer had to get to the ambush site themselves. Soon, the noise of the jeeps engines cut off, leaving the awaiting Marines to begin to worry. Covenant fire could still be heard and seen, casting their greenish glow over the distant clouds. The deadline was approaching, and the ambush would soon be set in motion.

The Marines waited quietly, waiting the slaughter to come.

Suddenly, in a huge blast of lightning could be seen a few Marines staggering and running down the hill across from the ambush site. The Marines were pulling back under heavy fire. Heavy fire that seemed too heavy for the number of covenant reported in this sector. The Marines of the anvil portion began to get nervous as a number of covenant could be seen cresting the hill. The covenant kept coming, kept coming in great numbers. The Marines looked to each other, and began to fidget in their hiding places ... eager to go to the rescue of their comrades. The Covenant kept advancing, closer and closer to the anvil, and yet the order to attack was not given.

The Marines waited anxiously, eager for the slaughter.

At 50 yards the order was given to fire. The thunder of the storm was drowned out by the thunder of the Marines gunfire. The tank giving support from the woodline opened on the covenant, raining death. The rain fell in sheets, making it hard to spot targets, even at 50 yards. The Marines fired at the glowing covenant weapons, only hoping to hit. In the Lighting flashes could be seen carnage unlike any before. The covenant were getting ripped to shreds by the marines volley fire, and the tank was also busy dealing death. To one Marine, the battle looked like a eerie parody of a slide show. In the flash of the lighting one Marine could be seen firing at the approaching horde. In the next flash he could be seen grasping at a gaping hole in his chest. In the flashes, covenant forces could be seen beginning to mount a solid attack on the outnumbered Marines positions. ON one flank the covenant were being cut down like grass in a field, and on the opposite flank the beleaguered Marines were engaged in a bitter close quarters battle.

The Marines fought valiantly, eager to shed blood.

The one Marine reloaded, unable to spot a target in the torrential downpour. Then it hit him. In one flash on the tanks support fire he saw nothing, then in a flash of lightning the Marine was face to face with a huge covenant dripping with blood that was not his. The marine struggled to bring his gun to bear, but was sent reeling backward by a force that seemed unimaginable. The covenant was then above the Marine, blocking the falling rain. In the second it took for the covenant to kill the Marine, he realized that the covenant was in fact red, not the normal blue hue.

The Marines struggled, eager to shed blood.

The battle raged on, as uncontrollable as the storm raging in the heavens. Across the Marine lines the larger covenant force was using its numbers against the stubborn Marines. This ambush was not meant to fight the numbers that the covenant had shown. Up and down the lines, battle cries were heard along with the ring of energy weapons on armour. The fight was brutal, the fight was chaotic, the fight was raging on. The Storm grew heavier along with the fighting. The Marines were losing. The covenant kept coming over the hill. The order to withdraw boomed over the ComNet. The Marines attempted to disengage. The covenant seemed to understand the order, and would not let the Marines fall back. In the flashes of lighting the biggest covenant could be seen standing back. In the flashes of lightning the biggest covenant could be seen giving orders. In the flashes of lightning it was apparent that the Marines has been overrun, the pitiful few pockets of resistance soon crumbling under the covenants advance.

The Marines died.

The observers on the next hill withdrew. Their mission was complete: prove the existence of a "leader" covenant. The big red covenant could be seen in the flashes of lightning looking to the next hill. The rain continued to fall.





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