- dumdum
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- Senior Heroic Member
Here it is, finally! I'm sorry to keep you waiting, readers. I have something special in this chapter, including the return of one of Echo team's members, if you remember who. Well, here it is, Chapter 6!
Chapter 6: The Charge
The Falcon weaved through the flame infested buildings. Occasionally it's passengers were choked by the smoke, so Higgs decided to fly lower. It was much more turbulent near the ground from the heat reflecting off the pavement, but it was bearable.
They were contacted by a man named Newcomb, who seemed to be in great distress. Echo team was to find them and help them out of the city. The sounds of human guns sounds grew louder and louder as they approached the beacon that the Newcomb soldier sent them on their GPS. Finally, they saw the men.
They were fighting a massive Covenant force. There were three destroyed Wraith tanks, one downed banshee, and countless Grunt, Jackal, and Elite bodies. There were even a few Hunter bodies in the mix.
They were holed up in an old concrete structure, and it's roof was caving in. Matt couldn't see the soldiers underneath the roof. The falcon circled, looking for a place to land.
A few fuel rod grunts noticed the hovering Falcon. An Elite major barked orders and wasn't paying attention, so the grunts took it into their own hands. The two both aimed, and fired at the two rotors on the vehicle.
The bird lifted up as the green blobs approached them. The motors roared as they struggled against the rain. Evans and Holver started yelling at Thom, telling him to get out of the way. Thom just ignored them as he attempted to swing the vehicle around. He was too late.
One of the green projectiles impacted the right rotor. Joe and Matt slowly realized what had happened. What they saw horrified them. The rotor was completely missing, jet and all. The Falcon was preforming a terrible flipping maneuver. There was nothing Thom could do. The wet metal floor threatened to launch the two men to their deaths. Joe latched onto a storage net on the wall. Matt was too afraid to move. Holver grabbed his arm and braced himself for the impact.
Matt woke up in a quiet, dark building. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to get a grip on what was going on around him. He was in a crumbling concrete structure, with re-bar protruding from some places in the half roof. Rain dripped through the cracks on the roof and landed on Evans' face. Then he realized what had happened.
He sat upright awkwardly, and grunted as he lifted his head up. He saw six figures, and smiled. His squad was back together, he thought. Then, one of the figures approached him. It had a massive silhouette with broad shoulders. An Elite, he thought.
His vision refocused, and he was amazed at what he saw.
An enormous man, almost seven feet stood in front of him. His head was covered with a full helmet with a face that shined a pretty gold. The letters UNSC were clearly printed on it. His body was wide and covered with light blue armor. His hand rested on Matt's shoulder, and he felt the power of the massive man.
"Your alright." Said the mystery soldier.
"What happened?" Matt asked. He was completely unaware that the Covenant had even landed on Reach.
"Your Falcon was shot down by those grunts over there." He said, pointing to two crumpled bodies across the street.
Matt suddenly remembered everything. The seperation of his squad, the Covenant outpost, the destruction of the ODG...
"Yeah," He replied. "Where's Joe and Higgs, 'they alright?"
"Yeah. The pilot has a broken leg. We have a splint on him." He said, looking over to the grimacing man lying on his back on the hard ground floor.
Matt sighed and looked towards Joe who was talking to two armed civilians.
"Captain Newcomb, Spartan 038." He said, holding his hand out.
"Lietenant Matt Evans." he answered, saluting before shaking the soldier's hand. Matt was thoroughly confused. "Spartan?"
"ONI will explain. They told us you would be here."
***
"Okay," The skinny radio operator announced. "Your Hog is fueled and ready to go. Good luck."
"Thanks." Said Chris, shaking the mans hand before he walked back into the building.
"It's going to be moving in three minutes. Were late. Let's get the vehicle into position." Karsky finally announced. The UNSC was planning a massive offensive of a Covenant outpost. The outpost was an important Covy asset, and if they lost it, Covenant ground control would be lost in the whole area.
As the men loaded in the Hog, the sky shined a pretty orange. It reflected off of all the UNSC's green equipment and settled in the puddles of the past rain. The wind was calm, and the air was thick with humidity and distant gunfire.
Then, the charge was started. Hogs up front, tanks in back. All the UNSC vehicles ripped towards the Covenant outpost. The Scorpion treads flung sand through the air and the Warthogs made prominent tracks across the plane.
Amil held onto the Gauss' controls and looked into the thermal camera. He checked the ammunition for the fifth time and adjusted his helmet. Karsky stared emotionless out the front windshield and casually shifted up gears. Chris sat higher in his seat with his foot on the dashboard with his MA37 shouldered. The Covenant knew they were coming.
Mortar tanks began launching plasma and Ghosts were speeding towards them. Suddenly, a tank round ripped through an approaching ghost. It split in two, with one of it's wings flying through the air. The occupant, an Elite, fell out of the side and rolled across the ground. Once, you could hear his shields pop. The second pop was most likely his neck as he slid to a halt.
The Hogs simultaneously started firing. The Ghosts dropped, one by one. Once, a Warthog's steering was destroyed and it flipped, end over end, sending the operators through the air, one of them was flung over a hundred feet.
Amil was an excellent gunner. Karsky was hesitant to let him shoot but he couldn't find anyone else with better driving skills. A ghost approached them, plasma cannons raging. Amil shot a single gauss round through the middle of the machine, turning it into a flaming heap of metal. Echo's hog looked like it was leading the charge. It was ahead of all the other vehicles.
It was a smooth ride for the rest of the way except for the occasional Wraith round that was easily avoided. The Covenant outpost could be seen now. Longsword fighters flew over the UNSC formation and dropped massive bombs on the structure. The explosions rose high into the sky and the Hogs slowed a little to let the flames clear.
Once they arrived, they were satisfied with the results. Grunts were scattered on the ground everywhere, and Elites crawled through the sand, bleeding from their wounds. As the soldiers dismounted and walked through the camp, they shot any living thing that survived the explosion.
Amil looked all around him. All the Covenant equipment was in pieces, even their weapons and armor. He had discovered their weakness: Giant bombs.
***
Sean paced around the Command deck of the Aegis Fate. He had told the Captain about everything that had happened to him and his team. How they lost the ODG, how they got separated, and how he commandeered a ghost to escape. He was glad the Captain was able to find them. He was told that the two halfs of the team were on secret missions that he couldn't know about, and he was surprised the Lieutenant didn't tell him about his special operations affiliation. He watched the massive attack out the dusty observation window.
He was amazed at the amount of force the Aegis Fate actually posessed. At least ten Scorpions and thirty M12RVs. He felt the Longswords drop from the hanger beneath his feet, and saw them fly over the Covenant base and destroy the entire thing. He was disappointed he was not part of the attack, but the Captain said he needed to be with the rest of his squad before he was on the ground again.
His light grey uniform turned a kind of a dark tan from all the dirt he had accumulated during his time away from the team. His face was covered in dust, as well as his brown, greying hair. He sat down in the cafe on the Aegis and ate the best meal he had had in months. Navy food was the best, he thought. He sat alone in the whole place. All the other soldiers had been deployed on the ground and were taking part in the charge. He was the first and only Army personnel to be on the ship.
While he was eating, he thought about Higgs. He and him had fought on Harvest together, and he hadn't seen him in hours. He couldn't stand being away from his team for that long. He remembered how they had discovered his own house torn and burnt to pieces with his wife and son lying in the yard. He immediately moved on to another subject.
Suddenly, the Captain walked into the room. He approached Sean and sat down across from him.
"Sir," He said, looking back at him.
"I have an assignment for you and your team, Sergeant." He said in a low tone.
I have begun the story for the sequel. If this story goes far, I will make a follow up that will be something new and original. I have big ambitions for my next project. See you soon.
[Edited on 08.15.2010 9:03 AM PDT]