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  • Subject: [Story] Line in the Sand (Chapter one)
Subject: [Story] Line in the Sand (Chapter one)
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  • Senior Heroic Member

So long, Halo. Megszakad a szívem

Prolouge

The Covenant are looking for our home world. We can't let them get there. We are the line. We can't break. The Covenant are in orbit, right now, planning to take this world like they did Reach. Colonel Ackerson has bigger plans.

November 18th, 2552
Mare Erythraeum, Mars


Hello all! Some of you may have heard about my new project that I have been working on alongside Winter Contingency, and I am proud to release the first chapter of Line in the Sand.

This story brings you to a completely new environment, the planet of Mars. It has been terraformed to support life, and it is covered in many cities and weapons factories. It is a vital part of the UNSC's victory in the Human-Covenant war, and the home of Misriah Armories. It is the last defense before the Covenant reach Earth, and the Human race is lost forever. Follow the five men of Badger One Charlie in their struggle to save mankind.

Chapter One: First Contact

October 26th, 2552
0800 hours
Eos Chasma, Mars

"York station, this is Badger one charlie, we have visual on Covenant Corvette. Request fire mission, over."

"Roger, Badger one charlie. Fire mission is a go. Send coordinates."

"Two, one, Oscar, X-ray, six, Yankee, four."

"Coordinates received, MAC firing..."

A massive, blue colored, tungsten round emerged from the soft white clouds and ripped through the small Covenant vessel, raining shrapnel down on the infantry below. A large boom was heard a few moments later and it echoed through the mountains before reaching sergeant Patrick O'Donnel's ears. The ship whined and then crashed into a nearby mountain.

"Thanks for the assist. Bravo one charlie, out."

-------------------------------------

"Alright Marines! Command wants this Covenant double-A position destroyed to allow our birds to pass through this valley and proceed to their OP. Once we've cleared the way, we're going to catch a ride on a Pelican. Understood?" Pat yelled over the crackling gunfire coming from further down the mountain.

"Yes sir!" The four men replied in unison. They gathered their ruck bags and weapons and set off for the objective.

As they abandoned their safe position in the dusty mountain side, a battle roared on below them. About twenty Army troopers kept the Covenant onslaught at bay as they took cover behind a series of sandbags. The Covenant force consisted of at least fifty or so Grunts, twenty Jackals, fifteen Elites, and more than a handful of Hunters. They were defending four idle Covenant AA Wraiths with everything they had.

The six soldiers scurried over to the pinned troopers.

"Who's your CO?" Pat asked a panicked soldier who sat behind the sandbags, reluctant to fire his weapon. He looked at the sergeant for a few moments, and a slap to the side of the head reminded him where he was. The gunfire was absolutely deafening.

"Captain Hughs, sir." He said, pointing to soldier who was firing his DMR into a group of grunts. The Captain's short black hair was barely visible beneath his helmet, and he was a sort of frightening sight. His left eye was completely white, with just a small scar through his eyebrow to remind him of the sly insurgent. He was an impressive six foot five inches, and every time he fired an somewhat evil grin appeared on his face.

O'Donnell slid through the white sand on his way over to the officer. The rest of his team joined the other Army soldiers and fired at the advancing enemy forces.

"Captain, sir." The sergeant said, saluting Hughs when he ducked behind cover to reload.

"Greetings, Sergeant. Whats the news?" He replied, seemingly out of breath.

"HQ has given us orders to take out those AA tanks." He reached his hand over the sandbags to point. "Once their gone, the Pelicans can bring us to a UNSC frigate in orbit." Pat shouted over the contant gunfire.

"Alright. I have rocket teams available when needed." The Captain said, his one good eye showing a sign of sincerity. The Sergeant nodded.

Pat crawled back to his team and detached his rucksack and laid it on the ground to allow himself more flexibility for the fight. His team was very unorganized, and it included soldiers with all different specialties. He looked up and saw one of his men crouched behind cover, reloading. His brown eyes had a sense of extreme alertness, and his blondish hair glowed in the sunlight as he scrambled to retrieve his hat. He knew this man more than anyone he had ever known before. His name was John McCaffery. They were like brothers to each other when they grew up in America. John had always wanted to lead his own team, but instead he ended up with his old friend, under his command. He didn't nessasarily like it, but it was good to be able to fight with his best friend.

Pat removed the clip from his DMR and opened the chamber of his rifle to wipe the sand out. He glanced over to see another soldier in his squad. Kyle Hulverson sat behind the sandbags assembling his SPNKR Rocket launcher. As soon as he did so, he looked towards Pat and waited for the order. The grenades in his bandolier swung from side to side as he waited. Pat gave the order. Kyle was the grenadier of the team. His two weapons were the grenade launcher and the rocket launcher, and he was extremely lethal when it came to disposing of an enemy vehicles. He was born on Reach, and had a distinct accent. He seemed to act quieter, and became more secluded after the fall of Reach.

The soldier next to Hulverson was the squad's sharpshooter, Ryan Connoly. He alternated between his sniper rifle and his side arm, shooting any Covenant figure he saw. He was the youngest in the team. He had a smaller build than the other men and he always taunted and shouted at the Covenant during CQB. His CQB weapon was the M6D pistol and he fired it very well. This was only his third encounter with the Covenant, as before he was training on Earth.

The last soldier at the end of the sandbags was named Gregory O'Brien. He crouched next to an injured trooper, and he quicklet worked to remove a spiker round from the man's knee. He was the squad's medical expert, and one of the most important people there. A red cross contrasted greatly on his white arm band, reflecting in a incapacitated soldier's eyes as a mark of hope. He only carried a TAC Shotgun, without any sidearm. He always put everyone before himself, even exposing himself to enemy fire while caring for an injured soldier.

Pat loaded a clip into his DMR and finally stood up to fire. He was surprised at what he saw. The dusty canyon below him was full of dead Covenant, and two inoperable AA Wraiths. The soldiers all cheered and rushed down into the canyon to attack the already dead bodies. They jumped around like monkeys and smashed the defenseless carcasses with the butts of their guns. Badger One Charlie all stood as still as stone and watched the troopers celebrate.

"Command, this is Badger One Charlie. Objective is complete, request EVAC for next assignment. Over."

"Well done, Badger. Request granted, a Pelican is already en route to your position. Two klicks out, ETA approximately five mikes. Command out."


It would be extremely cool if MaxRealFlugel or Wolverfrog posted in this thread! : )

[Edited on 09.24.2010 10:05 PM PDT]

  • 08.29.2010 12:53 PM PDT
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  • Senior Heroic Member

So long, Halo. Megszakad a szívem

Excuse the massive wait time. New chapter should be up by tomorrow!

  • 09.08.2010 9:41 PM PDT
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Very good story but can i inquire why does the person have a spiker wound when there are no brutes

  • 09.09.2010 10:40 AM PDT

Join TD. It's AwesomeSauce


Posted by: melforce09
Very good story but can i inquire why does the person have a spiker wound when there are no brutes


What he said. But otherwise this sounds like it will be a great story. Confused at the timeline though. Reach had only just fell and Halo was found. Now they are on Mars already? At the end of Halo 3 there would be no Earth left if this was the case.

  • 09.09.2010 11:25 AM PDT
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So long, Halo. Megszakad a szívem

It's tommorow! Here is the sequel to last month's chapter. Enjoy.

Patrol

The Pelican slowly set down on a large landing pad. The five men all leaped out simultaneously. Their boots sunk into the soft, green, martian soil. A Warthog dropped behind them. The Pelican lifted again after a hand signal from O'Donnel. The five men jogged towards a civilian structure. When they entered, they found the structure empty. They all gathered around the kitchen table for a quick breifing from their leader.

"Alright, this is how it's going to go." He said, unfolding a map onto the table.

"There is some Covenant OpFor in these structures... Here." He continued, pointing to a yellow mark on the map.

"There are still civilians and militia hanging out in the area. Our job is to recon what the Covenant are doing here, find out how large there fighting force is, and get those civilians out of this town. Understood?" He finished, looking back up at his team.

"Yes sir." The soldiers all replied.

"Now, combat roles. Connoly, your going to head up this hill to the left of the town and provide presicion sniper fire." He said, looking at Ryan.

"Hulverson, your going to rain rockets from the cliff to the right. O'Brien, your going to stay in the background for a majority of the fight. John, you and me are going to charge the middle. Everyone got that?" Pat placed his helmet on his head again.

"Yes sir." The men said a second time. John also picked up his own helmet and placed it on his head. He unclipped his assault rifle from his chest and started out the door following Pat. Ryan shouldered his rocket launcher and Connoly pulled the slide on his sniper rifle. O'Brien said a quick prayer and tossed a few extra shells into his shotgun.

Pat climbed into the back of the warthog and sat infront of the turret, along with Ryan. O'Brien manned the LAAG, while John hopped in the driver's seat. Connoly was the last to jump in, and he rested comfortably in the passenger side. He always enjoyed the feeling of the warthog's seats.

It was a bright Martian day, and the ground was moist with recently past rain. The warthog's wheels tossed mud through the air as it roared towards it's objective.

"So, Ryan," Hulverson began. "What's it like on Earth?" He said, making a slight attempt to turn around.

"A lot like here, green, lots of water, lots of trees." He replied, looking around in every direction. "Warmer, thats for sure." Ryan shivered and rubbed his arms.

"Sounds nice. I've lived on Reach all me life. I've never travelled, really." Kyle said, looking at a picture of his younger self, along with his family. He day dreamed for a moment, remembering all the times in which his friend would come over and they would go to the UNSC base and look through the fence at all the soldiers during PT. He tilted his head, folded up the picture, and placed it in his pocket.

"It is." Ryan finally answered, as he was dreaming himself.

"Were closing on the the town. Fire on my lead only." The Sergeant said as he adjusted his balaclava to sit comfortably on the ridge of his nose.

As soon as they arrived to within half a mile of the town, Ryan climbed out of the warthog and started his trek to the nearby hill while Hulverson jogged towards the overlooking cliff.

Patrick and John both jogged on both sides of an unpaved street while O'Brien stood by the turret and looked for any sign of movement. Pat gave the order to stop and take cover. He peered around the corner of an old wooden building and saw about for grunts, and and Elite officer. He quickly pulled his head back behind the building and signed several messages to John. John understood, and went through the alleyway behind the building.

"Connoly, in position." Pat's radio blasted in his ear. He suddenly froze in fear, and listened to see if the Covenant were on to him. Nothing.

John rounded the corner of the building and peered through a bush at the Covenant patrol. It was larger than first thought to be. It included three brutes in addition the the grunt and Elite squad. He slowly backed behind the building again, checking the ammo read-out on his MA37.

"Connoly, Hulverson, weapons free." Pat finally said. Kyle smiled as he launched two rockets into the group of grunts, direct hit. The Elite was launched a few feet before he landed on his back, shields flaring. Pat gave the order for John to fire. The two men came around the corner and destroyed what was left of the grunt squad. John's attention suddenly switched toward the furious brute just ten feet in front of him. He turned and unloaded the rest of his assault rifle clip into the beast. It was still stomping foward. He helplessly fired his magnum and awaited dismemberment from the spike rifle's blades. Suddenly, he heard a loud pop, and found himself with blood on his face. He opened his eyes again to see the massive creature doing a half cart-wheel through the air.

Pat fired his DMR at the two last brute minors. The first round glanced off the ape's helmet, while the second completely removed it. He took out his magnum and fired a quick round through it's head. The second minor was overwhelmed by the sniper fire and John's assault rifle. It collapsed in a pool of it's own blood.

"Form up. The Covenant know where here now." He said, reloading his rifle.


NOTE: To reply to the comments above, a few grunt soldiers depleted their ammo in the firefight. They were forced to salvage ammo and weapons from their dead comrades.

  • 09.23.2010 6:26 PM PDT
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  • Senior Heroic Member

So long, Halo. Megszakad a szívem

REACH SERVICE RECORD
SERVICE BRANCH: UNSC NAVY
GREGORY O'BRIEN
MEDICAL TECHNICIAN GRADE 3


Personal life...

Homeworld: Earth
Spouse: Maria Sorvad
Children: Joeseph Sorvad, Moses Sorvad,
Occupation: Ambulance Paramedic
Age: 32
Eye color: Green
Hair color: Brown
Scars, tattoos: Tattoos with the initials of patients he had lost during Reach.

//>Gregory O'Brien. One of the bravest soldiers i've met in my time. I've seen him in battle before. Exposing himself to enemy plasma rounds, still maintaining laser-like focus on his patient... His mind works at an unbelievable rate. He took advanced math during his time on Earth, and he can figure out medicinal doses, all in his head, in just a few seconds. An amazing mind on that man. His skills in combat are also very good. He is proficient with the Tactical shotgun. He tries to travel as light as possible, and often leaves his medical supplies at checkpoints during a mission for easy maneuverability. He tends to keep to himself, and isn't a very loud person. When he does speak, you can just hear a certain tone of confidence and intelligence in his voice. He had numerous medals, as well. Overall a very adaptable Corpsman.

//>Colonel Ackerson
////>UNSC Army

  • 09.24.2010 9:30 PM PDT