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Subject: [Story] The battle of Earth (Chapter six)

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

This story is a sequel to Escaping New Mombassa. Hope you all like it :D

And here is Escaping New Mombassa if you would like to read it

[Edited on 03.17.2011 4:41 PM PDT]

  • 11.09.2010 2:36 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] The battle of Earth

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

Prologue: Re-entry

"Second squad, on me!" James shouted back at the group of marines behind him. Four of the marines walked to him an instant after he called, "we have to get to the rally point in the next fifty minutes, if we don't, we'll miss our window, we could lose the Spartan."

Adam was going through the same process with his squad as two Pelicans entered view through the small gap in the roof of the abandoned house. James led his squad outside as the Pelicans landed. Both Pelicans carried Warthogs which would be used for the final leg of the journey. The marine looked around the deserted town. Sand covered the roads and an overhead sign hung low, one side resting on the road. On the sign was NEW MOMBASSA-65KM.

New Mombassa no longer existed. James and a few other marines had barely made it out of the city alive, just a few hours before the Covenant had begun to glass the city. Within days New Mombassa had been burned to the ground, along with anyone who remained there.

Both squads entered their respective Pelicans and set off in different directions, both to meet up later and set a tracking beacon on the Spartan, Sierra-117, who was due to hit the ground in an hour's time. There was a tense mood in the Pelican. All members of the squad knew that this mission would be one of the most important of the war, if they failed; the Covenant could find the Spartan first, and if they did, they would surely kill him.

It took exactally twenty minutes for James's Pelican to reach their destination, the Pelican couldn't land so the marines had to rappel into the thick African jungle. James went first, quickly sliding down the rope and through the tree line. The squad's sniper followed him and soon all five were down and the Pelican flew off, Warthog still attached to its underside.

"Move marines!" shouted James as he ran in front of the group, carefully watching his tacpad on his wrist as he led them through the jungle. His helmets heads up display alerted him to movement to his right and almost unnoticeably a tiger jumped out from the brush and across their path. James didn't stop however and jumped over a small stream, continuing towards the old radar field, now owned by the Covenant but the only place they would be able to get a good view of the Spartan re-entering. The jungle ended abruptly and they entered the town just south of the radar sight.

"Two ODST's are currently trying to find the targeting laser, we'll meet up with them at the radar sight. Until then we have to get there and then hold it from the Covenant. Let's move."

***

"Fifty meters ahead, turn right," shouted Tom back to Ryan who was just a second behind. The marines ran beside a wall as they approached an opening the Pelican could drop a Warthog for them. Tom checked his tacpad again and shouted, "Sprint, ten meters, go go go."

The ODSTs ran forward as a banshee bomb hit the wall to their right, they stopped at a second wall and James peered around to see Brutes. He fired a few short bursts as Ryan searched through the rubble and finally dragged a large rectangular box out of it. Spikes smashed into the wall, sticking out of them as Tom and the Brutes exchanged fire. After another short burst, a Brute roared and fell, dead.

"Package retrieved, need immediate evac, over. Package retrieved" said Ryan to the pilot of the waiting Pelican. James fired again and soon another Brute let out a roar as it died. More red hot spikes flew at James, but all of them lodged in the wall. A long burst from Tom's battle rifle silenced yet another Brute.

Several Banshees flew overhead and one unleashed a bomb at them. The bomb hit just a few feet away and splashed mud and green plasma around, also knocking the marines to the ground. They both staggered back up and Tom resumed firing, even though the noise had deafened him. He hit another Brute as the Pelican came down and dropped the Warthog.

"Move, move," shouted Tom and both marines ran to the Warthog. Ryan threw the locater into the back of the vehicle with the turret and jumped into the side seat, while Tom jumped into the driver's seat. He quickly started up the Light Recon Vehicle and drove onto the main road through the town. Banshees flew over the road, several bombs fell from them but none came close to the Warthog as it sped down the road. Suddenly Brutes on the road ahead began firing, a spike hit and penetrated Ryan's armour, hitting him in the stomach and splattering blood onto the windscreen.

"I'm hit," he blurted out before crying out in agony.

The Warthog continued to bounce on over the rough terrain, a wall blocked the road but Tom didn't slow, he drove straight through the wall sending rubble everywhere. Ryan was now clutching the spike in his chest.

"Command, we're not going to make it in time," shouted Tom into his helmets built in comm channel.

He soon got a reply, "Get to sector six, belay from original course and move to sector six. Master Chief's re-entry is minutes away."

"Okay, got it," he steered the Warthog off onto a side road, the shortest way to sector six.

"Proceed with caution, you're under heavy fire," command warned.

The Warthog sped down the road, swerving around the burning wreckage of another Warthog and passing the first of many radar installations.

***

James and his squad were forced to re-route. The Covenant had the radar installation locked down and it would take a huge amount of force to re-take it. He brought his squad to sector six, the emergency fall-back location. The had barely arrived before Brutes had already begun to fire at them, James took cover behind a wall and began firing his battle rifle at the approaching aliens.

One of the Brutes primed a spike grenade and threw it at full force, the grenade lodged in the wall beside James. The marine fired his battle rifle, killing the Brute. The grenade was beeping rapidly now but James still pulled it out of the wall and threw it as far as he could into the air, the spikes of the grenade penetrated the armour of a passing Banshee and destroyed it. James couldn't believe his luck.

Suddenly a Warthog pulled up behind the squad and an ODST jumped out, shouting for a medic. One of the marines in James's squad ran to the Warthog and helped the ODST lift a second ODST out of the vehicle. The trooper cried out in pain as he was dragged to a nearby building and set resting against the wall. His helmet fell off in the process.

James looked ahead to see a Phantom taking off and several Brutes rounding a corner and advancing towards the marines. Both sides fired their weapons. The medic was still tending to the injured ODST while the other trooper asked him if he could do his job, getting a pained yeah in response. More gunfire was exchanged with the Brutes. James had his shoulder pressed up against a wall, firing at every hostile target he saw.

"What's the situation?" asked the ODST of two marines that were grouped together behind another wall.

"Almost out of ammo sir, we have to pull back."

"Negative, we need to hold them off until Master Chief breaks through."

A Banshee bomb hit the ground in front of James, creating a small crater in the mud. One of the marines, in possession of a sniper rifle, ran around the side of the yard and took up a sniping position. Another Phantom dropped Brutes as two F-99 Wombat drones flew overhead. By then the sniper was ready and his first three shots resulted in the deaths of three Brutes.

Suddenly the marine turned his head and a Brute that had snuck up on him from the side threw him forward. The sniper managed to stay on his feet but the detonation of a spike grenade that followed him threw him off balance. He managed to regain his feet but the Brute was upon him and it swung its giant hammer, crushing the marine off a wall.

James continued firing for a while but was forced to stop as a Banshee flew over and leased a bomb at him. He pressed his back against the wall and avoided the attack but the force of the air as the Banshee flew over knocked him off his feet. The medic was still tending to the ODST and had removed the spike from his chest and filled the wound with biofoam. A ball of smoking fire was falling from the air, the Master Chief's re-entry vehicle.

The marines began rushing back towards the main building, the Brutes fired after them. One marine mounted the turret of the Warthog and began spraying bullets at the aliens, killing two before a spike hit him in the shoulder, knocking him off the gun. The medic ran to him as more spikes tore through the air towards the marines. One marine who had been standing next to a wall received a spike through his elbow, pinning him to the wall.

"Medic!" he shouted as he lifted his other arm and fired a long burst from his battle rifle, killing a Brute. The medic rushed over and attempted to pull the spike out but got nowhere. Quickly she drew a small chainsaw from her kit and began to cut through the spike, releasing the marine.

Ryan picked up the located and aimed it in on the Master Chief's re-entry vehicle, getting lock and finally saying, "Target acquired."

"That's it, we got him, recovery team has his coordinates, touching down soon. Fall back, fall back," the marines received the message from command and began to rush back to the building, however one marine was hit by a Banshee bomb and was hurled over a Warthog, snapping his neck as he hit. The other marines entered the building through a small door as a Phantom flew over. Finally everyone was inside and the last marine in, James, grabbed a rocket launcher and fired once, hitting the Brute wielding the hammer and killing him instantly. The door closed and the corridor went dark.

  • 11.09.2010 2:37 PM PDT

Read the whole thing. Very good

  • 11.09.2010 11:13 PM PDT

Awesome story and nice dramatic moments. Any more chapters soon?

  • 11.11.2010 10:15 PM PDT

Oh and a little tip, add more marine ranks. Just some friendly advice

  • 11.11.2010 10:16 PM PDT

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

Thanks. I should have the next chapter ready tomorrow or Sunday.

  • 11.12.2010 10:50 AM PDT

cool, i'll look forward to it!

  • 11.13.2010 7:00 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: DeadeyePanda117
Oh and a little tip, add more marine ranks. Just some friendly advice


Why? What could that possibly do to improve the story?

  • 11.13.2010 7:15 AM PDT

sometimes they provide more effect because a sergeant is usually in charge and privates follow

Posted by: ajw34307
Posted by: DeadeyePanda117
Oh and a little tip, add more marine ranks. Just some friendly advice


Why? What could that possibly do to improve the story?

  • 11.13.2010 7:35 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: DeadeyePanda117
sometimes they provide more effect because a sergeant is usually in charge and privates follow


That is the way things go... Sergeant is a higher rank than Private, you know?

  • 11.13.2010 8:15 AM PDT

What I mean is ranks in novels provide you with the leadership element meaning you can almost depend on the higher ranks to seem more calm and to never back down, just like grunts and elites in the covenant army.

  • 11.13.2010 10:22 AM PDT

Hey, you wanna see a list of rank order?

ENLISTED RANKS..................................OFFICERS

private.....................................second lieutenant

corporal or specialist......................first lieutenant

sergeant.......................................captain

staff sergeant..................................major

sergeant 1st class........................lieutenant colonel

master sergeant................................colonel

first sergeant.............................brigadier general

sergeant major...............................major general

command sergeant major.....................lieutenant general

sergeant major of the army......................general

this chart may help a bit...

[Edited on 11.13.2010 10:43 AM PST]

  • 11.13.2010 10:27 AM PDT

"I will show you how a true Prussian officer fights!"

"And i will show you where the iron crosses grow..."

- "Cross of Iron"

I don't know if this was intentional but you copied this exactly from the Halo 3 live action trailer landfall...

  • 11.13.2010 3:49 PM PDT

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.


Posted by: Raptorx7
I don't know if this was intentional but you copied this exactly from the Halo 3 live action trailer landfall...


Correct, however I believe this is a great way to start my story, with something everyone else already knows. There will be references to the Halo 3 campaigne too.

And believe it or not, most of the characters in this story are from my previous story, Escaping New Mombassa. Unluckily very few people bothered to read therefore they don't know about the ranks my characters have here.

James = Captain.
Adam = Major and leader of the squad.

And so this isn't complicated:
The squad split into two at the start of this story: First and second squad. They are essentailly the same squad though.

  • 11.13.2010 4:10 PM PDT

"I will show you how a true Prussian officer fights!"

"And i will show you where the iron crosses grow..."

- "Cross of Iron"

Oh ok. Im sorry if i came across to criticizing or against the story. I actually enjoyed reading it. I also like your other story escape from new Mombasa. So ill see where else this goes.

  • 11.13.2010 4:58 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] The battle of Earth (Chapter 1: Plateau)

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

Chapter One: Plateau

The room was dark and cold, two torches put on their ends gave off the only light but the marines had nothing to warm themselves. The Covenant could be heard outside; howls and roars haunted the marines. Occasionally the sound of UNSC gunfire could be heard but it was silenced quickly. The marines and ODSTs were huddled together around the torches.

The combination of biofoam and bandages was starting to help Ryan recover. The ODST was no longer pale and was now able to stand however he would still require a few weeks rest in hospital. The other ODST, Tom had his battle rifle laid out on the ground in front of him in several pieces, he quickly pieced the gun back together and started dissembling it again. Only three of James's five man squad made it into the building, the other two were killed; one by a Brute, the other's neck was broken.

James stood up, "We'll go once the battle outside starts to die down. The Covenant won't be able to get in here; the doors are made of Titanium A, it will take a Wraith tank to break them down," he said that to reassure himself more than his fellow marines. He looked at Brian, one of the marines under his command. Brian still had a spike impaled in his elbow; the medic insisted she couldn't remove it.

"We could have a long wait," commented Tom.

"It's better we hold out here than go outside and get ourselves killed. It's nearly dark, we can risk leaving tonight. We have to get back to Crows Nest by midday tomorrow."

"We have Pelican evac?"

"I don't think so. Maybe once we reach the plains." Everyone stayed quiet after that. No-one talked, they had nothing to talk about.

***

Adam and his group failed to reach either rally point. After several near misses with Brutes they made their way back into the forest and set off for the southern plateau, their designated pick-up point.

The loud noise of crickets could be heard throughout the jungle as the marines waded through knee deep mud. Adam, in the lead, held his assault rifle over his head as he sank further in, the mud now up to his stomach. The ageing marine let out a sigh. Like James and Wilson, he wasn't picked for the UNSC's replacement of the four 'super-squads', designated Alpha, Bravo, Gamma and Delta. Instead they were put in command of small, but by no means elite squads.

Looking back at the four marines he commanded he realised how much better his old squads were. For three years he commanded Alpha squad but now, even though he was promoted after the battle of New Mombassa, he felt like he was demoted. Damian, his sniper, had a terrible shot compared with the ODST in his old squad, Sarah. Damian could barely hit a sleep Grunt fifty metres away, let alone kill a Brute that was running straight for him. Adam hoped the sniper was never put under such pressure as if he was, he would surely fail.

The rest of his squad wasn't much better. The medic never took a course and the explosives 'expert' barely knew the difference between C12 and a bomb. The only asset to the squad, aside from Adam, was Tony. The marine was fast and around ninety percent of his shots hit their target. He also fought on Sigma Octanus IV and Reach; he had valuable experience of many battles.

Adam had his suspicions about Tony. He seemed too good for the squad he was in; Adam speculated that he was with ONI. Adam had a lot of experience dealing with the office of naval intelligence. Alpha squad was an ONI team while Adam was in control as it had been since the foundation its foundation in the twenty third century.

Squad one finally began to rise out of the mud and thread on solid ground. They were muddy from their chests down and all five were relieved to leave the damp mud behind. The amount of light making it through the treetops began to lessen, a sign of the approaching nightfall.

Very little life could be detected in the area, the Covenant didn't bother occupying the jungles and any animals that were living here were keeping to themselves. The occasional rustle of leaves or snapping of twigs could be heard but aside from those rare occurrences and the loud chirping crickets, the jungle was quiet.

The ground began to slowly slope upwards as the group neared the plateau. The top had been flattened and the trees had been uprooted thousands of years ago. It had been covered in slabs of stone and eventually the stone had been carved out properly, resembling a square at the top of the hill, it was perfect for a Pelican to land. A small path led up to the plateau from the east side, the side the marines approached from.

Parts of the path were overgrown in places and the marines had to take out their bayonets and hack their way through. Suddenly the whirring sound of a Phantom began to grow out of nowhere. Adam ordered the marines to the ground, just to be sure. Within minutes the search light of a Phantom shone through the trees and over the heads of the marines. The Phantom didn't notice them however and continued on.

Adam signalled and the marines stood back up, ready to resume their journey to the plateau. It wasn't long before they met a cliff face and were forced to climb up. Adam readied his climbing gear and the others followed suit. He began to ascend the cliff, using his pickaxe to help him. After just three minutes he reached the top and began to help the others up.

They still had a short distance to go to the plateau however they only had to stick to the path to get there. There were considerable fewer trees here than there were lower down the mountain but first squad had yet to see their destination.

***

James checked his watch, eight thirty; darkness. He pushed himself off the ground with one hand while grabbing his assault rifle with the other.

"Get ready marines!" he said loudly and the marines scrambled up, "It's time to leave, we have to make it back to Crows Nest by dawn."

He led the way to the blast door of the building and typed in the code to open it. The door groned open showing the darkness outside. There was a full moon which gave light to the marines along with the glowing stars. A cool breeze blew, rustling leaves of nearby trees and bushes. James stepped out into the open and saw the dead Brute Chieftain his marines killed earlier.

The other marines and ODSTs followed and soon the squad was quietly moving through the town. The Covenant hadn't left the area as James had hoped they would. Several Jackal sentries were patrolling the town from the rooftops and James even spotted a few Skirmishers, a potentially serious threat.

The marines moved in the shadows, careful not to alert the alien invaders of their presence. A growl from a Brute at the opposite side of a wall the marines were taking cover by caused James's heart to skip a beat. The squad kept moving however and soon they were on the edge of the town.

Two Jackals on rooftops either side of the marines stopped them going any further. Outside the town there was a lot of open ground and the Jackals, with their night vision devices, would easily be able to spot and kill the marines. James looked at his gear and weapons, then at his squads. They had no suppressed weapons but they did have their knives, possibly the only way to quietly kill the Jackals.

James told the marines his plan and picked the ODST, Tom, to help him kill the Jackals. He climbed up onto a bin, making as little noise as possible, and used his elevated position to climb onto the flat rooftops. Tom did the same on the other side of the street and both soldiers made it without being spotted.

He crawled towards his Jackal, knife in his mouth and as silently as possible. He continued forward, eyes focused completely on his target. Then his hand went through a gap he assumed the roof would be. He fell forward a small bit, his armour clanging against a metal bar, alerting the alien. The creature turned and looked at James, a look of what could pass for shock on its face. James used the Jackals momentary delay to lunge up and slit its neck causing purple blood to spurt out onto James.

The other Jackal turned towards James, its beam rifle aimed and about to be fired when Tom jumped onto its back, sticking his blade into the Jackals neck, killing it. James motioned to Tom across the rooftop, signalling that they should get back to the squad. James walked to the edge of the rooftop and dropped two metres down onto the street, startling the marines. Tom soon joined them and they continued on their journey back to Crows Nest.

***

Adam gave the signal. The crack of a sniper rifle followed and a Brute dropped dead, .50 calibre bullet through his stomach. The marines fired onto the plateau and several more aliens dropped dead. A Brute roared and another bullet from the marine sniper flew in his direction, however it missed by a few centimetres.

The Phantom in the centre of the Plateau rose up and flew away, leaving several Brutes to fight the marines. Damian fired again, this time hitting a Brute in the leg, knocking it to the ground. Another marine finished it off with a burst to its head. Adam unloaded a clip into a Brute that charged through the treeline at the marines, ripping it to shreds.

The few remaining Brutes were firing without targets. Spikes flew into the jungle however the concealed marines were unaffected. Within a minute, the remaining Brutes had been killed by the UNSC forces. Adam cautiously stepped through the trees and onto the plateau, watching in case any other Covenant were around. His squad followed and soon they were all in the centre, waiting for evac.


[Edited on 11.15.2010 2:59 PM PST]

  • 11.15.2010 2:55 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] The battle of Earth (Chapter 2: Crows Nest)

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

Chapter two: Crows Nest

James and his squad arrived at the UNSC base just after four in the morning. Even though it was early, the base was full of activity as marines prepared for their days missions. Some were on their way out to attack Covenant positions; others were on standby in case they were needed out in the African desert that surrounded the base.

James found that Adam and his squad had arrived back earlier in the night. He Adam in the armoury, the marine was repairing the damaged stock of his battle rifle. A set of tools was lined up on the desk in front of Adam; he occasionally swapped out the tool he was using with a new one. Within minutes of James's arrival he finished.

"It's not the best, but it will hold," commented Adam.

"I'm sure it will."

"Take any losses?"

"Two dead, three wounded. Brian won't be able to move his arm for a few weeks. Spike through the elbow. You?"

"We all made it alive. Sorry we didn't reach your position, Covenant had us pinned for a good ten minutes."

"Don't worry about it. We killed at least ten Brutes, a good trade-off for two marines."

"Maybe. I just hope they'll give us a better squad soon. Commander White says that he'll be forming a new squad soon, he might pick us."

"He might."

"When did you get back?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

The conversation ended there and both marines left for the barracks where they would be debriefed by Commander Keyes. They passed through the old base, the only light coming from the dim glow of flood lights that were placed around the base. It wasn't long before they reached the Commander.

"Ma'am," Adam said as Keyes turned to them from the squad she had just finished talking with.

"Adam, glad you made it," came the reply, "make the de-brief quick Major."

"Gladly. We split into two squads as planned however, first squad, my squad, never reached the rally point. James and second squad linked up with the ODSTs and completed the mission. Two losses, three wounded. The mission was a success."

"Indeed it was. Sergeant Major Johnson and his squad are about to reach the Chief's location. We should have him back here later this morning. Four squads from second battalion came in earlier. I need you to show them around the base. After that I want both of you and your squads to get some rest."

"Of course ma'am."

The Commander walked away from the two soldiers, leaving them to find the new squads and show them the base. They agreed to take two squads each and show them the main locations in the base. James soon found his squads and after a few words with their sergeants, he led them to the hangar.

"Have you been here long?" asked one of the sergeants, a small, bald man named Shane.

"I've been stationed here since New Mombassa fell to the Covenant," replied James truthfully, "how did you end up here?"

"We were sent to recon the dig site a few days ago. Eleven different squads left the base in Voi, we're the only four left as far as we know. I don't know what went wrong, two days ago we lost contact with one of the squads, then a second squad sent out a short transmission, they were killed by Brute Chieftains. We contacted command but we were told to continue with the mission. It began getting harder to keep hidden, it wasn't long before we were spotted by a few Jackals and were forced to kill them."

"Our weapons were silenced and we hid the bodies but we were spotted again early last night. We thought we were hidden in the trees but it didn't stop a Chieftain appearing out of nowhere and impaling our sniper with his hammer. We killed the alien and decided to abort the mission. By that time we were in too deep to try contacting the other squads. The Covenant would be able to find us if we tried. We didn't stop at nightfall and we finally arrived here this morning."

"Did you find anything out?"

"Nothing but those Brutes tracked every single squad down. The other three squads all took losses to them damned Chieftains."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

They reached the Hangar where James showed them the main defensive features. Several turrets were pointed towards the giant entrance into the hangar from the outside. There was also a lift down to the lower levels of the base in the hangar. James continued with the tour and was soon finished.

By the time he arrived back at the barracks for his well-deserved rest, the sun had risen above the horizon. Adam was already in the barracks, sleeping on the top bunk in one of the many rooms. James got into the bunk below him and soon he too was asleep.

***

Eagle squad had barely escaped from the attacking Chieftain before they were ambushed by a group of Skirmishers. The bird like aliens with thick, lion like manes, were equipped with needle rifles. The Skirmishers opened fire and pink bolts flew through the jungle at Eagle squad. Most of the bolts hit trees, scraping off bark and breaking into thousands of glass light shards.

A few of the bolts flew through the trees and hit members of Eagle team, their armour protected them however. Eagle three was the first to respond to the new threat and with two shots from her sniper rifle, Sarah had killed two Skirmishers. Eagle two and four followed up with their rifles, cutting down an alien each. Soon the small battle was over and the ODSTs resumed running to their fall-back point, a large clearing a few hundred metres from their current position.

Eagle squad made no effort to muffle their noise as they ran through the jungle. They knew that a group of Brutes was behind them, and that a serious threat, a Chieftain, was with them. Eagle one, Graham, stopped suddenly. Stephen quietly walked up to him.

"I heard a Brute, three metres ahead, in or behind the bush," whispered Graham.

"Will I?" asked Stephen.

"Go for it."

Stephen aimed his battle rifle in the direction Graham pointed and let off a silent burst of three shots. A low growl followed, and then a loud thud as the Brute hit the ground. Graham wordlessly took the lead again and they continued towards the clearing. They didn't stop again until they broke through the treeline and entered the clearing.

"Alright now what?" asked Séan.

"We have to continue out of the jungle. We're aborting the mission. It's been four days since we've left and we found nothing. A kilometre back in, we could barely move without having to kill a Jackal or Grunt. Now we have that Brute squad hot on our tracks. I'm not risking our lives for a recon mission."

"Understood sir, I think-," Sarah never finished; Two Brute Chieftains jumped into the clearing, swinging their hammers. One lunged at Ben who jumped out of the way, just in time. He fired his Sub Machine Gun in retaliation, getting a few lucky shots to hit the alien's head, killing the huge alien.

The second Chieftain managed to smash his hammer into Graham, sending his hurtling across the clearing. A scream of rage left Stephen and ran towards the chieftain, firing his rifle. As the final bullet left the gun, he flung it away and jumped at the Brute with his knife. The alien was ready for him and simply slashed out with his huge, muscular arm, knocking Stephen to the ground.

Sarah, Ben, Séan and Carl were the only ODSTs left on their feet. They fired at the Chieftain and finally the combined firepower forced the alien to the ground, killing it. The ODSTs than ran to their fallen members. Stephen was breathing but his helmet had been completely destroyed, revealing a bloodied face. Graham was much worse. His armour had to be removed but a huge shard of the smashed ballistic armour was lodged in his gut.

Sarah grabbed the radio from Grahams armour and began to try contacting their HQ in Voi. Ben and Séan were tending to Graham while Carl stayed with the unconscious Stephen. Eventually Commander White responded to Sarah.

"Go ahead Eagle three, over."

"Eagle one and Eagle four are down, we need immediate evac, over."

"Calm down Eagle three, what happened?"

"Two Chieftains took us by surprise, one and three are unconscious and need immediate medical attention."

"You're too close to the dig site Eagle three. If you want evac you'll have to put another mile between yourself and the dig site."

"You don't understand, their conditions are deteriorating, they need-"

"I understand Eagle three but we cannot risk losing a Pelican to get Eagle team out of there. Fall back another mile and-"

Sarah flung the radio across the clearing, she received a questioning look from Carl.

"We have to pull out another mile for evac. We had better leave now."

  • 11.20.2010 3:43 PM PDT

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

Chapter 3: Unwanted visitors

James sprung up out of his bed to see Adam enter the room. He stood up and greeted the marine.

"Commander Keyes wants us, the Spartan is back."

"When did he arrive?"

"His Pelican just touched down."

"Alright," James finally said, grabbing his handgun. He always brought it with him, just in case.

The two soldiers walked through the base. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, injured marines were spread around, talking to old friends while they carried out any work they could. Three marines in particular caught James's attention.

"Was the Spartan really back there?" asked one of the marines, a bandage was wrapped around his head, covering his eyes.

"Yeah he was, why won't you believe us?" said the second marine.

"I don't know, I just didn't think any Spartans survived Reach."

"We survived Reach, why couldn't a Spartan?" butted in the third.

"I just find it really hard to believe, that's all."

"You said you survived Reach marine?" asked James, entering the conversation. Adam stopped walking and looked back to watch.

"Yeah, all three of us survived, eleventh platoon, only eight of the original fifty made it out alive."

"I see. I might be talking to you again soon soldiers."

James and Adam continued on their way again. It wasn't long before Adam began to question James.

"What was all that about?" asked James's superior.

"Well, we want to get a new squad? We had better start looking for soldiers for that squad. They survived Reach, they surly have some experience."

Adam grunted and nothing further was said.

Finally Adam and James reached the ops centre. They entered through a door at the back of the room to see Lord Hood on the huge screen behind Keyes, Johnson and the Spartan. Commander Keyes was explaining the situation to Lord Hood.

"Truth's ships are clustered above the excavation site. And his infantry has deployed Anti-Aircraft Batteries around the perimeter. But, if we neutralize one of the batteries, punch a hole in Truth's defences...."

"I'll initiate a low-level strike. Hit 'em right where it hurts. I only have a handful of ships, Master Chief. It's a big risk. But I'm confident-"

The power suddenly cut out. James clutched his M6D handgun and looked back at the door. One of the technicians began to swear as he tried to figure out what happened.

"Emergency generators, now!" ordered the Commander, the tone of her voice clearly established her authority in the room.

"Shielding failed," replied the clearly annoyed technician, "they're down and charging,".

"As soon as they're up, re-establish contact with Lord Hood. Let him know that-"

Suddenly the screen flickered back on and a long necked alien appeared on the screen.

"You are, all of you, vermin. Cowering in the dirt, thinking what, I wonder? That you might escape the coming fire? No. Your world will burn until its surface is but glass!" began the Prophet of Truth, "And not even your Demon will live to creep, blackened from its hole to mar the reflection of our passage.... the culmination of our Journey. Your destruction is the will of the gods! And I? I am their instrument!"

"Cocky bastard, just loves to run his mouth!" commented Sergeant Major Johnson.

"This can't be good," Adam said quietly to James. James only half listened; he was paying attention to the three main people in the room.

"Does he usually mention me?" asked the Spartan.

Keyes realised Truth's meaning, "Give the order. We're closing shop," she said to the technician.

"Ma'am?" he was clearly confused.

"We're about to get hit."

The technician immediately realised that she was right. He began to shout into the microphone in front of him, "All personnel! Defence code Alpha-one. Prepare for immediate evacuation!"

"The wounded. We're getting them all out," said the Commander.

"Even if I have to carry 'em myself," replied Johnson.

"Ma'am, squad leaders are requesting a rally point. Where should they go?" asked the technician.

"To war," answered the Commander. She pulled back the slider of her M6D handgun and let go, forcing the first bullet into the barrel of the gun, ready to fire.

"We just lost the Perimeter Cameras."

"Motion Trackers?"

"They're down or we're not receiving. Can't tell."

Adam walked forward and began to talk to a marine Sargent that was near James in the room. He was still more intent on what was happening at the front of the room.

"Any of our birds still squawking?" she asked.

"No ma'am. Wait, Overwatch has contacts. Phantoms, closing in on our position," replied the technician, he was trying to concentrate on his screen but Keyes and the marines trying to contact him via radio kept distracting him.

"Any birds less than five minutes out, bring them in. Tell everything else to scatter."

"Aye aye. Pelicans are going to take extra time to load."

"We knew they'd find us eventually. But we have a plan, let's make it happen."

"Yes, sir!" replied several of the marines in the room. Many grabbed guns from shelves on the walls while others left the ops centre to go to different parts of the base. James saw the Spartan leave the room through an exit in the centre of the room. He walked forward to the Sergeant Major.

"Sergeant," he said.

"Captain," replied Johnson, "I want you here; we're preparing a surprise for the Covenant once they arrive."

"Yes sir."

"You too Adam," Johnson shouted across the room.

"Hmmm?"

"I want you and James to stay here; we're going to get a surprise ready for the Covenant."

"Yes sir."

James walked down the steps in the centre of the room, to the weapon racks through the door at the end of them. He grabbed his preferred MA5B assault rifle and three spare clips for his handgun before walking back up.

A huge metal object was being pulled by four marines through the door at the end of the ops centre. James saw a smile appear across the Sergeant Major's face. He lit a cigar and chewed on its end for a few seconds before beginning to speak.

"Here's our little surprise now. Adam, James, Richard and Alex, I want you to set smaller charges throughout the base, then get back here. We're going to hold the ops centre as long as we can, give the aliens hell," Johnson threw a large backpack to each of the four marines, "Get going, I want you back in ten."

James caught his backpack and slung it on his back before running into the barracks and setting the first of many charges.

***

Sarah had taken command of Eagle squad due to Graham's and Stephen's injuries. Stephen had regained consciousness a few minutes after they had reached the rendezvous point with the Pelicans. They crouched low, hoping not to be visible to any Covenant that might be lurking in the area.

Carl lay beside Stephen, carefully sealing up a gash on his forehead. Ben and Séan were with Graham, Séan constantly changing bandages on the near-dead soldier. Ben had his battle rifle shouldered, he was waiting for trouble.

They had been in the clearing for oven an hour, yet the UNSC Pelicans that were meant to pick them up had yet to arrive. Sarah, who had earlier climbed ten metres off the ground, up a tree, was watching sky and the ground, alert for any signs of movement. She switched her sniper rifle's scope to thermal, very little registered; she could make out white shape of a tiger a few hundred metres away in the jungle.

Two Banshees tore through the air above Eagle squad, neither noticing the six soldiers that lay quietly below them. Time seemed to pass slowly for Eagle squad, Stephen's and Graham's conditions deteriorated with each passing second. Another hour passed without any sign of life.

Sarah pointed her sniper rifle into the air once more and looked through the thermal. She could make out the distant shape of two UNSC Falcons and one Pelican approaching Eagle squad's position. She began to slowly descend her tree, careful not to make any noise as she jumped the last two metres. Quickly but quietly she went to Carl.

"Two Falcons, one Pelican. ETA five minutes."

Carl nodded, signalling he understood and Sarah moved on to Ben and Séan.

Suddenly a huge explosion shock the air as a squadron of Banshees fired at the falcons, hitting one with a plasma bomb. The Falcon began to spin and within seconds it dropped out of the air into the Kenyan jungle. The two surviving UNSC aircraft opened fire on the Banshees, the Falcon's heavy .60 calibre machine guns easily ripped through the Banshee's shields and armour.

Sarah swore as she saw the Falcon go down. She helped Carl lift Stephen so they could quickly load him onto the Pelican once it landed. Ben and Séan did similar with Graham.

The Pelican came down in the clearing, its rear doors opened and Stephen and Graham were loaded into the craft, they were put lying down on the ground, two medics in the Pelican began to tend to the wounded soldiers.

The Falcon in the air took several hits from one Banshee's plasma cannons; however it remained in the air and easily took care of the Banshee.

Ben, Carl and Séan boarded the Pelican.

"Get on now," shouted the pilot at Sarah.

"I can't," Sarah replied, "I have to check if there are any survivors from the downed Falcon." She didn't wait for a reply and darted through the treeline, towards the crash site.

  • 11.29.2010 4:20 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] The battle of Earth

Can someone explain this to me so that it makes some goddamned sense?


Posted by: Skulblaka

Posted by: Raptorx7
I don't know if this was intentional but you copied this exactly from the Halo 3 live action trailer landfall...


Correct, however I believe this is a great way to start my story, with something everyone else already knows. There will be references to the Halo 3 campaigne too.

And believe it or not, most of the characters in this story are from my previous story, Escaping New Mombassa. Unluckily very few people bothered to read therefore they don't know about the ranks my characters have here.

James = Captain.
Adam = Major and leader of the squad.

And so this isn't complicated:
The squad split into two at the start of this story: First and second squad. They are essentailly the same squad though.


Actually, they wouldn't be called "squads" if one squad split up; they would be called "fireteams". The prologue was good. I am going to try to read Escaping New Mombassa before I read this so I know what's going on.

  • 11.30.2010 5:17 PM PDT

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

Thanks for pointing that out :D

  • 12.01.2010 1:52 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] The battle of Earth (Chapter 3)

-scratches chin and starts randomly throwing together a FF- Good job you have inspired me to write my first FF on new mombasa.

  • 12.01.2010 2:18 PM PDT

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.


Posted by: The Anti Troller
-scratches chin and starts randomly throwing together a FF- Good job you have inspired me to write my first FF on new mombasa.

Great. Can't wait to read it :D

  • 12.01.2010 3:13 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] The battle of Earth

Can someone explain this to me so that it makes some goddamned sense?


Posted by: Skulblaka
Thanks for pointing that out :D


You're welcome. I will give you more advice as I begin read through it, which should be in about a month.

  • 12.01.2010 5:24 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] The battle of Earth (Chapter 1: Plateau)

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

Chapter 4: Into the Desert

James had returned to the ops centre just before the Covenant forces had broken in and started killing the marines inside. The Spartan was in the ops centre again when James walked through the door, he saw the Spartan grab a shotgun before walking through the entrance to the barracks at the end of the ops centre.

"The Spartan is going to clear the barracks and hopefully rescue some marines," Adam explained.

"Defensive positions!" shouted the Sergeant Major, "We want to be ready for them when they walk through that door."

By now the bomb was ready at the front of the ops centre. Only eleven marines were left to guard it, but they were well armed, most had BR55's but some had shotguns, and one soldier up high had a sniper rifle. The door behind the sniper had been blocked from the inside; James doubted anyone would be able to break through.

The technician he had seen earlier was still in the ops centre, now he was working at the control panel of the huge bomb. He appeared to be a bit frustrated but he worked on.

Suddenly the marines in the room could hear a rattling in the pipes above them. A screeching sound followed and a few seconds later, a vent in the pipes burst off and a swarm of drones swarmed into the room. James didn't bother aiming, he just pointed his assault rifle into the air and pulled the trigger, many other marines did the same and most of the swarm was killed, a few remained, they hid behind the pipes and fired from behind, the marines simply shot through the pipes, killing the remainder.

Seconds later the door behind the sniper flew off its hinges despite the extra supports that were keeping it closed. A Brute wielding a hammer rushed into the room and swung at the sniper, crushing him into the floor. More Brutes rushed in after him and began firing at the marines below. The marines fired back and cut down a few Brutes before the door at the end of the ops centre flew open and even several suicide Grunts ran in.

James fired at the Grunts before they could get close to the humans, their plasma grenades fell beside them, detonated and scorched the walls and floor around them. Brutes rushed into the room after the grenades exploded, firing spikes at the humans, cutting several down.

James fired at a Brute that was charging straight for him, the Brute knocked him to the ground and pinned him there, but James managed to pull out his pistol and shoot the Brute in the head, killing it. Another Brute tried to do the same to the marine beside James, but it was blown apart by two quick bursts from a shotgun.

James pushed himself off the ground and picked up his MA5B. He began firing at even more approaching Brutes, cutting one down quickly. Several spikes were returned by the Brutes and one hit the marine beside James, impaling itself in the marine's eye. James grabbed the fallen marine's shotgun and quickly used it to kill two Brutes.

The marines were in serious trouble; they were under attack from two sides and seriously outnumbered. Then the hammer wielding Brute jumped down from the higher level. It landed on a marine, crushing him, and swung its hammer at a second marine. The marine ducked, dropped his gun and pulled his combat knife from its holster. He rushed at the Brute and tried to stab through its neck, however the much stronger alien simply punched him, killing the marine.

"Pull back to the landing pads," shouted Johnson, "There are too many, get out of here now!"

Only six marines managed to escape the ops centre.

The few survivors began running as fast as they could down the wide tunnel in the direction of the landing pad. An overturned truck blocked their way and as they were climbing over, several Jackals appeared behind them and opened fire at the marines. The green plasma splashed off the truck as the last marine climbed over.

They began running again and as they turned a corner, Johnson in the lead nearly ran straight into a sleeping Grunt. Three Jackal snipers were on a small overhead platform and one of them noticed the marines. Quickly Johnson shot the Grunt in front of him while another marine's short burst from a BR55 took down a Jackal.

The two remaining Jackals fired back, one missing James's head my just a few millimetres. Just as the Jackals took a second shot, a swarm of Drones burst out of the pipes above the marines and several Grunts walked around the corner. James fired at the Jackals and killed one, the second jumped behind a nearby barricade, giving the marines a chance to make a run for the small door that led into another tunnel.

James ran first as the other marines began attempting to suppress the advancing Covenant with waves of lead. The Covenant were forced back and once James was at the other side, he began to fire at the Covenant too, allowing another marine to cross. Within just thirty seconds, all the marines had made it through the door and the Covenant were several Grunts fewer.

Johnson, with the help of James, closed the door behind them and jammed it shut. They again began to run down the tunnel towards the landing pads where Commander Keyes would be waiting with a Pelican. Around one hundred metres from the landing pad, they could hear the sound of gunfire, both human and Covenant.

Suddenly more Drones burst into the tunnel from a vent on the wall. The marines run for the exit to the landing pad but were forced to stop and fire back because of the huge amount of plasma being fired at them.

After they killed the last Drone, the marines walked out of the tunnel to see their Pelican, Kilo 23, waiting for them. There were several more marines on the landing pad, along with the bodies of twenty or so dead Brutes. In the middle of all this was the Spartan they had seen earlier.

The Sergeant Major boarded the Pelican and took a position behind the turret, the other marines on the landing pad sat down on the seats in the rear of the Pelican. The Spartan however stayed out on the pad along with an elite James hadn't noticed until now.

"Brutes. In the Ops Centre. They disarmed the bomb. Sorry Commander, there were too many. Even for me," said Johnson.

"Chief, get back to the Ops Centre. Kill those Brutes. Rearm the bomb. I've gotta get these men outta here, but I'll radio with another exit. Good luck," James heard through his comms.

The Pelican begun to slowly ascend into the air, soon emerging out the side of the mountain. James could see a huge air battle underway around their Pelican. UNSC Hornets were attempting to the ever growing swarm of Banshees at bay so the few remaining evac Pelicans and Falcons could make it to safety away from the base.

A Banshee took a position tailing their Pelican but within seconds of its arrival, Johnson's chain gun had ripped off one of its wings, sending it hurtling into the mountain side. A second Banshee took its place and got off a burst from it's plasma cannons before meeting a similar fate to the first.

The Pelican was traveling fast now. A Hornet pulled up beside it, clearly assigned to escort them to their destination. Suddenly the now distant mountainside erupted as the bomb finally went off. A part of the mountain broke away as a result of the explosion, killing hundreds more Covenant soldiers on the ground below.

  • 01.06.2011 10:24 AM PDT

An assassin will always carry on, even after death.

No one in the Pelican said anything. No one had to. While the Covenant took huge losses in the base, the UNSC had lost one of their most important assets. Here they were, at Earth, their last planet, if they lost at Earth they had nothing else left. If it wasn't for humanities newfound allies, the Elites, they would have lost the war by now.

It wasn't long before the Pelican finally touched down on the ground again. The marines were ordered to exit the aircraft, they quickly complied.

"Wait here marines, another Pelican will arrive soon," began the Sergeant Major, "if no one arrives in the next thirty minutes, I want you to mount the Warthogs and make your way to Voi. Help yourself to any of the weapons here, they're old though."

The Pelican took off again leaving the marines to themselves. James quickly counted and found that there were just eight marines, including himself. He looked around, there was a small building and beside it, three Warthogs. James decided to have a look inside the building; the sergeant major had said there were weapons after all.

He was disappointed with what he found. The most modern weapon inside was an MA2 assault rifle, which became obsolete over fifty years ago. On a wall to his left several guns were stacked on top of each other, all the same, AK 67s. They were designed over a hundred years ago, not to mention that the UNSC chose never to use them due to its high recoil and the loud noise shooting it made. Instead it was used mainly by terrorists; even then few used it though.

James checked his MA5; he had very little ammo left, not even a full mag. He decided to swap it for the AK, due to its large bullet size and reasonable accuracy. As he was about to leave he noticed a huge ammunition crate on the floor, and a shelf covered in different scopes on the left wall. He took enough ammo for ten clips and then began to inspect the scopes.

He was surprised to find that many of them still worked. There were several thermal scopes, however these were very basic compared with state of the art scopes. There were also several ACOG scopes. They were first designed over half a millennium ago, yet they were still known to be the best red dot scopes available.

James walked out of the building to see a distant Pelican headed towards them. Adam gave him a questioning look and motioned towards the Captain's new gun; James simply shrugged and said he didn't have much ammo for the other. The Pelican finally arrived above them and began to descend.

***

Getting to the crash site had been challenging for Sarah, the Covenant had dispatched several Brute kill squads into the area around the downed Falcon making it almost impossible for Sarah to reach it. She couldn't kill any Brutes; these were considerably more intelligent than other Brutes and would more than likely notice if a squad member had disappeared. Eventually the ODST managed to find a clear path that wasn't being watched by the enemy.

The Falcon's pilot had managed to land it upright on the ground despite the loss of one of it's engines, four dead marines lay around the Pelican, all killed by multiple hits from a Brutes spiker. The pilot was nowhere to be seen however, and by the looks of it, two other marines were missing too. Sarah considered the possibility of the marines falling out, but that still left the pilot.

Suddenly she heard noise coming from the bushes to her left, first a twig snapping, and then rustling. She slowly walked into a defensive position behind the Falcon and readied her sniper rifle. She heard a growl, but not a Brute's, an Elite's. As if to confirm, an Elite walked out of the undergrowth.

"What are you doing here, human," it asked.

"I should ask you the same question," she studied the Elite; clearly it was part of a special operations squad, "if you must know, I came to look for survivors from the crash here."

The Elite grunted, "The pilot made it, as did one of the marines. They're waiting on-board a Phantom ready to be taken to the Shadow of Intent. Where's the rest of your squad?"

"I came here alone."

The Elite's eyes widened, "you made it past them Brute kill squads alone? We can find use for a human with such skill. Come with us to the Shadow of Intent. The shipmaster will be very interested in speaking with you.

Sarah followed the Elite through the jungle, eventually arriving at a very well concealed Phantom. She saw two human figures sitting down talking to each other. Three Elites appeared and the humans got up and boarded the Phantom. Sarah followed the Elite and did the same, sitting beside the two soldiers.

"What happened?"

"Banshee hit our main engine, sent us spinning down to ground. I managed to regain partial control of the falcon and landed it as well as I could, then the Brutes showed up. They killed four of our guys before the Elites came and saved us."

Sarah nodded.

"You come to check for survivors?"

"Yeah, I did."

The Phantom rose into the air and began to fly over the Jungle, towards the Shadow of Intent somewhere over the African desert.

  • 01.06.2011 10:25 AM PDT

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