Shell Shock
-Chapter 5
Canada Protectorate
Rather than an attack, it was more of an assist. The Warhorse pelicans landed, unloading four hundred and four marines. Bailing out, the marines were exposed to a gigantic civil war between the Brutes and the Elites. The first squad out, lead by Sergeant McGrath, was amazed by how the medieval looking battle took place. The Brutes were literally dueling against the plasma sword wielding Elites. Two more of the hybrid troopships touched down and assault weapons began tearing into the combatants. The last of the pelicans landed, unloaded, and ascended while the marines were left at the outskirts of the city. Zeta Base lay three miles out. The marines had accumulated 23 warthogs, 14 ATVs, and 8 Scorpions. Fitzgerald ran to the nearest Warthog, taking the passenger seat next to a corporal in the driver seat. A PFC took the gunner position. The Warthogs and ATVs took point while the MBTs stuck with the infantry.
Dante 'Fasamee led a fighter squadron of Seraph fighters against the last squad of rebel Brutes. The attack crafts easily dispatched the last of them and the rebellion had ended. This was the good news...'Fasamee noticed now that the humans had landed four hundred troops on the outskirts of the city. Luckily for the Covenant, an army of loyal Brutes were stationed nearby along with easily one hundred Elites. The Human's base would be even more protected than the last assault also.
The marines division arrived at the base with huge amounts of ammunition and weaponry. Zeta base was well positioned. Snipers were stationed in the guard towers and 30mm gun emplacements lined the outer wall. Minutes later battle rifle and assault sporting marines manned the circling wall. Four towers lay along the front, eight snipers in each. Mobile Shades (the standard gun turret with moving supports) along with Reaper five barreled turrets that fired heavy fuel rod caliber blasts. Light armor support began skidding in which included Ghosts, Shadows, and Vipers. The Viper was a small vehicle similar to a Ghost save that you lay on your back just at a slant, with the bow curving into a sleek attack craft. Then the heavy engines came. Four Wraith tanks with an army of Elites and Brutes. Fitzgerald and two other company sergeants and their squads were assigned to the city gate. Sweat rolled down his spine as Covenant readied for the first shots to be fired...every one of the 32 snipers selected heads and waited for the magic word. "FIRE!" Captain Johnson ordered as sniper blasts tore into the frontlines of troops. The entire wall lit up with weapons fire. Concentrated blasts tore a Ghost down. A platoon of Covenant led by a silver Elite charged into the fray with two Banshees watching their six. 30mm guns blazed providing large holes in the covenant infantry. Ladders and grappling lines spun up against wall. Brutes made it on, chopping down marine after marine with duel machetes. Two men took him down but a black clad Elite bearing a plasma sword sliced them down. "Wraiths!" a noncom screamed. Energy orbs sailed through the air. One hit directly in the middle of the wall...sending fourteen marines to the grave. Grappling lines hooked up, Elites and Brutes jumping from them. Snipers were overwhelmed being that even Jones couldn't get a clear shot at the aliens on the walls.
Someone right above the entrance yelled: "Brace that door!" Tyrell threw himself against it and pushed. Three squads of marines took his back. "PUSH!" Sergeant McGinnis ordered. Seven PFCs fired over the wall at the Wraith that was pounding at the gate. It didn't help because two Banshees easily melted them down. The covies were busy outside setting satchel charges along the door. "Don't let 'em through!" The Wraith tank backed off for a second and marines pushed back on the door. Tyrell felt a small rumble and then he heard a bang with the screaming of some marines. Every leatherneck on top of the doors was thrown to high heaven while you were lucky to have your whole body if you were at the gate. "AHHH!" was screamed by everyone around Fitzgerald when he felt something stronger than hurricane winds hurl him backwards. Tyrell could still see when the Covenant flowed in like a flood of evil. An Elite's boot appeared over his face and all went black. Firing squads popped out of hatches and doors as the covenant advanced, killing at will. 78% of the marines on the wall were dead, with only two sniper towers remaining. Flashes of plasma swords and machetes captured by marines glinted in the midnight air. "Fall back! Fall back!" Marines were being cut down repeatedly and dying trying to retreat. Davidson was one of the few alive on the wall. "Cover, cover fire!" he ordered and blast down a Brute with his shotgun. "Go, go, go!" Davidson ordered to three marines holding back a mob of Brutes on the left side. "Catch this amigo!" Diaz yelled as he hurled a fragmentation grenade. A plasma grenade attached to a privates chest, he took one last look at everyone around him and sprinted into a squad of Brutes. A Brute went for a retreating marine and a sword Elite wanted the kill so he cut down the Brute but the young PFC gave him a belly full of lead and a puddle of his own blood to drown in. The marine was left wandering how long the human's could keep this up. 89% now gone. Banshees flew in just then. "Get out of there now!" a marine on the other side of the bridge yelled to the seventeen marines still on the wall. The troopers ran across the bridge with two snipers on the opposite side attempting to give covering fire. Yet the mob was too great. 30mm guns on the other side pushed them back. Davidson slid into a dead marine's blood and retrieved his radio. "Tact HQ this is Lieutenant Davidson requesting Skyhawk fighter assistance on the double!" Conner yelled into the boom mike. Bullets and plasma sailed though the air, the marine next to Davidson was hit square in the chest. The man had a desperate look on his face, amazed and scared at the same time, blood flowed from his open mouth, the plasma melting further into his torso. Conner cursed under his breath and blasted an Elite in two. F43 light rockets smashed into the bridge, leaving it intact, yet setting the impact points ablaze. Davidson unleashed his two combat knives, beheading a Brute that had survived the salvo of Skyhawk missiles. He swung another blow with its twin behind it against a Brutes head. The armor clanked and stressed as the knives beat against it and broke in releasing a flood of black blood upon the noncom's forearms. Two Vipers appeared below the bridge. "No, gosh dang it!" Davidson yelled as he realized the main blast doors had been breached. "Seal those entrances!" was heard from a nearby sergeant. A small plaza lay before a set of blast resistant doors. The marines attempted to hold the bridge but more and more covenant kept coming. Plasma scored the walls and floors, marines fought like caged animals while the Covenant began to favor the close combat. This battle was transforming into a massacre.
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