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Assault on Edina 3
Posted By: Steele<hoffmansteele@hotmail.com>
Date: 15 March 2003, 10:57 PM
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Assault on Edina III
0300 Hours, October 14, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Pelican Dropship en route to Planet Edina surface
Lieutenant (JG) Marvin Williamson thought the cloud cover thick enough to land his Pelican on. He peered through the clouds, trying to get a good view as to where the ground was. He knew he had to be careful, for failure wasn't an option. If he failed the whole plan to retake Edina would come to pieces. But he had an added incentive not to fail. He was an Edinanian. This was his home planet. He had watched the holos of the planet's population get slaughtered by the Covenant. He wanted revenge.
His COM chirped. "Whiskey Four-0-Eight calling Tacoma One, over."
"Tacoma One, listening Whiskey Four-0-Eight," he responded.
"Alright Tacoma, we're popping green smoke on Grid Seventeen by Twenty, over."
"Gotcha Four-0-Eight, green on Seventeen Twenty. The Team will be down soon."
"Be advised Tacoma One, Banshee and Seraph patrols are increasing."
"Well, keep those SAM batteries up and we should be OK."
"Negative, Tacoma, the SAMs were the first to pull out in the recall, you'll be on your own."
"Damn, well, it won't be the first time. Tacoma One—out."
Well that sucks, Marvin thought to himself. It would have been nice to have the Surface to Air Missile batteries up to handle the Covenant's Fliers. He clicked on his intercom, "Major, you might want to buckle up, we might encounter Covenant Air Patrols."
The Spartan's voice drifted back over the channel, steady, and all business. "We copy, Lieutenant, we're already in the acceleration couches."
Marvin nodded to himself. The Spartans had always freaked him out. He admired them. He wanted to be one. But they still freaked him out. He went back to the task at hand, studying the sensors. Two minutes later, his IR sensor went off, indicating two heat sources heading straight for him. The readings said they were ten miles out.
"Major, we've got company, hang on, I'll try to get us out of this alive," he hastily said over the intercom. He wasn't expecting a response.
"I'm sure you will, Lieutenant."
Marvin flicked his weapons selector switch over to 'missiles' and immediately got the blaring in his headphones, signifying a lock-up. He gave a feral smile, and depressed the trigger. Two Anvil-II missiles darted out from the Pelican's Weapons Bay and disappeared into the clouds. Seconds later a target dropped off his sensors. The other one dodged around, and stayed. Apparently it had out-maneuvered the missile. That was a rarity; the Covenant pilot must be pretty good.
Marvin knew he didn't have enough time to shoot another missile, so he flipped his Weapons Control over to 'gun.' He knew he had to take the Covenant out or he would drop around behind him and plant either a plasma torpedo or fuel rod blast up his six. His sensors now identified the enemy as a Covenant Banshee. He breathed a sigh of relief; glad it wasn't a Seraph.
Suddenly, the Banshee became an increasingly growing speck. He aligned his targeting reticle on the Banshee and held down the trigger. His 40mm autocannons had a longer range than the Covenant Banshee's Plasma Cannons and he was counting on that to keep him alive. His finger tightened on the trigger.
Hundreds of HE rounds were vomited at the enemy Banshee. The majority of bullets missed; but two or three hit and that was all it took. The explosive rounds tore into the rear of the Banshee killing the pilot and turning the fighter into a flaming wreck. But not before the Covenant had came within range and launched a green fuel rod blast at him.
Marvin slapped his control column to the side and yanked it back, while shoving the throttles forward into maximum thrust. The Pelican inverted and dove. Marvin was pressed into his seat at the force of the Gs. It was like having a ton of bricks dropped on you. But it passed when the Pelican's inertial compensators kicked in. He flipped the Pelican back right side up and searched for any more targets. They were none.
He clicked on the intercom, "Major, is everyone alright?"
"Yes Lieutenant, did you give our old friends a warm welcome?"
"Yes sir, I just hope they appreciate my generosity. We're two minutes from the LZ, recommend you get ready for a hot-drop. The One-One division is in the process of pulling back and the Covenant are pushing forward."
"We are always prepared, just make sure you're prepared."
"I'm a Marine, sir, prepared is my middle name. We improvise, overcome, and adapt."
"I'm well aware of what Marines are, Lieutenant," the Major responded, as if talking to a child.
"Yes sir, of course you do. We're down, LZ is under friendly control. Dropping bay door now," Marvin replied, slightly subdued.
He watched the Spartans leave through the rear-facing monitor, particularly the one called the Major. He was taller than the rest, yet not as bulky. He had more of a lean look about him and moved slower than all the rest. Yet he obviously wasn't slow, he seemed to exaggerate all his movements. Marvin cut the vectored thrust nozzles downward and gunned the burners to military power. His Pelican's nose pointed straight up. He took one last look at the Major.
He never saw him again.
The Major walked over to where there was a group of Marine officers milling about around a 3D holoprojector. His movements were fast and precise, yet at the same time slow and graceful. When he was close enough he snapped to attention, straight as a ramrod and saluted sharply.
The Marines turned to look at him and a few gaped at his MJOLNIR armor. He stood as still as stone. Finally one of the Marines returned the salute.
"Spartan193, reporting for duty, sir," he said.
"At ease soldier, Major," General McCasky said. He proceeded to walk around the holoprojector. "You already know your mission and you have all the intelligence info we have."
"Yes sir."
"Well then, I'll leave you and your men to prepare for your mission." The General seemed slightly flustered, but he stuck out his hand. "Good luck, Major."
"We'll do our job, sir." With that the Major saluted again, about faced, and walked away. The General never saw him again.
The two Warthogs leapt the hill and slammed down on the other side, their shocks bouncing. Driving the first Warthog was the Major. He was following a route already predetermined by Marine Patrols for the least chance of being detected. He turned to the left, the Warthog's tires kicking up dirt, and parked the vehicle in the tree line. The other Warthog followed suite.
The Major got out of the Warthog as his other Spartans did so. He spoke. "Let's roll."
There was no need to say anything else, the Spartans already knew their mission. He didn't even need to give directions. They knew everything by heart. They made there way through the forest, not making a sound. When they reached the ridgeline, the Major was amazed at what he saw.
Below them spread out like a great map was the Covenant encampment. Hundreds of dome shaped buildings populated the grassy meadow. Thousands of Elites, Jackals, Grunts, Hunters, Brutes, and even a few Prophets strolled about, performing alien tasks on alien equipment.
He'd already seen previous footage from Recon Marines, yet he was still shocked. He turned to his Spartans and gave the signal. They retreated back into the woods, hitting a small button on their forearms in the process. As the Major pressed the button, he watched his shield go dead and his appearance started to change.
His armor turned golden and he seemed to shoot up to over eight foot. His skull became long and flat, his face seemed to melt into the face of an Elite. A device on his arm did not change; instead a bright blue Plasma Sword sprang to life.
The Major looked down at himself and grinned; the cloakers worked. He turned to look at the rest of his Spartans. Standing around him were five very tall Jackals. All their shields were yellow and they were busy getting Covenant materials out of the Warthogs.
All the Spartans grabbed Plasma Grenades, Plasma Pistols, and Jackal Shield generators. They actually grabbed two of those, seeing as the cloakers drained all their shield energy. They then turned and walked toward the Covenant.
They strutted on through the Covenant encampment, and on one seemed to bother them. All the Grunts and lesser ranking Elites got out of the way. They made their way to the middle of the encampment, to the largest structure there. Two sword-toting Golden Elites, their blades held at the ready, guarded the door.
The Major attempted to walk in, but one of the Elites stepped in his way and hefted his sword menacingly. The Major knew he had to get in this building to plant the HAVOK. The rest of the Jackals had already dispersed taking up positions so that if he were discovered they wouldn't be also.
He didn't have the time to sit around and find another concealed place to plant the nuke. He thought about planting it elsewhere, but decided against it, this would be good enough. The Major spun a complete 360, while bringing up his Plasma Sword. He thrust his blade straight into the Elite's chest. It went all the way through and out the other side, purple blood misting off the blade. The Elite gave an agonized gasp and collapsed, his blood pooling out around him.
The other Elite seemed shocked, but quickly got over it, charging the Major and swinging his blade in a flat arc, meant to take off his head. The Major ducked and thrust at the Elite. The Elite parried the blow and counterattacked at his face.
The Major knew he probably wouldn't be able to defeat the Elite with a Plasma Sword. He had just put one on not long ago, whereas the Elite had probably trained for years. But he did have one advantage, he was faster. He also had to hurry up before other Covenant decided to help.
The Major rolled under the next attack and kicked the Elite's legs out from under him. The Elite toppled into a heap, his sword arm trapped under his body. The Major leaped up and slammed his sword into the back of the Elite's head. His skull cracked in half and violet blood and gray brains leaked out on the ground.
He turned and darted into the large pink and purple building. Inside there was one large room and in the middle sat a large Prophet. The Prophet spun around and gawked at him. The Major didn't waste no time, he ran up to the alien and decapitated him, blood spraying everywhere.
The Major kicked the Prophets corpse out of the chair and set the HAVOK nuclear bomb down. He set it for radio detonation. He rigged a relay in case a COM signal wouldn't penetrate the building itself. He then flicked over on his COM channel speaking in it, "The present has been delivered, rendezvous at Arrival Point."
Lights winked on in his HUD, in acknowledgement. The Major looked around and realized he had to get out of here—now!
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