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The story of a battle on Reach that was not told
Date: 24 November 2005, 3:54 am
Who would have thought? My first day after being shipped out here would be to defend a base? There is not much that I can do now. Hell, the only thing I can do is wait here for the Covenant to attack or for my time to end and get sent back home for a while. Which ever comes first. This is not how I planned my day to go but, well, there is nothing I can really do about it. Sure, I signed up for the marines, and sure, I was prepared and trained to defend attack and assault, and sure, I was aware of the hard and gruesome times ahead. But one thing was for sure, I didn't plan on spending my time sitting here with my assault rifle at hand waiting for something to happen.
I am the only person at my post while everyone one else lollies off doing nothing. Other marines have been posted near the other entrances to the base but they are to far away for me to say anything to them. My radios is half way dead and is only allowed to be used for an emergency of some sort, not to talk to other marines around the base.
I just got sent here with a few other men this morning and I have already lost it in boredom. There is not a cloud in the sky and the only noise that can be heard is the singing of the birds and the occasional laughter from some of the other posts. I can't even turn on the radio to listen to some music because according to the bloody handbook it could impair my sense of awareness and I would not be able to hear any sound from Covenant troops.
It is hot. And I mean hot. Its only around 90 degrees, but once you have been standing around in sweats and armor for more than five to six hours straight it seems more like a hundred and ten. I am almost out of water and I have had it up to here with the heat. It doesn't really matter though, because in a about an hour and a half my shift will be over and I can finally head back to my cabin and enjoy the fresh cold water and an air conditioned room.
For the past week all I have done is fight the covenant nonstop. I am so used to the constant fighting and movement and energy, and now I am sitting here on this rock, contemplating on how much of a change this is. No use in complaining about it. Its not going to change anything. Although, it does give me something to think about while I wait for my shift to end.
Now that I think about it, this is the first time in a week that I have been able to relax. I mean, there was the four hours sleep every night, but sleeping a couple of hours more than a day for a week doesn't really cut it. Now that I can actually relax, it seems as though I am wasting time. Although I can finally think straight for a little while and maybe sort out some things that I haven't been able to lately.
I wonder how my wife and kids are doing back on earth. I haven't talked to her for a little under a month. God I miss her. Maybe once my shift is over I might be able to call her and see how the family is doing. Just hearing her voice for the first time in a while will calm me down. Anna, that's here name. Anna Marie Dawson. I always keep this picture of her on me. I haven't seen here in over a year. Jesus, has it actually been that long? I can't wait to see her again. I guess the Corp. is sending me back home for a little while. I just hope I can survive long enough to see here at least one more time.
Well, I have been in the corp. for a little under two years and the worst injury that I have gotten was when we got our pelican shot down and we crashed into a cliff side, then rolled the rest of the way down. Of the sixteen members of the team on the pelican only seven survived, and of the seven who did survive, five had serious injuries, and the others left with just cuts and bruises. I was one of the two who weren't that left with not much of and injury. How anyone of us actually made it out of the pelican alive is a miracle. Let's just hope I stay that lucky.
Some more time past and I spent the rest of my shift contemplating things over in my head. By the time they radioed in telling me to come inside, I was just about to loose it. The heat was killing me and the boredom was killing me. I think the loneliness was the worst thing though.
I headed for the cabin and hoped that there would be someone in there to talk to. I opened the cabin door and started towards the kitchen. I then grabbed a cup, filled it with water and ice, and drank it. I think it was because the lack of water, but that tasted like the best cup of water I have ever had. I filled it up once more, but ended up leaving it on the counter. The cold air in the cabin felt really good after standing in the sun for seven to eight hours stright.
Once I had hydrated myself and cooled down, I stopped by the telephone to call my wife. I placed the phone up to my ear and listened to it ring for a moment. Finally a women's voice answered.
"Hello?" she asked
"Hey honey" I replied
"Matt? Oh my God! Matt…"
"Hey it's ok…"
"It's been almost a month" she said
"I know, I haven't had time to call. They are giving me one hell of a time down here." I replied
"I'm so sorry baby"
"I just wish I had more time to talk to you…"
"Me too. When are you coming home?" she asked
"As soon as I can. I guess the corp. is going to send me back in a couple of weeks for a while" I replied
"That's great. For how long?"
"I guess a week or two. Then they are going to haul my ass back up here."
There was some silence for a moment and I decided to say something
"How are the kids?" I asked
"They are doing well. They really miss you." she replied
"Tell them I love 'em."
"Do you want to talk to them?"
"For a moment, than I have to get back to work"
I heard her put the phone down to go and rally up the kids. We have three of them. The youngest of the bunch is five. Here name is Annie. Then there is Scott, he is seven, and then the oldest one is Jessica who is fourteen. Heard some quiet chattering and then Anna tell them to say hi.
Three voices said "hi" roughly around the same time.
"Hey guys" I replied
"What are you doing?" Annie asked
"Right now I am talking to you guys" I replied. I could here her laughing for a moment after I said that.
"How are you guys doing?" I asked
again, each of them said good as each other spoke.
"Well guys, I have to go back to work. Take care of mommy for me. I love you!" I said.
And once more they said ok bye as each other spoke. Anna picked up the phone.
"Well honey, I have to get back to work…" I said.
"Ok, I will talk to you later" she replied
"I will try to make more time to talk to you."
"that would be nice…" she said
"Oh and Anna?"
"Yeah?" she asked
"I love you so much" I replied
"I love you to."
"Talk to you later"
"Ok bye"
I put the phone down and rested back into my chair for a moment. I knew in a few minutes Sergeant Johnson was going to burst in here and tell me to get back to work. But hey, I enjoyed the time off. I personally didn't want to sit here and listen to him bitch, so I thought that I might as well get back to work a little early.
Now that I think of it, the last time Sergeant Johnson told me to get back to work; he spent six minutes straight just cussing me out. What he could have said was. 'Hey! Get back to work!' but no, what he said something a little more like this 'Chris? What the hell are you doing? Do I really have to waste my God damned time every day to haul your ass back to work?' but, I've learned to deal with it. I guess they are sending Johnson to some other place, or at least that's the rumors I have heard. I think it would be nice to actually spend a day and not listen to him bitch every so often.
Once I finally decided to get up, I could see that people were changing shifts again. I knew if I waited any longer, Sergeant Johnson was gonna burst in here and bitch me out again. After that thought, shivers went up and down my spine and I immediately got back to work.
And if it was just my luck, I got assigned and was posted alone. Again. Here goes another six to seven fucking ours of sheer and utter boredom. I thought that this would be another six hours and nothing would happen. Was I in for a surprise.
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