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At Knife's Point by Halcyon-713
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At Knife's Point: Pt. 1
Date: 30 September 2004, 1:03 AM
At Knife's Point
"This is Longsword Knife-7 on approaching target, clear the area."
"Roger that Knife-7, evacuating premises," Sergeant Michaels responded, "Make it quick Clyde, we can't hold these things off forever," he added.
"Got it Venders, on approach." The COM channel clicked off. Clyde Lechins typed in a series of commands into his Longsword's computer, and a targeting reticule appeared on screen. He raised it to bear on a Covenant Dropship and a trio of Banshees.
"Die, bastards!" Lechins shouted as he unloaded his heavy gatling guns on the Banshees, shredding the aircraft like paper. Clyde fired two ASMG-10 ATA missiles. The missiles' tracking program locked on and struck straight and true into the dropship. The first missile exploded in a shower against the ships shields, and the second smashed into the right troop container, decimating it. Knife-7 veered up in a spiral to avoid the plasma filled explosion. Clyde clicked on his COM.
"Woo hoo! Target neutralized Sarge!"
"Confirmed Knife-7," Sergeant Michaels responded, laughingly. "We'll handle the clean up down he-" the sergeant's voice cut out for a moment, but then came back in. "Damn! Grunts caught us in an ambush. We don't know where they came from. Be advised Knife-7, additional enemy dropships possible."
"Roger that, staying on station. Call me in when you guys need a lift, I'll have Serpentine-721 come in and pick you up," Clyde responded.
"Affirmative, safe flying."
Sergeant Miguel Michaels bounced his MA2B, a cut-down version of the MA5B, assault rifle in his hand. He surveyed the area, before having Sanders take point. They marched through the thick jungle like foliage on the northern continent of Seth III. The area was under lock and key by the Covenant. The southern continent and the ocean separating the north and south continent had been glassed. Now the Covenant were searching the area vigorously, looking for something.
A hail of crystalline needles sliced through a fern next to him, and cut into Morrison's body. Seconds later, he exploded in a pink fire.
"Damn!" he cursed into the mic, "Grunts caught us in an ambush." He fired a ten round burst into the nearest Grunt, and fell into a pool of thick blue blood. Michaels was caught by surprise as a plasma bolt nearly knocked him over from behind. He turned to face another Grunt, this one a veteran red one, and emptied the rest of his clip at it. He loaded another clip, and then spoke again.
"We don't know where they came from. Be advised Knife-7, additional enemy dropships possible."
He slapped the safety off the rifle, and unloaded into another pair of Grunts. Knife-7 responded, as did Michaels again. A plasma bolt whizzed by Michaels' head, not an inch from his right ear, and blister sprouted up all about his head. He emptied the clip into the two Grunts, heard a whooshing sound, and looked up. Two Phantom dropships flew overhead, accompanied by a squadron of Banshees. He keyed his mic again.
"Uh, Clyde, we're going to need some assistance."
Clyde received Miguel's message, and glanced at his radar. Miguel had been right, there was some trouble. Clyde brought up his ammo display: 8 ASMG-10 Air-to-Air missiles; and 1000 rounds left in the gatling guns. He also had two CALT-12 Air-to-Surface missiles, tipped with nuclear warheads for an extreme emergency.
He couldn't use the nuclear missiles yet without killing the ground troops, and he wondered if he could take on the Phantoms and Banshees with his limited ammo. He needed assistance.
"Knife-7 to Knife squad, come in. Over." Almost immediately, there were six other voices chattering over the COM.
"This is Knife Leader to Knife-7, what's your situation?"
Clyde was relieved. It was Knife Squad leader, Alex Lewis. He had a reputation as the best flyer in the fleet.
"Thank God it's you, Alex. I've got two enemy Phantoms and a squad of six Banshees in area. Ground troops at risk. I could use some help over here."
"Roger that Alex, I'll take Knife 3 and 6 to assist. Over."
"Over and out," Clyde finished. He eased up a little on the controls, and wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead. He banked the Longsword and turned towards the RV point with Knife leader, 3, and 6. He flew for a straight minute before linking up with the three. They assumed Delta formation, with Knife Leader in the front, Knife 7 behind and slightly lower than him, with 3 on the left, and 6 on the right.
The quartet moved towards the target zone. There was a small open clearing, the Banshees were circling the perimeter, and the two Phantoms were on the ground unloading their troops. To Clyde's dismay, three Brutes were unloading a Shade turret. The Brutes looked up at them, and one of them hopped into it.
Knife Leader opened fire first with his gatling guns, cutting down infantry like grass blades. The Brute in the Shade opened fire on Knife-6. Superheated plasma cut into the Titanium-A plating of Knife-6. A bolt melted away at the warhead of an ASMG-10 missile on Knife-6's left wing, sparking an explosion that enveloped Knife-6, piloted by Megan Wilter, in a fiery explosion.
Knife-3 opened fire with his gatling guns as well, and launched two missiles at the Banshees. The single ships exploded, sending bits of metal and shrapnel everywhere. Two Banshee's were left after Knife-3's swift attack. Knife Leader launched a missile at the Shade, destroying it, the Brute firing it, and the two Brutes nearby. Knife Leader turned his attention to one of the Phantoms. He launched four missiles at it. The first two took down a the shields. A third was destroyed by laser fire. And the final missile hit the Phantom and it exploded in fire.
That left one Phantom left, and the other two Longswords were veering off. That left the job to Clyde. The Phantom lifted off the ground, and zoomed off. It hadn't finished dropping off its troops, and they fired at him from inside. The turret on the bottom of the Phantom opened fire, sending plasma at him. He banked right and left. A bolt passed an inch from the cockpit and almost blinded him.
Clyde pushed the engines almost to the limit. He flew closer and closer to the end of the Phantom. The shots became harder and harder to shake. Clyde launched two missiles and pushed the engines to their maximum. He sped over his missiles and past the doomed Phantom.
Inside the Phantom, the pilot, a Brute by the name of Maraukun barked orders at the gunner to take the infidel ship out. Then he saw the Longsword fly overhead and looked behind to see two missiles lodged in the transport area of his ships. He said a prayer to the Holiness, and closed his eyes as the missiles exploded, catapulting him to Paradise.
Clyde radioed in to Sergeant Michaels, "Woo hoo! I've got some barbeque for you guys. Let's spit some Grunts and have a cook out!" Everyone on the COM channel laughed at that. Grunts had a particularly nasty taste, much like a chicken breast with salmonella.
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