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Halo 2: Dark Decent by Blanchette
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Halo 2: Dark Decent
Date: 22 August 2004, 3:33 PM
A night breeze blew inside the Drop Platform of the Pelican, cooling Blanchette's nerves a little, it wasn't his first time up against such a great amount of Covenant, but it would be his first time up against them at his Homeworld, such talk of this should be boosting his morale, but instead it made him shudder and think deeply of what Earth really used to be. He quickly knocked himself out of those thoughts, such things could get him killed on the battlefield if he dawdled, so he went back to strapping and loading up his Ammo and Equipment, his breath faint on the wind as he looked around the Dropship. His Captain was sitting next to the Marine (C)harlie Company Sergeant, talking about something serious by the looks on their faces, and the other ODST was palling around with some of the other Marines, but it didn't look like he was enjoying the conversation either. So, he continued prepping his Weapons and Equipment; holding a rather large HA871 Battle Rifle in his hands, checking and cleaning the barrel and scope of it, then inserted the clip and cocked it back into Safety Position and sat it down next to him. He looked through the Orbital Safety Netting to the outside, nothing but the starry darkness of night, it appeared quiet, but that would all change soon; he thought to himself as he pulled the Dual-Issued SMGs from their holsters on his upper thighs, loading the collapsible stock into the Weapon and Safetying it just as a voice came over the Pelican's intercom system. "This is Pelican Delta 612 to UNSC Aerial Support Command, I have been engaged by Covenant Aerial Hostiles, I'm preparing for a drop-off ASC, and I can't risk shaking 'em, my load is full, I repeat; any UNSC: ASC Respond!" It was the Pilot, something had engaged us, but Blanchette couldn't tell what, it was too dark, and his view-space too little, there was no way to tell what he was talking about. Just after the Marine Sergeant stood up and walked inside the Cockpit, you could here him talking grimly, something was definitely happening here...
A few minutes later the Sergeant came out of the Cockpit, he looked around to Drop Platform at us all and seemed to be about to address us all; he opened his mouth, but before he could a violent jolt shook the D77-TC Class Pelican, sending the man flying at the Safety Net at the rear of the Drop Platform. We all watched in panic as the Net tore from it's sockets and flew out with the man, everyone yelled and screamed, some unbuckling their safety restraints to gander over the edge, then everyone fell silent as a faint yelling was heard; it was the Sergeant! He was holding onto the the Netting that was still partly attached to the Pelican, everyone began to pull at the thing to try and reel him in, a voice was heard over the intercom, but Blanchette was too busy pulling the damned man up to listen. The Sergeant was now climbing the Net in panic, and it seemed to be working; he was getting ever closer to the edge, then there was a brilliant burst of blue piercing the night sky as a bolt of Covenant-Grade Plasma hit the man; sending him to his doom, then Blanchette could clearly see it; a Covenant Banshee tailing the Pelican perfectly, it fired again; it's bolts hitting the hard metallic armor of the outside of the Pelican. But now the thing was dropping altitude, lining up with the opening in the Drop Section of the Pelican; ready to fire on us! The Marines quickly pulled their MA5B's to the ready, but the Banshee was already opening fire; the shots not all that accurate, but still hitting it's target. Blanchette dove to the floor, looking up at the dark purple flying machine as it swayed slightly in the wind, getting off target for the second, giving him enough time to react to the 30mm Upper Chin Gun Emplacement at the rear of the Drop Platform, he lept up to it, pulling down to ready position just as the Banshee re-targeted us. Blanchette opened fire, the high Weapon ripping away at the thing, but it still managed to get some shots off, but it was to close unify the bolts, making them whiz right past him to either side. At that time the Banshee took too much damage, it's altitude loosing exceptionally fast as it plummeted to the ground, dead. Everyone was silent for the moments that passed, then there were some loud cheers from the back as all their hands meet his shoulder, cheering him on for his victory, but once again it didn't last, as the voice came back over the intercom. "This is Pelican Delta 612, UNSC: ASC RESPOND! We have been reengaged by a Phantom over our Drop-Space! I repeat, we have been engaged by a Covenant Phantom! Does anybody read me!" We all looked to the opening at the back just as a huge purple vessel popped up from under us, there was no way a 30mm could punch through that thing, Blanchette thought grimly, it looks like this is the end of the line, he once again thought. But in that instant it took him to give up all chances of survival a black cylinder dropped into sight over the Phantom, causing a huge explosion to take effect, then there were more of the black cylinders, they were bombs! Just then a hysterical voice came over the intercom. "We read you Delta 612! Couldn't leave ya hanging!" It was another Pilot, in a Longsword fighter! "Glad to hear ASC, continuing to Drop Units!", "Rodger, Delta 612, your clear for drop-off, we'll watch your back!" They said, and the transmission was ended. The Pelican was slowly loosing altitude, we were ready to unload, Blanchette grabbed his HA871 Battle Rifle off the floor, and holstered it to the back of his Ballistics Vesting and put on his Helmet and secured it as the Pelican's VTOL landing finished, the war had just begun...
Halo 2: Dark Decent: Ch. 2
Date: 24 August 2004, 9:06 PM
Blanchette stepped down off the back of the Pelican's Drop Platform and onto the hard cement that awaited below, his boots clanging harshly against the hard surface, he cocked his "Battle Rifle" and followed his ODST Team down a small ramp outlooking over a deep man-made chasm of buildings and sky-scrapers, all-in-all a long way down. He refocused his attention back on his Captain and the Squad of Marines in front of them, they were copping rather well with the loss of their Company Sergeant. As the stairs ended Blanchette nervously checked around corners for any signs of hostiles, even though they were still far from the front-line, better to be safe than sorry, he always told himself, even though half his life was pretty much based on risk. They all ran through a dark stone-gray alley, he could barely see ahead of him through the shifting movements of the Marines in front, but from the looks of the shinny gray metal, and dust being stirred, it looked to be another Pelican. Must have had to make an emergency landing behind these structures; probably too close to the front-line for take-off; he thought to himself, but as they got closer he could see the Pilot waving him on, were they supposed to take another aerial insertion? His Captain talked to the Pilot before he hoped aboard, as well as the others, and out of instinct, so did Blanchette, we all sat down and watched the outside through the back of the Pelican, the Marines were standing their ground, covering us for take-off, a good thing, seeing as how this very well could be their last flight on Earth, or any other Planet. Just then, the Pilot hoped up onto the Platform, walking in between the rows of seats on either side, he spoke to us as he walked to the cockpit. "Alright, everyone there's been a change in plans here, the UNSC Forces Defense Positioning Plans around the area have caused a Covenant Resistance Grouping to occur around their Capital Ship above New Mombasa, you have been given orders to break this Grouping up so the UNSC can get their Forces to their Gravity-Lift for entry of the vessel. I'll get as close as I can for your jump, but this won't be a smooth ride and we will encounter aerial resistance, and the even worse news is that UNSC ASC doesn't cover our dropping-territory, this will be a tough job, but I have confidence you will see it through..." He spoke to us in an honored voice, his chants still ringing in my ears, giving me a strong boost confidence needed to complete the task at hand. Blanchette walked to the edge of the Pelican and took one last look at the Marines and at the area around them before strapping himself to the edge seat, still watching, when all of a sudden a green blur tore through the air in front of him, hitting the roof of the Pelican, then shots could be heard, the Marines had engaged some Covenant, he could now see the group of shaggy aliens, stumbling out from the alleys in between the buildings, Blanchette instantly grabbed his "Battle Rifle" from it's strap on his back and unbuckled the strapping on his seat as he put the scope of the Rifle up to his Masking, aiming strait at the Grunt Militia heading out from another alley-way in the buildings, he lets loose a few rounds, neatly punching holes in the heads of the first few before a startling jolt knocked his aim off. The Pelican was taking off, the Pilot's voice came over the intercom system of the vehicle. "Alright, we gotta get the hell outta here! There'll probably be more coming in soon enough, and we don't need that kind of attention in this position. Get ready, cause its going to be a bumpy ride!" He shouted enthusiastically. Blanchette sat back down and buckled up, after seeing what happened to that Sergeant, he wasn't taking any chances, especially behind enemy lines...
The Pelican shook him steadily, no hard jolting as of lately, they were now positioned directly over the front-line, not a sure form of Covenant in sight though, they must of all retreated back to their Capital Ship, great; more to deal with. Then the Pilot's voice came back over the intercom. "Can get somebody to man that "Heel Gun" back there, things might get toasty pretty soon, and UNSC ASC has already retreated their service territory, I have a feeling there's gonna be some strong winds tonight!" He shouted jokingly. I looked back at everybody on the Platform, they were all staring at me, their heads bobbling gently when shaken, I sighed and unbuckled, holding on to the support railing lining the roof of the Pelican, slowly moving closer to the edge, and with one leap of faith; pulled the "Heel Gun" down from stow-away position, holding the handles tightly, bracing himself between the frame and the gun in case of a strong impact. But, there was none, at least not until now, the Pilot came over the intercom for the third time. "We have been engaged, I hope one of you is covering that gun there, cause we got two hostiles approaching on our position, assumed ready to engage, be ready guys, here they come! I repeat, ready yourselves for combat!" Blanchette's breathing became harsh and irregular, his heart thumping erratically in his chest, causing him an annoying pain, but it all ended as soon as he saw the Banshees, two, as predicted, in fact, now it seemed that his heart had stopped all together. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" Came a shout from the back, but the voice was unfamiliar to him, had no idea who it was, but whoever he was, he was right! The Banshees opened fire on the Pelican, jolting the vessel a little with every shot, Blanchette shot into action, pulling back the two large triggers on either side of the handles; exploding out came hundreds of bullets, hitting the foreign machines in tiny ripples, smoke began to emit from the first as chips of it's metallic surface peeled away, now exposing wiring and mechanics, then it caught fire and exploded, falling back down to Earth. Then he pivoted the giant weapon over to the second which was now focusing it's fire on the starboard thrusters, he immediately shot at it, the bullets hitting it squarely on it's direction flaps, tearing away at the foreign metal exposing the mechanics inside again, this time the machine involuntarily dropped to it left, falling uncontrollably into the city below. "Damn, he got our Airfoil, I'm going to have to make this as strait as possible, keep them off of me, or were sitting ducks here!" The Pilot yelled, not over the intercom but through the cockpit opening. I turned around to listen to his calling, then refocused my attention on the rear of the Pelican, nothing, we were loosing altitude though, going down hard and fast, I didn't know what he was trying to pull off, but it was certainly wasn't going to be a joy-ride. The Pelican shook violently, nearly knocking Blanchette off the Platform, something had hit them, but it wasn't visible yet, he would have to wait until it got within range to open fire, then another jolt hit the vessel, still nothing behind them. "@#%$! We've been hit! The starboard thrusters are completely out, I'm going to have to shave it in, this could get very risky! Take a seat son!" The Pilot yelled again. I turned my attention back to the seats, then at the railing on the roof, then back outside at the city below us, it was all haze that happened in seconds; a giant explosion rocked the Pelican, fire and debris sprayed onto the Platform, sirens blazing, red flashing throughout the Platform, as a huge purple Covenant vessel slammed through the rear tail-fin of the Pelican, taking it clean-off! The thing plummeted, air rushing everywhere around Blanchette, everything spinning in a dizzying haze, then he saw a blur of black and gray, it was his teammates, and they were getting farther away, light passing between them, and then black...
Blanchette awoke with his face in the dirt and the smell of burnt fuel in the air, smoke hazed around him, making his head spin and hurt, he thought he had died, but it looked like this was only the beginning...
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