Through the eyes of a grunt by BansheeBoy
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Through the eyes of a grunt Pt 1 of 3
Date: 22 May 2004, 7:27 AM
Through the eyes of a Grunt Pt 1 of 3
Bastip was just a normal, cannon fodder Grunt. He wasn't a leader in any way he was a follower. Just a normal Grunt, part of a squad of grunts led by an elite named Noso Oslami.
They were inside a small fluorescent covenant boarding craft. The squad consisted of six grunts and the elite. Oslami seemed to be angry with being put with a band of Grunts, dishonoured even. He'd much rather be in a boarding craft with other elites.
Bastip wasn't that happy about the oncoming mission either, heck, he hadn't even want to have joined the covie army. But they were forced to, to wipe the sacrilegious humans of the face of the galaxy. Bloody stupid reason he thought. Their mission was to board the human ship and kick their candy-asses. But why didn't the three covie cruisers just shoot it out of the sky? Bastip imagined the explosion inside his head and then remembered why. Something to do with that fucking ring which he'd been on been on duty on for the last three dam years. Three years! He'd not seen his family in that long, but had been promised he would be allowed to see them after this battle. He just had to survive. His ramblings were stopped all of a sudden by Nosa Oslami shouting " Contact ".
The boarding craft flew towards the human ship. It fired a few shots of plasma destroying the escape pod blocking their entry and gently landed.
Bastip counted in his head " 3, 2 , 1". The door blew back and Oslami yelled " Go,go,go ".
Bastip picked up his plasma pistol and a few plasma grenades and followed the rest of his group. They'd chosen a bad place to land as four humans greeted them. The grunts instantly ran for cover, but didn't find much and began to run around screaming. The only ones who kept their heads were Oslami and Bastip. Bastip saw three of the marines were on one side of the corridor and hurled a plasma grenade at one of the human's chests. Now it was his turn to run around screaming and unfortunately, for them, it ended at the foot of the other two humans. There was a satisfying explosion as the three humans flew six-feet in the air. Bastip turned round to see another charred human corpse and Oslami aiming his plasma rifle at the limp body. One of the grunts opened his eyes and asked " Is......is it over?"
" Get you're acts together you barstards or next time I'll crush your methane tanks" said Oslami. " Yes...yes sir " stuttered of the grunts.
The clean-up crew managed to kill all the humans in the next corridors without suffering a casualty. Still most of the grunts had been incompetent and were getting on Oslami's nerves.
He had come so close to firing his plasma rifle at some of those grunts. Bastip continued down the next corridor and saw a large blast door. " It's locked down sir" said one of the grunts.
Oslami stepped up to the CPU and thumped it hard. The door began to open.
" Genius " said Bastip. The squad looked through the blast door to see eight humans on the other side. Two broke their ranks and ran at the group. They were torn up by the combined plasma fire of the group. What followed was a tactical battle between the covenant and the marines. Bastip found great cover behind an ammo crate and took three humans down with charged pistol shots. Suddenly human fire came at his position. But he couldn't see where it was coming from. He looked around the large two-story room only to be fired at again. He heard the screams of several grunts. The battle wasn't going well. Bastip had an idea though. He threw a plasma grenade down into the first floor and looked up. Several humans jumped for cover as did a green-armored human. He also managed to see the limp bodies of his group. Oslami was still hiding a few feet behind him, but they were all that was left.
" Good riddance eh? " he said. It was a rhetorical question but you could tell he was afraid of the green-armored human. The green one had climbed to their position and began to aim at the elite. Oslami ran at the green-armored human. Bastip stood up and aimed at the human's head. He was about to shoot when Oslami came into his line of fire. " Shit " thought Bastip. He ducked back for cover and heard a crackling of a nearby radio dropped by a dead human. It said : " This is Captain Jacob Keyes, I'm taking this bird down to that ring-world manually. Over and out ". This ship was gonna crash into the ring. He had to get off now! He wouldn't go back.
Bastip ran for the blast doors and took a quick look behind him to see the green one knock out Oslami with the butt of his rifle. The green-armored human now turned his attention to Bastip.
He tried to lock the large room down but didn't understand the CPU. The green one was coming closer! Then he remembered what Oslami did. Bastip thumped the CPU as hard as he could and the blast doors began to close. Bastip ran back through the corridors to the boarding craft, only to find there wasn't one there. He was lost! Suddenly two humans appeared from round the corner and shot at him. Bastip picked up one of his dead brethren and used him as a shield. He was out of plasma grenades and his pistol ammo read 002. He didn't have a chance. Then he stumbled over something. A human grenade with a pin still in it. Using human weapons was considered treason by some but this was a special case. It was life or death. He took the pin out, hurled it and dived back. Human body parts flew everywhere as the grenade impacted. Bastip stood up. He knew he wouldn't live another encounter. Then Bastip saw a human escape pod still docked. That was his ticket out. He stepped inside. He pressed buttons until some motion began. The pod disengaged from the human ship.
" Alright, lets figure out how to fly this thing" exclaimed Bastip. Something had come up on the pod's CPU. It read : " Computer taking control of all pods.....................heading for derelict ring-world". Bastip looked down at the screen and yelled :
" Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"
To be continued.................................
This is my first fan fiction, so be kind.
Through the eyes of a grunt pt 2 of 6
Date: 23 May 2004, 7:16 PM
Through the eyes of a grunt pt 2 of 6
I've tried to follow everyone's comments and have decided to make the series more thorough by doubling it's size. I command you to love it!
19:20 In derelict ring-world's atmosphere
Covenant controlled space 2552
Forty human pods had launched off the human cruiser, the pillar of autumn. There were eight men to a pod so that's approximately three hundred and twenty humans. But of course some men were killed on the ship, forty two to be exact so some pods had a few less marines than they should of held. There was also another exception. The covenant troop known by his family as Bastip. Known as a grunt by humans their species simply called each other "brethren". Anyway Bastip's pod fell towards the derelict ring-world known by the covenant as Halo..........
It was getting very,very hot inside the escape pod and it was beginning to look like Bastip would never regain control. The small craft had entered the atmosphere a few seconds ago, much to Bastip's despair. Finally after what had seemed like an age the pod fell through the clouds to reveal the beauty of the ring-world. But to Bastip it looked as if he was falling back into hell. He had never revealed to anyone why he hated the ring so much but most thought it was just the amount of time he had spent on Halo, but there was something else that he kept secret. All he would ever tell anyone was that every time he came to the ring he felt guilty, but he wouldn't tell anyone why, even if it did make him look a bit suspicious. The pod began to fall at a alarming rate. Bastip struggled to reach the CPU and eventually pulled himself onto the pilot's seat. The CPU read: System Error......Preparing immediate crash landing.
" Fuck, Bastip said to himself sarcastically, will this ring ever stop lovin' me? The pod sped towards the surface and headed into a large canyon. Before Bastip buckled himself in, he decided to look down at the LZ via his aerial view. The only thing that really stuck out was a small forerunner installation, probably manned by the covenant. He made his objective to reach the installation alive. And the immediate threat on his life was the impending crash. He realised this and buckled himself in and closed his eyes. He began to pray to the forerunners.
The impact could be seen for miles around as the crash had raised a lot of dust. Bastip had to hope only covenant had seen the dust , because if he was found by humans he would be screwed as his plasma pistol only had two shots left and he was all out of grenades. He had been quite fortunate as the crash hadn't done too much damage to the pod. He had the forerunners to thank for that. Hopefully they would aid him in the coming hours. Bastip hauled his ass out of the escape pod and stared at his surroundings. It was a very dusty valley as no vegetation grew anywhere as far as the eye could see. What Bastip could see was the surrounding cliffs, a large waterfall leading into a river and in the distance the forerunner structure. Covenant survival protocols were pretty similar to human survival protocols. The first objective was to get to any water they could find. For humans that was because they would die in a few hours without drinking any water. For covenant it was just a good place for troops to regroup. Bastip hoped some of his species were there so he could be saved but there could also be humans there. Come to think of it, they might both be there......
It took Bastip fifteen human minutes to reach the river and at first glance he couldn't see anybody, human or covenant. He began to think of a way to cross the river so he could get to the structure on the other side, but could not see any other way apart from swimming across, so he did just that. He began to swim but then realised it was shallow enough for his short self to walk across. He was half-way across the river when his foot stumbled upon something. Bastip looked down to see a dead grunt on the floor. Bastip let out a sort of short scream when he saw another and another. He looked further still and saw a few dead humans. Bastip ran to get out of the underwater tomb and dived for the bank. He lay down on the soft sand and saw he was lying down next to another dead grunt. Bastip let out another short scream before seeing that this grunt was slowly still breathing. Just. Bastip crawled over and shook him. The grunt began to shake before opening his large black eyes.
" Who.....who's there" he struggled to stutter.
" Bastip, your brethren's loyal servant" said Bastip.
" Bastip, the humans have gone to the structure, you've got to stop them" he coughed.
" Thanks, sleep now" Bastip exclaimed.
" Yes....Bu...but take...take my weapons" the grunt told Bastip. The grunt closed his eyes and slowly died. Bastip looked to where he had pointed with his last ounce of strength and saw a pair of needlers. Bastip ran over picked them up and reloaded them. Nice. As he left the river he felt a pang of sorrow for the fallen grunts. But there would be even more if he didn't get to that structure soon. He had to keep going.
As Bastip approached the structure he heard and saw the distant gun fight. From what he could see a human strike team ( consisting of around eight men ) was attacking the outside of the installation and his brethren and the rest of the covenant had retreated inside. But if Bastip didn't find any cover he would be easily killed by the humans. But there was nothing. Bastip suddenly came up with a second plan though. If he could draw the humans out, the covenant inside the structure would have an easy time shooting at the distracted humans. Bastip lifted the two needlers and aimed at the nearest human. He pulled the trigger and held it down until it ran out of ammo.
The human had been impaled by about thirty needles and was very surprisingly still standing. Not for long though. There was a explosion of vibrant colours as the needles went off. The human scum turned their attention to Bastip. Bastip hit the deck and reloaded his needlers. This gave the covenant inside the structure enough time to tear up the humans with plasma fire. Amazingly one grunt had been able to pull off a successful flanking. It was simple but sweet as the mangled corpses fell to the floor.
A few hours later Bastip stood with Anas Zitamee the commander of the structure, in the heart of the installation.
" Bastip I have chosen you to join my regiment on Halo. Tomorrow we set out to kill every human that has stepped on to our God's artifact. They shall pay" the commader announced.
" Yes sir " exclaimed Bastip through gritted teeth.
" Right, dismissed " Said Zitamee.
Bastip walked out of the commander's room and cursed the name Anas Zitamee.
To be continued.......................
I'd like to hear any comments you have about it.
Through the eyes of a Grunt Pt 3 of 6
Date: 30 May 2004, 8:46 AM
Through the eyes of a Grunt Pt 3 of 6
06:42 Year 2552
Inside forerunner structure
On derelict ring-world
Covenant-controlled space
Bastip rested in the troop quarters of the covenant structure, wriggling about on a bed. He was having a nightmare.
The wreckage of the covenant dropship lay on it's side tipping over the edge of the cliff. Bastip wasn't sure whether it had been shot down or it had just had an engine failure. The latter seemed much more likely as there was nothing on the ring except covenant, as far as he knew anyway. Another grunt emerged from the wreckage. His name was Melip and he was in Bastip's special ops squad. The two had been sent out to check on the wreckage of the covenant dropship, to basically find out what the hell had happened.
" I can't see any survivors, but I can tell you it crashed because of an engine failure. It's repairable though" Melip announced.
" Repairable! Finally I can get off this ring and get back to my family!" exclaimed Bastip happily.
"What?" asked Melip.
" I can get off the dam ring!" answered Bastip.
" No, that's treason Bastip" said Melip.
" Since when have you been patriotic Melip" questioned Bastip.
" I don't care, I won't let you go!" bellowed Melip.
" You better let me!" yelled Bastip.
" I won't" shouted Melip. In a blind rage Bastip hit Melip round the head with his plasma pistol. Melip fell to the floor.
Bastip kneeled down and stared at Melip's body trembling. He hadn't meant to hurt Melip. His neck was twisted and Bastip could tell it was broken. Melip was dead. No, no, no thought Bastip, if anyone found out he'd be executed for murder. No, he had to play it cool. He'd bury the body and no one would ever have to know. And when he got back he'd say they'd split up and he hadn't seen him since. Yeah, that would work. He started digging a small hole with his claws. A few human minutes later Bastip had finished the quick grave. He lifted Melip up with effort and chucked him into the hole. He refilled the grave with the dirt and patted it to make it solid. He stood back and thought of Melip for a moment. Then he ran back, got on the ghost they'd rode in on, and sped of into the distance.
Bastip awoke with a start. A horn had sounded. A war-horn. Then a voice resounded over the speaker. It said :
" All special ops covenant to the hanger immediately". That meant Bastip. He hit his head against the bed and realised he was awake and it wasn't still his nightmare but it still felt like it was. He was back on the ring, the place he hated so much and he had to fight. Could it get any worse? He got up and made his way to the structure's hangar at his own pace.
The troubled Grunt rounded the turning and ran for the door to the hangar. A few seconds after leaving his room he realised his commander was an elite and if he was late his commander might decide that he was expendable. He ran through the door to the hangar and met up with the rest of his squad and was relieved to find that Anas Zitamee wasn't there yet. The squad consisted of five elites ( that was including zitamee ) , six jackals and eight grunts ( including Bastip ). Zitamee entered the hangar and the squad turned and saluted, even the honourable elites, though they were only rookies. Zitamee walked to the front of the squad and turned towards them. The team awaited the briefing before Zitamee begun.
" You are all the best of the best. That's why you're special ops, that's why you're in my squad. And that's why you're about to do the hardest mission the covenant have to offer. The downed Truth and Reconciliation has reported that the valleys beneath it are being attacked by a small band of humans. They believe that they are after a high-profile prisoner that was captured after the crash of the human cruiser. The only way aboard from down there is a gravity lift. We will guard the gravity lift" exclaimed Zitamee.
" Wouldn't it just be simpler to shut down the gravity lift?" asked a grunt.
" Once a gravity lift is shut down it can take weeks to be repaired and they need the time to repair the cruiser, replied Zitamee, and I think we can take care of a few humans, can't we?
The covenant dropship flew into the canyon below the Truth and Reconciliation. The gravity lift flickered in the distance and the command center aboard the cruiser began scanning the ship. They were accepted and began landing preparations. The dropship hovered in and landed behind the gravity lift, near the cliff. The squad jumped out quickly before the covenant dropship sped back up into the sky. Zitamee was met by the commanding elite of the canyon and they began chatting about the situation. Bastip stared at his surroundings. The team that had been set up here consisted of the commanding elite and four grunts manning shades. The rest of his squad had taken positions over the ridge above the gravity lift. This seemed like a good idea so Bastip ran over and joined them. Zitamee came over to his troops and announced :
" The humans are in the next valley, so get ready! The commanding elite here has called down a first contact squad and they should be down any second". As Zitamee had said the squad of covenant flashed down the gravity lift and set up in front of the gravity lift. The covenant were ready.
Bastip heard a sound of firing and managed to see three jackals of first contact squad have their head blown off. The rest of that squad ran to engage the enemy. He had a sudden rush of adrenaline when he killed a human but he still was scared of dying so Bastip took some cover behind a shade. The sound of firing continued in the distance and Bastip hoped they were winning. He couldn't tell but the assault rifle fire sounded louder than the plasma fire. Which couldn't be good. Suddenly a fellow grunt shouted " contact!" before his head exploded. The shades opened fire on the oncoming humans. The first wave of three humans was decimated by the barrage of heavy plasma fire, but within seconds snipers took care of the shades.
Zitamee yelled " man the shades". But Bastip wasn't going near it. The shades were a deathtrap. Instead he charged his pistol ran to the edge of the ridge and fired at the nearest human. It hit him in between the shoulder blades and he fell to the floor. Bastip was about to run back for cover when he saw the green-armored human. He began backing away further still. Bastip remembered the amazingly efficient shooting of that..that...thing! He had to hide.
All around him covenant fell. The elite commander turned on his radio and said : " We need heavy reinforcements now". Almost instantly two hunters dropped off the cruiser. While the humans were pre-occupied with the hunters, Zitamee bellowed : " Take cover, live to fight another day". This sounded very good to Bastip. He sprinted and hid behind a rock. The rest of his outfit also found hiding places. The humans finished off the hunters, thanks to the green-armored human, and although a little perplexed about the rest of the covenant disappearing, they flew up the gravity lift. Zitamee emerged from his hiding place behind a large shrub and shouted :
" Follow them".
The special ops squad landed with a thump in the loading bay. The room was covered in blue and purple blood and there was covenant bodies everywhere.
"What are these humans?" asked one of the grunts, not expecting an answer.
" It's all because of that green-armored human" said Bastip.
" I don't care how powerful he is, they'll never escape this cruiser alive" growled Zitamee. He let out a long laugh. Maybe Zitamee was right. Maybe the humans would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. But judging by the amount of damage in this room and not a single human corpse, that was becoming a big maybe.
The squad followed the trail of destruction through the ship, finding little but dead bodies. Covenant bodies. Finally they met a living elite.
" Where did the humans go?" questioned Zitamee. The other elite was obviously suffering from an injury but eventually he managed to force the words out of his mouth.
" To the...to the hangar" he stuttered.
" I will send help for you" Zitamee said. But the elite was already dead.
Upon arriving in the hangar, Bastip quickly spotted the humans. They were awaiting the opening of a locked door, possibly by a human A.I. The covenant had been all but wiped out, apart from a few heavily injured grunts. The special ops squad crept up upon the unsuspecting humans. The door opened and the humans sped through. Three were left to guard the hangar however. As soon as the door closed the squad jumped out. The marines bravely tried to fight back but were overwhelmed. They were doomed from the start of the battle.
"Let's get going" exclaimed Zitamee. They sprinted to the door to find that when it had closed it had locked itself again. Zitamee sweared in his native language.
" Open it!" shouted Zitamee to a tech-grunt he'd brought along. The grunt hurried and began to open the door.
Twenty human minutes later the grunt finally busted the door open, no thanks to the brutal beatings from Zitamee. Bastip thought why try? The humans will have gotten far away by now but Zitamee told his squad to keep going. A bit later Bastip, realised that Zitamee wasn't following the trail of destruction anymore. He was heading to the control them. Bastip didn't complain as he believed that they were being led away from the battle. He was wrong. The covenant burst into the control room, to see two panicked grunts.
" The humans are com.............
The grunt didn't have a chance to finish his sentence as the door blew away engulfing their bodies in flame. A firefight begun of plasma and bullets. The two groups shared equal casualties. The group of humans realising they might actually be beaten ran through the door to their left. The covenant were about to follow when an elite appeared from nowhere. He had been wearing camo gear and had been following the humans.
"They have the prisoner. Stop them!" he yelled. The elite joined their squad and the group chased after the renegade humans.
The humans had already boarded the covenant dropship when the special ops team reached the hangar. The humans had led them on a wild-goose chase throughout the ship and had finally led them here. Zitamee turned his attention to two hunters who had entered the hangar and said "stop them!". The hunters ran down the path jutting out into the middle of the hangar and charged their fuel-rod cannons. Just when they were about to fire the U-shaped dropship lurched into the air and turned towards the hunters. The two ends of the dropship crushed the hunters before they could shoot. It's job done, the ship turned round to the exit of the hangar and sped off into the night sky.
Bastip knelt down and whacked his head against the deck again and again. All that for nothing! He began to think maybe it would have been better to turn off the gravity lift. Then again that was his view from the start.....
Peace Out!
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