Stranded
Posted By: Helljumper 552390<robin_awhitehouse@yahoo.com.au>
Date: 26 October 2007, 7:17 am
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0600 Hours, 17th June, 2552/
Covenant Controlled New Mombassa
The city was shell of what it used to be, at least that's what PFC Drake Vendera thought. The ruins of New Mombassa where a reflection of the entire Human Covenant war. They had tried to hold their ground but the second time the Covenant came back they hit New Mombassa hard. Like ever other planet faced with annihilation by the Covenant they had fought. They were fighting a losing war one in which there was no escape this time. He hadn't heard any of his CO's admit it but his Non-Com's had uttered it a couple of times. There wasn't much action in the 77th Marine Regiment at Voi so his squad had been reassigned to reinforce New Mombassa. The Covenant had made a gap in the Orbital MAC cannons and managed to occupy or destroy most of the city. His comrades had fought hard but in the end what did they have to show for it, a smouldering pile of stone and twisted metal. Then he focused, there was still hope. As long as he or any other marine still drew breath from inside of the ruins of New Mombassa there was hope.
The slums of New Mombassa were being warped by the wavy heat lines that stemmed from the ground. Drake wiped the sweat from his face and tried not to think about the sun beating down upon them. His combat armour wasn't helping him cool down and he felt like he was lugging a tonne of bricks around. He grasped his MA5C assault rifle, it was the one the thing that comforted him when he was on patrol. He had been fighting with the remnants 405th Alpha Company since he had touched down in New Mombassa. He had learnt of the Covenant's warship Slipspace diaster which had wiped out a large portion of the city ands its occupants. His squad hadn't been there for the first battle and it weighed heavily on his mind but now they were here and in the thick of it. Sergeant 'Gunnie' Reynolds, was their squad leader Drake trusted his sergeant so much it was frightening. He knew that he would follow Reynolds to whatever end. Tedros Amara an African soldier who felt that he was fighting not only for his home planet, humanity but his homeland. Shifty Wright a marine who hadn't seen much combat and was regarded by the squad as a greenhorn. Ramirez Holt was one of the most fearless soldiers among them who carried the M90A shotgun as his preferred weapon. The last of the five man squad was Blake Benseti, Drake found that he acted as the conscious of the group. He also was pretty humorous at times. His Australian accent suggested that he had been pulled from a long way away to be in this squad. Whenever Drake asked why he was here Blake always gave the same answer
'I'm here to fight' the words seem to echo in his head and Drake threw the thoughts aside.
He scanned the small hamlets and slums of New Mombassa. His squad was on a long range recon, ever since the Covenant had returned marines had been pulling out of New Mombassa in droves. A few suckers had been left behind, among them himself. They had to find some sort of suitable extraction zone where a Pelican could land and evac them back to their main HQ at the Crows Nest. Every time they thought that they had found an area it was always populated with Covenant troops or an AA battery. After much consideration the marines had decided to clear an AA site or landing zone of Covenant then a dropship could bug them out. Drake jogged down the small street and took cover behind a pile of rubble. He poked his head up and spotted no Covenant in the vicinity. He had noticed that in the second assault by the Covenant there were no longer any of the tall bipeds that he had seen and heard so much about. They had been replaced by what his comrades had nicknamed 'Brutes' the name fitted as these hairy creatures were so massive they could break bones and kill with every strike. Drake relaxed as he saw no contacts and signalled for his squad to move down into the slums. He was on point and had to make sure that no Covenant were searching the area with patrols. Ramirez ran up next to him and ducked behind the pile of rubble.
"Get your own damn cover this doesn't fit two!" Ramirez screwed his face up and grunted. He ran to an adjacent building and hugged the wall. He was a masculine man but Drake had no problem arguing with him in the field. They had to move down a long a street which seemed to meander towards a large clearing ahead. Reynolds keyed his mike and his voice filled Drake's head.
"Alright we move down to the clearing up ahead. Remember we have to scope this possible LZ and avoid enemy contact. I don't want us to get into a firefight. We haven't got the weapons and were too far out to call for support. This could be our chance men." Drake realised that they'd burn through their ammunition pretty quick if they tried to take out a Covenant held position. Blake ran down the street and ducked next to Ramirez. He paused then ran down further until taking cover behind destroyed slum. Reynolds and Tedros carried up the rear and stayed behind watch their six. Shifty ran over and dove to cover near Drake behind a small wall. He gripped his MA5C so hard his knuckles had turned white. Drake would have told him to calm down but the green marine was right, they should be worried. They were cut off and moving through enemy territory with barely enough supplies to keep them going for a day. Drake looked at Benseti who raised his hand in a fist.
"Sarge contact!" Drake felt his heart pump, whatever Blake could see it had him scared.
"What is it soldier?" Blake crouched and raised his rifle down the alley.
"Sir one large brute with about five of those little bastards, please advise?" Reynolds ran down the alley and signalled to conceal themselves. Blake ran back up to their position and ducked behind the rubble with Drake. He could hear a disgruntled grunt from Ramirez come from his left.
"Alright, we let them pass but if they come our way we take them down hard and fast!" Drake heard the heavy thump of the brute's boots long before he could see them. His heart was pounding and he clicked the safety off his MA5C. Sure enough like Benseti described a large brute accompanied by what the marines called 'grunts' came patrolling into their alley. They were well hidden but if the brute led his squad further into the alley he would be almost face to face with his squad. Drake pulled down his orange tinged visor and looked at Blake. He uttered a short prayer and pulled down his visor. There was a sudden stop and the brute halted his grunts. Drake peered through the small cracks of the rubble and felt his heart stop as the brute's gaze became fixed upon the alley. The brute lifted his head high and like a dog sniffed the air. The grunts grumbled amongst themselves and seem to murmur the longer the brute was stationary. Drake pressed his helmet hard against the concrete and tired to force himself lower. It was a futile effort but trying gave him a strange sense of hope. There was a low grumble and the brute began to talk in a butchered English accent.
"I smell vermin!" Reynolds keyed his mike and alerted the squad.
"Hold Bravo squad!" Drake knew that every fibre in his body was telling him to engage the enemy or hightail it back to the 405th, though another emotion stirred in him as the brute un-holstered its 'spiker'. Whether it was courage or a blind sense of obligation to fight for his squad he slowly rose from the concrete.
"They're close!" The brute's voice had a bloodcurdling hint of excitement in its sinister tone as he smelled the air again. Reynolds swung out from the building he was behind with his BR55HB Battle Rifle and Drake rose with him.
"Light 'em up!" Reynolds fired and a short burst found its target and smashed into the brute's armor. Drake pulled down on the trigger and felt the gun kick into his shoulder. He yelled a vicious warcry as the deafening roar of Bravo's squads firepower echoed throughout the slums as their bullets tore through the flesh and hide of the enemy. He paused and lined up a grunt firing a short sharp burst catching the creature in the neck and back. There was a splash of blue alien blood and the horrible thing squealed and collapsed to the ground. He reloaded and ducked behind cover. The unmistakable hiss of a plasma discharge sounded off near him and Drake noticed that his cover was being burnt and dissolved by Covenant plasma fire. The brute stumbled back clutching his chest as Reynolds fired another burst into the beast and it howled a gurgled cry of agony and anger as it toppled to the ground finally brought down. A burst from Ramirez's shotgun caught one of the grunts methane tanks and it popped hissing out gas into the air. The combined firepower from his squad mowed down the retreating grunts and in a few heartbeats it was over. Drake scanned the area and found that all contacts had been neutralized. There was nothing but silence and the hissing sound of ruptured methane tanks. Drake was the first to stand and approach the corpses, he fired a burst into the nasty looking brute's head and watched as it splattered apart in a colourful display of purple blood and dark coloured ooze.
"Not so tuff now are ya!" He kicked it in the chest and was surprised when he founds its body was rock solid. His sergeant ran down and grabbed Drake.
"Cease fire marine! We have a job to do and I'm sure as hell not gonna die trying to finish this fight. I bet a Covenant patrol heard that and is on its way! Drake take up point and lead us to the LZ." Drake cringed as his sergeant forced him back on point, something that had been donned "meat-shield duty" by his comrades. He wiped the purple blood from his visor and continued on through the slums with his squad not too far behind.
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