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The Ravine
Posted By: LaP<landonpratte@lycos.com>
Date: 21 May 2006, 12:20 am
Read/Post Comments
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Hello! This is my first Halo related fan-fiction, I hope you like it! I wasn't sure how to format it, so I did my best, I hope it turns out ok!
Six shots left. That's what the counter read, and that's all Private Frandson Mcleid had remaining in his EA5B assault rifle.
; ; "Damnit!" shouted Mcleid, "I've only got six shots left!"
; ; "Use 'em wisely son, use em wisely we've got more covies inbound."
Mcleid looked up and saw that indeed there were more of the fanatically murderous aliens approaching their position, each one thirsting for the blood of the human defenders as they sought to continue their campaign of death and destruction aimed at wiping out humanity from the face of the universe.
And Mcleid only had six shots left.
"Hey, Mcleid, hanging in there?" came a shout to the private's left. Mcleid glanced over and saw his squad mate Private Terry Lanson, and gave him a slight nod.
"Yeah, I'm hanging in, but I've only got six rounds left in my assault rifle, how bout you?"
"Rounds? I've got two full clips… but I need em." replied Lanson with a suspicious look on his face.
"Don't worry, I don't think I'll need any more than six." Mcleid assured Lanson, continuing, "I don't miss."
"Let's hope not, cause here they come!"
As Lanson shouted his warning, Mcleid heard the sound of the approaching alien force as they made their way across the shallow ravine-like declivity that separated the marines from the approaching alien force.
"OK troops, listen up!" shouted the sergeant. "It looks like we've got another wave of covies inbound. I count seventeen of em, so, since there are only six of us, let's make every shot count! Looks like they're gonna be coming up that ridge there as they cross the ravine, over by the overturned 'hog that we found earlier. If you run out of ammo, keep your head down and head to the rear. Got it? Good, let's show these covie bastards what we're made of!"
The squad hollered a reply, and then set about preparing for the imminent onslaught.
For his part, Private Mcleid couldn't help but think of the last time he'd been home. It was about two years ago, just after the fighting had started. Home was a small town on planet earth. He knew he was fortunate, most guys he ran into hadn't even seen earth, yet they gave their lives for it every day. Not Mcleid though. He actually knew what he was fighting for. The war for Mcleid was about his home, his dog, the post office on the corner and the ice cream shop where he used to get malted milk desserts with his friends when he was a kid. Back then he didn't know what a covenant was, nobody did. Back then all you had to worry about was whether a bike chain needed oiling, or how many lawns you'd need to mow to save up for a new toy rifle. Back then life was simple. But not any more. Now for Private Frandson Mcleid life meant staring a full covenant assault in the face, and with only six rounds too.
That was life now.
The covies came on hard.
Just like the sergeant had predicted, the alien forces swarmed across the ravine passing just to the left of the warthog that sat in the middle of the ravine like a six hundred pound dead rhinosaurus as they made their way up to the marine's position. Mcleid barely had time to react before a pack of jackals was on him.
When the first of the jackal's breached the small dirt fortification that the marines had put up in front of their position to protect them from the enemy, the soldier to Mcleid's left starting firing wildly. Mcleid had to take cover as rounds from the soldier's weapon richoshayed off the alien's multi-color shield and flew back in the direction that had come from.
"Martinez, stop firing at his damn shield, you're not hitting him you're only hitting us cause the bullets are bouncing off!"
"I'm trying to hit him in the damn head Mcleid! And I don't see you firing at anything!!"
"That's cause I've only got six rounds left, what do you want me to do, waste rounds like you? I can't afford to do that, I have to make these rounds count!!"
With that Mcleid rolled to his left to check and see how the rest of his squad was holding up. As he rounded a small bend in the fortifications, he noticed that the sergeant had stopped shooting, and was now trying to fend off the encroaching aliens with the butt of his rifle. It looked like a bad situation for the sergeant as alien after alien kept popping over the fortifications and descended on his position. The sergeant had one alien on the ground, and was about to mash another one in the face, when a third alien, a jackal, came up over the ridge behind him and was about to shoot him in the back of the head with his plasma pistol. Mcleid raised his assault rifle, aimed it above the alien's shield and fired. The jackal spun around and fell back over the fortification into the ravine, just as the sergeant was finishing up the second alien.
"Five left, damnit!" muttered Mcleid to himself.
Just at that moment Mcleid heard a strange rumbling coming from the other side of the ravine. He glanced to his left and noticed that his squad was faring fairly well, and that there was now a pile of dead aliens enlarging the fortification that the marines and built earlier at the top of the ridge. Satisfied that his squad was in good shape, Mcleid looked over the fortification and tried to find the source of the rumbling. Before long he had it, it was a wraith, an alien tank.
"Oh no!" muttered Mcleid, "what are we going to do now!"
With a glance to his left, Mcleid shuffled over to the left to see if he could get a better look at the oncoming tank. He raised his rifle and looked through the barrel to see a wraith tank with two elites riding on the sides. The hatch was open, and he could see the head of a third Elite piloting the tank. He took a deep breath, flipped the selector switch on his rifle to single shot, aimed at the elite in the pilots seat, and was about to squeeze the trigger when all of a sudden a greenish blur dashed in front of his vision.
"What the heck?!" muttered Mcleid, as he looked up from his rifle.
What ever it was, he couldn't see it now so he looked back though he scope and got ready to take the shot. Deep breath, in, out, in, hold it, and he fired. Four bullets left, but one less alien. Now that it's pilot was dead, the wraith shuddered and took a mighty swing to the left, and the two elites that were sitting on the side of the tank fell off.
"Not bad work Mcleid." Mcleid muttered to himself.
Just then Mcleid noticed a green form jet by out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw something he had never expected to see in his life: a Spartan.
The huge cyborg was running down the ravine over to where the wraith had lurched to a stop, just left of the warthog.
"Holy crap dude! Did you see that?" asked Martinez.
"Yeah, I think it was a Spartan, did you know there were any here?" replied Mcleid.
"No, but I've got ten bucks says he is about to win this fight for us!"
"Pssssh, I'm not takin that bet. Anyways, I'm just glad he's here, I've only got three bullets left in my gun.!"
"Yeah, tell me about it, I've only got like one clip left. Damned Jackals."
"Yeah, I know, next time don't shoot at their shields."
"Yeah, I won't. WHOA, did you see that?"
"Yeah! That Spartan just jumped over that elite and shot him from behind on his way down!"
"Man, I'm glad those guys are on our side!"
As the two soldiers watched, the Spartan continued to kill aliens discriminately on the opposite side of the ravine. Built to fight and improved with biomechanical upgrades, the Spartan was a match for anything the covenants could throw at it, and they kept throwing more.
Just then Mcleid heard a shoot from the sergeant "Git your heads down boys, we've got covie drop ships inbounds!"
"Oh damn, more aliens."
Mcleid glanced up and watched as a covenant drop ship screamed over head and hovered over the area were the Spartan was fighting the last of the covenants on the ground. The drop ship lowered, and out popped a squad of elites. There must have been at least eight of them, and they were all armed with plasma swords. The Spartan stood still, thinking about his next move, as the covies spread out and surround him.
Martinez raised his rifle and was about to shoot, but Mcleid yelled out and said "Stop, what the heck do you think you're doing, you're going to get him killed! Let him take care of it, that's what he's made for!"
Just then the Spartan jetted to his left as he pulled out a second submachine gun and aimed it at the elites. He fired, and two elites went down. He rolled to the left, ducked, and popped back up and two more elites were dust. Now there were four elites remaining, and the Spartan had a sword to go along with his rifle. He jumped up and slashed one elite across the chest and shot another in the head. Two elites left and the Spartan was in control. He raised his rifle and aimed it at one of the elites, but when he pulled the trigger nothing happened.
"Oh no!" gasped Mcleid, "he's out of bullets!"
"It's ok man, he's still got the sword."
Just then the second elite lurched forward and knocked the sword out of the Spartan's hand. Now he was in real trouble, but he didn't let it show. He crouched down, and then with a flip jumped over the elite, and landed on the warthog. He kicked one of the elite's in the head, and looked down searching for a gun.
From across the ravine Mcleid watched, and figured it was time to do something. He grabbed his rifle and checked the ammo counter.
"Four bullets, better make em count" he muttered to himself.
He raised the rifle, and looked though the scope. When he looked through the scope he saw the Spartan still searching in the wrecked warthog looking for a rifle that he couldn't find. The two elites were slowly circling the truck making ready to make a move. Mcleid aimed his rifle at the head of the alien behind the Spartan. He didn't want to shoot the closer alien first and spook the other alien that would be behind the Spartan so that he could easily kill the Spartan. He took aim and fired. A hit! The elite went down in a flash of ineffective shield and alien blood.
Mcleid raised his rifle and surveyed the scene. The Spartan and the elite both seemed somewhat shocked by the shot. The Spartan had stopped searching the warthog, and was now concentrating completely on the alien. The elite had also stopped, but was now readying himself for an attack. Mcleid raised his rifle and took aim. He fired, a miss!
"Damn, only two bullets left!" he muttered to himself.
"Dude, be careful, don't miss!" exclaimed Martinez to his left.
"I know, I know!"
Mcleid raised his rifle and sighted through the scope at the scene unfolding across the ravine. The elite was now completely cautious, but totally ramped up and ready to fight. Suddenly, the Spartan leaped off the warthog, and rolled to his left past the wraith. The elite followed, but couldn't catch the Spartan before he ducked behind the tank. Mcleid raised his rifle and took aim. He shot, but missed again. Only one bullet left.
By this time the elite had made his way around the wraith and was now face to face with the Spartan. The Spartan had a pistol in his hand, but apparently he had no ammo because instead of firing the gun, he was holding it by the barrel as if getting ready to pummel the elite with the butt of the gun. Mcleid raised his rifle and took aim. One more shot, better make it count, he thought. He took aim at the elite and fired. A hit! But the elite wasn't down, Mcleid's shot had only smacked him in the shoulder!
Just then, the Spartan leaped to his left and with a swiping motion swiped the elite across the head with his pistol. The elite went down! Mcleid's shot had been enough to drain the elite's shields and the Spartan's melee attack had finished it off!
Mcleid raised his rifle and looked across the chasm. As he watched the Spartan dropped his pistol, turned, gave a nod to his unseen protector, and bolted off.
"Whoa! You did it!" exclaimed Martinez.
"I told you I don't miss"
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