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From the Halo Diaries (Chapter 7)
Posted By: aussie_spartan<aussie_spartan@hotmail.com>
Date: 21 June 2007, 9:41 am


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       Halo Inspired Fan Fiction

Time unknown, (Before the fall of Reach) / Location Classified


       He was being frog marched to wherever the Covenant wanted to take him, his own muscles to weak to support him anymore he was forced to follow the two Elite's carrying him. Lieutenant Carter feebly attempted to struggle for a moment but all it resulted in was a vicious uppercut to the face and his blood freely poured from his already blood caked nose down his face, onto his chin where it either dripped off or congealed. "Where are you squid-faces fuckers taking me?" Carter asked.
       There was no reply because they either didn't care to answer or they couldn't understand him. The golden Elite was here too, Carter noticed that he was hesitant to make eye contact with him which was strange behavior for any of his kind. They had no qualms with boldly staring him in the face and he had none to do the same even though it usually cost him in the end. "Are you God ugly mother's gunna tell me where it is we're going or do I have to beat it out of you?"
       It was clearly a hollow threat, Carter was in no position to punch any of them and the last time he had tried was three days after his imprisonment. One of the Elite's grunted but there was no other reply except the golden one seemed to tighten his muscles slightly. Was it Carter's imagination but did the Golden one almost look like he was scared? No, that wasn't it, in pain? Before Carter could figure it out they had apparently reached the end of their journey coming out to a dank and dark place which almost looked like the room they administered the electro shock 'therapy' except Carter immediately decided he liked that room better. This room had some of the most sinister looking instruments hanging from the walls that Carter had ever seen, some of which he had a vague idea of how they would work but the really scary ones were in shapes and forms he never knew existed. "Am I supposed to be afraid?" Carter asked sarcastically in a much more confident tone than he thought possible.
       Finally one of the Elite's replied "If you aren't now, you will be. I assure you of that, you will be."

       Ship Master 'Hynue was almost proud of the way the human handled himself when entering the level 6 torture room. What he said was of blatant defiance of all the horrors they had put him through but he was able to pick up the slightest trace of fear in the man's voice and it was his eyes that gave him away. There was a strong look in them which 'Hynue prized so much in his soldiers but behind it as he knew there always was lurked the ever present fear of death. He addressed the human one final time hoping he would give them the information they needed but already knowing the answer, no amount of scare tactics could bring it out of him "Where is the human home world?"
       This 'Carter' looked at him at with all the hate he could muster replied "You should look behind the couch; I find all kinds of crazy shit there."
       'Hynue sighed, "Very well, you have sealed your own fate."
       The two Elite's holding him dragged him off to the seat in the center of the room and strapped him into the seat struggling with all his might. At that moment the doors to the room opened with a soft whooshing sound and Ship Master Gulinee flanked by six Honor guards. He quickly strode over to 'Hynue "It is time, is the human prepared?"
       "Yes, Ship Master. We are ready to begin."

       Carter heard some Covenant bullshit in their warbled language before another one of them entered. After some shuffling about at one of the tables (none of this Carter could see because the Elite had his back turned) he turned back holding a most sinister looking device. It was a pale purplish color, long but skinny and it had saw-like protrusions sprouting along its length, the Elite clicked something on the handle and it started spinning. Looking at the Elites around him their expressions ranged from haughty to disgusted, the Elite with the instrument approached him its mouth spreading into an impossibly wide grin. Cater didn't know what it planned to do but he was damned if he would let them do it "Hey, what's going on squid boy? You know I was just kidding about those ugly remarks, you don't look that ugly."
       The Elite with the weird cattle prod only got closer. Carter started struggling and staining against his bonds hoping to get free but he was bound too tight to really move. Two Elites held his head in place as the Elite with the prod grasped his face with its cold armored hand which was about the point when Carter realized that they meant to shove it into his eye, he struggled even more but it was too late. All that Carter could remember next was a pain so intense that all else was blinded…

2116 hours, July 14, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Aboard the MAC platform Cairo, in orbit around Earth

       Once the fight on E deck was done the area fell into an eerie silence with bodies of both humans and Covenant strewn across a great amount of the floor. Sergeant Major Brown looked on sadly as the stations medics and corpsmen dealt with the dead and wounded picking them up and disposing of them. Brown wondered if they would ever get the blood out of the walls and they definably couldn't ever get the smell of blood out of the station, it was everywhere saturating the station in its ghastly odor. Lance Corporal Evans wandered up behind Brown and asked "Sir, the Covenant have been repelled from this floor, what do we do now?"
       Brown looked around to all the soldiers in his command there wasn't much left of them but they were still willing to fight… mostly. Private First Class Green said in a hurried and fearful tone "Sir, we're not going back in are we? This was hell I can't imagine what's going to happen next."
       Not even leaving a second pause between their words Brown answered immediately "For too long have we been running scared from the Covenant, now we finally have those bastards on the run and you wanna quit? I'm not gunna let that happen marine, you've got three seconds to get your piss ass off the floor before I wipe said floor with said ass!"
       At this Green got up very quickly, Lance Corporal Evans smiled and suppressed a laugh which reminded Brown of how pretty she was, if it wasn't for this damn war…
       He couldn't think about that now, there were things to do and Covenant to kill "Alright marines who's ready to kick some Covenant ass?"
       He was almost deafened by the noise that those few marines made at his words, turning to Evans he barked to her "I think our boys and girls are ready to go out, don't they grow up so fast?"
       She laughed again and then they were off to reinforce the rest of the decks with Sergeant Major Brown leading them through the twists of the human MAC gun platform. It didn't take them long to find another engagement to fight, it was on G deck between a few pinned down marines and a massive Covenant strike force. After a short check that their weapons were in working order they dropped in on the fight surprising the Covenant and giving them a massive advantage. Brown hefted a rocket launcher he had found on the corpse of a marine and aimed for roughly where the enemy was because with a rocket launcher who really needs to aim? Three grunts and an Elite went flying through the air and landed in about sixteen different places as their blood rained down on their compatriots. Then Brown turned on his heel and squeezed the trigger sending another blast rocketing to the position a grunt and two jackals had taken in an attempt to flank them. After they too had landed Brown dropped the launcher and sprinted across the battlefield looking along the way for a usable weapon, none of the Covenant plasma bullshit. Eventually Brown spotted a SMG but it was behind a red Elite, it warbled something in its language which sounded something akin to an alien battle cry and lunged at Brown knocking him to the ground. He was luckily that the Elite bastard didn't have an energy sword otherwise he would be a dead man right now but a plasma rifle to the head even with a helmet hurts really badly. "Ya think I'm just gunna roll over and let you kill me? Think again!"
       Brown slipped his arm out from their struggles and grabbed the SMG but he was too late the Elite already had his rifle at Brown's head. Brown closed his eyes and waited for death… but it never came and he felt the Elite's body slump against him which he then rolled off and stood up. Evans was standing over the Elite's body with a sniper rifle. "Evans I could kiss you." Brown said.
       Evans just smiled and turned around fixing her sights on another Elite Brown turned too and put his back to her as they fired at the oncoming hordes of Covenant soldiers. Brown turned to see what the rest of his soldiers were doing; Green was pinned down by six grunts who kept pummeling the boxes he was hiding behind with plasma fire. The Sergeant Major ran and jumped over a table actually landing on one grunt as he opened up on another putting three in his skull sending him reeling into two more grunts and they all fell down together. The three grunts left standing looked at each other fearfully and ran, they didn't last long as Brown fired at their retreating backs while Green covered his back and dispatched of the two who were on the ground. "Good thing you did that Green, I thought they were just about to surrender." Evans said to Green in a patronizing voice.
       Green grinned and replied "Better safe than sorry, if we had of taken them in alive they might of bored us to death."
       "Heaven forbid." Muttered Brown so that only he could hear it.

2345 hours, July 14, 2557 (Military Calendar)/ Old Mombassa, Earth

       Lance Corporal Silvia Russell, Private First Class Ian Powell and Radioman Brian Flores jogged quickly through Old Mombassa's main police station searching the weapons lockers for weapons. Rifles, handguns, pepper spray, anything but to no avail, there was nothing to scavenge. Obviously the locals had taken them all during their brief but blood attempt to buy the marine's time to get on location and defend the city. They turned another corner and came to a grunt scout, without even thinking Russell raised her silenced SMG and fired. All the SMG made was a low coughing sound but the effect was so much more and the grunts life was ended in an instant when the rounds took out both of its kneecaps dropping him. As the passed Powell pulled a silenced pistol and finished him off before he alerted his comrades to their position or even existence because despite their constant skirting near and around Covenant forces they had yet to be seen. "Madam, where to next? My feet are getting tired and my trigger finger is getting itchy." Powell said over their squad intercom.
       "Already? You just shot someone Ian can you hold it in for ten minutes?" Flores replied and even though Silvia couldn't see their faces she knew they were smiling, she decided that it was a good way to lighten up the mood.
       "I thought I told you to go before we left."
       They both started laughing at that but their laughter was short lived as a beam particle round tore through their midst pinging the wall behind them. "Sniper!"
       They all took shelter in doorways of the hallway they were in and started looking for their sniper, after another second Powell clicked twice on their com to get their attention and pointed out from his handing spot to the window at one end of the hall. Through it window and out onto the street was a lone jackal with the beam rifle as it realized they knew where it was it opened its gaping mouth to screech for reinforcements. Taking his opportunity Silvia swiveled out of her hiding spot switching to her sniper as she went and fired a single shot into the jackals opened mouth. Brains splattered the wall behind it and the jackal dropped like a sack of potatoes with a dull thump. They were about to move again when they heard the loud rumbling of Covenant wraiths, they were called wraiths for a reason: if you met one you would soon become one. Many marines feared the massive mortar tanks and their glowing orbs of doom as much as they did for the only creature in existence that resembled a tank more than it did a living creature: Hunters. Incidentally they too could be heard over the rumble. "Why the hell are the Covenant moving all these heavy artillery here?" Powell asked.
       "Dunno, just a sec." Was all Russell replied.
       She quickly checked and rechecked their position on the map and where the road would take these massive behemoths but the only place of notable interest was the bridge between new and old Mombassa. Russell looked up from the map and at her two squad mates. "So, where are they going?" Asked Flores.
       "It looks like their heading for Old Mombassa."
       "Why are they going there?"
       "Who the hell should I know? Do I look like a bloody Covie bastard?"
       "Sometimes…"
       "FLORES!"
       "No madam!"
       Flores smiled and stood up from the crouching position he had taken up while they were ducking from the alien sniper. "Let's go." Was all Powell said.

       They had been skirting behind the Covenant convoy for almost an hour now and it was getting rather irksome and tedious. Not only did Russell have to look after Flores who had no stealth training she also had to keep ahead of the Covenant keeping track of where they were going to be lest their hidden path cross that of the convoy. Silvia was considering sending Flores back to base by himself so that he could report on what they had found and the Covenant convoy they could ambush but she didn't think Flores had the experience to make it back himself. After all, he was only in the ODST's because they were very short on competent radiomen and women. She turned to Flores "I think it would be best of you and Powell went back to base on your own so that I can track this group and find out what they're up to."
       Powell raised an eyebrow through his shaded helmet. "You really think that's a good idea madam?"
       Silvia did not enjoy having her tactical ideas mocked by someone especially if that someone was of inferior rank to her, some lieutenants even would rather dance around her ideas as opposed to outright dismissing them. She gave Powell a stare that meant business but he shrugged it off and continued "Wouldn't it be better if we all went back together and just put a tracker on them?"
       Containing her rage Silvia said through clenched teeth "And how do you propose we stick a tracker to them when we are forced hide from those motion tracking tanks?"
       Powell smiled and pointed at two grunts who had wandered away from the convoy a little way "Who said anything about sticking the tanks?"

2440 hours, July 14, 2557 (Military Calendar) / Australia, Victorian Otways (Forests), Earth

       "Where are we going again?" Sergeant Moore asked again.
       "Jeez Moore, you're worse than my two year old." Replied Captain Taylor. "We're going back to HQ to get the message of the Flood infestation back to those who can do something about it."
       Moore and Taylor continued to hump it through the thick woods searching for a road they could follow, Taylor was certain that the road was somewhere around here but as time went by Moore was becoming more certain that Taylor had no idea where he was going. As Moore took another step his boot sank knee deep in the mud and came out with a sucking sound which made Moore wince, it was too hard to move with any element of stealth in these conditions.

       Special Operations Elite Furne Hajune heard the tell-tale sound of boots slopping in the mud with gave away the humans position. His commanding officer had given him instructions to eliminate the humans who had run from the battle swiftly and quickly. The last thing they needed was the humans pounding them while the Flood slowly infected its way through their ranks. He raised his carbine and stalked slowly after the sound the humans were making, luckily unlike his human prey he knew how not to make any sound when treading in muddy ground. Hajune clicked the zoom function on his carbine and searched for the two humans, eventually he targeted them, and there were two of them. One in the standard soldier's uniform that all human ground soldiers wore but the other strangely wore the uniform of one of the human's fighter pilots. Hajune had no respect for pilots, in his opinion they were all overrated. He decided to target this human first and sighted him bringing the crosshairs over his helmet less head. He was about to pull the trigger when the first human turned in his direction and spotted him, knowing that his window of opportunity was closing and fast Hajune squeezed off three shots.

       Moore turned to look at their right side and then saw an Elite, one of their black special operations soldiers; he had a carbine and was aiming in their direction. Knowing he only had seconds to react Moore dived tackling Taylor to the ground hoping to avoid a repeat situation of his last sniper encounter. Three shot ran overhead and Moore somersaulted after bringing Taylor to the ground getting onto one knee and opening up with his battle rifle. The Elite ducked out of sight and after giving what Moore considered to be suitable covering fire Moore grabbed the still dazed Taylor and led him to a fallen tree they could hide behind. The moment they had gotten behind the log the Elite resumed fire at the log sending splintered wood flying everywhere. Moore turned to Taylor who had finally gotten over his surprise and was carefully taking in the situation "Got any ideas?" Moore yelled.
       Taylor turned back to Moore and yelled over all the noise "Not yet but I intend to."
       "I'm surprised a Captain can't think of something to do in a situation like this."
       "You're surprised? I thought you marines were a cynical bunch?"
       Moore would have laughed if it wasn't for their serious situation, he put his battle rifle on top of the log and using it for support blindly fire in the Elites direction. HE knew he wasn't going to hit the Elite he just needed to suppress the son of a bitch enough so that he wouldn't have too much room to sneak up on them or get a better vantage point.

       Hajune snarled as the humans returned fire from their hiding spot, the pilot, as he predicted, was a terrible ground troop but the other one made up for his lack of battle skills on the ground. Considering his options Hajune found there was only one answer, he would have to charge them and hope that his shield would take the brunt of their primitive weapons. Quickly firing off the last of his munitions for the carbine Hajune switched to his plasma rifle which would be much more suited for close up combat and charged the human position. Quickly closing the space between himself and the log Hajune snatched a plasma grenade from his belt and lobbed it to the humans hiding spot. He heard a yell and they both jumped from their cover as the grenade exploded in a blinding flash of bluish colour sending mud and whatever was left of the log everywhere. Hajune jumped and landed next to the pilot, he took a swipe at the pilot knocking him to the ground and shot at the other one, his plasma bolts hit their mark and the human collapsed screaming at the top of his lungs in the mud and grass clutching his chest.

       Taylor tried to get up but the Elite hit him and nearly knocked him out, it took all of Taylor's energy to clutch onto consciousness but he managed. "Son of a bitch." He said as he struggled to raise his pistol.
       The Elite saw him and promptly filled Taylor's chest with plasma.

       Grunting in satisfaction Hajune watched the light leave the eyes of his prey then turned to the other soldier but while he was busy with the pilot the other human had snuck up on him with his own pistol. The bullets pinged off Hajune's energy shield and he knew that the human was just making a wild attempt at fighting back; effortlessly Hajune put the last human out of his misery.





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