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A Series of Wierd Events - Sequel, Part One[FORUNNER]
Posted By: Hunter_Killer<jlp8118@sbcglobal.net>
Date: 3 December 2003, 3:39 PM


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-- AS TOLD BY FORUNNER --




It was a dark and stormy night, well actually it was a bright and sunny
day, but I?m not much of an outdoor person. Anyway, the point is I
was inside playing Halo PC, laughing my ass off at the Grunt who kept
running around in circles because he had a plasma grenade stuck to his
ass. Then my computer turned into a black hole, I was sucked in, felt a
sense of free-fall, then blacked out.

I awoke on the Bridge of the PoA, surrounded by fanfic writers, forum
regulars, staff members, halo story page submitters, and basically
anybody else that had anything to do with HBO. They were all in a
heated discussion of what the hell they were doing here.
"I'm tellin' you, it's a repeat of AsoWE!" Insisted Elfster, who was
sitting on a console in the front of the bridge near the display.
"Let's hope not," Said a grim Walker.
"It ain't! I'm sure o' it! We won that battle!" Mainevent put in.
"Barely," Recounted bloodsoldier3.
Captain Keyes and several Marines and Crewmen were watching the
conversation.
So, it appeared the whole of all o' the HBOers were on the Autumn.
Wu said, "Well, if it is, we're in the PC Version of it, so if we fight
the Covies, we can count on freeze-ups to help."
"True," Said mnemisis.
"Whatever it is, Spark's behind it all,? said Hunter_Killer, entering
the debate.
"Hey!" 343 Guilty Spark said indignantly to him.
"I meant the one on Halo!" he said impatiently.
"Oh."
"Sir, preparing to leave slipspace!" Yelled a Tech, and he typed away
at
his station.
"Ok, so we arrived a little before the first level began. Now we can
prepare." Mainevent Said.
"From what?" Somebody in the back asked. The ship jolted, as it landed
smack dab into a Covie trap.
"That," said H_K, and the ship rumbled from several hits.
"Combat Alert Alpha! All personnel to stations." Yelled Keyes.
"All personnel, sir?" Asked Cortana.
"All personnel."

Me and the rest of the HBOers ran out of the bridge in a stampede of
MJLINOR armor. H_K?s voice sounded over the speakers: ?ATTENTION.
ALL HBO UNITS, GET WEAPONS AT ARMORY THEN PROCEED TO MARINE BAY. THAT
IS ALL. SIGNED, HUNTER_KILLER?
Immediately I changed course and headed for the armory. Thankfully I
was
one of the first there so I got my pick of weapons. I picked up an
Assault Rifle with the game maximum ammo, two M6D pistols, and 6 frag
grenades. After everybody was suited up, we formed two strait columns,
and Wu patrolled them. He had become the unofficial Sergeant
Johnson?except white (p.s. sorry if you really are black, but the
mental image I get of you is white). After Patrolling the rows many
times, he finally said, ?Men, I have only the slight suspicion that
this'll be ASoWE number two, so brace yourselves. Anyways, we WILL kick
the living hell out of those Godamned Covenant Bastards, and come home
alive! Do you get me fully and thoroughly, Men (And
Women)??!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?"
"SIR YES SIR!!!!" Yelled Marines and HBOers alike, in one cry.
"Uh huh, that's what I thought. Now move out! Alpha Squad, cover the
Mess Hall! Beta, get airlocks one through 3. The rest of you, split up
and secure the Ship! We got Covies inbound.
MOVE OUT!!!!!"
With this order, all hands scrambled.
"Alpha Squad, wit me," Yelled Alpha Lance, and he gathered a team.
"Beta Squad! Over here!" Yelled Frensa.
"Delta Squad!" H_K yelled.
"Gamma Squad!" Ordered Wu.
"Omega Squad!" Yelled Walker.
"November Squad!" Yelled Mainevent.
Instinctively my feet carried me to November squad, along with Wado,
CoLd BlooDed, and 12 game marines. We moved to the engine room and
converged with Gamma Squad, which consisted of Wu, mnemisis, Shiska,
SimpsonsRule, and 12 game marines, we also got a few divisions of
marines to aid us. After our teams had been organized, we took up our
positions, and braced for the wave of Covies.?..

       It didn?t take long. A few seconds later, one of the several
heavy titanium doors burst open and Covenant came spilling out. It was
a wave of 30 Grunts at first, but they
barely got through the door as all the fire converged on them. From
behind them, another four Spec Ops Grunts with fuel rods came up and
fired, followed by six Hunters. The Grunts salvo of fuel rods missed
for the most part, one managed to incinerate a trio of game marines,
but the others missed. However, the Hunters next salvo of fuel rods
were much better aimed, and took out a total of 11 game marines and
damaged Wado?s shield.
       The return fire was great, but from there current position,
there weapons couldn?t penetrate there armor. Finally after two more
fuel rod salvos, the November-Gamma squad combo was forced to retreat a
little further back into the room. A file of Jackals marched in behind
the cover of the Hunters gun, followed by Grunts and a dozen Elites (4
red, 6 Blue, 2 Gold).
       ?ARRRRRRRGGGH!!!? I yelled, as I fired in a full auto
frenzy, catching six Grunts and a pair of Jackals in my fury. A barrage
of plasma nearly blindsided me and brought my shields down to 30%. I
ducked down and waited for my shields to recharge, then peeked back up.
The culprits were a pair of blue armored Elites that had tried to sneak
around the barricade. I threw a grenade at there feet, one was smart
and rolled away, the other was oblivious to the explosive and was torn
to shreds. However, the smart one also met a sticky end to a barrage of
Assault Rifle from some of the marines.
       Just then I heard what I thought to be mnemisis scream, ?Get
the FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!!?
       He was yelling at a Hunter. He was in a bad situation, he was
backed into a corner and one of the Hunters was charging him, the
Hunter was directly in front of him so he couldn?t hit it in the
right spot. I grabbed my M6D as quick as I could and fired three shots,
one hit the nearest bulkhead, the second hit the monster in the
shoulder, and the third hit him in his exposed flesh. He groaned and
fell face first, mnemisis barely avoided getting crushed by the falling
corpse. He nodded and gave a thumbs up and I returned the favor.
       I ducked from a volley of stray Needlers, shot the offending
Grunt, then took a moment to asses my surroundings.
       The HBOers were kickin? ass, Covenant carcasses littered the
deck, but they also had there fair share of losses. A trio of HBOers
lay dead (I wont name anybody to avoid contradicting the story), and
nearly 2/3 of the marine force were dead. Little by little, the
Covenant were gaining ground.
       I peppered a few Grunts with bullets, and was forced to duck
as
another salvo of fuel rods leaped over my head. ?Dammit?, I
thought, ?if we could get rid of those Hunters we might actually have
a chance to launch a counter offensive?. Including the one he had
taken out, there had been only two Hunters killed, but another squad of
Hunters had come reinforced with an Elite squad (boosting the numbers
to 24 Elites, 10 Hunters). Most of the Hunters were staying back, all
overcharging there guns at one time and launching massive salvos into
the marine defenders.
       I picked up my radio and called Mainevent. ?Main, we gotta
take out those Hunters, once we do, we can actually mount a decent
counteroffensive?, I said.
       His voice came back over the radio, slightly distorted but
recognizable, ?Don?t worry about that, me and Shiska are taking
care of it?.
       I was about to ask him what the hell he meant, when two
rockets
whooshed down from above. One hit a Hunter strait in the chest, its
entire top half exploded and a fountain of orange blood splurted out.
The second was slightly to the left of its target, but the shrapnel
and napalm at point-blank range easily engulfed the Hunter and a Grunt
with the poor judgment to stand next to him.
       I followed the smoke trail, and saw it was coming from an
overhead maintenance, and I could just recognize Shiska and Mainevent,
each with a Rocket Launcher in hand. Obviously the Covenant had done
the same, and a volley of small arms fire was directed up at them, but
it was hardly effective at this range, and the Hunters guns were still
reloading after the last salvo. Two more rockets bared on the Covenant
attackers, one taking out another Hunter, and another detonating
amongst a cluster of Elites, killing two, injuring a third.
       I managed to give a WHOOP!! of joy?until the Hunters guns
recharged and they unleashed another massive salvo. 7 Fuel rods aimed
up at them, but Mainevent and Shiska had retreated as soon as they had
fired there second rocket and were now practically through the nearest
door. Most hit above or under there intended targets, a few fell short,
and one hit the door they had just exited through, turning it into
bubbling, melting titanium.
       Crap. The rocket brigade hadn?t been nearly as successful as
I had hoped it would, 7 Hunters still remained, and although the
rockets had created considerate collateral damage, there were still
just to many. By the time Mainevent and Shishka were back on the ground
level, we were pinned.
       I literally had my back against a wall as I emptied my last
pistol and picked up a plasma rifle lying on the ground, finding to my
dismay it only had enough charge left to fire two shots. And then, just
as quickly as the attack began, it stopped. The Covenant made a hasty
retreat through the blown hatch they had entered through, leaving many
wounded and dying behind.
       When the last Covie left and the last shot was fired, I
finally
allowed myself to relax slightly. Marine security teams were already
shifting through the bodies, finding wounded and greeting them with a
face full of lead. As they worked, I mulled over the battle in my mind.
Why had they retreated? They had them pinned, was it because of the
heavy losses they had sustained?
       Almost as if to answer my question, the ship rumbled with
shocking force, sending me to my knees. It was because whoever was
leading the boarding parties realized that the Pillar of Autumn was
falling apart, and could collapse at any given moment.
       I heard a moan and looked over my shoulder. Mainevent was on
his knees tending to CoLd BlooDed, it looked as if he had caught a fuel
rod strait in the chest, the plasma reflective armor was caved in and
charred in that area. Sparks were being sent up from the MJLINORS
systems. Main had his helmet off and was forcing some painkillers down
his throat, which made him loose conscious. I walked over to him, he
looked at me and stood up.
       ?hey Main, how you doing??
       He looked at me and grinned, ?Oh fine, considering the fact
that we?ve been sucked into a videogame, where immanent danger lurks
everywhere, and everything that happens here happens in the real world,
its just like every other day. How about you??
       I chuckled and was about to give some smart-aleck response,
when CoLd BlooDed groaned, then rolled over on his stomach. Seeing the
alarmed look on my face, he said ?Don?t worry, he?ll be fine.
He?s the luckiest man alive in my opinion actually. He?s only
suffered a broken collarbone, three fractured ribs, moderate head
trauma, and a few cuts and bruises from when he fell. The armors a lot
worse off, it took the brunt of the attack, but it?s within working
range.
       I shot him a look, ?Since when did you become a
doctor/MJLINOR expert??
       ?Huh. Oh, umm, since we?ve been sucked in this video game I
guess?
       Wu walked over to us, talking to Mainevent mostly, ?A brigade
of ODST?s are coming to take our place. I want your team prepped and
ready to move, you?ll be leaving this shitbucket using lifeboat bays
1C-7C. Gamma squad will stay here for a few more minutes until the
ODST?s arrive, then well be leaving through HEV?s?.
       We both went into salutes (though it wasn?t technically
necessary for me since his comments weren?t directed at me) and
replied ?YES SIR!!?
       He nodded, ?Alright, be prepared to move it out?, and with
that he turned to the remains of Gamma squad and barked orders.
After Mainevent had gathered what was left of his squad (Wado, me, a
crippled CoLd BlooDed, and 5 game marines), we moved out through the
PoA?s corridors. Wado and Mainevent were carrying CoLd BlooDed?s
stretcher between them, while I (Needler in hand), and the game marines
covered them.
       We almost made it home free, till a patrol group of seven
Grunts passed there sights. If it hadn?t been for the idiot marines,
the Grunts probably would have passed us buy and we could have
continued on. But after years of fighting the marines had developed a
shoot-first mentality, and booming reports of bullet striking aliens
rang through the corridors.
       As I suspected, they had not been alone. As soon as the Grunts
gave there dying breaths, a pair of Jackals appeared in the corridor
ahead of them. The marines immediately scattered to opposite ends of
the hall so as to spread themselves out, the HBOers were forced to make
there way to cover while covering a cumbersome stretcher. As soon as
the stretcher was set down behind the cover of a support-pillar, the
HBOers ended what would have been a long drawn out fire fight within
seconds. But it wasn?t over yet, 5 more Grunts and a Jackal leader
appeared behind them. One of the Grunts through a grenade that latched
on to a marines forearm. He seemed to be halfway in between rushing the
Covenant, and halfway in between pissing himself, when he exploded,
taking two others with him. I primed another frag and threw it at the
jackals feet, another frag from Wado landed right behind the jackal.
The ensuing twin explosions rocked the floor, leaving only 6 mangled
corpses and one shrapnel filled grunt left, which the nearest marine
promptly shot, the kicked in the face, then shot again, screaming
incoherent gibberish.
       We picked up the stretcher again and were off. Again, we
almost
made it down easy street until we came down the final stretch. A
security detachment of 11 marines and HBOer Sergeant B were defending
the life pods, trying to buy them some time. They were trying to hold
out against 4 Elites (3 red armored, 1 blue) 12 Grunts, and 3 Jackals.
There was no time to engage, we simply rushed through the battle zone
and into the nearest life pod. I turned back, and realized that the
Sarge hadn?t even noticed we had gone by, he was to busy strangling a
Grunt with his bare hands.
       I yelled to him, ?Come on Sarge, we have to go NOW!!!?
       the Sarge looked at me, surprised, then snapped his Grunt
captives neck and rushed his remaining marines into the lifeboat. The
remains of November squad and Sergeant B?s security detachment
managed to squeeze on there one way ticked to hell??.





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