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Arbiter's Next War: Part 3
Posted By: Michael Archer<michael_archers_email_address@yahoo.com>
Date: 29 April 2005, 9:27 PM
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Prolouge
2200 hours, December 15 2560, (Military Calendar) Planet Earth, New York City
New York. Even its faintest stars were noticeable. It was one of the most beautiful cities in USA. Fireworks hit the sky and confetti was shot up into the air to celebrate December 15.
December 15 wasn't just 10 days before Christmas. It was the day when the USA fought off a parasitic life form that was living in New York City. When the Americans had no hope left, the last resort was a nuclear strike. And that's exactly was The President of the United States did. For four years they slaved to rebuild the city. The radiation level was still high causing New York's former population drop. People stopped moving in.
Lots of things were ruined in the blast. After the chaos settled, the Statue of Liberty was nowhere to be seen and the Empire State Building was crumbled to the ground.
The General never forgot that day when the missile went down. Not only did he lose lots of American soldiers, but he had also lost a friend.
0100 hours, December 15, 2556, (Military Calendar) Marine Camp, Charleston, Illinois
The Arbiter paced around in circles as the marines loaded their battle rifles and got ready for combat. He still had one of those old Covenant energy swords that he carried to Earth. Clad he was in the old armour that the Prophets gave him. He couldn't be more ready.
"You scared Arby?", said Johnson as he walked up beside him.
"No. I would never be.", he replied.
"I am, I can tell you that. But right now, we have to fight for New York. Fight for USA. Fight for Humanity. When I think about that way, it's not that hard anymore. I am so mad that I don't get to be on the front line".
"You're not going to fight?".
"Sadly no. They won't let me put myself in danger. I'm too high of a rank".
"Ok, I need all combat personnel to report to the dropships", yelled a voice over the microphone as four dropships landed.
"Well Arby, see you after once USA is safe", said the General.
The Arbiter ran over to the dropships climbed in one. Marines piled in shortly after. The General watched as the pelicans slowly climbed up, and flew up into the sky.
1200 hours, December 15, 2556, (Military Calendar) Over the State of Connecticut in an Airborne Warning and Control System
Johnson sat as the large AWACS cruised through the sky. Through the windows he saw the F-14 Tomcats on each side of the plane. He got up from his small seat to look at the radar. Millions of small red blips moved across the screen.
"ETA for New York Attack Company equals two minutes", said one of the crewmen.
Johnson leaned against the radar. On the other side of the screen he saw about one hundred yellow blips moving slowly.
"Mister President", said Johnson into the radio. "Our soldiers have almost arrived at the LZ. Awaiting orders".
"Just stay where you are general. Monitor the battle and report every ten minutes".
"Yes sir".
1201 hours, December 15, 2556 (Military Calendar) New York City, New York
The Arbiter had trouble sitting in such a tiny seat. He moved around a lot which bothered some marines.
"Alright guys!, yelled the pilot. "Pile out!".
The Arbiter jumped out remarkably fast, his eyes scanning for any movement.
"Arby. They're coming from behind. Prepare for combat", said the General.
He turned quickly around monitoring the situation. With no hesitation, a light rapidly sprouted from what seemed to be a black worthless handle.
Come on you parasites. Show yourselves. Come out so me and my team of humans can kill you.
Sure enough, he got his wish.
1220 hours, December 15, 2556, (Military Calendar) Over the State of Connecticut in an Airborne Warning and Control System
"Sir, they've engaged the enemy", said the crewman.
Johnson put his hand in his chin as he watched as the little yellow blips attacked the millions of red blips. One yellow blip was plowing through all the red blips while the other yellows slowly disappeared.
Johnson stared at the radar. They have to win, he thought. They've got Arby on their team.
"Sir, we're losing them. There's just too many. We can't fight them all".
"Calm down General" replied the President. "We haven't lost yet. I've got some fighter pilots in the air armed with HELLFIRE missiles. They wait for your command."
Johnson clicked on the radio. "General Johnson to USA fighter pilots. Fire at will.".
"Fire at will"
That's what Captain Samuel Miller heard over his radio. With no hesitation, he fixated his oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, his eyes darting from his windshield and to his radar.
"Captain Miller to Commander Drake Harvey, we have conformation, repeat, we have conformation. Fire at will, fire at will".
Drake clicked his oxygen mask over his face; armed the HELLFIRE missile; and deployed it. His heart pounded furiously as he watched the missile fly towards the ground. Over to the right he saw Captain Miller's fighter jet launch a missile. He hyperventilated as though his mask was malfunctioning.
There was a flash of light as the missiles hit the streets of New York.
"Drake, I need you to calm down", said Miller through his radio. "I need you to take some deep breaths. We hit our target".
Drake put his hand on his breast, and took two deep breaths. He and Captain Miller passed low over New York's surface avoiding the explosion.
Suddenly, a beige form appeared on Miller's windshield. The air screamed by his ears as it slapped away his windshield. Samuel covered his ears as the combat form ripped off his mask and tore apart the jet. A few seconds later, the jet blew up.
Drake was petrified. He pulled up and gunned the thrusters. The speedometer read MACH 2 as he flew away and reported in.
"General sir! They....They killed him!".
Johnson looked at the radar. Between all the red dots were two giant holes. He took a deep breath of relief. The holes were only there for a couple of seconds before they closed up again. All the yellow dots were gone but one.
"Pilot, report back to the carrier and wait for further orders".
"Ye...yes sir".
Johnson opened a new channel. "Mister President. Missiles conformed hit, but not very effective"
"Yes General. I didn't think that I had to use this"
"Sir?"
"Drake is in the air with a nuclear missile awaiting deployment".
Johnson couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Mister President, I couldn't. My friend is down there".
"Nothing is working. We have to".
Johnson fought all his military instincts to say, "No".
"That's the chain of command soldier! We have to save New York!".
"But sir...", the COM channel went dead.
Johnson sat down and stared silently at the yellow blip for a minute. His hand shook and he raised the radio to his mouth and whispered.
"Deploy".
2230 hours, December 15, 2560 (Military Calandar) New York City, New York
Johnson looked over the sky, remembering his friend. As he walked home from the celebration party, he looked at all the decorations. Scanning from one to the next, he hoped to see a poster of The Arbiter, but there were none. The Statue of Liberty was destroyed as well as his friend. He wished he could go up into with his buddy to see the view.
Johnson decided to take the short cut through a construction site. This particular site was where they were rebuilding the United Nations. He remembered looking out towards the grand city of New York with The Arbiter.
While he was walking, his foot struck something hard. He cried out in pain and looked at what he hit. It was just a raised piece of dirt. He touched it with his foot again. Instead of feeling soft dirt, he felt something hard. He got down on his hands and knees, and began brushing away the sand. It turned out bigger than he had thought. After brushing for ten minutes, he saw what it was. It was a huge piece of metal. Johnson took out his flashlight and shined it on the piece of metal. After looking at it for a long time he finally figured out what it was.
Embrossed on the big piece of metal was:
July
IV
MDCCLXXVI
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