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Last Hope part 2
Posted By: SSJBRK<brkessler@columbus.rr.com>
Date: 8 may 2002, 12:08 am
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Loren began laying out the battle plan. This whole operation would hinge upon some success in space. Hopefully our new shielded cruisers would even the odds.
"The ten ships will set up a defensive perimeter at 500 kilometers from the surface. Nuclear mines are to be laid approximately 250 kilometers from the planet. Once the defensive net of ships is established, ground forces will depart and secure the surface. When contact is made with the Covenant fleet, the net will collapse forcing the covenant together, draw them into the mines and when possible, drop ships are tertiary targets. Flag ships and destroyers take priority."
Hearing those words from Loren, I knew that we would have our hands full. The drop ships would most likely be left for us to handle. Only a few would be picked off in space. A division of marines against the ground forces of an entire Covenant battle group, this was going to be fun.
Loren's voice snapped me back from deep thought as she began explaining details of the ground force's operations. She highlighted various points on the map as key defensive positions, giving each point a coordinate set. It was Covenant strategy to secure the poles and largest land mass of a planet first. That is where the marines would set up shop.
"By setting up a defensive ring around the Covenant drop points, we will be able to strike as they unload, and deny them the chance to dig in. Set up mobile positions here, here, here, and here." Loren really was a nice piece of AI, and had worked this plan out to the last detail. I almost had the faint idea that this operation would succeed.
As I walked back to my quarters, A private informed me that my unit was ready. I would lead fifty marines, and be allotted five warthogs. I wished for a scorpion, but those were allotted to stationary positions. Loren had designated my unit fire team Beta. I was also informed that I had half an hour before I was to brief my unit for departure. As the metallic door slid open, I walked into my room. Pressing the thumb pad on the wall, my personal effects bin slid out of the wall. Inside I found the reason why I had signed up for this war. I picked up the miniature holopad and turned it on. An image of my wife, Elizabeth, appeared, and a voice recording of her played.
"Alek (which she called me for short), No matter what happens I love you. Come home safe." This is what I was fighting for. My wife lived on Earth, and If we couldn't slow the Covenant here, they would be one step closer to Earth, and my wife. I must not let that happen.
I kissed the holopad and put it back in the bin. Then I knelt in prayer, asking God to be with me and my men. That finished, I walked to my unit's briefing room.
Walking into the room, everyone stood and saluted. I returned the salute and stood behind the podium. I never was good at public speaking, so I decided, as always to be brief and to the point.
"Here's the situation. We are designated fire team Beta, we will set up a mobile recon point on the eastern edge of the center land mass of the planet. Our area is designated zone 341. We will be part of a ring, or noose if you will, which will tighten around the Covenant as they land, this will allow us the offensive, and it will prevent them from digging in. By circling and collapsing them together, we will force them to create on large target. As a contingency I have requested one HAVOC nuke if we fail to contain them, they will be close enough to get nuked, but most of us will go with it. If I am forced to declare a last man standing, whoever is left will detonate the nuke. Don't expect much help from space. The space forces have labeled drop ships as tertiary objectives, so we will certainly have our hands full."
As we lined up to board the pelicans, I noticed Jake carrying regular grenades, but they had a little box on them. "Jake what is that ?" He looked at me as if he finally had a chance to show off his new toy. " Sir the box is packed with highly concentrated acid, along with a CO2 pack" Myself one to trust only in my sniper rifle, I asked him how he thought that would help. "Well I noticed how even with energy shielding, elites still get blood all over them, then I thought if liquid could pass through the shield, why couldn't acid ?" Seeing his logic and finding humor in the thought of melting an elite, I asked him if I could have one, he pointed behind us to two privates carrying a large crate. He looked at me with a wry smile, " Christmas comes early on Epsilon 5." If only I could tell you how much I love this job.
As the pelicans took off, I took one last look at "The Absolution" and had a funny feeling like I would never see her again. It had been my experience that gut feelings were always warnings of things to come, and I blocked the image of the ship melted away by Covenant plasma. Our pilot, Jenna, informed us that we were ten minutes from the planet's surface. There was no turning back now. I gazed down at my rifle, and ran my combat glove over the word engraved on it. "Liz". I did not cut notches in my gun, after all, I had lost count of how many Covenant I had killed.
Jenna came over the comm and informed us that we were about to enter Epsilon 5's atmosphere. After a bumpy entry, it was another five minutes before she came over the comm again. " The LZ looks clear, I'm setting her down over there." It was time to set up shop. As I stared into the nearby star, which acted as the sun of this world, I wondered how long we would have before the covenant arrived.
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