Meanwhile...Part 2
Posted By: Wraith<Phoenix655@hotmail.com>
Date: 10 May 2004, 3:38 PM
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Ben laid his head back against the uncomfortable cushioning of the Pelican and tried to fall asleep. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep his eyes shut. Something didn't feel right. He looked outside at the sky. Nothing. He looked down at the ground. Countless trees flew by, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He dismissed the feeling and tried to get some sleep; it was a three hour ride back to base. He looked up and around at the other people onboard. There were several tired looking Marines seated in the back of the Pelican. They took occasional glances at the three Spartans. Ben guessed they were also being picked up from a mission somewhere. Then there were himself, Aaron and Jim. Aaron and Jim already looked to be sleeping. Ben once again rested his head back and tried to sleep. At last he gave up and sat looking straight forward. Then out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement down below in the trees. He sat up and leaned outside to get a better look. He alerted Jim and Aaron through the intercom. They too looked outside. Down below there were several Wraith tanks, and close to twenty five Ghosts. They all seemed to be heading towards the city of Carrul. Ben alerted the pilot. She hadn't noticed the Covenant until he had said something. She then reported that her radar wasn't working. Ben checked his radar and discovered that it was all static.
"William, what's going on?" Ben inquired of the AI.
"They seem to be using an electromagnetic field of some sort to conceal themselves from your radars."
Ben told the pilot to set a new course to Carrul. They needed to alert the city and bring it up to arms. "How long do we have before they reach the city?" Ben asked.
"At that rate they should reach it in close to five hours." William responded. "As soon as we get close enough, I'll establish a connection to the city and alert them in advanced."
"Thanks." And with that Ben finally fell asleep. He knew he was going to need it.
Ben came to an hour later to find out that they were only half a mile from the city. "I made contact with the city an hour ago and they said they were expecting an attack but they didn't know when it would come." William reported.
"Thanks." Ben Sat up and stretched his cramped legs. He checked his ammo count on his shotgun and sniper rifle. There was only one shot left in his rifle so he released the clip and slammed a fresh one home. He was full on shotgun. He took some extra supplies from the ammunition storage compartment and handed them out to Aaron, Jim, and the three Marines. When he handed grenades to Jim, he was sure to give him a kick to the shin.
"We'll make touchdown in five minutes." The pilot told them. Ben walked into the cockpit and stared through the windshield. Ahead, Carrul loomed into view. It wasn't a very large town compared to some of the cities Ben had seen, but it was still pretty big plus it was surrounded by a forest. He couldn't figure out why the Covenant would want to attack this city. It didn't matter; they needed to help protect it regardless of the reason. A formation of Longsword fighters flew past. They must have been ordered to search and destroy all drop ships and Banshees. A male voice came over the intercom and gave permission to land. Ben left the pilot to her job and went back to his seat in the back where he could see the Longswords Fighters disappearing into the background. Aaron and Jim looked ready to go as did the Marines. They started to descend towards the ground and after several seconds they were out of the drop ship and shaking hands with, who looked to be in charge.
"Welcome to Carrul gentlemen. My name is Sergeant Hathcock. I'm the lucky man who was put in charge of this situation. Anyway, we have reports that the Covenant are only an hour away from us...way ahead of schedule. The group you saw is the main group. There are two other groups transporting troops and there are more reports of drop ships. We sent some Longsword fighters a few minutes ago to take care of them." Hathcock looked down at the ground and shook his head. He looked up at the Spartans and smiled. "I almost feel sorry for the Covie scum.
"We have about seventy-five of the toughest Marines out there. Then each of you equal up to around ten I'm sure..." The sergeant trailed off and thought for a moment. "I'll have you boys do what you want. If you wish, I'll give you some Marines if you want and any weapons or supplies you need. I don't have any other orders for you. Any question?"
"Where were the two transports coming from?" Ben asked. "Also, can you get us two of your best demolitionists and a Warthog; my buddy here can take out some of the Ghosts and maybe a Wraith given the right equipment and men."
Hathcock looked at the Spartan Ben had pointed at and nodded. "The two transports should hit the city from the south and the west.
"As for the Demo experts...yeah, I have the prefect guys for the job. They know their explosives. They should be finishing up with a job I gave them earlier. You can probably find them by 13th street, ask for Ardin and Yolando. They'll have access to any supplies you need and they'll know where to get access to a Warthog." The sergeant looked around. "Hey, Lucavi! Give this guy a ride to 13th street." A tough guy around 27 jogged back to a Warthog and pulled it up to the three Spartans, not sure which one he was giving a ride to. Aaron nodded his thanks to Hathcock and jumped into the passenger seat and the two drove off.
Jim wanted to talk to Hathcock so Ben went to the three Marines that were in the Pelican with them. The Spartan walked up to what looked to be the leader of the three and shook the man's hand.
"Hey, what's up?" The Marine asked. "The name's Moritz Llednar."
"Sparan_027." Ben replied. Moritz raised his eyebrow. Ben paid no notice. "So what were you guys doing before me and my men got picked up?"
"We just got done from another attack on a city. It wasn't intended by the Covenant, they just happened to stumble onto a small town swarming with Marines. so yeah, this is getting pretty old."
Ben looked at the other two guys. They were double checking ammunition. "How are you guys with sniping?"
"You're looking at three decently perfect snipers right now." Llednar said with a grin. The other two looked up.
"Great. You guys can come with me. I need to find a spot where I can get a view of both the south and west entrances to the city. On the way in I saw a likely looking building, so get set to move out." The two other Marines looked up at Moritz. He nodded and the three of them started strapping on ammo.
The Warthog barreled down the back roads and snaked around the turns. They would have been taking the main road but defenses were being set up through them. They pulled up to a small construction crew that was digging a hole in the ground that was probably being dug for a Scorpion. Aaron jumped out of the passenger seat and walked up to the five or so Marines.
"Which of you are Yolando and Ardin?" He asked. Two burly looking Marines with shovels stepped forward.
"That'd be us, mate." The taller of the two said. "The name's Ardin and this here is Yolando. How may we be helping you?"
"Spartan_150," Aaron said shaking their hands. "I was told that you two were good with explosives."
"Aye..." Ardin said.
"Great, I'm going to need you two on a small mission. We have to set some traps for the convoy that's coming our way. Sergeant Hathcock said you two would know where to get supplies." Yolando nodded. "We need four or five anti-grav mines and a Warthog. Can you guys get it?"
Yolando nodded again. "I know a guy that can get us a Warthog. As for the explosives, Ardin and I make our own custom mines. We should have more than enough for what you need."
"Alright, you guys go get the stuff and I'll find out where we have to set up the trap. I want you back seven minutes ago." Aaron said. Ardin and Yolando called Lucavi just before he sped off and got a ride from him. Aaron queued the com. "Ben, this is Aaron. Can you ask the AI where the convoy is bound to hit?"
A voice came over the com, but it didn't belong to Ben. "This 'AI' has a name. My name is William. Anyway, the convoy should enter the city from the way you came in. My guess is that they'll use a road that has an old radio tower next to it. I'll put a NAV point on your HUD." An orange triangle appeared on his HUD pointing towards the North where the three Spartans had entered the city. "You'll have 45 minutes to get there, plant the mines, and get back to the town. Good luck." The transmission ended leaving static. Aaron leaned back and started formulating plans in his mind.
A few minutes later Yolando and Ardin pulled up in a Warthog that had a small mound of explosives strapped into the back next to the LAAG. "Good job guys," Aaron said, walking towards the Warthog. "I'm driving." Ardin got out of the driver's seat with a frown and got into the gunner seat. Aaron jumped into the driver's seat and put the 'hog into gear. He was keeping mental time and he guessed they had 37 minutes left. They weren't too far from their destination, so it wouldn't take too long to get there. Aaron looked ahead, saw the radio tower that they were supposed to see, and pulled up to it. He looked around, saw a place where the trees started to bottleneck, and headed in that direction. He slowed the 'hog to a stop and jumped out.
"Start unloading guys. I want to see what you have." The two pulled out and an arrangement of explosives and set them on the ground.
"Where do you want them?" Yolando asked.
Aaron looked around and pointed at a few likely looking spots. There was a few of the mines that Aaron had never seen before, but Ardin and Yolando gave a quick summary of how they worked and what the blast radius was. Static cut through Aaron's headset and died out. He stood up and put his hand to his helmet. "Watch the Jackal on your left!" a Marine yelled through the com. Aaron looked to his left and saw only trees. The Marine must have accidentally spammed their freq. "Ben? William? What's going on? I thought we still had half an hour?"
"The first transport has entered the city and we're still fighting them." William replied. "You should get moving on the trap; the convoy should reach you in five minutes." Aaron swore loudly. "Hold on, let me scan...Yes. There seems to be a clearing off to your right where you can hide for right now. After the convoy moves by, come up from behind them and attack. Good luck." The transmission ended.
"Alright guys, we have five minutes to pack up and move to a clearing that way. Finish up and get on." Aaron said. He helped cover up the explosives so that they wouldn't be obvious. They then put the extra charges into the Warthog and drove off. On the way to the radio tower, Aaron had seen a trail the, he guessed, led to the clearing that William had spoken of. He quickly found the trail and started to go head down it. In the distance the whine of the Ghost could be heard and the quiet engines of the Wraith tanks. There was a small clearing not far from where they had planted the mines; they could just barely make out the road. They tookl some branches from some nearby trees and covered the Warthog so it couldn't be seen, then the three humans hid amongst the trees themselves to watch the show.
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