Halo: The Battlefield is home

[Velozity]

Chapter 2 of my book Genesis of Faith. If you havnt read the first one heres the link

http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/33226-halo-genesis-of-faith/.

And if you have before i recommend doing it again as i rewrote the chapter with different characters and events. Less dialogue than before too.

 

-CHAPTER 2-

 

2330 hours, July 26, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon Eridani System, TwinSnake Hills, planet Reach

 

“Contact. All units stand by:  Enemy spotted, my position.”

Winter knew there would be more of them, by the hills- but his orders weren’t to kill. His team needed to slip past covenant borders and locate Project Nomad. Quietly easing his binoculars down, he motioned for his squad to fall in.

 

The three members that composed Zulu-Four covered his back, all discreet as they treaded forward, only halting when they reached him. Now silent and immobile, their ODST armor disregarded any moon-light that ventured on them. Ruthless and effective… they were the peak of physical excellence short of becoming a Spartan. But even a Spartan was ill-fitted for this task.

He grabbed the silenced M7 caseless off his belt, the rounds were self contained and weren’t as deadly as the M5, but stealth was imperative in this op.

 

On the hills below he saw a cave, with eroded rock for walls and a thin stream traversing through it… and camped alongside the entrance for as far as he could see were grunts- the covenants version of cannon fodder. Their stocky armor protected their meager meter tall selves, it was an environmental suit designed to replicate their home worlds atmosphere. Their guttural growls, barks and high-pitched squeaks reminded Winter of biped dogs. Their intelligence ranked just above dogs too, but they made up for their lack in intellect with sheer tenacity. He remembered watching them throw themselves upon soldiers fire until the ground was piled high with their dead bodies… and the ammunition of the marines were low.

 

Among them were a few Elites, their huge physiques ordering the little guys around. He recalled sighting the buggers armed with needlers, plasma pistols and a few plasma turrets outside the entrance- unusually well armed. Those might be a problem, coupled alongside the population numbering in the thousands and you had an even bigger problem.

The mission had to go off smoothly, no hitches or things back base would head down the *******. The objective was in that damn cave, and sneaking past would prove impossible.

 

Winter regarded the entrance with concern and turned back to his team. They already knew the situation. He started a secure COM channel- short wave.

“Four of us,” Miller whispered over the link “And a thousand of them? I say it’s condition SNAFU.”

“Miller,” Winter said, “I want those Jackhammer missiles up top on that ridge. Take out the cannons and soften the rest of them. Jackson, you’re with him. Sam, you follow me up- we’re on that cave. Once those two hand out the welcome mat we’ll make our way in through that undergrowth next to it. Understood?”

He got three nods of the head. They all knew the plan.

 

“Okay, lets move people, we’re wasting time.” Winter started making way down the ridge to the hills, with Sam covering the back. No sound was made as the two gracefully traversed the terrain. He was confidant Miller would reach the top and dish out the pain. Otherwise no one was going to make it out of this alive. Slowing down when they reached the bottom, Winter signaled to the left.

 

Two grunts had made lee-way from the camp, a choice that had proved fatal. Drawing out his combat knife Winter slowly crept up on the enemy unaware. Sam kept his sights on them in case anything went wrong,  and unless he could get a clean shot to the head, the bullets would only useless.

 

Upon reaching them Winter lashed out, sinking his combat blade deep in the head of the grunt. It stiffened and created a deep gurgling sound. The grunt to the left noticed and jumped up in surprise, raising it’s plasma pistol. Before it could get off a shot, a puff of blood escaped from its skull. The silenced round from Sam had hit its mark.

 

The grunt toppled sideways and didn’t move. Winter looked back at him.

“You ought to be careful sir, might find yourself dead one day.”

“Only if you join, Sam.” He grinned; this is where he belonged, on the battlefield.

Sam nodded his head to the side, Winter saw he was indicating at the bushes. Pushing himself up he made his way into the vegetation, shrugging off any branches. They were almost there.

 

Sneaking their way up to the location, he needed that distraction now. He opened up the COM channel,

“Miller, Jackson. Where’s my welcome party.” He whispered, aiming up his sights on an Elite. He received static until the channel cracked and popped,

“Yeah yeah. Hang on boss. Setting up missiles now, three, two, one. Mark.”

Winter looked up and saw two rockets propel themselves into the turrets in quick succession. One turret flipped over engulfed in fire while the other was a charred heap of metal. Two more streaks followed and landed into the dazed crowds of covenant. Consecutive booms that saw bodies flying. 

 

Winter started making his way past the frontline when an Elite marched in front of him. Gun raised.

“Tango dead ahead sir!” Sam called, vaulting headfirst, and opened fire. Winter did the same- a full automatic concentrated fire.

 

The rounds flickered against the shield until it failed erupting in a bright shower; it hollered in anger, charging them. But the only obstacle left was the flesh- which proved to be no problem. The rounds tore through the elite, breaching the armor. Blue blood squirted from the standing corpse, as it fell down, plasma fire bursting in wide arcs.

 

Around him grunts ran around in confusion and pain.

Finally they realized what was happening- and where the enemy was. They regrouped and charged in e’masse.

“****. Fallback Sam, Fallback!.” Winter yelled, backpedaling  into the cave. Sam and Winter exhausted their clips, together as they kept off the oncoming surge.  Line after line they dropped, their bodies piling on top of the other as hundreds more took their place. Plasma fire spat around them, creating an intense heat aura in the vicinity.

“GRENADE!” Sam called, skipping to the side. Winter looked up and saw the blue fury arcing towards his position. He leapt to the right, dodging the ball narrowly. The grenade belched an intense wave of plasma. 

 

Landing on his feet Winter opened the COM link.

“Miller, where’s my fire support. I need more missiles on my position.”

“Acknowledged sir, bringing in the pain.”

More streaks landed into the flood of grunts, tearing their fragile bodies apart. Sam and Winter turned heel and ran further into the cave. Additional dull thumps reverberated through the tunnel the further they went in.

“Welcome party laid out sir.”

“Copy that Miller, were heading into the center. I want eyes on our exit.”

Winter shut off the COM, and moved forward. This wasn’t a traditional cave, ONI had built a command post in the center of the valley under a skylight. It reflected any observer outside from seeing anything but rocks and the cave entrance was simply a natural way of making regulars ignore it.

 

They finally emerged under the said skylight. Inside was a vast area of barracks and garrisons stationed next to Intel positions. There was no need for a conventional base here, as there was already a roof. Winter glanced up, the top was easily one hundred meters above. High enough for a banshee to fly comfortably. Facing ground level again, he sighted additional grunts accumulating on their position. There was no way to avoid this after the first shot was fired outside.

 

“I think they like us.” Sam commented, opening fire again. Winter did the same, holding down on the trigger as an earthquake descended on them. Bullets shredded into the aliens, rupturing their environment suits and igniting the methane tanks they carried. Gouts of flame traced wild arcs as the grunts perished. Taking  cover behind a building, he noticed an object soaring high, coming in at high speeds. Banshees.

“Sam,” Winter barked “New contacts.” He unpinned a frag and tossed it to the side. A few seconds later dirt pinged off the walls next to him followed by squeals.

 

Sam unpacked a special case off his back, taking out a Spartan laser. He lined up the sights and set the timer on the canon.

Three, two one. The lethal ray blasted in a conventional line, cutting through one of the banshees. The vehicle veered to the side and crashed in a heap. The other one fired off a volley of plasma bolts, Sam dodged to the side. Where he stood before was charred glass. The banshee screeched overhead and banked back towards them. 

 

“Sam, HIT EM’ AGAIN!” Winter ordered, keeping off the grunts on ground level.

Sam once again set up the sight, holding down the trigger until- Boom! The banshee exploded mid air and descended upon them. It collapsed with its thick trail of smoke shadowing it, crushing over the grunts in a perfect angle towards the two. The ODST’s jumped to the side as the wreck passed them. A wave of heat cascaded onto them; boiling their skin for a split-second. Winter made sure Sam was standing, acknowledging his state, before ordering them into the nearest Intel station.

 

They secured the area, knocking off a few stragglers hiding  amongst the  equipment. When all was done, Winter made his way into the database sect and linked up with the command pad. He browsed the archive until he came across the corresponding file- Project NOMAD. He initiated a withdrawal of the dossier.

“SATCOM. This is sergeant Winter, leader of Zulu-Four squad. We have acquired Project NOMAD. Request immediate extraction.”

“Acknowledged Zulu-Four,” SATCOM replied, “Outside is secure, that is your pick-up location. Pelican’s postponing dust-off.”

“Roger that SATCOM, we won’t keep them waiting. Winter out” He killed the COM link and motioned for Sam to fall in. They jogged double-quick over the two kilometers distance- exiting into the reach of their dropship. A pelican scuffed and dented over two days of hard fighting.

Jackson was operating the turret. He looked at them and shouted.“We don’t have all day you know.”

Winter grinned, and moved into the bay patting the gunner on the back. The engine whined to life.

 

Sam took off his helmet and scratched his black stubble. “It’s a disgrace, this happening. ”he said, and leaned against the porthole. “We lose this and we’re screwed.”

Winter stood next to him and stared out as they elevated into the air- Their were rolling plains, radiant beach’s and glistening canopies for as far as the eye could see

“We wont lost this, we can’t afford to” he said.

“Keep telling yourself that hero.” Sam snorted

 

The Pelican climbed rapidly through the sky, clouds swiftly passing them. Above the atmosphere was the real war.

In orbit, there were ships of every class pushing their capabilities to defend this planet. Each craft had carbon scoring and holes peppering their hulls. They were all maneuvering around the covenants plasma fire.

Winter preferred to have his feet on the ground, with real dirt, and his ears ringing from the sound of an explosion—a place where he was in control. A base just wasn’t home.

 

The battlefield was.

[Is not JL]

I suggest that each time you go to a new paragraph, press tab for spacing. It helps the eyes, and emulates the writing style of a book.