Chapter 4: The front line.
The marines of squadron 666 looked out the open back of the drop ship. It was 2:56 AM., totally dark. They were being transported to the Vector Prime IV front line.
They couldn't see much, due to the extreme darkness of the early morning, but when the flew to the other side of a cliff, they could see the flashing of machine guns from one side of the field, and plasma shots from the other. They saw the explosions from tanks, both human and covenant. It was lighter here, because of all the lighting from both sides of the field.
They saw Wart Hogs and Ghosts, Banshees and tanks. They saw on the other side of the field; as a covenant drop ship flew to the covenant side of the field, a tank shot at it. The left troop hatch broke off and fell to the ground and exploded. The drop ship then spun around as it crashed to the ground, instantly being engulfed in flames. A few seconds later, it exploded incinerating any covenant that might have survived the crash.
The drop ship hovered about 50 feet above the ground for a few minutes, and then started to descend to the ground. When it landed, the six marines ran out from the ship into the intense battle. They heard shouting, screams of the wounded, and weapons firing.
As about 11 marines ran from a drop ship, a plasma ball from a covenant tank hit the drop ship, which exploded sending all the marines flying in every direction. They saw a ghost speed across the battlefield, and then a marine launched a rocket at it. The rocket hit, sending the Elite piloting it flying, the beast screaming all the way.
A Wart Hog speed around the field, the gunner firing its M41 LAAG machine gun as it speed around the field. An elite rose from a covenant trench and hurled a plasma grenade at it. The grenade landed and stuck to the wheel of the jeep, and it exploded, sending the vehicle flipping over. They watched as the marines bailed, only to be crushed by the vehicle.
A banshee trailed a marine, who then dove to the ground. As the banshee pasted him, he managed to get a frag grenade into the cockpit. The banshee was suddenly engulfed in flames, as it speed towards the ground. The landed smack dab on a Wart Hog, the Wart Hog lost control as it fell on its side and slid right into covenant defensive lines. The explosion sent covenant flying. ' At least they took someone with them.' Mathew thought.
Evans, Anderson, The Chief, and McDowell dove into a trench with other marines. Minjohj'arad and Mathew into a small cave that was concealed behind rocks, which housed other marines. On the rock concealment, where two belt drove machine guns for defense. The cave was dangerously close to covenant lines, in fact, it was on the covenant side of the field.
Bushes and rocks concealed them though, as the two men at the machine gun mounds were spying on covenant lines with mechanical binoculars. There were about 15 marines in this small cave; the leader of the small group was a Lieutenant. He made Minjohj'arad and Mathew secondary leaders, for they had the second highest rank of the marines there. They were both Commanders.
The Lieutenant ordered the marines to stay put and await further orders. Meanwhile, the 4 marines were in the trench, talking amongst themselves, waiting for orders from the general. " Where'd Matt and Minjoh get to?" Anderson asked. " I saw them go into a small cave about half way up the covenant lines." The chief replied.
" Alright men listen up!" The general shouted at the marine presence of about 4,560 marines in that area. He yelled through the blow horn he had in his hand. " On my signal, we will mount vehicles and charge. The men, who cannot get a vehicle, charge on foot. We are winning this battle, and the covenant has been reduced to only about 1,200 some troops. Altogether, with us and the other groups of marines, about 7,900 marines will be charging a force of only about 1,200 some covenant. Some of you will die, but for every marine who dies, 5 covenant will die. Just be brave, finger on your trigger, and you will survive. AM I RIGHT MARINES?" He screamed. " SIR YES SIR" Every marine said at once. He raised a disk, and pressed a button 5 times, making a bright light flash 5 times to the other generals with troops. They gave 4 flashes, meaning that once every soldier was mounted, they had four seconds.
"Alright men, the four marines of the famous Squad 666 will drive the flag tank. Everyone else, get your asses on a vehicle." He yelled. All the marines scurried to either a Wart Hog or Scorpion Tank. The chief got inside to front tank. Evans and McDowell sat on the front two seats of the tanks sides. Anderson stood on the top of the tanks turret, waving the flag that represented the humans. " CHARGE!!!" The general screamed through the blow horn. Tanks and Wart Hogs speed forward, while the marines on foot ran fast, screaming war cries the whole time.
" They're charging!" The Lieutenant in the cave said. " Move out men! Have no mercy!!" He yelled. They burst from the bushes with loud war cries. It took the covenant in that area totally by surprise. A thick layer of bullets instantly covered them. Everyone but Minjohj'arad was firing, and that was because he had the honor of waving the human flag as they charged.
They joined in the main charging force, and the marines were surprised to see an elite waving their flag as it charged its brethren.
The covenant were terrified. Some of them opened fire, but most tried to run or hide. But there was nowhere to run. The forest behind them only led to a vertical cliff. As the marines zeroed in, the terrified covenant fired franticly. The marines were getting closer to covenant lines. The human tanks destroyed all of the covenant tanks.
An elite tried to escape by speeding its ghost through the human chargers. A marine spotted it. The man dived at the ghost; tackling is pilot to the ground. The man swung his weapon at its back, disabling but not killing it.
Many covenant committed suicide rather than be captured. They hurled themselves down the extremely steep cliff. Others tried to hide. Most surrendered. As the covenant came out of the surrounded compound with their hands in the air, the marines were grinning and laughing. Some struck the covenant with their weapons, or spit on them.
The marines quickly shoved the covenant into prison trucks. They had a total of 234 elites, 311 Jackals, 122 hunters, and 100 grunts. The rest were dead. Casualties were 925 humans dead, and 8,343 out of 9,000 covenant dead. The 767 prisoners were transported to the Mickshlakov Prison Compound, which was a Russian compound on a human controlled section of Vector Prime IV.
Mathew and Minjohj'arad found the rest of their group. They were to be guards on the prison trucks, which would transport the prisoners to a prison ship, which would fly to Mickshlakov. The covenant on the truck snarled at the squad, particularly Minjohj'arad. " Traitor!" One of the jackals yelled. " How could you betray the gods like this?" an elite asked. " If the gods were with me, they wouldn't have let my entire base back on halo be slaughtered by the flood." Minjohj'arad replied.
The covenant had no idea what he went through, if they did, they might understand. But some of them were religious fanatics and thought massacre or not, the gods had a reason for doing that. Other covenant were just fighting because they wanted to be heroes, some were only in the war because they were drafted. But nonetheless, they all hated humans.
A hunter opened its mouth to speak, but stopped when Mathew pointed his extremely high caliber machine gun at it. " Anyone who wants to insult Minjohj'arad is going to get a hot lead bullet in between the eyes." He said. " Anyone still want to insult him?" He asked, pointing his gun menacingly at them, daring them to speak up. No one did. " I thought so." He said. Anderson went into a small room of the large truck, and came out with packages. " Anyone hungry?" He asked. Many of the covenant raised their arms. But some were too stubborn and religiously devoted to accept Infidel charity. He gave the ones who asked the packages of food.
They opened the small boxes. A jackal pulled out a Coca Cola and looked at it funny. " What is this?" It asked. " It's a drink." Mathew replied. " How do I open the strange container?" a hunter asked, who also had one in his hand, where his fuel rod gun was takes off. " Like this." Mathew took one from a package and showed them how to open it, and then handed it back to the elite he took it from.
The elite took a sip of the fluid as the other covenant watched tensely, waiting for him to speak. " Hey, this strange Infidel liquid actually tastes pretty good. " The elite said. The others took sips from the strange foreign fluid. " Wow, it is good. " A jackal said. " Don't drink it! It's probably poisoned!" One of the more stubborn grunts said, one of the covenants that didn't trust humans at all.
" It isn't poisoned, trust me, if we wanted you dead, we would've done it by now." Mathew Evans said. " The infidel has a point. " One of the wiser hunters on the truck said. " Wait, how will you grunts eat with those masks' on?" Anderson asked. " We can take the front cover of our masks off, because our chemical projectors are on the side, so we can eat and breath." A grunt replied. " Oh." Anderson responded.
A jackal pulled a piece of pizza from the heated pouch in the package and looked at Evans. " What is this strange Infidel food called? " It asked. " That's called pizza. Its actually pretty healthy, it has dairy, grain, vegetables, and meat on it, so you get the vitamin intake you need." Evans replied. " Eh, it might be hot, so you should blow on it or wait until it cools down before taking a bite." He warned. After a minute or so the jackal bit a piece of the pizza off and chewed. His eyes widened. The other covenant looked in concern. Was it poisoned? They thought.
" This Infidel food, its, delicious." The jackal said taking another bite. The other covenant pulled out their slices of pizza and started to eat them. " Infidel food isn't bad!" A hunter exclaimed. An elite took out a snickers bar and looked at it. " What's this?" It asked. " That's candy, you know, sweets? " Mathew replied. " The elite ripped off the wrapped and bit a chunk of the candy off and chewed. " Mmm, what do you Infidels put in this sweet substance?" It asked. " Uh, caramel, chocolate, peanuts, and some other stuff." Anderson replied. " Interesting." It said.
After they had eaten, they were allowed to watch television. Mainly news about things back on earth. They saw weather patterns, some events happening, and some commercials about things they didn't know about, like financial help programs, and things like that. " What are the conditions in the prison we are being transported too?" A hunter asked. " Lets just say you'll be treated more like guests' then prisoners. The food is good, the cells are large, and the beds are comfortable. And you can watch TV. I've worked there, the covenant seemed happy with it." Mathew told them.
The religious fanatics didn't believe him, ' The infidels are just trying to trick us into thinking it will be nice, but it is really grueling and horrific.' The religious ones said amongst themselves. " Well, if the guards don't yell and beat or starve us, I guess it can be that bad." A jackal said, the humans' beings able to understand due to the built in translators in their suites.
The truck stopped, and the back opened. Soldier were waiting outside to board the covenant onto transport ships, most of them being Russians from the prison. There was also a few covenant prisoners were there to, telling them about the camp to the new prisoners. " It is really not bad at all. The guards are nice enough for me, the food is good, and we can do what we want with stuff in out cells. They have what they call television. There is also a room where we are aloud to pray." A hunter told them. " Its about the most luxurious a prison can get." An elite assured them. The covenant boarded the many ships.
The marines of squad 666 stayed however.
" You are to be flown to Maninbul base. From there, you will be flown to where a major battle is going to take place. " A colonel told them.
Then the marines marched into the waiting drop ship. The marines of Squadron 666.
The marines of squadron 666 looked out the open back of the drop ship. It was 2:56 AM., totally dark. They were being transported to the Vector Prime IV front line.
They couldn't see much, due to the extreme darkness of the early morning, but when the flew to the other side of a cliff, they could see the flashing of machine guns from one side of the field, and plasma shots from the other. They saw the explosions from tanks, both human and covenant. It was lighter here, because of all the lighting from both sides of the field.
They saw Wart Hogs and Ghosts, Banshees and tanks. They saw on the other side of the field; as a covenant drop ship flew to the covenant side of the field, a tank shot at it. The left troop hatch broke off and fell to the ground and exploded. The drop ship then spun around as it crashed to the ground, instantly being engulfed in flames. A few seconds later, it exploded incinerating any covenant that might have survived the crash.
The drop ship hovered about 50 feet above the ground for a few minutes, and then started to descend to the ground. When it landed, the six marines ran out from the ship into the intense battle. They heard shouting, screams of the wounded, and weapons firing.
As about 11 marines ran from a drop ship, a plasma ball from a covenant tank hit the drop ship, which exploded sending all the marines flying in every direction. They saw a ghost speed across the battlefield, and then a marine launched a rocket at it. The rocket hit, sending the Elite piloting it flying, the beast screaming all the way.
A Wart Hog speed around the field, the gunner firing its M41 LAAG machine gun as it speed around the field. An elite rose from a covenant trench and hurled a plasma grenade at it. The grenade landed and stuck to the wheel of the jeep, and it exploded, sending the vehicle flipping over. They watched as the marines bailed, only to be crushed by the vehicle.
A banshee trailed a marine, who then dove to the ground. As the banshee pasted him, he managed to get a frag grenade into the cockpit. The banshee was suddenly engulfed in flames, as it speed towards the ground. The landed smack dab on a Wart Hog, the Wart Hog lost control as it fell on its side and slid right into covenant defensive lines. The explosion sent covenant flying. ' At least they took someone with them.' Mathew thought.
Evans, Anderson, The Chief, and McDowell dove into a trench with other marines. Minjohj'arad and Mathew into a small cave that was concealed behind rocks, which housed other marines. On the rock concealment, where two belt drove machine guns for defense. The cave was dangerously close to covenant lines, in fact, it was on the covenant side of the field.
Bushes and rocks concealed them though, as the two men at the machine gun mounds were spying on covenant lines with mechanical binoculars. There were about 15 marines in this small cave; the leader of the small group was a Lieutenant. He made Minjohj'arad and Mathew secondary leaders, for they had the second highest rank of the marines there. They were both Commanders.
The Lieutenant ordered the marines to stay put and await further orders. Meanwhile, the 4 marines were in the trench, talking amongst themselves, waiting for orders from the general. " Where'd Matt and Minjoh get to?" Anderson asked. " I saw them go into a small cave about half way up the covenant lines." The chief replied.
" Alright men listen up!" The general shouted at the marine presence of about 4,560 marines in that area. He yelled through the blow horn he had in his hand. " On my signal, we will mount vehicles and charge. The men, who cannot get a vehicle, charge on foot. We are winning this battle, and the covenant has been reduced to only about 1,200 some troops. Altogether, with us and the other groups of marines, about 7,900 marines will be charging a force of only about 1,200 some covenant. Some of you will die, but for every marine who dies, 5 covenant will die. Just be brave, finger on your trigger, and you will survive. AM I RIGHT MARINES?" He screamed. " SIR YES SIR" Every marine said at once. He raised a disk, and pressed a button 5 times, making a bright light flash 5 times to the other generals with troops. They gave 4 flashes, meaning that once every soldier was mounted, they had four seconds.
"Alright men, the four marines of the famous Squad 666 will drive the flag tank. Everyone else, get your asses on a vehicle." He yelled. All the marines scurried to either a Wart Hog or Scorpion Tank. The chief got inside to front tank. Evans and McDowell sat on the front two seats of the tanks sides. Anderson stood on the top of the tanks turret, waving the flag that represented the humans. " CHARGE!!!" The general screamed through the blow horn. Tanks and Wart Hogs speed forward, while the marines on foot ran fast, screaming war cries the whole time.
" They're charging!" The Lieutenant in the cave said. " Move out men! Have no mercy!!" He yelled. They burst from the bushes with loud war cries. It took the covenant in that area totally by surprise. A thick layer of bullets instantly covered them. Everyone but Minjohj'arad was firing, and that was because he had the honor of waving the human flag as they charged.
They joined in the main charging force, and the marines were surprised to see an elite waving their flag as it charged its brethren.
The covenant were terrified. Some of them opened fire, but most tried to run or hide. But there was nowhere to run. The forest behind them only led to a vertical cliff. As the marines zeroed in, the terrified covenant fired franticly. The marines were getting closer to covenant lines. The human tanks destroyed all of the covenant tanks.
An elite tried to escape by speeding its ghost through the human chargers. A marine spotted it. The man dived at the ghost; tackling is pilot to the ground. The man swung his weapon at its back, disabling but not killing it.
Many covenant committed suicide rather than be captured. They hurled themselves down the extremely steep cliff. Others tried to hide. Most surrendered. As the covenant came out of the surrounded compound with their hands in the air, the marines were grinning and laughing. Some struck the covenant with their weapons, or spit on them.
The marines quickly shoved the covenant into prison trucks. They had a total of 234 elites, 311 Jackals, 122 hunters, and 100 grunts. The rest were dead. Casualties were 925 humans dead, and 8,343 out of 9,000 covenant dead. The 767 prisoners were transported to the Mickshlakov Prison Compound, which was a Russian compound on a human controlled section of Vector Prime IV.
Mathew and Minjohj'arad found the rest of their group. They were to be guards on the prison trucks, which would transport the prisoners to a prison ship, which would fly to Mickshlakov. The covenant on the truck snarled at the squad, particularly Minjohj'arad. " Traitor!" One of the jackals yelled. " How could you betray the gods like this?" an elite asked. " If the gods were with me, they wouldn't have let my entire base back on halo be slaughtered by the flood." Minjohj'arad replied.
The covenant had no idea what he went through, if they did, they might understand. But some of them were religious fanatics and thought massacre or not, the gods had a reason for doing that. Other covenant were just fighting because they wanted to be heroes, some were only in the war because they were drafted. But nonetheless, they all hated humans.
A hunter opened its mouth to speak, but stopped when Mathew pointed his extremely high caliber machine gun at it. " Anyone who wants to insult Minjohj'arad is going to get a hot lead bullet in between the eyes." He said. " Anyone still want to insult him?" He asked, pointing his gun menacingly at them, daring them to speak up. No one did. " I thought so." He said. Anderson went into a small room of the large truck, and came out with packages. " Anyone hungry?" He asked. Many of the covenant raised their arms. But some were too stubborn and religiously devoted to accept Infidel charity. He gave the ones who asked the packages of food.
They opened the small boxes. A jackal pulled out a Coca Cola and looked at it funny. " What is this?" It asked. " It's a drink." Mathew replied. " How do I open the strange container?" a hunter asked, who also had one in his hand, where his fuel rod gun was takes off. " Like this." Mathew took one from a package and showed them how to open it, and then handed it back to the elite he took it from.
The elite took a sip of the fluid as the other covenant watched tensely, waiting for him to speak. " Hey, this strange Infidel liquid actually tastes pretty good. " The elite said. The others took sips from the strange foreign fluid. " Wow, it is good. " A jackal said. " Don't drink it! It's probably poisoned!" One of the more stubborn grunts said, one of the covenants that didn't trust humans at all.
" It isn't poisoned, trust me, if we wanted you dead, we would've done it by now." Mathew Evans said. " The infidel has a point. " One of the wiser hunters on the truck said. " Wait, how will you grunts eat with those masks' on?" Anderson asked. " We can take the front cover of our masks off, because our chemical projectors are on the side, so we can eat and breath." A grunt replied. " Oh." Anderson responded.
A jackal pulled a piece of pizza from the heated pouch in the package and looked at Evans. " What is this strange Infidel food called? " It asked. " That's called pizza. Its actually pretty healthy, it has dairy, grain, vegetables, and meat on it, so you get the vitamin intake you need." Evans replied. " Eh, it might be hot, so you should blow on it or wait until it cools down before taking a bite." He warned. After a minute or so the jackal bit a piece of the pizza off and chewed. His eyes widened. The other covenant looked in concern. Was it poisoned? They thought.
" This Infidel food, its, delicious." The jackal said taking another bite. The other covenant pulled out their slices of pizza and started to eat them. " Infidel food isn't bad!" A hunter exclaimed. An elite took out a snickers bar and looked at it. " What's this?" It asked. " That's candy, you know, sweets? " Mathew replied. " The elite ripped off the wrapped and bit a chunk of the candy off and chewed. " Mmm, what do you Infidels put in this sweet substance?" It asked. " Uh, caramel, chocolate, peanuts, and some other stuff." Anderson replied. " Interesting." It said.
After they had eaten, they were allowed to watch television. Mainly news about things back on earth. They saw weather patterns, some events happening, and some commercials about things they didn't know about, like financial help programs, and things like that. " What are the conditions in the prison we are being transported too?" A hunter asked. " Lets just say you'll be treated more like guests' then prisoners. The food is good, the cells are large, and the beds are comfortable. And you can watch TV. I've worked there, the covenant seemed happy with it." Mathew told them.
The religious fanatics didn't believe him, ' The infidels are just trying to trick us into thinking it will be nice, but it is really grueling and horrific.' The religious ones said amongst themselves. " Well, if the guards don't yell and beat or starve us, I guess it can be that bad." A jackal said, the humans' beings able to understand due to the built in translators in their suites.
The truck stopped, and the back opened. Soldier were waiting outside to board the covenant onto transport ships, most of them being Russians from the prison. There was also a few covenant prisoners were there to, telling them about the camp to the new prisoners. " It is really not bad at all. The guards are nice enough for me, the food is good, and we can do what we want with stuff in out cells. They have what they call television. There is also a room where we are aloud to pray." A hunter told them. " Its about the most luxurious a prison can get." An elite assured them. The covenant boarded the many ships.
The marines of squad 666 stayed however.
" You are to be flown to Maninbul base. From there, you will be flown to where a major battle is going to take place. " A colonel told them.
Then the marines marched into the waiting drop ship. The marines of Squadron 666.