I'm sorry this took me so long. This is the summary of the beginning to the second part of my fan
fic. Osteros and Vendum’s squads were able to make it near the power plant
without any problems. What they didn’t know is that there is three miles of
trenches between them and the power plant, and there’s also two fortified
bunkers guarding the entrance Osteros planed on breaching. While coming up with
a plan to get through the trenches, sirens start blaring in the distance, and
UNSC troops start pouring out of the power plant to take up defensive
positions. The bodies of Donnie and his companion were found by a patrol which sounded
the alarm. Osteros and Vendum must make their way through the trenches before
they are surrounded and killed. The firefight begins when Brother Thukus pick
off a straggler with his beam riffle, but the shot is a beacon in the darkness.
All the marines in the trenches start shooting in the Elite’s direction, giving
cover fire to the squads ordered to get in close to engage Osteros’s force.
Chapter 2
Osteros emptied his needler into
the approaching marines. One of them exploded spectacularly, and the men next
to him were impaled by the shards. Osteros ducked back into the trench his
squad had occupied, and reloaded it. Brother Resman popped up, and began
unloading his fuel rod. The beams made impact, and over a dozen men were
vaporized. He quickly reloaded, and sent another volley across the trenches.
More marines were killed, their bodies turning into a red mist from the
impacts. The rest of Osteros’s squad began firing, trying their best to stem
the tide of humans.
“How many is that?” asked Brother
Isthan, his plasma riffles sizzling from overuse.
“I think we’ve killed around eighty
of them.” replied Brother Telos. He slammed another cartridge into his carbine,
and fired off a few rounds. His vision, along with the rest of his kind, was
superb, and he saw that all of his shots made impact with a human face, some of
the marines somersaulting before they hit the ground. “Make that eighty five"
Brother Isthan laughed, and began
firing. Plasma rounds crashed into the marines, causing them to scream as their
armor and flesh fused painfully. Osteros’s squad kept shooting, completely unfazed
by the screams.
“Heretics!” roared Brother Grelus
as he opened up with his carbine. More humans died from the continuous fire
pouring from the Elites, but this didn’t seem to be deterring them. Some began
to shoot at Osteros’s squad, shields flaring from the few shots that made
impact. Osteros realized a majority of the humans didn’t have any equipment to
improve their sight, and he couldn’t suppress the smile that spread across his
face. A heretic was only good dead, but a blind one was almost as satisfactory.
“Major Vendum” said Osteros over
the com “most of the humans aren’t equipped to see in the dark, and their only
able to see us because of the lights are weapons are giving off. You are to
engage them in close combat when I give the word.”
“As you command friend.” Vendum
replied.
Osteros
emptied another clip into a marine that wasn’t fast enough to get out of the
way. He died with a scream as he exploded, and his comrades nearby joined him
as the needle shards crashed into them. Osteros noticed that more humans were
pouring from the power plant, and his men were in danger of being overrun.
“Do it now
Vendum!” Osteros yelled on the com. His answer was the sound of revving
chainswords and the ignition of jetpacks. He took a quick glance behind him,
and Osteros saw Vendum’s squad ascend from the forest behind them. Within a few
seconds, Vendum’s squad had cleared the distance between the tree line and no
mans land, and they were about to fall right on top of the enemy.
**********
Vendum was
killing before he hit the ground. He had killed at least a dozen men with his
Needler, and once it was emptied, he activated his energy sword. He decapitated
a man as he landed, blood spurting into the air like a fountain. Vendum stabbed
the man next to him, his sword burning right through the armor. A marine
charged at him, a shotgun aimed for Vendum’s face. Vendum side stepped the
blast, and severed the man’s arm at the elbow. Before the marine could scream,
Vendum plunged his sword into its chest, his blade easily passing through flesh.
He kicked the marine away, and slashed another across the face. Vendum took a
quick glance to see what was going on around him, and he was pleased with what
he saw. Brother Aras eviscerated a human with the flick of his wrist, and in a
blink, he decapitated another. Brother Tekris and Caros had a pile of dead at
their feet, and it grew with each passing second. Brother Selcos lifted a marine and threw him
at his comrades, knocking them down. Selcos took advantage of this, stabbing
most of them before they could get back up. Brother Devran’s chainsword
punctured a man’s stomach, his insides ruined and spilling on the ground.
Satisfied with what he was seeing,
Vendum stepped back into the fray, slashing at any human that strayed to close.
He roared as he hacked his way through the human throng, leaving a trail of
dead in his wake. Vendum became lost in the slaughter, his vision hazing. He
let it consume him, and in moments his sword found purchase in flesh. He kept
swinging, laughing as warm blood splashed his armor, and he relished the looks
of horror and pain on his victim’s faces.
“Die heretics, die!” Vendum
screamed.
He spin
kicked a marine in the head, shattering its helmet from the force of the
impact. The man’s body crumpled to the ground, and he didn’t even have enough
time to realize he was dead. Vendum stabbed the man behind him, and fired his
needler into another. The marines began retreating back to the power plant,
leaving the dead behind. Vendum’s vision cleared, and his breathing became
normal. He looked around him, and saw there were at least two hundred bodies
littering the ground, all of them human. A majority of them had plasma burns,
but quite a few bore the signs of encountering the wrong end of a chainsword.
Some of the bodies were almost unrecognizable, dog tags and bits of armor being
the only things to show their identity. Vendum thanked God that it was
nightfall. If the sun had been in the sky, the battle would have had a very
different outcome. Vendum bent down to read one of the dog tags, and wiped away
the grime so he could decipher the name.
“Mary
Hooper.” Vendum read aloud.
Vendum felt
his gorge rise when he realized the name belonged to a woman, and he couldn’t
believe the humans had sunk so low as to send women to the front lines.
“What did
you say?” a voice asked behind him. Vendum looked to see who it was coming from.
It was Osteros, his armor caked in as much blood his own, and Vendum sighed.
“My friend,
this name tag belongs to a woman.” Vendum whispered.
“Are you
serious?” gasped Osteros.
“I am. Do
you wish to see the name tag?”
“I believe
you, Vendum, but what I can’t comprehend what would make the humans send their
women out to fight. We just started this war, are they that desperate already?”
“I don’t
know, but this infuriates me Osteros. No race the Covenant has encountered used
females in open engagements, at least not in the beginning of a war. I think we’ve
found a species that embodies cowardice and depravity at its worst. I’ll make
sure to report this when we’re done with the mission.”
Osteros
nodded and walked back to his squad. He ordered Brother Resman to send a volley
into the bunkers guarding the entrance, just to make sure no one was waiting to
surprise them. Resman fired off a few bursts, and they lit up the sky as they
made their way to the target. The bunkers crumbled as the fuel rod salvos made
impact, and Osteros gave the order to advance to the door. Both squads
sprinted, and made it through the trenches in a few minutes. They stood in front of
the doors, and Vendum produced a plasma mine. He attached it to the door, and
set the timer.
“Get back!”
yelled Vendum, and everyone backed a good distance from the doors. The mine went
off, and the doors flew off their hinges. Osteros ordered the charge, and the
Elites roared as they plunged into the smoke and fire.
Originally Anguished Prophet, but they thought it would be best to cut out the end of it.