It is a dark time for humanity. UNSC defenses have been swept aside and all but crushed by the Covenant War Machine. Now, the UNSC plans one final attack in a desperate attempt to stop the Covenant and show them who they're dealing with. . .
Show me what it's like. . .
Thousands of Marines and hundreds of ships approach an abandoned UNSC planet called "Relic." The Marines will dig in and show no mercy, as the Covenant have showed them no mercy.
to live in black and white. . .
As the UNSC defenders wait for their prey, the Covenant cook up plans of their own. . .
and conquer the universe. . .
One Marine, Corporal James Dean, has already tasted Marine blood and has come for revenge.
so we can all live in peace.
HALO: Operation Eaglefire
The 79th Infantry's Final Fight
Prologue
1707 hours, May 6, 2552
Chi Ceti system
planet Relic
Evacuation Site
Jenning's arm was seeping with blood. His shotgun was still held high, blasting away at remaining troops. Dozens- no, hundreds- thousands of Covenant soldiers were storming up the hill, firing needlers, plasma weapons, anything the Covenant use as weapons.
A nearby Marine was blasted five feet back from a plasma shot to the head. The remaining platoon was holding off the advancing Covenant while the other UNSC Personnel retreated from the planet.
Lance Corporal Charles Jennings launched a frag grenade from his arm like a cannon; he had always had a good arm. He used to play an old sport called "Baseball" with his father back when there was peace. . .
A nearby red-clad armored Elite charged forward. Jennings found a nearby plasma grenade from a dead Grunt's body and picked it up. He fired a round of his shotgun at the Elite at point-blank range. The shields were cut down to zero. He armed the plasma grenade and threw it onto the Elite's head with such force the Elite fell down. He roared with anger as the grenade blew his head apart. The shockwave kicked Jennings onto the ground. He did a sumersault and the butt of the weapon landed right in his "Adam's Apple."
Groaning, he slowly got up as a nearby Marine screamed, "Ah crap! Two Covie fliers, moving in!"
Another Marine, Sergeant Johnston, yelled, "Lieutenant, we need to get in the last transport!"
Lieutenant Smith yelled with pride, "Hold the Covies off!!" He then pulled a rocket launcher from a nearby Marine's body. He locked on and fired two short-range rockets. They slammed into the Banshee fliers and they dropped like flies.
Corporal James Dean, a nearby Marine, kept chanting whenever he got a kill. "Woo, woo, WOO!" he kept chanting over and over again. He pulled out his M7 SMG and sprayed half a clip into a Jackal. He dropped like a stone. Chants again could be heard.
The nearby Pelican gunned it's engines. A Marine in the back kept pouring rounds from his .50 calibre weapon. Another Marine there, kept waving toward the pelican, persuading them to escape.
The thousands of Covenant kept coming, not stoping. Everyone jumped onto the Pelican, and while doing so, Dean fired his SMG as he was sitting down at an advancing Grunt.
The Lieutenant beckoned Jennings to get onboard. He shook his head and replied, "This is my fight." As he ran toward an entire five legions of Covenant troops, he stood there, holding his shotgun. The roar of the Elites, how they smelled victory, was impossible to Jennings. How could they have won if I destroyed more than half of their entire attack force? He then suddenly pulled out a detonator just seconds before an Elite kicked him into a large line of sandbags. He started laughing as he was picked up by the Elite.
He took a cigar with his bleeding arm and lit it with his lighter when the Elite wasn't looking. When it looked at him again it jumped in surprise as the cigar was in Jennings' mouth.
He pulled out the detonator and said simply, "See you in hell."
He pressed the button. The mines from the bottom of the hill erupted into a massive line of explosions. Dozens of Covenant kept falling from the explosion, dying. When it reached the top of the hill, it blasted Jennings from the Elite's arm. The Elite was blasted a couple yards behind Jennings. His shotgun was just a foot in front of him. . . if he could just. . .
A strong arm grasped his calf. He looked down at his arm in surprise as the Elite grabbed his arm and tried to pull his toward the Elite. He kicked it in the face and leaped forward on his stomach. Grasping the shotgun tight, he blew a hole straight through the elite's forhead. It's heads remains hung limply from it's neck.
As his vision started to blur, he looked as Elites and Grunts alike gathered around him.
His vision went black.
THREE DAYS EARLIER
Chapter I
0732 hours, May 3, 2552
Chi Ceti system
planet Relic
Firebase Gamma, vehicle depot
Staff Sergeant James Killingham pulled back the firing lever on the 12.62 mm LAAG chaingun on the back of the M12 LRV, "Warthog." He acted as if on the battlefield and made shooting noises and explosions. Nearby, Lieutenant Smith, who was chatting with Sergeant Johnston and drinking coffee, said abruptly, "Shut the hell up Killingham! You and your wannabe dreams."
Killingham jumped from the back of the LRV and walked up the the Lieutenant. "Wannabe? You know, before I joined this piece of crap unit you call a 'company,' I was a Warthog Gunner. That baby up there," he smiled and motioned toward the LAAG, "can fire more than five-hundred rounds per minute! It could tear a Wraith apart. It could tear," he put a finger up against the Lieutenant's chest, "you apart." He smiled and wrapped his arms around his chest.
The Lieutenant put his lips together and made a farting noise, as if to say Bullcrap, and stated simply and humorously, "Yeah, keep tellin' us that James. Same story every time."
Johnston and Jennings laughed. Jennings, who was underneath a Warthog working on it's transmission, had dirt and grease all over his face. He got up from the ground and looked at Killingham, still laughing, and slapped a hand on his thigh to show his amusement.
"What are you lookin' at Charlie-boy?" mocked Killingham. Jennings, who was texan, took pride in that. Killingham pretended he had a belt on his waist, "held" it, and made a goofy face.
"Hey there partner, how ya doin'?" he said in a cheesy texan accent. Jennings stopped laughing abruptly and gave Killingham his usual don't-you-dare-or-I-will look. Completely ignoring him, Killingham continued mocking Jennings.
Sergeant Johnston continued laughing at Killingham's joke. But the Lieutenant just stood there, staring at Killingham, as if knowing that Jennings was going to-
Jennings shot his arm forward and plowed his fist into Killingham's face. He fell down with a thump and groaned. He got up and looked at Jennings. Jennings' arms were up, as if he were in a boxing ring.
"Give me your best shot." he mocked. Killingham yelled a battle cry and charged forward his is arm brought back. He missed Jennings' arm by inches. Jennings dodged behind the Sergeant and slammed him in the back.
He laughed. The Staff Sergeant brought his legs up and slammed his boot into Jennings' jaw. He too fell down.
As they both got up, the Lieutenant and Corporal Dean, who just came from the barracks from doing push ups, separated the two soldiers. They both fought to break free, to no avail. The Lieutenant screamed, "Hey, hey, hey! Calm down!"
The two men ignored him, and continued to try and break free and attack each other. Aggrivated, the Lieutenant sighed and drew his M6D Magnum sidearm. He blasted five rounds into the roof of the temporary "metal tent." Everyone went dead silent and stared at Lieutenant Smith.
"No more immitating someone's originations, no more punching in the balls," some people laughed at that. "and no more fights! Understand?"
Everyone nodded in approval.
The radio on the wooden table nearby crackled. It was the Terminal's radio DJ. The Terminal was the flagship for the UNSC fleet here.
"We have reports of Covenant troops moving south from Soug, the biggest continent, to Lilot, which contains the UNSC personnel's northern bases, including Firebase Gamma, Checkpoint Zulu and Checkpoint Beta. We have no word of how many there are, but we do know there must be at least three-hundred." The radio crackled and static rang through the vehicle depot.
Everyone shivered in dread. The Covenant know we're here.
Chapter I
0738 hours, May 3, 2552
Chi Ceti system
planet Relic
Firebase Gamma, central grounds
Sirens blared in the Firebase as everyone prepared for the Covenant attack. A squad of good ol' ODST Shock Troopers marched out of Barracks Oh-Three, clunking armor worn. The Six ODST troopers each carried a M90A Shotgun and a BR55HB SR Battle Rifle, plus multiple grenades and an M6C Sidearm Magnum Pistol. Corporal Jennings nodded and saluted as they jogged by him. He continued into the armory for his weapons, along with the squad's.
The doors opened for Armories A-2 and B-5. A warthog rolled out from each. One of them had an extended chassis. It could hold three passengers, besides the driver and gunner. Armor plating twice as thick as usual M12 armor covered the entire chassis. Instead of the usual three-barrel 12.62 mm LAAG cannon placed on the rear of the Warthog, an upgraded, six barrels were layed upon the main gun. Now armor plating was completely surrounding the gunner's position. This was no doubt the work of Sergeant Major Kurt Wilson. He was a humorous man, and always surprised the Covenant, even the platoon, with something new to their arsenal.
The other Warthog was a regular Warthog, except without the LAAG. It had a 40 mm Heavy Gauss Cannon. It could puncture almost any armor with a couple shots. The way it would work, was that a round would penetrate armor of an enemy vehicle. Once at a certain depth, it would detonate, rupturing the armor enough to shake the vehicle to pieces in some cases.
From behind his custom Warthog pridefully marched Sergeant Major Kurt Wilson. He smiled.
The sirens stopped and the Firebase radio crackled. "To all UNSC Personnel, arm up. All units, receive orders by your platoon commanders. Companies A and C are to proceed south and reinforce Checkpoint Zulu. All other Personnel, standby for further orders from your commanders." ordered a young man over the firebase-wide radio. The area got suddenly louder. The clanking of armor and the thump of the boots on the mud and dirt could be heard.
Jennings walked from the armory with two other men, both carrying almost half a dozen weapons. Since the platoon was in a line, they ran down the line throwing random weapons at each other. Jennings threw an SMG and BR55HB SR Battle Rifle. Once everyone was armed, a Marine asked Jennings, "Who's gonna get those?" he nodded toward the SPNKr Rocket Launcher and the M90A Shotgun.
"Oh those?" Jennings asked, smiling. "These are mine." He grabbed the SPNKr and wrapped it around his back. He pumped the shotgun. "Come on!" whined one of the soldiers. The Lieutenant hardened his face and barked, "Stop whinin' Marine! Trust me, I saw you with a shotgun in training, you couldn't hit s***! With a Shotgun!" he then laughed. Everyone else laughed except the Marine. His face dropped into a mad, sad and embarrassed look.
After everyone calmed down, the Lieutenant started ordering around. "1st and 2nd Squads, you temporarily will be Unit A. I want you to wrap around the south-western end of the main gate and continue north in a zig-zag pattern. Take out any Covenant patrols along the way. 3rd Squad, you're Unit B. I want you guys to wrap around the south-east end of the main gate and move north in a straight line. Again, report any COvenant patrols back to Command and take them out when ordered. I'm going with 3rd, so Unit A, you guys are under command of Sergeant Major Wilson here." he nodded to Wilson. Wilson smiled and waved to the new recruits who didn't know him, acting like a movie star.
"For those of you who don't know him, follow his orders." He turned around and lit a cigar. In a quiet whisper only he could hear, he added, "Or you're dead."
"HALO: Operation EAGLEFIRE"> Chapter Three in progress
World In Conflict: The Journal of Lieutenant Jameston- 1st Chapter up!