Background Info: brb

brb_napping

Background Info

Jul 15, 2010 01:20

The Battle of New Jerusalem
September 2552

"Cygnus? Didn't think there were any survivors."
- Taylor "Dutch" Miles

The Rook had sat next to the ODST, scanning the horizon for threats, listening to his tale. Any attempt to leave or call for help had been thwarted by the dying man. But now he understood at least why he'd been sent down with a second wave of ODSTs by SOEIV, and why extra Pelicans were on their way. It was all due to this man, Gage Yevgenny, who was most certainly going to die here. The sound of an approaching Pelican began to rise in volume.

"There's a reason I've been keeping you here, talking," Gage said. "Not just a comfort for my dying self. They're almost here. The Covenant, and Eric with his friends. I'm surprised you got here before them all. They're gonna want to salvage all the gold they can from the wreck. What I want you to do is head up the mountain now, all out. Drop your pack, everything but comms and your weapon. Get through the cut there in fifteen minutes and you get on the other side of the mountain. Don't flag down that first Pelican that's coming. In fact, hide from it as best you can. I held you here because if you'd taken off of the mountain, the Covenant would have seen you from the other side. But the Grunts are on canned methane. Instead of using it all up by panting the way over the mountain, they'll work their way around to get close to this wreck. So head up the pass and over the mountain, and run like you ran in boot camp, rook, run like your worst drill instructor is right behind you."

"Sir, I can't just leave you!"

"They're all gonna arrive, rook. And I'm gonna blow the Shiva up the moment all the bastards show up."

Gage held up a control pad that would let him wirelessly detonate the nuclear device.

"Years ago, I told my father it was just dirt. But it's not dirt. It's where we live. It's our dirt, dammit. And more importantly, it's about who's standing on that dirt. Those children. Your family, your friends. And those freaks are gonna pay for every piece of dirt they've taken from us."

"We can still get you out of here!"

"No! I'm a dead man, you know it. I'm not gonna waste more marines."

"And your friends coming this way?"

"They're gonna die helping protect the dirt, rookie. They're gonna die doing something good." He smiled. "If they'd stayed back in the city to form up with you guys instead of running out here for the gold, they wouldn't have a problem, would they? They chose this path. Promise me something, rook."

"Anything."

"You'll fight the Covenant all the way. Even if they land on Earth. You'll fight them even if you have to throw rocks at them."

"I will, sir."

"Then go now." He waved the arming device for the Shiva around. "I'm gonna set this damn thing off, and if you're still dawdling around here."

The Rookie got up, looked around, back at the man on the ground one last time, and then ran. He shed his gear as he did so, everything but the BR55 in his hands. He ran uphill, not looking back, his visor open and his breath loud in his helmet. He leaped over rocks, gaining height, until he finally spotted the cleft of rock that would let him cut over the ridge to the other side of the mountain, back toward the city that was the base camp for this operation. He paused, looking back down in the direction he'd come, catching his breath in long, gasping pants. Boot camp was just weeks ago. He was relieved to find out he still had that kind of sprint in him. He could see the developing battlefield far below, in the scrub of the foot hills. Grunts in the hundreds poured toward the downed Pelican that had come around the far side of the mountain as Gage had predicted. They were like locusts, swarming across the grass bumbling along due to the large methane tanks on their backs. And thundering overhead, flaring out toward the scene - a Pelican. It touched down and three figures stepped out. They did not rush to help Gage, but instead started rooting through the ruins of the other Pelican.

The marine did not wait to see what was coming next. He ran through the cleft, barely glancing up at overhangs, and then slid down the other side. Loose rock tumbled, and he surfed down the shale - and dirt. A bone-thrumming thump shook the entire mountain and a steady roar filled the air. By the time the Rookie got to the bottom, a massive mushroom cloud could be seen over the tip of the mountain top. It was still rising when a Pelican flew around a nearby hill, coming down to kiss the dirt for long enough for the Rookie to leap in.

"What the hell happened over there?" the pilot asked.

The Rookie shook his head. "Long story."

Long indeed. He was still a bit shaken by the entire thing. The Pelican shook and bounced.

"The civilians have all been evacuated," the co-pilot told the Rookie, who stood behind him, looking out the window. "We're taking them back to Earth with us."

"Earth?" He was surprised.

"The Covenant just attacked Reach," the pilot reported. "We're falling back - to Mother Earth."

The Rookie looked out at the land under the clouds as they climbed for orbit, stunned. Soon, all the ground would be glass, once the Covenant ships started in on it. All dirt, he thought, like Earth. From there, they would throw everything they had at the Covenant, if they were found. Even if he had to throw the last rock himself. He'd made a promise. They would make the Covenant pay for every inch of dirt, the Rookie thought to himself.
- Dirt, Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe

The Battle of New Mombasa
21 October 2552

"We are dropping into hell, troopers!"
- Edward "Gunny" Buck

OPENING 4 minutes before drop