Heightened Velocity
It didn't take long to assist the fallen trooper, though his injury had rendered him unable to handle or fire his weapon. I had to quickly pack away the items as the bandages had been packed at the bottom; the first aid kit was poorly put together and not what I was normally used to. I had left my personal medical kit somewhere back on the Anchorage, during the confusion I grabbed a random one from the armoury during my way to the hanger bay. The bandage I had applied appeared to be holding, though I would need to swap it soon. Just to make matters worse, Wrotham, our radio operator was reported as MIA although I had a disturbing feeling that he was aboard the pod that got hit during the drop.
Fortunately the firefight had come to a close; one of the soldiers had managed to get a grenade behind the Covenant barricade. I could only tell as the irritating buzzing of plasma fire had ceased, my hearing was still slightly out after impact almost like being underwater. I felt a slight sense of guilt that I hadn't fired a single shot, but I quickly reminded myself I'm not paid to fight, only to make sure I can keep others doing so. I only carried a weapon as compensation. The order was given to advance; I hoisted the injured trooper who was propped up with his back against the debris we had taken cover behind onto his feet and put his arm around my shoulder.
We all moved at a brisk pace further towards the Covenant staging area, it was only then I realised I misjudged the distance that had separated our team to the firing position we had been pinned down from. As we past the enemy barricade, I remember smelling that thick, musty harsh scent that often accompanies fireworks or candles from the previously exploded hand grenade. The terrain was rough and dusty; it was more of a wasteland than anything else, not like the supposed Valhalla I was expecting during what little I caught in the briefing. A thick cloud layer had blown over, upon further thought I realised it had probably been caused by the anti-aircraft fire.
It was only shortly after we came across our objective, the first gun emplacement. It was a large plasma battery, heavy duty, the barrel itself towered over the battlefield. Surprisingly the gun was still firing at the time; I then remembered that our cruisers were probably still engaging the Covenant space defences. This only spurred us to pick up the pace so we could relieve some pressure off the fleet. During the approach to the cannon, our team stopped and stacked up against what remained of a wall. I was relieved to put the casualty down and I think he was as well. Castor, a corporal, had seemed to assume command of our small group was preparing to advance on the gun position which stood only around fifty metres away. However none of us could've anticipated what was coming next. Upon reloading all weapons and equipment, the troopers stood up and moved out of cover into the open ground. I had mentioned to Castor, that I would remain with the injured trooper rather than dragging him to a demolition job. I was just preparing to remove the chest-plate again to replace the bandage when I heard a voice of one of the ODST's "Sniper! Get down!"
Like second instinct I stood up and looked over the wall, the troopers were scattered however my attention was locked onto the one lying on the floor. The process from there I must admit bordered on carelessness but I couldn't have just waited for a better moment. I grabbed my assault rifle, vaulted the wall and sprinted towards the victim. During the short journey over, I had glanced up to pick out the thin, scaly silhouette of a jackal upon the balcony that circled the gun position. When I reached the trooper he was unconscious, I found that a highly energised plasma round had pierced his thigh but I didn't stay long to make an assessment. Castor was looking over towards me like he was waiting for me to give an order; I never did understand why he didn't just pull his team out while I sorted the casualty out. After a brief moment I just shouted over towards him "Get to the objective! I'll take care of him!"
The next stage was to get the trooper to cover; I grabbed a harness strap on his armour with my left hand while I trapped my rifle between my side and elbow with my right hand allowing me to return fire to the shooter. Managing to drag the trooper back to the wall I began closer inspection which revealed that shot had blown a tunnel straight through his leg. Through the years that I have been working as a combat medic I have always considered plasma shots more forgiving for prolonging a life, simply because there is very little bleeding as the extreme heat just melts and cuts off all blood vessels and nerve endings. On the other hand, there more difficult to seal as liquid CO2 is required to meld the flesh back together. The trooper's name was Redding, I doubt I'll ever forget the name; his dog tags had been dangling outside his armour unlike the needler victim whose dog tags had been lost when I removed his armour.
After sealing the wound, Redding began to regain consciousness which was a positive sign but I didn't want him falling into shock if he looked at his wound so I tried to keep him sitting at an angle. The helpless, awkward feeling began to sink in while I tended to both troopers wounds. I felt more vulnerable by that wall, in the quiet isolation with two casualties with only the hum and hissing of the cannon every now and then to keep me company than in the firefights against the Covenant. My nervousness was probably one of my guardians that day along with injured soldier's warning of "Behind you! Look out!" I span around on the spot to see a sole elite approaching, I scrambled away from the casualties as he opened fire. My primary concern was to get the creature away from the injured, during the fight to get to my feet I took a glancing plasma hit on my shoulder pad. The shot knocked me back to the ground, I tried to regain my breath as I crawled away to try and distance myself between the elite. For whatever reason the elite abandoned his plasma rifle at this point and activated his energy sword, I know these bastards like their glory kills.
The elite wrenched me from the floor and held me off the ground by my neck. Out of all the experiences I've had fighting the Covenant through the years, this remains and always will as one of the scariest moments I've ever endured. We all have our fears and feed them by watching those jumpy films at home, but then the fear only lasts a brief moment and its visual. While I was manhandled by this creature, the vision was mild compared to the touch and the scent. It was the first time I have ever witnessed an elite up close, I didn't take notes but the eyes were piercing and I noticed that the purple colouration armour suggests lower ranking elites. Before the alien could deliver the death blow I gained freedom by retrieving my medical scissors from my belt and forcing them into the creature's elbow. The roar it caused didn't do my already damaged hearing any favours. The elite recovered quickly, faster than I did from being dropped to the ground, I backed up with my eyes fixated on the approaching elite. Reality was realised when I stumbled back into a bullet-riddled wall. I straightened up as the elite, now only a few foot away, cocked his sword arm back and forced the sword forward.
I had closed my eyes for the final moments but the 'supposed' warm embrace of death never came. Instead there was only a searing burning sensation on either side of my neck. Whether it was miscalculation on the creatures part or I had twitched at the last moment I can't say, but the energy sword had pinned me up against the wall. Either prong was embedded deep within the wall with me stuck in-between. Through this realisation I had a sudden burst of adrenaline, I was alive. I reached up and grabbed both prongs of the sword and lifted myself up slightly, where with full force I booted the elite away from the sword which suddenly deactivated. Before I made the same mistake, I threw all my force and tackled the elite to the ground. The skirmish was ended quickly, I stood up and stepped away from the stunned elite and I reached for my sidearm and emptied the entire clip before it had a chance to recover.
As the adrenaline wore off, the pain kicked in from having been in such close proximity to the energy sword. I hadn't realised how far I had ventured away from the casualties. When I made my way back the ground suddenly began to shake violently and like a supernova, the gun emplacement exploded in an oval of purple flame and light. I could feel the heat and shockwave emit from the detonation. My assumptions that the battle was only going to get more intense from there with the arrival of the second wave were correct.