New Mombasa: The Soldier's War

Chapter 2: Holdout at Mandela Bridge

I hold my Winchester rifle and press my back against the van. I lean out, raising it to my shoulder. I aim down the sights; the battle raging around me fades. I see my target: a jackal sniper on a suspension tower. I aim; my barrel pointed straight into his eye. I squeeze the trigger, and the gun fires. My bullet zooms across the sky, shattering his skull, knocking him from his perch.

Suddenly, time rushed at a hectic pace. I panic and duck behind my cover and work the lever. gunfire pounding all around me. I dive into enemy fire. My heart pounds. I forget my fear; the thrill of battle overtakes me. I fire my rifle into the advancing covenant, killing many. A bullet from my Winchester strikes an elite. The alien is stunned. I shoot him again, and the fiend charges me. Again, I shoot him, but his shields hold.

The elite is now only feet away from me, and brandishes his energy sword. I hurriedly drop me gun, readying my morning star. The monster lunges, I sidestep him. His orange eye locks to mine. I hesitate, winding up. Then, I swing. The mace slams into his back, knocking him over, and his shields break. I raise my weapon over my head, and bring it crashing down on his head, the spikes punching through his armor and crushing his skull. Blood leaks from his head.

Relieved, I pick my rifle back up and open fire. I send three shots into the enemy, killing a trio of grunts. I cock the weapon and pull the trigger; nothing happens. I dive back behind my van, and reload my Winchester, hands shaking in fear. I load the last round, but I lay my rifle down. I draw out my MP-5, face the enemy, and pull the trigger. The sub machinegun spouts a burst of fire, slaying a pack of grunt. I aim towards a cluster of shielded jackals and pull the trigger. The rounds fly through the gaps in their shielding, striking the vulnerable flesh. Twisting in pain, they expose themselves, and I quell them with a second burst. I hear someone shout: I can't believe it; they're retreating!" The gunfire trails off, gradually ceasing entirely.

Shaking, lower my MP-5 and walk over to Tokke. He's dismounted the gauss cannon. He catches sight of me and demands: "Where are Cinders and Greg?"

"I don't know, sir. We were flipped by a hunter. I do not know what happened to Cinders, but I know that Greg was thrown from the warthog; He's dead, sir. I don't know about Cinders, sir; I never saw his body, and he never responded to my calls. I would place his status as MIA, and Greg as KIA."

"And the rest of the convoy?" he asked.

"Destroyed, sir." I answered. "The only warthogs to escape were yours and a transport. I walked after mine was destroyed." His face lit up hopefully for a moment.

"Which transport hog made, Private?"

"I believe that it was the one carrying our VIP."

Tokke responded to this. "Here are your new orders, Private: You will search the city for our VIP, Major John Eather. He is most likely in the old city somewhere. You are to find his and get him evacuated to safety. Once you find him, you will guard him with your life. If you are separated along the way, search for him. Only abandon the search if you confirm that he is dead. If he is dead, then you will contact me immediately, and call for pelican evacuation. His cybernetic implants contain vital information and must not fall into enemy hands. Do you understand, Private?"

"Sir, yes sir!" I shout.

"Get a move on." orders Tokke. I pick back up my Winchester, and I hear the hum of phantom engines above me. I look at Tokke: "Hold em' off!" he yells. I cock the rifle and wait for the enemy to appear, my pulse pounding. I hear the quips of grunts and raise my gun to my shoulder.

The first grunt pokes his head around the van. I fire, hitting him in the head and ready the next round. Another one takes his place; I kill him instantly. Then, my pulse skyrockets. A pack of four elites; three blue and one red face me. Quick as a flash, I grab my MP-5 and we trade fire. The rounds bounce against their shields, but the lead blue's break.

I notice something: plasma grenades. Immediately, I fire upon the blue explosives. A bullet from my weapon strikes in the middle of them, detonating them. A massive blue explosion consumes the elites. The nearest blues die immediately. A third blue loses his shields, but the red is fine. I finish of the unshielded elite with a burst of lead. The other opens up on me.

I duck behind the van, avoiding the lethal plasma bolts. I'm scared out of my mind, but I suppress my fear the best I can. I duck out from behind my cover, and pull the trigger. A single bullet flies from my weapon, and then I hear the click of an empty magazine.

I panic. The elite seizes the advantage, and rushes me. I grab my Winchester, trembling. I point the gun at him and I fire. The bullet strikes his weakened shields, breaking them, but I'm too slow. He rams his plasma rifle into my guts, sending me sprawling to the ground. Desperately, I lift up my gun. I cycle the action. He brings his arm hurtling downwards to finish me off. I jab the barrel of my Winchester into his stomach, and fire.

The elite falls dead, and collapses on top of me. Its bulk presses me too hard. I wriggle out from under it, and dust myself off. In daze, I reload my guns and ready them for action. I emerge from behind my van, and I see four specters loaded with elites charging our way. The civilians with us panic and run. Tokke yells: "Incoming specters!" The Marines reload and prepare their frag grenades. I heard Tokke fire his turret, and the ensuing explosion of a destroyed specter.

He leaps from his turret, and cocks his sniper rifle. Then, three specters fly over our heads. The marines pull the grenade pins and hurl them at the vehicles. The third specter took the blasts, and exploded instantly. From the other two specters, blue plasma flew from their turrets. Immediately, six elites dismounted. Disoriented, I open fire with my Winchester. To my right, I see a marine covered in purple needles. He leaps at the elites, and explodes in a purple and red cloud, taking the gunner with him. I cycle the action and quickly kill the three remaining elites with bullets to their brains,

I look to the other specter, and I see that they've pinned down the other Marines, killing three out of the five. I seize my mace and charge the gunner. The head slams into his skull, breaking his neck and pressing a dent into the helmet. He crumples at my feet, and I proclaim: "The gunner is dead!"

Immediately, my comrades emerge from cover and open fire. It was over within a second, with the last elite falling to the pavement oozing purple blood. Tokke calls out: "Status report!"

The marines answer: "We're down to six, sir."

"I'm fine, sir, but shaken." I reply.

"Listen up!" announces Tokke. "You Marines come with me. We're going into the city. Private, search the old city for the VIP; consider my instructions to you standing orders!"

We all hail him: "Sir, yes sir!"

""Move out." he commands. The Marines follow him in a wedge shaped formation. I reload my weapons and clean my mace; it was covered in purple blood. I then turn to the old city behind me, and walk into it.

The city is vacant now. I think back on my training, and I remember a drill instructor shouting at us: "Whenever possible, always get to high ground!" I knew what my next course of action was: I had to get to higher ground. I searched for a tall building, and luckily, I found what I was looking for.

The structure stood at 600 feet tall. It was a lookout tower for tourists, but I wasn't fussing about that. It was even a bonus; I would have a panoramic view from the top, plus probably a map and some more information about the city.

I entered the darkened lobby. Luckily, it was deserted. The place was a mess from the crowds fleeing from the covenant, but I didn't blame them; if I wasn't a soldier, I'd be running too. I pressed the elevator button. Fortunately, the covenant hadn't yet hit the electrical grid. The elevator arrived with its usually ding and I got on it and hit the up button. A minute later, I stood at the top of the round observation deck. I could see everything for miles around me. I looked more closely, and I did not like what I saw.

Scattered around the city were six covenant cruisers surrounding a massive assault carrier, but that wasn't my biggest problem. Approaching my position was a small convoy of shadow troop carriers. Desperately, I look for support: "This is Private Icharus Secundius Perseus. I see multiple contacts; shadow troop carriers. They are approaching my position. Requesting artillery support. "

A voice crackles over the radio: "Roger Private Perseus, this is Rhino 4-2. What can I do you for?"

"Thank you so much for responding!" I reply with elation." I see a convoy of six shadow troop transports approaching the lookout tower from the direction of the new city. Use a security cam to get your bead on them." The radio went dark for a few seconds, then 4-2 responded.

"Target acquired! I am charging the plasma cannon."

"Make it quick; they're almost here!"

"Ready! I'm a-firin' ma lazor!" A beam of blue light cuts through the sky and smashes into the lead shadow, destroying it.

"Hit five more!"

"Firing!" the shots fly through the air and kill the APC's.

"That's two!" I shout. "That's three! That's four! That's five! That's six!" I breathe hevily. "Excellent work, Rhino 4-2. That's a lot of blarg-blargs that won't be bothering anyone!"

"The pleasure's all mine. Kick some ass, Perseus!"

"Wilco." I say and exit radio contact. I momentarily consider broadcasting a radio transmission and seek out the Major that way, but I think better of it; the covenant would instantly home in on my location, and if the Major replied, they'd go after him. I see now that my options are limited. I'm not getting any help on this one. It's going to take logic and cunning to find him.

I scout around the skyline for other high buildings. Mostly, they are on the new city island, with only few in the old city on the mainland. A certain skyscraper captures my attention. It is a massive six-hundred foot tall communications building, and even better, on top of it is a commercial radio transmitter. I walk around the deck once more, taking in a final mental image of the skyline before descending to the streets.

Suddenly, I hear the elevator ding and open. Noiselessly, I raise my rifle to my shoulder and cautiously aimed towards the elevator. My arms tremble in fear, even though I have already survived several such encounters today. I hear nothing, and creep around towards the elevator. I see something shivering in the air moving towards me. I hesitate, then my eyes catch the ghostly glow of blue plasma.

I turn away, pretending not to notice. I see the figure crouching only a yard away; almost in range. I gaze absentmindedly into space. The elite is just a foot away from me now. I stifle my tremors, barely maintaining an unconcerned expression. I change my right hand's grip on the Winchester, wrapping my thumb around the barrel. I tense up, pretending to yawn, and then, I strike.

I whirled around, bringing my rifle but into the back of his skull, feeling his body give way with a mighty snap. Then, I see something on the floor next to his: a sword hilt. I lean down and with a curious expression on my face, pick it up and gripped it like that elite at the bus stop had. I squeeze the hilt, and with a hiss of gasses and the force of a 20 gauge shotgun, the pincerlike, cyan blue blade forms. I search the room for the elite's brethren.

I cock my MP-5, and with my left hand, I rake the room with fire. Three elite energy shields crackle in response. The first elite tried to escape the hail of bullets, but in vain. I gunned him down while the other two rush me. I take the sword in my right hand and ram into the lead alien. The cyan blade bursts through his chest and burble blood spews from the wounds. With a roar, the third elite draws his own sword. I step back, remembering my last fight with a sword.

I back away, trying to find a way out. I feel the cold press of my armor into glass. I know there's no way out. A cold determination grips me; it's me or him, and I won't let it be me. "Agie," I taunt. "Occide me, si dares." With a blood-shaking roar, the elite charges.

I step forwards, and swing my sword up. The blades clash. Sensing my weakness, the elite presses his blade down on mine. He's too strong; I pull back. We trade blows. Despite his overpowering might, I'm quicker, fighting him to a standstill, defying his power and experience. The alien outmatches me, and I feel the glass at my back.

The elite is staring me down. There's no escape. Desperately, a crazy idea leaps to my mind. It's the only option left to me. I challenge him defiantly: "Cut me down. Prove your courage, grow your honor. All it takes is one good strike. However, you haven't killed me yet. How could such a mighty warrior like yourself not kill one puny, weak, alone, helpless, frightened human? Maybe you're a sadist, delighting in the slow, painful kill. Maybe you're just toying with me. Maybe you're a coward? "

"Pathetic human, I will kill you where you stand!"

I'm struggling to maintain my composure, but I throw a last, brave taunt before my courage fails me: "Come get me." The elite roars in rage, and runs for me at full speed. I pale in fear. I'm too afraid; I can't move. Desperately, I force muscles to act. I crouch down to me knees, bending over, and I ready my energy sword.

The elite thundered closer. With all my remaining strength, I dart headlong into him, and uncoil my body. I hit him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. My sword rends through his flesh, covering me in hot purple blood. His immensely, heavy, alien body flips over my back, and crashes through the window. I hear his outraged roar fall away, until, abruptly, it stops.

Shaken and exhausted, I looked over behind me. There was a huge chunk shattered out of the glass wall. I peek over the edge, and see my foe's crushed form in the street below, a dark purple and blue smear on the pavement. I feel a stab of pity and revulsion. Pity, because he should have so easily slain me, but I had killed him. Revulsion, because his innards had burst out, leaving a huge messy stain on the ground.

I think back on Tokke's orders through my battle-shaken mind. It had only been half an hour since he had sent me to find Major Eather. To me though, it felt as if I had heard them a lifetime away. I let the truth sink into my mind, while I gaze at the war torn city, battles still raging inside. With a new, harder determination, I stand up and cast aside my energy sword. I collect my Winchester from the floor and step into the elevator. I reload my weapons, and then cock my rifle. I finally press the down button and the elevator closed shut.