Chapter 10
13:40 20th October 2552 (Military calendar)
Shimanzi Underground fuel depot.
New Mombassa West
"While you're here," Informed the sergeant. "Reload or take a new gun from the mobile armory and make yourself useful." Rachel had found a large group of soilders that had dug themselves in, overlooking a wide main road. The Covenant were attempting to advance their forces west, on foot, expanding from the city center. After her crash, Rachel crept through the dark back alleys, past the patrols and falled comrades. She broke out infront of the squad and was nearly beheaded by a UNSC sniper. She was taken into the group was now part of this particular fight.
Rachel saluted the sergeant and double timed it towards an abandoned grocery store towards the back of the blockade. Forward facing machine gun turrets were continually fireing down the highway, along with dozens of marines. Plasma fire slashed through the air, some were clearly stray shots, while others narrowly missed her by inches. Men and women screamed and yelled. Some in pain, and others in anger.
At the makeshift armory, two soilders were busy reloading assault rifles and pistols,and laying them out on tables and counters. Boxes of grenades, land mines, and other explosives were stacked up in piles.
"The sergeant sent me to fetch a rifle." She stated as she stopped inside the doorway. One of the two soilders stopped to look at her.
"Help yourself. Take what you need." He said, gesturing around the room.
Rachel wasn't much for the assault rifle, but she snatched a few clips for her pistol and pocketed them. In the far left corner, stood a couple of mobile weapon caches'. Their yellow lights flashing fiercly, inticing anyone to the spoils that lay inside. She trotted over the cabinets to see what was there. One cache held battle rifles' and SMGs', while the other had a few sniper rifles' and a rocket launcher. Without hesitating, she grabbed a sniper rifle and a few boxes of spare rounds for it. Rachel ran out of the armory, thanking the two soilders for the weapon, although she doubted that they cared. They grunted something in response as she left. Back in the street, she ducked behind an abandoned car to avoid any stray enemy fire. She put her back to the chasis and looked up at the tall building ahead of her. It seemed like the perfect place to pop a few heads from. Infact, it might have been where her head was almost popped from. Gripping the rifle tightly in her hands, she made ready to bolt for the structure. When there was a break in Covenant fire, she sprinted.
It didn't take her long to enter and power her way up three flights of stairs. In an empty room, strewn with turned over computer tables and paper, she unclipped the rifle's bipod and rested it on the window sill. For the first time, she could see the covenant advancing into this sector of the city. The common Covenant set up was present; with the eliets sending waves of grunts forward as cannon fodder, followed by Jackals. Some blue armoured eliets; the rookies in their class, tried to advance prematurely. Their impatience was quickly punnished. From the floor above her, Rachel heard the distinctive crack of another sniper rifle. The blue eliet cart-wheeled backwards from the force of the shot. And only a white trail was left hanging in the air, drifting with the autumn breeze. Rachel cocked the rifle and took aim towards the back of the road. Behind Covenant barriers and portable energy shields, loomed her targets. The gold eliets. She knew that if she mannaged to kill them all, the rest of the enemy platoon would flee in terror, leaderless. The Commander Eliet ran this way and that, only standing still for a second to point and bark orders at his troops. That second was all that was needed for Rachel to pull off a shot. A millisecond before impact, the Eliet moved and was caught in the shoulder. Its shields flared off and the warrior stumbled. He glared up in her direction and roared. The eliet seemed to be growling right through the lens and pointing at her. Rachel was just about to squeeze the trigger again when a searingly hot pink needle, sixteen centimeters long, zipped through and imbedded into the wall behind her. She dropped her rifle and instantly curled up on the floor and shielded her face with her arms. Four more needles zipped in and also stuck in the same wall. Only a second later, they all exploded. Hot pink glass and plasma spray shattered all around, ricocheting off her clothes and melting it a bit in places. Rachel uncurled afterwards, checking herself over. No injuries. Her pilots light armour had done its job. The sniper above fired two consecutive shots, followed shortly by one more shot.
"Hey, you on the floor below," A male voice called from above. "Get your ass up here!" Another shot was released as Rachel reached for her gun and scrambled for the door and the stairs. She bolted up the stairs in only a few bounds, and quickly located the room that the other sniper had set up shop in. The man had fired the last round in his clip and was crouched under the window reloading. Rachel ducked down against the door frame.
"Hey!" She called. "Did you get the gold eliet?" Blue plasma streaked through the open window and burned marks in the cieling above her. She scrambled over to the soldier and reloaded her own rifle.
"Yeah I got him." Announced the man. "But that was just one of them. I spotted another to the far right, behind the bus, but hes dug in good."
Rachel nodded to him as she slapped in another clip and cocked the loading bar of her gun. She stood up and began unloading rounds down the street. After the second shot the man called up to her. "My name's Duncan by the way." Rachel fired another shot after a brief monent before answering.
"Rachel." She stated without looking at him. Duncan looked about thirty with not much stubble on his cheeks. He got up off the floor and stood next to Rachel. "I take it your the guy who almost took myhead off." She quiried.
"Ah," Confessed Duncan. "Sorry about that." He said.
Rachel forgave him, and for the next hour, the two of them painted the air with vapour trails. After which, not much was left standing. The Human forces looked like they had won, and uppon looking down at the platton, only three members had suffered any injury, one of them had an arm missing. Rachel figured he was the one screeming after a heavy volley of needles flew towards the barricades. The second leader class eliet had not been hit in the battle, and was nowhere to be seen. Rachels company began to relax, and were collecting more ammunition for the inevitable second wave.