The General: World War III Chapter 5: Skirmish, a halo fanfic

Chapter Five:
Skirmish

June 14th, 255210:22 PM

The Pelican flew low and quick above the ground. Dirt and rocks kicked up against the bottom of the dropship, we where really only about eight or so feet from the ground. We had been flying for around thirty-five minutes and had left the snowy region and came into a area that had none. It was mainly all dirt, with some grass and here and there it seemed, from what I could make out when leaning out my seat and looking out the back.
"Alright boys." said the CO. "Heres our orders." I had been waiting for our orders since we took off and almost began to wonder if he was going to tell us. "We are coming up on a hill region with lots of side cliffs and tunnels. The EWCU is to move though here we think. We will hold up in the hill sides and observe what they do. We have been told that we are to defend ourselfs as we see fit." He glanced at all of us, we all had our eyes fixed on him. "Once we drop off, we can't leave for another four or so hours and expect no help." His head hanged downward a bit. "Prepare yourselfs." he added and walked back into the cockpit.
We sat there quietly. We where all thinking to ourselfs. The dropship swung to the left and did a onehundred-eighty degree turn into a stop. We all swayed to one side and back to the other with the movement. The dropship hovered for a second and began to lower down. We where at the LZ. "Pile out boys!" barked Ryan.

We all made our way out and set up a defensive circle around the dropship in the daylight. Thats what I hated most about this land, how it was nothing but day for months on end, then night for months. The Pelican engines heated up more and it was off. We sat there for a second. The CO was scaning the enviroment. I glanced around. We where on a small hill. To our left was a very small cave. Infront of me was a small cliff up along a gigantic hillside. "Sir." I said. The CO came over to me. I pointed out the small cliff ahead of me, and traced my finger along it to the left which led into a tunnel on the high ground.
"Lets move!" yelled the CO. We made our way to the small cliff and hopped up and made our way down the cliffside to the tunnel. The dirt clifside curved into the tunnel. So there was a bit of the hilside infront of the tunnel, meaning we could use the highground against an enemy attack from the front. The cliff side also formed a small wal as it reached the end toward the tunnel. Enough for one or two mean do kneel down beind and have cover upto their waist.
"Squad gunner." said Ryan. Steve and Jake jogged over to him. "Set your M41 up here, beind this small cover hill." It was a good idea to set the MG behind the cover. It drasticly strenghtened our defences. He also ordered three men down to the end of the cliff, where we had come up, to prevent the enemy from using the flanking tunnel or using the way we came in to get up where we where.
"Thomas." Ryan called out to me. "Yes, sir." I replied as I walked up to him. "The small cave below us. Go down there and rig a trap." "A trap sir?" I asked. "Yes." he replied, "If the enemy gets below us, they will most like take cover in the tunnel against the fire of the flankers down at the end of the cliff where we came up. When they go in, I want them to come back out... In pieces." "Yes, sir." I answered and made my way down.

I looked at the small cave and questioned on how to make a trap. I got an idea. I got a piece of string from the nearby sapper. Why I was doing the trap and he wasn't was beyond me, but I did it anyway. I took two M9 Frag Gernades and planted them into the sides of the cliff a small bit, at the front. I took the string and tied it around the swiches of the frags. When the enemy came running in, they would trip on the wire, causing the swiches to flip and set the gernades off three seconds later.
I felt quite content with myself, haivng set up a trap all by myself and made myway back up the dirt cliff to the rest of the team in the tunnel. I sat by Dave who was sitting on the edge of the cliff by Steve. We gazed out at the enviroment. The path ahead and extremely hilly. The smaller hills has grass on them, while the one that where a bit bigger didn't. Way out to the far right we made out a cliff side tha circled around a wall of rock. Gazing more to our right, we made our a patch of about twenty or so large stones, about fifteen feet big in each direction, for each of them.
"Do you think the'll come?" I asked. "Na, if they come, the'll be running and the marines will be right behind them." replied Dave. We chuckled. "You guys, into the tunnel also." said a voice. We glanced back behind us. It was Ryan. "Lets go. Into the tunnel. We don't want them to see you if they come." We got up and walked into the tunnel. I sat down up against the wall like everyone was. It was extremely quiet. It made me feel uneasy.
I moved my body around on the dirt ground and got myself into a leaning position against the wall a bit better. I put my gun up against the wall and closed my eyes. Within minutes I was in a light sleep.

I awoke about a hour later. Everyone was peaking out and looking down the way though the open lands. I sat up more. Even Steve and Dave where looking out. "Whats happening?" I asked and grabed my rifle and stood up. "We just noticed theres as structure out there, way out in the distance." said some soldier as I brushed myself off. "So." I replied and walked up to join them.
"Its crawling with The Royal Troop." said the soldier. I froze. "How do you know this?" He pointed out to a small hill out in the distance a bit. I look out and noticed Ryan out there with binoculars. He was observing way out in the distance, farther than I could see.
A minute or two later he stood up and began to make his way back to us. He soon entered the tunnel again. "So whats out there?" I asked. "Infantry." he replied catching his breathe. "They also seem to have warthogs as well." He glanced around at us. "They know where here." he said softly. My heart beated a bit faster. "How do you know that?" asked a soldier. He looked over at him. "They where there before we even landed, im sure of it. Im sure they know where here as well." he paused. "Their numbers have grown to, since last time I went out and checked."
I looked out into the open. I couldn't see the structure. Amazed that they where possibly there the entire time. I looked back at Ryan. He had picked up a rock and was drawling out their positions on the ground. "Here they have about twenty men, and here about seven." I looked back out as he continued. "They have two jeeps here and a machine gun here on the structure here."

Something caught my eye. I stepped out a small bit and glanced over toward the right a bit more. There. They where on the move. "There on the move." I said. The CO rushed over and everyone grabbed their guns. "Where?" asked the CO. "There." I said and pointed them out toward the rocky region to our right.
Ryan put on his binoculars and put them back down. "David Steel! Front and center!" he had called for my bother. "You see those men out there?" Ryan asked. Dave glanced out and then put his sniper scope to his eyes. "Yes, sir, I see them now." he replied. "What do they have?" "Two of them have M7s and the other has a S2 AM Sniper, sir." Everyone backed away from the tunnel enterence, even I did.
"Alright then, keep your eye on that sniper. If he even points his gun out this way, shoot him till hes dead. Are we clear son?" asked Ryan. "Sir, yes, sir!" yelled Dave.
Dave went prone and Ryan cleared of the tunnel entrence. "If Dave is forced to shoot. Then we know their out to kill us." stated the CO. We all had our eyes on Dave. Time went by and he still just sat there. Roughly thirty seconds later came the snap of his rifle, followed by two more shots. We all jumped a bit. "Did they point the sniper at us?" demanded Ryan as he headed over to him. "Yes, sir." replied Dave. "I shot all of them, sir."
Ryan stood there for a minute. "Everyone ready defences now!" he yelled. We rushed to find a position. Steve and Jake took positions behind the cover on the MG. The rest of us made our way down the cliff and went prone along it. I sat on my stomach looking out at the openness of hills ahead of me.
We could hear the sounds of drums being played. We sat confused. Out in the distance I could see extremely tiny people coming into view. A long line of tiny people. They where getting bigger. They where coming for us. "Should I fire sir?" asked Dave. "Not yet." replied Ryan.
We listened as they got closer. We could hear them marching now. The drums where getting louder. They went out of sight behind a hill line. The drums stopped. "If they come charging over that hill, then you may fire at will team!" yelled Ryan. We all sat ready. The EWCU on the otherside of the hill. A sudden spam of gernades flew up over the hill and landed a good distance out infront of us and exploded. They where smoke gernades. Then we could hear them.
They started yelling and we could hear their footsteps. They broke though the smoke. Our lines erupted. They started to drop. Some stopped and kneeled down and fired back. Steve started to chew them up with the M41 MG as they came. Not even after twenty seconds of fighting they retreated back though the smoke. "Cease fire!" yelled the CO.
We sat there silent. The hills ahead of us once covered in dirt where now bathed in fresh blood and bodies. About twenty enemies lay dead, our lines still perfect. Then came the sound of engines and the sound of something sliding on dirt. It was the warthogs. Fear swept over my body and my hands became sweaty in my armored gloves. I began to wonder if we could stop the warthogs or not. More gerades flew up over the hill. They landed much closer than before. Smoke came out and blocked our line of sight against them. We heard the vehicles start moving and the footstepts running again. Steve fired the MG though the smoke. Screams came out from the other side. "Cease F..." started the CO, until he heard the screams. "Fire!" he yelled and we all started shooting into the smoke. Seconds later pockets of infantry broke though. Some kneeled down and fired back as those before had. Some 'tripped' to the ground, but they never got back up.
The warthogs came into sight. They came up and stopped atop a hill infront of us and opened up among our lines. Men all around began to fall. Steve opened up on the vehicles with the MG. He took out everyone in one vehicle but the other went on the move, firing at him as it went. We all focused our fire on the jeep. I took aim at the thing and pulled the trigger slightly. A few rounds shot out, I did this over and over, trying to count my rounds as I did so. Suddenly, the hog spun out of control and the driver fell out to the ground dead as it made its way up the hill infront of us and came to a stop. Steve fired on it. A few seconds later the vehicle exploded, sending parts of it everywhere, along with the gunner and passenger. I leaned to my side and pulled out a fresh magazine from my belt and reloaded my assault rifle.
The Royal Troop made its way below us. The team on the far end of our line opened up on them from the flank. The enemy rushed to the cave for cover... Seconds later a explosion shook the ground beneath us. The enemy troops using the hill for cover ahead of us started to retreat back toward the structure. Some got away, other didn't and where shot down as they ran. We had won the fight, for now.
I put my face to the ground and laughed with happyness. I looked to my left and quickly quit laughing. Three guys lay dead and one other man did as well to my right. Everyone else let out a battlecry. The men, they had been killed by the warthogs that had opened up along our lines.
I glanced back toward the cave tunnel and found my brother standing behind Steve, looking out at the retreating enemy. Dave shot and picked off a guy way out in the distance with his sniper rifle. I got up and headed over to him. All three of us did our secret handshake to show that we had all made it though. Coremen came up our lines and checked for wounded and where checking the dead. We took guns and ammo from the dead and layed them inside the tunnel for now. Everyone was upset about the men lost and confused about why The Royal Troop had attacked us. It was also racing though my head. But we showed them what happens when you do.

I over into the tunnel and glanced over the dead. All wore red armor, all where basic mechinized soldiers. They where placed by the huge ammount of packages off food. I stopped at the third body in the line, it was the warhawk. I walked over and kneeled down beside him and removed his helmet. Blood poured out the front and back of his head and a stench filled the air, a bullet had gone though his upper head and out the upper back. The guy, I had took for as a man from his deep voice was actually a kid, possibly eighteen years old. He was a mix of white and black and had a babys face, puffy cheeks and a small nose. I looked at him a bit, I began to wonder if I would had ever figured this man out. Tears came out of my eyes a bit. I put his helmet back on him and walked away as drums began to play out in the distance.