0849 Hours, October 20, 2552
Pelican two crash site, New Mombassa
Delta 239 engines burst to life, exfoliating dust, sand and smoke particles through the air as the drop ship propelled upwards towards the metropolis, the humming of its thrusters slowly fading into the distance. Se7en lifted his arm to shield himself from the wave. No sooner had the fighting finished, had it begun again. The ground where he stood was scorched with plasma from the Covenant Phantom which lay peacefully on its side. No one had survived when its armour had contained the ruptured blast from inside, cooking the survivors instantly. It was time to move from this war torn area and head for the city innards. The Master Chief was climbing into the Warthogs driving seat as he walked over.
"Permission to ride shotgun, Sir"
"Permission granted"
Private Se7en strutted over to the side seat as someone grabbed his arm from behind. It was Anti, his outstretched hand holding some Battle rifle ammo clips.
"Take these" motioning at the rifle ammo. "You'll never know when you'd need them. Take care of yourself and no heroics"
Se7en shook Anti's hand. He had known him all through basic training and they had become best of friends.
"Don't worry I'll meet you on the other side. I always do." Se7en gave a smile as he jumped into the passenger's seat. With that the vehicle started to roll.
The walls were chipped, the paintwork shoddy, the road unfinished but it was home and it would be defended. Morangie looked around at the pocket of marine resistance that had set up shop. Those that were injured had been tended to as best possible with limited medical supplies and had been put aside as the clearing begun. They had been involved in skirmishes with the landing force most of the morning and had then been run underground by hostiles from the air. Climbing through the rubble the resistance had entered the remains of a collapsed highway leading to Zone 4. From there they had struggled with the wounded as the marines headed, along the tunnel, for the metropolis. After an exhausting 70 minutes of walking, when the injured could take no more, the marines halted their march. Setting a perimeter and relaying scouts to watch the exits, they had finally rested. Minutes passed as Morangie started to deploy the last of the M247 GP Machine Gun when the first shots were fired.
The death stick slowly burned at one end with each puff, receding where the cinders fizzled disintegrating onto the floor. Andz had recruited into the military for one soul purpose – Revenge! He had seen his home world melt from a window while fleeing in a transport carrier just before Slipspace. This had been at a very young age. Now several years on he had vowed to fight the Covenant wherever, whenever. He engulfed the stick once more and let loose one last puff before tossing it away. No sooner had he done so that the buzzing had start. It was low at first, nothing more than irritancy, but grew larger and then started multiplying. Andz looked down the tunnel as if this would solve his dilemma.
"What the…" Squinting into the darkness he saw wings, lots of wings.
"…Oh hell no"
Turning the marine ran, as fast as he could towards the encampment. Drawing his side arm pistol Andz shot over his shoulder at the incoming horde as a barrage of plasma devoured the pavement behind him. Yelling into the radio he got no reply.
"Dam the static must be interfering with the transmission"
Not looking where he was running he tripped releasing his grasp on the radio as it slipped onto the floor.
There was no turning back now, for they were almost upon him. He had to stay alive; he had to warn the others.
The radio fizzed with static as the marines gathered together trying to make head or tail of the blabber that was being received.
"Inc…ng …ove..nt force! I r..pe.at. I..com..g f..rce"
There was a large crackle and the com channel went quiet apart from a flutter in the background.
"Soldier respond. Respond dammit"
The flutter became a constant buzzing that grew to an immense sound as it passed by. Morangie pushed the radio away from his ear while the noise proceeded intensely.
"What's wrong?" A young lad to his right asked.
"Drones" Morangie replied coldly.
"Sir?" The puzzled reply came.
"Drones son, Drones!" Morangie turned to the others.
"Set out defensive positions along the front. Move the injured behind cover"
"Quickly dammit, quickly"
"Boll, get on that machine gun"
"Sir it's not deployed yet"
"Bloody hell, I'll cover you just get the dam thing operational"
With that the walls vibrated with the sound of the humming and all hell broke loose for the enemy were upon him.