Chapter 17: The Guardians of Gantrithos
Landing Zone November, Grid Victor-15, Gantrithos
11th Cycle, 5th Division, 3rd Stage, 9th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)
2205 hours, October 30, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
The explosive bolts holding the hatch on Staff Sergeant Shank's drop pod blew, and the hatch flew several meters forward. Jim grabbed his BR55 Battle Rifle from the inside wall of his pod and stepped out into the fresh air. He scanned his surroundings expecting hostile fire from every direction, but saw nothing but gigantic trees and heard only the ambient noises of what he assumed to be the native wildlife. He landed in the middle of a forest. The trees all around him stood several hundred meters into the air, and it would have taken his entire platoon to surround the trunk of one. Bright beams of sunlight shone down through the foliage above giving the area a slightly angelic feel. This made Jim even more cautious as continued to scan the area. Since the trees were so large, there was a lot of open space in between and the platoon was less likely to get separated, but there could be numerous enemies lurking behind the trees. He found the rest of his platoon's pods nearby, and once he decided the area was in fact clear, Jim jogged over to the approximate center of the pod cluster.
"Gather round, Marines!" Jim shouted. All the ODSTs carefully scouting the vicinity cautiously turned and congregated around the Staff Sergeant. "Alright, men, we need to send scouting parties around and secure a perimeter. If you see anything hostile, kill it. I don't care if it's a Brute or a giant ladybug, if it attacks you, you are to neutralize it immediately. If we run into any problems we need to try to establish contact with the rest of Sierra Company. They should all be nearby. Our job is to hold grid Victor-one-five until the dropships arrive."
The Sergeant then went around and hand selected five groups of three ODSTs to go scout. He told the remaining Helljumpers to help him guard the ordnance they packed in their pods in case the Covenant attacked.
Several minutes passed before Jim heard anything from his scouts. He wandered around the LZ for a while, and took the time to think. This is too easy, he said to himself. The Covenant should be here already. They should have seen our pods dropping. It's like they're letting themselves be invaded. He paused for a second after that thought. Maybe they're luring us into a trap!
His thought was interrupted by a crackle on his helmet's radio, "Sir, there's a group of Jackals heading towards the camp."
"Details?" Shank asked. "Where are they coming from? How far are they? And how many are there?"
"I'm at the edge of the forest, about three klicks east by northeast of the LZ," came the reply. "The Jackals are about half a klick from my position in the same direction. It looks like there are about twenty of them, sir. No armor support."
"Good work, Private," Jim said on the platoon frequency. "All scouting parties report back to the LZ. We've got trouble on the way."
"Sergeant!" a Private called from across the landing zone.
Jim hurried over to the soldier and asked, "What is it Private?"
"There's something here. I heard something rustle," the young ODST explained.
Sergeant Shank carefully listened for a while, and sure enough he heard a slight rustle as if someone was shuffling their feet. He tried to determine where it was coming from, but he couldn't quite pinpoint the location.
"Keep your finger on your trigger and stay on your guard," Jim told the Private. "We don't want anything taking us by surprise."
The Staff Sergeant turned from the soldier and went back to supervising. No more than a minute after he left the Private did he hear a loud thump behind him. He didn't even have to hear the two bursts of gunfire that followed to know that they were under attack. He wheeled about on his heels and raised his BR55 to the approximate height of a Brute's head, but what he saw in front of him almost made him drop his rifle.
The beast stood about five meters tall. Its upper body had a girth of about two meters, but it tapered down to half that size at the waist. Its legs were like those of an Elite, two joints at the knee and large hooves. However, three such legs sprouted from the waist giving the monster a unique tripod stance. It had large humanoid arms that were more than twice the size of a full grown man. Its back was curved slightly forward its shoulders were hunched over. The creature's head, which resembled that of a Tyrannosaur, hung on a long, thick neck and drooped below its shoulders. Although its head was vaguely reptilian, it had no scales of any sort on its body. The creature's hide looked is if it was made of stone.
In one swift motion, the gigantic beast reached down and snatched up the awestruck ODST the Sergeant had just finished talking to with a large three-fingered hand. The young soldier let out a blood-curdling scream as his bones were pulverized in the beast's hand and was promptly tossed into its gaping mouth like an afternoon snack.
"Contact!" Jim shouted at the top of his lungs as he fired a few bursts from his Battle Rifle. "We have a huge contact!"
The leviathan let out a deafening roar that sounded like an erupting volcano once it had finished its meal. The rattle of gunfire was heard all over the LZ as the ODSTs turned and fired on this new threat. Armor piercing rounds ricocheted off the creature's hide as it strode towards a group of five soldiers nearby. They slowly backed up as the creature approached.
Staff Sergeant Shank dropped his rifle and ran to the nearest drop pod. He skidded to a halt, grabbed the Jackhammer rocket launcher that was inside, and dropping to one knee on the ground next to the pod, he hoisted the weapon onto his shoulder.
"Use the Jackhammers!" he yelled. "Our AP rounds aren't doing shit to that thing!"
Jim drew a bead on the abomination and fired. The hellish beast swiped a massive paw at the group of soldiers before the rocket exploded on its left shoulder. The ODSTs tried to scatter, but the beast managed to strike three of them and sent them flying across the landing zone. The creature roared again when the rocket hit, but the only damage it sustained was a bit of charring where the rocket impacted.
"Take it down!" Jim shouted.
ODSTs all around him were scrambling to get rocket launchers of their own. The black armored Marines knelt next to pods for cover and fired their rockets. A barrage of explosions pummeled the behemoth and it staggered backwards. The creature quickly regained its composure and waved away the smoke as it charged towards the soldiers. Other than large charred blotches on the beast's rocky hide, not a scratch could be found. The beast took a swing at the nearest ODST who was still frantically firing his BR55 at it and trying to backpedal. The Marine quickly rolled backwards and avoided the stone fist, which instead slammed into a drop pods and sent it crashing into one of the gargantuan trees.
"Scatter!" Jim hollered as the creature continued forward at an alarming pace. The Sergeant ran and took cover by a tree and once again drew a bead on the beast.
The behemoth grabbed an unlucky ODST not quite agile enough to escape. This one screamed just like the first as his bones were crushed in the monster's grip. With its other hand, the creature sent three more soldiers flailing through the air. It then took the Helljumper in its hand and tossed him straight into the air like it was throwing away and empty wrapper. Before continuing on its rampage, the beast roared once more.
Staff Sergeant Shank had an idea. He aimed at stone monster's gaping maw and fired. The rocket hit dead center, and when it exploded the beast reeled backwards and pawed at its mouth and throat.
"Aim for the mouth!" Jim ordered.
Several more rockets streaked towards the creature and exploded engulfing its head in fire. The roar gradually became more of a howl, and then ceased to exist. Before the smoke had even cleared, the stone leviathan fell to the ground with a horrendous thump. The ODSTs slowly and carefully approached the huge body.
Jim spotted Private Roberts and beckoned him over. "I want a head count fast," he said. Without a sound, Roberts saluted and ran off to find everyone left in the platoon.
"What was that, Sarge?" one of the nearby Helljumpers asked.
"Hell if I know, Corporal," Jim shrugged. "That's not one of the known species in the Covenant, and it would be quite strange to be adding new species now. It must be indigenous to this planet."
"Sarge, look. It's skin is literally made of rock," the Corporal said as he brushed his hand along the creature's massive leg.
"It's not just any rock. Jackhammers didn't even leave a scratch on it," another ODST exclaimed.
"I know. I just hope we don't run into any more of these," Jim said. "But I have a bad feeling we will."
"Boss," Private Roberts called as he came jogging up to the Sergeant. "We've got eight dead, sir."
"Wounded?" Jim asked.
"None," Roberts replied. "Everyone that thing hit was killed. My guess is blunt force trauma."
"So that leaves us with what? Thirty-two?" Jim asked rhetorically. "I hope the dropships get here soon."
Before he could gather his thoughts, Jim saw a pulse of green light at across the landing zone. Then several more as plasma bolts streaked towards them.
"Jackals!" one of the soldiers shouted.
Two columns of twelve Jackals stepped into view from behind one of the massive trees and spread into a wedge formation with their shields in front. Gunfire echoed off the trees and the ODSTs scattered to find cover behind trees and drop pods. Plasma splashed on soldiers' cover causing metal to melt and wood to char. The energy shields carried by the Jackals absorbed each bullet that hit them. The Jackals were so closely packed that none of the soldiers could get clear shots. That was until several rockets flew towards the Jackals who tried to duck behind the cover of their personal energy shields. The action was futile because when the rockets exploded, the shields overloaded and dissipated. In a matter of seconds, all twenty-four Jackals were incapacitated.
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Landing Zone Alpha, Grid Tango-07, Gantrithos
11th Cycle, 5th Division, 3rd Stage, 9th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)
2230 hours, October 30, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
"Sir, we've just gotten several reports from the ODSTs of attacks by some strange new species," announced a Marine Lieutenant Colonel as he ran up to Master Chief Petty Officer John-117.
"How many attacks?" the Chief asked.
"Uh, five, sir," the Lieutenant Colonel searched the transcript in his hand. "They're scattered in several of the Uniform, Victor, and Whiskey grids. That's where the forest is. A few of them really wreaked havoc among the ODSTs almost completely wiping out a few platoons, sir. All threats have been neutralized though."
"Any description of the creatures, Carlson?" the Chief needed more intel. They needed to go through that forest to get to the primary objective.
"All the reports have said they were big stone monsters," the Lieutenant Colonel Carlson shrugged.
"They are called the Jorgothar," a white armored Elite explained as he strode towards the pair of Humans. "The beasts are not part of the Covenant, but they do act as sort of unofficial guardians of Gantrithos."
The Elite walked up to John and put his right hand on the Spartan's left shoulder. John just stood and stared at the Elite through his visor, unsure of what this gesture meant. He felt uneasy. He didn't like being this close to an Elite.
"Greetings," the Elite said when he finally took his hand off the Chief's shoulder. "Are you the one they call the Master Chief?"
"I am," John replied.
"I am Field Master Kado 'Toromee," said the Elite. "I am in charge of all Holy Crusader Covert Operations in this invasion. If I can assist you in any way, I will."
"Tell me more about these Jorgothar," the Chief insisted. He opened a comm. channel with the other Spartans so they could hear what the Elite was saying.
"These creatures are nearly three times larger than the average Sangheili," "Toromee described. "They originated from the tallest mountain range on this planet, and their hide is made from the stone of those mountains. They roam freely outside that mountain range now, but they rarely ever roam the plains or other open spaces. They tend to stay in forests, mountains, and other areas with places to hide. When Jorgothar attack, it is always an ambush. However, they seldom attack in groups. They usually attack alone. They are incredibly difficult to defeat. They have few weaknesses. One is the face. Aim for the eyes or mouth, for those are the softest targets. The other weakness is the crotch between each of its three legs. If the flesh there is hit with an explosive force, the legs will be rendered useless."
"Thank you," the Chief nodded to 'Toromee. Six blue acknowledgement lights winked on John's HUD. His team heard.
"Glad to be of assistance," the Field Master bowed.
John opened a private link to his team, "Spartans, meet at my position, ASAP." After his team's acknowledgement lights blinked he quickly switched his helmet's speakers on, "Where's Sergeant Johnson?"
A black hand suddenly shot up in the middle of a crowd of Marines. The Sergeant Major weaved his way through and stepped into the open.
"Right here, Chief!" Johnson called. "What do you need?"
"Select some runners for me Johnson," the Master Chief said. "I'm gonna issue out some orders for the invasion, and I want them to get to the entire invasion force."
"Right away, Chief," Johnson obliged. He went over and selected several Marines from his battalion who then followed the Sergeant back to John. While the Sergeant was getting runners, the other Spartans met up with the Chief. After everyone was together John noticed the white Elite walking back to his own army.
"Come join us, 'Toromee. You need to here this too," the Chief told him. Surprised, Kado turned and walked back to the group.
"We need to be careful when we pass through the forest," John started. "We don't want any of those… um—"
"Jorgothar," 'Toromee said.
"Thank you," John continued. "We don't want any of those Jorgothar to sneak up on us. I'll split up my team. Four of us will take point while the other three will bring up the rear. 'Toromee, I need you to select a team of eight Covert Elites, including yourself in the group, to join my team at point. The rest of your Covert Ops guys will be our scouts and cover the flanks of the army. Aside from the Covert Elites and vehicles, we'll be going through the forest in a single column, twenty-five soldiers across. We don't want to get separated while we're in there. The trees are spread out enough that our cavalry and heavy artillery can fit through easily, but they are coming through last. Once we get out in the open, the cavalry and artillery will lead. There will be an order to the column; it will alternate one battalion of Holy Crusader forces then one battalion of UNSC forces. The troops that were already assigned to guard the LZ know what they need to do. Now that we've got our defenses up, the ODSTs should be coming back to join us soon. They'll be coming too. Commanders need to gather their troops together and prepare to mobilize. We move out in fifteen minutes."
The Marine runners saluted the Chief and dashed off to tell any commander they could find even the Holy Crusaders. 'Toromee gave John a nod and went to gather his Covert Ops forces.
"Stock up Spartans, pack high explosives with your normal gear," John told his team. "We need the extra punch for those rock monsters."
The Spartans gave their squad leader a crisp salute and ran off to the temporary armory in the center of the camp. John stood and stared at the forest they were about to enter. He took this moment to himself to think his plan through and work through every possible scenario in his head. This invasion had the possibility of succeeding with flying colors or complete failure. John couldn't let the latter happen.
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The allied army quickly marched through the gigantic forest. John, Fred, Alan, and Linda led the invasion with watchful eyes. Their half ton Mjolnir armor not even making a sound on the forest floor. On either side and behind the Spartans camouflaged Elites silently jogged along. Fifty meters behind them was the first line of the army. Twenty-five Hunters marched shoulder to shoulder, a very daunting sight even to the Spartans. Elites, Grunts, more Hunters, and Humans followed. Camouflaged Elites and Grunts from Kado 'Toromee's Army of Swift Revenge darted from tree to tree along the entire length of the main column on either side.
"See anything yet, Blue Leader?" The Master Chief heard Will's voice over his helmet's radio.
"Not yet, Red Leader," John replied. They had been in the forest for over half an hour and they hadn't come across any enemies yet, both Jorgothar and Covenant.
After several more minutes John held an armored hand up and signaled a halt.
"I heard something," he said. "Black team, go on ahead and tell me if you se anything."
'Toromee and his invisible Elites slowly advanced. They checked behind several large trees in front of them but saw nothing.
"There's nothing here," 'Toromee reported.
"Alright, keep moving," the Chief ordered.
Blue team had gone no more than twenty meters when John saw one of the huge stone beasts drop right in front of his team. It quickly took a swipe at the Spartans with a massive palm. The Jorgothar's movements were surprisingly quick. The Spartans' enhanced reflexes enabled them to barely roll away, however Fred was a millisecond too slow. The stone hand caught his side and tossed him into a nearby tree trunk. The other Spartans quickly rolled to their feet and grabbed the Jackhammer rocket launchers strapped to their backs. The camouflaged Elites sprayed the monster with plasma fire hoping to distract it long enough for the Spartans to aim for the weak spots. The plasma slowly melted away the rocky hide, but was otherwise useless against the Jorgothar.
Linda fired a rocket at the beast and struck the crotch between two of its legs. From the other side, Alan fired and hit his target. One of the beast's legs collapsed and it let out a roar that contained more anger than pain. John took aim at the Jorgothar's maw and fired twice. The creature's massive head was engulfed in flames and smoke and its roar turned into a wail. The behemoth's head appeared from smoke and fell limply to the ground.
"Blue Two!" John called as he looked for Fred. John saw his teammate lying face down on the ground next to a tree and ran over to him. "Blue Two! Acknowledge!"
Fred's blue acknowledgement light winked on John's HUD, but he remained motionless. Relief came and went several times as John approached his teammate. He rolled Fred over on his back and saw boiling hydrostatic gel ooze out of the vents on Fred's armor. However, when John touched his comrade to roll him over, his hand met a slick barrier a centimeter off the armor. Fred's shield was still working.
"I'm alright, Chief," Fred coughed. "Nothing's broken, but that impact seriously knocked the wind out of me."
"Check your armor's systems, see if anything's damaged," John said.
"Running diagnostic now," Fred wheezed as he got up on one knee. He waited a few second and then stood up. "Pressure regulator has been damaged, Chief. But other than that, everything's fine."
"Your suit can't withstand another blow like that, you'd better hang behind us until we get out of this place," John told him.
"Aye aye, sir," Fred replied.
"Blue team, form up," the Master Chief ordered as both he and Fred jogged back to the fallen Jorgothar. They met up with Linda and Alan and then continued forward.
For about twenty more minutes they continued without meeting any resistance. It seemed as if it would be straight shooting from there on out. But John knew it would be too good to be true.
"Contact! We have contact!" John heard someone scream over the radio. Then silence.
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Will and the rest of Red team slowly marched behind several rows of Scorpion tanks. Constantly checking behind them, Red team was making sure nothing snuck up from behind the army. They were prepared for anything. Anything except an attack from above.
Suddenly, Will saw what had to be one of the Jorgothar drop down several hundred meters in front of him. He motioned for his team to follow and they ran towards the enemy.
"Contact! We have contact!" a terrified Marine screamed.
When they were close enough, Red team saw that the monstrosity had landed on top of a Scorpion tank. The sixty-six ton tank was completely destroyed. The main cannon was mangled and the cockpit was crushed. Both men inside were undoubtedly killed. One of the caterpillar treads was torn off and tossed to the side, and the engine was smoking. A few meters in front of the tank Red team saw the three-legged rock with a Warthog Light Reconnaissance Vehicle in its hands. Several Marines in other Warthogs nearby fired the jeeps' mounted chainguns, but it was all to no avail. The 12.7 mm armor piercing rounds bounced harmlessly off the beast's rocky hide. In an instant, the Jorgothar took the jeep in its hands and crushed it. It happened so fast that the Marines inside couldn't get out in time.
"Let's draw it away from the army!" Will ordered as he fired his Battle Rifle in an attempt to distract the creature. Nicholas and Joanna mimicked him and backpedaled away from the army. It worked. The Jorgothar dropped the compacted Warthog, turned away from the main host, and focused on the three Spartans who were now running in circles around it.
"Red team, what's going on back there?" Will heard John's voice over the radio.
Several Scorpion tanks with clear shots took advantage of the situation. However, they didn't know about the weak spots on the Jorgothar, so all of their shots were aimed at the creature's torso.
"We got one of those big rock guys back here!" Will quickly explained. "Can't talk now, I'll get back to you." He switched to his helmet's broadcasting speakers. "Fire at the flesh in between its legs!" he shouted.
The Spartans were still running in circles trying to confuse the stone beast. Despite the Jorgothar's incredible speed, it had troubles keeping up with the Spartans running around it at forty-five kilometers per hour. It tried to swing at them but missed every time.
The Scorpions fired again. This time the Jorgothar's legs gave way and it fell over on its side. Will primed a frag grenade, tossed it into the monster's mouth, and quickly dove away. The beast's head exploded in a ball of fire and smoke. Bits of rock were tossed everywhere. The energy shield around Will's Mjolnir armor flashed a bright gold as debris ricocheted off him.
"Keep moving everyone!" Will ordered. The Marines in the Warthogs and Scorpions obliged and rumbled off to rejoin the rest of the army. Red team dropped back to cover the rear once again.
"Keep your eyes on the canopy, Blue Leader," Will said over a private comm. channel. "They're dropping from the trees."
"Yeah, we ran into one about twenty minutes ago, but I couldn't tell where it came from," John replied. "Thanks for the warning, Red Leader. What's the damage situation back there?"
"We lost one Scorpion and one Warthog, Chief," Will reported. "Five Marines are dead."
"It's a good thing we haven't run into more of those things," John said. "Otherwise we wouldn't be in as good a shape as we are now."
"Tell me about it. How much longer until we're out of this place?" Will asked.
"I don't know. This forest is a lot bigger than I thought," John said. "But I'm hoping we'll be out of here in about a half hour. Keep your eyes peeled until then."
"Aye aye, Chief," Will said. He switched over to Red team's channel. "Good work, team. Let's form up. And watch the canopy. Holler if you see anything out of the ordinary up there."
Two acknowledgement lights winked on Will's HUD, and Red Team cautiously moved out following behind the allied host's heavy artillery.