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Arms Race - A Halo Fan Poetry
Posted By: PoeticRulesAll<randomiser1337@gmail.com>
Date: 21 August 2011, 10:46 am
Read/Post Comments
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A slipspace portal opened just above Atmosphere
And my Frigate Covalence seared out;
Clad in black, with Titanium A grade armour
It's MAC shot fizzled their earliest scout.
But we were too late, reinforcements arrived
In endless waves of Covenant Corvette Ships;
So orders were passed, and hopes were revived
By the best trained, strong ones being picked.
A rally alarm sounds and I fall in with haste
To the briefing room full of patriotic personnel;
I squeeze in the back of the room in little space
As the captain speaks from her pedestal.
And the roaring marines board their dropships
While my two-man squad heads to the Armoury;
I grab a silenced SMG with the extended clips
And toss my comrade a modified M6D.
Pelican engine's thrust, fire fuel and force
The birds lift up with maximum load;
Mobilising every single bit of UNSC resource
A green signal and they all hit the road.
They've got birds, but we're going feet first
Dropping straight into the dirt of this world;
We hope for the best but prep. For the worst
As I climb into my HEV insertion vessel.
An alarm sounds, and my HEV locks shut
I tighten my helmet as adrenaline rushes;
"Good luck commander…" And then her voice is cut
By our release that triggered mega static forces.
Dropping out of the sky, from high orbit Frigate
The colony of Malthus, comes spinning into sight;
I stare at my comrade dropping right down straight
While I grip the feverish jos-stick with all my might.
I watch the Corvettes rise, then they take a dip
Descending into Atmosphere with alarming momentum;
Light Seraph Convoys voyage along the Freighter ships
But Longsword Fighters defend our Infantry Pelicans.
As I clench my CAWs barrel in my pod
Covenant troops crowd around the drop zone;
I punch the heavy lid open splattering the horde
And as I leap out grunt blood is blown.
Each cluster of shots springs from the barrel
As the adversaries drown in blood and death;
My ODST comrade spins her MA5K in level
Leaving nothing but dead bodies left.
A banshee wail over us, a Phantom comes in
"Commander, Hunters!" She screams in fear;
The troop bay opens with two spiked things
Falling to the ground with a sinister queer.
I back away, lobbing over a Frag Grenade
While my comrade tackles the hunters from behind;
Reaching for the S9M guided launcher instead
I lock on and let the projectile work its mind.
Then I sprint through the smouldering smoke
And stash both weapons to draw out my knife;
I jump, fly upwards at one of their throats
Letting the coagulated blade take the life.
Another melee and the other drops dead
Then a Pelican touches down over the safe LZ;
With a super-heavy scorpion tank attached
The present ONI was able to give me.
I got into the tank, roaring the engines
While my comrade got onto the Light AA Gun;
The two of us started the massive thing
But they were watching us all along.
A fuel rod overhead hit the Pelican taking off
Flames licking the fuel tank and its hull;
The phantom turned to us as if it wasn't enough
So I avenged the downed Pelican with a shell.
The missile could not miss at such a range
Coupled with my comrade's rapid LAAG fire;
It's hull ruptured with clouds of blue flames
But our situation was still dire.
I rolled the hull over a Covenant Blockade
Firing straight at their Communication Broadcaster;
I splattered over some panicking grunts and a shade
While armour-piercing rounds flew out of the turreter.
The barrels of her turret span continuously
Drowning the oversized targets that tried to evade;
We pushed through Covenant-Controlled Territory
Sending them by the entire lances to the grave.
We passed the metropolis, and a bridge was in sight
Leading to Malthus' Outskirts and far beyond;
I blasted the toll gate open with sheer might
The journey was going to be long.
The bridge curved upwards as ghosts encircled us
The both of us sent them into flaming wrecks;
Their plasma fire encircling us did not last
Their vehicles charred and twisted but our tank intact.
More ghosts appeared from behind a barricade
As a wraith mortar missed us by a few inches;
I raised the canon and pointed it down ahead
Blasting the mortar launcher off its hinges.
A Phantom with wraith attached raced to our beat
Raining its burning plasma rounds over the scene;
My comrade stuck her right hand out of the seat
And charged her Covenant Plasma Pistol green.
A bright green flare showed the polygons of the vehicle
As the EMP blast disabled both of its Anti Grav Engine;
We sent the Phantom and its cargo in Full Circle
It disappearing from sight into the abyss of the Ravine.
Banshees appeared on both sides and circled with intent
Boosting through the atmosphere like rekindled zombie souls;
They put us in the line of rapid fire, heavy and intense
Blowing and wasting our scorpion down to absolute zero.
Both of us hurdled out as the tank went up in flames
As a banshee zoomed dangerously low to the path;
I timed my jump and hurdled onto its left wing pane
And punched and pulled the Brute out in wrath.
I whirred my banshee around and launched the cannon
Knocking another down like falling leaves from a tree;
I returned to pick up my comrade stuck on the ground
Who balanced on my wing with her charged green EMP.
I stared in awe and shock as I watched her go
She EMP-ed another banshee and jumped onto it;
Skyjacking the vehicle she whirred it in control
And we cleared the sky full of their screeching ships.
Up ahead a UNSC Freighter held position in orbit
While AA Wraiths on the ground below fired on;
The both of us returned fire and killed with urgent speed
Then we landed and waited for long-awaited extraction.
The words "UNSC HSS Anchor" read out on its hull
And it dispatched us a Falcon instead of the usual ship;
It's LAAG Turrets was replaced with a G-L to null
All ground resistance to shatters and harmless bits.
AAA fired their plasma cannons all the way up
Trying to implode the HSS Freighter overhead;
Blue streaks of heavy burning plasma rods struct
All over the ravished hull of soon to be dead.
"Unless we do something about it" I command
As both of us board the opposite turret seats;
But as everything is always better said than done
I chained the grenades and launcher to meet.
The chaim of ordnance attached and the phrase "Fire At Will"
Sets us raining EMP projectiles over the scattered resistance;
Our altitude locked and targets on the wraith over the hills
The grenades ping, bounce and implode like a real nuisance.
The AA wraiths, with hulls mounted with overhead Fuel Rods
Back off gradually as we advance and push our way through;
Targeting their blood-red hulls I send them distraught
Disabling their engines with EMP explosions of blue.
Then the grenades explode taking the wraiths along
And HSS Anchor trails us slowly being very unsure;
Shade turrets apparently prove us dishearteningly wrong
My comrade flinches as the rounds blind her visor.
The Falcon banks and turns around very sharply
Putting the strategically placed turrets in my sight;
All the Anti Air Firing ends just so abruptly
After I take them out with flashes of blinding light.
A Phantom accelerates alongside the Falcon
And Jetpack brutes fly out of the troop bay;
They fire their spikers and sabotage and burn
Trying to ruin our golden day.
My ccomrade jumps into the Falcon's jump seat
And grabs an S9M Guided Munitions Launcher;
Targeting the oversizeed enemies fuel and fire meet
To blow the Jiralhanese to their resting area.
I aim the heavy turret down my sight and lock
The Brutes are already devouring my low shields;
The heavy launched grenade flies towards the flock
And disables their jetpacks, to gravity they yield.
We wipe out the remaining wraiths and terrets
But then a great Anti Artilery Mortar tower's up ahead
The Falcon dips and evades sharply a projectile fired
It was up to Covalence to bake the cake.
It slipspaced out from behind Anchor and seared
While Anchor's scorched armour was hit twice;
Punching a MAC round the Mortar tower disappeared
Down to below entirely away from sight.
The canon was projected directly upwards
In a fountain of fireworks and deadly sparks;
Freighter Anchor descended and landed
With the crew all laughing at Covenant luck.
Tanks and hogs were dispersed from Anchor
Preparing to follow us via the route underground;
Covalence however, sensed impending danger
When Covenant Frigates began to touch down.
Slipspace portals opened up all over
As Covalence sprinted its way to safety
The Corvettes concentrated their fire on Anchor
Drowning the freighter and cargo with an EMP.
The EMP blast radiated rapidly through the air
Disabling the Falcon Propellers as it lost all control;
We spun round and round in circles of despair
The impact was going to be hard and bold.
My vision faded to red as we hit the ground
Ear piercing screeches of scratching metal everywhere;
I fell unconscious and collapsed without a sound
Excruciating pain and blood, on ends were my hair.
I opened my eyes to the sound of her voice
She was painfully calling for my aid;
I crawled slowly to the source of the noise
She was trapped under a Falcon blade.
Red exhaust fumes burned the surroundings
Anchor's corpse sticking out of the grim mire;
Denatured wrecks and unrecognizable things
Everywhere I saw nothing but fire.
I groaned in agonizing pain, my breath was hard
As I helped my injured comrade to her feet;
My chest had been cut through by the Falcon shard
I fell to the ground waiting for defeat.
My vision darkened as I collapsed onto the ground
Mouth spurting with my fresh warm blood;
But a twist of fate and a can of biofoam she found
Turned my journey's end around with luck.
We looked around but only bodies were in the dust
We scoured and searched for a vehicle;
The Covenant was far far ahead of us
We had to beat them to the package faster.
I found an overturned mongoose nearby
And we got on it without further delay;
I plowed straight into the tunnel in sight
While my comrade with her S9M was ready to slay.
The road shifted from dust to almost nothing
As the lightweight engine of the ATV resounded;
It wasn't long before we ran into Covenant teams
And our greeting call was a HEAT S9M fired.
Two ghosts went up in smoke and flipped
While I manoeuvered past their flaming wrecks;
But by the time the Phantoms turned their turret to hit
My comrade had already blown them up off their rack.
The Prowlers on boost, whirled their turrets and fired
At us while we overtook them at great speed;
I clicked the incendiary grenade in hand that ignited
And flung forcefully from my driver's seat.
A Phantom closed in on us from overhead
But my comrade had a bubble shield prepared;
The ship dropped Fuel Rods that did some damage
But the shield returned the rods dispatched.
She held the shield and gave us much cover
And I saw bright sparks as our shields recharged;
Then when the time of the bubble shield was over
We were both ready to charge.
I whipped out my SMG and fired to the left
While speeding along the rocky unstable path;
My comrade stood up and prepared to jack
Jumping with amazing agility onto the craft.
The chopper driver screamed in acute fright
A second before she was in the driver's seat;
Then the chopper engines accelerated with light
Up to take out the revenants with intense heat.
Then I veered sharply up a steep ramp
Aiming for the drop bay of a low Phantom;
Through the bay door I didn't wait to land
Before the click of my SMG fired at random.
Sprinting I stabbed an unsuspecting enemy
Before opening fire on the others with my CAWS;
Then I flung an elite out of the drop bay epically
By grabbing onto his neck when he charged with swords.
I unpinned a grenade and aimed for the cockpit
Before both pilots were killed by the fragmentation;
Then I assumed total control of the dropship
And rained the heavy plasma fire onto the formation.
My comrade set off a C4 explosive on the vehicle
While I caught her with the Phantom's magnetic field;
The brute chopper went down straight path in cycle
And detonated the Revenants with amazing results yield.
Then she got on the back with her S9M
As banshees rose and boosted in our way;
She locked on as their fuel rods ran
Straight into green explosions in the drop bay.
The HEAT missile left a thick heavy contrail behind
And hit a Banshee right on its purplish nose;
The boosting wings on the craft separated out of line
As the wreck plummeted down below.
Another sped up from the side racing against us
I rammed the Phantom hull straight into the tango;
The banshee was wedged and blew up in dust
As I accelerated the throttle forward towards our goal.
My Comrade was out of Rockets and came over
Taking up the seat of the Phantom copilot;
So I flew and navigated the Phantom closer
While she took aim over the Plasma Turret.
The turret glowed luminously as it fired
The chasing banshees boosting out of the way;
One by one they eventually got tired
And gave up on the pursuit turning away.
I landed the Phantom at the end of the route
And my Comrade unlocked the Service Elevator;
We would be going for a vertical drop
In a lift shaft in the UNSC Research Bunker.
My HUD lit up with the next task at hand
And I disseminated this information to my comrade;
We would stay outside the facility and defend
Until our package was ready for us to take.
The Elevator moved horizontally and then down
Lowering us into the snowy environment of the base;
A Mild Covenant presence was incoming in round
We had to firefight against the Covenant's invasion waves.
I lowered my weapon and sprinted out of the cage
As soon as the doors opened outside the facility;
I ran forward towards the facility supply crates
And grabbed a shotgun and M6D.
I scanned my card across a card reader
Opening the garage with a warthog present;
My comrade hastily got onto the driver's
At least I got to be her Turret Buddy - that's decent.
The cave was huge, dug by UNSC explorers
A Forunner Installation was discovered nearby;
A thick layer of snow lay the ground over
It would be a close fight.
She steered the warthog over preparing for defense
Just as three Phantoms came sailing through in flight;
Who cares where they came from in sense
I just unleashed the gunner and aimed down the sight.
The crosshair turned red as hunters jumped down
Followed closely by grunts and brutes and elites;
My comrade veered the warthog with a siren sound
And splattered the lance with the warthog's heat.
I turned the turret around and opened fire
Bullet shells flying out of the side onto the snow;
I aimed for the bigger targets in the chaos and mire
Taking out with splattered blood our foes.
My comrade made a turn and ran straight back
While a Spirit and two more Phantoms came sailing in;
I fired in bursts as not to overheat the rack
Of Light Anti Air Gun Bullets flying from the cylinder within.
A charged EMP flew straight at the vehicle
My comrade power-slided right out of the way
Had she not done that death-defying maneouvre
We would have had a real bad day.
Another wail and a Spirit sailed down to us
I wasted no time in firing at the dropship;
The bullets penetrated the armour and cost
A magnificent flame to lick over the hull of it.
A final explosion and the dropship exploded
It's ravished hull was sent over the edge;
It dropped the ghost that was attached
Saving us effort and firepower in the later stage.
Then more and more phantoms dropped in
And a wraith shot was launched from a distance;
The shot sent the warthog in an aerial spin
The damage it suffered was beyond tolerance.
I sprinted foward as the hog burst into flames
And jumped on the blue hull of the advancing wraith;
I punched the armour of the wraith with fist-like rain
Before planting a Plasma Grenade and running to safe.
"Fall Back! Fall Back to Secondary Defensive Position!"
I yelled over the COM to my comrade engaging steadily;
We held our position outside the main doors of the station
And attached ourselves to turrets to engage the enemy.
I fired my Rocket Turret and blew advancing ghosts
While my comrade took out another Spirit;
The Covenant never even managed to get close
Before we threw them into a state of panic.
The doors to the facility unlocked and opened slowly
When all the Covenant in the area had been eliminted
Though the two of us were all exhausted and weary
Through the UNSC tunnels and rooms we sprinted.
We headed for the lowest floor of the facility
A platform that overlooked the uncovered artifact;
A team of civilian scientists were waiting nervously
Into my hands they thrust a glowing object.
This contained the data about the forunner installation
The installation had the potential to turn the war's tide;
We both understood the mission's dire importance
And we were ordered to bring the package topside.
I stared at the data core in my care
Overwhelming tears shedding in my eyes;
I would do my duty to bring it there
My shoulders bore the weight of lives.
My comrade rested her head on my shoulder
As the elevator made for the Aerial Base;
My tears rolling but I hid it from her
A firm resolve to win the Arms Race.
I knew she would feel exactly the same
As I climbed aboard the Spec Ops Pelican;
We were followed by several marines that came
To stock us up on Fuel and Ammunition.
I drove a warthog and attached it to the back
Then we were both good to soar to the sky;
The troop bay door was closed intact
We roared the engines and said goodbye.
The ground crew saluted and disappeared from sight
As I took control of the twin missiles and galting gun;
We would race down to Malthus' main air site
Where civilian evacuations efforts were going on.
A Covenant Supercarrier flew over the base
With a glass the structures crumbled to the ground;
There was nothing we could do for the dead
We had to escape the compound.
Then our radar flashed danger red as I turned around
And saw the Spirits and Phantoms hot on our trail;
I charged the machine gun and fired the rounds
While my homing pair of missiles travelled like rail.
The homing missiles curved accutely in mid air
Hitting a Spirit Dropship between its tongs;
It disintegrated dropping its clamps there
With an explosion of blue flame emerging from.
Then my comrade swirled to avoid a mortar
While I waited for the missiles to reload;
The machine gun chained and fired from far
Drowning the Banshee cluster down the road.
A Phantom caved in, and brutes flew out
I targeted each hovering target and rained;
The Brutes yelled and bloody was their shout
After the armour piercing bullets worked their pain.
One landed on the body, and began to sabotage
Not before my comrade flipped to one side;
The beast was flung off the Pelican's edge
His body disappeared entirely from sight.
The machine gun was rotating dangerously fast
Threatening to rip away off from its metal cage;
Then a Banshee dropped a Fuel Rod cannon on us
The green plasma burned the ship's hull in rage.
My comrade pulled the joystick back and accelerated
Leaving the trailing Phantoms a distance behind;
I took this opportunity to lock on to the hated
Turning on them with Homing Missiles aligned.
Our wings were on fire, we were running out of time
A final Concussion shot dropped the warthog attached;
The Pelican troop bay door was long left behind
The Plasma Fire had wrecked the door stacked.
I glanced at my comrade, blood was in her chest
As I made my way to the troop bay with weapon in hand;
I lifted the heavy GALLEAN over my shoulder with zest
And charged the red laser projectile over the land.
I aimed down my visor trailing a Spirit nearby
And fire the one-shot-killtacular burst;
Three lasers project from the red charged light
Rupturing the engines of the worst.
Charging the mounted weapon one more time
I miss the banshee as my comrade swerves around;
My laser unsteadies and is fired out of line
I switch to my Grenade launcher and punch a round.
The outskirts of the city are just right ahead
My comrade flies the Pelican close to the surface;
A final Plasma Hit makes our dropship dead
I run and jump from my seat in brace.
My downed dropship bursts into flames metres away
While my extended hand helps my comrade to her feet;
"This place's swarming with Covenant! We can't stay!"
I yell as the two of us push foward towards the fleet.
We run and run, my breath heavy but energised
And we chanced upon some trapped civilians;
We signal for them to follow us precise
We had to secure transport to our extraction.
Covalence contacted me and sent a Pelican
The dropship touching down 200m away;
We all sprinted and sprinted hand in hand
When we were met with unexpected delay.
Two Phantoms came soaring right over
Laying off their Brute Lance ready to slay;
"Go, I'll provide you with supportive cover,"
I ran forward towards the Troop Bay.
Almost there, then I heard a chilling scream
I spun myself around in mortified shock;
My comrade had suffered horrifying injuries within
I knew it was all my fault.
I'd know what she'd want me to do
So I sprang forward in one final effort;
I passed the package to the waiting crew
Before declining to join them in comfort.
The Pelican took off and soared right away
As I ran back to my comrade in pain and blood;
I then knew I was going to stay
I would never leave her soul and heart.
"If we can't get out of here, I'll die with you"
I whispered as I carried her from the ground;
I found a troop transport warthog in fortune
And drove everyone against a burning background.
The evacuation ops center was right up ahead
I motioned everyone into an evacuation base;
I hastily picked up my groaning comrade
And set the lift for the highest place.
The lift moved up the shaft steadily with ascension
My heart and breath heavy with nervous thoughts;
I prayed feverently for my comrade's freedom
When my train of thoughts was ended by a shock.
The doors of the lift opened wide and we ran and ran
Down to the Pelican landing pads full of evacuees;
I beckoned the civilians to make their final stand
But we were stranded as the Pelican set itself free.
I looked over and spotted a Police Pelican nearby
And got in followed by throngs of civilians;
I ensured that the Pelican was full before the fly
I rose to the sky with an overfilled Pelican.
More Pelicans joined me in the orange skyline
As we made our way towards the Evacuation craft;
But Covenant Anti-Air forces downed it in time
So I made for Covalence's drop bay in wrath.
Those left behind suffered a fatal deaths
Wraith Mortars flew past us to the city;
They took out platforms and bridges and the rest
Would all vaporise in the glassing shortly.
I was grim when we touched down in Covalence
The evacuees were relieved for space and life;
But I carried my injured comrade in essence
She needed medical treatment to survive.
I ran with her in arms to the medical room
And lay her down onto the bed smoothly;
I removed my helmet and hers so soon
At me she put on a faint smile weakly.
I patted her head to feel assuring
Knowing the real likelihood of the outcome;
But something in me was gnawing
To blurt out everything in a sum.
I tried to speak but my throat went dry
I knew this would be our final moment;
Saddened by tears but I did not sigh
I was without any comment.
Then I broke down and cried everything out
While she held onto my hands tightly;
"We won the arms race," she tried to shout
But the acute pain in her chest got her painfully.
"The Package is secure and now with us
It will lead us to a way to beat the Covenant;
The entire mission was a success thus
We should be happy in this moment."
"I took a shot from a gravity hammer
But we both agree it was necessary;
I don't care what happens to me ever
But my duty is always my priority."
"I'm probably not going to see you out
I'm just going away from your sight;
We will meet again, without any doubt
I'm turning into the light."
"I should have taken that shot!"
I yell as I grasp my hair with fists clenched;
But then she shakes her head in thought
"War is not always as we planned."
"Continue to fight and avenge me," she pleas
And I nod my head in firm grim resolve;
I too will stand up for my UNSC duty
I will banish the Covenant from the SOL.
She was running out of time there
So I decided to make it fast;
"I love you." I started out of despair
She just smiled and laughed.
Her mouth made out her four final words
"I love you back" she said softly in my ear;
I hugged her with warmth and whispered
How much the two of us've been through these years.
All the drop from orbits, the hot LZ's
Every occasion she fought by my side;
Those are now just thoughts and memories
Now all my faith and smiles are fried.
All those times she saved my life
Brotherhood is made on the battlefield;
But no matter how hard she would strive
To her wounds she would now yield.
I set her to sleep in a frozen cryosleep
We would slipspace to Earth for help;
As she fell asleep I began to weep
I prayed that she would be dealt.
A layer of ice forms over her smooth face
As her eyes close and fall into deep sleep;
The cryotube is moved to storage space
The end causes me to weep.
I join the captain on Covalence's Bridge
She congratulates me on a job well done;
But she also cried upon hearing the damage
Everyone's speechless for the time.
Everything becomes clear in death, one says
I mourn for the dying, the dead and the lost;
And though the missions succeeded today
We won the Arms Race... But at a heavy cost.
Our only hope is to get her to Earth
And I will take it whatsoever;
Her mind and soul and whatever she's worth
I will remember it forever.
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