The Battle of San Jacinto (Second Battle for Earth, Day One August 17th, 2569)
The buzzing alarm woke Warrant Officer Galloway with a start, sweat dripping off of his brow. He knew what the alarm was for: Winter Contingency. He jumped out of his bed and proceeded to get his uniform on. The door opened with a hiss as he walked out to the briefing room. Once he reached the room, two Marines saluted him as he walked in.
The room was filled with uniformed Marines: Humans, Ponies, Dragons, Griffins, ODSTs, and even some Commandos, all anticipating the Generals arrival. Once Galloway found a place to stand, General Houston entered the room and everyone stopped their conversations and saluted him as he took his place.
He coughed and then stated "Fellow Marines, as you may or may not know, Winter Contingency has been declared."
There was chatter among the Marines until Travis spoke up again "You mustn't worry, since we'll stop them from advancing any further into Texas and send their asses back into space!"
There were cheers and hollers coming from the Marines as they heard this news. Once the celebration ended,
Houston spoke once more "The Covenant have touched down on San Jacinto. In a few minutes we'll get ready and bring the fight to them! Any questions?"
A Dragon raised his hand and said "How many of these Covie freaks are there?"
"Our scouts have reported to see around two-hundred, at the least. Along with a Brute Chieftain no less." Houston answered.
Another Marine raised his hand and asked "What type of vehicles do they have?"
"They seem to have a few Ghosts, and two Wraiths, one Anti-Air and the other Anti-Infantry." Houston answered.
"Now, any more questions?" Houston asked. "No? Well, everyone get in your squads! We depart in ten minutes!"
When Houston finished, everyone started to scramble in order to find their squad and get to the armory in time to depart. Galloway found his four man squad and started to walk towards the armory, right behind General Houston.
Houston turned to Galloway and said "Oh, and Galloway?"
Galloway saluted and asked "Yes sir?"
"Your squad's with me."
"Sir, yes sir!" Galloway responded cheerfully before running to the armory with his squad to suit up.
Warrant Officer Galloway's squad is the forty-eighth Commando squad known as Strike Force Gamma. It also has many nicknames, the most common one being "Melting Pot" since it has one of each race, excluding Covenant Separatists that is.
The first member is, of course Warrant Officer Galloway. His personality is mostly patriotic, ready to fight for his country and planet. His weapon of choice is the standard issue MA5C Assault Rifle. He has blonde hair, green eyes, and chalk white skin.
The second member is the marksman of the group, being a Griffin no less. His name is Gale, and his personality is a patient Griffin, waiting till his enemy shows weakness and then pulling the trigger. His weapon of choice is the 99C-S2 Anti-Matériel Sniper Rifle, namely for it's armor piercing rounds. He has brown and white feathers, with fear educing red eyes.
The demolition expert, third member, and an elusive Dragon is Garnet. He's a red and orange dragon that has purple dagger shaped eyes. With his front-line attitude and cocky personality is why his weapon of choice is the M90 Close Combat Shotgun, along with the M319 Individual Grenade Launcher.
The Unicorn, medic, and fourth member of the squad is Gauze. His coat is bleach white while his mane is licorice red, mainly because he's a close relative to Nurse Redheart. He's the pessimist of the group, but always keeps his head up when he's healing another squad-mate. His weapon of choice is, quite arguably the strongest of the group, it being a M6D Personal Defense Weapon System Pistol.
When they're alone they're easy targets for the Covenant onslaught, but when they're a team, they can be almost as powerful as a Spartan and more tactical then a ship A.I.
And this is their story.
Once everyone was outfitted from the armory, they made their way to to the hanger, seeing Houston as they entered.
Houston counted the number of Marines, it reaching a total of one hundred. The room was hung with an eery silence as Houston began to speak about the procedures.
"Now, we'll be taking a few vehicles. They'll be five Transport Warthogs, four Turret Warthogs, three Gauss Warthogs, two Rocket Warthogs, and one Scorpion." He explained.
"Who's getting in the Scorpion?" asked a Earth Pony from the crowd.
"Corporal Garnet will be driving it and Private Wakens will be in the turret." Answered Houston.
"Now, I want everyone to get either in a Warthog, or ride on the Scorpion," Houston started before pointing a finger at Galloway "oh, and Galloway?" he asked.
"Yes, General?" Galloway questioned.
"I want you and the rest of Strike Force Gamma to get ride in one of the Gauss-Hogs." Houston said.
Galloway, Gauze, and Gale saluted and shouted "Sir, yes, sir!"
Houston then turned to the small army of one hundred and said, "Now everyone get to your vehicles! It's time to show these Covenant bastards that they messed with the wrong planet!"
There were cheers as Houston climbed in one of the Transportation-Hogs, and motioned everyone to get in their vehicles and move onward to San Jacinto.
They arrived moments before dusk, the sky being a sickly combination of orange and black. When they inched closer to a hill, Houston motioned them to stop. He then pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked through them, no doubt searching for Covenant movement.
"Damn," he whistled. Beyond them, the Covenant were already equipped and ready to move out.
He turned to the army and started to speak, "Now, on my signal Garnet will fire a round from the Scorpion at one of the wraiths and the Warthogs will move out and try to disable the Wraiths. Once that's over with, the Pegasi and Dragons will give the Covenant aerial hell. With one swift move after that, we should be able to either drive them out of Texas or eradicate them. Do I make my self clear?"
"Yes sir!" replied the melting pot of an army.
"I can't here you!"
"SIR, YES, SIR"! boomed the army.
"Now let's show them hell!" Houston yelled, with the army following after him with their own yell.
The Scorpion was positioned at the exact angle in order to blast away the Wraiths. Travis surveyed the position of the Wraiths before turning to the Scorpion and ordering "Garnet, you may fire when ready."
"Yes sir!" replied Garnet as he moved the cannon of the Scorpion to the position of the Anti-Air Wraith and firing a shell. The shell made it's way to the Wraith and detonated with a boom, causing smoke to surround the Covenant made tank.
When the smoke cleared, parts of the armor was chipped away and the Covenant were scrambling around, trying to find who caused this attack.
Houston raised his gun and yelled "Charge!" causing the Warthogs and infantry to advance into the battlefield.
The Brute Chieftain, Arag, looked onward of his army and yelled "We must march forward brothers! We must march so we can wipe out the galaxy of this filth!"
There were cheers from the Grunts and Jackals, but it was soon over as the Anti-Air Wraith exploded with a cloud of smoke. The troopers were, or the Grunts were, running around the field knocking into one another until Arag yelled "STOP! Who's responsible for this insolence!"
"I think they are!" a Grunt yelled, pointing at the oncoming waves of both humans and equines.
Arag looked at his troops and asked "Well? What are you waiting for! CHARGE!" along with that scream came the scream of the Covenant army, and the roar of a dozen ghost engines marching toward their adversary.
The battle turned into a bloodbath when four Ghosts and Warthogs rammed into each other, creating four fireballs of yellow and blue. Once the skeletons of the vehicles hit the ground, Marines began to take cover behind them, poking their heads out to stuff Covenant troops with lead, and usually ending up getting a plasma bolt into their heads.
Galloway looked at his vehicle with terror. Any moment now, and him and his squad will be nothing more but blood stains on the grass. He knew Gale had good driving skills, it's just that he always get's........ reckless during a battle.
As he looked around he saw marines and Covenant alike getting slaughtered, either turning part of a river's color to red or blue, or being obliterated by shells from the tanks. Just a few moments ago, he saw a few Warthogs and Ghosts being hit by a plasma bolt and disappearing entirely.
After he punched a hole into a Ghost, it exploding into a blue wave, Galloway turned to Gale and asked "Where's General Houston?"
Gale moved one his claws off the wheel and pointed "He's over there, near the Wraiths behind the toasted Rocket-Hog."
"Can you get us closer?"
"That's what I'm trying to do!" Gale responded, taking the wheel once more making his way toward Travis, but not without making a few Grunts roadkill that is.
Right when they were about to reach Houston, two Ghosts got in front of them, hellbent on ramming their Gauss-Hog.
Gale slapped his talons together and said "Well I got good news and bad news.
"Good news: Those are the last of the Ghosts, and we can easily take them out by getting rid of our Warthog."
Gauze gulped and asked "And the b-b-b-bad news?"
"We're still in the Warthog." Gale said as they were inching closer to their premature deaths.
"I think we should jump." Galloway said.
"We should," concurred Gale, who's getting ready to jump out.
"Yep," was all Gauze could say.
Once they jumped out, the vehicles collided, creating smoke and debris. Galloway got up, only to be shot in the arm by a needle. He screamed in pain as he fell to the ground once more, coating the grass he was under crimson. He looked up, seeing the smoke clear as he saw a Jackal, and three Grunts, all of which were pointing their weapons at him.
Before he, or the Covenant soldiers could respond, a white line zipped through the three Grunts and a bullet impacting against the Jackal's skull sent the troopers to the ground, motionless.
Galloway saw Gale and Gauze rushing toward him, the former pulling the needle out of him, and the latter bandaging up the wound. Gale turned to the medic and said, "Take him to Houston. He'll be waiting for him."
Gauze asked "What are you going?"
Gale replied slyly with "I'm going hunting and the best head is the Chieftains."
Houston was hiding behind the remains of his Warthog, it being closest to the two Wraiths. He put in his last magazine for his pistol as he fired, taking down a Brute in one fell swoop. He looked to his right and saw Galloway and Gauze making their way to him. He raised his pistol and fired, obviously covering them.
When they got to Houston, Houston asked, "How's it going for you so far?"
"Well, Garnet, in a moment, should be taking down one of the Wraiths and Gale is about to off the Chieftain, and I got shot by a Jackal and Gauze helped with the wound, so I'd say it's going well." Galloway replied weakly.
"Well that's good to hear," Houston responded taking cover behind the wreckage once more before saying "now it's just a matter of moments until this battle's over."
Garnet rummaged through the cockpit of the Scorpion, trying to find more ammunition for it. When he found another shell, he injected it into the cannon of the tank and squeezed the trigger, ejecting the round into one of the Wraiths, causing an explosion of blue to appear where the Covenant Anti-Infantry vehicle once was.
The Dragon smiled before sticking his head out and yelling, “Yo, Wakens! Get ready to fire, because we’re moving out onto the battlefield!”
Wakens nodded and replied “Aye, aye, sir!” before gripping the turret, ready to lay waste to the Covenant.
Houston, Galloway, and Gauze made their way to the Anti-Air Wraith, hiding behind a rock every so often to avoid Covenant plasma fire and returning the favor with bullets. When they were only a few a meters away, another Covenant patrol was advancing toward them, with the Chieftain leading it.
Houston raised his pistol and fired, but to no avail, he was out of ammo.
Gauze and Galloway raised their weapons and fired, taking out a Grunt and a Jackal.
After that, the Chieftain turned and fired his weapon, it being some sort of revolver, and shot Galloway and Gauze's weapons out of their hands.
Arag laughed, “Oh I’m sorry, did I make you lose any chance you have of stopping us by making you lose your weapons?”
“No, but it would’ve helped.” Galloway replied, spitting at Arag.
Arag punched Galloway, knocking him unconscious and then said “Worthless scum!”
He then turned to Travis and said “Now General, I demand that you surrender! There’s no way you can win this fight!”
Houston just chuckled, “Oh, I’m sure I have a way of winning.”
“Oh? And what’s that?” Arag questioned.
“I’m sure you’re about to find out.” Replied Houston.
Garnet and Wakens made their way toward the heart of the fighting, gunning down any Covenant they could find. When they spotted Houston, Garnet moved the Scorpion toward him with Wakens firing at the Covenant troops. They even managed to shoot Arag, but that didn’t really do anything as Arag turned a shade of blue. When the aurora ended, Arag looked around finding the Scorpion and signaling the troops in reserve to go and take it down.
When they opened the cockpit, Garnet put his claws up and walked with the Covenant, to where both him and Wakens were pressed against the Scorpion, plasma weapons against the backs of their heads.
Gauze turned to Travis and asked “Now what?”
“Now, we just need to hope that Gale comes through and does his job.” Answered Houston
Mood music (Kinda)
Gale found a nearby rock and positioned himself and laid his Sniper Rife flat, to where he can survey a good chunk of the battleground. He peered through the scope until he found his target: the Brute Chieftain. He then leveled the rifle and fired, the armor piercing bullet making it’s way to the target and going straight through his skull, the dark red blood splashing against General Houston's and Warrant Officer Galloway’s armor.
The Covenant were stunned to see their leader taken out so easily. This gave Garnet enough time to whip the two Grunts who were putting guns up to Wakens and his heads into each other, both gave the sound effect of cracking skulls when they fell to the ground, motionless. Garnet walked up to Gale and gave him a hand shake.
Houston looked across to Gale and Garnet, offering a smile. Gale and Garnet nodded, making their way towards the three.
When they arrived, they saw Gauze waking up the unconscious Warrant Officer, who, in turn, craned his neck to Garnet and asked, "What the hell just happened and why am I covered in blood?"
Garnet smiled and said, "The Chieftain is dead. Gale did his part, and now it's time to do ours."
Everyone followed behind Garnet as he made his way to the last Wraith, gunning down some Jackals with his shotgun.
When he reached the Wraith, he jumped on it, proceeding to throw the Brute out of the turret. He then fired a grenade with is grenade launcher into the turret seat, got out and started to walk away. When he reached the rest of the squad he let go of the trigger, causing the Anti-Air Wraith to exploded into a blue inferno.
Travis put a hand onto his earpiece and ordered, "Pegasi, move out. You guys can have the leftovers."
When the Pegasi heard that, they launched up into the sky, readied their weapons, and released bullet hell for the Covenant forces. When the bullets started raining down, Grunts, Brutes, and Jackals were being killed left and right. One of the remaining Brutes yelled on the top of his lungs, "RETREAT!"
With that screech, the last of the Covenant forces dropped their weapons and started to make their way to their Phantoms, leaving to fight another day.
When the Covenant forces left, most of the Marines started to cheer, throwing their helmets into the air or even firing in the air like drunks. Houston was even cheering. Galloway walked up to Houston and said, "Wow, General, I think that's the first time I've seen you this happy."
"This is the first time in many, many years that I've been this happy Warrant Officer." Laughed Houston.
A ringing on Houston's earpiece silenced his laughter, as he pressed it replying, "This is General Houston."
Everyone fell silent as Houston talked to the mysterious person behind the earpiece. He finished by saying "Understood. Over and out."
The General turned to the crowed of forty, the remaining Marines from the Covenant onslaught, and raised his hands yelling, "Good new boys! We're heading out to Nevada to help an ODST squad with a Prophet assassination! We leave ASAP!"
Gauze tilted his head, "Do you know who the leader/leaders of the ODST squad is?"
Houston looked at the Unicorn and replied, "I think Galloway might know."
Galloway looked at Houston puzzled, "I do?"
Houston chuckled, "I think their names might jog your memory: Their names are O'Brien and Cortez."
