. . . . . . "Halo: Astanchia"@en . . "Vag awoke with a brief yawn following a brief nap; the hot night had caused him to sweat in the desert of the mining planet. He was two weeks out of basic training which he had served in the cool Canadian summer, where he was also raised, which made him even less comfortable in the heat. He was the only member of the platoon from Earth and often felt left out when the other more experienced soldiers in his unit talked amongst themselves. While the others of the platoon discussed what each colony was like and intercolonial activity, they need not know Mark's background as Earth was well-studied by all."@en . "Vag awoke with a brief yawn following a brief nap; the hot night had caused him to sweat in the desert of the mining planet. He was two weeks out of basic training which he had served in the cool Canadian summer, where he was also raised, which made him even less comfortable in the heat. He was the only member of the platoon from Earth and often felt left out when the other more experienced soldiers in his unit talked amongst themselves. While the others of the platoon discussed what each colony was like and intercolonial activity, they need not know Mark's background as Earth was well-studied by all. The platoon itself, known as the 4th Platoon of the Marine Corps' 84th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, was assigned to the planet as with detachments of other units in response to a intercepted Covenant transmission targeting thirteen UNSC and Sangheili planets and in response defenses were bolstered to an extent on each of the targeted planets. Astanchia, though before the Second Great War was a planet of nothingness, prospered with a mighty vigor when a prospector uncovered the largest known concentration of titanium in the Human Sphere. Now that the Covenant had possibly targeted the planet, the UNSC wasn't taking any chances. A total of two thousand soldiers, seven warships, and a multitude of highly dangerous deep space mines now protected the humble planet which was yet to yield many of its secrets. \"Vag, we have contacts near Hivarious. Suit up and get going.\" The owner of the voice was Sergeant Major Dass Birch, a seasoned soldier fighting since the end of the Second Great War. \"Yes, Sergeant Major.\" It grudged Vag that Birch wanted him to refer to him by his full rank instead of something more simple like Sergeant or Sarge. Still, Vag thought little of it as he slipped his combat suit on over his dampened fatigues, a draining process though one well worth it seeing as the suit provided its fair share of protection. At last, he slipped his fingerless gloves on and clipped his helmet to his back; Vag then slipped his NH50 rifle from an open locker on the wall into an elongated, rugged plastic holster over his left shoulder and holstered an M21D sidearm at an angle on his left hip. As he took a step out the door of the sheet metal cabin, the recruit noticed the dusty, makeshift parade ground originally used for the colony's Colonial Militia stationed at the small base. Dotting the grounds were groups of Marines, Army personnel, and Militants. However, he quickly took notice of his gathering platoon not far from his tattered polycrete barracks. He arrived just in time to receive Birch's commands. \"Alright Marines,\" he began in his slightly raspy voice. \"Our platoon and the Militia's 3rd Platoon are going to the city and we'll help the evac that the planetary AI and Colonial 1st Platoon began-\" before he could begin another sentence, all of the soldiers looked into the sky. Fifteen Covenant destroyers loomed in a W-shaped formation over the planet in high-altitude atmosphere. \"Change of plans,\" the Sergeant Major commanded as he listened in to his sputtering headset. \"Damn aliens sent two groups in. One stopped in system and one in orbit. Damn bastards...\" \"What the hell are we gonna do now?\" a young Militant cried out. Before Birch could scold the panicking rookie, a voice filled the COM speakers of the grounds. \"Attention! This is Colonel Hackard. We have birds en route and we will be moving as quickly as we can. We're gonna get this done right, boys.\" Without hesitation, the 150 soldiers at the cramped post began their way towards dropships and vehicles. Birch jumped into the modified double-seat cockpit Gorilla HRV nearest the platoon's rendezvous location. The turret of the Gorilla fired rockets nearly two feet in length. Seeing the turret was open, Vag laddered his way to the turret. Adjacent to the ladder was a seat rack filling with recruits, as was the two seats fitted with .50 caliber guns on the back of the vehicle. In moments, the Gorilla was loaded and followed a slightly nimbler yet older Kodkod whose turret was a M52 LAAG (Light Anti-Air Gun) towards Astanchia's capital settlement, Vertigo City. After his seat automatically adjusted to his build and glanced at the battlegroup due north of the Gorilla. \"Anyone else notice three of those ships activated grav-lifts?\" Vag said into his throat-mic. \"Yeah, those birds need to be up and now. I'll set a clock for the platoon's HUD. In twenty minutes, the city will be down for the count. If we're not there in fifteen, its gonna get a lot harder.\" Birch pressed a few buttons on a control pad built into the wrist of his suit and activated a fifteen minute countdown in the platoon's respective Heads-Up-Displays, or HUD's for short. Thirteen minutes passed and the pair of vehicles, now backed by seven others, were within five kilometers of the urban city not surrounded by any suburbs. \"I'm reading contacts at the city entrance, Marines,\" Birch said using a COM built into the Gorilla which was set to the two platoons' frequency. \"Let's run their furry asses down!\" A Marine shouted, followed by a unison ooh-rah, though Vag didn't chant. The fact that he had never fought before caught up to him, and he felt uneasy. Before he could knock his sense back in, a steamy orange spike flew into the energy deflector protecting Vag from the front, much like the Warthog's deflector plate albeit made of energy. The energy panel flashed before flickering back on in a second. The rookie Marine took the opportunity to face his attacker: a rugged, tan-haired Jiralhanae already missing some his power armor plating. Not wishing to waste a rocket on a single enemy, Vag tossed an elliptical silver grenade at the alien foe. The enemy caught it to his massive left paw. As he wound up to fling it back, the grenade detonated, spewing a slurry of fire over the brutish enemy, incinerating his fur and thick skin, and a nearby power core. In a single moment, the small energy generator exploded and shot shrapnel in all directions. \"Way to go, rookie!\" a Marine yelled as she took cover behind the Gorilla, barely avoiding a burst of spikes. Vag footed a pedal with his right foot, rotating the turret and centering the launcher on a pair of Jiralhanae and four Unggoy. A whole squad gone can help the others, he thought. He let loose a rocket. The projectile burst automatically in midair just inches from a Jiralhanae, much like Tactical Training Rounds before impacting targets. The ensuing explosion incapacitated the whole lance of enemies while only the lesser-ranked Jiralhanae was the only survivor. This could only be confirmed by his convulsing on the ground. The magazine rotated, positioning another rocket for fire. This time however, it wasn't necessary to fire as the Covenant detachment had been eliminated in good time, though the gunner of the Kodkod and two others were killed. Vag turned to the fallen turret operator whom now lay lifeless and impaled with four spikes in the upper torso and left shoulder. Vag forced his focus away from the gory sight. \"Vag, get your ass on the LAAG, we're not reading too many vehicles and Corporal Nguyen can handle the rockets,\" the Sergeant Major commanded from the roofless cockpit of the Gorilla. Vag noticed a spike had halfway-lodged itself in the windshield directly in front of Birch, a lucky call for any Marine. With a single jump, Vag hopped from the turret to the ground left of the six-wheeled vehicle and climbed into the KodKod's LAAG turret, his feet submerged into the troop bay. This felt more comfortable to Vag as he was at least partially concealed. At this point the system's sun, Stancius Corus, was high in the sky and without cover. Despite the added heat, Vag and numerous others slid on their combat goggles, which also displayed a more detailed HUD, including a three-dimensional map of the area along with an expanded \"friend-or-foe-finder.\" \"All vehicles will move out ASAP and infantry will follow. Ooh-rah, Marines,\" Colonel Hackard said using the platoons' COM systems. The nine vehicles, all of which were Gorillas and Kodkods, sped into the once bustling city. All seat racks and troop bays had been emptied due to the thousands of civilians still in the city. A hydraulic system raised Vag until his fleet were only one foot below the roof level, allowing four more people to fit in the bay. After seconds of weaving, the unit tracked nearly fifty people running from a pair of Jiralhanae vehicle new to the Covenant arsenal. Vag let loose on one where he thought the engine was built into the vehicle. He guessed correctly and after a stream of lead the vehicle's engine ignited and incinerated its driver and the pair of gunners behind the pilot's position. \"Bring me up to that second shit!\" Vag yelled as the enemy vehicle began to speed up and possibly ram the civilian crowd. \"Gotcha, speedin' up now,\" the driver said as he fish-tailed a hundred-twenty-degree turn. Vag caught sight of the vehicle less than twenty-five meters ahead. It had slowed apparently to harass the crowd once more. Vag then fired once more on the vehicle. One of the twelve millimeter rounds tore away the top half of one of the side-to-side unexpecting gunners' heads and catching the others attention. The nine-foot alien fired a dozen spikes, tearing away at the pavement and vehicles armor before he quickly fed another ammunition canister into the weapon. The two gunner's began a voracious firefight against one another until the Jiralhanae fired a salvo accurately into the windshield, effectively shattering it and killing the Kodkod's driver in a bloody demonstration and sending the Kodkod into a line of buildings adjacent to the street. A chuck of polycrete came crashing down and knocked Vag unconscious as he attempted to jump of the vehicle."@en . . . .