The Battle of Crucifix Hill

This was my first taste of combat after I had been promoted to Major. Now was the time to prove my worth. Now was the time to truly show that I deserved to wear the blood armor.
Sunset was fast approaching. Command had expected the hill to be captured by the end of the day, and my immediate superior would be remiss if we were to disappoint them. Human mortar shells fell near us as we rode in small boats across the darkening river.
“Keep paddling!” I said. “Keep paddling!”
One boat was struck by a mortar, its occupants flung into the river in pieces.
“In the name of the Sacred Rings,” shakily said Basab. “In the name of the Sacred Rings…!”
At last, we reached the shore. Our lance disembarked with a few others.
“Move up the road, move up!” I said. “Watch for mortar fire, keep in loose formation!” A shell landed precariously near us, throwing up mud, dirt, and water. The rainfall was particularly heavy this evening.
We advanced, encountering Human warriors firing upon us from what appeared to be a burial grounds and a nearby house set alight. We disposed of them quickly. They were disorganized, somewhat panicked, but nevertheless resisting us fiercely. They were not equipped like normal Human warriors. Almost all of them lacked armor, and were dressed in what appeared to be normal everyday attire. Perhaps a militia of sorts? Rebels, even? It mattered little to me at the time. A Human was a Human, and one that I encountered would be a dead Human all the same.
We swept aside the Humans at the burning house and the burial grounds, and reached the base of the hill. It was covered with a maze of trenches, concrete bunkers and the like. It was a veritable miniature keep, and on the summit of this hill of somewhat significant size, was a sort of stone monument, or Human-made monolith. It was a large slab of stone, and near the top of it, another stone ran perpendicular to the standing one, crossing it short of the very top of the monument. The structure itself was of great size, and no doubt an important landmark. It was illuminated by a bright searchlight.
As my lance and I entered the maze of defenses, we were opposed by more Human irregular fighters, who fired at us with kinetic weaponry. Their bullets were of limited use against our shields, but nevertheless could break them with sustained fire, so I took care to use cover and be economical with my carbine shots. More and more of the Humans fell to us. Mik, seeing me already promoted to Major and very well knowing that he was still a Minor, was eager to increase his kill count. Indeed, he would wade through a thousand Human bodies, bathing himself in their red blood if that is what it took for him to earn his own Major’s cuirass. Wielding two plasma rifles, he swept trench after trench, clearing the way for us. Meanwhile, I had Basab take up a fuel rod cannon and demolish a bunker here or there.
My comprehension of one of the Human dialects was forming at this time, and I could make out certain words or phrases they uttered, although I struggled to write out their alphabet and words, and speaking the words was beyond my capabilities. Our lance entered an underground portion of their fortifications, where we Sangheili barely managed to fit into, while it was more comfortable for the Kig-Yar, and certainly roomy for the Unggoy.
“They’re here!” I heard a Human cry out. As we neared an intersection, one of them attempted to cross before us, but I was quicker than it, and fired a single shot with my carbine. The Human fell dead, making a whining noise. Our lance suddenly stopped, worried about the possibility of enfilading fire. Mik was not occupied with such concerns. With his two plasma rifles crossed between his chest, he hip-fired in both directions. From the screams I heard, he had killed several as he crossed the intersection. The rest of us moved up: I covered the left, another Minor in our lance – Zrek ‘Ederee – along with Tes and Basab, covered the right. No living Humans made their presence known.
“Hey, ‘Kalaree,” said Quso ‘Thurikee, the Major of another lance who followed us. “We’ll clear this underground segment. You can take care of the large structure near the summit.”
“I agree. Good fortune for you.”
“And to you. Lance 8, clear this area!”
We left Lance 8 behind, and continued our ascent, eventually reemerging to the surface. However, shortly thereafter we were stopped by a Human fixed heavy weapon emplacement, suppressing us and several more lances with heavy kinetic fire.
“Basab, destroy the emplacement!” I ordered.
“I have no ammunition!” he replied, shaking his head.
Mik attempted to get close enough to throw a plasma grenade through the embrasure from which the weapon emplacement was firing, but the gunner spotted him and fired a protracted burst at my comrade. Mik’s shields absorbed several bullets before he ducked out of sight, right as his protection was temporarily overloaded and broken.
“Dammit all!” he cursed.
“I got him!” said Tes.
“You have a clear line of sight? Then do it, do it now!”
Tes maneuvered next to a burnt-out tree, climbing out of the trench our lance and another was huddled in. She took aim, and the distinct crack of her beam rifle rang out. The emplacement was silenced. For now.
“I’ve got you covered, move up!” said Tes.
“Mik, go!”
“Advancing!” said Mik. He rushed forward and readied a plasma grenade. “Holy light!” he yelled as he threw it into the embrasure. Some Human screams were uttered, then the blast of the grenade, and then silence.
We all quickly moved to Mik’s side, who himself was waiting near the blown-out iron door of the large bunker. The defensive fortification was three floors in height. I went on point, and peeked inside, aiming my carbine. I noticed the barrel of a weapon peeking out from an upturned table and quickly backed away from view. A blast from that weapon struck the concrete near me, making me flinch as some of that material was thrown in my face. I wiped my visage clean as I breathed in deep. Then, I quickly moved back into view, almost snapping my aim to that table and firing four shots, reckoning that the table was of simple metal construction, and thus very penetrable for my munitions. My assumptions were correct, and the Human emitted a death gurgle as its blood pooled beneath it. Our lance moved in.
Zrek, Basab, and Tes covered the first floor, while Mik and I ascended the stairs to clear the upper floors. Mik tossed one more plasma grenade into the second floor.
“Grenade! Grenade!” yelled out a Human. The blast followed. Then, Mik and I rushed into the room. Two of the Humans were dead, burnt to crisps. The third hid behind a metal desk, and rose to fire at us with a pistol. I shot the being in the head, my carbine’s projectile smashing apart the Human’s head above the eyes, who subsequently collapsed like a heap of loosely-stacked bricks. As we reached the third floor, not a plasma grenade was found between Mik and me.
“We could use a Human grenade,” I pondered.
“I ain’t gonna touch the thing,” he uttered.
The idea was quickly suppressed. We silently elected to simply storm the final floor. As I rounded the corner, however, one of the Humans, perhaps one of their local leaders, had propped up a sniper rifle on a desk near the center of the room, aimed at the portal to the staircase. I quickly faced the being, but the Human was ready, its finger on the trigger. It fired the rifle, a very loud, echoing bang ringing out in the structure. The bullet punched through my shields, my armor, and my left shoulder blade, and embedded itself in the concrete wall behind me. The force of the bullet’s impact recoiled the left side of my body back, and I let out a scream of pain and anger. I kept my carbine trained on the Human as my left side flung back, and I fired fiercely at the being, killing it with four or five hits center-of-mass. Mik rushed in and sprayed the now-empty room with plasma fire before properly assessing the situation. He put his rifles aside and moved to me. At this time I went down on one knee, temporarily overtaken by the pain.
“Gods! Kai, are you alright?!” Mik exclaimed. He helped me up to my feet.
“I will live…!” I replied. I placed my carbine on a back latch, and unleashed my sword. I moved to the Human, who was struggling to gasp its last, bloody breath. I stabbed it in the face with my blade, cursing and spitting at the corpse before hobbling back towards the stairs, resisting any surrender to the wound.
“No, no, we need to send for a combat phys- Where’s the combat physician?!” yelled out Mik.
“There is no need for that!” I quickly retorted. “At least… not before the hill is taken.”
“Kai, this wound is serious.”
“And so is my duty. We take the hill first.”
“Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
Mik quickly nodded his head, acquiescing to the command of a superior. Then, the both of us descended to the structure’s ground floor. Zrek caught sight of us first, taking cover by the door leading out to the other end of the fortification.
“Gods,” started Zrek. “Did one of the Jiralhanae bite you, sir?”
“Not now, Zrek,” said Mik in an annoyed tone. He took some fabric from a dead Human’s clothes and fashioned it into an arm sling for me.
“’Mutukee, have you no shame?” said Zrek. “To even touch a dead Human-“
“I am thirty seconds away from punching you in the face, shut your mouth Zrek!” snapped Mik.
“Calm down, you two,” I said. “We still have a mission to complete. Now, the Human rocket artillery is in this last trench. We clear them out, destroy the artillery, then the hill is ours. Zrek, you are on point. Go!” And so, Zrek moved out of the structure and into the final trench. He fired wildly into it, scoring a few Human kills here and there, but this maneuver in fact alerted the rest of the enemy to their current situation, and the remaining Humans scrambled for cover. The rockets kept firing, though, a whining sound being emitted every time one of their projectiles was launched. There were three towed launchers, no taller than an Unggoy, but each platform had six barrels to fire short-ranged, high-explosive rockets. Quite rudimentary weaponry, even for a species such as the Humans, but as I had noted before, these Humans were no conventional forces. As I iterated before, it was most likely they were rebels to the central Human government. That was of no consequence to us, for in those days the only good Human was a dead Human.
I elected to clear the central firing pit, where one of the launchers was located, swiftly moving to dispatch the Humans. Their bullets deflected by my shields, I hacked my way through them one-handed with my sword, while my other arm was still in its sling. Zrek moved to the left launcher, and Mik to the right. Basab supplied me with an explosive charge, and then hurried off to do the same with Mik and Zrek. After a few moments, the charge was timed to blow. I retreated, and our lance regrouped a safe distance from the launchers. Then, the charges exploded, destroying the launchers.
“Area secured!” yelled the Major of another lance, as his men came over the crest of the hill, assembling near the illuminated stone cross. The sun had finally sunk below the horizon, although this was barely noticeable as the rain only continued to pour. Then, our commander, one Jodun ‘Vorusee, appeared, accompanied by several warriors.
“Good job, Major,” said Commander ‘Vorusee, stepping towards me. “Your lance, along with Lances 8 and 9, are to hold position on this hill and standby for further instructions. Command will be most pleased by your efforts.” He then noticed my arm sling and shoulder wound. “Someone send for the combat physician! This man deserves it.” He patted me on my unblemished shoulder and nodded, saying “You truly are worthy of that armor.” Then he departed us.
Some silence fell among our lance, emphasized by the pouring rain, the distant thunder, and the faint firefights dying down around the hill. Then, Mik broke that silence.
“’Oh, we are so appreciate for your efforts, Minor ‘Mutukee,’” he quipped, poorly imitating the voice of Cmdr. ‘Vorusee. “Thank you sir, I strive to do my best for our glorious Covenant.”
“Worry not, Mik,” I said in a very fatigued voice. “Recognition of your deeds will come to you eventually.”
“Hopefully when the war ends.”
“Assuredly.”
Category:The Weekly