From now on I’m going to most my series, The Fighting 89th here on the forums. It will feature every thing that I have posted in the gallery and more as I continue to add. NOTE that although I now have this forum it does not mean I’ll stop posting these in the gallery, however it is highly recommend as you will be able to see exclusive content like The Flooding (see down below, you might need to scroll a little) a story I wrote up to go along with the others but didn’t post because I did not have the figures needed to do so. Anyways enjoy.
First Deployment
The day that we, the 89th armored infantry battalion aka “Long Sword” was deployed was when I and my company were marching through the dark, fuming swamp, the sky grey as a wolf. Our orders were simple, take advantage of the open enemy flank and blast our way through. That is until the first shots were fired, then it became a desperate fight for survival. The second the first blast sounded, one of our worthogs exploded into a ball of flame. I knew some of the men in there for years, all their training, all their efforts, all affections, all their hopes and dreams, put to waste in one single flash. Next thing we knew we were surrounded and shooting randomly in all directions praying for a hit. They had us outmanned, outgunned and out maneuvered three to one. There were pieces of shrapnel flying everywhere as most if not all of our armor was set ablaze. Those that remained were quickly being caught out in the open with no one to support them. Before I knew what was happening myself a medic dragged me to the still smoking remains of a worthog and started removing a large piece of shrapnel lodged in my thigh. Every second I lay there, the medic by my side, dozens of men all around me fell screaming as the sky lit up bright as day with gunfire. Yet in the end we pushed on. Through the mud, the pain, the tears, to the end. The battle was considered pyrrhic, yet those of us who remained emerged, The Fighting 89th
Rebellion pt1
Officially there was never a crazed one handed spartan who led a rebellion of others like him and insurgents. Unofficially the 89th was the first to respond to the mess, led by ONI operative [REDACTED]. We were to be supported by the 41st Scorpion Battalion (Tomcat) and 86th Grenadier Regiment (Ironsight). We were the vanguard, which turned out to be our salvation. On the first day of our march the rebels ambushed our backlines, setting them ablaze. Our first instincts were to rush to our brother’s aid but the ONI agent differed. He said this was our perfect chance to finish off this rebellion and if we wouldn’t obey, it would be treason. And with that we found ourselves abandoning our brothers as we continued our march. As I took one last look back at the blazing hellstorm going on behind us, I wondered why so many had to die, fighting their own brothers.
Rebellion pt2
As we approached the rebel positions we realized how few they were. At first we advanced quickly, piercing through any men who got in our way. However as time went on we found ourselves charging into enemy positions blind, taking heavy losses in the process. By the time we realized what was happening, they had already evened out our numbers and we found ourselves being split down the middle. What happened next can only be described as chaos, and in it I found myself and my squad pinned down by the rebel leader himself. The first to go was the ONI agent, inexperienced he charged fourth hoping for a quick and easy victory, all he got was a body bag. Immediately the rest of us dropped down behind cover and surveyed the situation. The Spartan was surrounded by two to three others and insurgents. To make a long story short, we quickly found ourselves out of ammo with the enemy closing in. Luckily by then with the rebel forces pushing back to support their leader, our own reinforcements arrived. Before long the enemy found themselves overrun by the 86th Grenadier. They advanced quickly and finished off the job we had started,took all the credit too.
The Flooding
Nothing could have prepared us for what we faced ahead in that dreaded Forerunner structure. Of course we had heard rumours of the horrors that awaited us, but we’d never seen the hideous, fleshy forms that our fellow men’s bodies contorted into. The hellish, ear piercing screeches that shook the very foundations of the universe. But worst of all were their eyes, their cold dead eyes. White and covered in veins, and their heads. Neck snapped and thrown off to the side, face forever locked in a petrified scream. They still haunt my dreams to this day. Before we could react we were overwhelmed by wave after wave of flood. By the time dawn arrived we had barely stepped in the door. The night was a pain, we had to wear filtered masks and full body suits to keep from infection. We had set up a small mobile base with air locks and filters. That was the only place we were allowed to take off our suits and masks. And we could only get in after a detailed inspection for any exposure to the flood. The thing wasn’t big enough to sleep in so we ended up wearing our suits to bed. At night we were all told to stay on high alert. They didn’t have to warn us, all night we dreamed of the terrors this place had and waited to inflict upon us. We didn’t sleep a second that night, and for a long time after. This went on for how long I don’t know, what I do know is that when we received news that we were being pulled out of the place, we let out a cheer that could have brought the galaxy to rubble.
Escort
We were assigned to escort a detachment of the 45th Combat Engineers to capture a piece of enemy tech by the direct order of ONI. Of course our battlefield commander knew nothing of this. All he was told was that we were to dispatch and capture a detachment of Covenant artillery. Soon we found ourselves in a heated battle and in the chaos a large detachment of the 89th snuck away with the engineers, our superior officers not suspecting a thing. We pushed through the first few lines of defense with little to no ease but the real struggle was ahead. At the end of a long corridor lay the tech we were after, and to get there we had to run a deadly gauntlet of turrets. “Whatever it is,” I thought that day. “It better be worth its weight in souls.” About one hundred eighty of us went in, thirty came out. By the time those of us remaining had returned with the tech, the battle for the artillery was over and we had won. It was only when the tech was being taken away that our superior officers learned of our real mission. That day we earned a new title, ONI’s Hand.
Battle of Earth
As a kid I always wanted to see earth. To stare and wonder at the place we began, well that wish came true, just not in the way I thought it would be. When the Covenant sent a strike force to neutralize the place we were brought in to reinforce the ground forces. The second our pelican left our ship we were hit with a barrage of plasma torpedoes and AA. By the time we shook our way down into orbit we found ourselves surrounded by enemy star fighters. As a rattled off a string of machine gun fire I looked down and saw what horrors that awaited us. Everywhere the eye could see chaos reigned supreme. The land was covered in pot holes and trenches, entire forests went ablaze, men screaming as they were burned alive. Covenant and our forces scrambled everywhere, but generally it seemed we were losing. When we were finally dropped off we found ourselves in Africa, the most intense part of the fighting so far.
Battle of Earth PT2
We engaged Covenant forces shortly after we landed just outside of Mombasa. We quickly found ourselves in a heated firefight with more enemy troops arriving by the second. Because of this and the fact that our water supply was running out as the day wore on we retreated to a nearby spring where we met up with friendly sangheili forces and started a prolonged defence. None of us really trusted each other and it was clear this alliance was of need, not choice. However as the days wore on with the Covenant’s attacks growing weaker by the wave we can to know and respect each other. Soon we were ordered to charge the now weakened enemy units nearby, and charge we did. In the mildest of the battle I found myself reloading with a brute bearing me down. If it wasn’t for a sangheili I was with, I’d be a dead man.
Battle of Earth PT3
With our previous success still in our heads we thought we’d get a chance to rest, how wrong we were. Shortly after our charge the flood arrived, and turned the place into an alien hellhole. As we sprayed fire into every direction, flashes of the day we entered the cursed Forerunner structure flew through our minds, the memories hurting as much as bullets. It was then that I realized that the sangheili that had previously saved me was quickly being overwhelmed by flood, That’s when I returned the favor.
Battle of Earth PT4
In a quick break in the fighting the sangheili received the news. The UNSC had given permission to glass the flood infected parts of the world, and that included us. Because of this we weren’t surprised when shortly after our superior officers confirmed the news, what did surprise us was how long it took for our extraction ships to arrive. By the time the lasers started firing about a quarter of our men were still rushing to their pelicans. Another eighth were caught in the scorching heat that followed. After that ordeal we were sent to Canada to support local military forces trying to meet up with a few native tribes who had taken up arms against this invasion. There the fighting was less heated and we were able to catch our breath, it didn’t last long. Soon we found ourselves trudging through the cold, hard sludge while far off gun fire filled our minds with distant thoughts and flashes. The rest of the campaign was a sort of blur to me. Hiding in the snow in the cold dead Arctic, clearing ruins in Rome, blasting through the sands of Egypt. And in the end, we came out victorious. Yes the home fleet was all but destroyed, yes we had lost almost half our men. Yet we had survived, and the flag still hung high above the Homeland.
Rookies Pt1
During the last weeks of the war the 89th was deployed on a small green planet covered in mostly plains. Due to the battle of Earth, almost half of our forces were completely destroyed, because of this we were being flooded with rookies. This would be their first and greatest chance to prove themselves. Unlike most squads mine was mostly intact, receiving only one new recruit. As he stepped into our circle I could tell he was unsettled by our grimness. “Uhh, hello.” He said uncertainty. “So ahh, the name’s William Robs. But umm, most people just call me Ribbs.” “Ribbs eh?” I said as I slid off my position on a crate I was sitting on and pulled out my hand for a shake. He took it and gave it a unsteady shake. “Sergeant Robinson,” I said. At the still unsteady look he gave as he looked around at the others, hoping to lighten the mood a little (wouldn’t want the rookie to get too unsettled) I grinned under my balaclava. “I ... grinned,” thought as I realized the weight of what had just happened. When was the last time I grinned, not to mention laughing. This war had us so caught up that it was almost like we forgot to be human. “So ahhh what’s the plan?” He said, still unsettled but more relaxed at the sight of a friendly face. “We have no plan, usually don’t only our objective.” I replied sitting back down. “Now listen here,” I said as I waved my hand at my squad and started introducing them. “That there's Catn-” “Hey I told you not to call me that! Yeah, yeah anyways,” I continued. “Catnip, Deves, BBQ (real names Major but you wouldn’t want someone calling you that when the enemy’s nearby), Trailer, Fedrick.” I said pointing. “What about him?” “Him?” I replied, looking at a dark figure in the back of the circle. “No one knows, never talks, doesn’t show his face either. Deadly efficient though.” I said, slightly lowering my voice. Just then a gunshot rang through and the first body hit the ground.
SNEAK PEEK FOR ROOKIES PT2
he seemed to have lived a well sheltered life before the war and such. But still proved to be a vertical soldier and outright deadly at times.
