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Halo Side Story by Jordan Dotson
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Halo Side Story Chapter Two: Getting to know you
Date: 9 September 2002, 11:26 pm
Dotson sat near the rear of the truck, it was his usual place. Since he was a crack shot with his sniper rifle, the squad needed him in a place where he could shoot at any threat. It amused Dotson that even when they weren't in a Pelican and not in a combat zone that the squad sat where they usually sat. Just like old times he thought.
He looked over his squad; they were still like he remembered them.
Across from him sat David, one of the squads snipers, he was usually in good humor, like Dotson, but he had also taken Capelli hard. He was fairly big for a sniper, about six-four and nearly twice as wide as Dotson. He usually wore one of the caps that some of the marines wore, although now he was wearing the distinctive beret that the angels wore. He wasn't the highest ranking Angel, Only a third lieutenant, but he was one of the most skilled in combat he had possibly the most covenant kills of all of the squad.
On Dotson's right sat one of his heavy weapon specialists, Jzou. He was also a bit on the large side, which most people mistook as fat. But his size was mostly muscle. Jzou was Chinese, not that it really mattered with humanity against the ropes. He was probably the most problematic of the squad, he didn't like the thought of Dotson being in command and he voiced it upon occasion. But in the end Dotson knew that Jzou was one of the most reliable members of his squad.
Across from Jzou sat James, Dotson's second in command. He was possibly the fittest of his squad and one of Dotson's oldest friends. He was about as tall as Dotson and just as wide but about twice as strong. He was another one of Dotson's heavy weapon specialists and a damned reliable one. He usually carried the M19 SSM rocket launcher or one of the squads M73 SSW heavy machine guns.
Next to James sat Stephen, the team's demolitions specialist. He was an expert with any Human or Covenant explosive used on a battlefield. He was an odd guy, usually imitating or mocking people in some way. But Dotson knew Stephen well enough to know that the humor and irritating mannerisms were just for show, he wouldn't hesitate to defend his friends with his own life.
Opposite of Stephen sat Keira, the squad's medic. She was third in command of the Angels and Dotson's most trusted officer. To outsiders she seemed cold and detached or utterly crazy and unprofessional, in reality she worried about her comrades more than Dotson did. She wasn't one of the medical wimps who believed that killing something completely violated their purpose; she was one of the top shooters in Dotson's squad. People had often accused Dotson of having an affair with her, but that made things harder all around.
Next to Stephen sat Matt, the team's electronics expert. He was another old friend of Dotson's; the two of them went to kindergarten together. He was possibly the best electronics officer in the Marine Corps, having taken over the role of comms officer since the original one, Carney, was killed at Capelli. Matt could do pretty much anything with a battlefield electronics kit and the teams com gear. Dotson had made sure that Matt had also gotten some of the ONI's best computer insurgency software, technically against regs but Dotson had some friends high up in ONI.
At the rear of the truck sat Daniela, the team's recon officer. She was an outcast from her original unit for one of the most ridiculous reasons, she was a Goth. Dotson didn't mind it; she was an especially good recon officer. She rarely talked and wasn't really close to any one on the team, but she was the best at her job. She usually had problems with some of her superiors but she got along with Dotson fine, which was good, because the Angels needed a highly organized Chain of command.
Just being with his squad again made memories come flooding back for Dotson. One memory in particular, an event that he had tried hard to put out of his mind: Capelli.
It was very cold, too cold for comfort, Dotson thought as his feet crunched through the snows covering Capelli's plains. Dotson crept forward to the crest of the ridge the assault force was situated along, 200 of the Marine Corp's best, mainly members of the MEU, or Marine Expeditionary Unit, with the Angels leading them. Dotson felt proud to be leading such skilled soldiers. He moved his sniper rifle over the edge of the ridge with painstaking slowness. Good, he thought, only a few covenant shade turrets and about three Ghosts. The Covenant were positioned on the shores of a frozen pond with Dotson's ridge in front and a large hill behind them. The Covenant couldn't escape laterally, for steep cliffs rose hundreds of feet into the air on either side of them. Behind Dotson was a snow field a hundred yards long that tapered out to the ridgeline where Dotson's force was situated, the field was also flanked by high cliffs and the only exit for Dotson and his marines was a small canyon behind them at the opposite end of the field, but he doubted he would need to retreat. This was promising to be a milk run. But he remembered Sigma Octanus, an entire assault force at least twice the size of his own was wiped out on a "milk run". Dotson crawled back to where the Angels were situated.
"So what's it look like?" Daniela asked quietly, it struck Dotson as odd; it was the first thing she'd said since the assault force arrived at the drop zone.
"Not bad," He responded, "I'd guess about five shades and three ghosts, plus a couple squads of Elites and Jackals, and the usual couple dozen grunts as cannon fodder."
Dotson spoke a brief command into the radio and turned to the Angels. He tossed his head towards the Covenant position. The Angels nodded and crawled toward the edge of the ridge. Dotson glanced down the ridgeline to watch the marines advance up to the ridgeline and take up positions at the edge.
Dotson keyed the open frequency, "Alright Marines, Listen up. I make about five Shades and three Ghosts, and a few squads of Elites and Jackals, plus a few dozen little guys for cannon fodder. I want everyone with a jackhammer launcher to take out the two closest shades or ghosts, from then on in we're weapons loose people, pick your targets and kill them. Anything unusual shows up sound off. I don't want another Sigma Octanus out here. Got it?"
Dotson paused for breath, " To Positions, ready, FIRE!" He barked into the radio.
Less than a second after Dotson's command he heard the distinctive swoosh of a rocket launcher firing, about a dozen times over. Followed closely by the thunderous roar of nearly two hundred guns firing. He turned towards the Covenant positions in time to see a dozen Jackhammer rockets smash into the Shade turrets and Ghosts. Nearly two-dozen grunts were killed out right, their methane tanks rupturing to produce a series of brilliant fireballs that washed over the covenant lines. Dotson nodded with satisfaction at seeing the shattered and burning remains of the Covenants armor support along with the shattered and burning remains of the Covenant them selves. He raised his sniper rifle to his shoulder and began picking off targets as fast as he could see them. An Elite darted for cover then collapsed as a 14.5 mm armor piercing, fin stabilized, discarding sabot round from Dotson's sniper rifle punched through it's skull. A Grunt raised its Needler to begin firing on the marines; it died as an armor peircer passed through its skull, and the body of the Grunt next to it. Three for two, Dotson thought, so far so good. A Jackal was charging up it's Plasma Pistol, then died as a sniper rifle round passed through it's neck just below the skull, causing it's head to skip across the ground like a misshapen football.
Dotson noticed something move in his peripheral vision, as rounds from him and another sniper intersected on an Elite's skull, then he heard a shout over the radio.
"Heads up people, these sons-of-bitches buried themselves at the base of the ridge!"
Dotson tilted his aim downward to see a form pushing it self up from the snow at the base of the ridge. It was a Jackal. The hell? Dotson thought, I've never seen them do that before! The Jackal was carrying one of the Covenant sniper rifles that had started appearing just recently, usually carried by the Covenant's special forces. He put a bullet into the Jackal before it finished standing, and keyed the open frequency.
"Marines," he barked, " concentrate your fire on the Covies at the base of the ridge!"
He eyed the forces emerging from the snow, all gray-armored special ops; they had chosen one of the worst places to put them selves. The second and largest explosives launch of the battle commenced. Over a dozen Jackhammer rockets were launched towards the spec ops Covenant, along with shells from the Marines GL-93 grenade launcher, napalm and frag grenades, along with every standard weapon in the assault force's arsenal. The explosions ripped through the Covenant lines. The snow became coated with alien blood and body parts, fires from ruptured methane tanks and napalm grenades burned as the remains of the spec ops force retreated back to where the original force's survivors had positioned themselves.
They're retreating? Dotson thought, that's only happened once before and that was a..., the ground beneath Dotson's feet began to tremble as an ominous rumble filled the air, ...trap. Dotson's heart began to pound, he knew exactly what that sound was. He began to hear barks and growls, they seemed to be coming from the very air it's self. His mind automatically began determining the direction of the noise; it was coming from behind the hill that the Covenant were stationed in front of. He knew that sound, it was the menagerie of sounds that grunts make when they charge en masse. He felt fear begin to tear at his resolve. He used the scope on his sniper rifle to look up at the top of the hill. A tidal wave of Covenant crested the rise of the hill and began to thunder down into the valley, there were over a thousand of them. He heard another ominous sound, like wind, he looked upward to see dozens of bulbous balls of energy plunging down towards the Marines, they were Covenant plasma mortars. When they hit the ground they released tremendous amounts of plasma that was capable of melting the armor on a Scorpion tank, and the Marines in Dotson's assault force were like insects to a flamethrower for those things.
"Mortars!" he screamed into the radio as the mortars plowed into the Marines.
The mortars unleashed clouds of plasma into the Marine's ranks, burning marines into nothingness before they even had time to feel pain. Entire squads disappeared in brilliant flashes of plasma. Dotson saw a plasma mortar plowing through the air towards Daniela and Carney, Carney looked upward and threw himself over Daniela as the mortar struck the ground a few feet away. Dotson stared in horror as the plasma mortar's explosion burned away, he sprinted over towards where Carney and Daniela had been. Dotson arrived to find Carney's burning and charred body. He stared in horror at the places where the flesh was burned away to reveal carbonized bone. Dotson fought back the bile in his throat as he lifted Carney's body off Daniela as Carney's bones crumbled into ash. He sagged in relief when he found Daniela to be all right.
Her body was racked in coughs as she struggled into consciousness, "...Carney...?" she asked
"He...he's..." Dotson looked over at Carney's body, his faceplate was opened and his eyes stared sightlessly into the sky, "He's gone"
Daniela managed something between a sob and a cough then struggled to stand up. As she was standing up a needle careened in from the battle and embedded it self in her leg. She screamed as the needle exploded and then she collapsed sideways. Dotson swore and screamed for a medic. Keira turned her head towards Dotson and sprinted towards him, braving the plasma fire and needles. She gasped at Carney's body then rushed to save Daniela. She pulled a biofoam canister out of her rucksack and inserted the nozzle into Daniela's wound, then filled the wound with biofoam. She then turned towards Dotson.
"We need to get the fuck out of here now!" she screamed at him.
Dotson nodded and keyed the open frequency "Marines Retreat, fall back to evac point, I repeat, retreat God dammit!"
The remains of the assault force stopped firing on the Covenant and ran for the canyon. Dozens were cut down during the retreat. Jzou stopped just long enough to pick up Daniela in a fireman's carry and then sprinted off. The Angels began running towards the canyon and made it all right.
Dotson Ran as hard as he could towards the canyon, " We need a fucking air strike on the canyon!" he screamed into the radio at the air support.
"But sir," a pilot protested to Dotson, "that canyon is your only way out!"
"Don't question orders pilot!" Dotson screamed back at him, "Just bomb the shit out of that canyon when I give you the word!"
Dotson sprinted through the canyon as fast as he could, he waited until the bulk of the survivors were through the canyon and then gave the order to bomb the canyon.
"NOW!"
The three Albatross bombers swooped in for a run at the canyon, dozens of 2000 lbs JDAMs and three FAE or Fuel-Air Explosive Ground Pounders exploded up and down the canyon, causing a tremendous landslide that sealed the canyon. Dotson turned away from the canyon and began to run towards the evac point, he noticed marines getting into the Warthog LRVs that the assault force had brought with for transportation.
"Don't go for the Warthogs!" he screamed, but it was too late.
Dozens of Banshees, the Covenant's primary ground support craft, swooped towards the Warthogs unleashing a tremendous amount of fuel rods and plasma shots. The Marines in the Warthogs attempted to return fire but were mowed down like stalks of grain in front of a thresher by the plasma fire from the Banshees. Dotson heard screams over the air tactical net. He turned skyward to see all three of the albatross bombers plunging towards the ground in tremendous balls of flame, the Sky hawk fighters that had escorted the bombers were fighting a losing battle against the Banshees, more and more of them were falling from the sky in balls of fire. Dotson began running with the angles towards the evac point as fast and as hard as he could.
Halo Side Story Chapter Three: Hoofing it
Date: 30 September 2002, 3:29 am
It was very, very cold. Dotson guessed the temperature to be somewhere around zero degrees Fahrenheit. Him and the Angels had been running for at least three miles, they were all exhausted. But they knew if they stopped they would die. Dotson had turned his radio off some time ago, he got tired of hearing the screams, sobs, and cries of pain from the remnants of his assault force. The only thing he could do now was run. How could this have happened, he asked himself silently, why didn't anyone see this?
He checked on the Angels. Jzou was still carrying Daniela, holding an M6D pistol in one hand. Daniela appeared to be unconscious. Trevor's head was bowed forward; he was trying to run after his strength had given out. David ran behind Dotson, He still carried his sniper rifle. James was on Dotson's right; he still had his jackhammer launcher and M-73 SSW. Stephen led the squad; Dotson could hear Stephen's breath rasping in his throat. Matt was right behind Stephen, he had lost his MA5B back at the battle and had brought out an MA2B sub machine gun. Keira ran just to the left of Dotson, she still had her assault rifle. Keira staggered and collapsed. Dotson grabbed her by the Combat harness and hauled her upright.
"Just a little farther" he managed between gasps of breath.
Keira nodded and continued running. Dotson couldn't help but think, were the Angels the only survivors? Was the evac point secure? Was any one coming to get them? These questions ricocheted around his mind like stray bullets. He didn't want to think about what had just happened, he just tried to focus on getting out alive. He remembered his martial arts training; a lack of focus was deadly. In the ring he had learned that if you didn't focus, someone mopped the floor with your ass. The same applied to marine Special Forces. He began wondering if Sifu was worrying about him, then he put the thoughts aside. He needed to stay focused.
He heard someone yell "Ghost!" then he heard the swoosh of a rocket launcher firing. Dotson turned just in time to see a Ghost cartwheel across the snowy plains of Capelli. He saw James pitch the rocket launcher aside and unshoulder his M-73. Damn, no more rockets, he thought. If they ran into any heavy stuff they would be screwed.
The Angels kept running. To Dotson it felt like millennia, but it might've been minutes, hours, or even days for all he knew. As the Angels crested a rise he saw the greatest sight of his life, a pelican surrounded by Spartan-II's, the UNSC's elite powered armored soldiers. He urged the Angels on. Once they reached the drop site Spartans rushed to their aid. Jzou passed Daniela off to a Spartans and collapsed. James doubled over at his waist and kneeled down coughing. Keira dropped to her knees and slumped over backward. Dotson simply doubled over and vomited. He continued heaving even after he had emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground. The Spartans began rushing to aid the Angels, a Spartan rushed over to him and handed him an ORT, or Oral Re-hydration Therapy, (a mixture of sugar, salt, and water). He drank most of the canteen then used the rest to rinse the dirt and blood off his face. He stared at the Spartan's faceplate; the Spartan opened it's faceplate to reveal a pair of distinctly feminine features. The eyes stared at Dotson with compassion and worry, something he never expected to see from a Spartan. This was a sight Dotson would take to the grave with him, a pair of sky-blue eyes peering into his eyes with such unexpected compassion, almost like a mother watching her sick child.
"What's your name?" Dotson managed through gasps of air and coughs.
The Spartan looked uncomfortable, asking such a question was breaking the regs, but she answered anyway.
"Kelly," she said uneasily, then with more affirmation in her voice, "My name's Kelly."
Dotson nodded as the Spartan helped him up to his feet, he leaned his weight on Kelly's shoulder as they walked towards the Pelican. A second SPARTAN stood in front of the Pelican, this was Master Chief Petty Officer John 117, the SPARTAN's squad leader. Kelly saluted and helped Dotson sit down on one of the Pelican's seats. The Chief saluted Dotson; he barely had the strength to return the salute.
The Master Chief studied Dotson; he seemed to have the signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder setting in. He looked tired and drained; this was not how humans were supposed to look. Dotson lay across the seats; he wasn't going to be recovering from this any time soon. The Chief was worried, not much could make an Angel crack, this was not promising to be an easy mission.
"How many made it back?" Dotson asked.
The Chief hesitated before answering; he didn't know how Dotson would take the news.
"Thirty." He answered, trying not to show his emotions
Dotson groaned and curled up into a ball on the seats of the pelican. The next hour talking with the Chief passed almost without Dotson's knowledge. The Chief asked questions and some part of Dotson answered. But inside himself Dotson was reliving every second of the battle over and over again. Every death replayed itself endlessly in his mind. He hardly noticed as Kelly helped him to a tent where the assault force's survivors now resided. He promptly lay down on one of the cots and fell into a tortured sleep.
The Master Chief was waiting for Kelly outside of the tent.
"What's the mission status?" Kelly asked
"We have the go-ahead to proceed with the mission." Chief responded
"Our orders?"
"Neutralize the Covenant on Capelli by any means necessary, protect the remaining survivors." The Chief
"And how do we do that?" Kelly responded
The Chief was shocked and worried; Kelly never talked back to him or any other superiors.
" A Warthog NLV" Chief responded
The Warthog Nuclear Launch Vehicle was a standard Warthog but instead the standard M41 Light Anti Aircraft Gun it carried a recoilless rifle loaded with a HAVOK nuclear warhead. After launch the warhead relied on small thrusters to maneuver it to it's target. It was so accurate it could hit a license plate from over three miles away. Not that accuracy mattered with a 30-megaton nuke. The NLV required two Soldiers to pilot it, one driver and one gunnery officer who controlled the nuke.
Kelly stared straight at the Chief. She was worried, there wasn't much that could make an Angel crack, and the entire squad was looking like they had seen the end of the world.
"This isn't going to be easy." Kelly said to the Chief.
"None of our missions are" The Chief said as he turned away.
The Spartans loaded into Warthogs for the two and a half mile drive to the launch site. None of the Spartans spoke during the drive to the launch site, all of them were worried. None of them voiced it, but they all felt it. Even though the Spartans were several miles from the battle site the thought of being spotted by covenant patrols and having to face over a thousand covenant chilled their blood. The only thing in their favor was the nuclear weapon mounted on the Chief's Warthog. At the predetermined launch site the Chief signaled for the Spartans to stop. They did not stop immediately; instead they formed a protective ring around the NLV. The Chief waited for all of his Spartans to signal their readiness, the began punching in the launch codes for the NLV's launch mechanism. The recoilless rifle on the NLV began moving, as if of it's own accord, towards the target. According to satellite imagery the Covenant were still trying to clear the landslide from the canyon and were tightly clustered in that area, perfect for a nuclear strike. The launched stopped moving and signaled it's readiness via a small beep. The Chief nodded to the Spartans, flipped the safety cover off the launch button, and pressed it down to it's stop.
The nuke launched with a tremendous thump. The nuke would arrive on target within 30 seconds. All of the Spartans watched in the direction of the launch site for the impending fireball and mushroom cloud. The seconds ticked by like hours, each Spartans waited impatiently for the impending blast. They were not disappointed.
There was a brilliant flash, as Capelli seemed to get a second sun, as thirty megatons of nuclear fury were unleashed into the atmosphere. The Covenant forces clearing the landslide were reduced to their component atoms, the Wraith Mortar Tanks the Covenant had brought with as armor support were boiled away into vapor, then into subatomic particles. Grunts, Elites, Jackals, and even Hunters were completely vaporized. The nuclear blast favored none and spared none.
The Chief turned away from the dimming fireball and blossoming mushroom cloud and gave the order to move out. Cold, Clean, Efficient; that was the Spartans way.
The Military inquiry into Capelli was torture for the Angels. Dotson took it especially hard, he watched every member of the squad humiliated and tormented by military judges. Every surviving participant in the battle gave testimonies, even the Spartans. After a month of trials, testimonies, emotional moments, and massive news coverage. The inquiry board reached a controversial verdict, although Dotson had done everything in accordance to his training, he had still failed. His command position in the Angels was revoked, and a new commander was to be elected from a set of candidates rather than one of the Angels.
The entire spec ops community was outraged at the decision; many soldiers burned their uniforms as an act of contempt for the UNSC. Admiral Preston Cole himself expressed his outrage at the verdict of the inquiry, stating that "No man who gives such a verdict is a rightful member of the UNSC." Even the civilian population was angered. News nets were flooded with angry citizens protesting the verdict, demanding that it be reversed. UNSC enlistment dropped to an all time low. Dotson's Angels were heroes to the people much like the Spartans except more real. To the public they were ordinary citizens who joined the military and did extraordinary things. But the board's decision was irreversible, Dotson was to be demoted and the Angels placed under the command of someone else.
But the Angels had their own little act of revenge against the decision. Within 24 hours of the verdict all of the Angels turned in reassignment requests. The Angels were dissolved by their own free will. The UNSC attempted to reform the Angels several times, but no one wanted to joined a squad with such a bad history. * * "So are we going to at least say hi or will we keep strolling down memory lane?" Keira said irritably
The entire squad broke down in laughter. They had all been thinking about Capelli, and they were all glad to finally put it behind them.
"Well, hi." Dotson said making a small wave.
This triggered another wave of laughter; the Angels were overjoyed at being a unit again. The entire squad was still smiling when they got to the Mandolin spaceport, it was unnaturally quiet. Dotson sensed something was up. He climbed out of the back of the truck to be greeted by loud cheers. The entire ground crew of the Spaceport was there along with civilian and military pilots, reporters from various news networks, Marines, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, and most prominently were Dotson's trainees. Dotson smiled and began to feel tears well up in his eyes. He turned to the Angels and signaled for them to form up, the Angels shouldered their duffel bags and ran off at a jog towards the Archimedes, the ship the Angels were assigned to, the crowd formed a path of cheering and applauding people to the loading ramp of the Archimedes, where a pedestal and a microphone awaited. Dotson leapt up to the pedestal and took the mike. He cleared his throat and began speaking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Marines and ODSTs, and my trainees; I'd like to thank you for the sendoff. I didn't know I had this many fans," this drew a small wave of laughter, "but any way, I know why I'm here, I'm here because two days ago Reach fell and the Spartans were killed on Reach. I'm here because the Angels and I may be the best chance that humanity has to survive. Although our future looks bleak, we still have a chance. I remember back in middle school there was a poster on the wall of the nurse's office. It said, 'The little stars often shine when the great sun is eclipsed.' When the Spartans died it seemed as if all hope for humanity was lost, but the eclipse of the Spartans has allowed the little stars, The Angels, ODSTs, The MEU, and others. It has fallen upon us to finish the mission the Spartans started. We will take the war to the Covenant! We will see this war to the end! And we will not cease, we will not die, we will not stop until we stand over the Covenant home world victorious!"
A tremendous cheer rose over the crowd. Dotson looked over the gathered crowd and nodded. He drew in a breath.
"MARINES!" he barked.
"YES SIR!" the entire crowd responded.
"MOUNT UP!"
Every member of the UNSC charged towards the loading ramp of the Archimedes. Dotson and the Angels led the Charge up the ramp. They wouldn't fail this time. They would take this war to the Covenant.
Halo Side Story Chapter Four: The Plot Thickens
Date: 10 October 2002, 12:34 am
Jessica Monroe walked through the halls of the Archimedes, she was completely lost. She wasn't a member of the UNSC, she was a reporter assigned to cover the return of the Angels back to the front. The red tape she had to get around to get this story was amazing, after three ONI security checks, Two interviews with the unit's general commander, and a letter from her supervisor, she still wasn't fully cleared to put her story on the nets. She also had to be escorted by an armed and uniformed ODST. He wasn't a bad guy, an Australian by the name of Paul Fincher. He led her through the confusing maze of corridors that led to the Angel's quarters. He stopped at a door and knocked.
"The door's unlocked, you know." A voice answered from the inside.
Fincher poked his head in "Someone here to see you sir."
"Who?" the voice answered
"A Miss..." He turned towards her and whispered, "What's your name again?"
"Jessica Monroe." She answered
"Jessica Monroe." He said poking his head back into the room.
"On what business?" The voice responded.
"She's a reporter." Fincher said
"Well send her in then." The voice responded
" Go right in ma'am." Fincher said turning to her
"I heard him." She responded matter-of-factly.
She walked into the room to find it was a neatly kept military bunkroom. Several duffel bags were sitting on bunks or at the foot of bunks. The Angels were scattered about the room, two of the larger Angels were arm wrestling at a desk. Three others, two men and a woman, were playing cards on a bunk. One of the angels was fiddling with some form of electronic device. Another Angel sat on his bunk cleaning and maintaining his sniper rifle. A rather attractive female Angel who was leaning back in a rolling chair with her feet the sniper's bunk, gave her a once over followed closely by a dark look. The Angel whose bunk her feet were on glanced at her with a look of annoyance and lightly kicked the base of her chair. She glared at him and tossed her head towards Monroe, followed by holding her hand out at chest level and shaking it. Monroe could clearly read the unsaid conversation. The female Angel clearly meant, I don't like her, she doesn't seem right. The other Angel, who was obviously a superior officer, made a slashing gesture with his hand across his throat as if to say, knock it off. Then as an after thought he pointed to his eye, then to Monroe, then shrugged, Keep an eye on her if you want. He then turned to her.
"So, you're here to do a story on the Angels?"
She straightened in surprise, " Yes, how did you know?"
"My superiors told me you'd be here sometime today, I'm not quite as under informed as I used to be." He said putting away his sniper rifle.
"Well, I'm Jessica Monroe." She said recovering her composure.
"Lieutenant Dotson, The Angel's squad leader." He said offering a hand to shake.
She glanced at the offered hand and then shook it, " Your speech was excellent, Lieutenant."
"Sorry, ma'am it'll take more than brown-nosing to get answers out of me. Not to be rude of course."
"Oh come on, Dotson, you're a sucker for a pretty face." Said one of the arm wrestling Angels.
"Hey, your lucky I just put my rifle away or we would see if you could dodge 14.5 AP rounds as well as offensive lineman, David." Dotson retorted jokingly.
"Anyway, lets cut to the chase." Dotson said while sitting down.
"Would you mind if I recorded this conversation?" Monroe inquired
"Go ahead, I really don't care."
"Alright then," Monroe said reaching into her bag for a recorder.
"First question," she said switching her recorder on, "Why do you think the Angels were called back into active duty?"
"Why?" Dotson answered, "Because next to the Spartans, we are the best"
"But the Spartans were all killed at Reach!" she said
"I guess that makes us the best then" He answered nonchalantly
"Second question," She continued, "What is your outlook on humanity's future?"
"Bleak," he said, "But me, along with every other person in the UNSC, will send as many of those alien scumbags back to hell as we can before we give up the ghost. We're not gonna roll over and die just because we're taking some licks"
"Final question, how do you intend to help humanity survive?"
"The same way I always do, kill the enemy, complete the objectives, win the war." He responded.
"Well I thank you for your time, Lieutenant." She said shutting off her recorder and putting at away.
"Anytime, ma'am."
As Monroe walked out the door Dotson couldn't help but feel that he had just committed treason.
Some distance away, in a deserted section of the Mandolin highlands, a meeting was taking place. The meeting place was a grand estate; it covered almost a hundred acres of land and was done in a combination of Greco-Roman and modern architecture. A limousine pulled in front of the entranceway and a man got out. He wasn't an ordinary man. He moved with astounding grace and agility for a man of his age. He had long flowing white hair that reached to his shoulders. His face looked like he had seen decades upon decades roll by, which he had. According to the public, he was an eccentric billionaire named Elijah Marks, when in reality he was something more sinister.
The doors to the estate opened as he approached, as if moved by an unseen hand. Upon his entry to a grand foyer, a second man greeted him. The second man was a black man of equal or greater age. He had curly white hair and wore a long sinuous white robe. He walked down the stair with a greater grace and agility than the other man did.
"You're late, Marks." He said in a deep, gravelly voice.
"I know, and I apologize." Marks responded, "Did you read Monroe's report?"
"Yes," the black man responded.
"What's your opinion on it?"
"I find it, ... Disconcerting. Dotson and his squad are back and they seem to be healed of all of the scars of Capelli. And he seems to be determined to fight until the end."
"Him and his Angels should've died at Capelli." Marks said with a note of irritation.
"Ackerson was a fool!" the black man said, turning towards Marks in anger " he should have nuked the area and wiped The Angels clean off the planet and out of our way."
"What ever happened to Ackerson anyway?" Marks asked
"He was killed by one of the covenant mortar tanks during a mission to hunt down the survivors of the nuclear strike on Capelli."
"I assume the Covenant gunner was one of ours."
"Yes, and to answer your next question he was killed by an ODST with a Jackhammer launcher, leaving no traces to our organization." The black man responded
"Not entirely," Marks responded, "Colonel Curtis initiated an investigation into Capelli."
"What has he found out?" the black man said, showing a small amount of fear.
"Next to nothing," Marks responded, "he knows Ackerson was responsible, but he has nothing linking it to our organization."
"Make sure he doesn't find anything linking us to Ackerson"
"And if he does?" Marks asked
"Deal with him." The black man responded with sinister meaning
"Speaking of loose ends, what should we do with Monroe?"
"Eliminate her, she knows too much for a hired spy." The black man said
The Black Man turned to leave and then stopped and said over his shoulder.
"Do not fail me, Marks."
"I wont." Marks answered
Halo Side Story Chapter Five: Your mission if you choose to accept it...
Date: 5 November 2002, 6:21 am
It had been one hell of a party. Someone up in command had decided to throw a party celebrating the return of the Angels. The entire crew and complement of the Archimedes, along with select members of the press, local officials, and even a few members of UNSC command had been invited to attend. Dotson had neglected to play exhibit and had chose to stay with his squad and the rest of the special forces in their little corner of the main hall of the Archimedes, which cut down on the number of people pestering him for information about the Angel's return, autographs, and various people trying to sleep with him. It struck Dotson as odd that if he was just another marine, women would have nothing to do with him, but him and his squad's hero status had made them irresistible to the opposite sex. Fortunately the Angel's location in the corner of the main hall and surrounded by ODSTs and Marine SpecOps cut down on the number of unwanted visitors. It was understandable since most people didn't want to thread their way through dozens of ODSTs just to see someone, heroes or not. Unfortunately he still had to exchange pleasantries with all of the local politicians, which made him feel like burning the clothes he was wearing and scrubbing his entire body vigorously with some kind of powerful acid. Fortunately, the presence of UNSC Special Forces cut down the conversation time of the average politician dramatically. After much reveling, Dotson and the Angels returned to the barracks for a smaller but much more important celebration. They were celebrating the reforming of the Angels in their own way. After a bottle of champagne and endless amounts of catching up, the entire squad called it a night.
The first thought in Dotson's head when he realized he was awake was what time is it? Dotson lay in bed with his eyes closed for another half an hour debating the merits of waking up or staying in bed, until something bounced off his head.
"Unless you're a superior officer or an insanely beautiful woman, you better start running." He grumbled as he rolled over on to his back, eyes still closed.
"Your damn right it's a superior officer, Dotson, and I'm not an insanely beautiful woman."
Dotson's eyes snapped open as he rolled from his bunk and sprang to his feet.
"Ten-SHUN!" he barked to get his squad moving faster.
In the door stood General Jason Rice, the head of the UNSC Special Forces. He wasn't a big guy, nearly six inches shorter then Dotson, but broader at the shoulders. He had a face that seemed to be in a perpetual smirk, highlighted even more by the glasses he wore. He was in extremely good shape for man going into his fifties, even by Special Forces standards. His hair, recently gone gray, was long by military standards; it reached down to the base of his neck and was contained in a ponytail. He usually had his hair slicked back from his forehead. He had also, like Dotson, spent most of his life studying and practicing martial arts, in fact they had been taught by the same instructor. He reminded Dotson of a drill sergeant, seemingly callous and uncaring, but really worrying more about his men then the men themselves. Rice seemed to most to be constantly sarcastic and very frank, which was partially true. Rice was, however, a very professional and business like person.
Rice stalked across the floor of the barracks towards Dotson, hands behind his back.
" Now that I'm your SO, let's get some things straightened out, Lieutenant." Rice said as he marched closer towards Dotson, "I want this unit to be a model squad. No more loose discipline between the squad, no more mouthing off to superiors, and no more parties not officially sanctioned by me or another superior."
Rice stopped in front of Dotson and stared straight at him, Dotson stared back unintimidated. The Angels waited with great anticipation they knew the inevitable was about to happen. The beginnings of a smirk began to form around Dotson's mouth; both of the men suddenly broke down in laughter. The Angels smiled and shook their heads, Rice was the same guy he was when he commanded their leader when Dotson was a Master Sergeant.
Rice clapped a hand onto Dotson's shoulder, "It's nice to have you back, Junior Mint"
"Don't call me that, sir" Dotson responded, blushing slightly, "So what brings you to this neck of the woods?"
Rice's face took on expression of sadness, " Master Sergeant Daniella Moratalla was removed from duty earlier this morning due to a medical problem from the Needler wound she sustained at Capelli. She wanted me to give you this." Rice said holding out a data cube.
Dotson looked shocked as he reached for the data cube. He took it from Rice's hand and walked over to his bunk where he kept his data pad. He placed the cube into the pad and activated the message in the cube.
Daniella's face appeared on the data pad's screen.
She didn't look the as she should have. She looked extremely sad, as if she had just found out she had a terminal disease. Her eyes looked as if all of the combat she had endured, all of the grief and pain, had caught up with her.
The figure on the screen began speaking, "Sir, I ... I'm not very good at doing this sort of thing. I just wanted to thank you and all of The Angels for being my friends, no, more than that. For being like family, you, Keira, Jzou, James, David, and everyone, all of you are my family. I'm glad you brought me into the Angels, I had never felt so at home," a pair of tears trickled down her cheeks. "I can't say much more but, I will say one thing one more time. Thanks."
Dotson deactivated the data pad. There was a dead silence in the room, every Angel lost in their own thoughts and memories. Rice looked at Dotson, he'd only seen Dotson this bad a few times, one of which was after Capelli.
" I also came here to tell there's a mission open on a volunteer only basis, but I'm not sure you're up to it"
"Sir, you insult my abilities," Dotson said over his shoulder, "Just because we're one man short doesn't mean we're combat ineffective." Dotson turned around to face Rice there was no sadness in his eyes, only cold determination. " We've fought in some of the hardest battles in UNSC history, we've lost men, we've had people die on us. And what did we do? Did we give up? Hell no, we pulled it together and kicked ass until our enemies were well on their way to Hell or wherever the Covies go when they die." Dotson walked towards Rice staring him straight in the eye, " I think the Angels are ready to send the covenant a very, very personal message." Dotson turned to The Angels, " And what message do we want to send to those bastards?"
"Go back to hell where you belong?" Keira offered.
"Exactly, and are you people up to kicking ET's ass?"
"Hell yes, sir!" The Angels chorused
"Well, General Rice I suppose that proves you wrong." Dotson said matter-of-factly
"One of the times I'm glad I am. Now get your squad to the briefing room by 14:30."
At 14:30 The Angels were seated in the briefing room, receiving their orders along with a group of ODSTs. The briefing room was an impressive collection of holographic projectors, computer screens, and various other devices that Dotson suspected were recording devices. The center was dominated by a tremendous holotank, device usually used to project a ship's AI, but in this case it was used to display things like three dimensional maps, pictures, and various other stuff that was really cool over two hundred years ago, but now you could find it in someone's living room. Going out into action, undermanned and outnumbered. Yep, just another day in The Angels, Dotson thought. His thoughts were interrupted as Rice started the briefing.
" As of 04:00 hours this morning, a Covenant science ship crash landed on Mandolin, approximately 3000 miles southwest of here in The Great Mandolin Desert." A holographic image of the area appeared in the main holotank, including the latest not-quite geographic feature, the Covenant science ship, "It was shot down by the Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan took heavy damage during the battle and is currently making repairs at the Mandolin shipyards. The rest of the fleet around Mandolin is setting up a blockade to prevent the ship from escaping, but there are no guarantees. The science vessel's crew, according to SATCOM, is making repairs on their vessel and it should be launch capable within a couple days. Your mission is to board the covenant ship and neutralize it. Both the Angel's and the ODST's six team will be carrying a HAVOK nuclear mine, your mission is to board the ship, and place the mine in the engine room, and clear the hell out." The holotank zoomed in to a side view of the ship, "ONI thinks the engine room is about here," a glowing spot appeared towards the rear of the ship, "but knowing how accurate they are it could be back on the Covenant home world. As for the forces on board the ship, it will probably include, Grunts, Elites, Jackals, and a few Hunters. Choose your firepower accordingly. It is also a safe assumption that there will be a few of the scientist Covenant on board. Also this mission is an assault mission, but don't go overboard. Minimize contact with the Covenant at all times, fire only if necessary. Any questions?" Rice said finishing up.
Dotson raised his hand, "Sir, how will we get onboard the ship. Last time I checked the Archimedes didn't carry anything enabling Marines to fly, aside from the galley food."
Rice chuckled, "Smart ass comments aside, your method for getting onto the ship will be the gravity lift, the Covenant use it to ferry troops and supplies between the ship and the surface, in case you didn't know."
An ODST raised his hand, " Sir will the HAVOKs be set to life support settings?"
Life support settings were used in high-risk missions, when the entire squad was wiped out, the HAVOK detonated, at least insuring the death of a lot of Covenant.
"No," he responded, "The detonation codes will be given to your squad leaders and either of them can initiate the detonation. In case the teams are wiped detonation control will revert to the command shuttle where Colonel Curtis will detonate them if necessary. Anything else?" No one raised his or her hands, "Okay, good. You will use whatever extraction method is available to you. Get suited up, you leave for the desert in ninety minutes."
The Angels and the ODSTs left the briefing room for the armory. They selected their gear. The standard issue armor for the Angels and the ODSTs was a modified version of the black suit. The black suit was basically an armored haz-mat suit with a few special features. It could mask the users thermal signatures, serve as a 30minute air supply, and deflect low caliber rounds, a nearly useless feature against the Covenant's energy weapons. The version The Angels and ODSTs used also enhanced their reflexes and strength, but nowhere near as much as the Spartans. It also contained a bio-monitor system capable of telling the team's status, such as wounded, KIA, or incapacitated. The bio-monitors were linked to the entire squad, so any member of the squad could check up on any other member of the squad.
As for weapons Dotson selected an MA5C Battle Rifle, a modified version of the venerable MA5B. The MA5C had a longer barrel and a scope attachment. It sacrificed the infamous fire rate of the MA5B for increased accuracy; it fired about a third as fast, but was twice as accurate. Dotson loaded the rifle, then put an additional ten clips in the black suits ammo pouches. For his secondary weapon, he grabbed an M90 8-guage shotgun, just in case he needed to bring in some serious close-quarters firepower. He loaded the weapon, and placed sixty shotgun shells into the black suit's ammo pouches. He then grabbed an M6D pistol along with ten clips of ammunition.
Keira grabbed her usual selection, an MA5B assault rifle, an MA2B sub machine gun, and a flame-thrower. The flame-thrower had always been her personal favorite weapon, to quote an old movie line "I LOVE the smell of napalm in the morning!"
She lovingly prepped the weapon making sure every part was in working order, then began blissfully grabbing fuel canisters from a box labeled, WARNING: FLAMMABLE, HANDLE WITH EXTREME CAUTION! She loaded the thrower and put another five canisters into her rucksack. She continued blissfully, until a voice cut through her happiness.
"Christ Keira, you're bringing that thing?"
"Yes," she said, " You know what I say Lieutenant..."
Dotson cut her off before she could say her catchphrase, "Yeah, Yeah, I know. You LOVE the smell of napalm in the morning. You know you have almost fried me about four times with that damn thing?"
"Well, it's not MY fault that you enjoy being point man." She retorted
"Well, you could aim AWAY from your superior officer..."
David decided to end Dotson's tirade, "Grenade load out?"
Dotson sighed, "the usual, four frag, one stun, one smoke, and two incendiary."
David couldn't help but smile. Dotson certainly had his moments. David was amazed on how similar him and Keira were, almost like siblings. Which explains why Dotson and Keira usually teased and ribbed each other a lot. Several people had mentioned that they would make a cute couple. Yeah, David thought, assuming Dotson quits being such a cynic and divorces from his job. And if he stops being so fucking depressed. David had been a close friend of Dotson's since high school and was one of the few who understood how depressed the Lieutenant really got. It was almost like watching an engine burn itself out; something that seems inevitable but still surprises you.
David resumed loading his weapons. He briefly considered bringing his sniper rifle, but he knew it would be damn near ineffective in such close quarters. He settled on bringing a battle rifle and an M6D pistol. David then rethought his decision and loaded and packed his sniper rifle, carrying the standard 24 spare rounds. He recalled the Boy Scout motto that Dotson often quoted, "Be prepared."
He eyed the rest of the squads weapon choices; they were all choosing weapons that suited their role in the squad. James was taking an M73 Squad Support Weapon, a heavy machine gun that was the standard support weapon for UNSC Marines. It fired 13mm armor piercing shells that could tear through the shielding on an Elite in under a second of continuous fire. Alone the shells didn't do as much damage as the sniper rifle shells, but the SSW spit them out at almost the rate of an MA5B assault rifle. James also chose a Jackhammer M19 SSM rocket launcher. Jzou's weapon choice differed only slightly from his counterpart HW specialist, instead of carrying the M73 SSW he carried a M107 Mini Gun. The Mini Gun was a fearsome relative of the M41 LAAG mounted on the back of the Warthog. It was smaller and rather then firing 14.5x99mm armor penetrating rounds, it fired 10mm armor piercers at over 700 rounds per minute. The gun weighed in at 20 pounds unloaded but was worth the weight if you needed to kill a lot of Covenant very quickly.
Stephen chose to bring an M90 shotgun, an MA5B assault rifle and ten satchel charges. Satchel charges were a devastating part of the Marines arsenal, each charge was about a pound of C-12 explosive that could be set on remote, timed, or proximity detonation. C-12 was a devastating combination of an incendiary explosive and a powerful mining explosive. One pound of C-12 was capable of shattering a Warthog into very small pieces of shrapnel or blowing the entire front end of a Scorpion tank. And Stephen was carrying about ten pounds of it, making him the most important man not to get anywhere near explosions or flame.
Matt carried the usual load out for an electronics specialist, An MA5B assault rifle, an MA2B submachine gun, a heavily modified lock breaker, and the team's coms gear. Matt was the nerve center of the mission. His coms rig coordinated the data links between the Black Suits, contained data on various species of Covenant, carried various tools for rigging up com lines, and served as the teams connection with Rice back on board the Archimedes. If the squad needed to protect anyone, it was Matt.
Dotson eyed his squad; everything seemed to be in order. Their weapons were loaded, their gear prepped and stored, and they seemed to be ready for combat. Dotson's thoughts were interrupted by a yell from the ODST side of the armory
"Dotson! Twenty bucks says my squad kills more bugs then yours does!" The ODST's Six Team's commander, Lieutenant Hersch yelled.
"Yer on Hersch," Dotson responded, " Might wanna ready yer money now!"
Hersch chuckled, "We'll see, Dotson, we'll see."
Halo Side Story Chapter Six: Boarding Action
Date: 26 December 2002, 7:32 am
Dotson felt the desert air play across his face, it was a good feeling to have right before a mission. It made you feel alive, something that you might not be able to enjoy after the mission, or ever again for that matter. He made a mental checklist of the usual pre-mission rituals he'd taken care of. He'd already prayed to himself, multiple times, he'd given Colonel Curtis the just-in-case letter for his family if he didn't make it, he was ready.
Dotson watched the desert flash by not more then fifty feet below him, as the drop ship flew over the desert as gracefully as a hawk. The pilot assigned to the Angels, Lt. Majorie Stinson, was definitely a skilled pilot. She was an Australian, and a tough one at that. She was a new addition to the Angels, assigned to them at the start of the mission. Dotson would've preferred to have time to train with her, to get used to her style as a pilot, but one had to make allowances at times, and he could already see that Stinson was one hell of a pilot.
"We'll be at the LZ in ninety seconds." Stinson said over the Tactical Network.
Dotson sighed and cleared his thoughts; he needed to be thinking with a clear head now. It was the first time he had seen action in two years. Some instinct inside him told him that it would not be a good day. Dotson readied his mind and body for combat as the Pelican began to approach the drop-zone.
Stinson eyed the drop-zone as she approached, it looked clear. She slowed as she began her pass over it; no volley of plasma fire came to greet her arrival. I guess we caught them with their trousers down this time, she thought with a shark-like smile as she turned to begin her final approach.
Dotson's body tensed as the Pelican approached the LZ. His body began coiling like a spring for his leap from the Pelican. The Dropship slowed to a hover three feet above a flat patch of rock. Dotson sprang from his seat like an arrow from a bow. He landed and felt himself begin to lose his balance; Dotson went with it and rolled to his feet. He sprinted a short distance from the Dropship, and then dropped to one knee and began scanning the area, just like he'd done hundreds of times before. He finished scanning his sector and looked to see how The Angels were doing. They had all fanned out to their assigned sectors and were covering them with their weapons. He turned to watch Stinson lift off to a safe distance. The entire sequence had taken less than twenty seconds. Dotson stood up and motioned for his squad to gather around him. They approached and stopped within earshot
"Right now that we're here, let's get down to business." Dotson said quietly, "First thing we need to do is find one of those Covenant portable terminals. If we secure one of those so we can contact Six Team and make sure everything went all right with them. Next, we need to get to the RV point at the grav-lift and board the ship. Finally, we need to place the nuke in the engine room and get the hell out. Any questions?" Dotson glanced at his squad; no one spoke up, "Good, I'll carry the HAVOK and the detonation cards. Let's move out."
Curtis seated himself at the main screen of the command shuttle, he typed in his priority code for the Mandolin Military Observatory Satellite Network. He waited for the network to process his request, a message flashed onto the screen. "Please wait, Processing request............" Goddamn ONI security paranoia. Curtis thought as the message scrolled across the screen. The message disappeared and a new one flashed onto the screen, "Request received and processed, beginning uplink...............Uplink achieved,
Please enter name, rank, clearance, and personal code:
Name: Curtis, Paul
Rank: Colonel
Personal code: 220-913-8817
Clearance code: *********
Clearance Authorized By: Gen. Jason Rice
Information received, Processing........................
Welcome to the ONI Satellite Network, Colonel
Enter Operation Code: **************
Code received and authorized, Re-tasking satellite 00-193-7531
Visual in 3..........2........1.........0 An image formed on the screen, it was the entire mission area, complete with a very large and very ugly Covenant ship. Curtis highlighted an area in the southeast quadrant of the mission area; he tasked the satellite to begin a search for the Angels. A Smaller screen closer to Curtis activated and a zoomed in view of the highlighted area appeared, the screen's view scrolled around until it locked onto a series of figures moving in a single file line down a canyon. All the better to see you with Curtis thought as he watched the Angels move down the canyon. This was a critical time in the mission, the Angels had to find a Covenant portable transmitter and take control of it. Until they did that, Curtis had no way of contacting them or tracking them, except via satellite image. A second screen next to Curtis came on; it showed the ODST's 6-team moving slowly across an open plain. Curtis didn't remember tasking the satellite to find the 6-team; he jumped as a voice unexpectedly reprimanded him.
"You forgot something, Colonel."
He turned around to find the head of ONI's Special Operations Division, Colonel Jennifer Turner, standing behind him. She was a very odd woman, her green eyes had a piercing look to them that made it seem like she could look right through you and read the writing on a bathroom wall a hundred miles away. Her medium length black hair was drawn close to her head and done up into a simple bun. She had a very serious and cunning personality, but always enjoyed having a good laugh, which for her usually meant some kind of evil prank. She was notorious for her clean, efficient, and rather messy operations. The entire special ops world relied on her in some way, anything from the occasional anonymous favor to getting the entire UNSC bureaucracy to look the other way while someone did something that they shouldn't be doing.
"Turner what are you doing here?" Curtis exclaimed, surprised.
"The Military Oversight Committee wanted someone here to make sure you didn't fuck up too bad, and Rice thought I'd be a better choice then some overpaid moron from the MOC. That and I need to show Tanner here her new unit in action."
Curtis noticed a person standing behind Turner for the first time. She was a woman of medium height, about 5' 6". She had strawberry blond hair that fell to her shoulders. She had jade green eyes that at the moment had a look that was similar to a startled rabbit and flicked nervously around the room. She was fairly shapely for someone who was in ONI. She wasn't astoundingly beautiful, but she had an air about her that made her very appealing to Curtis. Some instinct told Curtis that her and Dotson would be getting along just fine.
Curtis turned back towards the screen to watch the Angels again. They had already arrived at a Covenant transmitter. Curtis watched the two Grunts and a Jackal that stood guard over the transmitter. One of the Grunts watched over a small basin, it's plasma pistol hanging lazily at it's side, blissfully unaware of the black suited figure sneaking up on it. Judging by the size of the figure, how it moved, and the weapon slung over it's back, Curtis guessed it was David. David pounced on the Grunt, one arm wrapped around it's throat, choking off it's airway and the yelp of surprise that it struggled to let out. The other arm reached around and grabbed it's breath mask, tearing it from the Grunt's face. The grunt clutched at it's throat as it tried to breathe in an atmosphere that was toxic to it. The remaining Grunt and Jackal spun at the sound of their dying comrade, a second figure, probably Dotson, grabbed the second Grunt from behind. Dotson got the grunt in a headlock, combat knife ready. In one quick movement, he had slashed the Grunt's throat and ended it's life. The Jackal had it's gun raised and aimed at David until a flash of movement cut across the screen and ended with a combat knife embedded in the Jackal's skull. The Jackal slumped, dead instantaneously. Several figures ran in from off screen. One ran to the transmitter and began to pull items from it's rucksack, another walked over to the jackal and pulled the combat knife from it's head and casually wiped it off. The Angels had lost none of their cool over two years of inactivity. The figure at the terminal gave a hand signal to Dotson, who nodded and walked over to the figure and pulled a hand set out of his rucksack. A voice crackled over the speakers in the command shuttle.
"Alpha Zero reporting, stage one complete."
"Roger Alpha," Curtis said, "Beta Zero, what is your status?"
Hersch's voice responded, "Lead, we are doing A-OK, time until arrival at RV point, about ten minutes."
"Roger Beta," Dotson responded, "we'll be at the RV point in approximately 10 minutes too. Lead, what's the stage three insertion point look like?"
Curtis panned the screen to the grav-lift, "Not too good Alpha-Zero, I'd say four Shades, three Banshee's patrolling overhead, several Elites, including two commanders with Plasma Swords, a few dozen Grunt's and Jackals, plus two Hunters. No spec ops, thankfully."
"Shit, no way we're blasting our way through that crowd," Dotson said, "There any crates lying about?"
"Yeah a whole shitload," Curtis responded, "what kind of evil scheme are you planning Alpha-Zero?"
"You'll see, Lead. Alpha-Zero out."
Ten minutes later, the Angels and 6-Team sat on a ridge over looking the grav-lift's loading zone. Both units huddled under a rock outcropping while Dotson outlined his plan to get onboard the Covenant ship.
"Alright," Dotson started, "There is no way in hell we're going to get through that crowd intact, we'd have the entire ship coming down on us before you could say 'blown mission'. So I suggest we get into the crates, they're fairly well distributed and several of them are big enough to cram an entire squad into, once they load the crates we get out and make our way to the engine room. Sounds good to every one?"
"Not really, sir," David responded, "There isn't too much of a chance that we could get every member of the assault force into the crates without getting noticed."
"So what do you say we do?" Dotson said looking at David, quizzically.
"I say we have a small team get inside the Covenant ship and take control of the command center. Shouldn't take more than two or three people at the most."
"Alright, no problems with me." Dotson answered, "James, Matt, go with David and secure the command center. Keira, Jzou, Trevor, Fincher, Daniels; you come with me to make sure they get to the grav-lift in one piece. The rest of you, stay here."
Dotson and his selected party snuck towards the grav-lift, they stopped near a large crate. Matt broke the lock on the crate and checked to see if it was empty. There was nothing. Matt waved David and James in, while the rest of the party waited outside. Dotson waited until they were set up and then closed the crate. Him and the rest of the party returned to the RV point.
After the crate was taken into the ship and stowed, Matt, James, And David exited the crate and started towards the command center. They snuck through corridor after silent corridor. Not once did they have to kill any sentries, nor did they even see any Covenant. Frankly, it was beginning to scare the hell out of David. He voiced his thoughts when they were just out side the command center.
"This is too damn quiet." He said in a whisper
"No shit." James responded, his back to the wall next to the door.
"Alright, I got it," Matt said, done breaking the lock on the door, "Get ready."
The door opened with hardly a sound. David leaned in, his sniper rifle raised and aimed. He took out an Elite standing on the command platform with a single shot to the head. It spun sideways and gracelessly flopped to the floor. James whipped around the corner and raised his gun. He peppered a trio of grunts with a storm of high caliber rounds. Matt raised his SMG and drilled a Jackal with a three round burst from across the room. Matt grabbed his lockbreaker from the door and ran up to the command platform with David and James. James looked up at the screen and noticed the Angels had center screen. No wonder they're not here, he thought. Worse yet the Angels were unaware that they were being watched.
"Shit, Dotson's got center screen." James said, a note of urgency in his voice "Get that grav-lift activated now!"
"Gimme a minute," Mat responded, "crap, what button should I push?"
"Try the big button it's usually the good button." James said with out taking his eyes off the screen.
"But what if it's a bad big button?" David said over his shoulder, his sniper rifle aimed at the door.
"Just push the fucking button, Matt!" James barked.
Matt punched the button; Alarms began blaring all over the ship. The sound of Covenant running could be heard outside the door. A screen showed Banshees launching from the docking bay.
"It's a bad big button." They all said in unison.
James and David knelt at the top of the ramp leading to the command platform, their guns aimed at the door, Matt worked frantically to activate the grav-lift. The door hissed open and David shot the first Elite through the door in the head. James opened fire with the SSW. The first two rows of Covenant fell under a deluge of bullets. Matt punched at button and smiled as a screen showed the grav-lift activating. He then ran to join David and James in holding off the Covenant. A sound behind Matt made him turn around, a Commander Elite towered over him. It lifted him with one hand and hurled him off the command platform. Matt's head glanced off a pillar and he slipped from consciousness. James spun as he saw Matt fly into space, the Elite backhanded James across the face with it's plasma rifle. James spun through the air and landed three feet down the ramp. David stopped reloading his rifle and rolled off the ramp to dodge the Elites attempted rifle smash. David landed in a crouch on the deck below; he tossed his sniper rifle aside and raised his battle rifle. He fired a few bursts into the Covenant at the door. A plasma grenade landed a few feet in front of him; he turned around and dived away. The Grenades concussion blew him into a quarter flip into a pillar. He hit the ground hard and the last thing he saw before it all went black was the Commander Elite slowly walking towards him, laughing and cracking it's knuckles...
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