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The Ones He Left Behind: Prologue He shot the one on the rooftop first then the one next to the two trash cans, finally he got the sniper out of the window. The barracks was the only place he could get away from anything, and even here it was never peaceful. He missed the wide rolling fields he had grown up in and his mothers smiling face bringing him his lunch. Now all he could come to was an angry Drill Sergeant barking orders or one of his bunk mates pulling a childish prank on him. Their were very few people he could talk to or sincerely trust, in fact their was only one he could think of. Dak Renish walked up to him and straddled a chair sitting close to him, "Hey what's it like to get to be lazy?" He had one a spot on team A while Dak had to go to team B. Team A were the elite, the commanders, the best shots all the people who promised a lot were in team A. Dak has missed out by a mere two points, while he had gotten in by a clean 7 points. "I don't know man why don't you tell me." He smiled; he knew that team B had much more physical training and not as much of the "fun stuff" if you could even call it that. Dak gave him one of those stop acting like a moron looks before he smiled back. "You been in the sun to long no wonder they sent you in early." Dak smiled, before standing up and stretching his legs. "I'm gonna hit the sack man, live fire exercise tomorrow at 0400 don't forget." He smiled once more before he sunk down into his own cot, within seconds he was in the uncaring bliss known as sleep... "Get up Troops!!! Move it!!!" He quickly rose from his bed the Drill Sergeant's screaming at him all the while. He rose and grabbed his toiletries, he emerged from the shower feeling good and refreshed. He suited up in his armored fatigues and boots, along with his helmet all standard issue UNSC equipment. His eyepiece was playing tactical data for him, even though at the moment their was very little, it did tell him however, that four other guys were suited up for it displayed their location and status. They had been briefed on the mission already a simple scout training job, go from hear to hear and take out any targets you might see. It was live fire so you had to check before you shoot; an accidental murder of a comrade would get you twenty lashes and a discharge. He left his barracks and walked outside into the brisk desert night of Camp Trinity. His first destination would be the armory, he would probably back the standards today maxed out grenades of course. Should he take proximity or timed grenades would be the ultimate question. The armory was on the other side of the compound that was Camp Trinity. On the way their he saw Dak getting screamed at as usual. This time for having a scuff on his boots it was true that he had not buffed them the night before as everyone else had. Instead he found other amusements for himself, namely a rather revealing gift from his Uncle... He arrived at the armory; it was actually a converted whine cellar, the guns were stacked neatly inside whine racks while the grenades and ammo were piled in barrels. He grabbed the MA5B passing over the newer SAR92. He found that the SAR seemed to get hot after active use and he was afraid if he ever got in heavy fighting he would burn his hands and drop his gun. Some found that it would work if you carried a water pack on your back the water could pump into the gun and cool it off, however, he was to small and not strong enough to carry the extra weight. SAR92 or Squad Assault Rifle improved on the old MA5B in many ways, the biggest would have to definitely be the accuracy. It still fired the 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds but with much more accuracy. Add that to a faster rate of fire and a 200 round ammo box instead of a clip and you have a decent weapon on your hands. He grabbed his standard pistol and four timed grenades before jogging off towards the staging area. A hill with a piece of tin over it for a roof, it was where they held chapel and met before a mission. It was where he would also see the roster and who was on his team... He jogged up to the makeshift "building" if you could even call it that. One of the instructors stood their they kept tabs of everything you did here at Camp Trinity and the instructor was keeping track of who got there at what time. He noticed that he was the first person there besides the instructor, which would undoubtedly get him some major points. He approached the instructor, he saluted and when the instructor returned his salute he walked over to the bulletin board where the roster was pinned. He saw his name and he would of jumped for joy had the instructor not been watching him so closely. It would be his first time in a leadership role, even in a training mission or similar he had always been the second in command but never the squad leader. A member from team A always had the squad while the other four men in his squad were team B; this was because the team Bs outnumbered the As 4 to 1. Dak jogged up to the overhang Dak's helmet was cocked to one side from where he had been doing push ups, he straightened his helmet and saluted the instructor before finding his name on the list. Dak jogged up to "How you doing Squad Leader Tonar Lunar." He gave him a mock salute, "looks like you get to baby-sit me now for a while." Dak gave him a sardonic smile. "Yah Dak I'm sure the Drill Sergeant will be happy, I think their actually getting bored with watching you do push-ups. Perhaps they'll have you peeling potatoes soon." Tonar gave Dak his own wicked smile, out of the corner of his eye he saw a small group of their comrades approaching. Then it hit him he had been so excited about being Squad Leader he had forgot to check who the other members of his team were. He walked up to the list one more time... He had probably been acquainted with all of them, but he seemed to discard the information that he didn't really care about; he wasn't exactly the biggest people person. After all the trainees of Camp Trinity were assembled under the tin roof, the instructor fired off a gun. Everyone was silent, "Okay maggots settle down your mission has been changed." What, what could have changed the mission? The instructor finished the briefing and left without another word. Now Tonar had to find a way to fill up the hour and a half he had to spend briefing and planning with his team. They were assigned a place to plan; obviously the instructors didn't want any "cheating." The mission had changed considerably since their previous briefing the night before they would no longer leave straight from the base, but would instead be dropped via helicopter to their objective starting point. The landing zone assigned to his squad, designated squad L, was a small clearing and it would be tough for the chopper to get them low enough to rope in. In addition to the difficulty of the rope jump they could be vulnerable to any fake snipers the instructors had in the trees. The "briefing zone" the instructors had signed to him was a small empty hangar. At one point the hangar had housed a Pelican, it crashed somewhere to the north of the camp, no one had been able to find it in almost two weeks. The hangar seemed entirely too quiet, it was void of anything save for a table and a few chairs in the corner. HE surveyed his men one at a time, of course he had Dak but he also had the three other men in his squad he had to be accountable for. The first one was of Caucasian ancestry about 5'11 on his back he held the squads advanced communication system, each man held a small microphone on his helmet however, sometimes they were forced to use something more powerful in the midst of a heated battle when using runners is not an option. He approached his walk was a saunter and he was obviously in no hurry. "My name is Bill Terry I'll be your communications expert on this outing." The man grabbed a chair and took a seat across from Tonar, so far the man had said one sentence and Tonar already didn't like him. The second man approached he was very small and he held a S2 AM sniper rifle on his back. He was also Caucasian but he was probably only 5'5 or 5'6. "Josh Stacer here I'm your scout, and sniper." He would get along with this one he enjoyed most snipers they seemed to be the quiet types. Tonar nodded to him as he took the seat next to Bill. The last man was colored, Tonar smiled he would need the help of this man. He had seen him before Jamal his name was he was a great shot and extraordinarily strong. He held the SAR92 and the forty pound water pack on his back, Tonar for a moment wished he had the strength to use the weapon but he couldn't carry the extra piece of equipment. "Jamal Williams support gunner and demolitions." Jamal took a seat next to Dak before unhooking the water pack and placing it along with the SAR92 to the ground. "Well gentleman we have an hour to prepare let us get starter." Tonar had but one hope that the time they had together would go quickly... He was actually surprised when it did. He had already assessed his men, their was Dak who didn't pay enough attention. Then he had Jamal whose grasp of tactics was of plain brute force, then he had the quiet sniper Josh Stacer he choose only stealth tactics making his tactics incomplete. Lastly was Bill Terry as much as Tonar hated the man he was a tactical genius. Using the carious maps and information the instructors had given them Bill had managed to compile a solid plan to reach their objective. Their objective was to first blow two bridges and then get to the extraction zone; four miles away. It would run over smoothly if they followed the plan well and there were no sudden surprises, of course the instructors always had sudden surprises for the trainees of the Camp Trinity. The AR-55 was the current UNSC chopper, it was equip with forward missiles and two side mounted 50mm turrets. Its standard load out housed a pilot, co-pilot, two crewmen for the turrets, and during urban mission it would also house a sniper to provide aerial support. Tunar fidgeted around nervously this was after all his first command, if he messed up now he wouldn't get another chance. The co-pilots voice chimed in on his headset, "ETA five minutes." He relayed the message to his squad, they iddn't look a bit nervous. Of course why should they it was only a training mission, but the pressure was on for him. About five minutes later the chopper halted, "GO GO GO." They had made it... The jump shouldn't be difficult they had done many times in training missions. He kept forgetting that this was a training mission. "Go Dak do it man," He nudged his friend and watched him as he shot down the rope to the ground; the ground was barely visible because of all the dust the chopper kicked up. Next was Jamal, "GO Jamal Go," Jamal jumped grabbed the rope and slid down effortlessly. "Bill your up!" Bill sauntered up to the rope. "You better not stroll around during this training mission!" He rather did hate this man. He saw Bill slide down the rope and through the dust it looked as if the man had ran into Jamal's back and had fallen over. Lastly was Josh the sniper, "GO Josh!" Josh nodded and strapped his gun to his back and went down the rope. He watched him hit the ground before he himself grabbed the rope. He began to slid down, it was now or never. |
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