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Off the rock, through the bush, nothing but Jackal
Posted By: Spartan 034<zack_034@hotmail.net>
Date: 1 February 2006, 7:47 pm
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D+2:13:59 (Fire Team Tango Mission Clock), October 17, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Fire Team Tango 'Northern' Surveillance Post, 2 Kilometers Away from Firebase Beta
Unidentified Alien Ring Construct, Location Classified
"Shit, they moving in?"
"Yea. Right along that ridge." Goth pointed to them with his finger. "There."
"How many?" Mclees bit his bottom lip.
"Five--no, six. I don't see any Grunts. Just Jackals." Goth sighed. "Black armored ones. Damn it, I lost them in the trees." Mclees spoke into his boom-mike.
"Sarge, we got Jackals moving in. Six of them. Permission to engage? Over."
"Engage. Out."
Six Jackal commandos were easily a match for a squad of UNSC marines. Their appearance was both beautiful and deadly at the same time, like many of the objects in the Covenant. They wore deep purple armor that covered their arms, legs, chest, back, and head, and a lighter colored blue mesh that covered all exposed skin in between. Large blades augmented the natural spurs that grew out of the back of their legs, and although lacking the active camouflage of higher-class warriors, each soldier carried a plasma rifle, powerful in its own right. They did not carry the shields that were typical of their brethren in the lower ranks either, instead relying on sheer cunning and skill. They were deployed on high-risk missions, and usually they did not were not expected to return. A synonym for their status in Unggoy amounts roughly to "Suicide Trooper".
The valley they were invading was relatively narrow. One side was a ninety-degree mountainside with only a few slopes or ledges, one of which the sniper and his spotter rested on. Below the cliff were rocks that had been eroded away from the cliff, creating a sort of maze. Roughly fifteen meters away from the rocks was a dry creek bed, and only a few meters away from that was the beginning of the tree line. Two hundred meters from where the trees met the rocks, two hundred thirty meters from Goth and Mclees's hidden position, one of the aliens poked his head around a tree, scanning the area with his weapon. He waved his arm around to his soldiers. "Follow me. Move up." He cried. A strong hand grasped his arm and hot breath flowed over the back of his neck.
"Remember who the leader is. Until your purpose is served, I will lead." There was a pause for effect. "The next time I will not so be merciful." The soft voice, calm yet frightening, came from the invisible figure behind him.
"Forgive me, excellency. It shall not happen again." Geg, the offender, bowed.
"Indeed, it shall not. Now on your feet." The Sangheili snarled. "Be ready."
Wang looked over the valley before him. There were so many trees. It was beautiful here, just like the vids he'd seen about Earth. Wang had only seen real trees three times in his whole life before landing on the ring, not counting basic at Reach. He'd been a city boy. The private looked up to the rise behind him and searched for Goth and Mclees. They were hidden somewhere in the cliff face, and Wang hoped he couldn't find them. If he could, they could.
He jogged down to the group of boulders at the base of the cliff. Sarge, Segur and the new addition to the team, Lemmings, had set up equipment between a trio of rocks. Lemmings was an explosive expert, with the personality of a field mouse. He was a small man with a shaved head, and it surprised Wang that he could carry a backpack filled with five bricks of C12 and a few spare rocket pods and not show much sign of strain. He had an M19 SSM launcher slung over his right shoulder, and an M6D holstered to his waist. The meek solider nervously glanced from rock to rock, half expecting a monster to jump out and 'get' him. Wang chuckled at the irony of it before he noticed a blinking icon on his HUD. Segur had sent a text message to his eye monitor. 'Did u get lost again?'
'screw u. i had 2 piss.' Wang replied.
'No thx. U got 2 quit wondering off, btw.'
'DON'T TALK ON THE TEAM FREQ!' Both marines were surprised by the sender.
'LOL! Lemmings? U talked?' Segur asked.
'Cut the chatter.' Sarge butted in. 'Covs out there. Jackasses.'
Dak stuck his head out from the side of a tree. He was hungry, and he could smell the humans. It was a foul stench, but still, he drooled slightly at the thought of their flesh. He slowly stepped out from his cover and made a break the rocks as ordered. A 14.5 mm armor piercing round satisfied his hunger.
'Inka Tuolumee snarled. The humans did have a sniper, and it had cost him one of his pawns to discover it. He believed he could trace the path of a second round, though . He called up his second in command, the Jackal named Geg. "Gather the troops for a charge on the rocks." The Jackal chirped three times in his native tongue and in quick succession four more of his kind appeared from the brush. He twitched his head in the direction of the cliff and let out a cough. One of the four squawked and hissed at his superior. Geg flashed his teeth once and the minor hushed up. Geg turned to Tuolumee.
"At your command, excellency." 'Inka looked over the rocks.
"Go."
Two bodies fell to the ground followed by three sharp cracks that echoed throughout the valley. Mclees called up Sarge over the comm. "Sarge, three of them got through, over."
"Roger that. Any more comin'? Over."
Mclees scanned the trees through the tripod-mounted spotting telescope in front of him. "Negative sir." He shifted his gaze to follow the enemy. "The ones that got through are moving in, Sir, watch out. Over."
He heard the rapid cracks of automatic-weapons fire. "Acknowledged, out."
The Jackals ran from rock to rock like shadows. They each knew that they were just a diversion for the Elite, an Ossoona, and it didn't matter what happened to them. Their mission was that they were to kill or wound one or two of the humans so that they would be carried back to their encampment. The Ossoona would then follow them back and place several tracking devices around the base so it could be attacked at a later time. He was also to observe the humans and remain in the area for further instructions. It was made clear that not all of the humans were to be killed, but the Jackals were given some leeway. One of the surviving troopers rounded a corner and found his prey. He eagerly rushed in for the kill.
Lemmings activated the laser sight on his pistol. He didn't need it, but he'd read that they sometimes intimidated Covenant soldiers. Something to do with the infrared light. His motion sensor suddenly lit up in alarm. Lemmings spun around as fast as he could but was too late. All he saw was a flash of black and a huge talon.
Segur rushed in guns blazing. "Lemmings! You hit?" he shouted to his comrade over the roar of his weapon. The Jackal that stood over him recoiled as over a dozen rounds impacted on its armor, puncturing the hard shell and shredding its internal organs. "Shit Lemmings, the bastard cut you." Segur said as he knelt over his fallen teammate. With disgust he pulled the corpse off of the marine and grimaced when he saw the wound it made. The Jackal had sliced his stomach wide open. What looked like gallons of blood flowed freely from the wound, mixed with fluids from the Jackal. "Man down, man down!" he screamed into his mike. Segur slung his rifle and grabbed the back of Lemmings's collar and dragged him behind a boulder. "You okay? Talk to me man." He fumbled for his biofoam canister as Lemmings's face grew paler. "This is gonna hurt." He grimaced again as he pulled the plastic trigger and sprayed the medicine. Lemmings groaned in pain before passing out.
'Inka calmly strode between the rocks until he was found humans. There were two of them, one injured and the other treating him. He advanced on the pair and made sure that the recording equipment installed on his helmet was working properly. This was an important find. The myths were true it seemed, that the humans did treat their wounded on the battlefield. He noted that the one treating the wounded soldier was completely exposed and unaware. When two more humans came into view 'Inka made sure to keep his distance in order to avoid detection. They fanned out and protected their cohorts in what was obviously a practiced maneuver. 'Inka watched impassively as they gunned down one of the Jackals. They were coordinated and determined fighters, and 'Inka could see now why some Sangheili respected their abilities.
The fighting was over just a few minutes later as the last Jackal fell to the sniper. The hidden Elite observed the humans as they grouped around the wounded soldier. He made sure to recognize which one of the humans was the leader, noting the way he was addressed and by the subtle differences in his adornment.
"He's cut pretty damn bad sir." Segur moved over so Sarge could talk to Lemmings.
"Can you hear me, son? Its gonna be all right now. We're gonna get you back to base ASAP and get you all patched up. Just hang in there." He looked at Segur who moved behind Lemmings. Segur shook his head somberly. The bond between major and minor was very strong between humans, that much 'Inka could tell. Sarge turned around and spoke to Wang. "Call up HQ and call for an evac."
"Yes sir!" the PFC said. He knelt down and quickly dialed in the emergency frequency on the radio. 'Inka, meanwhile, pondered as to what an 'evac' was. Several minutes later the answer thundered over his head. A Pelican touched down near the creek bed and dropped off a fresh marine to replace the wounded one. A medical team rushed out and retrieved the now catatonic Lemmings and carried him back to the dropship on a stretcher. 'Inka followed them all the way up to the dropship. It was a tight fit in the back of the vessel. Would he be able to ride it back to the human base undetected? Just as the dropship began to lift off, the unseen observer became the unseen stowaway.
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