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The Sniper
Posted By: Neil Grattan<arsebiscuit123@yahoo.com>
Date: 09 November 2000, 12:57 am


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Through the Sniper sight the BoB could see the temperary base set up deep in a valley. Covenant strolled around the buildings. They looked meaningless. His target was out of sight now. HQ had sent him and a team of marines to locate some kind of Covenant commander, and eliminate him. He was angry when he heard the voice over the comms earlier today. "I don't care how you tell which is the commander, just find him and kill him!" These guys sitting back at base didn't realize how hard it is to do this kind of thing. The group had nearly been pinged (spotted) four times on their way here, and being so close means they don't have long to piss about. He had a clear shot on a strange looking Covenant a few minutes ago, but it would have been too much risk. After the shot, the entire group would be dead in about 10 minutes. The marines had made a shelter by carving out a kind of cave in a hill nearby. He almost laughed when he turned from his target to see them, hard at it, scraping away at the mud with their rifle butts. But since the rain kicked in their little grotto was looking rather inviting. Now he was contemplating to just contact HQ and tell them to send an assault group in here to wipe the place out. If he explained that there is a commander but he's now out of sight, they might risk losing men. Yes, thats what he'll do, let some other poor bastard fight these guys, I'm going home for a custard tart, then maybe try and get some sex out of that Lieutenant that's just joined B group. She's good looking, but one of those 'No, I can't until I'm married' types. Maybe if he explains that they need to start populating this planet he'll get somewhere. The sniper stood up and ran back to the marines.

The dropship was following the contour lines very closely. They had all heard the horror stories of what happened to G group. About a month ago, G group were in a dropship heading out to a contact. The ship was skimming the ground, until about 12 clicks from HQ, when it rose altitude as the pilots grew more confident. 5 seconds after this decision, they were intercepted by Covenant flyers and wiped out. Everyone was pretty spooked by how quickly they intercepted, maybe it was coincidence, but now they couldn't afford risks. 2 clicks from where the BoB gave his coordinates, the dropship landed. Before it hit the ground, 10 marines were out of the ship, covering their arcs of fire. These drills had been practised to perfection, and the group fanned out around the ship and lay down on the ground as the dropship crew unloaded the Light tank. It rumbled out of the ship, stopped, and the turret done a 360 degree turn. Bearings now found the group headed off for the contact. 2 marines were out front, as lead men, to scout th ground before them incase of a patrol. The rest either held on to the side of the tank, or ran closely behind.

The sniper heard the reinforcements before he saw them. The tank sounded as though it was stuck on a hill, and the marines were hollering to each other as they tried to free it. Moments later, the point men arrived near the dug-out cave, and bekoned the rest of the group forward. The sniper went out to see them. "You, follow me" he pointed to a point man, and walked up to the sniping position. The marine produced a Range Scanner from one of those places that these marines have, which seem to appear from nowhere. He recce'd the camp, then uploaded the images to the tank. The marine turned back to the sniper, "Any news of this commander then?" The sniper pointed out one of the buildings, but the camp was so far away it was in vein, "Yeah, in that building. It's a pity you guys didn't bring along some kind of air support. I heard those Covenant flyers we captured a while back still work." "Nothing to do with me, I'm just given orders. It is a pity though. Teach those little bastards to mess with us. We only got a dropship-full. Half of us arn't coming back, we'll get are arses kicked in there."

The orders had arrived from HQ to get stuck in there straight away. Full assault. An attack route had been created, and the marines were ready to go. The sniper went to his position. The team lead came on the comms. "Alright, let's go. S1 (the sniper) Initiate the attack, and the marines will follow up. M1 (The Marines) put down lots of fire, and get grenades in there when you can. We have to confuse them. T1 (The Tank) just lay down covering fire for the marines. In position, when your ready S1."

The sniper picked out a static target, and fired a round. The sound echoed through the valley, and the Covenant target was thrown backwards by the force. The other Covenant were confused. They glanced at the dead body, then realised what was happening and hit the ground. This was the calm before the storm. The huddled bodies lay in the mud, as they tried to make as small a target as possible, and the only noise was from the sniper rifle. There was no screaming, no panic, no coordinating. The Covenant just seemed to work together without speech as they assembled their fighters, and snipers were scanning the horizon for the killer. This bubble of silence was then broken by a huge explosion from the tank. The mud was blown everywhere, as the cannon shell cratered the ground. Four Covenant were hit in the blast, and were thrown through the air. The others fired at the advancing marines and green plasma shots wizzed around the camp. Marines were hit and fell to the ground, and teammates stood forward to take their place. There was a continuous drone of rifle fire from the marines which was occassionally broken by a huge blast. The sniper was still firing, and the Covenant were falling back to cover inside the buildings. Just then, a mass of Covenant streamed out through one door, firing a hail of green plasma at the tank. The 7 Covenant stood static near the doorway firing, and the Sniper saw his chance. He swung the rifle around, and aimed at one body. He pulled the trigger, and just as the round entered it's chest, the entire group exploded. The sniper was slightly stunned at what just happened. But he then realised that the tank fired at the same target. The new crator was filled with the limbs from all 7 warriors, which were now spread along the battleground like the rest. It was at this point, that he noticed the Covenant fighters raise their arms in submission. The battle was over now. It had only lasted for a few moments, but the massive casualties on both sides would indicate otherwise. The remaining marines ran forward and secured the Covenant, and they were herded into one big group and disarmed. This was the first time the Humans had ever taken hostages, and he was wondering what they were going to do with them. The sniper stood up and ran down to the camp. He greeted the poinrman he was talking to before, and they both entered one of the buildings. The marine turned to the sniper, "So, where's this commander then?" "He was in here last time I saw. He must have changed building, or got blown up bye that tank." They walked into the last room in the hut, and found a red covenant slumped in a chair. "There's the commander there" The sniper pointed at him. They both walked towards the chair, and found a large hole in his head, and an energy pistol sitting beside him on the ground, underneath an outstretched arm.





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