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HELLJUMPERS CHAPTER 4: ONCE MORE INTO THE BREECH
Posted By: Havok<snayperskaya@hotmail.com>
Date: 5 September 2002, 11:53 pm


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      The base was bustling with activity. As Rob, the Master Chief and I exited the Kayser, several ONI spooks ran up to us, congratulated us on our success, and promptly took both the hack AI, and the covie AI, and left with the Kayser. Ungrateful bastards. The Master Chief told us that he would see us later, and jogged off. Idecided I was hungry, and headed to the cafeteria. Rob followed. Our base was set into a mountain top. Automated defenses had been set up, ringing the perimeter. Numerous anti-air batteries littered the base. Only a fraction of the base could be seen from the outside. The base descended well into the mountain. The base was situated in a tropical landscape. Dense jungle covered the mountain, making an ideal place to set up booby traps in random places for the covies. Human patrols did not have to worry about the traps. They were made specially to go off only in the faces of the covenant. The cafeteria was set in the center of the base. It was the one place where I could relax. Rob and I got a table and got some grub. I was starving. About halfway through our meal, a corporal came to us and told us to report for a debriefing in the commander's quarters. We slowly finished our meal and went. The commander's quarters was 60 floors down, deep inside the mountain. On the way down in the elevator, Rob remarked, "You know, fighting the covies for so long here, you would think that UNSC command would send more troops to help secure the ring."

      I replied, "Well, command has their heads so far up their asses, they probably don't even remember that we are here."

      The elevator chimed and came to a stop. The doors opened and we got out. Down a short hallway and we were in the Secretary's office. The commander's secretary looked up and said that we could got right on in. we went. Rob closed the door behind us and we sat down.

      Captain Perov swiveled around in his chair and looked at us. "You two did a fine job last night. The bugs that the hack AI planted into the system are working perfectly, and we now for once have accurate intel on their movements. As for the covie AI, the ONI spooks are working on getting some information out of it. And boy, is that Kayser some piece of work. Did you guys even look at the weapon systems on that thing?"

      Rob replied, "well sir, I messed around with the system a little bit on the way back. Basically I noticed upgraded pulse lasers, dual plasma launchers, and better shielding."

      "Well, there's a bit more to it than that." Said captain Perov, "it also has a primitive software system, in an attempt to mimic our own computer systems. The guys at ONI think that the covies are going to try to use the kayser to try to infiltrate our computer systems from a distance instead of boarding a ship to try a local tap. We are now updating our software to try to combat this new weapon. The covies can under no circumstances learn the location of any more human colonies. I understand that the UNSC is so far keeping the covie threat at bay. They haven't found any colonies for a while now, but I expect that to change."

      He paused, looking at us. "Gentlemen, I have just received new orders from command H.Q. Effective immediately, we are to go on the offensive to root out the covie infestation on this construct. We are getting reinforcements in the form of 6 armored divisions from the Epsilon system. You two and the rest of your S.O.G. are to engage in guerilla tactics against the enemy. No more intelligence missions. From now on your mission is to kill as many of those covie fuckers as you can. You two get a good nights sleep tonight. We go on the offensive tomorrow. Dismissed"

      "hell yeah, I'm gonna kill me some covies and hang 'em on my wall!" shouted Rob. I was pretty excited too. We left and went back up to the surface. I immediately noticed something different. Everybody had stopped what they were doing and were looking up As I looked up into the sky, I saw a battle raging. Twenty UNSC battlecruisers had jumped in system and had taken on the covenant ships in position above the construct. The battlecruisers were the newest addition to the UNSC arsenal. They were twice as big as the Marathon class cruiser currently in service. The battlecruisers were produced faster because they lacked one major compoment: armor plating. This made them both immensely cheaper to build, and much faster and more agile. Some smart people in high places noticed that the Titanium A battleplate did exactly jack shit against covie plasma. However, at the battle for Reach, witnesses to the destruction noticed that when the repair-refit stations were vaporized, the covie plasma coming later was dispersed by the titanium dust in the vicinity. By mistake, we had learned how to defeat the covenant plasma bombardments. Ships were now being fitted with a new defense system called the TADD (Titanium A Dust Dispenser). It was a weak name, but no one could come up with anything better. What the TADD does is eject large clouds of titanium dust into the trajectory of the oncoming plasma blast. The dust disperses the plasma, and no harm is done to the ship. The new battlecruisers now fired on the covenant fleet with impunity, hiding behind clouds of titanium. The battle was quickly over, with no human losses. The blackness of space was distorted and then a green light appeared, and another six human ships jumped in system, in perfect formation. So we can now navigate slipspace much more accurately now to, I thought. I noticed that these ships were huge troop transports. These were the six armored divisions coming to reinforce us. My mouth watered at the thought of the power we would now be able to unleash on the enemy. Each division boasted 600 Scorpion tanks, along with 300 Warthogs, and enough brave marines to man all of that equipment, plus logistics and support. The battlecruisers could now deploy their new Dagger interceptors and Longsword fighter-bombers for air support.

      While we were all watching this, Rob was talking to a junior lieutenant. When he finished, he came up to me and said, "Andreas, our next mission is already assigned. We are to find a suitable base camp for the newly arrived divisions. We can take one of the refitted Stealth Warthogs so we can get around faster. We should leave no later than 0500 tomorrow morning."

      "ok. We better get some sleep then." I headed for the elevator again and Rob and I went to our rooms.

      Rob smacked me hard in the head. "Get up you lazy old bastard." He shouted. Then he laughed. "It is almost impossible to wake you up sometimes. "Up and at 'em, shit and shave!"

      I gave him the finger and went to the bathroom. I came out feeling wide awake. I got dressed in my combat fatigues, gathered some throwing knives, slid them into sheathes in my boots and various other places about my person, strapped on my ruger, slung my sniper rifle, didn't bother with body armor, and turned to Rob. Ok lets go kick some covie ass.

      We went to the elevator and took it to sublevel 86, the garage. We got out and surveyed the place. We didn't use vehicles very often and every time we came down here, the place was rearranged.

      A technician ran up to us. "Excuse me, Sergeant, but I have your Warthog over here if you want to get going. Rob and I were both the same rank, but the people who needed to say something usually came to me because I am the biggest and most imposing. We followed the techie to a heavily refitted Warthog.

      "I trust that Captain Perov has give you the specs of this vehicle, but I will tell you again cause its my job." He continued, "this Warthog has heavily baffled engine. You can barely hear the thing at all." He started the engine, or at least I thought he did. He turned the key, but the ATV was completely silent. Impressive.

      "It also has an active camouflage generator, which will also cover the both of you, as long as you remain on the vehicle. The chain gun is no different, but the shells it fires are. They are the new anti-matter shells, like the ones for your rifles. This vehicle has also been stocked with an ample supply of active camo fuel cells for when you exit the vehicle."

      I thanked the techie and we clambered into the Warthog. I got the drivers seat, while Rob got the chain gun. Chain guns are notoriously hard to aim, but Rob could cut the air hoses off of a grunt's environmental suit at a hundred paces with sand blowing in his face, barreling down a bumpy road with a god that had no mercy. I turned the key, only to hear a horrific screeching sound. Startled, I remembered that the techie had already started the hog. Rob laughed at me, I gave him the finger again, and we were off, once more into the breech, my friends.





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