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Force 81 Prologue: A Faithless Reaper
Posted By: NobleWard
Date: 14 December 2002, 6:19 am
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(note to readers: Faithless Reaper is an introduction to the main character in my short stories series
"Force 81". While Faithless Reaper is going to mainly focus around the lead character's personality, Force 81 is going to expand out to include a slice of each aspect of the war through the eyes of several characters who are to be revealed through out the series.)
"WE HAVE one covie recon squad on approach from the north, two kilometers from your position Max." Capt. Veer stared through his sniper scope down on the small Covenant recon squad approaching from the north. "Three ghosts, minor elite pilots." The cliff Veer was bunkered into had been his roost for well over nine hours. The main UNSC strike force he had been scouting for was coming in on foot while an armored assault company had gone around to the front of the Covenant bunker they were about to strike at to distract the covie armor support. Veer was doing recon for the foot troops coming up the back. His sniper squad of four; him and three others, had been scoping out for any lone patrols now for awhile. With the Scorpions in the 115th coming up the front, the common soldier would think the Convenant would be too occupied to cover their back end. But Jim knew the Covenant better than that.
"Veer, we can't let them detect us till the armored corps start their attack." Sgt. Max Meldon radioed back in to Veer. Max's squad was running point for the foot squad.
"This I know Meldon, this I know. We can take em out before they even get near you." Veer checked his clip. Four shots.
"Peeves! Allen! Listen up." Veer radioed in to his sniper comrades in clear sight of the ghosts coming in. "Peeves, take a bead on the left flank, Allen on the right. I'll get center. Fire after my lead. We need this quick and easy fellas, so one shot, one kill. Make it count."
Jim took sight and zoomed on his target. Minor elite, blue armor. His cranium was barely exposed over the top of the ghost, even at Veer's height. But a clear shot none the less.
"Mark."
Jim's rifle recoiled against his shoulder as the white contrail from his shot went right through the elites forehead. The Ghost the alien was piloting swerved into the dirt as two more shots rang out. The left flank elite fell out of his craft as his vehicle impacted with the grounded Ghost, a new hole in his temple. The other shot reflected off the engine housing of the right Ghost, and the pilot pulled hard out of the turn and made a break out of the canyon.
"Crap Allen! Take him down!"
Three more shots rang out, each hitting the dirt behind the retreating covie.
"He's too fast Captain, I can't..."
A single shot from Veer's position impacted the elite from behind. The ghost went silent as it ground to a halt.
"Max, recon patrol is cleared out. You got three grounded Ghosts but other wise your clear."
"Thanks Jim, we're moving in on checkpoint now."
The main UNSC assault company came into Veer's scope view. 8 specialists squads climbed over rocky rubble from a previous battle into the tight canyon, the Covenant bunker in plain view over a small hill in front of them. The squads piled over the small hole in the bleak canyon wall into the grassy valley with Veer's sniper squad hiding among the cliffs bordering the small enclosure.
"Jim this is Meldon, can you see the 115th from your position? We have orders to hold out here till they start the diversionary strike."
Veer zoomed out over into the horizon past the covie bunker. Wraith's were moving into position, so something was up, but there was no sign of actual combat going on.
"We got Wraith's on the move, but no sign of the 115th. Where are those guys? They should have been here by now."
"Jim, the covie's are going to start missing their scout group here soon, don't you think?"
"Depends." Veer shifted slightly. "Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Depends on how smart their Commander is..."
"I'm praying he's struck stupid right now..." replied Max in a low tone.
"Praying won't help right now Meldon." Veer zoomed in on the bunker's entrance as Covenant troops poured out the back doors. "They know we're here. We got contact Marines!"
Covenant forces came out the bunker like a flood gate was open. Elites barked out their orders as Jackals formed ranks, creating an almost solid energy blockade out of their shields as the Covenant force approached from behind the barrier. Marines opened fire on the swarming ranks as they got into formation. The occasional grunt would fall from a stray bullet, but for the most part the AR and EX rifle rounds ricocheted off the energy shield barricade. The Covenant returned fire from over their shields down onto the exposed marines.
"Marines, take cover!" Meldon dove for the nearest rock as blue and green plasma buzzed by, his MA6B rattling to his side. "Jim, take aim at whatever you can hit from up there!"
"Already on it." Jim stood up from his crouch and looked down on the scene before him. The covies were closing fast. "Peeves, Grave! Take out that Jackal line. Make a hole big enough for our guys to get some shots in. Allen, shoot at the main force and any Elite you can scope on. Fire at will!"
Sniper rounds blared from the walls. Jackals fell and stumbled two at a time, the line crumbling. Grunts gave out death cries as Allen ripped into their ranks. The Elite officers crumpled one at a time under Jim's steady hand. By now the Covenant had broken ranks though and charged the marines. Soldiers popped up from the rocks, spraying ammunition into the oncoming ranks. Elites fired through the marines, with the occasional shotgun shell unloading into their armored skin, breaking through their shields and shattering their body armor. Bodies flew as grenades exploded, blue flashes and red flame killing covenant and marine alike. Jim popped out shot after shot, clip after clip, each round bringing death to a different soldier.
"Captain, this is Peeves." Jim heard Peeves stammer over the comm. "We got Hunters coming at us."
Jim cursed audibly over his comm in an unconventional break of form as he loaded a fresh clip into his rifle. His crosshair settled on the charging mutants, their fuel rod cannons lighting up.
"Grave, take sight on those Hunters..." Jim squeezed his trigger mid sentence, punching a bullet through the eye of the closest Hunter. "Take out whichever one is glowing the brightest..." another shot, another dead Covenant. "Don't let them shoot."
The Hunter squad charged into the battle, one after another falling to the sniper barrage. Finally they crouched into battle position, their near impervious armor bristling in the setting sun. They chargeed their cannons and opened fire on the human sniper position's in the cliffs. Allen and Grave's position rocked with the blast as they flew from their roost to their deaths below on the valley floor. Peeves' nook was put under pressure as it caved in on him under the concussion. Jim dived to safety in time to see the rock he was just crouching behind vaporize. The battle still raged on as Jim recovered himself. A Jackhammer troop finally opened fire on the Hunters before they could open up on the main force, but the main Covenant thrust was still strong. Meldon grappled with an Elite, his knife drawn out and stained purple from the fighting. Veer ran out with his pistol and pegged Max's opponent in the head. The Elite slumped down as Jim re-shouldered his rifle, opening fire from behind the main fighting force taking out as many as he could before he ran out of ammo. Dropping the useless rifle, he picked an MA6B battle rifle off a dead marine, using it's scope and EX ammunition liberally against the onslaught. The smell of burning flesh and the screams of dying grunts and marines filled the canyon. Off in the distant Jim could barely hear the 115th Armored division engaging the Wraith tanks from the other side of the valley over the mixed battle cries and explosions around him. There was no glory in this battle, no honor to find here. It was death or life, kill or be killed.
Jim finally ran out of ammo for both the rifle and his sidearm. The charging Elite he had been firing at was still running full speed at him. Veer threw his empty pistol into the alien's face and pulled out his boot knife. The stunned Elite was even more stunned when he looked up to see Veer jamming the jagged blade into his neck. Purple blood sprayed over Jim as he recovered his knife and slashed at a fleeing grunt. It dropped to the ground, it's face mask gouged off from the glancing blow. The sniper continued on, surveying the battle as the marines mopped up the last few Covenant. Jackals and Grunts fled, exposing their backs long enough for the keener eyes to pick them off as they retreated. Jim swiped his knife into the grass and picked up a nearby plasma pistol. Just in case, it's better than nothing right now.
Veer waded through the bodies left from the battle, picking at the newest nick in his armor from an Elite claw swipe. There they are. Grave and Allen both. Veer knelt next to his fallen troops, pulling out the vid records from their helmets. He looked up to Peeves' position grimly. No chance he was gonna get through all that to find the body. Vid was probably crushed anyways. No matter. Looking back to the soldier's at his feet, he could see Allen was burnt down to the bone. He must have taken some venting from the ion blast before being blown from the rocks. Grave was simply crushed when he fell down, snapping his neck on impact. At least they died quick. He had seen worst ways to go...
"They went down fighting Jim." Meldon had come up behind Veer as he was caught up in the mental images of battles long past.
"Tell that to the families Max." Jim went to take Grave's pistol in place of the plasma pistol he was carrying when Meldon grabbed his hand.
"We're done here. Incursion team has gotten what we needed and we're getting ready for dust off" Max slung his rifle over his shoulder as he turned his eyes to the sky. "Pelicans coming in already."
Jim followed his gaze to see the transports coming in low over the horizon. Then he turned to the fallen bodies all around him once again.
"I got lucky up there Max. I would have been another statistic in this fight if I hadn't of seen it coming... those Hunter's had us eyed up as soon as they came out of their pens..."
"I wouldn't call it luck Jim..."
"What would you call it then? Skill? A quick get away in sight?"Veer grit his teeth and gripped the pistol in his hand hard.
"Providence, Jim. Destiny. Fate. Whatever you wanna call it. I saw that shot from here. I thought for sure you were toast."
Jim caughed into his glove, forcibly keeping backs the words he really wanted to say.
"I go for luck. Or skill. No providence would have let this happen. There was no grand destiny played out before us just now..."
Jim looked up at Max and caught Meldon staring back right into his eyes. There was no expression in those eyes for Max to read into, no emotion.
"Get the remnants of your squad together and get out of here on the first drop sergeant. You guys deserve to get outta here."
Jim turned his back on Max as he went to the spot he had dropped his sniper rifle. He looked out towards the horizion as he recovered his rifle to see the stars starting to appear in the sky overhead, with the sun finally gone down. Smoke from the battle curled up into the sky, making it hard to see most of the sky line. The stars... he never bothered to look at them anymore. He remebered nights long ago sitting under starlit sky's as a child, admiring those diamond spots of light. Veer crouched down into the charred grass, picking up a brass rifle shell. This is what his life was now, just killing. From his scope he saw life pass to death at his hands nearly every day. He had no need to appreciate the beauty of it all anymore. His eyes found none to admire. The Pelicans landed and loaded quickly, taking the Marines back to the UNSC fleet in space. Taking us to our next destination. The next battle. Jim chuckled as he tossed the shell back into the grass. Battle to battle. Day by day. This was his existence.
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