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The Devil's Brigade Prt. II
Posted By: Spinks<haloworldchampion@hotmail.com>
Date: 6 May 2003, 9:38 PM
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I sat in the debriefing room quietly. It seemed more like an interrogation chamber than anything. It was a small square room made out of concrete with a single stool in the middle. A one way mirror was along one of the walls. It looked like one of the old rooms in the ancients "Cop Shows".
A distorted voice came over an intercom, "What were you doing down there Second Lieutenant?" It sounded like it was coming from all sides of me. However, I knew it was coming from a person behind the mirror.
"I was sent on a reconnaissance mission with the rest of my squad," I said as plainly as I could, "We were ambushed by Covenant about 2 kilometers from our objective. ONI had sent us to gather information on a former UNSC base that was under Covenant control." I didn't know why they had sent my squad and me, but when you're talking to an ONI official, you tend to do what you're told without questioning their motives.
"Do you know that you are the only survivor reported?" the voice came back over the intercom.
I had a feeling that no one else made it out, but I didn't want to believe it "No," I said, fear beginning to creep into my voice. I took a deep breath and continued, "I mean, I didn't think that any one else made it, but I wanted someone else to come home."
"Why didn't you call for support when you were first attacked?" the voice was no longer distorted. It sounded oddly familiar though, like it was someone from a distant memory.
"I don't know, I guess I was too busy trying to fight back and survive." By this point I was breathing heavily and starting to sweat. I feared that they would blame me for my squad dying and kick me out.
After a few seconds the mirror disappeared and a tall man stepped out. He stood a little over 2 meters and weighed about 100 kilos. He looked like a SPARTAN but there was one major difference, he had an SOG patch on his chest, not the Eagle that the Spartans wore.
"Congratulations," he said with a hint of excitement.
"What do you mean?" I asked. I couldn't figure out what I had done to get congratulated for.
"You have been selected to join a top secret SOG known as the Devils Brigade." The man replied. "My name is Colonel James Murphy; I'm the leader of the Devils Brigade. You were selected because of your intellect and skills with a rifle." Murphy had a deep voice that was very soothing in a way.
"So I am now in a top secret SOG. What if I don't want to join?" I said with a kind of sarcastic tone.
"You will be court-martialed for allowing your entire squad to perish and will be prosecuted to the full extent of UNSC code law." Murphy was now smiling like he wanted me to refuse.
"When do I start?" I asked, the fear of being imprisoned, or possibly even executed was not something that I was looking forward to.
"We are in Slipspace en route to our objective right now, I will see you on the bridge in 1 hour for orientation and briefing for our first mission. This won't be a huge mission, but it will give us an understanding of how the squad works together." Murphy looked at me and I gave him a crisp salute. Murphy turned on his heel and began to walk away. "Oh, by the way Hawk," Murphy turned and looked at me, "You have also been promoted to first Lieutenant."
"Thanks," I said with a big smile. I gave Colonel Murphy one final salute. He returned it and walked out of the room.
I stood in the room a few more seconds and then thought "What did he mean by 'us,' and why were we meeting on the bridge if we were such a top secret squad?" I gave up on these thoughts and went back to my quarters to clean my rifle. I sorted out the pieces and set them in their designated spots in the case that I was provided by a member of the Ticonderoga's crew had brought to me, since I had left mine on another cruiser.
An hour later I was up on the bridge with 5 other people. Each of them had a different specialty including stealth, demolitions, heavy artillery, Aircraft, and Rifleman. I was the Sniper and nuclear specialist.
The other members were all heavily decorated, covered in scars from plasma burns and grunt claws. I felt out of place. I had only been pursued by covenant once, and only fought them a few times before. But these people looked like they belonged in coffins being propelled out into space covered in the UNSC flag.
"So how did you die?" one of the soldiers asked me. He had a thick German accent, and judging by how he looked, he was most likely the heavy munitions man.
"What?" I asked, completely puzzled by his question
"Well, each one of us is officially KIA by Covenant within the pas week." The man continued, "I officially died in a trench two days ago on Cart with the rest of my squad."
I began to understand, so the reason that I was selected was not because I was the best, but because I was good and expendable because I was already dead.
"I guess I died down on Jericho IV last night while running away from a squad of Jackals."
After I finished Murphy walked in. "You all know why you're here, to aid the UNSC with Special Black Ops and rescue missions. You have been selected because you are not only the best at what you do, but also because you're dead."
Everyone started to cheer like they were truly proud that their families would be getting a letter from ONI saying that they were dead, even though they continued to fight against an unbeatable enemy.
"Well, its time for orientation, I know who you are, and you know who I am, but do you know each other?" Murphy looked around the room and his eyes fell on me "Lieutenant Hawk, tell me who you are and what you do. Then the rest of you follow him."
I stood, "Sir, my name is 1st Lieutenant Benjamin Hawk UNSC Marine Corp. I have a doctorate in Nuclear Physics from the marine academy, and I am an expert with the SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle. My code name was Hawk Sir!" I sat down and waited for my next orders.
The man next to me stood, he was much larger than any of us. "Sir, my name is Mater Gunnery Sergeant Ivan Holzen UNSC Marine Corp. I am a Heavy artillery man. My codename is Ox Sir! I am a master of the Jackhammer rocket launcher, as well as the M41 LAAG chain gun on the back of the warthogs"
Next was a woman. Her eyes were a very dark green; she looked like she should be modeling clothes, not fighting a war. She was tall and moderately thin, built like a runner. "Sir," her voice was soothing to me. It was like I was in a dream, not a ship. Her accent was Russian, "My name is Master Sergeant Tatiana Cheznik UNSC Marine Corp. I am a demolitions expert, and utilize the C-12 explosives. My codename is Rabbit because I get in fast, fuck 'um and get out even faster Sir!"
After Petra came the smallest man in the group. Although that doesn't mean that he was small by any means. He stood up and said, "Sir, my name is 2nd Lieutenant Antonio Vasquez UNSC Marine Corp. I am a master in stealth. I utilize the MA2B assault riffle equipped with a silencer. My codename is chameleon because I blend in everywhere Sir!"
Next was a man that I thought I had seen before, but I couldn't put my finger on it. War had a funny way of covering up good memories with horrific ones. "Sir, my name is Captain Andrew Pinson UNSC Marine Corp. I run the Crafts, fly's or hovers, Covenant or Human, I can utilize it. My codename is Condor Sir!"
Next was the most athletic looking one, his eyes looked cold and dark. He had more scars than all of the others combined. He also seemed to have the most combat experience. "Sir, my name is Major Andrew Shaw UNSC Marine Corp. I am a master of the MA5B Assault Rifle. My codename is Cobra, I was also the squad leader of my last platoon Sir!"
As I digested all of the information I realized that everyone but Ox had graduated from the academy. But that didn't mean that Ox wasn't something to fear.
"Well I see that everyone has some sort of education from the Marines, Except Ox, who was raised by wolves." Everyone started laughing, including Ox. "Well, we've all had our laugh," Murphy chimed in, "But lets get down to business."
A holo pad came on and we saw a planet form. "This is our objective, secure this UNSC base which is currently being held by Covenant forces." The holo projection began to rotate and a magnified view of what looked like an ordinary hill, except for the fact that there were five large holes that looked like they were buildings. "We got a distress signal from this building here." The projection zoomed in to the center building. "Under this building is a secret basement, that as of yet, we don't think that the covenant has breeched, but we still cannot hesitate. Recon says that the base is guarded by mainly by Jackals and Grunts. There are approximately 20 Marines and 10 scientists hiding in the basement, this will require 2 pelicans that will transport you and the hostages back here.
"Condor, your mission will be to provide air support in one of the Longsword solo aircrafts. Hawk, you will cover the team and the pelican from the edge of the base." I nodded in Acknowledgement. "Cobra, Ox, and Rabbit, you will secure the basement and rescue the soldiers. The door is reinforced with titanium-a armor and the key panel was destroyed when the door was locked. So you'll need to blow it with about ½ kilo of C-12 on the locks. After you secure the area, two pelicans will meet you at LZ-2. If you run into any snags, re group and report in from a safe area. From there I will give you new orders. Any questions?" Murphy looked around after concluding his speech. "Ok you have 20 minutes to get gear and meet me in hangar bay A-9. Dismissed."
I ran to the elevator and went to the armory. I found an SRS99C-S2 AM rifle and grabbed a handful of clips. I also grabbed an M6D pistol as a secondary. Cobra grabbed his MA5B assault rifle, and an M90 shotgun. Condor got a MA2B assault rifle in case he had to bail out. Ox grabbed a Jackhammer and an M90 shotgun. He also grabbed about 10 grenades and hung them from his belt. Rabbit grabbed about 3 kilos of C-12, much more than she needed, but I think that she hoped she could blow up a few more things than just the locks. She also picked up an MA5B assault rifle. Chameleon was traveling the lightest. He grabbed an M6D pistol with a silencer and a couple grenades. We all grabbed our field packs, which were stuffed full of survival gear, and left for the hanger.
We walked through the hanger toward the pelican. As soon as we got there, Colonel Murphy came up to us.
"Squad," he yelled. "You may want to put these on."
A cart rolled up behind the Colonel. It was filled with state of the art helmets with miniature screens on them, and armor that looked like it could stop bullets from point blank range. "These will be your new armored suits. They are made with a new type of titanium found on an outer colony, and was synthesized with Covenant weapon material. It is a more human operable version of the MJOLNIR armor that the SPARTANs wore. Dr. Halsey's protégé built them."
"Sir," I said, "I thought that the MJOLNIR armor was far too powerful for anyone that had not undergone the special training could handle?"
"Yes," Murphy answered. "But like I said, it is a special variation of the MJOLNIR armor. It uses a shield that is only activated by the Covenant plasma and needler rounds. It is the most sophisticated system ever developed.
"We can thank the last SPARTAN soldier for making this possible. As you know, he captured a Covenant Prophet and we figured out how to counter the plasma." Murphy concluded his speech as the techs finished strapping on the armor. It looked exactly like the old marine armor that they had worn before, but with one major change. The color of the armor was pitch black and had a picture of a dragon on the chest.
"As you know, the plasma rounds emit a certain type of UV rays, the hundreds censors in the suit are activated by this type of ray and turn the shield on. We haven't worked out all of the quarks yet, so you may still get a burn if you get hit. The gloves are specially designed so that you can still fire weapons normally." Murphy finished his speech as we were getting in the pelican.
I figured that I would rather just believe the Colonel about the armor then ask him how it worked. Besides, I doubt I could have understood it anyway. This was way beyond my field of study.
I saw Condor fly out in his Longsword before we left in the pelican. Our new radio microphones were about the size of my thumb, and sat right over my vocal cords, strapped on by a black piece of elastic-5 tape. I was relieved that I had the new armor, but I hoped that I would never have to test it in the field.
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