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Shadow Ops II: Prologue
Date: 9 December 2003, 1:45 AM

~*Author's note*~

As many of you know, I originally did a story called Shadow Ops II: Nowhere to Run. However gentlemen and ladies, I personally did not like it, nor did I like the fact that it seemed no one that read it liked it. Because of this, I'm starting the Shadow Ops II sequel all over again. Also, I've changed my e-mail address. My new one is cthompson013@hotmail.com, so e-mail me about...anything. Enjoy!

~*End note*~

Prologue

Yeyek was nervous. The little Grunt commander led the small patrol of four Grunts through a twisting path in the jungle environment that surrounded them. Its methane tank heaved up and down quickly as it looked all around itself, trying to see through the darkness that had covered the jungle. Night patrol was the one thing Yeyek did not want to do. It had heard the rumors, the stories that had been told. For the past three days, their little camp located a few umbras (kilometers) back had been under attack by an invisible enemy. Patrols of four or eleven soldiers ranging from Grunts to Elites had disappeared into the night. The whole camp feared the night, and Gagaw had been elected by that silly Field Master to go out on patrol. It hated 'Kurumee. The big Elite acted so tough and thought it knew everything. Yeyek's brain was indeed small, but it knew that whatever was waiting for them out there, it wouldn't spare four little Grunts. The other three Grunts behind Yeyek were shivering and letting out small squeaks as they climbed over large fallen trees and wadded through thick mud. Yeyek could see the path up ahead bend slightly, indicating there was a turn. It stopped and turned around.

"Made it this far" it said, panting heavily as it tried to settle its heart rate down.

"This is bad. Me hate 'Kurumee" a Grunt named Jajag whispered. The other two Grunts nodded their little heads. Yeyek looked up from the ground and nodded also, its methane mask shifting up and down on its face.

"Me agree, but 'Kurumee is in charge and we follow orders" it said.

"This be stupid orders" Jajag said.

"We go back now?" Papaw asked. Yeyek looked over at Cocon, who held a small computer-like pad in its little paw. The Grunt was studying the screen and pushing buttons, when it suddenly squeaked in surprise, and then threw the pad into the trees.

"It broke, we go back" Cocon said. Yeyek sighed.

"We go back" it agreed. The four Grunts turned quickly and began to crawl back along the path. Yeyek went down on all fours, allowing the Grunt to run a little faster. It led the way back down the path they had been following. Their suits and plasma weapons gave off enough light for them to see five to ten feet in front of them. However, as Yeyek continued to run, the light did not reach around what lay ahead on the path.

The Grunt screamed in surprise and smashed into a large tree which had fallen over. Yeyek shook its head, and then looked up to see the dead face of an Elite staring back at it. Yeyek screamed again, and then backed away quickly from the tree. Behind it, Jajag grabbed Yeyek and looked at tree. The Elite wasn't the only body that was stuck against it. The bodies of Jackals, Grunts and other Elites covered it. Each of them had a branch or two sticking out of their chests, and was also covered with holes. Yeyek calmed itself down and inspected the bodies.

"We keep going, this bad" Cocon said, backing away from the tree. However, the other three Grunts ignored Cocon and walked closer to the tree, trying to see if any of their comrades were alive. As Cocon slowly backed up, a pair of hands appeared out of a nearby bush and grabbed the Grunt's face. Cocon tried to scream, but it was pulled into the lush jungle vegetation by the hands.

Yeyek heard the bushes move and looked up from the body of the Jackal it had been looking at. The little Grunt jumped down from the tree and took out its plasma pistol.

"Cocon?" it asked into the jungle. There was no answer. Jajag and Papaw both joined Yeyek and looked around them.

"Where Cocon go?" asked Papaw.

"Search for Cocon we must" Yeyek said, moving forward along the path. Jajag followed the Grunt, but Papaw was hesitant.

"No, we go back, me scared" it said. Yeyek ignored the Grunt and searched through some bushes along the path, calling Cocon's name. Papaw was standing alone by the tree, the dead eyes of the bodies behind it staring at him. The Grunt turned to head back to the camp alone, when a figure stepped out of a nearby bush and ripped Papaw's methane rig mask right off. The Grunt felt its entire body go numb, as its source of air escaped it. It ran around on the spot, reaching for its mask that was dangling in the air behind it. It wheezed and gasped for the gas that its life depended on, but received none. Papaw stood still, its eyes rolling into the back of its head, and then slumped to the ground.

Yeyek whirled around; it's plasma pistol up and pointed at the dead body of Papaw. The Grunt gasped and rushed to Papaw's side. Jajag stood still for a moment, but began to climb the tree blocking the path. Jajag looked down at Papaw and Yeyek.

"It dead, we go, we must go!" it screamed. Yeyek looked at Papaw's methane rig. It was still full. Yeyek suddenly saw the actual breath mask lying on the ground near Papaw's face. The poor thing had suffocated. The Grunt looked around and could see Jajag running down the path.

"Jajag, return!" Yeyek yelled. The Grunt didn't answer and kept running. The lights shining from its suit eventually disappeared. "Jajag!" Yeyek screamed. Without warning, a terrible high-pitched scream echoed throughout the jungle around Yeyek. The Grunt froze, recognizing the voice of Jajag. It went down on all fours and took off down the same path Jajag had been running down. Yeyek didn't look back and focused its eyes forward. It rounded a corner and nearly tripped over the head of Jajag. Yeyek squealed and rushed away, still down on all fours. It jumped over boulders, rushed through a small swamp and was about to climb up a small hill they had come down earlier, when a bullet fired from the trees nearby smashed into the side of Yeyek's face. Its face exploded in methane and blue blood, as the bullet exited out the other side. The force of the projectile was so strong; the headless corpse of Yeyek was propelled off the path and into the jungle vegetation. Silence encumbered the jungle again.

A small smirk grew on the face of Sergeant Colin Thompson. The sniper ejected the clip of 14.5mm slugs from his S2 AM sniper rifle and loaded a new clip in. He unslung his MA5B assault rifle from his shoulder, and then slung his sniper rifle across his back. Slowly, the Sergeant began to descend from the tree he had been hanging in. Colin dropped to the ground heavily and jogged towards another human scanning the surrounding vegetation with his MA7B Battle rifle. Colin patted him on the back and crouched beside him. Lieutenant Fredrick Owens turned and nodded at Colin.

"Nice shot" he whispered. Colin grinned.

"Think it's time we move in sir" he said. Owens nodded again.

"I agree assemble the team" the Lieutenant ordered. Colin raised a finger into the air and twirled it around. Without warning, the bushes and shrubs surrounding them began shaking with movement. Four figures materialized out of the jungle behind Sergeant Thompson and Lieutenant Owens. They all wore jungle camouflage combat suits, and had had their faces covered in the camouflage paint. Colin and Fredrick both turned around.

Corporal Aaron Dela Cruz stood nearest to Colin, bracing himself with an M90 shotgun. The Hispanic man was the team's scout. Although he was smaller than everyone else, he was incredibly fast, and agile. He would always explore the surrounding environment when the team was forced to make camp for the night, or when an enemy position was sighted. He used the powerful M90 shotgun. Slung over his back was an MA5B Assault rifle and holstered to his left hip was a M6D pistol. His codename was simply "Scout."

Corporal Jason McConnell stood beside Dela Cruz, holding onto two SMG 900s. Slung over his back was a MA5B Assault rifle. The cocky heavy weapons/support specialist spat out a large wad of chewing tobacco, then began to stroke his growing goatee. Two bandoliers that had clips of SMG and MA5B ammo attached to it were slung over his body, and a black baseball cap was worn backwards across his head. Although he was cocky and extremely chatty, the firepower he carried had already saved them in a few situations. His codename was "Death."

Corporal George Kreutz Kamp towered over Fredrick Owens. The big German was their demolitions expert. Although he held an MA5B assault rifle in his large hands, a M19 SSM Jackhammer launcher was slung over his back. The combat backpack that was also over his back held six additional 102mm rocket rounds, along with some extra clips of ammo for his assault rifle. Like McConnell, he also had two bandoliers over his body that had fragmentation grenades pinned to them. Additional grenades were attached to his combat belt. Overall, the German was the most heavily dressed and probably carried the heaviest equipment. However, he still grinned and blinked his eye-lids over his bright blue eyes. His codename was "Feuer" which meant fire in English.

The final member was Corporal Jacob Bishop. Although Fredrick had been the Shadow Ops medic two years ago, he had devoted his time since then to become an active combatant. Most medics in combat were cowards and found places to hide instead of fighting, but Bishop was one of the first to jump out of a trench or foxhole to engage the enemy. He was the team's medic, and carried one of the biggest combat packs over his back, since it carried his supplies. He held onto an MA5B assault rifle and also had an M60 pistol holstered to his hip. His codename was "Spirit," which he had taken from Fredrick.

Although Colin had been offered the hot spot, Fredrick had decided to take command of the new squad. Colin didn't mind at all. He personally hated all the attention and was quite happy just being a regular Sergeant. Lieutenant Owens sported an MA7B battle rifle and a MA5B assault rifle. He was an all around assault member of the team, but he still had his knowledge of medicine, which he often used to help Jacob. His codename was "Shadow."

Colin had kept his status as team sniper and had also kept his nickname as "Shade." His accuracy with the sniper rifle only got better and better each day that he fought or trained. During Shadow Ops I, he used to use the MA7B battle rifle as his primary weapon, but recently, he found a liking to the assault rifle. Colin often switched them up, but for this mission, he had chosen the assault rifle. These six men were the new Shadow Ops II squad and had been deployed on clean up duty until the ONI brass felt they were ready. The team members all stared at Owens.

"Okay, time for the shit to hit the fan guys. We've reduced the camp compliment to around thirty or so, which is enough for us to attack the camp directly. We've studied the layout of the land and already have a plan of action. Shade and Feuer will post themselves on that hill adjacent to the camp. Feuer takes out the two Shade gun turrets, while Shade provides sniper cover. Death and Spirit will provide a distraction at the edge of the jungle, while Scout and I circle around and come up from behind. We should be done in a matter of minutes, then we'll call for evac and pray to God that those assholes think we're ready" Owens explained. Everyone chuckled at that last comment. Although they were loyal to ONI, even Colin was annoyed by the fact that they were deployed here on clean up duty, finishing off any Covenant forces that the Marine Corps didn't or forgot to kill. They were an elite group of humans, not new trainee marines out of boot camp. Regardless, they had their orders. Lieutenant Owens continued briefly.

"We move in a spread out linear pattern and follow that path. When we reach the edge of the jungle and that camp, we'll split up into our groups and execute the plan" he said. The squad members all nodded. Owens nodded at Colin, who turned down towards the path.

"Fall in!" he shouted. In a single file line, the squad dispersed from the jungle and began a light jog along the path, their weapons and equipment jumping up and down at their momentum. Colin had his assault rifle up against his shoulder. As he ran, he continuously twisted his torso around, observing the passing jungle. It reminded him so much of Vegas IV. The lush jungle environment was any person's weakness. When trying to sneak up on someone, the loose twigs and clustered bushes did not help the individual or individuals trying to move stealthy through the area. During the night, visibility was poor and it often rained. Luckily for them, it wasn't raining, but it was night. The squad had put on their helmets and had activated the night vision on the small eye reticule that covered their right eye. This helped Colin immensely, who was leading the way down the path.

The Shadow Ops II squad could cover a few kilometers in a few seconds. Colin eventually slowed down to a trot, as the lights from the Covenant encampment began to screw up his night vision. He switched it off, then crouched low and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Lieutenant Owens stood in the middle. He gave them all a two-fingered salute, meaning execute. Colin and Kreutz Kamp both rushed off towards the large hill which the Covenant camp was situated by. The other four squad members stayed where they were, but moved closer to the edge of the jungle, so that their weapons could be heard. The camp was in a small valley, one of the few in this part of the jungle. Two rows of purple metallic structures, a perimeter of shield barriers and two Shade gun turrets made up the camp. Colin had assumed the rows of purple structures were the Covenant's idea for sleeping tents when he first saw them.

Sergeant Thompson and Corporal Kreutz Kamp had circled the camp and arrived at the base of the grassy hill. They jogged up it, pumping their legs and swinging their arms. Colin dropped to the ground and unslung his sniper rifle. He set up a plastic V shaped position stand, which he attached to the barrel of his rifle. He placed the stand at the edge of the hill and looked through the scope. Perfect, he could shoot at the Covenant, without having to worry about being shot back at. Beside him, George had his Jackhammer launcher loaded and ready. Colin did a quick sweep of the camp.

Two blue-armored Elites and four Grunts were the only Covenant sentries. Two Grunts and an Elite were at one Shade plasma turret, while the other two Grunts were at the second plasma turret. The second Elite was actually just going inside one of the tents. Colin reached into his pocket and pulled out a green bulb laser pointer. He aimed it near the edge of the valley and flashed it twice. From the trees, a red laser light flashed twice back at him. Colin counted for five seconds, and then the red light appeared again and held steady for five seconds. That was the signal. Colin looked at George who grinned.

"Gut" the German said. The rocket launcher let loose two large 102mm rockets, smoke trailing in their wake. The first Shade turret was blasted backwards, its operators vaporized in the resulting explosion. The second Shade exploded into dozens of pieces and metal, killing the nearby Grunts. Colin targeted the remaining patrolling Elite and fired, hitting the field commander in the head. The Covenant tents became alive with movement, as Grunts, Jackals and a few Elites rushed outside. Kreutz Kamp was reloading as Colin fired three more times, hitting two Elites and a Jackal. From the edge of the jungle, Death and Spirit fired their weapons at the camp and its occupants. Although Colin couldn't see them, Shadow and Scout were circling around the camp, in hopes of ambushing the enemy. Colin reloaded quickly and fired off four rounds again, hitting two Elites and two Jackals. A group of Grunts being protected by Jackals, moved towards Death and Spirit, who focused their firepower on them. One Jackal's head was blown off, followed by the other Covenant troops falling over from bullet wounds. Feuer finished reloading and fired a rocket at a cluster of Grunts and Elites. The ground erupted beneath their feet, sending bodies and flaming dirt into the air. Feuer fired again at the perimeter of Shield barriers, where several Grunts where hiding. The barriers were destroyed, and the Grunts vaporized in the large fireball that flew into the air. Without a word, Feuer slung his Jackhammer and took out his assault rifle. As Colin let off four more rounds and then looked over at the demolitions expert.

"Head on down there, help out Shadow" he said. The German nodded and jogged down the hill. Colin looked back into his scope and watched Shadow and Scout move in towards the camp, their assault rifles barking at several Grunts. Colin reloaded and killed the last three Elites that were trying to organize their remaining troops. As their bodies fell to the ground, Shade slung his sniper rifle and ran down the hill, hoping to join the fun as Death and Spirit ran towards the camp from their hiding position in the jungle. Grabbing his assault rifle, Colin cocked the weapon and sprinted after Feuer, who had just reached the camp. Grunts and Jackals rushed around the tents and debris, screeching in terror and confusion. Bodies covered the ground and a mixture of purple and aqua blood stained the grass. Colin shouldered his assault rifle and fired several rounds, hitting a Jackal in the back and a Grunt in the head. He stopped and crouched low, firing more rapidly as Grunts came screaming out of a nearby tent, their small arms flying over their heads as they ran. Plasma suddenly flew over his head, forcing the sniper to find cover. Three Jackals moved in towards him, but Kreutz Kamp unpinned two grenades and tossed them. The tent Colin was hiding behind was sprayed with purple blood and body limbs as the grenades detonated. He nodded his thanks to the German, before joining Death and Spirit, who were firing at several Grunts behind another line of shield barriers. A Grunt tossed a plasma grenade, before hopping back behind the barrier. Colin rolled and then dived to the left, as the grenade detonated, creating a small smoky crater in the ground. The sniper fired again at the barriers, finishing his clip of 7.72 armor-piercing rounds. He reloaded quickly, as the Grunts continued to fire at them. However, Shadow and Scout came from behind them and fired their weapons at point blank range. It was a bloody mess, as the Grunt's aqua blue blood sprayed across the grass and shield. It went quiet after awhile, as the squad checked to make sure no one survived and policed each body that hadn't been vaporized. Colin heard Owens whistle, calling for everyone to assemble on him. He walked through the rows of tents and met the rest of the squad in the middle.

"All dead sir" Corporal McConnell said, grinning.

"Vat a party" Kreutz Kamp stated, grinning as well.

"Well done Shadow Ops. Pelican is already on the way. We'll sit tight here for now and wait" Owens said, nodding at them all.

"How many you get?" Corporal Bishop asked Scout.

"Nueve amigo, Shadow was hogging them all" Dela Cruz said, grinning at the Lieutenant.

"How about you Feuer?" Bishop asked the demolitions expert.

"Lost count after ze two Shade turrets exploded, quite a lot though, ja" the German said.

"Spirit, you're hit" Colin suddenly said, looking at the medic's arm. Jacob raised his right arm and looked near the elbow. The armor around that area was burned and some burned skin could be seen.

"Isn't that bad actually, doesn't hurt either, but thanks sir" he said, grabbing a wet cloth and cooling off the burn marks. The roar of a Pelican's engines startled them as the dropship accelerated and then slowly hovered low on the ground. Dirt and smoke was blown everywhere as the engines flared to life to prevent the ship from crashing. Fredrick began walking towards the open troop bay.

"Let's go!" Owens yelled, motioning for his squad to get in. Colin followed Owens and jumped in first. He sat near the back, and watched as the other squad members climbed inside and strapped themselves into the uncomfortable metal seats.

The transition from the planet, to the orbiting UNSC frigate took less than ten minutes and before Colin knew it, he was standing in the docking bay of the UNSC Jackal. As the Shadow Ops II squad disembarked from the dropship and gathered along the ramp that overlooked the entire ground floor of the bay, Captain Bryan Hayes approached them, his clean grey uniform and medals shining in the light. The squad saluted the man, who returned it and smiled a white toothy smile.

"Lieutenant Owens, glad to see you and your men made it back alive" he said. Fredrick nodded.

"Thank you sir. Where are we off to next?" he asked. The Captain grinned again.

"The Blade of Wrath Battle Group, Lieutenant" Captain Hayes said. Owens's eyes widened.

"Excuse me sir?" he asked.

"We're transferring you to the front lines gentlemen, your preparation missions are over. ONI thanks you for your time and help. Time for you boys to see some real action" Hayes said, slowly turning to leave. Owens also grinned, the dry mud and paint on his face cracking. He stood straight and saluted.

"Thank you sir" he said. Hayes returned it.

"Get some rest, it's a three day trip at our best speed" the Captain said. He nodded at them all, then turned swiftly on his heel and walked off. Fredrick turned to look at his squad, grinning like a little boy.

"Well, you heard the man, this is it. We've going to the front lines. We're going to see some real action. Clean yourselves up, then head to your living quarters. We're going to need these three days of rest" Owens said. Jacob, Fredrick and Aaron headed out of the docking bay and into the armory station to drop off their weapons and armor. McConnell, Kreutz Kamp and Colin however went to a different armory in the opposite direction. Because of the shortage of room on board the frigate, their living quarters were on opposite ends of the ship. Plus, each room only had four bunks. Because of this, Fredrick had split them up into groups of three. Colin, McConnell and George were bunking together, while the other three bunked together in a different room. Colin entered the armory station and began to strip off his wet armor. Kreutz Kamp and McConnell followed suite. Jason was grinning the entire time and humming to himself.

"What's up Death?" asked Colin as he ejected the clips of ammo from his assault rifle and sniper rifle.

"War Sergeant, we're finally going to fight in the war" McConnell answered. Colin couldn't help but grin slightly at the young man.

"You've been looking forward to his haven't you?" he asked.

"Have I sir? Reason I got through training was because I was so pumped. I can't wait" Jason replied, taking his armor off his combat jumpsuit.

"How about you Feuer?" Colin said to the German.

"Ja, I am very excited. I cannot vait to actually do ze UNSC some gut" George said. Colin nodded. He knew that Jacob Bishop and Aaron Dela Cruz were probably saying the same things to Fredrick. The sniper hung his armor up in a nearby locker, and then set his weapons down on a long gun rack which encircled the room.

"Well, get some rest, because the first few days of fighting will be more tiring than these clean up missions" Colin simply said, as he walked out of the armory, leaving the two men with their thoughts. Personally, Colin was dreading the return of death and violence. He had seen it all on Vegas IV and didn't like it. The deaths of his Shadow Ops I comrades still haunted him and would most likely always haunt him. After the battle, Colin had wished he had also died with his Lieutenant down inside the Flood holding cells. But, when the mention of a new Shadow Ops team came around, it was as if he was given a second chance. He would make sure that his new teammates wouldn't experience what his dead teammates had had to experience. The pain of death or the pain of watching someone close die. Colin took a lift down to level G and entered the frigate's barracks. It was simply a long hall, with doors leading into small bunk rooms on either side of the walls. Colin found door G-13 and walked inside. The rooms were small, just enough room for four marines or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers to move around. Four bunk beds hung off the wall, two on one side, two on the other. There was a single chair near the entrance to the room, and a toilet and a sink near the back. Not exactly comforting, but they would only be here for three days. Colin climbed into the top bunk on the right and the moment his head hit the pillow, he was asleep.

Shadow Ops II: Chapter One
Date: 10 December 2003, 11:27 PM

Chapter One

"Fire in the hole!" Private First Class Daniel Tucker unpinned the fragmentation grenade that he hung onto and tossed it over the trench wall. A heartbeat later, the muddy ground rumbled, as the grenade detonated, sending shrapnel and body pieces into the trench. Daniel stepped up onto the firing step and peered over the wall. Twenty meters across the blood-stained grass was a small army of Covenant soldiers charging towards them. The PFC reached for his assault rifle and loaded it quickly. The other marines around him stepped up and raised their own weapons over the trench wall. Daniel shouldered his MA5B assault rifle and fired. Immediately, all the marines inside the trench fired, tracers and projectiles flying into the Covenant lines. Grunts and Jackals fell to the ground, along with the odd Elite, but the others simply jumped over their corpses and kept on running. Daniel's entire body shook as swept his gun back and forth, the ammo counter slowly reaching 00. When the gun was empty, Daniel dropped it and picked up a nearby SMG 900. The private shouldered the weapon and looked up at the trench wall. The Covenant approached the edge of the trench, looked down into it and fired their weapons. The marines backed off from the firing step and fired up at the Covenant. Covenant soldiers fell into the trench dead, while marines fell backwards and into the mud, their skin burning from the plasma. A marine beside Daniel was hit in the leg by a plasma round. He fell to one knee, before getting two more times in the back and neck. He slumped into the mud, his gun falling beside him. Daniel killed the Covenant standing over him with his machine gun and then picked up the dead marine's SMG 900. He hoisted the two bullet hoses and fired at the Covenant standing to his left. Rows of Grunts and Jackals fell inside the trench, as Daniel continued to fire. An Elite roared, but its body shield disappeared, exposing itself to the bullets flying up at him.

Suddenly, the remaining Covenant soldiers all jumped into the trench. Marines around Daniel dropped their guns and raised their fists, as Grunts, Jackals and Elites tackled marines and beat them to death. Daniel turned around and fired at another Elite. A group of Jackals brought their shields up and were about to shoot at the private, but Daniel unpinned another frag grenade and tossed it. The three aliens were blasted backwards from the resulting explosion. A Grunt knocked Daniel to the ground, and attempted to choke him. Gasping for air and trying not to sink in the mud, Daniel reached up and ripped off the Grunt's gas mask. It immediately flipped off the private and slowly suffocated to death. Daniel stood up, wiping mud off him. He was about to grab his weapons again, when he heard a mighty roar from down the trench line. Looking up, he watched a marine fall to the ground in halves, a Gold Elite standing over him, its plasma blade in the air. The Elite saw Daniel and roared again. The Private quickly scrambled for his guns, but the Elite jumped high into the air and landed on them. It roared again and swung at Daniel, who dove backwards into the mud. He stood up and grabbed his pistol. As he raised it, the Elite chopped the weapon into pieces. It then used its other hand to smack the private in the face. Daniel fell and landed beside a dead Grunt. As the Elite stood over him, screaming another battle cry, Daniel looked at the Grunt and noticed a single plasma grenade on its belt. Several marines shooting at the Elite distracted it long enough for Daniel to grab the grenade and activate it. He stood up and slammed the device onto the Elite's back. The great warrior let out a grunt and turned around; trying to see what was on its back. Daniel ran and dived into a large crater that had been created inside the trench. He covered his head and curled into a fetal position as the grenade detonated, vaporizing the Golden Elite. Purple blood and a small explosion of plasma fire washed over Private Tucker. The marine stood up after a few seconds, grinning to himself.

With their commanding officer dead, the remaining Covenant soldiers in the trenches attempted to run. As Grunts and Jackals alike tried to climb up the mud covered trench wall, the marine survivors shot at them with whatever weapons weren't buried under the muck. Daniel picked up a nearby assault rifle and sprayed a group of Grunts rushing at him with bullets. The first two Grunts fell over dead, while the second two ducked and returned fire. Daniel crouched, avoiding several plasma rounds and fired in controlled bursts. Two marines ran up behind Private Tucker and helped him kill the last two Grunts. The three men then moved up and down the trench, assisting surviving marines and killing any Covenant that remained. There was a sudden silence as the last Grunt let out a small wheeze and fell over dead from a bullet wound. Daniel stood still, the end of his rifle smoking. The two marines with him sighed deeply and sat down on the firing step.

"Jesus, that was bad" one marine said. Private Tucker nodded.

"What company you boys from?" he asked them.

"Both from Charlie company, you?" the other marine said.

"Beta. Private Tucker" Daniel said, holding his hand out.

"Private Graham" said the marine, shaking Tucker's hand. Daniel looked at the other marine, who nodded and shook his hand.

"Private Mackenzie" he said.

"Glad to meet you. Guess it's time we try and clean this mess up" stated Tucker, looking at all the bodies in the mud. Marine and Covenant corpses alike were sinking in the mud, lying on top of one another, their blood seeping through the day old muck water. Tucker now knew what it was like back in World War One and sympathized for those soldiers. Trench warfare was awful. Tucker's boots were drenched with mud and water had soaked his soaks. He wiggled his toes and could feel raw skin peel away. His entire uniform was drenched in blood and mud. It was also very cold.

Tucker looked up and down the trench. He could see small groups of marines going through the dead and grabbing weapons. Tucker took a knee and flipped over a marine corpse. Although the corpse's head was gone, the uniform ranking was clearly seen. This had been a Lieutenant. Tucker searched the body and found a combat radio. He wiped the mud off and turned it on.

"This is Private Tucker of Beta Company. Colony Gamma is secure, request reinforcements and medical supplies. We've got a lot of wounded down here" he said into the speaker. There was a long hiss of static, before a voice replied.

"This is the UNSC Nordic, we copy and are sending down reinforcements" the voice said.

"Roger Nordic, Tucker out." Daniel put the radio in his pocket. He looked at Graham and Mackenzie, who were pulling bodies out of the mud and onto the ground above the trench. Daniel bent down and picked up the dead Lieutenant. He ignored the stench of the corpse and put him on the grass. Underneath the man was a Jackal, which Daniel simply ignored and pulled out a dead Private. At first, the body didn't move. Daniel pulled hard, and the body popped out of the mud. Tucker held back his vomit when he saw that the corpse had no legs or waist. He looked away and literally threw the remains of the body onto the ground.

"Pelicans!" Private Graham suddenly yelled. Daniel looked up and could see the familiar outline of ten Pelican dropships flying low over the horizon. He gave both Mackenzie and Graham a lift out of the trench, before pulling himself out as well. He and the other surviving marines all walked to where the Pelicans were hovering on the ground and beginning to land. As they walked, Daniel took note of how many marines had climbed out. They originally had around two hundred men, consisting of Alpha, Charlie, Beta, Echo and Able companies. Now, it looked as if they only had thirty or so marines left. At least half of that number was wounded marines; being carried to the Pelicans Tucker winced at this.

The five companies made up the 105th Infantry division for the Blade of Wrath battle group. They had been sent to Gamma Colony, here in the Vardenfell system. The Colony was located on a jungle planet called Vivec. Although the UNSC had been pushing the Covenant out of their territory, a small Covenant task force had altered their course and had come to this system, in hopes of conquering it. The Vardenfell system hadn't been discovered by the Covenant, even when they had found Earth and began attacking it. The UNSC was considering retreating here in case Earth was destroyed, but it didn't want to reveal its location yet and also planned on defending their home world. Sadly, the Covenant were lucky to find it and had already glassed two planets. The Blade of Wrath battle group was extremely lucky to arrive and help protect this planet.

The Covenant had begun their attack on Gamma Colony yesterday afternoon. The division was successful in defending the colony on open ground, then after the Covenant retreated; they began to dig their trenches. While this was happening, night had come and it was raining extremely hard. The sentries couldn't see anything until it was too late. A Covenant plasma mortar tank bombed the trench lines, killing a dozen or so marines and wounding even more. Daniel remembered an air strike of Longbow bombers take out the tank, but then the Covenant charged. The first two waves of enemy soldiers were killed, but the battle lasted eight hours, leading them to morning. Daniel had never killed so many Covenant in his life. The death toll by then was catastrophic for both sides. Marines fell backwards off the firing step in the trench, screaming in pain and falling into the mud. In the middle of the open valley field, the wounded Covenant soldiers screamed in their language for assistance. Once the second wave was killed, it was as if the Covenant took a break, because there was absolute silence for ten whole minutes. This allowed Daniel to get some breakfast and a drink. However, when he finished, the third and final wave attacked. By now, the amount of casualties was too high, and the Covenant were successful in getting into the trench. Daniel was still amazed at how they were alive now and walking to the ten Pelican dropships.

The troop bay ramps opened, revealing more marines. They had to have been the 156th Armored Warthog Division, since each Pelican sported an M12 LRV Jungle Warthog. Daniel could recognize the camouflage painted all over the all-terrain vehicle. The jeeps were detached from the Pelicans, while a team of medics climbed out of another dropship, helping the marines carry wounded men and women inside the troop bay. Eight Pelicans were filled with wounded marines, some of them already dead. A selected few, including Daniel, were picked to go in the last two dropships, and transported to the battle group up in orbit. Tucker took a seat near the back of the last Pelican dropship, and watched the other selected marines climb in as well. Private Mackenzie sat across from him. The young marine laid his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Daniel's eyes fluttered. He had stayed up for a week without any sleep, fighting off Covenant forces back on Earth, but it seemed that all the fighting was getting to him. He had only fought one day and yet he was exhausted. The troop bay door closed suddenly and Tucker could feel the Pelican lift off from the ground and accelerate into the air. He didn't both looking through the window. This was one place he did not want to go back too.

"Shadow Ops, welcome to Vardenfell." Sergeant Colin "Shade" Thompson sat in the UNSC Blade of Wrath's main debriefing room. The new Gamma-class cruiser was the newest in the fleet. Although Colin didn't know the exact details of the ship, he knew it sported four Super MAC guns and some Covenant weaponry as well. It was a pure power house and also explained to him why the Covenant weren't successful in glassing the planet they orbited. Admiral Jonathan Baker stood at the end of the long table, nodding at the six members of the Shadow Ops II squad. Lieutenant Owens looked up at the Admiral.

"Glad to be here to serve Admiral" he said. Baker bowed slightly to Fredrick, and then pointed at an active holographic image in the middle of the table. It showed the planet that they know orbited around. Colin remembered gazing at it while they were docking with the cruiser.

"This is Planet Vivec gentlemen. There are four human colonies down on the surface; Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Omega. Total population, around one hundred thousand. It's a jungle planet, filled with all kinds of vegetation" the Admiral began. The image changed to show a bird's eye view of Beta colony. "The Covenant had destroyed Beta Colony first. The colony was burned, all civilian life extinguished. They are currently focusing their attention on Gamma colony. Luckily, we got here just in time to stop them. Alpha colony is secure. Omega colony is a question mark. Because we have no satellites in this area, we cannot confirm the situation of Omega colony," continued the Admiral. Whenever the officer said one of the colony names, the image would change to show a picture that was tipped in different angles of that colony. Baker stood straight.

"The 105th infantry division suffered heavy casualties this morning after their trench lines at Gamma colony were attacked by three waves of Covenant forces. We've pulled them out for now and have the 156th Armored Warthog division in there. For the time being Shadow Ops, I'm going to have you transferred to Gamma Colony. We have reports of another Covenant attack to be imminent. The 105th infantry division will be merged with the 106th infantry division, which we're sending down there with you. You'll take your orders from Colonel Paul Fitzgerald, who's down there now. Questions?" Baker said.

"I'm assuming there are weapons down there at Gamma colony?" Owens asked. Baker nodded.

"We sent down supplies with the 156th Warthog division and we'll be sending more down with you guys. Anything else?" No one had any questions. Baker stood straight again and grinned.

"It's good to have some help out here, you boys are a relief to see" he said, nodding at every one of them. They knew that the Admiral meant what he said. Vardenfell was a somewhat new system that they had inhabited a few years ago and progress in building everything up slow. There were a lot of innocent lives on these planets and saving them was a top priority for the battle group.

"Teen-shun!" Owens yelled, standing up and saluting. Colin and the other four men stood quickly and saluted the Admiral, who returned it.

"Pelican's will be leaving soon. Good luck Shadow Ops" Admiral Baker stated. Colin turned around and followed everyone out of the debriefing room. Owens led them down the hall, where he walked through a large set of doors. The docking bay was bustling with movement, as marines climbed inside troop bays, and technicians helped secure supply crates to the tails of Pelicans. Other groups of marines carried stretchers with wounded and screaming marines laying on them. Trails of dry blood marked the floor and gave the air a bad smell. The Shadow Ops squad went to a small armory station at the top level, where they grabbed their weapons of choice. They had been wearing their camouflage combat armor since their arrival, and just needed some weapons. Colin grabbed an MA5B assault rifle, with eleven extra clips of ammo. He slung a S2 AM sniper rifle over his back and also grabbed a combat marine helmet, which he fastened to his head.

A showered, clean Private Tucker sat inside the back of an empty troop bay. He, Private Mackenzie and Private Graham were the only ones inside. Tucker had only gotten two hours of sleep. He was more awake then before, but his eyes still felt heavy. He was also in a very bad mood. Lieutenant Warren had informed him and the surviving members of the 105th division that they would be heading back down to the planet with the 106th infantry division. The last thing Tucker wanted to do was return to those mud trenches and fight in another bloody battle. As he sat there, six figures, dressed in camouflage combat armor and carrying an assortment of weapons climbed inside their troop bay and sat down on the seats. Tucker looked up at them and realized that four of them were Corporals, one was a Sergeant and one was a Lieutenant. They didn't have any division insignia or any type of mark that indicated where they were from. The Lieutenant looked over at Tucker, who saluted. The man returned it.

"Problem Private?" he asked.

"Just a question sir. Who are you guys?" he asked, looking at the six men who were now staring at him. The Lieutenant shifted in his seat and pointed to a rectangular patch on his left shoulder. The patch was a single dark grey star, placed on a black-colored background.

"We're the Shadow Ops" he said.
TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Two
Date: 13 December 2003, 5:55 AM

Chapter Two

"Target acquired"

"Take him down." The 14.5mm slug exited through the long barrel of the S2 AM sniper rifle held in the marine's hands. The bullet flew straight and true, smashing into a Covenant Grunt's face. The little creature toppled over backwards, methane and an aqua blue blood squirting out onto the grass. The marine sniper reloaded his weapon, and then stood at attention.

"Target down" he said. Beside him, Colonel Paul Fitzgerald lowered his binoculars and sighed.

"That's the fifth scout you've killed. Will they ever learn?" he asked, taking out a cigarette and lightning it.

"Unlikely sir" the marine sniper said, shrugging. Chuckling, Fitzgerald patted the man on the back, and then walked along the catwalk he stood on. Gamma Colony had fifteen feet high steel framed wall that surrounded the interior. Just recently, a catwalk system had been set up around the wall, allowing marine snipers and rocket jockeys to pick off targets that approached the colony. Fitzgerald walked to a ramp, which lead down to the ground. As he walked down it, the main gate that lead inside the colony opened, and two M12 LRV Jungle Warthogs drove inside, splashing mud and dirt all over the sides of the road. The two vehicles came to a stop, and the marines occupying jumped out, screaming for a medic. Paul quickened his pace as he watched the gunner of the first Warthog pick up a wounded marine.

"What happened?" Paul inquired as he approached. The company Sergeant saluted quickly.

"Ran into Covie patrol sir. Private Larson was shot twice in the arm and shoulder" the Sergeant said, gesturing to the moaning marine. Paul looked at the wounds. Burnt skin and part of the bone stuck out of the arm. The man's shoulder was still sizzling from the plasma shot.

"Well don't just stand there, get him to the medical tent" Paul barked. The young Private carrying the man nodded and rushed off, a group of marines behind him. The Sergeant however remained.

"They're on the move sir. I estimate another attack force of around one thousand troops to reach here in about an hour" he said, wiping blood off his face. Paul nodded.

"All right, pass the word to be ready. Let's saddle up" the Colonel growled, tossing aside his cigarette. As the Sergeant ran off, Paul leaned against the opened gate, looking out at the war-torn field. Since his arrival, the marines under his command had dug two one kilometer long trenches. Because of the amount of rain that was falling on them, he had even had them line the insides of the trench with a plastic covering. Majority of his forces were inside them now, hopefully getting themselves ready. Paul found no use for the Warthogs and since they had less than hour, they wouldn't need them quite yet. He had had several marines detach the 30mm chain guns off the back and position them behind sandbag bunkers which were located in between the two trenches. Sadly, his group wasn't given M12A1 LAAV Rocket Warthogs. The three barreled rocket launchers were looking very handy right now. Paul sighed at this. He would have to make do. They still had man-portable launchers, which Paul had mainly placed inside the colony, along with his teams of snipers. They would be up on the catwalks, shooting into the valley below. As Paul reached for another cigarette; a marine sniper looked down from the catwalk.

"Pelican's incoming!" he yelled. The Colonel put his nicotine stick away and rushed outside, looking up into the grey, clouded sky. Ten Pelicans were slowly descending towards the colony. Paul was saddened to see that there were no vehicles attached to them, but was happy to see additional marines jump out of the troop bays and march towards the colony. One marine approached him, saluting briskly

"Major Benson, 106th Infantry division" he said. The Colonel grinned and returned the salute.

"Colonel Fitzgerald, 156th Warthog division. What brings you here Major?" Paul asked.

"Admiral Baker sends a gift Colonel. Two gifts actually. Us and them." The Major turned and pointed to six approaching men all wearing dark camouflage combat armor. Paul turned to face one of them who stood beside Major Benson.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The man saluted.

"Lieutenant Owens, Shadow Ops II" he said. Paul's eyes went wide slightly.

"Shadow Ops? Rumor was they were all dead" he said. The Lieutenant grinned.

"Shadows can't be killed sir" he whispered. Paul nodded, and then looked at both men.

"Welcome to Gamma Colony gentlemen. Major Benson, place your troops inside the trenches. Any snipers or rocket jockeys you have, have them head inside the colony. Lieutenant Owens, you and your boys come with me" Paul said quickly. Major Benson saluted, and then marched off to his troops who were waiting in their formations. Thunder rolled through the sky and the last bit of sunlight disappeared. Slowly, night time came upon them, as the Colonel and Shadow Ops II marched towards the entrance to the Colony. Paul stopped suddenly and faced the six men.

"An attack force of one thousand troops is approaching. We have maybe less than twenty minutes, depending if this rain that's about to come slows them down. Lieutenant Owens, where do you wish to place your men?" the Colonel asked. Owens turned around.

"Your strategy suggests that all snipers and rocket men are placed inside the colony Colonel, therefore Shade and Feuer will go to the Colony wall. Death, Scout, Spirit and I will remain in the trenches" he said simply, turning back around. Paul nodded.

"All right. You boys only take orders from each other, Lieutenant Owens, myself and Major Benson. Everyone else is a lower ranking friendly. You have no idea how glad everyone is to have you with us. Let's kick some ass" he said. The Shadow Ops members saluted the Colonel, who walked off to get his stuff ready. He turned around to see the six men huddle together. He had heard the rumors, mainly about how deadly and efficient they were. They struck without notice and moved just like shadows stalk the person that creates a shadow. He hoped they were true.

Lieutenant Fredrick "Shadow" Owens turned away from Colonel Fitzgerald and stared at the five faces staring at him. He felt immensely proud over them. They had overcome the boring missions that were given to them by ONI and now, they were here. They were ready to make a difference. They were ready to fight, ready to die. They were ready to serve.

"All right you heard the Colonel. We got twenty minutes to get ourselves ready. Shade and Feuer, head inside the colony, post yourselves on the wall and provide some cover fire for us. Coordinate your attacks with the other marines up there. Everyone else, stay with me, we'll head insides the trenches for now, spread ourselves out accordingly" he said. Lightning flashed across the sky and more thunder boomed around them. Fredrick grinned as drops of rain began to form in the clouds above and fall down onto them. He gazed into the eyes of his comrades, and nodded.

"This is it boys. This is what we've been training for. It's our time; it's our time to kill and do some good. Let's not disappoint anyone. Move out!" Shade and Feuer saluted to Fredrick, and then marched off towards the colony, grabbing their weapons slung over their backs. Scout, Death and Spirit stood near Owens, who grinned and jogged to the first trench.

"In we go" he muttered. Fredrick walked along the wet grass and jumped down inside the meter and a half deep trench. The plastic coverings along the floor of the trench prevented the Lieutenant from sinking into the mud that was no doubt flowing beneath. Fredrick stepped aside, allowing his three other comrades to jump in. The four of them slowly marched down the trench, pushing past marines who were yelling out orders and loading their weapons. Fredrick took note of four 30mm chain guns hidden behind sandbag bunkers. They were set up in between the two trenches that were located in front of the colony entrance. Fredrick immediately stopped and grabbed Death by his collar. He pulled him in close, so that the man could hear him over the yelling and thunder.

"Get up there and arm one of those things" he said, motioning to the chain guns. The heavy weapons specialist grinned evilly and nodded. As he climbed out of the trench, Owens looked at Spirit.

"Find the other medics, spread them throughout the trench, then post yourself somewhere" he ordered. The medic nodded and jogged off down the trench, looking for any man or women who bore the Red Cross patch. Scout stood beside Owens, who looked around him. He then shrugged.

"Go wherever you please Scout, just be careful" he said. The Hispanic man nodded and turned, walking in the opposite direction of Owens, who continued moving down the trench. Groups of marines watched him pass, their mouths hung open, while others saluted. Owens returned those that saluted, but other than that, he kept to himself. He came across a young marine searching his armor for a clip of 7.62 armor-piercing rounds. Fredrick pulled four clips of ammo out of his belt and handed them over to the private. He looked up and took the ammo, saluting afterwards. Fredrick returned the salute. He looked the marine over and patting him lightly on the head, before moving on. The ammo didn't bother him. There would be tons on the ground by the time the battle started.

He found himself a spot along the firing step of the trench that wasn't occupied. He took a knee and unslung his weapons. He slammed a clip of ammo into his MA5B assault rifle and MA7B Battle rifle. Since the Covenant would be charging out of the trees and into the valley, Fredrick was hoping he would be able to pick some of them off. Once the enemy got close enough, he would switch to his assault rifle. A marine suddenly collapsed beside Fredrick. The Lieutenant looked at the man, as he cursed and stood up. He recognized the marine from the Pelican along the way down here. Private Tucker was his name. Tucker turned and jumped to see the Lieutenant. He saluted quickly.

"Glad to see you sir" he said through the rain that hit his face. Fredrick returned the salute, and then finished putting his weapons onto the ammo rest that ran along the trench wall.

"Good to be here Private. Been looking forward to battle for a long time" he said.

"You guys just finish your preparation tasks sir?" Tucker asked. Fredrick nodded. "If I may so sir, those are pussy missions" the marine said. Owens chuckled at this. He looked at the private and grinned.

"You've been on some?" he asked.

"Yes sir. Hated it with all my heart" Tucker said. Owens nodded.

"Same here." The Lieutenant stood up on the firing step and peered over the trench wall. The rain was coming down heavily now, creating a blanket of water across the valley. Lightning flashed, allowing Fredrick to see the valley and edge of the jungle in front of them. However, as the thunder rolled across the sky, his vision became cloudy again as the rain continued to pound down on them.

"Can't see shit" he muttered. Tucker stood straight and looked over the wall.

"Fuck, me neither" he said, crouching back down again. Fredrick looked down to his left at a marine who was patting marines on the backs and yelling out commands. He recognized the man as Major Benson, leader of the 106th. The Major approached the Lieutenant, who saluted.

"All set Lieutenant?" the Major asked, returning the salute. Owens motioned with his head to the rain.

"Can't see anything with this rain sir. Got any Infa-red vision?" he asked.

"Afraid not Lieutenant, we'll just have to make do" he said. Fredrick shrugged.

"Good luck sir" he said. The Major nodded at him, before moving off down the trench. Tucker looked at him, before turning back to Fredrick.

"You guys technically don't have to take his orders though. You're ONI, he's UNSC" the Private said. Owens shook his head.

"The Office of Naval Intelligence is a government organization that runs under the command of the UNSC. Because of this, the Shadow Ops squad follows any higher-ranking soldiers in the field of combat" he said. Tucker smirked.

"That must suck sir" he said. Owens shrugged.

"Guess it does, but all we want to do is serve and fight Private" he said. Tucker cocked his assault rifle and grinned.

"Amen to that sir." There was a sudden hush among the marine ranks as everyone raised their weapons to their shoulders and pointed the nozzles into the rain and light fog forming across the valley. Silence encumbered them as they waited. The rain continued to pour down from the heavens and thunder boomed loudly as lightning flashed. Owens squinted his eyes, trying to see into the distance, but couldn't. He would think that the glow of the Covenant's plasma weapons would allow the marines to see them, but either the rain protected them or they weren't approaching them yet. Fredrick bent his head slightly and peered through the battle rifle's scope. He activated the night vision, but another flash of lightning made his sight all blurry and disorientated. He cursed silently and put his battle rifle away. He instead took out his assault rifle. If the enemy could not be seen, then Owens was willing to bet that things were about to become nasty. He raised his radio to his mouth.

"Shadow to Shade."

"Shade here."

"Can you see anything?"

"Negative Shadow, my vision is quite useless in this weather."

"Indeed, so is mine. All right, be prepared for the worst, Shadow out." As Owens put his radio away, he heard Tucker beside him curse out loud.

"Private?"

"I can't see anything sir" he growled.

"Yes, we're all experiencing that problem. Be on your guard" Owens said.

"Yes sir" Tucker responded. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the valley. Owens squinted hard, but still couldn't see anything. Again and again, lightning continued to flash. Although this helped Owens, he wished it didn't come now, since each time he could not see the enemy. Beside him, Tucker sighed and took a step down.

"They aren't out there" he said. Without warning, the marine standing beside Owens fell over, screaming and clutching his throat. Another marine farther down the line fell backwards onto the floor, blood flowing from his body.

"What the fuck is this!" a marine screamed. Two more marines fell, both of their head's exploding. Owens looked out onto the valley. Lightning struck the ground ahead of them, revealing the field again. Beside him, Tucker gasped.

"Oh shit..." Groups of Covenant soldiers could be seen moving towards the trench. A line of Jackals were leading the way, their energy shields held up in front of them. Behind them were Grunts and then a few Elite commanders. The army was already halfway across the field, and not one of them had been killed yet.

"Fire!" someone yelled down the trench. Owens was already pulling his trigger. The assault rifle shook in his hands and against his shoulder as it let loose bullets onto the Covenant lines. The entire trench became alight with gunfire, as marines fired their weapons. Behind the trench, the chain guns began to turn and blaze the area with lead, cutting down groups of Covenant soldiers approaching their position. From the colony wall, 102mm rockets flew from Jackhammer tubes and smashed into the Covenant lines. Groups of Jackals and Grunts were sent flying everywhere as each round smashed into the ground. The exposed survivors were then cut down the gunfire. The odd sniper round flew over the marine's heads and smashed into a Covenant soldier. Plasma suddenly flashed through the night. Marines fell backwards off the firing step, either screaming in pain or already dead. Owens ran out of ammo, but reloaded quickly, focusing his fire at the closest group of Covenant. Blue pulsating orbs sailed through the air and landed inside the trenches. Explosions of blue plasma fire erupted afterwards, vaporizing marines and sending others flying out of the trench or into the mud. Owens tossed two fragmentation grenades and watched with satisfaction as a group of Jackals were sent scattering in all directions. Another volley of rockets followed, slamming into more Covenant soldiers. Screams from the Grunts, Jackals and Elites could be heard, as the explosions killed them, staining the grass with their blood. Fredrick reloaded again and fired off quick bursts, switching from target to target. Grunts fell over as they ran at the trench, Jackals were more successful, but as they approached, the chain guns opened fire, ripping them apart. One Elite had a running start, and was successful in jumping inside one of the trenches. However, a group of marines jumped onto the field commander and literally beat the alien to death.

"Looking good so far sir" Tucker yelled, reloading his assault rifle.

"Don't jinx it, keep firing!" Owens yelled over the noise. Without warning, the ground trembled beneath them and the sky was illuminated. However, it wasn't a lightning bolt, but a glowing ball of plasma, which arched in the air, and slammed into the trenches. Owens was thrown to the ground along with other marines as the plasma bolt erupted a few meters away from him. Marines screamed violently as they were lifted out of the trench. Blood was spilled all over the place, along with body pieces. Fredrick hauled himself to his feet, bringing Tucker up with him.

"That's a fucking Wraith" the private screamed, wiping dirt off his already grimy armor. Fredrick nodded, raising his assault rifle again and firing off rounds at a group of Grunts.

"Private, get Major Benson, tell him from me that we need some air support here" the Lieutenant yelled, as another plasma mortar slammed into the trench, blasting marines backwards into the wall. Tucker nodded and stepped down from the firing step. As he took his radio out, Fredrick tossed two fragmentation grenades, aiming them near a small cluster of Jackals and Grunts who were harassing the far side of the trench. Both grenades bounced once and landed right in the middle of the group. The two Covenant species stopped firing and looked down at the two explosive devices, before both of them shattered apart, and blasted all of them away. Fredrick finished reloading and fired over the trench again. Beside him, Private Tucker stood straight.

"No air support sir" he growled. Owens cursed out loud and stopped firing for a second. He looked back at the colony, and then brought his radio back up.

"Shade to Feuer"

"Ja, Feuer here" the demolition German answered.

"Are there any intact Warthogs inside that base?" Owens asked. There was a long pause, which Fredrick used to shoot his assault rifle at an Elite that seemed to be going kamikaze, as it rushed forward at the trenches, firing two plasma rifles. As it fell to its knees from continuous bullet fire, the radio held in Owens's hands crackled.

"Shadow, zere are three Vorthogs intact. Colonel Fitzgerald ish sending marines to head to ze battle wiz them" Feuer reported.

"Perfect, get in one, I'll be with you shortly with a gunner" Owens yelled.

"Affirmative Shadow, Feuer out." Owens strapped his radio back to his collar, and grabbed Private Tucker.

"You know how to shoot one of those?" he asked the man, pointing to the LAAG chain guns on the ground. Tucker nodded frantically.

"Yes sir" he said.

"Good, come with me" Fredrick said, pulling Tucker off the firing step and to the other side of the trench. He ran down the long dugout and reached Corporal McConnell's position. The heavy weapons specialist was reloading his 30mm chain gun, while two nearby marines provided cover fire.

"Death!" Owens yelled, waving his hands. Jason looked up from his gun and leaned forward. Owens pulled himself up slightly, so that the man could hear him over the noise.

"Give us some cover fire when you're ready, there's a team of Warthogs heading out to destroy the tank and we need to get on them" he yelled. Death nodded and finished stuffing the chains of ammo into the large receptacle. He cocked the large weapon and nodded he was ready.

"Fire!" Owens yelled, hoisting Tucker out of the trench. Jason swung the chain gun back and forth, spraying the entire battlefield with gunfire. Several plasma rounds bounced off the armor plating surrounding the weapon, but he ignored them and kept firing. One marine crouched beside him, rolled to the ground dead as a plasma needle slammed into his head. Tucker bent down and helped Fredrick up. The Lieutenant looked around him, before pushing Tucker forward.

"Go! Move, move, move!" he yelled, patting Jason on the back as he ran past him. As he and the private jumped into the second trench, the chain gun that Jason held onto began melt as the plasma rounds slammed into it. The Corporal eventually let go of the weapon and took cover behind the sandbags, with the other marine. Fredrick helped Tucker out of the second trench again, and then was pulled up onto solid ground. The two of them rushed through the colony gates, where the three Warthogs were in position. The first two were loaded with marines, but the last one had one marine in it, holding a Jackhammer rocket launcher. Kreutz Kamp grinned and saluted the Lieutenant as they approached.

"All set sir" he said.

"Tucker, arm the chain gun" Fredrick barked as he jumped into the driver's seat. The Private ran to the back and climbed up, strapping himself onto the chain gun. Fredrick turned the key that was already in the vehicle and revved the engine. The Warthogs in front of them were already rolling out of the colony, the gunners focusing their attention to the trenches where the Covenant continued to advance. Fredrick stepped on the gas and they sped up, zooming through the mud tracks in the ground and out to the battle. The three vehicles went around the trenches on the far left and as soon as they emerged in the opening, the gunners opened fire. As the first Warthog drove around the trenches, its gunner spraying the area with bullets, a plasma mortar smashed into the ground beside the armored vehicle. The Warthog flipped high into the air, spinning twice and sending its gunner flying into the air, screaming. Slowly, it fell into the trench, landing upside down and crushing several marines beneath it, including the driver and passenger. Fredrick spun the wheel hard to prevent the jeep from flipping and drove straight at a group of Covenant soldiers. As they scattered, Private Tucker sprayed them with ammunition, killing them all with a few thousand rounds. As Fredrick drove around in circles for a moment, crushing Elites, Jackals and Grunts alike, he kept a look out for two things. The other Warthog and the Wraith. He could see the second Warthog doing donuts in the grass, crushing Covenant soldiers. The Wraith, which was positioned near the edge of the field, lobbed another plasma mortar in the Lieutenant's direction. He swerved again to avoid it and drove towards the edge of the valley. As they approached, the outline of the tank's firing turret could be seen. Tucker drove in a small circle, then revved the engine and accelerated the Warthog to the tank.

"Feuer, fire at will!" he yelled at the demolitions expert. Kreutz Kamp finished reloading, then shouldered the huge weapon in his hands and fired twice. Tucker veered the Warthog away, allowing Private Tucker to get a few shots in. He then made another circle and focused on a few Covenant soldiers, while the second Warthog drove towards to the tank. As they drove past each other, Fredrick looked at Feuer.

"Did you hit it?" he asked.

"Vone rocket hit, ze ozer vone missed" he said, sighing. Fredrick nodded.

"Let's see what our comrades can do" he said, slowing down slightly, to see the second Warthog drive straight at the tank. A group of Covenant soldiers clustered around the Wraith, and fired at the approaching Warthog, which in turn returned fire. During the firefight, the driver of the Warthog took a round to his left shoulder. He bent over to hold the wound, but suddenly fell out, crushed afterwards by the wheels. The marine sitting in the side seat reached over to take over the wheel, but several plasma rounds slammed into his torso and stomach area. He slumped in his seat dead, his gun falling onto the gas pedal of the Warthog. The gunner was oblivious to the whole situation; however, as the Warthog continued driving at the tank, he realized that something was wrong. The marine looked down and saw the side seat marine dead. He unstrapped himself and jumped off the back of the Warthog, tumbling along the ground. The front bumper of the jeep slammed straight into the Wraith, digging through the armor and crushing the internal engine. As the Warthog flipped over the Covenant tank, fuel leaked into the hole in the Wraith's armor and ignited the plasma that was leaking out of the cells. Following that, there was an instant explosion, as the Wraith tank ignited, engulfing the flipping Warthog in the process. The two created an even bigger explosion, which killed the Covenant soldiers around the vehicles. Fredrick whistled at this, but then focused on getting back to the colony, since the major threat was abolished. He turned the Warthog around and headed back to the trenches. As they went, Feuer fired off two more rockets and Tucker continued firing the chain gun. The first trench slowly came into view. Bullets bounced off the armor, ranging from assault rifle or chain gun rounds. Fredrick ducked his head as the hiss of a bullet passing past his ear startled him.

"Jesus Christ, can't they see it's a Warthog?" he muttered, referring to the marine forces firing at them. The sound of a fragmentation grenade pinging off the front bumper of the Warthog and landed on the ground beside them answered Fredrick's question. As a last minute decision, he spun the wheel to the left, and braced himself for the explosion.

The grenade detonated along the left side of the Warthog. A column of smoke and shrapnel rose into the air and smashed into the jeep, as it was propelled to the right by the discharge. Owens felt several shrapnel pieces hit him, but ignored it and tucked his head low, as the Warthog flipped over on the ground and continued rolling. He feared the worst for Tucker, as it continued to flip. George Kreutz Kamp had sat down in his seat and was also doing his best to keep parts of his body inside the Warthog as it continued to flip. Finally, the vehicle fell inside the first trench, landing upside down. Fredrick grabbed the sides of his chair, but was knocked forward after the sudden stoppage of movement. He fell out of the chair and landed on the plastic flooring of the trench.

"Fuck" he whispered, raising himself up and shaking his head. He winced as he tried to support himself with his left arm. He looked over at it and could see two pieces of shrapnel sticking out of his skin. He grabbed both of them and ripped them out. He tore off pieces of his uniform and then taped them to his wound. He crouched up slightly and looked towards George. The demolitions expert was alive and slowly crawling out of his seat. Blood flowed from a scratch on his cheek and there was a large gash in his right arm. He sat up, leaning his back against the Warthog and looked at the Lieutenant.

"I hope ve never do zat again" he said, shaking his head and wiping some blood off. Owens chuckled and stood, helping the man up. The sound of gunfire made them realize they were still in a battle. Fredrick walked to a few dead marines nearby and pried an assault rifle from a pair of dead hands. He cocked the weapon and raised it over the trench wall. A jolt of pain in his arm made him remember he was wounded. Grinning, Owens ignored it and fired. A cluster of Grunts running towards them began falling over as the bullets from Owens's gun hit them. Kreutz Kamp raised a pistol and fired it with his left hand. His right arm lay at his side. The wound was obviously too big and painful for the German to handle. Regardless, the Grunts collapsed dead. Owens lowered his weapon and looked out onto the field.

"Do you see Tucker?" he asked, squinting his eyes. George began reloading his pistol and looked at the field as well.

"Nein" he said, firing at several Jackals. Fredrick stopped looking to shoot at an Elite running at them. He emptied the clip into the soldier, but it still came at him. Dropping the rifle, Owens brought up his pistol and fired. The Elite's shields disappeared, and it eventually fell to its knees after additional bullet impacts. Owens was about to switch targets, but stopped.

The Covenant that remained in the trenches or in the field began running back into the jungle. Grunts screamed arms high in the air as they ran. Jackals covered their heads with their shields and Elites snarled, before sprinting ahead, roaring at other soldiers. Owens watched them disappear through the rain that still fell onto them. He sighed and dropped his pistol. It seemed that the fight for Gamma Colony was over for now.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Three
Date: 14 December 2003, 4:47 AM

Chapter Three

Morning came quickly, since the battle for Gamma Colony went long through the night. The clouds parted in the sky and the sun rose, bringing a sense of warmth and relief into the war-torn valley. Sergeant Colin "Shade" Thompson stood on colony wall catwalk, smoking a cigarette and staring at the devastation before him. His sniper rifle lay against the wall beside him, still hot and smoking from the tip. The Covenant had only retreated five minutes ago and he had taken the liberty of picking off a few stragglers as the storm ended. The night had been tough on them. Even he felt weary and exhausted, even though he had been safe from all danger, standing on the wall and firing pot shots at the enemy, which he could barely see. Colin breathed in the fumes from the nicotine stick and blew small circles of smoke out into the morning air. The grass that wasn't stained with blood or chewed up from explosions sparkled at him as the rainwater glistened in the sunlight. Colin had always found peace in the morning, especially after a battle. It was quiet and he was given a moment to reflect on what had just happened.

The battle was indeed a terrible one. Just by looking down below at the trenches, he could see the devastation and destruction that had encumbered the marines during the fight. It was the first trench that looked terrible. Huge craters left by the plasma mortars were the first things that caught Colin's eye, along with the two Warthogs that were flipped up and lodged within the trench. He could see the dead being piled up along the ground, and the wounded being carried inside the colony. Tired and exhausted marines dragged themselves into the colony, either heading to the barracks or the medical tents set up. Colin sympathized for them. They had fought a long, gruesome battle. Colin however hadn't, which made him so upset with himself. While they were down in those dugouts, risking their lives for this colony, the Shadow Ops sniper was standing on this wall, trying to shoot at the Covenant soldiers marching forward. The marines were covered in mud and blood. Colin still wore the clean uniform he had arrived in. Anger rose in him again. He looked at the cigarette in his hand and crushed it. Growling, he then swung his arm back and tossed the remains away. He had desperately wanted to be down there, since he felt that his sense of battle was back in him. He had forgotten about Vegas VI. He wanted to fight, and yet, he was a sniper. Even when he was with Shadow Ops I, he was rarely with his teammates in the battle. He was always ordered to hang back and try and pick off the enemy. Helpful though it was, he was starting to hate it.

As Colin stood there in self-pity, he looked up and watched Lieutenant Owens and three other Shadow Ops members climb out of the trench and walk towards the colony. Sergeant Thompson slung his sniper rifle over his back and ran down the catwalk ladder. As the four Shadow Ops members walked into the colony, Colin greeted them. He saluted to Owens, who returned it. He seemed to be okay. Although he was covered in the blood of the enemy and humans, he still grinned brightly at Colin. The other three were a different story.

Corporal McConnell, Kreutz Kamp and Dela Cruz all looked like they were undead zombies. Their faces were white as snow, and had huge bags under their eyes. McConnell's hands were shaking and he was supporting himself on George's shoulder. The German seemed to be okay, but the gash in his arm and cuts across his face indicated he was hurt. Aaron Dela Cruz was completely covered in mud. The sludge had dried and chiseled his face into the psychotic look he always had about him. Colin was sure however that his facial expression wasn't psychotic underneath it all. Colin noticed that one man was missing.

"Where's Spirit?" he asked, looking around for the medic. Lieutenant Owens looked over Colin's shoulder and pointed behind him. Colin turned and turned to look at a medical tent. Through the flapping canvas that was acting as a door, he could make out the Shadow Ops medic helping with the wounded.

"Well, our first real battle, a success. How do you guys feel?" Lieutenant Owens suddenly asked, referring to the three Shadow Ops Corporals. McConnell looked at Fredrick with wide open eyes.

"I don't know how I feel mentally sir. I can't feel my body. I've never fired a chain gun for that long" he said, rolling his eyes. Owens chuckled at this.

"Would it surprise you if I said I've been in longer battles than that?" he asked the Corporal.

"No sir" Jason said, shaking his head. Kreutz Kamp dropped the weapons he was holding.

"If you vill excuse me sir. I believe my arm requires attention" he said to Fredrick, motioning to the gash in his right arm.

"Of course Feuer, go right ahead" Owens said. The German saluted, then walked off and joined the line of wounded marines, waiting to be treated. Colin looked at Dela Cruz, who still stared straight ahead, not moving.

"What happened Scout?" he asked the Hispanic man. Aaron snapped out of his trance and turned to look at the Sergeant.

"Plastic floor broke under me after a plasma grenade went off near us. Almost sank in the mud, but a marine medic pulled me out. I tell you amigo, war isn't fun" he said, mud breaking off from his face as he spoke. Colin laughed.

"Been through one battle and you already hate it?" he asked him.

"I enjoyed every minute of shooting one of those bastardos, but watching marines dying and all the blood. That wasn't fun" he said, his voice trailing off slightly. Colin nodded and patted him on the shoulder.

"Get used to it" he said. The silence that burdened down upon them was broken by Colonel Fitzgerald, who marched over to them.

"Lieutenant Owens" he called, approaching them from the medical tents. The four Shadow Ops members saluted the Colonel, who returned it.

"You're missing two members" the Colonel noticed.

"Corporal Bishop is a medic sir. He's helping out inside the tents. My demolitions expert, Corporal Kreutz Kamp was injured in battle" Owens explained.

"Glad to see you are all alive" Fitzgerald said, nodding at them.

"Wasn't easy sir. That was a tough battle. We are all just getting back into the groove of things. But we won" Owens said, shaking his head slightly. The Colonel grinned and nodded.

"Yes, we did win indeed. Just got off the horn with the Blade of Wrath. According to their scans, the Covenant are pulling their forces away from here. There sending some supplies down here, then they expect that you guys head back up" he explained. Owens raised an eyebrow.

"Any idea where we are heading off too?" he asked.

"No idea I'm afraid. Admiral Baker will be briefing you when you get up there" Fitzgerald said. The Colonel stepped closer slightly. "I just wanted to say quickly, thank you for coming down here and helping. Corny as this sounds, I could feel a huge morale boost with the win. Not only with your presence, but now that we've won, everybody is happy, despite the losses. You guys are a helluva good group of men, wish you could stay here" he said. Colin couldn't help but smile at this. Whatever self-pity was in him was now gone. Colonel Fitzgerald held his hand out and shook it with the four Shadow Ops members with him.

"Thanks again gentlemen. Pelican should be here soon. Go kick some ass" he said, backing away and jogging back to the tents. As he left, Colin turned to Lieutenant Owens, who was grinning at not only him, but Corporal McConnell and Dela Cruz also.

"I hope you boys feel better now, 'cause I sure as hell do" he merely said, before walking back outside of the colony. Colin looked at the two Corporals and could tell that they were indeed happy. Although Corporal McConnell never showed much happiness, he had a slightly smirk on his face, and his pace was much more lively as he walked after the Lieutenant. The mud was falling off Aaron's face as he smiled widely. Colin followed them outside into the sun, which was high in the sky now. The7 gathered near one of the sandbag bunkers used to house the chain guns. As they stood there waiting, they were soon joined by Corporal Kreutz Kamp, who despite the bandage that covered his arm, was grinning broadly. Corporal Bishop, his hands and most of his face covered in blood arrived after him, also grinning. His white teeth were extremely noticeable on his blood and mud caked face. They gathered around Lieutenant Owens, who nodded at them all.

"Good first victory I'd say. If we can boost morale here, let's boost the morale of the entire battle group" he said quickly. Before anyone could answer, two Pelican dropships appeared on the horizon. They zoomed in quickly, circling the colony twice, then settled down just off to the right off the two trenches. The supply crates attached to their tails were detached by a large squad of marines that filed out of the troop bay. As the crates were pulled away and one of the Pelicans took off, a crew chief from the second Pelican approached them.

"You the Shadow Ops?" he yelled over the roar of the engines.

"Sure are" Owens answered. The Chief saluted them, and then motioned the six men inside the Pelican. Colin was the last to climb in, following the Chief who sat near the back. The sniper seated himself closest to the troop bay ramp, which slowly closed. As the Pelican began to lift off the ground, Colin stared out a small window, watching the colony disappear. Although they had won and the Colonel was extremely pleased with them, Colin made a vow to be side by side with his comrades in arms from now on, instead if sitting in the back, clean and unscathed.

The Pelican docked with the Blade of Wrath and as the Shadow Ops team disembarked from the dropship, they were greeted by Admiral Baker and two marine escorts. A sense of order and superiority surrounded him as he returned the salute Lieutenant Owens gave him. The Admiral stared at them, looking at the mud and blood that still covered their uniforms.

"Quite a battle I heard. Congratulations gentlemen on a job well done. First mission is a success, but the Covenant still aren't out of this system yet. Go and wash up in the barracks, then meet me in the briefing room for your next assignment" he said. The Admiral nodded at them, then turned on his heel and marched out of the docking bay. Luckily for them, the docking bay, barracks and briefing room were all on the same level. The Shadow Ops each took two minute long showers, and then dressed themselves in flight jumpsuits. The transition from the docking bay to the barracks, then from the barracks to the briefing room took less than ten minutes. They marched through the doors leading into the briefing room, which had two individuals sitting at the table inside the room. Admiral Baker stood and saluted to them as the Shadow Ops team walked in.

"Gentlemen, this is Captain Brian Hayes. He is the skipper of the Blade of Wrath and is here to help with the briefing of your next mission" Admiral Baker said first, motioning to the man sitting next to him. Captain Hayes nodded at them all, before leaning forward and putting his hands on the table.

"It's an honor to finally meet you all. The field reports from the battle are still coming in, but from what I've heard, you've not only helped with the victory, but you've given an overall morale boost. I must say, I am impressed. As much as I wish I could go on bragging about you guys, there is still a problem at hand" Hayes said.

"When you first came, I mentioned to you all about the four colonies down there on Vivec; Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Omega. As you know, Beta Colony was destroyed. At the moment, our scans indicate that the Covenant have landed additional troops on the planet and are redirecting them to Alpha colony. We've sent down the 126th Armored Calvary division, 132nd and 133rd Helljumper divisions. We are currently also sending down the 167th Scorpion tank division. The Captain and I feel that those forces should be enough to hold off the coming attack at Alpha" Admiral Baker explained.

"We need the Shadow Ops at Omega Colony. The fact that we have no idea what the status of that colony worries me, but it also worries me about the two Pelican dropships we sent in to that area have gone missing" Captain Hayes said. The holo-projector in the middle of the table came alight and showed various views of Omega Colony. Colin recognized how it was structured exactly like Gamma Colony. The interior of the city was protected by a large wall. Small huts and houses could be seen, along with rows and rows of farmhouses.

"This is a farm colony and probably a very important installation. The colony provides a large amount of the food that is eaten here on Vivec. Because of this, we need to find out what's up with it" Captain Hayes said again.

"You'll be sent in via Pelican dropship, five miles away from the main entrance. We'd like to send you in closer, but we've already lost two Pelicans and we can't risk another. Search out the colony, determine whether it's still intact or destroyed, then report back to us. Depending on its final status, we'll either be sending down troops to secure the colony or a Pelican to come pick you up. If you can, search for our two missing Pelicans as well" Admiral Baker finished. There was a moment of silence, before Captain Hayes shrugged his shoulders.

"Questions?" he asked.

"Will we be given data about the surrounding terrain and the colony itself" Corporal Dela Cruz asked. Captain Hayes grabbed a small data pad on the table.

"We've given you as much as our computers and AIs know. There's a map in there as well, shows where you are being dropped off and where the colony is" he said, handing it to Lieutenant Owens, who immediately passed it to Scout.

"The Pelicans just disappeared? No radio contact or anything?" Colin asked. Admiral Baker nodded.

"The first one we sent in disappeared without a word. The AI had been tracking the ship, and then notified Captain Hayes it was gone. We then sent the second Pelican in. The last report we received from it was that they were approaching a blanket of fog, and then we never heard from them again" he said.

"Could it be possible that the fog is simply interfering with radio communications?" Jason McConnell asked.

"They were supposed to fly over Omega Colony twice, take some scans, and get some pictures and then head back to the Blade of Wrath. They've been gone twelve hours now" Captain Hayes said. McConnell nodded at this and fell silent.

"Anything else?" Admiral Baker asked. No one spoke. Both the Admiral and the Captain stood, the Shadow Ops following suite.

"This shouldn't be a tough assignment, just a simple scouting mission. You'll be out of there in no time and back fighting the Covenant. Your Pelican leaves in half an hour. I guess you can head on back to the barracks and get ready" the Admiral said, finishing the brief. Salutes were exchanged, and then the Shadow Ops members walked out of the room. They marched into the barracks, and grabbed their now clean jungle camouflage combat armor. Colin fastened his torso plate on, and then attached his knee/elbow pads, and thigh/shin/arm guards. He had already taken his flight jumpsuit off and had put on a completely black jumpsuit. The combination of the black and camouflage would hopefully blend him in more perfectly. Colin marched into the small armory inside the barracks. He grabbed another MA5B assault rifle with ten extra clips of ammunition. He also picked up an Office of Naval Intelligence Shadow Rifle. The weapon was similar to the S2 AM sniper rifle that Colin usually used, but it was colored black and had a much thicker frame. The inside of the barrel of the gun was also smaller, allowing the bullet to spin faster and move at a faster rate. It fired 15.2mm rifle slugs, which came in small containers of twenty-four. The rifle also fired eight shots instead of four, which Colin liked a lot. He loaded and cocked both of his weapons. He then grabbed his equipment pack, where he stored some extra ammunition, food, medical kit, radio, and other survival equipment. He swung the bag over his shoulders, and then slung his Shadow rifle. The assault rifle he held with both of his hands, since there was no room for it to be swung across his back. Colin grabbed a black baseball hat, which had a dark grey star on the front. He then walked out of the armory station and waited for the rest of his squad.

Lieutenant Owens walked out first, looking exactly like Colin, but sporting a MA7B Battle rifle and a MA5B Assault rifle. He also was wearing a regular combat helmet, with the green eye reticule over his right eye. Corporal McConnell came out next, holding a single SMG 900. Slung over his back was a MA5B assault rifle. He wore a black bandanna, with his black baseball cap worn over it and backwards. He took out a small can of chewing tobacco, which he stuffed into his mouth. Corporal Kreutz Kamp held his regular weapons; the assault rifle and Jackhammer rocket launcher. He didn't wear any type of head gear at all, showing off his spiked blond hair. However, a combat helmet was hanging from his bag. Corporal Bishop was only holding onto an assault rifle as he walked out. The helmet he wore had the familiar Red Cross symbol along the sides. Corporal Dela Cruz was the last to gather with them. He held onto a MA5B assault rifle and a MA7B Battle rifle, just like the Lieutenant. He only wore a bandanna over his head. Lieutenant Owens nodded at them all.

"Okay, let's go kick some ass" he said, walking out of the barracks. Their Pelican was waiting for them inside the docking bay as the Shadow Ops walked inside. Several marines working with supply crates saluted at them as they walked by. Colin did them the courtesy of returning it. They all clambered into the troop bay and waited as the dropship detached itself from its moorings and zoomed out of the docking bay, rocketing towards the planets surface below. The ship began to shake violently and Colin could feel the height rise as they blasted through the atmosphere. The heat shield on the front of the Pelican held and they eventually punctured the O-Zone layer and flew through the clouds of Vivec. It didn't take very long for the Pelican pilot to locate their landing zone. It was a large clearing, much like an open valley in the middle of the jungle. They landed and the troop bay ramp fell open. Corporal Dela Cruz jumped out first, crouching in the high grass and waited as the rest of the group jumped out, forming a small semi-circle, their weapons shouldered. The Pelican took off quickly and disappeared into the sky, the roar of its engines disappearing and being replaced by absolute silence. Colin looked back at Fredrick, and nodded. The Lieutenant returned the nod and relaxed slightly.

"We'll move in a linear pattern, like always. Scout and I will take point. Shade and Spirit will bring up the rear. Let's move quickly and get this over with" Owens said quickly to them. He stood up and began running into the forest, Aaron right behind him. Colin waited for Kreutz Kamp and McConnell to run by, before chasing after them, Corporal Bishop on his heels. Colin could was tense was also excited. Memories flooded back from Vegas VI, since they were in a similar planet as the jungle world. He was able to push all that out of his mind. This was a mission where he could redeem himself and no longer be haunted by the dreams of his dead comrades.

As the Shadow Ops team rushed through the jungle, the bushes and trees behind them shook violently. Unknown to the elite humans, a figure shrouded in invisibility was chasing them. It had not only saw the Pelican dropship but heard it land in its forest and planned on making it's occupants that were unloaded pay for their trespassing.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Four
Date: 16 December 2003, 8:24 PM

Chapter Four

The sun shined brightly onto the jungle landscape of Vivec. Although it was the middle of the afternoon, where the sun's light and energy is the greatest, it barely penetrated the mantle of trees that formed a solid canopy over the ground. Points of light broke through the spaces between the leaves and branches, but other than that, the interior of the jungle was shrouded in darkness. Sergeant Colin Thompson liked and also hated this darkness that surrounded him. Although it provided good cover for himself and the Shadow Ops, it also provided good cover for a possible threat that could be following or waiting for them.

The team had been dropped off inside the jungle only three hours ago by a Pelican dropship from the Blade of Wrath. Since then, the Shadow Ops had been doing nothing but running and jogging through the thick and dense tropical forest. Colin's face was drenched with sweat, soaking into the hat he wore over his head and his clothes. Although the sun's light could barely penetrate the canopy of the jungle, the heat and energy was heavy on them as they slowly carved out a path through the forest. Corporal Dela Cruz led the way, a large katana sword in his hand as he chopped and cut away braches and leaves. Behind him, the other five members followed their weapons up against their shoulders and circling their surroundings. Behind the Corporal, Lieutenant Owens held onto the data pad given to them by Captain Hayes. Colin could make out a small map on the screen which showed the area of the jungle they were now walking through.

"We keep going straight, we should reach the colony before sunset" he whispered out loud. Colin raised an eyebrow.

"Sir? What about the Pelicans?" he asked the Lieutenant, referring to the two dropships that had disappeared in this area. Owens looked back at him.

"They could be anywhere inside this damn place. All Captain Hayes gave us were there last coordinates of their position, I highly doubt that if the Pelican crashed, it crashed right where it disappeared off the Blade of Wrath's scopes" he said, shaking his head. Colin realized that Owens was right and simply nodded, falling back into formation. Regardless, he still couldn't help feel somewhat helpless. He had a feeling that those Pelicans did indeed crash and its occupants managed to escape.

His thoughts were interrupted by huge explosions off in the distance. The entire squad dropped low to the ground floor as the earth beneath them shook violently.

"What the fuck?" Corporal McConnell said, looking around him and in the air. The sounds of artillery shells whistling through the air and slamming into an unknown enemy could be heard, along with the clattering of gunfire. Colin stood up and could make out a large hill made of rock that stuck out of the ground and towered above the jungle canopy. He rushed forward, slinging his assault rifle and began to climb the giant boulder. He could hear the rest of the team run through the grass and shrubbery and climbing after him. Colin's hands searched the rock for grooves as he climbed up. It was made out of an odd limestone that was wet when he grabbed onto a piece of rock sticking out. However, it was covered in grooves, which pleased the sniper. He reached the top of the hill first, which was just big enough to fit the entire team.

A blanket of green surrounded them, but in the distance, dark rain clouds were forming and thunder could be heard. This was no surprise, since it rained here often. Colin thought he saw a flash of lightning to the north, but realized that it wasn't lightning. There were multiple flashes of light appearing to the south, and they flashed continuously. Following the flash of light, a loud boom could be heard, shaking the ground beneath them.

"That's Alpha Colony" Lieutenant Owens whispered, lowering the data pad in his hand.

"That battle has already started" stated Corporal Bishop, whose eyes were wide as the detonations of explosive weaponry light up the clouds that hovered above them. There was a long moment as each Shadow Ops member longed to be fighting with the marines there. They all could sense that loss of life was definitely severe. The continuous explosions only emphasized the fact that the marine forces were fighting a huge, bloody battle. It was Lieutenant Owens who finally broke this moment.

"As much as we all long to be there fighting, we still have a mission to complete" he said, stepping down from the rock and getting ready to climb back down.

"Stupid mission" Corporal McConnell muttered, still looking at the explosions. Lieutenant Owens looked at the heavy weapons specialist, who glared at the horizon. "This is a waste of time sir. We shouldn't be doing this stupid scouting stuff. Marines should be here, we should be fighting" he growled. Owens stood up.

"We are all as pissed off as you are Death, but regardless, we were given orders from a higher ranking officer to scout this colony out. We must obey, unless you wish to be court marshaled and possibly kicked out of the UNSC Military Forces" he said. McConnell tore his view away from the battle and bowed his head.

"Let's get this thing over with sir" he said. Owens patted the man lightly on the back, and then they all climbed down the rock and continued their long trek to the colony.

Captain Brian Hayes stood on the bridge off the Blade of Wrath. He stared down at the planet they orbited, where flashes of light could be seen from the surface below. He sighed heavily. He had served with the Marine Corps before the war between the Covenant and Humans started, however a back injury forced him to quit. He had then went to the Academy and graduated with good marks. He knew what war was like, he had seen it, and at this moment as he looked down at the planet's surface, completely safe inside his large war cruiser, he missed it.

"The battle has begun." Hayes turned to see Admiral Baker approach him. He saluted to the man, before turning his view back to the surface.

"That it has sir" he said. Baker stood silently beside him for a moment, before turning to the Captain.

"What's wrong Hayes?" he asked. Brian sighed.

"You know my background Admiral. Those years as being a marine are coming back to me. It's as if the marine side of me has taken over. I want to be down there fighting those bastards" he said, pointing to the explosions. Baker sighed.

"Don't we all" he said, turning to look at the bridge crew. The bridge Lieutenants and other crewman were gathered around view screens that showed the explosive surface below. Brian chuckled.

"Guess we all have a little marine in us" he said. Sighing, the Captain walked away from the window and returned to his command chair or the "hot seat" as it was normally called.

"As much as I'm sure we all want to be down there fighting, we still have some jobs to do up here ladies and gentlemen" he said, looking at the crew. The cluster of crewman's dispersed and went back to monitoring the ship.

"Status on Gamma Colony?" Brian asked.

"All the wounded are onboard the Nordic sir. Scans indicate there is absolutely no Covenant activity in the area" Lieutenant Nixon, the Communications officer said. Brian nodded.

"Any reports from the other planets?" he asked again. There were five other planets in the Vardenfell system which required attention. Admiral Baker had split up the battle group and sent certain ships to each planet. Because this system was still in an agriculture era, it required a lot of protection. The Blade of Wrath, the Nordic and the UNSC Hammer were the only ships orbiting Vivec. There were four ships at Gnisis, four ships at Balmora, three ships at Dagon, two ships at Dunmer and three ships at Cyrodil.

"Recent field reports indicate small skirmishes between marine and Covenant forces. Seems as if everything is under control so far sir" Lieutenant Nixon said again.

"Captain, our scanners are picking up additional dropship signatures coming from the North Pole and moving down to Alpha Colony" Lieutenant Scott, the Navigation officer reported. Captain Hayes sat forward.

"How many?" he asked.

"Looks like fifty or so sir" Scott said.

"Order all ships to attack. What weapons can we use?" Hayes ordered, before turning to look at his weapons officer. Lieutenant Elliott looked up at the Captain.

"I wouldn't recommend using the MAC guns sir. If we move in to 15,000 kilometers, we can use out chain guns" she said. Hayes nodded.

"Relay those orders to Nordic and Hammer. Bring us in Lieutenant Scott" he said. Lieutenant Scott nodded and moved his hands across the data board in front of him. The Blade of Wrath's engines accelerated and they slowly moved in towards the planet. The Covenant dropships were flying above planets surface and as the cruiser closed in, Captain Hayes could make them out flying towards them.

"They're maneuvering!" Lieutenant Nixon reported.

"Range?" Captain Hayes asked. Lieutenant Elliott paused, before grinning at Brian.

"Locked on" she said.

"Fire" Hayes ordered. The hull off the cruiser had evenly spread out 50mm chain guns, which were usually used for point to point defense from Seraph fighters and any other type of small craft. The barrels of these guns turned to face the dropships that were slowly flying away from the three ships. The barrels clicked and started to turn. Tracers cut through space and zoomed to the dropships. The Nordic and Hammer opened fire as well; their hulls alight as the chain guns fired. The dropships began to scatter and weave as the bullets flew around them. Several dropships took rounds to their armor and were vaporized as they began to fall into the atmosphere. Pieces of metal and other debris floated all over the place as a number of dropships erupted in huge fireballs.

"They're moving away sir" Lieutenant Scott reported. Hayes looked out the view screen window and could make out six surviving dropships turn sharply and disappear.

"Can we chase them?" Hayes asked.

"Negative Captain, they are moving too fast and we also put atmospheric entry at high risk" Scott said. Captain Hayes nodded and relaxed. They at least prevented another army to attack Alpha Colony. This would be a fair battle that they would win. Hayes was about to stand and leave, when Lieutenant Nixon's console blared a small alarm. The Lieutenant jumped in his chair and accessed the system.

"Report" Captain Hayes ordered.

"The computer is picking up strange Slipstream signatures just north east of our current position" he said, studying his screen.

"Range?" Brian asked. Lieutenant Nixon typed at his keypad, but turned around, one eyebrow raised.

"The signatures are gone" he said. Brian walked to the Lieutenant's console and glared at it.

"What do you mean they are gone?" he asked.

"I mean that the Slipstream signatures that the computer detected are gone sir. Nothing, just empty space" he said, typing in commands.

"Aft cameras" Hayes ordered. The view screen changed to show the empty space behind the three UNSC ships. Brian squinted hard, but couldn't see anything. Regardless, if the computer had detected something, it was a matter of concern.

"Scan the area and post a nav point there, just in case" he said. Nixon nodded. As Hayes began to walk away, the alarm went off again. Brian was about to turn and yell at the Lieutenant, when the whole ship rumbled. The bulkhead near Brian exploded, showering the Captain with metal and wires. He was blasted backwards into his chair, as all hell broke loose...

A twig behind Colin snapped. He whirled around quickly, his gun up and pointed straight ahead. At first, nothing moved. He looked at the ground and could make out large lizard walking by. Shaking his head, Colin turned around and ran after the Shadow Ops team. They had stopped up ahead by a cluster of rocks and seemed to be taking a break. Colin reached them and took his bag off, allowing his sweaty back to cool off. Lieutenant Owens put his data pad down and sat on one of the rocks.

"Ten minute break boys. Break out some snacks" he said. Colin sat across from the Lieutenant. He continued to look over his back into the jungle around him. He could swear that from the moment they had arrived, he could feel a presence around them. It was if something was watching him. He turned back around and began to unwrap a small nutrition bar. Lieutenant Owens glanced over at him.

"What is it Sergeant?" he asked. Colin paused and looked around him again.

"I dunno sir. I feel like we are being watched. I keep hearing the sounds of something walking around us, or with us. Probably nothing, but still confuses me" he said. Lieutenant Owens raised an eyebrow, and then opened his own nutrition bar.

"Scout, circle around us, make sure nothing is following us" he ordered Aaron Dela Cruz. The Hispanic man nodded and stood, grabbing his assault rifle and disappearing into the jungle. Colin sighed and tossed his wrapper over his shoulder. The new plastics that were used for the snack bars were biodegradable and could compost easily into the soil. Unknown to Colin, the wrapper he threw bounced on something in mid air, before falling to the ground. The sniper closed his equipment bag and stood, throwing it over his shoulder and grabbed his assault rifle. The other team members began packing their own stuff and getting ready to move out. Lieutenant Owens whistled twice into the forest. Corporal Dela Cruz soon materialized out of the environment.

"Nothing sirs. There's nothing out there. I couldn't find any tracks or signs of life besides us" he said, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. Colin sighed and nodded. He must be hallucinating. The team all got back into formation and trudged back into the jungle, Corporal Dela Cruz still leading the way.

Rain clouds blackened the sky and made the jungle even darker then it was before. Thunder continued to boom loudly, muting the explosions still emanating from Alpha Colony. Fork lightning flashed in the sky, quickly followed by thunder. Soon, the clouds opened up and a downpour of rain slammed into the jungle. Colin was already drenched with sweat, but the cold rain was a definite change that his body felt. He quickly picked up his pace as the team began to jog lightly, Dela Cruz swinging his katana all around him. Anonymous to the Shadow Ops, a figure continued chasing after them, the rain falling around it, creating a small outline in the rain that poured through the jungle canopy. Colin would turn to look behind him, but would only see green leaves and rain. The darkness that had encumbered the jungle was also very annoying for the sniper.

As they continued to run, the explosions from Alpha colony died off and the only noise that could be heard was the thunder above them and the rain around them. Lieutenant Owens estimated they had around one mile to go, and ordered them to run faster. Colin lowered his assault rifle, slinging it over his shoulder and sprinted after everyone else. However, this sprint did not last long. Branches, twigs and leaves continued to get in their way and Corporal McConnell tripped over a root, knocking Corporal Kreutz Kamp to the ground. They were eventually just jogging again, weapons shouldered and scanning the dark jungle around them. Dela Cruz suddenly held up a fist and the entire squad froze, dropping low to the ground and looking around their surroundings.

"Scout?" Owens asked.

"There's something non-natural up ahead" Colin could hear the Corporal whisper. He squinted ahead of him and could definitely make out a shape that didn't represent a rock or a tree.

"Go check it out" Owens ordered. Aaron nodded and slowly advanced, his assault rifle up in front of him. Colin eventually lost sight of him as the darkness took him. Although it was just the beginning of the evening, it still felt like midnight to him. There was a long moment of silence, where all that could be heard was the rain. Another twig snapped behind them. Both Colin and Corporal Bishop whirled their heads around and peered into the jungle.

"You hear that?" Colin asked the medic.

"Yes sir" Jacob whispered. Colin moved forward slightly, pushing apart some trees and shrubs. He could definitely make something out behind a large fern leaf and a bamboo tree. He nodded at Corporal Bishop, who crawled forward and raised his assault rifle. Colin grabbed the bamboo tree and ripped it aside, bringing the fern tree with him.

"Oh my god!" The corpses of four humans lay on the jungle floor. Their clothes were scattered and their skin all peeled away, revealing the muscle and bone beneath. Their eyeballs had been plucked out, but the emotion of shock and pain was still on their dead faces. Various jungle insects, ranging from ants to large beetles crawled around the bodies, ripping off pieces of skin and virtually decomposing the bodies. Bishop had fallen backwards, his hand over his mouth to prevent him from throwing up. Colin simply stared at the dead faces that stared back at him. He could see dog tags around their exposed necks. They had been marines.

They were soon joined by the other Shadow Ops members, who averted their eyes from the grotesque sight. Colin stepped back and chopped away several shrubs and trees, allowing room for the bodies to be investigated. Corporal Dela Cruz returned quickly. He showed no emotion when he saw the bodies and simply crouched beside them, pushing aside bugs and taking off the dog tags.

"That shape in the forest was a destroyed Pelican dropship sir. Did a complete nose dive. The pilot and co-pilot are still inside, dead" he reported, stepping away from the bodies. Lieutenant Owens held his hand to his mouth, much like everyone else was doing.

"Could the Covenant have done this?" he asked the scout master.

"I personally do not know sir. The dropship is covered in scratches and other marks from the trees, but I saw no evidence off them being shot down. The Covenant could have killed these marines, but there isn't any evidence of plasma burns, or Covenant foot prints in the ground. Everything around these bodies is undisturbed. It's as if they just suddenly dropped dead" he said, shaking his head. As the two of them continued to talk, Colin heard movement to their left. His snapped in that direction and he stuck his hand out, moving aside several leaves. A figure covered in leaves and other vegetation jumped out and tackled Colin. The sniper fell backwards, the individual lying on top of him. They rolled back and forth for a moment, but then stopped. Colin crouched over the figure and punched him repeatedly in the face. The person brought his or her hands up, and blocked several blows. Colin stood up, bringing the man with him, and slammed him against a tree.

"Stop!" someone yelled. Colin whirled around and looked over at his squad mates. Additional figures dressed with leaves and dirt stood around the other Shadow Ops members, weapons held to their heads and body area. Colin let go of the person he held onto. The figure dropped to the ground and limped away, groaning. One figure stepped forward, holstering his pistol.

"UNSC?" he asked. Colin nodded and motioned to Lieutenant Owens.

"He's in charge" he muttered. The figure turned to the Lieutenant, who glared down at the small man.

"Who are you?" he questioned Fredrick. Owens grinned; even through the barrel of a pistol was pressed against his head.

"We are the Shadow Ops" he said. The man standing before him laughed.

"They are dead" he growled. Owens shook his head and showed him the grey star on the black patch. The man stared at it and paused, as if thinking. His face was hidden by a black mask worn around his head. He and the other individuals dressed like him held UNSC-issued MA5B assault rifles and M6D pistols. They were obviously on their side. The man suddenly nodded to his comrades. The weapons were lowered and they revealed themselves to be marines. There were a total of four of them, all wearing heavy camouflage that was attached to their combat uniforms.

"Sergeant Johnston, Fire Team Romeo" he said.

"Lieutenant Owens, Shadow Ops II" Fredrick said. Immediately, the four marines around them saluted. Owens returned it. Sergeant Johnston shook his head.

"Thought we were done for sir" he said, leaning against a tree. Owens looked towards the crashed Pelican.

"That yours?" he asked the Sergeant. The man shook his head.

"Our pilot was able to control our fall and landed us in a valley. Still hurt like a bitch though. I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden, all power in the dropship went out. Pilots were screaming at each other and us, telling us to get out. We couldn't though, the ramp door wouldn't open. All I remember was we hit the ground and I was knocked out. Woke up in the valley" the Sergeant explained quickly.

"The dropship just stopped working?" Colin asked.

"Yeah. The lights went out, the roar from the engines was gone, and we just dropped like a rock. I think the co-pilot was able to get back the controlling for the air foils, which allowed the pilot to ease our landing slightly so we didn't explode on impact, but other than that, we were flying blind, with no radio or anything" Johnston said.

"How many survivors?" Lieutenant Owens asked.

"The pilots were killed, both of them. We originally had eight marines. We lost three during the crash, then we lost another" Johnston said.

"You lost another? What happened?" Colin asked.

"We don't know. He went out for his night shift, Private Marleau here woke up to trade places, but he was gone" the Sergeant said, pointing to a marine standing beside him.

"What was his name?" Lieutenant Owens asked.

"Private Tucker I think, he didn't talk much. He had been with the 106th Infantry Brigade, but since that was slaughtered with the Gamma Colony fight, he was sent to us" Johnston said.

"Private Tucker you said?" Owens asked again.

"Yeah. Why, you know him?"

"I do. He and I were in the trenches during that fight. Thought he was dead after our Warthog was blown into the trench" Owens said, his eyes glazing over for a moment.

"Well, the kid is probably dead now, we don't know where he went" Sergeant Johnston said. Owens nodded.

"Take us to your Pelican for now Sergeant, we may need your help" the Lieutenant said. Sergeant Johnston nodded.

"Marleau! Take point, the rest of ya, fall in" he barked. Private Marleau and Corporal Dela Cruz lead the way together, both of them wielding katanas. The other three marines and the rest of the Shadow Ops squad followed behind them, their weapons shouldered and scanning the jungle. The rain continued to pour down on them like an endless wave. The clouds above them showed no signs of closing and moving on. The lightning and thunder continued to light up the jungle and broke the empty silence that surrounded them. Although it was believed that they had solved the possible threat that had been following them, a figure still cloaked followed the group of humans, preparing to strike at the best opportunity that would be given to it.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Five
Date: 19 December 2003, 3:00 AM

Chapter Five

"Fire emergency thrusters! Hard to port!" The tanks of trihydride tetrazine and hydrogen peroxide positioned along the hull of the cruiser, exploded through the port side tubes, blasting the Blade of Wrath directly out of the way of a Covenant Frigate. The small, but powerful vessel appeared out of Slipstream space, exactly where the Blade of Wrath had been a few seconds ago. Captain Brian Hayes was nearly thrown out of his seat as the two high explosive chemicals mixed. He sat up in his chair and faced the forward view screen.

"Target Devilhorn missiles on that frigate, fire when ready" he ordered the weapons officer, Lieutenant Elliott, whose hands flew across his data console. The six pods positioned on the port side hull opened and let loose several hundred non-nuclear missiles that smashed into the energy shield around the Covenant Frigate. Slowly, the ship turned and plasma began to collect along its hull.

"Incoming plasma torpedoes!" Lieutenant Nixon, the communications officer cried out.

"Lieutenant Scott, get us out of the way. Recharge the MAC cannons" Hayes ordered. The navigation officer, Lieutenant Scott, decelerated the ship, and then used the starboard emergency thrusters to completely blast them away from the plasma torpedoes which were sent in their direction.

"Shield status?" Hayes asked, referring to the Frigate's shields.

"Weakened sir" Lieutenant Elliott said.

"Target the MAC cannons and fire when ready" Brian ordered. Lieutenant Elliott nodded. The two Super MAC turrets positioned along the sides of the UNSC cruiser slowly turned and fixed their vision on the Frigate, which was gathering additional plasma energy. The two turrets let loose two three-thousand-ton shells at the Covenant ship. The first round not only wiped out the shield, but the resulting shock explosion ripped apart the ships hull, breaching several decks. The second round smashed straight into those damaged decks and gutted the frigate. Slowly, it spun out of position, leaking plasma, internal explosions emanating from the hull. Brian grinned at this, but realized the fight was not over.

A Covenant Destroyer and two additional Frigates sat in a geosynchronous orbit over Vivec, firing pulse lasers and plasma torpedoes at the UNSC Nordic and the UNSC Hammer. The three vessels looked like giant whales, but were whales with teeth. Very large teeth. The Nordic fired their starboard emergency thrusters, pushing them out of the way of several rounds of plasma torpedoes at them. The Hammer wasn't so successful. A combined plasma torpedo attack and pulse lasers struck the destroyer right in the middle. The entire mid-section of the ship exploded, ripping the Hammer into halves. Slowly, one half came flying at the Blade of Wrath, which was maneuvering to attack.

"Starboard thrusters!" was all Captain Hayes screamed. Another bang sounded throughout the hull and the Blade of Wrath moved aside from the wrecked ship. Pieces of metal and armor scraped along the hull, but otherwise, the damage was minimal. The Nordic slowly began to pull away, joining the Blade of Wrath which was flying into the battle. Captain Hayes didn't blame the Nordic captain. He was outmanned and outgunned against the three vessels.

"Sir, UNSC Daedrea is on their way over to assist" Lieutenant Nixon reported, pressing a hand to the earpiece he wore. Brian nodded at this, but then focused back to the battle.

"Lieutenant Elliott, target the Covenant destroyer with both Super MAC guns. Have our Devilhorn missiles and regular MAC turrets target the flanking Frigates" Brian said quickly. Not only did the Blade of Wrath have two Super MAC guns, but two of the regular MAC guns that most UNSC frigates used nowadays were positioned along the top and bottom of the cruiser.

"Targets are locked, MAC guns are hot, all safeties removed" Elliott reported.

"Fire" Hayes breathed. The entire ship shook violently as she fired all her weapons. The two Super MAC rounds hit the destroyer's shields, which was blasted closer to Vivec's atmosphere. The pilot compensated however, by breaking orbit and coming straight at the Blade of Wrath. The remaining salvos of MAC rounds and missiles slammed into the frigates, whose shields were weakened by the attacks.

"Order the Nordic to focus her fire on the frigates, re-arm our weapons and target that destroyer" Hayes yelled. Pulse lasers charged along the Covenant ship's hull and fired. The Blade of Wrath shook as her armor was slowly melted by each shot. Several views screens were filled with static Plasma torpedoes quickly charged along the Covenant destroyer's hull and were fired straight at them. Brian stood up.

"Mr. Scott, divert all power to the thrusters" he started to say.

"Too late" the navigation officer said.

"Hang on!" The first plasma torpedo smashed into the Blade of Wrath's starboard hull. The armor boiled and burned, slowly melting and exposing the interior of the ship. Brian was knocked backwards in his chair by the explosion. The lights flickered once, before returning to normal. Several crewmen running by were thrown to the floor. A console spat out sparks onto officers and the floor. Smoke billowed from its damaged system. However it wasn't over yet.

The second plasma torpedo hit the starboard Super MAC turret dead on, destroying the weapon and damaging internal decks. Lieutenant Elliott's console exploded in his face, blasting him backwards onto the flooring. The ship listed to port from the resulting explosion, throwing Brian and other bridge crewmembers to the ground. Another console near the back of the bridge erupted, showering crewmen with debris. A bulkhead suddenly exploded, engulfing several men and blasting them to the other side of the bridge. Slowly, the Blade of Wrath began to spin out of control.

"Bring us about! Secure the ship!" Brian began yelling as he tried to stand up. Lieutenant Scott was wrestling with his controls as the ship continued to turn. The flooring beneath him suddenly exploded, lifting the Lieutenant out of his chair and onto the upper level of the bridge. Cursing, Brian crawled to his console, avoiding debris that fell from the ceiling. He lifted himself onto the chair and fired the port emergency thrusters again. The tanks were automatically filled up with the corrosive and deadly chemicals after every detonation. The resulting explosion stabilized the ship, but she continued to drift.

"Bring the engines back online!" Brian roared. Lieutenant Campbell, the engineering officer, slowly raised herself to her console, after being knocked backwards.

"Our main two generators have been knocked offline, bringing the third one up" she yelled. Control soon returned to the ship. Brian fired the engines, bringing power to twenty percent and began the slow process of turning the Blade of Wrath around. Chaos inside the bridge soon vanished. However, they were a wreck. Fires were everywhere, smoke billowed from holes in the wall and where consoles had been. Brian returned to his chair, breathing heavily. Medical teams carried dead or wounded crewman out on stretchers. Brian was left with two bridge officers. Lieutenant Scott and Elliott had been taken to the medical bay.

"Get some replacement officers in here" Hayes yelled. Lieutenant Nixon returned to his console and relayed the Captain's orders. Soon afterwards as officers returned to their computers and began system checks, two men stepped onto the bridge. Hayes looked at them.

"Navigation and weapons gentlemen" he said. They both nodded and parted.

"Lieutenant Jacob at Navigation" Jacob said.

"Ensign Taylor at Weapons" the Ensign reported.

"Lieutenant Jacob, rotate the ship, bring us back to Vivec" Captain Hayes ordered. As Jacob began maneuvering the wounded cruiser, Brian looked at Lieutenant Campbell.

"Damage report" he asked her.

"Casualties reported all over the ship. Communications dish is gone, armor rating down to fifteen percent. We've lost all of the Devilhorn missile pods and one Super MAC canon. Other than that, I don't know much else" she said without looking at Brian. Hayes nodded and watched as the planet of Vivec came into view.

"The Covenant Destroyer is still nearby, she's heading after the Daedrea" Lieutenant Nixon said.

"Lieutenant Jacob, set an intercept course. Ensign Taylor, bring all our MAC guns to full charge" Hayes ordered.

"Sir, we're going to need more energy to charge the MAC rounds. We're only running on one engine" the young Ensign said.

"Divert all power necessary, take it from life support if you have too" Hayes said. Taylor nodded and worked at this console. Slowly, the Covenant destroyer came back into view, firing pulse lasers at the Daedrea. The UNSC Daedrea was a Marathon-class cruiser, one of the only ones in service today. She was equipped with three MAC guns, and around fifteen Devilhorn missile pods. Two squadrons of Longbow and Longsword intercept fighters were also at her disposal. From what Brian could see, the captain of the cruiser was simply using his missiles and MAC rounds.

"Status on the destroyer's shields" Hayes said.

"Long range scanners have been knocked out. Out shorter range scans show that they are probably down to around forty percent" Lieutenant Nixon guessed. Brian nodded.

"Ensign Taylor, fire when ready" he ordered. The Blade of Wrath fired what weapons she had left. Three MAC rounds slammed into the destroyer, wiping out her shields and scarring her armor.

"We don't have enough power to recharge the MAC guns, at least not yet" Ensign Taylor said.

"Run them over Lieutenant Jacob" Brian growled. The officer grinned and nodded, accelerating the ship to its max speed power. The destroyer was completely oblivious to the oncoming cruiser until it was too late. The bottom of the Blade of Wrath's surface skidded along the destroyer's armor, before penetrating the interior and ripping through the ship's hull. The Covenant ship accelerated, but because of the size of the Blade of Wrath, more armor was ripped open, exposing more levels inside the ship. The Blade of Wrath continued digging through, slowing down slightly to add to the damage.

"Ensign Taylor, arm a Shiva nuke. Target the exposed decks inside that ship" Brian ordered. The man nodded and relayed the orders to have a warhead loaded into a firing tube. He targeted the large hole that they were creating in the destroyer's hull.

"Ready sir" he stated. Brian waited however. They emerged from the destroyer's hull and began to speed away, as she slowly turned, ready to return fire.

"Shove it down their throats Ensign. Fire!" Brian ordered. The small nuke flew out of a launch tube and accelerated to the Covenant destroyer, which was venting atmosphere.

"Get us out of here!" Brian ordered. Lieutenant Jacob pushed the small generator to thirty percent, breaching the red line, causing Klaxon alarms to blare. The Shiva nuke smashed straight into the exposed decks of the destroyer. The Covenant ship became an explosion of bright white light, blinding the Captain and the bridge crew. A small shockwave spread out from the core explosion, which twinkled brightly at them. The Blade of Wrath shook as the explosive wave flew past them, damaging the hull. Slowly, the white light died down and the Covenant destroyer was nowhere to be seen. Brian sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Helm, take us back to Vivec" he ordered. A combination of port emergency thrusters and the acceleration of the red-hot engines turned the Blade of Wrath around and allowed her to slowly drift towards the jungle planet.

"What's the status on the remaining Covenant ships?" Brian asked as they slowly approached.

"The UNSC Nordic was able to destroy one of the frigates, but the damage on her is huge. Her armor all along the starboard side of the ship is basically gone, all melted away. The frigate is still firing pulse lasers, which is blasting the Nordic away from Vivec and to one of its moons. From what the scans say, she's still taking power from her primary and secondary systems to bring the weapons back up" Lieutenant Nixon reported.

"What about the UNSC Daedrea?" he asked.

"She's just arrived sir. The frigate is trying to retreat" Nixon said again. Brian sighed again and slumped in his command chair.

"Looks like the battle is over" he muttered.

"The UNSC Daedrea sends their compliments and also some repair supplies sir" Lieutenant Nixon said again. Brian nodded.

"Damage assessment?" he asked.

"Communications is still down. Navigational dish damaged. We were able to repair three Devilhorn missile pods. Armor rating remains at fifteen percent, down to around four centimeters. Docking Bay One is gone" Campbell reported.

"Gone?" Brian asked.

"Plasma melted the bay doors, sucked everything out. Some crewmen are being assembled to make some repairs on the secondary doors, so that they can actually close" Lieutenant Campbell said.

"What about what was inside the bay?" Brian asked again.

"Everything's gone sir. Pelicans, ground vehicles, other warfare equipment. We've got reports that three Companies of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were all killed" Campbell said.

"What about Docking bay two?" asked Brian as he stood up.

"Still intact, but there's not a lot in there. Few Pelicans, couple of platoons of Marine Regulars, nothing we can fight a war with" the engineering officer said sadly. Brian sighed again.

"When communications is fixed, contact the UNSC Carnage and have them head over here. Also, tell the Daedrea to supply our ground forces planet side with reinforcements if needs be. I'm going to retire for now. Fix this ship people, I want it back to operational status within six hours" Brian ordered, standing and walking out of the bridge. He saluted to his bridge officers and other crewman while walking out. Six hours gave him two hours to reflect on the battle and an additional four to either sleep or fill out forms for possible replacements.

"This is the UNSC Daedrea calling the Shadow Ops II squad." Sergeant Colin Thompson looked over at Lieutenant Owens, whose radio was blaring the message that the sniper had just heard. The Lieutenant dropped his pack and took out the radio.

"This is Lieutenant Owens of Shadow Ops II, go ahead Daedrea" he said into the small headset.

"Lieutenant, this is Captain O'Neill. To start off, we're having some problems up in orbit. A Covenant assault force attacked the Blade of Wrath and the other two destroyers that had been here. Currently, the UNSC Hammer was destroyed, the UNSC Nordic is crippled beyond repair and the UNSC Blade of Wrath has been greatly wounded. We haven't heard anything from the Blade of Wrath because their communications is down, but if you need some form of reinforcements, contact us, we'll send you what we got" the voice said. Lieutenant Owens nodded.

"Confirmed Captain O'Neill. We'll actually need a platoon or two of marine regulars here at Omega Colony when you get chance" he said.

"Roger Shadow Ops, we'll be sending down a platoon of Helljumpers, but they won't be there tonight. Having trouble on other parts of the planet" the Captain said.

"Roger, good luck up there."

"Out." Lieutenant Owens put his radio away, then stood up, looking at his team and the four marines they had discovered along their journey to the colony.

"Reinforcements on their way" he said. Colin turned to look at the colony they now stood in. It was dark, since the sun had gone down two hours ago, leaving the stars and one of Vivec's moons to provide a source of light. The empty buildings and huts around them gave the atmosphere a sense of fright and horror. No one moved, no one spoke. Not a single colonist could be seen either in the colony or in one of their homes. It was as if they had all suddenly vanished. Baskets of food lay scattered along the ground. The wind picked up and papers that were gathered on a hut flew all over the place. It was a ghost colony. Colin gripped his sniper rifle tightly. He looked towards Omega Colony's main entrance. He froze.

The outline of a tall shadow could be seen along the ground, just near the right side of the gate entrance. Colin faced the entrance, but the shadow suddenly disappeared. The sounds of trees and bushes being moved around could be heard afterwards. Colin was about to turn around to tell Owens, but the Lieutenant's vision was facing the entrance, where the shadow had been.

"What the fuck was that?" Corporal McConnell whispered. Colin realized that everyone had noticed the shadow and where all staring at the empty entry. Lieutenant Owens shook his head.

"We'll set up camp here for the night, post two sentries though" he stated, dropping his pack to the ground. Slowly, the Shadow Ops and the four marines began to set up tents and build a small fire, hoping the night would pass quickly. Their camp consisted of eight UNSC issued combat tents, set up in a circle. In the middle of this circle was a small fire that the marines and Corporal Kreutz Kamp were trying to get going, before heading to bed. Colin zipped up his tent entrance, and then crawled to the far side, propping his head onto his arm. Lieutenant Owens lay on the other side of the tent, his back turned to Colin. Slowly, the sniper's eyes began to grow and heavy and he fell into a deep slumber.

Meanwhile, from the wall that surrounded the colony, the invisible figure continued to observe the humans, unseen and undetected. It turned and jumped to the ground, running in between the colony's structures. Two marines sat around the fire, chatting silently with each other. The figure quietly crept in closer as the two marines yawned and one began nodding off to sleep. His partner however punched him and the two of them were awake again. The figure continued to move about the camp, until it was right behind one of the marines.

Private Marleau took a long sip of his water and then tossed the empty jug aside. In front of him, Private Jameson stared into the fire, his eyes glazed over. Marleau shook his head. The idiot was trying to fall asleep again. He leaned forward and poked him. Jameson looked up at Marleau, glaring.

"Damnit man, I want to get to sleep" he growled. Marleau laughed.

"Not on my watch buddy, you aren't leaving me alone out here" he said. Jameson rolled his eyes.

"Afraid of a little shadow?" he asked the Private. It was Marleau's turn to glare.

"You were freaked out just as I was" he said. Jameson shrugged.

"Perhaps, but at least I don't show it. You fucking pissed you pants" he said, laughing.

"Say something like that one more time and I'm gonna knock your fucking head in" Marleau growled, balling his fist. Jameson patted his arm.

"Relax dude, I'm just kidding around. I admit, I was scared too. Feels as if we're being watching by something. I've been feeling this since we first landed and ever since that Tucker guy disappeared. Someone or something is stalking us. I dunno what it is though. Wish I did" Jameson said. Suddenly, the Private gasped, his eyes going wide and he fell off the log that he was sitting on.

"What?" Marleau asked. Jameson raised a shaky finger, pointing behind Marleau. He was about to turn around, when a knife of some sort was driven through his back and popped out of his chest. Marleau felt the blade sink into him, felt his warm blood leak through his armor. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped forward. Jameson was about to scream, when the figure that had killed Marleau, stood and jumped on top of the private, the fire going out as it flew at the marine. It raised its large dagger and stabbed it through Jameson's neck. The private gurgled and coughed, spitting up blood and choking on the object placed in his windpipe and esophagus. Although it was completely dark inside the camp and the figure seemed to have put their fire out, Jameson could make out a pair of yellow eyes glaring at him. He eventually went limp, as the dagger penetrated the back of his brain stem. The figure wiped the blood off its blade, and then ran off into the night, returning invisible and vowing to return.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Six
Date: 20 December 2003, 10:33 PM

Chapter Six

The sound of shouting and commotion was not something Sergeant Colin Thompson wanted to wake up too. His eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, like a vampire waking up inside a coffin. However, Colin's pistol was up and he looked around the tent he was still in. Lieutenant Owens was gone, along with all of his gear. The entrance to the tent was unzipped and flapping around in the morning breeze. Colin shivered slightly as the wind flew inside. He quickly slipped his combat black jumpsuit on over his undergarments, and then quickly attached his armor. He was outside of the tent, still buckling armor up in a matter of five minutes.

Colin squinted as the warm sun shining above beat down on him. The grass was soaked with dew and it sparkled up at the sniper. He put his black hat on, and then looked around the colony. Sergeant Johnston, Corporal Kreutz Kamp and another marine were near the main entrance, trying to close the large gates and seal them up. Along the wall, Corporal Dela Cruz, McConnell and Bishop were keeping watch, standing on the catwalk that ran along the barrier. Colin turned to see Lieutenant Owens approach him.

"Good morning sir" he said. Owens nodded at him.

"Got a problem Shade" he said. Colin raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" he asked. Owens pointed to the ground behind Colin. The Sergeant turned and gasped at what he saw.

Private Marleau and Private Jameson both lay on the grass near the small fire they had tried to create yesterday evening. The blood from their bodies had stained the grass and even one of the tents. Colin knelt beside Marleau and flipped his body over. The marine's neutral expression on his face greeted Colin as he lay on the grass, belly up. Colin noticed a large hole on the left part of the man's chest. The hole was big enough to be a bullet wound, but there was no sign of an explosion of blood that would've followed the shot.

"Stab wound?" Colin asked the Lieutenant. Owens didn't answer however.

"Everyone on me! Scout, stay up there for now, keep watch for anything suspicious" he yelled around him. Everybody besides Corporal Dela Cruz left what they were doing and marched to the Lieutenant. Corporal Bishop knelt beside Colin and began to inspect Private Marleau's body. Everyone else stood beside Owens, who looked down at the medic.

"Explanation Corporal?" he asked the man. Bishop looked up at the Lieutenant.

"Stab wound to the back sir, drove right through his heart. The major cause of death here was he bled internally" he recited.

"How do you know?" Sergeant Johnston demanded. The man seemed rather upset at the lose of his two marines.

"The body was found slumped forward, belly down, indicating that when the blade was taken out from the body, force was applied to probably the private's back, forcing him down, in order to take the knife blade out. When the blade was completely out, the blood filled up his lungs and Marleau died while falling forward. Also, the hole here on the man's back is bigger than the one on the front. There is also more blood on his back, then on the front. It looks like a perfect clean cut, but the blade being taken out of the wound only made it worse and allowed blood to escape" Bishop explained. Colin was still kneeling beside Bishop and pointed at the wound on Marleau's back.

"What's that?" he asked. The sniper pointed at what looked like burnt skin that was surrounding the whole wound.

"That tells us who did this. Those burnt markings are from dried up plasma. We only know one race in this universe that uses plasma. The Covenant" Bishop said. Lieutenant Owens nodded.

"Makes sense, but what about Jameson there. His death seems a bit more aggressive or something" he said. Bishop stood and moved to the nearly headless corpse of Private Jameson.

"Well, obviously when the killer was discovered by Jameson, it didn't want to be found, so it prevented Jameson from screaming. He could've been stabbed in the stomach, and still would've been able to scream. So, the killer pretty much ripped his throat apart. Wind pipe, esophagus, everything, Jameson couldn't scream and therefore couldn't raise the alarm. The burnt skin marks are also evident around the skin, indicating some sort of plasma blade" Bishop said. The medic stood and covered up both bodies with a medical blanket. Lieutenant Owens looked down at the prone figures for awhile. Sergeant Johnston's hands were bawled into fists.

"When we gonna get those sons of bitches" he growled. Owens shook his head.

"We are only a team of eight, and I'm willing to bet you there are more than a few hundred Covenant soldiers out there. We'll wait for reinforcements" he said. As if on cue, Corporal Dela Cruz ran towards them from the defense wall.

"Pelicans inbound!" he yelled. The eight humans ran to the colony entrance and observed a cluster of Pelican dropships slowly descend to the ground, their troop bay ramps opening. The ships circled around and lowered themselves to the ground, allowing the marines sitting inside to jump out. There were a lot of them. Colin couldn't count them all as they marched towards the colony, one marine leading the way. The lead marine stopped in front of Lieutenant Owens and saluted. Owens returned it.

"Lieutenant Owens, Shadow Ops II"

"Major Kerr, Bravo Company" the marine said.

"You boys from the Daedrea sir?" Owens asked. The Major nodded.

"Part of Daedrea's Helljumper Regiment. We got orders to help secure this colony down" he said.

"We better hurry sir, we've run into a slight snag" Owens said. The Major raised an eyebrow, but then nodded. He turned to the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers behind him.

"Set up a perimeter inside the colony! Platoon leaders with me! Move it people!" he roared. The marines let out a roar of approval and stormed into the colony, while Lieutenant Owens, Major Kerr and three marines went to the small tent camp that the Shadow Ops had set up.

"Forgive the appearance sir, we're just roughing it" Owens said as he sat down on one of the logs.

"We've had worse" Kerr chuckled. He then motioned to the three other marines who sat around him. "These are my platoon leaders. Lieutenants Conrath, Reece and Andrews" he said quickly. Lieutenant Owens looked over at Colin.

"Shadow Ops II sniper and second-in command, Sergeant Thompson" he said. After greetings and salutes were exchanged, the Lieutenant motioned to the bodies of Marleau and Jameson.

"Those two marines were killed last night sir. From what our medic was able to obtain from the wounds, it was done with a plasma blade. We believe the Covenant are in the area" he started off. Kerr took a moment to look at the bodies, before turning back to the Lieutenant.

"They were sentries?" he asked.

"Yes sir" Owens said, nodding.

"How come you guys are alive? Usually the Covenant simply wipe out any resistance, then set up a base of some sort" Kerr asked.

"Well, that's something we can't figure out. Another problem, our scout, Corporal Dela Cruz, couldn't find any tracks, or any signs of movement in the grass that would indicate a Covenant presence" Owens remarked.

"Invisibility?" asked one of the Platoon lieutenants.

"Possibly, but Covenant tracks can still be seen, I've seen them myself" Owens said. There was a moment of silence as they all sat there on the logs, looking at the ground. Lieutenant Owens shifted uncomfortably.

"The colony is obviously empty, which could mean that the Covenant already came through this area. Because of the fact that nothing was destroyed and we have taken up a presence here, I believe they are returning to finish what they started" he said.

"Wouldn't think they have anyone left to send into battle. Not after Alpha Colony" Kerr grumbled.

"What happened at Alpha sir?" Owens asked.

"We won obviously. The Covenant used a division or so of troops to try and take that colony. Loss of life is severe, for both sides. We lost two battalions of Marine regulars, that's over two thousand men. Lots of our vehicular companies were destroyed. Half of the colonists were killed by artillery. From what I heard, Alpha Colony is pretty gone. Although the Covenant retreated, the damage done to the colony itself can't be repaired. They will probably be heading to either Gamma Colony or here" Kerr said.

"Which would make sense to destroy Omega Colony before we can beef up it's defenses" Colin said. Major Kerr nodded.

"Indeed, however it looks as if they have already found us. The Daedrea expected this. We've been given orders to protect the colony for an hour or two until they clean up Alpha Colony. Afterwards, they'll be sending some battalions and brigades to Gamma Colony. We'll be getting troops from the UNSC Carnage which had just arrived while we were leaving" the Major explained.

"Sounds good. You're in command Major, what are your orders?" Lieutenant Owens asked.

"We brought down some equipment with us. Let's get some defenses set up here" he said, standing up. The small party of humans walked to the main entrance, which was surrounded with marines. Colin looked to where the Pelicans had settled down earlier and could make out ten large boxes on the ground. The entire marine company walked alongside them as they walked to the large crates. The Major took out his pistol and fired once, destroying the lock. The entire crate fell apart, revealing a new "toy" that the UNSC had obviously crafted.

"Ever seen or heard of this Lieutenant?" the Major asked. Owens shook his head.

"No sir. What is it?" he asked. The Major walked up to the large walker.

"They are called Death Walkers or DWs for short. They stand around ten feet tall, five feet wide. The cockpit is basically the body of the walker. It's large enough for one person, and is completely crafted out of titanium. The cockpit window is small, exposing the pilot from the chest and up. The window itself is made out of some sort of strong glass material that I don't know about. I think these are used on the windows of UNSC ships. Two legs are attached to the bottom, two arms along the sides. The DWs are armed with four 50mm chain guns, two on each arm. They also have two racks of Argent V missiles, one located on each arm. These are extremely effective for mowing down infantry and taking out Covenant vehicles at large distances" the Major explained, patting the Death Walker he had opened. Lieutenant Owens grinned and nodded his head.

"Excellent sir" he said. Major Kerr returned the grin, and then turned to his marines.

"Let's get these things unloaded and inside the colony. Move it apes!" he roared. There was a rush of movement behind Colin as the marines began opening the large crates, revealing nine additional Death Walkers. The cockpits of these walkers were opened and marines helped other marines climb aboard. As the DWs were sealed up, the pilots turned the small engine and grabbed hold of two joy sticks positioned on the small computer console in front of them. The Death Walkers came to life, moving away from the crates they had come from and began slowly walking towards the colony entrance. Colin noticed that as they walked, the entire cockpit swiveled around, scanning the area all around them.

"Impressive. Death and Feuer will have a field day with these things" he said to Lieutenant Owens. Fredrick grinned and nodded to Colin.

"They sure will" he said, walking with Colin back to the colony. Major Kerr could be seen standing near the entrance, issuing orders to his platoon leaders and several other marines.

"We'll seal up this entrance completely. Not making the mistake of using trenches and foxholes. Reinforce this gate with metal, wood, anything that will keep it closed. Post our troops along the wall, they'll shoot down at the Covenant as they're charging in. The Death Walkers will be gathered in a circle around the entrance, in case it happens to fall open. If it does, the Covenant will be walking into a huge cross fire" he stated. Grins were exchanged the marines gathered around the Major. "Get moving maggots!" he suddenly yelled. The marines snapped to attention and ran off to do their tasks. Lieutenant Owens walked up to the Major.

"We still don't know if the Covenant are in the area sir" he said.

"I already have a team of scouts being prepared to move out into the jungle and see if there is a nearby enemy position" Kerr said, pointing to five marines.

"Sir, allow some of my team of scout the area out. With all due respect, we are better trained for such a task" he said. Major Kerr faced the Lieutenant. It looked as if he was going to spit in his face, but Kerr nodded.

"Understood Lieutenant, send them out whenever you wish, but be advised, we are sealing this gate soon" he said. Owens nodded and turned to Colin.

"Take Scout and Spirit, be back here within the hour" Owens ordered. Colin nodded and jogged towards the small circle of tents they had set up the other night. He grabbed his Shadow rifle and MA5B assault rifle, then stood and grabbed his radio.

"Spirit, Scout, on me" he ordered. Dela Cruz ran down the catwalk ramp from the colony wall, slinging his battle rifle as he ran. Corporal Bishop emerged from one of the tents, buckling up his armor and grabbing his weapons. Colin nodded at the two of them.

"Going on a little scouting mission, see if there are any Covenant in this area. We'll be out for no longer then an hour, so don't pack too much" he said quickly. Colin looked at a small map that he had been given of Omega Colony. The jungle faced the colony entry, while behind it was an open valley, dotted with clusters of bushes and some trees.

"We'll explore around inside the jungle. The open valley doesn't seem like a good idea for an assault by the Covenant. Scout, you lead the way. Spirit, you bring up the rear. Questions?" The two Shadow Ops members shook their heads. Colin slammed a clip of 7.62 armor piercing rounds into his assault rifle and shouldered the weapon. He nodded at Scout, who turned and began jogging towards the colony entrance, which was surrounded with ODSTs, trying to seal it up. The trio passed through the gate and moved into the tropical forest. Upon their entry through the vegetation, Corporal Dela Cruz slowed down and began walking slowly. Colin's hawk eyes scanned all around him. Everything was quiet, except for the muffled shouts coming from the colony. As they moved deeper into the jungle, the sounds disappeared and were replaced by silence. Colin would hear the odd jungle animal like a monkey or birds make a sound, but other than that, it was deathly quiet. Slowly, the three Shadow Ops members continued to move in to the jungle, searching out their enemy.

"Report?" Captain Brian Hayes walked back into the bridge of his cruiser, the Blade of Wrath. Lieutenant Campbell looked up from the engineering console, looking a bit happier then she was six hours ago.

"Communications is back online, our navigation dish is fixed, and the engineering crew was able to fix eleven of our eighteen Devilhorn missile pods. Engine generator one is still offline, but the other two are operational. We can push the Blade of Wrath to sixty percent of her engine power. Part of the Daedrea's engineering crew assisted ours in welding some additional armor plates to the heavily damaged sections of the ship. Armor rating is at thirty percent. One of our Super MAC guns remains destroyed, but all other weapons are functional" she recited. Hayes nodded.

"What about the Nordic?" he asked. The UNSC Nordic had taken the most damage out of the two ships. Brian looked out the view screen and could see the dead ship still floating towards Vivec's moons.

"All remaining personnel were evacuated to the Carnage sir" Lieutenant Nixon, the communications officer said. Brian turned around.

"The Carnage? What about the Daedrea?" he asked.

"The UNSC Daedrea has reported that she is loaded down with the wounded from planet side. Seems the battle for Alpha Colony was a bad one" Nixon stated. Brian lowered his head. If a cruiser like Daedrea was filled up with wounded soldiers, Alpha colony was probably defenseless. He looked again at the view screen and observed the UNSC Carnage, a Galactic-class war cruiser, just like the Blade of Wrath. The Carnage was the Blade of Wrath's sister ship, except she wasn't wounded from battle. Her thick armor shined brightly as the light from the sun reflected off its hull. The only difference between her and the Blade of Wrath was that she had given up several Devilhorn missile pods and a few centimeters of armor in order to have a third docking bay constructed for her squadrons of Stormwing attack fighters. The ship itself just spelled out "power" to any onlooker.

"Has Daedrea used up all her military divisions?" Brian asked.

"She just finished sending her last platoon of Helljumpers down to Omega Colony. Most of her forces were directed to Alpha" Lieutenant Nixon said. Brian remembered the mission at Omega Colony. He would worry about that later.

"Order the UNSC Carnage to supply Omega Colony with some reinforcements. What is the status of that colony anyway?" Brian asked.

"From what Daedrea reports, the Shadow Ops II found the colony intact, but all the colonists were gone, assumed dead. They're just preparing her defenses" Nixon reported. The Captain nodded.

"Keep on the repairs. I wouldn't be surprised that if the Covenant attack again, they'll bring more than a few frigates and a destroyer. Order the UNSC Wilderness to proceed here to Vivec ASAP" he said, turning to walk out of the bridge.

"Sir, radar contacts bearing; 045 mark 105, range; 200 Kilometres" Lieutenant Nixon cried out. Brian whirled around and rushed to his console, looking at the read outs.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Dropships sir. Covenant dropships, descending to the planet" Nixon breathed.

"How many?" Brian asked. Nixon typed at his keypad and a large figure appeared on the screen.

"Over two thousand" the Lieutenant said. Brian looked up.

"Helm, power up the generators! Take down as many of those bastards as you can!" he yelled. The Carnage and Daedrea seemed to have realized this fleet of dropships also. The two large cruisers slowly moved closer in their orbits, using their archer missile pods and hull chain guns to take out several off the dropships. However, they had acted too late, and before the Blade of Wrath could join the fight. At least a thousand dropships had landed on Vivec's surface. Brian stared down at the planet below, his mouth wide open. He looked to his communications officer.

"Lieutenant, I want you to send every god damn marine, every piece of military equipment that we have on this ship, down to that planet. Take everything, load it onto what dropships we have left and send them to the planet" Brian said slowly. Nixon nodded and began relaying the orders. Brian sat down in his command chair, breathing slowly.

"Also, tell our forces below, they've got company coming" he said.

"Yes sir" Lieutenant Nixon answered.

"Go to battle alert"

Corporal Dela Cruz held up a fist. Immediately, Colin froze, ducking low to the ground beside the scout master. Corporal Bishop was behind the sniper, covering his six. Colin looked up at the Hispanic man.

"Scout?" he whispered.

"I feel like we're being watched or something sir" he whispered back. Colin stood up, looking around the forest.

"What do you see?" he asked.

"Well nothing sir, but I can hear something moving behind us. I've been hearing this same sound since we first arrived here, but I merely thought it was the rest of the squad. But since I can hear more then two pairs of feet walking in this jungle, I'm beginning to worry" the scout said. Colin was looking all around him, squinting carefully. However, he could only see green leaves, trees and bushes. There was no sign of life.

"We've been gone long enough. Let's head back for now" he said, turning to leave. Without warning, a shot rang out in the forest. Colin whirled around and ducked, just in time to avoid a plasma bolt that flew past him.

"Covenant!" Corporal Bishop screamed, raising his assault rifle and fired off a few rounds. Colin crouched up and fired his assault rifle blindly through the woods. He looked beside him at the unconscious form of Aaron Dela Cruz.

"Spirit!" Colin yelled, still firing his assault rifle. The medic lowered his weapon and knelt beside the knocked out man, feeling for a pulse and checking the man's face.

"Put into submission. What the fuck?" Bishop said, looking up at Colin, who stopped firing. Suddenly, Corporal Bishop was slowly lifted off the ground. Colin looked up at him with shock.

"Shade!" Bishop screamed. Like a doll, the medic was tossed easily into a tree, where he fell to the ground, unconscious. Eyes wide open and shaking heavily, Colin turned around to look at the spot where the medic had been sitting. It was empty. There was no one else in the forest with Colin. He stood absolutely still and tried to shut out all the noises around him. The sniper could definitely hear something walking around him. He could hear leaves being stepped on and branched pushed aside. It was coming from behind him. Colin grabbed his assault rifle as he could hear the pace quicken. He whirled around and fired.

A figure materialized out of nowhere, wearing a marine combat uniform and a glowing plasma sword sticking out of its wrist. Colin looked up at the figure's face and realized who this man was.

"Private Tucker?" he asked. The marine stared down at Colin with a neutral expression. His eyes were glowing yellow and the plasma sword coming out of his wrist didn't look natural. His skin had also turned blue slightly, and he seemed a bit more bulky then usual. There were also holes all over the man's chest and stomach. Colin was about to speak, when his chest and stomach began to twist and squirm together. The bullet holes from where Colin had shot the marine disappeared and the bullets themselves fell onto the ground around the sniper. Colin looked up at the man, horrified.

"What the fuck are you?" he asked. Private Tucker suddenly grinned and took a step back. Still smiling, he bawled his fist and punched Colin in the face. The force of the blow was like nothing the Sergeant had ever felt. Pain shot through his face and his entire skull shook. He was thrown backwards, over Corporal Dela Cruz's body and onto a rock, where he slipped into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw was Tucker, turning and disappearing again.

"Shade, this is Shadow, please respond....God damnit Sergeant, respond!" Lieutenant Owens threw his radio down on the grass in disgust. His good friend and second in command had disappeared. He should've been back an hour ago, yet he was not present inside the colony. Owens watched as the colony gates were closed completely and supported with wooden and metal beams. The gates had also been reinforced with armour plating from the houses in the colony. It would hold until reinforcements arrived. Major Kerr approached the Lieutenant, wiping sweat from his face.

"There, that will keep them out hopefully" he said, panting. Owens nodded.

"Impressive sir" he said. The Major looked up at Fredrick.

"Any news from your scouts?" he asked. The Lieutenant bowed his head and shook it. Major Kerr stood straight.

"If they come later on, several of my marines have some rope which they can use to pull them up over the wall" he said.

"Thank you sir" Owens said, smiling and saluting the Major. As he returned it, a marine rushed over to them.

"It's the Blade of Wrath sir" he said, handing the microphone to Kerr. The Major took it and clicked the small device, holding it to his mouth.

"This is Major Kerr of Bravo Company" he said.

"Major Kerr, this is Captain Hayes of the Blade of Wrath, we have a serious problem" came the voice of Captain Brian Hayes. Owens realized that he sounded scared.

"What is it sir?" Kerr asked.

"A fleet of around a thousand or so Covenant dropships were successful in getting past our scans and penetrated the atmosphere. You've got at least a brigade or a regiment of Covenant troops heading your way" the Captain said. Major Kerr opened his mouth to respond, but the sounds of screaming, explosions and gunfire prevented him from doing so....

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Seven
Date: 23 December 2003, 1:41 AM

Chapter Seven

"What's wrong? Get him back!" Captain Brian Hayes hovered over Lieutenant Nixon's console, glaring at the view screen.

"I don't know sir, we lost the signal, and I can't get a hold of anyone down there"
Nixon stammered, his tired hands typing away at his keypad.

"Shit...what do our scans show?' Hayes asked Lieutenant Scott, who was back at the navigation station.

"Heavy Covenant population all over the surface sir. I don't think we shot down a lot of those dropships" he said.

"Where are they located?" Brian asked.

"Omega, Alpha and Gamma Colony sir" Scott whispered.

"Bloody invasion" Lieutenant Nixon whispered beside Brian. The Captain nodded.

"So it seems. Lieutenant Elliott, what's the status on the purging of our security forces and marine weapons?" Brian asked. The weapons officer looked up at the Captain with a dull expression.

"Sir, all the remaining ground forces we had were killed when Docking Bay One exploded. The Pelicans in Docking Bay Two are being loaded up with weapons and ammunition from the armouries. We can drop these supply crates over the colonies" he explained. Brian nodded and turned back to Lieutenant Scott.

"What is the condition of the colonies defences?" he asked. Lieutenant Scott did another planetary scan and brought the results up on the view screen.

"The Daedrea gave Alpha Colony her entire regiment of marines and ODSTs, plus several columns of vehicles, including tanks. I think it's safe to say Alpha is secure. We had thought Gamma Colony was not going to be attacked again, so there are only a few companies of marines there and some Warthogs. Omega Colony is the main problem sir. A platoon of three hundred fifty ODSTs and the Shadow Ops II squad are the only defenders there sir. They also have the ten Death Walkers this battle group was supplied with" he explained. Brian lowered his head. Overall, it seemed that they were going to loose Vivec, unless some extra marine forces could be sent down.

"Status on the Carnage?" he asked. The big Galactic-class cruiser could be seen on the view screen, as it moved closer to Vivec.

"She's just moving into orbit sir" Lieutenant Scott said.

"Communications; Tell them to supply Omega and Gamma colonies with reinforcements. They're going to need them" Hayes said to Lieutenant Nixon.

"Message sent sir. She acknowledges and is rallying her troops now" Nixon said. Brian turned to look down at the planet's surface as storm clouds began to gather along the atmosphere.

"Hold on guys, help is coming" he whispered.

"Left flank! Cover left flank!" Lieutenant Owens roared. The three ODSTs that were along the left part of the colony wall fell backwards off the catwalk dead from continuous plasma bolts. Another group of marines moved in, their assault rifles barking.

"Incoming!" a marine yelled. Owens looked up and ducked as a plasma grenade soared over his head and landed in the compound below.

"Keep firing!" the Lieutenant yelled, standing back up and finishing his clip of 7.62 armour piercing rounds. The Covenant had surprised attack them and had done a good job. Nearly half of the ODSTs that had been dropped off earlier were dead and either lay on the compound below or on the catwalk. The amount of Covenant troops charging at them was incredible. Fredrick had never seen so many Grunts, Jackals and Elites in his entire military career. A huge tidal wave of the troops attacked the marine defenders and moved to the colony gates.

"Take them out!" Lieutenant Owens yelled, unpinning several fragmentation grenades near him and tossing them over the side. The wall surrounding the colony was made out of thick titanium, used on the battleships that flew through space. The resulting detonations of the grenades and the plasma bolts did no damage at all. Owens reloaded his assault rifle and fired into the crowd of Covenant. A marine beside him was swinging his SMG 500 back and forth, spraying the area with bullets. Owens grabbed him on the shoulder.

"Soldier, you keep doing that, you're just going to waste valuable ammunition and make yourself sick. Concentrate on one enemy at a time, it's more effective" he yelled. The private nodded and fired at a Jackal. The high-powered bullets ripped apart the alien's shield and it dropped to the ground. Owens nodded with approval and continued to fire.

"Lieutenant! They're massing at the colony entrance!" Owens turned to see Major Kerr waving at him and pointing to the entry.

"Shit" the Lieutenant whispered. The Covenant were indeed clustered around the sealed up gates, firing their plasma weapons at it, in an attempt to melt the doors. Although it would work eventually, melting the thick armour would take a long time. The Covenant seemed to realize this, since several plasma mortars fired from Wraiths flew high into the air and smashed into the door. The resulting explosions shook the entire barrier and the catwalk. Several Helljumpers fell backwards off the ramps and onto the ground.

"Those Wraiths are going to be the death of us" a Helljumper cried, reloading his weapon.

"So it seems, just keep firing and stand by for a colony breach" Owens said, patting the man on the shoulder. The marine nodded and continued shooting. Owens looked down into the compound and looked at the Death Walkers. Their cockpits were being opened by marines and slowly being activated.

"Death, Feuer, get into one of those Death Walkers and don't let a single
Covenant soldier walk into this colony" Owens said into his radio.

"We're on it sir" Corporal McConnell replied. Fredrick looked around the colony wall. The amount of Covenant forces below them were too large for them to hold off. Helljumpers stood up to fire at the enemy forces below, but would either fall backwards or forward dead from plasma bolts. The Lieutenant turned to the main entrance and could see that the titanium armour was beginning to melt and fall apart as the Covenant fired at it and the Wraiths bombed it. Lieutenant grabbed a nearby Helljumper.

"Spread the word to fall back into the compound. The colony is about to be breached" he yelled. The marine saluted to Owens, then ran along the catwalk, yelling at other marines to retreat. Fredrick tossed the last of frag grenades over the side, and then spotted a Jackhammer rocket launcher lying near a dead ODST. The weapon was still loaded and the Lieutenant could make out an additional package of two 108mm rockets. Fredrick hoisted the weapon, and slowly pointed the nozzle of the gun over the side of the wall and to the Covenant army below. Instead of firing blind shots, the Lieutenant turned and aimed over at the Covenant gathered around the main entrance. He would hope that if he could kill them that would buy them some time. Without thinking, Fredrick fired the two rockets. Although he ducked behind the wall after the last rocket fired, he could hear the screams of the Grunts, Jackals and Elites that had perished into the explosions. He reloaded the rocket launcher and moved to a different spot along the catwalk. He leaned over the wall again and looked towards the entrance. There were two large craters where the group of Covenant had been shooting from. Their bodies lay on the ground with all the other Covenant bodies. However, another group of troops began massing around the entrance, shooting at it. Fredrick fired the rocket launcher again. Both rockets killed the twenty or so soldiers standing around the entry. Grinning at the screams of pain he could hear below, Fredrick dropped the launcher and ran along the catwalk. He found one of the ramps that lead down into the compound below. As he jogged down it, his radio crackled in his ear.

"Lieutenant Owens, this is Major Kerr" came the voice of the Major. Owens slowed down to a light trot as he ran to the cluster of Death Walkers that were massing around the gate entrance to the colony.

"Yes Major?" Owens asked.

"Your scout team has returned Lieutenant. They're being pulled up over the wall now" the Major said. Fredrick's eyes widened for a moment. He looked near the back of the colony to the wall that surrounded it. He could make out a group of marines leaning over the side and tugging at a rope. The Lieutenant immediately pumped his tired legs and sprinted over to them. He climbed the ramp quickly and rushed to them. Five marines were pulling at a rope that disappeared over the side of the wall. Fredrick grabbed the end of it and helped them pull. The head and the rest of Corporal Dela Cruz's body soon appeared over the wall. Three marines let go of the rope and grabbed the man's shoulders. They pulled him completely over the barrier and laid him on the catwalk. Lieutenant Owens immediately went to his side.

"Scout, can you hear me?" he said. The Hispanic man turned his head and looked up at Fredrick.

"Sorry I was late sir" he whispered. Owens grinned slightly. A marine medic knelt beside Fredrick and began looking over Dela Cruz's body.

"What happened?" Lieutenant Owens asked Aaron. Dela Cruz looked away, staring off into the clouded night sky.

"Ran into a Covenant patrol. As far as I remember, we had fought them off, and then I felt something grab my shoulder and pinch some nerve. I don't know exactly what nerve, but I remember my entire body going numb, then I blacked out" he whispered. Owens looked over at the medic for an explanation, but he was crouching beside the prone figures of Corporal Bishop and Sergeant Thompson that lay on the ramp. Owens walked over to them. Colin's nose was bent in an odd angle and his entire face seemed bruised. Jacob Bishop had a huge gash on the side of his head that was still bleeding.

"They'll be okay sir, just knocked out. I doubt any of them will be fighting tonight though" the medic said, standing up from the body of Corporal Bishop. Owens nodded.

"Fix them up. Marines, come with me" he said. The five ODSTs who had helped bring the Shadow Ops members over the wall followed the Lieutenant back down into the compound and towards the Death Walkers. The mech units had set themselves up in a semi-circle, each of them pointing their weapons to the bulging colony entrance. The remaining ODSTs were setting up bunkers from the titanium and metal plating that had helped make the houses in this colony. They began grabbing what ammunition they had left and crouching behind these bunkers. Major Kerr stood up from a dugout he had been in and walked over to the Lieutenant.

"I've got one hundred seventy nine of my men left. We took a real beating up on that catwalk" he said sadly.

"Three of my party are out. Seems they were ambushed in the forest" Owens said.

"Hopefully these DWs will make a difference. All our firepower focused on one spot will definitely cut them down" Kerr growled. The sound of the hinges around the colony wall snapping and breaking off made them realize the time had come. Owens saluted to the Major, who returned it.

"Good luck Major"

"You too Lieutenant." Fredrick turned and jogged over to a titanium fence that several marines had created. As he crouched behind it and loaded his weapons, their radios began to crackle.

"Helljumpers of Bravo Company! In about ten seconds, all of our lives will most likely be swept away in a wave of destruction. Blood will be spilled, friends will be lost, but we shall endure. When that gate falls, we find out who is afraid and who isn't. Who runs and who hides. And by god, I am not afraid and I will not hide. Feet first into hell Helljumpers. Let's take it to them!" the Major yelled. There was a roar of approval from the other marines and even Owens couldn't help but smile. Morale speeches like those pumped adrenaline through the veins and made every single human in this colony fight harder. Owens cocked his MA5B assault rifle and shouldered the weapon. He pointed it at the entrance and looked at the seven marines beside him.

"Do not let a single god damn Covenant soldier to step inside the colony boys" he yelled. The ODSTs all exchanged grins with one another and saluted Owens. They then focused on the gate that was slowly falling apart.

There was a loud explosion, followed by the sound of metal scraping against metal. The entire gate entrance that lead into the colony fell to the ground, charred and burned. As the smoke and mist cleared, the hulks of ten Covenant Hunters could be seen, slowly making their way into the colony.

"Fire!" Major Kerr yelled over the radio. The Death Walkers fired first. Argent V missiles flew out of their launch tubes and smashed into the Hunters, blasting them backwards. The 50mm chain guns on their arms clicked and began to turn, letting loose thousands of bullets onto the enemy soldiers charging into the settlement. ODSTs holding onto Jackhammer rocker launchers fired the weapons. The rockets soared towards the Covenant lines, smoke trailing in their wake. The resulting explosions killed hundreds of Covenant soldiers. Finally, the sound of clattered gun fire could be heard over all these explosions as the remaining Helljumpers fired their assault rifles, sub machine guns, battle rifles and pistols. The ten Hunters were nowhere to be seen after the opening attack. Huge craters dotted the entrance from the rockets and missiles. Above all else, the screams from the Covenant as they died was the most satisfying sound Fredrick ever heard as he fired his assault rifle. The Death Walkers were indeed handy. The Covenant probably hadn't gotten a chance at all to fire their weapons at the humans. Their blood stained the ground and their bodies piled high on top of each other as soldier after soldier fell to the ground dead. Fredrick reloaded his assault rifle quickly and kept on firing, watching more Covenant troops fall as the Death Walkers fired their Argent V missiles.

Unknown to the humans, the Covenant were creating groves along the colony wall using their plasma weapons. This then allowed cloaked Elites to climb over the barrier and march into the compound below. The marines didn't notice this until it was too late. Plasma swords were ignited and floated in mid-air behind ODSTs. With no mercy whatsoever, the Elites brutality chopped the heads of several marines who were reloading. The quick, painless death allowed the Elites to kill without being spotted. Fredrick however began to notice that the far left side of their defences were no longer firing their weapons. As he ran out of ammo again, he looked over to the titanium blockades and saw the dead bodies of the marines who had been there. Owens raised an eyebrow and turned around. Floating in front of him was a Covenant plasma sword, and lying on the ground in front of the Lieutenant were the seven Helljumpers who had been with him. Lieutenant Owens moved quickly, ducking to avoid the sword that was swung at him and jumping forward. He caught a pair of armoured legs as he tackled the air. The cloaked Elite howled as it fell backwards onto the ground. Its onboard cloaking device sparked several times and powered down. Fredrick looked up from the mud and could see the head of the Elite looking back at him. He could hear the Elite breathing and then heard it growl as it kicked Owens in the chest, knocking him backwards. Owens landed against his titanium barrier, but grabbed his radio quickly.

"Cloaked Elites behind us!" he yelled. As he stood up and circled around the Elite, the remaining ODSTs turned and shot at the floating plasma swords. The Elites that had been holding the weapon fell backwards dead as the bullets struck through their armour. Fredrick raised his fists at the Elite which stood in front of him. The Covenant Field Commander tossed aside its sword and spread its legs, assuming some sort of Covenant battle stance. Owens jabbed at the Elite with his left and right fists quickly. The Elite brought its own hands up and blocked several of the blows. The Lieutenant was lucky to hit the Elite several times in its stomach area and head. The Elite suddenly jumped forward, blocking and grabbing one of the Lieutenant's fists and brought its other hand up and down on Owens's chest. The mighty blow knocked Fredrick backwards, who had the wind knocked out of him. Breathing heavily and wiping the blood from his mouth, Owens swung his fist forward, putting all his weight into this one blow which slammed into the Elite's face. The Covenant creature howled in pain as Fredrick heard something snap. The Elite turned to face Fredrick, one of its mandibles hanging limply from its mouth. Owens smirked and swung his fist again, but the Elite blocked it. Owens faked a right jab, and brought his leg up, making contact with the Elites stomach area again. The armour around that area cracked and the Lieutenant's boot hit bare skin. Screaming the Elite backed off, bending over and holding its stomach area in pain. Fredrick took a skip forward and uppercut the Elite. It flipped over and landed hard onto the ground, blood spewing from its mouth. Owens shook his head and took out his pistol. He held it to the Elites head and stared into its eyes.

"Welcome to Vivec" he growled. Lieutenant Owens pulled the trigger. The bullet flew through the barrel of the gun and exited the chamber, smashing into and out of the Elites head. The helmet it wore exploded in fragments, covered in blood and pieces of brain. The Elite went limp as the hole in its head bled onto the grass. Grinning, Fredrick straightened his back and went back to the battle that was still going on around him.

The Covenant had seemed to have realized that getting into the colony by the main entrance was futile and were sending troops to climb the wall and attack from the catwalk. However, six of the Death Walkers had been ordered to focus on the troops climbing the wall, while the remaining four kept firing at the entry. The Helljumpers were scattered all over the colony, chasing down cloaked Elites and defending the interior of the colony as the Covenant climbed the walls. A group of seventy marines were with the Lieutenant as he ran through the rows of houses and huts, firing at what seemed to be the last floating plasma sword. The Elite howled as multiple bullets smashed into its body. It fell to its knees, and then slammed into the ground, blood flowing from the wounds.

There was a slight sense of relief that the threat was gone, but they weren't done yet. At the very back of the colony, a group of one hundred Covenant were successful in climbing the wall undetected and were moving through the houses, killing all who opposed. Owens gathered the ODSTs with him and they charged after the Covenant, firing what ammo was left in their weapons. Several Grunts and Jackals were cut down as they approached them from behind, but the rest turned and opened fire. Twelve Helljumpers immediately fell from plasma wounds. The others all dove out of the way, firing their own guns as they hide. Owens tossed a frag grenade he had found and watched a group of Jackals disappear in an explosion of blood. An ODST across from the Lieutenant fired a Jackhammer rocket, which reduced the Covenant numbers to around eighty. With ammo and battery charges low, the amount of firepower around the homes began to cease. As Fredrick fired the last of his armour piercing rounds from his assault rifle, the Covenant in front of them suddenly lowered their weapons and ran towards the humans. Owens stepped out from behind his cover and watched the seventy or so Covenant soldiers run at them, snarling and roaring at them. A Helljumper Sergeant took a step forward and threw his assault rifle onto the ground.

"Let's fuck them up!" he yelled, running to the Covenant with fists raised. The marines cheered and ran after him, dropping their weapons and bawling their hands. Even Lieutenant Owens couldn't help but feel the adrenaline in him take over all his senses. He tossed his assault rifle onto the blood stained ground and ran after the marines, who were engaging the Covenant in a bloody hand to hand fight.

Standing at the edge of the jungle that surrounded Omega colony and watching groups of Covenant troops climb up and over the wall; Private Tucker remained invisible and unseen to the Covenant forces. However, calling the invisible figure Private Tucker wouldn't be right. The body of Private Tucker was invisible to the Covenant. The power essence that was inside the human had complete control of the marine and didn't plan on letting him go. Suddenly, the invisibility that had surrounded Tucker disappeared and he stood completely exposed and seen to the Covenant. Several of them paused and motioned to him. A Grunt even fired its pistol at him. The plasma pistol discharged, letting a small bolt of the deadly weapon fly at Tucker. The Private however simply stepped to one side, completely avoiding the shot. The Private suddenly grinned widely and raised his right arm into the air. The Covenant began to back off slightly as he did this. Slowly, Tucker lowered his arm and pointed at the Covenant. He held that pose for a few seconds, before lowering his arm.

The Covenant that were watching him went quiet, while the others continued to fight the humans inside the colony. The ground beneath them began to tremble, as the sound of thousands of feet drummed along the earth. This drumming noise became louder and it seemed as if the whole jungle was shaking. Without warning, figures covered in tentacles and carrying their limbs rushed past Private Tucker and charged at the Covenant lines. The Covenant began to raise their weapons to fire, but like a tidal wave, these tentacle figures trampled through them, crushing some Covenant and beating others to death. Private Tucker merely stood at the edge of the jungle, still grinning as this army of Flood combat forms appeared out of the jungle and ran past him, attacking the Covenant who were forced to stop shooting at the humans inside the colony and try to defend themselves. The entire jungle became alive with Flood activity as hundreds of thousands of forms crawled out from under the ground like zombies rising from their graves. They shook themselves of the dirt and decomposed material that covered their bodies, and then extended their long tentacle wipes. Their barks and growls filled the night sky as they swarmed around the UNSC colonies, looking to feed.

Captain Hayes sat in his command chair with his head in his hands. Reports from all around him were being yelled to him. They all sounded the same. The Covenant had struck hard. Gamma Colony was destroyed; Alpha Colony was slowly being weakened. Omega Colony, like the beginning of this mission, was a mystery. He didn't know what to do. Admiral Baker was back at the UNSC, leaving Brian in charge of the battle group. Even with the arrival of the UNSC Wilderness, it seemed as if Vivec would belong to the Covenant in a matter of hours. He hoped that they would be able to scan Omega colony soon and determine its fate.

As if his prayers were answered, Lieutenant Nixon looked up from his communications console, looking shocked and confused all at once. Captain Hayes looked over at the man, but he struggled to find the words.

"Lieutenant?" Brian asked. Nixon paused for a moment, before looking up at the Captain with a thin lip smile.

"Could you come see this sir?" he asked. Brian stood and walked to the Lieutenant's station. Readouts and a small diagram scrolled across the screen. Hayes recognized the diagram of an area of Vivec.

"These are the latest scans from Omega Colony" he said, a hint of hope in his voice. Nixon nodded and enlarged the diagram. A small series of yellow dots could be seen inside the colony.

"Those are what marine forces are left sir. We count one hundred fifty-six" Nixon said. He typed several more commands into his keypad. The yellow dots disappeared. The picture of the colony was suddenly surrounded by clusters of red dots. Some of these dots were even inside the colony.

"Covenant numbers range in the six thousands" Nixon said. Hayes mouth hung open, but it seemed that Nixon wasn't done. He continued to type and changed the screen. The red dots were gone and were replaced by an even bigger blob of green. The entire jungle that surrounded the colony was covered in these green dots. The picture pulled back, showing not just the colony, but the colony and the surrounding terrain. This green blob continued to cover the landscape.

"The computer cannot calculate this new force that has arrived" Nixon whispered. Hayes looked away from the screen and down on the planet.

"Have the other ships confirmed this?" he asked.

"Yes sir, their scans show this new force around Omega, Gamma, Beta and Alpha colony. Ours show the same thing" Lieutenant Nixon said.

"Oh my god" Brian whispered. Before he had time to think, Lieutenant Scott turned around in his chair.

"Sir, radar contacts bearing; 045 mark 105, range; 2000 Kilometres and closing" he said.

"What?" Captain Hayes growled.

"The Covenant are returning sir. The computer estimates six ships. Four destroyers, one cruiser, one carrier" Lieutenant Scott said. Brian stood straight.

"Bring the ship up to combat alert alpha. Remove all weapons safety locks. Polarize the armour and secure all decks. Bring us to heading four, four, one" Brian said quickly, walking to his command chair.

"Aye sir, removing all weapons safety locks."

"Polarizing the armour, all decks report secured and ready."

"Coming to heading four, four, one." The bridge crew moved fast in relaying these orders to the rest of the ship. Slowly, the Blade of Wrath turned to face this new enemy that rapidly approached her.

"Sir, our sister ships request orders" Lieutenant Nixon said.

"Have the Carnage and Daedrea position themselves in a geosynchronous orbit over Vivec. Tell them to take out as many of those bastards as they can" Hayes ordered.

"Aye sir. What about the Wilderness?" Nixon asked. The UNSC Wilderness was a Typhoon-class Battle Carrier. She only sported a few Devilhorn missile pods and two small MAC turrets. However, not only did she have seven metres of Titanium-A battle armour across her hull, she had two large docking bays that were filled with Longsword and Stormwing interceptor fighters.

"Tell her Captain to hold position and continue supplying our forces below with reinforcements. However, also order the Wilderness to launch their squadrons of Stormwings and Longswords. If we fail, she will break orbit and retreat to a nearby planet" Hayes said. Nixon nodded. Hayes turned and faced the main view screen. The new planet side threat would have to wait. The Covenant ships approaching them rapidly would not give Brian time to think up a strategy to overcoming this new menace.

"Charge up the MAC guns..."

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Eight
Date: 24 December 2003, 9:50 PM

Chapter Eight

The swirling vortex of white stars and grey planets that surrounded Colin Thompson came to a stop. A flash of white light blinded the Sergeant, until he couldn't see anything at all. However, when it cleared, he was no longer floating through the recesses of space. He was standing in the jungle. What planet he stood on, he did not know, but the group of humans approaching Colin from the darkness were familiar. The four members of Shadow Ops I materialized out of the darkness of the jungle and surrounded Colin, staring down at him. They wore old combat uniforms that were covered in bullet holes and burnt marks. Yet, there faces remained normal and shined with an odd bright light. This light was not best suited for them, since the four of them were glaring at Colin. Corporal Daniel Clarkson, First Sergeant Paul Howe, Master Sergeant Jonathan Henderson and Lieutenant Alan Pearson; these four men now stood before Colin, silent and shrouded in darkness. Time seemed to speed by and yet they still remained standing around the sniper, their eyes penetrating his soul. Suddenly, Clarkson, Howe and Henderson disappeared in a wave of heat and flame. Alan Pearson remained however. The Lieutenant began to approach Colin, his hooded eyes glowering at him. Thompson turned and attempted to run away. Although he pumped his legs up and down continuously, he progressed nowhere and remained rooted to the spot. The jungle began to disappear around him as Pearson continued to advance on him. Colin turned around and was blinded once again by a flash of light. He stood running and squinted, trying to make out the Lieutenant. Another wave of flame flew by and Alan Pearson was gone. He was instead replaced by Private Tucker. The marine was covered with flames and his eyes glowed yellow. He looked exactly as he did when Colin first laid eyes on him in the jungle. Yet, he was not grinning, and he was surrounded in flames. Slowly, the body of Private Tucker began to melt and disappear. A figure that was hidden by the shadows of the flames now stood where the pool of Tucker's body was. The same yellow eyes were glaring down at Colin, who couldn't help but feel deathly frightened. Without warning, the shadow disappeared, and through the flames, Flood combat forms leapt through them and attacked Thompson. The Sergeant screamed and was swallowed up into the flame.

Sergeant Colin Thompson's eyes opened first. He did not move and simply stared straight up at the ceiling. Slowly, his hearing returned and the sound of gunfire and explosions was processed to his brain. Colin first lifted his head to get an idea of his surroundings. He was lying on a stretcher inside a makeshift medical tent. He could only guess that this tent was inside Omega colony. Slowly, Thompson sat straight up, looking around him. Corporal Jacob Bishop lay beside him, one side of his head covered in bandages. The stretcher next to him was empty, but Colin guessed Corporal Aaron Dela Cruz had been there. Before Thompson stood up from his cot, his face felt extremely heavy and he then realized that a large bandage covered his nose. He poked at it several times to see if it hurt, but felt nothing. Slowly, he unwrapped the dressing and felt his nose that had been under it. He felt no pain, though he was sure that when Private Tucker had punched him, his nose had been broken. Colin knocked on his nose and felt his knuckles hit something hard. A piece of metal perhaps? He would never know.

Sergeant Thompson stood up out of his stretcher and walked to the far corner of the tent. His equipment and weapons were laid out along the grass. In a matter of minutes, he was fully dressed in his combat armour and was checking his ammo counter on the MA5B assault rifle he carried. It blinked sixty at him. Thompson turned and marched out of the tent, where his life was nearly extinguished by a plasma bolt. The sniper ducked to the ground and looked around the colony.

It was as if the ground had opened up and spilled hell's fire onto the colony. The main entrance to Omega Colony lay in ruins and was covered in the bodies of Covenant soldiers. Colin could make out the ten Death Walkers that had been supplied to them standing in a semi-circle around the entrance. Six of them were looking up along the colony catwalk, shooting at groups of Covenant troops that had climbed up and over the wall. The remaining Helljumpers of Bravo Company were gathered around the middle of the colony, fighting a hand to hand combat with several Covenant warriors. It looked as if victory was theirs in that battle. Thompson stood up from the ground and rushed over to them. As he approached, the last Covenant Elite fell to its knees after being stabbed continuously by four Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Colin stepped over the dead corpses that littered the ground. Humans and Covenant alike were scattered everywhere, blood flowing from wounds on them. Although the death toll wasn't that high for either side, the carnage that had been created was worse than any battle fought in the past. Sergeant Thompson eventually found the man he was looking for. Lieutenant Fredrick Owens was wrapping his blood soaked hands with a bandage, and wincing in pain as he did. He looked up as Colin approached and grinned.

"Good to have you back" he said, securing the dressing over his knuckles. Colin nodded.

"Guess we can catch up later sir. Are you all right?" he asked.

"Oh I'm fine, this is nothing Sergeant. The battle goes well so far. The Covenant launched a surprise attack and took out over half of the company instantly. The Death Walkers however have been able to hold them off. But, as we both know, it's only a matter of time before the Covenant break threw. There are at least six thousand of them outside the colony wall" Owens said sadly. Colin tightened his grip on the assault rifle he held.

"Well, let's make it hell for them trying to break through" he growled. Lieutenant Owens grinned and patted Colin on the back.

"I hear that. Grab some ammo, let's head back to the fight" he said, crouching to the ground and picking up another assault rifle. The two men rushed after a group of twelve ODSTs, who were firing up at the colony catwalk as a group of Jackals moved along it, shooting down at them. Thompson picked up a frag grenade and tossed it at them. As the grenade detonated and sent the Jackals flying, two Elites and four more Jackals appeared. One Helljumper took two plasma bolts to his chest and another to his neck. The man fell backwards from the shots, blood spewing from his mouth. Another Helljumper screamed and fell to his knees as fully charged plasma shot fired from one of the Jackals hit him square in the chest. The plasma melted away his armour and skin, exposing muscles and the man's rib cage. Colin dragged the marine back and fired up at the group of Covenant soldiers as they charged down the ramp, firing their weapons. Owens joined Thompson and the two men hunkered down and fired at the Elites. The combined firepower of the two assault rifles took out one of the Elites and wounded the other. Thompson finished it off with another frag grenade and they switched targets, focusing on the Jackals. The four vulture-headed creatures fired at them. Colin ducked behind a colony hut and reloaded, while Owens provided suppression fire. After reloading, Sergeant Thompson broke away from his cover and circled around the Jackals, Fredrick doing the same. The two Shadow Ops members flanked the Jackals and cut them down with the bullets that remained in their clips. As they turned to face a new threat, Owens's radio crackled in his ear.

"Shadow!" screamed the voice of Corporal McConnell, who was in one of the Death Walkers.

"Death, what is it?" Fredrick said.

"New enemy is here" McConnell screamed again. Thompson and Owens gave each other confused looks. Before any of them could speak, the sounds of barking and growling could be heard near the colony entrance. Both men's eyes widened and they sprinted back to the Death Walkers, reloading as they ran. The remaining Helljumpers that had been helping with defending the interior of the compound rushed after them, looking over their backs to make sure no Covenant came after them.

As Thompson and Owens approached the Death Walkers, there was a sudden silence over the battle field. Smoke rose from the craters in the ground and the barrels of weapons. The fires that were all over the ground continued to burn, giving off the only light. Colin crouched behind one of the titanium barriers that had been set up. Beside him, Sergeant Johnston, the marine regular the Shadow Ops II squad had rescued earlier on in the mission, was crouching up, holding onto a MA7B Battle rifle. He looked up at Colin and nodded.

"Good to see you sir" he said. Thompson returned the nod.

"Glad to be here Sergeant" he whispered. They then went silent as they scanned their surroundings, looking for the enemy. It was if the Covenant had just disappeared. Not a single Grunt or Jackal could be seen near the entrance. The Elites were also nowhere to be found. The battlefield was empty, except for the human survivors inside the colony. Thompson was about to relax and let down his guard, but the sound of footsteps made him snap awake. Through the smoke and mist surrounding the main entrance, a single figure walked forward, unchallenged and unarmed. Colin squinted and realized who it was.

Private Tucker came to a stop just inside the colony, looking at the heavy weapons pointed at him. He did not make a sound and simply stared at them, his hands hanging at his sides. Colin looked down the line at Lieutenant Owens, who gave him a questioning look. The Sergeant made a cutting motion over his throat. Owens nodded and disappeared. Sergeant Johnston looked up at Thompson.

"That's Tucker, what the fuck is he doing?" the marine demanded. Colin touched his nose and a quick flashback entered his mind. He shook his head.

"That's not Private Tucker" he whispered, cocking his assault rifle and aiming it at the man. Lieutenant Owens suddenly stood up, his assault rifle pointed at Tucker, who remained perfectly still.

"Private Tucker?" he called. The marine did not answer. Instead, he raised his arm into the air and slowly lowered it, until his index finger was pointing at them all. He held that pose for a few minutes, then dropped his arm. Several minutes passed and the same silence that had encumbered them earlier was still upon them.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Sergeant Johnston whispered. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. Very slowly, the trembling increased as if the earth itself was going to split open and kill everyone with an inferno of fire. Something else happened instead. Something that was much worse than the planet exploding.

From behind Private Tucker, a cluster of shadows could be seen rushing at them. As they approached the light from all the fires that still burned, Colin could make out Flood combat forms wielding plasma weapons charging at the marines. The familiar sound of their barking and growling became so loud, Colin could barely make out Major Kerr, the Bravo Company commanding officer, give the order to fire.

The Death Walkers fired first again, spraying the area with chain gun bullets and Argent V missiles. Their torso's spun back and forth, sweeping the entire area as the Flood charged through the entrance and moved in towards the marines. Thompson switched to the assault rifle's shredder rounds and hung onto the weapon tight as it fired armour piercing bullets at a much higher rate. Flood forms fell to the ground, their limbs scattered around them. Dozens of them flew high into the air as grenades and rockets detonated among their ranks, yet they continued to charge. Thompson tossed all his fragmentation grenades frantically, before reloading and firing his assault rifle again. Sergeant Johnston backed away from the barrier he had been crouching by as a dead Flood combat form fell against it.

"What the fuck? What are the Flood doing on this fucking planet?" he yelled, firing his battle rifle hysterically. Colin had no answer and merely kept on firing. This had something to do with Private Tucker. He didn't know what, but something had a hold of that marine and was using its body to summon Flood forms.

"Look out!" Johnston suddenly screamed. Thompson dove to the left as a Flood form leapt high into the air and landed beside Johnston. The Sergeant raised his battle rifle, but the form smashed the weapon away with its whip. Colin stood up and levelled his assault rifle. He pulled the trigger and fired into the things back. Slowly, the parasitic creature fell forward after Thompson had emptied a full clip into it. Johnston stood up and nodded his thanks, before they were faced with a new problem.

Groups of Flood forms began jumping high over the twelve feet high colony wall and landing among the marines. They swept their wipes back and forth mercilessly, killing dozens of marines. Several forms were successful in jumping on top of a Death Walker. The pilot attempted to throw the creatures off; however, one of the forms wielded a Jackhammer rocket launcher. Without thinking, it pointed the weapon down and fired, killing itself and destroying the DW. Thompson stared in shock as the new UNSC "toy" detonated, showering the surrounding area with hot metal and flames. Several marines caught fire from the explosion and ran around in circles, trying to put them out. However, it was all in vain. Another group of Flood forms jumped over the wall and slowly began to descend towards another Death Walker. Without even thinking, a nearby Helljumper tossed a plasma grenade. It latched onto one of the falling Flood forms, which landed right on top of the DW. Quickly, the thing crawled down until it was looking at the pilot through the cockpit window. The grenade detonated, causing the glass that protected the pilot to shatter and explode.

A huge swarm of Flood infection forms suddenly crawled over the wall and through the main entrance. Propelling themselves forward with their little tentacle legs, they crawled inside the cockpit of the Death Walker and latched onto the pilot inside. Colin could hear screams coming from within, but could do nothing. Using what strength was left in him, the pilot destroyed the DW he sat in, killing the other infection forms that crawled around it.

"Jesus Christ" Sergeant Johnston whispered as he tossed his last frag grenade. Colin could only nod silently and keep firing his weapon. The tidal wave of Flood forms did not stop and more kept on coming into the colony. Four Jackhammer rockets flew out from this wave of Flood forms and smashed into another Death Walker, destroying it and knocking its wrecked hulk backwards, crushing and burning the marines who had been around it. Slowly, the remaining seven Death Walkers began to back off away from the colony entrance, firing whatever ammo was left in their guns. One pilot opened his cockpit ramp, since he was out of ammo. However, another wave of infection forms that had been charging in with the Flood forms jumped and latched themselves onto the marine. The man screamed and fell to the ground, holding out his hands and screaming for help from the Helljumpers who were only a few feet away. Yet, they could do nothing as the man was penetrated by one of the infection forms tendrils and slowly became a minion of the Flood.

"Fall back, fall back god damnit!" Major Kerr shouted, reloading an assault rifle he held onto. Thompson shook his head and looked behind him. There was nowhere for them to fall back too. They were trapped inside their own colony, with no escape. Regardless, the remaining sixty-three Helljumpers of Bravo Company followed their Major, along with the six Death Walkers that still had ammo left in them. A Jackhammer rocket accelerated out of the Flood wave and smashed into one of the Death Walker's legs. The entire right leg exploded and the DW fell sideways, unable to move. Colin turned and watched as the Flood began to crawl over it and try to get inside. By chance, a loaded Jackhammer rocket launcher was lying on the ground beside him. The Sergeant picked it up immediately and targeted the disabled Death Walker. Saying a quick prayer for the pilot inside, he fired. The entire Death Walker erupted, blasting several hundred Flood forms away, killing them. Smirking, Thompson fired the last rocket that was in the tube and dropped the weapon, running after the marine forces.

They all gathered around the very back of the colony, pushing their backs up against the wall. This was it. It was time for them to die. Thompson couldn't believe that they had just only started serving the UNSC and they were about to die at the hands of the Flood. Growling, he cocked his assault rifle and shouldered it.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going down without a fucking fight" he yelled at the marines around him. This brought back some morale and they all fired their weapons.

As the Flood army continued to approach them, the marines and the Flood did not hear the roar of engines as ten Pelican dropships, escorted by five Longsword fighters soared over the colony. The Pelicans continued circling over the colony, however, the Longsword fighters strafed back and forth, dropping Devilhorn land bombs and huge missiles filled with napalm. The amount of Flood forces inside the colony slowly began to diminish. However, this did not stop them. A group of Flood combat forms reached the marine forces and hacked away at several of the ODSTs. Major Kerr rushed forward, smashing his boot into the screwed head of an infested Elite and fired his assault rifle at the Flood that surrounded him. As they began to fall from the bullets, the infested Elite beneath Kerr's boots stood up, knocking the Major to the ground. Kerr looked up and fired at the Flood form. As it fell, Private Tucker suddenly appeared out of the mass of Flood forms. The marine rushed to Major Kerr and picked him off the ground. Kerr resisted and punched Tucker in the face. The PFC bawled his own fist and smashed it into Kerr's face. The Major went limp in Tucker's arms. Several Helljumpers turned to target the marine, but Tucker swung Major Kerr over his back and ran back into the Flood tidal wave.

"Major Kerr!" Lieutenant Owens screamed, reloading his battle rifle. Naturally, there was no answer, but Private Tucker reappeared. The possessed human rushed towards Fredrick, dodging all the bullets being fired at him. Behind the private, the last group of Flood forms charged at the marine lines; firing the plasma weapons they held in their hands. Two Helljumpers immediately fell back from the plasma bolts fired at them. Following that, two more marines were killed. The Lieutenant watched Private Tucker approach him rapidly. He turned to face the marine and fired the remaining bullets in his battle rifle. Tucker strafed back and forth as he approached the Lieutenant. The bullets fired from the battle rifle slammed into the ground around the Private. Private Tucker reached Owens. Fredrick raised his fists and punched Tucker twice in the head and the stomach. The marine did not budge and started laughing at Owens. Colin rushed forward and tackled Tucker. The two of them fell in a heap on the ground, bullets flying over them as the marines continued shooting at the Flood forms. Tucker grabbed Thompson by the throat. Immediately, the air in Colin's lungs disappeared and he gasped, trying to fill up his body with oxygen. However, Tucker would not let go. He stood up, holding Colin above the ground. Slowly, it seemed as if he was about to die.

Corporal Dela Cruz ran from his position in front of one of the Death Walkers and held his M6D pistol to Tucker's head. Immediately, the marine dropped Colin and spun around, taking out Dela Cruz's feet, then smashing his fist into the man's stomach, knocking him onto the ground. Lieutenant Owens rushed forward and jumped on top of Tucker, stabbing him with his combat knife. The marine did not scream. He simply reached over his back and grabbed the back of Owens's collar. He lifted the Lieutenant above him and tossed him into a group of his Flood forms like he was a doll.

"Lieutenant!" Thompson cried, running towards the Flood forms. He could make out Fredrick being bonded down with odd tentacles that wrapped around his legs, hands and mouth. As Colin approached them, the Flood forms ran away to the far colony wall and with a simple push off the ground, they all jumped over the wall, running into the jungle. Colin turned to kill Private Tucker, but the marine was nowhere to be seen. The battle for Omega Colony was over...

"Incoming plasma torpedoes!"

"Helm, port emergency thrusters!"

"We're clear sir; the torpedoes are dispersing behind us."

"Fire all weapons at the flanking destroyer!" The Blade of Wrath shuddered as her three MAC canons and Devilhorn missile pods targeted one of the Covenant destroyers that had appeared in the system only half an hour ago. The destroyer's shields took the bulk of the attack, but the Devilhorn missiles that detonated along her hull, took out the shields and exposed her to open weapons fire. Immediately, the UNSC Daedrea fired her own MAC guns, which slammed into the hull of the Covenant ship. She listed to port, spinning completely out of control and venting plasma. The Daedrea followed up the attack with the launching of her Devilhorn missiles. They streaked through space, targeting the disabled ship and exploded along her hull. The vessel trembled as her hull disappeared and the resulting explosions reached the interior of the ship. She exploded, sending fragments of armour and other debris floating through space. Captain Brian Hayes grinned at this, and then turned to the major problem that floated several kilometres away.

The Covenant had sent six ships to Vivec; four destroyers, one carrier and one cruiser. So far, they had succeeded in destroying three of the destroyers, but had taken heavy loses. Both the Daedrea and the UNSC Carnage had been wounded badly. Plasma still burned along their hulls as they turned to target the last destroyer that was firing pulse lasers at them. Captain Hayes however had a bigger concern. The lone carrier and cruiser were avoiding the battle. They had flown over the North Pole of Vivec and it seemed as if they were about to assault the UNSC Wilderness, who was supplying the ground forces below with reinforcements.

"Lieutenant Scott, come to heading 5-9-2, declination zero, zero, six. Lieutenant Elliott, target all our weapons at that Covenant carrier. Alert the Carnage of their position also" he ordered quickly. Lieutenant Scott, the navigational officer nodded and marked in the new heading. Slowly, the Blade of Wrath turned around and headed back to the Wilderness, who was launching her squadrons of Stormwings and Longswords at the approaching Covenant ships.

"MAC guns charged and ready sir" Lieutenant Elliott reported.

"Give me a firing solution for that carrier, we'll worry about the cruiser later" Hayes ordered.

"Solution online Captain" Elliott said.

"Fire!" The single Super MAC canon and the two smaller MAC canons turned around on the hull of the Blade of Wrath and fired their depleted uranium tungsten shells at the carrier as she closed in on the Wilderness. The three shots immediately took out the weakened shields of the ship and scratched up her hull slightly.

"Recharge the MAC canons; target the carrier with the Devilhorn missiles and fire!" Hayes ordered again. The eleven operational Devilhorn pods launched several hundred of these plutonium filled missiles, which accelerated forward and smashed along the hull of the carrier. The detonations did not destroy the large vessel, but she began to vent plasma and slowly fall out of position. Hayes grinned as she slammed into the Covenant Cruiser that had been positioned slightly ahead of her. The cruiser's shields flared and protected the hull from scarring, and pushed the carrier aside. The disabled craft drifted away from the battle, her pilot trying to regain patrol.

The Covenant cruiser then realized that the Blade of Wrath was a problem. She turned and targeted the UNSC cruiser with her pulse lasers. While they fired at the ship, plasma energy began to gather along its hull. The Blade of Wrath shook violently as the lasers smashed into its weak armour.

"Starboard armour down to ten percent!" Lieutenant Campbell, the engineering officer screamed.

"Full axis rotation to port! Fire all Devilhorn missiles!" Hayes roared. The Blade of Wrath spun slightly, revealing the belly of the ship to the enemy. The Devilhorn missiles detonated along the cruiser's shields and did minimal damage. The Covenant ship fired her plasma torpedoes, but the Blade of Wrath's aft emergency thrusters saved her from the plasma inferno. The cruiser suddenly accelerated and rushed at the Blade of Wrath.

"She's coming straight at us!" Lieutenant Scott yelled.

"Aft thrusters?" Hayes asked.

"Still being filled up Captain" Scott cried.

"Fire our port thrusters, sound the collision alarm" Brian quickly ordered. Another Klaxon alarm blared throughout the bridge as the Blade of Wrath slowly moved out of the cruiser's war. The two ships both accelerated and went past each other side by side, with no more then a few metres in between them. The Covenant cruiser's pulse lasers fired rapidly at the Blade of Wrath's hull, while the UNSC cruiser fired her hull mounted 50mm chain guns.

"Charge the Super MAC round, fire when ready!" Hayes ordered.

"At this distance sir, we'll be caught in the blast" Lieutenant Elliott protested.

"Lieutenant! Fire the god damn MAC round" Hayes suddenly roared. Elliott's hands flew all over her data pad as she drew energy from life support to help charge the canon faster. The two ships were almost past one another.

"MAC guns charged, firing now" Elliott said. The single Super MAC turret fired at the Covenant Cruiser which was still moving past the Blade of Wrath at a dangerously close distance. The impact the three thousand ton shell destroyed the cruiser's weakened shields and exploded along her hull. A huge hole was blown right through the Covenant ships armour. The resulting explosion however blew away what armour remained on the Blade of Wrath's starboard side. Both ships flipped over in space away from one another, fires burning along their hulls. Captain Hayes was thrown out of his command chair and into a bulkhead. Lieutenant Elliott's console sparked and exploded, blasting the Lieutenant to the other side the bridge. Ceiling tiles exploded, showering the area with debris. A row of consoles along the far wall exploded, blasting three crewmen backwards. Hayes was nearly tramped by them as they smashed into the bulkhead and fell to the floor, covered in burn marks. Brian stood up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder.

"Stabilize the ship! Fire port thrusters!" he yelled. Lieutenant Scott was the only bridge crewmember who hadn't been flung from his console. The Blade of Wrath trembled again and slowly straightened out as her thrusters exploded. The forces of friction from both starboard and port side allowed the Blade of Wrath to completely set herself straight.

"Bring us about!" Hayes yelled again, sitting down in his chair that was covered in debris. The Blade of Wrath made a long turn in space and came behind the UNSC Wilderness, which was firing her Devilhorn missiles at the wounded cruiser. The Covenant vessel returned fire with what pulse lasers were left. The Wilderness's hull boiled and burned as she took each blow. The Blade of Wrath accelerated past her and moved in for the kill.

"Full stop" Hayes said quickly. The forward thrusters went off, bringing the cruiser to a complete stop.

"What weapons do we have left?" Hayes asked Lieutenant Elliott, who although was bleeding from the head, was still typing at his console.

"We have three Devilhorn missile pods left and one MAC turret, but there isn't enough energy on this ship to charge it" Elliott said. Hayes hung his head. They were a defenceless ship again. The Cruiser seemed to realize this as its pulse lasers began shooting at the Blade of Wrath's already damaged hull. Suddenly, two huge MAC rounds fired from the UNSC Carnage slammed into the Covenant cruiser. The twin tungsten shells detonated inside the huge hole that the Blade of Wrath had created with her own MAC round. The cruiser split in two, internal explosions and fires eventually destroying the two halves that drifted in space. Hayes leaned forward in his chair, holding his head up with his hands. They had won again, but just barely.

"We're getting word from planet side sir" Lieutenant Nixon said from communications. Hayes looked up at the officer.

"And?" he asked him.

"Omega colony secure, Gamma and Alpha colony destroyed" Nixon said.

"Fuck..." Hayes whispered, his voice trailing off as he stood up and walked to the Lieutenant's console.

"How, how did we lose two colonies?" he asked.

"From what I understand sir, the marine forces in those two colonies were holding just fine against the Covenant. Although the entrances of both colonies were breached, the Covenant couldn't get inside. However, the arrival of the Flood changed all this" Nixon said. Hayes's eyes widened and he looked at the Lieutenant.

"What?" he asked, even though he knew what the man had said.

"The Flood sir. They destroyed Alpha and Gamma Colony. They almost destroyed Omega colony, but reinforcements arrived just in time" Nixon said. Hayes stood straight, looking out into space as the wounded Carnage and the crippled Daedrea moved back into orbit around Wilderness.

"Jesus" he whispered shaking his head.

"Also sir, Lieutenant Owens of Shadow Ops II and Major Kerr of Bravo Company were reported missing, presumed dead. Seems a possessed marine named Private Tucker captured the two of them and gave them to the Flood. A strike team is being assembled to try and rescue them" Nixon said. Hayes nodded. There wasn't much he could do with the condition his ship was in. Communications were barely operable and the Blade of Wrath had no weapons she could use to defend herself with. Sighing, Brian straightened his posture.

"First things first. Get some repairs going on this ship; I want at least some additional Devilhorn missile pods ready and one of our MAC guns. Restore the armour and prepare to take on wounded from Omega Colony. I'll be in my ready room if anyone needs me. Lieutenant Nixon, you have the bridge" he said, turning and walking out, hands behind his back. Things we're getting confusing now. The battle group were fighting a war on two fronts. Captain Hayes planned on discussing things over with the other Captains. A plan of action would have to be created, if they wanted to survive out here.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

~*Author's note*~
      Just so you guys know, I wrote this extremely quickly, since I'll be gone for the next few days, celebrating Christmas and what not. Sorry about the mistakes. Cheers and Happy Holidays...
~*End note*~

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Nine
Date: 29 December 2003, 6:37 AM

Chapter Nine

Just like at Gamma colony, the sun slowly rose over the tree tops, spreading its light over the ruined Omega Colony and its war-torn surroundings. Sergeant Colin Thompson was not standing on the catwalk and overlooking the battle like he had done last time. Instead, he was on his hands and knees, gathering up the bodies of the dead and laying them down in a line. He picked up the corpse of a Helljumper Corporal and carefully set him inside a body bag that Corporal Aaron Dela Cruz held open for him. As he zipped it up, Colin quickly reflected on the night of events.

Omega Colony, though in ruin from the battle, was still in UNSC hands. The outer wall was covered in plasma burns and the front entrance that had been blown wide open by the Covenant would take several months to repair at least. Teams of engineers from the UNSC Wilderness that had sent down from orbit were working on repairing the wall and bringing it up to full protection. The houses and huts inside this wall were all intact. A few had several plasma burns on them, while others were covered in the blood of humans and the Covenant. Other than that, the colony was intact.

Major Kerr's group of Helljumpers had been reduced to twenty-four surviving troops out of three hundred fifty. They only had four operable Death Walkers, and one that had run out of ammo. The huge hulks of the DWs had been lifted out of the battle area and placed in a clearing behind the colony, along with the piles of Covenant and Flood bodies. The stench rising from that area was absolutely unbearable. Even Thompson couldn't help but cover his nose.

Scans and patrols of marines had proved that the entire Covenant division of troops were dead and the Flood had disappeared inside the forest. This brought up another issue. Although Colin and the other Helljumpers had seen Lieutenant Owens and Major Kerr get taken by the Flood, Colin did not see them perish. The Sergeant had seen with his own two eyes the Flood subdue the two humans and wrap them in tentacles, preventing them from escaping. They were out somewhere in the jungles of Vivec, the Flood present with them. Colin was already planning on getting them back.

He stood up, surveying his surroundings and sighing. There were still dozens of bodies that still needed to be put into bags. Colin was done however. His hands were covered in blood, he felt light headed and sick to his stomach. Corporal Dela Cruz was totally white as he lifted the body bad near him and walked back to the small graveyard of these bags. Colin followed, wiping his hands off on his fatigues. He helped Dela Cruz, and then marched over to a small command tent that had been erected by the reinforcements of marine soldiers. Corporal McConnell and Kreutz Kamp were sitting out front, both of them smoking at cigarettes. As Colin approached, they both stood up and saluted. Thompson returned it. The sight of the two big men still alive and looking well was a relief to Colin. He would need their help.

"Scout, get Spirit and bring him inside. You two, come with me" he said. Corporal Dela Cruz turned and rushed off to the row of medical tents, where the screams of marines could be heard. Death and Feuer walked into the tent, following Thompson. Three large tables had been set up, loaded down with radio equipment, maps, data reports and food. Colin could feel his stomach growl at him as he looked at a sandwich being eaten by a technician. He marched towards the little man, who looked up at Colin.

"Yes Sergeant, can I help you?" he asked. Colin nodded.

"I need this radio" he said, looking at the large communication box that the man was working at. The technician shook his head.

"I'm sorry sir; this radio is relaying field reports from our patrols out in the forest. I need it to record these reports and give them to the Captain" he said, biting into the sandwich. Thompson growled. He grabbed the sandwich and tossed it aside, before lifting the little man off his chair and bringing him to his face.

"Back off and let me use the radio" he whispered, his tone of voice filled with venom. The technician squeaked and nodded, stepping aside. Colin took a seat, and put the headset onto his skull.

"Keep an eye on him" he muttered to Death and Feuer. The demolitions and heavy weapons expert turned and flanked the technician who gulped and looked away from them. Thompson moved quickly, connecting the radio to FLEETCOM. He received a ping and spoke into the microphone.

"Shadow Ops II squad calling UNSC Blade of Wrath" he said. Naturally, there was a silent ten second pause, before a voice entered the two speakers on Colin's ear.

"This is Communications officer Lieutenant Nixon of the Blade of Wrath. We read you Shadow Ops II, what do you require" the Lieutenant replied.

"Lieutenant, this is Sergeant Thompson, I must speak with Captain Hayes, it is very urgent" he said.

"I'm sorry Sergeant; the Captain is currently in his quarters and demanded not to be bothered. Can I possibly help you?" Nixon replied. Colin gritted his teeth. Why was it no one was helping him.

"Lieutenant, get me the Captain or I will personally see to it that I slit your throat wide open on the deck of that ship. Things are extremely fucked up down here" he growled. A small sigh could he heard on the other end.

"Yes Sergeant, relaying this line to Captain Hayes" he said. There was another ten second pause, before the tired, rough voice of Captain Brian Hayes entered the speakers.

"Sergeant Thompson, this better be good" he said. Colin could tell he wasn't happy, but Colin wasn't happy either.

"As you know sir, Omega Colony is secure; therefore our squad has completed its mission. I would request further orders, but I need permission from you to conduct a mission of our own" he said. A pause of five seconds followed.

"Yes, your mission is complete. I'm assuming this has something to do with Lieutenant Owens?" the Captain asked.

"Affirmative Captain, he and Major Kerr have been captured by Flood forces and are in their custody. I request permission to take the Shadow Ops II squad into the jungles of Vivec and search for them" he said.

"Sergeant, I agree with the fact that I would do the same thing if I was in your position, but I'm not. We've got Flood activity all over this god damn planet. Two problems arise. The first one; Lieutenant Owens and Major Kerr could be absolutely anywhere. Tracking them is impossible; we have no way of confirming if they are alive or their destination. Secondly; the Marine Corps requires your assistance. As I said, the Flood existence on this planet is huge. Whatever Covenant troops were left, are now dead. We know from planetary scans that they are massing more of their forces and planning to strike. We need you Sergeant" the Captain explained. Colin closed his eyes and braced his head with his hand. Things were more than fucked up. In a matter of hours, even minutes, they would all be dead. He looked up from the floor.

"Then I suggest sir that you abandon the planet and let my team go and find our two missing combatants" he said.

"That is absolutely crazy Sergeant, you know as well as I do that you would not survive a good two hours down there. How would you track Lieutenant Owens?" Hayes said.

"Have you heard anything about a Private First Class Tucker, first name unknown?" Colin asked.

"Negative, fill me in" the Captain answered.

"When we first landed here, we found a group of marines from one of the Pelican dropships that had been sent in here earlier. Five marines alive, five dead and one missing. That one missing was Private Tucker. Myself, Corporal Dela Cruz and Corporal Bishop underwent a scouting mission per orders of Lieutenant Owens. We found Private Tucker in the jungle. He seems to be under the influence of the Flood. Although his physical image hasn't changed, his body has undergone a transformation, allowing him to summon these two plasma blades out of his wrists. His also extremely strong and has the jumping abilities of a Flood form. He was the one who captured Major Kerr and Lieutenant Owens. We can follow his tracks that are no doubt in this mud covered ground" Colin explained. There was a pause as Captain Hayes digested this information.

"You're bullshitting me" he declared

"No sir, this is no lie. You could come down here and question every single Helljumper survivor. They saw him order the Flood to attack us" Thompson said.

"That's crazy. It can't be" Brian stammered.

"The Flood threat is unavoidable. You could send down a division of marines and they would get slaughtered. The Flood have more troops than an entire Corps. Evacuate the planet and let us find these two men before they are killed. With only five of us, it won't take us long to move through the jungle. We're the Shadow Ops, we've faced worse conditions than this" Sergeant Thompson said. Another pause followed.

"Okay Sergeant, you win. I'm not saying that I believe this Private Tucker, but you are right about the Flood. We'll evacuate the planet. Inform Sergeant Major Reynolds your orders and then equip yourself with whatever weapons you'll need. I'm giving you a window of opportunity Sergeant. We can't sit in orbit all day and wait for you. If we do not hear from you within the next twenty-four hours, we'll assume you are dead and destroy the planet" Hayes said. Thompson nodded to himself.

"Roger that Captain, thank you" he said.

"Good luck Sergeant. Hayes out." The signal was terminated immediately. Colin stood up and looked at the technician that was shrouded in the shadows of McConnell and Kreutz Kamp.

"Where is Sergeant Major Reynolds?" he asked. The tech looked behind him at a man that was approaching them from another tent. He wore a full combat fatigue uniform, which brought out the white goatee around his face. His brown eyes glared at Colin.

"What is the meaning of this? State your names and rank soldiers" he growled, referring to the technician being held by Death and Feuer. The three men saluted.

"Sergeant Thompson, Corporal McConnell and Corporal Kreutz Kamp. We're from Shadow Ops II" Colin said. Reynolds's expression softened and he returned the salute. He glared down at the tech.

"Leave us" he said. The technician nodded and ran out of the tent, looking over his shoulder with fear. Thompson heard Death smirk.

"We apologize for that sir, but we required orders" Colin said. The Sergeant Major nodded.

"Not a problem, I understand. What's the scoop?" he asked.

"Vivec is being evacuated" Colin said. Reynolds's eyes went wide.

"Excuse me? We just got here, time to do some good" he said, ignoring Thompson's statement.

"The Flood have more troops down here than an entire Corps of marines or Helljumpers, Major. The battle group could send down thousands of troops and they'd just get slaughtered. We know, we've fought them before. The Covenant have already experienced this fate. They had several divisions of troops down here and now they are all dead" Colin said. The Major's eyes were filled with anger and sadness. Thompson understood. It must've been several months since he had seen battle, stuck at the sidelines and giving battle orders to his Captains. Although being a higher ranking officer was honorary, the individual had to say goodbye to their combat life. Colin sympathized, but only for a few seconds. He still had a mission to consider.

"Well, I'll get back to that later. What about you guys?" Reynolds asked.

"We have a twenty-four window of opportunity. We are remaining here and are going to search out Lieutenant Owens and Major Kerr" Thompson declared. Reynolds grinned at this.

"Wish I could help you guys out" he said.

"You can sir. We require a lot of equipment" Thompson said. The Sergeant Major nodded and began to walk out of the tent.

"Follow me" he said over his back. The four men marched through the entrance to the command tent and went out back, where the barracks of the five hundred Marine Regulars had been set up. In the very middle of the camp of tents was a large gazebo, which was much like the command tent, except open to the environment. Crates stacked high were inside it and even outside, along the ground. Several Marines were cracking opening these large boxes and revealing rows of weapons and ammo. Colin couldn't help but grin. Reynolds stepped aside and held his hand out to the ammunition tent.

"Indulge yourselves" he said. Saluting the man, Thompson followed Death and Feuer inside. He grabbed his radio and clicked it on.

"Spirit, Scout, meet us at the ammunition tent. We've got a new mission" he said. Corporal McConnell walked over to the large crate that revealed SMG 500s. He grinned and grabbed two. Thompson however stopped him. He grabbed one of the sub machine guns and put it away. Still hanging onto one of the weapons, McConnell gave Colin a questioning a look. The Sergeant addressed both he and Kreutz Kamp.

"I want both of you to take Jackhammers as backup weapons. How many extra rounds, you decide, but a minimum of four will be needed" Colin said. Nodding the two men grabbed the big rocket launchers and slung them across their backs. The extra rocket cases were stuffed inside their combat packs. Because of the heavy weapon over his back, Death could only hang onto one sub machine gun, instead of two which he often did.

As they grabbed extra ammo for their weapons, Colin picked up a M90 shotgun. He looked over at a S2 AM sniper rifle. He went to grab it, but remembered that the 14.5mm slug that it fired was absolutely useless. Thompson didn't know how, but it had no effect on Flood forms. Instead, he decided to take a SMG 500. As the Sergeant slung the bullet hose over his back, Corporal Bishop and Dela Cruz marched into the tent. Colin motioned behind him to the stacks of ammo.

"Grab a shotgun and one backup weapon. Take lots of ammo" he said. The two men nodded and joined Kreutz Kamp and McConnell. Thompson walked out of the tent, his belt and pack filled with ammo. He took a seat on the dirt and waited for his comrades. As he did, he did a quick reflection of the Flood.

The Sergeant had told Captain Hayes that they had faced worse conditions then over one hundred thousand Flood forms. That statement wasn't exactly true. Both he and Lieutenant Owens had faced worse conditions. As for the rest of the team, this would be the first time that they would be hunted by the Flood. Flashbacks of the holding cells deep inside Vegas IV went through his mind. He saw the tanks, warthogs, ghosts and shadows that they and several Covenant Elites had used to try and shorten down the amount of Flood. He remembered the large door that lead inside the core room opening, revealing millions of Flood forms. He remembered retreating up the catwalk that circled the whole chamber. He saw Corporal Clarkson explode from a plasma grenade, First Sergeant Howe blow himself up with a frag grenade. He saw the single Jackhammer rocket that had killed both Master Sergeant Henderson and Lieutenant Pearson. This would be slightly different; however the enemy was the same. The same enemy that had destroyed the Shadow Ops I squad. Colin however would make sure that they didn't destroy the Shadow Ops II squad.

He cocked the shotgun in his hands and stood up as the four elite humans under his command walked out of the tent, slinging weapons over their backs and loading the ones in their hands. Everyone except for Death held onto a M90 shotgun. Corporal Dela Cruz had chosen a MA5B assault rifle as his back up, while Corporal Bishop slung a SMG 500. The big Jackhammer rocket launchers were strapped across Death and Feuer's back diagonally, transferring the weight all over the body. Their packs were only filled with ammo, which didn't weight a lot. Hopefully, they would be able to move fast through the forest and avoid Flood patrols.

"Shadow and Major Kerr are out there somewhere gentlemen. We have twenty fours to find them. If we do not contact the Blade of Wrath within that time frame, we're dead. Like the Major had said, today we find out who is afraid and who isn't, who runs and who hides. We've proven to the enemy that we are not afraid and aren't hiding. The Flood have no emotion and they would rather die then run away. We face combatants that are equal to us mentally and overpower us physically. This is an impossible battle and mission. But that was what we signed up for. This is what we were trained to overcome. Let's not prove everybody wrong. Scout, find Private Tucker's tracks. Everyone else, fall in, let's hunt down these assholes and show them what we're capable of" Sergeant Thompson growled. Grins were exchanged with each other and the four men saluted the Sergeant. They moved in a single file line, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone. As they exited the gap in the wall which had been the entrance, Colin turned to see Sergeant Major Reynolds staring at him. The man saluted Thompson, who squared his shoulders and returned it. They held the salute for a few seconds, before Colin looked away and followed his team into the jungle. They were alone. They were surrounded by the enemy. Reinforcements we're leaving the planet. Colin grinned as he raised his shotgun and looked around the jungle. He felt right again....

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

~*Author's note*~

If the amount of mistakes that you find is numerous, please keep in mind that like most authors, I rushed this. I was behind in my chapters and wanted to catch up quickly. Please enjoy...

~*End note*~

Shadow Ops II: Chapter Ten
Date: 12 January 2004, 4:14 AM

Chapter Ten

~*Author's note*~

School sucks. Sorry this took so long...

~*End note*~

As the Shadow Ops II squad disappeared into the jungle, Sergeant Major Reynolds was forced to focus on the task at hand. Although it saddened him to see extremely useful soldiers go off into the jungle, most likely to their deaths, he still had an entire colony of marine forces to evacuate. He turned around and walked back inside the command tent, walking towards the technician who Sergeant Thompson had threatened.

"You okay Simmons?" Reynolds asked him. Tech Officer Bryan Simmons looked up at Reynolds and nodded.

"Scary marines" he muttered. The Major shook his head.

"Those aren't marine's son, they were the Shadow Ops II squad" he said, correcting the tech officer. Simmons made no emotion and simply listened to his radio that was in front of him. Reynolds decided to avoid the subject.

"What's the status on the evacuation?" he asked him.

"Alpha Colony was just finished evacuated sir. All marine forces at Gamma Colony were extinguished, there's nothing to evacuate there. That leaves just us. This poses good news and bad news" Simmons explained.

"Go on" Reynolds said, narrowing his eyes.

"We can get a fast response from the fleet, they'll send down a fleet of Pelicans and transport ships. However, there is one snag. The Flood obviously realize that we are the last cluster of humans on the planet and are focusing all their forces over here" the technician said.

"Not good. How much time do we have?" Reynolds asked.

"Best guess, twenty minutes before their first groups of combat forms find the colony and attack us" Simmons answered. Reynolds nodded and looked away. He sighed.

"Have the platoon leaders assemble their forces inside the colony and await the arrival of this threat. I want Lotus mines set up around the main entrance and throughout the interior of the base" he said. Simmons nodded and began relaying his orders. Reynolds turned around, stroking the facial hair that grew around his chin.

"Would take too long to load up the crates of guns and ammo, but then we're just giving the Flood more weapons for them to use" he muttered to himself. Simmons turned around.

"Fifty Pelican dropships are inbound sir, estimated time of arrival half an hour" he said.

"At your guess of the Flood's arrival, we'll be holding them off for around ten to fifteen minutes. Not good" Reynolds said. Simmons nodded sadly.

"Yes sir" he said.

"Okay, we won't bother loading the equipment and weaponry onto the Pelicans. There's not enough for the Flood to give to all of their forces on this planet. When the Pelicans land, we'll just load up the marines and other non-indigenous personal" he stated, lowering his hand from his face. Simmons nodded.

"I agree sir, passing on your orders" he said.

"Good work Simmons. When the Pelicans come here, announce to everyone we're leaving, then get yourself out of here" Reynolds said. The tech officer nodded.

"Yes sir. Good luck" he said. They exchanged salutes, and then Reynolds walked out of the tent, marching towards the small courtyard of the huts and houses of the colony. The platoons of marines who had been sent down to the colony were gathered in their formations, receiving their orders from their commanding officers. As they listened, they gathered weapons, ammunition, grenades and other weaponry to use. The Major grabbed a M90 Close Assault shotgun, taking additional packages of shells for the weapon. A M6D pistol was already holstered to his left hip, five extra magazines for it. He turned around to watch the marines finish up their debriefing and move into positions. As they did, the Major activated his radio.

"Marines of Omega Colony, this is Sergeant Major Reynolds" he began. All movement stopped and eyes turned to stare at Reynolds as he stood looking over them all. "Retreating is not cowardly gentlemen and ladies. Wasting all of these valuable lives in a wave of death and destruction is stupid. In this situation, retreating is smart. The enemy is too powerful and they have too many. It would be foolish for us to stay here and fight to the last man. We are needed all over this universe, and we must continue on fighting for Earth" he yelled, pacing back and forth and staring at everyone with a glare of confidence.

"Major Kerr had stated that today is the day when we find out who's afraid and who isn't, who runs and who hides. In reality, we are the ones running for a good cause, but in our hearts, we are not afraid and we will not hide from an enemy that believes they can mess around with the human race. Live to fight another day marines, let's kick some ass!" Reynolds finished off his speech by pumping his fist into the air. The marines responded with a huge roar of approval, clapping their hands and punching the air like Reynolds was.

They then broke the applause and moved faster, setting up Lotus mines and getting into defensive positions for which they could shoot at whatever approached them. Reynolds stood behind a small hut, facing the main entrance where he expected the Flood to march through at any second. Marines ran back from the destroyed gate, looking behind their backs to make sure the Flood didn't try to shoot them from behind. Reynolds heart raced. It had been five months since he had been fighting the Covenant on the front lines. After his promotions, the Sergeant Major had been put in charge of a company of Long-range Artillery vehicles, which were always placed at the back of every engagement force. It saddened to see all the marines dying up ahead and he was powerless to do anything. Now he was ready to do some good. He was ready to fight and die for the Corps and for Earth.

Silence soon encumbered the colony, except for the small shouts coming from the command and barrack tents as other marines and technicians began to pack everything up. However, their noises were soon drowned out by the sound of drumming and the shaking of the ground. Reynolds was nearly knocked off his feet as the earth beneath his feet trembled violently. Soon, the familiar sound of barking and roaring could be heard, and through the forest emerged thousands of Flood combat forms, charging towards the colony entrance. The sight of them almost froze Reynolds with fear, but he shook it off. He wasn't afraid and he wasn't going to run and hide.

"Stand by mines!" he yelled to his marines. A total of twenty Lotus anti-tank mines were buried around the main entrance, which the Flood were moving through. Reynolds waited two heartbeats as the main line of Flood passed through the destroyed gate and into the colony.

"Detonate!" he roared. The ground beneath the Flood exploded and lifted the combat forms into the air, followed by fireballs and smoke.

"Activate the Spiders!" Reynolds quickly yelled as dozens of Flood corpses fell onto the ground. A new weapon which had just been released throughout the army, Spider-XI mines. The explosives of the mine were inside four small legs that were attached to a centre piece. A small camera was placed on this centre piece and tracked movements in the ground. When it detected something that was hostile, it popped out of the ground and rushed at the threat. When it had found the threat, it would jump high into the air and latch itself onto the hostile, exploding afterwards.

Twenty small Spider mines burst out from the ground and scurried towards the advancing Flood forces. They leapt off the ground and latched onto the limbs of the Flood, exploding afterwards. The resulting detonations caused more dirt and corpses to be thrown up into the air. As the smoke and debris cleared, it showed more combat forms still charging. They passed the gate and ran at the marines.

"Fire at will!" Reynolds roared, firing his shotgun at the closest combat form. Strobes of light appeared all around the Major as the marines fired, their weapons flashing brilliantly as they released bullets into the Flood forces. Several dozen fell from the first volley, followed by an additional dozen. A group of Jackhammer jockeys positioned in the middle of the courtyard fired, sending several dozen 108mm rockets into the Flood. Their bodies were blown backwards in pieces as each rocket smashed into either the ground or a combat form and exploded. As the jockeys reloaded, fragmentation grenades landed among the Flood, detonating and blasting them in all directions. Effective though it looked, it didn't stop them and they kept on coming. Reynolds's firing finger was already growing numb as he fired twelve fresh shotgun shells at the Flood.

Several combat forms slowed down their pace and levelled captured Covenant and Human weapons, firing them at the marines. Bullets and plasma bolts pinged off the ground and houses around the marines as they found cover, avoiding the shots. One marine took a bullet round to his chest, then a plasma bolt to the head. He fell backwards, knocking over another marine, who was hit by three plasma bolts. Reynolds backed away from the advancing forces, still firing his shotgun wildly. A marine beside him fell forward dead, his face covered in blood and brains. The shotgun in the Major's hands stopped firing. He swung it over his back and took out his pistol, firing at several combat forms who were running at him, tentacle whips swinging at their sides. As they fell, bullets pinged off the hut that he stood around, forcing the Major to drop to the ground and use the small scope on the pistol to fire. Two combat forms wielding MA5B assault rifles fell dead, but hundreds more took their places, firing their weapons.

Screams were all around Reynolds as he reloaded both his weapons and began to fire them again. Within the first ten minutes of the fight, over thirty marines were either dead or wounded. The rocket jockeys fired again, but their position became under fire. Two marines wielding the massive launchers fell backwards from bullet wounds to the chest and stomach. As the others reloaded, another rocket jockey took a bullet round to his head. As he fell forward, the death grip that he had around the launcher pulled the trigger, sending a single 108mm rocket into the ground. His body and the bodies of seven other marines disappeared in an explosion of fire and smoke. Blood and body pieces scattered everywhere, followed by other marines who had been blasted into the air by the explosion. The remaining eleven rocket jockeys split up, firing their rockets still.

As the Flood continued to advance, Reynolds could hear the faint roar of Pelican dropships. He looked up into the grey clouded sky and could make out the small outlines of thirty Pelican dropships appear out of the shade and descend to the colony. As they flew over the courtyard, the pilots fired their auto canons, ripping up the bodies of several Flood forms who continued to advance towards the marines. Reynolds couldn't help but grin. He stood up from the ground and began to rush towards their landing zone, firing his shotgun wildly as he ran.

Only ten of the dropships were able to land, since there wasn't a lot of room inside the colony for all thirty. The remaining twenty dropships continued to fly over the Flood forces, firing whatever weapons that were onboard. Several crew chiefs jumped out of the back of the Pelicans that landed and ran towards the battle, yelling at marines to fall back. Reynolds helped take command and gathered up a group of thirty marines, who climbed into two Pelicans. The remaining eight were loaded up with technicians, radio equipment and several crates of weapons and ammunition. As they took off, ten more Pelicans landed and stood by to pick up passengers. Reynolds activated his radio.

"Marines! Fall back to the Pelican landing zone!" he yelled. The message was heard by all. Groups of marines who were closet to the Flood stood up and ran backwards, firing their weapons to provide their own cover fire. As they did, additional marines ran after them. They all gathered around the Pelicans and continued to fire at the combat forms, who took over the small spots of land that were abandoned and continued shooting. Several marines were shot in the back as they ran.

Reynolds gathered together one hundred of his marines, cutting his defensive forces in half. Groups of ten marines jumped into the Pelicans and awaiting lift-off, shooting out from the troop bay as they waited. As the Pelicans took off and the last ten dropships began to land, the remaining hundred or so marines hunkered down and continued firing as the Flood advanced. One marine unpinned a frag grenade, but took two plasma bolts to his chest. As he fell, the grenade also fell. Another marine went to cover it up, but it still exploded, killing him and two others nearby.

Two Flood forms suddenly appeared out of the force and fired their Jackhammer rockets launchers that they carried. Both flew over the heads of several marines and slammed into one of the landing Pelicans. The first rocket detonated along the dropship's hull, but the second flew straight through the troop bay and slammed into the cockpit. The Pelican exploded from the inside and crumpled to the ground. The marines who had been climbing into the troop bay were blasted out of it by the fire and smoke that exploded.

Reynolds turned away from the destroyed dropship and focused on getting the rest of his marines inside the remaining nine dropships. The other twenty Pelicans were soaring around above them, firing their weapons down at the Flood.

"Sir, we don't have enough dropships!" a nearby marine Lieutenant yelled. Reynolds paused from firing his weapon and turned around. The nine Pelicans were filled up, leaving around twenty marines left. Reynolds slung his weapon and ran over to them.

"Cram yourselves into these ships. Sit on someone's lap if you have too" he yelled, grabbing a marine and shoving him inside the Pelican. The other men complied and climbed aboard the troop bay, sitting on the floor, or even standing. One marine even stood inside the cockpit.

Another volley of Jackhammer missiles flew at them, narrowly missing one of the Pelicans. Reynolds looked around him. All of the marines were on the dropships. He quickly dashed inside one of the Pelicans and sat on top of a marine Private.

"Get us out of here!" he yelled at the pilot. There was no answer, but the troop bay ramp was slowly raised from the ground, closing the marines inside from the colony. Reynolds looked down at the private he was sitting on.

"How you doing?" he asked. The private laughed and saluted.

"Excellent sir" he said. Reynolds grinned and grabbed onto the wall behind him as the Pelican activated its accelerator engines and slowly hovered above the ground and into the air. He wanted to relax, but the marine's boney legs he sat on prevented him from doing so. He finally stood up and hung onto the handholds above him, looking out one of the windows as the battlefield he had fought on disappeared. It felt good to be back and fighting again. He had been away from it for too long.

However, his thoughts turned to the small team of five elite humans wandering through the jungles of Vivec. Now that he and his marines were off the planet, they were on their own. He hoped that he would be back in that jungle soon.

The silence that surrounded the Shadow Ops II squad was broken by the sounds off roaring engines. Sergeant Colin Thompson held up a fist and looked up through a parting in the tree canopy above him.

A large formation of around thirty Pelican dropships flew over their position and disappeared into the afternoon sky. Colin felt happy that the marines were no longer at risk down here on the planet. However, he now felt extremely worried. The Flood's main source of food was gone. This meant they were next. Thompson turned around and stared at the four other Shadow Ops II members.

"We're on our own now gentlemen. The Flood will be all over us in a matter of no time. Let's pick up our speed" he said. Before giving the order to move, Corporal Dela Cruz, the team's scout walked over to him.

"The tracks are getting harder to read because of all the vegetation here, but they stretch on for a few more kilometres. The geological data that we got shows a clearing in the forest up ahead" he said. The Corporal was holding a data pad in his hand, which showed the layout of the region they were in.

"That's where we got dropped in" Colin said. Aaron nodded.

"The valley is only a kilometre or so wide. If we're lucky, we'll find the Lieutenant there. If not, I'm out of ideas" he said. Thompson nodded, wishing he didn't hear that Scout was out of ideas.

"Lead us on Scout" he said, motioning to Spirit, Death and Feuer to follow. Scout nodded and unslung his Close Assault Shotgun, bringing it up to his shoulder. He then began jogging off through the jungle, the other four members behind him.

Although it was still early in the afternoon, the sun began to disappear behind dark grey clouds that covered up the sunlight and plunged the jungle into darkness. Slowly, the familiar sound of thunder could be heard, which followed flashes of lightning. Rain came in lightly at first, hitting the leaves of the tree canopy, but as it sped up and came down harder, it broke through the leaves and landed onto the jungle floor. In a matter of minutes, Colin was soaked with the warm rain and sweat at the same time as he followed Dela Cruz.

Slowly, the sounds of barking and odd squishy noises filled the air around them. Although the team didn't see anything, the Flood were still close and had obviously picked up their scent. Colin glanced down at his data pad. They still had around a half an hour of running to do. Thompson shook his head and stuffed his pad inside one of his pockets on his uniform. The next few hours wouldn't be fun for them...

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

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