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The life of a gamer by Netphreak
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Sidewinder, part 1
Date: 12 March 2005, 5:04 PM
Up on an icy hill, he was waiting. Watching over the canyon, he watched for any sign of life that could be a threat to him or his team. He kept a close watch over the area in front of him... but not behind. The craggy outcrop behind him shimmered, moving slowly towards the sniper. As he watched the two warthogs drive by, the sniper felt his hair prick on the back of his neck. Holstering the rifle, he pulled out his rocket launcher and looked behind him. Not seeing anything, he watched his team. Behind him, with active camouflage fading, the assassin made his move, rushing the sniper to break his neck with a punch to the helmet.
"Blue One, Blue One, This is Blue Four. Sniper is down; I'll get as many as I can from here. Be advised, you have an assault force of two hogs inbound, three in each hog."
"Blue Four, roger. Base is secure for us, we can hold them. Squad three is inbound to the objective, ETA ten minutes. They're about two klicks from the target. They will need your cover more than ever."
"Sir... are you sure? Squad Three is well prepared for any type of defense the enemy may have. The last they need is me."
"Blue Four, follow orders. They can use you as a sniper, picking off whoever respawns there. If we start taking out people as they complete the objective, then the team is toast. Just do your job."
"Roger that, setting up the tent now."
Blue Four, also known as Netphreak, went back to sitting on the cliff, watching as the rest of Squad Three moved towards the target. Looking towards the enemy base, he watched as one of the defenders poked their head out of the base. Without even aiming, Netphreak squeezed off a headshot. The body went limp, dropping his weapon. He listened in to what he could on the enemy COM channels:
"Red Nine is down! Red Nine is down! Repeat, Snake is KIA. We have a sniper somewhere."
"Red Three, this is Red Two, don't worry. Snake will be back soon, and we've pinned down their base as well. The objective will be completed soon."
"Yes Sir Apollo, will do. I'll make sure the rest of Squad Three stays entirely inside."
"You do that; just make sure the path is clear as my squad comes back through. We'll need all the room we can as we high-tail it back."
Netphreak smiled to himself as he heard the chaos going on. He looked to his left to check the rocket launcher his "buddy" dropped. "Wow, six shots... what a camper. This will come in handy later," he thought.
Red Two, Apollo, drove the lead warthog towards the base. He was ordered to bring Squad Two on the assault force, not entirely to his liking. He would much rather be back at the base, running the warthog on patrol. The combined forces of Squad One and Two included himself and five men. They were the best of the team, and they were about to find out if their best was good enough. Red One, Jinx, was the lead commander of their team, as well as commander of the offensive force, Squad One. They had three warthogs, but none of them had any extra weaponry; they believed that the blues would be an easy pushover once they arrived.
"Red Two, report in."
"Red One, this is Red Two. We are almost to the objective, and I still see no sign of the enemy. Our sniper must be doing a better job than I thought he would. My gunner is ready for whatever is there."
"Roger that, Apollo. I still haven't seen anyone either, so I need you and your squad to check our six. Make sure they aren't setting an ambush after we pass through."
"Got that, sir. Red Six and Red Seven, did you copy?"
Acknowledgement lights flashed on his HUD, showing that they got the message. "Ok," he said, "let's move!"
As the warthog spun, the rear fishtailed around, showing the back of the gunner for a split second. At the exact moment, a sniper took out Red Six with a well placed shot. No one realized what happened until well after the fact, as the contrail started to fade. "Red One, Red Six is down. He was taken by an enemy sniper!"
"My squad, open fire on that base! I don't want any more deaths on this mission, got it?"
All of the acknowledgement lights winked on then, including a few from Squad Three, for some reason. "They must be scared shitless, with so many of us going down," he thought. The remaining gunner opened up on the base, covering both exits with heavy fire. He shifted the field of fire, so no one was safe in front of the deadly guns. No one came out of the base, and the rest of the squad readied their rifles for the firefight inside. Red Three and Four crept in through the right, as Red One started from the left. They burst through the front, ready to fire at... nothing. There was no one inside of the first room, nor in the adjacent rooms as well. As they made it towards the flag though, they heard the one distinct sound, the one that every soldier knows: the sound of a round being loaded into the chamber. The three team mates stopped, then fanned out in a flying V, to better overlap their fields of fire. Nothing showed up on their motion sensors, so they continued through the deserted base, still weary of anything. They entered the next room, where the flag stood. They rushed forward towards it, tripping an alarm the enemy set up. At that instant, Squad One of blue team rappelled down from the roof, cutting off the intruders from the outside. Frag grenades flew, blinding and injuring all those inside. The defenders used a mix of shotguns and assault rifles to make quick work of the attackers, taking them out with well-placed shots. Within seconds, the firefight was over, and Blue team now had only one more problem: getting their own assault squad home.
"Blue Three, this is Blue One. Base is secure. We now have a ride there if needed."
"Blue One, this is Blue Two. Squad Three is advancing towards the base, with my group behind them. I doubt we'll need the ride, but keep one ready, just in case. Blue Two out."
Apollo broke off from the convoy and went back to base to pick back up his gunner. After that, they went on patrol, watching for any attackers coming towards their base. He saw something on top of the cliffs move, fairly close to base. "Hey guys," he said, "keep an eye on that cliff; I think there's someone up there."
"Sir, that's where Red Ten posted our insurance policy, in case some of the enemy gets out of the base."
"Still, go check and see if he needs ammo up there, we can't let our 'insurance' run out."
His passenger jumped out of the warthog, as the gunner kept an eye across the field for any latecomers to their position. Apollo thought, "What's taking that guy? I know he wouldn't stay up there that long."
Just then, a frag grenade flew down from the cliff, as an enemy jumped up with a rocket launcher. He timed the rocket perfectly, having both explosions coincide with each other. The explosion launched the warthog skyward, along with the occupants. Apollo's last thought was, "Wow! I can see the entire place from up here," before the fire reached the gas tank.
In the middle of the field, Squad Three of blue team crept towards the enemy base. They stuck to the shadows, watching everywhere for any contacts on their motion sensors. They kept moving, then Blue Three signaled them to freeze. They increased the magnification on their visors, just in time to see all of Squad One respawn and start moving out on foot. They were so intent on getting back to the objective, they never even grabbed extra ammo for their rifles. Squad Three kept moving, getting closer to the base. Then, they watched as Squad Two respawned, and followed the first group out. Blue One kept his squad moving slowly, to keep off of the motion sensors. He knew that the defense had no idea that they were about to be attacked. Blue One opened a COM channel to Blue Four; "Blue Four, let them come back. We are almost to base, and we need them to leave. Repeat: Let Squad One and Two leave. After we come back out of the base, wait for my signal to kick some ass. If we die, make sure to keep that base pinned down."
"Roger, will do. Good luck down there. Blue Four out."
Netphreak kept an eye on his teammates, waiting for them to make their move. Once they got in and out, it was his job to hold off the defenders from killing his team as they retreated. After watching the team ready themselves, he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. He unscoped with the sniper rifle, and watched his motion sensor. Soon, he saw a single red blip show up, moving quickly towards him. He slunk back into the shadows, dropped the rifle and pulled out his shotgun. The enemy moved to pick up the sniper, falling into his trap. He sprung from the shadows, shooting him in the back. He picked back up the sniper, and made sure he checked his motion sensor more often.
Red Team was entirely in chaos. Squad One was in disarray after the defeat they suffered at the blue base. They remassed, and took Squad Two with them on foot to overtake the blue team defenses. Unknown to them, Squad Two and Squad One were ready and waiting for the attack force to come around the corner. As they did so, the chain guns on the warthogs opened fire, killing half of the group and driving back the rest. The warthog crunched into gear, right as Squad Three reached the base. They took out the defenses there, then ran for the flag. They picked it up and fanned out, protecting the flagbearer until the hogs were able to give cover fire. Netphreak sniped anyone who spawned up on top of the base, keeping any of the lucky ones pinned inside from escaping through the top. The flagbearer got into the lead warthog, then they drove away before the Red Team could organize a counterattack... Except for Red Two.
As the warthogs gunned down the attack force, he ran as the bullets started flying. He took for the tunnels, deciding to try and stop the other team from winning, buying more time for his team to get out of the base. They couldn't afford another defeat, and he would not let it happen. The base was deserted, as the defense had moved up to watch the battle. He strolled into the base, looked around for anyone, then grabbed the flag and ran to the teleporter.
About to snipe yet another unlucky enemy, an icon flashed on Netphreak's visor: Red team has the flag. "What the fuck? Blue Team Squad one: where are you!? Someone broke though; he's leaving with the flag now. Repeat: RED TEAM HAS THE FLAG!"
"Shit! Squad Two, head back and help Squad One find that little red-necked son of a bitch. I am not about to lose this match because somebody wanted to watch the fireworks, is that clear?"
"Sir, yes sir! We won't let him escape."
"Well, this is a fine mess I'm in," said Apollo. "How do I get back?" He tried his radio, but all he got was static; he was either out of range, or there was no one left to talk to. He kept walking away from where he had come, hoping that he was headed in the right direction, or at least away from the Blue Team base. They were sure to know that he had their flag now, and he was without backup as well. He watched as a warthog drove past, the gunner and passenger were on a sharp lookout. They were trying to find where the survivor had gone with the flag. They drove past where he was, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. The cliff stopped, so he eased his armor down onto the ice and snow. He continued more slowly now, because he was way out in the open, He couldn't afford to be spotted now. Especially not when he was the only thing standing between the other team and the preceding victory. He backed into a shadowy corner, to wait for someone to come and help him.
Netphreak knew he couldn't rely on his team; they were too amped up on adrenaline from the near victory. If anything, it would take them longer to find him. He knew that the flagbearer would have to go through the area he was watching, so he just continued to sit and wait. Soon enough, he had another contact, moving slowly towards the enemy base. It drifted in and out of his motion sensors, so he knew that it was the guy he was looking for. The target was almost right on top of him, so he backed into his own corner, and waited for the contact to show itself. It never came over the cliff, but it soon did stop right near him. He switched COM channels, listening in on the Red Team COM channel. "Hello? Is there anyone there? This is Red Two; I repeat, this is Apollo. I was able to get into the Blue base and retrieve the flag. They have the whole team out looking for me. I need EVAC soon, so we can get this thing back to base. Does anyone hear me? I need help now!"
Netphreak couldn't believe his luck. Here was the bastard that escaped the whole plan, sitting and hiding right under his nose. He still had a plasma grenade left, so he inched up to the edge of the cliff, waiting to stick his opponent with the explosive. As he got close, he saw the man sitting, crouched in a dark corner. The flag was pointed straight at the wall, so it would be almost invisible to any outsider. He primed the grenade, and tossed it down on top of his head. The grenade adhered to the target, and he counted down the seconds until it exploded, tossing the body and flag out of the whole as though it was nothing. He jumped down to secure the flag, and did so. His own flagbearer scored, and the Blue team won.
Netphreak set down his controller, and spoke into his headset. "Great job guys, that game was awesome. How about the same thing next weekend?"
"Different teams though," said Apollo. "My team was not even close to being helpful."
"Aw, you're just whining because of the game-winning stick I got on you."
"Whatever, I hate you Mike. But yeah, let's do this again next weekend."
Netphreak logged off of xbox live, relishing the victory. He knew he could shove that in "Apollo's" face tomorrow during school. He then changed his mind, and logged back on to find a new match to play...
And yet another day in a gamer's life is completed, with a feeling of victory that can not be put in a jar and sold. This was a victory over both friends an enemies. All in a day's work for a new-age weekend warrior.
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