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Trials and Tribulations: Snowfire
Posted By: Capn Rasc<Rasculia38@msn.com>
Date: 29 April 2006, 11:05 pm
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The blizzard died down after about thirty minutes, but not after covering me and most of my foxhole with snow. Snow still fell of course, it always seemed to be falling, and it hadn't gotten any warmer, but the winds had died down to more tolerable levels. Shaking off the snow I slowly eased my head up over the edge of the foxhole, and took a look around. Motion trackers were fairly useless here, and most sophisticated thermal sensors weren't rated for such cold weather, so we relied for the most part on our eyes and ears, assuming we didn't lose those to a bad case of frostbite.
The rocky snow covered plain was as empty as it ever was, nothing moving under the dark grey clouds of snow. If the split-jaws and their little gas-sucking minions were about, they weren't showing themselves. I sat back in my foxhole on a tiny ledge I had dug there to allow me to sit comfortably while being able to see just over the edge of the foxhole. Keying the squad frequency on my helmet's radio I asked, "See anything other than shades of white of black out there?"
"Not even a snowman El-tee," replied Jessie.
"That's because they're all on some nice, warm planet where its a balmy thirty below," remarked Mike.
"Yeah, sitting and catching a tan and sipping a cold beer," put in Tom.
"Hell warm beer would be good on this iceball," said Mike.
"Beer hell," I said, "Vodka is the stuff for this weather. Why do you think that the Ru-" I cut off mid-sentence, as just then, a small pile of snow detached itself from the ground about forty-eight yards away and began moving towards me, floating at shoulder height from the ground.
Shoulder height for an Elite that is.
"Boss?" asked Tom, "What is it?" I didn't reply immediately, easing my rifle from my lap and flicking the safety off.
"Contact," I whispered, "Camoflauged Elite. Eyes open Marines." I said, easing the rifle to my shoulder. The pile of snow was still moving, but not directly towards me, nor particularly fast, meaning the Elite probably had not spotted me in my snow-dusted camoflauge, and I didn't want to give myself away prematurely. Setting the butt of the battle rifle against my shoulder, I took careful aim the center of the slightly distorted section of air beneath the little snow pile, and tightened my finger on the trigger.
The rifle bucked against my shoulder as it spat out a three round burst. There was a anguished howl and a spray of purple gore splattered across the pristine snow as the camoflauge generator overloaded and the revealed Elite toppled forward, spilling a fair amount of his intestines on the ground in front of him.
I switched my frequency over to the bases emergency frequency, "Control, Outrider Five, be advised we have had contact with the enemy. Commando Elite with camoflauge has been neutralized repeat stealthed contact has be-"
I was cut off as bolts of blue plasma erupted from a spot in the air about three dozen yards away and to the left, turning a patch of snow about two feet to my right instantly to steam. A voice crackled in my headset, but I was too busy to listen at the moment. I ducked down into my foxhole as more bolts whined over my head and impacted in the surrounding snow, sending up little clouds of steam. There was a sharp report followed by a gurgling roar and the steady stream of plasma fire stopped.
"Got 'im boss," called Tommy, at the same moment my radio crackled and the voice of Central Control spoke again.
"Outrider Five what the hell is happening out there?"
"About time," I muttered under my breath before replying, "We have contact with two Elites using camo generators, they've been neutralized, but its a sure bet they know we're here."
"Understood, sit tight. We're sending a squad to your position."
The whine of plasma fire erupted again nearby, punctauted by the barking reports of a sniper rifle and the rattle of automatic fire. "Better make it fast central," broke in Jessie, "Additional contacts and lots of them."
I risked a quick peek over the ledge and almost wished I hadn't. With the element of surprise lost, seven Elites in black armor were now crouched behind what cover there was, spraying covering fire at two foxholes off to my left as four more elites advanced across the open ground under the base of fire. A figure with an MA5B popped up from the nearer foxhole long enough to fire off a quick eight round burst that blasted one of the advancing Elites in the head before dissapearing back into the cover of his foxhole. I brought my rifle to my shoulder and fired four short bursts that overpowered the shield of another Elite and turned his chest into a bloody shattered mess, then ducked and reloaded as plasma fire flashed in my direction.
"Mike," I said over the radio, "Time to give them a spanking."
"Aye aye," came the enthusiastic reply. From behind me there came the loud whoosh of a SPnKr launcher being fired, and a rocket flashed over my head and exploded in the middle of the stationary Elites. The explosion sent snow, steam, and the blood and body parts of seven elites flying into the air. I immediately opened fire on the two remaining elites, and the other three members of my squad joined in. The two elites danced as they were caught in the hail of led and toppled to the ground, their innards steaming on the ground.
As the echoing reports faded over the landscape we dimly heard in the distance the welcome roar of approaching Warthogs.
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