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Sergeant Steven Dowel
Posted By: Mark Lieberg<malieberg@msn.com>
Date: 22 June 2005, 10:48 pm
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Sergeant Steven Dowel—Prologue
The Vehicles, a White Bus that kidnapped twenty ten-year-old kids around the North American Continents, continued to drive along the dry plain desert of Texas, Earth. It was around ninety degrees and growing every hour on Monday Morning, 0900 Hours Military Calendar. The Driver was just a regular civilian hired to help transport the kids they kidnapped around the plains of Texas and the surrounding states. The old man didn't know why the Military would be kidnapping children, but maybe it was for some kind of experiment, the old man never got to know.
The White Bus drove on for ten minutes while the kids in the back of the vehicle were almost awake from being drugged during the night. There were three Drill Sergeants inside the Bus holding onto the top railings, watching the kids wake themselves. The only thing the three Drill Sergeants did was smile while the Bus reached the Military Complex Gate that led underground for about two miles, and in that underground area was a Military Training Facility. The Driver stopped the vehicle, and a Military Police Officer stepped up the stairs and told the driver to step out of the vehicle. The old man did what he was asked to, and got out being escorted away by three other Military Police Officers.
The One Officer that stepped on the Bus sat in the drivers seat. He restarted the Bus, geared manually, and drove downwards into the tunnel. There was a stream of light fixtures above the bus as it drove downwards toward the Military Complex. It took five minutes when they got to the bottomless pit, and stopped at another checkpoint. The guards that stood there in uniform opened the gate to let the bus pass by as the kids, fully awake now, watched in fear at the Military Soldiers training. There were Men marching, Men doing combat, Men eating, Men playing, Men fighting, all this was frightful for the twenty kids in the back of the white bus.
The Kids were all watching and staring as a single kid, a male eight-year-old named Steven Dowel sat up watching and smiling. He always liked seeing Military people doing things around the states, it made Steven feel good to have people fighting for their planet against the rebels. So he was like a Military-learning kid, wanting to see more and more stuff. Now he got the chance. He looked around as a tall man looked at Steven from above.
"What's your name kid?" The Military Drill Sergeant asked Steven as he took another quick glance towards the front then looked back down to the kid.
"Steven Dowel, sir." The eight year old stated as he watched the tall man smile and turn around. Steven didn't know why he smiled. (But it turned out he was going to help train the twenty kids they kidnapped to become Special Op Military Personnel). When the bus reached a large long green tent, surrounded by others and a flat pavement, the three Drill Sergeants walked out first as the last one, the one that spoke to Steven turned around facing the frightened children.
The Tall Drill Sergeant stood in the front of the bus looking at the kids. He looked at everyone then took a quick glance at Steven. Steven read the Drill Sergeants nametag on his uniform and it read 'Baker'. "Listen up kids, I'm Drill Sergeant Baker. You will call me Drill Sergeant or address me as Sir. Is that understood?"
The Kids looked at the man confusingly as Steven answered first. "Sir yes sir!" Steven stood there, by his seat as the Drill Sergeant looked at him. Steven saw him smile and then looked at the other kids.
"What the hell you quiet for! Is that UN-DER-STOOD!" The Drill Sergeant yelled louder this time as the kids looked at Steven. Then the kids replied with the same response.
"Sir, Yes Sir!" The Kids said looking at Baker terrified as Steven looked around confused.
"Good Trainees. Steven!" The Drill Sergeant yelled over the kids as Steven responded with the 'Sir yes sir' response. "Gather these Trainees up and get them off the bus, I want them in five rows of fives, is that understood?"
"Sir yes sir!" Steven yelled enjoying himself among the older kids. Drill Sergeant Baker nodded and stepped off the bus walking towards the concrete pavement area that were around the tents and which is supposed to be the Physical Training area. The Drill Sergeant waited as he saw the kids walk out of the bus, and to his surprise, he saw Steven up front. The Kids followed the eight-year-old despite that he was younger then most of them. Baker smiled while Steven turned around and told them to get into five rows of five. To Baker's surprise again, he saw the kids do what Steven asked as he stepped into the front row being first in line waiting for the Drill Sergeant to come back.
"Good job Trainee Dowel." Baker said looking at the others. Steven paused a few seconds, 'Trainee Dowel'. He liked the sound of that.
"Thank you sir." Trainee Dowel responded. He was happy, he didn't care if his foster parents knew he was missing, they never liked him and this is what he wanted. He wanted to join the Military, and his dream finally came true.
Two Years Later
"Yo Left, yo left…your left, right, left, right, left!" Private Steven Dowel, the ten-year-old boy that used to be 'Trainee Dowel', yelled out loud as his brothers, the kids that were kidnapped, followed him marching around the campus for the last ten minutes. They were three quarters done already, and were close to finishing the ten-mile run. "Come on Brothers!" He yelled again out loud running faster trying to rush to the finish. He knew they would keep up, they had to or Drill Sergeant Baker would make them run another lap, making it their third for the day. Steven didn't want that.
"Come on, we don't want Baker up our ass's do we? Do we!" Steven yelled to make the men have courage also to be scared as he led them to the finish line. Everyone made it not a second late. Drill Sergeant Baker walked towards Private Dowel nodding in approval. Baker; Tim Baker Steven now knew three weeks ago, was now twenty-six years old, as Steven was eleven. The Drill Sergeant still thought of the boy with high hopes.
"Good job Private Dowel. Your men are becoming one with the leader…a team. This is good, a man should never be alone in the field of combat, and no one is to be left behind. Is that understood?" Baker asked the men as they replied with the traditional 'Sir yes sir'. Baker nodded and walked towards Steven Dowel. He patted the Privates shoulder, and handed him a brown, silver lined box. Steven Dowel looked at it confused, and then towards the Sergeant.
"Sir?" Baker looked at the rest of the men and then at Steven smiling.
Five Years Later
Corporal Steven Dowel sat in the back of the Military Truck that carried twenty men, his fellow brothers. They were going to head to a live fire exercise, and if any of them would get hit or killed, it would all be his fault. He didn't want that to happen or to be on his mind so he focused on the bright blue sky, while the sun shined brighter. Basically to Steven it meant that it was going to become hotter. Not a single cloud in the sky, also meaning it would be the perfect time of day to see everything during the exercise, so it should be a walk in the park, no Steven thought looking around again, not like a park, like a Zoo.
Steven looked at his brothers' faces, each brother he had been with since the day they were kidnapped being taken to the underground Military Facility. They had been together for nearly eight years now. Steven, now fifteen years old carrying the rank of Corporal continued to sit in the truck that drove on the dirt road. The faces of his men were all different, some he couldn't read at all. One, Corporal Lewis Perez was biting on his lip and seemed nervous by Steven's thought so he looked at the others. They were all frosty, they knew the consequence if one of them screwed up, so before they left, they prayed that they wouldn't fail. They would finish this mission… they will complete this mission.
The Truck drove on the dirt road heading towards a five-story bricked building. The Military had captured a number of Rebels and armed them with Heavy Automatic Weapons. These 'Rebels' were ordered to kill any of Corporal Steven Dowel's men when they enter the facility, and if they completed their mission they would be set free, but if they would lose…they wouldn't be living for the rest of their trapped lives. Steven gripped his MA3B Assault Rifle and checked the loading chamber, it was clear. The rest glanced at their Squad Leader, and did the same. Dowel heard a series of clicks and ticks when the trucks brakes slammed to a halt, as they were just a kilometer from the apartment building.
Steven looked around the plain and saw far away that the building was covered with armor protection. The Corporal examined the area, and spotted a man just on the fifth floor window, he needed to take him out because that man was carrying an Automatic Silenced Scoped Sniper Rifle (ASSSR), mostly called the 'Silenter'. Luckily, Steven was a step away, two of his men carried the same, but modified weapon. He, still on the truck, pointed to them two, made an upside down arrow, and topped his head.
The two men nodded and carried their rifles. They hopped out of the back, and lay on the ground on their bellies, and they waited for a faint shadow to wave to them as they selected their targets. They both saw the one man, but to have two rifles, it would be better if there is two targets, so the other one looked for another one, and spotted one on the roof carrying a Rocket Launcher, Military issued. Steven remembered that his Drill Sergeant said there would be people that would do anything to see him or his brothers fail, so he wasn't going to do that. Not today. He waved the two snipers, and they fired.
Two bullets entered the two targets. One just fell on the floor as the other fell off the roof collapsing on the ground dead. Steven waved off to the rest of his men as they filed out of the truck. They jumped from the side, and from the back running in two single file lines towards the building. Gripping each of their weapons, they continued to run. This is why they ran for thirty miles in the Military Complex underground, so they could run like this. Well, that's what Steven thought as he reached out wards signaling the second line to form a defensive suppression perimeter around the building. It was a small building, enough for a ten-man team to suppress while Team One moved in.
Steven reached one side of the building, and looked up while the other nine of his men that composed of Team One touched the wall. They held their weapons high and kept frosty. They were going into the building while Team Two gave suppression fire, good luck to us, thought Steven as he crept slowly to the double brown doors that made the front entrance, but then he stopped. What if there were Rebels in the entrance ready to hose his men down? What if there were explosives planted to detonate when they open the doors? He had to take and understand each of these risks so he turned around.
He saw a window just behind him, and he signaled three of the nine men to enter first. They did slowly and quietly while Steven heard a few gunshots go off. When the fire stopped, he heard a positive reply of 'Clear'. Steven smiled, and the team stormed the room from the front door removing all Rebels from power of the building.
Eight Years after the attack of the Hotel and Five Years after the attack
on the Harvest System
"Sergeant Steven Dowel, you have been awarded with the Purple Heart, and your actions on Virginia VII were excellent. We congratulate you, and give you our sincere thoughts about the men you lost today. The Battle with the Covenant isn't going so well, and you helped complete your mission by making sure the Covenant didn't obtain data to Earth, we salute you." General George Tellings said raising his right arm and gave the Sergeant a crisp salute. Steven didn't smile, he still thought about the seven men he lost, seven brothers. They had been with him threw thick and thin, and now with the battle with the Covenant. Everything was turning upside down, everyone was losing while the Covenant continued to glass more systems.
Steven focused back into reality and gave back the salute, then the General handed him a brown polished box that guarded the Purple Heart. A bullet before had shot Steven, but getting burned by Plasma from a Covenant weapons did hurt as much as he didn't know. He had to stay in bed for a week to recover, and when he was back he was here now, getting his medal. There were only five more of his brothers alive. Seven killed in the last week, three died from a ship-to-ship attack, and the other five were killed when they were sent to investigate the attack in the Harvest System the year of 2525.
Lights focused into Stevens face as a round of applause rang in his ears, then after a flash from a camera he saw one of his men get shot multiple times by a Plasma Weapon that burned through his brothers head, then enveloped his body. Steven felt sick all of a sudden and walked down the stairs and to his temporary quarters. He was going to be frozen on Earth for future use, for a future mission, and later, Steven hoped, they would defeat the Covenant, and was the Sergeant going to get it.
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