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Sergeant Steven Dowel - Stealth
Posted By: Mark Lieberg<malieberg@msn.com>
Date: 26 June 2005, 1:06 pm
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Sergeant Steven Dowel—Section 1
On a planet called Straphe, Covenant Siege was its status. Fifty Covenant Destroyers and three Carriers; enough to wipe out three systems of the size Straphe is in. The entire Outer Colonies were lost by the Covenant, and the Inner Colonies were being picked one by one. On one of the continents, in one city, on one street sat Sergeant Steven Dowel. He is a Marine; thawed out from twenty years in cryo stasis, to help turn the edges on the war. He was sent to the planet to do only one thing, kill Covenant and something important, [I]'very'[/I] important. He was assigned to head to this specific city called 'Faren'. There is a strong concentration of Covenant troops in the area, and Steven Dowel was assigned to take them out and find out why they didn't glass the planet yet.
He was just a soldier, a top notch Special Op Soldier. Steven heard about his fellow brothers, they were sent on other missions when he was weeks frozen before getting thawed out, but he never got any replies from the messages he sent to them, so he was going to ignore their absence, and do his job…alone; to do his duty to complete this mission. He knelt surveying the street singing the Marine song he had memorized. It was calm, quiet, and luckily, which Steven didn't believe, there were no patrols of any sort in the area. Kneeling, he loosened his grip on his Battle Rifle, and swung it on his back. He pulled out a map, since Global Positioning Satellites were hit first on the planet; and laid it on his right knee. The map showed the surrounding areas and the surrounding towns of the city.
The Sergeant got Intel that there is a number of troops inside an underground facility, which used to be a military stronghold for the UNSC against rebels. Strangely he never heard of it before, and it was a top priority to destroy the facility, taking his life if necessary. So he was going to complete this mission, destroy the underground facility, and get out alive if possible. [I]'Sounds like a mission for a platoon'[/I], thought Steven as he found the position he was located at, and marked it with a red marker had had brought. He put a small X on his location and looked at the coordinates the underground facility was located at, and found out where, so he drew a thin line of the pathway he was going to take. It was just a few meters from his position anyways.
Steven bagged his map and capped the marker. He then unslung his Battle Rifle, checked the ammo counter, and then observed the sky. It was becoming cloudy and by his training on weather probabilities, the air seemed damp and cold. It was possibly going to rain today, which would make it easier for him to do his mission undercover, in stealth. He stood up and held his rifle leveling with his waist. The alley he was in was very cramped, but able to move in, so he started walking quietly.
Sergeant Dowel watched the weary fog appear as it covered his visibility range making it hard to see, the area was now like dry ice in hot water. He couldn't see the sky even as he looked up above him. He had his helmet with his lucky Ace Card, which was signed by his parents for good luck when he joined OCS. He always had that card, and with that helmet he heard a loud thump. A thump telling him that water dripped down onto his uniform. It started to rain. He continued to walk down the alley, be before he knew it he passed the second block trying to see through the fog, but had no luck. He knelt down and checked his bag he was carrying to see if he brought his Navy issued Night Vision Goggles.
He unbuckled the belt and opened the brown pouch. He dug into the bag and found the device, so he took off his helmet, and attached it as water dripped on his face. He buckled the pouch, and hefted the bag onto his back. He grabbed his helmet next and carefully placed it on top of his head. He pulled out the night vision goggles, and pressed the activation button. In one second Steven could only see black, and in the next, he saw three Grunts, Covenant Cannon Fodder. He aimed his Battle Rifle by instinct and almost fired the weapon as he remembered the Grunts couldn't see him.
[I]'Silence'[/I], the sergeant reminded himself as he pulled out a silencer he designed when he was in base camp and screwed the device onto the muzzle of the Battle Rifle. It screwed on perfectly and after another twist, he raised his rifle and leveled it with his shoulder. He took careful aim, and then with patience, fired. Three bright flashes ended up with three dead bodies as a mixed color of liquid covered the ground as the sergeant checked his targets. The first Grunt took it in the head, the second in the abdomen, and the third…well he just punctured the methane tank and watched the alien fly in the air hitting the cramped walls of the alley. [I]'Feel free to wake up when ever you want'[/I], Steven thought looking at the three corpses. He looked to his right, and saw a building that was three stories high. The Sergeant's mind had a flashback as it pictured the whole map he saw nearly ten minutes ago.
The building was just in between him and his target location by his memory, and he was positive that it is. He wasn't sure if it would be wise to go into a building that he had no blue prints of and thought to himself. He decided it would be easier to go through then around because if he went around he would have to spend another ten minutes walking and getting unnoticed. He looked around with his NVG and then placed his hand on the knob. He turned it a little, and it didn't budge. Dowel now really wanted to cut through the building so he lifted his Rifle and fired at the door. Wood splintered as the burst shot, silently due to the silencer on his muzzle, and blew out the knob.
The Sergeant slowly opened the door entering the building. It was a house by the looks of it. There was a television set and two couches that surrounded the main living room. He wondered if the civilians that were here survived, but with that thought he shook his head. He couldn't think of civilians now, it would just help him think of his brothers he was raised with. He had a mission to focus on. He had a goal, an objective, so he shook his head again, and surveyed the house now by aiming his rifle at where his eye was looking at. It was clear, so he walked towards the window to his eleven o'clock position that had its curtain down. Steven looked at it and pulled the string.
He saw a huge pavement of cement that was empty all except for a small structure the size of a closet that was in the middle. He looked around seeing through his NVGs, and opened the window slowly. It budged a little, and then as he pulled with all his strength the window slammed upwards making a loud noise. After that he became silent and heard a strange noise from the upper floor. It sounded like a bird chirping, but it had a screeching tone to it of some sort, and remembered through Intel that there was a Covenant species that acted like a bird, so he backed away from the window and faced the stairs that led up to the second floor. He silently stepped forward three paces, and aimed his silenced rifle upwards as he began crawling up the stairs hoping the creature didn't activate what Intel believed a highly developed shielding device on its forearm for protection.
When he reached the second floor he saw the bird-like creature that stood about four feet looking out the window that was fogging up because of the alien breathing onto the glass. He didn't want to shoot it as it could have fly out the window getting shot at so he silently crept forward. Slinging his rifle, the Sergeant noticed this was a bedroom of someone, looked like a little girls room as he saw some animal dolls on the ground that have been melted probably from the bird trying to practice its shooting.
Steven stepped closer one more pace, and grabbed the creatures face. It was strong as it almost yelled something out in its own language, but the Sergeant pulled out his nine-inch bayonet he carried ever since he heard reports of these bird creatures. He slit the throat of the struggling bird, and with a thud it fell. Purple liquid started dripping into the wooden floor. Steven gripped his knife tighter as he felt a sudden urge of relaxation and excitement. He enjoyed killing that bird creature with his bare hands…he enjoyed it. He whipped the blood stain on his pants sleeve and put the knife back in its holster, and unslung his Rifle. He started back down the stairs and threw the window onto the pavement of the courtyard.
The small structure that was in the middle was still there, so the Sergeant walked towards it, and opened the door.
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