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HELLJUMPERS CHAPTER 1: FEET FIRST INTO HELL
Posted By: Havok<snayperskaya@hotmail.com>
Date: 4 September 2002, 12:25 am
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As our pelican dropship accelerated toward the LZ, I loaded an extended clip into my sniper rifle. I looked over at my teammate, Rob. We were Black One and Two, 229th Special Operations Group (S.O.G), Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Our unit did not officially exist. Rob and I had officially died in action on Reach two years ago. Unofficially, we had escorted the famous Dr. Hasley off Reach and to Chi Ceti 4, where project: MJOLNIR had begun. The Covenant had not glassed the planet because the only ship in that sector was destroyed by the SPARTANS before they could send out a distress call. Its whereabouts are still unknown to the Covenant. After our little escapade, we were recruited by the 229th. All members of all Special Operations Groups are officially KIA. After the fall of Reach, we were deployed to HALO installation 001 to root out the covenant infestation and glean any secrets we could out of the enigmatic installation.
Rob and I had known each other since high school. We enlisted together when the Covenant threat became publicly known. We were always assigned missions together because we have always worked as a perfect team. Even in the 229th we were considered the best team amongst our comrades. Rob is unusually small for an ODST. But what he lacks in size he more than makes up for in brute strength and bravery. He is not much for battlefield tactics, but he can sneak up on any opposition and kill them with a cold efficiency that rivals even the genetically enhanced SPARTANS.
The dropship did not slow as we reached the drop zone. It hauled ass a foot or so over the ground as I readied myself. I did not have to check if rob was ready. As we screamed over the drop zone, the pilot came over the intercom: "30 seconds till launch boys. Good luck." I counted down and we jumped. I tucked my body into a ball and hit the ground rolling, sniper rifle in my hands. I rolled to a stop more or less inside a thick bush. I didn't move a muscle as I surveyed my surroundings with my night vision glasses. Technology and miniaturization has come a long way since the 21st century. The once bulky NV goggles had been compacted into glasses. We S.O.G. types could choose the style of glasses in which the night vision equipment would be installed. Rob and I both chose the "aviator" type glasses. There was another major improvement. The surroundings were still green, but enemies were displayed in artificial color enhancement, making it almost impossible to miss even a small grunt hidden in the foliage. As I looked around I caught sight of Rob, sitting by a tree, checking his equipment. I disengaged myself from the bush and strolled on over to him. He looked up at me and smiled. "You ready?" he asked.
"Yep. Lets get goin." We gave our gear another check before starting off. Tonight we were off on another intelligence gathering mission. We were to infiltrate a sizable covenant base and hack into their BattleNet and intelligence gathering network. For the job tonight, I had brought along my trusty sniper rifle. I had an Oracle scope attached, by my unit's armorer, which also gives a 30x magnification mode. Unlike most mainline models, this one had a sound suppressor. The bullets I use still have the usual anti-matter tips, but they don't leave vapor trails, which would give my position away. I always use extended clips to keep up my rate of fire in prolonged engagements. My secondary gun is a silenced MA5B assault rifle. The only modifications that I made to this particular weapon is that it has a variable magnification option, 2x to 10x. I also carry a silenced antique pistol, a 9mm Ruger. It was a present from Dr. Hasley. In addition to the guns, I also brought two combat knives (they don't weigh much so why not bring two?) that were also balanced for throwing, extra ammo clips for each gun, and a little glass cube that contained a hack AI, made specially for us by ONI. Rob packed much the same stuff as I did, except for weapons. His main weapon is an M-90 tactical shotgun, but since our whole mission is based off of stealth, he had to rearrange his priorities. So tonight he brought a silenced MA2B, a cut down version of the MA5B assault rifle, two silenced M6D pistols, and a pair of definitely non-regulation brass knuckles. He liked to get down and dirty with the Covenant, especially after they glassed our home planet. I couldn't agree more with him.
We set out at a fairly good pace, jogging along in the woods without making a sound. The covie base was set about a kilometer spinward. We had timed our arrival at the camp to be at about 2:30 in the morning, when all the grunts would be sleeping, and the elites and jackals senses would be dulled from lack of sleep. Although the covies had staggeringly superior weaponry, they were in actuality weaker than humans. Hit them in the right spot, and you had yourself a dead covie.
We slowed down when we reached the periphery of where the covie patrols should be, we slowed down and stopped near a tree. We checked our six and verified that there were no patrols around. We proceeded forward with extreme caution, checking all around us for any signs of a patrol. Rob and I split up and spread about a hundred yards apart. A few minutes later I heard a scuffle in the general direction of where Rob should be. I then heard two clicks on my radio. One covie patrol down. As we crept closer to the base, the foliage slowly thinned out. I subvocalized to Rob to put on active camouflage. I got an acknowledgement and got mine on also. We found these camouflage generators all over the place here on HALO. We took them whenever we could and stashed them back at our base for later use. We advanced to the outer wall of the base and regrouped. We found the entrance and we decided to proceed together. He took the left and I took the right. There were storage containers all over the place. They would provide good cover for us, but grunts like to sleep next to them. We had to watch our step. As we slowly advanced toward the main building, I saw a few grunts sleeping by a storage container. I smiled in spite of the dangerous situation and crept over to them. The first grunt got a face full of my combat boot as he sailed over the container. Some blood splashed on the other two grunts and they stirred slightly, as if they were about to wake up. I didn't give them the chance. I whacked one with the butt of my rifle and the other one impaled itself upon my razor-edged combat knife. I wiped the blade clean in the ground and continued on.
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