SPARTAN-062 rated T for violence and mild/moderate language
Mission B-015 Operation EXCALIBUR
Military Calendar May 23rd 2555
Locale: Planet Terra Nova: New London
Time: 00:24 hours local time
Sam-226 sat in the rear of the pelican dropship contemplating the difficult mission ahead. His BR55 rifle lay idly in his lap, brand new, freshly stamped; you could almost smell the oil. In the dropship with him were blue team. It was exactly a year since all of the S-IIIs 'graduated' and they'd seen plenty of action since then. But this time it was different. The first human rebellion movement since before the Covenant War. The Covenant War still wasn't officially over of course but most of the Sanghelli and grunts had defected to the humans a few years ago. Sam smiled at that thought, for most of his life he had been trained how to fight the covenant, then half of them swapped sides! Now that's sods law, he thought.
The rear hatch opened and the roar of the wind entered the pelicans drop bay. Sams com Crackled into life "All green, good luck chief" Sam turned to his squad "I'll see you all groundside, rendezvous beta. 4 acknowledgement lights winked in his HUD. With that he spread his arms, and jumped into nothing.
Sam had tucked into an arrow shape and plummeted at 130 mph towards the city below. At 2000 feet up he pulled a cord and two carbon fibre gliding wings slid out of a pack on his back. He then chinned a control on his helmet, activating his camouflage rendering him virtually invisible. As the altimeter in his HUD ticked down he brought up a window in his HUD detailing a map of the area. His location and his landing point were indicated by bright red dots on the map. He adjusted his course accordingly then, at 500 feet, ditched the wings and freefell the rest of the way. He slammed into the ground denting the hard concrete below, Sam hardly felt the impact through his MJOLNIR armour and only needed to bend his knees slightly to absorb the force. Snapping his head left and right he saw he was alone in the alley save for a stray cat. Excellent he thought. The element of surprise was still there. He unslung his BR55 and checked it wasn't damaged. It wasn't. He proceeded to check the rest of his equipment and discovered that his active camoflauge system had shorted out. No matter, he didn't need that to stay invisible anyway.
Sam surveyed his surroundings properly for the first time. He was in a square alley surrounded by several 4 storey buildings, he had judged his landing perfectly, he was exactly where he wanted to be. Spotting a steel drainpipe he ran over to the wall and silently started to scale the building. When he was near the top he gripped the edge of the flat roof and pulled himself up tucking into a roll he hid behind some air conditioning towers. His motion sensors read nothing but you could never be sure with machines. Satisfied that he was alone he scanned the skyline. There were a few high rises in the distance and a multitude of lights from cars and other buildings everywhere. Sam checked his map once more. Rondezvous beta was 5 klicks from his current location. Sam took a breath, ran across the roof and leapt onto the next building.
Chapter 2
Zack 359 had also landed, he was about 2 Klicks away from the chiefs current location. Problem was that he was about 200 meters away from trouble. A group of rebels holding MA5B rifles stood in the street around a flaming barrel. It was a cold night. They were warm and relaxed, Zack smiled, made his job easier. He slid his combat knife from its sheath on his chest and held it at an angle in front of him. He leapt from cover and rolled into their midst, before they even realised something was amiss he stabbed one through the heart. "What the-" one managed to say before having his trachea severed, Zack spun low and buried his knife in the back of another. Only 2 left now. He hit one with an open handed strike to the chest. He felt bone break. He followed that up with a punch to the lower left ribs and one to the head. The man's skull caved in under the sheer force of the blow. Rolling behind the last rebel Zack grabbed the man's arm and twisted it round, he pulled back with one hand and pushed into the rebel's elbow with another. Crack. Before he could recover, Zack flipped the man over and gave him a fatal punch to the head. It was over; not a single shot had been fired during the whole fight. Zack chuckled to himself. If it could be called a fight. The entire confrontation had lasted less than a minute.
Zack jogged to the corner and peeked round it – all clear. Moving from shadow to shadow with a speed and grace that betrayed his armours bulk. Turning into an alley he saw a wall ahead blocking the way. Vaulting it with ease he landed on the other side, he had reached point beta. The crunch of metal on gravel made him look up. "Good to see you boss, beat you!" Sam looked down at him from his rooftop perch and laughed "yeah, you always were the fast one, mind you - you were two klicks closer to the Rendezvous than I was so, I didn't do too badly considering that." With a grunt Sam leaped off the roof and landed catlike in front of Zack. "So what now boss?" Sam considered this for a moment then said, "secure the perimeter, then get back here. We need to wait for the others." Zack nodded and jogged into the night.
Sam leaned against a nearby wall and went over his intel again, a group of humans calling themselves 'The prophets hand' had allied themselves with the Covenant remnant. It was the job of Sam's team to root them out and neutralise them. They didn't have the faintest clue as the where the rebel HQ was. The area was crawling with them though, that was for sure.
The crunch of metal on gravel informed Sam of Zack's return. "No contacts in the immediate area sir, seems to be clear." "Good" replied Sam. That was excellent they needed somewhere secluded to strike from tonight. "Janet has contacted me through my COM. She's landed safely and took out 3 rebels, she's on her way now." Sam nodded, that was also good news, they were going to need sniper cover for this mission.
Sam's COM crackled into life "this is SPARTAN-III- do any UNSC forces read me?" "Go ahead Bill, it's the chief. Zack's here too" Sam motioned for Zack to open his COM to Bill. "Sir I've found something you might be interested in, I took out a group of rebels and they were armed with…." "
With what soldier? Spit it out!"
"They were armed with brute shots sir." Sam let out a low whistle. Damn it, they had old covenant support. Beside him Zack muttered something obscene. Sam spoke again "Bill, get onto 287 and 341, get to the rendezvous now." "Copy that" then the COM snapped off.
Chapter 3
Inside Rebel HQ
UNSC MILLITARY CALENDAY
MAY 23rd 2555 00:54 hrs LOCAL TIME
Commander Zander of the rebel forces on New London paced his private chambers apprehensively. Patrols 33b and 42a hadn't reported in at their designated times. He usually wouldn't be worried about that sort of thing but after orbital sensors picked up the object earlier… He was concerned. The COM on his desk beeped "Zander, what is it?"
"Sir, the recon teams have found something, both patrols have been wiped out, down to the last man." "WHAT?!" thundered Zander. "Give me the details!"
"Of course sir, of course it appears that some members of 33a died from stab wounds, others from severe blows to vital parts of the body, on man's chest cavity had caved in completely from the force of the blow dealt to him, another's skull was shattered. In the case of 33b it appears they all died from bullet wounds to the head, it appears they were fired from a custom SRCC92AAM sniper rifle, magnum rounds."
"Were any of the attackers found amongst the dead?"
"Negative sir, they left no trace whatsoever."
Zander pressed the 'end' button on his console and walked over to his liquor cabinet. He shakily poured himself a large measure of whisky and swallowed liquid in one gulp. It burned like acid all the way down his throat. Slamming the glass so hard down onto the desk that it cracked he cursed. "Damn it!" Those patrols had consisted of some of his best men, not even the new weapons they had procured made a difference. He looked up suddenly, there was something that man had said…. A custom sniper rifle? His blood froze in his veins and he had to steady himself on his mahogany desk for a minute. "SPARTANs" he whispered fearfully. He snapped the general COM on. "This is commander Zander speaking, all forces to red alert, we have a level five infiltration situation in progress.' All around the base people stopped what they were doing, level five? But that meant… It dawned on everyone at the same time. The base became a frenzy of frantic activity. Orders were hastily issued issued, weapons loaded, armour was donned. Computer analysts went over every piece of satellite and radar information they had from the last hour. Nothing
The occupants of base Alpha 001 waited.
Chapter 4
Janet was the first to arrive, landing catlike on the gravel, she looked magnificent even in her armour, she had customised it herself, the parts were cut down so the design was more streamlined, making it easier to lie down her glove armour was removed so as to allow greater dexterity when sniping plus she had incorporated active cam systems into it. A technology that wasn't supposed to be present until Mk VII armour was finalized, but somehow she'd managed to get her hands on some. Not only that but the underside of the forearms had retractable 'claws' 3 curved durasteel blades that gave her the edge in CQC situations.
Her custom rifle was clamped to her powerpack instead she carried a M7 caseless submachine gun.
Next was Bill, Closely followed by Edd. "Right" said Sam in a clam even tone. "it appears that our old friends the Brutes have been supplying weapons to this rebellion." All 3 of the newcomers shifted slightly at this revelation, Brute weapons were nasty. "Also, the rebels are bound to have discovered us by now, which in a way works to our advantage, they know how lethal we can be. Everyone saw the vids of John back in his day right?" All 5 of them laughed at this, indeed a SPARTAN was something to fear. If the previous generation of SPARTANs achievements were anything to go by. "So we can assume by now they are flapping their heads off, its our job amongst this confusion to ascertain as to where the rebel base is, and neutralise it. Any questions?" Janet raised her hand, "am I the rabbit?" Sam chuckled quietly "you're the one with the stealth armour, and the best scouting skills in the unit so… yeah." She nodded, "also Janet, when we storm the base I want you to take out any perimeter guards from a distance, then give us cover." An acknowledgement light flashed in Sam's HUD. Everybody is clear on what to do then. Zack, Bill Edd you're with me, Janet, get on the roofs and let us know if you see anything big.
4 Acknowledgement lights flashed this time, and like a well oiled machine, the SPARTANs set into motion. Swapping his Rifle for a submachine gun Sam and his team approached the end of the alleyway. Sam checked left, Zack checked right "clear." They said in unison. Keeping low and jogging across the street they crouched behind some electrocars. "Got anything Janet?" Zack whispered into the COM. "Sights are hot, recon team headed your way, probably found the bodies. " "Copy that, staggered formation people, we go silent." Scampering into various positions of cover the SPARTANs watched and waited. Activating the binocular feature of his armour Edd spotted the enemy column. "Got em boss, approaching in staggered formation, looks like their kitted out in old ODST battle suits and are carrying D-15 Rifles."
"Copy, Bill set up the M-5 LMG I want fire superiority down this street, Janet don't do anything, just keep your eyes peeled and inform us of any developments. Everyone else switch to rifles and aim for centre mass."
Activating his scope he watched the Rebels approach, it was an entire platoon! Placing his fist in the air and shaking it gave Bill the signal to ready the machine gun. 3…2…1 Bill opened up working the gun from side to side down the street. Suddenly the troops were diving left and right desperately trying to reach cover. At least 6 of them didn't make it noted Sam. The rest of blue team opened up with their BR55s sending hails of FMJ rounds down the street. Picking his targets carefully he gunned down the oncoming troops dispassionately. Sporadic return fire did little more than annoy the SPARTANs. One of the men was screaming into a portable radio, others were dragging their fallen comrades into cover. Sam shot the Comms man in the head. There was little more they could do at this range. "Okay SPARTANs, good job lets pull out!" Quickly they turned away from the melee and sprinted back down the street, leaving a devastated and confused platoon behind them.
Once they were some distance away Sam turned to his team. "Well done guys, I couldn't have asked for you to perform better, I've just receive some information via SATCOM, apparently there's an Armoured regiment at a rebel base nearby, it's a perfect target of opportunity. We'll be doing it by the book. In, plant, out, detonate. Janet, we won't need sniper cover for this one but seeing as you're the teams stealth expert, you'll be planting the explosives whilst the rest of the team and I create a 'distraction. ' Any objections?"
"No sir, seems logical to me."
"And the rest of you?"
"HELL NO SIR!"
"Alright, this place is about 2 klicks from our current position, It's up arterial road B-203X." A map appeared in each team members HUD. "We'll be going in equipped with frags, flashes and M7s. Janet will have some C7 foam explosive."
"Sir," said Zack "Just what exactly is inside the base?"
"Good question soldier, it appears that we're dealing with a company of light soldiers and 2 hangers containing 3 M702 LSTs." Zack nodded. "We shall take a route through the fields adjacent to the road and assault via the rear wall, Janet will Slip through the battle and prep the hangers. Once she's finished, we'll withdraw and detonate. No further questions? Ok lets move out."
Chapter 5
Inside Rebel HQ
May 23rd 2555
01:32 hrs
Rebel commander Zander was still pacing his office when someone knocked on his door.
He sat down behind his desk and called "Enter!" The wooden door opened smoothly to reveal a young man. He hard dark brown hair and small square glasses, he always looked nervous no matter where he was. It was his intelligence officer, Darkern. "Yes Darkern? What is it?"
"Umm I'm afraid it's not good news sir, Assault-Recon platoon Alpha Juliet 1 was attacked off 23rd and May." Zander moaned as if in pain.
"Casualty numbers?" He asked aprehensivley.
"10 dead sir and about 12 wounded 2 unaccounted for. Very clean job I'd say, once again the attackers left no trace. Most of the men died due to wounds received from heavy calibre machinegun rounds."
Zander nodded, "good work Darkern, keep me appraised of any further developments, you may leave now."
"Thank you commander." Darkern turned on his heel and walked quietly away, shutting the door gently behind him. Zander rubbed his temples and thought. No doubt about it, these UNSC bastards were SPARTANs. He studied a map of where the attacks had taken place on his command screen, they were all within a certain area, but they appeared to be moving slowly towards… "Oh shit." They were headed for Camp Huntingdale, the tank barracks.
He slammed his finger onto the 'send' button of his desks built-in COM unit and patched in the frequency for Commander Handar of Camp Huntingdale