Disclaimer; Firstly, let me say that it is great to be back! It has been years since I wrote anything new, basically no real ideas and lack of motivation. However, I have been mulling this over for ages, mostly daydreaming. It really appealed to me to write this and thanks to all the daydreaming, I have a lot to write about.
Now, I want to first to explain that I am somewhat disappointed with various weapons systems of halo. I mean, 80mm smoothbore main gun for the Scorpion tank? Modern tanks today have 120mm rifled guns.
So, I am going to change various weapons systems, although I am no weapons specialist.
I am also thinking of modifying weapons, such as creating a Sniper-Pistol, where a Sniper Rifle 99C-S2 AM is modified to fire pistol rounds from a Pistol. The firing mechanism is removed and a pistol is fixed in place.
Tell me what you think of that and other ideas.
I have written stories before, mostly humourous, and…bizare.
I really want to write a serious fic and I think this is the one. I also have an idea for Gears of War, but it only has double digit amount of stories on and so may not be worth it. I'm sorry to go on and on, like this, but I gotta lot to say.
I am not sure how to start this story or its title, so I may change it, and this story may be very graphical at times.
So enjoy!
Halo: Ballast
Major John Barret was 35, well built and very fit. He had enlisted when he has 18, wanting to make a difference in the galaxy, to meet interesting people… and kill them. John had worked his way up the command chain, taking shit from all various superiors, and dishing his own out, and ended up commanding a 1,500 strong company, known as Bad company.
At this moment in time, Major John Barret was trudging up a 400 metre hill in pain. His back and feet were whining like greenhorns on their first day at basic and he was caked in blood of all different colours and smells, which kept reminding him of the week long hell he and his company had been through. John reached to top and having done so, turned around to look back and almost literally breathe in the situation.
Down below him were the 354 surviving members of the once proud 1,500 strong Bad company. John stared at their guant faces and matted uniforms as they struggled up the steep hill carrying 120-pound bags and armour. For the last week they had been pushed beyond the limit of human endurance by the Covenant invasion.
John sighed as he remembered. The sensor stations had picked up 4 Covenant Troop Transports, 3 Destroyers and a Carrier. The fleet had dropped out of slipspace and blew away the 10 human Destroyers like they were tissue. However, one of the transports had been heavily damaged and crashed into the planet and two Destroyers destroyed by massed MAC fire were the defending ships legacy, before they were blown away that is.
The remaining fleet took orbit and began landing thousands of troops on the ground at two positions, splitting into two groups, one group to the north and the other to the south.
At the north position were 2 transports and a destroyer and to the south position was the last transporter and the carrier. Within 50 miles of each position, the Covenant had attacked everything that was manmade, destroying whole towns and villages.
Naturally, the UNSC had to fight back and so almost the entire 35,000 UNSC Marine defense force was sent to quell the Covenant invasion, including Bad Company. The second Covenant landing zone was closest to the main Marine Expeditionary force of 15,000 and so had launched their offensive at the beginning of the week to stop the Covenant getting organised enough. Another two Marine battle groups, a total 15,000 split equally, supported the main offensive. The rest of the UNSC defense forces were to close to the Covenant landing zones and were wiped out.
The Covenant had a force of over 11,000 but had heavy support. At first, the UNSC were kicking ass, managing to get within 43 miles of the second Covenant camp before a tide of 31,000 fresh Covenant troops, mostly Grunts and Jackals, surged down from the northern landing zone. The northernest Marine force, now 4,578 strong due to losses was decimated within two days. The rest of the UNSC Marine Defense force became defensive and lost the initiative. For the last 4 days, the Covenant pushed back the UNSC until a climatic battle which destroyed almost all the UNSC Defense force, leaving scattered resistance.
By now the remnants of Bad Company had reached the top of the hill and were awaiting John's orders. John turned away from the distant smoldering remains of the fateful last stand and faced Bad Compay.
"To Eagle Nest!" he ordered.
Captain Steve Johnson kneeled on one leg, sitting on the other, gasping for breathe. He was 27, lithly muscular and like all Marines, was very fit. However, the recent hike up the 500 metre steep hill with a 120-pound bag and armour would leave anyone breathless. Behind him were eleven survivors from his platoon of 15, including himself. The rest of the sixty-four survivors were various other platoons, squads and other Marine survivors, in all there were 75 survivors.
Since Steve was a Captain, that meant that he was in command and so led the 'tactical withdraw' as the now dead Major General Jack Whitehall had ordered, before his position was overrun by crazed Grunts.
So, Steve was now standing atop the hill, staring back at the burnt remains of the UNSC Marine Defense force. Steve's second in command, 1st Lieutenant Liam Davis, came to stand next to Steve and surveyed the carnage.
"Damn, those Covvie don't quite, do they?" he mumbled out loud as a slow moving column of 2,000 Covenant troops and vehicles crested a short rise eight miles away.
"It'll take them four hours to get to us at this rate" noted Steve
"What do we do now, sir?" asked Laim, a hint of worry in his voice
"We get to our Basecamp" replied Steve
"Then what?"
"Then we shall see if my plan works" said Steve, turning to walk to the other edge of the hill. He gazed down at the city below, and spotted the Basecamp at the other edge of the city. Beyond that was another 500 metre hill and where Steve had done his reconnaissance training and where his 'plan' would hopefully come to fruition.
Down in the city, Steve caught a glimpse of movement.
The vehicle, from what Steve had seen, seemed to be a civilian SUV before it disappeared. Most of the civilian population had fled the planet moment the Covenant made landfall, but a few remained to try and defend their homes with hidden weapons.
Steve turned to Laim and the now gathered survivors.
"On, onwards to Basecamp!" he dramatically intoned, and set off down the hill, with the rest of the Marines in tow.
The object Steve saw was indeed an SUV, however, this SUV was different. It had a highly efficient fusion engine that produced 1,200 Brake Horse Power and had 20mm of steel armour to protect against plasma fire, as well as suspension designed for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV).
On the roof was a 50cal heavy machine gun and powerful anti-tank rocket launcher, with 10mm side panels designed to protect the gunner. There was a special seat that allow the gunner to sit comfortably as well as move the gun in 360 degree arc, as well as having 4,000 rounds of ammo on hand using a belt-fed system, and 5 rockets for the anti-tank rocket launcher.
The SUV had five heavily armed and armoured fighters, one driver, a gunner and three passengers. The SUV rumbled down the street, and a second SUV appeared, then another and then another, until there were five SUV's driving down the street. This was a mobile guerrila fighting force and there were many of these teams being mobilized.
These teams were tasked with hit and run tactics against Covenant forces to not only cause damage and reduce moral, but to also allow the para-militaries main fighting force to organise.
The SUV's drove for 15 miles until they reached the end of the city, whereupon Covenant forces were spotted at the edge of the city. The SUV's formed into a line, and opened up on the Covenant. The Covenant numbered 200 Grunts, 50 Jackals, 3 Hunter pairs, 5 Elites, 5 Ghosts and 1 Wraiths.
The heavy long range machine guns ripped up the Covenant troops and 1 rocket was fired at the Wraith, destroying it. The SUV's charged at the remaining Covenant, crushing many Covenant and allowing the heavy machine guns greater damage. It took five minutes for the Covenant forces to be wiped out by the SUV force. Once all Covenant forces were wiped out, the SUV's moved on with their mission.
Major John Barrett was staring at a 2 mile squared lump of rock that was Eagle's Nest. It was surrounded by seven mile's of flat land and the rock itself was 300 meters high and flat on top. Eagle's Nest had been cut from within the hill, the four huge doors that slide into the hill paid tribute to the size of Eagle's Nest. One door, smaller than the others, was the entrance the Eagle's Nest, the other three doors opening to reveal three hangers with enough space for many Pelicans, Skyhawks, Hornets, Sparrowhawk's, Shortswords, Albatrosses and other craft, with plenty of storage for supplies and ammo.
Problem was, there were no craft in the hangers, they were bare. The base was slowly bieng mothballed, so most supplies were removed. Bad Company was the last UNSC force occupying Eagle's Nest, but were soon giong to move to a base 12 miles away that had all the supplies and vehicles, although there were a few Warthogs and Mongooses at Eagle's Nest.
John crested the small rise and looked upon a large ramp, part natural and part human made, leading to a huge door that opened up into the base, that is if whoever wants to get in has the password.
"Alright, let's move it!" John yelled back to Bad Company, and upped the march.
The rest of Bad Company, eager to get to the safety of Eagle's Nest, started to overtake John, so by the time John got to the door, half of Bad Company were waiting for him.
John inputted the password, where the Eagles soar and the door began to open into the base. As Bad Company rushed in to the barracks and throughout the base, John turned to his second in command, Matthew Thomas.
"Get a team together with the four Mongeese and the Warthog ready by the door and get guards at the door and up top" ordered John. Matthew answered with a nod and ran off to complete the orders, John turned to look at his surroundings. Behind him, was the 10 metre high door, with machine gun nests above that with room for five machine guns that could spew fire down at any enemies on the ramp.
There were also gaps for machine guns and other weapons running up the side of the door and metal tiers with ladders running throughout the base.
At strategic points along the hill face were small gaps that had been carved out of the rock. These were firing points that had been carved at specific points, that once manned, allowed the garrison of Eagle's Nest to defend against any enemy from any approach.
To his right, the 10 metre high corridor moved 20 metres and then turned again to the right and continued along around the base until it joined up in front of John. The main corridor was 15 metres wide, which allowed large vehicles to move about easily, bringing much needed supplies to various parts of the base.
On top of the base was enough room for a few battalions, and there were even four lifts, two for passengers and small amounts of cargo and another two for vehicles, such as tanks, etc to get on top. On top, there were places to set up artillery and trenches around the base for soldiers to defend the base, although the sides of Eagle's Nest were sheer, with gaps for troops to fire from.
A Warthog and four Mongeese with 11 soldiers drove up and stopped by John. John's second in command got out of the Warthog's passenger seat and approached John;
"Sir, the team is ready to go" he stated
"Alright, you are in command until I get back, set up defences, clear up the base and get ready to receive a lot of supplies" ordered John. Matthew replied with a 'yes sir' and ran off to begin work. John got into the Warthog passenger seat.
"To Alpha base!" he ordered the driver, and the driver complied, hitting the gas and launching the Hog down the ramp with the mongeese in tow.
Steve had reached the entrance to the Basecamp. As soon as he entered, three Marines and 12 Technicians approached him.
"Sir, it's good to see you!" greeted a Marine, saluting with an arm in a cast.
"How's your arm?" asked Steve
"Almost fixed!" answered the Marine. The Marine had broken his arm before the invasion and so couldn't fight. The other two Marines had been ill with various illnesses, but they were now fully healed. The Technicians, or Techs, had stayed behind to fix equipment and looked after the base.
"Alright, this is the situation, the entire UNSC Defense force has been destroyed and there is a Covenant column on it's way here as I speak" outlined Steve, pausing to let what he said to sink in.
The Marine with the almost healed arm summed up the mood.
"Christ" he muttered just loud enough for all to hear
"Ok, this is whats giong to happen" began Steve "get the trailers for the Hog's fixed up to the hog's and fill up the trailers with Reactive Camo netting, spare fusion cores and fuel and bring them here asap!"
A series of 'yes sirs' were spouted and the fifteen personnel ran off to get the tasks done. Steve turned and headed for the gathered group of Marines, and approached his second in command.
"We have about 2 hours until that Covenant column get here, so let the troops relax, get an MRE down their throats, see to their wounds and stock up on supplies until I get back. Once I get back, I want you to get the troops to the concealed base that I will have set up, up there" explained Steve, turning and pointing towards a 600 meter hill.
"I did my recon training, so I had to wait in a position for a few days" explained Steve "and it was the perfect position to give fantastic views of the surrounding area as well as maintain stealth"
The two Warthogs appeared with the three Marines onboard, two on each of the miniguns and the other driving the lead Warthog. Two techs were in the second Warthog and the rest of the techs jumped off the laden trailers.
"Right, you six techs, get back on the trailers, the rest of you, go get supplies ready to put on the Warthog's trailers when they get back, lets move people!" ordered Steve, jumping onto the lead Warthog's passenger seat. The Warthog lurched forward and, with directions from Steve, turned left and headed up the road.
The Warthogs had driven for five minutes on a main road before turning off onto a dirt road that snaked up the hill for 500 meters before leveling off. The last few minutes were spent driving to the site across wild terrain surrounded by tree's.
Steve jumped down from the Hog, as well as the Techs. The Marine jumped off the minigun and got into the drivers seat of the second Hog.
"Techs, unload the Camo netting and bring it to me, Senior Tech with me!" ordered Steve. The Techs began to unload the trailers and the Senior Tech, William Thomas, followed Steve to the site, walking though some undergrowth and trees. They came to an open area of 40 meters square in size. Along where Steve was standing, just a bit behind him, was a relatively straight line of trees and undergrowth. The line stretched from a steep incline, which was grey rock that made up the rest of the hill, to the right of Steve.
To Steve's left, where the line of trees turned left as it went down the hill, the open area continued for 14 metre's and then dropped down steeply to the bottom of the hill.
From the edge of the treeline, the open crest of the open area continued for 30 metres until it came to another line of trees that marked the other side of the open area.
"Right here" stated Steve
"The whole area sir?" asked William, looking of the area in calculating thought.
"Yes, and at least 2 metres high for the most part, with a lower area for the morters to be set up, think you can do it?"
There was a moments silence as Willaims looked around the clearing and back at the steadily growing pile of camo netting. The other technicains had finished unloading the camo netting and were currently struggling with the heavy generators and fusion cores.
"Yeah, I think we can, we might have enough netting to cover most of this area as well as enough juice to power it for a few weeks, possibly a few months continously" said Williams.
"Excellent, I guess I'd better leave you to it then!" replied Steve, turning and moving off to the now unladen Warthogs.
The rest of the Techs walked past Steve on their way to the Senior Tech and as Steve got into the lead Warthog, could hear Williams giving instructions to the Techs. After one last glance, Steve ordered the Hogs back to Basecamp.
It took only ten minutes to get back to Basecamp, thanks to the reduced wieght of equipment. The Hogs screeched into the compound to the sight of 74 surviving Marines getting ready to leave and a huge pile of supplies that had Techs crawling all over. The Hogs stopped next to the huge pile and immediately Techs began to load supplies onto the trailers and a single Tech ran upto Steve.
"Sir, we have managed to find a spare Mongoose and a smaller trailer for it" informed the Tech.
"Very well, set it up" replied Steve, turning and motioning for the Marine on the minigun of Steve's Warthog over. The Marine bolted over and stood awaiting Steve's orders.
"Marine, tell the Warthog drivers to continue to ferry supplies to the camp and you get onto that Mongoose and do that to" ordered Steve. The Marine snapped a hasty 'yes sir' and went to complete his tasks.
Steve then moved towards the huge pile of supplies. Currently the six Techs, including the Tech that had told Steve about the Mongoose, were busy loading up supplies onto the trailers. Already, one of the Warthogs trailers was full and as soon a the supplies were secured down, the Hog sped off to the new camp. Feeling content that this part of the program was underway, Steve moved onto the next. Steve approached his second in command, who was currently occupied in yelling at the gathered troops to get a move on.
"Hows things Lieutenant?" asked Steve
"It's giong good sir" he replied "The Marines are fed and watered, wounds sorted out, have full supplies and are awaiting orders"
"Eccellent" said Steve taking out his GPS map. The GPS map showed a real-time view of the surrounding area, and it was barely half and inch thick, and half the size when folded up. It was the size of an A4 piece of paper when unfolded and was extremely durable. Currently, the GPS map was showing a picture that was a few days old, which was very unhelpful due to the fact that Steve needed a real-time picture of the situation to see where the Covenant were.
"Alright, this is where I want you to go" ordered Steve pointing out the co-ordinates on his map. The Lieutenant Liams took out his own map and copied the waypoint onto his map.
"Ok sir, it'll take us an hour tops" replied Laim.
"When you get up top, help out the techs there, I'll stay here to oversee things" said Steve, walking off to explore the rest of the base. Behind him, Laims gave a yes sir and began to yell out orders. The Marines got up slowly, heavy packs and tired bodies slowing them down, and began the long, boring and painful walk up the hill to the camp. Steve walked through the base, exploring it. He hadn't been here long, only transferring a week before the Covvie invasion.
Opposite the entrance, next to the compounds wall was the messhall and storage site where all the food and general supplies of the base were stored. There was a single Tech, struggling with a trolley full to bursting with MRE's and other supplies. Steve entered the messhall and stood in silence. There were enough tables and chairs for two-hundred or so people but all were vacant and bare, the silence somehow erie. Steve shook himself out of this stupor, not wanting to think about it, and hurried outside.
Next to the messhall, about twenty metres away, was the field hospital, again with a single Tech and trolley full of supplies on its way to the dropoff point. In the centre of the basecamp was the Command centre and it is where Steve made his next port of call. Striding in with authority, Steve met no-one, just some silent computers and a pile of equipment ready to be taken away.
A tech appeared through another door, gave Steve a respectful nod, and left after gathering some of the equipment. It was at that point Steve felt hungry and decided to explore off base for some food. Steve walked over to the piled up equipment, gathered it up and walked out of the Command post and towards the large pile of the supplies.
The tech Steve had seen earlier came huffing and puffing up to Steve, saw the rest of the equipment in Steve's grasp and gave a 'thanks sir' with a grin, before running off to complete some other errand. Steve dropped off the equipment, spent a second noting that the techs had a highly efficient routine giong, and stalked out the base.
Unholstering his Battle Rifle, Steve walked down the street towards the shops. He passed a bookshop, a clothes shop and other typical stores for a high street. Eventually he came to the store he wanted, a small supermarket. It was some big multi planetary affair with all the annoying goody-too-shoe crap of helping the community, etc and all that bull. Steve entered the empty store and after browsing for a while, approached the empty cashier with his goods.
"Excuse me" asked Steve with a big grin to the empty cashier "how much is this?"
Nothing, after all, no one was there. Steve walked out of the store, grabbed his Battle Rifle and pointed it at the 9 foot tall Elite. His pulse racing, adrenaline spiking, Steve stared at the cardboard cut out of an Elite that had the caption 'Special offers that help the UNSC with its fight against the Covenant'. The store promised that for every product that was shown in the pamphlet that came in dozens that the Elite cutout held, a small percentage would go to help the UNSC.
Angrily, Steve front kicked the atrocity to the ground. The cutout made a pitiful growl from a hidden speaker as it fell, further increasing Steve's disgust at the store chain.
"God damn greedy corporate fat cats!" angrily vented Steve to no one. Steve looked up to the hill he and his Marines had walked over earlier, just in time to see the real Covenant crest the hill. Again, Steve's adrenaline spiked in fear as he bolted for the basecamp, causing his heart rate to reach into the triple digits. Steve stormed into basecamp, the mongoose and a single Warthog speeding past him on their way to the hidden camp. All the techs were hastily packing up the last of the supplies onto the last Warthog.
"Finish up now and get onto the back of the trailer!" screamed Steve, holsterng his BR55 and jumping onto the trailer. The rest of the techs, all six, did the same and the Hog bombed off out of the base and up the road just as the first plasma volleys hit the base. The Hog raced up the road and around the side of the hill, arriving at the entrance to the dirt track. The Hog took the turning too quickly and three techs were thrown of the trailer, causing Steve to violently swear and throw himself off voluntarily.
Steve landed hard and spent a minute in pain before getting up slowly. With none of his bones broken, Steve staggered to the techs, all three still being alive, although one had broken his arm and the other disclocating his shoulder. The uninjured tech grabbed the disclocated limb, yanked it and made the tech scream in pain as the limb popped back in.
The third tech wirthed in pain, wishing he were dead as Steve approached. Steve took out his medical kit, gave a the unfortunate tech a morphine injection and stabilised his broken limb in a splint. Once this was done, Steve got up and began to march uphill with the techs in tow. By the time the group reached the top of the incline and beginning on the flat stretch, a Warthog with and empty trailer drove up. Out jumped Liam and the Marine that had been driving the other Hog marched up to Steve.
"What the hell was that!?" yelled Steve at the unfortunate Marine "You almost got us killed!"
"I'm sorry sir, it won't…" began the Marine, but was cut off by Steve
"That's right, it won't happen again!" interjected Steve "you are on latrine duty for the next two months!"
With that done, Steve angrily marched over to the Hog, Liam getting into the drivers seat, Steve riding shotgun and the rest in the trailer. The drive back was made in silence, due to the mood of which the passengers were in. Eventually, the group made it back to the camp, which had changed a lot since Steve had last seen it.
The Hog drove upto what seemed like solid grey rock, but was in fact camo netting that had been set to the same colour as the hill it was on. The rock seemed to part revealing a large space filled with supplies and personnel doing various activities. Most of the personnel were busy resting, with a few staring out of over valley through slits in the camo netting.
Steve jumped out of the hog, followed by the others. Steve strode with authority to a group of Marines at the opposite side to the Warthog. The group were staring out over the valley, surveying the Covenants progess and hoping that they weren't spotted. Liam joined Steve and explained the situation;
"Sir, we have set up a defensive line of long range weapons along this part of the camp" began Laim, gesturing towards the line of Marines manning various weapons.
Liam walked over to a Marine that was looking down the scope of a Sniper Rifle, murmered something that Steve couldn't hear, and came back with a Sniper Rifle. Or at least something that looked like a Sniper Rifle.
"Whats this?" asked Steve looking a the rifle. It looked as if someone had set up some sort of hybrid rifle.
"It's a new idea that some bored Marines back on Earth had thought of" explained Liam, with a grin. Steve then understood. He had heard rumours and had seen the pirate tv show that had been created by a group of Marines. The Marines were tired of not being able to innovate with their equipment, and so had taken their broken equipment and had come up with various new weapon systems.
The Pistol rifle was one such innovation. Tired of coming up against, and wasting Sniper rifle ammunition, on Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, and other such Covenant, the Marines had decided to try and 'marry up' the the Pistol with the Sniper Rifle. The Pistol was good against Grunts, Jackals and other Covenant, but lacked the range of the Sniper Rifle. The Marines had been sucessful and had shown viewers of their pirate tv show how to create the weapon.
First, the hand grip and firing mechanism were removed. After that, the Pistol was placed where the now removed parts once were and fixed in place. The ammo counter on the scope on top of the rifle could be reprogrammed to show how much ammo the Pistol had or a counter from an MA5B assault rifle could be used instead.
It was more complicated in practice, but worked like a dream. The Marines showed actual combat footage of the Pistol rifle in action and had seen how effective it was. Whole squads of Grunts, Jackals, etc had been picked off from long range, thus saving the Marines from engaging said Covenant in battle and taking casualties. There were other weapons systems and modifications, such as modifying Battle Rifles to fire single shots to cut down on ammo used, homemade mortar tubes made out of spent rocket launcher tubes and sniper rifle firing mechanisms that unfortunately were very hard to make.
The Marines also encouraged the use of some Covenant weapons;
Tired of engaging Elites in closed quarters using human made weapons that were not effective enough against shields, the Marines had tried captured Covenant weapons and found that when overcharged Plasma Pistols were fired at Elites or Jackals, thier shields would fail.
The Marines, as well as Techs, came up with the Plasma Pistol rifle. Basically, the stock, handgrip and trigger and scope came from a Sniper Rifle, the tube from a spent rocket launcher and a Plasma Pistol. The Plasma Pistol was positioned so that it could be removed easily when spent. The launcher tube had magnets that were set up in such a way that it helped the overcharged Plasma to cope with the increased distance.
Sadly, this particular weapons had not yet been perfected and only shown to provide the Marines with inquisitive suggestions from its audience.
Naturally, the UNSC higher-ups did not take to kindly to this and tried to ban it. However more influentail members of the UNSC, such as Sargeant Johnson and others, had reviewed the weapons created and had stated that the weapons worked well. Steve was glad that the Marines under his command were innovative, and so he gave back the Pistol rifle to Laim with a grin and went to examine the rest of the line.
There were 50 cal HMG's, normal Sniper Rifles, Battle Rifles, Rocket launchers, etc, all trained on the Covenant strike force that was now at the entrance to the basecamp. Steve noticed another weapon in the defensive line, a heavier version of the M41 Rocket Launcher.
The weapon was mounted on a tripod and had two tubes, each with a large anti-tank rocket loaded. The rocket launcher was capable of engage targets as far away as eight miles and could take out a Wraith in one shot. There were two of these such weapons within the defensive line. Steve watched as a Marine manning one on the launchers aimed a smaller version of a Battle rifle with a bigger scope at the Covenant force. It was the Marksman, a device that came with the launcher to allow the Marines to target enemy units more easily.
Steve examined the camp with pride. Despite what the Marines had been through, they were still able to carry on with organising the camp. Laim approached Steve and asked;
"What now, sir?"
"Well, I think the Marines deserve some rest" replied Steve "We'll begin operations tomorrow when we're all fresher"
With that said and done, Steve went over to a nearby cot, lay down and was instantly asleep.
Disclaimer: Well, I hoped you enjoyed it. Its my biggest chapter yet. Plz review, yadda yadda, you know the deal.