Title: Halo 3: Sergeant McCorin Style
By: Ice-Eagle Y'Siri
Disclaimer: Don't own the Halo series or any affiliated characters, objects, concepts, etc.
Summary: As Staff Sergeant under Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, things can get pretty...interesting. What I wasn't expecting was having Elites/Grunts/and the occasional Hunter pair on my side. As the one of the only female ranking officers in his squad, I had a lot to learn.
My name is Sergeant McCorin. Sergeant Gwen McCorin. I don't know why I'm introducing myself to myself in the middle of a firefight, but hey, not everything can be explained, can it? Currently, I'm running with one of the Privates in my group-under Sergeant Johnson-named Simmons. We have kept darting here and there under trees, behind boulders, and under curtains of leaves. Our location? New Mombasa, Africa. Why're we running?
That is one of the most stupid questions I've ever asked myself. Why is anyone ever running these days?
Yeah. The Covenant. The war that I joined in fighting since I turned 18 and at 26, we haven't won yet. Which group are we running from? Jackals. Of about 10-15 of them. Go ahead and laugh, sub-conscious, but the little buggers are fast. And they're the snipers. And when they're in packs...hoo boy, they're almost as bad as maybe a Brute or two.
"Ya know," I said as Pvt. Simmons and I ran "I really hate Jackals. I mean, I wouldn't have minded even if Brutes came after us, but noooo, it's damn Jackals".
'Ma'am, you'd rather have Brutes than those midgets after us? Why?"
Simmons winced as a beam rifle struck a Marine a few yards ahead. Unlike him, the both of us ducked behind a rock and I fired a round from my BR and managed to pick off one.
"You had to ask," I sighed "You really want to know why?"
"Uhhhh, yes, Ma'am". Simmons tossed a grenade behind us and I guessed that he maybe killed 3 or 4, if we were lucky, "And while we're at it, could you tell me why we were chosen as bait?"
No need to be so shocked, sub-conscious. We were picked as bait by Sergeant Johnson for a plan to get rid of the remaining Covenant on our tail while his group went ahead to find the Master Chief. The Arbiter (who I'm still kinda iffy about) had an explosive set up that we would run past and he would ignite it, blocking the trail and killing the rest of the pack.
"One," I said as we ducked again "Their aim sucks. Even with a 3-4 foot blast radius from their guns, they miss a lot of the time. But watch your step-," I yanked him around a tree root sticking out of the ground.
"-and two, "I grinned "We're the fastest people in the squad and most conscious of our surroundings, excluding the Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson. Since we run fastest and are most careful about where we're going, we're less likely to die and most likely to succeed".
"...Oh. Okay. Ma'am, here comes the trap." I nodded "We sprint and then dive after 100 yards on three. One-two-three!" We ran like we had never been chased before and dove into the trench that the Arbiter dug just as the bomb went off. Flipping onto my back, I shot bullets into the surviving Covenant as they flew over our heads; Simmons quickly following my example.
Waiting until it was quiet, the Arbiter appeared above us, careful to be somewhat-loud in his approach so we wouldn't shoot him, "You can get up now. We need to get back to the others."
I shook my head to clear it and pulled Simmons up "Are they all dead, Arbiter?"
"Yes. We need to get moving and meet with the others. You contact them, Sergeant." I nodded as we began to jog. Suddenly, we heard a roar and I swore.
"What did you say, Sergeant?" I winced as another roar started "We're on our way, Sergeant Johnson. Are you close to the Master Chief, sir?"
"Almost. But hurry. You take care of those Covenant?" I grimaced as we jogged, "Yes, sir. The ones that we originally planned for, anyway."
"What is it, Sergeant?" Hoo boy. I don't think he'll like the sound of this. "I'm sure we may've lost them, sir, but be on the lookout for Brutes-ah. I see you now,sir. How's the Master Chief?"
The aformentioned man suddenly dashed forward, pushed me behind him, and had the Arbiter (with barely enough time to reveal himself) at gunpoint before I blinked.
"Well," I said drily over a private channel to Johnson "I guess that answers that question, sir."
"Chief, wait! The Arbiter's with us! Come on, now," Johnson had the bravery to step between them "We got enough to worry about without you two tryin' t' kill each other."
The Arbiter gives the impression of a shrug while clicking his mandibles, "Were it so easy," He turns away and begins to jog, "We must go. The Brutes have our scent."
"Then the must love the smell of green. Marines, move out!"
Well, I thought as we moved forward, this was gonna be interesting. It's not every day that you see the Arbiter and the Master Chief working together. We jumped down about twelve feet and I began to move around the pool when Sergeant Johnson called me back. Obediently, I jogged to his side, checking and popping a new clip in my battle rifle in the process.
"Yes, sir? You wanted me?" He leaned in and murmured quietly, "McCorin. Fill me in."
Where to begin..."It's like this, sir..."I explained the whole deal with the explosives and he grunted. "Jackals. Rather face a coupla Brutes-," I grinned at him. Finally. Someone agrees with me. "What, SS?" That was his nickname for me, along with my call name, Ice. When I got in night fights or infiltration missions, my manner was as ice and just as unforgiving when making kills.
"That's what I said to Simmons, sir."
"You explain why?" I nodded.
"Hmph. They'll learn soon enough. Get the dumb ones weeded out now, cruel as it sounds." I sighed, "But necessary, sir?"
"Unfortunately. I have new orders for you. Stick with the Arbiter and the Master Chief and keep an eye on the two of them. They very well may try to kill each other. Your reflexes are pretty damn good, so you may have a very slim chance of stopping something before it starts. I'll keep an eye on the greenies; your boy Simmons'll be safe with me." I rolled my eyes behind my helmet; did everyone plan on hooking me up with someone?
"Yes, sir. He just reminds me of my kid brother, sir." I jogged off to the front by the Arbiter and the MC, and grinned to myself. He did remind me of my little brother...especially in his cluelessness on occasion.
"Get down, Sergeant. The Demon and I will take the first shots." I obediently ducked behind a rock and readied my BR. This was gonna get pretty sticky. I peeked out under the Master Chief's arm and saw a parade of grunts moving towards us...the first one had a fuel rod cannon. My eyes widened in surprise and I nudged the Arbiter "Arbiter? Chief? Do me a favor and could one of y'all take out the first grunt? How the hell is he carrying that thing?"
"I don't know," The Chief took aim "And I'm not planning to find out. Watch your head." I ducked and covered my ears as the (silenced) hand gun went off. He managed to nail it on the first try and I immeadiately followed with my BR, the Arbiter jumping over the rock, his Carbine flashing. Not about to be out done, the MC quickly followed and I sighed.
"God dammit. This is gonna be one loooooong run." Barely managing to keep pace, I camped behind another rock under some trees and hissed in irritation as another Phantom dropped more Covenant on the pondbed below it. The MC put a hand on my shoulder "Stay back and snipe what you can."
"Yes, sir." Wait, don't tell me he was asked to take care of me. Good grief. I fired at a nearby Jackal, and the energy shield blocked my attempts. The shield was melee'd by the MC, resulting in it sputtering out, and I caught his drift by firing right after. We eliminated the rest of the smaller Covies that way, and I let him and the Arbiter deal with the Brute by themselves. They seemed to do a pretty good job on thei-
Aw, hell. I got nailed by one of the plasma rifles Along the side. Ow, ow, ooooooowwwwwww...
"Are you alright, Sergeant?" I hadn't noticed that we had moved on and the Arbiter was offering a hand. I winced and took it, leaning on him for a split second before we began to jog onward. His armor was warm and smooth to the touch; from his energy shield system, no doubt.
"Thanks. And a plasma rifle bolt along the side. I'll-owch!" He had gently prodded where it had hit me and nodded "You'll be fine until we get picked up. We must to catch up to your Master Chief." I stared in disbelief as we began to move, me limping ever so slightly. That thing had frickin' hurt, for Chrissake.
" He-not to be rude, Arbiter-trusted me with you?" he clicked his mandibles in what I assumed to be a chuckle as we ran along "Most reluctantly, but your Sergeant Major, " his mouth moved akwardly over the words " convinced him that it was more important for him to be up front."
He cocked his head as we moved past the others in our group, "Are you not afraid of me?" I tried my best to give the equivalent of a shrug as we jogged "Not particularly. You're on our side, now. You'll do your best to look out for us, and if the anger I hear in your voice when you talk about the Brutes is anything to go by, I know you won't betray us to the Covenant."
"But do you trust me?" I glanced at him as we finally caught up to the Chief and I said slowly, "I think I trust you enough...for now."
"How you doing, Ice?" I adjusted the volume on my radio headgear "Got skimmed along the side by a plasma rifle bolt, but I'll be good once we get to a medic. What're we doing, sir?"
"We stay together like this, we're gonna get spotted. You'll be coming with me. We're splitting up. I don't think you'll have to worry about the Arbiter and Chief now. They'll go towards the river while we go around the other way. C'mon."
"Yes, sir. I gotta go, Arbiter, Chief. Do me a favor," They both looked at me and I grinned as I began to run away "Stay in one piece, please."
My group (now consisting of myself, Simmons, Serg. Johnson, and the greenies) quickly wound our way through the jungle towards the Pelicans by the river, and we quickly hopped on. The Pelican rumbled off the ground and my last sight of the Master Chief and the Arbiter was flashes of Battle Rifle and Carbine beams flying through the air.
Then the ship shuddered crazily-
-I heard panicked screams-
-a crack-
-and everything went black.