Just a little something that popped into my head while watching the military channel. I hope you enjoy.
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Combat Journal: Ambush at Position Charlie Alpha
05:38 hours, November 17, 2531 (Military Calendar)\Small UNSC Outer Colony, The Glacies Valley
Specialist Zivah Aviv, UNSC Army, could feel dampness start to soak through her combat boots from the morning's seven inch layer of snow that blanked the entire valley freezing the ground beneath it. In the distance, a small amount of light could be seen sweeping across the valley from the slowly rising sun although it was still hidden behind dark snow clouds.
Aviv was part of a three man machine gun crew which consisted of Pvt. Jackson, the A-gunner, Pfc. Philips, the B-gunner, and her as flank security. The machine gun crew for which Aviv belonged weren't the only ones sitting behind a two in a half foot rock wall. They were accompanied by soldiers from the rest of their platoon. To the left of the MG crew was half of 1st Squad. To the right was 3rd Squad accompanied by their platoon leader Lieutenant Adrian Popov and the platoon's Designated Marksman Sergeant Jessica Paddock.
The only person looking over the rock wall was Lt. Popov, his eyes scanning the valley dip before them. Everyone else was trying to warm their hands and resist the urge to verbally bitch about the cold to the soldier next to them. For some this was easier than others such as Jackson who grew up in the arctic back on earth. He was practically falling asleep on his machine gun he was so comfortable.
Suddenly Popov's head snapped to face the southwest. Patting Paddock on the helmet to get her attention, he motioned for her to look southwest. The other soldiers noticed Paddock's movement, and they prepared for the signal to get ready.
Paddock brought up her detached scope and scanned the valley. After about twenty seconds she looked to Lt. Popov and nodded her head. Popov then faced the rest of the platoon and signaled for everyone to get ready, their target was heading straight for them.
Spc. Aviv loaded a fresh, warm clip into her MA5B and chambered a round. Philips took the MG ammo boxes out of their cover warmers, and Jackson removed the cover warmer from the machine gun, an outdated M247. The rest of the platoon were taking similar actions, including Sgt. Paddock who had reattached her scope to her modified 99D-S2 sniper rifle. It had a shorter barrel and fired a smaller caliber round, making it a more preferable DM rifle. She was going to be the one to fire the first shot at their target, the rest of the platoon following soon after.
Everyone was ready, now they had to wait. Waiting was always the worst for Aviv since she wasn't a very patient person, and she was sure she wasn't alone. Aviv wasn't looking at anyone, but instead was looking down at the ground going over the situation in her mind. She went over the plan and the geographical map of this particular portion of the valley. She closed her eyes visualizing it, still waiting. Her eyes didn't need to be open; she would hear the crack of Sgt. Paddock's rifle easily enough.
Paddock's eyes never strayed from the platoons target once she brought her rifle to bear. She knew her job and she had done it many times since joining the Army. Find the enemy commander and eliminate him…it…thing…however you wanted to refer to the covenant species. In this case, it was a grunt. The only grunt wearing white armor which made him easy to pick out within the sea of orange and red he traveled in. Once spotted, Paddock zoomed in even more, so that the only thing she could see was the grunt commander.
Flipping the safety off, Paddock got ready to "play God" as some of her fellow Designated Marksman and Snipers referred to it. She, being an unreligious person, usually avoided that phrase. After adjusting for wind, elevation, and humidity, she led her target the proper distance aiming for center mass. Letting out a breath halfway, she gently started to add pressure to the trigger. For Sergeant Jessica Paddock, the world around her dropped out. As far as she was concerned the rest of the world didn't exist. It was only the grunt commander, her rifle, the bullet, and her. She let out the rest of her breath and then squeezed the last bit of the trigger.
The bullet flew right at its intended target hitting a little high of where Paddock was aiming, but the result was still the same. The bullet penetrated the grunt just below the neck creating a small entrance wound in the front, but a large exit wound in the back. This was obvious due to the copious amount of blue blood that spurted from the back of the grunt. The grunt commander was no longer among the living.
As soon as the sound from Paddock's rifle reached the rest of the platoon, they all sprung into action. Jackson quickly lugged the overweight machine gun and set it roughly atop the stone wall. Philips came up with him on the right, ready to help load a fresh box of ammo when needed. Aviv came up on the left brining her MA5B to bear.
As soon as Jackson sighted the enemy he unloaded. Red tracers began to rocket through the air spraying the enemy patrol and cutting through their line of Jackals who were positioned out in front, but had no time to bring up their protective shields. Aviv followed, firing short three to five round bursts into the enemy patrol. She wasn't necessarily aiming but instead trying to help put up a wall of lead to stop the enemy from advancing any closer. That was this portion of the platoons task, to stop the enemy and force them to seek cover.
After about twenty five seconds of massive, controlled fire coming from the rock wall, the confused and disoriented grunts began to regroup and retreat back one hundred yards to the east where another rock wall lay, the only other place of cover. As the enemy patrol got within fifty yards of the second rock wall, gunfire erupted from it. The fire came from the rest of the platoon which consisted of the second half of 1st Squad, 2rd Squad, and the platoons Staff Sergeant, José Marquez.
What was left of the covenant patrol was stopped cold and annihilated within seconds. Lt. Popov signaled his part of the platoon to cease fire. As soon as SSgt. Marquez was sure all the covenant near his wall lay dead, he also signaled a cease fire. An eerie calm settled over the snow covered valley which was now littered with dead covenant bodies and blue blood soaked snow. The sun even chose that moment to peak out a little from the clouds covering the kill zone in light, giving the entire platoon a look at the carnage they just caused. No one felt remorse for it that Aviv was sure of.
Lt. Popov signaled for 3rd Squad to follow him and they proceeded to go down onto the killing field checking if anything still lived, and to gather up the spoils of war which consisted of covenant weapons and plasma grenades. As soon as the all clear was given by Popov, most of the soldiers in the platoon started lighting up their cigarettes trying to calm down from the adrenalin high that combat causes in most. Aviv and Jackson graciously accepted some from Philips who also had a light.
In the far distance, lingering weapons fire could be heard from their fellow army soldiers who were conducting similar ambushes all along the vast expanse of the valley. No less then twenty three covenant patrols were ambushed that morning. It took over a month of recon and planning to set this series of ambushes up. And within the span of two to five minutes each, it was all over. Aviv let a small smile grace her lips at that thought which always seemed to amaze her.
Eventually the platoon gathered up in one large group on their way back to base to congratulate each other on a job well done and to just shoot the shit with each other. Lt. Popov gave SSgt. Marquez a pat on the back and Marquez in tern gave the Lt. a sip from his whiskey flask. Sgt. Paddock lagged behind the rest keeping an eye out, making sure the platoon wasn't followed. She also added another tally mark in her journal under the heading COMMANDERS. After it was clear no one was there to follow them, Paddock headed off to follow her platoon, her light footsteps barely leaving an indentation in the snow.
And so ended the ambush at position Charlie Alpha.