Five hours later Mendez and Jones lay next to a large tree in the underbrush the rain dripping off their helmets, hands, and the barrel of the customized SRS 99D AM. Mendez had known that this mission was going to be bad, he had even known that before it had started to rain in heavy sheets. He had known that as soon as they were giving the new half stealth suits. Even though it was 15 minutes till 1800 the two marines were the last to arrive in the armory and the ODST had all ready gotten their gear and were busy applying face paint. Jones and Mendez had walked up to the quartermaster to check in but he was already expecting them.
"Private Jones and Mendez hand me your assault rifles and side arms," He ordered looking at a clipboard. They did as instructed and the quartermaster added silencers to their assault rifles and pistols before handing them back. "Now please put these on." The quartermaster instructed as he handed Mendez and Jones each a half stealth suit.
The normal stealth suits were state of the art full body suites that were worn over regular uniforms and would change their camouflage to match the current environment and area of the trooper wearing it. Then fake leaves and other plants and items could be added to help it blend into a certain area even more. Not only that but it masked body heat while keeping the wearer ether warm or cool depending on the weather and was water proof. However because of how advance they were they were expensive to make. So someone in the think tank thought that most marines when they used it would be lying down so they came up with the half stealth suit that only covered the wearer's back of their legs, their back, neck and head. It still masked heat but really didn't keep a trooper warm or dry.
These were the suits that Mendez and Jones strapped on now as they placed their arms through the sleeves that only covered the back of their arms and strapped the suit to their legs. They finished by pulling the hoods over their head and pulling on the gloves.
"How do I look?" Mendez asked Jones as he slowly turned.
"Well I can still see half of you," Jones joked.
"One more thing," The quartermaster said opening a long case on a table. "A customized SRS 99D AM just for this mission." Mendez picked it up and sighted it.
"How so?" He asked as he adjusted the scope.
"Well," The quartermaster said pressing the clipboard against his waist. "The barrel suppresses almost all sound and emits no flash or smoke what so ever, however it does slow the round down so to make up for it we gave you magnum rounds. They are the same caliber but they a longer filled with more powder to give the round that extra kick. Because of the size increase only three rounds will fit in the magazine so watch that. Now because of the increased powder there is increased recoil, to help control the recoil it has been fitted with a stock filled with a gel that will absorb most of the shock along with the buffer spring. Now the last thing is the scope. It has up to 24x magnification and it is able to switch between both NV and IR."
"Nice," Mendez said as he slung the rifle across his back.
"Also as you have noticed," The quartermaster said pointing at the sniper rifle. "It has been painted and a webbing had been placed around it that will blend in nicely with the foliage." Jones and Mendez turned to leave and meet Lieutenant Jenkins when the quartermaster stopped them.
"One more thing," He said. "Don't forget your face paint." It was all those things that caused Mendez to think this was going to be a bad mission.
Now as they lay in the underbrush as the rain rolled off them, their hands numb waiting for the damned drop ship Mendez couldn't help but think he had been right. The two marines had studied the outpost for the past hour and a half and had memorized the enemy's patrol routes. They also knew that they could engage and neutralized most of them without raising an alarm. The rest would be for the assault team to mop up. Mendez switched between NV and IR trying to decide which one he liked best and as always he decided on NV.
"So what do you think?' Mendez asked Jones still looking through the scope.
"What do you mean?' Jones asked as he peered through his field glasses that also had NV.
"About this mission you think we'll make?" Mendez asked.
"The truth?" Jones asked bluntly.
"Of course," Mendez said just as bluntly the rained had killed both their sense of humors.
"We will take the drop ship for sure I give boarding the frigate 30 -70 odds in our favor, planting the explosives 60-40 in favor of the Covenant and none of us are going to make it off alive," Jones explained tonelessly.
"How do you figure that?" Mendez asked risking a glance at Jones.
"Just a feeling I got," Jones said still looking through his field glasses.
"What do you mean?" Mendez started to ask when they both herd a whine. Mendez looked up and spotted a Covenant drop ship through his scope.
"These our boy right on time," Jones said as he glanced at he watched which just clicked from 2259 to 2300. Jones keyed his radio and whispered into his helmet mike. "Dagger Two Five this is Wolf One we have target in sight requesting mission update over."
"Conformed Wolf One," Lieutenant Jenkins said her voice coming from their helmet speakers. "Mission is a-go, green light engage tangos we are moving to point Zulu. Over."
"Conformed Dagger Two Five engaging tangos. Out," Jones said as he brought his field glasses up to his face again. The drop ship had landed by then and the troops in the outpost were already busy unloading its cargo.
"All rights how do you want to slice this?" Mendez asked Jones as he clicked of the rifle's safety.
"Two tangos on the building to the left of the LZ conformed you see them," Jones said. Mendez shifted his aim scanning with the scope until his gaze fell upon a purple prefab building where two Jackals stood facing away from each other.
"Conformed," Mendez said as he steadied his aim.
"No tangos on the ground have them in sight but they will see us take out their outer patrols. Take them out first," Jones ordered. Mendez placed the crosshair on one of the Jackal's head. He waited a second for the scope to auto adjust for wind and elevation the crosshair turned red when it did.
"Ready," Mendez said placing his finger on the trigger.
"Take them both out," Jones ordered. "Fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire." Mendez slowly took a breath in and gently squeezed the trigger. The rifle made a soft thump and kicked against Mendez's shoulder. The first Jackal fell down and the other didn't even turn to look. Mendez quickly switched his aim to the other and fired dropping him as well. No one on the ground turned to look up. Mendez slowly breathed out.
"They're down," Jones said. "Clean kills. Nice job." Mendez lifted the rifle up so he could pull out the empty magazine and placed a new one into the slot. Mendez now had four rounds to work with three in the magazine and one in the chamber.
"Next target?" Mendez asked after he had finished.
"The first outer patrol on the outside of their fence," Jones said lowering his field glass to the fence.
"Conformed," Mendez said also lowering his aim. "Where should I engage them?"
"In front of point Zulu," Jones said. Mendez glanced at Jones.
"Where the assault team is?" Mendez asked a little unsure.
"Yes we can only hit the other patrols in the same spot," Jones explained. "There are two and if one of them see the bodies of the other this mission will be over." Jones then keyed his radio. "Dagger Two Five this is Wolf One do you read? Over"
"Go ahead Wolf One over," Jenkins said over the radio.
"We will be engaging the first enemy patrol in front of your position," Jones explained "As soon as they are down you have to remove their bodies from the path and hide them over."
"Roger that, will do out," Jenkins said her voice a little perplexed.
"What about the blood?" An ODST radioed his voice full of disapproval.
"In case you haven't noticed it's raining," Jones explained his voice verging on a sigh. "The rain will wash most of it away, what it doesn't get just slush some mud over it. It doesn't have to be prefect we just have to get them in to the kill zone. Over."
"Understood. Out," The smartass said his voice cooling.
"Alright shooter enemy patrol coming into visual range. I count five tangos," Jones said. Mendez shifted his aim and spotted them walking towards position Zulu. It was four Grunts walking in pairs and an Elite walking behind the Grunts.
"Conformed I see them," Mendez said. As they neared position Zulu Mendez practiced how he would get them all.
"Ok Dagger Two Five don't break radio silence," Jones said into his mike. "The enemy patrol is closing in on you when we drop them you have less than a minute to get them off the path out. Ok shooter engage on your call." Mendez placed the crosshair on the side of Elite's head and waited a second for the scope to adjust. Mendez squeezed the trigger the rifle kicked against his shoulder, purple blood blossoming out of the other side of his head. The Elite crumpled to the ground as the Grunts continued to walked forward. Mendez quickly shifted aim to the back pair of Grunts and fired center mass the round going through both their bodies and dropping them both. Mendez quickly switched again and dropped the front pair of Grunts. Total time to drop the patrol: two and a half seconds. The assault team seemed to rise from the ground itself as they rose from the underbrush next to the beaten path the enemy patrol had just been walking along. Four ODSTs grabbed a Grunt each and threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry so there wouldn't be no drag marks in the mud. Two ODSTs grabbed the Elite, one grabbed his arms the other got hold of his legs and they picked him up. As they carried him off the path his ass came closest to dragging on the ground. They hid the bodies in the underbrush and started to use their hands to splash water onto the patches of blood. Jones had been right and the rain was washing most of the blood away but the bright blue blood of the Grunt's stood out more and needed a little more water to speed it along.
"30 seconds Dagger Two Five," Mendez said into his mike as he tracked the other patrol. The ODSTs stopped splashing water and laid back down into the underbrush turning, once again, invisible.
"Good job Dagger Two Five," Jones reported. "You had 15 seconds to spare get ready from the next patrol out." Mendez ejected the spent magazine and slammed a fresh one home once again having four rounds to work with. The second Covenant patrol was just a pair of black clad Elites walking side by side. Mendez turned to Jones.
"Their shields are going to slow the round down too much I can't get them both in one shot," Mendez said quickly.
"Calm down," Jones said still not taking his eyes away from his field glasses. "Just get the other one with a follow up shot."
"What if he sounds the alarm?" Mendez demanded the edges of his voice filled with panic. "Or he yells, shoots, does anything that would give us away?"
"Relax you got this," Jones reassured. Mendez sighed and looked back through the scope and sighted the Elite on the right as they started to pass position Zulu. Mendez squeezed the trigger the Elite fell face forward as his momentum carried him. The second Elite's shields flared and went dead as they stopped the round from entering him. His head snapped around to look towards the direction of the shot just in time to receive the second round right between the eyes.
"Fucking a," Mendez said as he looked up from the scope his back had a sheen of sweat on it but it was quickly washed away by the pouring rain.
"Ok Dagger Two Five your show," Jones said into his helmet mike finally lowering his field glasses. "We can't see any more movement in the outpost looks like everyone is at the LZ to unload the drop ship. However you might want to check the buildings over."
Conformed Wolf One," Jenkins said as the 10 of the 35 ODSTs got up and started to move towards the outpost's fence. "Spot and assist out." Four of the 10 ODSTs grabbed the Elites and dragged their bodies dumping them somewhere in the underbrush. They didn't care about drag marks and blood at this point for they had gotten all of the patrols. Jenkins then waved towards the fence and the ODSTs moved towards the outpost's fence where they quickly climbed it and landed on the other side. The ODSTs hid behind a prefab building and formed a loose circle around Jenkins.
"Alright," Jenkins began her face paint already starting to dull because of the heavy rain "We are going to mop up these buildings starting with the outside ones moving to the inside ones before we hit the drop ship." She then turned her head to the side and placed a finger in her ear where her ear piece was and spoke into her helmet mike. "Wolf One this is Dagger Two Five over."
"Go ahead Dagger Two Five over," Mendez's voice coming back over their helmet speakers and ear pieces.
"Watch the drop ship and LZ and let us know if they seem to be done unloading. Over," Jenkins ordered.
"Will do out," Mendez said. Jenkins then turned to the ODSTs and pointed to five of them.
"You five will hang back by the LZ in case they start to move," Jenkins explained. "If they do you will hit them hard and fast to board the drop ship and take it. If we mop up before that happens we will attack from the other side giving you five an opening to broad the drop ship and seize control before they know what's happening. Clear?"
"Yes ma'am," The five ODSTs said at once.
"Alright let's get to work," Jenkins ordered causing the rest of the troopers to stalk deeper into the outpost. Three ODSTs ran in a half crouch making a bee line straight for a building with a large antenna on the roof. The three stop just short of the door and two of them turned and knelt facing the opposite way of the door. The third slung his silenced assault rifle and drew his combat knife the rain making the grip slick. The ODST walked over to the door and up to its control panel. Using the knife he popped the outer cover off exposing a mess of wires and crystals the Covenant used in place of chips and fuses. The trooper then removed a device from his pocket that looked like a PDA.
The Automated Electronic Decoder and Decryption Device or the auto-hack, as it was referred to among the enlisted men, was a device that one simply had to connect to anything they wanted access to and the device would over ride or open whatever the user wanted. It was also simple to use.
The ODST used his knife to shave the insulation away from two wires behind the panel and connected the two wires attached to the auto-hack, to the shaved wire that were the same color as the ones attached to the auto-hack. An hour glass started to spin on the screen letting the trooper know it was working and need time. The screen changed and a green light shown in the top right corner meaning the door panel was only lightly encrypted. Meaning the pass code and lock weren't meant to effectively stop enemies but rather stop their own troops from going where they weren't meant to be. A list of commands was displayed on the screen so the trooper only had to touch the one he wanted and the device would compile. The commands were pretty standard for a door:
open
close
lock
unlock
disable
enable
The trooper selected unlock and then open causing the hour glass to spin again. A few seconds later the door soundlessly opened. The trooper let the auto-hack hang a foot off the ground the wires keeping if from dropping. The trooper moved his assault rifle to the low ready. He turned and slapped one off the kneeing ODST on the shoulder, who stood up and spun to face the now open door. The two troopers duck walked into the room, going to opposite corners with their rifles shouldered. The room was empty but a door embedded in one of the walls drew their attention. They stood on either side almost but not quite leaning against the wall. The one on the right hit the control panel and the door slide open. The two ODSTs walked in keeping their backs against the wall that had the door in it. They had picked the right building this was the outpost's com center. Eight Grunts sat at terminals with the backs facing the center of the room, an Elite stood on a raised platform that over looked the working Grunts. None of them had the humans in their line of sight and they hadn't heard the door open. The two troopers realized this and held their fire. One of them pointed to his eyes and then at the Elite on the platform. The other turned to look at the Elite then back at his comrade and nodded. His comrade then drew a line across his throat and pointed back at the Elite. The trooper nodded and keeping in a low crouch he moved to the ramp that would take him to the platform. He crept up it and raised his head so he could just see over the sloping surface of the ramp. The Elite stood with his back facing him and a Grunt stood at the Elite's side looking up at him and holding a tray. The Elite placed an empty glass on the tray and spook the trooper's translator kicking in a moment later.
"Bring me another," The Elite commanded. The Grunt nodded and turned to walk away. The trooper shot his head back down and moved more to the side of the ramp. The fact that the Grunt hadn't screamed meant he hadn't seen him so the trooper thought about his options. He was going just to let him pass when he realized the Grunt would see his partner. The trooper gently set his rifle down on the ramp and pulled out his combat knife again. He heard the Grunt's footsteps get louder and readied himself. He then saw the Grunt's shadow fall in front of him and then a second later he himself passed in front of the trooper. The Grunt was too busy thinking about the Elite's drink to see the crouching trooper. The trooper lashed out driving the blade deep into the side of the grunt's neck. With his left hand the trooper reached out and plucked the tray out of the air before it hit the ground. The Grunt fell over with a muted thud and lay there. The trooper removed his knife from its neck as he set the tray on the ground next to the Grunt. The trooper then raised his head up again to see the Elite still facing the opposite direction. The trooper rose to his full height and walked towards the Elite the knife held in his right hand. The trooper walked slowly and quietly but the Elite must have heard something for he spoke again.
"That was fast," He said his voice gave a hint of satisfaction. "Bring it here." The Elite however still didn't turn around but the ODST quicken his pace. Just as the last word left the Elite's mouth the trooper was standing behind him and driving his right foot into the back of the Elite's right knee. The Elite dropped to his knees and was now the same height as the trooper. The Elite was still trying the figure out what had happened and was about to grunt something when the trooper used his left hand to push the Elite's head forward and at the same time drag the knife across his throat. The Elite's shields were not active so the knife cut deep spilling his purple blood to the floor. The trooper took a step back and to the left letting the Elite's body fall to the floor who hit with a wet smack. The trooper then dropped to one knee and plunged the blade into the his chest around his chest plate several times. Blood splashed behind him, on the floor and finely across his face just missing his eyes. The trooper used a gloved hand to wipe his face smearing more of his face paint as he did so. The trooper then looked out over the rail the Elite had been staring from a moment before. The Grunts were still hard at work typing on their terminals not realizing what had happened in the time they had been working. The trooper on the platform waved to his comrade still standing by the door and gave his a thumbs up. The trooper on the ground nodded and strolled to the middle of the room so he was directly behind all the working Grunts. Keeping his assault rifle at his right hip he opened fire on the hard working Grunts. His assault rifle broke out into a steady stream of high pitched snaps as the silencer muted most of the weapon's sound. The trooper started at the left and moved to the right his rounds made a straight line across all the Grunt's backs splashing their work stations with their own blood. The trooper's bolt on his assault rifle locked back as the last round left the chamber. The trooper stood there the sound of the shell chasings hitting the ground seemed to be much louder than it should have been.
"We clear?" The trooper on the platform asked his voice a little above a harsh whisper.
"Give me a second," The second trooper said as he let the empty magazine fall to the floor, shoved a new one into the now vacant slot and worked the bolt. He then walked behind each of the Grunts pulling them off their chairs and threw them to the ground. When he reached the last one and threw it to the ground it gave a shriek. It was apparent the trooper had ran out of ammo before the job was done. Now content on finishing it he leveled his assault rifle at the Grunt who started to bark and yelp very quickly in an effort to talk. The translator on the trooper's helmet standing on the platform came to life again.
"Please," He begged. "I won't tell anyone just please don't shoot me." The trooper on the ground held his fire until his translator had finished. He then began to smile slowly.
"Don't worry I'm not going to shoot you," The trooper said as he slung his rifle across his back. It was clear the Grunt didn't understand but when he saw the ODST lower his weapon he lowered his arms from his face and looked the trooper in the eye. In one swift and sudden move the ODST had drawn his knife and shoved it up through the bottom of the Grunt's chin to the top of his head.
"Told you," The trooper said as he withdrew his knife and let the Grunt's limb body fall to the ground. By then the trooper on the platform had climbed down and was walking towards his comrade.
"You're a sick bastard you know that?" He said as he walked over and stood next to him.
"So," The trooper said as he whipped the knife on his pants. "Lets finish up here then." The two troopers walked over to the terminals and please a golf ball sized grenade next to each one and pulled the pins. The troopers had just enough time to take a step back as the Thermite grenades went off. Thermite was a substance which burned at 500 degrees and would literally fry any electronics or other import equipment the enemy needed. The smell of burnt metal and melted plastic hung in the air as the troopers left the room and walked back outside into the night air and the pouring rain. The trooper they had left outside remained kneeing providing over watch for the other two. The one who had killed the begging Grunt walked over to him and slapped him on the left shoulder. The other trooper went to the auto-hack and ordered it to close and lock the door. The trooper then disabled the door before removing the auto-hack and carefully replacing the panel cover. The three troopers then moved deeper into the outpost keeping to the shadows. However if things did go to shit the outpost couldn't contact anyone or call for reinforcements. One of the three keyed his radio.
"Coms down, they're cut off." He whispered into his mike.
Two troopers stood next to a pair of long cylinder tanks that had airlocks attached to them. The barracks for the Grunts pumped full of methane. Next to each tank was a pair of Grunts slumped against the tanks bleeding from open wounds embedded in their heads.
"Come on Smithy hurry it up," The trooper on over watch said in a low whisper.
"I'm going as fast as I can," Corporal Smith said as he tried to attach his auto-hack to the tank's control panel but the rain made his hands slick and he found it hard to isolate the wires he needed. Smith had managed to strip away the insulation from the wires he needed and had one of them connected to the auto-hack. He was about to connect the other one when he moved two sections of the bare parts of the wires too close to each other. A spark arched between the wires and caused more sparks to fly. Smith felt a buzz travel up his arms and hit him in the chest before he fell backwards and hit the ground splashing up water and mud around him where he landed.
"Shit you all right?" The second trooper said as he stood over Smith and looked him in the face.
"Just a little buzzed," Smith said as he extended his hand for the other trooper to grab. The other trooper did so and started to pull Smith up when he spoke again. "I'm just shocked really." The other trooper promptly let go of Smith's hand and let him fall back to the ground.
"When your stand up is over come over here and see what you did," The other trooper said with a slight shake of his head as he walked back towards the tanks. Smith got back to his feet his nerves still buzzing. He picked up the auto-hack and wiped the rain drops of its screen. A blinking message filled the entire screen. Warning halon system active.
"Well that works," Corporal Smith said as he unclipped the auto and moved to the second tank.
"What?" The other trooper demanded fallowing Smith. "What did you do?"
"It seems someone activated the halon system," Smith explained referring to the anti-fire system that sucked out all the air of a space to kill the fire. He removed the cover on the other tank's control panel.
"Shit," Was all the other trooper could say as he stood next to Smith. Smith carefully this time removed the wires he needed and attached the auto-hack. Options displayed themselves across the screen.
Open outer door
Open inner door
Close outer door
Close inner door
Activate Halon system
Deactivate Halon system
Smith chose to activate the Halon system. Another message popped up.
Are you sure? Life-forms detected. Yes. No. With no pause expect to read the message Smith pressed yes. Warning Halon system active. Played across the screen again as Smith disconnected the auto-hack while his comrade watched the door to see if anyone would flop out through the door gasping for breath. Non did. Smith keyed his radio.
"The sleeping gas suckers have been taken care of," Smith whisper into his mike as he and his battle buddy left the tanks their boots making deep imprints in the soft mud.
The three ODSTs that took down the com. center now hid behind a sloppy pile of the Covenant's purple creates as two patrolling Jackals passed. As soon as they had passed the pile two of the troopers sprang out and each grabbed one by the neck and holding their beaks shut dragged them behind the pile of creates. Each Jackal was shoved to the ground and held there while the third trooper stomped on their necks breaking them and killing them instantly. With them out of the way the Elite's barracks was unguarded. The three made their way to the purple building and stood out outside the door in a semicircle. As one auto-hacked the door open the trooper who had stabbed the Grunt used the rain water to wash away the rest of his face paint. When he had finished the door opened and the one that had auto-hacked it waved them in. Once again it was the two troopers who had taken down the com center who where inside the barracks.
"Hang on a second," The one with the clean face said placing a hand on the other's shoulder. The two came to a stop inside the barracks where three Elites slept. The one who had stopped them took out a stick of black camo and started to apply it to his face.
"Jordan what the fuck are you doing?" The other trooper demanded.
"Getting my war face on," Jordan simply said. Jordan then proceeded to black out his entire face.
"Your fucking crazy man," The ODST remarked as he stepped as quietly as he could into the barracks and up to one of the sleeping Elites. The trooper watched the Elite's bare chest slowly raise up and down for a full two seconds before he fired a three round burst into his head. Blood began to soaked into his pillow and his chest had stopped moving. The trooper then sidestepped to the next Elite who continued to sleep. He fired another silent burst forcing the Elite's brain to fly out the back of his skull. The trooper turned to deal with the last Elite when Jordan held up a hand.
"He's mine," Jordan said now that his face was completely painted black. In the darkness of the barracks all the other trooper could see of Jordan's face was his eyes. As Jordan made his way to the Elite he slung his rifle and drew his silenced pistol. When he was next to the sleeping Elite he carefully rolled him over onto his back without waking him. Jordan then placed the pistol on the left side of the Elite's head and moved his head in closer so their faces were only inches apart. He then pressed his left forearm onto the Elites throat cutting down his air intake. The Elite's eyes flew open and the only thing they could see were Jordan's eyes.
"What's up?" Jordan whispered to the terror stricken Elite. "Scream or talk and your fucking dead got it?" The Elite must have understood some English for he attempted to nod.
"What the hell are you doing?" The other trooper demanded
"Shut up and let me work," Jordan said not taking his eyes off the Elite. Jordan removed his left arm from the Elites throat. The Elite held his tongue even as Jordan used his left hand to removed his knife. "Remember don't scream." Jordan then started to use the knife to carve into the Elite's bare chest. The Elite grunted but clenched his teeth and remained silent the pistol still at the left side of his head. The other trooper watched unbelieving as Jordan carved his name into the Elite's chest. A minute later Jordan re-sheathed his knife the Elites purple blood spilling down his chest and onto his bed but the Elite remained quiet. "Good job." Jordan remarked just before he pulled the trigger painting the wall with the Elite's brains.
"What the fuck man?" The other trooper almost yelled.
"Come on lets go," Jordan said as he moved towards the door. The other trooper, realizing he wasn't going to get an answer, followed him back into the rain where they joined the trooper who had over watch.
"The only tangos left are the ones at the LZ," The trooper on over watch radio to Jenkins "We are moving to ambush point." A smile of satisfaction crept over her face as she received the message.
Still laying in the underbrush Jones and Mendez had watched the events unfold via their scope and field glasses. Mendez slapped Jones on his left shoulder.
"At your four o'clock," He whispered. Jones turned his gaze towards the landing pad where the drop ship was unloading. Jones saw the problem right away and keyed his radio.
"Dagger two five this is Wolf one," Jones said into the mike just inches from his mouth. "The package has finished and it looks like they're getting ready to move out. Please advise over."
"Wolf one take out the lead tango," Jenkins ordered speaking to all the men under her command. "The five sleepers gain the control of the package. The rest of you surround the package and take out the tangos over."
"Roger," Jones said "Shooter tango at your one o'clock low take him out. Fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire." Mendez's crosshair landed on an Elite pointing at places for Grunts to stack creates. Mendez fired only waiting long enough for the scope to auto-adjust. The Elite's body was still falling to the ground when the five troopers charged and boarded the drop ship killing the pilot. Mendez fired three more times taking out two Grunts and a Jackal. Mendez had just taken his eye off the scope to reload when the rest of the troopers unleashed a hellish cross fire on the remaining Covenant forces. Mendez had finished reloading and was searching for targets when the message came through the radio.
"All hostiles eliminated area clear over," Someone reported.
"Confirmed," Jenkins radioed. "Wolf one head to the rally point and bring in the VIP out." Jones threw his field glasses around his neck as he rose to his feet water sliding off of his back as he did so. Mendez clicked the rifle's safety on and picked it up as he stood up. Mendez's back was tight from the hours of lying in a difficult spot and demanded he sit back down. Mendez ignored it as he picked the rifle off the ground along with the spent shell chasings. He slung the rifle across his back and picked up his assault rifle which was lying next to him hidden under some large leaves. The two then moved at a brisk walk picking their way around the thick foliage. By the time they reached the drop ship the other ODST and Caption McNeal were already waiting for them. A trooper was using two chem lights to guide a Pelican carrying a Warthog. When it was only a foot off the ground the pilot hit a switch and sent the Warthog bouncing to the ground splashing up a mixture of water, mud and blood. Now free of its burden the Pelican flew off into the night. A trooper got behind the wheel and drove it off of the unofficial drop zone and parked it next to two other 'hogs and a Scorpion part of the growing assets for the troopers staying behind to hold the outpost until the mission was complete. Others were busy digging fox holes and placing heavy machineguns. Meanwhile another Pelican carrying a crate of ammo moved in and waited for guidance from the trooper with the chem lights.
"Mendez, Jones gets your asses over here!" Jenkins shouted over the noise of fading and approaching engines. Without hesitation the two marines jogged through the rain and joined Jenkins, Caption McNeal, and 15 ODST by the captured drop ship.
"You can ditch your invisibility cloaks now," A smart ass ODST sneered. Jones and Mendez looked at each other before striping off their half stealth suits exposing their somewhat dry backs to the pouring rain.
"Ok here's how it's going to go down," Jenkins said shooting a glance at the trooper who had opened his mouth "Once we have gotten into the ship and docked come out swinging. Hit 'em fast and hard. The last ones off the ship will be Mendez and Jones after the docking bay has been secured. Once secure most of you will stay behind with the caption while a few of you are with me making our way to the engine room. Once there and secure we will cover Mendez as he works. Speaking of which…" A trooper who was helping with the unloading and moving of equipment walked over and handed a rucksack, that had rings of red tape around the shoulder straps, and a heavy duty laptop to Jenkins. "Your damage pack." Jenkins said as she handed the rucksack to Mendez and the laptop to Jones.
"You sure you're up for this son?" Caption McNeal asked looking Jones square in the eye.
"Yes sir I am," Jones said whishing with every fiber of his being that he wasn't the lynch pin in this mission.
"Everyone clear on the mission?" Jenkins asked her eyes sweeping across meeting everyone else's'.
"Yes ma'am," Was the general response.
"All right lets mount up," She ordered jerking a thumb towards the drop ship "Sergeant Stevenson the outpost is yours." The ODST filed into the drop ship following Jenkins. The last ones to board were Mendez, McNeal and Jones.
