Ch 8 Baptism by plasma

20 January, 2553 Military Calendar

UNSC prowler Siege Breaker Spartan barracks

Dante-L382

Whitney sat across from me on her bed. She continued to stare at my new marks. She shook her head.

"Why," she asked for the umpteenth time.

I finished pulling my right boot on before answering. "It's something that everyone on my home planet went through," I retold her. "I'm old enough to have them and just happened to be on the same ship as a squad of ODST from Charon."

I ran a hand across the lines. They had stopped burning with pain. "So I got them."

I placed my helmet on my head and waited for the hiss of it vacuum sealing to the rest of the armor to stop. Whitney did the same effectively ending the conversation, for now. We made our way to the elevator and after the short ascension, the hangar bay. The other thirty eight Spartans assigned to this mission were already there.

Weapon crates were open. Everything from assault rifles to shotguns were being passed out. I jogged from the elevator door to a crate marked battle rifles. I looked inside, only to find its contents missing. I walked to the crate next to it. This one was marked DMR or designated marksman rifle. I expected it to be empty as well.

I stuck a hand into the crate. "Jack pot," I exclaimed as my hand grasped the last DMR in the crate.

I pulled the bolt back and gave the rifle a quick check. Everything was in good condition and the DMR made a reassuring click when I placed it on the magnetic strip on my back. Next was ammo for the rifle. I found the ammunition crate nearby. I grabbed six magazines of the guns 7.62mm ammo. I inserted one, pulled the bolt, and heard the all too familiar sound of a round being cycled into the barrel.

My team was nearby. They stood around a black canister. As I neared them, Ben turned to face me.

"You just missed your ODST buddies," he said. "One of them told me to give this to you."

He held out a M6SD pistol. I took it and immediately noticed the difference in weight versus other pistols.

"Thanks," I said. Ben handed me several mags for the pistol. I looked down to examine the canister that my team was gathered around. "Is this thing for me," I asked.

Lisa nodded. "Yup a special delivery from the higher ups," she said. "ONI spooks dropped it off. Said you had the code to open it and advised that you use the contents wisely."

I knelt down next to the canister and then entered my password into its touch screen. The locks chirped as its security system accepted the code and unlocked it. I opened it and gasped at the contents.

My eyes examined the SRS 100-S1 AM prototype sniper rifle. An ONI spook had given me a file on the weapon and I had read it several times. The designer had nicknamed the gun Zeus, for severity of the flash and sound it made. For me to actually see the monster up close left me dumbfounded at its destructive potential.

The gun was a bull pup design meaning the magazine was located at the back; because of the design it was about the same length as the SRS 99. The key difference in the new rifle was in the ammunition. The SRS99 fires 14.5mm armor-piercing, fin stabilized discarding sabot rounds. The SRS100 on the other hand fires a monster 19.05mm round with the same characteristics. The effective range of an SRS100 was estimated to be at least two miles.

I picked up the rifle and ten of its five round magazines. The magazines were massive and barely fit on my slim physique. I grabbed the last mag from the crate and inserted it into the rifle. The bolt made a loud clack as one massive round was chambered. I whistled at the soothing sound.

Rex nudged Whitney with his elbow. "Hey looks like he's in love," Rex grinned.

I looked up from the rifle. Whitney shrugged. I glared at Rex.

"Calm down you two," Ben cut in before I had a chance to test the rifle on Rex. "Time to start this op."

Ten minutes later I was onboard a pelican drop ship as it descended down to the surface with the rest of my team. So far the ride had been made in total silence.

The pilot's voice filled my ears. "This is Zulu-62," the southern accented pilot said. "I'm inbound to landing zone with reinforcements."

I unclipped my harness and stood up. The others had joined me and were shouldering their weapons. Ben was about to hit the switch to lower the rear hatch when the pilot's voice cut in again.

"Hold on boys and girls," he advised. "I've got a banshee on my six."

Before I had a chance to react the drop ship shuddered, and then whipped around in what I assumed was a full 180 degrees. The sound of its 30mm chain guns reverberated through the hull, followed by a small explosion. The pilot hit the emergency hatch release. I didn't hesitate and jumped out of the pelican.

Glass cracked under my boots as I landed. I already had my DMR against my shoulder, scanning for targets. A roar to my right drew my attention. A brute was firing on the drop ship with its brute shot. The grenades missed their intended target. I put the crosshairs on its head and pulled the trigger. I put four of the DMR's twelve rounds into the big gorilla before it dropped.

"All teams sweep and clear," Ben ordered.

I acknowledged by giving him a green light. Whitney formed up in front of me, shotgun at the ready. She cast a glance over her shoulder at me. I nodded. We took off into the heart of the Covenant lines.

Whitney dashed forward to engage a dozen grunts. I hung back and looked through my scope for targets. I rested the crosshairs on an elite major clad in red armor. I emptied the rest of my magazine into it and the grunt behind it. I instinctively ejected the old mag and inserted a fresh one. I spotted another elite in red and opened fire. I had fired two rounds when an unfamiliar sound came from behind me. I dove to the left. An elite in gold armor swiped at the spot I had just occupied with an energy sword. It let out a disappointed roar.

The zealot charged. I fired once before it reached me, the round bounced off its shields. I side stepped its second attack, and unsheathed one of my ulaks at the same time. It swung again. I ducked under the attack, hooked the curved blade around its sword arm, and pulled up. The blade cut through the elites flesh with ease. The elite began to let out a scream. I brought my blade up and into its skull.

Plasma fire struck the dirt around me. I hefted the elites corpse and used it to shield me from my attackers. I fired blindly with my DMR, in the hopes of forcing them into cover. Sure enough the fire subsided. I threw the corpse to the side and sighted down my scope. Three jackal heads popped out from behind a pile of rubble. I dropped each of them with a head shot.

The sounds of battle began to die down. Whitney materialized beside me. She looked around at the corpses. She nodded approvingly. "You've been busy," she said.

I grabbed the handle of my knife and placed a boot on the dead elite. I pulled and the blade came out. I wiped the blood on one of my shoulder plates, "I got five."

She rested her shotgun on her shoulder. "I got fifteen," pride filled her voice.

Before I could call BS Ben cut in. "Three wraith tanks incoming," he stated. "Cerberus it's time to test your new toy."

"Roger, just give me a second," I replied.

Whitney switched her shotgun for her battle rifle. I found an old fire escape and climbed up two levels. I had a clear view of the area. Off in the distance the outlines of the wraith tanks were growing in size. I brought my sniper rifle up and looked though the scope. I went to 15x zoom. The lead wraiths brute gunner filled my scope. The brute looked close enough to reach out and punch it. I compensated for all the variables, waited for my heart to calm down, and then fired.

The rifle bucked hard against my shoulder. I watched as the gunner exploded into an unrecognizable red mist. The round slammed into the wraiths drivers' door with enough force to leave a large dent. I fired again. The blood from the driver erupted like a volcano from the impact of the round. I repeated the process with the other two wraiths.

Calm soon settled over the blood soaked, alien corpse ridden battlefield. I took my eye away from the sniper rifles scope to examine the weapon. I whistled.

"One thing is for sure," I stated. "I won't be running and gunning with this thing."

Whitney had been watching my six while I did my dirty work and simply grunted in approval.

"All Spartans meet me for debrief," Ben ordered.

"On our way," I answered. I tapped Whitney in the shoulder. She turned to face me. "I got three wraiths, so I win."

She shook her head before jumping off the fire escape.