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WARNING: This story contains some MATURE LANGUAGE

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN MEDAL OF HONOR OR HALO

ALL OC'S ARE MINE

Chapter 13: Mission is a Go

Location: Aborad ONI Prowler UNSC Red Horse- En route to Epsilon Eridani System, planet Earth

August 3, 2537

0600 hours

Matt snapped his eyes open and looked around the room. He was lying on his bed onboard the ONI Prowler. Strangely, he didn't have a nightmare last night. He had been onboard the prowler for 4 days now, and he was getting restless. He wanted to get the mission started, but it would take about a week to reach Earth and then he would see his old mentor again for the first time in 18 years. He had been estastic earn he had heard that Jack had selected him for a mission. He always enjoyed being around Jack because he was a friendly man.

Matt sat up and swung his legs to the floor. He reached over to the table by his bed and grabbed his was resting on top of the table. After he had pressed his finger to the biometric, the pad turned on and immediately looked at the details for the mission he had already looked at many times before.

Vladimir Zemo was born on June 7, 2494 on Earth. In particular, he was born in Voi, Africa. He had a normal childhood growing up, but after he completed school, he joined the insurgents in the fight against the United Earth Government. After a few years, he left the insurgents and became a black market arms dealer. According to intelligence reports, the city of Mombasa, Africa was being used as a trading point for Zemo to trade gold and spent uranium rods that he had somehow acquired to give to the insurgents, in exchange for weapons and nuclear materials. The city of Mombasa had a nuclear accident 10 years ago. It was caused by the nuclear power plant there, exploded, and radiation leaked out into the air. The event was called the Mombasa Disaster or more simply, Mombasa. Now after 10 years, the place was a ghost town. There were still pockets of radiation all of over the area around Mombasa. The least likely place for a spent uranium rod and gold exchange to take place.

Matt supposed to rendezvous with Jack at space station Cairo above Earth, grab his equipment, make final mission checks, and then head to down to the city of Mombasa by pelican to start the mission. Once on the ground, they would make their way to the abandoned Hotel Polissya, go to thr top floor, wait and eliminate Zemo when he came for the meeting, which was only three days away.

Matt turned the pad off, got up and stretched. After dressing, he walked down the long and narrow corridors to the mess hall onboard the ship to get some breakfast. After piling his plate scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast he found an empty table near the back of the room, sat down, and began eating. As he was eating, Matt kept thinking about what Jack would look like after 18 years. He was pretty sure he'd age quite a bit and look older now. No matter how old Jack was, Matt would always be happy to see him.

After finishing his food and putting his dirty tray in a bin, he headed to the gym to workout. He began with some simple arm curls, push ups, and curl ups. He then walked over to a punching bag they www suspended from the ceiling by chain. He got into a fighting stance and began punching the bag. After about an hour, he stopped, grabbed the towel they he had brought with him on the floor, and wiped the sweat off his face.

He walked back to his room and laid down on his bed and fell asleep for a few hours. When he woke, he saw that the time read 1400 hours. He heard a tapping on his door. He got up, made sure he was presentable and said, "Come in."

The door opened and an ONI sargent stepped into the room.

"Lieutenant, sir, we are about to exit slipspace."

"Thank you, Sargent. Please tell the captain I'll be up to the bridge shortly," he said.

The Sargent nodded and left the room to do as instructed.

Matt quickly dressed and headed to the bridge. When he entered, the captain turned in his seat and said, "Ah there you are, Lieutenant. We will be exiting slipspace in about-"

Suddenly, the ship exited slipspace, interrupting whatever the captain was going to say.

"Or we will be exiting slipspace now," the captain said.

Matt saw the space station Cairo in the distance.

"Is there a pelican ready to take me to the Cairo, captain?" he asked.

"No, we will be docking soon onboard the Cairo, then you may exit the ship," the captain said. "Did you enjoy your stay?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you." He replied as he spun around and headed for the door. "I shall leave you now captain to go pack my stuff."

"Very well," the captain said. "Good luck on your mission."

Thank you, sir."

Matt exited the room and walked back to his room to collect his possessions that he had brought with him, which want much. He only brought his bag with clothes, toilettes, extra uniforms, and his kukri knives. As he was finishing up, he heard the ship dock with the Cairo. He grabbed his bag and headed to the boarding ramp to exit the ship. Once he got there, he saw men unloading cargo off the ship. He waited a few minutes until most of the cargo was unloaded, then started walking down the ramp. When he was got off the ramp, he saw Jack standing near the cargo that had been unloaded. Jack looked older. His hair now had a shade of silver showing and face looked aged. Matt started walking towards him.

"Matt, it's good to see you again." Jack said as he held out his hand.

"It's good to see you too, Jack." he said as he shook Jack's hand.

"I assume you were briefed on the details of the mission?" he asked.

"Yes, I was," he replied.

"Good. Follow me." Jack said as he turned and started walking out of the hanger.

They walked down several corridors, then turned right at an intersection and stopped at a door.

"This is my office." Jack said as they entered. Inside was a desk with a woman sitting behind it. The woman had blonde hair and brown eyes. There were also several chairs pushed in a line along the right side side of the room. The woman looked up when she heard them enter.

"Janice, this my old protégée, Matt." Jack said as he introduced him. "And Matt, this is my assistant, Janice."

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." he said to her as he held out his hand.

"You too." she replied with a smile on her face. "So, your the young man the Captain trained when you were 8 years old?"

"He hesitated then said, "Yes, I am." He turned to Jack and asked, "You told her who I was?"

Jack shrugged and said, "I only told her a little bit."

"I should have this paperwork done in 5 minutes, Captain," Janice said.

"Thank you, Janice." Jack replied as he motioned for Matt to follow him. "We'll be in my office. You just knock before you enter."

"Yes, sir."

Matt followed Jack back to another room. Inside was a desk with several picture frames and a chip on either side of the desk. Jack went behind the desk snd sat down.

"Sit." he said as he pointed to the seat in front of the desk. "We have much to discuss."

Matt took his seat as instructed.

"So, how have you been?" Jack asked.

"Good," he said. "I was reassigned as I'm pretty sure you remember."

"Of course. I remember everything you told me when you called me 5 years ago. Can you tell me anything about this assignment your doing?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm afraid that's classified," Matt said.

Jack blew out a breath. "I'll find out, eventually. You know I have a lot of resources."

Matt sighed. "I know you do, but like I said, it's classified."

"Well, orders are orders." Jack said as he sighed.

"So what weapons will we be using on the mission?" Matt asked.

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but a knock on the door interrupted him. "Come in!" he called.

The door opened and Janice stepped inside. She had a stack of paper in her hands.

"I have all the paperwork down, sir." she said as she stepped toward the desk.

"Good. Thanks, Janice." Jack replied as he stood up and reached for the papers Janice was holding.

Janice handed him the papers, turned around and walked out.

"What's on those papers?" Matt asked.

"Your signed request orders and firearm orders." Jack replied as he put the papers in a folder.

"Which reminds me, I have to ask you something," Matt said.

"Oh I know what your going to ask," he said with a small smile on his face. "Your going to ask, what weapons will we using on the mission, right?"

"Yes," Matt said.

"Don't sound so surprised, Matt," Jack replied. "I know you too well."

"Yeah." Matt said as he chuckled.

Jack chuckled as well. "Well, back to your question. We will be using M392 DMRs and the SRS99 to make the kill."

Matt remembered the M392 DMR well. It was a bullpup, gas-operated firearm that fired 7.62 mm rounds. It was a single shot, semi-automatic firearm. The M392 DMR went into service in 2512 and it served as the Army marksman primary weapon and it was also used by reconnaissanse teams. A single M392 DMR clip held a 15 round box magazine. The M392 DMR was a good weapon at medium to long range, but it sucked in close quarters combat because it was a single shot, semi-automatic weapon. For the mission they would be using suppressors on their DMRs so that that they could get to the Hotel Polissya safely. Once they made the shot, they would most likely be compromised and wouldn't need the suppressors any longer.

"Who's going to make the shot?" Matt asked.

"You are." Jack said as he pointed at him. "I will ID the target and confirm the kill once you shot."

"Who's carrying the big gun?" he asked.

"You are," Jack said again.

Matt smilies and nodded. "Alright. That sounds like a plan," he said.

"Good. Follow me," Jack said as he stood up.

"Where are we going?" Matt asked.

"The armory. We're going to prep our gear, then take a pelican down to the surface." Jack said as he stood up and started walking towards the door. Matt followed him.

They walked down three corridors until they reached a heavy metal door that read ARMORY above the door. They entered and started collecting the necessary wespons for the mission.

Jack pointed to a pair of bags on a nearby table. "Put your weapons in the bag on the left," he said.

Matt nodded and began picking up his gear and putting it in the bag Jack had told him to.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to get a pelican ready for takeoff." Jack said as he started walking out of the armory.

"Got it," Matt replied.

"If you don't mind putting my gear in my bag, that would be nice." he called back.

"No I don't mind at all."

"Good," he said. "I'll be back in a few."

Matt watched him leave, then finished packing his gear. He just finished packing Jack's gear before he walked back into the armory.

"Finished packing?" Jack asked.

"Yep. We're all set." He replied as he picked up his bag and sling it over his shoulder. He then picked up Jack's and handed his bag to him.

"Thanks." Jack said.

Matt nodded.

They walked out of the armory and headed towards the hanger bay.

Once they got to the hanger, the saw a pelican waiting for takeoff. They walked over snd saw the pilot standing oustide the pelican, waiting for them.

"Captain, it's good to see you again. Lieutenant, sir." he said as they approached.

They returned the salute. "Corporal," they said in unison.

"We will be departing in 5 mikes. We just have to make some last minutes checks in the pelican and then we'll get you to where you need to be." the pilot said as they walked walked past him.

They boarded the pelican and sat down.

"Do you know these guys?" Matt asked.

"This crew had flown me to many places. I trust them." Jack replied as he stored his bag in an overhead compartment.

"Well if this crew has people you trust, I trust them." Matt as he also stored his bag in an overhead compartment.

Jack laughed. "I figured you'd say that."

Matt cracked a small smile. "What does Claire thinks about you going on this mission?" he asked.

"She doesn't like it, as always. Then again, she's never liked me going on missions because I might get hurt." he replied.

Matt nodded in understanding. "I can see why. How is she doing? How are the kids doing?"

Jack sighed and leaned back against the headrest behind him. "They're all doing fine. They all miss me, though."

"Well, you her husband and their father. Of course their going to miss you." Matt said.

I guess you have a point." he said.

"Is this pelican taking us to the drop-off point and extracting us? Matt asked.

"Yes. The call sign is Delta Two-Four, aka Big Bird. And before you ask, the ride to the surface should take about 30 minutes." Jack replied.

Matt nodded and leaned his head back. "Will you wake me up when we're almost to the surface?"

"Sure. Will do."

"Thanks."

"Remember, stay alert, stay alive."

Matt chuckled and said, "Always." He then closed one eye and fell asleep.

Approximately 25 minutes later, Jack nudged him awake.

"We're almost at the drop-off point. Grab your gear." he said.

Matt got his bag down from the overhead compartment and opened it. He then started to check to make sure all of weapons were loaded and his kukri knives were in their holesters.

The pelican hit the ground 5 minutes later and ramp lowered. Before they got off, the pilot came out of the cockpit and said, "We'll be on station ready to pick you up. Just give us a holler when you need us"

"Understood," Jack said they started walking down the ramp.

"Good luck, sir... and good hunting," the pilot said before he hit the switch to close the ramp.

"Thank you," Jack said.

They watched as the pelican took off and returned to the nearest UNSC base.

"We'll walk for a bit then set up camp for the night. Tomorrow we'll start making our way to the hotel where we're going to make the assassination." Jack said.

Matt nodded. "Roger that."

They walked for about 7 miles through the tall grass before they made camp for the night. They made camp in the woods around Mombasa. They made a small fire, ate MREs, after and took 2 hour watches on and off. Matt took first watch.

'Hopefully, this mission won't be that hard. Then again... not a single mission should never be called easy.' he thought.

After his first 2 hour watch, Jack took over. Matt leaned back against a nearby tree, closed one eye, and fell asleep

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