Spartan 058 - The Tale of a Sniper

Chapter 3 - On board MAC Station - Cairo

All of the Spartans save the Chief sat in the hangar bay, conversing about what they thought would happen next.

"You know what, they probably stuck me on the Malta all alone because they know that that one is going to get hit first," Will remarked with a smile.

The Spartans all started to laugh, Linda thought that it was good that they could spend some time together sharing a laugh and telling humorous stories from their childhood. The atmosphere around her seemed to be full of high spirits and good times, it was the calm before the storm, one of those things everyone knew was coming but just kept pushing back into the far reaches of their minds.

Linda just sat in the corner alone, adding new modification's to her S2, she was where she needed to be, alone with her rifle waiting for the piviotal moment that would turn the tides. She was a sniper and she always would be, she knew her duty, but lately the rest of her comrades had been easy on her, that was probably the reason Hood had stationed her with Fred. She knew her limitations but the brass seemed to be trying to keep her healthy. She gave a smile, she knew the major downside of being with Fred was sharing all of those kills.

The Chief strode up behind the group as they were getting the last of their equipment stowed away on the pelican, she could tell by the Chief's movements that something was bothering him, Linda knew exactly what he felt, the thought of leaving his brothers and sister alone again to face the wrath of the Covenant without him. She made sure that she would do her best to stop his worrying.

"Our new suits should arrive within the hour, about the same time you should be prepped and briefed about your tasks on the platforms, I hear they're supposed to be top notch, tons of new upgrades like shielding and an auto binocculars built into the lens. When the Covenant do attack keep on your toes and give em hell, and by the way, don't do anything I wouldn't do," John said with a hint of laughter behind his voice.

"Well that rules out a whole bunch now doesn't it," said Will with a laugh which caused the whole room to join in.

"It sure does, good luck Spartans," John said as he turned and walked out of the bay.

The Spartans finished loading and all got strapped in ready for their flight to the MAC Stations.

"Your suit's a bit different than all the other ones," said the old tech officer, "It has a 30X zoom and a hip compartment for extra bullets or any designated sidearm, you barrel also has a special new barrel which can reach targets from a significant distance."

A good chunk of time passed by as the tech officer went over the new suits functions and controls. The new suit was a weapon of it's own, with an increased shielding system that recharged in nearly half the time and a jump capibility of nearly two meters was extraordinay, it matched herself and her fellow Spartans perfectly, but then again they were the only ones that could wear the magnificant suit.

"You may notice a new HUD display too, we had to alter it a bit after complaints about not being able to see any second weapon's properties. Your current health bar is now gone because we decided that you would probably know when you were taking a couple of shots," the little old man said with a smile and a small chuckle to himself. "I'm all done with you so your free to go, I think your friend's waiting outside for you.

"Thank you again," replied Linda as she walked out of the lab.

Fred sat outside waiting for her so they could find their quarters and explore the station a bit more, "Aren't these great?" Fred asked as he looked down at his own suit, "They've done quite a bit since we've been gone...after Reach. Enough about that though, where should we go, we have some time off I suppose."

Before Linda could answer though the station's COM burst open with a loud voice, "We have Covenant targets at the edge of the system, stand by."

"Lets get prepped before we get stationed on welcoming duty!" Fred exclaimed as the staion burst to designated stations.