Chapter Six
Ghosts
"Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down." - Johnny Cash, God's Gonna Cut You Down
The high-pitched squeal of the flash grenade rang horribly through their hearing, eyes squinting against the intense flash of light that had come right before the ringing. At least it had done its job and stunned the enemies, only problem was that the throw had been blind and not entirely accurate. The flash grenade had managed to at least make it to the foot of the concrete block that several Drones had slammed themselves against in cover, but the moment the grenade hit the block it rolled backwards and stopped only when it was right in the middle of the ground separating Humans from Locust. At least one Gear had seen it and shouted the warning seconds before the grenade went off, not entirely enough time to get everyone under cover, but it was at least a decent heads-up that got most behind whatever was at hand.
From the other side of the downtown street turned into a war-torn battlefield, Drones snarled and gurgled their jumbled mess of a language as hands clawed at eyes and ears to be rid of the horrid pain that agitated what seemed like every nerve ending. The light of the sun was disgusting enough as it was, but this, the flash grenades of the Humans that the Locust sought to eradicate was excruciating agony. Shaking their heads from side to side like irritated animals nipped at by pesky flies, the Locust slowly started to recover their sight and hearing, but not quick enough. They had allowed themselves to remain out in the open without diving for the much needed cover and they paid for it instantly. One jolted in a twitching motion as its body was riddled with a rain of bullets that punctured through the weaker points of armor and exposed flesh, before finally dropping with a thud.
"Fuck!" Dominic Santiago shook his head while blinking rapidly at the same time. He sat crouched behind the cover of a rusted out truck with a shoulder pressed heavily into the metal body of the vehicle, eyes stinging from the brilliant flash of light. Dom had been the one to throw the flash grenade, but he had done so in a blind throw that hadn't entirely turned out for the best. "Shit." He muttered while blinking long and shaking his head as the world went from a blank white canvas to smugged colors and blurred shapes.
To Dom's immediate right, Marcus Fenix peeked out from around his end of vehicle cover and grunted in annoyance before leveling his Lancer and yanking back on the trigger. There was a railing shriek from the other side of the fight that lasted all but two seconds before dying and Marcus pulled back behind cover to reload his weapon. "Fuck, we're gonna get pinned down if even don't do something soon." He snarled while jamming in the next clip and tossing a glance over to where Baird and Cole were crouched up against an overturned trailer that was providing adequate shelter at the moment, but the bullets of the Drones were easily ripping through thinner parts of the trailer. The hits getting closer to the Gears than what they deemed comfortable as both men were having to crouch a bit more and slide towards what seemed like thicker cover. Shaking his head, Marcus returned his attention the bullets that were flying in his direction and the sudden numerous roars that lifted up from the Locust side of the conflict. "Shit, that only means one thing..." Marcus trailed off as he chanced to a peek out from cover.
Just as the sergeant had figured, more Locust Drones were hopping up out of the Emergence Hole that sat behind the Locust barricade. Gritting his teeth, Marcus sunk back behind cover and sat with his back pressed against the rusted and battered body of the truck. Pressing two fingers to the Tac/Com in his ear Marcus opened a line to Control. As soon as the connecting click entered his hearing, Marcus started shouting above the chaos of gunfire. "CONTROL THIS IS DELTA! WE'RE PINNED DOWN!"
"I hear you Delta, I'm searching for nearby units to run backup but there's interference feeding in from the outside!" The voice of Intel Officer Lieutenant Anya Stroud cracked over the Tac/Com, the distinct screech of static interference only further adding to what she said. There was silence on the Control end of the Tac/Com, to which Marcus grunted at as he got to his feet in a crouched stand and swung out from behind cover to lay in on the Drones that were still hammering down on their position. A few seconds later and Anya's voice hit the Tac/Com again. "Lo...oks...lik...eta...n...inity..."
Marcus growled in his throat as the sporadic spits of sound hit his ear and provided little information for the sergeant as he and Dom tucked tight against the truck as a rain of of gunfire thundered down on their position. "Fuck!" He snarled as a bullet ripped through the body of the truck and exited out just over his shoulder near his ear.
"I take it we're on our own?" Dom shouted over at Marcus, brown eyes glancing at his surly best friend as he locked and loaded his Lancer for another round.
"Aren't we always?" Marcus shot back, though his face remained grim with his usual expressionless sour stare, a small smirk tugged at the sergeant's mouth as he flipped his Lancer's fire to three round burst and semi-auto fire. Nodding at Dom, Marcus unclipped a bulo frag from his belt and with one final look at his Latino friend the sergeant pivoted on his feet even in a crouch and whipped out from the side of cover. His own actions fed the necessary force needed for the throw of the bulo frag that Marcus chucked out first, the arc of the throw taking the explosive high above the heads of the Drones and with luck landing in thick of them before going off. However, while Marcus had planned for the bulo to hit the ground and explode... the commanding sergeant of Delta could only stare with wide eyes and almost slack jaw as the bulo frag suddenly exploded right on the heads of the Drones before it even came close to contact with the earth.
In the split second that it had taken for the bulo to explode the Locust had no idea what was about to happen until it was far too late and six lay dead with heads battered in by the explosion and lacerated horribly by shrapnel. The shrapnel that had worked to carve the faces of the dead had also extended out to near twelve others close by, embedded bits of burning metal had hit faces and the backs of skulls to wrench their attention off the pressing onslaught on the human squad they were attempting to kill. Eyes were blinded, arteries severed (some severe and others not so much), white hot pain spread their nervous systems and wracked their bodies. Weapons were dropped and the battle at hand temporarily forgotten for a few seconds before the unfortunate welcomed the well placed aim of a bullet straight through the center of their foreheads, dropping to the ground under their own dead weight to collect like the rest of the dead.
"What... the fuck..." Baird stared out between the gap that separated the trailer from the cab, blue-green eyes wide and utter shock written all over his grim streaked face before he glanced over at an equally surprised Cole. "Since when did Marcus get that fucking good with his aim?!" Baird suddenly snipped only to then stutter as several Drones buckled and hit the ground as the backs of their heads exploded out in red misted chunk filled plumes that probably splattered on their fellow Locust brethren.
Cole shook his head while re-gripping his Lancer and leveled it on the startled Locust that had taken pause in the conflict, "Baby I don't think that was Marcus' shot." He hardly glanced over at Baird before pulling back on his trigger.
"Hey sergeant, hold up! Hawx say's he's getting something over the long range broadband!" Runnels called up towards point where his commanding sergeant and Pvt. Myles were leading Beta through the twisted maze of crumbled neighborhood. Glancing from the from of the squad to the back where Hawx and Evans had stopped, Runnels jogged the small space between them and stopped not more than a few feet to the side of the sniper whose head was tilted slightly to the side with a gloved hand pressed to the rounded side. Sharing a look with Evans, who in turn merely shrugged at Runnels unspoken question, the private turned his gaze to Hawx.
The hard clop of jogging boots was unheard by the sniper whose whole world revolved within the helmet that protected not just the ever vulnerable head but supplied vital information and did what seemed like the impossible. There was static and scrambled words that were passing through a Coalition line, the distortion no doubt coming from the interference of the Nemacysts still polluting the air. "I can't really make it out, but it sounds like there's a squad possibly pinned down by Locust Drones." Hawx muttered out the outside Tac/Com of the helmet that kept the sniper in open communication with the rest of the squad.
"How bad's the interference?" Bartlet hiked his Lancer up a bit to get a better grip on it as his gaze mometarily drifted up towards the every overcast sky that promised possible rain at some point. He grimaced at the thought; rain had once been something he often enjoyed with his family long before E-Day, but now, with so much filth in the air as a result of the war the rain was as close to polluted water as one could get without being acid.
Hawx held up a hand before manually pushing in on the helmet with the other hand and slide that same hand forward until an audible click was heard. The sound threw the other Gears off, but Hawx only took it as the broadband antenna was extending like it was supposed to. From the top right of the helmet's temple the already noticeable twin antenna spikes grew upwards, extending in length to receive a better signal as the internal audio plates started to kick into overdrive in order to clean the static and pick through the interference. While the voices over the Tac/Com were still distorted and scratchy, Hawx could now hear the message being passed between the two parties of the Coalition.
Beta waited in silence, glanced exchanged every few seconds as they waited for Hawx to pick through the interference if possible. While the click they had heard had startled most of them, Bartlet merely gave a quick glance to the antenna spikes on Hawxs' helmet before returning his attention the expressionless face of the sniper's helmet. While not outwardly showing it, Bartlet was impressed by the sniper's high-tech helmet that had obviously been outfitted specifically for him rather than just being a generic cookie-cutter model that other Gears wore. The pause that Hawx had taken had grown from a few seconds to a good long minute and a half before the sniper's head leveled and the hand dropped from the rotator plate.
"3.2 clicks east of our position, Delta Squad is pinned. Sounds like there's an unclosed E-Hole that's feeding backup to the Drones." Hawx relayed the information that had been picked out of the jumbled mess of static and white noise. As if cued by the sniper's relay the sudden roar of drifting gunfire suddenly echoed to Beta Squad through the muted noises of the various small fires that kept the silence at bay within the turmoil thrashed neighborhood.
"Shit that sounds closer than that." Evans grunted while his soldier instincts kicked in and he started scanning the littered streets and dark corners that seemed to suddenly surround them, grip tightening on his Lancer as he hefted it to much more ready position.
"What should we do sarge?" Runnels looked to Bartlet with a furrowed brow as even he felt torn from this new info. The greater part of him as a Gear wanted to start moving towards the action to aid their fellow Gears, while the exhausted and spent part wanted nothing more than to cover ground and reach Jacinto.
Bartlet glanced at his men briefly before inhaling a breath and exhaling slowly as he looked off into the direction that Delta was pinned down in. The grizzled sergeant was at odds with himself as well, he wanted to reach Jacinto as it seemed to sit just within reach now of a very much exhausted Beta... but there brothers in arms who needed backup and quickly from what he gathered off Hawx. Growling quietly to himself, Bartlet ran a hand down his already grim blotched face and shook his head while adjusting his Lancer and started walking down the side street leading east of their current position. "Get your asses moving or I'll move 'em for ya!" Bartlet barked back at his men, the order not directed at Hawx as the sniper was already falling in step behind him the second he started down the street.
Myles snorted a laugh while following after his sergeant with Runnels and Evans doing the same, "Never fucking fails." He swore while suddenly breaking into a jog as Bartlet and Hawx pushed forward through the rubble strewn street. "Goddamn fucking Locust really know how to shit on our luck." The privates' comment spurred a laugh and "fuck yeah" from his comrades that flanked him on either side.
"Goddamn Marcus!" Dom blinked dumbly at what he had just witnessed before following Cole's actions and opened fire on the startled Locust as the opportunity to shred their numbers had now presented itself. He chuckled under his breath as he railed in on the standing Drones, mowing them down with decent accuracy and hitting them in the 'killzone'. There were about six less Drones scrambling for cover and weapons than previously as the Latino smirked to himself and pull back into cover seconds after Marcus. "Man I don't know how you managed to do that!" Dom laughed while reaching over and clapping his best friend on the shoulder before switching his Lancer from semi-automatic to fully.
Marcus grunted while staring at the ground in front of him while adjusting the hold he had on his Lancer. "That wasn't me Dom." Marcus growled out while narrowing his gaze on the peppered asphalt that was cracked and splintered from heavy weight dropping on it some time ago. That was fucking miracle shot if I've ever seen one. But it wasn't anyone from Delta who hit that bulo, none of us got that kind of aim... Marcus looked up and over at Dom to meet the Latino's puzzled stare. "It wasn't my shot Dom, I didn't hit that bulo!" He clarified while gesturing with a hand towards the scrambling Locust that were roaring in anger as they had assumed their side of the fight again.
Looking more than confused now as he turned a bit in his crouch to face Marcus and even spare a glance out from cover to the disgruntled Locus side of the fight, Dom looked at Marcus with a furrowed brow and small scowl. "If that wasn't you then who the hell shot the bulo?!"
"The fuck I know!" Marcus snapped while pushing himself up and side-stepped out of cover again to open fire on a few Drones that popped into his sights and then pulled back behind the truck as the now dead Locust hit the ground behind their barricade. "Shit, I think Anya was trying to say something about another squad in the area, but there was too much interference on the lines to hear her." Marcus quickly explained to Dom as the Latino angled his Lancer out from around the tail of the truck and sprayed in blind fire at the Drones.
"Are you sure?!" Dom asked before throwing himself wide and aimed down his sights, several Drones dropping under the corporal's fire.
Marcus just grunted as he pushed out from under cover and started firing again on the Locust. Aiming down his sights and picking several of the closest – and for a lack of a better word – dumber Drones standing in the open Marcus paused momentarily as his right eye that had been using the sight on his Lancer watched as two Drones hit with a single bullet through the head buckled and hit the ground, their weapons flying elsewhere as they lost grip. Looking away from his sight, Marcus stared at the spot where the Drones had been standing, eyes wide and a slightly dumbfounded look on his face. There's only one thought running through his head at that solitary moment, Sniper. The burning zing of a bullet whizzing passed his ear shook the sergeant out of his thoughts and focused him back on the fight as he sat crouched on one knee and lifted the Lancer back up so his sight was at his eye-level again.
Both sides continued to exchange fire, the Drones taking a far greater thrashing than Delta was, save for the sudden "FUCK!" that shot up from Baird and Cole's side of the fray as the blonde Gear had been grazed by a lucky shot that snaked itself across the side of his temple. Baird pulled back under cover momentarily, a gloved hand testing the burning line that had cut itself across his flesh before swearing again and returning to the fight with what seemed like renewed vigor for the near death experience he had been treated to. Marcus seemed to be the only noticing the sudden rate in which Drones were hitting the ground, many of the deaths occurring within seconds of each other as head shot after head shot launched the Locust side into a sudden frenzy of aggravation in response to the incoming sniper fire. It wasn't until the sudden whump! of an explosion and the kick up of dirt into the air behind the Locust barricade did the rest of Delta realize that they had somehow acquired backup to their situation. The E-Hole had been closed apparently, or so was the hopeful assumption in the minds of the Gears as they noticed the Locust assault thinning that followed the bellowed command of a lead Drone.
Marcus could have sworn he had heard something that sounded like the Drone was shouting about a flank attack but he couldn't quite understand the garbled mess of what was supposed to be a language and returned his attention to slaughtering what was left of the enemy across from him. Another head shot took down a charging would-be suicide runner and dropped the body of the Drone just a few feet from the cement walls it had left. Whatever explosives it had carried with it exploded a second later and forced both sides to tuck under cover to hide from the rain of shrapnel and bloody mess that sprayed out rather than up and out. While the Gears gave the air about a five second wait time for things to clear, several more Locust Drones were picked off from continuing sniper fire that hadn't ceased when the explosion happened.
The gunfire was practically ringing in Beta's ears as they pushed through the crumbled mess of blown out and nearly toppled buildings that continued to loom above them. Bartlet and Myles led point while Runnels and Evan brought up the rear sandwiching Hawx at the center as the sniper still only held a sidearm rather than the Longshot hooked to the magnetic clamp. Pulling Beta into the cover of a forged avenue created within the gap of a fallen apartment building into another structure, Bartlet looked to Hawx as soon as the sniper slid in alongside himself and Myles. "Hawx, get me a fix on location."
The HUD within the sniper's helmet lit up as the systems worked quickly to triangulate the positions of friendlies and non-friendlies on the battlefield they had worked themselves up to. "We're right on top of Delta's position; Drones situated on the other side of the street, E-Hole is still active."
"Alright Beta, listen up!" Bartlet barked at his men. "That E-Hole is the primary target, we've gotta get that bitch closed or our effort to backup Delta is blown to shit." He looked his original squad mates directly as he already knew the best course of action to take. "Hawx, get your ass up high and start giving Delta support; pick those fuckers off fast. Boys, we're flanking the enemy and closing that E-Hole and pulling as much heat off Delta as we can. We're not gonna know what the terrain is like till we get there, but we'll give 'em hell all the same."
"Hell yeah sarge!" Runnels grunted, similar acknowledgments coming from the other two men of Beta Squad as well. A lack of a response from Hawx caused the private to glance towards the spot the sniper had been standing only to find it empty and no sign of the rescued Omega Squad member anywhere in the avenue. A small laugh left the private as he shook his head, "Fucking creepy little bastard."
Myles chuckled while shrugging as their sergeant seemed to be well aware of the lacking sniper presence as he gestured with a flick of his head for them to follow him out of the avenue and out onto an open street all over again. While Bartlet led the flank attack, Hawx had already hiked up through one hell of a maze inside of a building on the same block Beta had separated on. Thanks to the terrain readout that the helmet's HUD received from the broadband antenna and radar scope, the sniper found the best vantage point over the main fray that Delta was pinned down in. Grabbing a separated pipeline that hung overhead and still drizzled dirty water from one end, Hawx swung up over a mound of debris that choked the remaining stairs going up. Thanks to such a small body size and build the sniper easily slid over the crumbling soft top of the mound and scooted down until reaching the edge to slid off of and landed on the ground feet first. Already the steady build of adrenaline was starting to work its magic on the sniper, but whereas a regular Gear would be pumped and over flooded with testosterone so he was itching for a fight, Hawx found a certain type of clarity and hyper awareness start to bloom.
Reaching a point that kept Hawx above the fight but not in an area that would be a dead give away, the sniper clipped the sidearm to the magnetic clamp on the waist belt and unhooked the Longshot resting against the back of his right shoulder. Situated, Hawx tilted his head to the right as the butt of the sniper rifle was hugged tight against the front of the shoulder, the targeting systems and binocular zoom of the helmet kicked in and started to zero in on the fight. Behind a trailer and a truck that were about twelve feet from one another, Hawx spotted the Gears of Delta and watched as one behind the truck started to slowly swing a bulo frag he had unclipped from his belt. For all but two seconds Hawx watched as the Gear with the frag swung out from around the nose of the truck and chucked the frag on its upwards spin to send it arcing for the Locust behind cement and steel. Following a thrown frag was a hard thing to do, damn near impossible for a hell of a lot of soldiers and even some of the best sniper's, but it was almost easy for Hawx. The frag followed a path, and while it followed its path Hawx followed after it and with what seemed like inhuman speed, calculated where it would land and leveled the Longshot quickly as the trigger was squeezed.
Some would call it a miracle shot, some would call it damn near impossible, while others would say it was absolutely inhuman, but the fact of the matter was that the round fired from the Longshot had done its job as it hit the frag just as it came head level to the Drones. It was something the sniper had never done before, ever. Sure there had been plenty of times where the lucky shot o shooting a cooking frag in the hand of a Locust had happened, but never once could the sniper recall a moment identical to this one as the frag exploded and decapitated several Drones, downing a few others, and injuring a handful more in the process. That had created a stir of chaos amongst the Locust ranks and gave the equally startled members of Delta time to open fire on the blindsided Drones. Smirking beneath the helmet, Hawx lined up the next shot and began methodically picking off the Locust behind the barricade. Focused on the front line, Hawx never saw the flanking attack the rest of Beta started until the sudden distinct pop of a muffled explosion followed by the plume of tan as the earth collapsed in on itself.
The Locust were thinning in numbers until only hardly a handful were left as the firefight weighed in the favor of the Gears that were no longer huddled behind cover by the oppressive rain of the Locust gunfire. Cole unclipped a bulo from his belt and planted himself square out in the open with a whooping holler as he let the bulo swing high from his hand straight into the middle of what Locust remained behind the barricade. Even before the explosive had time to detonate as the Drones scrambled away for cover, Cole plowed straight across the street with chainsaw bayonet revving as he set his sights on the straggler that limped after his brothers. The bulo detonated, it's explosion and shrapnel taking out the only good leg the straggling Locust had and left him gurgling in pain as his limb had become nothing but a shredded stump while he hit the ground. Vaulting over the barricade Cole nearly landed right on top of the mangled Locust and slammed a booted foot straight down on the middle of its back.
"Yeah baby, that's what I'm talk'n about!" Cole hollered over the screech of the bayonet as it tore through the shoulder of the Drone beneath his boot and cleaved it in two as it flailed helplessly. The gore of the kill spattered the tall giant black man's legs and choked the blade of the chainsaw bayonet as Cole yanked it free of the dead body. Whooping up a storm, Cole failed to notice that one of the retreating Locust Drones had turned back around and was now leveling its Hammerburst on the celebrating Gear.
"Cole stop fucking around!" Baird shouted while sprinting across the street and skidding to a stop at the barricade as he hefted his Lancer up to aim down the sights at the maliciously grinning Drone that seemed to be taking its sweet time. "COLE!"
The Drone's meaty finger twitched as it started to squeeze back on the trigger, it's aim dead center on the exact center of the Gear's head. This Drone would take out the over zealous human in the same way so many of its brethren, it's brothers in arms, had been taken out. Rabid glee pumped through the Drone as it imagined the head of the human exploding from the impact of its bullet, the heavily armored body collapsing in a pool of its own life fluids. The world spun out from under the Drone and life as it knew ended within the split second it would have taken to pull the trigger as the high caliber round of a Longshot rifle split it's skull in two and dropped it dead.
Baird let loose the held breath he had sucked in as he aimed for the Locust only to watch as someone else dropped it with one hell of a clean shot. Dropping his Lancer from position Baird ran a hand over his face as Cole continued to remain oblivious to the fact he just almost took a bullet to the head. "Oh my god," Baird groaned while climbing over the barricade and nearly stomping straight up to his friend, whom he in turn backhanded upside the head. "Are you a fucking moron, you fucking moron?!" He snapped at the still grinning Gear that towered over him by a good foot or so. Baird bit back the urge to shoot his friend himself as Cole broke into a loud hearty laugh and clapped him on the shoulder.
Chuckling weakly to himself as he watched Baird and Cole, Dom picked himself up from the kneeling position he had been in for the passed minute and locked his Lancer to the magnetic clamp on his back. "Cole has got to be the luckiest son of a bitch I have ever met." He shook his head, gaze turning to the grim looking Marcus who merely surveyed the battlefield briefly before pressing two fingers to his Tac/Com ear piece.
"Control this Delta, come in." Marcus growled out and waited through the dull buzz of static for a response, eyes scanning the upturned street stained with what was left of a Locust body.
"Control here Delta, reading you loud and clear now." Anya's voice broke in over the static with far more clarity than it had earlier.
"Locust presence has been cleared out of the area, and we're all accounted for." Marcus returned, eyes turning upwards now towards the jagged line of rooftops that surrounded the street, squinting as even though it was overcast there was still a far greater amount of light in the sky compared to his level on the ground. He scanned every possible inch of what was deemed as 'sniper territory', the highest elevation was prime hunting ground. Marcus knew there was no chance in hell of spotting a sniper's nest, it just wasn't something that happened so easily and for a good reason, but yet he still scanned the area with narrowed eyes. "Anya, are there any other units in the area?"
"That's what I had tried to tell you during the firefight but interference with the line signal cut out the relay. Beta Squad is the only known unit close to your location, but at the moment it's hard to completely pinpoint their exact location." Anya paused on her end briefly before picking back up again, "The best I can tell is that Beta is headed west from your position."
"They have a sniper on their team?" Marcus questioned quickly as he stared back over his shoulder at a few of the caved in buildings that choked out the grey sky with their ragged frames.
Another pause came as Anya went over the roster of the known members of Beta Squad before giving Marcus an answer. "Negative Delta; Beta has no known snipers on their team at this time."
Marcus grunted as he thought otherwise. "Right. Delta out." Marcus cut his end of the line and dropped his gaze from the high building points. Hefting his Lancer up in both hands, Marcus gave one final glance about the area before turning to the rest of his squad as they stood now watching him with fatigued but questioning stares. Grunting to himself, Marcus walked the small space that separated him from his men, mouth opening to give the order to move out and continue on to Jacinto when it snapped shut as the earth beneath his feet shuddered violently. "You've gotta be kidding me!" Marcus steadied himself as another tremor forced his body into a sway that sought to topple him.
"NO FUCKING WAY!!"