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Spec-Ops by James Caldwell
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SpecOpsProlouge
Date: 17 February 2007, 7:51 am
June 1st 2675 2100 hours Earth Time (ET)
Sol System, Earth
New York, New York
The night was as young as the girls in the bar; life was bristling and fun brewed as swiftly as the drinks were poured. Darkness engulfed the building and the haze was only penetrated by dim lights hanging over the tables. Like last night, John sat in the corner accompanied by Kyle and a handful of pretty girls; stretching the truth was one of his skills, needless to say he always had fun. Parallel to John and Kyle, Shelly casually walked across the bar called "Night at 9" and sat right in between two young marines.
"What's up boys" Shelly asked. Even though she didn't have her Mjolnir armor she still exuded strength and a command over her fellow soldiers.
The dumb struck marines stared and stared until one of them worked up the courage to say,
"Hi, how are you Shelly?"
"Great you?"
The second marine replied,
"Were fine just lookin' for some fun before we get shipped out."
"Well if you're lookin for fun," Shelly said as she let her hair down and whipped it about,
"I think it's your boy's lucky night then." She handed one of them a card and wrote "room 1224" on it.
"Meet me there in 20 minutes"
Night at 9 stank of manipulative men looking for tail, and women looking for a cute marine. Night as it is called stands on a hill in the middle of the city. Not a natural hill, but a man made steel dome that can house over 2,000,000 soldiers at a time. New York remained one of the largest hubs in the world, even after its destruction in the late 26th century.
The area surrounding Night overflowed with different trade stores and massive skyscrapers that stretched above the clouds. The tallest of which is the 260 story super "Space Scrapper". The Xaolin building, as it's called, acquired its original name from its architect Yoshoe Xaolin. Not only did he design skyscrapers, but he was also the master of the new-age martial arts technique: Xaolin. Yoshoe is now one of the leading weapons makers and business man in the galaxy, his weapons are found in every militia or military there is. Not only does he have a monopoly on the market, but he produces amazingly accurate and proficient weapons. The new B55 Spec-ops assault rifle is so innovative that no gun maker can replicate it yet.
My team uses the B55, and believe me it gets the job done. One of the most beautiful features is the optical enhanced auto zoom. The scope gives us the power to zoom in from 2x to 25x and anywhere in-between. If a soldier focuses on a single object the scope will automatically adjust to distance and wind velocity. Not only does the B55 have an amazing scope, but it utilizes the latest in Post-Cov technology. Post-Cov is a development team that started post Covenant War. They specialize in integrating human innovation with Forerunner technology. The B55 uses ammo that has an external projectile shell, which incases a radioactive energy bolt that is released on contact. It is the most innovative charge of the time, very expensive and very effective. The B55 also includes an explosive charge that is effective against large enemies and even vehicles. The electro-plasma grenade causes massive amounts of super-heated plasma to be shot out at all angles, along with an electric fall-out of 10 meters.
The striking physique of Shelly brushed past me, with shining blonde hair and an incredibly toned body she stood as a beautiful goddess to the men of the Marines. Her face resembled a heart-shape, with high rosy cheek bones and lips that sweetly caressed my face as she walked past.
"Ill see ya in the morning Joe"
"OK just don't be late or we'll both be in trouble tomorrow"
"Don't worry; I'll meet you at the base" she said half-way out the door.
The rest of Spartan Team Beta Prime hung out and had a good time. However I stood in full spec-ops Mjolnir S-type armor, watching and thinking. My job entitled me to watch over the Spartans under my command; make sure they didn't get themselves into trouble. My unofficial job was to also keep moral up though, therefore I was never that hard of a commander, I just didn't let my Spartans get hurt. Someone had once described me as a stone wall, an impenetrable fortress of rules and commands. They went on to say that to the common soldier, it was a trait looked for in leaders. I am Spec-ops Commander Joseph Garcia and my story follows.
Over a hundred years has passed since the destruction of all seven Halos, the defeat of the Covenant, and the death of Spartan-117, John. Our role-model and greatest teacher, John-117 taught us everything we know through video-records and through his AI Cortana. Cortana is now "dead", but her memory banks were saved before her destruction by the ruthless flood father Gravemind. The war with the covenant is over, but the war against the outer systems has begun to boil. Tomorrow my squad and I ship out for the Dikasta system.
SpecOpsCH1
Date: 1 March 2007, 3:54 am
December 14th 2674 2300 hours ET
Claba System, Claba
Alogon forest 25 mi. west of Pynong City
"Look over there." Shelly said.
"What is it?" I asked.
Spartan Team Alpha: Red crouched low to the forest floor navigating their way closer and closer to there way-point set by the UNSC. The Spartans were covered in foliage and wet dirt that blurred their vision. Vines clung to there skin tight Mjolnir S-types. The S-types were just modified 7s, a lighter version with an advanced shielding, temperature control to regulate their body temperatures, and electro-disruptors that could shut down even the most advanced computers and radars. The new shielding even offered a bug zapper, the anti-electro shields repelled anything that was shot at them; or anything that flew into them.
"Sir It is a factory of some kind, but there isn't supposed to be anything there. The GPS navigator shows no buildings for 5 miles." Reported Shelly.
"Holy shit commander look at this."
John handed me the data pad displaying electrical, thermal, and radioactive activity.
"Is the data pad malfunctioning John?"
"No, Commander it is working perfectly."
"The radioactivity is off the charts, The Clabas must be producing some new weapon, that's the only thing that could create this much energy." I said.
The jungle seemed to sink in around me as I had a silent revelation. The galaxy stood on the brink of a civil war and my Spartan team was the spearhead.
"I know." Said John.
I stopped walking in the middle of the dense rainforest. At that second every deep slurping sound of boots sticking in the mud ceased as I held up my hand, the signal for everyone to halt. I silently stood still for a while, waiting, thinking, wondering,
"What are we doing here?" "What's so special about Claba?" and why the hell is there a weapons factory in the middle of the fucking forest?"
I then voiced all of these questions to Kyle, Spartan Team Alpha: Blue's leader.
"Well" said Kyle, "I think that the Clabas are up to something big, you probably don't want to hear this but we found a massive military warehouse along with huge training grounds and we even saw an entire battalion of fully equipped Spartans. The good news is that they don't have the Mjolnir 7, but they are in Mjolnir 5, the old Spartan II armor."
"Wow the UNSC must have thought something was happening, and sent us to check on it. Soldiers, we have found the whispers of war, which have echoed throughout the outer-systems since the destruction of the Covenant."
What the Spartan team didn't know is that just as they were contemplating their particular predicament, a secret section within the Office of Naval Intelligence
(ONI), codenamed: One Death sat leisurely around a table discussing the new weapon they would use to counter the new threat. This weapon was codenamed "Anti-Unknown". Not only did it contain the power to destroy a planet, but it also could create worm-holes to instantly travel through the galaxy; it could travel almost thirty times as fast as a normal slipspace generator. As an added bonus "Anti-Unknown" was invisible.
The outer-systems had been very angered by the core-systems and especially Earth for not giving more resources and more man power to the reconstruction of the outer-systems. Even though the outer-systems were most heavily attacked, in most cases totally destroyed by the Covenant's favorite choice of planetary destruction, glassing.
The outer-systems were eventually rehabilitated to a functioning status, worlds that had been razed were re-built and Glass Worlds were used as monuments to the millions that lay dead scattered across the galaxy and frozen in space. The resources of these glass planets still needed to be used however, so the Beetle was designed. A giant hovercraft one mile squared with a colossal rotating laser drill that melted the glass off the surface of the planet. Then ex-Covenant Engineers extract the steel and ore from the planets surface. Many people were bothered by this, asking, "Why can't the UNSC just melt the glass and return the planets to their original states?"
The UNSC replied by explaining that the lasers and ion guns used to glass the planet had left permanent carbon monoxide damage to the atmosphere, without help, the atmosphere would return to its original state in 100,000 years, with help 50,000.
All in all to the outer-system residents felt as if the rest of the galaxy had betrayed and abandoned them, in actuality, the UNSC and the majority of the populace had decided to rebuild from the inside out. Earth received a facelift and has never looked better. Someday maybe, after this Civil War ends the galaxy will once again be unified and brought together.
Even though the Covenant were destroyed 122 years ago and major reconstruction ended only 22 years ago, Humans have reinitiated their destructive nature and have started killing each other yet again. Only time will tell if the human race will be reunified, fight each other into non existence, or will another threat yet again unify them. Will there come a time when Earth and the galaxy calls upon Spartans to save them from certain destruction again, and if so are the Spartans willing?
December 15th 2674 1030 hours ET
Claba System, Claba
Pynong City
"Spartan Team Alpha: Blue, Red come in. Come in. This is UNSC cruiser Millennium. Please reply on a secure channel. Come in. Battle plans are being sent. Pynong City will be under attack in 15 standard minutes. Come in."
"This is Kyle, Spartan Team Alpha: Blue leader, please repeat." Kyle's heart raced as he came-to from a deep sleep realizing what the Millennium had just said. "Fuck. Jo, Sir get up, Pynong is about to be blasted off the face of Claba and…"
"Hello Kyle, please commence in removing the team from the blast radius of Pynong. 5km should suffice in protecting yourself from the blast. Do you copy? We will be coming out of slipspace in approximately 12 minutes and 13 seconds"
"I hear you, we will retreat to a safe distance and wait for further instruction." Kyle woke everyone and within 2 minutes Shelly, John, Kyle and the other two Blue team members Adam and Peter along with me packed into an elongated Warthog (EHOG) heading for a 5km waypoint set by the Millennium.
"Shit" thought Kyle "This is it, the end of an uneasy relationship."
As John took the controls and drove the helmet-less team up the mountain I sat up and surveyed the team; "God damn" I thought "Were in for it now." I then stood up in the EHog, and grabbed onto the turret handle for support. It wasn't everyday you saw a Spartan's face. "Team" I yelled, "This is it, now's the time to protect Earth, its time to take the enemy by their treacherous hands and cast them into the dirt."
"Ooh Rah!!" screamed the Spartans.
"Today is a glorious day that will be met with glorious battle. The Outer-System Rebels have infringed upon the contract made by them and the UNSC, they have begun construction of a new weapon and it is our job to put an end to their bullshit"
"Sir"
"Yes Adam"
"Will we be fighting other Spartans?"
"Yes, but they are not your brothers; they have aligned themselves with the enemy and they are Rebels. Is that a problem for you Adam?"
"Sir no Sir, I will fulfill my duty and kick any sorry forsaken Rebel Spartan into the dirt and crush his face in!"
"Good that's what I like to hear. Does anyone else have any questions?"
Silence and then.
"Spartan Team, this is Millennium Have you reached the waypoint?"
"Yes" we are here on the top of Mt. Shawna"
"Good if you look to the North West, you should see us coming out of slipspace in 5.4.3…"
"Ah, we see ya Millennium, are you ready to light this place up?"
"Yes sir we are!"
The Millennium looked like a covenant capital ship, and it was except that it was completely black. After the Covenant War the UNSC had adopted the Covenant's technology plasma torpedoes, ship design, and all. As the ship's plasma turbines warmed, nuclear silos started to rise from the ground of Pynong aimed at the Millennium.
"Oh shit guys it looks like we might have a battle here." interjected Shelly.
Two, 2000 megaton nukes exploded from their launch pods and headed straight towards the Millennium. The Clabian tacticians had made an error. Both of the nukes hit the shield at exactly the same second. When the nukes hit a blinding light cascaded over the horizon and then subsided after a minute, when the Spartans looked back they saw the Millennium's shields off line, but their plasma charged and ready to go.
"Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Peter
"Holy Shit!" retorted Adam
Twin plasma bolts streaked out of the Millennium's guns and headed straight towards Pynong. The initial blast was immense; a purple plasma shockwave erupted from the ground engulfing everything within a 2 km radius of Pynong. Ground-zero was completely vaporized and the surrounding kilometer was falling apart as the Spartans gawked.
As the Spartans looked on they saw a burning city. Not only was it just a wreaked city, but it was also a battle field, because out of the ashes, the tops of bomb shelters were being lifted and a resistance formed. Armies were filing out of the ground and vehicles were being elevated to ground level.
John looked at Shelly and Adam and said, "What the fuck, lets go finish the job!" He shouldered his rocket launcher and looked down at the ruins from the snow capped Mt. Shawna.
Shelly drew her sniper rifle and took a single shot. I unlatched my binoculars and looked down at where she had shot. When I looked through the magnified view I saw a man's brains splattered on the ground. "How the hell can you make that shot?" Shelly just smiled and placed her helmet on. "Anyways nice shot babe." I commented
"Thanks, just thought that I would let them know we were coming," she swiped two fingers across her helmet, the trademarked Spartan smile. "And if you ever call me babe again… that will be you in my crosshair."
The rest of the team placed the helmets on and checked all their subsystems. Their adrenaline was off the charts.
"Ok… Noted…. "My voice rang clear as I hollered at my team "Now Spartans, saddle up and move out!! We've got a planet to conquer."
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