Stormbringers, Part 1: BungY, not BungIE
Posted By: WildebeestNZ<wildebeest_nz@hotmail.com>
Date: 21 November 2002, 7:32 am
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THE MAN CHECKED his watch, then pressed his face against the glass again. One hour to go until the landing.
He had travelled through space so many times, and yet there was still something amazing about it. Perhaps it was the sheer majesty of the place. Trillions of light-years of endless stars, dust, and planets. The cold, dark void was almost inviting in that sense. The problem was, some of that cold and dark void would always be full of new challenges and enemies to face. No one owned the galaxy. But whoever had the most would be the richest.
Such was life in the Corps.
"Hope you slept well, Jarvis. You'd better get over here, we're prepping up."
The intercom broke him out of his trance.
"Roger. On my way."
He climbed into his combat armour and turned it on. The HUD flickered as it powered up on his visor.
>Welcome to your Chameleon Mark VI Combat suit. All systems online. <
The computer voice notified him that he could move now.
Two minutes later he was in the Shuttle Bay, surrounded by two others of his kind.
Technicians buzzed around them like flies, performing final suit checkups and passing weapons to the three combatants. He took his weapons and clambered aboard the Stealth Dropship.
"You girls all strapped in nice and tight now?" Flight Lieutenant Ed Wood cackled, as he hit the door-sealing mechanism.
"Who you calling girl, pansy flyboy?" Agent Jed Benson laughed.
"Robo-trash." Ed called back.
The third Spartan, Sergeant Will Jenkins, cut them short.
"Alright boys, cut the chatter. Entering the ring's atmosphere in thirty seconds. Prepare for insertion sequence."
This was what the Humans called Beta Halo, the 2nd of three. Covenant ground forces heavily occupied it, and any attempt to take it over conventionally, from either space or the ground, was a suicide mission.
That was why they sent the Stormbringers. A crack team of Spartan warriors, they were the most formidable battle group in the galaxy. They had beaten scores of the best Covenant Black Squads, Reclamation Teams- you name it: they'd beaten it.
The only other fighting machine like them was the Master Chief.
Only a handful of men knew who the Stormbringers were, and whenever they completed a successful mission, the media were told, "It was just another Marine success". The Stormbringers were the UNSC's best-kept secret. Admiral Cole (the Stormbringers were his love-child) referred to them as "the masters of Ungentlemanly Warfare."
"Men, atmosphere is clear. We got cloudy skies, below-zero temperatures and light snowfall. Gonna be a good day for killin'."
Jarvis grinned under his helmet. He was a big fan of snowy conditions- he loved how easy it was to hide in the snow due to the lack of visibility and the camoflauge.
Sometimes he could stay undetected until Covenant troops were literally standing in front of him. Then he would pull the pin, bounce the grenade and dive for cover, all before the troops could react.
The clamps whooshed and the stealth screen shimmered as the Dropship's door opened. The ship glided down onto the jagged cliff-tops.
"Alright guys, lets move OUT! You know the drill!"
The Dropship was gone as quickly as it came.
Jarvis listened in for the radio confirmation.
"OK then, I'm gonna go and park in the hills over here, so as to go unnoticed. I'll remain there for the rest of the mission, until you call me up. Good luck men!" crackled Ed on the radio.
Jarvis peered over the edge of the cliff. He couldn't see it, but he knew the bottom of the chasm was some 600 metres below.
"Let's get going guys. Them blue bastards don't know we're here, but the less time this mission takes us, the better."
The three snow-coloured Spartans clamped their rope-pulleys onto the cliff side.
"Heheh, I love this job. Ready to jump?" asked Jenkins.
Jarvis nodded, and disappeared over the edge.
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