Halo: Humans vs Covenant [Side Story] Welcome to the Roughnecks

Boxaman

Active Member
Planet Reach, 05:45 Local Time.

It was early morning on the planet Reach as a Pelican begins the ascent to space. The Pelican was jam packed full of sixteen nervous soldiers who were woken up early to spend a few hours riding in said Pelican. The soldiers were all from a variety of backgrounds; some were from the Marines, some from the Army, and a few from the Colonial Guards of various colonies. One was even an ONI operative being trained to be embeded in ODST squads as an intelligence officer. All were wearing ODST trainee fatigues. All have been training together for the last three months to become ODSTs, with the majority of their class washing out, with a few dying during drop pod training. Their training class started with four hundred and now all that was left were those who were on board.

The Pelican rumbled as it accelerates to push through the atmosphere. They were being transfered from the primary ODST training facility to the orbital space station. The ride from the station to the planet surface was silent, the atmosphere tense as the trainees knew they were being sent to their final test to become ODSTs.

Once the Pelican stopped rumbling, they knew they were in space at that point. A few minutes later, the Pelican docks on the space station above the planet. The bay door opens and the trainees marched out. Just outside the Pelican stood five people.

The one in the middle was the Colonel who had been training them for the last few months. Colonel Brecken had four men in ODST fatigues on each side of him. Two were young men, one was middle aged, and one was heavily scarred on his left face. They could see that each of them was scarred in some way, but the one on the far right was horrendously scarred and his left arm looked to be artificial under the fatiques, confirmed if one looks at his hand that is robotic.

"A-TEN-SHUN!" yelled the drill instructor who had rode along with the trainees.

Once every soldier was at attention, the Colonel said "At ease." and waited for them to stand at ease. Once they did so he started "As you all know, you have all survived the ODST training and are ready for your final test. This test is a simulation of a combat drop. You will all be split into four four-man fireteams, assigned to each man next to me. You will be dropped from this space station to the ground below. The objective is to be the first fireteam to capture the flag in the middle of the drop zone. You will be given full ODST gear as well as your standard weapons, only with stun rounds. Your performance will determine if you become ODST or not. Now, get aquinted with your fireteam leaders. Dismissed."

Immediately, the four ODSTs silently motioned the group to follow them. The four soldiers lead them on a brisk jog towards the barracks. Once there, they each entered a sepereate door, leading to four different barracks. The drill instructor barked out orders for each person, calling names and pointing towards the door that they were assigned to enter. Kira was the last one to be assigned

"KIRA WATSON." yelled the instructor. "Your shady ONI ass is assigned to Fireteam Charlie." he then pointed towards the door that the battle-scarred ODST entered. As soon as she entered, all three of her fellow fireteam members groaned as they sat on the benches inthe room.

"Not the ONI bitch,"
"Bet she has a regulation to quote about this training."
"Shut up and focus since we are going to have to carry her mercenary ass."
 
Leiutenant Kira E. Watson, callsign Mist of ONI Section One. She got the dirty looks typical of the more common soldiers towards those from the shadowy organization, and was quite used to it. With her being assigned to ODST for supplemental training, the distrust she received was more than doubled. After all, these were considered the elite soldiers of the Marine Corps, and didn't like outsiders, much less the 'spooks' from ONI.

When her name was finally called, and she was assigned a team, she snapped a crisp salute to the instructor, responding with a very noticeable British accent. "Yes, sir." She entered the room indicated, giving her three teammates a curt nod. "Gentlemen." Again, their comments went in one ear and out the other. She was used to it, and certainly didn't care much about what they had to say. Nothing she hadn't heard before. Although, there was one particular gripe that irritated her.

Her gaze focused on the one that had mentioned 'carrying her'. "Confidence is a good trait to have, however, I feel you may be overdoing it." There wasn't any detectable malice in her voice, though the sarcasm was unmistakable. Ignoring whatever retort he had, she would go to sit down at a bench by herself. Unless the three soldiers decided to any intimidate her in a physical manner.
 
The three look at the ONI spook with glares. One of them even stands up and gets in Kira's face, his huge linebacker physique looked ready to pummel the much smaller woman. Both looked ready to launch the first hit....

Before the situation could esculate, both the linebacker and Kira heard two quiet 'pop' noises. Suddenly, the have stinging pains on their chest as they lost movement in their limbs, with red splatter of some paint-like substance covering their torsos. Kira would instantly realize this were TTR: Tactical training rounds. They are designed to immobilize trainees by activating the nano-fibers woven into training clothing, causing it to harden. The target then loses the ability to move the body part that is hit, simulating a bullet wound to that area. Due to being struck on the chest with no armor, both of the two struck were immobilized as they fall to the ground.

"Catch you fuckers at a bad time?" said a husky, deep, almost throaty voice with a distinctive Texan accent. The soldier from earlier stood there near the corner of the room, the darkness having hidden him from view of the others before now. He steps forward, revealing that he had undersuit halfway put on along with a M6C/SOCOM in his right hand. His chest was bare and well muscled. One could see that the scars from his face go from the hairline down under where the bodysuit is put on half-way. His left arm was gone, replaced by a fully robotic arm.

"Now I dont care who started what. You are all comrades and you should act like it." said the man

"A-Are you our squad leader?" said one of the soldiers.

"I am Captain Michael Dale Dawson. You can call me 'Captain Dallas.' Now, Private, get the baton and unrestrict these two troublemakers. If they cause trouble again, they will be automatically flunked."

The one who spoke nodded and grabbed a baton from the nearby locker. The baton was specifically designed to turn off the hardening in the nano-fibers once the tip is pressed against the immobilized person's chest.

Once the two were freed and standing, Dallas walks up as he pulls the top half of the body suit over his top. "Now, since you are all going to be under my command, I am going to need your names. Please state them, your MOS (role), and what branche you are from."

The one who was struck with the TTR is Specialist Randy Griffon, heavy specialist from the UNSC Army.
The one who got the baton is Private Leroy Jenkins, medic from Harvest.
The last one was Corporal Shen Li, sniper from the UNSC Marine Corps.

After Kira states her role and origins, Dallas would look at Randy "You were going to strike a superior, a commisioned officer no less, for nothing more than existing. Pack your shit, head to the hangar, and get the fuck out of ODST school. You are flunked."

Randy looks shocked, then pissed as he grabs his bag and heads out. He gives Kira a nasty glare before he exits.
 
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With the large man squaring up to her, Kira would simply have her hands folded behind her back, her metal right hand clenching into a fist. It wouldn't take much, just a swift strike to his genitals and he would be down for the count. Every man's greatest weakness.

What she didn't account for was a surprise TTR being shot into her chest and promptly dropping her to the ground. There was no training that could have lessened the effects, though Kira cursed herself for not even noticing the man who fired. She was better than this.

Once the baton disabled the effects of the disabling shot, Kira promptly got to her feet, dusting herself off and saluting Dallas. "Sir." After being prompted, Kira answered "Lieutenant Kira Watson, Assault and Intelligence Specialist. ONI, Section One." While speaking, she stood at attention directly facing Dallas.

When Randy was suddenly ejected from the ODST program, Kira couldn't deny there was some satisfaction bearing witness to this, though her impassive expression did well to hide this. She would merely follow the man with her emerald gaze as he exited.

Once Randy was gone, she turned back to Dallas and said "Apologies, sir. I did not intend for my mere presence to give you trouble." Indeed, this was never her intent, but seemed to always happen regardless.
 
Dallas ignored her as he continued "Now that the flunkee is gone. Let me properly introduce myself. I am Captain Dallas of the 101st ODST Division, 1st Shock Battalion, Charlie Company aka the Roughnecks. I only have three rules: 1. Everybody fights, no one quits. 2. Leave no man behind. 3. When we meet the enemy, we will give them a belly full of lead. If we cannot do that, we will rip their spines from their bodies, and beat 'em to death, laughin'! DO YOU GET ME?"

Both the other two yelling "WE GET YOU, SIR!" with Kira having optional on what to say.

Dallas smirks at the two, and possibly Kira if she joins in, before saying "Welcome to the Roughnecks. Get your gear and meet me in the briefing room, ASAP."

Dallas then turns away and retreats back to the corner where his gear was. He quickly puts it on, much faster than the trainees do, and heads out the door to the situation room.
 
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Dallas' introductory speech was certainly... invigorating for lack of a better word. Kira couldn't help but feel dumbstruck at the man's bombastic attitude, even though this seems to be a common trait among the infantry. "Um... yes, sir?" Her response was uncertain, yet still acknowledged that she understood what he said.

Once her gear was on, being the second one after Dallas to get ready, Lt. Watson went through the same door he did, entering the situation room. She checked each of her weapons, ensuring they were combat ready.
 
The trainees were issued their standard and personalized ODST body armor. The only difference would be that the undersuit was woven with the nano-fibers from earlier. Their ammo would be slightly lighter than normal, causing one to have to compensate their aim for long distances.

Private Jenkins wore completely standard ODST body armor that was dark grey with white stripes.
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Corporal Li wore the Sharpshooter variation of the ODST. It was dark grey with blue stripes.
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Once everyone was geared up, they entered the ready room. The ready room was a large room with crates of equipment, a holographic map table, and a small quartermaster's section. By the time the others entered the ready room, Dallas was already stacked, packed, and ready to rock. He carried a M7S submachine gun and a M6C/SOCOM silenced pistol as a sidearm. He stood there with his machine gun magnetically hooked on his rutsack, waiting for them to enter. He motioned towards the quartermaster. Private Jenkins picked a M7S submachine gun and M6C/SOCOM pistol for his weapons, same as Dallas. HE also grabbed some extra medical supplies. Corproal Li grabbed a large SRS99-AM sniper rifle and a M6C/SOCOM for his backup.

Once everyone had their gear, Dallas clicked on the holographic map table. The table showed a large island that was covered with forest. Towards the center, a huge mountain towered over the rest of said island. There were three drop pod icons along the west side of the map and a flag somewhere on the mountain.

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"Listen up. We are being dropped to point 119. The drop is rather hairy, dropping into both mountainous and heavily forested area. The other teams will be dropped to our north and south, respectively. Unlike us, they have full five-men team each. Concerning strategy, I want to hear your thoughts, so speak freely." Dallas said as he watched them. The three got a sense that he was testing them, searching for any potential tactical thinkers in the three.

Jenkins shook his head "Im not one for this kind of stuff, I say we bum rush to the flag."
Li remained characteristically silent, quietly staring at the map and listening.

Dallas looked at Kira. "Anything to suggest, ONI?" he said the last word with a slightly sarcastic and haughty tone, as if he doesnt like her much, despite what he did for her earlier. She got the sense that she was lucky he disliked Randy more than he disliked her and would look for any reason to flunk her.
 
Kira surely stood out from her teammates. While they had the standard or a variant of the dark grey armor, she was clad in her custom ONI Recon armor, which had more a blue tint to it. Her weapons, her M6C SOCOM and her M45 Tactical Shotgun, were fitted with TTR rounds and holstered at her hip and on her back, respectively. Also at her hip was the heavily scratched hilt of a Covenant Elite's Energy Sword, though it lacked any power to be activated. On the back of her helmet was an etching, the name 'Harvest', and just above her visor on the right side was her call-sign 'Mist'.
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She was silent as the others entered, and stayed so while Dallas briefed the lot of them on the exercise. As he spoke, she would study the map carefully, taking in each of the points of interest shown and memorizing their locations. The mountainous area would be both an advantage and a detriment. When prompted, she would speak up, biting back any snarky remarks in response to Dallas' obvious contempt for her.

"Since you asked, sir, I believe we would be more efficient if we were to split into two groups. The corporal and another teammate should find high ground, so that the other team has sniper support should we be attacked by another team. The North team will have a height advantage at the start, so I'd recommend we keep a low profile until we've got a fix on their location." She looked over the map some more, her expression never changing from its default neutral state. "The northern area looks comparatively easier to traverse, so perhaps that should be our path towards the flag." She eyed the abandoned base, thought for a moment, then elected to not say anything about it. She folded her hands behind her back and nodded curtly to the Captain. "That's all, sir."
 
Dallas nods along to Kira's assessment. "I see your logic, ONI, and I agree. Li and Jenkins will be Team Bravo while we will be Team Alpha. Now that we have solid framework of a plan, I suggest we make for this abandoned base." he then uses the controls to zoom in. It was clearly heavily fortified. "Looks like this place would be the logical place for the flag to be located. In addition, there is a cliff on the other side which would be perfect for Bravo. to provide overwatch."

Dallas then looks around. "Any objections? No? Then lets get ready to rock." He then puts on his helmet. One could clearly see his face through the tough, glass-like faceplate of the helmet. Strting from the top, the faceplate then polarizes, obscuring his face with a dark blue tint. Kira could clearly see his armor is heavily, HEAVILY, scarred with what looks like plasma burns. The helmet seems to have the worse of it. She could also see that the markings where consistant with a standard plasma grenade rather than plasma fire. This could give her insight to how he lost his arm as well as his horrendous scars. Dallas reaches down and grabs a small pack next to him before motioning the team to follow him.

Dallas then leads the team to the drop room. Inside there were five drop pods. Dallas walks up to the two on the right. "ONI, you are next to me. Li and Jenkins, you are on the other two. Leave the one on the far left alone."

Dallas places his SMG into the rifle holder and then enters his drop pod. The inside was cramped, claustrapobically so. Once he is sitting inside, he runs the systems checks. His own pod had an extra panel inside to display the status of his team's pods.
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After everyone is inside, the pods hardlock and begin pressurizing the inside. On a panel in the pod, Dallas's face appears. "This is Captain Dallas. Setting status to standby for drop."

On another panel, the Colonel's face appears. "Standby confirmed. All teams set for drop. Launch when ready Captain."

"Roughnecks, prepare for drop." said Dallas as a yellow light inside the pods turns on. A few seconds later, everyone hears a guitar solo start begining. If she bothers to check, Kira could see the "ancient" music was coming from Dallas's pod. It was quiet enough not to make it hard to hear an potential orders. The song continues to play for the next minute and fifty seconds, with a man singing something about railroad tracks and thunder. The music begins to pick up as the light in the pod turns green at the same time the singer says "You've been!"

A loud boom is heard, all the pods shake before shooting downwards as the singer yells "THUNDERSTRUCK!"

Next thing they know, they are in freefall above the planet, dropping right down as the song roars in the background.

 
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I have a name, jackass. Once again, Kira kept her snappy comments to herself.

Kira's history as a guerrilla fighter before her ONI days would certainly come in handy for when the fighting actually began, as it seems her tactical thinking was at least good enough for this hardened veteran soldier to agree. She nodded as Dallas assigned the teams, then would shake her head when he asked for objections. "No, sir." As formal as usual. Often times she got utterly tired of maintaining such an uptight demeanor. But the less she gave ONI's section zero as ammo against her, the better.

She was glad her helmet was on. Walking up to the drop pods, Kira felt the color drain from her face. She had gone through the simulations enough times, but to be physically stepping into these metal coffins was nerve-wracking. Her hesitation was ever so slight. Noticeable if Dallas were paying attention. Then she stepped forward, and climbed into the drop pod that she was assigned to. When it sealed tightly shut, her heartbeat got even faster. All she could hear was her own haggard breathing for a few minutes until Dallas' voice was heard over the comms. She stiffened up immediately, mentally preparing for the drop. Then a song started playing. A guitar with some strange fan-like sound accompanying it, then chanting of "THUNDER". Then a strange voice singing lyrics that she could barely make out. What in the hell is he playing? Her fear and anxiousness was replaced with confusion, though strangely she'd find her foot tapping to the beat. She barely heard the latches holding the pod release, only for her to snap back to reality with the sudden jolt of them dropping synchronizing with the song's first "THUNDERSTRUCK"

"Fuck!" Thankfully, her comms were not on at that time, so her team wouldn't hear that surprised outburst. That fear she felt earlier was returning, but would quickly be dispelled as the beauty of Reach with the space as a backdrop came into view. The simulations could never have prepared her fully for this. It was almost felt mystical, being dropped into orbit like this. And again she got snapped back to reality as they entered atmosphere.
 
This is what I live for. Thought the tough-as-balls Dallas during the drop. Same as Kira, he was mesmerized by the sight of the the beautiful planet Reach. The sun was just coming up over the horizon, the atmosphere giving an otherwordly glow. For the first few moments, there was no rumbling, no sound other than the song. Dallas greatly enjoys this moment of clarity and silence, it gives him great comfort from the hell that is war.

However, he had a job to do as the team leader. Snapping back to reality, he grabs the two joysticks. Dallas then engages his thrusters to shoot downward faster. He purposefully does this, as ODST leaders always drop first. Every drop, he hears the same words in his head. One of the greatest leaders in human history, Hal Moore, once said " But this I swear before you and before Almighty God: that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together."

Dallas lowers the volume of the song before ordering his squad "Form up on me." Once the others are spaced out in standard "V" formation, with Dallas at the bottom of the V. He then uses his joysticks to control his direction, expecting his squad to follow suit. Over the radio, the faint sount of Jenkins whimpering in fear could be heard. With this being his first real drop, Dallas chose not to scold the boy. Instead, he stayed focused and lead by example by remaining calm and projecting an aura of confidence.

A few minutes later, they rapidly approached the point to slow their descent. Their pods were rumbling, shaking, and it takes constant moving of the thrusters to remain steady. Below them, they could see the island rapidly approaching. From their windows, they could see the hot trails of five other pods in teh distance, which was the north team. Dallas clicked his mic "Troopers. Prepare for brakes."

Sure enough, the pod occupants hear, and feel, a THOOM as the automated braking chute system opens. An object detaches from the top of the pods before opening up into four petal-like flaps. Each flap had several thrusters, which opened up and activated. A long cable was attached to the flaps and the pod. Once the thrusters activate, the pod would jolt before slowing down. Due to inertia, the occupants would be slammed uncomforatably downward into their seats. The pods began to slow, though the ground was still rapidly approaching. The pods would go through several hundred branches as they cut down through some trees. A few seconds later, the pods would hit the ground right as the song, Thunderstruck, ends. Total drop time: three minutes.

THUD
Dallas was jolted violently as his pod hits the ground first. He gets thrown forward as his pod lands slightly off mark, leaning forward slightly and causing Dallas to hit his head on the window frame. OW. he thinks. That always happens. No matter how great the drop, no matter how perfect the brake, I always hit the ground like a sack of shit and hit my head.

Immediately, he hits the button and the hatch bursts open, with the pieces of the door shooting off and landing a few feet away from the pod. With one swift movement, Dallas grabs his SMG, leaps from the pod, and scans his vector. Activating his Visual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance, abbreviated as VISR, his view lights up. It immediately highlights, within a short distance, any wildlife with a yellow outlign, friendlies with green outlign, and potential non-stealthed enemies with a red outlign. He points his gun, uses it and the VISR to scan for enemies.

Private Jenkins bursts out of his pod going "HOLY SHIT!" loudly over the mic. Thankfully, his helmet was locked, external soud muted, and gave off no noise except over the radio.
Corporal Li jumps out and scans with Dallas, being characteristically quiet. However, one could easily see the drop unsettled him, as he was still shaking slightly in fear.
 
The rumbling around the pod indicated they entered Reach's atmosphere. Wind rushed past the metal box, with the ground rising up rather quickly below. As Dallas announced the brakes, Mist was certainly able to feel her pod's chute open. She jerked down and forward as the air caught into it. Then she heard a horrible grating metal noise, then felt her head slam to the side. Luckily, her helmet softened the impact, though it still hurt. She looked down to her display to see what happened. And now her fear was back in full effect. One of the flaps in her chute had broken clean off. She felt a slight jolt, and saw that she was not able to stay in formation with the squad.

Okay, Kira. Don't panic. This is no time to panic, even though you might very well die. Stay calm. Don't panic. Her heart was going as fast as it had ever gone before, and she was practically hyperventilating. She was in a metal box careening to the ground, with no way to properly control her descent. She activated her comms, and her voice was surprisingly as well-mannered as usual.

"Sir, it appears that my chute has malfunctioned. Efforts to stay in formation are.. exceedingly difficult, to say the least."

Then Dallas responded, and not in a way she expected. "Tough luck. Not much I can do about it. Hope you live."

In truth, she wasn't sure what to expect. Perhaps some reassurance that she would be fine. Certainly more than what he gave. Sighing to herself, she answered back "You inspire great confidence. Sir."

And in true Dallas fashion, he seemed to be amusing himself, as his final quip was "I aim to please." This was followed by Jenkins laughing over the comms. Lovely. Then Dallas added in some actual helpful advice. "Now, since you are tilted slightly, engage the thrusters on the side of your pod. This will veer you off course, but will help you slow down to more managable levels."

Mist followed his advice. This ended up causing her to go slightly off course as he said it would, but her display did show her descent was slowing to a safer speed. However, this would cause her to end up landing in the side of a cliff. About 10 meters above ground. The landing itself was rather painful. She slammed into the side of the pod, and Kira knew that she was going to be really feeling those bruises later. Accessing the comms again, she'd dizzily call to her teammates "Ugh.. I've managed to land... relatively safely, Captain." She popped open the door to the pod, causing it to drop down and embed itself into the grass below. Great.

With great effort, the ONI operative managed to climb out of her pod and down the cliffside, nearly stumbling upon landing due to her legs still feeling like jelly from the drop.
 
During the drop, Dallas had been concerned about the flashing red light coming from Kira's pod status. His fears were confirmed when she calmy stated her chute had malfunctioned. He used hsi sarcasm and sass in order to distract her from the rapidly increasing speed of her pod. After the sass worked its charm to distract her, he helped her correct the issue. Thankfully, his idea worked and the pod slowly caught to manageable levels. However.... it went more off course than he expected....

Dallas motioned for the two trainees to follow him as he moved at a slight jog to the nearby cliff. Under his helmet, he smirked he saw her already getting out of the pod. Even a number of long-term ODSTs would be shaken up by that hairy drop, but Kira managed to put her fear aside and keep moving. The woman has balls, I'll give her that. He and the others then faced away from the cliff, using their VISR and their weapons to scan the treeline as they made sure the woman was covered as she makes her way down.

Once Kira made it down, Dallas quipped "Glad you made it, Lt. Watson. Though I hope you don't slam into faces like that during your R&R time." with a straight face and deadpan tone.
 
In response to Dallas' terrible pun and comment, Mist couldn't even think of a snarky response, and could only sigh exasperatedly. Her head leaned forward slightly, her left hand raising up to rest just above the visor. "How terribly clever of you, sir..." She unholstered her pistol, and calibrated her helmet's targeting system to synchronize with the pistol's sights. Once this was done, which took no more than a few seconds, her tone was still rather tired, as though the drop she just experienced alone had drained her. "Ready to move out, Captain."

As they started to walk, Kira would have a slight limp that slowly sorted itself out, as though she was literally walking off the pain she was feeling from her hard drop.
 
Dallas smirked slightly under his helmet in response to Kira. Dallas: 1 ONI: 0. He thought as his faceplate polarizes once more.

Dallas motioned with his hand for his troopers to move out. They walked at a brisk pace, but cautiously. Besides the two other ODST trainee teams, the island was home to possible hostile alien wildlife, so the group kept on their toes. They worked their way east, finding small paths that made their way up the side of the mountain. The process took several hours, for the slope was rather steep.

About three hours into their trekking, Dallas waved for everyone to stop and take a break. Dallas took off his rutsack, pulling out some Meals Ready to Eat and hands them to the others.
"Eat up. After this point there is no telling how long we will go without nurishment." Dallas said as he pulls out a small device made for heating up meals. Everyone opens their MREs and heats them up, eating in relative silence. Jenkins gaged his MRE down, having received the worst one: a veggie burger with BBQ sauce.

After everyone ate to their fill, Dallas had everyone clean up the site to mask that they were there. After doing so, the team returned to trekking up the mountain. It was even slower than before, with the slopes getting even thicker. After another hour of trekking, they came to a fork in the path. Everyone reconized it as the fork which the left path leads to the abandoned base while the right path leads to the cliff overlooking it.

Dallas pointed to the right. "Li, Jenkins. You two are to go up the right path." If one was to look up the path, they would see its faaaaaaaaaar steeper than the one to the left. More of a climb than a pathway.

"Frak me. Can I go with you guys instead?" asked Jenkins as he looks up the path. He looks hesitant, as if he was not looking forward to the climb. However, Li slaps the back of his helmet, causing the Private to mutter under his breath as he fixes his helmet. Li then wordlessly motions the kid to follow him and begins his way up the slope.

After waiting for hte other team to be on their way, Dallas looks at Kira. "Don't want to join them? I thought you liked cliffs?"

After hearing her response, he chuckled before ordering "Move out." before leading the way at a light jogging pace. Though the other team had a steeper climb, the duo entering the base had a longer route that circles around the cliff. It would take them 30 minutes before the base comes into view.
 
The trek through the mountains was long, arduous, and uneventful. They made one stop to eat, for which Kira was thankful that her MRE was far more tolerable than what Jenkins had gotten. Hiking trips like this were nothing new to her, more often than not her ONI assignments brought her to locations near impossible to navigate, far worse than this. Even still, she didn't envy the climb that Li and Jenkins would need to make to get to their spot.

"With all due respect, sir, I think I'll pass on that." She shook her head slightly, getting tired rather quickly of Dallas' remarks. It would only be a matter of time before she would be unable to bite back her tongue and start returning some of that sass. After all, even she had her limits. On his command, she moved out, keeping just behind him and watching their six. As they approached the base just coming into view, something didn't feel right to her. "I'd have thought we would have encountered at least one of the other teams by now. I'd recommend caution, Captain."
 
"I agree, Watson. Keep on the looko-" Dallas started to say before he noticed movement to his left. Immediately, he shoves Kira behind a nearby rock as the loud rapid fire of a MA37 Assault Rifle and what sounds like a silenced pistol were heard. Dallas dove to the right, ducking behind another rock. They were both behind two different rocks as the fire from further down the path, on left side.

"SHIT!" he yells as he dives. After getting behind cover, he hits his mic "Looks like two of them behind a rock further down the path. I'll lay down cover fire, you move up and see if you can hit any of them."

Once she says she understands, he counts down "3....2.....1.....GO!" As he says go, Dallas leaned out of cover and starts firing his SMG at full auto to suppress them. Kira would know she has almost three seconds before the SMG runs out of ammo before a reload is needed. She would see a man crouching behind a rock, covering his head as the hail of bullets came from Dallas. There was a piece of rockcloser to the man that flanks. If she sprints, she could make it and flank him before Dallas has to reload.
 
Before she could even say "Called it!", Mist found herself being pushed behind cover before the incoming hail of fire hit her. Rolling into a kneeling position behind her rock, she put away her pistol and drew her shotgun. She gave Dallas an acknowledgement and readied herself for a full speed sprint to cover further up. In stark contrast to the drop earlier, Kira found herself rather calm in this instance. Almost coldly so.

On Dallas' mark, Mist dashed from her cover to the rock further up. Once the enemy soldier was in sight, she took aim and fired her shotgun right at center mass. Right after, she would duck back down behind cover to avoid retaliatory fire from his teammates. Utilizing her helmet's communication system, she'd speak to her team. "One down."
 
Dallas leans out and empties his entire magazine into the enemy's cover, forcing them to hide behind it. In the corner of his view, he saw Kira take off at a dead sprint and get behind cover before blasting one of the men at near point blank. The man flew backwards from the force as his nano-fiber under armor hardens. She could hear him yelling and cussing at himself going down. She knew that the radio is instantly disabled by any 'lethal' hit, so she didnt have to worry about him radioing their positions.

However, Kira would then find herself on the other end of automatic fire from teh other man's MA37 rifle, who came around from the opposite side of the rock as soon as Kira ducked. He only gets about a dozen rounds off before a quiet pop is heard and his right hand ishit by a TTR round. The man drops the rifle before attemping to use his leftarm to pull out his pistol when his left shoulder is hit by a second pistol. The man is then hit in the knee, making his leg shoot back and causing him to faceplant.

The man rolls over, groaning in pain as Dallas walks up. "Oh hey Captain Derrickson! Seems I have beaten you yet again!" Kira would know the man was the leader of the North team, and seems he is Dallas's rival.

The man starts cussing out Dallas, saying something along the lines that his other three team members will beat Dallas. Dallas smirks under his helmet before saying "Maybe, but you won't be awake to see it!." He points his pistol at the man... "Bam said the lady!" before firing a pistol shot at point blank range to the man's helmet. The force of the impact knocked the man out cold, a concussion is possible and very likely.

Dallas quickly reloaded his pistol before putting it in a holster. He then pulls the SMG off his back and reloads it as well. "Looks like they are expecting company at the base, Watson. Shall we deliver them a dinner of lead?" he says as he cocks the SMG.
 
Keeping behind her protective rocky barrier, Mist waited out the counter fire that she received from the other member of North Team. Once it stopped, and she heard the thump of the rifle hitting the ground, she snapped upright and fired off a shotgun round right into his chest. Between that and Dallas' efforts to take him down, the man was most certainly down and wasn't getting back up.

Keeping wary of other soldiers that may be in the area, Kira scanned around the area while Dallas smugly rubbed in Derrickson's defeat in his face. Though her helmet hid her face, she raised an eyebrow as her Captain shot yet another TTR round into the other Captain's head, promptly knocking him out. She dryly commented "Somehow, sir, I think he's quite defeated. Just a guess. Perhaps it would be wise to conserve ammunition."

She'd reposition herself by Dallas' side. "Lead on, Captain." She reloaded her shotgun, just two TTR shells. Once they got to the base's entrance, she'd take the other side of the door, opposite to the one that Dallas took. She nodded to him that she was ready to go on his mark.
 
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