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Shadow Ops, Chapter 1: The Mission
Date: 15 June 2003, 4:23 AM

Shadow Ops, Chapter 1: The Mission

      The lush jungle canopy shrouded everything inside it with darkness. Visibility was naturally poor, and many who traveled within this part of the jungle area got lost. However, the squad of six humans running swiftly through the vegetation did not have this problem, since they came prepared with various forms of vision and already had knowledge about the surrounding landscape. The enemy they ran from did not.


      Lieutenant Alan Pearson raised his arm into the air and made a fist. Immediately, the five other members of his squad halted behind him, turned and raised their weapons, scanning the lush vegetation behind them. Pearson, like most of his fellow teammates held a MA7B Battle rifle, with two separate back up weapons; the MA5B Assault rifle and M6D pistol. He had around ten extra magazines for each weapon, stored in the huge pack strapped to his back. Six fragmentation grenades, two smoke grenades, various weapon silencers and his helmet, with vision goggles attached. He and his men had come prepared for war.

      Pearson and his squad were part of ONI's new section of office. Section Thirteen; Shadow Ops. More powerful and smarter than Black Ops, they went under exact same training as the Spartans, however, did not receive the augmentation that they got. They took in the odd calcium and muscle fiber pill here and there, improving their bulk and mind, but it wasn't needed. They all came into the section, intelligent and powerful.

      Their call sign was simply; Shadow Ops 1. Some would shorten it down to SO1; some would just say it the way it was. It didn't matter to Pearson. He knew who they were; the only squad to have actually passed Section Thirteen's boot camp and squad recruitment. They were quite capable of anything. The squad itself had six members, which meant two teams of three, in case of any sort of "messy" situations. Pearson commanded Red team. Before issuing his command, he did another mental review of his men.

      Master Sergeant Jonathan Henderson, Pearson's second in command. He took charge of Blue team. If anything happened to the Lieutenant, he would take over. He was probably the tallest and smartest in the team. He was generally assault and used the MA5B Assault rifle as his primary weapon. The MA7B Battle rifle and M6D pistol were his backups. Like Pearson, he had 10 extra magazines, smoke/frag grenades and helmet, which he always wore, since back in boot, whenever he strapped it to the bottom of his pack, it would always fall off. If there was one person Pearson could trust, it was Jonathan. His codename; Dusk

      First Sergeant Paul Howe, another assault man. He and Henderson were good friends and shared the same interest when it came to battle. He was Henderson's second in command of Blue team. If anything happened to Henderson, he would take charge of Blue team. He had all the same weapons as Pearson and Henderson and used them exactly like Henderson. His codename; Specter

      Second in charge of Red team was Corporal Fredrick Owens. He was like Pearson, a mixture of assault and marksmen. He was also their field medic. He used the MA7B Battle rifle and would often switch back and forth with that and his M6D pistol. When stuck in close combat, he used the MA5B assault rifle. He was very reliable, and always seemed to cover Pearson's six. The Lieutenant always thought of him as a good friend. The Corporal had originally thought of being a doctor, but decided to help the war effort and became a medic for the Shadow Ops. His codename; Spirit

      The last member of Red team was PFC Daniel Clarkson. Daniel had a taste for heavy weapons. He always had double SMGs, which meant that he had limited grenades. He only had one backup weapon, which was the MA5B assault rifle. Pearson would often always use him to cover their backs as they retreated, since he could cut down anyone rushing at them. Daniel usually kept quiet, but would often speak up. He loved to joke around with Owens, and would usually cover his six, while trying to cover his own. Quite a difficult task, but he always seemed to manage. His codename; Wraith

      Last member of the squad and Blue team was Corporal Colin Thompson. Colin could've been a Captain or a Commander if he wanted too, but surprisingly, the young sniper man didn't like all the attention. Colin was the only member of the squad who never talked. From the moment Pearson met him, he never spoke a word. All they knew about him was that he was the best when it came to sniping. He always carried his
SRS-099V8H Oracle sniper rifle. He never used any of the scopes, since he would uplink it to the visor he wore across his helmet, which covered his eyes. His backup weapons were the MA7B Battle rifle and M6D pistol. He would often scout ahead and look for either possible hostiles or a place for them to rest. Or, he would lag behind a little and take out any followers. He would often have to stay near one of the squad, since he never spoke and someone had to radio to Pearson what he was thinking. His codename; Shade.

      Pearson shook his head quickly to clear his mind, and then focused on the task at hand. They had just been dropped into the western part of Nigeria, and had orders to figure out what had happened to Outpost Sierra. The tech's at command had lost contact with the station yesterday, and for some reason, couldn't send in any air support directly into the station. There was a huge fog around the outpost and they had already lost a Pelican loaded with Marine Regulars. So, they sent in the Shadow Ops. Fifteen minutes into the mission, and already, the Covenant were all over them. Pearson activated the scope on his battle rifle and looked through it. He cursed and activated the weapon's night vision. He couldn't see shit. The Lieutenant tapped the radio strapped to his collar.

      "Shade, what you see?" he whispered. The sniper had managed to climb a tree and used his sniper rifle to scout out the area in front of them. Pearson looked up at him and Shade put two fingers up to his eyes, pointed to the west and flashed his hand three times, indicated fifteen Covenant troops following them. Pearson nodded, and then looked around him. They were sitting in a dried out river bed, and off to his left and right, the ground sloped up into a small hill. He activated his radio again.

      "Dusk, take your team onto the left slope and wait for the assholes to walk through" he said. Henderson nodded, tapped Howe and motioned to the slope. Thompson climbed down the tree he was in and followed them. Pearson clicked his radio again.

      "Red team, on me" he said. Owens and Clarkson followed Pearson up the right slope. Pearson motioned around him, ordering them to spread out along the slope. As they got into position, Pearson clicked his radio again.

      "When the Covenant comes through this river, take them down. Crossfire from both sides of the river should cut them down. Wait for my signal" he said. No one answered, but he knew they got the point. Pearson took out his MA5B assault rifle and waited. The team stopped moving and fell silent. All around them, the sound of the jungle filled their ears. Pearson cursed the dozens of animals in the vegetation and did his best to tune them out. However, he didn't need too.

      The Covenant Grunts were stupid, and always made lots of noises while on the pursuit of something. The team heard their giggles of victory first, followed by the sloshing off mud and one Grunt yelping as it tripped. There were ten Grunts and five Jackals. That was the second thing that the team noticed. The Jackal's energy shield did to things. They glowed a bright blue or yellow color, and they hummed a lot. If the Grunts had been quiet, it wouldn't have made a difference. Pearson grinned, and clicked the safety off of his rifle, then lowered it. Quickly, he screwed a silencer onto the end and ordered his team to do the same. The Lieutenant then waited, and watched the Covenant approach. He locked the nozzle of the gun onto the lead Jackal. He fired.

      A silenced three round burst struck the Jackal in the head. Immediately following that, Colin pegged two Grunts with his battle rifle, Daniel killed a Jackal. On the other side of the river, Henderson and his team each took out two Grunts. Pearson quickly switched targets and shot another Jackal dead. The remaining Covenant whirled their weapons around, screaming at each other, and trying to find them, but it was too late. The last Grunt took a bullet in the head by Colin. Following that, the Shadow Ops all stood, policed their weapons and tossed their bodies into the foliage. Without a single word, Pearson motioned his hand to the east, and they moved on to the Outpost.

      After nearly two hours of running, Pearson ordered them to stop. They were positioned in a tall grassy field, so they didn't have to hunker down or anything to avoid being spotted by Covenant patrols. Pearson sat on a rock and took out his canteen. He gulped down some water, and then drenched his head with it. Screwing the cap on, he looked at his men.

      "Listen up. There's a Marine Outpost and few kilometers away due east of our position. The people at the UNSC lost contact with them yesterday. They sent in a Pelican load of Marines, the Pelican got lost in a huge fog that surrounds the outpost and we assume it crashed. Our orders are too find the Pelican, see if anyone is alive, then go and secure the Outpost. Something's up here and we need to find out what" he said. Pearson's men never find out what their mission was from the Admirals who give it to them, so they rely on their Lieutenant to do so. Not one of them spoke and merely looked at him. Pearson continued.

      "It's obvious the Covenant is here, but what they are doing, we don't know, which is why we are here. Once we find those marines, we give them the coordinates to LZ Omega; tell them to head that way. We then press on. Once we arrive at the Outpost, we secure it, find out what the hell is going on, and take out any hostiles that could be in the area. There are no Rules of Engagement here people, so you see a Covie, you take it out. Understand?" he said.

      "Yes sir" they all said. Pearson nodded, and stood up.

      "All right, we got at least four kilometers of running to do, so let's get moving. That Pelican was last reported grid nineteen by twenty four. We go there first. Shade, you got point, the rest of you, fall in" he said. They all stood, and Colin took out his battle rifle, and began jogging in the general direction of their lost Pelican. They usually ran in a sloppy "Flying-V" with Shade in the middle, Howe and Clarkson off to the left, Pearson, Henderson and Owens off to the right. Pearson raised his battle rifle and grinned. He clicked his radio on.

      "Let's take it to them Shadow Ops"

TO BE CONTINUED

By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops, Chapter 2: The Marines
Date: 16 June 2003, 3:55 AM

Shadow Ops, Chapter 2: The Marines

~*Author's note*~
      Just so no one gets confused, here is the Shadow Ops 1 squad...

Lieutenant Alan "Shadow" Pearson, Squad leader (assault, Red team)
Master Sergeant Jonathan "Dusk" Henderson, second in command (assault, Blue team)
First Sergeant Paul "Specter" Howe (assault, Blue team)
Corporal Colin "Shade" Thompson (sniper, Blue team)
Corporal Fredrick "Spirit" Owens (assault/medic, Red team)
Private First Class Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson (support/radio, Red team)

      This will be the last chapter for awhile folks. Exams are starting and I gotta get studying. I will continue writing when they are done though. Hopefully you like these two chapters. Later. ~*End note*~

      The Shadow Ops squad had been running for about two or three hours since they took out the Covenant patrol pursuing them and the Lieutenant told his team about their mission. They ran all throughout the morning and most of the afternoon. It was near the edge of the fog that surrounded Outpost Sierra, where Pearson decided to call for a rest. Not only for himself, but he knew his squad was tired, and unlike other squad leaders, he didn't like pushing his men that much, since he knew that they would be needed later on.

      They hunkered down inside a cluster of trees, which provided them with excellent terrain cover, and allowed them to set up an easy, strong defensive perimeter. Pearson only wanted them to rest their legs. They were in hostile territory still and Covenant patrols were all over the place. His team needed to be aware of their surroundings. Like always, Colin did his best to post himself in a tree, to provide them cover from a distance.

      Pearson glanced at his mission watch. He grinned. They were way ahead of schedule and could definitely take a long break. The Lieutenant looked up at his sniper.

      "Anything Shade?" he asked. Colin looked down at him and shook his head. He frightened the Lieutenant sometimes. Mainly because the black visor strapped on his helmet, hide his eyes and he couldn't make out his expression. Still, the way Colin expressed himself was his decision, and Pearson didn't care. He nodded back at the sniper and looked at his team.

      "We are way ahead of schedule guys, so break out some rations, lets have a small lunch" he said. The others grinned and took a moment to relax. Daniel put his two submachine guns on the ground, and took off his pack.

      "Jesus, running with 50 pounds of equipment on your back ain't easy" he said, shaking his head. Beside him, Fred Owens grinned and took off his pack as well.

      "Yeah, you all right Wraith?" he asked. The heavy weapons soldier grinned.

      "Yeah man, I'm fine, just a small back cramp" he said. Master Sergeant Henderson walked back to them, a cup of river water in his hands.

      "Walk if off son, we won't be here for that long" he said, taking a sip of the water. Pearson took off his pack and opened it. He reached in, felt around all the clips of ammo and found his nutrient bars. He took out two, unwrapped one and took a bite of it. Sergeant Howe had just finished his own lunch. He picked up another candy bar and walked over to the tree in the middle.

      "Shade, catch!" he called up. The Sergeant threw the candy snack up into the air, and their sniper caught it, nodded in thanks to Paul and ate it, still scanning around. Owens stole one of Daniel's candy bars. As Daniel reached beside him to grab one, he realized it was gone. Owens grinned at him, and held it up in front of him. Clarkson stood.

      "You fucker, give it here" he said, grinning as he reached for it. Fred shook his head and waved a finger at him.

      "Ah ahh, chain of commander private. Show some respect to your superiors" he joked. Clarkson shook his head.

      "To hell with the chain, give it" he jumped forward, missed and almost went crashing into a nearby tree. He stood and was about to charge again when a huge explosion in the distance made them all drop to the ground. Pearson literally flew off the rock he sat on and had his pistol in his hands, scanning the vegetation around them. Daniel was retrieving one of his weapons.

      "What the fuck was that?" he asked them. The Lieutenant looked up at Thompson, who was looking around with his sniper rifle. Suddenly, they heard another huge blast. Their sniper looked down, pointed west of their position, and then punched his fist out in the same direction. He held up three fingers with his left hand, and flashed his right hand two times. Pearson nodded. He looked to the rest of his squad.

      "Okay, due west of our position, three Covenant, using portable fuel rod canons, with ten infantry covering them. Pack up, we're moving" he said quickly. They moved fast, ditching their wrappers and putting everything back into their huge packs. Pearson took out his MA7B Battle rifle, clicked the safety off, and motioned his team to move. Colin jumped down and led the way, his battle rifle up and ready. They moved into the lush jungle in a spread out line, to cover more distance as they moved. Colin eventually raised his fist, and then motioned right in front of him. Pearson took this chance to check out the area in front of them.

      The Pelican which had been lost in the fog lay at the bottom of a small canyon. It was propped up slightly against the one side of the canyon wall. Near the entrance/exit to the troop bay, crates of equipment lay scattered all over the place, and six marines could be seen, firing random shots up at the top of the canyon walls. Pearson glanced over to his left, and could make out the Covenant team positioned in the bushes, facing the Pelican. Three Grunts, holding the fuel rod canons fired, and a marine was blown apart, as he ran back to the Pelican from his position. Pearson winced slightly, and then motioned his squad forward. They converged around him. He pointed to the Covenant team, and slit his finger across his throat. His team nodded, and then moved into a better firing position. They approached the edge of the canyon wall, and Pearson fired first.

      His battle rifle let out individual bullets at the Covenant. A Grunt, holding one of the fuel rod canons fell backwards, its head in pieces. Out of the bushes behind them, two Jackals, seven Grunts and a Blue armored Elite appeared and looked for the direction of fire. The Shadow Ops didn't stop to watch them and kept firing. One of the Jackals had exposed its bare back to them, and Master Sergeant Henderson took him out. Shade quickly shot at the Elite, forcing it to fall back into the bushes. Daniel's SMGs cut down the Grunts to nothing. Howe and Pearson finished off the fuel rod canon Grunts, then Owens threw a fragmentation grenade. They heard the hidden Elite and the last Jackal let out a yelp, and then the grenade detonated. Body limbs and purple blood blew into the air. They moved forward, policing their dead enemy's weapons and hiding their bodies. Pearson then looked down into the canyon, to look at the five marines that walked into the open looking up at them.

      "Specter set up a perimeter. Dusk, Spirit, with me" he said. The other three members of the squad fanned out around the canyon edge. Pearson, Henderson and Owens jogged down the canyon wall and approached the marines. There were only five left now, and each of them looked nervously at them. Pearson ignored this.

      "Who's in charge here?" he asked. Not a single marine moved a part of their body and just stared at him. Pearson finally understood why. This was the first time he and his team had come into contact with human individuals who didn't know about Shadow Ops. He assumed they knew about the program, just never met a member of the team. He nodded at this.

      "We aren't the Spartans, we are members of a different faction. Who is in charge here?" he asked them. The marines slowly nodded, but not one of them spoke. Finally, Pearson understood. It was their appearance.

      Most marines are used to seeing the regular dull brown armor and green eye reticule helmet. However, the members of Shadow Ops had totally different armor. The way the armor set up around their body was the same; however, the armor itself was much stronger. Pearson didn't know the exact specifics, but he was told that it was powerful as a single layer of titanium-A battle armor that usually covered a UNSC space vessel. Pearson's first instinct was that it would be heavier than all of them, but when he tried it on, he found out it wasn't, which confused him. He could never figure out why and not even their trainer, Master Sergeant Kyle Jones could tell them.

      Normally, their armor was black, but for this particular mission, it was jungle camouflage. Their helmets were slightly bigger, and the eye reticule was actually a black visor, which they could move up or down at their disposal. So far, their sniper was the only one who kept it down and wore the thing. Pearson didn't have time to explain all this though.

      "I am Lieutenant Alan Pearson of Shadow Ops 1, marines. Who is in charge here?" That seemed to break them out of their trance. The five of them saluted, and one stepped forward.

      "Private First Class Abe Strom sir!" he said. Pearson nodded at the man.

      "Where's your CO Private?" he asked. The young man looked back at his colleagues, then look at the Lieutenant.

      "Over here sir" he whispered. He led them to the troop bay and pointed to the body of a marine. Pearson never showed emotion in the field, but he winced quickly.

      A decapitated marine lay on the ground in front of them. He had been cut in half from the hip down. His legs and lower half of his hip were no where to be found, but his upper torso lay in front of them. The intestines lay sprawled around the cut, which was totally clean. Blood was still flowing out. The private looked at him.

      "He fell out of the bird when we hit the ground, and then the entire ship came down on top of him. He was actually alive at first, but when those crates fell out, they all landed on him" he said. Pearson then noticed the odd indents on the man's face and could tell that his skull had been completely crushed. He finally looked away.

      "Do you not have a Sergeant around here? Or maybe a Corporal?" he asked again. The private looked at him with honest eyes.

      "Well, we've found the Sergeant's arm and part of his leg so far. As for the Corporal, he was the last marine killed here. The Covenant came in so fast when we hit the ground. We've been stranded here for a few hours" he said. Pearson nodded. All that remained of the marine group was a couple of volunteer PFCs. He looked over at Owens.

      "See if any of them are wounded, and help them" he said. Fred nodded, and walked over to a limping marine. Pearson turned to Henderson.

      "Bring the rest of the squad down here" he said. The Master Sergeant turned and made three gestures to the canyon walls. Immediately, three Shadow Ops men materialized out of the bushes. Pearson nodded at them.

      "We got a problem here folks. There's no CO, which means these marines are nothing but volunteers. There's no way they can navigate through this jungle by themselves. I'm going to consulate with command, form a new perimeter here inside the canyon" he said to them. Shade and Specter nodded, and then disappeared into the foliage. Clarkson stepped forward, a radio phone in his hands.

      "Got Command on the line sir" he said. The Lieutenant took the phone and pressed it to his ear.

      "This is Lieutenant Pearson of Shadow Ops 1, I need to speak with General Harley" he said into the small device.

      "You got him Lieutenant, what's up?" came the hard voice of Three-star General Ted Harley. His thick Texas accent could be recognized by anyone.

      "Sir, we've made contact with the marines that got shot down in the Pelican. There's no CO Sir, all we've recovered are five volunteer privates. They don't know how to navigate in this jungle and they sure as hell don't know the possible landing zones and their locations" he said. He heard the General sigh slightly.

      "Well Alan, you got quite a problem. I know you don't agree with me, but we need those boys back here. Never leave a man behind, you know that as well as I do correct?" General Harley asked. Pearson nodded.

      "Of course sir"

      "Well, I'm sorry Lieutenant, but you got to take those boys with you. We can't send in evac, another Pelican was shot down today. Not in the fog mind you, so we know that the marines on board are all dead. Two mistakes in two days. We need those boys home. Your orders are to protect those marines. Consider them to be civilians" he said. The leader of Shadow Ops 1 closed his eyes. Those words the General said made his heart sink. However, orders were orders.

      "Yes sir, I understand" he said.

      "Good, what's your location?" he asked. Pearson grabbed his helmet, put it on, dropped the visor and consulted a map.

      "Grid...twenty-two by thirty" he said, taking off the helmet and strapping it back under his pack.

      "Well, you're right there at the edge of the fog. This will be our last little talk then. Just remember, any marines you recover, you bring along with you. Sorry it has to be this way, but we need every man and woman to fight" the General said. Pearson had enough.

      "Yes sir, I understand, I will contact you when this mission is complete" he said.

      "Roger that Lieutenant, good luck, out." Lieutenant Pearson gave the phone back to Daniel, who attached it to his radio and stuffed it back into his pack. Pearson pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked up and activated his team frequency radio.

      "Shadow Ops, on me" he said. His squad was around him in seconds. Pearson looked at them.

      "New orders. We have to take these marines with us. Command wants them back and will not allow them to die. They come with us until this mission is complete. So from now on, we move in a single file line. Marines will be in the middle, Shade and me up front, Wraith and Specter at the back. Dusk and Specter, you two will be on either side of the line, spread out evenly. Don't want any surprises coming beside us. Got it?" he explained, using his hands to better help them understand his idea. His team nodded. Pearson nodded back, then called Private Strom back. He jogged over to them.

      "Yes sir?" he said. Pearson looked at him.

      "Private, I've been given orders to bring you and your marines along with us on our mission. Are you aware of any of the landing zones in this area of the jungle and their locations?" he asked. The private shook his head.

      "No sir, me and the others just joined the UNSC Marine Corp like three days ago" he said. Pearson expected this.

      "I'm promoting you to Corporal, Strom. You are in charge of these four marines. You take orders from me though. You and your marines will follow myself and Shade in a single file line. My men will provide cover for you. I don't want to see you or your men raise your weapon or anything. You stay put unless I tell you otherwise, got it?" he said to the man. The new Corporal nodded.

      "Yes sir, I understand. May I ask a question sir?" he asked. Pearson nodded, as he fixed his stuff up.

      "What's our mission?" he asked.

      "Same as yours Corporal. Find out what the hell happened to Outpost Sierra" he said. Corporal Strom nodded. Pearson swung his pack around and strapped it to himself. He loaded a fresh magazine into his battle rifle, and then nodded at his men.

      "Form the line. Corporal Strom! Let's go" he said. The marines fell into a line behind the Lieutenant and the Shadow Ops sniper. Colin led the way with his battle rifle up at the ready. He moved quickly, which Pearson approved off, since they had to make up for lost time. He looked behind him, and was satisfied with what he saw. Nevertheless, the mission had just gotten a little more difficult. He shrugged the thought off though. Same mission parameters, just different personal. He would adapt. That was what he was trained to do...

TO BE CONTINUED

By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops, Chapter 3: Close Encounters
Date: 20 June 2003, 12:52 AM

Shadow Ops, Chapter 3: Close Encounters

~*Author's note*~

      Just so no one gets confused, here is the Shadow Ops 1 squad...

Lieutenant Alan "Shadow" Pearson, Squad leader (assault, Red team)
Master Sergeant Jonathan "Dusk" Henderson, second in command (assault, Blue team)
First Sergeant Paul "Specter" Howe (assault, Blue team)
Corporal Colin "Shade" Thompson (sniper, Blue team)
Corporal Fredrick "Spirit" Owens (assault/medic, Red team)
Private First Class Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson (support/radio, Red team)

~*End note*~

      "Shit, grenade!" A shimmering blue plasma grenade appeared out of the bushes to Lieutenant Pearson's left and landed on the back of one of Corporal Strom's marines. Before the marine even had time to think, First Sergeant Howe jumped on him, peeled the grenade off, and through it back into the bushes where it came from. There was a loud explosion, followed by four Covenant Grunts flying over them. Immediately, all hell broke lose.

      Four teams of Covenant Jackals and Grunts appeared out of the bushes where the grenade came from. They had the Shadow Ops and the marines surrounded. Pearson threw his MA7B battle rifle over his shoulder and grabbed his MA5B assault rifle. He rolled to the left, avoiding a volley of plasma, and then fired off a sustained burst at a Grunt, killing it.

      "Corporal Strom! Find cover!" he yelled, switching targets and firing at three Grunts moving towards Corporal Owens's exposed back. The Shadow Ops were temporarily split up and Pearson took command of the men near him. Private Clarkson was reloading his SMGs, while Corporal Thompson covered him. Clarkson finished, and Pearson motioned him forward.

      "Wraith, cut them down, Shade, come with me, we'll flank them" he said. Clarkson stepped out onto the path and let loose dozens of bullets on a link of Jackals protecting several Grunts. Quickly, the Lieutenant and the team sniper waddled their way through the bushes and came up behind the Covenant team. Pearson slammed his assault rifle into the back of one of the Grunts, and then opened fire on them. Thompson did the same, breaking the spine of a Jackal. Clarkson held his fire and redirected the last of his rounds to the Covenant around the other three members of Shadow Ops. Pearson watched the last four Grunts retreat into the bushes, only to be blown up by a grenade thrown by Master Sergeant Henderson. They all reloaded and scanned the area around them. The Lieutenant did a count. Everyone was alive.

      "Move out! Corporal Strom! Let's go" he yelled, ushering everyone down the path. Shade sprinted the whole way, in case Covenant reinforcements came. The Marine Regulars were able to keep up, which Pearson was happy about. However, this happiness faded quickly.

      Up ahead, Corporal Thompson had stopped. He did a double take off to his left, and then literally back rolled off the path and into a nearby ditch. A blast of super hot green plasma smashed into the area he had been standing a second ago.

      "Fuck, cover fire!" yelled Pearson, raising his assault rifle and firing random rounds into the bushes. The rest of his team formed around him, and fired as well. Shade was slowly backtracking towards them. Suddenly, a large bolt of charged up plasma struck him and he fell. Pearson swore, tapped Corporal Owens on the back, and then moved forward, yelling for more cover fire. Lieutenant Pearson and Corporal Owens rushed forward, and jumped into the ditch. Owens began to assess their sniper, while Pearson did his best to cover him.

      "Corporal Strom, find cover again. Dusk, set up a perimeter around us. Kill those sons of bitches" he ordered into his radio as he reloaded. The other three members of Shadow Ops 1 fanned out along the edge of the ditch, staying low, since the Covenant hiding in the trees were firing wild shots. It was obvious that they were all rookies. Pearson strapped his helmet on and activated the visor's X-Ray vision. Immediately, the trees and shrubs surrounding him disappeared and were replaced by a green grid. He zoomed ahead a few meters and spotted their attackers. Five Grunts, three Jackals and an Elite were hiding in a ditch similar to the one he was in now. One Grunt was propped up against the wall of the ditch, holding a fuel rod canon. The Elite was crouching beside him, the other three Grunts behind him activating plasma grenades. The Jackals were the only ones actually out of the ditch. They hide behind their shields, firing random shots at them. Pearson grinned and put his helmet away. He unpinned a fragmentation grenade and activated his radio.

      "Fire in the hole!" he yelled. Behind him, Owens covered up Colin, while the other members retreated into the bushes where the marines were hiding. Pearson threw the small explosive, and then covered both the team's medic and sniper. There was a sustained blast, followed by the screams of Covenant. Pearson was the first one up.

      "Shadow Ops, move!" he roared. He then charged into the bushes, firing shots with his pistol. He reached the Covenant position and did a quick assessment.

      The Jackal's were dead, two of the four Grunts were dead and the Elite was wounded. Henderson, Howe and Clarkson appeared behind him. Without evening thinking, they executed the survivors, and then headed back to their medic, who was finishing up with Colin. No sooner did they get back when more trouble came. This was a big problem though.

      A Covenant vehicle, they called a Ghost zoomed around the corner of the path and stopped. Immediately, twin bolts of plasma flew around them, and Pearson and his team were forced to hit the dirt. Along with the Ghost, a team of Jackals and Grunts appeared. They all fired over their heads, preventing any of the Shadow Ops from firing at them. Pearson crawled back into the ditch and was followed by everyone else. He hoped the marines were okay.

      "Corporal Strom, come in" he said into his radio.

      "Roger that Lieutenant, I'm here sir" said the young private. Pearson breathed a sigh of relief.

      "We need a distraction Corporal, and you and your marines are it. Toss a fragmentation grenade into their ranks, then fire random bursts of rounds in their general direction. We'll do the rest" he said.

      "Confirmed Lieutenant, we're on it, out" replied the marine. Pearson flipped himself over and peered over the edge of the ditch. A heartbeat later, a frag grenade landed right behind the Ghost and exploded. Pearson grinned as the vehicle's hover system and fuselage exploded, and the burning wreck flipped over once. The Elite piloting it was thrown right into the ditch the Shadow Ops were hiding in. It gave a startled roar, and then looked at them. Private Clarkson smiled at the huge field commander.

      "Hi there" he said. The Elite turned to look at him, but Colin whipped out his pistol and fired off one round, which drove right through the Elite's head. The Covenant leader fell forward, blood gushing out of a large hole near its left mandibles. Pearson grinned again.

      "Move out!" he yelled. The six Shadow Ops appeared out of the ditch to find Corporal Strom and his marines standing behind the wrecked Ghost, grinning in success. Strom saluted.

      "Lieutenant Pearson sir! All Covenant whipped out" he said. Any normal field officer would start yelling at the private for disobeying a direct order, which in this case was to stay down and not raise a weapon. However, Pearson was grateful for their help and returned the salute. They all began to form their usual formation, but the Lieutenant stopped them.

      "New plan men. The path is unsafe. The Covenant has obviously planted ground sensors throughout the area and is monitoring our approach. Time to say hello to the wilderness gentlemen. Form the line in the forest. We'll stay close to the path somewhat, so we know what direction to go" he explained to them. They all understood the logic behind the Lieutenant's plan, then walked into the wet jungle forest. Pearson nodded at their sloppy line, and then looked at their sniper.

      "You good Shade?" he asked. The sniper nodded and hefted his battle rifle. Pearson grinned.

      "Move out then" he said. Their pace started out slow, but eventually, they were jogging lightly through the thick jungle foliage. Pearson was right about the ground sensors and their new way of approach to the outpost. Along the way, they passed at least two individual ambush teams, all equipped to take out a small group of humans running along a jungle dirt path. They stayed close to the path naturally, so that they wouldn't get lost. It was when Corporal Thompson stopped and held a fist where Pearson was glad they were in the jungle and not on the path.

      The dirt path they had been following from the start led to the Outpost, but on the way, the Lieutenant remembered seeing a somewhat large valley of low grass from the Pelican dropship. He was under the impression it was once farming land, but was now turned into a strategic position for a Covenant base camp. Large equipment boxes and plasma shield barriers formed a rough circle in the middle of the valley. The odd Shade gun turrets dotted the perimeter. Pearson borrowed Thompson's sniper rifle and zoomed in onto the camp.

      There were five Shade gun turrets and each one had around three or four shield barriers placed around it. The actual operators weren't in them, which surprised the Lieutenant. Large purple equipment packages provided the camp's users with cover if under assault. What Pearson noticed next, puzzled him.

      It was obviously some sort of structure no human had ever seen before. A half cylinder lying with the round part of it up looking at the cloudy sky. On closer inspection, the Lieutenant could see some sort of sliding door that parted open in two ways. He took a stab at it and thought maybe that the cylinder structures were tents, used by the Covenant. He didn't even know if the Covenant slept. He knew Grunts, did, but those structures were pretty big and could definitely hold two or three Hunters. He shrugged off his thoughts, and then started to look for the camp's personnel. From his position, he could hear laughing and shouting and a bit of screaming coming from the camp. This made him worry and he shifted position slightly. He still couldn't see a thing. He put the rifle down and noticed the large tree beside him.

      "Dusk, Wraith, give me a hand here. I need to get up this tree" he said. The two largest members of the team slowly moved forward and gave their Lieutenant a boost up. Pearson had been taught how to climb. When he was in training, he had climbed large mountains, bigger than Everest. He found a reasonably good spot, unsung the sniper rifle and zoomed into the middle of the camp.

      "Holy fuck" he whispered. A group of around five or six marines and technicians had been gathered into the middle of the base camp. They were inside what looked like a large plasma cage. Lines of active plasma danced into the air, connected together in a circle by poles. The Covenant in the camp were around this cage, hooting and barking at the trapped humans. They were being tortured. He could see two dead technicians, one dead marine and another marine badly wounded. He then watched one of the plasma lines shoot out and zap the wounded marine. The man's chest exploded with blood, and he fell backwards without a scream. The Covenant's barking, or laughter as the Lieutenant thought, grew louder as the other humans screamed and begged for mercy. Pearson quickly put the rifle away and climbed down the tree, where he called everyone, including Corporal Strom's marines to him. He then explained his plan.

      "All right, this is going to be our home tonight. We've been running for almost three days without sleep. Normally, I and my men could go on, but I know how much the marines need rest, so this is what we are going to do. The base camp personnel consists of Grunts, Jackals, a few Elites and Brutes, so this won't be a walk in the park. Shade, post yourself in the tree that I was just in, it offers excellent coverage of the whole area. Do your best to take out the Elites and Brutes. If you see any Grunts make a run for the gun turrets, take them down. Wraith, you and the marines will be our distraction. Post yourselves grid nine by twenty and when Shade starts shooting, you start firing into the camp. Now, the rest of us will be waiting at grid twenty by ten. Wraith, when you confirm that most of the Covenant in the camp are moving in on you, we will charge into the camp and hopefully catch them off their guard. A three way assault, I don't see how this can go wrong. Questions?" Corporal Owens raised his hand.

      "What if Covenant reinforcements approach?" he asked. Pearson nodded at Shade.

      "Shade is our owl. If he sees any reinforcements, he will tell us by shooting off a flare gun into their general direction. Got it?" answered Pearson. Owes and Shade nodded. Suddenly, screaming could be heard and everyone went tense, and searched for its source. The Lieutenant stopped them.

      "In the middle of the camp, a group of marines and technicians are being tortured to death. The Covenant are gathered around them like it's a game" he growled. He could tell by his men's expressions that they were pissed. Pearson didn't wait another heartbeat.

      "Get into position, wait for my signal Shade" he said. They all saluted and dispersed. Henderson, Howe and Owens stayed with their Lieutenant. Pearson slammed a fresh clip into his assault rifle and nodded.

      "Let's do it" he said. He turned and moved to their designated spot. The Lieutenant had his helmet on and had marked their waiting spot with a NAV point. He and his team reached their spot, crouched behind the surrounding shrubbery and waited.

      "This is Wraith, we're in position, awaiting the go ahead to open fire" Clarkson reported. The Lieutenant stood and could see his sniper waving at him. Pearson nodded.

      "Shade, open fire. Wraith, wait five seconds, then open fire" he said, and then crouched back down. They steady sound of sniper shots rang out through the jungle and the Lieutenant could hear the screams of Elites and Brutes. Suddenly, large amounts of gunfire could be heard from the opposite side of the valley and the screams of the Covenant was drowned out by it. From his position, Pearson could see Covenant running around all over in a panic. At first, the Covenant didn't know where the source of fire was coming from. However, when one of Corporal Strom's marines stood and tossed a fragmentation grenade, they all homed in on Wraith and the marines. Suddenly, Dan's worried voice entered Pearson's earpiece.

      "Wraith to Shadow, Covenant distracted, move in!" he said. Pearson didn't even answer. He stood, and sprinted into the valley, moving towards the camp. He raised his battle rifle and fired off a few rounds at a group of Grunts hiding behind one of the "tents." Pearson didn't stop and kept running. He and his team reached the perimeter of the camp, and had to stop momentarily to pick off a larger group of Grunts and a few Jackals. They were taken completely by surprise and didn't fire one shot. Quickly, Pearson maneuvered his way around the structures and found his way to the middle of the camp. A single Elite and two Jackals stood near the plasma cage and we're firing into it. Pearson watched a technician get hit in the face with a plasma bolt, then fall, dead. Quietly, the Lieutenant moved in behind the Elite and took out a Kevlar battle knife he had in his suit pocket. He raised his arm back, and then cleared his throat. The veteran Elite turned, and gasped. Immediately, Pearson swung his arm forward and slammed the knife through the Elite's body shield and armor and punctured its head. Blood began flowing out of the Elite's mouth and it let out a small gurgle, before slowly falling on the Lieutenant. Pearson didn't even grab the Elite and stepped aside. The rest of his team came into the middle and shot the Jackals, turning to see what happened to their leader. Pearson whipped the blood clean and ordered Owens and Henderson to get the humans out of the cage. He motioned for Howe to follow him, and then they headed for Daniel and Corporal Strom's marines.

      They reached the edge of the camp and literally had to step over the towers of Covenant bodies that lay on the grass. Shade was picking them off easily, and Clarkson was cutting them down to nothing. Pearson fired one bullet at a wounded Jackal, and then ordered everyone to cease fire. Four Grunts, one Jackal and one Elite were all that remained of the base camp defenders. Private Clarkson and the marines stepped out of hiding and stood around them, along with Pearson and Howe. The Elite growled, and then nodded at the others. They all dropped their weapons. This surprised Pearson, since he knew that most Covenant didn't like being taken prisoner. Oh well.

      Pearson stepped forward, kicked the weapons aside, and then ordered Clarkson and the marines to usher them to the middle of the camp. They got back to the cage, where Owens and Henderson were having a tough time opening the thing. They had found out how to turn off the plasma lines, which killed the men, but there was still a solid line of plasma blocking them. They stepped aside and let the Elite unlock the cage. The plasma beams disappeared and the humans all rushed out of the middle and collapsed on the ground. Owens ran to them, and Pearson looked at the Elite.

      "You think this is funny? Do you?" he asked the Elite, who didn't move and merely glared at him.

      "Glare at me all you want, it doesn't make a difference. You can't kill me, you don't have a weapon. If you try and kill me, my men will kill you. Tell me, why have you taken over the human Outpost here and set up a defensive pattern throughout this jungle?" he asked. Naturally, the Elite didn't move, nor did his comrades. Pearson shrugged.

      "Fine, suit yourself. Wraith, put them in the cage" he said. The Covenant prisoners were pushed into the cage. Pearson bent near one of the poles and activated the torturing plasma lines. He grinned at the Elite, who seemed to be worried. The plasma lines came online and one of them immediately struck the lone Jackal, decapitating it. On of the Grunts squealed and ran into a dozen of the plasma lines. The Grunt itself melted in its armor. Pearson left them to die, and then walked over to the rescued humans. One marine stood and saluted.

      "Sergeant Ian McKinney sir, thank god you guys are here" he said. The Lieutenant nodded and returned the salute.

      "What's going on here Sergeant?" he asked. The Sergeant went into a story of a mining operation going on near Outpost Sierra. He then said that one day; they lost contact with the mining fields. They had sent marines teams to investigate, but they never came back. The next day, the Covenant came in large numbers. According to the Sergeant, the marines fought for around one hour, before they surrendered. Most of them were apparently killed, but the Sergeant said that he and his men were sparred, except for now. The Lieutenant didn't interject at all during the story and listened. He finally nodded.

      "So, what the hell are the Covenant doing here? Why did they suddenly show up and take over the outpost" he said. The Sergeant shook his head.

      "I have no idea sir" he said. Before they could continue, a blue flare was shot into the air and it landed where the Lieutenant's hiding spot had been before they charged into the camp. Pearson could here Colin firing off rounds. He started to reload his battle rifle.

      "Saddle up everyone, form on the left side of the camp, we got company" he yelled. The rescued marines picked up Covenant weapons and followed the Shadow Ops and Corporal Strom's marines to the edge of the perimeter on the left. Pearson crouched near a shield barrier, raised his battle rifle and opened fire.....

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops, Chapter 4: The Alliance
Date: 21 June 2003, 4:03 AM

Shadow Ops, Chapter 4: The Alliance

~*Author's note*~
      Just so no one gets confused, here is the Shadow Ops 1 squad...

Lieutenant Alan "Shadow" Pearson, Squad leader (assault, Red team)
Master Sergeant Jonathan "Dusk" Henderson, second in command (assault, Blue team)
First Sergeant Paul "Specter" Howe (assault, Blue team)
Corporal Colin "Shade" Thompson (sniper, Blue team)
Corporal Fredrick "Spirit" Owens (assault/medic, Red team)
Private First Class Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson (support/radio, Red team)

      Exams are over, so I will be writing my series a lot more =D

~*End note*~

      Lieutenant Pearson awoke with a jolt; M6D pistol raised and pointed up. In front of him, in the shadows of the night, Master Sergeant Henderson knelt beside him, weapon at the ready. He wore his helmet and grinned at his leader.

      "Easy there sir, just me" he said. Pearson relaxed, nodded and put his pistol away.

      "What is it?" he asked. Henderson looked over to his left for a moment, before looking back at the Lieutenant.

      "A Covenant convoy was spotted by Shade a few minutes ago, heading our way. The same convoy is now walking past out position. Problem is; they don't seem to have intentions of assaulting us. They seem to be in a hurry as well. For the past hour or so, we've been hearing sounds of gunshots and screaming throughout the jungle" he explained. This made Pearson worried and curious. He nodded, grabbed his helmet and MA5B assault rifle. Just in case, he pocketed two clips of ammunition. He then strapped his helmet on and headed after his second in command.

      The rest of Shadow Ops 1 were gathered around the left side of the ex-Covenant camp perimeter. They had successfully fought off two full divisions of Covenant reinforcements that charged at them yesterday. Pearson knelt beside one of the Shade gun turrets and looked at his sniper who was sitting in it. Corporal Thompson handed the Lieutenant his sniper rifle. Pearson took it gratefully, and then activated his radio.

      "Sergeant McKinney, gather your marines in a line along the tree line of the valley. We might be able to take this Covenant convoy prisoner" he said. The big marine Sergeant acknowledged him and barked orders to his marines. Pearson then activated his team frequency radio.

      "Shadow Ops, form a line along the tree line" he said. They all moved quickly, running while crouched and keeping low. Pearson knelt behind a decomposing log, Thompson right beside him. The marines then joined him and fanned out. McKinney nodded at Pearson to signal that they were ready. Pearson nodded back, and then used the sniper rifle to zoom in on the approaching convoy.

      Four Hunters, five Brutes, three Elites, seven Jackals and ten Grunts, all moved in three individual lines. Although most of them were keeping silent, two of the Elites were chatting with one of the Brutes. The one Elite wore the gold armor of a Field Master. Most Brutes had a dark blue armor on them, but this one Brute had total black armor on him, as did the second Elite who walked next to the Field Master. Pearson continued to watch them, and then listened.


      Field Master Ikna 'Favlor shook his armored head at the Brute Special Op leader Qatar. The Brute had been questioning the Field Master's motives for the past few hours and finally, he felt it was time to tell him.

      "We have a new enemy that has broken out of that human Outpost back there. From what I found out, most of our task force was wiped out by their first assault, but then the cowards retreated and hide. You know of which enemy I speak off Qatar. I know we have no chance of defeating them, so rather waste all of these soldier's lives, I plan to get off this world with all of you in a dropship a few units away, then glass the planet afterwards" he said, staring at the big Brute who looked at his Field Master, jaw open.

      "I thought the Prophets knew that our enemy was hidden in the human mine fields?" he asked. 'Favlor nodded.

      "Yes, they did know, and so did I, however, we didn't think that they would attack the humans. However, when our spies reported in and told us the humans were being attacked, we had to move in and stop our enemy from spreading" he said. With that said, Qatar went silent and fell into formation, allowing 'Favlor to think for a moment as they walked through the jungle.


      Pearson had heard enough. He gave the sniper rifle back to Colin, and then activated his radio.

      "On my mark, we move through the surrounding shrubbery and surround the convoy. Do not open fire, I wish to interrogate the leader. We might have a chance here to form an alliance" he said. No doubt, his men were probably all confused about the Lieutenant's last remark, but they acknowledged and got ready. Pearson watched the middle of the convoy approach him, then stood.


      'Favlor heard movement and ordered everyone to stop. Before he had a chance to raise the plasma sword he had sheathed at his side, close to twenty humans appeared out of the forest, weapon's raised. 'Favlor checked his motion to grab the plasma pistol he had on his belt and watched the humans surround them.

      "We have you surrounded, drop your weapons" yelled one marine. 'Favlor knew a lot about the human military and could tell by the way he was dressed and the rank insignia that the man who yelled out was a Sergeant. The Field Master realized they were screwed, so he nodded at his team, and dropped his pistol and sword. When he looked up, one human walked forward. Immediately, the Field Master could tell that this was the leader and that the human was some sort of special trooper, by the way he dressed and the weapons he carried. The human took off the helmet he wore, and looked at the Field Master.

      "My name is Lieutenant Alan Pearson" he said. 'Favlor nodded at him.

      "I am Field Master Ikna 'Favlor." The man known as Alan Pearson nodded.

      "I've been listening to the conversation that you were having with your Brute there. I and my team were sent here to find out what the hell was going on at that Outpost you guys obtained. From what I've heard, the situation is a little messy?" he began. 'Favlor nodded, and then took a different approach.

      "Lieutenant, I do no wish to fight with you. Would if be possible if we could take up refuge in your newly acquired base camp, which will offer us all protection from the forces of evil that are at work" he asked the human. Although he didn't express it, 'Favlor could tell that the man thought long and hard. Finally he nodded.

      "All right, but on a few conditions; no weapons, your convoy will stay in the centre off the camp under close watch, and you will come with me into one of those tents of yours and tell me what is exactly going on" he said. The Field Master agreed to these terms. He had no intention of trying to betray the humans. They needed their help. Plus, the base camp would offer good protection.


      Lieutenant Pearson ordered his team to escort the convoy into the camp. The Shadow Ops and the marines formed a circle around them and lead them into the camp. The Covenant all sat down and the marines were kept under watch of them, while the members of Shadow Ops watched the perimeter. Pearson and Master Sergeant Henderson led Field Master 'Favlor into one of the Covenant tents and sat down at a makeshift desk. The Field Master took a deep breath and began.

      "This planet has been under our watch for years, since it harbors a deadly secret. Your people came several months ago and began setting up bases and outposts all over. We kept a few of our spies in the area, to keep watch over your actions. This particular Outpost began mining operations for various metals required to build your fleet ships. Well, your people dug too deep and they reached the underground holding cells for the parasitic alien force known as The Flood" began the Field Master. Pearson showed no emotion, even though inside, he was swearing and cursing. He knew about the Flood and hated them. He nodded and let the Field Master continue.

      "So, the Flood basically killed everyone at the mining fields and used them for a source of food. You sent warriors out there to find out what happened; the Flood killed them too. Our spies reported in to us that the Flood was released here and we moved in. Your human friends obviously didn't want us there and fought for a little, but we overwhelmed them and they surrendered. This task force is commanded by two Field Masters. Myself and Field Master 'Liondar. 'Liondar is totally loyal to the Prophets and hates humans, which is why he ordered many of them executed. I do not have that sense of hatred towards the human race. I feel we are two races in this universe that if steered correctly, can make peace and conquer this universe together. I didn't have all the humans at the Outpost executed and had some of them taken to various base camps located around the Outpost" continued the Field Master. Already, Pearson was beginning to like this Elite and let him continue without further interruption.

      "Just yesterday, the Flood came out of the mining fields, killing the warriors we had positioned there and attacked the Outpost itself. At the time, I was out at one of our base camps and only found out about the attack till later. Apparently, Field Master 'Liondar was killed during the assault and the surviving Covenant forces are now scattered throughout that Outpost, fighting for their lives. My original plans was to take everything I had and go rescue them, but when you came and took over this camp and destroyed the reinforcements I sent in to take back the camp, I realized that saving those Covenant is hopeless. However, this may have changed again" he said, looking right into Pearson's eyes. The Lieutenant smiled, and then leaned forward slightly.

      "If you seem to like us this much, why were the humans we found in this camp being tortured to death?" he asked. At this remark, he could tell that the Field Master was pissed.

      "I apologize for my warrior's actions Lieutenant. I'm sure you have felt this way before, but I do not have complete control over a base camp if I'm not there. If something happens, and I'm not there, there is nothing I can do. If the Covenant I had placed here were alive, believe me, they would be dead" he said. Pearson nodded at this. Yes, he was still mad about it, but when the Flood get pulled into the equation, you have to let it go. He nodded once more, and then leaned back.

      "What do you propose Field Master?" he asked. 'Favlor's mandibles spread open like a grin.

      "I propose an alliance between our two forces. We gather all my remaining troops and all the marine survivors and assault the Outpost, take it back, then move in and destroy the underground holding cells. This betters both of us" he said. Pearson thought about this. They would definitely need more people. The amount of troops they had at the moment just wasn't enough. The Covenant would be a big help in taking out the Flood. Their weapons weren't the best, but they had numbers greater than theirs and a few extra soldiers couldn't hurt, He nodded.

      "All right, we'll go to the other base camps you have around here and get Covenant and human troops from them. Every human Outpost has a weapon cache hidden somewhere around it. If we could find it, we could dish out a few shotguns and Jackhammers, which are very effective against the Flood" he said. He could tell that this was exactly what the Field Master wanted to hear and nodded. Pearson stood and offered his hand, and the Field Master took it and they shook. They two walked out and addressed their troops. Pearson began.

      "A situation has come up. Outpost Sierra has been invaded by the alien force known as the Flood. They were the cause of the deaths at the mining fields. They have caused death again. This entire planet is like an underground holding cell and it must be destroyed. From now on, the Covenant you see, are your friends. Our combined races will take out the Flood threat and save the universe from its tentacles" he said. From what he saw, he got nods from his team and big smiles and nods from the marines. The Field Master then addressed his people.

      "The plan is simple. We gather what troops we have in the area, assault the Outpost and take it back, then move into the mining fields and stop the Flood from spreading. The alliance we have between the humans will not end and hopefully this small combined effort will put a stop to the war we've been going through" he said simply. Pearson watched the entire Covenant convoy nod. The Grunts were jumping around with excitement. Pearson nodded.

      "All right, we'll rest for the remainder of the night. At dawn, we move out and gather our army" he said. With that, a huge cheer rose among them and the marines and Pearson's team began shaking their hands with the Covenant. Pearson turned to look at the Field Master. 'Favlor nodded, and brought his fist up to what would be his heart. It was obviously their type of salute. The Lieutenant saluted back at the Field Master, and then they went about setting up a defense perimeter for the night and setting up additional sleeping quarters for their troops. As Pearson barked out orders, he realized that this fight was going to be a lot different then originally though.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops, Chapter 5: Rescue
Date: 24 June 2003, 12:07 AM

Shadow Ops, Chapter 5: Rescue

~*Author's note*~

      Just so no one gets confused, here is the Shadow Ops 1 squad...

Lieutenant Alan "Shadow" Pearson, Squad leader (assault, Red team)
Master Sergeant Jonathan "Dusk" Henderson, second in command (assault, Blue team)
First Sergeant Paul "Specter" Howe (assault, Blue team)
Lance Corporal Colin "Shade" Thompson (sniper, Blue team)
Corporal Fredrick "Spirit" Owens (assault/medic, Red team)
Private First Class Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson (support/radio, Red team)

      Shit, I made a very huge mistake when I first posted this. Colin "Shade" Thompson's rank is actually supposed to be Lance Corporal and Private Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson is supposed to be a Corporal. Sorry everyone, can you all just pretend that Shade was a Lance Corporal and Wraith was a Corporal all along lol? Enjoy...

~*End note*~


      "We're clear"
      "Roger, move out!" Shadow Ops 1 emerged from their hiding spots surrounding what looked like an abandoned Covenant base camp. Lieutenant Pearson, crouching low and with his assault rifle up, motioned to his left. Master Sergeant Henderson and Private Clarkson both moved out of their linear formation and flanked the camp. Pearson stopped abruptly, weapon scanning the camp in front of him. He pointed in front of him, and quickly, Corporal Owens and Lance Corporal Thompson rushed into the camp, weapons raised. Pearson then stood and waved First Sergeant Howe forward. Pearson then covered their rear as they explored the depths of the camp.

      The various structures of this Covenant camp were so packed tightly together, Pearson had a hard time keeping track of his team as they explored the area. Luckily, the visor that he wore around his helmet showed where his team was on his HUD. He continued moving through the camp, following Sergeant Howe. They passed a few dead Covenant, and had to step over large pieces of wreckage, or blown up Covenant tents. They eventually met up with Owens and Thompson, who were checking the pulses of two human marines that lay on the grass. Owens looked up at Pearson as they approached and shook his head. The Lieutenant nodded and took their dog tags, before motioning for the men with him to continue to move. They continued weaving in and out of various Covenant structures, then met up with Henderson and Clarkson, who were standing right in the middle of a blood bath.

      "Pee you" said Owens, plugging his nose as they approached the two members of Shadow Ops. There were lots of bodies and even more blood. Pools of it had formed in the grass and around bodies. The stench of the dead was dreadful and even Pearson had to cover up his nose. The bodies were mainly Covenant, but they found three marines, all still holding plasma rifles. Henderson, who was kneeling beside these marines, looked up.

      "You don't think these marines are responsible for this mess?" he wondered. Pearson nodded and pointed behind his second in command. Henderson turned and literally jumped up. The remains of four dead Flood combat forms lay sprawled out around the ground, in pieces. From several of the bulky remains, Pearson could tell they had been infested Elites. He sighed, and then stood.

      "There's no one here, let's move out" he said, and without a word, they all left the circle of death and exited the camp, moving quickly to gather into the forest. They stopped and crouched low behind an encirclement of dead logs. Pearson grabbed Private Clarkson's radio, and as he switched the frequency dials, he looked at his men.

      "Perimeter, I got to see how 'Favlor is doing" he said. As his men fanned out, Pearson raised the small radio telephone to his head.

      "Field Master 'Favlor, come in, this is Lieutenant Pearson" he said. Before the Lieutenant had left, he had shown the Covenant Elite how to use a human portable radio. He had caught on fast and his deep voice entered the ear piece.

      "Yes Lieutenant, what is your situation?" he asked.

      "Base camp #2 is a no go Field Master, the Flood got here first before we did, everyone's dead" he said sadly. He could make out the Elite sigh.

      "It is the same over here Lieutenant. We found two wounded Covenant, but they were both to injured to move. Base Camp #3 is dead" he said. Pearson swore to himself.

      "Right, we'll stick to the plan though. We'll rendezvous at Base camp #4, roger that?" he asked.

      "Confirmed Lieutenant, see you soon." And with that, their radio conversation ended. Pearson handed back the telephone to Clarkson, and then addressed his squad.

      "Base camp #3 was all dead too. Let's move out to the last camp and see if anyone is alive" he ordered. Without a word, they all stood and formed their usual "Flying-V" formation. Pearson fell into line behind Thompson and kept his eyes peeled. Not only were they looking for the second base camp, but they also had to find the hidden weapons cache that the Outpost marines usually hide in case situations became huge problems. Not only that, but the weapons that the Shadow Ops had come with were completely useless against the Flood. From past experiences, the MA7B battle rifle was just like its brother, in that the bullets fired at the Flood just went right through it. After half a clip or so, it would go down, but then it would just get back up and you would have to empty the clip. Clarkson's SMGs weren't bad, but those two guns weren't enough to take on a whole Flood army. The pistols were good, but like the SMGs, they didn't have enough. They were already low enough on ammo, so they had to move quickly.

      Suddenly, Lance Corporal Thompson's hand went up in a fist and they all stopped and dropped low. Pearson suddenly noticed his motion tracker had painted a huge blob of red dots off to the left of their current position. Thompson turned to look at him and Pearson nodded.

      "Specter, check it out" he ordered into his radio. Sergeant Howe crawled through the vegetation and observed their enemy. He radioed back in.

      "Shadow, we got a large squad of Flood combat and infection forms gathered around our required weapons cache. Terrain is similar to that of when we found the Pelican. The cache is located in a small ditch, where most of the Flood are located" he said as he crawled back. Pearson took a look for himself.

      Howe was right. The cache sat in the middle of a small ditch and the main majority of Flood combat forms were all standing around it. Several other forms patrolled around the cache, all holding Covenant weapons. Pearson clicked his radio.

      "Specter, Dusk, grenade on my mark. The rest of you, fire at will as soon as those grenades detonate. Take them out fast" he ordered. The rest of his team came up around him, fanning out. Howe and Henderson grabbed fragmentation grenades and held them. Pearson nodded.

      "Mark!" he yelled. The pins fell and the grenades flew. The two of them successfully detonated beside the weapons cache and the Flood around it were tossed around, dead. The patrolling Flood forms turned and received a hail of bullets from the concealed Shadow Ops team. After using up two clips of ammo each, the remaining Flood were put down and they emerged into the open. Pearson and Henderson went down to inspect the crate, while the others formed a perimeter. Henderson successfully popped it open, and the contents inside spilled out. Pearson grinned.

      "Forty M9 HE-DP Fragmentation grenades, twenty M6D Pistols, twenty MA5B Assault rifles, fifteen SMG 900s, twenty MA7B Battle rifles, twenty M90 Shotguns, five S2 AM Sniper rifles, five M19 SSM Jackhammer rocket launchers and too much ammo for all" grinned Henderson as he observed the contents of the crate. The other members of Shadow Ops stood in awe at the amount of power that lay on the ground in front of them. Pearson stood and looked at them all.

      "Remember, our new enemy is the Flood, not the Covenant. Take weapons that capable of destroying those things" he ordered. One by one, his team changed weapons. Master Sergeant Henderson exchanged his battle rifle for the shotgun, and then grabbed a few extra grenades and some ammo for the three weapons he carried. First Sergeant Howe seemed to be their demolitions expert at some times, and this mission was one of those times. He grabbed one of the Jackhammer launchers, and also a shotgun. Because of the bulk of the rocket launcher, he couldn't carry anything else. He made sure he took four extra rockets. Lance Corporal Thompson was always one for sniping; however, the 14.5 armor-piercing rounds the sniper rifle fired were no good whatsoever against the Flood, so he got rid of it. He decided to keep his battle rifle and picked up a shotgun, along with extra ammo and grenades. Corporal Owens picked up all the medical supplies he could carry, and then settled for a shotgun and his pistol. Corporal Clarkson decided to keep his SMGs. His reason was that in case they ran into a huge pack of Flood infection forms, he would be able to wipe them all out. All the Corporal did was grab some extra ammo and grenades. He kept everything he had originally come into the mission with. Lieutenant Pearson was the last to choose. He naturally took a shotgun, but exchanged it with his battle rifle. He kept his MA5B and pistol, and then picked up extra ammo and grenades. He climbed out of the ditch and activated his radio.

      "Sergeant McKinney, come in" he said.

      "Roger that sir, what can I do for you?" came the voice the Texas sergeant they had recovered from one of the base camps.

      "We've located the weapons crate and marked it with a NAV point. Get your people together, get out here and gather what's left of the supplies, then head over the Base camp #4. We should've secured that area by then" he said.

      "Roger that Lieutenant, we're rolling. Out" replied the Sergeant. Pearson nodded, and then looked at this team.

      "All right, let's move" he said. Thompson lead the way once again into the depths of the jungle. Far ahead of them, the Lieutenant could hear gunshots and screaming. This worried him and he ordered his team to speed up a bit. The six humans were soon sprinting threw the jungle, jumping over logs and pushing their way through bushes. Suddenly, a lightning bolt flashed out in the sky and thunder quickly followed it. Rain started to platter around them and within a few seconds, it was pouring like there was no tomorrow. Pearson kept his visor down and spat out rain water as he sprinted with his team.

      Without warning, a Flood combat form jumped into the area and tacked Lance Corporal Thompson to the ground. Immediately following that, several other combat forms jumped out of their hiding spots and landed among the Shadow Ops. Pearson rolled to avoid a cluster of tentacles that were thrown at him.

      "Open fire!" he managed to scream, before pumping two rounds into the Flood form standing over him. Behind him, Thompson rolled on the dirt to avoid the Flood form's tentacle wipe that had grown out of its right infested arm. His shotgun lay behind the Flood form, which wasn't moving and fired several bullets from its captured MA5B assault rifle. Thompson was able to dodge the bullets, but behind him, First Sergeant Howe took a bullet to his left leg. He fell. Pearson was up immediately, and fired at the Flood form chasing Thompson. It dropped dead and this allowed the sniper to recover his weapons. Corporal Clarkson was wiped from behind by a Flood form, and he screamed out and fell forward. The Flood form was about to finish him off, but Henderson quickly turned, fired one round, but then took a plasma needle to his shoulder. Owens was the only one who actually didn't get attacked. He stood there, shotgun ready. When it was confirmed there was no one left, he rushed to the groaning humans on the jungle floor. Pearson swore and ordered Thompson to cover Owens while he fixed everyone up.

      "Spirit, Shade, sit tight, I'm scouting ahead" he ordered into his radio. He saw Thompson nod at him from his hidden spot, then Pearson turned and jogged off into the soaked jungle. He hadn't run even two minutes before he reached the edge of the tree line and entered a large valley. There was a small hill in front of him and when he climbed it he got his first glimpse of Base camp #4.

      Like the other base camps, it was circular and had a perimeter of Shade gun turrets and shield barriers. From what Pearson could see, it was mad mayhem inside the camp. Covenant and Flood forms ran around the camp, hunting each other down. He could even hear the sounds of marines yelling at each other. Suddenly, a fresh wave of Flood forms emerged from the forest and charged into the camp. A single Shade gun turret turned and started firing at them, but the Flood overwhelmed the operator and blew the turret up. However, as the new wave of Flood joined, Pearson watched Field Master 'Favlor and his entire Covenant squad emerge from the opposite side of the valley and help out their comrades. Pearson turned to see the rest of his squad running toward them. Three of them were limping slightly, but were able to climb the hill and stand around him.

      "Do no shoot the Covenant, they are our allies. There are marines in there too. Let's go!" he yelled. The Shadow Ops charged down their hill and rushed to the camp. Pearson slipped two cartridges into his shotgun and blasted an infested marines running towards the camp. His squad fanned out around him and engaged the Flood. As Pearson blasted away two infested Elites, he could see the Covenant off the base camp stop and look at them. However, without saying a word or raising a weapon, they continued to fight. Pearson suddenly found himself in the middle of a circle of Covenant, fighting off Flood forms charging at them. As he fought them of, Henderson and Owens flanked them. Pearson let them deal with them and proceeded deeper into the camp. He rounded a corner and ran straight into a Flood combat form, which raised its tentacle wipe back. Pearson ducked, and fired right into the grotesque's deformed stomach. It fell over dead. Suddenly, another Flood form flew into the air and was about to literally crush the Lieutenant, when several volleys of plasma fire struck the form and it fell, dead. Pearson greeted the marines who had saved his life.

      "Lieutenant, Corporal Owen Barnes. Me and my boys here had been trapped in this camp" a marine with a large scar on his cheek said. Pearson nodded.

      "Marine reinforcements are on their way Corporal. Let's help the Covenant fight off the Flood" he ordered as he killed two Flood forms approaching them from behind.

      "With pleasure sir" Barnes said, and then tossed a frag grenade into the middle of a pack of Covenant infection forms heading towards a group of wounded Grunts.

      Pearson continued moving throughout the camp, killing the odd Flood form. He eventually reached the spot where 'Favlor and his Covenant team had entered the battle. Most of the group was still alive, and several Covenant greeted the Lieutenant as he ran towards them, killing Flood forms rushing at them from the trees. Field Master 'Favlor stepped out of a line of Covenant Jackals. He was covered in the blood of his comrades and his enemy. The Elite grinned with its mandibles.

      "Good to see you Lieutenant, how's it looking?" he asked. Pearson shrugged.

      "I honestly have no idea. We found the weapons cache and ordered the marines back at the base camp to gather what they could and come help. Looks like the Flood have many more warriors to spend" he said. The Elite groaned at this, and then cut an infested Elite in half with his plasma sword.

      "We'll hold out for as long as we can" he said. Pearson nodded, and then ran to Corporal Clarkson and Sergeant Howe, who were taking up a position near the perimeter. Clarkson's SMGs were cutting down several Flood charging at them from the valley. Howe unsung his Jackhammer launcher and fired off a single round which landed right in the middle of the lot. Pearson supported them from the rear, as Flood forms appeared out of the camp. He killed two, and then blew up four more with a grenade. Eventually, Thompson limped out of the camp and knelt beside the Lieutenant. His one eye was literally gone and the armor around his collar bone was shredded open. However, he was able to pull the trigger of the shotgun and take out a Flood form. He nodded at Pearson.

      "You all right Shade?" Pearson asked, tossing another grenade. Colin nodded, and stayed with Howe and Clarkson. Pearson ventured back into the camp, helping out Corporal Barnes and several Covenant who were rolling around, trying to avoid Flood infection forms. One form launched itself at Pearson, but he smashed it to pieces with his shotgun. Suddenly, as he crushed another form with his boot, his radio beeped.

      "Dusk to Shadow" came Henderson's voice.

      "What's up Dusk?" asked the Lieutenant.

      "Marine and Covenant reinforcements inbound from the north sir" he said. Pearson's eyebrow rose.

      "Acknowledged" he said. Sergeant McKinney was coming with his marines. Where did these Covenant come from?

      Pearson motioned Corporal Barnes forward, and they moved towards the north perimeter wall, fighting off several Flood along the way. Sure enough, a combined force of Covenant and Human were charging into a wave of Flood reinforcements coming at them from the north. Pearson looked around him and could see the other members of the base camp defenders emerging. The interior of the camp was secure.

      "Charge!" roared Pearson and he sprinted towards the battle in the valley. Like a wave of destruction, the defenders of the camp and the rescuers wiped out the remaining Flood and gathered in the valley. Sergeant McKinney and a red armored Elite approached Pearson and 'Favlor. The Field Master grinned.

      "Ivan 'Nosumlee" he said happily. The red armored Elite clicked its mandibles.

      "I greet you Field Master 'Favlor" he said, raising a clawed hand. Sergeant McKinney grinned and saluted.

      "Marine-Covenant reinforcements reporting for duty" he said. Pearson looked around. He had left around twenty or so marines back at the base camp, however, in this wave of reinforcements, there was over thirty of them.

      "Welcome Sergeant McKinney. Where did you get all this man power from?" he inquired. The Sergeant grinned.

      "They are survivors from the other two base camps sir. Not everyone was killed. These blokes were hiding out in a cave together. We found them, and they helped us take out the Flood here" he explained. Pearson grinned. Field Master 'Favlor nodded.

      "Looks like we have enough to take out that Outpost now" he said. Pearson nodded.

      "All right, let's regroup at base camp #1 and plan out our attack plan. Move out!" he ordered. The large force of Covenant and Human forces jogged off into the jungle. It was still raining out and thunder boomed into the night air. Pearson fell into the middle of the huge army, allowing several of his Shadow Ops to lead. Thompson had slipped into coma, and Owens was forced to carry. Luckily, the sniper wasn't that heavy. They reached Base camp Alpha and began to plan out the destruction of the Flood...

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops, Chapter 6: The Outpost
Date: 25 June 2003, 4:23 AM

Shadow Ops, Chapter 6: The Outpost

~*Author's note*~
      Just so no one gets confused, here is the Shadow Ops 1 squad...

Lieutenant Alan "Shadow" Pearson, Squad leader (assault, Red team)
Master Sergeant Jonathan "Dusk" Henderson, second in command (assault, Blue team)
First Sergeant Paul "Specter" Howe (assault/demolitions, Blue team)
Lance Corporal Colin "Shade" Thompson (sniper, Blue team)
Corporal Fredrick "Spirit" Owens (assault/medic, Red team)
Private First Class Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson (support/radio, Red team)

      Shit, I made a very huge mistake when I first posted this. Colin "Shade" Thompson's rank is actually supposed to be Lance Corporal and Private Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson is supposed to be a Corporal. Sorry everyone, can you all just pretend that Shade was a Lance Corporal and Wraith was a Corporal all along lol? Enjoy...

~*End note*~


      Lance Corporal Thompson sighted his MA7B battle rifle scope on the huge bulbous Flood carrier form that ran toward their base camp perimeter in the middle of a pact of Flood combat forms. He quickly fired three rounds and the carrier form erupted, sending the combat forms around it flying in all directions. Corporal Clarkson stepped out from behind a Covenant equipment crate and fired one of his SMGs at the small group of infection forms that had been set loose by the carrier form Thompson had shot. To the left of the sniper, Colin heard screaming. He turned to see three Grunts being bitten by Flood infection forms. A group of marines quickly ran to them and pulled the forms off, crushing them with their hands. Two Flood forms came behind those marines, but Thompson jumped down from the Shade gun turret he hide in, wiped out his M90 shotgun and fired off two rounds, killing both combat forms. Before the marines or grunts could say thanks, the motion tracker circle on the HUD of his visor painted a huge group of red dots coming from the far right. Sure enough, Master Sergeant Henderson's voice echoed through Colin's ear piece.

      "Massive Flood reinforcements, request back up" he said. Colin hurried over, slamming two cartridges into the chamber of the shotgun, and then crouched next to Corporal Owens, who was blasting the oncoming tidal wave of Flood. From behind them in the camp, groups of Covenant armed with M90 shotguns joined the humans and helped them fend off the wave of Flood. However, their combined efforts wasn't enough, and a group of Flood forms teamed up on three marines, ripping them to shreds, then moving onto a group of Jackals, who brought their shields up. It made no difference. The Flood's tentacle wipes tore apart the shields and the Jackals holding them. Thompson and Owens were up and moving towards them. They each fired three rounds and the combat forms fell. Another group broke through, killing two Grunts and a marine. Master Sergeant Henderson jumped into one of the Shade gun turrets nearby, quickly adjusted himself to the controls and started firing. The extra firepower worked, and the Flood were slowly pulling back. As Thompson fired the last round in his shotgun, his radio went active again.

      "This is Wraith; looks like the Flood are taking a break. Most of them have retreated" Corporal Clarkson said.

      "Confirmed, Flood forms retreating into the jungle" came the voice of First Sergeant Howe.

      "Roger that Specter, everyone take a quick break, they'll be back" said Henderson, stepping out of the Shade gun turret. Colin slumped onto the ground, bracing himself with his shotgun.

      Since they had came back from rescuing the Covenant and Human defenders at Base camp #4, the Flood had been sending its warriors out to explore the surrounding jungle. Many of their scout squads had found their reinforced base camp and had tried to take it. For around three hours, they had been fighting for their lives, trying to hold off the Flood, while their leaders tried to get more help and also tried to figure out a plan. From what Colin had heard from radio traffic, the Covenant and Human fleets were encountering Flood forms all over the planet. Some Flood forms were successful in capturing a Covenant cruiser and used it to destroy a Human frigate.

      Colin took off his helmet and ran one of his hands through his short black hair. The weather hadn't been cooperating with them and it continued to rain and storm throughout the day. The sniper hadn't slept for four days, which was how long he and his squad had been down here on the planet. He was trained to last four days without any sleep, however, by the fourth day, he knew he needed to sleep, otherwise he would collapse, and collapsing right now in this heated situation, wasn't very good. However, when half an hour passed, he turned to look at the Master Sergeant, and then motioned with his hands that he wished to sleep. Henderson nodded at him, and Shade walked back into the camp. He found an unoccupied tent, crawled in and lay there.

      When he was first born, he had a slight deformity with his voice box deep inside his throat. He could talk, but it would cause him amazing pain. Finally, when he was around seven, his parents had his entire speaking organs (I don't know what the actual organs in the body are that allow you to talk) removed and Colin never spoke again.

      Most people thought he didn't speak because of a death in the family or something along the lines of that, but that wasn't true. Colin's life was actually quite good, besides not being able to speak. He spent a few months, recovering from the operation he had, then when he left high school, he signed up for the Marine Corp. However, he didn't get far and was transferred over to ONI Section Thirteen, where he was trained as a sniper. He liked what he did, and liked his life.

      Colin dozed off for an hour or so, when his radio beeped and he bolted up, pistol raised.

      "Shade, this is Spirit, report to the centre of the camp, Shadow has an announcement" came the voice of medic Corporal Owens. Colin nodded to himself, walked out of the tent and jogged to a small gathering around his leader, Lieutenant Pearson and the Covenant Field Master. Thompson stood back in the shadows and listened. Pearson began.

      "All right, we've been able to contact our fleets in orbit, and from what we've heard, reinforcements in this area is going to be tough. Apparently, when the Flood killed the humans in the mining fields, this was the start of the entire Flood army in this planet to break out of hiding and attack. Our fleets are having Flood outbreaks all over the place. An army of Flood actually took over a Covenant cruiser and used it to destroy a Human frigate. Luckily, it was destroyed, but the Flood began attacking more Covenant ships parked on the planet. We do know that two divisions of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are coming, and also confirmed that Covenant Special Ops personal are heading here. How many, we don't know, so we will have to see when they get here" said Pearson. Colin watched his Lieutenant nod at the gold armored Elite beside him, who looked at everyone.

      "The Outpost blueprints are most complex. There is no plan that allows all of us to stick together, which means we must split up. We do know that our angle of approach is from the west and there are two entrances into the Outpost coming from the west. We split up into six equal fire teams, and move throughout the facility, taking out the Flood and helping out the Covenant. We have contacted a Covenant veteran in the outpost, told him of our situation out here and also told him of our alliance. He expects our arrival. We split up into teams, and then head to the Outpost" said the Elite in a deep voice. Pearson finished off their speech.

      "Outpost Sierra has six floors, which is why we will split up into six different teams. We enter through the base from the west, and rendezvous somewhere on the east side of the base. Once we've confirmed that the Outpost is secure, our reinforcements will arrive, and then we will proceed to the mining fields" finished Pearson. Colin didn't have any complaints about the plan. It was simple and it would work. If one team was unsuccessful in taking out their floor, then another one would go and do it. Plus, their numbers would be boosted when they meet up with the various Covenant in the base.

      "Any questions or concerns?" asked the Elite. A few marines and Covenant put their hands up, but no one else. Beside him, Corporal Clarkson raised his hand.

      "Do the reinforcements know of our alliance?" Clarkson inquired. Pearson nodded at him.

      "Both the Covenant and Human fleets in orbit have allied up with each other and are doing their best to take out the Flood together" he said. Daniel grinned at this and nodded, looking over at Colin.

      "Dude, no more fighting the Covenant maybe" he said in a hopeful tone of voice. Thompson merely grinned and nodded. He then watched Pearson and the Elite begin to split up their people into six teams. Pearson decided to separate Shadow Ops 1. Since there was six members, one member of the team to each infiltration team. There were a total, exact number of one hundred thirty-eight fights, which meant that each team would have twenty-three members. Colin was placed with a team with eleven marines, including Corporal Strom and Sergeant McKinney. Also, there were eleven assorted Covenant with them. Five grunts, four Jackals and two Elites. Both the Elites were wearing blue colored armor, which meant they weren't veterans. The marines were all armed with shotguns, pistols and fragmentation grenades. They weren't properly trained to carry three weapons like Colin could. Once they had been split into their six teams, they were given call signs. Thompson's team was simply called "Team 4." Without another word, Pearson and his team lead the others off into the jungle, in the direction of the Outpost.




      "Designated entrances look clear"

      "Confirmed, entrances clear, no movement"

      "Roger that. Teams 1 to 3, head to the far left entrance. Teams 4 to 6, far right entrances. Move out people" ordered Pearson. Sergeant McKinney ushered Team 4 forward to their entrance. Colin led the way, putting his battle rifle back over his shoulder and taking out his shotgun. He stood to one side of the entrance, and Corporal Clarkson, who was part of Team 5, stood ready. Colin pressed several buttons and the door slide open. Clarkson and another marine slipped in, weapons raised. Colin waved everyone else forward, covering them with his shotgun. When everyone had gone through, Colin brought up the rear, shutting the door behind them and sealing it.

      He stood in a large stairwell that spiraled upwards. Already, the other teams that had gone through the door were moving up the metal stairs to their floors. Colin started climbing, following Corporal Strom and another marine who was part of his team. As Colin climbed past the third floor team, he could hear sounds of fighting and screaming. He picked up speed and arrived at the fourth floor. The other members of his team had moved through the door and had entered what looked like a large cafeteria. Colin paused as he moved through the door, scanning the room. Connecting tables formed five straight lines in the room and at the far end; a small kitchen could be seen. It was in this kitchen, where their problems began.

      A group of Covenant fighters had cornered themselves in there and were firing blind rounds at a group of Flood who stood outside the kitchen, firing into it. Sergeant McKinney and one of the Elites motioned their teammates to move forward and take them out. Colin was quicker and he jogged lightly down the far left side of the cafeteria, passing dead Covenant and Flood bodies as he did. He got a little closer without being noticed, and then tossed a fragmentation grenade. It detonated, taking out five infested marines. The rest of the team burst out of hiding, killing the Flood as they did. From the kitchen came cheers of victory. The door leading into the kitchen opened and four grunts, two Jackals and one Elite stepped out and greeted their rescuers. One of the Elites told them their mission quickly, then handed them M90 shotguns. The Grunts were too little to hold the big weapons, so they took pistols instead. Several marines gave them a two minute lesson on how to work them, and then Sergeant McKinney gave the order to move out. Colin checked the large entrance, nodded it was okay, then started walking slowly down a blood and body stained hallway.

      From what Colin could see as he walked, there was mainly Covenant bodies that lay sprawled out across the floor. He grimaced and winced as he looked at each torn or dismantled body. There were no signs of life at all and he could hear the other members of his team behind him groaning out loud at the horrific death before them. Thompson stopped in front of another door and motioned several Jackals forward. They crouched near the door, shields up and plasma pistols ready. Thompson opened the door and the two Jackals rushed in. After no screaming could be heard, Colin and the others followed them.

      They had entered a barracks. However, from what Thompson could see, it had been turned into a tomb. Dead Covenant and Flood lay everywhere and too the sniper's disgust, dead marines as well. The rotting bodies let out stenches not even big Sergeant McKinney or the Elites could handle. As they moved through the rows of bloodied beds, the door at the other end opened and a large group of Flood combat and carrier forms rushed into the room. It seemed that they knew Team 4 was in there, as they started firing their weapons the moment the door opened. A Grunt fell back dead and one of the marines took a plasma needle to the leg. Colin raised his shotgun and fired two rounds, hitting a combat form, but a volley of assault rifle bullets over his head made him duck and fire more cautiously. Suddenly, from behind them, another group of Flood moved in. The members of the team stuck out in the open were cut down in the crossfire. One of the Elites let out a roar as continuous plasma rounds hit it as it died. One marine fell dead and his buddy dropped to help him, but a needle landed right in his hand and exploded. Both men dropped dead. Colin could feel several pistol rounds bounce off his armor and he fell, completely winded. He could hear screaming all around. Quickly recovering, he unpinned two fragmentation grenades and threw one at each Flood ambush team. Their numbers were torn down to half and Colin stood, moving quickly to take out the Flood team in front of them. He fired off shots and groups of Combat forms fell. Along with a successfully thrown plasma grenade, he took out the one ambush team, and then used his battle rifle to take out the other team, while the remaining members of his team ran to him. When the last few were left, a Covenant Grunt threw another grenade and the last Flood forms erupted. The same Grunt laughed out loud.

      "Not so tough are ya?" It then spit on a nearby corpse and went silent. Colin grinned. Sergeant McKinney opened up the exit door, which lead into another hallway and more trouble. Several combat forms had not entered the battle and stood waiting. One form launched itself forward, tackling and killing a Jackal, the striking a marine right across the face. The same marine's head flew off his body and the corpse fell. Colin fired at point blank range with his battle rifle, and the combat form dropped. The other forms were about to run in, when Corporal Strom tossed a grenade at them and Sergeant McKinney slammed the door shut. The grenade exploded, the door opened and dead, steaming Flood corpses fell into the room. Without a word, they moved down the hallway, stopping only to take out a few Flood stragglers and lost infection forms. They finally came across one of the armory rooms on the level.

      Colin rushed into the room first, killing a single combat form standing on its own. As the rest of the team filed in, several Covenant soldiers came out of hiding and joined them; two more Elites, three Jackals and two Grunts. They then went about cleaning out the remaining weapons and ammo in the armory station, and then exited via the door at the other end of the long room. They entered another cafeteria, which was alive with combat. Two Covenant teams were fighting a huge Flood army charging at them. A single Covenant Hunter strafed around, firing its fuel rod canon with amazing accuracy. Without even thinking, Colin rushed towards the Flood army, tossing two fragmentation grenades, and then firing his shotgun wildly. The others joined him, and Team 4 created a successful diversion for the Covenant teams to regroup and charge. The combined effort of Team 4 and the Covenant ensured their victory and the last five or so Flood forms ran out of the room. Another Elite stepped forward and the Elites with Team 4 saluted. The veteran Elite nodded at them.

      "Good to have the reinforcements finally come. We've been waiting for awhile" he said. Sergeant McKinney grinned.

      "We still got a few more rooms to explore on this level, and then we should be done. We'll regroup with the others and take out the entire Flood infestation on this planet" he explained. The veteran Elite nodded and then motioned for his team to fall in with Team 4. As they began filing out of the smaller cafeteria, Sergeant McKinney turned his radio on.

      "This is McKinney, we've recovered the Elite who Field Master 'Favlor was able to get a hold off. Finishing off this floor" he reported.

      "Roger that McKinney, good luck, out" came the voice of Lieutenant Pearson.

      Colin was leading them down another long hall, which wasn't as bloodied up as the others had been. They walked through two more barracks, killing small pockets of Flood resistance. They then finally reached a larger cafeteria then the other two, with an attached medical centre. This area was loaded with Flood. The last pocket of Covenant resistance was being taken out. Colin rushed in, firing several rounds with his shotgun, his team right behind him. However, two Flood forms turned, both of them holding Jackhammer rocket launchers. Colin was able to gasp and he pumped his legs, diving as far as he could to the left. Both the Flood forms fired and the large 102mm rocket shells struck Sergeant McKinney as he ran through the door.

      The resulting explosion was huge. Sergeant McKinney's body disappeared in an explosion of fire and blood. There was a huge scream from the other team members behind him as they were either vaporized or sent flying backwards. Colin had been able to dive far enough not to get burned; however, the shockwave of the explosion blasted him through a group of Flood and into a nearby wall. He hit it with such a force that it cracked. Colin then fell and hit the floor. The entrance he had come through was in pieces and covered with wreckage and rubble. Luckily, Colin was quick to recover and he sat up, regaining his senses. The same group of Flood he had been tackled through came at him, but he raised a shaky armor, holding his shotgun and fired, killing them with a few rounds. Carefully, he stood and did his best to fight off several other Flood who charged at him. He limped towards the entrance, tossing a single fragmentation grenade, which blasted the Flood forms holding the Jackhammers backwards. The remaining Flood in the cafeteria was focused on killing several Covenant Grunts and Jackals hiding in the medical centre. Colin knelt around the bodies of Team 4. A large majority of them had been vaporized by the twin blasts of the rockets. However, several marines and Covenant Grunts who had lagged behind to cover their six had not been caught in the blast. Corporal Strom was one of them and he stood, saluting to Colin, who saluted back with a shaky hand. All that was left of Team 4 was one Shadow Ops, four marines and three Grunts. Although he couldn't speak, Colin was cursing in his mind. He could definitely tell by the pain that his right arm was broken and he couldn't feel his left foot at all. Still, he limped back into the cafeteria with the rest of Team 4 and helped the other Covenant hiding in the medical centre, fight off the Flood. As Corporal Strom explained to the Covenant they rescued, their plan, Colin's radio beeped.

      "Shade, this is Dusk, we've been ordered to rendezvous on the first floor. There's a huge armory hangar, not too hard to find. When you've completed your mission objective, head down there" came the voice of Master Sergeant Henderson. Colin nodded, and then motioned for the rest of his team to follow him. They all wordlessly climbed down a stairwell they found from the cafeteria and opened the door to the first floor. They walked slowly through two barracks, one cafeteria, another armory station, then found the double doors that led into the hangar. Corporal Strom pushed them open, and helped Colin through. The pain in the sniper's foot was getting worse and he could barely walk. He took a moment to look around him.

      The hangar was quite large, slightly bigger than the hangars in human fleet ships. It was shaped as a square, and on the left and right sides were parking holders for M12 LRVs. Along the far wall were individual smaller hangars for six M8088 Scorpion tanks. There were only five Scorpion tanks and around fifteen Warthogs. Colin could see the other members of their infiltration force gathering around a Scorpion that wasn't parked in the hangar like the others. It was then that Colin noticed all the bodies in the hangar.

      Flood, Covenant and Human alike, lay dead on the floor. Obviously, the original marine defenders had been attacked in here, then the Covenant who had been here was killed, then the Flood who was positioned in here was taken out by Team 1. Colin and the others slowly walked to the rest. Thompson watched Corporal Owens and several others run to them. Colin stopped walking and could feel himself loose all consciousness. Slowly, darkness clouded his vision and he collapsed.




      Lieutenant Pearson looked up from the map he was holding and saw his sniper, Corporal Thompson hit the floor. He jumped off the Scorpion tank wheel ledge and rushed to him. Corporal Owens was already looking at him. He looked at Pearson.

      "He's got a low pulse and looks really winded. They must've been hit hard" he said, taking out some medical supplies. Pearson then looked up and could see that there was only a small fraction of the amount of troops left that Team 4 had been given. Corporal Strom walked to him and saluted. Pearson returned it.

      "What happened Corporal?" asked the Lieutenant. Strom's eyes glazed over.
      "Two Flood forms in a cafeteria were armed with Jackhammer launchers. When Corporal Thompson and Sergeant McKinney entered the room and the others followed, both the Flood forms fired a single round. I assume Corporal Thompson dove out of the way, but the shockwave got him. I had fallen behind; to make sure we didn't get flanked. Everyone was killed" he said, shaking his head. Pearson nodded, and helped carry Colin over to a medical centre in the corner of the hangar. He then took out his radio.

      "Shadow Ops 1 to USS Destroyer, reinforcements are required at this time" he said.

      "Roger that Shadow Ops 1, reinforcements on the way...."


TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops, Chapter 7: The Mine
Date: 27 June 2003, 4:18 AM

~*Author's note*~

      Just so no one gets confused, here is the Shadow Ops 1 squad...

Lieutenant Alan "Shadow" Pearson, Squad leader (assault, Red team)
Master Sergeant Jonathan "Dusk" Henderson, second in command (assault, Blue team)
First Sergeant Paul "Specter" Howe (assault/demolitions, Blue team)
Lance Corporal Colin "Shade" Thompson (sniper, Blue team)
Corporal Fredrick "Spirit" Owens (assault/medic, Red team)
Corporal Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson (support/radio, Red team)

~*End note*~

      "Bravo 213 to Lieutenant Pearson, come in please"

      "Roger that Bravo 213, I read you"

      "Sir, we are on approach vector delta nine and coming in hot. Where do I park this bird?"

      "We've managed to obtain Outpost Sierra. The hangar on the far right side of the base is open. Move in and drop off the package inside"

      "Roger that Lieutenant, Stormwing inbound"

      Lieutenant Pearson clicked his radio off, and then activated the hangar com system.

      "Pelican dropships on approach open the doors" he said, his voice blaring through the speakers placed throughout the large hangar. A single marine ran to a large control panel near the doors facing the Lieutenant. He lifted a small lid, and pressed several buttons. There was a huge screeching noise as the large doors that led out into the jungle, opened. Lieutenant Pearson walked forward, and watched as two Pelican dropships flew in low on the jungle canopy and arched their way inside the hangar. Bravo 213 hovered near the ceiling for a few seconds, before slowly descending to the ground, the dropship's engines sending dust and dirt flying all around. The troops positioned around the descending dropships all held up their arms to shield their eyes. Eventually, Bravo 213 and its sister Pelican stopped, hovering exactly ten centimeters off the ground. The troop bay hatches opened and twenty human soldiers leapt off each Pelican, and ran to the Lieutenant who waited for them.

      When the last human trooper had jumped off the troop bay, the Pelican's lifted off back into the air, and zoomed out of the hangar. Pearson gave his thanks to the pilot of Bravo 213, and then turned to face the soldiers walking to him.

      The fleet had seen fit to send the Lieutenant forty Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Lieutenant Pearson was sure that his men were confused as to how forty humans could fit into two Pelicans. It then came across Pearson that those weren't Pelicans, but were the UNSC's newest addition to its air fleet.

      They were called Angelwings, and were a lot better than the frequently used Pelican dropships. Pearson had read the statistics briefly. Same design as a Pelican, but the troop bay had been enlarged to hold twenty humans. The armor was the fleet ship standard; Titanium-A. The Pelican's only had Titanium-B, which was quite ineffective to plasma fire. The Angelwings also had two 40mm LAAG chain guns on the two stubby wings that stuck out of the troop bay. Also, placed right on the nose of the Angelwing was a 90mm HV (High Velocity) canon, equivalent to the one on the M808B main battle tank. It could provide excellent air cover for infantry forces and was made for battle/transporting.

      A single ODST trooper saluted to the Lieutenant. Pearson returned it and the big soldier stood at ease.

      "Sir! Master Sergeant John Cunningham, commanding officer of the "Iron Raiders" reporting for duty, sir!" he yelled. Cunningham was all military. The hat of a Sergeant strapped on tight, polished armor and boots. Clean face and bald head. Pearson nodded.

      "I'm Lieutenant Alan Pearson of Shadow Ops 1. Welcome to the jungle Master Sergeant Cunningham. We're just waiting for our Covenant reinforcements to join us, and then we'll be on our way. You and your men can just relax for the moment. We haven't had a Flood attack in the last two hours" explained the Lieutenant. Cunningham nodded at Pearson, gave another salute, and then walked towards the other marines who were gathered with the surviving Covenant troops. Pearson watched them for a moment, before turning to see Field Master 'Favlor approach him.

      "I just received word from Ship Master 'Gunamee. Covenant reinforcements are inbound" he said. Pearson grinned at his.

      "What are we getting from your fleet?" he asked. However, 'Favlor only clicked his mandibles at the Lieutenant as a sign of respect, then walked off to introduce himself to Master Sergeant Cunningham. Pearson stood their, rooted to the spot, then looked outside.

      The Outpost was positioned right on the edge of the jungle. To the right off the base was the lush, dense jungle, and to the left was a field of rolling sand dunes, with odd vegetation scattered among them. The entrance to the mines was a large hole in a huge hill made out of brown rock and dirt. From the schematics Pearson had uploaded from the outpost computer, the layout of the mine was quite simple. Starting from the entrance, it just spiraled downwards, much like the design of a screw. It was intended to dig the mine several miles deep (5.7 to be exact), however, Pearson suspected that they hadn't even reached two miles. His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of screaming. He looked up and realized that it wasn't screaming.

      True to its name, the Banshee's were heard before spotted. Pearson saw four Banshees flying in circles near the entrance to the hangar. Pearson was confused as to what they were protecting. His question was answered by two Covenant Phantom dropships that flew in and dropped off forty Covenant soldiers, two Covenant ghosts and two Covenant Shadows. The Phantoms dumped their loads quickly, and then took off, out of the hangar, the Banshees right behind them. Field Master 'Favlor walked forward from the gathering in the corner of the hangar and saluted to a black-armored Elite, who saluted back.

      "Field Master, I am Yuan 'Kilomar. Your reinforcements await orders" the Elite growled, its mandibles clicking and spreading open like a grin. 'Favlor smiled, and then motioned to Pearson.

      "This is Lieutenant Pearson. I and the Lieutenant are in charge of this operation. For now, you take orders from me, but if something happens to me, you will take orders from the Lieutenant" he said. The red-armored Elite saluted to Pearson, who saluted back, Covenant style. He then assessed their new reinforcements.

      Most of the Covenant reinforcements wore the black armor of the Special Ops. He counted thirty Special Ops Covenant. They were a mixture of Grunts, Jackals, Elites and Brutes. The remaining ten Covenant were made up of five Covenant Hunters and five Covenant Grunts. Pearson could only assume that the extra Grunts were meant to pilot the Ghosts and arm the canons on the Shadows. Lieutenant Pearson looked at the Covenant reinforcements once more, before yelling at everyone to assemble on him. The Human-Covenant forces made a thick circle around the Lieutenant and 'Favlor. Pearson couldn't even count how many were under his command. He guessed somewhere close to one hundred twenty. Pearson cleared his throat.

      "Welcome to Outpost Sierra. As you know, the tides of war have changed dramatically and we find ourselves allying with what was our enemy, but is now our friend. I and Field Master 'Favlor are in charge of this operation. Depending on what race you are of, you either take orders from me or him. If something happens to one of us, you take orders from the other one. It is as simple as that" he began. There was little motion in the crowd around him. Pearson continued.

      "A few kilometers away is the cause of our problems. This Outpost is positioned on the edge of a jungle. Beyond this outpost are rolling hills of sand and rock. There is a specific hill out there in that desert, which has a large hole in it. This marks the entrance to a mine, which the marine forces here at this Outpost had dug out." Pearson tapped his foot, and several of the armored tiles beneath his feet moved apart, and a holographic projector appeared. It showed the image of the desert floor, then hill with the hole in it, and starting from that hole, a spiral that lead into the depths beneath. Pearson looked up from the holographic projection.

      "This is a rough layout of the mine. It is shaped as a spiral, much like the one on a screw. The original plan was to dig 5.7 meters into the planet, however, data layouts have told us that the spiral only reached this far..." Pearson said. As his voice trailed off, the projection of the spiral shortened to more than half. There was a murmur of chatter, then silence as 'Favlor glared at everyone. Pearson continued.

      "Right here, where the spiral stops is where we are expecting that the miners encountered the Flood. However, another possibility is that they just had to stop digging, because the Flood emerged from a hole somewhere up here" Pearson said, pointed at various positions on the projection. Suddenly, the floating, rotating computer picture disappeared, and the projector retracted back into the ground. Pearson looked around at everyone.

      "We suspect that the Flood holding cells are large oval hallways that lead to huge spherical rooms, much like the other holding cells we've found on other planets. Our mission is to infiltrate this mine, find the entrance to the holding cells and take out the Flood inside. Field Master 'Favlor..." Pearson put his hands behind his back and let the huge gold Elite beside him finish off their briefing. 'Favlor's mandibles clicked together as he began speaking.

      "We suspect that the mine is huge and that three Scorpion tanks," 'Favlor pointed to the huge behemoths behind him. "Are capable of traveling through this mine side by side. Because of this, we have asked for extra vehicles, which is where the bulk of the power of our small army here comes from. We will travel in a quite simple formation. These Scorpion tanks will be in the middle of our group. In front of it, we will have eight Warthogs, one Ghost and one Shade. Behind the tanks, seven Warthogs, one Ghost and one Shadow. Those who cannot get onto a vehicle will jog among the formation. We would transport us all over there by air; however, both of our fleets are incapable of giving us dropships, since they need them all for the battles taking place elsewhere. Once we find the holding cells, we will stay in the formation as specified; however, we will shorten it down if we have too. Questions?" said the Field Master, finishing the debriefing. Master Sergeant Cunningham raised his hand.

      "The main purpose is to wipe out the Flood, or wipe out the holding cells?" asked the big marine. Pearson looked at the marine.

      "Accomplishing one of those objectives will accomplish the other. If we destroy the holding cells, we destroy the Flood inside them, thus killing off the Flood infection" he said. Cunningham nodded and fell silent. There were no more questions asked. Pearson nodded.

      "Well, let's get this show on the road. Drivers and gunners, get to your vehicles. We've already specified who will be riding the vehicles. Those who aren't gather near the hangar entrance" he yelled. Some of the marines and Grunts cheered. Everyone else merely ran to their tasks.

      Before Pearson knew it, the hangar was filled with sounds of engines rumbling and people shouting. The armory rooms positioned around the hangar where alive with moment, as marines passed out shotguns and other effective Flood killing weapons to the Covenant and to their comrades. Lines of troops rushed out to the vehicles around the room. Warthogs filled up with marines, rolled out of their parking slots and took up position near the entrance of the hangar. Scorpion battle tanks rolled out of their dark slots and allowed marines and Covenant alike to jump onto the huge platforms over their treads. They then slowly rolled into the middle of the Warthog formation. One Covenant Ghost, Field Master 'Favlor driving it, parked itself right in the front of the formation. The other Ghost went to the back, while the two Shadows, filled with Covenant soldiers, fitted themselves around the tanks. Everyone else stood around the vehicles. Before going to his Warthog, Pearson looked for his team.

      Master Sergeant Henderson sat in the gunner seat of one of the Scorpion tanks. First Sergeant Howe sat on one of the platforms off the same tank, Jackhammer launcher out and ready. Lance Corporal Thompson sat in the side seat of one of the Warthogs near the front of the formation, his battle rifle in his hands. Corporal Owens decided to run among the vehicles, and Corporal Clarkson held onto the massive 30mm LAAG chain gun on the back of a Warthog, grinning. Pearson jumped into the side seat of one of the Warthogs near the front as well, and then made a funnel motion with his hand, looking at everyone. With that single motion, the entire formation of combined vehicles slowly drove out of the hangar and into the scattered jungle. Pearson realized that this jungle vegetation around them didn't last long, and they were soon driving on sand, one of the two suns beating down on them. Pearson turned and could see the Outpost and the jungle shrinking behind them. Large rain clouds hung over the jungle and the Lieutenant could see lightning bolts flashing out. Soon, the jungle disappeared and Pearson turned to face the front.

      After a few more minutes of driving, his radio beeped and Corporal Owens's voice came through the Pearson's earpiece.

      "Spirit to Shadow"

      "Yes Spirit?"

      "Sir, an ODST sniper reports the sighting of the mine entrance, and a somewhat large Flood armor gathered around it" said Owens. Pearson cursed.

      "Roger that Spirit, notifying the army" he said, then switched frequencies.

      "This is Lieutenant Pearson, the mine entrance is just ahead, and however, a large Flood army seems to be guarding it. Everyone, prepare for battle. Under no circumstances is a vehicle to stop driving. We drive over these Flood bastards if we have too. Out" said the Lieutenant. The air around the formation became tense as they got closer and closer to the mine entrance. Pretty soon, everyone could see it and got more worried. Suddenly, his radio beeped again.

      "Spirit to Shadow, Flood army is moving" Owens said hurriedly. Pearson growled.

      "All personal, hold position, I repeat, hold position. Let the bastards come to us" he said, then readied his shotgun. Master Sergeant Henderson radioed the Lieutenant.

      "Sir, Flood army sighted, they are within range of Scorpion tank battle canon" he said.

      "Roger that Dusk, open fire, kill them all" he ordered. Not even a heartbeat passed, when the tanks fired their 90mm tungsten shells at the Flood army closing in on them. Even from his position, Pearson could see bodies go flying, but the army kept coming. The Scorpion tanks were able to fire two more volleys of shells, before the Flood army was too close to fire.

      "This is Wraith, Warthog's opening fire" reported Corporal Clarkson. Pearson's ears rang as fifteen LAAG chain guns started turning and letting loose dozens of bullets per second in the Flood. Pearson cursed as again as the Flood kept coming. They were to close. He activated his radio again.

      "All vehicles, break and attack, break and attack!!" he yelled, then tapped the driver of his Warthog, who revved the engines and sent them straight at the Flood. The other Warthogs and Ghosts around them did the same; however, the Scorpion tanks and Shadows didn't move. The two Shadows maneuvered themselves slightly and took up position around the tanks. The infantry that were stuck walking stood in between the tanks, firing off rounds into the en masse. The tanks would fire the odd shell into the army when they saw a huge gap. Pearson's Warthog and two other Warthogs flanking them drove around the army, along with the other vehicles, successfully surrounding the Flood. However, the Flood did not give up. They started firing their weapons at the 'Hogs and Ghosts and Scorpions. Pearson could even see Jackhammer rockets fly out of the mass of Flood, but miss their moving targets. The Lieutenant was reloading his shotgun, when the gunner of the Warthog in front of them took several rounds to his body, and fell off the chain gun. He flew straight at Pearson's Warthog, and bounced off the wind shield, bones breaking. Pearson winced, finished reloading and continued to fire. The marine who had been forced to squish himself in the back of the Warthog in front of Pearson, stood and strapped himself into the back of the 'Hog. However, no sooner did he get in, when a Jackhammer rocket smashed into the LAAG chain gun and exploded. The back half of the 'Hog exploded in a ball of smoke, flame and blood. The remains of the Warthog slammed into another 'Hog, which flipped over and skidded along the sand, crushing the driver. The surviving three marines ran towards the Scorpion tanks, firing rounds into the Flood army.

      Pearson tossed two fragmentation grenades, and then realized that they were winning. The Flood army was slowly being reduced to nothing. The last bit of damage they were successful in dishing out was blowing up a Warthog's front tire, sending it flipping into the air, spiraling over another Warthog and landing right side up, its occupants in the sand around it. Finally, the last Flood dropped dead, its tortured body in pieces. At that moment, the vehicles which had been driving around the ex-Flood army stopped and several occupants got out assessing their own casualties. After a few minutes, Pearson received word that they lost around seven marines and eight Covenant. Two Warthogs destroyed and one no longer useable, since the one of the tires was gone. They quickly reformed their formation and reached the entrance to the mine within minutes, encountering to more resistance. Pearson knew they didn't have to stop, and let Field Master 'Favlor in the Ghost in front of him continue into the depths of the mine.

      The Lieutenant could feel the ground beneath the 'Hog descending. The lights which the outpost marines had placed up weren't working, so they had to rely on the light given off by the 'Hogs and Scorpions. Pearson checked a computer layout of the mine and was able to calculate that they had reached the halfway point of the mine. So far, all Pearson had seen was a few bodies of dead marines and Flood, and some destroyed vehicles. Other than that, they had encountered no resistance.

      Pearson's thoughts betrayed him, and without knowing, groups of Flood leapt out of the darkness and landed among the ranks of the formation. Pearson could hear screaming all around him and ordered everyone to stop. He jumped out and was bumped by something. He turned his flashlight on and saw the deformed head of an ex-marine looking at him. The Flood combat form leaned back, about to whip him, but Pearson brought his shotgun up and fired, blowing the ex-marine into two. He then keyed his radio.

      "Shadow Ops, on me" he ordered. Shadow Ops 1 materialized out of the darkness, providing cover for the Lieutenant, as he ran up the line of vehicles. He strapped his helmet on and activated the night vision on his visor. Immediately, everything around him light up. Groups of marines and Covenant were crouching around the 'Hogs and Scorpions, using their flashlights or any other type of light to take out the Flood. Pearson watched one particular Flood jump up high, and as it fell to he ground, it lashed out with its whip at a marine holding one of the 30mm chain guns on the back of a Warthog. The marine gave a yelp, and fell off the 'Hog, dead. Pearson shot the Flood form as it charged at them, then ran towards the back of the vehicle formation, as the Flood had emerged from small holes in the ground and were assaulting from behind. He and his team crouched low, firing their shotguns. Pearson and Henderson paused to throw a frag grenade each. Howe turned and fired a Jackhammer round at a Warthog, which had Flood forms crawling all over it. The 'Hog exploded, sending the Flood around it flying. As Pearson fired his lat cartridge, he realized they were wasting time here. He finished reloading, and then started running back to his 'Hog. He keyed his radio.

      "Everyone! Back into formation. We're wasting time here, we've got a mission to complete" he yelled, jumping into the side seat of his Warthog and killing a Flood form following him. The response was quick, and the vehicles around him light up again and engines rumbled. A different marine driver than before, turned the key to their 'Hog. Pearson glanced at him, still firing his shotgun.

      "Go, go, go!" he yelled. The marine revved the engine and the formation started moving again. Most of the infantry that had been running were now on vehicles, and from Pearson could see, virtually no one was running on the ground.

      The Flood didn't give up though. Those that had survived chased after the formation, firing shots from the various weapons they held. Several marines on the back of the 'Hogs fell off them, dead. It was then, as Pearson finished reloading again, that they reached their destination.

      As they rounded another bend, the formation came across a wall. However, in this wall, was a large door, that was open. Standing around the door, were several Flood forms. Pearson gasped, when he saw three Jackhammer rockets shot out of the darkness around the door and smash into three Warthogs, blowing them up on the spot. The Warthogs behind them smashed right into the ruins, and formation of vehicles became disarrayed. Pearson's Warthog came to a stop and he jumped out, tossing a frag grenade as he landed on the cold, hard ground. The other members of the army began getting out as well, and defending their position. The Flood moved in from the front and behind. 'Favlor, who had abandoned his Ghost, split the army up into two parts. Pearson commanded one team, which engaged the Flood around the door to the holding cells, while 'Favlor and the others took out the Flood that had been chasing them down the mine. Pearson and his Shadow Ops formed a firing line, from which the soldiers under his command stood by and firing their weapons into the Flood that came at them. Dozens of them fell dead, but others kept on coming. A single Flood remaining that held a Jackhammer launcher. It was able to fire off one last round, which struck the ground between two Warthogs. The all terrain jeeps spiraled away from each other, in smoking ruins and collided with the other 'Hogs parked around them. Pearson and his team split up and flanked the remaining Flood. With a few shotgun blasts and one well placed frag grenade, the last of the Flood were killed. 'Favlor and his team joined them, the Flood they were supposed to kill, dead.

      Pearson did a quick count. Overall, they had lost nine Warthogs, leaving them with six. One of the Ghosts had been destroyed, and they had lost less than half of their soldiers. The "Iron Raiders" had seven ODST troopers KIA. The Covenant Special Ops had lost nine of their group. Corporal Strom, who had been promoted to a Sergeant by the Lieutenant, reported around twenty or so Marine Regulars dead. Pearson accepted this. Despite some of their heavy losses, they had managed to reach the entrance of the holding cells with more than half of their army. The mine had been a difficult obstacle, however, they overcame it. Pearson slammed in a few more cartridges, then looked up and keyed his radio.

      "All right, we're half way there people. Saddle up, let's get ready to move..."

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

Shadow Ops, Chapter 8: End Game
Date: 1 July 2003, 2:55 AM

~*Author's note*~

      Just so no one gets confused, here is the Shadow Ops 1 squad . . .

Lieutenant Alan "Shadow" Pearson (assault, red team)
Master Sergeant John "Dusk" Henderson (assault, blue team)
First Sergeant Paul "Specter" Howe (demolitions, blue team)
Lance Corporal Colin "Shade" Thompson (sniper, blue team)
Corporal Fredrick "Spirit" Owens (medic, red team)
Corporal Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson (support, red team)

      Well, Chapter 8, the last one in the Shadow Ops saga, hope you all enjoy it

~*End note*~

      The entrance to the holding cells was more than fifteen feet tall, and when the old
titanium doors groaned open, Lieutenant Pearson calculated that it was around twenty feet
wide. Three Scorpion tanks, exactly side by side fit perfectly through the entrance, following
a small group of Warthogs and a single Covenant Ghost. Behind the first three tanks, Field
Master 'Favlor commanded the two Shadows given to them, followed by the other three
tanks. Pearson jumped into the side seat of another Warthog and nodded at Corporal
Clarkson who had jumped into the gunner's seat. The ODST sitting in the driver's spot,
turned the key and the engine of the big jeep roared. Their 'Hog skidded forward along the
sandy ground and fell into formation behind the remaining three Scorpion tanks.

      Their combined force of Humans and Covenant had successfully made it through
the mines that the marines of Outpost Sierra had created in a large desert that apparently
stretched on for miles. Along the way down into the mines, they had lost several marines
and Covenant troops, since the Flood combat forms had a habit of jumping out of the
darkness and striking with their deadly tentacle whip. So far, Pearson felt they were lucky
to have made it this far, and he prayed that their luck would hold. They were now entering
the hardest part of their mission.

      This wasn't the first time they had encountered Flood on a planet out in the
Andromeda galaxy. According to library data files, Human forces had encountered Flood
resistance on at least eleven other planets in their current system. In most cases, the
marine forces allied with the regional Covenant team, yet when they had defeated the
Flood, the two superpowers would start fighting again. Pearson was praying that wouldn't
happen here. He felt there was a strong chance nothing would happen, since he had seen
many Covenant troops help out the marines and vice versa. Still, Pearson was worried.

      They sped down a large hall, dotted with odd blue and purple markings. The only
light given off was from the headlights of the human vehicles. They drove down this single
hall for a few minutes, before reaching another door. As the large convoy stopped and
waited, Pearson got out of the Warthog he was in and ran to the front. He found the 'Hog
his sniper was in, ordered the marine in the back to get out, and manned the 30mm LAAG
chain gun. When it was confirmed, the marine had found Pearson's old 'Hog, the
Lieutenant gave the go-ahead, and the large doors in front of them parted. Pearson heard
the driver of his Warthog gasp.

      The Human-Covenant convoy entered an enormous room. It was oval-shaped, and
Pearson couldn't even begin to calculate how big it was. The convoy stopped in the middle
and took a moment to look around. The room was lighted by individual spot lights
positioned on the walls as they sloped up to the top. Pearson noticed a large metallic
catwalk that ascended in a spiral up the wall. Spread out along the catwalk as it moved up
were doors. Pearson could tell that many of the doors were opened, but he noticed some
that weren't. He swore to himself for that last train of thought.

      The doors that were not open, opened, revealing hordes of Flood combat and
carrier forms. The sound of their gurgled barking filled the room. The Flood sighted their
enemy and began sprinting down the catwalk toward them. Pearson's jaw hung down for a
second, before he swivelled his chain gun to face his enemy and keyed his radio.

      "Open fire!" he roared. The Scorpion tanks fired first, sending six tungsten shells up
into the air. The explosive uranium slammed into parts of the catwalk and walk, ripping
apart the old metal and blowing up dozens of Flood forms. Pearson began pressing his
thumbs on the two individual firing triggers, and setting lose thousands of bullets onto the
Flood. The rest of the Warthogs did the same, and the air around them was filled with
bullets and the odd high-powered uranium shell. Pearson noticed that from this distance,
the Scorpions were the most effective. He stopped firing for a moment, then activated his
radio again.

      "All vehicles, follow me. Scorpion tanks hold position" he ordered. He clicked his
radio off, then patted the driver on the back. The marine revved the engine, and they sped
off to where the sloping platform started. The Flood were moving fast, and as Pearson's
'Hog parked itself, the Flood rained down upon them. Pearson began firing his chain gun
again, ripping apart dozens of them, and as the rest of the convoy parked around him, the
Flood were slowly pushed back. Carrier forms erupted, killing their own, and sending
dozens of infection forms out onto the metal ground. Pearson's attention however was
focused on the leaping combat forms. He did not see the infection form that crept up
beside their Warthog and grabbed hold of the marine sitting in the driver's seat.

      The moment the screaming started, Pearson stopped firing. The driver howled with
pain, and jumped out, thrashing about and running around in circles.

      "Get off! Someone get it off!" he screamed horribly, as the Flood infection form
taped into the man's spinal cord. Lance Corporal Thompson, who was sitting in the side
seat of Pearson's 'Hog, stood up, and fired a single bullet. The round smashed into the
marine's head and out the other side. The marine fell, and the Flood infection form
popped. Pearson knew that what Thompson did was the right thing. Better a quick and
easy death than a long and suffering one. Pearson was about to show his support, when
several Flood combat forms broke through the interchanging lines of fire and landed on
several Warthogs. Pearson turned his chain gun around, and watched an infested Elite
land on top of Warthog several feet away. It lashed out with its whip, and the driver flopped
out of the 'Hog, blood flowing from a gash in his head. The man in the side seat stood,
whipped out a stolen plasma grenade and attached it to the Flood, which swung its whip
around, and sent the gunner flying backwards. As the marine jumped out, the Flood
realized the glowing blue orb on its back, and chased after the marine who had put it on it.
The man screamed, then stopped as the Flood erupted. The resulting explosion engulfed
both of them. Pearson fired at another Flood which landed behind them, then felt pain go
up his back.

      At first, he thought it was an infection form, but then felt the object causing the pain
retract, then come at him again. However, Pearson jumped off the back, rolled and fired
two rounds at the chain gun. The Flood form standing near it fell off it, falling into pieces.
Pearson began retreating back, as more and more Flood forms appeared. Thompson
jumped out, planting a single grenade under the 'Hog, then bolted after his Lieutenant. As
the Flood swarmed around the vehicle, it erupted, sending the forms flying. Pearson
jumped into the side seat of another Warthog and was about to fire, when he stopped.

      The Scorpion tanks rolled forward, each firing another tungsten round at the
beginning of the platform. The remaining Flood surrounding it, disappeared in an explosion
of flame, smoke and pieces of metal. There was a moment of silence, then Field Master
'Favlor ordered them all back into formation. Pearson realized that this was just one of
several holding cells, and they had to get going. The 'Hog he was in lead the way out of the
holding room they were in and traveled in another hallway, to the next one.

      After at least an hour of exploring three additional holding rooms and killing off
loads of Covenant, the remnants off the convoy arrived in the last holding room. However,
as the vehicles fanned out, Lieutenant Pearson knew that this was no ordinary holding
room.

      A large, cylindrical, pulsing white core, throbbed out energy in the back of the room,
and Pearson could make out a few scattered Flood combat forms, walking around it.
Pearson raised his field binoculars and realized that many of these Flood forms were
injured. As he continued to watch, he witnessed the wounds on the Flood forms' seal up,
and also witnessed arms and other limbs regrow. He lowered his binoculars, and ordered
his team to open fire. They fired a few bullets each and the Flood surrounding the core
dropped. The convoy then moved forward, and they all jumped out of their vehicles to
observe the core.

      From what Pearson had seen, it was some sort of rejuvenation core and healed
wounds. The Lieutenant waited a second, to see if the pain in his back would go away,
then realized that it wouldn't. This core obviously only healed Flood forms. He sighed at
this, then looked around. This particular core room was much like the other rooms they had
encountered, however, this healing core pulsed near the middle of it.

      "Are we done? Can we go?" Dozens of marines and Covenant began asking
questions like these. Pearson looked over at 'Favlor, who shook his head. Pearson
nodded, but thought some more before he made a decision.

      He took a moment to survey the remaining troops. Many of them were exhausted
and he could see some laying down in the Warthogs, or just standing against them. Many
of them had racoon eyes. The Covenant Grunts were low on methane and he could hear
their methane rigs wheezing as they breathed slowly. The Jackals whined a lot, but the
Elites seemed fine. Pearson then made his decision. He motioned for 'Favlor to come to
him.

      "Get a group of Elites who are willing to stay here and defend this place" he merely
said. Although he could tell 'Favlor was confused, the big Elite didn't ignore Pearson and
choose five Elites who weren't complaining. 'Favlor quickly nodded at Pearson, who turned
to look at everyone.

      "We've made it to the center, my congratulations to you all. This is where we part.
Although we've killed the Flood down here, there are still tons up there on the planet, and
even if we are successful in killing most of them off, the survivors will just find their way
back to this core and heal themselves. That is why, we must destroy the core and to do so,
means leaving a few people behind to defend the HAVOK nuclear mine that will be planted
here" Pearson began. A lone ODST stood up from the 'Hog he relaxed in.

      "Why do people need to stay behind? What is there to defend the mine from?" he
asked. Many others around him agreed.

      "Like I stated, there are still Flood forms that are up on that planet. Many of them
most likely know that their healing core is in danger, and they will send everything they got
at us. That is why, only a select few will remain behind, while the others will get back to the
Outpost and call in for evac" he explained.

      "How do you know the Floods are coming?" the same ODST asked. Pearson
lowered his head.

      "Because I've seen it happen before and I do not wish for it to happen again. Myself
and Field Master 'Favlor are staying behind, as are the Shadow Ops 1 squad and five
other Elites, which 'Favlor has chosen. The rest of you, will get onto a certain number of
vehicles and get yourselves off this planet and at the same time, get evac ready for us" he
said. No one moved, no one breathed. Pearson looked at them all, then nodded.

      "We will only need a few vehicles to stay behind, the rest can be used by you" he
said. Master Sergeant Cunningham, leader of the Iron Raiders was about to protest, but
Pearson's cold stare made him check his motion and nodded.

      "Tenn-hut!" he roared. The marines and ODSTs saluted, as did the Covenant.
Pearson nodded at them all, and saluted back. They then went about securing the vehicles.
Many of the people not staying, left their weapons behind, which Pearson was grateful for,
since he was low on shotgun ammo. He asked for three Scorpion tanks, three Warthogs,
the two Shadows and one Ghost to remain with them. The rest of the vehicles were then
loaded up with the remnants and, under the command of Master Sergeant Cunningham,
zoomed off toward the exit to the core room. Pearson watched them all do a twenty-one-
gun salute, then turned his head as they disappeared behind the closing doors. He
surveyed what was left.

      His Shadow Ops squad remained loyal to him and each of them supported his
decision. The Elites stood silent, arming themselves with shotguns. Pearson then went
about setting up some sort of defense system they could use.

      As a first line of defense, he placed one Scorpion tank, one Warthog and one of the
Shadows nearest to the entrance. Behind that, he had a second line of defense, the exact
same number of vehicles, except instead of the Shadow, he had the Ghost positioned
there. The last line of defense was exactly like the first, but it was positioned near the
starting of the platform that sloped up and around the pulsing core. If things got really bad,
which he expected they would, they would abandon the vehicles and move up the platform.
The last person standing would detonate the mine, no matter what. The defenses were
mostly 'Favlor's doing, yet it was his idea to use the platform. After they set up the HAVOK
mine and Pearson strapped the detonator to his belt, the air around them went quiet, and
they waited.

      They didn't wait long. The ground beneath their feet began to tremble. Pearson
thought maybe it was an earthquake, but when the doors that lead into the core room
began to get banged on, he knew it wasn't an earthquake.

      "To arms!" he roared, grabbing his shotgun and rushing to the first line of defense.
He jumped into the side seat on the lone Warthog, Clarkson in the back. Master Sergeant
Henderson jumped into the Scorpion tank, and the rest of the squad seated themselves
onto the large platforms along the side of the tank. One of 'Favlor's Elites manned the
plasma turret mounted on the Shadow, and the rest of the Elites took up positions around
the second line of defense. Pearson could feel his entire body firm up as the doors began
to open. He could hear the Flood before they started to pour into the room. The first Flood
form that stepped into the core room was blown away by a tungsten uranium shell. The
Flood behind the now dead grotesque form were blown away by the blast, and the others
were then cut down by LAAG fire, plasma fire and shotgun fire. Pearson had his MA5B
assault rifle out and was pouring rounds at the Flood as they squeezed through the crack.
As he reloaded, he knew that this battle wouldn't last long and could only hope that their
evac would come soon. After more groaning, the huge titanium doors parted, and the
Flood poured into the room.

      "Fall back!" ordered Pearson immediately, jumping out of the Warthog and rushing
to the other one behind him. As the Shadow Ops squad retreated, the lone Elite in the
plasma turret did not. As the Elite was jumping out of the turret, a 102mm Jackhammer
rocket slammed into the Shadow, blowing apart the front of it, and sending the lone Elite
flying into the nearby wall. Pearson was at the second Warthog again, a remote detonator
out. He watched the Flood crawl around the old Warthog he was in, then pressed the
detonator button.

      Before he had retreated, the Lieutenant had placed a non nuclear Hades mine. The
Warthog erupted, as did the Scorpion tank. Henderson had done the same for the tank.
The destruction of both vehicles however, barely dented the Flood's numbers and more
kept coming. As Pearson fired, he realized that most of the Flood attacking them were
combat forms. He couldn't see many carrier forms, which worked to his disadvantage.
Normally, he would target the carrier forms around the Flood. When the carriers erupted,
they took out the Flood surrounding it. An idea dawned on him. Where the Flood getting
smarter and learning from their mistakes? His idea was answered by a plasma grenade,
thrown by a Flood form, than landed on the Ghost, one of the Elites was driving. Roaring a
battle cry, the Elite went kamikaze and drove straight into the Flood. The grenade
exploded, taking out the Ghost and the Flood around it. Pearson swore out loud, and
planted another Hades mine to the Warthog he sat in.

      "Fall back!" he yelled again, running to their last line of defense. The squad moved
quickly, as did the remaining Elites. They armed themselves with the last of their vehicles
and starting firing again. Pearson was about to detonate the Hades mine, when his mouth
dropped.

      The Flood were giving the abandoned human vehicles a wide berth. At their range,
Pearson's mine wouldn't kill a single one.

      "What the fuck?" he whispered, then kept on firing his nearly empty shotgun. It was
true. The Flood were getting smarter and learning. And sure enough, as the Flood closed
in around them, Pearson knew that this battle would be over soon. He didn't bother planting
a mine in the vehicle. He merely ordered them to fall back again. As Pearson ran for the
platform, his squad running around him, he realized one person was missing. He turned.

      Corporal Clarkson was still firing the 30mm LAAG chain gun at the oncoming
Flood. If he didn't get out fast, Pearson would lose his support expert.

      "Wraith, get the fuck out of there! That's an order!" he yelled. However, Clarkson
couldn't hear him. Suddenly, as the Corporal gritted his teeth together to stop them from
falling out of his mouth, the chain gun stopped firing bullets. Clarkson swore, and was
about to get out, when a plasma grenade soared from the Flood horde, and landed right on
Clarkson's chest. Corporal Daniel "Wraith" Clarkson, Shadow Ops 1 support expert
looked at the grenade.

      "You have got to be kidding me?" he said. The grenade detonated, and Clarkson's
question was answered. The explosion of the plasma grenade took out the Warthog
Clarkson had been in. The heat wave struck the frozen Lieutenant, who held his hands up
to cover his face as he was blown backwards. Pearson was hauled up by Henderson, who
looked at the burning Warthog.

      "Fuck! Come on Lieutenant" he yelled. Pearson nodded quickly and followed his
second in command. The two of them sprinted after the rest of the group, who had
stopped, to open fire at the Flood swarming around below. As Pearson ran, he watched a
single Flood form leap up, and grab one of the Elites by the head. The two of them
plummeted to the ground, the Elite screaming horribly. Field Master 'Favlor was almost
alone, save for one last Elite. The two of them tossed plasma grenades, then kept moving.
Henderson and Pearson reached the others, who were tossing fragmentation grenades at
the Flood. First Sergeant Howe unslung his Jackhammer rocket launcher.

      "Go guys! I got ya covered" he roared, loading two rockets into the tube. Lieutenant
Pearson nodded, then motioned the rest of this squad to move forward. Henderson lead
the way up, and Pearson slowly brought up the rear. He turned to toss a frag grenade, then
watched Howe for a moment.




      Paul Howe was success in firing two rockets at the Flood. He grinned to himself as
the 102mm rockets blew half of the Flood coming at him back. Suddenly, as he was
reloading the Flood charging up the platform opened fire with the assorted weapons that
they held. Immediately, dozens of bullets smashed into Howe like hail stones. He
screamed, dropping his Jackhammer into the depths below. Paul stood there, dozens of
projectiles smashing and exploding into his body. He let out several screams of pain, then
dropped to one knee. The onslaught of firepower stopped, and the Flood continued their
charge. Paul knelt there on the spot, blood pouring from his mouth and wounds, pooling on
the surface below. He was shaking and twitching as the pain increased. His knuckles were
white as he clenched his hands into fists. Paul looked up and watched the Flood approach
him. Still alive, he turned to look at Lieutenant Pearson who was firing at the Flood,
screaming his name. Paul gave him a weak salute, then collapsed. He lay there, his life
beginning to darken. As he slowly began to fade away, Paul grabbed a single Hades mine
and detonator, then without evening thinking, he pressed the firing button.




      Lieutenant Pearson watched horrified as Howe's prone figure turned into a ball of
flame and smoke. The explosion ripped through the platform, causing many of the Flood to
fall off. Pearson looked away, and sprinted after his team, tossing a frag grenade at the
Flood still charging after him. As he ran, he could see the last of 'Favlor's Elites running
toward him. However, a Jackhammer rocket fired from below, smashed into the wall under
the platform, sending the Elite into the air, a trail of blood and flame in its wake. Pearson
fell backwards momentarily, then stood, feeling his skin burn from the heat. He jumped over
the large opening in the platform and ran after everyone. His team had stopped
momentarily, and he could see Thompson and Owens using their MA7B battle rifles to pick
off the Flood coming after them. Henderson knelt near them, looking crestfallen, as did
Field Master 'Favlor. Pearson had no words of comfort to offer them. He patted both of
them on the back briefly, then ordered everyone to keep moving. 'Favlor however did not.

      "You guys go on, I will hold them off here. The detonator must not fall into the hands
of the enemy" he said. Pearson was about to protest, but the big Elite pushed him away.

      "Go! We're wasting time!" he roared, pulling out a shotgun and plasma sword.
Pearson stood up, then motioned his team to run. He watched as 'Favlor let out a huge
scream, then rushed down the platform, firing the weapons he held in his hands. 'Favlor's
shotgun blew apart Flood forms in twos and threes. His plasma sword ripping apart others.
His shields flared as several combat forms struck him with their whips, but he did not stop.
He tossed his shotgun aside, and drew a second plasma sword, then ran into the Flood,
hacking away with them. He continued to push them back, screaming with anger and pain
as he killed more and more Flood. Finally, a single Flood form lashed out with its tentacle
whip, and ripped 'Favlor's head off. The headless Elite stood frozen on the spot, until the
Flood forms pushing him off the platform and continued up the platform.

      Pearson watched 'Favlor's body plummet to the ground far below them. He swore,
but kept on running. He was now done to three members left of his Shadow Ops squad.
Clarkson and Howe were dead. Pearson began to worry as they reached the top. He
turned to see the Flood relentlessly pursuing them. Pearson unpinned his last
fragmentation grenade, and tossed at them. He watched satisfied as it detonated, creating
a large gap between the front of the Flood movement and the back. He then hurried to
catch up with his team, who were approaching the end of the platform. The three of them
stopped when they reached the edge and turned to look at Pearson who slowed down to a
trot as he approached them. He took a moment to look down and didn't look down again.
They were so high up, it made Pearson afraid of heights. Normally, he never was, but upon
looking down at the swarming masses of Flood below, he would never stand on a tall
structure again. He heard gun fire around him and knew that it was time. Henderson and
the rest of his group began firing their weapons as the Flood approached. Alan Pearson
crouched among them, firing his nearly depleted shotgun.

      The dead Flood began forming small towers as the Shadow Ops killed more and
more of them. Pearson reloaded the last four cartridges into his shotgun and fired two of
them immediately, killing three Flood rushing at them. As he was about to fire the last one,
he heard the roar of engines, then the sound of automatic gun fire. Pearson turned around
and grinned.

      An Angelwing, the newest addition to the UNSC army, flew low into the core room,
searching for survivors. From the markings on its tail and wings, Pearson knew it was
Bravo 213; "Firebrat"

      "Lieutenant Pearson to Gunship Bravo 213, we're up here Firebrat" said Pearson
breathlessly into his radio. The Angelwing ascended upwards, firing its 40mm chain guns
and High Velocity Canon. It stopped, so that the cockpit of the gunship faced them.

      "How you doin their Lieutenant? Just let us turn around and we'll pick y'all up" said
Firebrat. Pearson nodded, and then turned to fire the last round in his shotgun at a Flood
wielding an active plasma grenade. The Flood form dropped, the plasma grenade
detonated, and the Flood force coming at them were dead. However, Pearson could see
that another force was coming after them. He whipped out his M6D pistol, activated the 2x
scope positioned on the top of the barrel and fired off some rounds. Lance Corporal
Thompson did the same with the remaining bullets in his MA7B battle rifle. Owens and
Henderson helped direct the Angelwing to a secure position. Pearson paused to reload
and saw Master Sergeant Cunningham and four ODSTs jump out of the troop bay and
assist them. The leader of the Iron Raiders grinned.

      "Your pickup is here sir, time to go" he said, firing his shotgun at the approaching
Flood.

      "My team goes first Master Sergeant" Pearson said, motioning to the three last
members of his team, who were helping out the ODSTs. Master Sergeant Cunningham
nodded. Pearson turned.

      "Dusk, Shade, Spirit, in you go!" he yelled. Corporal Owens went first. One ODST
remained inside the troop bay and helped the field medic in. Owens sat near the edge of
the bay, still firing his own battle rifle. The ODST reached out for Thompson, grabbed him
and pulled him in.

      Suddenly, a hail of bullets and plasma projectiles struck the ship and the Angelwing
lurched. Thompson, who was still hanging into the ODST, fell off the platform, and hung
there, dangling in mid air, as the gunship turned to fire at its enemies shooting at it.
Pearson turned.

      "Thompson, hang on!" he roared, not caring about their code names. The big ODST
grabbed hold off both hands, and pulled. However, as he pulled, a single needler round
flew at him, and stabbed right through the space between his neck and collar bone armor.
The ODST let out a gasp of pain, then the needle exploded, blowing out a part of the man's
neck. The dead ODSTs grip disappeared, and slowly, Thompson began to fall. Luckily,
Owens lunged forward and grabbed one of his hands. The ODST fell out of the Angelwing,
disappearing into the depths below. Owens was slightly stronger and pulled the sniper into
the troop bay, exhausted. On the platform, Pearson breathed a sigh of relief and directed
the Angelwing to its original position again. Thompson lay in the back of the bay, breathing
heavily, and Owens stood ready to receive more people. Pearson and Henderson were
both occupied however, as the Flood continued to come at them. One of Cunningham's
marines took a round to his shoulder, then had a plasma grenade land on him. He was
about to scream, when Master Sergeant Cunningham pushed the man off the platform. As
the marine fell, the grenade detonated and vaporized his body. No sooner did that happen,
but an ODST fell from continuos plasma round blasts. That left one more ODST next to
Cunningham. Pearson wasn't aware of Owens who was screaming at him to get in. As
Pearson turned to get in, a fuel rod canon blast slammed into the side off the Angelwing
and the ship staggered away again. Owens dangled out of the troop bay for a moment, but
pulled himself in. Pearson was about to help the gunship back into position again, when
Henderson screamed out.

      "Oh shit!" The moment Pearson turned, it seemed that time stopped and Pearson
was living in that moment. He could see two Jackhammer rockets flying at their position.
Henderson stood there, pointing at them. Master Sergeant Cunningham, and his last
ODST were firing at the Flood. Pearson couldn't believe what was about to happen.
Slowly, time seemed to speed up. Pearson winced and closed his eyes . . .




      Corporal Fred Owens shouted at the pilot of the Angelwing to get back into position
when suddenly, an intense wave of heat and flame blew at him and he went flying at into the
troop bay. He looked up and watched two 102mm Jackhammer rockets slam into the
platform where Lieutenant Pearson and the others had been standing seconds ago. Bits
and pieces of metal and shrapnel slammed into the gunship, and Owens covered himself
as an even bigger wave of heat slammed into him. He could feel his skin burn as the heat
wave hit him. He let out a scream, then stopped as the wave of intense heat disappeared.
He looked up and could see the huge crater, which marked the spot where the other
members of the Shadow Ops squad had been standing moments ago. Owens was about
to scream out in anger, when a Flood form leapt forward from the platform it stood on and
landed on the troop bay. The infested marine looked around and spotted Owens, standing
there. It stepped forward to smash him with his whip, but Owens reached out and caught
the tentacle before it hit him. The smell of the Flood was terrible, but he adapted to it and
held the Flood form back. He reached for his sidearm, and felt nothing. Cursing, he kicked
out with his feet and the Flood form fell backwards. Owens quickly ran to Lance Corporal
Thompson's prone figure, reached for his pistol, but the Flood form lashed out successfully
and ripped a hole into Owens' armor. He screamed, whirled around and without thinking,
slammed his fist into the infested marines' grotesque face. The head of the ex-marine
exploded, but the Flood kept coming. Owens stood there, helpless, when suddenly, he
heard pistol shots coming from behind him. The Flood form staggered backwards, then
Lance Corporal Thompson rushed forward and slammed his boot into the Flood forms
screwed up chest. The combat form fell out of the troop bay and down to the ground below.


      Thompson turned and grinned at Owens, who smiled, but stopped. The Angelwing
was leaving and the crater which had once been Lieutenant Pearson and Master Sergeant
Henderson disappeared, as the gunship carrying the last two members of the Shadow
Ops 1 squad left the core room, and sped off through the hallways and through the other
holding rooms. As they left, Owens watched the Flood forms still running toward the core
room. He couldn't believe the amount of Flood that covered this planet and was quite
happy as the amount of Flood lessened as they reached the mine and picked up speed.
Owens took out the detonator Pearson had handed to him, and as they reached the
exit/entrance to the mine, he pressed the firing button.

      Far below, in the depths of the Flood holding rooms, the HAVOK nuclear mine,
which had been placed right in front of the pulsing healing core exploded. A tidal wave of
flame, shrapnel, and explosive gases flew through the corridors, vaporizing the Flood still
running through it. As the Angelwing accelerated away, the desert floor began to crack,
and large columns of fire blew through them. Slowly, the entrance to the troop bay closed
and sealed shut. Owens looked out one of the side windows and watched the planet
Vegas VI fly past him. All over the surface, the planet's crust began to crack and boil.
Flame and smoke burst through them, igniting everything around it in flame. Owens
watched as the jungle he had fought in for several days became nothing but a smouldering
waste land of fire. However, the view of the jungle eventually disappeared, and Owens was
awarded with a view of the armored hull of the Gamma-class battle cruiser, the UNSC
Hyperion. The Angelwing floated through the huge hangar doors, then hovered on the spot.
As the large titanium doors closed, the Angelwing descended to the floor and shutdown.
The troop bay door opened, and Owens and Thompson stepped off and onto the cold steel
flooring off the hangar. Medical teams rushed to them, as did the Captain of their vessel.
Captain James Craywell saluted at Owens and Thompson, who returned it. The Captain
nodded.

      "Well, who are you boys?" he asked, obviously thinking that Shadow Ops was dead.
Owens looked at Thompson, then back at the Captain.

      "We're the Shadow Ops sir" he said.

      The UNSC Hyperion picked up the last of the Angelwing gunships carrying dozens
of marine divisions, then turned hard to port and began to accelerate out of the system, the
rest of its fleet, and the Covenant fleet right behind her. The alliance that went on at the
planet, spread out throughout the Andromeda galaxy and soon spread to Earth and the
Covenant home world. The two races allied and began to purge the universe off the Flood
infection. And it all started with a six-man team, going on a scouting mission. Lance
Corporal Colin Thompson and Corporal Fredrick Owens were both promoted. Lieutenant
Owens became the leader of Shadow Ops 2, and had Master Sergeant Colin Thompson
as his second in command. Shadow Ops 2 participated in nine out of thirteen Flood
purging missions, completing each of them. Section Thirteen continued training Shadow
Ops, until the Spartan-IV series came out, at which time, the Shadow Ops were no longer
needed. Section Thirteen was destroyed and no one ever spoke of Shadow Ops again.

      Thank you all for reading my story. So long...

By: Agent Shade

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