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Bloodgulch CTF [part 1]
Posted By: WRATHofGOD<wrathofgod@halo-zone.com>
Date: 4 August 2004, 5:29 PM
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Master Chief felt himself being put back from a zillion pieces, heard an audible indication that he would be reconfigured and teleported back to his base in 5...4...3...2...1.
He called for a status report over the comm, and scanned the area in front of the base. Green nav indicators painted his team's position. 2 blue indicators flashed on in his HUD, and as he waited for the third, the green arrow in the direction of the enemy based winked out. Even from where he stood, he could hear and feel the rocket explosion that took out his team member. Frustrated, he nearly jumped on the comm and bereted the remaining team members for not covering each other, being too impatient. He checked his anger, remembering that he too, had just wasted a "life" trying to do too much alone. He knew the team was ready for this stage of training, he knew they were a good unit. Everyone called this training area- "Bloodgulch". His team had spent countless hours refining tactics here, and they were familiar with every inch of real estate. The current training operation was code S2018 - Base defense and attack. They had a flag, and the "enemy" (group of 4 other SPARTANs) had a flag. They were tasked with both defending and attacking to retrieve the enemy flag and retain their own.
Currently, their flag was bouncing around in the cargo area of the "enemy" warthog which had unceremoniously ran over chief just 20 seconds ago. The teleportation system technology had been replicated and improved- allowing the SPARTANs to recreate combat far more efficiently. This allowed them to "die" and yet be "re-spawned" back to their base. This still didn't mean that getting hit with the butt of a rifle didn't hurt, and both teams would need weeks in the infirmary to recover from the brutal beatings taken during combat. All rounds were live, all explosions real. The chief could feel pain spike in his back where the front tire of the warthog had hit him an instant before he was teleported to effectively save his life. Pain kept him alert, and generally pissed off. That was good, though- it caused him to concentrate better.
They needed direction, a plan to follow. Hopefully they would see his purpose and start to modify it.
"Blue team fall back, Blue 2 set up a sniping position in the cave entrance to the left of the base. Blue 3 take the warthog, and stay in the middle of the dark side of the canyon. You are sniper support, block the tele-porter and don't let anything by. Be ready to provide attack support on my call. I suggest you outfit with a Jackhammer, and your linked scope pistol."
Two acknowledgement lights winked on.
"Blue 4 outfit with defensive weapons, load heavy on grenades. Stay in the general base area- keep moving, but keep out of site. If you spot overwhelming force, call for backup. Blue 2 will report any incoming enemy. Roll out the welcome mat."
Another acknowledgement light popped up.
"I will teleport up the right side, and infiltrate. On my mark, Blue 4- move to Blue 3's area, provide sniper support and defense. Blue 3 get the warthog to the front door of their base. I need the passenger side FLUSH with the base opening. Blue 2 engage targets at your discretion." He wanted the directions to be quick and confusing. He needed them to learn how to retain and evaluate intel in hostile environments.
"We'll take the flag back, Blue 2, and Blue 4 fall back on my mark. Acknowledge."
3 Lights came up- not a word over the comm. The chief smiled in his helmet. Good. They need to work without speaking to one another, non-verbal communication in the battlefield is crucial. The chief briefly thought back to the short stint aboard the unyielding hierophant- the covenant had triangulated their comm channel, broadcasting their positions every time they tried to communicate. They had paid with a life. The chief would make sure these recruits would learn that lesson.
"You know the score -let's end this game. Be smart, cover each other, and rely on your training. FALL OUT."
The chief heard the warthog start up, he watched as Blue 3 tore around the base driving towards a path that led to the mouth of the cave. As he neared the path, he saw blue two leap from the warthog, land in a crouch and was a blur as she sprinted up the path. The SPARTAN swooped down and grabbed a quartet of plasma grenades just before entering the cave.
Meanwhile Blue 3 drove the warthog around the point of the canyon wall, to the left of a steep hill, and up another path leading toward a set of caves. He had two choices; he could park the warthog behind a large bolder to partly conceal it, or go ahead and put it in a nearby cave. He figured if the enemy got close enough to get to the warthog before he did, he wouldn't have a chance anyway- so he shut the warthog down in the cave. The sound echoed as the trusty warthog went silent. He clicked the comm once over a private channel to Blue 2, got a double click in response. The area was clear. He bounded out of the cave directly toward the jackhammer rocket launcher which lay at the base of a small tree. He exchanged it with his AR and in one motion, put the launcher in 2x zoom, scanned the enemy base, and ran backwards to the mouth of the cave.
"Sir! I have a contact" Replied the excited recruit. He heard his squad leader, SPARTAN 012 grunt over the comm. He then heard footsteps behind him- Red 1 wanted a look himself. Red 4 pointed to the middle of the canyon- "when I got up here, I saw the contact retreat back into the cave- I'm not reading anything on my radar now." Red 1's mind raced- a diversion, or the attack? He ran through the absolutes- he most likely had a rocket launcher, so he would assume he did. Any other vehicles with him? He couldn't tell.
"Take red 2, get the warthog and enter the backside of that cave- have red 2 coordinate and enter the front of the cave just after you get in...trap him in and take care of him."
"Yes sir!" Red 4 hadn't had the best training session, he was in more pain that he could imagine having. He had been hit by a rocket earlier, was certain he had multiple broken ribs, probably internal bleeding. Breathing was a monumental effort. He pushed that aside, their instructors had taught them to use pain to become more aware, more alert, and he was sure as heck able to supply the pain. He opened a comm to red 2 and got the warthog ready.
With her angle, blue 2 could cover the tele-porter and the base without having to move. The right side of the canyon was her blindside, which she knew blue 3 had covered. Once she saw blue 3 back into position at the mouth of the cave- she reported in:
"Blue 2 and 3 in position"
The chief went into the base to exchange his AR for a shotgun. Linked with his pistol, he felt good about his plan, and mentally rehearsed his movement on his way up the ramp to the top of the base. He saw two grenades lying on the deck, and immediately added them to his grenade belt. Two blue lights showed themselves in his HUD. He heard "Blue 2 and 3 in position" over his comm. He wasn't much for wasting time.
"Blue team fall out! Cover each other, overlap your lines of fire. The red team has a flag I want. Blue 1 out."
Before he could enter the tele-porter he had heard all 3 acknowledgement replies. As soon as he teleported to the midsection of the training area, things started to go wrong in a hurry...
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