Episode 3: Autumm - Chapter 1
“Humid, dark, and slimy,” said Evan, the team’s sniper. “Just how I like it.” After getting off of the Pelican dropship, all of the Spartans stood their and looked at their surroundings. It was said that within the dense jungle, there was a crevasse somewhere hidden in it, and it supposedly the main chapter of the powerful rebellion force, the Holy Spirit, was in there.
“This is as close as we can take you,” said the Pelican’s pilot. “Apparently the crevasse is covered up by the canopy, and we’ve almost reached the point of no return. The Holy Spirit must have screwed around with the UNSC’s GPS system, because there’s a huge blind spot right about here.”
“Well, we better get started,” said Anne, the team leader. “That hole could be just about anywhere.” The Spartans headed into the miles of trees and exotic plants. “We better turn off our motion trackers, the jungle is constantly moving.” The Spartans switched off their motion trackers.
“This is going to make us pretty damn vulnerable,” said Jack, the tech and equipment expert “What are we going to do without a knowing where the enemy is. We can’t even use thermal vision; this place is crawling with life.” The team of five marched through the jungle, guns ready, expecting anything and everything to ambush them at any time.
They came across a small quicksand pit. “I don’t know about you guys,” said Victor, the weapons expert. “But this looks like it could be of use to us.”
“Agreed,” said Anne. “Jack, Victor, you guys stay here and cover this pit up. You can catch up with us later.” While the two Spartans stayed back and laid a potential trap, the rest, Anne, Evan, and Carmine, the team’s ‘ninja’, proceeded ahead, deeper into the jungle.
“I’m picking up heat signatures half a kilometer ahead of us,” said Evan. “Looks like a rebel camp. I suggest that one of us scout it out, see what’s there, and what kind of equipment they have.”
“I’ll do it,” said Anne.
“No,” exclaimed Carmine. “What if you get captured, held prisoner. What if you get killed? We can’t continue this mission without the team leader.”
“Don’t worry,” replied Anne. “I’ll be back before you know it. In the meantime, you guys split up, see if there are any more rebel camps.”
And with that, Anne headed off into the dense foliage.
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“Vic, Jack,” asked Evan over a com channel. “How ya holding up over there?”
“We’re almost done setting the trap,” replied Victor. “All we need is some bait.”
“We just found a rebel camp earlier,” said Evan. “Anne is scouting it out as we speak.”
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Anne, sneaking around, carefully, in the jungle’s canopy, came across the rebel camp. It was big, alright; a few tents, some supply crates, even a Ghost. There were several Grunts, some Elites, and two Hunters.
She dropped down, came up behind a few napping Grunts, quietly assassinated them, and dragged their bodies back into the bushes. As she was dragging the last of the Grunt corpse, and Elite walked b, which she responded to by quickly tossing the grunt behind one of the tents, and snapping the Elite’s neck. She would’ve interrogated one of them, but the circumstances weren’t good for that sort of thing.
She finished assassinating the last of the Elites, and radioed back to the others.
“Jack, Victor,” said Anne. “Is the trap all set up? I’ve got a couple of Hunters that I could use it on.”
“Yeah,” said Jack. “It’s all set up, I’ll position it on your GPS, so you know where to run to.”
“Okay,” replied Anne. “I’ll bring ‘em up.”
Anne decided to pick up some equipment, including an energy drainer, a few Carbines, and an Energy Sword. She also remembered the Ghost; she could use that…
She picked up a rock, and tossed it at one of the Hunters. That got it mad. She started towards the Ghost as both Hunters charged after her, one of them catching up fast. She ran as fast as she can, but just as she was about 20 meters from the Ghost, one of the Hunters smacked her with it’s huge fist and sent her flying to the ground. The Hunter was nearing her, but she couldn’t get up quickly enough. The Hunter readied its arm, its elbow facing here. Anne shut her eyes. Just as the Hunter was striking, she heard a loud bang! She opened her eyes to find the Hunter dead, lying face first in the dirt next to her. It was Even who had thrown a plasma grenade at the Hunter’s back.
“Get in the Ghost!” yelled Evan. “Go go go!”
Anne quickly sprang up, got in the Ghost, and drove full speed in the direction of the trap. Evan quickly jumped onto the Ghost. The Hunter was charging fast at the Ghost, tearing through the dense jungle, ripping apart the trees, furious at the Spartans for its fallen comrade.
The Spartans were just 30 meters away from the trap, when the Hunter, feet away from the Ghost, hit the tip of the back of it, which sent in careening into the trap area.
“Jump!” yelled Anne, as they both leapt from the Ghost to some tree branches. The Hunter, who was still charging at 50 mph, blind with rage, was too late to avoid the quicksand, and fell in. It was so heavy and dense, the Hunter sunk quickly, unable to escape.
“That was close,” exclaimed Evan, out of breath. “C’mon, we better regroup.” Evan tried to radio in with the rest of the team.
“What’s wrong?” questioned Anne.
“Dammit, the radio’s not working, I’m just picking up static. I better check the GPS… what the hell? I’m not seeing anything!”
Both Anne and Evan suddenly realized the horrible truth, as three distress signals appeared on their visors…
To be continued…
