Fireteam Glory

[SpartanKaze]

Ebooks are fairly easy to make as far as I know.

[RedThree]

Fireteam Glory Part 133
Everything felt cold, his hands and legs numb from the weightless void he was floating in. Lawrence slowly opened his eyes and tried to see where he was. He was in the river’s dark, muddy waters, surrounded by small pieces of debris. His lungs were burning, crying out to his body for oxygen. He quickly oriented himself and found the direction to the surface. Quickly swimming upwards, he broke out from beneath the river’s surface gasping for air. He was struggling to keep himself afloat because of his water-logged uniform and armor. The next thing he did was locate the nearest shore, which was nine meters to his right. Swimming to the shore, limbs aching from his fall into the river, he dragged himself into the muddy undergrowth with what little energy he had left. He was exhausted, breathing heavily and fighting off the desire to fall asleep. Laying in the mud, his mind raced in a mixture of worry, fear, and anger.
“I should be dead.” The first thought in his mind that wasn’t directly tied to nearly drowning, and it was that. “I should be dead, but I’m not. That’s good. Pelican… the Pelican! It was going down when I got ejected! I have to find where they landed.”
With a plan in mind, Lawrence forced himself to stand up. His legs felt weak and his vision began to blur, but he managed to get to his feet. His uniform was soaked with cold water, leaving him chilled in the night wind. A light sprinkle of rain had begun to fall from the sky and soaked his clothes even further. Lawrence knew that if he didn’t get out of the rain, he’d only get more wet so he began to make his way into the trees. Before long, he was feeling weak and losing his sense of direction. He was cold, tired, and hungry from not eating in a while. Wandering in this state would only get him lost, he knew that the river was his best chance at navigating the jungle and finding the crash, so he closed in on the sound of running water and followed it until he saw it again. Looking further down, he spotted several sections of rock that looked like they could offer some shelter from the weather. Slowly, making sure not to stumble and fall into the river, he made his way to the rocks. Luckily, a small cluster of rocks formed a roof and several walls.
“Could make for a half-decent shelter.” Lawrence thought to himself over the growl of his stomach. He slid down the rocks and walked into the small outcropping. Sitting down on the hard, cold stone floor allowed him to let his aching legs rest. Now that he was out of the rain, all he could think about was his stomach. He was very hungry. He remembered his pack, which was still with him after all of this. Hungrily, he took it off of his pack and began to rummage through it. He took out a single MRE package, looking at the label to see what it was. To his luck, it was the barbecue pork ribs. He always had liked this one the most, even if it still tasted horrible. Not that he really cared. Right now, food was food. Pulling open the plastic package, he saw five large food packages, a spork, and a flameless ration heater bag.
“I’m going to need some water for this.” he thought to himself. “Maybe there’s something in this bag that can fix that.”
He rummaged around in the pack until he found a packet labeled “UNSC Water Purification Tablets.” Standing up, he walked to the river and bent over to fill up the empty beverage bag with some river water. The water was mostly clear, but he could still tell that he was going to need to use a tablet to make it safe for drinking. He popped a tablet into the bag and picked up the ration heater packet to bring it over to the river. With some water in the bag, he quickly brought it over to the rest of the MRE and put the pork ribs, along with the side of rice and beans, into the bag. Shaking it, he left it to reach a boil while he looked at the water. It had gotten even clearer, which made him smile. He hadn’t realized just how thirsty he was as well as hungry. He picked up the water bag and pulled out the water flavor packet included with the meal. It was the raspberry flavor, another one of his favorites. He poured the flavor into the purified water and closed the bag to shake it up. The water became a pretty pink color as he shook. Taking the package of crackers out of the MRE, he enjoyed his drink as he waited for the rest of the meal to warm up. The drink was sickeningly sweet, but somehow sour at the same time, and the crackers were flavorless and flat. At least his stomach didn’t mind. There was a small bag that had a cheese paste inside, which he squirted onto the crackers to give them something resembling flavor. After he had finished the crackers and the raspberry drink, he checked on the ration heater. When he opened it, thin wisps of steam rose out of the bag. Removing the two bags of food from within, he decided to go for the rice first. Opening the bag, he was greeted by the inviting smell of warm food. He remembered the first time he had tried the rice and beans part of the MRE, he had hated it. But now, he found himself excited to dig in.
“Maybe I hit my head on something.” he jokingly said to himself as he put the first bit of rice and beans into his mouth. As he expected, it was unpleasant and off-putting, but it did warm him up a little and filled his empty stomach. He hungrily shoveled the rest into his mouth and moved on to the pork ribs. The barbecue sauce was a dark red color, which coated the entire patty. He never understood why it was called a “pork rib” meal if it was a patty, rather than ribs. Regardless, he poked the meat with the spork and took it out of the package, chewing bite after bite. It wasn’t terrible. He was amused at the fact that he found himself wishing he had seconds! Finished with his dinner, he quickly stuffed all the garbage into the main packet and closed it before putting it back in his pack. Eating had definitely curbed his growling stomach, but it had also made him even more tired. Part of him just wanted to curl up and fall asleep, but he knew that it was too cold to go to sleep soaking wet.
“Maybe I could build a fire?” he asked himself. “I have the stuff to do it. No, there might still be Covenant air patrols out there. If the smoke didn’t give me away, the thermal reading probably would. Maybe these rocks might be enough to cover the heat? It’s either find a way to warm up or continue to be cold and soaked. Oh forget this, I’ll build a fire! I’ll just need to stay awake to make sure there’s no Covenant aircraft approaching.”
He got to his feet and walked out into the jungle a bit, gathering any wood that looked like it could burn. When he had a fair-sized pile in his arms, he turned around and walked back into the cave to get the fire going. Soon, there was a nice flame burning brightly. The warmth was nice and he got a little closer to let his clothes dry. He undid a few of his armor pieces, setting them to the side so he would dry quicker. Then, he took off his boots so his feet could dry as well. As he sat staring into the fire, his mind drifted and his vision blurred a little. The cave was warming up nicely. Combined with a full stomach and fatigue from endless fighting, he was quickly lulled into a deep sleep.

[SrgtGreen]

Do homework like I should, or read the next part of Fireteam Glory?

Do homework like I should, or read the next part of Fireteam Glory?

Do homework like I should, or read the next part of Fireteam Glory?

READ FIRETEAM GLORY!

[Thelvadamee132]

“Do I
“NO”
”How about
“NO”
“Maybe
“NO!”
“Then what?”
“Read fireteam glory again, that’s what”

[RedThree]

Fireteam Glory Part 134
As the night passed, Lawrence laid in the cave resting. The fire continued to warm him as he slept, but his mind wasn’t at rest. He tossed and turned, mumbling to himself as a nightmare began to enter his brain.
“Hello?” Lawrence shouted into the space around him. It was dark, making it hard for him to see. But there was a smell. It was a horrible, musty smell that enveloped his sense of smell. Looking around, trying to trace the source of the smell, he realized that it wasn’t from a single source. It was all around him. Covenant aliens appeared from the shadows, quickly surrounding him. They were distorted and disfigured, nightmarish in appearance. His heart began to race as he stared at the gaping jaws of Jackals and Elites, glazed eyes all set on him. Brutes and Grunts grumbled and snarled, Hunters standing tall behind them all with small worms falling from their armored shells. The only place he could look with seeing those abominations was the floor, where he spotted an assault rifle laying at his feet. Instinctively, he leapt for the weapon and rolled into a crouched firing position. He sprayed the monsters with bullets, dropping them by the dozens. When the magazine emptied and the gun stopped its rain of death, he had cut them all down. The sick feeling in his gut vanished, replaced by a feeling of dread as each of the fallen aliens began to stand once more. There was a demented form of laughter rising, growing louder as more of the beasts rose to their feet. It got so loud that the ground began to tremble. The Covenant horde closed in on him. He looked for more ammunition, but found none. The horde fell upon him like a massive wave, dragging him far into the ocean of bodies. The stench returned, rotten like carrion that had been left under the sun for countless days. Helplessly, he thrashed against the alien limbs as he was dragged down further and further. Soon, the light began to fade and soon he would be left in darkness.
In the distance, voices shouted his name. “Lawrence! Lawrence… where are you!?” They sounded desperate. “Lawrence? Wait, is that-” The voices were replaced by screams as screeches of alien monsters fell upon them. It was a horrid orchestra of noises, guttural and animalistic in nature. It became deafening as the last beams of light were vanquished.
He awoke with a scream, shooting upright into a sitting position before looking around wildly to see the monsters surrounding him. To his relief, there were no monsters. Only the smouldering embers of a dying fire and the angelic rays of sunlight peaking into the small cave.
“I must have fallen asleep.” he said. “Shoot, I need to get going! The crash site can’t be far!” He quickly put his now-dry boots back on, then stood up to pack the rest of his things. With his armor back on and his gear ready, he put out the last embers of the fire before stepping out of the cave and looking at the jungle around him. The land was a vibrant blend of greens, browns, and all other colors. The sky was streaked by beautiful clouds that were now relieved of their heavy burden of rain. He could smell damp soil on the humid air. To the southwest, he spotted just what he needed. A few columns of smoke rose from somewhere in the jungle. He knew that was where he needed to head now. Since the river went in that direction, he figured that he would travel along it until he was closer to the crash. He quickly took out his canteen and filled it with river water before putting another purification tablet in along with it. Hooking the canteen back into its place, he set off down the river to find the crashed Pelican, and hopefully reunite with the rest of Glory and the others. While he walked, he couldn’t get the disturbing images of his nightmare out of the back of his mind. He decided to try whistling the Marine Cadence tune to distract himself, filling the air with his off-tune music. It took him a moment to remember that whistling was a bad idea when he was in potentially hostile territory. He continued along the river in complete silence after that, left with only his thoughts and the jungle’s sounds to keep him company.

[RedThree]

Bit of a shorter part this time around, but the next part will be far more meaty in terms of events I think. Might be a few days, so stay tuned!

[Thelvadamee132]

Ooh, meat. Me likes meats.

[RedThree]

Fireteam Glory Part 135
The Phantoms had landed at their destination. The subtle movements and rocking Cass had been feeling for the past hour had completely stopped. Purple glows lit up the ramps of the Phantoms as they lowered, and everyone onboard was unloaded roughly. A Brute picked up Teresa, who was too weak and tired to fight back, and dragged her behind itself. One of the large, ape-like aliens grabbed Cass and roughly brought her to her feet. She was led down the loading ramp along with everyone else. She took the opportunity to observe the area. They were in a small valley, with the jungle surrounding them on all sides. There were small, temporary Covenant structures set up all across the valley floor, with watchtowers atop large barricades covering the jungle’s edge. She saw several rings of energy fields set up nearby. Inside the shields, other marines and civilians huddled in corners or sat out in the open. There was suddenly a commotion to her left, drawing her attention. Booth and Santos were struggling against the Brutes that held them, shouting obscenities as the Brutes overpowered them. One of the Brutes got close to Santos’s face, which let him seize the opportunity to spit in the alien’s face. It was startled by the action, but it quickly overcame its shock and embarrassment while its pack laughed. It wiped away the spittle and snarled as it slammed Santos into the floor. He groaned as he laid on the ground, curled up in pain.
“Relax.” Cass said to them. “We don’t want to make these things upset.” She glared upwards angrily at the Brutes standing near her. “Not yet anyways.”
Booth snarled. “I intend to do more than make them upset when they give me a chance.”
The War Chieftain stepped forward to examine the captives. Cass stared back hard when the alien’s blood-red eyes fell upon her. Seemingly pleased with the bounty, it barked orders at its underlings. The marines were taken to one of the pens and tossed onto the muddy ground inside. No longer being handled by the Brutes, they all stood on their own and looked around at each other. A few of the prisoners who were already inside when they had arrived walked over. Looking at their tattered and muddy clothes, Cass saw that one of them was an Army trooper.
The first person to step forward was a bulky man with dark skin and a brown stubble, clad in the uniform of the UNSC Army. “So, the Covenant got you too huh? Name’s Jarvis, lance corporal Jarvis Carrigan.” He had a calm, smooth voice. That’s Calvin, a police officer from New Mombasa,” he pointed at a thinner man to his left, “and this is Nelson.” He pointed at a wider man on his right. “He’s from an Optican facility.”
“Well met, Trooper.” Cass said as she accepted Jarvis’s help sitting Santos up. “I’m Gunnery Sergeant Marissa Cassidy from the 105th Shock Troopers, just Cass for short. The rest are Marine Fireteam Glory and November Squad survivors.”
“Well, judging by your armor,” Jarvis said, “I can tell you’ve been through a lot recently. Gave the Covenant one heck of a fight, didn’t you?”
“Anything else you’d care to point out, Captain Obvious?” Booth snapped, scowling as she wiped some mud off of her arms. She took a look at their new prison. She turned to Cass. “These walls are about ten feet high and I see several watchtowers covering all the pens. Plasma turrets on each one. Looks like this is a main base of operations, Gunnery Sergeant.”
“Lance corporal,” Cass said as she looked back at Jarvis, “what’s the situation here?”
Jarvis sighed. “I’ll give it to you straight, Gunny. I have no idea. They captured us and rounded us up onto their dropships, then brought us to this camp to lock us up. We were brought here on the first flight, what, not even six hours ago?” He looked to Nelson, who nodded in agreement, then continued. “There were sixteen prisoners of us in the first set of drop offs. You came in on the second flight, so you bring our number up to twenty-two. There are nine of us in here, with the other thirteen spread out through the other pens.”
“Well, whatever the Brutes have planned, we don’t want to be here when they decide to put that plan into motion.” Cass said. “You’ve been here a but longer than us, have you seen anything of note in their patrol style or weaknesses in the perimeter?”
Jarvis shook his head. “Negative. They’ve got the place locked down as far as I can see. Patrols are constantly coming by and those watchtowers are watching the jungle for any approaching threats… or escaping prisoners.”
Booth looked to the south of the encampment, seeing a large path that led into the jungle that was covered by a single watchtower with minimal guards and no walls.. “Think I have something. I’ll describe it to you, don’t want to draw too much attention to it. They seem to have left a gap in the defenses, likely used for sending out vehicle patrols. Only two of the gas-suckers and a beak on top with no sign of a plasma cannon.”
Cass nodded, taking a chance to grab a look at the opening. “Understood, Staff Sergeant. We’ll keep that entrance in mind. I want you to keep an eye out for vehicles coming and going, let’s see what they’re sending out into the jungle.”

Near where Cass and Booth were talking, Teresa and Santos were sitting on the wet ground. Santos could still feel the ache in his back from when that Brute had thrown him to the ground. He looked over to his right, staring at Teresa a meter away. She was staring far into the distance, seemingly oblivious to everything around her. Santos decided to slide a little closer to her and see if he couldn’t get her attention.
“Hey,” he said to her, “are you alright, Doc?” She looked pale and he could see thin lines where small tears had run down her face. Gently waving his hand in front of her view, he realized that she wasn’t focused on anything. “Hey, Elizabeth?”
Booth spun around immediately at the use of her first name. She wasn’t pleased by the distraction from her observation. “What is it Santos, can’t you see I’m-” She immediately shut her mouth when she saw why Santos had called for her. “Teresa…” she whispered as she looked at the deathly still medic. “Teresa, can you hear me?” Reaching out and putting her hand on Teresa’s shoulder, she was minorly relieved when the touch snapped her out of her trance.
Teresa breathed heavily and fast, suddenly aware of her surroundings. She softly muttered something inaudible to everyone, then broke down crying.
“Teresa!” Booth gently grabbed the medic by her shoulders. “Hey, come back to me. Calm down. It’s a lot to take in, but I need you to focus right now.”
“They’re dead!” Teresa cried. “They’re both dead, and there was nothing I could do to save them!”
Booth felt a small pang of sadness in her heart. She knew that the ‘they’ Teresa was referring to was Ivanoff and Lawrence. She looked at the ground for a minute, trying to suppress the tears welling up in her own eyes. Ivanoff has been like a brother to her, and he had been a good leader through thick and thin. She couldn’t help but feel lost without him there to help her think of a plan to escape. She had barely known Lawrence, despite having been in the same unit for nearly a year and a half. In her experience, the new guys rarely lasted long so she hadn’t bothered with getting too attached. She hated that she was right this time, as she knew that Teresa and Lawrence had been starting to become good friends after all they had been through.
“I know we’ve lost two teammates in one night, but you can’t just give up Teresa!” Booth said as she tried to comfort Teresa.
“Just leave me alone…” Teresa muttered. “There’s nothing we can even do right now. I just want to sleep.” She tucked herself further into her knees, hiding her face in her legs so that nobody could see her crying.
Booth let go off Teresa and backed away to give her space. Santos did the same and took a place at Booth’s side.
“She might be right, you know. Maybe there isn’t anything we can do now.” Santos said, looking at Booth with a serious concern in his eyes.
She had always respected that about Santos. Even if she couldn’t stand his personality most of the time, at least he knew when it wasn’t time to joke around. At least most of the time.
“We aren’t just going to give up.” Booth said, clenching her fists. “There has to be a way to get out of this, and we’ll find it… or die trying.”
“Well, I just hope we can get out of here without anyone dying.” Santos forced a nervous laugh out of himself. “I know it's a long shot, but do you think the kid made it?”
Booth sighed. “His chances are slim, but I really hope he did. If all else fails, he might just be our only way out of here.” Looking up into the sky, she let some of the light rainfall run down her face as she caught faint glimpses of the stars in the night sky.

[SrgtGreen]

First impression, good as always. I read it in a rush. I’ll reread it later, it’s worth rereading.

[Rogue-Elite]

11/10 needs part 136