My 1st mission

nonamenoname Join Date: 2002-04-30 Member: 556Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Just the begging, more to come, maybe...</div>"lock and load...4 minutes" said sgt. valls sternly.
i pull the slide back on my pistol and hundredes of hours on the traning feilds flashed back to me, i let go and racked a bullet in.  it felt natural, like i was born for this. i did the same for my light rifle and remembered the first time i fired it.  
the thing slamed into my shoulder, it was the first gun ive ever fired in my life, it felt good.  i let the gun hang at my side as i rubbed my shoulder thinking "this is the LIGHT rifle? cant wait to see the heavy version"
"hold the rilfe tighter and u wont bust ur girly little shoulder." the drill sgt said in a mean, commanding voice.
"yes sir!" my response was loud and clear. im already starting to become a machine i though as i fire a quick burst at the target down range.

i sat looking around the cramped crew compartment of the L.S.A.C., land. space. assault. craft., or, as us grunts call it, the coffin.  we call it the coffin because they have a simple box-with-wings look, there very small, very fast, and very well armored.  they way marines are delpoyed it the best part, the coffin will (in space) fly parallel to the infected ship and latch on.  inside, the coffin is drenched in red light.   the coffin then cuts many small holes into the hull of the ship.  before this happenes, the coffin diables any "hull breach" alarms that might go off as a result of the cutting, itd suck if they knew we were comming.  through these holes the coffin throws small phase gate becons, the coffin then patches the holes it made.  
the coffin is then flodded with green light.  the marines inside activate their personal phase gate and get ported into the ship.  this all happenes in about 1 minute from when the coffin latches on.  this precedure is very similar for land missions, but with out the latching on and cutting, so in a land mission we can depart almost as soon as we hit the ground.
this, however is not why its called the coffin.  its called the coffin cuz, although it has quite alot of armor, there are no escape hatces.  i guess thoes military geniouses figured that sence 98% of missions occure in space theres no real place to escape to... that sucks.

"2 minutes" valls said ominously.
well, were assulting some infested ship cruseing stright at an important planet rich in many valuable minerals, if its course in not changed it will slam into the planet uttlerly destroying it.
2 minutes huh, well if its a good day ill be able to look back on this moment, hopefully with pride.  if its a bad day ill probly be dead in 3 min.
god i hope its a good day.
the coffin shook violently, we were latching on.  my vision went red as the lights switched on, my heart was pounding in my chest, my stomach was a tangled knot and my foot was tapping as fast as a machine gun.  split second later there was a distinct, high pitch whining noise as the lasercutters did their work.  i checked my equipment and adjusted my helmut.  the becon tubes are connected and dumping the last of the phase becons.  "marines! on your feet! remember the mission! as soon as we port move aft towards the cargo bay. secure the cargo bay and establish a perimeter!" sgt valls yelled.  the patching was complete and the coffin was flooded with an erie green light. "NOW!" Valls yelled.  we activated our phase gates and i closed my eyes as i ported.  i felt an odd tingly sensation all over my body, my ears popped and my stomach felt like it was on a rollercoster as i was ported on the ship.  i opened my eyes as i fell a few inches onto the metal floor of the infested ship "Star Strider".
 
"clear!"
"clear!"
"clear!"
"clear!" everyone yelled in a wisper.  it was dark and quiet in the corridor we ported to.  there was a steam pipe that was slowly venting steam and making a quiet hissing noise, least i hoped it was the pipe making the sound...
"cargo bay, spread out, get moving!" growled sgt. valls.  20 marines lerched forward as if one entity, 3 in front huggin the walls and checking the corners on point, 4 guys, including the sarg. covering the point men in a lose group, 8 marines, with me, behind the lead group ready to support the front or rear and covering the cealing, 5 guys make up the rear group.
 
we moved through the darkened foggie corridor towards the cargo bay.
"blood, leading to the cargo bay" said adam in a morbid tone.  adam is a pretty big guy, looks very intimidating but is actually quite friendly, sometimes. hes 6'2" and 235lbs. of muscle, he has a square jaw and an all around neanderthal look to him, i mean that in a good way.  he was on point.
"where u expecting confittie and a red carpet?" spat sgt. valls "be alert, and move on"
"hump, dont slip" adam said with a venomis tone.  adam kinda has a problem with athority, i often wounder why the hell he joined the frontiersmen.
 
"thats alotta blood" murmered bill,  he was a well built guy, not as big as adam, but not weak by any means.  he was a little shorter then me, standing at about 5'11", and has a square jaw like adam, but his brow isnt as low, hes broader then me and one of the toughest mother f**kers i know.  adam and bill are my closest friends in the squad.  
"looks like the body was dragged into the cargo bay" i wispered back
"cut the chatter" demanded sgt. valls
i could see the footprints in the blood where marines in the front of the group had walked through it. the blood was splattered on one side of the wall, at the base of the wall is where the bloody draging marks began.
"found the body" reported adam grimly "this guy is really f**ked up"
"fan out" commanded valls.

we all moved into the cargo bay, it is a pretty spacious place filled with boxes and small towing veachiles creating something close to a maze.  chains dangled from the ceiling, clanking softly.  then i saw the body, the first dead human body ive ever seen.  it was greusome, and it stank.  
the body had many lacerations on it, across his arms and legs, but the most notable was the big one across the midsection going from the hip diagonally up to the shoulder.  that had to be the fatal one, the mans innards were spilled infront of him, probly the cause of the large blood streak on the floor.  

i was frozen in place and fighting back the bile rising from my stomach when it happened.
"BOB'S!!!" adam screamed at the top of his lungs as he, and the 2 other point men went down on one knee.  the bobs lept over a large metal box, 4 of them, they landed with a loud "THUD".  everyone moved up to form a line behind the crouched marines and fired in wild, long bursts.  the marines weapons barked with deafening thunder and tracers filled the air in the split second the bobs showed themselfs.  one was torn asunder and splattered across the box, the second lost a limb but seemed not to care and charged into the hail of death.  it came inches away from adam before it died, riddled with holes.  the other 2 lept over the 3 point men and into the awaiting marine line.  one was stoped in mid air and dropped lifeless to the floor. the 4th was killed in mid air but its dead body slammed into the marine standing mere feet from me.  the bob was still twitching when the marine pushed it off, he held his ribs as he muttered "medic".

"sweep the cargo bay in groups of 4, seal all the entrances you find and report back to me."ordered valls.
dan is the squad medic, hes an older guy, late thirtys maybe, he never told anyone his age.  pretty sturdy looking old guy, with a bit of gray in his hair.  dan moved over to the injured man "hit pretty hard there huh" dan said with a smile.  "no s**t, think i mighta busted a rib or something" replied josh.  josh was the youngest of the squad, and we tease him about it... all the time.  tough little guy, has a baby-face though, hes a good guy and has a good sense of humor.  

"hows he doing?" asked sgt. valls
"couple broken ribs, no internal injuries that i can tell of.  hes gonna have one big a** bruse." chuckled dan.
"think u can fire a gun josh?"
"if i have too" josh replied painfully
"you will" valls said coldly.


comments?
should i continue with the story?

Comments

  • MouseMouse The Lighter Side of Pessimism Join Date: 2002-03-02 Member: 263Members, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    pretty good, you have a few grammer and spelling mistakes to work out, but they're only minor things

    and on you continuing the story, being a writer myself, i know that even if someone told me that i should stop writing a story, i would only stop if i felt that way too.

    in other words, if you want keep writing, keep writing. IMHO, keep writing <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
  • nonamenoname Join Date: 2002-04-30 Member: 556Members
    thanks for the encouragement.  i was planning on rapping up the story but now i think i might expand on this a bit more.  i mainly wanted to know if i was explaning the use of phase gates and other technology wrong.  i think ill write in shorter bursts cuz that last one was long.

    noname
  • InfamousInfamous Join Date: 2002-01-28 Member: 127Members
    It was awesome until they yelled "Bobs" <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
    Keep it up, i can change Bob to Lvl1 in my mind.
  • GwahirGwahir Join Date: 2002-04-24 Member: 513Members, Constellation
    I prefer bobs, remember that they have their own jargon.
  • Black_WolfBlack_Wolf Join Date: 2002-03-13 Member: 310Members
    <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->"couple broken ribs, no internal injuries that i can tell of.  hes gonna have one big a** bruse." <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    hehe, a couple of broken ribs but no internal injuries? =P

    it was a good story, i liked the inventive use of phase tech

    and i think you should keep the bob, its not likely marines would continue calling the aliens "lvl1" and "lvl2" etc, they would come up with their own names for em.
  • nonamenoname Join Date: 2002-04-30 Member: 556Members
    yeah i like the bob thing too,  anyone know off hand of the other lvl alien names (2-5).  ill continue with the story, probly on sunday, and will try to keep it brief.  so ur not reading for hours on end.... less u ppl dont mind the longer chapters.  "no internal injuries" reason-> lucky, maybe bobs dont weigh too much, bullets slowed him down perhaps i donno.  didnt wanna kill anyone off so quickly, o but rest assured there will be bloodshead <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->  thanks for all the comments, check back later on sunday there should be more...
  • VincentVincent Join Date: 2002-04-10 Member: 408Members
    vary nice i liked the Coffin and would like to use it also if Thats cool with you  i need a landing craft for my story but couldnt think of one that was cool i just have a basic shuttle craft

    ANd yes you should continue it!
  • nonamenoname Join Date: 2002-04-30 Member: 556Members
    thanks for all the replays!  vincent, sure go ahead and use the coffin idea, change it around if ya need to.  thanks for asking first <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->  

    k i know i promised to write more on sunday but me internet was all messed up (stupid time warner  <!--emo&:angry:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'><!--endemo--> ) anyway here goes...

    "godd***it" i muttered "scared the hell outa me"
    "godd***it is right, man, almost pi**ed my self" bill said as he walked up beside me cupping his nuts and making a face like he just bit into a lemon.  "lets go find adam and sweep the cargo hold.  man we f**ked them bobs up, huh" chuckled bill.
    we walked over to adam, he was still sitting on his a$$ staring at the dead bob less then a foot away from him.  
    "ugly son of a b**ch huh" i said
    "it almost got me" adam said with a little tremmor in his voice.
    "yeah, but it didnt" said bill reassuringly
    "did u see what happened to josh?" i asked, adam shook his head "one of the bobs that jumped over u got shot in mid air, but it kept comming and slammed into the poor b@$tard, i heard he busted a few ribs or something"
    "lucky kid, he could be dead" said bill.
    "comeon, get up, we gotta sweep the cargo bay and seal the doors.  hey bill, have u seen derk?" i said as i helped my dazed friend off his a$$.
    "yeah, hes over there" bill pointed near the door we came through, he waved derk over.  adam kicked the dead bob in what looked to be its face, and we walked carefully through the maze of large boxes and cargo pullers.  marines were crawling all over the cargo bay, every couple of minutes you could hear a crackling hiss and see a shower of sparks as someone weilded a door shut.  the comms crakeled to life in my ear.
    "all doors sealed, sir"
    "good, report to the center of the cargo bay" valls said
    everyone made there way back to the center of the bay.
    "ok marines heres the lowdown" valls started from atop one of the metal boxes.  "9 days ago the cargo vessel star strider" he stomped his foot twice "sent a distress signal and soon there after stopped transmitting completely.  7 days ago star strider came into range of that fat blue planets censor aray." he said as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder.  "that fat blue planet, altex, contacted TSA and requested support.  from data collected by altex we were able to plot star striders course, in 7 days star strider would collide with altex completely destroying the planet.  altex was colonized some 100 yrs ago and is a major supplier of minerals to the planets in this and surrounding star systems, to loose altex would deal a great blow to the systems ablitiy to produce, well, just about everything.  to make things worse, star strider is carring cargo heading for calledica to aid the frontersmen fighting there.  if this shipment doesnt get through, then it gives the damn aliens a chance at taking calledica, and if they take calledica then they have a launch pad into the rest of the sector."
    "why the hell are we here then?" derk asked in a very worried tone "i mean, were a fresh unit with no combat experience.  shouldnt some elite unit be here?"
    "yes, some elite unit should be here.  unfortunetly no elite unit was within the 7 day deadline, we where the only available squad.  800,000 lives are in our hands gentelmen, we wont let them down." vall said clenching his fist in front of him.  
    "this cargo bay, CB-3, will become our base of operations.  keep all doors sealed except the aft hatch.  squad A, i want cameras placed on each corner outside of this cargo bay.  squad B (thats us) set up our 2 sentry guns covering the hallway to CB-2 and the hallway outside the aft hatch."
    "goddamnit we gotta go out there, i new i should kept my trap shut." derk said.
    "squad C, search for boxes with the frontersmen logo on it, there sould be some weapons and supplies around here somewhere.  squad D and E, group up, ur now fireteam 1.  smith!"
    "yessir!" yelled smith, our 2nd in command
    "your taking fireteam 1 over to CB-2, sweep and seal.  i want comms open the whole time and no chatter."
    valls turn around and started to peice together the mobile command platform.  squad A was working on opening the aft door.  they broke the seal and opened the door, the eight marines from squad A & B jumped out into the corridor covering both directions.
    "clear" a voice from behind me wisphered
    "clear" i echoed
    squad A moved down the corridor, me, bill, adam and derk moved in the opposite direction towards CB-2, fireteam 1 followed us.  we moved down the corridor, all around us where pipes and vent openings. the floor was metal grating and our boots thumped upon them loudly no matter how hard we tried to be quiet. we werent going to be sneaking up on anything around here.  everything was quiet as we rounded a corner and approched CB-2, the only sound was the constant hummm hummm hummm of the engines.  
    we passed CB-2 and fireteam 1 broke off and clustered around the door.  a few seconds later there was a soft "woosh" as the hydrolic doors opened and fireteam 1 rushed in.
    "valls, smith. where in CB-2, no sign of them" smith reported.
    "good" valls replyed
    "sir, cameras 1 and 2 up and running, sir"
    "copy that squad A, squad B hows the sentries comming?" valls asked in a none to nice tone.
    "we're setting up the second one now, wait, something is moveing down the hallway...s**t!" adam said under his breath as he ducked behind the corner, we jumped outta the hallway, following adams lead.
    "what is it, squad B, respond!" valls yelled into the comms
    adam poked his head around the corner, pulling it back quickly.
    "builder" he replyed
    "s**t" muttered bill
    "sir, what should we do?" asked adam
    "has it spotted u yet?" asked valls
    "dont think so"
    "good, stay there.  squad A, drop the cameras and meet up with squad B."
    a few second latter we could hear squad A approching, boots crashing againts the metal grating of the floor.  
    adam poked his head around the corner again "S**T!!" he jumped away from the corner as a hugh glob of yellow snot flew past us.  "fall back, he saw us!"  we started running toward squad A as the fat beast plowed into our half built sentry gun with a lound crash.  we ran down the corridor shooting wildly as we went.  we turned the corner and saw squad A running to back us up, we turned around to face the builder alien.  4 light rifles from my squad started to bark, soon followed by 4 more rifles from squad A, the sound was deafining.  the charging beast didnt even slow down as the bullets bounced harmlessly off its thick carapace. "LEGS, GO FOR THE LEGS!!!" i screamed over the thundering rifles.  i droped my aim and let off a long burst towards the builders legs.  i saw a cloud of blood explode from one of its front legs, its leg collapsed under the charging builder, sending it rolling along the corridor.  the beast came to a hault maybe 10ft. infront of me, its soft underbelly was facing us.  a grim smile crossed my lips as i took aim at the unprotected underside.  the 8 of us fired at once, bullets ripped though the builder splattering blood along the walls.  we slowly moved towards its mangled body.  it was dead alright, some 30 or so holes lined the underside of the giant builder.  its body streched from one wall of the corridor to the other, and, on its side, was about 4ft tall.
    "squad B, report" commanded valls
    "builders dead, sir" i replyed
    "excellent work, keep your eyes peeled, builders are rarely left with out a bodygaurd of some type, is the sentry gun intact?" valls asked
    "not sure, took a pretty hard hit, i might beable to get it running" said bill, he was something of a mechanic.
    "good, squad A finish with the cameras, id like to see out there." valls said sternly
    we moved back towards the busted sentry gun.
    again silence, only the engines could be heard...
    hummm hummm*tick* hummm hummm*tick* hummm....


    too long? too short?
  • Imperial_FistImperial_Fist Join Date: 2002-05-19 Member: 633Members
    your storie is kicking @$$ man keep it up i relly wanna read what happens
  • nonamenoname Join Date: 2002-04-30 Member: 556Members
    sorry its been so long, had some internet troubles...
    gonna change up the dialog a bit, u'll see what i mean, anyway here goes.

    adam, bill, and derk where busy putting together the sentry gun.  i kept watch.  
    "u almost done?" i asked over my sholder.
    "yeah yeah yeah" bill replyed
    a minute or two later i head them lock in the second mini gatling gun and turn on the sentry.  
    bill stood up and moved over to the camera squad A put on the corner.
    ++ sir, sentry is up and running ++ bill said into the commnet looking up into the camera.
    ++ good ++ valls said in a flat uncaring voice ++get back to the bay++
    ++ on our way ++
    we started heading back to CB-3, as we jumped over the carcus of that fat alien i heard the gun barrel engines of the sentry start up.  a split second later the twin gatling guns started pumping their high velocity, explosive tip bullets down the corridor at something near 4,200 bullets per minute.  i couldnt pick out the sound of a single bullet being fired, rather it was a constent thundering high-pitched wwhheerrrrrrrr. the smokeing bullets shells spued out like a fountin of metal, ricocheting off the walls and bouncing around on the floor.  the muzzel flash light up the whole corridor as the sentry fired, it was a truly impressive sight.  i head an unhuman scream echo from aound the corner as the sentry stopped firing.  
    all 4 of us cautioulsy moved towards the sentry gun, i poked my head around the corner.  steam and water flowed from ruptured pipes making it impossible to see all the way down the corridor.
    ++ squad B, report! ++valls yelled
    ++ where all here ++ adam said
    the steam and water started to die down and i could make out the body of something at the end of the hallway.  the wall at the very end of the corridor was splattered with blood and covered in bullets marks, fist size chunks of concrete where blown out exposing pipes and steel bars.  on the floor leaning up agaisnt the wall was the shattered remains of an alien of some sort, it was so horribly mangled and dismembered i couldnt tell what type it was.
    ++ sentry got one of'em ++ i said to valls
    ++ what type? ++
    ++ donno, its was totally ripped apart ++
    ++ ok, return to the bay ++
    "man those sentry guns kick a$$" bill said with a huge grin
    "yeah, quite amazing, lets get the f**k outa here... like NOW!" derk said clutching his light rifle.  derk is a cool guy, a bit jumpy when the action starts but reliable when things get rough.  hes taller then all of us, standing at 6'3" and pretty well built, deep voice too.
    we arived in CB-3 and fell in with the rest of the unit.  valls was standing atop a metal box with his helmut resting on the command consloe.  
    valls was one mean looking mother f**ker.  his black hair was starting to go grey giving him a kinda weathered look, his cold, ice blue eye could pierce the soul. his square, stubbled coverd jaw, which judging by looks, i dont think i could break no matter how hard i punched, always had a thin liped snarl on it.  i cant remember the last time he laughed, or even if he did. i dont think the man is able to feel emotion.  he wore a jagged scare going diagonally from the upper left cheek to the left side of his mouth.  and another going diagonally from the center of his forehead, over his right eye, and stopping on his right cheek, like his face was raked by a claw or something.  his voice was deep and rough, like rolling thunder.  his thick neck was set atop the broadest sholders of the unit, he stood at 6'3" weighing nearly 250lbs.  he was the oldest, strongest, toughest, and most experienced marine in the unit.  no one doubted that valls could kick their a$$, a few cocky newbie b*thces though they could when they first joined the unit, valls quickly put them in their place.  
    "after sweeping this cargo bay we found some weapons, ammo, sentry guns, cameras, and some medical supplys.  ill pass out weapons and ammo to all the squads, 1 shotgun and 1 heavy rifle per squad, u can decide who gets what.  fireteam 1 got back from sweeping CB-2 moments ago, its sealed and clean so if anyone gets into trouble use it as a fall back point.  smith will fill u in on CB-2" valls finished and smith stepped in front of the unit.
    "the frontiersmen cargo boxes in CB-2 where empty when we found them.  they where the only boxes opened also the boxes werent damaged when they where opened, leading me to believe that there are survivors, atleast there where 9 days ago."
    "ok, heres the plan.  squad B, u'll make ur way to the bridge, the aliens boarded the ship from the rear so the front of the ship should be clear.  when u get to the bridge access the ships logs and download them to me, set up cameras near the bridge.  squad A and C, group up ur fireteam 2, i want u guys to sweep and seal CB-1, and CB-4.  i want cameras in and around CB-1 and CB-4. after thats done break down into squads and patrol the CB-1 thru 4. fireteam 1, ur to secure a safe passage way to medical and seal it, take one of the sentry guns and cameras.  when thats done break down, squad D i want patroling medical, squad E move to the bridge and help squad B.  stay sharp.  fall in by squads and get weapons and ammo"
    with a nod from valls smith moved over to a crate and started handing out the new equipment.  we got our s**t and started off towards the door.  after a bit of bickering adam got the shotgun and i got the heavy rifle, unfortunetly neither of us got alotta ammo for'em.  adamn kept his light rifle, i ditched mine and split my ammo between bill and derk.  we all had a camera.  
    the pneumatic door opened with a hiss and we stepped out side.  i looked back as the other squades stalked off in the other direction.
    "well s**t, no help from them." i sighed as i turned my back on the rest of the unit and troted up next to adam.
    "there all pussys anyway" adam said boastfully while flexing his arms.  "sides, we wont need any backup with me around" said adam as he slamed his thumb into his chest and beamed a funny smile.
    we rounded a corner and opened a bulkhead door, i peared into the darkness beyond the door.  it looks like the lights were out or broken, some where flickering on and off making the eerie shandows seem to dance and move.
    my heartbeat started to rise and i felt the pounding in my chest, my stomach was suddenly full of butterfies.  i took a deep breath and slowly letting it out i muttered "lets go." as i put my foot into the shadowy abyss.
  • TraneTrane Join Date: 2002-02-01 Member: 148Members
    good writing man, keep it coming.
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