Turn 1: Preparation For Jatis I

[Cartwright]

Two months had past since the last mission on Jonis V. The Hell Hounds had fought numerous battles and the outside "world" began to hear about their adventures and news reports from Private Higgins kept the public updated constantly. Popularity soon grew and morale began to rise sharply thanks to the streak of victories, partly in thanks to the Hell Hounds. They had traveled several star systems and liberated several planets from Strogg control. The Hell Hounds had become stuff of legend and they continued to up their track record by every mission. The platoon had become a tight-knit and well oiled machine.

Now, the Hell Hounds found themselves in the usual encumbering briefing room. A holographic image of a star cluster appeared as the company commander, Captain Jacobson, gave the Hell Hounds a brief of their AO.

"This is the Jatis Star System. Some of you may have never heard of it, and rightly so. It was a small system of outer rim colony worlds that sent produce and exotic fruits back to the inner colonies. You may have tried some of their food at your normal chain restaurants. Now, the system has fallen into the hands of the Strogg." The captain said, sighing at the last sentence.

The image zoomed into the star cluster and now a collection of planets were visible. A blue dot indicated the U.S.S. Normandy's position and a line from the dot went straight through every planet on the hologram. The Hell Hounds remained silent as the captain gave the briefing.

"These are the planets you will be operating on. Each one has a significant Strogg presence and command has been very specific, they want those planets back in human control," the captain said as the video zoomed in on the first planet in the system, "This is Jatis I, your first drop zone. We will lock into geosynchronis orbit over the planet and drop the entire company."

The holographic image zoomed into the planet and showed a giant jungle landscape with few open areas. A large base could be seen on the ground, with guard towers and perimeter fences making up the defense for the installation.

"This is Camp Omega, a command base that has been recently constructed. An entire Marine division was dropped down there about four weeks ago, comprising of four companies. Now there is only one company remaining."

The captain paused and he had the gasps of surprise from the Marines. He knew none of them would like this operation. It was one of those operations where most people did not expect you to come back alive. But, he had faith in the Hell Hounds and he prayed dearly that his faith was not misplaced.

"All of Alpha Company will be dropped as per request of the base commander, Colonel Harper. They are in desperate need of troops. You're their reinforcements." The captain said, his glare resting on each and every member of the platoon.

The holographic image dissipated and the illumination flowed back into the room as power was redirected from the holographic projector to the lights. The Hell Hounds were still highly understrength, but they were expecting new transfers within the next few days. The captain stood up straight now and took one last glance at each and every Hell Hound.

"You've got exactly an hour to prepare before we drop. Dismissed." The captain said and then walked out of the briefing room, disappearing behind a door.

Second Lieutenant Nicholas Hayek arose from his seat and stretched. The seats had been uncomfortable and no matter how many times he sat in them, he never did get used to them. His stare was brought down on his platoon sergeant, who nodded at him in await for orders.

"Alright, listen. We have an hour to prepare and I want you guys ready within ten minutes. Pack only the essentials and bring standard gear. Meyen, when they are ready, have them in the hangar next to the drop-ship. I'm going to talk with our pilot before we go. Squad leaders, make sure your bitches take only what is needed. Move, people!" Hayek said, grinning at the Marines.

Shadow walked out of the briefing room, following the footsteps of the company commander. The other Marines exited to the locker rooms, where all the armor and gear was located. They would make their trip to the armory next. It was time to prepare for their newest operation.

<Actions>

[Dire Wolf]

Hoot strapped on his combat armor and fitted his Ka-Bar onto his pectoral chest plate. After that he walked down to the armory and walked up a man that was leaning back in his chair. "I need my 50, my DMR, and my USP, would ya kindly go back there and get them for me?" the man nodded and slowly got up from his chair. The man disappeared behind a door and quickly brought out the requested weapons. The as the man handed them over to Hoot he said "Give'em hell for me Hoot."

Hoot nodded to the man and slung the Scoped AR on his shoulder. Than he put his USP in his thigh holster. Finally he carried the 50 by it's carry handle. After that he stoped by the mess hall to top off on his food intake, he was not sure how long they would be down there. As he walked to the Hangar bay, he decided to test the comm unit with the rest of the squad. "1 2 3, Testing, Testing, can y'all hear me, over." Nothing was worse than having a malfunctioning unit when your in the shit.

[Cartwright]

"Affirmative, Hoot. Your broadcasting loud and clear. Shadow, out."

Second Lieutenant Hayek gathered his gear from his personal quarters. He added a K-Bar to his arsenal, attaching it to the chest plate of his armor. He then grabbed his assault rifle and made sure the scope was clean. He grinned to himself at the weapon held within his grasp. He had killed so many Strogg with it and he would continue to do so. He loaded a magazine in the weapon and flipped the safety on, bringing six other magazines and holstering his blaster.

He left his quarters and headed for the hangar. One thing he never did was wear a helmet. He hated them and even though they could save his life, he had not died yet for not having one on. He stopped by the electronics department on board to acquire his appropriate equipment. A lap-top with all the command interface built-in and a HUD link-up device. The man behind the desk handed him the devices he requested and he took a seat quickly, snapping the HUD link-up device into the port of the lap-top. He then arose and headed for the hangar. Soon they would be on the ground and he would have some killing to do.

[Matt]

Meyen slid on his combat vest and tightened it around his waist. It felt comfortable enough. He then acquired his 8 magazines for his assualt rifle from his locker and put them in their own pouches on his chest. He pulled his Ka-Bar out, and inspected closely, it was razor sharp around the edges. Perfect. He slid it back into it's sheath upon his thigh. Meyen then got all his standard gear and put it in it's own sections on his combat vest. Now all he needed was his weapons.

He walked over to the armoury and recieved his Assault Rifle and his sidearm, a standard blaster. He checked both the weapons thoroughly, and made sure they were ready to go. He slid his blaster in it's holster on his chest and grabbed his AR and made his way to the hangar.

[Cartwright]

Higgins sat down on a bench and fastened on his leggings, making sure every segment of armor fell into place perfectly. He than got to work on his chest and arm armor. After finishing slipping the armor segments into place, he picked up his Marine helmet and admired it for a few seconds. It had got him through thick and thin in the past two months, but he was still an FNG.

He flipped the helmet on and it made a audible hiss as it sealed. He turned on the external vents and the artifical oxygen of the ship poured in. He activated the HUD and the first monitors to appear were his health and armor status. He arose and the objective indicator popped out from the top left of the screen. The objective indicator read,

"Gear up and report to hangar for deployment."

Higgins walked off and located the armory. He spoke into the helmet microphone, as it was set to external voice settings.

"An assault rifle and blaster, please."

The armorer nodded and disappeared into the back. Higgins stood there, awaiting the man's return. While doing so, he admired the many pictures mounted on the walls. Many said, 'protect Earth' and some had pictures of the old gunnery sergeant's that served in the armory. The armorer returned from the back and set the weapons on the desk. He then had Higgins fill out the requisitions forms. Higgins then turned and headed for the squad bay. He rummaged through his seabag until he acquired his camera. He left the bipod as he was told he would not need it.

Higgins than began to head in the direction of the hangar. They would be deploying within the hour and he wanted to get there before anyone else managed to. As he traveled towards the hangar, he ran into many naval personnel and Marines that appeared to be extremely busied. This operation must be big for all the stress and work those on the Normandy were putting into it. It would definitely prove to be an excellent report.

[Cartwright]

The Marines of the Hell Hounds were all geared up and in formation within ten minutes of the end of the briefing. Sergeant Gravitt and Corporal Godchild were the last to join formation. Sergeant Meyen was at the helm of the group, awaiting the arrival of the lieutenant and the two pilot's. It was not long before the three of them arrived, entering through the hangar entrance doors. They met up with the platoon and the lieutenant halted in his stride before the sergeant.

"Alright, listen up! We'll be deploying soon. Joker here is going to go through some final flight preparations before we make the drop."

The Marines all nodded over at Joker, those that knew him. Sergeant Gravitt's attention was turned to the warrant officer and he gave him a curt nod.

"I see from fresh maggots here, El-Tee. Don't worry, pretty boys, I'll take good care of ya." Joker said, then he and his co-pilot entered the drop-ship and sat down in the cockpit, checking the vessel's systems.

Everything checked out. The engines were running at optimal levels and all systems worked perfectly. As Joker beckoned the Marines inside, alarms began to blare. Over a hundred Marines piled into the hangar, all beginning to pile into drop-ships.

"All personnel, report to hangar bays for deployment. Hostile vessels approaching the Normandy. All fighter squadrons, prepare to launch."

The Marines piled inside the drop-ship and strapped themselves in, making sure they were secure in their seats. The back ramp began to rise. Atmosphere sealed inside and the engines began to roar as they powered up. The Marines felt the ship lift off and slowly descend out of the hangar. Suddenly, they felt the weightlessness of space and the entire shuttle jerked as it engaged its thrusters, heading towards Jatis I.

"By the way, who's the new sergeant?" Joker asked over the intercom.

Sergeant Gravitt decided he would answer for himself, activating his helmets external speakers.

"Sergeant Christopher Gravitt, second squad's new leader." He said, his voice calm but cold.

It was a few second before Joker replied. He was attempting to keep the vessel flying and also to process the information he had just heard. It did not take long before his usual voice came over the intercom.

"Name's Joker. Welcome aboard, sergeant. Just remember to please keep your hands and feet inside the troop compartment at all times and enjoy the ride!" Joker said, the intercom deactivating.

The shuttle began to shake as it began atmospheric entry. Turbulance was high and the Marines held on to their harnesses with their lives. Only the lieutenant, Sergeant Meyen, and Sergeant Gravitt appeared calm as the shuttle shook violently. Soon, the vessel ceased its violent turbulance and entered the cloud cover. Joker made corrections in speed and steered the small vessel through the clouds until it entered the open skies.

Below was a sea of majestic beauty, the sun reflecting off the waves of the sea. The continent ahead was dotted with jungles and few open areas, the largest clearing was where the base was located. Massive guard towers could be seen and electric fences had been constructed around the entire massive facility. The Marines felt the ship dive and speed began to pick up it dived towards the ground floor.

"Wha-what are you doin', man?" The co-pilot inquired frightfully.

Joker grinned, his attention not diverting from the viewport before him. He knew what he was doing. He was the best pilot in the SMC, he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Don't worry."

The drop-ship picked up in speed as it plunged down farther. They were losing altitude fast and only a seasoned pilot would be able to pull them up from this. Joker timed it perfectly, pulling the steering handle toward him. Gee forces slammed into the vessel as its nose lifted up. Joker initiated the thrusters and the vehicle slowed, momentum taking effect. The vehicle slowed to a halt above the ground and slowly touched down. By this time, sweat trickled down the face of his co-pilot.

The vessel shook at it touched down and then settled once more. The back ramp slowly began to lower and the Marines took off their harnesses and arose, some stretching. They all piled out of the drop-ship and the first thing that hit them was the heat and humidity. The humidity was horrible and the heat was at least 115 degrees. The Marines saw hundreds of ground personnel scramble from one place to another, attempting to complete their own tasks. A Marine at the end of the landing pad waved to them to gather their attention.

"Welcome to the suck, Marines. This is Camp Omega of the Space Marine Corps. We have several MCP's all over the continent and plenty of Squibs to kill. Your barracks are over to the north. Any extra gear you have, you can set there."

The Marines walked off the landing pad and Private Higgins turned on his camera, beginning to film what was before him.

"This is Private Robert Higgins of the Hell Hounds and we have just landed at Camp Omega, Jatis I. We will soon be given our first assignment and -" The Private was cut off as the earsplitting sound of a whistle could be heard.

All activity instantly ceased. Everyone looked up to the skies and it was not long before one Marine was smart enough to say something.

"INCOMING!!!"

Boom. A artillery shell landed on top of the base armory and detonated. Explosions could be heard as the weapons and ammunitions were decimated. More explosions went off all around them and the Marines scrambled for cover. Each shell slammed into the ground, detonating, and creating a small earthquake. A shell landed near Hoot and detonated and knocked him on his knees. He quickly arose and ran as fast as his legs could carry him and he dived into a bunker as another explosion rocked the scenery around him.

Suddenly, two Strogg Fliers flew over the base. The whistle of bombs was heard and a line of explosions could be heard. Two Marines with a HSMS and aimed at the first Flier. It fired and a missile shot out and automatically changed its course towards the Flier. The pilot attempted to make evasive maneuvers and then pulled up, attempting to confuse the missile. It zoomed upwards and made contact with the cabin of the Flier. It detonated and engulfed the entire vessel in flames.

The second Flier turned around for another pass, speeding towards the base.

"Reload it, reload it!"

"I am! Give me a fucking second!"

Suddenly, dirt shot up into the air as fifty caliber rounds impacted the ground. Both Marines were torn apart by the rounds and fell to the floor, dead. Sergeant Gravitt saw this and was close enough to the HSMS. He ran as fast as he could and skidded to a halt next to the rocket launcher. He grabbed it and hefted it on to his shoulder and aimed down the sights. Lieutenant Hayek ran up behind him and loaded a missile into the back of the rocket launcher.

The HSMS made an audible beep when it locked on to the Flier. Gravitt pulled the firing mechanism and the missile shot out and corrected itself, speeding towards the Flier. This pilot was not as smart. He did not attempt to evade or speed away from the missile. The missile impacted its engine and engulfed the entire aircraft in flames. Metal rained down on the ground. It was not long before the artillery strike ceased and all was quiet. Dead quiet. Not a soul stirred as the shells ceased dropping.

Lieutenant Hayek glanced around at the destruction, smoke billowed up into the air. He sighed and muttered, "God... I love the Corps."

<Actions>

[Cartwright]

"Sergeant, find your squad and have them form up on me. Move!" Shadow ordered, his glare on Gravitt.

"MEYEN! FIND DEATH AND GET FIRST SQUAD OVER HERE!" Hayek shouted, getting the platoon sergeant's attention.

He knew that they would either be moving out soon or helping out with the wounded. Marine's screamed in pain and medic's scrambled to help the injured. All non-medical personnel were dragging the dead into one section of the base. One Marine carried his best friend's body to the pile, lazily throwing it on top of at least ten dead Marines. Hayek's communicator crackled to life and the voice of the base commander could be heard.

"All Marines, prepare to repel a Strogg counterattack. A large Strogg force is inbound on our base. All medic's, tend to the wounded! Get some, Marines!"

The radio went dead and Hayek tuned the frequency to the platoon-only channel. He spoke into his wrist communicator, his voice blaring in the ears of the Marines.

"Listen up! Second squad, head to the perimeter and defend this base. Hoot, you get in one of the guard towers. Unleash the fifty. First squad, help the medical personnel with the wounded. Mr. Death, you have your work cut out for you. Meyen, form up with second squad, they need an extra man. Move out and GET SOME! Don't come back without gettin' a few kills. Shadow, out."

[Sergeant Gravitt]

"All right, shitheads, you heard the El-Tee! On me, double time!" Gravitt barked at the small squad he lead as he began breaking for the perimeter of the compound, breaking up his squad into small fireteams and co-ordinating over-arching fields of fire. "And Hoot! Don't stay in that damn tower too long; the damn Squibs are bound to have some heavy firepower."

The Sergeant leapt feet first into a fighting position and chambered a round in his assault rifle. The Strogg were going to hit and hit hard...standard procedure really. The only thing that ever changed was what they threw at the Marines and in what kind of numbers. Either way, Strogg were going to die. Lots of Strogg. "All right, boys, keep calm. Stay low and be aware...we might just make it through this."

[Dire Wolf]

"Wilco! I know what I am doing Sergeant, Shoot and Scoot is the name of the game!" Hoot said enthusiastically as he climbed the ladder up the massive guard tower, he did not like that, one slow way up meant one slow way down. When he got to the top he sat back from the window and deployed his Fifty. "Hellhound Platoon. This is Hoot providing overwatch....... going weapons hot." Hoot calmly said as he scoped in on an unsuspecting soldier. It was not too far away, about 150 yards, an easy shot for any marine let alone one that has a telescopic sight and a rifle that can shoot 10 times the distance.

He pulled the trigger back slow and steady, ensuring that he would not pull it back too fast and throw the shot. The rifle had about the same kick as his old 12 gauge deer gun at home, the rifle was heavy as hell and had many moving parts to absorb the recoil. He saw the wound the bullet created, it was horrific, the soldier would not be limping out of that one. He looked around, the strogg dived to the ground and had absolutly no clue where Hoot was, and Hoot aimed to keep it that way.

[Matt]

Meyen heard Hayek, and was about to give out orders until the new Sergeant blurted his out. He let it slide and said, "Roger I'm on you Gravitt. Washington stay frosty and use that scope to your advantage! MOVE OUT!"

Meyen than switched to a private COMM link to Hoot.

"Work your magic up there Hoot. Give me some intel on enemy positions once we move out. Watch our asses! Meyen, out."

[Cartwright]

A Strogg Grunt ran towards the electric fence and slammed head first into it. It roared in agony as it was shocked by a thousand volts of electricity. It flew backwards seconds later and its body soon disintegrated as per normal. That was a close one. The Marines began to open up on Strogg, mainly soldiers. Luckily, the Strogg commanders had not been intelligent enough to deploy Tacticals. They were the tough ones.

Several fifty caliber rounds range out and limbs were blown off. One Strogg Berserker was hit square in the head, his head exploding into hundreds of fleshy bits.

"Grunt, moving up on the right." Hoot announced over the communications.

The Grunt was too close for him to fire at. It would be a waste of precious ammunition. He aimed down range and his sights fell upon a Strogg Soldier firing on two Marines, pinning them down. The weapon attached to its right arm was a shotgun. No wonder they were pinned. Hoot aimed at the monstrosity's chest and pulled the trigger. The weapon kicked back and the shot range out. The Soldier slammed on to the ground, an enormous hole in his chest.

Meyen fired half his clip into a Berserker before it went down. He reloaded and slammed another magazine into the weapon and saw the ammo counter read "40". Satisfied with this, he began to fire on more hostiles as they charged. This would be a long fight for all of them.

<Actions>

[Matt]

"Get some!" Meyen yelled while firing his rifle.

He took cover behind a cement road block of somesort, and signaled the others to do the same. He popped over it aiming his rifle down range, looking for hostiles. He spotted two strogg soldiers from afar sided with a large tree. One was prone and the other crouched. It must of been a spotter because at that moment the proned gunner unleashed lead. Meyen spotted the muzzle flashes from afar then to his right about 50 meters away, dust kicked up and there were screams of pain. A Marine was dying and 2 others were attemping to save his life. Meyen knew he was gone. At that moment Meyen aimed downed his rifle at the Strogg gunner and spotter. He fired a three round burst. It took less than a second to reached it's designated target. It hit the the spotter in the chest and the others missed the gunner, kicking up dirt around it. Meyen fired 2 more rounds and it hit the gunner in the neck. That settled that, but there was still more to come.

[Sergeant Gravitt]

Gravitt, meanwhile, was standing in his fighting positions, firing bursts of hot lead at the oncoming Strogg. Several had fallen already to his well-placed shots, but two seemed to replace each and every one that fell. "Controlled bursts, boys, controlled bursts! Make every shot count!" The Strogg were returning fire, and the Sergeant could hear screams but he blocked them out of his mind; he couldn't let anything distract him.

[Dire Wolf]

The squibs were begging to take notice of Hoot's location. He saw one point up at the tower he was on. "Oh shit! I've been compromised! Moving to another spot!" Hoot yelled over the comm as he took a pot shot at the squib that had a fix on his location, he did not even look to see if he hit the damn thing or not, he instantly flipped up the bi pod and put the fifty in the sheath that allowed him to strap the gargantuan rifle to his back. He hoped on the ladder and slid down. He was not going to take the chance that they got their apparently deadly accurate ARTY to zero on the tower. He preferred not to be hit by HE shells, but that was him.

Hoot sprinted to the next guard tower, it was risky; the good sniper takes the most unobvious position, the guard tower would be where any smart enemy would look first. But Hoot was not necessarily going up there to snipe, he needed to call out enemy positions and when necessary.....eliminate.... particularly hard hostiles for the infantry with his ''boom stick''.

Hoot climbed up the ladder and deployed his Fifty again. He spoke in a calm, collected, and cool voice so that Meyen and friends would hear him. "Hellhound Platoon, this is over watch, I am set up and ready to rock, over." Hoot looked for the Squib that he shot at, he found one that was laying in a pool of it's blood/coolant mix.... yep, it was a goner.

"Hellhounds, this is over watch, if you have any particularly hard-to-hit targets, by all means call them out. But the more I shoot the more I have to move, and the next spot will not be so damn good, over." Hoot said in a no bullshit tone of voice.

He would shoot any targets they call out, but he would not stay up there forever. He already had a nice little spot picked out. It was a gutted 2 story building that was at the Hellhounds' 6 o'clock. It would give excellent firing position, but it's observational value was almost null. A smart enemy would never look at that building and say "Hay! I bet a sniper is in there!".

[Private]

((Okay, I'm back now...))
Higgins was blown back from the blast. His butt really hurt, and his left leg hurt. He jumped on his legs. They were okay, just painful. He snapped up his camera and was pleased to see that there was no damage to the camera. He pointed the camera at the flyer just in time to see it explode. He quickly pivoted and got Sergeant Gravitt with the smoking launcher. A panicked yell came through,
"We have incoming Strogg!"
Higgins shuddered and put his camera in a sling over his shoulder, freeing up his two hands. He made sure it was recording (it was) and the audio was on as well (it was). He unslung his Assualt Rifle (He had finally learned what AR meant) and fired a three round burst at a close strogg. The bullets hit it in the stomach, killing it instantly. Higgins had to yell over the other yells.
"This is Robert Higgins, reporting live from the Jatis Star System. This star system used to be a nice, exotic planet that served as a breadbasket to the surrounding star systems. As you can see," Higgins said. "It has..." A Strogg appeared in his view. Higgins fired at the strogg, blowing the head away with a three round burst. Higgins continued.
"(It has) been attacked by the Strogg. Luckily, the greatest unit of all Space Marine Corps, Hell Hounds are here to repel the Strogg." Higgins heard a gunshot of a large sniper and managed to catch a Strogg's whole head explode like a watermelon. They better give him a pay raise for this!