Amala "Spook" Donavin gave the Marine behind the glass a nod as; since she had only recently arrived, was still in possession of her rifle and sidearm. "How's it hanging?" she asked him as she proceeded to the range at the end of the unit. A force field at the end prevented the below zero temperatures outside from penetrating the base, while allowing rounds to be fired threw and to the targets outside. A video feed at each station allowed the individual to check their aim as well.
Spook set her rifle case on one of the benches next to her chosen station and set to work reassembling her personally modified SRS99D-S2 Anti-Matériel. Otherwise known as her sniper rifle, Baby. It didn't take long till she was double checking all the fittings and testing the scope. Everything looked like it was in order,(obviously) so she loaded the 13 round magazine and knelt down, checking out the targets outside. She settled on starting close, 1,000 yards. The best way to make sure a weapon is signed in properly is to try every distance applicable to the range, right? She noted the wind speed and direction with her VISR mode and squeezed off a round. She couldn't help but smirk, this was going to take a few hours and Spook would love every minuet of it.
Anyone else in the room would notice that she was wearing the new black Mark III SPI armor. Unlike with the early Mark V's, one could actually tell that a woman inside was a chick. Her armor was also spotless, there where no scuffs or bullet dents, at best some scraping on her knees. Adorning her right shoulder are a pair of lightening bolts and a grumpy little ghost, flashing the finger. Dead Guy, as she sometimes refers to him, is her own little personal statement: Good snipers don't get shot at.
By the time
Aaron walked in he had already put his helmet back on. He walked up to the counter and signaled the man behind the counter as a small hatch opened up on the box on the back of his armor. "Load 'er up. I need to waste a bit of taxpayer's money." The man behind the counter nodded and vanished into the back of the room. When he returned he had a very long trail of bullets running behind him. He came out and placed the first round in the chain of bullets into the little hatch, a second after he did that the bullets where quickly sucked into the box for what seemed like several minutes before it lit up green. The hatch closed as he made his way to the firing range, he seemed like he didn't notice anyone else. He stood at the counter and reached behind him, removing the BG-M from the bottom of the box as the ammo feed tube connected to the gun. He aimed it down range and waited for the targets to start moving. The second the first target moved the air was filled with the sound of bullets leaving the barrel at mind numbing speeds and the sound of empty shells piling onto the floor as target after target was blown away.
The sudden roar of new bullets being fired across the range caused
Spook's sound buffers to recalibrate in order to adjust to the new volume. She looked over at the new guy now that he had declared that her "Me Time" would be interrupted. "Damn..." she whispered to herself, this guy was big even for a Spartan and she definitely didn't recognize him. She checked his targets threw her scope and noted the distinctive way the metal targets melted and flew apart as he fired upon them. "I'd hate to be the guy who had to replace those." she told herself as she went back to sighting in her weapon.
After two straight minutes of shooting the ammo ran dry. The barrels kept spinning and a clicking sound could be heard as it tried to feed in nonexistent ammo.
Aaron quickly slapped the BG-M onto his back in storage mode and pulled out his DHS-5 rocket launcher and crouched. Aiming down range he sighted in on the hulking mass that was a Covenant Phantom out in the firing range. A second passed before a little green light on the gun lit up and the trigger was pulled. The rocket screamed down the range and out the energy shield before burying itself into the hull of the ship, about two seconds later they ship exploded in an enormous fireball. Standing back up he sighed and hooked the rocket launcher onto his back. He looked over and watched the other Spartan as she picked off her targets slowly and effeciently. He had seen this one around, but didnt know her.
Spook stopped everything when she stopped hearing bullets tinkle to the ground around him. When he pulled the rocket launcher out she didn't even bother trying to catch her target again, which had been moving and would have been a sweet money-shot. Pleasantries where more important than a little read dot 3,000 yards out. "My sympathies to your momma for having to bare such a healthy child." She was regarding his unnatural size, even for a Spartan.
"Nah, im just big armored."
Aaron said in response. "Outside this armor im really a midget." He walked over to her and extended his hand. "Im Spartan-283, Aaron "Lil' Scorp" Slovack. I don't believe we have been introduced."
Spook shook his hand "313, Amala "Spook" Donavin, most just call me Spook. I'm your sniper." She placed her hand on her hip and gave baby a loving pat.
"My sniper? You know something I dont know?"
Aaron curiously. He hadnt been told anything about his next mission, but maybe this Spartan was infact going along with him."
"Only that I was hoping there might be immediate deployment."
Spook said slightly disappointed "This sitting around isn't good for the digets." She held up her right index finger and crooked it repeatedly "The Doc says it needs constant exercise." She was smirking behind her helmet, wondering if he got the joke.
He didnt. "Well I dont know what they have lined up, but there is something big on the board."
Aaron said. "Should be hearing more soon though as I was told not to sleep."
"That means chow time then." Spook said holstering her rifle in her back unit and packing up her tools. "Don't wanna get stuck on that intravenous gruel again, it taste's like sweat."
"I already ate. Just left there actually."
Aaron said, his tone of voice changing a bit towards the worse. "Few other Spartans down there. I gotta go get my equipment checked out before I head out, my ammo readout was off."
"See you later."
Spook told him and headed up to the
spartan mess hall
Aaron gave a very relaxed salute as she left before he left himself and headed off to the
spartan labs.
About an hour later
Aaron returned to the armory and walked up to the counter. "Off on another mission so you know the drill." The man behind the counter nodded before heading off into the back. This time when the man came back he had not only the long chain of bullets, but also a box. He set the box down in front of Aaron as he loaded the bullets into the Aaron's armor. Opening the box, Aaron removed two drill-headed rockets and loaded them into the cylinder clip for his rocket launcher.
Derek rushed in behind Aaron. "Mornin' Jeff." He said to the man behind the glass. "Sir." He nodded to Derek. "Usual, and I'll need to my locker to get my other things." The man behind the glass nodded, and stepped away. A moment later he came back, "DTM/Law Enforcement Shot gun, modified stalk, and one MA2B Assault Rifle with depleted uranium shredder rounds.." Derek nodded. "Thank you." He said, and slid the weapons on to his back. A buzzer sounded, and a door off to the side opened, leading to the locker rooms. A few minutes later He rushes out of the locker rooms, with a multi-pouched belt, carrying a veritable cornucopia of blades and gadgets, and a foot long, square combat machete strapped to his back, handle end down, on his right side. "Ready to go sir?" he asked, looking at Aaron.
Scorch walked in, went up to the glass and nodded. "Must I introduce myself, or do you know what I need?" The man nodded and replied with, "One M7057/Defolian
t Projector, more commonly known as the M7057 Flamethrower, one M90 Close Assault Weapon System, and one beautifully crafted titanium katana. I do think you should get a better place to store this thing, personally. It belongs on a shelf, not in a weapons storage locker." Scorch smirked behind his helmet. "Yeah tell me about it, but regulations won't let me keep it with me. I'm gonna need a bubble shield." As he latched his weapons to his armor, he thought about anything else he would need for this mission. "You got plenty of extra ammo for me right?" With a nod and a slight shake of his head, the man produced a box of M90 cartridges and a crate of M7057 canisters. He left and returned in just a few seconds with the shield the Spartan had asked for. "Thanks." Scorch replied as he loaded himself up with the ammo and the equipment.
Next in line, tavish tapped lightly on the bullet proof glass "Uhhhh, double pistol and double thresher please" he said. As the guns were passed over they seemed to disappear somewhere on Tavish's body. He could almost FEEL the look he was getting off the armory guy, he was a Spartan, why was he dealing with such small guns? Well because he liked them. "You got a grav lift?" he asked, finding one soon tossed to him soon afterwards.
"Sure am." Aaron replied. "Once you all got what you need head to the spartan hangar." Then after checking all his equipment and double checkig his HUD he headed off to the hangar.
"Uh huh" Tavish said without much enthusiasm, packing his grav lift into his belt and following Aaron off to the hangar. He wondered if he'd be allowed to fly this time.
Once Scorch was loaded up, he followed suit and joined the others in the spartan hanger
A Week Later
Scorch walked in, fresh burn marks along his armor. He walked up to the counter and dropped his flamethrower, shotgun, sword, and other equipment onto it. "Alrighty, there you go. All my stuff, you plan on shootin me now that I'm defenseless?"
The man behind the counter took the stuff and set them up on their proper hooks and lockers, cataloging it all as he went. "I think that if I tried that I would be dead before I had a chance to pull the trigger a second time."
"You know, that's why I like you. You're smart enough to know a joke when you hear one." Scorch told him and then nodded once he saw his babies were well taken care of. "Alright, I'm outta here. Hopefully you won't need to dust them off like the last time."
Derek nodded to scorch as he passed. "Oh how simple life must be behind that glass."He said, as he handed his weapons over." Anytime you wanna trade.. lemme know."He said with a laugh.
"The life expectancy of weapon handlers is much longer then Spartans...so I think your stuck there." He said to Derek as he cataloged the weapons and put them into their proper spots. "Is this, uh.. Is this all of ya?"
Derek Cocked his head to the side."Is this.. OH! No theres more coming."He Said with a laugh, as he waved a gloved hand at the marine, and headed to the barracks.
Spook must have looked very out of place coming into the armory in her civvies, when sue usually only came down here in her armor. They'd only just gotten back from their "recreational leave" and it was time to gather up Baby for some personal re-acquainting. After all, she'd killed men with another rifle while on leave... she needed to apologize for her infidelity.
The Marine behind the counter looked up and saw Spook and immediately headed into the back. By the time she arrived at the counter, he had returned with her rifle in hand. "She's been asking about you, but I kept reassuring her you'd come back."
"He." Spook corrected. "I'm not a lesbian." But she smiled any way and took Baby in her arms. "Have you done anything to him while I was gone?"
"Well, I wanted to take him for a spin in the firing range but my medical insurance doesnt cover Spartan attacks. So I stuck with a simple dusting and I cleaned the scope lense." The marine answered.
Spook snickered at that. "You're a wiser man than most." She told him and instinctively reached for the cleaning kit she kept in the leg panel of her armor which was still in the lab inside her armor. "Awe shit, you have a spare cleaning kit back there?" She asked, knowing full well that he should have. "And a box of slugs while you're at it."
The marine disappeared underneath the counter and came up with a case about 2/3 the size of the sniper rifle and full of specialized cleaning equipment. He left Spook to clean her gun as he vanished into the back again to fetch her some rounds.
Spook retired to one of the range station and had Baby stripped in a manner of seconds. He'd been cleaned shortly before they'd left for leave but she wasn't about to take him for a round on the range without clearing the dust out of the works first.
The marine found her and set down a large box of ammunition next to her. "I think I might have put in one or two extra rounds into the box on accident. Just giving you a heads up." The marine said with a smile and a wink before walking off.
"Not a problem." Spook told him. "I'll even it out for you." She finished by swabbing Baby's barrel and put him back together before she began loading her custom 13 round mag.
Stumble!