User:RelentlessRecusant/Ghost/Episode I

Dramatis Personae
3rd Battalion


 * General Esemono (mentioned only)

Air Force


 * Admiral Ares (mentioned only)
 * Angel One - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Angel Two - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Victor One - helicopter pilot
 * Victor Two - helicopter pilot

Lima Company Marines
 * Colonel RelentlessRecusant/Callsign "Relentless"
 * Colonel Ryan James Nelson/Ryanngreenday
 * Captain Jacob Snook/Climax Viod
 * Captain Donut THX 1138/Callsign "Imperator"
 * Lieutenant Josh Averill/JMRA
 * Sergeant Caboose/Callsign "Caboose"
 * Sergeant Bryan/Digipatd

Alpha Special Forces Detachment

Delta Assault Reconnaisance Teams (DART)
 * Lieutenant Colonel Adam Graves, Alpha Team
 * Lieutenant Guesty-Persony-Thingy/Callsign "IDAHO", Bravo Team
 * Lieutenant Rot/Callsign "WATCHTOWER", Charlie Team
 * Lieutenant Darth tader/Callsign "GEAR", Delta Team
 * Lieutenant J!MMY8806/Callsign "MANTICORE", Echo Team

Act I: Reville
February 20, 2000 ''Nondescript room lined with computer processors and several screens with COM headsets nearby. Camera pans to two officers huddling over a table with a topographical map affixed on it. A soldier in full combat gear enters, straightens, salutes.'' Lt. Col GRAVES: "Sir! Lieutenant Colonel Graves, Alpha Special Forces Detachment, reporting!" Col. NELSON: "At ease. Colonel Castle, if you would?" Col. RELENTLESS: "Right. As of 1300 hours, Fleet Intelligence utilized SATRECON to identify the terrorist cell in our vicinity at this building in the Southeast Quadrant. HIGHCOM has ordered Lima Company, out of Fort Helencia, to neutralize the insurgents. Colonel Graves?" GRAVES: "The General just told us to work with Lima to blow shit up. Sir." NELSON: "Right. Sounds like Esemono, that wily bastard. Well, Colonel, it will be a pleasure collaborating with Special Forces. Captain Snook, see to the logistical matters. Lieutenant Averill, rally the troops. We're going in."

Act II: Plans Within Plans
''Camera settles on a troop of vehicles: Jeeps or armored personnel carriers with machine-guns mounted. Troopers are deploying off of the vehicles and are assembling into tactical units. Far overhead, there is a metallic whine as two attack helicopters make a flyby. NELSON and RELENTLESS are standing side-by-side, donning tactical headsets, while the soldiers of Lima Company mill around them, loading weapons and shouting military-type affirmatives. A soldier approaches RELENTLESS.'' FOXTROT 3: "Sir, Colonel Graves says that Delta Recon is deployed around the building in a silent perimeter. We're turning back traffic and getting people in the surrounding buildings out. We've also seized electricity supply to the target. We don't believe that the tangos have spotted us." RELENTLESS: "Very-" NELSON: "Damn good, sonnie. Now, Lima Company, y'all hear that? The perimeter is secure and our Spec Forces friends have set the table for the dinner. First Platoon, get ready for tactical infiltration and execution. Second Platoon, stay back and reinforce the perimeters. If those bastards get out in those parked jeeps over there, we're all screwed over, so stay vigilant." FOXTROT 3 taps the COM transciever in his headset, turns to the Colonels. FOXTROT 3: "Sirs, Colonel Graves on the line for you." NELSON nods. NELSON: "Colonel Graves?" GRAVES: "Reporting, sir. I believe my man informed you of our status. Everything is in place, and I have snipers lining the roofs. Victors One and Two also radioed in - in case of a Charlie Foxtrot, we have air support with missiles in place. Big bang numero dos." NELSON: "Very well, Colonel. Standby." COM line shuts off NELSON: "So, Relentless, you have the COM and TACVID wired into Control at HQ?" RELENTLESS: "Negative. That was actually Lieutenant Averill's duty." NELSON: "Shit. What the hell, Josh?" AVERILL: "Dammit. Uh..." NELSON: "You'll have the pleasure of leading the point team, then, Lieutenant. See if that gets into your head to do the wiring. Sergeant Caboose, get a hand on that. All of you are dismissed. Lock 'n load." Soldiers disperse away behind the monolithic building that is adjacent to their target, moving into squads and straying out slightly, preparing to move into final assault positions. RELENTLESS: "A little harsh there, Ryan. Averill normally doesn't screw up like that." NELSON: "Yeah? Well he did this time." RELENTLESS: "Understood. Where will you be, Ryan?" NELSON: "I'll be the Second Platoon, enforcing the cordon along with Imperator. You wanna lead First Platoon?" RELENTLESS smiles slightly. RELENTLESS: "Well, thanks, Ryan, for letting me take the field ops post. I swear, for the next five missions, you are freaking getting off your ass and doing some honest work." RELENTLESS and NELSON grin. NELSON: "Oh, yeah? I still remember that you owe me twenty bucks, Relentless, so get out there." RELENTLESS makes an insouciant, carefree mock salute. RELENTLESS: "Yes sir. Let's keep in touch over TACCOM."

Act III: Class Trip to the Sewers
In a dank, rancid tunnel with murky fluid swishing on the floor. RELENTLESS: Dammit, I shouldn't have let Ryan talk me into doing- SNOOK: "Hey, sir, hold up! You're not the one carrying the entrance package!" RELENTLESS: "Stop your whining, man. What? You need your gal to do if you you?" General laughter, SNOOK blushes. SNOOK: "Negative, sir. I'm a hundred percent." AVERILL: "Oh, yeah? Then why does it look like you're constipated? Too heavy?" SNOOK turns to AVERILL, lays down explosive charges. SNOOK: "You better watch your goddamn language, Lieutenant, or you're gonna-" CABOOSE: "Sir, he's just whining because instead of coordinating the assault on COM, he has to do the heavy lifting this time with us." SNOOK glares at AVERILL, continues speaking not looking at CABOOSE. SNOOK: "Very well, Sergeant." ''Several minutes pass in silence as the fifty Marines continue trudging through the sewer conduit with few remarks, a testament to their training. Several Marines uneasily shift on their feet as they near a large obstruction to their path: a massive metal gate. It has fresh welding marks and appears to have been bolted on in the last few days.'' RELENTLESS: "That's an acetylene torch right there. This is definately new. Loot, set those charges." SNOOK: "Wilco." The platoon shifts back on their feet, slightly relieving themselves of the stress as their helmet-mounted headlights shine across the sewer, the light reflecting eerie arcs of prismatic light back onto the fungi-impregnated walls. SNOOK: "Set, sir. Shall I blow it?" RELENTLESS pauses, as if informed by his intuition. RELENTLESS: "...negative. Hold it. Review unit organizations again. No screwups on this op." Marines wince also unnoticably. SNOOK: "10-4. Sir, you'll be leading Red Squad. I will command Blue Squad. Averill, on point, will take Green Squad directly into the fray. Digipatd has Black, and Caboose is on Gold." RELENTLESS: "Very well. Remember, the tangos have set sonic jammers to block our sonic cartrographic efforts, so we've been forced to rely on infrared scans from SATRECON and the spooks at FLEETINTEL. Just because there are no heat signatures on the other side of this dish just could mean they're wearing foil suits that insulate heat. You ready, Marines?" CABOOSE: "SIR! DROP FEET FIRST INTO HELL!" Foxhole grins and thumbs-ups. RELENTLESS: "Not the motto, but the general spirit is there, Sergeant." Motions to SNOOK. RELENTLESS: "Press the button." SNOOK: "What button?" RELENTLESS: "Stop playing dumb. Oh, no, you don't have to play. Push the goddamn button, Lieutenant!" SNOOK: "You mean the third control of the integrated HUD/radio-wired electronic communications handset?" RELENTLESS: "Yes, the...What the hell? Just do it." SNOOK depresses a control, the metal completely detonations, fragments of metal warped by heat and pressure flinging outwards, bathing First Platoon in spikes of superheated metal, masonry from the crumbling tunnel walls, and superheated trash-laced water. RELENTLESS: "Go! Go! GO! MARINES, GET A MOVE ON IT! AVERILL?" The syncopated stacatto beat of automatic weapons fire sounds down the sewer.

Act IV: Derailing of a Train
In a dank, rancid tunnel with murky fluid swishing on the floor. RELENTLESS: "Status report?" RELENTLESS begins indiscriminately spraying with his assault rifle, even though he is unaware of the situation. AVERILL: "Negative, negative! Hold your fire, dammit! There were dummies in combat armor with foil oversuits. We instinctively opened fire, but killed no one. Those tangos know we're here." GREEN 7: "Hey, Lieutenant! I heard something! There, there! Omigod, me gonna die!" RELENTLESS: "SHUT UP AND KEEP SQUADCOM CLEAR, YOU WIMP! GET YOURSELF TOGETHER! Averill, dammit, get him! Caboose, take your squad as well down that side passage. Terminate him and make sure he can't alert his buddies that we're here. There's a chance that our guests upstairs haven't heard the gunfire. Meanwhile, Red, Blue, Black Squads, we'll take the original plan and continue down this sewer passage a,d get to the basement of the target." NELSON, scratchy transmission: "First Platoon? What's your status? We-port-RECON-therm-" Unknown Voice #1: "Hey, Magwe, they're after me! It's Lewis, in the sewers!" Static blots out TACCOM and SQUADCOM. RELENTLESS: "Nelson? Come in. 10-1." An ominous pause, foreboding. RELENTLESS: "Dammit! Green and Gold Squads, report!" Automatic gunfire sounds sonorously, and there is a scream. CABOOSE: "We-tar-lized-oming-COM-can-hear?" RELENTLESS: "Snook, can you scrub that transmission?" SNOOK: "No can do, sir. Transmission lines are just...garbled." RELENTLESS: "Hell. Averill, Caboose? You guys there? If you can hear me, regroup with the rest of the platoon. We're still advancing." Automatic gunfire stars up again, grenade explosions are heard with plumes of water arcing into the air. RELENTLESS: "What the hell? It takes twenty soldiers grenades to kill a single terrorist?" ''AVERILL and eighteen other Marines round the corner, breathless. Their fatigues are stained with the rank water, and blood is smeared over the body armor of most of the Marines. They are all panting, wheezing.'' AVERILL, wheezing: "Sir!  Sir..." RELENTLESS: "He's going into cardiac arrest! Defib!" DIGIPATD: "Yessir." DIGIPATD takes the field emergency defibrillator unit, applies anion conductive paste to its discharge surfaces, places it over AVERILL's blood-stained chest as Marines hurry to unstrap the blood-lodged body armor, revealing a bloodied abdomen puncuated with rounds. RELENTLESS: "What. The. Fuck." DIGIPATD: "Marcus, two hundred volts!" BLACK 2: "Charging..." DIGIPATD: "Clear!" BLACK 5: "No self-sustaining QRS wave yet, sir." RELENTLESS: "Fuck this. Averill, dammit, get him back alive! We don't fucking ask you to be in this outfit if you can't fucking operate a goddamn AED!" DIGIPATD: "Set it to three hundred, Marcus." BLACK 2: "10-4, sir. Charging..." DIGIPATD: "Clear, clear!" BLACK 5: "Still nothing. Colonel, we need FMSU here now1" DIGIPATD fumbles in his field kit, fingures twitching. DIGIPATD: "Dammit, I forgot the epi. Shit, shit, shit." BLACK 8: "Here, sir." DIGIPATD takes the hypodermic syringe, plunges it into the blueing flesh over AVERILL's heart. BLACK 5: "Negative. Colonel, we need-" RELENTLESS: "Fuck you, I heard you the first time! Nelson? NELSON? DAMMIT, DO YOU COPY?" ''Static rustles, and RELENTLESS furiously slams the COM unit into the wall. It sparks, and voices are head.'' NELSON: "First Platoon? First Platoon? We're picking up gunfire from all across your location? What's your status?" RELENTLESS: "DAMN IT, OUR STATUS IS ALPHA-FOXTROT-UNIFORM! AVERILL HAS BEEN HIT! He's going into cardiac arrest! Where is Medical? We need FMSU!" NELSON: "Copy that. Just get outta there, and we'll have a replacement for Averill while he...recovers. How about Caboose?" Pause, RELENTLESS turns around, expecting CABOOSE standing besides him and finding no one. RELENTLESS: "Aww...shit. Marcus, where the fuck is Caboose?" BLACK 2: "She's right...oh. Hell. Good Lord..."

Rooftop of gargantuan building adjacent to target NELSON's cell phone rings, the tones of We are the Champions'' floods the air and the snipers look at him quizzically. NELSON swallows, taps the recive button of the phone.'' NELSON: "Colonel R.J. Nelson, Lima Company here. We're currently on deployment, so could I-" Unknown Voice #2: "Silence, Colonel. We have a Marine in our possession. Her dog tags say her name is Caboose, Sergeant. If you do not withdraw all your soldiers, snipers, APCs, attack Jeeps, and helicopters, we will execute her on a public video channel by beheading her. You have...three minutes. On the clock. Don't try to call Intelligence to trace the call. It's a scrambled SATCOM number." NELSON: "Oh. Hell. Relentless, get First Platoon outta there! Out! OUT! OUT!"

Act V: Avengeance
RELENTLESS: "Come again, Ryan?" NELSON: "I. Fucking. Said. R-e-t-r-e-a-t." RELENTLESS: "Come again?" NELSON: "Withdraw! They've taken Sergeant Caboose hostage, dammit, and have just told us to get out or they're gonna behead Caboose on public TV. Dammit, OUT!" RELENTLESS: "10-4, Ryan. First Platoon, withdraw. Marcus, Jones, get a hand on Lieutenant Averill and get him to Medical." BLACKS 2, 3: "Wilco." ''First Platoon evacuates the sewer tunnel, sprinting at high speed. Several soldiers of Second Platoon and the FMSU (Field Medical Surgical Unit) helicopter are awaiting at the top of the stairwell that leads to the sewer. Privates BLACK 2 and BLACK 3 are clutching the bleeding body of AVERILL on their shoulders. The Second Platoon marines help the medics load AVERILL onto the helicopter VICTOR TWO. The helicopter lifts, ascends to the sky. Captain IMPERATOR leans close to discuss matters with RELENTLESS.'' IMPERATOR: "Sir? Are you wounded? We have another medical team that's standing-" RELENTLESS: "Negative, Captain. How's the perimeter holding while we were on our little trip?" IMPERATOR: "Well, sir. The public's cooperating, and we still maintain full fields of fire on the building." RELENTLESS: "What of the terrorist leader? He ordered us to withdraw." IMPERATOR stiffens as the First Platoon men are approached by medics and rushed on stretchers to awaiting medical jeeps and ambulances. IMPERATOR: "Sir. Second Platoon doesn't take orders from rebels. We've been ordered by Colonel Nelson to maintain our positions, but the Colonel's going to call off the DART units." GRAVES: "Colonels Relentless and Nelson, all Delta Recon teams are in position for immediate assault. Do we still have sniper cover?" NELSON: "The attack has been called off, Colonel. Get your Delta troops outta the prep zones." GRAVES: "Sir?" IDAHO: "Bravo Team reporting." WATCHTOWER: "Charlie Team report-" GRAVES: "Hold the COM checks, men. Colonel Nelson's on the line and has just ordered us to withdraw. Let's move! Foxtrot-Open formation!" MANTICORE: "What the bloody hell, mate?" GRAVES: "This is a direct order, DARTs. Let's withdraw first, ask questions later." GEAR: "Standard procedure's to shoot first, ask questions later, not this shit." GRAVES: "Dammit, Deltas! Just get out of assault positions!" WATCHTOWER: "Affirmative. This is Charlie Team at fallback position, awaiting further orders." GRAVES: "Standby." COM channel with DARTs closes GRAVES: "Now, sirs, mind to tell me why we just called off a counterterrorist attack?" NELSON: "Well, Colonel, I know your Special Forces chaps ain't gonna kill nothing, so they're rather disenchanted at the moment, but the problem is that one of our Marine squad commanders, a certain Sergeant Caboose of First Platoon, was captured by the terrorists. They're holding her hostage and their first demand is for us to completely withdraw. I'm still keeping the perimeter in place, though, so get back on the line with your DARTs and tell 'em to reinforce Second Platoon. Relentless, maybe your First Platoon, or those unwounded in your platoon, can also rendezvous with Imperator's men." GRAVES: "This is...unexpected. Who's the on-site hostage negotiator, sir?" NELSON: "I am, and for now, I am not risking Caboose's life. I'll wait for the situation to settle, and then perhaps we could work something out." RELENTLESS: "Be advised, sir, there's going to be no negotiation. He's going to force you to return to base, then he's gonna run and execute Caboose on the way." GRAVES: "An accurate assessment, Colonel. Colonel Nelson, I advise a preemptive strike while they are reconfiguring their formations and defensive concentrations to retrieve the Sergeant. Then, we can call in air support and bomb 'em out. They've proven themselves to be too dangerous." A distasteful mood permeates the air and there is a pause. NELSON: "Fine."

Act VI: Gear of War
Terrorist building Unknown Voice #2: "Well...Sergeant Caboose. It appears you are in an intractable tactical situation. Perhaps you'd fare better by informing us about the protocols being used by your friends outside." CABOOSE: "Caboose, Sergeant, Lima Company. That's all I-" ''A masked commando unsheaths a broad-girthed knife, "sheaths" it into CABOOSE's back. Screams permeate the still air as CABOOSE writhes in pain, not realizing that every contortion drives the knife further in.'' Commando #1: "Should I continue, sir?" Commando #2: "Little bitch deserves to die for killing Lewis. A cerebral hemmorage would be a fitting way to end her life." Unknown Voice #2: "She'll live a little while longer as we string the troops outside along. Now, come to defensive positions, men. They will be coming." Rooftop of a low-level adjacent building IDAHO: "Let's move it, Bravo Team. Bravo Three, get a hand on that grappler, extend the cord. Bravo Two, keep the sniper close by. They might have autoturrets mounted at the window." BRAVO 2: "10-4, sir." BRAVO 2 fires a high-adhesive dart to the wall of the far building while IDAHO and BRAVOS 3 and 4 ready their weapons for terrorists that might appear on the far rooftop. BRAVO 2: "Line integrity is green, sir. Make secure, and I will go first." ''BRAVO 2 hands the rope, begins sliding across. Without warning nor announcement, a fireteam of jet black-armored commandoes roll out from behind a heat exchanger on the terrorist rooftop bearing machine guns. BRAVO 2 is peppered with bullets and his bloodied corpse falls into the streets below. BRAVO 4 is wounded, and staggers as bullets razor his sternum and lungs, his armor scathed. BRAVO 2 fires with the sniper, and the rat-a-tat meter of enemy machine guns is punctuated by the reports of the sniper rifle. Two of the terrorists have plumes of blood showering from their bodies, and the third retreats behind the heat exchanger.'' IDAHO: "Command, this is Bravo Team. 10-47: gunfire reported. One man down and another severely wounded. Orders?" NELSON: "Go! All Delta Recon teams, go, go!" GRAVES: "Copy that. Men, move! Alpha Strike!" ''Black-suited Delta Recon commandoes appear from behind scattered cars, street lamps, and tin garbage cans from the streets lining the central building. Lima Company Marines open fire from their perimeter position at the looming terrorist building, and machine gun and rifle fire is reciprocated. A sniper rings out.'' GEAR: "Echo Team is down. Repeat, Echo Team and Manticore have been terminated by the enemy sniper." ''A pause as the fire aggregates to thundering intensity, but the remaining dozen DARTs on the streets manage to sprint across the treacherous bloodied road, pausing at the windows of the bottom floor atrium of the terrorist building. As DARTs set charges, defenders from the inside fire .50-caliber machine guns. DARTs crumple, bullets scattered in their bodies like a farmer threshing wheat.'' RELENTLESS: "Ryan, stay here. Captain Snook, Sergeant Digipatd, form your squads up on me! We're going in! Those Delta teams aren't going to make it!" GRAVES: "We're in! Alpha Team, fan out, get those machine gunners STA-" A raspy, treacherous breath from GRAVES. NELSON: "Dammit, Colonel! What's your status?" ALPHA 3: "Sir, the Colonel is down. I repeat, Colonel Graves is badly wounded, and he's bleeding out like hell. I have my defib in hand, but am pinned down under this fountain thin-" ''Machine gun bullets pepper the metal, incise through it and riddle ALPHA 3. He falls, body blown apart. RELENTLESS dives down from the Command Post, the twenty men of SNOOK's and DIGIPATD's squads on his flank. He makes a mad rush to the darkly-tinted windows of the bottom floor lobby right across the street, but an enemy sniper fires, and a bullet impacts his arm. He stumbles in his sprint, ramming against a window and breaking it from his force as he crumples.'' SNOOK: "Control, Relentless is down. TACBIO reports that his situation is erratic." NELSON: "Fuck this. Relentless was supposed to stay back at the C.P., and now he's wounded. Get him outta the goddamn fire zone. Delta troopers, what's your status?" IDAHO: "Idaho here. Bravo Team is on the enemy rooftop, three tangos down. We have one KIA, but are already setting the breaching charges to enter the enemy building." GEAR: "Fuck, fuck! Delta Two, get 'em offa me!" Stabbing and gagging sounds. GEAR: "Sorry 'bout that, sir. Just cleaning up some rubbish. Yeah, well, there's..." Bullets whine through the channel: the enemy is executing suppressive fire on the marble statue that GEAR is taking cover behind. GEAR: "Ahh, shit! I'm hit! Loosing blood...MEDBIO reports that I'm...ah...DARTs, clear the area! Dammit, out! I'm setting off the bomb!" NELSON: "No, you fucking won't! You're gonna kill yourself and the..." GEAR: "Negative, sir, but this is the way it has to work. The Deltas are not going to make any progress: they have over twenty men in the lobby with machine guns, and if we don't get Caboose out of here soon, they're going to execute her and finish us off. My Will is stored in my locker back at Helencia. Over and out." NELSON: "THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER! TERMINATE OPERATION! NO, GODDAMN IT, I'LL HAVE YOU COURT-MARTIALED, DISGRACED!" GEAR, raspy voice, pained: "Always wanted to be a lawyer, sir. Gears...out." WATCHTOWER: "DELTAS, MARINES, CLEAR, CLEAR!" A conflagaration of titanic proportions roils, fire cleanses the lobby and the building shudders, structurally unbalanced.

Act VII: Heroes in the Dust
RELENTLESS: "Whatsa happening?" WATCHTOWER: "DAMMIT! GEAR JUST SET OFF THE BOMB! We just lost all of the DARTs in there save me, and most of the Marines!" SNOOK: "I'm...pinned down by this jag of concerete. Ah! It's pressing, and I'm..." NELSON: "Fuck Gear. We're gonna lose everyone else. Watchtower, are you fine?" WATCHTOWER: "Yessir. I was able to escape, but Alpha, Charlie, and Delta Teams are all dead except for me." IDAHO: "We've broken in from the rooftop and are encountering light resistance, Relentless. Wait...readings are all fluctuating! The lights are cutting out! What the fuck?" NELSON: "Don't concern yourself with it. Do your men have infrared? Can you still fight through the dark?" IDAHO: "Yes, sir. Wait...picking up a frequency...it's Caboose! She somehow managed to activate her personal COM...picking up words...I can triangulate her position...working...there! Third floor, central apartment. Relentless, you there? Try Channel E183 and pinpoint her. If Bravo Team doesn't make it, call in a surgical air strike." NELSON: "Relentless isn't here, Idaho. I've taken full command of Lima Comany." IDAHO: "What? What? Did you FUCKING kill him or something to get FUCKING command, or..." NELSON: "Negative. He was shot by the terrorists." RELENTLESS: "I'mmmm... ...still...here." IDAHO: "Good Lord, man! What's going on?" RELENTLESS: "No time to explain. I'm in combat status, though. I can still fight. Ryan, where's Idaho and his men?" NELSON: "What the hell? Don't get up, Colonel! You're just going to-" WATCHTOWER: "With all due respect, sir, you're not fit for combat. If you don't get a blood transfusion soon, you'll be blacking out. Come on, Bravo Team can retrieve Caboose. RELENTLESS: "Ah, go to hell, Ryan. I took this wound, I can decide for my fucking self what to do about it. Watchtower, on my six. Let's go into the lobby and..." NELSON: "Negative, Relentless! Besides, the lobby's all bombed out! You won't be able to find a way through, and we have soldiers trapped in there. If by chance someone sees you and chucks a grenade at you, it'll blow those trapped Marines to hell, and one of 'em's Snook." RELENTLESS: "That's a direct order, Watchtower. We're going in. Besides, who just bombed the lobby?" NELSON: "Relentless, I'm telling you as a friend. I'm not gonna see you again if-" RELENTLESS terminates the COM line, and the two soldiers venture towards the lobby. It is a cascade of mountains of rubbles, carbon-scored corpses. There is no visible path to the doorway on the far side. WATCHTOWER: "Long story, sir." RELENTLESS: "Hey, hold. Do you see that-" Machine gun fires from the far doorway, rounds pepper the air as RELENTLESS and WATCHTOWER dive, take defensive positions behind mountains of rubble. RELENTLESS groans in the excruciating agony, his jaw muscles bunch. RELENTLESS: "No grenades, Watchtower, remember that." The two soldiers peer around their rubble, fire. Several terrorists fall in succession before one of them brandishes a sniper, nearly shaving off WATCHTOWER's face as the two recess back. RELENTLESS: What I was saying is that you see that hole in the ceiling, with those wires trailing down? WATCHTOWER: "You mean the one at six 'o clock? Yessir." WATCHTOWER spies the discarded grappeling gun besides a dead DART's mound of rubble. WATCHTOWER: "I'll carefully chuck a grenade at the far side, keep 'em pinned down, and you, sir, can get up. I'll hold 'em off here until Nelson calls in the calvary to assist me-" A bullet grazes WATCHTOWER's side, and he grunts briefly. WATCHTOWER: "They have four men, now, one with a minigun...I can't do suppression fire...and without peeking around 'round my rubble, I can't risk a grenade - if it lands inappropriately, it'll just flatten those trapped troops. I'll do a kamakaze run. It should distract them for enough seconds for you to rappel up and support Bravo Team, sir." RELENTLESS: "I'm not asking you to do this, Watchtower." WATCHTOWER grins with the valorousness that comes before an honorable death. WATCHTOWER: "No shit you are, sir. Let's go on five, four, three..." RELENTLESS: "You shouldn't throw away your life like this." WATCHTOWER: "Two, one, go!" RELENTLESS pauses, trepidatious as he sees WATCHTOWER screaming for the blood of his enemies. WATCHTOWER makes a suicidal run at the quartet of terrorists as RELENTLESS is paralyzed in place by the macabre scene. A shotgun blows off WATCHTOWER's head as the DART lieutenant, as if final action, chucks a grenade. It detonates, shredding the four and spraying limbs and blood into the air. As the dust settles, fires kindering on the bodies and the surround pulverized granite chips, RELENTLESS ascends the rope to the second floor.

Act IIX: Buckshot Reunion
Lima Company Second Platoon command post, atop a low-lying nearby building

NELSON: "Relentless, Relentless? DAMN IT! HE CUT OFF THE LINE!" IMPERATOR: "Sir, nothing you can do. If he wants to be the knight that saves the maiden, just goddamn let 'em. Not worth a damn grieving over his eventual death, sir." NELSON: "Go to hell, Captain. Relentless saved my life a buncha times before he became co-commander of Lima with me, man. We went through hell, and came out unburnt. He-" MARINE: "Colonel, Captain! Something just went off inside! A grenade!" NELSON: "DAMMIT, THAT DE FACTO HEROINE! RELENTLESS JUST SET OFF A 'NADE AND KILLED SNOOK!" IMPERATOR: "You can't court-martial a corpse, sir." NELSON: "Yeah? I can spit on corpses too...except it's vaporized." IMPERATOR: "Sir, with all due respect, Relentless was a hero, going out like that. A glorious exit." NELSON violently cuffs IMPERATOR, sends him sprawling and groaning. NELSON: "No, he was an insipid, apathetic man who couldn't listen to impeccable logic." SECOND MARINE: "Umm, sir, we're getting a transmission that you might want to hear." Besides NELSON, MARINE, and SECOND MARINE, IMPERATOR stirs and groans, to have NELSON kick him. NELSON: "Let's hear it, Private." Unknown Voice #2: "Citizens of Pacific Central, I address you as a humble citizen of great regard. You may not be aware, but your own military is staging an attack on honest, godfearing men like myself at 1100 Baltic. I understand my words are foreign, concepts unreal, for what government would oppress its denizens so? My cause is to-" NELSON: "Get Intelligence and tell them to cut that radio channel now."

IDAHO, in a shushed whisper: "Halt. Caboose's radio signal is getting closer..." BRAVO 4: "Contact!" A bullet catches BRAVO 4 in the faceplate, lifts him up into the air, kills him. IDAHO: "So much for stealth. Bravo 3, catch that bastard!" ''IDAHO and BRAVO 3 open fire with rifles, pepper the terrorist with rounds and down him. They are not secure, however. A trio of shotgun-wielding soldiers round the corner, open fire. Buckshot peppers BRAVO 3, blow off his limbs. IDAHO takes cover behind a metal barrier that was placed by the terrorist defenders, places his rifle in its notch. A shotgun round comes near his face, draws a sliver of blood, and IDAHO's sixth sense indicates that he is soon to be flung into the House of Death when the elevator that the terrorists just dismounted from dings and opens, revealing RELENTLESS (who had rapelled to the second floor and taken the elevator to the third floor), who totes a shotgun. Two liftings of the shotgun's chambers gnaw off the chests off of two terrorists, and RELENTLESS takes a knife, plunges it into the last terrorist's neck, and then violently swings his knife to the right, sending the body against the wall, the blood it is spraying juxtaposing the formerly pristine bullet-riddled snow white wall. A grenade drops from the tensed hand of one of the downed terrorists, the hand' frozen in rigor mortis. Both soldiers similarly tense, dive. The explosion nearly envelopes them, filling the surrounding air with wisps of fire.'' RELENTLESS: "That was for the Halopedia Award, farmboy." IDAHO widely grins, unshoulders his rifle, indents the skull of a dead terrorist. IDAHO: "Hey, what up? However, we have to cut this reunion short 'cuz..." ''Bullets rattle from the corridor that intersects RELENTLESS's and IDAHO's positions. RELENTLESS is bleeding most severely, but manages to brace against the wall, and then abruptly spin around, catching a terrorist machine-gunner with a fortuinous headshot. IDAHO, emboldened, does the same, downing a second terrorist. IDAHO and RELENTLESS wordlessly advance, and see just in time a heavy pressure door seal and hear the words of the terrorist leader's address floating through the crack before the hydraulics sealed it shut.''

Lima Company C.P. NELSON: "Intel can't fucking jam the area?" IMPERATOR: "Negative...sir. If they jam that channel, they'll jam our military communications because of the proximity of the megahertz values of the channels." NELSON: "Fuck. Or...do we need TACCOM? Where is Bravo Team?" NELSON turns to the SECOND MARINE. NELSON: "Get me Idaho, soldier." SECOND MARINE: "Yessir. Wait...I can't find his frequency...it's static...either his COM pack is damaged or he's dead." NELSON and IMPERATOR turn to each other, eyeing each other, and forming impetuous thoughts. NELSON: "No way that Idaho and Bravo Team aren't dead, or else we would've heard from 'em." IMPERATOR: "You're writing off Watchtower and Relentless? Should we at least check his channel?" NELSON: "Relentless died in the grenade blast, I'd think. Let's keep the gloves clean, cut our losses. Captain Imperator, get Victors One and Two on the line. Missile bombardment is the cleanest way to end all things." A tremendous explosion sounds - a second one, and the windows are blown out and trailers of flame jet out. IMPERATOR: "That was Bravo Team! Some of them had to have survived, gone COM silent, and set an explosive surprise. Some of them might still be alive..." NELSON: "Fuck yeah, Idaho! I knew ya wouldn't die on me! Second Platoon, get in there fast and hard! Eliminate all tangos and then begin search and retrieval of Bravo Team!" IMPERATOR: "Yessir. All squads, up on me."

Act IX: Treason High
RELENTLESS: "Lieutenant, you familiar with this terrorist shotgun? A fine piece of work. M700 pump-action Chazz shotgun. 12-gauge, titanium buckshot. Shit, how much do these terrorists make?" IDAHO: "With all due respect, sir, what's your plan?" RELENTLESS: "What General Esemono set you DARTs for, except all of you guys save one got killed. To blow shit up." RELENTLESS nears the pressure door, leans to the side as he hears guns cocking on the far side. IDAHO: "No matter how powerful, a 12-gauge can't penetrate a titanium-A pressure door. RELENTLESS: "Affirmative. I'm not shooting the door, but the wall next to the door. Make ready, Lieutenant." IDAHO: "Yessir. On your mark..." RELENTLESS: "MARK!" The wall is gouged by the shotgun's heavy blasts, and the climacity drains away as it takes several shots to bore through, but after several, the wall completely collapses. RELENTLESS carelessly discards his shotgun, reaches for his assault rifle, realizes that in its place he has its grapple gun, and goes for his pistol. As the wall chunks fall, the soot within them unfurling and providing a smoke grenade's yield of cover for the two advancing rescuers, RELENTLESS sees a shape on the far side, fires the handgun. A spurt of blood, a target down. Unknown Voice #2: "MARINES! SURRENDER! WE HAVE THE HOSTAGE!" IDAHO and RELENTLESS continue advancing, randomly shooting. The terrorists hold their fire, unwilling to waste ammunition firing into a haze. IDAHO continues pumping his shotgun, blowing apart three bewildered, unattentative terrorists. RELENTLESS, however, is shot by the terrorist leader, staggers, bleeding critically from two places. The cloud clears, and IDAHO swivels to meet the terrorist leader and his two remaining shotgun-toting guards. There is no taunting exchange of words as tbe terrorist leader grabs RELENTLESS's limp body, and produces a knife over RELENTLESS's throat. RELENTLESS snakes a hand into the terrorist leader's thigh holster as he's lifted, fires off shots into his thigh, which gruseomely dissapates into blood. RELENTLESS hoarsely gasps for air, fingers groping as he seizes. The two remaining terrorists pause, still trying to evaluate if their leader is still alive, and unwilling to fire shots in the immediate vicinity of their leader. RELENTLESS: "Idaho, IDAHO! The pain is seizing me now...take Caboose..." COMMANDO #1: "Fuck no you're not, man." ''COMMANDO #1 fires at IDAHO, catching him across the chest. IDAHO stumbles, bleeding horrendously, but CABOOSE, nearby and strapped to a metal chair, reaches out a leg, snaps out COMMANDO #1's legs out from behind, making him fall. IDAHO, although wounded and lapsing into unconsciousness, fires at COMMANDO #1, who is on the floor nearby. COMMANDO #1's head blows off into a jetting plume of oxygenated blood. COMMANDO #2 retreats this without alarm, merely watching IDAHO writhe, planting a sturdy boot on IDAHO's head, and then reaching for something at his belt.'' COMMANDO #2: "Your friends...your Lima Company, is coming in. When the motion sensor planted on the hostage's chair detects an incoming figure, it will automatically trigger the bomb, that, or after 3 minutes. Die without honor." A high-pitched whining fills the air as COMMANDO #2 triggers the detonation control at his belt. COMMANDO #2: "They will all die, greenie, not just you. Now, do you know how it feels to have your skull crushed in on itself? Or...no. It'd be better for me to choke you, that'd be good." ''COMMANDO #2 graps IDAHO's throat, noting his rather placcid body, lifting him up by his vulnerable larynx, bringing IDAHO's nose next to his as IDAHO's eyes flare in impotent anger. IDAHO, however, lunges for COMMANDO #2's neck, bites down, teeth incising flesh and rupturing the jugular. COMMANDO #2 shrilly screams, blood again fountains across his battle armor. After several seconds of hemoglobin rills coming down his throat, IDAHO releases his teeths' grasp, shaken. He steps back, directs his shotgun at COMAMNDO #2's seizing body, fires. He lunges for the detonator at the man's belt, but the button is permamently depressed at reads 2:03. There is very little time left. He cumples to his knees, the sight of CABOOSE frantically screaming underneath the duct tape and flailing at her bonds, her rescuer at her knees but unable to do anything. However, IDAHO sights the medkit at COMMANDO #1's corpse, grasps for it as his vision becomes restricted, tunneling. His blood-stained fingers, slick with asphalt black, find the epipen, depress it into his chest. Chemical energy fueling his fight or flight response reinvigorates him, gives him a momentarily superpromethean burst of strength. He finds the keycard on the terrorist leader's body, swipes it at a control on CABOOSE's chair. The magnabonds relax, allowing her to escape free. She screams to have the asphyxiating duct tape removed, but IDAHO knows that without a knife, he can not relieve her of the tape, and knows that he must escape first with CABOOSE, or else the relieving of the tape is of no consequence. He grasps her body, storms out of the room, trying to maintain the last strains of energy to burst out of the room. IMPERATOR, stalking down the hallway with three of his men, sees IDAHO and CABOOSE, locked in fearful embrace. Both collapse before his knees, as if prostrating.'' IMPERATOR: "Colonel Nelson! I repeat, op is green! Op is green! Idaho and Caboose are secure! Let's go!" ''IDAHO tries to mouth words that RELENTLESS is still there, but is unable to. He is falling into cardiac arrest. Second Platoon Marines storm around the two, scurrying them to an awaiting helicopter. CABOOSE screams, also trying to inform them of RELENTLESS, but is unable to because of the duct tape. The Marines never set a toe into the room, therefore not triggering the proximity sensor. It takes them a minute to reach VICTOR ONE. IDAHO is in asystole, and is being defibbed.''

On helicopter Victor One NELSON: "Angel Flight, this is Colonel R.J. Nelson, Lima Company. Nice to see you again, chaps." ANGEL ONE: "Reciprocating the sentiment here, sir. Admiral Ares mentioned that Lima Company needed an aerial bombardment?" NELSON: "Yes. 1100 Baltic Avenue: a 4-story apartment complex. All friendlies have been evacuated. Sorry to bother you boys, but both of my helicopters are being used to ferry personnel out of the to-be-crater." ANGEL ONE: "Affirmative. We are approaching on vector november-tango. Angel Two, sight the target." ANGEL TWO: "Located it on RECONSAT. The sattelite has extended its laser guidance." A medic manages to pry off CABOOSE's tape, who is hysterically tearing and shaking. CABOOSE: "Sir, sir! Call of the air strike! Relentless is still in there, and I believe he's alive! We need medics on him or else he's going to bleed out." NELSON glares at CABOOSE unkindly. NELSON: "What the fuck, girl? Relentless died a long time ago on the first floor, the lobby. A grenade explosion." CABOOSE: "Negative! He came in with Idaho into the room where I was being kept, killed off most of the terrorists! Relentless is in there and is hemmoraging! Where's FMSU?" NELSON: "Angel Flight, disregard the Sergeant. I believe they used sodium pentothal on her to extract information on her, and she has become momentarily psychotic because of it, doesn't want to lose her precious boytoy. The air strike is still on. ETA?" CABOOSE: "No...no...NOO! RELENTLESS. IS. STILL." NELSON: "Even if he is, we're not risking any of our asses to go in and save him. Each helicopter is carrying about thirty men, and we found out from analyzing Idaho's helmet recorder about the bomb. Relentless is not alive. We're not going to get his corpse, if you want to kiss it or something. I understand you've been through hell, but..." CABOOSE: "No! He's alive! Pilot, stop this chopper, we're going-" NELSON: "Imperator, we've had enough. Put her under a soporific anesthetic." CABOOSE writhes in torment and is wailing, and IMPERATOR injects her, and she falls as limp as a dead body as she goes unconscious. IMPERATOR: "Done."

Terrorist building ''RELENTLESS lays there, his lifeblood seeping out. He has heard the footsteps of Captain IMPERATOR and his men, but is unable to response. He was awaited for over two minutes for them to close, but his despair grows to agony, pain eviscerating him as his false hopes, hopes led astray, end.''

''Two F-27 interceptor aircraft close on 1100 Baltic Avenue, afterburners heralding their presence. Smoke jets out from missile tubes, and with impeccable precision, they barrel roll away, towards their air base.''

On helicopter Victor One ''IDAHO's eyes flicker open, and he finds IMPERATOR and NELSON leaning over him, eyeing the building behind them. He sputters, finding CABOOSE laying besides him...but not RELENTLESS.'' IDAHO: "Colonel, sir. Captain, sir. Lieutenant Idaho here." IMPERATOR: "Not 'ready for duty', eh?" IDAHO playfully grins as the pain eases its tenuous grip slightly. IDAHO: "No, sir. And...where's Relentless? He needs to get a Halopedia Award from me for saving my sorry ass. He take the other chopper or something?" NELSON turns, observes the blood-stained figure. NELSON: "He's dead, Lieutenant. I thought you of all people knew." IDAHO's eyes jerk open with ferocious alacitry. IDAHO: "WHAT? No, he's not...and if you think he's dead and you didn't evac him, then he's still there and the bomb is going to blow-"

Terrorist building ''The light of the setting Sun, its rays of photons diffracted from the aerated photochemical smog and oxygen and prismatically drifracting into a starburst of mournful colors, alights RELENTLESS's eyes as he spastically lurches for his last, blood-impregnated breath. The light, doleful and expressing its condolences, is held in suspenseful abeyance in the browness of his retinas. At last, he releases his spirit from his torment, and his eyes settle shut, and his life seeps away with treacherous hesitation, each moment bringing unbearable agony...''

''The F-27 missiles connect. A gargantuan explosion rumbles, and the sky is filled with light of such propensity that a miniature sun is birthed.''

Act X: Post-Mortem
After Action Report February 31, 2000 Lima Company, OPERATION: Crimson Razor

To: General Esemono, 3rd Battalion Operational Command From: Colonel Nelson, R.J., Company Commander Encryption Key: Axiom-8 Subject: After-Action Report, Colonel Relentless

On 0800 hours on February 22, 2000, Lima Company forces engaged terrorist insurgents at 1100 Baltic Avenue of Pacific Central - a 4-story apartment complex.

On 0917 hours, against the tactical suggestions of numerous Marine officers and regulars, Colonel Relentless led Lieutenant Watchtower, a DART commando, into a bombed-out lobby in the first floor (see attached pryotechnics report) in an effort to retrieve a terrorist-held hostage, Caboose, Sergeant, of Lima Company. Relentless and the DART commando were both killed in a grenade detonation.

CURRENT STATUS: Killed In Action - February 20, 2007

ATTACHMENT: Pyrotechnics Report (RE: First Bombing of 1100 Baltic Avenue, 280 MB)

-Nelson, R.J., Colonel

List of Killed Characters

Delta Assault Reconnaisance Corps


 * DART Alpha Team
 * Graves, Adam, Lieutenant Colonel - Terrorist machine-gun wounds
 * Alpha Two - Bomb blast
 * Alpha Three - Terrorist machine-gun wounds
 * Alpha Four - Bomb blast
 * DART Bravo Team
 * Bravo Two - Terrorist machine-gun wounds
 * Bravo Three - Action with terrorists (not explicitly covered)
 * Bravo Four - Terrorist shotgun wounds
 * DART Charlie Team
 * Watchtower, Lieutenant - Terrorist shotgun blast, beheaded
 * Charlie Two - Bomb blast
 * Charlie Three - Bomb blast
 * Charlie Four - Bomb blast
 * DART Delta Team
 * Gear, Lieutenant - Bomb blast
 * Delta Two - Bomb blast
 * Delta Three - Bomb blast
 * Delta Four - Bomb blast
 * DART Echo Team
 * Manticore, Lieutenant - Terrorist sniper wounds
 * Echo Two - Terrorist sniper wounds
 * Echo Three - Terrorist sniper wounds
 * Echo Four - Terrorist sniper wounds

Lima Company, First Platoon
 * Relentless, Colonel - F-27 missile explosions
 * Red Squad
 * 9 anonymous marines
 * Black Squad
 * 9 anonymous marines

Other characters
 * Terrorist leader - died from blood loss from pistol wounds, killed by Relentless
 * Snook, Captain - successfully recovered from rubble badly wounded, undertook extensive surgery and survived
 * Averill, Lieutenant - successfully revived from cardiac arrest, had a heart flash-cloned and transplanted as a precaution against heart problems from damaged heart
 * Idaho, Lieutenant - successfully revived from cardiac arrest, had a heart flsah-cloned and transplanted as a precaution against heart problems from damaged heart