 |
About This Site
Daily Musings
News
News Archive
Site Resources
Concept Art
Halo Bulletins
Interviews
Movies
Music
Miscellaneous
Mailbag
HBO PAL
Game Fun
The Halo Story
Tips and Tricks
Fan Creations
Wallpaper
Misc. Art
Fan Fiction
Comics
Logos
Banners
Press Coverage
Halo Reviews
Halo 2 Previews
Press Scans
Community
HBO Forum
Clan HBO Forum
ARG Forum
Links
Admin
Submissions
Uploads
Contact
|
|
|
Sergeant Steven Dowel by Mark Lieberg
|
Sergeant Steven Dowel
Date: 22 June 2005, 10:48 pm
Sergeant Steven Dowel—Prologue
The Vehicles, a White Bus that kidnapped twenty ten-year-old kids around the North American Continents, continued to drive along the dry plain desert of Texas, Earth. It was around ninety degrees and growing every hour on Monday Morning, 0900 Hours Military Calendar. The Driver was just a regular civilian hired to help transport the kids they kidnapped around the plains of Texas and the surrounding states. The old man didn't know why the Military would be kidnapping children, but maybe it was for some kind of experiment, the old man never got to know.
The White Bus drove on for ten minutes while the kids in the back of the vehicle were almost awake from being drugged during the night. There were three Drill Sergeants inside the Bus holding onto the top railings, watching the kids wake themselves. The only thing the three Drill Sergeants did was smile while the Bus reached the Military Complex Gate that led underground for about two miles, and in that underground area was a Military Training Facility. The Driver stopped the vehicle, and a Military Police Officer stepped up the stairs and told the driver to step out of the vehicle. The old man did what he was asked to, and got out being escorted away by three other Military Police Officers.
The One Officer that stepped on the Bus sat in the drivers seat. He restarted the Bus, geared manually, and drove downwards into the tunnel. There was a stream of light fixtures above the bus as it drove downwards toward the Military Complex. It took five minutes when they got to the bottomless pit, and stopped at another checkpoint. The guards that stood there in uniform opened the gate to let the bus pass by as the kids, fully awake now, watched in fear at the Military Soldiers training. There were Men marching, Men doing combat, Men eating, Men playing, Men fighting, all this was frightful for the twenty kids in the back of the white bus.
The Kids were all watching and staring as a single kid, a male eight-year-old named Steven Dowel sat up watching and smiling. He always liked seeing Military people doing things around the states, it made Steven feel good to have people fighting for their planet against the rebels. So he was like a Military-learning kid, wanting to see more and more stuff. Now he got the chance. He looked around as a tall man looked at Steven from above.
"What's your name kid?" The Military Drill Sergeant asked Steven as he took another quick glance towards the front then looked back down to the kid.
"Steven Dowel, sir." The eight year old stated as he watched the tall man smile and turn around. Steven didn't know why he smiled. (But it turned out he was going to help train the twenty kids they kidnapped to become Special Op Military Personnel). When the bus reached a large long green tent, surrounded by others and a flat pavement, the three Drill Sergeants walked out first as the last one, the one that spoke to Steven turned around facing the frightened children.
The Tall Drill Sergeant stood in the front of the bus looking at the kids. He looked at everyone then took a quick glance at Steven. Steven read the Drill Sergeants nametag on his uniform and it read 'Baker'. "Listen up kids, I'm Drill Sergeant Baker. You will call me Drill Sergeant or address me as Sir. Is that understood?"
The Kids looked at the man confusingly as Steven answered first. "Sir yes sir!" Steven stood there, by his seat as the Drill Sergeant looked at him. Steven saw him smile and then looked at the other kids.
"What the hell you quiet for! Is that UN-DER-STOOD!" The Drill Sergeant yelled louder this time as the kids looked at Steven. Then the kids replied with the same response.
"Sir, Yes Sir!" The Kids said looking at Baker terrified as Steven looked around confused.
"Good Trainees. Steven!" The Drill Sergeant yelled over the kids as Steven responded with the 'Sir yes sir' response. "Gather these Trainees up and get them off the bus, I want them in five rows of fives, is that understood?"
"Sir yes sir!" Steven yelled enjoying himself among the older kids. Drill Sergeant Baker nodded and stepped off the bus walking towards the concrete pavement area that were around the tents and which is supposed to be the Physical Training area. The Drill Sergeant waited as he saw the kids walk out of the bus, and to his surprise, he saw Steven up front. The Kids followed the eight-year-old despite that he was younger then most of them. Baker smiled while Steven turned around and told them to get into five rows of five. To Baker's surprise again, he saw the kids do what Steven asked as he stepped into the front row being first in line waiting for the Drill Sergeant to come back.
"Good job Trainee Dowel." Baker said looking at the others. Steven paused a few seconds, 'Trainee Dowel'. He liked the sound of that.
"Thank you sir." Trainee Dowel responded. He was happy, he didn't care if his foster parents knew he was missing, they never liked him and this is what he wanted. He wanted to join the Military, and his dream finally came true.
Two Years Later
"Yo Left, yo left…your left, right, left, right, left!" Private Steven Dowel, the ten-year-old boy that used to be 'Trainee Dowel', yelled out loud as his brothers, the kids that were kidnapped, followed him marching around the campus for the last ten minutes. They were three quarters done already, and were close to finishing the ten-mile run. "Come on Brothers!" He yelled again out loud running faster trying to rush to the finish. He knew they would keep up, they had to or Drill Sergeant Baker would make them run another lap, making it their third for the day. Steven didn't want that.
"Come on, we don't want Baker up our ass's do we? Do we!" Steven yelled to make the men have courage also to be scared as he led them to the finish line. Everyone made it not a second late. Drill Sergeant Baker walked towards Private Dowel nodding in approval. Baker; Tim Baker Steven now knew three weeks ago, was now twenty-six years old, as Steven was eleven. The Drill Sergeant still thought of the boy with high hopes.
"Good job Private Dowel. Your men are becoming one with the leader…a team. This is good, a man should never be alone in the field of combat, and no one is to be left behind. Is that understood?" Baker asked the men as they replied with the traditional 'Sir yes sir'. Baker nodded and walked towards Steven Dowel. He patted the Privates shoulder, and handed him a brown, silver lined box. Steven Dowel looked at it confused, and then towards the Sergeant.
"Sir?" Baker looked at the rest of the men and then at Steven smiling.
Five Years Later
Corporal Steven Dowel sat in the back of the Military Truck that carried twenty men, his fellow brothers. They were going to head to a live fire exercise, and if any of them would get hit or killed, it would all be his fault. He didn't want that to happen or to be on his mind so he focused on the bright blue sky, while the sun shined brighter. Basically to Steven it meant that it was going to become hotter. Not a single cloud in the sky, also meaning it would be the perfect time of day to see everything during the exercise, so it should be a walk in the park, no Steven thought looking around again, not like a park, like a Zoo.
Steven looked at his brothers' faces, each brother he had been with since the day they were kidnapped being taken to the underground Military Facility. They had been together for nearly eight years now. Steven, now fifteen years old carrying the rank of Corporal continued to sit in the truck that drove on the dirt road. The faces of his men were all different, some he couldn't read at all. One, Corporal Lewis Perez was biting on his lip and seemed nervous by Steven's thought so he looked at the others. They were all frosty, they knew the consequence if one of them screwed up, so before they left, they prayed that they wouldn't fail. They would finish this mission… they will complete this mission.
The Truck drove on the dirt road heading towards a five-story bricked building. The Military had captured a number of Rebels and armed them with Heavy Automatic Weapons. These 'Rebels' were ordered to kill any of Corporal Steven Dowel's men when they enter the facility, and if they completed their mission they would be set free, but if they would lose…they wouldn't be living for the rest of their trapped lives. Steven gripped his MA3B Assault Rifle and checked the loading chamber, it was clear. The rest glanced at their Squad Leader, and did the same. Dowel heard a series of clicks and ticks when the trucks brakes slammed to a halt, as they were just a kilometer from the apartment building.
Steven looked around the plain and saw far away that the building was covered with armor protection. The Corporal examined the area, and spotted a man just on the fifth floor window, he needed to take him out because that man was carrying an Automatic Silenced Scoped Sniper Rifle (ASSSR), mostly called the 'Silenter'. Luckily, Steven was a step away, two of his men carried the same, but modified weapon. He, still on the truck, pointed to them two, made an upside down arrow, and topped his head.
The two men nodded and carried their rifles. They hopped out of the back, and lay on the ground on their bellies, and they waited for a faint shadow to wave to them as they selected their targets. They both saw the one man, but to have two rifles, it would be better if there is two targets, so the other one looked for another one, and spotted one on the roof carrying a Rocket Launcher, Military issued. Steven remembered that his Drill Sergeant said there would be people that would do anything to see him or his brothers fail, so he wasn't going to do that. Not today. He waved the two snipers, and they fired.
Two bullets entered the two targets. One just fell on the floor as the other fell off the roof collapsing on the ground dead. Steven waved off to the rest of his men as they filed out of the truck. They jumped from the side, and from the back running in two single file lines towards the building. Gripping each of their weapons, they continued to run. This is why they ran for thirty miles in the Military Complex underground, so they could run like this. Well, that's what Steven thought as he reached out wards signaling the second line to form a defensive suppression perimeter around the building. It was a small building, enough for a ten-man team to suppress while Team One moved in.
Steven reached one side of the building, and looked up while the other nine of his men that composed of Team One touched the wall. They held their weapons high and kept frosty. They were going into the building while Team Two gave suppression fire, good luck to us, thought Steven as he crept slowly to the double brown doors that made the front entrance, but then he stopped. What if there were Rebels in the entrance ready to hose his men down? What if there were explosives planted to detonate when they open the doors? He had to take and understand each of these risks so he turned around.
He saw a window just behind him, and he signaled three of the nine men to enter first. They did slowly and quietly while Steven heard a few gunshots go off. When the fire stopped, he heard a positive reply of 'Clear'. Steven smiled, and the team stormed the room from the front door removing all Rebels from power of the building.
Eight Years after the attack of the Hotel and Five Years after the attack
on the Harvest System
"Sergeant Steven Dowel, you have been awarded with the Purple Heart, and your actions on Virginia VII were excellent. We congratulate you, and give you our sincere thoughts about the men you lost today. The Battle with the Covenant isn't going so well, and you helped complete your mission by making sure the Covenant didn't obtain data to Earth, we salute you." General George Tellings said raising his right arm and gave the Sergeant a crisp salute. Steven didn't smile, he still thought about the seven men he lost, seven brothers. They had been with him threw thick and thin, and now with the battle with the Covenant. Everything was turning upside down, everyone was losing while the Covenant continued to glass more systems.
Steven focused back into reality and gave back the salute, then the General handed him a brown polished box that guarded the Purple Heart. A bullet before had shot Steven, but getting burned by Plasma from a Covenant weapons did hurt as much as he didn't know. He had to stay in bed for a week to recover, and when he was back he was here now, getting his medal. There were only five more of his brothers alive. Seven killed in the last week, three died from a ship-to-ship attack, and the other five were killed when they were sent to investigate the attack in the Harvest System the year of 2525.
Lights focused into Stevens face as a round of applause rang in his ears, then after a flash from a camera he saw one of his men get shot multiple times by a Plasma Weapon that burned through his brothers head, then enveloped his body. Steven felt sick all of a sudden and walked down the stairs and to his temporary quarters. He was going to be frozen on Earth for future use, for a future mission, and later, Steven hoped, they would defeat the Covenant, and was the Sergeant going to get it.
Sergeant Steven Dowel - Stealth
Date: 26 June 2005, 1:06 pm
Sergeant Steven Dowel—Section 1
On a planet called Straphe, Covenant Siege was its status. Fifty Covenant Destroyers and three Carriers; enough to wipe out three systems of the size Straphe is in. The entire Outer Colonies were lost by the Covenant, and the Inner Colonies were being picked one by one. On one of the continents, in one city, on one street sat Sergeant Steven Dowel. He is a Marine; thawed out from twenty years in cryo stasis, to help turn the edges on the war. He was sent to the planet to do only one thing, kill Covenant and something important, [I]'very'[/I] important. He was assigned to head to this specific city called 'Faren'. There is a strong concentration of Covenant troops in the area, and Steven Dowel was assigned to take them out and find out why they didn't glass the planet yet.
He was just a soldier, a top notch Special Op Soldier. Steven heard about his fellow brothers, they were sent on other missions when he was weeks frozen before getting thawed out, but he never got any replies from the messages he sent to them, so he was going to ignore their absence, and do his job…alone; to do his duty to complete this mission. He knelt surveying the street singing the Marine song he had memorized. It was calm, quiet, and luckily, which Steven didn't believe, there were no patrols of any sort in the area. Kneeling, he loosened his grip on his Battle Rifle, and swung it on his back. He pulled out a map, since Global Positioning Satellites were hit first on the planet; and laid it on his right knee. The map showed the surrounding areas and the surrounding towns of the city.
The Sergeant got Intel that there is a number of troops inside an underground facility, which used to be a military stronghold for the UNSC against rebels. Strangely he never heard of it before, and it was a top priority to destroy the facility, taking his life if necessary. So he was going to complete this mission, destroy the underground facility, and get out alive if possible. [I]'Sounds like a mission for a platoon'[/I], thought Steven as he found the position he was located at, and marked it with a red marker had had brought. He put a small X on his location and looked at the coordinates the underground facility was located at, and found out where, so he drew a thin line of the pathway he was going to take. It was just a few meters from his position anyways.
Steven bagged his map and capped the marker. He then unslung his Battle Rifle, checked the ammo counter, and then observed the sky. It was becoming cloudy and by his training on weather probabilities, the air seemed damp and cold. It was possibly going to rain today, which would make it easier for him to do his mission undercover, in stealth. He stood up and held his rifle leveling with his waist. The alley he was in was very cramped, but able to move in, so he started walking quietly.
Sergeant Dowel watched the weary fog appear as it covered his visibility range making it hard to see, the area was now like dry ice in hot water. He couldn't see the sky even as he looked up above him. He had his helmet with his lucky Ace Card, which was signed by his parents for good luck when he joined OCS. He always had that card, and with that helmet he heard a loud thump. A thump telling him that water dripped down onto his uniform. It started to rain. He continued to walk down the alley, be before he knew it he passed the second block trying to see through the fog, but had no luck. He knelt down and checked his bag he was carrying to see if he brought his Navy issued Night Vision Goggles.
He unbuckled the belt and opened the brown pouch. He dug into the bag and found the device, so he took off his helmet, and attached it as water dripped on his face. He buckled the pouch, and hefted the bag onto his back. He grabbed his helmet next and carefully placed it on top of his head. He pulled out the night vision goggles, and pressed the activation button. In one second Steven could only see black, and in the next, he saw three Grunts, Covenant Cannon Fodder. He aimed his Battle Rifle by instinct and almost fired the weapon as he remembered the Grunts couldn't see him.
[I]'Silence'[/I], the sergeant reminded himself as he pulled out a silencer he designed when he was in base camp and screwed the device onto the muzzle of the Battle Rifle. It screwed on perfectly and after another twist, he raised his rifle and leveled it with his shoulder. He took careful aim, and then with patience, fired. Three bright flashes ended up with three dead bodies as a mixed color of liquid covered the ground as the sergeant checked his targets. The first Grunt took it in the head, the second in the abdomen, and the third…well he just punctured the methane tank and watched the alien fly in the air hitting the cramped walls of the alley. [I]'Feel free to wake up when ever you want'[/I], Steven thought looking at the three corpses. He looked to his right, and saw a building that was three stories high. The Sergeant's mind had a flashback as it pictured the whole map he saw nearly ten minutes ago.
The building was just in between him and his target location by his memory, and he was positive that it is. He wasn't sure if it would be wise to go into a building that he had no blue prints of and thought to himself. He decided it would be easier to go through then around because if he went around he would have to spend another ten minutes walking and getting unnoticed. He looked around with his NVG and then placed his hand on the knob. He turned it a little, and it didn't budge. Dowel now really wanted to cut through the building so he lifted his Rifle and fired at the door. Wood splintered as the burst shot, silently due to the silencer on his muzzle, and blew out the knob.
The Sergeant slowly opened the door entering the building. It was a house by the looks of it. There was a television set and two couches that surrounded the main living room. He wondered if the civilians that were here survived, but with that thought he shook his head. He couldn't think of civilians now, it would just help him think of his brothers he was raised with. He had a mission to focus on. He had a goal, an objective, so he shook his head again, and surveyed the house now by aiming his rifle at where his eye was looking at. It was clear, so he walked towards the window to his eleven o'clock position that had its curtain down. Steven looked at it and pulled the string.
He saw a huge pavement of cement that was empty all except for a small structure the size of a closet that was in the middle. He looked around seeing through his NVGs, and opened the window slowly. It budged a little, and then as he pulled with all his strength the window slammed upwards making a loud noise. After that he became silent and heard a strange noise from the upper floor. It sounded like a bird chirping, but it had a screeching tone to it of some sort, and remembered through Intel that there was a Covenant species that acted like a bird, so he backed away from the window and faced the stairs that led up to the second floor. He silently stepped forward three paces, and aimed his silenced rifle upwards as he began crawling up the stairs hoping the creature didn't activate what Intel believed a highly developed shielding device on its forearm for protection.
When he reached the second floor he saw the bird-like creature that stood about four feet looking out the window that was fogging up because of the alien breathing onto the glass. He didn't want to shoot it as it could have fly out the window getting shot at so he silently crept forward. Slinging his rifle, the Sergeant noticed this was a bedroom of someone, looked like a little girls room as he saw some animal dolls on the ground that have been melted probably from the bird trying to practice its shooting.
Steven stepped closer one more pace, and grabbed the creatures face. It was strong as it almost yelled something out in its own language, but the Sergeant pulled out his nine-inch bayonet he carried ever since he heard reports of these bird creatures. He slit the throat of the struggling bird, and with a thud it fell. Purple liquid started dripping into the wooden floor. Steven gripped his knife tighter as he felt a sudden urge of relaxation and excitement. He enjoyed killing that bird creature with his bare hands…he enjoyed it. He whipped the blood stain on his pants sleeve and put the knife back in its holster, and unslung his Rifle. He started back down the stairs and threw the window onto the pavement of the courtyard.
The small structure that was in the middle was still there, so the Sergeant walked towards it, and opened the door.
Sergeant Steven Dowel - The Time has Come to an End
Date: 27 June 2005, 2:13 am
Sergeant Steven Dowel—Section 2
A metal door was pushed open as a small puddle of water dripped into the flight of stairs that led down into the Underground Facility causing a small flood. The noise of dripping water could only be heard if a man or alien was close by, and that only being was Sergeant Steven Dowel. He had opened the door that made the puddle of water that had formed at the entrance fall into the stairs below, and he paused. Waiting to see if there were any enemy contact below, but he didn't see any. Steven stepped forward into the darkness wearing his night vision goggles.
The green light that was between the Sergeant and the dark hallways had lit everything. Steven could see pipes, which ran down underground, above leaking water as each drop touched the stained stairways that led underground. Dowel stepped down another step and this time continued, slowly. He didn't want any of the alien patrols coming around; especially those tall ones that wear certain armor color. He had heard that they were strong and fearless, but he never got to know what they were since he had been frozen for twenty years, then he thought, twenty years. Thirty-Six Years ago he was with all his brothers that the military had kidnapped, and now he was alone, brotherless due to the war that's been going for nearly thirty years. What a waste, but he knew it was meant to be. Their futures had already been written, like his own. He knew he would either live or die, it was just time that was in the way.
He tried to focus more by gripping his rifle tighter and stepping down the rest of the stairs until he reached a one-way hallway going left and right. It didn't look like it would end as he looked to his right. There was a solid wall with a light bulb that flashed in his goggles. The light frenzied his night vision and it hurt his eyes to even take a small peek at it, so he took them off and quickly stuck them in his bag. Hopefully there would be some good dark places to hide from patrol, but for now he had to find out where this vault was. Intel informed the Sergeant that the location of somewhere was in some important documents, which were hidden inside a vault underground.
One problem is there is a code, which he has, and another problem is that the, vault, was three levels down with a fifty-meter door that slides inside the walls. Not to mention the amount of guards that is trying to cut their way into the vault. Steven didn't like the idea, but he decided it was worth it, if he destroyed those documents the Covenant would have to search for whatever his bosses wanted destroyed longer, but if they got it. Humanity would be gone in a matter of days; perhaps hours by what Intel informed him or the alien's Slipspace drive. Dowel wasn't going to let them have that much time anyways.
He started jogging down the tunnel on his left aiming his silenced rifle high incase he saw any Covenant patrols. Steven ran through the hallways only seeing the dripping pipes above. Then, when he ran for more five minutes he saw another flight of stairs and to the right side of it, is an elevator, well [I]'was'[/I]. [I]'Strange'[/I], Steven thought thinking if there were more then four floors in this Underground Facility. He walked slowly towards the corner that which was wet with water and covered with pipes. It was quiet except for the sound of methane gas. It must have been those small tiny little creatures, so he took an optic probe, and curved it to view the other side.
He looked at his digitalized mini-camera and saw that the room on the other side composed of the two small armored aliens. He didn't think that he could deal with them, unless he made noise after he placed some explosives by the door and, no. He couldn't…he can't. It would jeopardize his mission of stealth and only alert the aliens even more, he couldn't risk being detected. He passed the door, and moved on. Steven was examining each door when he looked around, he saw a flight of stairs, and then decided to walk down them instead of the elevator. Each step was another sound coming from his wet boots touching the dry cement.
He didn't like this one bit, but he managed to make it to the third floor down. When he walked towards the corner, he saw that there were three small aliens. The same kind he had dealt with in the alley topside. He aimed his rifle. The muzzle of the weapon gave a quick flash as three bullets fled into the creatures, killing them in an instant.
Ten Minutes Later
Sergeant Steven Dowel reached the final room in the end of the hallway. The last ten minutes seems like a decade as he crept towards the metallic door. There was a small miniature window in the top just enough to get a peek inside. It was silent, and dripping water was only heard. Lights waved above him on their cords nearly broken. He looked around, and then got closer. When he was a meter from the door, it busted open as a Covenant, tall, blue armored, and surprised stared at Steven. It was easily eight feet tall, and its mandibles opened up showing its sharp teeth. Steven responded with quick action while the Elite, the tall Covenant alien looked at him just standing there watching the human quickly react.
Steven released two shots from his rifle, and slung it around pulling out his nine-inch dagger, still stained from the battle with the bird creature he had versed earlier this noon in the building, and stabbed at the Elite. The tall alien sidestepped, and ran back inside the room as he called for the five smaller creatures to come out and help it. Steven stared in disbelief and grabbed a couple of grenades, which were dangling, on his right jacket side. He primed the devices and chucked them into the room closing the door quickly. The sound of a metal banging on metal rang into the Sergeants ears as three explosions shook the underground tunnel. [I]'This would certainly bring attention'[/I], Steven thought.
He looked up above him as the pipes rattled and then waited till they fell silent, unmoving continuing to drip water. He looked through the window once more checking the room. What surprised him was when he back up to open the door, it busted open once more to show the Elite that was in the room ran out with its arm gone, bleeding all over the cement. It opened its mandibles and roared out loud. Steven looked at the Elite as its limbless body continued to drip blood onto the ground. The Sergeant ran quickly, and tackled it. The Elite struck the back of the wall, and the Sergeant heard the wall crack as the Elite looked at the Human. It wrapped the Sergeant with its one arm, and squeezed.
Steven couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, the creature was twice as strong as him. But he ignored the thought, and managed to grab his bayonet with one arm, and in quick motion, slit the alien's throat. The body, now powerless, limped over releasing its grip and fell to the ground. Steven stretched quickly and quietly feeling a few of his bones adjust back to its normal state. That alien was strong, too strong if it had its other arm. He could have died if he didn't react as he had done now. It was a smart move, he thought as he walked into the room facing the vault that stood before him.
It was the vault that stood between him and the location to whatever was important to the human civilization. Papers, data chips, information that had been recorded from the past fifty years; every military base, number of weapons, vehicles, and equipment was in that vault, even locations to planets he never been too, but one rang in his mind. [I]'Earth'[/I], it was one planet he remembered the Covenant could not get to. It was a priority that he destroyed the papers, to save the needs of the many.
Steven knelt down and dumped his backpack. He opened the pouch to find the certain device the Office of Navel Intelligence had given him. It was time to use it. The office called it a 'Shiva Warhead'. It was powerful by what he read, and could blow up everything in a mile radius. It was worth it; his life for the lives of countless billions. For the human survival and the location of Earth. It was well worth it. He opened the small glass protection that was in the middle, and stared at the red button.
He prayed, that Earth would live, to fight and fend off the Covenant. It was the right thing to do; yes…it was the right thing. Sergeant Steven Dowel raised his hand, and with a single thrust, pushed the red button.
|
