Composite Armour

Eric followed his partners movements, doing as he was told. This was his first actual breaching since basic. Still, the training is good enough to stick with you. Like riding a bike. He was impressed by the speed of the kill too. "Clear" he heard, so he began to move, holding his magnum steady. He carefully moved towards the body. It was dead alright. The pools of blue had began to form around it. It was pretty in an odd way. Still, he had his sights on the head, just in case. He turned his head back towards his partner. "You got to teach me to shoot like that...sir." He looked back up and around. He was clueless about this base. That's bad enough for a full squad, but for a two-person team it seemed like suicide. "I'm right behind you."

Eric looked towards the source of the voice. It was a new one. He stopped rummaging and picked up his rifle. "You know the way?" He looked at the new face. No weapons he could see. He handed her his AR and his spare mags. He drew a pistol and checked it. "You're probably better with it then I am. Lead the way sir."

"The engines? Look, I'm not that cold." Eric stood up and began to search the top compartments in the pelican. Nothing of interest. He dropped down and looked at everyone. "I'm sure there's a bloody blanket around here or something, There has to be." He continued the vain search, tearing at the insides of the pelican. "There has to be something we can use to keep warm!"

"Yeah tell me about it. At least you got that fancy armour and that ODST suit. I've got this bloody thing. No sleeves even." Eric put the rifle on a seat of the Pelican and sat down beside it. "I'm going to freeze before the bloody covies even get here."

"Sure thing sir, what did you want to talk about?" Eric inquired, still standing straight in the cold.

Eric stood up as the ODST came over to him. "Sir?" He stood as still as he could in the freezing weather. He drew his rifle as he heard a noise from the Pelican. Once he realized it was just the Spartan, he sighed in an act of relief. He was looking at the ODST again waiting for a response.

Eric stayed with the pelican. He assured himself it was the right thing to do, he only was one man after all. He figured that the Spartans could handle themselves, it would be more trouble then it's worth trying to assist them. He stood watch near the Pelican. The LZ was quiet enough. It was cold though, very cold. He had no cold-weather gear on him. He needed to keep the blood flowing and try to stay warm. It started off with a few laps around the Pelican. It wasn't good enough. He checked around the LZ quickly and then looked at his comrades in the Pelican. He lay down on the ground and slung his rifle behind his back, proceeding to do one handed push-ups. It worked, but he couldn't keep it up forever. "Hey, maybe we should get a fire going!" He shouted towards the Pelican.

"Alright, I'm ready." Eric proceeded into the back and picked up the AR. He found what spare he could take. "I'm behind you Spartans. Let's load and lock and roll and rock!" Of course, he wouldn't tell them that he intended to hide behind them.

"Oh great." Eric looke out at the pilots window. "I hope by armour heaters he means blankets."

"Actions will speak louder then words my friend. And the 130mm cannon I planned on getting will speak louder then both. Besides, Wetwork? That a social club or something?"

"Slow. 40KPH ain't good enough for you? When I get back to a tank, I'm going to show you all how it's done. Spartans may be walking tanks, but you ain't no real tank."

"Tanks? Listen, it's one thing to shoot a rocket launcher and blow something up, but when you're within that steel shell, 60 tonnes of armour and death at your command, tactical movement and positioning, pointing that 90mm cannon and BOOM ! Then it hits you in the chest! It's not something that I can explain. You have to be there!"

Eric looked at the ODST on the gun controls. "I'm just saying, you give me an hour and I could have you working that thing like a pro. Name's Murphy by the way." He turned his head to the Spartan. "No touching my tank! In fact, I'll make a bet with you, you against me on the Scorpion Gunnery range. You can make all the upgrades you want to your tank. You may be a spartan, but I sure as hell am one of the, if not the best, tank commander in the UNSC. Up for it?"

"You're killing me man! You're insulting her by sticking a scope on her, she don't need it!" He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "If I had my tank here, she and I would show you that it's all about the synergy of Man and machine. Hell if I manage to get the upgrades I'm planning done, you can sure as hell bet you won't be stickin' no scopes on MY tank."

Eric watched as Ike went out, got a sniper and walked back in. Something was happening and it was better then sitting out here. He got up and went into the cockpit. Watching as the sniper was maimed and it's scope attached to the turret, Eric had to speak up. "What are you doing to my baby? You say in' she's not accurate? That's got some good accuracy, just need to know how to work it." He looked at the spartan and shook his head. "There's a lot I could teach ye."

Are you talking about that crazy stuff that I had nothing to do with stuff that goes on in the Shoutbox?

"Hmm, oh...what?" Eric had woken from his short sleep. "I had, the most wonderful dream. None of you were there." He said jokingly.

Eric was about to respond, but, he felt himself drifting away. He soon was fast asleep.

"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have pushed the subject sir." He looked over to Ike, who was in a pose he was very familiar with. He tapped his visor. "Sleeping beauty here has no such worries!"

"Alright...I won't say anymore, just hoping to get to know you better." He sighed again. "Real smooth..." he said quietly to himself.

"Come on, might as well tell us! It's good to talk about these things, helps you feel better."

"Thanks, but I don't smoke. I do however keep a small flask of the good stuff." He handed the cigar back. "To being a loser!"

"Huh, this kinda reminds me of training. Everyone with pictures of their girlfriends, wives, fiances and me with a picture of my dad and my dog. Love that damn dog." He took out the picture and passed it to the spartan beside him. "She's about eleven now, but still going strong." He went to fix his collar, but found himself reaching into the dog tags. Two sets. He looked down at the floor again.

"Bit the bullet huh?" He let out another, lighter sigh. "I've never been lucky with the ladies. You know the story. Big ODST superhero, get's all the girls. Maybe it's just not meant to be. But I suppose somebody has to do the dirty work."