Snippet #2176877

Jack waited as the humming of Covenant vehicles grew closer, which he could surprisingly hear over the blizzard and through his helmet. He looked over his small squad: Private Barnes; Private, First Class Noble; Private Beam; and Lance Corporal Daniels. Each man was raring to go as much as Jack was. He'd drilled these men enough that they all knew better than to disobey orders and so they waited.

"Infantry... prepare to engage." He heard over the built-in radio.

"Get ready boys! Await the command, but be ready for hell to break loose! And get ready to bring hell to the Covenant as well!" The squad straightened immediately and Jack watched as Beam loaded a round into his mounted grenade launcher, which had been apparently forgotten before then.

Just a little bit longer...
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Meanwhile...

"Infantry..... prepare to engage." Shane heard the command and took a deep breath.

Then Dalton gave his prebattle speech to the men: "You heard the Major! Get your asses ready for some fun! I want rifles at the ready and scopes being used effectively. And you'd better not miss, either!" he added. "I want to see that training in action, I want to see accuracy you aren't physically capable of, soldiers! Don't you let me down or I'll make damn sure you do a five laps around the whole base for every wasted bullet, and that means non-fatal injuries!"

Accuracy wasn't guaranteed, but Shane wasn't about to let a war injury put him down. He'd take the running over dying any day. He flipped the safety off, put a round in the chamber, and rested the butt of his battle rifle against his left shoulder, ready to bring it up and fire at any given moment.