FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The year is 2552. The war between the UNSC and the Covenant has reached boiling point. The outer colonies are falling to the alien onslaught bent on mankind's destruction.

But not all is lost.

Every day, the men and women of the UNSC define what it means to be a hero. They willingly throw their lives in peril's way, willing to sacrifice themselves to stave off imminent extinction just a little longer...

This is one of their many tales.

---************---

Halo Chronicles

Straight Shot

---************---

"SECTION! ATTEN-SHUN!" THE SERGEANT'S voice echoed through the spacious billets. As the command was roared at the ODST privates, two dozen black uniformed troopers, two lines of twelve facing each other stomped to attention in unison, causing a satisfying rap of boots on the perfectly polished floor.

The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, fresh out of their training wheels and ready for the meat-grinder were frozen, each trooper staring off into space as an older man in khaki uniform paced between them. None of them wanted to eyeball Sergeant Major Drill for fear of him having their balls scrambled for his breakfast. The sergeant major was not to be messed with. Last guy who tried to mess with Drill was put into a fire fight simulation in just his socks and skivvies, armed with naught but a plastic spork.

But one of them had the junk to piss him off.

"Three inches!" a voice chanted. To anyone else this wouldn't have meant anything, hell another hard-ass drill instructor would have disregarded it as a retarded comment... not Drill.

Drill stopped dead in his tracks and looked around him, attempting to follow the echo to the offender.

"Who said that?" the sergeant major yelled at the top of his lungs, marching back the way he came. "Who the fuck said that!" His eyes were wide and crazy, scanning over each and every neutral face. "Who's the alien loving piece of shit, twinkle-toes cocksucker down here who signed their own death warrant!"

Sergeant Major Drill's march suddenly halted on a hard stomp. Slowly he took a step backwards, eying a single soldier out of the twenty-four before turning sharply to the private. "Nobody? The fairy-fucking-godmother said it? Out-fucking-standing!" Without much more warning Sergeant Major Drill was all over the private, their faces mere inches apart as the NCO squared up to the grunt... exactly three inches shorter than the private.

"Scumbag!" the sergeant major yelled at the top of his lungs, nearly deafening the private. "Do you have a problem with my height?"

Private Daniel 'Scumbag' Woodstock did indeed say something, evident by the hardly hidden smirk plastered on his face. The private was like every other ODST present taller than the sergeant major, in his early twenties with black stubble sprouted on his jaw, matching the stubble of the shorn black hair on his scalp.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Private Woodstock replied, attempting to match Drill's volume, but failing miserably. He might as well take the punishment. Sergeant Major Drill could smell liars and if you lied to Sergeant Major Drill you'd be in a world of acidic shit.

"You may have graduated, Private Scumbag, but as your name states, you are still a scumbag!" Drill shouted. "I can still PT you until you fucking die! And I will PT you until your ass is sucking buttermilk! Knowing this, why are you still grinning like an idiot at me?"

Daniel couldn't help it. The harder he tried to fight it, the broader he grinned. "Sir, the corps issued me a rifle, not a speech filter, sir!" he tried.

That hit a funny nerve hidden underneath all of Drill's angry nerves. The corner of his mouth actually twitched upward, and his eye twinkled for a moment. Probably for the first time in his old age. "Out-fucking-standing, Scumbag! The shit you get up to at your own expense is uplifting! I have been uplifted, thus your ass is saved for now! The fleet is requisitioning two of my best shooters to mobilise ahead of the rest. God-fucking help me, one of them is you!" the NCO then span around and looked at the female private standing opposite Daniel. "Mutt!"

"Sir!" Private Emma 'Mutt' Watkins shouted, raising her muzzle slightly. Emma was not entirely human. She used to be, probably until her late teens and she got an unexpected calling. She was a furry, so publicly so that she had herself spliced. After that her appearance had completely changed. She was now an anthropomorphic wolf with short black fur and a bushy tail. The hair on her scalp was medium sort of length, short at the back with longer strands falling down the left side of her face, and a lighter shade than the fur on the rest of her body. She was quite tall, and built quite sturdy, but remained slender.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've enjoyed the dumb look on an ONI officer's face? Hell, even Scumbag's bullshit doesn't amuse me as much as the retarded expression on a surprised officer's ugly mug!"

"Sir, probably too long, sir." Emma answered.

"Damn fucking right!" the sergeant barked, squaring up to Watkins now. "And I'm going to savour the stupid looks on their faces when they realise I have a dog that can shoot straighter than their pussy special forces guys with night vision and motion trackers!"

"Sir, I won't let you down, sir!"

"Go out there and get me that funny face!" the sergeant major looked back to Daniel. "Disappear, Scumbag!"

"Sir!" Daniel and Emma barked at the same time, stepping forward, turning sharply, then breaking into a jog for the door.

Watkins was faster. She always was. Wrenching the door open, the wolf stepped aside and held it for Daniel, letting him pass through first before following. Outside they didn't glance back once. They didn't look at all the things around that had been a source of pain for the past year and a half. The endless obstacle courses. The firing ranges that had been exposed to the elements, scorching heat and blistering cold winds. The worst had been the square where their instructors had marched them up and down for most of the day, shouting abuse all the time and making anyone who did the slightest thing wrong drop and do up to a hundred push ups followed by a run of Sergeant Major Drill's favourite stretch of mud. He had called it 'the shitty mile.' A three kilometre stretch of knee deep mud with hidden rocks, filled with freezing cold water cutting straight across the mountains. Lining this stretch the recruit had to run were instructors armed to the teeth with automatic weapons, all loaded with paint rounds.

ODST boot camp hadn't been pleasant... but it had been worth it in the end.

Waiting for the two privates was an APC, a Yorkshire assault carrier. It had been stripped of most of the armour and all the mounted weapons. She merely served as a six wheeled truck now. It seemed a shame, a behemoth destined for the rage of the battlefield forced into early retirement transporting young skin-headed pukes to and from the camp.

Regardless of how much pity Daniel held for the vehicle, he climbed into the back and sat down beside the two men already on board. They were kitted with light gear, khaki fatigues and assault vests, crimson berets on their heads. MP insignia of a white winged sword on black was clearly visible on their sleeve, UNSC Military Police printed around the edge. As Emma climbed on board she pulled the door shut and the two troopers looked out the narrow window as the transport revved out of the camp, rolling over a bumpy mud-track.

Woodstock and Watkins hadn't trained in the same troop. They hardly even spoke. But now they were stuck with each other. Daniel hoped it would work out. He needed to trust the men and women he was dropped into hell with. If he couldn't trust them, he may as well take a gun to his own head.

"Did you leave a present in the sergeant major's favourite latrine?" Watkins asked, looking at the cluster of latrines on the opposite end to the billets.

"Yeah. I tuned the timer this morning. Lucky stuff we're being shipped out." Daniel smirked, swaying as the truck bounced through a pothole. "I'd have been dead otherwise... you think he'll know it's me?"

On cue, the latrine cubicle balancing on a set of mouldy pallets, Sergeant Major Drill's favourite latrine, the shitter he used every morning to read his paper while he preformed his morning glory went up in flames. The fireball burst out the door and the whole plastic cubicle was consumed, blowing the grey roof right off, sending it spinning, on fire, across the wretched marching square. On fire, door hanging on one hinge, the latrine keeled over and landed on the side with a pronounced thud.

The privates watched laughing as the figure of Sergeant Major Drill stormed out of the billets and watched his favourite shitter burn. He turned to look at the transport leaving the camp and cried out so loud, Woodstock and Watkins could clearly hear his voice from inside the truck.

"WOOOOOOODSTOOOOOOOCK!!!!"

"I'd say that's a big yes." Emma said with a smile, holding out her fist. Daniel knocked his own knuckles against hers, smiling all the way to the spaceport.

The spaceport was not fancy. A single administration building and a landing strip holding about four bulky pelican drop ships. The truck rolled to a halt and the two ODST jumped from the vehicle, walking to the only mobile pelican. The engines were heating up, hot air wavering in the cool mountain air. They walked around the back of the blocky drop ship and climbed into the troop bay. As usual, Watkins was in first, and turned, holding out a hand to help Daniel up. They sat beside each other along the walls of the bay, eying the two figures who sat opposite them, dressed identical to the MPs in the Yorkshire truck.

As soon as the two privates were buckled up, the troop bay hatch closed and the engines outside screeched louder. Daniel felt his stomach flip over as the craft lifted a little wobbly into the air, spinning on an axis, the nose raised slightly. He'd been on pelicans on training ops plenty of time, back before ODST training even. Those weren't joy-rides though, but Daniel could already tell this would be no joy-ride either.

"Oh, here we go." Watkins moaned, closing her eyes and gripping the handhold on the front of her seat, between her legs.

Daniel instinctively did the same... and not a moment too soon.

The pelican hung suspended in the air for a moment, the engines building up power, before very suddenly, the pilot gunned the accelerator down. The drop ship shot into the air like a sniper rifle round out the barrel. The force of the acceleration snapped Daniel's head back into the padded head-rest, the following gees sucking his eyes into the back of his skull and peeling his cheeks back. The whole troop bay rattled around him, armour and aesthetic plastic panelling creaking and groaning.

In seconds they were in orbit. The gees levelled out. Their approach to... wherever the hell they were being taken was slow and steady. And no sooner had Daniel started feeling the sickening loss of gravity, he felt his stomach sucked back into the bottom of his bucket seat as they entered the gravity field of a space cruiser. A little later there was a shudder that reverberated through the hull of the pelican, and they were stationary. The hatch opened again, top half folding away neatly into the roof, the bottom half forming a ramp leading down to the deck.

Shaky, pumping with adrenaline and a little dizzy, the ODST unbuckled their belts and stood up. Confidently however they descended the ramp into the massive hangar bay of what looked like a carrier class ship. The walls were lined with pelican drop ships, dozens of them, all mounted in titanium cradles. There were boxed up warthogs and many more scorpion tanks all strapped down to the deck, prepped for combat drop. There were also marines, all in combat fatigues, squaring away boxes, moving weapons and packing gear. It looked like this ship was preparing for a large scale invasion.

Waiting for Woodstock and Watkins was a woman, probably in her thirties. She was dressed in a white skirt and blouse, colourful pins on her breast and lieutenant tabs on her shoulders. Her blonde hair was tied in a tight knot and she had a smart pair of glasses balancing on her nose.

The two Helljumpers immediately saluted the woman, but she didn't return the gesture. She merely turned on her heel and walked, becoming them to follow. "Follow." She added shortly to make sure they understood. The ODST did without question, marching after her.

Watkins' eyes travelled from the back of the ONI officer's head down to her narrow waist, then her shapely ass, complimented by her tight skirt, her eyes shifting left and right as the lieutenant's hips swayed slightly.

"Damn, that's a fine ass." Emma whispered, nudging Daniel who chuckled.

The lieutenant led them through corridors, crewmen jumping aside to salute as they passed. Until finally they entered the cryogenics bay. These cavernous rooms were filled with lockers and cylindrical tubes. Cryo-pods, designed to suspend a human occupant in stasis so the trip through slip-space would seem instantaneous. There was however one downside to the process.

The lieutenant halted in front of the cryo-pods, whirled around and eyed both ODST. "Strip." She ordered.

Woodstock and Watkins glanced sideways at each other, hesitating for only a moment, before at the same time unbuttoning their shirts.

"Didn't even buy me a drink." Daniel joked, pulling off his shirt and starting on his pants.

Watkins was done before him, standing stark-bollock naked before the lieutenant, her hands clasped behind her back, standing at ease and awaiting further orders. Daniel followed a few seconds after, tearing off his socks last and tossing them in his marked locker. Slamming the door shut he stood beside Watkins, glancing at his fellow Helljumper. It wasn't the first time he'd seen her naked. The marines had to shower together. This was fairly normal for them. But Daniel couldn't help 'noticing' Emma.

The private had a fantastic body. Athletic, lithe and slender, she was slightly taller than he was with long, slim legs. Her waist was narrow, forming gorgeous curves down to her hips and up to her bust. Her fur was all black, except for one bit. Just under her perfectly proportioned breasts was a white patch that ran down over her belly and crotch, ending somewhere between her thighs.

Daniel blinked hard and looked up, slightly phased only to see Emma was looking him over too.

"You look unimpressed, Mutt." Daniel said in a low tone while the lieutenant was going over something in her handheld computer.

"I am." Emma replied.

Daniel glanced down at himself. "Hey, the standard issue side-arm has just as much functionality as the sniper rifle."

That made her grin, almost mischievously. "You'll have to show me how that works some time, hot-shot."

The lieutenant finished and looked up at them. "These two are yours." She pointed at the nearest pods. "When you are thawed, your gear will be waiting in your locker. You are to prep for combat and go to briefing room B-12 for your orders. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Both ODST answered at the same time before moving to the open cryo-pods.

Daniel ignored the chill air wafting from the pod and climbed in, settling into the gel-cushions. As he rested his head back a voice caused him to jerk up again.

"Hey, Scumbag." Watkins' voice called.

Daniel lifted his head and looked at her as she stood on the foot of her pod, half in and half out, baring her full frontal nudity to him. From that angle he could see her dark, rounded nipples, hard and erect in the cold air.

"Daniel." The human corrected, hoping she didn't notice he was checking her out again.

She smirked at him. "Sweet dreams." She said almost with erotic allure. "Daniel." She added in a breath. In one deft move she twisted around and settled into her pod.

Daniel blinked hard, resting his head back, listening to the hydraulics hiss loudly, the hatch slowly closing over him. He only lifted it once again to look down and check he didn't have an erection. There was only thing that felt worse than waking from cryo, and that was waking from cryo with an erection that has probably lasted a month in stasis. It had happened to him before, and it fucking hurt.

But at the same time it had been funny. And that was the last expression on Daniel's face as the freezing sequence started. Ice instantly formed inside the pod, clinging to the claustrophobic walls around him and his skin as he smiled and let his head bob to the side. His eyes were closed and he fell into a deep sleep...

---************---

WARMTH RUSHED ACROSS EVERY inch of his body. Light exploded in his eyes and cold air filled his lungs as he took a long breath, the first in God only knew how long. Blind in a void of white light, Daniel reached out, feeling around until his hand grabbed the edge of his cryo-pod. Holding in his breath, he pulled himself forward, leaned over the side and let it out with an explosive sigh. His breath was immediately followed by a gag and loud retching. Bitterness flowed across Daniel's tongue as mucus filled his mouth and filled his gullet all the way to his stomach. Woodstock puked it all out.

"Oh, nice!" came Private Watkins' voice somewhere above Daniel. He felt her warm hand pat his bare back as his vision slowly focused. Blinking hard a few times, Daniel found himself looking at the floor beside is pod, splattered with a green mess.

"Gross." Daniel muttered, spitting the last of the crap out and looking up at the naked wolf standing over him.

"You cool?" she asked.

Daniel nodded as she stepped back and he climbed out of the pod, hopping from foot to foot on the cold floor. All over the bay marines were climbing out of their cryo-pods, groggy and sick, either swallowing the mucus build up in their mouths down, or puking it up like Daniel had just done.

He walked to his metal locker, right next to Emma's. Together they wrenched the doors open and looked at the contents. Fatigues. Impact plating. They even had their side-arms made ready and knives sharpened. Everything was ready to go. Glancing at each other they grinned.

"You got a boner." Watkins teased, glancing down.

Daniel frowned and looked down to check. He didn't. Pulling a sarcastic face he looked up to her smile again. "You got me excited for nothing." He complained.

Watkins made a 'wanker' gesture with her fist and pulled out a tank top. Together they got dressed, pulling on the plain black fatigues first, before pulling on the black camouflage impact plating over that. Within minutes they were dressed in the charcoal ODST armour, doing up the buckles on their armoured boots and tightening the straps on their fingerless gloves. They finished dressing at the same time as Emma holstered her pistol, and Daniel sheathed his combat dagger mounted on his left shoulder-pad. As an added feature, Daniel had 'Scumbag printed on his chest-plate in silver letters, an Emma had 'Mutt' printed on hers. Nodding shortly at each other, the two ODST marched side by side, munching down vitamin bars with helmets under one arm, making their way towards briefing room B-12.

The room was clearly signposted B-12. Sensing their presence the door swished aside, allowing them access into the cramped room. It was much like the lecture rooms back in boot camp. Descending desks and chairs down to the whiteboard at the bottom of the room. On the front row desk was a bulky backpack, a long rifle and a shorter scoped weapon along with a selection of magazines.

"Damn." Daniel muttered walking up to the table strewn with weapons. "They leave shit like this lying around?"

"Only in emergencies, private." A deep, gruff voice said.

Both ODST stepped aside and stood to attention as a man in white uniform marched down the centre of the room. He had colonel bars on his shoulders and several commendations on his chest with an Office of Naval Intelligence badge on his arm. With him was the blonde lieutenant with the nice ass who had shown them to their cryo-pods when they first arrived on the ship.

"At ease." The colonel ordered as he walked past them and took centre stage at the front of the room. "I'm sorry for the rushed introductions. I am Colonel Brennan. I'm sure you've met Lieutenant Kenneth already." He indicated the blonde. "I think I'm the first to welcome you to active duty on board the UNSC Shamu."

"An honour, sir." Watkins said.

Daniel didn't say anything. It had almost been a year since the success of the training mission against Private Smith and his team. That operation had landed him a place in the ODST. It had been extra training, focused on being the most badass he could be, short of becoming a Spartan. Now, finally, all of Daniel's work had paid off. It was not a formal introduction, but he was finally an active member the Orbital Drop Shock Troops.

"This is our situation." The colonel moved swiftly on, clasping his hands behind his back. "Our forces were securing an artefact world known as Archas for study when the Covenant invasion began. We had plenty of troops to defend this world, but eventually the Covenant line pushed past UNSC defences. We're struggling to liberate this world, so we need to turn the tables. The ground force's last communiqué provided good intel for Lieutenant Kenneth on a high ranking Covenant officer. This officer likes to oversee his operations on the front line. Nothing about him is subtle, so this bastard stands out like a sane man at an anime convention. As we're combating Covenant occupation of Archas, it is your job to eliminate this officer. We have a specific plan set out for this mission. You will land several clicks from the rest of the UNSC forces. From your drop zone you will move south, deep into the mountains which will provide an OP over a Covenant base. Hopefully your man will land as you arrive, otherwise you are to wait until he comes out and radio to command."

"When do we take the shot, sir?" Daniel asked almost too eagerly.

"You will wait for the kill order." The colonel said sternly. "You wait for that God-damned kill order or I will RTU the both of you so fucking fast it will make your head spin. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." They both nodded.

The colonel nodded. "Good. We have another specialist group to handle your extraction via Falcon from the OP. Understood?"

Both ODST nodded.

"Good. Now, which of you is the shooter?"

Watkins spoke first. "Sir, I think Private Woodstock has the highest..."

"Mutt will take the shot, sir." Daniel interjected, catching Emma by surprise. "I've seen Private Watkins take impossible shots before. There's no better, sir." She stared at her fellow trooper for a while, her eyes wide with surprise.

The colonel looked at Watkins and thought about it. He was trying hard not to hesitate about leaving the shot in the hands of a furry. He was probably prejudiced, while trying not to show it. Watkins didn't notice, but Woodstock did.

"Very good. You both drop from bay C-44 in twenty minutes. We've organised your weapons here. Gear up and get ready to drop, troopers. Good luck." He nodded before marching past the two ODST who stiffly saluted.

"Private Watkins." A female voice said, causing both Helljumpers to turn on the spot to face Lieutenant Kenneth. "Your ass is pretty sexy too, from this angle. I've always had a thing for girls with tails." The woman gave a small grin and winked before turning and following the colonel, her high heels clicking off into the distance.

The privates looked at each other and shrugged before moving to the table full of weapons. Watkins immediately picked up the SRS99D-S2 AM sniper rifle, a long barrelled piece of death-dealing equipment. Accurate up to three kilometres with a digital scope, this baby could take a Sangheili head off at an extreme range. It was loaded with a four round clip, and there were twelve extra magazines provided for the rifle. Turning the weapon over she secured it to the back of her armour before gathering up the magazines.

"Daniel... are you sure you want me to take the shot?" Emma asked carefully, putting away the mags in the compartments on her belt.

"You're the best shot I've ever seen." Daniel admitted pulling open the empty mag-pouches on his belt and stuffing them full of BR clips.

"It's our first mission... our first kill." Watkins stressed.

"Exactly." Daniel picked up the other weapon, a BR55HB battle rifle. He inspected the sleek bulpup rifle, checked the carry handle mounted scope, then yanked back the cocking handle with a satisfying 'clack.' "It's too much pressure on me."

Emma sighed, pulling on her helmet. "I'll show you pressure, Scumbag."

Woodstock pulled on his own helmet, secured the battle rifle's 3-point sling around his torso and shouldered the rucksack before the grey curtain of his visor slid down over his smile.

---************---

THE FLAMES SUBSIDED, LEAVING the hull of the Single-Occupant-Exoatmospheric-Insertion-Vehicle glowing white hot. The friction of the cold air rushing around the metal coffin caused the hull to creak and groan as the private looked out the window running right down the middle of her pod's hatch, mere inches from her nose. In the distance the jagged horizon glode higher and higher as she rushed to meet the ground. In the far off mountains she could see the twin peaks and the ancient ruins stretching up the mountainside. That was her objective. They were meant to set the OP up there. Below her were patches of forest, and overgrown meadows dappled with morning dew. The sun was peeking over the twin peaks ahead of her, casting a blood red glow over the Archas countryside. Dotting the sky she saw a few drop ships, specks of black against a blinding canvas of colour with streaks of white. Banks of high hanging morning mist rushed past the window as she looked away from the mountains. Watkins braced herself and a second later the HEV's parachute deployed.

There was a loud clunk, which caused the whole pod to shake. The air-foils screamed audibly above Emma somewhere. She looked down at the transparent screen between her boots. She was mere metres off the deck, and all she could see was a blur of yellow, orange and brown.

Trees... and lots of them.

"Oh, shit." The private managed to mutter as the pod hit the canopy of the forest.

The pod jarred sideways, swaying and swinging, crashing through thick branches and glancing off thick tree trunks. The whole SOEIV tilted sideways and came to a bone shuddering halt. Emma's helmet crashed into the wall on her left. To her right, the sniper rifle mounted beside her seat fell loose and landed on top of her. But the pod didn't stop moving there. Creaking and groaning, the vehicle slowly rolled over, and flopped over, landing on the back, giving Watkins a clear visual of the massive hole her entry had left in the canopy. Bits of branches fell through the brightly coloured leaves that fluttered to the ground. A few branches thudded into the dirt around her pod. One clanged loudly on the transparent screen in front of her muzzle shaped visor.

Pushing her dislodged sniper rifle aside, Emma reached out and started punching buttons. Each explosive pin she armed turned green as she slapped the palm of her gloved hand against it. She worked her way from right to left, arming all five, then the sixth with her left hand. There was a two toned dull beep to indicate the emergency eject sequence had begun...

A second later on the third beep the lid of her armoured coffin ejected, shooting up into the air and span against a tree. It hit the brown bark with a loud clang, then fell to the ground, hitting with a soft thud in the mud, propped up against the tree.

Slowly and sorely, Emma sat up and looked around the empty forest. The ground was uneven with protruding roots, rocks and undergrowth consisting of brambles and spiny ferns growing up to waist height. She clamped one hand on the edge of her now cold SOEIV and swung both legs over, sliding off the edge and landing with a rustle in the undergrowth.

Emma couldn't believe her good luck. Here she was, out in the field doing what she had trained for. And who was she doing it with? ODST pretty-boy and the wet dream of most of the girls from boot, Daniel Woodstock. She sighed, smiling warmly, stretching her arms above her head. To see him in the showers from across the room had been one thing, but to see him in the nip close enough to actually touch him... it had taken every ounce of Emma's willpower to stop her from giggling like a giddy school-girl. She figured she'd buried her feelings enough with witty jokes to appear professional though.

She took another glance around, then turned, reached into the pod and collected her sniper rifle. Emma felt slightly weird, bent over the edge of her pod. As she closed her fingers around her rifle, she stopped and looked over her shoulder, observing her own position and nothing behind her. There was a soft longing between her thighs as she imagined Private Woodstock standing behind her. She sighed.

She was being a bit weird. Woodstock seemed to be an exception to her life. She'd always been strictly into other furry guys. Never 'humans' so to speak. Something about them she found... boring. But Woodstock? He was a recluse, and maybe that was what turned her on so. He seemed to show interest in characters like her. Even a strange interest in aliens, Covenant or otherwise. Something about the way he would talk to her, or perhaps his body language. Or maybe it was an infatuation after that one time they'd been close.

She didn't expect him to remember, but she remembered the time Sergeant Major Drill made Private Woodstock teach her to shoot better. They'd been lying prone, a sniper rifle pushed into her shoulder, and Woodstock's arms around her as he helped her steady the weapon. The only thing separating their bodies had been their PT fatigues. Emma had been so glad he couldn't smell her arousal, and she'd run off afterwards for a furious session in the toilets just so she'd be cool enough to report for the rest of the day's classes. Poor Daniel had no idea how any of the girls he trained with felt about him. All of them were either too afraid he'd reject them, or get booted by Drill for fraternization. Private 'Scumbag' was a career soldier anyway. That meant he wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardise his future in the army.

Holding her weapon in one hand she started moving forward, gripping the side of her helmet with the other. "Daniel? Daniel, can you hear me?" she spoke into her radio softly at first, then repeated herself a little louder.

There was no reply. Just the silence of the forest...

Silence which quickly turned to noise.

A deep, throaty growl and a rustle of leaves. Emma froze on the spot, shouldering her rifle with the muzzle pointed at the dirt in front of her. Her head turned left to right as she slowly took a step back, her foot landing on a twig, causing it to crack

Loudly.

The trap was sprung.

The brutes came out of nowhere. They burst from the brush like a jack in the box, three of them roaring a frightening battle cry. The lead brute in power armour crashed into Emma, knocking the wind out of her. She felt the grip on her rifle slip away and heard the weapon clatter to the ground as she was launched backwards.

Her head snapped back against something hard, probably a root and the helmet on her head did little to soften the blow. Groaning and blinking away tears, Emma quickly tried to sit up, but a large claw grabbed her by the chest-plate, pinning her firmly to the ground. Horror filled the wolf's eyes as she gripped the claw holding her down and looked up at the blue armoured brute.

The ape-ish alien opened its maw, roaring in her face, bits of phlegm splattering the young woman's visor. Emma struggled, trying to twist from the alien's grip, but he held fast. The brute barked at his fellows in an alien tongue. They replied shortly and he looked back down at the female trooper, a dirty grin tearing the alien face.

Emma squirmed, knowing exactly what would happen next. Brutes were merciless. There were always rumours of battlefield rape committed by these aliens. What was worse, there were more rumours concerning the brutes eating UNSC personnel.

Emma kicked and screamed, but it did no good. The brute had her firmly in his grip...

A gunshot barked loudly through the forest. A trio of tracers hit the brute holding Emma down in the side of the head. The creature flinched, stumbling sideways, letting go of the trooper who immediately scrambled backwards until her back crashed into a tree.

Another trio of shots rang out, and a burst hit the brute in the back. He fell forward on his knees as his power armour overloaded, exploding with enough force to toss Emma sideways. As she hit the deck, she looked up to see the brute practically bare and naked before her, surprise filling his eyes.

Crying out as more bursts of fire rained towards the other two brutes, Emma snatched up her pistol and played her finger over the trigger. The weapon snapped off five shots. Four hit the brute in the small of his back, drawing blood. The last hit the alien in the back of his head, cracking his skull open. Dead, the brute dropped to the ground as Emma sat up, gripping her pistol in two hands. She switched targets just in time to see the second brute fall.

Quickly jumping to her feet, Emma walked towards the third, crying with a mixture of anger and fear as she emptied her magazine into the last brute. Battle rifle shots fluttered from nearby foliage, hitting the brute in the flank. The combined fire tossed the creature to the ground as his armour popped in a shower of debris and static electricity. Emma's weapon clicked as the slide locked back, and she tossed the weapon aside. The brute jumped up again just as the private drew her dagger.

The alien roared... a roar that died as Emma threw her knife with all her might. The blade span through the air and thudded into the alien's forehead, tossing his head back. With a thud, the creature fell to the ground in a heap. Emma just stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, staring at the dead brute in front of her. Her life had been flashing before her eyes. That could have gone horribly wrong. All of it. She could have been eaten... she could have been raped if she hadn't been saved.

A rustle caused her to flinch as she turned to the source of the sound. The foliage parted as she saw Daniel rise from the bushes and walk towards her. The battle rifle in his arms was still smoking and the stock remained tucked against his right pauldron. His visor was de-polarised and she could see the worried look on his face.

"Are you okay?" he immediately asked urgently.

Emma didn't answer. She merely dashed forward and wrapped her arms around the other ODST. Of course Daniel had saved her. When was he not there for her?

She left her visor up. She didn't want him to see her tears.

"Whoa, easy there, Mutt. You're not going soft on me are you?" Daniel asked, his worry fading seeing she was intact.

Sniffing, Emma let go of the human and stepped back. She glanced around, then stooped to pick up her sniper rifle. Shouldering the weapon she looked up and gave a small shake of her head. "Hard as ever. Now let's go kill this motherfucker."

Daniel half-smiled as he watched Emma move confidently to take point. "That's my girl." He said before following her.

---************---

CRADLING THE BATTLE RIFLE across his chest, the ODST slowly crawled forward. The cavern hiding their sniper hide was empty, and every small sound echoed loudly. He heard the drip of water fall into a puddle as the heavens opened up outside. Sheets of water fell from the sky, beating the planet surface mercilessly. His movements masked by the echo of the beating rain rushing through the cavern, Daniel crawled through a miniature river, right up to the ridge directly ahead of them.

The cavern was hidden between the twin peaked mountain. Ahead of them was wide open crevasse, giving them a clear view over the next valley. They were sheltered here, hidden in the shadow of the mountain and sheltered from the cold rain pouring from above.

Taking up position, Daniel dumped his backpack and placed his rifle down next to the pack, producing a set of binoculars. Holding the field glasses in both hands he looked over his shoulder and beckoned Emma over. It was safe for her to move now.

Dropping to her belly, the wolf quickly crawled up behind Daniel and settled beside him, extending the bipod of her sniper rifle with a sharp click. Resting the weapon on its stand, she shouldered the rifle, one hand holding the grip, the other gripping the bottom of the stock. Through their scopes, both ODST peered through the rain into the next valley, searching for their target.

The haze did little to obscure their view. The VISR uplink in their helmets identified surrounding countryside from red-outlined hostile contacts. In the valley was a camp, Covenant erected tents and methane bunkers for grunts. Wraith tanks patrolled the perimeter and ground troops ranging from elites to jackals walked around the interior. There were two phantoms in the camp, standing parked and idle in a reserved clearing. This was the Covenant's forward command centre. But there was no sign of their target.

"Range?" Emma whispered.

"One thousand metres." Daniel responded.

"Agreed." The wolf concurred. "Wind?"

"Point five knots east to west." Daniel read.

"Agreed. Horny?" Emma suddenly asked.

"Always." Daniel said with a smile.

Emma rested her rifle down and removed her helmet, laying it on a rock beside her. Tousling her hair loose with one hand, she quickly brushed a few strands out of her face and looked at the human. Daniel did the same, pulling off his helmet and laid it beside him with his rifle and backpack. When done, he quickly lifted his binoculars to his face again; unaware the wolf was watching him with a bit of a lustful look in her eyes.

Here she was again, so close to him, able to practically reach out a molest him. But Emma restrained herself. They were flirty with each other, but she still didn't know how he felt about her. Was he just playing along for the fun of it? Or was he really into her and was too afraid to admit it, the same way she was afraid to admit it to him. Emma was torn. She didn't know what to say or do.

Emma couldn't even describe how much she wanted the human though. She was wetter inside her armour than the rain had made her outside. There was a sticky, uncomfortable heat between her legs, and there was only one remedy for that. The trooper lying beside her. Before she actually realised it, she was taking short, laboured breaths, closing her eyes and trying to think of something else.

"Are you alright?" Daniel suddenly asked.

Emma jerked her eyes open and met the human's. A hot mist rose from her mouth between them as they stared into each other's eyes for a moment.

"Err... yeah, I'm okay." Emma quickly responded with a quick nod. "Never better."

Daniel cocked an eyebrow. "You sure. You look a little... heated." He said and then without pausing a beat he added: "It's like that time I helped you shoot on the range." He returned the binoculars to his eyes and peered off into the distance.

Emma suddenly coughed and looked wide eyed at the side of Daniel's face. "W-what?"

"You know," Daniel continued. "That time you had to run off afterwards and masturbate in the toilets so you'd be cool enough for the subsequent classes."

Emma suddenly pounced on him, leaving her rifle down. On one move she rolled the surprised human onto his back and straddled his waist keeping his wrists under the palms of her hands.

"Whoa, Mutt, take it easy." Daniel said with wide eyes. He figured she was angry.

He was wrong...

Emma's eyes were ablaze with lust. "You knew! You knew exactly what I thought of you."

"And yeah, I'm flattered by the way." Daniel chuckled with a smirk, relieved she was taking this very well. "Why did you leave me to figure it out?"

"I didn't want to be the end of your military career." Emma admitted.

That made Daniel chuckle again. "You ever heard the term 'don't ask, don't tell?' It's kinda popular in the field of military romance."

"I like that." Emma nodded, her face slowly moving closer to Daniel's "Because I never kiss and tell."

She didn't need a spotter to find this target.

Their lips met. Soft at first, just a light brush. She felt his warmth through hers, and it caused her heart to flutter as her eyes fell shut. Then slowly she pressed harder. His mouth parted as hers did. In seconds they were lost.

Emma's broad tongue probed enthusiastically into Daniel's mouth, massaging his tongue. They were entangled, lost in each other. Even if Daniel wanted to escape, he couldn't. Her weight was thrown on him. He wasn't going anywhere as she had her merry way with the human.

Slowly Emma lifted her head, a few stray locks of hair hanging over the side of her face. As their kiss was broken, she smiled, her eyes fluttering open again. She had him. He was hers. An unofficial contract, sealed with a kiss.

"Whoa, now. This is borderline rape." Daniel smiled, glancing down at her hands continuing to pin his arms down.

"Saying 'no' isn't going to save you, Daniel." The wolf giggled.

Suddenly a rumble filled the cavern. Their eyes were drawn away towards the Covenant camp again. There was activity, and lots of it. That was plain enough to see. They had incoming.

Emma gave Daniel one last husky smile before climbing off of the human. "This conversation isn't over, pretty-boy. You ain't getting off that easy."

The drop ship was hard to miss. Instead of the purple tones, the hull was golden with silver emblems painted across the sleek shell of the insect-like phantom. As it flew into sight, hovering above the camp, Emma took aim, focusing her crosshairs on the ground where the grav-lift connected with the mud. Daniel was keeping watch through his binoculars.

"Command this is Straight-Shot five niner. We have a sight on target drop ship, over." Daniel reported into his radio.

There was no reply, even as a figure descended down the grav-lift. Daniel kept his eyes fixed on the figure as he descended. A prophet, mounted on a throne and draped with expensive looking silken robes. The wrinkled alien hovered to a halt above the ground, then smoothly slid out from under the drop ship, holding out his hand to feel the few drops of rain still falling from the sky.

"Command, target is in our sights." Daniel said urgently. "We have a clean shot, over."

There was still no response. They watched, eager to fire as an elite walked over to the prophet, greeting the ranking alien. Together, side by side the duo moved across the camp, heading for the larger of the tents.

"Command!" Daniel rose his voice urgently as the target threatened to slip from their grasp.

"Straight-Shot, take the target out, over!" a voice finally came back.

"Waste him." Daniel muttered.

Emma didn't flinch. She didn't hesitate. Her finger squeezed, causing the trigger to click. The following boom was deafening, echoing through the cavern and made their ears ring. As the rifle kicked, a white tracer sliced out of the barrel and a hollow shell-casing span over the wolf's shoulder. Her body shifted back a few inches with the recoil, and they both watched in slow motion as the round curled through the air...

The prophet moved into the path, and the SABOT round sliced clean through the target's skull. The prophet flew sideways, his neck twisting right around like that of a Christmas turkey. The bullet passed through, taking bits of skull and brains with it, hitting the elite beside him in the gut. The taller alien whirled around, energy shields popping out of existence. Both splashed into the mud at the same time and lay still...

Slowly the elite pushed himself to his feet, blood pouring from a gaping crater in his exposed gut.

"Command, target down!" Daniel cried, hardly hiding his glee seeing the dead prophet lay still while the wounded elite slowly crawled into cover. "We need extraction on the double. There's no telling if they've made our position or not, over!"

There was no reply. Panic filled both ODST as they looked at each other. Was command going to come back? The mission as a success. Would they risk an extraction bird just to pull them out, two jarheads worth about a single high value target between them?

"Command?" Daniel tried again. Once again, no reply.

As no reply came, Emma wanted to cry, staring into Daniel's worried eyes. She finally had him. She didn't care about anything else. And now she was destined to die alongside him, cold and wet behind enemy lines?

"Straight-Shot five niner," a voice suddenly barked over the radio, causing both their hearts to flutter. "This is Corporal Roads from Zombie squad. Sit tight, lads, we're comin' to get you. Ten seconds out!"

Ten seconds wouldn't be quick enough...

As the two helljumpers leapt to their feet, the droning hum of anti-grav engines grew deafening. It rumbled throughout the cavern and rose in volume with each passing second... and then it burst into view.

The phantom drop ship was sleek purple, soft light emanating from the engines and cannons mounted under the chin of the beetle-like craft. The two troopers were stunned for a moment, unable to do anything. This was it. The guns were trained on them. They could shout, curse or shoot, but it wouldn't make any difference. They were dead meat...

Explosions ripped across the side of the alien drop ship. Daniel recoiled, shading his eyes from the blast as Emma glanced away. When they both looked up again the burning phantom was drifting away, screeching and fighting for control. It slipped out of view and was replaced by an angelic sight. The falcon VTOL was a dual prop titilator aircraft with open sides. The chin mounted rocket pod was still smoking from the opening salvo. In the troop bay a pair of figures were visible.

One of the ODST on board the falcon was seated behind the flank chain gun. His helmet was off, revealing his scarred face and bald head. The other was a rather uninteresting looking ODST in full armour, specialist markings visible on his shoulders. The specialist was hanging out the side of the VTOL, reaching out to them.

"Jump for it!" a voice yelled over the buzzing propellers holding the falcon in the air.

Daniel shoved Emma in the shoulder to get her to move first. The wolf dashed and leapt from the edge of the cavern, soaring for a moment before landing heavily in the falcon troop bay. The specialist grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her into a seat before turning back to the human trooper.

Plasma suddenly splashed across the side of the cockpit, causing the pilot to jerk with surprise and sending the vehicle in a slow spin away from the ledge. Daniel whirled around and snapped his battle rifle up. Grunts, squat little aliens in pressurised suits were waddling in the way Daniel and Emma had entered the cavern. How the hell did they get up here so quick?

It didn't matter much. Daniel squeezed the trigger of his BR55HB and felt the weapon kick into his right pauldron. A flurry of rounds ended the first few grunts, sending them tumbling and flopping to the ground, causing the others to duck back for cover. The little bastards were only the first wave. The bigger, badder enemies would follow quickly. Daniel didn't want to stick around.

Throwing the rifle into its sling, the human twisted around and sprinted to the edge of the cavern. At the same time the falcon weaved closer and the specialist on board leaned out further.

"C'mon!!!" the same voice shouted as Daniel leapt into the air. His legs pedalled, continuing to run in the air as he slowly pitched forward, reaching out. The specialist stretched closer...

They caught each other by the wrist and Daniel fell, swinging down and against the belly of the falcon, causing his armour to let out a loud clang. His saviour grunted, pulling the private into the troop compartment. The bald ODST, quite obviously Corporal Roads from Zombie Squad let out a sustained burst from his machine gun. The hail of fire covered the VTOL as the pilot fed more power to the engines, slowly causing them to pull away off into the sky.

With a sigh, Daniel looked out the side of the craft, down at the Covenant camp below them. They were still scrambling around in the panic caused by a single well-placed shot. They had staved off an armada with a single round. This would give the UNSC time. Time to retreat, time to make an assault, time to prepare... it didn't matter to Daniel right now.

He sat down beside Emma and the two ODST suddenly burst out laughing. The specialist silently watched them, cocking his head. Light glinted from the silver text printed on his chest as he too sat down as the falcon angled sideways.

The rain had stopped. The clouds parted to reveal the orange sun hanging over the jagged horizon. The troop transport turned and they flew off into the sunset... into another day.

Author's Note : Wait, what? No yiff scene? Oh, you fucking suck SniperSpartan-977.

Look, don't panic, kids. I know what you want. Now you wanna see some sexy time between Daniel and Emma. And it's coming in the next chapter. As a reward to my subscribers, friends and watchers, I wanted to do something special exclusive for you guys. I've already started work on the next chapter, which will be a smexy smut chapter not visible to the public. It will be visible to friends only. A special reward for you folks, who have given much love concerning the Halo Chronicles series. I'm sorry updates don't happen more frequently, and can only hope the next chapter is good enough for you guys.