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Community story
Warmark:
Again well done PeeterMcG.
I read your first post and this one to my wife who enjoyed Mel Odom's HG:L books, and she really thought this was as good.
Well if you publish a Hellgate novel I'll be buying it thats for sure.
Like Odom's books this gets me pumped to play...maybe I should roll a guardian, Gideon style :)
PeeterMcG:
Happy to hear you liked it.
It's just one of those things where a few ideas bounce around inside the head for a little while. When some of them coalesce, I type for about 15 or 20 minutes and then stop.
I have a few amorphous ideas for another few segments and a couple other characters to introduce, but no definitive direction....
I have only read the first of Odom's books, so this could be entirely outside the HG:L "canon" so to speak. Are they good enough that I should expend the effort to track them down?
Warmark:
--- Quote from: "PeeterMcG" ---Happy to hear you liked it.
I have only read the first of Odom's books, so this could be entirely outside the HG:L "canon" so to speak. Are they good enough that I should expend the effort to track them down?
--- End quote ---
I think they are definitely a good read especially if you are already a fan due to the game, I was sorry when the trilogy came to an end.
As far a keeping true to the canon of the books I think there is a lot of room to develop other stories within the HG:L "world" especially from the perspective of inside the Templar forces, much like the story you have already started to tell.
PeeterMcG:
THREE
As Josh walked into the cafeteria, he couldn’t help but grin. He hadn’t seen Jeff in nearly a week. The two had met years before and became nearly inseparable. Collectively, people referred to the pair as “JJ”. Sports, beer, women – they shared similar interests and ribbed each other mercilessly when they disagreed. Josh threaded his way across to the table. As he got there, he caught the tail end of what Martin was saying. “...so Walter turned to Ann, gently touched her arm and said ‘Gold medal all purpose, right?’ And that’s when Walter's life of celibacy began.” The table dissolved in peels of laughter. After a moment, Jeff, still laughing, caught sight of Josh and stood up to shake his hand and cuff him on the shoulder.
“What you been up to?” Jeff asked.
“Trying to stay in one piece” Josh answered as he shook hands and nodded hello to the others at the table. He recognized all but one. He was pretty certain he had never met the guy.
“Josh, you ever meet Reno? Logan asked.
“No, I don’t think so. Reno?” he asked as he reached out.
“Meh, a nickname some of your fellow Brits from the Regiment hung on me while I was training with them. Piers is too French sounding for their taste. I’m from Truckee, California. They had no idea where that was, but learned that it is near Reno, Nevada so…”
While his hand was thickly calloused, he didn’t try to crush Josh’s hand. When he had stood, Josh had estimated the guy to be around 5’8”. Jeez, the guy was fit. His t-shirt was tucked into his slacks and even from the front a distinct v-shape from shoulders to waist was clear. The guy had a strong torso with arms that stretched the sleeves on the t-shirt, but the waist and legs seemed small in comparison. Josh figured this was a guy who could climb a 100 foot rope effortlessly and yet have the speed of a gazelle when on the ground. The close-cropped hair was not unusual, but it was his eyes that somewhat unnerved Josh. He spoke quietly and with an easy-going tone, but his eyes held no warmth. Not aggression or hostility, just a blue-grey color that was devoid of emotion. Josh knew he was looking at someone who had seen combat and killed. A lot.
The next half hour passed with Josh listening to some of the Templars telling stories about their experiences with Reno. Josh had met a few of the ex-military guys with whom the Templars had begun to work. They wore some light armor including Kevlar and ceramic plates, but they had nothing like the Templars’ powered suits. These guys, while often well-trained in hand-to-hand combat against another human, were not equipped to stand against demons. With their training and tactics, though, some were quite skilled with ranged weapons. Based on what Josh was hearing, this guy was good.
Josh asked, “So, have the Americans joined in the fight? Are they here?”
“I don’t know. It is just by luck that my partner and I were here cross-training with the Regiment when it happened.”
“The Regiment…you mentioned them before. Sorry, I’m not familiar…”
“The SAS” Jeff clarified for Josh.
"Training with the SAS?"
Reno gave a little smile as he explained. “A lot of cross-training between high-speed teams of the various NATO forces goes on. While the US – and Canada for that matter – have some excellent shooters, you Brits might have the best sniper training program in the world. Just as the Navy SEALS have cross-trained and worked with the German GSG9, some of the American sniper teams cross-train with the British sniper schools. I was here by dumb luck, trying to learn something, and the demons interrupted my education.” With a laugh he said, “I can’t abide that. After all, my father always said that education is important.”
That earned a round of chuckles from the table.
Martin was shaking his head while grinning. “Reno, I’ve seen you at the range and what you do in the field. I dare say that there is little you could learn about shooting.”
“There’s always something I can learn.” Reno said.
The conversation drifted to matters related to demon incursions, Templar responses, areas of action, subway stations that might be next up for reclamation and so on. Reno found his mind wandering a bit. Six months and he was still learning a lot. Only now did he feel that he could really contribute something. Almost 2 months ago, his partner Brody had developed a round that seemed to work against the demons. Traditional munitions were next to useless. Working with the Templars, Brody had started working on developing new rounds that they could use. Reno marveled at Brody. The guy had forgotten more about shooting than he thought he could ever learn. Brody was about 12 years older and due to his experience he was the designated spotter for the team. It made a lot of sense to Reno. The theory was that the more experienced team member could more readily and reliably observe condition changes make the necessary allowances for changes in conditions. The spotter would then impart the instructions to the man on the rifle: angle, temperature, range, wind, target speed, humidity and all the other factors that would alter a shot’s trajectory. Reno had long ago realized that Brody was a walking trajectory calculator. Not only that, but the man had been a competitive bench-rest shooter as well, so he had long ago started loading his own ammunition. A useful and handy skill when one considered their present circumstances.
Along with all of that, Brody was an excellent teacher. Reno knew he couldn’t teach. He had been shooting since he was a kid. Growing up in the mountains where he did, his days had been filled with hunting, fishing and just wandering up and down the area. From the start, he had been able to shoot. It was meant to be. He had never struggled to learn breath control, natural point of aim, trigger squeeze, sight alignment, shooting positions or any of the minutiae that people spend countless hours training themselves to do properly. However, when he was first given a scoped rifle to shoot in the military, he entered a new world. At a thousand yards, things became quite different. A 20 degree temperature difference would mean a 4 inches change in vertical impact location with that .308. A 5 mph wind that he could ignore when shooting a deer at 150 yards became a giant hand that seemed to simply push his bullets off the paper. He became fascinated, but felt overwhelmed. The instructors assured him that most everyone felt the same way, to be patient and that in time he too would learn. He still wasn’t so sure. What he DID know was if he dialed in the adjustments that Brody called and he made a clean shot, it would be a hit. He was happy to have Brody with him. Even with the help of the Templars in developing a round that would be effectively, it still required Brody’s magic with the loading press to consistently produce rounds that he could rely upon. And with those rounds chambered for his .408, those devils could be put down at a distance.
Reno had nothing but respect for the Templars. Powered armor notwithstanding, to stand toe to toe with those visions of hell and fight them hand to hand screamed mental imbalance. Yet there was no denying their ability and effectiveness. He appreciated their discipline and unit cohesion. This was not a group of gung-ho individuals. When they were out in the field, they stuck together and worked together. Their camaraderie was self-evident. Sure, he could whittle away a few here and there, but the Templars were really the ones taking the fight to the demons.
Later on, Martin was talking to Jeff and Josh. “That man is uncanny with a rifle. More than 2,000 yards and he was putting rounds into a man-sized target. Repeatedly. There is a lot of talk about trying to incorporate a couple of those guys into various teams.”
“Really? I mean, have any of them ever handled a sword or anything?” Josh asked.
“No no. The scuttlebutt is that they could provide effective cover fire and call warnings in case they observe something.” Martin said.
Josh considered that a moment. “I’m not so sure. To go out without armor is simply nuts. The guys get points from me, they definitely have balls, but if they are firing from a distance, they won’t be with us.”
“That is the whole point. Cover fire.” Jeff said sarcastically.
Slapping his friend, Josh finished his thought, “Right, but if they are firing from a distance, we can’t cover them if they get attacked or overrun.”
“Ewww. Yeah. I guess I was only looking at it from what they could provide us…” Jeff trailed off.
With a shrug, Martin said, “Well, they are volunteers. And for now, if it happens, it is experimentation only. These guys are hard-types who have seen action and they have been in the field with us a few times, so I imagine they have a pretty good idea what they would be exposing themselves to.”
Tirex:
Great story, I've became a fan. Can't wait for more.
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