# Risen from the ashes: Halo RP: Action



## HOGGLORD

First Sergeant Samuel Fawkes woke, the door to his cryo chamber sliding open with a hiss. He stepped out, naked and grasped a towel from the rail next to him. Wrapping it around him, he saw a marine approaching. The soldier greeted him with a salute and directed him to a locker containing his clothes, which he hurriedly put on. He saw no one around the changing rooms. _Good._ He thought. He'd asked to be woken a little before his squad, so he could get his bearings and a proper briefing together, he knew the mission, but didn't want to demoralize the troops with a horrible, half made assessment of the battle. Freezer burn was causing him to ache all over and he cursed the awkward system which cryo-sleep used.
He made his way briskly and calmly towards the briefing room. As he was walking down the corridor, several technicians ran past him, one hitting him hard in the shoulder as he passed. Fawkes span around from the force of the impact and the technician fell sprawled on the floor.

“Sorry sir.” He mumbled, picking himself up. He was about to run off again, but Fawkes put a hand heavily on his shoulder, pulling the technician round to face him. 

“Where are you in such a hurry to go?” Asked Fawkes, both irritated and curious.

“Slipspace drive needs repairs, sir, we’ve gotta get there fast, don’t want to end up like Georgia.” Replied the technician.

“Georgia?” Fawkes asked, perplexed.

“The UNSC Georgia, frigate class, slipspace drive malfunctioned and-“ The technician stopped. “Actually sir, you probably don’t want to know.” 

Then, without another word, the technician ran off after his fellows. Fawkes watched him running, feeling a little uncertain. _What happened to Georgia?_ He wondered.

Shaking the thought off he walked away, towards the briefing room, where he would meet up with his new squad. Reaching the briefing desk, he opened up the personnel system in the archives. He searched up 'ODST: Squad Phoenix: Active Roster. Skipping his own, Fawkes read the rest of the team's files.

Name: John Lancaster
Rank: Corporal *Note*: Demotion from Sgt.
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Service started: 2525
Service Record: Maintenance staff, Combat role on Ilaris, Deployment on DATA CLASSIFIED: TEIR 1 INTEL, Service to ONI on multiple accounts. 
Fawkes was intrigued by this one, from maintenance staff to to secret ONI missions beyond even his relatively elevated clearance in just 12 years, that was an impressive record. Ilaris was no walk in the park either, that planet fell hard and fast. Casualty reports were huge, on both sides. Fawkes wondered about his demotion. What was it for? Hopefully not assault of a fellow soldier or cowardice. _As long as it's neither of those,_ Thought Fawkes. _Then he's good enough for me._ He pulled up the next file.

Name: Tristan Payne 
Rank: Private
Age: 37
Gender: Male 
Service started: 24/7/2509 
Service Record: Defensive role on Miasma, Combat role on Miasma, Deployment on Operation: ACHILLES (Faliure), Service to ODST 148th company.
Fawkes had known about the Miasma campaign, that was a tough fight, the combat was incredibly drawn out, when the planet was glassed, fighting had been going on for months. This one, Payne, would be a pretty tough soldier. Operation: ACHILLES had been hard to find, he'd only just had the clearance to do it. Spartans and ODSTs hunting for an Elite Field Marshal, a damned high value target. Turned out to be a trap, lot of men dead. Still, this one was almost definitely going to be a good soldier. 
The next file came into view at Fawkes' command.

Name: Logan Alexander
Rank: Corporal
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Service started: 12/3/2527
Service Record: Combat role on Omegon IV *Note*: caused minor grunt mutiny. 
Fawkes chuckled softly at this, He'd heard of that when he'd been deployed on Omegon IV, quite some way away from the event, but word had travelled very fast. He was getting the lad that did it. The rumors flying around at the time had created a sort of contest between ODSTs and most of the rest of the UNSC forces there. The ODSTs stuck firmly to the belief that one of their own had caused the grunt mutiny, whereas everyone else thought it was Spartans who had done it. Fawkes was pleased to know that the true culprit was indeed an ODST. He summoned up the next file.

Name: Martin Baker
Rank: Lance Corporal
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Service started: 01/12/2521
Service Record: Extensive combat role on Rethymno. 
Rethymno, now that had been one of the most heroic UNSC defeats that Fawkes had heard of. First and second Covenant assaults had been repelled, by extreme skill, luck and determination from it's defenders. Many lives had been lost, but each one had gone down fighting. Rethymno had been taken when a huge frontal offensive from the covenant, including no less than three super-carriers and dozens of corvettes had struck almost simultaneously. The reports said that the fighting was bitter, but nothing could have stopped that sort of force. Fawkes thought that this Baker fellow would have had to be a damned fine soldier simply getting out alive.

Name: Claire Collins
Rank: Private
Age: 24
Gender: female
Service started: 2524
Service Record: Service Ilirium

The only girl in the team. She'd been on Ilirium, she'd probably been a part of the massacre. Tens of millions were killed there, the UNSC forces that were deployed had been minimal, less than one hundred and fifty marines. They fought well, but didn't stand a chance. If this Collins girl had made it out alive, she was, at the very least, lucky and probably pretty damned skilled. Luck was the best trait a soldier could have, in Fawkes' opinion.

Name: Zetan Sherman
Rank: Corporal
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Service started: 05/7/2518
Service Record: Anti-insurrectionist combat, awarded medals for bravery.

Fawkes had heard of Sherman. An old friend from Squad Gorilla had told Fawkes about him. He remembered the phrase 'Tough bastard' coming up, as well as hearing that he'd been an Innie POW for three weeks, before escaping and dragging the Innie leader with him. A valuable member to the team, to say the least. He pulled up the final file.

Name: Private Joseph Davis
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Service started: 2528
Service record: Defence on *Data corrupted/unavailable*

Fawkes was mildly annoyed, the lack of data as to this trooper. The trooper was obviously fairly green, but he'd been told that Davis had been a part of an alleged 'suicide mission', which ironically saved his life. An old friend of Fawkes', the man who had trained Davis, had said that the kid was perfect to get Phoenix back to it's original prestige. He was, 'Brave and a perhaps a little crazy' according to the trainer. _All ODST qualities._ Thought Fawkes.

Fawkes fairly impressed in all cases. _These guys have been in some of the thickest fights in the war._ He thought. _They’d better be as good as the files suggest._ Then a marine walked in, clutching a thin data slate. The young marine saluted to Fawkes, then handed over a data slate. 

“Message for you, sir.” He said. Fawkes looked at the small screen:

To: 1st Sergeant S. Fawkes
From: +CLASSIFIED+

Sergeant Fawkes, this message has been sent to inform you that you're squad is being selected by ONI to work alongside a Clearance 1 unit. They have been issued with orders to follow your commands unless they contrast with their primary objectives. They will be meeting you at the same time as your new squad.

Yours sincerely,
Jacob Vermoy, ONI

_Clearance 1_, thought Fawkes as the marine silently left the room. That could mean one of two things: Either he was getting ONI Spooks, or Spartans. He didn't know which idea he liked less. If it was a Spook, they would have some high and mighty mission which would almost definitely get the squad killed. Fawkes would willingly fall in the defence of humanity, but he would at least like to know what he was dying for.
On the other hand, while he had no problem with Spartans personally, but the same could not be said of the rest of his team. He knew for a fact that several members had bad blood between them and Spartans, as well as the generally borderline aggressive competitiveness that ODSTs showed towards Spartans.

Then he turned to the briefing table, a holographic display of the planet and the ships around it coming into display. He watched as the ships slid past each other and red dots flickered into life on the planet’s translucent surface.
After ten minutes he straightened up, walked over to a spot meaning that the holographic projector was between him and the door. He stood there, waiting for the new team members to enter. 


OOC:
Welcome everyone! The 'Georgia' thing is much more for the benefit of Red vs Blue fans than anything else, Btw. 
ODSTs
You are just waking from Cryo-sleep. You have no weapons or armour at the current time, just make your way to the briefing room, this post doesn't have to be too long. Just describe a thing or two about what your character is seeing/thinking.
Spartans
Just the same, except for the fact that you have been briefed by Captain Vermoy to meet you're new CO (me).


P.S. This is my first ever RP as GM, please tell me if anything has been done wrong.


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## son of azurman

zetan's eyes opened,the light blinding at first but soon his vision returned to him.he had been in cyro-sleep, the effects of cyro-sleep weren't desirable but he wasn't on to complain.upon regaining his vision he climbed out of the chamber and wrapped a towel around his waist.he walked bare footed across the cold floor to a locker containing some of his clothes.he looked around and saw the other members of squad Phoenix getting ready aswell.once he had fully dressed himself he walked over to a marine,the marine said to him "follow this corridor and you should find first sergeant Fawkes waiting for you."
quietly zetan walked along the corridor peeping into the rooms to see what was going on,he passed a few worried technicians but he didn't stop them as he couldn't care less about there stupid problems.zetan was approaching the room now,he was the first one there but he could hear someone else.upon looking behind him he could see another member of his squad walking along and strangely blurted out zetan's name,zetan didn't know much about his squad and he didn't want to,all he cared about was that they didn't get in his way.

ooc. if this isn't enough just say


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## G0arr

Joseph slowly opened his eyes and glanced around. His vision was slowly adjusting as he swallowed. “Damnit,” he whispered flexing his arms and legs. It felt like he had been running for hours, not waking up from cryo. “That old man was right,” Joseph said taking his first step from the pod, “that stuff tastes terrible.” He could still remember the training clear in his mind. _'You may feel some discomfort as you awaken. This is normal and should pass in only a few hours, depending on how restless you really were. Remember that there is an inhalant administered during your sleep. You will do good to ingest that stuff, even if it tastes like runny eggs.'_ “Would rather have the eggs,” the young marine said moving toward his locker.

Joseph slowly shook off the grogginess and began to feel a little more like himself. By the time he pulled clothing on others were moving. He could hear the sound of bare feet slapping against the cold deck plating. “Morning,” Joseph boomed back into the room as he pulled the last of his uniform on. The feeling of 'freezer burn' in his joints was already lessening. The damned meds were bleeding out of his system. Good, Joseph thought with a smile. Now it was time for him to bleed some of the concoction from his system entirely. 

“Sir,” a marine said as Joseph moved into the coridor. Joseph spun and looked. Another grunt, private by the uniform. The two snapped a salute to each other. “First Sergeant has request you meet him in the briefing room.” “Thank you,” Joseph said with a parting smile, “By the by you wouldn't happen to know where the pisser is would you?” The marine pointed. “Thank you kindly,” were the last words before Joseph padded down the hall.

It was a releif to be rid of part of the drugs in his system as Joseph moved back into the hall. “Alright,” he said to himself glancing around, “The head, the cryo room, let me see...” His voice trailed off as he tried to remember his breifing. Joseph had arrived late, almost missed the boat. Not exactly the best impression. Everything from there was a whirlwind in his mind. A quick show and tell about the ship, stowing gear, and then sleepy time. Looking around Joseph almost wondered what all the tech's were up to. Must be somthing compleatly spacy, he decided. “Now what... Oh yeah, briefing room,” he said after a few seconds.

As Joseph moved he spotted another of the squad. Good, he though, _won't be stuck in there alone with the CO. Alright just gotta remember the name... it was a Z name... how many of those could there be? Zed, zedda, zelda... no that's not it. Zet-somthing. _
As they began to march toward the room names still filled his head. _Damnit what was it? _As he approached Joseph still tried to remember the name. The other ODST trooper turned revealing the uniform patch, rank, and... “Zetan,” he said, “That's it.” There was an awkward silence at least as far as the young private could tell. Joseph snapped to attention and offered a salute. “Morning Sir,” he said politely. It was rather hard for him to remember that he was possibly the newest member of the squad, shareing the lowest rank with one other. Joseph waited for what would happen next, be it a blow off or a friendly reception after blurting out the Corporal's name.


----------



## Angel Encarmine

Waking quickly, Felix waited for the lid of his fridge to pop open, before stepping out and grabbing a towel off the rack next to him. Wiping himself down from head to toe, he ignored the burning in his joints and nausea from the freeze as he walked over to the lockers where their uniforms were stowed as he heard the other half of his team, Anthony, get out of his fridge. Dressing quickly and quietly, making sure his uniform was immaculate, he turned to Anthony._ " Since we are going on another trip with some ODSTs, try not to scare the shit out of these ones, eh Tony?"_ he said, chuckling slightly. _"Hurry up"_ He said with a slight grin as he left the cryobay, heading towards the briefing room.

As he walked briskly down the halls of the ship, his mind went back to the briefing they had had with the ships Captain, basically telling them they were to be under the command of an ODST first sgt by the name of Samuel Fawkes, and they were to obey his orders unless they conflicted with their mission objective. Arriving at the briefing room, Felix stood next to the door waiting for Spartan 019 to get there before entering.


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## TechPr1est

Logan stumbled out of the cyro-pod and fell to his knees before spitting out a thick, sticky liquid onto the deck. He hated cyro pods, hed rather sleep on the floor. A hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to his feet with little trouble, He grabbed a white towel and turned around to thank the person but he couldnt identify who it was. everyone was putting on towels or stretching, not paying any attention to him. It didnt matter. He pulled on a grey shirt and long black pants before putting on his socks. He was dimly aware of his joints being very painful but he ignored the pain and continued to get dressed.

Logan heard a voice informing someone that the seargent was waiting for them. and briskly strode after the four ODSTs that were already leaving the room. He tried to get the aftertaste of the nutrient goo out of his mouth by spitting a few times before entering the next room...

this is also my first rp pm me if i did anything wrong


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## Shattertheirsky

Payne was instantly hit by a huge wave of nausea the second he woke up. There seemed to be a commotion going on outside the pod.
'Dammit, the thing won't open!' A engineer shouted
'Try harder! Fawkes wants him out now, trust me, you don't wanna piss off those odst types, 'specially not him' Another shouted.
'Erm, ladies, get me outta this pod before I smash it open myself' Payne warned, flexing his fist to make his point.
At last the poor engineer managed to pry the pod open and Payne strode out, then berated the pair. 'Seriously, you're meant to MAINTAIN the bloody pods'
The engineers both nodded then nervously scuttled out of the room.

The room was bare save for the pod and a locker. Payne opened the locker to examine it's contents. Payne looked up and down in disgust.
'Where's my knife? Where's my bloody knife?!'
A voice over the intercom chimed 'Private, it was removed and destroyed due to being Covenant contraband'
Payne uttered a foul curse, removed the contents of the locker and slammed the door in annoyance.
He pulled on the black naval shipboard uniform that were provided and used the cleaning kit to provide a quick maintenance of his metal hand.
'Hold on! When I went into cryo I was with the other ODSTs, why am I in solitary?'
The voice came over the intercom again, instantly answering him

'Private, before you join the rest of your team, there are two officers here to brief you on your conduct.'
The door opened and two officers in full military police armour walked in, both carrying weaponry, Payne noticed.
'Come on! I've been out five minutes and you already want to arrest me?!' Payne shouted, outraged.
'No private' One of the Military Police spoke, a woman, 'We are simply here to brief you on your conduct. It came to our attention that you have recieved 17 disciplinary counts against you. 5 for insubordination, 3 for possession of Covenant contraband, 6 for openly hostile acts against members of Spartan forces aboard a USMC carrier, 2 for openly hostile acts against members of Spartan forces in a theatre of war, and one count of being highly intoxicated on duty'
'Well, you see-' Payne was cut off as the MP started again.
'Private Payne, despite this you have almost double the amount of commendations for bravery and achievement than disciplinary counts, which I guess is why ONI sees it fit that you are placed somewhere where you can disrupt the enemy, not us. Which is why you have been placed in a combat orientated ODST squad under First Sergeant Fawkes. You are to be gived free reign and access to all areas of the ship as per standard ODST procedure. However, one tiny slip up, and no amount of ONI bullcrap is gonna save you, do you understand?'
'Yes Ma'am'
'If I had my way we'd jettison your pod into space, WITH you in it'

Payne left the room under the watchful gaze of the two MPs. 'I get the impression they somewhat don't trust me' Payne thought, amused.
He stopped a passing crewmember. 'Oy! Which way to the Briefing and Ops centre?'
The crewmember turned around. 'First thing, OY! is not a proper way to address someone. Furthermore I believe you should add a 'Sir' to the end of that sentence, owing to the fact that I am actually the captain of the ship'
Payne looked on, bemused, spotting the sign directing him to the centre. 'Never mind, your majesty, I'll find it myself'
As he left the annoyed Captain behind and made his way to the meeting place he chuckled inwardly to himself, 'Been awake 10 minutes and I've already managed to piss off three important people'

(Sorry for the long post, I've got not much better to do XD )


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## Sangus Bane

John was cold. He opened his eyes and was breathing hard.
He growled and flexed his muscles. When he hit the sides of the cryo pod he remembered where he was.
"Right..." he said.

The pod opened and an engineer helped him out.

John could see other pods were already opened. Three pods to his left a young woman stepped from a pod, refusing to let the engineers help her.
He looked at her, smiled and winked.
She shook her head and walked off to the showers.
"Whats her deal?" an engineer asked.
John patted him on the back.
"Women, eh?" he said laughing and he followed the woman to the lockerrooms.

He took a quick shower, realising his brain was still warming up as he couldn't keep track of his thoughts.

He grabbed some pants and a dark t-shirt. He fixed his hair, securing the mohawk, and went on his way. 

He joined the young woman in the corridor and made his way to the briefing room.
"John." he said, offering his hand.
"Claire." she replied. She shook his hand and smiled at him.

Before they could continue their introduction an engineer walked towards them.
"Corporal Lancaster?" he asked. 
John confirmed the engineer's suspicions.
"Sergeant Fawkes wants you in the briefing room right now, sir."

"Off course." John said. "Lets go." he said to Claire and they picked up the pace.

When they arrived at the briefing room John could tell he was late. The squad was already gathered around the hologram.

"Good morning." someone shouted through the room.
'Oh, this is going to be great.' John thought to himself, maybe thinking out loud.

John saw their faces, most of them looked like properly experienced veterans, which was good. He could count on them, right? 

"Really great." he mumpled, making his way to Sgt. Fawkes.


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## Pimped-out Deamonette

It was like being water boarded. Suddenly everything was cold and she was breathing hard.

'Cryo pod. ODST. Mission?" she thought, trying to assess her situation. She felt nausius, though only briefly.
The pod opened and an man in engineers atire offered to help her get out. 
Claire didn't accept his offer, she could get out on her own.

TO her left, a man was stretching and flexxing, he probably just got out of his cryo pod.
He saw her and smiled. He winked at her in a charming way, but she wasn't impressed. 
She shook her head and started walking towards the showers, the sensation of moving feeling slightly awkward.
She heard some voices behind her but didn't hear what they said.

The warm shower was a relieve, she hated cryo, she hated being cold, she hated not being able to wake up on her own. The stream suddenly ended and she grabbed a towel.

She grabbed some clothes which didn't really fit but that didn't matter. She tucked the tanktop into her pants to make it slighly less awkward.
She walked into the corridor.

She made two steps when the man from before joined her.
" John." he said, offering his hand. 
"Claire." she said, shaking his hand and smiling friendly.
It was only now that she noticed how tall John was. Was he a SPARTAN? No, he was human, it was pretty obvious.

An engineer approached them.
"Corporal Lancaster?" the engineer asked.
Claire wanted to say no but John already answered.
"Aye." he said.
"Sergeant Fawkes wants you in the briefing room right now, sir."
"Off course." John said. "Lets go." he said to her and they picked up the pace.

When they arrived Claire saw she was one of the last to arrive, no problem.
She tried to read the faces of the men assembled, but her mind was still a bit numb.

"Good morning." someone shouted.
She smiled.
'They'll do.' she thought to herself and she followed John, making her way to the squad leader.


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## Santaire

The door opened and 2 figures stepped in. The sight had 1 or 2 of the ODST’s scrambling for pistols in empty holsters. “Bloody Spartans” 1 exclaimed, a slight bitterness and anger in his tone. Felix stepped forward. “Spartans 046 and 019 reporting for duty sir,” he said, snapping to attention.

“At ease gentleman” Fawkes said.

Felix fell back into his normal mindset. Make friends and blow shit up. The other Spartan remained perfectly still but finally, after a few tense moments and a dig in the ribs from Felix relaxed. “Who do you want dead now sergeant?” I said in a voice as cutting as it was cold then gave a humourless, callous laugh…
______________________________________________

Cryo-sleep. Perfect way to pass the time during long jumps. Freezer burn was the main problem. Go in with a cast on a broken limb and you’d come out with the skin raw and blistering. Dreamless too. Good. All I ever saw were the faces of my dead brothers and sisters. All 298 of them. Dead on K7-49.

_Matt falls, a plasma bolt burning through his thigh. I try to go back for him. Will pulls me back, makes me keep on running. He goes back himself. I turn, brace the sniper against my shoulder. My first round blows a Sangheili major’s head off. My second hits a collection of plasma canisters. They go off in quick succession, incinerating screaming Grunts. A roar to my right. Felix is under attack from 3 Sangheili Zealots. I shift aim, focusing on the nearest one’s head. I am suddenly tackled, the rifle flying from my grip. I scream in rage and hate as the Sangheili raises his energy sword.

I lash out and he staggers back, clutching the side of his head where my knife juts out. He falls. Will is dead, hit in the face by an Mgalekgolo’s energy cannon bolt. Matt climbs to his feet, screams at me to run, turning to the Mgalekgolo. He takes one down with a burst of rifle fire and a grenade. The second roars and slams him aside with its shield. He is already dead. Trusting my life to the Gods I turn and fire. My round rips through the throat of the Zealot pinning Felix.

He is already climbing to his feet, snatching its energy sword out of the air as he turns to the other 2.

I hear a roar and a strange slithering sound as the Hunter raises its shield to bring it crashing down on my head. I duck and roll to one side, dodging the blow by millimeters. I slam a palm into the Hunter’s unarmoured midsection. I clench my fist and tear it away, ripping a clutch of the Lekgolo free of their hive brothers. I draw my magnum and step back, opening fire. The Hunter staggers as the heavy rounds slam into it. It raises its cannon. There is a strange sound. It sounds as if the Hunter is laughing. Then Felix is there.

He tackles the Hunter, bringing it down with a clatter. He rolls away from it and tosses me his shotgun. Before the Hunter can stand I rack the slide and fire. It blows the Lekgolo apart.

I toss it back to Felix and he catches, pumping the slide as he does so and, turning, blasts a Sangheili backwards. All around us our fellow Spartans are dying. There Shane and Robert go down. They had been carrying Jane. All three were dead, the Covenant already streaming away to attack others. We run. There is nothing we can do…_

I woke with a gasp. Damn that thaw period. They put me into natural sleep and the dreams come. Thank God it’s so short. The pod slid open and I sat on the rim, head down as I shook the dreams from my mind. This was a time to be ready for combat.

I stood and nodded to Felix.

We stepped to the lockers almost in unison and got dressed.

Turning to me Felix began to speak. “Since we are going on another trip with some ODST’s, try not to scare the shit out of these ones, eh Tony?” He chuckled slightly. He turned and, as a parting word said “Hurry up.” As he did so a slight grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Then he stepped out.

I had been dressed quicker than him but he had said that because I was toying with the small knife that slid into the sheath concealed in my left boot. The holster at my hip was empty to my great consternation. We were working with ODST’s for Christ’s sake. These guys believed Spartans like me and Felix were freaks of nature usurping their ‘rightful’ position as the best soldiers humanity has to offer.

Still Vermoy had said to play nice so I placed the knife back in the locker.

My mind ran over the briefing as I walked. This sergeant. Fawkes. Was the leader of the famous, or infamous, ODST ‘Squad Phoenix’. He was said to be good. I would wait to see him in action before judging. I joined Felix at the door and we stepped through…


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## HOGGLORD

Fawkes looked up from the holo-map as the squad filed into the room.
_They were all here, good._ Thought Fawkes. He looked around at the assembled ODSTs. They all saluted when they entered. "At ease." he said calmly and they all assumed less formal poses. 

Fawkes picked out Payne as he took his spot. "Private Payne, I hear you've been making friends around the ship." He tried and failed to suppress a grin, remembering Captain Norwich's outraged voice as he had spoken to Fawkes of the trooper's lack of discipline. Norwich was universally known as a stuck up prick, very few crew members were willing to defend him and even fewer liked him. Still, he outranked basically everyone on board, so whilst he was treated with little more than contempt by most, it was well-disguised contempt. When he'd been contacted by the distraught Norwich, Fawkes had promised to speak with Payne about the incident and now he had. He cleared his throat and looked around at the assembled ODSTs. 

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen." He began. "As I'm sure you already know, I'm First Sergeant Fawkes. It's my pleasure to welcome you to Squad Phoenix. We're approaching the planet Elysium now." He tapped a button on the holo-projector and an image of the planet came up, revolving slowly.

"Alice." He said. The soft, female voice of the ship's AI, Alice, came from the projector's speakers.

"Elysium: This planet is home to a comparatively small number of people, about ten million. About 80,000 of those people own a fifth of it's habitable area. It contains the second largest collection of holiday homes on any UEG controlled planet, the first being Luna, or course." Alice paused for a moment, before continuing. "Exactly seventeen days, four hours and fifty three minutes ago, a Covenant fleet came into contact with Elysium's defenses. The Covenant attack has caused significantly less casualties than expected owing to the lack of heavy orbital bombardment employed by the covenant. They have only used in-atmosphere assaults on the planet, however, in numbers that are more than sufficient to overrun the current defenses of the planet."

Fawkes cut in and Alice became silent. 

"Basically, the Covenant haven't glassed Elysium yet, which means that they want something down there. Now as you all probably know, if the Covenant want's something, then it's probably bad news." He paused, allowing each squad member to formulate their own ideas on what the Covenant may want with the planet. 

"We don't know what they want, but we can be sure that it's on the planet. So the overall objective is to kick their ugly asses off this planet and keep them off."

Two tall people walked into the room, _Spartans_ thought Fawkes. He realized, with a sudden, uncomfortable jolt, that the squad did not know about the 'special backup' they were receiving. 

"Oh, yes." He said, feeling a little nervous. "I just learned that ONI's got something special in mind for us, so we're going to be fighting alongside a Spartan headhunter team." He gestured to the Spartans who had just entered, he didn't expect the squad wouldn't react too badly. Even so, he'd asked for two marines to serve as a security detail, just in case.


OOC: Alright everyone, this is a sort of half-update, this is a chance to react to the various pieces of information before the action starts. Say what you want to say etc. This post doesn't have to be too long, an average of 2-4 paragraphs, though I won't object to more. But the next update will be around Friday-Saturday, unless someone has a good reason to object to this.


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## Sangus Bane

John swallowed hard when he heard the AI speak. Her voice was very familiar and reminded him of his time with ONI.

So, Elysium, he had read about this world, even planned to find a place here after his military carreer, seems like that won't happen anytime soon... Especially if the Covies wanted something out of it. Technology or Information most likely, maybe Forerunner.

"Oh, yes." Fawkes said. "I just learned that ONI's got something special in mind for us, so we're going to be fighting alongside a Spartan headhunter team."
John looked up at the sergeant. He turned around and saw two Spartans walk in the room. 
Personaly he didn't dislike Spartans, during his time with ONI he had worked alongside them on a few occasions. He wasn't fond of them either.

He looked at the others, some seemed panicked or angered, one even reaching for an empty holster. The partans weren't impressed, they were hard to impress for that matter.
"This just keeps getting better and better." John said.

Then he realised the direness of the situation. If two Spartans would accompany them, this was going to be worse than he first thought, way worse...


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## son of azurman

as everyone had sat down zetan looked over at Fawkes to hear his debrief,just as a member of the squad was about to sit down Fawkes called him out "Private Payne, I hear you've been making friends around the ship." 
zetan didn't know what he was on about but he couldn't care less, as Payne sat down Fawkes got ready to speak.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen." Fawkes began. "As I'm sure you already know, I'm First Sergeant Fawkes. It's my pleasure to welcome you to Squad Phoenix. We're approaching the planet Elysium now." He tapped a button on the holo-projector and an image of the planet came up, revolving slowly.

"Alice." called Fawkes said. The soft, female voice of the ship's AI, Alice, came from the projector's speakers.
"Elysium: This planet is home to a comparatively small number of people, about ten million. About 80,000 of those people own a fifth of it's habitable area. It contains the second largest collection of holiday homes on any UEG controlled planet, the first being Luna, or course." Alice paused for a moment, before continuing. "Exactly seventeen days, four hours and fifty three minutes ago, a Covenant fleet came into contact with Elysium's defenses. The Covenant attack has caused significantly less casualties than expected owing to the lack of heavy orbital bombardment employed by the covenant. They have only used in-atmosphere assaults on the planet, however, in numbers that are more than sufficient to overrun the current defenses of the planet."
Fawkes cut her off before she could say any more.
"Basically, the Covenant haven't glassed Elysium yet, which means that they want something down there. Now as you all probably know, if the Covenant want's something, then it's probably bad news." We don't know what they want, but we can be sure that it's on the planet. So the overall objective is to kick their ugly asses off this planet and keep them off."

just as Fawkes had stopped talking to tall men walked into the room,from the stubborn and better than you look on there faces Zetan found it easy to tell that these were spartans,suddenly Fawkes started to speak again."Oh, yes."said Fawkes, feeling a little nervous. "I just learned that ONI's got something special in mind for us, so we're going to be fighting alongside a Spartan headhunter team." 

what in sangheii's name did they send a spartan team,odst were perfectly ok doing this by themselves but no those selfish bastards had to intervene.well at least there would be someone on this trip who could even try to match zetan's skill.


----------



## TechPr1est

Leaning against the wall, Logan listened to the montone voice of alice struggling to concentrate. He had learned from his studies that when the covenant wanted something it was because it was holy to them or it could be used as a weapon...or both. As he watched the holographic planet turn on an invisible axis, Two fairly tall men walked in the room.

"Oh, yes." Fawkes continued. "I just learned that ONI's got something special in mind for us, so we're going to be fighting alongside a Spartan headhunter team." He gestured to the Spartans who had just entered.

The man to the left of him reached for a pistol and Logan flinched, curling his hands into fists expecting trouble. but the man didnt have a pistol which made Logan relax. The spartans stood there and the seargeant looked around the room reading peoples reactions. Logon didnt have a particular hate for spartans but he had heard ridiculous stories from marines that 10 odsts' were just minding there own business in a gym when a spartan walked in and beat the living shit out of all of them. He didnt believe this of course but he didnt exactly trust them.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire had just sat down when Fawkes started the briefing. She listened closely to her new sergeant and the AI so she wouldn't miss anything important.

A planet with many civilian families who required protection, exactly the kind of mission she signed up for. Now she was just hoping they wouldn't be sent on some BS 'guard the weapon stockpile' type mission...

"Oh, yes." Fawkes continued. "I just learned that ONI's got something special in mind for us, so we're going to be fighting alongside a Spartan headhunter team." 
Claire looked to her left where two giants now stood in the room, they were even taller than John.

She felt a sudden jolt of anxiety go through her body and was truly intimidated. She didn't trust most UNSC forces, but Spartans were the worst of the worst. They were the UNSC's lapdogs and murdered without a second thought.

Lets just hope they won't stick around for too long...


----------



## G0arr

It was a blowoff. _Alright_, Joseph said to himself entering the room, _that could have been worse._ There was a quick salute snapped toward the man standing at the center of the room. It was rather easily noted that this was Fawkes, Joseph’s new CO.

The others arrived in short order; most were still shaking off the after effects of cryo. As the last arrived Fawkes began. Instead of the expected briefing he called out to one of the men. _“Private Payne,” _ Joseph glanced to the trooper. _Let me see, Payne which one was he?_ There was a cybernetic hand on that man. Joseph made a note of that. The man clearly had battlefield time making him a senior soldier, but the fact he was a private meant he was probably a trouble maker. Joseph smiled, _Like him already._

_“Alright, ladies and gentlemen,”_ Here came the briefing. Joseph listened quietly as the AI spoke for a moment and then Fawkes took over again. Joseph had never tried to wrap his mind around the actions of the Covenant as a whole. He wasn’t with Intelligence so it wasn’t his job. However there were things he had already began to latch onto. If they were here for something it made them predictable. They would search for it, they would find it, and then they would blast the rest to nothing. This meant they had to find it first, and if you keep poking their eyes they might get mad, but they wouldn’t just blast away at everything. Not unless you became more trouble than it was worth. _If that happened then your doing your job right,_ he thought with a smile. The objective was short and to the point. Something Joseph could get behind. 

Another pair entered the room. They were taller than average, but they weren’t part of the squad. _“Oh, yes,”_ Fawks began again looking at the pair. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice. Joseph glanced over to see his CO sweeping the room with a quick glance. _"I just learned that ONI's got something special in mind for us, so we're going to be fighting alongside a Spartan headhunter team."_
_“Spartans,” _Joseph half thought, and half said in a low whisper that only the close squad members could hear, _“Wow... only ever seen one of them before. Remember that one being taller.” _
Joseph cleared his voice. “Sir,” he spoke waiting for Fawkes to acknowledge him “Is there something on planet that important, or can I expect a ‘need to know’ ONI bullshh,” he caught himself, “response sir?” 

Joseph waited for the reply as he glanced around. Some of the others appeared a little more apprehensive to this turn of events. He half wondered why. They were on the same side, right? Some appeared to be squaring off like a fight might break out. The most notable reaction to him was from the only woman in the squad, Collins. That was a name even Joseph could remember. No reason to forget the most interesting bit of scenery on the ship this far. She might have done well at hiding it, but there was a slight change in her breathing and completion. It was a fight or flight response kicking in, though it just as quickly faded. Then there was a slight hint of contempt. Bad experience, Joseph thought as he waited, _what the hell did these people have against the Spartans? We’re an elite squad of experienced men and women, they were engineered for it. As far as that goes we’re were equals right? Except they didn’t know any better._


----------



## Angel Encarmine

Stepping into the room with Anthony, Felix noticed that they were the last to entered, and hadn't been seen by the ODST squad "phoenix". Content to let it stay that way, he nudged Tony slightly as he saw Anthony was about to make their introduction for them. Watching closely as the sergeant spoke to another trooper, telling him he heard he had been making friends, Felix smiled slightly.As the briefing started, he began listening and memorizing every important detail.

To him it sounded like a standard engage and kill the covenant op, but Felix knew that ONI wouldn't just send one of their elite headhunter teams on a simple op. His thought's were interrupted as the briefing ended and the ODSTs noticed them for the first time. _Here we go..._ he thought, tensing up slightly and breathing deep in case things got physical.

_"Oh, yes I just learned that ONI's got something special in mind for us, so we're going to be fighting alongside a Spartan headhunter team."_ Sergeant fawkes said, acknowledging them for the first time. Felix stepped forward._ “Spartans 046 and 019 reporting for duty sir,”_ he said, snapping to attention. After receiving the at ease order, he stepped back and looked around the squad. _" Phoenix huh? I thought you'd all be.... Taller..."_ he said with a cheerful grin on his face, instinctively stepping back to cover Anthonys flank.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

Payne sat on the floor against the wall in the briefing room, observing the rest of his squad.
'So this is Phoenix?' He thought, looking at each team member individually. One thing Payne was very good at was judging character from appearance, however Sherman and Alexander had little to work with on their persons. On the other hand Collins, the only girl on the team, was getting all the eyes from the rest of the team. He noticed the two painted tears on her hands. Tribal markings? Unit symbols? Kills? Eulogies? Whatever they were, Payne was intrueged, and made a mental note to ask her about them later. If they were kills, two meant she must be pretty rookie. He moved on to Lancaster. He was fiddling with the device on his wrist. 
'A techie, on an ODST team? Must be hard as nails then' He thought, looking up to his neck. There were a large series of numbers tattooed there, Payne squinted to get a better view, but couldn't really get a decent view. The last member of the team, Private Davis, entered; and Fawkes started his speech.

'Private Payne, I hear you've been making friends around the ship' Fawkes started, barely suppressing a grin.
'A grin, so.....He finds it amusing? Maybe this guy ain't so bad after all' Payne thought, noticing Davis looking at his hand as he did so. He flexed it, and gave a slight nod to Fawkes in acknowledgement.

Fawkse's briefing was short and to the point, Payne liked that. The lack of intelligence on the OP was expected whenever ONI was involved, and Payne felt a measure of respect for Davis after he challenged Fawkes about it, most privates would never dare to challenge a sergeant, especially not one as prestigious as Fawkes. Lost in his thoughts, Payne barely registered the door sliding open again.

'F**K! Spartans!' His brain screamed. On instinct, Payne instantly went for his pistol, but after finding nothing but thin air went for the dagger on his shoulder, again, reaching nothing. 'Bloody Military Police!', his brain screamed again. Hideous flashbacks of Spartan number 716, standing among several young planetary defense force, pointing to a speck in the distance among the swamps forced their way into his mind, making him take a pace back. Fawkes words were a faint drone as Payne tried to compose himself and suppress the pure anger and hate. He gripped the table and looked round the squad to gauge their reactions.

Most of them were simply taken aback at their prescence, the only notable exception being Collins, who briefly displayed a look of confusion with a slight hint of anger, before dispelling this appearance.
'Maybe there's more to her than I first thought, a rookie is unlikely to have seen Spartans before, and certainty wouldn't have had a cause to feel anger towards them, right?' Payne reasoned.
A brief look from Fawkes that smacked of 'Shut-Up-And-Deal-With-It' calmed Payne somewhat, and when he removed his hand from the table he smirked as he noticed his hand print embossed in it from where his prosthetic hand had grasped it.

'Dammit, they make things a whole lot different' Payne muttered.


----------



## Santaire

I noticed the hostility radiating from one of the ODST’s, Tristan Payne. It was not through any mystical sixth sense, nor from looking at his reactions though they certainly spoke of hatred for the likes of me and Felix. No, even with my eyes closed he simply seemed to radiate hatred. It was understandable, if depressing. We had given all the people we ever loved, we had given up any chance for a normal life to serve and our reward was hatred and fear. Speaking of fear I noticed the anxiety in the eyes of one, a private by the name of Clair Collins. Or maybe I should say Clair Collins’ killer. Oh yes, ONI knew about her. I’d made sure I was briefed fully on the team, even if Felix had taken the bare minimum and decided to work on what he observed of them out in the field.

I would be keeping an eye on her.

It had been simple really. Clair Collins’ file spoke of a quiet, sensible marine who never took unnecessary risks. Joining the Helljumpers? The most common definition of a Helljumper was crazy. I’d even heard insane. And Clair Collins was neither crazy nor insane. This was not Clair Collins. This was someone else. It was simple enough to backtrack and find out that Collins’ squad was based on a world that harboured Innies. It was plain whoever it was who took Collins’ place was an Insurrectionist or had once been one.

Yes, I would keep an eye on her.

The rest were unremarkable but for maybe John. I remember vaguely Kurt talking a lot about a John when he spoke of his training to Mendez. Had they known I was listening Mendez would have gutted me for sure. But I could hear the slight undertone of uncertainty in Kurt’s tone. He spoke a lot about whether he was ready. Mendez was already responding with an affirmative but Kurt never sounded sure. He wanted to know that John and the other Spartan IIs wouldn’t hate him for doing what he was doing.

I doubted it was the same one so after a brief pause in my scanning of the squad I moved on.

Nothing else of note appeared to me so I settled into a relaxed stance, sensing Felix moving to unconsciously cover my flank. Well, time to wait for our orders from our new CO


----------



## Silb

Baker watched the Spartans walking in. Now he was intrigued. Spartans were the greatest soldiers in the UNSC, and their presence on this mission increased the squad's odds of success significantly. On the other hand, Spartans wouldn't be assigned to the mission unless the higher-ups were desperate. The mission details already seemed vague; this new addition just made things seem more suspicious.

Baker immediately pushed these thoughts out of his mind. He had a job to do, and he would do it. Regardless of what his commanders were or weren't hiding, failure on this mission was inconceivable and unacceptable to him. He noticed one of his fellow soldiers reach for his holster as the Spartans entered.

_He's one of those, isn't he?_ groaned Baker to himself. He had no patience for people who compromised the squad with pointless grudges. 

Baker closed his eyes and tried to clear his head. Thinking about the Spartans or his fellow soldiers would do him no good now. He had to clear his head and focus on the mission. 

The soldier began to imagine Covenant grunts being mowed down by the dozen, and he smiled.


----------



## HOGGLORD

They'd reacted better than he'd expected, though Payne was looking downright murderous, he'd been going for his pistol, which he didn't have, Fawkes shot him a warning look. Fawkes was relived that the marines hadn't been needed, it would reflect badly on the squad to have cases of assault within ten minutes of meeting. 

Collins looked frankly horrified, Fawkes wasn't sure why, but one of the spartans was looking at her with knowing expression. ONI obviously knew something about his squad that he didn't, Fawkes resolved to look into it. 

Now that the squad had assembled and the overall brief had been issued, Fawkes waited for the muttering to subside. Looked at each of the ODSTs and began.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've been issued new orders. We've got to-" Fawkes was cut off by a large bang and several screams. He whipped round, looking at the doorway. He crept up to the door, pushing the switch to open it. The doors slid open and Fawkes heard the distinctive whine of a plasma grenade activating. 

Hammering on the switch, Fawkes shut the door. There was a bright blue light visible through the thin gap between the two doors. With a loud bang, the door split open, sending chunks of molten metal splattering the floor. 
Fawkes looked through the doorway, seeing a grunt dead on the floor, it's front horribly burned by the explosion. 

"Alert, Alert. The ship is under attack!" Came Alice's soothing voice, though her tone wasn't quite as calm as usual. "Covenant forces have boarded the ship."

Fawkes hesitated for a fraction of a second, then he grabbed a loose panel under the holo-table. He wrenched it, pulling out the drawer. Reaching inside, he pulled out a pile of magnum sidearms. He put the magnums on the table and then handed out a cluster of ammunition clips. It was an old hiding place for weapons that Phoenix had been keeping for years, Fawkes' had never seen it in use until today.

"Lock and load, boys and girls." He said, grabbing a magnum and loading it. Doing a quick calculation he gathered that each squad member had two clips and one magnum each. 

He heard the squeaky little voices of grunts and the squawks of jackals. Further away was the deep grunting voice of an elite or brute, Fawkes couldn't tell which.

OOC: OK, we're under attack! You've each got a magnum and 2 clips, that's 24 rounds. Hold out against the covenant wave, you can have up to 6 grunt/jackal kills.


----------



## Sangus Bane

John didn't hesitate, he helped Fawkes distribute the magnums and ammo and finally took a pistol for himself, making sure the extra magazines were tucked away securely. He didn't wonder why Fawkes stored weapons and ammo in a briefing room, he was just happy to see the sergeant was prepared for surprises.

He could hear the sniffs of Grunts outside and took cover by the doorpost. He could see shimmering light, possibly, no probably, cast by Jackels with combat shields. Fawkes as quiet, not issuing orders so they could hear the advance of cannon fodder.

NOW! He thought, as he dropped to a knee and leaned out of cover. He shot two rounds, one meeting a Jackal's shield, the other hitting it in the foot. A third round hitting it in the head as it staggered... Kill.

The other squad members had started shooting as well, John saw multiple grunts and jackals hit the floor before they could return fire. Two more rounds from John's magnum saw to the end of a grunt, its mask torn from it's ugly face and a large hole where the mask once sat.

Plasma fire forced him back into cover, pinning him down. Either Payne or one of the Spartans shot a single round into the shooter, clearing John's way. He got out of cover again and shot two Jackals in the side as the approached the door. *click*

Reloading was bad in a situation like this. He checked if the others were still shooting and replaced the mag. 
How many fucking aliens were out there?


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire took a pistol from John and loaded it and made sure there was a round in the chamber. She saw the others taking up positions by the doorway and behind the central table. She herself took up position at the far side of the room, overlooking the room without exposing herself.

John made the first kill, a Jackel carrying a shield. All started firing and numerous Jackels and Grunts were mowed down. She fired at the Grunts, not wanting to waste ammo on Jackels who hid behind shields.

When the aliens returned fire one of the marines fell to the ground, screaming. The screams soon stopped and Claire took the Assault rifle from the dead hands. 

She aimed and started surpressing the enemy shooters, killing two more grunts. When the weapon was depleted she discared it, again aiming her magnum at the attackers. 

The last shot in the magazine scraped a Grunt which ran off, clutching its wounded arm and screaming in terror.


----------



## Santaire

"Lock and load boys and girls." Fawkes said as he planted a pile of magnums on the table. The ODSTs selected a pistol and checked it over with the ease of born soldiers. They racked slides, checked iron sights and had a look at pistol loads. I took it all in at a glance.

My hand reached across the table and closed on the familiar grip of a magnum. I paused, using my enhanced hearing to detect when a covenant warrior would come into my line of fire. I leant forward over the table and closed my fist on the grip of the pistol, then suddenly snapped my arm up and fired a single shot. The hammer slammed into the rear of the bullet, knocking it out of the barrel so fast that even with time seemingly slowed down for me it was still little more than a blur. The slide slammed back and the shell casing flew free of the weapon. I bent my wrist to absorb the recoil of the weapon as the round flew free of the barrel.

There was a thud as the jackal collapsed, the round having flown over its shield, entered through its forehead and blew out the back of its skull. I turned my head and blew the smoke away from the barrel.

Then the swarm came. I watched as John ducked out from cover and opened fire before he was driven back. I stepped forward so that I was standing in the centre of the doorway and fired a single shot, hitting the grunt pinning him in the methane tank. There was an explosion and a fireball that had the jackal flanking the grunt shrieking in pain as it burned. I put it out of its misery with another round.

Then I ducked and rolled into cover. I reached down to the inner lining of my boot and gripped the hilt of the knife concealed there. I stood and stepped out from cover, throwing the knife with a flick of the wrist that had it buried in a jackal's foot. I shot it in the face. I threw myself to the side as a hail of needles flew at me. "Damned Covenant, never leave us alone," I snarled as I pressed my back to the wall. The hail of firepower on my position continued. I had no doubt it was because of their 4 dead fellows.

I spun out of cover, dropping into a firing crouch only to see a group of jackals were blocking my selection of targets. I snapped my arm to aim at the most obvious target, firing a single round. It shattered the bones in the foot of a jackal and it began to topple with an alien screech of pain. I pulled the trigger. The seventh round in the magazine was slammed free to power into the jackal's head where it plunged clean through the skull to slam through its spine and erupt in a spray of blood, brains and shards of bone.

I used the gap in the formation to put a bullet into a grunt's heart. It fell in a heap.

I threw myself back into cover and checked the load of my pistol. Four rounds. Add the twelve round in my second magazine and that was sixteen. More than enough to cause some pain.


----------



## Angel Encarmine

_"Ladies and gentlemen, we've been issued new orders. We've got to-"_ Fawkes was cut off by a large bang and several screams. He whipped round, looking at the doorway. He crept up to the door, pushing the switch to open it. Hammering on the switch, Fawkes shut the door as the sound of plasma fire drifted into the briefing room.

_"Fucking Covenant"_ Felix swore, as a plasma grenade blew the door open. Turning, he watched as Fawkes loosened a floor panel and began pulling magnums out and setting them on a table. Without waiting for orders, Felix immediately snatched up a pistol and took cover across from an ODST next to the door. First blood went to the ODSTs as John killed a jackal, it's brains painting the wall behind it. Leaning into the doorway as the ODST reloaded, Felix began firing, killing 3 grunts as they rushed the doorway.

Taking cover as the female ODST suppressed the enemy with an assault rifle, Felix couldn't help but think of his weapons and armor, stored in the armory of the ship. Before he could fire again, heat washed over him as Anthony blew up a grunt, blood and gore spraying the hallway as it erupted. Leaning out of cover, his magnum roared, destroying the head of another jackal as it tried to fire on Anthony. His weapon clicking on empty, Felix reloaded, his hands a blur as he slammed a fresh magazine home. 

Rolling through the doorway, Felix came to his feet swinging, the butt of of his pistol smashing in the face of a grunt, before taking cover behind a bulkhead. As plasma began to slam into his cover, he laughed as he heard the squeal of grunts screeching in terror as the ODSTs opened fire on them. A deep grunt sounded down the hallway, the owner of the voice barking orders at the mob. Relishing the idea of engaging an elite or brute in close combat, Felix fired, the heavy pistol round smashing into a jackals shield.

11 rounds turned to 10 as he fired again, the magnum round pinging off another jackals shield. Scooping up a pair of plasma pistols off the ground, he threw one to Anthony, before turning and firing another round to keep the enemies heads down. As he leaned out of cover to fire again, a lucky shot grazed his thigh, the plasma leaving a searing gash in his leg. Grunting in pain as he fell, he heard the jackal that shot him scream in triumph. _"Fuck you" _ he growled, before firing and turning the jackals head into a mass of liquid and skull fragments.....


----------



## Shattertheirsky

Payne was one of the last to react, too busy lost in his own thoughts to really listen to what Fawkes was having to say. All he heard was the explosions and the 'lock and load' and knew what he had to do. He was a born killer, and the magnum felt like an extension of his own body as he picked it up off the table and gleefully slammed in a magazine. He had done this hundreds of times, swathes of covenant had fallen to his wrath before, and they would do today.

He turned, then, seeing the grunts and jackals flooding through the door made him dive for cover, behind an overturned table that seconds before some of the ODST's had been sitting on. Seeing all the ODST's in cover reminded him that none of them were wearing armour, meaning that none of them had shielding.
'Neither do they' A little voice in his head commented as he ran his eyes over the Spartans. Payne shook his head, expunging the thoughts, there was a time and a place, and whilst he hated Spartans, he didn't think he could go so far as to kill one in cold blood. 

He peeked over the cover, seeing Lancaster pinned by a grunt, he aimed his magnum at it, pulling the trigger twice, twice missing. The Spartan to his right finished it with a headshot, much to Payne's annoyance. As Collins started pinning the enemy with an assault rifle, Payne charged, rushing headlong into the thick of it.

A grunt raised it's needler to fire, taking aim at Payne. Payne dropped it with a shot to the torso with a follow up shot to the head, before shooting a distracted grunt with a clean body shot, the shot bursting it's methane sac. A shot from behind him impacted a Jackal that was readying to fire it's pistol, taking it down before it could shoot him. Payne turned to see his savior, but as all of the team were firing, he couldn't tell who had saved him. He turned, hearing the unmistakeable whine of a charging plasma pistol.

The Jackal shot him in the prosthetic hand, his right hand, the EMP rendering it useless. Screaming in rage, Payne dropped the pistol, without his hand working, it was useless. He shoulder charged the Jackal, throwing it to the ground. He picked it up with his left arm around its neck and pointed it towards the rest of the Covvies, propping it's shield up as to protect himself and reduce the fire toward the rest of the squad. He may be out of the fight but it didn't mean that the rest of the team needed to be. He dropped to a crouch and beckoned one of the other ODSTs to file in behind him in a makeshift shield team.


----------



## G0arr

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've been issued new orders. We've got to-" _Alright_, Joseph thought just before everything became a hectic mess, _at least it's not some bullshit need-to-know answer._

Everything that followed happened in a blurr. Fawks turned toward the door as something exploded. 
The door slammed shut as the CO dove away.
A new explosion tore the heavy metal open. 
Joseph was on his feet. If he moved fast there was a chance he could reach the armory and get a rifle. Then he saw Fawks stand from the floor a handful of guns plopping onto the holo table.
“Thank god for paranoid people,” he said moving with the others.

Joseph snatched up one of the pistols. _12 shots_, he reminded himself slamming a magazine into place, _make em count._ He grabbed a second clip and shoved it into a pocket. As he turned the damned things charged headlong into the room. 

Joseph dove back across the holo table and into several of the chairs. “Damnit,” he swore under his breath. There wasn't any cover worth mentioning where he had landed.

A pair of shots were fired as he moved for more cover. If they did anything he didn't notice as a table fell to its side. “Alright,” he said peaking over to gauge how the others were doing.

A rifle fired. Joseph glanced over to see Collins suppressing the incoming foe. Suppressing being the only word he could think of as she didn't seem to release the trigger until the magazine was depleted.
Something caught Joseph's attention. As the shells flew Payne broke from cover. A smile formed on his face. “Thing's crappy cover anyway.”

Joseph moved from cover with his weapon up. His first aimed shot caught a grunt center mass. Blue blood sprayed as it fumbled back. A second shot ensuring it wouldn't stand back up. 

Don't stay in the open, he told himself looking to Payne. He saw the jackal move out.
It was all reminiscent of that day. Joseph gritted his teeth and fired. 
It wasn't the best shot he had ever made, but it did the trick. The jackal fell. _“Not this time,”_ he whispered. And fired a second shell into the thing. It stopped twitching. 
_Not this time,_ he thought remembering taking the tags off a squad mate, _little bastard deserves this_.

Target fixation was a battlefield killer and in that moment Joseph realized why. He heard the shout, and a pistol flashing into his field of vision brought him back to the battle. 

“Shit,” the young soldier said watching Payne charge. The older man was insane. Joseph sprinted forward and scooped the second magnum up.

His next piece of cover was another chair. “Damnit,” he said checking the pistol. The weapon appeared undamaged, aside from some minor heat damage. A quick check revealed about half a clip remaining. “Good enough,” he said looking up.

There stood Payne wrestling a jackal infrom of him like some kind of a shield. _What the hell is he doing,_ Joseph thought then he saw the shield swing up. “Well hell,” he said abandoning the chair less than a second before a blast of plasma reduced it to splinters.
“This is insane,” he said sprinting to his squad-mate, _but I like it._
When he arrived Joseph was able to see the prosthetic hand locked in a half grip. Must be the reason he dropped this thing, the young soldier told himself. 

“Never covered this in basic,” he said with a half smile as he leaned to one side behind Payne. A quick aim and two rounds later another grunt lay in an expanding pool of blood.
A plasma round flashed past as Joseph used the cover his squad mate was now providing. He smiled taking quick stock of his remaining ammo. Somewhere around half a clip in each gun. “Just say when big guy,” the smiling soldier said. A flash of memory hit him from earlier. “Let's show these damn Spartan’s what it takes to get things done.”


----------



## TechPr1est

Logan felt the custom magnum grip mould to his hand a few moments after john tossed it to him. He slipped the spare clip into a pouch and ran to the door and took cover to the left of it. He slid the safety off and peered around the corner. A emerald green plasma bolt flew at his head and he ducked back around the corner but to slow. the super heated gas just skimmed his skin on the top of his head and incenerated his skin and hair. He screamed in pain and accidentaly squeezed off a couple of shots. His hand instinctly to the wound and he felt a flakey, hot and sticky (please pm me if you think this is not how plasma burn works, im just guessing what would happen) texture on his head. He was in agony, but the worst of the pain had faded a little enabling him to concentrate on the battle at hand. By now everyone was behind cover or shooting something and the covanent had come headlong into the room and hadnt noticed him next to the door. A hot surge of anger flowed through him and he leapt to his feet ignoring the pain and bringing the magnum to bear. two jackals with their backs to him he shot, one in the back and paralysed it and the other in the back of the leg. He grabbed the screaming jackal by the neck and threw it to the deck before slamming the magnum butt into the front of the neck it stopped screaming and started to gag and splutter and he proceeded to beat the living shit out of it, slamming the head on the bulkhead, wacking it with his magnum and punched it until it stopped moving. he tossed the limp head on the deck and stood up before a wave of vertigo hit him and he dropped to one knee.

Logan's vision started to dim and he realised he couldnt feel the pain anymore. He fell on his back and he blacked out.


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes leveled his magnum at the grunt crawling across the floor and pulled the trigger. Bright blue blood splattered across the floor, mingling with the other, similar pools. He looked around at the carnage caused by the team. The only word that he could think of to describe it was, well, impressive.

"Casualty report!" He barked, scanning the room. He saw Corporal Alexander on the floor, blood dribbling out of a serious looking plasma wound on the top of his head. "Dammit!" Cried Fawkes, looking at the squad member's prone form, next to him lay Lance Corporal Baker, a cluster of needles in his chest and a plasma burn on his upper arm. He was very still. Alexander's chest was still gently rising a falling. He was alive. 

Fawkes didn't hesitate, he ran to the First Aid kit on the wall, ripping open the door and taking out the medical supplies. He brought them back and began work, applying the various assortment of objects within the box to Alexander, as he had done dozens of times before. Alexander's eyes flickered and a faint groan could be heard. 

"Corporal Lancaster! Pick him up!" Fawkes ordered the ODST, gesturing at Alexander's prone form. He turned to face the remaining ODSTs. 

He was about to speak when a young woman came down the corridor, a magnum hanging loosely in her hand. She had long flowing blonde hair, pale skin and green eyes. She had a few minor scratches and burns, 
"Who are you?" Fawkes asked. "And can you help us out?" He waved her over. He didn't have time to worry about where the woman came from, any and every body available was needed now.

"Listen, I don't know how, but we're under attack. The Covies have got inside, we need to get to the bridge, make sure they don't get Alice, or Earth's location." Fawkes paused for a moment. "Maybe we should head to the armory though, get some better weapons and suit up." He glanced over to the squad. "What do you think we should do?"

OOC: 
Another sort of mini-update this time, I'm giving you some choices, either head to the bridge and hope to find some weapons on the way there, or head to the armory and get all the equipment first, leaving more time for the covenant to get to the bridge. Which route will you pick?

Josie: You're squad has been killed and you managed to escape with a magnum. You come round a corner to find the rest of the squad. Introduce yourself etc.
Techpr1est: You're just waking up, alive but not in great condition. You aren't an any condition to carry anything bigger than a magnum. 
Sangus Bane: You're supporting Techpr1est. Hold onto him and don't leave him for dead..
All: Choose which route you think we should take and put it into you're post


(Will add edits with more info, like Josie's character details etc. I would wait for all the info, but people have a few deadlines, so this gives them the necessary time.)


----------



## Sangus Bane

"I vote armoury." John said as he checked Cpl. Alexenders pulse, pupils and reaction. 
"If we need to bail ship we'll need our armours." He explained. "And if they've already reached the bridge, well, lets just say we shouldn"t storm it with some pistols." he finished.

Logan was going to be fine, he'd hurt for a while, but the wound didn't seem fatal. 

There were mixed reactions to his suggestion but he didn't care, it wasn't a debate, in the end Fawkes would make the call, he only had to convince him.

"Fawkes, sir," John began, helping Logan up. "If they reach the bridge we will need to follow Cole-protocol, and if that means destroying the ship we need to have armour for re-entry."
John could give his officer a dozen more reasons to go for the armoury but he also knew a dozen reasons to go for the bridge first...

Logan grunted something and John shifted to better support him.
"Sorry mate." he said when he realised his length had lifted Logan of the deck.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire kicked a dead grunt away out of frustration. She checked if everything was dead but then suddenly realised what Fawkes was saying.

John was the first to answer, he made sense but was wrong none the less. 
He sugested they went for the armoury first, a sound plan but it was a waste of time if the covies could capture the ship in the meantime.

"Bridge." she said curt and stern. "If they manage to get intell we lose this war. Think about what happens if they find Earth."

She had seen casualty rates of colonies attacked by the covenant, they varied from 40 to 100 percent...

If they found Earth...


----------



## Shattertheirsky

With a click, Payne's hand recovered from the effects of the EMP. Davis and Payne had been an effective team, Davis dropping multiple Covenant contacts whilst Payne had protected him from incoming fire with the shield.
'I'll be fine, we should regroup with Fawkes' Payne said to Davis. Davis nodded and returned down the hallway they had come from.
'Damn, he's good' Payne thought to himself, before throwing the Jackal and it's shield to the floor, stamping on it's neck for good measure. He walked back to where all of the ODST's were congregating. Payne regarded Baker with a slight sadness 'Could of been me' He sighed, before turning back towards all the other ODSTs. They had begun to peel off to the armoury or to the bridge respectively. The armoury, can't clear a bridge with a pistol, Payne thought. 'I should go there'. Payne set off at a sprint, only slowing to scoop up his discarded magnum, he knew a shortcut to the armoury anyway, before ducking down the small side-passage that he knew took him straight to the armoury.

(OOC, c+p'd the rest, will put it up in the next update)


----------



## Josie

They had passed through like a storm, leaving no witnesses. Private Jennifer McKnight lay dazed underneath the wreckage of what used to be the bulkhead. The Covvies had breached quickly, Jennifer was next to the door at the time, the initial explosion knocking her to the ground and covering her in wreckage. They had butchered the rest, one minute they had been having a meeting regarding the oncoming campaign and the next they were all dead. A strike team of elites with energy swords had come in like lightning, butchering her squad the 'deadshots' in a matter of seconds, leaving her for dead.

Jennifer struggled to her feet, picking up a magnum discarded by one of her dead team-mates. She was fine, bar a few scratches and bruises, she looked back at her team, all lying cold, stone dead. She shook her head, before proceeding down the hallway.

After what felt like hours of wandering around, meeting only light resistance in the form of grunts which she swiftly put down with clean headshots, she staggered into a hallway, to be met by several figures, all armed with magnums, bar one with an assault rifle. She staggered towards them. 'Private Jennifer McKnight 188th Sharpshooter Squad, identify yourself'. The reply came from the sergeant, 'I am Sergeant Fawkes, leader of Squad Phoenix, McKnight, are you hurt?'. 'Just a few scrapes and bruises sir' She replied. 'Good, come with us, we need all the men we can get' Fawkes answered.

Jennifer listened to Fawkse's offer of going to the armoury or to the bridge, she reasoned that even if she got to the armoury, she was only really trained at using a Sniper rifle, little use aboard the ship. With this reasoning, she set off the bridge, they would need everyone they could get.


----------



## G0arr

Joseph fired several more rounds before the fight ended. To his credit it looked like 7 or 8 kills total. Not bad he thought as things went silent. 
Thanks to Payne neither of them had taken a hit. Joseph smiled looking at the carnage around them. “That’ll teach em,” he said checking his magnum. _Last round,_ with practiced ease a fresh magazine slammed home.
_'I'll be fine, we should regroup with Fawkes,' _ Payne said. Joseph nodded, “Sounds good.” 
Turning back the young soldier was a little surprised at how far down the hall they had pushed. _Hell yeah,_ he thought, _We made a good team._

As the team regrouped Joseph felt a twinge of sadness. Two of the team had been hit, one would make it. _It’s war, _ he reminded himself, _there was nothing you could do._ As he listened to Fawkes still some doubt remained. Maybe if they hadn’t separated themselves so far… Joseph pushed the thought aside. 

Bridge or Armory. Joseph thought for a moment. “Well sir if someone can carry extra, have them carry my gear. I’ll run with Collins and McKnight for the bridge. We’ll give em hell till you arrive sir.”
As the team prepared to split Joseph knelt down beside Baker’s corpse. He pulled a pistol clip from the dead man’s pocket, and checked the magnum. _Didn’t even get a shot off,_ the soldier thought placing the clips in his pocket. 
After taking the clips Joseph turned. “Payne,” he said tossing the magnum he had grabbed earlier. With that he turned and left. 
_Finish the mission_, he told himself remembering that day. It was what the squad leader had told him as the small volunteer unit broke from cover, _and give them hell._


----------



## TechPr1est

Logan opened his eyes to find himself hoisted in the air by his shoulder. He grunted and looked to his right to see John holding him up and moving slowly forward. He pushed off john and landed on his feet. John said something he couldn’t hear properly. "I'm f-fine'' Logan mumbled. He took two steps before his knees folded and fell to the deck. John lifted him into a sitting position. "Listen mate. You’re not fine, You have a mild plasma burn to the head. Just don-" "Fuck off John I’m fine" Logan snapped back. As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted saying it. "Look, I’m sorry it’s just that I’m pissed off and want to shoot something ok?"
John stared into his eyes Logan looked at his feet. There was a distant bang in the ship. There was a dim ache in his head, he didn’t dare touch the wound. He pushed himself on to his knees but before he could stand John lifted him up on his feet. He felt slightly groggy but he was getting better.

He could walk on his own from then on though he stumbled a little sometimes. He fell over at a corner and once again john helped him up. "You know John; I got a couple of sweet Williams in my locker. If we live through this, we are going to share them whether you like it not". 
"I might just hold you to that, but let’s just focus on getting out of here alive first, ey mate?" replied john. “wh-where exactly are we going?” Logan asked hoping John would come up with some brilliant plan. “Well I was thinking that we head to the armoury.” John answered with a small smirk on his face. Any man might have thought john a nutcase with the Mohawk and the scar, but to Logan that had bad-ass written all over it. 

. . They stumbled around the corner to find an officer of some sort with a hole through his head and an unused magnum lying in his open hand. Logan bent down to pick it up and fell on the corpse. "oh fucken curse this fucken woun-" A plasma discharge finished his sentence as a green bolt smeared the wall where he was standing. Logan looked up to see a jackal looking around a door down the hall with a C like weapon in its hand/claw.


----------



## Angel Encarmine

Getting to his feet, it looked to Felix as if the firefight was over for now. Sensing movement out the corner of his eye, he spun, before dropping the aim of his plasma pistol as a young female ODST, Private Jennifer Mcknight he found out after hearing her brief exchange with SGT Fawkes, walked by. Limping slightly from the plasma wound to his left thigh, he moved back into the room, throwing a slight nod to Anthony while passing his hand over his wound indicating he was fine. Watching Anthony begin checking covenant bodies for signs of life, he chuckled and said _" no head taking Tony"_ receiving a slight grin back from his team mate.

_" I vote armory "_ The ODST john said, before the female ODST kicked a grunt and voted Bridge. Watching Payne disappear down the corridor, Felix raised an eyebrow at Anthony before stepping forward towards SGT Fawkes. Standing at attention he began to speak. _" Due to recent circumstances, my team's objective has become the armory. Any of your men that wish to accompany Anthony and I are welcome."_ he said simply, before turning and walking away. Ejecting the magazine from his magnum, which had 9 rounds in it, he tossed it to the ODST Claire. _" You are going to need those for the bridge"_ he said to her. _" Suicide is more like it"_ Anthony muttered to her as they walked out of the room heading for the armory, checking their plasma pistols on the way.


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes listened to the squad's choices and made his decision. He looked at them all, his eyes rested on the girl, McKnight, trying to place her. He'd seen her before, somewhere. Then it clicked, McKnight, Sharpshooter Squad, the Deadshots, she was the one from Hydra II, the one that Sergeant Holmes had talked to him about. She'd grown up on a ship and was a bloody good shot, that was all he knew.Then a sudden, horrible thought gripped him. If McKnight was here, that meant that the rest of the sharpshooters were probably dead. A cold feeling slid up the length of Fawkes' spine. _How many are dead?_, he thought. _How many are still breathing?_.

Snapping out of these horrible thoughts, Fawkes surveyed the squad. He looked over towards Logan. 
"You holding together OK?"
Logan answered with a nod. Fawkes didn't argue. The wound looked bad, but so did all plasma wounds. He'd had a variety of diagnostics on plasma wounds in his time, ranging from a man dying from a shot that the doctors had said was 'a minor burn', to medics shrugging with no consoling words other than 'it's a plasma wound, you're fucked.' and the man had been fine two days later. Fawkes had made the resolution to let the wounded man decide whether or not he was alright.

Logan was just reaching for a discarded magnum when a plasma pistol shot flew past him. Fawkes didn't hesitate, he spun around and unloaded four shots into the jackal, two to the chest, one to the head and then one more just in case. The jackal fell, purple blood drooling everywhere.

"Right, we've gotta move." Said Fawkes, acutely aware of the weakness of the position they were in. "Let's head to the armory first," He waved in the general direction of the mountains of dead jackals and grunts. "If this is anything to show for, we're gonna need more ammo."

He turned to Claire's retreating form. "Collins!" He shouted after her, using all the authority his years of being sergeant had given him. "Try and round up anyone you can, Helljumpers, Marines, Navy crew, anyone and get them to the bridge, we're gonna need as much as we can get. You can go with her Davis." 

He didn't wait for a response but turned to issue his next set of orders.

"McKnight! Alexander! I need you two," He waved the two troopers over. "to get youselves over to the bridge and keep a watch on it, Logan, you're the recon specialist and McKnight, if I remember correctly, you know you're way around a ship." 

Fawkes went over to the holo-table again, rummaging in the compartment again. He pulled out a small object. He quickly pocketed it. 
Then he walked over to the dead marines outside the door, relieving the bodies of their helmets. He began tearing at the inside of the helmet, ripping out small bundles of wires and tying them back together. In the end he produced three small objects.

"Localized headsets." He explained briefly. "Won't be much good for more than half a kilometer, but it'll do for now." 

He chucked one of the headsets to Logan and one to Collins, then pressed the other in his ear. He had no time to check how well they worked, but they'd probably be good enough. 

He looked at Alexander and McKnight.
"You two are going to check out the bridge, keep me updated on how things are going, but no heroics. Go in quiet, don't attract any attention. Wait till we show up."

"Both units, keep me updated."

He turned round to the remainder of the squad.
"The rest of you, with me. We're headed for the armory. Whatever the covies packing, these aren't gonna be enough to break through their lines. Let's get some guns and get back to the bridge."

Fawkes bent down over the dead marines again, picking up the remaining assault rifle and the two spare ammo clips. He threw the rifle and ammunition to Davis.

"Here, use this to keep their heads down." 

He waved forward his team
"Alright everyone, let's go." He turned to his team. "Payne, you take point, Lancaster, stay tight behind him. And Spartans," He turned to the two tall figures. "You guard the rear."

OOC:
Techpr1est + Josie: You guys have got to sneak through the ship, avoiding any covenant patrols and keep watch on the bridge. Both of you should agree on the route you're taking (Vents, underfloor paneling, secret passageways from the conservatory, etc.), I'll PM you with what you can see. Only Techpr1est has a headset, so he will be the one contacting the other teams.

Po-D and G0arr: You have to go around and rally up a fighting force to save the bridge. Remember, few will have weapons and even fewer with anything more powerful than a magnum. Get them together then head to the bridge, but don't engage with the enemy, just write up to where you see the enemy. Only Po-D has a headset, so she'll be the one contacting other teams.

The rest: Go through the various corridors and reach the armory, we will meet some resistance but don't overdo it, we can't fight through three elites with just magnums, there's only six of us. I'll tell you if you're overdoing it.

Spartans: You already have you're objective.


----------



## Sangus Bane

Armory.

Good, John thought as he checked his magnum for the sixth or seventh time. He was anxious, though he didn't know why. Pherhaps it had something to do with that Payne fellow... He seemed to be one hell of a soldier but a bit reckless. Throughout John's military carrier he had learned not to be reckless, eventually the hard way.

Payne had his weapon raised as he turned around corners, John was right behind him, always covering one side of the corridor or an alligned corridor whenever they came across an intersection.

Movement. John aimed for it in a fraction of a second, it was just a shadow, cast by a fire burning in an elevator shaft. He relaxed, the tension was clear on him as he saw Fawkes assess his movements.

"Contact!" Someone shouted. John saw it, at least 5 Jackals and double that amount of Grunts. The squad started firing, scoring plenty off kills in just a few seconds, though they now had alarmed the boarding forces. John checked his magnum before more covvies could show up, and suddenly realised it was the tenth time he checked.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

They had had to run, the sounds of gunfire had brought several elites to the fight, something Payne and Lancaster couldn't handle. Payne had run ahead, looking for his secret access. And he had found it

Payne poked his head out of the vent, ushering the running Lancaster to join him.

'What took you so long boss?? Never mind. What we have here is the magical shortcut to pixieland' Payne joked sardonically. Lancaster explained Fawkses speech to Payne briefly and explained that he had a short wave headset. It pleased Payne that the ODSTs were finally getting their act together.

'Right, so, this vent takes us straight to the corridor outside the armoury'. Lancaster nodded as Payne continued. 'Unfortunately, the Covvies have released a ton of buggers onto the ship, making it hard to navigate for fear of being shot in the ass.' Payne explained. 'So, my grand plan is that I'll crawl through, drop down, give the old knock on the vents to signal all clear, and you come through after me. However, in the meantime, you need to stay here and guard the entrance, especially from those drones. Don't worry, I'll only be gone for a minute or two. We'll be back in time for tea.'

Lancaster seemed to think about the plan for a while and nodded, fiddling with that datapad of his. Payne turned and started crawling into the shafts. He only had to crawl for a few seconds before he found the grille above the main corridor outside the armoury. To his horror, there was an elite down there, and by the looks of it, it was trying to cut open the armoury door with its energy sword.
'Bollocks' Payne whispered. He couldn't turn around to signal Lancaster due to the cramped confines of the shaft, nor could he shout, for fear of alerting the elite. 'Shit, why am I doing this?' He whispered again, gently unscrewing the screws holding the grille in place. He lifted it off and poked his head down, to his surprise the corridor was deserted save for the elite. The elite finished cutting, and proceeded to give the wall a boot, caving it in. With this distraction, Payne dropped down into the hallway, behind the elite, as it repowered it's energy sword, still unaware of his prescence.
'Oy Split-Jaws' Payne shouted as he stepped behind it, 'Early retirement for you', as he pushed the magnum into the base of its spine, loosing three shots, dropping it to its knees, and then unloading the rest of the clip into the back of its head, spraying Payne with gore. Above him, he could hear lots of magnum fire coming from the shaft. Lancaster!
'Lancaster, get down the shaft, its clear' Payne shouted, furiously smacking it, sending the signal. Hearing Lancaster moving down the vent reassured him, but he was still under attack by some unknown assailant. As he dropped down, Payne was shocked to see him covered in alien gore, by the looks of it, he had taken on a whole load of covvies.
'Nice one sir'
'You've made a mess Private' Lancaster said, gesturing to the elite.
'Only thing I'm good at' Payne replied

They stepped through the hole kindly provided by the elite. Lancaster disappeared off, on the headset, communicating with Fawkes. Payne went straight to the confiscated items, he wanted his knife back. Ripping off the locked door with his metal hand, Payne opened the draw marked Pvt Tristan Payne. Nothing but a packet of cigs and a magnum featuring his old squads insignia. 'Fuck that'. There was a small note, reading 'Covenant energy knife destroyed per orders of Sgt S Fawkes'. 'THE BASTARD' Payne angrily shouted, retrieving his items and tipping the locker over, grabbing a shotgun from the rack. 'After this, I've got a bone to pick with him.'


----------



## Angel Encarmine

_"Alright everyone, let's go."_ He turned to his team. "_Payne, you take point, Lancaster, stay tight behind him. And Spartans,"_ He turned to the two tall figures._ "You guard the rear."_

_" Negative sir, your orders are secondary to our main objective. Anthony and I will be taking point to the armory." _ Felix said to sgt Fawkes, priming his plasma pistol and shouldering past the other ODSTs with Anthony right behind him. Smirking at the group, Anthony took the right side of the corridor as Felix took the left, and they set off at a fast pace, expertly turning corners and clearing corridors. Turning a corner Anythony came face to face with an Elite followed by a few grunts and a jackal. Snarling he yelled " Split lip" before smashing his fist into the aliens gut, doubling it over and following his fist by a knee to the face, sending the monster reeling back. 

Covering his partner, Felix overcharged his plasma pistol, releasing the trigger and sending a ball of superheated plasma directly into the elites chest. As it's shield overloaded he began to take fire from the grunts and rolled back behind the corridor as the elite fell, the back of it's head a mess of brain and blood as the magnum round from Anthony took it in the face. Both standing in cover, the spartan headhunter team signaled to the ODSTs, confident they could take a few jackals and grunts.


----------



## son of azurman

"uuugh,what happened,"light came beaming into my eyes.as my eyes readjusted i suddenly felt a wave of pain rush through my senses,my muscles ached incredibly.upon looking around i saw why,the room was on fire and a desk pinned me to the ground.with a struggle i managed to crawl out from under it and drag myself towards the entrance.
"what happened here,"i whispered to myself as i gazed upon the entrance,something had blown the doors flying across the room."i guess thats probably why that desk got blown on top of me,"i thought to myself.

as i pushed myself to my feet i slowly limped to the opening,upon gazing out i saw the bodies of jackals and marines litter the floor.
"damn covies,how in reach's name did they get on board,"i thought furiously.
in my anger i limped quickly out of the room towards the junction,to my right i heard a roar of anger.All i could see was an elite major infantry class charge towards me,in my weakened stage i knew fighting was definatly not a good idea so i quickly dived out of the path of the elite just in time to see him run straight into the wall behind me.i quickly jamp up and ran down one of the corridors,i spent who knows how long turning round corners,sneaking past jackals and running down corridors till finally i heard something.

'Lancaster, get down the shaft, its clear' came a voice from around the next corner.
'You've made a mess Private' came a second voice.
'Only thing I'm good at" replied the first voice.

slowly and carefully i sneaked to the corner,as i stood up against the wall getting ready to see who was there i was stopped mid thought
'THE BASTARD'yelled the first voice.
before i could react a plasma shot flew past my head and hit the wall,damn covies.
i quickly spun around to see my attacker.


----------



## G0arr

Joseph nodded as the orders were passed out. He glanced over to Collins. _Well_, he thought, _at least she seemed like a decent partner_. 
Before they left Fawkes pulled a weapon form a fallen marine, and threw it. With practiced hands Joseph snatched up the weapon and clips. "Here, use this to keep their heads down." With a quick glance over the weapon he knew it still had nearly half a clip remaining. "Heads down," he said pulling the weapon in with a smile, "I'll knock’em off."
“You ready for this,” Joseph asked as they left the room. _Making contact with survivors after a covenant attack in known territory_, he thought for a moment, _second time this one has happened_. 

Claire ran through the corridors, Joseph right behind her, urging her to slow down so they could properly search the many side corridors and rooms.

"Collins," the other soldier called slowing at one of the rooms, "Hold up." Inside were the bodies of several techs. They had apparently tried to make some kind of stand, but it was ultimately futile. 
Collins didn't appeared to slow as she ran. She knew where they could best search for others: Cantina, Vehicle Bay and the cryo chambers, the places where they could expect the most hostiles? Yeah, same three places...

She felt her grip on the magnum tighten when she heard a voice. She couldn't make out what the voice was saying but one thing was sure; it was human.

She put a finger to her ear piece and stopped running.

"Fawkes, this is Collins. We've encountered humans, making contact now." she didn't wait for a responce and she and Joseph turned around the corner simultaniously, magnums raised.
"Who's there?!" Joseph called out.
"Don't shoot!" came the reply.

"Sergeant Sascha Marfield, Wolf squad." the woman said as she revealed her position. She had short blonde hair, nearly white and wore a bright grey marine tunic, ODST symbols on her shoulders.

"At ease, Collins." Joseph said to Claire. "Sergeant, we are under command of First Sergeant Fawkes, Phoenix squad, to assemble a fighting force to go for the bridge." Joseph explained

"Sir, we located a survivor; Sgt. Marfield, Wolf squad, sir." Claire said to her comm piece.

No reply came.
"Fawkes?" Claire asked through the earpiece. "Fawkes? Logan?"

She gave up after another try to hail the others.
"Are you armed?" Joseph asked Sgt. Marfield.
"Just a magnum, but I'm all out of rounds."

Claire took the magazine one of the lapdo... Spartans, had handed her and threw it at the sergeant.

"Have you seen anyone else around?" Claire asked while Marfield slammed the magazine in place.

"Engineers, two marines, thats it." Marfield told. "They're holed up one deck above us."

"Then thats where were going." Claire said, looking at Joseph. He gave her a nod and they started making they're way up.

After recovering the men the small group moved along the by ways of the ship toward their destination. In all they had managed to gather a solid squad of survivors by the time they arrived. Nearly a third of them were crew or techs. In a fight they might not add a lot, but then again they might just surprise the soldiers.

Only a short hallway remained to lead them to the bridge when the sounds of something else moving reached them. “Collins,” Joseph said quietly as he took cover in an open doorway, “Can you raise,” it took a second to remember the names as the others took cover, “McKnight or Alexander? Need to know what we’re about to step in, and if we got the boots to stomp it.”

OOC: Post is combined between me and Pimped-out Deamonette.


----------



## TechPr1est

Logan peered into his own eyes in the reflection of the giant combat knife he had stolen. He loved knives. He was thinking how lovely they were as he rammed it deep into the neck of a oblivious grunt. He dragged the body into the room and stowed it away behind the door. No blood in sight. Clean he thought. He looked back out the door and saw that the aliens had run off in another direction, oblivious to the death of the grunt who was also oblivious until it was too late to scream.
He hand signalled Jen it was clear. They walked in silence towards the bridge. McKnight oft checked data panels in the walls for updates on the battle. The covenants were deadly in space battles. He reflected on this as another distant boom in the ship echoed through the hallway. As they rounded a corner they saw some marines and deck staff standing outside a door way. Some of them were injured and carried magnums whiles others had battle rifles and assault rifles. One of them, an officer by the looks of it in his white naval uniform, turned his head in their direction. Tensing a little before relaxing. As he opened his mouth to say something before a blue plasma bolt struck the side of his head and blew straight through it. lols I did this in an apple store


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes spun around at the doors of the armory, emptying his last eight rounds into the pursuing covenant forces. Three grunts and two jackals fell to the fusillade. Plasma bolts flickered past his head, striking the walls. Fawkes saw two elite minors striding forwards. Fawkes spun to face the closed armory doors and pressed his hand on the scanner. He ducked as burning plasma splashed against the wall just above him. The light flickered green and Fawkes made sure that everyone was inside. Once he was sure, he dived through the doors and shutting them. Points on the door began to glow a dull orange as plasma bolts struck them, they didn't have long.

Fawkes looked around the room. On rows against the walls, there were all the weapons the UNSC had to offer. Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, DMRs, Shotguns, Snipers, Grenade Launchers, everything short of battle tanks and heavy anti-armour weapons, like the spartan laser and the rocket launcher. In a corner of the room, two men stood one looked about thirty, the other was noticably younger, they had one unifying feature, on the left pauldron of their marine armour bearing the insignia of a quartermaster and a junior quartermaster. The younger lad was holding a shotgun, pointed at the door. He lowered it when he saw the ODSTs. 

Fawkes gave him the briefest glance before he ripped a battle rifle and a pair of frag grenades from the racks of weapons. "Incoming!" He yelled. The doors broke apart under the intense heat and he tossed both grenades, one in each hand. The explosions stunned the two minors, depleting their shields, the squad opened up with the various weapons and slaughtered the two startled aliens. Fawkes reloaded his weapon, then went over to the rows of ODST uniforms in their lockers. He opened his own locker, pulling out his gear and dressing himself, the process took no more than three minutes, all his time in the ODSTs had taught him to get suited up as quick as possible in a combat situation. He clamped on his helmet and ordered the others do do the same. 

Looking round at the remaining squad, Fawkes saw Payne giving him a look of great anger, a worrying prospect considering Payne was packing a robotic hand and a shotgun. As Fawkes was jamming his 20cm, high carbon steel combat knife into it's sheath on the left side of his chest, it clicked, _The covie knife_ thought Fawkes and did his best to give Payne an apologetic gesture whilst wearing a helmet and loading a battle rifle. He also saw the spartans talking into headsets that certainly hadn't been on them before. The rest of the men were dutifully correcting and preparing their gear. 

Over his earpiece he received word from Collins. "Fawkes, this is Collins. We've encountered humans, making contact now."

"Acknowledged. Who have we got?"

There was some muffled talking over the comms, then a reply.
"Sir, we located a survivor; Sgt. Marfield, Wolf squad, sir."

"Good, the more ODSTs, the better, keep me posted."

"Fawkes?" Claire's voice asked. "Fawkes? Logan?"

Fawkes cursed, the connection was poor and Claire couldn't even hear him. He fiddled with the machine, finally creating a stable link. He spoke into the little machine.
"OK, Collins and Davis, message acknowledged, get whoever else you can and wait just out of sight of the bridge, we'll meet you there. Logan, you and Mcknight wait where you are, out of sight and keep me updated. Once we move in for the attack, join up with us."

He heard words of acknowledgment from the earpiece. _Thank god, they heard me!_ Fawkes thought in relief.

Remembering that the other two teams may not have access to weapons, he grasped an assault rifle off the wall, mag-locking it to his back, then he took one of the special ODST edition suppressed and scoped SMGs and attached it to his leg. He also grasped as many grenades as he could attach to his person as possible. Checking that each piece of equipment was in place, clean and ready for use, he turned to the others.

"Everyone, grab a couple of extra weapons to give to anyone else we may encounter, whatever you're able to carry." He ordered.
"Remember, we're in close confines, nobody take a grenade launcher or a sniper." he added.
He turned to the hulking spartans.

"You gonna be with us for this one, Spartans?" He asked, hoping he'd have the invaluable backup. When they gave their dissent, Fawkes sighed.

Just then, the young marine ran up, the shotgun hanging loosely in his hands. He made a shaky salute.
"If you need extra hands, I'm willing to give you mine, sir." The young man had a mild Irish accent and looked no older than seventeen or eighteen. He had short, messy black hair and thin features, plastered with a nervous, but determined expression. Fawkes looked at the youth, his visor was it's usual shiny, expressionless black, giving the boy no indication of the smile playing across Fawkes' lips. He liked the boy's nerve.

"It'll be dangerous. We're going for the bridge and I've got intel telling me that there's a small covenant army up there." Fawkes said warningly.

The boy paled slightly, but then looked defiantly up into Fawkes' visor and after a second of struggling, cocked his shotgun.

"I'm ready, sir." He said, his expression daring Fawkes to contest his claim. Fawkes put a lot of effort into not laughing.

"Alright then son, you're in, what's you're name?"

The youth looked blank for a second, then his face split with a wide grin.
"Marlane, sir, Junior Quartermaster Norman Marlane."

"Ok, Marlane, get you're helmet on and take some extra weapons." The young man nodded eagerly and took an SMG from the wall, sliding it onto his leg, where it mag-locked, he also attached an assault rifle to his back. 

Once he was satisfied that everyone was prepared. Fawkes led the squad out, putting Payne and Marlane ahead of him, their shotguns needed to be up front. Sherman and Lancaster bringing up the rear. The group went down several corridors, systematically eliminating the few groups of covenant they encountered. All throughout the ship they could hear screams and gunfire. The crew were putting up a decent fight. Fawkes grinned under his helmet, _That's right you covie bastards,_ he thought, _we're not giving up our lives without a fight._

They were approaching the bridge, using the route next to the very edge of the ship, directly to their left was just hard vacuum. Fawkes heard a hissing noise and turned to see the wall next to them began glowing orange, then white under an extreme heat. Realizing what was happening, Fawkes shoved Marlane into a room on his left, a maintenance storeroom to be precise, and locked the door. There was a brief hiss as the door vacuum-sealed itself. He heard a crash and a confused yell from inside. Fawkes didn't have time to explain.

"Brace for hard vacuum!" He shouted, a second before the wall burst open, displaying cold space beyond. Fawkes braced himself for the sudden depressurization, the pull was strong, but ODSTs were trained for this sort of thing. Fawkes waited until the depressurization had stopped before leveling his battle rifle at the hole in the door. An eerie silence filled the area, broken only by the beeping inside Fawkes' helmet, warning him of his depressurized state. For a few seconds, nothing happened, Fawkes began to think that perhaps it had been an a stray bombardment or an enemy fighter, then three lithe, slivery forms slipped into the room. A faint glow emanated from behind their backs and ankles, signifying the odd jet-packs that the elites utilized. Fawkes recognized them as three ranger class elites by their armour. The aliens looked round the room, spotting the ODSTs and began opening up with their plasma repeaters. Fawkes pressed his back against the wall, aimed his rifle and the squad retaliated.

OOC:

Josie & Techpr1est: You watch the last parts of the marine defense of the door be destroyed and the covenant begin preparing to enter, when some inquisitive Jackal scouts begin moving towards you're position! Take them down silently so as not to alert anyone else.

G0arr & P-o D: Continue on you're backup finding objective. I'll PM you with what you find upstairs. Once you've found the rest of the nearby people, wait just before the bridge. 

Sangus, Shattertheirsky & Son of Azurman: You've entered the armory, got you're weapons and additional weapons for the others (remembering that we're in a reasonably close confines battlefield) and are heading to the bridge when you're attacked by 3 elite rangers. Respond with a hearty ODST welcome. Remember we are in a zero gravity environment, be careful what you do.

Santaire & Angel Encarmine: I've PMd your orders.


----------



## Sangus Bane

"Hey babe," John said as he spread his arms for a hug. "Missed me?" 
He pressed himself against the opened locker which contained his armor in a semi-theatrical way and lay his head againts the black scorpion painted on the chest of his armor. 
He quickly took the armor from its locker and started to put it on, piece by piece. It took exactly 26 minutes and two seconds, from the boots to the helmet. Lastly he secured the computer on his lower arm. 
When Fawkes made contact with Collins he took the liberty to patch himself in through the computer, hacking into the comms system.
He couldn't make up what they were saying, but one thing came through very clearly: Marfield, Wolf squad...

Sascha Marfield, he knew her well, very well... From his time with ONI.
What is an Angel of Death doing here?, he thought to himself as he checked the sights of his newly secured weapon, a battle rifle.

He shook the thoughts away and focused. Fawkes was already giving orders. He heard his order and took up position immediately, securing the rear as the team made its way through the corridors.

Suddenly a wall started to glow. Shit! John suddenly realised there was nothing but..., well nothing, on the other side.

He braced himself for the vacuum and simultaneously aimed his weapon for the increasingly intense glow.


----------



## son of azurman

the attackers were two elite minors,as i ran around the corner to avoid there shots.in front of me i saw sergeant Fawkes preparing to close him and the others inside the armoury.suddenly i leapt through the closing doors just in time,the cold floor met me on the other side as my face came down first.i pulled myself to my feet and grabbed an smg along with a battle rifle and some ammo right before the doors blew and a pair of elites got gunned down by the rest of the team.quickly i pulled on my armour,a dark blue odst armour with a silver back to signify my old squad.upon suiting up i strapped the battle rifle to my back and lined my belt with grenades and held the smg in my hand ready to take on some covie bastards.as Fawkes spoke to the squad about extra weapons and asked the spartans about there loyalties i looked at a young marine approach the sergeant.

"If you need extra hands, I'm willing to give you mine, sir." The young man had a mild Irish accent and looked no older than seventeen or eighteen. He had short, messy black hair and thin features, plastered with a nervous, but determined expression. 

this was no fighter but a kindergartener but Fawkes's reply was even more surprising.

"Alright then son, you're in, what's you're name?"

"Marlane,sir,junior quartermaster Norman Marlane,"smiled the boy

"Ok, Marlane, get you're helmet on and take some extra weapons." The young boy nodded eagerly and took an SMG from the wall, sliding it onto his leg, where it mag-locked, he also attached an assault rifle to his back. 

i was about to protest but they were already walking out the door.as i brought up the rear heard something up ahead,a door close and before i knew it the wall was gone,the vacuum started and three elite rangers were opening fire.jumping to my right i aimed my smg to take out these sons of guns.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

'The Bastard' Payne thought as Fawkes jammed his own knife into it's holster. Fawkes had obviously seen him looking as he made an odd gesture, something Payne translated as 'Yeah, what are you gonna do about it', making him grit his teeth in anger. Payne shook his head, forcing himself to concentrate on the task at hand. Fawkes was going on about weaponry, 'No grenade launchers', Duh. Fawkes then turned to the Spartans, asking if they were coming with us. Payne smiled to himself when they shook their heads. 'Good, hopefully they run into a passing hunter pack' He thought, chuckling to himself, finishing pulling on his armour as he did so. Some little Irish scroat was begging to come with the ODSTs, that'll end well. Payne shook his head when Fawkes agreed, amazed that he was allowing a junior quartermaster to come with them. Seeing Fawkes grabbing weaponry, Payne grabbed a sniper rifle and a few extra magazines and maglocked them to his back for that girl, McKnight.

'Right squad, we're moving out, Payne, Marlane, take point'. Great, put me with the little shit in front, probably so you can shoot me in the back. The squad moved out, fighting their way through the corridors, eliminating several small pockets of Covvie resistance. They reached a long corridor, hard vacuum to the left and a bulkhead to the front. Great, how the fuck are we going to get through that? Payne's self question was answered as the door started glowing. Fuck! Covenant energy cutters. Payne heard a scuffle behind him, 'probably the little shit running' Payne growled to himself, cocking the shotgun as the Covvies kicked in the hole, opening the corridor to the vacuum of space.

4hrs 29mins breathing time left: The display on his visor chimed. Thankfully Payne had extra air capacity, testament to his swamp fighting days. The covvies flooded through the hole. 3 Rangers. Shit. Payne took a shot, managing to hit one in the arm, its shields absorbing the blast. Instead of doing the logical thing when fighting elites and stepping back whilst firing, Payne stepped forward, cocking his shotgun, firing another round at the same elite. He began to trudge forward, every step an effort against the vacuum. This shot missed, he cocked again, firing at the rapidly approaching elite, hitting it in the chest, destabilising its shields. Payne and the elite closed on each other, both firing as they did, Payne got two more shots off at the elite before it was upon him.

I've got a shotgun, in close quarters, this elite doesn't stand a chance, was the thought running through Payne's head as the elite jumped at him. Payne fired, every shot hitting the elite. 'It's down' Payne thought, smirking. But instead of falling to the ground, the elite dived, blood leaking from the multiple wounds in it's chest, smacking Payne with it's left hand and sending him spiralling out towards the hull breach.

'Shit,shit,shit,shit,shit!' Payne shouted, as he floated towards the breach, unable to slow or stop himself, he started to float through the breach and into the open vacuum beyound. 'SHIT!' Payne shouted again as he went through, grabbing a piece of loose girder stopping himself, his shotgun handing uselessly in his left hand. 'FUCK, SOMEONE GIVE ME A HAND!'


----------



## TechPr1est

Logan couldnt bear the screams. 
They were in a store room containing equipment for cleaning the bridge. Mops, window cleaner, antibacterial sprays, vacuums and many other chemicals that made him wheezy just from sniffing them. He was sitting against the wall next to the door. The door was a few inches from closing, enough of a gap to look through. He put aside the stolen covenant plasma rifle and peered through. 
Down the hall were corpses around the bridge door that had been blasted apart from two plasma grenades. One of the last defenders was still alive. IS still alive, he thought. Just because he was wounded and had three jackals picking at his flesh with their beaks-things for entertainment (Or food, he couldnt tell) didnt mean that he was considered to be in past tense. "Jen, how the fuck is fawkes going to get us out of this?", Logan said to the shadow by the corner. The elites had poured through the bridge doors and were slaughtering the bridge crew. Their screams echoed through the hall. "honestly?" Jen whispered. Logan looked at her and nodded. "I have no idea. Lets just sit tight and...and..", Jen didn't get to finish her sentence because a jackal decided to stick it's ugly head through the door and squawk loudly. 
Logan smashed the plasma rifle over it's head and drew his combat knife as he he stood up. The jackal fell forwards and forced open the door a few feet. Logan saw the other two walking towards the door. He stabbed the jackal, that was on the floor, in the top of the head and pulled out his magnum. "NO!" Jen cried. "that will alarm the other covenant in the bridge!". Fuck, she had a point. The jackals stalked slowly towards the room. They knew. They knew the humans were trapped and couldn't risk firing their weapons. Jen pulled the plasma pistol from the dead jackal's grip, pressed something and the pistol hummed to life. Logan couldn't figure out how to turn on the plasma rifle and so used it as a club.
"Bullets, make noise." Jen said with a grin" but plasma fire, doesn't"
she pushed Logan out of the way and rasied the plasma pistol at the Aliens. The Kigyar squawked in anger and surprise, as she pulled the trigger button


----------



## Santaire

"You gonna be with us for this one, Spartans?" Fawkes asked, his tone hopeful

“Negative sergeant,” I said, shaking my head. “We have received new orders from our CO. You will be going without us for the moment.”

I saw Fawkes’ shoulders sag as I spoke and once I was finished he sighed. I picked up an SMG and slid it into the holster at my hip. I locked eyes with Felix and racked the slide of the pistol. “Let’s do it,” he said. I nodded and passed two fingers over my face in the age old Spartan Smile. We moved swiftly and quietly, moving through the ship clearing corridors as we went. I came round a corner and encountered a pitched gun battle between seven marines and a covenant team of one low ranking Elite and a small group of grunts.

The Elite saw me and, roaring to the grunts to keep the marines pinned, charged me. I was already drawing my combat knife as he reached two metres away. I pulled it from the sheath just before he launched himself in a flying tackle, energy knife held forward. I slid it past my shoulder with the blade of my own combat knife and the Elite crashed into me, forcing me into the line of sight of the marines and slamming me against a wall. I kicked it, hard, right between the legs. With a strangled cry it doubled up and staggered back. Then it pulled itself upright by a station and roared at me.

“You want some more?” I shouted.

It roared in answer. So I charged. I ducked a stab and drove my shoulder into its midsection, driving it up and over my body to crash to the deck. Without pause I raised my knife and fell backwards. My elbow crashed into its solar plexus and its head rose as the air whooshed out of its lungs. My knife slid between all four mandibles and plunged deep into its brain. It stopped roaring. Felix had already helped the marines finish off the grunts and I moved to him and spoke quietly. “We have to keep moving, let’s go.”

Then, just as I was turning the corner a young man called after me. “Sir, can’t you stay to help us?” The tone was so pleading and the face so desperate that I, pitiless son of a bitch that I was, paused. I was searching for who he reminded me of and then it hit me. The young corporal was the spitting image of Will, dead since K7-49. Then I was there again, my mind lost in the eddies of time.

_I turn, see the cruiser looming above the battlefield where the last of our brothers and sisters still fight on, trying to escape the death. Tiny flashes of light, blue light, signify their deaths. “They deserve a true funeral pyre,” I say, voice cracking with emotion to Felix. He just stares dumbly as the people we grew up with, our family die. That’s all it is, little flashes of light and another life ends. I suppose everything would look small if you were far enough away. I stare at the bio-readings list in my HUD and watch as light after light flicks from green to red. That’s all it is, a flash, and a change of colour to signify the deaths of the people I loved more than those of my own flesh and blood.

I remove my helmet. I am crying, can feel the tears streaking down my cheeks. Felix turns to me. He is crying too. Inside me there was something soft and fragile, something precious that I had kept for all the years. It shattered into a thousand fragments. The tears dry up and are replaced by a burning rage, a determination to destroy the Covenant. I look out over the devastation we had caused. That Alpha Company had caused. And I know that I can not rest until every Covenant world looks like this one does now. A wasteland._

“Anthony, come on man wake up,” Felix was muttering beside me, his hand gripping my arm. I shook my head to banish the last memories from my mind and turned back to the marine who had asked the question. “No corporal. We already have our orders. Sergeant Fawkes and most of Squad Fenix are on their way to retake the bridge. I recommend you join them.”

The young marine snapped a salute and turned, marshalling the marines.

Together I and Felix rounded the corner, weapons held out ready. We came to the service lift shaft and we stepped into the lift. I heard a covenant Elite grunting and looked at Felix. Reading my mind, he grinned...

The lift halted and before the doors even opened a barrage of plasma fire tore through the metal, tearing through the metal with ease. There was some excited chattering from some grunts; squawks form some jackals and the barked orders of an Elite. There was a hiss as an energy sword was activated and a low hum as plasma pistols were charged. They moved into the lift to find it empty.

The Elite cocked his head to one side, seemingly puzzled. Then the chattering of automatic weapons fire erupted as me and Felix opened fire, the armour piercing rounds of our weapons tearing through the metal roof of the lift. The Elite screamed as its shields were peppered with rounds. Then the shields popped and the rounds cut it down. The jackals fell next. I dropped down into the lift and my SMG and pistol were already rising. With barely a pause I gunned down two of the grunts and Felix, dropping down to join me killed the other three.

Then we moved out.

When we reached the hangar it was clear with a small team of marines and naval personnel pushing Covenant corpses around to clear lines of fire and create barricades.

I stood staring out into the blackness of space and was the first to see the incoming Pelican. “Felix,” I called. He looked up. “It’s here, open the bay doors.” He nodded and gave orders to a naval rating that ran and opened the doors to let the Pelican in. It came and settled down on the deck. First off the Pelican was a squad of ten marines, the sergeant of which snapped a crisp salute to me and Felix. “Your gear is onboard Spartans,” he said before turning to marshal his marines. “Tango squad, double time it,” he shouted. Felix looked at me and I cocked my head. For a Spartan, particularly one as withdrawn as me the gesture spoke volumes. “Tango squad?” he said quietly, eyebrows raised. I shrugged.

We stepped into the Pelican’s hold and saw our equipment. We stepped up in unison and began slipping on the armour. It felt good to be once more clad in my SPI plate. I tested the systems before picking up my custom Battle Rifle and Sniper Rifle and dropping the borrowed SMG and Magnum for my own personal SMG. I turned to Felix, both of us armoured and armed. With a nod we placed our helmets over our heads. Ready to wage war, we dropped from the back of the Pelican, and strode out of the hangar...


----------



## Angel Encarmine

Stalking into the armory, Felix immediately went to the rack of shotguns. Pulling one down he loaded it quickly before racking the slide and smirking slightly. Letting the shotgun hang on its strap, he grabbed an smg, loaded it and strapped it to his thigh, making sure to grab extra shells and mags for both weapons. Turning to another locker, he reached in and pulled out a long combat knife, obviously not standard issue, and strapped it across his left arm for easy access. 

_"You gonna be with us for this one, Spartans?"_ Fawkes asked, his tone hopeful. Turning his head, Felix watched the other ODSTs as he heard tony answer. _“Negative sergeant,”_ he said, shaking his head. _“We have received new orders from our CO. You will be going without us for the moment.”_ Seeing the sergeants shoulders sag and hearing him sigh, Felix thought about telling him and the other they would haul ass to back them up, but then he remembered the welcome they had received and decided against it. _"fuck em" _he thought, sliding a mag into his pistol.

locking eyes with Anthony, Felix racked the slide of his pistol. _"Let's do it"_ seeing him pass his fingers over his face in a smile, they left the armory Felix up front with his shotgun leading the way. Rounding a corner, the pair ran into a firefight between seven marines and an elite. Seeing the Elite charge anthony, Felix threw a nod at him and moved to assist the marines. Striding through the firefight shotgun blazing, Felix killed 5 grunts before having to reload. Instead of reloading his shotgun, he simply threw it around on it's strap behind his back and drew his smg. Several short controlled bursts later, the entire group of grunts was dead. 

Loading his shotgun, felix walked over to Anthony and kicked the elite he had killed in the side of the head. _“We have to keep moving, let’s go.”_ Anthony said quietly, before they turned and began to move out._ “Sir, can’t you stay to help us?”_ one of the marines called out to them. Felix looked at anthony, and then raised an eyebrow as he realized he saw the look on his face. Blank faced, it looked as if Anthony was looking through the marine that had spoken, and Felix quickly realized what was going on. 

_“Anthony, come on man wake up,”_ he said to him quietly, grabbing his arm and giving him a quick shake. After shaking his head, Anthony came back and spoke. _“No corporal. We already have our orders. Sergeant Fawkes and most of Squad Fenix are on their way to retake the bridge. I recommend you join them.”_ Watching the marines move out, the pair of spartans stepped into a service elevator. Hearing a covenant elite grunt, Anthony looked at him and Felix began grinning at the thought of what they were about to do. 

The lift halted and before the doors even opened a barrage of plasma fire tore through the metal, tearing through the metal with ease. There was some excited chattering from some grunts; squawks form some jackals and the barked orders of an Elite. There was a hiss as an energy sword was activated and a low hum as plasma pistols were charged. They moved into the lift to find it empty Cocking it's head, the elite stepped inside with it's group, obviously confused as to why there were no dead screaming humans. The loud report of machinegun fire was the last thing they heard as Felix and Anthony opened fire, killing the entire group in seconds. Dropping in after Anthony, together they slaughtered the rest of the group before stepping out of the lift.

_" I love this job" _ Felix muttered as they moved down the corridor, reaching the hangar without incident. As they arrived, there was a group of men clearing bodies and setting up barricades. Felix quickly stepped forward to help a man hefting the dead weight of an Elite, together throwing it in the corner. Before he could speak to the man, he heard Anthony call out his name and tell him the Pelican was inbound. _"Get those doors open"_ he yelled out to a naval rating, who quickly followed the order.

Stepping forward as the pelican landed, he smirked at the sergeant that saluted at them as the squad of ten marines disembarked._ "Your gear is onboard Spartans,”_ he said before turning to marshal his marines. _“Tango squad, double time it,”_ he shouted. looking at Anthony, Felix saw him cock his head. For a Spartan, particularly one as withdrawn as him the gesture spoke volumes. _“Tango squad?”_ felix said quietly, eyebrows raised. Anthony shrugged and they stepped onto the pelican.

With every piece of armor that he put on, Felix began to feel better, until finally he was fully armored, save helm. Looking down, he saw his old MA5B assault rifle and grinned from ear to ear. The weapon was older and as such was slightly less accurate over longer ranges than the newer version, but nothing beats a sixty round magazine. Picking it up, he slammed a mag home, the weapon screen lighting up with 60. Stowing his rifle on his back, he picked up his SMG and strapped it to his right thigh. Looking at the combat knife he had picked up, he decided to hold on to it as it was slightly longer than the standard knife they had brought for him.

Nodding to Anthony, they both placed their helmets on and dropped out the back of the pelican, ready to kill.. _"Comms check''_ he muttered into his mic, awaiting Anthony's reply.


----------



## G0arr

After Marfield had told them there were more survivors on the deck above them it was clear where they were going. 
The trio moved through the corridors in unison. They found human bodies along the route, but checking for lifesigns was needless as most of them had plasma burns all over.

"Staircase is just through there." Marfield said. Joseph and Claire nodded. Joseph peered around the corner but immediately snapped back. He shook his head but turned his head around the corner again.

_Oh hell_, Joseph thought as he glanced around the corner. “Alright,” he whispered turning back to the others, “It looks like there’s only three or four elites and another handful of the jackles. They have the men pinned down in one of the side rooms. Couldn’t tell you their disposition, but the fact these covies are out here I can say they’re still fighting.” Joseph glanced at the other two. “I have a plan,” Joseph continued as he tossed a clip to Marfield. “We go in fast and hard. Should be able to take out one or two of the big guys before they draw down on us.” _And_, he thought, _if the others take advantage of the confusion maybe they can thin the rest out_. “Best I got on short notice.” 

“Are they about to move,” Collins asked. 
“I didn’t see,” Joseph replied.
“If they are then their attention will be firmly away from us.”
Joseph nodded his head. “Good thinking.”

There was a loud voice that began to bark out. Joseph stood with the rifle pulled in tight. _Controlled bursts_, he reminded himself. A quick glance around the corner told him Collins was right. One of the elites was speaking to the others in some language he didn’t understand. As the others moved to assault the room it reached down and pulled a small sphere from its belt. Joseph’s eyes widened. “Grenade,” he said glancing over to Collins, “Don’t miss.”
Without another word Joseph broke from cover. There wasn’t much cover once in the hall. The young ODST’s eyes were still locked on the elite as it prepared to press the arming stud.
The grenade was surrounded by a blue glow when Joseph fired. 
Shields immediately flashed as the bullets struck. The elite turned and reacted by swinging the explosive toward a new target. 
With a flash as the shields failed and a click as Joseph finished the clip. 
He dove for cover as magnum shots rang out. There was a grunt, and confused roar as the grenade fell.
As Joseph slammed his new clip into place the plasma grenade thunked to the deck at the elite’s feet. The blue light was almost blinding as it exploded sending the Covenant forces into sudden disarray.
_Good shot,_ Joseph thought turning toward the remaining targets, _I think I owe someone a drink_.

Marfield shot two jackals, each dead after their skulls were shattered. Claire was impressed at both Marfield and Joseph. She lay aim for the one elite who had survived the explosion, putting three rounds in its weakened shield, breaking it with a bright flash.
The elite staggered, looking up and releasing a furious roar, it dropped it's plasma rifle and activated its plasma sword.

Faster than anyone had anticipated, the elite lunged for Joseph, who only barely managed to get out of harms way.
Laying on his back Joseph fired his assault rifle, releasing half the magazine into the Elite's stomach.

Claire shot the jaw off of the thing, and it dropped to its knees. Joseph got up and stomped the thing in the side of the head.
The elite dropped dead and the way to the staircase was clear.

"You ok?" Claire asked Joseph. He gave her a thumbs up, breathing hard.
"Lets continue." Marfield said, taking a plasma rifle from the deck.
Joseph and Claire looked at eachother, a 'what-the-hell-didn't-she-see-what-just-happed' on their faces. They followed her none the less.
“Who’s there,” a voice called out.
Marfield halted. “Sascha Marfield,” was her reply.
“Sergeant? Thank god.” A man moved from cover, “Stand down men.”

The trio found corpses at the top of the stairs. The jackals had charged ahead as the elites apparently had ordered. The sudden attack had thrown the attack into disarray. When they faltered the small group of humans had countered. In total it looked like about half a dozen of the things where scattered around. 

Of the humans there was one body in the hall, apparently struck several times by the jackals’ weapons. Another was propped up against a door nearby staring at a small plasma burn from a near miss on his leg. There were a dozen of them remaining according to a quick count, 4 of which were just crewmen.

One of the men stepped forward. He carried a SMG in one hand the other snapped a quick salute. Joseph quickly returned the gesture. 
“Corporal David White,” he said lowering his hand, “Wolf Squad.”
“Private Joseph Davis, Phoenix.”
“I see you found our Sergeant.”
“Yes sir,” Joseph said glancing toward Sascha. She was already taking charge of the survivors.
“We havn't been able to reach anyone for a while now, not reliably anyway. Where are you headed,” White asked.
“They’re headed to the bridge,” Marfield cut in before anyone else could repply, “And so are we. Let’s get everyone ready to move.” With that the ‘squad’ began the trek through the ship’s byways toward the bridge.

Only a short hallway remained before the bridge when the sounds of something else moving alerted the soldiers. “Collins,” Joseph said quietly as he took cover in an open doorway, “Can you raise,” it took a second to remember the names as the others took cover, “McKnight or Alexander? Need to know what we’re about to step in, and if we got the boots to stomp it.”


----------



## Josie

Its head exploded like a watermelon, the plasma bolt burning the Jackal's skull clean through, showering McKnight in gore. 'Ewwwww, that's gross!' She whined, shaking the bits of jackal off her. 'Whadda I tell you! Was quiet enough right?!' She giggled at the surprised looking Logan. 'Anyway, we need to be moving, sooner or later something bigger than us is gonna wander by and find old brainy here' She kicked the lifeless jackal to gesture. 'Hmmmmm, a frigate class ship should have a ton of vents and shafts that we can use, unless you're too chicken' She smirked. 'Ah ha, here we go' She pointed to a vent cover, before giving it a massive kick, sending it flying inwards. 'If this ship is anything like the one I grew up on, this should take us right near the entrance to the bridge. I'll go first.'

The vent was pretty tight but bearable, and it reassured Jennifer that it was dark enough that the cowardly grunts wouldn't dare to venture into it. Every so often she would stop to get her bearings, much to the annoyance of Logan who kept bumping into her, cursing and swearing whenever he did so, even so, she couldn't resist annoying him . 'I would appreciate it if you WEREN'T staring at my ass the whole time you're back there and focus on not burying your head into it everytime we stop!'

They stopped at one of the corridors outside of the bridge, hearing a multitude of footsteps and alien shouts and commands. McKnight pushed herself onto her back and out into a small maintenance room, helping Logan out of the shaft afterwards.
'Fawkes, this is McKnight, we're outside the bridge but there's a ton of Covvie activity outside' She heard gunfire, assault rifles. 'Update, I don't think its fallen yet, there seems to be some form of defence going on, please advise on our next course of action.....'


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes released several bursts from his battle rifle, depleting the ranger's shields. He then fired at the creature's head. The shot missed the head itself, but shattered the visor. The ranger's eye became visible and it dilated as the air was sucked from his suit's confines, killing him instantly. Fawkes noticed Payne floating gently out of the tear in the ship's hull. Fawkes jumped up, grabbing the rim of the hull and stretched out, grabbing one of Payne's flailing legs. He dragged him back inside and threw him to the floor, as gently as he could. Payne slid up against the wall and Fawkes maneuvered him self back into the ship.

"Right, we're clear." He said over the comm. He looked at his life support systems. They read that the squad, not including Payne with his special breathing gear, had about 10 minutes and 25 seconds until they ran out of air. He relayed this information to the others, then began looking around the area they were in, searching for an escape route. They couldn't break through any of the doors, because then they'd be unsealed. This would mean they'd still be in a vacuum, just in a different part of the ship, they could end up killing a load of people if they weren't careful.

Fawkes was about to ask the others for their opinion when the door into which Fawkes had shoved the Marlane buckled, as if hit by extraordinary force. Fawkes leveled his gun at the door, unsure of what he was going to see. After three similar hits, the door was torn from it's hinges. It flew past the ODSTs into the endless vacuum of space behind them. A huge, figure stepped through and Fawkes lowered his weapon as he saw the bulky form of a Cyclops maintenance walker force it's way through. 

Through the glass of the machine's cockpit he saw Marlane grinning wildly. The lights on the speakers lit up and Marlane's mouth move, but no sound was emitted. Fawkes cursed as he remembered that sound couldn't travel through a vaccum. He tapped his ear and shrugged. Marlane's face fell, then he looked excited, breathed on the glass and began writing hurriedly on the steam. Fawkes struggled to decipher the hurriedly written words.

I CAN
GET
YOU
TO
ACCESS
POINT
NEAR
BRIDGE

Fawkes nodded to show he understood. He looked over at Payne, Sherman and Lancaster, though he couldn't see their expressions under their helmets, Payne and Sherman had already shown their doubts in the boy.
"It's the quickest way out of here that doesn't involve killing most of the ship's contents." He reasoned. Then the squad clambered onto various points on the bulky Cyclops chassis. The big machine strode out of the hole in the wall, magnetized it's feet to the side of the ship and began to walk. The walk took about three minutes, the Cyclops huge steps covering ground much faster than any of the ODSTs could have done in zero gravity.

Eventually they reached a large door, slightly bigger the cyclops itself. Marlane said something into a speaker on the Cylcops and a light on the left of the door flashed green. The door slid open and two grunts were sucked into the vacuum. _They never saw it coming._ Fawkes thought inside his head as he noted the look of surprise on one of the grunt's faces as it floated past him. The group walked into the room and the door shut behind them. There was a loud hiss as air was pumped into the room.

"Depressurisation complete." Said Alice's calm voice. At the other end of the room was a much smaller, man sized door which Fawkes approached. It slid open and Fawkes entered the corridor, waving the others to follow. He turned to Marlane who was jogging up to him. 
"Wait here, you need to tell any others that come this way to go to the bridge and make sure it's secure."

The young lad looked disappointed but nodded in understanding. Fawkes gripped his shoulder, thanked him and proceeded down the corridor to a door at the end. It opened to see some familiar faces. Davis and Collins were there, along with Sascha Marfield and a group of humans, all wearing non-combat gear. 

Fawkes flicked his visor's black opacity off, revealing his grinning face to the others. 
"God, it's good to see you guys." He said fervently. 

He noticed the lack of effective weaponry and ordered the others to start handing out guns. He pressed his suppressed SMG into Collins' hands after checking the scope and ammo counter.

"48 rounds per clip, 4 clips." He said, pressing the additional ammo into her hands. "Don't spend it all at once."

Then he chucked an assault rifle clip to Davis. Another followed a few seconds after.

His radio crackled into life and he heard Mcknight's voice.
"Fawkes, this is McKnight, we're outside the bridge but there's a ton of Covvie activity outside. Update, I don't think its fallen yet, there seems to be some form of defence going on, please advise on our next course of action....."

"Acknowledged, hang on, we'll be there shortly." Fawkes cautioned her. The now larger group set off towards the bridge. They advanced through the ship until they reached the doors to the bridge.

From a door to their left, Mcknight and Alexander appeared. Fawkes greeted them, handing his assault rifle to Alexander. 

"Good to see you two safe and sound." He said warmly. Hearing the assault rifle fire from within the room dying down steadily, Fawkes realized they were on a strict time limit. He turned to the rest of the group.

"Alright, this is it. We've gotta clear this bridge, the Covies want Alice and, more specifically, Earth's location. We're not gonna let that happen. Move in and tear them apart." 

He pointed to Marfield and six of the soldiers he'd found with her. 

"You guys wait here and push back anything that want's to break through. Nothing comes in this room, understand?"

"You got it, Samuel." Marfield said, with a reassuring smile.

Fawkes was slightly taken aback by the use of his forename, no one had called him that in a long time. He shook off the surprise almost instantly, turning to the door and pressing his hand against the scanner. 

"Welcome, First Sergeant Fawkes." Said Alice's pleasant and calm voice as the door slid open to the raging battle behind. Inside were less than half a dozen navy crew, most down to their magnums, trying desperately to hold of the storm of covenant forces.

"Right boys and girls! Bring 'em down!" yelled Fawkes, heading into the firestorm, battle rifle blazing.


OOC:

Spartans: I've PMed your orders.

Everyone else: Pretty simple update. Describe the events that precede the assault and then the assault itself. no more than 4 kills per person, only one kill per person can be an elite.


----------



## Sangus Bane

The moment John saw Marfield he was on edge, sharper than ever and even a bit nervous. She had recognised him by his armour for sure, the modifications he had made were unique after all.
She hadn't paid him any attention, ignored him. This was a relief but it was far from comforting. He was used to her temper, yet here she seemed joyous and friendly, even while in this situation. 
It didn't matter, she would guard the rear, while he would be up front, proving to Fawkes he was up to any task. 
He handed the weapons he had gathered over to the others, the marines and ODST's taking them gladly and preparing the weapons with dedication. When everyone was sufficiently armed and been supplied with spare ammo there was only one thing left to do...
When they actually attacked the bridge he entered a form of tunnelvision, only focusing on threads and hostiles. He heard Claire ask him something and he heard himself reply, though he would not recall either the question or his answer for the duration of the battle. This happened sometimes when he was in a state of deep concentration.
His vision focused on a grunt which dropped its Needler, a kamikaze? Yes, it reached for a set of grenades. A burst from John's Battle Rifle killed the little creature, one round in the neck, one in its face and one straight through its cranium. Its hands never even reached the grenades. A Jackal was charging its plasma pistol, the green sphere at the weapon's mound was large already when John spotted it. A burrst from his BR hit the thing in the arm, it released the green sphere in a shriek of pain. The green projectile, luckily, amazingly, miraculously, hit a Elite in the back, automatically depleting the Elite's energy shields. John aimed for the roaring alien and two bursts in the chest killed it.
A sharp pain in his left shoulder made him drop to his knees. The tunnelvision abruptly disappeared as he lost his focus. 
A quick look at his shoulder revealed to him he was hit by a needle weapon, three large shards partly buried in his shoulder guard. They just managed to puncture his skin and once again he was more than happy he had constructed the large silver shoulder guard.
The Jackal that carried the Needle Rifle didn't carry a shield, a simple and vulnerable target. John managed to aim his weapon and release a burst, killing the Jackal.
The got worse as one of the shards shattered. John yanked the other two out and they shattered in his hands.


----------



## Josie

They sat in the storeroom, both sitting on upturned boxes, munching away on some rations they had found. 'Thank god I had already been to the armoury before this all happened, else I would have lost this baby' McKnight said, tapping her commando helmet fitted with a ton of targeters to indicate. Logan didn't seem to care, too busy wolfing down potato stew. They were both covered in blood, both human and covenant, though whilst Jen was wearing her armour, Logan still had his ships overalls on, now soaked through with blood and patches of potato where Logan had spilt the goopy mixture, much to the amusement of McKnight. 

'Stupid covenant, can't they bloody leave us al-' Logan started, but was shushed by McKnight, who had heard footsteps. 'That sound like covvies to you?' Jen asked, Logan shaking his head in reply. 'Let's move then'. After fumbling with the lock to the room, and a hefty kick from Logan, the pair finally managed to open the door, Jen playfully jumping out yelling 'Surprise!', much to the amusement of Logan, not so to that of Payne, who looked like he could shoot the pair. 

'Good to see you two safe and sound' Fawkes said as the pair approached him, before turning to talk to some women Jen had never seen before. McKnight fell into the squad, next to Payne, who she grinned at after her earlier antics. He was not impressed, but reached onto his back for a sniper rifle, thrusting it into her hands. 'Not sure what the fuck you're gonna do with that on here, but you might as well have it' He said in a gruff manner. Jen opened the breach and loaded a magazine in, closing the breach again with a thud. 'You got it Samuel' The women said, Jen chuckled inwardly to herself at the veteran sergeant being disrespected by this woman. 

They ran as a unit to the bridge, only stopping whilst Alice opened the door. Jen checked her rifle one last time before the doors slid open. 'Right boys and girls, bring 'em down!' Fawkes shouted. Jen instantly sighted an elite across the bridge from her, and she brought the rifle up, breathing slower and slower whilst she lined up the shot. *99.9% hit rate* Displayed the targeter on her visor. She pulled the trigger, blowing the elite's torso into a pile of smush, before turning and smashing a charging grunt in the face with the butt of the rifle, only to realise it was a kamikaze grunt. She dived backwards, pushing off the floor to put as much distance between her and the grunt, the blast still made her go flying back, thudding into a wall, but she managed to stagger to her feet moments later.


----------



## G0arr

Joseph looked down the hall and waited as Collins tried to reach the others. The seconds seemed to crawl past. He glanced back toward Claire. “Anything,” he whispered. As the words left his lips there was a slight hiss, and the door opposite of him began to open. _FUCK_, Joseph thought as he quickly spun. His weapon was up aiming at chest level as his heart began to thump in his chest. What stood in the doorway was thankfully friendly.

“Shit,” Joseph said under his breath as First Sergeant Fawkes moved in.
"God, it's good to see you guys." The Sergeant said as his face became visible behind the armored visor.
“Good to see you too. Scared the hell outa me,” Joseph said lowering his weapon. “Sir,” he quickly added as some kind of afterthought.

Fawkes glanced over the small band of men in the hallway. “Alright let’s get these people armed,” he snapped to the others. Weapons and ammo quickly began to change hands. In the middle of it all a clip flew toward Joseph, quickly followed by a second. Both quickly found a place on the soldier’s person. He smiled; two fresh clips brought his total up to 3 waiting and a half still ready, a total of 114 rounds. 

“Alright,” Joseph said with a quick glance around, “One last detail.” He moved to one of the nearby marines. “Hat and vest,” it was more of a demand than a request. The marine looked puzzled for a moment. “Did I stutter? Hat and vest!” The marine opened his mouth and prepared to protest. “You have cover and backup out here marine. Unless you want to charge that room then I would suggest you drop armor and give it!”

Joseph moved to Collins before the door opened. He pushed the armored vest into her hands. “Suit up,” he said placing the armored hat on his head, “Don’t need to go into this one without something.”

When the doors opened the squad charged in. Davis crouched low, trying to present less of a target. A quick burst of fire from his weapon came as he moved. Cover was a small mounted table. Joseph ducked down behind it and took a breath before spinning toward the action. The only visible parts of the ODST were an armored head, rifle, and a shoulder. 
A quick series of short bursts got the attention of a nearby jackal. The little thing fired. Joseph ducked as several small plasma blasts impacted the table. With the shield raised it wasn’t going to be an easy fight.
Joseph gathered his wits. A quick glance brought the thing back into view. Almost to the table. _Hell_, he thought checking his rifle, _let’s do something crazy_.

The jackal stepped around the table expecting its target. From behind the energy shield it howled finding nothing but a falling rifle. Nearby there was a thump across the table. The little thing spent the rest of its life tracing where the demon had gone. The last thing to go through its mind was a single .50 caliber SAP-HE round.

Joseph rolled off the table and onto the splattered skull. The thing had been so focused on killing its target that it hadn’t guess the trooper would dive down the table for a single shot. It was a gamble, but it paid off this time. Grime covered one hand and both knees from the recovery as Joseph snatched his rifle back up and glanced over the table. A new magazine slammed into the breach. There were still plenty of targets left. 

A second of aiming and a quick burst of fire sent a grunt into oblivion. Its blood sprayed a nearby wall. 
Another burst crippled a nearby jackal. It howled as several shells tore into its leg throwing it to the ground. 
Several more short bursts were fired into the Covenant forces. Most of the fire meant to assist the others from cover. 

Joseph ducked back down and hammered another clip into place. 2 left, he reminded himself. Another plasma blast impacted the table. _Hold together_, he thought firing again. Another grunt slammed into the deck bleeding from several bullet holes. 

From the far end of the room there was a shout. Joseph glanced over. Several of the elites were charging a group of bridge crew. The table buckled behind him. 
“Damnit!” Joseph shouted as he sprang to his feet. It was almost a strait line between him and the charging elites. It wasn’t a great plan, not even a good plan. In truth he expected to hear about it later. With a loud battlecry the young unarmored ODST sprinted across the contested ground. 

The first elite collapsed under the weight of the defender’s fire, but another moved on its heels. This one managed to get a foothold on the rough barricade. It sprayed shots form its plasma rifle down to the defenders. With a triumphant roar it aimed toward a uniformed navy man barking orders.

Joseph slammed shoulder first into the elite’s waist. Pain faired through his arm as the pair tumbled onto the deck. The ODST recovered quickly. After being trained to freefall from a ship to a planet’s surface, burst from the drop pod, and be expected to engage targets immediately a diving tackle to the deck was almost simple. The elite had only managed to push itself off the deck when the assault rifle fired less than an inch from its skin. At that range the energy shield wasn’t even affected by the rounds. 

Blood splattered against Joseph’s arm as he released the trigger and swung the weapon back to the barricade. The other covenant forces were being pushed back for the moment. As he moved up to the crewmen the pain in his shoulder dulled slightly. There was going to be at least a bruise.
“Who the hell are you,” someone asked between firing.
“ODST Phoenix squad,” Joseph said checking his rifle’s counter, “here to lend a hand.” The man said something else, but it was lost amongst other voices and a burst from Joseph’s weapon.


----------



## Sangus Bane

(OOC: I'm posting for Po-D this week.)

Claire was surprised to see Joseph in such a way. He suddenly burst with authority and made demands from a soldier.
She didn't think the young ODST could be like that. Then again, they had only met moments ago, though much had happened in the meantime.
Joseph pushed an armoured vest into her hands, standard UNSC marine issue.
She thanked him and made sure the vest was strapped around her body before she took the last ammo from Payne and Fawkes.

She looked around the gathered men and women. When she saw John looking, almost staring, at Marfield she raised an eyebrow, but she didn't say a word.

One breath later they were in possition to assault the bridge. She double checked all her ammo pouches, making sure they were stuffed with ammo.

The doors opened and it began. Before she had even spotted a target to take down some off her squad mates were opening fire, and with effect. In a few seconds multiple covvies were injured, maimed or simply dead.

There it was, a target, a Jackal carrying a needler behind it's yellow shield. 
She fired two short bursts with her SMG, forcing the creature to focus on her. When it did it moved one of its feet slighltly beyond the protected area of its shield, foolish creature...

A third burst from her SMG crippled the Jackal, its anckle destroyed by a few well placed bullets. The thing stumbled and she was able to finish it quickly.

A green bolt hit her in the stomach and she screamed in pain. The vest Joseph gave her was burned and thing trails of blue smoke were trailing of around the edges of the impact. She was enraged by then and gunned down two grunts without a single thought.

The pain disappeared, there was too much going on for her to notice it any longer. John pulled her into cover.
''Don't expose yourself just yet.'' He shouted over the noise of gunfire. He counted down with his fingers.
3...
2...
1...

They simultaniously got up from their cover, which turned out to be stacked boxes of office goods, and they focused their fire on a elite, taking out its shield but the thing dived away before they could kill it.

A shot from the other side of the room finished the ugly bastard off.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

'Surprise!' Something shouted as it burst out of a side cupboard.
*SHIT* Payne thought, bringing his shotgun to bear. Turns out it was only McKnight playing a stupid practical joke, one that could of gotten her killed. Payne grumbled at her then thrust the Sniper rifle from his back into her hands.
'Not sure what the fuck you're gonna do with that on here, but you might as well have it' He said, before turning away and following the rest of the squad as they moved out.

As they approached the bridge, the sounds of gunfire from within seemed to be dying down. Payne checked his ammo, cocking the shotgun to check if he had enough rounds. 9 in total, Payne smirked, *Plenty of lead to drop the covvies*.

The fighting on the bridge was brutal. As soon as the doors open they were set upon by hordes of covenant. Payne dropped a grunt within a few seconds of entering with a shotgun blast to the face, then dropped low to shoot another one, hitting it square in the chest, sending it flying. Payne ignored the fighting going on all around him, focusing on any opposition to him only, dropping a few more grunts and even a few jackals. An elite with it's back turned made for easy pickings, and a blast to the back dropped it's shields, another to the head sent it's head splattering everywhere.


----------



## HOGGLORD

A battle rifle burst sent the grunt's head traveling in three separate directions, blue blood splattering his ODST plate. A gleaming blue plasma bolt struck him in the shoulder. He twisted away in response to the impact, ripping out his magnum as he did so. He fired at the elite who had attacked him, the creature's shields flashing with each shot. Emptying the clip, he overloaded the defense mechanism and ripped out his stainless steel combat knife, shoving the 30cm blade into the roof of the elite's mouth. Purple blood washed down on his hand as he kicked the corpse away. 

Looking around, he saw that only a few terrified grunts remained, all were being systematically executed by the marines. He watched as the bodies were dragged out of the room, before turning to the reunited squad. Around the room stood the various squad members, along with the other humans. Most of the ODSTs were dead, just the members of Phoenix remained inside the bridge. About half of the marines remained standing, though several sported injuries of varying degrees of seriousness. 

He looked over at the few remaining navy crew, the detail was a sorry sight. Surrounded by three aides, cowered Captain Norwich, his uniform was bedraggled and his face, disheveled. He looked ashamed and terrified.

"What happened to him?" Fawkes asked one of the Navy crew. The man in question looked down at his Captain in disgust.

"Stupid bastard panicked and pissed himself. He started talking about activating the Cole protocol, so we all followed the procedure, then he just collapsed in the middle of it, crying like a little girl."

Fawkes was shocked, had they not got to the bridge when they did, Norwich would have handed Earth over to the covenant on a silver platter. He sighed heavily and turned to the rest of his squad. He located all the various members. Payne was standing next to a dead elite, his shotgun held loosely in his hands. Lancaster was standing with Collins, Davis and Sherman. Alexander was standing by the door. 

Two of the navy crew hefted Norwich to his feet, taking him towards the door. It opened before they got there and Fawkes saw a telltale blurry shape directly behind Logan. He shouted a warning as an energy blade punched through Logan's back. An elite materialized, the ghostly, angular armour of a spec-ops elite becoming apparent. He pulled his blade out of Logan's body and stepped forwards. As he did so, Logan, lying prone on the floor, slowly raised his head, pulling out his own combat knife. He jammed the blade into the elite's heel and it roared in agony and surprise. Logan then drew a grenade, tearing free the pin with his teeth and clutched himself to the elite's leg. The explosion sent both the ODST and the alien flying, both dead.

Before anyone could say anything, another five spec-ops elites materialized in the doorway, plasma rifles raised. They gunned down the two navy crew and their dishonored captain within a few short seconds. These elites were shortly followed by an even less welcome sight, the deep crimson armour of an elite Zealot was visible behind the Spec-ops' backs, snarling orders to them.

"Get down!" Roared Fawkes diving behind a pile of dead grunts. Plasma burned their clustered bodies. He turned and fired round the makeshift barricade, gaining little more than a spark on the Spec-ops' shields, in return he received a hail of plasma, causing him to duck back down behind the grunts.

"Damnit." He muttered to himself. "We need backup."

OOC: Sorry it's so late everyone, but here it is. 

ODSTs: You clear the bridge, only to find that the captain is a coward and that Spec-Ops elites have infiltrated the base. Even as a group we can't fight them off entirely. Get down into cover and hold them back as well as you can. I'm going to allow a maximum of 3 Spec ops kills for all of you. You can agree who gets the kills via PM if you wish,

Mannfred: You joined up with Sergeant Marfield shortly after the others went in to attack the bridge and you were knocked out by a plasma grenade blast that killed almost all of the ODSTs. The others were either unconscious or killed by the elites.

Spartans: Orders are PMed as usual.


----------



## Sangus Bane

"Logan, no!" John shouted as Logan's body fell to the floor. Shouting wasn't going to do anything, John knew this, yet he didn't act in any other way. 
Logan however, proved to be a tough bastard as he jammed a blade into the elite who had stabbed him. After that there was a blur, caused by an explosion, Logan had sacrificed himself to kill the elite, a warrior's death.

John was pushed backwards by the explosion, which probably saved his life as he was now close enough to the dead covies to be able to pick up a dead grunt and use it as a meat shield just before a salvo of plasma would strike him in the chest.
John dropped to a knee, making sure the the grunt corpse would cover more of his body. When the salvos stopped John dropped what was left of the grunt and rolled to cover, a control panel made from glass... 'Nice going, John...' he thought to himself as he realised the glass would offer no protection, what so ever.
Two elites aimed for him and he was sure this was it, yet he was stubborn enough, or confident enough, whichever you fancy, to think there was a way out.
Then the squad opened fire, en masse, and they forced the elites to switch targets.
'Dear salvation.' John whispered as he picked up his battle rifle from the floor and added himself to the firing squad.


----------



## Mannfred

Hooper grunted as comforting blackness gave way and we regained consciousness. His vision was blurred and all he could hear was a high pitched ringing, but he was alive. What the hell had happened to this place, it was wrecked, and broken bodies of his former squad mates scattered the floor. Hooper picked himself off the ground painfully, and immediately regretted it as his hearing was restored: there was a battle raging on very close by, and it sounded like some covenant were trying to outflank.. Hooper forgot about all his pains and dived under the nearest pile of bleeding corpses, taking a large breath in and holding it.

In his position he couldn't see what was approaching, but it didn't sound human. Hooper's heart was pounding in his chest as the covenant.. zealot? approached, with their trademark low growlings and slight snufflings. The zealot paused and listened, Hooper gritted his teeth and lay rigidly still. After what seemed like hours, the zealot grunted to itself, and trudged off slowly.

Hooper waited a moment, then moved his foot an inch. He hadn't been killed yet, so he slowly extricated himself from the human remains, brushing himself off absently.

Well they would certainly be needing help in what sounded like a very one sided firefight, he thought, and set off along the long corridors of the complex. Peeking around a corner, his eyes widened, indeed this was a one sided situation, but on the plus an officer was here, at least they would know something.. it looked like he was too pinned down from splinter fire to actually be able to command a group cohesively.

Swinging around the corner, Hooper raised his DMR with practiced ease and took a couple of shots at the zealots surrounding the ODST's, whilst not having enough time to actually work through any shields, his shots had the intended effect and the cowards quickly hopped back to save themselves. As the withering fire lessened for a moment, Hooper sprinted forwards, slamming a little violently into the cover the officer was behind.

*Corporal Hooper Sir! How can I help, besides the obvious?* he shouted above the ever increasing din, swinging up again to break another zealot's shields, if only he had enough time to get that last shot in..


----------



## Angel Encarmine

Stalking from the engine room, Felix fist kneaded the grip of his MA5B assault rifle. The mission to the engine room had been a milk run, the marines there having the situation under control and needing no assistance. They had encountered no resistance in their quick jog there, and Felix was edgy, knowing that the covenant still patrolled the halls of the ship. Before he could suggest they move to the bridge, his speakers spilled out a message._" Too many of them..... Bridge falling... Need Rein-"_ Turning to Anthony, they both broke into a swift run, sprinting full speed for the bridge.

Arriving at the entrance to the bridge without incident, they came across several dead ODSTs, and one that was alive but looked to be soon executed by an Elite Zealot. Not slowing in his sprint, Felix drew his combat knife from his shoulder holster and crashed into the Elite, stabbing it frantically in the side before they tumbled to the floor. Wrestling with the creature, Felix opened a channel to Anthony _" I got this, move into the bridge" _ he said, before slamming his elbow down several times on the zealots throat.

Gasping for air, the Aliens mandibles opened in a last attempt to bite the Spartan, but Felix' knife was there, sinking into it's eye. Standing slowly, he wiped his knife on the elites corpse, before shouldering his rifle and joining the battle on the bridge. Seeing Anthony take the right side, Felix took cover on the left, and together the pair laid down a hellish amount of fire into the elites. Watching a zealot step out of cover to throw a grenade as a spec ops elite next to him laid down cover fire, Felix fired his rifle on full auto at the zealot, the rounds punching through its shield and making it drop the grenade. The explosion killed both the zealot and spec ops elite, sending pieces of them scattering along the side of the bridge. 

Before the group of elites recovered, Felix rolled from cover next to a battered looking ODST, John was his name, who was in cover behind a glass panel firing a battle rifle. _" Time to move "_ he yelled through his helmet speakers at the ODST, as the man rolled into better cover as plasma fire splashed around them. Firing back on full auto, he slowly moved into better cover, continuing to fire at the elites to keep their heads down.


----------



## G0arr

Seeing the Captain in his state made Joseph a little angry. _How did such a weakling get in command?_ He asked himself. He could remember basic. Those damn drill instructors yelling constantly. The first time he had been in combat had been an adrenaline fueled blur. He might have hesitated the first time he saw a marine fall, but he never stopped.

The reminiscing quickly ended as Joseph forced himself back to the present. There would be time for that later. 
There was a quiet clink as the assault rifle was sat against a console. Joseph glanced at his left shoulder, and pulled up the sleeve. There was destined to be a bruise by the end of the day. “Oh yeah,” he whispered, “That was smart wasn’t it?” Flexing his arm still reminded him with a dull pain. He turned to the others with a small smile. “So,” Joseph said looking at them, “did anyone remember to grab my gear?”

There would be no reply. In its place there was a roar from across the room. 
Joseph turned to see the grenade explode. 
The two shattered corpses fell to the deck.
More of the elites appeared.
“Get down!” Fawkes shouted over the sudden insanity.
Joseph reacted. One hand lashed out for his rifle. The burst of adrenaline made the pain only a distant memory. 

Cover was a narrow console with several burn marks already across it.
Weapons began to fire as both sides engaged in full. Joseph looked from behind his cover. The elites were pressing the squad. The last of his clip was quickly spent as he tried to assist where he could.

As Joseph took cover to reload someone ran into the room. The newcomer slammed into cover close to Fawkes. 
As he spoke Joseph snapped the new clip into place. _One left,_ he reminded himself. 
Joseph didn’t even hear the soldier’s rifle fire. He spun and took aim. 
The rifle recoiled in as it fired. The elite staggered as the bullets passed where shields should have been. It was a surprise, and a very welcome one.
Joseph quickly pulled back behind the console once again. “How the hell,” he said as the alien slammed into the deck, and a pool of fresh blood began to form beneath the new corpse.


----------



## Santaire

We reached the bridge without further violence after helping the ODST’s at the engine room mop up the last survivors of a covenant attack. It had been simple really, no need to send us. The marines were almost done by the time we got there. Then we’d gotten the distress call.

Now outside the bridge me and Felix found several dead marines and Navy personnel and one live one, about to be killed by an elite. Without slowing Felix crashed into the Zealot, brutally tackling it to the floor and plunging his knife into it again and again. "I got this, move into the bridge," he said over a private com link before slamming an elbow into the Elite’s throat. I moved to the door to the bridge and waited for Felix. We stood in cover next to the door, me on the right and him on the left and on the count of three opened the door, stepping in and opening fire.

I dropped an Elite with two bursts from my rifle and moved in to fire at another.

A Zealot slammed into me at chest height and his plasma rifle went flying, as did my gun. We tumbled madly. I got a foot braced on his chest and when my back hit the floor I thrust it upwards, driving him up and over me to fly a few feet to stop as his face smashed into the floor. I rolled to a crouch, snatching up my BR55 as I did so. I fired twice, hitting the Zealot in the face but while the rounds slowed him, they failed to pierce his shield.

He came at me roaring and I tossed aside the rifle, rising to meet his charge.

I saw the Energy Sword flare to life in his hand as he brought it round so that it was aimed straight at my heart like a lance.

I sidestepped the lunge, grabbed his wrist and wrenched it round to face me. I snapped a knee into his arm, shattering the bone and he screamed in pain. I wrapped my hand around the Energy Sword’s hilt and thrust a leg sideways, snapping his ribs and throwing him back. I was left holding the energy sword but it failed, requiring the Elite’s gene-print to operate. I hurled the useless hilt at him and it struck him in the head, knocking him over. Then he charged me.

Again I sidestepped and again he could not react in time. I slammed my fist into his head, knocking him flat and causing him to skid for a few metres. He roared at me as he climbed to his feet and I charged.

I punched him in the stomach, the chest, kneed him between the legs then grabbed his throat and lifted him off the floor. I drew my dagger from my chest sheath and rammed the blade past his thrashing mandibles to pierce the lining of his throat and erupt from the back of his head coated in purple blood. I ripped the knife free. It was only then that I realised I was still invisible. I had fought the Zealot without reapearing save for a couple of flashes where I fired my weapon. The Elite must have been using some special visor that allowed him to see me.

I rolled to dodge fire from a carbine and ran towards the shooter. Then I saw a grenade being hurled by a Spec-Ops Elite who appeared to be a grenadier, carrying belts full of plasma grenades and charges. I grabbed the barrel of the carbine and punched its user in the face, knocking him back. I had always been good at cricket, at batting in particular.

Gripping the carbine’s barrel with both hands I swung it around and delivered a perfect hit. The plasma grenade stuck to the carbine and so as I brought it around I let go, sending it flying towards the grenadier. I turned and dived over a console, squeezing into cover behind it as the grenade went off...


----------



## Shattertheirsky

'Well well well, if it isn't Captain Pugwash' Payne chuckled to himself seeing the shell-shocked captain. Served him right for being a nob. Its people like him that get the good men killed. He noticed a blurry spot and he rubbed his eyes, assuming it was just age catching up with him. It didn't go away. The thought clicked. 'Oh Shi-'

Logan went down, a sword to he back. Payne dived forwards, behind a overturned table ,then peeked around the side. Logan was breathing, thank god. The elite had just finished off the captain. Payne readied himself to charge, but hesitated when he saw Logan unsheath the knife. Suddenly he stabbed the elites ankle, causing it to scream in pain, he then grabbed a grenade from the bandolier and pulled the pin. 'NO!' Payne shouted, diving behind cover, the blast still sending him sprawling. He shakily got to his feet, grabbing his shotgun. He stood up behind the cover, aiming down the twin shotgun sights at the approaching spec ops elites, 'YOU BASTARDS!'

He started firing wildly at the approaching elites, but at the range he was at the rounds were only slightly depleting their armour. He screamed in rage when the heard the dry click of the empty chamber. Damn it, he was out. 'Come on, I'll beat your filthy, slack-jawed heads in with my bare fists if I have to', lobbing his shotgun as he said so, clonking an elite satisfyingly on the side of the head with it.


----------



## Josie

McKnight had been standing by the door when the ODST had pulled the pin. She'd heard the unmistakable *Click* of the pin, and had dived for cover, too little too late, being catapulted across the room and sliding across the floor, slowing to a stop next to Collins, who dragged her into cover. McKnight sat up slowly, dazed by the explosion. 'Wha-what just happened?' She said weakly, before quickly coming to her senses. There was an explosion of gunfire, and she peeked over the top to see the crazy private, Payne, blasting away with his shotgun. *He's a nutter* She thought, the smirked at the ridiculousness of it as he threw his shotgun at an elite, whacking it's temple.

As though it was in slo-motion, the elite turned towards Payne, firing up it's energy sword as it advanced menacingly. Payne looked up for it and was still shouting ridiculous cusses and insults at the elite. 'Collins, that elite is gonna tear him to bits!'. Collins nodded then hopped the barricade, spraying her assault rifle, pecking at it's shields. As she did this Jennifer rested the sniper rifle on the barricade, lining up the elite. Collins advanced until she was only literally a few feet from it before its shields finally gave, diving out the way as she did so. McKnight squeezed the trigger, sending the round through the elite's skull and throwing it off it's feet. She hopped the barricade, sliding beside Payne and pulling him down into cover. He looked at her, laughing. 'Thats what I call serious girl-power'


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes raised his rifle at one of the elites, the scope focusing in on the creature's eye. He'd just watched it's shields collapse and knew the shot would burst the alien's brains like a balloon. He pulled the trigger. There was a _'click'_ as the gun registered empty. Fawkes swore and looked up at the elite, it's shields recharging. No one was focused on this one, everyone else was stuck against the others. Suddenly the doors flew open and a shape, blurred with the evident signs of active camo, smashed into the elite. Fawkes frowned, looking at the blur as it grappled with the elite. It's camo was broken or something, the outline of the invisible thing was pretty clear, it had to be a very small elite too. Then suddenly it fired a battle rifle, camo flickering off. It wasn't an elite, it was a human, green plate and golden visor. A Spartan. 

"They turn invisible now?" Fawkes muttered in surprise. He'd heard of the SPI suits, they'd been tested out by ODSTs in the past, but they'd never been produced and given out. Evidently the armour, like many other of the more advanced UNSC technologies, had be diverted into the curious sinkhole of resources that made up the Spartan Program. 

Fawkes rose as the last of the elites were executed and walked over to Alexander's shattered form. He crouched by him and looked at the ruined armour. 
"Went down swinging, like all helljumpers should." He said, allowing a thin smile to twist his lips. 

He snapped out of his distraction, rose and turned to the now visible spartans, intent on thanking them for their help. He was about to speak when everything went dark. A plasma grenade whined as it flew past Fawkes and he dived to the side. The flash of light blinding him and making him stagger back. He looked desperately around, his night vision system flickering on in order to see in the pitched black room. He saw the blurred shape of a cloaked elite, he raised his magnum and fired at it. Before a single bullet struck, however, a translucent, tiled orb appeared around the alien, absorbing all the firepower that the squad's combined shooting could achieve. The elite was bent over the central control panel, working carefully.

Suddenly Alice's avatar burst into life on the main holo table. She looked panicked. She was on her knees, reaching out to the ODSTs and Spartans. 
"Help!" She cried, eyes wide in terror. "They're hacking my database, they're trying to take me!" 

Fawkes swore and readied his pistol, aiming at the orb. The elite within turned, his crimson Zealot's armor glinting in the strange glow of the bubble-like shield. He twisted out his palms, two glowing grenades in his hands. He hurled them towards the group as the shield burst out of existance and the crashed next to the humans, detonating before anyone could do anything. The flash of light was intense, overloading Fawkes' night vision completely, but there was no damage done to him. _A flash bang!_ he thought in surprise. The covenant never usually edited their tactics or technology, what was going on?

As visibility returned to him he saw the elite dissappearing through the door. The Spartans tore after him. They moved fast, too fast for the ODSTs to be able to keep up. The door slammed shut and Fawkes ran up to it, trying in vain to activate the control panel. The door would not budge. He sighed, then an idea came to him. He fumbled around in his pouch for something, the tossed it to Payne.

"You know how to use it, don't you?" He asked, then jerked his thumb at the closed door. "Get that open for us, would you?" 

Payne obliged, cutting through the metal frame, it took maybe a bit less than a minute, but to Fawkes, it seemed like days. Finally, the door fell away with a crash. 

Fawkes jogged through the door and saw the bodies. He looked at the shattered corpses that made up the remains of Marfield's defense. 

Fawkes darted over to Marfield, checking her pulse. He held on desperately, praying for a pulse. Eventually, he felt the tiniest flutter. 

"Lancaster! Sherman! You two get over here and get her to the medical bay!" He called, turning to look at the ODSTs. Lancaster ran over immediately, but Sherman was already hauling another ODST.

"He's wounded sir!" He called.

Fawkes nodded. He turned to help pick up Marfield, careful not to touch the horrible plasma burns that covered half her body. Half her face was it's normal, strong, strangely appealing self, the other half was scarred and burned. 

"Collins, help Sherman with him." Fawkes ordered. "The rest of you, cover us to the med bay."

He paused, realising the potential danger of the situation. They were going in dark. 
"Hooper!" He snapped and the ODST appeared. "I need you to run ahead and give us a heads up on any covies between you and the med bay."

The ODST nodded his recon armoured head and darted off. The rest of the group began to advance more slowly, protecting the two injured troopers. Fawkes thought about Alice's terrified features and what would happen if the covenant found earth. He shuddered and prayed silently that the spartans caught up with them.

OOC: 
Since we've already had this update you guys all probably know what you're doing anyway, any questions and I'll post up you're orders again.


----------



## Sangus Bane

I nodded as I received my orders, Fawkes met my gaze and continued to issue orders, I didn’t wait to get started.

I picked up Marfield from the floor and she grunted in pain.
‘’The pack never leaves you, Wolf.’’ I whispered and I raised her from the deck.
She was half-conscious, though she wouldn’t stay that way for long.
‘’Let’s get you to safety, eh?’’ I said as I placed my shoulder under hers, carrying her towards the doors that would take us to the infirmary the fastest.

Sergeant Fawkes observed me, I couldn’t tell if he heard me speak to Marfield but he was coming my way.
‘’Do you know the sergeant, Lancaster?’’Fawkes asked me as he stepped in to support Marfield from the other side.

‘’We worked together, yes.’’ I replied as we made our way down the corridors.
‘’When was this?’’ He asked me with genuine interest.
‘’You read my file?’’ I asked Fawkes.
He didn’t reply right away.
‘’I tried.’’ He eventually said.

I smiled, remembering the other times I got such a remark.
‘’Lots of black ink I guess?’’ I asked him, trying to make it sound like a joke.
Fawkes grunted an acknowledgement. 
‘’Typical ONI procedure.’’ I told him. ‘’Sascha and I worked for ONI together.’’ I eventually added.
‘’What kind of work did the two of you do?’’ Fawkes asked as he stepped over the corpse of a Grunt.

I gave it a thought, I wanted to tell him but I knew I wouldn’t, for my own sake.
‘’I could tell you,’’ I said, then pausing. ‘’but you don’t want to know, trust me.’’
We turned into another corridor.
‘’For a second there I thought you’d say you’d have to kill me.’’ He said before letting out a sigh.

‘’That too, right, Sas?’’ I whispered into Marfield’s ear, being very careful so Fawkes wouldn’t hear me.
‘’Next topic, Lancaster, that demotion of yours.’’ Fawkes said, sounding stern all of a sudden.
‘’Nothing of concern, sir.’’ I told him but I could tell he didn’t find that very reassuring. 
I sighed and closed my eyes.

‘’Officially due to ‘’Failure to execute command properly, resulting in the deaths of fellow soldiers, subordinates and civilians alike. Due to lack of skills to execute command on the required level you are being demoted.’’, those were their exact words.’’ I said, quoting the letter.
‘’It sounds like there’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere.’’ Fawkes stated correctly.
‘’My superiors didn’t like me, at all. I had commanded a squad for five years and only had one casualty before I joined the Helljumpers. Skills aren’t the problem.’’ I explained.
Fawkes looked like he was taking notes, he was probably trying to get to know his new squad, which was good.

‘’We’ll see about that, Lancaster.’’ He said.
‘’John,’’ I said. ‘’I’d prefer if you’d call me John, sir. Unless you’re going to call me Scorpion, but I don’t think that’s the case.’’ I told him, waiting to hear what he was going to call me.

There came no reply, we just continued down the corridors, in silence.


----------



## Mannfred

As the Elite blurred through the room and escaped Hooper cursed, he didn't know much about these new AI systems, but that one looked pretty important. As the two spartans sped off Hooper smiled grimly, he couldn't imagine that Elite lasting much longer, but either way it seemed that it was required that they folowed him. He turned to his new IC, taking his helmet off for the first time to attract Fawkses' attention. An intelligent yet grim face presented itself. His grey eyes darted left and right, observing every detail of Fawkes in front of him.
*"Seargent, I'm primarly expirienced in first contact reconnascience, may I suggest that I lead the way, on my own?"*
After a brief pause he got the answer he wanted and he headed out.

The corridor twisted round slowly, and evidently a lot of damage had been sustained here, there were many borken lights and large sections of the corridors and rooms were swathed in darkness, which Hooper clung to like a parisite. Hooper was still a little frustrated that he didn't have much to go on except the direction that the elite headed off with, he would have liked to at least have a trail of blood or something.
Just as he was about to turn the corner, his age old cautiousness kicked in as he heard a slight shuffle. Pressing himself against the wall, he held his breath to get a better listen. Hrm.. Jackals.. their cawing and the soft paddnig of their feet were unmissable. He slowly looked around the corner, and saw around 10 of the creatures entering the side of the corridor he had been walking along. There were consequent yells of delight (or fury, he could never tell), and a couple of loud metallic bangs. Then a magnum was thrown out of the room, and what looked like a crate of some sort. The jackals still trying to enter the room were getting frustrated and snapped menacingly at their peers.

He turned his comms on. *++Hooper here, we've got 10 jackals. Wait up.++*

Hooper smiled, scavenging while their bosses weren't looking. Thinking back through his memory of the ship's layout, there wasn't another way round that didn't delay them by at least ten minutes. They had to die.

Hooper unclipped one of his two grenades and sighed. He hated grenades. So.. vulgar. Mentally shrugging, he primed it and rolled it quietly around the corner. Hooper smiled as he heard a shriek of delight, and scrambling. Evidently they hadn’t noticed the lack of a pin in the grenade and thought it was scrap. As the explosion ripped down the corridor, Hooper swung round, aiming his rifle down the corridor, hoping that his hearing would return soon. A moment’s pause, then a slight hiss and a jackal with no lower half to his body crawled feebly out of the room, now highlighted in scorch marks. It raised its head slowly and looked at him mournfully, producing another futile hiss of contempt. Seeing that no reinforcements were on their way, Hooper slung his rifle on his back and strode towards the jackal. He drew his knife slowly, and grinned manically at the low hum that reverberated around the room as he drew it. Light was playing off the blade across the walls with silver sheen, and Hooper couldn’t help but smile in admiration at it, as sharpened and polished as the dagger always was.

Hooper kicked over the Jackal so it was facing the ceiling, and stood over it. Its eyes dully registered the knife in Hooper’s hand and its hissing stopped, it looked withdrawn, it had given up. Holding the Jackal by the head Hooper slowly pushed the knife through the Jackal’s open mouth. The wet sliding noise of the blade entering flesh was replaced by a harsh crack as the Hooper applied force and creature’s skull fractured.

Hooper paused in that position, kneeling over the dead Jackal, and closed his eyes, smiling. He sighed happily, grenades had nothing on this.

Standing up Hooper wiped his knife on a less bloody corpse, then unslung his rifle.

*++I’ve dealt with the Jackals, shall I continute?++*


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes carried Marfield along with Lancaster, mulling over his words in his head. 'resulting in the deaths of fellow soldiers, subordinates and civilians alike. Due to lack of skills to execute command on the required level' Lancaster had said. This troubled Fawkes. As the second highest rank, alongside Hooper, Fawkes would have to defer to Lancaster for leading smaller divisions of the squad. While he had appeared to be a competent soldier, his commanding skills had yet to be put to the test within Fawkes' startlingly short time serving with him.

"Hooper here, we've got 10 jackals. Wait up."

Hooper's radio remained active and Fawkes heard two muffled clicks of what could be grenade pins being removed, then a loud explosion, confirming his suspicions. There were screeches and then a squelching thud. Hooper spoke again.

"I’ve dealt with the Jackals, shall I continue?"

"Affirmative, move up and meet us at the med bay." Fawkes radioed over.

The group continued down the corridor slowly, passing the horribly mangled remains of Jackals. The nearest one had nothing below it's waistline, entrails hanging out across the floor and the creature's skull had been punctured by a heavy sharp object. Fawkes assumed that this was Hooper's handiwork and found himself questioning his other second in command's stability. He was going to have to be very careful how he split the squad up.

The team had almost reached the med bay when a medical officer approached him.
"ODSTs? We sent you're buddy off on a pelican, it's waiting for the rest of you. We're evacuating the ship."
He looked down at Marfield and the other ODST, winced, then called over several other medical officers who rushed up with syringes and, unsurprisingly, biofoam. The UNSC medical corps managed to find a way of incorperating the stuff into any injury. They began injecting fluids into the unconscious soldiers and then put them on stretchers.

Without another word the medical officers ran off onto a medical pelican, met by another half a dozen medics who began clustering around the two fallen ODSTs.

Fawkes watched them go before heading towards the pelicans which were arrayed in the hangar. Fawkes saw Hooper hovering uncertainly around a trio of Pelicans which were emblazoned with the names of the ships' ODST squads: Wolf, Shark and Phoenix. Fawkes entered the Phoenix pelican, The Firebird ,emblazoned with fiery birds on the outside. 

"Fawkes! Ready to blow this hell-hole?"

Fawkes turned to see the pelican's pilot, Simon Lordan, leaning around the side of the cockpit to grin at Fawkes, his helmet hanging from an improvised hook on the wall.
As the rest of the squad embarked he waved amicably at them before grasping the helmet, clamping it on his head and speaking over The Firebird's comms.

+Ladies and gentlement, my name is Simon Lordan and I'll be your pilot for today. If you have any questions, I'll probably be too busy to answer them, so don't bother. Please fasten you're harnesses, we may have some company.+

Fawkes quickly pushed on his harness and held on tight. He trusted Lordan to get the team to the ship in one piece, but his flying style was, unique and poorly adapted to those who suffered from airsickness or had an aversion to dangerous stunts. When the squad had entered, the doors behind them shut and Lordan's voice crackled over his helmet radio. 

"Oh, Samuel, I forgot to mention, on the rack above you, there's a datapad for you."

Fawkes undid his harness and grasped the slim datapad. He was about to sit back down when he was hurled to the back of the pelican by a sudden burst of speed. He just managed to grip the harness, very tightly, when the pelican spiralled and Fawkes could hear Lordan whooping ecstatically. The Firebird righted itself and Fawkes quickly sat down, locked his harness and downloaded the datapad's file to his helmet. It was easier to read when the data wasn't on a thin board that was being flung around the compartment by insane flying.

+To 1st Sgt. S Fawkes//188thODST/SqPHOENIX

You will be making planetfall shortly in SOEIVs and will, alongside Shark squad and Gorilla squad, be clearing an LZ for main landing teams. Air support will be available if and when needed and there are still groups of local militia who are fighting the covenant.

Good luck.

Cpt. H. Goddard//188thODST/HQ+

"Alright team, command's just given us a mission. We're clearing an LZ on the planet for the main base of operations. This will be in the centre of the city, we'll be backed up by Shark and Gorilla squad, as well as whatever militia are already down there."

The now fully armed and armoured team set out towards where Fawkes assumed the armoury would be on this ship. It was much bigger than the Arkansas, so Fawkes had to assume that this was The UNSC Will of Forsetti. A marine jogged up to Fawkes.

"Squad Phoenix?" He asked, breathlessly. 

"That's us, what is it marine?" Fawkes asked.

"Follow me." The marine waved them over and began walking back the way he had come.

Fawkes and the ODSTs followed the man. Fawkes studied the ship as he walked, the corridors were wider and technicians, marines and medical staff were scurrying this way and that, each engrossed in their own frantic issues.

Fawkes sped up slightly to catch up with the marine.

"Is it usually this hectic around here?" He asked.

"No sir, We've got sixty odd new arrivals from the Arkansas though, so we're working double time to accommodate them all."

Sixty? There had be well over three hundred occupants of the Arkansas, but only sixty had got through the attack. He shuddered and pressed on. The squad eventually reached a room with words printed across the top. 'ODST 188th'. The marine stood to one side.

"ODSTs only sir, I don't have access."

Fawkes put his hand on the reader and the doors slid open. Fawkes entered and whistled. There was a holo table, racks of weapons, dozens of SOEIV drop pods in rows and even a minibar. He went over to the weapons and grabbed more ammo, sliding clips into his gun and belt. Then his stomach rumbled and he walked over to the minibar. He pulled open the door and gave a dry chuckle. All that was inside were dozens of UNSC ration bars.

Fawkes plucked a few of the bars out gingerly, sliding them into his pack. He had often theorised that the bars had a magical tendency to reverse the effects of hunger. They tasted like processed, soft dirt and often, merely the mention of them would allow half starved marines to carry on as if they had been eating properly when they'd had nothing for days.

Fawkes then went over to the pods and waited. After ten or so minutes, the rest of the squad had convened and Shark and Gorilla squad had filed in. There were many greetings and plenty of levity amongst the group of ODSTs. Now around 22 ODSTs stood in the room, conversing jovially. Fawkes and the two squad sergeants, McCoy and Greaves began talking, their conversation consisting of mixtures of reminiscing about previous battles together and commenting on strategies and opinions on the upcoming battle. The red preparation light began flashing and all the ODSTs hurried to their pods. Fawkes put all his gear in it's proper place, then checked the status lights of the various squads on his command pod. The only difference was a display on his right giving him a real-time display of each pod condition. When every status light shone green, Fawkes opened up his comms.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, to those of you that don't know, we're going down to kick every covie in sector alpha 379 off their asses and clear some ground for the UNSC. Pelicans don't do too well here, tonnes of anti-air kicking around, so command's sending us in. Where are we going boys and girls?"

Over the radio a score of voices replied joyously. "Feet first in to hell!"

Fawkes' heart leapt as the pod jolted, then slid slowly into it's launch position. There was another jolt and suddenly Fawkes was in free fall. He watched as the clouds approached fast and then he pushed through the fluffy white mass, which revealed the hell hole below. Beneath the ODSTs was the death throes of a city. Burning buildings blossomed smoke up into the heavens and charred rubble was strewn across the streets. As the pod moved in closer, the timer stating that there were 20 seconds until landing, Fawkes could see streaks of plasma fire arcing across and muzzle flashes sending a retort on top of a building. Fawkes angled his pod towards a cluster of grunts and their elite leader. The SOEIV smashed into the ground, the window suddenly splattered with blue grunt blood. Fawkes saw the elite roar at the pod and the door flew forwards at it, sending it reeling off the building with a cry. Fawkes dropped out and pulled his battle rifle to bear with ease, dispatching the two remaining nearby grunts. Fawkes stepped forwards to see the other pods arrayed on the buildings around him, the doors flying out and more ODSTs pouring forth, guns ablaze.

Fawkes saw that only three pods had landed near him, Mcknight, Hooper, Collins and an ODST he'd noticed from gorilla squad. He rounded them up and looked over to the other buildings. Greaves seemed to have most of Gorilla together and McCoy and half of shark were already pinned down on a building that looked like an optimal LZ, it had a wide helipad used for dropping large shipments into the city. Fawkes looked for the rest of Phoenix. He spotted them on a building just across the street. The rest of the squad was there. He switched his comms on.

"Lan-" He caught himself. "John, get the guys with you down to the big landing pad about two buildings across. I see a connecting tunnel around four floors below you." He looked more carefully in the windows of the next building. Blue flashes. 

"John, be advised, there's some hostiles and probably some militia down there, keep sharp."

He rounded of Mcknight, Hooper and the Gorilla squad ODST, who was just pulling a sniper rifle out of his pod's weapon compartment.

Fawkes had an idea. He looked round and saw what he was looking for. A lift shaft on the side of the building. He waved over the ODSTs, walking into the lift. It was one of the ones made of a sort of thick metal mesh, with large gaps criss crossing all around it.

"You two, tell me what angle you need to take shots. We've got to cover those guys to the objective." He said to the two snipers. The building they were in was taller than the rest, so they had a good vantage point. Suddenly there was an ominous and familiar buzzing noise.

"Drones!" Fawkes spat as the hideous, insect like creatures began hovering around the five of them.

"Hooper take 'em down!" Then an explosion wrecked a section of the building a couple of floors down. 

"Banshees!" Fawkes called out. Plasma cannon fire briefly raked the lift before the alien airships had to avoid hitting the building ahead of them.

"Collins, Drop them out of the sky!"


OOC: Boots on the ground boys and girls! 
Sangus, Shattertheirsky, G0arr & Son of Azurman: Make your way through the buildings to the landing pad. Max kills are 2 elites/brutes and 6 jackals/grunts.

Mannfred: Fight off the drones that are surrounding the lift.You can kill up to 8.

Josie: Give sniper cover alongside the other ODST. You can take down any 4 enemies out of the following: Shade turret, Elite or Brute.

Po-D: You've got to blow up the two banshees attacking the position.

Spartans: Orders are PMed


----------



## Sangus Bane

John and Fawkes handed Marfield over to the medics, much to John's dismay. He'd rather look after her himself, he owed her that much.

He was no longer in charge however and he knew he had to follow Fawkes, so he would.

*+20 minutes*

'Helljumper, Helljumper.' it rang in John's head as his heart raced and his lungs tried to tell him they were full and that John should stop breathing in.

Release.

John saw the darkness of space appear through the window of the drop pod as his heartbeat returned to normal and his lungs pressed out the air.
John felt the harness press on him as the pod accelerated, slowly working towards its terminal velocity.
The drop pod shook violently as it breached the planet's atmosphere and John laughed loud as he saw the deck of clouds envelop his drop pod, truly having a good time.

Three. Two. On- Impact.

He had landed on top of a building, John was surprised. Last time he had attempted anything like that he had come to a stop after he had punctured twelve floors...

The dust around the drop pod cleared and John saw a brute wielding a large hammer slowly stalking towards his pod.
"Just my fucking luck." John said as he cancelled the pod door release.
He put his hand on the emergency release. 
Other ODST's had already engaged the surrounding enemies but the brute kept closing in. 
When it was about to ram the hammer into the pod John activated the emergency release, launching the door into the Brute.
John jumped out of the pod, firing three bursts with his BR to make sure the Brute was dead as can be.

John quickly assisted his fellow ODSTs in clearing the rooftop, killing two grunts and a Jackal.

John shot a second Jackal, which carried a carbine, in the stomach but another ODST, one who's name he had forgotten, finished the beaked alien.

"Lan- John," Fawkes voice came. "get the guys with you down to the big landing pad about two buildings across. I see a connecting tunnel around four floors below you."
"Copy that, four floors down then two buildings across." John replied as he memorized the orders.

He signaled the ODST's to gather around him as he looked for an entrance to the building.
"John, be advised, there's some hostiles and probably some militia down there, keep sharp."
Fawkes came again.
"Aye, sir, we'll be careful." John replied, happy to know Fawkes got his back.
The ODSTs gathered to breach the building, they just needed to find an entrance...


----------



## Mannfred

Leaning in the corner of the room while everyone "socialised", Hooper scanned the room while picking dirt out of grooves in his armour with his knife, checking for any weaknesses in the walls, escape routes, spare weapons. Unlike these people he could never fully relax, never fully let his guard down. He knew too many dead people to ever relax.

As the alarm to launch sounded off, Hooper sheathed his knife calmly and walked up to the nearest drop pod, serenely buckling himself in. While the others went through their silly psych up regimes, Hooper merely closed his eyes and thought through what they were about to do, and any necessary back ups.

Jolted back to reality by his pod entering free fall, Hooper went through his "regime" and remembered his fallen squadmates in the order they died. It took up the majority of the journey. Hooper didn't feel any sympathy though, they had all paid the prices for their mistakes, and in war no-one gets a second chance. No-one.

As his body was shaken to pieces upon impact, Hooper ignored the pain and stepped out smoothly with practised ease. He scanned the scene around him while men streamed out of their pods, eliminating the remaining forces on this roof top.

Suddenly Fist Seargeny Fawkes yelled at Hooper. Apparently they had company. Hooper looked up at the drones and frowned. Damned bugs, always difficult to hit. He stalked forwards, taking his DMR off his back and and cocking it with an emphatic *ka-klinck*. Never mind,he thought, he was a designated marksman for a reason. Sprinting towards the group

His first shot impacted in the drone's throat, and it whistled softly as it spiralled erratically towards the ground. The drone screeched as desperately tried to stay in the air. As it careened over the edge of the building, Hooper drew his knife and grabbed onto the drone's legs. He snarled in glee as he pulled it out of the air and sent the blade ramming through its face. The bug's limbs went stiff, then fell limp. Hooper paused and withdrew his knife with a wet sliding noise. The sheer sudden violence of Hooper combined with the drone's attention on the lift gave him about... 4 seconds he reckoned, before they started retaliating. Well, waste not want not.

The second and third were both shot in the head as they were clicking to each other in alarm at their first comrade's death. Their heads burst, and they fell like stones. However the drones had had the time to react now, and they moved erratically through the air in an attempt to dodge Hooper's shots. Thankfully they were too high up to be in effective range of their weapons as plasma and splinters of crystal were pattering around the floor, a couple hitting him but the damage was mainly absorbed by his armour. Somewhere in the back of Hooper's mind faint amusement registered, but the cold conciousness on the exterior wasn't paying attention. By the time they had got close to him, there were only three remaining, and one flying around in circles clutching a wound in its shooting arm.

Hooper glanced at his ammo count. 2. The two drones were too skittish to stay still enough for two headshots, let alone the torrent of splinter fire that forced him to dive to the side. As he impacted the floor, Hooper fired the remaining two shots into one drone. Both hit its chest and it fell limply out of the sky. The final one seemed to sense Hooper's situation and sped towards him victoriously.

Sadly it wasn't aware of the pistol that Hooper had drawn as he picked himself off the ground, and he emptied a magazine in a flurry that belayed the amount of time he had spent shooting ration cans in his youth. The spray of bullets chewed into the poor creature and it jolted out of the air, its body and face a gory mess. Hooper paused, and then returned to First Seargent Fawkes, who seemed slightly stunned. Hooper winced as he pulled a crystal shard out of his thigh which had thankfully penetrated only the armour and grazed him, and straightened up.

*"Done. Lets get these snipers deployed shall we?"*. Hooper was glad that his visor covered up his envious look, he'd always wanted to fire a sniper rifle, and considered himself good enough for the job. The sheer... Power of the rounds appealed to him so much.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

"God I hate this." Claire whimpered to herself in a trembling voice as her drop pod was closed.
She closed her eyes and tried to think happy thoughts, with little succes. She shook violently, or was it the drop pod? Both...

When tge drop pod slammed into the ground she opened her eyes. The trembling stopped at once and she reached for her weapons as the door pannel of her drop pod opened.
She fired her SMG at the nearest grunt, perforating it.

She fired two salvoes into a Jackal's shield before someone else took it down.

An explosion caught her attention.

"Banshees!" Fawkes shouted. 
Claire could hear their smooth, annoying sound. 
'Time to get to work.' she thought to herself as she haerd Fawkes give her the order to destroy the Banshees.

She secured the SMG to her thigh and got the heavy Rocket Launcher from her back.

The moment she alinged it with one of the Banshees a white diamond started circling the Banshee on her VISR.

"Gotcha." she said as a rocket left the barrel and quickly homed in on the Banshee, destroying it in yellow and purple flames.
Suddenly the rocket launcher was pulled out of her hands.
A Drone was pulling at it with it's slender limbs. 
Two rounds shot of the wings of the creature and she saw the Gorilla ODST signaling her.

She returned her focus to the other Banshee, trying to get another lock.
This pilot had some tricks though, the Banshee rolled and dived, rendering her unable to get a solid lock on the craft.

Luckily, she had skills. 
Claire saw a window when the Banshee came out of it's roll, it had to level it's wings before it could roll the other way.

A second rocket was fired and it hit the Banshee dead centre, mutilating the metal and sending the wreckage downwards as it trailed a purple smoke.

"Now that's how 'I' roll." Claire said as the wrecked Banshee crashed into a building.


----------



## son of azurman

As Zetan carried the marine down the hallway he noticed something in Fawkes, There new CO was troubled and unsure on something. Whatever him and Lancaster were talking about it was not a light hearted subject.

Suddenly voice chatter came from the radio “,Hooper here, we've got 10 jackals.wait up”

Then the blowing of grenades we’re heard as we came to a halt and he spoke again.

“i’ve dealt with the jackals, shall i continue?”

“Affirmative, move up and meet us at the med boy.” Fawkes responded and they set out again.

As we continued we came across the remains of the jackals, he couldn't lie Zetan liked Hooper’s handiwork as he stepped over the disembodied head of a jackal. As they approached the med boy a medical officer went to Fawkes.

“ODSTs? we sent your buddy off on a pelican, its waiting for the rest of you. were evacuating the ship.” The Med said.

As he was done talking he called over some others and lifted the marines away onto stretchers. The meds carried the marines over to a pelican and were swarmed by a dozen other medics.

As Phoenix ran over to the other end of the hanger three pelicans awaited them. Pelicans each with painted designs on the hull. one with a sea of sharks, one of a giant wolf and one swarmed with birds of flame. Each one represented there interior squads shark,wolf and Phoenix and it was obvious which one would carry them. As we enterd the flame pelican a voice came from the cockpit.

“Fawkes, ready to blow this hell hole,”a and a slightly insane looking facial expression was shown on the pilot’s face.

As phoenix settled into there seats a voice came over the intercom.

+Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Simon Lordan and I'll be your pilot for today. If you have any questions, I'll probably be too busy to answer them, so don't bother. Please fasten you're harnesses, we may have some company.+

As Zetan tightened his harness he noticed Fawkes unhook his, As Fawkes stood up a grasped a data pad from the overhead compartment. Before the sergeant could refit himself the pelican bolted out of the hangar sending him flying to the rear. As the sergeant tried to fix himself Zetan was distracted. He had taken the time o upload to his helmet pictures and videos of his old team squad raider. On his screen flew pictures of old friends, trophies until finally came the video. The team when they were sent to investigate the post had agreed to each keep a video so that they could compare experiences as they were sure that they would be split up. The video showed everything from arrival to when Zetan had seen the pelican come to rescue him. There in that pelican as phoenix readied for planetfall he had sat solitary from everyone else right at the rear and he started to tear. It took until there arrival at the UNSC will of forseti to pull himself together.

“Alright team, command's just given us a mission. We're clearing an LZ on the planet for the main base of operations. This will be in the centre of the city, we'll be backed up by Shark and Gorilla squad, as well as whatever militia are already down there." came Fawkes’s voice through the radio.

Finally some faces Zetan would actually feel comfortable around, he missed his old squad already and mostly he missed Krice (pronounced chris). Krice and Zetan had been the two newest members of Gorilla all that time ago, They were like brothers and would never leave each others side. Even on missions wile the rest of the squad were together these two were always working together as Krice used his marksman skills to snipe and Zetan watched his back. The two had made it through thick and thin and it had been saddening to leave him.

As the exited the pelican and headed to the armory a marine jogged over.

"Squad Phoenix?" He asked, breathlessly. 

"That's us, what is it marine?" Fawkes asked.

"Follow me." The marine waved them over and began walking back the way he had come.

as the squad made there way past hectic staff and Fawkes spoke with the marine they approached a room with the words “ODST 188th and the marine left them.

The room was definatly bigger than expected more of a hangar with rows of weapons, a minibar and a holotable and at the far end lay row and row of drop pods. After a few minutes shark and Gorilla had entered, Without hesitation Zetan ran over to Gorilla. God he had missed them all Greaves, Krice,Mike,Hall,Jess,Leo,Mcinuss and Kopf. They all ran into a big group hug which soon broke out into a big wrestling match. Fawkes and Greaves met up with the other leader and started talking wile Zetan and Gorilla exchanged pleasantries as they crawled to their feet.

As the others walked off Zetan and Krice walked over to the armory, On the way they would not close there gobs as they were to busy yapping to stop. At the armory Zetan slid a battle rifle over his back and an smg into his leg holster, meanwhile krice being the marksman he is was checking over his sniper flicking through the different lenses. Suddenly the red preparation light flickered and the two an over to there pods.
Zetan hurriedly put his equipment in the proper locations and switched his light to green.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, to those of you that don't know, we're going down to kick every covie in sector alpha 379 off their asses and clear some ground for the UNSC. Pelicans don't do too well here, tones of anti-air kicking around, so command's sending us in. Where are we going boys and girls?"

“feet foot into hell,”replied the squad with exited voices.

over the next few minutes the pod jolted into position and was launched. As the pod plummeted towards the city below, As they had landed Zetan quickly looked out of his pod.
Out in front of his pod stood 3 grunts, as they assessed the pod Zetan stood dead still as to not alarm them as a turn of events they each placed plasma grenades around the window. Zetan waited till they were all hot then activated the emergency release, The door went flying knocking the three grunts off the building and exploded killing another two.
Zetan without hesitation leaped out of his pod kicking a jackal in the face before finishing him off with his fist. As he grabbed his arms out of the pod compartments he noticed most of phoenix were with him. Davis,Payne and Lancaster were on the same roof but not the others. As he slid his battle rifle over his back and held his smg he gazed around for Fawkes and saw him across the street. Fawkes stood with Mcknight,Hooper and Collins were with along with a Gorilla member.

“hey hard ass what you looking at,” came a voice over his helmet.

The voice was Krice’s, if he would choose anyone to watch his back he would choose Krice. Fawkes couldn't have a better man at his back in Zetan’s opinion. Zetan looked around and saw Lancaster signaling them over, They spent the next few minutes looking for an entrance to the floors below.


----------



## G0arr

Joseph moved to the pelican marked with the blazing Phoenix. Inside there was a sight that made him smile, an equipment box with his name. “Damn right,” he said pulling the marine issued tactical helmet from his head. It clanked against the deck outside the transport. It took only a few seconds before there were several clicks and pops. Joseph quickly began to ready his armor. The intercom came to life as he buckled an armored belt. The only part of the announcement he paid attention to was the end. +Please fasten your harness, we may have some company.+ “Well damn,” Joseph quickly slid the upper armor into place and spun to his seat. With a snap the harness was ready. There was a roar as the transport accelerated. An almost crazed smile filled Joseph’s face as he shouted, “Go to it big fella!” The smile didn’t disappear until the pelican finally leveled out and made its approach. 

The ODST private released his harness and stood. It only took a few seconds for him to finish armoring up. A quick test of the pieces told him they were secure. The rest of Phoenix Squad moved to exit as Joseph turned to the cockpit. “Pilot,” he boomed. A face turned toward him. “What kinda flying was that?” The face began to twist into disgust. He was expecting a berating from some soldier upset with the maneuverings. “Hell of a ride,” Joseph said with a sly smile, “made me feel all safe and secure!” The pilot smiled, “It did?” “Yes sir, next time you might want to try to scare me.” The smile widened, “I’ll remember that.”

With that Joseph trotted across the deck to catch his squad. They were already heading toward the armory, or ready room he wasn’t sure. When they arrived in wasn’t what he’d been expecting, there was a bar. There was almost nothing in it except ration bars. Several of them were placed on his person. Next to be latched into place was a full canteen. Joseph learned long ago to be prepared especially when surrounded by the enemy, and in the ODST it seemed to be part of the job.

As others cycled toward other areas Joseph moved to the armory. A fresh rifle and fill up on ammo quickly followed. The other squads began to file in. Standing there Joseph began to feel excitement. It was hard for him to stay still. Joseph checked his rifle, his pistol, combat knife, grenades, armor, and then back to the rifle.
“You scared son,” one of the other helljumpers asked hearing the weapon check starting again.
Joseph looked at him. “First combat jump.” 
“Don’t worry; just remember your training you’ll make it back.” 
“Well sir, with all respect I’m about to strap myself into a metal pod that is going to be ejected from this ship in low orbit. It’s going to reach a top speed over 700 miles an hour making the flight time last a little longer than heating a burrito. On impact we’re going to be required to clear part of a city without real assistance so that the big guns, and Spartans can follow up and claim victory on our heels,” Joseph looked into the other soldier’s eyes, “It’s what I signed up for sir.”
“That’s not the answer I was looking for.”
Joseph held his gaze. “You ever seen a race sir, looked at the horses as they walk into the stalls and shift from leg to leg? Those fidgets aren’t because they’re scared. They’re just ready to run. I’m too ready to be scared.”
The older soldier smiled. “I’ll see you on the ground son.”
“Riding feet first,” Joseph smirked.
“Into Hell,” the other replied as the warning light began to flash. 

Sitting in the pod Joseph watched in awe as the deck began to disappear. Below filling most of the view was Elysium. It reminded him of pictures that he had seen from history texts, they were of Earth. He wondered if he might visit it some day. The radio came to life. "Ladies and Gentlemen, to those of you that don't know, we're going down to kick every covie in sector alpha 379 off their asses and clear some ground for the UNSC. Pelicans don't do too well here, tonnes of anti-air kicking around, so command's sending us in. Where are we going boys and girls?" 
“Feet first into hell,” Joseph joined the call. 

A smile crept onto his face as he remembered training. _“All right boys and girls,”_ the old drill instructor said as the trainees waited for their first real jump,_ “Think of this like an elevator with one button. It’s a big red one that says Hell, and you’re getting the express ride!” _The first pod separated as the thrusters ignited, followed by the next, and the next. There was a pop overhead and a small jolt. “Ding,” Joseph said, “Going down!”
The flight was a blur until they hit the clouds. The white was replaced with broken buildings and weapons fire. “Time to go to work,” Joseph said preparing himself for the impact.

The pod jerked hard as it impacted the ground. The sounds of the strike still filled the air as Joseph hammered the release. He burst out of the pod with purpose. A fast glance told him they were on a building, several pods were scattered around, and then he saw the first elite. 
It acted almost dazed as it saw the lone human moving from the dust and dirt. Joseph turned slightly and continued his run. “Surprise,” was the only battle cry he could find as the rifle reached his shoulder.
Shields flashed as the first rounds struck home. The elite managed to bring its plasma gun up before the rounds punched into flesh, but never fired. 

As Joseph reached the falling corpse things erupted around him. Waiting pod hatches burst open, explosions ripped out, and weapons began to fire. 
The sudden burst of activity quickly seemed to die away. Joseph managed to claim four grunts during the insanity. His last kill a jackal with several holes in its stomach from another squad member’s weapon.

Lancaster was speaking to Fawkes when Joseph approached. “Four floors down and two buildings across.” An empty clip clanked to the roof as something exploded overhead. A fresh clip slammed into place as the young soldier looked at the battle raging around the building. A banshee rolled past. “Time to move,” Joseph whispered as he glanced across the roof again. His eyes darted from place to place searching for fire escapes, or… “Roof access,” Joseph said jogging to a blocky structure. The door was already partly open, possibly how the Covenant reached building top. He took up position against the doorframe ready to rush in. “Ready on your go,” Joseph reported as the banshee detonated over the cityscape.


----------



## Angel Encarmine

Standing on the bridge with Anthony, Felix looked at the carnage, feeling a slight pang of guilt as he saw the corpses of the crew. Deactivating his camo, he stepped forward to speak with Fawkes, but before he could open his mouth a plasma grenade came flying at them. _"Down"_ He shouted, before diving for cover. As the grenade detonated, Felix activated his camo again, his HUD flickering slightly from the power drain and plasma backwash of the grenade. Zeroing in on the Elite who had thrown it he stepped from cover, rifle raised.

Felix fired, but a bubble shield flared into existence soaking up their fire. Suddenly the ships AI flared into being on her knees reaching out to the squad. 
_"Help!"_ She cried, eyes wide in terror. _"They're hacking my database, they're trying to take me!"_ If they took the AI, that meant they'd have a map to every system the ship had been to. Earth... Snapping his rifle onto his back, the memory of plasma bombarding his home planet whispered into his mind. _"Not if i can help it"_ he thought as he drew his combat blade, planning on taking the elite in close combat where it couldnt hide behind a bubble.

Before he could move, the elite drew two grenades and threw them just before the bubble shield collapsed. The detonation sent a flash of light that even his helmets auto polarization couldn't fully dampen into his eyes, and for a few seconds even the Spartan was blind. Returning his combat knife to it's sheath on his arm he shook his head to clear his senses, his suits camo recovering almost as fast as his sight. Seeing the Elite retreating he began to sprint as fast as his legs could carry him after it.

Tearing through the hallways at a full run he followed the zealot, watching it clear a bulkhead into a hanger bay. Felix was almost killed by the burst of plasma the phantom docked there fired, managing to just clear it as he dove through the door. _"Coward"_ he shouted through his activated helmet speakers, his finger raised in an arcane gesture at it as it disappeared into the belly of the phantom. Retreating from the bay, he saw an elevator in the hallway leading to a level above. What greeted the spartans in the hangar was a pelican, not your craft for ship to ship warfare but it would do. Strapping himself into the pilots seat he began powering the craft up.

Jamming the throttle as high as it would go the pelican engines roared as it flew out of the hangar bay, hurtling towards the covenant corvette. Nothing but plasma greeted them, the anti aircraft fire flashing through space and detonating on the UNSC ship behind them. "_Gonna get a little bumpy_" he said to Anthony over their suit comms as he began evasive maneuvers, rolling and jinking to avoid the incoming fire. The amount then tripled as the zealot no doubt told them who exactly was chasing him, and even Felix's enhanced reactions couldn't keep them flying. Plasma tore through the right wing, shearing it away close to the hull and killing his controls. _" Bail" _ he said calmly to Anthony, opening the back hatch of the ship before turning and running towards it. 

Jumping from the wrecked pelican probably wasn't the greatest of ideas, but it had the highest probability for survival although not by much. Bailing out, Felix made sure to propel himself towards the ship, letting the inertia of his jump take him through the zero gravity. Hitting the covenant ship, he turned and watched his teammate land nearby seeing the pelican crash into the side of the hull. _"Theres our way in"_ he said, magnetizing his boots to the ship and moving to where the pelican had crashed. A large gash leading into the covenant ship was what met the pair of Spartans, that and a search party that appeared just after they did. Luckily, Felix hadn't deactivated his camo, and he dropped silently into the ship.

Their trip through the corvette was uneventful, skirting patrols and stealthing it the entire way. Felix knew from previous experience the covies kept their bridges in the center of their ships, and outside of the main bridge is where they found themselves breaching charges in hand. Setting the timer to the pair of charges he had attached to the doors, felix whispered a quiet fire in the hole over the comms that was shortly followed by sharp crack of the charges as they sent the doors tumbling in. Stepping into the bridge rifle raised he began firing, killing everything in sight before his aim settled on the Zealot whom they had been chasing.

Smiling behind his visor Felix stepped in front of Anthony muttering "_this bastard is mine"_ over the comms. Shouldering his rifle and activating his helmet speakers, Felix sent a string of insults at the Zealot, laughing at the beast as it roared a challenge at him. Half a magazine of rounds was what met the Alien as it charged him, its shields failing and 3 rounds stitching across it's torso before it activated its sword and crashed into Felix. Rolling with the tackle he came up under it, and it sent a swipe at his head. 

Catching the zealots sword arm in one hand, he began hammering his fist into the side of its face feeling bone crunch and watching blood leak. Stunned the elite did nothing as Felix drew his SMG with the hand he had been punching it with, his left still holding its sword arm at bay. _"I win"_ he snarled into its face, pulling the trigger and sending its brains splattering across the bridge. By know the ship had been alerted to the intruders, and while he had been fighting the elite Anthony had rigged the ship to crash into the UNSC Arkansas and retrieved the A.I. Nodding to him, Felix turned and the pair snuck their way through the first party of covenant that had reacted to the alarms. 

Before they had left the bridge, Felix had rigged a surprise for the covenant, and he grinned as he heard the squawk of a jackal followed by the detonation of the grenades he had rigged on the dead Zealot. Using the distraction, he began the process of sneaking to a hanger bay, watching the time until they crashed into the Arkansas get smaller and smaller on his HUD. Arriving 4 minutes until impact, he broke into a full run, charging up into the bay of an idling Phantom. Only 3 grunts and a jackal had been left to guard it and they were slaughtered mercilessly by the Spartans. 

30 seconds until impact.

Powering the ship Felix wasted no time in slamming the thrust to full, the acceleration pinning him to his seat as they blasted out of the covenant ship. 

3....2.....1..... 

The impact of the ships ended in a colossal explosion, and their phanton wasn't quite out of the blast radius. The blast wave smashed into the phantom, sending it spiraling uncontrollably. _" Another day at the office " _ felix thought just before he was slammed around the cockpit of the phantom...


----------



## Santaire

Felix stepped forward to speak with Fawkes but as he did I saw the shape streaking towards the main console. My rifle was already coming round when the plasma grenade flew directly at me. I kicked a plasma rifle up from the floor and threw it, diverting the oncoming grenade. Then I leapt up and backwards and curled into a ball as I heard Felix yell for everyone to hit the deck. The grenade threw me backwards to slam threw one of the glass console screens. I was already rolling as I landed, Magnum coming up and firing a shot. At the same time shots came from Felix, followed a moment later by a barrage of fire from Phoenix Squad. The Zealot crouched at the console payed us no heed as a shield sprang into being around him. At the same moment Alice flared into being on the AI pedestal. "Help!" She cried; her eyes wide with unreasoning terror. "They're hacking my database; they're trying to take me!"

Both I and Felix had exactly the same thought. In unison we drew our knives and began to move. But the Flash Bang put an end to any ambitions we had of engaging the Zealot in close quarters combat. I kept moving forwards, sliding my knife into its sheath and diving into a roll. I had a mental picture of the bridge mapped in my mind, including the location of my BR55. I snatched it in one hand and as I came up and my vision returned I leapt over a console and me and Felix were pounding down the corridor after the Zealot.

We ran into a Covenant patrol and while Felix butchered the Grunts and Jackals I slammed the Elite to the floor in a flying tackle and as it hit the floor I fired my Magnum several times. The Elite, its shields short-circuited after I slammed into it cried out as it died. I was still moving, using the momentum of the tackle to roll to my feet. We had not even paused and we did not, continuing our pounding run. We slowly accelerated until we must have been little more than blurs to any who saw us. Warning lights appeared on my visor as I pushed myself ever faster but I ignored them.

But I knew I was moving too fast when I managed to use nothing more than an Elite’s chest as a spring board to launch myself into a spinning flip from which I fired three shots that killed the Elite and 2 Jackals before landing and continuing. I laughed insanely despite the gravity of the situation and heard Felix join me in that mad laughter.

We reached the hangar just as the Zealot boarded a Phantom and we split, diving in opposite directions to avoid the burst of plasma fire. I dived beneath it and came up firing but the Zealot dragged Grunts to cover itself and I cursed as I watched it disappear into the belly of the Phantom. Then I was running as the Phantom trained its gun on me. I dived through the doorway, throwing myself forward to land on my shoulder and spring back to my feet, skidding round a corner and following Felix as we ascended to the next level hangar where a pelican waited.

We sprinted into the hold and Felix jumped in the pilot’s seat. I stood in the hold, checking weapons and suit seals, doubting very much whether we would be allowed to simply land in the hangar. Right on cue Felix’s voice came over the COM. "Gonna get a little bumpy," he said. 

I smiled grimly. “When isn’t it brother?” I heard him laugh almost bitterly.

The next word I heard from him was one I had been expecting. “Bail”

Then he jumped out the back of the Pelican, straight towards the Covenant ship. I jumped out with him.

Definitely not a sane choice. But in the Head-hunters, sanity was a liability.

We were spot on and slammed into the Covenant ship one after the other, him impacting first. We activated our mag-locks to prevent flying off into space again. The Pelican impact scar was our way in and we slipped through, avoiding the Covenant search party that came out to search for survivors. Active-Camo came in handy then as we evaded the Covenant patrols. We moved like Ghosts and left nothing in our passing.

But when we reached the bridge, we were merciless. Felix’s charge blew the doors in and we were already moving in and opening fire. It should have been the stuff of legends. Two soldiers of the UNSC taking on an entire Covenant bridge and surviving. But I doubt our mission records will ever be published openly. We will remain hidden, Humanity’s knife in the black of night. In truth, it is an honour. Something that needs doing. But everyone wants some recognition once in their life and we had more reason that most. The mistake everyone makes is believing that we are machines, not men. But inside every machine there is a spark of Humanity. They tried to crush ours, but they will never succeed.

We killed like Gods of War. We butchered the Elites and I let my rage show.

I barrelled an Elite to the ground and drove my knife through his face, screaming in anger. I killed and killed, all the while screaming a battle cry. “Last of Harvest, Last of Harvest,” I cried and Felix echoed the shout as we fought. I moved forward, under a blow and snapped the Elite’s arm over my shoulder. I drove my elbow into its solar plexus, turned and drove my fist past its mandibles to lift it off the floor. I drove it down into the ground with an elbow to the ribs.

I kicked an energy sword out of another Elite’s hand, caught the weapon and disembowelled him, screaming all the while so that my voice blared out through my helmet speakers. “You want to burn Earth like you burned Harvest you mother fucker. You want to burn it like you burned Onyx, like you burned Reach. Like you burned all my brothers and sisters. Fuck you.” And with that last defiant cry I drove the energy sword through the other Elite’s head, ending its misery.

Next I knew Felix was smashing in the skull of the Zealot who had taken the AI and my hands were moving without my conscious demand, retrieving Alice from the Covenant system. She appeared before me and told me to give her time to make sure all traces of maps of the colonies were gone along with the location of Earth. I did so before retrieving her and placing the chip in an armoured compartment on my leg armour. I programmed the ship to impact on the UNSC Arkansas, giving her a funeral pyre worthy of a God and looked at Felix. “She will be given what she deserves,” I said quietly and he nodded in understanding, reading what I had done from my stance and my words.

It passed in a blur until we were on the Phantom flying out of there. “Thirty seconds,” I shouted into the COM. Felix’s only response was a wordless grunt as he focussed on flying. “Five,” I cried and then the ships exploded and I was flying through the Phantom’s interior. I slammed against a bulkhead and everything went black...


----------



## Shattertheirsky

He loved it he did. LOVED IT. This shit was what he lived for. Payne climbed into the drop pod without any hesitation, stowing his shotgun and relaxing as the door sealed and his green light went on. Payne's pod was one of the last to go, and the feelings of inertia instantly hit him. He grinned as he fell, going light headed. 'DAMN RIGHT, FEET FIRST INTO HELL' he screamed to nobody in particular. He looked out the glass panel at the warzone below, crumbling buildings, fires raging.. Not quite the swamps of Miasma that he had grown to love, but it would do.

Something was wrong, Payne felt the pod's descent speed up, moreso than usual. At this altitude, if anything, the pod should be slowing down. Suddenly there was a crash and a huge shockwave rippled through the pod, the sound of tortured metal ringing in his ears. The pod started spinning out of control briefly, forcing Payne to activate the emergeny retro-thrusters, slowing the descent and stopping the pod from spinning. 'Dammit, you hit me! Learn to fly dumbass!' Came a voice over the radio. Payne was pretty sure it was that girl, McKnight. 'My bad' He chuckled, bracing for impact.

The pod hit the ground hard, jarring Payne's legs. He grabbed the shotgun and punched open the door, denting it with his fist. The door smacked into a grunt, pinning it to the ground under its weight. Payne stalked forward, pressing his shotgun to the grunt's temple before pulling the trigger, showering the road in gore. He looked back at his pod. There was a giant gash in the side from where he collided with McKnight. Shit, had she landed safely? His thought process was cut short when he spotted a brute with a mauler laying down fire on Gorilla squad. Payne dropped the brute to its knees with a shot to the back of the kneecap, before finishing it with a shot to the head. It slumped unceremoniously onto the curb, Payne giving it a kick for good measure. Hearing Lancaster calling to breach the building, Payne opened up the radio channel. 'Coming boss, Close Quarters fighting? Step into my office'


----------



## HOGGLORD

The Covies were pulling back. Fawkes couldn't believe his eyes. The covenant were actually moving back, fighting like devils while they did so, but pulling back nonetheless. Then Fawkes realised they were fortifying the landing zone. Turrets and mortars were being set in place. The snipers were doing their best to put down the grunts before they could emplace these weapons, but jackal sniper teams were retaliating. Purple streaks flicked towards the building on which Fawkes was standing with the other four ODSTs. Needles embedded themselves in the concrete walls and, after a few moments, burst into tiny fragments. 

The remainder of Gorilla and Shark squads were clearing the skyscraper opposite the LZ obviously attempting to take it from the bottom floor upwards, tough job for fifty odd floors down, then another fifty up though. A few ODSTs had landed in the streets and were fighting off groups of scavenging jackals. They were surrounded, but in good cover and using their guns to maximum effect.

Lancaster's team was moving forward fast, Fawkes could see them pressing up, bodies of grunts jackals and elites falling away from their implacable advance. They had cleared the top four floors and were almost at the bridge between the two buildings. However, Fawkes could see several unarmed grunts waddling away from the bridge, their was armour different from that of their kin's usual garb. Demolitions.

"John, hold up." Fawkes cautioned. "I think they've set up explosives on the bridge, you've got to clear all the covies out before you move across or they'll blow it. Fawkes then saw a group of militia, maybe twelve or thirteen of them, a few had assault rifles, though most had primitive MP grade guns, awkward, difficult to maintain weapons that had gone out of service in the early 22nd century. They were falling back and Fawkes saw why. Reinforced by two dozen grunts, a pair of hulking Hunters were approaching, fuel rod guns blasting the doorway apart just after the militia had scampered through into the ODSTs.

"John!" Fawkes yelled in warning, but had to tear his eyes away from the larger part of his squad when he heard a noise behind him and saw half a dozen brutes, led by a gravity hammer wielding leader, smash down the door at the far end of the thirty meter long room that he and the other handful of ODSTs were suspended outside of. Fawkes crouched low, gently drawing a rough square on the glass about two meters wide and two meters high with his combat knife. There was a quiet scratching noise against the glass, like a fork being scraped against a plate.

The brutes were searching the room, sniffing and spinning their crude spikers. At the end of the room were the two high ranking brutes, one was leaning unconcernedly on his gravity hammer, the other was testing the blade of a huge brute shot. Fawkes moved fast. Pressing his battle rifle to the glass, he fired through at the nearest brute. The ape like beast's shields flashed bright for a moment and the glass, slightly weakened where the knife had cut into it, shattered only in the square Fawkes had made, not perfectly, but enough so that the ODSTs could get through.

"Mcknight, you." he gestured towards the Gorilla ODST. "Stay here and try to kill those turrets and mortars. Hooper, Collins, we've got to take these big ugly bastards down." He stepped through the glass, battle rifle blazing.

OOC:
Sangus, Shattertheirsky, G0arr & Son of Azurman: Hunters and grunts are attacking! Fight them. If you take a hunter, you can't take anything else, you can otherwise take up to six grunts. If you want, militia are there to help or die as you see fit.

Mannfred, Po-D: Clear the room of Brutes,no more than one boss and one normal brute or two normal brutes each (Po-D, you can't use the rocket launcher inside or the building might collapse, which would really ruin everyone's day.)

Josie: Snipe the jackal snipers, you can kill four.

Spartans: PMed you're objective.


----------



## Sangus Bane

John led the team through the halls, fighting from one staircase to another to make sure they wouldn't get boxed in. They had already secured several floors and John was more than pleased he had Payne drop right next to him.
The ODST had used his shotgun with great effect and several Covies had met an untimely and unpleasant death at the end of its barrel.

"John, hold up." Fawkes cautioned over the radio. "I think they've set up explosives on the bridge, you've got to clear all the Covies out before you move across or they'll blow it.''

''Copy that, can you give me an estimate on the amount of resistance?'' John asked as he signaled the group of ODST's to press on.

''John!'' Fawkes yelled over the radio but John could already see what Fawkes was trying to warn him about.
A group of men and women came crashing though a door and John nearly shot one of them. Behind them was the real problem, a pair of Hunters accompanied by a group of Grunts.

The men and women went for cover as two green projectiles destroyed the doorway they came through, not all of them dived away in time, at least one was killed when he was enveloped by the green explosions and another one was hurled away with such a tremendous force John could only hope for the man he was dead.
John could feel the splinters of the wooden decoration crash into his armor and the heat of the explosion caused for a red symbol to flash briefly on his HUD.
''Payne! Zetan!'' John shouted at his squad mates. ''I sure hope you guys aren't scared of something five times your size.''
Payne seemed to laugh inside his armor, but John wasn't sure. Zetan simply readied his weapon.
''Go get 'em.'' John eventually said as the ODSTs came out of cover and started firing on the Hunters and their companions.

John took a grenade from his belt, tossing it just behind one of the Hunters.
When the grenade exploded the floor was blown down and several Grunts were blown back.
No kills, yet the grenade had done exactly what John had wanted it to do: blowing away the Hunter's relatively weak back armor.

The creature was infuriated by the pain the grenade inflicted on its back and it swept its shielded arm through a wall, hitting one of the militia members and killing him instantly. 

John aimed for a soft spot and fired two bursts, the first hitting the armored plating of the Hunter's leg, the second burst ripping apart the Lekgolo that made up the knee of the creature. It stumbled and roared angrily at John, something he would have found nerve wrecking if it hadn't already happened on dozens of occasions.
The Hunter charged its cannon and fired much sooner than John anticipated. 

John was lucky however, the shot missed him completely. 
''Cover me!'' John said to a man with an old looking rifle.
The man nodded frantically as he wiped the sweat and dirt off his face.
John vaulted over a table and took a Needler from a dead Grunt.
The Hunter still squirmed on the ground its leg failing to support him.

John pressed the Needler against the Hunter's exposed back and released the entire magazine into the creature, after which a violent purple explosion blew the Needler from John's hands.
John shook the haze from his eyes and saw the Hunter lay dead on the ground, its insides destroyed by the purple explosion.


----------



## son of azurman

The squad led by Lancaster secured floor after floor gunning down aliens anywhere they hid, Zetan and Payne had point breaching doorway after doorway as payne dealt great damage with his shotgun Zetan used his smg to suppress and distract allowing the others to pick them off with ease. Approximately half way down the building abridge connecting the two buildings met the squad, As covies ran across the bridge Fawkes’s voice could be heard over Lancaster’s radio. The sergeant spoke of charges on the bridge and any step on the bridge would mean their death.

Before they could make their way across safely an explosion from behind shook the squad and sent wooden splinters flying. As Zetan bolted around he saw two hunters and a handful of grunts, The aliens were chasing some local militia all of which carried very old weaponry probably from the early 22nd century. 

''Payne! Zetan!'' Lancaster shouted at his squad mates. ''I sure hope you guys aren't scared of something five times your size.''

Immediately Zetan readied his battle rifle as he slid his smg into his leg holster, Lancaster was busy taking out one of the hunters and Payne seemed insistent on taking on the other so Zetan turned his sights to the grunts. First releasing a couple of bursts he took down three grunts straight away, next he ran at them sliding his battle rifle onto his back and unsheathing his knife, Zetan stabbed the blade deep into the skull of one grunt before kicking the corpse into another grunt sending the two off the edge of the building. with 5 grunts down Zetan ran over to an injured militia and used a plank of wood to splint the mans leg and used the mans jacket to stop the bleeding.


----------



## G0arr

The small squad of ODST cleared through several floors. It all seemed a little slow in Joseph’s mind. Most of it was the order that they breached rooms. Payne was first; the man carried a shotgun so it only made sense. After him the order seemed to always place Joseph as one of the last men through the door. In the last 4 floors he had only spent only one clip.

Moving at the rear of the squad Joseph glanced back to the stairwell they had descended through. At least it was better than the ship. Here a stray shot or bad grenade wouldn’t end with men trying to suck void. The ammo readout on his weapon showed 32, only because it didn’t read the one round waiting in the chamber. 

As Joseph turned back to the advance the radio crackled to life. The message was for Lancaster. The private almost didn’t listen until he heard the word explosives, then he began to pay attention. Lancaster’s reply was an assessment of the enemy between them and the bridge. As he waited for a reply the rest of them continued past. The reply was a loud name, “John!”

Joseph spun as the doorway ahead of the squad burst open. There were people running toward them. Militia was his guess. As the sudden instinct to fire left Joseph saw the look on almost every face. “Cover,” he shouted spinning to a door beside him. With a single kick the wooden door cracked into the empty room. 
As Joseph spun into position against the frame, the doorway ahead of the squad exploded. It was a heavy green detonation, something akin to a rocket launcher. “Or fuel rod guns,” Joseph corrected himself seeing the hunters. The militiamen were scrambling in the hall, making it all the harder to aim.
“In here,” Joseph shouted getting attention of a few men and women. Three or four dove behind him and began to pant. 
A short burst ended one of the grunts in a spray of gore, but there were still more.
A sudden stray thought struck Joseph. “Fawkes,” he called over the radio, “Can you see the explosives out there?”
“Negative,” the reply came, “spotted a grunt demo team.”
“Where?”

One of the militia, Olivia, checked her rifle and looked up at the ODST standing in the doorway. She wiped at the dirt and sweat covering her face. “So glad to see you boys,” she said fumbling with her last magazine. 
The ODST fired another short burst. It was followed with a pop, hiss, and thud as one of the grunts was sent rocketing into a glass pane. 
The helljumper turned slightly. “What can you tell me about the sky bridge,” he asked resuming the battle in the hall. 
Another fast burst filled the room. “What did you see before you came here?”
Olivia closed her eyes and tried to ignore the weapons fire as an image formed in her mind. “They drove us back. The bridge was lost.”
“How long,” the ODST asked squeezing off another burst. Something squealed in the hallway as a pair of plasma blasts tore chunks of the doorframe out.
“10 maybe 15 minuets.” The helljumper stepped into the room for the first time. Olivia couldn’t see a face but knew he was looking at her. “Did you see any demolitions?”
“Maybe,” one of the others said, “a few of the little bastards waddled out onto the bridge, never fired a shot. Didn’t see what they were up to, we never had time.”
“Have you seen a detonator?” The soldier’s tone was flat and almost demanding.
“No,” was the reply, “Never had time to look really.”
The helljumper turned back toward the hall. “Get your wounded out of danger. We have this one covered.”
Olivia shook her head. “Thank you,” she said. Her only reply was the sound of weapons fire, and a pair of running feet.

Joseph sprinted into the hall. His eyes darted at arrayed Covenant creatures. None of them appeared to have a detonator. That much was expected, there was probably something else waiting to set it off.
The ODST only slowed to scoop something off a fallen grunt. He sprinted past several of the little creatures taking cover behind a broken chunk of wall. Two of the grunts stood almost confused while the last fired at the now fleeing foe with its pistol. It prepared to follow as a squeal of surprise caught its attention. It spun back expecting to see another of the humans charging. The unlucky grunt spent the rest of its life trying to understand the other creatures cries of distress. It never saw the plasma grenade attached to its breathing tank.
As the explosion shattered glass behind him Joseph freed his pistol. The weapon gave better control of shots, and if needed the scope would allow him to engage with more range than his rifle allowed. 

The sky bridge was empty as Joseph arrived. He slid to a halt and took a heavy breath before lifting his pistol. The crosshairs traced the far side for a moment before he spotted the grunts. “Hell no you don’t,” he said squeezing the trigger. Glass shattered as the first of the little things flopped forward. Another squealed before the second shell fired. Blood splattered onto the floor. 
Joseph stopped as the last of them either disappeared, or lay in a pool of its own blood. Now came the hard part. He scanned the floor and walls. There were only so many places the charges could be. Cautiously he glanced for any threats. What he spotted wasn’t any living target. The thing was roughly the size of a marine helmet with a single small blinking circle. There was nothing about the flashing symbols that Joseph could understand, but the disappearing light in the circle he could understand perfectly well. 
“This is Davis to Lancaster or Fawkes. I’ve spotted,” he glanced around the sky bridge as he moved to put something solid between him and the explosives, “three charges on the bridge. Haven’t found a trigger yet, but these things look like their on timers. We hauling ass, or do I need to disarm?” Of course disarm was more of a generalized term, wouldn’t sound quite the same if he said ‘Toss these damn things out a window.’


----------



## Mannfred

Hooper growled into his helmet. He _hated_ brutes. Just so damned hard to kill!

Keeping his priorities sorted, Hooper straight away fired through the glass opening at the top of the gravity hammer, knocking it over and hopefully giving him enough time to kill the owner. Hooper gritted his teeth and kept on firing at the head of the damned creature, but it just wouldn't drop. Eventually the helmet was knocked off, Hooper hissed with satisfaction and sent one final round through the creature's skull. And a second one because the thing still didn't die.

As Collins began squeezing rounds off into the room Hooper advanced forwards, keeping low, getting ready to provide covering fire when Collins needed to reload. Hooper floored as Collins' bullets ceased, and provided his own fire. The hunters were running around now though, and Hooper didn't have the chance to focus on one brute to kill it, they just accepted bullets like pins. Hooper looked over his scope and smiled, a lesser brute had seen the leader's dead body, and the hammer on the ground, and had picked it up himself, with childlish glee. It roared throatily and ran towards Hooper, swinging wildly.

_Oh shit!_

Hooper desperately drew his knife and scrambled off the ground. He fired a couple of one-handed shots at the brute, angering it a little, and had to drop his DMR. The brute swung widly, missing my miles as Hooper ducked. He gritted his teeth as the deafening explosion of the hammer impacting the wall was failed to be fully dampened by his helmet. Knife in hand, he jumped onto the brute's back, as it tried to retrieve the hammer from the wall, and desperately began stabbing it in the back of the neck. It's skin was just so damn tough!

The pair must have made quite a sight as they waltzed around aimlessly, Hooper raising the knife above his head again and again, and the beast staggering around. After what seemed like an interminable amount of time, the thing finally realised it should be dead by now and sank to the ground, rumbling. Shots immediately started raining down on Hooper again, and he cursed that he had left his rifle some 10 metres behind him. He pulled out his Magnum, not even sure if he would do any damage against the brutes. At least it would help, he guessed.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire gently lay down the Rocket Launcher, careful not to make a sound and notify the Brutes of her location. 
She took the SMG which hang from her hip and checked to see if there was a full magazine in it.

Before she had finished her check however Fawkes opened fire on the Brutes and she slammed the magazine back into the SMG.
She started firing bursts at the group of Brutes, the bullets impacting on their plates or burying themselves into the thick hides of the apes, angering them more than they harmed the creatures.
Two of the Brutes dropped dead at their collective fire however and Claire was under the impression this would be quick and without much trouble.

The thought was banished from her mind a mere second later however, when a Brute picked up a Gravity hammer from one if its fallen comrades
It stormed towards the ODSTs with a roar which sounded much like a dark laugh.
Claire rolled away, though she quickly saw the Brute hadn't been coming for her. Instead it was trying to kill Hooper, with little success.

Hooper climbed the raging ape and jammed his knife into the things neck.
Thinking Hooper had finished the Brute with his knife Claire returned to the fight at hand, again firing bursts at the Brutes at the other side of the room.

When she had to reload she heard a roar dangerously close to her right.
She looked over her shoulder just when a Brute, with Hooper on its back slammed into her, knocking her to the floor before she skidded towards the windows.
She slammed into the glass, breaking it and for a minute she though she was tumbling out of the sky scraper.

Something pulled hard at her arm though and she saw Fawkes grabbing her by the wrist just before she was fully over the edge.
''Hang on!'' Fawkes said as he pulled hard to get her legs over the edge and she could get back on her feet on her own.
She placed one foot on the ground and jumped away from the broken window, just in time to throw herself out of the trajectory of a spike grenade.
''Thanks!'' She shouted at Fawkes, who had already continued shooting at the last couple of Brutes.

Still without a gun Claire eagerly sought for a weapon on the floor.
And there it was, a Brute Spiker.
She grabbed it and the lights on the weapon started glowing, indicating its activation.
She aimed the weapon for one of the Brutes, a leader, judging on the armour. 
She fired the Spiker, sending six nails towards the Brute, pinning its arm to the wall behind him.
It roared in agonizing pain and furious anger as it failed to free itself.
Another burst from the Spiker punctured the Brutes's abdomen and legs, pinning his left leg to the wall as well and tearing the flesh of off the right leg.

It sobbed and squealed as another nail punctured a lung, rendering the creature unable to breath.
It slowly suffocated on the blood flowing into its lungs.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

Payne laughed, almost a cackle as he finished shotgunning the terrified grunts. 'Does that hurt?' He asked, 'Oh god I hope that hurt' he answered, before laughing manically again. The fireteam regrouped, all seemingly unhurt. The sound of gunfire echoed from outside. Massive plasma discharge.... 'Fuel Rods?' Payne suggested, before peeking around the corner. The scene that greeted him was grim. Two hunters and a horde of grunts were systematically eradicating the militia defenders. Payne returned to the cover of the doorway. 'Nope, we got two big 'un's and a ton of little 'un's' He said. The squad fanned out, all grimacing at the obliteration of another group of militia. Payne slid into cover with a group of terrified militia. 'Right you lot, I'm going for one of the hunters. You had better give me some covering fire or you'll have more than just the covvies to contend with' Payne let this sink in as the militia weighed up whether they were more terrified of the covenant or the gore soaked ODST before them.

Payne dived out of cover, sprinting, hunched so as to keep as low to the ground as possible, the militia firing wild and unaimed shots in the general direction of the enemy. The hunter closest was too preoccupied with another group of militia to notice him sprinting. Payne lined up the shot when he was about three metres away, the slug smashing into the hunter's lower back. The hunter roared, but didn't go down, much to Payne surprise, instead turning and smashing him with its shield. He went flying, struck a wall, and everything went black.

When he awoke a few seconds later, the hunter was still there, blasting away at the militia. Payne blinked, trying to regain vision, his ears filled with a ringing, blood pumping. He had a huge headache, and groaned. He reached for his shotgun, his fingers curling around the butt. The hunter noticed the movement and turned, charging its cannon. Payne reacted by discharging a shot in the general direction of the hunter, to little effect. 'Well this is it, game over' Payne thought to himself, bracing himself. Suddenly there was a massive crash, and Payne looked up to see part of the floor collapsing inwards, crushing the hunter. It feel forwards, cannon firing wildly, vaporising a grunt. It landed in front of Payne, who was still propped up against the wall, still alive. Payne grimaced, 'Fuck that was too close', as he fired point blank into the hunter's head, before standing up, an effort in itself.


----------



## HOGGLORD

Post

Fawkes pushed the muzzle of his magnum against the twitching brute's skull. The beast had been paralysed by a round in it's spine. The monster glowered defiantly at Fawkes until the pistol unloaded a shot, framing the brute's head with a splatter of blood.

Dusting himself off, Fawkes stood and looked around at the rest of he team. They had performed admirably, six brutes dead in a couple of minutes was impressive on any record.

The rest of the squad was mopping up the rest of the grunts, the two hunters were slumped, dead, on the floor. Orange blood was splattered on the windows. One of the militiamen, emboldened by the death of the hunter, bravely stuck a kick at it's limp side. He laughed and said something to his friend then leapt back as a spew of dead, worm like creatures poured out and pooled from under the hunter's armour.

Fawkes dragged Collins' rocket launcher out of the lift as the two snipers walked into the room. Collins hauled the weapon onto her shoulder and Fawkes looked over to assess the situation across the street.

There wasn't a whole lot that Lancaster's team could do to safely remove the explosives without harming the militia or the ODSTs on the street below.

He heard rapid footsteps coming from the door.

"Guys." He called, levelling his rifle to the doorway. As the footsteps got closer, he tensed. Through the doorway came a UNSC pilot who levelled his magnum at the ODSTs and lowered it when he saw who was there.

"Thank God!" He cried fervently, sagging with relief. He waved them over. Fawkes approached and the pilot began to speak.

"Can you guys help me out?" He asked. "I've got to get supplies to some militia about a mile down. Can you clear a way to my hornet? There's a load of jackals up there and they're gonna get the supplies if we don't move fast."

Fawkes thought for a moment.

"We'll help, but you've got to drop two of us by the building opposite."

The pilot nodded and Fawkes waved the team through the door.

"John, stay put, Collins is coming over now, she can defuse the bombs. "


OOC:

Josie, Mannfred, P O-D: move up the stairs, keep the pilot alive & kill the Jackals. Max 5 each.

Sangus, shattertheirsky, G0arr & S o A: You wait by the bridge when dozens of jackal scavengers come pouring through, they have energy knives or plasma pistols. You can kill up to 7 each. Hold them off.

P.s. I did all this on my iPod, so sorry for any typos.


----------



## Sangus Bane

John was satisfied with the kills the ODSTs had scored to say the least, though he knew the militia had helped quite a bit.
''Nice one, Payne.'' John said as he saw a Grunt with dozens of small holes spread over it's body, clearly the work of a shotgun.

A member of the militia kicked the Hunter John had killed a moment ago and jumped back, startled by the worms crawling from the Hunter.
John stepped on two of them and others followed his example, almost turning it onto a sport. Hell of a sport that would be.

''John, stay put, Collins is coming over now, she can defuse the bombs." Fawkes voice came over the radio.
''Copy that.'' John said. He immediately wondered how the ODST would be getting to him however.
''Sir, how exactly is she going to get here?'' John asked as he scraped his boot over the remains of a table to get some of the orange gore off.

''We're airlifting her to you, we're going to secure a Hornet parked nearby.''
''Copy that, sir.'' John replied. ''We'll be waiting.'' He finished and he signaled the ODSTs to stay put.
''Sir, David Anderson, I lead the group of militia, or what's left of it.'' A middle aged man said to John, just when John was turning around to the man a Jackal creature jumped from a vent in the ceiling, pushing an energy knife in Anderson's shoulder blade.

More Jackals came pouring into the room, some through the vent, others through the doorway the Hunters came through.

John reached for his side arm. Pulling the Magnum from its holster, aligning it with the Jackal stabbing Anderson and firing it one one smooth motion.
The Jackal's face met the back of its skull as a round went straight through its head.

Others started firing, one militia member actually pulled a knife of his own and engaged one of the Jackals in a knife fight.
John fired three rounds with his Magnum, killing another Jackal before it could fire the large green ball of plasma at the end of its plasma pistol.

''Everybody, get back to back or they will get you from behind! Force them out!'' John shouted as he emptied his Magnum, killing two more Jackals.
He felt an armoured back press against his, obviously an ODST though he didn't take the time to check who it was, he didn't really have the time.

He kicked another knife wielding Jackal away, his heavy boot obviously breaking a bone as he heard a loud crack when he hit the thing. The Jackal came at him again and John punched it in the head until it went limp in his hands.
''No! Please, no!'' one of the militia members cried out as three Jackals dragged him out through the doorway. 

John quickly reloaded his Magnum and fired at the three Jackals, killing one but the others got away with their price.


----------



## son of azurman

The man’s bleeding had stopped but he continued to moan so with a swift movement Zetan slapped the man across the back of the head shutting him up. Once the man was comfortable Zetan stood up to see Lancaster talk with the militia leader. before they could exchange pleasantries a jackal came from the air vent stabbing the civilian in the back with its energy knife. Lancaster got a headshot on the assassin but not before the man died of blood loss, before anyone else could react more jackals came in from both the air vents and the doorway.

“take this ya critters,”yelled Zetan releasing a couple of bursts from his battle rifle striking down two running towards him.

“Everybody, get back to back or they will get you from behind,”instructed Lancaster gunning down a few covies.

Zetan quickly threw the injured militia over his shoulder dropping his battle rifle and switching to his smg, Spraying a magazine at the approaching forces killing four at first then when a knife wielding jackal leaped at him he released a whole magazine into its gut.

Zetan ran over to the assembled group readying another magazine in preparation of holding off the attackers


----------



## Josie

'Collins, Corporal Hooper, I'll stay on the pilot if you two clear the route.' McKnight suggested. 'You, stay on me, don't wanna get grabbed by the beasties' McKnight giggled, the pilot looking slightly disconcerted. 'Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise' She gave a reassuring smile. 

The team set off at a fast pace, keeping watchful for hostiles, McKnight at all times on the shoulder of the pilot. About half way up the stairs, the team ran into a jackal patrol, Collins and Hooper sprinting off ahead, whilst McKnight pulled the pilot behind the cover of a nearby fallen pillar. 'Just keep your head down alright' She said, cocking her pistol and poking her head out. She couldn't see the other two, but could hear gunfire. A pair of jackals were approaching, and picked her out with their keen vision, firing potshots at her before ducking behind their shields. McKnight ducked as the plasma rounds flew over her, before rising again, taking careful aim assisted by her helmets's target finders, before squeezing the trigger, hitting one in the eye. 'Gotcha' She shouted, checking to see the pilot was alright. He was, he was sitting right were she had left him, looking slightly worried, but alive nonetheless. She poked her head out again, raising her pistol...

Nothing. The corpse of the Jackal she had shot earlier was still there, but the other one was gone. Fuck, where was it. Something heavy slumped against her leg, then writhed. Jennifer looked down to see the pilot, staring up at her, wide-eyed, a dirty scorch mark on his shoulder armour, part of it burnt through, searing the fleah. His mouth was wide in a soundless scream. He blinked, good, at least he was still alive. McKnight looked up to see the source of the shot. That sneaky bastard Jackal had managed to get round the side. Jennifer rolled to the side, avoiding its follow up shot, raising her pistol and firing wildly, snagging the jackal's leg, bringing it down, then finishing it off with a shot to the temple. 'Collins, Hooper, the pilots wounded, I'm bringing him up to you.' She said into the radio, before picking the wounded man up and hobbling up the steps with him towards the other two.


----------



## Santaire

Darkness faded, before suddenly being banished by a slew of warning lights on my HUD. I activated them, and could only watch as my suit’s statistics were reeled off.

_Shield Systems at 18%
Suit Integrity at 73% - Void operations no longer viable
Stealth Systems at 100%
Mobility at 90%_

I rebooted my HUD, brightening my vision that slowly coalesced into a view of my surroundings. I heaved my legs up as fast as I could immediately afterwards, for it had been no wonder I couldn’t feel anything beneath my feet. There hadn’t been for almost sixty metres. I pulled myself up onto the huge branch, for it was nearly two foot in width and then I stood. “Felix,” I spoke quietly into my helmet COM. “Felix?”

Then I saw him lying motionless below me in the wreckage of the Phantom and fear gripped my heart, fear for a man I loved more than any brother. Despair fermenting in my mind I began to climb frantically down the tree, moving as fast as I could. Then, as I landed on a branch only twenty metres above the ground I saw him shift, pushing himself up to all fours before looking up. I nodded, my gesture devoid of the despair that had gripped my heart. He returned my nod, but his COM relay and IFF tag were both disabled.

Then he stiffened and I saw a group of people move into the clearing around the crashed Phantom a moment later. Over fifteen of them, only some wearing UNSC armour and uniforms. I scowled at that, recognizing insurrectionists when I saw them. The soldiers like me and Felix, and the ODSTs of Squad Phoenix; we were the ones that protected humanity from the Covenant but the fucking insurrectionists assumed they could hide from the Covenant. I wouldn’t have minded if the whole lot of them burned under the guns of the Covenant ships.

But I wasn’t there to kill humans and if I knew Felix at all, he would think the same as me. I reached over my shoulder for my sniper rifle and felt nothing, so I looked up. I saw the rifle, swinging on its sling from a branch at the top of the tree. Though I could see no damage, I was far too low to be able to anyway and it would take too long to climb back up the tree in order to get it and use it. Instead I pulled out my pistol and took out a knock-out clip for it from a mag-pouch at my hip.

Pushing it into the mag-well of the pistol I pulled the slide back. I did it all slowly, for even though he had modified his weapons to be quieter there was a chance of the sound still being heard by the insurrectionists. After all, one of the ODSTs reloading their pistols would be almost deafening when in the kind of stealth missions I was part of.

I aimed carefully and fired a dart that hit one of the insurrectionists in the side of the neck. He dropped silently.

I jumped down the tree, landing with a quiet thud. I slipped away from my landing spot and watched as one of the insurrectionists came to investigate the noise. “Sloppy,” I growled inside my helmet as I stepped forward and dug my fingers into the pressure points on the back of his neck. As he dropped I drove him into the ground with a punch to the temple, a punch that was powerful enough to keep him out for the count for quite a while. I saw Felix taking out another insurrectionist, though for all I knew he could have taken out more of the cowardly bastards.

We moved together as we dashed into the centre of the insurrectionists.

We were Spartan IIIs, not Spartan IIs. We weren’t heavily armoured warriors capable of shrugging of grenade hits. They were heavily armed with stolen UNSC equipment. Even if they lacked armour, they were more heavily armoured than the average squad of marines.

They had no chance whatsoever.

We attacked swiftly, taking them down easily. Every blow was placed with perfect precision and the necessary amount of force to knock them out cold. I couldn’t remember the passages of that fight for it all happened so fast. When compared with what came later, that was insignificant and I view it as such. But then, I couldn’t care about anything other than bringing justice to a group of cowardly bastards. They dropped like stones until, as I went for one of the final insurrectionists he raised his SMG and opened fire. The bullets punched through my weakened shield and hit me in the chest-plate, knocking me backwards and stunning me. He reloaded, raised the weapon and I saw his finger squeezing the trigger...


----------



## Mannfred

Hooper nodded quickly.

*"Sounds like the closest we'll ever get to a plan."*

He stooped down to pick up his DMR, and checked it over, quickly performing the NSP's to check it was still functional. He patted it gently, all perfect and smooth. Heading up the stairs, he leant against the door and closed his eyes, listened. Indeed, plenty of jackals by the sound of it, waiting for Collins to join him, he nodded, and kicked the door down, ducking out the way to allow Collins to fire. He then swung round and joined in himself, firing much slower than Collins in his usual methodic, precise way. Breathe, fire, headshot, wait for recoil.. Breathe out, breathe in, fire.. Rinse and repeat. The first jackal's head exploded messily, sending the nearby jackals into a panic. Two more fell, and then the group started focussing fire. Hooper returned to cover to avoid the hail of plasma and splinters, firing off a shot that hit a jackel in the shoulder. Frowning, Hooper closed his eyes in frustration. He waited for a brief lull in the barrage, and swung out again, blind firing at the wounded Jackal. It killed it and the round careened into the leg of its companion, knocking it to the floor as it screamed, its alien nature being no more apparent than now..

Collins finished off the group and Hooper absently walked up to the wounded Jackal, kicking it in the head vigorously, snapping its fragile neck.


----------



## G0arr

For a few seconds the world seemed quiet. Standing against a wall looking out to the blinking explosive devices it almost seemed surreal. Support was only a short distance away, the bomb tech was on her way, and even the sounds of battle seemed to die away. _Hell yeah_, Joseph thought, _cake walk!_ A quick weapons check ensured combat readiness. Finally he glanced around the room that was his temporary combat post.

The room had once been an office. A single large desk dominated the rear with several scattered papers and picture frames. With a smile Joseph jerked a padded chair from the floor. “Yeah,” he said sitting it up, “it’s all looking up.” With all his extra gear it was going to be a tight squeeze.

As he moved to sit Joseph looked at the desk. There was a picture of a woman and child. They both looked happy in some park that, by now, was some warzone. There was a twinge of wonder in the soldier’s mind. Who were these people?
There was a shout from nearby. The chaos of battle filled the air in an instant. Joseph cleared the desk with a thump. Behind him the picture fell with a crack. 

Jackals were charging into the others as Joseph glanced toward them. Several of the things were dropping from vents into the defenders while more charged through nearby doorways. “Right,” the helljumper said, “time to get back to work.” 

There was a skittering overhead as Joseph moved to assist. “Vents,” he said looking up. A small smirk formed on his lips, “Right.” The jackals were still coming, like rats in a maze they had crawled looking for the right one. “You found us,” he aimed his assault rifle up tracing the vents toward the others, “Time to get your cheese.” 
The rounds punched through the thin paneling, sailed through a layer of insulation, and tore into the thin metal vents. Most of the rounds continued to the floor above almost unimpeded by the thin materials, but there were a few that never pierced through the vents a second time. These were punctuated not by a thud, but a squeal and something thrashing then the eventual drip of blood.
The counter reached 0, and Joseph released the trigger. A clip clacked to the ground as he reached one of the small vents. A wounded jackal collapsed through with a thump. Blood oozed from its chest and head. “Tell your friends surprise,” the trooper said pulling a small ball from a pouch. He turned and tossed it into the vent overhead. It clacked against metal, and came to rest several feet in against another creature. It squealed in panic for a second. The only thing it could see from the sudden shards of light was white letters PFRAG.

Chunks of insulation and tile were blown toward the ground as a new clip was locked into place. Close by a man cried out as he was pulled through a doorway. The militiaman kicked and screamed, “God No!” His cries were panic and fear. One of the Jackals dove atop him with a knife in hand. The man shouted for help, he shouted for someone, he shouted in fear. His reply was the sound of rifle fire, and a spray of blood. 
The others turned as they reached for weapons. There stood the unmistakable sight of an ODST walking with his weapon aimed. Needler rounds sprayed as another jackal flailed. Bullets punctured its chest and arms. The other jumped back freeing its plasma pistol. The first shot was wide, the second flashed inches from an armored leg, there was never a third. The creature collapsed into a heap with four holes across its torso.

The militiaman looked up with wide eyes. “Oh thank god,” he said still shaking. “Don’t think god,” the helljumper said kicking the plasma pistol closer, “We ain’t done yet.”


----------



## Shattertheirsky

It all happened pretty quickly. One minute the guy was talking to Lancaster, the next, the room was flooded with Jackals. 'Shit, that escalated quickly' Payne thought to himself. He faced the problem that the Jackals were still to far away to be using his shotgun effectively at, so turned around to cover their arses. The sound of the vicious melee raged behind him as Payne leveled his shotgun at the likely points of attack.

His patience was rewarded when a jackal popped out of a vent a few metres in front of him, its skull quickly disintegrated by a blast of buckshot. 'Behind us' Payne shouted, firing at the next jackal to emerge, but more and more were beginning to flood from the windows and the vents. 'Shit, we're gonna get hemmed in'. He stood up, taking a step back from the gibbering mass of jackals rapidly approaching, then bumped into something solid. Payne spun, leveling his shotgun, before realizing that he had in fact walked backwards into Lancaster. 'Sorry boss' Payne grunted, Lancaster taking no notice, instead continuing to blast away at the jackals. There was a scream, followed by the sound of Lancaster rapidly firing. Payne looked up to see three, then, two, (courtesy of Lancaster) jackals dragging away a screaming militia. 'Shit' Payne thought, jackals had the tendency to play with their prey, and he couldn't let that happen. Slapping Lancaster on the shoulder to tell him to cease fire, Payne sprinted forward, into the dark.

The room was dimly lit, and it took a few seconds for his eyes to readjust. In the corner were the two jackals, standing over the prone militia, knives drawn. One was laughing, having just stabbed the militia in the thigh. The poor guy was screaming as the energy blade was removed sizzling from his flesh. Payne raised his shotgun, aiming down the sight, but stopped when he realised that he risked hitting the militia. Sighing, he charged in with reckless abandon, bowling over one of the jackals, before repeatedly punching it in the face. He felt something grab him, and he was thrown backwards. The other jackal stood over him, its knife raised. It thrust it downwards, aiming for his heart. Payne lunged up, catching its arm, then, grunting with the exertion, turned it inwards, fighting the jackal until it found purchase in its ribs, then forced the blade in further until it stopped struggling. He sat up, the other jackal getting up also. Payne took a step forward, grasping it by it's neck, then thrust it up against the wall, removing his pistol from it's holster, placing it against its temple, and executing it.

The militia was in a bad shape, and there was no way he was walking out of here. Payne grabbed the poor sod's collar armour, and, hefting his shotgun in front of him with one hand, dragged the militia out, into the light, safety, and back to the team.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire fired two more bursts with her SMG, emptying the clip to kill the last two grunts and a Jackal.

As the Jackal slowly dropped dead the ODSTs and the pilot made their way onto the landing pad, and indeed, there was a parked Hornet. 

She had flown a Hornet once or twice. It didn't feel right, she had always been more keen on blowing them up.
She was UNSC now, however, and that meant she could no longer do that, right?

The pilot thanked them.
''Don't forget your part of the bargain.'' Claire told him as she looked over the edge of the landing pad, estimating the height and the distance to the other tower; High and far, were her estimations.

What a view, though.
It almost made her forget what a shitty situation she was in.

Playing to be a person she really wasn't, in the middle of a warzone no less.

At least she hadn't died yet, she deemed herself lucky for that fact.

Although there had been no sign of her luck since she woke up from cryo; the pilot was injured, Claire had fired more bullets into the walls than into enemies and she had nearly fell out of a window. So far things had been going great.

And now she was to disarm a bomb... Lets just hope her luck was going to catch up with her.

''So, is it just going to be lil' ol' me? Or is someone tagging along?'' Claire asked Fawkes. ''Sir.'' She added quickly, remembering her position.


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes entered the hangar, lowering his rifle and surveying the room. The hornet was in the middle of the room, bulky boxes of supplies were attatched to an improvised container. Collins appeared behind him and he turned to face her. 

''So, is it just going to be lil' ol' me? Or is someone tagging along?'' She asked Fawkes, hastily adding a ''Sir.'' as an afterthought. Fawkes quickly assessed the situation. Through the opening doors of the hangar, Fawkes could see the others. They seemed in control of the situation, though bodies were carpeting the floor, fortunately, they were covenant ones.

"Right, Collins." He began. "Get on the hornet, I'm afraid nobody's going to be keeping you company on this trip." He turned to the two snipers. "You two are going to be giving the hornet cover fire for as long as you can, those shades are still out there." Finally, he picked up the rocket launcher and handed it to Hooper. "Hooper, would you be willing to help me ruin the covie's day?"

They watched Collins board the hornet, the little plane hovered and pushed gently out of the hangar, both of the snipers took positions and aimed outside. Fawkes waved Hooper over and they began jogging back down the way they had come. They ran down two flights of stairs and past a bridge, which linked two of the massive buildings that they were in. They crossed the bridge into a peculiar sight. About two dozen grunts, their weapons on the floor, were being dictated to by what Fawkes assumed was the leader. It was like the others, but it wore a odd, orange tabard and was talking animatedly in it's strange language. Fawkes' translation filters began speaking into his helmet.

"-and so, through his divine might, the mighty prophet of changing has led us to victory! We will clean this world of the human pest, burn it clean and wash it in fire. Through the black charcoal, we will amble and be able to walk on the shiny path!"

Fawkes smiled slightly at the awkwardness of the translation, then quietly spoke to Hooper.

"Don't kill the one in the funny dress, he might be useful." 

While he said this, he gently rolled a frag grenade into the midst of the awe-filled grunts, who were still hanging onto every word that their leader was saying.

The explosion killed six and disorientated the rest. Fawkes and Hooper moved in, guns blazing.

OOC:

Mannfred: Kill the grunts, except the orange one. Don't use the launcher yet.

P-O D: You fly across, jump through the window and go over to diffuse the bombs.

Everyone else: Take a moment to reload and have a break from the unrelenting killing. Wait for Collins to diffuse the bomb.

Spartans: Your orders will be PM'd shortly.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

It was quite an unnerving sight. From her position on the Hornet Claire could see much further than before, yet she didn't enjoy the view.

Pillars of smoke rose high into the air all over the city, buildings were heavily damaged and corpses lay on the streets, human corpses...

''I can't set her down!'' The pilot said, snapping Claire back to the situation at hand.
The Hornet turned slightly and she immediately saw what she had to do.
She already fell out of one window today, might as well jump in through one...

''Get me closer to those windows!'' Claire said and the pilot seemed to understand.
''Hold on!'' He said before releasing a burst with the Hornet's guns, shattering the windows.

''Good luck, trooper!'' The pilot shouted and Claire jumped as far as she could, through the gap in the glass and onto the floor of the building.
Her heart was beating fast and she was panting, the adrenaline surging through her body.

She waved the pilot goodbye and reached for her SMG.

''Collins.'' a voice came over the radio. ''One floor down, then to the east.'' It was Lancaster.
''Copy that.'' Claire said before getting on her way.

When she joined the others she noticed the dead militiamen lying on the ground.
She shook her head, saddened that non-military personnel had found their end this way.

''Your fingers trembling yet?'' Payne asked her, joking. 
She ignored it and made her way to what once was the doorway leading to the bridge.
''Right there.'' Lancaster said as he pointed out the bomb.
I need someone to talk to me when I'm there.'' Claire said as she looked at the other ODSTs.

They shuffled around uncomfortably and scratched behind heir necks.
Lancaster observed them before facing her, the visor of his helmet turning transparent. 

''I'll join you.'' He said, slightly reluctant. ''Just don't blow us up, please.''
''I'll try, sir.'' Claire said smiling.

They made their way towards the bomb, making sure the other side of the bridge was clear. The occasional shots of DMR's and snipers told them they were covered.

''Talk, huh?'' Lancaster asked her as she knelt down beside the bomb, getting her tools from her lower back.
''Yeah, if I focus too much I get nervous.'' She replied.

''Friend of mine has that too.'' Lancaster replied.
Claire wedged open a panel at the lower side of the bomb, careful not to set it off.
''It's quite common.'' Claire told.
Lancaster grunted and looked over her shoulder.

''Do you mind?'' She asked him.
''What?'' Lancaster asked. ''Do I make you nervous?'' He said, and Claire could hear him chuckle.

''Where are you from?'' Claire asked as she gently lifted a crystal from the bomb, careful not to strain the wires attached to it.
''Earth, originally.'' Lancaster told her. 

''Hm.'' Claire replied, not sure what else to say.
The bomb beeped and Claire stopped all her movements.
''What was that?'' Lancaster asked, not sounding 1/10th as panicked as he should.

''We'll find out in a second or three.'' Claire said.
A whirring sound got louder and louder before dying out.

''It's done.'' Claire said, proud of her work.
''Then lets get moving.'' Lancaster said as he waved over the other ODSTs.


----------



## Sangus Bane

The Hornet approached the building and John could see Collins standing on the panel beside the craft's fuselage. 
The Hornet passed them and hovered next to a window one floor up.
''Why don't they just land on the bridge?'' A militiaman asked.

''Would that really be the smartest thing to do with a bomb lying right there?'' John replied as pointed out the explosive to the militia members.

John heard a burst of heavy machine gun fire before he heard glass shattering.
Two seconds later the craft took off, apparently having dropped it's cargo.
''Collins, one floor down, then to the east.'' John said over the radio.

Collins acknowledged and went on her way.

John came to stand next to the other ODSTs, who were trying to aid the militiamen or observing the carnage, same thing really...

Collins entered the room and headed straight for the bridge.
''Your fingers trembling yet?'' Payne remarked as he looked at Collins.
Collins didn't respond however and observed the bridge.

''Right there.'' John said as he showed Collins where the explosive device was placed.
The bomb was a crude thing, with spikes on all sides and a set of lights at the top of it. It looked like a smaller version of the Antimatter Charges boarding parties sneaked unto ships to destroy them from the inside. 'Giant Space Pickles' someone had remarked to him a few years ago.

''I need someone to talk to me when I'm there.'' Collins said as she looked at the other ODSTs.
The ODSTs seemed reluctant, and with good reason; Antimatter Charges had destroyed entire capital ships.

Since t was obvious no one was going to volunteer John decided to jump in front of the bullet, giant-bomb-bullet...

''I'll join you.'' John said as he deactivated his HUD, turning his visor transparent. ''Just don't blow us up, please.''
''I'll try, sir.'' Collins said.

They walked unto the bridge and approached the bomb, watchful for Covies in the buildings.
''Talk, huh?'' John asked as he turned his back to the bomb, covering Collins as she went to work.

''Yeah.'' Collins replied. ''If I focus too much I get nervous.''
John chuckled.
''Friend of mine has that too.'' John said, remembering Jace Lawson, one of his _associates_ in ONI. He would listen to all sorts of music when he worked with Covenant explosives, but never anything relaxing.

''It's quite common.'' Collins told him.
John grunted and turned in Collins' direction, peeking over her shoulder to monitor her progress.

''Do you mind?'' Collins asked as she slightly turned her head to look over her shoulder. 
''What? Do I make you nervous?'' John joked as he took a step back to give Collins some room to breath.

''So, where are you from?'' Collins asked him as she continued her work.
''Earth, originally.'' John said, slightly reluctant to tell the rest of his life story while standing on a bridge between two skyscrapers in the middle of a war zone while a person he hardly knew tried to defuse a alien bomb which could tear a frigate apart, the situation had him amused.

The bomb beeped, a high tone usually produced when a bomb was activated. Yet he had heard many beeps come from bombs like this, and this beep was nothing like those.
''What was that?'' John asked, more out of curiosity than panic.

''We'll find out in a second or three.'' Collins replied as he tried not to move.
John counted down in his head while a buzz grew inside the bomb.
After building up the buzz ebbed away however and he was confident that the bomb had been defused.
''It's done.'' Collins said before letting out a sigh.

''Then let's get going.'' John said.
He waved over the other ODSTs and they made their way to the building across.


----------



## son of azurman

the assaulters had been gunned down with ease due to the firepower that the odsts held and the fact that the covies just threw themselves at the circle. as the last jackals were picked off zetan lowered his smg and placed the man on the ground, he was entering shock and so zetan acted quickly using his training.raising the mans legs and resting them against a wall he started to talk with the man insuring him.the man snapped out of it eventually and zetan could breath. As he lay back resting his back on the floor and placing his arms behind his head as a pillow.the others were sat around the room talking with militia and resting up but lancaster was gone.

upon further inspection he noticed that lancaster and collins were on the bridge talking wile disarming a bomb of some kind. Lancaster, the name rang a bell.zetan had heard it somewhere but were he could not remember, as he thought about it he realised it was all familiar. his name, his voice and his face all were recognised by zetan but none of it he could remember fully. dismissing the thought zetan sat back up observing a group of militia in the corner,they were pretty beaten up and blooded and were dragging all their dead comrades into the corner out of the way of the doorways.zetan pitied them, he had lost many friends in his service and none had ben easy.it was a lesson you had to learn quick as a soldier,how to get past or otherwise your service was worth scrap,any man could shoot well on a range but to witness a battle first hand was another thing.

lancaster waved the group over signaling that the bomb had been disarmed and so zetan slid his smg into his leg holster and picked up his battle rifle ready to move out.


----------



## Mannfred

Hooper looked down blankly at the rocket launcher.

*"Sure.."*

He probably shouldn't let on that he had never fired one before, but hey, it was a UNSC weapon, they're all point, pull the trigger and aim away from face. He took the weapon and mag-clamped it onto his back, grunting a little as he nearly fell over backwards. Okay, heavier than he thought.

Hooper took a moment to consider his situation as he was jogging, following his IC. Well, for a start this man wasn't his IC, he had been killed by a plasma grenade to the face. Blown half his body off, it had. Now he was stranded with another squad and seemed to have been accepted instantaneously into the crew. Perhaps it was just being in the midst of combat, no-one had the time to think properly, but inevitably this'd be the new squad was was tacked onto as a casualty replacement. Still, he'd like to at least get to know how much they could drink before passing out before they all got killed. Like his last squad. And the one before that. Hooper had been told that people like him usually suffered stress from loosing so many friends, he just felt like no-one could be bothered to stay alive long enough to make a decent relationship with him. Perhaps some day..

The pair arrived at an open room, filled with a veritable tide of grunts. Hooper looked at Fawkes almost pleadingly under his helmet. Not the grunts. But fate had other ideas. Fawkes obviously gave out the orders to kill all the grunts. Except one? Odd request but Hooper couldn't see no reason but to oblige him.

Sighing, he withdrew his second grenade of the day. He didn't want to waste, what, nearly a clip and a half at the least on these grunts, so a grenade would kill plenty. Hooper primed the grenade and stepped around the corner, lobbing it at the furthermost wall, the grenade rebounded off the wall, and was pretty much timed well enough so that it exploded instantaneously upon landing in the half of the crowd furthest away from the odd grunt. Sending charred, and less well cooked parts of grunt anatomy all over the room, and Hooper who was steadily advancing along the corridor, going deaf from the explosion.

As practised so many times in boot camp, Hooper brought his rifle up and began firing at the grunts that had actually managed to fire a weapon. Most of the weapons had been knocked around in the blast, and there was even one sad case where a grunt had been impaled on his own needler. Lewis paced forwards slowly, but undeniably, taking slow, careful shots to headshot the grunts, or at least blow their torsos to pieces.

Suddenly Hooper giggled rather manically, he had thought of a little game, some time ago to pass time when killing grunts, involving imaging that they had party poppers instead of their heads, and a crowd of innocent children cheering everytime Hooper got a headshot. It was one of the incentives he had that turned him into such a good marksman.

Pop. _yaaaay_. Pop. _yaaaay_. Hooper laughed, as grunts ran around in circles, their arms in the air as they were picked off one by one. Finally Hooper was down to a two grunts who had cornered their 'leader' and were desperately trying to hide him. Hooper held his rifle in his left hand while he drew his knife from its chest sheath with its characteristic melodic ring. He almost felt like a god, striding through the largely inaccurate and wholly ineffective attempt at fire-power the grunts put up if it weren't for the fact that they were, well.. two grunts. Hooper viciously impaled the first through the mid-section, shattering the grunts armour. Before smashing into the second and stabbing it through the mouth, its squabblings turning into a weak gurgle.

There was a brief pause as Hooper locked eyes onto the 'leader grunt', and it stared back in return, either petrified or too stupid to understand. Then it squeaked a little, and turned to run. Hooper, however dived onto its back, bringing the pair crashing to the ground. Hooper brought his knife up to the creature's throat and tightened his grip, trying to keep the creature immobilised for Fawkes.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

'You alright bud?' Payne asked to the shocked Militia, who gave no response.
'HEY! I said, are you alright!?' Payne shouted, giving the dazed militia a backhand slap across the face. He came to. 'What the fuck just happened?' He asked, looking around nervously, rubbing his slapped cheek. 'Covvies grabbed you, I chased after you, nailed the bastards, and hauled your heavy ass out', Payne replied. 'Oh, err, thanks' The militiaman replied, wide eyed. 'What's your name, how old are you?' Payne asked, checking the breach of his shotgun. 'Robson, Alec Robson, I'm err, eighteen'. 'Eighteen? What the fuck is a boy like you doing out in a warzone like this?' Payne replied scathingly. 'I-I just wanted to help' The militia replied, his voice wavering. 'Don't we all son, don't we all' Payne replied, picking the militia up and carrying him over to the rest of the militia. 'Take good care of this one, if anything happens to him, you're gonna be more scared of me than you are of the covenant, understand?' Payne said roughly, laying the boy down in a stretcher. 'Take care son' Payne said, before turning and jogging off to the bombsite.

The scene was a mess, a window had been smashed and there was glass everywhere, bits of debris littered the place. Payne sighed, setting down his shotgun and sitting down on a fallen support beam, his head in his hands. The new girl, McKnight, was walking towards him, Christ, talking to anyone was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

'Hi' she said, in her annoyingly cheery voice.

'Look, with all due respect, I don't want to talk to you right now' Payne answered, not looking up.

'Oh, but I kinda wanted to get to know you' She replied, sitting down cross-legged, sniper rifle across her lap.

'Look, I'm Private Payne, CQB Specialist, Born on Miasma, which is now deceased, lost a hand in the fighting, courtesy of an elite energy knife, fought almost the entirety of the war, been penned for promotion but held back due to 'disciplinary problems', and now I'm stuck here, talking to the most annoying woman I've ever met.' He answered, angrily.

'Oh, okay then, so, erm, why is your armour all custom and different?' She asked

He sighed, 'Its specialized underwater re-breather kit, basically means I can survive for about 12-14 hours without air, due to the fact Miasma is...was, a swamp world, and I refused to get rid of the gear...' 

'Oh thats pretty neat' She replied.

Seeing Collins approaching the bomb, Payne opened the comms net;
'Your fingers trembling yet?' He asked jokingly.

'See! That's what I wanted to get to know?' McKnight exclaimed.

'Eh?' Payne grunted

She lent forward, 'I wanted to know what makes you tick, what it is that makes you take the piss out of everyone'

Payne sighed, 'What are you a psychiatrist? Look, I'll tell you why, right there is a fucking antimatter charge. Those things take out ships, steel, bulkhead etc; right now we're sitting on masonry, plastic and glass, so if that goes off, we ain't got a chance.'

'So, its your way of rationalizing?' She questioned.

'Aye, I guess'

'Thought so, there's more to you than the tough guy act you put on; I've seen it, you genuinely care for people. I heard about the militia back there, you had no reason to try and save him, but you did! I know you're a good person Payne'

'Whatever' He replied, but as she got up and walked off, he knew that everything she had said was true, he smiled a little, then shrugged his shoulders. That's quite enough of the sentimental bullcrap for one day.


----------



## G0arr

Glass crunched underfoot as Joseph moved through the hall. There were bodies scattered around. Most were Covenant, but there were still humans scattered among them. Several of the militia members sat quietly near what was left of their friends. Other had a contemplative look as they finally had time to realize what they had done, and how close they had been to death. 
The helljumper stopped and knelt beside a wide eyed corpse. He reached out and did as men had done for countless centuries, and closed the eyes. Then came the next in that age old tradition, his hands moved from the face to weapons pouches. He stood sliding a fresh magazine into an armored pouch.

“So now what,” a voice asked. The tone was somber and tired.
“There’s still a war here,” Joseph said inspecting his equipment, “Someone’s gotta fight it.”
He turned to see a woman. Her face was smeared with sweat and dirt. She held an aged looking rifle. It looked like something from another time, something almost out of place on the current battlefield. Her eyes darted toward the windows and she crouched slightly as heavy weapons fired. Glass shattered and flashed by the window as it caught the light. 
Joseph glanced to see the backwash from the hornet rattled the windows. The soldier leaned his rifle against a nearby wall as the woman recovered.
“Don’t worry it’s friendly,” Joseph said kneeling down to a nearby jackal.
“Are we going with you,” Olivia asked cradling her firearm as she stood.
“You have men down, they’re gonna need looking after.” He jerked a pistol from the dead hands. Blood was wiped clean using the thing’s clothing.
“Do you have any idea where you’re heading?”
Joseph smirked behind the helmet as he stood. “Yes mama, we’re heading toward the Covies. Once we run out of them, we’ll have to just find some more.”
“You boys have to be crazy.”
Joseph inspected the weapon. “We’re Helljumpers. Comes with the territory.”
Lancaster waved. Joseph held out the plasma pistol. “When you run out use this,” he said. Olivia took the offering. “It’s got more punch, just don’t overcharge it.” With that the ODST soldier picked up his rifle and marched away.


----------



## Santaire

We dealt with the insurrectionists swiftly though not one was killed. I took off my helmet then and so did Felix so that we could communicate. “Give me a look at that communicator,” I said, holding out my hand. He passed across his helmet and I used the blade of my combat knife to pry open the panel on the right of the visor. The communications chip inside was fried, burned up on re-entry. I tossed the chip away and just then a radio nearby activated. Curious, I attempted to use my own radio to contact UNSC forces. It didn’t work, I was being jammed and yet the Insurrectionist radio operated perfectly. I walked over to the radio and picked it up, prying open the back.

I smiled faintly, seeing the communicator’s workings revealed. An upgraded chip.

I pried it out and very carefully inserted it into Felix’s helmet, tossing it back to him. He caught it and sealed it into place. He paused for a moment then passed 2 fingers over his faceplate in a Spartan smile. I slammed my own helmet into place and he opened up a private COM. “The signal’s coming from about a mile to the east. We could leave it though and search for the insurrectionist base.” I cocked my head slightly to the right and looked at him, depolarising his visor so that I could see his grinning face.

I did the same.

“The signal?” He asked, his trickster grin never leaving his face

I nodded and then suddenly smiled. “I’m tired of searching. It is time for the hunters to become the hunted...”


----------



## HOGGLORD

Grunts were bleeding and one or two were groaning in agony, their blue blood coated the floor and trickled into the gaps, forming a web of cobalt lines. Fawkes looked down at the grunt leader in Hooper’s steady grip. The little creature writhed and squirmed, but Hooper’s knife kept it from doing anything rash. It was speaking so fast and so angrily the translator struggled to pick anything up. 

“-Imp! Accursed son of–, –fiery death! Mighty lords – mean and nasty but –Retribution against murderer!” 

Fawkes ignored the small creature’s complaints and turned on his radio. As he did so he looked through the room’s floor length window. The team was moving up across the bridge. He spoke into the radio.

“All units! This if Fawkes, converge on the LZ, now!” He turned to Hooper. Fawkes grabbed the grunt and pressed the muzzle of his magnum to the grunt’s head. The creature froze, it’s beady little eyes crossed to see the gun. Fawkes jabbed the weapon forward, knocking the creature unconscious and began to speak to the Hooper.

“Hooper, this is what I need you to do. “
He pointed at the two floors beneath the landing zone, swarms of covenant were milling around there, preparing to improve their defences. 

“I see a dozen or so plasma batteries, hit one of them and you’ll make one hell of an explosion, which means less covvies to stall the others. D’you reckon you can hit them? I’ll make a hole in the window for you.”

Fawkes noticed that Hooper seemed a little awkward and hesitant about handling the launcher. Fawkes remembered the first time he’d used a rocket launcher, he’d fired at an approaching wraith, missed and set a tree alight, though the shot had uncovered three cloaked elites, including one unfortunate one who was acting as a sniper in the tree. The wraith had been a real bitch to put down after that, using grenades in the crew compartment.

Looking out of the window, Fawkes saw grappling lines jetting across the street a few buildings down the road, striking the landing zone building. That would be Shark squad, it was their preferred method of entry. That would be blown apart if that rocket hit after they were in. They needed to act fast. 

Fawkes put all his strength behind smashing the window, then emptied his entire clip into the one across the street, leaving a hole only a little bigger than the rocket launcher’s payload. If the rocket was too far off then the pressure activated tip would detonate against the window, robbing the tactic of most of it’s power. 

A noise behind Fawkes distracted him. He turned to see the grunt leader levelling an overcharged plasma pistol at Hooper. Fawkes ran forward and smashed his rifle into the grunt’s hand, the burst went wide, but the plasma melted through the bull-pup ammunition clip of his rifle, dripping molten metal all over the floor. A searing pain rocketed through Fawkes’ hand and he looked down to see three fingers missing, smouldering stumps were all that remained. [/I]I’m going to go into shock_ thought the rational part of Fawkes’ mind. He reached into his pack and fumbled until he found a small needle. He jabbed it 
into his exposed hand and the dark patches in his vision receded a little. It would only last a short time

“Hooper take the shot!” He croaked as Shark squad began to zip wire towards the huge covenant defence force like little black spiders moving down a web towards a monstrous prey. 

Fawkes’ vision blurred again, he stumbled towards the now unarmed grunt and gripped him in a tight bear hug from behind. He vaguely thought of the ridiculousness of the situation, _hugging a grunt_. “Hooper, keep the grunt alive.” He whispered into his coms, then the blackness enveloped his vision and he collapsed on top of the grunt’s knobbly, toughened skin.

OOC: This is the final push, move up and capture the landing zone. 

Lancaster’s group (Sangus, SoA, PoD, G0aar & Shattertheirsky): Push up and assault the landing zone with the other squads. Limit yourselves to between 3 & 5 kills. There are brute and elite majors and minors, as well as dozens of grunts, emplaced turrets, jackals and a hunter pair. There is also a brute Cheiftan* and an Elite General.*

Mannfred: Fawkes is down. Shoot through the holes in the windows and blow up the fusion coils before Shark squad get into the blast zone. Then attend to keeping the grunt alive. 

Josie: Now that Collins has safely got to the other building, find Fawkes and Hooper. Once there, snipe enemy turrets and leaders on the building.*




*(Kills for these two are first come, first serve, but make it interesting)_


----------



## Sangus Bane

''You heard the man, boys and girl.'' John told the other ODSTs after receiving Fawkes' orders. ''LZ is our next stop.''

The weren't far, in fact, John though he could hear footsteps. He could. They got louder and louder as they kept going up stairwells and moved towards the landing site.

Such heavy footsteps were likely from a Hunter, maybe a heavily armoured Brute Chieftain. He couldn't really tell right now.

''Phoenix team 2 is in position to storm the LZ, over.'' John said over the open comm channel.
''This is Sergeant Greaves, Gorilla squad. Who is this?'' A reply came.

''Corporal John Lancaster, Sergeant Fawkes put me in charge over half the squad after the separation, sir.'' John replied.

''Copy that.'' Greaves said after a short while. ''Lancaster, listen up. We are two minutes away from helping you take that LZ and turn the whole area into a Covie-free-zone, can you hold out until then?''

''No problem, sir.'' John replied as the squad stacked up behind a corner. ''Just give us the word when you're ready.''

And so they waited.

John's eyes were drawn to his left arm after the screen of his computer lit up, a green square appearing on the screen with a domino stone inside of it.

''Impossible...'' John whispered.

''What was that?'' Payne asked him, shotgun trained for the corner which lead to the LZ.

''Nothing, nothing.'' John said as he moved his fingers over the screen, typing a message.



> How the hell are you even awake?
> -J


He sent it but was alerted by Sergeant Greaves that the other squad was ready before he received a new reply.

''On my mark.'' Greaves said over the comm channel. ''Three... Two... One... MARK!''

The ODSTs poured onto the LZ, firing at everything that wasn't human.
John noticed a sniper round bursting the shields of an Elite General, the golden armour now being the creature's only protection.

The armour proved insufficient however, after two bursts from John's BR slew the Elite where it stood when they came unto the LZ.

A few Grunts fared slightly better, managing to actually release shots before being picked of.

There were still plenty of Covies to go round...


----------



## Angel Encarmine

The sun was out, and sitting on the blanket his father had lain out Felix took a huge bite of the sandwich his mother had prepared for them back at their hab. _"Now now Felix, little bites for my little man!"_ His mother said to him, wiping some of the mayo off the side of his mouth. Looking down to wipe some of the mayo that had fallen onto his lap, he saw that he was fully armored. _What the he-_ 

He awoke to the sound of beeping coming into his helmet speakers. Closing his eyes for a moment, he banished the dream that awaited him behind his eyelids every time he slept. Shaking his head slightly he flexed his arms and legs, glad to see they werent broken. Looking at his HUD, he saw that his coms and IFF were down, before shifting to all fours and looking around for Anthony. Standing he looked up and saw the other half of his team nod to him from a branch. He nodded back as he reached up to take off his helmet, but the sound of feet smacking the ground reached his hears and he stiffened. Taking cover he watched as a group of 15 men walked into the clearing their phantom had made...

Something wasn't right, only a few were wearing what looked like scattered pieces of UNSC gear, and Felix felt his stomach churn as he recognized them. Innies. Pieces of filth that wanted to separate from the UNSC even in the face of the covenant. Cowards. Shifting himself behind the wreckage he began to breath deeply, relaxing his muscles and preparing for the fight. Although they might be separatists they were still human, and Felix planned on killing as few as possible. Just as he prepared to dash into them, he heard a plunking noise as a dart embedded itself into the neck of an Innie. Watching Anthony dispose of the one coming to investigate, Felix took his cue and together they charged the group.

The sound of bones snapping was only eclipsed by the wounded men screaming, and even that was cut short as the spartans moved through the group arms blurring as they snapped limbs and knocked men unconscious before they could hit the ground. In what seemed like seconds only one innie was left standing, and he raised his SMG and fired on Anthony. _"Bastard."_ Felix spat before tackling the man to the ground and smashing his face in, leaving him barely alive.

Stepping over the knocked out men, Felix walked to stand next to Anthony. _" Ideas?"_ he said through his helmet, indicating his smashed comms with his hand. 

_ “Give me a look at that communicator,”_ he was told, before he tossed his helmet over to Anthony. While his team mate fiddled with his helmet, he began sifting through the wreckage, finding his weapons and stowing them in the compartments of his armor. Returning to Anthony, he caught his helmet and fixed it back into his place, seeing his comms back online. Passing his fingers over his face in the age old smile, he listened as Anthony opened a private com channel.

_The signal’s coming from about a mile to the east. We could leave it though and search for the insurrectionist base.”_ he said cocking his head to the right slightly.

Grinning from ear to ear, Felix depolarized his visor and spoke. _"the signal?"_ he asked. Anthony nodded and smiled. 
_“I’m tired of searching. It is time for the hunters to become the hunted...”_

_"Well then let's get to work..."_ Felix said chuckling as they moved off.


----------



## Josie

McKnight burst through the doors and onto the roof, panting having run up several flights of stairs. She stopped, noticing Fawkes splayed unconscious over the equally unconscious grunt. She ran over to him skidding on her knees next to him. He was out cold, but breathing. Three of his fingers had been melted off, leaving three ugly stumps. Luckily, the heat had cauterized the wound and he wasn't bleeding, only passed out from shock. She opened a comms channel.
'All callsigns, this is McKnight. Fawkes is down, I repeat, Fawkes is down' She looked up, seeing the firefight about to commence, she decided to leave him where he was.

McKnight pressed the sniper rifle onto the wall, deploying the bipod, before reaching up and activating the sophisticated targeting systems on her helmet. The enhanced zoom allowed her to view the scene clearly. Friendlies were approaching fast, to a site defended by pretty much every type of trooper the covvies had to offer. She breathed in slowly, allowing her heart to slow, before taking the shot, bursting the head of a grunt on a turret. She breathed again, switching to a brute, hitting it in the shoulder, bringing it down. She adjusted the sight, compensating for the wind speed, applying the Coriolis effect. Another shot dropped a jackal, taking its leg clean off. She saw Lancaster moving up, so swivelled the rifle to the closest target to him, the elite general. She slowed, feeling her heart stop, and pulled the trigger, bringing down it's shields.....


----------



## G0arr

Joseph smiled hearing the order. “All units! This if Fawkes, converge on the LZ, now!” The squad moved up in preparation for the coming assault. Lancaster gave a quick signal and the squad halted. The radio crackled as the soldiers prepared. Joseph frowned at what he heard. “Two minuets away from helping you…” The other words seemed to fade away.

They waited. The tactic was sound, waiting for a two pronged assault to break the landing zone. It was the wait that Joseph couldn’t stand, simply standing there. He began to adjust his grip on the assault rifle, rolled his shoulders, checked the squad icons, recalled the building’s appearance, rechecked his ammo, began to wonder what that woman’s name was, and checked his time again. Still there was time. Joseph recalled the number of squad mates around him, their order, their positions, and their weaponry. Options flashed in his mind ranging from the absurd to flat suicidal. He tried to clear them up, make something useable. 

“So who’s up for a bet,” Joseph asked trying to break the thoughts, “Highest count’s buying first round. Let’s give some of you the chance to drink on my tab.”
There were several scoffs, and a few snickers.
Lancaster spoke up first, “'You're on, kid. Though I should warn you; six years as a commando have earned me quite a few drinks. Paychecks even.” It was the only reply he heard.

An icon flashed on Joseph’s display. “What the,” he said quietly to himself. A quick move revealed that it belonged to Fawkes. He tried to recall the meaning from some training. He hadn’t been expected to remember these things; after all he was still only a private, a simple line soldier in the grand scheme of things. The thoughts were stripped from his mind as a voice came over the radio. ''On my mark.” Joseph looked to the door. 
“Three...” The rifle was brought tight in.
“Two...” Legs tensed for the run to come.
“One...” One last breath before it all began.
“MARK!” They moved. Practiced precision brought them into the landing zone. Landing zone wasn’t a good name, no for the time it was a killing field. The Covenant found themselves struck from two sides.

Joseph sprinted into the open. He focused on one point, one objective, one target, a turret. He could see an elite taking the controls. A ball of green energy flashed past as the helljumper ran. Individual combatants were a problem in an open battlefield but a turret could be far worse. In defense they could cause untold devastation on infantry engaged in open ground, much like the open landing pad.

The turret floated several inches from the base. It was an interesting sight. Free of friction and enhanced with recoil reduction the turrets were more elegant than their human counterparts. The elite, Randjamee deftly spun the weapon. He snarled as the weapon came to life. Energy bolts speared out tracing one of the humans movements. The man quickly reacted by running. Randjamee sneered as he quickly reacted. The turret spun sending the shots ahead of its target. The human spun as the first blast struck it. It staggered trying to regain its footing, but a second shot knocked it to the ground. Randjamee growled with triumph as he prepared to finish the prey. He looked through the reticule as his fingers closed around the trigger. That was the last sight his right eye ever saw. 

There were footsteps nearby. Then he heard something in the human’s foul language. Hate simmered through Randjamee as something flashed to his right. There was pain and darkness as six inches of steel buried itself into his skull. A heavy impact sent the elite flailing to the ground. His body didn’t react no matter how hard he tried to move. It was a cold numbness that gripped Randjamee. Blood dripped past his eye as he lay. “No,” he said weakly as the turret spun. He had failed. Bolts of energy flashed out. He saw his friends, his brothers. Shields flashed as his vision blurred. He could hear the roar of pain, and a heavy thump. The world fell into blackness, he had failed and it was not only him that would pay the price today.

Joseph could remember enough of his training to use the device. There was a gurgle to his left as the weapon fired. A shield flashed as the unaware elite was caught in its flank. The thing roared our as the munitions scorched and burnt its flesh. It collapsed into a heap. 

The turret spun and fired again finding a target, another elite this one running to a turret. It was tossing a dead grunt aside when the first glowing ball found it. It turned trying to bring a weapon up. The plasma rifle sprayed in vain as its defenses failed. The first shot seared through an arm, the next tore a small hole through its flank, another speared through a leg. The elite collapsed with one severed hand gripping the controls. The turret began a slow spin, the last order still being executed by the dead arm.

A brute in blue armor turned as it realized what was at the controls of the turret. A hand pointed as it spoke in a guttural deep tone. Two others in teal-green armor reacted. Joseph spun to meet the charge. Bolts struck as the three charged. “Come on you monkeys,” he shouted jamming his fingers down tightly on the trigger. In training the soldiers were told about Brutes, and their insane ability to shake off horrendous damage. Hearing about it and seeing it were two totally different things. They came, despite the wounds they came. They fired. Heavy spikes of metal slammed into the turret’s armor as a single plasma weapon left charred marks. “Shit,” Joseph said hearing the heavy thumps around him, but still he fired, “Gonna kill at least one of you stupid apes! Come get some Sasquatch!” 

The first one finally fell. Blood splattered as it slammed into the ground. Its weapon clattered several feet before finally coming to a halt. The second swung its spiker hard trying to catch Joseph in the turret. As it did the soldier finally abandoned his firing post. 
The blade clanged against the side of the turret inches from the human’s shoulder. His reply was simple. The assault rifle flashed up within inches of the brute’s roaring mouth. Bullets fired as saliva splattered on the barrel. 
Wounds ripped through the roaring face. Bones cracked as supersonic rounds were halted dead. Fragments of metal pulped chunks of flesh.
The roar stopped as Joseph abandoned the turret entirely. A heavy muscled arm reached over the dead creature toward the soldier. 
Joseph spun as he cleared the enclosure to see a clenched fist retreating behind a falling brute. “You’re even uglier up close,” the soldier said as the blue armored creature roared back. “Stinky too,” he shouted releasing the last of his clip into the thing up close.

The roar continued as Joseph reached for another clip. This time the iron grip found him. Two empty weapons clattered to the ground. 
Joseph was drug back into the turret. The Brute hammered him with one arm as it tried to change its grip. 
The soldier twisted, finding freedom. He spun and dove low ending on his back. 
The brute swung a mighty overhead blow as a pistol cleared its holster.
Two shots, and a loud thump followed. Joseph twisted as the corpse fell; its arm had only clipped his shoulder. Slowly the soldier pushed himself up. 
“That went well,” Joseph said sarcastically as he gripped the turret controls again. The platform lifted slightly. The body fell free as the weapon swung back toward the fight.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

“So who’s up for a bet,” Joseph spoke up. “Highest count’s buying first round. Let’s give some of you the chance to drink on my tab.”

John spoke up first, “'You're on, kid.'' He said. ''Though I should warn you; six years as a commando have earned me quite a few drinks. Paychecks even.” 

Claire thought about accepting the bet as well, but was then reminded of the fact she had let her rocket launcher with Fawkes.
With just her SMG it was very likely that the others would beat her when it came to a kill count.

The screen mounted to John's wrist lit up and Claire was once again intrigued by the thing.
John maneuvered his arm so only he could read screen however, rendering Claire unable to read what was on the screen.

Then the sergeant, not Fawkes, no the other sergeant, came in over the radio, stating he was ready to attack the Covenant forces gathered not too far behind the wall they were standing behind.

The sergeant counted down and Claire tightened her grip on the SMG, ready to go.

''MARK!'' The sergeant said and the squad broke from cover, engaging the Covenant creeps gathered in front of them.

Claire could hear sniper fire and she could see several ODST's pouring onto the rooftop at the far side of the building, forcing the Covenant to expose themselves to either one of the fire teams.

Claire had easy pickings, firing away at a group of Grunts that nearly suffered from heart attacks from the sudden assault. 
Three Grunts met their end quickly, one more after it had tossed a plasma grenade at her.

The grenade went wide however and Claire was well out of harms way when the grenade erupted in a blue explosion.

She kicked a fifth Grunt in the head, kicking away the mask and exposing the creature to an atmosphere it couldn't breath.
It scuffled around the floor, frantically looking for a mask on one of it's dead kinsmen.
Claire stepped over him and wrapped her arm around the creature's head, snapping its neck only a second later.

A sudden, heavy pain in her calves made her drop to the floor.
She looked at her legs and saw she had been hit by blue plasma.

She raised her SMG but couldn't see any more enemies standing, the thing that had fired at her already picked off by one of her team mates...


----------



## Shattertheirsky

'All callsigns, this is McKnight, Fawkes is down, repeat, Fawkes is down' came over the comms.
Payne shrugged, people live, people die. He knew what he was in for when he signed up, but still, Payne respected him and hoped he was alright. The call came up for a bet, to see who could get the most kills. Payne would have, but he was dead on broke for the time being, so let it pass. He cocked his shotgun, checked his pistol was still in place, and flexed his metallic hand, cracking his neck from side to side. He was standing behind Lancaster, when he saw that computer on his wrist, some form of TACPAD by the looks of it, he couldn't tell, light up, showing a green square with a weird symbol in it. The fuck? 'What was that' Payne asked inquisitively. 'Nothing, nothing' Lancaster replied, rather suspiciously, before turning so Payne couldn't see the computer. Something was off about it, whilst most people took Payne for a meathead, he was more intelligent than he seemed, and he made a mental note to keep a close eye on Lancaster.

'Mark!' Someone called over the comms. Fuck yeah, time for fighting, Payne thought. They all dashed out of the cover together into the landing zone, instantly coming under fire, Payne being forced behind cover by repeated fire from a turret. He poked his head out, hoping for a potshot in time too see the elite manning the turret's head burst with a sniper round. 'Must have a guardian angel' he joked over the comms, the only reply a girly giggle. He jumped up, shotgun ready, and came face to face to a brute chieftan, struggling to pull it's lodged gravity hammer out of a wall it had become stuck in. It roared at him, giving a mighty yank, pulling the hammer free. Payne responded by making his visor transparent and responding with a similarly animalistic roar, raising his shotgun and firing. The shot peppered the chieftan, and broke the hammer in two, the shaft hit by the shell. The chieftan roared again, throwing the useless end of the shaft at Payne, striking him in the leg, bowling him over, before advancing menacingly, the head of the hammer held in one hand. It put it's foot on Payne, roaring at him, showering him in spittle and mucus, before raising the hammer over it's head, ready to deliver the killing blow, giving a roar of victory. In a panic, Payne fumbled with the pistol holster, managing to open it, the pistol slipping out onto the floor. 'Shit' Payne shouted as he grasped for the pistol, finding purchase, closing his fingers around the grip. He raised the pistol to the celebrating brute, before realising it would do very little, instead placing the muzzle on the monster's foot before pulling the trigger twice.

The beast roared in pain, falling backwards, dropping the hammer perilously close to Payne's head. It backed into a wall, hopping clutching its foot. Payne ran at it, delivering a heavy kick to it's other knee, bringing it down. It collapsed face first, struggling to right itself. It raised it's head, but was met by Payne's metallic fist, breaking its cheekbone, sending its blood splattering over Payne's armour. The beast rolled over, howling in agony. The ODST stood back up, raising his pistol, putting a foot on it's chest, before emptying the magazine into it's head for good measure. The fight was dying down a little, and Payne staggered back to where he had dropped his shotgun, hefting it into his shoulder, battered, bruised, but not defeated.


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes’ eyes slid open. The room around him was blurred and the ceiling shone in front of him with a painful light. He tried to raise his hand to shield his eyes, but they suddenly felt too heavy, as though there was a Spartan holding each one down. His head felt empty and numb, vague ideas formed loosely in the corners of his mind, flitting away when he tried lethargically to focus on them. Slowly, gradually, his mind pulled itself out of its stupor and he could coherently form thoughts again. 

He struggled to remember recent events. Slowly the memoires came back to him. _The landing zone. The assault. The grunt._ His eyes darted down to his left hand, then they squeezed shut, trying to blot out the alarming image that met them. In lieu of fingers, there were three half inch stumps, each was attached to a drip line and wrapped in a bandage. 

Fawkes attempted to prop himself up, pushing himself against the soft, white bed. As he did so, two medical orderlies rushed in. 

“Sir, you’re awake.” One said, hurrying up to him. 

“How long have I been out?” Fawkes asked. 

“Two days, seven hours.” The medic replied absently, craning over Fawkes, looking into his eyes and trying to judge and expose any further damage beyond the superficial. Fawkes was fairly certain that all his mental faculties were functioning perfectly, but the medic kept scanning him, as if desperate to find some kind of flaw. When the medic drew a thermometer and attempted to put it in Fawkes’ mouth, he finally got irritated.

“I’ve lost fingers, not caught a cold.” He said, giving the man a withering stare. The medic scowled, but seemed to concede the point. The other medic chuckled. 

“You always were too thorough, Martin.” He said.

Martin rolled his eyes and withdrew the thermometer, then he turned to the other medic.

“How’s the hand, Joe?” He asked him. Joe looked up from a data pad he was reading. 

“Readings are good, minimal trauma and the remaining fingers are working just fine. You’ll be as good as new.” 

Fawkes, feeling somewhat stronger now, gently raised his dismembered hand and an eyebrow. The implicit question made Joe grin slightly.

“Ok, maybe not as good as new, but trust me, you’ll be better than you would have been had you lost them a couple of centuries back, trust me.”

Fawkes lowered the hand gingerly, his arm felt weak and even holding it up was a trial. Joe looked on sympathetically, the somewhat disgruntled Martin, however, didn’t.

“Don’t worry, that’s just the sedatives, we’ve lowered you’re dosage, but we’re going to have to put you under again to ensure we can attached the prosthetics properly.”

Fawkes was about to tell them not to do this, prosthetic body parts had always seemed awkward to him and he didn’t really want one, but as he opened his mouth darkness began to slowly creep upon the corners of his vision and a warm, smothering sleep clasped itself around him.

When Fawkes awoke for the second time, he was much more lucid immediately. He looked down at his left hand and caught his breath. No longer were there bandages or drips, no longer was he attached to anything. He saw that the hand was wrapped in a thin, black cover, much like a glove, but at the end, were three new digits, each made of plain grey titanium. 

He tried to flex his fingers. On the right hand, each wriggled one by one, then the left hand, first came the thumb and forefinger, each moving fine. Then the cybernetic fingers, they flexed, more slowly and a dull pain shot at the base of each of Fawkes’ fingers, the nerves trying themselves out for the first time.

Once again the medics entered and put him through a series of tests, making him move his fingers, grip things, go to the on site medical gymnasium and even play a game of chess, though Fawkes suspected that this was more for the benefit of the medics’ own entertainment more than an actual medical procedure.

Eventually Fawkes was declared ready for active service once more, though he was warned to be careful with the fingers.

“Make sure you have gauged your own strength with them before you start putting them places that you don’t want to damage.”

Fawkes nodded, thanked the medics and opened the door into the rest of the ship. The door opened to a marine, about to press the opening switch on the other side.

“Sergeant Fawkes?” He asked and Fawkes nodded.

“You’ve been called up for a mission, follow me to the briefing room.” 

Fawkes quickly followed the marine, wondering what kind of mission would require him specifically, especially after literally just leaving the medical bay…

OOC: Ok, this goes to everyone (barring Spartans obviously), you have been aboard the UNSC Arkansas for almost three days, when you are called to the briefing room. Describe what you are doing aboard the ship (be it firing ranges, combat training, dining in the mess hall, engaging in conversation with the crew, engaging yourself with the less scrupulous activities in lower storage decks such as gambling or anything else you care to imagine) and then make your way to the briefing room.

Spartans: Your objective will be PMed


----------



## Sangus Bane

John escorted the medics who brought Fawkes in, constantly telling them to hurry up, bothered by their tempo.
John knew the injuries weren't very severe, yet time was of the essence if they were to rescue the rest of his hand.

He often checked on Fawkes during the next 48 hours, occasionally meeting other ODSTs in the medical bay of the UNSC Arkansas.

As the senior officer in Phoenix squad, at the moment, he had taken it to himself to write the after-action-report and he had debriefed the entirety of the squad, allowing Fawkes to focus on his recovery without being bothered by such matters.

John had also spent time with the other ODSTs, either on the firing range, in the mess hall or where ever they were to be found.

He was acting officer for at least a few days and he was going to prove to Fawkes that his demotion from sergeant was a load of crap, he would show he was fit to lead.
Eventually he had spent some extend of time with each member of Phoenix.

John also had more secretive meetings, mostly with Sgt. Marfield, who had recovered from her injuries and was now aboard the ONI prowler on request of ONI.

''You know, if Samuel requires a longer time to get used to his new 'situation', either you or me will likely be put in command of Phoenix. At least for the time being.'' Sascha Marfield told him as she poured John a glass of scotch.

''I know.'' John replied, somewhat reluctantly. ''But he's tough, and a damn fine soldier. He'll pull through and he will adapt.'' John said, raising his glass to Sascha.

Sascha raised a glass of her own and they toasted.
''To glory long lost, and the resurrection of Samuel Fawkes.'' Sascha said.
''And to the angels of death, may they remain ever watchful from a distance.'' John added, a faint smile appearing on his face.

They both shook their heads before drinking, each of them remembering the phrase from a few years back, when John was the sergeant, and Sascha the corporal...

''Did I tell you I met Anna?'' John asked. ''After I got demoted, after she was listed K.I.A.''
Sascha's eyes widened.

''Aye, 'tis true.'' John said as he put down his glass. ''She yet draws breath.''
''But Whitaker told-'' Sascha said before being interrupted.
''Whitaker gave us the mushroom treatment.'' John stated.

''He nuked us?'' Sascha asked, slightly set aback by the revelation one of her 'dead' former teammates was very much alive.
''No, he kept us in the dark and fed us nothing but shit.'' John said angrily.

''Fucking ONI.'' Sascha said, putting the glass to her lips.
''Hey, you're working for them, again.'' John said, stroking the computer on his wrist. ''And once again as CODENAME: DOMINO.''

''Protocols.'' Sascha said, waving her hand as she frowned. 

John simply grunted before getting up.

''I need to get back to the Arkansas, check on Fawkes and see if the others are misbehaving yet.'' John said. ''I missed being a senior officer.'' He said, smiling.

He gave Sascha a kiss on the forehead.
''We'll be in touch, Wolf.'' He said, striding out of the room.


----------



## G0arr

Joseph stared quietly at the ceiling. It gave him enough time to replay the extraction in his head. The pelican had swept in low and gently landed. The marines had offloaded bringing fresh supplies. Someone pointed out Joseph’s injuries. It was rather interesting how adrenaline impacted your system. The two marks were minor. The first was a plasma burn in his chest; the armor had taken the brunt of that hit leaving him with a small burn. The other was a gash on his left arm; that one required a little more work.

Over the past few days Joseph had spent much of the time trying to be productive. He trained, went to the firing range, talked to marines, trained again, had lunch, tried to relax, gamble a little, firing range again.

Earlier this day Joseph’s restlessness had reached a head. It was a friendly wager between two soldiers, a short training sim pitting pairs. Joseph had been paired with David White a helljumper from Wolf squad. It was a simple building clearance. Joseph still couldn’t see how he cheated. The rules were simple first team to clear their building won. The best time logged was 12 minuets. Using a judicial application of explosives, and several heavy electrical wires he and White managed to shave it down to 8. True they didn’t ‘clear’ the top 2 floors; they simply avoided them, and then collapsed the building. The marines however did a fine job of a standard clear at 12:56. Words were hurled back and forth with more force than any hand grenade, but the presence of several MPs quickly discouraged it from going farther.

About three hours ago the Joseph met one of the marines again in the lower storage decks. The exchange was brief, and ended abruptly.
“…I heard you boys had to call in the milita to finish your job!” 
“Milita? I don’t remember any militia at the LZ,” Joseph glared at the marine, “Hell thinking of it I don’t remember any marines either! Where the hell were you, sitting on a cot sucking your mama’s titty waiting for an all clear?”
The first strike split Joseph’s lip. His retaliation knocked the marine off his feet. It took six men to pry the two apart.

The brig was a little more spacious than Joseph first thought. He sat up and looked out. “I hate waiting,” he said standing. A pair of hands slapped the deck. “Might as well do something,” he said. “One,” he pushed off the deck. At least it was something other than waiting.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire took much to herself after the teams were recovered from the planet and given a break.

Being alone was boring though, and on the second day of their 'vacation' she had gone to check up on Fawkes, see if he was awake yet.
When she got to the infirmary she wasn't the only one there.

''Corproral.'' Claire said as she saluted to John Lancaster.
Lancaster turned around and Claire could tell he was surprised to meet her there.

''No ranks here, Collins.'' Lancaster replied. ''I'd prefer if you would just call me John.'' He continued as he turned to a chart which lay beside Fawkes' bed.

''Got it.'' Claire said. ''How is he?'' She asked, her voice more tender now.

''Not too shabby really.'' John replied. ''They can put a mechanical prosthetic in place later today. I'm wondering if they'll wake him to inform him or if he is going to wake up with a metal hand some day...'' John mumbled.

Claire stepped closer to the bed, trying to peek past John and read the chart. 
She caught a faint scent which she recognized.

''Have you been drinking?'' She asked John, sounding more surprised than she had intended.
''Yes.'' John said curt. ''One glass of scotch.'' 

''Just one?'' Claire asked, an eyebrow raised.
She didn't believe John, knowing very well one glass of scotch would not leave such a strong scent of alcohol.

''One scotch, yes.'' John said, putting the chart away and leaving a note next to Fawkes' bed, something was scribbled on it.

''One scotch and what else?'' Claire asked, not even slightly as amused as John seemed to be.

''Nothing that would influence my aim, Hawk.'' John said.

What did he just say?

Did he call her Hawk?

Did e just call her by her old callsign? 

Claire felt one hand reaching for the Magnum which was located at her left hip, careful not to let John notice.
Her breathing was getting heavy and her heart skipped a beat before picking up the pace, pumping adrenaline through her body.

Did he know she was not Claire Collins? 

Was it his connection with ONI?

''What did you just call me?'' She asked with all the calmness she could muster.

''I'm sorry?'' John asked, turning his head towards her.
''Did you just call me Hawk?'' Claire asked, almost panting now as the adrenaline in her body reached a nerve wrecking level.

''Did I?'' He asked, surprised. ''I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.'' He said.
''Who is Hawk?'' Claire asked, not yet able to relax.

''An old flame.'' John said, shaking is head as he intended to leave the infirmary. ''And perhaps one of the greatest soldiers I will ever meet.'' John told Claire.

Only now could Claire relax, her fingers leaving the holster at her hip and her heart beat dropping to a more appealing level. 

''Are you alright?'' John asked her as he saw her sigh and noticed the red spots in er neck.

''Yeah, yeah.'' Claire said as she shook he stress from her head. ''Just feel a bit flushed, that's all.'' She said, faking a smile.

''Sorry, I have that effect on women sometimes.'' John joked, returning the smile.

''You want to grab lunch?'' Claire asked him, not knowing why she blew her exit.

John looked at his watch, considering her offer.
''Sure, I could use a decent meal, and another drink.'' He said.

Claire couldn't tell whether he was for real or joking again, she just followed him out of the infirmary.


----------



## Sangus Bane

''And I am telling you he is not going to be a problem.'' John said to the MP who was stationed at the brig.
''Corporal, my orders were to-''
''Keep me from doing my job?'' John interrupted. ''Our sergeant is in the infirmary, we just came back from a very stressful mission and we lost two squad members just a few days ago.'' John said, making everything sound worse than it really was, putting Joseph in a victim's position.

The MP was set aback by John's earlier boldness however and seemed intimidated by the fact he was speaking to an ODST. 

''Sir, I really want to help you, I really do.'' The MP stuttered. ''But if my CO comes back and sees I released him I will be court marshaled.''

John knew he shouldn't do it, but...
''On authority of ONI Section-1 I order you to release that man.'' John said. ''I will take full responsibility for your actions.''

''Sir?'' The MP asked, not understanding how far the situation had just escelated.

''Type it in.'' John said, pointing out the data console next to the MP. ''Authorization Code Victor-Romeo-Indigo-Jericho, 39-45, on authorization off, and pay attention now, Alpha-North-Golf-Lima-Echo 2-1-2-9.''

The MP typed it in and after a few seconds there was a confirmation, telling the MP to hand over custody of Joseph to John.

''It says here to put him into your custody, not release him.'' The MP said, his voice trembling.

''Do. It.'' John said as he leaned in closer to the MP.


“35,” Joseph said as he lay back to the deck. His cloths were damp with sweat after nearly an hour of calisthenics. “36,” he rose again to see John standing in the doorway. 

“Afternoon,” Joseph said moving to his feet. “Fawkes still out or did he send you,” he asked snapping a quick salute. He wiped away the sweat as some dripped onto the split in his lip. There was a twinge of pain.

''He's still out cold, but he has been out of surgery for a few hours now.'' John replied as the MP opened the cell. ''And stop the damn saluting, boy.'' John added.''I care nothing for that.''

Joseph nodded, a smile flashed across his face.

''So I'm out?'' Joseph asked.

''No.'' John said, giving the MP a hard look. ''You are now under my custody.'' John said as he beckoned Joseph to follow him.

''Fireteam Phoenix, please assemble at tac. deck., fireteam Phoenix, assemble at tac. deck.'' The ship's intercom said.

Joseph and John met gazes.

''Now what?'' They said in unison as they made their way to the tactical deck.


----------



## son of azurman

_“raider all around defense...Sherman and Rodgers approach entrance with caution. 3...2...1... breach BANG! go, go, go clear the hold. No one here sergeant coast is clear. Zetan investigate the upper floors everyone else take point outside wile i contact our transport. Sergeant! contacts we have contacts, banshees from the north. OPEN FIRE!”_​
Boom! the sandbag flew into the wall spilling its stuffings along the floor. Zetan dragged another punching bag from the side and attached it to the railings on the roof. His breaths were sudden and heavy and his face was pouring with sweat. He started again to jab the target in front of him repeatedly all the time deep in thought. for the past half hour he had been going through that day in his head and venting his anger out in the gym. he had already sent two marines to the infirmary so the training room had been emptied out of caution leaving him alone with his thoughts.

The squad had been picked up and brought back to the arkansas a day ago and Zetan was yet to see the rest of his squad. growing tired of the punching bag zetan slid off his padding to reveal his bloodied knuckles, his fists had been battered to hell leaving him unable to open them fully. He could of gone to the medic but maybe later instead he had another idea. Sherman snuck a few bottles from the bar on the upper deck and brought them to the range.

Zetan carried a case by his side over to the range, inside its strong casing it opened to reveal Zetan’s battle rifle. He fully adjusted and assembled the rifle and lay the bottles he snuck in on the table to his side. He took the tops off all the bottles and in a matter of seconds took a swig out of each before tossing it down the range and blasting it to pieces.

“drinking on the job are ya, expected better of ya Sherman.” came a voice behind him.

Zetan turned around expecting to see the RCO about to give him a gob full but no. Lancaster had been acting officer since Fawkes’s trip to med bay and the two hadn’t talked yet.

“hey John just thought i would blow off some steam and the bags didn’t help.” explained Zetan turning back around and tossing the last one down the range and blasting it.

“ why don’t you relax, cool off a little.” asked John taking a seat on the other side of the room away from the firing lanes.

“cool off how, dig a hole under the sand.” chuckled Zetan placing the BR back in the case and taking a seat by the other ODST.

“ha didn’t think you would remember.

Only just, lets just say ive been with my thoughts a lot recently.on another note hows Fawkes?” asked Zetan a more serious expression coming over him.

“not good, he will be getting a prosthetic at some point. he's a good soldier though and he’ll pull through.”

“nah man prosthetics mean the end,” said Zetan pretending to slyly pulling back his trouser leg to reveal the metal contraption it hid. “well of sanity that is.” joked Zetan and the two started laughing.

The two exited the range and the two parted ways with john going off somewhere in the direction of the transportation bay and Zetan headed off towards the cafeteria for some food.

OOC.this is based in sangus’s post were he says that john met other odsts in the firing range,mess hall and were ever they were to be found.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

'Private Payne, please report to the armoury' Came a voice over the intercom
Payne sat up, rolling out of his bunk and landing with a thump on the cold floor. 'Wha-whaa?' He said to nobody in particular, rubbing his eyes. He stood up, staggering a little. He blinked, the lights blinding him. He had spent most of the previous day drinking, and now it had hit him like a freight train. Great, the armoury. Payne sighed, pulling on some clean uniform before staggering out the door.

He arrived at the armoury, walking past the guard without stopping to show ID.
'Hey! I need your ID' He shouted angrily
Payne responded with a two finger salute, tapping the ODST symbol on his chest. The guard sighed, and remotely unlocked the door to the armoury. Payne smirked, then wandered in. 'Ah, Private Payne' a female clerk said. 'Take a seat over there'. He obliged, sitting behind a heavy metal desk. She went and unlocked a locker, lifting two large boxes out and then dumping them on the table with a loud *thud*. 'Some requisition order, dunno who made it. The rest of your old team got 'em a few months back; specially modified for swamp, oceanic, river conditions. You name it, as long as it's wet, ypu can operate there. Enough oxygen for almost 24 hours give or take, also works in vacuums, weighted boots, specially designed helmet to combat pressure sickness and increase visibility in murky waters.' She opened the second case. 'This is the bodyplate' She said, hefting out the torsopiece, 'like your old armour, the oxygen is stored in tanks at the back, however with this version they're armour plated, as well as set further in. Finally, a weapon' She slid a smaller box across the table 'Magnum, specially redesigned for underwater use, can be fired and reloaded with 0% chance of water damage or damage, so, pretty neat piece of kit'.

Twenty minutes later he was standing in the middle of the armour familiarization zone (afz), wearing the various pieces of kit. The clerk stood in front of him, armed with a pen and clipboard. 'Right, check helmet' Payne moved his neck from side to side, then up and down, activating the inbuilt torches, then the HUD. 'Check' He replied. 'Weighted boots?' She asked. Payne lifted his feet up and down, then activated the boots. The boots clicked and whirred and when he tried to lift his foot he struggled to get it more than an inch off the floor. 'Check'. 'Ok, now the breather'. Payne nodded, activating the tanks. There was a hiss as the suit sealed itself, expelling the extra air. A counter appeared in the top right of his HUD, reading 23.59.59...23.59.58.... Payne took in a deep breath, then nodded. 'Good' The clerk nodded, 'We'll have everything available for your next mission'.. Payne thanked the clerk, then muttered under his breath 'Yeah, wherever that is'.....


----------



## Josie

She felt at home on ships. This one was a lot like the Sweet Bonny Lass, the ship she'd grown up on. She sighed, remembering its skeletal hulk, crash-landed on Ignis, fires burning everywhere, people screaming. Then the Covvies came, picking off survivors with a merciless brutality; it was a slaughter. She winced, remembering the screams. She had ran, ran as fast as she could, until she was picked up and drafted by a roving marine patrol, earning her place as the squads sniper. The whole team bonded, and life was good again...Then the ambush, her life in tatters again, lying for 3 days among the corpses of her friends, until it was safe to move; to take revenge. *Bang* the brute got a taste of hot lead through it's eye, *Bang* another shot going through a grunt, coming out the other side, hitting another, sending them both flying and bleeding. *Bang* This time she missed, shaking her head to regain focus, *Bang* another grunt's life cut short by the hidden markswoman. She reached down, grabbing another clip. The grunts were running, panicking, a single elite zealot stood rallying them. Jennifer had breathed out slowly, focusing. *Bang*, the round tore it's arm clean off at the shoulder. It writhed for a while, before bleeding out. The grunts were now in full rout, 9 of them in total, running..... Into her trap. She had booby-trapped her squad's bodies with grenades and tripwires. There were no grunt survivors. When the hornet flew in to investigate the dissapearance of the marines, they found her, sitting cross-legged among the blood and blackened corpses, tears flowing down her cheeks and yet a broad, unnatural smile on her face. She refused to speak with any of them.. *Pah* they were all too scared to anyway, afraid of her smile. 'Who the fuck goes through that and comes out smiling?' They had whispered...

Ignis was lost a few weeks later, glassed by a covvie dreadnought, McKnight had escaped on the last transport out. The marines had come to shun her, and she would go into periods where she would go AWOL on the ship, hiding and becoming a recluse in the ventilation shafts of the ship. Were she was now... Still, word had got out about her kills: 1 Elite, 1 Brute, and 12 grunts dead without them ever knowing you were there doesn't get unnoticed by command, and she was moved to the 188 Sharpshooter Squadron, the 'deadshots'. With them, she was happy again, she had friends, they were her family. Now, they were all dead. Sure with this new team she acted all happy and smiley, but as she sat in the lonely ventilation shaft, knees pulled up to her chest, a single teardrop down her cheek, she wondered how long she could keep this act of being happy up before she snapped and broke down....


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes exhaled deeply before entering through the plain metal door. His new fingers were drumming gently and irritatingly against his thigh. He focused hard on keeping the metal digits still and they eventually went limp. He placed his good hand on the scanner and the lights flashed green. The doors slid open, revealing the remainder of the squad awaiting him.

He looked around at the squad; almost every member was there. Fawkes frowned Hooper wasn’t present. He was about to ask about the missing trooper, when a familiar man in a captain’s uniform entered. Captain Richard Lorven addressed them.

“Squad Phoenix.” He said in a calm, strong voice. “Sorry to call you up on such short notice,” he glanced down at Fawkes’ hand, “but a situation has occurred which needs to be solved by your team.”

Fawkes frowned. _What was he talking about?_ What kind of mission was Phoenix specifically acquitted to do that no other squad was? He looked at the captain again as he spoke again. 

“You may recall a set of,” He paused, searching for the correct word, “allies, that you fought alongside just prior to the destruction of the UNSC _Arkansas_, a pair of Spartans.”

Fawkes remembered, he’d wondered whether or not the Covenant had caught them. He supposed they had not. If they had, everyone would be being pulled to earth or the inner colonies, double time.

“The Spartans,” The captain continued, “went to recapture the _Arkansas_’ stolen AI. As far as FLEETcom or ONI knows, they succeeded. They were declared MIA after the destruction of the _Arkansas_. We recently, however, picked up a brief signal from the surface of Elysium. We believe that they somehow reached the planet’s surface. In the middle of a predominantly uncharted area of forest and swamp.”

Fawkes let that sink in. They were rescuing the Spartans. Well, that was new. The captain brought up a large holo-map of Elysium and pointed at a huge stretch of forest. Fawkes remembered that most of the planet was forest. If they took a wrong turn somewhere, they could be gone for a long time.

“You will be departing for the forests via drop pod at 08:32, in approximately ten minutes. Take this time to arm up and get ready. Good luck, Phoenix.”

Fawkes saluted and spoke up.
“Right boys and girls,” He began. “We could be out for a while, so make sure you bring plenty of rations and remember that you can stash one additional rifle beneath your pod, you may need it.” 

He led the squad out of the room. They walked quietly, but Fawkes leant in to speak to Lancaster. “What happened to Hooper?” He asked. 

“We haven’t seen him since before the attack on the LZ.” Came the reply and Fawkes’ expression turned grim. He sighed, causing his hand to flex inadvertently. He jammed it into the pocket of his trousers, where it slowly went still. 
“Private Payne.” He said and the ODST sped up to talk to him. Fawkes raised his twitching, metal digits. “How long does it take to get used to these things?” He asked.

OOC: 

Ok, gear up and get ready to drop, you can take your normal equipment, plus one battle rifle, assault rifle or DMR with you. Please PM me with any questions.

Spartans: You will be PMed your orders shortly


----------



## G0arr

“So Lancaster,” Joseph began looking to the other soldier, “how exactly did you pull off getting me out if Fawkes didn’t authorize it?”
"I have my connections, mate." John replied. "Just stay out of trouble for a while, ok? If you cross the line now I will get in allot of trouble, allot."
"Too bad, I owe a marine the rest of an ass stomping,” Joseph smiled making a fist with his right hand and rubbing it in his left.
"You can kick his ass if you want, just make sure you don't get sent to the brig again." John said smiling as he laid his hand on the scanner which allowed them to enter the briefing room.
“Yeah, little easier said than done,” Joseph replied still smiling. 

Joseph found a chair and sat. The room was slowly filling with soldiers as the private glanced down to his uniform. There was several blood spots splattered across the cloth. Most of what was on the colar was his, though several splattered marks were definitely not. Maybe there would be time to switch his uniform before anyone took notice. 
The thought disappeared as door opened. Fawkes marched into the room. “Well,” the young ODST said. The Sergeant scanned the room for a moment before moving toward another squad member. 
His advance halted as a new figure entered. This one had a blue/grey uniform with a block of color and identifying icon. It was the ship captain, though Joseph couldn’t recall his name.
“Squad Phoenix,” the Captain began as Joseph fumbled for a name. 
_Lovin? No that’s not it! Lorwin, Lanfordy, Leghorn damnit I know it’s an L name!_
He was only half listening to the briefing as he tried to think of the name. It was probably some assault and clear in one of the cities.
_Lorvance, Laurence, damn! This is gonna bug me all day now. Can’t remember the Captain’s name. Starts with L, what other L names do… Spartans?!?!_
His attention fully shifted to the briefing.
“The Spartans went to recapture the Arkansas’ stolen AI.,” The captain spoke as Joseph quickly tried to remember what else had been said. Nothing jumped to the front so hopefully it was nothing. The private watched attentively and listened as the briefing finished being sure to catch every detail.

The squad exited the room and headed toward their bay. _Right so a blind drop into uncharted forest to retrieve a pair of Spartans, in unknown condition, carrying a possible AI, that must be retrieved or destroyed. Yeah that sounds about right_, Joseph told himself, _so stock up on ammo_. 

First stop was the ready room. He snatched up armor and began to lock it in place as he moved to the armory. _Be prepared_, he told himself grabbing a magnum and sliding several extra magazines into holders. He glanced at one of the nearby marine combat harnesses. A sudden thought hammered into his mind like a falling drop pod. _The adjustment straps looked large enough, he thought, It wasn’t designed for that though. Extra carry capacity could be useful. Not going to fit in the pod_. Joseph reached up, “I’ll make it fit,” he said softly to no one in particular. The clips widened and straps were moved to their maximum. 

“Like a glove,” Joseph said to himself locking the harness into place,_ well a slightly undersized glove,_ he thought. It was going to make some maneuvering difficult, but it would work. He slid extra magazines for his pistol ammo into place, and reached into a small metal box. He pulled out a black cylinder and looked at his pistol. “Might as well,” he said screwing it into place on the barrel. Joseph began sliding clips in place on his armor then looked at the weapons. Shotgun, SMP, DMR which to chose? Almost every member of the squad carried a battle rifle making that a good choice, but that would cost him by splitting ammo. Joseph glanced to the DMR. Same ammo size made it interchangeable, but the clips were smaller. He cursed for a moment and glanced at the slots in the harness. “Aw hell, he said quietly grabbing several clips for his assault rifle, “swing big or go home.”

Joseph counted as he slid the ammo into pouches 10 clips, giving him a total of 320 rounds of ammo. _Should find some Covie bastard to kill by the end of this load_, he thought with confidence, _so I’ll still have another gun by then._ Then came the standard tactical insertion load out. He moved to another area in the armory and began filling the remaining pouches on his armor and the tactical harness. _Well maybe not ALL of them_, he though, _damn thing is gonna weigh me down enough as is!_

Joseph took one more look at his gear as he packed some of it into his pod. 
1 magnum with suppressor and 5 clips, assault rifle with a total of 11 clips (one in the gun naturally), tactical light, 3 frags, extra ration bars, standard survival gear, data pad with basic topography maps. 
Yep looks like everything, the helljumper told himself looking at the cramped pod interior. Now all he had to do was fit in there and wait. _Well might as well wait outside till the order is given_, he thought, _no need in being too hasty on this one._


----------



## Sangus Bane

“Yeah, little easier said than done,” Joseph replied smiling. 

John returned the smile and the two ODSTs entered the briefing room, each taking a sat on one of the chairs.

A hologram idly displayed the ship's status and the gathered ODSTs chatted a bit before Fawkes entered the room.

It was the first time John saw the sergeant awake since their extraction from the planet, though he could use a bit of rest by the looks of him.

Before anyone could properly greet Fawkes, or the other way around, the ship's captain entered the room, Captain Richard Lorven, if John remembered correctly.

“Squad Phoenix.” He said in a calm, strong voice. “Sorry to call you up on such short notice,” he glanced down at Fawkes’ hand, “but a situation has occurred which needs to be solved by your team.”

This had John interested, to say the least. 

“You may recall a set of,” Captain Lorven paused, searching for the correct word, “allies, that you fought alongside just prior to the destruction of the UNSC Arkansas, a pair of Spartans.”

Ah yes, the Spartans of course. 
John had made sure to leave them out of the report he wrote, very well knowing the delicacy of a matter such as Spartan involvement.

He had reported to an ONI operative aboard the Prowler, just before he went and met with Sascha Marfield. The Operative had asked him questions about the Spartans, what they last said and if John knew anything about them, what they were planning.

John told the operative all he knew, which was very, very little.


At the end of the briefing Fawkes turned his attention to John, the squad already moving to the armory.

“What happened to Hooper?” Fawkes asked. 

“We haven’t seen him since before the attack on the LZ.” Came the reply and Fawkes’ expression turned grim.
Fawkes looked down at his hand and John followed his gaze, seeing the partially metal hand, though he made no mention of it.

Once they had reached the armory John opened his locker, taking out his modified armour and checking to see if it was still complete, which it was.

He got into the jump suit and started securing the pieces of the armour, tightening straps and turning the bolts of his custom made shoulder pad, securing it firmly to his arm.

He got a small set of tools from the bottom of his locker and secured them to his lower back, in case he was to do a field repair.

Weapons then...

John took one Battle Rifle from a rack nearby, filling several pouches with the ammunition he required.

''Sam- Fawkes.'' John said. ''How are you feeling?'' John asked.
Fawkes shrugged, raising his metal hand and trying to give a thumbs up. After a second or two he managed to do so.
''I've felt better.'' He said with a smile.

''Good.'' John said, not entirely convinced his sergeant was in top shape. He was ready for war though, he could use the distraction. 
''A quick update.'' John said as he went over the weapon racks, trying to decide what weapon he should bring along. ''I wrote all after action reports and even had a chat with ONI on the Spartan subject.''

Fawkes nodded, pulling a glove over his good hand.

''Sergeant Marfield has recovered from her injuries.'' John continued. ''And you might want to have a chat with Joseph. He was sent to the brig after he got into a fight with a marine.'' John said as he rested his hand on his selected weapon. ''Just thought you should know.''

Fawkes seemed to consider it and turned to face John.
''Are you seriously going to take that?'' Fawkes asked surprised.

''Why not?'' John replied as he temporarily secured the grenade launcher on his back and slung a belt of grenades around his waist.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

At the end of the briefing the squad got up from their chairs and followed Fawkes to the armory.

Fawkes summoned John and they had a brief exchange of words before Fawkes asked Payne a question.

Once the squad entered the armory each ODST went to his or her locker and retrieved the armour they knew all too well.
Claire had seen it fitting that she did something to make her armour stand out, just like the the armours of the other ODSTs.

John had the officer's stripe over his helmet and possibly the heaviest modified armour, though Payne's new armour was far from standardized as well...

The other ODSTs had each left their mark on the armour they wore and Claire thought it would be right to do the same, especially since she had completed her first mission as an ODST.

And so, when she got the helmet from the locker she admired the white rose and thorn patters she had painstakingly applied with a small brush around the top of the visor.

''BRINGER OF GRIEF'' it said between the visor and the decals.
She was proud to have something unique about her armour, apart from the two skulls she had applied to her right hand.

She quickly got on her gear and got an SMG with a load of ammo and her rocket launcher from the weapon racks.

She made for her droppod when McKnight tapped her on the shoulder.

''You might want to bring an extra weapon.'' McKnight told her, gently inclining her head to the weapon racks.
''Right.'' Claire said smiling, unaware that her helmet hid the smile.

She took a DMR from the racks and filled her remaining pouches with the required ammo.

She again made for her droppod and checked to see if she had her rations and other items stored away.

Satisfied she got into the droppod, waiting for the order to drop.


----------



## son of azurman

Zetan hurried through the metal doors into the briefing chamber, after a marine woke him from his sleep he assumed that something was going horribly wrong. As he looked around he saw that the rest of the squad were assembling waiting for Fawkes to enter. As he looked around the room he was sure he was forgetting something but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Oh yeah Pain he remembered. He walked around the outside of the room till he made it to the private.

“Pain wile we were on foot i found something you might want.” greeted Zetan.

“and that is?” asked the private unsure of what he meant.

“when we were clearing the LZ i got tackled by a gator but managed to take him, it dropped this.” Sherman explained wile sliding a box out from the sling bag he was carrying.

When Pain opened the box his face lit up like a child on christmas. Inside the box lay a covenant energy knife currently powered down.

“ha th.....”started the private before being cut off.

“shhh if they find out iv’e given this to you were both gonna be in the shit.”hushed the Corporal.

“why did you give me this can i ask?

Personally i wan’t to send every last one of those xenos to hell but even i have to admit their equipment is effective and you never know when something like that could come in handy. Just promise me you’ll only use it if you absolutely have to cause i don’t think command will like it.” The boxed slammed shut suddenly when the ships captain entered.

.......................................................

As the squad left the room The first place Zetan went was the armory. As he walked over to his locker he noticed something odd. Inside the locker were two sets of odst armour one was his gorilla suit one he didn’t recognize. on the new suit a note was stuck on the chest plate.

it read “hey hard ass, you have a new squad now and a new allegiance. We all miss ya but we have agreed that its improper for you to still be displaying our colours. After a discussion with the Quarter master we convinced him to get you this, you can keep ours as a memory but your a phoenix now Born in fire.” a massive grin played across Sherman’s face as he read the note.

“That bastard sure knows how to make thinks dramatic.”muttered Zetan.

He quickly took off the sticky note. The armor was the standard ODST set except for a few modifications. The Boots and legs displayed a pattern of fire running up the side to make it seem like he was standing in a blaze. The chest piece and back plate displayed the same icon of a Red phoenix rising out of ashes. The helmet had a Red tinted Visor but other than that was normal.

As he pulled on the new gear he noticed something carved into the back of the helmet, a name.

“Private Lewis Graham?” read Zetan puzzled.

Noticing he had been overheard by someone he quickly equipped the armor and walked over to the weapon racks.


He grabbed his smg and 15 clips meaning he had 720 rounds on that.
He grabbed his magnum and 5 mags meaning he had 60 rounds
He grabbed an extra assault rifle and 5 clips meaning he had 160 rounds on that
He grabbed his knife and 3 grenades.
He grabbed his rations and his ration bars which he had swapped for cereal bars from the cafeteria.
He grabbed all his survival gear along with extra first aid supplies and he grabbed 2 flares from the quartermaster just in case they didn’t die before evac.

OOC. the first half iv'e asked shatter on but i don't have a reply yet so if something needs changing ill edit it later.


----------



## Angel Encarmine

The sounds of the forest were all around, birds chirping while what appeared to be the local form of squirrels scampered among the trees. Something large snorted in the bushes as it dug for food, while snakes bathed in what little sun shone down through the trees. All were oblivious to the Spartans in their midst, creeping through without making a sound. Slowly but surely they approached the origin of the signal, ever alert for the covenant or any insurrectionists. If this was a trap, then whoever set it would find themselves in for the fight of their lives. Last fight of their lives. 

Walking slowly, Felix was on point, and he froze as he heard the voice of someone from up ahead. He didn't need to signal Anthony to take cover, they had worked together for so long he was already moving. As the pair made their way closer to what appeared to be a clearing, Felix got his first look at where the signal was coming from. 5 marines and a pilot sat close to the wreckage of a pelican, and after looking around Felix could clearly see they failed to post any sentries. He could also tell they were at easy by the casual way they had their rifles sat next to them, something no soldier should do in a combat zone. "fucking idiots" he muttered to Anthony. 

Before Felix could open a private channel to the marines, he felt Anthony slap him on the shoulder lightly and point to the west. Around 20 innies were trying to creep up onto the unsuspecting marines. Even as he watched, 7 of them broke off and headed towards the Spartans position. By the way one of them was holding a tracker, he could tell that they were zoning in on Anthony's IFF tag._ "Divide and conquer"_ he said to Anthony over a private channel. _"You babysit the kids, Ill go dark"_ he said slapping palms with Anthony before the two parted ways.

Moving to the side of the group approaching their position, Felix counted 7 innies and stalked them as they turned to approach the crashed pelican.Listening to Anthony address the marines made Felix smile a bit, before the attack began on their position. Pulling a frag grenade from his belt compartment, Felix crept forward and got within 6 feet of the group that had been heading towards him and Anthony, the 7 men believing that their enemies were all next to the crashed pelican. How wrong they were they would never know as the invisible spartan pulled the pin and rolled the grenade into their midst. The M9 AP frag grenade was meant to shred body armor and kill heavily armored soldiers, the Innies did not stand a chance. The grenade detonated with a hollow boom, before pieces of shrapnel flew out and ripped through flesh and clothing alike. All of the men had been hit, and only 3 of them were still living, screaming on the ground as their bood pooled.

Stepping from behind a tree Felix advanced, his rifle coughing as he put single shots into the foreheads of the innies, taking no chances. _" Friendly coming in from the south"_ he barked to the marines over the comm, circling around and joining the battle. Seeing Anthony he nodded before raising his rifle and firing, the 5 round burst shredding an innie behind a bush. None of the marines or the pilot had fallen, and Felix intended to keep it that way.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

As usual, Payne went and sat in the corner of the briefing room, head down, in the shadows. He heard footsteps approaching him, and looked up. It was Zetan, looking rather shifty, glancing from side to side. In his hands he held a small box. 'Yeah? Can I help you?' Payne asked. “Payne, whilst we were on foot i found something you might be interested in.” Zetan whispered, crouching down.

“Yeah? And that is?” Payne asked, guessing it was something to do with the box.

“When we were clearing the LZ I got tackled by a gator but managed to take him, I grabbed this afterwards.” Sherman explained, motioning to the box, passing it to Payne.

Payne sighed, great, another trinket. He opened the box, and was happily surprised. Inside the box lay a covenant energy knife powered down; not HIS covvie knife, Fawkes still had that, but a knife all the same.

“Fuck me, that's aweso.....” Payne started.

“Shhh, if they find out I've given this to you were both gonna be in the shit.” Zetan whispered, looking around nervously.

Zetan finished by saying the usual BS. 'Don't use it unless you have to, etc etc'. Payne thanked him, but didn't need to be told not to flash covvie contraband around...


Fawkse's speech was long and boring, Payne only taking in parts of it, even falling asleep at one point. When the briefing was all over, Payne turned his back, making for the door.

'Private Payne, how long does it take to get used to one of these things' Fawkse shouted after him. Payne turned.

'Bout 3-4 weeks, but in truth, you never truly get used to it, make sure to keep it clean, or it'll jam, almost always at the worst times too'. Payne replied, chuckling a little, before heading to the armoury.



'Fuck me this shit's heavy' Payne groaned as he took his first walk about in his new armour. He was getting looks from other team members, most of whom had seemed to have customised their own armour to various degrees. Payne noted that if he had free time in the field, he should do the same. He walked to the weapons lockers, groaning all the way at the weight of his boots and armour, before pulling out his specialised magnum pistol, shoving 5 extra mags around his armour; his trusty shotgun came next, grabbing enough for 4 full reloads. 'Hmmm, what else should I take' He pondered, settling for a DMR, grabbing 4 extra magazines, mag-locking the rifle to his back, before cluncking over to the drop-pods, cursing the boots all the way...


----------



## Josie

McKnight's eyes widened when she saw Fawkes enter, her eyes drawn to his hand. *My god, his fingers* She thought. She looked around at the rest of the squad. Rather a few of them were looking.....shifty... Davis and Lancaster looked like they had something to hide; and Sherman and Payne appeared to be doing some dodgy deal in the corner, both of them looking around suspiciously. The briefing surprised McKnight, being dropped so soon after their previous mission seemed a bit odd. She guessed that they must be really going all out to get that AI back. As they walked to the armoury, McKnight quickly ducked into her room, grabbing a few personal effects; hanging a small, black chain necklace that was had a small silver ring attached to it around her neck, and grabbed up a gold, embossed ring, sliding it into a pocket. 

The armoury way busy, and it took almost half an hour for McKnight to get full kitted up. She grabbed a sniper rifle from a rack, checking her zeroing was still ok. She turned and grabbed 3 extra magazines, as well as four seperate rounds in her shoulder holster. Putting a magnum in her hip holster, she counted out 5 spare magazines, distributing the weight equally. They had been told to bring 3 weapons, so McKnight grabbed a DMR, mag-locking it and it's ammunition in place. As she walked past Collins, she gave her a nudge, advising her to take a third weapon, noticing that she only had a rocket launcher and her smg. Collins didn't seem to reply, and McKnight kept walking to the drop bays. Putting on her helmet, and waiting by her pod...


----------



## HOGGLORD

The pods were prepped and ready to go, the weapons were loaded. Lancaster came over to him.

''Sam- Fawkes.'' He began. ''How are you feeling?'' Fawkes shrugged, raising his metal hand and trying to give him the thumbs up. He battled with the digits, which were struggling with such sudden exertions for a second or two before he managed to do so. A wave of nausea and tiredness struck him, for a brief second. Damned medical drugs working through his system.
''I've felt better.'' He said with a smile. 

''Good.'' Lancaster said, though he didn’t look fully convinced. He seemed satisfied, however, as he continued along.

''A quick update.'' Lancaster reported as the squad went over the weapon racks. ''I wrote all after action reports and even had a chat with ONI on the Spartan subject.''

Fawkes nodded, pulling a glove over his good hand. He wasn’t sure how far he could trust the other right now, but felt that it best to just leave it to the elements. He stowed the other glove into his pocket.

''Sergeant Marfield has recovered from her injuries.'' Lancaster continued. Fawkes was relieved, Marfield had looked bad, he’d seen soldiers look better dead. Hearing that another friend had survived a little longer in this war made him feel better. ''And you might want to have a chat with Joseph. He was sent to the brig after he got into a fight with a marine.'' 
John said as he picked out a grenade launcher. ''Just thought you should know.''

Fawkes sighed inwardly, ODSTs and marines were always getting into scraps. It was a sergeant’s bane to deal with this stuff. He’d talk to him planetside.
replied “Are you seriously going to take that?” He asked, nodding at the launcher. He’d never had much patience with grenade launchers; the damned thing had too little ammo. 

''Why not?'' Lancaster asked rhetorically, slinging the grenades around him.

Fawkes shrugged, Lancaster was a competent soldier, he knew what he was doing, Fawkes knew that the rest of the squad was just as well informed and it gave him hope.

Fawkes picked a battle rifle off the wall and strapped several extra ammo clips to his combat webbing. Then he holstered his magnum, taking another set of clips for that. Finally, he decided to take an SMG, the suppressed and scoped version, only accessible to the ODSTs. To Fawkes, it was like a badge, proclaiming him as a helljumper, even if his armour gave that away already.

He strolled over to his pod and sat down in it, downloading the report that Lancaster had written, he didn’t have time to read it right now, he’d do it later. Before he got into his pod, he fixed his battle rifle to the underside of the pod, locking it into the storage compartment. He slammed the compartment shut with a thud and slipped into the pod.

Fawkes lit up the map in everyone's pod and marked up an area of forest on each display. 

"This is where we are dropping in, about three and a half miles south of the last transmission we received." 
He looked at the thick forest around the area, he'd read up on the local flora and he'd learnt that the trees were old and strong enough to spear a drop pod on decent if it hit one of the thicker branches. 

"Make sure you stay on target." Fawkes said, imagining the irony of being killed by something like a tree, considering all the horrors that the covenant had thrown at him.

The green light went up and everyone prepared for the drop. 
3...
Fawkes braced himself.
2... 
His metal hand clamped itself so tight on the handles that the metal buckled slightly.
1...

"Feet first into hell." Fawkes chuckled to himself as the pod jolted and fell.

The pod struck the ground with a crash half a minute later and Fawkes jumped out, expecting enemies everywhere. Instead he saw a very surprised looking bird, lots of trees and the other ODSTs milling into the clearing.

He assessed the situation.

THey needed to get to the spot they'd received the transmission from. The team could go straight forwards, but its through what seems to be a big clearing, much larger than the one they were in. It would be a good place for an ambush. Otherwise, they could skirt round, it would take longer, but they'd be harder to jump.

He relayed the situation to the squad.

OOC: 

Ok, so we have two choices straight up the middle or skirt around?
In your post, mention your preferred route, but don't just leave on that route regardless of the others decisions.

Spartans: I'll Pm your orders tonight.


----------



## G0arr

Joseph glanced down as the floor disappeared beneath his pod. The familiar shake had already began to subside. The young ODST wondered if he would ever stop that. Beneath him was the green world and to either side the long black void. A smile forced its way onto his face as the signal came.
“Ding,” he said over the comms, “express trip, one way, feet first!” The pod jolted.

The trip was almost identical. The void reached out with silence only to be replaced by flames and a jarring shake. This time however those last seconds were not filled with a view of violence amid buildings and city streets, it was a forest. _No_, Joseph reminded himself, _not a forest Unknown territory_.

The pod hammered into the ground. The young ODST hammered his release like before. He sprinted clear of his pod and into the tree line where he halted behind a tree for cover. His back was to the others as he swept the area with his eyes. 
Joseph saw no enemies waiting, no muzzle flashes, and no movement. He waited and watched for something, anything.

The comms finally buzzed. “Clearing ahead, possible ambush.” Joseph turned toward the squad’s direction of advance, and began to move with the others.
“Wow,” he said looking out into the clearing, “that would make a good ambush site. Both ways.”
“What,” someone asked; Joseph couldn’t tell exactly who it was.
“We have no idea who the locals are, or if there are any locals here. What I suggest is a counter ambush. Most of us skirt, and a few of us wait. Give a signal and the ones waiting go right up the middle. Looks like there is part of an old stream bed out there so it would provide some cover. If someone takes the bait the skirting jump them, if not then we advance as normal.” Joseph smiled behind his helmet. It was a quick and dirty plan, but it didn’t sound that bad to him. 
“What do you think sir,” he asked glancing to Fawkes, “I’ll volunteer up the middle.”


----------



## Santaire

It was almost amusing. A normal man might have laughed. A sane man might have laughed.

The sniper felt natural in my hands as I crept through the undergrowth. I held up the rear while Felix took point and even the birds were unaware. A blinking symbol on my HUD told me my shields were down still and I knew that at some point I’d need to fix them but right now I had a mission to complete and I would complete it no matter what technical failures sought to bar my path. Not even a leaf was broken as we moved.

Felix froze suddenly and I sank to a firing position, pressing the rifle but into my shoulder and aiming down the sights. I saw the marines and heard Felix’s words over the COM link. “Fucking idiots.”

I could see what he was talking about, the marines were sloppy and had not even posted sentries. I growled a curse. Then, sweeping the area with my rifle, I saw the incoming Innies. 20 of the bastards. I moved up behind Felix and slapped his shoulder lightly, almost no sound being heard above the chirping of the jungle. I watched the Innies split up, 7 heading straight for me or rather my IFF.

"Divide and conquer" Felix said to me over the COM. "You babysit the kids, I’ll go dark."

We slapped palms but I was scowling beneath my helmet. I hated having to deal with fools and now Felix had made me do it. He was probably grinning like an idiot right now at having made me squirm like that.

I stood and marched out into the clearing. Time to pull rank. “Sloppy,” I snapped at the marines. “You call yourselves soldiers you fools, the fact that I got this close without being seen was expected, but the ease of it was shameful. Hell, I could have marched a whole army here with minimal effort. Normally I could have written this off as simple laziness. However the incoming Innies might make this a court martial for lax discipline.”

I heard the grenade go off and the marines were swearing and raising weapons. Drill sergeant time. “Stand to,” I bellowed. “Stand ready soldiers. Fire when you see a target and not a moment before, I want no wasted ammo. I hope I can trust you with this.”

Then I disappeared into the forest.

The gun fire was like music as I ghosted through the undergrowth. I heard screaming and the screamer was the first to die by my hand, his neck snapped like a twig. I brought my BR55 round and put a burst into an Innie. The weapon coughed bullets, its silencer quietening the rounds and meaning that with the gunfire from the marines it went unheard and I moved on quickly. I sprinted through the undergrowth with the gunfire all around me and dived into a roll, coming up with a grenade in my hand. I tossed it between a pair of trees that had gun smoke curling round them. I traced the path of the grenade with my rifle and put a burst into the grenade. I heard people scream, a man and a woman. I heard Felix bellowing at the marines and as I rounded a tree I saw a volley of fire cut down the 4 Innies opening fire.

There was no challenge here. It almost made me wish for the Covenant. At least then I didn’t have this weird feeling in my gut. It occurred to me then that it might even be guilt but I dismissed that theory. I was a Spartan, guilt was for men.

I killed 3 more Innies with my rifle. Then as I rounded a tree an Innie knocked the weapon out of my hands. The Innie was carrying a machete. He must have thought it would save his life. He knocked the weapon away and I was already spinning, dropping down to duck his return slice and sweeping his legs out from under him with an outstretched foot before I slammed an elbow into his throat, crushing his throat with ease. I whipped out my pistol as the man’s companion came out screaming that I had killed his brother and I put a round into his kneecap.

He had not even finished his fall before I put a bullet through his head...


----------



## Sangus Bane

John manually closed the hatch of his drop pod as he awaited the countdown.
In his head he played music, remembering songs he hadn't heard for over a decade.
He tapped his fingers to the imaginary beat and whispered the words in his breath.

One beep.
The words faded away.

A second beep.
The music stopped.

A third beep.
There was only silence.

A high pitched beep.
Drop...

The silence made way for the thundering noise of the drop pod as it accelerated towards the planet surface.

Flames enveloped John's drop pod as it neared the atmosphere.

John felt the G's slam in once he breached the atmosphere and he directed his eyes to the screen on his right, checking if he was still on the right trajectory.

He wasn't. 

The difference wouldn't be noteworthy with any other drop, but the fact that this was a dangerous landing zone made him not want to take any chances.
He would not meet his end at the end of a large branch, not after all he had been through.

A quick set of commands on the panel beneath the screen slightly tilted the pod, so little that John wouldn't have been able to tell if it wasn't for the confirmation on the screen.

Three seconds later the drop pod slammed into the ground and it was as if lightning struck and thunder roared. 

Less than a second after impact John was already stepping out of his drop pod, the hatch not even fully open yet.

He sprinted for a thick tree and took cover behind it. 
Confirmation signals came in as each ODST disembarked his or her drop pod and set up a perimeter around the landing site. 

Fawkes was three trees to his left and they were facing the same direction.
After a few seconds Fawkes signalled the squad, warning them for the clearing nearby and the threat it might post as a possible ambush site.

John had already seen it and was already scanning the clearing for any sign of movement, gazing through the scope of his BR to see if he could make out anything.

He thought he saw something but seeing how the ODSTs just dropped it might be wildlife vacating the area.

"If they are waiting for us we should go all together, they'll have counted the number drop pods that came down and know how many of are here. A counter ambush isn't the best option this soon after a drop, sir." John said. "In my opinion we can best go around and then flank the clearing, or go all the way around."


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire wasn't exactly looking forward to the drop.

Then again she never was...

This was to e her second actual combat drop and she was oping to be less nervous than last time. 
Nothing was less true.

As the door of her pod closed she felt her heart rate rise and a knot in her throat made it ever clear she wasn't fond of doing these drops.

She was an ODST however, and she would drop wherever the damned UNSC required her to drop.

Yet she wondered if the squad would ever be deployed by dropship.

Release.

The droppod shook violently as she approached the planet and breached it's atmosphere.
She saw the clouds envelop her droppod and she felt her heart skip a beat, maybe even two when the droppod slammed into a tree and then the solid ground of the forest.

She disembarked, happy to be able to set foot on the ground in one piece.

She raised her rocket launcher, securing it tightly to her back as he made her way to a fallen tree, most likely brought down by one of the drop pods.

She got her DMR out and trained it for the trees further down, checking for hostiles and allies alike.

This was a rescue OP after all and the sooner they found the Spartans, the better.

Though right now Claire would have had no issues with finding the dead bodies of the Spartans.
Though they were good at killing Covies.

She'd have to reflect on that some time later...

Fawkes came over the radio, warning the squad of a possible ambush site up ahead.
He asked the squad if they should go around, or through...

The sooner the better right?

''I suggest we go through the clearing, we have plenty of firepower to take doen a few Covies.'' Claire said, turning her head to several ODSTs who were either shaking their head in disagreement or nodding in agreement.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

3.. Payne closed his eyes

2.. He slowed his breathing

1.. The drop pod lurched violently as it was released, giving it's occupant the usual feeling of weightlessness as your stomach gets pushed upwards. He kept his eyes closed until he felt the series of judders as the pit hit the canopy, a tree, and then finally the ground.

He pulled the release switch, giving the door a firm kick to release it, hopping out, shotgun at the ready. Nothing, no plasma fire, no charging brutes, no elites....unless they were invisible? *Nah, pretty unlikely*, still, he felt uneasy as he regrouped with the rest of the ODSTs, looking out for the tell-tale shimmer. 

Fawkes relayed the situation to them all; Payne being quite vocal with his opinion,
'Fuck that boss. I say we go down the middle. See, the way I see it, they'll be EXPECTING us to go round the edge.' Payne gave a sarcastic nod of the head and raised his hands, 'Damned Covvie mind tricks and all that'. Fawkes gave him a look that even without the tinted visor, gave Payne the impression of *Shut the fuck up and act seriously or I'll break you*, and Payne sighed 'Seriously though, I reckon we've got enough firepower to smash through anything. The quicker we can find two dead Spartans, the better - Lets go straight through'


----------



## Josie

The verdant world below them rose up to receive her. The drop pod dropped quickly, leaving the ship behind and passing through the clouds, the green forest below them seemingly endless, stretching almost from horizon to horizon, dotted with mountains, lakes, and McKnight swore she saw a settlement. Very soon the impact warnings were sounding, and with a huge *thud*, the pod slammed into the ground. 

McKnight grabbed her rifle, ready to fight, then pressed the door release. Nothing. She jammed it again, pushing and pushing frantically. She stopped for a second, no gunfire, no shouts, no nothing, She reached up, pulling down the emergency release, then using the top screen as a handhold, swung forward, her momentum knocking the door clear. She jumped out, falling a little further than expected, the drop pod having landed in a tree. She hit the forest floor and rolled, dusting herself off before jogging to the regroup point.

She got there just as Fawkes finished his brief. Apparently there were two ways through. One was to just push straight through, saving time but at the risk of ambush, the other to go round; a much longer but safer route. Jennifer didn't want to argue about it so quickly put her opinion in; 'We should get to the Spartans as quickly as possible, the quicker we get there the more chance they're alive', she chipped in, before taking a defensive position up a tree, scanning the area whilst Fawkes made his choice


----------



## Avenhold

*Overwatch.*

The metals doors to the pod bay slide open, and without pause in strides an ODST clad in ONI-Issued stealth armour with a matching gillie scarf about his shoulders. A DMR held tightly in his right hand, he makes his way to the drop pods, ignoring anyone else that might be present in the room with him. A man on a mission, he is equipped with a silent M7S SMG strapped to his back on the shallow pack, with a M6C/SOCOM holstered on his right thigh. Along with his armaments he carries a healthy supply of ammo and a couple of grenades.

Silent as the grave, 'save for his footsteps across the grated floor, he steps quickly to a remaining pod, it's coordinates already dialled in. Stowing his DMR in the slot provided he turns about, positioning himself in the pod, and locks himself in. With a deep breath the pod door closes in front of him and his eyes close gently. As the pod begins to turn in place to face away from the ship, he opens his eyes once more to the sight bellow. Steadying his deep breaths as he hears the first beep. Quickly followed by the second. Now the third comes, and with a sudden, and violent jolt the pod hurtles towards the planet with all speed.

The ODST, watches his descent as he plummets towards the planet. As he breaks atmo, he briefly takes in the Kay of the land before---

With a thundering boom the pod smashes into the earth bellow. The pod's door remains closed for a moment, before firing open.. Exiting no ordinary ODST. Collecting his DMR, WOLF had already noted that there appeared to be no signs of a battle on his entry and landing, leaving him to stride nonchalantly towards to gathered group of veteran ODSTs. Upon the breast of his suit would rest the crest of the Office of Naval Intelligence (more commonly known as ONI). Quickly he spots the commanding officer as described in his briefing prior to arrival.

"First Sergeant Fawkes?" He inquired, his tone level. "WOLF, Office of Naval Intelligence. I'm here to oversee the success of this mission."

The agent's posture was at ease, his DMR held with both hands.


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes listened to the squad’s opinions on the course of action, some wanted to flank, most wanted to run straight up the middle. He was just coming to a decision when he heard a thunderous _‘thud’_ behind him. He spun round and levelled his battle rifle. Another drop pod had landed, UNSC style and markings. Fawkes slowly lowered the rifle as the door hissed open. And ODST stepped out. His helmet was of standard design, excluding the words "Lion of Scotland" painted in gold across his visor from left to right and a pair of wolf fangs and teeth just bellow his visor. Resting around his shoulders, was a dark green ghillie scarf and upon his chest was adorned an ominous symbol of ONI - A black and white pyramid with a large, circular eye in the middle. The rest of his kit was essentially standard. 

“First Sergeant Fawkes?” He asked, an odd accent, one that Fawkes recognized as a Scottish accent from Earth. The ODST continued, seemingly oblivious of the deep mistrust in Fawkes’ rigid pose. "WOLF, Office of Naval Intelligence. I'm here to oversee the success of this mission."

Fawkes sighed, _of course he was_, ONI wouldn’t trust anything to anyone but themselves, even if it was as simple as picking some Spartans. If the Spartans were dead, nobody would be there, if they were alive, there wouldn’t be a living foe in sight anyway. But ONI couldn’t see it that way, everything was a security risk, nothing was simple.

He nodded to the ODST, using the brief movement to subtly look at his rank slide. Private First Class. 

“Well, _Private_ Wolf.” He said, emphasising the rank difference heavily. He hated having to pull rank on people, but with a spook on the loose in his squad, he couldn’t take chances. “You will still defer to me for immediate orders, unless ONI says otherwise, your under my command.”

Fawkes waited for conformation before turning back to the situation at hand. 

“Ok, so we head up the middle, spread out and move up.” 

The squad moved up carefully, guns pointed in all directions. Lancaster, Mcknight and Davis spread across to the left flank, Wolf and Fawkes moved up the middle and Collins, Payne and Sherman covered the right. They moved in a loose arrow formation, their weapons scanning the tree line for attackers.

Suddenly Fawkes heard a _‘click’_ to his left and spun around. In a split second he saw the trip wire and the dark metal of a frag grenade. He pushed Wolf out of the way. 

Six explosions crashed through the grassy floor simultaneously, surrounding Lancaster, Mcknight and Davis. As smoke began to rise, Fawkes saw Lancaster dive forwards, scrambling through the short grass, groping for a purchase. He pulled himself up. The smoke cleared, revealing Davis clinging on to the edge of a pool of brownish water, there was no sign of Mcknight, save a discarded sniper rifle on the floor. 

The water rippled and bubbles popped up on the surface, an ODST helmet rose to the surface. She’d fallen in! 

“Payne!” Fawkes snapped. “Get down there, she’s under the water!” 

He darted forwards to haul Davis up as the massive form of Payne’s new armour went to the rescue. As he dragged the ODST out, the rapid whistles of bullets caused him to dive to the floor, the chatter of machinegun fire 

OOC: 
The clearing has been rigged! Mcknight has fallen into a pit trap and is underwater and old UNSC automatic sentry turrets are firing on the squad from small bushes and hills. Try to immobilize the guns or get to cover. As a tip, the guns are motion and heat sensitive, but they’re not very smart or well armoured at the back.

Shattertheirsky & Josie: Shatter, use your nice new suit to find Josie and pull her out of the water, she hasn’t got her helmet, so be quick. You may want to work on this post together.


----------



## Sangus Bane

'ONI Operative... This'll be fun.' John thought to himself as he observed the ONI spook approach Fawkes.
"Wolf," the ODST/Operative introduced himself.

Quite odd that he had that codename, or was it his actual name? 

*click*

John noticed the sound, scanning the ground for the origin of the sound.
A frag grenade rulled from beneath a bush, its pin removed.

On instinct John dived away, trying to take Jospeh with him to get the ODST out of harm's way.
He missed however, yet the younger ODST already seemed to get away on his own.

After that there was only noise, a ring in John's ears and a numbed feling across most of his body.
He noticed he lay flat on his stomach, he hadn't managed to catch himself.

As he shook the numbness from his head. 
Fawkes had already reached Joseph and Payne seemed to be entering the water. 

John checked his hands, releaved to see all his fingers were still there. His armour hadn't notified him of any breaches.

He was still in one piece.

John got up but when he got to one knee he let himself drop again, forced to dodge the hail off bullets that flew right over him.

He saw two turrets, automated turrets scanning from left to right, then back to left.

"Be careful," John told the squad over the radio. "Sentry guns are spread out over the area."

John looked at his left wrist, seeing if he could try and hack one of the guns with his computer.
Yet the device registered no signals that could be traced to the guns.

"Guess we'll do this the old fashioned way..." John grunted as he rolled into the bushes and got his grenade launcher out. 

He fired a grenade, making sure to keep hold of the trigger, chargijg the EMP charge inside the grenade.

He released the trigger, releasing the EMP charge and effectively shutting down several turrets.

"Go, now!" John instructed the others.


----------



## Avenhold

"Aye sir." He nods in response, not breaking posture. He witholds his reservations about such a maneuver of moving out into the open. 

With his DMR loosely shouldered, he scans their surroundings spotting nothing of note- until hears a click from a grenade. He goes to dive away from the danger when he suddenly feels a firm push, not refusing help in his evasion he tumbles, and tucks into a roll.

*BOOM!*

With the evasion and helping hand he was able to avoid the blast, but not the after effects of that terrible, familiar ringing in his ears. He is crouched low as he looks back, taking in the aftermath. 

The ODSTs seemed well enough off: the sergeant barking orders of rescue and movement to his soldiers, he spotted the ODST hoisting a grenade launcher in aim of the turrets. Hearing a muffled call and the sight of an EMP grenade detonating near several of the turrets.

Staying as low as he can, he moves away from the squad to flank the bombarding guns. Hoping the squad would be making too much of a target to spot the ONI ODST moving off from the group.

*IF he avoids being shot*

Praying to himself that the stealth-issued equipment from ONI would keep him hidden from the turrets wrath he moves lowly at first before breaking into a sprint once close enough to the tree line. 

Snapping twigs and crushing leaves as he storms quickly take out the guns. Despite ONI's opinions he did not consider any ODST or marine expendable. Unable to break that bond to his past, despite their best efforts.

Shouldering his DMR he lines up his shots on the turrets quickly, aiming for any control boxes that command the turrets. Firing shot after shot in quick succession, hoping to neutralize as many of the turrets as he can.


----------



## son of azurman

a lone drop pod landed behind the squad, out of its opened hatch walks a lone odst. Zetan overheard only that he called himself wolf and that he was accompanying them on behalf of ONI.

“damn operatives.” muttered Sherman under his breath.

The next few minutes went in a blur from when they started advancing to the point were a trip wire had gone off releasing a grenade to the point were the group were in chaos wile under fire from automated turrets.

Lancaster had taken out a bunch with an emp blast and the wolf had taken out a few but there still remained quite a few.

Zetan taking cover behind a tree trunk spotted a route up to one of the turrets that remained firing. checking his smg was loaded and ready he prepared to run for it.

Sherman bolted out of cover towards the turret that seemed to have its gaze drawn else were. He was almost there now, a few more metres and he could take it out with an accurate burst.

The muzzle however stopped flashing, the UNSC turret stopped firing and rotated towards Zetan’s position.

Taking a leap for it he drew his knife and leaped at the machine at the same time as it released a spray of bullets.

Zetan found himself laying on the ground in silence, the group had finished off the turrets and he was still alive.

“urrgh” he couldnt stand.

looking down he saw why.

after imbedding his knife in the machine’s control box the spray had clipped his leg shattering a section of his mechanical limb leaving it limp and beaten up.

“Lancaster! could use some help up here!”


----------



## G0arr

Joseph frowned. Apparently his plan was a bad one. _Oh well_, he told himself, _I thought it was good_. Now all they needed was to hear the order. Instead there was a massive impact. Joseph glanced back as the new man appeared. “Oh damn,” Joseph whispered, “ONI.” It wasn’t that the private hated ONI, but the words ‘need to know’ just really pissed him off on a battlefield. It seemed the intelligence officer only wanted to speak with Fawkes, which suited Joseph just fine. When the Sergeant turned back to his men the order was simple, up the middle. With that they moved. They fanned out and began to move.

There was a metallic *click.* Joseph glanced down to see something dart into the grass. 
Lancaster moved first, his arm brushing hard against Joseph.
Dirt and grass flew skyward as several explosions erupted in a circle.
Joseph’s arm shot out trying to grab McKnight as the ground beneath them disappeared. 
He felt something through the smoke dirt. 
He gripped it as things became weightless for an instant.
In that instant he felt a sudden tug, then nothing. It wasn’t heavy enough.
Joseph grabbed at the wall and tossed the rifle out. “Hell,” he grunted trying to pull himself up. 
Then came the weapons fire. Machine guns ripped lose popping and tearing clods of dirt from the ground.
Another hand gripped the combat webbing, and pulled.
Joseph looked up to see Fawkes. “Thankya,” Joseph said staying low.
There was a loud thump. Somewhere nearby a grenade exploded.
_“Go, now!”_
It didn’t matter who shouted it. Joseph was on his feet as tracer fire pitted the ground. One cluster of rounds impacted nearby, but didn’t follow. As Joseph ran several yards before spotting the weapon.
_Automated turrets?_ The helljumper thought sliding beside one of the guns. A small light began to blink yellow. Without a thought Joseph hammered the box with his rifle’s butt. One down, he thought looking for another turret. He looked back to the weapon and smiled. “Where the hell is this thing’s trigger,” he said grabbing the assembly and grunting to turn it.


----------



## Santaire

Felix was talking with the marines when I got back from scanning the forest. “Sit-rep?” I asked Felix over the private COM. “Five wounded; two superficial and three serious, if stable,” the words were spoken grimly. “How bad?” I asked, my voice quiet and reserved. “They were trapped in the Pelican at the moment of impact. One’s lost a leg, one’s missing both eyes and an ear and the final one has got a strut two inches thick through the stomach.”

“Shit.” The single word said it all.

I walked to the Pelican past the marines, my face hidden beneath the visor and to them I must have seemed an avatar of death with my bloody armour and hidden face. I strode to the cockpit and put a fist through the glass, tearing the hardened screen apart like it was paper. I reached through and when I pulled my fist out it was with the Pelican’s long range transmitter. However when I tried the transmitter it proved to be fried. It took maybe five minutes with the help of Felix and a marine technician who knew his way around the machine’s wiring but we got it working.

I slipped Alice’s chip out of the compartment on my leg armour and put her into the transmitter. She broadcast a distress signal through it that should hopefully be able to reach a UNSC base or maybe even a ship in low orbit.

We searched through the forest for a day and a half, knowing that the facility on the radar was probably too secure to risk attacking while we had wounded on our hands. Myself and Felix knew everything in our vicinity, everything for about five miles in every direction. Alice had been a great help, fixing my shield systems and constructing a digital map of our surroundings. After our searching, we agreed that our best shot was a small outpost about seven klicks east of our current position.

I scaled a tree and scanned the outpost with my rifle.

When I dropped to the ground I gave my appraisal of the situation. “We have five targets on patrol loops, one in the tower.” Then I turned to Felix and used a private COM. “I say we leave the marines, they’ll slow us down.”

He responded affirmatively, though warned me to keep them as backup and I turned back to the marines. “We have the location of an outpost nearby, it should hold medical supplies. I and my partner will go in first but I want you close in case everything goes haywire. Remember though, you don’t move in until either we signal you or you hear a fire fight starting.”

We struck hard and fast and above all quietly. The man in the tower died first, a sniper round through the throat. Two more died simultaneously as myself and Felix snapped their necks. Then I rounded the building as Felix cleared it. I eliminated the patrol men with clinical aim, each one dying in turn. The final man saw his friend falling dead before him and ran. I pounded after him. He was sprinting ahead, but I was faster. I chased him down and leapt. I thrust out both feet and snapped the man’s spine with the kick, sending him flying forwards. I put a bullet into his head...


----------



## Angel Encarmine

The sounds of battle ceased in the clearing, and Felix slowly lowered his rifle as the last shot echoed over the forest. Looking around, he saw that none of the men had been hit. Speaking to the marine corporal, he was able to find out the specifics of the wounded and the situation was grim. "Sit rep" he heard Anthony speak over a private channel._ “Five wounded; two superficial and three serious, if stable,”_ Felix replied. _"How bad"_ was the response._“They were trapped in the Pelican at the moment of impact. One’s lost a leg, one’s missing both eyes and an ear and the final one has got a strut two inches thick through the stomach.”_ he said grimly, knowing that their situation had gone from bad to worse. He chuckled as he heard Anthony swear over the com.

Seeing Anthony going for the transmitter, Felix walked over to the wounded marines and began dressing their wounds, using the few things he had been issued. Anthony looked in his direction, and Felix could almost see the disapproval he knew was on his face as he used the medical supplies he carried for himself on the marines. He managed to stabilize both the amputee and the blind marine, but the one with the strut was too far gone. _"I'm gonna die aren't I?"_ the marine said as the Spartan stood over him. _"Yes"_ he said simply, before walking away.

The next day and a half passed quickly, the headhunter team mapping out everything in a five mile radius of their position. They knew everything about their surroundings from the stream that ran south to the facility that the innies held to the east. The longer they went without combat the darker Felix's mood got, and he almost had to be physically held back when the found the innie facility. Luckily they still had the AI, who had managed to fix Anthony's shields,digitally map the area, and send out a distress beacon. Normally they would sit tight and wait for extraction, but the wounded were deteriorating and they needed aid fast. 

Standing at the base of the tree, Felix shifted from one foot to the other as he waited for Anthony to finish his scouting. _"Hurry the fuck up chimpo"_ he said over the comms as Anthony climbed back down. _"We have five targets on patrol loops, one in the tower.”_ he said, before turning to Felix and opening up a private comm_ “I say we leave the marines, they’ll slow us down.”_ _"Lets keep em as backup"_ he said before readying his weapons for the coming assault as Anthony spoke to the marines

At the innie facility, the men went about their duties blissfully unaware that their death warrants had been signed. The first died in the tower, the sniper rifle round almost separating his head from his shoulders as he fell. _"Turned that one into a PEZ dispenser"_ Felix laughed over the comm, before charging a pair of innies. They died quietly, heads turned at an awkward angle as their necks snapped. Stepping into the building Felix began the grisly act which had been trained into him since he was a toddler. Killing. And he was damn good at it. 

Every single man in the building died, except for the Spartan. He took them completely by surprise, and even if they had known he was coming, they didn't stand a chance. He strode through the building, an angel of death among mortals. Where he walked death followed, and he only left the dying behind him.It was over quickly and before he knew it he was standing alone, smoke curling from the barrel of his MA5B. _"Another day at the office...."_ he said to the empty room before stepping back outside.


----------



## Josie

ONI? This was bad news. Why was he here?

The Spartans - Whenever they were involved, ONI was never far off.

'Move up' came the order, and the team split up to cover the distance, McKnight taking the left flank with Davis and Lancaster. Something wasn't quite right; It was quiet, too quiet; and the ground felt.....weird, almost like there was something underneath it.

*Click* - 'Huh?' McKnight turned to see Lancaster and Davis diving out the way, her eyes drawn a series of dark metal objects in a ring around her. *BANG* - The series of explosions knocked her off her feet, her sniper rifle jamming into the ground, the butt of it catching her helmet under her neck, loosening the seal. As she flew backwards, the ground seemed to cease to exist, debris flying upwards. She landed in the pit with a heavy splash, her helmet coming free.

She sank like a rock, the cold water taking the air from her lungs. She tried swimming upwards, but the weight of her armour was dragging her into the depths; and without her helmet, she had no oxygen supply. She hit the bottom of the pit, completely submerged.

'Ok, keep calm' She thought, panicking will only waste air. She tried pushing up, to swim to the surface, to no avail. The sides of the pit were too slippy to grip to, and she had no oxygen to release or a jetpack to send her shooting to the surface. It was a perfectly cylindrical pit, designed so that once ensnared, the prey had no way of escaping the watery depths.

'Shit' She thought, her heart rate increasing as she panicked more and more; her lungs burnt like they were on fire. 'No, not like this' She thought desperately as the blackness encroached on her vision...


----------



## Shattertheirsky

'What the fuck is this meant to be?' Payne said to nobody in particular, eyeing the ONI operative. 'Fuckin' spooks, should learn to keep the fuck out of ODST's business'. He received a heavy nudge, urging him to shut up, and he did so begrudgingly. 'Besides, we already know how this mission's gonna turn out; wandering around in a forest for a few days until we find two dead Spartans; what a shame that'll be' He muttered under his breath.

'Ok, so we head up the middle, spread out and move up'

Payne moved up with the right detachment, shotgun at the ready. Everything was eerily quiet. *Right about now, something outta jump us* He thought to himself - *Just like in the vids, the old 'it's quiet, too quiet' cliche*. Payne chuckled to himself a little at the similarity of the situatuion to an action or a horror vid; his laugh cut short by a *ping*. 'The fuck?' Payne asked, looking around, someone in front shrugged, also looking for the source of the noise. 

*BANG*, an explosion from the left rocked the ground, Payne flattening himself to the ground. There was a heavy ringing sound in his ears, and he could see Fawkes looking at him and pointing to where the grenade had gone off. 'WHAT?' Payne shouted, unaware of how loud he was due to the ringing - All he could hear in reply was a muffled 'Gefft dwwwn thrrrr'. Fawkes gave another, more vigorous gesture. 'WHAT SIR?' Payne shouted again, the ringing lessening. 'PAYNE, GET DOWN THERE, SHE'S UNDER THE WATER!'. Payne looked over to the left, noticing Davis being dragged from a watery pitfall trap. His eyes widened with realization, and he instinctively sprinted across the open ground, bullets whistling past him. *Bullets? What the fuck do the Covvies have that shoot bullets?* This thought was cut short as he reached the pitfall, diving in recklessly without a moments hesitation.

The water was murky, and as he sank towards the bottom, quickened by the weighted boots, he activated his head mounted torch to try to penetrate the murky depths. Even with the torch, he could still not really see more than a foot in front of his face. The depth gauge on his helmet steadily increased - 5,6,7 metres. *Fuck, how deep was this fucking thing?*. At 9 metres he hit the bottom; reaching out, making contact with McKnight. He pulled her closer; Fuck, her eyes were closed; where the fuck was her helmet? *I need to get her to the surface, and quick.* Payne reached behind him, detaching one of his oxygen canisters, warning lights flashed in his helmet in protest. He pushed the canister into McKnight's arms, unscrewing the bottom plug, sending McKnight shooting upwards as the oxygen was released. Payne did the same to the one on his back, following her up.

The fight was still going on when he reached the surface. Several turrets were out of action. *Wait, turrets? The fuck is this*. He trained his attention on McKnight, who was slumped over the canister. He pushed her to the edge of the pit. *Shit, still passed out* he thought, trying to remember back to marine operations first aid lessons. With a flat hand he pushed down on her stomach with enough force to try to force any water she might have inhaled out of her lungs. The first few pushes were unsuccessful but after 6 pushes, she spluttered, coughing up some vile coloured water. Payne breathed a sigh of relief, fishing out her helmet and the oxygen cylinder to aid her recovery. 'Fawkes? Payne - McKnight's out of the drink and stable, she wasn't out for long, give her a few and she'll be ok, still going to need an evac though...' He said over the comms. However McKnight reached up, grabbing his arm, 'Don't you dare call it in' she spluttered, 'I'll be ok, just give me a few to recover'.


----------



## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire followed the new arrival with her eyes, careful not to seem too suspicious.

ONI was bad news, especially for her and she had the feeling he could jeopardize her role in the ODSTs.

Yet ONI wasn't likely to know her identity, otherwise they wouldn't have allowed her to drop only a few minutes ago.

She thought about it as the ODSTs moved towards the clearing, Claire herself moving over the right flank, the rocket launcher casually situated on her right shoulder and an SMG in her left hand.

An explosion to her left disrupted the ODST advance and she dropped to a knee as bullets came flying past her.

She aligned her rocket launcher with what seemed to be a turret but wasn't sure if the rocket would be able to pass between the trees, she'd have to relocate.

She moved to the edge of the clearing when she aimed for the turrets again. 

Just then a small explosive went off between a number of the turrets, apparently shutting them down with an EMP blast.

Sh saw John roll into the bushes, reloading his grenade launcher.

She planned on using the gap her created and once again aligned her rocket launcher with the nearest of the turrets.

Before she fired the new guy jumped into the fray, gunning at the back sides of the turrets and rending them useless.

Whoever this bloke was, he was damned effective...

Claire joined him, now using her SMG to shred the electronics and thus destroying the turrets.

She fired away until she reached the bottom of her clip, not wanting to take any risks.


----------



## Santaire

I carried the wounded marine into the facility like he was a child. I could see the wound in his abdomen and knew that without skilled medical assistance he wouldn't live till dawn the next day. I felt uncomfortable as he asked me whether he would survive. I cleared my throat. "It is unlikely whether you'll live long but there are medical supplies in the outpost, I'm sure you can be stabilized and we'll find you a skilled medic as soon as we can." The words sounded hollow to me, but the marine seemed to be comforted.

As I entered Felix stepped out of a room and waved to me. "Armoury," he said with a grin when I walked over. I stepped into the room as he went to gather the marines for them to set up defences with stored auto turrets and caches of ammo. I picked up a second magnum and was going to leave it at that, keeping my BR55 and Sniper but as I went to leave the armoury I saw a machine gun turret resting against the wall. A slight smile spread slowly across my face.

I walked out of the room, holding the Sniper in one hand and my helmet in the other, and walked to the marine whom I had said would make it. "Look after this," I said to him, handing him the rifle. I tried to smile. The marine took the rifle into his hands almost reverently. Then I walked back into the armoury and when I came out the second time, I was carrying the machine gun turret. I walked out to the front entrance where Felix was stood, MA5B held in one hand while he scanned the forest. He heard me approaching from behind and turned.

He laughed as he saw me lugging the turret up to him. "Heavy?" He asked me with a grin.

"You have no idea."

I heard it first, the whistling. I turned my head, activating the optics in my helmet. Felix looked up as well, following my gaze. Eight HEVs streaked from the sky, appearing to be bolts of fire sent down from the heavens. "I guess this is the cavalry, took them long enough," Felix said, "let's go say hello." I nodded and we started to move. We had scarcely been moving for two minutes when Felix held a hand up to halt. "What is it?" I asked.

"Two groups of hostiles, heading for the outpost," he said and his voice was grim. "Eighteen, no IFF."

"Innies?" I asked and he nodded.

"Has to be."

I shrugged. "The marines can deal with it, they've got a good set-up back there with the advantage of cover and automated defence turrets." Felix shook his head stubbornly, he always did care too much about other people. "No, we can't abandon them, they might need our help." I scowled. We knew where the ODSTs were, we had an opportunity. But Felix spoke before I could point this out. Bastard always could read my mind. "We were trained in order to protect Humanity, leaving these men to die goes against all we were taught." Then he continued fervently, again before I could object.

"Go on if you have to Anthony, but I'll stay behind to help these people."

It made sense so I didn't object, but it felt unnatural to be going into what might turn into a fire fight without him at my back.

"Fair enough, but keep yourself alive brother." He nodded, smiled and turned back. I moved on...


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes walked over to inspect the turrets. One of the ones that Lancaster disabled with his grenade launcher. It was starting to reset itself, the EMP effect wore off fast. The ODSTs had already disabled the ammo feeds. The gun clicked pathetically at them and Fawkes went around the back of the gun. He opened up the panel and looked inside. He had a suspicion. He read the programming feed and swore softly. Where this turret design had originally been made to avoid UNSC IFF tags, but target movement, these ones had been hacked an re-wired, to target only UNSC personnel.

_Covies didn't play with human tech._ Thought Fawkes, confused. He waved the squad onwards through the forest. They walked for some time, but Fawkes saw no signs of Spartans. He'd figured it would be easy, just follow the trail of destruction and covie corpses, but there hadn't been so much as a grunt in sight and the biggest destruction they'd seen was a tree that had fallen over. He'd checked that out but the damage marks to the tree were the kind caused by a native creature, the giant beaver. Blood flecks would imply it had been scared off by something, but Fawkes reasoned that the Spartans had no reason to be chasing six foot rodents around the forest, so he ignored it.

They travelled for about fifteen minutes before they saw people. Fawkes saw the unmistakeable armour of the UNSC marine corps. He shouldered his rifle and jogged up to the downed men. Around him, the other ODSTs fanned out, either bending over to help the downed troops or scanning the surrounding area for signs of danger.

Fawkes knelt next to the man, he was unconscious. As Fawkes leant over the man, his eyes blearily flickered open.

"Are, are you one of us?" He whispered.

"We're Helljumpers, marine." Fawkes said.

"UNSC?" The man breathed as he was hefted to his feet by Fawkes.

Fawkes nodded, smiling under his visor.

Instead of showing signs of happiness or relief, the man's expression turned from surprise to fear, to anger and he snatched a rifle off the floor, aiming it at Fawkes' head. Instinctively, Fawkes gripped the rifle's barrel twisted It upwards to avoid it firing into him and pushing it down, hard into the man's face. The man reeled backwards, clutching his face.

"Imperialist pig!" he spat at Fawkes and fumbled for his sidearm. Fawkes kicked his wrist, sending the weapon flying and brought his leg down on the man's leg, pinning him to the floor.

Fawkes sighed. _Insurrectionists_. What were they doing here? How long had they been hiding in the woods?

He tried questioning the man but, unsurprisingly, he got no answers.

"Does anyone think they can get a straight answer out of one of these guys?" he asked the squad, nudging the insurrectionist with his foot to stop him reaching for the pistol again.



OOC:
You are attacked by disorientated, but well armed Insurrectionists. A few have UNSC tech, but all are just rising from unconsciousness. Subdue or kill the one attacking you. You may interrogate them if you so wish, if you do, try and find out why they are unconcious and how many more insurrectionists there are as well as any other questions that spring to mind. I'd like to note that there are much higher chances of productiveness during the interrogation if they are alive.
post your method and next update I will tell you if your interrogation method works.


----------



## Avenhold

WOLF remained quiet for the most part, as he is supposed to act. He sighed to himself knowing that his job wasn't to ensure trust and friendship, merely obedience for the duration of his assignment. 

As they made their way through the forest and upon reaching the group of insurrectionists (unbeknownst to him of their affiliation), he moved to help one of the men up.

The moment Fawkes was attacked, the man lunged for WOLF's waist. Stumbling backwards, dropping his rifle, he quickly struck down to the man's neck. After effectively dropping the rebel to the floor, he drew his sidearm and kicked the man over onto his back. Aiming down the sights to the man's head. The muffled sound of the pistol's discharge would only be heard by the keenest of ears even at such close range. 

Through groggy eyes a man witnessed his comrade's execution. He scrambled blindly across the forest floor to a outdated rifle laying upon the earth. As his hand clasped the midsection of the weapon, a boot pressed heavily down upon his hand.

Cringing in pain, the rebel exlcaimed loudly "Aghk!!"

With fear in his eyes he looked up to see the hooded operative's faceless expression baring down on him. Without needing to see the man's face, his emotion was clear as day. A cold, ruthless, and utterly disconnected feeling emanated from WOLF's form standing over him; and before that, the barrel of the operative's M6C pointed to his head.

"Think carefully and quickly of what you do next. It may be the last thing you ever do." WOLF explained callously, pausing for a moment to let the man consider before questioning him "Who are you? Why are you here? How many more of you are there, and where?"


----------



## Sangus Bane

John had his doubts about the situation.

Why would Covies or Innies leave UNSC marines behind incapacitated? In his experience both factions wanted to leave behind nothing but corpses, taking valuable individuals as POW's or to interrogate them.

John's doubts were realized when several of the men lunged at the squad.

Fawkes was quick to react, effectively disarming the man before him in a few fluid movements.
The Wolf had more of a struggle was had no trouble at all with getting control over the situation.

"Does anyone think they can get a straight answer out of one of these guys?" Fawkes asked the whole squad.

John and Fawkes met glances and John smiled a bit inside his helmet.

This was his element; intell.

He moved to one of the unconscious men, setting his foot on the old rifle and bending the barrel as he put all the force he could manage on top of it, leaving the weapon useless as he made his last step to the drooling excuse for a human.

He got a tie-wrap from his belt and rolled the unconscious man on his stomach, securing his hands behind his back and tying them together.

Then he removed the man's helmet, taking out the tiny computer inside it, hoping for any data to be stored on the memory unit.

He plugged it into the computer on his wrist and instantly received the message of malware trying to corrupt his own files.
He removed the memory unit and secured it in a small pouch, perhaps someone might have use for it wen they got back to the ship.

''Here.'' Claire said to him, handing him a datapad. ''Your field of expertise, I believe.'' 

John gave her a nod.
''Thanks.'' He added as Claire began to collect the discarded weapons of the rebels, piling them up where no rebel could reach them.

John tried to access the files on the datapad but was prevented by a series of passwords.
He connected his computer with the datapad and started downloading the files that were stored on it, rather do it this way than destroy the files by hacking it.

'With a bit of luck we'll get some GPS data, a map with Innie locations or com. channels out of this.' John thought to himself, waiting for the file transfer to begin.

As the files were transferring John made his way to Fawkes.

''What do we do with them?'' He asked, making Fawkes turn towards him. 
''Suggestions?'' Fawkes asked him.

''I was trained to kill them.'' John replied, checking the status of the downloads. ''But I'm not one for executing unconscious men and women.''


----------



## Shattertheirsky

This was dodgy. Something wasn't right. 
No plasma burns; no bullet wounds, yet unconscious.
Payne's suspicions were confirmed when the unconscious marines burst upwards, a rifle in Fawkes's face. Payne looked forward to see a scrawny, thin 'marine' rising, cocking an Uzi. With a shout Payne charged forwards, rugby tackling the man and throwing him to the ground, pinning him down with his knee.

Payne looked left, seeing Fawkes having turned the situation around.
'Does anyone think they can get a straight answer out of one of these guys?'
*With pleasure* Payne thought.

He slowly turned his head back down towards the man, grinning. He reached up with one hand, taking off his helmet and looking him in the eyes. Grabbing the scruff of his shirt, he hoisted him up, grabbing a bayonet out of the man's pouch and stabbing it through the collar of his clothing, not through any flesh, pinning him to the tree.

Payne slowly smiled.
'Y'know. They call me the 'Mad dog'

The man squirmed, trying to unpin himself from the tree.

'Mad dog; Because I'm brutal, I'm ruthless, and worst of all, I enjoy what I do, especially against worthless innies like you'. Payne spoke slowly and deliberatly putting emphasis on the 'worthless'.

'I am a walking, talking terror weapon. The things I have done would get me the death sentance if I wasn't part of the military.'

Payne breathed heavily, never leaving eye contact with the man. He reached slowly and delibirately into his pouch, retrieving his energy knife.

'This. This weapon here removed my hand'

He held his metal hand up for emphasis.

'But it can do so much more than sever limbs; It can burn, cauterise, slice, dice, cut, rend, pierce, stab, penetrate - pick any and all of the above, and I am more than happy to - In fact, I would relish the chance to do these things'

Payne raised his metal hand, wiggling the fingers in the man's face for effect.

'This too; I can break bones and bruise flesh as easily as one might break a glass or bruise an apple, and I would enjoy breaking you, one by one, bone my bone; from the toe upwards - Please, PLEASE, give me a reason, a chance to do that'

With that Payne powered up the blade:

'So, you better start talking soon punk, or this is getting messy real quick'


----------



## Angel Encarmine

After the short battle at the outpost, Felix got on the comm and sent a message to the marines. _"Outpost secure, move in and reinforce"_ he said as he and Anthony moved out to help the wounded. Helping the wounded man who had lost his leg, Felix thought he was unconscious until his eyes opened and he looked the at the Spartan's visor. _"Are you a ghost?"_ the man asked, his fever obviously inducing a state of delirium. Ignoring the question he gently placed the man on a cot inside a room in the facility. Looking to his left he saw a door leading to another room, and stepped inside. A grin crept onto his face as he saw the arsenal in what was clearly the buildings armory. He traded his SMG for a pair of high powered magnums with the clips that go with them as well as a shotgun with a full loadout. His grin widened as he saw they had mags for his MA5B, and he grabbed several. _"Oh yeah"_ he muttered as he ran his hand down the side of the shotgun...

Stepping from the room he saw Anthony speaking to one of the wounded and waved at him. _"Armory"_ was the only word he said, his joy at finding the weapons clearly registering over the comm. Walking away Felix began issuing orders to the marines, establishing a perimeter and setting up auto turrets to defend in case of counterattack. Walking the perimeter of the building he found their defences lacking. These men would not be able to hold out against any innies, and gods help them if the covenant decided to come in. Hearing familiar footsteps behind him he turned slightly as Anthony walked up.

Looking at the turret he chuckled. _"Heavy?"_ he said with a grin. _"You have no idea"_ the other headhunter replied. Felix's reply was lost as he saw Anthony turned his head, and then he heard it too. The faint whistling of HEVs making planet fall. Watching the eight trails come down brought back memories of what the men and women in the pods were experiencing. Feet first into hell... _"I guess this is the cavalry, took them long enough. Let's go say hello" _ he said before the pair moved out in the direction the HEVs landed.

One minute and 54 seconds later Felix heard them, and held up a clenched fist to halt. _"What is it"_ Anthony said over the comms. He listened for a second before speaking _" Two groups of hostiles headed for the outpost, eighteen contacts no IFF"_ 
He replied in the affirmative to Anthony's question about innies, before shaking his head stubbornly as Anthony said the marines could deal with it. _"No, we can't abandon them, they might need our help "We were trained in order to protect Humanity, leaving these men to die goes against all we were taught.Go on if you have to Anthony, but I'll stay behind to help these people._" He said, motioning his arm in the direction of the ODSTs.

_"Fair enough, but keep yourself alive brother."_ Anthony said to him before he responded. _" I'll be alright, good hunting. See you when I see you"_ he said before the pair clasped forearms and went their separate ways. Walking back into the compound Felix began barking orders at the marines. He ordered the pilot to continue medical treatment to the wounded, and then yelled at the 5 marines to stand to and be ready to repel an attack. 18 innies vs 5 marines and a Spartan, poor odds.... for the Innies.


----------



## G0arr

Joseph glanced at the ammo feed as he tossed it aside. It seemed like a waste to just leave the box behind. Then again who would carry it? Joseph shook his head as Fawkes ordered them to move out. “Feels like a waste,” he whispered and fell in.

The advance became slow and methodical. Clear as you move. Joseph barely made it up to a walk. Whoever left those turrets behind must have been paranoid.

The advance halted at scattered bodies. _No_, Joseph realized looking at them, _not bodies, these were soldiers!_ “Maybe someone can tell us what the hell is going on here,” Joseph said almost jokingly, “Once they get up from their naps.” Of course one of the first questions the private could think of, _Good place for a quick snooze?_
The thought started a smile on his face that quickly disappeared. _What could have done this?_

As Joseph looked over the men something caught his eye, an ODST helmet. Suddenly it all felt completely wrong. As the private turned back toward Fawkes the action started. Men shifted and moved as they began to come too. “Damnit,” Joseph whispered turning to the one with the helmet. He reached down and grabbed an assault rifle at the man’s side. 
A hand reached out. Joseph reacted. 
A balled fist slammed into the man’s head sending him flopping back to the ground. Joseph tossed the weapon aside. More weapons were gathered as Joseph helped disarm what he now knew were insurrectionists. The thought if it all made him angry. There was a war happening out there against something that just wanted to kill humans for existing, and these idiots wanted to fight other humans.

An assault rifle clattered to the growing pile, as the full clip slid into Joseph’s pouches. A magnum tossed into the air, and a clip slid into place on the harness. Joseph turned to another man and halted. Lying on the ground nearby was a larger caliber weapon. There was a smile on the private’s face as he reached down and pulled the light machine gun from the ground. 

Nearby several innies began grabbing for weapons that were now missing. One turned to see an ODST hefting a large weapon. “Morning,” the helljumper said as the others realized what was happening. “Place your hands on your head and on your knees. If you need a second warning it comes with punctuation.”


----------



## HOGGLORD

*OOC:

I've sent PMs, but only about half of people have posted and I've been given no information as to why this is the case. I'm writing here because I appear to be the only person who has written on the entire last page of the recruitment thread. I'm extending the deadline to next week, please have your posts up by then. *


----------



## son of azurman

“interrogation you say, you may want to avert your eyes.” said zetan over the helmet radios.

The corporal took out his magnum and power walked over to one of the inis who was trying to crawl away unnoticed. in his strides it didn’t take long for him to reach the rebel and with his right hand lift him off his belly, the man was light thankfully allowing zetan to carry him dangling over to one of the trees nearby. Sherman in what seemed like a blur pinned the man to the tree and drew his combat knife. the knife was thrust into the mans shoulder right through and into the tree missing his arteries but sticking him to the tree.

“aaargh”wailed the man as he tried his hardest to pull out the knife but it wouldn’t budge.

Zetan threw of his helmet allowing the man to see his expressionless face.He was leaning on the tree with his left arm and with his right arm razed his magnum to the man’s eye level.

“ this is how it’s going to work.you tell me what you are doing here,why you were unconscious and were your camp is or i’m gonna pull the trigger.”

The man seemed unfazed by his words and was going to reply before he was cut off.

“now i know you don’t care about your life and if you die as why else would you fight,so i’m going to put you through something worse then death.”

The rebel was unsure of what he meant until he noticed something. The ODST’s pistol was not aimed at his head anymore but aimed much lower. He tried to find a joke in his face but Zetan’s face yet showed no emotion.

“5...4...3..”


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes watched as his squad pounced upon the insurrectionists, applying all the skills in their considerable repertoires to get information out of the innies. _It was Ironic_, thought Fawkes, _Right now, we're fitting every niche that Insurrectionist propaganda has for us, ruthless, psychotic and dangerous._ He reflected on this for a split second, then turned to Lancaster. 

"John, what have you got for me." He couldn't tell for certain, but Lancaster's body language didn't seem to be displaying any great amount of satisfaction. Lancaster handed him the chip containing the Insurrectionist's video memory.

The audio came first.
"-ey, stop that! You're pushing too hard, you'll break it!" 

Another voice replied. "This bit's hanging out, if we fit it back in it might do something useful. Ah! Here's a wire. Let's just..."

The video came in. Visible was a grainy image of the insurrectionist's thigh. The view raised and was then put at face height, displaying the man from whom Lancaster had taken the helmet. He appeared to be holding the helmet and looking at the visor. Then the view swung around as the man put the helmet on his head. The group of insurrectionists came into view, they were already deep in the forest. _No chance of finding where they came from here then._

"Rick, it hasn't done anything, except this little squiggly line thingy in the bottom corner. Thanks a fucking lot!"

There was a snort of derision from behind the insurrectionist.

"So, where is this poor sap we're looking for?" Asked somebody in the background. The insurrectionist's view swung down to look at a little monitor with a flashing red dot on it.

"We've got a UNSC tag heading this way, if we just keep walking another, say, five minutes or so, we'll be on top of them."

Just then a man fell, he swung sideways like he'd been struck. Another fell just as fast. Troopers were collapsing and flipping over like they were under heavy machine gun fire, but no muzzle flashes or plasma discharges could be seen, just vague, fast moving blurs, the colour of the forest itself, colliding with the rebels and causing each one to collapse like a sack of potatoes. The insurrectionist through whom Fawkes was watching the video feed raised an assault rifle quickly. The weapon flicked out of his hand then stopped in mid air, hovering for a fraction of a second before swinging back the way it came and colliding with the side of the helmet. The feed cut to static.

Fawkes straightened up. "Well," He said to Lancaster, "looks like we know that the spartans were here."

Payne and Sherman came up to report that both the insurrectionists had reported coming from a main base in the east. Sherman's man reported that it would be impossible to breach the defences of the insurrectionist base with eight men. They also said that they would never be able to get reinforcements because they had a powerful jamming tower operational. 

To give himself time to consider this, Fawkes ordered the insurrectionists to be rounded up. They were a sorry sight, now caked in blood and their eyes wide with fear. Some were muttering about ghosts attacking them and others were staring in silent hatred at the ODSTs, Fawkes had little sympathy for them. 

"Tie them up and knock 'em out again." He ordered. "Then we'll figure out how to deal with the rest of the innies."

A few moments later the innies were tied up and Fawkes turned to leave. Suddenlyt, he heard the familiar crack of a UNSC sniper rifle, a round whizzed past his head. _Mcknight's firing at me._ He thought wildly for a moment, the shook the ridiculous thought off. He saw the other ODSTs crouching in cover behind trees, trying to make themselves invisible to the far away marksman. There were war cries and trampling footsteps and through the undergrowth came half a dozen insurrectionists, weapons ablaze.

Fawkes cursed, _they'd taken too long_, he readied his rifle and sprayed a burst, causing one man to dive down behind a rock for a moment. The man put his hand up over the rock, pointing his UZI in roughly Fawkes' direction and releasing a huge spray of bullets. Fawkes dived behind a tree, hiding from the angrily buzzing rounds.

"Get down, push them back!" He snapped over the comms. "Mcknight, show that cocky bastard how a real sniper does their job!"

OOC: You start to round up the insurrectionists, knock them out and fall under insurrectionist sniper fire. There are about six advancing insurrectionists with UZIs and assault rifles.

Josie: Find the sniper and eliminate him and his spotter (armed with a DMR), before they take somebody's head off.


----------



## Sangus Bane

John flinched as a sniper round impacted between his feet.

He dived away and crawled to the nearest cover that might be able to block a sniper round.

Six hostiles appeared out of nowhere, guns blazing towards the ODST's. They were Innies, not a seconds doubt.
John reached for his DMR, aiming it for one of the hostlis and firing a single round.

The round impacted with the man's weapon, shooting it out of his hands and effectively disarming him.
John dashed for the man, at the last second he raised a leg, kicking the man in the chest.

He landed on his back, gasping for air after John's boot had forced the air out of his lungs.
The others were dealing with the remaining Innies, giving John the chance to raise the mans arms over his head, helping him to catch his breath, all the while pressing his magnum in the back of the man's head.

John tied the man's hands together in front of him, raising the tied hands above the man's head with one hand, helping him to catch his breath, all the while keeping the magnum trained for the man's skull.

Keeping him alive was probably their best bet to get proper information after their semi-successful attempts at gaining information from the other Innies.

Yet John would not hesitate for a single second to execute the man if the need arose. 
If the man put up a fight it would definitely be his last...


----------



## G0arr

Joseph marched three men toward the rally point just as Fawkes ordered. He saw the other members of the squad, and what they had done. He would expect ruthlessness for ONI, and maybe from Payne. The young private may have no love for the insurrectionists, but they were still human. The interrogations had left behind some dead, and more wounded. 

Rounding up the rest was no problem once they came to. It took longer to tie them. The entire time Davis stood holding the LMG. He only lowered the weapon once the last man was tied. Next came a harness, thankfully Joseph had seen one on another gun. 

Fawkes had given the order to move as an assault rifle was jerked clear of the pile. “Found you,” Joseph said with a smile as he knelt beside the pile. The strap looked long enough to accommodate the heavier weapon. As the ODST checked the assault rifle he saw the display, 32 rounds remaining someone forgot to pull the clip. He reached for the release. 

Someone fired. Joseph glanced around to see others moving for cover. He slapped the rifle to his back, and in one move spun and readied the LMG in both hands.
Men shouted as they charged forward weapons firing.
Joseph glanced to see the others. 
Shell impacts knocked clumps of bark from the nearby trees, and dirt from the ground. 
The soldiers returned fire. 
All of it happening ten yards away.

Joseph tucked himself low and ran. Memories of the suicide mission came back. Combatants engaged in firefights often suffered from tunnel vision. From the reaction to the sprinting soldier that ten yard difference was as good as a mile. 
It took almost 5 seconds for the first of the insurrectionists to spot the running soldier as he reloaded his uzi. It took time for him to finish and ready to fire again. By the time the first round whizzed past Joseph had covered enough ground to be well within the attacker’s flank.

Panicked voices screamed as the private slid to a halt behind a tree. Bullets thudded around him as Joseph took a deep breath. The uzi could lay down a deadly hail of fire, but a clip only lasted so long. The ODST was ready when the impacts stopped.

Joseph came around the side of the tree, gun ready. 
He saw the man freeing a new clip from his pocket. Behind him another man was turning to engage. 
Joseph fired. The weapon’s report was distinctive even amid the clattering weapons fire.
Nine rounds speared from the muzzle. The first sailed clear of its target and clipped a tree sending small chunks of wood and bark exploding outward. The next two flashed into the forest to find homes in the cold earth. The third caught an insurrectionist in his right chest with the fourth impacting at the top of his sternum just below the neck. 
All but the last shell flashed into the woods as Joseph fought the weapon toward another target. The kick was a little more than he had expected, but the private managed to control it. The last round caught another man in his right shoulder pulverizing the joint into a mess of bloody meat and bone fragments. 

The Innie screamed as he dropped to the ground trying to stop the blood flow from his now ruined arm. Joseph spun back behind the tree as someone else tried to fire toward him. The private glanced down at the weapon and took another deep breath. “I think I like it,” he said with a smile


----------



## Santaire

I moved out silently, an impressive talent considering the turret I was carrying in both hands. I skirted the Insurrectionist advance like a ghost, not a single leaf cracking beneath my footsteps. It was almost funny and I paused to watch their advance towards the outpost where Felix waited. They were so sloppy, I could have tracked them from a hundred metres away by nothing but sound and following their footprints.

I moved on from there, moving back to the location of the downed pelican where we had sent the distress call. I did not straighten for the whole time, keeping low and moving silently in order to avoid detection by any Insurrectionist patrols.

I guess I wasn’t quiet enough.

I was scarce two hundred feet from the clearing when I encountered the Shell Bear, It’s thick shell and tusks affecting something hidden deep in my psyche, something that could be traced all the way back to the days when humans hunted with flint tipped spears and wearing loincloths. It could smell me and its hearing was probably good enough to let it guess my position from my footsteps so I stood and put a few dozen rounds into the thing. When it only angered it and it prepared to charge I placed the turret to one side. My only advantage was its blindness but as it charged I soon realised this was no advantage at all.

I dived to my right, rolling to come up to a crouch. I had yet to draw a weapon for it would probably do nothing against the beast’s thick shell.

I kept my body low and circled the bear as it snorted and twisted. I stopped and it stopped also, facing me. Its head lowered to present the formidable tusks and it charged. I charged also and jumped, placing a foot on each of its tusks. I leapt, flipping over it and dropping a grenade onto its shell as I did so. It went off just as I landed and I felt the shrapnel ping off my shields. I turned and my heart sank. The bear was still standing, and now it was enraged.

The damn shell was near impenetrable, but it didn’t cover the full bear to the same strength... Didn’t cover the full bear.

I smiled beneath my helmet and pulled another grenade from my waist. But before I could do anything the Shell Bear was charging. I turned and run, pushing myself faster and faster but still it was gaining.

I bent my legs and pushed just before I hit the tree and I leapt into the air. Running up the tree, I felt the impact as the bear hit it and the tree began to topple. I flipped backwards and landed behind the dazed Shell Bear, rolling the grenade beneath it and adding another one for good measure before diving away. The resulting explosion flipped the bear onto its back and I drew both pistols. I placed a foot on the bear’s stomach and aimed at the weakened patch of armour with my pistols. Then I fired. The rounds cracked the weak under shell and spurts of blood flew out from the impact. The bear roared and thrashed and slowly weakened until it lay there, already dead.

Reloading both pistols, I picked up the turret and moved on to the clearing


----------



## Sangus Bane

P-OD's post:

Claire felt out of place. The Insurrectionists were where her true loyalty lay, and she was having serious doubts whether she should keep up with her charade.

Yet she knew these Insurrectionists were not the same ones she had grown up with, fought alongside of and saw perish in combat.

The distinctive sound of a sniper shot caused her to duck and head for cover.
Before she had even reached her cover more gunfire could be heard behind her.

Were the ODSTs executing the prisoners?!

No, these weapons sounded different from the weaponry carried by the ODSTs...

Claire moved to a concrete block, hearing at least three bullets whistle past her as she weighed her options;

Should she defend herself from the people she didn't want to hurt.
Or should she stay out of the fight and risk being hit or raising suspicion with her fellow ODSTs?

She pressed her SMG around the corner of the concrete block, spraying half a clip into the direction of the Innies, her rounds flying well over their 'targets'.

One returned fire but was brought down by John as he kicked the man in the chest.

Claire fired three rounds, a quick burst which kicked up the dirt around the feet of one of the Insurrectionists, as intended.

Her helmet notified her of a dangerously high pulse and she realized she was panting. Seriously? Stress? Did the armour warn her not to get stressed?!

Again she fired a short burst, this time shredding the bark of a tree one of the Innies was behind.

She kept this up until all the targets we're neutralized, not wanting to kill any of the attackers or risk getting killed herself.


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes crept silently forwards, the last bullets of the skirmish whizzing past him. He ducked around trees and kicked a twitching insurrectionist, knocking the wounded man unconscious.

He ducked as another shot shattered the tree behind him, sending jagged splinters of wood in all directions. He ran over to a large rock, using it's mossy hulk as cover.
From the other side of the rock he heard a panicked voice.

"This is D company leader to home, we're under attack, the UNSC have found us! They've got their marine lapdogs and have us under heavy fire. Inform all companies to fall back to the command post!"

Fawkes spun around the rock to see a man talking into a radio headset. The man whipped a shotgun up to meet Fawkes, who released a burst from his battle rifle. The shot was meant to go to the man's arm, crippling him, but it went wide, tearing through his throat. The shotgun discharged in the man's spamming hand, but Fawkes stepped aside, avoiding the unaimed shot with ease.

The fighting had stopped and the squad had gathered up on Fawkes. Fawkes noticed the distant sniper team sprinting away, disappearing into the maze of trees.

"Alright, I think these in Innies are more numerous than we expected, they have at least four companies by my estimate, we just seemed to have torn one apart though. We _need_ to find the spartans, then we can call in for evac, I wanna be out of this damned jungle ASAP."

He re-set the waypoint and sent it to each ODSTs HUD. He paused for a moment, an issue arising in his mind.

"We'll have to leave the prisoners." He said. "Unless there's anyone here who wants to be the babysitter or," He began to suggest executing them, but the concept was too cold blooded for him to vocalise.

"We set off in ten minutes, so do what you want till then, get ammo, take a piss, write in your diary, whatever, just be ready to move when I call."

OOC:
Sorry for the delays, grab some ammo if you want it, you can take anything from what the enemies previously had and tie up any loose ends (take that to mean whatever you want).

Spartans will have their respective orders PMed


----------



## Sangus Bane

''Sir, I know you'd rather not do it,'' John said to Fawkes. ''But if need be, we are to execute these people...'' John continued. ''Not because they are enemies to the UNSC, but because of the threat they might pose if they come after us.''

Fawkes sighed.

''John, do what you must.'' He said. ''But I will not be the executioner.''
Fawkes face was hidden inside his helmet but John could guess what his face was set like.

John holstered his Magnum, giving Fawkes a nod as he turned away and walked to the pile of weapons Claire had made before the Innies attacked them.

He would need to refill his ammo now that he had the chance.

Yet there were no DMRs among the recovered weapons, there was, however, a MA37 Assault Rifle in the middle of he stack.

John took the magazine from the weapon and took all the bullets out, using them to refill his current clip, both weapons used the same ammunition.

A few years ago he just put the MA5B Assault Rifle 60 round magazines in his DMR but over time he came to appreciate the higher mobility he had while using the smaller and lighter 15 round magazines.

Now if he could only find a grenade for his Grenade Launcher...

John went over the corpses, incapacitated and tied-up Innies, frisking them for anything of use.

At the end of his check he had found two canisters of Bio-foam, a pack of cigars, three sets of UNSC dogtags and a fancy looking knife which he secured in his left boot, just in case. All this, but no grenades.

So be it, Fawkes was ready to move along, and they should probably get on their way anyway if they ever wanted to find the two Spartans.


----------



## G0arr

Joseph looked out from behind his cover. Silence was settling in as the squad began sweeping what remained. The private watched as several men, well beyond his range, ran through the trees. “Well, betting that’ll come back to bite us,” he said glancing toward the others. None appeared to have noticed, or been able to fire at the retreating pair.

The squad moved to Fawkes. Once they were all present he spoke. The orders hadn’t changed, find the Spartans and evac. Once that was said the squad had a few minuets to prepare.

Joseph leaned the .30cal against a tree and pulled the extra rifle from his back. The strap snapped away, and the private switched the guns. It took a few tests to find the right length. Joseph raised the weapon, adjusted the length, and raised it again. Finally it acted smoothly and easily without binding. Then the private grabbed the rifle again. He looked at the pile, and back to the weapon. “Hell,” he said checking the clip, “Someone might need it eventually.” The weapon clinked against his back again

With everything in order Joseph leaned against a tree and took a deep breath. A single swig from a canteen followed. Of all the things he expected to run across this was one of the last. The world was being invaded by aliens intent on destroying humanity as a whole, and the squad was facing off with insurrectionists. 

Joseph shook his head at the thought and tried to find something else to focus on. He quietly took another swig and chomped into a small nutrient bar. The private looked down at the package. “Mmmm,” he said sarcastically reading the label, “Processed chocolate and mint flavored cardboard. These things make it all worth while.” Joseph looked at the others. 
“Anyone else want a bite? Far be it for me to keep this flavor extravaganza for myself.” He took another bite. “Mmmmm, anyone?” He held out the bar. “No takers,” he said with a smile and a distinct lack of surprise, “More for me I guess.” A few of the others shook their heads as Joseph finished the bar. He tried to wash the near stale taste from his mouth. 
With that the private slid his water back into place and stood. Joseph glanced over to Fawkes and waited for the order to move out.


----------



## Sangus Bane

P-OD's post: (Apologies for the delay.)

Claire observed the dead and tied up insurrectionists, feeling an anger swell inside her, ever increasing the doubts she had on her course of action and its possible outcome. 

The other ODSTs were taking whatever they could find, like vultures or hyena's plucking the last meat from a dead creature.

She just stood there, watching and dissaproving of their actions, yet it was too late to change anything about it now.

She would play along for now.

Reluctantly she made for one of the hog-tied rebels, taking two ammo clips for an SMG from his pouches.
She discarded the half-full clip in her SMG and let it drop in the mud while she slammed home a fresh magazine.

She stord the second magazine at her hip, where an empty slot waited to be filled ater their earlier engagements.

She took a bundle of paper from the man's pocket, seeing it had poetry scribbled all over it she stashed it away behind her chest pouch.

She picked up her rocket launcher and joined Fawkes just as John walked away. She sat down and waited for the squad to move along.

It didn't take long for the rest of the squad to converge on Fawkes and her and she got up to move along.

''Now let's find those freaks.'' someone said, actually bringing a smile to her face as fell in with rest.

It was good to know she wasn't the only one with a disliking for the Spartans.


----------



## son of azurman

"We set off in ten minutes, so do what you want till then, get ammo, take a piss, write in your diary, whatever, just be ready to move when I call." came Fawkes’s voice over the radio, as the squad spread out to do what ever they were doing Zetan turned on his heel.

Now he looked out over a row of 4 innies either too injured to run or bound. three of them stared at him with pain filled eyes but one was about to doze off by the looks of it. Zetan drew his combat knife and walked over to the individual, Zetan made the man’s eyes scream open in pain by thrusting his blade into the man’s leg spraying Zetan’s leg armor with blood.

“pay attention, this is what has been coming to you bastards for a long time.” whispered Sherman into his ears.

Zetan sheathed his knife again but unclipped the holster for his SMG and muttered under his breath “Earth spits on your pathetic lives”. like a blur it seemed as the Hell jumper in an instant swiped his right arm over the handle of his SMG, he drew the weapon in a curved movement bringing it up to his hip and with a single movement of his finger let loose a spray that burst blood vessels, skulls and rib cages as he released a whole mag into the 4 slumped figures in front of him and by the end he was splattered in gore from the thighs down. taking as many mags of regular SMG ammo as he could find (3 mags) he approached Fawkes giving him a nod to say he was ready.

“that was revenge Mother Fuckers,” he spoke over his shoulder towards where he had stood moments ago.


----------



## Shattertheirsky

(Josie's last two posts rolled into one) :

There was a sharp crack followed a few seconds later by a thump nearby.

'SNIPER!' Someone shouted, as the team hit the deck or scrambled for cover.

'McKnight, show that cocky bastard how a real sniper does their job' Fawkes shouted over the radio. Countersniping was the hardest part of being a sniper, as it matched one sniper's speed, wits, and skill against the other, and in this case he had a buddy, making it all the more difficult. Over the years though she had developed her own method for countersniping, broken down into a variety of steps.

Step 1: Find cover
Well that was all fine, the boulder she was behind would easily stop any incoming

Step 2: Locate the other sniper
McKnight scanned the darkness for the muzzle flashes. Up in the trees two bright flashes emerged, one distinctly larger than the other, signifying the larger caliber of bullet used by the sniper

Step 3: Judge distance, windspeed and other factors.
Judging by the crack and thump of the incoming sniper fire, he was about 800 metres away, the wind was blowing softly, and there was a light drizzle. McKnight clicked the dial on the side of the scope twice to bring the range up, then the one on top to compensate for windspeed.

Step 4: Fire a sighter shot

McKnight gently lay the rifle on top of the boulder, positioning herself behind it in the prone position, one leg crossed over the other for stability, waiting for the next muzzle flash. She exhaled all the air from her lungs and waited.

814 metres away, atop a rocky outcrop, the sniper and his spotter heard the distinct crack of a sniper rifle, the shot pinging 3 or 4 metres to the left of them. Good, they grinned to each other, knowing that every ODST team had a sniper present, they had worried , but as luck would have it this one seemed to have no talent.

Step 5: The killing blow
They were wrong, dead wrong. McKnight was one of the best, most talented of them all. The innefectual shot she had fired was but a sighter, and she clicked the top dial 4 times to the right. She lined up the shot, with only the sniper's muzzle plash to go on. *Bang*, his rifle fired, lighting up with a flash. McKnight exhaled, and pulled the trigger. 814 metres away the round carved through the side of the sniper rifle and into the sniper's head, exploding it in a pink mist. His spotter turned in disbelief and shock, his DMR held loosely in his hands, wide eyed and open mouthed. There was another sharp retort and 1.7 seconds later he was thrown of his feet as the round impacted his chest. 

McKnight waited to see if the sniper fire would resume. It didn't.

'Target's Incapacitated' - Mcknight radioed in to Fawkes, folding in the bipod of her sniper, she received a note of acknowledgement and kept her head down as the firefight gradually began to wind down in the ODST's favour.

Everything was quiet now. They were moving out in a few minutes, so McKnight drank a sip of water from her canteen and checked that she hadn't lost or broken any equipment in her scramble to cover. There was a cough a few metres from her, and McKnight raised her pistol, pacing forwards slowly towards the source. She parted the bushes and was welcomed by the sight of a dying innie, having been shot in numerous places. Protocol was to leave him, or secure him in case he tried anything, but he didn't look like he was going anywhere, and McKnight took pity on him.

'Filthy UNSC lapdog' He coughed 'Get... off my planet' 

McKnight lowered her pistol, kneeling down beside his ruined form

'I'm..... sorry.... that this had to happen'
She reached for her canteen and pressed it to his lips. He snarled and spat, then broke out coughing at the strain, blood bubbling from between his lips.

'I dont.... need your *cough* sympathy you UNSC bitch' He spat, before crying out in pain

'Why.. why do you hate us so much?' McKnight asked softly, her voice barely hiding her sadness at the sight of the dying man

'Because *splutter*, because you're scum' The man spat, then cried out again, wheezing, tears streaming. 'Do the honourable thing, and finish me'.

McKnight raised her pistol, pressing it to the man's temple, he looked up at her, his eyes wide. Her hands were shaking as she released the safety catch. She closed her eyes, a lone tear escaped her eye, as she began to depress the trigger.

She stopped. She couldn't do it. She wasn't like the rest, not like Payne or Zetan. She couldn't be an executioner. She lowered the pistol.

'I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry' She whispered, but it didn't matter, the man wasn't breathing, his eyes still open, a look of acceptance in them. As she got back up to rejoin the squad, she was glad for her helmet to disguise the tears flowing down her cheeks, and she positioned herself away from the rest of them, quiet and subdued, wondering how much more of this she could take...


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes looked at the dead innies, then to the squad, a few were unmoved, Sherman and Davis seemed fine, Lancaster was a litte quiet, but Collins and Mcknight seemed really shaken. Fawkes waved the squad over to move out and fell into line with Lancaster.

"John, keep an eye on the girls would you?" He asked. "They seem, well, not great. After that, though, its understandable. Just, make sure they're alright."

Lancaster nodded and allowed himself fall behind Fawkes. Fawkes hoped that everyone was OK, people showed distress in different ways, he couldn't tell how many were suffering from the recent ordeal. As they were slipping through the trees, they came upon something huge. It was the slumped form of a massive beast, thick armour plates surrounding its hide. Fawkes stopped by it, crouching down over its eyeless head. 

"Armoured bear." He murmered, gently touching one of the beast's inert tusks. There was two things remarkable about the scene. One was that Fawkes had never seen such a beast before, they were some of the mightiest predators on the wild sectors of Elysium, the other remarkable factor is that the thing was dead. Fawkes could see a few shell casings scattered in the dirt and explosives residue. Someone with UNSC gear had killed this thing. Fawkse was betting it wasn't an innie. No human in the galaxy could have killed this thing at this sort of range.

"Come on." He said to the squad. "The only thing that could do this sort of damage would be a spartan." He motioned the squad forward, away from the monster. They trecked through the forest again, for a short while, but it wasn't long before they came upon the green-armoured warrior, a massive, UNSC mounted turret underarm, with little more seeming difficulty than Fawkes was carrying his rifle.

"Spartan?" He asked, the warriror turned around. "Thank God we've found you." Fawkes said fervently. He wanted to be out of this damned forest as soon as possible. He tapped his radio.

"Squad Phonenix to Command, we have the Spartan asset, we have the Spartan, sir."
He got no reply. He tapped the radio a few times, but there was still no response. He'd have to ask about that later.

He looked around. He couldn't see any faded ripples or blurred patches of air. 

"Where's your teammate?" He asked. "Is he still around?"

OOC:
Ok, we've found one spartan (Santaire) who will lead us to the other one. You also find out that there are some Marines with the other Spartan.

I'll put up the ammo register thing tonight.


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## G0arr

They waited. Joseph checked his new weapon again. _50 round clips, he had used… umm… _ he tired to remember the count, _let’s say it was 10 rounds, so 40 rounds remaining._ He thought of all the training weapons he had held. This one was a little more antiquated, but functional. For a moment he wondered, _what caliber were those turr…_

A scream and weapons fire brought him abruptly back to the present. 
Joseph spun with the weapon at his shoulder. He watched as Sherman finished unloading a full clip into the prisoners. It was cold blooded and brutal.
Joseph stood at the ready as the other trooper finished, and walked over.
The private’s movements hid the shock behind training as Sherman cursed over his shoulder.
In that moment Joseph did the only thing he could, he rationalized it behind a single word Revenge. 
It wasn’t what he wanted to do. They were human after all; they didn’t deserve to die like that. It was something that Joseph would expect from the Covenant. Still he pushed it aside. What would the team have done if they got free? _But they would be soldiers not prisoners._

The squad moved. Joseph focused back on the mission at hand. _Besides_, the private told himself, _it was Fawkes who had to make the call._
When they found the bear the young soldier made a quick mental note. _Look out for Innies, Covenant, and apparently armored wildlife._ Fawkes referred to the beast as an ‘armored bear,’ the words made Joseph smile. 
“Well let’s hope there aren’t any ‘bladed squirrels’ or ‘cannon tortures’ wondering around here,” he said jokingly. The reactions appeared neutral at best.

Shortly afterward they found the Spartan. _Damn_, Joseph thought as he kept his excitement from appearing. The armor was similar to what the ODST used, except heavier. The strangest thing was their helmet, a bulbous dome of glass.
Fawkes spoke and then activated his radio. After making his call he tapped the radio and waited for a reply.
“Jamming tower sir,” Joseph reported as he recalled the earlier interrogations.
Fawkes turned back to the Spartan, and asked about the other.
The private waited for the reply before cutting in. 
“Did you recover the AI or spot an Innie base local,” Joseph asked adding a hasty, “Sir.”


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## Angel Encarmine

Standing at the gate of the innie complex, Felix scanned the forest at the edge of the compound looking for enemies. 18 innies, an easy target for a headhunter team using guerrilla tactics. 5 marines and a Spartan III defending a fixed position was an entirely different situation. The odds were really bad, but beating bad odds was his job and these innies were about to find that out. _"Movement on the right flank"_ he heard over his helmet comms from the corporal stationed in the watchtower with Anthony's sniper rifle. _"Hit em when you see em guys"_ he radioed back, before he heard all of the marines call out contacts and open fire. 

Sighting down his rifle, Felix fired at an innie trying to sneak up on his position before he heard a sound that had him diving for cover. _"INCOMING"_ he shouted before an explosion tore the fence apart on the right flank. A cheer erupted from the innies as several more mortar round blew holes in the same area. The fuckers had a mortar. Jumping up Felix began sprinting towards the right side, intent on backing up the besieged marines. The innies got there first. 

2 Marines in a sandbag emplacement were killed as the enemy swarmed their position, 30 cal rounds tearing the men apart and leaving the right side undefended. _"Retreat to the main building"_ Felix radioed to the surviving marines. Not slowing his run he unsheathed his knife and jumped, easily clearing the sides of the emplacement and landing among the 3 innies that had killed the marines. Blood flew as the invisible Spartan spun, lopping off limbs and severing arteries. Screams and lives were cut short as Felix killed, mercy the furthest thing from his mind.

Pulling out a frag he lobbed it at the hole in the fence, using the explosion as cover to retreat to the main building. Judging by the bodies he had seen, he figured they had killed around 5 innies, which left 13 and a mortar team... Jogging into the improvised med center he began barking orders, telling them to arm the wounded and get ready to fight like hell. As they locked down the corridor a mortar round blew the front off the building, leaving them dazed and open to the assault. Stumbling back to his feet he wondered where the fuck Anthony and the ODSTs were before enemy fire pinged off his armor. _"Kill them all"_ he shouted as he opened fire out of the ruined burning building, hoping that his men were alive to hear the order.


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## Sangus Bane

John didn't disapprove of killing the Innies, hell he had even suggested it to Fawkes. He wasn't happy about it either.

Maybe it was because it brought back memories he didn't want to remember, maybe it was because of the way the Innies were disposed of by someone he considered to be his squad member.

Either way, something about it had made him uncomfortable and he knew he wasn't the only one.

"John, keep an eye on the girls would you?" Fawkes asked after they continued their search. "They seem, well, not great. After that, though, its understandable. Just, make sure they're alright."

John simply nodded, not seeing need for words.
He slowed his pace until he walked besides McKnight.

"You ok?" he asked with a lowered voice. "You've been quiet for a while now." 

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." McKnight responded. "I'll never get used to executions though." 
John was convinced of her words. 
"Come to me if you need to talk, 'kay?" he said and he fell behind a few more steps to join Collins.

"I'm fine." she said before John could even ask her.
"Good to know." He said as he crouched underneath a low branch. "But are you doing well, or just fine?"
"I'm not happy, but there's no need for concern." she said, sounding annoyed now.
"Ok, that's all I need to know." John said as observed two small rodents fighting over what seemed to be a bundle of nuts.
"Come talk to me if something is bothering you." John said, picking up the pace to report to Fawkes.


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## Pimped-out Deamonette

Claire resented the ODST's for what they had done, for killing the insurrectionists.

Yet she understood their actions.
It was a question as old as war itself; Is it ok to kill, before you are killed?

Lancaster had approached McKnight, who had also been a bit quiet since the executions. Now he was headed her way.

'Great...' she sighed inside her helmet.

After reassuring Lancaster, Claire returned to her thoughts, knowing she would never decide on a answer for the question that still haunted her mind.

Kill, or be killed?

Protecting what you have was equally important as securing what you need...

The squad halted and Claire could see Fawkes kneeling down beside a large, dead animal. 
Claire was amazed by the size of the beast, its plates and tusks huge and scarred by many years of combat with its kin, a ritual to show dominance. And killed by a human...

The UNSC wasn't evil, humans were...

(I'm back!)


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## Santaire

I’m tired of it all.

Tired of running, tired of fighting. Tired of death.

Funny. The ODSTs are full of stories of how inhuman we are, how cruel and murderous. Yet not one of them would think what I think now. I haven’t seen Squad Phoenix for a long time now. Truth be told, I miss them. Imagine that. Me, the vicious, murderous Spartan misses a squad of ODSTs who mistrusted me and thought me a freak. Still, back to what I was telling you. It hit me then, as I walked away from the great corpse of the Shell Bear. I had been fighting all my life. ODSTs called themselves veterans if they survived twenty missions, lucky if they reach the age of forty. I was nineteen, younger than any of the members of Squad Phoenix. But I had suffered more than any of them, aged prematurely by my experiences. I was young and yet old, fresh and yet tired.

I was so absorbed in my epiphany that I did not notice Fawkes approaching me until his foot cracked a twig. I still did not bother to turn. If it had been an Insurrectionist then he would have already opened fire.

"Spartan?" The ODST Sergeant asked and I turned to look at him. "Thank God we've found you."

Fawkes glanced around and cocked his head at me, asking yet another question. "Where's your teammate?" He asked. "Is he still around?" I smiled grimly beneath my visor. If Felix had gotten himself killed I would go all the way to hell to drag him back, if only so I could kill him myself for being stupid enough to die. “Spartan-046 is currently holding a position along with several marines from a downed Pelican. They have Insurrectionists attacking them, though I believe they can hold out for a little while longer.” I turned to lead the ODST squad to where Felix was but was stopped by Joseph who blurted out a question of his own.

“Did you recover the AI or spot an Innie base local,” he asked, before adding in another word. “Sir.”

“I have the AI on me now private,” I said, tapping the armoured compartment in my leg armour. “She is safer with me than she is with you anyway. As for the Insurrectionists, we have the location of a base of theirs that is about five klicks east of our current position, however we are going to relieve my teammate and the marines with him first.” My tone was iron hard and brooked no argument. So we set off into the forest, a Spartan III Headhunter carrying a turret like it was a rifle and a squad of ODSTs...


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## HOGGLORD

“She is safer with me than she is with you anyway. As for the Insurrectionists, we have the location of a base of theirs that is about five klicks east of our current position, however we are going to relieve my teammate and the marines with him first.”

The Spartan sounded hard and resolved, like he expected an argument against this course of action. Fawkes raised his hands placatingly. 

"Don't worry, Spartan, we're here to pick you two up, that was always first on the to-do list." 

He waved the squad on after the spartan's rapid pace, speeding through the dense woods with an alarming precision. The ODSTs had to jog to keep up, but Fawkes knew that the Spartan was holding back, slowing down for them. It was stupid, but Fawkes felt a little irritated about that, as if the Spartan was being condescending by slowing down for them. He shook the notion off, it was pointless to consider such things, if he couldn't affect them, ignore them. The travelled through the woods at a rapid pace, so it wasn't long before they head gunfire, it was the rapid clatter of automatics and semi automatics, as well as a deep, muffled _thump_ of some kind of small artillery. They quickened their pace until they reached a clearing with a small building in it. Around the building was a siege force of insurrectionists. 

Fawkes frowned under his visor, something was off about them, they were attacking, a mortar could be seen some way away lobbing shells into the fort, but they had a wide eyed, frightened look about them. Their cheeks and eyes were sunken, they were screaming with a wild ferocity and they had some kind of blue tattoo on each man's cheek. 

Fawkes noted this in a few seconds, whilst the rest of the ODSTs began pouring fire out into the group. He raised his own rifle and released a burst of fire into the men.

OOC: Right boys and girls, move into the crowd and start shooting. Some of the insurrectionists are acting strange, almost fanatically screaming curses about the UNSC and they are less inclined to go down to anything but a clean kill, they'll keep fighting through extreme pain. Others are normal. 

Josie: Take out the mortar team.


P.S. Sorry its a little late, I got caught up in other things last night and forgot, really sorry about that.


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## G0arr

The Spartan’s reply was exactly what Joseph expected. Behind his visor there was a look of relief. Then they moved.

The pace was fast. Sure it was, Joseph told himself, remember that is a Spartan leading us. As they moved the private began to wonder how old that man was. It was an odd thought, but he had never been told. He assumed at least 30.

The squad moved through the forest until they heard the gunfire. They closed to hear a loud thump, artillery. What Joseph saw was a sight that brought back memories, a determined foe pressing into a defender. The young private didn’t need Fawkes to act. He moved with purpose toward the insurrectionists. His face twisted into a vicious scowl behind a blank mask.

Several of the Innies fanatically screamed. Something had worked them into a frenzy. Joseph watched moving to flank their line. He was less than 20 yards from them when he halted. They didn’t notice the ODST until after he began to fire.
The first shot tore through a frenzied man shattering ribs and tearing through a lung. A second finished any doubts that the man was dead. Beside the falling corpse another man was caught as he turned toward the new weapon. The shot ripped through his lower chest. He tried to call out but all he could muster was a gurgled growl. 
Joseph braced against the recoil as he fired another quick burst. The third insurrectionist managed to yell a warcry before the first heavy round shredded through his chest. The helljumper stepped past 14 fresh casings as he moved behind a near tree. A second later the first returning round hammered into the bark.

Joseph heard the other soldiers firing. He waited for a few seconds before leaning out enough to fire again. He glanced down to see a crawling man moving fighting with useless legs. His face was a twisted scowl of hate and insanity spewing insults and hate like a weapon. Joseph fired into another short burst, 5 shots. Another insurrectionist fell sideways as three rounds speared through his chest. The helljumper ducked back as the tree took several more rounds.

Joseph glanced out again. The innies were reacting roughly. Several seemed to be throwing themselves toward the ODST, while others tried to use cover. They were undisciplined, and untrained. The private took a deep breath and gripped the light machine gun tightly. This time he moved out enough to use the tree as a brace. He squeezed the trigger and began to spray rounds toward the insurrectionists’ line. They weren’t all meant to kill. Bullets sent dirt flying as they hammered into the ground. A few trees blew bark into the air as they were struck. Several of the insurrectionists ducked as the burst of fire filled the air with deadly projectiles. The hail of fire didn’t end until the weapon had fired its last shot. It fell on the harness as Joseph stepped back and readied his assault rifle.


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## Santaire

"Don't worry, Spartan, we're here to pick you two up, that was always first on the to-do list."

I laughed bitterly beneath my helmet. Then, schooling my voice to cool indifference, I re-opened my COM and said. “Never doubted it sergeant.” That may have been true in Fawkes’ case, but with some of his fellows, particularly Payne and Collins, I doubted they would have cared had I died painfully down there. We moved off into the forest, I moving at less than my normal pace to allow the ODSTs to keep up with me, though I was desperate to break into a run.

Still we travelled at a fast pace and it wasn’t long before I could hear the gunfire and I saw the ODSTs notice so a little later. It was the chatter of automatic rifles and the shrieks of semi-automatic weapons as well as the deep thud of a portable mortar. We quickened the pace and I swiftly outstripped the ODSTs. But when I reached there I slowed and scanned the area, seeing the enraged, psychotic Insurrectionists. I studied them, watching their movements. I even let the ODSTs engage them before I did.

The Insurrectionists were evidently all utterly insane or drugged, for they kept on going from wounds that should have put them down for good and never used cover, simply standing in the open and firing wildly. Ninety percent of their shots missed but the wild spraying was keeping the ODSTs pinned down.

With a snarl, my COM still online so that the noise was broadcast to the ODSTs, I pulled the turret round. “Get down!” I roared and squeezed the trigger. The heavy rounds tore through the Insurrectionists, ripping off limbs and sending bodies flying as the shells flew out of the side of the weapon. I laughed, the insane laugh of the damned, as I killed. I used the bullets like a farmer uses his scythe at harvest, sweeping them in great arcs to cut down the foes that screamed curses even as they died. I could see the round count in the turret rapidly decreasing.

It was into double digits now and still decreasing.

I heard the scream of the Insurrectionist even above the chatter of the machine gun and turned, bringing the great barrel around with me. The man, screaming hate, lunged a knife at me and stopped for a moment in disbelief as the blade snapped off at the hilt. That hesitation gave me the time to bring the turret round so that the barrel rested between his legs. With a vicious smile I pulled the trigger.

Turning away from the screaming Innie I checked the ammo count of the turret in the top right corner of my visor. Thirty two rounds remaining. I trained the gun on one particular Innie who was charging me. The rounds punched through his abdomen but the bastard kept coming, kept dragging one foot in front of the other. I ran the bullets up his torso. The shots to his chest made him stagger and begin to fall and the one to his head blew his body backwards several feet. Twenty six rounds left.

An Innie put several bullets into my shield and I ripped the turret sideways, my finger squeezing on the trigger to send a hurtle of bullets at him. His cover was splintered to pieces by the fire and he staggered back from the shattered wood. I put three rounds into his chest. Twelve rounds. Even as his corpse was blown backwards I saw Fawkes pinned by three Innies who worked like true soldiers, switching firer when one needed to reload so that there was always a steady stream of bullets keeping the ODST pinned. The turret chewed through them. Two rounds. I moved forward, hunting the mortar that still hurled shells into the sky.

I found it, manned by three Innies with two men standing over with assault rifles. The two guards died, the back of their skulls blown out by the turret’s fire. The three manning the mortar hadn’t even managed to turn before I’d dropped the turret and was among them. One of them died with a snapped neck from a savage sideways kick that twisted his head round to an unnatural angle. The second swore and attempted to run. I kicked the back of his knee with my right foot and as he started to fall forwards I wrapped my left arm arm round his neck, put my right hand on his forehead and twisted brutally. The crack seemed unnaturally loud in the clearing. Then I realised that I had been shot.

I turned to look at the final Innie. It had only taken a few seconds from when I pulled the trigger on the turret till then, but still she had managed to draw her pistol and train it on me. I nodded in respect

I walked towards her and when she started to pull the trigger again I stepped to one side and snatched the weapon out her hand. I pulled the slide off, released and crushed the clip, disassembled the trigger mechanism and bent the barrel, all within two seconds and all without looking. I tossed the shattered pistol aside and cocked my head at the Innie who had now drawn a knife which she held in a shaking hand. “Remember this kindness. I am not the enemy here, the Covenant are,” I said as I turned and walked away, leaving the woman alive...


----------



## Angel Encarmine

Rounds kissed the wall around Felix as he took cover, a few of them ricocheting from his shield. Peeking out of cover he reloaded, frowning as he saw what looked like innie reinforcements coming in.... something was different about these men, and he had just enough time to see a blue tattoo on one of their faces before the mans head exploded. Scanning left to right, Felix breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the ODSTs along with his fellow Spartan take position and open fire. _" Good of you to finally show up, I see you brought friends. "_ he said over a private comm to Anthony as he popped out of cover and killed 3 of the 7 innies rushing his position before his rifle clicked on empty. 

Swinging the rifle around on its strap, Felix' hands where a blur as he drew his twin magnums and fired, managing to kill the 4 innies in as many shots the last man crashing to the ground 4 feet from him. Something wasn't right about these men, the way they threw away their lives needlessly worried him but before he could check the bodies rounds cracked around him and he was forced to take cover again, emptying his magnums as he moved behind a crumbling wall. _" I need a fucking vacation..."_ he grumbled over the coms as he reloaded his weapons.


----------



## HOGGLORD

Fawkes approached the wounded insurrectionist, one of the man's legs had been torn off by gunfire and he was slumped against a stone. He gazed up at Fawkes blearily. He was one of the ones with the odd tattoos. The tattoos reminded Fawkes of something, but he couldn't think what.

"Tell me what you know about your base," Fawkes said. "If you cooperate, we can get you medical attention."

The insurrectionist made a rattling, gurgling chuckled, then spat in Fawkes' face. Fawkes recoiled as blood splattered his visor. He pulled off his helmet and looked in the man's eyes. "Without our help, you will bleed out."

"You think I care if I die?" Wheezed the wounded man, his eyes now locked on Fawkes'. "You brought this on yourselves, you must pay for what you've done. You lead hundreds of billions to their deaths in the name of your own arrogance. We will fight you, we can save humanity from the endless void, you can't stand against all of us."

The man's eyes shone with fanatical pride. "We're the first, we carry the torch that will lead humankind down the road to eternity. But you have already spurned your chance, you are the sacrifice we must make, and I make it gladly."

Fawkes was pulled back by somebody behind him as the wounded insurrectionist pulled out a grenade, the pin already free. The man was engulfed in flames and splattered Fawkes with gore.

Fawkes slowly got to his feet and looked around. He scanned the trees to see an insurrectionist woman slipping into the trees. She was too far away to pursue and she wasn't running towards the insurrectionist base., but the opposite direction, she wasn't a threat.

Fawkes spotted something in the corner of his eye and froze. "Spartans." he said in a voice filled with forced calm. "How many of you are here and have that camo equipment?"

"Just the two of us sergeant." one of the Spartans replied. Fawkes nodded slowly, then suddenly drew his magnum and unloaded several rounds into the shimmering patch of air in the trees. As the rounds impacted, shields flared a d an elite was revealed. It roared, drawing a plasma rifle and firing a handful of shots, they went wide. Several others lent their fire to help Fawkes and the alien twitched and fell. Fawkes realised where he recognised the tattoos from, they were the same as the glyphs on covenant technology. These insurrectionists were in league with, or being used by, the covenant.

Fawkes assessed the situation. He looked around at the marines that had been with the second Spartan. There were three who could still walk and wield their rifles, one more had taken a round to the hand, so he couldn't fire his gun. The man was brave though and refused to wait for evac, saying that he could at least fire a pistol. Fawkes gave him his magnum and ordered him to carry the mortar that the insurrectionists had left behind, he had Collins pick up the shells, she knew her way round explosives and Fawkes felt confident that she'd be able to keep a stash of uncared for, civilian made explosives in usable but safe condition.

As they left the clearing Fawkes relayed this new information to the squad. Fawkes ordered the Spartans to lead them to the source of the jamming. They travelled through the forest towards the position for about half an hour before reaching the position. They stopped just out of sight of the walls. The fort was smaller than Fawkes had expected, withperhaps a 20 meter by 15 meter perimeter. It had one floor and crenelations with turrets ringing the roof. Fawkes noted that several of the emplacements were covenant plasma turrets. Alongside patrolling Innies were a handful of grunts and a few jackals.

"Right." He began. Gathering everyone together he began to explain the first stage of the plan. "The marines will operate the mortar and provide covering fire with McKnight, make sure the roof has no active defenders and keep them pinned down for as long as you can. Spartans, you move up to the front door, when it opens for a response team to come out, take them down and keep the door open, you can move up unseen. Once it's open, we can move inside and take out the jammer. Collins, we may need you to take down the jammer." Fawkes flashed everyone a small grin. "Any questions? No? On my mark then."

OOC:
everyone will have to describe their version of the events ver the update to some capacity. You have been issued special objectives and I will PM the kind of resistance you will be facing.
Josie: Cover the setting up of the mortar and pick off defenders once it starts firing.

Spartans: Rush up to the doors in stealth and wait for a response team to come out, then keep the doors from being closed from the inside.

P-OD: Help set up the mortar then join Fawkes and the other ODSTs for the attack.

Everyone else: Prepare for the Spartans to clear the doorway then move up. Try to suppress those on the walls as you move up.


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