M6: Battle for Refuge (Ground)

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Seventh Marines
Hope; Refuge

"Hang on a second, Marines." The Colonel replied to the Junior Officer and Staff NCO that had spoken at nearly the same time. The Army Unit he had seen earlier had just approached, lead by a Corporal - but the rest only had the strips of a Private (Two) or a missing patch on their armor, which was Private (One). They were Enlisted men, but gave the Colonel - who had a Eagle on his armor, though it was muddy and charred - more options and, more importantly, more men to defend the area.

"Everyone needs to move into the house," Killinger said in a louder voice to everyone could hear. He needed to address the troops, but not about morale. There was one thing commanders always struggled to do - feed the troops, and feed the weapons they carried. Rations and ammo would need to be restricted, unfortunately, until they found more supplies. "Meet me in the living room." He order, though respectfully.

Once everyone had gathered the large, luxurious living room was more than capable of fitting the men and women that had arrived - a total of twenty one people had assembled so far. Good, perhaps a few of them had some extra ammunition and rations they could share with the unfortunate, who may not have any extras.

"Everyone count your gear," Killinger said. He un-slung the pack on his back, took a knee, and spilled the contents on the rather large, circular table in the middle of the room. The extra magazines, the remaining bio-foam container and a few MRE's slid across the glass surface. "I've got to restrict ammo and ration consumption, Marines... and troopers. Only a maximum of four magazines of any type on you at any time, or the equivalent in bullets for larger weapons, until we get some more ammo. Dump your gear on the table."

The Colonel unloaded his own person, leaving himself with three magazines for the BR55HB-SR and one for the M6D he had, but that was plenty of ammo to at least escape from a fire-fight. Slowly the other Marines and Army personnel dumped their magazines and rations onto the table. It wasn't enough, and the Colonel immediately knew food and ammo were going to be a problem.

Out of the men who had followed John's lead there were only roughly a hundred magazines on the table of various kinds. MA5 Mags, BR55 mags and magnum mags were the more popular selection, but John was surprised when he saw a box magazine for a MK280 and two sniper magazines - as well as a rocket reload. Someone was packing a rocket launcher... or was it just a reload?

There weren't many rations, either. While the table was full, Marines and Army personnel had begun tossing MRE's onto a nearby chair. Eventually the table had just the ammunition and the chair held the MRE's. Random pieces of equipment were on the raised floor by the firepit. Overall, they had maybe twenty rations and only a few working pieces of equipment like shovels, mines, grenades and the sort.

John took a heavy breath and turned towards the Staff Sergeant that had asked for permission to search for more survivors. "Take a Marine and two Army Troopers and look for survivors, but gather any supplies you can find. Canned foods, rations, ammo or even kill a animal if you have too. Good luck."

The Colonel found the pilot next. "Lead me to your pelican, you said you were carrying resupply canisters - this might be our only opportunity to scavenge for those supplies. I'll bring six bodies to help the wounded, but we've got to move fast. Clouds are getting pretty dark and I don't think we'll have much daylight in an hour." The Colonel said.

"I need six volunteers to come with me and Lieutenant Adams to a pelican crash not to far from here. You'll need to bring the two stretchers and your bravery because it is a hike and Covenant Forces have been spotted, and it'll be dark by the time we get back. Second Lieutenant Jenkins will be in charge until I return, if I return Marines. Be prepared for the worst and remember to watch your sectors of fire for civilians and arriving military personnel. Dismissed."

John needed to get a glimpse of the landscape for himself now, rather than a magnified view on a binocular. He would also help gather the wounded and supplies, but there was no doubt with the approaching storm it was going to be dark by the time they returned and because flashlights weren't working, they could be mistaken as hostile.

"Jenkins," John said, seeing the Lieutenant on his left side. "Don't start any fires, you'll give the location away. Instead, pop the green flares every half an hour with the MA5C with the grenade launcher and when night falls the yellow ones. If you need, start the fireplace for warmth but do not start fires outside. Keep your eyes peeled and rely on the army sniper that arrived to identify friend or foe targets."

"This is it, lead the way, Adams." John said.

[iamsteelius]

Kig-Yar Major Nak

Covenant Army

Lurking…

    The humans began to move around, seemingly getting ready to leave. Nak and his file began advancing, dodging in and out of cover. They hid in an alley, where he peered around the corner, watching the injured human. Suddenly, there was an audible crash in the alleyway. Nak stepped from the corner and turned, seeing Heq looking horrified by the dumpster. It appeared she leaned against it, thus causing it to roll into the wall. Nak just stared at her blankly, knowing the humans heard the noise.

    The element of surprise was ruined. They knew the Kig-Yar were there and were ready. Nak looked around, seeing three weapons. Zax must have taken one from the Unggoy corpses. Three guns, two cutlasses, and a length of metal was all they had. Nak began to panic inwardly, realizing the grim situation. Nak was clever, but no amount of cleverness was going to get them out of there alive. They need a Sangheili, a Brute, an Unggoy toting a Fuel Rod Cannon. They had no resources.

    Nak closed his eyes. He really missed the energy shields. Wait, the dumpster; that could be their shield. He began snapping orders, “Everybody empty the waste bin. Now.” The file scrambled to it, throwing trash everywhere. Ten seconds later it was empty. “Alright push it to the end of the alleyway.” The entire file, including Nak, pushed the dumpster. It felt light with all five pushing, but it was about to get heavier. “Top, give your Needler to Heq. Now, Zax, Heq and Lir get into the dumpster,” all he got where strange looks, “Now, damn you!” The file did as ordered, so soon enough, the three armed Kig-Yar were in the dumpster whilst Top and Nak were ready to push.

Top grumbled, “Do you ever have a good idea? Ah, why am I even asking.” Nak chirped with amusement, and then began wheeling the dumpster out of the alleyway, towards the humans. The Kig-Yar inside fired blindly, the dumpster shaking and going extremely slow. Nak and Top were behind the dumpster, protected but using every ounce of strength to push the dumpster down the street.

    Nak was cursing and breathing heavily. There wasn’t a damn way this would work, but there weren’t any other options. He and Top could barely keep the dumpster rolling. In that moment, there was an enormous noise, like a giant concrete beast dying. It shook the floor, causing other smaller building to rumble and collapse. There was a light cloud of dust everywhere, slightly shrouding the Kig-Yar, but all it mostly did was make everybody’s eyes water a bit. Nak just shook his head and kept pushing with everything he had, listening to bullets ping and hiss around him. Never a dull moment.


Private Jacob Alenan

UNSC Seventh Marines

Arriving

    After a lot of walking and pointing, Jacob and his squad finally found the source of the green flare. There were a while away, but it looked like a large house. The squad trudged through the rain and dust, trying to get to the house. Alper was in the middle of a story, trying to keep the squad content.

    “And I tell’s im, there’s no room for a frigging piano in his car. But no, we tries to fit the piano in. All we get for the effort is a broken trunk door.” He droned on, allowing Jacob to keep to his thoughts. He knew the situation went to hell, but how bad was unknown. Was anybody in charge? Who shot the flare? It could be actual command or just some citizens, calling for help.

    As they neared he could see about twenty military types in the main room, gear everywhere. The Sergeant cut into Alper’s story, saying, “Alright men, get your weapons down. We don’t want to get shot after all that walking. Just fall in line behind me.” They reached the front door, where the Sergeant opened the door into the meeting, or so it seemed.

    They walked into to hear the person in charge say, “…and rely on the army sniper that arrived to identify friend or foe targets. This is it, lead the way, Adams." He had the insignia of a Colonel, so after he was done talking, Sergeant said, “I’d salute, but I imagine you don’t enjoy being shot at. My squad has plenty of supplies to add. One of them is injured, but the rest of us are good to go. Just tell us what you need.”
Jacob simply nodded, looking at all the gear. This is a lot of loot. Too bad the rest of the UNSC is watching. He looked back up, waiting for more orders. Never a dull moment.

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Maximilian "Drake" Fields
Scattered, Battered, But Still Fighting
Battle of Refuge

Minutes after the E-M-P

Rifle raised, Drake ran up to the back door of a house, the pelican on the other side of it. Leaning onto the right side of the door frame, he took his right hand off of the handguard and pushed open the door, checking the corners of the kitchen.

"Hello, anyone in here?"

He continued through the house, the home abandoned by it's family. As he approached the front door, he saw a blood trail leading off into a small room. Lifting his rifle up, he approached the door and called out again.

"Is anybody in there, I'm here to help."    

He pushed the door open, and was upset to see what was in the room. The body of second squads C.O., covered in blood. God dam it Endgame, why couldn't you have stayed with the pelican. Kneeling down beside the body, he checked for vitals. Withdrawing his hand as he confirmed the death of his old friend, he rolled his body over, pulling off his dogtags and closing his eyes. 

"Rest in peace old friend."

Standing, Drake gave the fallen soldier a salute, then exited the house. Stepping down the stairs, his rifle raised, he sprinted across the yard and through the street. The downed pelican having crashed through the front of a house. He came up to pelican, it's back hatch torn off in the crash as it laid in the street behind him.

"Anyone alive in there?"

Climbing up into the pelican, the barrel of his rifle dropped as he saw that the squad was dead, all of them covered in blood and sprawled across the hatch. The Cockpit of the pelican caved in, no one had survived the crash. Proceeding to do the same with them as he did with Endgame, he also checked them for ammo and food. After securing everything he needed, he gave them one more salute and left.

Current Time 

Drake entered the Mall from the other side of the crash site, hoping to find some survivors he moved quickly. His rifled raised as he walked across the top level of the shopping center. Destroyed clothing stores surrounding him, he moved around flipped over shopping carts as he approached the the crash site, a team of men lying around the crash site.

"Anyone alive down there?"

Climbing down an escalator his rifle was raised as he approached the men  Hoping they were alive as he kept his barrel pointed towards them, noting the crashed pelican. If anyone survived that crash it would be a miracle.

[HollowSaber]

: Corporal Jake Furrow :

: Refuge, Somewhere in Covenant Controlled Territory :

: Nova Squad:

    “No! Please!” The pleading from a small Grunt made Jake grimace beneath his visor. The Trooper reached out and grabbed the alien by the mask, yanking it close so he could bury his knife into its throat. He gave no prayer for the creature as life emptied from its eyes, the tainted Covenant soul leaving with it. The Trooper didn’t blame the lower ranked Covenant soldiers for what they were doing but he wasn’t going to give them any solace when he brought down the hand of god. It was that easy.

    Jake retracted his blade once he was sure the Grunt had passed and let the body fall limp. He glanced back over his shoulder towards the small group of four other Grunts, each of them lying with their skulls pierced or throats cut. The cluster of five were napping quietly, resting in the silence as they awaited orders. However, to Jake’s dismay, their leader was not present upon his arrival. Part of him wanted to wait, but a sixth Grunt, hidden behind a wall due to where it had entered, had noticed the Human trespasser. If Jake waited any longer than he had, his position would have been given away. Now he had clean up duty.

    Yet Jake wouldn’t be hiding the bodies like he would if he was making his presence vanish. Instead, he dragged the bodies into a tight circle and carefully moved their arms and legs, making them look as if they were all cuddled together. Blood dripped down into the center of them all but it was far too dark to actually see it until one got to close. Jake could use that to his advantage later on. For now, he worried about making the scene look neat. The Grunts he had seen sleeping were almost always with a friend, and they all curled up when they slept. Keeping them upright was the issue and Jake ended up having to lean the Grunts carefully against each other to keep the limp bodies from flopping. Jake considered just ditching his plan and waiting nearby for the leader to return, but then he ran the risk of the Leader alerting oth--

    Creeeek..

    Jake glanced up to his left as a footstep from the next room echoed into his. Someone, or something, was here and he needed to move. The Grunts were positioned well enough in the middle of the room to look like they hadn’t moved. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do. Whether he liked it or not, the ODST abandoned his attempt at perfection and picked up his knife. Using the shadows of the room, he crouched down and got into position…

* * *

    Ret’ul release an annoyed breath as he squeezed the nearly useless carbine rifle in his right hand. The Minor flexed his mandibles in disgust as he surveyed the street in front of him. The petty human forces were somewhere out there and he was stuck here, in a pile of rubble, watching the clouds move. It was a disgrace to his honor to be told that he was unable to fight, and Ret’ul nearly challenged the Major because of it. The only restraint he had was the thought of his wife. She was a young, frail thing and he did not plan to leave her just yet. The outcome of the duel was predictable, but it would have satisfied Ret’ul if he had passed because of it. Dying with a blade in his hand would be more honorable than dying of boredom.

    However, it was his duty to act as a lookout for if the Humans drew any nearer to the Artifact, it was unknown of what they would come up with. The nishum were a craft race and the Minor had heard several stories of their ability to survive. Their adaptability was something to be revered, but it was also something that Ret’ul envied. He wished to crush the Human race beneath his boot. He would fill each of their skulls with a single shot from his rifle, and then he would stand on top of their bodies like a true warrior.

    Acting as a lookout got him no where nearer to that outcome and any attempts to defy orders would surely put him at an even further away. There was nothing for the Sangheili to do but wait impatiently like a child. Rage boiled inside of his chest and the strength the warrior put into his grip increased until he was unable to flex his muscles any tighter. A low hiss rippled within the Minor’s jaws and his eyes narrowed. Soon, he would walk up that street and put fear into the distant enemy’s eyes.

    “Pathetic…” Was the only word that Ret’ul muttered as he stared down the empty road. No Human dared appear before him and it was making him sick. Such foolish creatures, thinking they were safe. It wouldn’t be long until the Holy Covenant was given the order to stomp over them. When that order came, Ret’ul would make sure that he was at the head of the horde.

    For now, the Sangheili returned to the building his file was tucked away in. He was assisted on his mission by a meager six Unggoy, and their complaints only ended when he told them to leave him be. They had grown quiet over the last few moments of his thinking. It would be best for him to return to them. Order was something he expected out of his file and Ret’ul would not accept any child-like behavior. He had already dealt with that enough with his other file that he had lost.

    With a stomp, Ret’ul stepped inside of the building, causing the wooden floor to whine beneath his weight. The Sangheili grunted at the sound and shoved the door off him, causing the hinges to bent backwards. Making his way inside, the warrior passed through the entrance way and into the room where he had left his underlings. At first, there was nothing out of place. The weak creatures were circled up nicely into what looked to be a sleeping circle. It was something Ret’ul had seen plenty of times before and he decided not to wake them. Doing so would only give him a larger headache.

    “Hmm…” Ret’ul’s eyes narrowed on the Unggoy group, suddenly concerned as he looked at them. The more he stared at the five creatures, the more they seemed… strange.

    Then, the moment he took a step forward, there was a flurry of movement to his left. Ret’ul looked over and began to raise his rifle, but by then it was to late. A black body slammed into his hip and caused his balance to falter. The Sangheili released a surprised bark of sorts as he started to sidestep, trying to keep his hooves planted. His weight began to work against him, causing him to lean to the right, and then his left leg was swept out from beneath him. Ret’ul growled as he slammed the back of his head into the wall, the force causing the object to break apart and his head became stuck. The Sangheili dropped his carbine and immediately began attempting to free himself. The external weight from the black body vanished off his thigh and as Ret’ul ripped his head from the human structure, the body was gone. Ret’ul quickly looked right towards the distant door beyond his underlings, and then to his lef--

    Pain shot through the Warrior’s face. Reflex caused him to shut his eyes for a split second and turn his head in the opposite direction of where it hurt. When he opened his eyes again to see, he watched his two left mandibles drift through the air in front of him, a mist of his blood following close behind. It was as if the world had begun to slow. So slow that it felt like an eternity before he could finally look to his left again. There it was; that black body. A visor reflected the low lighting of the room; Human.

    Ret’ul growled in his throat and started to lean forward when the weapon the Human held sliced across his face again, causing him to flinch once more. Blood spilled out from his mouth and through the large gash on the right side of his face. The liquid flowed like a river on Sangheilios, and Ret’ul felt its warmth. The Sangheili glared at the human before him and shot his left arm forward in an attempt to grab the small creature. It was fast, faster than usual, and stepped just out of reach. Ret’ul snarled and stepped forward without a thought, reaching for the man once more with his opposite arm. This time, the Human stepped to Ret’ul’s right, moving right along side his limb. Clutching a fist, the Warrior swung at the tiny creature in an attempt to bash its skull. From the speed and strength, Ret’ul felt his body drag with his hand.

    Yet, it was all for naught. The human ducked beneath the swing, causing Ret’ul to smash his fist viciously into the wall. Another hole appeared in the structure and at the same moment, a hole opened in Ret’ul’s stomach. The blade which the human was using stabbed through the break in the Warrior’s armor, piercing into his lower ribcage and cutting his internals. The soldier’s adrenaline helped numb much of the pain but it was restricting. The wound was fierce and Ret’ul was forced to step away as the Human retracted his weapon.

    Breathing deeply was the most Ret’ul could to to fight the pain as he pulled in his fists. He glared at the human before him, watching the small creature ready for another attack. The Minor fixed his eyes on the nishum and secured his balance. As he stood there for a moment, the Sangheili placed his hand on his stomach. Blood poured from his abdominal wound and the amount he was losing began to make his head feel light. Ret’ul pulled what was left of his mouth together and released a pained sigh. It seemed it was nearly time...

    “My dear… It seems I will not be returning to you…”

    Taking a hard step forward, Ret’ul surged forward with all of his might towards the human. The little man moved forward as well, stepping without a sound right towards him. It was a fearless move Ret’ul had never seen before. The Humans he had fought had always stepped away from him in such tight quarters, but none of them had fought him without a weapon. Was is bravery? Or was it luck that today Ret’ul had met this human? If he had his Sword, passed to him by his grandfather, would the outcome have been different? The answers, he did not know. What he did know was that as the Human avoided his hands and buried the black, shimmering knife into his chest, Ret’ul would not see his wife again. He would not see his beautiful homeland, he would not participate in the assault on the humans, and he would not be able to duel with the Major. Luck was not on his side today… but he would admit. The human behind the black visor he stared through was his killer, and his killer had defeated him with a weapon he could recognize; a blade.

    The Sangheili’s English was rough, and he had been taught a minimum amount of it in his life. Yet, he chose not to speak it today. Today was not a day for congratulations, or a day for thanking. The human had caught Ret’ul when his guard was low, had taken advantage of the situation of combat, and now Ret’ul was on his knees. For the first time since his marriage, the Sangheili was able to smile. Even if it was half of one, it was still a joyous moment.

    “The Path awaits me…” Ret’ul whispered, fighting the feeling of blood filling his throat. The Human before him stood there for a moment, still and silent as he had been during their short engagement. Ret’ul looked into that visor one more time, and then his eyes drifted to the letters on the Human’s chest. “FURROW” was what it said. A light grunt escaped the Sangheili’s throat as he shut his eyes. Then, he watched as the darkness behind his eyelids were torn away by the bright light of the world beyond…

* * *

    The Elite’s body slumped to the floor as Jake retracted his blade. The blue armored beast was a pitiful excuse for a fight and its struggle was sickening. The Trooper barely had to work to kill it, unlike with the others he had faced in hand-to-hand combat. This one seemed more acceptant of death, whether that was good or bad Jake didn’t know. He was happy the creature didn’t fight too much, but it was a strange sight. In the end it didn’t matter much. Jake was victorious and the area was clear for the moment. With that short time, Jake dragged the Elite’s body into the room with the Grunts and shoved it into a corner out of the way.

    Checking around the room one last time, Jake made sure he hadn’t accidentally dropped anything. He wiped off his blade, sheathed it, and pulled his pistol out of its holster once more before stepping back out into the back alleyway. Rain was starting to fall. That would prove useful. Jake nodded and turned away from the building, leaving the scene quickly as he searched for his next prey.

[Faclan]

SSA-012-Yanmee Swarm & Tal' Belisen-Sangheili Minor and Swarm Middle Man.
Awaiting orders and dispersing to watch the Covenant zone. (Inside the Covenant Zone)

It didn't take long for the Swarm to get their individual weapons open so they could see that the insides were completly fried. They kept them regardless though as it wouldn't be right to the Gods or their Masters for them to just discard them. While they clicked and hisses back and fourth about what had happened one of them found out their grenades and repair tools were also fried. They were all a bit flustered at this, but waited around near the wall they had been perched on before as they waited for the two that had left to come back with news.

Just as they were on sight of coming back they all mentally slapped themselves as they simultaneously realized that their anti-grav generators would be fried as well. They would still be able to fly, but if it started to rain heavily they wouldn't be able to go far. Even in good conditions the gravity here was still heavy enough to shorten their flight distance by half if not more, the rain would just further shorten it. This added to the fluster level of SSA as they were all reunited. After a brief conference they found out that the artifact had been accidently activated and had caused a massive electronic failure for everyone, even the humans had suffered, as evident for all the explosions n the sky, the crashing transports, and the ground shaking as they impacted. But thankfully over the Covenant base the skies were clear, and the Swarm dearly hoped that humans survived the fall, just to burn slowly in their flying metal boxes - better than letter those dishonorable Kig-Yar eat them or get overrun by the useless Unggogy. Chitterling amongst themselves some more they checked if they had been told any orders, which was a negative, so after some more talk they started to trot or fly in short bursts out from the middle of the Covenant Zone to set up over watch positions, one of the Attaché's going to tell Tal what they were doing.


Tal only nodded a little as she did her best to stay calm, outwardly she was doing alright but on the inside she was more worried than she ever had been. The weapons failing was bad enough, the panicking Unggoy were bad enough, but no shields too! She felt naked without them, as weak as those dam humans to their weapons! When one of those twitchy Yanmee came up to her to explain in broken Sangheili what they were doing she only half heard...it? Before it flew off toward the outskirts of the Covenant position. Grumbling a little she tried to calm down a file of Unggoy as best she could, staying near the middle of the Covenant zone where it was relatively safe.


The Swarm quickly dispersed around the Covenant base as the rain started to pick up. One of them heading toward the warmth and the glow from a fire, like some kind of primitive earth insect, as the Engineer soon found himself near what appeared to be a Jiralhanae Smith and a semi portable forge. Walking up near the worker she tilted her heard at him worker and decided that this would be a good place to sit, so mustering some strength she lifted off the ground and fly up to be perched above near the smith under some twisted metal for the rain, watching the large alien work with a curious eye.
Another took a logical spot overlooking some of the Field Marshals and other high ranking Sangheili, herself one of the Attaché's so it was a fairly logical point as she perched above their meeting area. One of the male Soldiers going back to their old spot near the artifact just to make sure it was being watched. The remaining nine Yanmee spaced themselves around the perimeter of the Covenant zone to watch for the sneaky humans. Each of them using a lot of strength to get themselves up somewhere high so they could survey a lot of area that was also safe from the worsening rain. The rain was making visibility poor, but the Yanmee eyes could see decently, so they waited for something to alert them, wings closed and arms and legs close to their bodies to appear a small as possible to any human that had a way to see them.

(For quick info individual Yanmee are; above Bahtarus, near the artifact, near the Field Marshals and Zealots, toward the direction of Sabers ODST(But not in visual range yet), and dotted around the outskirts of the Covenant Zone all on something high and under cover from the rain. I'll be posting with Cad when Track posts, and likely be posting separate posts for SSA and Cad from now on unless stuff happens to both characters.)

[BetaWülf]

Captain Garatus
Being clever.

Garatus carefully detailed his plan to his subordinates and started passing out axes, he took off his helmet and set on top of a rock. They all started chopping at the bases of the straighter trees, Garatus himself getting down to do the dirty work. These trees were nothing compared to those seen on Doisac, but they would work, Garatus turned as one creaked and fell clear of them.

He chopped at this fallen trees unchopped end, another tree fell as he removed this ones top, he labored over it for a good twenty minutes until he had it done right. He started hacking off any Y shaped forks sturdy enough to hold the bigger poles they were making, lucky for them they worked well enough. They took saplings much smaller than the trees they had been chopping for spear shafts, the pouring rain making the earth thick and muddy, three Minors returned with scraps of metal they tore from abandoned cars and other sources. Soon they would fight.

Bahtarus, forging a bastard sword
and waiting for people to buy his other weapons.

Bahtarus had gotten the basic shape done, but now he needed to refine it into a real blade, then do some leather work and sharpen it. He pounded the white hot metal, stopping briefly to wipe the rain from his forehead, he was starting to turn the the edges from squared to real sword edges.

He looked up from his work again to wipe his brow when he noticed a Yanme'e staring at him, he was not startled but slightly disturbed, an insect that big was just unsettling regardless. He guessed it was attracted to the heat, he stared back at it, lurching to emphasize it, in case it didn't realize it was staring. He pulled his flask out and took a swig, setting it on an unheated surface, he loved his drink. The sword would be done by morning he suspected.

[Dufflepud]

Field Marshal R'ha 'Katolai
The Artifact

Things were not going as R'ha had expected. With half the Covenant away from the artifact, and all but the Jiralhanae practically defenseless, he needed a way to bring his forces back together so that the artifact could be fully secured. They needed to coalesce quickly, lest the humans recover first and mount a counteroffensive...

"R'ha!"

The Field Marshal quickly turned, immediately recognizing the voice of his fellow warrior. He quickly zig-zagged up out of the pit that held the holy relic, spotting the Field Master and making his way over. He slowed his pace as he approached, stopping and clasping hands in a sign of respect that most would not show their subordinates. He did not need an aura of superiority to maintain control.

"Til, we must get our forces back to the artifact and reorganize while the Humans are still disoriented. Alert spread the word through the lines, and have the Yanme'e relay orders to those who are further out." He paused for a second, mulling over the thought of handing an order to the Jiralhanae Chieftain with whom he technically shared responsibility, "Additionally, send a request that Chieftain Boreas return at once."

OOC: All Covenant characters, attempt to remove yourself from the situation you are currently engaged in, and find a way to receive the order to return to the artifact. You shouldn't be too spread out, so getting the majority of you shouldn't be difficult. You may choose to not receive word, but we strongly advise against this unless you are too deeply intrenched in something.

[Deleted]

ODST Sergeant John Redsont
Outside the Covenant Territory (Top right)

John crawled at a slow pace as he got further and further from the now compromised apartment complex he had fought those elites at. He had been avoiding more and more covenant patrols as he moved, finding it more than annoying. He continued his crawl until he saw a large domed building, it seemed to be a construction site with various large vehicles meant for heavy construction. That's when John realized the the rain had begun to intensify. He quickly ran towards the building and found shelter inside. Having found decent shelter from the rain and cover from the covenant, John removed his helmet and took a deep breath. He slumped against the nearest wall and allowed himself to rest as he listened to the rain outside. That's when it happened. There was a loud banging noise from John's right as someone grabbed him and pressed him to the ground with an arm behind his back. He struggled before a sledge hammer was brought into his view and pressed dangerously close to his face.

"Who the hell are you?!" the man who held the hammer at John's face asked as he left it hovering.

"I'm a soldier, I'm a soldier." John repeated panicked as he stared at the hammer that was only inches from his face.

"Bull! All the soldiers ran away. Why would you be here if you were a soldier?!" The man asked as he brought the hammer up and out of view.

"Holy hell, I think this guy is an ODST." Someone said from behind John.

He could only hope the man had grabbed his helmet and looked it over, the design was different from the army and marine design. So hopefully they would recognize it. He felt the grip on his arm loosen which gave John the chance he needed. He pushed up with his free arm and jerked his other arm free. He spun the guy on him off and stood up staring at the three men with his fist raised. The three of them seemed to be construction workers, and only one of them had a weapon, which was troubling. John lowered his guard and held out a hand for his helmet and gun while the man with the hammer lowered it. John was returned his gear and sighed as he cracked his neck

"Your right, I am ODST. So here's a question for you three, why are you still here? Didn't they evacuate all the civilians?" John asked watching the one with the hammer out of caution.

"Hell that evacuation was half baked, that and the last evac pelican we saw didn't have enough room. We're not the only ones left here." The man on the ground said as he stood up slowly.

John shrugged as he put his helmet back on. He turned to the men before speaking loudly.

"Well we'll just pretend that little incident didn't happen. My current job is getting you and any other civilians alive out of here. That is once I figure out how to do that." John said with a frown as he looked out at the rain which was growing more intense once more.

[Huka]

Field Master Til 'Muramai
Digsite

The Zealot didn't have to look far in the dig site, moving past one of the Sect's Mgalekgolo and saw the massive Sangheili emerge from the pit in his intricate armor-one of the hallmarks to the Reticent besides their skills-and stepped forward to clasp his brother-in-arm's hand. 

Til was certainly glad R'ha was having his same worries and nods in complete agreement, "Of course, Field Marshal. I will-" He was about to say before his leader gave the additional command to bring the Jiralhanae pack-leader to the recollection. The air grew intense for that brief moment before the Sangheili bowed his head, whispering with a low growl, "I will, even if it means dragging him back here."

With that, the Field Master released his grip on R'ha and spotted the Yanme'e swarm that they brought with them for this assault. Once more, the Muram Huntsmaster will used them to brilliant effect.

"Adaptable Gambit, it is time to show the Covenant in your liability once more. Go and spread the command  that all of the Sect are to return here as soon as possible...including the Jiralhanae Chief!" He commanded with raised arms of brotherhood and a voice firm of heart-felt authority yet held passionate companionship to the seemingly-unintelligent hiveminded creatures, but the Zealot knew better. "May the Gods guide your wings swift and protected!"

[Cabel]

[City of Refuge: Captain Mark “Spade” Seamus Sorelson: 7th Marines: Alpha Company: High End Apartment Building: Rooftop: Pelican Crash-site]

“Get the Staff Sergeant first. She’s the Crew Chief of that downed bird, and I’ll follow you down,” Mark replied to Sergeant Gizinski’s words. A rumble caught his attention, a deep rumble too distinct to have been a result of a Covenant battery targeting their position and too familiar to have escaped his notice emanated from the instacrete and steel beneath their feet. “This…is getting ridiculous. Sergeants, run…get the Staff Sergeant in a fireman’s carry and get off this roof…” he began shouting to the marines around him when the windows along the sides of the high-end apartment building began to shatter audibly. There had only been one conclusion that had come to mind, that the building must have been structurally comprised to a degree under the Covenant bombardment and his pelican having slammed into the roof had only pushed the weakened instacrete and steel structure past the tipping point.

“Grab onto something!” he shouted when the portion of the roof beneath him and that the wreckage of the Pelican had carved a gouge in angled sharply sending the burning wreckage careening over the edge of the building into the alley below. Knowing if he ran he’d no doubt lose his footing, Mark managed to grab hold of the edge of the chunk of instacrete roofing he’d stood on with his good arm and held on to what he’d only assumed had been a piece of steel rebar. His only thoughts were on the Sergeant’s men, the survivors from his own bird and those below as the chunk of instacrete more like a sled careened off of what had been the building’s roof while the veteran officer held on for dear life knowing he’d have to attempt to roll off of it at the last moment or at least beneath it. He’d never tried to ride out a building’s collapse, or even one slated for demolition before and earnestly tried not to look down at the alley below.

* * * * * *

Coughing, he’d been forced to exhale the very lungful of clean air he’d managed to take before the chunk of rebar-reinforced instacrete that had been part of the building’s roof had slammed into the alleyway, he slowly opened his eyes to a world of hurt. His helmet remained in place having protected his cranium as the rest of his issued ballistics armor had managed to protect him from the weigh of the building’s remnants, but sharp pain shot through his right thigh. Reaching down with his good arm, with his right arm, Mark managed to feel with his fingers the slick blood covered corkscrew-design of a steel-rebar and the torn threads of the fatigues he’d worn jutting through the thigh bone and into the concrete of the alleyway. That’s wonderful, he realized. On a war torn colony, and I’m nearly made a eunich by a building. I wonder how long I’ve been pinned, and if anyone else from the rooftop survived. Movement out the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he fervently hoped it hadn’t been the Covenant or marauders. Slowly moving his right arm without moving his lower half, Spade managed to slide his hand to the thigh holster worn on his right upper thigh in order to remove the safety strap of the M6B Fifty-Caliber Chrome plated Magnum and knew since the MA5C lay pinned beneath him as well that if whatever or whomever had been moving around had been the Covenant the magnum may have been his only option. Most of the illumination in the alley clogged with debris and rubble, Mark noticed, had come from several chem-light sticks standard issued to both Marine, ODST and Army personnel for use in the field.

“We’ve got a live one over here!” a trooper, in Army fatigues and ballistics armor with the rank of Private First Class shouted after taking hold of an edge of the instacrete chunk. The trooper stood close to where Mark lay pinned under the rubble, a sight the veteran marine had been glad to have seen and soon the trooper had been joined by a second.

“Easy…son, that’s my leg. A piece of rebar’s pinned it. I said, take it easy,” Mark shouted after the two army troopers had started to lift the instacrete chunk resulting in the rebar rod jutting through his thigh to shift a bit. “Get someone to climb around with a saw or a torch, or anything and get that piece of rebar out of my thigh. If I lose that leg, I’m going to personally hold you Specialist and Private First Class responsible. Forgive that. I’m not used to being used as a human pin cushion on missions. You’re of the Army Garrison, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Sir. The name’s Tom Wilson, Specialist and the trooper over there holding that edge is Private First Class Arnold Kevin, but we call him Arnie for short,” Specialist Tom Wilson said, followed by a brief introduction while holding up the chunk of instacrete only so far that it didn‘t jostle the rebar rod in the marine Captain‘s leg. “We were separated from our platoon shortly after dropships carrying your marines started approaching the city. I was wondering, Sir, but was it by design or by accident that your birds started to fall from the sky?”

“It wasn’t by design, and it was an EMP field. I don’t know what the Covenant squid-lips have been poking around at or if it was something they jury-rigged, but it knocked our birds out of the sky. I don’t know how many people we lost, but at least with the bird I was on there were at least some survivors and a young Sergeant’s squad had come up to the roof to investigate,” Mark explained.

“So, it was you who sent the building down on top of us? We thought we’d seen a Pelican strike the roof,” Private First Class Arnold “Arnie” Kevin spoke up.

“That wasn’t my intention, son. Hell, if I’d had a choice I would have sent flowers, chocolates and a Scorpion tank,” Mark replied. “How many of there are you and did you find any other survivors from that collapse?”

“There are only four of us, and counting Private First Class Kevin, and myself we have a Corporal…she’s a combat medic and another Private First Class. As for marine survivors, we’ve been able to dig out three others…a Corporal, a Private First Class and marine aviator with the rank of Staff Sergeant so far. There are bound to be others, but we did manage to come across a hardware store and scavenged some heavy tools and a few jacks. Unfortunately, that EMP you mentioned knocked out any of the forklifts and warthogs. We can’t even reach anyone on the field radios. We even managed to come across about a dozen civilians,…mostly those who went into hiding when the fighting started. The Corporal‘s tending to their injuries now. I guess we lucked out, seeing as how six of the civilians are from the local police precinct,” Specialist Wilson explained.

“Before the collapse, I spotted a green flare off to the south and east. It’s a rally signal. After you’ve managed to get me out from under here and after we’ve managed to check for other survivors, I want us to move out in that direction. We‘ll protect the civilians,” Mark said realizing the presence of a dozen civilians of unknown skill and profession had definitely thrown a wild card into an already dire situation.

“We saw the flare too, Sir. It’s where we were going when this building collapsed on us,” Tom replied.

[David]

Sergeant Tom Baker.
Squad Missing
Currently Under Debris

Coughing, Tom winced as his ribs sent out a wave of pain over his body, Which was good, because it meant he was at the tail end of shock, Which was lethal in itself. He then attempted to move his limbs. His Right and Left Arm first, then Fingers, which all responded normally, And then he attempted to move his left and right legs, which also both responded, Although his left foot sent a wave a pain up his leg, which caused Tom to wince and tears to form in his eyes. All in all, He wasn't in bad shape considering what had happened to put him in this predicament...

**10 Minutes beforehand**

Tom had been ejected from the UNSCS KILLIMANJARO in his drop pod to try and assist the assets already in play. The Covenant weren't screwing around and frankly, Tom was suprised that they had only one ship in orbit. But, his job wasn't to anaylise tactics, He left that to the egghead types and the Admiralty. Which there were two.

He had been ejected from the ship with his squad, All of them joking nervously about who was going to get what for kills, and who was going to get the first kill.

Then they went through the EMP bubble, and all hell had broken loose. Their electronics had gone haywire, But thankfully the chutes deployed before they had entered the bubble, or they'd been screwed. Even then, Their pods had scattered, and now were all over the city. EMP had fried his radio and he didn't know if they were even alive.

His pod had crashed into a building, Thankfully, He was oriented in such a way that his Pod protected him from major injury. He had then pried the door off the pod and had cautiously made it to ground level when he heard a tremendous squeal of stressed metal and the crumbling sound of concrete and watched in horror as the building started to come down.

In a panic, Tom had started running, Hoping to get out of the way of the building, Dodging falling concrete, His heart racing, his lungs gulping in air as his muscles burned from the effort. Alas he was too slow to get out of the way of the shock wave and was knocked unconscious when a concrete chunk nailed him in the chest, and knocked him against a wall.

**Current**

Struggling into a sitting position, Tom then looked to his left and right, and blissfully, thankfully, his M6D was still strapped to his thigh. His Battle Rifle was gone however, But at least he had something. Then looking to his ankle, He grabbed two chunks of rebar of good length, and then tore a strip from a piece of fabric he had found. Probably part of some wardrobe or whatnot. He then immobilised his ankle, and then, with a tremendous effort, Pushed himself to a standing position, and gingerly put weight down on the ankle. It hurt like hell, but he could move. Slowly.

Now all Tom needed to do, was find his squad mates. Looking through the dust and gloom, He cocked a round into the chamber of his pistol, and slowly headed out.

[Armory]

Sergeant Johnathan Miller

Physical/Vehicle Status: Vitals at normal levels/ Tanks is combat ineffective, have been mobilized on foot

Emotional Status: Getting head in the game

Time Zone: 18:16 Hours Refuge Planetary Time

Location: Marine HQ, Refuge Colony 

Current Mission: Mission directives being reassigned.

Miller nodded chuckling quietly at the joke before replying back to him "Well I would have brought you and the boys here a large metal present, but unfortunately the EMP puts a plug in that Colonel." He said before looking around the HQ. The two story house was a bit small for a battle headquarters, but it could do the job fairly well. Miller followed the Colonel back down into the house where he found Ingram tending to their wounded driver quietly before the Tanker saw what looked to be a pilot come marching right in like he was in charge of the place before planting himself in front of the group of talking marines. At first the Lieutenant apparently didn't seem to notice Killinger even with Miller's repeated hand motions towards him that their was a Colonel on deck before he finally confirmed who the man he was talking to was. This was followed up with a comical sentence that made Ingram snort in an attempt to hold back a chuckle at the pilots wide eyed surprise. The man spoke about a jungle plant he had extracted Killinger from long ago which made John wonder what kind of action the Colonel had seen. Miller paused before kneeling beside Ingram and looking up at his gunner before giving him a friendly slap on the helmet as greeting. "So how are you feeling Corporal?" 

The man looked up at Miller and gave a weak smile "Doing better Sir...and.... Sir...."

"Yes Corporal?" Miller grunted looking down at the tanker.

"Thanks for dragging my sorry ass here." The tanker said a Miller gave a small nod before hearing the sounds of tables being cleared for the wounded.

With that the sergeant motioned for Ingram to help him stand the Corporal up and bring him over to the Colonel for eval. As soon as the decent reading came back John gave a sigh of relief before moving over to sit in one of the armchairs in the living area before leaning back and closing his eyes for a moment. The image from the tank had burned itself into his mind and he couldn't help replay the carnage in his head as he felt his gloved fingers dig into the armchair arms as his body tensed at the memory. It wasn't until another shook him lightly with a worried look on his face that John fully realized what he had been doing. Miller blew the incident off before getting up and moving over to the window. The sky seemed to be changing around them as the dark clouds rolled in to cover the landscape signaling that the bottom was about to drop soon. Soon after a private came around passing out cigarettes, an offer which John declined with a shake of his head. He honestly wasn't much of a smoker himself. The Sergeant shifted his helmet slightly listening to the conversations around him in silence as Killinger broke it by ordering everyone who had regrouped into the living room which then turned into a huddle of marines grouping together to see what the Colonel had to say. 

The Colonel started right into his speech issuing a rationing order to the marines as everyone started to throw their ammunition into a pile on the table. The pile left over was big, however it was not enough to give the marines much left over after a firefight, however it would have to due under the circumstances. John and Ingram took their ammo rations silently before strapping them in their ammo pouches and listening to what the Colonel ordered next. Miller watched as Killinger started setting out orders to a Staff Sergeant to mobilize a unit of marines to go out and search for any left over equipment and bring it back to base to be used. Then the Colonel announced he and the pilot would be mobilizing a force of marines to go on a wounded evac operation into the city. Miller was silent before noticing he and Ingram weren't included in these operations. The tanker frowned for a moment before moving over to Killinger in silence before speaking. "Sir, if I may ask what would be me and my gunner's assignment....." He asked looking at the commander with a bit of a confused look on his face. Miller knew he might be just another greenhorn marine, but he at least wanted to do something for the cause. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sangheili Major Vel 'Katolai

Physical Status: Vitals at normal levels, with slight tenseness noted

Emotional Status: A bit tired and tense, but still somewhat alert

Time Zone: 18:16 Hours Refuge Planetary Time

Location: The Holy Artifact Site, A Human Colony called Refuge

Current Mission: Keeping the holy artifact safe

Vel paced slowly back and forth at his small little post of what was his battle station for the moment in a controlled silence. His lance had been assigned to a small corner of the dig site and then proceed to be placed in charge of locking down the sector they were in upon landing, a job which Vel took quite seriously. Soon enough the humans had been broken at all fronts and driven away from the holy site though they fought hard and died warriors deaths to say the least the part that disturbed Vel happened after the fact. The Client races had just been let loose upon the helpless civilians and slaughtered them outright. Such dishonorable actions made the young Sangheili's stomach turn just thinking about them. The alien shook its head, the muscles in its neck rippling as it did before stretching out its shoulders. Just how long had he been guarding this sector Vel couldn't help, but wonder as he paced back and forth trying to maintain his vigilance over this holy site.  

To be honest Vel had been at his post for quite a while now and had witnessed the EMP wave detonate, frying just about every ounce of Covenant tech in the area. Tactically Vel knew they had dug their own trench in the way that now he could feel the tension between his own race and the brutes just simmering around him, and while Vel respected the warriors around him he could not help, but think nothing but trouble could come from these events. The elite checked his Type-31 Rifle in silence before looking at his Lance. His two elite minors were diligently doing the tasks he asked them to do while the Uggony played hunting rock and the Kig-Yar bickered between each other. 

Vel watched them for a moment before moving back to his post before noticing a part Swarm of Yanmee gathering around a large smithing workshop. The sight intrigued Vel somewhat as he watched in silence before moving back to his duties. He would go see what the Yanmee were gathering about for after his shift had ended however as so many gathering in one place usually meant something. The orange armored elite continued to pace in his position before moving over to get a better look at the artifact he was guarding. The holy object looked as if it was truly crafted by divines as it rose up proudly like a small spire out of the ground offering enlightenment to all who studied....or so that's what the High Prophets tended to say.   

Vel was silent for a moment longer before the sound of the Field Marshal below being called away from the dig site to a fellow warrior. "At attention!" Vel barked as his file straightened up into a line of attention as the Field Marshal passed before returning to their duties. Vel watched as the Field Marshal spoke with the warrior before finishing his conversation. The major was silent for a moment as he continued to keep guard before deciding it was best he learned what was happening at the moment. With that the large orange armored elite moved towards the Field Marshal before stopping in front of him and with a dip of his head to show respect for his elder and commanding officer he began to speak "If I may ask Field Marshal, what is transpiring?" He asked with a click of his mandibles, showing concern for the events that were about to transpire.  

[Buzzkill]

Lieutenant “Buzzkill” Adams
Ground - On the Move
Pelican CL-2512-T3 – Out of Commision

The call to move everyone inside didn’t seem odd to Buzzkill, he was realizing that this was basically their command zone for the time being. That made him a bit uncomfortable since he was used to much more massive installations. Whether it was on a ship, or on a giant operating base, they were generally very secured positions, with the exception of large vessels that could come over head.

Buzzkill wished they could just evacuate the area, but that was not going to happen with as many people there as there were. And it certainly would not happen with every piece of war material they had which held a tiny current of electrical charge completely out of commission.

He listened to the Colonel’s point to place all equipment where they had it. Buzzkill only had two frag grenades and four submachine gun magazines as it was, with the exception of his sidearm. He set what he had to down anyway, though somewhat reluctantly. His two soldiers did as well. They were more thoroughly under the Colonels command now, but for the moment they still operated with him.

The lack of equipment did not leave an optimistic feeling for Buzzkill, but he’d soldier on with the rest of them. Surely there would be away of getting more equipment to them. Even if it meant orbital drops, they could get it down there somehow.

”Awesome.” Buzzkill sarcastically when it came to leading them back to his Pelican. He was not in favor of leaving his men behind obviously, but he was not used to leading such missions. At least not from the ground.

When the Colonel had gathered up his volunteers, Buzzkill grabbed his equipment. He would be fairly decent in a firefight, he had more experience then a lot of marines at it. It just certainly was not where he felt at home.

They came to the door, and the Colonel told him to lead the way.

Buzzkill pointed. ”Over there.” he said with a sigh, and he began to move quickly with the rest of them. Surely there was no Covenant near by, but he kept his weapon in hand and at the ready. As they moved Buzzkill spoke up. "Hope you guys like lifting ordinance, cus I got lots of it." He concluded with a bitter smile.

[McStubbsberry]

Private Scott Lugar
Rolling Solo
Hope

Scott lost track of the time. It seemed like it was two years ago since he was forcibly ejected from a crashing Pelican. However, his cracked ribs from hitting the rather padded concrete road made it feel as though it was about thirty seconds ago. It seems as though the actual landscape is more deadly in this war than the alien menace. First it's a tree, now it's the ground, Scott just can't catch a break. Regardless, he was a Marine and Marines don't quit because they have a rib jutting out of their body. No, they saw it off and stab their enemy in the face with it.

Focus, Marine. Scott thought to himself. There was a battle raging on on the highway not too far from where he has been wandering anyways. Despite his ribs, he needed to get a move on. Fortunately for the ribs, he was pretty close as is. 

It didn't take long for Scott to find the battle. It wasn't really a battle though, more like a skirmish. He could count several aliens that he had only seen pictures of. One was hanging back. Then there were several more down the highway, equally terrorizing the men and women fighting valiantly against the beasts. They were skinny, yet nimble creatures.

If I'm lucky, I'll be able to stab the one closest to me, then I'll frag the others. It seemed like the logical plan of action, so the private crept up to the alien as quietly as he could, wielding his father's knife.

[Frazer]

Captain Frazer York
UNSCS Preston
Virtue Class Attack Carrier
Orbiting above Hope

Frazer, whilst sat in his chair, peered over to Tiffany who was looking confused. Probably over the EMP bubble down below. That didn't interest Frazer at the moment. He had experienced so much already. Wilson swung back around on his chair to face his commanding officer. "Sir, Admiral Vardy has given us a reply. Bridge speakers again?" Frazer nodded for him to put it through. 

"Captain, My compliments on a safe journey. I need your help discerning this EMP Bubble we have going on. Bit of a mystery truth be told. Have your AI Link in with mine and Admiral Klix's. Im sure we can make heads or tails with three AI's crunching numbers. Vardy out."

"Yay I get to speak to more A.Is." Tiffany said in a sarcastic tone as she looked at Frazer. Wilson held the channel open as he knew Frazer would want to reply. 

"Well thats our orders. Tiffany sync up with the Iowa's and Kilimanjaro's A.Is. Lets see what we can get out you lot." Tiffany sighed.

"Aye aye." She disappeared from A.I pedestal. Frazer then walked back over to the comms area. He winked at Wilson as Frazer was pleased he kept the channel open. He then spoke into the microphone.

"Admiral Vardy, York here again. My A.I is linked in with your A.I and Admiral Klix's. Whats the current situation in the city of Refuge? Do we know?" Frazer stood up, by the comms table, and awaited a reply. He had no clue what was going on down there, that worried him. Frazer didn't like not knowing.  

[David]

Admiral David Vardy
Bridge - UNSCS KILLIMANJARO
Discussing Tactics

"Admiral, Reply from the Preston." Kim announced. 

"Acknowledged, Put it on speakers." David replied. He then heard York's strong and steady voice.

"Admiral Vardy, York here again. My A.I is linked in with your A.I and Admiral Klix's. Whats the current situation in the city of Refuge? Do we know?"



Motioning for Kim to keep the channel open, David drew a breath and replied.

"For now Captain, All we do know is there is a giant bubble of EMP. Scans aren't penetrating and visual suggests that the city is in ruin. I can only hope for now that some of our marines have made it through." Then pausing, David shook his head and looked down for a second. Then he looked back up and drew another breath. "Keep looking for a way to penetrate that shield. Vardy out."

"Very unlikely any of the marines would have survived such a blast" piped up Paris from CON.

"Stow that, Mister. I don't want negativity on my bridge." Growled Vardy. Truth told, He almost agreed with Paris. But for the sake of the other bridge crew, He wanted to keep their spirits high.

"Aye Sir. My apologies." replied Paris.

Meerly nodding, David turned his attention back to the tactical display.

[Faclan]

SSA-012 - Yanme'e Swarm
Accepting a new mission, delegating flight patterns, and moving out.

If one knew the Yanme'e well they would be able to tell that the one perched about the Field Marshals and Zealots was very pleased - at getting a mission of course, but also being remembered by one of their Favorite Sangheili - as she extended all her wings, crossed her arms, and bowed before replying with a "Yes My Lord" in strange sounding Sangheili. The Attaché flying off and sending out a call to the others to gather, the flapping of wings filling the Covenant zone as SSA fell off their perches and flew back toward the middle to group up. They were already a little tired, but the words of the Masters would give them strength as the Attachés explained their new mission, also explaining as best they could how the ones who couldn't speak Sangheili would say - retreat back to base and protect. After they all spoke it a few times to clarify they could they nodded and dispersed away from the Covenant zone, flying around sixty feet in the air if they could to hopefully be out of visual range. with the rain and the quickly arriving night.

Most of them dispersed evenly just looking for Covenant forces that were out of the main zone, one of them however stayed near the highest point in the Covenant zone to watch, the Soldier with the best eyesight to act as a look-out.
(Let me know if you want a specific visit from the messenger Bugs, or else you could just say it happened OOC :>)
However, one of the other soldiers, female, was heading toward the bottom right of the Covenant zone when she saw the green flare shoot up, followed shortly by a blue. They had all seen the flares be shot up before...but these were very close. Adjusting the flight course slightly she headed toward where they had been launched from, see the faint smoke from a possibly crashed human transport as she spotted a broken billboard near it that she could land on and rest from all the rain and observe what humans had survived this crash to be able to fire off these flares. (Its Track's ONI Spook, the rest of the swarm are just flying about looking for Covies, you may be able to see them but it will be hard against the rain and the night)


(NPC) Nas - Kig-Yar Markswoman for Cads file.
Hanging back, but about to be engaged in a fight for her life.

Nas grabbed her rifle again in some desperate hope that that would suddenly start working again as she watched the humans they were hunting look up from their vehicle cover with weapons raised. But the trigger wouldn't respond as she tried to line up the sights on them, the humans guttural language barely reaching her as they fired a few shots at her pinned down comrades and appeared to be laughing when they saw the Kig-Yar crouch down lower on their side of the car they were hiding behind. Her only solace was that the small weapons these humans had didn't seem like they could pierce the cover. So the humans would have to go around to hit the file, as the vehicle they were taking cover behind was right against the railing of the highway...a possible escape spot if they didn't mind dropped the thirty or forty feet to the ground.

But her single solace was soon taken from her as some of the normal humans arrived with their larger weapons and also worked on pinning down her file, Nas not really knowing what to do, she couldn't fire, her grenades were useless, and going forward to try and help would only get het cut down by all the humans. But the shifting of some rocks behind her made her flip over onto her back with her rifle raised...To see a human almost in arms reach of her with a knife raised. Eyes going wide she frantically clicked the trigger before remembering again that it was broken. Screeched in panic she flung her rifle at the humans face as she tried to crawl backwards away from it while scrabbling for her knife.

"Human!"


Cad - Kig-Yar Major.
Trying to escape the death trap.

Occasionally peaked over the shattered windows of their vehicle cover Cad growled when the humans they were shooting out left their cover and approached with confidence rather than caution toward their position. One of them must have seen that their shields failed and their immediate falling back...Or maybe they had found the useless grenade. But no matter the reason they were coming and coming quickly. Glancing at his two subordinates he quickly looked back toward where Nas was and shook his head.

"Too much distance, we would be cut down." They both looked worried, and for once Cad wouldn't reprimand them for it, this was likely their deaths slowly approaching and laughing about it, they had a right to be scared now. But he glanced back toward where they were coming from, occasional shots would ring out to keep them pinned, but a new rifle sound joined the fray as they stopped moving up. A few of them looking back and shouting something with a weird oorah! sound after.

The Army welcomed the marines with gusto as they quickly told them that they had a group of those bastard shield birds pinned down, welcoming the new Marines to the soon to be barbecue. But they waited for the marines to catch up before continuing moving up toward the fairly bullet riddled car.

Cad had spotted the other humans as he peaked up, a SMG bullet scouring his helmet as he quickly ducked back down. More humans...great. Snapping his head around he looked at the barrier near them that marked the end of the road. He quickly looked over it and took in a breath, it was a sizable drop and he had never liked heights that much...but with even more humans out for their blood it was likely there only way out.

"Human!" All three of them looked back toward where Nas was as the screech sounded out, seeing the vague outline of a human near her position as Cad growled and grabbed his two other file members.

"No choice! Jump or we die!" Pad nodded and swiftly moved past Cad and vaulted over the wall, starting the long jump down as Kop shook his head after a quick peak over, Cad sighing and wished his soul luck as he also took the jump, the humans about to round the corner. Kop looked over the edge again as the others dropped before spinning around to face the Army and Marine guns all pointed at him, shutting his eyes he fell to his back and held up his hands to them, expecting the end for himself...

Cad and Pad hit the ground hard, rolling as best they could to soften the impact but Cad still heard a crack from Pad as she screeched out in pain, his own legs in a great deal of pain as he grunted and managed to get to his feet and half limp over to her. He glanced up once at the highway, expecting the sounds of bullets to signal Kops end as he grabbed under her arms and quickly tried to slowly pull her under the shadow of the highway so the humans couldn't just look down and see them - eyes closed against the pain as he quietly growled.

[Deleted]

Sangheili Ultra Vinza'za 'Wodamai
Southwest Sector of Covenant Territory

A kigyar patrol had just returned with little news when a Yanmee came buzzing towards Vinzazas troopers, "The Field Marshal sends word," the Yanmee said plainly, "Amass your troops, commander, and return to the digsite."

The messenger flew off without waiting for a response, apparently searching for other scattered Covenant soldiers. Vinzaza watched him flutter away for a moment before shifting his attention. The Lance was looking at him abnormally. They seemed anxious for something to happen. The ultra called over Opet and Zinta. When Vinzaza relayed the orders, neither of his Majors looked pleased.

"A retreat? But we've crushed the Humans! We must keep the momentum," Opet stated in annoyance.

"Weapons and communications are down, even though the Humans probably suffered the same fate they can still gun us down. They are far less reliant on shield technology, no less. We are already vulnera-" Vinzaza began before Opet cut him off.

"We hold superior numbers! They would surely fold under the Covenants might," Opet smacked his fist against his chest presumpuosly.

"We know not how long that will last, and an army without weapons isn't much of an army at all. You should review your strategy, whelp," Zinta stated to the young, brash Major.

Enraged by the stab at his honor, Opet began his retort, "You do not-"

"Enough!" Vinzaza roared before lowering his voice, although still speaking with a tone of authority, "Gather your men, we make for the digsite, on the Field Marshals orders."

As the pair of majors walked away, The Creche Commander sighed to himself. Honor and bloodlust will be the death of us, he mused silently.

[Llau]

First Lieutenant Alex J. Bishop  

7th Marines  

Hope//On the move//Refuge  

He watched as a response from another unit’s green flare flew up in the air just south-west of their position, and then slowly dropped. Bishop sighed, looking at his fellow marines he was in charge with, and gave the flare gun to one of the marines who was standing closer to him, before going back into the troop bay to do the grim task of gathering dog tags from the dead, and then see on the status of those who were seriously injured from the crash.

“Doc, how are they holding up?” He questioned the corpsman who was with them.

“Not as good as I want them to be, but they’re alive,” answered the corpsman, “Vitals are weak, but stable on a few of them. The rest...well...I can’t say the same for them. I suggest you order one of your teams to stay here while I try my best to keep these injured men and women stable until some form of EVAC arrives, sir. Of course, it’s up to you.”

Lieutenant Bishop kept his gaze on the injured, and slowly nodded. “Done. I’ll leave a team here to guard the area,” He gave a supportive pat on the corpsman’s shoulder. “Do what you can for them, corporal. We’ll be back as fast as we can with help.”

Bishop walked out and explained to the marines on what they will be doing. “All right, marines,” he said, “Listen up. Check your weapons and gather your gear. Some of you will be coming with me, while I’m going to leave a fire team here to keep a watch on the area while Corporal Roberts keeps our seriously injured alive. The rest of us are going to head south-west to meet up with whoever shot that green flare in response to mine.”

“W-what happens if it’s really from the Covies...like they took it from the dead to try and deceive us?” A private asked him with a slight shaking in his voice; obviously, still shook up from the crash.

“Then we best be prepared for anything out here, Private Morales,” The Lieutenant frowned, thinking that could be possible, but who knew at this point. “Since a lot of our electronic equipment isn’t working, like our HUD, we will have to pay extra attention to our surroundings; particularly determining who is who. This battle will be like the old fashioned-way. So keep your eyes open and don’t do anything stupid. Friendly fire only happens if you’re shooting blindly.”

“Who is going to stay here to guard the Pelican?” One of them asked.

“Any volunteers?” Bishop asked. “Best to have a sniper team up in one of those buildings above to act as an over-watch.”

“I’ll stay here with a team, sir,” Sergeant Karim offered. He motioned for those who were under his command to take their positions, and then started talking to one of his snipers and a spotter on which building would be best for them to be over-watch.

“All right,” Bishop motioned for the rest of the abled marines to follow him down the road. “The rest of you are with me.”

[BasedGoody]

Web - KigYar Sniper
Helpin' Out the Homies

A Needle Rifle! What a brilliant weapon. For what reason? Accuracy, semi-automatic fire, a good source of ammunition that can blow through those nasty human's armor, what else could you ask for? The Kig-Yar Sniper was stationed on top of a gas station, covering any Covenant as they retreated back to the artifact. His spotter sat next to him, eyeing his Needler. It gleamed in the sun. Man, it was a good day to murder some Fleshies.

And then... Gunshots. Human gunshots.

"Oh boy, here we go." Web smiled and motioned for Tid to find the source. The spotter jumped to attention and pulled out his un-electronic binoculars, whizzing around with his eyes. Suddenly he focused on one location. He pointed quietly towards a bridge. Web nodded and pulled up his sights to his eyes. He stared down the scope and found a line of various ranked humans opening fire on a scarcely armed one of his own.

"Only one?" He murmured and searched around. Quickly he found another Kig-Yar marksman fighting another Marine. A marksman and a lone soldier? Strange... He thought before moving his scope below the bridge to find a bad sight. Two Kig-Yar in a small predicament. 

"I'll help you guys out..."

Web pulled the trigger of his weapon, sending out a speeding Needle towards a human pinning down the helpless Kig-Yar. The Fleshy the shot was aimed for turned for a millisecond from the sound of the shot before the purple round entered his chest. The beast's eyes went wide and then they rolled back into his head and he dropped to the ground. Blood pooled around his body.

The Marines all panicked and attempted to dive behind any cover while also unsuccessfully trying to pin down the Sniper and the helpless Kig-Yar on the bridge. Quickly in another hope to help Web spun his weapon and speedily squeezed off two rounds at the Marine fighting marksman. They were inaccurate but hopefully distracting.

Sergeant Garret Gizinski
God DAMMIT.

The last thing the Sergeant remembered was speaking to the other Marine, then it all went black. Now his eyes were closed as he felt pain slowly seeping into his body. His eyes shut harder, he wanted the pain to go away. He felt as if he fell unconscious again the hurt would go away, but no. Red searing ache burned his left shoulder and creeped it's way to his chest. Gizinski bit his lip hard and shut his eyes tight, lying completely still for a minute before the pain burned too much. He exhaled loudly and opened his eyes wide. He looked up to see a large piece of concrete crushing him.

His shoulder was clearly taking the bulk of the pain. Garret couldn't move it. He placed his other hand on the concrete slab and pushed with all his might, shutting his eyes again and breathing out deeply. He applied force, but it did virtually nothing. Not even shifting it. A sudden panic waved over the Sergeant and he tried to yell, but the weight was pinning his chest so much nothing came out. His eyes widened in fear.

With a sudden burn of adrenaline Gizinski arched his back, lifting up the slab about an inch. Quickly he positioned his hand under the space as a jack. He could already feel it shaking from the weight. He didn't have much time. Garret inhaled deeply and yelled out the only thing he could mutter in his confused, pain and shock-ridden state.

"HHHHHHIbbbleeabbdoouuu..."

His arm gave out and he shoved it back to his side, pinned up against the slab. He waited a minute but no one came. Or was it two minutes? Or an hour? How long has it been? He kept breathing in and out slowly and painfully. The agony was nonstop, and it didn't feel like the welcoming arms of death were creeping up, so it would seem that he would wait in suffering.

[NinjaBoss]

Sangheili Major Domo Zahn 'Vignarlee
Forerunner artifact excavation site

Zahn slowly walked towards the tent containing his superiors. However with a zealot and field marshal inside, he knew better than to directly approach. Instead, he inquired upon a nearby guard, a major domo like himself.

"What is going on? What are our orders, and why doesn't our technology work?"  Zahn asked, the guard looking up at him, somewhat surprised. He seemed deep in thought, and must not have noticed the Sangheili approaching.

"The field marshal is ordering reorganization at the site of the artifact. Gather your lance and wait, for important events are soon to occur." The guard answered, and went back to his thoughts. This barely satisfied Zahn, but he knew not to question anything that came from someone so high as their field marshal.

Turning on his heel, Zahn began heading back towards his lance, who sat waiting for him near the pile of weapons they had scvenged. As he approached they looked up at him expectantly, awaiting their new orders.

"We must wait here, near the artifact. The field marshal is reorganizing our forces and regaining proper order. Further orders come soon." Zahn said, and Cuhl looked down sadly, obviously coveting the thrill of battle once again. The Unggoy merely sat and talked amongst themselves, playing a game of what he had come to know as 'hunting rock' with a stone they had found on the ground and a few beetles.

Zahn sat down, watching the Unggoy. For now there was nothing of further interest for him to do, except watch their game and remember of his previous engagement upon the unknown jungle planet. Pran and the kig-yar on his team had been killed there, and he nearly had been himself. Cuhl and these Unggoy had helped him not only survive the human onslaught but defeat the large worm-like reptilian creature that had been so determined to eat them. For that, it gave him respect for the rest of his lance, and they had earned honor, even the Unggoy. They had proved themselves more than cannon fodder, actually useful in combat. For that he was grateful, and as he sat in wait for his new orders, he let his mind drift, watching the simple game the two Unggoy played.....


Unggoy Ultra Zaxax
Near the outskirts of Covenant zone

Zaxax turned towards the stairwell upon which they had ascended, becoming more and more nervous by the second. Being an Ultra he couldn't actively show fear to his lance, an emotion which rarely took hold upon him anyways. However, he got closer and closer to it due to the sounds coming from below. Constant gunfire, and explosions, which caused the building to creak and groan from the destruction it was experiencing, not to mention how bad of a shape it was already in from the initial wave of fighting. Worst of all, Zaxax was pretty sure the Sangheili below were losing. Not something of comfort to him or his lance.

"B-boss, what's happening?" Salal asked, fright taking hold over his voice.

"That's what we're going to find out. Keep your weapons ready, it sounds like trouble!" Zaxax responded, confidence rising in his voice. He knew the most important thing to keep his lance combat effective was high morale and strong leadership, and that was what he was going to give them.

As they lowered down the stairs, they saw two of the four Sangheili dead, only a minor and the Ultra still standing. The Ultra saw them as they reached the stairs, and quickly began giving them orders.

"Unggoy, run back to base camp and tell the others we have nishum intruders nearby! This building is going to collapse soon, and you'd better be out when it does! Go, now!" He ordered, and turned, firing a needle rifle at an unlucky human. The projectile made contact with the enemy's throat, causing it to go down, choking on its own blood.

Zaxax immediately ran down the stairs, his lance close behind him. However, the building let out another groan, and he could hear crashing coming from below. The building really WAS going down. Zaxax turned and smashed a window with his needler, and looked outside. They were REALLY high up. He gulped once, then began climbing out the window. There was a smaller building not far below he would jump far, and just hope he could make it. Taking a deep breath, Zaxax leaped out of the window and soared through the air, coming to a sudden stop two floors below on the roof of the building he had aimed for. It wasn't the best landing, but he made it alright. He gestured urgently for his lance to follow, and one by one, Nadad, Tapap, and Salal leaped and landed safely upon the building.

Zaxax sighed, realizing they were alright and pointed towards a stairwell leading down. "Follow me guys, we must make it back to camp!"

He then began running downstairs, and reached the bottom of the building. He ran out into the street, ran towards the camp, and didn't stop running until he reached base camp, then ran for someone of high enough rank he could relay the Ultra's orders to.


ODST Private Moe Keating
Eastern ODST LZ

Moe stood and wiped the blood from his knife. He had followed the jackal until they reached an HEV pod, upon which time he drew his combat knife and silently killed it and its friend. He walked over to the drop pod, sheathing his knife and drawing his MA5K once again. Giving a knock on the door of the pod, he inquired as to whether or not someone was inside.

"Anybody in there? This is Private Moe Keating here. Respond immediately if able!" He said and waited for a response.

"Moe? Oh thank god it's you, I've been stuck in my pod since the crash. Mind helping me out? It's Gabby." A female voice replied, one he immediately recognized as belong to a member of his fireteam.

"Sure thing, just give me a second." He said, and placed his assault rifle on the ground. Grabbing the door of the pod, he gave a pull, and heard a hiss as it popped off.

Tossing it onto the ground, Moe reached his hand inside and gripped Gabby's, pulling her out of the pod and onto her feet.

"Rough ride eh? Not bad for your first deployment, trooper. To be honest I thought you'd be sitting in your pod pissing yourself and waiting for us to come rescue you." Gabby playfully told him, and gave Moe a punch on the shoulder. She then reached inside and retrieved her MK-280 and her C7 foaming spray.

"Thanks for the rescue by the way. Say, you seen Cars, Goldy, or Sam yet?" She said, and looked around expectantly as if one of them were hiding in an alley or something, her black hair swishing about as she did so.

"Nope, just you so far. Been looking though, ever since that EMP hit all technology's been down." He replied, then pointed at her helmet still in the pod. "Don't forget that, Gabby."

She turned and retrieved the helmet, pulling her hair into a bun and clicking it upon her head. "Thanks Private, really helped me out here. So an EMP? Must be I guess.... C'mon, let's go find the others." She replied.

And they set off......

[MrKill]

(( OOC: I've skipped, in the second paragraph, right to the crash-site rather than boringly RP'ing going through a field... you can thank me later. ))

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Seventh Marines
Hope; Refuge

"Join along, Sergeant, if you want. Either volunteer to come with us or stay here and make sure no methane sucking, dinosaur looking, squip-lip mother fuckers don't take the RV point. It's your choice, and I won't make it for you. Come along if you're coming, Lieutenant Adams is already moving out." John replied to Sergeant Miller.

Whether the Sergeant decided to join along or stay back, John wasn't entirely sure what he picked, but he was moving out and already knew they had the six volunteers by the time he neared the pilot. John didn't familiarize himself with those specific six, but he'd make sure they were kept alive if it meant his own life - but fortunately it never came to that as the short five or so minute jog through the path Adams lead them on took them to the pelican with very little resistance.

The pelican Adams lead them too was located in a building, actually in a building - which made John leery of the structures integrity. What made it worse, however, was the pelican appeared to have crashed through two different buildings, one just slightly above this one. Fortunately, however, both were still standing - but that was only a matter of time.

The Marine that had been assigned to guard the pelican approached as soon as the rescue team arrived on the floor the pelican had crashed and was generally pleased to see six extra men, two of which were carrying stretchers, arrive. The four Marines quickly went to the pelican and without a corpsman or medic, they had no choice but to put the two most wounded on the stretchers.

The last wounded Marine had to either walk or be carried by the Marine who was assigned to guard the wounded, or by someone else. Killinger, however, had to get the supplies - though after checking the wounded out. The sky had already started to darken more and they shouldn't be here long.

"Okay, Marines. Let's get the wounded and supplies and head back to the RV point." Killinger said, moving towards the wounded men lying on the stretchers placed on a cubical's desk. The men were pretty badly wounded, according to their neural lace. Internal bleeding for both of them, various broken bones and serious concussions. They had to get back immediately and stop the bleeding before they died.

The other one was okay. Minor injuries, other than the serious one, at best. As predicted he suffered a few broken bones. It was at no point, however, to say he was foot mobile. He needed to be carefully tended too - especially with a broken femur bone and the lack of a third stretcher.

Now it was time for the supplies...

[BetaWülf]

Garatus, returning to base.

Garatus and his troops were about to put his plan into motion when a Yanme'e flew to them, telling them to return to the holy artifact at once, Garatus slammed his clenched fist into his chest in salute and directed his soldiers back to the artifact. They all carried some piece or another of his 'machines' as he called them, though rather primitive ones.

They hauled the various components of the various 'machines' through the mud and heavy rain towards the base, hopefully Garatus's plan would prove helpful once he told it to the Field Master Til Muramai to see if he would have the commanders consent.

They trudged through the mud for a good while before finally finding the base and the artifact it was surrounding. Garatus shook the mud off and tried to make himself presentable before he spoke to the Field Master, he approached him respectfully he removed his helmet before saluting his superior.

"Field Master, may I speak with you?" Garatus said without the usual nervousness one would have speaking to a superior, being somewhat familiar with the Sangheili from being part of his party during the Moon Beast hunt, which made him respect the Field Master even more.

Dakek, returning to the artifact and base.

Dakek was surprised as a drone stopped briefly to tell him they were all to return to base, he waved his fellow File members over and relayed the message to them, their valiant leader of course charged headlong in the direction of the base, leaving his subordinates to their own devices once more.

"Mount up brothers, we need to get to the base quickly! Get on these pedal thingies so we can..." Dakek said before realizing the Kig-yars legs wouldn't work with the tricycles.

He thought on it for a moment before remembering seeing something in the store that they could use, he rushed back after around ten minutes with red plastic wagon that could be hitched to the tricycles, after a moment it was ready. The Kig-yar Minor climbed in and hugged his legs to his chest, his partially working needler ready in case they ran into any humans.

The other two Unggoy of Dakek's file climbed onto their own tricycles and grabbed some of the hand weapons Dakek had gathered. They set off upon their tricycles to claim glory and honor! For the Covenant!

[McStubbsberry]

Private Scott Lugar
First Encounter
Hope

Scott didn't expect the creature to hear him coming in the pouring rain, nor did he expect the weapon haphazardly thrown at his face. The private rolled his head to the right, but a portion of the device caught his shoulder, knocking him back and tripping over himself in the process. Scott hit the ground hard, thankfully not stabbing himself in the process, but it did surprise him. Private Lugar caught the creature out of the corner of his eye fumbling for something, more than likely to fight back with. Why it didn't just shoot Scott, he couldn't quite figure out. Regardless, he scrambled to his feet.

The seconds ticked by and he could feel his heartbeat through his ears. Time felt like it was slowing down, but it was merely the adrenaline surging through Scott's body, it was either him or that creature. He'd prefer it to be the creature. Just as the thought came and gone, Scott dived onto the bird-like creature. It didn't have feathers, but it did have something close to a beak. At this point, it didn't matter how pretty or ugly this thing was, it had to die.

[Kenny]

ODST Corporal Faith Kafuka

Soaked

    After nearly falling to her death, struggling to get out of her pod for a few minutes, realizing none of her electronic equipment worked and discovering she was separated from the rest of her fire team, Faith was happy to be alive. With a smile on her face she descended from the building she had landed on and started looking around for any other survivors. Surprisingly, she ended up finding Nathan nearby who was ramming his head into a wall about what had happened. After a brief attempt to cheer him up, she was able to get him to leave the area.
They proceeded to search the nearby area for any more friendlies, dodging the eye of the occasional Covenant patrol.
At one point they heard gunfire from a nearby building and decided to head towards it. They got there after it stopped just to see what looked like a human slowly moving away from it. They tried to follow him but lost him somewhere along the way. At one point Faith thought she saw whoever it was heading down a small street and followed him only to come face to face with a Sangheili instead. She was slammed into a wall by him and tried to roll away only to receive the pain of a foot nearly crushing her ribs. Instead of Faith ending up with broken bones, the Elite instead ended up receiving a few bullets shot into his brain by Nathan.



She looked to her fellow Corporal who acted as if he had just seen a ghost and said; "See! They can't use their electronics either!"

Nathan let out a sigh in response to this and signaled for her to come along before any other forces showed up.



Only once they were in a somewhat open area did the weather start to get worse. Nathan muttered something about them being stuck without any cover while the more positive ODST cheered on the clouds and rain, thinking the weather would cause the Covenant to stay away from the open area they were in. Though after some stern lecturing Nathan convinced Faith they had to get to shelter and they began a quick pace to get away from their current area. Thankfully it didn't take too long for them to find cover but were unable to locate any other people, soldiers or otherwise.



Faith looked for a window in the building she could use to see outside in case anyone approached them, friend or foe. She was instead greeted by the sight of another human in a building across from her. It was sort of hard to see with how extreme the rain was, but she frantically started waving in hopes of catching the attention of the other rain watcher in the building across from her.

Meanwhile Nathan looked at her with a mixture of confusion and disappointment and decided to just sigh instead of troubling his mind with whatever she was doing.


[Text colour has been edited due to low readability on some skins. Sorry for any inconvenience- Tracker]
[fixed -Kenny]

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Major Tal Ko'reshai

Phantom Crash Site

Somewhere South of the Covenant Zone

Tal started to awake in a dark torn apart troop bay of the phantom dropship he was deploying in. The first feeling to register was confusion of why they crashed, followed by the sharp, pin like pain in the back of his neck as he stood up. Attempting to activate his Type 1 Energy Knife to create light, it would not activate. He tried firing his Type-25, after it failed to fire he tried to find a way out of the phantom. Stepping over the bodies of dead Unggoy as he climbed up to the other end of the dropship. As he came up to the grav lift, he saw there was just enough room for him to slip through, since he is smaller than the average elite.

Maneuvering out from under the phantom, the pain in the back of his neck was not letting up. Irritating him, he saw it had started to turn night and begun to rain, as he found the dead bodies of his File leaders. Both were full of the primitive ballistic rounds that humans use. Luckily though, they didn't take Type 51 that Ronan used for his scouting missions. Picking up the Carbine, Tal tried to get his bearings and figure out which way was north. Guessing that behind him him was north, he proceeded to move in that direction. (He is actually moving East so if anyone wants to engage him make sure you head in that direction. He crashed in that space between the ODST/Army unit spot and the covvie zone.) 

[MrKill]

First Lieutenant Kyle Killinger
Alpha Company, First Platoon; First Battalion, Seventh Marines
Hope; Refuge

Kyle groaned as he pushed a block of building debris off his chest and gasped for air. He hadn't crashed, as the EMP went off after he had deployed - but the building a pelican did crash into caused it to tumble down pretty fast. Killinger was one of the few from his pelican to survive, but obviously he had been knocked unconscious. He was burred under rubble, so the piece of debris he had pushed off was only the first step. He would literally have to dig himself out of his tomb.

He noticed immediately that his tags were taken, which meant someone could reach them in order to take them. The Junior Officer had to assume that it meant his pulse was also taken, though who ever took it didn't check long enough because there he was, buried under rubble and alive. Kyle wanted to scream for help but couldn't, realizing his voice was hoarse and all that came out was a rough grinding, but quiet, plea for help. He wouldn't be screaming anytime soon.

The Lieutenant examined the way the rubble had landed. It was a miracle he was still alive, with a section of rubble holding up what appeared to be an entire wall from the building that had collapsed on him. He thanked god and pushed himself up, thankfully with only a little pain produced from his abdomen.

With no room to stand up, the Lieutenant could see where someone checked his pulse from. A small area, just barely enough to fit a arm through, remained opened to the outside. That was Kyle's ticket out and he had to make sure he utilized it. He spun around, though challenged due to the small... extremely small crawl space and his 6'3 frame, and started kicking at the opening. He was satisfied no more rubble would come down.

After a few dozen kicks the rubble slid apart, just to have another piece collapse and stop an inch away from Kyle's shin. The Lieutenant retracted his leg and learned the piece of rubble was a huge, and likely heavy piece of debris. He wasn't getting out that way... unless he could prime a grena...

Nope, that wouldn't work. The only thing Kyle had on him was his M6D and his combat knife. Great, I'm stuck under a fucking building with barely anything to get me out of here! Kyle thought, punching the rubble. Well, it looks like I've trapped myself..

Fortunately, there was one more way out. Suicide. With the communications down, electronics ceased and no one looking for him now - there was only one way out of this. He produced his sidearm, pulled the slide back and was about to pull the trigger when he saw another opening. He holstered the gun and climbed out, and figured out immediately why no one else saw it.

The rubble had blocked off access from one side, but Kyle could move around over other pieces of rubble from the other side. He mentally shrugged off considering suicide and moved quietly over the rubble. It shifted, as predicted, as he stepped onto various pieces. Eventually, however, he managed to exit the rubble and onto the ground.

He bent down, kissed the dirt and rolled onto his back. He celebrated quietly by punching the air twice before taking a breath of fresh air, and not dust. I can't believe I'm alive... I am alive, right? He thought and pinched himself to make sure... twice. Both times there was a pain response, so it must be true. While laying, Kyle realized it was raining. He spun over to his chest and scanned the immediate area for a puddle of water, and found one.

He produced his side-arm as he couched walked over to it, scooped up the water in his hand and splashed it on his face. It felt good, too good. It had gotten a bit hot while he was in the rubble, so the cool air felt good on his skin. He had to assume, in the cramped area with that type of heat, a fire had to have been going under or nearby - but there was no light in the darkened sky.

No nothing... not even a light, actually. It just continued to get darker and darker, and Kyle had nothing to illuminate his way. He could hear the flow of water to his left, which was the first landmark he was in the rough location of his original deployment. He ordered the pelican he was on to land in order to help the Army unit that flagged his incoming pelican down. They landed but came under fire by the Covenant moments later, then the EMP went off. His pelican was still on the ground, but another one coming in took out the support pillars for a nearby building.

Kyle had decided, knowing the rough location of the Marine LZ, he'd use the water in the nearby harbor as a navigation resource. If Kyle remembered the map correctly there were two births for shipping ships shipping shipping ships, so once he found those he'd make his way inland - towards the Marine LZ if he could.

[HollowSaber]

: Corporal Jake Furrow :

: Refuge; Fleeing Covenant Controlled Territory :

: Nova Squad:

    In. Out. In... Out... In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In…. Out. Jake sucked in oxygen like a madman as he beat feet, splashing through a large puddle without caring about how deep the mirror image was. As he flew passed a broken gate, needles began to fly by the ODST’s head. The Trooper glanced by and watched as an Elite stood in the middle of the alley behind him, its feet churning as it raced forward. The alien released a loud roar and continued to fire. Jake grumbled and cursed under his breath as he ducked right and shot out into the main street. The instant he appeared and popped out, he regretted it. It was foolish to think he would be able to operate so silently for so long. Now he had to deal with the consequences as four Grunts, three Jackals, and another Elite leveled their weapons on his position.

    He wouldn’t give them a clear shot though and decided to take the jump. Clutching his pistol tight, Jake kicked off the ground and dove towards the space between two vehicles in front of him. Pink shards rained down around him as he floated, three of them skimming his backpack before he slammed onto his forearms. The Trooper winced from the flash of pain and tucked his head in, fighting gravity as he forced himself to keep his body moving. Rather than just flop and eat pavement, Corporal Furrow curled his body in, rolled over his head, and slammed his knees into the ground. His momentum was safely dispersed and the soldier was quickly able to recover rather than having to claw and scramble back up..

    As pink needles continued to come towards his position, now from two angles as the Elite that was chasing him appeared from the alley, Jake shoved his back against the car for protection. Glass shattered above him, tires popped behind him, and the needles exploded into little pieces as they impacted the walls in front of him. Some of the needles which struck the cars remained in one piece, but only for a short amount of time before they too burst apart. Running was an option Jake could always have, but now he ran the risk of injury. It was time to raise his kill count a few ticks.

    With his pistol clutched tight, Jake twisted around the back of the car and opened fire on the lone Elite across the street from his position. The Alien was struck twice in the chest, once in the thigh, and once in the throat as the ODST focused on vital points. It dropped quickly and freed up one angle of danger, allowing Jake to move between the two cars. He didn’t look over the trunk or dare try sneaking a peek around the edge, as Jake knew he probably would only have one chance. The soldier squeezed the handle of his pistol and leaned out of cover, raising the weapon up and focused the iron sights on the first thing he saw. One shot drilled a Jackal in the bird-beak it had, a second brought a Grunt to its knees, a third and forth made the Elite stagger, and another pair of shots caused on Jackal to topple over onto a Grunt.

    The remaining Covenant adjusted their fire towards where Jake was leaning from and peppered the backside of the car. The Trooper used that to his advantage and moved around the side of the vehicle to a new position. As he popped out by the engine, Jake fired twice and dropped the empty clip. His two rounds dropped the Elite and caused the remaining Grunts to jump from the sight. Using the pause in gunfire to his advantage, Jake slapped in a fresh clip and leveled his weapon on the last Jackal. A single pull on the trigger was all it took to drop the ugly creature. Then, in a flash, Jake sucked in air and fired three more times. The rapid succession of trigger pulls swiftly ended the fight as he busted open the three large Grunt skulls.

    The silencer on his pistol shook as Jake stood there for a moment, collecting his thoughts slowly while he ensured his targets were dead. Seeing no movement, Jake retracted his weapon and darted into the alleyway beside him. He didn’t dare wait around to see who else would show up and moved swiftly towards the north west. Using buildings as landmarks, the ODST began to head back towards where he had landed on the edge of Covenant territory. There, he could rethink his plan or at least he’d know he was out of the fire and back into the frying pan. There was far too much activity now all of a sudden for one guy to operate in. Of course, he could have found a perch somewhere, but he needed to remain active. Jake needed to find a way to take the artifact and he’d eliminate every threat possible to increase his chances.

    Although, it seemed the Covenant were retreating back towards it somehow. With that in mind, Jake needed to pull back. He was confident in his ability to kill, but not confident enough to take on an army with just a pistol, a sniper, and a small pack of explosives. His plan to take the device needed some working, and he needed to get somewhere where he could somehow pull together a vehicle of sorts. Getting to the artifact would be a simple thing to do later, but transporting it was an issue Jake had to solve. With the Covenant Army on the retreat from what he saw, mobility was something he desperately needed.

    “Kistah!” A loud shout caught Jake’s attention. As he looked to his right down the road, there was a Brute standing with his finger raised towards him. Jake’s eyes shot open and the ODST sprinted into the closest alley.

    “Oh shit.”

    Shoving his pistol into its holster, Jake switched to his sniper and skidded down onto his knee. The Trooper twisted around, curled up so he could rest the weapon on one raised knee, and waited. The sound of heavy footsteps and roaring echoed into his ears from the other side of the dark alley and Jake’s heart throbbed harder and harder as the sounds grew louder and louder. He was certain that he would die if he wasn’t careful, but these odds were nuts. Whoever was looking down on him must really, really hate him.

    A shadow appeared at the end of the alley. Without hesitating, Jake adjusted his rifle and fired. The silencer flashed quietly in the Trooper’s ears as the muffled bullet was thrown through the air. Liquid and flesh blasted into mist and the shadow dropped to the floor. A second figure turned the corner right after, and the sniper rifle Jake held shuddered again. The second round ripped through the upper torso of the silhouette, causing it to stumble forward a few feet before falling flat and motionless. Silence returned for a split second before noises at the end of the alley were Jake’s cue to keep moving. He wouldn’t wait for more and expected his challengers to get smart. No one followed the two dead idiots, so there was nothing to wait for.

    Lifting his rifle off his leg, Jake returned to his feet and ducked to his right. He moved away from the Brute’s growling and barking and hastily crossed the next street. This time, he didn’t just switch from one alley to the next. Instead, Jake moved laterally and followed the sidewalk, moving up towards a distant intersection. Before he reached the four-way crossing, he swiveled around and crawled onto the hood of a parked car. The ODST rested his sniper along the roof, ensured that his silencer was on correctly, and waited.

    Twenty seconds after getting set up, four Brutes with a mix of both Human and Covenant weapons appeared. Jake narrowed his eyes for a moment and adjusted his scope to rest on the head of the second monkey in line. No one followed them from the shadows, so Jake took his chance. A tug on the trigger, a silenced shot, and a touch of death caused disarray in the cluster of four brutes as one of them suddenly toppled over. The creatures stopped and glanced at their dead brethren. In that moment, a the fourth in line was smashed by something sharp and staggered to his right. The Brute’s helmet caved in and a hole was formed as the metal was forced open, exposing the flesh beneath.

    The remaining two Brutes quickly chose to make a run for cover, their feet stomping against the open concrete as they did so. The first Oversized Ape made it safely, but just as its only remaining ally was about to reach it, the bolt of a distant rifle shook. Just as the Brute stepped onto the sidewalk, it’s body became limp. With a loud thud, the creature smashed onto the ground. The remaining Brute snarled and turned the corner in a rage. It raised its human weapon up and was on the verge of opening fire when he suddenly paused. On a car in the distance, a muzzle flashed. In the instant the creature’s mind began to pull together the culprit, brain function ceased and the Brute fell backwards.

    Jake huffed and slapped his used shells and the empty cartridge down a storm drain. Without any more known tailers, the Trooper pulled his silenced rifle off the top of the car he was kneeling on and moved into the shadows once more. He strapped his rifle across his back on top of his bag and pulled the terrain map he had out of his pocket. He stared at it hard as he slowly found his location and then began to study it for any clues towards a new plan.

    “There.” The man’s eyes fell on a single building that was right around the corner from where he was, and he didn’t give it another thought. Jake stuffed the map back into his pocket, drew his pistol again, and returned to moving his feet forward.

[David]

Sergeant Tom Baker
Hope; Refuge
Feeling Alone

Huffing and puffing, Tom took a moment to rest against a chunk of debris. He had almost run into a bunch of grunts. The squat little bastards were huddled together in a group, Grunting and barking at each other while sucking on what had to be some kind of food dispenser. Lucky for Tom they were not paying attention. He had taken the oppourtunity to get clear of the little grunts before they could notice him and make a racket, ending up with him dead.

Taking a moment, Tom bent down and adjusted his splint, Wincing as he tightened the cloth securing the ankle in place. He couldn't tell if it was broken or sprained but He knew that it needed medical attention at some point. Though the chances of that in a city that was EMP fried and invaded with Covenant was slim to shit.

Suddenly, To Toms left there was a snapping noise, followed by a muffled "Shit!". Tom knew that voice. Almost as well as he knew his own, and he knew because he had been in love with her all of his time in the ODST program. It had to be her.

Crouching, and wincing, Tom looked over at the source of the noise and then extended his arm, and flashed one finger, and then beckoned with his arm. Signal for one and come. But of course, now wasn't the time for dirty jokes, or else Tom would have made a good one.

Then, A helmeted figure came out from behind cover, and slowly beckoned him forward. Nodding his understanding, He crouch walked, with difficulty to the ODST's position. Once there, the ODST bodily shoved Tom into a collapsed building that had partial cover.

"Picked a hell of a time to come find us. What took you?" came the voice he knew and loved. 

"Well if you hadn't of fucked off and left me all alone, we wouldn't have to look for each other" Tom tossed back before removing his helmet.

Removing her helmet, Lyndsey smiled at him. "God, I thought you were dead" She said, choking slightly on her words, Her voice thick with emotion.

Feeling a lump in his throat, Tom nodded. He felt relieved that he had found some of his squad. And the woman he dearly loved. He knew that romance between soldiers, While not strictly prohibited, Was frowned upon. But at this moment. This point... Tom didn't give one fuck. 

Without a word, He slowly passed the distance between them, slowly reached an arm around Lyndsey's neck and pulled her lips to his. The feeling was intoxicating. For one small moment of time, He felt the world was gone, and that all there was, was their bodys entwined, As one.

Slowly pushing Tom away, Lyndsey glanced around, Tears still hanging on her face. "Tom..."

Slowly putting a finger to her lips, Tom smiled and nodded. "I know. Not here. Not now. But sometime."

Smiling sadly, She nodded and put her hand on his. Romance would come later. For now they had to link up with the others and with a command type person. Slowly getting up, Tom retrieved his pistol, and looked at his helmet. "Lets go."

[Wax™]

ODST Master Sergeant John Booth
Seventh Marines: Eagle-Eye One-Actual
Within Covenant Perimeter


John and the five Delta Force army rangers who had rescued him had FINALLY made it down to the bottom of the massive skyscraper and without bumping into any Covenant which was a total plus, he had to keep this a complete stealth mission and if even one Covenant managed to spread the word of John and the army rangers presence they would be as good as dead. John was crouched and made his way through the fancy lobby of the skyscraper with the five rangers in tow, he scanned the outside of the building through the glass panelling and was satisfied to see it was clear. Stepping through the revolving doors he stepped out onto the sidewalk of what looked like the financial district of the city, which meant they were further in the Covenant territory than they thought.

John turned his head swiftly as he noticed a Covenant convoy coming up the road, turning to face the rangers he threw a hand down, signalling for them to drop and find cover, seeing as they were in the building, it was relatively easy for them to stay out of sight, but for John that was a different story. John scurried to a group of dead civilians and lifted one half on top of him before going limp, his weapon lazily dangling in his hands to give the appearance of his demise. Unfortunately the convoy was going slow and was being escorted by foot troops which would make it riskier for John's current tactic, but he had no other choice.

Going limp John looked through the glass of his helmet visor as troop after troop walked buy, Grunt's, Elite's, Jackal's and Brute's, not one of them seemed to take a second glance at the fallen trooper, aside from a single Brute who strayed from the end of the pack and convoy and moved off in John's direction, John cursed in his mind over and over again, the Brute bent over and slid his weapon away, reaching one hand out he grabbed John by the head. Lifting John up from the other person, John could already feel the pain in his neck from it being bent in a semi-awkward angle but he simply gritted his teeth and attempted to ride it out.

The Brute moved John around left and right in the dead centre of the air in-front of him, John went to tense but stopped himself, he had to stay limp, closing his eyes hard and gritting his teeth he felt his body sway around in the air at most a foot or two off the ground. The Brute soon moved his head in and sniffed at John, the Brute soon after opened his mouth as if he was about to dry reach before dropping John back on the ground.

Still keeping his body limp he fell hard onto the dead civilian below, his head whip-lashing around to smack his helmet against the floor. John having to bite his tongue to stop himself from grunting or doing anything to give away his position. Now in an awkward position over the dead civilian he had to wait until the Covenant moved further down the road before he could move from this position.

It took a few moments but satisfied that the Covenant had made a significant amount of distance between him and the rangers, he decided to pick himself out and take a knee, stretching his arms and neck a little before looking to the spinney door he exited through only minutes ago.

"Clear..." He said, leaning down to take up his sniper rifle and bring it to his chest, he slowly moved down the side walk to a burnt out car which was parked on the side of the road, looking left and right to make sure everything was still clear he nodded before sprinting off in the direction of an alley across the street, which would hopefully still lead to down town.