M6: Battle for Refuge (Ground)

[Huka]

Major Q'ai 'Muramee

The crest-helmed veteran looked at the female as she stumbled to protocol after just being beaten by a insufferable human. His somewhat youthful face etched with anger and irritation from the rain and lack of usable weapons. Cycles of Covenant service bore into his soul and using the enemies' weapons felt like solid fire to his pride. Then he calmed his expression when the female begged him to help find her file.

Turning his upper body and looked at the ruins near the highway. The Sangheili did hear some fire but didn't find much body. Perhaps her brothers-in-arms were somewhere near, hopefully by the digsite as ordered. Looking down at the waters rising high to his knees, Q'ai didn't like this but he hid that emotion well. "Very well." He said finally before reaching down and helping the avian up with care, "Can you stand?"

***
Labus 'Adantee
(NPC)

"Blasted! Blasted, dirty apes! Curse them and all of their mongrel blood!" Labus cursed outloud, firing a bloodied spiker at the hunting Jiralhanae as they gave chase to the lance. His free hand clenching to his bleeding side tightly, feeling the wound from their turncoats' own hot-speeding spikes. Aiming low, he diliberately shot one of the more eager apes in the groin thrice, cackling cruelly as the spasming alien shouted out in absolute pain and horror at the savage cut of legacy.

"Get some better jewels, your's seem useless!" Labus shouted with almost juvenile laugh at the scene as some of the wounded traitor's brothers went to comfort him. Nearby Jhao crouched low and fired a few radioactive shots of his carbine into the scalps of the pursuing pack. "Move! Move!" He ordered, taking charge of the lance and finally Labus caught up in a spin before firing half of his spike-load at the heavily-armored Ultra, who bucked back a few to the red-hot projectiles impaling into his arms and chest like a Mooonbeast Alpha. "I'm starting to like this weapon." The Adant soldier said with an appreciative glance over the barbaric weapon.

Jhao scuffed and smacked his fellow's wound hard, "Move back or die on your back!" He ordered. The younger male yelped in surprised pain and grumbled angrily as he retreated, both praying their leader will return to them soon.

Field Master Til 'Muramai

Slowly standing up, Til had his eyes closed for a brief moment to pray. "Santified Spirits, I ask not for my own survival, but the survival of my men and women. These young souls deserve better and these traitors deserve nothing but the wrath of the Storms for this. Give me the fury and strength of Tibur to guide my talons and blades to ultimate victory over all on this dark day."


His flame-bleached scales twitched as his anger burned deep in his chest and stomach, his mind swirling from its temporary insanity into a brewing cyclone with a calm eye. All the while, he could feel the loyal Yanme'e perching near him, vigilance constant. Then his meditation was broken by the sudden arrival of many in such a short amount of time. The Yanme'e sentinels alarmed him of another pack approaching, this time of a young captain and a silver-pelted elder. The Field Master, despite his harnessed fury, knew there was few elders in the whole pack and quickly guessed the approaching.

His head snapped at the sound of water splashing from where he left his gathered forces. The flash of lightning flared his green eye to the approaching Major. The stump of an arm quickly ran through Til's memory, "Ra'ab 'Xirsasee." He muttered with a deep accent of his clan.

Turning his body and his foot kicked the slain body of the Jiralhanae, making it surface up with an wide maw in a frozen scream and black sockets before it sank again, the Field Master approached the potential warrior with absolute silence as he addressed him properly. Glancing down to the needle rifle, Til took it gentle and respectfully before grazing his hand over the muzzle in memory of the Muram glass rifles.

"Your concern is most appreciated, Ra'ab. You do me great honor bringing me this." He said before looking over the younger warrior, "Remember your training, young warrior. Stay alive and perhaps you will be given a great boon for your initiative."

The Field Master inhaled deeply before moving his head away to hack out a couch, feeling his lungs burn for a moment with a wheeze of his neck-gripping breathing system. His good eye glanced to the Unggoy on the human....vehicle? Too small for an adult heretic. Must be one of those toys that their children play with. Til felt a odd mix of anger to see a Unggoy soldier on such a thing and...amusement. Great, friendly humor. He thought that was gone long time ago, only present for Sorsa.

Recognizing the rider as Dakek, the brave and well-minded Unggoy from the hunt, Til nodded to him with a low chuckle, "Good to see you still alive." He greeted before turning away and stepped towards the coming Jiralhanae pack with his needle rifle raised for a one-shot kill.

"Halt, Captain Garatus!" He ordered firmly, his eye trained and stance prepared for anything. "Speak your allegiance or prepare to have the wrath of a Zealot upon you."

***

Jiralhanae Captain Valerius

A surviving Sangheili crawled painstakingly away his remaining arm and legs submerged in the growing waters, cursing and praying to his Gods as the lumbering sounds of a powerful form approached him from behind. An axe lifted and fell full-weight onto his spine, ending his life fast and mercifully. Valerius tilted his head some to the victim, the bone adornments in his braids tapped together before he put a foot on the body. With a wiggle, he reclaimed his bearded weapon and shouldered it between his neck and tall pauldron while its twin hovered just over the water.

His remaining red eye glared around to the massacred field; the Zealots fled with many of their followers while the more stubborn or surprised were killed by the Pack.. The Chieftain contemplating on his bloody-won prize: a submerged artifact. Too early.

"Foolish." Someone said next to him. Valerius grunted in a half-agreement and turned his head to look at Ol' Mokurus, who was surveying as well under his wooden mask, shaking abit from his religious smokes and fumes. "The Chieftain breaks a long-established chain in a deadly jungle of stone. He condemns us all to this rashness. Sangheili...we fell to them for a reason. They may have their God-blessed blades and ships of stars, but their ruthlessness and exercise of order is just deadly." He mused before speaking in a old dialect of the old shamans. "Death comes. These fallen are the foresight..."

Valerius sneered to this old man's words but he knew it is possible. Suddenly the loud landing of Nikomedius from a flight and onto a power-dead wraith, a savage smile on his face. "Isn't this wonderful, High Alpha? The Sangheili run and hide for the humans' gunfire while we take all of the glory! We will finally show those arrogant slave-drivers our cunning and might." The overly-excited Jumper cheered, which further annoyed the Captain. Two sides of his mood; one of pride of bloodying off the slow-minded Zealots and the other of the subtle fear of their vengeance.

Then he looked up to the stars...it is not time yet. This is not Valerius' hour of glory. The Gods do not dance or sing his heralding.

[deceit]

Ra'ab's eyes blinked a few times, his vision briefly blanking in and out as the Field Master addressed him. The Muram Huntsman's voice was gruff and strained from the condition of his respiratory, as well as his recent strains and efforts in slaying the Sangheili. Moments before Ra'ab had approached, the Field Master had seemed a lone hurricane resting in place, his spirit lashing out in all directions like the hungry flames of a plasma fire.

But now, the Field Master was gentle, carefully accepting Ra'ab's offer of the Needle Rifle. A visible sigh of relief and release of tension could be seen in Ra'ab. Despite it all, he was not altogether use to addressing superiors other than Ultra Yrai, who was his Creche commander. Ra'ab looked into the Huntsman's unusual eyes as the Field Master expressed appreciation and possible reward for his "initiative." Ra'ab grunted, an old Sangheili tradition of mutual appreciation and respect.

The Field Master dismissed himself, moving through the waters and letting out a distressing cough, his mechanical features making foreign sounds. Truly, Field Master Til was a marvel even amongst Sangheili. A legend, who had slain beasts and men of great Repute. The price, a stark reminder to Ra'ab, of the Field Master's glories and efforts, was in every labored breath, possibly a short natural life-span, certainly a pained existence.

A moment crossed Ra'ab's forehead as his skin wrinkled up in thought, and in that moment, he considered how strange it was to be alive in this world; where species were burned down for mere existence, and armies marched at the invisible commands of Gods who had died a long time ago, leaving ancient relics that were more advanced than any creation the armies could comprehend. And today, they were without the gods creations; and yet, nothing had changed. Armies still marched, blood was still spilled.

Ra'ab yearned, in that moment, for a life without war or gods or guns. It was against his warrior nature and predatory culture; it was against everything the Covenant or even the Sangheili alone stood for. And yet, he still yearned. But war was instilled into him from a young age, and into everyone around him. Even if he had the choice to live a simple life on a simple planet this very moment, he was already lost from that life; his mind thought only thoughts of war, his body would still be ever on the defensive.

While he was thinking these thoughts, he watched the Field Master approach Dakek and speak some words that he could barely hear, nor were they any business of his. The nearby Yanmee were squirming rapidly, drawing Ra'ab's attention forward. He suddenly became aware of Jiralhanae on the approach. Ra'ab saw Field Master move swiftly into position, pointing his newly acquired weapon straight at the golden Chieftan's crested head.

Ra'ab stepped to the side, crouching low, his hand pulling the sword from the niche in his armor. His knuckles grasped it tightly. He waved the Sangheili, Lance Leader Talnay, over to him, hoping the Sangheili would join him.

At this position, he wasn't directly visible by the majority of the pack, but should things turn violent and the Jiralhanae attack, Ra'ab was in an angle to leap his full height and distance over some rubble from a building that he was behind, and take out the Jiralhanae next to the chieftan, whose itchy fingers rested on his weapon.

~*~

Ransy's eyes widened as the Unggoy Major started heading towards Ra'ab, seeing the large, frightening Sangheili move away; he suddenly saw Jiralhanae, thousands of them! There had to be hundreds of the monstrous creatures! Possibly even 20 or 30!

Ransy nervously braked his bike, sloshing water forward, and began a prayer to the Gods; it went something like, Idon'twannadieIdon'twannadieIdon'twannadie

~*~

As Jib saw the pack of Jiralhanae approach, he eyed the two formiddable forces. He noticed that the brutes had all of their weapons. His tongue licked his avian lips. He needed to get his hands on one of those in the ensuing battle. And whoever won...that's who he would side with. Only the Jiralhanae hadn't fired a single shot on them yet, and the Sangheili seemed well prepared, the Zealot ( Jib had no intention of crossing sides unless that bastard died first ) had his needle rifle...no, REEVAR's Needle Rifle, pointed directly at the Jiralhanae Captain.

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Captain Garatus, the Restorer

Garatus's pace(and subsequently his packs) slowed to a near halt as buildings came into sight, then a familiar face appeared amongst some assembled soldiers, that of Field Master Til Muramai. The Sangheili raised his Needle Rifle and aimed it straight for Garatus but did not fire, instead ordering him to halt and state his allegiance. Now was the time to show his true colors.

"You shouldn't have to ask Field Master, but I know you must. No matter what Boreas tells us I know he is wrong, even if we defeated you what would it profit us? Nothing that I can see but bragging rights and more animosity between our two peoples, why would anyone want that?" Garatus said, his face weary of life of infighting.

"I pledge my undying allegiance to you Field Master Til Muramai, and I vouch for every member of my pack present here" Garatus said, his pack mates nodding in agreement with him.

Garatus stood in the pouring rain, his fur wet and mud covered, his eyes weary and his soul aching, he hoped to the gods that Til knew he spoke the truth and his pledge one not taken lightly.

[Faclan]

SSA-012 - Yanme'e Swarm
Standing by Master Til

Once the alert had been sounded SSA turned to face this new threat, putting themselves in between the unholy haired ones and the Field Master as they brandished claws and small knives. They buzzed quietly back and fourth in the clicking Yanme'e dialect about this new group, thirty strong, armed, but they were approaching as if in meeting rather than war. But they remained perched above or standing in front of the Field Master, watching the new arrivals with their compound eyes.

The ones near the back glanced back to acknowledge the new Sangheili arrivals, but the time for introductions and formalities would be after this new possible threat was resolved.


(NPC) Nas - Kig-Yar Markswoman for Cads file.
Mobile but disorganized.

Thankfully Nas's vision was still blurry so she wouldn't be worried by the Sangheilis angry expression as she hold her head and tried to rise. But a lump was forming on the side of her head which made her a bit slow in trying to rise up herself. Hissing a bit in pain as she tried to prop herself up and look up at her savior. She did her best to ignore the rain pounding them both as she lightly clasped the bigger aliens hand and with his help pulled herself up.

She was still a bit woobly once standing, swaying a litle as she rubber her eyes once more before nodding and letting them fall back to her side. "Yes Excelency." She replied before squinting to where her file had been, the dark shapes and pool of something underneath it telling her what she needed to know about at least one file member. But there was only one shape there, the others must have ran...or been captured.

Nudging her useless rifle aside with her foot she turned back to the Sangheili and offered a quick but fairly weak salute. "Nas, Marksman...I think the rest of my file were either captured or must have leapt off the bridge. Maybe they are taking cover below us?...Hopefully not floating face down in the torrent." She glanced to the side at a few muffled screeches and squawks, smiling as she was hopeful that they were the calls of her file, not dead!


Cad - Kig-Yar Major
Narrowly avoided a bath.

Holding on tightly to the sniper Cad closed his eyes, grit his teeth, and forced himself toward the building - Pad having to be nearly carried by the Spotter. Thankfully both of these Kig-Yar were strong, and despite the extra weight they were able to drag or carry the wounded warriors into the relative safety of the doorway. The test of the stairs were next, but thankfully the handrail was still there so Cad was able to help more here as he could mostly drag himself up as did Pad. It was just when they had started to climb the stairs that the water was upon them. But the doorway deflected enough water for them to make it un-drowned. But the pain was returning as Cad couldn't hold back a few screams of pain as his legs felt like they were on fire again, his shouts echoing in the narrow stairway and out some of the windows.

After finally collapsing on the top of the stairs Cad breathed deeply and laid on his back, only glancing a few times toward the stairs to see the water nearly make it up to them but stop. He knew that the entire first floor of this building was now flooded - and unless they wanted to swim for a looong way they would not be getting back to the Covenant zone unless they found a way of transport.

"We owe you our lives Brothers," he said to the Sniper team as he lay there, Pad laying beside him as he looked toward the window and the rain outside. "Do we have a plan to get back? Or just wait till morning?" He asked in between deep breaths as he tried to keep from passing out, the adrenaline of the flee dropping fast as now they weren't in mortal danger.


Eugenius - Jiralhanae Advisor
Offering his weapon and mind for the rightful cause.

Despite the fairly slow pace of the pack through the shallow, for a Jiralhanae, water Eugines age was starting to show as he was soon huffing and puffing trying to keep up with the comparatively young blood of his nephew. Thankfully the thick water and the stopping to double check loyalties of the pack gave him enough time to rest to keep up. Though when they finally arrived at the Field Masters location, and Til himself stood up to meet them down the barrel of a needle rifle, he was huffing again. He did his best to ignore the Yanme'e again as Til shouted out the challenge and his Nephew responded.

Taking the moment to catch his breath again he stood back up straight again once again and nodded to both Garatus and Til. "Well said Nephew," he said before turning to Til, carefully raised his pistol before spinning it around and offering the handle of it to Til - both of them way too far apart for him to take it but Eugine meant it was a gesture, and would actually hand it over if requested.

"I've seen enough of Coups to know that this will not go well. But its not because I don't want to be on the losing side; rather I don't want to be known of as a betrayer of my people - it would be against our history of service and the Covenant itself to try and seize power in our Time of Trials...I also offer you my weapon because I'm sure you have a steadier shooting hand than myself Master Til." He added at the end, smiling a little despite the rain and the deadly situation, adding the dead bodies of his race he was not spotting to the Yanme'e he was ignoring.

[Deleted]

Major Domo Opah' Tionamee
Stumbling upon Field Master

Opah' hated how the huge EMP blast took out communications and his shields on his armour, and it seems like it was the same with the two minors. They stayed in a abandoned building with Opah' while sniping filth human soldiers with the still working Carbines.

The building then started to crumble as the water levels started to rise, as Opah', and his two minors with their two files ran out right when it collapsed. Sang' was anxious more than ever when they were out in the open, and Opah' had to calm him. He then saw the armour of the [yellow] Field master[/yellow] as he was scouting around and looking at his surroundings. He noticed the Brute pack with him, and snarled to himself. Nevertheless, he approached the [yellow] Field master[/yellow] and motioned for his lance to do so also.

He was about to shout something to greet the [yellow] Field master[/yellow], but then noticed a human filth sniper aiming right towards the [yellow] Field master[/yellow]. Opah' quickly fired two shots toward the human, while the first one missed, the second one struck his head.

[yellow]"Greetings, sir Field master"[/yellow] Opah said, "[yellow] May I assist you in the great fight?"[/yellow]

[BasedGoody]

Kig-Yar Sniper Web



"We owe you our lives Brothers, do we have a plan to get back? Or just wait till morning?"

The Kig-Yar spoke, clearly in pain. Web smiled slightly by opening his mouth in a twisted grin. He too peered out the window at the torrent of water. How many people died from the initial wave? Surely a lot. How long does it take to drown? Probably pretty quick if you are panicking, or just have been hit with a wall of water. Both things would quicken death. It would seem things were looking bleak for the four space birds.

"Yeah, you bet your ass you owe us your lives! Heh. And no, not yet do I have a plan of action. Come on, I think what I've done already is fairly impressive!" Web said, standing up. He twisted his torso to stretch and walked to the other side of the room. There stood a drawer of some sort next to a bed. The Sniper pulled open a drawer and rummaged through it. Clothing. Nothing else.

The room other than that was fairly empty other than the ladder that led to the roof. The hatch was closed. Rain splashed on the ceiling monotonously. It would be a long night if they were to wait until morning.

"Do you have a plan, er," He paused, "What's your name?"

[Huka]

Field Master Til ‘Muramai


The Field Master stood tall and erect with his good eye down the barrel; once upon a time he wasn’t able to shoot right due his halved vision but after thirteen rotations, that particular pain was swept aside. The hunter was more than capable of killing at least…five of the Jiralhanae with this needle rifle before a return fire. However that dark planning wasn’t necessary, much to the Sangheili’s hearts’ content. He listened to the good heart and words from Garatus, proud to know an mutual agreement.


However, he didn’t lower his weapon-perhaps on tradition of the Sangheili’s motive of drawn weapons-for a moment as Til heard the heart-felt pledge from the captain. Silent under the irritable rains and the approach of more arrivals with the background of his attached Yanme’e drones buzzing with vicious protectiveness.

The sound of bolt fire rang twice and a certainly brave, or unperceptive, Major approached the Zealot while he slowly lowered his weapon and didn’t even leave his good eye off the Jiralhanae. His blind milky eye stared at the Major and his mandibles twitched before speaking loud and clear for everyone, “All who are willing to correct this disrupted order with Reticent Lance and bring down all who oppose us; Boreas and his ilk as well as the humans. Stand proud and tall, we will prevail.“

Exhaling wetly, Til blinked his secondary lids and lowered his rifle, “SSA, all who are able to fly, scour this city for our shepardless brothers to rally to me or R’ha! Everyone else, take shelter with the rest of my collected crèche…” He said, turning away finally and started to make his walk back towards the sturdy building that may have been an administrative center once, but not before retrieving his energy staff, “I want no chances with the traitors, we will fight as soon as our power is secure and vigilance for the humans.”

Major Q'ai 'Muramee

The Major bowed his head some to the female’s address, “Major Q’ai ‘Muramee.” he replied back with a quick shake of a wet cold before angling to the sound of a muffled avian noise, easily Kig-yar. This might be easily than he thought… Closing his eyes for a moment to pray to the Spirits of the Plains for a swift travel and safe blessings, the Muram sheathed his bloody blade for his beam rifle and started to take lead for the direction of the noise. “Come, the sooner we return you to your troop, the sooner I can get back to mine.” The veteran insisted, glancing for the charge of his weapon but instantly remembered about the dysfunction. Clicking his mandibles out, Q’ai crouched and started to move like he did during the Hunt; cautious and aware.

[HollowSaber]

: Corporal Jake Furrow :

: Refuge, Dome Construction Zone :

: Nova Squad:

    “What do you mean we already have an engine? All of our electronics are fried. Everything.” Devon Resol responded quickly, jerking his thumb over his shoulder as he motioned towards everything that was on the other side of the tarp. The man was correct in his thinking, but not enough correct to make the Trooper not grin beneath his helmet.

    Due to the effects of the electromagnetic pulse the forerunner artifact had set off, every piece of electronic equipment in the entire city was turned to into a paperweight. All computers, signs, holo-tables, and even the little things like flashlights and laser pointers were made useless. However, there was one thing that was unaffected by everything. A single piece of old human ingenuity which was built without any electronic devices within its core. Such a device which was meant to run purely off fuel and if necessary, could be started by simply cracking it and manually spinning it to get it started. Such a device was readily available at the construction site and all it needed was some slight modification. Of course, those modifications could be done promptly and with ease as long as someone had half a brain. Corporal Jake Furrow had plenty of those to go around.

    “Gentlemen, every one of your construction vehicles runs off an old engine which is built to pump out power, just like in older times. The only difference is that they have been modified to accept more eco-friendly fuels. That engine, is the diesel.” Jake snagged his pencil and swiftly drew a thin line beneath the middle of the rear section of the vehicle he had drawn up. The four construction workers looked at each other curiously, but then looked back down at the Trooper.

    “The engine only uses electricity to spark the fuel and to start, but everything else inside of it is manual. All we need to do is modify the engine to accept a manual kick start, or a pull start. If necessary, we could even crank it like people did centuries back.” The Corporal felt accomplished with his observation, but one thing still bothered him. However he kept that portion to himself. For now, he had to keep the others on his side and had to focus on getting their morale up.

    His attempts at keeping morality up seemed to be working as the men stared at the image in front of them. Briefly after Jake finished speaking, the tarp moved. Jake and the workers looked over to see Redsont appear from the plastic black wall’s moving entrance, and it was difficult not to react. Jake fought against his instinct to salute the man and didn’t say anything to him. The Corporal simply stared over towards the Sergeant as the man stepped forward and glanced at the drawing. When he spoke, Jake glanced down at the paper and tapped his teeth together. Did it really look like a wagon? He had attempted to make it look more like an armored truck than a wagon. But, before he could worry about it to much, Redsont made a good point; it was getting wet. The work area was going to turn into a mudpit soon, so they would have to get moving.

    “Then we have no time to waste.” Jake moved in front of the drawing and pushed it forward into the middle of the table so the others could peer over and get a good look at it.

    “First, we need a base. We have an eight tire stack on the side of the site and we’re going to use all of them. There’s also a one-ton truck on the other side of the tires that’s sitting there. Get some jacks and raise it. Rip out the engine and everything else underneath it with hammers. I want it empty. Everything. When it’s bare aside from the internals, cut out the wheel wells and expand it. Shove in a heavy duty axle and set up the tires. I want one axle in the front, two in the back. Rear two axles double-stacked and the front will have a single pair. Reinforce the axles with extra pipes in order to keep them from breaking. Mud flaps are optional. I want two engines synced to each other in the front of the vehicle. It’ll double out horsepower output into the drive shaft and we’re going to need every bit of it when this stuff gets messy. Modify the truck if you need to, we’ll reinforce it later.” Jake used his pencil to circle the key areas as he spoke and made a quick note about the mudflaps. When he was done there, he moved his pencil to the bed of the vehicle.

    “Here, I need four generators. Redsont, take a look around the surrounding streets quickly when we get back outside and try to spot a warthog. Don’t go far though. I don’t care about the vehicle, I just want the tow on the front. If we can get one, I want it hooked up to the generators on the back of the bed near the cab. That Covenant object is heavy so we’ll need some strength to lift it. If we can’t find the tow, salvage one from a crane.” Jake circled the rear of the vehicle’s bed and made a short edit, noting that the change may be necessary. He also made a mental note to check the cranes more indepthly. If he could get a stronger chain than a warthog tow, then he would use that instead. However, if he couldn’t, he’d need to make sure that tow worked.

    “Once the axles are set and the tires in place, reinforce the wells with as much metal as you can fit. If necessary, cut out the wheel wells entirely and box them. Don’t interfere with tire rotation, but do what you can to protect them. Weld several sheets of metal down on top and around the sides of the hood. Encase the engines as best as possible to keep them from getting blasted or hit with plasma. Once that’s set, get the engines running. I want them up as fast as possible and get the vehicle to move. If you can move it, get it inside the dome. If you can’t, figure out why and get it moving. When it’s in the dome, we’ll move from there. If necessary, forget about the crane until we move it. I want as many hands getting that vehicle moving as possible. Time is blood, gentlemen. The more time we take, the more we put people at risk. Any questions?” Jake twirled his pencil around his finger and stood up tall. He clutched the old, wooden utensil and pocketed it before turning to face the group of men behind him.

    He grit his teeth beneath his visor and felt his body start to grow tense. The first phase was getting to this point, not it was time for the next. His plan needed to work, and it had to work fast. As he had said, time was of the essence. People were dying and the rain was coming down harder and harder with each passing second. The mud beneath him was starting to mush and he could feel it. If it was bad where he was, then it was probably worse elsewhere. Yet, he had a more pressing issue; success. Should he fail now, the Covenant would get away or his allies would react the artifact and his attempt to make it vanish would slip. Jake didn’t want glory, he didn’t want a medal, but if he could move that artifact, he could move the Covenant. If he moved the Covenant, then he would lighten the load on any advancing forces. A distraction of sorts, one of massive proportions. Being the mastermind behind it; Jake felt as if the world was on his shoulders.

    And he felt like a support beam that had no choice but to hold it up. If he caved, then he knew it would be all over.

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Captain Garatus

Garatus sighed in relief as Til lowered his weapon. Garatus holstered his Mauler and approached with his uncle Eugenius, though he had his pack stay back just so nobody on either side got bucky and started something that nobody wanted to happen.

"Thank you Field Master, you honor myself and my pack by accepting us into your force after our former brothers heinous acts" Garatus said, slamming his fist into his chest in salute to Til.

"How may we serve you and the gods Field Master?" Garatus said to his superior.

Unggoy Major Dakek

Dakek was happy that Til was alive, and even happier that he remembered him. Dakek saluted before saying quietly "Glad you are alive too".

He raised his sawed off shotgun towards the dumb apes that had approached, he sure as hell wasn't going down without at least one of them following him. Luckily they were peaceful and wanted to join. Dakek recognized the Captain that lead them as he approached with a Jiralhanae elder who had similar facial features, perhaps they were related.

Minor Talnay Wodam'ee(Dakek's NPC)

Talnay nodded to Major Ra'ab and came to stand beside him, then stooped down next to him. His fists were clenched and slightly raised, he was a prized bare-knuckle fighter back home, but he also had a dagger in one hand he. He had refused to use a Human weapon at all and decided a his dagger would serve him just as well.

The damn apes seemed to be peaceful, and eventually Til lowered his weapon and the Captain and an elder approached, strange Talnay thought to himself.

Jiralhanae BlackSmith Bahtarus

Bahtarus skulked through the edges of the city near to where the Field Master Til Muramai was. He could smell many things, mostly the stench of human, Kig-yar slightly as well. He took another whiff and caught the scent of Unggoy and Yanme'e too. Then the distinctive reptilian smell of the Sangheili, but there was another reptilian smell he caught that was completely unfamiliar to him.

He shrugged off the unknown scent before casually mixing in with those loyal to the Sangheili who he found himself allying with for once in his life.

[Faclan]

SSA-012 - Yanme'e Swarm
Moving off very slowly into the rain and darkness.

The Swarm was some semblance of glad when the Unholy pack bayed them to see them as Holy. SSA wouldn't believe it themselves, but if Master said they were to be trusted, they were trustworthy. Returning to a move relaxed stance they sheathed knives and broken weapons as they moved back to the Field Masters side, exertion and strain visible on all of them to those who knew about the Yanme'e.

But then the order came that they were to look for allies for Master, the Ultra nodding and bowing again. "Yes My Lord, we will move as fast as our wings will allow and will return with those worth and willing." Passing this order through the Swarm glumly nodded as they clambered up the walls to get into a better place to lift off and begin their soaked flight again. The Ultra looking down at the semi-Holy apes before she lifted off with the other ten, one of the Attache's staying back near Til incase someone bad happened. They all seemed normal, but one arrived with several blades, and just tried to meld in with the group...a possible problem as she chittered to get Master's attention and pointed to the specific new arrival.

"One just arrived and tried to meld My Lord, many blades, unknown." Bowing again in Til's direction she took to flight as well and slowly moved out with the remainder of SSA, the rain and strain making the going slow as they tried to look for units in transit back to the dig site to redirect them.

(She spotted and pointed out Bahtarus to Til.)


(NPC) Nas - Kig-Yar Markswoman for Cads file.
Searching, but realizing that they wont find anything for awhile

Nas nodded to Q'ai as she quickly started to move out in a crouch, not wanting those humans to find them again as she retrieved her knife and held it tightly as she tried to listen or scent where her file had gone. She eventually led the Sangheili to a off ramp of the highway, where after shielding her eyes from the rain she looked down at the glowing recently formed inland lake below them. Try as she might she could neither see nor smell any trace of her file, and trying to search all the buildings down there would take a long time. Time which they didn't really have with humans on the lookout, the flooding, and the weakened buildings on top of no weapons. Sighing a bit she turned back to Q'ai and shook her head, still trying to keep the water out of her eyes.

"If they leapt off the bridge and survived the flood they likely took cover in a building Excellency, and there are so many down there it would take us till dawn to begin to search...Maybe we should just try to return to the artifact site? I trust them to make it..." She stammered out, shivering a little from all the rain, but sounding really unsure on what to do, but trying to get a trace of her file was incredibly difficult in the darkness, the flood, and her own injuries.


Cad - Kig-Yar Major
Sleeping as the pain finally gets to him.

Cad nodded a bit as his eye lids slowly started to close in response to the snipers words. But he took a deep breath and managed to get himself to pull himself into a sitting position as he worked to remove his chest and back armor.

"Cad, and saving us was very impressive and we are in your debt for it...but for now I don't think we could get far in the dark even if the flooding waters glow a bit. I myself don't want to swim in it in case something is in there and even with our vision we wouldn't be able to see far." Grunting he slid his arms and beak out of the armor and set it beside him as he removed his soaked long sleeve shirt too, getting the spotter to toss him and Pad some of the clothes from the drawer as at least they were dry and wouldn't cause problems if slept in. Flopping back down against the floor he laid the jacket over himself as he curled up a little to hold his stinging legs again. Needler, armor, and wet shirt laying near him, Needler closest in case the alert was sounded - his long scarf laid out fully so it could dry easier.

"Wake myself in a few units if you would and I'll take second watch...but I think we all need some rest until we can take stock." With that, and some shifting, Cad almost immediately fell asleep as all the exertion and pain finally caught up with him. Pad having also removed her armor but was currently working with the spotter to try to get her broken leg splinted so she could sleep as well, Pad managing to keep her grunts of pain quiet in case some damn humans were looking for them.

(Hope ta slight power play with your spotter was alright Goody)


Eugenius - Jiralhanae Advisor
Pleased his story will continue for a little longer.

Letting our the breath he had been subconsciously holding Eugine smiled and holstered his weapon as well as he approached the Field Master as well. Carefully he stepped over the bodies of his less honorable brethren, giving them a prod with his staff to make sure they were dead before directing his attention to the Field Master. He was still slightly surprised that Til had so easily accepted them into his forces again; but, he mused as he watches the Yanme'e chatter then climb away, he didn't have much choice as he needed warriors to try and retake the Holy artifact.

'Nudging' Garatus's helmet with his staff he nodded to the building Til had indicated. "He asked us to set up in there to await more troops or a plan Nephew, should go set up some perimeter guards and likely get a count on what weapons we have." Turning back to Til he crossed his arm over his chest and offered a little bow, "thank you Master Til for this chance to join you on the righteous path," before he started to move over to the building as well - eager to get out of the rain so they could start planning...though the smell of wet fur was starting to get overbearing.

[deceit]

Ra'ab saw that the Jiralhanae came in peace. When Til lowered his weapon, Ra'ab rose to his full height, becoming visible to the pack from behind the rubble. He loosened his grip on the blade and returned it to its place on his hip. "Thank you, Major." He said to Talnay, nodding appreciatively, "It appears as though there is no need for confrontation here, friend." He then returned to Dakek and his lance, who he was glad had followed. He counted three Unggoy and all four Kig-Yar.

"Where is Tansy?" He asked.

Ransy looked around, "Uh..." he said.

Ra'ab took four powerful strides towards Ransy, closing the gap. He kneeled low, coming to eye level with the Unggoy, "He is a member of your file." He growled in a threatening tone, "Find him. Take responsibility. You are a File Leader now, not a sniveling minor."

Ransy stared blankly for a moment. Ra'ab pushed his head forward in a huff, which caused Ransy to fall backwards into the puddle of water. Ra'ab rose back to his full height once more, "Kig-Yar," he looked to Reevar and the two Kig-Yar Minors, "Patrol along the rear borders. If the humans come for us our in-fighting could be perilous. Major Jib." He looked at the Kig-Yar Major, "Come with me."

Jib reluctantly followed, walking passed Swapdap.

Ra'ab and Major Jib soon stood in an alley with naught but the smell of blood and wet fur as the Jiralhanae corpses lay in the thick pools of water and blood from Field Master Til's destruction, "Do you want to be one amongst these corpses?" He asked the Major.

Jib reeled back, "What?" The rhetoric was terrifying and surreal.

"Do not think I did not notice your fighting. If that Unggoy tells Talnay of what you did...I will be able to protect you from judgement this day, under the circumstances, but maybe not tomorrow or the next day."

The Kig-Yar suddenly seemed to shrink.

"Who do you think you are? A Sangheili? You cannot assault members of another lance. Or my lance. Or any member of the covenant. I understand your frustrations, but I would not tolerate such actions from any race. From a Sangheili or a Kig-Yar, or an Unggoy. My Lance is precious to me. You are precious to me. But I must condemn your actions."

Jib backed up, mistrustful of the one armed Sangheili, "You would never hurt me..." Jib slowly squawked.

Ra'ab was in the young Kig-Yar's face before Jib even had a chance to react. He did not know Ra'ab could move so quickly. His one arm grabbed the Jackal by the shoulder and clamped down hard. His grip was intense. Ra'ab began to shake the Jackal, "Your place in this Lance and in this Covenant is short-lived from this day on, Jib. Stay with us for now, but if you remain too long, there will be an eventual retribution."

Jib squawked and pleaded, grabbing at the Sangheili's arms, clawing but unable to render through the armor.

Ra'ab threw the jackal down into the water and stepped on Jib's chest. It hurt him to do so. Jib did not deserve this. But it was for his own good. He held the Jackal submerged under the water for some time, before releasing him.

"When this mission is over." Ra'ab said, "I do not want to ever see your face again, lest I finish what I started here today." Ra'ab walked away.

It may have seemed cruel, but his actions today was a mercy; he was giving the Kig-Yar a chance at a different life, whereas if judgement were to come to the Jackal, it would be a painful end at the Covenant's brand of "mercy."

[Deleted]

Major Domo Opah' Tionamee
Obeying orders and finding refuge in the storm

He nodded when he heard the Field Master's words, and motioned to the two Minor Elites to move their files with him towards an abandoned sturdy looking building. Inside, there were a few grunts and Elites, and they looked at him as he headed to the second floor of the building. Their eyes were filled with guard, anxious because of the flooding storm. He sighed as he sat down, Itching for some action, while looking out the window with his Carbine in hand, watching the area for some human filths or Brute barbarians who weren't on his great sir Field Master's side.

[BetaWülf]

Captain Garatus

Garatus readjusted his helmet after his uncle 'nudged' it with his staff, Garatus proceeded to flick the end of his uncles snout(which everyone knows Jiralhanae hate to have done to them)before stating what Garatus felt was obvious.

"I meant specifically Uncle, since we know the enemy... well." Garatus said before waving over a Minor from his pack, whispering into his ear for him to find a large barrel or drum to mix up a metallic green paint.

"But if the Field Master has no specific use for us at the moment I will of course go to the building." Garatus said giving a respectful nod to Til.

Minor Talnay Wodam'ee(NPC)

Talnay nodded to Ra'ab "It would appear so Major, it would appear so" he said stroking his mandibles thoughtfully. He turned to Swapdap now and thumped a closed fist down upon his head rather suddenly. Swapdap looked up and Talnay looked down, they both knew why and that was the end of it.

Talnay's heart had fluttered for a moment when he saw Dakek dare to speak to the Field Master, but was surprised when he realized they apparently knew each other. His mind was boggled as he waved for his File to follow him as he walked to the building where everyone else was.

[Deleted]

*** Mission Update ***

The storm has finally stopped and the flooding has lowered considerably in the effected areas. The flooding around the UNSC forces has lowered to three feet making it possible to traverse through the city once more. Meanwhile the flooding in the Covenant dig site has lowered to half a foot allowing them to be concerned with more pressing matters than the artifact. But beware, as the flooding has brought a bit of the wildlife from the sewers out into the streets. The locals appropriately call them "Murder fish". 



They are roughly six inches in length, and four inches in width. They swim in schools in depths that are at least three feet deep, and are very carnivorous. They also have small leg like appendages on their sides that they use to latch on to their prey while feeding. Be wary of these creatures and proceed with caution in the still flooded zones. 

[BasedGoody]

Kig-Yar Sniper Web

"OI! What is that?" Web gasped slightly as he looked down the staircase. He looked to the other Kig-Yar. It had been a little bit. Cad was still asleep. Pad seemed to be dipped in between consciousness too. The sniper spun back to the water. It had drained a fair bit. Web walked down the steps a little bit to confirm his suspicions. Movement. He placed his foot into the water and twirled it around for a bit. Nothing. He placed his feet down further and touched the ground. He could have sworn he saw something.

"The hell...? Tid, get over here." Web spoke to his own spotter. No sound. Web narrowed his eyelids and walked back upstairs. Tid was crumpled up in the corner, asleep.

"Wake up you dolt!" He said, slapping the soldier on the side of the head. He snorted loudly and shook himself awake. He had a confused look on his face. Web motioned for the spotter to follow. The sniper walked back down the staircase and placed his foot in the water and swished it around in a bit. Nothing seemed to be happening again. He spun his head and began to speak when something latched onto his ankle.

"Uh, sir...?" Tid whispered. Web turned back to the water to see a disgusting creature with razor sharp teeth biting down on him. It hurt at first. Then he started to bleed. His colorful blood rushed out into the water, polluting it purple. Suddenly a rush of a dozen of the fish charged him. Web yelped and ripped his foot out of the water, pulling back. The beasts leaped out of the water with open mouths.

"Shit!" He blurted out before launching himself upstairs. The fish grabbing onto his foot was the only one left. It refused to let go. Tid pulled a disgusted face and leaned down to Web's foot. The spotter grabbed the fish applying pressure to it and pulled. It released, with a lot of skin. More blood.

"I'll grab something to stop the bleeding! Tid said. He ran to the drawer, pulled out a human article of clothing and rushing back to the wounded. He placed it on Web's foot and it soon was damp with purple. It caused a lot of pain and might stop him from walking any time soon. Well, they could walk anywhere with those in the water.

"What was that thing?"

[Huka]

Field Master Til 'Muramai

Til lifted a hand and gestured, "All soldiers, onwards." He ordered to everyone after paying respects to Eugenius and Dakek before moving in a reserved jog; not too fast for his strider legs and too close to waste precious time, especially in this heavy rain. When the administrative building was into view, the Field Master paused a moment to take deep, meditative breathes. His chest was feeling depressed and lungs searing for a brief moment. Counting...twelve ticks. The pains are getting better yet worse. When he get off this wretched wet planet, he'll speak with his Healer.

When the eye of his focus steady, the Zealot pulled his dark gold mask of his hip and looked at its avian-like appearance for a brief moment, tracing a clawed thumb along the intricate etching of a eye on the left side. His blind eye useless, the Sangheili didn't see a need to have a visor on that side. Blinking with his secondary lid, the Muram flipped the war mask around and slipped it over his face, unconsciously holding his breath-which can last a long time due to the evolutionary method of hiding under the sand for ambushes-and slipped in the gas tubes.

The mask whizzed as fresh gases before he inhaled deeply to feel the artificial healing agents mingle with the planet's free air, crafting a somewhat distasteful presence in his throat and nostrils. However, his anguish came to the constant remainder of his ill valor, the blessed blast of the Artifact have ruined his recent upgrades to the silencing system in his mask. The horrid hisses and whines of his breathes returned but the Zealot endured it, the sounds was much louder to him than it actually was. To another, it was just heard from about ten feet. Other than that, he could still function effectively.


Jumping over a human vehicle, he pointed to the sight of their gathering; a former administrative center sitting in the short distance between some building, "There, we will rest and prepare in that suitable place until the situation lighten up. This rain and flood will slow our enemies enough for a quick recovery." He explained before springing off in unconscious eagerness to get out of the rain at last, but alas, something else required his attention.


One of the Yamne'e warned him of a incoming Jiralhanae, one with many blades. Halting a moment, he thought and recalled for any of that description. While one of the Captains seemed to fit that profile, the Field Master gestured for everyone to continue on the sentries' line of fire while he dealt with this newcomer, pulling out his new weapon at the same time before hunting this new follower...or trophy. On his backtracking, he fell upon seeing Ra'ab firmly discipline one of his soldiers. The Muram looked from the shadows of the failing flood until it was over, then he stepped onwards until he was practically on the one-armed minor. His masked eyes looking into Ra'ab for one stern second before jerking his head for him to proceed, then continued on with a single glance to the Kig-yar with silence. He had nothing to say, the lance commander's issues with his own is his business. The Zealot had bigger woes to fix at the moment. He might impart some wisdom when he returned.

Major Q'ai 'Muramee


Looking over the ledge of the bridge that he've patrolled over a while ago, his eyes searched before sighing out, "Agreed...move quick yet reserved, the day starting to wane upon me." He said with slight embarrassment of showing weakness to a Kig-yar of all things but the Muram wasn't too proud. Leaving his hands empty, the Sangheili started to jog slowly towards the direction of the Holy Site, hoping his lance have done as instructed or risk a very unhappy Major.

[Faclan]

SSA-012 - Yanme'e Swarm
In trouble.

Despite the slightly bettering conditions of the weather it soon became apparent that SSA would not be able to complete this assignment to the same level as their previous one, if at all. They dispersed the same as they had the first time. Evenly spacing themselves across the city as best they could. But one by one they started to lower their flight height, dropping onto roofs, billboards, through open windows into buildings, and a few unfortunately on the ground. All of them collapsing on their emergency landing spot and doing what they could to regain the feeling in their wings and muster enough energy to carry out the mission. A few of them in the open as targets as they slowly tried to recover.

Only the Ultra remained in the air, but even she could barely continue her flight as she dipped and climbed as best she could to conserve her energy. She was heading along one of the main highways, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for any kind of Covenant troop or equipment that would be useful. But her energy was starting to give out as she finally spotted two shapes on the highway, one to tall and the other too thin to be human, as she turned their way and started to glide toward them.


(NPC) Nas - Kig-Yar Markswoman for Cads file.
Wisely keeping quiet as she moves out

Nodding Nas was thankfully still aware enough to not comment on the Q'ai saying he was tired as she nodded, sheathing her knife as she started running just behind the Sangheili. She was still worried about her file, but they were either dead, washed away in the bright glowing water, or taking cover somewhere, likely keep a low profile to avoid detection. Both of those meant she couldn't help them now, and the best thuing for her to do now was to get back to the Covenant zone so she could be of some use.

Thankfully the rain looked as if it was slackening off. Which was some welcoming good news. But she slowed her run a little as she spotted a shape flying their way. It was large, and she hadn't seen anything that told her there were birds that large on the planet. But it was heading their way slowly and it was losing altitude as she squinted at it.

"Excellency, look." She said quietly as she pointed at the shape, which after a few more seconds revealed it self, to her Kig-Yar eyes, to be a blue Yanme'e in a barely controlled fall to the ground. Widening her eyes she stopped as it some-what glided toward them, managing to pull up a bit at the last moment but still landing hard on top of a abandoned car, breaking all the windows as it collapsed on top of it before them. It's head horn barely missing punching a hole through the roof - clearly exhausted perhaps to a dangerous level.

(Wonder if any Humans will see the odd group P:)


Cad - Kig-Yar Major
Still out, but Pad is checking on the issue.

Sermons and training filled Cads head as he lay curled up under the human fluffy coat. It was a nice dream for once, of the times when he was learning about the True path and when he was happy on his old asteroid home. The pain and deep sleeping keeping him out as his comrades shouted, very odd for him to stay asleep but apparently he needed the sleep. Pad however did get startled awake and limped her way over to the stairs, screwing her face up a bit at the smell of all the blood she glances over the edge down into the slowly lowering waters...but the fish could be more easily seen as they retreated down the steps into the glowing water. Glancing back at their saviors she frowned and moved over to try and observe the injury as she helped tie the clothing article as well as a additional peice to better pad the wound before she nodded down the steps.

"Looks like swimming is now defiantly off the table for now Web n' Tib...I guess once it gets a bit lighter we can see if there's some kind of boat or if we're going to have to try to move from rooftop to rooftop. Is your foot alright? It looks like it took a good bite of it. Though if we're stranded here surrounded by those fish we may want to try and take a bite of them, unless you two have some rations packed."


Eugenius - Jiralhanae Advisor
Nearly taking his nephews head off before returning to the task at hand.

Rolling his eyes as his Nephew adjusted the helmet Eugine was about to start moving toward the building in advance before his snout was flicked by his upstart kin. Narrow his eyes a little he waited until Garatus turned around before he tossed his staff up a bit, catching it in both arms as he held it behind his head, sighting on the back of his Nephews head and looking like a old world base ball player lining up for a pitch, 'cept Garatus's head was the ball, though it would likely go just as far before Field Master Til spoke up again.

Grunting a bit he returned his staff to its normal position and started to move off with the rest of the pack. Once beside Garatus again he cleared his throat a little. "Careful with maneuvers like that nephew, or the recipient may not be as forgiving. But good idea with the paint, though once we are under cover I would still suggest a guard and weapons check." Shaking out his fur once he was under cover he smoothed it out some as he looked back into the ruined city. It seemed like the rain was slacking off, maybe things were starting to look up after all...

[Deleted]

Opah' Tionamee
Following the Field Master to the place of rest.

Opah' finally heard the Field Master speak again, so he got up. "Minors, check your files and weapons while we are walking." He ordered them,  while walking behind the Field Master, a few feet back out of Respect, and grunted softly at the smell of the Brutes. He was Itching for a huge fair fight with the Human filth all day long, and he wasn't about to start complaining about a long walk and maybe some rest. He saw a glimmer of something in the water, but shrugged it off and continued walking. 

[Cabel]

[City of Refuge: Captain Mark “Spade” Seamus Sorelson: Seventh Marines: Alpha Company: With Survivors: En-route to the Farm House]

The column composed of troopers from the local planetary Garrison to marines that had survived from several Pelican crash-sites, along with nearly a dozen civilians and roughly six members from the local police force had made fairly steady progress through the ruined streets. Their destination, along with their primary objective, had been in following one of the first green flares Mark had spotted from the rooftop of a high-end apartment building prior to its collapse, and along the way the mixed column had come across other units of marines to survivors and Army stragglers that had somehow managed to have spotted the same flare. The ruined streets lay littered with the twisted frames of warthogs bearing the colors of the Army to the Marines and even local vehicles from police to emergency services, with many that had been set ablaze earlier only to be doused by the constant rains if not the rising floodwaters now having mostly receded to a more shallow depth. The bodies of the fallen had been either swept along different routes following the current of the floodwaters or had been dragged off by the local wildlife that had made its way into the city had laid to rest one of Mark’s concerns that the few children in the mixed column would see the bodies floating by.

The lone combat medic with some muscle from the Army troopers had been able to not only keep the instacrete chunk he’d been pinned under from crushing him, but had with some of the tools the troopers had scavenged from a neighborhood hardware store managed to cut and remove the rebar rod from his thigh. The pain had been excruciating, but the veteran marine of nearly eight combat tours had come to accept the pain and had managed to keep his mind off of it by talking with some of the other survivors. The rebar rod had missed the major arteries having shot through the thigh bone shattering it, and had only reinforced the notion he’d have to put in for a prosthetic leg after the mission since otherwise he’d be forced to retire or be stuck with a desk job. The thigh had been treated, having been encased in pressure cast and his condition had been stabilized and the others that had been injured had been treated. With the majority of vehicles with either dead batteries or damaged beyond the point of being useful, two of the army troopers had opted to pack the tools into some spare backpacks they’d managed to find in the rubble before emptying the wheelbarrow they’d also managed to scavenge from the same hardware store to transport the tools and from that point on Mark had used it to ride in rather than walk. The notion he’d be left behind while the other survivors managed to make it to safety had largely been out of the question, though if it had come to it Mark had been far more expendable in the long run and he’d have made that choice rather than having lost a single civilian or anyone else under his command.

When higher ground or a ramp to an elevated roadway had made itself available, the mixed column had taken the chance to leave the floodwaters and to relative safety from the piranha-like carnivorous fish the locals he’d found out had been called “Murder Fish” though the few the group had come across or sighted had managed to take out with a few well placed assault rounds or shotgun blasts. For now, the column that had grown in ranks and strength had found itself on an elevated highway with instacrete or rock guard barriers nearly five feet high in places though the methodical sweeps and the leap-frog tactics of the Army troopers to the Marines and the police officers made Mark feel rather proud of them. The Seventh Marines may have dropped into a real foul-up with a lack of intelligence pertaining to the strength and disposition of the Covenant Forces even before the EMP had knocked their birds out of the sky, but their problems hadn’t compared to the shock and nearly helplessness of the planet’s Army Garrison or the city’s emergency services. The notion the three combined forces held the protection of the civilians in their care along with their own safety proved humanity despite its differences had been capable of uniting against an alien genocidal alliance, and that the epiphany the veteran Captain had experienced those many years ago on a frigid storm-ridden night on a moon for all he knew could have been glassed had a ring of truth to it.

A signal passed throughout the column forcing everyone to take cover behind the barriers at the side of the highway, as Mark managed to slip out of the wheelbarrow in time to take cover with a mix of children ranging from teenagers to younger kids and a few of the marine survivors behind one of the rock barriers. His finger rested against the trigger of the MA5C assault rifle while he looked carefully down the line to see the trained personnel in the column had their eyes to the sky or were using their field knives or other devices to scan over the barriers, prompting Mark to do the same. Slowly sliding the field-issued knife from the sheath along his armored breastplate, he’d angled it just enough to make sure that whatever lay beyond the barriers hadn’t been able to notice him using the old axiom that if you could see them then they could see you. The rest of the trained personnel, Marine, Army and police seemed to have caught on as well, and kept their backs against the barriers while checking their own devices, and much to Mark’s surprise a group of flying bugs…a swarm of the chitinous Yanme’e had angled near their position though the veteran marine hoped the flying cicadas would keep on their own flight path passing the entire column by.

Carefully reaching over to a young woman probably in her teens and one of the city’s refugees obviously nervous and fighting back the fight or flight response, Mark with his right hand took hold reassuringly of the woman‘s left hand. He’d set the knife on his lap and lay firm in the knowledge the MA5C assault rifle where it lay strapped to the armor that it wouldn’t shift to use that hand to reassure the young woman to keep quiet and that she wasn’t alone.

[BetaWülf]

Captain Garatus

Garatus had turned away from his uncle after flicking his snout, Jiralhanae were prone to rash acts when annoyed or angered, and Garatus already regretted flicking Eugenius's snout. He turned his gaze back to his uncle as he spoke to Garatus and nodded to the elder Jiralhanae.

"I... I am sorry for... for that 'maneuver' uncle. It was rash of me" Garatus said, he was unused to apologizing(as Jiralhanae are generally too stubborn to admit their own faults). Garatus waved some Majors over and told them to prepare for a weapons count and to find the best suited for guarding.

[Huka]

Major Q'ai 'Muramee
Human Highway, en route to Artifact Digsite

The Muram shuddered in the cold chill of the wind and his drenched body before jumping up in heavy surprise of the sudden fall of a chitinous creature, "By the Rings!" He yelped out with his curveblade out in a fluid motion and hand out to protect his new charge. Blinking the water away from his eyes, Q'ai recognized the creature as one of the Yanme'e. "What is this?" He wondered outloud, stepping towards the fallen thing and gingerly checked for any wound...none that he could see thanks to the well-developed exoskeleton. "What are the Field Master's messengers doing out again?" He questioned at the admittingly large insectiod while carefully getting it out of the rain and into the covering of a nearby human vehicle, nearly ripping the door off with a rough pull.

-

Minor Jhao 'Tilamee (NPC)
Human hunting requisition center

Pressing himself against the wall of the human hunting shop, Jhao watched as the stalking Jiralhanae walk through the halls with the audible sounds of their bestial sniffs. Clicking a mandible in annoyance, Jhao managed to divert their attention from his tired lance-brothers but it left him alone with three of this physically-powerful enemies.

While Jhao instinctively believed himself better than these savages, he knew better than to underestimate them; the hide under their stinking shaggy fur was tough and it made the situation worse with their heavy gravity-borne muscles that could an average Sangheili to a terrible disadvantage, especially for the older members. Smarts-wise, they had the potential of being equal to Sangheili but their tribalism and savagery keep them in check...figuratively.

Slowly pulling the iron arrow in the notch of the human composite bow, which was more of a short bow to him, Jhao sneaked slow and patiently to the hunters' flank while they sniffed for his scent and off-handedly browsed the interestingly useful items. "Come out, come out, Sangheili. We know you are here...we can smell your stench a mile away." The more confident of the three mocked with a chuckle, gripping the spike-firing handgun tight.

Jhao narrowed his eyes venomously and aimed with a point of his claw. While the Jiralhanae were difficult to kill to the average soldier, hunters like himself knew such creatures had weaknesses. Common sense when you think about it. Then he let the arrow fly and the Gods graced him with a clean kill, piercing through the base of the unattentive youth's neck. He gurgled out while trying to pry the arrow out of his thick neck before flying on a shelf of item, tumbling in death throes. The other two shouted and fired their weapons in anger, but Jhao was already gone. Running in long strides with his next arrow already in. Pulling for full strength without breaking the bow, the Tilam hunter tilted his head to see better and fired between shelves, and listened to the pleasing sound of a pained traitor took an arrow to the knee.

[BasedGoody]

Web, Kig-Yar Extraordinaire 

"Looks like swimming is now defiantly off the table for now Web n' Tib...I guess once it gets a bit lighter we can see if there's some kind of boat or if we're going to have to try to move from rooftop to rooftop. Is your foot alright? It looks like it took a good bite of it. Though if we're stranded here surrounded by those fish we may want to try and take a bite of them, unless you two have some rations packed."


Web acknowledged Cad's words. Swimming was indeed not an option. even if they could fend off the murderous fish, his foot was messed up bad. Not as bad as the injuries sustained by his two Kig-Yar friends, but enough to hinder their movement. A boat would make them an easy target. Roof to roof, that's an interesting idea...

"Er, no. I don't have rations on me. I'm a little under-prepared. I'm guessing you don't either?"

Pvt. Barry Barrington

"We're screwed." Barry muttered as he hid behind the car. The team laid behind the vehicles that were on top of a parking garage. Needles pierced through the car and flew through the shattered window. Barry pulled up his AR and sprayed out at the Covvies' cover. They cringed at the shot and huddled backwards. The Private did not let up his fire and emptied the clip through gritted teeth as the stock smashed into his shoulder. The recoil grabbed the weapon by the barrel and pushed it up and to the left. It veered off by the time the last bullet left the chamber.

"Yeah, I wanna say we got three of those Orange little shits, a red one, and one of the white pricks!" Mike yelled over the splash of plasma. Barry nodded to himself and sat down behind his cover. Him, Donald and Mike were behind a red van while the other two hid next to a pick-up. The Private ripped out his magazine and placed it with his other mags, all lied out before him. Empty shells were littered around He pulled it out and stared at it's contents. Without the ability to read off the ammo he did it manually. He lost count in the twenties and shoved it in the weapon. Barry chambered a round and pulled the trigger and let loose a volley of rounds before enemy shots drove him back.

Donald looked to Barry and Mike before pulling up as he fired his Battle Rifle at the Covenant soldiers. A bloody scream emerged. The Pvt poked up his head to find the lead Grunt drop to his knees with a cracked helmet and blue blood pouring out. It fell flat to the ground, limp.

"FUCKIN' A!" Mike yelled and pumped his fist in the air. His hand retracted faster than it lifted as he saw something that made his face go white. Barry narrowed his eyes and turned to whatever he was looking at. Four cries of courage rang in the air as the remaining Grunts bull-rushed the UNSC with grenades in hand. Barry paused in fright for a moment with Michael before Donnie grabbed both of them by their collars and pulled them back.

They snapped into reality and spun around, sprinting towards the staircase. Pvt. Lloyd and The Corporal followed close behind. In a cluster they nearly all crumpled down the stairs. The fireteam landed in a pile at the bottom with the suicidal soldiers madly charging down. Cpl. Goodwin pushed everyone back with outstretched hands and attempted to run before the Covenant team exploded into Grunt innards.

Barry lifted himself off the ground in disgust and flipped over. Harold held out a hand to help lift him up. Goodwin motioned for the rest of the fireteam to head downstairs.

[Faclan]

SSA-012 - Yanme'e Swarm
Moving into a possible bug trap and finally seeing some possible allies.

Resting on their chosen perch of choice the Yanme'e of SSA either laid flat or leaned on somthing as they slowly moved their wings up and down to regain the strneght in them to continue on their flight. So far many of them had been unmolsted as they rested, but three specific ones had made contact, or possible contact.

The Blue ultra that landed on the car in front of the Sangheili and Kig-Yar knew they were there, but a bit of spittle fell like the rain on the floor as she sucked in great lungful of air as her back felt like it was on fire. She had a message to deliver of course, one that would likely be bad for the traitorous Kig-Yar as she finally raised up her head and offered a weak bow to the Sangheili.

"Master...Unholy hair ones," she started in broken Sangheili. "Betrayers, take Holy Relic. Them," she motioned to the Kig-Yar female beside the Sangheili, "With hair ones. Lord Til make new base, I take you it, you deal with betrayer."

Meanwhile the two that happened to land near a very large group of humans glanced at each other, the female Engineer and male Soldier nodded a little as their pulled out their knives and hopped off the semi truck trailer they had landed on. Humans were around here, the smell was easy to scent even over the rain. Doing a peculiar hop skip walk they made their way toward the smell, one of the bugs with a bandolier full of tools and the other with a belt of broken plasma grenades as deactivated plasma pistols sat uselessly on both. Neither of them knowing just how many humans were waiting there, and that a large section of their group was armed.


(NPC) Nas - Kig-Yar Markswoman for Cads file.
Panic panic panic!

Frowning at the collapsed Yanme'e Nas took the backpack off her shoulder and fished around. She couldn't really understand what was being said as her grasp on Sangheili was pretty lacking, but she did however understand betrayer as she snapped her beak up to look at the Yanme'e and Q'ai as she fished around more slowly now and watched the large bug.

Finally finding the files rations she had been looking for she had just taken them out and was going to offer them to Q'ai and the bug before she heard betrayer again, and could see the bug looking right at her. Widening her bright eyes she dropped the rations onto the ground, the open backpack left on the ground as she held up her hands and backed up quickly. Her now large eyes snapping to Q'ai's large knife as she breathed quickly. For the second time today she was being threatened with a cut throat or beheading...from both sides of the war.


Cad - Kig-Yar Major
His turn for the watch...and trying to think of a way out of this situation.

Opening his eyes a bit Cad groaned quietly as his legs only felt a tiny bit better. They weren't broken per say, but as he slowly ran his hands down them he suspected there were a few fractures at least...walking any sort of distance now, especially with no adrenaline to soften the blow, would be agony for himself as well as Pad. Speaking of Pad she had moved her position against the wall as he glanced around the room, head peaking out from under the large coat like some kind of newborn babe.

Spotting his comrades by the stairs he dragged himself out from under his cover, before shivering a little and putting the coat on himself. The bottom of it dragged a bit as he limped over but it would keep him warm at least as he maneuvered around his armor and shirt and made it to the top of the stairs. He didn't see the fish that had caused the injury to Web, but the amount of wrapped made him guess that it had been a pretty big fish.

Pad shook her head as she looked to the side to see Cad slowly make his way over, snickering a little at the humorous site of him in the human coat. The humor hopefully helping to lighten the mood in their deadly situation as she shook her head.

"Our Markswoman had our simple rations, and she was probably knifed by that human back on the highway...so we'll either have to try to make it back soon or try and loot some food for ourselves."

"Correct, but to search we need to wait for this water to recede a bit more and some light to try and see if humans are searching for us," he started as he nodded at them all. "I'll take a watch and wake you when we have more light. We'll make it out of here yet, just get some rest." Limping over to the window overlooking the bioluminescent water he pulled over a old human chair and sat down, looking for any kind of threat from the darkness of the room. The tip of his beak just seen from certain angels as he watched.


Eugenius - Jiralhanae Advisor
Pleased.

Smiling at his Nephew for once he gave his snout a flick, fair dues and all that, as he nodded. "Good on you, being pig-headed all the time will just give your noggin more weight when it gets severed from your body." Stretching a bit he leant his staff against the wall as he removed his Impaler pistol, giving it a little spin before he removed the ammo canister and checked down the barrel, removed and reattached the blade, and clicked the hammer back and forward a few times. Pleased that it had survived the rain he replaced the canister, his Nephew perhaps seeing something he should send away for as he nodded as Garatus directed his troops to their appointed tasks.

"What's your plan once we have identification, weapons checked, and ready to go? Are you going to wait for the Field Masters orders or try and suggest an avenue of attack...Maybe we should send out scouts to check on the humans? We might be able to have them clear out the artifact site for us then just sweep in after they are weakened?" He mused as he leant beside his staff with his damaged hand resting on his chin.

[Armory]

Sergeant Johnathan Miller 

Physical/Vehicle Status: Heartbeat levels at normal, physical condition is uninjured though soaked to the bone. 

Emotional Status: Stable though not happy with the weather.

Time Zone: 21:05 Hours Refuge Planetary Time

Location: Desolate Cityscape, Refuge Colony

Current Mission: CASEVAC extraction for wounded and KIA from Lieutenant Adams's downed pelican


Miller's boots splashed in the small puddles that were beginning to form as he cleared the downed soldier from the wreck. The pelican had taken quite a hard landing and had left quite a sizable dent in the ground upon impact. The shredded metal was clearly beyond repair and gave the crash the appearance of a twisted metal monster. The marine wiped the sweat the was building on his brow before propping himself up on his MA5 carbine in silence. The salvage and evacuations had been going on for quite a while now will little to no success. Most of the marines had died on impact and they were fighting somewhat of a losing battle with the weather at the moment as the small rain had turned into a downpour. Miller rubbed his combat gloves together in an attempt to produce some warmth that was hardly provided by the armor which was made strictly for protection and wasn't as well made to face the elements as his comrades armor. The rain was coming down in a quite heavy torrent now as visibility started to decay in the storm of droplets. Miller breathed out watching the cloud that was now his breath drift up into the darkened skies above were no doubt the fleet was. Miller couldn't help but wonder what was going on up in the black void above. 

He gave a grunt before standing up as helped Ingram drag the last solider on their side of the compound under a nearby awning to give him some protection from the elements around him. Ingram nodded at Miller to confirm no unattended soldiers were left out in the open before the two moved through the dark downpour towards the two officers they were fighting against time with. Lieutenant Adams was pulling free health kits to fill the supplies pile. Miller looked at the officers before nodding to both of them to signal they were ready to go before having a look at the supplies. The pile was quite big by most standards and Miller knew it would probably take at least two trips back and forth between the supplies and men. 

The scene was a tactical nightmare to be exact. One had to make a choice between leaving the soldiers or supplies behind. Miller looked at the two resources. He watched the Colonel giving Adams a order before moving away. Miller was silent as he milled over what he knew so far about the drop and the mission that had gone horribly wrong, that was until his thoughts were broken by the sound of something that sounded like a low rumbling. Then the torrent of water from the over taxed sewer system rushed forwards send Miller and his crewman sprawling. The soldiers pushed themselves up to a standing position before wading their way through the cold water towards the crewmen had fared well, but the Colonel was still nowhere to be seen. 

Miller and Ingram glanced around before slowly wading their way through the flooded area towards were the Colonel was last seen. Then the sound of splashing caught Miller's ears sending him in a half high step run through the water towards the Colonel who had been thrown into the drink. The current had began to rip the Colonel away from the shore like a riptide, his heavy gear simply dragging him down in the icy waters threatening to drown him completely. Miller swore before tossing his gun towards Ingram as he put on the speed towards the whirling currents. The Colonel was managing to his head above water, but one could tell his strength was fading in the cold water.Miller quickly started to empty his pockets with Ingram following close behind to collect them. The Tanker then took a deep breath and took the plunge after the Colonel.

The tanker felt the icy waters cut into him as he pulled his head above water before moving towards the Colonel. The soldier finally managed to latch onto the Colonel before hauling the mans head above water before glancing around for somewhere to latch onto as a life line. The marine moved his free hand down to his combat knife before managing to slide it free from it's holster. The water combined with Colonel Killringer's weight was starting to take a toll on the tanker as he fought forward looking for anything to grab onto. Then he got his object, a large car had fallen near the not so friendly white water rapids and offered the hope of being able to get the hell out of this. Miller reached out before driving the combat knife into the worn metal on the cars side.

The blade slid a bit as it enter the worn metal before finally sticking in firmly, offering a handhold that Miller didn't know how long it would last. Miller began to struggle forward fighting with all the strength he had at the moment pulling the Colonel behind him before he slowly began to pull the Colonel onto the dry ground. With one final heave Miller lunged forward pulling the Colonel onto the shore with him. Miller felt his lungs heaving for air as he pulled himself into a sitting position against the car removing his knife from the metal. The Sergeant pulled himself to a standing position his legs feeling like lead has he moved over to the Colonel and offered him a gloved hand to help him up.

[Huka]

Major Q'ai 'Muramee

The Sangheili major tilted his head with a look of grave concern at first to the Yanme'e words, but he sensed truth in its communication and this concern into bubbling anger. How dare the Jiralhanae make their bid of power now. Now of all times. Angling his head, the yellow eye sitting on the side of the helmed skull stared at the obviously-frightened Kig-yar and his claws held his curveblade tight.

"What are you scared for, Kig-yar?" He questioned, turning slowly towards the female. He didn't need to do anything, she was nothing compared to him. While he was cold and sluggish in this abominable rain, the Major could still wring her scrawny neck. "Do you align yourself with the Jiralhanae traitors?" Q'ai prompted, his eyes bearing a ominous gleam in the moonlight's glare.

Either answer can do just find for the Muram; he needed to loss the extra weight to find his lance if the answer is yes. If no, then there is strength in numbers and some hope for the whole merchant-minded species in his views.


Field master Til 'Muramai

The hunt was longer than expected, when he left the other survivors to their temporary base, Til was attacked by another small pack of the traitors-possibly the other half of his original kills if he recalls the ultra correctly-but they were a mere annoyance to his bigger troubles. Leaving the Jiralhanae with their throats slit and guts open, the Zealot entertained himself as odd-legged fish emerged from the waters and devoured on the bodies.

However, he lost interest after a thunder-clap. Jerking his head up in reaction, the Field Master continued his stalking. Minutes in his movement, stepping out onto a small building and looking down to the streets, Til saw his target; the Chieftain's pack's blacksmith. He certainly was armed to the teeth. Lifting his rifle, the Zealot pondered to just kill him. A couple needles to the skull will do just fine.

"Halt!' He commanded firmly, "What is a lonely blacksmith doing patrolling in these ghostly streets?"

[BetaWülf]

Bahtarus, Jiralhanae Blacksmith

Bahtarus paused as a powerful voice rang out, speaking to the Blacksmith directly. He turned in the direction of the voice which he easily recognized as that of the Field Master Til Muramai, his crossbow was half raised but still pointing downwards slightly. He chose to lower it a little more just to be on the safe side before speaking.

"I had a slight disagreement with my kinsmen when they decided to take my fine wares without paying. And when push came to shove a few heads decided to roll off their shoulders when my sword arm moved, quite the the oddity that both happened at right about the same time" Bahtarus said smart-assedly before continuing with his usual grim demeanor.

"And I thought to myself 'who were always good to pay?', and do you know what conclusion I came to Master Til? I stopped and exclaimed 'the Sangheili always paid!' and that's basically the the all of it. You pay, they didn't and I found that unsatisfactory. So, are you in the market for a fine sword? Axes mayhaps? Or maybe a stunning crossbow?" Bahtarus said with a soft chuckle at his half hearted sales pitch.

"So, shoot me or don't, I'm a busy man and don't have all day" Bahtarus said with a deadpan face and in complete seriousness. He was not to be trifled or toyed with, even by those of high rank.

[deceit]

Ra'ab stopped in his tracks as he saw the Zealot, Til, arrive, showing that he had seen everything which had occurred. Ra'ab was frozen in awkward silence. The Zealot's one disturbing eye locked in on Ra'ab's gaze. Ra'ab didn't even have the decency to look away in fear or shame, he was simply frozen before the Zealot's mighty gaze. Finally, with a jerk of his head, the Zealot signaled for Ra'ab to be on his way.

Ra'ab stepped forward, nodding very slowly in recognition. His brain wasn't thinking particularly clearly, only thoughts of wonderment and bewilderment on what the Zealot might be thinking after witnessing what Ra'ab himself would consider barbaric disciplinary actions...Even if it was for the best for the poor Kig-Yar, who was standing looking at the ground in shame. He had noticed that the Zealot approached, but even so, Jib did not and could not look up at the Zealot. Jib was a prideful Kig-Yar, Ra'ab knew, and this shame would do him no good. But Jib's brazen behavior would, and had, often lead the lance to many troubles. Ra'ab would not tolerate it. Jib would likely slip away into the night, Ra'ab knew.

Or try to cut his throat in the very same night.

He hoped the Kig-Yar would not go to such drastic measures. But this was the only way Ra'ab could see it ending without killing the little bastard.

The two strode through the alley and out back towards the building that had been designated as the regroup area.

Battle lay ahead. Ra'ab needed to put these things aside, rally his troops, and get them ready for the coming task. The Jiralhanae were brutal, vicious, and known fighters. While not really respected for their intelligence or honor, their physical attributes and ability as warriors were as natural to them as a Sangheili's. It would require a lot of luck for his Lance to get through this together and alive.

[BetaWülf]

Captain Garatus

Garatus thought for a moment at his uncles questions, he was new to battling heretics and was out of practice fighting other Jiralhanae seriously since the war had given his people a common enemy. The last time he fought other Jiralhanae was in sparring exercises to train his Minors, not exactly a challenge for a Captain. He scratched his chin in thought since this wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"We shall send scouts ahead since it makes good sense uncle, but I fear that the Human scum will defile the artifact or even damage the holy relic if we allow them to fight and defeat the heretics for us. I think perhaps that we should go on the offensive and drive the heretics into the Humans ranks and allow them to weaken and destroy each other." Garatus said to Eugenius as a Major approached.

"Captain, we have completed the weapons count" the Major said bowing respectfully to Garatus and then Eugenius.

"What all do we have Major?" Garatus asked his Major.

"Yes Captain. We have ten Bruteshots, twelve Spiker rifles, five Maulers and three Impalers, four if you count the Shamans" the Major said, gesturing to Eugenius at the end. "Also the paint is ready Captain"

"Excellent Major, you have done well. Go take a break and tell the rest of the pack to start painting their armor and after they are done with that to see if they can scrounge up some Human civilians for supper, preferably alive for freshness." Garatus said dismissing the Major.

"As I was saying I think we should push the heretics back towards the Humans and let the Humans destroy the heretics. That way we can swoop in after the dead heretics have weakened the Human scum for us to stomp into the mud" Garatus said to Eugenius.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

Private

Blood on the leaves

Hunter was slumped against the apartment's sleek, white wall. He scribbled notes into his journal, adding on to the Scrawnies and their apparently amazing senses. Riley and Andre were busy arguing, and Chaz was looking out the window, arms crossed and DMR leaning against the side of the wall. James was sitting at a desk, a map of the city lain out and his pen meandering across the page with graceful fluency.

Hunter took a few moments to just look at the Corporal before stretching his back, shutting his little notepad, and shoving it into his pocket. He pushed himself to a standing position, and waltzed over to his fireteam leader. Once he reached his checkpoint, Hunter leaned over, balancing himself by pressing his hands upon the side of the desk. James glanced up for but a moment, before getting back to his work.

"Hunter."

"Boss."

"Whatcha' need, Private."

"Just wondering what your big plan is? We're kind of stranded, with no way to get communications running. We're stuck, sir. The streets are filled with dust, and we're just in a shitty place right now."

"I know, I know... I just don't know what I plan to do about it... We could-"

SHHK!

So fast, so surprising, Hunter couldn't have ever anticipated it as the warm liquid sprayed across his left cheek and lip. James' eyes grew wide, and his mouth opened, but nothing came out.

The map grew wet, soaked in the dark, red liquid.

Hunter's eyes travelled over to the golden spike, injected in his Corporal's back, and poking out of his stomach.

On the other side of the room, Hunter saw two creatures. They both held small submachine gun looking weapons, but with two large blades, almost looking like demonic bayonets. One of the creatures was covered in brown hair from his face to his two clawed feet. The other one had light gray skin, a mouth full of sharp, jagged teeth, and dark pink tattoos running along his entire being. Both wore little armor. They looked like savages.

"Brutes!" Hunter heard, snapping him back to reality as Riley's body collided with his, tacking him being a couch as a volley of the same golden spikes stabbed into the wall, right where Hunter was standing. Andre also jumped into action, raising his SAW and firing towards the pair of beasts. One leaped towards Andre, swinging his massive fist. Hunter's friend leaped backward, but the skimming force of the blow sent him toppling over the desk, taking the wounded James with him.

Hunter staggered to his feet and raised his weapon, coming to a draw with one of the Berserkers. Berserkers. Yes, perfect name.

An object smacked to the muzzle of the hairless Berserker, and smoke suddenly filled the room. Hunter still pressed down his weapon, but that only illuminated the approaching, nine foot tall figure's silhouette. Feeling Chaz's hand press against his shoulder, Hunter started to exit the room through the fire escape. Chaz ripped open the window, and Andre went first, carrying James over his shoulder with effort. Riley went next, then Hunter. The Private fluently crouched and stepped through the small exit, and Chaz emulated the movement. They took no time to shut it as they sprinted down the spiraled set of stairs.

"Let's go, let's go!" Hunter yelled. Andre made it down first, running into the street, and beside a small maroon car. He ran to the other side, and leaned James against it. Hunter and Riley raced around to the other side of the car, and Chaz slid across the hood, coming to one knee and aiming at the fire escape.

"They're coming." Chaz spoke, sooth and soft despite their leader's wounded position.

"Shit..." Hunter snarled.

What now.

Roc

Skirmisher Captain

No pain no gain

Roc woke suddenly, and the pain hit him just as quick.

"AGH!" He crowed, spit flying. He writhed wildly, like an out of water fish, trying to get the hands off of him, but they simply pressed harder on him, restraining him down. His eyes flashed wildly as he looked at his surroundings. He was on a table. Some platform if not a table.

His armor was torn off of him, tossed aside. His fluorescent blood stained it, and one of his minors was busy cleaning it. His wild eyes darted over to his own body, which was also stained in what must have been his blood. He was dressed in rags, his under armor clothing, and that was it. His wild eyes looked straight up, and he saw three other Kig-Yar holding him down. They were his soldiers, Skirmishers. Two of them were minors, one was either covered in human blood, or held the rank of a major.

He saw two other soldiers with Needle Rifles guarding the windows, with sun and dust coming through the cracks in the walls and the windows. It looked as if they were in some shack, maybe a shed. It was not a pretty place. Tools everywhere, from shovels to saws to screwdrivers.

The Captain's gaze went to his right arm, and he attempted a gasp, but nothing came out. His forearm was drenched in his own blood, and a rag was tied around his wrist.

Just his wrist.

Where was his hand.

Roc's vision grew weak, and he drowned in blackness once again.

[BasedGoody]

Sgt. Garret Gizinski

The Sergeant winced in pain as he tried to stand up. His arm was badly broken. His eyes swiveled around the room and found their way to a door that led outside of the crushed building. The marine limped outside, holding a magnum. His feet sloshed around in the shallow water as he placed his sidearm in it's holster. Using his non-wounded hand he clutched the bone spurting out of his left elbow. He bit his lip until blood dribbled down his chin so he wouldn't scream at the pain. His squad was gone, either dead or MIA. Either way there was no chance of him heading back into the building to look without help.

"Fuck me." He said as searing pain shot up his shoulder. He needed help to dress his injury soon. The Sergeant started down the sidewalk on a constant lookout. No noise emitted from the collapsed building. Garret looked at the carnage that was once a populated city. Without the distraction he could almost picture people walking down the street, no smoke in the air, fun being had, an even-

SHHK

What the Hell? That sounded like a spike had just found it's target. More shots followed. Gizinski spun around to see a firefight ensuing. He narrowed his eyes and limped towards it. He pulled out his magnum and held it in his good hand, pulling back the hammer with his teeth. From what he could see across the street some more UNSC were woefully unprepared to take on some Brutes. Maybe he could help.