Mission 2:1st Try(Or How not to do a Land Mission)

[elando]

Crew Expendable

February 28th, 2531

Military Time: 08:04

Closing upon Planet Lethe, Gilese 876 system

Captain Hallam, UNSC Midnight Silence, Task Force Mirage

"Attention. This is your Captain speaking." Came a voice over the intercom. "We'll be touching down planetside shortly. Prepare your gear and get ready to move out." "Alright ladies, assholes and elbows! Lets go!" I shouted, banging on the nearby locker to get my squad's attention. "Suit up and get your gear. We meet at the Pelican bay in 10 minutes."

The squad moved in silent, grabbing up their weapons and securing their suits. There would be no time for screw ups if someones suit wasn't secured properly down on Lethe, the toxic fumes would kill you in minutes without the proper filtration gear. Quickly they all jogged down to the Pelican bay to await entry to the planet.

The plan was to load up every Pelican on the ship with Marines and ODSTs and land them a couple of miles off from the Assault Carrier. Then the strike force would just walts in, and take back the data. Or at least thats how the high ranking officers had made it out to be. But, an Assault Carrier reduced to just a quarter of its full combat ready forces, spewing fumes and fires from the various holes punctured in its hull and barely flying was still just as impossing as the fully functional thing.

As we reached the Pelican bay we waited in the throng of other Marines and ODSTs to embark. It wouldn't be long now...

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 178-Joe

Joe walked into the armory to recieve his weaponry. The bulky Mjolner armor incasing him was surprisingly quiet, despite it's size. He felt the stares of marines and ODSTs as he passed them. Thier glares felt like they could melt steel. He simply turned to them and gave a short waving gesture. The marines's and ODSTs's faces went from awe to confusion. Joe turned back and proceeded to the weapon dealer.

"So uh, what will it be?", he asked.

"I'll take a battle rifle and a shotgun", Joe replied.

The arms dealer handed Joe the BR and shotgun along with three grenades and ammo. Joe turned towards the exit and proceeded out towards the hanger bay to start his mission.

ODST Sergeant Jack Redsont

Redsont sat in a pelican squared away for the upcoming mission. Desmond was helping John get stowed away while Pat napped before the Op. Fred was chatting with Ed when the alarm for the Op sounded. John thanked Desmond and climbed as Pat awoke from the alarm.

"Damn that is noisy", Pat yawned.

"Heh, well they have to get the message across somehow", Desmond joked as he climbed into the pelican.

"Ain't that the truth", Redsont replied.

"So we're dropping onto a planet that has rivers of lava?", Ed asked.

"Wait, what did you say?", John asked worriedly.

"Don't worry rookie, we have a desination that is solid land, no lava", Redsont assured him.

Several marines and other ODSTs climbed into the pelican before the hatch closed. The pelican had left the hanger and one of the most important Ops Redsont had ever been on had begun.

[Soulstep]

Corporal Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad 1st Company Aboard the UNSC Mirage

Andrew yanked the Assault Rifle out of it's harness in the armoury and walked out with the others. They headed to the bustling hangar, where, for once, the ODSTs would be joining them in the Pelicans, probably due to the planet's surface's unstability, and the lava seas.

"Lemme get this straight, we're going down there, waiting while the ODSTs clear the grav-lift, then we sit there and get ourselves killed while they try to figure out how to fly it? Great, just fucking great." Ben moaned behind him, as they hopped onto an empty Pelican.

"Ben, shut the hell up." Sarah calmly said as she sat, Ben giving her a scowl as he too found a seat. Adam was loading his shotgun, taking his time as he loaded each shell. Tom silently shoved the clip into his Battle Rifle.

Andrew rested his head, as one of the Marine Marksman teams boarded the Pelican, along with a squad of ODSTs. If his team was any indication, it would be a long ride.

[zim565]

OOC: Hi! I don't really have a squad so if anyone can help me get mine...I will be incredibly grateful!

IC: (SPC Daniel Flores)
The hangar was a complete chaos, all kind of people running around, moving crates, jumping inside transports, loading guns, captains and sergeants shouting at their squadrons and there he was standing at the middle of everything, shaking inside his armor and sweating inside his helmet. The noise was incredible, but he could only hear his heart, going faster each second it passed and holding his Silenced MA5B with all his strength, with both hands, inside his head he told himself over and over again the mission objectives. With a sniper attached to his back, in case it was needed, he couldn't find the enough courage to walk to his designated Pelican and actually he couldn't even remember to which squad he had been assigned to, his first missions and apparently it was going to be his last .


Whats wrong with me! - he thought - Just move dammit! Come on! all your life you waited for this moment and now you are terrified? Dad and Mom are dead, and this is the time you can get payback, you...you...I just don't want to die

He was brought back to reality when warthog almost ran over him. After getting up the floor he looked at the warthog being loaded to a Pelican, he tried to calm himself, he gave a couple of steps when he realized he didn't know which was his squadron. He looked around until he found what appear to be another ODST, slowly he got close to him and touched his shoulder.

"Ehm sir? Ehm I´m kinda lost...Ehm can you help me find my squadron..sir?

He felt like a 5 year old asking to a cop to help him find his parents

[Deleted]

February 28th, 2531

Military Time: 05:04

Planet Tethe, preparing to deploy from the Assault Carrier

Major Domo Keta Dutolee, Covenant

Keta writhed inside the assault helmet. A sealed helmet was required, but Keta could not move his mandibles freely and his breathing was restricted. The entire assault harness was new to him, he had never used anything else but the combat harness in his years of service. And now, he didn't think he was ever going to wear anything but the combat harness again.

Keta stepped into the armory, grabbing a fully charged plasma rifle, activating the magnetic seals on his leg armor and attaching the plasma rifle, and grabbing a carbine and as much ammo as he could. He loaded the carbine and placed it on his back. He made sure all of his armor was properly sealed before making his way to the Grav lift.

Once there, he opened his comms and said, “Ardent lance, Beneficent lance, Champion lance, on me. We are going to scout the area for any Human scum, and crush them underfoot.”

[zheidox]

Spec Ops, Minor Vien 'Tionamee, Covenant Assault Carrier

Vien, a Minor Sangheili in the Special Operations unit of the Covenant walked into the armory. Within the armory was various weapons of mostly plasma sort, but there were a few Brute weapons in the area. His eyes scanned the area, looking for a weapon that suited his needs.

He picked up one of the remaining beam rifles, along with a plasma rifle and a pair of plasma grenades. He took a breath, and picked up a battery for his beam rifle in the case he ran out of ammunition. He knew that the beam rifle could only fire so many shots, and it was worth it to him to carry an extra battery.

After getting all his weapons, he went to the armory. He armed himself with the sealed assault varient of the armor, designed for spacial battles. Unlike a lot of other Sangheili, he was used to this varient from experience in many space battles in which he couldn't breathe normally in.

"Special Operations seventeen, report to the gravlift immediately!" his commanding officer, Ramo, barked into the private COM channel.

"As you wish, your excellency." Vien replied, and walked to the gravlift swiftly.

After about ten minutes of crossing the ship, he arrived with the rest of his squad.

"Vien, you have arrived at last." Ramo said. "Repeating our orders, we are to guard the ship as the humans will most likely attack the gravlift. Vien and Reg-Grew, you two will be outside of the ship guarding. The rest of you are with me." the commanding Sangheili finished.

"With honor!" Vien shouted, and exited the ship with Reg, a Kig-yar.

[daeron]

Sergeant Louis Bernard
Zeta Company
Quarters

Bernard moved from his bed, looking around, the sudden disturbance put a nervous shock through his spine. He gripped his helmet and through it on, the usual comlink connected. Parron had bunked with him and although he was back from recovery, he seemed fine.

Let's move, get to the weapons depot, lock and load quickly. We don't have much time. Bernard spoke over the comlink.

They fell out of their bunks, even the Rookie had healed and was still with them. The squad made their way downs, fully armored in their usual battle uniform. Entering the weapons depot was a bit hard, several other personnel were there, so they waited on moments, then grabbed their weapons and made their way to the hangar. Several pelicans were in bound, but Bernard motioned for his squad to follow to their designated one.

"Get in, take a seat, and shut up," He spoke to them as they piled in.

Over the ship's comlink he spoke, "Zeta squad accompanied for, Awaiting planet side."

[nex]

WO Steve 'Crash' Colsten

Aboard the UNSC Mirage

He turned the helmet over in his hands, running his fingers over the smooth matte finish. His thoughts were dwelling on the events of the last few days. Things had changed rapidly, almost overnight. He'd been arrested and interred aboard the UNSC Forlorn Hope, for crimes of 'Treason' and 'Insurrectionist activities against the UNSC'. He'd been stripped of all his worldly possessions - Not that he had many. The accusations were close enough. He'd expected to languish in some off world prison; maybe cannon fodder to prolong the covenant advance. He'd heard stories of that happening. But no. What happened next had caught him off guard.

They'd arrived at the Epsilon Eridani System - Reach specifically - and he was transferred aboard a station there. He hadn't given up much about himself to his captors thus far. They hadn't really asked. But an ONI officer had gotten it out him. And offered him a job. And here he was now. With rank an armour. Every part of him that was individual had been stripped away. He hadn't been allowed to keep the trench coat- Not that it was much good anymore. But on the plus side, he had a new PDA, with much of the UNSC's updated intrusion software.

He continued to hold the helmet in his hand. To him it was a reoccurring symbol of oppression that he had seen so much through his life. He'd managed to swap his armour for a Pilot's flight suit. Not as protected, but far less bulky and more comfortable. And it had enough pockets for what he wanted. He still had to wear the bright armband that marked him out as a non-combatant. His role was electronic support. He'd go out with the special forces, try to capture the ship. He'd be with the best, but that still didn't settle the feeling of unease.

Finally, with a deep sigh, much like admitting defeat, he pulled on the helmet and made his way through the crowded corridors to the armoury. He made his way to the already busy armoury.

He could feel the stares and half-hear the mutterings of the marines; the result of the a long grown dislike for support crew and technicians. It was their opinion that they were fighting this war alone.

Although he only planned to withdraw a sidearm, the vast availability of weapons caught him off guard. He selected a side-holstered M6C/SOCOM, as he had originally intended, but decided at the last minute to pickup a M7S Caseless Submachine Gun, strapping it tight against his chest. It would more than likely be used before the end of the day.

His eyes also picked out for him a length of Thermite-Carbon cord, a can of C-7 and a combat knife that looked like he could trust it.

Signing his name, for the purposes of some lucky administrator, far behind the lines. He made his way back through the crowded corridors, towards the pelican bays. He had no idea where he was supposed to be. He didn't really care too much either. He suspected he might be on a second wave, with reinforcements.

Until he was sure however, it was best to be ready.

[maxii1]

/ Spartan: 152
/ Petty Officer Second Class
/ Harry


Petty Officer Second Class Harry-152 walked the innards of the ship wishing to be called into action. He was not able to relax when not on an operation, he had been trained to fight, and that is what he did.
“Gamma Two here” he radioed through his headset.
Moving with ease, 152 smiled as fellow soldiers stood aside to let him pass, marines and ODST’s smiling or saluting as he moved past. Harry returned their greetings. It was only right to be cordial to colleagues or at least nice.

He was following in the foot steps of a fellow Spartan, who had just grabbed his own weapons before heading to the Hanger Bay.
“Hello there sir, just missed Joe” greeted the sergeant on duty.
“Alright there?” Harry asked with a cheeky tone, he couldn’t help it it was his cockney accent which always gave him a cheery temperament.
“Fine sir, take what you like and leave what you don’t”

Harry didn’t need to be told again, he already had his service pistol holstered by his side and took a 64 clip Assault Rifle. Nodding his thanks to the armourer he moved onwards towards the pelican hangers.

[caster]

Executive Officer Shri T'ova

System: Gilese 876, Planet: Lethe

Pious Charity, Gravity Lift Bay

The Cleric of Piety and Ship Master Joo'Nae had been scarcely seen since the Pious Charity had dropped out of slip space over this planet. The Charity had taken a few archer missile hits to its port side in the engagement above Arcadia but there had been no other damage, felt or otherwise reported.

The initial damage reports that, Navigation Officer Del’Goron Kovrim provided stated that higher than normal electromagnetic fields while entering slipspace had overloaded the plasma containment fields and caused the reaction that nearly scuttled the ship.

Since landing here Shri T'ova had ordered the repair crew operational around the clock. Scouting teams had been sent out around the landing area, and of course the special operation teams were tasked with protection of the data.

The human data had been copied several times and given to different members of the crew, that if any one of them were captured or died, the data might still make it to the fleet. Shri T'ova still had the original download on him, a secondary copy uploaded into the command interface of the Pious Charity, the Cleric of Piety had the second copy, Joo'Nae the third, Fleet Liaison Khaorse Sal the fourth, Field Master Am’jaree Osaris the fifth, and finally Brute Chieftain Catharsis with the sixth.

There were concerns the Engineers had vocalized with the copies. Each successive copy was less perfect than the first, meaning that the data may potentially be exponentially corrupted as it was copied. This problem had been encountered a few times before in the Covenant. Human files and data were cumbersome and difficult to copy, not including the time it took to translate.

-------

The Chairty's tactical situation was horrid. The heavy interference made it nearly impossible to scan outside of the atmosphere or send communications. Shri had earlier ordered what small compliments of fighters they had to raise a relay satellite in geo-sync orbit over Lethe. There were only two Seraph fighters to ensure the up link was held, those fighters were a constant and would likely be the only warning of an incoming space attack, and only with their limited sensors. Additionally, the burst transmission the up link carried was the life line by which the rest of the Fleet of Ebullient Piety and the Prophet of Regret's fleet.

Last stellar communication had been received nearly a week before, Shri T'ova had requested Ebullient Piety to sent for a cruiser and destroyer be sent to Lethe, the cruiser would arrive with a skilled refit team to help patch the engines in the case that Charity's repair team continued to need assistance by their arrival. The destroyer would be for space flight security as the Charity limped home.

Meanwhile, Regret had stated he would arrive with his fleet with as much haste as he could muster. However, he noted that operations had to be halted before forces could be committed.

For five days Pious Charity had waited, attempting to fix their own problems in the hope that the humans wouldn't come stalking for their stolen data.

-----

Shri T'ova had began setting up defenses. Their greatest hindrance was also their greatest ally. The high gravity would severely slow a ground side attack. It would be best to keep any attack from reaching the gravity lift. For this task, Shri had dispatched the brutes. The gravity on this planet didn't seem to effect their movement as much as it did the other races on board the Charity.

Squads were sent out with support from the grunts and jackals, but most of the squads were comprised of three to four brutes.

Shri had also insisted that the point defense turrets around the gravity lift be left on and manned. While the rest of the weapons systems were shut down to keep power, the plasma turrets could help a defense effort if needed.

Four seraphs flew the perimeter of the Charity mostly to conduct sensor sweeps of the area. The sensors gauged the planets volatile volcanic activity, ensuring that where they were docked would remain stable, additionally, it swept for contacts. Two phantoms provided support to the troops around the gravity lift, dropping needed supplies and able to respond as gunships as necessary. The six total seraphs and two phantoms deployed stretched the flight crew as far as could be allowed. The rest had been requisitioned to the repair crew days earlier.

--------


At the grav lift were a few of the remaining shade turrets, and a battalion of brutes conducting roaming patrols around the perimeter. Under Shri's orders the perimeter was within line of sight, line of sight insured that the comms would not go down due to interference.

In the bay itself, Shri stood with the Special Operations commander. On orders none of those personnel would leave the ship without confirmation from the bridge. Several ghosts had been positioned around the opening of the lift and manned by grunts with orders to fire on any intruder with extreme prejudice. The upper scaffolding was now home to the hive of Drones. When they weren't working on repairing the ship, they doubled as security teams.

Hunters were stationed at each entrance and exit to the bay itself, with instructions that nothing non-Covenant enter or....In a worse case scenario, exit.

Shri had a carbine slung across his back and two ceremonial hilts attached to each thigh. Shri over saw the current placement of energy shields as hardening points around the bay to create safe fire zones in the event intruders made it on board.

Shri looked to Major Domo Keta Dutolee. "Delay that order, Major. Let the brutes hunt, take your lance and conduct a ship sweep. Check the ventral access points, and all hanger areas to ensure they are closed and secured..." Shri clicked his lower mandibles. "This needs to be the only point of access.....It creates a natural choke point." Shri looked back to the setting of the defenses. Shri recognized the need to play smart. The defense was most important. If the humans were going to attack, they need not have more warning. They were prepared as they could be. The brutes would serve their role. The elites....The special operations...They would likely be the bastion of hope that held away the vermin.

Shri T'ova stalked back towards the bridge. He remained ready, the last ditch effort before they would be taken....His final plan. As he came to the bridge he spoke to a junior officer. "Prepare the final satellite for launch. Set it for my authorization pending upload of the data."

Corporal Leon Carson - 1MSOB27

System: Gilese 876

Task Force Mirage, UNSC Silence, Troop Bay

Carson was standing on a small raised platform speaking to a gathering crowd of Marines and Special Operators. "Remember, the heavy gravity is going to effect your shooting. Your sight picture will be unstable because of the increased weight. Snipers, going prone isn't an option. That heavy gun is gonna need all the support it can get to put rounds down range accurately. Also be aware that the gravity is going to effect your bullets, this will be something the Covenant weapon systems won't have to worry about. Where their plasma fire flies true, we have to compensate for increased drop..."

Staff Sergeant Samson was tapped on the shoulder, and turned to look at the young Helljumper - Daniel Flores. "Flores? You aren't part of a squad, son." Samson's visor became transparent as he looked to Flores. Renault - Echo One's Sniper, along with Lawrence - Echo Two's sniper stood near-by. They each looked at the sniper rifle and shook their heads, probably talking to each other on a private comm. Both of these snipers, were carrying rifles.

Lieutenant Allison Westbrooke

System: Gilese 876

Task Force Mirage, UNSC Silence, Hanger Bay

Allison was tweaking the engines of the Pelican. The higher gravity meant that just to hover steady the output of the engines needed to be naturally thirty percent higher. That lead to complications with the heat sinks. This planet was hot, and therefore the couplings running at higher temps could melt away. Allison removed the insulation buffers in order to allow the couplings to cool in atmosphere. And as the engines were running at a higher level, the problem of no insulation of the couplings while in space was not something that needed to be worried about.

Allison had sent the modification information to the rest of the squadron and similar mods were being made on all of the ships. It would help compensate for the higher gravity. Although it would still mean that gaining altitude would be slow and arduous.

[zim565]

Daniel looked at Sergeant Samson. He wasn't on a squadron, but he remembered and then the alarm and then picking up the first things he found on his way...

"But sir...I mean..."

He looked around and saw Renault and Lawrence , he recognized them from the academy, although they weren't cadets he saw them practicing there from time to time. Suddenly he realized what was going on, he was so nervous that when he heard the alarm he did everything, except to read and listen the instructions and mission brief, he look again at the two snipers and then to Sergeant Samson

"Well yes I know, what I meant was...you know..." He was confused, he knew he had to go down on a Pelican, he knew he had to go to Alpha point and get rid of the patrols but, was he assigned as a sniper? and on which Pelican and with who he was assigned? with out even noticing he spoke "Man I'm screwed..."

[dusty]

Dusty stood in line with the rest of squad foxtrot. Williams was an asshole if anything, but he also ran a crack squad. they were already preparied when the alarm went off and climbing into the pelicans before alot of troopers even had thier guns in thier hands.

Tom helped Dusty into the pelican and the squad stowed thier gear. Dusty, had replaced his rocket launcher with a shotgun. it felt small and wieghtless comapired to his now useless prefereed specialty. He placed it above his seat and having been assigned the preflight squad check the duty performed a quick headcount and tag check. When he counted 9 bodys he stepped out of the pelican and grabbed one of the heavy chainguns htat was stowed into a box. He couldn't operate it like a spartan, but he could carry it. He placed the massive box in the pelican, before stepping in again. He procedded to stow it away in the cargo bay.

He pulled the switch to close the bay, and then banged on the door to the cock pit.

He sat down and strapped himself in.

(Nex if you want to come, hop in, if not we'll take off, cause we got an open seat)

[nex]

WO Steve 'Crash' Colsten

Aboard Pelican, UNSC Mirage Hanger

He made a snap decision there and then, ducking sharply into the closing Pelican bay. There was a single seat left, which he strapped himself into. His irregular uniform attracted some gazes from his fellow occupants.

He reached into his belt, and withdrew his PDA. He turned it on and began to run a systems check, before switching to the Space Telemetry. If he chose to, he could listen to the fleets chatter through the helmet's coms.

Beneath his helmet, he smirked. Last time he'd done this he'd been arested. Now, he had permission. It just wasn't the same.


((OOC: I wasn't going to, but I didn't want to skulk around the ship till the reinforcements))

[Jakob]

^{LT. Jakob Zaborowski}

Jakob watched every one crowd into Pelicans. He saw Marines in combat infiltration suits and ODST's in there armor. It was a big mess of black and green. Jakob had been making sure most recruits got to there Pelican. So far there have been six kids who needed assistance four of them older then me thought Jakob comically.

Jakob's squad was waiting for him in there teams Pelican. They would be some of the last ones to lift off. Jakob noticed a ODST standing and looking around. Here we go again he thought. He straightened his helmet and walked over. "Hey you need any help?" Asked Jakob. After about forty seconds Jakob grown impatient "I said do you need any help!" Jakob said yelling now sadly right when he said that a Warthog drove by.

You gotta be kidding me Jakob tapped the ODST's head gently. Finally he turned around, Jakob holstered the weapon "If you need any help just ask" said Jakob regaining his temper.

(OOC: There you go Zim just as promised)

[dusty]

Dusty looked at thier new squad mate. He slipped in when he was grabbing the pelican's chaingun.

Williams spoke to him while they descended. "I'm Staff Sergeant George William's and i guess your following squad Foxtrot around. Brian McGavin "- Oreo nodded at this- "is my second and leads our 2nd fireteam. If you need an escort down there, they will do that job well"

Dusty looked at 8, and then the new, oddly dressed, addition. If anything it was more likely 8 didn't want some covenant to pick up on the new guys importance and get him shot at.

After 8 had finished talking, Brian leaned forward and exteneded his hand. "I'm Brian, but im usually called Oreo." he said gesturing to his helmet.

When it became apprent that even if the new guy leaned as far forward as he could, they would not tough hands acrosse the cargo bay he leaned back, and the rest of the squad began to introduce themselves. they just automatically listed themselves based on where they were sitting in the cargo bay.

"Tom Everett"
"Amy McCall"
"Rick Valdez"
"Eric Zanba"
After Dusty had said his name Tom spoke before Richard could speak. "Don't call him Eric, call him Dusty. That big ol' fool doesnt say 2 words, but he's one of the smartest men i know! strongest too!"
Dusty looked at Tom, then nodded, failing to dispell the akwardness Tom had created.
After a moment, everyone realized Tom didn't have anything else to say.
"Richard Pressly"
"Kendra Amos"
"Vincent Chu"
"James Hormel"

After they were done they all looked to him, excet for 8, who had fallen asleep, for him to introduce himself.

[nex]

WO Steve 'Crash' Colsten

Aboard Pelican, UNSC Mirage Hanger

He had sat in silence whilst the rest had introduced themsleves. A friendly enough bunch, it would seem. One went through the futile attempt of a handshake from across the troop bay. Finally, it came to his turn to introduce himself.

"Steve. Steve Colsten. People used to call me 'Crash'."

As he said this, the words caught in his throat. They had called him - that along time ago. Back on Tribute. The people back there were the closest he ever came to a family. Innsurectionalists and all. Part of him longed to still be there. He flicked his PDA off and slipped it back into his belt. Although it was off, some of the images were overlaid on the inside of his helmet.

He'd written a simple base script to reaccount for the high gravity's affect on the bullets. His target scope would now automatically adjust for it. He would probably switch for some covenant equipment later on. For some reason, that felt more comfortable to him.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 178-Joe

Joe entered the hangar scanning the scene for any other spartans. He saw that at least three pelicans had left and several more were moving out.

"Wow, a spartan", a voice said from behind.

Joe turned to see a young marine behind him, his face frozen in amazement.

"Hey, how's it going?", Joe asked.

The marine just stood there for a few seconds before he answered Joe.

"Great sir, just getting prepared for the battle", he said confidently.

"Good, looking foward to fighting with you", Joe replied.

The marine stood there, his eyes gleamed from Joe's statement. He finally managed a salute and ran to a nearby pelican. Joe had to admire that kid's spirit and felt proud to give him motivation. Chances were, however that the marine would not come back the same or at all.

ODST Sergeant Jack Redsont

Redsont sat inside the pelican and felt as the gravity made him heavier. He had already set his helmet and rifle to compensate for the gravity. His team had all done the same and he anticipated the battle to come. He vowed not to fail this time around like he did on Arcadia.

The pelican slowed and stopped as the hatch slowly opened. Redsont exited the pelican and the blazing heat from the planet washed over him.

"Man, reminds me of home", Ed joked.

"Speak for yourself, where I'm from we call this hell", Demond yelled to him.

"Alright, let's get to work", Redsont ordered.

"What, no comment Sarge", Pat asked.

Redsont turned to Pat who stopped mid-laugh. Redsont turned back around and marched foward, he was the reason they were on this hell hole. He was the reason that they had to execute a dangerous Op. He was the reason that men and women were going to die on this planet. Redsont couldn't forgive himself until that data was recovered and they were off the planet.

[Soulstep]

Andrew clutched his Assault rifle tightly as the Pelican and it's occupants felt the effects of the low gravity. He checked his helmet was secure as the Pelican swooped into the LZ. "Welcome to Paradise, Marines!" the crew chief shouted over the engines. "Ten seconds!"

The occupants of the Pelican cocked their weapons in near-unison, as the rear hatch opened. Vast lava seas boiled away on the horizon, while thick black dust swirled through the air. Andrew stood, his legs adjusting to the new weight they had to carry. "Alright, touchdown! Go, go, go! Secure the LZ!" the crew chief screamed into thier ears, as they dropped out of the Pelican, and spread out into defensive postions.

[maxii1]

/ Spartan: 152
/ Petty Officer Second Class
/ Harry

“We’re like buses, wait for one then suddenly two turn up” spoke Harry as he appeared behind Spartan-178.
“Joe, what’s on the agenda for today? You seen eh, uh, bugger me I’ve forgotten his name!” exclaimed Harry seemingly bemused trying to remember his fellow fighters name.

[dusty]

The Pelican touched down on the planet. The back bay opened and the oxygen visibly leaked out, as it was replaced with toxic gases. The ODST team stepped out carefully. Mostly to avoid a fall in the heavy gravity.

Dusty looked around at the landscape. It was entirly uniform to him. Maybe a lava river here, or a few mountains here, but otherwise he had problems distinguishing any of it. It was almost earily quiet in his helmet as well. The HEV armor had several extra pounds of weight from filters and layers of clothing they were wearing under it, to be safe. dusty heard nothing but his own breathing, and very muffled wind.

The sound of insanity was what he would have named it. They secured the Area and waved the Pelican off, and it flew off, after thier new team mate "Crash" has disembarked. Dusty stared off into the distance, now hearing 8, Oreo, and Vincent mapping something out on a tacticle map.

Dusty knelt down and grabbed a handle of the red dust that covered the planet. He opened his hand and it blew away. Even now his armor had a fine coating of the Dust, along with all the other members of the Team.

Dusty looked at the Dust for a minute longer before standing up again.

"I don't like it here"

The speaking wasn't on purpose, and he didn't even realise he had said it at first. Everyone looked at him, for a moment and then countinued with what they were doing. Dusty kicked up a cloud of Dust and looked for the covenant ship. If they got lost on this planet, there was a good chance no one would find them.

8 gathered them up. "Allright we're gonna wait for a few more pelicans to drop off thier chalks and then we'll move in force"

The squad nodded and moved to defenscive positions.

[monkeyjoe14]

"You mean Evan", Joe asked Harry.

"I haven't seen him since the briefing, he always is late.", Joe joked.

Now he had two cchoices wait for Evan or go down now. Joe decided to ask Harry what he thought.

"So uh, what do we do now?"

[inhert]

Rocco Evans

1st Company LZ

The Pelican’s engines began to whine louder as Rocco throttled up to compensate for Lethe’s higher gravity. It would take a long time to get used to flying in the higher gravity, time that Rocco didn’t think he would have. Entering the atmosphere Rocco could start to see the heat that collected from the planet’s surface. Unlike a fairer planet Rocco did not open the Pelican Bay door upon entering the atmosphere; this was a futile attempt to keep the Pelican cooler then Lethe’s surface.

Through the think haze that is Lethe’s atmosphere Rocco could make out the staging area where the Pelicans were dropping off the Marines. After dropping of their cargo each Pelican would radio a successful drop and return to their assigned Mirage to bring more troops and supplies. Rocco spun his Pelican around and took the place of a Pelican that had just dusted off. Touching, or in the high gravity what felt more like thunking, down on the surface Rocco opened the rear door of the Pelican. The heat from the planet intensified in the interior of the Pelican, as it replaced the oxygen that was trapped onboard. Rocco and his crew could feel the heat even through their protective suit, alerting them to the importance of the suits.

“Last one’s away.” Chimed Shelby from the Pelican’s bay. Rocco responded with a nod and closed the Pelican’s rear door. Rocco eased his throttle up to give the Pelican lift, once again go far beyond how he would put it for a planet with normal gravity. While Westbrooke gave the squadron information about removing insulation around the couplings, there was also the fact that the Pelican’s would be burning more fuel then normal so the sorties would be shorter and pilots would have to watch their fuel gauges.

“Super Six-Four away, returning to the Silence.” Rocco’s notification mixed in with similar notifications from the other Pelicans. As he nosed up and began the steady climb to escape the atmosphere Rocco looked out of the cockpit and towards where he thought the Covenant Assault Carrier was, but with the low visibility Rocco couldn’t see even the out line of the ship. The Covenant were out there, the question is do they know we are here, Rocco thought.

[daeron]

^{Sergeant Louis Bernard
Zeta Squad
Pelican to Planet}

Bernard and his team awaited as the pelican swarmed through the atmosphere, only taking moments to touch down. The team climbed out and took up their usual positions, looking around seeing the many other marines there.

Still waiting for more to get there, they moved up out of the way of the pelicans and took up positions, awaiting to be told otherwise.

[maxii1]

/Harry-152


“Seems like the damn troopers are too eager to wait for Gamma to form up” Harry stated, pointing to a few passing Pelicans.
“I see we go down and lead the fight, god knows those marines need us down there”
He continued, picking up a backpack filled with supply’s he moved over to one of the pelicans. “Gamma Two to Gamma One, Evan where the hell are you?”

As he waited for an answer he turned to Joe. “Man, I love the smell of Plasma in the Morning” he laughed.

[dusty]

After several more pelicans had landed and dropped off a few more ODST teams and several Marine teams, the landing zone was disassembled, which really only meant kicking dust over the flares and letting the wind blow away the newly scorched dust.

A lieutenant Dusty had never heard of or Met gave the order to move out. Valdez walked over to Crash

"Come on Spook, We're moving out"

Before a response could be heard he was jogging over to his team who was starting to march to a good assault point.

The silence was aggravating, and after 15 minutes Dusty wondered if there was any breaking of it.

He wasn't the only one, as Tom started to sing, with his mic on the local channel, spamming everyone nearby.

"Ohh-Dee-Ess-Tee"
"No other group I’d rather be"
"When I drop like comet"
"I hope I won't Vomit!"
"Ohh-Dee-Ess-Tee!"
"I really do hope you'll drop with me!"
"We light up the skies with our fires!"
"and we light up the earth with their corpse Pyres!"

By the 3rd line all of the ODST troopers were singing the song, and by the time it was reapeated most of the Marine were singing with it to.

[nex]

Steve 'Crash' Colsten

Planet Surface

He fell behind the marines without a word. He attached his PDA to holder on his left arm. From there he could watch the satellite feed, and keep track of their location.

He loosened the strap on his SMG, and settled it into his gloved hands. He was nervous. Everything about this planet made him nervous.

The tone-deaf singing of the marines over the comm didn't help. He'd rather have the awkward silence.

"Hey, Clear the Comms. Covenant could hone in on any transmission. Even Bad Singing"

[dusty]

The singing quieted down, until it was just Tom who managed to get through the song one more time before realizing no one else was singing.

After a few more moments of marching silently, A marine up ahead raised a balled fist and crouched. He turned around and started making hand signals.

Stop
Possible enemy position
Multiple Foot mobiles
Elite presence
2 or more---

There was no sound of it.
The Marines Chest cavity opened up to the toxic gases and the Beam rifle light continued on.

the Mic wailed with several voices coming online at once, and countless clicks as channels were switched to squad from local.

"Contact!"
"Medic! I need a corpsman over here!"
"Dusty! Take tom and go up that ridge right now! Flank the bastards! We'll hold them down!"
"Crash! Don't get Shot!"

Dusty nodded and Grabbed Tom and started sprinting to a ridge.
The Effort was brutal. They started a fast paced walk up the ridge covering each others blindspots while the platoon sized force was shooting blindly in the direction of the Sniper Fire.

Tom and Dusty made it to the top of the Ridge and looked around.

"Watch for camo"
"Got it"

They stalked forward and Dusty scanned the ever changing dust for footprints.

"Hold"

Tom stopped and looked forward. Dusty crouched down and stalked forward with Tom creeping behind him. Dusty pointed at a random patch of Dust.

Tom shrugged confused.

Dusty grabbed a handful of Dust and threw it. It moved forward visibly as a cloud before stopping abruptly and dispersing.

Dusty dropped his assault rifle and dragged his Shotgun off his back. He sprinted forward and leveled the Gun.

The movement was fast, and Dusty was smashed off his feet and sent flying several feet to land on his back.

Tom leveled his Battle rifle and fired on full auto without aiming. Rounds visibly bounced off the Elites shield and it sprung forward at Tom lowering its shoulder and plowing into him. It kicked him in the side, narrowly avoiding breaking his ribs, and just fracturing them. Then it punched him in the head knocking him out.

satisfied that tom could no longed pose a threat it turned and looked for Dusty.

Dusty had moved little in the time he had been hit. He had rolled over and adjusted himself so that his shotgun was pointing at the Elite. It stopped around looking for him, but was unable to find him, as the Red Dust had coated his Body.

Standing up in the high gravity was one of the most physically punishing things Dusty would ever do in his life. He placed the shotgun barrel on the Elites chest and pulled the trigger.

The blast knocked the Elite down and Punched a 4 inch hole in its chest armor, and left a small, dark purple, bleeding hole.

On Earth, or any other oxygen enriched environment, the Elite could have killed Dusty before it died, but on this hell hole, it rolled around on the ground choking quickly.

It reached its arm towards dusty, which compelled him to draw his handgun and shoot the elite in the forehead.

He looked for the sniper position and found it. He picked up his assault rifle and fired at it after lobbing grenades. The fire distracted them from the landing grenades which blasted the 3 elites apart, and the rounds killed 2 grunts following them. dusty saw nothing else move. So he walked over to Tom and crouched checking
him for injurys.

[Soulstep]

Corporal Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad At the LZ on Lethe

Over the ear-bleeding singing of his fellow soldiers, Andrew switched his radio to the orbiting Shadow in the Night.

"Shadow in the Night, this is Corporal Deiran of Indigo squad, the majority of 1st Company is planetside. Requesti-" He was cut off in mid-speech as the area erupted into a firefight. Andrew hit the dusty floor before raising his rifle to scan the red and black hell they were assigned to. An ODST squad had swiftly made short work of the hostiles, with Indigo squad not having to as much as fire a bullet. As the plasma fire halted, he changed his message. "Shadow in the Night, 1st Company has been ambushed by a Covenant patrol, but all hostiles have been eliminated. Requesting a Sit-Rep of the surrounding area, over."

[gijoe]

Navy Intelligence, Aboard 'Shadow in the Night'

"Err... Roger that Corporal. We've got some UAV's enroute and we'll transmit that Sit-Rep ASAP. Eta 20 minutes. Watch the skies..."

[dusty]

Dusty radioed his team.
"I'm coming back down, Tom is injured"
"c..... a..ga.... i... pe.... com..... ain.."
For the most part he couldn’t hear what they were saying through the white noise, so he just continued on his way. When he reached the team he laid Tom down. the man weighed 200 or so pounds in the heavy gravity and was a pain to carry.

Their new medic checked his head with a scanner
"No sign of concussion"
With that he hit Tom in the head and he woke up.

Oreo walked over to Dusty and Tom
"We're waiting on a Sit rep from navy Intel before we continue towards the gravlift"