Mission 7: Protector

[Faclan]

Chris Hyde - ONI Section 1 Agent
UNSC zone, heading underground.
Onward?

Nodding a bit at some kind of route to take when they got into the subway tunnels Chris just hoped that his planned path wouldn't be blocked off by a cave in or something like that. But he was distracted from his planning by loud music and the sound of a hog engine fast approaching. Looking up he hummed a bit as the ODST arrived at the meet up point. They seemed like quite a swell bunch with the driver jiving along to the music as it was shut off and the transport then slowed down and the soldiers hopped out and moved over to greet him.

Always aware of what the general soldier populace thought of ONI agents Chris smiled back and started to hold out a hand to shake before he noted that the ODST's hands were full with his big gun - so much for that then. But he nodded at the name and gestured down the subway steps. "You can just call me Chris if you'd prefer Corporal McMillian - but glad that you arrived. We will be heading underground to find and retrieve one of our comrades, a section III Agent. From what I've seen about the maps of the underground system here it should be a fairly straight shot to where his last transmission was. His Pads signal is thankfully still near that but its faint and only gets updated every few minutes. However, as you know this place had an...issue with the Insurrection. In fact they bombed a subway station just last week with myself and many other Agent in it - its where there abducted the Section III. That should be the only issue down there as the Covenant are focusing their efforts on the surface."

He turned to look over as Mays joined them, thankfully already geared up as Chris picked up his helmet and nodded at her. Looking up to slide the helmet down over his glasses he was glad that the ODST helmet had enough space for them and the defogging features worked for that as he did his best to ignore Mays question until he was sealed up. With the helmet on he opened a private channel to her as he gave the best answer he could. "I would guess because they are busy, but that's why we got some ODST's to help, we'll be fine." Opening his helmet back up to open mic he nodded at the ODST's as he picked up his suppressed SMG, pistol already on his thigh, and moved over to the top of the stairs. "Ready for the search and rescue team?" He asked, doing his best to sound upbeat.


(NPC)Eal Tas - T'vaoan Murmillo.
Underground and scouting.
Finishing the fight.

Pleased to hear the steady ziip of the needles from his rifle Eal was very glad to see it being used against their mutual enemies here as he worked on reloading his pistol with one of the two spare mags he had. It was slow work with only one functioning hand but he soon got it in and clicked the ready switch. It was during this slow process that the Human slid into cover near them and tapped Roh - Roh not looking that pleased - and then said something and pointed at their enemies. Eal just nodded a little at Roh's explanation of what happened but his eyes widened when Roh pulled out the grenade.

"It may collapses the whole place down on our heads!" He hissed and clicked out as Roh just leant back and hurled it toward the bad Humans. Eal squawking as he dropped his pistol and grabbed his helmet to quickly slide it over his head. He knew that if this didn't kill them all there was going to be a lot of dust. He just finishing attaching it to his head when the explosion went off, as well as a screech of pain from Talz. But Eal stayed behind cover as he picked up his pistol again.

Following the dull thoomph of the plasma grenade explosion there was a loud crack as the pillar failed and dumped a large amount of rocks on the bad Humans. Eal starting to rise as he reached up with his bad hand and pawed at the side of his helmet for a second or two before he got it to work - thankfully in time as the dust started to fall over himself and his friends. The Murmillo's dull yellow eyes from his helmet shifting to deep glowing red as he aimed with one hand into the dust. Just a shadowy figure to his allies as he seemed to aim with impossible accuracy to silence the screams from the Humans. In truth Eal could see them perfectly fine through the dust with the thermal vision on his helmet. A very rare addition but one his family had provided for him when he passed qualification and joined Mistress Kaels Entourage.

With the shooting done and the dust settleing Eal let the empty dart magazine clatter to their cover stones and started to reload it as he nodded down at the orange shapes of Roh and the good Human. Clicking the weapon ready he kept it out as he shut down the vision and looked around at the battle ground. It didn't take long to see that nearly all the Humans were dead or buried...but Talz was lying flat on the ground not moving.

"Talz!" Keeping his weapon up the Murmillo left cover and sprinted over to the female radio operator as he slid to be crouching beside her. He glanced up when he heard coughing and running from the bad Human place but just gestured in that direction at Roh and the Human. They could deal with that as he tried to help Talz. Eal taking out some Rudakk Gel as he turned Talz onto her back as he tried to look at her wound after making sure she indeed was still alive. "Stay still...you'll make it back to the surface." He cheeped quietly as Talz closed her eyes and just tried to breath.

[LaxKnight]

CPL Toby ‘Mick’ McMillian Jr.
153rd ODST Co.
Heading Underground
Making Plans

The man introduced himself as Chris before explaining the situation. Mick worked with ONI before but never realized that there were different types or sections of agents. He thought that it was just filled with a bunch of shady scientists, spies, and hitmen. He never knew there were branches and sections to them. Learn something new everyday, he thought pleasantly to himself. It seems that they will be heading underground to find Chris’ comrade who he failed to name. He seems to have a fairly good idea of where he is, or where his data pad is anyway. Navigating through the rubble might be tricky but the real problem is the Insurrectionists. Mick didn’t remember the last time he heard about those guys. He was surprised they were still around. Must be hiding in some asteroid or something. However the fact that they were fighting Humans on top of Covies was a bit distressing. He can’t remember the last time he killed another Human being.

Mick turned to see one more join them, a female whose only introduction was a nod in his direction before asking Chris why they sent them, a duo of Section I agents, on this dangerous mission. Mick was beginning to get the idea that Section I was where the keep all the scientists at. I guess that’s why we’re here, he thought. Chris asked he was ready but Mick simply walked up to the entrance and studied it. “Well if we’re going by first name basis you can call me Mick,” he said then looked back at the Warthogs, “But I got an idea.”

It looked like it had enough clearance. It could fit but how big was the tunnel. “Rookie! Get your ginger ass over here!” he called.

“Yes Corporal!” was the reply as she gingerly jogged over to her NCO with way too much pep in her step. Every one of those steps pissed him off. God was I this motivated when I was a rook? he thought to himself. The thought cooled him off only slightly. Cut her some slack. She doesn’t know better and hasn’t seen much. The thought and the UCMJ were the only things keeping him from pummeling her. With extra gusto she stopped in front of the two men and asked, “What do you need me for, Corporal?”

“I told you to stop calling me Corporal!”


“But you said in front of important people to use rank.”

He gave a sigh. “Yes. I did say that,” he said, “However, since I’m on a first name basis with the spook, it’s an informal setting now. Informal setting means?”

PVT Connelly’s face was hidden under her visor but he can imagine the looks she was giving as she took longer than it should to think of the answer. “Means stop calling you Corporal?” she said hesitantly.

“That’s a smart girl! You get a cookie!” he exclaimed then he dug out a wrapped cookie and gave it to her, patting her lightly on the helmet, “Alright, here’s what we are going to do. We are going to check out the bottom of the stairs here to make sure that there is enough room for the Warthogs in the tunnels so then we can drive to pick up Chris’ buddy faster. You just watch my back and don’t shoot me. There are Innies down there. You know who those guys are?”

“Uh...rebels?” she said with little confidence.

“Pretty much. You might be too young to remember but before the Covies we fought the Insurrectionists, a bunch of people pissed off at the UNSC. Thing about them is that they’re Human like you and me and they are terrorists,” he said with dead seriousness, “That means check your fire down there. If they have a weapon, ain’t in a uniform, and scream ONI pig and fuck ODSTs then shoot it, alright? Even if they are Human. Can you do that?”

Mick felt like he was putting a lot of pressure on her even though they were simply scouting some stairs. He knew his team knew what to do but she was the rookie. All ODSTs were veterans but he didn’t know her and how she will deal with such things. He needed to know she was okay with this early on before finding out in a firefight and getting someone killed.

The rookie seemed to understand how important this was from how much weight he was putting into it. She took a moment then he visible noticed her straighten up as she came to a decision. “I’ll do my best to make sure everyone gets out alive,” she asserted.

Wasn’t quite the answer he was expecting but it was a good one nonetheless. He gave a weak smile, patted her on the shoulder, then turned to the group. He just realized he did that in front of the two Spooks. Probably should have done it somewhere more private. Oh well, he thought. “Stay near the ‘Hogs. We’re going to make sure they fit first,” he said before turning to Chris, “Care to join us?”

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Maximilian Drake Fields

1/7, A Co, 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad

Water Purifaction Plant

Protector, Tranquilius Beta System

FUBAR

Drake wasn't slowing down to overthink the situation, that was the captain's job. His job was to keep his men alive and kill these split-lips, which were coming in force. Second squad had managed to fall back behind some of 'hogs that were lighting up the dam bastards as they walked in.


"Tornado Actual to Tornado 1-2, transmission acknowledged. Keep up the fire, and keep your boys safe,
" 

"Copy that Actual, 1-2 out." Drake watched as some more split lips dropped into the area, before they seemed to just blend in and disappear into the horde of covvies in the main foyer, "Second squad, let's get some party poppers in there, make them move around!" The order looked like it was recieved by everyone in the squad when he watched half of them pull out fragmentation grenades and toss in an arc at the enemy. Drake was hoping the heavy fire from all the M41's were distracting enough that they'd wouldn't realize they were standing on top of grenades now. 

Drake returned his focus to the enemy in front of him, as he counted down the few seconds that it would take for the grenades to go off. "It's time for a birthday party." was all he could mutter as his gun continued to talk to the covvies for him.

---

 Captain Kelvin Duncan

1/7, 53rd CE, A Co

Thank god for Hospital corpsman

Protector, Tranquilius Beta System

    The Captain waved third platoon over, as Benson was being taken away by a Corpsman, lucky him he had been in the area. The platoon was now at 75% strength, which meant that Duncan had to be smart. Contact had been lost with second and first platoons after the shake, he hoped that they had survived the quake. "Alright men, since Lt. Benson is out of commission from injury, I will be taking command of third platoon, the first thing we need to do-" 

Duncan was cut off by the sound of a squealing metal, an apparent sign that the structural integrity of this particular part of the tunnel was in question. They needed to move and fast. "Change that, first thing we need to do is get the hell out of here. Sergeant," he stared to the marine to his left "you have one of the only working helmets left, you lead the way. Everyone is on him until we get out of here." Duncan followed behind the platoon as the sergeant began moving through the wrecked tunnel.


(Sorry for the short, and honestly crappy post, was in the middle of writing when i was told I had to shut down to go do stuff)

[SuperCommando]

President Simon Cartwright – NPC

“…Oh and Colonel, there’s one more thing,” the President of the Neo Haven Board of Directors continued to say as Killinger and his Marines began to move out. “Take a look at this.”

He put up a new image on-screen. This time, it was a blurry photo with flames in the foreground and what appeared to be the mountainside in the background. There was some kind of giant elongated metal object protruding from behind one of the mountain range’s many jagged spires of rock.

“This is a freeze-frame image from the scientists’ base camp when they were attacked,” Cartwright explained. “My contacts at ONI’s Delta Cluster have informed me they believe it to be the leg of a Covenant Type-36 Scarab assault platform. The scientists’ report is consistent with this analysis, as they claim the camp was obliterated by two giant beams of green light. In other words Colonel, we believe you have a pair of Scarab walkers inbound.”

The image was then replaced with a tactical map of the region as the President elaborated on this latest development. “The Scarabs appear to have been using terrain masking to avoid our sensors, traveling through the East Haven Mountains to conceal their advance into the combat zone. At first we were worried that their target was Alpha Cluster, however that doesn’t appear to be the case. Notice how the location of the scientists is directly north of Alpha Cluster. That was the Scarabs’ last known position, but that was before the earthquake and we have not seen them since. If Alpha Cluster was their target, we should have been under attack by now. This leads us to believe they are likely continuing to follow the mountains and could be headed to the Water Purification Plant instead.”

The President paused for a moment, glancing off-camera and holding up a finger before returning his attention to Killinger. Apparently other matters required his attention as well, but he insisted upon filling in the Marine Colonel with as much intel as he could.

“In conclusion,” the President said. “When you send men into the mountains or whatever it is you plan to do, make sure they’re aware there could be those Scarabs or even additional Covenant activity awaiting them. We have no idea. Now, you should also know that my ONI contacts did also mention that Navy Special Warfare apparently deployed some kind of elite unit to deal with the Scarabs. I think it might have been… Gold, something or another…”

***

Now.

His right eye snapped open. As the shriek of rushing wind continued to pound his ears, the feeling of butterflies in his stomach dissipated when he broke through the surrounding clouds and he could finally see the objective. His mind cleared as his determination hardened into steely resolve. It was time for action.

CPO SPARTAN-009
GOLD ONE
PROTECTOR, TRANQUILITAS BETA SYSTEM
EAST HAVEN MOUNTAINS

“Target sighted, one o’clock low,” Silas calmly declared as he and his Gold Team companions Roy and Courtney burst through the cloud cover above the dark brown jagged spines of the East Haven Mountains. “Covenant weather forecast: Spartan rain in t-minus sixty seconds…”

The three super-soldiers plummeted from the sky, free-falling high over the mountain range as their armored bodies were buffeted by strong winds. Last time he did this, on another planet in this very system, Silas recalled not wearing his powerful MJOLNIR armor due to the EMP effect enveloping the LZ. It was significantly more unpleasant then, due to the sharp cutting of the icy wind. This time, within the familiar climate-controlled protection of his suit, he felt invincible.

With his one eye, he could make out the shapes of Gold Team’s objectives below them: a pair of Scarabs designated Target Alpha and Target Bravo respectively. Their massive insectiod legs carried the lumbering behemoths slowly through the difficult terrain, climbing through the rocky crevices like massive metal spiders. Silas noted they were the silvery Type-36 models, rather than the purple Type-47 ones more commonly seen on the battlefield. This meant they were piloted by a crew rather than controlled by the same orange worm-things that Hunters were made out of. Curiously, it was speculated that this variety of Scarab was designed more as a mining platform than a frontline weapon. But personally, Silas didn’t care. His job wasn’t to understand its purpose, merely to kill it.

To that end, each member of the team had been equipped with a pack full of explosives to be planted on the targets. The trick would be getting the ordnance there. Not only were the Scarabs a small target to land a HALO jump on, but they were also moving. There would only be one chance to get this right.

“Gold Three, we’re drifting off-target,” Silas said to Roy over the COM. “Alter course zero-four-five degrees right.”

From his spread-eagle position mid-air, Silas tilted his hands like a rudder, steering himself closer to the Scarabs. He and Roy were aiming to land on Target Alpha, while Courtney took Target Bravo. The Scarab walkers were growing bigger and bigger very quickly now as an altimeter on his heads-up-display counted down rapidly. Silas’s gauntleted hand tightened over his ripcord. In a normal drop, the Spartans would have already opened their parachutes by now. However, to make sure they arrived on-target quickly before any of the Covenant guards noticed them, they decided to wait until the very last possible moment. Their armor would help absorb the landing impact, but this was still gonna hurt…

“On my mark…” Silas breathed, his eye glued to his altimeter as the swaying Scarab below him loomed dangerously close. “Not yet… not yet…!”

***

“…Anyway,” the President said to Colonel Killinger. “I don’t mean to assume anything about this special unit, but I believe it would be wise if you formulate some kind of a backup plan in case those assets fail. After all, the threat those walkers pose to Neo Haven is too great to allow any margin for error.”

***

“Now!” Silas cried.

He yanked his ripcord. His olive-green parachute billowed out and caught the wind with a hard jolt. For a few moments he could feel his descent slow as he dropped to the surface of the Scarab, but shortly there was a great crash as touched down and tumbled forward onto his back.

Covenant aliens jumped with alarm and abruptly turned to look. Silas snatched his sidearm from his leg while laying down and put a couple of shots into a nearby Jackal before any of them could react. But to their credit, they spurred to action and were drawing their own weapons before the body even finished falling over.

Silas began to stagger to his feet. Outgunned, it would appear he was in a bad spot.

But fortunately for the Spartan, he had backup.

TAG(S): MrKill, TinCanHitman, @tracker

[Huka]

Field Marshal Til ‘Muramai
Lesser Dome Airstrip
Returning to the Surface

When it became clear that the humans were uninterested of trying to confront the Covenant on the other end of the treacherous wall, Til signaled for the watchful Lekgolo to return and make their way to the surface by the more swift of retrieval options; gravity lift. Walking to the Locust officer, he requested a phantom to come to the airstrip for such assistance. A simple enough task on its own.

The Field Marshal himself joined the last of the Jiralhanae in hoisting himself up. It wasn’t for his frequent climbs and the lower gravity, he might would have found the effort below him but that isn’t a good show of commanding officer is it?

His muscles flexed and pressed against his body-glove’s durable material as hand after hand pulled him up, the claws of his boots hooking to the chain perfectly. All the while, he monitored on the recent notice of progress to the human settlement’s northern purification plant but remained silent. He had some faith in the zealous Praem’s work...not so much faith on his cold willingness to sacrifice good troops for progress but from the sounds of things, it might be his only open. Destroying the plant would be a simpler task but if they captured the facility, it gives the Covenant less trouble if it decides to keep the world instead of glassing evidence of the Heretics’ settlement.

In the depths of his hearts, Til almost pondered if the San’Shyuum feared the humans as much as the Parasite itself, or for better thought; if they feared them as it was during the ancient conflict before the beautiful creation of the Covenant.

Special Operations Commander Praem ‘Nikyasee
Aboard Stealth Spirit The Harbinger
The Capture of First Grounds

“The Humans are falling back!” Ordo cried out in personal delight through the comlink but Praem didn’t care or dared to think positive. The Humans were devious things and retreat wasn’t without some cornered retaliation, the Harbinger shuddered on a harsh missile hit on her underbelly but the thick hull did just that. The pilot growled in his personal space and with a swift movement of his claws, aimed his heavy plasma cannon at the human warthogs armed with those rail-guns, raining maroon death upon them in heated succession while taking scarring hits himself.

Finally a entire wave of grenades were seen flying for the creche frontlines. “Demon flares!” One of the special operators warned before the invisible killers tumbled ahead, a kindred and a couple Unggoy were thrown out of their camouflage in the resulting explosions, joining with the unfortunate infantry caught in the crossfire of high-firing machine guns.

In vengeance, a flurry of burning plasma grenades sailed for the human grenades. “For the Great Journey!” “Snipers, give covering fire.” Praem ordered as he watched it all like a live game, observing his higher-grounded snipers aimed their beam rifles and shot at the more heavier-armed humans for the kill or maiming.

Jiralhanae Stalker Cicerus of the Bloodstone Tribe
Covenant Staging Area Outer Perimeter
Idleness and little glory

The traitors struggled but the older hunter wasn’t letting his prey escape him easily. No...Cicerus wasn’t going let rebels against the True Blood escape him ever again like before. Chasing with swift, dust-beckoning bounds, the black-armored stalker leapt onto a high stone for an arched pounce before smacking the side of the flanked youngster’s head with an audible thunk from his shadow-hammer. The force of the attack made the cub tumble to the side and actually vomit in his breathing respirator from the concussive attack. Unfortunate enough to have a hard skull, thick blood oozing out of his wound and ear but the stalker followed the strike with an efficient stab of his shaft blade through the caved wound. There was just a few twitches and bloody gurgles but a twist ended the pain of life.

“Death to the traitors!” The aged killer roared out at the runners’ back, snatching the dead minor’s spiker from his cooling fingers and unleashed a full clip of spikes at the two ‘closest’, more of maiming than true kills. The cries of their defying brothers made four of the six to turn upon the Stalker with their own weapons. However, that’s what Cicerus wanted.

A triple shot of carbine radioactive bolts blasted over the senior’s head and killed two of the would-be attackers, the last bolt got the shooter in the knee before Ianus materialized from his camouflage. Eolus appeared on the last’s side in mid-swing of his ribbed war mace. In a savage arc, the weapon snapped the major’s jaw skyward before bringing it down with all of its weight for a sickly crush of face and throat. Three more maddened falls of the heavy weapon to be certain.

The rebels made the sad and pitiful mistake of turning their backs and not fight like the rest of their brothers but it provide with enough sport to not allow the outer perimeter shades to not just gun them down. Cicerus was bored. Bored, bored, bored of just standing idle! That could not do with Jiralhanae! A warrior in general, the Stalker would taste the frustration of it from even the Sangheili! No matter...they will move soon and until then, he will cut the runaways artery after artery. 

[Llau]

First Lieutenant Alex Bishop
1 / 7, Alpha Company, Third Platoon
Airfield, Protector
Tag(s): @tracker , MrKill



While he kept looking inside the tunnel Elms was crawling through, and waiting around within the small, cramped space under the rubble, he overheard a noise coming from the tunnel. He silently wished it was big enough for him instead, as well as wished they weren't in this predicament, as he stared at Elms. At least he could still see her.

“Private Elms,” He called out to her and asked, “You okay? Are you hurt?” He continued, “Just keep going if you can, and stay calm. Slow, deep breaths. You're almost out of there, so keep going. You can put bio-foam on your wound once you're safe outside of here. Just do what I say, and you'll be okay.”

He hoped. He winced a little, hoping he was right and not wrong.

He then heard someone reaching him over the radio. He paused to listen intently, and heard Colonel Killinger asking him how he was doing. He sighed, not answering for a few seconds. How was he doing? He wasn't sure. All he knew that he was alive, trying to keep himself from passing out due to the thin atmosphere Protector has, and hoping he didn't send the private to her death.

He breathed in a deep breath, and finally answered the Colonel. “I'm good, sir.”

He could laugh at his answer, but went on, “Private Elms is trying to crawl out of this hellhole we're stuck under. I can't fit but she can. So, I'm waiting. What's the SITREP? And did I hear right? Giant ants? I hope they aren't near here...I forgot my giant can of Raid.”

He had hoped the man was able to hear him. Probably not too much, considering he was under a lot of rubble that could squish him or Elms at any time.




ONI Section III Field Operator, Lieutenant Michelangelo Moretti
Operation Lead
Protector // Alpha Cluster // Alpha Cluster Tunnel System
And so the dust clears...
Tag(s): Faclan , BetaWülf



The field operator tightly shut his eyes and covered his arms over his neck and head as the plasma grenade exploded, and sent rubble falling on top of most of the Insurrectionists who were shooting at them. After the dust settled, he slowly relaxed his arms, opened his eyes and looked around. He coughed a bit, waving his hand in front of his face in an attempt to move some dust away from him. He started to rise, just as he heard Tas yell something about the female Kig who was with them. Standing up, he watched as Tas quickly moved over to his fallen comrade, and spoke to Talz quietly in their own language. Moretti could only pick up on one or two words, but it was obvious she was badly hurt. He held the Needle Rifle in both hands as he walked over, keeping the weapon low as he looked on curiously for a few seconds, before walking over to where the Insurrectionists were located. It wasn't like he could do anything to aid the alien anyway.

He walked around the bodies that were laying around the rubble. Most of them were caught within the blast, and died rather quickly, while some died from the crushing rubble of the concrete support, and others were injured or killed by gunfire or being close enough to survive the blast and the falling debris. He checked each one, aiming the Needle Rifle until he found a few groaning or starting to crawl away. He shot each of them, once in the head. He heard a click when he pulled the trigger again, and glanced down to see that the rifle was empty. He frowned in disappointment, and carelessly dropped it onto the ground. He then silently stood at a crossroads section of the tunnel system. He glanced back at the three aliens, and then overheard a quiet sound, and what sounded like someone groaning.

Another surviving Innie? Great. He wondered, as he pulled out the handgun from his holster, and switched the safety to off.

He stared down toward the other tunnel line that had working lights, but they were flickering on and off sometimes. He soon saw a small, scrawny figure limping away as fast as they could. The ONI agent slowly smiled, and followed the figure halfway, keeping the gun at his side. The figure noticed him when they looked back. He heard a gasp, and the figure tried to walk away faster, and tried to run, but their ankle must have been sprained or broken. Moretti didn't care. The figure staggered, tripping over their own feet, and fell. The agent slowed down his pursuit, and allowed the Innie to get back up and continue on.

Persistent, little fuck, isn't he? Moretti thought. Stopping to hold the gun in both hands, and then aimed as he peered down the sights at the slowly fleeing Insurrectionist. He fired. The sound of it echoing throughout the tunnels as far as it could go, and the Innie cried out in pain as the bullet ripped through his leg. He fell again, but didn't get back up. Moretti hurried over, still aiming at him.

“Try anything, and the next bullet goes through the bone,” Moretti warned darkly. “Trust me, you won't like that.”

When the surviving Insurrectionist didn't look up, and kept his face hidden beneath their hood of their coat, as they nursed their gunshot wound, Moretti muttered under his breath, and quickly turned them around, and pulled the hood off to see them. He stared back at a younger face than he thought. He suddenly became appalled, turning on the flashlight that was clasped to his belt to get a better look. The Innie stared back, wide eyed and scared, and tear-filled.

For a moment, Moretti couldn't say anything. He was shocked. The kid couldn't have been no older than fifteen. He looked fourteen or thirteen.

“How old are you?” He demanded, almost loudly in shock. He still looking rather appalled.

When the kid didn't answer him, and kept staring back at the ONI agent, Moretti growled, grabbing him by the coat, and lifted him to his feet. The action earned him a frightened gasp, but he ignored it as he held him firmly by the arm now, while he holstered his gun to search the kid for any weapons that were hidden on his person. He managed to find a knife, and threw it away somewhere, but didn't find anything else.

“How old are you? Don't make me ask you again.”

“Four-fourteen...s-sir...”

Moretti frowned. He almost killed a kid. He looked back at where the rubble was, and wondered if there were any more who were the same age as this kid.

“Merda...hanno lasciato I bambini nel loro gruppo una cazzata?” (“Shit...they let kids into their fucked up group?”) He said, rubbing his forehead. “Unbelievable...”

“Are...are you going to kill me?” The teenager asked. “You're ONI...”

“What? NO!” Moretti protested, looking at him in disgust. “I may be ONI, kid, but I'm not a complete dickhead who would shoot some underage person.”

“Oh...” He heard him murmur, and then the kept cringing at the pain he was in.

“Come on, let's go.” Moretti said, holding him firmly with one hand on the shoulder, and the other holding the teen's arm behind his back in a joint lock that he could easily make it painful if he tried to do something. He escorted him back to see what the three Kigs were doing, and then forced him to sit down near them.

“How is she doing?” He asked Roh, and then glancing over at Talz. “We need to go. So, do whatever you need to do. I'm not wasting time down here.”

He then looked down at the kid. “Hey, what's your name?"

“Huh? Oh...um, it's uh...” The boy stammered a little. “Skyler.”

“Skyler?” When he nodded quietly, grimacing, the field agent went on, “Skyler. You are going to show us the way out of here. If you try anything...”

“I won't...I won't try anything,” Skyler said. He was too scared to lie, and Moretti believed him. “I'll show you guys the way out of here. No problem.”

“Good.” Moretti smiled, and then flipped him onto his stomach to restrain his hands behind his back. He pressed his knee down on Skyler's back, which the kid responded with a painful shout, and the Italian looked over at Roh and Tas.

“Hey...you guys have anything I could restrain his wrists with?”

[BetaWülf]

T'vaoan Major Roh Gel.

Roh followed Eal closely when they heard the yell from their companion. When they reached her Roh looked with shock at Talz, bleeding and in pain. Damnable Humans, they always got the good ones. He quickly fumbled through his satchel bag, eventually pulling out some clean cloth and wrappings for the wound if Eal needed them in addition to the Rudakk gel. He left the supplies with Eal as he was waved off to deal with any survivors along with the ONI Human.

Roh watched the ONI Warrior execute each of the surviving Rebels, it bothered the young T'vaoan how easy it was for the Human, even if it was merciful. He was however annoyed when the Human carelessly tossed Eal's Needler Rifle aside as if the other T'vaoan would not want it back, or unscathed for that matter. Roh grumbled to himself as he slung his R-4 onto his back and picked up Eal's Needler Rifle, looking up when he heard a soft groan. Apparently the Human heard it too, as he went to investigate it.

Roh still did not trust the Human, he might try to escape and betray the T'vaoan to other Humans, and Roh had no intention of becoming anyone's 'chicken dinner'. Roh watched from the shadows at the end of the hallway as the ONI agent went after the slowly fleeing Innie. It was not a long chase, as the Rebel stumbled over its own feet and fell. Roh watched from a distance, somewhat surprised when the ONI agent fired his weapon. Perhaps the Rebel was armed or threatening?

Roh noticed something was wrong, the way the ONI man moved changed slightly, but soon enough he had pulled the apparently still living Rebel to its feet and was dragging it back. Roh looked at the wounded prison as he was pulled past him, and was shocked by what he saw. The Human Rebel was but a lad, not old enough to be fighting in any wars. Roh wondered even more about the morality of the ONI agent now, since he'd gone so far as to shoot a boy. He walked back to the other Kig-yar with the Rebel and ONI Humans.

Roh returned to a crouch and looked at Talz concernedly, he hoped she would live. Roh hissed slightly at the ONI agents words, Roh did not care if the Humans time was being wasted, and if he tried to leave on his own the T'vaoan would turn his brains to splatter on the wall. He hoped to perhaps take the ONI agent to his mother as a gift, to gain favor and maybe help fill the rift between them.

Roh was momentarily distracted from his thoughts when the Human asked for restraints for his prisoner. Roh dug through his satchel bag before producing a set of manacles, strong ones forged by Hul craftsmen. Roh had many uses for them, restraining prisoners being one of the less common ones.

"Here," Roh said as he slid the manacles over to Mike "I want them back when you are done with them" Roh stated, before adding on "By the way, name is Roh, Roh Gel" he said, extending a hand to shake in the way he knew Humans to do.

[TinCanHitman]

SPARTAN-001

Gold Three

PROTECTOR, TRANQUILITAS BETA SYSTEM 

EAST HAVEN MOUNTAINS 

“Target sighted, one o’clock low, Covenant weather forecast: Spartan rain in t-minus sixty seconds…”


Roy seemed to rejoin reality as Silas' voice filled his head. He was plummeting towards the surface of a planet at rapid speeds, with only a parachute to stop his humongous body weight from simply shooting into the ground and killing him, or at least that was the part Roy was focused on. He never enjoyed drops, drop pods, HALO, any thing, it all say wrong with him. Either way, he never complained, simply focused on the mission, and a least this time he had Mijolner, un-like the last he had worked with 'GOLD'. 

The other thing on Roy's mind was the new eye. It was more advanced than the initial one he had received after one of his previous excursions alone. It was linked to his armor, and it fed him information at lightning speeds. Roy's augmented mind could keep up, but it was so new to him that he was shocked. It gave him distance, altitude, what his mijolner's power output was, what his right arm's integrity was. It was all feeding, what felt like, directly into his brain, but in truth it was simply part of his ocular stem being stimulated. That's why when Silas told him to adjust, he already had, his eye telling him he highlighted target had move from his optimal flight path, which was laid out for him in a bright pulsating holo-path. He honestly enjoyed the new sensation of knowledge he felt his comrades were missing, and Silas didn't even have an excuse to not have one. It was definitely a valuable tool to have, and Roy utilized it to it's fullest. He read the magnetic readouts from his armor, telling him his M90 shot gun, MA5C, satchel, and Tac-Pad were all still attached to his hulking frame, which meant that he was indeed ready.

They were on the last leg of their approach, which Roy knew full well they did not have an escape plan for, but that didn't bother him, GOLD always found a way, and this would be no different. He was only worried that they would be spotted before they could land ,which would be the end of them, covenant broiling from plasma fire would be the only course of action in that scenario. However, for every bad scenario that flashed across Roy's rapid firing synapses, three positive ones proceeded and succeeded it. He had done harder, in less time, with less people. It would be another day, another mission, just like the rest.

Silas suddenly burst over his com "On my mark..." Roy trusted Silas, so even though he knew his eye would try to tell him when to release he wouldn't, instead he waited "Not yet… not yet…!” Roy licked his dry lips and focused on the the covenant he could now see, angling him self slightly as to not cross drop paths with Silas. "Now!" Silas yelled and Roy ripped the cord, adjusting how his legs were so that when he landed he would tumble properly. What he had also accounted for was his massive tumble doing some work, as he crashed into the deck, un-latching his shoot mid tumble, he came in like a wrecking ball through a group of grunts, simply smashing one, and sending the other's rolling over the edge.

Recovering from the roll he slid his M90 off his back and stepped up next to Silas, firing a dazed shot that sent a jackal tumbling over the edge. He gave Silas a nod, showing he had his back, like old times.

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009

GOLD ONE

PROTECTOR, TRANQUILITAS BETA SYSTEM

EAST HAVEN MOUNTAINS

For a moment after landing there his feet felt wobbly and his head rang. Must have taken the landing a little too hard, but at least he made it. Fortunately, the disorientation quickly faded.

Silas rose to his feet beside Roy and returned his teammate’s nod. He was thankful to have his friend back after the ill-fated mission over Nexium where Roy returned even more injured than he had been already. His right arm was already lost, now half his body was burned away. Silas remembered teasing after Roy’s recent surgery that one of his legs was probably the next thing to go. Still, it pained Silas to see the horrible things that happened to his brothers and sisters in arms as a result of this war, and made him all the more grateful that some, like John from Blue Team, managed to survive this long practically unscathed, or with minor deformities like himself who only lost one eye to that Elite and his ring finger when it got bitten off by a Brute.

By now, plasma had begun to sizzle past the Spartans and Silas responded by ducking into a crouch and returning fire. Off to his side, the team leader heard a warbled cry and turned to see an Elite Minor in fresh blue armor rushing fervently in his direction. He’d make the alien pay for its recklessness.

“Roy, check right!” Silas called out, alerting his partner to the Elite. As it lunged at Silas with a gauntlet energy dagger, the crouching Spartan reached to the floor behind him and seized his own fallen parachute that was laying there. In a burst of movement he exploded to his feet and slipped past the enemy’s blow, flinging the parachute over the Elite’s head at the same time. Blinded and netted, the Elite let out a furious growl. Silas then turned and stomped forward with a hard kick, pushing the Elite in the direction of Roy and his shotgun.

As plasma continued to fly, Silas then proceeded to shrug out of his parachute’s straps and dive for cover behind one of the nearby pillars supporting the small platform above them. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of the neighboring Scarab, Target Bravo that Courtney had boarded. The two Scarabs were moving fairly close together , so Silas could easily see what was going on over there. It looked like Courtney had made a good landing and was holding her own against the guards for now, but a little backup never hurt.

Silas steadied his M6D’s aim with both hands, the weapon’s smart-link scope zooming in on his visor’s display. He centered the reticule on a Grunt’s head who was currently swiveling a plasma turret in Courtney’s direction. He tracked the target for a half-second, compensating for the lumbering movement of both Scarabs, and then pulled the trigger.

His round tore across the gap between the gigantic Covenant walkers and knocked the stocky alien off its weapon with a splatter of bright blue blood.

“Remember, you’re not alone over there Gold Two,” Silas said over the COM. “We’ve got your back.”

TAG(S): TinCanHitman, @tracker

[Faclan]

Chris Hyde - ONI Section 1 Agent
UNSC zone, heading underground.
This is going to be a long day...

Raising his eyebrows, as seen through the currently unpolarized visor, Chris was surprised at the ODST plan to just drive to Mike with the noise and the weaponry...That was certainly a plan and a half. "Err...I would like to join you but I don't think the Hogs will work. That would speed the journey up a lot but I'm not even sure the Hogs would fit into the tracks let alone down the stairs. Even if they could I would think they would get stuck going around slight bends or there was any big obstruction we would have to just walk anyway. I think Subway cars are generally at or under three meters, and the hog is just over that. Not to mention the Innies would hear us from a mile off if there are any down there."

Shrugging a little Chris glanced to the side and then closed his eyes and sighed a bit as Mays started up again. This is why ONI had a bad reputation with the normal enlisted soldiers and even the special forces. The times when they worked together ONI seemed to always have to make them separate from the others and not work together as a team to achieve the same goals. Slumping a bit he just moved to the side and rolled his eyes at Mays. "You can call me whatever you want Mick, since we're here to work as a team after all." He said, the emphasis pretty clear as he narrows his eyes a little at Mays but then just shrugged as he turned to Mick's new squad member. "You'l be fine, most of them aren't know for their training and if we go carefully they shouldn't pose a threat."

With that he started to move down the steps, flicking his head to the side a little to activate the VISR mode on the helmet so he could see as they moved down into the darkness. "Lets get started then, before something happens to the signal and we loose it." He stopped to glance down at his pad to check it was still there...whilst also opening the channel to Mays again to voice some complaints. "Its crap like that that makes them hate us Mays, loosen up a little so they see us as just people not evil demons of the night. Especially since we're going to need them if something has happened to Mike or there is something on the way to Mike..." Though with Mick near-by he likely heard some of the quiet rumblings from the helmet.

(Best working buddies 5ever)


(NPC)Eal Tas - T'vaoan Murmillo.
Underground and scouting.
What to do...what to do.

Not paying much attention to the other two as he heard his Needle rifle fire off a few more times Eal kept his attention focused on Talz as he found the injury. It was a nasty looking gunshot wound to her side. But it didn't seem to be bleeding enough to have hit her stomach or any other organs. That was good at least. Fortunately the hole also seemed to be a small one, likely from one of their small sub gun sprayers. But it had hit Talz right where her armor didn't cover her skin and so had bit deep. Silencing Talz as she tried to speak he patted her beak lightly as he told her to lie still while he got something to bandage the wound. It was when he was standing back up he also saw that she had a wound to her left shin as well. Taking a second to look at that it didn't seem to be bleeding but he bet it hurt like hell and he didn't know if she would be able to walk. But one issue at a time.

Leaving his helmet on the cover near her he thanked Roh for the cloth, and now he didn't have to go and slice off clothing to make a bandage. And then saw Roh run off after their Human friend. Good Kig to keep eyes on their quarry. But he then started to remove Talz chest armor so he could get at her injury and a good wrap.

Thankfully the wound didn't seem to be causing the female much pain, or else she didn't want to show it in front of Eal, as she stayed quiet and still during the work. Getting the armor off was simply and Eal did his best to clean the wound with his spare canteen...remember the other one he left with his rations now, and then apply some Gel to help sterilize and numb the pain that she was feeling, before wrapping it around her chest and shoulder and then back to the wound three times before tying it securely. It was during this time that Roh came back with the Human and another...young Human. Odd that the bad Humans would employ someone likely as unskilled as that young one and also a bit sickening that they brought what would only be an apprentice back home into a live fire situation. "Disgusting that they drag the young into their raids." He hissed to Roh before turning back to Talz and helping her sit up against the cover as he did a quick wrapping around her shin wound. "She'll be fine, just may be hard walking and I think we should go slow if we can to not put stress on the injuries." He said quickly as he handed Roh back the spare wrappings and then jumped over to the crack to retrieve the water and rations and then leapt back. Hearing Roh say his own name the Murmillo sat down on the cover near Talz and held out the rations and water to their new Human friend. "Eal Tas, and this is Talz." He said, though being in Kiggy probably didn't say much as Eal looked around a bit. Roh could translate if need be as after a few jerky looks Eal looked back at the human as he quietly voiced a question to his bird comrades. "Now...what to do with these two and what questions do we need?" He mused, still holding out the food and setting his scuffled Needle rifle on the ground near him after taking it back from Roh - he could reload it later.


Eugine - Jiralhanae Advisor.
Covenant zone.
Annoyed but welcoming.

I could just drop this damned Kig-Yar down the split in the earth...nearly no-one would see it and I could act it up as an accident. Then he would be dead and I wouldn't have to deal with his spitting on our culture anymore... That and similar ran through Eugines mind as he walked with Cad tucked under his arm like a barrel of ale as the Kig's arms and legs swayed as Euigne tromped toward the medical tent...But thankfully he stuck with his Nephews wishes and didn't let Cad drop to his death and soon arrived at the set up place. Unfortunately the silver Elder was now in a que as the troops seeking some kind of attention from the doctors and Huragok at this place. Eugines mind going back to thoughts of murder or just dropping the Kig-Yar on the ground and waiting for someone else see to his broken arm. Eugine hated waiting in lines for anything; ale, food, brothel, apparently at the medicine hut as well. But after tapping his foot impatiently for awhile the line started to move again and so Eugine stuck with it. Thankfully able to see the front of the line as he towered over the mostly Kig-Yar and Unggoy dominated line - though he was getting a wide berth and a lot of fearful and confused look from all around that he was carrying a clearly badly injured Kig-Yar and looking bored.

Finally at the front Eugine explained Cad's injuries to the Sangheili female overseer - getting the looks from her as well before she carefully took Cad from Eugine and laid him down on a transport bed to be moved somewhere deeper in the covered area. Eugine just nodding and telling her to contact the Chieftain when the dumb bird was awake. The female just nodding before Euigne tromped out of the foul smelling place, ducking under a floating Huragok, and heading back toward Garatus.

The trip back didn't seem nearly as long as he wasn't carrying his Nephews damned pet anymore - so instead he pulled out their tribes totem to carry instead. A small and rather fluffeh what appeared to just be a puff ball but there was a little face on the front. Holding it in his good hand he smiled at it a little and offered a quick prayer that the rest of the mission would go smoothly before placing the totem back into his satchel hanging off his bandolier.Better still when he arrived back he noted that the T'vaoan Champion was out and helping his nephew pull up the trapped people and that Til seemed to be emerging. But he frowned as he arrived beside the Chieftian and nodded at the Champion as he spoke up. "Your little pet is at the medical station again Nephew...and you should really be....delegating the work load." He said, a round-about way to tell his Nephew to stop doing work before he severally over exerted himself. "I believe the cleansing of the Foolish Ragnus tribe has already begun already." Taking a few steps over he waved his staff at Til as he arrived and nodded, the T'vaoan Champion just ignoring the Elder as she held the chain ladder for others to ascend.

"Welcome back to the surface Field Marshal."

"I'm trying to get a situation report Field Marshal." The Champion spoke from behind the Elder as they hauled the chains up as there was no need for them as ladders anymore.

(At least I think Til was out of the hole D:)

[TinCanHitman]

SPARTAN-001 

Gold Three 

PROTECTOR, TRANQUILITAS BETA SYSTEM  

EAST HAVEN MOUNTAINS  

Roy fired another shot, peppering a group of grunts with shotgun pellets, earning him a few squeals of pain and causing two to simply smack into the metal deck, dead. Roy looked over his shoulder in time to see Silas juke an elite, calling out to him and pushing the now parachute covered alien in his direction. The kick sent it to close to Roy, so he simply shoulder checked it, catching it mid stride and sending it splayed on the ground. He moved quick, placing his boot on it's chest and putting a round through the chute, and causing purple blood to bloom around them, which consequently saved Roy. A jackal sprung forward with a incredible leap, but it landed right in the elite's blood, sliding with a loud cry. Roy watched the avian monster slip around in blood, squawking and clawing, and simply ran over and gave it a hardy quick in the side, sending it scrabbling over the side.

Roy also crouched, not that it'd do much for the large spartan, but every bit helped. He began to fire into the amassing wave of guards that was forming in front of them, Jackals taking the lead as to provide shield cover. Roy wasn't deterred, as he knew his teammate wouldn't be, firing into the crevices in the shield front, earning screams and the occasional jackal to fall, but they would quickly patch the hole, reforming their barrier as they slowly pushed up. Roy just kept firing, adjusting his position a bit here and there. He was hoping that they wouldn't have been able to get a response together so quickly and so organized, but it seemed that they had been planning for company. 

“Remember, you’re not alone over there Gold Two. We've got your back.”
Roy suddenly remembered that Courtney was here and cast a quick glance to her, his eye perfectly highlighting her and causing information from her mijolner to flash into his vision. He quickly ripped his gaze away, the information distracting him to much from his current task. He reached into his satchel and pulled one of his pipe-bombs out, striking a match he flashed a green light, then a red, to alert his team to friendly ordinance. He lit the fuse and counted a few second and tossed it, timing his toss so that it would explode at about grunt head level and jackal spine level. He tossed it into the group of covenant that had formed in front of them, not yet able to approach since they had been pushing them back.

Roy ducked down, tapping Silas' so that he'd know to duck as well, and right after a loud pop and pinging filled the air as well as a multitude of alien screams. From the other walker it would be dark black smoke a fine misting of purple and pastel blue blood. Roy looked over at his robot arm and pried a nail out of it, then simply dropped it to the ground.

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Seventh Marines
Kristopher Airfield

"You heard right, Lieutenant." John said in reply over the channel that Bishop had contacted him on. "If I find your Marine I'll try to help you get out but hopefully you're able to squeeze through with who ever is alive in your platoon before it's to late. These giant ants should give you some motivation to get the fuck out of here." John said.

John was still thinking what to do with the ant-like creatures and the scientists that were trapped in the lab. He could call in the SPARTANs but he had a feeling that they were doing something more important. They were SPARTANs after all so the next best thing John could call upon was the Combat Engineers.

"Reaper Actual, this is Guardian Actual. How copy, over?" John said, hoping to get the Captains attention. It clued into his mind that he needed a unit wide progress report from all of his officers. The Marines were spread out in the Alpha Cluster and certainly had deployed into the BETA cluster to help with the evacuation.

John changed to the 7th Marine Regiment's command channel and included the company frequencies as well, meaning any Captain who held a command could receive John's communications. "All call signs this net this is Guardian Actual. Send sit-reps ASAP, over." John said into his microphone.

He had one other unit to check up on. He switched to GOLD teams channel for Silas to hear. "Gold One this is Guardian Actual. Requesting sitrep of your team, over."

John hoped to regroup the Marines and fight back, but he had to get out from underneath the destroyed airfield first.

[Cabel]

[Tranquilitas Beta: Planet Protector: Water Purification Plant: Alpha Company Command Post: Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th MEB: Captain Mark “Spade” Sorelson: Date: 1 January 2548: Situation: Engaged]

“All call signs this net, this is Guardian Actual. Send sit-reps ASAP, over,” blared over his helmet-mic, indicated as the Regiment‘s encrypted command frequency.

“Tornado Actual to Guardian Actual, sit-rep incoming. Alamo is under assault, but Alpha is holding. Four Phantoms present. Three Phantoms dropping regular troops, and one cloaked dropped those SpecOps. Ground vehicles are not present, as of yet,” Mark began before briefly shouting in the other encrypted frequency he’d had opened belonging to the defenders in the plant. “Rocket hogs, open fire…let ’em have it. Grenadiers, send our Covenant friends some of your pineapples and label ’em Return to Sender. Oh…*incoherent swear*,” The aging Captain hit the deck as a series of plasma lances from the lead Phantom soared overhead striking the deck a few meters behind him. “Tornado Actual to Guardian Actual, it‘s getting sporty but we‘re holding,” he said, over the same encrypted command frequency.

Four Rocket hogs Mark had kept in reserve in different side corridors at near the rear of the plant, two of which had come from his own escort opened fire with multiple rockets launching from their casements leaving very brief contrails before seeking out the Phantoms in question while the M41 LAAG hogs kept up impressive suppressive fire mowing down or softening Covenant positions. “If you hear from Angel Four Actual, inform him to pick up his pace. Over,” he relayed over the same encrypted command frequency.

Managing to his feet, Mark took aim at one of the larger Elites meaning one in some rather glossed over armor before squeezing back on the trigger.

[LaxKnight]

CPL Toby ‘Mick’ McMillian Jr
153rd ODST
Heading Underground
Okay Then…Moving On!
Tag(s):
 Faclan, @tracker


Chris decided answer his question while denouncing his Warthog idea though he brought up excellent points to back it. Mick considered them before and thought that having speed and firepower would be better but when brought up again he thought harder and realized that with the earthquake there might not be enough space. He gave a nod in agreement. But that presented a new problem. What is he to do with the Warthogs?

When the other scientist spoke up, Mick stood there simply bewildered. She introduced herself as LT Rebecca Mays, also an ONI scientist, and while Mick was fine with bluntness, he wasn’t a wordsmith himself, the manner she presented it seemed real...demeaning. She then questioned his decision to bring the Warthogs and then brought up why she wasn’t invited. He thought that they only really needed three people to scout the area and a few other excuses besides that he didn’t think she would be interested but before he can defend himself Chris spoke up, saying it was okay to call him Chris since they were on a team, particular emphasis on team. He then spoke to PVT Connelly saying how they should be okay since the Innies aren’t well trained. “Innies would be stupid to fuck with ONI AND ODSTs!” she exclaimed with extra pep, causing Mick to let out a groan.

“I think all of your motivation would scare them off,” Mick's voice laced with sarcasm.

Chris told them to get going and disappeared down the stairs but Mick waited for a moment. He had to address something first. He glanced at the Warthogs. They can’t just leave them to become presents for the Innies but he would preferably like to take all of his team with him. “Kali, Brit,” he called to the other two team members, “Ghost those Warthogs then catch back up to us.”

The quick ODST with the sniper rifle gave a simple thumbs up while the other one with the com gear said, “Roger that.”

As they got to work Mick and PVT Connelly caught up with Chris, activating their VISRs with their weapons at the ready. “Hey Chris I got a weird question,” he said, “Do you know anyone named Ashley Kaliki?”

Kaliki was actually the silent one with the sniper rifle. There was a rumor floating around that she used to be ONI then something happened and now she’s here. He hoped to maybe squelch that rumor though he doubts he knows.

[Llau]

First Lieutenant Alex Bishop
1 / 7, Alpha Company, Third Platoon
Airfield, Protector
Yep, time to get the hell out of this deathtrap.
Tag(s): @tracker , MrKill


He grinned a little, when he heard her say it was just a small cut. “Well, that's better news, Private Elms,” he called out to her. “Unless...you know, it's really worse than you're telling me it is, and you've seen Monty Python one too many times. Classic.” He rambled a bit, making himself feel better that she wasn't hurt as bad as her scream sounded.

He then heard Killinger again, answering him. Good, he was able to hear him back. “Well, giant ants mixed with the threat of being squashed too death by rubble over my head is quite the motivator, sir,” he replied, looking around the width of the tunnel Elms was crawling in again. “I'll do my best. Over.”

Bishop stared down the hole, keeping an eye on the Private, while contemplating to whether or not that he should take his armor off so he could fit in there.

Fuck it. He thought, laying the flashlight on the ground to unstrap his armor from his chest quickly, and then held the flashlight in one hand, while he used the other to push the armor into the tunnel.

“Keep going, Elms,” he said. Grunting here and there as he laid down, and begin pushing and crawling a little at the time. “I'll be right behind you, Private.”

Here's hoping I don't get stuck...




ONI Section III Field Operator, Lieutenant Michelangelo Moretti
Operation Lead
Protector // Alpha Cluster // Alpha Cluster Tunnel System
...You got questions, and I probably won't answer. Probably.
Tag(s): Faclan , BetaWülf



While the young rebel was grunting and moving around a little under the Lieutenant's knee, Moretti's eyes were on Gel when he spoke to the agent. “That depends on the kid.”

He glanced down at Skyler, who was staring over at the three aliens with a frightened expression. He tilted his head a little, grinning a bit as he leaned down to whisper quietly into his ear. While he was leaned over, he took a moment to check to see if his radio transmitter in his TAC-PAD was activated, and when it was, he whispered a threat to him.

“It's okay, Skyler...if you're good, I won't feed you to them.” He smiled darkly and the boy froze at that.

He heard Gel introducing himself and his dark smile faded into a more of a polite one when he looked up at the extended hand for a moment, and then up at Gel. He hesitated somewhat, but took a moment of his time to shake the T'vaoan's hand, ignoring the pain in two of his broken fingers when he did so. The adrenaline since escaping must be wearing off enough that he was beginning to feel his broken fingers, as well as other parts of his body from the beatings he endured; though the cool air and his still wet clothes were helping a bit to keep the soreness down.

“Roh Gel, huh? I'm Mike.”

Oh, look at this. Chris will be happy that I'm making friends with these space chickens, he thought silently with a faint smile of uncertainty. What am I doing...allying myself with the enemy? No. I mean...they don't seem that bad but... He wondered, and then released his hold around Gel's hand to restrain Skyler's wrists behind his back. But...maybe...maybe I can use them? Would be good to get all of their names. Use them later. That is, if they live. Or I live.

He shook his head a little, focusing on what he was doing, and planning on how to get out of these tunnels to continue his mission. He hoped, while he left his end of the radio communications on his TAC-PAD on, that someone on the ONI frequency could pick it up, and locate him eventually, but soon. No telling when the aliens decide to end him; though, why they want to talk to him is something he was curious about. He knew the Kigs weren't completely fanatic, and would probably turn on the Covenant if paid well enough to do so. They would only hear him and the Kig-Yar, but he made it so that they won't be able to speak directly to him. He didn't need the aliens to know that they were being listened in on. His bigger question really was, was who the hell was going to be helping him if he need it? He knew there weren't many Section Three agents on Protector, and those who were around, were busy with the Covenant. The only available agents who could meet up with him or rescue him, were...

“Oh, devi essere fottutamente scherzando...” He muttered under his breath when he realized who was possibly still available. His eyes went wide briefly, looking like he was going to shoot himself in the face. He felt like it. Chris, maybe. Since he's been training a little with me. But...Mays?! What is she going to do? Throw a pencil at them? He stifled laughter, and shook his head again as he grinned in dismay.

He pulled Skyler into a sitting position, and went to check on the kid's leg when he overheard Tas speaking. Was he...introducing himself, too? It sounded like it. He should probably spend more time paying attention to Hyde when the Xeno-Linguist spoke in their language. He gazed up at him, and then over at Gel, and then back at Tas.

He carefully took the rations and water from Tas, and placed the items on the ground next to him. He then gazed up at the three aliens. He managed to pick up some of what he said quietly to the others when he offered the water and rations for him again. He stood up, unsheathing the knife he took when he escaped the building, and then used it to cut Skyler's hoodie off.

“Hey!” Skyler yelled, grimacing as the agent was cutting his hoodie.

He ignored the boy for a moment, glancing over at Tas and Roh again. “Questions?” He said, but in their own language, though slowly, and ended up flubbing it before repeating it a few more times before he finally said the word correctly. He hoped. Hyde wasn't here to assist, but at least Gel knew English.

“H-hey...what...wh-what are you doing?!” The young rebel stammered, feeling defeated that he wasn't able to stop it. “Shit, man.”

“Shut-up...” Moretti muttered at him, and then cut the hoodie into strips as he crouched down, and then used one of the strips to tie it around the boy's leg, while the young rebel watched him. The agent looked at him. “I saw you limping...can you move your ankle?”

Skyler glanced down at his right foot, and then back up at him. “Why the hell are you helping me anyway? You shot me, remember?”

“Yeah, I shot you,” Moretti said, “But that was before I knew you were some kid.”

“Yeah, well, I'm not a damn kid,” Skyler protested, scoffing.

“Well, you're a stupid kid who joined up with some careless rebels who almost got you killed,” The agent responded, deadpan. “Seriously? Who sends underage kids to do their dirty work?” he glanced back over to the group of dead Insurrectionists. “Were there more of you down here that we ended up killing?”

“Shut-up, ONI freak,” muttered the boy, “You're the one to talk. Pa told me how ONI operates. You guys are dirty, shady little shits, and you guys think you're better than everyone else.”

"I take that as a yes..." Moretti inhaled, closing his eyes for a moment, and then exhaled as he opened his eyes; glaring back at the juvenile delinquent. Times like this, where he wished he had some silencing tape laying around. Instead of punching him (though, the desire to punch him in the mouth was growing stronger by the second), he just smiled, unamused, as he slightly shifted the kid's injured foot.

“Ahh!” Skyler grimaced in pain.

“Yep. It's broken.” The boy glared at him, while Moretti tied the other strips of cloth around the ankle and under the foot to secure it as best as he could with the material he had. He then looked down at the rations and water. He picked up the water and took a couple of sips of it, and then offered it over to Skyler, who accepted it and practically tried to inhale all of it – not trained to even learn how to properly conserve drinking water like Moretti was. He capped the water, and then reached over to the rations and looked inside. He dropped what what in there inside the palm of his hand. He blinked. Not only was there some kind of jerky, there were slices of fruit, which he was surprised by that. Huh, didn't know they liked fruit, or even had fruit. He thought as he ripped one in half, and ate one half of it.

“Sweet, and juicy,” He offered one to Skyler. “Here, come on. Eat it. It'll give you energy, kid.” When the boy hesitated and pouted, he assured him, “It's good.” More hesitation ensued, but the boy eventually accepted it, and Moretti fed him the slice of fruit.

He went to put the other fruit slices back into the rations pouch, and then studied the pieces of jerky for a moment. He smelled it, and then ripped one in half to taste it. While he carefully chewed on it, he realized how much it tasted like bacon.

Oh...oh God...it's like a party in my mouth, he thought. He smiled, ending up eating the other piece that he ripped off, but then gave another piece of the jerky to Skyler.

“Bacon? Tastes like bacon...” Skyler smiled, realizing that he must have been hungrier than he thought while he ate it. “Is...is there more?”

“Yeah, but...” He dropped the rest back into the pouch. “We have to conserve.”

“Damn it...”

Moretti smirked, looking back at the aliens. “You want these back...? I hope not.” He smiled hopefully, it would be nice if he could keep the rations and water. It was so good. Being captured for almost a week would do that to anyone. 

[BetaWülf]

T'vaoan Major Roh Gel.
What the fuck is bacon?

Roh nodded when the Human shook his hand after some hesitation. He listened to the Human, and was relieved when he finally got a name to call the Human. "Nice ta meet you Mike," Roh said, pausing when Eal introduced himself, "He is sayin' his name is Eal Tas, and her name is Talz" Roh concluded before looking back at Talz with worry in his eyes and heart.

He watched Mike chop off the boys hood, seeing it was to bandage the boys leg. Looking over at Eal Roh whispered in their own language, "See what he does? He is the one who shot the boy in the first place. I do not trust him, not yet" Roh said to the Murmillo, voicing his concerns openly if not a bit hushed.

It didn't make Roh feel anymore secure when he heard Mike say 'Questions?' repeatedly in the Kig-yar common, sloppily at first but progressively better. Roh looked to Eal, Roh wasn't sure what to say honestly. He wondered who taught him their language, he knew some of the Innies knew it, but Mike was obviously no friend of them. Were there Kig-yar in the employ of ONI perhaps?

Roh pushed those thoughts from his mind as he spoke to Eal. "As you can tell, he wants to know our questions, what shall I say to him? I think it would be good to know why they made the domes, and perhaps inquire about the way around the tunnels? By the way, he says his name is Mike" Roh said, adding the name onto the end at the last second. Roh looked back at Mike and the Human youngling, apparently named Skyler. "The boy is named Skyler, Eal" Roh added.

When Mike asked if they wanted the rations back, Roh shook his head "Keep 'em" Roh said, "But answer me this. What is bacon?" Roh asked.

Jiralhanae Chieftain Garatus.
Damnable strain, why must you affect me?

Garatus was so relieved when the Field Marshal was emerging, finally he could rest. Once the Sangheili had risen from the pits, Garatus nodded to his Uncle and removed himself from the chain hefting group, being replaced by a suitably burly Jiralhanae. The Chieftain sank heavily to his knees and rested his knuckles against the ground as he rumbled in relief. He was so tired... so damn tired he could barely keep himself up. Even if he collapsed into a drooling heap of sleep he knew nobody would care or think less of him, he damn well earned his tiredness and would deal with it accordingly.

"Indeed Uncle, indeed. Cicerus and Karonus will see to their slaughter" He said, getting into a laid back sitting position with his back to a large stone slab.

"I have ill news to that effect, Mistress Kael" Garatus said with a respectful nod to the T'vaoan. "There was heresy within the Pack, the Ragnus Tribe worshiped a false deity, a Fire God for which they named their accursed Tribe" he said, hatred being shown towards the Ragnus scum with every word.

"Many loyal Jiralhanae died, but Cicerus will finish off any stragglers of their Tribe Field Marshal" Garatus said, bowing his head to Til, "I swear by all that is holy I shall destroy the Ragnus Tribe" he concluded as an Unggoy treated his wounds, before he slumped back to rest, obviously weary from excessive exertion.

[BasedGoody]

Unggoy Ultra Yaddap

Yaddap had watched as the chains rescued a multitude of allies and strong soldiers pulled them up. Both Judded and Tabban had assisted while Yad decided it would be better if he supervised the actions. Now that his Minor and Major lay on the ground, heaving in large gulps of methane, the Ultra smiled with pride. He sat down on the ground in the soft sand with his smile beaming.

Suddenly he realized that his assistance was certainly worth a promotion, maybe two. After all, if it weren't for him supervising than who knows what would have happened? They could have dropped the chain, or someone could have fallen off the cliff! Sure no one could really hear him barking orders, but it had to be the thought that counted.

Yaddap quickly hopped and waddled over to the Chieftain. His large feet slipped and stumbled in the grains of sand. The clumsy Unggoy fell flat on his stomach. He shoved himself back to his feet and continued his jog to the Jiralhanae.

"Garatus!" Yad yelped out, but suddenly realized how rude that would sound, "Uh, er, Sir Chieftain Lord Garatus, yeah, I have done your orders and helped to save all of our friends! All of them!" The Ultra eagerly said.

Shoutouts to - BetaWülf

[Huka]

Field Marshal Til Je’at Ze’ta ‘Muramai
Covenant Staging Area

The light of twilight came to Til’s visored eye, it was a beautiful sight to say the least. Despite all of the planets; those he’ve fought in, hunted in, and conquered, their dusks and twilights were all beautiful. Granted, a couple were deadly in terms of sudden temperature flares that turned good warriors into crumbling ash but it was the poetic beauty that matters...

With one more tug, one clawed hand gripped on the melted edge of the former airstrip’s ledge, then another and the Covenant force’s Field Marshal finally emerged from his would-be time tall and strong. On those few hours, the only thing this near-scare did was annoy him on the bridge of his patience. It was time and lives wasted on a would be success!

And he hated wasted potential among other things.

But the celebration cries of his loyal soldiers made his hearts sear that they were willing to stand with him even now. There he found the General of Lamenting Consceration already approaching on the opposite side of where Chieftain Garatus and Eugine stood.

“Welcome back to the surface, Field Marshal.” The Jiralhanae wiseman greeted with the universal bow of the head, to which Til returned respectfully before his eye fell upon the obviously tired Chieftain, the wariness spoke much. Especially what was told in the events of his disappearance.

“There was heresy within the Pack, the Ragnus Tribe worshiped a false deity, a Fire God for which they named their accursed tribe.”

This brought a sense of ache and disgust into the Field Marshal as his masked face fell upon Garatus but he kept a stoic posture as he continued to listen.

“Many loyal Jiralhanae died, but Cicerus will finish off any stragglers of their Tribe, Field Marshal. I swear by all that is holy I shall destroy the Ragnus Tribe.” The Chieftain finished with the bow of his head while his wounds were treated by an Unggoy. Til tilted his head somewhat and snaked it into a nod in understanding of the blight. He was just thankful it wasn’t a repeat of their last artifact retrieval. It would be too soon for his lifetime.

“I trust in your abilities to handle the situation to the last traitor, Chieftain. This is a terrible tragedy to here...” Til acknowledged before scanning the landscape before him. There was a planetary scar running deep along the Covenant’s taken territory and knew. “And behold. I pray not many of ours fell into the planet’s abyss.”

Taking everything in, he looked and recounted the commanders of his army. Legra was no doubt heading an attack elsewhere with a part of their forces. With a check to the battlenet, two of the brought Scarabs were already on the field in an advanced attack but attacked by Demons from the sounds of things. Damnation. He hoped they wouldn’t come...no matter. It was potent to adapt.

“General.” He finally said after a minute’s breath under his respirator to filtered oxygen. “Sire.” Ekdo’s former second-in-commander, Usze ‘Sausamai stepped forward in a crisp legionnaire salute. “I want our defenses at top capacity and secure rest points established. Everyone in the labor lances will take a one unit rest. The Field Masters will take care of assaults and we will asset on what to do...we need to minimize this idleness before this becomes our doom.” The Field Marshal ordered. “Yes, sire. What of the project to the stairwell?” The General questioned.

Til took a look at the progress. “Lekgolo, burrow and find any survivors. Any humans in your way...execute them.” He ordered to the recently surfaced Mgalekgolo, pointing to two bond brothers, who released a harmonic response. “As you command, Honorable Marshal.”

The lumbering four marched into the small entrance before the first of each pulled themselves out of their armored harnesses to get their fill of minerals with squirming glee while their brothers of colonies crouched low and began digging, replacing the last laborers.

The Field Marshal watched for a moment before catching the Locusts resurface on their powerful limbs, hatches opening with hisses of escaping air before their environmental-harnessed pilots peered out with personal accomplishment that was well-earned. “Who sent you?” He asked and the lance officer clicked his mandibles, “Shipmaster Chur’R-Suf, sire. His quick thinking is to be respected, I see how you enjoy his strategy.”

“On that, we will agree.” Til remarked, almost wishing he had his cape within. He missed the feel of his mother’s war-silk before spinning on his toes and marched to congratulated the warriors that worked their bones to get the lost creche out. To fill some accomplishment despite doing what was natural and expected in the Covenant military was reward enough at the moment.

[Faclan]

(NPC)Eal Tas - T'vaoan Murmillo.
Underground and scouting.
Feeling a bit left out, but question time.

Eal just mostly watched as the older Human seemed to be trying to help the young enemy one. Really Eal didn't have an idea on what made one different from the other as the different Human factions weren't well known to the Murmillo as he was mostly focused on staying alive and keeping his charges alive as well. But then the Human started to laugh at something he clearly thought was funny - but it was just inside his mind so the Kigs weren't in on the joke. Sink him then if he wanted to be exclusionary!

Glancing back at Talz she grunted and tried to stand up and take a few practice steps. It clearly pained her but she was able to do it, someone to learn on and she could probably make it a good way. But they had time now. It wasn't as if there was a battle going on right now however many hundred of feet above them the ground was. Each side was just busy licking their wounds and wondering what the hell to do now. Talz nodding back at him as she sat back down and started to put her chest armor back on. But then the Human spoke up in their language, badly, but then corrected himself a few times. Well that was an interesting development to be sure.

He did however nod at Roh and whispered back, since the Human may be understanding them now, about the trust in the room. "I don't either, but keep in mind he probably thinks were going to leap upon him or the boy at any second and eat them or something. I'm sure the distrust is mutual. But we have guns right now and the numbers advantage. So if we need to use some force we can. But for now lets try to keep this peaceful."

But then he went right back to English and left Eal to think about what this meant. Did it mean the Human knew what they were saying before? He messed up first time so he didn't seem that well versed in it...But nothing for it now as he took a sip from his own nearly empty canteen and smirked a bit as he watched the Human enjoy the fruit and jerky. Very much enjoy judging by his face - but then again it looked as if he hadn't eaten in awhile as he looked at Roh as he did some translating for Eal.

"Thank Aecor you know their language Roh or this would be way harder to do. But I think we know why they made the domes, so stop the orbital bombardment. I would focus on questions about this tunnel system and a way out of them besides the way we came. Maybe ask him about what he was doing down here to begin with. Maybe there is something secret down here that could help us."

He also waved off the rations being offered back as he looked down at his damaged hand. It wasn't causing him any pain but that was a bad thing that he wasn't feeling anything from it...But nothing he could really do about that now as he picked up his Needle rifle, frowning at the scuff and dirt on it from when the Human carelessly dropped it on the ground, and worked on re-loading it with one hand but resting the barrel on the ground and setting the stock in his lap. He was sure Roh could do the translating and would keep him in the loop.


Chris Hyde - ONI Section 1 Agent
Officially underground.
...teamwork?

So...there was a overly excited Rookie ODST, a seemingly competent ODST, two decently silent other ODST's, and then two ONI scientists. Chris was starting to really hope that they didn't run into any Innies down here or that Mike wasn't in some real trouble or they may be losing people down here. But he took a breath and closed his eyes for a second to try and get calm again before nodding a little. With that done he headed down the stairs and entered the darkness properly. Though the helmet did make it easy to see what was what down here. At least it wasn't as bad as the place that was bombed.

But he looked back when Mick asked him about a...person. Humming a bit as he stepped over a bench that had broken off the wall he shrugged. "Not personally no - but their name does sound a bit familiar. When we are not in the danger zone I'll do a search and see if there is a person like that and see whose eyes its for." Finally able to get down onto the tracks he hopped down and squinted down the passage. It looked stable and there wern't any massive cracks in the ceiling or anything like that. Looked alright so far. But then he was distracted by Mays responding to his complaint.

"There's professionalism and then there's pushing others away and reminding them...ok whatever, forget it. If you want to have that reputation then go for it - keep being what they think all ONI are." Facing forward again he held his SMG at ready as he started to move into the tunnels, hopefully with the ODST's just behind him.

Be he stopped when he heard a faint voice from his helmet radio that was tracking Mike's Tac pad. "Behav...won't feed...ou to them." Blinking a few times he erred but then continued to walk as Kig-Yar cheeps and pheeps followed that. But they were quiet and barely audible. "What the hell is going on with Mikes tac-pad?" He mumbled quietly to himself as they headed towards its signal.

(Best Agent friends ever >.>. The spelunking shall begin!)


Kael Gel - T'vaoan Champion. (And Eugine)
Topside.
Finishing with the chain gang.

Finally everyone was up out of the hole and the clearly tired Chieftain had collapsed beside the chain gang. At least the ordeal was over. Still feeling decently refreshed Kael helped the Jiralhanae still on the chain pull it up and start to wrap it up for if they needed to use it again. Shaking out her hands a bit from the grip she had on the chain Kael turned as the Chieftain replied to her sit rep. It was news to her and unfortunately she didn't have her helmet on this time to hide her expression of utter disgust that the Jiralhanae had once again had some kind of uprising during a mission. But after some disgust stares she seemed to remember she had no helmet and went to a more neutral expression as she nodded to Garatus. "Good that it was dealt with, we didn't need any more mission hiccups at this critical time."

Looking away from the Chieftain, as the elder advisor crouched beside him and offered him his canteen to drink, as her radio beeped to let her know she was getting a call.

"Good work Nephew, you've earned a slight rest before the campaign continues."

Kael just rolled her eyes as she took the hand held radio off her shoulder and clicked the receive button. "What's the situation Entourage?"

"Demons have arrived on the field and are assaulting our vehicles." A Major replied as Kael froze, eyes wide as she looked straight ahead. Demons...Demons we're here, not just one but multiple. "...Mistress?" Finally managing to take a breath and blink Kael nodded slowly and closed her eyes.

"Ok...what about the domes?"

"They seem to be damaged Mistress. Each of them have at least some visible cracks or even a hole in them." Pela answered before she could be heard hopping down off some rocks.

"Good to hear, Entourage strength?"

A third voice spoke up, one of the Majors. "We are at forty five strong Mistress, we lost a few to the earthquake and cave ins." Hissing a bit at this Kael nodded as she told them to get the rest they could before it was time to move again. If it was possible to recover the bodies do it so they could be given a proper send off after the mission was completed. Clicking off the radio she returned it to her shoulder before moving over to Til and saluting.

"I'm sure you are aware Field Marshal but the Human defense domes seem to be damaged. Perhaps if our ships in orbit are not too pre-occupied we could try bombardment again?"

(SSA still cowering in the phantom and Cad slumped in the medical station.)

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009

GOLD ONE

PROTECTOR, TRANQUILITAS BETA SYSTEM

EAST HAVEN MOUNTAINS

Having switched from his M6D pistol to his MA5B assault rifle, Silas took advantage of the weapon’s sixty-round magazine to lay down long sprays of suppressive fire in attempt to hold back the remaining aliens while Roy focused on the Jackals forming a phalanx with their glowing energy shields.

“Reloading,” the Spartan announced when his ammo counter dropped to zero. He ducked back behind his pillar to swap his depleted magazine for a fresh one. As he racked back the charging handle to chamber the first new round, a voice that didn’t belong to one of his team buzzed over the COM.

"Gold One this is Guardian Actual. Requesting sitrep of your team, over."

“Guardian Actual this is Gold One, roger that…” Silas replied. He paused for a moment as his HUD flashed with a green light followed by a red light, shortly before Roy gave him a warning tap. In one fast, fluid motion Silas sunk even closer to the metallic floor and briefly turned away, raising one arm to block his head. The pipe bomb detonated, filling the air with a burst of shrapnel and lots of thick black smoke.

Roy’s homemade explosive did the trick. When Silas turned back around, the coast was clear. He rose to his feet and with rifle raised made an aggressive dash towards the ramp that led down into the Scarab’s control room, filling in Colonel Killinger over the radio as he went.

“…Gold Team has engaged enemy Scarab walkers in the mountains north of Alpha Cluster. We have boarded the Scarabs and are proceeding to place explosive ordnance, over.”

Silas descended several steps down the ramp just as he finished talking. However, he didn’t get any further. From around the corner, there was a sudden deep, low rumbling grunting noise and a blur of movement. Silas’s vision was filled with a giant metal object.

There was a great crash of metal on metal, and then Silas was sent flying through the air back up the ramp where his armored body clattered to the deck in a heavy thud. Momentarily dazed, he blinked the stars out of his eye as he tried to find his voice.

“Hunters!” he cried out in alarm.

He began to scramble backwards across the floor as a pair of alien behemoths came thumping up the ramp after him. The thick plates of their armor rattled with each reverberating step, their colossal metal shields and the spines on their backs scraped against the sides of the walls as they emerged.

Silas had not seen that coming. It was very unusual to see Hunters on board guarding a Scarab, plus it was a wonder they even managed to fit down in the control room. It was beginning to become more and more apparent that either the Covenant was expecting company at some point, that they really wanted to keep these walkers secure, or both. And if there were Hunters here guarding Target Alpha, it was likely a pair was waiting on Target Bravo as well…

TAG(S): TinCanHitman, MrKill, @tracker

[TinCanHitman]

SPARTAN-001
Gold Three
PROTECTOR, TRANQUILITAS BETA SYSTEM
EAST HAVEN MOUNTAINS

Roy peeked the corner of the arch he was hiding behind, finding the area clear he fully emerged from behind the pillar, sweeping the deck of the massive walker for any survivors. When Silas suddenly bolted for the lower deck Roy moved in behind him, pivoting off his foot and moving so that his back was to Silas. He was making sure nothing got them from behind when he heard a loud alien grunt and metal crashing with metal. He turned to face Silas, who slid to his feet from the hit of the hunter. Roy used his real arm to hoist his comrade up, giving him a reassuring tap as he backed up a bit, the hunters squaring up with them.

He fired a shot, but their shields easily deflected the rounds. Their fuel rod cannons began to glow as they heated up. Roy flashed three red lights telling Silas to duck, not that he thought the other spartan wouldn't. He launched himself off to the side, rolling from the front of the ramp to behind a pillar again. He quickly regained his footing and began to pump orange shells into his shot gun. Roy knew that if he could get a good shot of dragon's breath inside of one of the hunters it'd start melting it for sure.

He looked over at Silas, making sure he was still alright.

[LaxKnight]

CPL Toby ‘Mick’ McMillian
153rd ODST
In the Tunnels
Spooky
Tag(s): @tracker, Faclan

It wasn’t the answer Mick was looking for but he’ll take it. The fact that he heard of Kali before was promising. However before he could probe any further he saw the movements of Chris’ helmet that indicated he was having a private conversation and dropped the subject. ONI stuff, he thought sourly. The soon reached the bottom of the stairs. Mick scanned the area and found that it was relatively intact and that there wasn’t a swarm of bad guys waiting for him. However he didn’t let his guard down, they were in a warzone after all. Professional military members, Mick and PVT Connelly checked the corners then scanned the area as the Spooks continued their conversation. By this time Brit and Kali caught up with them.

“That was quick,” Mick commented, “Is it going to be there when we get back?”

“Unless we have some unusually perceptive adversaries,” Brit’s British accent pour through the com, “We should be alright.”

“Sweet,” Mick said. He was pondering how to proceed when a broken transmission came over the radio. Was that their man? And there sounded like there were others with him. It made no sense. However he had other things to worry about. He looked to his fellow ODST then said over Fireteam com, “Kali, keep an eye on Dr. Mays. Brit, stay with Chris.”

Mick waved for PVT Connelly to follow him as he moved up to take point. He wanted to keep an eye on her.

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Maximilian Drake Fields

1/7, A Co, 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad 

Water Purifaction Plant 

Protector, Tranquilius Beta System 

Oh, S***, Why did I open my mouth

"Hold your ground 1-2, We're holding strong." Drake was confindent in their abilities to hold this line, until plasma grenades and sniper fire started raining down on them at the same time. "1-2 move your a**es." A sense of fear filled his system as he Scrambled away from the cover he was using. A plasma grenade resting beside where he had been resting his gun. He vaulted over a stack of smaller crates as the grenade went off, a wave of heat rushed over him as the plasma lashed out from the ball that delivered it. Drake could feel his body being forced into a heavy sweat as the heat wave passed. 

He wiped his forehead off as he pulled out his pistol, he had left his rifle there, and moved to a position where he could fire rounds off at the enemy. "1-2 report, who's still alive?" He listened intently as he peered around the cover, figuring out a way to fall back without being in the open, as 6 marines reported in to him. "Alright 1-2, fall back to Tornado actual's position, be careful not to get shot or caught in the open. Fields out."

He ducked his head as he rushed out of cover for a second, exposing himself to the enemy snipers for a few seconds. He felt a round rip through the air by his back, searing the armor and burning any exposed clothing he had on his back. "S***" Was all he muttered, "Snipers up high! Someone get some rounds up high."

Captain Kelvin Duncan

1/7, 53rd CE, A Co

Tunnel system

Protector, Tranquilius Beta System

Regroup and Reorganize

The platoon stopped as they reached a junction in the tunnel systems, marines were directing forces towards Alpha airfield to regroup and reorganize. "Reaper Assets, Reaper Actual, If you read, regroup in the junction before alpha airfield. Actual out." He stated over the encrypted frequency to his officers. "3rd Platoon, on me." He called out, "Sergeants, reorganize your men to fill in for our causalities, and send a running to the base for some water." He stated, he was caught off guard when his comms came alive. 

"Reaper Actual, this is Guardian Actual. How copy, over?"  The comms crackled slightly, probably damage to his own headset, as the colonel's voice filled his ear.

"Guardian Actual, Reaper Actual, read you five by five. Over." He stated, he watched as a marine was sent to get some water for the platoon, and what looked like a platoon and a half came running down the tunnel towards them. As they got closer, he recognized one of them as his XO. Duncan nodded as he ran up to him, "Report Hawkins, how many we lose in the earthquake?"

"Sir, we lost about 70% of 1st platoon, and about 10% of 2nd platoon. 2nd Lt. Baldwin is in medical, with a broken arm, and Lt. Howard for her leg." Duncan swore he could have sensed a bit of shakiness in his voice as he spoke, but focused on the information.

"Alright, Have the survivors of 1st platoon merge into 2nd and 3rd platoon, keep the men on standby, we're currently awaiting orders." He stated, and watched as the officer moved off to handle his orders.

[Llau]

First Lieutenant Alex Bishop
1 / 7, Alpha Company, Third Platoon
Airfield, Protector
Light, so close, yet seemed so far away
Tag(s): @tracker

Bishop continued moving forward, albeit slowly as he pushed his armor away to make some room, stopped, and crawled. He repeated the movement over and over, as he concentrated on getting out of there, and kept his eyes in front of him. Elms was still moving, and he could eventually see a light source as he drew closer to it, as well as approaching the private. He heard her coughing fit, but didn't say anything. He was just glad she was still moving, and nothing else, while he coughed here and there as well.

“Keep going, Elms,” he said to her. “We're almost out of here. I'll buy you a steak dinner if we make it out of here alive, marine. Well...unless your some kind of vegan. You aren't...are you?” He smiled a bit, and continued on their way toward the light...freedom. He could almost taste it, but hopefully, it'll taste better than the dust in here.



ONI Section III Field Operator, Lieutenant Michelangelo Moretti
Operation Lead
Protector // Alpha Cluster // Alpha Cluster Tunnel System
Bacon's great and all, but how about we get out of here instead of talking?
Tag(s): Faclan , BetaWülf


The field operator nodded at Roh, saying, “Thanks,” as he placed the rations and water in one of his pouches that still had room for the rations, and then attached the water canteen to a spot that he used for his own water canteen he would take with him on operations. Thankfully, it was able to fit.

He then looked up at Roh again, when the T'vaoan asked him about bacon. He stared for a long moment or two, thinking about his question, before slowly smiling.

“Bacon? It's meat that comes from pig or swine, and it's cured. Maybe some of the Kig-Yar Merchants who deal with Innies have seen them before, or traded for it?” He continued, “It can be smoked, boiled, fried, baked, grilled, or used as a minor ingredient to flavor dishes. There's a variety of it, but they all taste delicious.”

He pointed to where he placed the rations at. “It tastes exactly like what you gave me.”

Skyler started coughing a little, and looked around as he winced. Moretti carefully kept an eye on him, and then removed the canteen of water he was given from his belt, and handed it to the boy. The young rebel glanced up to see the canteen near his face, and reluctantly reached for it.

“It's okay,” Moretti said quietly, “You can take it.”

Skyler then took it, and started to drink the water.

“Easy,” The ONI spook commented, resting both hands on his hips. “Drink it slow and not too much.”

He looked away from him when Skyler did what was suggested, and screwed the cap back on and quietly sat there. Moretti gazed at the three Kigs, watching them, and wondering why they just couldn't talk while they get the hell out of here. He frowned a little, shaking his head.

“Hey, I think it would be a great idea if we find a way out of here before another earthquake happens. We can talk while Skyler here shows us the way out.”

The boy looked up. “There could be more earthquakes?”

“Yeah, kid,” He glanced down at him. “Aftershocks. Who knows how many though.”

“Well, why are we hanging out here for? I don't want to be stuck down here if there's another one,” Skyler said worriedly, eyebrows creasing. “Damn...shouldn't have went down here...”

“Why were you down here in the first place?” Moretti questioned.

Skyler started to avoid him now, and the field operator squat down in front of him. He repeated his question to him, and the boy still didn't answer. He sighed quietly.

“I guess it doesn't matter now, does it?” He asked him, still looking at him.

“We...” Skyler began, but trailed off. Still avoiding eye contact, he eventually went on to explain why they were down there. “We were on our way to the Delta Cluster to get something, but...then the earthquake happened, and then we ran into those aliens and you. That's all I know. Really. They didn't tell us any more than that.”

Hmm. “I see.” He stood up straight, glancing down at his two broken fingers again that were slightly swelled up and bruised, but otherwise, didn't look too bad, and then glanced over at the three Kigs again for a bit, before looking away.

The only reason anyone would really go to the Delta Clusters, was for the ONI Research Facility. He had to get out of here to complete his mission, but not with those aliens following him around. Was that why they were here? Wanting to know where they kept the artifact that helped built these domes? Or do they know about it? He took several deep breaths, and turned his attention back to Roh.

“So, is your friend there going to be okay enough to be able to walk? I think we should get going, Roh. We need to get out of here before another earthquake happens that could cause the damn ceiling to collapse. You follow?”

He pulled Skyler up by the arm to get him to stand, and then supported him.

“I'll answer your questions while we're moving.”

Well, the ones I feel like answering. He thought. 

[BetaWülf]

T'vaoan Major Roh Gel.
Questions, questions, questions.

Roh nodded to Eal "I can imagine how well trying hand signals would have went, would have went skyward like a metal bobber" Roh said with a chuckle. Soon though Mike was explaining the bacon, which caught Roh's attention. "That's pretty... cool... Mike," Roh said with a bit of uncertainty in his word choice "that two things can be so similar even from across the stars"

Roh returned his attention to Talz, though he continued to listen to the Humans intently. Hmm, so this Human Rebels were sent to retrieve something... something Mike seemed to know from his inflection and look. And apparently the boy was their way out of the tunnels. Roh looked over at Mike when he asked about Talz.

"I think she can walk, probably with some help, but I imagine she no slower than the boy" Roh in English, pointing at the boy with one clawed hand.


Roh promptly turned to Eal and whispered into the older T'vaoan's earhole in their own language "The Human wants us to get moving before another quake hits, the rebel child is our guide. I told him I think Talz can walk, but probably needing some help" Roh said, but continued more seriously "the rebels were after something, something the ONI assassin knows about, in a Delta Cluster. I shall question him about it and see if I cannot get him to speak, though I imagine he may get... defensive" Roh concluded.

The young T'vaoan stood, trying to help Talz to her feet if at all possible, but  mostly leaving that to Eal. Turning to Mike Roh began to speak again in English "We should be ready to move in a moment-like fashion" he stated "tell me... what is this Delta Cluster of which you two spoke, why would your Rebels be interested in it?" the T'vaoan said, testing the water so to speak as they prepared to leave.

Jiralhanae Chieftain Garatus the Deathless, the Butcher, Restorer of Tribes, Slayer of Shadowed Imps, Burner of Demons.
Dealing with unwarranted 'tude.

Garatus nodded his head in recognition of the Field Marshal, for his words were true, Garatus took the time to mutter a short prayer for the souls of the recently departed Warriors. Garatus looked up at his Uncle, a small grin curving the corners of the Chieftains mouth as he gratefully accepted the offered canteen. It was quite refreshing, rehydrating his mouth and throat and eliciting a sigh from him.


Garatus noticed the disgusted look from the T'vaoan Champion, his eyes narrowed and his lip quivered just enough for the light to catch his well kept white fangs. He assumed she was disgusted with the Jiralhanae in general, which he resented, what he resented more was that this disgust was momentarily directed at him. Everyone so easily forgot that he was there in the previous rebellion, and that he and his Pack had stayed willingly and constantly loyal to the Covenant, to the Field Marshal.

Garatus turned his attention away from his Kael when he heard his name called out, seeing it came from the Unggoy Yaddap he smiled. He listened intently to the small Warrior, a grin spread across the Chieftains face.

"You have served honorably and fiercely Yaddap, you are a credit to your species and the Covenant," he said in a fiercely prideful manner, before he leaned in close with his open hand beside his mouth and whispered "and I wont forget your name and deeds when troop evaluations come up, I'll put in a good word for" he said before patting the Unggoy on the shoulder gently.

[Llau]

ONI Section III Field Operator, Lieutenant Michelangelo Moretti
Operation Lead
Protector // Alpha Cluster // Alpha Cluster Tunnel System
Oh boy...here we go...
Tag(s): Faclan , BetaWülf


While he waited for the other three to get ready to go, he uncuffed Skyler's wrists from behind his back, and then restrained them in front of him, so the rebel would have a little easier time walking around, while he held onto the boy's arm to support him.

He got his attention and looked at him in the eye. “If you don't cause any trouble from here on out, I'll remove the cuffs from you, alright?” He quietly said. “Play stupid, play clever, or make the mistake of trying to find a gun and shoot at me? You'll end up like the rest of those rebels who you were with.”

Skyler gazed back at him, unsure what to think of the ONI field operator for threatening him, but then again, he did say he would take the cuffs off. It would make things easier for him. 

“Because Skyler...” Moretti continued. “If you do end up finding a gun, and try to use it on me, then I'm going to have to defend myself. I don't want to, but...your age won't matter to me if you do that. Understand?”

The young rebel nodded, understanding completely. “I won't do anything...I just want to get out of here, too.”

“Good.”

He then glanced over at Roh, when the T'vaoan asked him about the Delta Clusters. He couldn't say that he was surprised that the bird over-heard his conversation with Skyler, since they were at close proximity. His eyebrows creased in slight annoyance, as he figured out a way to deflect the question.

“Gee, I wonder,” he said, “Probably a weapon cache to use against your faction and the UNSC, or a fancy bank they want to steal from, since Protector has gone to shit.” He shrugged. “Or both.”

He smiled a little, seeing that Eal was helping Talz up, and then Moretti held the boy's arm firmly with his left hand, while keeping his hand on the handle of his handgun that was holstered, and started to get moving as quick as he could, but not too quick, so Skyler could keep up with his injured foot bothering him.

He paused. “All right, Skyler,” he asked, “Which way?”

Skyler pointed down the tunnel, where he found him trying to escape from the fight. “Down there.”

Moretti nodded, and moved along.

[Faclan]

(Thankie for moving the order around you two <3)

(NPC)Eal Tas - T'vaoan Murmillo.
Underground and scouting.
Here we go...following the 'enemy'.

Focusing on Talz mostly as she said that she was hurting...but thought she could make it out without much help. Eal letting her know that he would help as he finally managed to get the hatch open on his rifle - the spent case of needle shards ejected before he slid a new one in and shut the hatch. Reaching down to charge it as the dull pink shards erupted and stuck out of the top of the weapon. Nodding in approval he shifted around to get it back on his back before taking his sidearm out and making sure it was still alright. It seemed good, but he only had one loaded and one spare mag left...would need to be careful with his remaining count.

But he looked up when Roh's beak was set right beside his head as he listened carefully, keeping on eye on the two Humans as he spotted his dropped mag from before. He would need to get that. But when Roh was finished he nodded as he replied quietly. "Understandable, moving out from under as much earth as we can would be a good start. I'll help Talz so you'll need to be on watch for enemies...After some thing eh...Finding out about it would certainly help. Question the other Human about it then - but don't press too hard. We need him to find another way out and we are better than resorting to force. Keep that in min Roh or we are no better than those rightly slain Humans who taunt us with their 'chicken'," He spat out the word, likely letting Mike guess what he was saying. "And other taunts. But I trust you Roh...Whats ONI?" Patting the Major's shoulder Eal got to his feet and helped Talz to stand up as well as he placed her arm over his shoulder and trusted her to hold on as he used his still functioning hand to carry his pistol in case they ran into trouble.

Walking after the two Humans Eal took a moment to grab the empty flechette mag and slide it back into his belt so he could refill it later. With that done he nodded at Talz and Roh as the very odd grouped moved off down into the somewhat darkness. But he blinked a bit and rolled his eyes that he didn't think of it before as he cheeped to get Rohs attention.

"Make sure he won't lead us into an ambush of his Human warriors or those black fighters. I would prefer to end the day back with the Entourage and not trussed up in a jail cell, blindfolded, awaiting execution."

(I'm sure it will remain super peaceful >:3.)

[BetaWülf]

T'vaoan Major Roh Gel.
Somebody thinks they're funny.

Roh simply looked at Mike as he spoke, rather rudely in the T'vaoan's opinion, obivously trying to evade Roh's questions. The Human knew something, and Roh intended to uncover it. He simply chose to ignore the evasive smart assedness, and continue to walk alongside Eal and Talz, listening to the older T'vaoan as they moved.

"I know Eal, but this Human is different, the ONI I mentioned, they are evil. They are a subgroup of Humans, vile and cruel beyond measure. Where do you think captured Covenant go? Who do you really think has been raiding the outer nests? Them," Roh said, tipping his head towards Mike "And they have done me and your Mistress wrong..." Roh said gravely.

"ONI is the reason why my mother rejoined the Covenant, in part why I joined too. They killed my sister, Kael's daughter, Qesa Gel" Roh stated venomously(though not directed at Eal, just ONI scums) "And the boy knows nothing of the cluster, as ignorant as a Spice Sisterhood dockworker, only used to move things. When I asked the Mike of it, he decided to be smart assed and evasive, if he continues on this path, I may use force. We only need the boy anyway, and I will not let him slip through my grasp, he is going to Kael one way or another" Roh stated.

Turning back to Mike, and thus English, Roh countered the ONI agents statement from a moment ago. "It would not be a bank, they are already financed good, and your face makes me think you know more than you are saying. If there are weapons there, your people made them, and I do not mean your UNSC allies, ONI man" Roh said to Mike.

[Llau]

ONI Section III Field Operator, Lieutenant Michelangelo Moretti
Operation Lead
Protector // Alpha Cluster // Alpha Cluster Tunnel System
I hate Kigs...this one especially...
Tag(s): BetaWülf


He kept walking, hearing the two Kigs talking to each other, but couldn't quite make out everything that was said. The only words he was able to understand were mother, sister, ONI, humans, and a nest. It figured that they were talking about him when they brought up ONI, but what was that about nests and a mother, and then a sister? Nests...mother...sister...what about them? He remembered Hyde mentioning nests to him a few times before, but why bring that up? Why even bring up a mother and a sister in the same conversation? Why even do that? He chuckled a bit, shaking his head a little in disbelief. Is this some space chicken with a damn vendetta against ONI? Get in line...

The field operator looked ahead of him, wondering what the hell that was about. Although, he knew of ONI's Black Ops missions on nests, but never had any assignments himself that consisted of having to deal with going to any of them. He wouldn't want to anyway, and would leave that up to the more blood-thirsty ONI agents, like, Taylor for one. She would probably love that shit. Though...he bit his lower lip as he thought about one of his last assignments when he was on the Prowler Corps before being transferred over to Section Three.

Was that a nest? Aren't nests civilian ships, too? I really need to talk to Chris more about them.

He grunted, frowning as he thought about his past, which caused him to walk a little too fast for Skyler.

“Hey, quit walking too fast...I can't keep up, jackass.” said the young rebel, as he winced and staggered a little.

He glanced down at him as he kept hauling him along, grunted again, and slowed his pace down enough for him to keep up.

He then heard Roh speaking directly to him again, saying, "It would not be a bank, they are already financed good, and your face makes me think you know more than you are saying. If there are weapons there, your people made them, and I do not mean your UNSC allies, ONI man.”

He let out a quiet laugh, glancing behind him with a small smile. “Of course, they're already financed, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't want more money. Especially the ones who aren't seeing the money themselves. The damn leaders are the ones who get to keep it and use it as they see fit. Not the foot soldiers. They barely see any of it." While adding, "Who wouldn't want more money if that was the case?”

He laughed briefly some more, walking along, and shaking his head again at the last thing the Kig said to him. He breathed in a sigh, smiling at how Roh said it. He glanced over his shoulder again while he kept walking.

“ONI man?” He smirked, “It certainly wasn't said without any malice there, Roh,” he commented sarcastically, “Just love and friendliness, right?” He paused, panting a little. “What did ONI do to you, huh?” He glanced back for a moment, forcing a small smile over his lips, before continuing on with a deadpan look as he stared straight ahead. Suddenly though, he didn't want to know, and his body tensed as he waited for the alien to answer him, while he kept his hand resting on his holster...ready to pull it out if he had to. 

[Faclan]

(NPC)Eal Tas - T'vaoan Murmillo.
Underground and scouting.
Doubts and peacekeeping attempts.

All Eal could really say was a quiet 'Oh...' as he was filled into who these ONI were. But then was just lost. How were they the one raiding the Nests? Many of those were deep in Covenant space...were the Sangheili not protecting his species after forcing them to give up a lot of their own ships? He licked his teeth and a beak a bit at these thoughts...If Roh was right about these ONI doing it then he would be very disappointed and outright enraged that the Sangheili were allowing that to happen to Kig-Yar. He narrowed his eyes a bit as he half listened to Roh and the Human banter back and fourth. He may need to ask this Human if he knew of any instances like that of his own attacking Kig-Yar settlements. He would be mad at the Human if that was the case, but would mostly understand it as it was war...but most of his rage would be at the Sangheili for allowing it. "...Is that true Human?" he mumbled quietly as he was somewhat lost in the doubts and thoughts on that.

But he was brought back to the present when Roh continued, and Eal was immediately paying a lot more attention when it was revealed that ONI were the ones that had killed Mistress Kael's daughter...This could very easily get ugly. Glancing at Talz she just nodded a little as she removed her arm from his shoulder and leant against the wall as Eal started to move to be between Roh and the Human. "The older one may not be needed to leave this place Roh, but killing him will get us nothing and he will not give up any information if he sees us as the enemy...And any force and more may show up, too many for us to fight and then we will be sinking without help."

Speeding up a bit to get in front of Roh he cheeped to try and call a halt to the party as he put a hand on Rohs shoulder...unfortunately his bad hand so Roh would likely be able to shove past if he truly desired to do the ONI Human harm. While he couldn't understand the words they were throwing back and fourth he could easily see the anger brewing quickly inside of Roh as the Human smirked and seemingly taunted him.

"Roh...relax, this Human wouldn't have been the one that killed your sister, Aecor guide her, hes just trying to get you to react in the way they think we all act. Like mindless slaves to the Sangheili that eat their eyeballs right of their flat faces..."

(Feel free to have Roh go Kiggy crazy if you wish BetaW :3)