Mission 7: Protector

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Maximilian "Drake" Fields

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

Protector, Tranquilitas Beta

Water Purification Plant

Round 2... or is this round 3?

  Fields brought his hand up to his forehead, his face hurting slightly from being pulled over the sandbags. He took a second to bring his knees under himself, a trait from wrestling in High school, before standing up. The strike had been successful, giving the marines breathing room as he looked over the marines and army personal around him. He found himself wondering if they were gonna make it out alive.

  "Alright boys, we need to reestablish our defenses, they're gonna hit us again and we need to be ready. Let's get gunners in those M13's, we're gonna need them to fight off incoming air. We need to move those warthogs into new positions or lay down more sandbags by them, we're gonna need those guns to." He pointed to various marines and army personal, turning his head slightly as he looked around, spotting a M247, resting on sandbags by a crisped warthog. "Let's get that M247 over here, we're gonna need it to suppress the enemy when they drop in." 

Another series of nods and more movement as the gun was recovered and re-positioned, Drake then turned his radio on. "You boys see anything up there?" Their response was the only one he didn't want to hear, "Got eyes on multiple phantoms incoming, banshee escort as well sir."

"Fuck," he said under his breath, "alright, we're gonna need you boys to prioritize targets. Marksmen, target the jackals, those shield walls will prove trouble otherwise. Snipers, your on counter sniper duty, we can't afford to be taking any sniper fire from the enemy."

A series of copy that filled his comms, as he turned his attention to the captain. He kneeled beside the unconscious man, checking his pulse and running over his gear. He looked up at a nearby marine, "Marine, get the captain inside the pressure doors, watch over him until he wakes up alright."

"Yes sir."

Drake climbed over the sandbags and walked over to a dead marine, picking up his MA5B carbine. He looked over the weapon, making sure it was still useable. A marine spotted Drake picking up the rifle, "Sir?"

Drake simply looked at the man as he picked the body clean of ammo, "Our dead brother doesn't need it anymore, pick the bodies clean of ammo and get into the fight."

[SPARTAN-A120]

Corporal Fredrick Mitchell
1/8, B Co, 1st PLT, 5th Squad
Kristopher Airfield/Beta Domes
Protector, Tranquilius Beta System
Birds of Prey

After a few minutes of searching under the rubble, Mitchell hit the jackpot. The familiar outline of his BR55 Battle Rifle with M301 underbarrel Grenade Launcher gave him a satisfying relief since his primary wasn't lost. Mitchell pulled his rifle out the dirt and dusted it off and occasionally blew off a few dust particles. He checked the scope to see if it was still functional by taking aim at a nearby wall. "Oh yeah. I'm definitely green, now," Mitchell said to his fireteam. "We're moving."

"Copy," Carter, Luis, and Gordon said in unison.

Mitchell and his team headed towards the exit out of the cave and shielded his eyes from the bright rays of the sun. The air became thin and quite difficult to breath. "Masks on," he said to his team while also making the gesture. Mitchell unattached the EVA mask from the right side of his backpack and attached it to his helmet and face. The EVA mask hissed as it formed a seal and oxygen started flowing when Mitchell keyed the activation button to the rebreather. He looked behind him and gave his team a thumbs up. Each one of them returned the gesture and they started to move into a light jog towards the Beta Domes.

Mitchell spotted the Colonel issuing commands on the radio and requesting an airstrike at the water plant while observing the 3D map on the holo-table in what used to be the Army' command center. The officer started to yell at the receiver at the other end of the radio for an airstrike. Mitchell and his fireteam slowed down to a walk as they drew closer near the command center. He waited for the Colonel to finish before he spoke with a professional tone, "Sir! Corporal Mitchell, 1st Battalion, Eighth Marines, Bravo Company, 1st Platoon. I have a combat capable fireteam at your disposal, sir!" The rest of Mitchell's fireteam fell in line at attention.

Mitchell knew that saluting to an officer on the battlefield was the same as a death sentence so he kept his hand on his rifle and positioned the rifle properly in attention. He took the time to observe the Colonel. The man was a legend and Mitchell felt honored within his presence.

The sound of two supersonic aircrafts diverted their attention. "Fucking A! Longswords!" Pvt. Luis exclaimed with excitement. "It's someone's birthday today," PFC. Gordon said quietly.

"Standing by for orders, sir," Mitchell said.

(Tag(s): MrKill)

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Seventh Marines
BETA Cluster

The holographic table identified the strike orders with an arrow of the longswords movement, their flight path had been uploaded to central command, the channel the holographic table was receiving updates from. John smirked a bit but was interrupted from his aggressive thoughts by a Corporal. He said what unit he had been apart of. Eight Marines, the Marines from Admiral Vardy's ship. John thought they had all been wiped out on Sanctuary, perhaps this was the last few of them remaining, and they were waiting for orders.

John thought for a moment and realized he had no orders to give them, not until he had a way to extract the Marines without taking disproportionate amount of casualties while doing so. The only order he could give at the time forced him into deciding to sacrifice a Marine at the shield dome. Without that dome the Covenant would walk through and into the spaces between the rest of the domes much more easily, not to mention it would leave the UNSC Army defenseless as they focused their efforts on clearing out the tunnels.

So maybe he didn't sacrifice a Marine, just left one behind. But at this particular time it seemed he didn't have a choice.

"You can take your re-breather off, the air in here is breathable just a bit thin. The dome is keeping most of the atmospheric pressure in but obviously its leaking through the collapsed airfield so you're just wasting your oxygen." John said, "I need you guys and other Marines to locate more 'Hogs. If we're going to make it out alive we'll have to leave the dome on the surface of this planet."

John sighed under his breath and wished he was in a different position.

"Tell any wondering Marines you see to return to this outpost. If they don't know which one just tell them the closest one to the airfields entrance. Other than that do you Marines need anything?"

[John]

Second Lieutenant Charles Callaghan
1/7, Co. A, 4th Platoon

Charles was lost. There was not simpler way of putting it. He and his Marines were sent out on patrol after the earthquake hit. He had to keep going, though. He could not let his subordinates know that he was lost, or they'd lose what little faith they had to begin with. Everyone was on edge. They hadn't encountered any Covenant yet, but they could be lurking behind every corner.

Then, suddenly the train stopped. All Warthogs came to a halt, and the Lieutenant jumped out of the second vehicle and took a few quick steps towards the lead.

They had found other Marines. Their leader, a Lance-Corporal spoke up. "Lieutenant, sir. Guardian Actual wants everyone we find at the outpost. Just take the next left, and go straight ahead. Can't miss it. Now we gotta get going. Sir" he said. Charles nodded along, and when the man was done he said "Thank you, Lance-Corporal. Go on"

Then he got back to his Warthog and said on the platoon's channel "Tornado Four Actual to all Tornado Four callsigns, We are going back to friendly territory. Buckle up, and enjoy the ride."

Then the train started moving again.

[LaxKnight]

CPL Toby ‘Mick’ McMillian Jr.
153rd ODST
The Tunnels
Another Talk
Tag(s): Faclan, @tracker, Doc the Mother of Dragons

It seemed that the moment SSGT Willowbay came into the party, she instantly assumed command. The first thing she commented on was how she almost got shot by Dr. Mays. She seemed really sour but that was understandable since she lost contact with the rest of the platoon. Then out of the blue she asked why the rookie wasn’t talking. Connelly gave a worried glance to Mick and in response SSGT looked to him also, making a puzzling noise. Mick looked between them both before finally settling on Connelly, giving her a menacing glare.

Soon the moment passed and the SSGT demanded to see who else was here. Mick pointed her to the group of scientists before he went to the head of the group. With SSGT alone with the scientists, he took the opportunity to talk with the newest member of the team. “Way to set me up there,” he said bitterly then gave a heavy sigh before saying, “Look rookie, I know it’s rough being the new guy. Not sure what the norms and such are, we’ve all been there. So I got two things to ask of you. First is to always watch your buddies back because in the end that’s the only thing that keeps you going, wanting to keep the other guy alive no matter how much you like or hate him because whatever it is, you’re in it together.

“Second thing is, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but use your best judgement. Granted, you won’t always have all the facts but you gotta use what you got to make the best decision you can at the time. Sure, you might regret it afterward but always stand by it and don’t look back. What’s done is done, there’s no changing it. Just keep moving forward and be smart about it. You may think I’m just some asshole Corporal who likes making fun of the new girl and sure you do piss me off sometimes. However just know I’m going to do my absolute best to make sure you fucking make it out of this shitty war alive. I’m doing my best to watch your back, just try and watch mine.”

Mick didn’t know why he was treating her like this. Maybe it was because she kind of reminded him of his little sister. Or it might be that he never had someone brand new put under him before. He knew everyone on his team before he got promoted. It was a completely new experience for him and he didn’t want to fuck up. One fuck up in this job gets you turned into extra crispy bacon.

“Hey Mick they’re moving,” Brit’s voice echoed through the Fireteam com channel.

He looked up to see Chris moving toward them, saying something about how the spook they were looking for was in trouble and they needed to get moving. Mick wasn’t a fast man but he had a head start on the scientist so he took point, waving for Connelly to follow. He didn’t know what the spooks and SSGT were talking about but if he was a gambling man he would bet the subject of command came up. He didn’t understand why Chris didn’t lead this. It was obvious that Dr. Mays didn’t know shit about leading military professionals and didn’t really fit this operation. He also doubted SSGT even paid much attention or gave two shits about their mission. Chris seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on and seemed to give a fuck about the mission. Mick would follow him. Mick took point down the tunnels with Connelly at his 5 ‘o clock while Brit came up next to Chris at his 4.

[Faclan]

Tags: BetaWülf, Llau, Huka

(NPC)Eal Tas - T'vaoan Murmillo.
Underground and scouting.
They have things we want...so we go, for now.

Worry was pretty evident over Eals face as Roh was clearly have a lot of trouble talking and breathing as he nodded as the Humans ultimatum was laid out. It didn't make much sense to him really - the Humans had them dead to rights so why would they suddenly offer to be friendly with them now? There must be some ulterior motive here and Eal had a good idea that it wasn't good for them. But they had a chance to go with them to get something, and more importantly to keep Mike and have a shot at stabbing Skyler. So Eal would go with them for now.

"Got it - I agree we should go with them but for different reasons. But try not to speak if you can help it Roh. But we will go with them because we will not be leaving without Mike as OUR prisoners and that Skyler boy dead. Weapons and information are secondary." He hissed out as he holstered his dart pistol and then nodded at the Humans, pointing out all the Kigs and then gestured at the Humans before he moved back to Talz who also holstered her pistol and shifted a bit to help Eal toss her arm over his shoulder and help her. "But," he whispered as he got Talz to her feet and moved over to be with Roh. "They tried to kill us before and will most likely try again, be on your guard for that...be on the lookout for a opportune moment to turn it back on them." Looking back at the main Human he smiled and nodded as he started to walk with them while helping Talz along.

When they turned to move off as well Eal did his best to remember the path they were going so they could make it back to the split in the wall and then back to the Covenant zone. "Talz, send a message back to the Mistress so she knows we are heading off." She nodded and worked to send a text message back up topside, tripping over a rock as she wasn't paying attention on walking but Eal kept her upright.

"Inside Humans arrive, take ONI, we follow. Inside give info and ONI when secret opened." Would play through the radios topside for Kael and those around the Champion.

[Llau]

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

When the two finally pushed the concrete debris out of the way, it was a major relief when they were finally free from the confides of the tunnel and underneath all of that rubble. He panted a bit, looking over at Elms. He nodded somewhat, patting the marine on the shoulder.

“Good job, Private Elms,” He looked around, and then crawled out of the tunnel's entrance as he picked up his armor to put it back onto his torso. Once he put it back on, he stepped away to contact the Colonel to inform the man that they were out, while he waited for Elms to meet with him outside of the rubble.

“Tornado Three to Guardian Actual,” he reported, “I'm out from the rubble and awaiting orders - ” He glanced over at the private, and noticed an Unggoy running toward them quickly, holding two plasma grenades in both hands. “ - Elms! Get out of there, now!”


ONI Section III Field Operator, Lieutenant Michelangelo Moretti
Operation Lead
Protector // Alpha Cluster // Alpha Cluster Tunnel System
Showing the way, but...what they don't realize is...
Tag(s): Faclan , BetaWülf


When he finally came to, he found himself being dragged by his feet in between two rebels who were carrying him by his arms. It was painful, considering he had lacerations over his arms. He glanced down at his hands to see that they had restrained his wrists with what Roh given him earlier to use on Skyler. Skyler...he frowned at the young rebel's name. There's a special place in hell reserved for people like him. He didn't care if the kid was fifteen. Try to show some kid mercy, and they end up betraying him? He didn't like that one bit. Can't trust these people, and this was the last time he was nice to any of them. 

Innie dirt bag, just like the rest of them, he thought.

One of the Insurrectionists who was holding his arm must have noticed that he was finally awake, as he called out to Larkin to get the second-in-command's attention.

“Sir,” the man said, “He's awake.”

Larkin stopped to turn around. First, he was glad that the Kig-Yar agreed to join with them, and now that Moretti has returned to consciousness, he was even more happier. Smiling, he walked back to where they were at in the group, and yanked the field agent's head back as he held his head by a handful of his hair.

“Good, that you're awake,” Larkin stared at him. “Now, you can show us the way to the ONI research facility over in Beta. Unless...” He paused, pressing a pistol against the operator's temple. “You weren't telling the truth about that. Hm?”

“Of course, I was telling you the truth...” Moretti replied, wincing. “The facility with all of the tech and everything you guys seem hell-bent in getting your hands on is located underneath the Beta Domes.” He continued as the second-in-command stood there, still pressing the gun against his temple. “ONI has their own private tunnel system to get from Alpha to Beta, but you'll need me to unlock the doors on our way there.”

“How far until we get to the first set of doors you need to unlock then?” Larkin demanded.

“It'll take us twenty minutes to get there on foot...probably a little more than that if there's rubble in the way,” Moretti simply said, knowing that Hyde was probably listening in, and hoping the scientist would figure out that the 'ONI's private tunnel' was an unfinished one.

Twenty minutes...the time he would have to survive, and twenty minutes until Larkin and the others realize that the private tunnel system is really a tunnel that has yet to be completed, and that the ONI research facility wasn't exactly in Beta, but really over in Delta.

Larkin glared at him long and hard before finally ordering the others to move out. "You're with me." He grabbed Moretti, and roughly led him by the arm to the front of the group.

[Huka]

Field Marshal Til Je’at Ze’ta ‘Muramai
Covenant Ground Command

Til ‘s mandibles tightened in a hidden sneer at the threat from the Champion but didn’t act on it, looking back at his war-table while keeping aware of the dangerous female at his flank as if daring her to make a move. If she draw her weapon on him, it is Sangheilian custom of dealing with the immediate threat. Draw that weapon and the least the Field Marshal will do is separate that weapon hand from its waist, he will not hesitate a moment’s heartbeat.“Shipmaster Chur’R-Suf, keep attention to the humans’ ships and try to find a way to establish connections with the Covenant or at least one of your contacts.” He ordered to his still-present confidant, who saluted and cut off transmission to handle the given directive.

He continued to handle the Covenant forces, keep their strategy and superiority on the fields with some watch over the Scarabs under the Demons’ assault.

“Shipmaster...” He contacted with the Destroyer in the distance towards the Lesser Dome. “Begin barrage.” It took a rook before pound after pound of plasma started to rain upon the shield with the booming whines of projectile collision sang in the distance.

There was a certain satisfaction and eagerness of finding attacking the targets themselves. Knowing the Covenant’s larger shield domes can handle but so much plasma fire, he hoped the same for the humans’ mimicry of technology.

Finally a message from the Kig-yar under the collapsed tunnel came to his attention along with Kael and the others. “There are other below? That can heighten our chances in rescue.” He said with some form of hopeful tone. If the Human Seekers do escape with the Kig-yar, they will be hunted. If not by the Covenant, then by Mevu’ot hunters.

[BetaWülf]

T'vaoan Major Roh Gel.
Stab them later, perhaps.

Roh nodded to Eal, and kept his R-4 out but in a relaxed position for walking. He was however ready at a moments notice to raise it and kill as many Humans as possible, if need be. His training was fresh in his mind, both familial and Military training in his case, though he imagined it wasn't at all odd for most Covenant species either, maybe for the Unggoy.

"I most definitely want... the ONI as our prisoner, though I do not care one... way or the other about Skyler. He was dishonorable, yes, but I cannot fault him... for betraying Mike, the... filthy ONI monster" Roh said, his speaking coming to him more easily now, though his voice was distorted, deeper and harsh "I rather try to walk away from this... with our ONI, and leave... the Insurrectionists to... undermine their brethren... and make out jobs... easier. But if not, well...." Roh said with a slight curve to the corner of his mouth and a malicious twinkle in his eye.

He watched the apparent leader of the Insurrectionists grab Mike by the hair, causing Roh to cringe slightly. He recalled being hauled to his feet by his feathers before, it was very painful and likely to incur retaliation later, as it had with Roh in his past experience. He looked away to watch and listen as Talz sent out a message, so he didn't notice the talk of the Beta Dome, or he would have interjected his own opinion and knowledge from his earlier probing of Mike about it.

Jiralhanae Chieftain Garatus the Deathless.
That could have gone better....

Garatus rumbled sadly for Kael when Til denied her leave to go after her son, but his grip on his hammer tightened when she looked as if she would dare to fire on the Field Marshal, it might have even been heresy, though Garatus had never been one to know what constituted it truly. While Garatus stood behind Kael he flipped the hammer so the blade faced the T'vaoans back, if she fired... he would have no choice but to strike.

While he felt he could have an excellent working relationship, possibly even a friendship, his loyalty was still to the Field Marshal. When she holstered her weapon, Garatus let his grip lax on his hammer, before he moved it to rest over his shoulders. One great clawed hand draped itself over the base of the hammers head, while the other draped over the pommel, the middle of the haft resting over his thick neck. He returned Kael's nod, though more casually as the Jiralhanae were prone to do.

Garatus moved over to stand nearer to Til, watching after a bit as the plasma fire rained down on the Humans vile domes. A grin curved the corner of his mouth, he certainly enjoyed watching a bombardment. He turned his head and listened as the transmission came to them, the T'vaoans son seemed to have survived. Most excellent Garatus thought to himself.

"Hmm" Garatus rumbled, taking one hand off his hammer to stroke his beard "I could dispatch a trio of Trackers if necessary, I imagine it would be easy to pick up their scents, and our claws make short work of debris and resistance" Garatus said, leaving the suggestion for the T'vaoan and Sangheili Leaders he currently found himself with.

[MrKill]

First Lieutenant Terrance Pain
M850 Grizzly Main Battle Tank, 7th MEB
East Mountains

"We've got the clearance, boys! Get back to the tree line and open fire on those fuckin' spiders!" Terrance yelled over the team-comm, his tanks engine roaring in response as he pushed the multi-ton tank towards a new firing position. "Get closer to them for more accurate shots, don't fire from your last position damn it!" Pain over spoke his engine.

The four tanks rolled into the tree-line aggressively, stopped as quick as they started moving, and the canons twisted towards their target. A 90mm scorpion fired first, the round screaming wide and because of the high angle shot continued to fly until it hit the dirt at least a kilometer later. By that time the rest of the tank platoon had fired.

All three rounds hit the walker, unfortunately they all missed their target including Pain's two 120mm rounds. The first walker had completely turned by this point and the 'head' of the walking tank had started to glow with energy. One last round nailed the walkers joint, made it start sparking, but ultimately didn't bring the walking tank down.

"This is a big ass target, we're loosing our opportunity sir! A few more seconds and that leg won't be visible to me!" The furthest left tank, roughly 100 meters to Pain's left, said over the team-comm. Pain swore, he really didn't want to give away his platoons position but they might have to move forward to get a better shot.

The tank positions shot again; Pain was fortunate that his men got some hits. Two of the tank rounds hit the joint, and the first walker toppled down with their alarms blaring. Pain switched immediately to the SPARTANs communication channel. "It looks like it's going down, SPARTANs!"

Pain realized that the charged canon had fired. His eyes shot opened, tracked the shot like it was in slow motion, and caught the end results of the devastation the powerful weapon created. One of the 90mm tanks exploded, melted and turned into an armored inferno. Pain's eyepiece light up with updates. The driver of the tank was killed immediately.

"Pull back, try to flank their left!" Pain said, putting his Grizzly in reverse.

[Faclan]

Tags: BetaWülf, Huka, Llau, LaxKnight, @tracker

(Good to know our Covies all love each other so much Huka and BetaW :3)

Kael Gel - T'vaoan Champion.
Topside.
Trying to get back on topic.

Collapsing the spyglass and setting it back in her armor Kael slid back down the rocks to group back up with her fellow commanders. She had no doubts in her mind that both were ready to turn on her if she had fired at Til, should would if one turned on the other as well. It was an understanding that kept them all working together. But she had managed to get her anger under control enough to be able to look at Til without wanting to tear his eyes out. Eal, despite not being a Gel, had risen above his weak family and beaten many Gels to get to where he was in the Entourage and Roh was still her son. She knew both would be able to make it through almost anything unless a large group of Humans showed up.

She was momentarily distracted however as fire finally began to rain down on the Human domes, with some fortune the dome would collapse and then they could get off this rock. And once the domes weren't an issue Til wouldn't be able to forbid her from going after Roh anymore...She just had to hope that they feel quickly. Turning from the bombardment Kael glanced down at her radio as another message came from the radio Operator with Roh and Eal...hopefully that one wasn't useless or she would compromise the others. They were following the rebel Humans AND ONI now?! What in Aecors name was Roh getting into.

But she looked up as the other two offered hopeful words and then assistance as Kael just hissed a bit but then responded. "I'll accept any help right now Chieftain Garatus since I'm not allowed to go rescue them myself. I don't trust those Rebels to not turn on them when they open these 'secrets' that the ONI is leading them too." She sighed and rubbed her eyes a bit before adjusting her mask and looking at Til. "Is the bombardment having any effect Field Marshal?"


SSA-012, remains.
Covenant zone.
Broken and lost.

Of the original twelve bugs that had started the mission they had been reduced down to just four, the Ultra one of the causalities. Six had left the plant but two of them had succumb to injuries on the flight back. The three soldiers and single engineer silent as they made the passing as peaceful as they could for their fellows and when they were ready ending them swiftly and as painlessly as possible. But they said nothing to the Sangheili Spec Ops that had sent them in to the jaws of death, just waited until they were back with The Master. But the Phantom finally touched down and the door opened, the four remaining members of the Swarm quickly fleeing from the Spec Ops and flying toward The Master, the two dead bugs held by two of the living each as they flew toward the smell. The rest of the Swarm's bodies having been forced to be left at the plant.

They quickly found the Master and landed beside him and the ape and bird. Setting their slain comrades down they started to wail at the Master as they threw themselves at his feet. The bird stepping back in a mix of confusion and weirdness.

"Master! Master! Ultra dead! Failure! Failure!" The remnants cried as they lay there, clearly defeated and not knowing what to do.


Chris Hyde - ONI Section 1 Agent
Officially underground.
So many places for baddies to be hiding.

At least the Sergeant didn't start to say she should lead or they should go another way. There were some orders being shouted out but they weren't like 'no were going another way' or 'you nerds are dumb'. Give and take kind of thing. "I'll do my best to follow the signal from his pad, but we will probably have to go around some tunnels to get to them. I'll update you if we are going off course by a lot." Of course it wouldn't be just a straight shot to Mike, that would be too easy for Mike. He just hoped that there weren't too many Innies in the way.

The group turned a bit as they started to head into the subway tunnels proper, going at a decent jog so as not to let the Sec III spend too much time by the Innies, but Chris neyyyed a bit when he heard some more radio messages. "The Sec III is trying to ruse the Innies to go to a ONI facility, but hes leading them them wrong way, we have under twenty minutes before they reach 'it'. We can get to them before then..."

Hopefully.

(Feel free to bring in some innies to fight peeps on the way so we get some action :3, just not the group with Mike and the Kigs.)


(NPC)Eal Tas - T'vaoan Murmillo.
With some innies.
Perhaps a bit of respect.

"As do I Roh, and one way or another we will get this ONI Mike - and the boy also betrayed us, and he will suffer for it." The Murmillo grunted as he kept walking while supporting Talz. It was a bit of effort to keep up with the Humans with Talz, but Eal wasn't going to leave her behind, it also gave the Kigs some space if the Humans turned on them. Glancing down at his pistol he was glad to see that it was ready to fire in the case of a fight...though his limp hand made him annoyed that he could still fire his rifle but not that accurately. He had more sunk ammo for it too...

Thankfully the Humans stopped as Mike seemed to be awake, letting Eal and Talz catch up with them and for Eal to stretch out his back and arm from the supporting walk while the Humans talked. He felt a little bad for Mike from the hair holding, remembering back when he was training at the Gel keep and it happened to him a few times. He wasn't sure if their hair was as deep as T'vaoan feather manes but he bet it still hurt pretty bad as he shrugged a bit at Roh. "I doubt even these ONI would have something that dangerous or something to make that much impact on the war...but I guess we'll find out. Assuming the ONI isn't lying. To give up his life to protect his secrets. Commendable in a way." He muttered before the Humans seemed like they were moving out again. Helping Talz back to her feet they started off again.

Perhaps respect for the ONI?

[Doc the Mother of Dragons]

HN Samantha Jackson
UNSC Marines
The Tunnels
Here we go again...

ODST's were always an interesting bunch; some of them were crazy while others were even crazier. They got shot out of ships and down to planets in metal trashcans, to even think about doing that you HAD to be a bit crazy. Jackson only knew two Helljumpers; her cousin Allison and Felcia, a sniper. Jackson stayed quiet, her gun now raised as she looked around the tunnel they were in. Cprl. McMillian did not seem thrilled when Willowbay took charge of he group, though she actually was the higher rank, while Willowbay spoke with the ONI people, looking behind the woman she saw that McMillian and a few other ODST's were already moving down the tunnel, away from them. The ONI person who had been keeping an eye on a data pad spoke up quickly before taking off running after McMillian and co. "Did he just tell us to not shoot the Jackals?" she asked, looking to Willowbay, she realized that she probably did not hear her remark. Orders were quickly given, "You cover left, I got right, this guy from Mick's fireteam goes centre." Jackson nodded and took up her postion, ready to shoot anything that might jump out.

[SPARTAN-A120]

Corporal Fredrick Mitchell
1/8, B Co, 1st PLT, 5th Squad
Kristopher Airfield/Beta Domes
Protector, Tranquilius Beta System
SHTF

Mitchell stood in the command center facing the officer with professional body language: back straight, chest out, head high. He observed the concerned expression of Killinger's as the seasoned officer took a brief moment before he spoke.

"You can take your re-breather off, the air in here is breathable just a bit thin. The dome is keeping most of the atmospheric pressure in but obviously its leaking through the collapsed airfield so you're just wasting your oxygen," the Colonel said. "I need you guys and other Marines to locate more 'Hogs. If we're going to make it out alive we'll have to leave the dome on the surface of this planet."

"Solid copy, sir," Mitchell replied. He disengaged the rebreather and detached it from his mask. He attached it to the right side of his backpack. The air was relatively thin, but was manageable. He took a few slow and steady breaths to adjust to the atmosphere. While he was doing so, his fireteam also deactivated their rebreathers and stowed them into their backpacks. Mitchell returned his sight to the officer. The Colonel's expression had changed to a frown. This made Mitchell curious. Was the battle going to be in our favor or will this word fall to the Covenant bastards, he thought. His hands tightened around his BR55 at the thought. The Colonel finally spoke.

"Tell any wondering Marines you see to return to this outpost. If they don't know which one just tell them the closest one to the airfields entrance. Other than that do you Marines need anything?" Killinger said.

"No, sir. We're good to go -" Mitchell responded, but was cut off by distant explosions. His entire team and himself turned their head towards the direction of the thunderous echoes. Glowing blobs of superheated plasma was raining down on a Dome Shield.

"Sweet mother of God..." LCpl. Carter trailed off.

"Sir! The Covenant are firing upon the Domes!" Mitchell advised Colonel Killinger.

If any little hope was left in the Marine, it was slowly escaping. Mitchell stared hopelessly at the plasma barrage. He knew that the shields would not hold out under that amount of suppressive fire and it will soon become a vulnerability for domination by the enemy. He looked left and right at his fireteam. They were all staring at the scene with intensity. Mitchell pulled out his binoculars and scanned the targeted domes and the surrounding areas. All he saw were sand being kicked up with blinding plasma splashing over the dome.

The shit just hit the fan.

(Tag(s): MrKill)

[MorpheusDavol]

Loken Gnash- Corporal
153rd ODST CO, 1st Platoon, 1st Squad
Kristopher Airfield/Beta Domes
Protector, Tranquilius Beta System
How are we still alive...


The first sensation that returned to the corporal laying on his back was the feeling of his armor followed by the a immediate gagging sensation as he coughed out dust. During the earthquake he recalled being caught under some rumble from a nearby building, hearing the shouts of Sgt. Reminico to move before a shroud of darkness enveloped his vision. As he was beginning to sit up he heard a few voices nearby that sound like the rest of his people as one dark VISR turned to face him walking over to help him up. Apperantly the other four had made it unscathed from the rumble and opted to help get their fallen team mate out, if it wasn't for them he might not be alive currently. Getting to his feet in the meantime he made sure to check if anything was broken before facing Reminico.

"Your alive, good, here's a small status update Gnash: Earthquake had disrupted some things setting us back, currently making our way to Beta Cluster command center are you good to move?" Viktor asked the younger man picking up his BR55 off the ground holding it out to the fellow ODST. With less then 30 ODST on this god forsaken rock any capable one should have a rifle in his hands, it was a blessing in it's self they had made it out of there. "Yes, sir." Loken replied taking the weapon checking the ammo capacity before giving a nod to signal he was ready to move. 

"Radio Beta Command, see if you can get into contact with anyone else- we are not to far from there." Viktor told the younger man as they began their track to the point.


"Hello, Come in? This is Corporal Loken Gnash, 153rd ODST CO, Angel one-one Alpha does anyone copy at Beta Cluster command point? I repeat ANYONE Copy? We currently are making our way there and request information or anything. We have been cut off from the forces for sometime. "

[Huka]

Field Marshal Til ‘Muramai
Covenant Ground Command

Til wondered how he always end up handling a difficult situation in these campaigns, the dome flickered abit under the hammering plasma. “The humans’ dome is stubborn but it will fall soon.” He said simply before seeing a few of the Phantoms from the north returning on the war map before sitting up in time to see Special Operations Commander ‘Nikyasee step off his Spirit from the nearly landing zone without a loss of face with his surviving troop behind him. Nearby one of the Phantoms opened to reveal the buzzing return of his SSA swarm, buzzing and shrieking in their translated language about failure. From the fact that their numbers were lessened and carrying their dead, Til somewhat didn’t expect otherwise.

Despite the initial expendable purpose that they had, Til cared for them like his Unggoy. “What has happened?” He questioned them but his head fell towards the approaching commander who bowed his head. “The humans fortified themselves hardily into their facility as expected, I’ve tried to direct your ever-purposeful creatures, Mighty Field Marshal but their swarm leader was defective to not follow my directions. She had paid the price for it and here are the rest that fought valiant for their Covenant.” He said with typical coldness that made the more passionate leader flare his mandibles privately in a hiding sneer.

“Ah, I see...” Til said before looking down at the Yanme’e again, crouching down and place a gentle hand over one of the closer drone’s head in a tender pet before speaking through the filtered language of the insectoids, “They will be avenged in time.” On that, he promised.

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009

GOLD ONE

PROTECTOR, TRANQUILITAS BETA SYSTEM

EAST HAVEN MOUNTAINS

Roy’s warning light was like the gunshot at the start of a race.

As soon as Silas saw that blink in his HUD, he was right on his teammate’s heels. The two SPARTANs dismounted the Scarab walker in dramatic fashion, flinging themselves off its rear end like sailors abandoning a sinking ship. For the second time in the same engagement, Silas found himself plummeting through the air, grateful to be protectively encased in his MJOLNIR power armor as the ground came rushing up at him in the blink of an eye. At some point while mid-air, there came the sound of Roy’s explosive cocktail detonating above and behind them.

As the toes of his metal boots made contact with the dusty dark brown rocky ground, he allowed his knees to bend under the force of the impact and leaned forward, tumbling over one shoulder into a crouching position. His hands shot forward into the ground to brace himself, bringing his roll to an abrupt halt, his head still protectively tucked down with his chin on his chest.

As the dust stirred by his landing drifted away, Silas heard the sounds of a few stray pieces of debris falling nearby. Lifting his head, he watched a torn chunk of orange worm drop in front of him, confirming just how effective Roy’s IED had been against those Hunters.

Now was no time to take in the surroundings, however. The armored soldier bolted to his feet and dashed away from the Scarab, the footfalls of its massive legs causing the ground to rumble with every impact. Silas rolled over the top of a nearby rock and dropped into cover behind it, just as a barrage of thunderclaps indicated the tanks had opened fire again.

“Looks like it’s going down, SPARTANs!” Anvil One Actual called out.

Silas poked the edge of his helmet around the side of the rock. The Scarab visibly trembled as it struggled to stay standing, with one of its legs surrounded in smoke in the aftermath of the shelling. And then, it buckled. An alien alarm tone sounded through the air as the walker’s main body sank to the ground, sparking.

“Come on,” Silas muttered to himself, his one eye glued to the back end of the Scarab. “Come on…”

Just then, a large panel slowly slid up. There was a burst of steam as the machine’s pulsing, glowing reactor was revealed to the open air.

“Reactor’s exposed!” Silas declared over the TEAMCOM. “I’m going for it! Watch my back!”

He hurried back to the downed Scarab, slipping the backpack filled with C-12 off his shoulders as he skidded in front of the reactor. There was a loud hiss as the overheating alien power plant vented more steam, slightly fogging his visor a bit but at least it wouldn’t burn him through his armor.

Silas didn’t have long. After a few moments of recovery eventually the Scarab would stand back up and resume its rampage. But at this point all the Spartan needed to do was apply the explosives and run for the hills.

Silas held his hand in front of the glowing reactor, not quite touching the superheated surface that looked as though it had pulsing veins running through it. It sizzled and crackled as he waved his hand over it, obviously surging with energy. He wondered if it was wise to place the explosives directly onto the surface, suddenly fearing the electricity might set off the charges prematurely with him standing right next to it.

“Huh…” he grunted to himself, opting for the direct approach. Silas reached down, snatching a standard-issue combat knife he had strapped to his shin. With one forceful blow, he plunged the knife up to the hilt into the reactor, sending a few sparks flying. He then simply draped one shoulder strap of the backpack over the handle, turned around, and sprinted away.

“Explosives are set!” Silas announced as he hurried back to his rock. “Watch your eyes! Three, two, one, fire in the hole!”

Silas didn’t bother climbing over the rock. He dived straight over it, belly-flopping onto the ground behind cover as he blinked at the DETONATE icon in the corner of his HUD.

In the next instant, an orange fireball the size of a car appeared on the back of the Scarab, followed milliseconds later by an even bigger blue one as the reactor went off. Blue explosions suddenly blossomed all over the entire walker as is became enveloped in such an intense, blinding light that when the final, climactic explosion went off and the light faded, all that could be seen was large chunks of what used to be the Scarab collapsing to the ground.

Silas stood up behind his rock. As the wreckage of Target Alpha came to a rest, he looked over and up at the remaining Target Bravo with Courtney still aboard.

“One down,” Silas said. “One to go…”

TAG(S): TinCanHitman, MrKill, @tracker

[Remnant]

Minor Karonus
Tranquilas Beta System
Protector
Awakened

Karonus opened his eyes. He let out a low growl of pain. His body ached. He wondered why. He looked around, and noticed he was in a big tent. He noticed a creature hovering above him, a Huragok. It had placed an IV in his arm, keeping Karonus hydrated while he was out.

"Had a nice nap?" A familar voice asked from across the room.

Karonus turned his head to see Palcius smirking at him.

"What...what happened?" Karonus asked.

"You passed out from exhaustion after slaughtering three Ragnus tribesmen. I had to drag you back to camp."

Karonus slipped into a flashback. It was the fight. A group of Ragnus warriors had ambushed Karonus and the File. Palcius had taken on two Ragnus tribesmen, while Titanium and Bruticus challenged one each. Wulfius and Xercius were off on the sidelines providing support. Two tribesmen overwhelmed and slaughtered Vinetium, though Wulfius and Xercius managed to avenge him by killing the murderers.

Karonus was in the center of the fight, battling three tribesmen with his dual scimitars. They were an equal match for Karonus, and proved to be a challenge. He parried a strike from one of the Ragnus' blades, and redirected his second blade to jab the now unguarded Ragnus in the neck. He pulled the blade from it's neck and used the momentum to go into a slight spin and slit another Ragnus' throat. The last Ragnus was actually more difficult than the other two.

He slashed his blade at it, however it parried, and as Karonus attempted to counter-strike, the Ragnus grabbed his arm to stop the attack, and used it's free hand to jab Karonus in the abdomen with it's claws. Karonus used his free hand to stab his scimitar into the Ragnus' arm. Shocked by the sudden pain, the Ragnus let go of Karonus' other arm, and using this to his advantage, Karonus jabbed it in the eye with his other scimitar. Releasing the scimitar from the Ragnus' arm, he sliced swiftly and horizontally to lob off the Ragnus' head.

He raised his scimitars in the air in a moment of triumph. It was glorious! And then he felt overwhelmed by a feeling of tiredness. He looked around and notice that his File had finished off the rest of the Ragnus in the area. Karonus quickly blacked out afterwards.

"Gah! What stinks?!" Karonus yelled, snapping back to reality after smelling a particularly foul odor.

"Vinetium didn't make it." Palcius said, grimly.

"Then the young blood wasn't strong enough to survive after all." Karonus said, with little to no remorse.

As Karonus began to get up, the Huragok took out the IV. After getting a feel for walking again, Palcius and Karonus exited the tent. Titanium and Bruticus were off in the distance, in the midst of a crowd of Brutes. They seemed to be in a competition, displaying the stronger of the two. Xercius and Wulfius were no where to be found. Likely out and about, gathering information for Garatus, and having their own competition.

Palcius wandered off as a Phantom flew overhead. The Phantom opened it's baydoors, revealing a few Jiralhanae, including one that looked like a fresh blood.

Karonus stood outside the big war tent. It's entrance was pretty open to air, so no doubt Garatus would see and smell Karonus outside. Karonus walked right in front of the entrance and patiently waited right outside of it, hoping to see Garatus.

Tags: BetaWülf, @doczilla

[Deleted]

Minor Augustus
Tranquilas Beta System
Fresh Meat
Wishing He Wasn't Here

The bay doors swung open, and the roiling stench of war hit Augustus nostrils. He drank the scent in deeply, relishing every taste of plasma and lead. He could hear the low thunder in the distance of true battle, beyond his sight and just out of reach. He could taste the blood in the air, the rank odor of slaughtered friend and foe making his stomach growl hungrily. How he'd love to have been out there, amidst the fray, slaughtering the humans as they fled before him, before savoring every crisp bite of their flesh.

But it was not to be. No, Augustus didn't get the privilege of joining his comrades in the fray, of seeing the heretic and the nonbeliever alike driven before him. Not that it mattered to Augustus what faith his enemy prescribed to; they were his enemy, and no pantheon of deities could spare them from his wrath and fury. In fact, the only thing that was keeping him from charging out across the plain to join the vanguard was his orders. He had been commanded to join a File here, and had been told that one in particular needed a fresh replacement after a battle went sour. A nagging thought in the back of his mind reminded him that, were he not careful, he would be replaced soon enough, his corpse shuffled off to whatever grisly fate awaited him. He would just have to be more careful than the rotting mess of bone and flesh he was filling in for, wouldn't he?

Stepping off of the phantom with the rest of the fresh meat, Augustus cast his bright amber eyes about the camp. He could see a pair of Jiralhanae having some manner of petty conflict in the midst of a crowd, as Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Sangheili, and all others under the sacred Covenant moved and waddled about on their own business. Let them stay that way. Augustus wasn't one for strangers, only strange places. This one reminded him a little of camps at home, immediately, but he'd seen the world from orbit when the Phantom first brought him down. A strange new world: he was standing, bold as brass, on another planet. Satisfaction swelled in his stomach, as Augustus reached down, scooping up a handful of the earth from the landing zone. "To know the land is to know how to use it," his grandfather had told him. True, it was in the context of hunting, but since when was war any different than a long hunt?

Turning his claws sideways and letting the dirt fall back to the ground, Augustus pushed himself back up to his feet, crossing his arms. He could see another Jiralhanae watching him in the distance, but didn't make eye contact with the stranger. He was here to kill the humans, not his kin. Now, all he had to do was wait for his commander to appear...

TAGS: BetaWülf, Remnant

[Washington]

Unggoy Ultra Mopyap

Tranquilas Beta System

Deploying near Beta Cluster

Mopyap sat in the Spirit with the rest of his lance. Mopyap was uneasy, but at the same time anxious for combat. He was upset, for his Lance's deployment was delayed and among the last out of the Corvette Divine Intervention, for Mopyap wanted to fight. 

As the Spirit approached the ground Mopyap readied the Fuel Rod Cannon in his hands and looked around quickly. The wing of the aircraft opened to reveal a minor stretch of terrain which lead to a city being attacked by the Covenant. It seemed quite small and consisted of a multitude of tall skyscrapers.

"Move slow and be careful! Yell if see bad guys!" Mopyap stated to his teammates.

They began to traverse the long stretch of terrain as the Spirit flew away, unaware of what would soon become of them in combat.

[SPARTAN-A120]

Corporal Fredrick Mitchell
1/8, B Co, 1st PLT, 5th Squad
Kristopher Airfield/Beta Domes
Protector, Tranquilius Beta System
Regrouping and Rallying

Mitchell was still staring at the bombardment of plasma as he saw the domes' shield flicker. The shield was going to fail. He returned his focus to the mission objectives that were issued by the Colonel. "Team, search a one kilometer radius for any equipment or vehicles we could salvage. Return to this position within 5 minutes. We don't have much time," Mitchell said to Carter, Gordon, and Luis.

"Copy that," his team replied. They all went separate paths in search for their targets.

Mitchell took a knee and exhaled in a heavily manner. He took a visual analysis of his Battle Rifle and opened the tube to his M301 Grenade Launcher. The tube was not loaded with any 40mm round. He closed the tube. Mitchell hadn't fired a single round since he was deployed to this barren planet. He frowned at that thought. What was the purpose of a firearm if he wasn't going to use it? He then wiped a few grains of sand off his magnified optic's lens. A crackle emitted from his headset as a voice spoke through an encrypted frequency. "Hello, Come in? This is Corporal Loken Gnash, 153rd ODST CO, Angel one-one Alpha does anyone copy at Beta Cluster command point? I repeat ANYONE Copy? We currently are making our way there and request information or anything. We have been cut off from the forces for sometime."

Mitchell replied, "Angel One-One, this is Bravo One-Five. UNSC Marines. Good to hear you're alive. Guardian Actual wants all units to regroup at our 20. If possible, gather any equipment or vehicles along the way. We'll need everything we got. And gather any other personnel to our location. Over."

Mitchell got up and started pacing the entrance of the Command Center as he waited for a response from the ODST.

(Tag(s): MorpheusDavol)

[TinCanHitman]

Roy-001

GOLD THREE

PROTECTOR, TRANQUILITAS BETA SYSTEM 

EAST HAVEN MOUNTAINS 

Roy watched, sweeping back and forth as he made sure nothing surprised them. The likelihood was slim, but if either of the scarab's had gotten off a distress beacon the covenant were sure to investigate. He turned to Silas when he heard the tell tale wail of the scarab's siren. They had managed to bring it down, which meant the SPARTAN's could do their job. He watched as Silas worked, moving quickly and decisively as he placed the explosives. It was a reminder for Roy, his team was just as capable as him, maybe even more so, which allowed him to relax a bit, still being focused on his task. He knew his team would have his back, in more than just spirit.

Even with his team, however, there were still lapses in ability and perception, which  Roy was also reminded of when two covenant flyers came screaming over the hillside. Roy immediately dropped, speaking for time since the mission had begun "Contacts." he said simply as he drew his MA5B, pressing into his cover with one hand and firing with the other. He was currently using shredder rounds, but it would be enough to pepper them and distract them from Silas. He fired a stead stream of bullets, most hitting their mark, as the two banshees fired blue orbs at his position, hitting the rock and sending bits of glass and shards of rock up.

Roy unloaded the magazine and then unflinching dropped it, smoothly sliding an AP mag into his rifle and firing once more. He had timed his shots so he would have one bullet, chambered, so he didn't have to bother racking his charging lever. He fired on the banshees as he began to move, dodging back and forth between rocks as they made another pass one of them firing on Silas.

[BasedGoody]

Unggoy Fanatic Wibbup

"Faster! No mercy to the savages!" Cried out Wibbup. His previously sore ankles now burned with adrenaline just as his heart and brain seared with hate and rage. Slowly red pulsated into his vision, closing in until all he saw were the shapes of the humans and the grenades in his hands. They still lied dormant, not yet ready for activation. In his ears a continuous thump resonated deeply. It was as if someone were pounding on his ear drums in the fashion of the actual instrument. It slammed down in a monotonous pattern with the patter of his feet on the airfield.

Behind him, the crazed screeches of his allies pierced the air. In unison they made a terrifying sight. 

A streak of yellow whizzed by the fanatic's vision. It was followed by a juicy clap and the thud of a skidding Unggoy. Concern flooded Wib's mind and he halted, spinning around to his comrade. On the ground, Yag-Gad wailed a terrifying sound. The sound a creature makes when it realizes it's life is over, and all pride and courage has left the body. Wibbup's throat clogged up and a small wheeze escaped his mouth. 

"Brother-" He attempted to say, reaching out his hand to the wounded bullet-fodder. His grubby fingers made little difference as a second bullet from the same shooter smacked through the skull of Yag. One eye was completely obliterated and replaced with an empty, cracked socket along with heaps upon heaps of blood. The other eye rolled back before the whole head flopped onto the ground below him. The other two Unggoy continued their sprint with minds full of visions.

From Wibbup came a gurgling scream of anger as he turned around towards the marines. His joints ached and cried with pain. Along with them, the skin on the fanatic burned and blistered with vexation. 

Shoutouts to : @tracker , Llau

[MrKill]

Colonel Killinger
7th Marines
BETA Cluster

"Sir," A Marine reported. "They're not through yet."

The Marine was referencing the dome above them, flickering under the pressure of the Covenant Navy's bombardment. John knew that it wouldn't hold, if it was impenetrable it wouldn't have been doing what it was doing. He wasn't an egg head, but it was pretty obvious the dome would eventually collapse. A radio transmission had come through, but it was quickly replied to by the Corporal he had sent out on orders.

Perhaps, just maybe, the young NCO could rally enough Marines and vehicles for the Colonel so he could actually make a viable escape plan - but everything seemed to change by the second as the shield seemed to get more and more translucent. Perhaps an air evacuation was a possibility if the Covenant were focused on the cluster of domes. They'd shut the shields down, walk over the phase line, and start them up again. The domes would provide protection from the Covenant plasma long enough to fly away. High speed, low altitude.

"Fuck!" John swore suddenly, collecting himself after the sudden burst of anger. I hate this part of my job he thought. Stuck between two decisions that would likely get people killed regardless of what he did and how thorough the thought them out. He decided, then and there, to take the strategy that offered him and the UNSC the lowest possible casualties. The surface extraction VIA vehicles.

The field officer glanced at the tactical table, finally starting to fade. One of the SCARAB walkers was down, the flight of longswords were returning to their own airfield and the tank platoon had appeared to run into some problems. The final thing he saw before the table dimmed and snapped off was pulsing location of the trapped scientists. They need to hurry the Colonel thought for a moment before collecting his gear and leaving the command post. Once again it was empty, roughly a platoon of Marines had regrouped by it.

"Bishop," John said. "Regroup at the nearest Army CP when you exit from the ramp entrance. Only orders I can give you. If you see anyone else... bring 'em with 'ya."

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Chieftain Garatus the Deathless.

Garatus rumbled as he nodded to Kael, contemplating who to send, perhaps just some Minors. He growled softly to himself as he stroked his beard, thinking back on the mission thus far. A fairly decent removal of the enemies turrets, then an unsuccessful attempt to breach the underground, then an earthquake. Then there was the Ragnus uprising that was promptly stomped out, and the horror the virtual massacre of the Water Plant. So far it hadn't been really shown any sign of future success. But Garatus didn't know how the Humans were fairing, so he could only assume they weren't too bad off.

But when was suffering a Covenant invasion ever 'not so bad off'? Garatus pondered this silently for a long time as he stood with his fellow commanders. He was broken from his thoughts about the enemy when the familiar scent of his young Cousin caught his attention, what bothered Garatus was that the scent carried aspects of fatigue. Garatus turned on his heel and marched out to see his Cousin.

Garatus instantly knew Karonus had seen over exertion upon seeing him, he was panting slightly, the slight darkening around his eyes, and the fact he looked tired. Garatus thumped his fist into Karonus's pauldron before pulling him into a half hug and patting his back. "Boy, what have you been up to? You smell as if you worked yourself to death digging a warren, and almost look as bad off" Garatus said with concern as he looked over Karonus.

"Here, a swig of this will put the power back into your punch" Garatus said with a wink as he offered his own canteen of noxious red liquor to Karonus, a drink many Jiralhanae were very fond of.

[Remnant]

Jiralhanae Minor Karonus

"I was patrolling with my File, however, we were ambushed by those wretched Ragnus.." Karonus said with annoyance at the thought of it.

He began panting once more as he finished the sentence, the feeling of fatigue clutching him once more. His entire body ached from the predicament he just left. He was lucky to have survived.

"I had to fight three of the Ragnus, all at once, with only my scimitars. They proved to be a challenge. I managed to parry the first one, and redirected my second blade into it's neck. After it sliced through it's skin and was buried in it's windpipe, I pulled it out, and used the momentum to slit the second's throat." Karonus said, grinning as he remembered the glorious scene perfectly.

"The third one was no doubt the toughest. I attempted to strike it, but it parried my blade, and when I attempted to counter-strike, it grabbed my arm and stopped the attack entirely. Using it's free hand, it jabbed it's claws into my abdomen. I managed to use my own free hand to stab it in the forearm, forcing it to release my other arm. I then jabbed it in the eye with my released arm's blade, then pulled my other blade from it's forearm, and lobbed it's head off with it. It was glorious." Karonus said, still grinning.

"However, the battle proved to be extremely exhausting. I raised my blades in the air in triumph, but soon passed out from fatigue afterwards. I woke up to see Palcius, and I smelled a foul stench. I asked him of the smell, and he said that Vinetium didn't make it through the ambush. I didn't know the young blood too well, but it was saddening to see another one of our kind perish. May he enjoy his everlasting peaceful rest..." Karonus said, in a serious, slightly saddened tone.

He looked up to see Garatus offer his canteen of noxious red liquor, one of Karonus favorite drinks. He took the offer, and began drinking from the canteen. Instantly his senses came back. No longer did he feel tired or fatigued. He also stopped panting for a brief moment. He felt stronger, more powerful. Like he could do anything without tiring out. He felt like he could fight an army with this renewed strength!

However, he clutched his abdomen as he felt a sharp pain from where the Ragnus' claws punctured his skin earlier. He didn't know how bad the wound was, never bothering to look, but he figured the Huragok tended to it.

He looked back up, dismissing the pain, thinking it'd be fine. "So, what have you been up to, brother?" Karonus asked Garatus.

[MorpheusDavol]

Loken Gnash- Corporal
153rd ODST CO, 1st Platoon, 1st Squad
Kristopher Airfield/Beta Domes
Protector, Tranquilius Beta System
Moving to Destination...


"Angel One-One, this is Bravo One-Five. UNSC Marines. Good to hear you're alive. Guardian Actual wants all units to regroup at our 20. If possible, gather any equipment or vehicles along the way. We'll need everything we got. And gather any other personnel to our location. Over."

"Roger that. Over." The Corporal responded over the comms quickly before looking up to his squad leader Reminco, who had heard everything with a nod. It wouldn't be to long to make it to the rally point but they had to move quickly it wasn't look to good for them Loken believed. We can't lose here, to much at stake He thought with a sigh getting up giving his squad leader a nod with his head that he was ready to move out. Feet first into hell they said, time to keep the mantle. 

 "Everyone move out, I'll be taking point till we rally up with Guardian Actual!" Reminco shouted as the three other men besides Loken got ready, Pfc. Jones giving a slight smile under his helmet lifting up his MK280 as he took got just to the left and behind of Reminco. They would want they heavy support just incase they ran into any trouble so they could get to cover while Jones provided support- they plan had saved their asses before. Cpl. Castel shifted to the right behind Reminco gripping his MA5C looking around. Lance Cpl. Drasken was behind him and Loken had taken to the left of him completing their V formation as they moved out. 

"Everyone keep your eyes and ears up, if they are asking for a large regroup chances are things are going shitty." Reminco advised as they kept their VISRs up. Loken wasn't nervous persay but he wasn't easy to say the least as he kept moving onward, this battle wasn't going in their favor he thought. When they got us meeting up instead of completing a offensive objective that's never good He thought a sigh escaping his mouth a bit before he went back into overwatch mode. He predicted they'd be their soon- perhaps acquire a vehicle. Maybe.


Tagged: MrKill SPARTAN-A120

[Huka]

Field Marshal Til ‘Muramai
The Covenant Ground Command

Finally something was acting right today! The Field Marshal mentally thought, glancing up at the darkening horizon while the flashes of the Destroyer’s torpedoes hammered onto the energy dome as it dimmed more and more. More than Til expected but that was good. It showed that the Covenant were still dominant in the command of its heightened gifts. With a Sangheilian smile under his mask, he quickly returned to command.

“All immediate creches of Redeeming Vigilance, prepare to board your assigned gunships. The human city will be uncovered soon.” He alarmed before clicking to frequency concerning the air control, “All Banshee and Vampires around the Lesser Dome, if any areal aggression appear. I want all of it destroyed, especially their longswords.” On the mention of their wide-winged interceptors, the Marshal hissed abit in personal disdain of those particular aircrafts for their part in destroying the relic on the neighboring planet. Hope. Personally Til hopes to personally watch the planet glassed.

On that personal note, the Sangheili commanding officer stood up straight and gestured to a standing Major to approach him. “I want you to alarm our security to keep alert for internal trouble as well as external. The last thing I need is another disagreement from anyone; Sangheili, Jiralhanae, Kig-yar-I don’t care.” He whispered harshly to make sure the younger veteran understood, who did with a snaking shake of his head before quickly marching away while contacting via the battlenet.

Walking over to a nearby plasma station, Til checked on his plasma rifles’ charges before holstering them on his thigh magnets. A new carbine was pulled from a rack and doubly examine, fingers flexing on the padded grip. “Chieftain Garatus.” He called through their comms, “Prepare your warriors. You will have the honor of striking the humans first en route when our air-path is clear.”

Then he looked over to Kael, “Champion.” He called once and repeated again when he noticed her abit distracted. “You and your T’vaoan will handle any exit routes in the city. Don’t let any of our enemy escape...” The Field Marshal emphasizing to give Kael something to ponder on before returning attention to the war-table.

“Scarab 2; I have air support coming in for your position. Keep the enemy from boarding anymore than it is.” Til alarmed before pressing a claw to one of the scout phantoms and dragged it over the scarab, making a nav point for the selected craft. It took a heartbeat for phantom to get the order and change its direction to start its flight over for support including its single heavy gun and side cannons. As much as the Field Marshal certain ‘improvements’ on Covenant vehicles lately, they do have some use.

Tracing his eyes over the map once more, Til accepted what he had for now before connecting with the sect commander selected for the northern plant’s assault. “Vo’ha ‘Griotee, begin assault.”

Within the hold of his own armored Phantom, the golden-armored field commander growled eagerly, “Yes, Ze’at ‘Muramai.” Then their communication end before the first wave of Unggoy with supporting heavies took the frontlines.

Stalker Cicerius
Covenant Staging Grounds

Over the horizon, a line of hunters returning from their bloody work appeared in their dusty and bloody stealth armor with severed heads of the treacherous officers hanging from claws, bandoliers and belts while straps of furs were knitted together into collars around the smallest and largest of the pack. On the top of a small hill, Cicerus held his pair of heads high with their jaws frozen in long-silenced screams and eyes rolled back, blood still barely dripping their thick drops onto the ground as he laughed.

“The rebellion of fire is dead!’ He cried out with a short fit of proud giggles and laughs before seeing his chieftain and that overstepping minor of a cousin with him. “Want some heads!? I have, heh, plenty to spare!” The Stalker outright laughed again to the slight joke, lifting one of the heads with some grey in the mane and dangling beard as he released his dark glee straight at its face.

Respectfully and wisely, his Shadow-cutters ignored and tolerated the madness that was their leader. Swallowing the starting pool of saliva in his big jaw, Cicerus calmed himself and looked at the Destroyer attacking the dome with vicious glee of attacking the human city next.

[Llau]

First Lieutenant Alex Bishop
1 / 7, Alpha Company, Third Platoon
Airfield, Protector
Suicidal Grunts...just what we needed...
Tag(s): @tracker MrKill BasedGoody

Bishop shouted at Elms, “Keep firing, Private! Don't let them get close to us!” He took cover behind some rubble, kneeling down. “At least get behind cover so you won't get shot at. I'll cover you.”

He then pulled out his pistol, aimed, and started firing at the remaining, fanatical Unggoy who were still running toward him and the Private.

When he received his orders from the Colonel, he responded to the man, “Yes, sir,” While he continued to carefully fire at the enemy, he overheard one of his Platoon Sergeants speak to him on the radio.

“Good to hear that you're out of the rubble, sir,” said Richardson.

“Richardson,” Bishop asked, “What's the SITREP?”

“A lot of us didn't make it, but many more have been injured: some serious, some not, but we're helping to get the injured evacuated now.”

“Who is with you?”

“Krich and Karim made it out fine, but Dmitri is one of the seriously injured we need to get out of here,” reported the Staff Sergeant.

“Copy,” Bishop replied. “Regroup at the nearest Army CP, as ordered by the Colonel. We'll go from there.”

“Copy that, over.”


Insurrectionist, Larkin (NPC)
Second-In-Command
Protector // Alpha Cluster Tunnel System


Larkin led the group through the tunnel, holding the ONI operator's arm in a vice grip, as he roughly walked him along. Earlier, the man had ordered some of his men to walk behind the three Kig-Yar who decided to go along with them. It was interesting, to say the least. He never expected aliens to be so...different from the rest. He wondered if they really were Covenant, or were like the ones who he has heard about from other Innies who have made trade dealings with the Kig-Yar in the past that weren't affiliated with the Covenant. Either way, they didn't shoot at his group, let alone the damn ONI that was with them.

He glanced over at the Italian who was walking beside him, and glared for a moment as the operator ignored the look he was giving him.

Larkin then smirked a little. “You know what?” He asked and continued, “If I had a dog collar and a leash, I would put that collar on you and drag you along like the dog you are.”

No response.

“That dog collar would look good on that neck of yours, too. I would make sure it's nice and tight, so you would feel it dig into your skin every time you turned your head.”

Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Moretti responded, “I hate to break it to you, buddy, but I don't swing that way.”

He staggered a little, wincing as a sharp pain ran up his leg as Larkin kicked him in the side of the knee. “Argh!” He fell to his knees, still being held by the taller man, who ignored his cry of pain and hauled him back up to his feet to make him continue walking.



ONI Section III Field Operator, Lieutenant Michelangelo Moretti
Operation Lead
Protector // Alpha Cluster // Alpha Cluster Tunnel System
...Oh, a dead end? My bad.
Tag(s): Faclan BetaWülf @tracker LaxKnight Doc the Mother of Dragons



The kick wasn't hard enough to do any permanent damage to his knee, but it still hurt like hell, and he imagined that he'll be limping for a while. When he was kicked in the knee and forced to walk at a slight limp, Moretti heard a snicker coming just behind him. He turned to look and see that it was Skyler who was snickering in amusement at his pain. While the young rebel smirked back at him, the operator sent him a death stare, but he was roughly tugged along by Larkin.

“For someone who has been captured for almost a week, escaped, but to only be captured again, you sure don't know your place,” Larkin whispered harshly into his ear. “Don't worry though. Once you cease to be a use for us, the only place you'll know will be in the ground...right next to your alien friends.”

Moretti scoffed at that. “Friends? Hardly...”

Larkin studied him for a few moments with an unsettling small smile upon his lips, and then glanced back to where the three aliens were located near the end of the group. His smile grew wider as he looked back at him.

“I see...isn't that interesting,” he said, “Can't say I'm surprised, because I'm not. ONI doesn't make friends. They get what they want by extorting those around them who aren't the UNSC. Everyone is fair game to you, correct? Those who want nothing to do with the UNSC, and now...the Kig-Yar, to the looks of it.”

Moretti didn't answer him, but slowly smiled as he glanced at the terrorist.

Larkin chuckled lightly. He continued to speak to him quietly, “There's the ONI I know...” He glanced back at the Kig-Yar again for a moment. “Tell me, what would you think were to happen if I tell them that you are using them?”

“They'll probably will kill you because I will tell them that you plan on killing them instead of sharing whatever you think is there at the research facility,” Moretti whispered back.

“Perhaps I should cut out your tongue so you won't be able to,” threatened the man.

“If you expect to get inside the facility, then I suggest you not to do that...nor tell the space chickens that I'm using them for my own personal benefit,” Moretti glared up at him, smirking a bit. He knew he won.

“Hmm. Fair enough, ONI.”

Minutes passed, and Moretti felt Larkin slow to a stop when he received an incoming message over his radio. He couldn't hear what was being said, since the man had an ear-piece, but the response made the Italian feel a little at ease.

“What? ODSTs? How many? Around eight? Not too many then...” A long pause, and then he ordered whoever it was he was talking to, “Hold position and engage the enemy.” He slowly glanced over at Moretti. “I'm thinking I know why they're down here...so hold them back as long as you can.”

The radio transmission ended, and he continued to stare coldly at the field operator. “Did you tell anyone you're down here?”

Moretti stared back, stoic and unmoving, which pissed off Larkin, who suddenly wrapped his hands around his neck, and violently pushed him into a wall nearby. The Italian grimaced in pain, grunted, and grabbed the man's wrist as he weakly struggled against his grip.

“Are these people looking for you?” Larkin questioned.

“As much as I enjoy when things are all about me,” Moretti replied, “I doubt it. I imagine that they're searching the tunnels for either a way out or looking for aliens to shoot at. Or both. Maybe even you wonderfully friendly, neighborhood terrorists. Who knows. I've been out of the loop this week.”

Larkin glanced down at the man's arm, where the TAC-PAD was back on, and then looked into his eyes. “If you don't know, then why do you have that back on your arm?”

“Because I'm going to need it to be able to prove my identify to get through the research facility and use it for the pass-codes,” He told him. Actually, it's really my CNI that will do the job of identifying me, but...you don't need to know that, the agent thought.

The second-in-command glared at him, long and hard, deciding to whether or not to trust him, and Moretti stared back with that same, stoic expression on his face. The operator was proving to be meddlesome, even during the first time they captured him at the metro station. He let out a long sigh of annoyance, and slowly released his hold from around his neck, but pressed his arm across his collar bone to keep him up against the wall. For almost a minute, they stayed like that, while Larkin listened in on a report from the group that spotted the rescue party consisting of Hyde, Mays, McMillian, Willow, Jackson, and a few others; informing him that they have engaged the enemy.

“If anything happens, I'm going to personally make your life a living hell before ending you, asshole.”

After he said that, he grabbed him tightly by the arm and forced him to walk forward. “How far now?”

“Down that tunnel.”

Sure enough, once they moved down the tunnel, they saw a large sealed door blocking their path. When they arrived, Moretti saw a security access panel on the right side of the door, and was led over to it. Sighing, the ONI agent started to access it, but stopped when he could feel that Larkin was watching him.

“I can't work when you're breathing down my neck,” Moretti muttered. “If you want me to do what you want me to do, then let me do my work.”

Larkin grunted, shaking his head and taking a few steps away before turning around to look at the three Kigs again, and then talk to some of the other Insurrectionists about what they were going to do if the ODSTs caught up with them, if the other group wasn't able to hold them off – which he knew they wouldn't be able to.

While Larkin wasn't paying any attention, Moretti sent a message to Hyde:

<< Near by. Turn right. 20 of them. Heavily armed. 3 Kigs still here. They know you're coming from other group. Hurry up. Or I'm dead. - Mike >>

“Done yet, ONI?” asked Larkin, who seemed to be losing his patience.

“Don't get your damn panties in a bunch, fruitcake. I'm almost done here.”

He then quickly punched in the access codes that he found using the pass-codes that were downloaded onto his CNI to unseal the door. This caused the rest of them to turn as it unsealed with a hiss and the hydraulics worked to slide the doors open. One of the rebels went to grab hold of Moretti's arm to haul him over to where they were standing as they waited for the doors to finally open. When they finished moving, all of them could, but only stare, while the agent tilted his head and hid a little grin.

“Huh...the earthquake must have caused the tunnel to collapse...”

Larkin walked closer to the doorway, and stared for a long minute at the sign that was attached to a heavy chain that ran across the width of the unfinished tunnel. He turned around, glaring straight back at the Italian. “Can you tell me what the sign says?”

“Yes, I can read,” Moretti said, “Under construction. Aww.” He shook his head. “Mmm. That's too bad. If only I knew.”

Larkin smiled a little, taking a couple of steps toward him with his hands clasped together in front of him.

“You knew about this. You knew the tunnel was under construction.”

He breathed in a sigh, looking at him, and then sneered at the smug expression, and the way Moretti presented himself as someone defiant and more superior to him. He approached him, but then landed a hard kick into the man's stomach; the impact sending him off of his feet. The operator groaned in pain, falling onto his back, but rolled over his shoulder. He painstakingly started to move onto his hands and knees, but was kicked in the side as Larkin shouted at him angrily about the lies he told. It felt much harder to breathe, as he was reminded of the bruised and broken ribs he endured from when he was first captured by them. He was on his back for a moment, before rolling to his side and covering his head with his arms and bringing in his knees to his chest as the man continued kicking him five more times before walking away.

“Bring the three over where that damn snake is,” Larkin said to the rebels who were keeping an eye on the three Kig-Yar. Before walking further, he stopped by Skyler and whispered into the boy's ear, before patting him on the shoulder and walked toward the end of the tunnel.

The rebels who were watching the aliens pushed the three over to where Moretti was laying on the ground, and made them sit down against the wall. All of them walked to the other end of the tunnel, leaving Skyler to watch the prisoner...rather...the prisoners, but a few others were also somewhat keeping an eye on them.

Wincing every time he breathed in, Moretti squirmed around on the ground, rolling over onto his other side to face the three Kig-Yar. He glanced up at Roh. He whispered, gasping in pain, but managed to speak to him.

“Just so you know...they aren't going to let you live either...also...if you want to live, you best stay down,” he explained. Coughing and grimacing, he continued, “Because...if you don't stay down, then the ones who are here to rescue me, will kill you.” He managed a smile, ignoring as sweat rolled down his face.

It was around this time, when he heard someone walk up behind him. He turned around, looking up to see Skyler holding an assault rifle in hand. The teen was staring down at him with a grin.

“Hey,” Skyler said, “Dad said if shit hits the fan, then I can kill you.”

Moretti stared at him, deadpan. “He's your dad? Huh...well...” A pause. “Do you remember what I said to you earlier though?”

The young rebel scoffed, “Yeah, but you can't do shit.”

That was it. A small, angry smile, and then he quickly swept the kid's feet from right underneath him, causing him to lose his balance, as well as letting go of the assault weapon. Every time he moved, pain shot throughout his body, but anger was a nice way to numb it. He struggled to his hands and knees after the boy fell on his side, and then went over to press his knee on Skyler's chest to hold him down on his back. He then held the boy's arm as Skyler tried to fight back, and then pressed the button on his tac-pad to plunge the hidden knife into his neck.

The boy screamed, kicking his feet as he squirmed underneath him. Blood gushed out of his neck, as Moretti glared down at him.

“I did tell you that I will treat you like an adult combatant if you ever pointed a gun at me or threatened me, now didn't I?” The operator questioned the youth in a harsh whisper.

Pulling the knife out, he watched as more blood poured out after he removed it from the severed artery within his neck. Skyler gurgled and choked on his blood, and seconds later, he passed out, and would eventually die from the blood loss.

By this time, some of the rebels, including Larkin were rushing over when they realized too late what was happening. Larkin kicked him off of his son, grabbing the man by the shirt after he kicked him, and then started to repeatedly punch him in the face in a rage; causing his nose to bleed all over the place. Some of the Insurrectionists had to pull him off of Moretti, who was just laying there, looking up at the ceiling, panting and groaning in pain. He was exhausted, but he laid there, motionless, feeling disturbingly happy that he killed Skyler, while Larkin was mourning over the loss of his son.

The field operator wondered, was he the monster for killing the teen, or was it the boy's father, who allowed him to fight against the UNSC?

Maybe we both are...he thought, slowly glancing over at the three aliens, and wondered what they thought. Honestly, he thought all aliens were blood-thirsty beasts, uncapable of thought, but who knew. Though, they were probably pleased and didn't care. At least, to him they did. Hard to tell what they thought, especially when humans fight each other. Of course, now he really hoped Hyde and them would get down here.


((Okay. The ODSTs can shoot at the group of Innies who spotted the rescue party. They're armed, but not much of a match, obviously. Have fun. Also, after that, you can have your characters go and take out Larkin's group...just not Larkin since I have a plan.))

[LaxKnight]

CPL Toby ‘Mick’ McMillian Jr.
153rd ODST
The Tunnels
Contact!!
Tag(s):
 Llau, Faclan, @tracker, Doc the Mother of Dragons


The remaining fireteam member, Kali, followed the SSGT’s orders silently as she reluctantly took the middle of the group as they advanced. They advanced in unison, years of training having them move forward like a shark on the prowl, ready to devour the enemy at the first sign of movement. The tunnels widened a little as they neared a junction. While Mick was on point, it was Kali at center who called over the com, “Contact at our 2.”

Sure enough right where she said there was a man darkly dressed hiding behind cover. He seemed to be talking to someone, looking their direction on occasion, and had his Assault Rifle barrel visibly pointed at them. “Disperse. Kali take first,” Mick ordered.

The members of the team gently guided the scientists they were escorting with them to cover as Mick and Connelly hid behind a large piece of rubble. There was a nice hole for him to shoot through. He waited only a moment before he heard the report of a DMR and the cry of a man who was suddenly splattered by blood from his recently deceased friend. With that Fireteam Chuck lit them up. The sounds of gunfire drowned out any other noise in the tunnels as the flashes of the barrels strobed through the darkness. While the terrorists had superior numbers, they were fighting against ODSTs; the elite troopers of the UNSC armed with more training and equipment than they can ever hope to possess. The battle hardened veterans, except for Connelly anyway, have faced unthinkable horrors from the hands of aliens. There was no way the ragtag group of minor terrorists could hope to scare them off.

Connelly and Brit mowed down anyone who wasn’t in cover, a surprisingly few number meaning they were expecting them, while Mick’s machine gun suppressed those smart enough to hide in cover. Any stupid enough to get a peek would be met with a bullet from the steady hands of Kali. It was only minutes but the casualties were mounting exponentially for the terrorists. The swiftness of Death’s icy hands chilled the hearts the least experienced as they fled, Mick making note that most of them seemed like they were barely old enough to drive. We’re fighting kids, Mick’s thought in disgust. Luckily that meant the the people who were still there were most likely battle hardened and/or zealous adults or too scared to move.

Mick kept his fire at a suppressive rate to save ammo. Kali and Connelly took shots at anyone who dared to venture out of cover while Brit checked on the scientists to make sure they didn’t do anything too dangerous or stupid.

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Chieftain Garatus the Deathless.
Killing time.

Garatus stroked his beard in thought as he listened to Karonus recount his battle against some of the Ragnus Heretics. The boy took his training seriously, but finally getting to hear about it paying off was nice. At least Garatus hadn't wasted his time when he had taken an interest in that specific Cousin so many years ago. It was hard to believe the mewling Cub from them was the young Warrior next to him today.

"Gah, nothing so exciting as your battles. I fought their Leader..." Garatus said with a pause, thinking not mention Cad's unneeded aid "Cad was ignorant of our customs and interfered though, Uncle cracked the poor Kig-yar with the Staff" Garatus said, a slight shudder running up his spine as he thought of that damned Staff. How many times had he been smacked with it? The answer was probably forever knocked from his mind upon a previous encounter with the thing, likewise with Karonus he suspected.

How the time flies, Garatus thought to himself. Garatus was interrupted from his thoughts when Til contacted him over a communications channel. The Chieftain listened intently before responding. "It will be my pleasure to serve, Field Marshal" Garatus said in return to Til, thumping a salute even though the Field Marshal was out of sight.

Garatus looked up as Cicerus returned triumphant, holding the severed heads of some Ragnus fools. Garatus grinned a toothy grin at this, and chuckled at Cicerus's mad laughter. As mad as he was, Cicerus was loyal, and that was all that really mattered to Garatus. An idea soon popped into the Chieftains head. "Karonus, fetch the head you severed earlier, I have need of it" Garatus said with a pat to Karonus's shoulder.

Garatus trudged off towards the pit the Ragnus Captain fell in earlier, looking to a wandering Minor he barked "Gather the Pack, we Jiralhanae are to lead the assault on the Humans once our air route is cleared" he said.

Garatus took one of the many wooden stakes used for the basic camps the Jiralhanae set up, a tent pole with four prongs near the top to support the tent cloth. Garatus looked down viciously into the pit where his enemy fell, and thrust the pointed top into the small pit. When he brought the pole back out, the jawless skull of the Ragnus Captain was speared on it. Garatus returned to where he had been previously and looked to Cicerus and Karonus.

"You two, spike your severed heads on the prongs of this if you can be parted with them, it would please your Chieftain" Garatus said. Once what heads were donated were impaled upon the prongs of the higher point of the pole, Garatus removed most of the lower half of the tent pole, and fixed it into the place on the back of his Bandolier where a flag was meant to be fixed. Garatus rose, his new gruesome display firmly in place.


T'vaoan Major Roh Gel.
Well....

Roh looked over at Eal and shook his head. "He is an animal, scum. Do not honor him with such words as he does not deserve, I do not wish for the Mistress to learn of you saying or even having thought such a thing. Aecor only knows how she'd react..." Roh said to Eal as they moved along with the Humans.

Roh noticed how the Larkin and Mike kept looking over at him, Eal and Talz. He didn't like it... not at all. "Do you see how they look at us, how they... smile... I do not like this" Roh whispered to Eal, but soon the Human Larkin started shouting about ODSTs."Dammit... Humans are coming, eight or so Imps, the Rebels think they can handle them though" Roh said as he translated to Eal.

They all went down yet another tunnel together, but this one had a large sealed door. The Mike set about working on opening it, the ONI agent grumbling at Larkin about exhaling on his neck somehow preventing him from completing his work. Humans were so odd, Roh thought as he bobbed his head slightly. After awhile Larkin and Mike bickered at each other again, but the sealed door soon opened. Everyone seemed to stop, and Roh just tilted his head to the side, mouth fumbling silently for words. When Mike read the sign Roh's pupils went to slits and he began to curse in his native tongue, as well as in one or two more.

"That Sunk bastard lead us to a damn tunnel that wasn't even built yet! And he knew it, too!" Roh told Eal, trying to control himself, half tempted to ask Larkin if he could have a turn kicking Mike.

Soon though the Rebels were pushing and shoving Roh, Eal, and Talz towards where Mike was, and if not for their guns Roh would have sliced them to ribbons with his Gel blade. Roh and his companions were forced to sit down against the wall by the treacherous Mike, how Roh wanted to stab him in the face. When Mike spoke to him, Roh sighed. "Thanks, better to die on my back or belly than sitting up" he said in a flat tone lifeless tone.

"Eal, Mike says we need to lay down or the people who are coming to get him will shoot us. I highly suggest we do so" Roh said as he shimmied down onto his back.

Soon enough though, Mike was on top of Skyler, pinning the boy, before brutally stabbing him in the neck. Roh spat in disgust at the sight, this Human really was a heartless killer. Roh watched as Larkin, who was apparently Skyler's father, beat Mike senseless, blooding the mans nose.

"Larkin, the Mike beater, was Skyler's father" Roh whispered to Eal. Roh really, really hated this day.