A Bit Chilly (Arby, Goody & Fac Closed RP)

[Arbiter124]

The human colony of Pompeii is so isolated from contact that it's hardly, if ever thought of in the UNSC. A barren tundra littered with dead forests and mountain ranges, it's human residents are spread wide and thin. It was so lightly populated that it avoided Covenant attention for quite some time. However after tracking a small UNSC fleet to the planet, the Covenant have set their sights on glassing the world.

The UNSC's response to this is to attempt to fight the Covenant off in space, while providing to the residents of Pompeii on the ground. To do this, they've sent down a small number of troops to make patrols to the towns, giving them resources and rations. The civilians have been ordered not to travel or leave their town at all, and Militia are to fire upon any unauthorized personnel that try to enter their towns.

One UNSC patrol has been assaulted by a Covenant warband and were easily taken down. A straggling couple of fireteams managed to escape the slaughter and contact the fleet in orbit, requesting immediate extraction. However, in an unfortunate turn of events a major snowstorm has been sighted heading towards their location. The UNSC have ordered these couple fireteams to seek refuge in the mountains for the night and wait out the snowstorm as well as the Covenant. A beacon will be set to their HUDs when it is safe to set up a rendezvous point.

Extra precaution has been taken to ensure the safety of these surviving marines. The UNSC have ordered a fireteam of ODST's to be dropped down to the planet to meet up with the soldiers and provide security, as well as an escort to the extraction point once the time is right.

-----

PFC Hunter Knight

ODSTs

Flex

"Do you even lift? What does that mean?"

"Dude, don't tell me you've never heard that." Hunter looked at Jason dumbfounded, "It's an age old saying. Shit's been around for hundreds of years."

Jason just shrugged and looked over Hunter's shoulder, clearly embarrassed he wasn't up to date on the term.

"Dude, crawl out from that rock." Clayton scoffed, punching Jason's shoulder playfully. Clay walked passed the other to ODST's and to his pod. He clicked open his rifle and began doing an inspection, like he always does before he drops. Jason made some sort of noise along the lines of 'Uh Huh' and hopped up the stairs and over to his pod, doing the same with his ballistic armor. Hunter stared at him with a stupid smile on his face, confused as to what was happening.

"Heeeey, guys. What, uh, what're you doing?" He said in an uncomfortable laugh. He frantically looked back and forth to the other ODSTs in the room, and saw that none of them were dressed in their armor or prepping for a drop. It hit him that both of his teammates were fully dressed, and he was in a T shirt and sweatpants.

"Collin said we're dropping in five." Clay responded without looking up, instead strapping his supplies inside his drop pod. Hunter looked at Jason with a wild look hoping it wasn't true. Jason responded with a sarcastic shrug and a closed smile.

"Maybe if you didn't live under a rock you'd be aware."

Knight leaped up and started a full sprint to the armory.

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
Feelin' Nippy

"Well w-we're all alive." Eden nodded to himself, yet his voice wavered with the wind blowing around them. Their Corporal Cain continued squinting ahead, towards the endless white in front of them without response. PFC. Solomon pulled his makeshift scarf over his cheeks. They were once a light brown, showing his heritage, but now they matched the rosy red of the rest of them.

"Not all of us." Solomon muttered, detached. Samson looked down in agreement, staring at his boots trudging through the snow. The bottom of his view was covered by his own simple scarf, while his vision was the gold of his goggles.

"We've, uh, we're..." Sam started, but his lips were too cracked and his throat too cold.

"Night's coming up on us soon." Cain said, strangely confident in the way he spoke.

"We've got hours, Cov's are s-still on our ass." Solomon responded.

"I'm talking f-for the future, Sol'. We're not setting up camp until safety is assured." Cain continued.

"And when is that?" A voice called out from behind, "When the fuckin' jumpers get here?" Samson wrenched his neck around to look at the unknown marine. He was part of the second fire-team that made it out. Schwarz's vision was blocked by snow, but the silhouette of the other marine seemed to have a hint of anger in his walk.

"Can it, McCourt." Another unknown said.

"What're they gonna do? Help us die slower?" McCourt persisted.

"They're gonna help-" A female voice responded.

"They can help my ass." McCourt finished with a dry cough. Silence followed as the Marines continued forward. They had a long walk ahead of them.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

CRASH!

Hunter was the first to land.

Snow exploded in his landing spot, and it slowly floated back down to the ground. Hunter's pod dug deep into the snow, so much that his window was a third submerged in it. The ODST looked up and clicked the emergency latch, trying to get the door to launch open. Steam hissed as the door pushed against the snow, and it managed to detach from the pod. However, it didn't free hunter from the pod, rather just opening from the top and leaning against the white pile in front of it. It only left a small opening for Knight to crawl through.

"I really don't know who thought these things would be practical..." Hunter sighed. He detached his assault rifle from the shelf next to him and awkwardly tossed it through the opening. It slumped into the incision and fell into the snow, disappearing into the sea of white.

"God fucking dammit." Hunter wailed, holding his head up to the roof and closing his eyes.

"Hunter, you with us?" Collin's voice boomed in his helmet. The private grunted as his response as he tried to wrap his backpack around him while still in the tight space of his pod. Collin kept repeating his statement waiting for confirmation. Hunter managed to finally sling his bag of resources around his back before making a little hop, grapping onto the top of the door. He huffed, pulling himself up and using his legs to scale the glass door. He was halfway out when gravity decided to assist him. He teetered on his waist back and forth for a couple seconds before plummeting into the snow headfirst.

"Shit!"

"Ah, there he is." Jason's voice echoed in response to Hunter.

The PFC's helmet was the only thing that stopped his face from feeling the full wrath of the cold. He just saw dark white as he pulled his face out of the snow. The ODST grunted and began rummaging for his weapon.

"Where's this damn thing..." He murmured to himself as he searched for his rifle in the ocean of snow. Finally gripping something metallic, he pulled it from the depths to find his weapon. The marine felt a wave of relief go across him as he slung it around him. He checked the clip, saw that it was still planted inside, and then looked off to the right.

"Holy..."

The ODST suddenly felt so small. He couldn't see far due to the minor beginnings to the storm, but he could still make out an endless desert of white that he was standing in. Snow fell down to add to the already knee high tundra in front of him. He was impressed and terrified at the same time.

"Hunt', I see your pod I think." Collin spoke into the radio, "Alright, I'm lighting a flare, you three meet up on me."

Hunter saw the small silhouette of a cylinder, and then a red ball of flame shot up from it, into the foggy gray sky.

Knight began a slow trudge that way.

[BasedGoody]

Pvt Samson Shwarz
New Players

"They've dropped." Cain shivered. It had been another five minutes. Maybe ten, possibly up to twenty. Sam was losing count by now, his mind was busy trying to scoop up what warmth was left.

The heat was pulled out of his legs and arms and stored in his chest. He could barely feel his toes anymore, and his fingers would surely crack off it they were pulled out from around his Battle Rifle grip. It's as if the times he played out in the fluffy snow as a kid were amplified by fifty, and spun around on it's head.

"W-who?" Eden asked. His arms were tightly folded across his chest while his DMR bounced on his back sling. Sam and Eden were both nineteen, practically kids. Solomon was one year older, and Cain two more than that. Although the Corporal was a mere thousand days older than the others, he had to be the adult of the group. Whether it be dealing with their behavior or keeping them safe, Cain has managed to do that. This situation however seemed to push their limits.

Slowly Schwarz's mine drifted back to the cold. How could it not? It felt as if icicles were forming off of his eyelashes and his runny nose wet the whole scarf. Yet removing it would turn his entire mouth into an immovable iceberg.

"The ODSTs. They're clo-close." Cain continued. His voice was wearing down, which possibly scared Sam most of all. If the Covenant didn't catch up and slaughter them, the cold would do it first.

"Do they have hand warmers...?" Samson cracked.

A huff of air came out of Eden's mouth which Sam could only assume was a laugh.

"Oh jeez, I-I'm real cold guys..." A name called out from behind them. It wasn't McCourt, nor the male or female voice from before. In fact, this voice was new and sounded even younger than Sam. None of them were ready for this.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight
ODSTs

"Jeez, it's kinda' cold out. I'll be honest." Hunter mumbled as they trudged through the dunes. He walked alongside Clay, with Jason and Collin stationed up front. He had been smart enough to bring a scarf. Sure, Clay may have made fun of him for it, but at least he could wrap it around his neck. He thought it made his outfit look cool too.

"Really? I couldn't tell man, you've got a real damn good eye." Clayton retorted, not even pointing his helmet Knight's way. The ODST was taken aback a bit by the short fuse.

"Someone's a bit grumpy..." Hunter murmured under his breath. Clayton turned to him, faked a lunge which Hunter almost fell over from, and looked up to the sky laughing. This was halted by Collin, who slammed his right palm against Clay's chestplate. The corporal stopped in his tracks, and Jason raised his rifle. When Hunter saw the group of figures moving in their general direction, he did the same. Clay shortly followed, and Collin moved up front, raising his assault rifle.

"Identify yourselves."

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
Friends

"Identify yourselves." The dark outline spoke.

"Wow, quite the welcome party." Samson chattered with tapping teeth. Cain held up a lone hand. Everyone stood in silence, with Rifles raised on both sides. Schwarz wasn't sure how his weapon was pointed at the head of one of the humans, it sort of happened automatically. The others followed but it was cut short by the Marine Corporal.

"This is Corporal Cain Murphy, and the two surviving fire teams I presume you're here to help." Cain said, solid and with no slip-ups. Slowly the Marine's weapons fell back to an ungaurded position as they realized that they were among allies. Whether they were to be friends was to be determined.

"Well thank God." Eden slipped out, Sam could feel the smirk slide across his face.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

"Oh, sweet." Hunter said, losing his tension and lowering his weapon. The others followed, slower. Collin stood there surveying the group of people, saying nothing. What he must have felt as a heated moment Hunter just thought was awkward. The ODST walked by his corporal and started to awkwardly trudge towards them.

As Hunter got near them, he saw a big man leading the group. He slung his weapon around his shoulder and theatrically spread his arms, speeding up his movement. He got near the man and hugged him tightly, grabbing the back of the marines helmet.

"You're safe now, brother." Hunter said as he laid his head on his shoulder. He held the position for a couple seconds before pulling back and patting the dudes chestplate.

"I'm just messing with you, bro." He laughed. His moment of happiness was cut short when he looked at the marines face. The marine's face was almost crystallized with frost. His eyebrows were white, his lips were almost completely pale. The ODST looked over his shoulder to see the same case with the rest of the stranded marines.

"Wow, damn."

Collin walked in front of him, surveying the group. He puffed out his chest and stood tall among his peers, Clay and Jason doing the same. Hunter didn't even bother trying to look like the tough guy, as his joke already messed that up for him. Instead he just gripped his weapon and started looking around casually.

"Marines, we're fireteam Angel Two Two of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. We've brought supplies for the night and rations for you all. We just need to find a suitable camp and we might just make it through this." Collin looked off to the left, and pointed to a large grouping of mountains some ways away, "We may be able to find a cave in those mountains over there."

He lowered his hand, and looked towards the soldiers.

"Where's the Covenant?"

[BasedGoody]

Samson Schwarz
Friends Part Two

Cain remained unmoved as the ODST wrapped his arms around him. Sam scratched the back of his neck, joints aching as they moved. Samson sort of looked down and sighed, disappointed. The silence was deafening as the ODSTs examined the Marines and their defeated looks. The same shock trooper muttered something, but it went unheard. Schwarz's ears were the coldest of his body, even under the helmet. They might have been bleeding out the drums and he wouldn't have known.

"Marines, we're fireteam Angel Two Two of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. We've brought supplies for the night and rations for you all. We just need to find a suitable camp and we might just make it through this." Sam pursed his lips and looked towards Eden, who rolled his eyes. Our heroes. "We may be able to find a cave in those mountains over there."

More silence awaited the statement, only the wind cracking their bones.

"Where's the Covenant?"

Continued silence. Surely Sol' would have raised an eyebrow at this point.

Slowly Schwarz raised his arm, pointing behind them. However one wouldn't know by looking, as the only thing someone could see for miles was an endless sea of snow.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

"Okay, okay, I get it. Y'all the strong silent types." Hunter nodded to himself, and turned to the mountain rage. He pointed dramatically and looked back to the marines and his ODST peers. He clenched his stomach in an attempt to make his voice sound deep and heroic.

"That way-" Pink shards exploded all over his chestplate and he fell flat onto his back, disappearing into the snow.

The high pitched screams of grunts were in the distance, and almost instantly an inferno of bullets and lasers took up the available space in the air. Clay leaped over Hunter's body and began firing off rounds of his battle rifle, screaming defiantly. Hunter heard something along the lines of 'Run!' from one of the marines. A gloved hand picked up Hunter by the armpit and shook him. He rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself out of the snow. He twirled in a one eighty and aimed at the direction the rest of the humans were shooting it. Pink and green were flying from the fog, but the ODST saw no alien.

"Fuck it." He murmured, firing controlled bursts into the area. He began walking slowly towards the group, who were moving as a small herd to the mountain range.

"Move slow, stay together. If anyone's wounded, get in the middle of the group. We slowly back off towards the mountains, hopefully if we don't run we can scare these Covies off." Collin screamed out over the sounds of war. The only thing that really lit up the fog were the muzzle flashes of the human's weapons. Hunter felt like he was in a herd of elephants. He saw one girl running towards the group, slowly.

"Yo, let's go!" He screamed. She reached Hunter and he grabbed her by the waist, lightly pushing her into the center of the herd and away from the plasma bursts and needler rounds. He turned back to the general area of the Covenant soldiers and resumed his bursts of fire, backing up slowly.

She was pretty.

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
Enemies

The ODST was sent flying back by a team of needles. It was closely followed by streams of plasma, and the trill screeches of Covenant soldiers. Sam's mouth hung open, before his clench on the rifle tightened and he spun around. One, two, and three bursts were fired out into the snow, but he lost track of them the moment they left his rifle.

"Oh lord please not now. I'll deal with all the snow just please-" He whispered before the kickback of his BR jolted him back to reality. The others were slowly retreating, so Sam ran up to catch them. The Private turned to cover their rear, along with the same shock trooper as before. Together they sprayed down into the white yonder, but something caught his eye. The girl from before was lagging behind.

Sam reached out to grab her hand, but was cut off by the ODST pushing her to the group.

A cough came out of his mouth before he kept firing. The heat of the barrel warmed his finger tips and reanimated them, yet they still could not find the bodies of the Covenant. But if he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him. That was good enough to keep Sam confident as he walked backwards, covering the rag-tag team.

"Yo Cain!" He yelled out, voice cracking on the a, "What's the plan?!"

"What're you doing right now?!' He called back.

"Sh-Shooting?" The Private responded.

"Keep doing that!" The Corporal shouted to him. Keep shooting. Hm. I'm can do that.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

I'll do these titles again

Short. Controlled. Bursts. The words were getting stale in Hunter's head as he kept on repeating them. Him and one of the marines covered the rear as the team moved back, towards the mountains. They all knew the truth though. With no cover and no close destination, someone was going to get shot in the leg, fall down, and after that happens the best case scenario is getting shot in the face. Better than dying in the snow alone.

"Yo, we have a zero percent chance of getting to those mountains." The shock trooper yelled out, "We need to find something. Like, uh, now."

He would have continued, but his whole body tensed as the outlines of Covenant soldiers became visible in the fog. He fired towards them, but they were still too far away for accurate shots.

Well, they were too far away.

Hunter couldn't even register what had happened before a grey bird with feathers painted red charged him. It looked like the creature he had seen in his first mission as an ODST, but he really had no idea. He certainly didn't care about that when the thing leaped. It was about fifteen feet away when it sprung for the ODST, but it closed the distance in seconds.

Hunter gasped and leaped to the right. The thing landed on all fours and pounced towards him again, toothed beak spread white. He swung wildly with the butt of his gun and landed one lucky blow on the creature's left eye. It fell down into the snow. Hunter went to shoot it, but it leaped back up, fast. The bird swung one clawed hand upwards. Hunter sidestepped, but his sling was caught and torn in half. He stumbled backwards in the knee deep snow, but regained balance. He aimed his weapon and fired seven shots, all of which missed but sent the creature back into the fog.

Hunter sighed in relief, but then realized how far he was from the group. They hadn't stopped their movement, and were some thirty feet from him at this point. Hunter cursed to himself and scrambled in that direction.

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
More Enemies

Samson yelped as he witnessed the exchange between human and bird-like creature going on twenty-five feet from him. He paused, knowing if he fired it most certainly wouldn't hit the right target. The group was still moving, and going farther away from the lone ODST. Said trooper forced off the beast, who ran off into the cover of the snowflakes. Sam's mind was racing, the soldier would surely die without help. But if he helped, then they might both die. Scratch that, they WILL both die.

No need helping the dead, right? Samson thought, but he was already sprinting to the shock trooper. A good religious boy like him couldn't just up and let a fellow human die. Even if he got a mouthful of plasma at that exact moment, he would've gone doing the right thing. That had to count for something. Plus, it beats five more minutes freezing his leg hair off. Slowly the Covenant reached his field of view, and he sprayed out with his Battle Rifle. Bursts of three splashed up snow as the Marine slid next to the other.

"Sup man? You down to run?" He asked, spinning his head to the left, looking him in the opaque helmet. More plasma rained down on them, and the silhouettes grew closer.

"I'm down to run. Let's do it." He reiterated, turning back to the aliens.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

"Let's do it." A marine had popped up right next to Hunter. He jumped a little when he heard him, but was relieved to see someone actually gave a shit. God knows Clay wasn't coming to save the damsel in distress.

"Hell yeah, get the blood pumpin - FUCK." Hunter screeched as he leaped in the air. A blue bolt of plasma cut right through his assault rifle, melting the weapon in half in his hands. The heat was incredibly painful but weirdly rejuvenating in the blizzard. He tossed the two burning pieces of metal into the snow, where they sizzled and steamed. He considered taking out his magnum, but he didn't have the time.

"Let's go, man!" He grunted, tapping the marine on the shoulder. The shock trooper began wading through the snow as best he could, which wasn't nearly fast enough. He could hear the voices of advancing Covenant at this point. They didn't have a chance. Hunter was using his hands to chuck little amounts of snow out of his path now, anything to increase his speed even by a couple inches.

It wasn't until he looked up that he realized he had no idea what happened to the other soldiers.

The herd was gone. They weren't in front of him. He slowed his speed, and looked at the soldier. His face was hidden in the tinted ODST visor, but it wouldn't have taken a genius to understand the wide eyed expression on the Hunter's face. For once in Hunter's life, he felt truly scared. It was like being lost at see, with sharks right at your heels the whole time.

"Hunter!"

The ODST turned to his left, to see one of his ODST teammates waving toward him. He looked even more submerged in the snow than before. Regardless, Hunter waved toward the marine he was with and darted in that direction. He managed to get there unscathed, and he saw Jason waiting for him, firing his DMR towards the Covenant infantry. The rest of the team were down a slightly steep hill, and it looked like they were looking over a Cliffside. Hunter crouched down and slid through the snow, followed closely by Jason and he hoped the other marine. When he got there, he saw Clay with his backpack open, using his rifle to beat a stake into the ground. Collin had a series of ropes slung around his shoulder. Over the Cliffside, Hunter could make out what looked like an endless valley

"Oh, shit."

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
Escape

Sam felt the tap on his soldier and turned to the ODST. The Marine nodded quickly and stoop up, still firing. At the end of his clip, Schwarz slung his rifle and spun to run. He only got a few feet before tripping over himself and landing face first in the snow. The flakes crunched under him and froze his neck and head.

"Oh God," Sam groaned pulling himself to his feet. The ODST's outline was barely visible, a solid fifteen to twenty feet away. The Private began at a fast crawl that turned into a sprint as more plasma lazily slopped around him. The snow rose up to his kneecaps, and slowly higher as he pushed towards the troopers.

Suddenly they disappeared. The color remaining in Sam's face drained. Was it a mirage? Are there mirages in the Tundra? I guess it is technically a desert. He shook his head and used his last resolve of strength to force his legs the remaining feet to reveal the team had descended a small hill and appeared to be preparing to rappel down a... is that a cliff? Oh, shit.

Another small slip sent Sam falling down the hill and crashing past the two ODSTs. The snow built up in his boots and sludged in his gloves as he halted himself before the inevitable fall over the large drop.

An empty yell tried to find it's way out, but nothing came. Ropes were at his feet, and every marine turned to him. Eden held up a sole hand, waving it. A huge sigh finally got it's way out from Samson's lips.

"You know, I don't really think I like heights."

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

A badass

Jk

"Then don't be an ODST, bruh." Hunter said, as he slid over to Clay's side and grabbed one of the stakes. He raised it high into the air and shoved it down into the snow. He pushed the white fluff out of the way so he could tie a rope around it. Looking behind him he could see the vertical, fifty or so foot drop. He didn't like it either. He was trained to sit in a safe pod and land with what was a fifty or so percent chance of survival. This, though, this was worse. Rappelling down without any harness or safety pod, not to mention the hazardous terrain and weather.

"Three of us need to hold off these bitches long enough for the rest to get down. We only have three ropes, so we'll descend in groups of three. Who's got balls?" Collin called out to the group.

Hunter rolled onto his back after tying the rope tightly to the stake. He grabbed the rope and tossed it over the side. After giving a few good test pulls on the stake he decided it was safe enough.

"Now that that's done... Uh, what? Hold off? Eh, I'm a hero, I got this." Knight spoke in false confidence, shaking terribly as he rose to his feet. He looked to the girl, and waved toward the rope.

"Ladies first?"

She showed no signs that she thought that was funny whatsoever, but walked by Hunter. He stood there awkwardly, partly defeated. Clay passed by him and shoved his rifle into Knight's chest.

"You may need this." He spoke through coughs, walking over to his rope. Hunter nodded to himself and looked to the hill. Jason was trotting down now.

"Covies coming."

The young ODST looked towards the group and outstretched his arms desperately.

"Who's with me?"

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
Friends, again

"You got me, I guess." Samson said. His limbs were now completely numb, so it couldn't get any worse. Plus, he was not in any sort of hurry to go suicide-jumping off of this cliff. A breath of life was pushed into his throat when seeing the shock trooper get shot down, though. Now as long as he doesn't get shot down in real life. He smiled. Don't smile. That was a stupid joke. What if someone asks why you're smiling? Then you'll look like an idiot.

"Why you smilin', Sam?" Sol' walked over to him, eyeing the hillside, while the rest were prepping or arming up.

"Uh, nothin, just a joke I thought of-"

"What was it?" He began, before he was cut off by a burst of plasma, "Cov's are here!" The PFC yelled, switching topics on a dime. Sam sighed with relief at the sound of needles raking into the snow, before dropping his magazine. His frozen fingers plugged a new one into the feed and he cocked it, before aiming towards the snowbank. The trigger snapped out of it's frozen state and the specific putt of bullets on snow was audible among the screeching of Covenant and their weapons, along with the literal white noise of the tundra.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

"Go!" Collin barked towards Clay, the girl, and another Marine, who proceeded to practically base jump off the cliff when the Covenant came into their sight. Hunter ran up to the front of the group and screamed as vicious as a teenager could, firing Clay's assault rifle toward the hillside. He saw more of the birds back up, but their moment of fear was cut short when a titan of a creature walked into view. Hunter could only see the outline of the being, but it was a true monster. Twice as big as the monsters that killed his old corporal a year ago.

"Is that a..."

"Hunter!"

"What?" The ODST turned around to the group only to be thrown to the left by an inferno of green erupting next to him. He sailed through the air, and landed on the snow with momentum that kept him sliding. He desperately clutched onto piles of snow to keep him from sliding, but to no avail.

The ODST's legs dangled in the air. He tried to save himself, but gravity was once again coming for him. He slid off the Cliffside, and right when doom seemed to be all but certain, he flailed out one last time.

His hand gripped onto one of the stakes.

Now, Hunter was dangling over fifty feet of air and pulling the stake out of the ground. He was going to be the cause of two deaths, one being his own.

"Yo! Help!"

[BasedGoody]

Pvt Samson Schwarz
Which way to surviving?

Samson was thrown into the snow by the explosion. In seconds he was covered in the whiteness, not a part of him sticking out. His entire world was rocked as he tried to flail out of the mountain of flakes. Finally his golden goggles found the light and he pulled himself out, reaching for a weapon. His hands dug until his Battle Rifle was emerged, still processing the situation.

"Hu-Hunter?" He confusingly asked.

His fears remained true as the huge beast stared down the entire team of human soldiers. It was humongous. Sam had never even seen one before, hell he had never seen any of them before other than the pictures. But this, this thing was insane. It's armor was decorated a dark blue while it's skin literally crawled. It looked as if a hundred worms had came together to form one being.

"By God..." He mumbled before spinning around. Many marines were just as disoriented as he was.

"COVERING FIRE! NOW!" Cain's voice was heard yelling out. Sam blinked a few times before turning back around, standing up to a knee and leveling his weapon. He fired a team of rounds which either zoomed off into nothingness or bounced off of the armor. The same appeared to be happening with the others bullets.

Schwarz barely heard the call for help from his shock trooper friend, who appeared to be dangling off of the cliffside. Third times the charm, I guess. The Private shoved himself out off the snow and towards his ally when another explosive shot rattled the area. Snow flew down into the valley bellow and Sam was knocked onto his back. He felt heat prick away at his covered face and a startled scream from in front of him.

When his eyes opened, he saw Eden running to grab the ODST. Well, starting to grab him before the ridgeline began to droop. It sunk, slowly at first. Then it became noticeable.

Oh no.

[Faclan]

Cad - Ruuthian Major
Approaching the Human Position
Your exuberance nearly cost us!

"Next time!" Cad shouted over the roar of the wind and the steady patter of snow, not the mention the sound of firing. "Don't go leaping in eager for a bit of frozen Human unless the order is given! We had to stop firing to avoid hitting you, next time we'l just keep firing and you can burn with them!" The T'vaoan minor just growled and hissed before wrapping up her beak and returning to the firing line.

Cad had to agree with her annoyances however about how this mission had gone so far. These Humans were proving very elusive and lucky as one Unggoy had been killed by their blind fire and seemingly no Humans. And just for Cads luck the first mission he was on after being cleared, finally, of his medical leave was another frozen hell. An Human infested frozen snowy hard to move in hell. AND it was nighttime and so even colder. Hopefully these Humans would soon be dead and they could go back to base and heat up. They needed to stop being so hard to kill.

The Unggoy and T'vaoan file, all minors, that he was commanding had gotten lucky that one of the prowling Lekgolo were around and more than happy to lead the charge toward the Humans. The Ruuthian wrapped up in warm clothes over his armor and goggles over his face as he held his Needler ready as the big armored mound moved into position. Cad's shield deactivated as he mmmmed and held up his hand to stop the Unggoy and T'vaoan firing for a moment before called out again. Just cheeps and squawks to the Humans as the Lekgolo rumbled and kept moving toward the incline.

"We don't know if the shelf they are on will hold. You three," he pointed at the Unggoy. "Move behind the Lekgolo but far enough that you think you could retreat if you hear the crack. And you four go around the other side to try and shoot them in the side." Confirmation calls were heard as Cad activated his dull red shield and moved up toward the drop in the middle of the two files pincer attacks. The plasma starting to fly again because of the Human gunfire. But Cad was confident that his soldiers wouldn't waste all their batteries before they had real shots. "Throw your grenades if you have a positive visual spot! Send them down the cliff in a hail of rocks and blood!"

(Hopefully fine and works dandy.)

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

Hunter planted his boots on what ground was left behind and pushed himself up to help the marine rescue him. He used his other hand to claw his way back to safety. One he was there, he looked up the hill to see the advancing juggernaut and the grunts that flanked him. The ODST ripped his pistol from his holster and aimed it at the weaker targets. He fired three rapid shots, and managed to hit on in the thigh. It crumpled onto one knee, and another Grunt jumped in front of his wounded comrade, screaming and firing his plasma pistol towards Knight.

"Shit!" The shock trooper leaped to the left, farther towards the center of the cliff. He landed in the snow softly on his side but wasted no time scrambling back on two feet, firing his pistol over and over until he heard the unfortunate *click!*. He cursed, clicking the lever that caused the magazine to slide out of the clip. He desperately searched his pockets with one hand for another magazine in the crossfire, until he heard one of the marines.

"Guys! Our turn!" The ODST took no more time searching for a clip, instead turning right around and charging for his rope. Green and pink flew by him as he holstered his weapon and charged for the edge. He slid through the snow and slid right off of the edge, rope firmly in his hand. Hunter was tossed through the air, but held out his feet as the rope brought him back to the rock wall.

"Oof!" He hit the wall harder than anticipated, but quickly began making his descent as he took leaps down the wall.

Knight couldn't even look up to see if the other two were coming down with him. He prayed that they were alive, and that him and them would be safe when this cliff collapsed.

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
Heights

"Guys! Our turn!" A voice yelled through the splashing of plasma. Sam pushed himself out of the snow to see three ODSTs preparing to drop. In front of him, Eden and Cain provided covering fire. Taking their lead, Samson grabbed his rifle and opened up on the silhouettes of Covenant. The Hunter's hulking figure was terrifying, but that fear was gone from Schwarz's mind. Instead, plugged in was the valley below him. So far down, he would disintegrate before hitting the bottom.

"M-mag! Gotta mag?!" Eden yelled out. Sam's frozen fingers searched for it between pockets on his vest, and suddenly he wished he organized them properly. Finally he felt the hard shell of a Battle Rifle mag. The Private tossed it too his team-mate, who caught it gladly.

"Yo I have a DMR! I can't-" He started, before grunting and tossing his weapon to the side and whisking out his sidearm. The magnum rounds added a new sound to the frenzy of gunfire and flurry of snow.

"My bad!" Sam said, biting his own lip after. That was stupid. I'm stupid.He thought. His actions were on rails now, fire towards the looks of blue bolts of alien fire. However the storm was billowing, and it didn't seem to be letting up. God, this isn't even the worst of it. Actually, God, wanna help me out right now? Anything?

Suddenly a scream impaled the air, and Sam turned to Cain. A needle sprouted out of his elbow, where the biceps met the forearm armor. In following, curses rang out. Both from his Corporal and Eden, who ran to his aide.

D-did you do that? Sam asked out, rhetorically, before leaping towards his injured leader.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

Hunter was getting into the groove of things now. Leap off, swing back, stick the landing. Rinse and repeat. He focused on these movements and these movements only. Worrying on the cliff falling or the situation above him would only make him mess something up. Jason and Collin were on his left side, a little bit above him. Clayton  waited at the bottom with the rest of them, and the marines were still up top. So far, no one seemed dead.

A scream from above.

"Fuck!" Jason summed up Hunter's thoughts when he screamed out. Collin and Hunter both looked his way to see the ODST looking straight down, then at his comrades.

He plummeted fast.

"Jason!" Hunter practically squealed the words in disbelief. His whole world slowed as he watched his friend hit the treetops and disappear into an ocean of white and green. He heard several grunts as Jason bounced between branches and snow. Collin's descent doubled in speed, and Hunter tried his best to follow him commander. They went through the treetops and slid the rest of the way down the slope. The pair landed on a snowbank leaning against the wall and jogged down, looking for the other soldiers. Hunter's magnum was back out, loaded and raised.

"Over here!"

Knight turned to his right to see a marine standing amongst the trees, waving his rifle in the air. He followed his corporal to the group, who were standing around Clay and Jason. The former was kneeling in front of the latter, who was propped up on a pile of snow, his right leg twisted in a horrendous style that made Hunter close his eyes in disgust. He wanted to turn away fully, but knew that someone would see him do it.

"You good, Jay?" The private asked, eyes still closed under his tinted visor. Jason was breathing heavily through his no doubt frozen throat. His ballistic helmet was thrown off to the side and his face was beaten and bruised.

"I'm alive, so there's that."

Collin climbed the snowbank back to the Cliffside wall, and looked up.

"Where are the others?"

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
The Part Where Everyone Dies

Thud. Samson had already winced when he heard the screams trailing down the cliff-side, but the thump confirmed that something else was going terribly wrong. Meanwhile, his weapon was still trained on the outlines up above while Eden consoled the injured Corporal. Cain bit his lip so hard that blood spurted out in place of his held-in screams.

"Hold in there chief, we're g-gonna g-get you out." Sam desperately reassured, not completely positive if he meant it.

"Yo Schwarz, we got f-free ropes." Eden looked up, with wide and scared eyes. Sam nodded quickly and emptied his mag into the snowflakes before slinging it and turning to their ticket to safety. However, the Private paused when he looked over the edge. A shiver ran down his spine. Not a cold-shiver, those stopped when his back went numb. This shiver was due to the seemingly endless drop before him.

"We gotta g-go, now!" The other Private yelled among the symphony of gunfire, "Sam! Now!"

Schwarz clenched his jaw before grab a rope and tossing it over to Eden, who grasped it and went to work on Cain. For himself he took a death-sling, wrapping it around and clipping it. It didn't seem nearly strong enough. Not even close. Nevertheless, this was his only time to escape. Alright. Now I'm ready for your help. Those last times were just jokes. Oh my gosh, I need this right now. Give me some strength here.

"Ready!" Sam yelped, voice cracking on the 'e'.

"Same. C-Cain, you g-good to go?" Eden asked. The Corporal grunted, and with help from both peons was set up on the edge.

"You know, huh, I'm not a fan of heights, Ed." Sam whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Well now's not the time for second thoughts, Sammy." Cain gurgled out.

"Yeah, just pretend it's a roller-coaster." Eden said before launching himself over the edge, assisting Cpl. Murphy.

I'm not a fan of roller-coasters either, now that I think about it. Sam said before tapping his forehead, chest, and each shoulder once. Let's go.

[Faclan]

Cad - Ruuthian Major
Approaching the Human Position
Boom?

"They are jumping off!" One of the Unggoy squeaked out when the Covenant managed to get a better view of what was happening besides being snow blinded in addition to the darkness. Jumping off made no sense to Cad though as Humans may be heathens and foolish they would rather die fighting while shouting obscenities than kill themselves. There must be something more to it than that...So he skittered forward and peaked over the cliff to see what was happening. Shield in front of his face of course. And there it was, rope, they were trying to run again! Hissing at this new development he ducked back and holstered his pistol as he pulled out one of his grenades.

"They are fleeing on ropes! Fire Lekgolo and the rest of you throw one grenade per file when you can see the anchors! Destroy and make them plummet!" There was the chance that the Humans were already down, though Cad doubted all of them could get down in the little time they had. And even if they had none of his lance was going to try and clamber down the ropes and be a free target for the Humans down there. If they had made it down the big cliff then they wouldn't be able to see them so no use shooting them either...Probably just fall back to base after reporting the Humans location unless they found another quick way down.

The plasma fire would stop momentarily before the three glowing blue, and one green from the Lekgolo, balls would sail through the air and land hopefully right beside the rope anchors. Hopefully exploding them and perhaps even making some of the cliff give way to shower deadly rocks down on the Human's heads.

[BasedGoody]

Pvt Samson Schwarz
Worst Fears

You better be here for me. I need you. Please, I'm begging you. If I die like this - Samson's own thoughts were interrupted by and explosion. His pale face sank as his wide eyes turned upwards. His rope swayed above him and he shot a frightened look towards Eden, who was busy assisting Cain down the cliff-side.

"Should we b-be worried ab-bout that?" Sam called over.

"You worry too much. W-what's the w-worse that could happen?" His friend called back. As if on cue, a pebble fell between them. After that, a fair size rock came down with it. Schwarz's glance returned upwards in time to see a volley of unearthed boulders speeding their way to the bottom of the valley.

"Look out!" He yelled as he swung himself left, dodging a rock just about the perfect size to reduced him to a puddle. A startled yelp from his comrade showed that they both mutually noticed the impending doom. Samson's leaps grew larger and more erratic as he dipped and dove away from the chunks raining down.

Please? He asked out, rhetorically. The next boulder coming down flew close enough to knock a chip off of his shoulder padding. It also came with a wince of pain from the Private.

Are you even listening to me? Sam interrogated. The agonizing wails from Cain echoed to him while Eden tried to calm him down, and simultaneously dodging rocks. Were they even close to the bottom? They had dropped what seemed like hundreds of thousands of feet. How much more did they have to go?

PLEASE. He said it almost like a demand, but he did not have time to continue before his back smacked into the fluffy snow. Oh thank you. Thank you so much. I'm sorry for yelling, it won't ever happen again- Samson opened his eyes to see one final rock coming for his head. He twitched before rolling to the right, hearing it splash into the ground, right about where his eyes were.

Understood. We're even.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

"This way!" Clay was practically pushing Hunter along. Collin sent them both back to where the ropes landed once the rocks started to fall off the cliff. Hunter kept his pistol held high in the air, aiming upwards in case any of the Covenant were following them down the ropes.

The pair reached the landing zone to see three marines on the snowbank, lying on their backs. One had a needle imbedded through his arm, right in the joint it looked like. He was grunting and whimpering, which Hunter completely understood. He probably wouldn't like having a bigass pink shard through him, either.

"Hey, you're alive! We're alive!" Knight called out, running to the wounded marine. He grabbed the soldier by his armpit and with the help of one of the soldier's teammates, lifted him up. The ODST holstered his sidearm and placed his other hand on the marine's chestplate in an attempt to keep him held up. He began a slow trot back to the group. The storm had gotten worse, but it still hadn't reached its full potential. The group still had a chance to find a good shelter before the real blizzard struck.

A horrific shriek came from above them.

Hunter jumped, whirled his head around, to see several sillouhettes on the Cliffside. The skirmishers didn't leap down the ropes, or shoot their weapons. They simply stared down at the five soldiers, like vultures. Just waiting for the wounded to become the dead, and the healthy to become the sick.

Holy shit.

It all made so much sense. That attack wasn't an attempt to kill. They were just harming us and leading us to a position that wasn't in our advantage. They didn't have to kill the marines. All they had to do was put them in a position where the planet did it for them. They were back the survivors into a corner.

"Let's get back to the group, dogs."

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
Conquering Fears, More or Less

The cold was back. It returned into his system, and went back to controlling his bones and blood. Temporarily it was stifled by the danger, but now the warmth of action disappeared. Sam was back to walking. You know, this is a good punishment. Schwarz sighed, This is the worst. This right here. He had snow in his boots that tickled his toes, and snow in his gloves that sludged in his fingertips.

"Walking, huh?" Samson whispered. It wasn't meant for ears, but they were picked up anyways by the marine next to him.

"Yeah. It b-blows." The unnamed soldier responded. Sam blinked before turning his head to him. He was slightly shorter than him, and his bare face was complimented by icicles running down the tip of his nose.

"Mm. W-what's your name?' Schwarz asked, making conversation more than anything.

"T-Todd. You?" The marine responded.

"Samson." He replied.

"Like, uh, the B-Bible guy?" Todd questioned.

Sam raised his hands to his head and shook them, "The one and only."

"C-cool." Todd nodded shakily, before his gaze returned to the snow.

"Yeah. R-reminds me that I g-got someone lookin' out for me." Schwarz finished, before returning to the silence. Watching out for me. Huh.

[Arbiter124]

Hunter Knight

ODSTs

"You're a tough son of a bitch, bro." Knight grunted as he helped tow the wounded soldier back to the main group. The marine didn't respond, which was completely understandable. Hunter honestly felt bad. Why did he have to be the one to be shot? It could have easily been the ODST, and his armor would've given way more protection. Hunter took a needle directly to the chest as a first shot in the beginning and he received nothing but a dent in his ballistic armor.

"Yeah, he is." The marine who aided Knight responded. Hunter glanced at his comrade, who's pale face looked grim but strong. Hunter nodded and kept tugging along.

"I-I'm Hunter."

"Eden."

"You guys really held your own out there."

"You expected us not to?"

"Uh, wha-what, no I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, like, for a bunch of dudes who just spent ten hours on the run through the north pole you guys were really impressive. Just trying to be nice, dude. Don't run up on me like that."

Eden gave a slight chuckle to the ODST, "Yeah, yeah, sorry about that. Tensions are just a bit high. A lot of shit just went down."

"A lot of boulders."

"Hunter!"

Collin was leaning on a tree, dangling his battle rifle in one hand. His ODST helmet was off and his look was stern. He did look a bit cold, though. The cold was catching up to the ODSTs much faster than Hunter expected.

So much for fresh troops.

"Hey, bossman. We got the rag tags. They're all good. Well, except for this guy right here." Hunter responded, flicking his head to the left.

"Lean him up against the tree. One of these marines is a corpsman."

"For real? That's like, movie luck."

"Tell me about it."

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Samson Schwarz
Squad

"Jeez," Samson started as he saw his Corporal leaning up against a tree, needle embedded in his arm. A few soldiers stood by him while one marine leaned over, applying first aid. As the Private strolled up, he tapped Solomon on the shoulder. The PFC. spun, with a single eyebrow raised. He didn't have to saw it, but Sam knew they were both thinking about survival.

It was something that lingered in the back of their minds. They were making their way so far, but how long would that last? Camp for the night and they might freeze to death in their sleep.

"How's Cain?" Schwarz asked.

"Not too good." Sol' responded, "But do you think he's complaining?"

"That's Cain. No pain. No, no pain-Cain." Samson laughed, but there was no response. Solomon sort of eyed him up and down, responded with a half-hearted 'Yeah...' and walked away. I thought that was funny. Why does no one think I'm funny? Eden thinks I'm hilarious, right? As he thought it, he walked over to the group ahead. Eden, an ODST standing and one sitting.

"Yo Ed, tell me if you think this is funny-" He started, but he was shut down by the lone finger of his ally.

"I'm thinking." The second private responded.

"There a first for everything, right?" Sam's mouth hung open in a half smile, awaiting a response.

[Faclan]

Cad - Ruuthian Major
Cliff side overwatch.
Well damn.

The cracking of stone following the booms and thrown up blue green smoke, and snow, was a great sight for the cold Major and his troops. More so when the ropes seemed to fall too. But some of the T'vaoans were watching more closely, and because they were closer to the cliff side and had been watching the Humans had seen that none of them seemed to be dead...AGAIN!?

"They are still alive and at the bottom of the cliff." One of the females cheeped out, getting a chorus of groans from the Unggoy and a rumble of annoyance from the Lekgolo. Why couldn't they just be good heathens and die!

"Lekgolo, can you see them?" Negative responses sent back his way...so they were going to have to do this the hard way. "Can anyone see a way down?"

The Unggoy half heartedly looked around but didn't seem to come up with anything, and even the bloodthirsty T'vaoan's seemed to having a hard time seeing a path as the cliff seemed to be pretty sheer. Hissing that the Humans seemed to have gotten away Cad just waved his shield before deactivating it.

"Fall back for now...we'll look for a way to them as we go. But base may be our next stop." The soldiers all nodded and started to leave the cliff side as the Lekgolo turned and rumbled to Cad before it started to trudge off too. Cad doing his best to smile as he waved at the big hulking armored worm. "Thank you a lot for your help, it was invaluable. I hope your hunt goes well." The colossus rumbled again and then tromped off the opposite way that the lance was heading. Cad shivering some as tightening his purple scarf around his neck and draping it over his beak some. Really glad he had goggles on too.

(Feel free to continue, if I see a spot to come in later I'll post - but for now the aliens have given up the hunt.)