Pelican Down (Invite)

[Faclan]

I-Check, OOC, and where you post if interested;
Here

Current Players;
* Survivors;
Llau
tento125
NexAngelus
Cabel
* Anti-survivors
Mr. Prezident

If a person joins the thread and then stops posting they will be treated as an NPC.

A note on Injury:
-Fine- You are slightly injured if that, and can still fight and run at full power.
-Wounded- You can only walk, and shooting is less accurate.
-Critical- You cannot move yourself and will die if not medicated. Fighting is fire for effect at best.
1 Medical supply use will move someone from -Wounded- to -Fine-
However if you are -Critical- you need 3 medical supplies to move to -Wounded-

Current setting - Pictures taken by me! Last time I was up in the Oregon Mountains. Planet name is Thion 3
Pretty
Trees
There are a few dirt roads through this mountainous area as well as rivers but no main road. The now Covenant occupied area is three miles behind where the Pelican crashed. Where the UNSC rally point is twelve miles in front.


Current survivors; 18/18 alive
10x Civilian refugees (Sebastian is considered currently to be in this group)
    3x Wounded Civilians
6x UNSC Military personnel (Marine, ODST, Army, up to you)
    1x Wounded personnel
2x Pilots
    1x Wounded Pilot

Supplies; Please keep track of what your PC is carrying medical/weapon wise, rations and the other supplies will be carried by NPCs and will be deducted when its time to eat if you choose too. You cannot half-eat a ration. (I will be keeping track of medical and rations on each of my posts). Some weapons were damaged beyond operation during the crash I have listed the still working ones.

SPOILER: Click to show

8x Assault Rifles, 2 mags each (These also serve as the compass)
1x Assault Rifle Suppressor
4x Magnum, 2 mags each
1x Magnum Suppressor
2x Rolls of Duct Tape
10x Medical supplies
10x Combat knives
2x Survival Machetes (These contain fire starters in their handles and can be used as a saw)
2x Survival shovels
20 feet of rope
2 large camouflage tarps, can also be used to drag equipment or sleep on.
20x Day rations (One of these is needed to be eaten a day, also contains water. Not eating a ration will move you down to -Wounded- for the next day - eating a ration will reverse this. Two days without food will move you to -Critical-, at this point food cannot move you back up on its own. The food on the trees is not edible. Hunting an animal however will give rations, as will Covenant and Human meat (Probably cook it). The alien water is not sustaining from the rivers but can still be used to clean. Covenant Rations will also give you extra ration supplies.)
5x Battery powered flashlights, these will not run out of juice.
1x Signal Flare gun
5x Signal Flares
1x Emergency Signal Mirror
20x Synthetic wrist ties, for unruly crew or captives.
1x UEG Tac-pad. Light model, currently held by Sebastion. Seems to have maps as well.
2x Military Tac-pads with a map of the area and compass on it. Also has weather sensor on it as well as a motion tracker. Up for grabs.

------------------------------------
Medical: 10 / Rations: 20

The current time of day is 5:30 PM, dusk is starting to close in on the night of
DAY ONE - rations will be needed in the morning, not tonight.

The female main pilot and her male co-pilot sold probably be given credit. Considering the Wraith AA fire that hit the tail and left side engine of the Pelican they were able to keep it flying for almost three miles before they were forced to crash land in the trees on the mountains. There crash site would be very evident from the air as there was now a clearing in the forest even if you didn't see the smoke and the fire. Thankfully the Pelican had rocked back after coming to a stop and that plus the fire suppression systems were preventing a forest fire.

However the crash was hand on all involved as everyone tried to take stock of what they were going to do now. They had a Pelican full of supplies that everyone who could was currently taking out to take stock of what they had. But cursory glances at the maps that they had showed everyone that they were far away from safety and much closer to danger. However no-one was dead and the supplies were being counted so it could be worse.

The party may need to vote on what to do next, or perhaps elect a leader to make decision for them. Or start murdering each other immediately! It would be up for the party to decide. There were some points of interest seen on the map and seen from the female pilot as they were descending in a controlled fashion. They had seen a cave to the east - could act as shelter for tonight. Or a small plateau to the west to get a view of the area. Or they could head to the dirt road to the north to try and move faster as night started to fall. Or finally south to the river to try and follow that. Just remember your slower walking -wounded- allies.

Of course you could also decide to stay with the Pelican. It would be shelter.


(Hope you guys like that, if its too much let me know . There will be time for people to post and get their bearings before Covenant fly-bys begin and then the infantry. Hope for this to be a game of choosing from possible situations and managing resources for you all - and being sneaky when the Covenant start to walk around. Kind of choose your own adventure with locations and enemy parties :3)

[Llau]

Councillor Sebastian T. Kane
Thion 3 | Day 1 | 5:30PM
And It Starts...

Kane was no stranger to military engagements and what he needed to do if they were attacked, as he once was part of the military back in his younger years before becoming a government official for the UEG as a Councillor. He did all he could helping the UNSC military personnel evacuate the remaining civilians away from danger as the Covenant attacked the city he so happened to be in. He was glad that he sent his family to Earth once word reached his ears about the Covenant attacking Reach, so at least one good thing happened this week. He wasn't so sure if it was a good thing he survived the crash with the other nine civilians and the eight military personnel, or bad luck though, but time will tell. After regaining consciousness, and escaping with only minor abrasions, cuts, and bruising here and there from the impact.

He stood quietly with the map on display on his TAC-PAD he wore on his wrist, studying the plotted course to a rendezvous point to be picked up by another Pelican since where they were was unsafe to land due to being behind enemy lines and the rocky terrain and the forest. He looked up at the others. First, carefully eyeing the civilian refugees and the three who were wounded. Next, he turned to look at the military personnel, where one and the co-pilot was wounded. Five wounded, total, in which they were going to make their way to the rendezvous point a little bit harder and slower, but he wasn't the type to leave anyone behind.

Sighing, he closed the map and began walking around, checking on their supplies that survived the crash, as well as the other civilian survivors to make sure to tell them what they need to do; his military background coming back the more he went into survival mode. “The rendezvous point is twelve miles through the rocky terrain and the alpine region,” he explained, “Tomorrow, we'll eat and drink the water in the rations that will be given to you. It's a good time as any to learn to conserve these rations, as we don't know how long we'll be out here. Also, a great idea to keep an eye on your surroundings at all times, and help with those who are much more wounded than you. Not only do we have the Covenant to worry about, there's dangerous wildlife around these areas.”

After speaking to them, he brought up the map on his TAC-PAD again, checking the point of interest the female pilot mentioned to him when they were in the air after being hit. He approached the Marines and spoke to them.

“There's a cave to the east where we could take everyone to for shelter during the night and then head out by early morning to the rendezvous point indicated on the map,” he suggested and then mentioned, “There's also a small plateau to the west where we could send a team of two of you to get a view of the area and report back to us on the secured channel.” He glanced at each of them, waiting for one of them to speak up.

[NexAngelus]

Corporal James McGyver
53rd Combat Engineers
Thion 3 | Day 1 | 5:30PM

He weighed up the two rolls of duct tape clutched in his hand, his thumb stroking across the surface of the the thick woven material, whilst he scanned over the wreckage of the crashed Pelican. A dull throbbing pain stretched across his temples, and his ears were filled with a gentle ringing.

He sighed. What a waste. The Pelican was the perfect machine - versatile, reliable and easy to maintain. But this one? This one wouldn't be getting off the ground again. Or would it? He weighed up the duct tape again. No, the damage was definitely too extensive.

He had manaaged to escaped the crash for the most part unscathed, apart from a small knock to the head on the aft bulkhead in his haste to get clear. Whether it was through dumb luck, some wider cosmic coincidence or the hand of the almighty himself, he didn't particularly care. What mattered was that he was alive and well. And he was just glad to be on the ground in once piece. Although right now, he prefer not to be. He let his eyes wander again, picking across the wreckage. It was a mix of broken scraps of steel, mixed in with strewn supplies and parts that had broken free from their stowage in the cargo webbing, or else had been desperately cut loose to save them from the fire. The marines had started to sort them into piles, picking over the Pelican's carcass, discarding anything that was too damaged to be of any value.

There was answer here. There had to be. He let his eyes settle on two large tarps and a length of rope. He flicked back to the pelican. At least one engine looked in something resembling a working condition. Maybe some fuel? The fire suppression system had kicked in fairly quickly. Quick enough that the fuel hadn't all burnt off?

The duct tape. The tarp. The engine. All they'd need is something to use as a basket and...No. That would be ludicrous. They could never get to orbit in a hot air balloon. Not only would they never get high enough, they'd be a sitting target for Covenant fliers. And the rest of the ship was certainly beyond even his skills. He sighed again. What a waste indeed.

He clipped the duct tape back onto the loop on his belt, and checked his rifle where it hung loosley his chest. It seemed to be intact, but the strap itself had left some brusing where it had pulled taunt during the crash. Only one spare magazine though. This wasn't supposed to be a combat mission. They just didn't have the ammo for a firefight. They needed to be moving. If the covenant hadn't seen them come down, they wouldn't need to look to far. Although the fire supression had stopped a full blown forest fire, there were some logs still smouldering and a black plume of smoke announced their position to the sky. A large gouge, a deep brown scar across the white and green landscape from where the Pelican had first touched down ran several hundred metres back. No, they definietly could stay here.

One of the civilians had started to address the group. He had no uniform, but spoke with authority. Great. A politician. Just what they needed right now. Where was the covenant when you really needed them? He laughed quietly to himself, but listened in. 12 Miles to the extraction. And a cave to the east to rest up for the night. Walking. Yes, that made sense. More sense than a hot air balloon anyhow. He winced again at the dull thudding pain in head. Everything felt hazy. Unfocused. Maybe he was concussed? That would certainly explain the hot air balloon idea. And the ringing in his ears. He had to push through it though.

He looked around the group, as the politician looked on expectantly. He'd finished talking apparantly, although James had missed the last part. The tension across the group was palpable.
"I know they say that 'any landing you can walk away from', and all that, but couldn't you have crashed a bit closer to the RV?" He addressed the pilots, a half-hearted grin acrossh is face, although it came out louder than intended. Damn the ringing in his ears.

[tento125]

2nd Marine Lieutenant Samuel Baker, UNSC Marine Corps
Thion 3
Well....shit

Welp, so much for a happy landing Samuel thought to himself as he recollected is memory as to what had happened: he was assigned to help evacuate as many civilians as possible on the planet as the Covenant descended from their fleet. The UNSC had managed to set up a temporary rally point at the main city on the planet, sending out teams of marines and pelicans to the surrounding country side to help bring survivors. Sam was leading one of them.

The team had just managed to load up the last batch of civilians from a far away town before being shot down by the aliens just as Sam thought they were safe. Now? They were in the middle of nowhere with limited supplies, and with no doubt the Covenant moving in. 

He made a quick assessment of the group: 6 military personnel, 10 civilian refugees, 2 pilots and out of that there's 5 wounded. The wounded would be a burden and will hamper the group's ability to traverse the rough terrain to make it to the rally point, but at the same time Sam is determined to stick to one of the marine's most famous motto: leave no man behind.

Suddenly, one of the civilians spoke up, and from the tone of authority in his voice, Samuel instantly knew that the guy is a politicians. Oh great he grumbled. Just what we need, a massive know it all, arrogant son of a bitch. However, the more the guy speaks, the more sense he makes. Although.....

"With all due respect sir" the young Lieutenant spoke up, "it would be only a matter of time before the Covenant completely overruns the rally point. That, or the bastards simply glass the place. Thus, I think it is imperative that we make our way there as quickly as possible if we want to get everyone off this planet." he paused to snatch one of the military tac-pads out of the wreckage of the Pelican to examine their location. It was a miracle that the pad hasn't been trashed yet, and as luck would have it, there was a dirt road leading towards the rally point.

"We could take the dirt road there...." he mused, letting the others a chance to speak up.


(OOC: hope good all)

[Faclan]

Ado 'Urgomee - Jelly Major
Former Human Holdout
Loud squawkers...

While he was trying to look over the forest that the Humans had ran too to enjoy scenery it was difficult with the explosions going off behind him. But the Kig-Yar had been very angry to find that the Humans they had been looking forward to setting on fire and...eating or something equally barbaric were not there. So they were letting out their frustrations on the former human buildings. Whatever kept them from complaining to him he was fine with. The Phantom was currently being unloaded anyway as the rise they were on would serve as a decent refueling and base for his files. A place to rest and eat before striking out to hunt down the Humans that had escaped their clutches

Thankfully they hadn't gotten far. The smoke was visible even from this distance and the Phantom would be going to do a fly by of the crash site before reporting back here. His troops would then be fed tonight, get a good rest, before they would be sent out there to try and see out the Humans. He would have to ask his Ultra if there was any-thing specific he needed to look for that the Humans had or just kill them all...Speaking of which he should do that now before the Phantom blew up something. So hed quickly turn around and head for the radio antenna they had set up earlier to work that out. Trying to ignore his Lances Kig-Yar who were making a racket.

The Phantom, with a light crew of a pilot and door gunner only, would lift off and head toward the smoke. It would soon be visible to those looking in the direction of where they came from.

-------

'Hope you could survive a bit of a rough landing' Sebs tac-pad shaking as he had likely turned off the beep alert of a new message.

[Mr. Prezident]

Senior Major Rax the Mad, Ruutian Kigyar
Forward Operations Centre
Preparing for the extermination

File of Solemn Artifice

SPOILER: Click to show

Major Rax (Plasma Rifle, Energy Cutlass), three minor kig yar [Nek, Needler, Energy Cutlass; Senior Minor Taj, Carbine; Minor Bev, Beam Rifle.]
3 extra magazines plus chambered rounds.
2 Energy Cutlasses (1 for Rax and Nek)
6 grenades (2 per trooper)
6 demo charges
8 day rations (2 per trooper)
4 medkits (1 per trooper)

Rax checked his equipment once more, or rather, he spent an amount of time stroking the explosives he had been trusted with.  Everyone knew about his little obsession and they fidgeted uncomfortably.  If they needed to blow something up he would surely be the one to achieved.  He couldn't help the elation that blowing things up brought upon him.

Hoisting the Plasma Rifle, he manually released the overheating elements, checking for pristine condition.  He had been given the honor of wielding a signature weapon of the Sangheili and he greedily clung to the weapon.  The Energy Cutlasses he bartered for from a merc might also come in handy. Too bad he couldn't stab it into the back of that bastard Sangheili Major. Hopefully there would be an "accident" soon enough.

He looked over his small file, nodding to himself that they surely needed to get there first to blow everything up. Nek would of course accompany Rax with the explosives while Taj would leave the other half of Solemn Artifice as recon and support. The briefing irritated Rax slightly as he only wanted to kill things. But orders were orders: they would move out in the morning instead of now, putting them behind the humans quite a bit. For now, they settled into waiting out the evening by the warm fire.

[Cabel]

[Planet: Thion 3: Time: 1730 Local]

[Staff Sergeant Mark 'Spade' Sorelson]

“I'd advise against that, Councillor,” the Staff Sergeant chimed in. “A cave would be the first place they'd check. We'd be better off heading into the woods, and keeping a distance between us and the Covenant search parties. We need to keep on the move,”

"I'd advise everyone hydrate while you can. Take a ration of water, and hydrate. I know the combat personnel, the Marines were expecting this, but I want each of the civilians to hydrate. You've come through our bird crashing, and you're in shock. It's a perfectly normal reaction. We'll find water on the way," he'd say.

The Pelican taking a nose dive had rattled all of them, and Mark had been about to re-check the MA5C's magazine when the transport had been clipped by Covenant anti-aircraft fire. The impact straps of the Seattle-Born NCO's crash seat had kept him from being jostled around too much on impact and while he'd been jostled around, he'd escaped any major wounds with his ballistics armor and the uniform beneath having cushioned him from most of the g-forces. Having managed to have cut himself free from the straps by utilizing the standard issued titanium KABAR, the first thing Mark had seen to had been in gathering his pack and his weapons before having checked the contents of the rucksack or pack itself. He'd heard motion around him, and had even checked on the others -- both the Marines, the Flight Crew and the Civilians.

“El-Tee, permission to speak freely?” Spade asked, having overheard the Second Lieutenant's suggestion.
He'd managed to have gathered his pack, checked the MA5C and the chrome-plated M6B magnum and had secured them on his person.

[Llau]

Councillor Sebastian T. Kane
Thion 3 | Day 1 | 5:30PM


He smiled a little as the young Lieutenant by the name of Samuel Baker, spoke up, and thought, Whenever anyone says 'with all due respect', they really mean 'kiss my ass'. He was a politician and knew how many other politicians weren't well-liked, but the difference between him and the civilians was that he knew how to survive, while they didn't. He was worried if they couldn't keep up or even make it through the night if they kept walking through the woods. It was going to be a long walk, and even more so with the injured.

He soon glanced over at Staff Sergeant Mark Sorelson when the man agreed with the Lieutenant. He rubbed at his forehead for a moment, sighed quietly, and glanced back to the civilians for a few moments before returning his attention on Sorelson. He walked over to him. “I'm just worried about the civilians and the injured, Staff Sergeant,” he admitted, “They're my responsibility ever since the attack on the city and trying to keep as many alive as I could as they looked to me for guidance and protection. I lost a lot of good men and women before finally reaching you and the others at the evac.” He paused, patting his pocket where he was able to gather the dog tags of those who were on his protection detail.

“They survived so far, but this alpine region isn't for the inexperienced. It's dangerous, and it's not only because of the Covenant searching for us.” He's studied the colony and everything about it from the locals while he was here, and would be willing to explain what he's learned to them if they didn't know much about it and if they asked.

He glanced up at the setting sun. “It's going to be extremely difficult when night falls...” He looked at him carefully, but he wasn't angry about the two marines disagreeing with his ideas on where to go first. “If you want everyone to keep moving, then okay. I just hope you know what you're doing; otherwise...” He trailed off, giving him a curt nod before turning around to walk back towards the civilians to make sure all of them were hydrating with their ration of water.

While doing so, he felt his TAC-PAD vibrate and he looked down to read the message.

<<Hope you could survive a bit of a rough landing.>>

He frowned a bit and replied,

<<I'm alive. What do you want?>>

[tento125]

2nd Marine Lieutenant Samuel Baker, UNSC Marine Corps

Thion 3


Sigh.....
Tags: Cabel Llau


“It's going to be extremely difficult when night falls...”
the councilor replied, stating the obvious. "If you want everyone to keep moving, then okay. I just hope you know what you're doing; otherwise...”
the man trailed off, before walking away towards the other civilians.

"We all are going to die" Samuel said, finishing the councilor's unspoken thoughts. Had the covenant not been a factor in the current predicament the young lieutenant found himself in, he would 100 percent follow with the councilor's suggestions. However, since the covenant IS a factor, camping in a cave would almost spell certain doom for the group.

It took Samuel up until this time to figure out that he was in fact, the highest ranking UNSC military personnel in the group, and thus, the defacto leader until they get to safety. This realization startled him for a moment; not that he was unaccustomed to lead men, he already knew how to do that through OCS, but rather having a group of civilians under him with little to no combat training for him to take care of as well.

It didn't take long for the lieutenant to snap back into reality as a plan somewhat formed in his mind. The smoke generated from the wrecked pelican would surely draw attention from any covenant air assets in the area, and Samuel had no doubt that a covenant search team is being deployed at that very moment. Maybe we can use that to our advantage......

"El-Tee, permission to speak freely?" a voice rang out, causing the lieutenant to snap back into reality yet again. The voice belonged to a veteran Staff Sergeant Sorelson.

"Permission granted Sergeant." he replied, before adding on, "If its about the road, I already crossed that out of my mind" he said. "It'll just put us in the open to covenant air assets" he finished. "Speaking of which, we need to make a decision about where to go and soon. That smoke," he gestured to the rising smoke from the wreckage, "is basically a beacon to all covenant forces in the area and it'll be only a matter of time before they'll be all over us." 


"I was thinking maybe we can rig some sort of trap for the bastards" he continued with a sly grin. "Perhaps we can gather enough explosive materials and transform the bird into one massive IED. Buy us some more time." he paused before turning to the staff sergeant "Think it'll work?"



(Hope good all :3)

[Faclan]

(Sorry for the wait peeps D: )

Mr. Prezident Cabel Llau tento125  NexAngelus

Medical: 10 / Rations: 20
Ado 'Urgomee - Jelly Major
Former Human Holdout
Schemes and clarifications.

"Is there something specific you believe these Humans may possess Sir?"

"What? You think that I care about their insect like lives? I would tell you to burn the entire forest down to cook them alive if that wouldn't take too long." There was a pause as some bleeps and bloops came through the call. "Just double checked and no, just grab the normal Human information tech they may be carrying in case it happens to have any pertinent information about their military strategies and locations."

"Aye Sir." Stepping away from the radio antenna Ado would blip on his little wrist computer to contact the Phantom. "None are to be spared specifically. Just try to not melt them in case they are carrying useful tech." And with that done he would...ughh walk over to the Kig-Yar file and nod at the creepy Major who was staring into the fire and patting his grenades.

"Major Rax is your file ready for hunting tomorrow?"

-------------

'Only that you may want to move, got a Phantom and two files after you. Phantom tonight and both tomorrow'. Would be sent back to Seb.

-------------

Some of the civilians would be starting to look up at the sky in a panic as the purple dot oh a Phantom was getting closer and closer. Starting to err umm and point at it as they started to move into the trees without being told too. The hydration forgot as the three wounded civs tried to limp into cover as well. The UNSC and pilots looking at the 2nd LT and gesturing at the forest like 'yes right'?

[Cabel]

Ducking back into the blood-tray, he'd managed to formulate a plan involving the fuel lines of the Pelican itself. Knowing that with the civilians fleeing into the woods along with the wounded limping along, they would be easy pickings for the Phantom if it had remained airborne. With a quick gesture, he'd ordered at least several the Marines or Pilots if they'd remained unoccupied to have helped one of the wounded each away from the crash-site.

Reaching into his rucksack, the Marine removed two M9 Fragmentation grenades and rushed to the other end of the bloodtray nearest the cockpit. Kneeling, he'd ever so carefully pried off a service panel concealing a small crawlspace leading inside the left wing to the engine which by design had been a short distance from the cockpit. The design had been intended to have allowed the Pelican's crew to have overseen in flight repairs if required and if an airbase or mother ship hadn't been available. Going to his knees, he'd crawled inside the small crawl space and a little ways inside he'd found exactly what he'd been searching for.

The auxiliary fuel lines which had clearly been marked were far more narrower than the mains that normally had fed the engines, and ran at an angle to the fuel tank itself. As with the main fuel lines, the auxiliary lines had been designed to both be sturdy and flexible enough to have carried the flammable fuel while being shielded enough with a centimeter or so of additional plating to withstand a ricochet shot. Taking the time to have carefully rigged or hooked the grenade around those auxiliary fuel lines, he'd programmed the fuses to only take input -- a trigger signal -- from a remote detonator. There hadn't been any doubt in his mind that he'd wanted to have been far enough away from the resulting inferno when the grenades ignited the still full fuel, and hopefully to have created a greater distance between himself and the Covenant dropship.

“Normally, I'd say you would be nuts for doing that. I'd report you and then kick you off of this bird,” he'd heard a voice, and gently turned his head. The Pelican's Crew Chief had not only witnessed the Marine prying off the panel, but had followed the Staff Sergeant through the crawlspace.

“Are you?” Mark asked, somewhat jokingly.

“No, I'm not,” the Crew Chief replied. “I want to help you, if you'll let me. What are you planning exactly?”

“I plan on tying this grenade into these auxiliary lines, and another grenade to the auxiliary lines leading into the other wing,” Mark explained. “Once I'm through here, we'll find cover in the woods or somewhere else and will remotely detonate these grenades. I've managed to tie in this grenade's fuse to an encoded frequency leading to a remote detonator, and haven't even started on the other yet,”

“Do you need help with the other one? I don't want to be here when that Phantom gets closer,” the Crew Chief asked.

“Well, Engineering one-oh-one had been part of the ForceRecon training,” Mark replied, sarcastically.

“Did they teach you to be a Smart Ass too?” the Crew Chief asked, with a smirk having found the Staff Sergeant's humor amusing.

“Not really. Though, I have run into a few Officers that think I'm an enormous pain-in-their-ass, but they can't ignore the results,” Mark smirked.

Having finished tying in the grenade in or around the auxiliary fuel lines and having programmed the fuse for remote detonation, the Staff Sergeant carefully turned himself around before following the Crew Chief out of the crawlspace.

Crossing the width of the small corridor leading to the cockpit, the two managed to loosen the service panel before having laid it aside and crawled inside along the crawlspace leading to the fuel tanks of the second wing. With the Crew Chief's help, Mark managed to tie in or hooked up the second fragmentation grenade to the auxiliary fuel lines leading to that fuel tank. He'd programmed the fuse for that grenade to have allowed for a remote detonation, and followed the Crew Chief back out of that crawlspace.

Using a power drill, the two managed to re-secure the service panels by having screwed in the bolts back into place making it appear that neither of the panels had been removed in the first place.

Finding the other Marines had managed to have cleaned the blood tray, the two Marines made their way out of the crashed Pelican. The Marines had taken anything ranging from medkits to survival kits containing survival tools to water bottles and most of anything of value allowing them an increased chance of surviving. It seemed both the Crew Chief and the Staff Sergeant had held the same idea, and with the civilians or at least the able bodied civilians along with the Marines having fled into the woods the two had been able to make great time. Along the way, the two found one of the wounded civilians that still struggled limping along and while she had made time making it into the trees she'd unfortunately been left behind in the mad rush by the other civilians.

“Easy, Miss,” Mark whispered. He'd witnessed one of her legs starting to give way, and caught her in time. “Lean on me. Give that leg a break,”

Though he hadn't had to say it, the woman had leaned against him letting her weight bear down on him though it hadn't bothered the Staff Sergeant. He'd had to bear heavier burdens in his earlier tours, in the Corps and as a father to where it hadn't even bothered him. Leading the woman, with the Crew Chief deeper into the woods, Mark's knowledge of hunting and hiking had come to the forefront. The three had to evade, if not outright lose the Covenant troopers on that inbound Phantom, but had to make it somewhere where the trio -- with the other survivors could have waited for another retrieval bird.

Though, as Mark had to remind himself that the Covenant had largely overrun the planet leaving the survivors to have fended for themselves. There hadn't been a possibility the UNSC would have risked deploying a retrieval bird even with Longsword coverage with how the planet's defenses had been swept aside, and with that same realization Mark prioritized their survival. He'd known that without the possibility of a UNSC retrieval bird, the survivors would have had to find some other means off planet even if it had been in a civilian craft.

Gesturing for the woman and the Crew Chief to have remained quiet, the trio made their way deeper into the woods and avoided the mountains. He hadn't spent his childhood and even his teenage years in the woodlands of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State to have ignored the very nature of the woods themselves. He'd known or at least had learned how the local fauna had behaved. He'd learned that bears tended to mark their territories which varied in size, and knew that if they had been able to have found trees marking the edge of that territory the Covenant trackers would have been at least delayed even a little.

There had been part of him that hadn't wanted a bear to have perished, or even bears, but if it had meant a greater chance of their survival and a greater chance at putting some distance between their pursuers he wasn't about to argue. Shortly after he'd received orders for the Mission to the planet, he'd spent time researching the local flora and fauna of the vast woodlands that made up the majority of the planet outside the walls of the major cities and other settlements. Researching a planet or a locale even if the family growing up had gone a road trip to his grandmother's house or an aunt's house had been a sort of ritual for him having developed at a young age where he'd even remembered reading up on local maps and books on the area he'd be going into. The information had ranged from the local flora and fauna to the customs, to geographic formations, to geographic oddities and other such things of importance.

* * * * * * *

The trio had managed to make their way deeper into the woods by crossing streams to using some of the downed logs that spanned a few of the other larger gaps or drop-offs. The crossings had taken a little longer than Mark would have preferred, but with each crossing he'd sent the Crew Chief across first followed by the woman whose leg he'd discovered hadn't been lacerated in the crash and the source of her limping had been caused by a muscle cramp. He'd be the last one across, but would cover their tracks using old Hunters tricks first with fallen branches to brush their tracks aside with the leaves to even hiding their scents with the droppings of squirrels or of other animals. He'd rarely touched the droppings with his hands even when gloves had been worn, but would have either left the droppings near trees or in piles left by passing animals in a far more natural manner.

He'd been a little nervous, but hadn't let it be shown at one point where the trio had stumbled across or rather near enough to a tree with bark hanging loose. Mark had known that a bear marking its territory often used a tree to rub against using the rough bark to scratch its back through its fur, and had known more than well enough to have left the tree alone. He'd spread the word to his traveling companions to have kept quiet, and to have avoided piles of bear scat he'd been certain would have been nearby. Bears had a fearsome reputation of being protective, even over protective of their territory and would have fought any interlopers -- human, bear or otherwise.

Keeping this in mind, he'd kept his movements deliberate while crossing through the bear's territory while gesturing for the others to have followed, and had kept the safety strap on the chest holster containing the M6B Magnum unhooked in case he'd had to draw it. The MA5C rifle had rested loosely on a magnetic strip on the breastplate of his ballistics body armor, but he'd had only managed to have picked out two thirty-round magazines not including the one slammed into place with a round in the chamber. The Staff Sergeant hadn't wanted to have wasted a single full metal jacket knowing each round had to count, and had been glad he'd kept the M6B Magnum handy with two magazines including the already inserted one.

The magazines within the weapons had only about a dozen rounds left, at least for the MA5C while the M6B's magazine had six rounds left. He'd taken out a few of the Covenant troopers, mostly Grunts and even an Elite Minor on their way out of the city or at least on their way to the auxiliary space port where the Pelican had waited.

Utilizing his knowledge of what he'd read about the bears on the planet and the knowledge of bears on Earth, he'd kept the group's pace up though deliberate. He'd known that bears, members of the Ursine species, kept normally to the rocks or were out foraging. Gesturing to the group each time he'd detected the presence of a bear or bears either through the rather characteristic scent or stink the bears gave off naturally or the sounds of their breathing. Though normally, he'd only had to rely on seeing a patch of fur that had been shed or marks left by claws on stone or on the ground. He'd managed to have even turned the volume down on his radio, since neither he or his two companions would have wanted to have had someone's voice filter over the speakers while they were in that particular territory.