Mission 2: Crew Expendable (Ground Ops)

[elando]

Crew Expendable

February 28th, 2531

Military Time: 08:04

Closing upon Planet Lethe, Gilese 876 system

Captain Hallam, UNSC Midnight Silence, Task Force Mirage, Briefing room

"Is this everyone?" Captain Hallam whispered to Sargent Pink who was standing next to him in the briefing room. The congregation of 200 soldiers all sat in a semi circle around the main podium. A huge view screen sat on the wall behind Hallam's position at the podium. "Yes, Sir. We've got a mixture of ODSTs and Marines in 1st company. About 120 ODSTs from various platoons and 80 Marines." Pink replied. "Excellent..." Hallam said as he approached the podium.

"Alright! Settle down!" He shouted, raising his hands for quiet. As the voices hushed into silence, Hallam addressed them. "Now, as you know, the Covenant recently got their hands on some Intel of ours. Pretty delicate stuff I'm lead to believe, end of the human race kind of stuff. Now, the Assault Carrier which made off with the data, designated 'Target Hades'..." Hallam turned to the view screen and clicked a button on the remote, bringing up a birds eye view of the damaged, smoking Carrier.

"...Is now situated on the planet Lethe, a barren volcanic world populated by massive volcanoes and rivers of lava. The air is toxic, so you'll all be issued filtration helmets for this mission. Do not remove them, the fumes from the volcanoes will cause you some serious problems if you inhale it. You'll be able to survive for only a few minutes without a proper filtration mask." Hallam said, pacing the stage.

"Unfortunately, the fumes also seem to mess with ground vehicles, which means we'll have no ground vehicles on this mission. As for the mission itself, its pretty straight forwards." He clicked the remote again, bringing up a clear map of the area around the Assault Carrier. As he turned back to the ground, several icons which represented Pelican dropships moved in from the bottom left of the screen, traveling towards the Assault Carrier.

"1st company, thats us, will insert into the combat zone in Pelican dropships. The DZ is just two miles south-west of Target Hades. I'm told that Covenant sensors shouldn't be able to pick us up, something to do with a strong magnetic field or some other interference. Anyway, we will land at the DZ and proceed on foot to the base of the Assault Carrier. As you can see..." Hallam pointed to the Assault Carrier on the screen. "...Target Hades is situated above what appears to be a small crater. The area is heavily defended, with the walls of the crater acting as a natural defense. However, they won't be expecting us. Once we have approached the objective, neutralizing any patrols along the way, we'll set up Marine sniper teams around the perimeter of the crater. Once in place the ODSTs will assault the defenses."

"Now, we do have some very 'specialist' help on this Mission. Due to the nature of the mission we have been assigned the Spartans from Gamma squad to assist us." Hallam gestured to the 3 Spartans sitting on the stage, who received a round of applauds and various wolf whistles from the Marine congregation. Hallam called for silence as he continued. "They will be at the forefront of the assault. I have command of 1st company. Once we have secured the Grav Lift, we are to wait for 2nd and 3rd company to arrive and give us our next objectives."

"Right, so... Any questions?" Hallam asked the general congregation of troops.

[dusty]

Foxtrot team stood in the crowd listening. Tom raised his hand
"How many covenent should we expect to be down there? Numbers wise"

[elando]

Hallam turned to the Private. "Intel is sketchy. The Carrier left behind its main ground forces when it jumped ship at Arcadia. We're looking at about 2,000 troops. Intel thinks one of the AC's usual compliment of two Battalions was caught up half way between unloading its compliment to Arcadia's surface. Covenant should have about 1,500 troops inside the Carrier and the rest deployed on the ground. I'd estimate something like 300 guarding the Grav Lift while the rest are out patroling in squads of about 12 each."

[dusty]

Tom looked at him for a moment. His helmet hid the baffled look on his face.
"but sir... even with suprise theres no way 200 soldiers can take down 300 covenant. Plus whatever they throw at us. It sounds like a suicide mission sir. Why cant we just hit it with a bunch of MAC rounds and be done with it?"

[inhert]

Rocco and crew stood with the other Pelican pilots in the crowd of soldiers. Rocco ran Hallam's plan through his head as the Captain answered the Private's question. Two things about the plan hung in Rocco's head and when Hallam looked up to the crowd when down with the question he raised his hand above his head.

"Captain, Sir, Rocco Evan, Super-Six-Four. Once second and third companies are planet side, should the transport pelicans take ferry roles between ground teams and ships? Or would that be to risky with potential LZ's being ontop of an active Covenant AC?" Rocco took a momentary pause before addressing his second point. "Also do we know how the Atmosphere of Lethe will effect our Birds?"

Rocco looked down the line to Super Squadron's leader for the the mission, Lieutenant Westbrooke for some response from her on his questions.

[elando]

"Private." Hallam replied to Tom's retort. "2nd and 3rd Company will be accopanying us to the DZ. They'll be on station to provide reinforcements, if we should need them. The Covenant patrols are too scattered to be of much resistance to us and they'll be unlikely to get the chance to alert their friends to our pressence before we kill them. We'll be using silenced weapons on this op too remember. Besides, I hear these Spartans here make up for our lack of numbers if the stories about them are to be believed."

As Hallam finished answering the Private's question he turned to one of the pilots who'd asked another. "Ferrying roles won't be needed once everyone is on the ground. Your ships won't be able to get close to the AC without being instantly melted by their Pulse lasers. Once we have an AI on the inside however, you might be able to provide some close air support for friendlies on the ground should a counter attack occure. As for the Atmo effecting your ships, they should be fine. Their jet engines should be able to work through the fumes, its just our ground vehicles that should be effected."

[dusty]

Tom nodded and leaned over to Dusty and whispered "When i die, i want you to have all my stuff"

Dusty looked at him. "when you die, ill be next to you, and all you have is what the unsc equipped you with"

Tom shrugged "We might as well deploy now"

Dusty looked away back at hallem "Shut the hell up tom"

[daeron]

Zeta squad stood on the far side of the room, all of the group there. Even the rookie, Rook, was there. He hadn't been assigned to any other unit yet so he was with them for the time being. Parron was back in full attire even though it still hurt for him to move his arm in certain directions.

Bernard took a step up, "Will we be getting any kind of armored or air assistance at all? Or will it just be us and the weapon we have in our hand sir?"

[spiritoffire]

Being a pelican pilot, Cody Lance jumped in.

"And if they have air assistance, how many pelicans will be in the air?" he asked.

[elando]

Hallam turned to answer yet another question. "If you'd read the breif, Marine, you would of seen that armour support is impossible due to the toxic fumes of the planet. Air support will be availible once the AC's weapons are deactivated from the inside..."

He then turned to answer the pilot's question. "There will be enough Pelicans to carry all 3 Companies. All Pelicans taking part have been outfitted with the Troop Deployment Pod which doubles their troop transport capacity. Thats 20 men to each Pelican, 200 men to each company, you do the math thats 30 Pelicans for this trip. There'll be 12 Hornets on station to escort the Pelicans. We're not expecting heavy resistance by a little protection never did any harm..."

[dusty]

Tom raised his hand again "When we going down there to kill some covies?"

[caster]

The Idea of having high gravity was scrapped because it'd be essentially impossible for our troops to actually work in those conditions.
-Elando


Edited for Continuity - Caster

Executive Officer Shri T'ova

System: Gilese 876, Planet: Lethe

Pious Charity, Bridge

Fifteen days ago the Pious Charity had fell out of slipspace. The tactical report submitted by Navigation Officer Del’Goron Kovrim stated that a higher than normal electromagnetic field caused the plasma containment field to short. The extended use caused a systems failure that nearly scuttled the ship. Weapons Master Jarkhor Vlaadais had theorized that one of the human nuclear devices had detonated close the slipspace rupture causing the spike, but that as the Charity entered slipspace coupled with near full shields no physical damage was done.

Ship Master Joo’nae and the Cleric of Piety had been holed up in chambers for nearly the whole time pouring over artifact and other data that the humans had inadvertently uncovered but never examined. This left Shri T'ova with the responsibility of bringing the Charity back up to running status.

Shri T'ova had fifteen days ago ordered repair teams operational around the clock. The damage however was extensive. As the plasma vented in the ship, nearly all of the coolant had to be flushed in order to suppress massive heat build up in the plasma drives. This left only the reserve tanks with enough liquid to run the engines. But first the drive lines needed to be patched and tested, before the work on the actual drives could be completed. The drive lines were in final testing before they would either be scrapped and re-repaired or the crew would move on to the plasma generator in the drives.

Tactically speaking, the Charity was in a bad way. The humans had often conducted sapping missions behind Covenant lines in order to disrupt forward resupply missions, which meant that at any time humans could be on the Charity's doorstep looking for their information. Shri T'ova had raised a satellite in geo-sync orbit over Pious Charity in order to relay super luminous communications to the Fleet of Ebullient Piety, and The Prophet of Regrets fleet.

Shri T'ova had requested a small contingent of Ebullient Piety to be dispatched: a cruiser, one frigate, and one destroyer. They would bring with them the personnel and equipment necessary to bring the the Pious Charity back online, if the repair teams on board could not conduct the repairs themselves. The destroyer was a precaution for safety in the event a human detachment attempted to attack. However, Ebullient Piety was a considerable distance away. It had been eleven days since that communication was returned that the requested vessels had been dispatched.

The Prophet of Regrets fleet stated that they would make great haste in order to pick up the human data, but that excavation at a remote site needed to be halted before his fleet could mobilize. It had been ten days since that communication was returned.

The Charity's defenses were as good as they could be. Shri had interfaced with Am’jaree Osaris - Supreme Field Master for all forces on board the Charity. Ship board defenses had been hardened considerably. The only access point was the gravity lift, the lift bay had been cleared and defenses set around the opening. Lined energy shields had been placed shoulder to shoulder in a [[Marathon Symbol]] around the landing, with high ground fire positions provided by the surrounding scaffolding, where shade turrets had been placed and ordered manned around the clock. Some of the lesser Elite combat teams had been placed in the area in order to slay intruders on board. Hunters had been stationed at the exits from the gravity lift hold, entrances to engineering, and entrances to the bridge.

At the bottom of the gravity lift, Am’jaree Osaris had placed War Chieftain Catharsis in charge. While Shri would have normally charged Dax He’xal with the deployment, however the Brutes were getting restless, and to keep tensions low Shri saw fit to separate the groups. The Brutes were fierce when in close quarters and perhaps that would be the greatest asset to keep an attack from boarding the Charity. Jackal snipers and Grunt gunners had been authorized to operate turrets and sniper positions around the lifts entrance, only brute packs conducted patrols. Three concentric circles were placed around the gravity lift ensuring complete 360^o coverage of the lift approach. The first circle - closest to the lift was a guard asset. Their only concern would be defending the small crater surrounding the lift. The second tier, operated roaming patrols out form the crater and back in, ensuring all physical access ways were being patrolled. Finally, the third ring outside of the large rock formations was patrolled by a roaming element. Each of these elements were within battle-net contact with the bridge at all times, with check in interval times.

However, the planets atmosphere had been known to fry or otherwise interfere with battle-net transmissions. As a precaution Shri T'ova had personally ordered that all groups stay within line of site of each other. Which meant, within a fifteen minute window. Every patrol in the third tier, would meet with a patrol in the second tier, and every patrol in the second tier would meet with the first. This meant, that in the event communications were down, there was still a way to know if there was an impending attack or other problem.

Shade turrets had been placed at the higher locations around the actual lift, while jackal snipers sporadically lined the rock-tops around the crater.

The ship defenses had been lessened. Shielding was brought down to ten percent, enough to keep the heat of the planet from interfering with repair work. The plasma torpedoes had been taken offline, as had the energy projector to save power. However, the pulse laser turrets had been left operational in order to defend the crater with overwhelming fire power. Of the over twenty aircraft on board the Charity, only six pilots could be spared from the repair team to conduct flight operations (in non-combat). Two seraphs were sent to geo-sync orbit to ensure the satellite's orbit would not decay, and to scan for incoming friendly or hostile vessels. Two more seraphs supplemented the Charity's sensors by conducting sensor sweeps around the ship. This ensured that volcanic activity, or hostile activity could be pinged as early as possible. Finally two of the newer phantom drop ships patrolled the airspace around the lift, in order to drop supplies to troops on the ground (eliminating the need for further ground crews to resupply field troops) and provide gunship support if necessary.
------
Shri T'ova stood at the helm of the bridge and oversaw the repair work and security details. All of this for the sake of the human data. Shri had the original copy still uploaded to his personal net. However, several copies had been made and distributed to ensure the greatest possible ability for the data to survive and make it to the Prophets.

The only problem was that the data upon each copying had exponentially more corruptions imbued in the human code. The list of copies from most perfect copy to least perfect copy follows:

Executive Officer, Shri T'ova

Pious Charity Internal Systems Drive

Cleric of Piety

Ship Master, Joo’nae

Fleet Liaison, Khaorse Sal

Field Master, Am’jaree Osaris

War Chieftain, Catharsis

Shri had a final solution prepared in the event the ship would be overrun or in the last moments before destruction. The final available super luminary communications satellite. It had its mission and only awaited Shri to upload a final data packet and authorize its launch.

Shri noted that the repair teams were conducting secondary tests on the drive line at the time, and that all infantry compliments had made the last fifteen minute check in. All was still running smoothly. As Shri sat at the command chair he let his fingers run over the hilts of the swords on his thigh. He was getting a bad feeling, their time had been borrowed from the start. How much longer could they remain undetected?

Lt. Allison Westbrooke - Super Six One

System: Gilese 876

UNSC Midnight Silence, Briefing Room

Allison looked to Rocco with a smile then to Hallam as the ground soldier tried to answer the question. After Hallam was done she stood and cleared her throat, looking to the rest of the pilots and to the navy techs in the briefing room.

"Captain Hallam is correct. The atmosphere is stable enough for out engines to work properly in atmosphere...Prolonged stay in the toxic fumes could potentially cause air-frame and engine corrosion, but given the readings provided by the fleet, we would be unlikely to see flight affecting differences in the Pelicans for a few months." Allison nodded to herself as though she was acknowledging a report of some kind. Allison looked from Rocco to Hallam, then back again.

"Oh, yes, and just keep an eye on your heat gauges. Prolonged afterburner could still damage the couplings or the compressor turbines." Allison smiled lightly having completed the findings she had just presented the night before. As though it was some kind of assignment she had been preparing for. When she sat, she and Craig Daniels - her copilot exchanged a brief chat.

Cpl. Leon Carson, 1MSOB27

System: Gilese 876

UNSC Midnight Silence, Briefing Room

Carson sat slouched in the seat watching the now Captain Hallam, he and his squad had rescued on Arcadia giving the presentation. Renters sat to his right, and a newcomer to Echo squad Daniel Flores to his left. Carson had spoken to Sergeant Koopman briefly regarding the new comer. Apparently Lawrence and Renault were up for reassignment, ONI brass wanted to send one of them to 1st Marine Force Recon battalion as a favor to Marine SOCOM brass. Flores was the likely replacement. They had only met on Reach before deployment and Carson didn't really know a lot about the kid - except that his current rank was "Specialist" so he was some off world Army brat - gotta love the all volunteer ODST's.

Carson watched as the fly-boy asked his question and the fly-girl answered, after awhile Carson raised his hand about level with his head then started speaking. "So we have a company strength force guarding the grav-lift. What's our R-O-E [rules of engagement] on approach?"

[zim565]

Daniel was sat next to Carson, all geared up. His right leg was going up and down like crazy and he hugged his sniper rifle, no one could see his face , actually he didn't want anyone to see it, he had the silver cover on his helmet. He was sweating as crazy and his heart going crazy, he felt that he had adrenaline instead of blood. This was his first assignment and felt he was going to die the moment he jumped outside the Pelican. He looked at Lieutenant Carson stone cold...he looked again to the front and listened to Allison´s briefing

Hey she is kinda cute...wait a minute! what the hell I am thinking, i´m going to descend directly to hell! toxic atmosphere, elevated gravity, volcanic activity! God if the planet doesn't kill me, a Brute or an Elite will rip off my head!

His leg started moving faster, suddenly he look at his Sniper rifle, was he really going to use it? On a planet whit his kind of gravity it would be incredibly difficult to fire, he would have to aim so much high or the bullet would not even get to the target. He was at the middle of the briefing! He thought he didn't have time to change the weapon. Using his mic inside his helmet he spoke to Carson

"S-s-sir...sorry, but, a well...I think I need to change my primary weapon...sir..Ah...ah...sir?"

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 178-Joe

Joe sat on the chair looking out at the crowd when his com came on line.

"Spartan 178, you are wanted at the bridge", a voice reported.

Joe stood up and walked towards the exit, he didn't want to interrupt Hallam's moment but he did. Eyes followed Joe all the way until he left.

"Sorry, orders are orders", Joe apoligized with a brisk salute.

Joe exited the room and walked towards the bridge.

[Soulstep]

Corporal Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Aboard the UNSC Midnight Silence

Andrew lay back in his chair, listening to the briefing. He kept on being distracted by an ODST nearby who kept apparantly humping his Sniper Rifle, but otherwise was paying attention. Tom and Adam were doing likewise, while Ben was getting bored and making sarcastic quipsto himself about some of the questions being asked, and then promptly getting punched in the arm by Sarah.

Then, a lightbulb went off inside Andrew's head, which might completely ruin their chances of retrieving the data. He raised his arm and asked, "Sir, won't the Covies just shut down the Grav Lift once they realise we're attacking them?"

[nex]

Warrent Officer Steve 'Crash' Colsten ONI Aboard the UNSC Midnight Silence

In the true fashion to which he had grown accustumed, Crash leaned against the back wall, oddly distinctive, but suprisingly unnoticed. The trenchcoat now discarded, but anyone could see from his back swept, blue-streaked hair, that he was not just a regulation soldier.

He raised the Caffinated energy drink to his lips and took another mouthful. The biiter-sweet liquid tasted pretty bad, but for him it had become one of life's necessities.

He continued to listen as the troops were addressed. Pausing, he considered his role in this OP. Raising his hand, he spoke suddenly;

"What's the plan when we do get inside the ship?"

[elando]

Hallam first addressed the Corporal Carson's question as Lt. Westbrooke sat down. "Rule of engagement are simple. You're cleared to use leathal force when nessecary. On the approach to the Grav lift we're on a strict return fire only policy. If any of the patrols spot you, you are to return fire and neutralise them before they can get off a signal to the AC. However, once we get to the Grav lift, you are weapons free and anything goes."

Next he turned to Corporal Deiran. "Corporal, thats a good question. You see, ONI have thought of that already. Once we're in control of the Grav lift, it will no doubt be deactivated. Some of us are going to be carrying rope harpoons. The plan is to fire them at the Grav lift entery point on the ship, climb up the rope, spray a shit load of C-12 the blow it open. Once thats done we'll use the harpoons to secure ropes to the roof of the Grav lift bay inside the ship, then just climb up and in."

"Just to recap." Hallam said, turning to face everyone. "We are all 1st company. 2nd and 3rd company comprises soley of Marines. All companies will insert to the DZ, secure it, then 1st will make their way to the Grav lift. 2nd and 3rd are on stand-by to provide reinforcements if needed but it'll take some time for them to arrive depending on how far away we are..."

Suddenly the intercom came to life. "Attention, this is your Captain speaking. We're approaching drop point 1. All personell report to the Pelican bay immediately." Said the voice. "Alright!" Hallam said, clapping his hands together. "You heard the man. Get suited up and ready to move out!"

[nex]

Warrent Officer Steve 'Crash' Colsten

ONI

Aboard the UNSC Midnight Silence

The commotion of people suddenly moving drowned out his question. Still, they knew what they were doing. Personally, he didn't doubt that he could most likely manage to reactivate the gravity lift, given enough time.

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

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

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

Finally, with a deep sigh, much like admitting defeat, he ran one hand through his hair, before he pulled on the helmet and made his way through the crowded corridors to the armoury.

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

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

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

Although he preferred Covenant weapons, having never really fired a UNSC weapon in anger, the armoury was understandingly lacking in that regard.

Signing his name, for the purposes of some lucky administrator, far behind the lines. He made his way back through the crowded corridors, towards the pelican bays.

[dusty]

"Allright Foxtrot, we're moving out! Come on, Come on, Get moving!" The squad hustled as a unit to their Pelican, they had loaded it prior to the briefing.
"Dusty, Get the Chain gun, Tom make sure the Squads here, Oreo, check seat restraints, Vincent check that gear is stowed properly!"
The squad moved with what appeared to be Chaos, but was well drilled action. Dusty heaved the Large chaingun into the back of the pelican, and with the Crew chief bolted it down quickly. Tom counted "Everyone's here" and sat down. Vincent tugged on everyone's equipment stowed above their seats. "All stowed securely sir!" Vincent sat down and secured himself. Dusty climbed into his seat "Chain gun secure" Oreo checked everyone's seats and then sat down and checked his own seat.

They waited for the other squad to make the same preparations.

[inhert]

Rocco and Courtney moved with the crowd as they left the briefing room. The two other members of Super-Six-Four’s crew, Shelby and David, had left the briefing early to run over the Pelican. The co-pilots spent the walk to the Pelican Bay in silence, but they both went over handling the Pelicans above a volcanic planet.

Once they came into the Pelican Bay Rocco and Courtney headed straight for their Pelican. The bay wasn’t crowded with Marines yet space was limited due to the number of Pelicans and support crew that had been transferred into get the 200 men of 1st company planet side. Walking around the Pelican Rocco and Courtney made sure everything was in order, the engines were primed, electronics were connected and fastened, the nose mounted chain gun was there, and finally there were no problems with the exterior armor.

Rounding the rear of the Pelican the pilots met David and Shelby who were standing on the rear bay door. “Everything is in order. Let’s get set for the ground pounders” Rocco said to his crew member.

“Did they tell you two what squad we would be carrying planet side?” Courtney asked as he followed Rocco to the cockpit.

Shelby and David both shrugged as David responded for the pair, “Nobody tells us nuttin’.”

“Then we might be taken the Spartans.” Rocco joked from the cockpit trying to hide the nervous excitement at the proposition of flying Spartans to the planet. In the cargo area David had a more visible reaction of excitement as he moved around the cargo bay in an attempt to make sure everything was in proper order.

“Daivd, calm down.” Shelby interrupted the excitement of David. She wasn’t as impressed as her crew member at the idea of the Spartans, “As far as I’m concerned they’re still human.” Shelby rested herself against the front of the Pelican bay and waited for passengers to embark.

[nex]

Warrent Officer Steve 'Crash' Colsten

ONI

Aboard Pelican, UNSC Midnight Silence Hanger

He hurried from the armoury, to the pelican bay, not wanting to get left behind. He dived into one of the nearest pelicans and strapped into a seat near the door. It was already partly full an his irregular uniform attracted some gazes from his fellow occupants.

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

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

He waited for it to it's self checks before strapping it a mount on the inside of his arm. From there, he could keep his eyes on the screen, without fumbling about with it.

[Soulstep]

Corporal Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Pelican Bay of the UNSC Midnight Silence

"Alright people, weapons check, even if the DZ is secure I don't want us caught with our trousers down!" Andrew ordered via the squad comm, as the noise was too great for regular speech to be heard. A chorus of confirmations greeted his ear as they made their way onto one of the readied Pelicans.

"Check your masks, unless you fancy finding out what death smells like." he said with a grin, as he attached it to his helmet, and checked the seals were all secure. After he was satisfied he wouldn't get poisoned, he sat down, among a large ODST squad and, what he assumed to be, an ONI Spook.

"A Spook? Looks like Hallam wasn't kidding about that data being important." Adam whispered into the squad comms.

"Why would he? And thats Captain Hallam to you, by the way." Sarah whispered back, a smirk leering behind her mask.

"Hey, no ODST is giving ME orders!" Ben grunted.

"Like it or not, he is, mate." Andrew replied with a small laugh.

"Fuck my life..." Ben mumbled under his breath.

[daeron]

Bernard and his squad left the briefing room, heading for their pelican. They stopped by the armory only to grab their suitable weapons, then to the hangar quickly.

"Fill in, Zeta Squad stay together," Bernard ordered.

They did as they were told filling into the pelican and taking their seats together. Now all that waited was for the pelican to get theo orders to leave.

[maxii1]

\Harry- 152

The briefing had concluded, its facts, figures and questions still ringing in Harry’s ear.
He already had all his gear packed, a 64 Magazine Fed Assault Rifle and a standard issue pistol, engraved with G2 on the stock.
G2. Gamma Two. His call-sign within the team.

300 enemy combatants, three Spartans, sounded like a fair game to Harry. He started walking towards the Pelican Bay, following no particular route.
"Gamma Three, hurry up on the Bridge, our ride is awaiting" he radioed to Joe.

[inhert]

It was not long before ten ODST climbed into Super-Six-Four’s cargo bay. The ODSTs set about checking the gear that they had loaded before the briefing. The same gear that David and Shelby had spent the better part of their time waiting looking over.

Once the ODSTs had settled into their seats Shelby stood in the doorway that separated the cockpit from the cargo bay. “Aight ladies, welcome to Lethe air. For those of you that are part of our frequent flier program, please talk to me cause I was uninformed that we had one.” Shelby paused as a soldier in a pilot’s flight suit jumped in and found himself a seat, “Incase of emergency hold-on and well, that’s about it.”

Shelby walked down the center of the bay and counted off the people that were seated. She reported the number up to Rocco and Courtney who made the decision to wait for more soldiers.

[spiritoffire]

Lt. Cody Lance

Neil and Cody had flipped a coin to determine who would deal with the passengers. Cody won, so Neil was in the back making sure everyone was in the correct position, which was generally lower ranks towards the back, and the officers and squad leaders to the front.

When Neil came back to the cockpit, Cody shut the door that divides the passengers from the pilots.

"They're like little kids." sighed Neil.

Cody chuckled then checked, and rechecked the engine responses while he waited for the other pilots to be ready.

[monkeyjoe14]

Joe entered the bridge and saluted the captain. The captain paid him no mind and a technician called Joe over.

"Over here sir", he called.

Joe strolled over to the technician and the moniter he manned. Joe was stopped as a holographic stand came on and a man in a suit and top hat that were fashoined from the 1920's appeared.

"So this is my escort, huh?", the AI asked.

"Yeah, Spartan 178, meet Churchill, he will be the AI that you will take into the assualt carrier", the technician introduced Joe and the AI.

"Nice to meet you", Joe replied.

"Same here, so what are we waiting for?", Churchill asked.

The technician pressed several buttons on the moniter and the holographic display snapped off. Several seconds later a data chip eject from the moniter and the technician handed it to Joe.

"Have fun, you two", the technician joked.

Joe plucked the data chip from the man and inserted it into the back of his helmet. His mind froze over as Churchill entered his mind.

"Plenty of room in here, I might just make this my next vacation home", Churchill said.

Joe laughed at Churchill's joke when his com came online.

"Gamma Three, hurry up on the Bridge, our ride is awaiting", Harry radiod to him.

"Gamma two, I'm enroute now just had to... get some equipment", Joe replied back.

Joe turned towards the door and exited the room.

"So it begins, let's kill some freaks", Churchill said.

[dusty]

Sitting in the Pelican was Squad Foxtrot. They were secured and waiting even though the deployment could easily be several hours away. Tom was sitting next to Dusty going through another Joke, and mercilessly, not using the squad Comm.
"So i walk in, and I'm all like, HEY! If I don't get a blowjob, I at least get a Free Refill Right? Then she was like, If you don't leave now, I’m calling the police! Then i says, get this it's great, Lady listen, i just saved your planet! Where’s your gratitude?"

Dusty looked at the now laughing Tom, Before the man next to him, Vincent looked at Tom. "Did you get your Blow Job?"
"NO! but i got a free Muffin!"
This caused Tom to laugh more, and dusty rubbed his head. He took the moment to look around at everyone doing pre-battle rituals. Valdez was staring at the spook like he was the Devil, While Oreo prayed. Amy was doing something on Her PDA while 8 Slept. Kendra stared at the ground, probably thinking about Jordan who she had feelings for. Tom Was telling awful jokes and stories. Vincent and James were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. "Dusty do you have any stories?"
Tom speaking aroused Dusty from his thoughts.
"Not any as good as you. Tell another one"
Tom smiled, although it wasn't visible through his visor at this.
"Ok ill tell the one about the Milk Maid! So remember ... What was her name... Jane! Jane on Harvest! She lived 4 farms from you!"
"Yeah I remember her"
"So anyways, when I went and signed up from the marines with you and Amy, I saw her on the way there. She asked me ohhhh Tom what are you doing? And i was like Listen Cookie, I’m going to join the UNSC to protect you and your fineeee Ass! and she was like Toommmm I want to have your kids!"
Dusty cut him off "Jane Hated you"
"Come on Dusty why you gotta make me look bad in front of the Marines!"
"You didn't need my help to do that"

[nex]

Warrant Officer Steve 'Crash' Colsten ONI Pelican Bay of the UNSC Midnight Silence

Crash was rapidly getting bored of his surroundings. He understood that he could be here waiting a long time.

The stare of an ODST across from him was pretty off putting. He was only just getting used to the prejudice against the ONI. Nothing was ever said. Most troops were to nervous of the fictional abilities of Spooks to voice their opinions. But he'd noticed around the place, soldiers giving him evil looks, the distaste evident on their face. But he guessed that the ODST would do far more than stare if he knew his full backstory.

He turned his attention back to his PDA. It's diagnostic had long since complete. He ran a few more commands on it, checking what little intel was available. The new privilidge of rank and position made this far easier. Much of it was still restricted, but that just slowed him down.

[inhert]

Shelby walked toward the front of the Pelican when she over heard one of the ODSTs bragging about a sexual conquest that probably never happen. Feed up with the adolescent attempt at masculinity Shelby gave the ODSTs a lite push hoping to knock it on the wall behind him.

"Look bud," Shelby said squatting down to eye level with the trooper. "There are two glaring problems with your stories. One I am surprised that they have microscopes big enough to see you dick. And two you must get any girl that you think is into you with zoo-keepers come to clean the ape cage." Shelby smiled as she stood and turned to continue to the cockpit door. As she walked she started to add dance steps to tease the ODST since this guy clearly never had a girl.