Mission Two: Belly of the Beast (Part the Second)

[Jakob]

Lieutenant Jakob Zaborowski

Jakob nodded and began walking back, the six minute walk seemed like six hours to him, he knew that this may be the end of his career, and he knew if he was not smart about this there was no way he could stay in the military, he walked through the dented halls, staying away from the darkness of the open doors so they would not be spotted, occasionally they would hear destruction and death from god knows where, but for the most part, this part of the ship had been secured.

Jakob walked into the grav lift room and approached the Captain, a few soldiers looked over at the new arrivals but then looked back down, there was nothing new, wounded or OK, it did not make much difference, to them at the moment. Jakob gave a crisp salute when he walked up to his Captain,
"Sir!"

[tincanhitman]

Mim Yap uncovered his head. Seeing that she wasn't going to hit him he let the breath he had been holding out.

"Make sure to report back next time. You have to be wary at all times." She hissed in a low tone to Mim Yap.

"Oh thank you! thank you me be good and keep up like me told and me report in every time me see something!" He said vigorously

Pausing for a minute, she took the extra needler that was on the floor and handed it to Mim Yap. "You take it.. You need it."

Mim Yap nodded and took the needler and waddled down the hall with his sangheili leader. He stared at the maimed human corps and shuddered. "See She kill you if not careful!" the voice said

"She no kill me like that would she?" He asked the voice as they walked "Of course she would! or she do worse!" it replied.

Mim Yap shivered and moved on He tried to keep pace with his leader as not to anger her he didn't want a flat head like dumb human.

[majesticwolfs]

Minor Ambr' Norutee

The short unggoy Ana waddled forward. Reloading her needler quickly and tossing the empty cartridge aside onto the floor. All was quiet as they walked down the hallway, it was eerie how desolate the ship seemed. Normally it was brimming with life during long travels. Brutes and the sangheili would normally get into skirmishes of who was stronger or better in combat with the humans. Unggoy and kig-yar would socialize and gossip with each other like a bunch of fresh year students in training academy.

But now it was as quiet as a tomb and the rank smell of death was upon them as they walked down the hall. It was enough to make the young minor Ambr' to wrinkle her nose and groan with disgust at the stench. As they walked Ambr' noticed that the ship was a bit lopsided since it seemed to be falling to the one side. She wondered what could have put it in such a bad state. Those demons.. Growled the female sangheili clenching her fist into a ball in frustration.

When she turned another corner the dead and blow up body of a fellow brother lay on the floor. His arm had completely been blow apart and from the looks of it he died recently. Probably within the last hour. "Fuckers.." She hissed until she pushed over the corpse with her foot to see that it was an elite she didn't really know. It was Olarmi Kensh-ee. One of the majors aboard this covenant ship.

(( Hope you don't mind me putting Olarmi in this post. I was running out of ideas. ))

[hollowsaber]

Private Jake Furrow Fireteam Alpha; Nova Squad Gravity-lift Room

Jake dragged his half-dead body, keeping to the middle of the group for safety, down the long hallway that lead to the lift in the distance. Along the walls, the darkness beckoned for him to fall into the shadows where he would die. The only thing that kept him from tumbling over lifeless, was the shining light at the other end of the tunnel.

Several minutes passed, only the sounds of distant battles brought noise to Jake's ears. When the hall opened up to the large lift room, Jake took a glance around at everyone in the room. A few troops had been moved around, others were missing, and others were in the wounded area. Jake would probably end up there if the Captain didn't chew him to badly. His three squad mates were escorted to the wounded and a few medics checked up on them. Another looked to Jake, but he waved the man off. He could stand and avoiding the inevitable would only make it worse.

Slowly, carefully strapping his rifle on his back as he moved, Jake walked next to his Lieutenant and dared to make his helmet translucent. The blood on his face have dried up, but he could still feel the dry blood streaking over his eye and down his face. Jake shakily saluted, barely able to keep his hand up for a few seconds as he stared at the Captain.

"S-sir! Private Furrow reporting." Jake said, his voice dry and full of nervousness.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe

Joe's helmet rung as the shells from Silas' rifle dropped on his helmet. He tried to focus solely on the enemy, but it became increasingly difficult.

"Watch where you drop those things", Joe joked as he fired at a group of grunts.

The first grunt fell as a bullet entered it's skull. The second screamed in pain as bullet holes ran up it's side. This was becoming turkey shoot, but it was still dangerous.

"Churchill, anytime with that door now", Joe yelled.

"Shaddup, I'm doing the best I can, The covenant are starting to track my movements in thier software!", Churchill explained.

Joe continued to fire at the covenant and hoped that they would survive this battle. Suddenly the door next to them opened up.

ODST Sergeant Redsont

Redsont wandered the halls as his squad watched out for covenant soldiers. They had been wandering around for at least an hour without any clue as to where they were going.

"Well, I officially think we're lost", Ed stated.

"Great, nothing but us, alien scrap metal, and enough contacts to keep us busy for a long time", Pat said sarcasticly.

Suddenly an explosion was heard and the ship rocked. Redsont stumbled to his knees as Fred fell face first. Desmond held up John as the ship slowly returned to it's previous position.

"What the hell was that", Fred asked as he climbed to his feet.

"Not sure but it can't be good, this ship's going to hell in a waste basket and we're still on board. Let's roll!", Redsont ordered.

The squad moved deeper into the ship until they heard gunfire. They halted as they listened to the exchange.

"Alot of plasma fire, only a few guns firing off", Fred stated as he listened intently.

"Better give them a hand then", Pat said eagerly.

Redsont agreed, they slowly made an advance until they came up to a door. The exchange was occuring behind the door but it was locked.

"Damn, we gotta find away around this doo-", Redsont said as the door opened up.

"Or that works", Ed said.

There stood three spartans firing down at a horde of covenant soldiers. One was standing over the other firing over thier head. Redsont took cover behind a column and fired with the spartans.

"Heard you guys from halfway across the ship", he joked as he took down a Jackal with a spary of bullets.

The remaining squad took position and fired as well, the odds were a little more even now. But they still needed a back up plan to get out of here.

[tincanhitman]

Mim Yap followed close behind her and so when she stopped to look at the major he plowed into her legs. "Sorry!" he said and quickly scrambled out of reach just in case.

He decided to scan the area for threats but soon got bored as his mind began to wander back to the thoughts of the food nipple. He cought himself day dreaming and started to reprimand himself when he suddenly got distracted by the Sangheili majors shiny red armor.

Mim Yap walked up to the major and looked him over. "Looks like radiation burns from a grenade." The voice said. Mim Yap tried to ignore the voice. But he had a strong urge to tell her now that the voice said so.

He waddled up to her and taped on her armor "The voice sais its a nades fault because...of the Raid- road- because of the burns" He tells her giving up on the word radiation. He then began to eyeball Olarmi's plasma rifle.

[maxii1]

Captain Nigel Lennox
Gravity Lift Room



"S-sir! Private Furrow reporting." Jake said, his voice dry and full of nervousness.

Lennox smiled at the trooper in front of him and offered his hand to the man “Furrow, you certainly know how to cause a distraction, I’ll grant you that”.

The two men shook hands before Lennox continued “I appreciate that I wasn’t here when you went off on your mission, that I still hadn’t assumed control, but a private can’t go about his own business without orders, he has to stick with his squad, with his team”

The Captain paused, knowing that the Private in front of him expected a court martial or worse “Now, you know what you did was foolish, hell it was bloody reckless” he paused, smiling a little “Kinda’ reminds me of my youth, son, I’m going to come clean here, I could do with a new expeditionary officer onboard my EOS unit, the offer’s there if you wanted to move up the ranks?”

The private had demonstrated initiative and skill in his fighting and conduct whilst aboard the carrier, how could the Captain bring himself to lose a decent man for the sake of battlefield politics.

[hollowsaber]

Private Jake Furrow Fireteam Alpha; Nova Squad Gravity-Lift Room

Jake felt as if he was going to die, but as he shook hands with the Captain, he felt a little stress lift off his shoulders. The man wasn’t going to kill him, and he certainly wasn’t going to martial him on the spot. The man’s face told otherwise, the only problem was that he was about to tumble over and never get back up, that is, if he didn’t see a medic in a few minutes. Jake perked his hearing and looked into the eyes of his Captain, his vision blurry but still able to make out the figure.

“Furrow, you certainly know how to cause a distraction, I’ll grant you that.” The officer spoke.

Jake swayed from one foot to the other to keep steady. He had more over almost killed himself rather then actually ‘causing a distraction. It had worked though, the hall was almost filled with Covenant forces trying to get into the room. 4 suicidal assaults, majors, brutes, all of the top-warriors were probably in that hallway. They probably thought Jake and his 3 squad mates were the Spartans from the large force. If only they were down there a little longer, maybe they could have actually done some damage.

Jake’s thought was cut off as the Officer continued, the man offered Jake a position as an Expeditionary Officer on his EOS Unit. Jake froze and he felt his heart skip a beat, as if it hadn’t already done it a few times. He looked at his Lieutenant, then at the Captain, then over at his three friends that were being treated. They looked at him and gave him the thumbs-up, telling him they were fine. Jake nodded then looked back at the Captain.

“Sir, would I be able to get fixed up before I answer? I feel like I’m going to die and I would like to talk to my squad mates…” Jake muttered, shifting to the other leg.

[maxii1]

Captain Nigel Lennox
Gravity Lift Room


“Of course Private, I thought you’d already been treated, your dismissed” the captain stated, turning his attention to the nearby Jakob Zaborowski.

“At ease Lieutenant, I don’t need to go through and explain the issue that has occurred regarding your platoon do I?” he paused, using a rhetorical question to make the man seek an answer to the question.

“I have half a mind to bust you all the way back down the ranks, but I think that would be a little too extreme, you’re fireteam is clearly out of action for the moment at least, in that regard your platoon is combat ineffective, I’m sending you down to the ground to aid the picket duty at the gravity lift”

He watched Jakob’s face plummet, the poor soldier had failed to keep control of his men and as such was being removed from the fight, at least he still had his rank and the majority of his platoon still with him.

"I'm sorry soldier" Lennox stated to the lieutenant and turned away.


OOC: This would probably happen in a real life situation, also it might work out in your favor Jakob, you’ll be out of the ship in case anything else blows up! It’s relatively safe down there, for now!

[Soulstep]

Corporal Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Target Hades

"Room clear!"

Indigo squad was shouting back the phrase every 15 seconds now, as they gradually moved faster and faster through the ship. They had not ran into any resistance yet, not even a solitary Grunt. He was relieved, and slightly annoyed, at the same time.

Looking back, he saw the ODSTs of Red Wing moving ahead of the ONI techs. Hopefully these guys were as good fighters as their armour claimed, otherwise Indigo would be chewed up in moments if they ran into anything more than a light patrol.

"Let's pick up the pace, the closer we can get to the bridge, the better chance we have of taking the pressure off the SPARTANs," he said to his team as they entered yet another room.

[Dutch]

San's cursed his ill-fortune as his target darted behind cover with another one of his fellow demons. The cover, and overturned supply crate made out of the dull purple metal, was blocking most of San's view of the target. He let loose a growl and prepared to advance on them, when a hail of primitive bullets slammed into his shields, causing them to flare brightly as they resisted the assault.

San darted behind the corner for a moment to let his protective energy barrier recharge. The alarm blared, warning him of his dire status for a moment, then faded to a faint whine, then to nothing at all as his suit hummed, bringing back the shields. As the bar indicating his shields energy level filled up like a bowl brimming at the top with water, San prepared to fling himself around the corner to ran death upon his foes, when a second thought occurred to him. Instead of a charge at them, honorable for sure, perhaps it would be better to flush the prey out with grenades and then finish them off.

It was worth an attempt, and San plucked a plasma grenade off of his waist. He was about to arm and chuck it at the demons, when yet another idea came to him, as if implanted there by the gods. You see, while the plasma grenades were incredibly effective, they had to be thrown very quickly after arming, lest the thrower become adhered to his own explosive. Added to the devices lacking of any ability to roll behind nooks and crannies and such, the resulting three-second pause before destruction often enough gave the humans a chance to slither away from their holy purification.

So in an attempt to repair this problem, San looked around for something he could use. Aha! The plasma pistol of a fallen Unngoy! Taking the small energy pistol, San fit the plasma grenade into the claw-like opening where the plasma bolt fired. Too large, so using his ferocious strength, San applied his muscles to the claw and bent the metal around the grenade so that it fit, then bent it more so that it was squeezed tightly around the spherical bomb. Knocking it against the wall to make sure it was secure; he nodded in satisfaction and squeezed the symbol on the top, arming the grenade. It began to glow a bright, luminous blue as plasma gas began to leak out. San held the grenade-bearing pistol in his hand for a moment, then exited his cover and threw it at the demons position. It landed behind the overturned supply crate, and detonated immediately.

[hollowsaber]

Private Jake Furrow Fireteam Alpha; Nova Squad Gravity-Life Room

As he was dismissed, Jake gave the best salute he could to the Officer, then walked over to where the rest of his team was at the medical area. He got enough glances from the others who were standing around, and decided to solidify his visor again. He didn’t want to pick another fight at this moment and half of those guys had never seen his face, why show them now? He had just gotten back from one of his dumbest ideas yet, the least they could do was leave him the hell alone. The medics hopefully wouldn’t care so he would be fine and out of the way at least. All he needed were a few patches here and there to close up a few cuts and to get cleaned up.

As he took a seat next to Rich, a medic gladly walked over to him and pulled out his aid-kit. The man started to clean up his external wounds, nothing was bad on the inside except for shrapnel here and there. Jake just would need time to rest, his body felt like it was going to fall apart. Everything stung, and everything burned, at least he finally knew the pain of death. Jake chuckled a bit and a sharp pain shot through his chest, making him wince. The medic told him to relax and so he did. Jake looked over to his the other three team mates; gordan was asleep, Luther was fine, and Rich was being helped.

“So, what are you guys going to do?” Jake muttered, trying not to work to much.

“I’m staying here. Following you was enough for me.” Rich groaned.

“I’m going back out once I’m cleared. You?” Luther looked over at Jake.

Jake looked over at the Captain who was just finishing with his Lieutenant, Jakob, it seemed. Jake remembered the offer, and he was probably going to take it up, but he wanted to be around people he knew when he got there. Though, he didn’t know if the people he knew wanted to go with him.

“I was going to go with the Captain. Expeditionary Force I guess.” Jake said, staring at his Commander.

“He offered you that? You’re joking?” Rich was now interested.

“Eh, it seems like fun. I don’t really know what it means but I was going to take him up on the offer.” Jake looked at his medic, who was listening but it wasn’t his choice to talk.

“It’s kind of like Special Forces. Expeditionary Forces go in first and lead the charge for the others behind them. I hear they fight next to the Spartans sometimes.” Luther added before tilting his head to the side to try and rest.

“If I asked, would you guys go with me?” Jake said, quickly getting their attention. Even Gordan woke up to look over.

“I missed something important didn’t I.” Gordan said, in a daze.

“Jake’s getting a promotion, and I think we’re going with him.” Luther said.

“Oh great, now we gotta watch his ass even more don’t we.” Gordan groaned and rested his head back.

“Go back to sleep.” Rich joked, tapping Gordan on his chest in his wound.

Gordan grunted and hit Rich back. The two laughed a bit and Luther shook his head. Jake looked down at the medic who was cleaning up his right forearm now, where his tattoo was. Jake remembered the tattoo pulsing when he was in the room. Had his mom saved him? Or was it just a coincidence? Great, now he was losing his mind. The medic gave Jake a quick pat on the shoulder and nodded.

“Stay put and relax. You’ll be good to go in a few.” The man said before heading down the line to another ODST from a different platoon.

Jake wanted to take the man’s advice, but at this time, they were in war. No matter the circumstance, he needed to get moving. He was treated and rearing to go, the only thing bad was that his energy was low. With a grunt, Jake shoved off the ground to his feet. The medic tried to push him back down but once again, Jake waved the man off. Rich nodded to Jake that they would be fine, the other two were already asleep. Jake nodded back at Rich and headed over to the Captain. He pulled his rifle off his back and waited for the officer to finish whatever he was doing before he spoke.

“Sir! If you would like to go up on your offer, I’ll take it. Would you be able to make sure those three troopers got put into good hands at least?” Jake said, nodding over to his team.
“They’ve seen enough action sir.”

[monkeyjoe14]

ODST Sergeant Redsont and Spartan 148 Joe

Redsont took a moment to see the oddly disfigured object and make it out. A plasma pistol holding a grenade, he immidiatly took cover behind the column.

"Incoming", he warned the others.

Most of the troopers were secure enough as they hid mostly around the corner, through the doorway. The spartans were in the most danger of the grenade. Joe heard the sergeant's voice a second before seeing the grenade. He then grabbed Silas and dived towards the door. It looked as if Joe had tackled Silas in a football game. He then braced as the grenade exploded and the tempature rised 10 degrees in a second. The explosion flung the now half melted purple crate towards the covenant. The grenade had moved them from cover but created a projectile at the covenant.

The sergeant then saw the crate flying, and then had an idea.

"Grenades up", Redsont ordered as he took his own grenade out and primed it.

A volley of grenades followed the crate down the hall as it spun towards the covenant. It looked like the crate was being followed by moving rocks in a tunnel.

[Dutch]

San yowled in victory at the grenades detonation, and then growled in rage as he saw the demons emerge unscathed. While several other humans, both marines and special soldiers, had been killed by the blast, his targets were still alive. Suddenly his shields flared, whined, and died. Moving like light San once again was forced flashed behind cover again to regain his protection. He could see that the grenade had blown the overturned supply crate into dozens of pieces of boiling hot flying metal; this had caused his shields to die.

A look at the Covenant warriors with him showed that the shrapnel had caused massacre. Many Unngoy lay dead, torn apart by the murderous metal. Some jackals were also dead and in pain, while one of his own kind, a Sangheili, lay dead also. Slain in battle, with honor. His spirit would soar to the heavens and his enemies would burn in the torturous pits of hell, especially while San was still alive.

Another sound perked Sans ears, a faint, familiar metal bouncing of a human explosive device, a grenade. He peeked around the corner to investigate, and found multiple human grenades on a rendezvous with the covenant forces. Moving like a viper, San batted one of the fragmentation devices still in the air back at its dispatchers so that it would kill some humans. San realized he’d best get to cover, and did so. Leaping around the corner, and went into a somersaulting roll and came to a rest a fair distance from the deadly area which exploded, throwing shrapnel everywhere. Some pieces struck San, glancing off his armour. This was of no concern to him, though his shields did drain to around half.

San let his shields recharge, then turned around the corner to fight his foe once again. A benefit to the crates destruction was the loss of cover for the humans, an advantage which San promptly took full advantage of. Leveling his plasma rifle, he held down the fire apparatus, sending a steady stream of fire down at his enemy. He stopped firing to let it cool down for a moment, then picked up his falling brothers rifle and fired with twice the fury. Another two marines were burnt down, and San roared in victory.

San did another quick check of his situation, now only realizing his position. His soldiers were dead, with possibly of a few mangled survivors who would not last long. The humans in front of him would kill him, and any cowardly retreat would put him against human forces doubtlessly on their way to reinforce the demons and their heretical work.

Realizing that his time of death was near at hand, San decided to do the honorable choice, and face his foes before walking the path of salvation. San let loose a roar of defiance, and sent forth a challenge to the humans.

“Humans! Send forth your strongest warrior, demon or not, so that he and I shall do battle!”

[Jakob]

Lieutenant Jakob Zaborowski

Jakob gave a salute to the Captain and turned to the Private who just walked up, he sighed at the words of his Private leaving his command, he turned to him.
"Kid, speak to me with the Sergeant when your done, I got some things to say."
He sighed and walked off, the Sergeant was speaking to a medic about one of Jake's fire team, he walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, Aborn waved away the medic and walked into a corner with him.
"You wanted to speak to me sir?" Asked the Sergeant, not realizing what was happening.
"Well Private Furrow just left our squad, he's to good for us, he's joing up with a expeditionary force, and he is bringing his fire team."

The Sergeant had a hurt look on his face, one of betrayal and some pride for his man, but mostly sadness.
"Bu-" Jakob cut him off
"And get this, the same reason he is being promoted, is the same reason I am in a shit load of trouble and just got our platoon grounded." The Sergeants jaw dropped, he shouted,
"SON OF A BITCH!" And most faces in the room turned to him, in a awkward silence, he looked around and waved them away.
"I told the Private to speak with us, feel free to give him your mind."

[SuperCommando]

SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Inside Target Hades

En route to bridge

“Oof…!”

Something collided with Silas none-too-gently from the side, a something he then realized to be Joe. He was dimly aware of the blinding blue explosion and sudden heat spike nearby as the two Spartans flew sideways. They went sprawling through the open door, together a combined mass of one ton of heavy armor and equipment that crashed to the ground with all the grace of a pair of vending machines toppling over. At least Silas managed to recover some dignity – after smashing into the floor, he pulled up his knees into a backwards roll and ended up in a crouching position.

While the troopers around them were busy chucking frags out the door at the Covenant, Silas turned to Joe and gave his brother-in-arms a swift, silent nod of thanks. Some wily Covie must have cooked a plasma grenade, using that plasma pistol to hold it so the grenade did not stick to its hands, or claws, or whatever alien appendage was used to throw it. At least, that’s what it looked like, anyway.

Never one to sit around and wait, Silas shuffled over to the door, pressing his back to the wall beside it. If the enemy decided to press their advantage and rush in, he’d be waiting. However, his tracker looked surprisingly clear. Daring a half-second peek outside, he discovered only one alien remaining on its feet.

“Single contact. Red Elite,” he reported. “And it looks pissed.”

A garbled, inhuman voice roared from outside.

Humans! Send forth your strongest warrior, demon or not, so that he and I shall do battle!

Well, that was new. Silas could tell the Elite’s challenge was raising quite a few eyebrows among the humans, himself included.

“What do you think, Gamma two?” Silas asked Harry. “Has to be a trap. It’s baiting us.”

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe and ODST Sgt. Redsont

Joe's built in translator spoke as the elite howled at them.

"Send forth your strongest fighter, Demon or not, so that he and I may do battle", it spoke.

Joe was stunned at this declaration, the elite was risking it's life for a one on one fight. He was baffled as he tried to understand the logic. The elite's honor demanded that they should fight to their death but this was to much. Joe went to raise his rifle but couldn't, the elite's request had stirred something in him. Pity? Remorse? Honor? Joe felt the urge to honor the elite's last request not out of pity, but out of his own primal need for honor.

"Silas, leave this to me.", Joe said.

He ejected his clip from his gun and discarded it, as he moved towards the elite. Suddenly, he felt an arm on his shoulder as he walked. The sergeant was doing the best he could to keep his hand on the spartan's shoulder but it was a futile effort. The spartan did turn to see what the sergeant was trying to do.

"We've got your back if you need it", Redsont assured him.

Joe nodded as he focused his attention on the elite. He proceeded to walk until there was about a three feet distance between him and the elite. He got in a half crouch with his fist raised to his face. Any punch the alien would throw would have to travel a distance to reach him and the stance strengthened his legs a kick would be resisted by his shields and his armor. He had learned muay thai back during training and hoped that it would be enough for the elite. Joe waited for the elite's first move.

[Oresus]

There wasn't much left of the door after the blast, and Nha 'Chavamee congratulated Dirapp for his skillful use of depleted anti-matter charges to clear the path for them and any who happened across this area later. The dependable Unggoy Major had brought the rest of Vigilant with him, and with K'tas Raedomai and his troops in position, they controlled this vital chokepoint of the Assault Carrier. There were only a couple of corridors that were traversable, due to the excessive warping and collapsing all over the ship due to the earlier strike by the humans. Nothing would get past the two lances without a fight.

As an afterthought, Nha ordered Tuk out of the junction they were camping in and ahead into uncertain territory to act as a scout and alert both lances when the humans approached. "Don't worry; you can flee straight back once you sight them," said the Major Domo reassuringly. As Tuk left, his commander leaned against the empty doorway and gazed into space, listening to the not-too-distant sounds of gunfire and anticipating the battles and glory to come. A worry crept into his head, however, spoiling the daydream. Demons aboard...the thought would have made Nha shiver had he not disciplined himself to not be openly afraid in front of his lance. Despite this, inside the Sangheili's zealous excitement was replaced by a gnawing anxiety. He'd only encountered demons once before...and that had been enough. A hand crept into one of the gaps in his armor and fingered the skin over the left ribs, skin scarred with bullet wounds inflicted by a gold-visored foe of extraordinary tenacity.

It wouldn't happen again.

---

A dirty tear escaped from Circip's eye as he said his goodbyes to another Unggoy slain in battle, before joining what remained of the lance to advance upon the humans' location. Brure had led them back towards the grav-lift, only to discover that it was occupied by heretics, who promptly opened fire. The lance that had been accompanying them had fought, and been wiped out within a minute or two. Circip thanked the gods again that they were alive, but that might change any second.

"Forward!" screamed the Minor Domo, and they moved in on an angle toward the bulk of the fighting between the grav-lift and the command center...

[Dutch]

Oh the blessed joy! Such was the joy that ignited in San as he saw the armored human, the demon, discard the ammunition clip from his rifle, and step forward in acceptance of his challenge. He watched the ‘spartan’ come forward until he was naught but a meter away, and then took a combat pose in readiness for the fight to follow. While San believed in the humans condemnation to hell due to their heretical defilation of the sacred Forerunner artifacts, he had great respect for the honor often exhibited by them, such as now. San bowed to his opponent in his honorable fashion, and then activated his blade.

From the small projector on the top of his right wrist, the sixteen inch blade of compressed plasma snapped to life with a crackle and a flare of energy. Now, the plasma blade extended from San’s right wrist, ready to do whatever its dominant wrist asked of it. San stepped forward carefully, cautiously. He started circling the demon, looking for an opportunity to strike.

Without warning, his left fist fired off a trio of lightning fast blows, all at different locations of his foes body. All of the attacks were merely feints, distractions to throw his foes attention from the actual attack. A deadly-fast sweeping kick of his leg at his opponents legs was an attempt to knock the demon from his feet, while two viper-fast jabs at his head chest with his bladed right fist attempted to skewer his foe.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe

Joe cringed as he saw the blade, wishing he had kept his gun. He then prepared for several jabs,but they never came. Suddenly, a great force struck his leg as he tried to maintain his balance. The kick was strong but Joe's stance allowed for him to maintain his balance. The elite then jabbed at Joe with the energy blade. Joe ducked as the first jab passed over his head and static washed over his heads up display. The elite then went for a second jab at him with the blade. Joe was quick as he barely dodged the blade to his right, the suit's internal tempature sky rocketed. Joe then brought his fist towards the elite then a swift elbow with his other arm. Lastly he went with a swift headbutt as a finsher to his combo.

[SuperCommando]

SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Inside Target Hades

En route to bridge

“God damn it Joe…” Silas muttered under his breath. Like the rest of Gamma Team, Joe was one of the fellow Spartans that Silas had only rarely been teamed up with during training. Sure, they all knew each other to some degree, but they knew the people they worked with the most. He was still getting used to Gamma’s personalities. As a result, Silas was fairly surprised at his teammate’s brash decision to face the Elite in one-on-one combat. Silas had always taken a practical, calculated approach to missions that ran contrary to Joe’s sudden recklessness. Hadn’t he just stated this could be a trap? There were more important things to do right now then play games with the enemy.

But it was done. Joe walked right past him and had begun his fight. Except the Elite activated a gauntlet energy blade, leaving Joe at a disadvantage seeing as he oh-so-nobly discarded his own weaponry in favor of a “fair” fight.

“Damn it,” Silas cursed again, ripping his own prized knife from its sheath on his chest with a sharp noise. The foot-long matte black blade was more akin to a short sword then a knife, and it was Silas’s only truly personal possession. “Joe! Catch!”

Silas stepped out from the doorway and tossed his knife over to Joe. Now the odds were more even, and he’d be damned if he didn’t support his own teammate.

“Give ‘em hell!” he called by way of encouragement.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe

Joe heard Silas as he finished his combo with the elite.

"Joe! Catch!", Silas yell as a blade flew at Joe.

Joe was quick to jump at the blade and grab it with his right hand. He turned towards the elite once more, his glance as solid as a rock.

"My name is Joe", he stated to the elite, "and I am your opponent!"

Joe prepared for the next strike at the elite.

[Dutch]

Several things happened.

The demon dodged his blade and remained on his feet despite the sweeping blow. He immediately recovered and fired off a series of attacks, a fist and an elbow came at him. San blocked both of attacks, but was rammed by the masked humans head. San reeled back from the hit, shields drained to half and starting to give off a faint warning.

Another one of the two demons on the sidelines watching quickly drew a primitive metal knife and tossed it at his comrade who quickly caught it, then turned and stared at him, brimming with confidence.

“My name is Joe, and I am your opponent.”

San listened to him in silent admiration for his courage. Nodding his head, San returned the introduction.

“I am San Falamee, holy warrior of the Covenant. My hooves shall surely tread the sacred path!” With this, he dropped into a warrior’s crouch, ready to spring at a moment’s notice while he analyzed the weapon his opponent held.

The knife was of decent size, made out of a strong human metal. San knew that while his foe was of great strength, the knife could not cut through his shields or armour, leaving the only way it could wound him would be through stabbing. San also knew that his plasma blade was
superior, for one reason it was longer than the knife, and it’s very nature allowed it to both stab and slice through the humans and his armour as if it were naught but cream.

However, the humans knife did have the advantage in the sense that it was not attached to its wrist, the creature had far more maneuverability that San did with his own blade. No matter, the heathen must die. San moved into action very suddenly, a blast of motion!

San fired off a deadly fast flurry of swift, shallow punches from both fists, his plasma blade making rabid-fire jabs at the demons limbs and chest. Another viscous kick fired from his leg, aimed at the demons midsection while the plasma dagger went for the knife-bearing arm.

[Seraph]

Minor Ramia Sraomee Lethe, AC Pious Charity A small detoure...

Ramia peaked her head out from around a corner scanning all open directions carefully. The faint darkness that consumed all throughout this sector made for excellent cover to keep ones self hidden from undesirable eyes. But navigating the warped innards within the ship's hull was proving to be a tedious task indeed. All the usual surfaces that had once been sleek were now twisted with unseen depressions and protrusions, even small segments of the ships very super-structure poked through the walls. All of these making blotchy silhouettes to the Minor's eyes.

This must be one of the more ravaged sections of the ship that had been ravaged most by the aerial strike prior to the human infiltration of the Pious Charity. At least it was not a place where few dare tread as some unseen hazard may spell doom for the over eager. Ramia looked back behind her to see a low crouched shape that was Soh'dri a few paces behind. A few strips of faint, blue light on his armor and plasma rifle made him easy to identify. Squinting down each corridor of the junction she signaled an advance down the right hallway, hugging the wall with deliberate steps.

It made Ramia very nervous to sneak about in such a treacherous route. Her hearts were pounding in her chest and she could barely keep her breathing steady and quiet. The corridor was all but dead save for the faintest sounds of battle and their own foot falls. Up ahead was something that came on as strange to Ramia's vision at the other end of the hall. Bright white light that snake only so much around the corner. Her head perked and looked back again to Soh'dri who's stance showed he had likewise noticed the light.

"Come, it may be a way out." Ramia urged in a hushed voice and quickened her pace to a trot. Their came a cry of caution from behind her followed by a growl and soon began to hear foot steps of her brother following. A along the way she stumbled on the warped uneven floor more than a few times. They drew closer and closer and her pace quickened more with the corner right in front of them with light so bright she had to squint. Ramia flew around the corner until she was blinded, but a strange and too sudden feeling of witlessness to hold that confused and surprised her.

Suddenly there was nothing but open air and lack of a floor beneath her feet. All that came to her vision that she was looking vertically down at the bare ground of Lethe! The split second revaluation snapped into perspective and Ramia's eyes shot wide and out let a shrill panicked scream escape her spread mandibles cramped in her breather. For but the slightest moment she felt weightless and the next moment she was dangling like a young pup in her parent's mouth.

The eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and time just seemed to stop as she became oblivious to all else but the open view of the planet surface. The young Minor was limpest living corpse in Soh'dri's grip. Damnation.... He had her by the neck nape of her armor's collar and prone over the edge. Once he had a firm hold he began to pull his lifeless sibling up from death's open maw. Glancing up he saw that the hole Ramia had nearly fallen through was quite a few meter's across, to far to jump, and ran straight down through the whole ship. A crater within the larger crater aligned with hole. The human MAC round from the orbital strike...

No sooner had the thought came to him, he and Ramia were feet from the gap, with Ramia laying slumped against the wall. Everything felt numb, her body, her mind, everything. Her eyes were glazed over and staring off into space. The utter shock of what just happened, of what could have happened...it was to much!

"Damnation...", she mouthed still holding her breath.

Almost oblivious to Soh'dri trying to rouse her from shock by waving a hand in front of her face. Her own hand shot up and grabbed his wrist. The action made Soh'dri jump in surprise and tried to pull away, but Ramia's grip was firmer than any vice-grip! She was trembling, badly.

"Ramia?" Soh'dri softly called her name. "Ramia." he repeated a little more firmly this time. The result was not so satisfactory as he was expecting. Ramia didn't look up at her elder sibling, but more like right through him with a blank stare. It was good enough...

"Ramia, we must keep moving forward." she looked back towards the gaping hole ahead and paled a bit, but her brother's hand guided her absent gaze back to him shaking his head. "No, we have reached an impass this way, we must retrace our steps and go the other way." All he got was an absent nod in response. Letting out a relieved sigh he tried helping the other Sangeili to her feet, which she proved very unstable as her legs would barely support her. Soh'dri holstered his plasma rifle on his hip so he could sling Ramia's arm over his neck and shoulder to support her.

"Damnation..." she whispered it as if it were her last words. This planet was a hell...some how it felt like sick joke and the gods forsook them here. She felt like a hollow shell and her very soul already fell to it's death. She hated the light, she hated the light she had just seen and hated the horrible truth that revealed itself. She was going to die, they were all going to DIE! She felt cold, so cold that were it not for the warmth of Soh'dri's body she would think herself a conscious corpse. If not now then surely later...

Back into the darkness the two Sangheili Minors went. Ramia fell warm in the darkness, warm and alive. Shadows cloud ones view and makes them ignorant. Ignorance is bliss in the clutches of death. "Death can't find me in the dark shadows..." she whispered so quietly Soh'dri barely caught it. He gave her a sideways glance and truly felt worried.

He could only pray that she'd recover from her little psychotic episode. If they were to get caught in the middle of a fight, she would become a burden and be the end of them both.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe

"I am San Falamee, holy warrior of the Covenant. My hooves shall surely tread the sacred path!” , the translator spoke as the elite roared.

Joe had at least learned his opponent's name, however strange it was. Suddenly the elite struck with another maneuver, this time jabbing with both fist and another sweep. Joe's stance had protected him the first time but the kick had left a pain in his leg, he doubted he would resist another. Joe had another idea, he ducked down as the leg swept at where his side now was and went to grab the elite's massive leg. His shields drained to half as he did so, but it was better then contending with that blade. Joe then went for another headbutt at the elite's chest and hid the blade under him as he stabbed it foward. The elite would have trouble knowing where the blade was with his leg in Joe's arm.

[Dufflepud]

K'tas and his lance slipped down the hallway, coming to the junction which he would defend. With Nha Chavamee at the other junction, there was no way any humans would get past them.

[Dutch]

San's attacks were dodged by the nimble human warrior. San began to brace himself for the attack which hit him shortly after. The human had lowered his head in another attempt to ram him, however the equally-nimble Sangheili predicted and managed to dodge the assault.

What he did not dodge, however, was the hidden primitive knife which the human demon had concealed. The point of the weapon hit the right side of his abdomen, applying tremendous force all narrowed to a very small area. His shields flared in defiance to the energy assailing it, but to no avail. There was a popping sound, his shields flared brightly and died, and the knife continued its quest into the Sangheili.

Most of the weapons force had been spent on the shield, so when it hit the strong armored plate which served as the final barrier between the metal knife and the Sangheili flesh, it only barely penetrated. Still, penetrate it did and San felt his first flare of pain as the sharp point pierced his leathery skin. San quickly snapped to the side in an effort to dislodge the knife from the spartans hands, and swung his bladed wrist in a sizzling blow to his opponents exposed side.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe

Joe had no time to dogde the sword so he released the knife and used both hands to grab the elite's sword arm. It's muscle felt like solid steel as Joe attempted to stop the attack. The blade slowed but to no avail, his shields sparked and faded as The blade inched closer to him. Joe had no time to lose, he brought his knee up to collide with the elite's elbow joint in a final attempt to keep the blade for cutting him. This was done just as the blade started to pierce his suit. Alloy and hydrastic gel began to ooze from the cut as the blade sawed deeper.

"All or nothing!", Joe said as he thrusted his knee with all his might.

Joe then went to bend the arm back and send the blade straight into the elites body. This was the last and final move Joe would make, it truly was all or nothing.

[Dufflepud]

K'tas crouched down behind the wall, waiting for the next wave of humans to come charging around the corner. Suddenly, his communicator crackled to life, and he heard the familiar voice of Jetna Khatnemee, the ultra whom he served under.

"What is it commander?" Said K'tas through the small mouth piece that was built into his armor. "Anything wrong?"

"It is good to hear your voice , K'tas, and I am glad that you are still alive. I understand that it may seem important to hold that junction, but we need you back at the command center. The human forces are organizing, and we need more soldiers if we are to smite these heretics!"

"Understood, commander," said K'tas, "but let me first attempt to bring along an ally, an honorable sangheili who may prove to be a deadly asset in the coming battle."

"This is acceptable, but only if you are quick." Replied the ultra, "May the gods protect you and and your lance."

"Thank you sir, I'm on my way." said K'tas. He turned, and with a quick, "follow me!" He sped off down the corridor, In search of Nha.

[Dutch]

San roared in victory as his sizzling blade slashed the human, piercing armour, shields and flesh. However, he was stopped in his roar by two problems. The not-so-serious problem was the demon had fired his knee into San’s abdomen, breaking his slowly regenerating shields again and driving the wind from him with a gasping whoosh.

The second, much more serious and certainly the last of his problems, was the fact that, in a final move fueled by adrenaline and desperation, the human seized San’s outstretched wrist in a iron, vice-like grip, and turned the wrist around on its owner, and pushed it in, effectively impaling the Sangheili on his own blade.

Pierced in the dead center of the chest, the burning blade of energy crackled and stuck out of his back, vaporizing and boiling blood dispersing off of it. San felt a massive jolt of burning, white hot, piercing agony as the gauntlet ran him through. He opened his mandibles in a silent statement of shock, pain, and horror. The pain faded as shock took over quickly, and
San fell to his strong knees. With fumbling, long fingers and a blurring vision, San fumbled around until he deactivated the gauntlet. His limp arm fell to his side, completely useless now.
His vision fading, San seemed to be looking at his blurring opponent through an ever-increasing tunnel of darkness. Everything seemed far off and distant. Voices were quieter, sights were dimmer, and the erratic thumps of his own heart as it rapidly tried to compensate for his horrific injury. Now on his hands and knees, Sans fading consciousness made him realize what a humiliating and dishonorable position he was in. Sucking in a ragged gasp for air, he forced his head to look his victorious foe in the eye.

At least he had died honorably, in battle. Slain by a Sangheili blade also, not some verminous human weapon, and in single-combat too. San wasn’t surprised by the outcome. He never went to battle expecting to live, for those who battle expecting to live shall surely die. Now San was dying, and he wasn’t so surprised. He wished he could have won, to stay alive and kill more of the foe, but now he would not do such glories. No, his hooves would surly walk the blessed path.

But he would not go silently.

Through some unfathomable reserve of berserk inner reservoir of strength, San stood up on shaky, quivering knees. Looking the spartan dead in where his eyes would be, he spoke in a shaky, but undeniably confident voice.

“I tread the blessed path human, and while you fight honorably, you shall not walk as I.” He put his hand to his waist, and activated the last three plasma grenades on his body, and with a last burst of warrior strength, he turned and threw himself into the midst of the observing humans, demons and normal ones.

The last things he saw was a sapphire flash. The last thing he felt was a wave of heat. The last thing he heard, was his dying warcry fill his ears as it cried the humans death song.

“Falaaaaam!”