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

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe and ODST Sgt. Redsont

Joe stood there as the elite fell to it's own weapon, if not for it's confidence and Joe's distracting first strike he would have surely lost. He held the cut in his armor, just as some blood began to ooze through. The Elite, however was not finished. In a last ditch effort of anger it primed it's grenades and through itself into Silas and the ODSTs.

"Watch out!", Joe screamed as the grenades erupted.

There was a bright flash and the elite was gone, Redsont however had managed to survive by jumping from his cover and landing in the doorway. He looked back to see molten steel and steam where the elite once was. Redsont felt pity for a creature that would sacrifice itself for one last attack. Joe walked up to the ODSTs and nodded to them.

"Thanks for having my back", he said.

Redsont noticed the Spartan's wound and turned to John.

"John, patch our winner up, he has a leak!", Redsont ordered.

John came up reluctantly, and examined the wound. He reaached into his back pack and took out a canister of bio foam. He gave it to Joe slowly.

"Here you go sir", John muttered.

"Thanks and ease up a bit", Joe told him.

Redsont and the others laughed as Joe looked at the blade dicarded on the ground. He quickly grabbed the blade and injected the bio foam, it's cold embrace over ame the heat from the elite's sword.

[smoke]

Kane’s salute fell as the captain strolled passed his squad to meet another solider. As he looked to his squad mates two officers confronted him “You took your god damn time these supplies were meant to be here half a bloody hour ago!” one of the officers snapped as the other looked over the content of the crate now reviled to be filled with medical supplies. “Apologies sir, got it here as soon as I was ordered” Kane replied.

Wiley and Challahan lugged the crate over to the area were the injured were being treated while the other officer spoke to Kane. “You lot combat ready?” he inquired his features softening while he rubbed his forehead. “Sir, always Sir” Kane barked off fighting down a smile. The officer eyed Kane and his remaining men suspiciously before sighing heavily “right then, I want you to take your men down this corridor, had reports of the Covies trying to outflank our boys and get in behind. I want your lot to watch their backs and reinforce their position K?” He pointed to one of the grave rooms doors with a clipboard as he spoke.

Bear gave a loud whistle to grab Wiley and Challahan’s attention, thumbing to the door. Dead meat knelt down and unslung his backpack and after a moment of rummaging pulled out a red dot laser sight. Not regulation, where the hells he got that from? Kane thought as he shouldered his bag and joined the fire team at the door. As they made to leave a voice caught Kane’s attention “OI, what’s ya call sign” the officer was holding the clipboard over his head and pointing furiously at it with his other hand “Zeta 6” Kane yelled back, which was met by a thumbs up. As they entered the corridor outside Callahan asked “were we off to corp?”
“To work” Bear replied as the Challahan passed him as he waited to take up the rear.

Dead meat had taken point 5m ahead of Wiley, while Bear followed Challahan 5m behind. Every few minutes Dead meat would stop and fire his dot sight down the corridor a few times at differing spots before moving on. “What’s he doin’? Damn Covies ‘ull know we’re coming if he does that” Challahan scoffed. Any reply was squashed when a moment later Dead meat stopped and pressed against the wall of the corridor on the opposite side of a T junction, the rest of the team followed suit and watched the junction intently, at first only the dull sound of battle was all to be heard then the voices of several Unggoy . Dead meat popped his head round the corner for a split second before darting back into cover “four Unggoy and two Kig-Yar Boss, ETA 15 seconds” Dead meat whispered over squad comms. Kane tapped Callahan on the shoulder and gestured for him to move down the line and get ready, taking his place at the lip of the junction and drawing his combat knife in tandem with Dead meat.

As soon as the Kig-Yar appeared Kane and Dead meat reached out and draging the shocked Kig-Yar to them and slitting their throats. When the Unggoy rounded the corner they were faced by four marines and a dead Kig-Yar, Callahan and Bear opened fire with their assault rifles sending a luminance blood of two of them over the floor and walls before they could fire. The third was sent flying into the forth, who fired a salvo of needler round into the wall, by Wiley’s shotgun. The fourth’s eyes bulged as 6 inches of steel plunged into its side slicing it from hip to armpit before a hand grabbed its snout and twisted its head round with a satisfying snap. Kane round the corner rifle held ready to fire on any ambushers. The others reloaded and Wiley snatched up three plasma grenades, before moving on towards the sound of fighting.

[maxii1]

Harry 152
Leading the Diversionary Assault

Harry was pleased to see Joe had triumphed over the enemy opponent “Well Played G3!” he patted the shoulder of his fellow Spartan.

“Next time, when they ask for our best fighter though, I’ll go because clearly your fighting was mediocre at best” Harry started laughing, looking back to Evan and Silas “Gentlemen” then to the ordinary marines and fighters “Ladies” countinuing “Shall we precede?”

----

Captain Nigel Lennox
Gravity Lift Room


“Well Private Furrow, those fighters are part of your fire team, if they want to transfer over to special operations with the military intelligence, then I can make that happen, their skills of sneaking and guerilla warfare where very evident, Can’t think Lt. Zaborowski will be all too pleased though”

The Captain watched the footage he had just seen; the leaders of his attack, the Spartans pausing their assault so that one of them could duel with an elite, he had watched with interest.

“148, seems like you can duel a hell of a lot better than me with ‘em” he radioed over to the victorious soldier, a flashback played in his head; one that plagued his dreams and his entire life, the day he was captured.

He shook himself, making him more alert.

An incoming communication told him that the EOS Unit aboard UNSC The Forlorn Hope had just updated the route to be taken by both group of soldiers, the navigational data had been interpreted by the Nav. Officer of the ship; Graham.

Lennox made a mental note to, upon his return, visit the bridge and thank the officer for his help.

---

Sergeant Richard Reilly
Guarding the Gravity Lift Room.


“Stay frosty team, be prepared to be hit from any and every angle including the actual lift” Reilly radioed his men.

“Hey Sarge, could they use airlocks to escape the ship and then re-enter through the lift, possibly using vehicles or something?” spoke Private Rafferty.

“Doubt it” stated Private Watson, the only member of the platoon to lack a scoped weapon, he was the designated guard of Feral Platoon and as such carried a shotgun, he walked over to the gravity lift “I’ll stand by though, just in case”.

“Feel better now Gerry?” asked Corporal Glover.

Rafferty nodded “Just dandy” he checked the settings of his battle-rifle scope, adjusting it minutely before surveying the room again.

[hollowsaber]

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

Jake took a listen to the man and chuckled slightly at the name of the Lieutenant. The man was a good leader, Jake knew that. The Lieutenant had done his job, and Jake ran off like a lunatic because he wanted to hopefully make it safe for the others. At the time, he thought of it as a good reason, but he didn’t actually look at the consequences to everyone else behind him to much. Now his Officer would have to suffer for his actions. This would surely bother him later on in life, but he couldn’t go back to that guys platoon. It would definitely be hell. So he would move forward; Jake had been offered a position where he would be able to go in before the others and save more lives by risking his own, which is the next on the to-do list after killing as many Covenant as possible.

Jake saw the Captain busy with something else, so Jake kept quiet as the man dealt with the other situations aboard the ship. Jake wasn’t the only one risking his life out there, and the sounds of battle proved it. The number ‘148’, that the Captain said, perked his ears and made him start listening a little. A Spartan had a duel with an Elite? That’s a little different then what Jake would have expected, maybe that’s why they didn’t run past their little intersection. Still, at least the guy was dead and the Spartan alive. “Better you then me” is becoming a lot more significant in Jake’s train of thought, and he didn’t like that. Maybe some R&R after the mission would help him get rid of that, that is, if he got any.

After the Captain seemed like he wasn’t doing anything, and he was just thinking about what to do next, Jake glanced over at his Lieutenant and his current Platoon. This would probably be one of the last times he looked at them under their wing, but it wouldn’t be the last time seeing them. The Lieutenant had wanted to see Jake after his chat with the Captain, and he would, but Jake already knew what it was about. Poor guy, he’s got some grunt work to do later and it was because his Private would rather save lives then listen to him. Jake glanced back at his Captain and took a deep breath under his helmet, relaxing a little bit before he spoke.

“Sir, if you could bring my team with me, that would be amazing. My only other question is; When do we start?” Jake smirked, feeling the itch to get up in the action again.

[Soulstep]

Corporal Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Target Hades: Infiltration Group

Another room clear.

It was getting more than irritating for Indigo Squad to not come across any hostiles at all. They had been especially trained for this type of combat, and they were not getting the chance to put their skills to the test.

Entering yet another corridor, Adam began wavering in his alertness.

When the door slid open to reveal a towering Hunter, it proved a deadly mistake.

The giant alien viciously sliced it's shield at his neck, the near-indestructable shield easily breaking the Marine's neck. Wordlessly, the shotgunner crumpled to the deck, his head at a sickening angle.

Andrew watched this in horror, as Sarah dived backwards from the Hunter's reach. Her concentration had not slipped, and it saved her life.

Tom, the squad's marksman, stared disbelievingly at his dead twin. Known as the 'silent one' in the squad, it took something heavy to make him speak. This made him scream.

The 3 remaining Marines snapped weapons to firing postions and aimed for the tiny exposed area in the Hunter's chest. Bullets sank into the fleshy mass, and the alien colony roared in anger and pain. Bringing it's Fuel Rod Cannon to bear, it leveled the powerful weapon at the first human in its sights.

The brilliant heat washed over Andrew as he sought cover in a tiny alcove in the wall, prickling his skin. As the green blast died away, he stared across the corridor at the remainder of his squad. Sarah was running backwards, emptying her clip at the huge creature. Tom...

All that remained of the man was a smoking black corpse on the deck, flesh reduced to ash, blood boiled away. The Hunter roared in satisfaction, as its bond brother strode up behind it.

"Red Wing! We need backup, NOW!!!" Andrew screamed into the COM, as the lumbering giant stepped towards his cover.

[smoke]

"Red Wing! We need backup, NOW!!!" burst over the COMs. Kane set his HUD to locate the signal source. “Zeta 6 on the way” kane barked back down the COM feed.

Kane and the others bust into a sprint down the corridor before dropping to a halt as a saw the Hunter stomping down a side corridor, the sound of fire rattling off armour and into the soft flesh between reverberating in the corridor.

“Helps arrived” kane yelled over the sound of his team opening fire, their rounds slamming into the back of the hunter. The hulk paused unsure whether or not to face the new threat or pursue further down the corridor.


Hey Smoke, we're trying to talk to you in the OOC thread... --SuperCommando

[inhert]

Red Wing (SOG-A and Paula Santa Maria)

Target Hades

On Route to Bridge

Red Wing’s and Indigo Squad’s push through the small off corridors of the Assault Carrier represented a semblance of normalcy compared to the constant firefight that the SPARTANs and the majority of the boarding force faced in their push down the main corridor. The four members of Indigo went door to door in a highly practiced and methodical manner, a level of training that impressed Murph. As one of the members of Indigo began his rehearsed step into an opening door, he was cut short. A hunter killed the man with a flick of its metal tower shield. Not satisfied with one kill the gigantic beast shrugged off the bullets from the M7s and MA5Bs of the three Marines as it leveled it glowing Fuel Rod Cannon in their direction. With the metal fragments of the bullets cracking its armor and penetrating its hive like body the Hunter replied with a giant burst. The blast fried on of the Marines leaving two unscathed. Finally satisfied with the mayhem it cause the beast roared as its bond brother joined it.

Andrew Deiran was one of the two that survived his thoughts came to him in screams which were carried over local COMs, “Red Wing! …” He continued but his screaming was drowned out by the chatter of five MA5Bs from the members of Red Wing.

All five members of Red Wing held the triggers of their MA5B’s down for four second until the sixty round magazines where empty. For the Hunter it was four minutes of excruciating pain as three hundred seven sixty-two millimeter bullets slammed into its body. The bullets chipped at the blue armor that protected the colony of worms that formed the Hunter. Due to the volume of bullets some found their way into small cracks in the beast’s armor shearing orange worms from the massive colony.

The stoppage offered the first hunter a chance to recollect itself to compensate for worms that had fallen off from the vicious barrage it received. As the worms wriggled in their armor the beast seemed to howl in pain. Behind it its bond brother tried to edge it way past its dying counterpart. Gathering any semblance of strength that the lead Hunter could muster it began to raise its Fuel Rod Cannon at the five members of Red Wing. The opening started to faintly glow green as a shot was charged.

Four of the members of Red Wing furiously tried to getting fresh magazines from their harnesses to replace the spent ones falling from their MA5Bs. Clay the team’s medic was not reaching for a magazine but a M9 High-Explosive Grenade, “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” he hollered as the sphere left his hand.

His comrades of Red Wing stopped trying to reload their weapons and dove for alcoves in the wall of the corridor. In his rush to one of the alcoves, Murph pulled Private First Class Sarah Linown from the floor of the hall. Sarah was pushed into the alcove and Murph pressed his body into Sarah’s, placing his body between her and any incoming shrapnel from the grenade.

The grenade traveled an arching path as flew from Clay’s hand. He had aimed to get it in the space between the two giant hunters, and it would have missed. Clay had put a little too much power in his throw, the grenade cleared the gimped hunter and it was going to continue down the hallway if the second was not standing behind his injured bond brother. The grenade hit the rear Hunter with a crack of metal on metal as it bounced to the gimped hunter. Hitting the unprotected mass of orange of the Hunter’s back the grenade dropped to the floor of hall. On the floor the metal sphere transformed into a burst of flame and metal fragments. Pieces of hot metal shot into the lead Hunter causing a massive chunk of worms to be seared and cut from the colony. The damage was too much for the colony to cope with as the worms died in a sizzling chain reaction. Simultaneously fragments were shot in the direction of the second Hunter, which tore at the blue armor of the beast. All it took was one of the pieces of red hot shrapnel to piece the acrylic plastic that held the Assault Cannon’s incendiary green goo. The hot piece of metal ignited the goo cause an explosive reaction that tore the gun from the arm of the Hunter. Spraying the burning radioactive incendiary gel into both Hunters the secondary explosion killed the beast that is was attached to.

Pressing himself into Sarah Murph could only feel the shock of the two explosions, followed by a searing pain in his left shoulder. Either he or the hunters were dead; he realized the hunters were dead by a constant burning pain again in his left shoulder that shocked him to reality.

“Fuck.” Axe spoke for all present as they pushed themselves from the walls and off rooms of the hallways to survey the carnage. The hall and everything in it was coated with the orange blood of the worms that made up the Hunters. The two lifeless Hunters lay with the bodies of two Marines from Indigo Squad.

[Oresus]

A Kig-Yar, only too happy to escape, sprinted down the hall and stopped, looking left and right before heading in the latter direction. He stepped past the remains of a door and encountered an entire lance, of which he was a member. The Major Domo stood up sharply and approached the Kig-Yar. "What news?" rumbled Nha 'Chavamee, studying the out-of-breath creature. Tuk's quills stood up on end as he began to report his findings.

"I saw little but bodies and more bodies for a time," rasped the Jackal in his gravelly voice, "but I only just escaped from seeing a large group of humans, heading this way. I can't tell if they saw me, so I ran for my life." The Sangheili nodded, understanding, and asked a question. "How long?" Tuk's eyes darted about as he estimated. "Enough time to get ourselves ready and contact 'Raedomai," he guessed.

"Warriors, prepare yourselves for a battle you must not lose!"

"Major 'Raedomai," called Nha over the BattleNet, "prepare your lance."

---

"It's a joy to have you back, packmate," roared Sussius for the hundredth time, clapping the Minor on the back and causing him to have to cough out the air. "We thought you'd ascended." Irbinus ducked his head, and replied meekly, "It's not my time yet, Captain."

"Right, Irbinus, right!" laughed the older Jiralhanae as the Pack rounded a corner and beheld the scene of a battle. Unggoy lay heaped in piles, surrounded by their cyan blood, while the Sangheili were neatly arranged side-by-side along the wall. Irbinus spat and looked at Iunus, who wore an expression of disappointment so great that his brother had to laugh.

"Enough!" snapped Sussius, and the Pack straightened up. "We proceed towards the command center, and strike at the heretics from behind even as they grapple with other forces!" The Jiralhanae liked this plan, and roared their approval as they set off for honor and glory.

[Dufflepud]

K'tas spoke into his communicator, "Jetna, We have no time to gate back to the command center, seeing as demons and sky fallers are closing in on our position! Please send reinforcements!"

"Understood, K'tas, I'm on my way."

[smoke]

As Kane’s team pored fire into the Hunters back, Wiley Pulled a grenade from her belt, she pulled the pin out with her thumb and rolled it underneath the Hunters’ legs shouting “Fire in the hole!” Fire from the other corridor stopped before the grenade detonated spreading orange, lumpy goo all over the walls and ceiling. Wiley stood there with a wide grin on her face, Kane walked past into the smoke patting her on the shoulder “nice kaboom Wiley” the hummers lost in his grim expression.

Kane climbed over the armour plates that now lay in the corridor and approached the three marines sprawled on the floor several feet away from the Hunters’ remains. “Red Wing?” he coughed with obvious relief that he had got their in time. His heart sank into his stomach when one of the marines shook his head as he got up.

Kane stood dumb for a moment before he gathered himself. “Where’s the other?” he gasped realising that Hunters worked in pairs for the first time since seeing the hulking thing. “Took it out ‘bout 100 yards down there with the last of our grenades” one of the marines coughed nodding further up the corridor that Kane’s team had been travelling down. “Alright head back to the grav-lift room and see to your injures” Kane muttered drained, after they filed past on shaky legs Kane made the hardest broadcast of his life “Red wing...Zeta 6, unable to reach your location, repeat unable to reach your location. Sorry boys you’re on your own good luck.” Kane stood for a moment praying for a reply.

[Soulstep]

Corporal Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Target Hades: Infiltration Team

As the 2 Hunters lay slain on the deck, Andrew opened his mouth to thank Red Wing, but as the shock of losing 2 more of his childhood friends set in, no sound came out. Instead, he merely nodded, before shaking his head clear.

At least Sarah had survived, he supposed. He tried to act the same he had when Ben had been sniped, but then, he was running on adrenaline. Here, there was nothing.

Numbly, he reloaded his rifle, and after a pause, Sarah followed suit. Looking up at Red Wing, he said, "Sorry guys... You'll have to take point."

[maxii1]

Spartan 152
Harry
Gamma Two
Taking Point

Harry moved forwards a little, taking cover by a doorframe as he reloaded his Assault Rifle.
“This Main Corridor is a blooming killing ground” Harry commented, he didn’t just mean the amount of dead covenant, but the amount of dead and wounded humans as well.

He prepared to move, not checking on the rest of the force, charging down a small passageway, engaging all enemy contacts that he came across; a few grunts where slain before he faced a major foe; a Brute.

Harry turned around to check on the following fighters, only to find that he was alone. He’d advanced without any allies, his Spartan mindset had meant he had charged onwards, alone. He cursed and twitched his trigger finger; unloading the majority of the Sixty Four clip into the animal.

Unfortunately the Brute had a lot of armor protecting it and few of the rounds managed to penetrate through it and reach the soft skin of the creature.
It growled and opened fire with a spiker, its ammo unloading and inflicting its potency on the Spartan’s armor.

The beeping rang in his ears, he knew his shields where getting low, he had to find cover.
He had to kill the enemy.

With his Assualt Rifle dry, Harry had to go for his engraved pistol and fired it with accuracy at the head of the creature, a few of the bullets deflecting off the helmet whilst the others caused the helmet to fly off the Brute’s head. It moaned as one reflected bullet pierced it’s skin and ripping its scalp, it was however still alive and roared as it charged at the Spartan.

Harry continued to fire until his pistol was out of ammunition and he had to rely on his combat knife, he planned to jab it right into the neck of the charging enemy.

The Brute used his Spiker’s sharp attached bayonet to slash and hack the air as he charged, as it drew nearer; one such move of the weapon sliced at Harry’s knee, the covenant blade digging in as 152 collapsed in pain, the knife was dropped as the Brute sliced again, this time at the Spartan’s right hand which had a grenade clasped in it.

Harry screamed with pain as his right hand was sliced off, for all his training, all his fighting skill and all his weapons he was still no match for the Brute.
Hell, he couldn’t even kill both of them with a grenade anymore, he was unarmed and alone.

Instead of the killing blow Harry expected however, the Brute dragged the Spartan away, deeper into the ship and further away from help.


OOC: WE HAVE A SPARTAN DOWN!

[Oresus]

The Pack moved tirelessly through the darkened rooms and passages of the Pious Charity, moving along the very side so as not to encounter the enemy on their journey. Finally, the Jiralhanae stopped at an unfamiliar fork in the way toward the command center, their goal as well as the humans'. "We'll split up," decided Sussius, looking at the two corridors. "I know little of these gargantuan space-machines, but if I had to wager, a week's rations say that one," he gestured to the right-hand corridor, "is the quickest path to where we want to go."

"Then, Captain," replied Halantum, "I suggest that I lead the other half of our mighty pack straight through the heart of this behemoth and meet you at the doors of the command center, provided I do not fall in combat." With that, the Pack separated and Irbinus followed Sussius' group straight into the Covenant-held section of the ship. The Jiralhanae encountered many of their kind, those who had fought in the battle below the Pious Charity and were recuperating in the safety of this area behind friendly lines. Irbinus nodded to each of his brethren as they passed each other, stopping to wish them well and to ask about the situation. From the limited intelligence the Minor was able to gather, the humans were slowly but inexorably advancing through the ship toward the command center.

It seemed like hours had passed before the Sub-Pack reached another junction where what looked like four Sangheili-led lances were holed up, waiting for the humans to show their faces. Though Irbinus disliked the Sangheili, he didn't downright despise them as did many Jiralhanae, so he talked to them as often as to the other races, searching for the information that would keep them on the same page with the rest of the defenders. Ptatap and Sarap, along with the other Unggoy whose names Irbinus had never learned, mingled with their brethren before the Sub-Pack moved on. The lack of signs of battle convinced Sussius that the humans hadn't passed through here yet, and so he ordered his warriors to establish a line of defense and await the heretics.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe

"Thanks for the help", Joe thanked Silas as he handed him the blade.

Joe was still panting from the fight with the elite when he noticed that they were short one teamate. Harry was missing, and that wasn't a good thing! Joe quickly checked his motion tracker and there was no one but them. Joe then picked up his assault rifle and ran through the open doorway. He sighted several dead covenant in the hallways. There he came across a grizzly sight, a green armored hand layed on the ground with a large grenade in it. Joe picked up the grenade and examined it before glancing around. There was no sign of Harry's corpse but there was a struggle. A brute's helmet laid on the ground. Joe looked at the grenade once more as he clenched his teeth. Joe pulled up his display and marked Harry MIA, fearing the worst. He then spoke into the com.

"Everyone, regroup on me. As of right now, I'm taking lead of this mission.", Joe explained to the others.

Joe then opened a private com to Silas.

"We lost Harry, not sure what happened but it looks like it may have been a brute", Joe said as he hid the anger in his voice.

Joe looked once more at the grenade left behind. Joe would use it wisely. He then spoke to Churchill.

"Churchill, get us the fastest way to the bridge ASAP!", Joe ordered.

[maxii1]

Captain Nigel Lennox
Gravity Lift Room

“Copy that Marlow, thanks” he radioed to his EOS data analyst who had just informed him of some very bad news.
One of the members of Gamma Team was MIA and wounded, potentially captured the Spartan would no longer be an asset to the offensive.

“Joe, I understand your leading the assault to the Bridge, anything you need you let me know, that grenade you found is a Fury TacNuke explosive device, only use it as a last resort” Lennox radioed to Gamma Three.

Evan, Silas and Joe where still green lit as where the majority of the soldiers left on the carrier, the wounded had been sent down to the ground to await a ride out of the combat zone.

Lennox looked on his PDA and brought up the name of Paul Nikon; a personal friend and fellow captain onboard the UNSC The Forlorn Hope.
“I want Super Squadron to start ferrying the injured from the battlefield, so please Nikon, get your birds squawking, I expect their too busy sleeping and drinking tea”

Nikon laughed “How did you know I was drinking tea, we’ll be airborne in five minutes Nigel”.
Still transmitting to Lennox, Paul was shouting over to some of his pilots “Fawkes, Evans, Westbrooke, Gibson we’re on call...”

Lennox turned his attention back to the fight.
---


Paul Nikon
Forlorn Hope Hanger Bay

“Harrington, I don’t think we’ll need the whole of Whiplash to provide cover, but I’d like you keeping us secure” he spoke to the Leader of the Longsword Squadron.

Some of the pilots and crews stood attentive expecting a pep-talk, they where to be disappointed “This ain’t a mothers meeting, lets get to it!” he exclaimed with a smile, jogging lightly to his pelican.

“Engines on!” exclaimed his Co-pilot Lydia Gibson.

“Yeah I noticed” he replied as he entered the cabin, “Layton, you stay with Umber and fix the electronics of the bay” he told his crew chief, who normally manned the mounted machine gun.

“Okay sir” came the reply.

Nikon grinned to Gibson “Well Then” he started to speak, pressing a few buttons and pulled on his joystick lightly, moving over to the opening Hanger Doors.

[SuperCommando]

SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Inside Target Hades

En route to bridge

“Anytime,” Silas took his knife back from Joe, twirled it once, then slid it back into its sheath. Even though he still thought pausing to entertain the alien’s final request had been a waste of time and a potentially dangerous distraction, it had turned out all right in the end, and he was proud of his teammate for handling his fight well. Now he just wanted to move on and make up for lost time. Everyone was counting on the SPARTANs to continue to raise hell along their push down the main hallway to the data core.

Speaking of raising hell, the M247 GPMG he carried was a beast of a weapon, but he feared he was running low on ammo. He’d burned though a lot of it on the grav lift assault earlier, and by now most of his original 800 rounds were left behind as a trail of empty casings through the ship’s corridors. It wouldn’t be long now before he would be forced to switch back to either his battle rifle or his shotgun. Taking advantage of the momentary lull in the fighting, Silas reloaded. He attached his final box magazine and fed the weapon its belt of ammo. After yanking back the charging handle to complete his reload, he joined Joe in the adjacent hallway when his fellow Spartan called to regroup.

"We lost Harry, not sure what happened but it looks like it may have been a brute,” he solemnly informed Silas over a private channel.

Silas said nothing and stared the dismembered hand. A sudden, awful feeling slowly sunk into his gut like a heavy weight. He’d seen death before, both human and alien. He’d caused plenty himself, the most recent of which not minutes ago even. Death hadn’t bothered him for a long time, as horrible as that may sound. But Harry was dead to them now, and it just felt different. Sure he was a brother Spartan, but before this mission they had been as close to strangers as Spartans got. Now, looking at that forsaken hand lifelessly claw the air, he felt… sadness? Remorse? Revulsion? He could not name the emotion. He did not like it.

There was a small beep in his HUD – Churchill had finished calculating a path to the bridge.

“Let’s go,” Silas said flatly, hefting up his machine gun. “I’ll take point.”

He led his fellow Spartans and Redsont’s ODSTs away from the site of the recent battle, running deeper into the dim, dark purple interior.

[hollowsaber]

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

Since the Captain was busy directing the fighting in the Carrier, it was probably best for Jake to leave the man to his own worries. There was no need to pressure the guy for something that was a gift and not mandatory. Jake’s idea of a “Make a BFB(Big freakin‘ boom)”, probably made the Captain's job worse somehow. At least it dragged a bunch of the guards away from the Command Center, unless the Covenant army that was at the door wasn’t actually from the C.C. If that was the case, then his Lieutenant was an idiot for not letting his team kill off a few more before going down to the depths of Hades. The memory of the LT's group having to do grunt work outside was becoming more of a joke, but there was just the same amount of action down there then up here. Jake guessed that the Covenant trapped outside were trying to get back inside right behind the UNSC forces. Along with other covies jumping out from the holes in the ship, the Covenant numbers outside may actually be bigger then the ones outside. If that was the case, then Jake would gladly stay inside the dark, death-filled, ship of doom.

It wasn’t his idea to jump through the grav-lift, and it wasn’t his problem. His problem was figuring out what to do now. With no orders to do anything, all Jake had to do was sit. wait, and listen. “Patience is a virtue” was the saying, but it isn’t a virtue he has. The thought of just sitting back and listening to others die makes him cringe. The only thing Jake could do besides just sit on his ass, was to go talk to the Officer that foiled his plan, just to save his own ass. Jake would have liked to have died out there fighting every single alien-freak at that door, just to give the Spartans enough time to at least get past the horde and closer to the C.C, then come back beat up and useless to the UNSC. He was a Private for now though, well until his Captain gave the actual details on what his promotion actually was, and he was the lowest ranking member in his team. So it seemed that he was stuck in the mud for the time being.

One thing still made him curious, why had his squad-mates actually listened to him? It’s not really a good thing to listen to a lower ranking soldier in the Corps, and it probably wasn't to smart. Maybe they were bored or something. Curiosity? Jake's ideas made him chuckle as he walked across the deck towards LT. Zaborowski for their ‘chat’ that Jake would just blow off. Nova team was more important than this fool, and they were on the brink of running into the light. Jake would probably just say ’Yes’ and nod his head while looking at some medical scans and Intel or something. All he knew at the moment was that someone was angry, his team was about to die, and there was a lot of death all over the god-forsaken ship. The idea of death being everywhere sent a chill down his spin. It made him feel uneasy even in a room full of tough ODSTs and Marines.

After a few long moments full of thinking, Jake had drifted from his Captain to the Lieutenant across the room. Jake’s rifle had some how made it over his shoulders and rested diagonally along his back again, which confused the hell out of him for a minute. One second it was in his hands then the rifle was dangling behind him by the long black strap. Damned thing was cursed or something, but it was in a good spot it seemed. It gave him something to tap with his leg. He assumed directing some of his attention elsewhere would keep him from dying, not from his wounds, but from having to actually listen to this guy. All he had to do was nod his head and say OK then he could go back to his team at the medical area to let his body relax.

Jake stood stiffly at attention, but knew it was just something that wasn’t actually needed, snapped his hand quickly up his body for a nice-looking salute, said “Sir! Private Furrow reporting!“, then just fell apart. Jake finished one of the most annoying things about being in the military and relaxed, his body couldn’t take being tense like that for to long and it made him dizzy. He was still beat up and resting started to sound really good right about now. He relaxed by slipping his feet apart, then his right foot back so he could lean on it and began to tap the barrel with his right index and middle fingers, giving a nice beat to it as he listened more to that then the officer. It was a sign of disrespect he guessed, but the man had annoyed him enough by jumping in, out of no where, and dragging him back to the gravity-lift room. A court martial sounded a lot nicer if it meant never having to see this guy again.

“What do you need LT?” Jake said, smirking at the weird rhythm his words had.

[Jakob]

Lieutenant Jakob Zaborowski

Jakob shook his head slowly, his Private was leaving and he obviously had no feelings for Nova squad, the little ass was actually starting to be annoying but Jakob did his best to keep his calm, not wanting to upset the Captain with a fight.
"Kid, it has been a honor serving with you, I don't know how you did it but you showed great leadership and smarts out there, it is a shame to have you leave us."
Jakob unpolarized his visor and looked at the Private.

Right then the Sergeant walked up, he was not a very emotional man, but he felt pride for the Private,
"What your LIEUTENANT said, it is a sad site to see one of our men leave us and your the best we got."
The Sergeant offered his hand for a shake. Polarizing his visor once more.

[masterchick]

Fireteam Zeta had been at the back of their platoon, mostly due to their Corporal's paranoia since the last time he had encountered Covenant.

This annoyed Athena to no end. She was filled with nervous energy, and the Covenant's eerie ship only made that worse. She was sure to carefully scan her surroundings for Covenant forces, but she hadn't seen anything yet. The anticipation was starting to mess with her head. Leo was still shaking from the grav-lift. The big man didn't like floating in the air, trusting that Covenant tech would keep him from falling. Though Erik smirked at this, Athena didn't blame him.

The group had fallen behind the rest on Cross' orders. He wouldn't tell them why, but when they finally got through the grav-lift, the small team quickly made their way to a doorway. As Erik opened it, a sticky grenade flew past him, landing on the opposite wall. The team ran in, blindly gunning down the few grunts in the room. The door slammed shut just before the grenade went off, but the team now looked upon a bigger threat: a Jackal.

Cross barked orders and the five all dove for cover. Athena tossed a grenade at the creature and they all braced for the explosion. As the grenade went off, the surprised Jackal tried to leap out of the way, but didn't have enough time. Its remains were splattered on the walls.

They had gotten through one room, with heaven only knows how many more to go. Athena fought her rising doubts about this and stiffened her spine as she crossed the room with the rest of fireteam Zeta.

[hollowsaber]

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

Jake took another glance at the men in front of him, relaxing his movement so he could think straight. He never would understand people, he couldn’t even understand himself enough. Why had he joined the troop anyways? Jake could never do anything right, what was he thinking?. He couldn’t save his family, and he couldn’t even look his superiors in the eyes. This made his stomach twist and churn, sprouting pain through his entire body. He wouldn’t last for to much longer, and he definitely wouldn’t be able to go back out into the fight like this. If he did, it most certainly would mean death would overtake him. The sad part was, was that death was already creeping up on him now.

The words of the Lieutenant were sour, right down to the final breath that spit the vocals. Exactly as expected, but Jake couldn’t blame him. He was just as much of a jerk to them for closing up the hallway that Jake risked his life to get to, blow up, and defend. Jake was still pissed at that, but he would learn to get over it. He was alive, and could thank the Lieutenant for that. Why loom over something when better things are in front of you? This made Jake glance at the Captain, thinking of his proposal into the EOS. With every step forward, you lose something behind you, and Jake was losing the Nova Platoon, excluding his team. Even so, maybe it would be good to move on. One less soldier on the Sergeant's shoulders, and one less that the man had to worry about.

Speaking of the Sergeant, the man had walked up and begun to speak, making Jake look over at the two soldiers in front of him now. The man spoke words boldly, and stuck his hand out in front of Jake for a handshake. The Lieutenant had depolarized his helmet, and the Sergeant polarized his own, making it easier to see who was who. Jake wanted to depolarize his, but being to emotional would leave a mark in his memories, and probably theirs. He did not want to remember any of this, only the faces of the Covenant when his bullet punctures their skulls and makes paste out of their brains. Jake didn't even want to be a memory for them either, which made him think again of actually leaving Gordan, Rich, and Luther with Nova Platoon... They were better off.

Jake decided to shake the mans hand, giving a firm grip for a few seconds before retracting his wounded arm. The hold sent a small spark of pain up his arm, but it was bearable. Jake chuckled a bit under his helmet before turning his COM on directly to the two of them. He didn’t want the others to hear him. To them, he was just a clumsy idiot who ran off and made a big ruckus and made them get shot at. Jake doubted that they had ever seen his face during the time he had been around them, hopefully it would stay that way. A sharp pain up his spin made Jake dizzy and he almost fell backwards, taking a quick step to steady himself. That was his signal to get to the medical area as fast as possible, but he had to say something to his Officers.

“There’s no such thing as the best. Make sure those three stay safe for me.” Jake nodded and pointed towards his three Fireteam members.
"I don't want them coming with me. They would be better off with you guys."

Jake looked over at three troopers, Luther, Gordan, and Rich. They had followed him through hell, but their place was here, under the Lieutenants arm. Jake had taken enough with his own crusade into the darkness, taking those three would be too selfish. Jake grunted a little at the thought then looked back at the Lieutenant and Sergeant.

"Hopefully next time we meet it won't be as bittersweet huh?" Jake joked, resting on his stronger left leg to keep himself standing.

[Jakob]

Lieutenant Jakob Zaborowski

Jakob looked around a bit, the kid was a ass, but a smart one and the chances of getting some one like him again was one in a million.
For the first time Jakob realized he was happy with leaving the carrier, he would avenge his family at a later date, so would the Private, but his time was not now, it was later.
Jakob looked at him and spoke on the com he had just opened up,
"Kid, I understand what your going through, you want to fight for something, I lost everything at Madrigal and I swore revenge, but I can wait, so can you."
He realized the Private was beginning to lean, he needed a medic and quick. Jakob tapped the Sergeant on the arm and pointed at the kids leg.
He slowly grabbed his shoulder,
"Maybe we should help you back to the medical area?"

[hollowsaber]

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

Jake noticed the Lieutenant and Sergeant noticing his lean and quickly thought about what happened again. The explosion, the hiding, the shooting. Then the pain of having to take a load of biofoam and still wait a good 10 minutes before being taken out of there. Now Jake was starting to be glad that he was dragged out. The pain was to much, and he couldn’t die yet. No matter the cost, he had to see this war to the end, he had to see the Covenant’s faces when they lose to the UNSC. Jake gripped his fists tight and shook a little as he remembered his family. He couldn’t tell if it was the pain of watching them die, or the pain of not having them, that truly got to him. All he knew, is that he would kick the Covenant’s ass in pay-back.

“I’m alright sir. The Med-bay can wait. As long as there are Covenant out there, it can always wait.” Jake smirked and unpolarized his visor to look at the two Troopers.

His eyes had dimmed and become darker from a few internal wounds, and his head was bleeding slightly but it was already starting to close. He was bumped and bruised all over, but the package wasn’t secure and this Carrier was still full of Covenant, so going to sleep wouldn’t get the job done. Even if it wasn’t his job to do, he still had to be ready to reinforce another team if something went wrong. He wasn’t dead yet, and he could rest when he’s dead.

“Any idea when we’ll get to go back out?” Jake hovered his hand around his pistol on his left thigh, glancing at the doorways he could see every now and then to make sure there weren’t any surprises.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

Joe advanced through the covenant ship with Silas and the ODSTs. They were making good progress with small firefights in between. Joe did feel nervous that they had shaved off too much ammo and were running low. His own rifle read 24 rounds left in it, he only had six more clips. He continued moving foward behind Silas until the hallway came to a stop. Only two large, purple doors stood before them. Joe proceeded to one end and signalled the others to do the same. Churchill then spoke into his helmet.

"This is it, the command center is in the room beyond this door", Churchill stated.

"So open it already, we don't have much time", Joe ordered.

"I can't, they locked me out of the system about ten minutes ago", Churchill growled angrily.

"And you didn't tell us this why?" Joe asked.

"It didn't seem important then", Churchill explained.

The door wasn't opening on it's own, but it might open with a little help. He checked his belt and noticed he still had a plasma grenade from the previous battles. He looked towards the ODSTs and checked them head to toe.

"Any of you have a plasma grenade on you?", Joe asked.

Redsont checked but he only had a frag left, he turned to his team to see if they had any. Desmond proceeded towards Joe and handed him the grenade.

"Here, don't know what you plan to do with it though", Desmond stated.

Joe nodded at the ODST and took his own in the other hand. He signalled them to back up so he could get to work. He primed the grenades and flung them where the doors meet the wall. The grenades flashed brilliantly before exploding and turning the doors from purple to a dark gray. Joe then moved to one end of the doors and grabbed the seam. The grenades wouldn't melt the door, but they did have other useful properties. The one Joe needed now was the EMP effect the plasma had on electrical devices. The grenades would disable the doors function so that Joe and Silas could force the doors open. Joe signaled Silas to the other side and the ODSTs to be ready to open fire. This would require precise timiing.

[Oresus]

It seemed to the hidden Covenant warriors that the humans would never arrive, being the cowardly worms that they were. Nha 'Chavamee had to work not to fall asleep, and kept himself awake discussing strategy with K'tas over the BattleNet. Taheri marched around the round room, shaking awake those whose fatigue had overwhelmed them. Jae 'Fulsamee sat silently opposite the Major Domo, deep in thought about the battle to come. This was the proverbial "calm before the storm".

It wasn't to last. From out in the main corridor, Rek, who was on scout duty, perked up as his sensitive ears detected movement on the other side of the far door. Glancing back along the length of the corridor toward the doors to the command center, the Jackal picked up his pistol and activated his energy gauntlet, loosing a warning hiss to the two lances concealed in the junctions. Nha leaped to his feet and scrabbled around for a weapon, locating a Needler and stepping out through the door they'd destroyed an age ago.

"Vigilant Lance! Close-quarters defensive formation, Kig-Yar in front, Unggoy and Sangheili in the rear!" roared the Major in a tone that warned his warriors to hurry up. "K'tas!" added Nha, not needing to say more. The assembled Covenant couldn't help but jump as a muffled explosion warped the door, turning it to a deathly shade of grey. Whomever was on the other side would break through momentarily, decided Nha, and he turned to Taheri.

"They'll not pass us, Major," promised the Minor Domo, and Nha walked to the rear and activated all channels he had access to on the BattleNet.

"Soldiers of the Covenant! To me, outside the command center! A great battle is soon to begin!" The transmission would be heard by all friendlies inside a sizable radius, hopefully gaining the two lances some reinforcements before they were overwhelmed. All Nha could do now was watch and wait for their enemies to arrive.

---

"Soldiers of the Covenant! To me, outside the command center! A great battle is soon to begin!"

The Sangheili voice blared into Irbinus' head, and he snarled in discomfort before turning down the internal volume. Sussius froze and looked behind him, toward the origin of the call for help. The other Brutes watched their captain's mind working patiently, but keeping one eye on the passage.

"We go," Sussius decided finally, before launching into a conversation with Halantum over the BattleNet. "Jiralhanae! To war!" And the sub-pack roared in unison, turning and sprinting to what would soon become a crucial battle.

---

Brure frowned as the transmission reached his ears and looked down at his second-in-command, who shrugged as if to say it's your call. The massive Sangheili hadn't tasted much blood in this battle, and Circip could see his instincts taking over and turned to order the lance into action even before his commander did. As one, they set off at a quick jog toward the command center to fight and die if need be for the Covenant.

[SuperCommando]

SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Inside Target Hades

Just outside the bridge

Silas nodded to Joe, acknowledging his plan. He jumped on the COM to update command on their progress.

"Gamma to Lennox, we're in position outside the bridge. Commencing entry."

He’d need both hands for this, so the Spartan approached one of Redsont’s men and offered him his bulky machine gun.

“It’s got about a hundred rounds or so left.” Silas told the ODST. “Use it well.”

Then he quickly moved to the side of the door opposite Joe and bent his knees, planting his feet and bracing himself. He flexed his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists a few times to warm up. This was gonna take some effort. He smacked his fist into his open palm, pumping himself up.

“For Harry,” he announced, dedicating the inevitable battle ahead to their missing friend. Then he speared his hands into the seam between the door’s segments with an intense, focused might. The metal clanged loudly and crumpled a bit beneath his superhuman grip.

“On three,” he said to Joe, his voice already straining as he tensed his powerful muscles. “One… two… THREE!”

With an awesome display of pure force, Silas pulled at his side of the door at the same time as Joe, together forcing the segments apart.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

Silas had handed his bulky weapon to Pat who grunted as he lifted it at the door. Redsont took aim next to him and John crouched by Redsont. Ed, Desmond and Fred took position on the other side of Pat. Whatever was on the side was going to be greeted with a hail of gunfire. Joe and Silas pulled the doors and they slid open from the spartan's combined strength. But the amount of enemies had surpassed Joe's initial thought. Jackels had formed up front and elites took aim in the back, classic formation. Plasma washed over Joe's shields as they shrunk away, he bolted behind the remaining segment of door for Redsont and his men to fire.

"Ass Kicking Time", Pat yelled as he fired the machine gun.

Bullets spat out and impacted against the jackels' shields while the other followed with thier own rifle fire. Two shields gave out and the jackels were riddled with bullet holes. The remaining covenant then proceeded to return fire. Redsont grabbed John and drug him out of the line of fire as Pat dropped the machine gun to keep from being hindered. He dashed to the side as the others had done.

"Okay, any ideas", Ed asked.

"Yeah follow my lead", Redsont ordered as he grabbed his last frag from his belt.

He primed the frag and tossed it up over the Jackels shields as the others grabbed their own frags. The outcome was obvious, either the Jackels would decimated by shrapnel or they would break formation to dodge the frags.

[Oresus]

A lance of adrenaline pierced each of Nha's hearts as he beheld the demons, who took cover just out of sight and opened fire. Blasphemous as they were, their explosive-powered weapons spat a hail of projectiles into the Covenant ranks, snuffing out two lives in an instant. Nha suppressed a growl as Tuk and an anonymous hanger-on Jackal jerked and dropped to the ground, bullets punching through them and crumpling on the Elites' shields. Nha decided that it was time to drive this filth from their halls.

"Close ranks!" he hollered, and their group surged forward to overwhelm the humans. Nha caught Jae by the shoulder as the other Sangheili was about to engage, and ordered him to hold back and provide covering fire with the Carbine that was pressed into his hands. Then, ready to do battle, the Major Domo ducked to the side of the corridor and unleashed a storm of crystalline shards from his Needler to irritate his foes. The semi-transparent projectiles would pierce the humans' ineffective body armor and at the very least force the demons to fall back to allow their shields time to recharge. On the other side of the corridor, Taheri 'Mortumee trained his rifle on the doorway and loosed streams of superheated plasma to burn them out. The Unggoy, powerful in numbers, regained their confidence lost over the long wait and fired as one.

Hope, a welcome emotion in these uncertain times, blossomed within the chest of the Major Domo as he fought. With reinforcements, the defenders might very well be invincible against the hordes of weakling heretics - if only they arrived soon enough. The first reinforcements, of course, had already arrived in the form of K'tas 'Raedomai and his lance, who bolstered the Covenant ranks.

---

"It's this way."

So said Iunus as the now-united Pack sped through the halls of the Pious Charity, aiming to burst in at an angle from a parallel passageway into the antechamber of the command center. The sounds of war echoed throughout the ship, most of the din concentrated between the grav-lift chamber and the command center, but another hotspot seemed to be closer to the latter. Sussius guided the Pack through the darkened corridors until they reached an area that appeared to be a priority in the eyes of the ship's commanders; the lights were on. The command center had to be close.

Irbinus found himself nervous ere the battle to come, a familiar sensation from his years on Harvest alongside Iunus. He knew all to well that it would go away once he got his blood pumping in battle, and so the Minor sought to keep up with his Captain as the Pack neared the antechamber. The Jiralhanae hurtled through a junction and spotted an open door at the end of another corridor.

"There!" said Sussius, confirming the door's status as their destination, and the Pack roared a wild war cry as they leaped through it as one to earn honor and glory in the service of the Forerunners.

---

Further into the bowels of the ship, two Kig-Yar ran past an ominously red door and took a right turn. They were Jut and Tes, also heading in the direction of the crucial skirmish to offer their skills as marksmen in combat. It would be a mere few minutes before they arrived, and both snipers had stocked up on ammunition as they'd moved through the Charity from fallen comrades and overlooked armories alike.

"Here we are," announced Tes as the duo slowed to an agonizing crawl and entered a junction adjacent to a corridor outside the antechamber. "We'll earn our keep tonight, brother," he promised Jut. The younger Kig-Yar's heart swelled as he imagined himself on Eayn spending tonight's salary on the pleasures of life. He regained control of himself soon afterwards and his mind hardened into that of a trained mercenary, ready to kill.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

What happened next was to quick to tell, first an elite had fired it's needler at the ODSTs as they ducked behind cover. Then an elite fired from behind the charging hoard and shot at them. Joe quickly fired at the elite with the needler and bullet's pinged off it's shields. Redsont turned his attention towards the elite and fired along with the spartan. Two weapons' fire had to be able to bring the elite down. The remaining ODSTs fired as well and the covenant were greeted with a hail of bullet fire.

"Sir this isn't looking to good, might be time to use the heavy artillery", Pat stated.

This might be true, Pat had a rocket launcher and Fred and Desmond had snipers. Not that those would do them any good in such close range. Redsont had a shotgun but the distance was still too great for it to be used effectively.

"Not yet, we'll use it when we need to. There's still the matter of getting out of this ship" Redsont reminded Pat.

They continued to fire on the opposing force.

[Oresus]

Years and years of discipline didn't count for anything other than to muffle the howl that escaped Nha 'Chavamee as the bullets slammed into his armor. His resilient shields vaporized the offending objects, of course, but the kinetic shock travelled straight through them and dispersed across his skin. Biting back further wordless complaints, the Major Domo emptied the rest of the needles at his assailants and retreated behind a pair of Unggoy, who were managing to strafe and hop about while peppering the humans with a steady stream of plasma fire.

"Major 'Raedomai, press forward and end this threat!" advised Nha over the BattleNet, his voice groaning with the stresses of combat. After sending the transmission, the Sangheili sidestepped into the middle of the corridor and tossed a grenade underarm at the doorway, then had to double back as two Unggoy fell, hides pierced by a dozen wounds and blue blood leaking onto the floor. Unless reinforcements arrived now, they were all dead. The only other alternative was retreat, but Nha refused to consider that option.

---

The Jiralhanae roared through the opening and turned to size up the battle, fists flexing over Spikers and Brute Shots. Irbinus re-checked that his bayonet was firmly fixed before loping forward to join a group of beleaguered Unggoy and Sangheili. Kig-Yar corpses lay in a neat line suggestive of a failed defensive formation before the enemies that hovered in the doorway ahead. Irbinus lost count of their number, but judged it of inferior size to their own force. After a last look back to reassure himself that they were defending the command center, the young Jiralhanae stalked forward and opened fire.

---

Not too far away, a third lance led by a Minor Domo sneaked through the corridors, following their ears toward the battle. Circip had acquired some firepower in the form of a plasma turret from the site of a chokepoint that had been previously overwhelmed, and he planned to act as a last resort against whatever dark forces were arrayed against them.

"Forward!" screamed Brure excitably, twisting through a half-destroyed junction and coming out in a corridor parallel to the sounds of battle. The lance was just in time to witness a pack of Brutes enter the adjacent corridor via a door further on, and Circip began to move forward, weighed down by the turret. He silently prayed to the Glorious Forerunners to grant him and his lance protection in the battle to come, and the others joined in.

Soon, any observer would have been stunned at the sight of a lance of hardened warriors moving forward at an adrenaline-fueled speed, heads bowed and chanting a prayer in unison. But that's the Covenant for you, isn't it?

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

The grenade flew between the group and they all dived back to avoid the explosion. Meanwhile, a group of brutes had joined the already large group. They now had at least twenty troops to fight with and they were easily able to fire on them. Joe spotted the ODST was holding a rocket launcher on his back. He quickly slid over to the ODST, shields flaing from the incoming fire and took the rocket launcher for himself.

"I'll give it right back", Joe assured Pat.

He took a quick look and aim the launcher into the middle of the group. He squeezed the trigger and a rocket shot foward at the covenant.