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

[Oresus]

That's what's funny about reaction time. It seems to take forever for you to notice the threat. Nha was acutely aware that an intimidating golden-visored figure had appeared in the doorway cradling some sort of explosive ordnance, but he was too caught up in watching his own explosive streak past his enemies and explode uselessly. By the time the Elite finally began to move, it was too late to escape unscathed. The "rocket" burst out of the tube eagerly and zoomed down the corridor in a blaze of light, slamming into the floor and detonating a millisecond later. Nha felt the heat on his back as the resulting shockwave sent him tumbling through the hot air into a wall. The Major slid down and landed on his knees, one hand cradling his head while the other searched for a weapon. It closed on a Plasma Rifle, but the weapon was claimed by another hand, holding onto the trigger guard.

"Taheri!" exclaimed Nha, raising his head to see the Minor Domo struggling to rise. The two Sangheili helped each other to get to their feet and looked at the aftermath of the explosion. It wasn't good. Unggoy and Kig-Yar bodies littered the ground, and Nha's stomach clenched as he recognized Jae 'Fulsamee lying spread-eagled across the hall. As they began to retreat, Nha and Taheri realized that they too had taken a hammering; bruises coated their bodies and it was a pain to move. The pair stopped as what looked like an entire pack of Brutes surged forward to finish what the Elites had started.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe

Joe stared as the rocket connected and sent bodies flying, but there were several brutes that were unharmed. Except for taking cover, they charged eagerly foward as Joe aimed the launche again and fired the second rocket. It raced towards the brutes and impacted into the lead on. The others were either engulfed in the blast or were sent flying in seperate directions. Joe then handed the launcher back to the ODST and nodded a quick thanks. He leveled his rifle and prepared to sweep the room for survivors.

[Oresus]

Nha and Taheri watched with a mixture of amusement and anger as the Jiralhanae were caught in the blast from a second explosive, their threat to the humans eliminated by that one bold demon. The Minor Domo shook his head and ducked away into a junction, while Nha darted forward and across the corridor to Jae 'Fulsamee's body. The tactician was slumped against a wall, nestled in an alcove away from the eyes of the human attackers, so Nha was able to hide while checking on his comrade.

"Major!" roared Taheri in frustration, before turning to see another lance arrive from the opposite door in the junction. A pang of guilt struck Nha before he dismissed it in the interests of protecting his lance, a task entrusted to him, as Major, which he had largely failed. He inserted a finger into the other Sangheili's mouth and lifted a mandible, and was elated when Jae reflexively lifted a hand to grab the intruder's wrist. The Minor's eyes flickered open and he was instantly alert, arms questing downward to discover that his chest armor was charred and the shields dead. A large second-degree burn covered much of the area beneath and stretched to the Sangheili's stomach, but it was nothing that a few minutes' bio-gel couldn't soothe.

"You'll live to take your revenge, brother," Nha assured his comrade before peeking out into the corridor to check on the humans' position. He didn't like his odds against at least one demon and a squad of those accursed men who came from the sky. From across the corridor, Taheri whispered across the BattleNet that he'd encountered additional reinforcements. Again, hope made an appearance within Nha as he considered the possibility of a counterattack.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

The Brutes were dealt with, but yet another group of covenant had entered the command center. It was beginning to look like a scene out of a backwards horror film. Alien corpses and multi colored blood filled the room. Joe took aim and quickly dispatched two grunts while Redsont and his squad took down three elite with their combined fire power. The group was easily caught off guard by the grizzly scene. They stood no chance and the soldiers quickly finished off the last group. Joe checked the room and saw no threats, and cleared that thought with his motion tracker. No enemies were to be seen and they proceeded into the room. Joe moved quickly towards the console on the far side, sweeping in both directions to assure that there were no more ambushes to come. He arrived at the console and found a small slit, above the holographic controls and inserted Churchill into the slit.

"How is it", Joe asked.

"Good to go, the data is in the main drive. I can delete easily, and there is some covenant data here as well. I'll just need some time to transfer it.", Churchill informed him.

"Roger that", Joe said while he turned to the others.

"Alright, we need to keep this room under our control until Churchill wraps this up", Joe ordered.

They had plenty of weapons lying around to use, they just had to wait for time to do it's thing.

[Oresus]

He could hardly believe it - the humans marched straight past the two Sangheili without even pausing for a second. Knowing that they were lucky to be alive with every step they took, Nha and Jae flitted across the corridor and joined a very annoyed Taheri and the remains of the unfortunate reinforcements. An emerald-armored Unggoy Heavy stepped forward and bowed to the Major Domo before organizing his lance into a cohesive fighting unit. Nha looked sadly at the remains of his own lance before taking command of these unfamiliar soldiers and moving quietly down the corridor toward the open door at the far end.

As the warriors moved to cover the door in a sort of mirror of the previous battle, Nha reflected upon said battle and considered a number of strategies to employ in this coming one. A direct attack would be useless against the two demons he'd counted as the human assault group had moved past. Two! How could he, a mere Major with only ten years' experience, hope to lead a pathetic, half-sized lance to save the day? These were the questions that plagued Nha as he stood in the middle of the corridor, staring at the open door. After a moment, the Sangheili shook himself and logic, blessed logic, returned to him. A minute's thought and he had a strategy.

"You," he addressed the Heavy, "take two Unggoy and retrieve as much heavy weaponry and explosives as you can from the nearest armory, or, failing that, scavenge what you can. You've a whole ship to pick apart," he said forcefully as the Unggoy slumped, "do it!" As the three Grunts moved off on their mission, Nha resumed staring at the door. Apart from two other doors that ultimately led back here, it was the only exit from the command center, and so the Major Domo was confident that they could hold the humans inside with some reinforcements...but until what? No, the only viable option was to raise a small army and assault the humans' position before they could work any devilry, as was their want. A Minor Domo turned and hobbled back to the commander, coming to a stop a respectful distance away.

"Major," said Jae, "what's our plan?"

Nha was unresponsive for a moment as he sorted out the last details of a desperate plan, one that would require determination, strategy and a large amount of luck. Then he began to speak, slowly and deliberately, enunciating each and every syllable. After he'd heard it, Jae's golden eyes widened slightly and he bowed in respect for a tactician at least equal to himself. After offering his opinion, the Sangheili departed to see to the preparations and Nha advanced upon the door, Carbine trained on it.

"Grenades!" he barked, and several of these were brandished by Unggoy as the group ensured that every angle was covered. For want of numbers, these soldiers of the Covenant would compensate with brute force and explosive power. Nothing was coming back through that door and surviving, thought Nha grimly as he waited for the heretics to finish their business inside.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

Joe was confident with the defences that had been setup. Two of the ODSTs were at both ends of the main door and were laying with snipers at the ready. Meanwhile, another ODST ad reloaded the rocket launcher and had it leveled at the same passage way. Joe had positioned himself in front of the console to protect it from harm even with his own body. Redsont and two other ODSTs had rifles on the door, there was no way a covenant soldier would survive the cross fire of these many weapons. Churchill gave Joe a time limit of thirty minutes for the covenant data to be transferred. Joe had since then put up a timer in his heads up display. The timer read 27:36:05 since then, he hoped that they could afford that much time.

[SuperCommando]

SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Inside Target Hades

The Bridge

The final stray Grunt fell to Silas’s feet, concluding the short, intense fight for the assault carrier’s bridge. It was a large room, all dark purples and glowing holographic lights. Silas would have marveled at its alien beauty if it were not for the bodies and gore splattered all over. And still, even though the chamber had been cleared of immediate hostiles and Joe was even now recovering the stolen data, it still did not feel like a victory. Not to Silas, anyway.

From the moment he shrugged the sling of his battle rifle off his shoulder and let the weapon fall into his hand, snapping it up and adding his own shots to the firefight, something just felt off. While Joe took charge and owned the battle, he had remained in cover behind the door the whole time, picking off targets half-heartedly. What had been wrong? It wasn’t like him to take a backseat when the lead started flying. And when the stakes were this high, he would have thought he’d have more enthusiasm, more fighting spirit.

Silas stood in the middle of the room as Joe guarded Churchill’s counsel and the ODSTs took up defensive positions. Shouldn’t that be what he was doing, too? He looked around at the soft glow of the intricate holographic symbols and shapes that illuminated the interior. They seemed to have a sad, mournful effect somehow.

The Spartan keyed his COM, once again reporting to Captain Lennox, “This is team Gamma, bridge secure. Target data deleted. Be advised, Covenant data transfer in progress, estimated download time thirty minutes and counting.” His voice was stoic, devoid of emotion. Most anyone would disregard it as Spartan professionalism, but the keenly observant would notice the slightest drooping of the super-soldier’s shoulders.

An image flashed in his mind when he said the word “Gamma”... Harry’s forsaken, dismembered hand laying in a pool of fresh blood. The word resonated within him, reminding him that one of their own was gone. He knew that image would haunt his memory forever. Technically speaking, Silas was not part of the team – he had been doing recon on the surface with SOG-A, then joined his fellow Spartans for the following assault.

So was that his problem? Was he still upset about the fate of their fallen friend? His mirrored visor betrayed nothing of his inner emotions, even as they warred inside him. He was a Spartan. More than just a weapon of war, he was a symbol of hope for every human who looked at him, and an icon of terror for the Covenant enemy. He could not afford to appear weak, to show that he had such feelings, to show he missed his friend.

To show he cared.

Silas moved to busy himself by searching the bodies of the enemy. Maybe he’d find something useful, and it’d give him something to focus his mind on and get back to the mission at hand.

[Oresus]

"We're on our way back, Major."

"Godspeed," replied Nha 'Chavamee, cutting the link. After a moment's thought, the diminutive Sangheili looked over to where Taheri 'Mortumee was directing a pair of Unggoy in setting up the plasma cannon Circip had brought in a safe spot on the side of the corridor. Across it and closer to the door where two humans lay prone, keeping an eye on the distant Covenant, Jae 'Fulsamee leaned against a wall for support while guarding the junction that Circip and his two Unggoy were due to emerge from. Two of the Jiralhanae had survived the earlier blast and had joined this cause, as well as a pair of Kig-Yar marksmen. Overall, the survivors of the battle had recovered well and set up defenses, but Nha held little hope that they'd withstand the firepower of the command center's occupants when they were done with it.

The pitter-patter of footsteps became audible, Jae jerked up and poked his head into the junction, and three Unggoy waddled into the corridor laden down with what looked like the entire ship's stock of explosives. Seeing the Major Domo further down the corridor, the trio approached him and set down their loot at his feet. Nha knelt and examined the finds. He saw several satchels of grenades, an extra plasma cannon, and best of all, several miniature anti-matter charges tied together into large bundles. Satisfied, the Major glanced down the corridor and saw the human guards watching. He quickly shoved the pile into one of the alcoves, where it would be invisible to prying eyes.

The group gathered around the alcove, where Nha once again explained his short-notice plan. It'd require dedication, and the Sangheili kept talking until he saw it spark in his listeners' eyes. All of them understood that performing this task meant being propelled along the Path beyond all others for their heroism. When he'd finished, Nha got to his feet and ordered Circip and Jae to begin the preparations while the rest of them continued their vigil over the command center's door. The Covenant had no idea how long the humans would be in there, so they acted as if it was known that their enemies would emerge at any second.

[inhert]

Red Wing (SOG-A and Paula Santa Maria)

Target Hades

Bridge

A sharp pain bit into Murph’s shoulder blade as he pushed himself off of Sarah Linown. Surveying the scene of two dead hunters and two dead marines he slipped into a state of hypnosis, Murph was shocked back to reality by a tug on the metal piece that had buried itself in his back armor. SOG-A’s medic Clay pulled the piece from his leader’s back plate, while the fragment was stuck in the ceramic and titanium outer layers of Murph’s armor it would leave him with a nasty bruise.

Andrew Deiran was the first to speak a whole sentence after the carnage. With only two surviving member of Indigo Squad what was left of the Marine squad was in no shape to lead to the rest of the way to the bridge. That job would fall to the men of SOG-A and they had to get there post haste. “Deiran, Linown. You don’t have to continue if you’re not fit go back to the grav-lift.” Murph addressed the two emotionless Marines. Turning from the two Marines Murph looked to his teammates and Crash and Paula.

“Ready.” Jester informed Murph with the metallic slap of his MA5B’s bolt punctuating his single spoken word. The other three SOG-A operators nodded in unison as they watched Murph take the lead. He started at a quick walk, which soon evolved into a jog, the jog morphed into a run; Murph’s pace was matched by the five others with him. They group pressed on until they reached a juncture strewn with the bodies of dead Covenant. Bullet and plasma marks scored the walls; it was the scene of a large-scale firefight one that took place only moments ago. The SPARTANs and the ODSTs with them secured the ship’s bridge, for the time being.

“Friendlies coming in.” Announced to what ever UNSC forces where inside the Bridge. The member of SOG-A entered the Bridge and were greeted by the scene of two SPARTANs and a squad of ODSTs. The capabilities of the SPARTANs never ceased to amaze Mruph.

Without order or comment Puala rushed to the consol that was inhabited by the A.I Churchill. “How’s the head start faring you?” she asked the occupied A.I as it sifted the internals of the Covenant computer system. With the A.I doing the heavy lifting of the data recovery she could conduct a much important side task, the copying of the entirety of the data on the ship’s computer system. “Churchill. While you’re in there tag every thing for copy.”

Murph looked at the two SPARTANs Joe and Silas it did not take long for him to do the metal math, “Where’s the third?” This comment was spoken, no radio, just spoken words that anyone present in bridge could here, the loss of a SPARTAN could be a moral changer, they were portrayed as invincible fighting machines and the proposition of losing one was traumatic.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

Joe was stiffled by the question the newcomer asked. He looked to Silas who was fighting his own guilt of Harry's loss. He cleared his voice and spoke as calmly as he could muster.

"We got seperated along the way", Joe lied.

This was for the best, if they knew that a spartan was defeated it could lower moral. He quickly turned to the occupant at the controls.

"Churchill is already downloading the covenant data and deleted the captured info", he assured her.

"Yeah, but this could go a whole lot faster if I had some help!", Churchill yelled.

Joe ignored Churchill's statement and turned to the apparent leader.

"We are holding this position until Chuchill is done with the transfer so there's no telling when we'll encounter enemy troops.", Joe informed him.

"Might not have to wait much longer, Covenant forces are gathering down the hall. Can't tell how many though.", Desmond assured Joe.

"Take any shot you have, we can't allow them to attack us", Joe ordered.

Two shots rang out as the ODSTs shot at the covenant forces. Joe glanced at his mission timer, there was a little over 15 minutes left to go.

[Oresus]

Crack, crack.

Two shots rang out in the silence of this lull, and two bullets crossed the distance between the command center and Nha's troops in a microsecond. The first bullet went nowhere, but the second struck the Sangheili high in the chest, causing him to stagger back several steps and double over. Instinctively, Nha spun around and dodged into the alcove before the snipers could fire again, settling himself down and checking for damage. He delicately picked the crumpled round from his armor and dropped it to the ground with a tinkle. After a few seconds, a reassuring hum could be heard as the Elite's shields recharged to full power. In retaliation, the previously cowering Unggoy fired their plasma pistols down the hall at the snipers and ducked back, then repeated the tactic.

"Major, we must act now!" warned Taheri, who'd been keeping a vigilant eye on the humans' activity. Nha looked at the Unggoy Heavy, Circip, who nodded and struggled to his feet under the extra weight along with his two comrades. Major 'Chavamee stood as well, and looked down at the squat, determined warriors. They represented everything that every soldier of the Covenant strove to achieve, and pride filled the Sangheili as he examined them.

"You'll go far on the Path," he promised the trio, and then called out to Taheri. "We're ready!" The plan they were about to execute was one that had the advantage of superior firepower and surprise. Nha still didn't know whether it would work. After checking his Plasma Rifle's charge and strapping a Needler to his thigh as a sidearm, the ruby-armored Sangheili stared at the command center and its resident humans for a long moment and gave the first order.

"Grenades!"

Instantly, several orbs of blinding blue-white light appeared and arced towards the door to the control room. Simultaneously, the three Sangheili left their respective alcoves and began to cover ground fast, moving down the hallway and firing in bursts at the snipers. This initial attack was supposed to shake those snipers out like rats from their hole, if not kill them instantly. A second later, the Unggoy exited cover and two manned the plasma cannons, peppering the doorway and the room beyond with suppressive fire. The others waddled down the corridor and loosed several overcharged bursts from their plasma pistols at the snipers lying in wait. Two of them fell to the snipers' fire, and then a third approached them and was taken down. The remaining four redoubled their speed and fired what seemed like all of the plasma in the known universe at the defenders, trying to force them to retreat.

"Circip!" bellowed Nha 'Chavamee.

The green-armored Heavy waited for another three seconds, then he and his companions revealed themselves. The trio ran as fast as they could down the hallway toward the door, clutching around three grenades in each hand and holding their pudgy fingers down on as many buttons as they could at one time. Circip led the charge, coming to within a grenade's throw of the door and releasing around half of his ordnance in its general direction without regard for aiming along with the others. They didn't have time to check, but presumed the snipers either dead or in retreat - no soldier could see through that blinding blast and be able to fight effectively, nor remain in that position and hope to survive. At Nha's order, the assault force split up and moved along the sides of the corridor to escape being attacked by the humans, who had a clear line of sight through the door.

After an age of running, the Sangheili approached the door and tossed the last of their grenades inside, then Taheri and Jae rushed to cover both sides. The Minors pressed themselves against the wall and aimed their plasma rifles at the doorway. Nha 'Chavamee crept towards it and signaled back to the three Unggoy, who uttered a war cry and sprinted at full pelt into the chamber. The Sangheili leaned in and fired as many bolts as they could until their weapons overheated, then ducked back and waited for Circip and his Grunts to do their holy work. The two surviving Jiralhanae, Irbinus and Iunus, reluctantly strolled over to join their hated enemies and with an effortless demeanor, fired some spikes into the command center. The two Unggoy on the cannons quickly picked the heavy weaponry up and set it down again, this time much closer to the door. The Brutes split up to accommodate them. It all hinged on Circip now, and Nha found himself praying as they listened.

[Dufflepud]

Jetna Khatnemai rushed down to long corridor, almost running into K'tas and Nha as they crept along silently. "What's happening?" whispered the Ultra as he recognized the familiar faces.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

Desmond and Fred fired two more rounds, before rolling out of the doorway. Joe instantly saw what they were avoiding, a wall of plasma and grenades raced towards them. Joe instinctively rolled out of the way and the plasma raced by him. A display of Lethe's surface was struck by a plasma bolt and it exploded outward. His adrenaline was back at overload, his mind was racing.

"Get a rocket down that hallway ASAP!", Joe yelled over the explosions.

Pat raised the launcher and a rocket sped foward at the covenant, leaving a dark smoke trail behind it. Joe primed Harry's grenade.

"Thanks comrade", Joe whispered as he threw the grenade into the hall after the rocket.

Redsont leaned against te wall with the shotgun aimed directly at the door. Anything foriegn was coming in to say hello to a shit load of lead. Three grunts entered the room wield multiple grenades in their hands. The first grunt activated it's grenades at the site Redsont but a rain of pellets silenced it. Redsont lurched back as the grenades exploded, taking out out the other two grunts with friendly fire. Plasma hissed at Redsont's feet as he fell on his back, the plasma then faded away leaving a charred spot where he once stood.

[Oresus]

An unintelligible shout, an almost inaudible puff, and for the third time that evening Nha saw a rocket streaking towards them. Luckily, he'd foreseen such a move, which was why he'd split the team up and had them run along the walls earlier. The glowing explosive harmlessly passed the Major Domo as if in slow motion before detonating at the far end of the corridor. More of a problem, though, was the grenade that followed it, bouncing smoothly into the center of the corridor and detonating between the two Unggoy on the turrets, who were blown aside along with the weaponry. Other than that, no casualties had been inflicted, thought the offensive firepower had decreased significantly. The surviving Unggoy cheered and resumed firing and lobbing the last of their grenades into the command center, careful not to hit Circip and the other two, who had miraculously made it into the command center without being shot! The Sangheili silently thanked the Forerunners for such a blessing, then felt anxious as he considered the repercussions of his insane plan.

"What's happening?"

Nha straightened up and bowed to the Ultra as he came to stand next to the two Majors. This Sangheili stood nearly two feet taller than Nha, which wasn't uncommon given his below-average height. He recognized the Ultra, though not by name, from a brief meeting prior to all of this regarding mostly defense strategies.

"What's happening? We're assaulting the humans' position as they attempt to retrieve their data, and we could use as much help as we can get." He looked behind the Sangheili, back down the corridor away from the firefight. "How many warriors did you bring?" he asked hopefully. A series of gunshots distracted the Major and he looked the other way to see that Circip and his Unggoy had been taken down by the humans holed up in the command center - but it didn't matter, realized Nha as he judged how far into the chamber they were. They'd done their job, and now it was time to ensure that their efforts hadn't been in vain.

"Retreat!"

Firing backwards to cover themselves, the Covenant warriors quickly filed down the hallway and turned left into the junction Nha and his lance had previously hidden in, where The Major Domo turned to face the confused Ultra. "This is where we either earn immeasurable glory, or die," he informed his superior, before nodding to an eager Taheri. The Minor Domo grinned, his mandibles spreading out and clicking back together, and crossed the room to where a lone Unggoy sat with a small contraption of some sort wedged between his legs. Everyone in the crowded junction watched the pair.

"Do it," he ordered the Grunt, who brought the weight of his hands down on the device and activated the timer on the half-dozen miniature anti-matter charges that they'd retrieved from an armory earlier and were now attached to each of the Unggoy lying dead in the command center. As one, the entire group hurried out of the junction and didn't stop until there were several layers of superdense material between them and the command center. Best-case scenario: the blast would rip the place apart and eliminate the threat, but Nha was sure that some of them would have already recognized the charges for what they were. They could all be fleeing even now! The worst-case scenario was the same, except that in this one, Nha crippled the Charity, possibly even crashed it into Lethe. Should they miraculously win the battle, he'd be punished severely for his foolishness. And of course, there were innumerable possible outcomes in between. It remained to be seen what the effect of his outrageous plan would be...

_{(OOC: Boom (Smaller variant but still quite powerful))}

[Dufflepud]

"I have brought a dozen more warriors into the fight!" yelled Jetna over the sound of gunshots and explosions.

His warriors held their positions, pressing themselves against the side of the hallway intersecting the one which the humans poured out of. As the humans chased after K'tas and Nha, they sprang outwards, decimating the human ranks from behind. Blue plasma fire lit up the hallway as the sangheili warriors rushed from the walls, and tore into the confused humans. Jetna sent two marines flying with a burst from his needler, and K'tas tore through his enemy with twin blades, wreathed in blue flame, and slicing into the heretic's flesh like a chainsaw through paper. The humans began to retreat back down the hallway from which they had come, and Jetna attempted to get close to Nha.

"Find cover!" screamed Jetna, "Nha, activate the charges!"

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

Joe noticed the that the grunts were oddly shaped and that their chest seemed bulky. Suddenly he made out the shape of the covenant charges.

"Fallback, Fallback! Get to the escape pods!", Joe ordered to the door on right.

He grabbed the ODST with the rocket launcher and darted towards the room. Fred and Desmond had backed out of thier positions earlier and were closest to the door. They got there first along with Ed. Redsont was still on his back when the order was give and the closest to the corpses. Suddenly, he felt himself dragged across the floor as the charges detonated. The room filled with a brilliant light as the doors slammed shut. A loud thus was heard and the door became white as the plasma collided with it. Smoke leaked through the slits and drifted to the cieling.

Slowly the noise faded as the plasma settled down and the room became still. Redsont stood to see John behind him, the private had saved his Sergeant's life. Redsont shook the boy's hand.

"Thanks, I owe you a meal when we get back", Redsont assured him.

Joe proceeded through the door to anylize the damage, which wasn't nearly as bad as he thought. The door was charred on the other side but the controls seemed untouched. Everyone seemed to be okay on top of that. Joe proceeded to the controls and shecked for Churchill.

"Churchill, you alright?", he asked.

"Yeah but next time you leave me in a system to be wasted and I'll kill you!", Churchill screamed.

"How goes the data transfer?", Joe asked, ignoring the AI's anger.

"I've just finished, now let's get the bloody hell out of here!", Churchill yelled.

Joe agreed with Churchill on that, he punched the com.

"Gamma 3 to Lennox, we have deleted the data and have captured covenant star charts", Joe stated.

He then grabbed the chip from the console and slipped it back into his helmet. The cold mercury entered his mind once more as Churchill entered his armor. Joe then turned to the exit, the covenant were probably expecting for a good portion of them to be dead. Little did they know that most of them survived, Joe moved to Pat and grabbed the launcher once more. He hugged the wall and peeked around the corner and saw that the covenant were gone. Joe breathed deeply as he stared death in the face once more. This war really was getting to him.

[Oresus]

After he'd caught his breath, Nha straightened up and turned to the Ultra, whose name, he'd discovered, was Jetna. Forty or so warriors, all Sangheili, Jiralhanae, or Unggoy, filled the corridor, and all but two of Nha's lance lay slaughtered in front of the command center. A wave of suppressed grief crashed down upon the Major Domo before he pushed it away again; it would do no good to have him wailing in the middle of an operation.

"Jetna, I suggest that you conscript my remaining warriors and I into your own numbers; my lance is gone." The last four words threatened to herald the return of the wave, but Nha managed to keep his voice steady. "What are your orders?"

[Dufflepud]

Jetna looked into the other major's eyes, and as he saw the pain flash through them, Jetna's expression noticeably darkened. Lelotha, his trusted friend and ally lay dead on the ground, and his lance stared at the body, leaderless and confused.

"Take what remains of your subordinates, and command those who were in Lelotha's lance." said Jetna. He stood there a moment longer, and clasped his hand upon the major's shoulder in what he hoped to be a comforting gesture. He then turned, and slumped against a wall, breathing heavily, and trying to focus on preventing himself from roaring out his grief.

[Oresus]

"So you say, so it shall be," said Nha, then turned to face his new charges. They looked visibly nervous, to say the least, at the prospect of being commanded by an unfamiliar leader. The Major decided to seek to establish a relationship as soon as possible to make it easy for him to command them for the time being. Taheri and Jae were dispatched to get to know the lance, while Nha himself quested closer to the scene of his last stand in a search for weapons.

He retrieved a Carbine from the corpse of a Kig-Yar, and picked up a plasma rifle lying in the doorway that led to the main corridor. The Sangheili couldn't resist poking his head out to spot the humans, but he couldn't see any of them. He ducked back and returned to his new lance, and delivered a short sharp speech to introduce himself. Counting the heads, Nha discovered that he now commanded six Sangheili, four Kig-Yar and ten or eleven Unggoy, depending on whether that one hanging around the edge of the group was a member. It was sufficient, he decided, then reported back to Jetna to await further orders.

[maxii1]

Harry 152
Location: MIA

He coughed up blood for the third time in this brief interrogation session, his face a swollen, blotchy mess. “Please…” he blurted out, wanting the pain to stop.
The brute was purposefully being soft with the Spartan, one punch should have snapped the mans neck.

“His armor is strong, but the man inside is weak” stated an elite onlooker.

Harry’s eyes burned bright as he stared at him “Cut the Crap and End This” he stated slowly with emotion evident in it.

“I think a public execution is more desirable than a back room death, nice personal effects by the way, a tactical Nuclear explosive device, it might prove useful, I’ve just heard that your team has successfully hacked the network, acquiring valuable data” smiled the elite.



Captain Nigel Lennox
Location: Gravity Lift

Over the radio, Lennox had heard the entire battle unfold whilst his own battles where with organizing the defense of the lift room.

"Gamma 3 to Lennox, we have deleted the data and have captured covenant star charts"

“Excellent News Gamma, we’ve got your exit route covered for you” he told the fighting force that had excelled so well.

A nearby Sergeant and his Platoon had arranged the defenses of the room, complete with explosive charges and traps located in the majority of the corridors.

[monkeyjoe14]

Spartan 148 Joe & ODST Sgt. Redsont

Joe was assured by Lennox's statement, he turned to Silas.

"Loos like it's time to hual it out of here", Joe told him.

Redsont and his squad entered the room and stood at attention. They prepared to move out, they were getting off this ship after what felt like an eternity. Joe took point with his rifle, the rocket launcher was on his back in case the covenant showed thier head. Suddenly, his motion tracker picked up contacts to his right, th FoF labeled them as foes. The covenant from earlier hadn't just left them alone after all. Joe wasn't at an advantage here due to the fact he had no grenades left. That left only two options, run past them and hope that they're faster. Or they had to fight, Joe had that last rocket but there wasn't a whole lot of ways to use it. Joe contemplated the thought of bolting into the junction and firing that rocket down at them. Joe grabbed the launcher and dashed foward turning to his right to face the enemy. He fired the launcher and continued foward to avoid taking fire. The rocket wouldn't be incredibly accurate, but it would still pose a threat to the covenant. Also, when the covenant went to chase after him they would be greeted from the ODSTs' gun fire.

[nex]

Steve 'Crash' Colsten ONI Section III Target Hades: Bridge

Crash had been right behind the ODSTs when they'd dived through the door to avoid the explosive blast. He had been a little more hesitant, in leaving the command center though.

He'd only had less than half an hour to play with the the controls. All he'd managed to do was assess the damage the ship had taken - It would most likely never fly again, and was venting atmosphere like water running through a sieve. He'd had to fight to override the automatic protocols that would have sealed the bulkheads all over the ship in a feeble attempt to keep the air breathable.

That wouldn't be a problem for the UNSC troops who were suitably dressed with air filtration masks. But for the covenant, it might be a little trickier.

He'd also learned that one of the hanger's had been completely depressurised in the attack by the UNSC Welrod earlier on. With the point defenses down, that would make an a good fall-back position for extraction. He made a mental note of it's location, along with the position of an armoury on the way.

Turning his attention back to the present, as he watched, a Spartan ran down the corridor outside the command center, looking to bring the covenant waiting there out into the open.

He quickly turned back into the bridge and headed towards the main controls.
He unclipped the can of C7 from his belt, and began to spray a sizable quantity of the chemical about the base of each of the bridge consoles, before removing several of the three-pronged detonators from his pocket.

He added a small block of C12 from a vest pocket as well. Whilst the anti-matter charge the covenant had employed earlier had just been aimed in towards the room, most of the energy had been wasted on the empty space. This explosive, however, was channeled to specifically blow through and sever all the command circuits. beneath it.

The detonators themselves were designed to be activated by radio signal, and had anti-tamper fail-safes.

He waited briefly for it to harden, before pushing in the detonators and arming the mass of explosive.

He left the empty can there as well, for good measure.

He quickly caught back up with SOG-A, and the ODSTs outside the command centre, with a wry smile underneath his helmet.

He flicked on his PDA, and checked the signal strength; Good

[SuperCommando]

SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Inside Target Hades

The Bridge

Silas stood, having previously been crouching beside a fallen Elite to study the curious anatomy of its four-pronged mandibles, and saluted his greeting to Red Wing and Indigo Squad as they entered the captured bridge. He remembered climbing the slope up to the grav lift crater with the later and participating in the following assault with the former. After Harry’s loss, it was a huge relief to see familiar faces who had made it this far. Although, sadly, it would appear they were not without casualties of their own.

“Lieutenant Murphy,” he said to the leader of SOG-A. “Good to see you again, sir!”

The reunion was short-lived, however. A wave of suicidal Grunts came running in with armfuls of live plasma grenades. They were quickly neutralized by the ODSTs, but then Joe noticed the odd packs strapped to their bodies. Silas took off running for cover, diving into the escape-pod room right behind Joe as they sought cover from the powerful charges. They dove through the door as it sealed shut an instant before the charges blew. Looking around, it appeared as though Red Wing and the ODSTs made it safely as well.

Joe retrieved Churchill from the bridge computer system, the AI having completed its work, and the humans prepared to finally depart this wretched ship.

“Looks like it’s time to haul it out of here,” Joe said to Silas.

“Agreed,” he replied. “You take point and I’ll watch our six. We’ll all make it out of here together!”

While Joe went to hassle the Covenant outside, Silas hung back and watched as Warrant Officer Colsten rigged the place to blow sky-high. He nodded to the spook in approval, then followed to join SOG-A.

“What’s our extraction plan?” he asked, raising his battle rifle, ready to defend the group against any Covenant attackers.

[inhert]

Red Wing (SOG-A)

Target Hades

Bridge

Extraction plan Silas’ words bit at Murph as he aimed his MA5B out of the door. The mission started with three SPARTANs, in the bridge there were only two, one was missing and Murph assumed captured. To the UNSC grunts the SPARTANs were invincible fighting machines, there presence on the battlefield was a huge moral boost. And with their half ton of armor they appear to be machines, but they weren’t; underneath the armor, the cybernetics, and the genetic modifications was a human, a man.

The idea of extraction while a soldier was missing did not sit well with Murph under any condition. No matter what condition the missing SPARTAN he had to be rescued and a responsibility like that fell into the purview of a Special Operation Group. “Axe get Lennox. Yellow find HIM!” The words exploded from Mruph’s mouth.

“Up.” Axe announced Lennox’s attention was had over the COM net, anything spoken over the channel would be heard by all UNSC forces, Murph had to choose his words carefully.

“Mike Sierra.” It sounded like a soldier’s name, “I repeat Mike Sierra.” In fact to all of the UNSC forces it sounded like one soldier calling for another by the name Mike Sierra. But to a Captain, or those with proper clearance: SPARTANs and Special Operation Group members there was an earth shaking meaning, missing SPARTAN. The Mike Sierra code did not just indicate a missing SPARTAN but announced the launch of a rescue effort. Yellow did not need to notify Murph, a dot and arrow appeared on his HUD it was where the SPARTAN Harry was. Harry’s location was toward the rear of the ship and three floors down, far away from the UNSC held areas, going there was suicide.

Ignoring the threat of the Covenant forces beyond the Bridge door, Murph strode to a wall of the room. It was the wall that the initial plan called for SOG-A to breach to assault the Bridge, beyond it was the corridor that they used in their approach. The four other SOG-A operators shifted to were Murph stood. A portable Plasma cutter was unhooked from Murph’s harness.

“Leave no man Behind.” Murph gave his answer to Silas’ extraction plan question as the Plasma cutter ignited in a sharp blue flame and Murph began cutting the wall.

[Soulstep]

Corporal Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Target Hades Bridge

Andrew and Sarah had followed the ONI techs and Red Wing into the bridge, the 2 remaining Marines of Indigo working simply on training, all sense of adrenaline and emotion that usually accompanied fighting had been sucked out of their bodies after over half of their squad had been killed in front of them. Ben, Adam and Tom had been childhood friends to Andrew and Sarah, and had went through training together. They had been inseperable from each other... until now.

Now, Andrew and Sarah were among the UNSC troops garrisonning the Bridge doors, awaiting the inevitable counter-attack from the Covenant forces now trapped on board the carrier. The Marines kept weapons trained on the corridors, looking for movement among the piles of dead.

(OOC: Damn you guys have moved on fast while I was away XD)

[SuperCommando]

SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Inside Target Hades

The Bridge

Lieutenant Murphy’s reply, “Leave no man behind,” and Mike Sierra call struck a chord deep within Silas, and his respect for the man grew even more. From day one of training back on Reach, the harsh, oftentimes brutal lesson most repeatedly drilled into the Spartan recruits was: Mission first! Mission first! Mission first! Duty! Duty! Duty! They had been conditioned to follow orders before emotions, objectives before personal needs. When Harry went missing, the only thing on Silas’s mind was to carry on, capture the bridge, win the fight. Ashamed as he was to admit it to himself, he had not even considered rescuing Harry to be an option.

But here was Murphy and SOG-A, observing the missing Spartan’s absence and quickly deciding to risk everything to find him. While he guessed it was probably just to secure a major asset more than merely helping a lost soldier, Silas couldn’t help but admire the Lieutenant’s decision. As Murph worked to slice through the wall with his plasma cutter and the rest of SOG-A assembled on his position, Silas formed up with them as well, his silent statement unquestionable: I’m going with you.

Hang on Harry, were coming to get you. He mentally promised. Just hang on…

[nex]

Steve 'Crash' Colsten

ONI Section III

Target Hades: Bridge

"Flash Traffic. Priority Alert: Arrival of Covenant forces in-system. All ground forces prepare for emergency withdrawal."

He swore to himself as the message was broadcast across his headset, and to every other UNSC personnel in range.


"Wait. Hold up" He said, speaking up for the first time since the Lieutenant Murphy's decision to attempt a rescue.

"Look, I know I don't have the rank to order you, but listen. Please" He'd hoped that at least his position in ONI would buy him the respect and the support his plan might need. Even so, his recent friendship with SOG-A compelled them to turn and listen.

"Covenant reinforcements are here. We don't have the time, or the resources to fight our way to wherever the Spartan's being held. The fleet can buy us some time to pack up and leave, but at best it's only a matter of time before we'll be overrun down here." He continued, trying to ignore the emotionless mask of the Spartan, who too had turn to face him. He could only guess at the expression behind the Polarized visor and it was slightly unnerving. After all, every second he was stopping them, was time his friend, his brother even, was probably being tortured. He looked away awkwardly before carrying on.

"I'm not saying we give up on him, but a plan would be better than rushing in." He looked round at them all. When no one else spoke up, he continued on.

"Look, SOG-A can move through the ship almost undetected and extract the Spartan if possible. Best take one of the Spartans for fire support. I can try to lock down that area of the ship from here, and open up a route for you as you go. But we can't stay here long. Once you're about halfway we - " He gestured to himself, one of the Spartans and the ODSTs - "Will move down, and secure this hanger." he said, gesturing on one of the displays of the ship, to the depressurised - and therefore presumably abandoned - hanger. We can signal a Pelican for an extraction from there. Once clear, we blow the ship. That should be more than enough time for anyone else to get clear".

He couldn't order them to do everything he just said, but right now, every part of it made sense.

"One more thing." He added, gesturing to the Fury TAC Nukes the two Spartans were carrying.

"I don't think there's another explosive there."

[Jakob]

Lieutenant Jakob Zaborowski

"Flash Traffic. Priority Alert: Arrival of Covenant forces in-system. All ground forces prepare for emergency withdrawal."

Jakob cursed to himself as he received the message, the mission had obviously gone well and it was obviously almost over. The only problem was the Covenant was hauling ass and about to overrun him and his platoon. Not to mention every Human on board.
Sergeant Aborn was looking at him, wondering if his commanding officer had heard the same thing. He had.
Jakob slowly shook his head and muttered to the bewildered soldier.
"Sergeant, shit just hit the fan."

Aborn nodded and looked around, it seemed just about everyone else had received the message and were looking around, Covenant was expected but the chances were slim. Many soldiers were expecting the Covenant to be like a cornered rat, but now the hunters odds were lowering.
Jakob looked at his Private, he was not sure if he received the same message but by the looks of everyone else he probably did, he looked around and realized he was probably not going to be on the ground for very long, he shook his head and spoke calmly.
"I am going to go speak to the Captain, report to the Med Bay and if you are are cleared then you might get to keep fighting."
The kid was eager to fight, but Jakob did not want to lose any more men and the Private looked like he was about to drop dead.


Whoa there Jakob... please don't use the color red in your text. For one thing, it's bright. For another, if Seren ever wanted to leave a note in your post just as I am doing now, he would type in red. If people see red in a post, it's because Seren wanted to let them know something.
--SuperCommando

[hollowsaber]

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

With the emergency signal, Jake looked up at the black roof of the gravity-lift room as he listened. He listened intently for a few seconds, but as the signal faded, he quickly felt a harsh burning sensation flush down his spine. The pain made him wince, and he polarized his visor to hide his face from the surrounding soldiers. They couldn't see his pain, if they did, he would be forced to stay out. He looked down at the Lieutenant and Sergeant in front of him, staying quiet as they talked with each other. They probably spoke about the new emergency. Jake was about dead, that was a fact, and being almost dead made him dead weight. Now that the “get the **** out” signal came over the radio, he doubted he would survive. Yet, for the sake of his family, he would have to, which meant pushing his limits even further.

“I am going to go speak to the Captain, report to the Med Bay and if you are cleared then you might get to keep fighting.” Was what he Lieutenant said, cutting Jake’s thoughts should.

Jake steadied himself, quickly pushing the pain out of his mind, and pulled his sniper over his shoulders into his hands, pounding the handle and the belly of the rifle into his grip. He wasn’t going to the med-bay this time. They would probably tell him he couldn’t fight and he would be forced to stay down. Jake wouldn’t let that happen, not with more Covenant coming into the fight. He stood firm in front of the Lieutenant then moved to the side so he wasn’t in the way. Jake hid his grimace under his visor and gripped his rifle tight. Quietly he spoke over the COM loud enough for the two men to hear.

“No rest for the weary.” Jake muttered, waiting for the Lieutenant to move so he could follow.

[Jakob]

Lieutenant Jakob Zaborowski

Jakob sighed and looked around, he was tired of playing nice.
He grabbed the Privates shoulder lightly and spoke so only the three could here,
"God damn it you son of a bitch your not going anywhere, I have risked my life to save your ass and we have to get ready for evac, you are falling the hell apart and I am NOT going to lose a man when I COULD HAVE PREVENTED IT."
He turned the Private around and grabbed the rifle, attempting to stop him from running off.