Kholo City (IC)

[kartoffelfogel]

May 8, 2537
0819 Hours
Kholo City, Kholo, UNSC Outer Colonies

Day dawned anew on Kholo City, but it wasn’t quite as pleasant as days past. In fact, there was a subtle muted feeling, a change in the air, that gave rise to the thought that something unsavory was looming ahead for the great capital of the Outer Colony world. The city’s inhabitants, however, did not notice this. They went about their morning as usual, sipping their coffees on the way to work, school, and meetings. Others enjoyed a rare, lazy free day in the warm, climate-controlled sunlight. For all intents and purposes, for the people, Kholo City seemed peaceful.

Admittedly, there were imperfect things about living on Kholo, of course – the Insurrectionist presence, heavy before the war, had only recently died down due to increased Covenant attacks on the other, nearby Outer Colony planets. But it wasn't a bad place to be really, at least under normal circumstances.

Today was the day that changed.

***

Sergeant Peter York ducked his head as a huge, glowing blue globe of plasma hurtled in low from tens of meters away. The burst slammed into the side of the closest building, shattering the glass, causing the already panicked civilians still in the city to cry out even louder. The shrill sounds pierced through York’s ears, and he struggled to suppress a shudder at the noise. With his wounded left arm rendered useless because of a flying piece of hot debris that had struck him there earlier, the sergeant took in a gasping breath as he tried not to let the fear get the best of him. He was trained to do this. He’d fought the Covenant before – but never on his own home turf. It was terrifying.

Ears deafened from the continuous incoming blasts, York keyed his COM to his superior with a trembling hand. He held his pistol loosely and awkwardly; he’d long since spent the rest of his ammo on the first wave of the enemy assault. He knew he was going to die soon.

“S-Sir! Lieutenant Cozsky, sir!”

York shouted his platoon leader’s name in vain over the radio. No one ever replied. For all the sergeant knew, Cozsky was probably dead, too. Fuck.

With blood continuing to spill down his battledress sleeve, Sergeant York finally sat himself down on the street and let out a small, strangled sob. He was beginning to get too dizzy to stand from the blood loss, his CO wasn’t answering his hail, and the pain in his arm was overwhelming. The Covenant were closing in. He felt alone and utterly helpless. He refused to let tears well up in his eyes, though. He would fight this. He would. He just needed a moment to breathe…

Another mortar round from the Wraith tank slammed up above him, forcing him out of his thoughts. York curled himself up over his knees and prayed hard that the noises would stop. He wasn’t a religious man at all, hadn’t grown up that way, but dammit if he didn’t feel like something up above there should be listening to him now. Had to. It was the only hope he had left.

Sergeant York waited it out as the reign of fire kept going. He wanted to raise his pistol at the advancing Covenant, but he looked around at the civilians running through the streets, screaming, getting quickly picked off. His fellow Marines were also getting shot and killed beside him. So he decided against moving. In his blood loss-induced haze, he figured he’d damn well better just sit there behind the corner of the building and hide.

The whole rest of his squad was dead. The twenty-three-year-old man had only been promoted to his position two weeks ago. He’d been sent back home as an easy billet – all he’d been assigned to do was train his new men, since he’d fought the Covenant once before. It was supposed to be a break from the frontlines. Instead, the frontlines had come to him, right on his damn doorstep. If he were truly honest with himself, he hadn’t felt ready to lead a whole squad of Marines into combat. He hadn’t known it would end up like this.

York cowered and instantly hated himself for it when he heard the growl of an Elite just on the other side of the building. A whimper escaped him and he immediately clamped his good arm, still gripping his pistol with white knuckles, over his mouth to stop from making noise. He hoped to the god he didn’t normally believe in that the alien hadn’t heard him.

Sweat came down the sergeant’s forehead in tiny beads as he listened to one of his comrades get eviscerated by the tall, powerful Covie leader. He shut his eyes tight to keep from completely losing it. The Elite was so close now that York could even hear the light humming of its energy weapon. The beast was steadily approaching.

The sergeant wasn’t really all that surprised when the Elite did finally appear before him. Still, York’s eyes went wide and, in a sudden burst of strength thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his veins, he brought his sidearm up to fire. He managed to pop off five rounds, only two of which actually hit the alien – and even then, they simply bounced off its shields.

It took the Elite one more step to get close enough to the Marine to drive its blade through his gut. York let out a loud gasp as he slumped against the wall. It took him three more minutes to die.

The Covenant invasion of Kholo had begun.

***

In the outskirts of the city, the panic was just as widespread, but a little easier to handle due to the lower density of people in a larger area. There, in one of Kholo City's middle-class suburbs, ran a couple in their early sixties with their three grandchildren. The youngest child, only four years old, was crying. His two older siblings were attempting to calm him down.

“Noah, stop,” Grace Lloyd, nine years old, said to her brother. “We’re getting out of here, see? Grandma and Grandpa are gonna get us away from the aliens.”

Caleb Lloyd, seven, glanced up at the sky with wide eyes. “Grace, look! There’s smoke and fire!”

The Covenant continued to pour in troops in the distance, but then when she squinted, Grace could see the forms of UNSC dropships making their way down planetside as well. More troops were coming in to help.

“I can see it, Cal,” Grace replied, a tinge of panic in her voice. “But did you see the Pelicans, too? The Marines are gonna help. They’ll help just like Mom and Dad are helping other planets right now.”

Caleb sniffled. “Yeah, but what about us?”

His sister’s reply was drowned out by an explosion.

***

OBJECTIVES:

UNSC - Defend the city at all costs from the invading Covenant and help evacuate remaining civilians to Kholo's spaceport.

***Marines of Able Company, 1st Recon Battalion, as well as two additional NPC companies of the same unit, will begin by landing 2km outside the city in Pelicans. The city will already be ravaged by the battle between the Covenant and UNSC units stationed near Kholo City, who were first on the scene. You're walking into a partially destroyed urban area with Covenant crawling all over and a few isolated pockets of exhausted Marine units unable to help much in the fight due to depleted supplies/numbers. PLEASE WAIT FOR THE AREA COMMANDER TO POST before you begin. The thread will be locked until orders have been issued. Good luck!

***Members of REVIVE will also begin in the outer reaches of the city. Your objective is to avoid getting locked into direct combat with the Covenant and instead infiltrate a UNSC government building in the center of Kholo City. There, you will purge vital UNSC data from the system before the Covenant can get to it. If you find yourself being overrun, you are clear to blow the place. Good luck!

Covenant - Be merciless in your assault against the human scum's city. Break through the UNSC's defenses and eliminate their odious presence.

***Covenant players will already be present inside the city. Your job is to prevent the UNSC forces from completing evacuations and to continue to decimate their lines. Good luck!

Heretics - Fight all who are blinded by the Prophet's lies.

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd – UNSCS Arizona, ten minutes to drop

-INTRO MUSIC-

Sierra was sitting in a room just off to the side of the troop bay on the ship. She was hunched over on an uncomfortable metal bench with her head in her hands, light brown hair put up in a bun for duty, all geared up and ready to go. On the inside, though, she didn’t feel ready for this mission at all.

Kholo, her and Dylan’s home planet, was being invaded. Their kids and their own parents were still planetside. It was a nightmare she’d been dreading and praying would never occur, yet it was surreal to know that it was actually, truly happening – now. She didn’t know what to say or what to do. But despite all that, she had a battalion to lead. Somehow, she had to rise above the intense fear and anxiety over her children’s lives and take charge of her considerable contingent of over six hundred Marines.

The major released an uneasy breath. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do this.

“Sierra?” a voice behind her said.

Lloyd was startled because she’d been alone in the small room. She relaxed a little, though, when she felt the familiar touch of Dylan’s hands on her tense shoulders. She couldn’t feel much underneath all the body armor and equipment, but it was enough to know he was there.

Sierra opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Dylan seemed to sense why, because he let out a long sigh before he got up the nerve to speak again. His voice was level enough given the situation, but Sierra could hear the slight undertone of emotion she herself was feeling on the inside. This mission had gotten far beyond personal for the military couple.

“Sierra.” Dylan paused, swallowed hard, and tried again. “Listen to me, okay? We’re going to get them out. Grace and Caleb and Noah will be safe. I promise you. Even though Major Foely ordered me otherwise, I’m leaving the ship with your Marines so I can get to the city. I’ll come find you once we land. And we’ll go look for them together, all right?”

Sierra finally found her voice, but she frowned when it came out thick with emotion and strained. “Dylan, I don’t – ” She took in a steadying breath. “I don’t want you getting court-martialed for this.”

“Court-martialed? Sierra, my fucking kids are in that city! Our kids! I’m getting to them before those bastard Covenant do. I don’t care what it takes, I don’t care what I have to do. We’re getting them out alive.”

Well, at least on that we agree, Sierra thought glumly to herself. She would do anything, regardless of the consequences, to get her three children out of the city and bring them to safety. For some reason, however, she still couldn’t bring herself to face her husband at the moment. Seeing the hurt in his eyes would make the circumstances all the more real to her, might finally break her. And then she’d be useless to the hundreds of Marines counting on her leadership in this operation.

So she was surprised when she opened her eyes again to see Dylan crouched down in front of her. He gently took her hands from her head and pulled them towards him, squeezing them a little.

“Hey,” he said quietly as he looked into her eyes, tone soft but fierce. “I love you, okay?”

“I love you, too.” The words were out before she even thought them. They’d been married for twelve years now, but it wasn’t a response out of reflex. It was something she still felt deeply, every day.

“We’ll get through this, all right? We’ve been through everything else life’s thrown at us. We will get them back.” In the end, Dylan managed a very weak smile. “Now go get ‘em, Major. Let’s get these boots on the ground and kick the Covenant to hell. I’ll radio you as soon as I touch dirt.”

Sierra leaned forward and kissed him before letting him go and nodding. “I’ll see you groundside then, Captain.”

Major Lloyd took one last moment to collect herself and make sure she had all she needed. She’d land with her Marines and give her orders to her company commanders – of the four that comprised her battalion, three were going into the city. The fourth had been slated to defend a dig site some four-hundred-plus miles away. She’d receive and respond to her subordinates’ battle updates. But otherwise, for all intents and purposes, she and Dylan would be on their own once they hit dirt. It would be faster for the two of them to make it to their family home on foot rather than wait for such a large number of Marines to mobilize, and this wasn’t something she wanted to involve her troops in anyway. This was hers and Dylan’s job to perform. She wasn’t going to take advantage of her command.

When she was finally ready, Sierra took in a deep breath, made sure she had firm control of her voice, and stepped into the hangar bay of the ship. “First Recon Marines,” she shouted, “let’s move!”

***

When Sierra’s boots finally touched the ground, she had to consciously stop herself from letting out a surprised gasp. The reality of how devastated the city she’d grown up in was exceeded even her worst imaginings. Seeing it up close, hearing the sounds of gunfire and explosions and mortars in the dense urban area up ahead, smelling the death around her…all of it would have made her want to gag if she hadn’t been desensitized to it after fighting in so many similar circumstances.

This time was different in many ways, though. This time it was home. This time, the three little beings she loved most in this world, the ones that she’d brought into the world herself, were a part of it, inside it somewhere, waiting to be rescued.

She wouldn’t even let herself think that they might already be dead. If she did, she knew she wouldn’t be able to function. She had to have hope.

“Major? Orders?”

Lloyd turned to face her battalion aide, the trusted Second Lieutenant Gavin Fortnight. She glanced at her HUD and saw a light blue nav marker that had been preprogrammed to indicate their distance from the heart of the city. The Pelicans containing the First Recon Battalion Marines had landed 2.1 kilometers out. She keyed her COM so both Fortnight and the rest of the battalion could hear her.

“Marines, you know the deal: we move into the city first,” Sierra said as she pulled her MA5C off her back. “Able Company will spearhead the counterassault, as planned. We make our way in and then focus on evacuating the civilians. Bravo’s at the dig site, so Charlie and Delta companies will focus on keeping the Covenant out of our hair while Captain Jenkins and his men take care of the people. We need to get those civvies to the spaceport if we want to give them a shot to live. After that, once they’re evaced, we focus on pushing the Covenant back out. Understood?”

When the major heard no replies to the contrary, she began to step forward on the road towards Kholo City. “Good. Let’s go save some lives and kick some ass, Marines. Oorah!”

[Wax™]

Captain Travis 'TJ' Jenkins
1st Recon: Able Company
Kholo City: Touch down in 2

"Touching down in two minutes gentlemen!"

The pilot said as she spear-headed the Pelican down to the ground this ride on this specific Pelican was insane, the pilot was a crazy dare devil and did not drop according to plan instead she just rushed down and pulled up before they all went splat, this made Jenkins sick, he hated flying and it didn't help that the pilot driving their Pelican was flying like a maniac, he just wanted to be on the ground with a Covenant shooting at him and trying to end his life, anything but flying in this fucking Pelican, the two minutes that the pilot had announced did not last long and the Pelican touched down onto the ground, as soon as Jenkins stepped off he ran out and looked around at the LZ, at the many other Pelicans dropping off his company, he then heard Major Lloyd's voice over the COM's.

“Marines, you know the deal: we move into the city first,” Jenkins heard. “Able Company will spearhead the counterassault, as planned. We make our way in and then focus on evacuating the civilians. Bravo’s at the dig site, so Charlie and Delta companies will focus on keeping the Covenant out of our hair while Captain Jenkins and his men take care of the people. We need to get those civvies to the spaceport if we want to give them a shot to live. After that, once they’re evaced, we focus on pushing the Covenant back out. Understood?” There was a slight pause with silence over the radio. “Good. Let’s go save some lives and kick some ass, Marines. Oorah!”

Jenkins smiled to himself and lent back to grab his MA37 off of his back, he ran forward and looked at Kholo city ahead, he then turned around and noticed all his men were off-loaded, he turned back around to face the city and could almost hear the screams of civilians from here and see them escaping, he turned on the COM's for Able Company and spoke into his helmet MIC.

"Able... We are two klicks out from the center of the city, I want a tight rush, once we get into dense urban areas of office buildings and sky-scrapers spread out, platoons will split into their squads and move around the city following second platoon... Let's go!"

Jenkins grunted and rushed towards the city as fast as he could from the LZ, where they were currently there was no cover and they had to get to some fast, the rush took about three minutes before Jenkins and his Company actually managed to get into some good urban areas in the city, now him and his men actually began to notice the civilians fleeing to the shipyards.

"Alright Able this is how it is going to go... Lieutenant Lipton and second platoon along with myself are going to be leading the spear-head into the city, third platoon on the left flank, first platoon on the right, I want all company's spread out in squad formations ten to five meters apart from one another... Once we get to the Covenant advance I want the entire company to group together around the city center and deploy MG guns and Mortar's, Lynx Platoon once we make it I want you guy's to climb the structures around the center and provide over-head support... Fire-Team Charlie will do recon around the city and secure and civilians that are hiding, Raptor squad, just stick with us for now... Marines Don't Quit... Questions?"

Jenkins waited down to listen if anyone in the Company had questions before stepping off again.

[spartan129]

First Lieutenant Rolland Justice, Scout Sniper
Lynx Platoon, Able Company, Task Force 77
Outskirts of Kholo City: Kholo, Outer Colony

Lynx's pelican lurched downward, towards the surface. As it descended, Major Lloyd, the battalion commander, contacted the company:

“Marines, you know the deal: we move into the city first. Able Company will spearhead the counterassault, as planned. We make our way in and then focus on evacuating the civilians. Bravo’s at the dig site, so Charlie and Delta companies will focus on keeping the Covenant out of our hair while Captain Jenkins and his men take care of the people. We need to get those civvies to the spaceport if we want to give them a shot to live. After that, once they’re evaced, we focus on pushing the Covenant back out. Understood?” There was a slight pause in which Justice glanced at Madrid. “Good. Let’s go save some lives and kick some ass, Marines. Oorah!”

Justice popped a fresh magazine into his sniper rifle, and scanned the horizon as much as he could as the pelican's rear hatch began to open. The pelican slowed as it grew closer and closer to the ground, until it finally came to a stop, the hatch fully extended. Justice was the first to leap out of Lynx's pelican, landing hard on his feet and knocking up a cloud of dust. He scanned Kholo's skyline momentarily before advancing, his platoon following him.

"We're all off, sir!" his "caboose" so to speak confirmed.

"Come on, Lynx!" Justice shouted over the now-ascending pelican. A universal "Oorah!" met him, almost being cut off by Captain Jenkins broadcasting to Able Company as a whole:

"Able," he began, We are two klicks out from the center of the city, I want a tight rush, once we get into dense urban areas of office buildings and sky-scrapers spread out, platoons will split into their squads and move around the city following second platoon... Let's go!".

Justice spat into the ground, and ran forwards. He was thinking what he knew everybody else in the company was thinking: they were advancing on open land, towards a hostile area, with no cover. Just fantastic. If Justice lost anyone on the advance of all things, he'd see to it personally that every alien bastard on this planet turned into scraps of flesh.

"Alright Able this is how it is going to go," Captain Jenkins began broadcasting his instructions, "Lieutenant Lipton and second platoon along with myself are going to be leading the spear-head into the city, third platoon on the left flank, first platoon on the right, I want all company's spread out in squad formations ten to five meters apart from one another... Once we get to the Covenant advance I want the entire company to group together around the city center and deploy MG guns and Mortar's, Lynx Platoon once we make it I want you guy's to climb the structures around the center and provide over-head support... Fire-Team Charlie will do recon around the city and secure and civilians that are hiding... Marines Don't Quit... Questions?" He concluded.

After thinking back to the instructions for a moment, Justice broadcasted to his CO, "Sir! This is Lieutenant Justice of Lynx...Which group do you want us to advance with? Or would you me to split up the teams, sending some with each platoon? Sir?" he added.

[kuran]

Sergeant James Beaufort
Raptor Squad, Spec Ops ODST
Kholo City

James peered around the corner, inching his way out as far as he dared to take a look, and was rewarded by a splash of Plasma fire against the corner nearest him, blowing chunks of concrete all over the place. He jerked his head back, craning his neck to observe the gathered marines behind him, including his own squad.

"Captain Jenkins!" He called down the line, before remembering that he did in fact have comms with the captain.

"Captain, we've got platoon-strength Covenant holding a position about a block down the road on the left flank. We'll provide you enough cover to allow your unit to cross. The city centre is straight ahead, as you know."

He looked back to his own squads, 12 men in all, split into three fireteams. "Alpha, you're on me!" He declared, pointing down at the ground vigorously. "Beta, Charlie, when I say go, haul ass across the street. Beta, set up covering fire at the corner," He pointed to the corner opposite theirs. ...And Charlie, watch our flank, there might be Covenant in the city centre already."

Taking a last look around, he noticed one of the smaller members of his team, and beckoned her over. "Asha, there's a brute in the group down the street, it looks like it's a leader of some sort. When we pop out for covering fire, can you take a shot at it?"

The sounds of Plasma fire snaps him away, and he dosen't wait for a responce before taking his feet. "COVERING FIRE!" He yells, edging around the corner and raising his rifle. On his knees in front of him, Lenov opens up with his shotgun, while Megan steps behind him, opening up with her weapon. Standard tactics would call for Asha, the remaining member of the fireteam, to be behind her, firing as well, but James knew that his team was anything but standard.

As they opened up, sending a hail of lead downrange, causing the Covenant to duck for cover, Beta and Charlie sprinted across the street, spiker rounds and plasma blasts nipping at their heels the entire way. Beta mirrors James' team's plan, and the four of them open fire as well, causing the Covenant even more concern.

"Go Go Go!" James calls in the general direction of the Captain.

[Deleted]

Flight Captain James Fawley
Raptor 2-1
Kholo City

"Sir, we've got marine pinned close to us, requesting we give them some aid." The Co-Pilot requesting, "Let's do it." The Captain replied, activating his COMM link to the two other Vultures.

"Raptor two-two and two-three, vee formation on me. We are going to go save some marines." The Captain ordered, "Got it, Captain." Raptor 2-2's pilot replied, and no later then six seconds Rapter 2-3's pilot did the same.

The three Vultures extend over the small urban area to get the advantage, but at the same time revealed themselves to the hostile forces.

"Got 'em, rotating..." The co-pilot said. "Good, full speed. Guns unlocked..." The Captain replied.

The Vultures steamed into a formation, and once close enough opened up on the Covenant units suppressing the UNSC Soldiers. The entire formation of Vultures flashed as there auto-cannons with high-explosive ammo tore into Covenant troops, into the side of buildings and threw small chunks of road into the air as the explosive ammo hit there targets, safely away from the UNSC Forces.

The Third Vulture broke formation, as did the second. The three Vultures made a circle around the Covenant position, hammering it with auto-cannon rounds and a few missiles. The result would be devastating, as all three Vultures had their own line of sight and too top that off, Covenant Troops to obliterate.

"Ground Troops, your clear to proceed, but do it quick. Ammo counters exist." The Captain said into the Vultures P.A System. He didn't have enough time to open separate comm channels, but this would be effective enough to get the message across, or at least the Captain hoped it did.

[Wax™]

Captain Travis 'TJ' Jenkins
1st Recon: Able Company
Kholo City: Touch down in 2

There were so many things happening at once Jenkins did not have enough time to reply, he was just about to open up his COM's and scream orders across the company wide channel when three Vultures stormed out of know where and began to light up the enemy position with auto-cannon fire, Jenkins stood up and hunched over slightly the cases and shells from the bullets they were firing was dropping all over the place, Jenkins grabbed his MA37 and opened up a link with the men in the area.

"Second platoon followed by first following by second! Move across the street! GO GO GO!" Jenkins paused to duck his head down and run across the street as he did he ducked his head down to escape any enemy fire that might come there way despite the Vultures fire. "Raptor Squad... Bring your men up... Lieutenant Justice... Split your men into groups between the platoons... GO!"

Jenkins felt like a Lieutenant all over again, instead of supervising the entire company he was really a soldier in the company once more going from building to building with his men, Jenkins gripped his MA37 tight and switched sides along a street from the right crosswalk to the left cross walk, second platoon was split in half one group on the left the other on the right same with first and third platoon, being sure to stay out of the open, Jenkins stopped and skidded to a halt as he approached a corner, he took in a breath and looked around the corner with his MA37 to bare, there were no targets, he gave a hand signal for the group to keep moving, once a majority of the men in second crossed Jenkins was tapped on the back and he made his way across.

"Captain... I got the city center square in sight... five hundred meters out... But there is Covenant all over the square"

He heard a whisper over the COM's.

"Roger that..." Jenkins paused for a moment to think on the situation, looking at the buildings all around the area. "Ok... Here's the plan, there is huge office building on our side of the square... We are going to occupy it... We'll go in through the back service doors... First platoon will secure the lobby and set up, second platoon will secure the first floor and set up MG's and guns on the north side windows facing the square, third platoon will secure the second floor and set up shop there... Raptor you can set up where ever you please... Questions?"

After a few seconds of silence over the COM's Jenkins began to move slowly and as quietly as possible with second platoon up to the office building, two hundred meters out from the square Jenkins peeled off into an alley way which lead to the back of the office building, there were no sign of Covenant yet so they must have all been clustering in the square, Jenkins stopped at a back access door pulled out a silenced pistol and shot where the lock was before pushing it open and stepping back.

"Alright everyone pile in... Get into position!"

He whispered over the COM's.

[spartan129]

First Lieutenant Rolland Justice, Scout Sniper
Lynx Platoon, Able Company, Task Force 77
Kholo City: Kholo, Outer Colony

Justice and his platoon made their way into the city. They were following the captain-who bypassed a group of enemies under fire from Vultures.

Jenkins replied to Justice's question after giving instructions to several other platoon leaders: "Lieutenant Justice... Split your men into groups between the platoons... GO!"

"Aye aye, Cap'n!" Justice broadcasted to his CO before broadcasting to his own platoon, "Alright. Bravo, Charlie, and Delta, come with me-we'll be taking the middle with second platoon! Echo, Foxtrot, and Golf-I want you with third platoon, so take the left flank. Hotel, India, Juliet! That leaves you to take the right with first platoon. Now LET'S GO!"

Justice took Madrid and three other Scout Sniper teams through the middle with Jenkins. They moved up to the city center, and a whisper on the comms let them know that it was crawling with Covenant.

"Roger that," Jenkins replied in a whisper. He paused slightly before saying, "Ok... Here's the plan, there is huge office building on our side of the square... We are going to occupy it... We'll go in through the back service doors... First platoon will secure the lobby and set up, second platoon will secure the first floor and set up MG's and guns on the north side windows facing the square, third platoon will secure the second floor and set up shop there... Raptor you can set up where ever you please... Questions?"

"Sir," Justice broadcasted to the Captain, "I see a tall building on the other side of the square...I can get my teams in there, provide you with some good cover. We can move between windows, they'll have no idea which one we're in."

Waiting for his CO's reply, Justice glanced around for a moment, before making a motion for the three teams with him to follow him across the street. Despite running in heavy boots, they made hardly any noise, and made it to an alleyway quickly and quietly. Justice pointed his silenced SMG through the alley, slowly advancing and listening on the comms for Jenkins' confirmation of his plan.

[kuran]

Sergeant James Beaufort
Raptor Squad, Spec Ops ODST
Kholo City

James watched as a trio of Vulture's swooped in low over the battlefield and made short work of the Covenant troops. The few that remained offered little resistance as the squad continued to pour fire onto their position.

"Alpha, let's move!"

And so, with Bravo continuing to send covering fire downrange, James and his fireteam sprinted across the street. Even with their significantly depleted enemy, a few plasma bolts still flew over their heads or hit the ground around their feet.

With the squad whole again on the other side of the street, James gave a basic "follow me" hand signal, and they made their way up the street with the Captain and his marines, watching their rear for any Covenant pursuers.

"Ok... Here's the plan, there is huge office building on our side of the square... We are going to occupy it... We'll go in through the back service doors... First platoon will secure the lobby and set up, second platoon will secure the first floor and set up MG's and guns on the north side windows facing the square, third platoon will secure the second floor and set up shop there... Raptor you can set up where ever you please... Questions?"

James looked over his shoulder at the rest of the squad, considering. He consulted his helmet's VSIR, which, while it didn't show enemy positions this early in the battle, still allowed him access to road maps and the like.

"Captain, We'll set up in the building on the right, we can provide flanking fire and identify targets of opprutinity." Highlighting on his map the building that he was referring to, he sent the image to the Captain's TACPAD. "That's the building. We are Oscar Mike."

"Okay guys, keep it quiet." Moving low, at a crouch, they moved from car to car, taking cover behind bus stops, garbage cans, and any other concealment they could find as they advanced into a side alley, out of sight of the Covenant in the square.

The building they intended to occupy was secured on this side by a small door with a simple padlock on it. Rather than blow it out, Lenov took less than a minute to pick it while the rest of the squad watched for the enemy. Moving quietly inside of the building, sweeping the rooms with standard tactics, James had Alpha and Bravo move to the second floor to take up positions, while Charlie watched the stairs they had come up on for any signs of pursuit.

Peering over the side of the windows that they faced, James took as long as he dared to examine the Covenant in the square beyond. "Captain...in position."

[Wax™]

Captain Travis 'TJ' Jenkins
1st Recon: Able Company
Kholo City: Touch down in 2

"Sir... I see a tall building on the other side of the square...I can get my teams in there, provide you with some good cover. We can move between windows, they'll have no idea which one we're in."

Jenkins heard over the COM's as he lead his men into the massive office building, once all of his men were in he stepped in himself and replied to the leader of Lynx Platoon.

"Affirmative... Proceed to that building and provide sniper support on my signal"

Jenkins closed the door behind him and moved over to the stair-well he climbed it to the first floor which was two flights of stairs up and gave you a wonderful view of all the Covenant soldiers down below, Jenkins moved along the windows in a crouch, Jenkins pointed at two spots along the windows.

"Set up MG's here... And here"

He then pointed to two other spots.

"Mortars here... And here"

Jenkins was disrupted from his thoughts as he heard Sergeant James Beaufort over the COM's and at the same moment a picture of a building appeared on his combat-glasses that were linked to his TACPAD, Jenkins looked out the window and looked to the window on the right and nodded to no one, he then took cover behind a overturned desk and set up shop.

"Captain, We'll set up in the building on the right, we can provide flanking fire and identify targets of opportunity."

"Affirmative Sergeant... Fire upon the enemy once my sniper platoon opens fire from the northern most building on the square... We will then open fire... This should confuse us of there position and will create a devastating crossfire."

[spartan129]

First Lieutenant Rolland Justice, Scout Sniper
Lynx Platoon, Able Company, Task Force 77
City Center, Kholo City: Kholo, Outer Colony

Justice advanced through the alleyways. He peered around a corner, and saw that the alleyway around it led into the square. He held his hand behind him to signal for no one to follow him; then, when he was sure the coast was clear, he rushed past the alley. After reaching the other side, he took cover on the other corner. He peered around again, and confirmed a clear coast. He brought his marines across one-by-one, and when they were all across he rushed through the alleyway.

He reached a weak door, and looked up to confirm that it was the building from which they could provide overwatch. "Captain," he broadcasted on the comm as he kicked in the door, "We've reached the building. Entering now...It seems to be clear of Covies, but we'll keep our eyes open." They ascended the stairs quickly, pointing their weapons up. They reached the third floor, and Justice dispatched Bravo Team to set up. On the fifth floor, he sent Charlie Team, and on the eighth floor he sent Delta Team. He and Madrid continued as much as they could-to the roof.

"Bravo, Charlie, Delta," Justice broadcasted to his teams, "Are you all in position?" In the meantime, he and Madrid set up on the roof.

"Yes, sir," came three responses.

"Captain," Justice whispered into the comms as he popped out his bipod, "We're in position..." His HUD blinked in several places as Madrid began designating priority targets and the other teams' targets were designated in red, so that they wouldn't be designated by other teams. Justice looked out over his already-designated targets...Some Brutes stood by choppers. He counted three choppers, and if the three Brutes nearest them didn't take them, there were four other Brutes dangerously close to them.

Before giving the order for his teams to fire, Justice broadcasted into the comms, "Captain, three choppers are on the east side of the square. You might want to take those out with explosives, or they could cause some headaches for us."

"Alright, Lynx," he broadcasted to the three teams in the building with him, "On my mark..." He held his breath, aiming at the chopper-brute that he was taking. He made sure his sights were level...then squeezed the trigger.

A smoke contrail and a loud bang from Justice were followed by three more from the building. Three of the brutes standing nearest the choppers fell to the ground, their heads now bloody messes, as well as another brute. While Justice's teams prepared to take out the other three, Justice aimed for a brute captain near the middle of the square. He panicked and ducked as Justice shot a bullet towards his chest-ironically, that caused the bullet to hit his head. It only dropped his shields, though. Justice held his breath to take another shot to drop the brute...

[kuran]

Sergeant James Beaufort
Raptor Squad, Spec Ops ODST
Kholo City

As the steady crack-crack-crack of sniper rounds tore through the silence in the square, James moved onto his knee and took up a firing position, along with the other seven members of Alpha and Bravo. All of them aimed their weapons out of the windows that they occupied, and as James sighted on a grunt that was manning a plasma cannon, all hell broke loose.

Several were taken down in just the first few seconds. Grunts mainly, but a few jackals. His men were trained well, they aimed for important targets first. James fired his own weapon, sending three-round bursts into the square below.

The grunt he was aiming at toppled away from the weapon emplacement, and he shifted his aim to another target. It was then that he noticed the choppers, revving their engines on the far side of the square.

"Bravo, priority on the choppers, take them out." He spoke into his comms. Alpha continued firing at targets of opprutinity, which meant anything that wasn't under cover. In truth, the ambush that the Captain had devised was textbook, and seemed to be working well. The Covenant couldn't possibly take cover from three walls of fire, and those that didn't adapt quickly were swept up in a hail of bullets.

James was feeling confident, even this early into the fight. It felt like an eternity, it always did in combat, but in reality it was only a few seconds. The good feeling lasted right up until he took a moment to look at the street below.

It took his mind a moment to process exactly what he was seeing. And another to know what to do. After all, their mission was to extract civilians, and it was in fact a human child squirming around in the crashed car in the street below. It was even looking up at him through the torn up roof of the groundcar.

"Shit."

"Captain! I've got eyes on a civilian, in the street. If we don't get him out then he's in serious trouble. Sir...it's a child."

He cut the connection and activated his squad comms. "Everyone stay here, keep firing dammit. I'll be right back. And cover me, god dammit!"

He turned, half sprinting half jumping, down the stairs that they had come up on. Instead of the side entrance they had entered the building through, James simply kicked open the front door, taking cover behind a crashed car immediately in front of the door. The car with the child was only ten meters away...across open ground.

James jumped to his feet and ran.

[spartan129]

First Lieutenant Rolland Justice, Scout Sniper
Lynx Platoon, Able Company, Task Force 77
City Center, Kholo City: Kholo, Outer Colony

"Bravo!" Justice shouted to one of his teams as the last bullet in his magazine missed its mark and shattered a soil pot. "Switch your covering fire to that Sergeant, but be careful! There's a kid he's saving!"

"Yes, sir!" came a crisp response as Justice reloaded his rifle. He readjusted his sights on the target he had missed, a brute with a needle rifle, and pulled the trigger. The bullet caught him in the chest, and he collapsed in a pool of his own blood. Justice saw a smoke contrail drop a jackal who was approaching the kid...God, he hoped that the sergeant could save him.

[Wax™]

Captain Travis 'TJ' Jenkins
1st Recon: Able Company
Kholo City: City Square

Jenkins opened fire on the Covenant as soon as Lynx Platoon and Raptor Squad opened fire, there were three fronts of UNSC fire all pointing directly down on the Covenant, at first they were too shocked to do anything, this resulted in half of them being taken out, a few seconds later the Covenant seemed to realize what was happening and begin to take cover, even so they had no idea where to shoot at or where they were being shot at, so they kinda fired wildly all over the place before slowly starting to zero in on targets after a period of time.

"Captain! I've got eyes on a civilian, in the street. If we don't get him out then he's in serious trouble. Sir...it's a child."

"You get to that child Beaufort! You hear me?!"

Jenkins barley got to finish his sentence before he was interrupted by one of his men.

"Sir... I got Automatic firearms being discharged from the East in that building over there?"

"What?! Is it us?"

Jenkins pushed off the overturned table and sprinted to the east side of the building to a smashed window at the North-Easter corner of the building, he went prone and looked out of the window at the automatic weapons fire, no sooner after he got eye's on the mozzel flashes coming from the building he heard a man over the radio.

"This is Sergeant O'Malley of the KCPD broadcasting on a short-wave frequency to all UNSC forces... Requesting you hold your fire to the east of the city square... I am held up with four other KCPD Deputies and twenty KCPD SWAT personnel and three civilians... Does anybody read!"

Jenkins smirked and opened up short-wave communications with the officer.

"Sergeant... This is Captain Jenkins of the UNSC Marine Corps... 1st Recon Battalion, Able Company; my company is set up in the office building south of the square... I advise you exit the structure you are in and make your way to my position we will lay down heavy suppresive fire... GO!"

Jenkins stood up and ran across the line of second platoon in the office building and made his way to the stair well leading down to the main lobby.

"Able Company! Suppresive fire on the Covenant... We got friendlies coming in!"

[kuran]

Sergeant James Beaufort
Raptor Squad, Spec Ops ODST
Kholo City

It was a testament to the amount of fire being laid down that James made it to the trapped child without being shot. In fact, he attracted only a few wild plasma bolts as he sprinted for the car. Landing heavily against a heavily dented door, he caught his breath for a moment before peering into the car.

James had seen combat on half a dozen worlds. Seen atrocities committed that would make even war crimes tribunals cry. But his stomach almost turned at the sight in the car. The child's parents-he assumed that they were his parents-had both been killed instantly when the car had crashed into another. It was fairly safe to assume that by the fact that the Father's head was in his lap, completely detached from his shoulders. The mother was worse. Something had hit her in the impact, and her head had simply...exploded. The interior of the car was covered in brains and blood.

The child itself looked to be a little girl, maybe seven or eight years old. She was wearing a now dirt and blood-stained sun dress, and judging by the picnic basket on the floor, they had been heading out of town when the attack struck. It was a miracle that the girl had survived at all.

Reaching into the car, James tried to pull the girl out, but she seemed to be in shock, totally unresponsive. As James looked around, he saw his reflection in what was left of the car's mirror and realised why. With his helmet on, he must have seemed as scary as the Covenant themselves. But he could hardly take it off in the middle of a war zone, not when he was by himself.

"Asha!" He called into the teamcom. "Get down here! I need some help." Asha, being one of the smallest of the team, would get through with the most ease, and a soothing voice might help the girl.

[C3]

Asha McNane
Spec Ops ODST, Fireteam Raptor
Kholo City

Asha continued had been staying back slightly to cover James, using her sniper to try to take out anything that dared show itself. She had gotten a few good shots off, but it was difficult to get anything extremely clear in a environment like this. Too may things for the little bastard to hide behind.

"Asha! Get down here! I need some help." Asha's teamcom went off, startling her to a small degree. James needed her? She knew that James had gone to deal with a child... apparently he had run into trouble. She popped off two more shots and got down beneath where she had been hiding. Shifting her sniper to carry across her back, she crawled through the rubble until she spot where James was exactly.

"On my way, sir." she reported to her superior back through the comms.

She was small, so darting down to where the Sergeant was proved easier than it should have been, without taking any hits. She slid a little in the broken ground and came to a stop next to her teammate, kneeling to make herself slightly less of a target.

The inside of the vehicle was a grisly sight that made Asha's stomach turn. No amount of simulations could ever prepare you for some of the horrors of true war. She forced herself to look away, only muttering a small "damn" before seeing the girl.

She was clearly in shock. Asha knew the look and the feelings that came with it. That would prove to be a complication, but not one that could be worked around. The girl was also covered in blood, though from her stance, Asha wasn't sure if any of it was even hers.

"Sweetheart," she called out the child. "Sweetheart, can you hear me? My name is Asha and this is my friend, James. We need to get you out of here. He and I and a couple of friends; we're here to help you. We're going to take you somewhere safe. We aren't going to hurt you, okay? Can you grab my hand?" She reached out to the girl, hoping that she wasn't to scary looking. Her tone was gentle in an attempt to soothe, though she didn't know how effective it would be. With what had happened to this child's parents, she wasn't sure if anything would get through to her.

[kuran]

Sergeant James Beaufort
Raptor Squad, Spec Ops ODST
Kholo City

James had to admit, Asha was probably the best member in his team. She was a crack sniper, but what was more impressive was her attitude. Hell, she had just ran through a warzone, and here she was, trying to coerce a small girl out of her shock.

But it was still a warzone. "Asha, we don't have time. Can you get her out of there?"

James was about to try to help her when it became apparent that even despite the volume of fire being poured into them from all angles, the Covenant still had the desire to kill humans. James' first indicator of this was the grunt that appeared to his left, chattering madly in their language. He spun, raising his rifle without bothering to aim, and sprayed the unfortunate bastard with fire. Even as the mangled grunt fell, it was replaced by a distinctly pissed off looking skirmisher.

"Fuck...Asha! Get her the hell out of here!"

The skirmisher took a few of the rounds that James unleashed, but was too fast to take them all. Even as it bled, it charged him. James held his ground, knowing that he was all that really stood between the child, Asha, and the agile Covvie bastard.

It was fast, James had to admit. But not fast enough to avoid James' rifle butt. He reversed the weapon and slammed it into the Skirmisher's bird-like face once, twice, three times, and followed up with a burst of fire. As it fell to the ground, his ammo counter clicked empty, and as he hurried to slam a fresh magazine home, he looked back.

"Asha, we seriously don't have time for this."

[C3]

Asha NcNane
Spec Ops ODST, Fireteam Raptor
Kholo City

Asha cursed under her breath, knowing in her heart that James was right. She wanted to do this in such a way that wouldn't further the girl's trauma, but they really didn't have time. She sighed and reached further into the car, getting a hold of the girl's arm. The child's eyes widened and she sort of managed to pull, but Asha yanked her toward herself before the girl could throw any form of a fit. Once Asha managed to get the girl into her arms, she quickly began to murmur small comforting phrases to the girl.

But now, they really needed to move. With the girl in her arms, there was no way that Asha could use her sniper. That required both hands and steady aim. Holding the girl tightly, she looked to James who seemed to still be poised to shoot. Asha knew she could count on him to cover her to a degree, but she didn't want to test how well he could do it.

"Got her and I don't think she has the strength to fight too much." Actually, the girl had gone back to being still, her dark eyes glassed over with hollow fear. Asha felt her heart twist. "Back to the vantage point, we'll be much safer there. Cover me please."

Asha pushed herself to her feet and started to hurry back in the direction she came from, doing her best to keep herself between the girl and anyone who might shoot them in the back. If she could make it to where she had been sniping from, they would be at least a little safer. They could plan their next move from there.

[kuran]

Sergeant James Beaufort
Raptor Squad, Spec Ops ODST
Kholo City

James raised his rifle and took aim at the nearest of the Covenant, which were now taking an interest in them. "I've got you covered, go!" he called over his shoulder.

And indeed he did. Walking backwards behind Asha, he sprayed fire in the direction of any alien that dared to pop his ugly head out of cover.

"Take the kid upstairs, she'll have to come with us until we can call in an extraction!"

He paused to fire at a Brute minor until it stopped moving-which took most of a clip- and continued on their way back for the door they had come out of.

[tincanhitman]

Inquisitor
Zyla Juluntai
Kholo City

zyla's pod shook as flames spurt from its sides. Zyla only starred blankly, feeling himself lose even more of him self as he prepared for the battle.

Just as he thought he would become completely lost his pod slammed into the ground. jarring his mind back from oblivion and into its proper place. With a grunt he kicked the pod door off and jumped out, scythe in hand. He activated his camouflage and began to move through the city.

Every human he came across he slaughtered, slicing through civilians and military alike. To them he was the embodiment of their fear for the covenant. An enemy who can only be seen right as he strikes.

Between fights he would deactivate his blade as to not give away his position. Thus giving him the element of surprise.

[z]

Eden Lawrence, REVIVE 2
(All REVIVE members have 24 hours to post before you are skipped, and character left behind. Thus not allowed in use. Not trying to be mean, just need you to move your asses)

Each of REVIVE came down from space on a single Pelican drop-ship Each with the respected weapons they had chosen to carry along. Eden, now since she had her new arm and was used to it, could carry Heavy Weaponry now... That she was happy for... On her back, a Rocket Launcher. Each of her hips held a pistol. One, her iconic M6C, the other a small B9.

And of course, an MA5B.

Looking down at Matt, she spoke over the roar of engines and shaking, then over to Sato as she quietly sat with her hand on her rifle tightly. Quickly switching it out for her M6C.

"Team REVIVE we are hitting ground now. good luck out there." The Pilot said, opening the back of the Pelican a good ten feet from the ground.], and of course. Eden was the first up, taking off in a sprint from the drop day and leaping, landing in a roll over her back and landing on one leg and one knee. Her pistol came up and she slowly traced the tip in a half circle around her before pressing her comm and speaking.

"REVIVE, We are clear. Matt. Mind if I take point?" She asked, and of course without waiting she went ahead and took off ahead towards the city itself in a crouching position.

"Pick up the pace!" She said into TEAMCOMM.

[Wax™]

1st Lieutenant Matthew Eversmann
ONI Section ZERO: ORION-REVIVE
Kholo City: Touching down

Matthew sat quietly in pelican as it made it's seemingly long decent to the surface, Matthew did not have his usual set of weapons that he would normally take into combat, instead he just had a silenced MA37 Assault Rifle and a M6Z as his sidearm, so he was packed rather light, though he had some C-12, C-7 and lots of ammunition and grenades, Matthew looked down to Eden who had a Jackhammer two pistols and some other weapon, Matthew just shrugged and as soon as the pelican touched down Matthew bailed out.

"REVIVE, We are clear. Matt. Mind if I take point?"

"Affirmative REVIVE-2"

Matthew had decided to be all serious since the last mission, it really wasn't like him to call his team-mates by their call signs instead of their names and he usually never said affirmative, and instead of using the usual ODST Recon armor he was wearing an ONI Infiltration Suit or for short OIS, Matthew stuck close behind Eden and looked around the area through his HUD which was slightly modified since the last mission as well.

"We are too far from the from the objective point... Try to keep contact with other UNSC Forces and Civilians to a minimum... We do not want to take on anything that will slow us down during the mission"

[kuran]

Sergeant Sato Takashi
REVIVE-4
Kholo City

Sato hit the ground, his knees absorbing the impact of the ten foot fall. But he rolled with it, coming up in a crouch. His hair was ruffled by the roaring engines of the Pelican above as the rest of REVIVE made their way out of the landing craft. For Sato's part, he simply watched behind them, silenced M6 drawn in one hand, supported by the other hand which held one of his knives.

"Our six is clear." He announced over their teamcom. Which was true. There weren't even any civilians running around all over the place. He noticed Eden taking point, flashed a small smile at his friend's attitude, and moved to follow her.

"So Matt," He remarked casually as they moved out. "Why change to Infiltration suit? You finally see wisdom in stealth?"

[Spartan 999]

Second Lieutenant Simon Qartal

[/center]

Simon grunted as he jumped to the ground, rolling to let his momentum wear off. He popped back up to his feet easily, grinning under his helmet as he considered what was to come. He checked his weapons--silenced MA5C with underslung grenade launcher ready to go, M7S holstered on his thigh, M6/SOCOM holstered under his left arm, and gauss cannon on his back.

He stifled a yawn, as he was unfortunately unable to get much sleep the past few days. That would likely come back and bite him in the ass, but oh well. He polarized his visor, then readied himself.

"I'll take our right flank." Simon muttered to the others, just loud enough for them to hear. He quickly stepped to the aforementioned side, assault rifle poised. He heard Sato give the all clear from behind.

Simon looked around, noting the complete absence of civilians or Covenant as of that moment. Strange. His vision went slightly blurry, and he felt his mind become somewhat fuzzy. He blinked, then whacked the back of his helmet. He nodded to himself as he seemed to enter reality once more.

[C3]

Corporal Asha McNane
Spec Ops ODST, Fireteam Raptor
Kholo City

"Take the kid upstairs, she'll have to come with us until we can call in an extraction!

Asha took her orders and ran until she was sure she had decent cover. She looked for the stairs, finding them in moments and rushing up them. Only then did she pause to catch her breath and loosened her grip on the child.

The girl's fingertips were tightly gripping Asha's vest, but other than that, Asha saw little sign of her being concious. She stared straight ahead, quiet and barely even showing breathing. The very sight spooked her. Part of her wondered if this was what she had looked like when her home caught fire and her parents burned alive when she was just a kid. She pushed away the unhappy memories. This was not the place nor the time.

Behind her, she had heard plenty of gunfire from James which told her that they had covies trying to pursue her. Attention. Drat. There had probably been no avoiding it, but it frustrated Asha nonetheless. Their jobs just had to be that much harder.

She looked over the girl while she still could. Bruises, welts, some minor cuts... and a nasty lump on the head, but miraculously nothing severe. This kid was walking luck. But there was always the effect on her mental health to consider. Asha cringed at the aspects of that.

She looked up once more back to the stares, searching for James. Where was he? She prayed that nothing had happened to him.

[Wax™]

1st Lieutenant Matthew Eversmann
ONI Section ZERO: ORION-REVIVE
Kholo City: Moving to Objective

"So Matt," Sato remarked to Matthew. "Why change to Infiltration suit? You finally see wisdom in stealth?"

Matthew stopped and turned his head back to face Sato, he looked at Sato for a second and nodded, the only visible part of his face was his right eye and the area around it, Matthew then turned back to face the city and fell back in line about a meter or two meters away from Eden as she took point leading the team into the city, Matthew slung his MA37 over his back and lifted his left wrist to his hand looking down at his mini TAC-PAD he tapped a few buttons on the TAC-PAD and entered a eight digit code, a second later Matthew's COM's headset would tune in to radio-chatter inside the city.

Captain Travis 'TJ' Jenkins
1st Recon: ABLE COMPANY
Kholo City: City Square

Jenkins continued to fire down upon the enemy and give suppresive fire to the police and SWAT personnel that were crossing the street from the building east of the square, once they were all inside Jenkins pulled back from the window and ran back a few meters he then stopped and looked down at a certain marine who inspecting a Jackhammer, the man's name was PFC Mendoza, he was temporarily leading Fire-Team Charlie after his NCO was killed on Artifice.

"Mendoza! I want you to go and take your team to the roof and rein hell down on the Covenant with those Jackhammers!"

"Yes Sir"

The Mendoza and at that Jenkins jogged to the stair well and took the stairs all the way to the ground floor, he regrouped with the men of First Platoon and noticed the twenty SWAT personnel and police/civilians made it over in one piece, Jenkins looked at them for a second before one of them turned and approached Jenkins.

"You must be Captain Jenkins... I am Lieutenant Miller from the KCPD SWAT"

"I know... Listen... You guy's need to get out of the city to the spaceport a few klicks south of here"

Jenkins yelled over the sound of plasma and automatic weapons fire.

"We understand that Sir... But my buddies and I would prefer to stay here and give you guys a hand?"

Jenkins lifted a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed before pointing up.

"Alright... Get your guys to the second floor and group up with third platoon"

"Yes Sir"

Jenkins gripped his MA37 tight and jogged over to the men of First platoon who were defending the ground floor against the Covenant, Jenkins rushed towards the men and dropped to his knees, skidding to a halt over dust marble floors and soil from plant pots, Jenkins slammed into a marble desk and mounted his MA37 and looked down the sights opening up on a few grunts who he took down with four controlled bursts.

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd

Kholo City was in worse shape than Sierra had realized. The state of the outskirts should have tipped her off as to what she would find, but she'd held out hope that the place where she'd grown up and had lived all her life wasn't in complete ruins. The true state of affairs in her hometown once she'd reached the center of the city was devastating to see.

Somewhere just beyond all this mess were her kids and her parents. Getting through it to get to them, however, wasn't going to be easy.

Major Lloyd paused in an alleyway to key her COM, outside the line of fire from the fierce fighting going on in the street. It sounded like Able Company had their hands full at the moment. She'd have to collect a sitrep from them soon. "Dylan?" she asked. "Where are you now?"

It took her husband longer than usual to answer and in the moment, she felt a small spike of worry. He'd come down in another Pelican and the empty static over the radio wasn't encouraging. Finally, though, his voice came through, faintly. "Sierra? Can you hear me? Your message was broken up. I think I might've...hit my head a little too hard on the landing, messed up my COM."

"Are you hurt? What happened?"

"We got tagged by a Wraith tank coming in," Dylan said in a hoarse voice. "Luckily our Pelican just got grazed, no one was killed, but...it definitely rattled the insides. Pilot came in for a really rough landing."

"I also asked if you were hurt."

"Nah I'm...I'm fine. Just a bad headache and some cuts and scrapes. My ribs hurt a little from jerking against the harness so damn hard, but I'm good."

"Dylan, don't paint a rosy picture for me. I want the truth."

"I'm good."

Sierra released a sigh. "All right. So what's your position? I'll come to you."

Before the reply could come through, a loud whoosh sounded through the street as Major Lloyd realized friendly air support was rolling in. A trio of Vultures came in hot, weapons unleashing a brief reign of hell on the Covenant forces in the street. Sierra used the opportunity to move up to the next block once the ships were clear. There were still plenty of active enemy troops, but there were now a number of mangled bodies as well. Purple and blue blood dotted the asphalt on the ground and the concrete debris from bombed-out buildings.

The major ducked her head as she ran when a few stray plasma bolts started hitting around her. Dammit, and she was so damn close to cover. Lloyd paused and seeing nothing but open street where she was, threw herself down on the ground immediately and began popping off rounds from her assault rifle. She wasn't even sure where the fire was coming from - she fired a couple more bursts before she stopped to keep her eyes scanning the area for the enemies that had targeted her.

In the meantime, Dylan could hear the gunshots over the COM and Sierra's rapid breathing. He knew something was up. "Sierra? What's going on?"

"Son of a bitch!" Major Lloyd swore under her breath. "I've got some goddamn cloaked Covie taking potshots at me in the street. Can't get to cover till I take him out."

"What do you - "

"Standby."

Sierra aimed in the direction she thought the fire was coming from and briefly squeezed the trigger again. This time, the aliens responded. Two green plasma pistol bolts sizzled by her position - one just past her head as she lay prone on the ground, and one boiling blob cracking the asphalt a few feet away. The major felt the momentary surge of heat, even through her battledress and armor.

But now, she had a clear shot.

Lloyd aimed fast and loosed a long burst of rounds at the pair of Jackals obstructing her way. Her MA5C barely bucked at all in hands since she had the weapon pressed firmly against her shoulder and the ground as she fired. She watched as the bullets rippled against the alien's shields, making them flare orange, so she took a deep breath and steadied her breathing, aiming more carefully at the small nooks in the shield where the Jackal was exposed. Something must've hit because she saw the alien jerk backwards as blood burst from its side. It squealed and threw its arms up, cowering, and Sierra rattled off the last of her clip, finally silencing the bastard.

Listening intently to all the gunfire over the radio, Dylan cried more forcefully, "Sierra! What the hell is - "

"I said wait!" she shouted back. There was still one more Jackal to take out, not to mention the fact that if she didn't get moving soon, the Covenant who'd survived the aerial strike would start going after her, too. She was a prime target out there in the street, and she knew that. She had to move - so this had to end quick.

Keeping her gun in front of her, Sierra moved her left hand down the side of her body until she felt the frag grenade hanging off her web belt. She quickly pulled it off and got up to her knees, chucking the explosive on the other side where the Jackal was. Then she dove back to the ground and waited.

The detonation caused part of the street to quake beneath her, but she was rewarded by another high-pitched squawk. The Jackal wasn't dead, Lloyd saw when she reopened her eyes, but its shield was obliterated. That made it easy prey, and Sierra killed it with another burst from a fresh clip. After that, she wasted no time getting up and sprinting for the nearest cover - another side alley - and then pressed her back hard against the wall of the half-standing building, trying to get her breathing under control.

"You okay?" Dylan asked her.

"Yeah," Sierra huffed in reply. "Shit. I didn't expect anything like this when we landed."

"It always seems to go that way, doesn't it?" Dylan paused, then said, "So are you still coming to me or is the area too hot?"

Major Lloyd shook her head, but then answered verbally when she realized he couldn't see it. "No. I'll come to you. I'm just starting to think that this might not be possible without a little help. There's a lot of Covenant here, D. A lot of fucking Covenant." She tried to swallow down a sudden burst of emotion but didn't quite manage it. Some came out in her voice. "God, Dylan. I can't believe the kids are somewhere in this goddamn disaster. We have to find - "

"I know. We will. Don't doubt that."

Sierra took a deep breath, shut her eyes tight for a moment until her breathing was a little more regular. "I'm going to ask for a fireteam from Able Company. We need more firepower if we're going to get through the city and head for our house."

"Agreed. I'll see if there's any Helljumpers out here. In the meantime, I'm uploading my location to you on your HUD. I'm not too far - three blocks east of you. I'll see you soon."

Sierra gripped her weapon tight in front of her. "Roger that."

With the connection cut, the major opened a new one to Able Company. She already had someone in mind for the job. "Able Company, listen up. I need Fireteam Charlie at my location now. PFC Mendoza, you're up, son. I've got a job for you."

Captain Dylan Lloyd

As soon as Sierra cut the COM, Dylan groaned as he placed a hand to his side. The near-crash landing had hurt him more than he was letting on. But he wasn't going to give up on account of that. His kids were in this city that the Covenant were determined to wipe off the map, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to them.

He knew Sierra was right about one thing, though - this wasn't something they'd likely be able to accomplish all on their own. Even if they tried their best to get to their home by evading the Covenant in the streets, two UNSC personnel on their own, no matter how well-trained and experienced, weren't going to get very far. They'd need some backup to survive through the mess and make it to their family.

Dylan keyed the COM. He knew he wasn't the only Helljumper who'd gone to the city. There was another spec-ops squad here - and for an objective like this, he wasn't above ordering them to help. "Raptor Squad, this is Captain Dylan Lloyd. I need you to drop whatever you're doing and get to my location ASAP. I've got new orders for you."

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
1st Recon Force: ABLE COMPANY
Kholo City: City Center Square

No sooner after Daniel and Fire-team charlie had received orders from Captain Jenkins and made their way to the roof they were being called by Major Sierra Lloyd to change their position and meet up with her, Mendoza lifted up his hand and pressed it against the ear piece of his head-set just under his boonie hat so he could listen to the transmission better and more clearer than he would have been able to before.

"Able Company, listen up. I need Fireteam Charlie at my location now. PFC Mendoza, you're up, son. I've got a job for you."

Daniel listened to the transmission and as he did linked up to Major Lloyd's neural interface chip and located her position through his combat glasses specially modified to have a HUD built into them, she was about three hundred meters away from his position so just a few blocks.

"Affirmative Major... Fire-team Charlie is en:route to your position"

After that Daniel broke communications and looked at the six or so man team he was commanding.

"Alright let's go... Rappel down!"

Daniel moved over the eastern side of the roof and removed one of the two long ropes tied to his webbing, he tied and hooked one end to the railing at the top of the building and tied a slip knot around him so he could easily untie it once he hit the ground, Daniel looked at his team who were all ready before climbing over and gripping hold of the rope, he would then push off the side of the building drop about ten or so meters each turn before doing it all over again, a few seconds past and he hit the ground, pulled the slip knot and watched it come undone before crouching down and scanning the area.

"Bisenti... Take point"

"Roger that Amigo"

He said before quickly sprinting across the street and into an alley way, while Mendoza and the rest of the team covered him, they then crossed the street one by one till all of them were in the alley way, then Mendoza decided to take point through the alley, Mendoza lifted his MA37 up to bare and looked left and right, up and down and all around, he slowly stopped and lifted up a closed fist to alert his team to stop moving as they neared the exit of the alley, Mendoza spotted a patrol of about eight Covenant troops, two squids and six grunt's who had their backs face to him.

"Riley, Bisenti and Kappus... Proceed to the alley across from us and wait for my signal to ambush with grenades... Fitzgerald and Jenkins stay with me... GO!"

As Mendoza relayed the orders Riley, Bisenti and Kappus all made their way to the opposite alley across the street, while Mendoza, Jenkins and Fitzgerald covered them, once everyone was in place all six members of the team grabbed a grenade each and pulled the pin, waiting for the Covenant to come back, after about tens seconds they turned around and began to walk back up the street, once the Covenant were in position next to the two alleys Mendoza let out a high pitched whistle and lobbed his grenade about three seconds after the rest of them did so as well.

The six grenades detonated and tore the Covenant to shreds, limbs flew left and right and purple and blue blood splattered all over the asphalt road, the marines then picked up their weapons and sprayed the position to rid the survivors of their miserable existence, Mendoza then made his way over to the other alley with Jenkins and Fitzgerald, accidentally standing in the goo and blood of the aliens.

"Uh! It's on my boots!"

He said as he entered the alley.

"Could save that jam for a sandwich"

Bisenti replied, the group exchanging silent laughs before moving on, Mendoza took point again and stopped at an alley way, Major Lloyd was less than ten or five meters away, Mendoza looked around then noticed Major Sierra Lloyd ducked down behind cover, Mendoza would whistle in her direction to get her attention before sprinting over to her position and taking cover beside her with a slight nudge on accident, the rest of his team setting up a small perimeter.

"Ma'am?"

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd

Sierra held her position and took a moment to check her battalion's status as she waited for PFC Mendoza to show up with Fireteam Charlie. She could hear Able Company well enough to know where they were - she'd come in with them so they weren't much more than a block or two away. They seemed to be advancing to their objective, especially after the friendly air support run, though it looked like they'd been stalled since by Covenant forces. She'd wait until she and Fireteam Charlie linked up with Dylan to get a sitrep from Captain Jenkins on that. In any case, she could hear the gunfire close by, followed by the occasional explosion, as well as plenty of Wraith mortar blasts in the distance. She tried to keep her mind focused over the noise.

For the rest of her companies, the major checked her ISIS. Charlie and Delta were moving up on the flanks on either side of Able, at least allowing the latter to focus only on moving ahead rather than having to keep tabs on their sides as well. It seemed that all three companies in the city, however, were now mostly locked in firefights. Lloyd knew things would only get worse the deeper they pushed into the city. She hoped they'd make it through.

Major Lloyd checked her TACPAD next. Normally she wouldn't need a map to be able to make her way through the city - she'd lived here her whole life and knew every street like the back of her hand. The problem this time was a lot of felled buildings and rubble made some streets unnavigable, or in extreme cases, no longer in existence as they were now big craters. So she checked the maps out, seeing if there were any obstacles between herself and her house along the route she'd originally planned. Not surprisingly, there were, so she made some small mental adjustments before placing the TACPAD back in the cargo pocket of her battledress pants.

That's when she heard a whistle.

PFC Mendoza approached shortly after, along with the rest of the fireteam she'd requested. "Ma'am?" he asked.

"I'm going to need your help extracting a particular group of civvies, Private. It's small but they're a little further out than the rest. They should be in the suburbs just past the city, on the tenth block of Aromeia Street. It's a residential area - I'm not sure if it's been hit yet or not." She let out a sigh. "The downside, of course, is that we'll have to get through the city to make it there. We'll need to avoid pockets of Covenant as much as possible, since we're moving there in a small team. Our goal right now is not to stop and beat back every alien in the city but to make it past them. Is that clear?" Lloyd hefted her MA5C once more and added before he could respond, "And we're meeting up with some Helljumpers before we set off. They're a few blocks east of here. I'm uploading the location to your HUD now. Let's move."

[kuran]

Sergeant James Beaufort
Raptor Squad, Spec Ops ODST
Kholo City


"Raptor Squad, this is Captain Dylan Lloyd. I need you to drop whatever you're doing and get to my location ASAP. I've got new orders for you."

James reloaded his rifle as he backed through the doorway after Asha, finally back into the relative safety of the building. He made his way up the stairs, pausing only to respond. "Captain Lloyd, we're a bit busy at the moment, not in a position to disengage at the moment."

He found Asha and the girl, and took a knee. While the rest of the squad continued to fire, he decided to take a risk. Craning his head, he pulled off his helmet, feeling reasonably confident that he was out of the line of fire. The little girl was still totally panicked, but then, who wouldn't be?

James had to admit, his face probably didn't help the girl, with it's scars and general 'hardass' demeanor. But he tried to sound reassuring as he spoke. "Hey, i'm James. We're going to get you out of here, okay? You'll be safe from the aliens. But I need you to help me, yeah? Can you do that? First, I need your name."