Mission 3 Part 2: Setback after setback...

[theforgotten]

"All snipers or riflemen in the area! This is Major Domo Legra 'Adantee. We are gathered on a hill, upon which I am sending coordinates and a HUD beacon. Attend to your duty--assist us in disposing of the snipers in the area."

Zuk cackles at this comm message as he takes a swift look towards Kel and Kag, he picks up speed his blood rushing for blood and gore. He starts going uphill in the tree's his steps getting a bit louder but allowing him to go faster.

[z]

-Kag-

He heard the transmission and let out a low pitched growl before looking at Kel and flicking his head towards the hill.

"Let's go, Kel. I will watch your back."

He ran at well under half-speed to keep up behind Kel. He could have ran so much faster and possibly outdone bother the female sniper, and the Male Skirmisher in the trees but he did not feel like putting all his energy into a run just yet, though he did not tire easily.

[darthsloan]

Sloan nodded quickly and ran crouched to Sgt. Brown, or known to the rest of the squad as "Bassman" He had that booming voice you would expect from a chorus, and he found it intimidating. Sloan told him his orders and Sgt Brown rounded every one up.

"Listen up marines, we have orders to escort a medic to, and support, Sgt. Bowers's squad. We will go the quick and easy way... through the alley ways and close to the walls to avoid blasts from that Wraith. Torres... you got point!"

"Yes Sir!"

Torres lead the way swiftly as, Pvt. Sloan, Pvt. Chaney, Pvt. Johnson, Sgt. Brown, and the medic followed. The plan was simple, avoid combat to preserve our energy, and ammo, for the support they planned to give. So far, so good. They managed to not draw attention to the squad as they inched along to Bowers's position. Occasionally they would find stragglers or small grunt patrols, but they weren't a true threat, for the squad easily dispatched them. Soon they were closing in on his position and Sgt. Brown attempted to contact Sgt Bowers through radio.. and hoped there wasn't to much interference. He pressed his headset and pressed it on.

"Sgt. Bowers? We have the Medic you requested... do you copy?"

[Huka]

"Command, we have traced the distress signal. About to enter the old apartment building near the communications tower." Sgt. Anders reported as he and his squad entered.

They carefully followed the navigation point on their HUDs, rifles raised and ready for any Covenant ambushes. Nothing.

It is completely quiet inside whilst outside was a haven of noise. Walking up some stairs, the building shook violently from a nearby mortal explosion.

"Careful. We have get to the signal quickly or-" The Sergeant said before he sniffed something foul.

"What is that smell?" A private asked a little too loudly. "Quiet." Staff Sergeant Jackson scolded. "Sorry sir." The private replied in a whisper.

Coming up the stairs, they continued following the signal, starting to realize the stench was becoming just as strong, and the private saw a trail of blood leading to a room, the same room that held the signal.

They stepped into a room of horror; marines were piled high and the stench of death was nearly unbearable as flies walked on the carcasses.

The muffled blinking of the signal could be heard somewhat. "Um, command. We found the signal." Anders said, swallowing his own vomit.

The marines starting to collect the signal to shut it off. "And a pile of our own. Someone put them in here for some reason. I-I don't know why."

When the private pulled one of the bodies out of the pile, the upper part of the pile fell, and revealed the signal...sitting on a box of explosives.

"Its a trap!" He cried before the entire container exploded violently.

Outside across the building, Til and Skor watched parts of the building explode beautifully. "I give you small eradication, my student. This is the lesson for today. Now, let us help our brothers." Til said and the two disappeared into the alleyway to join the battle itself.

[Wax™]

Sergeant Jason Bowers Task Force 77: DELTA DESTROYERS Above GLASGOW Old Command

"Sgt. Bowers? We have the Medic you requested... do you copy?"

Is all Jason heard from his response to Captain Lloyd, so perhaps there was some radio interference, either way Jason did not want to spend too much longer in this fucking building, and at least someone was able to contact him if not Captain Lloyd.

"Copy that Sergeant Brown, make your way to the south end of the building via the alley ways... There's no Covenant there, once you make it to the building take the stairwell to floor five, we are currently held off there with civilians, over"

Jason keyed the COM so as to speak with the Sergeant that had contacted him before taking his attention back to his Squad, out of all fifteen men, no one said a thing, until one of the Privates poked his head into the group and said something to Bowers.

"We could go to the roof and call for an EVAC for the Civilians Sir... Their meant to be flying out of the cities anyway?

"Good thinking Private... Well round up the civilians and take them up to the roof once our Medic arrives, as we move up to the roof well get two man teams to check each floor as we proceed to the top for civilians and any other UNSC personnel"

"Sir..." One Private spoke up among the bunch of Marines of DELTA. "...Will we be going with them?"

"Negative on that Private... We'll be staying behind to finish the fight... 'Marines Don't Quit' remember?"

"Ooh-rah Sir"

"Alright... Claire and Cassie I want you two to remain with the civilians and make sure no harm comes to them, the rest of you line the windows and prepare to re-engage the Covenant on my mark"

Sergeant Bowers nodded at his men before moving off to the windows, the windows that were still intact, he and the rest of DELTA along the the Marines from another Squad lined the windows and aimed their gun's down at the Covenant, they seemed to direct their fire away from the building and back to the ground forces when Bowers' team went to the fifth floor.

"Alright DELTA... Fire now!"

As Bowers yelled that out he gripped his MA37 Individual Combat Weapon System tight and sprayed his clip as accurately as he could out the window he was standing at with two other Marines the MA37 and DMR Volley from the Fifth floor brought devastation down to the Covenant below them, the best part was, the best part was they didn't even expect it, as Bowers fired everything seemed to slow down, Bowers grinned and yelled at the top of his lungs as the volley of UNSC fire tore the covenant down in their ranks, they actually had to retreat to their previous line, so as to re-group in their ranks.

"Grenade out!"

One man said, Bowers dropped his weapon, letting it fall against his side, the strap around his chest stopping it from coming off, as he did he grabbed a grenade from his webbing, pulled a pin and ditched it out the window.

"Frag out!"

He said as he threw it he then backed away from the window and knelt down watching as the UNSC Soldiers below advanced their position to the Covenants previous front line before DELTA forced them to retreat a few meters.

"Back away from the windows!"

Bowers yelled as the Covenant began to fire at the office building once more, the marines of DELTA and the other Squad backed away with no casualties thankfully and waited for the Covenant to die down their fire, Bowers pressed the magazine release clip on his MA37 and felt the gun go slightly lighter as the clip fell out, with a few expertly trained swift movements, he gripped another clip and slid it home into the back of the MA37, a recognizable click sounding off as he did so, he then went prone and crawled back up to the window, this time taking small and controlled bursts at the Covenant.

[darthsloan]

"All right marines, you heard him, lets move. Chaney take point."

Pvt. Chaney grumbled something and took point around the building while the rest of the squad followed. He peeked around the corner and said to the rest of them, "Clear", before rounding the corner to the back of the building waiting for the rest of them.

Sloan noticed it was eerily quite, save for the explosions and reports of weapons from the floors above. His stomach churned with anticipation, and he was sure the others felt the same.

"Sloan... Check the lock!"

The order was loud and booming like a grenade, and so he nodded and moved to the door where he jiggled the lock slowly, and answered, "Locked Sarge."

"Alright then... stack up squad, and Kent, you breach."

The squad lined up against the wall as ordered while Cpl. Kent lumbered to the door. When it came to locked doors, Kent was the one to break them down. He brought up his leg and kicked in the door, which broke the lock and knocked it off one of its hinges, before entering the small room and answered "Clear."

"Torres! You have point!"

Brown was an organized fellow, and had a direction for any situation, or so it seemed. Sometimes he just overloaded the squad with orders, but the squad didn't mind. Well, Chaney was the main complainer of the group, but the rest of them thought the orders made it simple. Pvt. Torres ran up the stairs with the rest of us right behind her. At this pace it wasn't long before they were on the fifth floor as instructed.

Sgt. Brown rushed ahead of the rest of them and opened the door into the fifth floor. Surely enough there was combat going on, and the rest of them stumbled slightly as the building shook. They all rushed into the room while Brown ordered the Squad to assist the soldiers here. The Medic approached Sgt. Bowers and requested orders. "Orders Sir?"

__________________________________________

From Sloan's point of view, the place was a mess, a wreck. He was given orders to assist the soldiers here and he did so, taking cover near them and the rest of his squad, and fired controlled three round bursts at the enemy, this was going to be a long day.

[Wax™]

Sergeant Jason Bowers Task Force 77: DELTA DESTROYERS Above GLASGOW Old Command

Jason turned as he heard more people entering the once neat and tidy office floor, he pushed himself up and move to the Sergeant in command, but before he could reach the man he was cut off by a Medic running up and asking for orders.

"Orders Sir?"

Is what the man said.

"Bout time you boy's got here..." Bowers pointed at one of the rooms opposite the one the civilians were hiding in, back by the stair well. "...Wounded are in there, we got four wounded one KIA and on severely wounded, patch them up"

Bowers moved away from the Medic and walked over to the room with the civilians in it, he opened the door and looked in at Cassie and Claire she smiled at Jason before Jason began to dish out orders to the pare of them.

"Claire... We got a friendly medic patching up our wounded, help him out"

"Yes Sir"

"Cassie... Re-join your fire-team, but watch yourself out there."

Jason pushed off a wall and limped over to the Sergeant Brown leading the new Squad that had just entered the building, he nodded at the man before speaking very loud over the automatic weapons fire, probably even competing with the Sergeants loud voice.

"It's good to have you here Sergeant Brown... We need to call in a EVAC for some civilians we have held up here, I am going to lead my team up to the roof of this building with the civilians, I want you and your team to follow us up behind alright?!"

Bowers paused for a moment only to turn and face one of his privates, he smiled before screaming at him.

"Private! Call in a Pelican EVAC, tell the pilot we have civilians held up at the old command structure in Glasgow!"

"Yes Sir..." The Private paused for a moment to tug a telephone-style hand held COM from his back-pack and put it to his ear, he pressed down a button before yelling over the automatic weapons fire into the COM. "...This is Private Stilling from DELTA, Alpha Company... I need an EVAC on the top of Glasgow Old Command, do air-lift some civilians and KIA out of the danger zone... Do any Pelicans read me?!"

_________________________________________________________


Bowers limped up the stairwell of the office building with his Squad right behind him, and behind them the civilians were following close, and behind them Sergeant Browns Squad, this was a text-book escort mission to the roof, and luckily there were no Covenant in the building.

Flight Captain Michelle Rodriguez Task Force 77: STINGER 1 En:Route to Glasgow.

"...This is Private Stilling from DELTA, Alpha Company... I need an EVAC on the top of Glasgow Old Command, do air-lift some civilians and KIA out of the danger zone... Do any Pelicans read me?!"

That is all Michelle managed to hear out of an emergency transmission she picked up in Glasgow, she flipped a coupled switches and re-routed the COM's line so she was able to speak back to the Private.

"I read you Private... Flight Captain Rodriguez is En:Route to your position, E.T.A Five minutes, be sure the landing pad is clear by the time I arrive"

Michelle banked left and urged her Pelican towards Glasgow, specificly Glasgow Old Command, where the USNC Marine Corp were busy trying to defend the building why a team of ODST's were rigging the place to blow, Michelle turned her head slightly and spoke to her co-pilot Michael.

"Michael... Keep your finger sturdy on that trigger will you?"

"Copy that"

[kartoffelfogel]

Major Domo Legra 'Adantee

The Phantom flew about like a broken-winged Yanme'e on stimulants.

The port side of the little craft was ravaged, having absorbed bullet fire and taken a few explosive rockets to the undercarriage. The single front-mounted concussion cannon was likewise gone, victim to an annoyingly competent human sniper.

And Legra felt as if he was just about gone as well.

The Phantom that was meant to be rescuing them and helping him find the rest of his lance was instead about to get him killed.

The dropship started juddering downward, losing altitude at an alarming rate.

"We are not going to last long." Essa, his only remaining companion, muttered.

"I will not see myself die before I find Seroth and Breek." He retorted.

"You think we will live through this?"

"I think that death will have to wait."

The Phantom juddered again, falling now toward a human building. At this trajectory, they were going to be unpleasantly familiar with its roof.

A flash of movement--and Legra caught sight of a friendly beacon.

His HUD flashed an image of the commanding officer present in that area.


His heart leapt.


Ah, Til, old friend.

Surprise.

[kuran]

• Corporal James Beaufort
  
• Fireteam Raptor
  
• Glasgow Command Center Building
  

As they stacked up, two to each side, James took a deep breath, checking for the umpteenth time that his MA5c was fully loaded before giving the nod to Lenov on the other side of the door.

After a silent count of three, all four members of fireteam Raptor stormed the lobby of the building, sweeping the area with their weapons as they advanced past the reception desk and towards the elevator at the back of the spacious room.

Moving quickly, they made it to the elevator, with Megan and Mcalister crouching on either side of the closed door, their backs to the wall and watching the way they had come with rifles raised. Lenov pressed the "call" button several times before smacking it. "Power's dead boss, we'll have to take the stairs."

James shook his head. "No. Absoloutley not, we don't have time for the stairs, and Alpha Company can't hold out forever."

Turning to examine the lobby, he noticed the receptionist's desk, not particularly far away. "What's the depth of the shaft, any guess?" he inquired to no-one in particular. "We'll just hope it's enough then. Lenov, breach the elevator door and it's floor,we're rappelling."

Lenov fished in his pack for a few moments and brought out a small charge of C-12, much smaller than the charges they were carrying for the command bunker below. Pressing it to the crack between the elevator's two doors, he stuck in a detonator and activated it, throwing himself against the wall while James and the other two dived over and behind the receptionist's desk.

Even through their helmets, the explosion was deafening. As James, Megan, and Mcalister hooked the length's of rope in their packs to the most sturdy looking items they could find, another, more muffled, explosion went off, signifying the destruction of the floor of the elevator. Lenov hurried to attach his line, and they all stood in the entrance to the elevator.

"Let's go, we're running out of time." Cracking and dropping one of the IR chem lights from his belt, they watched it hit the ground, barley visible, perhaps a hundred and fifty feet below.

They all awkwardly walked into the shaft before, in unison, plummeting towards the bottom of the shaft. Their rapid descent towards the faint green light was cut short only when each member of the fireteam gripped their rope tightly, which they all did.

Finding themselves hanging over the last twenty feet of the shaft, they were nonetheless perched in front of the door leading to the command bunker. Lenov and Mcalister grabbed what they could and set to work pulling the doors apart, while Megan and James hung, almost horizontal, with weapons raised, waiting to give a happy welcome to anything that might choose to appear when the doors opened.

----------------------------------


After several minutes of work, the doors were open enough to allow them all to pass through. Clearing the bunker for hostiles, not that they expected them anyway, the team set about the rather simply task of rigging the bunker for explosion.

This consisted of, quite literally, emptying their packs of almost all of their C-12, placing large globs of it, like a hunk of bread dough, on anything that looked important, until they were satisfied that everything in the bunker would be obliterated when the explosives went off. After that, they placed detonators in the globs of explosive, activated them, and paused, looking at James.

He sighed. They would be unable to go back up the shaft, it would take forever to rappel back up. "The stairs it is then," he muttered. They all cursed and sighed, somewhat good-naturedly, and began the long climb back up to the ground floor.

James activated his helmet's radio as they ran up the stairs at breakneck speed, struggling to remember Alpha Company's commander's name. "Captain...uhh...Larry...Lloyd! Captain LLoyd, this is Raptor, we've rigged the bunker for detonation and are making our way topside again. We'll head for the roof for extraction then, but we'll be passing by the lobby. Do you require assistance as you fall back inside?" He assumed that Alpha would take the same route for extraction that they were, to the roof.

[milostsamis]

PFC Jake Rotan Task Force 77: ABLE COMPANY Defending the Radio Tower

By the time the Captain had reached his position, he and his team had taken down another six Grunts, two Jackals, and one Elite. "Well done Rotan! ...I need to make my way over to Third Platoon, take the laser and blow that S.O.B when he sticks his head out for another shot... Copy?!" Jenkins yelled over the gunfire.

Jake was surprised, and it showed on his face, but it wasn't long before that look turned into one of determination. He was given a task, and he would do it. "You got it, sir. You can count on me." The Captain nodded and patted him in the shoulder before handing him the large, destructive weapon. He watched as Jenkins took off for third platoon. Ryan and Jake grinned at each other as Jake shouldered the laser.

"Ryan, I need you to keep me covered, this thing takes a while to charge." Jake said, and Ryan nodded, bringing his assault rifle back up to bear. The two locked eyes for a moment and grinned again.

"Michelle, Lenny! Keep your fired trained on anyone who may seem to be targeting mine and Jake's position!" Ryan called over to the two other Bravo Team members. They nodded an acknowledgment and shifted there stance so that they were facing more prominently towards Jake and Ryan. "Jake keep a close watch on where that Wraith emerges. It's taking quick shots and then ducking back behind the rubble.." Ryan said, before firing a burst of MA5C into an oncoming suicide Grunt. "There will only be a small window of opportunity between bombings. Make the first opportunity a good one."

Jake nodded and aimed down the small scope of the weapon, keeping it trained on the basic vicinity of where the Wraith had appeared the first time. "C'mon.. C'mon you sonuvabitch. Show yourself so that I can blow you to kingdom come.." Jake muttered to himself, his teeth beginning to grind together in anticipation for the purple vehicle's appearance. He found that he was pulling and releasing the weapon's trigger repeatedly in trepidation, and found that it was most likely helpful and so did not stop himself.

At last, the sleek, purple Wraith appeared, mortar raised to fire upon the marine position. "Gotcha." Jake said as he pulled the trigger down, and this time held it there. He heard a noise that he suspected meant that it was charging as the Wraith fired off its mortar and sent a ball of blue energy at him and his comrades. "C'mon.. Charge faster, charge faster!" Jake muttered frantically as the Wraith began moving for cover. Jake watched as the small meter on the reticule reached the peak and sent a deadly laser towards the mortar tank. The PFC grinned to himself happily as he heard, and watched as the Wraith exploded into a thousand pieces, some cutting up nearby infantry.

Jake had been so caught up in his task, that he hadn't even heard any of Bravo Team fire their weapons. Now that he was finished with it, he noticed that nearly a dozen dead Grunts, and half as many Jackals lay dead around Jake's position. "Thanks guys.." Jake said loud enough for them all to hear. The three all welcomed him at once.

"Someone get some fire on that 'Hog!" Jake heard some marine Sergeant calling. Adjusting his gaze, he noticed an overturned Warthog, still functional, covering a small troop of four Elites, who dipped in and out of cover, picking off the marines.

"You guys keep your fire trained on everyone else, I'll take care of the 'Hog." Rotan said, shouldering the laser once again. More calmly than before, he peeked through the scope and targeted the Warthog before pulling and holding the trigger. "Adios, you sons a bitches." Jake said casually as the laser went off and fired the deadly laser once again. The laser hit the 'Hog, went through it and one of the Elites, and then disappeared as it scorched the earth as it made contact. Rotan wasn't looking at the laser's final destination though; he was looking at the UNSC Warthog that had just exploded into a fiery burst.

Corporal Krum keyed in on the COM and patched the news to the Captain. "Sir, this is Corporal Ryan Krum. Rotan has successfully neutralized the Wraith and a small group of Elites taking cover behind one of our 'Hogs, copy?" Bravo Team once again turned their attention back to the no-man's land, which was now swarming with what seemed a never ending wave of Covenant. "Toss frags!" Krum called to his team. The four of them primed a frag and hurled it towards the center of the oncoming assault, and watched in silent satisfaction as they blew dozens of aliens apart. They didn't watch for too long, though. Soon after the initial explosion, they were firing at the enemy once again.

[darthsloan]

Pvt. Sloan fired down at retreating covenant troops, not sure that it was a good sign. He had seen this at least once, where they retreat their regular troops, only to bring heavy troops, or tanks, to wipe them out. He had a bad feeling, but the civilians must come first... after all, they all used to be civilians. Sgt. Brown rounded the squad together and told us that we would tag along with Sgt. Bowers's squad, and assist them in escorting the civilians to the roof for evac whiled the medic tended to the wounded. The Medic patched the wounded up well, especially with the help provided with him. Sgt. Brown looked around at everything and then back to Bowers.

"We are ready when you are."

[Huka]

Til stepped on rubble of a devastated building, looking at the devastated landscape before him and his lance. "The martial might of the Covenant will level this entire nest of insects." Skor said with a deep laugh. "Indeed." Til said.

Then he saw a heavily-damaged Phantom zip over his head, in that moment of flight, Til saw a familiar figure. Legra?

The phantom flew towards a cluster of buildings.

His hearts beated in fear for his friend. Ushering his lance, "Quickly, we must investigate that phantom before the accursed humans find them!"

"Hold on, Lega. I am coming for you, my brother." Til said to himself.

Skor, Sufang, and the Unggoy were several feet ahead of him but the Major Domo was always quick on his feet, getting ahead of them in a matter of seconds.

[kartoffelfogel]

Major Domo Legra 'Adantee

Smoke and fire.

The gleaming wreckage of a Phantom, laying sprawled across the unforgiving concrete facade of the building's roof.

Legra looked up--he dimly saw the yellow sun of this world force its way through the shafts of smoke, dust and cloud that strove to obscure it.

He hefted his body out of the wreckage. He silently moved all of his muscles and appendages--carefully and slowly, as all Sangheili are trained to do in the event that they survive a crash.

Physically, he was fine--but he'd seen Essa tumbling out of the ruined Phantom, off of the building, and to an honorable but certain death below.

Essa was gone.

Crilin was first... Breek and Seroth... and now Essa. All of his lance was dead or missing.

Legra strained out of the blurred illusion his life had become.

He pushed his way out of the Phantom, and stumbled out onto the building.

His Focus Rifle was missing... but he still had two blades attached to his hips.


Blades... and a target.

There was a dim figure running toward him in the smoke.

Rage blinded him--he drew both blades.

He uttered an incoherent roar, drew his blades, on of ba'knwa bone and the other of 'Xirsa steel.

He charged at the figure, blades wheeling.

[Huka]

It took a couple minutes before Til found the phantom that Legra was in. It had nose-dived into a building, causing most of it to tumble. He prayed his brother was at least alive.

Igri was close behind, huffing and heaving, it was hard to keep up with sangheili and their long legs, especially Major Domo 'Muramee.

Then he heard a yelp from Glutz. Turning his head to the Unggoy looking at a nearby building and quickly he saw humans coming just as Til predicted.

"Excellency, the humans are coming!" Igri warned and Til stopped for a split-second to see them. "Kill them, leave none of them alive. I will continue on." He said before placing a firm hand on Skor before he passed him.

"You will assist Igri." Til ordered. Skor looked like he was about to protest but quickly seeing a chance to fight, nodded in acceptance.

"Good fighting, my warriors." He said before speeding off.

Sufang spoke roughly in his language, nothing Igri could understand but he didn't care, only thing he cared for right now is the humans' corpses.

"Pluk, perpare to fire the plasma cannon when the humans are in range. Sufang, pick them apart from the distance.' Igri ordered. The dim-witted Pluk did as told but Sufang hissed in distaste of being ordered by a Unggoy of all things, but he is the Major Domo's pet.

Clawing his needle rifle, the Kig-yar began to fire, and in response, the humans began firing and dodging in the rubble.

Skor roared as he stepped into the fight.

Igri knew the humans were too far for their weapons, and so was most of the lance, only Sufang could effectively shoot. Then a idea popped in his little head.

"Sk...Excellency." Igri called. Skor looked at the little Unggoy major expectingly. "What is it?" He asked impatiently. "We need to sneak around, the humans will hide in their ruins while we are shot in the open." Igri quickly replied, hoping to get the tactic in the Sangheili's head.

Looking at the buildings, Skor nodded. "Indeed. You and the others will keep the humans distracted, I will move in for the kill." He said but Igri grabbed his leg before he could move. A act that quickly caught Skor's attention and annoyance. "Why do you touch me!" He snarled.

Igri's face hardened at that, "The humans have seen you, they will notice you missing. We need a another to kill them, yes?"

Skor's mandibles clicked roughly as a growl rumbled in his throat until he kicked his leg away from Igri. "You are quite smart...for a Unggoy. Very well." He agreed in diappointment. Then he looked at Sufang. "Kig-yar!" He called.

Sufang looked at Skor with little emotion. "Hunt down and gut the humans in their homes." The Minor asked with a closed fist. "We will keep their eyes to us."

Sufang's quills shook at the chance of vengeance. "Yes." He simply said and waited till Pluk began firing the plasma cannon at the buildings and the barks of human weapons were heard.

Quickly, he sprinted through the rubbles, taking stops to hide in concrete piles, before sprinting again to the buildings with needle rifle, plasma pistol, and cutlass in his arsenal.

MAJOR DOMO TIL 'MURAMEE

Outside of the building, Til rushed to find no entrance to the crumbling building. Desperate he looked but saw none. "Blasted humans and their architecture!" He screamed before his boots hit something hard.
Turning his head to see with his good eye, Til's breath halted for a split-second and hearts dropped.

On the ground, under a few heavy stones, was one of Legra's warriors.
He remembered him, Essa. Pulling the stones off of the respectful warrior, he saw his chest moving very slowly. "Essa." He said, shaking him abit, before lifting his head up slightly.

Slowly, Essa's eyes were on Til. "Don't die, my friend. You...you can still live." He said before feeling something sticky on his head. Til already knew it was blood. Essa's head was cracked open. He couldn't believe the Minor was still alive.

Telling from his broken leg and ragged breathing-broken ribs-Essa must have fell out of the phantom in its dive. "I am going to leave for the moment, Essa. First, where is Legra?" He asked.

Essa's eyes changed to one of fear; fear of being left alone or fear for his commanding officer and friend.
His head painfully craned to the side, looking to the building. A hurt arm lifted and pointed before collasping back on the ground. Til felt the life leave Essa as his body went limb.
He sighed in despair, Til stood up. He will pray for Essa properly, but first, he must find Legra. Leaving Essa's body, he went to where a door supposed to be, finding only rubble over it.

Snarling he unholstered his plasma rifle, and fired its superheated ammunition for a good semi-unit before ramming though it with all of his might, Til shook the dust off of him as his shield completely collasped from the impact and body throbbed a moment. The building was filled with smoke and fire.

Nearly blinded, he moved through the flames, and called out to his missing friend. [yellow]"Legra!" [/yellow] He called, nothing but more collasping parts of the building.

Rushing through the flames, he climbed the building for several semi-units before he found the wreckage of the Phantom's nose.

He must be close, leaping into a hole, he rushed through the smoke until he heard a deep and vicious roar.
He stopped to actually understand before a flash of red came him. Jumping back to only have his thoracic cage grazed.

"By the Gods!" He cried before extending his spear to block both blades with his metal shaft. The smoke was thick and the fight was exhausting him, but Til recognized both the blades and the Sangheili infront of him.

[yellow]"Legra!"[/yellow] he cried in joy.

[Martial Virtue]

Captain Sierra Lloyd

Sierra stayed put and brought her BR55 to bear again as soon as Private Sloan ran off to escort the medic. She knew he could use the covering fire and directed the Marines around her to do the same. Soon, the young man was out of sight, lost somewhere behind her in the chaos of battle.

Just in time to miss the plasma round that suddenly rocked the earth close by.

The Marine captain heard it whoosh its way overhead and yelled, "Shit! Everybody hit the dirt, now!"

Sierra flattened herself to the ground along with her Marines just before the detonation. The street quaked for what felt like several long seconds while her armor plates rattled against the asphalt beneath her. It felt like her body was being shaken by a giant's hand, and she was its favorite ragdoll.

When it was over, Lloyd found that she couldn't see or breathe. Heavy particles in the air from the debris made it difficult to extract the oxygen from the air, and the thick cloud was impenetrable with normal eyesight. Sierra coughed long and hard for nearly half a minute with ears ringing. It was then that she registered the taste of copper in her mouth. She'd bitten down hard on her tongue in the chaos. She coughed again and spat out blood onto the pavement before she tried to push herself up.

Finally, with her surroundings clearing again, she managed to choke out a semi-respectable, "Status!" on the COM. Acknowledgement lights slowly began to wink green across her HUD. For her part, Sierra rose to her knees and gave her surviving Marines a thumbs up. An obliterated fireteam up ahead hadn't been so lucky. Lloyd's stomach churned but she kept the bile down.

Captain Lloyd turned to the nearest Marine. "Corporal, get the arty team on the line. Let me give them that Wraith's coordinates." She wiped a trace of blood from just above her left eye with her sleeve - it was spilling from a cut she'd just noticed, and it was getting irritating to deal with. "Lieutenant Koppre?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I want a report on casualties in your platoon in one."

"On it."

Sierra was just getting her rifle back in her hands when she heard another hail come through the radio - a welcome one this time.

"Captain...uhh...Larry...Lloyd! Captain LLoyd, this is Raptor, we've rigged the bunker for detonation and are making our way topside again. We'll head for the roof for extraction then, but we'll be passing by the lobby. Do you require assistance as you fall back inside?"

Given the nature of the situation and her own close encounter with death just now, Sierra let the brain fart over her name slide. "Copy that, Raptor. Nice work. I was wondering when those explosives would get hooked up for us." She paused for just a moment to survey the scene in front of her. The Covies were still fighting hard for the privilege of overtaking the Command Center - something Lloyd would never give up to them intact. "Yes, Corporal. We could use someone watching our six as we pull in. I'd be much obliged."

The captain left the connection open then for a reply, but opened a second company-wide channel. "Alpha! Secure the lines and let's move! The charges are set! We're pulling back, Marines!"

We can only hope this works, she thought.

Then, as an afterthought, she hailed Sergeant Bowers. "Sergeant, what's the status on the civvies and the wounded?"

[Wax™]

Sergeant Jason Bowers Task Force 77: DELTA DESTROYERS Above GLASGOW Old Command

Sergeant Bowers continued to limp up the huge amount of stairs, there must of been a thousand of them, but that did not keep Jason from reaching the top and extracting these civilians, not even with a wounded leg, this what basic traning was all about, endurance and getting the job done, they were almost at the top anyway, this was good, one more flight of stairs then they were there.

"Sergeant! We there yet?!"

Cried one of the men behind him.

"Stow that shit marine... Dont make me turn this EVAC around!"

"Yes Daddy B"

A few laughs were heard amungst the marines, Bowers smirked before letting off one more comment.

"That's Pappa Daddy B to you Marine!"

Bowers turned his head to watch the man who made the remark before he stopped, they had finally reached the roof exit, Bowers slammed his right shoulder into the exit and engaged the horizontal pannel emergency push, as he did so the door swung open and the early morning sun seered his eyes, but it was soon blacked out by a Pelican hitting the deck and extracting it's landing gear, Bowers turned to face his men.

"Alright let's go! Get the civilians severly wounded and KIA on the Pelican!"

Bowers limped to the Pelican and stepped onboard before approaching the cock-pit he bent down and addressed the Pilot Michelle Rodriguez (Me).

"Hey! Once you drop these civilians off at the airfield can you bring back extra pelicans?!"

"Sure thing!"

"Alright! Before you come back install troop transports!"

Bowers nodded and patted the woman on the shoulder before moving back out into the cargo-bay of the pelican and stepping out, he looked back inside and saw all seven Civilians sitting down on the seats along with two MP's and two KIA on the cargo-bay floor, laying on stretchers, followed by one critically wounded private.

"Alright Marines! Secure the roof and wait out till our extraction arrives!"

Bowers limped over to a brocket air-duct and fell against it, resting his head back against the cold metal, he looked out uppon the horizon, there seemed to be a lot of rain clouds closing in he was just getting comfy till his CO called in.

"Sergeant, what's the status on the civvies and the wounded?"

Bowers felt like jumping up and down and thanking god when he heard that familiar battle hardened female voice.

"Jesus Christ am I glad to hear your voice Captain, civilians have been evaced along with one wounded and two KIA... Waiting for our EVAC to arrive via the roof, that's the status on the explosives and will Alpha be joining us soon?"

[kuran]

Corporal James Beaufort
Fireteam Raptor, ODST
Old Command,Glasgow

James and his team burst back into the lobby through the door leading to the stairwell, despite James' assertation mere minutes earlier that they would not be taking the stairs. Just as he passed through the door, his comm crackled.

"Copy that, Raptor. Nice work. I was wondering when those explosives would get hooked up for us." After a momentary pause, she continued. "Yes, Corporal. We could use someone watching our six as we pull in. I'd be much obliged."

James chuckled before responding"Confirmed Captain. Give us a moment to set up a position, we've got your back."

Switching back to squad comms, he addressed his team as they all sprinted for the stairs up."Allright you three, we're moving up one floor and setting up a position, we're going to cover Alpha company as they pull out. They've been kind enough to hold the Covvies back while we rigged the bunker, so we're going to return the favour and let them get upstairs to the evac before we pull out. Why?"

The day's combat seemed to evaporate from his squadmates as they roared a responce to the world. "First in, last out,Sir!"

James went first as they moved up the stairs, while Lenov brought up the rear. They climbed a flight of stairs and kicked in the first door they came to.

The sight that greeted them was not unexpected, but annoying nonetheless. The room contained three dead marines, all seemed to have taken plasma rounds through the windows, which were all shattered. The small office looked out over Alpha's position however, and so James, Mcalister, and Megan all crouched behind windowsills and aimed downrange. Lenov, with his shotgun, watched the door with weapon levelled, in case anything appeared behind them.

They all knew by unspoken consent that Megan, as the squad's designated marksman, would be the most effective here. But James and Mcalister, with their MA5-k's, would provide at least some supporting fire.

James triggered his comm again, first to Alpha's commander,"Alpha, Raptor is in position, you're free to move, over,"and then to what his VISR informed him was a Marine squad on the roof, extracting civilians. Sergeant, this is Fireteam Raptor, we're several floors below you, with Alpha company on the ground, pulling back inside. Mind holding the door for us as we extract? Over."

And last, to his team, he called out a hearty "Open fire!" as he sighted a distant grunt and squeezed off a burst.

[darthsloan]

Third squad had completed their task for bringing the medic, and helped the other squad get out of the mess. It was calm now, though sounds of battle rang in Sloan's ear. He went and covered the way they came, just in case any covies decided to slip through and pay them a little visit. Johnson on the other hand, had ventured to the edge of the building and looked down, saying something about falling from this distance would hurt. Sloan ignored him but he heard some snickers from Chaney and Torres.

After a few moments after that they all thought it was a good idea to check ammo and reload them, which was easy due to the indicator below the sight on the rifle. The MA5B held 60 rounds, and when it came to assault rifles it was a lot. Each magazine had armor piercing rounds, which were good against banshees. He pulled the clip from the rifle and rammed a fresh one home. Instead of discarding the clip, He began refilling it with rounds as fast and as careful as he could. The Sarge said that if our ammo count dropped below 30 reload, if not 20 at the minimum. It seemed that Chaney and Torres didn't have to reload, but Johnson was not so lucky. In fact he depleted all his clips already, and Kent, the squad "Pack-mule" replaced those he had with fresh magazines. Sloan smiled slightly seeing that the expression on Johnson's face was one children had when entering a candy store. Kent's face however was more gloomy, as if he just woke up, or maybe tired.

[z]

-Subject: Sgt. Fredrick Johns
-Location: UNSC Airstrip

"UNSC's only KEVLAR Team coming through..."

Fredrick said loudly over the COMM as the three large mechanical monsters made their way towards the back of the UNSC on the airstrip.

"Anyone out there at that strip?" Deidra asked over the COMM as the three stepped onto the concrete.

'Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank'

HMGs on their arms, strong powered suits... It all made Fredrick feel like he was powerful.. More powerful than a SPARTAN even. If only... If only...

"LT, I'm guessing your in charge of this set-up... Seems you have enough firepower now that we're here. I mean, SPARTANs, Heavy weapons, Cyclops Team... Spare no expense for the welcome of our friends eh?" He asked as the three giant killing machines came closer to the set-up.

[Soulstep]

PO2 Selina McGreggor Venom-5 Pilot

"Jesus, makes you feel guilty for getting civvie evac duty for so long, huh?" Sergio mumbled from the co-pilot's chair as Selina brought the Pelican down to where Alpha company was stationed. They were ferrying a squad of Marines to the fight, both the Pelican crew and the jarheads had been yanked from babysitting to the front line with little to no warning, whisked into the frenzy of bloodshed and gore. Everywhere, corpses.

Clearing her throat and steadying herself, she clicked on the COM to Alpha Company. "Captain Lloyd? Venom-5, coming in hot for dropoff and CASEVAC. Once we get everyone away to the evac zone, we'll come back in and provide CAS as long as possible."

She paused, then addressed the rooftop squad with the civilians, her HUD identifying them as they approached. "Sergeant Bowers, clear the helipad, we'll have to make this quick."

True to her word, she wasted no time in pivoting the dropship and touching down. Eddie out back opened the hatch for the cargo swap.

Sergeant Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Leader

"Alright, move it ladies! Double time it, you leatherneck slackers!" The crew chief bellowed as Indigo disembarked, Andrew bristling at the comment. He had seen a hell of a lot more combat than the flyboy, but it seemed that now a louder voice indicated authority.

"Sergeant Deiran, Indigo Squad, where'd ya want us?" He asked over the COM, cycling the bolt of his assault rifle. He lazily brushed his blonde fringe out of his eye, concious that it would probably attract a few raised eyebrows. Though he hoped that Command had bigger things to worry about than the hair length of one Marine Sergeant, chances were he'd be whisked off to a UNSC barber in short order. Assuming he survived today.

[Martial Virtue]

Second Lieutenant Laura Howard

Lieutenant Howard turned when she heard the pounding of booted feet on the asphalt behind her. The two Helljumpers, Mossley and Rhodes, that she'd sent out on her errand - the much-needed retrieval of a pair of light machine guns - were hauling the weapons across the back of their necks. Rhodes showed up at her position first, followed shortly by a slightly more out of breath Mossley.

"Where do you want the gear, LT?" the male of the pair asked.

"Give one to our other fireteam covering the opposite side of the entrance. Then bring one back to Corporal Fisher," Laura ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," Rhodes said with a quick nod. He stood up again with a little effort and jogged over to the other team of troopers, trailing sweat the whole way. He tried to act the tough guy asshole most of the time, but Howard knew he had a soft spot for Mossley in small gestures like the one he'd just displayed. Rhodes had taken the longer trek to the other fireteam and left the closer objective to Mossley, since he knew she was more worn out from carrying the gun.

But the internal functions of her squad weren't at issue right now. The fact that the Covenant would be rolling in any minute was. The ODST lieutenant opened a channel to Fisher. "Fish, I got the goods you requested. An LMG is headed your way, courtesy of PFC Mossley. Set it up and be ready to blaze a trail of dead Covies with it right away."

Howard didn't wait for a reply but left the channel open. She was watching the street ahead of her, waiting with her MA5C at the ready, when she heard another voice come in through the COM. The man's words were punctuated by a loud clanking sound to the lieutenant's six.

"LT, I'm guessing your in charge of this set-up... Seems you have enough firepower now that we're here. I mean, SPARTANs, Heavy weapons, Cyclops Team... Spare no expense for the welcome of our friends eh?"

Laura couldn't help but grin inside her helmet. She let her good cheer color the tone of her voice when she responded. "Hell no, Sergeant. Glad to have you join the party." Howard flipped a thumb behind her. "Check your FOF tags though, big guy. Our CO's to your left. Big bad Helljumper captain whose only fault is that he fell for a fuckin' regular. Can't miss him."

Corporal Cassie Thompson

Cassie's leg was throbbing viciously by the time the squad made it up the stairs of the Command Center building. Her breath was coming in sharp gasps of air and she was starting to see faint black dots around the edges of her vision. The only thing that kept her going at this point was the prospect of parking her rear in the back of a troop transport Pelican at the top of the roof soon. After helping Sergeant Bowers secure the civilians, she pulled her submachine gun closer to her chest and moved away from the waiting ship. She just about collapsed onto the ground when she sat beside Bowers with a none-too-subtle sigh of relief. The young corporal was in a great deal of pain, but at least she was alive.

Captain Sierra Lloyd

Sierra remained standing on the side of a chaotic street just outside the Command Center building, overseeing the retreat of her Marines. No, not retreat, she corrected herself. Strategic withdrawal. That's what it was. She'd given the order as soon as she'd gotten the confirmation that Raptor team had their six while they moved out. And, like any good captain, Sierra planned on staying outside the building until every last one of her men were safely inside.

Captain Lloyd's voice hardened as she gestured rapidly for her Marines to haul ass. "Let's go, Alpha! Keep moving!"

Her order came just before another loud outgoing whistle - more shells coming from the artillery team, headed for the Covies. Lloyd hoped to God that Wraith tank was buried in rubble by now. It served those alien bastards right.

After slapping the back of yet another Marine moving towards the building, she opened a COM channel to Corporal Beaufort. "Raptor, this is Captain Lloyd. We're just about there. Thanks for having our six. If you'll accept it, your team's got a round of drinks with your names on them when we make it out. On me."

[kuran]

Corporal James Beaufort
Fireteam Raptor, ODST
Old Command,Glasgow

James paused from firing off three-round bursts long enough to hear Alpha's commander's next transmission.

"Raptor, this is Captain Lloyd. We're just about there. Thanks for having our six. If you'll accept it, your team's got a round of drinks with your names on them when we make it out. On me."

James chuckled as he fired off another burst, downing a grunt that apparently had no sense of what cover was. "Copy that Alpha. Whiskey will do us fine. Recommend you pull yourself out immediately."

James threw a glance over his shoulder at Lenov, who was watching the doorway and out into the stairway that led to the rooftop. "Lenov, try not to shoot the marines, okay?"

James thought he heard an "awww" sound through teamcom, and laughed along with the rest of the team. They were doing well against the covenant forces that seemed determined to take the building, but with only three weapons, they couldn't hold them back for long.

They were taking a toll on the advancing forces however, and were giving Alpha time to fall back. And while no ODST would ever admit it, James had to admire a commander who could hold out for as long as they did against the forces they presently faced.

Alpha wouldn't be the only one's buying a round of drinks when this was all over.

[z]

-Sgt. Fredrick Johns and KEVLAR TEAM-

"Aye, thanks for clearing that up, LT" Fredrick said over the COMM before turning the large beast of a vehicle and moving towards the designated Captain.

"Sir. UNSC's KEVLAR Team reporting. Where do you need a dose of badass at?" He ask, moving the Cyclops suits arms in a full rotation to look like stretching, Deidra and Ken right behind him, each remaining quiet in their Cyclops's while the big boys talked.

He brought the HMG up and made the barrel spin for a moment to test it.

"Point us in the right direction, Helljumper."

-Gunnery Sergeant Lucy Grey-

Lucy began to pace....She was bored, tired of doing nothing, tired of sitting here, and tired of Jackson racking up the kills, and thus moved back towards the weapons the others had thrown out in a little pile.. She wanted to do something productive...

Grabbing a case of Sniper Rounds, one for Jackson, and one for Coxxy, and then grabbing up a Rocket for herself, some extra ammo for it, and headed back to the location of her squad, tossing down the cases of ammo to Jackson and Coxxy, as she did she heard a.

"Fifty-Two"

From Jackson.

Lucy took a crouch next to Alex, adding the Rockets she picked up to the pile he'd taken... Maybe ten total, it would last them a little while, or until Lucy got bored.

"Fifty-Seven..."

Lucy fired off two rockets, killed a few Covi's... Not special...

"Something needs to happen fast... I'm starting to get bored..."

[milostsamis]

PFC Jake Rotan Task Force 77: ABLE COMPANY Defending the Radio Tower

Rotan slipped yet another clip into his MA5B as he dropped a small lance of Jackals. This had been going on for who knows how long. The Covenant would advance, the marines would repel the enemy, they'd fall back and regroup, and then the cycle would start over. Neither side was gaining an advantage, both were taking casualties, or course the Covenant were taking the most. The problem was that they greatly outnumbered the marines and so they could afford the losses. For Able Company, every KIA took a heavy toll on the platoon. Already they had lost at least fifteen to twenty men, with at least another dozen wounded.

Since the Wraith's destruction, Lenny had taken a plasma bolt to the right shoulder, and he currently had it treated and wrapped up tight. The wound didn't stop him from continuing his duty though, he fired non-stop at the oncoming aliens. He had an enraged look in his eye, and Jake knew that he was nearly into that berserk mode that he went into in times like this. Michelle was picking off cannon fodder, making sure that the marines didn't have to waste their ammo on such a small threat. Instead, most of third platoon was firing at the much more deadly foes, like the Brutes and Elites.

"Jake! Incoming pair of Elites, let's take 'em out!" Ryan called to Jake, who had moved a few feet to the right. Smoothly, Jake rotated on his knee so he was facing the Elites that Ryan had told him about. Two Elite minors with plasma rifles raised and firing were advancing quickly on their positions. "Michelle! I need some cover fire! Take down those shields!" Ryan then called over to the team's designated marksman. She also steered her reticule over the Elites and fired off a full clip into the two of them, completely destroying any shielding that they had. "Fire!" Jake and Ryan let loose a torrent of bullets and tore the two alligator looking aliens apart.

Jake opened a COM link to all of Able Company. "This is PFC Rotan, platoon three is having some trouble. Anyone have any idea when our reinforcements will be coming it. They would be much appreciated at the time." He didn't wait for a response, but left the link open as he released the empty assault rifle clip and slid another one home with a satisfying click. "Ryan, I got a lance heading up no-man's land, let's take the bastard's out."

"Oo-rah." Came the reply. The two marines took short controlled bursts at the enemy, and watched in satisfaction as the three Grunts dropped dead, and the Elites shields flaring as it dove for cover.

"Take that you son of a bitch!" Jake called, grinning madly at the decimation of the squadron. "Bastards didn't even know what hit-" He was cut off as a pink needle shot out of nowhere and tore into his left bicep. "Ah! Shit!" Jake cursed as he fell back from the sudden impact of the needler round. It didn't take him long to get back up, assault rifle raised once again. The needler round looks quite out of place as Jake scanned the no man's land for targets, while the pink needle protruded form his arm. "You bastard.." He muttered, searching for the origin of the shot. It didn't take him long to find the Grunt holding the one handed needler. He fired a short, five round burst into the Grunt, and then fired another six for good measure.

[Martial Virtue]

Captain Sierra Lloyd

Sierra had forgotten about the small cut above her left eye. In the meantime it continued to bleed out a few crimson droplets at a time, eventually making their way into her eye when she least expected it. The blood stung and she wiped at it again with her sleeve as the last two squads of third platoon headed inside the Command Center building. At least the bite on her tongue had stopped bleeding.

The captain put a hand against Second Lieutenant Gavin Fortnight's shoulder as she saw him attempt to rush past. There were two squads from third platoon moving up behind him. Lloyd yelled over the roar of gunfire, "That all of them, Lieutenant?"

"Affirmative, ma'am!" the young officer shouted back. "Building's packed up with Alpha Marines now, Captain. Oorah!"

Sierra refrained from snorting at the still mostly green Marine. "Get your ass inside, Gavin."

"Yes, ma'am!"

While she waited for twenty more of her men to pile through, her COM suddenly buzzed with a number of incoming hails. The first was Sergeant Bowers.

"Jesus Christ am I glad to hear your voice Captain, civilians have been evaced along with one wounded and two KIA... Waiting for our EVAC to arrive via the roof, that's the status on the explosives and will Alpha be joining us soon?"

Captain Lloyd answered quickly without hesitation. "Charges are set, Sergeant. Alpha's nearly done pulling back inside. We'll be on the roof in two minutes."

Sierra had barely cut the connection when a new voice filled her helmet's speakers.

"Captain Lloyd? Venom-5, coming in hot for dropoff and CASEVAC. Once we get everyone away to the evac zone, we'll come back in and provide CAS as long as possible."

"Copy," Lloyd answered.

Then there was another.

"Sergeant Deiran, Indigo Squad, where'd ya want us?"

"Cover our exit on the rooftop there, Sergeant. My company's in the process of pulling in. We'll get you new orders shortly. Stand by."

And much to her amusement, yet another.

"Copy that Alpha. Whiskey will do us fine. Recommend you pull yourself out immediately."

Sierra checked the status of her Marines. There was only one squad left now. They were hauling in most of the heavy weapons. "We've just about wrapped up here, Corporal. Whiskey it is."

Captain Dylan Lloyd

Dylan was aiming his weapon forward towards the entrance to the airfield when a series of huge clanks sounded beside him.

"Sir. UNSC's KEVLAR Team reporting. Where do you need a dose of badass at?" When Captain Lloyd didn't answer right away, the monstrous thing added, "Point us in the right direction, Helljumper."

Just then a Covenant Spectre rounded the corner, releasing a Ghost and a number of alien troops before hovering on to the next road and out of sight. The rain of plasma had begun.

"Fuck," Dylan muttered under his breath, ducking his head behind his sparse cover. He fired off rounds from his MA37, then faced the waiting CYCLOPS again. "I think you see your new objective, Marine! Kill it!"

[z]

-Fredrick Johns-

"Lets move, Kevlar!" Fredrick yelled, each of the three monstrous mechs ran down the strip, Marines stepped out of the way as the large mechanical beasts moved around the set-up at the end and began to unleash all hell on the new troops.

Three HMGs fired, aliens went down, and two began to focus on the Ghost, moving around it to avoid fire before Deidra charged up and brought a large mechanical foot down on it, squishing the driver like a bug and picking up the Ghost, throwing it into a Covenant Lance, which then exploded and sent a good number of Aliens flying.

"This is too much fun!" Deidra yelled out as she gunned down an Elite with her HMG, giggling madly.

Between the combined might of the Cyclops team, Heavy Weapons and the other Soldrs the Covenant were put to short worth very quickly, and as the Cyclops returned to the center of the airstrip, the damage to their suit was shown, though it was only minor so far, burns in the armor, some cracked glass. Nothing to cry over.

"Good nuff Captain?" Fredrick asked as the three moved around the barricade, finding a nice place to stand guard.

[Martial Virtue]

Captain Dylan Lloyd

Dylan resisted the urge to let out a whoop as he saw the three mechs in action. He would’ve loved to do something like that to his Innie captors, but he supposed the Covenant were apt substitutes. Besides, if the opposition had been a group of rebels instead of aliens…he would’ve wanted to see them suffer for much, much longer. Slowly.

He pushed aside the memory of sliding his combat knife through a handful of the rebels’ throats to escape, and admired instead the carnage before him now. “Looks great, man!" he said through the COM. "Pulverized Covenant. Just the way I like it.”

The scene of momentary victory changed quickly though. No sooner were the words out of Lloyd's mouth than the Spectre he’d seen pass by before came back around – no doubt as a result of the loud explosions behind it. And this time, it’d brought another Spectre and Ghost combo along with it.

Plus more troops.

[Soulstep]

Sergeant Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad

"Cover our exit on the rooftop there, Sergeant. My company's in the process of pulling in. We'll get you new orders shortly. Stand by."

"On it ma'am, we'll get your guys out safe. Taking overwatch positions." Andrew reported, gesturing for Chambers and Faith to watch the door and make sure that the only thing that came through was human. Chamber because of his M90, Faith because these guys would benefit from her innocently reassuring nature. Smith, their medic, he directed to the injured still waiting for pick up, while he and the 4 others, including Sarah, took up spots overlooking the ground to watch out for approaching tangos.

Looking over his shoulder, he spotted the Sergeant in charge of the evac. "Bowers, right? How's the fight going, Brass figured that a squad on babysitting duty shouldn't get much intel. Might break the 'orderly queues to the evacuation shuttles' if word gets out to the civvies back there." He said, sarcasm tinging his voice as at the mention of any sort of order back there. They'd practically had to hold the civilians at gunpoint to prevent a stampede. Everyone knew they were losing bad. What Indigo was in the dark about, was just HOW bad.

Returning his sight to the ground below, he clicked on the squad channel. "See anything?"

"No, Sarge."

"Nothing so far."

"I can see them lurking off in the distance, but out of effective range."

"Nothing to see here."

Andrew cursed quietly. While it was now his job to ensure everyone in this building got evacuated, his blood was rising. Frankly, he wanted to kill every last alien fucker who got in range. If they were too piss-scared to come close, then fine. But he wasn't going to be happy unless at least a dozen Covies ended up with revoked existences by his hand.

[darthsloan]

It was a quiet wait but eventually Third Squad had reloaded and inspected their weapons and gotten more ammo from "Packmule" Kent. Sgt. Brown had eyed them all and inspected them before opening a channel straight to Captain Sierra, our company leader.

"This is Sgt. Brown reporting. We have delivered the medic and have helped move the civilians to evac. Orders Ma'am?"

Pvt. Sloan peeped over the edge where Johnson was and saw devastation. Bodies littered the streets, both Human and Covenant. A few destroyed wraiths were also thrown into the party mix of the dead. It was depressing seeing the mix of blood down below. They were fighting to survive..... and most had failed. He was joined by Chaney and Torres to view the devastation, all captivated with silence.

[milostsamis]

Corporal Matthew Stroud Task Force 77: Lunar Squad One Klick South of Radio Tower

Mattie sat straight up, his helmet already on his head and visor darkened. His MA5C assault rifle was held firmly in his hands, where it always was just before a battle. Mattie was actually slightly disappointed at the turn of events. He had only been recruited into Lunar Squad recently, possibly not even a day ago, and because of the fact that they were already down on the surface and fighting, with Covies everywhere, he wasn't able to make a drop.

Instead, he was ordered to get whatever would be necessary for himself and take a pelican to its surface. Reluctantly, he had done so. It was like he had remained a marine and never joined the ODSTs. He shook his head violently, that would be enough sulking on the subject, he had quite a while before he would be off this planet again, and he needed to keep a clear head. He sighed again, that was if he ever got off the planet.

The feeling of descending began to lessen, and Mattie realized that the pelican was about to make its landing. He unstrapped himself from the seat and stood up, quickly grabbing one of the rungs after nearly falling on his ass. He stood, waiting for the doors to open, thoughts of death and pain going through his head. He could be going out to his doom. He could possibly lose his life today.

Again he shook his head, he could have lost his life during any mission, and he never had done so. Why start today? The doors opened now, and Mattie stomped his way down the ramp onto solid land. Immediately the doors reclosed and the pelican took off again. Mattie had been the only one on the pelican, it was only transporting Lunar Squad's final member.

"Sir!" Mattie called to an ODST sergeant who was directing some corporals in the act of fortifying a small trench.

"Corporal, what are you doing over here? We've got work to do! Get your ass over there and help!" The sergeant said, approaching the younger, less experienced ODST.

"Sorry, sir, but I have orders directly from command to make my way to Lunar Squad. Have any idea where they might be at the moment?" Mattie asked, keeping the irritation from creeping its way into his tone.

"Lunar Squad, huh? Yeah, I believe they're with Able Company and Baker Squad, about a klick north of here, defending the radio tower. You think you can get there on your own?" The sergeant ask as he gestured in the general direction of where Mattie had to go.

"No sir, I can make it there fine on my own. Thank you, sir." Mattie said before beginning the single kilometer run. It would be nothing, he had run so many kilometers in training camp, that it would be like a cake walk. The only difference, though, would be that you didn't have angry aliens shooting at you with boiling hot plasma WHILE you were doing your run. 'No matter.. Mattie thought. 'It'll just make the running enjoyable.

Mattie took a direct route to the radio tower, cutting through any alleys that could be used as a short cut for his objective. At one point, he ran into a group of marines trying to defend themselves from an oncoming Covenant lance in an alley. He took the time to fire three controlled bursts to take down the three Grunts in the lance, before ducking out of the alley and taking off as the Elite fired back at him.

He had already nearly completed the run, and he could actually see the radio tower... Over a near 100 meters of no-man's land. No cover. No nothing. To add to the trouble, there were Covenant all around trying to take the position. He would never be able to make it across this no-man's land alive. He crouched beside a damaged 'Hog, and spoke into his microphone.

"This is Corporal Mattie Stroud, I am approximately 100 meters south of the radio tower. I cannot continue forward at the moment, I'll never make it without any covering fire, over?" Mattie said, speaking directly to Lunar Squad through the COM.