Mission 4 - Part 2 - Ground Battle

[Wax™]

Staff Sergeant Jason 'Iceman' Bowers
Alpha Company: Delta Destroyers
Inside Shield-World: Convoy to AO

"Hey... Jason. You there?"

Jason stopped firing from the back of the M12 Heavy Assault hot for a moment almost fell out the back, Jason looked left and right, he then stood up and looked back across the convoy as if trying to look for Lucy as he did a couple of the men from the Warthog behind him shouted at him and waved him to get down, Jason did so and crouched back down before lifting his weapon to shoot at the sentinels with three bursts he took out three sentinels that were coming in close on the convoy, he then hooked up to Lucy with his COM.

"Lucy?! Oh my god Lucy, how are you doing? I thought we lost you on the surface we lost radio contact with you... Where are you? What is your location? Are you in the convoy?"

Jason looked up once he broke radio contact and then fired on a couple of sentinels, he was interrupted from his burst as a beam of sizzling red light blew down from the artificial sky in-front of him he instinctively stood up but as he did he stumbled back as the Warthog went over a bump, he fell off the back of the lead Warthog and onto the bonnet of the one directly behind his, his weapon fell out of his hands but stuck to him due to the strap around his chest.

Jason turned onto his stomach and gripped the bonnet as hard as he could he then yelled at the top of his breath over the roaring Warthog engine to the driver of the Warthog he was on.

"Speed up! Get me back to my vehicle!"

The Driver nodded and sped up, Jason rolled back onto his ass and looked at his heavy Warthog as it got closer, he gripped his gun, stood up onto a crouch and once the Warthog was close enough he jumped a half a meter gap to his and gripped the back before hauling himself in, Trombly the man on the gunner hardly noticed too busy filling the sentinels full of lead, taking out eight in the process as fifty more swooped over the convoy and attacked the vehicles taking out a marine in a passenger seat of one and another from an APC turret.

[spartan129]

Gunnery Sergeant Francis Hayes, Badger Two-One
Badger Armored Platoon, Alpha Company, Task Force 77
UNSC Convoy inside Shield World

"Zulu Squad, to Scorpions,…welcome to the party." came a voice of the convoy's Master Sergeant the radio "Take your pick at any of the incoming, and don't be bashful. There are plenty to go around."

"Good to know, Seregeant," came Marshall's crisp reply, "I'll take that as a thank-you for saving your asses," he added jokingly. "Badger Platoon!" he then said, broadcasting only to his marines, "Keep up your fire on these things, and don't stop moving!" His last words were almost drowned out in Hayes' scorpion by the sound of a laser super-heating the tank's chassis.

"Hernandez!" Hayes shouted frantically, "take out that robot before we're scrap metal!" No sooner had he finished saying this, however, than the robot was scrap metal. As the tank continued forward, Hayes targeted a robot for Hernandez. He watched in horror, however, as it engaged some Marines on the ground-the first had barely gotten his rifle out before a laser vaporized his chest, and the second only got off a few rounds before he was killed, too. Hernandez destroyed the robot with the main cannon, and Hayes heard his heavy breathing as the third Marine stared at the charred remains of his fallen friends. He raised his rifle and continued to fire, but he had little hope with no sort of vehicle...

Hayes opened his hatch and stuck his head out. "Get on here, Marine!" he shouted, and the Marine ran over to take cover with the turret.

A moment later the Master Sergeant shouted again over the radio, “Keep it up. Tighten your fields of fire.” Hayes looked in awe at the battle going on before his very eyes.

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

Til led his lance through the holy halls of the Forerunner structure, a blessing to say the less, with weapons ready for anything. Sentinel or otherwise.

Plasma pistol and hand-rifle in hand, Til looked at every shadowed corner for any opponents, but none that he could tell. Looking ahead, he saw another door and panel coming up, and he nudged his head to L'sae to hurry ahead to the door.

Doing as commanded, the minor ran ahead.

Moving his eye, Til spied at the human, it haven't tried to resist against them since it's capture; most likely well aware that it couldn't fight against such fine warriors and simply obeyed to cooperate for its own survival. A smart choice.

Groaning in his thought as he formed words in his head that was of human vocabulary, which thanks to Reeg, he learned abit.

Putting his pistol infront of the human, he said with a gruff voice, "Take weapon...hu-man. We need all a-ble warriors if we think to...survive."

It took a moment for the human to register what he was given before taking the pistol carefully. Satisfied, Til watched the next door open and L'sae waiting with a plasma rifle in hand.

When L'sae attached himself to the lance again, at Til's side, he looked at the human with a bronze eye, and back to his commander.

"You gave him a weapon, Major Domo?" The Minor asked with surprise. "Yes, I would rather have all under my command armed than leave a hole in my shield." Til expected logically without looking L'sae.

L'sae looked to Skor, who just shrugged at the gesture, and kept his own rifle trained to the front.

[z]

Lucy Grey

"I'm fine, Jason, thanks for asking. So is everyone else but..." She trailed off and lifted her pistol, shooting down a sentinel.

"Alex... He got hurt.. Pretty bad." She said quietly, her voice faint almost. "And yeah... I'm on the convoy. So far today I have survived a swarm, and a Falcon crash. Oh yeah, Cox is gone too. And have you heard this shit about the Covenant Rogues?" She asked, her eyes moving to the picture in the corner of her helmet.

"I miss the kids, Jason..." She said, leaning her head back on her seat.

"Armor is getting a bit rank too..."

[Wax™]

Staff Sergeant Jason 'Iceman' Bowers
Alpha Company: Delta Destroyers
Inside Shield-World: Convoy to AO

"Yeah... I heard about the Covenant rogues... I was up in the ship with the General when they arrived... One of the fuckers had a bag filled with at least one hundred UNSC Dog tags... And don't..." Jason paused a moment to fire his SAW at an incoming sentinel taking it down before speaking again. "...And don't worry about Cox... He is on the Arizona with the General and Admiral, getting a new helmet or something"

Jason stopped talking for a moment to mount the SAW on the roof of the Heavy Warthog and fire at the sentinels then his weapon clicked a couple of times and ran dry, Jason popped the panel and took the box out from underneath the SAW, grabbed a new one clicked it in under put the bullet line under the panel and slammed it back down again all in five seconds he then fired a short burst before talking to Lucy again.

"I miss the kid's too... Don't worry about it..." He paused to grab the photo and take a look at it, as he did he took cover ran his fingers over Lucy and the kids before talking about. "...Look, I am the convoy leader and we are coming up on a alien tunnel in a mountain pass, we will be halting the convoy in there to check for wounded and reload, we can meet up then?"

Jason stopped talking so he could look ahead and see how close they were to the tunnel, they were about a kilometer and a half away so they would be there in about a minute Jason kept Lucy's COM open so he could hear her but spoke to the entire Task Force 77 ground force.

"Task Force 77... This is to all members of the convoy! We are coming up on a tunnel into a mountain pass, gun it and follow the lead vehicle (Mine)... We will be stopping in the tunnel to check for wounded and reload this will also be a good time to regroup with squads and organize yourselves before we roll out again... E.T.A To tunnel one mike (minute)."

[Spartan 999]

Special Operations Officer Sorsa Xirsasai

[/center]

Sorsa entered the Forerunner structure, Plasma Repeater at the ready. Intervention followed closely, most still slightly transparent as they deactivated their camouflage.

"Shadow Reaver, take point." Sorsa growled, cautiously stalking over the metal floor. "Murcurial Denial, left flank. Rending Void, right. Scything Dark, with me." The Special Operators obeyed almost instantly, feet making little noise as the Sangheili moved swiftly over the floor.

The Special Operators moved carefully, making sure to stick to the shadows and keep low. From somewhere farther ahead, Sorsa could hear the echoes of someone talking. He couldn't make out the words, but the speakers were close. Not wanting to risk being detected if they were humans, he gave the order to activate camouflage. Thirteen Sangheili faded from view, blending almost perfectly into the shadows.

Intervention rounded the next corner, and Sorsa could tell someone was nearby.

Second Lieutenant Simon Qartal

Simon's eyebrow lifted when he saw Sato's armor, and he grinned when he tried to convince the others that he was not Sam Fisher. Mere second later, his HUD flickered and distorted, thanks to the "real" REVIVE Actual. He grumbled something low under his breath as his Heads-Up Display finally flickered and became stable.

He sniggered when Eden leaned forward to smack the back of Matt's head, and burst into laughter as the warthog slowed, then sped up, resulting in Eden slamming into the turret before tumbling back. His face became serious as their new number six contacted them--apparently his Pelican had been shot down by the Forerunner drones.

"Damn, I hope he's okay..."

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

As he directed his lance through the second of possibly several doors, Til felt his hearts jump. Something felt different. "Mentor?" Skor whispered next to him but Til grunted, making him continue on.

Walking to the back of the ranks, where he put on of the Minors to protect the rear, he checked on everyone and ushered them onward. Looking around in the empty and silent hall, he saw no one, but...

Suddenly he saw the air wavering. Snarling, he unholstered his plasma rifle, and growled, "Who follows us? Friend or foe?"

[Spartan 999]

Special Operations Officer Sorsa 'Xirsasai

The Major peered into the shadows in the hall, head panning left and right. His eyes widened as he saw the camouflaged form of Lira dart across in front of a small glowing holographic panel. He went to unholster his plasma rifle, growling out a two questions as his clawed hand closed around his weapon's handle.

"Who follows us? Friend or foe?"

The plasma rifle was a third of the way out of it's holster when an invisible force clamped around the Major's forearm, stopping him from drawing the weapon.

"Friend, Til. Or have you forgotten me so swiftly?" A bass voice said. Sorsa turned off his camouflage, letting his massive body fade into view; he stood to the side and slightly behind Til. He let go of Til's arm, backing up to give the Major some space. He made a small bow to his friend, then nodded to the seemingly empty hall.

Twelve Spec Ops Sangheili faded into sight, spread throughout the hall.

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

Til was about to draw his Xirsas blade when his forearm was gripped, but instantly recognizing Sorsa's voice, excitment rushed into him. Turning his head, he watched Sorsa appear out of camouflage. When the two met eye to eye, Sorsa let go and gave the Major room. Letting go of his weapons, Til watched as more Special Operators materialize.

"Brother, it have been far too long. Forgive my hostility, I have learned about spontanious heresies going about lately." Til said with a slowly deeping voice as he dwelled more on Rakath. "I've heard the Special Operators came on ground before I did. What took you so long to get here?"

[Spartan 999]

Special Operations Officer Sorsa 'Xirsasai

"Brother, it have been far too long. Forgive my hostility, I have learned about spontanious heresies going about lately. I've heard the Special Operators came on ground before I did. What took you so long to get here?"

"I have heard whispers of heresies." Sorsa said, nodding slowly. "I don't know any details, however. As for our late arrival, we were sidetracked by two Sentinel squadrons--three Minors were lost in the conflicts." He looked briefly over to where the rest of Til's lance were. "What about you and your lance? Have you found anything of interest yet?"

Fixed your bolding! XD

-Duffle

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

Til looked back to his moving lance, a few looking back at him. "We were attacked by a large herd of insane Unggoy. I recognized them as the sad hounds of that disgraceful Jiralhane hunter, Therus. I've lost many in their attack and a few more to the Sentinels while trying to get here. I pray to find something to kill in their respect." He snarled with a closed fist. "Brother, with you, I am sure to have greater achievement getting to the control room."

[Soulstep]

Sergeant Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Leader

"Working on it!" Andrew yelled back to the guy he assumed was an ODST, shooting down a sentinel with his pistol as he clambered into the driver's seat, Smith jumped in back alongside Kain. "Corporal, we're bugging out back to the AO!"

"Copy, flooring it!"

Andrew did likewise, slamming the accelerator as the Warthog's wheels spun, scrabbling for purchase, before catching and propelling them forwards.

Once they were clear, Andrew fished into his ammo belt and passed his rescuee a pair of assault rifle clips, leaving himself just the one in his gun and a spare. "Here, its all I can spare. I burned through most of my ammo fighting those things already, hope we can get resupplied before long."

The two Warthogs soon rejoined the tanks, and seconds later the convoy. Andrew's jaw dropped slightly at the chaos ahead of him. "Holy shit..." He muttered, turning to the 'ODST' next to him. "I hope whatever we're here for is important, man..."

[Spartan 999]

Special Operations Officer Sorsa Xirsasai

[/center]

Sorsa grunted when Til said Therus' name--he had heard of the savage Jiralhanae.

"Brother, with you, I am sure to have greater achievement getting to the control room."

"By thoughts exactly, Til." Sorsa said, cracking his neck with several loud pops. "My Special Operators will scout ahead and provide fire support for your lance. Intervention creche: move out." He added, making a short vertical slash with his forearm.

[Deleted]

Gunnery Sergeant Trenton McNeil
ONI section Zero: REVIVE - 6
Surface of Shield-World: Indigo Squad Warthog

"Here, its all I can spare. I burned through most of my ammo fighting those things already, hope we can get resupplied before long."
Trent nodded and reloaded the assault rifle. When the audible click ensued he started to fire on the Sentinels again. He started to wonder about their weaponry, and how they were so well militarized. They he got to thinking on where the hell were they pouring from. As he reflected on this he dropped two more Sentinels. He burned through the clips quickly, destroying more and more of the bastards.

"I hope whatever we're here for is important, man..." Trent had hoped that as well as he took out the optical sensor of another drone, sending it unwittingly into another of its allies. They don't know when to quit... he thought as the swarmed around the vehicle. Trent hoped they would make it through the tunnel before the hog was toast.

"See, if you can outmaneuver them, uhhh, Serpantine patterns! Anything you can do, if they hit us a few more times, we're fucked."

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

Happy to hear his old hunting brother is joining them, Til was about to walk to inform his lance, but stopped. Looking to Sorsa, he asked clearly and worried, "Have you heard anything from Legra of late?"

[Soulstep]

Sergeant Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Leader

The Warthog took a blow to the right rear wheel, with Andrew just about managing to swerve enough to prevent the wheel being blown off, but now he had a lot less grip and power. "Shit..." he cursed under his breath. This was getting harder and harder...

"We gotcha, Sarge!" Corporal Linown's voice came through on the COM, and sure enough, her less-damaged 'hog skidded between them and the pursuing sentinels, guns blazing at almost point blank range. The turret with Wong on the trigger shredded 3, Tucker took down another with several sustained bursts. Kain and Smith, in the back of Andrew's Warthog, together shot down 2 more.

"Alright, everyone hang on, coming up to the tunnel... Bastards don't have us yet..."

[spartan129]

Gunnery Sergeant Francis Hayes, Badger Two-One
Badger Armored Platoon, Alpha Company, Task Force 77
UNSC Convoy inside Shield World

"Task Force 77... This is to all members of the convoy! We are coming up on a tunnel into a mountain pass, gun it and follow the lead vehicle... We will be stopping in the tunnel to check for wounded and reload this will also be a good time to regroup with squads and organize yourselves before we roll out again... E.T.A To tunnel one mike."

The message came through the comms of everyone in the convoy. Hayes looked back apprehensively at Hernandez, who shook his head and glanced around for more sentinels.

"Staff Sergeant," Marshall broadcasted to the lead vehicle, "This is Badger One-one. We'll bring up the rear, over," he then broadcasted to the three tanks under his command. "You got that, Badger?"

"OORAH!" was the resounding response. Hernandez turned the coaxial machine gun to destroy a sentinel soaring overhead, and Hayes saw Marshall's Grizzly shoot down a sentinel near the middle of the convoy.

[Cabel]

[Inside the Planet: Rear Convoy Duty: Zulu Squad]

Having ordered his men back into the vehicles while the gunners manning the M41 LAAG turrets and with the assistance of Badger Platoon, Mark managed to keep pace with the Cougar APC and the Scorpions of Badger Platoon despite the warthog having a higher acceleration. He’d managed to gather the dogtags of the fallen troopers along with their rifles, other munitions and kit knowing the extra munitions would be useful, and had left the scene to rejoin the rest of the convoy.

“Spade to Cougar APC, keep up that rate of fire,” Mark said, into the helmet-mic over a frequency band to the APC ahead of him. “Spade to Doberman. How’s the rest of the Squad? Did we lose…did we lose anyone else?”

“Negative, Sarge. Negative. Aside from a severe adrenaline rush and shaking nerves, the Squad’s fine,” Corporal Keith “Doberman” Dennis replied from the blood tray of the Cougar APC.

“Good…” Mark began.

“Incoming!” Taffy shouted, as a Sentinel dove on the convoy from three o‘clock high with its beam pulsing blue. The metallic drone targeted Mark‘s warthog before committing itself to a strafing run, and before Mark could react or order his men to leap from the vehicle the beam struck.

The beam struck the warthog‘s right front tire before slicing through the engine block resulting in the utility vehicle being torn apart by an abrupt, violent explosion. The vehicle‘s three occupants were thrown for a ride of their lives as the force from the hydrogen-fueled engine sent the warthog end over end outside the convoy as if the vehicle had rolled over a mine. When the warthog or what remained finally came to a rest, Mark had been thrown clear only to be rendered unconscious after striking the ground fairly hard from the driver’s seat which had been more than the two other troopers. Private First Class Norman “Taffy” Leonard and a replacement Private had died from the intense heat before the warthog had finished its death throes. While the Warthog had gone through its death rolls, the Sentinel that had strafed Mark’s warthog exploded in a brilliant ball of molten metal by a Grizzly’s salvo.

[Wax™]

Staff Sergeant Jason 'Iceman' Bowers
Alpha Company: Delta Destroyers
Inside Shield-World: Convoy to AO

"Staff Sergeant!"

"What?! What is it?"

"We are coming up on the tunnel best warn the rest of the convoy!"

Jason nodded and patched up with Task Force 77 again.

"This is the lead Warthog, we are coming into the tunnel now, I want all Warthogs to push though the tunnel and follow the lead, when we stop APC's will stop behind the Warthogs followed by tanks, get ready"

Jason ceased the connection and turned to face the front as he did the lead Warthog, the one he was on swooped into the entrance of the tunnel and instantly went dark, with only minor glow to keep the tunnel a light, after a few seconds Jason's natural night vision kicked in, Jason watched and held on tight as the Warthog made quick and swift turns left and right before going down a slope.

The Warthog's engine roared and echoed throughout the tunnel with the rest of the engines and then suddenly the Warthog skidded to a halt in a massive underground room, it stopped a few meters away from a bridge of blue florescent light, Jason had no time to worry about the light bridge at the moment, he turned around to see the rest of the Warthogs coming to a stop and forming two lanes into one to cross the bridge.

Jason stepped out of the Warthog and held his SAW at the ready before linking up with the Task Force again.

"Once you have stopped... Re-group with your teams and resupply on ammo at the supply trucks then return to your vehicles we will push off again in five to ten mikes"

[Soulstep]

Sergeant Andrew Deiran Indigo Squad Leader

"Copy that, rolling up."

Andrew swerved past a pile of several wrecked sentinels as he drove into the tunnel, most of the hostiles shot down, but one sentinel kept pace with them and drew alongside the driver's seat.

Desperately, Andrew drew his magnum and fired off the last few rounds of his clip to no avail, the shields on the thing took all of the hits. Out of ideas, he did the only thing he could. He turned left hard, smashing the sentinel between the Warthog and the wall. The ruined hulk crashed to the ground and spun to a halt as Andrew lowered the Warthog's speed.

"Well, this is our stop." He shrugged to the 'ODST' beside him as he slung himself out of the 'hog. The rest of Indigo did likewise, running ammo checks and wiping sweat from their brows.

"Shit, I hope Faith and Chambers have it easier than us..." Kain gasped, his adrenaline still pumping. Andrew was inclined to agree, if the FOB took any heat, the wounded wouldn't stand a chance.

[spartan129]

Gunnery Sergeant Francis Hayes, Badger Two-One
Badger Armored Platoon, Alpha Company, Task Force 77
UNSC Convoy inside Shield World

Hayes glanced at an incoming sentinel and designated it for Hernandez. The robot exploded under a hail of bullets, and the gunfire almost drowned out the sound of another message on the radio: "This is the lead Warthog, we are coming into the tunnel now, I want all Warthogs to push though the tunnel and follow the lead, when we stop APC's will stop behind the Warthogs followed by tanks, get ready."

"Way ahead of you, sonny," Marshall muttered, broadcasting only to Badger Platoon, "Here that, Badger? Keep doing what I already told you to do."

"Once you have stopped," came the Staff Sergeant's voice, "Re-group with your teams and resupply on ammo at the supply trucks then return to your vehicles we will push off again in five to ten mikes"


Presumably Marshall switched channels, because he then said, "Staff Sergeant, will there be repairs available in the tunnel? Some of our tanks got pretty banged up."

Hayes glanced at the tank's camera feed to look at the outside for several moments. Behind him, Harper's tank was dented in several places, probably from falling robot junk, and some of the reflector plating had been knocked off. He couldn't see Henderson's tank, but he saw the column of smoke that it was releasing behind Harper's, and then saw an orange laser shoot in its general direction. He sighed as the attacking sentinel was shot down. Looking at the front camera, he saw that Marshall's grizzly had taken some hits as well. These weren't Covenant...They were faster, smaller, and more dangerous, and worked together...Hayes just hoped he could make it out of this alive.

[Cabel]

[Inside the Planet: Rear Convoy Duty: Zulu Squad]

“Doberman to Spade. Doberman to Taffy, acknowledge? Come on Sarge, where are you? Acknowledge?” Corporal Keith “Doberman” Dennis said into the helmet-mic in an attempt to raise his commanding officer. After more than a few futile attempts to raise his commanding officer, Keith switched frequencies to the only unit behind them. “Doberman of Zulu Squad to Badger Platoon. We’ve lost track of Master Sergeant Sorelson, and can’t raise him on the comm-band. He was in the warthog behind us,” The Grenadier Corporal had last heard from the Master Sergeant after the convoy had started rolling again, but the comm-band had been silent ever since.

“Do you think the Sarge is alright?” one of the replacement Privates asked, from deeper inside the APC.

“I think so, Private. The Master Sergeant’s been through worse, and he was even tough as nails during the Insurrection. He’ll be alright,” Keith replied, as the Cougar APC rolled along at its highest speed.

[spartan129]

Gunnery Sergeant Francis Hayes, Badger Two-One
Badger Armored Platoon, Alpha Company, Task Force 77
UNSC Convoy inside Shield World

The Staff Sergeant didn't reply before another voice cut into the comm,

“Doberman of Zulu Squad to Badger Platoon. We’ve lost track of Master Sergeant Sorelson, and can’t raise him on the comm-band. He was in the warthog behind us.”

"It's hard to say what happened, Corporal," Marshall replied, presumably knowing the man's rank by looking at the comm info on his system, "A lot went on as we moved up to the tunnel."

"A lot of Warthogs got hit..." Hayes thought out loud, before realizing that he shouldn't have. Attempting to make up for it, he amended his statement: "But I'm sure he's fine. You want some cover to look for him, or do you want to check the tunnel first?"

Hayes waited for a response as he sighed, and checked over his readouts to make sure that the tank was operating to its full capacity. Everything seemed to be working as well as it could considering the damages, but Hayes made a slight adjustment to power diversion, giving more power to the tracks on the more armored side so that the tank didn't wind up turning.

[Spartan 999]

Special Operations Officer Sorsa Xirsasai

[/center]

"Have you heard anything from Legra of late?" Til inquired, stopping his forward movement.

"No, unfortunately not." Sorsa replied, looking back at Til as he halted a few steps after the Major. "I hope he fares well." He jerked his head slightly in the direction they had been walking. "Come, we must continue out search."

[Cabel]

[Inside the Planet: Rear Convoy Duty: Tunnel: Zulu Squad]

“It’s hard to say what happened, Corporal,” came the Gunnery Sergeant Francis Hayes' voice over the comm-band. “A lot when on as we moved up to the tunnel. A lot of Warthogs got hit…but I’m sure he’s fine. You want some cover to look for him, or do you want to check the tunnel first,”

“We’ll check the Tunnel first, Gunnery Sergeant. There aren’t any windows in the back of these Cougar APC’s. Thank you,” Corporal Keith “Doberman” Dennis replied, grateful for the Gunnery Sergeant’s reassurance if the readout on his HUD had been correct. He’d closed the channel, moving the mic away from his mouth and let it withdraw back into the helmet.

The vibrations within the bay of the Cougar APC ceased as the vehicle’s brakes engaged as it came to a stop in formation within the rest of the convoy within the tunnel, which allowed the occupants a bit of a breather. The aft-loading ramp of the APC ground open allowing a stream of fresh, arid non-recycled air to filter through the APC laden with engine-exhaust, and the clamor of troops gathering new supplies. The men of Zulu Squad filed out of the APC to stretch or to get an MRE in, while as the acting Squad leader the Corporal had other priorities. He'd strapped the M7 SMG against his thigh while lugging the M41 Rocket Launcher over his shoulder, Keith waited for Badger Platoon's tanks to roll in after the APC's while searching for his Squad leader.

[Deleted]

Gunnery Sergeant Trenton McNeil
ONI section Zero: REVIVE - 6
Surface of Shield-World: Indigo Squad

"Well, this is our stop." Trent hopped out of the Warthog after it came to a halt. He reloaded and sweeped the area, assault rifle in hand. He nodded to the marine and said a quick thank you before going deeper into the tunnel. After he was satisfied that it was clear for the moment, he keyed on his comm.

"REVIVE Actual, do you copy? I would like to know where I can find the nearest squad member so I can get a complete Sit-rep." He asked with a hoarse voice. The shouting on the way there had left his throat dry. As he waited for a response he started to ponder the tunnel that seemed to be man made.

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

"Agreed." Til replied to Sorsa's suggestion, moving beside him. Checking his plasma rifle's charge, he found it almost half charge, but still had his grenades and blades. Should be enough to fight through the Sentinels.

[Spartan 999]

Special Operations Officer Sorsa 'Xirsasai

[/center]

Sorsa looked over at Til, noticing the Major checking his plasma rifle. The Spec Ops Sangheili barely managed to see the holographic display read half charge before Til put it away. He put his arm out, palm facing the ceiling. One of the Special Operators tossed a plasma rifle to him. Sorsa caught the weapon easily, then checked its charge: eighty-six percent. He flipped the weapon so he was gripping the top.

"Here, brother." Sorsa said, holding the weapon out to Til. "You have more need of it than the original owner, as he died with honor fighting the Sentinels."

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

Taking Sorsa's plasma rifle, Til looked at it with a growing resolve, and nodded in respect. "I will use it well, brother. His sacriface, along with our other fallen brethern, will not go in vain." He said deeply and walked beside his friend. "Be careful of using any kind of electronic communications. The Sentinels seem to sense us immediately. We are basically on our own on this hunt." Til informed.

[Deleted]

Second Lieutenant Killinger

Killinger thought for a moment, why was a Staff Sergeant giving orders to the Convoy? It didn't make sense, not at all. Perhaps he was under orders from the four star back at base... Or the Arizona, were ever he disappeared too.

It wouldn't be long now before they were back on the Arizona and out of this... Planet's interior. He still couldn't believe that they were inside the planet, and he was starting to debate if he should stay here.

Would the Covenant fire at the ships so quickly? Would the two UNSC ships be swatted out of the sky before the ground forces even got back into the ships to dust off? What ever happened, it was going to be interesting.

First Lieutenant Cambell

The Lieutenant wasn't sure if the convoy got his message, but he wasn't about to reveal his location, so he wasn't about to message them again, but if they didn't get his message they were in for a shit storm. Six or Seven larger sentinels had moved into place, guarded by literally thousands of the smaller metallic machines.

"Common, we've got to relocate." Derek said, motioning towards a higher cliff. He pulled his sniper back, pushed the bi-pod back in and slung it over his back, equipping his M6D Magnum. The small handgun packed a punch, but he didn't know how effective it was against the new targets.

Anne had used her assault rifle to destroy one or two, and the sniper could take down two with a magazine if the rounds were placed right, "Alright, Derek. Let's go!" Anne whispered, checking her weapons ammo counter, it read "48".

The two recon snipers moved away from there previous recon point, once they reached there new one, they'd message the convoy again.