Mission 4 - GROUND BATTLE THREAD

[Cabel]

[Planet’s Surface: Approaching the Excavation Site: Outer Perimeter: Zulu Squad]

Sand dunes passed by the warthog with its crew of three, and four passengers seated wherever space had been allowed. Mark had allowed the four other men not aboard the warthog to climb aboard the oversized dune-buggy, after enduring the heat on foot for nearly three hours past their drop-off point. Realizing even with their training in desert warfare and his Fireteam having fought in desert environments before, Mark had told Doberman to bring the warthog to a stop. The veteran Master Sergeant hadn’t wanted his squad exhausted and dehydrated the moment the fighting broke out by having them trudge in the arid, dry air with the sun glaring down on them, and his decision had been confirmed when every member of the squad gave sighs of relief in unison.

An hour had passed since he’d made that decision, and the laden warthog cruised at a fairly comfortable speed toward the excavation site marked on the Master Sergeant and Corporal Dennis’ visors. He'd flipped off an IFF signal through his helmet-mic to any friendly units that may be dug in around the excavation site. While Taffy, Chris and the two other privates had sat with their backs against the roll bar in the bed of the warthog, Mark had taken a seat across the middle console between the driver’s seat and the door gunner.

[Spartan 999]

***

[/b]

Isin snorted in laughter as Lucy ordered Alex to shut up. He reached out a hand to Cox, helping the private into the back of the Warthog.

"Ah, this squad never gets old..." Isin smirked, depolarizing his visor. "Denn, wie könnte ich müde, all diesem Wahnsinn?"

[Wax™]

Staff Sergeant Jason Bowers
Alpha Company: Delta Destroyers
Ground Side - Unknown Location

Jason looked from left to right and made sure everyone was in the Warthog, then Alex, a member of Lucy's team leant over and spoke to Lucy loud enough so everyone could hear.

"Hey Lucy... does he really eh...." He stopped for a moment and then held up the same to fingers Jason had used to taunt Jackson.

Jason smiled and let out a small laugh before leaning his arm over and poking up his two fingers he smirked at the ODST before holding them about a foot and a half away from his face. "What? You want a sniff too?" Jason smirked before lowering his fingers and placing bother hand's on the wheel, he looked from left to right and pressed down on the accelerator before turning the wheel hard right and sending the Warthog into a dusty drift before heading back in the general direction of the excavation.

Jason squinted his eye's slightly as his helmet, armor and combat glasses began to get saturated in dust, the windscreen on the front of the Warthog didn't even seem to stop the red dust flying into the Warthog and at it's passengers, Jason looked at Lucy who had her helmet off due to the heat, Jason smiled before turning back to face the direction he was driving taking a few sharp left and right turn's to avoid any rocks.

"So... Jackson... How was the view from your pod?"

Jason remarked with a smile and a small laugh before stretching over a hand and placing it on Lucy's thigh while the other hand remained on the wheel.

"Hope you could see past all thoes marker stripes"

Private Dean 'Coxy' Cox
Task Force 77: Lunar Squad
Ground Side - Unknown Location

Cox closed his eye's as the marine known as Staff Sergeant Bowers suddenly stopped the Warthog he was driving right infront of Cox, one moment he was a black ODST, the next minute he was covered in red dust from had to toe, he lifted his right hand and wiped some dust off his visor, doing two holes where his eye;s were and a smiley face Cox smirked under the darkness of his helmet before moving over to the back of the back of the Warthog, he wen't to haul himself up but was offered a hand by Lieutenant Isin.

Cox took the hand and hauled himself up with the help of Isin into the back of the Warthog, Cox rested his sniper on his lap and looked from left to right off the back of the Warthog as Bowers drove back to the excavation site where they were busy searching for a Forerunner artifact, of course he or his team didn't know that, nor did any of the marines, but Cox kept an ear and an eye open, his speechlessness usually led to him finding out alot of information personnal and public.

[kel]

Zhal led Kel along the cliff, moving up and down its rocky slopes, and into an outcropping of rocks. Here, they pulled out their Focus Rifles, and activated their helmets. Kel zoomed in upon the excavation site, and took note of how many humans were there, and where the activity was. The outer wall of the Holy Relic was steadily being exposed.

Zhal scanned the site too, and took particular interest in the relic itself. "We've got some time to kill before we get to see the Relic up close, or even till the fight begins." He noted, looking Kel over in her form-fitting armor.

Kel felt his claw graze her back, running down the mesh that made up her light under-armor. She ignored it, and focused her attention on the Covenant forces that were finally making their way towards the dig site. "I estimate about five minutes before our forces close in enough to begin their assault."

"Yesss..." Zhal smiled mischievously, twirling his claws along her back. "They can take their time... It just means I have more time to spend with you, dear Kel."

[milostsamis]

Lucy let out a short bark of laughter, fake Mattie noticed. No. No not really. Were planning on leaving you honestly." she said. Mattie let his shoulders slump down, seeing as his helmet was on and he couldn't throw on a fake expression.

"Aww.. S'just like highschool again. All the ladies reject me." Mattie said, just before a large dust cloud in the distance showed where the 'Hog was coming in. This was good, it was almost time to shoot some shit. As soon as the 'Hog pulled up, Lucy rushed into the passenger seat, and Mattie grinned. Now he saw what was going on. He was the first into the rear of the pelican though, and he kept his helmet on. He rarely liked to remove his helmet, even at times like this when sweat was dripping freely down his face. Deserts sucked. His right elbow was resting on his knee as he leaned over to look at the proceedings in the front.

He watched Alex walk up next to Lucy and say, purposely louder than necessary, "Lucy... does he really eh...." he said, holding up two fingers. Mattie had to try with all his might to hold back the laughter that was building up in his throat, but he couldn't suppress a snort. He attempted to cover it up by pretending to fall into a fit of coughs before giving up and standing up in the back.

"Anyone else having an urge to go kill some Covie bastards? I know I do." Mattie stated before turning his helmeted head to the rest of the squad filing in the back. "How about you, my good sir?" he asked, pointing the same two fingers that Alex had taunted Lucy with at Coxy, before sitting down in his seat as the Warthog accelerated and began its trek back the way it had come.

[darthsloan]

Church

Church nodded, brought his head down to ground level and hustled to the squadleader's position, keeping at his pace and looking around for any.... trouble. He hoped she was alright, though perhaps if it was him in that pod she might not. Most of the tensions between them have seemed to fade but even then he felt like he didn't belong on some occasions. No matter how much he prayed, he retained this feeling. The only thing he could do is sleep it off. He, however, have made a plan for acceptance, and that was time. Over time he could prove himself as an addition to the sqaud rather than a replacement, because everyone is unique and therefore cannot be replaced.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Sergeant David Williams ODST
Jaded Venom Squad
Artiface Excavation Site

"So this is what the Covie's are after Sarge..?" Susies Bircholt asked in her thick hispanic accent as she walked around the excavation site, kicking a few rocks. David's squad had managed to catch onto a warthog convoy and where now amoung the massing troups of the excavation site. Mostly a pit with the wall of something metal in the ground, excavation machines could be found in certain places along the pit and sand now seemed to be getting everywhere. Now David's squad began to set up a perimiter close to a large excavation machine and the uncovered thing. Large boulders in the area made for excellent cover and David found his gaze shifting from his squad and to the cliff face. Soon the marines in mass would be making their ways to the site. It was almost an erie feeling.. knowing the covenant hang above them.. a battle raging just beyond the hazy desert sky.

"I guess soo... dosn't seem like nothing more then scrap but then again am no spook scientist. Must be important enough to haul the task force out to Artiface like this." Muttered David as he watched the skys, a few lonely pelicans flew about the area, dropping off marines and ODSt who are ready to battle. Little did he know one of them was actually his wife. With a small sigh the Sergeant looked down and depolarized his VISR. "I hate waiting like this you know, but at least we can dig in and prepare for the attack this time." Mentioned David as he looked back toward his squad.

[Martial Virtue]

Captain Dylan Lloyd

"Any other hell Jumpers out there? This is Sergeant David Williams of Jaded Venom squad."

Those were the first words Dylan heard over the COM channel when he landed. The ride to the surface had been equal parts terrifying and exhilarating as always - the mood from the descent was only broken by the occasional spontaneous yell or whoop of glee through the radio. The rest had been just Dylan and his pod, experiencing the unique high that only came from high velocity drops like this one. It's why he'd volunteered to train as an ODST in the first place. He'd never been sorry he did.

The captain couldn't deny it was beyond dangerous, however, something that clashed with his desire to remain in the world of the living and help raise his family with Sierra. He couldn't imagine leaving her with the burden of taking care of their three kids on her own, and he loved them all too much, to not do everything humanly possible to make it back to them alive.

As he sat in his drop pod after the jump, still a little dazed from the impact, he tapped his breast pocket again where he kept his pictures of his daughter and two sons. It was for good luck - kind of like rubbing a keychain of a rabbit's foot. His version of it anyway. Then he kicked open the pod door and pulled his MA37 from inside.

The first thing he did, of course, was make a visual and electronic scan of the area. When he didn't see any immediate danger through his tinted visor, he eased up a little. It was good that things were clear, at least for now. He knew that wouldn't last though, so he keyed his COM.

"Charlie Company, Captain Lloyd. Don't bother forming up on me. Just wink green through the COM to let me know you all made it." Dylan paused, holding his assault rifle in one hand now, aimed low. "Your first objective is to make it to the archaeological dig site. Our second order of business is finding those archaeologists. So let's get moving."

Corporal Cassie Thompson

Cassie was startled when she felt Staff Sergeant Bowers, seated beside her in the Pelican, grip her hand tightly. She'd been thinking about Aiden and instead felt the rough hand-grab of her current squad leader. She relaxed in an instant when she realized there wasn't really anything wrong with the ship or anything - it seemed that the staff sergeant was just showing some of his nervousness in his own way. Still, it was an unpleasant and awkward ride when he didn't let go until the Pelican was back in a normal flight pattern.

"Sorry about that Corporal," he said to her once he finally released her hand. Thompson gave her squad leader a fleeting, tense smile in response. She hoped there wouldn't be a repeat of such an incident. It made her nervous that her superior was just as scared - if not more - than she was.

Thankfully the rest of the ride down wasn't too long. Before she knew it, the pilot was announcing their impending landing. Cassie mentally told herself to get her head in the game now, to think about nothing else, checking her MA5C's load as she did so. It was cocked and ready to go.

She took a deep breath as the craft touched down.

Her squad leader was up and out the hatch in a blur, and already barking orders. "Go go go! Get out of there go!"

Corporal Thompson did exactly as she was told, standing up from her seat and running down the ramp with her assault rifle in both hands, barrel aimed low. Once she emerged and no longer had to worry about accidentally targeting a friendly, she raised the gun up for a moment, checked her surroundings, then lowered it again. She yelled at the rest of the Marines in the Pelican herself.

"You heard the sergeant! Move!"

In no time, the remaining men and women of Delta were out in the open. Bowers turned to her again then with more orders.

"Cassie! I am leaving you in charge of the team, I am taking the Warthog out for a patrol confirm?"

Thompson nodded. "Got it, Staff Sergeant."

"If you need me let me know through TEAMCOM, till I get back just set up a perimiter in or around the excavation."

"Will do." Seeing no contacts, the corporal slung her assault rifle diagonally across her back and gestured to the squad. "Marines, let's get a loose perimeter up now! Our company commander should be landing shortly, let's make sure she sees Delta knows how to get things done."

Captain Sierra Lloyd

"Captain this is Bowers... DELTA is on the ground, setting up perimiter now and heading out on an outer perimiter patrol to rondevous with Helljumpers in the area."

The hail through the COM channel came just as Sierra's Pelican was getting close to the surface. They'd broken atmosphere a moment before, and now touching down was just minutes away. Captain Lloyd tapped the side of her helmet before replying.

"Got it, Staff Sergeant. Have your Marines maintain position until the rest of Alpha hits dirt. And make sure the LZ's clear for us. Lloyd out."

Sierra cut the connection then and made sure her weapon was locked and loaded. She'd been through this countless times before, and it was the period she hated most - those last few minutes right before landing. You never knew what you were going to get once that hatch opened up.

She was saved from being alone with her thoughts this time, though. Lloyd watched as one of the Pelican pilots came out of the cockpit and tried to maneuver his way through the crowded troop bay to her.

"Marines, this is going to be a hot drop. ODSTs have already hit the dirt, and we're next. My callsign is Archangel Six. I will be remaining on-station for gunship support and casevac. Oh, and kick some Covenant ass for me, Marines."

Then he saluted her, though it was unnecessary as they were both O-3s - him Navy, her Marines. The respect was appreciated and returned.

"Thanks for the heads up, Lieutenant," Captain Lloyd said. "We'll be sure to light those aliens up." She grinned. "Or call you in to do it for us if we're in a pinch."

Five minutes later, they were finally on the ground. Sierra took in a quick breath, then urged her Marines down the open hatch. She had her battle rifle up and ready for any activity Intel hadn't picked up on - something that happened with worrying frequency in her experience - but for once, there was nothing. It appeared the Covenant hadn't arrived yet, or at least weren't making their presence known at present. Sierra was going to take advantage of that.

"Alpha Company, listen up! This is Captain Lloyd! We need to form a perimeter around the dig site, now! Start setting up MGs and getting yourselves prepped to defend this area. And standby for more orders - I'm going to try to link up with the rest of the friendlies now and see what we can do about getting this site locked down."

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Lance Corporal Victoria Landcaster
Alpha Company
Artiface Surface
Dig Site

Victoria and Chase sat quietly and listened to the ocasional chatter of the other marines stuffed into the pelican, the silence of their captain gave them an uneasiness but all marines had to reflect some time or another. When the pelican pilot finaly came back to inform the captain of their estimated time arrival, Victoria made sure her sniper was locked, loaded, and her gear was strapped to her. As did Chase with his DMR and gear.

After the orders of their Captain as they rushed down the trooper bay door, the sniper team went up to their Captain Sierra Lloyd. "Ma'am, permission to do some rock climbing to find a more suitable place to scout and snipe if needed." Victoria asked/stated in the usual subordinate way as Chase stood directly behind her, his head peaking up behind hers since he was of course taller then her.

[z]

(OOC: Church can lead Green Squad to Alex Summers's pod)

Lucy Grey

Jackson simply growled at Jason's comment and looked away, gripping the handle of his sniper after seeing where his hand went.

To change the subject from fingers and marker smudges, she flicked on her COMM, focusing on the chatter from Marines, other ODST, and some of the ships... Meanwhile, Alex was back in the bed of the truck, making fake sniffing noises.

"Can smell em' from here, Bowers! You two need to take a breather once in awhile." Alex said, laughing and clapping, only to get a darkened blue visored glare from Jackson.

"Any other hell Jumpers out there? This is Sergeant David Williams of Jaded Venom squad."

Lucy reached up to her COMM and spoke, raising a hand to signal everyone to shut up.

"This is ODST Special Operations Lunar Squad, Gunnery Sergeant Grey speaking."

Meanwhile, Alex was laughing quietly at Stroud's joke with the fingers, him and his twin, Anders headbutting their helmets together. Jackson then chimed in and said. "And you wonder why your brain cells are dying in sync..."

Anders looked over at each member of the squad and laughed before bending closer to Jackson, whispering louder than needed so everyone could hear him again. "I think you are just pissed you aren't tapping the leader. We all know you and Lucy nearly got busy in a HEV once."

That was when Jackson had enough, lifting his rifle he whacked Alex over the head, yelling out something in Russian, a curse most likely.

Lucy was gripping her fist for a moment before grabbing the bar separating the bed and the front and carefully pushing herself over, putting the heavy weapon specalist of the squad in a leg lock on the floor on the bed a few moments later.

"Any more comments?" She asked, Alex's weapons laying strewn out around the floor of the pod.

"NO MA'AM" He yelled out, followed by a groan of pain, laughing loudly still... was just how he and Lucy joked.

"Pussy..." Jackson said quietly, only to get a thunk in the visor.

Lucy pushed herself back over into the seat and settled down, going back to the COMM.

"Apologies to whoever i was talking to, my squad mates are idiots." She said, looking back at them and bringing her hand across her neck saying -SHUT UP-.

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

Slowing to a hovering stop, the Valiant Harbinger opened its side bays, and Til was the first to jump out, needle rifle in hand, and landed somewhat roughly on a patch of flat sand.

Grunting, he looked at the environment at the end of his rifle, no foes to shoot down in this desert right now, and quickly moved aside as Skor and the rest of the lance jumped out, some landing more rough than others, but were not injured, and the phantom left into the skies to drop off another load of troops.

Sniffing the stale air, Til exhaled before trying to activate his optical assistance, and began to see the holographic markings displayed in the horizon. "let's move!" He ordered before beginning to transverse to the mission.

[tincanhitman]

"mother fucking god damn shit!" Raul cursed finally kicking his pod open and falling out.

He had landed hard in his pod and passed out for a few minutes. He woke up to find himself in the dessert off course, but near Alex. He picked himself up and got on com

"Alex? Alex how copy?" he asked making his way to her drop pod. He moved quickly and quietly crouched low with his DMR ready. He scrabbled over some rocks and through some brush, ducking a flight path of a drop ship. Letting out a sight of relief as it passed him.

"this is green 5, green leader how copy?" he asked figuring he should tell them he was in route to Alex.

[Deleted]

^{Second Lieutenant Killinger
Arizona Marine Complement
Deploying onto the planet}

The Lieutenant watched as the four pelicans that would take his forty man platoon down to the surface pivoted and landed on the multiple loading bays inside the Arizona's hanger.

Four Warthogs rolled up towards them and the pelican did the rest. The magnetic clamps locked the Warthog in place.

"Alright, Marines! The Captain wants us down on the double!" The Lieutenant screamed. Forty marines started to pile into the pelican's that had just recently landed.

The Lieutenant noticed another pelican moving from it's birth, and walked back a tad.

The aircraft landed, and a more powerful MBT was locked into place, a M808B Grizzly Tank. Twice as powerful then a regular M808 Scorpion.

The Pelican didn't lift off again, instead the pilot climbed out to make sure the Grizzly was attached nicely.

"Lieutenant!" Hicks yelled, offering his hand. "Common, orders, remember?" He added.

Killinger smiled, then boarded the pelican. The doors groaned and finally closed, and hissed as the pressure locks engaged. It was sealed. The oxygen would not get out.

The pelican lifted off, rotated and flew forward. A small noticeable release from gravity indicated they had entered the vacuum of space. The Lieutenant climbed into the canopy. The pilot and co-pilot were tapping away at controls, angling past the nearly vaporized Titanium A Armor that had fallen free when the Arizona had been attacked. Now, multiple ships were firing towards the Covenant vessel that had done that.

The pelican turned some more, and the damage was gone. The planet was large, and the pelican was about to enter the atmosphere. The pelicans noise glowed red for a tad second as the pilot leveled it off, then softened to a small burnt section.

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

The trip down was relatively boring. The Pelican turned sharply, and its rear hatched unsealed and opened, revealing a dusty desert. His team was their. The pelican released the Warthog and flew forward a tad.

Killinger jumped down, ran to the Warthog and turned the key, it's engine rumbling in response. During the trip down, he and eight other marines were to hide in the rocks observing the area.

No less then four minutes, the three 'Hogs were rolling away from the rest of the platoon.
"Captain Lloyd, Killinger here. We are en route to our objective, how copy?" The Lieutenant said into the Officer Comm channel for Alpha.

The Warthog's picked up speed as they passed the paremater. During the decent, the Lieutenant noted a small hill with rocks that he could use as a forward observation post.

The area was perfect, because the hill had a small overhand so he could park the 'Hog's with out them being seen, well, at least most of them anyways.

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai. Blade of the Prophets A short distance from the Excavation Site

From the sky above, a single needle-like pod shot through the cloudy-sky. The pod, almost like a purple casket, shot through the atmosphere like a rocket at high speed. It cracked through and into view almost like a missile, heading directly for the site… Yet, began to tilt slightly to the left as it descended. The pod shuddered, and slowed slightly as four flaps extended from the main body, giving the object some lift before snapping off. Upon release, a loud snap echoed and a small blast extended from where they disconnected. The pod had slowed drastically, but was still traveling at a high rate of speed as it closed in on the planet.

Then… Impact…

The pod collided with the ground, a massive bang erupting from around it as it drilled itself within the crust of Artifice. Surrounding the pod, the ground caved in slightly, creating a crater around the impact point. Dust and dirt rose up into the air, being twisted about as the massive gust of wind finally caught up with the pod.

Seconds passed before anything moved besides the dust, then the pod began to hiss. From the main core of it, a long single crease appeared as the door began to push away. With a loud pop, it finally opened. The thick door shot off from the pod and pounded into the edge of the small crater, kick-flipping over until it stabbed straight up into the ground. Though, from within the pod, something much more deadly then a flying door was awakened…

A light snarl echoed around the crater as a heavy behemoth stepped free of the cramped space. A loud stomp revealed the Arbiter… the Blade of the Prophets… He growled to himself, shaking off the impact as he checked his armor and weapon systems. His swords were secure, rifles loaded and ready to fire, his carbine latched securely to his back, and his staff as safely nestled in the pod next to where he had been standing for the passed ten minutes or so.

Suliam tugged the weapon free before looking around to see other Covenant Drop-ships releasing the soldiers. The had taken to much time, and would take even longer trying to get everyone out in that way. The Humans would not wait. Suliam closed the mouth guard to his helmet, and sealed his eyes under their protective covers. Turning towards the objective the Prophets placed before him, Suliam activated his camouflage and began to run lightly towards the site he had been shown.

((OOC: Dynamic Entry...))

[jack]

Lieutenant Jack O'Reilly
UNSC Navy
Artifice

Jack touched down on the planet and waited for Ski to report that the Marines were clear, the jumped upwards. He left the rear doors open as Ski folded his gun away from the wall.

"Ski, you're free to fire at will. R.J., you have the stick and I have gun controls."

Jack looked left then right, synchronizing the gun controls to his HUD. He opened a COM channel to all UNSC ground forces.

"This is Archangel Six to all UNSC ground forces. I am available for casevac and gunship support. Repeat, on-station for casevac and CAS."

He closed the COM channel.

"R.J., take us into an orbit over the archaeological site."

Staff Sergeant Nathaniel Wheeler
UNSC Marine Corps
Artifice

Nate charged out of the Pelican, with his squad following.

"Alpha Company, listen up! This is Captain Lloyd! We need to form a perimeter around the dig site, now! Start setting up MGs and getting yourselves prepped to defend this area. And standby for more orders - I'm going to try to link up with the rest of the friendlies now and see what we can do about getting this site locked down."

"Alpha 1-2 copies, Captain."

"Squad! Begin digging fighting positions! Prepare to repel Covenant assault!"

Nate saw to it that half of his men began digging fighting positions while the other half stood security.

[darthsloan]

Church and the rest of Green squad trampled through the desert enviroment as instructed and sure enough, ahead of them was Alex's pod. They all thought about how to get her down but then the squad leader started climbing the rocks to get to her, while the others watched him, ready to catch her should she fall out. The squad leader eventually pride the pod's door open when green-5's message buzzed through their coms.

"this is green 5, green leader how copy?"

"Green Leader is a little occupied at the moment but we copy. All of us are here.... you should see a nav point with our position on your visor, we'll be waiting"

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai. Blade of the Prophets A short distance from the Excavation Site

Quiet steps echoed from the ground as light dust clouds kicked up from what seemed to be nothing. The Arbiter kept his cloak on, and sprinted quickly for the site he had been tasked to infiltrate. All around him though, the Humans were beginning to take a foothold. Careful as he moved, Suliam turned his energy staff off, dispersing the luminous glow that gave away his position. Now, he was death itself as the hidden warrior closed in on the humans. From his landing zone, he had already been able to see the humans landing. Now he could see a small human lance digging themselves into the dirt. They were far, but already close enough to be a threat him… And also close enough for them to be within his range.

Suliam kept his weapons powered off and turned to the left slightly as to avoid confrontation with the Lance. He needed to get inside the site. Enough blood would be spilt this day, and he had more important matters then staining his blades. It was close, and the humans hadn’t exactly reached the site either besides a handful. If only he had brought a ground of Special-Operation Warriors… Then they could secure the entire site. For now, he would just move silently and skillfully until he accomplished his task…

The ground was hard when he landed, but began to soften under his hoofed boots. His steps became more silent, and less dust kicked up from them. The conditions were nearly perfect…Suliam just had to worry about the Humans now…

[Martial Virtue]

Captain Sierra Lloyd

It wasn't long before the dig site loomed ahead. Sierra hustled up ahead of her Marines, BR55 at the ready. The captain was breathing hard and beads of sweat were forming around her forehead. The weight of her gear was already bogging her down. But she pressed forward. This mission was important.

She took a quick look to the left, and then to the right around the area of the dig site. Lloyd even paused a moment to listen once her HUD again showed nothing. All was quiet.

Without lowering her weapon, Sierra opened a COM channel to her company. "Alpha, Lloyd. Here's your new orders: I want one squad out on patrol, since we need to figure out if the Covies are really here yet or not." The captain took a moment to glance at the FOF tags on her HUD. It looked like Staff Sergeant Bowers was already doing that, so she called him out over the open channel. "Bowers, that's for you to continue doing. Get the rest of your squad to rendezvous with you and keep running the show out there. I'll make sure they get another 'Hog for you. I expect a report every ten minutes, and an immediate hail if there's any activity at all. Understood?"

Sierra didn't wait for his reply. She'd catch it later. For now, she had more orders to issue. Her HUD showed that one of her platoon leaders, Second Lieutenant Killinger, had just touched down in his Pelican with second platoon. Just as she was about to hail him, his voice flooded the COM.

"Captain Lloyd, Killinger here. We are en route to our objective, how copy?"

"Copy loud and clear, Lieutenant. Great timing. I was just about to give you your orders. You're to set up an observation post a klick out from the dig site. We need to know beforehand when the Covenant attack, so we can be ready to defend both the structure and the archaeological team on our end. Bring no more than a squad with you, and if you bring vehicles, make sure they're hidden once you get there. Stay low, in between the rocks or dig yourselves foxholes. Then have an MG set up, a fireteam keeping watch on the horizon with field binoculars, and have the rest camouflaged on the line with guns ready. Got it? And you get your asses the fuck out of there as soon as the aliens come riding into town and you've got us informed."

Now for her third and final order. Sierra clicked the COM again. "Staff Sergeant Wheeler, I want your squad to be in the central position of our defensive perimeter around this site. First platoon will take the left flank, whatever's left of second platoon will take the middle, and third will take our right. I'm staying in the middle with second, since they're short a squad and their platoon leader is at the OP."

Captain Lloyd paused for just a moment, then said, "I want to be notified instantly if there's anything coming up on your HUDs on either flank, if you hear something out of the ordinary, or see something that looks out of place. The Covenant can come from anywhere and strike at any moment, Marines. Stay sharp, and keep your trigger fingers inside your trigger guard. Lloyd out."

Sierra then moved to help her extra heavy weapons squad set up just behind the main perimeter line the rest of Alpha was holding. The mortar teams were starting to unload their gear and getting ready when she opened a channel yet again - a private one this time.

To her husband.

Captain Dylan Lloyd

"Captain Lloyd, Baker here. Me and my men have all touched down without a problem and we're only about two hundred yards from the dig site. Shall we proceed to secure the site or form up with you?"

Dylan sighed as he clicked the COM to respond. "Proceed to secure the site, Staff Sergeant. We need all the help we can get right now to protect that area."

The Helljumper captain cut the connection then and began to get his ODST company organized. He was starting to fortify his part of the perimeter when he was hailed by a Marine. Sierra.

"I trust you made it down in one piece? Our kids still have a dad?"

A small smirk formed on Dylan's face. He couldn't help it. "Yes, I made it down. I'm still in one piece. Not sure about my pod though."

Sierra's voice was more serious this time. "Dylan - "

"Don't worry about it, I'm joking. So what's up, honey? What do you need?"

He heard his wife sigh. "I'm in the process of forming up Alpha's part of the perimeter around the dig site. I've also got a squad heading a klick out ahead of us setting up an OP."

"That's good."

"We're covering a lot of ground already, but we still need people to find and cover those archaeologists, and someone to start placing mines between us and the OP, in case the Covenant decide to go for an assault." Sierra paused, and Dylan could actually picture her frowning. "The OP is there to warn us only, D. It's to give us a heads up that trouble's on the way - they aren't in any shape to defend the site from there. They don't have the numbers or the firepower. They're going to have to quietly bail as soon as they give us word."

Dylan nodded to himself. "I understand." His smirk widened. "Does that mean you need some extraordinary ODSTs to help you out where your regulars just won't do?"

On the other end, Sierra bit her tongue. She was loathe to give Dylan that satisfaction - good-naturedly of course - but finally she gave in. "Yes. I need you to assign some of your Helljumpers to fill in the blanks here. Can you handle that?"

"Baby, I can handle everything. You just sit and watch."

His wife gave a snort. "Uh-huh. Right."

The ODST captain didn't mind the slight jab. He could practically hear the small grin in Sierra's tone. He answered in a more sober way, "I'll let you know when I've got my people in place. Lloyd out."

Then he quickly switched channels to hail his whole company. "Troopers, listen up. I've got orders to issue. The fine regulars of Alpha Company have already taken up their places near the dig site. It's up to us to handle some of the internal logistics. Standby for assignments.

"Sergeant Williams, I want you to get inside that site, find the archaeologists, and defend them at all costs. You and your squad are their damn bodyguards, understand?

"Sergeant Keller, I need your Green Squad to lay the mines between us and the Marines' OP. Think you can handle that?

"The rest of you, set up on our side of the perimeter. We may be needed for more later, but for now, we're staying put. I want updates from Williams and Keller around the clock. You let me know if those alien bastards show up. All right. Captain Lloyd out."

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai. Blade of the Prophets A short distance from the Excavation Site

Suliam began to slow his rush, and gradually slowed to a graceful walk as he approached the Excavation site. He moved carefully to the edge, and leaned forward slightly, peering down into the hollowed out crust. Suliam jabbed his staff into the ground and held it tight to keep himself from falling down. The humans were within the site already and had dug down deep it seemed. They had even begun to dig out the structure itself. It was about a third of the way dug out, and Suliam could already tell they desperately wanted inside.

The Humans had swarmed the structure, and guards were positioned all around it. The place was locked up tight with security, but Suliam only chuckled very quietly. Patience was key here… Something not many warriors had. The door to the objective had not yet been uncovered, but was very close to being so. The humans were doing the hard work, so why should he kill them now? It would be foolish… Plus, with the guards and support, it would also be suicide…

With a look around himself, Suliam checked for any Human marching around that could bump into him accidentally. Seeing he was out of the way enough, and being slightly to the right of the structure with easy access to the base of the site, Suliam quietly sat down and rested his staff across his legs to keep it protected with the camouflage. The Sangheili closes his eyes and began to quietly rest, letting his body relax and his mind calm. He would need a clear mind for the coming fights… Without it… the humans would have a higher chance of success.

And Suliam would not have that…

[z]

Lucifer-077

The HEV pod dropped, shaking, twisting, her head shook from the pods motion as she fell. The SPARTANs of Gold flipped on and off of the screens in the HEV, she didn't move, or look at them, she stared out of the main glass, seeing some of the other pods flying down in front of her.

And then... As soon as she came to the right point she went through what was needed to slow her down with the chutes before feeling the pod land, neatly embedded into the sand.

Ramming her hands into the explosive locks, half the door responded and popped, Lucifer unbuckled and rammed her foot into the door three times to send it open enough for her to step out.

Her feet met the sand, popping her knuckles as she loaded up on her weaponry.

SMG and Magnums fit on to her hips, sniper and BR on her back, and then of course the grenades. She was loaded and ready. Walking a few feet away, she scanned the area around her, sniper in her hand she quickly popped it up and peered through the scope.

Scanning the area around her as far as she could, she then lowered it and looked around.

Couldn't tell if there were any HEVs around her at this point, her head was pounding a bit much.

Sending out a text to Gold, rather than speaking.

"Hello?"

Alex Summers, Green Squad

Next thing she knew, Lewis, Church and the others were at her pod. Lewis pried it open and she slumped over, taking her helmet off and resting her head in the cybernetic and flesh. The cool metal felt good on her head.

Over the COMM came the captain, Lewis responded a moment later.

"Give us a moment, boss. Squad member had a rough drop" He said, checking over Alex.

"Church, look her over will ya?"

[darthsloan]

Church slung his shotgun onto his pack and approached, insuring himself as he went there were no cuts. There were a few scratches here and there along with a couple of bruises, but otherwise she was in mean, green fighting condition. He concluded that she just bumped her head on the way down. He smiled quietly behind his visor and insured her that she was alright.

"You're alright Alex, just a few bruises here and there. It seems you hit your head on the way down but you are fine nevertheless."

He nodded to her as if to reassure her and looked off at the sky with the friendly corvette still looming in the distance, and then to the ground ahead of them to check for Green-5's arrival.

[Huka]

The winds started to pick up in the desert as Til's lance walked toward the excavation site to the point of his newcomers started to groan and moan about the desert's conditions but Sufang quickly ordered to be quiet and threatened them, much to Til's appretiation.

He didn't feel like hearing any of that today. He felt more authoritive since leaving High Charity, still mentally visualizing the glyph of honor engraved on his right guantlet, along with his fang necklace.

Stopping suddenly, the Major Domo looked around with his good eye. To the others, there was nothing in the sandy winds, but Til felt something.

"Keep close to me." He ordered through their comlinks and they quickly moved to the side of a dune. Still looking, he felt like something is out in the desert...especially with his navigations glyph indicating he was close to the excavation site.

"Stay low and scattered." He ordered and he carefully kept his eyes to the desert around him.

[Wax™]

Staff Sergeant Jason Bowers
ALPHA: Delta Destroyers
Half a mile from Excavation site

"Alpha, Lloyd. Here's your new orders: I want one squad out on patrol, since we need to figure out if the Covies are really here yet or not, Bowers, that's for you to continue doing. Get the rest of your squad to rendezvous with you and keep running the show out there. I'll make sure they get another 'Hog for you. I expect a report every ten minutes, and an immediate hail if there's any activity at all. Understood?"

Jason listened in as Sierra opened up a COM's link to the entire company, it seemed Jason was to continue his patrols, to achknolage this he opened up a two way frequency and spoke back.

"Affirmative Captain, I'll drop these ODST's off then continue on, I am thirty seconds out"

Jason watched as the Captain's company came into view, Jason slowly eased off the accelerator and pushed down on the break, the Warthog soon came to a halt ten meters away from the Captain herself, Jason then gestured for all of the ODST's to bail out, once they did Jason hauled himself out aswell and walked up to his squad who had aquired three more Warthog's one a Gauss and two vehicle transports.

"Cassie! Mount the rear Warthog and make sure our formation stay's in shape, the rest mount the Warthog's in the middle, I will remain at the front to lead the formation, GO!"

Jason moved back to his Warthog and climbed into the drivers seat, he revved the powerful Warthog before looking back to make sure his team were set up and ready to go, he then turned his gaze to Captain Lloyd and nodded to her before speaking through the COM's just between them two.

"Heading out now Captain, we'll be back for Dinner"

[Deleted]

Killinger parked the Warthog's on a more defensive position. He decided that the Guass 'Hog would be used for a method of attack when the Covenant Forces come into view. He parked the 'Hod on the other side of the hill, well the two chain guns 'Hogs covered each side of the small over hang they hide in.

Killinger pushed a rock towards the Gauss Hog to make it more natural, a few other soldiers did the same. He tossed a brown tarp overhead, he had packed it on his gear because originally he thought he was making a command post, not a observation post.

Satisfied, Killinger put large rocks over the tarp in multiple area's so it wouldn't ripple and ran down to the base of the hill. To his surprise, it looked better then he had though. The 'Hog actually looked like a pile of dirt with a rock at it's side.

He motioned over to Hicks and pointed towards the rocks, pretending to hold a LMG like an old character called "Rambo" - Hicks new what it mean. MG position right there.

Killinger opted to sit to the right, well Burnbag, the teams sniper opted to go a tad bit higher. Burnbad had proven himself to be a great sniper on Albert, before the UNSC lost it.

Burnbag moved slightly, and scanned the horizon, then his sniper pivoted to the left and he scanned again. He knew exactly what he had to do.

"All right." Killinger keyed the proximity channel, only the nine marines around him could hear. "There are nine of us here. I want shifts of three every two hours once it get's darker, but for the mean time everyone watch their sectors. However, when that time comes I want one on the MG, one on the Sniper scanning and one on the binoculars." He said.

Killinger pilled up some dirt around his feet and made a hole in the ground. He could literally lay down. He pulled out a small, rusting silver container, grabbed a Sweet Williams cigar, and lit it. He made sure the smoke produced by it wouldn't go over the rock he was partially hidden behind, no, him smoking his cigar was fine.

[Spartan 999]

Petty Officer Jethro-097

[/center]

The pod jerked and sparked, eliciting a wild grin behind Jethro's visor. The parachute deployed, slowing the HEV with a groan of heated metal. The boosters fired, slowing the descent even more. The parachute snapped off, leaving just the boosters to bring the SPARTAN to the ground.

As the HEV neared 700 meters from the ground, there was an all-mighty explosion beneath the pod. With a sickening lurch, the HEV started spinning out of control. The boosters were malfunctioning somehow.

Jethro barely had time to over pressurize the hydrostatic gel in his armor and yell "SHIT!" before the HEV slammed into the ground. It crunched into the ground, the centripetal force of the unevenly spinning pod making the HEV bounce and roll for some distance. The pod gained air for a second as it seemed to fly over the edge of a small ravine. With a grinding slam, the pod stopped as it collided with several rocky formations at the bottom of the slope.

Blinking slowly in pain, Jethro looked up to see the glass part of the HEV shattered from the impact into a boulder. Grimacing, the SPARTAN punched the explosive locks. The hatch flew into the air, pinwheeling for a few seconds before thudding onto the ground.

Jethro ripped off the safety harness, then stood tall, feet planted firmly in the pod's seat. He stretched for thirty seconds, making sure nothing was overly damaged from the landing. Satisfied, he looked down, then pulled out his MA5B and MA5K. The latter was attached to his back, while the former was gripped loosely in the SPARTAN's hands.

Stepping out of the HEV, Jethro noticed a text message pop up, sent by Lucifer. He looked down at the TACPAD on his left forearm, trying to see what kind of terrain was in between his position and the rest of Gold.

"Damn..." Jethro muttered, seeing sharp drops and steep slopes in the kilometer between himself and the nearest SPARTAN. "That'll be tricky."

Special Operations Officer Sorsa 'Xirsasai

[/b]

The phantom came to a halt, opening the doors to allow the creche of Special Operators to jump a few meters to the ground. A massive Sangheili stepped into the forefront of the others, claws clutching a needle rifle.

"Move out, keep a loose formation." Sorsa 'Xirsasai growled, motioning with his left arm. Almost as one, Intervention Creche rippled and vanished into the dust as their active camouflages took effect.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Lance Corporal Victoria Landcaster
ALPHA Company
Artuface Dig Site

The orders weren't difficult.. and the dig site was already being swarmed with marines. Just set up a perimiter, the more complicated orders came to the higher ranking marines as it just seemed their only orders where to form up with second platoon. So as Captain Lloyd continued to talk and relay orders the sniper pair strode off into the digt sight. "Ussualy we try and find the high ground, but I think we should find the low ground this time and pick what ever we can from the cliffs." Conceaded Victoria as they walked on.

"I agree" Chase stated, shouldering his DMR for a more comfortable walking position. " I just wonder what is so damned important about this excavation site that we commit these much troops to it." He thought out loud.

"Ours is not to think, only do, Chase." Victoria offered with a small chuckle. "I mean we got here first, what ever it is will be in our hands first, we just need to be good enough to keep it." She stated, kicking a small red rock into a pile of sand as they continued to walk. The pair made their way past the first MLG line being set up and to a taller rock formation in the dig site to set up. "Welcome home." Said Victoria as she turned to Chase with a wink.

Sergeant David Williams ODST
Jaded Venom Squad
Artiface Dig Site

David had been giving his part to the conversation with Lucy Grey, as the team sat around waiting for orders. "Hello, I am Sergeant David Williams........ Thats ok I got some idiots too." He said, looking over toward Susie playfully and got the bird in return. Sooner then later the ODST Captain Dylan Lloyd finally began to give out orders.

"Sergeant Williams, I want you to get inside that site, find the archaeologists, and defend them at all costs. You and your squad are their damn bodyguards, understand? Came the voice of their CO as the comms crackled to life..

"Gaurd Duty!?" Moaned Susie as she tried to supress a scream.

" Sir, yes sir. Jaded Venom will search for the archeological team and message you once they are located." Stated David as he motioned everyone to get up.

"Now you may not like this assignment but it is ours, if any one of those civ's end up dead on our watch we risk tarnishing our name. Lets try not to do that today. If you do get a chance to shoot at something, we will probably all be in danger or dying any way. You might even learn a thing or to.." He stated before patting Lucy on the back, polarizing his Visor and looking around the excavation sight. "Now where to start.." He questioned himself as he walked deeper into the site, his Squad ready for anything.

Dani-047
Gold Team
UNSCS Ares HEV Bay
Dropping in 3... 2... 1..

The overwhelming sensation of falling was something Dani never got use to as her skin began to crawl at the thought of doing it all over again. Her pod jutted, turned, and waved through the atmosphere as soon as it enetered, several small white clouds blocked her view but for the mot part all she could see was desert... what a beautifull place to have a picnic..

Dani Looked at her two screens, thankfully her screens where occupied by both Jethro and Lucifer. Dani wondered how much Jethro was enjoying himself right now and why Lucifer continued to have her blank stares... of course that is what some of the subjects turned out to be... orders takers and blank starers.. nothing more. She always hated that aspect among her brothers and sisters in arms. The pob jerked violently to the right as the metal paracchute cascaded outward and hit atmosphere to slow the pod down.. Dani thought she have to pressurize her jell but then the pod stablized again.. soon the metal parachute broke off and the pod slammed neatly into the sand. With a few punches of the emergancy release buttons the hatch shot into the air, revealing Dani. With her BR55/Bayonette attachment, and her to SMG's strapped snugly to her hips, a combat knife strapped to her chest. Soon her TAC PAD buzzed ever so slightly with a message from Lucifer.

Message: I am alive.- Dani typed back.

Lieutenant Jessica Mae Collins
ONI Section Three
Gold Team's Babby Sitter
Dropping in 3... 2... 1..

The drop had been an uneventfull one, she experianced the same sensation of falling, acompanied by the jerks of her parachute and the hard thump of her landing into the sand like always.. maybe except for the sand part. With quick punches to the release hatch buttons Jessica climbed out from her pod, eyeing the area around her she spotted one of the spartans in green, her visor tagging her as 047. So with that the ONI agent unholstered her BR55 and began walking the sand dune over toward the Spartan.

[hollowsaber]

Corporal Jake Furrow Sniper of TF77 Dropping to Planet Artifice with GOLD Team

Suddenly, the countdown-lights flickered on Furrow’s HEV pod. Ill-prepared, the trooper gripped onto the seat-handles tightly as the lights flashed green. His pod shuddered and shot downwards toward the planet, with the SPARTANs shooting down just above him. The fall would be short compared to others, but Jake started at the pods above as the closed, and eventually overtook his own. Their weight caused them to fall much faster, but that also caused their chutes to open much sooner.

The ODST free-fell slower, but as their pods engaged their chutes, his continued to fall. Another thousand feet passed by in almost an instant, before the automated chute shot out from the top of the pod. A hard jerk forced Jake’s head forward then back, smashing his helmet against his seat. His vision was blurred, and he continued to fall with resistance now. Yet, that was the least of his problems.

The trooper landed hard, harder then usual, and his pod pounded fiercely into the ground. The sand was light, and unlike actual dirt, his pod couldn’t get a solid grip. An ODSTs third worst nightmare slowly fell upon Jake as the pod lurched forward, and slammed down door-first... Unable to move, and unable to get out. Jake looked towards the emergency beacon.... Should he hit it...? If he did, the SPARTANs would surely pick-up on his location, and would probably rip him apart. But it wasn’t even his fault. Yet, he had no choice.

With a hard smack, Furrow punched the emergency beacon, and his position was immediately notified to all of the UNSC troops in the short area around his pod. Two red lights on the pod itself began to blink on and off to give off the position of the pod. Hopefully the soldier that found him was friendly... and wouldn’t snap his neck...

[Cabel]

[Planet’s Surface: Excavation Site: Northwestern Perimeter: Zulu Squad]

“Easy, Private. You’ve got the time to string those grenades properly. Follow Taffy’s lead,…we’ve all had jitters,” Master Sergeant Mark “Spade” Sorelson said, attempting to calm a nervous Private‘s nerves while carefully stringing one of at least a dozen of the M9-Fragmentation grenades in the last hour, along the portion of the northwestern perimeter assigned to Zulu Squad. The grenades had been utilized as improvised mines, with slightly less explosive force than the devoted anti-personnel and Lotus Anti-armor mines being shipped in with the Pelicans though the grenades doubled with barbed rolls of concertina wire created a startling surprise for anyone that ventured too close to the lines.

While Mark had strung a little over a dozen mines tied in with the barbed rolls of concertina wire and with extra wire for the use trip wires, the rest of Zulu Squad had been busy following the same routine on their ends. They’d been able to tie off their section of the perimeter with the other sections in the area, to reinforce their position. Several of the replacement Privates had brought one of the heavier M247 General Series Machine guns, on a tri-pod mount, and had set it up not far from the Warthog in a dug-out lined by sandbags increasing Zulu Squad’s on-hand arsenal by quite a bit.

Four meters behind the rows of concertina wire and grenades, the squad’s primary grenadier Corporal Keith “Doberman” Dennis and one of the many privates within the squad not assigned to working on the perimeter’s defenses dug a small dug out for the warthog with its front end and its winch buried in the sand with room enough for the utility vehicle to drive out the back of it. The vehicle’s shatter resistant windshield capable of being seen miles away under the open sun had been covered by what pieces of armor…scraps of titanium-a battleplating they had been able to scrounge laying around the excavation site. There had been quite a lot of it laying around that had come from bent drill bit housings or other machinery used by the dig team, and it had provided adequate protection by reducing the glare of the windshield by more than eighty percent. That improvised shield had allowed the driver and door gunner unobstructed lines of sight, and while the triple-barrel M41 turret had been unfortunately exposed on its own the sides of the turret had been concealed by the dug-out meaning the gunner could remain comfortable while opening fire downrange.

“What was that?” one of the many new Privates in the squad asked, looking up at the sound of a sonic boom followed by a massive plume of dirt being forced into the air.

“Hurry up, and finish what you’re doing. Get back to cover, and grab your gear. We’ve got company,” Mark quietly gestured and tip-toed back through the tangled wire and grenades to where their rifles had been kept. Using the binocular-feature of his helmet‘s built in visor and HUD, Mark was able to make out perhaps the one thing he wished hadn‘t stumbled on his squad that day. “Zulu Squad, Northwest Perimeter. We’ve got movement at four kilometers outside the wire. I can see a crater carved into the landscape and the plume from here. I thought the scopes had picked up an energy signature, but…it’s gone. I’m getting an odd feeling. The HUD‘s not detecting any movement, but something has to be out there. Heat signature’s not recording anything either. We‘re dug in, but we need assistance and heavier weapons or armor. We need more people in this sector,” he whispered while his training kept his heart from pounding, speaking quietly into his helmet-mic after it had tuned into the improvised outpost’s secured comm-channel and to ArchAngel Six. While the Master Sergeant hadn‘t wanted to tangle with the Covenant yet, his men dug in and switched the safeties off on their weapons and took aim. Mark knelt next to the Warthog’s added cover, with the rifle in hand. One of the Privates manned the M41 Turret, while Doberman crouched outside the warthog yet remained behind its improvised armor. The rest of the squad took up positions where their training, and marksmanship might make the difference. “Pick your targets,”

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Surface of planet Artifice

Somewhere in the desert

After going through the process of blowing the hatch and extracting himself and his weapons from the pod, Silas took his first steps in the sands of Artifice. Standing at the edge of a small cliff overlooking the terrain not far from his landing site, he scanned the horizon with his binoculars. The blanket of grey clouds he saw on the way down was now high overhead, occasionally breaking to let down shafts of glowing sunlight. All around him were rocks and dunes, canyons and caves. Although he was normally indifferent to the location of his battlefields, this world struck him as particularly stunning.

The SPARTAN opened a window on his HUD to check the team’s biomonitors. Aside from slight elevations in heartbeat due to the adrenaline of the drop, everybody appeared to be in good order. For that the team leader was thankful – orbital drops rarely went so smoothly.

“Attention team, this is Gold One,” Silas said over the SQUADCOM. “Looks like the drop went pretty well all things considered. However, we appear to be scattered. We have a supply drop inbound; everyone is to rendezvous at the drop zone double time. I’m uploading a waypoint marker to your HUDs now.”

Silas hit a button on his tacpad, and suddenly an orange triangle appeared in the distance.

“Watch yourselves,” he advised. “This area is to be considered hostile territory. Be on the lookout for enemy scouts or patrols, they may have seen the pods come down. Keep in touch at all times. Gold One out.”

Well, it looked like he had a bit of a trek ahead of him. Stowing his binoculars away, Silas hopped off the cliff and began making his way towards the waypoint. There was no enemy in sight or on the motion tracker, but he still felt exposed. He advanced with a mix of urgency and caution, machine gun raised and sweeping his surroundings as he darted between available cover spots with rapid footsteps. After only a few minutes of walking, however, something caught the super soldier’s attention. An emergency beacon icon flashed on his HUD with a distressful-sounding beeping noise. The marker placed its location a little out of his way out in an open expanse of hilly dunes, but Silas didn’t even think twice. He sprinted off towards it without a second thought.

I am such an exposed target… he thought to himself. Fortunately, the further out into the dunes he got, the higher the peaks rose. After a couple hundred meters of all out sprinting, the valleys between the sandy hills were deep enough to easily conceal a Spartan-sized target. Eventually he reached the final dune. He raced up to its peak, then slid down the steep opposite side. The pod was waiting for him in a little crater at the bottom.

By now it was obvious why the person inside had activated the beacon. The pod was laying on it’s side, hatch down. Whoever in there was completely trapped. Silas approached the pod and banged on it’s side twice to let its occupant know help had arrived. Then, after clipping his machine gun to the front of his tac harness to free up both hands, Silas gripped the overturned pod in a bear hug and forcibly heaved it into an upright position. Then he stood back to allow the person inside to exit.

[hollowsaber]

Corporal Jake Furrow Sniper of TF77 Sand-side on Planet Artifice

Without knowledge of how long some sort of rescue would take, or if there would be any at all, Jake decided to rest a little. The pod was cramped, but there was still some room to move around inside. His rifle was still in place, along with everything else, but he had turned all of the systems off besides the beacon. With careful movements, Jake positioned himself against the observation glass and took a gentle breath. He checked the beacon and shut his eyes for a nap.

Though, the sleepy trooper hadn’t even fallen completely asleep before two loud bangs echoed inside of the hull. In confusion, Jake jumped and banged his head against the roof of the pod. While he winced and rubbed the top of his helmet, the pod began to shake some. He tried to turn to get back into his seat, but the pod began to tilt up, and slowly back into its upright position.

Jake fumbled to get a grip on something, and accidentally hit the door release when the pod was finally upright. The door hissed then blew away from Jake’s back, leaving him with no support. The trooper stumbled backwards and got his heel caught on the frame of the pod, falling flat on his back in the sand. A wave of heat encased the trooper and he groaned lightly in discontent. This day couldn’t get any worse... or so he thought.

Above him, waiting, was the same SPARTAN he had ran into earlier. Was this hell? Because it really seemed like it.

Jake sat up, then leaned forward to his pod. He popped up onto his feet and yanked his sniper rifle from where it was nestled. Other SPARTANs were speaking over the radio about them landing, but Jake kept his microphone muted. As he turned to face the SPARTAN, he just stared up at the walking tank.

Jake didn’t say a word to the Super-Soldier, but instead gave a slow salute... When he actually tried to say something, his lungs seemed to lock up and his lips only quivered. Almost as if his body had forgotten how to talk... Instead, the Trooper pulled up the messenger swiftly, and sent a message directly to the SPARTAN in front of him over the COM channel.

“Sir, Corporal Jake Furrow reporting.”