Mission 4 - GROUND BATTLE THREAD

[Spartan 999]

Petty Officer Jethro-097

[/center]

Jethro quickly reloaded his assault rifle and masterkey, racking both with satisfying clacks. He nodded to Dani, then looked over the android. It seemed to be humanoid, but was obviously not of human origin. Maybe, created by the builders of the structure, perhaps? It was a logical conclusion, given all that had occurred.

As the Spartan continued to stare at the android, he came to the conclusion it was not constructed to be used as a weapon of war; it's features were too soft and kind, plus the fact it had organic looking facial features at all. Maybe it was a sort of nurse or doctor, designed to help comfort patients.

Jethro shook his head slightly to stop his mind from rambling on too much.

"And, who, or what, are you?" Jethro inquired of the android, his tone suggesting curiosity more than anything else.

[hollowsaber]

Corporal Jake Furrow Sniper of TF77 Sitting outside of the Ancient Ruin

After securing the package, Furrow lowered his M6G and dropped the empty clip. He had watched the SPARTANs do their fighting, and simply stood next to the Android as it happened. Now, the Covenant seemed to be gone so he was able to relax a little. The Trooper looked at the humanoid figure, then shrugged. He didn’t know much about ONI stuff, and all he knew was that he needed to secure the package. Which they had done.

Jake turned and walked back to the entrance and picked up his baby from the floor. With a concerned look, the soldier lightly rubbed the sand from the rails and in the little crevices until the outside looked clean again. He would have to do a full internal sweep later, but the rifle was still functional at least. He dropped the empty clip, then pushed in another one carefully.

Once his rifle was situated, Jake pulled the C7 explosive off the wall and turned off the primer. They didn’t need to seal their exit this time it seemed, so he would safe the explosive for another day. With a glance behind him, Furrow checked the SPARTANs and their situation before walking out into the light. He looked around for Silas, and couldn’t find him anywhere. Yet, the scientist seemed to be looking up and cursing at something. So Jake decided to look up to..

Lo and behold... Silas was up at the top of the Spires sticking out of the building. He went to aim at the Elite the SPARTAN was fighting, but he couldn’t get a clear shot. The winds that were picking up would’ve taken the bullet away anyways, so the trooper held his finger, and simply lowered the rifle back down. Furrow sighed to himself and checked to make sure his microphone was off as he moved off and away from everyone else. He had a good view of the fight, and simply sat on a tall sand dune for a wide open view of the area.

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

The top of the ancient structure

Just before the SPARTAN’s kick connected, the Arbiter leaned back and jabbed forward with his blade. Silas, in no position to effectively block the strike, was forced duck under the sizzling blade. He would have been in a very vulnerable position, but fortunately the Arbiter staggered back and out of reach of a follow-up strike.

But just as Silas was regaining his footing, the relentless Elite was already coming at him again, staying low and delivering a powerful stab right at his gut. Silas pushed off the ground with a mighty leap, dive-rolling over the stab and Elite altogether. Although his shoulder heavily protested the landing, he was now behind the Arbiter.

As he completed his roll, Silas twirled around with a slash at the back of his opponent’s legs, followed by a rising upwards slash as he stood up, and then a diagonal slash back down. The whole time he was striking with his energy sword, he held his knife defensively in front of his chest, ready to spring into defensive action.

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai Blade Of The Prophets Atop the Ancient Structure

The Demon dodged Suliam once again, this time he went over the top of Suliam. He was very nimble for a Human, Suliam would give him that. Yet, it would be his downfall soon enough. He just had to keep the Human moving, and keep him coming...

Suliam waited to hear the human land behind him, and continued propelling himself forward. The energy sword behind her moved, and as he heard the searing plasma close, he pushed off his feet and dived across the hole in the center. With his free hand, the warrior gripped the inside lip of the ledge and held tight so he couldn’t go flying off the other side. He waited until his body flopped down onto the platform before hefting himself back onto his feet. The massive gap in the middle was perfect..

“Come human... We both have little time to waste...” Suliam grinned beneath the mouth guard and held up his blade, ready for his opponent to lead his strike this time...

[Martial Virtue]

Captain Sierra Lloyd

Everything had happened so damn fast. Sierra could hardly rationalize it all in her mind. It just made no fucking sense.

She'd landed here not even an hour earlier with a company of Marines and did everything she could think of to secure the site. She'd set up a damn-well defended perimeter around the dig site, got Dylan's company to handle the rest, sent Marines and ODSTs on patrol, told them to be on the lookout for a Covenant assault, and to the depths of the structure itself, all to make sure something like what was happening now didn't. And still, somehow, things had ended up going haywire.

It was all those beyond-special ops teams that had fucked them over - from what she could tell from the immense amounts of radio traffic coming over her COM, there were SPARTANs down there inside the archaeological site, ONI, Brutes and Elites - the works. Captain Lloyd felt a lot like she'd been sent here as a prop only, just to give the appearance that the regular ground troops were here, too, putting their lives on the line, when in reality all the real work was being done underground - despite their attempt to cut off all access to the site - by the special teams. Sierra couldn't fathom how the damn Covenant had bypassed the enormous amount of firepower and number of Marines and ODSTs blocking the area. They'd all been keeping vigilant watch the whole damn time.

Fuck, she thought. All this cloak-and-daggers shit irritated her to the core. When she risked her life for something, she wanted to know that it was going to be for a purpose, not to act as an ornamental security guard.

And now everything was going to hell in a handbasket, because a friendly ship had just crashed nearby, the Covenant had dropped off hundreds of troops, and they had an abundance of Brutes out the ass to try to defend themselves from. On top of -

"Captain, I got eye's on a huge sandstorm about five miles out from the AO, it is thick and moving faster than the wind, my patrol is four miles out from the AO and are heading back now, how copy?"

Sierra snorted to herself as she shot out more rounds from her BR55 at the oncoming Covenant. On top of a goddamn sandstorm, she thought to herself. Fucking great.

Bowers had been the one to supply the update for her, so she quickly replied, "Move back towards our position, Staff Sergeant! We don't need a patrol anymore! The Covenant are already inside! We need more men here to secure the site!"

As if on cue, Sierra received a hail from the general just a moment later.

"Marine and ODST Captain Lloyd, I want you to move both of your company's into the excavation and secure a perimiter around the structure, make sure you secvure the perimiter to your six aswell, be aware marine reinforcement's will be ferried down for reinforcement."

Captain Lloyd nodded to herself as she clicked the COM again. "Sir, Marine Captain Lloyd. Site is secure from the outside. Perimeter intact. We've held this ground since before Covenant arrival." Here the captain paused and closed her eyes out of frustration. The beads of sweat that had been forming on her forehead inside her helmet began to roll down her face now after the fierce fighting. "I have no damn clue how the alien bastards got in, sir. But we'll make damn sure they don't get back out with the prize."

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

The top of the ancient structure

Ooh… This alien was tricky. He waited for Silas across the gap between pillars, just waiting for the SPARTAN to attempt to cross… This wasn’t good. Anyway he might try to jump over, that Elite would be right there to either fillet him or knock him down the gap. He couldn’t attack, but he couldn’t just stay here, either. Yet again this mission, Silas found himself against seemingly impossible odds.

Silas took a few cautious steps forward. The approaching sandstorm had now turned the horizon into a dark, roiling brown swirl. The screaming winds buffeted at the deadlocked combatants, sending gusts of sand flying around them, millions of tiny granules scraping against the pillars and their armor. And the weather was only getting worse and worse by the minute. Yet Silas didn’t care if it took minutes or hours to defeat this enemy, he’d brave the heart of the sandstorm even at these heights if it meant victory.

This stalemate could not last. He had to do something unexpected, had to do something to throw the Arbiter off. If he played the Elite’s game, he’d lose. If he didn’t play the Elite’s game, he’d still lose. So he had to fight fire with fire, trick for trick.

Silas took several more steps forward, gaining speed with each one, preparing to hurdle the gap straight at the Arbiter. But just as he approached the ledge, Silas suddenly swung his foot around to the side! His toe caught the machine gun he had left laying on the ground, flinging it through the air at the Arbiter’s face in the blink of an eye!

And in the brief second it would take for the Elite to deal with it… Silas hopped into the gap and plunged from sight. A clattering of metal-on-metal could be heard, banging against the sides of the pillars going down… down… down… until the sound was swallowed by the wailing winds.

[Dutch]

Severla hundred yards from the fighting, Patch and his spotter LeGar were nearly out of ammunition. Thankfully the Covenant had pulled back, and now the battlefield was empty. Well, almost empty.

Patch could barely believe it when LeGar pointed it out to him. One of the Spartans from GOLD was engaging in what looked like a duel with swords, against the biggest fucking Elite Patch had ever seen. Of course, that was just a bigger target for him.

Two rounds left for his sniper rifle, that fact stuck in Patch's mind as he was fed the wind speed and other data needed to calculate where to place his shot.

Damn, it was a close shot, but the wind was strong, really strong. And it was increasing almost by the second, so Patch really couldn't get an accurate idea of where to shoot. But then as they separated, as the Elite distanced himself to lure the Spartan on, Patch calculated, braced himself, leveled the reticule on the Elite's chest, and squeezed the trigger, hoping the round would strike true, dicey as the shot was.

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai Blade Of The Prophets Atop the Ancient Structure

Suliam growled softly under his helmet and watched as the human crept to him, slowly gaining speed as he had guessed... Perfect... But, what wasn’t perfect, was the machine gun that the man had kicked up. The weapon sped directly for the Arbiter, and would surely hit him straight on. Crafty human was crafty...

Though, Suliam hissed and crouched below the machine gun and rolled immediately to his right as the weapon passed over his head. The sand storm was closing, and his vision was beginning to grow worse, but he needed to focus. Behind his weapon, the human had disappeared. Where to though...? The Arbiter growled and side-stepped to the other platform, then to the next, and began to circle the top of the spire quickly, moving in different motions across the peak as he attempted to find the man.

* * * * * * *

Corporal Jake Furrow Sniper of TF77 Sleeping outside of the Ancient Ruin

As he watched the fight above, the sand storm that closed in was making it harder and harder to see so high. The warmth of the sand was also starting to caress the Trooper from below... It felt like a warm blanket cradled him from all around. It... it was hard to ignore. Minutes passed, and slowly, as the Trooper strained to see the fight, his body began to fight him. Slowly but surely, Jake started to feel tingly...

Then it went black and his family filled his mind as he began to dream once again..

[C3]

C3135-T14
Location: Unknown
Status: Functioning. Repairs recommended.

C3 had almost approached the Doctor when bullets began to fly again. It was an awful sound and she chose to move to the side of the room, distancing herself from it all as much as she could. Somewhere along that timeline, she also remembered someone shouting at her to stay inside... but she wasn't sure what order they events had all occurred in. Her recording processor must have also needed repairs.

C3 lifted her head carefully when the room fell quiet at last. The humans approached her, seeming non-aggressive to her at least. She slowly stood up straight. Her "captors" lay a few feet waya, showing signs of cooling through her thermal scan. No longer alive. She looked away from them, disturbed. She now had a couple of humans with her as well as a few of the creatures that looked like larger versions of herself.

"And, who, or what, are you?" A male asked her. She eyed him warily through her visor and let out a long sigh, something rather strange coming from a her kind. She shut her visor down and her hood receded, revealing a girl's face with short silver hair and blue-violet eyes. She turned to look at the male.

"I am model C3135, section T14. I am an New Generation Android, designed by The Creators to educate our youth. Perhaps you could explain to be where I am and what the situation is. I must admit I believe my information may be a touch outdated."

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

The top of the ancient structure

The instant the Arbiter’s face peered even slightly over the edge, the alien would find Silas’s knife flying straight up at it.

Silas was wedged in between two of the pillars just beneath the lip of the gap, his legs extended out to either side. It was almost too wide for him to be able to support himself, and right now his thigh muscles were shuddering with strain. But he held on. The deception was worth the loss of his shotgun, which he had knocked off from his back to send banging against the side of the pillar, creating a misleading noise.

Now as the Arbiter was forced to contend with his third distraction in a row, Silas took that instant to reach up and hoist himself onto the platform right next to his Elite adversary. The SPARTAN whipped out with his leg to sweep the Arbiter’s feet out from under him and trip him onto his back.

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai Blade Of The Prophets Atop the Ancient Structure

From below, and as Suliam least expected it, the knife the human was using suddenly scrapped the metallic front of his helmet, and his shields sparkled as they dropped slightly. Suliam looked down and roared loudly at the human and stepped across to the platform to his right as the man began to draw himself up, hopping over his foot as he swept it across. The Arbiter snarled loudly... He dare deceive him?!

Suliam stepped forward to rush the man, then paused... His head spun with anger, but the human had done what he did out of desperation. He had no need to be angry, and he stepped away, moving back against the edge of the platform with the wind coming towards him. Suliam braced against it, and staggered his feet, turning himself sideways slightly as to direct his blade forward...

The Demon had done it once, and caught Suliam off guard... but could he do it twice....

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

The top of the ancient structure

Well, that almost worked. But now they were separated once again, staring at each other from across the damn gap. And on top of that, Silas’s machine gun was gone, his shotgun was gone, and even his beloved knife was gone. He was running out of stuff to throw at this guy. But, there was one advantage to this situation… with the Arbiter keeping his distance, Silas had space, and space equals time.

The crafty SPARTAN wasn’t completely out of tricks yet. Instead of pursuing the formidable Elite, Silas backed up. He moved to within two steps of the rear edge of his pillar, putting more distance between the two of them. Then he worked rapidly.

He turned around, facing his back to the Arbiter to conceal what he was doing. He kept a very close eye on his motion tracker, so if the Arbiter decided to rush him, he would know. He also kept his head partially tilted over his shoulder in an attempt to keep the Elite at least partially in the corner of his sight.

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai Blade Of The Prophets Atop the Ancient Structure

A brave warrior this man was... Turning himself complete around, and pacing his back to Suliam, the Arbiter simply stared at he tried to think through what the Human was playing. Then it clicked. The man was waiting for the Arbiter to move now... though.. he had a trick up his sleeve as well..

Off his back, the warrior drew his staff into his free hand but did not activate the weapon just yet. The Arbiter took a step forward, then pounced hastily forward, lunging blade first into the human’s trap. He soared through the air until he was several feet back from the human, then he slammed his feet down and turned his blade sideways and adjusted his feet, putting his staff behind him as he prepared for a strike.

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

The top of the ancient structure

There!

Just as he finished, the red dot on his motion tracker shot towards him. Not a moment too soon. He expected the Arbiter to remain and wait to be honest, but it didn’t matter. As the Elite flung himself over the gap and onto Silas’s pillar, Silas reacted not by striking out, but by playing the Elite’s own game. He took off to the side, away from the Arbiter, and jumped to the neighboring pillar, once more putting the gap between them. Except as he landed, Silas whirled around, flinging his energy sword… which he had tied to two of his fast-rope cables!

The blade of crackling plasma swung at the Arbiter in a wide arc, allowing Silas to reach across the distance and attack him. The SPARTAN swung inhumanly fast… he didn’t want his opponent to cut a cable, which is why he attached two just in case.

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai Blade Of The Prophets Atop the Ancient Structure

PERFECT! The Demon did almost exactly what the Arbiter was waiting for...

The Sword came fast and at an amazing speed, but the warrior, ready for the ambush, leaped directly sideways; with the human. The cables swug, and Suliam put himself closer within the circulating blade. Suliam brought his staff around, and jabbed directly at the knees of the human with the blade. Then, from above, Suliam brought his energy sword directly at the humans Visor... Though, he shifted the staff’s momentum, and slammed it between the Human’s shins and dug it into the structure itself.

The human’s hands were tied, his momentum spinning into the Arbiter’s strike... and his only available weapon was out of reach...

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

The top of the ancient structure

Silas was caught off guard. What he intended to be a trap led him straight into one.

Surprised by the Arbiter’s closeness, it was all he could do to try and avoid the staff aimed at his leg. But the weapon shifted and plunged into the ground between his shins. As Silas tried to dodge to the side, he stumbled over the staff. Off balance and overwhelmed, the last thing his left eye saw was the glow of the Arbiter’s sword.

Bright… so bright…

His energy sword skittered onto the pillar opposite them and deactivated, its attached ropes fluttering in the desert wind. At the feet of the Arbiter, the SPARTAN fell heavily to the ground, faceplanting into the surface of the pillar. But the fallen soldier was not motionless… he shuddered with pain, his palms pressed to the ground as if he was trying to do a push-up. Ragged, labored breaths escaped his helmet – he was obviously fighting the urge to scream in agony.

“I-It’s not… over yet…!” he groaned, his voice fluctuating with fatigue, suffering… and determination. “YOU’LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!”

With an abrupt burst of strength, Silas ripped the standard combat knife he had sheathed on his bicep and pounced onto the Arbiter, trying to tackle the alien and plunge the knife deep into whatever he could, stabbing over and over. The left side of his helmet was torn open, exposing sparking circuitry and gore. The SPARTAN’s destroyed, hollow eye socket gazed unwaveringly at the Arbiter as Silas refused to give up.

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai Blade Of The Prophets Atop the Ancient Structure

It was nearly done... After his swing connected, the Arbiter quickly pulled back and yanked his staff from the structure. With a spin, he deactivated the blades and slid it onto his back once more. Yet, the human refused to give up and accept defeat; which was of no surprise to Suliam. He respected that in them. The Human had regained his footing, but his movements were much more disoriented and aggressive. It was almost as if he was moving off of sheer will to not be killed. Silly human... Maybe he didn’t know what a duel meant...

The Arbiter waited for the human to get close enough, then simply side-stepped. The simple movement got Suliam to the Human’s side, but with another swivel, the Arbiter was back-to-back with the man.

“Human... submit...” He tightened up the grip on his left arm with both hands, then slammed his elbow back, aiming for the Human’s lower back. The strike would disorientate the man further, and hopefully end his struggle so Suliam wouldn’t have to hurt him anymore.

[Dutch]

SPARTAN-126 (Victor)

They needed evacuation immediately. There was a badly wounded ODST just meters from Victor, along with the asset of this entire mission. Hell, she was probably the most important asset of the entire damn war so far. Victor opened his COMs and raised Captain Jonathan Michael of the Ares.

"This is GOLD Two to the UNSC Ares, we have secured the asset and require immediate evac, we also have a badly wounded trooper, please send evacuation pelicans ASAP." He said into the mike, occasionally checking the area for any possible attackers.

[Cabel]

Feb 20, 2012 1:10:32 GMT -6 @darthsloan said:

Frost nodded and limped toward the warthog followed by three of Mark's marines. They tried to help him walk, but Frost was stubborn at the moment. I seemed like hours but he finally got there and used the warthog's com system to report in to Admiral Klix, "UNSCS Arizona, this is Commander Frost Reporting in. My ship was swatted from the sky due to engine failure, and I couldn't make it to space. I was forced to crash the ship close the the excavation site, but there was only three survivors. Zulu squad was the first to find us . Do you copy?"

"We read you frost, we're sending a pelican down to pick you up. ETA 20 Minutes."

"Acknowledged, Frost, over and out" With that over with he sat there waiting, listening to the battle take place.

The improvised search party had been searching the wreck compartment-by-compartment for any survivors left inside the UNSCS Beaver‘s wrecked hull. For the last ten minutes, the group hadn’t found anyone other than charred corpses of marines to many of the crew. The impact of the corvette’s bow had been terrible resulting in the entire hull buckling and in some sections collapsing in on themselves for which Mark had been thankful no one had hunkered down in those sections, but it troubled the Master Sergeant they hadn’t found other survivors yet. A ship the size of the UNSCS Beaver had a fairly decent sized crew, even if the corvettes had been the smallest drive capable ships in the UNSC navy.

“We’re close to the main armory,” one of the three surviving marines said, standing only a meter or two away from Mark. The group of five marines, from the three survivors that had aided Commander Frost to Mark, Taffy and the replacement Private had found themselves in what had formerly been a corridor near the main mess hall.

“Taffy,…get your buddy and get over here,” Mark shouted, gesturing to the two Privates that had been at the other end of the corridor. The Master Sergeant headed over to where the Corporal had stood to find the heavy hatch to main armory had been severely dented yet retained its shape. The two of them put their backs into the hatch and its ring, but after a few tries of trying to force it open the hatch remained jammed. Pounding, in the patterns of a Morse code had been heard against the other side of the jammed hatch prompting Mark to pick up an broken pipe long enough to be used as a lever. “Taffy, help the Corporal and the others. I’ll try to wedge this pipe’s end beneath the door to get it dislodged,” The four other marines, both taking a side grabbed different points of the door as whomever had been on the other side pushed from their end and even with Mark manipulating the lever, the hatch was forced open. No sooner had the congratulatory air of getting the hatch open had passed, did Mark and the others come face to face with about a dozen survivors crammed into the main armor. Several were marines, while others had been crew assigned to other parts of the ship and there hadn’t been a single one among them that hadn’t come through the crash without some type of laceration or bruise. “Spades to Commander Frost, we’ve found a dozen survivors. Four marines and the rest are in naval uniforms,”

[Wax™]

Captain Jonathon 'Ricket' Michaels
Task Force 77: UNSCS Ares
Bridge of the UNSCS Ares

"Captain! We are being contacted by one of the SPARTANS!?"

"Patch him through!"

"This is GOLD Two to the UNSC Ares, we have secured the asset and require immediate evac, we also have a badly wounded trooper, please send evacuation pelicans ASAP."

Jonathon frowned as he listened to the message direction from GOLD Two, Jonathon leaned forward in his chair and punched in a few buttons to establish a two way frequency between himself and GOLD two.

"GOLD Two, this is Captain Michaels, affirmative on your last I will send an EVAC Bird modified for the mission and four sparrowhawk birds to protect it... It will be down in ten."

Once Jonathon finished that message he turned to the operations officer who was looking at Jonathon with a blank expression.

"Send that bird down with escorts now! I wan't them up in half that time"

[Dutch]

Corporal Jonathan Fisher
Planet Artifice
Near the dig site entrance
Status: Critical

Is it over? Fisher's bleary eyes opened again, but failed to shut out the sudden shock of the attack. A hundred images and sounds all smeared together against the inside of his eyelids and poured out into his mind. First they'd been on patrol near the dig site, and then phantoms poured out of the air and disgorged hundreds of Covenant, and the whole area turned into a killing field.

Then came the pain, agony that burned to fierce that Fisher's sight darkened and threatened to leave him again. Craning his head up, every muscle movement in agony, he saw the tip of the spike embedded in his gut, pinning him to the rock behind him. Bile rose up in his throat, but he managed to force it down. His feet were managing to just touch the ground, allowing him to support himself, and keeping the spike from pressing up into him.

"Oh, fuck." He moaned, trying to move his arms, only to realize with a jolt of terror that he couldn't feel his legs. Panic rose in hi, and he tried to keep the horror from showing in his voice as he bumped his mike on. "M-medic, I need a medic over here." He managed out on an open channel.

He heard foot steps, then two charred helmeted troopers came into view.

"Oh fuck." Mossley said in disbelief, then ran up with a medkit. "Rhodes, get a medic over here now!"

"Gotcha, MEDIC!" Rhodes shouted out. "Corporal Fisher's shot up pretty good, we need a professional over here now!"

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

The top of the ancient structure

The blow caused Silas to collapse to his knees. Despite his best efforts, despite all his tricks and stunts, he finally had to admit this fight wasn't going too well. The Arbiter was just toying with him now. Did he still have a chance to win? It didn't matter... He'd keep trying. No matter what he's always keep trying...

Silas staggered to his feet and turned around to face the Arbiter and raised his knife, his right arm hanging limply now. His ruined helmet emmited a few sparks that crackled loudly. Wisps of sand entered through the gaping slash mark, stinging his wound savagely.

"Submit?" He said, barely able to hear his own ragged voice over the crying winds. "I'll never submit. The Covenant is my enemy. My very existence is to fight you. I cannot let you win..."

Silas's vision was starting to blur. Whether that was due to the sandstorm or blood loss, he couldn't tell.

[z]

Lucy Grey

Resting on the hill, Lucy looked over at Jackson. "Hows things?" she asked.

"There's a man pinned to a ro-"

""M-medic, I need a medic over here." A voice said on the COMM.

"Shit! Anders, get your ass down there and help, Alex you too. Jackson, Cox, cover em'. Stroud, spot for Cox." she moved up beside Jackson, keeping an eye on the twins who were now there to help the injured man.

Opening his small Med-Kit Anders took off his helmets checking over the wounds. "Your gonna be alright... This might hurt a bit though, Alex hold his arm down."

Lucifer-077

She watched, entering just as the others finished off the enemies and stood there for a moment, her sniper went to her back and her hands came the duel Magnums. Maybe now she could do something more important.

She was just following her female teammate.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Dr. Harper and Dani-047

Dani stood and watched as the andriod with the female voice unblurred her bisor and began to speak. What a thing this was.. so delicate and small.. the covenant could only want her for information....

Tired of the specticul above Victoria charged into the corridor with her Spartans and the Andriod, the female scientist held the knife of Silas.. it fell into a sand dune some time before. " Victor and Jethro! I need you to stay here and help Silas if you can, the Ares is seding pelicans down correct? Good. She stated before walking over toward Dani and the asses."C3135 please come with me, we must leave now." The scientist pleaded as she gestured outside toward the two hovering pelicans. "We will leave with the left over UNSC. We need to go now before Silas is sixed." She ssaid with a small grimace before walking back toward the exit.

Dani put a hand on the andriod shoulder, "Lets get moving, no time to loose." She said before starting her walk.

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai Blade Of The Prophets Atop the Ancient Structure

Suliam growled at the man’s persistence and deactivated his blade, holstering it. If he needed a weapon, he would use his gauntlet-blades. The Arbiter kept a decent distance from the Human, as the Demons were prone to fight until the very end, many of his bretheren had fallen because of their failure to acknowledge that fact.

“For the information she has... could ultimately change the tide of this pathetic war. Several of my species would rather fight with you, then against you. The Prophets and their filthy lies have made me impatient! And many of us grow tired of them.” Suliam growled and stepped toward the Human.

“Now lower your blade, for killing you is not my intent. Give me audience with the Artifact, Human! And return to your brothers and sisters in arms!” Suliam extended his hand, hoping to assist the Human as he stood on the verge of collapse.

[C3]

C3135-T14
Location: Unknown
Status: Functioning. Repairs recommended.

C3 gave the person that looked like her a long unreadable look. This person that rested her hand on the android's shoulder.... it looked like her, but it wasn't cybernetic. She wasn't an NGA like C3. But what did that mean exactly? Where were the other NGAs? Where were The Creators?

She would have to get her answers from these humans. After all, that was what she was promised. She nodded at her new gaurdian and proceeded to follow these people to her exit.

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

The top of the ancient structure

Silas stood firm. This Elite confused him... What was he? Was he part of the Covenant or not? What kind of enemy would act this way? Was just a few questions really all he wanted, or was this a trick? Silas was still ready to fight... But for the first time in his life, he wasn't sure if he should. He was honestly torn.

After a long moment of silence passed between them, with nothing but the wail of the sandstorm to be heard, eventually Silas relented. He slowly lowered his knife, then put it back in its bicep sheath. Since his helmet was busted, he lifted his tacpad to his face and spoke through that.

"Doctor Harper... this is Gold One," he said wearily. "I need you to do something for me. The android... Please bring it up here and hold your fire. There has been an unexpected development... This could change everything..."

When he was finished he turned his eye back to the Arbiter. What remained of the Spartan's golden visor glinted from the shadows of the storm.

"If you're lying to me, I swear you will not leave here alive."

[z]

Rakath

He had entered the structure alone, making his team split apart and help certain objectives. Ever so slowly, active camo hiding him, Rakath made his way to the room he was told where Hectus and the Arbiter had been.

Seeing Hectus's body almost made Rakath angry... But he did not show it. Moving to the closest thing the Elite had to a friends side, Rakath pulled up on his large arm and turned the body over.

"Rest in peace my friend... I hope you find what you have spent your life looking for..." Rakath said, closing the Brutes eyes. looking down at him, Rakath saw the perfect thing he could use to remember his friend by. Slowly reaching over, Rakath took the modified revolver he had seen Hectus hold when they had first met.

He lowered his head for a moment, remaining quiet before taking some extra rounds for the revolver off the large Brutes body and setting it on his hip.

Looking up, the Elite sighed. "Sleep well... I will join you one day in the fiery pits of hell."

Slowly making his way to the room where he was under the impression the artifact would be, Rakath stood tall. It seemed... .The Humans had already reached it....

[Spartan 999]

Special Operations Officer Sorsa Xirsasai

[/center]

A few hundred meters away, hidden behind a dune, Sorsa aimed through the scope atop the particle beam rifle; Marum was doing the same three feet to the Officer's right. Together, they scanned in thermal, attempting to figure out what was happening through the sandstorm. He could vaguely make out the heat signatures of the Demons outside the structure, as well as the one on top who was battling the Arbiter.

Moving the reticule down, Sorsa took aim at one of the SPARTANs guarding the Artifact. Marum nodded, aiming at the Demon as well.

Petty Officer Jethro-097

Jethro nodded to Dani, hefting his assault rifle. "We'll get Silas, don't worry."

Then, as Jethro peered up at the battle, he heard Silas request for the android to come up. Jethro's brow furrowed, his grip on the rifle tightening.

Special Operations Officer Sorsa Xirsasai

[/center]

Sorsa took aim at the center of mass, then inhaled...exhaled...inhaled...exhaled...

"Fire."

The two beams of energy cleaved through the air, their aim true.

Petty Officer Jethro-097

The first beam blasted a hole in Jethro's leg, making him pitch forward. Luckily, had the first beam not knocked him down and forward, the second would have gone through his heart. Instead, the beam impacted against his shoulder. The Spartan seemed to fly forward, then jerk back from the differing momentums. He ended up flopping on his side, gasping in pain as blood pooled under his body.

Special Operations Officer Sorsa Xirsasai

[/center]

Sorsa growled, nodding in satisfaction as the Demon went down.

"We must go; the sandstorm is getting to strong and fierce." He said to the other Special Operators, holstering the beam rifle. "We can do nothing more here."

The others muttered in disappointment, but acknowledged his wisdom.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Dani-047 and Dr. Victoria Harper

The trio continued to walk.. the sand storm was begining to turn into something fierce but they continued along. Dr. Victoria's lab coat fllapped harshly in the breeze making small sounds close to gun shots.. The three where about half way to incoming pelicans when Victoria's ear peice crackled to life. "Doctor Harper... this is Gold One. I need you to do something for me. The android... Please bring it up here and hold your fire. There has been an unexpected development... This could change everything..." Came a voice... that had to be Silas. Bring the driod UP there? Was he insane..? But she could tell by the seriousness in his voice that he thought what he was saying needed to happen.. needed to be true...

"Gold one... If you are asking me to risk the entire human race on honor you are mistaken. But... you may also be asking me to save it.. so I will allow it.." She choked out, the words clearly brought her pain at the thought of doing this, but she had little choice.

"Dani, I am going to take a pelican with C3135 up to the top of the tower, inform Victor, Jethro, Lucifer, and the other UNSC forces not to open fire t the spire.." She ordered wearily before placing a shoulder on the andriods shoulder. "C3135, do not answer any of his questions untill I nod toward you if it is safe to." Victoria tutted before guiding the old driod over to the incoming pelican.

"All SPARTANs and walking soldiers are to load up into Pelican One. Dr. Harper, you are to get on the second pelican with the Android. Alpha Priority. These are orders directly from SECT-III. Silas, stand-by for pick-up.” Came the voice of Gold Team AI bifrons.

"Yeah yeah." She muttered as she continued to walk along.

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

"Yes ma'am." Dani responded before jogging off back into the storm. The sand pattered all over her armor and her visor, creating dozens of tiny impact craters and scratches all over her armor, smoothing it out in some parts too. "This is Spartan Zer-Four-Seven, do not open fire toward the spire, we got friendlies up there." Dani stated in comms, getting closer to the hall opening. She thought she could se Jethro moving but then to wild snaps could be heard, directed energy beams flew toward the two and Dani barely had enough time to jump out of the way before Jethro was hit in the leg and the shoulder. "Fuck.." Dani stated as she rushed over to him. It only took her a few minutes to asses the damage before she jabbed two bottles of bio foam into him, one for his shoulder and one for his leg. After the foam spread out and stabalized Dani yelled urgently toward jethro, "Victor!! Help me with Jethro!!!." "We need a CASEVAC over her now!" Yelled Dani into comms as she brushed a hand against Jehtro's chest. "Don't worry your doing fine." She reassured him.