Mission 4 - GROUND BATTLE THREAD

[SuperCommando]

CPO SPARTAN-009 (Silas)

Planet Artifice

Evac Pelican

Silas observed the conversation between the fearsome silver-armored Elite and the mysterious android girl with keen interest. Their discussion involved the war, and war was his purpose. Any intel he could gather from them was a potential asset. So the SPARTAN watched, and he listened. And knowing Bifrons, he had no doubt the crafty AI was using his suit to listen in as well.

While the Arbiter and android conversed, his remaining eye was keen enough to catch the nasty scowl Dr. Harper sent his way. Under her piercing glare, the soldier couldn’t help but droop his shoulders and head ever so slightly. He didn’t expect her to be pleased, and she wasn’t, but rightly so. He was rather unsure about this arrangement himself. Not for a long time was the Spartan leader plagued with such self-doubt. He didn’t like it. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to.

Suddenly, a different motion captured his attention. The Elite… it’s fist had clenched tight, the android’s words seamed to have angered him. As the Arbiter got to his feet, Silas reacted on instinct. In the blink of an eye, he made a swift, protective step beside the android, snatching his pistol from his holser. Bad idea. His injured shoulder decided it had quite enough punishment today, and locked up with a surge of excruciating pain. His hand froze just beside his hip, fingers barely able to clutch the weapon. And in the process, his movement caused him to openly reveal the left side of his head for the first time since entering the Pelican, exposing the torn, bloodstained helmet and the ghastly sight below to the Pelican's occupants...

Fortunately, the Arbiter merely turned around broodingly. His anger was internal, he did not intend to attack. So Silas backed off quietly, gingerly returning his pistol to its holster and retreating back to sulk in his corner.

[C3]

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

“It is as I fear then... So am I safe to assume that these, Creators, made the Ancient Structure that we found you in...?”

C3 didn't get to answer immediately as the Sangheili suddenly got to his feet a second later. She saw one of the soldiers near her suddenly get to his feet as well, drawing a weapon and attempting to protect her. She reached out to stop him, but proved not to need to.

The Arbiter meant her no harm. He turned away from them. The soldier that had tried to protect her seemed to also jerk from pain, revealing a horrible injury for a second. He retreated once he saw that there was no danger, clearly regretting the sudden movement when he was so injured.

“Who were the humans to the Forerunners?” The Arbiter asked, stopping at the hatch with his back them. C3 hesitated, knowing that her knowledge had already hurt him.

Taking a breath, she shook her head. "To answer your fist question, I can only assume that the building I awoke in my built by The Creators. The architecture is very similar to that of my home-world. As for what the humans are...." her gaze drifted to the doctor and the pilot as well as the other ship occupants. "If I am correct, these humans are descendants of The Creators... or as you seem to call them..... the Forerunners."

She looked back to the Arbiter. "This knowledge has brought you great pain. For that I am truly sorry..." she added quietly.

[darthsloan]

Commander Frost
Pelican in Route to UNSCS Arizona

The pelican finally arrived and the survivors were loaded into the pelican first, then he boarded and the pelican flew off. He would take responsibility for the deaths here, and take court marshell if needed. He chuckled at the fact that he probably would not be a commander of a ship in a long time.

[z]

Rakath V'keelaii

Ever so slowly, the Elite walked through the entrance hall, past the dead Covenant. As he entered the mist of sand he activated his invisibility. Slowly he made his way from the structure and stopped, looking up at the sky and then down to his Revolver.

Turning his arm up, Rakath spoke into the Comm. "This is Special Operations Major Rakath V'keelaii... I am seeking a pick-up via Phantom... I am located in front of the... "Holy Structure." He said, looking to the left and right. He was blinded by the storm, but he knew how to get a Phantom to come to him.

Pressing the button on his wrist, his beacon was sent out, signaling for pick-up. He wanted to get away from the slaughter... Now if only he could get away from the Covenant...

Kag

Magnetized to the floor as the phantom shook and turned. Kag glared at the wall, not removing his focus for a moment. His needle rifle hung on his back, Needler on his hip, and plasma pistol on the other. His "Imp" Shotgun held tightly in his hands.

So far none of his friends had commented on it... Good...

He was just waiting at this point. Waiting for anything.

[Deleted]

Second Lieutenant Killinger

Things had gotten bad. In a flash of a second, the forward operating unit found themselves engaged by the Covenant Forces before the first hour.

An Elite popped up from a rock, and two marines fired their individual weapons towards the creature. It's shields flared and it ducked back down behind the rock.

The Private produced a grenade from his rucksack and primed a frag grenade. He tossed it forward, and behind the rock where that damned Covenant bitch was hiding. "WARTTTTTTT!" The Elite screamed, then the grenade detonated.

A blueish mist filled the air, and a few limbs from the now dead elite, or at least it should be dead.

The Lieutenant lifted his assault rifle and fired at a Grunt, watched the round penetrate his breathing rig and to that note the grunt run down the hill screaming because what ever it breathed what slowly entering the atmosphere that humans breathed.

The Guass 'hog fired again, the round nailed a group of jackals. The site of their death meant four less shield wielding ass holes to kill.

"Let's get going!" The Lieutenant yelled, but a phantom approached from the right and started to fire at the Marines. The lanced of energy hit a few rocks, danced up and hit the Guass 'hog before the gunner could even change targets.

The engine blocked smoked. The Lieutenant pushed the rock aside, watched it roll down the hill and nearly hit a grunt. Seeing the grunt, the Lieutenant fired a burst of his Assault Rifle, hitting the grunt in the chest.

He climbed into the drivers seat and tried to start the engine, no go. It wouldn't even give him the pleasure of even the slightest noise.

"FUCK!" He screamed and slammed his fist onto the dashboard. Out of the corner of his eye, a Banshee approached. Why were they using so much resources just to kill nine marines!, The Lieutenant thought, no, screamed inside his head.

The bailed and rolled, just as the green blob of death struck the 'hog sending it flipping right over the hill and onto the other side.
"We lost Tarrnis!" A soldier yelled. That was the gunner for the 'hog.

The banshee switched weapons to his fixed plasma guns. He nailed another Marine and he dropped, his back burning.

One of the 'Hogs started to roll away, full with passengers. Killinger was pissed, he nearly ordered Burnbag to take out the 'hogs engine block, but then he thought they might survive this war to see family again.

On that note, Burnbag pushed the Lieutenant to the side and fired at the Banshee. Two rounds, then three then finally four. The banshee banked to the right as the Anti-Material rounds nailed the Banshee's engine.

Now, they had to get out of their. Three Marines were already dead, three were on their way out and the last three were still on the hill.

An elite popped up to the right of the group, and Burnbag pulled the trigger. His round struck the rock, causing the elite to duck behind the smaller piece of cover.

Killinger dropped down from the overhand and rolled with the landing. Burnbag jumped next. The Corporal on top was about to jump down, but was nailed in the back of the head with plasma fire, probably that elite's too.

The Corporals body fell and crashed into the dirt, their was no time. The Lieutenant hoped into the driver seat, ignited the ignition. Burnbag manned the gun, and the Lieutenant slammed the pedal to the floor. The 'Hog jolted forward, and nearly instantly Burnbag opened up on the elite at the top of the hill. His shields flared, died and he staggered back, saving him from the hail of bullets from the chaingun.

They were on their way back to the Evac site, and the Lieutenant was sure they were already under attack.
He keyed his comm channel for Captain Lloyd. "Captain, I'm on my way back! Large Covenant Force inbound to the dig site. I'll assume you've already been engaged. We took four casualties and the Guass 'Hog is down!"

[hollowsaber]

Arbiter Suliam Quart'ai Unknown Alliance Once More Into the Storm

Suliam closed his eyes and slumped his shoulders slightly. With a strong sigh, he looked back at the Android, then turned to the Demon. The warrior stared at him for a moment, then turned his eyes away to the other littler human. Suliam pointed at the bay door and the man instantly recognized the gesture, and hit the button to begin to open the bay. The storm outside was strong, but there was no other way back.

The Arbiter waited for a moment as the doors opened, then closed his mouth-guard and eye-shields. He pulled out one blade and stared off into the storm. He no longer prayed to his gods, yet called on his ancestors for guidance... They had walked the Path full of lies. Suliam hoped they would guide him differently.

The warrior tossed the Sword hilt to the human he had fought, and looked at him through the shields. Below his guard, the warrior smiled slightly, but inside he could feel his mind twisting. Weakness was not something he’d show, so it was time for him to leave.

“You fought well, Human. Keep the blade as a token of my gratitude for now... But I will be back for it.” Suliam nodded, then turned his back to the humans.

With a twisted head, and a broken spirit, the warrior stepped to the edge of the transport. He could not see the ground, and could not tell how high they were. The storm was to thick, and the winds to powerful to tell. It was impossible to even see an arms-length from his face. Even so, the Warrior looked up to the hidden sky. He growled low and let out a heavy breath before activating his camouflage. Then the pelican suddenly lifted up some as the shimmer disappeared into the storm.

* * * * * * *

Corporal Jake Furrow Sniper Of TF77 Evac Pelican

Furrow snapped up in the sand, appearing from underneath a gentle layer that had started to bury him. The Trooper looked around and found himself alone, with the Sandstorm hollaring right on top of him. Next to him, sniper rifle casings were dug in the sand, as well as blood stains in some parts of the sand. What did he miss?

Then, he heard the sound of a pelican to his right, and watched as the silhouette started to lift up and away. The Corporal stared blankly, as he watched them leave him behind in this giant storm. Jake’s heart fell, and he suddenly felt very alone as he got to his feet. Sniper in hand, the trooper tried to get his bearings in the storm, but could not find any sort of marking or anything. So, knowing that the structure was directly in front of him, as that’s how he was laying, Furrow began to walk carefully forward.

He dragged one foot lightly behind himself, making sure he was moving in a straight line instead of moving in a circle. Yet, that would not be necessary... He had only walked about ten feet before a sudden slab of metal seemed to appear out of the storm. The ODST walked right into it, thudding against the thick metal of something really big. A quick look around him showed that he wasn’t left behind; it was another pelican!

But, even with a way out, the trooper still kicked the transport craft with his boot, causing another thud on it. Stupid thing. Made him feel left behind! Furrow sighed and hefted his rifle onto his back. With his left hand, the man moved carefully around and to the back of the craft, before poking his head around so he could see inside of the bay. SPARTANs were already piling in and taking seats; this was his ride it seemed.

Knowing he had already made enough noise, Jake almost tip-toed into the bay and sat in the first-most seat. He rested his rifle in his lap, then took a look around inside before looking down at his rifle. Furrow had survived again. This time everyone was accounted for at least...

“Silas!” The thought rushed to his mind and the sniper stood quickly out of his chair, but relaxed. The SPARTAN was last seen on top of the pillars, but that pelican probably had him in it. Well, that’s what Furrow would need to believe... Quietly, the ODST took his seat again and looked out into the storm. This day was rougher then he thought.

[milostsamis]

Mattie Stroud

Mattie listened keenly as the call for help came over the COMM. He was in safe enough cover and so he sat back lightly against a small boulder.

"M-medic, I need a medic over here." the voice said. Z was quick to react to the call.

"Shit! Anders, get your ass down there and help, Alex you too. Jackson, Cox, cover em'. Stroud, spot for Cox." she ordered, and like always, they obeyed willingly. Mattie was fond of Z, and not in that kind of way. She was an amazing soldier, and a good leader. Mattie respected her and her decisions. As the twins went down to help the injured, Stroud slipped up slightly out of cover while Jack and Cox moved to the front of the vantage point to snipe out any threats. Stroud looked around below, watching intently for any enemies. He watched an Elite go down from a single sniper round piercing its head. He wasn't sure which one had taken the shot, he hadn't been looking, and the two were equally good shots. Of course, almost no one beat Mattie when it came to his MA5C. He pulled the trigger and dropped a Grunt with a three round burst. He quickly shifted slightly and took down another Grunt.

Of course, at this distance, his assault rifle was almost completely useless. "Fucking long distance.. I can't kill anything important like this.." Mattie complained. He squeezed the trigger and wounded a Jackal before it dove behind cover. Mattie found that his vision was slowly being lessened by the second, and when he looked around, he found that to the left, there was a giant cloud of sand coming towards them. "Well shit.." he muttered, before firing another burst into a Grunt. There wasn't a whole lot of time before the sandstorm completed cut off his vision from the scene below. At least the twins would be safe now without covering fire. As the main body of the storm hit them, it formed a kind of wall. No one could see too far around them. Which was an advantage as well as a disadvantage.

Mattie found that he was sweating, as he dropped back behind cover, no longer able to see. He could feel the beads of sweat running down his face, and not for the first time, he wished for some water. He didn't dare take off his helmet though, because as soon as he did, he knew that he'd be eating a mouthful of sand. So he forced himself to be content with complaining a little more. "God damn desert heat.. Fucking sand.. Fucking excavation sight.. Damn Covenant." Mattie muttered quietly to himself, though he wouldn't be surprised if it were loud enough for the others to hear. He just wanted Isin or Lucy to make the call for them to move on.

[hollowsaber]

((NPC Pelicans))

“We’re loaded up. Let’s get the hell out of this storm.” The pilot said over the craft’s speaker system.

The pelican, along with the Sparrowhawks, we starting to get swallowed within the sandstorm. It was time to go, and with all of the SPARTANs on board, they had little time to waste. The Captain would need his team back in one piece, not thirty or fourty... One.

The pilot hit the engines to full power, the orange glowing thrusters turning almost red from the extreme amount of thrust being pushed through them. The pelican was being weighed down drastically by the heavy SPARTANs, but slowly, the craft lifted up. The pilot growled and tilted the thrusters straight down. Once they got moving, it would be a lot easier to fly. As the craft lifted, it started to answer the large-amount of force, and moved off the ground and into the air.

The pilot grinned with satisfaction, and began to shut the bay doors. He flicked on the internal bay-lights, activating the red lights inside the bay for the SPARTANs to see with. Their ride would be short, as the craft tilted upwards and moved directly towards the UNSCS Ares

“Ares, we’ve got the SPARTANs and the Package. We are inbound. Keep the beer cold for us will ya?” The pilot laughed a little and sighed of relief as they finally exited the storm. To his left, he saw the second pelican come out of the storm as well. The ship tilted over and moved in behind as the Sparrowhawks adjusted to protect it as well.

[Deleted]

Second Lieutenant Killinger

The storm came out of no where. All the sudden his view of the other warthog turned into sand and the noise of wind. It was hard to navigate. Fortunately, his eye piece had the location of the dig site.

Since he was an officer, he was implanted with a neural lace, allowing him to activate a map on his eye piece.
Yes, it was all clear to him now. He was completely off course. He added a waypoint to his eye piece and set the warthog back on track.
The bad thing was, the other warthog was completely off track too, and now the Lieutenant didn't even know where it was. The storm was jamming FOF tags, so he couldn't just look at his eye piece and find the friendly 'hog.

The 'Hog slammed down and the occupants flew out. Killinger landed in a thump as he nearly avoided death by the Warthog itself when the vehicle rolled to a stop in the sand dune they were in.

"Burnbag!" He called out, waiting the reply of his sniper.
"I took a nap during the crash, but I'm up now!" He yelled.
"Good to hear it!" Killinger replied.

The bad part was, the front wheel of the Warthog had been ripped of from the crash... They had to walk home now. The good part? Covenant Air wouldn't be shooting at them anymore.

Killinger keyed the EBAND comm channel, it would sent out a signal to any one who could receive in the proximity of it, kind of acting like a beacon. The only bad thing about that channel, unlike ships, it wasn't secure on the ground.

"This is Killinger to any UNSC Force that can read. We are down in a sand dune and can't see shit. Requesting evac bird." He said into the microphone, keeping his rank and position off the radio until a secure line could be established.

[C3]

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

C3 started to protest as she saw the Arbiter jump from the ship, but it was too late. Stopping at the edge of the ship's hatch, she only saw him for a second, before the sandstorm swallowed him.

She stood there was a long time, until she saw the human working the hatch give her a hesitant look. He wanted to close it, but didn't want to challenge her. Reluctantly, she backed away and allowed him to do his job. The hatch closed a second later, sealing them off from the outside. C3 went over and sat down in a nearby seat, seeming lost in thought.

She fell silent where she sat, closing her eyes. So much was happening that was leaving her very confused. Her conversation with the Arbiter had made one thing very clear to her though. A lot had changed since she had gone dormant. Gradually, she went through her memory banks, re-ordering what she could currently access. Over 80% of her data was out of reach for the moment, most of it being The Creators.... The Forerunner's history. But she could at least remember the very last of her days with them.

She remembered the decision to destroy everything.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Dr. Victoria Harper

A small sigh escaped the scientists lips when the alien threw the hilt of his blade toward the spartan and jumped into the storm.. she didn't protest much because she couldn't stand that murderer but when C3 went to look outside for him Victoria got up and moved toward Silas. "Here..." She booned, handing him his knife that he had dropped in the fight before walking over to the seemingly troubled andriod. "C3135, is there anything else I can call you besides that?" She asked, with a hint of a smile on her face. Her brown hair was not a rats nest, poorly pinned up from before the covenant attack, sand blasted, and blood splattered.

Lieutenant Jessica Mae Collins, ONI

The metal walls all seemed to grown silently as war raged on all around.. the warm sun no longer bathed her as she sat fairly hidden away behind a still smoldering metal warthog and a sturdy ancient metal pillar. Her arm had numbed a while ago and she finally gained the courage to look at it, twisted and broken. "Fuck.." She moaned as she finally began to come out of her daze.. someone was by her.. should she grad for her pistol..? No..

"You alright?" Asked John Patterson, Dr. Victoria Harper,s assistant in a small voice. He was knelt next to the ONI agent, taoing up her unarmored right leg with a wierd looking sauve. he made a few tutting noises before he was aparantly finished with his work and looked off to a direction she couldn't quite grasp.

"I found her, now do your part and help me carry." He moaned as he dragged Jessica out into the middle of the casket room.

Lieutenant Aspen Jade Watts, Flight Resgister Zulu 24

"Don't forget I am flying you out of here to." Aspen reminded him while she helped the ONI scientist strap the wounded ONI agent to a stretcher for safe transport to the Pelican with a CASEVAC still attached. John insisted they go inside alone as to not attract attention so the marines and medical team stayed with the Pelican and Dan, her co-pilot.

[z]

Rakath

With no Phantom in sight, the Elite turned and walked slowly to the door of the structure. This would give him time to explore the building... His silent footfalls his the ground as he moved, his footprints dragging sand and blood were not good for stealth. Shutting down his inadvisability in the large entrance hallway, he kept up the walk.

A few steps away from the Casket room, Rakath heard talking inside. Fading from sight again, he gripped his Revolver just in case.

Slowly coming around, his feet making next to no sound now as he came closer he noticed three humans. Choosing it was time to show himself.

Coming to visibility, his Revolver down the Elite stood quietly watching them.

"Human... Are you injured? Any of you?" Rakath really in truth did not know... Even after killing so many he did not know what made them tick.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Lieutenant Jessica Mae Collins, ONI and Lieutenant Aspen "Jade" Watts

"One.. two.. three!" Cried out Aspen as she, with John, hefted up the stretcher in preperations to take Jessica back to the pelican. The pair was actualy about to move when a eliete turned the corner.

"Jesus!" Cried John, sure he would be killed as he noticed the large weapon in it's hands. he was about the drop the stretcher when the thing spoke

"Human... Are you injured? Any of you?" The thing asked as it stared toward them.

Jessica, the injured agent who was now strapped to the stretcher tried despretly for her side arm she just couldn't reach. "Fuck.. we're fucked.." She moaned before turning her gaze toward Aspen who returned a hopeless look to her, she had a side arm.. but by the time she dropped the stretcher and pulled it she would be dead.

[z]

Rakath

Grumbling at their response, the Elite set his weapon on his hip. Looking at them for a moment before shaking his head, thinking of the words to put in so they would understand.

"I... Do not intend to hurt you, Humans..." He said, slowly moving towards them. He was unarmed, he even had his hands raised up in an almost human-like gesture.

"Not tell me... Do you need..." Rakath stopped fro a moment and though. "Assistance?"

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Lieutenant Jessica Mae Collins, ONI and Lieutenant Aspen "Jade" Watts

"I... Do not intend to hurt you, Humans..." The alien said, putting the weapon down and moving toward them with its hands up. His words dropped and went ragged every time his mandibles seperated.

"Not tell me... Do you need...assistance." He asked, in the same ragged Lizard husk of a voice.

"The fuck..?" Jessica moaned as she turned her head to face the alien.

"Listen.. what ever you are. We were just about to leave.. you will be shot if you.... er.. help us.." Whined John as the shaky assistant began to creep toward the east hall with Aspen, both still holding the stretcher... this day turned from a simple archeological dig to one of the wierdest days in his entire life.

[z]

Rakath

Tilting his head a bit, he clicked his jaws together. They seemed to be... Scared of him... Or saw him as strange. Either of these things would describe the current situation Rakath felt. He was just glad his Lance was not here.

A growl came from around the corner as a large form came to a darkened entry-way.

A Brute slowly stepped out, face bleeding and looked from Rakath to the Humans. In a rage he yelled out and charged at the humans. Rakath had to act fairly fast for this.

His Sword was drawn in one hand, he vanished... and as the Brute was about to reach the humans it stopped, choking on blood for a moment before the head toppled off.

The flicker of camo was obvious now, as he shut it off, Rakath looked back at the humans and motioned them to hurry out.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Lieutenant Jessica Mae Collins, ONI and Lieutenant Aspen "Jade" Watts

The group of three continued to inch their ways toward the exit when a large bleeding brute emerged from the west hall and charged toward the human group. All three humans looked for the eliete but it was gone.. where they halucinating or was this a trap? The large ape charged and John was about to drop the stretcher and make a cwardly escape when the brute stopped as if it was hit by a brick wall.. gurgle out blood, and then dropped to the ground. Soon that same sangheili popped out of camo and into existance by the brutes body and then made a motion toward the east hall.

"Yeah I was planning on it.." Mentioned Aspen as she and John began to move in a hurried pace down the hall, hoping to leave the alien behind.

[Spartan 999]

First Lieutenant Isin Herald

[/center]

Isin tried to see through the sandstorm, which ultimately proved futile. He glanced down at the barely visible crimson handprint painted on his chest piece, sighing when he realized it would need to be painted on again after he got out of this sandy hellhole. He looked to his right, seeing the vague outline of Lucy. He flicked on the COM, as talking normally would he nigh impossible in the roaring winds.

"Gunny, the sandstorm's too fierce; we need to head inside the structure for cover against it." He said, feeling the itching pain of a few stray pieces of sand on his face and neck. "Come on."

Isin stood, body bent against the wind as he did so.

[Huka]

Major Domo Til 'Muramee

Having long disappeared in the battlefield, Til and his lance came under attack by a seemingly constant materializing human force under the guise of the storm, but they also have the storm as a advantage.

Kicking a human square in the face with a heavy boot, Til stomped its face in the second it fell on the ground. Pulling a plasma rifle from his hip, he fired with incredible aim, hearing the screams of pain from each shot.

"Beat through these curs!" Til roared over the winds, holstering his plasma and needle rifles, and keeping himself low.

Skor was in a impressive battle of his own in the storm, clubbing a human in the face with his own rifle, the novice grabbed the nearly-dead creature by the throat, and tossed him into a coming group like a rag doll.

The Unggoy and Kig-yar kept themselves scattered but careful on each other's protection, firing plasma and needles.

While surveying the battle, Til saw four more humans coming to challenge him.

With almost lightning-fast sprints, he pulled two curve-blades from his lower-back, and cut two of their necks without them even knowing he was there.

Stabbing both of his knives into the third's neck, he twisted his own body to catch the last between his feet, and had all of three of them spinning in the air til the Major Domo slammed his first victim in the ground, flipping, and thrown his last through the air with a snapped neck.

Looking around, he could hardly see his [yellow]new aide[/yellow] if it wasn't for his optical len, who was fighting with impressive skill.

[darthsloan]

The sand was thick, very thick and the winds did not help the situation. He clicked his mandibles mischeiviously, crouched down, and snuck around the humans. As long as he stayed low the humans could hardly have a chance to see him, seeing as they were busy with the rest of the lance.

There was one human that lagged behind the others and L'Sae chose him. His own code of honor prevented him from killing or harming anything from behind, but it didn't restrict him to use it as a shield. Steadily and silently he went until he approached the unexpecting human. Quickly and smoothly he acted, grabbing him from the back of the throat, hoisting him off the ground. It attempted to scream but L'Sae hushed him with a soft but cold voice, "Speak not human, I will not harm you." The human trembled in terror from his grip but he kept silent, save for the occasional quiet grunt or moan.

Now that he had his shield he approached the other humans and opened fire. One fell dead and another followed suit before another tried shooting L'Sae, with the bullets hitting the the.... "Shield". The shots wounded but did not kill the human he carried, and once the firing marine realized what he was doing he back away slowly with his firing ceased. L'Sae chuckled in minor humor and fired his weapon.

[Cabel]

[Planet’s Surface: UNSCS Beaver Crash site: Zulu Squad]


“Pucker up and make ‘em count,” Mark managed to say as quietly as possible into the helmet-mic to the rest of his squad, squeezing back the trigger of the MA5B Assault rifle at a stream of those canine-like aliens that wreaked of methane. Ever since they had managed to rescue as many survivors as possible from the downed-corvette UNSCS Beaver with their commanding officer a Commander Frost and saw them airlifted to safety, Zulu Squad had found itself caught in the middle of a sandstorm and patrols or more likely seeker squads of Covenant.

The Canine-like, methane-breathing Grunts had mostly filled their gun-sights after the first few such patrols, but more and more those vulture-like Jackals appeared. Mark figured if they were blind by the storm, the Covenant were nearly if not equally as disadvantaged and that meant if Zulu Squad remained in a single place they might be better off for it. He’d ordered his men to dig in near the Warthog, and to remain under the shelter provided by the downed-corvette in an attempt to minimize the possibility of fratricide or worse running into an entire enemy column. The clatter of nearly a dozen MA5B assault rifles, the clap of a DMR, the growl of the triple-barreled drum-fed M41 LAAG, the lighter M247 General Machine gun and the occasional rocket or from an M7 SMG competed with the howling of the storm as Covenant unfortunate enough to stumble onto the improvised pill-box fell. “Zulu Squad,…Master Sergeant Sorelson to Fire Tear, where is that EVAC? Zulu Squad, to Fire Tear, acknowledge,” He'd been trying to raise the Fire Tear for the last hour, but the winds kept jamming communications and from before Zulu Squad had filed into a Pelican dropship the situation in orbit had been to say the least troublesome.

“Why haven’t they come yet?” One of the replacement Privates asked, over a helmet-mic.

“I don’t know. The situation must be worse upstairs if the Fire Tear can’t send a dust-off our way,” Mark replied, over the channel. “Keep your eyes down-range,”

“They’ll come for us, Sarge? Won’t they? They have to, right? They can’t leave us down here…” the Private began.

“They’ll send a dust-off, son. They know we’re down here, and will send one when they can. Now, keep your eyes down-range. Shoot anything that looks like your sister’s bad date,” Master Sergeant Mark “Spade” Sorelson interrupted, attempting to calm the Private’s nerves. Even though the marine hadn’t been his own biological son as his children had been in grade-school, he considered every marine…man or woman under his command as family.

[Huka]

Surveying the area, Til could see there will be no humans around them for now, but he had to keep moving. He've heard fighting not to far from their own battlefield some time ago, before they were attacked. Maybe they'll find some allies ahead or at least the other entrance into the Forerunner temple.

Getting a bit impatient at walking around blind, he decide to communicate with some one, "This is Major Domo Til 'Muramee of the Viligant Vanguard. Can any read my communication? If there is anyone in or near the Sacred Relic, please answer immediately. This accursed storm is blinding us..." He said before he heard stepping.

Spinning around, he saw a figure coming towards them. Suddenly another, then another.

By the Gods...

Soon they found themselves surrounded by humans. Moving to grab his spear, the first shot was given, and before long more came.

[darthsloan]

L'Sae Fulthamee


L'Sae kept hold of his human shield who cringed and moaned under his grip. The remaining humans refused to fire directly at him, in fear that they will hit their comrade. Instead they backed away toward the remainder of the lance while shooting at L'Sae's feet or above his head. He mused with a click of his mandibles and fired his energy rifle again, striking on of the humans dead.

At the sight of another dead comrade they began to tuck tail and run to get away from L'Sae, but they were running in the direct direction of the rest of the lance. He mused again, which showed in his voice as he spoke to the human once more. "Did you see with your own eyes human? How they ran in cowardice? This is one of many reasons we hunt your kind.... remember."

[Huka]

Til was nearly knocked off his feet from the fury of bullets that hit his body as he took his place between the hail of projectiles and his Unggoy.

"Major Domo, there is no need to protect us!" Igri urged. Til didn't falter and roared in defiance of his enemies as his Kig-yar moved to take his place with energy shields up and ready.

Skor roared in bloody vengeance before charging, blood dripping from wounded as he charged with his shields still from the previous battle.

Clubbing a human square in the face with his plasma rifle, he grabbed the face-smashed cur by the air, and flung it into a comrade, before firing his rifle into its ugly face.

A vengeful human tackled Skor from behind, knocking him off his feet, and stabbed into his side with a knife. Howling in pain, Skor tried to pry the thing off his back but the human continued its assault before Sufang lunged from the side, digging his own razor-sharp claws into the human's unprotected side and pulled the screaming foe back from the Sangheili.

Skor looked furious, and most of all embarrassed at being saved by a Kig-yar, watching as the mercenary cackled sadistically at the human's pain, his own humiliation still burning in his head.

Wrapping his other hand around the human's face, he whispered something in its ear, most likely it didn't understand, but he didn't care, and snapped it. Then he looked to Skor, who quickly averted his eyes, and simply chuckled.

Til was on a knee from his few wounds, but luckily the Unggoy have fired before he was shot to death. Despite the piling bodies, the humans still tried to kill the lance. "We will not die..." Til said as the Unggoy hissed in vengance of their leader's wounds caused from trying to save them.

"We will not falter." He said, his blind eye starting to burn, staring at the few humans left. "We will be victorious!" Til roared, his voice booming loud and savagry seeming to shake the ground under their feet.

Lunging forth, he flicked his wrist, summoning his energy dagger. Seeing the plasma blade, one of the humans shouted in warning, but Til sliced its throat wide open. Surprised to see the Sangheili on them so quickly, the other moved to hit Til with the butte of its rifle, but the angered Sangheili backhanded it so hard that its neck snapped, and the last had its slender rifle on Til.

Feeling the bullet ping off his helmet, Til stopped and stared down at the human as if frozen in time, and the human was quite as scared, eyes wide with fear at the horribly scarred Sangheili, meeting his own serpent-like eyes.

Pressing its trigger again, the human found its rifle empty. Then a growl rumbled in Til's throat.

Til's eye looked at the human, it didn't wear armor, probably unable to walk through this burning heat like Til could. Good, this is going to be enjoyable.

The human saw the malice come in the Major Domo's eyes and tried to run, but he grabbed its shoulder, then its face tightly, keeping it in place.

He stared into the human's eyes for a moment more before pulling his other hand away, and make it into a knife-like posture. Then with a grunt, he stabbed his hand into the human's torso, right under the middle of its ribcage.

Clicking his lower mandibles, Til watched the human gurgle from a mouth full of blood and seemed to pull back, but pushed deeper until his whole forearm ripped through the human's back.

Watching his victim die painfully, Til felt a ping of sorrow and some regret, but a deeper pleasure burned. What is this war turning him into?

Slowly tearing his hand out, Til let the human fall to the sand, and watched the sand redden with its blood.

Lifting his armored hand to his face, Til looked deeply at the crimson blood.

"What is this war about? Why kill these humans?" Til asked.

Skor limped toward his mentor and bowed quickly, "Mentor, surely you understand that the holy Prophets have ordered their ultimate demise for their unforgivable heresies and transgressions against our Gods and the Prophets themselves."

Still looking at his hand, Til grunted at the common excuse. "Is that all we know?"

[darthsloan]

L'Sae moved his way to the rest of the lance, and caught up with Til and the rest of the lance. He had forgotten about the human in his left hand, who reminded him that he was alive by a weak writhing movement. He let him go, and watched him cough and tend to the bullet wound he sustained.

L'Sae thought about ending this human's life but decided not to.... after all it had served him well. He turned around and addressed Til on the issue. "Mentor, may we leave this one alive?"

[Huka]

Looking at L'sae and hearing his request, Til closed his hand tightly, and replied, "Perhaps. It might be able to lead us to the structure's other entrance. If not, it will be put down. Understand?"

[darthsloan]

"Of course Mentor, its all yours." With those words spoken, L'Sae stepped away from the human, allowing Til access to him. He knew the unngoy and the kig-yar would want to tear the human to shreds. To prevent this he shot a menacing look toward them, scaring several of the unngoy, though the kig-yar hardly even flinched. "I do request mentor that should it be put down, I would do it."

[Wax™]

Ending Post for Mission 4 Part 1 - Part 2 starting shortly.

-Post done by Killinger

The Pelican banked to the right, the building labeled as "Control Center?" closed in on the hud. The Arizona had dispatched the two pelicans to recon the area that they had observed from orbit when the planet rotated to reveal the larger Forerunner building on the surface of the planet.

The Pilot did the common sense question, chances are their would be Covenant Forces. Her wing-man accelerated then matched speed with the Lieutenant's bird.

"UNSC Arizona, Charlie Two-Four-Five and Two-Four-Six approaching recon position." The Lieutenant said into her comm channel.
The female voice of the Arizona's Comm officer echoed inside the quite Pelican, all but the noise of her engines running. "Copy that, Charlie Two-Four-Five"

The structure loomed ahead and the Lieutenant touched some keys on the controls and the pelicans noise lifted, the thrusters switched to the VTOL maneuvering mode and the pelican slowed down.

Charlie 246 moved forward a tad, switched to maneuvering mode and slowly dropped towards the other side of the building.
The Lieutenant swung his pelican around, the building disappeared and showed the sight of the landscape around it.

"Alright, Marines! Go, go, go!" The crew-chief yelled. The marines pilled out and did a quick scan of the area. Their weren't any Covenant Forces to be seen.

"Alright ground team, I'll stay on station in case the Covenant want to mess with our little party." The Pilot said through the proximity comm channel. He pushed the throttle forward, feeding fuel into the engines.

After the pelican floated upward, the pilot engaged the drive system, and the pelican shot forward, turned to the right and rejoined it's wing-man.

A small silvery metallic machine floated in front of the speeding pelicans, and the Lieutenant turned the bird in a 45 degree angle. What the fuck, the Lieutenant thought as he checked his systems... No damage.

"Whoa! What are those!" The Co-Pilot said as the machines started to surround the two pelicans that were now hovering.

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

As the large doors parted, the twenty four man marine team stepped inside.

"Fifth and Sixth squad, cover the main entrance!" The Sergeant said.
"Yes, Sarge!" A Marine said.
Eight marines total turned and walked towards the door, reached a good defend-able position behind two large separated pillars.

The rest of the sixteen marines moved forward, four more peeling off after every door way.

Eventually the squad made it to the control room, and all eight marines stood amazed at the screen in front of them, however it was not a control room.

The holographic image had the planet rotating nearly ten times as fast as the real rotation, revealing the UNSC, Covenant and even... Hell, no one knew what the hell those things were.

"All UNSC Forces, prepare for EVAC. We have the asset we required for the mission." The Admirals voice boomed into the marine team's comm channel, and every other UNSC Force on the ground.

"Hey, Dexter. What was the asset?" The Sergeant radio'd the Pelican pilot.

"Hey, Sergeant. You won't believe what the hell is around us. They are... Machines, but I've never seen anything like them before." The Lieutenant replied.

"Hey, let's keep focus." The Sergeant said, a tad annoyed.

"Right, it was a forerunner drone or something." The Pilot replied.

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

The Drones broke off, and engaged the two drop ships. The first of many red lasers slashed off the pelicans armor, but still damaging it.

"This is Charlie Two-Four-Five, we are under attack!" The Pilot screamed into the microphone.

To the right, Charlie 246 turned and started to use the 30MM autocannon mounted on the noise. A few of the machines exploded into a sizzling wreck that plummeted towards the planets surface, however 246 was over whelmed by the numbers of these new... Hostiles.

Charlie 246 took the beams to the rear nacelles, one of it's vectoring pylons. It started to turn towards the right, then the red beams connected with the left engine pylon, severing it from the Pelican.

Dexter watched in horror as Charlie 246 fell towards the planet in a 360 spin, as it's engine pylon spun at a much more rapid pace.

On that note, he jammed the throttle forward and the pelican launched away.

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

It seems like nine or ten bullets would take one of these things down. The eight man fireteam at the entrance was quickly overwhelmed, and the four man fireteam's at the next set of doors didn't fare well either.

The Sergeant raised his gun, pulled the trigger and watched as one of the machines exploded and crashed to the deck in a burning heap.

The remains from the fireteams outside the room regrouped with the Sergeant and his ten... Now six men, but the room was secure once again.

Overall, our of the twenty four marines, twelve had died under the red beam of this new floating machines.

"Burst fire your weapons!" The Sergeant spat.

"Sergeant! I'm inbound hot to pick you up, Charlie Two-Four-Six was destroyed, it's going to be cramped!" The Radio sputtered to life.
"No it won't. We've got ground casualties." The Sergeant responded, opening up on the nearest machine, but it was too late. A young private received the red beam right to his throat. He slouched over and the pool of blood indicated he was already dead.

"Lets move!" The Sergeant barked!

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

The Pelican turned sharply as the pilot brought the rear hatch to the pelican down onto the platform. The crew-chief grabbed a MA5B Assault Rifle and loaded it. The Co-Pilot climbed out of his seat and grabbed one also.

The machines followed the Pelican, and actually tried to enter the pelicans troop bay, but the two aviators cut them down with a concentrated angle of fire... They were in a Troop bay after all.

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

The Sergeant burst out of the main door, firing behind him on fully auto. Screw his orders to burst fire. He was losing men, and fast. Inside, the corpses of fifteen marine would stay to rot unless they could get back inside to retrieve them, only nine marines made it back outside, but even less would make it to the pelican.

The squad fired at the larger group of the machines, bullets tinging off the metal. Most of them fell into a heap on the building raised platform.

The Sergeant noticed small arms fire come out from the pelican, they had to hurry or there way home would be destroyed. The Sergeant pulled the trigger, and his Assault weapon responded in a click. It was empty and there was no time to reload. The Sergeant made a run for it, as did the rest of the marines. Some of them turned to fire at the machines.

During the run, two marines got hit in the back from the red beams and screamed. Three marines departed to save them. A marine fired into the mass of machines, and many were hit and smoking before the soldiers was hit by three or four beams. He was killed instantly.

As four the other four soldiers, many red beams lanced the area. All five marines were killed. Only four marines were left, safely in the pelican.

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

The Lieutenant feed fuel into the main engines as fast as he could, as a result the pelican shot forward once again. The marines fired from the back.

A few red beams nailed the pelican's main engine pylon, warning klaxon's blared to life.
"We are losing it!" The Lieutenant said, struggling to maintain the straight path of flight.

More red beams hit the pelican, and before the Lieutenant could even react he lost control of his rear right vectoring pylon, it was completely destroyed. A marine in the back swore as he watched it detach from the pelican and fall towards the planet.

The Lieutenant struggled to keep the pelican in the air, as it slowly wanted to turn to the left because of the slightly more weight.

The pelican's left engine pylon received more red beams, and as a result exploded, launching the pelican forward and into a downward spiral. Two marines were flung into the air, and started the free fall towards the surface, the Lieutenant could hear their screaming.

Surprisingly, he managed to again get a hold of his bird using the maneuvering thrusters in the engine, but it wouldn't last for long.

As the ground approached, the Pilot cut the throttle, felt the pelican fall in the air, then he slammed the throttle forward, as a result the pelican leveled off, but for only a short time.

"They are trying to sever the tail!" A Marine said.

The machines concentrated their fire in the tail, the red beams finally making it past their armor. For every second the Lieutenant stayed in hover mode, the easier it was for them to destroy the pelican.

By the time he decided to push the pelican forward, the tail snapped off.

The Lieutenant gave a loud yell as he watched the pelicans noise go down, and towards the planet and resulted in a small explosion as the pelican made contact with the planets surface.