M5: Rumble in the Jungle

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Dani-047

"Gold one! Roy! Respond!" Dani called out over comms, swiftly ducking under the steel branch of a Brutes arm.  The massive tree trunk for an arm swinging over her head tore holes in the air. Things had gone south quickly. Instead of giving up the search like Brutes she had seen before, they continued to search outward with an intense hatred and rage she had not expected. They spat the word she now known as demon from time to time, before slipping back into whatever grunts and hollers they called a language. Either Roy or one of the other had made a name for themselves then, before she had gotten there.

Everything had slowed down for the Spartan, adrenaline filling her blood in such a potency she seemed to lose track of time itself. As she looked toward the center mass of the Brute, knife in hand, she registered the knee of the beast coming toward her. It slammed into her center mass with a force, but damage on the side of the Brute could he heard as well, the beefy snap of a now completely torn tendon sounded out in the immediate area. Regardless, the female found herself sprawling back into the tree behind her, the Brutes extended hand keeping her back pinned to the tree. It seemed as if it was speaking to her, maybe gloating, but Dani did not hesitate to tear an SMG from her side and unload a clip right into the ape's face, leaving it a bloody mess of hamburger as it slumped to the side. 

The four Brutes behind the one that had just fallen regarded their comrade with some loss before turning their rage filled eyes toward the Spartan. They all lunged for her at once. She was a warrior, but fighting four Brutes at once in hand to hand combat would be a disaster, she was backed into a tree as it is. The fauna of the jungle this time had saved her though. Two Brutes toward her right were torn from the coming attack by large hairy legs, sucking them into the ground. Dani dove to the right, avoiding the only focused Brute's grasp, using the momentum to handspring near the second to last distracted Brute and drive her knife into its windpipe. The other SMG at her side made quick work of the last Brute, as it turned to give chase. The world seemed to shift back into normal time for her as the adrenaline in her blood lessened from the thickened soup it had become. The real time screams of pain coming from the ground beneath her would have made her cringe, if she were normal. 

The Brute that she had sheathed her knife into sat back against a tree, clutching at the knife that had torn a jagged wound into its throat. It was breathing heavily and was in no match to fight. Dani popped the spent clips from her smgs and loaded in two more, leveling them with the Brutes head before putting it out of its misery. A few minutes passed as the Spartan retrieved her knife, her satchel, and her BR from various locations and corpses along the forest floor. That was a close one, too close. She needed to regroup with her team. "Gold Team. Respond." Ordered the Spartan into comms, wondering what trouble they were cast into this time. If this kept up, she'd have to move in on Roy's position and loose time on barricades that needed to be squashed closer to the Covenant Corvette, and that was something she did not want to do.   

[Deleted]

Ultra Yrai 'Vedolmee
Northern Fortifications

[yellow] "... our holy brother and leader, General Ekdo Vo'ha Sausamai was killed..."[/yellow] 

Ekdo... dead 

Yrai was stood at the barricade, flanked by a pair of majors and watching the ships overhead. He was cautious, scanning even more carefully than usual now demons were around. Yrai had heard of the demons, evil creatures as skilled in combat as a Sangheili General with no purpose other than to disrupt the cleansing. They would be an interesting adversary...

Yrai then remembered what Ekdo had said, and realised he needed to quickly take charge before the restlessness spilled over into the troops.

[yellow] "All forces of the Sect of Lamenting Comsecration, I am Ultra Yrai 'Vedolmee. You know our General is dead, and one of his last orders was that I would replace him should he be cruelly taken by the human scum. It is therefore a necessity to alert you I am now acting commander. All forces rally around the barricades, and stay alert - the humans will not wait forever." [/yellow] Yrai roared down the microphone, returning to his original position, now with far more responsibility than he was used to. 

[Deleted]

Ultra Vinto 'Sausamai
Covenant Barricades

The news struck Vinto hard.  Ekdo was dead.  His death would strike a blow to the heart of every 'Sausam clansmen.  The General had been celebrated among the Clan.  He had destroyed any notion of unfaithfulness among the 'Sausam.  Vinto knew what he had to do; he owed it to Ekdo and the Clan to make sure his wishes were met.  Vinto left his post, searching for one of the Zealots he knew were upon the battlefield now.  Finding the Field Marshal, a towering behemoth of a Sangheili, Vinto approached him before speaking.

"Field Marshal, I am Vinto 'Sausamai.  As you know, the great Ekdo Sausamai was my cousin.  He will be missed among our people, and I wanted to ensure he did not die in vain.  Ekdo's only wish was to redeem the 'Sausam name of his father's heresy.  He died in battle to a Demon - is there a better demonstration of his piety and loyalty to the Covenant and the God's?  I ask only that you respect the General's wishes and pass word that no 'Sausam will dishonor himself or the Oath in this realm or the next." Vinto spoke confidently, proud to have fought alongside his cousin and under the 'Sausam name.  He waited for the Field Marshal's response, hoping that his request would be taken care of.

Ultra Vinza'za 'Wodamai
Covenant Barricade

As Vinza'za listened to the battlenet, news came in of General Ekdo's death.  This day couldn't get much worse...he thought, although he prayed he was right.  He continued to scan the trees, waiting for the Human's to come blasting through the gigantic creatures of this world and attempt to puncture the line.  As he did so, a swarm of wasp's burst from the treeline and bolted for the fortification.  Vinza'za sent three shots into the first, cracking the carapace and sending bug juice spraying from it's face.  It took a nose-dive like a Human landing craft after being hit by a few fuel rod shots.  All of his Creche started firing on the wasp's as they headed straight for the barricade.  He sent two more shots into another, cracking it's chest open and causing it to fall to the ground before crawling in slow circles.  The wasp's sent stinger's spraying at them, and Vinza'za ducked as they bounced off his cover.  The Ultra shot three more times.  The first two radioactive bullets missed, the last three cut right through a wasp's wing, causing it to flutter around uncontrollably.  Four more shots into it's chest made sure it was dead as more wasp's continued to attack..

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Sergeant David Williams
ODST
Pincer Movements

Carefully, the ODST  crept through the twilight of the jungle paying attention to nothing in particular, but keeping an eye out for anything. Covenant should be in these forests, if they moved out from their crashed ship, and the creatures of the forest would be out there as well. David wasn't really sure what he was afraid of more, the gigantic bugs that could tear him apart in an instant, or the lizards he was heading toward that could do the same damn thing. It was terrifying, but different at the same time, he could sense the spark of change drifting around between his squad members. 

"Sarge, if those bugs start giving us trouble, just imagine what they might be doing to those covie bastards." Offered Susie over comms, gasping in the middle of her sentence as they all trudge along. Yes, the UNSC would have it easier as they moved along the forest in their vehicles. The real men, or soldiers, were the ones walking along the forest floor with only their armor and speed as their protection. David grumbled at the thought as it crept into his head. Ping ping ping. Alarms broadcasted along his HUD as a massive movement in his motion tracker was detected. "Sarge! What the fuck is tha-!" Everything went dark. 

Dani-047
Gold One
Saving Private Royan

This had been going on too long, forces were getting closer at every moment and they still haven't relayed even the most basic information on barricades or even began to sabotage them. They needed to do this as a team, too many threats on this planet worked against them, and Dani knew she would have a harder time going on her objective alone. In a fluid movement the Spartan tore at the hard case cover of her TacPad. Within a few taps she managed to locate Roy's IFF tag in the crude mass of forest that could be described as a basic map. He hadn't responded as of yet, or flashed her any sort of signal. If he was in trouble, it was paramount to herself and the mission that she should assist, even if it meant losing time on her objective. "Gold Two, this is Gold One, I am moving in on your location to assist." She called into comms, turning toward where his IFF tag showed up on her HUD and began charging toward the position. 

Mud, dirt, and twigs clung to the soles of her Mjolnir as she charged through the brush. Plant life, animals, and the rare Covenant scouting party or two were the only things being disturbed as she moved. It was very important to get to him, so any attention she might bring toward herself was secondary to her core focus. Covenant forces would only see it as the movement of some bug anyway if they spotted her movements. The small symbol on her HUD grew closer and closer with each step, and finally the female found herself close enough to register the reports of human and covenant fire being exchanged. Whatever was in the clearing beyond her would have to wait, above her, she noticed several Kig Yar far above her (Reevar), shooting down into the clearing below. Dani, quickly reacted to this, raising her BR55 and levelling it to the branches the bird creatures shot from. The Spartan quickly got her sights in check and began to fire her entire clip at the Kig Yar in the trees. Dani hoped her fire would either kill many of them or drive them back to give Roy breathing room in the clearing beyond, if he was still alive. 

[Huka]

Field Master Til Je'at Ra'ha 'Muramai

 The Sangheili watched as the Demon started to make his retreat until an annoying factor came into play. A Kig-yar scouting party. He had half the mind to shoot them out of the trees himself but he simply watched. Perhaps, they'll be smart and keep their position or get shot down. He wasn't planning to use his comlink, this Demon could have one of its viral associated intelligence and those things were deadly enough, tapping into the battlenet like a parasite. 

 His frustration grew when the bark of a human weapon sounded through the air and the Zealot turned his head to see another Demon! Where are they coming from!? 

 Slowly moving, he held his energy sword hilt tight, on the edge to just cut the first Demon in half and go for the other. Unholstering one of his plasma rifles, he now had two Demons to deal with. Kill them both at once, chase them off, have the whole creche on this side rain righteous fire upon them...decisions, decisions.

For now, he just watched and readied himself to kill them when the time was right, with most of his attention on his chosen prey.

[Spartan 999]

Field Master Sorsa Ra'ha Je'at 'Xirsasai
In the forest near Til and the Spartans

Sorsa, having heard the reports of Demons lurking near Til's position, thought it best to go there along with Jhakkado to limit the damage the human supersoldiers could inflict. He doubted Til would be taken down by even them, but it was possible, and he had no wish for another high-ranking Sangheili to fall to a Demon's hand this day. The General he had left back on the Corvette would be able to coordinate the plan as well as Sorsa, so he was not worried about it failing due to lack of leadership.

The Zealot idly wondered if the same so-called “Spartan” he had faced a few times beforehand would be there as well. It seemed almost as though they were meant to be arch-enemies, condemned to battle throughout the war until one of them fell to the other. The thoughts ended when he neared within 200 meters of Til's position. The other Field Master's icon popped up on Sorsa's HUD, and it seemed to be remaining roughly stationary, or moving very slowly.

He heard the sounds of a human rifle being fired for a prolonged period of time not too far away, then ended, possibly after the magazine had been emptied. The noise echoed off the massive tree trunks, but it seemed to come in about the direction of Til, though off to the side from where his IFF icon was. Sorsa nodded at the Syalekgolo tailing him, then activated his camouflage system while Jhakkado did the same. With the thick foliage around and the heat of the surrounding air, it would be difficult to make out even his increased thermal signature if the humans used their advanced vision modes.

Sorsa brought his carbine to bear and continued to move steadily through the foliage, but sent a ping to Til in order to alert his brother of his presence.




Major Domo Ziin Shal'toree
Some distance from the Corvette

Ziin ducked behind a relatively small fallen tree trunk to avoid the fire of one of the many human scouting lances probing the Covenant's defenses. Bullets whizzed overhead, but part of the crossfire was eliminated by two beam rifle shots from Gat and several needle rifle rounds from Raz as the Skirmisher pair opened fire from their position higher up on a tree.

“Lusa, go to the right and flank!” The Major Domo ordered, popping up to snap off a few shots from his own rifle, which sent several pink shards hurtling into the underbrush towards the humans. He didn't know if they hit anyone, but it would provide a distraction for Lusa to move. Jhar remained with Ziin, and would provide some explosive distractions...now.

A bright flare of blue came from the left side, throwing several hundred kilograms worth of dirt into the air, intermixed with shining blue plasma that seared the air and earth when it fell back to the ground. At least one of the humans had been injured by the blast, his lower right leg seemingly broken by a rock that had acted as a cannon ball by the force of the explosion. The human was going into shock from the injury, but his closest comrade darted out into the open to drag his fellow back into cover.



Skirmisher Major Cyy
In the forest between the yellow and red circles

Cyy grunted shrilly upon jumping over to a nearby tree. The thick branch he had landed on bent very slightly, but it was more than strong enough to support his weight and the weight of his fellow Skirmishers. The majority of the jungle was too choked full of underbrush for them to make full use of their speed, and so had pressured them into taking to the trees from time to time. Travel was still slow, but they could see for a father distance up there than back on the ground. On the plus side, it allowed them to spot approaching humans before the aliens had ever noticed them, which was occurring now.

The Major squawked softly at Set and pointed at the distant file of humans. They were hindered by the terrain, but they were undoubtedly heading in Cyy's direction. The sniper brought his focus rifle up and fired a short burst, which burned right through one of the humans' skulls. He dropped without a sound, skull blackened and burned. Cyy fired a split-second later, along with Rav and Dax. Needles darted out from their rifle's barrels, which chased down the few remaining humans and impaled them before detonating, throwing bits of bloody bone and internal organs away from their now mincemeat corpses.

Silence fell a few moments later, save for the occasional jungle noise from off in the distance. Cyy chittered in satisfaction, then froze when he heard the underbrush shift nearby. A clatter sounded, akin to the snap of a large creature's teeth... Or a rather large alien animal's claws snapping, as was revealed when a very strange creature moved into a partial clearing as it headed towards the dead humans. To a human, it might resemble a three-meter long cross between a lobster, eurypterid, and mantis shrimp. Its carapace was sleek and shiny, but mottled to as to blend into the jungle. Its tail was raised up like a normal scorpion's, but it possessed several spikes on it, which it could launch with a strange accuracy, while it could snap its claws and create an extremely painful sonic boom, which could potentially incapacitate prey if they were close enough.

Cyy readied his needle rifle upon hearing more of the creatures moving through the underbrush in the direction of the downed human file; they were probably searching for a meal. One of them turned and looked up at the Kig-Yar, then whipped its tail at them. A spike imbedded itself in the tree next to Cyy as he ducked and dropped from his perch. It would be a difficult fight...

[TinCanHitman]

Roy-001

Gold three

Roy registered the BR55 fire and immediately figured who it was, having heard her on the COMs earlier. He fired another burst, turning and moving towards where the fire came from, reaching into his satchel and pulling out a pipe bomb and lighting the fuse with fire from plasma. He rolled it towards the tree then spun. He pumped his legs and bolted towards Dani, her getting another burst off before Roy scooped her up into his left arm, then heaving and throwing her in front of him.

Roy knew that she would be able to orient herself and keep moving with him, probably ahead of him, so he didn't break stride.

[deceit]

Reevar, Kig-Yar Minor,
Tree-level,

The sound of cracking and splitting wood registered before the sound of the gun for Reevar. He scrambled out of the way, hopping a good distance. He couldn't go too far or he'd be easily shot by the first target.

He didn't know who the hell was firing at him, but it was damn close and his gun was on the jungle floor now, having been knocked out of his hands by the Demon's fire. He moved to the thickest part of the branch and flattened himself as low as possible, face to the bottom of the branch, as bullets pelted into the thick wood. Splinters and chunks of wood went flying everywhere. The shots were still close to his position, not varying much in their accuracy.

The bullets finally stopped and Reevar took a quick peek down. He could see the second Demon now, reloading her clip. He decided to move his head back and stay exactly where he was. Jib was still down there. The poor bastard. Reevar figured he might be in line for a promotion if he somehow survived. No way Jib would have lived.

BOOM

What was that? Reevar thought. Some kind of explosion, he stayed down for the moment. It could be an attempt to draw him out and shoot him down.

Jib, Kig-Yar Major
Jungle Floor, opposite the clearing from Gold One

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck were the primary thoughts running through his mind as he heard the shooting from an unknown adversary (Gold Two). He quickly threw himself to the ground as a burst of bullets went forth from the Demon's weapon (Gold One) but he wasn't firing at Jib, still focused on Reevar far above. Jib hit the ground prone, crawling away, using the brush to obscure his location. He took a quick peek to see what the Demon was doing. He caught just enough to see him joining up with a second Demon...

A second Demon?

Something went flying from the first Demons hand. Some kind of grenade, Jib figured. He scrambled along the brush put his arms over his most vital parts.

BOOM, the deafening sound cracked along the jungle, bouncing from the foliage to the trees and right into the Kig-Yar's acute sense of hearing. A sudden force jerked the bush that he was hiding in, causing some of the branches and brush to poke and scratch him. Above him, shrapnel tore a hole through the foliage, cutting leaves and branches as it went, embedding itself into a large root behind him. Jib closed his eyes as a loud ringing disoriented him.

Slowly, he moved up, clutching his type-31 needle rifle in his hands, raising it forward and taking a look to see if the Demons were still there...


((Deciet, please stop formatting with dark colors, the people who use dark backgrounds can't read them.))

[Deleted]

Major Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Task Force Seven Seven; Executive Officer
Forrest

"Mongoose two, do you see anything?" John asked quietly as the rumble of the slow moving 'hog, which now had a Gauss Cannon instead of a LAAG, moved forward. The Major liked the extra firepower when it came to the miniature MAC - which was well worth it if they came across a random huge bug on this planet. But an Elite would be suffice enough, too, because one round from the Gauss Cannon and it would turn into a stringy piece of blood, muscle and bone. John found himself smiling at the thought.

"Negative, sir." The soldier driving the second Mongoose responded. They had been driving for only ten minutes or so - but with one thousand meters (One KM) between the Marine F.O.B and the Covenant crash site, they still had a while to go. Only one hundred or so meters had been covered, and no contacts were reported yet. Heck, they were still within the UNSC's sensor range. They needed to cover more ground more quickly.

"Gold Actual this is Battalion XO. What is the status of the SPARTANS?" Killinger asked, channeling the secure line between the Battalion Command channel and the SPARTAN's communications. Since the reveal of the SPARTAN's not to long ago, Marines and other human forces had begun working with the SPARTAN's on a more general bases, but John himself had worked with Roy-001 in the past- 2537 to be exact, back on Zenith. And he knew he was deployed on the same planet.

"Major - F.O.B reporting; we've got a contact ping at the edge of the sensor grid by your location - roughly two o'clock to your twelve o'clock. It may or may not be Covenant contact." The Major's radio sputtered, half covered in static; but John knew what was said. He nodded and scanned the area - the thick flora being more then a pain in the ass; but he had to do what he had to do.

"Understood, F.O.B - I will look into it." The Major responded as he pushed on the brakes lightly, slowing the already slow Warthog down. He switched to the local proximity radio, which included the Marines on the quads and in the Warthog. "Okay, ladies. We've got a contact at the groups four o'clock." The Major said. At the time of the radio transmission, the sensors would have shown the Majors field of vision towards the groups two o'clock. "Stay frosty."

[BasedGoody]

Japkip
Unggoy Major

Japkip covered his eyes as the sun breached them. The initial feeling went away, so Japkip removed his defences. The small Covenant soldier waddled until he reached another team of Unggoy. The four there talked of trivial things.

"He- hey guys. My name is Japkip." He said, looking at all of them.

"Hello Japkip. I am Yeggup." The Ultra said smiling.

"I was wondering... Um, can I be with you guys? Because my friends all died." He asked.

"A'course!" The Major of the team said smiling. One of the Minors hugged Japkip saying, 'It's okay, it's okay...'

"I know it's okay. Do you want to hear my story?" He asked. The Ultra looked to the eager faces of his soldiers and agreed. Japkip seemed excited to spread his saga.

[Deleted]

ODST Anna "Deep Red" Jones
 Regrouping With Squad

  Anna troted to the position the ITFF indicated on her HUD. It was tough moving threw the forest, but it was quiet the site as well. Tall trees just the like one she jumped out of, seemed to reach high in the sky. The leaves and branches intermixing creating thick canopies that often shut out the light.Sometimes it was a little creepy because of weird noises from the indigenous bugs moving about. Though she had to admit some bugs she came across were beautiful. One such bug looked to be like  butterfly, but it appeared to be docile when Anna saw it, though she wasn't trying to see if it wasn't either. She rounded  a tree bring her to the cleared area for ODST drops. What she saw was beautiful yet dis-concerning. Rolli pollie creatures where devouring the decaying flora  entrapping her men untill they moved to feast on other decaying flora.

"Damn it." She spouted frustrated. Though there wasn't much to be frustrated about, as her squad was only about ten yards out, but she hated being slow on the move.

" Sorry Dr." Francias said as he moved between the feasting creatures being careful not to startle them."These flooded the area and made it extremely difficult to move about."

Anna placed her Ma5 on her hip as she watched with annoyance."Don't mention it, just hurry up and get your asses through those things." She replied ready for a fight. As she waited one of her squad members came out of the field and sprinted over to her, but before he could get within another yard a giant spider sprouted  outof the ground snatching the unwitting ODST and dragging the poor soul into its hiding hole. Anna reacted and fired at the hole, seconds as she seen it."Hold up boy's. Hold the ****** up"

[AlphaWolf]

Hospital Corpsman Second Class Mark Phillips
Dirtside

Mark nodded as Sam informed him that the saline drip had been started.  He had managed to get sufficient bandaging on the man's wound, and now he was in a stable enough condition to be transported without medical accompaniment.  Taking his white marker out of his kit, Mark scrawled the proper letters on the man's helmet, then loaded him into the waiting Pelican and shipped him off.  After that, he had returned to his platoon perimeter only to be told to prepare to break down anything he had put up and turn over the defensive positions to arriving units.  The platoon had then mounted up on Warthogs and Mongooses, and departed, heading deeper into the forest.  Mark had hopped into the passenger side of a LAAG 'Hog, and was now rumbling through the jungle, watching for any potential dangers.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Dani-047
Gold One
The Great Escape

The clip she had wasted on the Kig Yar above her at least made it back off for a short amount of time. Whatever Roy was fighting beyond the treeline and in the clearing probably needed more attention than what she was giving it. If something, or somethings, was giving Roy enough trouble to where he did not respond or do anything to signify he needed help for that matter, something was wrong. The crack of one of 001's pipe bombs registered inside her helmet a little after Roy came barreling into the clearing in front of her, the Spartan had little time to respond but slightly turn into his grasping arms as he tried to scoop her up. Before she knew it, the female found herself vaulted into the air, turning instinctively to land on her feet, in front of Roy with her back toward the male Spartan. As soon as her feet touched the ground she was off, sprinting into the jungle ahead of her. 

"Roy, what were you engaging in the clearing?" Dani asked, knowing the intelligence might be vital to UNSC forces moving closer and closer to the area the planned on attacking. She also might run into whatever her teammate had, knowledge always had the upper hand. The two jogged along the forest floor for a long moment before someones voice came over comms. it wasn't Roy's like she had expected, and she naturally tensed at the new and strange voice. 

"Gold Actual this is Battalion XO. What is the status of the SPARTANS?" Asked the voice cooley. Dani faintly registered it as the voice of something something Killinger, and the small name popping up on her HUD told her she was right. It only took moments for the female to respond, ducking under a branch to avoid being closelined. 


"Gold Actual to the Battalion XO, Spartan Gold Team is moving toward the first of the Covenant barricades mainline UNSC forces will meet. We will be assessing their defenses and relay the information back to you as soon as possible" Reported the Spartan almost rhythmically and she vaulted herself up onto a stump and landed with a thud on the other side. Both Spartans turned left and began stalking back toward Covenant forces, this time a bit more quietly. Dani hand signalled for Roy to stop as she crouched into some forest floor foliage, sighting a Covenant fortification thirty feet ahead of them. 

[TinCanHitman]

Roy-001

Gold three

Roy grunted as he simply leapt over the log in front of them.

"Jackals." he stated plainly as he sprinted to keep up with the small, more dextrous, SPARTAN. He moved with a bit more primal motions, flinging his mass over trunks of trees and through vines, instead of the fluid motions of his partner. When they finally slowed down he allowed himself to melt into the shadows. Even as such a large soldier, he still found the ability to blend in with his surroundings. He let Dani deal with the marines, not being one for talking, and when she motioned for a halt, he obliged with perfect silence. He crouched in the brush and pulled up his TAC PAD, activating the live feeds from both his and Dani's video. Now any of the higher ups would be able to see what they were seeing, a useful tool.

[Huka]

Field Master Til Ra'ha Je'at 'Muramai

Watching the curious device flung through the air, Til quick deduced it was a bomb and quickly moved the movement the Demon did. Making sure to stay out of the possible radius of the explosive before it exploded, watching give a deceivingly effective result that would make those handheld grenades of theirs ineffective. However, he didn't want to lose their quarry yet...until his HUD gave him a ping.

Angling his eye to see Sorsa's glyph, the hunter clicked his mandibles before going after the Demons for a moment but he had other responsibility and he knew it. "Wyrm blood!" He cursed under his breath before accessing the Reticent's channel for security, "Brother, the Demons are making a escape but they can tell their Masters of our position. I'll send you their markers." He growled before blinking a couple time at both quickly disappearing figure, leaving a floating glyph over their heads as nav points in the eyes of his fellow Reticent lanceman.

Then he swiftly accessing the common channels, "All Covenant forces on high-alert, I require a volunteer lance of the Ekdo's personal creche is recover important objects of silent value on my and Minor Reever's current position. All other remain in their position and kill anything not of our Holy work." He ordered with a icy stern voice, all who disobey will receive his full wrath and put on display if necessary. With that he ended comm for the time being and quickly used his talons to climb a tree with primal fluidity, the strong bones evolved for shoveling deep sands and tearing through the armor-like skin of the desert beasts were sufficient enough for scaling the bark of the trees. The movement he got on one of the living tower's branch, the Field Master felt that familiar weight of gravity and his mask adjusted to the oxygen.

Looking at the retreating glyph, Til growled angrily and that hunter sense echoed with the sound of tiny claws on bark, spurred his sword arm to strike up, invisible blades skewered through exoskeleton and soft insides, that started to boil. Not caring of the potential killer, he twisted his arm once and sliced his blade out.

Death throes hissed in his ears and the sangheili-large arachnid fell from its camouflaged spot, its spiked exoskeleton perfectly colored of the tree's bark and its mandibles and eyes sliced from his cruel blade. Death took its ability to cling to its home and fell to the ground below.

Shaking his head like a feral beast, the Muram hunter's cross-like symbol flashed under his cloak and he sprung over the nearby branches, continuing his hunt.

[deceit]

Jib, Kig-Yar Major

Jib slowly came to a standing position, looking at the clearing. The Spartans had gone. He could probably track them, but why would he want to? Suddenly a transmission came through, ""All Covenant forces on high-alert, I require a volunteer lance of the Ekdo's personal creche is recover important objects of silent value on my and Minor Reever's current position. All other remain in their position and kill anything not of our Holy work."

Jib saw...well he wasn't sure what he saw, but he could see the bark of a tree as though it were being clawed, and a slight shimmering. A Sangheili special forces unit, most likely. But why didn't he assist against the Demons? He's clearly in their direction, and must have been in the area... Jib did not pretend to understand the reasoning of the higher-ups. However, he did understand hunting. First you send the dogs in to make the beast appear from wherever its hiding, and show its vulnerability. Or in this case, it must have been the Yanme'ee. Damn, Jib and Reevar had almost met the same fate as those wretched bugs, and for no reason.

Suddenly Jib saw a native creature with many legs and a strong exsoskeleton fall to the ground, having taken some serious and grievous wound. Wow, that Sangheili...

That Sangheili...

Oh shit, Jib thought, Field Master Til sent that transmission. Reevar and I. That means that is Field Master Til.

As a major, Jib had a nav, although he usually didn't use it, as it interfered with his already keen vision and he needed to wear his helmet gear, which he didn't like. He put it on real quick, and saw the nav points of the demons, as well as the Field Master.

"Reevar!" Jib hissed, moving up to Reevar's position.

Reevar poked his head out from his branch, "Grab my Type 31 if you can!"

Jib looked where the other Jackal was pointing, and rushed over, grabbing it and climbing up to Reevar's position.

"Field Master Til is in the area. Did you hear his transmission?"

"Yes." Reevar said. Suddenly it dawned on him that he was just mentioned in a covenant wide transmission, and if a Jackal could blanch pale he did the closest thing to it.

"What do we do?" Reevar asked, "Where is he?"

"He's using an active camo. I can see him on my HUD NAV." Jib responded. "Let's stay put until the Volunteer Lance arrives. He gave YOUR Nav as a location marker so they might swing by us first."

~*~

Ra'ab Xirsasee

Where the hell were those two? Ra'ab paced back and forth, anxious. No word from either of his scouts. Had they encountered the enemy? Had they been felled? Their Nav's had long ago vanished from his basic tactical HUD. Just as he was about to contact the two Kig-Yar, a transmission came in from Field Master Til. "All Covenant forces on high-alert, I require a
volunteer lance of the Ekdo's personal creche is recover important
objects of silent value on my and Minor Reever's current position. All
other remain in their position and kill anything not of our Holy work."

Ra'ab's eyes widened, Minor Reevar? HIS Minor Reevar? Ra'ab stood there silently for a moment. His Unggoy troops middled about stupidly for a short while, and the Kig-Yar turned to Ra'ab to see what he would do, Lebit seemed particularly concerned, as he was particularly close to Minor Reevar.

Ra'ab growled and accessed his own Comms, "Ultra Yrai, please put this message through to the Field Master Muramai." He waited for a moment, and then said, "Field Master Til, if you can hear me this is Ra'ab Xirsasee Fervent Creche. Minor Reevar and Major Jib, who should be accompanying him, are my two finest troops. We have been through many years of battle and their versatility, teamwork, and high adaptability skills have kept us all alive. Please accept them in the volunteer Lance, they will not Dishonor the Fervent Creche!"

Ra'ab stopped and waited to see the response, if there was any...if Ultra Yrai even put him through to the Field Master.

[Deleted]

Ultra Yrai 'Vedolmee
Covenant Barricade
Listening Intently

[purple]"All Covenant forces on high-alert, I require a volunteer lance of the Ekdo's personal creche is recover important objects of silent value on my and Minor Reever's current position. All other remain in their position and kill anything not of our Holy work." [/purple]

Yrai was intrigued by this. It was clearly important, and he'd asked for a Lance of the Sect to volunteer as well. Wasn't Minor Reevar one of Ra'ab's minors as well? 

How Interesting...

Yrai then received a message from Ra'ab himself, further piquing his amusement.

[yellow]"Ultra Yrai, please put this message through to the Field Master Muramai." He waited for a moment, and then said, "Field Master Til, if you can hear me this is Ra'ab Xirsasee Fervent Creche. Minor Reevar and Major Jib, who should be accompanying him, are my two finest troops. We have been through many years of battle and their versatility, teamwork, and high adaptability skills have kept us all alive. Please accept them in the volunteer Lance, they will not Dishonor the Fervent Creche!" [/yellow]

Yrai knew Ra'ab was a talented soldier, but couldn't help but wonder if the [yellow]Field Master[/yellow] would approve. Yrai instead decided to contact the Field Master himself.

[yellow] "Field Master Muramai. The Major of Reevar's Lance wishes to volunteer, claiming he is worthy and that the soldiers accompanying you are his best. I approve of this decision, but I await your judgement." [/yellow] Yrai said, leaving the channel open to [yellow] Ra'ab[/yellow] so he could hear every word. Hopefully, he could accompany Ra'ab and improve his standing, but he was happy enough here with the Sect if it failed to happen

[Kenny]

Sangheili Ultra

Heile Fuhrai

    Twig after twig snapped under Heile's foot as he tried his best to scout around the forest. His troops were left to defend the Covenant 'base', if you could even call it that. He was sort of hoping to be sent to the front lines for he could assist in slaughtering the dirty humans, but he thought he might as well make the most of his defensive job by having anyone who attempted to get into the encampment executed.

He looked over to one of the majors who was leaning against a building. He growled for a moment before shouting;

"You there. No slacking off unless you want to shame your brothers. You are under my command and we are NOT going to fail." He finished this with a little snarl and turned back to the forest. He thought heard something in the distance, but ignored it and got back to simply surveying the landscape.

[McStubbsberry]

Private Scott Lugar
Task Force Seven Seven
Marine Staging Area

Scott stood up as they took away his comrade. He had done the best that he possibly could and followed the corpsman's' instructions closely. His arms and chest were covered in blood from the grisly work that had been done to save the young lance corporal's life.

PFC Brown and the other man from the other fireteam had left awhile ago while he stayed, probably shouldn't have, but he felt like he had a duty to save at least one life today, maybe he'll save another by nightfall, who knows. He didn't realize Staff Sergeant Naomi Kosovo was standing a yard behind him.

"Are you about finished with playing doctor, Private?!" She shouted, startling Scott. "I sent the rest of the squad out ahead of us, so you'll have the pleasure of riding bitch. Get your shit and lets get out of here."

"Yes, Sergeant!" Naomi already had the Mongoose prepped and ready to go when Scott returned with his pack and rifle. There were still a few stragglers mounting up and pushing into the forest, so they weren't going in completely alone. Scott climbed onto the rear bar on the all-terrain vehicle, keeping his rifle up with his left arm and his index finger on the trigger, he grasped the frame of the mongoose just in time for Naomi to hit the gas. The versatile picked up speed quickly and disappeared into the forest.

[Arbiter124]

Peter "Arby" Morrison
ODST

Lance Corporal

Drop Pods

Arby was in full ODST armor, racing through the hallways. His entire fireteam behind him, they rushed over to the pods. They were late, but would suffice as the second batch of the drop. Arby shoved his battle rifle into the compartment in the pod, and holstered his magnum to his side. He quickly checked to see for spare clips for his primary. He had four extra. Changing attention to his M6D ammo, he had two spare clips. Good enough. 

"Let's do this shit, Omega!" Arby howled, hopping into the pod. Dom tapped Arby's pod and smiled, showing some form of compassion. Arby nodded, since he had his helmet on and a smile wouldn't have been seen through his helmet. Dom returned the gesture with a smirk, and shoved on his ODST helmet. Arby took his eyes off of the private and faced forward, stiffening as the pod shut and sealed. He clicked on his comm unit. 

"Omega one, green." Arby spoke into his comm.

"Omega two, green." Goody responded.

"Omega three, green." Role.

"Omega four, green." Dom.

"Omega five, green." Avarice.

"This thing on? Uhh... guys? Can you hear me guys?" Milk.

"Yea Milk, we got you!" Role snapped harshly.

"...Omega six, green." Milk responded, obviously hurt from Role's yelling. He was a weird kid.

"Omega is green. Dropping in three, two, one, dropping!" The pod's detached from the cruiser, and they plummeted down into the atmosphere. Arby looked out at the vessels of UNSC that they were leaving behind. They picked up speed, hurtling to the planet's surface below. Arby shut his eyes. Not that he was scared. Oh no, he loved this shit. It was a thrill. He shut his eyes because it made him vomit to see all the twirling and shit. He breathed in an out, and then let out a howl of joy. He heard Goody return with a 'Oorah, motherfuckers!' and a series of laughs from the rest of Omega. He smiled, but his pod began to shake more than before. This was standard. He looked down through the glass, to see them nearing the zone of the Jungle. 

This went better than expected.

The pod's snapped branches and went right through trees with ease, slamming into the ground. An explosion of dirt erupted around Arby, as the shaking and speed came to an abrupt stop. Everything seemed to slow down. All he could hear was his own breath as he checked everything, his life signals, and it was clear. He looked to the top of the pod for the emergency eject button. Unstrapping one arm, he punched it with mild force. A hissing sound came from the door, and it pushed forward, flying out and skidding across the dirt. Arby hopped out, turned around, and grabbed his Battle Rifle, which was stuck. He grunted, putting one foot on the pod and pulling. With enough effort, the weapon came loose and free, sending the Lance Corporal stumbling back onto his ass. The ODST smiled, and turned around, his visor gleaming in the sunlight. 

"Omega?" He asked into the trees. His voice was strong and firm as usual. He would never let his fear show. He couldn't demoralize his team.

"Omega, sound off!" He snarled towards the trees. He sprinted forward and into the brush, to find two pods. Their respective doors simultaneously shot off, and out came Role and Goody. Arby sighed with relief. He clicked on his radio.

"Omega, you all alive down here?"

A series of 'yups' signaled no casualties or injuries for the fall. Phew.

"Round up on me then, guys." He spoke into the radio, sitting with Role and Goody to await the other'r arrival.

[Huka]

Field Master Til Ra'ha Je'at 'Muramai

 Landing on a sturdy branch, Til blinked as he received a dedicated volunteer already. From...Major Ra'ab Xirsasee. Surprised that a Xirsas was in the sect, he vaguely recalled the name before and the Major himself. A warrior with a missing arm, he was one of the last ones to make it to the corvette before their escape from the Supercarrier, and conducted himself properly. Nodding to himself, he answered, "Very well, Major. You have my permission." He answered after patching to the young warrior himself.

 

[Arbiter124]

Peter "Arby" Morrison 

ODST

Lance Corporal

Jungle Floor

In a matter of minutes Arby's entire fireteam had gathered around him, fully armed. He took a look at each one, just to make sure they had what would be needed to survive against the Covenant horde. When it all seemed set, the Lance Corporal hopped up and readied his Battle Rifle.

"Omega, let's go kick some ass!" He howled to the team, moving into the forest. 

"Role, cover our backs. Goody, stay right behind me, I take point." The ODST leader ordered each of his men around until they were in a perfect moving position. They trotted through the forest like they were built for it. Well, they were trained to be effective in any habitat, so they in a strange way were. They kept moving through the brush, towards the Covenant defensive lines. Once there, they were supposed to assist any ODST's or standard Marines that were assaulting the base.

A needle whiffed by Arby's helmet from a marksman rifle, literally kicking up sparks as it narrowly skimmed his head. He shouted something, alerting the rest of the team. The only words he could yell off in time were 'Ambush!' Before the steely grey body of a Skirmisher shot up from the bushes and tackled him with linebacker strength. He flew to the ground, and the Skirmisher Minor opened its might jaws to make a killing move. Not quick enough for the ODST though, Arby unsheathed his combat knife and sloppily stuck it into the blood red sack in the Skirmisher's neck. Purple oozed out and it screeched, backing off of him, attempting to pry out the knife. It succeeded, but looked up only to see the Lance Corporal's machete make contact with the other side of its neck, making a large and deep gash in the Covenant Shock Troop, killing it. Arby placed one foot on the thing's chest and pulled, getting his Machete out. He went for the Combat Knife, but as the rest of the Skirmisher's advanced, it was obviously too late for that. He pulled back, Role firing his LMG to cover his retreat.

Pulling back to Goody, Arby roared at the PFC.

"Goody, get your DMR's rounds in one of their damn heads!" Goody rolled his eyes in frustration, and fired three shots. Arby peeked out, to see the shots whizz by the damn birds. The Skirmishers then dispersed. They weren't running. They were taking to the trees, to kill them with stealth and guerilla warfare. Arby snarled.

"Everyone, down here!" He heard Avarice's voice call to them. Arby glanced at the private, to see her in a crevice beneath two massive roots of a tree. It acted as some sort of trench, and was deeper, and safer from the trees. The fireteam hopped down, and began to run in the crevice, hopefully getting somewhere and away from the Skirmishers. Omega saw the light, and raced out of the brush, onto a cliffside that overlooked some huge river, far, far below. Arby was gasping for breath, and he made a headcount. All of the ODST's were here, thank god.

"Everybody okay-" He began, before the grey blur zoomed from the bushes and slammed into him. The Lance Corporal and the Skirmisher both toppled off of the cliffside. Arby was able to snag onto a treebranch, but his attacker was not so lucky. The Lance Corporal looked down, to see the Skirmisher Minor screeching, until it hit a rock that jutted out from the stone wall and snapped in half like a twig, its body ricocheting into the river. Arby shuddered in relief, and turned his attention back to getting up and back into the fight. He already heard the gunshots a few feet above as his Fireteam was engaged by the remaining birds. 

[BasedGoody]

Goody, ODST PFC.
Jungle

"Don't worry you crazy bastard, I gotcha." Goody smiled, placing his DMR down to help Arby. After they were all ready, Goody picked up his rifle again and took out the clip. There were a good amount of bullets left so he didn't want to waste it. The Private First Class put the somewhat emptied magazine along his belt and grabbed another one, shoving it in. He pulled the cocking handle back and let it loose feeling the cozy *Click* of the bullet entering the chamber. Role flinched for a second and covered his head.

"It was me, don't worry." Goody said, keeping his head forward. Role mumbled something and spun around.

"So Bossman, what's our next move?" He asked.

[Arbiter124]

Peter 'Arby' Morrison

ODST

Lance Corporal

Jungle

Arby grinned, unseen through his Helmet's steely visor. He checked the battle rifle gauge, which read 21. Enough to break some poor Gator's shields. Arby was satisfied keeping it, and did not remove the clip from the feed. He looked towards his team, and gave a low chuckle.

"Alright motherfuckers, let's do this the right way. They got us by suprise, and we still took them out. Only next time we fight some Covenant asshole, we're taking them down in style." Arby laughed. He pointed at Dom.

"Take point, badass." He joked. Dom's helmet bobbed in a nodding motion, and he walked into the forest. Arby patted Goody on the shoulder, and turned to Milk.

"Make sure that gun is ready for some more action, bud'." Arby ordered his friend, with dry sarcasm. The whole team laughed, even Milk, sadly. The point of the joke was that the Private ODST has never had a confirmed kill in his entire career, and thus the team doubted he'd get one very soon. Arby turned his attention back to the jungle path, and sighed.

"Let's do this..." He grunted, taking on his serious, strong, leader attitude once more.

[Deleted]

Major John B'Sheau Killinger
Task Force Seven Seven; Executive Officer
Forrest

"Gold Actual to the Battalion XO, Spartan Gold Team is moving toward the first of the Covenant barricades mainline UNSC forces will meet. We will be assessing their defenses and relay the information back to you as soon as possible." Dani-047 responded. Posssible, sir Killinger thought to himself - but decided not to chide the SPARTAN as she was probably busy.

"Understood, Gold Actual." The Major replied. The highest ranking SPARTAN on file at the time was a First Lieutenant, graduated from the SPARTAN-II class. The SPARTAN-III's were just rolling off the lines. The only reason the Major had access to that information was he was the Executive Officer of humanities most elite joint operation unit - which included at one point GOLD team and there SPARTAN's. Silas was the old commanding officers name, a Petty Officer at the time - and probably still a NCO.

Satisfied, the Major pressed the gas peddle slightly. The light recon force, which consisted of a Gauss Cannon 'Hog and four Mongooses - begun to move forward again. He knew he needed to let the SPARTAN team know he was on the way, so he channeled the same network he had just used. "Be advised, Gold Actual, I've got your position and am inbound with a light mechanized unit consisting of a Gauss 'Hog and four mongooses, two of which have a SPUNKR marine mounted." The Major said, producing a TACPAD so he could actually acquire the position of the SPARTAN's.

He linked in a orbital map provided by the UNSCS Kilimanjaro in orbit. The FOF tags of the SPARTAN's broadcasting clearly. They were close to the Covenant crash site, probably observing the wreckage and numbers of the covenant force. He could trust the SPARTAN's to make a logical tactical decision on a place to launch an attack. The Major himself would analyze the area on his recon, but the feedback and opinions of the SPARTAN's actually mattered to him - unlike ODST CO's and other Marines.

He linked the Kilimanjaro next, also including Colonel Jason Brody into the link.

"Kilimanjaro this is TF77 XO requesting reserved fire-mission, grid's to follow, danger-close; how copy?" The Major asked. He wanted the forest in front of him to be completely leveled by the time they decided to launch a mobile assault. If they had to travel through jungle biomass it would be increasingly difficult to lead an assault, much less an effective one.

While he knew they would never fire close to the ship because the UNSC wanted the Imperial Admiral alive - hopefully to end the war - they could however clear the way to the Imperial Admiral, making it much, much, much easier for the UNSC Forces to advance and secure the location.

[NinjaBoss]

Zahn 'Vignarlee, Major Domo

    "Pran, come with me to the front lines, I will need your Kig-Yar. Cuhl, take your Unggoy and guard the beacon and the imperial admiral. Inform me once you have made contact with reinforcements, or if the need should arise. Good luck." Zahn ordered, then left Cuhl to take her file where he specified. Pran and the Kig-Yar followed him, energy gauntlets prepared for enemy fire. Zahn could hear more gunfire not far from where he and his file were located, and he started towards it, prepared for the worst. "We need cover Pran." Zahn ordered, and his Kig-Yar formed a wall with their energy gauntlets. Now to touch the Sangheili, the hominids would have to get past the Kig-Yar first.

    Zahn and the file slowly made their way towards the outer reaches of the camp, where the battle was taking place. His plan was to crush enemy resistance and take the fight back from the base. After all, everything they were defending WAS inside. Seeing the first human, Zahn crouched down, pulling Pran with him. "Kig-Yar, fire!" He ordered, and they immediately let loose a salvo of plasma from behind their makeshift wall. The human, caught off guard, took most of the salvo and fell to the ground, smoke leaving his burnt corpse like his very soul was escaping from the cage of his body. Suddenly gunshots pierced the air as the rest of the hominids lance opened fire on them.

    "Slowly move forwards, keep firing!" Zahn barked to the Kig-Yar, and the wall he and Pran were crouching behind slowly moved forwards. Unfortunately for Zahn, the hominids had cover just as efficient as his, hiding behind Covenant barriers. Zahn continued to push the Kig-Yar forward, until they were close enough that Zahn fell out from behind them and hid behind a large, thick tree trunk. He leaned out from cover and selected one of the eight hominids as his first target. He squeezed the trigger of his rifle, and two balls of blue plasma instantly arced towards the worthless filth. The hominid seen the plasma, but too late as it burned a large hole in his abdomen, permanently removing him from the battle.

    As the gunfire continued, another lance joined Zahn in the assault, but the humans received reinforcements as well. LOTS of reinforcements. Zahn watched as at least a whole creche joined the humans attacking his location, and could see plenty more on the way. He turned and counted his reinforcements. Two lances lead by major domos like himself, and a file of Unggoy lead by an Ultra. He took another shot at a hominid, grazing his arm, and silently wondered if the Covenant forces would be able to withstand the hominid onslaught.

[Dufflepud]

Field Marshal R'ha Katolai

Covenant Fortifications

    R'ha nodded towards the young Ultra, opening his mouth so as to respond, but suddenly, he stopped. Turning his head, he began to listen for a sound other than the battle preparations at the camp. He lifted his hand, indicating that all silence themselves. Yes, he could definitely hear a very faint, buzzing, but was it the Humans, or just the sound of the forest? He almost dismissed it, when the very first shot rang out, a distant crack that broke the silence instantly. Soon after, more shots began to filter through the trees, and the return plasma fire of his advance scouts also sounded out.


    "Battle Stations! The Humans Approach!" the Field Marshal roared, and the camp exploded into action, all available warriors piling up against the dense walls of debris that had been built out of the downed corvette. R'ha himself began to go through several mental exercises, calming his body and mind for the coming battle. It was this time, he felt, before the first blows were struck that most impacted the success of the warrior. Now, the slight buzz had built into a loud rumble, and R'ha reached for his communicator.

    "To all mounted units, deploy to the jungle and slow down the human assault. Do not engage directly! Harass them at every opportunity!" As per his orders, the light vehicles began to filter out of the encampment, melting away into the foliage. The roar of human engines seemed to be coming from everywhere. The could strike now at any second. If R'ha's troops became demoralized now, as often happened after the shock of the first engagement, all would be lost. He would have to give them courage, and to serve that end, he would put on a show. gunfire now erupted across the perimeter, sizzling bolts of blue and green plasma being traded in equal measure for the metal projectiles that hurtled through the air at terminal velocity. As the bullets pinged against the fortifications around him, R'ha, instead of hunkering down, leapt over the wall of cover. Unsheathing his blade with a flourish, he depressed a button on the handle, sending blue plasma swirling around the edge and increasing its cutting power tenfold.


    The first human vehicle broke through the tree line, one of the troop transports known as "Warthogs." The gunner on the back opened fire, immediately turning to shower the zealot with bullets. Lifting up his blade as if to block a strike, R'ha steadied his footing. His arms were in position only for show, as his shields could easily take this level of fire. However, the position of his legs would be what allowed him to perform the move he had executed dozens of times, albeit in a far more practical manner. As the vehicle drove forward as if to ram him, R'ha swiveled around, using the momentum of his body and the strength of his torso to whip his blade downwards, slicing through the frame of the vehicle as if it were paper. The two halves' inertia kept them hurtling forwards, but with the fuel tank ruptured, they almost immediately burst into flames, incinerating the passengers.


    "Warriors of the Covenant! The gods shall lead us to victory!" he roared. The battle had begun.


(OOC Note: the last mission update was designed specifically to get the main engagement started, and nothing happened. As such, if you are a UNSC player, and was loaded into a vehicle [that should be most of you], consider yourself either at or near the Covenant perimeter.)

[Deleted]

Ultra Yrai 'Vedolmee
Covenant Fortifications
Unknown Planet

Yrai listened to the Field Master's reply to Ra'ab, before speaking once the message had ended.

[yellow] "Ra'ab - be cautious. I expect not too lose one of my most capable Majors running an errand" [/yellow] Yrai said, an air of hesitance audible in his words. Ra'ab was clearly talented, and was better than many of the Sangheili who looked down on him so it would be a major inconvenience to see him fall.


Yrai's attention was brought back to focus upon hearing cries from some of the more excited soldiers, gleefully pointing out the appearance of various vehicles from the forest, all containing a potential target. Yrai snatched a Carbine off a Jackal, before standing to face his troops.

[yellow] "Do all you can to prevent the humans from breaking through our line! All is lost if they succeed!" [/yellow] Yrai roared, before opening fire, taking careful shots at the convoy as the sounds of war and battle began to erupt around him. Shots began to hurtle towards the barricade, forcing Yrai to find cover and peppering a few of the unshielded soldiers with lead. Yrai's shots were only part of the tapestry of carnage surrounding the wreck. 

[BasedGoody]

Goody
ODST PFC.

Goody yawned after walking in the forest. It had been a few minutes since anything interesting happened and the PFC. had been instantly hit with boredom. Dom was walking with a hunch in his back, clearly awaiting any sort of combat. For the first time in a long time Goody felt the same way. He slipped his DMR onto his back with a sling and eyed his magnum, pulling it out of its holster. The silver weapon gleamed in a rare glimpse of sunlight through the heavy canopy. A small furry animal, about as big as a dog, ran by the ODST's feet, and instinct pulled his weapon towards the beast, but he brought it down again after a minute.

"I want some damn action..." Dom whispered. As if on cue a blue light lit up ahead. Jackals? 

"Cov's." Goody said lightly, and the team dropped down. The marksmen slid behind a tree trunk next to the team leader, "You see 'em?" He whispered, pointing two fingers at the blue and red shields.

[deceit]

"Field Master Muramai. The Major of Reevar's Lance
wishes to volunteer, claiming he is worthy and that the soldiers
accompanying you are his best. I approve of this decision, but I await
your judgement."

There was a tinge of concern coursing through Ra'ab's brain as Ultra Yrai translated his message. Ultra Yrai did alter it a little. Ra'ab had initially meant for his Kig-Yar's to join the volunteer lance simply because they were skilled and already in the area, but Yrai seemed to have upped the anti for him a small bit. Ra'ab didn't know what he was getting himself into. More importantly, he wasn't sure if his Unggoy would survive such a journey either. It seemed as though it was a risk he didn't have a choice in taking. Perhaps he should leave the Unggoy there, they would likely only slow him. If only Khab Drem were here...

Actually, Khab would probably just get them all killed by his impatience, Ra'ab admitted begrudgingly.

"Very well, Major. You have my permission."

The Field Master had Spoken. It seemed Ra'ab was in this one for long haul. He'd just have to his very best to ensure his victory. Victory was not assured by faith, steady hearts, and determinations. Even quick reflexes and a tactical mind failed many of the greatest warriors. Preparation and luck almost always became the deciding factor between victory and defeat. Fortunately, Ra'ab was usually quite well prepared.

Ra'ab roared at his lance, "We're moving out!" He ordered. The Kig-Yar all turned to him, "Lebit, find a type rifle, your eyes are near perfect and your aim is steady. Torbit, take his type 31 rifle. Unggoy, stay close to me, be silent, and you may live to return from this journey. Do exactly as I say, and DO NOT WANDER OFF." He had to be firm with the Unggoy, or they would lose themselves in the tides of battle.

"Follow me." Ra'ab said.

"Prepare two revenants that can carry passengers, we need a swift drop off through the forest." Ra'ab requested, "For Field Master Til's volunteer sect. I also require a type 53 rifle." That last part got attention, and a major contacted him, "I have two such revanants, we're on our way to your position. We don't have any type 53's left, but we have a type 27 we scavenged off of a dead special forces."

"Good, I'll need it."

Ra'ab and his sect loaded up in the revenant as quickly as possible.

"Ra'ab - be cautious. I expect not too lose one of my most capable Majors running an errand"

Most capable Majors? Now that was something he hadn't expected. He activated his comms and responded to Ultra Yrai, "Yes Ultra. Caution, preparation, and a bit of luck, are how a one armed Soldier thrives."

~*~

The Revenant's came to a slow not far from Reevar and Jib's position, who were on the move, following Til from a distance as per Ra'ab's instructions. The Revenant slowed only long enough for the Unggoy and Ra'ab to leap off, Ra'ab going into a graceless roll ( it was hard to balance with one arm under such conditions ) yet practiced. He managed to come onto his feet and with his type 33 directed plasma rifle. He aimed it to make sure no native creatures were coming at him. The other revenant swooshed by, and he relaxed as Lebit and Torbit leaped out, landing perfectly, as Kig-Yar almost always do.

No native creatures were immediately present. He turned to see the Unggoy complaining from the fall, and the Revenant's swoooooshing off into the forest back the way he'd come. The human assault had apparently begun, and the Revenant's would be desperately needed by the barricades, "let's move!" Ra'ab ordered his troops,

"Field Master Til, at this pace my lance will reach you in ten minutes *(whatever covenant equivalent of ten minutes should be)"