M5: Rumble in the Jungle

[Huka]

Field Master Til Ra'ha Je'at 'Muramai

Still stalking the Demons on the trees, he kept as silent and properly distant as possible, treating these two as the most dangerous possible prey he can think of at the time being. Til clicked his mandibles when he heard his comlink and answered it to Ra'ah's voice, blinking at the news.

 "Unless you are seeking a swift death, do not follow me. Keep your upmost distance unless I request it, for now, find the bodies of General Ekdo and...the Arbiter, and take them to the corvette for preparation. If you can't, pray that they provide the growth of this world's greatest trees." He said with a slight hiss, disliking the thought of leaving the bodies of fine warriors, but also respected nature's cycle.

 His eye kept watching the Demons' retreating markers as he thought if chasing them was worth it...but, he felt that heart-shuddered distortion. A ripple of fate brewing to disrupt the possibilities of this war; Victory of the Covenant, the Survival of the Humans...or destruction of them both.

 With a click of his mandible, hearing the distant prologue of battle and seeing the enemy on his HUD map, he gave the signal. In the distance, the Swarm Leader's belt blinked and it let out a buzz of wings as its brethren watched the humans' vehicles pass. The signal was given, unleash the thralls! It's mind sung and in moments, the enthralled bugs of the Covenant's plans erupted and started to attack without pause of who, or what, they saw. The merciless frenzy of the Hivemind was in affect, and all out of the Covenant's bordering trenches and shields were attacked.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Here we go...

Ok, since nothing has really happened at all since the last main mission summary, the staff have decided not to post a full one. However, UNSC forces are expected to kick things in gear. All UNSC forces are now assaulting the Covenant Corvette or are near it. UNSC forces need to start focusing on their assigned objectives while the Covenant protect their downed ship from being overrun with humans and pests. A second main mission summary will be posted when more ground has been covered in the main RP.

[NinjaBoss]

Zahn 'Vignarlee, Major Domo

    Zahn took cover behind the tree trunk as more enemy fire came his way. If we don't think of something soon, the hominids will overwhelm us. Zahn thought to himself. There was almost 30 enemy vessels above the planet, and they were dropping more and more troops in by the second. Already the enemy had received an additional creche of reinforcements. Zahn knew his reinforcements would be far and few between, meaning even the Unggoy were crucial to their survival. He fired two more plasma rounds, and both struck solid into the upper back of a hominid soldier. He leaned back behind the tree trunk once again as more hominid fire pressed down on him. He let out a roar of frustration, as Zahn watched two of the 5 Unggoy torn up like confetti by hominid assault rifles.

    Leaning slightly out from behind his tree, Zahn primed a plasma grenade and tossed it into the center of the hominid soldiers. It stuck one on the side of the leg, and he screamed in fear before he was abruptly cut off as the grenade exploded, blowing him to pieces as well as the two hominids next to him. Three more hominids further away were tossed and burned, none of them rising again, while one just close enough to the blast was wounded in his leg, severely slowing him down. Zahn leaned down to take fire at the hominids during the confusion, but leaned back into cover as his shield flared, a vehicle in front of him immediately letting loose ballistic fire. The vehicle was known as a warthog, and there were more of them on the way.

    Zahn watched as one of the Kig-Yar from his own lance, Pak, was torn to shreds by the "warthog" gunners. The rest of the Unggoy were rained down upon with fire, and only the Ultra escaped alive, hiding behind a thick tree. The other two lay in puddles of blue blood, and the Ultra had it splattered across his body, slumped against the tree trunk and barely able to move. One of the Sangheili, a minor, was hit with fire as well and his shield quickly flared and popped before he was cut down as well. Zahn took fire at one of the gunners, but the vehicle accelerated and avoided the plasma bolt. They began firing at Zahn, and his shield flared and nearly popped before he could get into cover himself. Zahn hid down, for once feeling as he knew the humans did every time they slaughtered them like helpless rats.

[Arbiter124]

Peter "Arby" Morrison

ODST

Lance Corporal

Covenant Lines

Arby snarled at the sight of the array of Jackal shields. Three blue shields, and one red. That meant three minors and one major. Arby kew that they would win this fight, but they couldn't risk wounded soldiers or casualties. Arby shoved another Battle Rifle clip into his feed, and aimed down his scope, breathing slowly. His hand was off the trigger. 

"Alright guys, we have this. Milk and Avarice, take the Jackal on the far right. Goody, back them up from afar using your DMR. Dom, take the one next to the Major. Role, take the Minor on the far left. Role, once you've done that, suppress the others to give the other ODST's a tactical advantage. I've got red shield."

Arby loosened his grip, and let the battle rifle dangle at his side, attached to the strap around his torso. He unsheathed his machete and brought out his M6D in his right hand. His blade was in his left.

"Omega, move in silently. Let's be as careful as possible, given the fact we're at the Covenant borderline. Do it quietly." Arby finished, crouching into the grass and moving in on his target.            

[deceit]

 "Unless you are seeking a swift death, do not follow me. Keep your upmost distance unless I request it, for now, find  the bodies of General Ekdo and...the Arbiter, and take them to the corvette for preparation. If you can't, pray that they provide the growth of this world's greatest trees." Ra'ab clicked his mandibles in his frustration. He had not expected that such answer. Quickly he ordered the Unggoy and his two Kig-Yar to halt, "My apologies, Field Master. We will keep a careful distance. May I have Major Jib and Minor Lebit tail you quietly from a wide distance in case you become in need of help? Minor Lebit is an expert marksmen and is currently well equipped for ranged support, both are quite mobile should something...unexpected, occur."

He contacted Jib next, "Send Minor Reevar back to the location of the general's body and..." he paused, "And the arbiter's body. Stay put, do not advance further toward the Field Master, keep a strong distance." He got a quick affirmative response over the comm and looked to Minor Lebit, "Be prepared to move on your own toward Jib's position. Stay far," He emphasized the word far with a growl, "From the Field Master and his operations, and do not fire upon anything you see unless explicitly told to do so." Lebit stared for a few moments. He wasn't thrilled about the no fire orders, but he wasn't about to argue, and he's seen Ra'ab angry before. One arm or not, he was a Sangheili, and a Xirsas, and despite his relatively small stature in comparison to his heritage, he still towered and he was still powerful.

"Let us make haste," Ra'ab told his remaining troops, "To retrieve the corpses."

[David]

Rear Admiral David Vardy
Bridge - UNSC KILLIMANJARO
Following progress.

Looking at the uplink telemetry from the newly constructed forward base, David allowed himself a nod of satisfaction. Things were progressing nicely. Hopefully, within the hour, They would start assaulting the cruiser and allowing them to finally gain the upper hand. Looking at the screen, David noticed that Col. James Brody was having the ODST formation Form a pincer formation. A tried and true tactic that served human warfare well before. He agreed with the Col's. Strategies and sincerely hoped they worked.

Turning around, David then headed back to his command chair and sat down. Picking up his PADD, He transferred the data from the main screen and continued to peruse the data while sipping on his coffee. He had taken a moment to grab a fresh cup and was seriously debating if he should install a coffee machine on the bridge. But then he would have a heck of a mess should they come under attack.

Grinning to himself, He realized how ridiculous the thought was and stuffed it to the back of his mind. Coffee was one thing. Winning a battle was another. 

Setting down his cup, David then looked to Kim. "Open a channel to Col. James Brody"

Nodding. Kim punched a couple of commands. "Channel Open."

"Colonel. Whats your ETA for attack on the cruiser?" David asked.

"Sir. I am happy to report we will be pasting the Covenant bastards within the hour." replied Brody, Static tinging his voice.

"Excellent." replied David. "Give my regards to the alien bastards."

Laughing, the Colonel replied "Will do sir. Brody out."

Grinning, David nodded his satisfaction. Looking to his XO, David nodded at the view screen. "What are your thoughts Commander?"

"Sir." Janeway replied, Her eyes fixed upon the screen. "I think we are in good shape. But we shouldn't be overly confident. We know what the Covenant can do."

Then, fixing her eyes on David's, She continued. "It's possible we could be walking these soldier to their death."

Nodding, David understood Janeway's concerns. It was never easy to send a soldier to his death. But that came with the weight of command. You had to sometimes sacrifice good men and women for the greater good. Sometimes you had to trade lives for time. It wasn't easy. Even now, with all of his experiences... It still hurt.

Patting Janeway on the shoulder, He looked into her eyes. "Yes. Some of them will die. Certainly. But remember. they pencilled in for this voluntarily. They know whats at stake."

Nodding, Janeway turned back to the view screen. Her eyes a little more moist than they were a couple of seconds ago. David understood her trepidation. But as a Commander, she should know that this comes as part of the rank and job. It was an ugly truth that was hard to swallow. It's why most Admiralty, including him, Drank and smoke. To help cope.

Shaking his head, He patted the commanders shoulder one more time before turning his attention back to his PADD. It was going to be a long battle. He hoped that the marines he was sending to their deaths was worth the price.

[NinjaBoss]

Zahn 'Vignarlee, Major Domo

    Zahn crouched as low as he possibly could, deafening sounds of ballistic and plasma fire, as well as an occasional explosion or scream. "Pran, regroup with your file and head to my position. I'm going to need some covering fire!" He ordered, and the Kig-Yar immediately formed a tighter shield wall, though without Pak it was only large enough to shield them and one Sangheili warrior. Pran and the Kig-Yar slowly made their towards Zahn, their progress hindered by enemy fire. Zahn watched more hominids arrive on their "warthogs", and activated his comlink. "This is Major Domo Zahn 'Vignarlee, facing heavy enemy resistance at the perimeter of our fortifications. Multiple vehicles pressing down on us, requesting any available assitance." Zahn sent the message out into the Covenant battle coms, knowing damn well the chances of reinforcements were slim, and even if he did receive reinforcements, it wouldn't be much.

    Pran and the Kig-Yar finally made their way towards Zahn, and hid behind the tree. "We're pinned down, and we need to push the enemy back. Any ideas?" Zahn asked Pran, who shrugged. "You're the major, not me." He grunted, before roaring a battle cry as his shield was assaulted with gunfire. The Kig-Yar quickly raised their shields to deflect the bullets, narrowly saving their own lives, while Zahn and Pran rolled in separate directions. "Take em out with grenades!" Pran roared, and reached for one of his own before realizing he only had one left. Looking around, he saw a couple on the ground next to the dead Unggoy, but the "warthogs" weren't going to make it easy for him to get there. He grabbed his last grenade and primed it, tossing it onto the side of a nearby "warthog". He instantly ran as fast as he could towards the tree the dead Unggoy were next to, his shields taking heavy damage.

    Zahn watched his HUD as his shield drained and then dissipated, and made a leap of faith behind the tree, narrowly escaping death. He turned and looked back at his file, the Kig-Yar slowly making their way towards him, Pran firing upon the enemy from behind another tree. Only one of the other two Major Domo's stood now, with at least half of his lance dead as well. Things were going downhill for them fast. Zahn reached down and grabbed the two grenades he saw, restocking his store of grenades. He knew he would need them for later. especially if the enemy had more of these vehicles.

     BOOM! A deafening explosion rang out as roughly seven or eight plasma grenades exploded, as well as two of the enemy vehicles, while another was tossed into the air, spinning rapidly, three hominids falling, limp, out of the seats. Zahn was tossed onto the ground, and enemy fire arced towards him again, and he scrambled to get on his feet and get behind another tree roughly ten yards away. Behind it he found the crippled Unggoy Ultra, slowly bleeding out. It was clear he was out of the battle, and most likely would not make it off this planet alive. Then Zahn got an idea......



Mod Note: Please make sure you are fomatting in black text and using colored text only when needed. - Dave

[BasedGoody]

Goody
ODST PFC.

Goody nodded to Arby's words and silently trotted to the right to cover Milk and Avarice. They approached the unsuspecting Jackal, but in terrible timing. The Major began to spin around to speak but rather screeched at the two ODST's approaching. Milk quivered but immediately brought up his AR to the Major. Right before the spray was unleashed the Minor Jackal tackled him to the ground. Goody stared down his scope but the pair were too close to fire, Milk could be hit.

"Mooooove Milk..." Goody said to himself. Avarice brought up her Submachine gun and opened fire. The Jackal leapt off of Milk who rolled out of the way from the bullets. The alien's shield sprung to life again to absorb three shots from Avarice who gasped in surprise. Milk scrambled to his rifle and twisted to kill the Jackal, who was aiming his Needler at the Medic. Goody was faster; in a second the creature's brain exploded spraying Milk with it's blood. The marksman gave a small salute to Milk who turned to help with the rest of the ODST's. 

Goody switched positions to overlook the rest of the battle, but it seemed to be handling itself.

[Faclan]

Bep, Jackal Spotter
3/4's of the way to the Marine Staging area from the Covenant crash site, in a tree.

Calm...calm, calm thoughts make calm soldiers and calm soldiers stay alive.

That's what he had been told back home but try as he might Bep couldn't exactly stay calm now that the battle had started. The mission had started off poorly enough when they crashed on this beautiful Death Trap of a planet. But then he had the good fortune to know that the humans who they were doing battle with before were chasing them down, Why? Because the Admiral happened to be sharing cabin space with them. He had no doubt that was the only reason the humans sent this many ships to track them here, and if all those human ships were still overhead past all these trees he also had no doubt that as soon as the Admiral was either dead or in their hands they would bombard the entire area from orbit...just like the Sangheili loved to do to them.

Bep would probably find that more poetic if he currently wasn't sitting on a branch with his back against the tree praying that the humans below him wouldn't see him and that the branch would hold. But there was a battle beginning, and the humans were quickly making their way toward it for glory and a chance to kill his trapped comrades and brethren. But eventually the blood thirsty humans passed under him, Bep peaking over to take a peak, and he slowly started to make his way toward the human staging area yet again.

He wasn't particularly patriotic, but it was better then trying to make it through all the humans, the crossfire, and his own comrades to get back to the Covenant ship. This way he could also hopefully look like he helped without having to enter a battle he expected would only lead to him being killed to save some important Sangheili rather than just looking over the base that was Hopefully mostly empty.

Wincing a little as all the gunfire and explosions started Bep stopped just before he jumped from one tree to the other. This proved to be a wise move as a large hornet creature flew past him at high speed, apparently spooked by the gunfire as several other animals began to try and get away from the battle.

Waiting another few seconds he took the jump and landed with a odd popping sound....Since when did branches make that noise?

With a loud squawk of surprise Bep soon found himself falling off the branch with something wrapped around his left ankle. His arms failing as he was jerked to a stop about ten feet from the branch and twenty feet from the forest floor - the jerk unfortunately making his carbine holster slip right off his chest, past his upright arms, and over his head to plomp into the dirt below him. Looking upward towards his feet Bep's eyes widened as he saw two amber eyes staring back at him, slowly lowering itself his direction: and if it couldn't get any worse it soon opened its mouth to reveal four fangs that didn't at all look friendly.

Unable to hold back the Kig-Yar squawked in fear again as he started to thrash and try to get his pistol as the snake like creature lowered more and more toward his new prey.

(Hope the branch snake was a alright animal to introduce. Selp the Jackal Sniper and Ado 'Urgomee the Elite Major would be back at the Covenant crash site defending if anyone would like to use them.)

[Deleted]

Sangheili Ultra Vinza'za 'Wodamai
Covenant Barricade

Things had gotten bad fast.  The creatures of this planet had been replaced by the Human's, a far deadlier opponent.  They had now hit the Covenant with a major attack, and they had done it quickly.  Vinza'za did what he had done for so many years, order his troops into the fray and fight with everything he has.  The Human's had made their first strike with their primitive vehicles, but Vinza'za could also see the shadows moving off in the distance, if only a glimpse of them.  He knew what he would do.

"Do not let the Human's approach any further!  Marksmen, take your time and focus on any Human Snipers or marksmen the Nishum may throw at us.  Everyone else hit the ones in the trees, especially those who are bold enough to enter the open killing fields.  If a vehicle ventures near enough, shower it with grenades or a heavy weapon if you hold one."  Vinza'za abruptly cut the battlenet off and focused on the battle yet again.

He had already zoomed in, scanning the forest for his first target.  He was tempted to try and kill some of the Human vehicle drivers but he felt it would be more a waste of a time than a benefit to the Covenant.  He was a footsoldier anyways, there were Ghosts and the like to deal with them.  The Ultra spotted a Human who was unsuccessfully attempting to lurk through the forest, holding one of his primitive marksmen weapons.  He took his time, centering the reticule over his face and breathing deeply and slowly.  

Vinza'za slowly pulled the trigger.  The gun recoiled and a radioactive bolt cracked through the Human's skull.  He fell dead before he even knew the shot was coming.  It seemed the rest of his Lance was there, as they immediately retaliated by firing on the Ultra's position.  A few bullets managed to graze his shields before he ducked behind cover.  All of his soldiers returned fire.  Vinza'za took aim again, firing two more shots into another Human.  The first just barely missed the Human's right cheek, but the second slammed into his abdomen.  He fell, and Vinza'za chose another target before the Human had hit the ground.  Whether alive or dead the wounded Nishum was an ineffective fighting soldier and not a concern of the 'Wodam Hunter's considering his much more capable kin.  Vinza'za fired another shot, barely hitting the Human in the leg.  Two more shot's to the chest silenced the creature before the magazine popped out.  Ducking behind cover again, he reloaded and prepared for a brutal day.

[Huka]

Field Master Til Je'at Ra'ha 'Muramai

 The hunt with the Demons felt a waste of time, especially when the battlenet started to get the barks of orders and reports of the humans attacking after braving through his trap. Dedicated creatures, it infuriated him but he still bore a grudging respect. Then he got a reply from Major Domo Ra'ah and he is glad that the young warrior was smart in following orders, "Very well, Major Domo. Soon you might even join me in battle from these disturbing reports." He said with a ping of hope. 

 Coming to a halt and deeply debating to help the Covenant in their defense, but he heard of Sorsa and his Lekgolo helping parts of the defenses with the lethal force expected of a Reticent Zealot, taking scores of the humans in his ruthless defense perfected by a Special Operator. 

 Then he heard the roars of a human vehicle and looked to the side. The worthog moved and seemed to be the humans were looking for their pet demons. Shame they won't live to see them. Rolling his back, he summoned a trio of javelins from his shoulder holster, reaching back and grabbed one. 

 His mask measured the air currents and he instinctively measure his arm strength, aware of the vehicle's maximum speed and comparing. In five heart beats, he aimed his weapon and flung it through the air with all of his might. The javelin speared through the air like a lightning bolt and perfectly stabbed into the wheel half-way before extending spikes, hooking the framework of the wheels. The vehicle jerked before flipping over, much to the occupants' panic. Soon their weight contributed to the complete flip, the turret gunner was too slow to move, not being a quite helpful position like a Spectre gunner. His chest slammed against the gun control and as the vehicle anchored forward, fell out of position and was a victim to tons of metal. 

 The others were more fortunate, while they were hurt, they weren't crushed and managed to crawl out. However, Til wasn't down. Clicking his lower right mandible three times fast while aiming his eye at the weapon, the spear's internal explosion whirled to its active state, mixing the coils until it violently exploded to the equal of a plasma grenade, engulfing the vehicle and the survivors in a glorious fireball.

 Sighing at the potential threat of exposing him, he knew it could be easily mistaken for a Covenant patrol or trap, which he had ordered put around the borders on extra measure. With his main objective, he currently continue his stalking with more stealth than before.

[deceit]

Major Domo Ra'ab Xirsasee,
Location of General Ekdo and Arbiter corpses

Ra'ab came around the final tree, his form crouched, his footsteps quiet. The Unggoy were crouching some twenty meters behind him, shuffling over as quietly as the bumbling fools could. Beside him, Torbit and Reevar stealthed to either side around him. As they came around the bend they saw four creatures standing over the corpse of the General. By the gods! The corpse of the General! Ra'ab, even though he was neither zealous nor a believer, was infuriated that these, things, were near the General. A desecration of the corpse of a warrior, who died respectably against an equal foe! Unacceptable!

The creatures had green chitinous skin, and it looked like it would be difficult to punch through. They stood almost like hominids, but their legs were triple jointed, which made them forward on all fours...if they stood to their full height they'd be a head taller than an average Sangheili. Coming out of their backs where the shoulder blades typically were two pincer like arms, most likely for killing and burrowing. Their mouths were razor sharp. One of them bent forward to take a bite out of the General.

Ra'ab purposefully stepped on a twig, making a loud snapping sound. The Unggoy behind him began rushing forward, and Ra'ab and the Kig-Yar hid to the side quickly.

All four of the creatures snapped to attention, seeing the bustling of the Unggoy heading forward at them. Two of them stepped forward. The largest one charged at the group of Unggoy.

Ransy, who was in the lead, finally grunted in triumph as they managed to catch up to Ra'ab and the Kig-Yar, only to notice the massive buglike creature moving toward him. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" Ransy paniced, "SHOOT!"

Behind him, Tansy went to the left, and Rigby spread to the right, then began charging their weapons. Ransy began shaking in terror.

As the largest of the creatures came within a meter of Ransy, NamNim, the runt Unggoy, charged forward, to everyone's surprise, his plasma pistol at full charge. He released the green energy bolt at full force at the creatures front arm, which was also acting as its foreleg in its blood thirsty charge. The creature screamed, his burning melting arm exploding with pain. Rather than falling over, it went to two legs instead and got in a leaping position.

That's when Ransy and Rigby let fly their own green bolts of terror, slamming into the middle joints of each of the creatures legs. This was not a pre-determined strategy, of course, but the two Unggoy had garnered the idea after seeing NamNim's ridiculous charge, which had actually worked. The creature fell backwards in pain, screaming in agony, and Ransy jumped forward onto its chest, firing his plasma pistol into its face repeatedly. The effect was devastating for the creature.

Two more of the green beasts were charging, so the victory was not yet won...

Ra'ab stepped out just as one was running passed his hiding spot to reach the Unggoy. He threw one massive trunk of a leg out, hitting the creature directly in the side, and with a roar, lifting his own charged pistol at the creatures face, blasting it full on and stepping back to avoid the spray of plasma. The creature coughed and choked in its burning agony, and would soon die. Ra'ab held his weapon out, feeling the overheated end steaming.

Torbit and Reevar both started shooting at the other charging creature, aiming for the back legs. It fell forward, needles in one leg, green plasma discharge in the other leg. As Torbit aimed down the face of it, he backed off as a pincer came swiping forward at him. A fool attempt. He finished the creature off, its chitinous skin not powerful enough to resist the explosive crystals of his needle rifle.

Ra'ab was prepared to fight the final creature, only to see it fleeing, having seen the fate of its friends.

"Unggoy," he said, "Pick up the corpse of the General, and follow us. Reevar, take me to General Ekdo."

They did so.

~*~

Major Jib

Jib stared at the wreckage that Field Master Till had left through the focusing lens he wore. One unit on foot did that amount of damage? The whole vehicle was covered in scorch marks. But the explosion stemmed from the already crashed position it seemed. A moving vehicle hit by a grenade would have exploded many meters back from where it landed. Whatever the Field Master had done, they hadn't seen, he had flipped the vehicle -before- he blew it. Either way, the result was the same, dead humans. "We'll have to be quieter and sneakier." Jib told Lebit, in case that brings unwanted attention. Remember, we can't shoot without permission.

Lebit turned to him, "You really care about that order?"

Jib narrowed his gaze, "If we disobey a Major under a Zealot's leadership, then that's the same as disobeying a Zealot. Do you know what Zealots do when they even suspect disobedience?"

That put Lebit in line. He gave a low hiss in grudging acknowledgement.

"The Field Master is on the move." Jib said. The two began moving once again, quiet and slowly, letting the Field Master go quite a ways ahead before following.

[NinjaBoss]

Zahn 'Vignarlee, Major Domo

    Zahn looked down at the Unggoy Ultra, who was coughing blue blood onto the ground. Zahn shook him by his shoulder, and asked him "Can you stand? Run? Walk?". The Ultra looked at him and coughed up more blue blood before replying, "You and me both know I'm not making it out of here alive, Major Domo." Zahn nodded. "I know this, but can you stand, run or walk?" He asked again, more firmly this time. "Y-yes, why Major Domo?" The Ultra asked. Zahn made no reply, only turned and counted the remaining Covenant force. He counted Pran and the two Kig-yar, a file of three Kig-yar lead by a Sangheili Minor, and another file of three Unggoy lead by another Sangheili Minor. Fourteen total soldiers, including himself. Seeing as he was the highest rank, Zahn was in charge.

    "Pran, collect all the plasma grenades and bring them to me! Everyone else, give your grenades to Pran and give him covering fire so he can get back to me. NOW!" He barked, and then turned back to the Ultra. "Do you have any grenades?" He asked him. The Ultra gulped and nodded, and then handed Zahn two plasma grenades. Zahn could tell by the look in his eye the Ultra knew exactly what he had in mind. "Major Domo!" Pran barked, and handed Zahn nine grenades. Zahn turned to the Ultra, now with thirteen grenades. "I'm going to rig this Ultra with grenades, and then send him into the midst of their vehicles. Give him covering fire until he gets there!" Zahn ordered. "Ultra, don't prime the grenades until you've made it to them, we don't want them to know you're there until it's too late." He then handed him two grenades, and stuck the others in notches around his armor.

    "As soon as the vehicles explode, fall back before more of them can come and trap us again!" Zahn barked. "GO!" He then pushed the Ultra forward, leaping in front of him and letting loose a salvo of plasma onto the enemy. They quickly showered him with fire, and his shields flared and popped. Zahn rolled back into cover, but took a bullet in his right shoulder while his shield was down. He roared in pain, but quickly began firing on the hominids again as soon as his shields recharged. If this plan was going to work, he would have to keep all attention away from that Ultra. The rest of the Covenant forces were firing too, some of them even sacrificing their own lives to ensure success. He counted two Unggoy and a Kig-yar who had done this already themselves.

    Only two more seconds to go by and the Ultra would be there. He was running alongside the trees, where the vehicles shouldn't be able to see him if distracted, until he primed the grenades. By then it would be too late. As more plasma fire showered the vehicles, a bolt hit one of the now six "warthogs", and the vehicle instantly exploded. Zahn assumed it must have hit the fuel source, and looked back at his soldiers. "Aim for the circular outline on the side of the vehicles, it's their fuel source!" He barked, and then watched as suddenly the area around the vehicles was illuminated by a blue light, which slowly grew brighter as the Ultra primed more and more of the grenades. Zahn knew it was time. "Fall back, now!" He ordered, and turned and counted two Sangheili Minors including Pran, four Kig-yar including the two of his own file, and one Unggoy Major. He waited one more second, and then began to sprint as fast as he could back towards the Covenant base site.

    A deafening explosion ripped through the air, and Zahn glanced back to see a cloud of blue and red fire erupt into the sky. He continued running, as enemy fire stopped, and he rushed to get to cover before it started back up. After around five minutes, he finally made it to the upper right fortification, and made his way behind cover where he was protected by a Covenant plasma turret. Looking back at the Covenant forces, he saw everyone who was alive after the explosion had made it back. His plan worked, and Zahn sighed in relief. Though dying in battle would bring him great honor, Zahn wanted his legacy to preach of more than just a Major Domo.

[David]

Admiral David Vardy
Bridge - UNSC KILLIMANJARO
Checking Logistics.

"Admiral." Admiral Klix said, his image breaking up on the main viewscreen. "Ship must've taken a real beating. Im reading cascade failures all over the ship."

Nodding, David looked at Klix. "Understood, Do you require our assistance?"

"Negative" Klix said, shaking his head in defeat. "But I don't think I'll be of much use to you. I'm going to attempt a jump back to UNSC space. Our drive doesn't seem affected, so I'm going to chance it."

Nodding, David looked at the Admiral and smiled. "Understood Admiral. Be safe. When we meet again. Cigars and Brandy on me."

Grinning, Klix replied "I'll hold you to it Admiral." Then, saluting, Klix added "It's been an honor. Incase things don't work out. Klix out." and then his face dissolved from the main holo-tank.

Looking down at the deck, David smiled a small smile. "Honour's been mine. Admiral. God Speed."

Then, looking at his First Officer, David sighed. "A brave man. Lets hope that ship of his lasts."

Nodding, Janeway gave David a re-assuring look. "I'm sure it will. It's been in tougher scrapes."

Nodding, David heaved a sigh and watched as the UNSC Sratoga exited on a randomized Vector. Then, looking back at the padds stacked by his chair, He looked at Janeway and offered a small smile.

"I'm going to take a break." David declared. "You have the bridge Number 1."

"Sir. You've been on the bridge for a while now. Take some sleep time." Janeway replied as she moved to the command chair.

"Yes Ma'am" David replied, with a tired grin.

Walking off the bridge, David was glad she couldn't see the moisture that was collecting in the corner of his eyes. He was tired, and now worried. Sleep wouldn't come easy.

[Arbiter124]

First Lieutenant Drake A124; RAPTOR-001

SPARTAN-III

Dropping in to assist

The SPARTAN raced through the hangar. He and the lone other member of RAPTOR were ordered for dropping and assisting. Originally they were supposed to stay and wait for the rest of the SPARTAN-III team, but on the account of an Arbiter being found on the ground, that meant that there might be Zealots. They needed the best down there, and GOLD team didn't seem to be doing the job, at the moment. Perhaps they just hit a bump in the road.

RAPTOR-001 wouldn't let that happen with his team.

Drake raced to the drop pod bay, and pushed past a human to finally reach his pod. He took the shotgun strapped to him and unstrapped it, throwing the sling away. He didn't want a sling for this specific mission. He then looked towards the machete at his torso, and unstrapped the sheathe, shoving it into a compartment in his pod. The SPARTAN then grabbed his shotgun and shoved it into the primary weapon compartment. He unstrapped the M7 caseless SMG from his waste and shoved it into the secondary weapon compartment. He looked toward the other SPARTAN.

The one called Gary. A319. RAPTOR-002

He hoped that they were ready for this. With a huff, Drake spoke.

"Alright Gary, we are dropping at our own zone, closer to the Covenant border than the ODST's. Be prepared, because we very well might see some Buggers. They have been spotted everywhere around the area." Drake advised, before nodding to both of them and putting one foot on the step of the pod, pushing up and entering it with ease. He strapped himself in, and activated the HUD on his SPI variant helmet. The data displayed itself, but what he was looking at was the pod door pushing in and sealing the drop pod. Drake snarled, and closed his eyes.

"This is Drake A124, RAPTOR-001. You have the go to drop."

"Copy that, RAPTOR-001." A voice chimed in his ears, and they were detached from the ship, hurtling through space towards their target.

Drake sighed, and prepared himself.

He may see his idols here.

He may find the SPARTAN's.

[BasedGoody]

Gary A319
Petty Officer 2nd Class
Drop Pod

Gary felt uneasy as the drop pod detached from the ship with a hiss. He wished the others were here, but for now it was just him and Drake. He could deal with that, Drake seemed friendly enough to get along with for now. The SPARTAN looked around his cozy drop pod to find his Assault Rifle held in place to his left, his Magnum on his right, and a combat knife right below it. His HUD blinked to life as the drop pod soared through the air. The stars were so clear above him, and the jungle so green below. He could already make out smoke trails down on the surface. He clicked on his comms.

"Yo Drake, you ready for some live combat?" He asked. Without waiting for a response, he continued talking. "Can't wait to kick some damn bugger ass. They come by the hundreds and drop like flies." Gary smiled. 

The drop pod shook for a second before flying became smooth again.

"Hell, I think they're going easy on us." He laughed before becoming strangely silent. He peered out the glass and to the left. A Banshee was coming straight towards them. The hum of it's jets were slowly growing, and Gary began to panic.

"What!? Are you seeing this Drake?" He yelped desperately.

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Captain Garatus

He had finally been called to frontlines. He and his soldiers had been ordered to do heavy lifting to help speed up the repairs of the ship but as the humans pressed the attack all soldiers had been called to battle, Garatus rallied his pack and deployed out of a half buried hangar.

"Short bursts, aim for the center of the body or the head!" Garatus bellowed to his pack mates. He pulled his weapon from his belt, a one handed weapon called a spiker rifle, in the other hand he held a combat knife, he held the blade downwards, the back of the blade running along his forearm. He stalked through the grass feeling rather small, he'd never felt small before and he wasn't fond of it.

The humans were easy targets if you surprised them, otherwise they nearly impossible to root out, no wonder the prophets wanted them eradicated like the parasites they seemed to be, they he'd heard they tasted alright though. He Heard the battle raging in the not so distant distance, his eyes lit up with anticipation as he thought of the fighting, crushing his puny foes.

"What's our plan of attack Captain?" said Garagantum, a young but promising major. Garatus had forgotten about the rest of them while he daydreamed of inflicted carnage, he paused contemplating what to say choosing a plan for a group is a lot harder than picking your own game plan. He turned away from them and walked a few yards before he started taking deep breaths to clear his head. He'd just make something up and go with it until they actually found the enemy.

"We'll rush them if there aren't that many, and ambush them if there are many" he said. He started walking again, hopefully they'd find the enemy soon, Garatus couldn't wait to satiate his bloodlust, he was tired of the constant infighting, luckily for him there was a group of humans laying down fire on a Covenant position, finally some action. He Thought for a long moment about what to say to his pack then decided on a general command.

"You two go that way and you three go the other" he said pointing at Jorum and Valorus then Durkus, Gargantum and Fallus. They swiftly departed as Garatus readied himself to attack, he jumped from the grasses firing his spiker rifle. They whipped around to see the towering warrior charging them but they didn't have very much time to react because the others jumped out of the Gigantic shrubbery. Garatus Hit two but took fire from a third, embedding in his shin. He crushed the human that shot him with his heel, grinding into the dirt. He looked up and sniffed the air, there were more humans around for curtain, its them or us he thought to himself.

[Arbiter124]

First Lieutenant Drake A124; RAPTOR-001

SPARTAN-III

Dropping in to assist

Drake heard the voice of his worried comrade, and his head darted in the direction of the noise. A purple blur, moving like some bird of prey towards Drake. Fast, and with deadly accuracy. Pointing directly towards Drake's falling drop pod. The SPARTAN huffed, and looked to Gary's pod, to see an explosion of green, the glass of his own pod cracked, and now twirling in an unstoppable spin from the Banshee's plasma shot. The pod flashed red as Drake desperately attempted to free himself and open the door, but to no avail. He smashed in a red button near his right arm, and the pod's parachute activated. RAPTOR-001 instantly stopped falling and went into a drifting motion, still spinning. The sudden change in speed caused him to jerk awkwardly in the pod, but at least he wasn't in a death situation anymore.

While slower than before, the pod still dropped with amazing speed, smashing into the ground with full force. Drake shook from the impact, and punched the green button freeing him instantly. The pod's door hissed violently and shot forward, flying through the forest and smashing into a tree, breaking the base of the trunk. The tree creaked violently. Drake snarled, using his superhuman strength to easily rip off his straps and hop out. The huge trunk swayed behind him a hundred yards away, threatening to fall. The SPARTAN hissed like some animal, and strapped his machete onto his torso with practiced speed. His hand shot out and pried the Shotgun off, then the SMG. Holstering the M7 Caseless to his hip and holding the shotgun in his right hand, he twirled around quickly to face the tree.

The falling tree.

Drake darted to the left, making seven fair strides before leaping forward as the tree crunched down on his drop pod. Drake flew forward from the force of the tree's impact, and spun in a one eighty midair, smashing his back against a low branch. He huffed violently and dropped to the ground, laying on his side. The SPARTAN panted quickly, happy to be alive. He activated his radio and put it on all open networks.

"This is SPARTAN-III First Lieutenant Drake A124; RAPTOR-001. Me and my Partner have just dropped down near enemy lines and are available for assistance to any squads or fireteams that need us. We will be available on all open channels. RAPTOR-001 out." With that, he shut his radio off and readied his shotgun. Looking into the trees, Drake made a snarling sound, not in anger, but to signify that he had survived the drop. 

Now he would just wait for Gary to return the call.

[Death]

Captain Brutus "Death" Gadum
Jiralhanae Captain
Defending the Corvette

        Brutus and his lance took cover behind the makeshift walls directly southeast of the Covenant Signal Tower, the smell of fire from the burning flames around the corvettes path of destruction, the smell of fresh hot plasma exiting the barrels of the Shade Turrets and most importantly, the fresh smell of death clung to the nose of this massive brute. All of these powerful scents combined to create one amazing scent of satisfaction, Brutus didn't feel right on the field of battle unless death and destruction were present around him and normally the deeper he was lodged into the fray, the better. This time was different though, this time they were ordered by the higher-ups to dig in and defend a Sangheili Imperial Admiral, a scum who was extremely high up on the hierarchy for their prime objective. They also had orders to keep the Corvettes shields, and weaponry operational so that it could be used in defending the crash site. Third and what he believed the most important was to defend the Covenant Signal Tower until reinforcements could arrive and they could possibly be evacuated. Out of everyone who may have been miserable on this hot jungle planet, it certainly wasn't Brutus or his fellow Jiralhanae. As long as bodies were dropping, he was perfectly fine.

He checked his simple HUD, running basic diagnostics on it and its operational capabilities, and it flashed clear. They were a defense against approaching humans, and a quick response team if a distress signal was to be called out if the humans were heading towards the Covenant Signal Tower because they could probably get there before the Sangheili, because they can run on all fours. A close explosion rocked his footing, nearly causing him to stumble forward. So far Brutus had Galmadus the long range specialist, and Fermius the CQC specialist paired together in a nearby vantage point so Galmadus could get some height on the enemy to begin sniping, and Fermius could protect him and his rear from flankers. He had given Fermius a 'Spiker' that he had found on the ground along with ammo just in case, but he could bet that the jiralhanae probably didn't need it.

He growled loudly, tired of hiding behind this cover "LIGHT EM' UP!" Brutus roared as he flared up from behind cover, and fired at the first few humans just in front of him. The first shot flew straight towards a marine and it almost hit him, but it just slammed into a tree just in front of him. It visibly startled the marine who in turn, jumped too far in his attempt to dive behind cover. Brutus quickly followed the man's jump and ended his life with a 'Brute Shot' to lower chest cavity before the Shade Turret had a chance to tear him apart. Following this, the entire lance began opening up especially Galmadus, who began sniping out UNSC Marines in the upper body cavity, tearing a good chunk out of it. 'This was going to be one hell of a fight...' He thought to himself.

[Deleted]

Sangheili Ultra Vinza'za 'Wodamai
Covenant Barricade

Flourescent Unggoy blood spattered the ground next to Vinza'za as a Minor fell. His face had become a twisted form of blood, meat, and bone that was completely unrecognizable. Another Minor's leg was blown apart by a grenade. He was still alive and wailing at the pain. Vinza'za immediately rushed out of cover, heading for the wounded Unggoy.  The Human's quickly took to the new target, spraying forth bullets onto Vinza'za's position.  He ran with as much haste as he could muster, bullets grazing his shields.  The 'Wodam clansmen hefted the Unggoy over his shoulder as a Sniper round narrowly missed his chest.  More bullets managed to tear his shields apart, but he kept moving.  As he nearly reached cover again, two rockets screeched towards him and the turret he had been near.  The first fell short of the turret, slamming harmlessly into a large mass of ship metal.  The second hit the ridge just above Vinza'za's position.  It threw him and his Unggoy to the ground hard, but they had managed to avoid any further injury.  The Ultra ordered a few more Unggoy to see to their brother before turning back to the battle at hand.

The fighting was dying down slightly; Vinza'za assumed the first wave of Human's was weakening.  He knew another wave would be soon to take it's place.  What remained of the first Human vehicles now kept to the treeline, keeping the pressure up but no longer an effective attacking force thanks to the bravery and skill of the Field Marshal present.  The Ultra wasted no time in sighting another File of Human's and opening up.  He fired three shots at the leading Nishum.  The first shot struck a tree just in front of the Nishum, showering him with bark and alerting them to the fact they were under fire.  The next shot hit the Human in the arm, and the third shot missed as well.  The Human's immediately took cover.  Cursing at his aim, he scanned around the area to look for any who was dumb enough to stick their head out.  After awhile one did, and this time the 'Wodam Ultra's accuracy was infallible.  The buzzing crack of the carbine sounded out once as a single round pierced the Human's helmet and skull.  Vinza'za assumed the rest of the Nishum got the idea and scanned for other enemies.

[BasedGoody]

Gary
Petty Officer 2nd Class

Gary yelped as the Banshee shots rocked his Pod. The beautiful sky and trees suddenly blurred against his glass. He punched against it, feeling sweat building up on his forehead. His head spun to his parachute button, gleaming red against his visor. One finger extended out and touched the button. Suddenly Gary felt the pain of whiplash as his pod stopped spinning and came to an awkward landing. Easy enough, He thought. Suddenly his small home started sinking. Oh no... He thought. A swamp.

Gary smashed his front door open and curled around to grab his weapons, a combat knife, and Assault Rifle, Grenades, and a Magnum. He hopped out as his knees sunk down in the muddy goop. Spinning around, the SPARTAN found his pod collapsing under the brown stuff. Gary felt the mud growing to his thighs and grabbed a tree branch, shimmying towards the safe ground.

"Eugh." He muttered, looking back at the ick. Slowly he shook his head and spun towards the jungle. 

Suddenly a large thud was heard, and Gary looked in the noise's direction. He started moving there, passing small foliage until he came to a clearing, where he found another drop pod. Drake. He jumped out of his pod and avoided a tree crashing down near him. He snarled and growled.

"OY! Wassup Drake?" Gary smiled, walking out towards him.

[Arbiter124]

His eyes fluttered open once.

They stayed open.

His hulking mass twisted on the ground, to lay on his back. He growled to himself, but his snarl was cut short by a gurgle of his dark violet blood. The beast gagged on his own wounds, spitting out blood to clear his throat. He attempted to sit up, but a horrific pain in his abdomen caused him to rest once again. However, he was never a creature who surrendered to pain. He forced his neck up to see the issue. It seems as if his foe had managed to slip his Energy Sword passed a Chunky Peanut Butter in his armor. It didn't affect the harness, but it burned through his side. It must have made his adversary believe that he had fallen and moved on. That eased him, slightly. He turned his head to see another creature only a couple hundred yards away. He saw the golden tint and rolled onto his knees, breathing heavily.

He rose to his haunches, clutching his ribs with his left hand and limping over. He made it to the body, and saw that it was no Zealot. It was some nameless General. Cute. He looked onward, and his hearing seemed to kick in.

Gunshots.

His Zealous lust and bloodthirsty attitude had him rushing towards the Jungle once again, towards the source of the shots. He rushed along the forest path, moving with surprising speed for a wounded soldier. The beast flew from the brush, landing several feet away from a lance of Covenant soldiers. And Elite Major whirled around, Plasma Repeater aimed. He looked over the beast up and down, and then giving a huff of confusion.

"I need medical help..." He snorted. The Major tilted his head in confusion.

'What's your rank?" With that, the beast swung his fist in a right hook, slamming against the Major's head. He stumbled back in pain, landing onto his hindquarters. Before he could rise back up, one huge, steel clawed boot landed on his chest, pinning the Red Sangheili to the ground. The beast lowered his head to see him with is one fiery eye, blood dripping from his wounded mandibles.

"I AM THE ARBITER"

[Deleted]

Lance-Corporal Devereaux
ODST Havoc Three-Two, Alpha team
In the jungle

After awhile, the team reached their position on the edge of the crash site, out of view from the Covenant. Following the radio chatter, the marines were about to attack, and the other ODSTs were apparently circling around.
They were sitting behind a large rock. On their left side, there were tight bushes, and on the right side there was a fallen tree, so if they were given the order to attack, they'd have to go over the rock. Meanwhile, private Price had climbed up and was looking at the Covenant positions with his binoculars. "I got a whole lotta bad guys over there" He said.

"Allright. Keep watch until we get orders to bug out, private" Viv said to the man. Then she turned to the other male of the team and said "Joker, you gotta drink man, I haven't seen you take your canteen out a single time! It's hot and very humid, and we have been traversing hard terrain. You have lost a lot of water and need to replace it." "Nah, I'm fine ma'am" He replied. "I wasn't asking, Joker. I'm giving you an order." She said. And with that, he drank some water.

[Spartan 999]

Field Master Sorsa Ra'ha Je'at 'Xirsasai
Near the Arbiter's position

Sorsa idly wiped a bit of crimson blood off his forearm. He had lost track of the Demons in the thick jungle; disappointing, but it happened when hunting prey. Especially those human commandos. Instead, he had turned to hunting down any nearby humans to aid with the defenses. Jhakkado and Tarhuna had been invaluable during the battles, with their abilities and mere presence putting the humans off-guard. He halted suddenly as he noticed a small pool of indigo blood on the jungle floor. The strange thing was, there was no Sangheili body at that spot. A General's corpse could be seen not to far away, and there as a slight blood trail leading there.

The Zealot stalked carefully towards the unmoving Sangheili. He knelt down next to the warrior and checked to see if he was alive. Then, he spotted movement through the trees. When his eyes flicked to the side to observe it, he noticed another blood trail leading away from the corpse. Apparently the General was not the one who'd had his blood spilled back there--he blinked in sudden realization. He checked his HUD's map and sure enough, this was the general area the Arbiter and a General had died in while fighting Demons, but...there was no Arbiter here.

"Til, I think you'd better follow my indicator." Sorsa said over the com system to his half-brother, already sprinting full-out across the clearing and into the jungle after the blood trail, the Syalekgolo Theron tailing him. "The Arbiter seems to be alive and moving."

[Arbiter124]

Tibur 'Muramai
Holy Arbiter
Treating Wounds

Tibur sat on a fallen tree's trunk, clutching his still bleeding wound aggressively. A Minor Domo attempted to assist him, but Tibur had shrugged him off, clearly stating that he would have no help of any kind from anyone but a Huragok. Those pathetic creatures were weak, but they could get the job done right, and get the Arbiter back into battle sooner than anyone else in the Covenant.

And soon enough, one came along. It had laid Tibur fully on the trunk, and started its work. In a matter of minutes, Tibur's wound was already much better than it had been. With a sigh of relief, he was able to get up and walk without the unbearable burning pain stuck near his abdomen. He unhooked his 'Blade of the Storm' and activated it, the Red Energy emitting from the stem, to form his deadly Plasma Blade. He swung it half of a dozen times to get the feel of a weapon in his grasp again, and turned to move back into the fight.

Right when he saw a Mgalekgolo.

No, not one of the massive, Juggernauts. It was a mass of worms, but it was smaller. He remembered working with them before. What were they? Syalekgolo? He rolled his one red eye, to signify his uncaring for the creature, and turned to walk away, when he came eye to eye with a Sangheili clad in customized armor, with a Cyclopean visor covering his warrior's face.

Sorsa.

Tibur snarled, and walked right up to the Zealot.

"Sorsa, what is the situation? Where's Til? Inform him that I am alive and active one more. Where am I needed?" RTibur growled, throwing a barrage of questions towards the Zealot.

[Huka]

Field Master Til Ra'ha Je'at 'Muramai

 Til was growing tired in this seemingly pointless hunt, stopping and watched the Demons leaving. As long as his mark remained on them, he could see them as far as his helmet's radar system can reach. Slowly moving back, he suddenly got a message from Sorsa and his hearts felt something other than vengeance.

 Clicking his mandibles, he made a fast dash and jumps along the tree, but he was cheated from his kills. He needed his bloodlust sated. Looking down like a bird of prey, he saw a lance of Imps traversing through the jungle. Their lesser infernal blood will do. With a roar of fury, he flipped through the air and dived with his twin curveblades in hands. Muram designed with elaborate waves etched into it and the blades curved like hooks.

 The Imps immediately took arms at the terrible noise and looked around in a panic, "What was that!?" One of them cried, the diving phantom spun upright and strengthened his energy shields to land on one of them, sending blood everywhere as bones crunched under his weight, his shields taking the blunt of the shock while his legs hummed in mild throbbing. 

 "Gregory!" The closest soldier screamed. Growling at the loud noise, Til sliced its head clear off before lunging at another and crunched its chest with a armored knee. The human flipped over but it didn't had a chance to get up before its helmed head was crushed under his boot. Uncloaking at last, the Zealot stared down the remaining five, "Death to the Heretics!" He roared and bullets started to fly. 

 Bucking to the shots that landed, the Huntmaster flipped through the air and sliced one straight down the middle, the scream of pain was music to the mad Sangheili's ear. Swinging his off-handed knife to the side, he caught one of the Imps in the hook, and tore its belly wide open to let its innards spill out like a fat gurka'fi. 

 One of the three gagged at the terrible sight but a boot flew through the air, crushing it between armored toes and a giant tree. Then he growled angrily at more bullets crashing against his thoracic cage and shields draining fast before he flips on the tree and ruined skull, disappearing in his cloak. 

 "Where did it go!?" The surviving two cried, its hand shakingly dropping its stock and tried to replace before the human screamed as invisible hooks scooped it up, hovering for a moment with blood dripping and slammed down on a leg with a loud crunch as its body bent in a unnatural angle. "No!" The last screamed and fired its entire load at the invisible killer. Bullets pinged and ricocheted off the shields before it popped in overload. A angered growl rumbled as Til reappeared, armor dented and blood oozing from his armor.
 
 "Death to all who oppose." He chanted in Muram, slowly dropping the body and approached the single Imp left, who started to back up, its breath heavy and scared. The Sangheili's knuckles popped as he bared his talons, his single eye staring ominously as a thrill echoed. Just when the stock popped into the rifle, the Imp lifted his weapon, but its barrel immediately fell with a sizzling end.  

 Flicking his wrist and turning off his energy dagger, Til thrusts his hand out and grabbed the human's throat, squeezing tight. "I will enjoy this...." He growled, dragging its wiggling body along the tree. Reaching back and undoing his helmet's attachments, the Imp tried to reach for his knife but Til slammed it against the tree twice with his muscles bulging from the slight effort of holding the creature. As excess oxygen and gases hissed from the flailing tubes, he grabbed the front of his helm, and slowly pulls it off his face. 

 Face scarred from grevious burns and bio-elements, his right eye gleaming in a poisonous green as the other was a void, and his fanged mandibles clicking maliciously. The Imp choked and weakly kicked at the Zealot but he chuckled cruelly and unleashed a terrible roar with mandibles splayed out, revealing a row of jagged fangs on his upper jaw. 

***

  Walking through the jungle, Til appeared behind the flustered Arbiter and tilted his head, in one hand was his helmet and in the other was a dangling spine holding the screaming remains of a human head, flesh dangling and pearly skull showing. "I am here, Brothers." he said dryly.

[Arbiter124]

Tibur 'Muramai
Holy Arbiter
Speaking with his peers

An annoyed Tibur turned around to see his cousin, who strode toward them with what looked like controlled aggression. Til was always one to prefer to keep his more furious emotions hidden. This was something Tibur also enjoyed to do. But that was before he became the Will of the Prophets.

"Til, Sorsa..." He began, twisting his neck to hear the cracks that gave him a slight pain but mostly relief. He crossed his arms, sheathing the 'Blade of the Storm' neatly at his side. His one eye darted back and forth between them.

"What shall we kill first, brothers?"

[deceit]

Ra'ab, along with Lebit and Jib, stood a good distance away from the Zealots and the Arbiter. He did not want to entangle himself where he didn't need to be. He took orders from Field Master Till Muramai, and that field master had last ordered him to return the Arbiter's corpse and General Ekdo's corpse to the ship. The only problem with that order is that not only did the arbiter and the general weigh almost 1500 pounds between the two, but the Arbiter had gotten up. Apparently, he was alive. Ra'ab had attended to Ekdo's corpse a while ago, leaving the Arbiter to another group which they had stumbled upon. He had informed Til that General Ekdo's body was back at the ship now and had waited. His Unggoy, along with Torbit and Reevar would be back shortly, having delivered the body ( a heavy burden considering the Generals size, weight, and added armor ).

For now, his task was to wait for more orders. He knew that the Field Master would be aware of his presence and that when needed he would be called upon.

( Sorry if there are inconsistencies with the post, I changed "arbiter" to "General Ekdo" in my last post. This was the best I could come up with considering the circumstances, lol. )

[Faclan]

Bep, Jackal Spotter
3/4's of the way to the Marine Staging area from the Covenant crash site, hanging from a tree held up by a 'Snake'.

Amber eyes and fangs continued their slow lowering as the dangling Kig-yar continued its frantic flailing, lots of leaves and twigs falling from the shaking branch as it did. The snake didn't care however, its muscles were plenty strong to hold onto the branch and this odd creature. It didn't appear to have any fur so it wouldn't be hard to swallow - but its lack of visible meat was sure a let down. No matter, food was food and with how large it was it would feed him for a good few days at least.

While the snake was busy contemplating his nutritional value Bep had finally got the presence of mind of mind to go for his pistol which thankfully hadn't fallen like his rifle had. Grabbing it off his thigh he squawked in fear again as the snake lunged for his throat, bringing up the gun to try and shield himself with the metal part of it. It worked for the most part as the snake took good solid bite of the plasma pistol, and the duel coils were even pointed right up in its mouth in the perfect firing position. Narrowing his dull yellow eyes at the snakes amber ones he pulled the trigger...to the resounding sound of nothing.

In his panic Bep hadn't activated the weapon itself and while he fumbled with the his fingers to hit the activation switch the snake retracted its head from the weapon and opened his mouth for another shot. As the snake dived in again Bep managed to get the gun activated, a green ball growing between the coils because he had kept the trigger held down, the snake stopping its bite when a huge green glow appeared right in front of its face.

Taking a second to take a breath, steady his nerves, and try to slow his hammering heart Bep guessed where the snakes face would be and released the trigger. The charged shot hit the snake full on in the fangs and its skull was almost immediately boiled away and then vaporized. Nodding as the cauterized neck stump now hung limply above him Bep quickly looked up err...down to the ground to prepare to try and flip in the air and land at least partly on his feet. But he wasn't falling yet? Looking back at the snake Bep frowned to see that the snake's body was stilled coiled around the branch and around his left ankle.

So now he was stuck up here unless he somehow managed to climb up the snakes body to swing himself over to the tree...and of course his pistol was almost drained from his first shot, lovely.

[Deleted]

Sangheili Ultra Vinza'za 'Wodamai
Covenant Barricade

The fighting had increased again as more Human's reinforced their comrades.  Vinza'za fired on another Lance of Nishum in the edge of the forest.  Four shots to the chest felled a Human, who lay buried in a puddle of his own blood.  As Vinza'za turned to face another one of the Human's, a Human Sniper pierced through the many other sounds of the battlefield.  It felt like a Jiralhanae had struck the Ultra right in the chest, and the force of the impact sent Vinza'za tumbling down the hill, shields gone.  He was just happy the round hadn't killed him.

"Yaddap!  Be careful on that gun, Human Snipers seem to have us in their sights." Vinza'za said to the little Unggoy who was still firing away on the turret.

Vinza'za took new cover, being much more cautious now.  The Human's made for good prey...their valor and determination created a dangerous force even if they were outmatched technologically.  The Covenant, however, had a fervor unmatched in the Nishum.  The God's were on their side and not one Covenant soldier, Sangheili, Unggoy, or otherwise, would surrender in the face of this obstacle.  Ultra 'Wodamai scanned the forest again, and much to his dismay he saw that another group of Human vehicles was breaking through the forest.