Isolated IC

[Faclan]

Cad, Kig-Yar Major.
Will soon be discovering the Humans nefarious agendas.

Nodding at Garatus as he caught up with him he also pulled out his weapon, pulling down on the small lever to make sure the spiky needles were all ready, before moving closer to the buildings. "I'll try to scent or see them, but with this cold and these goggles that's going to be difficult." He said as he moved to the building to the left of the clock one. The window was about ten feet above him and was mostly shattered so Cad waved Garatus over. "Here's a good place, give me a boost will you?"

Cad was a little surprised when instead of just giving him a knee to stand on or something similar Garatus just walked over, grabbed him around the chest with his massive hands, and just held him up at the window as if he was some kind of toy of child. He would have been more annoyed if he wasn't overcome with sudden joy that the Jiralhanae were on their side if they could just as easily do that. Bringing his mind back to the task at hand he used the bottom arm of his Needler to clear out the broken glass around the bottom and sides of the frame. Pushing it inside so none would fall on his friend. Eventually it was cleared enough as he holstered his gun, grabbed the bottom of the frame, and pulled himself up and inside. Making sure he landed on his boots so the glass he pushed in wouldn't cut into his hands or anything else.

Once inside he took a quick look around; it was some kind of hallway, with a huge amount of doors up and down it, as well as some weird dispenser looking stations on the walls at intervals. Humming a little he moved down to his right a little to peak down the other hallway and could see a window at that side as well. Nodding he moved back to the window he entered from and nodded down at Garatus as he pulled his Needler out again. "There's another window on the other side of this building, I'll meet you there. Maybe you could find a door that's broken or you could break down if you wanted to scout the first floor." Ducking back inside the building he breathed in the slightly warmer air deeply as he removed his goggles and attached them back to his belt again. The lights were out in here as well but his natural night vision and the little bit of light from the windows were enough for him to see as he randomly decided on the hallway with the window at the end of it and started to slowly move down it, Needler raised, as he started to try the random doors.

(Feel free to find whatever you want outside BetaW, a smoking spot, an abandoned nice car, a food cart or stall, anything that you think would be on a future campus or in a city. Once Track(Willow) move closer to the Wal*Mart we'll head there as well.)

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Barry Barrington
UNSC Marines
FOB
So Cold... Soooooooooo Coooooooold...

"God dammit. G-g-god, d-damm.. it..." Barry growled as he huddled outside the FOB. The small dinky chair he sat on was about to snap from the cold. The marine had a scarf on over his neck leading all the way up passed his mouth and up to his nose. He also had a blanket wrapped around his whole body as he was in a fetal position on the little chair. The rest of the team were dead still, most of them with their eyes closed. They were talking quietly as the wind whipped around them.

"Why are we, h-here?" Micheal shivered as he leaned against a fence. His Assault Rifle was lying in the snow, almost completely covered as his arms were crossed over his chest. He looked almost frozen solid, only his mouth moving. Barry felt the same way. Him, Gerald and Lloyd were sitting in chairs while Mike and Donnie stood up.

"How many fucking times d-do I have to answer that question? I d-don't know." Gerald grumbled, clearly just as pissed over the snow as everyone else.

"Hey g-guys, anyone sees any C-Covvies?" Donald said, a smile cracking through his ice cold lips.

"Oooooh my Gooooood." Harry moaned. 

[BetaWülf]

After Garatus helped Cad up into the building he looked around to see what was near the this "College", firstly his nose caught the scent of some kind of cooked meat. He wandered around sniffing trying to find the source of the delicious smell until he finally narrowed it down to a small metal cart that he believed to say "Hotted dogs".

Garatus ripped it open and found many warm meat cylinders that were soft unlike a sausage that is unflexing. He tried one then started eating them by the handful, they were very good, he wondered what was in them.............
He finished off the cart and proceeded towards the colleges interior, he kicked the metal and glass doors in then pushed through the wrecked doorway.

He walked through the cramped halls with his weapon drawn, his shoulders rubbed against the walls as he walked in a slightly crouched position. He scented and smelled humans strongly, he wasn't sure if it was just because it was a human dwelling or if they lurked in the gloomy hallways, regardless, he was ready for them.

[Faclan]

Cad, Kig-Yar Major.
The evilness of the University system.

Slowly making his way down the hallway Cad started to try each door he came across. Many of them were locked, and Cads lack of Garatus's titanic strength meant he couldn't force his way in, but there were some windows in the doors so Cad was able to peak into the rooms that way. What he saw wasn't good, countless desks and chairs all facing the front which just had a big screen there. Moving to the next door he saw the same thing, and the same thing on the next two doors. But a set of double doors caught his attention as he rushed over to it, hoping to see something different to sway his gathering opinion. The double doors had no window, but the doors were surprisingly unlocked as Cad pulled it open and ducked inside with his Needler ready as he scanned around. He was at the top of some stairs leading down to a massive screen, long semi circles of desks with pullout chairs ringed the room as Cad cringed at the thought of this and all the other rooms.

Those evil humans! He thought to himself as he quickly left the room and headed for the other window. All these identical rooms and all the chairs just to a screen with few windows or anything on the walls. Quickly leaving the double doors marked 'Lecture Hall' Cad kept moving, not even looking on the doors in the other half of the hallway, he knew that would be the same. He imagined all those humans glued to the screen at the end, no talking, no questions, just watching. Like they were being indoctrinated...that was it! That's why they wouldn't accept the Prophets rule and the mandates of the Gods! He imagined buildings like this on all the human worlds, making them learn about only hate and contempt for the Gods so they would continue to resist the true Path!

Stopping his thoughts on just how deeply evil the humans were Cad noticed he had reached the window, and so proceeded to smack it with his Needler to break it as he stuck his head out the now open window. Sucking in a breath quickly as the cold hit he looked around and couldn't see Garatus - though there was a massive building just opposite the street, that would be a good place to go next. Sniffing the air he brought his head back inside and could smell faint traces of his fur coming from one of the doors with a odd stair step type pattern above it. Moving over to it he tried to pull back but found it locked as well. Rolling his eyes he stuck his snout near the door frame and screeched down the stairs toward Garatus's floor.

"There was nothing up here Garatus...besides proof of the Humans evil and unholyness. I'm going out the window here and will meet you in the large building out the east side of this one, it looks like a big supply store again." With that done he moved back to the window and hopped out. Letting his digigrade legs fold in to absorb the impact as he started to walk. Hopping over a small human vehicle he headed toward some more broken doors, evil humans and their looting, toward the big store. The Wal*Mart would have been a sign he could recognize, but it had been completely covered in snow, so he walked toward it unaware that nothing much of interest would likely be found and also unaware that a group of the feared Black Humans were entering it from the back side. 

[BetaWülf]

Garatus covered his ears as Cad screeched down the hallway to him, the sound was already loud but the enclosed space echoed loudly with the noise. Garatus proceeded towards the noises origin and came to a pair of locked doors, no problem he thought. He kicked the doors from the hinges and clattered to a halt on the ground before him, he stepped into the cold air and he inhaled deeply, Cad had gone towards the "Walmart" as he had said.

Garatus plodded across the street towards the Walmart and stepped on the top of a very small Human vehicle, it was blue and he didn't know how a human could fit in it. Then it caved in under his weight and he laughed at the flimsy thing, it was the most pathetic vehicle he had ever seen, he continued to chuckle as he walked to the human store to find Cad.

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Marine Forward Operating Base
Frozen Planet

"This is staf... llowbay again, gas st... ks clear, if you count the snow, any ... r... ers?" Came a response, it sounded calm though and Killinger immediately identified, since the name was only have cut out, as the ODST Staff Sergeant that he had redeployed as a scouting team. If the gas station was clear, that meant they might be able to pull this off without a problem. Gasoline was one of the priorities, and a means to keep the UNSC personnel warm during the nights - where it was much, much colder than it was right now normally.

"Staff Sergeant, Killinger here. Your transmission was choppy, but I got the gist of it. Move into the gas station and wait for Marine reinforcements. How copy?" The Colonel replied, looking towards the Captain. He made a thumbs up - the mission was a go. What she'd do was up to her, but Killinger needed to gather his security force up so he could move with relative protection.

He split away from the Captain and moved towards the barracks. Inside were a dozen Marines who were tossing a ball around in the warmth. A few of them were instantly chilled by the cool air rushing inside when John entered the facility. Every single one of them snapped to attention, all but the Sergeant - Sergeant MacNiell - who strode towards the Colonel. The rest of the soldiers in the room lowered their salutes in a curious fashion.

"Is it time, sir?" The Sergeant asked, opening the weapons locker and grabbing the closest MA5B assault rifle. John nodded in return. He had spoke with the Sergeant previously, as the man was wondering about the fuel levels before the debriefing. John was aware of the situation, however, long before the Sergeant was. He had volunteered his squad, four fire-teams of four, to be his personal security detail.

"Indeed it is, Sergeant. Lock and load, meet me on pad three in five." The Colonel said, leaving the Barracks.

[Faclan]

Cad, Kig-Yar Major.
The Mega-Store adventure.

Stepping cautiously over some of the broken glass Cad re-attached his goggles to his belt as he entered the large store. He could smell food, some of it rotten or maybe it always smelt like that, but after letting his eyes adjust to the light on the inside he smiled a little as he could see just how huge this place was. There was sure to be some valuable items in a place this big, the humans weren't that evil and stupid to just let all this space hold food were they? Shrugging he took out his Needler and primed the chamber, releasing the lever once the needles popped up as he started to walk through the store.

The building had several skylights, and around half of them were broken, slowly letting the snow from outside flutter down to land on shelves and the floor. Walking slowly inside he sniffed as much as he could, there was a odd smell inside of here, and it left Cad interested. But then he rubbed his nose and coughed a bit. All the cold was starting to get to him...he would defiantly need a hat of some sort next time. Sweeping his weapon back and fourth as he walked he narrowed his eyes a little as he moved up to some shelves fairly near the entrance. Setting his Needler on the shelf he took a few seconds to adjust his scarf to more tightly around his neck, thanking the Gods that he had it as he retrieved his Needler and sifted through the magazines and packets of junk food on the stands. To Cad all of these were useless, so he moved past the entrance display and moved deeper.

It was now that he heard the first sound, it was incredibly faint, but it almost sounded like a large door being slid open. Cad froze and stood ready, Needler hovering near his shield gauntlet as he stood up as tall as he could and looked around...nothing. Listening as he held his breath he couldn't hear anything else like that. Finally resorting to smell he gave a few sniffs before coughing again and rubbing his nose. Gods-dammed cold. Going back to a semi-alert stance, Needler out but not shield, he moved off the main path into the store to check out a side room. Smaller versions of what he saw in the indoctrination center were all over this side room, they were all off thankfully though. Cad was actually slightly worried off all these screens watching him, they could spark to life at any moment, try to turn him against the Gods! But he soldiered on to the back of the small store to just find more of the same. Grumbling a little since The Covenant forces couldn't use these he quickly left the small store and once more started toward the main store.

Cad didn't get far out of the electronics section of the store before a loud crash sounded outside. Jumping a good few feet he spun around with his Needler held ready as he looked back at the entrance, narrowing his eyes as he stood ready. But then he relaxed a little as he lowered his Needler. It was probably Garatus heading over here to scout with him. Rubbing his snout again he held his Needler more relaxed as he turned back to the large store and just started walking toward the main floor.

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Barry Barrington
UNSC Marines
FOB
Stiiiiiill Snowing

Nothing was changing, the little white flakes continued to drop down onto Barry. Mike continued grumble and complain. The Pvt. rubbed his hands together for warmth as he walked around in a small circle. His Assault Rifle lay leaned up against a fence, collecting snow. Gerald sat on a chair rocking back and forth with his eyes closed. Donald laid down on the snow curled into a fetal position. If a Grunt were to walk up to this, it would be a slaughter.

"Uuuuuuuugh." Donnie moaned, clenching his Battle Rifle. Lloyd looked over to him from his chair for a second with a look annoyance before turning back and wiping his DMR clean with a rag.

"It's not that I'm cold, it's just-" He stopped himself, pondering something, "No, never mind. It's just that I'm cold."

[Faclan]

Cad, Kig-Yar Major.
Being led into a trap.

Looking around the semi dark store Cad rubbed his eyes with his jacket sleeve as he waited for them to better adjust to the dark after looking at the bright outside. Humming he reached up to his neck and slid his hand under his scarf to unstrap the couplings to his jacket as he let the chest parts of it open. It was surprisingly warm in this store, and his thick jacket was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. Giving a rare smile he adjusted his Needler and backpack a bit before walking off with his adjusted eyes, weapon held but not up and ready - at least not yet.

He didn't try to sniff anymore or try to get the scent, his nose was pretty well blocked from all the cold and his throat was starting to hurt from all the coughing, so he just tried to listen instead as he moved over to a small food stand. Proding the see through packages with the Needler barrel he noted that they were squishy like the things in his backpack, but seem much larger than the first item and had strange stuff growing on some of them. The Kig-Yar decided against clawing them open to get a bite as he left the bread stand and rather slowly kept moving in. He was a little surprised that Garatus hadn't barged his way in yet, but he probably found something else to break or food. Clearing his throat and trying to breath though his nose again he sighed that it was still blocked as he stopped right next to a row of desk looking objects with pillars and numbers on the top of them.

But then he froze as he heard quiet pattering.

Immediately raising his Needler into a firing position he squinted to get as good of a view as he could, the chickens bright eyes easily visible to any as he moved along the row of desks carefully, scanning back and fourth with his Needler and eyes. It could have just been some small animal...but years of fighting had taught Cad to always expect the worst. He brought up his free right hand to support his left wrist for a bettering firing stance as well as having his shield gauntlet in a ready to activate position if he needed. But he didn't want to activate it just yet, that would just reveal his location in the dark. He was soon at the end of the row, a big desk past the smaller ones as he decided the desk would be a good place to look. But just after he set his right clawed hand on the counter to leap over it a container fell off the shelf to his left and a dark angular shape with a brighter face seemed to be watching him before it ducked back behind the shelf.

The backpack wearing, open jacketed, scarf wearing, chicken major spun around to follow the shape and noise, Needler pointed and ready to fire as he started to move to activate his shield, back to a certain counter as he quietly hissed out 'Human!' in its strange clicking language.

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some Frozen fucking Wasteland
Re-grouping with marines

"Holy fuck! It's fucking cold man..." One of the other Privates yelled out, specifically Kappus.

"No shit... The Sergeant's balls have probably frozen off so that's why he decided to stay at the FOB, fucking queer..." Said Private O'Brien.

"Man... I reckon Mendoza should be Sergeant... That's one determined mother fucker" Said Private Riley, bumping into Mendoza as they ran through the snow, Mendoza shot a glare at the man before he lost his shit and burst into laughter.

"Dude... Fucken' Ay... The Sergeant's got so much brass up his ass, he could be playing star spangled banner... I have no idea why he hasn't been discharged yet..." He said with a small chuckle before being completely serious with his final statement, their Sergeant was a total joke, he was never committed and almost rarely took part in any activities.

"Hey Mendoza... There's the rest of the marines, we're finally catching up" Said Riley.

Mendoza lifted one hand off of his weapon and adjusted his black beanie, it was keeping his ears warm nice and toasty, and because Mendoza and the rest of the Privates had been running for a good while now, they were all roam and toasty too, now they were about twenty seconds and one hundred meters away, they slowed down to a basic job and took synchronized breath's before continuing onwards, the other Privates in his overly large fireteam began to sing aloud the Marine marching cadence as they got closer, as if to gain the attention of the others, they were not officially apart of the larger group, Mendoza wasn't exactly paying attention and bumped into a soldier straying from the main group, most likely knocking her to the ground due to his speed and body size, as the rest of his fireteam continue to jog to the front of the back Mendoza stopped, instantly swivelling around and kneeling down to offer a hand.

"Fuck... I'm sorry about that... Shit... Here I'll help you up" He said offering an open hand.

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some Frozen fucking Wasteland
Managing to fuck up somehow

"Thanks" He heard the female marine whisper, he smirked to himself and smiled as he observed the young girl blush and fumbled to find her MA5, watching as bangs of her blonde hair fall out of her helmet, he raised a brow and began to observe the female, not necessarily her feminine features, although they were nice to look at, but she was wearing a hard helmet and it looked like she was not wearing any gloves, which was incredibly stupid, he lowered his gaze, bypassing her rear of course and observed her boots, was she wearing two pairs of socks? To Mendoza, despite being a PFC, this Private seemed fairly green to cold environments, he looked down to his side, the girls MA5 was at his feet, bending down he grabbed it and looked to her.

"Looking for this?" Before handing it over he snatched it back.

"First... Always... Have a strap on your weapon..." He dug his hands into one of his webbing pouches and pulled out a an extra strap he usually carry's around, hooking both ends to the butt of the weapon, he then stepped over to her and slid it over the top of her, placing the strap on her left shoulder. "Always keep your weapon like this around you, keep's it close and you alive..."

He then placed his hands back into webbing, this time another bag and pulled out another beanie and some leather gloves with medium fluffy insides, he handed her the gloves without even checking if she had taken them or not before letting go, he lifted his hands and quickly undid her helmet, clipping it onto her combat belt. "Clip it here... Between these... It rattles less and stay's out of your way" He then lifted his hands and the beanie the slide it over her head. "Pretty hair by the way..." He said before stepping back and giving her a few seconds to adjust herself accordingly and take in how quick passed Mendoza was, he then picked up his MA37 and held it in a ready position, watching the girl.

"We should catch up... To the others" He said with a warming smile.

[Faclan]

Cad, Kig-Yar Major.
ACKHUUUURK.

Just as his claws rested on the activation button of his shield Cad heard the shout behind him, his head starting to flick around in its birdlike nature, but it wasn't fast enough.

The armored arms wrapped around his scarf as his sideways beak was clamped shut by the humans hand, Cad pulled sharply back against the counter and then partway over it so his feet were off the ground. His Needler clattered to the floor beside him as his arms shot up to above his head as his training took over. His claws heading right for his assailants eyes, but they soon meet helmet as Cad's airborn feet and legs kicked. The quickly blacking out Kig-Yar clawed at the helmet regardless, likely scoring a few deep scratches in the visor of it as muffled gurgles and gags slipped out of his beak. His muddying mind soon redirected his arms to the humans arm around his neck and scarf; which he clawed desperately at as well. His efforts were once again for naught as his claws could only scratch and gorge the bracers of this human. The edges of his vision were already black as his legs could only meekly kick now as he moved his claws to the hands around his beak that he could see. But because he had taken time to try the other areas first he could barely scratch at the hand, doing surface damage of that as his vision went black. Cads last thought being a quick prayer to The Gods as he assumed he would never wake up as his eyes closed.

It may have been a long time in the chickens mind, but the humans training had made it quick, after only around seven seconds of tight holding the Kig-Yar gave a last small gasp before going limp. When relased his body slide down the desk until he sat against it, claws clicking quietly onto the floor as his feet and legs crumpled beneath him. The Kig-Yar's eyes closed with his maw slightly open, tongue hanging out as he sat unconscious - at the mercy of the feared Black humans.

[BetaWülf]

Garatus saw Cad disappear into the shadowy Walmart as he neared, the snow fall was quite heavy and the contrast of colors was making it hard for him to see into the gloomy building. Once he reached the doors he could tell he didn't need to break his way in, the doors had been broken and pushed open, probably by looters. Garatus stepped inside and his vision began to adjust, he blinked to clear the snow blindness from his eyes. He could see clearly in the dark and saw Cad going off to right of the entrance, so Garatus chose to go left to help cover more ground, he smelled the scent of Man strongly and wondered if this was a special building, some kind of social hub perhaps?

He continued on his way, gobbling the occasional morsel as he did so, keeping an eye and an ear out for anything strange. He again discovered what appeared to be a toy section in the store, but to his surprise and slight disgust there were toys of Covenant soldiers, he just shocked by these strange plastic representations of them. He picked up an Unggoy figure and pressed the red button on its chest, its spring loaded arm moved back and forth as if it were firing its plasma pistol, he was startled and interested by these and scooped them off the shelf and into a bag he had.

Garatus looked up when he heard a slight noise, his predatory instinct kicked in and he silently(If you can believe a Jiralhanae can be silent) stalked towards the sound, his eyes glowing an eerie green in the darkness. He drew his bruteshot and scented the air once more, the smell of Humans seemed slightly stronger but not enough for him to be certain there were some nearby, he only hoped Cad was alright.

(Its time for me to come rescue Cad correct?)

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some Frozen fucking Wasteland
Seeing green in the white

Throughout the process of lecturing the young marine as well as watching her fumble and jerk from left to right, this girl was obviously real green and jump, though what caught his attention was her increasingly red face, as much as she tried to hide it, he still saw it, smiling after he suggested they should catch up he began to break off in a slow walk, before swivelling on his heels and stepping backward a few step's he noticed the girl went back to pick up the gloves he offered, since she was acting nervous and probably trying to take in everything that happened in the past forty seconds, she probably forgot catch them when he dropped them, but he was trying to be quick and get her sorted as quickly as possible.

"Y'coming Red?" He said with a bright smile, already giving her some a nickname due to her red cheeks.

Lifting his rifle, he slid his left hand under the barrel and waited for 'Red' to catch up, once she did he decided to keep it slow paced with the greeny and walked after the rest of the unit with an average paced walk, now it was just him and her about thirty meters or more behind, he looked to the Marine and finally took the time to take in the finer details, she was a Private, though that was obvious enough, he didn't need to take a look at the chevron on her shoulder to take note of that.

"So what's ya' name Red?" He said curiously, wanting to know the girls name, he already knew her last name, Elm's, since it is UNSC standard to have it printed on the left hand side of the marine BDU's. "Mines Daniel... So no need to be shy" He said with a soft chuckle gently bumping her arm with his elbow, just being sociable.

[BetaWülf]

Garatus caught the scent more strongly and followed one of the paths it took, he ended up in a dark room that appeared to be used for storage, he saw no one yet. He began tearing the room apart, tossing things around and ripping shelves from the walls in his search for Humans. Garatus inhaled through his mouth with his tongue arched to direct the air to the scent glands in the roof of his mouth, he caught the scents direction.

He returned to the main body of the store and followed the scent one way but it was a dead end, then another and another until he found what he believed to be the freshest scent. He walked with his head down practically going on all fours, he snuffled around like a hound on a trail.

[Spartan 999]

((Sorry for the delay in posting.))


Field Master Sorsa Ra'ha Je'at 'Xirsasai
War Room, Covenant Camp

“Defensive,” Sorsa replied to Til, pointing at the map and the dots representing Covenant soldiers there. “All scouts have standing orders to report immediately if they see the humans and refrain from engaging them in combat if at all possible. I don't want to lose any soldiers if we can help it.”

“Excellency, report from the Kahnu brothers.” One of the Majors at a console interrupted. “They say they've located some humans.”

“Ah...and here we go.” He placed both hands on the table's edge and leaned forward, staring intently at the map.



Hunter Kahnu Brothers
Shopping Plaza
Aware of the humans

Lertannhe and Mutorra glanced around the deserted plaza once more as they exited the Target. The snow was picking up in speed and number, warning of a snow storm soon to come. They stretched their senses around, pinpointing a few Covenant scouts inside the "Wal-Mart", and...what seemed like two humans. Spines going erect in mixed surprise and excitement, they immediately started moving cautiously around the store and to the side the humans were closest to, though Mutorra lingered behind to contact the camp. If the aliens exited, they'd be facing two Mgalekgolo.

But for now, Lertannhe patiently waited and lurked, though he contemplated simply smashing through the wall and killing the humans. He decided against it, as there was a Jiralhanae closing on the humans, and they could act as insurance for killing the humans if they escaped.

[BetaWülf]

Garatus's great height allowed him to see over the shelves, and then he spotted the Humans. His glowing green eyes changed in an instant to orange, like when you shine a flashlight on an animal, they went from orange to red when he realized they had Cad. Garatus threw back his head and let out a thunderous roar that filled the building, he threw his Bruteshot to the side and charged forward with another roar. He busted through the metal and drywall shelves, tossing them effortlessly from his path if he didn't simply run through them.

He threw a shelf at the Human maggots as he neared, barely slowing to do so. His vision was blurred with unadulterated rage, he was very, very close now. He swiped at the one with Cads blade, then took several snapping bites with no success. They ran and he followed, the only reason he hadn't caught them was all the things in his way, but then he saw the Mgalekgolo pair and knew they'd finish what he had started, his attention returned to Cad.

He ran over to Cad and dropped into a kneeling position, he checked his pulse and could tell he was still alive.

"Forerunners be praised!" Garatus exclaimed as he picked up Cad and cradled him in one arm, he gently patted his face to try and wake him, and he was indeed gentle, as one would be with a babe, which comparatively size-wise Cad was to him, though he was fairly certain Cad was older than him.

"Wake up Cad, Cad, are you alright? Cad!" Garatus said looking worriedly at his unconscious friend.

I edited out the picture because it took up half the post and I'm not really sure why it was there.
-Martial

[Faclan]

Cad, badly injured Kig-Yar Major.
...

While the human military looters looted around his body and backpack Cad only twitched occasionally to show that he was still alive, but despite that and shallow quiet breaths there wasn't much movement. As more time ticked by while he 'slept' more and more of his equipment was removed from his person until only his jacket and armor remained, even his goggles had been snatched while the ODST private was doing another search over his body. But when his shield generator was forcefully yanked off his wrist and hand he made a small mmgh sound as his wrist and elbow were stabbed sharply with pain. But the sensation couldn't pierce his unconscious mind so he went back to silence with quiet breaths. Once the private had finished his search he nudged the seated chicken over so he collapses onto his side, perhaps eliciting a small chuckle from him as the big evil alien empire was in his own little world powerless to stop him.

But eventually the relative peace, if not safety, around Cad was broken as roaring filled the room as well as shelves and food items. Luckily the flying debris missed the sprawled Kig-Yar as the humans quickly decided to run with Cads weapons, ammo, food, and some of his survival equipment. Cad kept laying there as all the movement happened until he started to shake with the ground as Garatus thundered back to him and checked for signs of life.

Once lifted up into the Jiralhanae's grasp and coaxed into rousing Cad took awhile to show signs of waking, likely worrying the large furry apparent caretaker before his feet and hands started to twitch first, then his breathing started to quicken and he weakly coughed, before his eyes finally opened a little as he looked up at Garatus's face - though he still clearly was in very bad shape as he tried to talk, but could only make small wheeze sounds and cough more. He continued to struggle as he winced, holding his right arm where his shield gauntlet used to be attached, his wrist and elbow in a lot of pain as if they may have been dislocated from the humans clumsy removal of his shield gauntlet.

The Kig-Yar would later Thank the Gods for his scarf, as it prevented his fragile windpipe from being crushed by the Human females tight grip, but that would be when he recovered, for now he could only weakly breath.

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some frozen fucking planet
Baby sitting a green?

The younger marine was very shy and quiet, and she didn't really look where she was going, she just kind of kept her head down and to herself, the worse part was that she wasn't even holding her weapon, which means she was momentarily vulnerable, as much as this irritated Mendoza at the time he decided to let it slide due to what the younger Private was going through, alone, scared, cold and probably half staved in this frozen wasteland, missing her parents most of all, Mendoza himself didn't miss civilian life at all, this is what he was made for, he was made to be a Special Forces marine, sure on the inside he was scared, cold and probably even more staved than the younger Private, and he wasn't sure about her but Daniel had to chuck a massive shit as soon as he got back to the F.O.B.

"So Elizabeth eh? That's a very beautiful name." Daniel said... Just being honest, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl, he smirked to himself and decided to ad onto what he said. "...Suits you" He said before looking back forward, he was a pretty big person for a PFC, he had large arms and a large torso, his strides were also very large, one step for him may be two or two and a half for her, due to how much taller he was compared to her, Daniel also stood up extremely straight, despite all his gear, he had a gas mask a spoofer, which was essentially an electronic lockpick, he had a gas mask, a good twenty or so meters of rope, if not more a portable electricity generator, about three frag grenades, his sidearm a M6C/SOCOM and a BR55HB SR Battle Rifle strapped around his side and was currently carrying an MA37, needless to say, Daniel was geared the FUCK up.

"So... Elizabeth... I can tell you're fairly new to this... Being in combat... Being away from home and shit... Sooo... Y'know I am about as young as you but... Stick with me... Honestly... No harsh feelings... You probably got a better chance sticking with me than any of them guys up there." Daniel said rather straight out, he didn't want to sound cocky, but that's how he was probably coming off at the current moment in time, he looked to her with a bright smile before looking forward again, he look a deep breath in and then breathed out rather loudly, which probably sounded like a sigh but would have just been a loud breath.

"So anyway... How long you been with the UNSC?" He said looking to her with a smile, trying to encourage her a little, he'd step a little more to the right to get a bit closer to her, not wanting to make her uncomfortable but just, to give her the feeling that she was safe, even through they were this far away from the pack.

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Albatross Dropship
Deploying

"HIT IT MARINES, GO, GO, GO!" Killinger ordered as the dropship flared out, lowered it's side bay ramps. Forty two Marines, including Killinger, pilled out of the Albatross Dropship while the other one which assumed was carrying Cooper and her teams, was right behind them. Killinger had forty two men under his command, a platoon acting as a 'security force' - but in reality it actually was a platoon gathered from Coopers company. He said he wouldn't interfere with her command, but ended up consuming one of her platoons. She had the other one, since the Albatrosses could only carry forty three troops and there were only two Albatrosses being deployed.

"You ain't getting paid by the hour, now go out and earn your salaries!" A Sergeant barked as the man jumped and rolled as the Albatross prematurely started lifting off. Killinger, by that time, was already out of the dropship and making his way towards the nearest building with a squad of Marines in tow. He produced another cigar from his magazine pouch, which had about two dozen more in it - making the patch rather... full. Tucked neatly by the side was a lighter. He bit the stub off and lit the damn thing, before taking a drag.

"I only need a squad. The rest of you, stay here and wait for Cooper." John said, deciding to honor his words by only using a real security force. Someone chuckled behind Killinger as the rest of them pulled off and regrouped near a building to wait for their commanding officer. John had his priorities, however. First of all, it was getting the supplies needed for the majority of the men still at the base. He felt bad leaving Mkvenner back at the base to command it - that was a significant responsibility - but John knew he was more effective on the field rather than back at base.

And another was the Marines already deployed.

"Willowbay, Killinger. We've deployed near the city. I need a sitrep." John said into his radio, hoping the ODST hadn't ran into problems yet.

[Spartan 999]

Hunter Kahnu Brothers
Shopping Plaza
Stalking the humans

The two Mgalekgolo communed in a split-second their strategy. Given that there were apparently only two humans fleeing from the Jiralhanae, it wasn't a very complex plan. Lertannhe would charge, Mutorra would shoot. As their enemies had changed position inside the "Wal-Mart", the brothers started to relocate to another outside wall where the humans seemed to be headed towards. They pinpointed the humans rushing through an exit, and the duo figured they'd come around the corner a few moments afterwards.

Lertannhe did just that first, looming like a great shadow in the falling snow. He charged at the humans, bellowing a challenge. Given the snow and ice underfoot, he wasn't running as fast as he could have. One of the aliens fired a prolonged burst while backing away quickly, but the bullets just pinged off Lertannhe's armor and shield.

Mutorra charged a shot and fired, Lertannhe hopping out of the way as his brother did so. The larger Hunter brought his shield up to help mitigate the shockwave of the explosion, but found himself sliding and slipping upon landing. His massive weight cracked the ice pavement below, but there was still enough to keep him off-balance for a few seconds.

The large glowing green bolt of incendiary gel arced subtly through the air, heading right for the human who had lagged behind and fired at Lertannhe. In the critical moment before the bolt impacted, the human froze. He tried to move aside at the last instant. Too late. His body vanished in a brilliant emerald flash, and a couple seconds later Lertannhe regained his balance and started off after the other human.

[Doc the Mother of Dragons]

HN Samantha Jackson
Starting to hate this f****** planet
Lost

Samantha stopped walking and looked up, she had been looking down to make sure she did not trip or slip on anything, and while doing that had some how gotten away from the rest of the group of marines. Squinting she looked around to see if she could spot anything that looked like the group but all she saw was snow and more snow. The drifts were getting bigger and she was sure the storm had gotten worse since they left the camp. She tried her radio but all she got was the harsh sound of white noise, the weather must be messing with communications. 'Shit' she rubbed away the frost that had accumulated around her nose, it was cold and she knew she was not going to last long out in the cold like this.

Kicking the snow off her boots she started off back the way she had come, hoping to eventually run into someone or make it back to camp. The area around her was silent, except for the sound of the wind whistling through the buildings. After a few more minutes she stopped, none of the building looked like the ones they had passed before. The cold was seeping into her body, her flexed her fingers, glad she could still move them, but the rest of her was still cold and getting colder. Sam started walking again, and decided to try her radio, "This is HN Jackson, any UNSC personal please respond" she tried to keep her voice steady, but her teeth were chattering, "Any-" she was cut off by the sound of a woman screaming, she brought her rifle up and searched for the source of the sound, there was another scream, this time what sounded like a male, it was coming from a house a few hundred feet down the street from where she stood. "Repeat, this is HN Samantha Jackson, I have civilians in a unidentified house, possible hostiles," her radio was silent.

  Though the snow was up to the middle of her calves, she still made good time to the house. Sam ducked beside a abandon car and listened. The inside of the house was dark, the front door was ripped off the hinges and a few of the windows were blown out, most likely from the shock wave from Covenant Cruiser exploding over the city, as for the door, she didn't know. 'Go in, find the civilians, get back to camp' she tightened the grip on her gun and nodded to herself. Slowly she made her way up to the house, the inside was dim, but she still could see well, after checking the front door she walked into the main room. There were no signs of anyone being in the house, yet she could swear she heard screams. Quietly she searched the whole house, no signs of anyone ever being there, the only weird thing was that the gas stove in the kitchen had been lit, she paused for a moment and watched the flames, happy for some heat to chase away the cold.
Something moved behind her, staying still, Sam looked away from the stove to the hallway that led off from the kitchen, standing with their backs to her were two grunts, neither had seen her yet.


 She looked around for a way out of the kitchen, but besides a backdoor (she didn't know if it would open quietly or not) she was stuck. The grunts still had no idea she was there, she brought her rifle up, took a deep breath and fired. The first grunt caught the first rounds of bullets in his eye, where the second one took them in the chest as he spun to see what was attacking its partner. The end of her rifle smoked in the cold air, the blue blood of the now dead aliens slowly started to pool onto the floor. She waited to see if more would appear in the hall but once again the house was silent. Jackson waited a few more seconds before cautiously making her way down the hall, she stopped at the door, what she saw made her sick. She had found the two people who had been screaming. Or what was left of them. 

>>Tag: Mr. Hitman<<

[TinCanHitman]

Brute Stalker Silence

Ice ball Hell hole

Silence had been stalking non-warrior humans, following their scent as they huddled into one of their huts. He had set loose the unggoy, these being Special Operators, they were capable of the task. He watched them bust into the house, chasing the humans into a corner and slaughtering them with efficiency. They let out tiny gasps and barks of excitement, but otherwise were quiet, but Silence cared little as the others of his pack both tapped him gently.

They were sniffing at the whipping winds, Silence himself raising his nose and grinning. It was the smell of human, softer tones to the Jiralhanae's harsh fur, or any of the other covenant's obviously familiar scents. He nodded and they spread out, leaving the unggoy to sit and ponder what to do next. Silence watched with calm eyes as the single human, female by size and glands, made it's way into the house. Silence moved with amazing grace, slowly coming up behind the human, resting in the door way as his fellow stalker Stillness moved around to the back entrance. 

The female killed the two unggoy, who were caught off guard by her stealthy approach, but no sooner had she done that, Stillness broke through the back entrance. The female turned to run away, only to run into Silence, who grabbed her and flung her back into the room with the lit flame. He slid his large punching dagger from it's sheath with a loud hiss. It was time to carve.

[Doc the Mother of Dragons]

HN Samantha Jackson
Ice Ball Hell Hole
Its Getting Hot in the Kitchen

She didn't have time to scream as the Brute busted in through the back door, Sam turned and started running towards the front, only to slam into something invisible and very solid. She lost her grip on her rifle as another Brute uncloaked before her and grabbed her by the shoulder and threw her backwards as if she weight nothing. Jackson flew backwards into the kitchen and slammed into a counter, her helmet protected her head, but she still saw stars. She opened her eyes and saw the Brute who threw her slowly walking towards her, she scrambled for a weapon, her numb hands grasped her combat knife and pulled it from its holder, she pushed herself to her feet and lunged at the towering Brute. 

[TinCanHitman]

Brute Stalker Silence 

Ice ball Hell hole

Silence didn't react as the human flung it's self at him, burying the tiny blade past his thick armor and piercing his thick skin. He might as well not felt it, for what good it did. Instead he kneed her, causing her to fall back once more into the corner, before holding his blade over the fire, watching as the metal started to glow with the intense heat. He stepped on her, not pushing to hard, but enough to keep her from running.

He finally grabbed the human's wrist, pulling it's arm and slicing all in one motion. It's fore arm came off clean and Silence flung it to Stillness. He then grabbed her harness from the front, picking her up and flinging her across the room into the wall at the other side of the room. He then just laughed and dissipated. Just walking away from the broken human.

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some frozen fucking wasteland
Talking to the rookie at the back

"Wow... Three months... That's pretty rough..." Daniel said with a frown, he then looked down to the girl, who had her head was facing forward this time, and the blush on her cheeks was quite obvious, smirking he turned his head forward, adjusting his gear around himself before deciding to talk about his first deployment and training just to get her mind off the weather and the shit that was probably to come in the next half an hour.

"Don't worry though... I've been through worse... Heh... My first deployment we were pinned down in a blown out Pelican for half a day by Insurrectionists..." He looked down to her. "...My first deployment was in the inner colonies... So I didn't really see any squids till my second... But it was rough... I wasn't always a marine though... For my first year I enlisted in the Reach's army... But after that first year I requested a transfer..." He looked down to his feet, kicked a pile of snow before looking back up and rolling his head around on his neck, a few small cracks would lightly sound off, along with a small moan as Daniel moved his head around, he'd then look forward again toward the city, the large movement of marines were starting to get real close.

"But don't worry..." He said looking to her. "...You'll make it through..." He let go of his weapon and let it drop against him, raising both his arms and gesturing to the dozens of marines in front of them. "...Marines lead the way... Cause we're the best of the best!" He said somewhat enthusiastically toward the girl, trying to get her spirits up, it seemed her morale was down pretty low, not just because she was young but also because she was freezing, even if she was slowly getting warmer, Daniel quickly took his weapon back up and looked around the area, he then heard a little buzz through his headset, since he wasn't wearing his helmet he had to do with the headset.

"...Oi Mendoza... Where the fuck are you... We've been up at the front for like ten minutes now..." He heard through his radio, rolling his eye's he sighed and raised one of his hands to press a button on the side of his ear mounted headset.

"I'm just having a stroll at the back with a green-horn... I'll see you guys when we get into the city... Make sure you use proper radio discipline once we're in combat too..." Daniel said before removing his hand and returning it to the under-barrel of his MA37.

[Doc the Mother of Dragons]

HN Samantha Jackson
Ice Hell

  Her failed attack did little to slow the Brute, she felt a rib crack as he kneed her in the chest, she fell to the ground gasping for breath. She struggled to get back to her feet, but the sharp pain from her side sent her back to her knees. The Brute kicked her again, this time sending her to her back, the Brute placed its foot on her chest, Sam couldn't help but cry out in pain as her broken ribs moved. A large hand suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her right arm straight, she turned her head just in time to see the red hot blade slicing through her arm. As the Brute pulled her now separated arm away from her body she screamed as her brain registered all that had happened.
  She felt herself being lifted and thrown again, this time she hit a wall across the room and slid to the ground, her severed arm throbbing from where the blade had cut. The heat had cauterized the larger of the blood vessels,yet she felt blood seeping into her clothes as she lay on the ground. She laid there for several minutes hoping to whatever god or gods there were that the Brutes were gone.
   Sam opened her eyes and looked around the kitchen, she was alone. Slowly she tried to sit up but her body protested in pain, her satchel full of medical supplies lay a few feet away from her. Keeping what was left of her arm close to her chest she moved over to the bag and pulled her back to the wall where she could rest against it. She could tell her body was fighting the start of shock, she took a deep breath and used her only hand to dig through her bag, she finally got tired of digging and just dumped out everything unto the floor, she found the syringe of adrenaline and quickly jammed it into her leg.
  It was a few seconds before she felt the affects, next came to properly bind what was left of her arm. That was more difficult. Jackson did what she could with one hand, by the time she finished her hands where shaking again, the open back door was letting in more cold air and snow. Sam fixed her helmet, and decided to try her radio again, "T-t-this is HN Sam-Samantha Jackson...again....I am" she paused and struggled to stay focused, "I am injured, needing assistance, if anyone is there...please respond"

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza

Some frozen fucking wasteland

Talking to the rookie at the back



Daniel stopped almost the same time the private did, looking at her as she fumbled for her helmet, lifting his hand to his headset he turned it back on, and used a pad tied to his wrist to change the frequency, he passed through frequency and back channels till he found the channel the private's squad was doing, it was pretty silent, so he wasn't sure why she was fumbling for it, but then again they could have been trying to contact her for the past twenty minutes, just as she started fumbling with it her radio came to life, and in sync to that Daniel's radio came to life too.

"Elms... Where are you, we've been looking for you for the past couple of minutes and no one has seen you..." Someone from the privates squad spoke, lifting his hand to a control on his shoulder he flicked the switch upward so he could respond to the call.

"This is PFC Mendoza... Spec Force... Don't worry your Private Elms back here is all tucked in and safe at the back of the pack... We're about thirty or so meters away from the main force, as we get closer to the city we'll pick up the distance in order to not get separated... Over" As Daniel finished he stopped, stepping to Elm's and stopping her if she had been walking, he'd grab her hands and gently move them aside, removing her helmet with one short and swift movement, he would then slide it onto Elizabeth's head, into a position where the beanie wouldn't be uncomfortable.

"Speak to your people..." Daniel said, so that the other marines could be assured that Elms was indeed tucked away and safe, in the mean time Daniel patched himself back into his own Fireteam's COMM channel.

"Guys... Re-group one, zero minutes before hitting the city... Out" He then muted his side of the COMM and looked to Elms.

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
In the city...
Moving towards the Gas Station.

"T-t-this is HN Sam-Samantha Jackson...again....I am - I am injured, needing assistance, if anyone is there...please respond" Jackson said. The Colonel swore defensively and immediately grew irritated. This transmission was moments after the Staff Sergeants confirming the Covenant presence. How the hospitalman was wounded the veteran Marine Officer would have to find out later. All he knew is he wasn't leaving a man behind this time.

"I read you five by five, Jackson." Killinger replied to the transmission, knowing that it was stupid to move in with just a single squad. So he corrected that by calling the rest of the platoon from Cooper's company back over. They weren't too far and regrouped with the Colonel rather easily. By now the veteran Marine Officer had pinpointed the source of the transmission and brought it up on his HUD. He produced his map and marked the general location. With this weather, and no SATCOMM, the heads up display the Marines carried was generally useless - which was why the Colonel told leaders to tell their troops no to reply on the piece of technology.

The Colonel was closer to the gas station than Jackson, unfortunately. He keyed his radio again; "Jackson, this is Colonel Killinger. Can you tell me about your surroundings? Any notable landscape like large trees, a clutter of rocks. I also need to know how many Covenant soldiers are present near you." Killinger said, hoping the wounded HM received his transmission.

He channeled Willowbay next.

"I'll be there, Staff Sergeant."

[Spartan 999]

Hunter Kahnu Brothers
Shopping Plaza
Chasing those pesky humans

Lertannhe growled angrily and pushed himself upright, then went after the one remaining human. Mutorra followed, but wouldn't be able to catch up to his bond brother. The human made a turn into a narrow street, practically an alley, in between two buildings. Lertannhe slid for a couple meters again when he slowed, turned, and started off after the female. The concrete walls of the street cracked and crumbled as he forced his way through it, roaring at the human in the distance. Knowing that chasing the human would be practically futile and might lead into a trap, he tried a different approach.

About two seconds later, a beam of brilliant green rushed after the human. Lertannhe doubted it would hit, but he kept it aimed at the human's relative chest height and moved it back and forth slightly. Hopefully, the incendiary gel would be able to burn through the alien. If not, it would be a poignant warning.

Regardless, he rumbled and turned to walk back, spines cutting through the wall with dull grinding sounds. There was no point in continuing the chase, not now, for a myriad number of reasons. Mutorra huffed and clattered his spines in agitation. Giving up on a hunt was not something they were proud of doing, but they would bear it. War Poetry would be recited ere they left the frozen planet.

Together, they stomped back to where the Jiralhanae was, to see if there were any casualties among the Covenant inside the "Wal-Mart".