Isolated IC

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some frozen fucking wasteland
Moving into position with the CO

"Okay, let's move towards that alley. I think it leads to a parking lot behind the Church. From there we'll enter the facility, clear it out and provide cover for the ODST's." Mendoza heard the Colonel say, Mendoza decided to take point ahead of the Colonel and move to the entrance of the alley, his guys then stacked up behind him, Mendoza waited a few seconds, peeked around the corner to make sure it was clear, seeing as they were slowly moving closer into danger, before bounding off the wall, instantly into the alley, silently and carefully, he was on the left side, while one private went on the right side a meter back, then another on the left then another on the right, in a staggered formation.

They soon made it to the end of the alley in which the three Privates moved inwards again and stacked up behind Mendoza, Mendoza peeked his head around the corner to the church, looking across the parking lot, the parking lot was rather large, so if they all ran across at one time they would be a rather large target, Mendoza gave a series of short hand signals to state he would run first, then once he was set he would cover the next person run, so on and so forth, Mendoza bounded off the wall, and sprinted to the side entrance of the church, slowing down enough so that when he hit the churches wall he made no sound.

"Ok..." Mendoza muttered to himself, waving over the next person, Mendoza watched the roof's of nearby buildings to make sure there were no snipers, a couple seconds past and he heard the footsteps of one of the privates, by the time he looked down the private was already covering another private who was half way through running the car park, about several seconds later, the entire team was had crossed the parking lot.

"Ok... You... Open the door" He said pointing to one of the privates. "...I'll enter first, followed by whoever is brave enough to go in seconds..." He said, waiting a few seconds for everyone to get ready, he nodded, the private opened up the door, and Mendoza lifted his weapon quickly, stepping into the church he immediately got a large view of a bunch of huge wooden chairs, however the area they were entering in from was fairly covered if there were any enemy inside, being behind the alter.

[TinCanHitman]

Brute Stalker Silence  

Ice ball Hell hole

It was time...

Silence watched them reach the keep's rear entrance and let out a deep howl, his voice booming through the alleys and off the walls. In response his pack all reacted. Sight rose to his full height, Silence only able to make him out because he was looking right at the snow. Sight brought his Carbine forward and began to fire on the humans that remained in sight. Stillness primed two of the flame grenades he carried and threw one over the lip of the keep, towards the humans. The other grenade he flung down onto the roof, setting the place ablaze. The chemical fire was quick to catch the old wood crackling as Stillness slid off the roof with ease, landing in the powdery snow.

All that was left was Silence, who let out another deep howl, hoping his scare tactics worked. He ran past the lip of the alley, firing a quick burst of the super heated spikes at the human file. He had timed it so that these all happened within seconds of each other, the fire from Sight, to the grenades from Stillness, to the spikes from Silence, they were used to working as a well groomed pack.

Silence wanted to stay and watch, but he needed to get to the bait, the trap was only partially sprung.

[Faclan]

Cad, Kig-Yar Major Jiralhanae Pack Member.
Learning every minute and trying to set up so they don't get snuck up on, again.

Nodding to Garatus Cad looked over toward the darker section of the store where a 'hunting' section was apparently stashed - he would need to check that out later for more weapons for the Pack. He was surprised when Garatus revealed that his race could see as well in the dark as he, which was news to him but it made Cad breath a sigh of relief in his head. It would mean he wouldn't have to go out into the freezing downpour where the larger and furred Jiralhanae would fare much better than he would. He had to try and keep his arm warm so it would heal faster, and was glad of being able to stay out of the cold as the light from the large skylight got less and less.

Stumbling a little as he was patted on the back he saluted again then walked over to the indicated minor, adjusting his scarf as he went. The minor looked happy to see him at first, but once Garatus was out of eye and ear range he looked sour instead at their newest Pack Member. Cad rolled his large eyes as he stood up as tall as he could to better look the minor in the face. "We are here together Jiralhanae, so we better work together if you don't want to find a human knife in your back like I nearly did. Since you seem so awake you get to take first rotation, I will be too, hopefully you can learn to work with myself, a 'lesser race', before the dawn arrives or we may not last till the next dusk."

Without looking to see what the minor thought of his little speech he looked around at all the troops they had, ignoring the pangs of hunger since the dam Humans stole his rations, and trying to think of where best to situate them. Since the Captain had sent out a raiding and scouting party there were twenty five troops, plus himself and Garatus, that were currently scouting out the store or making traps and weapons to help them. There were a lot of entrances, but most of them had been barricaded, Cad did some quick math in his head and assumed that fifteen troops would be enough to cover the few that weren't and be on trap duty, ten could use the time to sleep until they were relieved. Nodding again he turned back to the minor and explained his plan before moving off with him toward the fire in the middle of the store to choose the ones who would be on watch and who would be sleeping.

The Hunting section would have to wait until they had some semblance of safety.

[Deleted]

Second Lieutenant Robert McCauley
Commanding Officer of what remains of Second platoon, Alpha Company
(Abandoned) FOB Viper

Robert sat in the communications building, calling any friendly units in the vicinity. When the last pelican left, two of his squads were ordered to remain behind and wait until another pelican returned. They waited, and waited, but nothing happened. Days in the freezing cold went by until finally after six days they had given up hope. After a day or two, the generator started malfunctioning and eventually the whole FOB went dark. Robert had his third squad's sergeant, Sergeant Alenko, who had an engineering degree, do what he could to repair it, but nothing worked. He was able to make a small makeshift generator capable of powering the radio mast.

Robert had decided to power the radio mast because he could not raise anyone on the net, other than what remains of Second platoon. So when a few minutes ago finally the comms went alive again, he immidiately went to the comms building to transmit the following message:"Tornado Two calling all callsigns. Second and third squad are here with me, holed up in FOB Viper. We have little power, and supplies are running out, over.". After he did not get a reply, Robert went to the wall where his second squad was on watch. He had organized the platoon into a 50% watch, meaning that one squad could sleep in the barracks while the other stood on the wall.

Robert took out one of the soldiers, Lance-Corporal James Trombley, and posted him in the communications building where he was to repeat the message and notify him of any response. Robert then quickly went inside the barracks to tell one of the PFCs from third squad that he was not standing watch, but instead was to relief Trombley in the comms building when their watch started. Taking a quick peek at his watch and saw that it was almost time for the next watch to start. Before that time, though, he took his last MRE. He checked what it was, and saw that it was Chicken Fajita, one of his favorites.

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Church...
...Under fire.

It only took a moment after Mendoza had started to enter the Church doors for things to go downhill, but Killinger was expecting an ambush honestly. He had been in the Corps too long go in blindly not expecting things to go according to plan. While it was unfair things didn't, Combat Officers had to adapt to situation's in a moments notice. That didn't mean Killinger, however, wasn't surprised. He ducked behind a snowy trash can a moment before a series of Carbine rounds slammed into the area he was just standing on.

The Veteran Marine Officer, with his BR55SR-HB Rifle in hand, fired at the area he suspected the Carbine rounds to come. He had traced the rounds impact points back to the roof directly above him. He pulled the trigger and the BR55 spat out three silenced rounds, and thanks to the technology that had been improved since the past five centuries, it was actually silenced. The only thing the brutes would have heard, maybe, was the cycling of the bolt. It was that quiet now.

"Move in-" Killinger started to say, seconds after he opened up suppressing fire. A fire grenade landed to his right, cutting his direct retreat point off from the Marines and church building. The flames quickly melted snow and ice. Next, and Killinger honestly was not even expecting a third part to his ambush - came the spiker rounds. And he was hit. His chest plate dented in and he felt a sharp ping of paint on his upper right chest. He could feel a warm liquid start to slowly stream down his chest under his armor. He decided not to call out his wound and instead get these Marines inside. "Move inside, now!" Killinger said. The spiker round hadn't done much damage, but it really did hurt.

His armor had managed to absorb most of the penetration of the spiker round, but it still punched through the thick layers of Titanium Armor his chest plate was equipped with. He would compare the pain to a broken bone. It was sharp, but it wasn't life threatening. He gripped the spiker round and his gloves provided a decent grip on the metal-ish projectile. He gave the thing a yank and felt the tip of the spiker slide out of his body. The blood didn't come streaming like he expected, but the flow did worsen. He expected this.

Once the rest of the Marines had moved into the building John came next, closed the door quietly and locked it. The lock wouldn't provide much, but it acted almost like am alarm. If the Brutes wanted them, they had to break the door open rather than just opening it. Killinger unclipped his chest plate and let it fall onto the floor with a solid thump, the internal portion of the gear red. He pulled off his shirt, folded it and crossed it over the wound and tied the shirt under his armpit to apply pressure, before sliding the shirt's knot more towards his back. "Holy shit titties that was close," Killinger muttered; half naked from the chest up. He donned his armor again. All that had happened within a minute. "Watch the exits, Marines!" Killinger barked, though quietly. He picked up his BF55SR-HB and reloaded the nearly depleted magazine. The coolness was all ready starting to clip at his arms.

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some frozen fucking wasteland
In God's burning house

Mendoza hadn't even noticed the Colonel was hit at all, the Colonel took it overly well, no noticeable grunts or yelps, instead he remained quiet as he patched himself up, with his shirt with all things rather than a proper fucking bandage, Mendoza however didn't know this just yet, before the Colonel even suggested it, two of Mendoza's men were guarding the front entrance of the church, while the other one stood at the rear entrance with the Colonel, half guarding the door and half staring at the Colonel rip a fucking spike out of his chest.

Mendoza himself had ran to the front of the church to sit tight with his men for a bit, by the time he decided to rejoin the Colonel the Colonel was already patched up and the Church was getting ready to come down on their heads, Mendoza took a knee next to the Colonel.

"Sir... This Church is getting ready to come down on our heads... Suggest we bail out of here now" Mendoza said before picking himself up instantly, walking to the main door, there danger of Covenant being outside the main door was large at the moment, but Mendoza knew for sure there were Covenant at the back, he decided to cling onto the hope that the front was clear as he gestured for the Private by the Colonel to come to the front of the church, Mendoza and the other Private, hopefully the Colonel too, would have stacked up at the door, but Mendoza wasn't anticipating a large beam of rotten and burning wood to drop before the group, blocking the door, a bit of extra debris would have fell with it, making it impossible to pass.

"Fuck this... C'mmon Red Two... Out the windows" Mendoza swivelled himself around on his heel to face one of the churches many coloured windows, Mendoza broke off into a light jog which soon turned into a sprint as he tensed up, jumping into the air, with the twist of his hips his back soon faced the window which within milliseconds he went crashing through, into a separate part of the carpark along the side, Mendoza's back impacted heavily onto the hood of a park car, sliding against the metal and into the wind shield he soon found himself rolling off the side behind cover.

It was a second or two before Mendoza had picked himself up and lifted his weapon, aiming over the dented hood of the car to where they had previously taken fire, making sure the area was clear, it seemed that the Brutes who had attacked them, already made off and his team were outside with him, Mendoza quickly turned on his radio, speaking through to Red One-Actual.

"Red Two-Actual to Red One-Actual, church is compromised, no immediate sign of Covenant attackers, possibly heading your way, watch your selves, over"  Mendoza was putting their differences aside, this was combat and it was time to be professional, he hoped if the ODST replied, she'd show the same courtesy.

[Soulstep]

Second Lieutenant Geoff Alexander Blake Mkvenner
Planet 'Balls Freezer'
At the Marine FOB, trying to establish comms with the Colonel

[One hour ago]

It had been pretty uneventful at the FOB since the Colonel left. The weather was gradually getting shittier, but not to the extent they couldn't keep operating as normal. While they still could, Geoff and the COM team had been trying to contact the force over in the city, but so far had been recieving only static.

"Colonel Killinger, this is Control, requesting sitrep, how copy?" one of the operators repeated for the twentieth time. They'd been trying for ten minutes now to establish contact, but the poor weather was leaving the junior command staff alone, and in way over their heads. The operator turned back to Geoff and shook his head. "Nothing, sir."

Shit, this was getting them nowhere.

Geoff thought for a moment, trying to think of a solution. There had to be something obvious they were missing, and the cold was just impairing their ability to see it...

"Right, if we could get the engineers to jerry rig a dish and get it pointing at the city, could that work?"

Another operator spoke up. "Hard to say, sir."

"We'll try it anyway, tell the engies to scavenge whatever parts they can in fifteen minutes and get to work."

[Present]

They'd grumbled all the way, but the engineers had managed to get a working dish rigged up to the transmitter. Geoff gave them some time to go warm themselves back up by the generators, while the COM team tried again. "Colonel Killinger, this is Control, requesting sitrep, how copy?"

Hopefully this would work, if it didn't they only had two options. Scramble the dropships with a search team to find the task force, or sit on their arses and hope everything magically fixed itself. Geoff wasn't quite naive enough to think THAT was a possibility.

((OOC: Yes, it sucks, I know, but a shit post is better than nothing.))

[TinCanHitman]

Brute Stalker Silence  

Ice ball Hell hole

Silence was moving back towards the bait when he heard the tell tale thunder of a human explosive. He couldn't keep the grin from reaching his lips as he imagined the smoking corpses of the humans. He closed the distance quickly, coming to the squat human hut and heading to the back. He came around  in time to see one of the Human Imps rising in the smokey room. He made no noise, except for his soft thuds in the snow, as he ran head long at the human, then he mustered his strength and jumped up into a drop kick.

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
Church...
...Examining the physical structure.

Mendoza fled quickly, but Killinger decided to actually examine the structure first. Smoke and Flames had started crawling up the old wooden foundation and the wind was significantly picking up now, as the tower that contained the bell started to lean to the left more and more aggressively as the structure that was burning away started to lose integrity. He heard a muffled transmission come through his headset, hearing only portions of the message. It was Second Lieutenant Mkvenner back at the forward operating base apparently asking for a situation report.

Killinger, at the moment, didn't have time for that as a loud snap followed by what appeared to be a muffled explosion rippled through the church building with enough force to throw Killinger onto his feat and shatter a few of the large windows near the front end of the church. By now the building was emptied. Killinger rolled onto his chest and almost literally tossed himself up with his own upper body strength. The tower was coming down as more snaps reported. It sounded as if someone was snapping stacked rotten two by fours with a Scorpion Tank.

The Veteran Marine Officer dived out of the same door the Privates had opened up, rolling in the snow onto his feat. The cracking of the wood intensified. "Run!" John screamed towards the Privates as the tower literally begun to fall towards the church. Yes, it was behind them, technically - but in impact like that would send debris all over the place. John found himself half way across the street when the tower collapsed with a loud, prolific crash!. Stone flew high into the sky, wood exploded outwards with a lethal barrage of broken glass and debris, including the bell, rolled into the following building - annihilating the right walls foundation as the multi-ton bell, Killinger assumed, continued to roll through the facility.

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some frozen fucking wasteland
When the church bell rings

Mendoza and his men were already a step before the Colonel and started running before the Colonel had even yelled for them to run, Mendoza almost slipped and fell onto his face due to the icy and wet ground but managed to hold himself together, he pushed himself to a very thin looking maintenance alley between two buildings which was about shoulder width and a bit wide, he waited for the three Privates to push into it before Mendoza himself slid into the alley way, seconds after they pushed themselves in the entrance to the very small alley was barraged with wood, the building in front of them also had one of it's walls taken out by the bell.

"That was close..." Mendoza said milliseconds before the bell happened to crash into the alley, missing Mendoza and his men, then crashing into the other building before coming to a halt, Mendoza almost shat himself, considering he still had a load that needed immediate dumping, but he had to hold it in till they got back to the FOB.

"Colonel... We're all good here... Where are you?" Mendoza said into his radio as he slid outside the alley once things had settled down, followed by the three Privates, soon enough Mendoza took a knee behind a car, lifting his battle rifle and scanning the area, making sure there were no signs of Covenant near by.

[Deleted]

Second Lieutenant Robert McCauley
Commanding Officer of what remains of Second platoon, Alpha Company
(Abandoned) FOB Viper
status: Frozen and out of food

Robert was sitting with the men of second squad in the barracks, wrapped in multiple layers of blankets. The second watch had started some time ago, and when they got back, the squad ate their last MRE. The platoon was now officially out of food, and they only had fuel enough to keep the generator running for another day and a half. One man was undercooled, and a few minutes ago he died of hypothermia. He tried to get some sleep, but it would not come, so he decided to send another message. He quickly ran across the yard and entered the communications building. He looked at the pfc, who immediately shook his head. He sat down in the chair, took the mike and said:

"This is Tornado two, calling all callsigns... If any. We were left behind at FOB Viper. We are running out of fuel, and are out of food. If there is anyone on this net, please respond. Over.". With that, he put the mike down and left the building, leaving Private First Class Derryk Weir to call him immediately when someone responded. Then Robert walked the wall for a few minutes before going back into the barracks to get some sleep.

[TinCanHitman]

Silence

Jiralhanae Stalker

Hunting...

Silence hit the ground with a loud thud, his weight smashing him hard into the floor and cracking the tile. He let out a tiny grunt as he forced himself to rise. Turning he found that the Imp was brandishing needle pistol...backwards. He let out his deep laugh, it rolling from his chest in deep waves. He closed the distance and stepped into a hard heal kick, weather she dodged it, silence wasn't very worried.

Not to far out Stillness and Sight where moving, both having engaged their cloaking and taking up positions across from the humans. They where on two separate roof, looking down at the blazing building and the humans scrambling about. Sight was quick, his large hands twitching as he released a hale of sickly green lines, splitting across the frigid air. Stillness was firing his super heated spikes as well, using it more as suppressive fire, over the precise bolts of green that Sight was spitting. Sight was targeting stragglers, looking through the connected sight, sweeping the retical across the humans. He only did a double take when he saw the half naked human, the hairless mole deciding to bare it's chest, a sign of a challenge, Sight growled and squeezed off another round, this time aiming for the shirtless human.

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some frozen fucking wasteland
When the church bell rings

Mendoza and his men soon found themselves under fire from the Covenant, there was an obvious brute in the pack because a shit tonne of spiker rounds were hitting their position in suppressive fire, along with green plasma rounds from a plasma pistol Mendoza assumed, Mendoza and his men couldn't distinguish where the enemy fire was coming from due to being suppressed and too busy hiding from the Covenant fire, Mendoza tried picking his head up to check on the Colonel's position but the enemy fire stopped him from doing so.

Soon enough the plasma fire had stopped being shot in their direction and changed to where Mendoza assumed where the Colonel was, which was good cause a few more shots and the car that they were hiding behind probably would have been blown the fuck away, Mendoza saw his chance and dropped onto his chest, ready to show off his distinguished marksmanship skills, he rolled to the far side of the car, or the hood where the spiker rounds could not get him, and he could aim at the Covenant with the plasma weapon without getting destroyed.

The Covenant that was shooting the plasma weapon was wearing their usual Covenant cloaking device, which mean's it had to be a Brute or an Elite, Mendoza assumed a Brute since Brute's and Elites tended not to get on well with one another, lifting up his battle rifle, he switched it to a single shot burst, and looked down the scope of the weapon, however through the scope he was only looking at the charred tire of the car he was behind, occasionally popping out to check the position of the Brute, his men however continued to hide behind the car, occasionally spraying off wild un-aimed shots to the Brute with the spiker weapon.

Once Mendoza was confident that he had the Brute with the plasma weapon squared away, he popped out of cover only slightly, aiming slightly above where the Plasma rounds were appearing from, where he estimated the neck or head would be, or even the arm, either way, if he hit the neck or head, the creature would probably die, he hoped, Mendoza took a breath in and fire five rounds, it taking a total of three seconds for him to do all of this, once he fired the rounds, he took cover and switched his weapon back to triple shot, hopping he took the creature down.

[Soulstep]

Second Lieutenant Geoff Alexander Blake Mkvenner
Planet 'Balls Freezer'
At the Marine FOB, hoping he's not the only officer left.

"Anything yet?" Geoff asked, blowing on his hands to warm them. The dwindling fuel, plus increasingly bad weather, meant even the command post was utterly freezing by now.

"Nothing, sir."

Shit. Every reason for the Colonel not responding was bad news, and worse, they had no way of telling which one it was. Geoff was facing the very real possibility of being the only commissioned Marine left on the planet.

Another shout from a COMs officer came from behind him. "Sir! Message from FOB Viper!"

"What the- Replay it." Geoff ordered, grabbing the headset and listening. He had thought there was noone left at Viper, what the hell was anyone doing there?

"This... ...rnado two... c... all callsigns... If... We...ft behind... FOB Viper. ...unning out o... are... ood. If... anyon... et, please respo... er."

Shit. They didn't have the fuel to get a Pelican to Viper and back and still be able to head to the city if needed. Opening the mic, he said, "FOB Alpha to Viper, we read you. Colonel Killinger is currently in the city scavenging supplies, but we have been unable to contact him or his men. How long can you hold out, over?"

As much as he wanted to evac the men from Viper, he couldn't risk sending a flight without knowing how the task force was faring. If Viper could last just a few more hours, they'd have the fuel to rescue them. Of course another possibility, if the Marines in the city were all dead, was sending the pelican anyway, so they could all freeze and starve to death together. Assuming the Covenant didn't find them first.

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
City...
...by a burning church, getting shot at by annoyance...

(OOC: Killinger still has his chest armor on, as well as his shoulder pieces and his elbow pieces. He's not half naked, Tin. xD)

Killinger heard the snap of a high speed round scream past his head, roll instinctively and was rewarded when the snow puffed up as a few more rounds hit directly where he was standing. There aim was improving, but the weather was not. Snow had started getting pretty thick and at this point the Colonel was lucky to see Mendoza's team in the distance, huddled by a car. Killinger pushed himself onto his feat and was humble surprised that the Private First Class opened fire himself at the general location of where the shots had came.

By the time Killinger had regrouped with the Marines, the PFC was already firing in three rounds bursts. "Hold your fire!" Killinger said calmly, crouching next to the vehicles trunk. "They're using sniping tactics. Fire and maneuver, we need to finish this operation quickly." Killinger said, swapping his BR55HB-SR out for his MK280 GPLMG. The weapon could absolutely wreck an elite. It fired at a rate of eight hundred rounds per minute with 7.62X51 MM rounds. It just had to be in the hands of a capable person.

"There's a building to our left," Killinger muttered. He realized that the five Marines were no match for two or three brutes/elites, what ever they were. Their primary goal was to find Jackson, and they would. Firstly, he had a responsibility to respond to Mkvenner first. He addressed the rest of his sentence first. "It's pretty useless in this situation!"

"Mkvenner, Killinger: Last transmission was received. Sitrep to follow," Killinger said, sliding down so the hood would protect him a bit better while Mendoza continued suppressing fire. "Scavenging operation is going according to plan. Eight Marines, including me, have diverted to rescue Hospitalman Jackson, out." Killinger said.

"Okay, we're on the move." Killinger said as he produced three smoke grenades. Unless the Covenant had thermal gear, the Marines were pretty safe within the cloud of smoke and the worsening weather. He primed the first one and dropped it. The grenade started sputtering and produced a thick, grey smoke. It only took a moment for their location to start getting 'foggy'. "Okay, Marines. We're moving towards the end of the street directly in front of me. Let's move!" Killinger said, grunting as he got up. The smoke now concealed his body. He knew the general location of where he was supposed to go. He primed another grenade and tossed it, before priming the third smoke grenade and tossing it to the left[/color] near the burning church. It was a diversionary grenade.

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Maximilian "Drake" Fields
Frozen Ice Rock

Hating the cold

    Drake had been cursing the cold since touchdown on the planet, now being stuck in this p.o.s. base with no heat, with no food either, his men were in the buildings freezing their rears off and he was dying to get deployed somewhere. Drake was walking past the comm center, to check if help was coming, when he heard the second lieutenant's voice "FOB Alpha to Viper, we read you. Colonel Killinger is currently in the city scavenging supplies, but we have been unable to contact him or his men. How long can you hold out, over?" shit the colonel hasn't reported in something had to go sour. Walking into the room, Drake took his helmet off and stated loud and clearly, over the headset "Sir my men can head into town to locate the colonel, these boys at viper are gonna need that evac, before the storm gets to strong."

   "We can take the warthogs, we'll be in town within half an hour and be able to move supplies and provide support if needed." a grin was appearing on Drake's face now. Just took out two birds with one stone. "We'd only need a few a gallons of gas for each hog, so most of the gas can still be used for the pelican. My team can be loaded up and in route within 10 minutes sir." Drake was prepared to order his men to deploy, waiting for a response from the lieutenant, "It's your call sir."

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some frozen fucking wasteland
Just getting warmed up

Despite the fact that the Colonel had rocked up and told Mendoza to hold fire, Mendoza in fact did NOT hold fire, instead he started shooting in two round bursts, spread between a time of two seconds, bang bang, then two seconds would pass, bang bang, Mendoza continued to do this as he listened to the Colonel, soaking up every word he had to say, once the Colonel had finished relaying the plan Mendoza held his fire, picked himself up with a grunt and dropped his battlerifle onto the hood of the car, firing a few more rounds.

"Okay, Marines. We're moving towards the end of the street directly in front of me. Let's move!" Mendoza heard the Colonel say, as he said this the Colonel had dropped a smoke canister, letting go of the barrel of his rifle with his left hand he dropped down to his webbing and ripped off a fragmentation grenade, as dark grey smoke began to spill out of the canister, Mendoza ripped the pin from his grenade and threw it as hard as he can, to the roof that had the Brute with the Spiker, hopefully that would stop him from firing, or even wound him if it go close enough, as he did this he then turned around and began to run to the street.

Turning the Mendoza found himself beside the Colonel, seconds later his three Privates skidded around the corner too, Mendoza looked out into the street, the snow wasn't very disturbed there, so it would slow them down a little, Mendoza looked to the Colonel and then to his men, dropping his weapon, which soon slapped against his side, being strapped to his shoulder, Mendoza produced an incendiary grenade, pulling the pin he threw it into the street, his Privates soon took cover, Mendoza grabbed the Colonel and pulled him down with him, if he could, having given no warning to the throw of the grenade.

Seconds later the grenade went off, a flare of gold and red appeared within Mendoza's peripheral vision for a few seconds before quickly burning out due to the snow and wind, the incendiary grenade managed to get rid of a decent amount of snow, Mendoza then picked up his weapon and looked at the Colonel.

"I'll take point Sir..." He said as he got up, within milliseconds he began to run towards the door of the building across from them. "...Bounding!" He yelled to announce he was moving, everything he had done since running would have been done under a minute, thinking quickly on his feet, Mendoza lifted his battle-rifle and shot three rounds at the handle of the door, tensing up he threw himself, shoulder first into the already somewhat corroded door due to the bad weather and blasted through what seemed to be a city apartment/home, he had closed his eye's for the impact and when he opened them found himself laying on a set of stairs which would lead to a second floor.

"C'mmon... Everyone in!" Mendoza yelled as he scurried to his feet and climbed the stairs a few feet.

[TinCanHitman]

Sight and Silence

Jiralhanae Stalkers

Getting fired upon...

Sight felt the hit more than heard it, his head snapping back and to the left, as his helmet was scrapped by the human round. He easily corrected himself, the round only disorientating him instead of killing. He let out a deep roar of rage, trying to use some more scare tactics, but also just becoming enraged. He turned and jumped from the roof. While Stillness kept firing, he only had to stop a moment, a grenade arcing quite perfectly, skidding and landing to his right. He let out a startled bark of sorts and kicking the green egg to the corner of the roof before he himself was forced to leap off the roof as well.

They separated and began to move towards the human position, only to be greeted by thick smoke. They both knew that it was human diversionary tactics, they had seen it before. They both took a grenade and primed them, before each tossing it into the smoke. They decided to stay back and wait a bit, at worst the humans escaped, at best they would die from the grenade.

[Faclan]

Cad, Kig-Yar Major Jiralhanae Pack Member.
Rotations set, the looting will now commence.


After some cajoling, mostly just explaining to the much larger aliens that Garatus had told him they needed a watch schedule as they may be here for awhile, Cad nodded and smiled a little as the ones who would take the first sleep schedule moved over to near the floor and got as comfortable as they could, weapons in reach of course. The remaining Jiralhanae that were taking the first watch dispersed throughout the store while a few stayed on trap and weapon production. Cad nodded again, telling the Minor from before they he would guard the back and sort the Hunting section as well as he started to head over there.

"I'll guard the back left entrance, Sir, and start sorting the weapons in the Hunting section." He said to Garatus as he passed, soon into the dark areas of the store and into the Hunting section. 

It was when he was walking awa from Garatus that he heard the faint sounds of gunfire and explosions in the city, hoping that his fellow Covenant members were alright and giving the Humans Hell, he hoped they knew about this location if they needed to fall back. As he kept moving he picked up a machete off a isle and slid it into the holster for his blade that the humans took, picking up a box of the humans light sticks as he went as well. Cracking one out of the box he dropped it by the machetes and axes for later but mostly moved over to the desks and cabinets that had plastic fronts and tops. Setting the box of sticks on the counter he hummed a little as he drummed his claws on the cabinet doors, trying the obvious handle but it was locked up tightly. Simply shrugging Cad backtracked to where the axes were and skimmed through them quickly, picking out one with a single blade and a flat metal back and rested it on his shoulder as he moved back to the gun lockers. He was actually surprised that the Humans hadn't taken these when they ran...maybe there were other stores or this section was larger than he thought. But no time for that now as he cracked another stick and left it on the counter top near the box.

"The noise is me opening the Human's gun stores, no need to panic." He called out as he raised the ax, flat back facing the doors as he gave a good swing into the plastic. But it was made of sturdy stuff, but after three good loud bangs against it the front of the door it smashed and gave way...only who knows how many more doors left. But for now Cad just opened the door now that he was inside and started to take out the various bolt action rifles, shotguns, and magnums - just setting them on the counter top near the glow stick in basic classes before he tried to figure out what each fired to differentiate them further.

(If some of the guns are missing be sure to let me know so Cad can start to worry that there's other things in the city that are armed, or maybe they were in the store all along waiting for the aliens to separate!)

[BasedGoody]

Pvt. Barry Barrington
Gaurding
Nothing has changed. Like, at all.

Michael sat with a look of stone on his face as his eyes were plastered down the sights of the MG. Donnie huddled himself on a chair shivering. His teeth chattered louder than the wind whipping against the Marine's ears. Gerald stood leaned against a pole holding a cup. The steam that rose out of it was blown into Barry's face, creating slight warmth on his cheeks. Gerald sipped it and closed his eyes in pleasure. It wasn't coffee, no, nobody had coffee. It was warmed water. The pipes carrying hot water were frozen shut, so it was just snow in a mug lit under a lighter. 

The Private sighed and pulled up the coin. He flicked it up into the air and it gleamed for a second. He caught it in a shut glove before cracking out,

"Heads or t-tails?" 

"Heads." Mike uttered.

"B-bullshit, i-tt's always tails." Harry said, grasping his arms over his chest.

"Yeah homie, t-tails never f-fails." Donnie whispered.

"I'ma go with you guys." Barry nodded, "Tails."

The CPL stood silent.

Barry turned over the coin on his arm before pulling his hand away. His eyes flickered toward the silver coin.

"Tails."

Michael sat staring with a look of defeat before grumbling and turning back towards his weapon. Harold chuckled before closing his tight in an attempt to stay warm.

[TinCanHitman]

Silence

Jiralhanae stalker

Dinner's at hand...

Silence's brow raised as the human gasped and grabbed at it's side, clattering to the ground it began to scrabble away. Silence was surprised to see it grab the needle pistol off the ground, snorting a bit as it spun and flung the weapon. It did have sharp quills, and up close it could be a very deadly weapon, but tossed by a significantly weaker creature it was pathetic. Silence caught the weapon with a chuckle, before dropping it to the ground. He suddenly lunged forward closing the distance and catching the human by it's fore-arm, raising it up above and lifting it off the ground and holding it to be face level.

He head-butted the human, his own metal helmet smacking into the Imp's and cracking the glass a bit. He then started to squeeze, his grip slowly crushing the humans arm. He laughed in it's face as his right hand gave it a hard punch to the stomach, and his left clamped down on the arm, earning a loud crunch as the bone was snapped. He threw the Imp to the ground and laughed, the cold would kill it, either way it didn't matter to Silence, the sound of weapons and approaching boots filled his head.


Stillness and Sight quickly realized that the humans had moved, leaving them in the smoke filled open. The were quick, though, moving across the street and back to the far side of the building that Sight was in. The put their feet on either side of the walls and began to scale the building's tight alley. They needed the high ground.

[Wax™]

Private First Class Daniel Mendoza
Some frozen fucking wasteland
Getting to the high ground


By the time the rest of his team got in the building Mendoza was already up on the second level of what seemed to be a small apartment complex, once he got onto the second floor he bolted it up to the roof, kicking open the door he stopped instantly as he made it outside, it was pretty quiet other than the muffled sound of the Private's boot's walking the hall of the second floor, Mendoza turned his head to the right and went to make his way to the ledge of the building, across was the building the ODST was supposed to be in, Mendoza stopped as he heard some clambering, it sounded like someone was climbing up the walls using the metal pipes and fire escapes, Mendoza ducked behind the wall of the ledge and took a quick peak over, but couldn't see anyone.

Letting go of his weapon softly he removed two fragmentation grenades from his belt and pulled the pin on either one, holding down on the bars so that the firing mechanism didn't go off, he waited until the clambering stopped, however it was hard to hear due to the intense wind, and the increasing snow made it almost impossible to see three meters ahead of you now, Mendoza took a judgement call and once he stopped hearing the clambering he threw the grenades onto the roof across from him, hoping within seconds whatever he threw the grenades at, would be toast.

Mendoza grabbed his gun and pushed himself off the ledge sliding on his knees and a single hand to take cover behind an air-conditioning conduct, he waited until the grenades went off which would probably be in a second, if they hadn't gone off already.


Staff Sergeant Jason Bowers
Planet Frozen McFuckinNuggets
Sick of sitting around, assembling the squad

Jason walked with a quickened pace, gripping the grip of his MA37 tightly with his right hand as his fist clenched hard against a sack, as he walked whatever was in the sack clacked and clanked together lightly, Jason stepped into one of the rooms of a small flat's first story that was close to the gas station, poked his head through first he looked around, locating another fireteam from his four fireteam squad, he always had one fireteam too many, it was kind of a tradition ever since he became a senior non commissioned officer.

"Everyone up, group up in the lobby..." Jason said before sliding back out of the room, he located the stairs to the second floor, stomping up them with a light jog to keep himself warm, once he got to the top of the floor he walked along a narrow hallway sticking his head inside every door, trying to locate the final members of his squad, he then found himself one door from the end of the hall, stepping in he instantly spotted one of the young Privates from his squad.

"Dakota!" Staff Sergeant Bowers said, he didn't exactly yell but he said it in a considerably raised voice with a lot of bass, mainly to get all the fireteam members up onto their feet and alert. "...I'm sick of sitting around waiting for the Colonel to return, we're going to go establish a perimeter around the gas station and work as a patrol detail, so if any Covenant try to sneak up on us, we'll know before they make it to the main force at the gas station... So up off your asses and on your feet and group up with the rest of the squad downstairs..." Bowers then looked over to Elms. "Which means you too kid"

Everyone else in the fireteam seemed to bail out of the room and make their way downstairs to regroup with the rest of the squad, while Elms kinda just continued to stay put for the moment, Jason frowned and stopped one of the other squad members for a moment and handed him the sack Jason was holding before gesturing with a subtly head movement for the guy to keep moving downstairs, Jason slowly began to approach Elms, once he reached her he took a knee and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Y'know kid... I know you're far out of your comfort zone, I was right where you are when I was your age, scared, confused, wondering what the fuck I was doing... In this gear, out here, with these... Things... But then it came to me... It is my duty as a human to defend humanity to the best of my ability... But, that's how I see it... Duty and honor, your reasons may be different but..." Jason decided to just shut his yap, exhaling loudly before standing up and looking down to her. "Regroup downstairs" Jason said with some bass in his voice, showing his authority, just like that he went from a compassionate person to the hard ass NCO.

Jason then proceeded to make his way downstairs, once he did he waited for Elms to join him and the rest of the squad before he'd brief them all.

[Soulstep]

Second Lieutenant Geoff Alexander Blake Mkvenner
Planet 'Balls Freezer'
At FOB Alpha, trying to handle a shitty situation.

Geoff was just about to reply to Viper when a urgent shout reached his ears. "Lieutenant, sir! Message from Colonel Killinger!" The operator excitedly reported, replaying the transmission.


"Mkvenn... Killin... Last transmissio... received. Sitrep... llow." The Colonel's voice crackled over the speakers. Through a pause in the speech, Geoff could make out gunfire behind the static. "Sca...ging oper... s... ing according to plan. Ei... rines... cludi... e... divert... rescue Hospi... man Jacks... ut."

Geoff reopened COMs with the Colonel. "Uhh, partial copy, sir. Be advised, some Marines were left behind at FOB Viper, many in need of medical attention. They have 'hogs, and with fuel could reach your position in approximately one hour, over."

Hopefully the Colonel would be able to respond before the Pelican reached Viper, but if not, Geoff had made up his mind. Looking at one of the COM officers, he ordered, "Get Venom-5 fueled and in the air to Viper ASAP. Siphon 5 gallons of hydrogen fuel from anything but the generators, and get it onboard that Pelican. We'll assume the Colonel needs the help for now."

As the operator started issuing orders, Geoff sent another message to Viper. "Viper this is Alpha, Pelican is on the way ETA 20 minutes, Be advised, we can only afford to send 5 gallons of 'hog fuel. Contact has been made with the Colonel, but for now assume you're needed. Alpha out."

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

Petty Officer 2nd Class Selina McGreggor
Venom-5 Pilot
Planet 'Balls Freezer'
At FOB Alpha, taking off.

"This is Venom-5, in the air and en route. ETA 15 minutes." Selina reported, easing the throttle up as she pivoted the dropship towards FOB Viper. This was going to be touch-and-go when it came to fuel, rough estimates for these weather conditions put Bingo fuel time at being in 17 minutes. And it was only getting worse.

She sighed, settling in to practically fly blind as Alvarez swore under his breath at the deep chill, and Briggs openly swore as he triple-checked the fuel barrels were secure.

She hoped whoever was at Viper would be able to load up fast, or this was going to get ugly. And fucking freezing.

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

    "Viper this is Alpha, Pelican is on the way ETA 20 minutes, Be advised, we can only afford to send 5 gallons of 'hog fuel. Contact has been made with the Colonel, but for now assume you're needed. Alpha out."

    "Hoorah, Roger that Sir." Dropping the headset and patting the small private who had he rudely barged in on, he threw on his helmet and started issuing his platoon orders. "Fixer, Irish, Get three hogs ready, Endgame, get the squads up and moving, Oscar Mike in Twenty. I repeat Oscar Mike in 20."

    Then he opened up a comm channel to Lieutenant McCauley, "Lieutenant, Sergeant Fields, Evac is in route, ETA 20 minutes, my squad as been reassigned though to move into the town with three of the hogs, fuel for them is in route, copy."

    Rushing into the barracks, Drake picked up his MA5C and his M6C, along with two frags, and extra mags. Checking the counter on his HUD time was 13 minutes. Switching back to his platoons channel he sent it to everyone in the platoon, "Alright boys, don't have much time we have to be Oscar Mike as soon as the pelican touches down with our fuel, Colonel went into town, to scavenge supplies, something went sour during the op. Our job is to head into town and provide reinforcements, expect heavy covvie presence. I want everyone down to the hogs in 4, pelican is gonna be here in" checking the counter he saw it was at 10:21, and counting down. "Ten minutes, so lets move it marines." He rushed to the hogs, where they were already loading them up for combat. As his visor started to load up, he smiled and said to himself  "Time to bring the rain."

[Deleted]

Second Lieutenant Robert McCauley,
Commanding Officer, Remnants of Second Platoon, Alpha Co.,
FOB Viper

After ten minutes of sleep, PFC Weir came running into the barracks, waking Robert up. He looked at the private, standing about two feet from him, and asked him what was going on. The pfc told him to come to the coms building, and immediately Robert stood up and accompanied the man. Weir sat down and touched a few buttons before a replay could be heard. After listening to it, a smile appeared on his face. They were getting out of here. Robert turned to the pfc, and ordered him to assemble both squads in the barracks. After they had gathered, Robert joined them and said "Okay platoon. I know you're cold, but we have to endure a little while longer. We are getting evacuated from this fob to one where they still have power. Thank third squad's sergeant for fixing up our coms so this could be arranged. The pelican will arrive soon, so I want Mikaelson and Ronalds to prepare Dubois for transport. Dylan and de Vos, I want you to make sure we take Rico's body as well. Sergeant Person will assign a few of you to drain the remaining fuel into transportable bins. The rest of you, be ready for immediate departure once it arrives. Get ready men, you have your assignments.". With that said, he walked to the barracks window next to the door which had a view of the entire assembly area. Here he would wait for the pelican.

[MrKill]

Colonel Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
City...
...Regrouping with Mendoza's team.

"God da-" Killinger muttered. Mendoza had fled through the smoke before the Colonel had even moved a meter away from the crash and the thickness of the smoke alone meant he lost viability quickly as the silhouettes of the fire-team disappeared into the dark, grey smoke. John swapped his weapon back to the BR55HB-SR and continued forward, running on muscle memory of his location, the areas he threw the grenade and what heading he was facing.

His radio crackled on and sent a short burst static-filled transmission from the forward operating base. From what Killinger understood, Marines were trapped - or abandoned - back at the forward operating base the UNSC had named 'Viper', a base long since abandoned when the Iowa had left them behind with promises to return. Klix was good to his word, most of the time.

He didn't, however, receive enough of the transmission to reply to it and he was, honestly, more concerned about his personal well-being. He made the decision to return to the gas station, not knowing what building the Marine Fire-Team had retreated too. By now, hopefully, the gas station would have a more reliable communications radio the Colonel could use. His own radio was a short wave radio that relied on the destroyed tower to send long distance signals. Without that tower, the UNSC troops had to carry around large radios to communicate effectively. Mendoza and Willowbay, however, would receive his next transmission.

"Red one and red two, red actual. I'm returning to the gas station, I need to contact Alpha. Marines from Viper might still be alive, red actual out." Killinger said in a half job. It only took half a second to enter the first stage of a sprint and seconds later to exit the smoke, spot the street exit, and move towards it. The Brutes appeared to have retreated during the time. Perhaps Mendoza, Willowbay or himself scored a wound on one of them.

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Maximilian "Drake" Fields  

Frozen Ice Rock
ETD 5 minutes

    

    "Fuel is gonna be here in five minutes I want to be ready to leave in four." Turning to where 2nd Platoon was loading up to leave, Drake turned to his men. "I'm gonna inform Second Platoon's CO whats going on." 


    Turning and jogging over to Lt. McCauley, he would run past the different squads of 2nd Platoon, moving around the different clusters, he would locate the Lt. ordering around men from one of the squads, "Dylan and de Vos, I want you to make sure we take Rico's body as well. Sergeant Person will assign a few of you to drain the remaining fuel into transportable bins. The rest of you, be ready for immediate departure once it arrives. Get ready men, you have your assignments.
"
 
    Before he could turn to head to the barracks Drake called out to him. "Lieutenant, Sergeant Fields, Alpha Company 3rd Platoon Second Squad. We've been stuck here with your boys since the Iowa left, we just got orders though to deploy into the town to assist the colonel. The Pelican is bringing Gas for the Three hogs we're taking, I just wanted to let you know so we don't get in each others way." He stopped in the snow and waited for the Lt's response, his Comm going off saying the Warthog was packed, and a minute before the pelican's ETA.

[Deleted]

Second Lieutenant Robert McCauley,
Commanding Officer, Second platoon, Alpha Company
FOB Viper

As the pelican landed, a squad of marines left the vehicle. Its sergeant went to Robert and said "Lieutenant, Sergeant Fields, Bravo Company 3rd Platoon Second Squad. We've been stuck here with your boys since the Iowa left, we just got orders though to deploy into the town to assist the colonel. The Pelican is bringing Gas for the Three hogs we're taking, I just wanted to let you know so we don't get in each other's way". Robert looked up from the sight of his marines boarding the pelican and said "Allright, sergeant. Good luck... And godspeed.". Then he quickly moved to the pelican, waited for the remained of his marines to enter and then got in as well, not seeing the ramp close behind him. He got to the cockpit and said "Allright people, let's get this bird going."

[MrKill]

Time-Skip

The date is now October 8th, 2547... The Iowa is a mere two days away. The city is burning, a flaming icon to everyone who can see it to stay away. Snow turns to water and vaporizes before it even hits the ground. Asphalt melts skin and kills due to how hot the heat is sustained within the roads. Entire blocks upon blocks are a-blaze, and the smoke is visible for miles when the weather is calm.

The Marines had looted the gas station and nearby food stores for gasoline, food and supplies. They suffered casualties when looting the Wal-Mart, though not significantly so. Colonel Killinger returned to the FOB having gathered all the deceased and injured Marines, including Willowbay and Jackson.

The Covenant know the location of FOB Viper, which has insecure maps of the location of FOB Alpha... The Marines need to make sure they are secure by dispatching that information before the Covenant find it...

The Covenant Forces within the city, specifically a brute pack had started the fire. A Covenant Corvette, which was scouting the system, has located the distress beacon the Covenant Forces had activated and is now hovering directly above the Covenant base. FOB Alpha initiated electronic counter-measures to ensure their base was never detected. On sensors it would look just like another patch of snow.

The UNSC Marines are mobilizing...

But so are the Covenant.

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Maximilian "Drake" Fields
Frozen Ice Ball
Waiting for action

    The Recovery op had gone smoothly or well as smooth as it could go with that freezing downpour coming down on them. Their only problem now, was a dam covvie corvette is sitting smack dab on the planet. So along with the other NCO's who were trying to figure out what to do, Drake was right there with them in the conversation. He had been quiet mostly, because the only ones speaking were the loudmouths that Drake hated.

    "We have to inform the Iowa that there is a corvette planet side." (NCO 1)
   
    "How would you inform the Iowa?"(NCO 3)

    "We could build a stronger relay out of what we have here."(NCO 2)

    They had been bickering over this plan for awhile now. Drake was certain they wouldn't come up with a plan.Until, they were interrupted by a corporal from Charlie Company, Third Platoon. "We should just attack the Corvette, and raid the thing. It can't use it's weapons to strike at us, so an all out Assault could work. Drake turned to the Corporal and gave him a glare before shock come to his ears. One of the NCO's Agreed with it.

    "The boy has a point, we could attack the corvette." (NCO 4)

    "To Attack the corvette would be a waste of lives, you all should know that. The Smart thing to do is to set a squad up, keep the Coordinates locked on with a target designator, and when the Iowa reenters the system, a mac strike will be called down right on it. Killing of those covvie bastards." Everyone turned and looked where the outburst had come from, none other than Drake himself. Having grown to irritated by the fact they were willing to risk so many lives, he shouted out at them all with rage. None of the men in the room could believe it.

(I NPC'd a few NCO's, since well I only know of two other NCO's, I figured it would be alright to do it.)