HALO: A shot in the dark

Started by Gladiator0161, August 21, 2010, 06:48:32 PM

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Gladiator0161

Gladiator hoofed it back up the stairs to the roof following Sling and Hunter as he acted as their rear guard. He was starting to get really concered about Lance and Raven but, it had been nearly 4 hours since they'd had radio contact. Alot could happen in 4 hours. Alot. As Gladiator ran up the stairs behind Hunter and Sling, he had to face the grim reality that Lance and Raven could have been killed. He wasn't ready to give up on them quite yet though. They could be near the jamming device and if so, their comms would be nearly useless. He'd have to remember to make that their first priority when and if they survived the oncoming wave of Covenant. He was near the roof when another message broke through over the comms. For a moment, Gladiator thought it could've been either Lance or Raven but, no. It was another Spartan somewhere in the city.

The message was crammed with Static but, the message seemed to be relatively simple. Another Spartan was out there and looking for allies. Gladiator once again switched to the general comm channel "Sierra three three four, this is Sierra oh one six one. We are about to engage the Covenant on the roof top of the TechCo R and D Center. What is your situation? Over."

As they walked onto the roof top Sling went to one corner of the roof and leaned over, looking out for their alley through the scope of his sub-machine gun, as Gladiator walked over to the other and unslung his sniper rifle and peered through it.

"Repeat, this is Sierra zero one six one to Sierra three three four. We are on the roof top of the TechCo R and D center. Over"

Vengurd

"Sierra three three four, this is Sierra oh one six one. We are about to engage the Covenant on the roof top of the TechCo R and D Center. What is your situation? Over."

Another Spartan, male by the sound of the voice though the message ws pretty broken up so it made it difficult to tell. It didn't matter either way. A Spartan is a Spartan.


"Repeat, this is Sierra zero one six one to Sierra three three four. We are on the roof top of the TechCo R and D center. Over"

The signal had actually strengthened, the pack on his back really did work. "Sierra zero-one-six-one this is three-three-four, I read you loud and clear, I've got you marked, I am ten blocks away. I say again, ten blocks. Status is on the move over."

Turning, Patric broke into a steady run, his baggage bouncing only once. The streets were a disaster, the buildings worse. Turning a corner, the street ahead too broken up and clogged to maneuver through, the street he turned onto was clear. Reaching the next corner, Patric was able to quickly regain the proper direction. There was however, a minor set back.

A dozen grunts, a handful of jackals and three elites were patrolling, right in his direction. Without hesitation Patric's battle rifle snapped up, leveling off nearly instantaneously. Several quick pulls of the trigger saw two shocked Jackals and two grunt's go down, jerking back as the bullets slammed through them.

The rest got over their shock quickly as Patric continued to run forward, putting down grunt after grunt, the three bullet bursts getting at least one bullet into the head, the rest of the bullets hitting awfully close to others. The remaining two Jackals were hiding behind their shields, one stuck out it's arm, Patric's rifle zero'd in, a burst emitting from the barrel,, three bullets flying through the air, slamming into the plasma pistol, causing the birdlike alien to squak and pull back, dropping the now damaged weapon. It's head momentarily raising above the shield, a burst flying from the rifle killed the alien, two of the three bullets hitting shield, the third bullet slamming into the top of it's head, jerking it up and back, slamming the back of it's head into the ground. By now Patric was too close to fire effectively and jumped. Most of the grunts were either dead or dieing, the rest cowering as the Elites moved behind cover.

Easily clearing the shield, Patric landed on a very surprised Jackal, purple blood and flesh bursting around him as he continued his run as if the jackal wasn't there. A single elite stood in his way, the other two having chosen cover further to the sides. The single Elite roared it's defiance at patric, raising it's plasma rifle to fire. Patric jumped slightly, his feet raising inches above the ground, angling himself jsut so, Patric his the grond sliding, his battle rifle leveled on the Elite. As he passed through the stunned Elite's legs, Patric jabbed his battle rifle straight up, slamming the barrel between the Elite's legs, causing it to jump, spasm and give a shocked, insulted sound before Patric pulled the trigger, the bullets ripping through the Elite's flesh, the barrel past it's shield.

Rolling from the slide, Patric continues his steady run, leaving two very stunned Elites behind. He'd have stuck around to finish them but he was carrying too much to have effectively taken the entire patrol out, as it was Patric was pleasantly surprised his gambit had paid off so well.

Checking his radar quickly showed he was just three blocks from the building. Stopping for a moment, Patric looked around. There were no surprises for him here and the two elites seemed to have refused to give chase. Good he didn't need to deal with them just yet. adjusting the duffel bag just so, Patric's right hand grabbed one of the bags he had filled with grenades then continued at a slow jog. He could hear the covenant ahead, from the sounds they were entering the back of the building as well.

As he grew nearer Patric knelt then slowly moved forward to stop at the corner of a building. For all that he was out in the open, not even bothering to press against the building, the white armored spartan went unnoticed by the covenant entering the building, leaving him with an unobstructed view.

Exchanging the nearly exhausted mag of his battle rifle for a fresh one Patric stood, pulled back his right arm, leaning back with it, turning ever so slightly, then throwing his arm forward, putting his body into the throw, the bag of grenades flying at break neck speeds. His battle rifle snapped up, his finger pulling back, three bullets zipping after the bag as it slammed into the back of the neck of an unsuspecting brute in a small group of others. The brute had just started to jerk forward when the bullets slammed into the bag, igniting the grenade within. The resultant explosion, a mix of four fragmentation grenades, was flashy and loud, bits of brute flying out, an Elite receiving a bloody arm full in the face, knocking him down, mandibles broken and bloody.

Before the rest of the covenant could figure out what was going on Patric had already thrown a second bag, this time at a pair of hunters, the bag detonating between them, shrapnel bouncing harmlessly off their armor but slicing deep into the slithering slimy colonies that mde up the bodies of the hunters. Knees buckling both hunters went down.

The rest of the covenant were in chaos, grunts running in stark terror or otherwise fainting from extreme fear, Jackals swinging plasma pistols and beam rifles this way and that, the few brutes and elites left were disorganized, the brutes clearly thinking it was some trick of the elites, the elites too busy to care.

Pretty soon a small frenzy occurred right before Patric's eyes. He had never imagined he could cause so much damage with so little effort. Standing now, Patric focussed on the brutes who were more numerous, the more furious. This seemed to infuriate the brutes even further, tricking themselves into thinking they saw a blue bolt of plasma hit their comrades, the Elites already fighting back had no way to explain it wasn't them.

Three minutes was all it took for Patric to lazily pick off the more numerous at his leisure and let the covenant butcher themselves and leave themselves with only one wounded Elite which Patric put down quickly, the last burst of his mag exploding through his skull.

Exchanging the emptied mag with a fresh one, he transmitted to the other spartan. "Front entrance of the TechCo building cleared, status unarmed. Hold tight I am moving to your position, I say gain; Front entrance of TechCo clear and am coming up. Over."

Gladiator0161

Gladiator looked at his motion tracker for a moment, atleast 6 red dots were closing on their location, any moment now the Covenant would burst through to the roof.
The blue and gold spartan hefted his Rocket Launcher, motioned to Hunter and Sling to get behind him and waited until the motion tracker read they were almost upon them "get ready, here they come." A moment later Gladiator pulled the trigger, the rocket whooshed out of the barrel burning straight to the door to the roof.
When the door opened the Brute opening the door received a nasty suprise. The rocket burried itself in the aliens chest and propelled it backwards into the group behind it a split second before it detonated, scattering covenant every which way, and sprayed rapidly heated purple and blue blood along the walls, entrance and stair well.

Smoke and fire rolled out of the doorway along the roof as it grabbed at the air for sustenance before dying all together, overwhelmed by the oxygen in the atmosphere.
Gladiator dropped the explosive weapon and grabbed his battle rifle, pulling off a trio of shots just as a Jackal with it's shield already raised stalked through. The bullets bounced harmlessly off it's energry sheild and in the split second that it took to raise it's gun hand and fire, four grunts, 2 Elites and a wounded Brute walked out from the smoke encased stair well. Gladiator took out a frag grenade and tossed it, it rolled beneath the Jackals sheild and came to a stop behind the creature and detonated, sending two grunts flying and killing the wounded Brute. He could hear more Covenant coming up the stair well, obviously drawn by the noise.

An Elite rushed forward sword in hand, roaring it's battle cry as it tried to run his through with the energy blade. Gladiator ducked and spun to the side, the plasma sword missing completely. The blue and gold spartan completed his rotation and came up behind the alien. Gladiator lept at the alien and pinned it's arms to it's side, before forcing it to turn completely around and absorb the hail of plasma fire that was meant for the Spartan. The Elite was dead in seconds, the Spartan lifted the dead body and tossed it into it's allies, causing them to scatter.

"Sierra three three four, this is Sierra zero one six one. We have engaged the Covenant on the roof top. Repeat, we have engaged the Covenant" Gladiator said as he grabbed his rifle and fired.

Vengurd

Wriggling the fingers of his right hand, Patric looked at the now purple colored glove covering it. He had just punched straight through an Elite's back, the hand easily ripping through the armor and flesh to come out the alien's chest. He had been shocked and had stumbled, nearly stoppling over the now limp body of the Elite.

The mechanical attachments were working out well, though it seemed  bit too well. Thinking about it brought up an automatic diagnostics table, showing that his armored glove had tiny prongs connecting to receptors in his hand. He didn't fully get it, that wasn't his area. What he did understand was that the connection allowed his mechanical extras to perform at higher levels.

Pulling his arm back, Patric let the Elite he had already forgotten fall to the floor. Shaking his arm slightly, getting some of the blood off his arm, he shifted the duffel bag on his back then started forward. He had just arrived at the fifth floor, killing the few stragglers he had come across. He had checked the back entrance but had found no covenant presence. Either they weren't smart enough to come through the back or they had already beat him to the punch.

The faint rumble of an explosion, the light shake of the building and then the very faint reports of a battle above caused Patric to pick up the pace, moving a whole floor up before the other Spartan reported engagement. "Am nearly there," was his response as he kicked an unsuspecting Brute in the back with his left leg, barely pausing long enough when hearing the alien's spine snap, he quickly reached the stairs to the seventh floor before the Brute sprawled on the floor.

This floor had a couple of grunts trying to nap rather than fight. It was a simply task dispatching them. Heading up to the eighth floor, he found his path empty, quickly ascending to the ninth. Choosing to  switch stair wells for each floor paid off, if he had just continued up from the bottom he would have run right into the group of covenant he now stood behind in the stairwell.

There were a number of bodies laying around the door, laying in such a way, only a fall down the stairs made sense, the  fact that some had burn or explosion marks added that  a rocket had been involved. grasping one of the quickly dwindling number of 'bags o' grenades' from his belt and tossed it forward, shooting it as it entered the mass of covenant, killing some and scattering the rest. He had previously switched out his Battle Rifle with his shotgun and now used it to dispatch several grunts and two jackals, pinning the majority of the other covenant as he took cover in a cubicle.

"Spartan zero-one-six-one, use your grenades and get down here, we'll flush 'em out."

Hunter Phoenix

Hunter listened to the exchange between the two of his brothers over the comms, not saying anything himself, he hadn't always gotten on with Patric, the guy was a hero no doubt about it, but he could be a bit of a show off at times, which was what probably got him so badly injured in his last battle.

Rushing forward with his shotgun, Hunter squeezed off five round in quick succession, taking down a brute and two grunts.

"Gladiator, any more coming up?"

Hunter couldn't use his radar as it had been damaged before hand in the fall. Not the best of times for it to be on the blink but he was glad that Gladiators was working and even though he didn't like to admit it, he was glad that there was another Spartan on the way.
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.

Gladiator0161

Gladiator fired a shot from his sniper rifle into an oncoming Elite Zealot that had drawn it's sword, the shot had hit precisely where it was supposed to. Right in the center of it's chest where the armor was thickest, it was also where their sheild generators were kept, adding extra protection to their armor to keep the wearer safe. Ofcourse it didn't help much when your opponent quick drawed and fired a burst of Battle Rifle fire into your head. Gladiator shook his head they always underestimate us and because of that, they'll never learn. Gladiator didn't responde to Spartan 334's progress, he didn't have time. Hunter asked a prudent question and Gladiator thought it prudent to give him an answer. He looked to his motion tracker for a split, taking his eyes off the battle field for a second as Hunter took care of a Brute and two Grunts with his shotgun.

His motion tracker showed a big blob of red still in the stair well, and one was bigger than the others. It almost seemed as if the others swarmed around it to try and cover it's signature. A Hunter. A second later an explosion ejected debris and grunts from the stairwell, toppling over another Elite that was caught by suprise as it stepped out onto the roof. Gladiator shot it before it could begin to pick itself back up. He looked at his motion tracker again and the Hunter was still there, though those around it had been considerably diminished. Now there were atleast 8 individual red dots besides the Hunter and most of them were probably picking themselves off the ground in the stairwell by now. Sling cautiously moved forward, his sub-machine gun trained on the remains of the doorway.

"Move cautiously guys, I'm reading eight more covenant still in the stair well, along with a B. R. D. that can only be a Hunter" Gladiator said as he switched weapons once again, taking a Covenant Energy Sword from his thigh and a plasma grenade from one of his pouches. Sling nodded but made no comment. For a second that seemed to last hours, everything was quite. Then the world sped into overdrive. Four Grunts rushed the doorway, the lead two brandishing two plasma grenades, one in each hand as they growled and cried, running crazily towards it's own peril. A quick burst from Sling's sub-machine gun took care of it, the two grenades going over the edge of the building and detonating harmlessly. Then two green archs of plasma detonated on the doorway, crumpling in the metal frame and sending concrete skittering across the ground. Sling wisely stepped back, letting his sheilds take the damage. Gladiator threw the grenade and Sling dived for cover, a second later the grenade landed at the feet of the two Grunts carrying Fuel Rod Cannons and detonated, sending their carcasses over the side of the building. The big red dot made it's way forward as two short barks were given from an Elite within the stairwell and the Hunter stepped out, it's sheild arm already up and it's Fuel Rod Cannon already glowing.

Gladiator took out another plasma grenade and ignited the Elite plasma sword "Alright, Hunter, Sling draw it's fire. Keep it distracted on you two for a second, so I can get behind it and plant the grenade, once the grenade detonates. Take it out, because all it's rage and anger will be on me then. Got it?" The blue and gold Spartan didn't wait for a reply, he ran straight at the heavily armored alien, it fired it's Fuel Rod cannon and Gladiator dived to the side, the boiling green energy missing him and the others by a mile as it passed between them. Gladiator rolled up onto his feet and headed in again, this time for the big aliens sheild arm. The Hunter raised it's arm to swat him aside, and Gladiator dived again, the shield wizzing by his head by mere centimeters as he went into a summersault and came up on the Hunters backside.

Now all the others had to do was fire as the Hunter turned around slowly to track it's elusive prey.

Hunter Phoenix

Hunter smiled inside his helmet when he saw the Hunter and switched his weapon to his battle rifle, firing shot after shot at it as it came up the stairs, the bullets bounced harmlessley off its arm of course because of the thick armour, but the distraction was working and it focused on him and Sling.

He backed up a little as the Hunter came up onto the roof and had to jump to the side when it lunged for him, he dodged it easily and responded by shooting a three round burst into its face, the bullets did nothing because of the thick armour but it disorientated the beast for a few seconds.

"Gladiator, now while it is disorientated"
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.

Gladiator0161

Right on cue Sling and Hunter opened up on the heavily armored alien, as soon as Gladiator was past the behemoth. The bullets bounced off the armor harmlessly and as expected, the Hunter focused on the duo. Gladiator heard Hunter shout "Gladiator, now while it is disorientated!" The blue and gold Spartan needed no further prompting, he primed the grenade and threw it onto the Hunter's back. Feeling the pressure of the grenade attach, the heavily armored alien started to turn around to focus on Gladiator as expected. A second later, the grenade detonated, blowing off the back plates of armor. Gladiator fired a burst of three shots into the beast's helmet, which really pissed it off. It raised it's sheild arm and brought it down like a hammer, Gladiator rolled out of the way and the concrete behind him cracked and splintered as the Hunter's sheild arm impacted upon it.

"Now! Fire!" Gladiator shouted as he backpedaled to keep out of the way of the aliens arms.

Hunter Phoenix

Without any other words, Hunter switched straight back to his shotgun and pumped round after round into the Hunters back, taking it down within four or five rounds, it had taken team work and determination but those were key parts of being a Spartan anyway so it was a given really that it was used here.

Putting two rounds in the downed beasts back for good measure, Hunter was finally satisfied that the Hunter was down, but there wasn't time to rest, more Covenant were on the way, dumping his shotgun on the ground, Hunter went back to using his battle rifle.

"Right, let us end this now while we have the upper hand"

He then headed back to the doorway, ready for the next wave of Covenant forces to arrive.
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.

Vengurd

Hearing no reply but the sounds of a battle above, the Spartan could only assume a worse case scenario. Raising from the cover of the cubicle he had used for cover, the Spartan began moving. The material used to create the cubicle was weak and stood no chance as the Spartan lurched forward, running to the nearest Elite he could find, the blue armored alien had time only to jump in surprise and give out a growl before the Spartan slammed his shoulder into the chest of the Elite, whom had no time to set himself or move to evade. The Elite's growl turned up a few octaves, turning into a wheezing death rattle, his lungs collapsing from the impact. Turning from the Elite the spartan kicked out, slamming his right armored boot into a red armored Elite's leg. Howling the Elite tumbled, falling.

The Spartan caught the Elite, shook him once then spun him around, arm closing around his neck tightly. Shotgun aimed at the two visible Elites; Red armored veteran; Blue armored rookie. The two Elites were stunned as the captive Elite struggled. It was difficult for the Spartan to keep his hold and he was losing it slowly; he had to act soon. Hearing movement behind him spurned the Spartan into movement, jerking his arm straight, he sent the captive Elite forward, the other two not sure what to do, their instincts kicking in.

Turning his back on them the Spartan moved to grab the pump of the shotgun with his now free arm but was interrupted as a bright beam flashed through his shotgun, accompanied by the his of molten metal. He had only the time to register that it was a Golden armored Elite, wielding a plasma sword, leg raised, slamming into his chest. For all the strength the Spartan possessed he was unprepared and was nearly rivaled in strength by the average Elite.

The kick naturally sent the Spartan back, a grunt escaping his slightly parted lips as a the Spartan's feet temporarily leave the floor, his arms moving forward from the force. Straightening his torso the Spartan planted his feet on the floor, his arms lowering to his sides. There was too much momentum and he couldn't fully stop himself. Slamming into something not quite as hard as he was the Spartan collapsed on something squishy.

Rolling to the side and springing to his feet the Spartan spared the barest of glances to the location he had fallen, the Blue armored Elite had been directly behind him and hadn't been smart enough to move out of the way. Jumping to the side, the Spartan narrowly dodged a plasma grenade. His had jumped on pure instinct. You had to keep moving when fighting one so high on the other side.

Despite, of because he had jumped on instinct, he landed awkward and stumbled, his left hand taking the pistol from his hip, twirling it onces in a flashy move as he continued to stumble, the wounded Red armored Elite came into the open, his field of fire. Bothering with no aim, the Spartan began pulling the trigger as quickly as he could, sending the entire magazine at the Elite. The kick to it's leg had wounded the Elite well enough he couldn't get out of the way, his shields to most of the shots, but they had already been weakened and when they flashed off, the two last bullets slammed into his chest armor, piercing it and dropping the alien.

letting himself fall the Spartan turned and rolled, coming up and dashing to the side, he could hear one somewhere behind him but there was no sign or sound of the second Elite. Risking a glance back, the Spartan saw the other Red armored Elite giving chase. Looking forward, the Spartan scanned the area ahead of him. Focused on his task of evading the Red Armored Elite and looking for something, the Spartan didn't see the hole in the floor his foot landed on. The hole had been small, likely the result of a bullet or two passing through, the Spartan's weight was more than enough to make the hole bigger as his foot plunged into it, tripping him. He had only time to register a trapped foot and see bright, nearly white blue streak past where his neck had been. Landing the Spartan kicked his trapped foot and rolled, his foot easily coming free.

Springing to his feet, the Spartan had to immediately turn to the side, evading a stab to the stomach then jump towards the Golden Elite, too far into his reach as he turned the stab into a slash. The result was the Elite slamming his rm into the Spartan's side- who was ready for the impact this time- and having his arm trapped as the Spartan's arm snapped down, crushing the Elite's arm against his side. The Elite howled in pain but kept up the fight.

The Spartan dropped his now empty pistol to the floor as the Elite raised his other arm, the Spartan reached up and grabbed the Elite's wrist, the hand attached clutching a plasma grenade, right in front of their faces. The Spartan could swear the Elite's mandibles moved in a smile as the Alien's thumb depressed the activation of the Plasma. Neither one could just leave or the other would kill them. Instead they both fought for the grenade, pushing and pulling it, flinging about wildly. The two stumbled through the broken cubicles and over bodies. They fought for their lives. The only thing keeping them alive was the Alien's thumb still depressing the activation.

Grunting the Spartan found himself rolling on the ground, now wrestling with the Elite for the grenade, they had tripped over the body of a brute, the fall had hardly been noticable to both Human and Shangelli, both were oblivious of the fact that the Plasma grenade was no longer in their possession for two seconds. Both looked at the Grenade six feet from them as it hissed on a as yet unmarked spot on the floor. They both stared at it dumbly for two seconds before hauling themselves up, unconsciously helping each other up and diving in the other direction.

The grenade exploded just before they ended their dive, the force just strong enough to send to two further forward. The Spartan hit a solid wall in a daze and lay there for three seconds before slowly rising, shaking his head to clear it. Looking around him, the Spartan found the Golden armored Elite doing much the same, only cradling his arm, the armor slightly dented. The two looked at each other, both with a little respect, neither with much hostility.

Several seconds before the two simultaneously nodded, a silent communication having past between the two. Both turned, Spartan heading towards the duffel bag that had fallen from his shoulder at some point, Elite making his way down, out of the building.

Gladiator0161

Gladiator turned around to meet the shattered remains of the roof access door, the blue and gold Spartan headed down the stairwell, his battle rifle raised. He continued to walk through the bodies of Covenant like he was walking through thickly packed snow until he reached the top floor, only to come face to face with a Silver armored Elite as he opened the still intact door and came through the doorway. The Elite straightened, momentarily startled before going for it's plasma sword and igniting it with a snap! hiss.
The Spartan lept forward and put all his strength into his roundhouse punch, knowing that his rifle's ammunition would do little to stop it from moving toward him at the close distance between them. His fist impacted on it's sheild and drained it, though his hand went numb a few seconds later as a result. Gladiator snapped his rifle up as the alien stumbled backwards in response to the Spartan's blow. A moment later it caught it's balance and roared at him, raising it's energy blade. Gladiator fired. The battle rifle's bullet punched through the alien's helmet and dove into it's brain, killing it instantly.

Gladiator shook his head and smiled before bringing up his TEAMCOM and saying "Sierra three three four. All Covenant forces have been taken care of on this floor according to my readings. What's your situation? Over."


Nerdychic447



The rain began to fall outside, they were here somewhere at least that's what her scans were showing. Moving fast to the top floor, she laid down and set up her rifle, it was out of the corner of her eye that she saw movement. She was one of the best or maybe is the best, even the U.N.S.C had to admit she was an elite in the military.  Sadly she wasn't needed that much, it wasn't because they didn't need a sniper, oh no, there is quite a story behind why she's called Siren now.

Siren licked her lips and wet them as she waited for more movement. She lay there perfectly still, you'd have to trip on her to find her. On the corner of her bright green eyes, she noticed a small struggle and the glow of an energy sword. Quickly she loaded the bullet into the chamber and took aim. Seeing the ally dispatch the Elite, she sighed to herself, before noticing the ripple behind the soldier. "Camo!" She said to herself. Taking aim, she fired. A loud burst erupted from the sniper, the bullet spiraling down the long barrel before ejecting itself into the air with a small puff of smoke. It flew fast, faster than a blink of an eye, before impaling itself in the wall directly behind the Elite. The Elite stood there for a moment, almost frozen in time, the energy sword over his head ready to strike, before a moment later crumpling to the ground.

In a quite flirtatious voice, Siren opened up the com link at Gladiator "Looks like that Elite wasn't the only one staring at your back, Gladiator." She said with a little sexy giggle at the end of his name. The emblems of the Spartans armor were those of Gladiator, at least that's what the U.N.S.C had told her he wore. "I'll rendezvous with you in a moment, I need to find away over there."

Slowly Siren stretched out again a little, boy her muscles were all tensed up. They didn't give her a lot of time to come around after waking her from Hibernation. Reattaching the Sniper to her back and making sure all her ammunition was secured, she stood up to her full height of 6"9' in all her gear. At 6"2', Siren was still a little short compared to some of the other Spartans, but none had her looks, or her speed. Looking around, she saw an old power line attached a little ways away from her vantage point, to the other building. It was an easy adjustment, a little clip here, and it was a smooth way across, well smooth enough. Grabbing a hold of the line, she tested it, it was solid. Looking over the edge, she determined she had no desire to kiss the pavement tonight. Once everything was secured, she grabbed onto the line and swung herself down, feet first right into the window. After a small little roll, she regained her composer and walked over to Gladiator.

Hunter Phoenix

Hunter was relieved to hear that the covenant forces had been eliminated, he had been sure that eventually if more had come, they could have overrun the building, even with the formidable abilities of the Spartans and the help of the ODST's.

He heard sniper fire and looked around, bringing his battle rifle up, eyes looking and alert, but then he saw the female Spartan Siren walking towards Gladiator. He had heard about her, she was one of the best snipers around and could make a shot from just about anywhere, he was impressed with her shooting skills. He had never spoken to her though, he hung back and checked his ammo, he was beginning to run a little low and would need some more soon if he wasn't careful. He also had a couple of grenades left which would no doubt come in useful.

He looked up at the pouring rain, he hated rain, it messed his vision up when it got on his visor. He wanted to get back to base so that he could arm up again and then take the fight to the covenant instead of standing on this ruin of an earthan city. He had been born on this planet, but since becoming a Spartan, he had felt nothing for it, the only thing he gave a damn about these days was fighting and killing covenant until he came across one that would get the better of him.
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.

Vengurd

"Sierra three three four. All Covenant forces have been taken care of on this floor according to my readings. What's your situation? Over."

"One level below your position. Status is cleared. I am ascending the northern stair now. Repeat; I am ascending the northern stair now," Patric says into his comms unit as he checks the mag in his battle rifle. Still fresh, no signs of any future jams; Clean mag. He heard the faint sound of a sniper's rifle being fired nearby, then a tumble followed by more noises. Someone had joined them it seemed.

The pack on his back picked up the female Spartan's transmission with ease, the voice oddly flirtatious for a Spartan; Spartans weren't just a group, no single Spartan was just in the team, they were a brother or sister, nothing changed that. Was this person really a Spartan? It didn't seem likely, but he would wait until he saw this person with his own eyes.

Reaching the top of the stair Patric entered the top floor and surveyed the carnage, taking stock of the situation and his surroundings, his gaze at first sweeping over the two Spartans and Marine before finally coming back and resting on them. An interesting group it seemed. This would be Patric's family for now. Maybe.

"Spartan three-three-four, UNSC, Rank and Serial number classified. What is this mission's current objective?" Patric inquires, leaving little room for dalliances. As a Spartan the mission would be accomplished one way or the other with minimal Human casualties if at all possible and at any cost to him personally.

Hunter Phoenix

Hunter looked around lazily as the new Spartan came up the stairs, he had picked up the comms and didn't bother pointing his gun towards the door.

"Our mission was to stop the Covenant in the city, but we were knocked and scattered when it jumped within the city limits, we are the only ones here at the moment, aside from all of the dead you see around us, what took you so long?"

He was no longer in the mood for pratting around with others of his team, one or two members were nice to be around, but more than that and Hunter just wanted to get the job done and get back to base.

"I guess you could say that our current objective is to stay together and alive until someone realises we are actually down here in this hell hole, care to join us?"
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.

Gladiator0161

#65



(OOC: This is my spartan on my X-Box360. Guys, meet the real Gladiator0161 :D )

"One level below your position. Status is cleared. I am ascending the northern stair now. Repeat; I am ascending the northern stair now" was the response Gladiator got just before a 50 caliber sniper round passed mere inches from the side of his head with a ziiing and buried itself in something behind him. Gladiator spun as a cloaked Elite's sheilds and camouflage dropped as the sniper round buried itself in it's head, splattering the purple contents of it's head against the wall.

"Looks like that Elite wasn't the only one staring at your back, Gladiator." the sniper said with a little sexy giggle at the end of his name. Siren. He recognized her mannerisms from the files the UNSC had on her. Before this mission came up, he was considering making a team for a future mission that might call for one. He'd considered her for his team as a secondary sniper despite her only being an ODST. He had great respect for the various factions within the UNSC and the brave men and women that served in each but, Spartans were genetically bred to be superior combatants, with superior reflexes, strength and speed. She had the skills necessary for his consideration and that was enough in his book. "I'll rendezvous with you in a moment, I need to find away over there." Siren said over the comms. A minute later Siren herself zip-lined through a window at the end of the hallway and joined them followed shortly by yet another Spartan, Patric. Gladiator nodded to each in turn choosing to ignore Siren's rather blunt innuendo. Not that he minded, not that he'd tell anyone that.

"Spartan three-three-four, UNSC, Rank and Serial number classified. What is this mission's current objective?" Patric inquired getting right to business. Gladiator liked that. The big blue and gold Spartan looked over to Hunter as he spoke up to answer Patric's question. "Our mission was to stop the Covenant in the city, but we were knocked and scattered when it jumped within the city limits, we are the only ones here at the moment, aside from all of the dead you see around us, what took you so long?"
Hunter said with a tone that spoke of wanting to finish this mission up and get back home, which Gladiator understood all too easily "I guess you could say that our current objective is to stay together and alive until someone realizes we are actually down here in this hell hole, care to join us?"

Gladiator nodded "So far all we know is that our objective jumped the system shortly after we dropped, and that communication has been cut off from command. So, our new mission is to survive, find the jamming devices and hopefully get comms back to command to see if we have new orders in light of what's happened. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us for now. Unless you know something we don't."





Hunter Phoenix

#66
Hunter nodded in agreement with his brother Galdiator.

"Well then, if we need to get the comms back up, it be time we got cracking on then instead of having this little chit chat on the roof, there are covenant to kill, comms jammers to kill and what not"

Stepping over to the door, Hunter opened it once more as it had swung shut and held it open and bowed like a waiter.

"After you of course"

He was smiling darkly inside his helmet. This mission was going to get some serious heat soon and he couldn't wait.
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.

ashia starstreak

#67
CHAPTER 2: Welcome aboard Maggot

UNSC Flagship Hercules; Pelican Landing Deck
Location: Earth's Lower Atmosphere






The landing deck had slowly been filling in with platoons of marines as the intercoms ordered one of the companies to report. Space between the Pelicans and the ships walls grew smaller as people in uniform began showing up. At first everyone seemed disorganized and wandered about aimlessly, some even formed up their own little groups to converse among each other. Though each one of them looked just like the guy next to them, they seemed to know the difference. When that company's commander showed up, he waited a moment before calling his company to come together, "Echo, fall in!"

The soldiers did as they were all told, the squad leaders counting off the steps away from the single platoon sergeant before standing to attention and soon followed the squad members beside their leaders to copy the position. The platoon sergeant then asked the squad leaders to report and each one told the sergeant how many were present in their squad and if someone had been missing.

With an about face, the platoon sergeant saluted her commander and and reported, "All present and accounted for."

The commander looked over the large platoon and studied the group of soldiers. The platoon was too big to stay single and he almost smiled at the thought of finally being able to announce a replacement for the missing platoon sergeant. Giving his approval to the platoon sergeant, he began his speech to the company, "As you know, during our last encounter with the Covenant we lost a platoon sergeant along with a few good men. You all have been good sports in becoming one platoon, but now we have a replacement. The ones lost in battle will not be forgotten, but let's take this time to get acquainted with your new platoon sergeant and get some of you moved to that platoon."

The commander walked down the row of Squads and members and each one he placed a hand upon moved to the other side of the company to form a new platoon. He paused at a rather short soldier, her height only reaching five feet even. She looked just like the rest, but for some reason he did recognize her and even offered her a smile. "I think you'll do better in the other platoon, you know the sergeant who will be in control." he told her as he touched her shoulder lightly and pointed to the other side as the soldiers began filing into their new locations. The petite soldier said nothing, made no motion of facial expression. She fell out of her current spot and fell into a new one on the opposite end.

Satisfied at his progress, the commander returned to his position at the front of the company and ushered forth the new platoon Sergent. "This is Sergeant Jacobs and he will be the 2ND platoon leader. You don't have to like him, but get to know him and follow his orders. 1st platoon get familiar with your new members and fall out. 2ND platoon get familiar with your new platoon leader."

The commander gave a light pat on Sergeant Jacob's back and lowered his voice to only speak to him, "I'll leave you to your platoon. Once we reach word from Admiral Bane about the spartans, you'll prepare for evac. Give you a chance to better familiarize with your new platoon. That's all, carry on."

The sergeant said nothing, nodding his head, his blue eyes watched as the older man walked away and then gazed at the 1st platoon before moving his full attention to the 2ND platoon. He made his way around the platoon and looked at them all for a moment in silence. Walking in between the rows of soldiers he began talking, "It is a shame that the covenant took so many of us last time. Your last platoon sergeant may have done his best, but I will see to it that I will better fit the position and keep casualties to a minimum. I've had a good share of encounters and will pass what knowledge I have gained to you and we'll be the best in the companies.."

He stopped in front of the small woman. It seemed like a lot of people were doing that today. Maybe it was because she was shorter than the other soldiers and that made her stick out. It could have been her eyes that indicated more experience than her ranking, but whatever the reasoning, the woman would refuse to talk unless she was forced to do so. She was a private and a lot of her past was confidential, her only concern was to survive the battles with the covenant. Therefore, she didn't need to make small talk nor did she need any friends unless she was ordered to do so.

The sergeant leaned forward and studied her green eyes, as his blue narrowed. He studied her for a good two minutes, trying to compute what he was seeing before him. His breath touching her face, she wanted to push him away from her, but instead she continued to stare forward in a hallow gaze.

"Shana..?" he whispered almost unsure of himself. His eyes looked upon her ranking and then went back to look upon her aging face. "...what did you do?" he asked, almost not expecting a response back.

She said nothing, and didn't react to the name he had used. Her expression said nothing. The sergeant could have been wrong, the soldier might not have been the name he had referred to her as, but he knew her and wasn't fooled by her actions. Standing back up straight the man looked at her a second longer before he continued his walk down the rows of soldiers. "Before I allow you to fall out I want guns cleaned, loaded, and ready to go. Once we receive word from Admiral Bane, I'll take the most prepared squad out to battle. If we're lucky, maybe we'll even see a spartan. Fall out!" he said and moved away from the group of soldiers.

They did as they were told, taking one step back before grouping off in their own little groups and walking toward the armory.

"A spartan..can you believe that?"

"Seems so early to go into battle..I just got out of training.."

"I heard they look like giants compared to us.."

"Never seen one?"

Many voices were heard around as they moved past the small soldier. She allowed them to weave around her as she stood still a moment and thought about all that the sergeant had said. There were many things off about it that didn't sit right with her. He knew who she was, but then again..she recognized him herself, and in a way that disgusted her knowing how she knew him. He wasn't a bad man, she didn't dislike him..it wasn't a fond feeling knowing he was in command now. Spartans...there was another that didn't sit right in the pit of her stomach. The woman didn't like them for more than one reason.

The soldier looked back one more time at the sergeant before shaking her head. As if just another ant in the hill, the 34 year old woman followed the crowd of soldiers to the armory to follow orders.

After walking down the corridor and waiting for the doors to slide open to give her access into the armory she paused at the entrance and watched as one greenhorn picked up HER weapon. Her head gathered heat and anger swelled up in her throat. Walking rather hurriedly toward him she snatched the old rifle from his hands and held it close.

If eyes could kill, he'd have been dead twice already. "Whoa..." he said and backed up a few steps, holding his hands up in defense. "Easy.."

"Touching another soldier's gun is against protocol. Your dealing with a life of another and that can cause you major problems. If that life happens to die and you're found to be the one messing with a gun that didn't belong to you before hand.." She snapped at him.

The young soldier rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry..I didn't know it was yours. That's an old model..don't you want to change it? The older assult rifles can jam up and can take longer to load.." he would have continued his little speech if the woman hadn't turned her back to him and walked away.

He looked to his friend beside him and pointed a thumb in her direction as she continued to walk across the room. "What the hell..was that. Ain't she a little too old to be a private?"

His friend snicked and shook his head as he himself reached for a rifle to begin his evaluation of that particular weapon.

She cursed beneath her breath. How dare a snot nose brat barely passed puberty tell her that HER gun was no good. The woman had had this gem since she herself first joined the marines and took damn good care of it. That was nearly sixteen years ago..she could hardly imagine that she had been trapped in this hell for so long.

Sighing, the soldier placed her rifle on the table and quickly took it apart. Reaching for her cleaning supplies, she inspected each individual piece to make sure the greenhorn hadn't damaged anything. The old scratches and indentations gave it's age away and old stained purple splats here and there couldn't be taken away by any cleaning she could dare use on it.

It was a good rifle. She took care of it and it had returned the favor many times. The kid might have been right..the newer models did seem to be better in battle, but she didn't trust those ones. The woman knew her weapon better than she knew herself and she wasn't about to exchange it for something she didn't trust.

Her green eyes scanned the room to make sure no one was looking in her direction before she bent over and pulled her handgun from a holster around her ankle. The lower ranks were not permitted to carry a gun aboard in everyday runs. They had to keep them in their designated areas until something popped up. They were allowed a single knife, but the woman knew better than to give up her secondary weapon and always hid it while in the 'safety' of the mother ship.

Placing it on the table, she took the pistol apart and cleaned it up. This weapon was also an older model. She almost attempted a smile, waiting for some punk to comment on it so she could have an excuse to put him or her in their place. Lucky for the platoon, no one bothered to look in her direction. They kept to their groups and conversed among themselves light hearted as they cleaned and prepared their own weapons.

The older soldier walked across the room and reached for some ammo packs for her weapons, the irritating feeling of eyes wanted to make her react in a bad manner. She ignored the idea and went back to her weapons, not giving any attention to the others around her. It was true, she was definitely out of place here. The woman suspected the oldest one here might have been in their mid-twenties. That thought made her sick, but she did feel rather conceited that she had the most experience in battle. Her cold, hardened eyes looked around the platoon and studied the soldiers. Turning her attention back to her guns, she knew the outcome to the next few battles would leave very few of the platoon alive.

It was not a mean thought..no...it was just fact. Loading her pistol she inspected it above her head in the light before placing it in its holster on her lower calf. A part of her wished to die in battle too, but her instincts always seemed to kick into gear once the battle began, and she always managed to survive another day in hell, wether she wanted to or not.

Loading her rifle she placed it back on the table and checked her knife in the sheath around her left thigh. She knew it had already been sharpened earlier, but in habit, she had to check it again. As suspected, it was indeed ready for an unsuspecting victim. The soldier picked up her rifle and walked out of the armory. Her new destination was back to the pelican deck where she would await her new orders.  As the soldier found a seat near the doors, the back of her mind hoped that her new squad wouldn't be the one to head into the next battle, but she had already known...the new sergeant was going to use the squad she was in only because he knew her and wanted to get an idea of why she was a private now.

She stared at the pelican and thought of her past actions..the reasoning for her rank today.

"A knight in shining armor is a man who has never had his metal truly tested."

Vengurd

The big blue and gold Spartan looked over to Hunter as he spoke up to answer Patric's question. "Our mission was to stop the Covenant in the city, but we were knocked and scattered when it jumped within the city limits, we are the only ones here at the moment, aside from all of the dead you see around us, what took you so long?"
Hunter said with a tone that spoke of wanting to finish this mission up and get back home, which Gladiator understood all too easily "I guess you could say that our current objective is to stay together and alive until someone realizes we are actually down here in this hell hole, care to join us?"

Gladiator nodded "So far all we know is that our objective jumped the system shortly after we dropped, and that communication has been cut off from command. So, our new mission is to survive, find the jamming devices and hopefully get comms back to command to see if we have new orders in light of what's happened. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us for now. Unless you know something we don't."


Patric immediately deferred to Gladiator, whom seemed to be in charge and nodded where needed. They were stuck out here, enemy on all sides and no friends, or at least none they knew of, alive or around to help. Not even the boosted abilities of his modified comms unit could get through the jammed signals, not enough to make much of a difference. His suit had been squawking to any UNSC personnel in the vicinity since he had made it to the building and the suit had only been able to get a partial response once.

He was surprised it had even gotten that much, considering how good the Covenant jammers really were. Either the UNSC was getting better or the other side was getting worse, and he doubted that last bit. Mentally shaking himself, Patric returned his focus on the other Spartan and replayed the man's short summery of the situation.

"I know many things you don't know." Was Patric's reply as he turned from the other Spartan, scanning the skies. "The air space looks clear for the moment though that can't be for very long. They found us and we blooded them. There are likely to be reinforcements on the way, I would advice you to consider a tactical withdrawal from this position. There are still marines down there, we need to find them and link up. Together with them and any possible reinforcements, likely SAR teams, will look for heavy concentrations before they look for small pockets, regardless of how important they maybe. The nearest garrison, or what is left of it should be on the priority list for SAR, reinforcement and general shelter if it isn't overrun by the covenant."

Turning back to the other Spartan and taking in his stance he gave a slight nod. "Sir," he added as an after thought before looking at the others around them. "I have extra weapons and ammunition," he dropped the bag at his feet. "Take what you need, don't clear it out, we'll need to use it sparingly until we find an actual armory to restock and rearm."

At this last bit Patric gave the other spartan a shrug in their coded gestures, trying to send that he wasn't trying to take over, just summing up the situation as he saw it and looking out for the teams survival.

Hunter Phoenix

Hunter listened to the other spartan with interest. He certainly did know a lot more than they currently did. Good intelligence work, could have been a scout at some point.

"Sounds like a plan to me, do you know the current locations of any of these possible teams of which you speak?"

He looked at the bag full of weapons and then he checked his own, they still had enough ammo in them to last a while, so he turned the offer down.

"I think we should collect all of these covenant weapons on the way down and there was a small armoury in the building as well, that could be cleaned out and added to the contents as well, get ourselves as much weaponry as possible if you think reinforcements are coming"
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.

Gladiator0161

"I know many things you don't know" was Patric's reply as he turned from the other Spartan, scanning the skies. "The air space looks clear for the moment though that can't be for very long. They found us and we blooded them. There are likely to be reinforcements on the way, I would advice you to consider a tactical withdrawal from this position. There are still marines down there, we need to find them and link up. Together with them and any possible reinforcements, likely SAR teams, will look for heavy concentrations before they look for small pockets, regardless of how important they maybe. The nearest garrison, or what is left of it should be on the priority list for SAR, reinforcement and general shelter if it isn't overrun by the covenant."

"Sir," he added as an after thought before looking at the others around them. "I have extra weapons and ammunition," he dropped the bag at his feet. "Take what you need, don't clear it out, we'll need to use it sparingly until we find an actual armory to restock and rearm."

Gladiator nodded and took a few extra sniper rounds, he saw Hunter decline Patric's offer of a resupply before voicing his opinion "I think we should collect all of these covenant weapons on the way down and there was a small armoury in the building as well, that could be cleaned out and added to the contents as well, get ourselves as much weaponry as possible if you think reinforcements are coming."


Gladiator nodded again "we can count on them coming at us again and again. They've vowed to eradicate the universe of us. Hunter brings up a good point, pack up all the useful Covenant weaponry you see, Fuel Rod Cannons, Plasma Pistols, Plasma Launchers, those Energy Swords over there, anything that will splatter or explode, the Covenant may be stuck on their own technology but, that doesn't mean we have to be." He looked around him and counted off the members of their little team. Hunter, Patric, Seargent Sling, Rook, and ofcourse himself. 6 team members. You could do some serious damage with only 6 people. First though, they needed a target and some reconned intel. Lance and Raven were classed as MIA until further notice. Gladiator sighed and started picking up Covenant weapons and tossing them into Patric's bag.

"Alright, first things first, we'll go downstairs and empty that small armory, then begin a floor by floor search for Lance and Raven as we go down, try to determine what happened to them. Then we move out once we're all all on the ground floor. Then we find and elliminate any communication jammers we come across. Let's move" Gladiator said as he raised his Battle Rifle as he moved to the blown out roof accessway and down the stairs.

Hunter Phoenix

Hunter nodded to Gladiator and then followed him as he descended down the stairs.

"Well this is turning out to be one hell of an interesting trip, what else do you think will come up along the way?"

He headed down the armoury and started grabbing as many weapons as he could carry, filling his belt up with energy swords and ammo and grabbed as many rifles as possible, slinging them over his shoulders and then heading back to the rest of the team with his load. Dumping the weapons on the floor he looked at Patric.

"Here we go, this is a small amount of what was in the armoury"

He took the ammo and swords off of his belt and began to fill the bag with it.
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.

Assallya

"This is Pelican Echo Four One Nine to Fire Base Delta," Private Clytemnestra Li repeated for what must have been a hundredth time, "Repeat.  Echo four one nine to Fire Base Delta.  Requesting instruction."

She was answered only with static.  Even with the power of the Pelican's boosted radio she couldn't make contact.  The Covenant's jammers were wreaking havoc with all long range communication.  Tossing the microphone away from her, the microphone arced wildly, swinging and bouncing at the end of its curled cable.  The half Chinese girl sighed and stared out the canopy at the bleak sky.

Clytemnestra and her partner, along with Pelican Echo-419 had originally been scheduled to partake in the destruction of the Covenant cruiser formerly hanging over New York.  That was now a bust.  The ODSTs and Spartans were supposed to disable the docking bay force fields and then Clytemnestra was going to fly inside and deliver to them an atomic bomb.  The theory was that an explosion of significant magnitude could cause collapse of the slip space envelope and, given the Covenant's superior handling in slipspace, cause a cascade reaction that could destroy an entire fleet.

Unfortunately, all that meant was that Clytemnestra was now trapped atop a skyscraper with an atomic bomb, a collection of high power weapons meant to hold a position aboard a covenant cruiser and nowhere to deliver it.

"Well Chuckles," she said as she leaned back in her chair, "I have no idea what to do now."

Gladiator0161


Gladiator and his team moved through the building in an orderly fashion, sweeping each office and cubicle as they searched for their missing comrades. When they arrived at the armory there still hadn't been any word from them. It was easy to assume the worst, they were trained for it. The puzzling thing was, there were no bodies to recover either. It was possible they were captured by the enemy. If that were true, it would complicate things a little bit but, without orders their lives and the choices they made were their own for the time being. Until they were able to reestablish communication with SecNav that is. Gladiator covered Hunter and Patric as they filled the duffel bag with weapons and ammo. Gladiator mentally ran through the map of the city in his head, trying to think of which way to head when they came out of the building, running Patric's words through his mind.

"The air space looks clear for the moment though that can't be for very long. They found us and we blooded them. There are likely to be reinforcements on the way, I would advice you to consider a tactical withdrawal from this position. There are still marines down there, we need to find them and link up. Together with them and any possible reinforcements, likely SAR teams, will look for heavy concentrations before they look for small pockets, regardless of how important they may be. The nearest garrison, or what is left of it should be on the priority list for SAR, reinforcement and general shelter if it isn't overrun by the covenant."

He tried to think of where that might be and cursed. He knew should've kept more up to date on the latest deployments and in touch with the marines and ODST's that he'd fought beside. He wished that Gunnery Sergeant Buck and his team were with them. He always kept up to date on the deployments. Soon enough, they were done filling the bag and were once again making their way down the building floor by floor, sweeping everything in search of their comrades. Suddenly a thought hit him and he felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier, though he had in fact tried it before. He hit the com button on his helmet "Lance, Raven, Siren. What's your situation? Over." They came around moderate resistance as they descended the building, nothing more than Grunts led by a trio of Jackals and an Elite. With Hunter, Gladiator and their ODST

As they made their way to the lower levels of the building static began to come over his comm "bzzzz..kkkk-nce. Over. Repeat. kkkzzzz....mm heading back after a scouting run. Do not Fire. Friendly on approach. Repeat. This is Lance, anyone reading on this channel? Over." Gladiator hurried down the next couple of flights of stairs "Lance! Good to hear from you, we were thinking the worst. Where are you?" A few minutes later they were sweeping another floor. An Elite came around the corner spotted them, pointed and roared something in it's language before motioning for it's followers to follow. Gladiator moved moved first, ducking and crouching as the first shots of boiling hot plasma were fired from the Elite. He fired his own weapon back in a double burst of triple round fire from his Battle Rifle, before ducking into a cubicle for cover and avoiding a barrage of Plasma Pistol fire from the Elite's escorts of six Grunts and three Jackals. Gladiator took a frag grenade and flipped the safety off. He peeked out for a second before ducking down, the air above his head filling with white hot energy. "Grenade! Tossing!" he shouted out amidst the noise of battle.

He raised his arm and tossed the round, pair shaped explosive up and over the cubicle wall. The grenade bounced off the top of another cubicle and into the middle of the Elite and his two Jackal escorts. While Gladiator had ducked into the cubicle, the Elite had sent the six Grunts with it's one Jackal Sniper escort, around the back, trying to pin the Spartans and their ODST brother in by creating a crossfire. The grenade laying at it's feet went unnoticed by the Elite but, the Jackals, with their much keener eyesight locked in on the explosive and turned toward it, their sheild arms leading the way and covering their bodies. The grenade detonated buffeting the Jackals but, not harming them. The Elite went completely untouched, it's shield's shimmering into view. Suddenly a sniper round tore through the Elite's head, shattering the shields completely. The body dropped like a stone and the Jackals jumped away from it. Their backs turned and exposed. That was when the six Grunts showed up from the other side, firing their Plasma Pistols. Gladiator ducked back inside his cubicle, he heard gunfire from the rest of his team but, had no idea where they were at that moment.

Hunter Phoenix

Hunter had ducked as soon as the plasma fire had begun from the elite and the jackals and had rolled into one of the nearest cubicles, losing sight of the rest of the team as he did so; they were on their own now. He popped his head out and looked behind him in time to see several grunts coming around the back of them, firing even more plasma rounds into the tight space. He squeezed off several rounds from his rifle, taking out two of the grunts and wounding a third. Ducking back in, he waited for three seconds and then sent another burst of machine gun fire at the grunts, taking out another two of them.

Upon seeing their dead comrades the remaining grunts and the jackal began running around, scrambling to find some cover for themselves before they too were taken down by the Spartans and ODST that were present.
Where Will A Creature Of Darkness Hide If Not In The Shadows Of The Night.