HALO: A shot in the dark

[Sushi]

When Valkyrie opened her eyes, she was being dragged across the ground. Plasma bolts and tracers streaked overhead, some coming a little too close for comfort. The other Spartan left her behind the wreckage of the wraith and returned fire. Her immediate reflex was to check that her rifle was loaded, and the second was to reboot her shields.

Suddenly Gladiator grabbed her by the arm and pulled her upright, shoving her away from the vehicle. Valkyrie's skin crawled and the ground lit up bright blue as a small sun descended upon the soil, nearly throwing the two away with the resulting blast. She glanced back and saw the other spartan's armor glowing from an overcharged shield, when another round seemed poised to land between them. She hurled herself into the alley and landed with a roll, shortly before Gladiator did the same, his shields expended.

"Armor lock, hm?" Valkyrie remarked. It was another thing the S-III program had generated, and one of the upgrades she never had time to install given the months of hectic fighting. Oh well.

A series of beeps told the spartan her shields were back up. She gave the other Spartan a nod. "Thank you." Valkyrie darted out of the alley, firing her MA-5K as she did. Being caught off guard like that had embarrassed her, made her focus more. And what was important right now was maintaining momentum so the covvie had no time to regroup.

"Target their commanders if you can." She whispered into the comms. When the MA-5 clicked on an empty chamber, Valkyrie darted behind cover and locked the bolt open. A fresh magazine was slapped into the rifle in a second and the bolt sent home with a ratchet. A pair of jackals were attempting to close in with the soldier, shields raised. Valkyrie calmly squeezed the trigger, sending a hail of rounds into the legs of the chicken-like covenant.

Valkyrie took one of her precious few smoke grenades and popped it over her cover. The little grey canister started to spew white smoke and dispense chaff, blocking thermal imaging through the cloud. The spartan crept from her cover and stepped over to the two wounded kig-yar. She executed each one with a few rounds to the skull, removing the portable shields from their wrists. Pausing to don one, she took off toward the last position of the Wraith at a hard run. The occasional plasma bolt sizzled off the blue disc, protecting the Spartan as she sprinted across the cratered ground. Valkyrie burst from the smoke cloud, shooting past a confused squad of grunts and a single elite. Valkyrie turned to lob a single grenade into their ranks before ducking into the nearby rubble in a zigzag pattern.

Confused barks and shouts preempted the thunderclap of a grenade blast. The Spartan unslung her M19 as bolts from the Wraith's plasma repeater raked the ground behind her. She clicked off the safety as she sprinted past the side of the armored vehicle, escaping the turning radius of it's gun. When she brought the launcher to bear, there wasn't a thing to block the shot. Valkyrie fired.

The 102mm warhead leapt from the launcher and lazily sailed over on a column of flame. It careened into the main cannon with a loud crunch, showering the gunner with molten plasma as the gun overloaded. Valkyrie watched as the weapon sputtered, then faded entirely as the driver decided to kill the power source. As the covvie tank attempted to reboot, Valkyrie took aim at the exposed cowlings at the rear of the vehicle.

"Sierra six three six offering aid. Anyone out there?" Valkyrie reflexively keyed her comms, lowering the weapon. Before she could reply something slammed into the spartan, knocking away her weapon as it threw her into the concrete. Valkyrie rolled off her shoulder and rose to a crouch, simmering at the interruption. The air to her direct front had a shimmer to it, and Valkyrie reflexively unloaded a burst, causing the thing's shields to flicker before it darted away.

The Spartan backpedaled as she fired, knowing every second this thing kept her delayed, the longer the tank had to get operational. But eventually the rifle ran empty and Valkyrie dropped it, ripping her sidearm from its holster. The shimmer stopped. It flickered as its user decloaked, revealing a sangheili warrior clad in grey and purple armor, with a distinctive armored helmet. It flicked one arm out, igniting a plasma sword. Off all the covenant soldiers that Valkyrie had to run into, fate would deem a special operations elite the proper choice. "Shit..." Valkyrie muttered. "Sierra six-three-six, sending you map grids. In a bit of trouble right now." She killed the comms.

It charged with a roar. The three slugs she managed to fire only weakened the elite's shields and she barely managed to roll out of the way. The warrior was quick on his recovery however and drove a fist into Valkyrie's helmet with bone-breaking force, slamming her into the concrete. He raised his blade for the kill, but Valkyrie didn't make it easy. She drove a leg explosively into the enemy soldier before climbing to her feet. She fired again and again, each round just angering her opponent.

He feinted and dodged to the side. Valkyrie's fingers held the elite's arm with the blade mere inches from her face. The elite barked in surprise as she drove the pistol into its gut, unloading the magazine as its shields flickered and failed entirely. She scowled as the weapon ran out of ammo and slammed the gun into the elite's face. She threw the sanghelli viciously against a nearby wall. The blade fell from its hands and fizzled out.

Valkyrie released the elite and reloaded her M6D. She didn't notice the warrior's eyes flit at the discarded magazine, or one arm reaching behind its back. She was about to finish the sangheili with a bullet when it exploded from the wall with a horrific growl, tackling the spartan around the waist with a live plasma grenade sizzling in it's hand. To Valkyrie, everything seemed to happen slowly afterward. She locked stares with the defiant covenant warrior. Did he really want to die this badly?

She didn't. She didn't think it did, either.

Valkyrie used her free arm to slam an open hand into the side of the elite's skull, concussing it for just a moment. She kicked hard off the ground, breaking free of the elite's grip and leaving the sizzling grenade sitting on the ground between them, a moment away from tearing both to pieces.. She glared at the elite and dropped onto the grenade, activating the shield on her arm at the same time. Perhaps the covenant didn't understand humanity, but they all understood the basic desire to survive, and what sacrifice was.

There was a brilliant flash of blue.


((OOC: I have a follow-up segment ready to go. So please nobody puppet valkyrie or the spec ops elite for now.))

[Gladiator0161]

Gunnery Sergeant Desmond "Sling" Rockwell
Location: NYC Mall.

Sling quirked his head quizzically at Shana and Hunter. He hadn't known that they'd been unconscious when all the action had been taking place. The ODST's visor turned to regard the smaller Marine "Obnoxious? Alright, next time you're tackled into an empty elevator shaft by an Elite, I'll just sit back and watch to see how a real pro does things" he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He shook his head and turned to face the hole in the ceiling as Shana helped the Spartan onto a high tech gurney, a smile on his face despite the pain in his leg. The ODST looked up through the hole and shook his head again, if he hadn't managed to grab that cable, he'd have been a goner. The ODST looked back to the Spartan and the small Marine, they looked like they'd been through hell. His attention turned to Hunter as he asked how bad off he was.

Sling hobbled over to the counter that lined the back of the medical room, using the Gravity Hammer he'd found to keep pressure off of his injured leg. He leaned against the counter and shrugged off his armored pack, withdrawing a small cylindrical device with what looked like small pincers on either side of it's head. It housed a small camera in it's belly, he turned the drone over in his hands and used s small screwdriver he found in his pack to tighten a few plates before he activated it. The drone hovered in his hand for a few minutes, and connected with his HUD. He opened a panel and typed in his security code, a second later the word "confirmed" played across the small screen in green lettering, he typed in a few commands and then closed the panel. The drone after taking a quick look around the room, rose higher into the air and flew over to the elevator. It took a scan and then raced to the top of the elevator shaft. Perching itself in the shaft, across from the opened doors of the elevator, it found some battle damage in the wall big enough to sit and powered down it's hovering thrusters, external lights, and activated it's thermal sensors. A small image of what it saw popped up on Sling's HUD a moment later.

"There we go. The entrance is as secure as I can make it for now, got the drone's camera feed linked to my HUD. Now, tell me what I've missed since I had that blasted building fall on top of me" Sling said crossing his arms over his chest after putting his pack back on.

[ashia starstreak]

"Acknowledged." Was Shana's only reply to the ODST. A small smile upon her face was present as she stared at the screen before her. She glanced to Hunter before looking back to the monitor.

"Error..access denied." the computer talked back at the woman as she pressed enter. Shana quirked an eyebrow and tried a different series of codes only to hear the generic female voice repeat, "Error...access denied."


"I hate computers.." the marine grumbled to herself rubbing her temples. She frowned and tried one more time to get the computer to do what she wanted, but when the voice repeated her line, Shana slammed a hand onto the desk in utter frustration. "Screw you then..my way." she told to monitor and typed in an override code in an attempt to get the machine to do more than scan, but the computer was too advanced and caught the marine. 

"Threat detected.." the computer spoke. As the files began to diisappear from the database, the woman pulled off her combat knife from her shoulder and cut the cords and stood up. Placing the knife back in its sheeth, the short woman walked to the medical bed and turned on the monitor. It showed an x-ray of Hunter's body. An image of a small disc in the corner of the screen spun trying to load information from the main computer, but it would never achieve its goal. "I have to do this manually. I could not override the system. According to the scan, your leg is broken in two spots. Three cracked ribs, two broken, one of which is not in a good spot." She told the large man and pushed a button to view muscle tissue. "I don't see any internal bleeding, lucky you. Your knife, use it if it helps..I'm going to realign your leg..it's going to hurt. Next I'm going to pull up that rib and take out that glass tube. Using the can of bio-foam, I will seal you up. Confirm."

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter watched as Shana tried to gain access to the computer, eventually she had managed to pull up an x-ray of him and he listened as she rattled off the list of injuries he had sustained.

"That ain't so bad, for a moment there I thought it might have been something serious"

He thought for a moment

"Would it help if I took my armour off so that you could access my leg and chest properly?"

[Gladiator0161]

Sierra 0161 aka Gladiator
Location: NYC Pier just off of the Washington Bridge.

Gladiator nodded as Valkyrie thanked him "Don't mention it." He peeked around the corner and saw that more Covenant had shown up to guard the single remaining Wraith Tank. A second later Valkyrie's shields recharged and she darted out of the alleyway, running in a zig zag pattern to keep the Covenant from attaining a kill shot. She asked him to target the commanders over the comms. He rolled his eyes, briefly wondering if she thought he was new at this and replied with a simple "Rodger that". She easily dispatched a couple of Jackals, shooting the birdlike aliens in their knobby double jointed legs toppling them over before finishing them off. She took their portable shield devices, and affixed them to her wrists. Gladiator brought the DMR up and prepared to cover her as she moved to get a clear shot at the Wraith with the M19. He took out a couple Jackals and Grunts before noticing the Wraith Tank turn to track her progress. The gunner on the Wraith fired streams of plasma at her, he targeted the Grunt in the scope of his DMR and fired. He saw the Grunt jump in it's seat as the DMR's bullet ricocheted off the Wraith Tank's purplish armor, just before Valkyrie threw a smoke grenade to throw off the Covenant forces, obscuring his view. He cursed, and ran up a nearby fire escape, twisting the flimsy metal easily in his palm as he grabbed it.

The metal frame started to sag under his weight and he had to double time it to reach the roof. The fire escape was never meant to hold something as heavy as a Spartan in full armor, and crashed to the ground seconds after he made the roof. A second later he heard the concussive impact of a M19's rocket impacting something. He ran to the edge of the rooftop and looked to the area below him, and spotted the tank, the Grunt gunner was a nasty charred blue blood spattered mess. The alien heavy artillery vehicle was sparking. It shuddered and died a moment later, but failed to explode. He looked back to where the smoke from the grenade had been and saw the outline of an Elite and it's two Grunt underlings as the smoke began to disperse, a second later Valkyrie's grenade detonated, shredding the Grunts and taking out the Elite's shields while throwing it to the ground. One shot rang out from the SRS 99D's barrel and the Elite's brains splattered all over the pavement, assuring him that it would never get up again.

Just then a new voice broke over the comms "Sierra six three six offering aid. Anyone out there?". Another Spartan was out there somewhere, that was good. He hoped they were close and had friends. He clicked his comm to Valkyrie's frequency first and reported his position "Valkyrie, I'm at your seven o'clock on a rooftop. I've got you covered." He took a quick look at the area before Valkyrie. The road before her was mostly populated with Jackals and Grunts with their Elite and Brute commanders.
He heard Valkyrie tell the lost Spartan that she would send her the map grid of their location. He spotted a Brute Chieftan trying to get the drop on Valkyrie by hiding behind a large eighteen wheeler while she was distracted with fighting off an Elite from their Special Operations division, armed with a plasma sword. He remembered coming across the Elite Spec Ops soldiers before, they were tough. Gladiator reloaded the SRS and took aim. The Elite had Valkyrie on the ground now and raised it's energy blade for the kill. Gladiator fired just as Valkyrie kicked it making it stumble backwards. The bullet from his Sniper Rifle tore through the air between them and impacted on the ground, throwing up a small plume of pulverized concrete. Valkyrie jumped to her feet and fired round after round into it's shields.

Movement caught his eye from the direction of the eighteen wheeler, the Brute Chieftan was on the move now, headed toward the two combatants. Three more shots from the SRS rang out, the first two making the behemoth stumble backwards as the rounds impacted it's shield, the third putting a hole between it's eyes. He heard the distinctive sound of a M6D Magnum being unloaded and looked just in time to see the flash from Valkyrie's weapon discharge, just before the Elite's shields went down. She slammed the alien in the face before slamming it into the wall. The impact shook the plasma sword from it's grasp and fizzled out on the ground. He heard the Elite roar in rage but, was distracted by the distinctive snap-hiss of a Covenant Elite's plasma sword coming to life directly behind him. He dropped to the ground and rolled over, he felt the heat the energy weapon emitted as it passed harmlessly over his head. Cursing he kicked the Elite in the chest, making it stumble backwards.

He dropped the SRS and picked up the DMR raising it just as the Elite recovered and charged him. He reacted quickly as the Elite quickly covered the space between them and fell on his back. When the Elite bore down on him plasma sword raised for the killing blow, Gladiator's feet exploded upwards and tossed the alien over the side of the building as he curled his body and pushed with his arms. The Elite roared in fury as it twisted through the air, landing on it's head, splattering the pavement below with it's purple blood. Gladiator kicked forward again so he wouldn't complete his backward momentum by tumbling over the side of the building, and came up in a crouch. He checked his area for any camouflaged opponents, the only give away being a slight shimmer to the air. He didn't see any but, that didn't mean they weren't there, it just meant they weren't moving.

He turned back around just in time to see Valkyrie slam the Elite she'd been fighting in the head with an open palm, activate one of the Jackal shields on her arm, and drop onto a plasma grenade. He didn't have time to give into his confusion as the plasma grenade glowed white hot and detonated.

"VALKYRIE!!!!!" Gladiator's voice echoed through the still air.

The Elite she'd been fighting looked up at him and then looked at his opponent before it ran off. Sniper fire from Gladiator following it closely.

[Sushi]

All UNSC forces had to regularly take fitness exams. Spartan-IIs had no formal standards, so community goals were often set by the leaders to be done at their relative leisure. Once, Fred had challenged not only blue team, but all the present S-2s to do three hundred push ups, timed. Valkyrie had been aching for days.

That hurt a lot less than laying down a covenant hand grenade. The Spartan had only done it because the thing had been a moment away from detonating, and she hadn't exactly been in a position to dive away. Right now, she though that hurling the elite prick onto the grenade would have probably been a better idea. Murderous rage wasn't her thing, but she felt close to it.

The spartan's hands shook from the huge hit of adrenaline she had experienced, making the everyday act of loading a weapon a struggle. She took a deep, shuddering breath and calmed her frayed nerves. The magazine locked into the rifle with a reassuring clack. Valkyrie turned to face the battlefield and found countless bodies scattered across the road from her combined work. The hatch on the Wraith was open; it's crew had run off. After checking that the immediate area was safe, she started the gradual process of rebooting her coms, visuals and shields.

"Looks like you got most of them. Nice work." Valkyrie started poking through corpses for intel and equipment. She was pretty low on grenades. "Any word from 636?"

[Gladiator0161]

Gunnery Sergeant Desmond "Sling" Rockwell

Loc: Basement of a Mall in NYC, NY

Sling snickered quietly as Shana attempted to hack the single computer that was in the small emergency medical room they were in, and failed to do so, much to her own frustration. The computer must have had some pretty sophisticated programs because it detected her hack. He had to admit to being a little impressed by that. He chuckled as she hit the desk in frustration and then cut the cord with her combat knife. As she accessed the scanner manually, she read off the injuries the Spartan had sustained. Sling grimaced from behind his helmet but, the grimace could be seen in the subtle movement of his shoulders. Hunter made light of the injuries much to Desmond's surprise, and admiration, though he'd never admit it.

Sling snorted "Heh. Well, well, looks like you Spartan's aren't invincible after all. Whattya know?" Taken at face value, Sling could have been seen as a jackass and he hoped that that was Hunter's first reaction. The anger would numb some of the pain that Hunter had coming his way. Bone realignments weren't anything to joke about, they hurt like hell. He hoped secretly however, that Hunter would realize what Sling was doing.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sierra 0161 "Gladiator"
Loc: NYC Pier just off the Washington Bridge

Gladiator grabbed the SRS and the DMR, and dropped down from the roof, his feet and legs stinging with the impact as they met hard, unyielding concrete, and cracked it. The blue and gold colored Spartan straightened from his crouch and ran to his injured comrade, his heart was racing, and then sighed with relief as he saw her reload her rifle. "You're nuts, y'know that? Dropping onto a grenade like that with only a Jackal wrist shield to protect you? That's just crazy. Glad it worked though" he said as he drew close to her, grabbing her under the shoulder he helped her up into a standing position. He could tell she was shaking when he'd walked up but, the moment his glove made contact with her, he knew that it was worse than what he was seeing. He kept close to her and led her over to the nearest building's wall so that she could rest a minute.

He shook his head to her question "Not so far. Doesn't mean anything though, she could just be busy, or have to maintain radio silence due to Covenant in her area, or it could be interference on her end. I'm going to try her again, wait one" he flicked his eye over his HUD, activating the comms icon and changing channels so that he transmitted on the frequency 636 had used.

"Sierra six three six, this is Sierra zero one six one. Give me your SitRep soldier. Copy? Over." Gladiator looked out over the bay area, admiring the beauty and tranquility that naturally resided in the place as he checked for any Covenant activity. Fortunately, there wasn't any that he could see. He turned his attention back to Valkyrie, switched his comms over to TeamCOM and lightly pressed a hand to her shoulder "You ok?"

[Sushi]

Valkyrie brushed away the hand. "I'm alright," she said curtly. The spartan had never been one for touchy-feely, despite being quite a social creature.

She took measured breaths to slow her heartbeat and respiration back to normal levels. There was a pinprick in her back as the suit administered various drugs to her system, and the shaking in her extremeties begun to subside. Valkyrie was very familiar with the process. "Coping with the adrenaline and non-adrenaline caused by the body alarm reaction, Gladiator. Routine stuff," she said dryly. Though they were religiously trained and had a different metabolism than a normal human, some things were always the same.  The body's natural response to a life-threatening situation had enough advantages to stay.

That said, it fucking hurt.

Valkyrie started to walk, just to keep herself mentally occupied. "Why don't we look for Patric? Return signals should be clear either way."

[ashia starstreak]

The woman raised a brow to Hunter's question as she studied his facial expression. She wasn't sure if his question was a test or if he had been serious. Breaking eye contact, Shana removed herself from the scanner and walked to the edge of the bed. As she pulled out her combat knife once more she spoke. "Just because it's quiet, does not mean it is safe. Taking off your armor will leave you completely open as easy prey. Being a Spartan, of all soldiers, should know the dangers."

Her words were monotone with no emotion given as she cut the wiring around the giant's leg. Picking at the mess, Shana placed her weapon back in place so she could grab the wooden board with two hands. In one swift movement, she slid it quickly out from beneath Hunter's leg and carelessly tossed the board aside. The marine placed a boot on Hunter's good knee and reached for his broken leg. The body part was heavy, but Shana kept it still in her careful hands. Looking back to Hunter she said, "I am going to pull, lift, bend, and then push it back into place. Are you ready Spartan?"

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter nodded in agreement at her statement, in his messed up state he wasn't thinking completely straight and it was a struggle to keep his grip on reality, but he was rooted for the time being.

Placing his hands on the edge of the table and taking several deep breaths, he nodded.

"Let's do this"

[The Golden Touch]

Name: Adelaine 'Addie' aka Shadow
Unit Type: Spartan  (Sierra six three six)
Location: New York
Tagged: Open

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto....

The spartan ducked behind a wall as she traversed the terrain, spying yet another mixed group of jackels and grunts. Watching them for a bit, their movements were lazy, not at all in formation. They did not know anything was near by. Apparently no communications had been sent out on alert before she had taken the last bunch out. No need to let another group get by, and the rest of her company was still out there. She took a long, slow breath to center herself- glancing down the sight of her sniper rifle. Her HUD lit up, distracting her from the shot and it went wild. Damn...

Sierra six-three-six, sending you map grids. In a bit of trouble right now

She swore, seeing the hostiles scatter into cover when she hit a grunt inside of the jackel. Adelaine swore again, ducking as a shower of return fire peppered her hiding place. The 'tink tink tink' of a grenade lobbed in her direction made her execute a misjudged roll- finding herself far too open for her liking. Ignoring the call for her grids, she slid into another shadowed alcove- peering into her scope again.

'Crack.'

'Crack.'

Two grunts exploded, their methane tanks exploding and the wash of blue flames as a primmed sticky grenade was dropped from a grunt claw into their midst. Poor cover when the fire came from the inside. She laughed- a slightly maniacal sound. Another scattering of bodies, and she fired another shot.

'Crack.'

The jackel down, the rest of the grunts fled in terror with their guiding force dead. She was easily picking them off, enjoying the subtle crack of her weapon as it dealt deadly, swift accuracy in her hands. Her HUD lit up with another incoming communication and she paused to key the return information.

"Sierra six three six, this is Sierra zero one six one. Give me your SitRep soldier. Copy? Over."

She laughed, her voice breaking over their linked Comms. "Sierra zero one six one, you're alive. Good- thought I was the only out out here. Sierra six three six copies. Over."

[Gladiator0161]

Sierra 0161 aka "Gladiator"
Loc: NYC Pierr, just off the Washington Bridge.

"Sierra zero one six one, you're alive. Good- thought I was the only out out here. Sierra six three six copies. Over."

Gladiator nodded as Valkyrie brushed his hand away and then switched to Sierra 636's frequency "Good. We have a Private Matthew Fry stuck in your location, we need to you retrieve him and then rendezvous with us here" he said activating a NAV marker at a building half way between their two locations. He scrolled across the UNSC's database for the area and was pleased to find a supply depot nearby. "There should be a supply depot in the area, near a Mike's Auto Body and Paint Shop, gather what supplies you can, and hold position until we get there, if possible. We're going to look for a downed Spartan in our area, and try to find transport. Over."

He activated another NAV marker and set it in Pvt. Fry's last known location, and then uploaded the coordinates and NAV markers to 636's HUD. He turned to Valkyrie and activated his external speakers "I just heard from six three six, she's good. I told her to retrieve Private Fry while we search for Patric, and then rendezvous with us at these coordinates" he sent the RV coordinates to Valkyrie's HUD. Taking a breath as he scanned the immediate area but, still didn't find any enemy contacts. That was a relief. He made his way over to the edge of the pierr and looked out across the ocean, trying to spot Patric but, it wasn't until he walked along the pierr about three kilometers and looked out to the part of the bridge closest to land, that he spotted Patric's unconscious form laying on the beach beside a support pillar. He radioed Valkyrie, telling her he'd found Patric and raced to his comrade. In only a few moments Gladiator had made his way down the winding stairs that led to the beach, leaping over a few rails to get to the stairs below and down to his friend faster. He kneeled in the sand beside Patric, reading over the suit's sensors that displayed Patric's bio-readings. "He's in a coma, we need to move. The Covenant will be here soon with reinforcements" Gladiator reported to Valkyrie as he gently picked up the white and gold armored Spartan and laid him across his right shoulder.

[Sushi]

Valkyrie remained close by, keeping her separation distance constant. It was oddly tranquil by the coast as they moved along, searching for the lost Spartan. She listened quietly to the conversation between Gladiator and Sierra 636, mentally creating strategies for the coming trek to the meet-up point. An ache at her temples reminded Valkyrie that the grenade might have given her a concussion. She knew it was a terrible idea to keep fighting with a head injury. But that was just part of being an S-II, wasn't it?

As she approached Gladiator and the unconscious Patric, she offered a hand. "I'll carry him. You're better with a rifle than I am." She effortlessly hefted her fellow Spartan and fell in behind Gladiator, holding her MA-5K lightly in one hand. "We'll need to find a vehicle soon. We're sniper bait right now."

[ashia starstreak]

The woman nodded her head acknowledging the Spartan's response. Taking a slow breath, Shana adjusted her grip on the giant's boot and pulled back stretching his leg out. When the leg moved with her slightly, the marine bent foward and using her elbow she pushed down on Hunter's shin as she steadied his foot with her other hand. Feeling she had pushed the bone down far enough, she moved back in position and brought the leg forward to allow the bone to be once again connected to each other. Shana whirled her attention to the soldier keeping watch, her dark brown lock of hair from one of her bangs flowing out of the way. Waving him closer she instructed, "You, hold this leg steady, I need to scan 'im once more to make sure it's alligned." she looked back to Hunter, the woman removed her boot from him and gave his good knee a light reassuring squeeze. "How you doin'? You okay? Almost done. Gotta check the position then once that bio-foam takes affect, you'll feel new for a few hours."

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter prepared himself when Shana grabbed hold of his broken leg and clenched his teeth as hard as he could, gripping onto the sides of the table as the pain became immense in his leg once Shana began to work on it, shifting it and resetting it. Sweat rolled down his face as the intense concentration on not yelling out increased. He didn't want any enemies to find them while they were vulnerable like this. Once Shana was done, he breathed out in short ragged breaths, his leg throbbing painfully.

"Thanks, you should create time travel and go back in time and show them how torture should have really been done, bloody hell"

He took several more breaths, trying to steady himself. Looking down at the sides of the table he found that he had crumpled them with his grip in his efforts.

[avt2]

(OOC: Hope you guys don't mind if I join! I don't have all that much experience with Halo but I've played a few times and read up on it a little. I haven't been approved but I was under the impression I could join up. Just let me know if that's okay!)



Proximity alert. Proximity alert. The helmet had been set to sound an alarm if a hostile got too close; no other noise could get in. Groggily, a hand disabled the alarm. It was nigh impossible to get some shut-eye in this damned city. Yawning, the Spartan rose, blinking away the sleep. The Spartan had previously been awake for 76 hours, and according to the time on the display, had slept for a good 5. Looking at the proximity sensor again, the Spartan saw multiple hostiles closing in. Whether they were aware of a UNSC presence in this location or were just lucky was uncertain. However, they wouldn't be allowed to leave here alive. Slowly, the Spartan got in position, up against the wall next to the doorway, waiting silently.

Three grunts walked in, followed by an elite. More were outside, standing guard. They hadn't noticed the Spartan's black armor in the darkness, unbroken black with only a single white spade on the back. Now was the time to strike.

With swift violence of action, the seasoned predator sprung, going first for the elite. It took all of three seconds to climb onto its back, forcing its head up and stabbing it through the throat. As its knees buckled, the grunts began to turn around. The Spartan threw the bloody knife at the first, catching it in the gas mask and distracting it for a moment while the Spartan kicked one grunt straight across the room and crushed the second into the ground, killing it instantly. The third grunt tried to scramble for the door, unable to think clearly enough to use its comms to alert the guards outside. With four Covenant hostiles neutralized, the Spartan picked up the missile knife and reached to for a holstered weapon while walking to the door.



Inside the room, an Elite energy blade ignited. The two recon Elites looked at each other, then looked inside. The Spartan's instincts went for the one on the left first. Screaming as he died, the Elite's opaque helmet betrayed none of the pain the dying creature felt. Ripping the sword out, the Spartan turned just as the second Elite drew its weapon. Batting the Elite's arm to the side, the Spartan kicked the Elite up against the wall and went in for the kill, the sword penetrating all the way through and into the wall.

The adrenaline rush began to fade. The Spartan took hold of the communicator synchronized directly to the Admiral, and spoke into it. "Black Actual, this is Petty Officer 3rd Class, SPARTAN-095: Lola, designation White One, awaiting next tasking order."

"White One, this is Black Actual. A lot has happened while you were getting your beauty sleep, soldier. We sent forces to infiltrate the Covenant cruiser and destroy it. They failed to do so - the cruiser warped out before they even hit the ground. Regroup with any other Spartan, ODST, or marine units in your vicinity. We need time to continue analyze your last intel drop. Any activity in your area? Over."

"Black Actual, White One. Yes sir, three Sangheili scouts and three Unggoy. I don't know how they discovered my position, sir. Possible coincidence, over."

"Roger that, White One. Stay near this area - there may be a target of opportunity here. I'll update you with any further information. Black Actual out."

095 had been crouched in the corner of the room she'd slept in as she spoke to the Admiral. What was so special about this place that Elites and Grunts would want to be here? She flicked open her UGPS, getting updated on any available information. Last known positions, et cetera. She couldn't decide if she wanted to meet up with Spartans or other soldiers. Spartans weren't exactly the most social, as a whole. In the end she would likely not have much choice. She would go where needed. She removed her Commando helmet, revealing her close-cropped blonde hair, fair features and gray eyes, and walked over to her supply pack and picked out a bottle of water. She washed her face and drank some, then stowed it. She looked at the helmet on the ground, its matte-black visor not reflecting any of the light streaming in through the holes in the ceiling. It had seemed like days since she'd taken it off - in fact, it had been days, and the helmet had made red impressions on her face from where the pads rested - they'd likely take hours to go away. But not with the helmet still on, which it would have to be. She walked over and picked it back up, sliding it over her attractive face and locking it in place.

095 stood up and went over to pick up her DMR. Reloading it with the smoothness and precision that only came from the confidence and experience gained through years and years of war, she trekked off, sticking to the shadows and getting from cover to cover as quickly as she could. She wanted to get in contact with any surviving UNSC troops in the area, but she wouldn't risk communication over general UNSC comms - they had a reputation of being leaky and easy for the Covenant to decode. This was an active war zone: caution was still the word of the day, and that meant radio silence until she could establish direct comm links.

[Gladiator0161]

Desmond "Sling" Rockwell
Loc: Mall Emergency Medical Room, New York City, New York.

Sling uncrossed his arms as Shana and Hunter prepared themselves for the rigors of the next few moments. Shana explaining what she was about to do, and Hunter nodding his consent, seeming to simply want to get the whole ordeal over with. He could empathize. As Shana worked to loosen the armor surrounding the Spartan's leg so that she could better work, Hunter asked if he should remove his armor. Shana shook her head, and told him they were already vulnerable, and that an unarmored Spartan would just make the situation worse if they had intruders. Desmond nodded his head in agreement "She's right, besides, I'm not exactly one hundred percent myself at the moment. Broken leg from that damned building falling on me" he said pointing to the injured leg and the Brute Gravity Hammer he was using as a crutch.

As Shana tried to work the leg into it's original position the ODST grimaced, he remembered that having been done to him by proper medical staff with numbing agents in his system. It still hurt like hell. He looked up and nodded as Shana asked him to stabilize Hunter's leg. "Sure thing doc" he hobbled over, leaning the alien weapon against a nearby counter before he put his full weight on Hunter's leg to keep it from moving unnecessarily. As Shana twisted, jerked and pushed the leg back into place, Sling was watching the metal beneath Hunter's clasping hand bend, and warp. When Shana was done, he whistled in awe of the Spartan's strength. It hadn't been the first time he'd seen a Spartan use it's great strength but, he was amazed every time.

"Thanks, you should create time travel and go back in time and show them how torture should have really been done, bloody hell" Hunter said through gritted teeth.

Sling had to laugh at that. He slapped the Spartan good-naturedly on the shoulder and looked to Shana "Ha! I'm beginning to like this guy."

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

Sierra 0161 "Gladiator"
Loc: NYC Pier just off of the Washington Bridge, NYC, NY

Valkyrie held out her hands "I'll carry him. You're better with a rifle than I am." She effortlessly hefted her fellow Spartan and fell in behind Gladiator, holding her MA-5K lightly in one hand. "We'll need to find a vehicle soon. We're sniper bait right now."

"Agreed" Gladiator said, his deep voice rumbling through the external speakers. He waved his arm forward, two fingers extended as he spotted a truck a little farther down the road "Let's check that truck." He fast walked over to the civilian vehicle and checked the door handle, it was locked. He took a step back and punched the window out, then unlocked the door, he half sat in the driver's seat as he tore out the under carriage of the steering wheel, exposing the vulnerable wiring. Spotting the wires that led to the ignition, he ripped them apart and began striking them together. A few seconds later the truck started up. He looked back at Valkyrie as she strode up to the truck, then caught a motion out of the corner of his eye. His DMR rifle immediately went up. A sudden roar from a nearby building caught his attention and he spun around to his left, just in time to see a Brute Chieftain in a two story building, fog up the glass in front of it and then shatter the glass as it jumped through, Gravity Hammer raised.

"Get clear!!!" Gladiator shouted as he pushed from the truck and rolled into a ready position. The ape-like alien flew through the air, reaching just short of the truck and smashed it's weapon through the cabin before jerking it up and out. It roared at him, spittle from it's mouth flying. Gladiator shot the thing in the face, the impact of the bullet bouncing harmlessly off it's shield but, knocking creature back a step. Gladiator ran forward and jumped up onto the ruined vehicle, and immediately sidestepped as the Brute's hammer came crashing down. He leapt from atop the remains of the truck and kicked the creature in it's gorilla like face as it struggled to get it's weapon free. It's grasp broken temporarily it stumbled backwards before backhanding him as he landed, knocking him through the window behind the blue and gold Spartan. Gladiator shook his head, shrugging off the blow and got back up just in time to see the Brute turn it's attention to Valkyrie. When Gladiator came out of the ruined window, the beast was already running for her and Patric. Gladiator ran to catch up, his legs pumping hard against the ground. He came up behind the charging Brute leader, jerking his head to the side as business end of the Gravity Hammer came dangerously close to hitting him as it ran. He punched the thing in the back of the head, making it stumble, then dropped to the ground but, not in time to dodge another backhanded swing of it's mighty arm.

Gladiator crashed against the already crumpled truck, caving in the trunk and half of the side of the unfortunate car. The impact sent him reeling. The enraged roar from the Brute helped to bring him back to his senses. Relying totally on instinct, he ducked, dodging a decapitating blow from the Chieftain's Gravity Hammer, the hammer's metal sparking as it grinded noisily against the metal of the truck. Gladiator's fist came up in a uppercut, slamming against the Brute's lower jaw, the blow propelled harder by the Spartan pushing with his legs, the blow raising the creature up on it's feet and into the air a few feet only to land with a loud crash on the concrete. Gladiator ran forward intent on finishing this fight but, he underestimated the Brute's speed, and ended up jumping to the side to dodge the creature's descending hammer blow. The ground cracked and caved in where the hammer struck, making Gladiator raise his black eyebrows in surprise within to confines of his helmet. The Brute charged him again, it's face screwed into a fiercesome snarl, roaring as it came, it's thick leathery feet thudding against the ground. Gladiator's stance widened a bit as he prepared a plasma grenade and primed it. He waited until the alien was in striking distance before jumping to the side and, throwing the grenade as the creature passed by. Rolling on the ground and coming up in a crouch, he felt, more than saw, the grenade detonate, taking down the alien's shield. Gladiator was on the move again, his armored feet thudding against the ground as his legs pumped hard to carry him to his target. He rushed upon the staggered Chieftain drawing his combat knife as he barreled into it and knocked it flat against the ground, then finishe,d it off as he plunged his blade into it's exposed neck, severing the artery.

The Spartan rested against the Brute's corpse for a moment, then slowly raised to his feet "now that was a workout" he said to Valkyrie as he tried to regain his breath. He turned around hearing the sounds of a Brute patrol's howls, then raised his DMR and prepared to re-engage the enemy. Something though caught his eye, and he quickly glanced at it. He hadn't noticed it when he'd been knocked through the window, but, the building he'd been knocked into was a two story parking garage, and there was a Warthog parked in it at the end of the driveway. He pointed to the all terrain vehicle "Go! Go! Go!" he shouted as he started towards it, while keeping the Brute patrol in his sight. Walking backwards to the 'hog seemed to take forever, as Gladiator fired upon the Brute patrol, killing two Brutes and sending the other two scrambling for cover, buying them precious seconds. He helped Valkyrie place Patric in the passenger seat and then rushed to man the gun in the back of the Warthog as he pointed to Valkyrie and said "drive".

[avt2]

Petty Officer 3rd Class Lola-095 was alert, ready for any hostile she encountered. She had seen a few Unggoy, or "Grunts", as they were called by the UNSC's own grunts, but not much else. Off in the far distance, she'd seen a green glow reflect off of one of the skyscraper's mirrored sides. Was it a Covenant with a fuel rod canon? Or something... larger?

Deciding she would let it go for now, the Petty Officer had continued toward the last known location of a friendly. Granted... that location had likely been updated quite a while ago. No telling if said friendly was alive or in the same place still.

The collapsed skyscraper she stood next to looked like a defeated serpent, its body partially collapsed in multiple places, its inhabitants likely dead. A destroyed hulk, still bathed in the dust of its own demise. As she rounded the corner of the wreckage, nothing caught her eye. No movement. Slowly, the tall woman continued on, her side to the destroyed building like a pup seeking the shelter of its mother. If that pup had a 7.62mm calibre semi-automatic rifle, could run 58 miles an hour, and was also 7 feet and 1 inch tall.

Suddenly, gunfire caught her eye, and the crack of a very familiar sound. A certain 7.62mm calibre semi-automatic rifle - the semi-automatic rifle of a designated marksman of the United Nations Space Command Navy - the rifle of a comrade, of a fellow human. And she ran, her powerful legs springing into action, her Mark V MJOLNIR armor accelerating her to speeds unthinkable to most humans. More and more gunfire was coming - she hoped she would get there in time.

Finally, it was over. Silence once more. Lola-095 slowed down, raising her M392 in a ready position. She was closer now. She could see the bodies of Covenant soldiers littering the streets. Then, she caught sight of an Unggoy running in terror. Smiling almost maniacally, she leveled her weapon and quickly fired off a shot, sending it into the side of his head and watching his body slump to the ground.

The CRACK of her firearm echoed in the street. She caught another Unggoy running, leveled her firearm, fired. That one screamed as it did. She wondered where the people who'd been shooting these Covenant were - why had they stopped, and why were the Unggoy running away if they were dead?

She decided to risk being a little more open in order to elicit a response. No use getting hit by friendly fire (though, Lola realized with some amusement, that would certainly make finding whoever was here much easier). Switching her helmet's mode, she let it stop filtering her voice, so that when she spoke, others around her could hear it.

"Anyone still alive here?" She shouted.

[ashia starstreak]

"Yee..uh, not gonna consider sending me away are ya sarg? I was only fooling." O'brian commented unsure of the situation now. As the group grown  silent in the last few minutes and Jacobs appearing zoned out in his own thoughts. "...Sarg?" the private persued once more a bit worried. He didn't want to  be in Michael's platoon..

"Hm?..Oh..You two scout ahead, last we saw Shana headed into  this garage. I never saw her leave it, maybe she's still close." Jacobs commanded the coward and other private waking up from his thoughts. His old commander's last comm echoing within his head.

Walking behind his squad, Jacobs took a look around as they re-entered the garage. Everything was happening so quickly the soldier couldn't believe the team had already been out here almost 24hrs. The city was looking like a ruin from some forgotten past with the buildings smashed and bodies scattered about. New York was a loud, bustling place..just didn't feel right with all the silence.

Stopping beside the wraith within the mall's parking, Jacobs looked around and tried his comms, "Shana, this is Jacobs, do you copy? Over." but when he was met with only silence in return, he frowned and looked to his squad instead. "Let's keep looking, Shana always leaves behind something to follow."

Nodding, the squad continued their search the female private taking the lead as O'brian distracted the other teammate with a ridiculous story.

"..The name's Smith..stop calling me Smitty..where you from anyways?" the private asked O'brian but before the question could be answered the coward hollared back to them. "Hey! I found a door..There's covenent on the other side..dead."  she said peering in through the window.

Picking up his pace, Jacobs headed toward her way. "Good, maybe they went that way.."

She nodded and pulled onto the door. When it did not open freely, she hesitated a moment. "It's stuck."

Shana always leaves behind something to follow.  Jacobs thoughts rang inside his head. Holding a hand up toward the private, he yelled, "Wai-" the marine's voice was drowned out by the deafening noise of a frag grenade. Stopping abruptly, he instinctively clasped his hands at his ears.

"Whoa! What the..What the hell!?" O'brian shrieked madly looking around himself as if he was the only one that had witnessed the woman at the door burst into pieces. "Oh my god..what hell..did you see that!? Oh my god..what the hell.."

Shaking his head, Jacobs dropped his rifle to the cold cement. "Damn it.."

*****

From within the dark confines of the hidden med bay, Shana heard the faint sound of a grenade going off. Immediately she recognized it to be her trap. Snapping into action, she removed herself from the scanner and injected the bio-foam into Hunter's leg. "Did you hear that? We're about to have company.." she said. The foam filled up around the Spartan's broken bone and held it in place. Pulling the injection tube out of the giant she scurried to his side to pull out the glass vial from his chest. In her hurry, she neglected how the Spartan might be feeling in her quick manuvers. "Find me a gun..I gotta make this quick.." she commanded Sling as she stuck the bio-foam into the small hole in his chest. Her mind raced with the possible outcomes of the intruder just a few floors above them.

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter heard the sound of the grenade going off several floors up from where he and the team were positioned, Covenant reinforcements maybe? Possibly but he wondered how they might have gotten past the unit positioned on the other side of the street from the garage they had been camped in to begin with and then he remembered that some elite classes had active camo on their gear so they could have managed to sneak through

"Damn it and me without a weapon, what sort of Spartan am I turning out too be"

When the bio foam fell into place and solidified he could feel his leg tighten as it was held into place, the same on his chest, he could certainly breath a lot easier than before and the pain receded a significant amount for him to concentrate.

"Damn that foam works wonders, I wonder what people did before it was invented"

He sat up carefully in case he needed to lay back down but he didn't and before he knew it, he was standing, with only mild pain in his broken leg, for the time being, he was fit for a fight so long as he didn't overdo it

"Hand me a gun someone, I'll go and check it out, Shana, you check out Slings wound quickly, if I aren't back in a couple of minutes, then make for an exit and get yourself somewhere secure"

Without waiting for another word, he grabbed Slings gun off him, checked the ammo, took a few reassuring breaths and then set off back towards the elevator shaft. Grabbing hold of some of the dangling cables, he quickly lifted himself back up to the floor they had previously been on. The smell of smoke and charred flesh hung in the air, that trap had definitely caught something. He quickly ducked behind the nearest piece of rubble he could fit himself behind and he trained his rifle on the doorway that he and Shana had previously been through. Wisps of smoke still hung in the air and there was a lot of blood around the frame. Hunter couldn't tell whether it was human blood or not.

[Gladiator0161]

Sling heard the dull thump of a grenade going off several floors up, and then remembered the drone he'd sent up the shaft to keep their entrance secured. Shana jabbed in some bio-foam to Hunter's chest and leg, and then ordered for someone to hand her a gun, a few minutes later Hunter was demanding the same thing, already trying to move off the gurney and stand. He shook his head. Cooler heads needed to prevail. He brought up the drones feed on his HUD and replayed the last images from the elevator shaft. The ODST looked to his bottom right on the drone's radar and saw yellow IDF tags. Friendlies!

"Guys! Calm down! You two forget that I sent a drone up there to keep watch?" Sling returned his visor mode to combat just in time to see Hunter swipe his shotgun from his hands. "Hey!" he shouted in surprise as he half lunged for, and was half pulled by, his apprehended weapon and missed. The ODST crumpled to the floor in a heap as Hunter grabbed hold of the severed elevator cables and started climbing up. Gritting his teeth through the searing pain in his broken leg he switched to the Spartan's frequency "Hunter there are friendlies up there! Repeat there are UNSC personell up there! Do NOT fire!" He slammed the floor with his fist in frustration and after getting his good knee under him, fumbled for the top of the counter to pull himself up. He wasn't sure if his message had gotten through intact but, he hoped like hell that it had.

Sling switched back to his Drone's camera link and then replayed the last recorded images and groaned as he saw a Marine's gloved fingers pry on the broken door and trigger the trap Shana had set. The grenade went off, filling the drones camera with dust, shrapnel, and bits of vaporized blood. "Shit!" Sling swore slamming his fist into the unrelenting wall. He grimaced in pain and shook his hand, feeling pins and needles crawl through his arm as he turned slowly and looked at Shana. His visor depolarized allowing her to see his face, and more importantly his eyes. He took a deep breath, unsure of how Shana would react to the grim news in her state of determined awareness "Shana, I hate to tell you this but, your trap..." he paused a moment before continuing, wanting her to grasp the severity of the situation "it just killed a Marine."

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter heard a crackle over his make shift comm unit and he listened as Slings voice came over it, broken up and jumpy but he got the gist of it

"Hunter........ friendlies up there! Repeat......... UNSC personell......... NOT fire!"

He lowered the gun and checked the immediate area from his location to make sure there weren't any Covenant in the expansive room. When he was sure there were none that he could see, he came out from his hiding spot and walked carefully over to the door, checking to make sure there weren't any more nasty surprises in wait for intruders. Once he knew the way was clear, he opened the door

"You knocked?"

[The Golden Touch]

Name: Adelaine 'Addie' aka Shadow
Unit Type: Spartan  (Sierra six three six)
Location: New York
Tagged: Open

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto....

Locking onto the coordinates she was given for Private Fry, she set a closing distance and considered her next action. She peeked out from behind her cover, watching the few stray grunts run off in a fit of 'save me' terror with their stubby arms waving back and forth above their helmet covered heads. Addie took aim, beading on one of the little bugger when it died with a shriek and toppled to the ground. She blinked behind the blank face plate, recognizing the crack of a UNSC issued weapon. Pivoting, she scoped the last runner and watched it too slump to the ground as its life was extinguished.

Hunkering down, she crept through the rubble- stepping over a bent street sign that read Broadway and Worth. The irony caught her in a silent laugh. This is a show alright- a damn mess. Whoever it was had not hailed her on her general UNSC Comms, but they should not be too hard to find. She had a direction at the very least. The heavy boots of her Spartan III armor carried her a few feet more in her silence advancement when she heard a voice call out.

"Anyone still alive here?"

Another Spartan? The city was just crawling with them this mission. Making a quick sweep of the street, Adelaine slide into her cover and keyed her intercom to respond. "Still alive. Thanks for the clean up, Spartan. Find anyone else?"

[Sushi]

Someone had asked Valkyrie to drive.

You never asked her to drive. Gladiator found out why as she buckled in and immediately threw the all-terrain vehicle into gear with a roar, tires screaming as they spun for grip on the concrete. She threw the warthog into a gut-wrenching fishtail and pressed heavily on the gas, tearing out of the parking structure and toward their objective that she had memorized. It was as if the growing noise of the engine kept her headache at bay, even as bolts of plasma splashed across the windshield. Then, through the distorted view she saw the ugly, gorilla-like features of a brute as it leapt in front of the vehicle, wildly pointing a nasty-looking weapon in her direction. Even with the chance of being decapitated at a moment's notice, she registered it was a Type-25 grenade launcher. Used by the big, stupid brutes to shower UNSC personnel with grenades, and seriously cripple vehicles.

She saw the brute tense up and knew it was about to fire. The spartan jerked the wheel to one side hard, nearly throwing it off the road as a grenade threw a huge column of dirt into the air. As the brute recovered and tracked the vehicle, Valkyrie reversed her steering and threw the 'hog into a skid that plowed right through the brute. When they hit, all Valkyrie felt was a bump. The resulting spray of gore coated her armor purple. Meanwhile the chain gun bolted to the back of the 'hog belched incessantly, though the spartan couldn't tear her eyes away from the road to see what Gladiator was firing at.

Her wariness paid off shortly thereafter as a pair of Ghosts materialized from the ruins, plasma bolts exploding across the side of the 'hog. One swerved in close to ram, its engines glowing as the driver accelerated. Valkyrie could see the sangheili driver snarling at her, he was so close.

She waited for just a moment longer and clamped down on the brakes. The Warthog jolted as it suddenly decelerated, and the elite driver overshot. Valkyrie immediately let up on the brakes and slammed on the gas, barreling right into the back of the purple vehicle with a crunch. It went spinning, plowing into a road barrier before flipping into the air. As Gladiator engaged the other Ghost, Valkyrie drove right up to the other disabled vehicle and produced her MA5K.

The elite driver howled as a shower of bullets weakened its shield. It shrunk behind the wreckage of the ghost as the spartan sprayed it liberally with bullets. When the sangheili peered back out, the warthog was peeling away again. An armed frag grenade sat next to the crippled Ghost.

There was an inarticulate roar of anger before the thunder of a grenade blast cut it off, shortly followed by the slam of a detonating fusion reactor.

[avt2]

"Still alive. Thanks for the clean up, Spartan. Find anyone else?" 095 went in the direction of the voice, figuring it had come from the nearby cover. "Friendly approaching" she warned, so that instinct did not make the soldier shoot her. What she saw was a fellow Spartan, wearing black armor similar to her own, except that this one had a red visor. A second look determined the Spartan was female. She slid into cover with her.

095 now took the appreciation as a formality, confident that the Spartan hadn't actually needed any aid. "Petty Officer 3rd Class, Spartan-095. No other friendlies nearby. Noticed a green glow reflected off a building at our 3, a click or so out." The fact that this was a Type-33, or possibly a pair of Mgalekgolo, needn't have been said. Lola-095 kept things brief with Spartans, and even briefer with general infantry. "My orders were to rendezvous with any friendlies nearby - if your mission isn't classified, I can assist for now."

She didn't know what this Spartan was doing here, nor what generation she was. She wondered if her help would be accepted or rejected. If rejected, she would have to ask to be pointed towards any other friendlies that might require assistance. Regardless of this Spartan's decision, though, 095 would also have to ask for any comms frequencies that friendlies using to communicate in this area.