HALO: A shot in the dark

[Gladiator0161]

Gladiator peeked out from his cubicle and spotted the dead Elite. The Jackals spotted him and fired, forcing him to duck back into his cubicle. He heard the spit fire of an automatic weapon followed shortly by the barks and squeaks of Grunts running in panic. Gladiator rolled out of the cublicle firing his Battle Rifle, the Jackals were smart though and hadn't let down their guard their shield arms at the ready and deflecting his gun fire, the rounds themselves either dropping to the ground or burying themselves in the surrounding area. Suddenly the sound of a .50 caliber round came to his ears. Gladiator looked up to see the Jackals heads explode and the bodies drop over at the same time.

He looked back behind him, the area was clear for the moment "Hunter, we all clear?" Just then the whole floor shook and a hot white blue plasma ball detonated against the side of the building, sending glass and shrapnel flying everywhere. Something flew by his head by mere millimeters and smashed somewhere in the distance. He faintly realized that it had been a window. Suddenly Elites with Jetpacks burst through the whole in the wall, pointed and fired. Gladiator was still lying prone on the ground, right in the middle of the hallway. The Elites looked once, prodded him with their feet and then stepped over him. Suddenly the ODST rushed the closest Elite, roaring at it and smacking it across the helmet to temporarily stun it, before putting the shotgun to it's chest and pulling the trigger. The Elite stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. Temporarily the stunned in surprise, the others looked at their dead comrade and back to the ODST sergeant. The ODST flipped them off, pulled a plasma grenade from his belt and tossed it into the group of Elites, who had just raised their weapons, and dived for cover.

The grenade latched onto one of the Elites and detonated, shredding it to peices, killing two more, and draining the shields on the others. Gladiator felt the fiery explosion on his back and gritted his teeth through the pain. After silence descended on his immediate area, he rolled around to see the remaining Elites getting up, recovering. Their shields had not yet recovered though, so he gathered his Battle Rifle and shot two in the head, dropping them. The third though dove for cover as it fired wildly at him. Gladiator rolled into the cover of a nearby cubicle and hit his com "nevermind."

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter looked around from his cover just in time to see the shower of glass and then a blaze of action as the ODST that had been with the group took out almost the entire group of elites that had just blasted their way into the area. Hunter himself didn't even get the chance to squeeze off a round. He opened his comlink to Gladiator

"I think that when we pull through this, that ODST should get a promotion, what do you say? Anyone mad enough to charge a group like that and survive is insane enough to be one of us"

He then shut down his com and looked out and around to check to see if there were anymore threats in the vicinity, seeing none, he opened his com

"All clear, let's get moving before we get pinned"

With that he stood up and shook glass and debris off of his suit, checked his weapon and then proceeded towards Gladiator.

[Gladiator0161]

Gladiator looked up and back, seeing Hunter come up to his position. Gladiator pointed to the edge of the farthest cubicle, held up one finger and gave the go signal before moving out of his cover. He moved to the edge, heard the remaining Elites breathing and looked back to Hunter. He activated his com "I agree, he'd make a good Spartan. There's one left, you want him?" A moment later Sling moved into a position where he could cover the two of them and nodded, he was ready.

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter nodded silently and readied his rifle, then he had a better idea, unstrapping one of the grenades from his belt, he activated it and rolled it to the unsuspecting Elites feet, there was a noise of surprise as the Elite saw the grenade just in time for it to blow up in his face, taking him with it, the grenade tore through the enemy shield and mashed it's flesh and bones to pieces, splattering them all over the place.

"Well that was easy, let's get going, I'll take point"

With that Hunter and the rest of the group kept cautiously moving through the building, checking every corner and room for enemy reinforcements, it was slow work and would take them a small amount of time to get out of the building. Just as they wound their way down to the second floor, Hunter stuck his head around a corner to scope it out and pulled back quickly.

"We got Elites, four of them, six jackals and...."

He looked again briefly

"....nine grunts, that is some force to leave around here"

[Gladiator0161]

Gladiator crouched down, the street was only two floors down now, he nodded as Hunter reported the sizable force blocking their path "Copy that Lance?"
A second later "Rodger that. I'm in the stairwell behind them one floor above, on the building across from you, a big whole has been torn in the wall, probably from that Wraith Tank barrage a couple minutes ago. I couldn't ask for a more perfect spot. Awaiting instructions."

"Copy that" Gladiator gestured to Sling, silently instructing him with hand signals to flank the enemy from the left side. Then he turned to Hunter, and gestured for him to take the opposite side and gestured to himself, and drove his hand forward, he was going to come in from the front "Lance, provide sniper support fire, we're gonna surround and take the enemy. On my mark."

Gladiator waited for Sling and Hunter to get into positions and wink their LED signals green, the standard "ready" signal. Once that was done Gladiator moved forward and peeked around the corner "mark." Suddenly Gladiator sprang up, firing his Battle Rifle at the grunts and Jackals, as three sniper shots rang out and three Elites went down. Gladiator got three Grunts and one Jackal as he rushed up the middle of the room, cubicles on either side of him passing by. He got within throwing distance and primed a plasma grenade "Hunter, Sling throw grenades...now!" he shouted over the comms as he let his grenade fly and ducked into a cubicle for cover.

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter shouldered his rifle and pulled two grenades off of his belt, knocked the pins out of them and then threw them with one mighty throw, he watched from his cover as they flew towards the enemy and exploded, taking several of the grunts and a jackal with them, the rest of the force ducking as more grenades showered down on them from Sling. Hunter knocked his comms open

"Everybody else, attack now before they have the chance to recover"

With that he threw more grenades and then took up his rifle and began firing, offering covering fire for the rest of the team.

[Gladiator0161]

Grenades rained down on the group of Covenant and exploded with thunderous results, sending alien bodies flying into the air. The grunts closest to the blast were shredded instantly, and that was before their methane filled tanks exploded adding to the fiery inferno. Gladiator paused for a second letting the blaze die down a little before moving forward with Sling and finishing off the survivors with pinpoint shots to their heads, Hunter meanwhile providing them cover fire so the enemy didn't recover from the sudden and devastating attack. In seconds everything alien that twitched was dead and they resumed their trek to the final floor. Gladiator looked up as a LED signal blinked once in red, he ducked and ran over to the nearest wall, flattening against it. His HUD's radar then picked up one red dot, an enemy making his way to their position. Suddenly a sniper bolt rang out and there was a heavy thump followed almost simultaneously with a gargling noise, the red dot disappeared, it's life terminated. Gladiator peeked out and saw the remains of a Brute in gold armor, a .50 caliber bullet hole placed cleanly in it's forehead. Gladiator clicked on his com "nice job Lance, come to our position as quickly as you can. Over."

A few moments later, a Spartan in purple armor peeked out of the entrance to the building across the street and made his way over "Hey guys, miss me?" Gladiator gave him the Spartan's smile gesture and gestured for him to join them "Alright, what's the situation Lance? What's out there waiting for us?"

Lance played at wiping his brow and placed his hands on his knees as he crouched down beside Hunter and Sling "Oh..they got every damn thing out there waiting for us. Wraith tanks, a half dozen Elites, a ton of Grunts and Jackals, probably about twenty Brutes or so, and Banshee fighters. The Wraith tanks are closest to us, along with the Elites and their Grunts and Jackals. There's about two Brutes per Elite, which make twelve Brutes, and the Banshee's are on a continual patrol that seems to be in a radius of 20 miles. They just got done flying over, so it'll be awhile before they make their way back here. Siren and Raven are back in the building keeping a lookout and maintaining radio silence for the time being. That's the good news."

A second later NAV markers outlined in red placed themselves on each team members HUD, laying out the location of the Wraith tanks "that's where the Wraith tanks are for now, they got three Elites guarding them, the other Elites are on patrol with everything else and are headed in this direction."

"I guess they've figured out that we're a threat eh guys?" Gladiator said with a hint of amusement "alright, me and Hunter will take care of the tanks. Patric back us up. Lance will provide us with cover fire along with Siren, Raven and Sling will back you up in case anything gets in. If anyone has a better plan, now's the time to pitch in."

[Hunter Phoenix]

"How much cover is there out there?"

Hunter looked over at Lance, who shook his head simply. So none at all then, not the best of news but they could handle it.

"Ok then, the plan proceeds, never stop, hit hard and fast, end this and get those jammers down, if we have to take all of the tanks out then fine, but I think that we could take out the patrols and the guards, leaving at least one tank alive, it would make our job a whole lot easier if we had a vehicle to take those jammer positions out"

Hunter checked his rifle and then checked the ammo within the bag he still had with him, it had plenty of supplies in it, he figured that since there was so much space between the team and the guards, long range weapons would be a safer bet so he swapped his pistol for a DMR rifle and then decided that if he should be fortunate enough to get close to the enemy, he placed an energy sword on his belt along with a couple more grenades to replace the ones he had just used up.

"There aren't any jackal snipers near by are there? It would be a disaster if we got taken out by an alien we can't see"

[Gladiator0161]

Unstoppable

"My plan exactly Hunter" Gladiator said patting his friend on the shoudler, giving him a bit of friendly reinforcement. The situation would have been nearly impossible for anyone else but, they were Spartans, they did the "impossible" everyday "don't worry, I've got your back."

"There aren't any jackal snipers near by are there? It would be a disaster if we got taken out by an alien we can't see" Hunter said a moment later. Gladiator grinned thinking his friend was teasing their snipers. "Don't you worry about them Hunter. Me and Siren will take care of them, don't you worry" Lance said pointing to himself and then gesturing over his shoulder to the female sniper's position. "You idiot, thanks for pointing out my position, now I've got to move" Siren's retort came over the comms a second later. Gladiator chuckled, this was gonna be fun.

"This won't be so bad, I remember a time when it was just me against a hoard of Covenant and two Wraith tanks on Reach before it was glassed. We've got a team of Spartans and a crazy ODST on our side this time. The Covenant won't know what hit them" the blue and gold Spartan said with confidence. Gladiator switched out his sniper rifle for a shotgun, and got some extra clips, stuffing them into his belt, then got a couple more plasma grenades before giving the ready signal. He saw Lance and the ODST jog over to the opposite building, setting up a cross fire between them and Siren, who had moved to a completely different building. Gladiator could hear the sound of the Covenant infantry nearby, the grunting, squawking and howling of the aliens. He took cover behind the corner of the building they were next to. A second later, the 1st Wraith tank lumbered into view, followed by several Elites, Brutes and the smaller aliens.

"Alright everyone, here they come. Get ready." Gladiator said over the comm. What he wouldn't give for a single claymore right now he thought. Suddenly a rumbling came from behind them and Gladiator turned to see the 2nd Wraith tank coming in from behind them. It had switched positions on them! He mentally kicked Siren for switching positions instead of keeping a look out for that kind of movement. He grabbed Hunter and pushed him forward gesturing for the tank "Lance! Cover Hunter! Don't worry about me! The second tank switched positions on us! Coming from behind!"

Gladiator himself ran for the other tank which was already in the process of turning towards him. The sight of the Elites and Brutes at the rear of the tank would've made any man atleast pause in doubt and fear but, Gladiator was a Spartan, trained for these types of scenario's. He'd survived Reach in it's darkest hour, he was determined to not die here. The Elites, Jackals, Grunts and Brutes all saw him running toward them. Grins and smiles on their faces of the easy kill in front of them. The seeming suicidal move on his part turned to be to his advantage however, as a sniper bolt went through the heads of a couple Brutes near the rear of the group. The aliens turned in shocked unison as two of their own dropped over dead, giving Gladiator the time he needed to raise his Battle Rifle and shoot the gunner of the auto turret on top of the Wraith tank, a Grunt. The little alien sagged in it's seat, a bullet hole in it's face. The Wraith tank blasted it's white blue plasma ball at him but, by then it was too late, he was too close. The plasma ball seared over his head, the heat from it passing over him burning his back and peppering it with concrete shards as it exploded on the street behind him. He jumped atop the big bluish purple anti-vehicle and ripped open the protective hatch for the driver. The Elite barked in surprise and glared up at him. Gladiator unclipped a plasma grenade from his belt and slammed it into the small compartment. The Elite howled in rage as he jumped away, rolling as his feet hit the ground and getting up again in one smooth motion. The grenade detonated a second later, the concussion wave flattened the aliens around the tank itself and threw Gladiator a good five feet or more.

Gladiator shook his head and looked up just in time to see Hunter's Wraith tank fire. Gladiator rolled as fast as he could to the right, into the open area of the street, the plasma exploded where he had been a few seconds ago. He could still feel the heat of the blast as he heard small and large pieces of street debris ricochet off of his armor, he gritted his teeth against the pain. "First tank down!" he reported over the comms a second later. Suddenly a Brute was towering over him, a snarl on it's lips as it moved it's Spiker weapon over to his head, preparing to finish him off. Gladiator kicked out, and connected with one of the Brutes legs, sending it to one knee. Another Brute came at him but, went stumbling away howling in pain as Gladiator's foot caught it in the groin. Gladiator kicked out again, catching the 1st Brute in his other leg, hot 12 inch spikes spraying above and around him as the Brute's finger squeezed the trigger. The 1st Brute toppled over next to him, Gladiator pulled another plasma grenade out and slapped it onto the hairy aliens chest and rolled away. The Brute detonated a second later, spraying purple blood and body parts every which way. Gladiator rolled onto his back just as the 2nd Brute recovered from his blow and walked over. The Spartan pulled his shotgun from his back and fired, the full armor piercing buck shot clip hitting it square in the chest and blowing it backwards.

The Spartan got up and looked out to a small pond of Covenant, all roaring in rage at him. He was vaguely aware of the sniper's reporting movement in their positions, and gunfire being transmitted from over the comms. Gladiator raised his shotgun at the Covenant before him as they slowly made their way toward him "let's do this."

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter headed off towards the second Wraith, not pausing to see where its shot had landed or whether his team was in danger, he was focused entirely on the group ahead. He kicked in the built in sprint of his suit, making him run quicker than before, closing the gap between him and the covenant forces. He pulled the energy sword off of his belt and jumped straight into the fray, spearing a brute on his weapon before pushing off and slashing the throats of a couple more aliens. He left the sword impaling a grunt to the wall nearest to him as he pulled his rifle around and into his hands as he ran up the wraith, taking out the gunner with a well placed shot to the head. He opened the pilot hatch and planted some more shots into the pilot of the wraith before bringing the corpse out of the vehicle and throwing it to one side.

"Tank two down, I'm going in"

Hunter then jumped into the wraith and closed the hatch, taking the controls and smiling inside of his helmet as he powered forward, moving the massive tank in search of target number three.

"Someone wanna get in the gunner position and help me out here?"

With that he spotted an unattended group of covenant and decided to let off some steam by plasting them with a white hot shot of plasma from the main weapon of the tank. Opening his comms, Hunter felt great as he said

"Damn I gotta get me one of these.....oh wait, I just did"

He then pushed onwards towards Gladiator.

"Hey Glad, wanna ride shotgun or are you ok?"

[Gladiator0161]

"Damn I gotta get me one of these.....oh wait, I just did! Hey Glad, wanna ride shotgun or are you ok?"

Gladiator heard Hunter say over the comms as he successfully took over an enemy tank "Oh..yeah..I'm great!" Gladiator said back over the comms as he played tug of war with a Brute, who was snarling and salivating all over his visor. The Brute held a Bruteshot, blade side first, trying to cut the Spartan's head off but, Gladiator had grabbed the butt of the rifle and barrel and forced it against the Brute's massive chest, effectively pinning the weapon so that he couldn't move. The only problem now was that he couldn't move either without sacrificing the pin. Suddenly the Brute leaned forward and roared with all it's might into his face, spittle flying onto his visor and blurring his vison. His voice straining with the effort of keeping the Brute pinned to the wall as he finished his sentence "I'm...gahrrr... just tangoing with a Brute."

Finally the Brute broke free, shoving him backwards. Gladiator tried to stay upright but failed and toppled over backwards. The Brute was on him in no time, raising the blade end of the weapon to deliver the coup de grace. Gladiator rolled to the side and kicked out as the weapon impacted the ground behind him. He drew out his combat knife and plunged it into the beasts throat as he, he assumed it was a he anyway, dropped to one knee. He tore the knife through the thing's coratid artery and twisted it free. The Brute stumbled backwards clutching at it's throat and gurgling as blood continued to pour out of the gaping hole. Finally it collapsed and died. Gladiator had no time to celebrate escaping death however, as there were still plenty of Covenant on the streets. He heard the tell tale whine of a Banshee making a dive bombing run, and got up just in time to be blasted backwards through a window and into the building behind him as a Banshee's plasma missile exploded not five feet away. He heard sniper round after sniper round being fired from Lance and Siren's positions. He heard Siren call out that she and Raven were getting over run when a plasma ball from a Wraith somewhere nearby pasted her position, burying her in rubble and debris. Her LED went dark, as did Raven's. That didn't mean that they were dead though, it just meant that she might've been buried far down enough to where her and Raven's LED signal couldn't transmit.

He shook his head, ignoring the burning and the pain, and got to his feet "Hunter, come pick me up. I'm tired of being shot at." Just then a pair of Elites came into the room he'd been blasted into, brushing things out of their way. They both smirked and sniffed as they raised their weapons, one dressed in blue armor and armed with a Plasma Rifle, the other in silver armor and armed with a Plasma Sword. The one with the sword moved in first, swinging in a over-head diagonal sweep that was meant to cut the Spartan from his right shoulder to his left hip. Gladiator hopped backwards, effectively dodging the lethal white energy of the blade. He glanced backwards and noticed Hunter on his way up the street. The Elite tried again, this time with a simple thrust which Gladiator side stepped before twisting his arm and wrenching the sword out his hand. The Elite snarled in the Spartan's grip and Gladiator spun them both around, making the Elite's gun wielding partner jump back so that he didn't get bowled over by the swordsman. Now placed in front of the blown out window, Gladiator jumped up and kicked the Elite in the chest, sending him flying in front of Hunter's tank, which a few seconds later ran the unfortunate alien over.

Gladiator turned to face the remaining Elite, which gaped in surprise at the easy dispatch of it's commanding officer. Gladiator activated the Energy Sword and moved forward. A second later the Elite's dying screams could be heard from the street. A second later Gladiator climbed out of the broken window and landed on the side walk, clipping the sword to his thigh as he came up.

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter was satisfied as he ran over an elite, feelings its body hit the metallic shell of his new toy. He looked through at the screen that showed the area around him and noted that Gladiator was there now, looking a little worse for wear.

"Here you go buddy, one tank ready to go, do you want to drive? I know you were always the better pilot of vehicles and I could do with the target practice to be honest"

Hunter opened the hatch and held out a hand to his friend and helped him up to the tank, sniper fire was pinging away happily in the distance as the sniper team were doing their job to keep the opposition busy. Once Gladiator was on the tank Hunter climbed into the gunner position and activated the plasma gun in front of him, grabbing the controls and shooting a few rounds for practice.

"All set when you are"

All of a sudden there was a shot in the distance, it shook a building which then collapsed in on itself, the flying rubble white hot with plasma heat. The sniper sounds no longer sounded in the air.

"Shit, that was Lance and Siren...."

Hunter opened his comms to the team, hoping they were ok.

".....Lance, Siren, come in, do you copy? Tell us your position"

Static met him in reply. Hunters mood turned murderous.

"I'm gonna kill every last damn covenant we come across, screw the tank, I'm taking them down right now"

With that he jumped out of the tank, leaving Gladiator behind on the vehicle, his rifle in one hand and an energy sword in another, ready to take down anything and everything that came his way. He didn't care about being a Spartan right now, only muder was on his mind.

[Vengurd]

 The flow of combat moved over Patric as air through the sails of an old pre-space yacht- cybernetic arm moving with the precision and speed that only a Spartan with machinery built in could attain, even the other Spartans couldn't quite match the sword play, if only because of the boost given him by the replacement of damaged limbs. The other arm, flesh and blood, armored and well conditioned to battle grasped an Assault rifle easily, his finger squeezing off small, short bursts into flesh bodies, grunts squealing in pain, Jackals flopping down, Elites, though brave and fierce, backed off, keeping their distance from Patric's sword arm, squeezing busts of plasma at the walking tank from their rifles. Brutes, less cautious, stormed in, howling in pain and frustration when flesh met the swift moving blade. Their chieftain leading the flanking manuveur had been among the first to die, a lucky shot from Patric's rifle slamming through his right eye socket to bounce around in that thick skull.

Reaching the end of the alley, arm slowing, Patric let up on his rifle for a moment to scan the area. The Elites were either dead or backed far enough off to pose no threat for the current moment, the Brute's suicidal charge left none to fall back with. Checking the ammo count Patric grimly smiled inside his helmet, the count was at three. Ejecting the magazine and placing the sword at his hip, Patric reloaded quickly, slapping the fresh mag home. Stepping out of the alleyway, his rifle at the ready, his sword activating Patric ran down the street he had stepped onto, parallel to the one Hunter and Gladiator were on. The comms were painting a pretty picture in his mind, the snipers position was lost, the two either dead or MIA, the other Spartans now in possession of a Wraith, Hunter apparently obvious at the lost of a couple comrades.

Ahead of him more covenant were milling about, a wraith exactly where the nav points indicated. Rushing forward Patric fell back into the rhythm of battle, squeezing quick short bursts from the rifle, moving from car to lampost to news stand to car. As soon as his was in reach his synthetic arm burst into movement, the red armored Elite giving a horse, strangled cry of shock as Patric's sword swept threw him in the time it took him to raise his own sword arm. Letting the sword fly at the end of the arc, Patric snatched the Elite's fresh blade from the air, his previous blade sticking into the neck of a Brute who had been raining brute shot 'nades at him the entire run over.

Shocked, confused, more than terrified of the sudden whirl of death and chaos within their own ranks, the Covenant order of battle, in this small cross section, quickly disintegrated, though the vast majority of the covenant turned to bear arms on the lone Spartan, it proved entirely too difficult to hit the constantly moving, killing target as it used not only what was in the street for cover, but their own comrades.  Golden Armored Elites bellowed their rage as the Spartan, demanding their troops kill him, Jackals armed with Beam Rifles squawked their frustration as their repeated attempts to hit the target failed, Grunts panicked and shot wildly, hitting their own comrades as much as peppering the area around the Spartan with burning Plasma.

The Wraith turned where it had sat in what appeared to be a trap for the others to bear it's mighty weapon on him. Leaping into the air with deft purpose Patric landed on the front of the Wraith, tipping it's nose into the ground for brief seconds, the Brute in the gunner seat giving a shocked grunt before the blade of the Spartan's sword tore into him, leaving little else but a puddle of steaming blood and cauterized chunks of meat flesh. Rising from his crouch Patric stepped forward on the wraith and jammed his rifle into the hatch and squeezed the trigger, sending bullets into the pilot's body whom gave a shocked yelp which turned into a howl of rage, then into a scream of intense agony and then into the gurgle of death throws.

Turning Patric took a leaping step off the Wraith, turned off his sword and threw his rifle, now damaged by it's own bullets, a head of him with a great grunt of strength. The Golden Elite, instinctively knowing the target and reacting, backed up, checking the movement half way and moved his foot to the side, trying to step to the side. Too late, the barrel of the rifle slammed into his mouth, blood and burnt air forcing it's way deep into him as the momentum of the weapon snacked the Elite's head back, snapping his neck and breaking his jaws. Already Patric had out his pistol, though it was unneeded for the present moment. The covenant around him were all dead, the few who had survived either run off or dieing.

Satisfied with his work Patric sat on the now disabled Wraith, stretched his arms and surveyed the area. His shields were nearly depleted. His last actions having made him extremely open to the enemy fire. Bodies lay every which way he looked, a myriad of colors splashed wherever there was an open space, a still struggling Elite gurgled so incoherently at him the translation software of his suit couldn't even translate it.

"This is Spartan 3-3-4, I've cleared nav point Charlie of all hostiles. I say again, Charlie location secure."

[Gladiator0161]

Gladiator wanted to yell and scream and give in to his rage at the death of his fellow Spartans but, the leader, the boy scout in him told him to get the rest of them out of there. That they would be overwhelmed soon. His instincts were right, just as he was about to get out of the tank he spotted two Banshee Covenant fighters come around a building and dive. They had obviously spotted Hunter running at their companions in a wild rage, sword in one hand, rifle in the other "Hunter!! Banshees!!! Take Cover!!" Gladiator cried as he ducked back down inside the tank and trained it's heavy cannon on the flyers.

Suddenly his com came to life "This is Spartan 3-3-4, I've cleared nav point Charlie of all hostiles. I say again, Charlie location secure."
Patric! He'd lost track of him after their initial encounter. "Patric! This is Sierra 0-1-6-1. Good to hear your voice again. Thanks for the assist, we could use some help over on our side, we got Banshees coming in for a strafing run and we just lost our two snipers and their lookouts. Plus, we still got alot of Covenant over here" Gladiator said "Good news is, we've got a Wraith Tank of our own." He sent his position to Patric in the form of a NAV marker and then blasted two blasts at the incoming Banshees.

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter heard Gladiator just in time to roll out of the way of Banshee strafing fire. He ducked into a nearby building, getting up in time to slash the throat of a jackal that was about to place a round into him. His rage continued to push him forward, he ran through the ground floor of the building, hacking and shooting any covenant that came his way, he kept his comms open so that he could listen in to Gladiator and Patric but he never spoke back. He wanted a rocket launcher so that he could take out those banshees, the only one he knew of was the one that was back at the rally point.

He legged it out of the building and into another, shooting at covenant as he did to make sure they didn't get the chance to fire on him, once he was inside the building, he stopped to catch his breath. He heard a grunt behind him and a charging of a weapon and he looked around in time to see a Hunter looking down on him, its weapon charging up. He ducked and rolled as green plasma rained down onto the spot where he had been a second ago, the heat intense and stinging. He spoke briefly.

"Gladiator, Patric, Hunters in the area, repeat, Hunters in the area"

He then kicked off of the ground and flew over the head of the Hunter before it fired again and slashed at the soft spot on the hulking creatures back, opening up fresh wounds, green blood flowing everywhere, however this just seemed to piss the Hunter off even more than his presence. It turned on him and he was forced to duck as it swung at him with its mighty fist. Hunter backed up, not remembering that he was supposed to stick close to a Hunter to stop it from firing with its weapon.

It charged up a shot quicker than Hunter expected and it aimed at the ceiling above him and fired. Rubble and large chunks of concrete fell on the Spartan, covering him and burying him. The Hunter then leaving the buried Spartan believing him to be dead. Hunter though was merely unconscious, his comms damaged.

[Gladiator0161]

"Gladiator, Patric, Hunters in the area, repeat, Hunters in the area!"

The blue and gold Spartan heard the cry over the comms, panick settling in his stomach at the thought of another comrade being taken down. Gladiator clicked his comm on "Hunter! This is Gladiator! I'm on my way!" he waited for a response but got only static "Hunter! Respond!" Gladiator cursed beneath his breath and gunned the accelerator of the tank, forcing it's powerful thrusters to fire and for the anti-vehicle to rocket forward. Gladiator lept from the tank, rolling as he hit the ground and continuing forward, he braced himself as he came closer to doors. Tucking in his shoulders the doors exploded with the impact of the Spartan and were thrown to either side. Already Gladiator had a plasma grenade in one hand and a shotgun in the other. Gladiator spotted the Hunters immediately, they were hard to miss. He tossed the grenade and ran forward, the grenade landed on the first Hunter, which squatted down and turned slightly, as if hoping to diminish the effect of the grenade's blast by turning from his partner. It had the opposite effect, instead of only blowing off the firsts back armor, it blew the back armor off of both aliens, which groaned and growled in pain.

Gladiator didn't stop, instead he increased his speed and fell to the ground just as one Hunter reared back with it's shield arm, preparing to strike. Just as Gladiator hit the ground and started to slide, that very same shield arm whizzed over his head inches from his visor. He stopped at the first Hunter's back and fired his shotgun from his prone position, taking it down. Then he rolled to avoid being split in half by the second Hunter's shield arm.

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter regained consciousness but only darkness greeted him in response, he had a splitting headache and his helmet's internal systems were telling him that several parts of his armor and body were broken, including one of his legs. He tried to move but he was pinned down, confusion gripped him for a moment and then he remembered the Hunter and that he was now encased in rubble from the ceiling.

Pushing up with all his might, he shifted some of the rubble, enough to get a hand out, but he collapsed in pain as his ribs gave in and he heard two of them snap from the exertion of trying to lift the debris off of him. He tried his comms but they didn't respond, they had been damaged when the rubble hit.

"Well it looks like I'm stuck in here in the mean time, I really hope someone comes along and helps"

He could hear gunfire and explosions nearby, but he wasn't sure how close it actually was, the headache was getting worse and several times he felt himself come close to blacking out but he pushed through the pain, he was a Spartan and Spartans didn't let pain get them down.

[Gladiator0161]

Gladiator felt the floor shake beneath him as the Hunter's shield arm hit the spot on the floor where he had been only seconds ago. Floor tiling went flying every which way with the impact of the Hunter's blow, the ceramic missiles would have been more dangerous if he hadn't had his armor on but, thankfully that wasn't the case. Gladiator got up and stumbled backwards as the Hunter lifted his arm just high enough to swing again, using the shield as a battering ram. Gladiator backed up against the wall and ducked, feeling the wind as the shield skimmed inches above his head and cratering in the wall. Gladiator's blood pressure spiked rapidly at the realization of just how close he'd come to death just then. He pulled his shotgun up and fired into the alien's gut, the impact from the shells knocking the massive walking tank back a foot, which was plenty of room.

Gladiator shot again, this time aiming for the Hunter's head, which was a very small target that a spread shot weapon like a shotgun ineffective. He fired anyway, the rounds bouncing off the helmet making the the alien ball up and cover it's front as much as possible but, not it's back. Gladiator stepped forward before jumping back and pushing off the wall behind him with his feet and launching himself over the heavily armored alien. He landed heavily but turned and fired his shotgun point blank into the Hunter's back where it's nerve cluster was, killing it instantly. Gladiator was breathing heavily now, heavier than he thought he was. He shook his head to clear it and then looked at the pile of debris and saw Hunter's hand. His heart lept into his throat. He approached the pile of debris, expecting the worst. He put his exterior speakers on "Hunter? Are you there buddy? Are you ok?" gently he began removing debris and tossing it onto the bodies of the two aliens he'd just killed, all the while thinking please don't be dead, this mission is screwed up enough. I don't want to lose anyone else...bury anyone else.

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter heard the exterior speakers of Gladiators comms enough to raise his freed hand a little of the way. Then all of a sudden the debris and rubble on top of him started to feel lighter and then suddenly light broke through into his vision.

"Hey buddy, I'm here, feel rough as hell though, I think my leg is broken, I felt two ribs snap while I was trying to break out of here as well, I aren't going to be of much use to you for the rest of the mission"

Hunter gritted his teeth and rolled over once the rubble had been completely removed from him.

"Helmet system indicates that my body is in pretty bad shape dude but I can make it back once this mission is done, so you aren't lucky enough to be losing me today"

He laughed and the hissed as pain shot through his chest again.

[Gladiator0161]

Gladiator grimaced behind his helmet, his friend had taken a real beating "Don't you worry about that. We'll get you set up with some Biofoam and a splint and you'll be good as new" he said reaching into the compartment on his back and pulling out the canister of biofoam he always kept there in case of emergencies.

"This is going to hurt but, we can't have your ribs moving too much while we get you to safety, and you're going to be safest with us. On the move" Gladiator said jabbing the straw-like tip of the canister into his chest and pressing the release stud. It sounded, and probably felt, like a bunch of cheese whiz being released into his armor, the healing foam pressed against the injury and slowly lifted the broken ribs, making it easier to breath and less painful when moving. It wasn't a cure all but, they had no way to dress him properly right now. Gladiator heard the thing click empty and tossed the canister behind him, then began looking around for something to use as a splint.

Gladiator switched to his inner comm as he spotted some loose wiring and some splintered 2x4's "Patric, this is Gladiator, the Hunters are taken care of but, our Hunter has sustained injuries including a broken leg and some ribs, we're going to need a few minutes while I make him move worthy. Can you provide a distraction for us?" Gladiator went over to the loose wiring and ripped it free of it's housing and set it down by Hunter after gathering the biggest pieces of the planks. He dropped the wiring to the side of the pile Hunter was in before cutting what he needed out of the timber with his Plasma Sword. After that was done, he got back up and began uncovering Hunter's body, taking care not to jostle him too much, especially when he neared his legs.

"Alright, it's not as good as a medic but, it should hold you over until we get to the hospital, after we take of those jammers ofcourse. Now, this is really gonna hurt. You ready? We'll lift on 3" Gladiator splayed his legs so that he had good footing and crouched down to Hunter, hooking his underneath his shoulders but not lifting yet, giving his friend a chance to prepare himself mentally "I'm gonna stand you up and put you against the wall, use your good leg to balance yourself, ok? Ready?...1...2...3. Lift!" Gladiator tried to lift as slowly as he could in order to take it easy on his friends ribs, but, the fact of the matter was he was going to hurt no matter how fast he was lifted from the debris. Atleast this way he wouldn't be breaking any more ribs. Gladiator lifted him up and slowly brought him out of the debris pile and stood him up against the wall. Then he began his work of splinting Hunter's broken leg with the wire and the wood, making sure to tie them tight so that they wouldn't fall off but, leave them loose enough so his leg would continue to get circulation. Within minutes he was done.

"We'll rest here for a bit" he said taking off his helmet for the first time since the briefing hours earlier. His face was handsome with a boxy military jaw and a cleft chin, his black hair was buzzed short and his deep blue eyes revealed how tired he actually was, his darkly tanned skin was dripping in sweat. He checked his chronometer and shook his head "hard to believe it's only been three hours since we dropped."

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunters ribs felt a lot better than they did a minute ago but it still hurt like hell when he was lifted out of the debris but he gritted his teeth and bore the pain, then he was propped against the wall while Gladiator sorted his leg out.

"Looks good to me buddy"

He was surprised by the amount of time they had been on the ground. It didn't seem possible with all the action they had been through.

"That doesn't seem possible, we have been rushed off our feet since we came round, but then again we have been busy. I can't wait to get out of here"

He looked around.

"Have you still got that tank we nicked? I could ride in that for now, provide some support, I aren't going to be much of a mover but at least I can be a gunner"

[Gladiator0161]

Gladiator sighed as a cool breeze swept through the wrecked room "Yeah, me too. Though to be honest, I wish I was returning to something other than the barricks and half naked men" he said with a laugh. As Hunter asked about the tank he nodded "Yeah, it's just outside, that is if the Covenant haven't reclaimed it yet. You ready to move already?" Gladiator stood up and placed his helmet back on his head, already lamenting the lack of cool air on his face.

Just then something disturbed the pile of rubble not five feet away from them "cloaked Elite!" Gladiator said raising his shotgun and firing off two shots, one of which hit nothing but plaster, the other however hit the cloaked Elite and drained it's shields, revealing the alien. Gladiator dropped the shotgun and raised his Battle Rifle "die you goddamned mother..." the sound of his Battle Rifle spitting out three slugs in rapid succession muted the last word but, it wasn't hard to figure out. The Elite dropped onto the flooring, three bullet holes puncturing the middle of it's skull.

"Looks like we'd better get moving" Gladiator said turning around and moving to Hunter. He placed one of Hunter's arms on his shoulder, which was a trick with his bulky armor, and placed one of his own under his arm and gently lifted him up enough so that he wouldn't have to put much pressure on his injured leg. As they came out the remains of the wrecked doorway their commandeered Wraith tank came into view. Gladiator looked at Hunter and his injuries and shook his head "This is gonna be fun" he said with a hint of sarcasm.

[Hunter Phoenix]

Hunter laughed at Gladiators sarcasm

"Since when has anything we have ever gone into been easy, let's get out of here before more of them come"

Hunter leaned on Gladiator and hobbled out to the tank where Hunter then lifted himself up onto it and slowly slid himself into the gunner seat, taking up the controls once more.

"Right, I'm ready when you are buddy, let's get this jammer down and get the hell off this hole, I have a hospital bed and a hot nurse with my name all over them"

He laughed a little at his own comment and then settled in, getting ready to lay down some serious pain for his fallen comrades, their deaths would be avenged.

[ashia starstreak]

UNSC Flagship Hercules; Galley
Location: Earth's Lower Atmosphere



"It's been nearly three hours since we've last heard from anyone. I think we should go and check it out." Sergeant Jacobs stated his opinion to the Echo's Company commander.

The commander only looked at the younger man for a moment before sighing. "Negative Sergeant. Our orders are to stay put until we reach word from from the team."

"With all due respect, I don't want these lives lost on my watch. If they're in trouble I feel it more important to go than to wait for bad news later." Jacobs said.

The commander looked at him for a moment, but had nothing more to say.

"They won't be officially missing for another twenty-one hours. There's nothing that can be done until then." the short private had spoke having had walked in only a moment earlier.

Both men turned to look to the woman just realizing that she was standing there.

Acknowledging that it wasn't her place as a private to just speak out of term, she quickly changed subject before the men had time to think of what had just happened. "Sir, the platoon has grown restless. What are your orders, sir?" she asked more professionally.

Sergeant Jacobs looked her over. She didn't have her helmet on right now and he was slightly pleased to know that the name he had used upon her earlier was the correct one, though that only made his thoughts wander back to how she became a private. He said nothing back to her, instead he looked back to the Commander and said, "You'll let me know when you've heard from them?"

As Jacobs began to walk away, the commander responded, "As soon as I hear from them."

The Sergeant pushed past the small woman and went down the hall toward the armory wondering what he would find upon his arrival.

The private looked to the commander in silence for a moment and then turned around and walked down the hall to follow her leader. She felt like a snitch, but if she had been a higher rank that would have been a different story. The woman stopped and leaned her back against the wall near the Amory's metal doors. Sighing lightly, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

As Jacobs walked in he stared at just what his platoon was up to. As usual, the young were acting like children. One private stood atop the table, a rifle in one hand. He held it above his head as though it were a trophy talking of big game. Another group of privates gathered into a circle watching a couple of young men snarl at each other.

The Sergeant watched a moment before making his presence known among the loud platoon. "What is going on here!?" Jacobs demanded in a loud voice that a leader was familiar in using.

Immediately the platoon froze and then looked to their new platoon sergeant. The man atop the table lowered his rifle and jumped off the table soon placing the weapon onto the counter and sliding it away from himself as if in shame. The brawlers stopped pacing around each other and looked to Jacobs. None of the marines said a word. Perhaps it was embarrassment, perhaps it was in the sergeant's seriousness to the situation.

Sergeant Jacobs looked around again, his expression showed disappointment and slight anger. His blue eyes narrowed as he bit his lower lip. Taking a few deep breaths he decided to let it go and commanded his platoon, "Everyone grab a rifle and fall into the rifle range. Move out!"

The platoon quickly grabbed an assault rifle and hurried past their sergeant down the hall.

"Let's go, let's go!" Jacobs called out motioning his arm from the room to the hall and back again as he watched the rest of the soldiers make their way out of the armory. The sergeant looked back to the female private that stayed beside the door against the wall. He studied her, eyeing her rank and then her face. Though he recognized her cold and hollow eyes, he discovered a new scar displayed near her left lower lip that he hadn't noticed earlier. Now wasn't the time for questioning, though a part of him already knew she wasn't going to give answers regardless. He turned his back to her and began walking down the hall to follow his platoon into the rifle range.

The woman bounced herself off the wall and silently followed Jacobs into the rifle range. Sliding her way around him she hurried to the platoon and fell into the third squad from the back. Sergeant Jacobs looked over his platoon, disappointment still looming over his mood before he looked behind him at the set up. A barrier stood strong reaching a height just below the chest. Further in past the barriers were displayed cardboard of covenant used as target practice waited upon their platforms, ready to be used.

"We haven't any word from the commander yet on the situation. In the meantime I want you all to practice hitting these targets of the enemy.  I'll be looking for the best squad capable of joining me on this mission. First squad, let's go." Jacobs said and pressed the button to start the platforms to start moving.

The female private counted two squads before her own and mentally prepared herself even though she knew it didn't matter. Sergeant Jacobs was going to pick her squad just so he could get a feel of why she was where she was.

[Vengurd]

...You provide a distraction for us?" Raising from his seat on the broken Wraith Patric scanned the buildings surrounding him, then the streets, picking over the details. "Aye," his reply was slightly slack, a phantom itch where his flesh elbow would be distracting him slightly as he picked his route, leaned forward and launched himself into a quick jog down the street to the next corner where he turned to the side, spotted the Wraith the other Spartans had taken, turned the other way and ran. A slight pause in the Covenant advance was all that gave them any sense of having any moment of safety when in reality they were in the calm before the storm.

Jumping over a smoking, blackened car and landing in a roll Patric came up in a small group of Elites, as surprised to find him in their midst as he. Youth spent training and years of practice already tapped kicking in stronger. Jerking back as one of them swung a plasma rifle into the space where his head would be, his mechanical arm swinging up in a hasty swipe that amputated said arm, the second Elite growling and moving forward, his armored fist of flesh slamming into it's chest. The third jumping back, blood of his brother in his face, the forth priming a grenade and charging forward[. His eyes widened in surprised at the unfamiliar tactic, his right foot catching on something, his balance lost he began to fall, his fist opens, the arm moves, fingers clutch at an alien arm, a hard jerk, a short clipped howl of pain, a bellow of frustrated rage as the grenade touches the flesh of the second Elite.

A grunt forced passed his lips as his back hits the ground, his legs tucking and balling then lashing out, sending the Elite on top of him up and back, the Grenade flashing blue. Visor going darkly opaque as the bright ball of light flashes and boils away flesh and alloy and burns through his shield. a chunk of body landing nearby, the forth Elite flown back, much of his flesh and armor boiled away.

Standing shakily, Patric shook his head as the third Elite set himself low, his weapon thrown aside, a chunk of familiar alloy lodged through it. The sword was missing from his hand, lost in the quick fight. Lowering himself, centering his balance, arms wide and a stupid grin adding color to his otherwise grim face, he flicked his external suit comms system on and let out an answering growl to the Elite's own.....