Battle of Diomedes

((Independent of the Original Halo Roleplay))


1430 Hours, September 5th, 2543 (Military Calendar) / Slipstream Space -- UNSC Destroyer Garuda, along with UNSC battlegroup on heading for Cor Caroli Star System

Corporal Markov Pasternakk awoke within his cryo-pod, dull red light dominating his blurry vision as the door to his pod opened. On reflex, he tried to breath.....and began to choke on the slime that was in his lungs and throat. He pushed himself up, the sound of his skin peeling off the gel bed barely audible compared to his continued gagging. Clumsily, he climbed out and managed to sit on a nearby bench between the cryo-pods, and tried to breathe. However, he doubled over and began coughing, stopping only when a long string of fluid flowed out of his mouth. He tried licking his lips and ended up gagging as a result. God dammit, can't they improve the formula already? he thought to himself. While Markov understood the importance of the cryo-inhalant, to replace nutrients lost in cryo-sleep, he still hated the flavor. Shaking his head a little, his vision slowly cleared up, and the sounds of more coughing drew his attention to his crewmates. A couple dozen other personnel, men and women, awoke from their cryo-sleep, pulling themselves out of the pods, all of them coughing, getting the inhalant out of their system. He paid no attention to the fact they were all naked, standing up on shaky legs.

"Alright boys and girls, if you are all done enjoying your night with the Admiral's wife, then shake the cold off, and get dressed!" barked the Sergeant Major, strolling casually down the aisle of Cryo-Bay Three. A bald man of muscular build, the man was the commanding officer of the ODST's stationed aboard Garuda. Training kicked in for the other ODST's, including Markov, and those like him that managed to get inhalant out of their system and come to full attention made for the lockers beside their pods. Opening the door to his locker, he began to get dressed, pulling on his uniform. As he got dressed, his neighbor soon joined him, walking up to her own locker and getting dressed alongside him. "So, any interesting dreams for us today Mark?" Lin Nanako teased. At five feet and four inches, Lin was hardly anyone's idea of intimidating. But that was only if they were unaware of the fact that she knew how to kill someone in multiple ways, or land a shot between their eyes from an impressive distance, or even how she got scary calm during battle. Then she had intimidation in spades. But Markov knew she was only deadly to her enemies, something he was not.

"Eh, I think there was a dream where I won the war, single handed," he said with a slight accent. "And then there was this group of pin-up girls waiting to reward me." Lin snorted, suppressing a laugh. "That's odd," she said, "because I had the same dream. Won the war, and then got a special reward by a bunch of hot women. Best reward I think I'll ever want." They both chuckled, only to feel a shadow fall over them. "Less laughing, more suiting up you two," barked Sergeant Donovan, Helix squad's leader. The sheer presence of 'Sergeant Hardass' shut them both up and they quickly got back to suiting up. Once they, and the rest of their squad, were fully dressed they left the cryo-bay and made for the mess, along with their fellow ODST's from Cryo-Bay Three, and the other crewmembers from the three other bays on that level.

Helix squad sat at an open table, along with a few other ODST's as they chowed down on the food. "What the hell is this?" Randall, the medic of Helix asked, holding a spongy, yellow piece of bread. Liz, the demo expert, took a look at the bread, and even tore off a small piece, popping it in her mouth. "It's cornbread Randall," she said between chews. "What's the matter, you don't like quick bread?" He shook his head before taking a bite of the bread. "No, it's not that. Just never had it before. That or this is the weirdest tasting batch I've ever had." Liz thumped him on the shoulder before returning to her own tray of food. "Well then I'll be sure to let the chef's know they need to inform you of any changes to the menu from now on." Mark grinned a little before looking to the sergeant. "Sir, any idea where we're headed? They didn't say much other than 'You're being deployed against Covenant forces on a colony.' Little bit ambiguous there." Donovan snorted, agreeing with his second in command. He'd always trust his superiors when they chose where to deploy him and his squad, so long as it wasn't clearly suicidal. All he asked was that they at least tell them upfront where they were going.

"Hell if I know Markov. But briefing is in twenty, so you'll get your answer then." That was enough for Markov, who nodded and dropped the topic for now. Beside him, Lin yawned as she toyed with her meal, moving it around with her fork as she rested her cheek on her palm. "Odds are it's going to be the same as usual. Drop in, kill some bad guys, and make it home in time for a beer." Everyone grinned at that, Randall actually chuckling while Liz nodded her head with a cocky grin.

--Twenty Minutes Later--

Twenty minutes later, Helix squad and the other ODST's were gathered in the HEV bay, the Sergeant Major for the contingent standing by the holo-tank as he began the briefing. "Okay people, listen up. Less than 36 hours ago, the Galileo scanning outpost in the Cor Caroli system, detected several signatures in slip-space, moving towards the Inner Colony of Diomedes. Upon close inspection of the signatures, the station discovered that signatures were in fact Covenant warships, a scouting flotilla. Five hours later, the signatures dropped out of slip-space, and it was found they were one CCS-class battlecrusiser escorted by two SDV-class heavy corvettes. Courtesy of Galileo's warning, there was time for patrol group in system, consisting of the frigates Navajo, Cherokee, and the destroyer Thunderbolt, to rally in orbit over the planet and intercept the Covenant. However, the Covenant managed to deploy several hundred dropships down to the surface of the colony. Contact with the capital of New Jakarta was lost soon after. The patrol group, last we heard before making the jump, was still engaged with the battlegroup though it sounded like they were losing. We also got word from Diomedes, that groundside forces on the colony consisting of police and UNSC personnel were working to counter the invasion, but we also lost contact with them the moment we jumped. Our orders are simple: once the battlegroup drops out of slip-space, we will deploy to the surface and rendezvous with any surviving forces. Further orders will come once we exit slip-space.

Joel stepped forward, clearing his throat to get attention. "Sir, just to be clear here; our job is simply to provide back up for planetary defense forces?" The thought of that sent a few murmurs of discontent through the gathered ODST's. After all, they were one of the most highly trained special forces groups in the UNSC, usually reserved for high risk or value missions. They weren't really meant to babysit planetary militias. The Sergeant Major frowned at Donovan, before sighing and speaking once more. "Allow me to clarify. Our orders are to locate any surviving military forces on the colony, no doubt under heavy enemy fire, secure their location and any survivors, then push the enemy back. Anything else, I honestly can't say. Our group was so close, we responded without formulating an actual plan. However, for those that are unaware, here is a brief rundown of Diomedes." He tapped a button on the holo-table, and an image of the planet appeared over the table. "The colony is a border world," he said, "one of the few inner habitable worlds that lies very close to the border between the Inner and Outer colonies. This has made the colony a trade hub world, with lots of ships passing through the system." Liz raised a hand, and the Sergeant Major stopped, and frowned at her. "What is it private?" Dropping her hand, she gave him a somewhat confused look. "Sir," she started, "when does the history lesson end? I came here for a mission briefing, not colonial history." There were a few scattered chuckles at the remark, and twice as many smirks over the remark. The Sergeant Majors face reddened slightly, but not by much. "Unless you have something important to add to the conversation private, I suggest you stow it." Liz simply smirked, her gaze never really leaving the Sergeant Majors. But she held her tongue, and went back to leaning against the hull.

He sighed, clearly not having any patience for insubordinate officers, then resumed the briefing, zooming the hologram in towards the capital city of New Jakarta. It was a large city built next to a crescent shaped bay, the city built mainly along the edge of the water. To the south and east of the city was a wide expanse of jungle, while to the north was a flattened patch of land, agriculture fields. "This intel is not exactly up to date, considering the Covenant invasion, however these...." he pointed out several dots that appeared both at points in the city, and outside, "are the locations of both city police precincts, and PDF bases." This time Markov cut in, clearing his throat to gain attention. "Sir, are we going to drop blind, or wait for a surface scan? Because odds are, if the Covenant have invaded the city, they'll have either taken or are still engaged with those targets. We may end up dropping right in the middle of them." Which wasn't exactly terrible by the standards of an ODST, since they tended to drop in worse spots. But it wasn't stupid or even cowardly to want to know exactly where you were dropping, and just how many enemies would be in the vicinity of your drop pod while you worked to get out.

The Sergeant Major gave it some thought, then said "We'll wait for a ground assessment of the locations. But even if they're too hot, we're still landing in the vicinity. We're Helljumpers, we were trained for dangerous insertions." Before he could continue with the presentation, the image of the city was replaced by a four armed blue man garbed in a robe and adorned with jewelry. He was Vishnu, the ship's AI. "Sergeant Major," he spoke. "The battlegroup will be exiting slip-space soon, and entering the Cor Caroli system. I suggest you prepare your troops, it looks like you may be dropping soon."

"Thanks for the heads up Vishnu, we'll be ready to go. Would still appreciate some new intel, maybe more specific orders," the Sgt. Major said. The only response he got was a shrug from the AI. "Apologies Sergeant Major. But rest assured, we won't be dropping out over the colony, we will have time to gather intelligence and formulate a more proper plan.. Reentering real space in ten minutes." With that, the AI vanished, replaced by the image of New Jakarta. "Alright ladies, you heard the man. We'll be exiting the stream in ten, so sit tight and await further orders." With that, the briefing was over, though one could hardly call it a proper briefing. The squads walked away, though they stayed within the HEV bay, most simply leaning against a bulkhead or sitting in a chair, others inspecting weapons and equipment. Helix squad moved to its own corner of the room, bracing for the oncoming deceleration and exit. Ten minutes went by and soon they felt as the ship decelerated and dropped out of slip-space.

The battlegroup itself, consisting of five frigates, six destroyers including the Garuda, several slim corvettes, and a cruiser, dropped out of the slipstream. They were far from Diomedes, and not close together at all, some of them with dozens of kilometers between them. As they gathered into formation, their communication arrays picked up a signal coming from in orbit over Diomedes. The IFF tagged it as the UNSC destroyer Thunderbolt. Severely damaged, the captain explained that they, and the two frigates in system, had engaged the Covenant ships when they entered the system. Both frigates had been lost though some of the escape pods had been ejected to the surface, and destroyer only survived by detonating a nuke and using the explosion and EMP to cover its retreat to the moon, destroying one corvette in the process and damaging the other. It seemed cowardly, but they reasoned they needed to get intel to the reinforcements. Covenant forces had landed on New Jakarta yes, but they had also invaded Polari, the northern continent, and its capital of Belkarne. Best they could tell, planetary defence forces and UNSC personnel already on the ground were engaged with the Covenant and doing their best to slow them down. At the same time, another group of Covenant ships, four frigates and an assault carrier, dropped out of slip-space. As they got closer to the planet, word came in from the ground forces, and it was cause for worry. Because Diomedes served as a trade hub between the Inner and Outer Colonies, it stored records of all shipments, both imports and exports. The details of the shipments were not the dangerous piece of information, but rather it was the fact that their destinations and points of origin were also listed in the records. Names and coordinates for every human colony the aliens had not already glassed, stored in a closed network and therefore not capable of being wiped by the Superintendent AI's within both capitals. And the Covenant were within proximity of the trade districts of both New Jakarta and Belkarne, each district housing those servers.

With new intelligence in hand, the battlegroup was now free to formulate a more cohesive strategy. While the battlegroup engaged the Covenant task force, ODST teams would be deployed both to New Jakarta and Belkarne. Small teams, including Helix squad, would be deployed within the city to enact the Cole protocol and erase the shipping records. Other teams would provide aid for UNSC positions pinned down by Covenant forces, dropping in behind and performing pincer moves. More would secure landing zones for dropships, eliminating hostiles or taking down anti-air guns.

As the battlegroup neared the planet, preparing to engage the Covenant ships, Markov and his team, alongside the other Helljumpers, prepped for a combat drop. Securing his helmet, he grabbed his own gear to secure into his pod. The M7S SMG, along with the M6C/SOCOM pistol, suppressors on both weapons still fully functional. Ammo for both the SMG and pistol was stored in a small storage compartment in the pod, while grenades were stored in another. His weapons were mounted and secured on racks inside. Finally, like all the others, he climbed into his pod and strapped in. The hatch closed down over him, sealing with a hiss. The viewscreen in his pod turned on, and Joel appeared on screen, his visor depolarized so his face was visible. His voice crackled through over the helmet radio. "Alright listen up Helix, our orders are to drop down into the city's trade district, locate the archive servers holding the colony coordinates, and wipe them clean." He paused as the pods moved, swinging in their harness as they were moved from the HEV bay and positioned to hang over the deployment doors. The chamber was depressurized, and the doors opened to show an infinite expanse of darkness dotted with stars. Another voice whispered over the radio, from the AI Vishnu. "Three minutes to drop." When the interruption had passed, Joel spoke again. "Unfortunately intel reports show that the servers location is crawling with Covenant forces, so our landing zone is going to be a bit off."

The edge of the planet appeared now, dark, pitch black oceans and gray clouds below. It was night in New Jakarta, and they would plummet into the darkness. "Alright troopers," Joel shouted, "we are green on the express elevator to hell!" Four beeps, the short timer for deployment, sounded in the pod and then they dropped, and Markov felt the all too familiar feeling of his innards attempting to jump out of his throat. As they left the HEV bay of the Garuda, he could see through the glass of his pod the space elevators for New Jakarta, all four of them spread out through the city. Fires dotted most of the city, orange and red lights illuminating the area around them, and casting a hellish glow on the nearest space elevator. It gave the impression that the elevators were the pillars of Hell, an appropriate thought, given the Helljumpers motto. Feet first into Hell...., Markov thought to himself. The grouping of drop pods began to break, each squad steering their pods toward their needed location. Helix squad was aimed for one of the space elevators, located in the trade district.

Lin's voice came through in Markov's helmet, a whisper that contained both excitement, and awe. "Damn, look at all that. We're certainly living up to the name Helljumpers aren't we?" Before Markov could respond, he felt his pod jerk as the 'chute' deployed, the metal panels on top of his pod fanning out and slowing him down. At fifty meters, the braking rockets on the underside fired, slowing him down even more, until the pod came to a dead stop, crashing through roof of a three story building, going through the third floor and coming out through the wall of the second, landing on top of a car parked at the side of the street.

The landing, while rough, wasn't the worse landing Markov ever had. And he was still conscious, which was good. Thumbing the hatch release, his pods door exploded off, flying across the street and into a wall. Training kicked in, and he jumped into action, grabbing his weapons and leaving the pod. It was stuck on the crushed remains of a car, about three feet off the ground so he had to jump down, landing in a crouch. It was dark, and the lights were down in the street leaving the area covered in darkness. Markov activated his VISR, and the darkness was replaced with an increased brightness, highlighting a number of objects and buildings as he looked around. So far, it all looked clear, with no enemies in the immediate area. So he went back to his pod, and grabbed what ammo and grenades were aboard. As he did so his radio crackled and the Sergeants voice came through. "Helix squad, sound off. What's your status?" Markov immediately took cover behind a car, not wanting to be out in the open. "This is Markov reporting in. Crashed in the middle of a street, give me a sec to check for a sign or something." Janesse's voice came through as well. "Janesse here, landed further down the street from you Mark. Turn around and you'll see me." He turned, and true to her word there she was, further down the street. They headed for each other as Randall spoke up. "Randall here, pod punched through the roof of a building and I'm inside. Working my way to street level now. Lin's voice sounded soon after, though she had that cool demeanor in her voice. It was the calm she had when guns were about to fire. "Lin here, middle of a plaza. Just got out of my pod, but uh it's looking a little hairy here. Think I spotted a patrol of Jackals....and I think they spotted me." There was the sound of plasma fire, and a suppressed gunshot. "Scratch that, they definitely spotted me."

Joel immediately moved into action. He had landed closest to Lin's position, in a street south of her. ""Hold your position I'm moving to your location. Squad, hone in on my signal." On all their HUD's, along the top edge where their compass was located, a blue dot appeared. Everyone except Lin began to move, using the dot as their guide. Lin for her part, was taking cover behind a stone garden. The plants caught fire from the plasma as the Jackals, four of them with shields raised, fired shot after shot at her cover. Whenever they paused to let their weapons cool, she would pop up and fire a burst from her DMR, the sound suppressed through the attachment. She managed to take out the hand of one of the Jackals, destroying the weapon and making the Jackal shriek in pain. It wasn't dead, but it was out of the fight. And then she went back into cover. Joel, moving as fast as he could, rounded the corner, but his view was blocked by truck, abandoned and stuck in the middle of the street at an angle. So he moved around it, and was presented with a golden opportunity: the Jackals, so preoccupied with Lin, had their un-shielded backs to him. So he brought his MA5K to bear, and opened fire. The suppressed assault rifle burped out rounds as he fire three bursts, each for one Jackal. The shredder rounds tore into them, reducing their backs to hamburger, and they fell, dead.

Three of the four were dead, but that left the wounded Jackal still on the ground clutching its torn up hand. It squawked and screeched in pain, and if it knew that Joel was there it clearly didn't care, too caught up in its wound. Which was a small mercy in a way, since it never noticed when Lin popped up and put a round right through the aliens eye. It joined its fellows on the ground, dead and silent. As she got out of cover and walked over to the squad leader, the rest of the squad entered the plaza, running from where they last were while Joel began speaking. "Lin, you good?" he asked her, turning away to look around, rifle raised. She nodded, kicking one of the Jackal corpses. "Yeah I'm fine. Must have been a small patrol, or scavengers maybe." Walking back to her pod, she cleaned it out of spare ammo, grenades, and equipment. "So, what now sir?" she said, turning from the pod to look at the Sergeant, along with the rest of Helix.

"Our orders are to link into the city systems, contact the Superintendent AI. Command gave me an authentication code, that'll allow us to link our VISR's with the security systems for the city. Unfortunately we won't have control, that's still way above what we're cleared for." He lowered the rifle, and gestured to his squad to follow him. "But we'll have access to city cameras and a map of the city in the data-base, so we should be able to see where the bad guys are, provided the cameras are still functioning. But all that will happen the moment we find a way to access the system." They followed Joel as he walked out of the plaza, down a street. The trade district was located around the elevators, north of the squads location.

As they moved, they organized into a loose, diamond formation. Joel took the lead, as was the common doctrine for the UNSC. Markov was a meter to his right, while Liz to his left. Randall stayed in the rear, as far from potential enemy fire as possible, and Lin took center stage, her DMR never leaving its ready position. "So remind me again," Lin asked, "just how are we supposed to contact the Super?" Joel immediately responded. "One of the reasons we chose this location for a drop point was because there's police station in this area, and if I'm right it should be up ahead and to the left. We'll get inside, find an operable terminal, and link up." Randall, rubbernecking at the rear, frowned inside his helmet. "What if there are survivors sir?" The sergeant said nothing for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Primary orders for this mission are to secure or destroy the navigational data stored on the servers. Any survivors we encounter along the way, are a secondary priority and should not be pursued if it risks jeopardizing the mission."

They all knew it was cold logic, but in the end.....it was logic all the same. If that data fell into Covenant hands, then every world would be at risk, every colonist still living in the rest of human space. The security of the colonies was worth more than a possible handful of survivors.

As they walked, there was a sound from further up the street, of crunching metal and cars being shoved to the side. "Everyone, into that building!" He pointed to the right, towards what used to be a restaurant, the front windows shattered. Helix squad followed him inside, taking cover behind flipped over tables, putting the furniture between them and the window. Outside, a pair of Covenant vehicles moved down the street, a pair of Shadows. Each one was carrying a squad of Grunts, each led by a single Elite in blue armor. The turrets on top swiveled, looking for targets. The large, cumbersome craft continued down the street, shoving cars out of the way. It wasn't until a good three minutes had passed, that Helix slowly crept from its hiding spot and peeked out, down the direction the transports had gone. The street was empty, and they moved again.

"Wonder how the other teams are doing..." Lin whispered, as she kept an eye out for any enemy snipers. Liz was the one to respond to her first. "They're fine. They're Helljumpers after all. Hell, I'm sure by now they already killed dozens of the Covie bastards." All Lin could do was snort. "Heh, yeah I'll bet. Hey, how much farther to the stati--?" Right as she got to the second syllable, they turned the corner and there it was, the NJPD station. It had been trashed, and heavily assaulted. Most of the place was on fire, glass everywhere, scorch marks from plasma weapons, and bodies.....so many bodies. Some had been gunned down while they fled, running. Others died with weapons in hand, burned black by the plasma the Covenant wielded. And even a few had been reduced to hamburger meat by those damned needle weapons, their backs or chests reduced to so much mulch. Worse....not all of them were members of the police department. Some of them were civilians seeking refuge with the police, only to find their hope of safety crushed. To the credit of the police, they never went down without a fight. Dozens of Grunts and Jackals littered the street, but not one of the damned Elites.

Markov's grip on his SMG tightened in suppressed rage. Even this late into the war.....the sight of gunned down civilians was still something he wasn't used to. He had told the sergeant this once, and he said it was a good thing. It meant he was still human. The sound of footsteps drew his attention away from the body, and he saw the sergeant walking for the department entrance. "Come on, "Joel said. "We've still got a job to do." All Helix could do was nod, their rage barely contained. The front doors of the buildings were broken open, the glass shattered like the windows. Inside was more of the carnage from outside, walls bearing scorch marks, bullet holes, and blood.

"What we're looking for is probably going to be in the main office," Joel said as he walked over to palque on the wall, hanging behind the reception desk. Through his VISR, he was able to make out the names of each of the floors, what was on them. A few seconds later, he found the right floor. "We'll take the stairs. Liz, you and that shotgun are with me. Randall, Markov, cover the rear. Lin, take center of the formation. We go quiet."

Three flights of stairs later, Helix reached the third floor of the building, finding the door ripped to shreds. The marks around the edges of each cut were all too familiar. "Swords," Liz said. "Looks like there were some big time hinge-heads around here." The plasma swords were a rare weapon to see in the field, but Helix had heard stories. Blades of super heated energy, enough to cut through whole swaths of Marines and ODST's. It was enough to make most soldiers flee. "Stay focused." Joel said, snapping them all back to attention. He led them into the spacious floor, and found more wreckage inside. Chairs and desks, tossed or flipped over. More bodies with weapons still in hand, some even cut in half. There were a few more Covie corpses, but like outside they were Jackals and Grunts.

Floor three was home to the computer crimes division of the police department, at least for this building. In the server room was a terminal, offering a direct link from the building to the Superintendent, and thus was Helix's first stop. But before they went any further, Joel stopped them. "Lin, man that window facing the front, keep an eye out for hostiles. Markov back her up. Randall, Liz, keep an eye on the stairs. I'll handle the terminal." Everyone nodded, and went to their positions while Joel walked into the server room. Most of the stations were surprisingly intact, probably because the room was not important at the time of the attack. Whatever the reason, the terminal was located at the rear of the room, separate from the servers. Joel walked up to it, touching its screen and bringing it to life.

Code:

>>New Jakarta Police Department City Access Terminal 0362<<
>>Input authentication code to  gain access to the city Superintendent<<
.
.
.
.
.
>>Emergency Override
>>Authority?
>>Authority: Office of Naval Intelligence
>>Authentication?
>>Authentication code: Alpha-Midnight-11673490
>>Authentication code verified. Welcome Helix Squad.
>>Uploading New Jakarta street maps, floor-plans
>>Syncing emergency observation systems to Visual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance
>>Have a nice day<<

Before Joel could inform them that contact had been established, Lin spoke in an urgent tone over the comm. "Crap, we've got incoming. Cloaked Elites, three of them!" She was looking through the scope of her DMR, the VISR showing three silhouettes that matched hinge-head profiles. "Helix, grab some cover and keep an eye on the door. That's the only way up to this level!" Joel barked as he ran out of the server room. Lin backed away from the window, taking cover in a cubicle and aiming her weapon back at the door. Liz took cover behind a support beam, while Randall joined Markov behind a flipped over desk. As for Joel, he planted himself against the wall, to the right of the door from Markov's perspective. Seconds ticked by, with nothing happening as they all waited.

Then the silence was broken. The first Elite squeezed their way into the room through the door, counting on their cloaking to hide them, but Lin saw the outline and fired a shot. It caught the lead Elite on the shoulder, it's shields flaring as it roared in surprise and rage, and then brought its plasma rifle to bear as the other two entered behind it. "Helix take them out!" Joel shouted, unloading his MA5K into the Elites from his vantage point. Markov and Randall fired, their SMG's puttering with the suppressors while Liz fired rounds from her shotgun. But the Elites shields held, at least for the first few seconds. Lin focused another shot at the lead Elite's head, and this time the shields finally failed and dropped. Another shot sent the bullet right into its gaping mouth as it roared in fury, but then went limp and lifeless as it died. Markov and Randall, fire combined on their own Elite while Liz pumped another round into it, brought down its shields and bullets and shotgun pellets tore into its chest, the force pushing it against the wall as it slid down, dead.

The one closest to Joel growled, and activated its energy sword, swinging it at Joel's head. He ducked beneath the swing, and the blade sliced through the wall, burning and melting parts of it, cutting through like butter. On his knees he fired at the Elite's legs, bringing down its shields and exposing the knees to his shredder rounds. They were torn up by the bullets and it screamed in a mix of pain and rage, and no longer able to support itself it fell backwards onto the floor, and suddenly went still. Joel stood up, rifle still aimed at the Elite as he took a step closer, checking to see if it was dead. He got his answer when, as he took another step, the Elite sprung up and rammed the sword into Joel's chest, the blade boiling through his armor and searing through his flesh. He grunted in surprise before yelling, a last defiant shout as he pulled the trigger and emptied everything into the Elites face, destroying the head. It's owner dead, the sword self-destructed and free of the blade, Joel fell back and onto the floor, gasping in pain as his body finally registered what had happened.

1545 Hours, September 5th, 2543 (Military Calendar) / New Jakarta, Diomedes, Cor Caroli System

"Oh no..." Markov said, rushing to the fallen sergeant. "Randall, grab your kit now!" he shouted as he got down on his knees beside Joel. The sergeant was still alive, but his vitals were dropping fast. Joel coughed, blood spattering the inside of his helmet. "Goddammit...I knew I was getting too old for this shit," he groaned, coughing more blood. "Don't...don't waste the kit on me private, I'm already dead." Markov blinked at him, then shook his head. "But sir, we ca-" "That's an order Corporal!" Joel barked, and it caused him more pain. He had seconds left at best. "You're in command now Markov," he choked, grabbing onto the Corporal's shoulder with the last of his strength, and pulled him close. "You....you, will finish.....this mission. Is that understood Corporal?" Markov simply stared, shocked at the sergeants tenacity, despite the wound. But he nodded. "Understood sir. And...it's been an honor." That made Joel chuckle, and cough up more blood. "Good luck Helix." And then he died, his vitals flat-lining. Markov let go, and the sergeant body fell back onto the floor. He stood up, and looked at the rest of Helix. Their expressions were unreadable behind their polarized visors, but their postures told him more. They were angry, but more than ready to see the mission through.

Lin broke the silence, her voice barely containing her anger. "What do we do now sir?" Markov looked to her as if she asked something stupid. "Do? We finish the mission, like he would have wanted. And we kill any Covie son of a bitch that gets in our way." "Hoorah," was the only response he got from them, before they moved out. Going down the stairs, they stopped at the bottom to check the map in their VISR's for any hostiles. Nearby, there were no hostiles showing up, however further on a few blocks from their position was a grouping of enemies though they were unclear as to what they were. But it was clear that area was a no go, even if they were looking to kill the Covenant.

Markov lead Helix on an alternate route. It seemed clear that the bulk of the Covenant were located around their objective location, and whether that was a coincidence or not was unknown. All they knew was that it would take them longer taking the safer routes. As they moved, Lin got on the radio with the rest of the team. "So, how old do you think the Sergeant was?" "I think he was getting close to sixty," Liz said. "Yeah," Randall said. "I think he was at least in his fifties. Been in the service longer than any of us, that's for sure." As the team continued on talking about Joel, Markov continued to press forward as he led them. In all honesty he was slightly nervous, being in command. He knew what was expected of him, how he was supposed to act/ But he was unsure if he would be able to lead Helix safely through this mission, without losing another member. "Hey," Lin whispered over his radio, a private channel. "You okay boss?" Markov took a deep breath, thankfully silenced due to his helmet. Then he whispered back to her "Yeah, I'll be fine. Still a bit new to the whole command thing though."

"You'll be fine man, trust me on this. If the sarge didn't believe you were up to this, he'd have never left you in charge. Stubborn hard ass probably would have forced himself to stay alive long enough to keep bossing us around through this mission."

"Heh, yeah. I guess he would have." He stopped talking when he heard the sound of engines. They weren't land based, and it certainly wasn't the sound of a pelican. "Fuck, Covies! Find some cover!" Helix scattered, looking to find something to hide under. Mostly all they could find were cars and a garbage truck, getting to cover right as a Spirit dropship came down from above. The tuning fork shaped ship descended until it hovered over the street more than thirty yards away, its plasma cannon swiveling around. The bay doors opened, and more of the aliens jumped out. It was a patrol of Skirmishers. The bird like aliens looked a lot like Jackals, except for their mane of feathers, and shorter snouts. They looked more like ancient dinosaurs as opposed to the carrion birds the Jackals looked like. Markov checked his VISR, looking at the map and sensors to see how many of them there were. Twelve. There were twelve of them, and he had no idea what kind of weapons they had. Slowly, they advanced down the street as the dropship rose and flew away. "Alright," he whispered over the radio to the rest of Helix. "These fuckers outnumber us, but we have the element of surprise. Liz, Randall, you two stick to cover and move to flank them. Lin, see if you can spot their commander, or whoever has the biggest gun. I'll stay up front, hit them there."

They all nodded, and quietly moved to their positions. Liz and Randall took position behind a car parked near the sidewalk, while Lin readied her DMR, resting it on the hood of a car while she crouched behind it. As for Markov, he remained where he was while the Skirmishers came closer. "On my signal," he whispered, "now!" And then Helix attacked. The first two shots came from Lin, spotting the two Skirmishers who were barking the most and waving their claws around. Her first bullet clipped one of the Skirmishers in its upper beak, the shredder round ripping it apart. It didn't kill the beast, but it certainly disfigured it, the upper half of its beak gone. Before it had time to even scream in pain, a second shot was fired, this time into the second Skirmishers throat. It choked and made, or tried to make, a few guttural sounds as blood pooled from its mouth.

Liz and Randall then fired, his SMG ripping into the sides of the Skirmishers while her shotgun spat out fire and pellets, tearing into the Covie torsos and covering the ground and cars in their blood. Markov joined the fray, firing into the front ranks. Five went down, the rest scattered, screeching in rage. They were more than angry; they were blood thirsty now. Jumping back and grabbing cover of their own, two of the survivors opened fire with their Needle Rifles, the purple shards whizzing through the air. Markov saw the attack coming and ducked, and heard the rounds impact and shatter on the hood of the car. "Lin take out those sharp shooters!" She tried, but the other Skirmishers were then firing plasma pistols, green bolts flashing through the darkened street, illuminating the area before impacting on cars, trash bins, whatever was in their way. The plasma melted its way through most of the obstacles, and the fire did not let up.

"I can't get a clear shot, not with those plasma pistols keeping me down!" Lin shouted. "Liz, Randall, toss a frag on them! Do it now!" Without even saying a word, both Liz and Randall lobbed a grenade over to the Skirmishers, the round explosives rolling towards their feet. With a squawk, one of the Skirmishers looked down to see what was thrown, moments before both grenades exploded. Shrapnel tore through their bodies, the concussive force breaking bones and reducing internal organs to pulp, killing them both. The sharpshooters, momentarily blinded by the smoke from the explosion, halted their firing. It was enough for Lin to pop up and ready her rifle. The moment the dust cleared up, she fired several controlled, precise shots as she swept her rifle in an arc, taking down the stunned Skirmishers.

"Area clear!" she shouted, and the squad, while not lowering their weapons, relaxed slightly. They moved forward, carefully inspecting the corpses. Lin gently kicked one of the needle rifles with her boot. "Shame we can't grab the weapons. Could come in handy later." Markov snorted. "Right. On a mission to enforce the Cole Protocol, we violate it at the same time. No thank you."

"So.....is that a no?" Lin asked. Markov simply gave her a pointed look, which was impressive given that he still had his helmet on and the visor was still polarized. "Helix, move out. That commotion is going to draw all kinds of hell our way. We need to get off the streets." He checked his VISR database, looking at the map. "Okay, there's a system of subway tunnels we can probably use. They'll help us stay off the streets and below the enemy radar." Liz couldn't help but be skeptical. "And what if there are enemies down there? We'd be cornered like rats." It was certainly a worrying thought. But they didn't have many options. According to their map, there was a collection of Covenant soldiers, type unknown, between them and the building they needed to get to. However, closer to them was an entrance to the subway tunnels for New Jakarta. If they were lucky, they could follow the subway line to a service tunnel beneath the building and find either an access door, or blow a hole.

"It's too dangerous not to use the tunnels. Helix, grab your night lights and get ready to go deep. We're taking the subway." While no one actually groaned at the thought of going down into the subways, it was clear in the way they stood that going down where it was even darker, when they were in a city filled with alien enemies, some of which could even cloak and see better in the dark, was not an appealing idea.

As Helix squad neared the entrance to the subway, they were greeted with nothing but darkness. Normally there would have been emergency lights, but even the power source for those must have been disabled. Relying only on their VISR's to paint a path for them, they stepped over turned over waste bins, litter scattered over the floor......and more bodies. "Dammit....aren't there any civilians still alive?" Lin asked, as she glanced at one of the bodies. Markov had an answer. "Well, according to the last report we got before being dropped, police and military personnel focused on evacuating civilians out of the major population zones. They couldn't use transport ships, so they evacuated them to bunkers outside the city." It was a new tactic most of the colonies began using, and so far it had been.....mostly effective. When the Covenant glassed a planet, they started with major population centers. So why not have the bunkers be as far away as possible? Problem was, most of the area around the bunkers also got hit, and even if the entrance wasn't reduced to slag, the rest of the environment was rendered into so much molten glass and burning air that no one could actually survive outside.

Helix returned to silence, and as they went deeper they found less bodies, which came as a silent relief. As hardcore as they were, seeing dead civilians still unnerved them, even this late into the war. The tracks they were looking for, were two levels below. According to the map, it was the one they needed out of the maze of other subway tunnels running through the city. Finally, they reached the level and the tracks, hopping down from the platform. There was one good thing about the power being out: no danger from the third rail.

"So," Lin said from the middle of the group, "any idea how much longer we're going to be down here? The dark is kinda creeping me out." It was enough that Markov actually chuckled. "We trudge through enemy infested jungles, brave treacherous mountain ranges with snipers, both of which were in the pitch black of night, and even do a few walks in space.....and you're creeped out by the darkness of a subway tunnel?" Lin made a nearly masculine grunt. "Look, it's not just that it's dark. It's also very cramped down here. Dark and cramped....not a good combination for me."

Liz added "It doesn't help that confined spaces are not where we want to be if there's ever a hostile with a grenade." Stopping for a brief second, Markov said "Okay Liz, consider this a standing order: unless its helpful in a tactical sense or a morale, keep your mouth shut would ya?" Snorting, Liz didn't respond, keeping her shotgun raised for any would be targets.

All of a sudden Markov held up a fist and Helix stopped moving. "Hear that?" he asked quietly, and everyone slowed their breathing, trying to listen for what he had heard. At first, there was nothing but the faint drip of liquid from a pipe, echoing in the dark and empty tunnel. Then they heard it--faint buzzing, like.....wings. "Buggers!" Lin said quickly, and Helix took what cover they could. It was all but impossible though in the open space of the subway tunnel and it became more apparent as the swarm of Drones came at them, painted by their VISR's.

The alien bugs screeched as they spotted the humans, bolts of plasma and shards of pink needles sent flying at the huddled soldiers. Helix was fortunate that the Buggers constant flying reduced their accuracy, several bolts hitting the concrete of the tunnel walls and melting the surface into glass. Needle shards embedded into the floor at Lin's feet, though she didn't stumble back in panic, keeping steady as she fired with her DMR. A drone dropped in a scream of pain as a bullet punctured its chitin armor, still flailing on the ground like a pinned beetle.

Markov and Randall kept the drones from swarming them, Markov using his assault rifle and Randall his SMG, the shredder rounds making short work of the flying targets. Liz used her shotgun to good effect, picking off stragglers that closed in. But then Randall screamed in pain as a needle round pierced his thigh, dropping him to a knee and giving an opening.