HRP reboot - Chapter 2: On the Run

=gets a notice on his hug so sets up near the door and shoots a grunt that'd wandered up to scout=

think they noticed what we're up to dan

"Alright well keep me posted. Daniel out," he said before ending the call and continuing on with Ozren and the Marines. Dear god, he thought. That sounds like a boy band.... They moved through the rubble of the surrounding area, their target a large, almost blockish building with all manner of antennae and dishes sticking out of it. Some of them were damaged, but with luck they weren't anything critical.

Saoirse finally was relaxed. Sitting up, her hands began to fly across the keyboard.
"Ok. Jaryd? Give me some form of ETA. I want to blow this joint as soon as humanely possible. Right now this isn't helping our position. We have the Hornet above us, we've detected more fighting...it's going to hell." She grimaced. "I want to be out of here and heading to the next water-covered planet before tomorrow."

"So," Chris said as she leaned against a ruined wall. She and Lin were holed up in the ruins of a five story building, on the top floor as they provided overwatch. "So," she said again. "Want to talk about Siri?" Lin, who was laying flat on the ground with the butt of her rifle planted against her shoulder, sighed as she felt an awkward conversation coming on. "Not exactly Chris. And this isn't really the best time either." Chris could only nod, not that Lin could see. "I know. But I can tell something's been eating you, ever since we you got back from the December."

Lin didn't move an inch at all. But Chris was right. "Look.....I'm just worried is all, okay? She's out there, doing god knows what in the middle of a massive war between humanity, and a genocidal group of aliens. I don't know if she's okay or not, if she's alive or dead, or hell, even if she's traded me in for a more limber Japanese girl. And to top it off, she doesn't know diddly about me either. I could have frozen to death earlier, and she'd probably never know about it. I'm so fucking tired, of being away from her, of us not knowing anything new about each other. I want it to stop, I want it to be over." She was shaking, and she had to let go of the rifle and sit up, doing her best to calm down and enter her usual cool. "All I want, is to wake up tomorrow and find myself in bed with her. I don't even care if this war is over or not; I just don't want to die without being with her one last time."

=waits for dan to get done then they load up their gear and make their way past the covies that are now  starting to board the ship in force when after about a few minutes get out and uncover the female soldier from her hiding place and load her up take off=

keep her steady dan we can't afford to get her more injured then she already is

=continue driving until they're sure they safe and marik has dan take over and continue driving just to be sure turns on the argus drone remote and after getting a signal fires the micro missile into the ship's reactor which detonates them causing a nuclear explosion that wipes out the covie base and the surrounding area=

dan i think the wind is picking up,looks like it's going to carry most of the radiation out to sea so lets get back to the ship and figure out what we need to do know


--end post--

just heads up i did talk to jan to see if i could control his char so we could get moving and he said go for it

Chris stood there, listening to Lin vent. Then she simply walked forward, and thumped her partner in the faceplate. "Then try not to die then, dummy. Make it through this, get off this rock, and find her before it's all too late." She placed a hand on Lin's shoulder, firmly rolling her back to the rifle. "You can start, by keeping an eye out on our boys down there." Lin nodded, back in control as she eased into the stock of the rifle, peering down the scope.....just in time to see a patrol of Skirmishers jump up onto a large patch of rubble, one of them carrying a beam rifle. "Take cover now!" she shouted into her mic, and Daniel and the rest of the marines, including Ozren, got down behind more rubble. Dan had just stepped back behind a piece of concrete when a bolt of white blue plasma whizzed by his head, missing by inches. "Jesus, sniper! Everyone stay down!" he yelled out. Lin however, from her vantage point, aimed a little bit above the enemy sniper and squeezed off a round. The bullet screamed through the air, and hit the Skirmisher in the head, blowing the back of his head out in meaty chunks mixed with bone.

=after arriving close to where the ship was and got off the vehicle carrying the wounded rebel when marick saw something in the corner of his eye and looked up and saw a piece of debris heading there way=

MOVE IT NOW!

=they run for it and take cover just in time for the debris to slam into the transport hog causing a sizeable explostion and leaving a large large crater where they just stood=

dan lets get her inside and treated before we have anymore surprises

=dan nods and they begin to carry her inside their ship=

Anna was still out cold though her mind replayed the battles. However each battle that took place faded from memory, beyond her recollection. It was a sickening parody of watching your videos and each one being deleted forever.

Jaryd commed back after a moment. "Hour. Two tops if someone has to tie their shoe. These things aren't easy to move." He was currently helping to push a pelican remnant along, moving it up a ramp with the assistance of a rusty crane.

"Just do your best." Siri replied.

"Saoirse."
"What, Requiem."
"The Marines want to know if the UNSC gives a damn about them."
"Tell them if the UNSC won't blink at killing a few spartans they won't care if some marines get caught in the massacre."

There was a pause. "More civilians want to help load what we need. They don't like being underwater."
"Send them over."

"Roger." he shut the commlink. "Alright let's move, people! We've got an hour! Give it all you've got! And I mean all of it!"

While the sniper was taken out, the rest of its squad moved down across the rubble, advancing towards the humans. One of the Skirmishers lobbed a grenade, the bright blue aura of the explosive seen by the human soldiers as it landed right in front of Daniel. "Grenade! Move!" Dan shouted, back-peddling away from the device, along with the other Marines. There was a flash of blue-white light, and a wave of concussive force as the grenade detonated. However, the Skirmishers did not come straight at the soldiers, through the breach the grenade made. Instead, they jumped up high, on top of the rubble and above the humans where they shot their weapons down at their exposed prey.

Armed with needlers and plasma pistols, purple spikes and green bolts of energy rained down on the humans. Two Marines were killed as they were simply covered in enemy fire. The rest scattered, while Daniel and Ozren returned fire, clipping one Skirmisher in its leg, another with a few rounds to the chest. Lin continued sniping from her position, taking down two more. "I count three down, and one crippled!" she shouted, though through her scope she saw another squad coming in. "Crap, we've got another group moving in. You guys better grab cover, I'll whittle them down for you!"

Anna began to stir, her mind groggy filled with a heavy, dulling empty darkness, it covered every corner of her mind like a inky shroud. She remembered nothing, the sickening darkness seemed for now to be eternal as she struggled to fully awaken. Muscles refused to responded to the brain as if something had shut down the nerves or was jamming the transmission from mind to muscle.

=hears her stir and turns around and waits=

looks like the sedative is wearing off

Anna's eyes flickered open and the first thing that came to her senses was pain. It did not really come it came in an agonising wave, crashing into her like a warthog. She flinched but did not cry out, it was then that she noticed two other people. She looked at them curiously before offering a smile. "Hi" She said quietly as her eyes travelled from one to the other and then back again.

Saoirse was trying to coordinate what she needed to get into the December.
Instead, she looked up to see Rika.

"Rika?"
She sighed softly. "Baby...?"
"I want you."

Siri sighed. "You have me."

Now, Siri had no bloody clue why Rika started to undress. Then she did. Now, being a scientist and not an utter egghead was a triumph in and of itself.
As was slapping a Spartan 3 and getting away with it. She looked down. "Are you ok?"
"Mommy...?"
"Yep. You're ok." Siri waited until Rika was standing up. "Do my a favor, ok? Go lie down and just....just grieve."

Rika shuffled out, leaving Saoirse...mildly disturbed.

"Got it Lin!" Daniel said over the com. "Men, grab some cover and get ready for a skirmish!" The Marines made for cover, crouching behind fallen concrete and their weapons trained in the direction of the oncoming aliens. Lin changed magazines, before firing more rounds and reducing the number of Skirmishers. Still, four more managed to make it to the entrenched Marines....in time to be cut down by concentrated fire. Shredder rounds ripped them apart, leaving little more than quivering heaps of hamburger. When they were confirmed dead, the Marines, along with the two ODST's, got out of cover. "Thanks for the cover Lin," Dan said, before continuing along the path.

=smiles in return=
hi

Anna looked around curiously as if she was not sure where she was. She appeared confused and lost. "Er... Where are we? How did I get here?" She asked though her tone carried the edge of a desperation born from lack of knowledge. Anna seemed to believe that they held the answer, it could not hurt to ask since she held none of her own.

=straightens up in the chair=

your on a ship and you were carried here after being injured

"A ship?" She echoed looking bemused. "Okay if you say so that must explain my injuries" Anna eyes widened with horror and she whispered. "Who am I?"

=sighs=

[u we don't know that we were kinda hoping you'd be able to tell us that[/u]

"No problem," was all Lin could say before she began packing up. It wasn't because there was a risk her cover had been blown; she just needed to move to a new sniping position to cover Dan and the others better. "Chris, time to jump," she said, to which almost enthusiastically nodded. Lin slung her rifle over her shoulder, SMG hanging from her chest courtesy of the harness. Chris' appearance mirrored Lin's, her shotgun hung over her shoulders and SMG dangling from its own harness. They walked to the edge of the balcony, and readied themselves to take the express elevator. Well, in this case the 'elevator' was simply a single thick rope, the kind used for rappelling. One point was anchored to the ceiling above them, while the other end went at a steep angle down to the surface, secured in the corner of a building, or what was left of one at least. Clipping themselves to the rope, Lin went first with Chris following. While steep, the descent wasn't a straight line down to the foot of the structure, and the length of the drop left them vulnerable.

Unfortunately for the pair, they had left too soon; if Lin had taken the time to give one last look, she would have seen the Skirmisher that had just appeared, investigating the gunfire it heard. In it's arms, was a Type-31 Rifle.....a Needle rifle, as the frontline soldiers had taken to calling it. The purple spikes sticking out of the weapons casing glowed brightly, and the alien peered through the scope around the same time Lin and Chris jumped. It saw them, seeing two easy targets. It squeezed off a few shots, and the purple rounds shot off at the pair of humans.

The first round whizzed past Lin by inches. The second hit her square in her right thigh, and she screamed in pain as the purple spike penetrated her armor and into her skin. That was before she hit the ground at the end of the rope, hanging from the rope since she never unclipped herself. She reached up, unclipping herself and falling to the ground, landing on one good leg and one wounded leg; ignoring the worst of the pain, she moved to the corner of the building, now mearly a support beam and planted her pack against the concrete pillar in front of her. Chris landed soon after, already unclipping herself and moving to Lin's leg. "How bad?" she asked, to which Lin simply snarled "I'VE GOT A FUCKING SPIKE IN MY LEG CHRIS SO IT'S FUCKING BAD!!!"

"Oh" She looked crestfallen. "I'm sorry but I... Don't remember I honestly don't remember as single thing" Anna looked visibly stressed as a result, she could not remember a single thing about herself, not one memory or fact.

If Lin could see through her friends visor, she'd have seen Chris frowning. "Alright, since you're going to be like that...." Chris said, and without warning she grabbed the needle in Lin's leg, and pulled it out. Lin screamed, yelling out a stream of curses in Japanese. Thankfully, her armor managed to keep the needle from going too deep, though the penetration caused by the needle would make her unable to run, and barely able to walk. "Fucking snipers.....I should have seen that bastard, fuck." Chris quickly applied biofoam to the wound, the foam expanding into the wound on Lin's leg, renewing her curses as she felt what could only be described as a dozen knives cutting into the wound. But then the pain receded, the agents in the foam numbing the wound, and her own training took over again, her experience with pain helping her get a better handle. "Jesus I really wish there was a less painful way for that shit to work," she gasped, and Chris helped her to her feet. They didn't need to worry about snipers, at least with their cover. Still, Chris contacted Daniel. "Dan, we've got a small snag; Lin was shot in the leg by a sniper on the way down. Got the needle out and patched her up, but she's going to slow us down a bit. Think you can manage?"

Didn't take long for him to respond, his team stopped by the smoldering, slightly melted wreckage of a warthog. "We'll be fine, but we're going to have to be a bit more careful now. Head for the objective, we'll rendezvous there." "Affirmative," Chris responded, ending the call. "Alright Lin, time to move." She wasn't that surprised when Lin stood on her own, not accepting any help. "Heard that," Lin said, taking out her rifle and slapping in a fresh magazine, ready to move. She then got down on the ground, laying flat and crawling to the corner of their cover, knowing the sniper who shot her was still waiting. After all, it's what she'd have done.

Slowly, almost at a snail's pace, she turned the barrel of her rifle around the corner, peering through her scope. She found the fucker, a Skirmisher with a needle rifle. He was still peering through the scope, scanning for Lin and Chris. She waited for the right moment, and squeezed off a shot. The round whizzed through the air, hitting the weapon first towards the top, by the scope. It then penetrated through the rest of the weapon and blew a hole clean through the Skirmisher's eye, and out the back of his head. Her way of saying 'Fuck you.'

"What?" She asked not understanding what the word was. "I am sure I don't have that... Whatever it is"

"Sniper's down," Lin said, standing up slowly, her leg throbbing enough to make her grimace. Chris took point, moving forward with her shotgun ready. The two of them moved down the war torn street, passing by flipped over cars and burned out stores. There weren't that many bodies, civilians evacuated.....or taken to isolated zones by the Covenant to be eaten by Grunts and Jackals, just like at Draco III. For the sake of her conscience, Lin prayed that the colonists had either been evacuated, or killed in enemy fire. No one deserved to be eaten alive like that.

Daniel and his team made it to the communication relay, the building damaged, but relatively intact. Most of the equipment still seemed functional, though they had yet to test it. "Lin, Chris," Dan said over the radio. "What's your status, any closer to the comm relay?" he asked, to which he soon received a replay in the form of a very tired, and pained sigh. "We'd be there a lot sooner if we didn't have to keep answering your damn status update Daniel......but yeah we're closer. Should be at the doors in a few minutes at least."

The Long and Dark December broke from the waves, fully loaded. Saoirse directed her meager crew.
"Siri, the UNSC Hornet is still coordinating an offensive."
Siri nodded. "Power upwards."

Before the Hornet could react, the errant frigate blasted from the sea and headed away at full speed, leaving it alone.
"We have no way of evac'n the civilians."
"Tell them the Covenant are coming and we have to get them out now." Siri said. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Got it, I'll send some men to let you in," Daniel said, before ordering a pair of marines to head to the entrance and get Lin and Chris inside. As for the pair of ODST's, they had just made it to the building, already at the door and waiting to be let in. When the marines opened the door, Lin and Chris didn't bother with introductions and just walked in (or in Lin's case, limped in). Daniel waited for them by the console, while Ozren and another marine, the tech specialist of his squad, tried to get the machinery working. "Lin, Chris; get here okay?" Dan asked, turning to look at them. If he was surprised by Lin's leg, he didn't show it beyond a simple question. "Lin, how's the leg?" he asked, to which she stood straight and gave a salute. "Sir, nothing I can't handle. What about the comms?" Ozren answered that one, looking up from where he lay on the ground, hands above his head as they tinkered with the wiring. "Well, the primary systems were shot to hell, no getting around that. Secondary systems are still fine, it's just getting them on that's going to be a hassle."

"But can you do it?" Daniel asked, to which the tech marine answered this time. He was a young man, practically a kid by the standards of Dragon squad. The war had pressed a lot of humanities youth into service over the years, but still it surprised the senior soldiers sometimes, seeing 'kids' in uniform. "Sir," the marine said, his name Corporal Diggle. "We can have the comms up and running in a few minutes, just need to get the emergency generator online. I can get her running now." Daniel nodded. "Alright Diggle, you and Chris head to the back up generator, get it running, and then we can contact the rest of our forces here on Waltari."

~John "Cobra"~
"Entering the Waltari atmosphere now. We'll be close enough to drop in 5 minutes. ODSTs, suit up in case we need you," Captain Greene says over the intercom.
"You heard him, boys. Suit up warm this time, Waltari ain't the warmest place," I say to the team.
For a few more seconds, I stare out the window at the clouds. We could be shot down any minute. I might as well make the most of what I have now.
"John, you gonna suit up too, or just look out the window?" Jake says to me from behind.
I turn around to see him ready to drop. I just walk past him, and realize that everybody else is out of the room.
"Jacob. I'm not gonna be in the service much longer. This is my 14th year I think," I say, grabbing my stuff.
"You gonna chicken out now? You're the best sniper in the universe. You can survive anywhere."
"I won't be for too long, Jake. I'm seven years older than you. I don't have much left. I'll use whatever I do have left though. Go get ready to drop, kid."

I put my outer armor on, but leave my helmet sitting on the bed. As Jake leaves the room, I put my SMG where it goes on my leg. Next goes the sniper. I throw the strap over my shoulders, as I have a thousand times before. Lastly, I put my pistol in its holster.

"Sir," a marine says, walking into the room.
"What is it?"
"Captain Greene says we'll hover here long enough to get any sort of signal from the ground. He says to get everybody to the drop room and ready." The marine turns and leaves the room the same way he came. All I can see outside the window now is a barren snowy wasteland.

Both Chris and Diggle saluted, and headed off deeper into the relay station. It was dark, the lights out since the power was cut; once the back-up generator was on, that would change. Chris took point, her shotgun at the ready as her VISR painted the darkness with lines that showed her everything she couldn't see. Diggle stumbled behind her, trying to not trip over anything. A few hallways and closed doors later, they found the back-up generator, nestled in a large room. "Okay, give me a sec," Diggle said as he walked forward and towards the generator. Opening a panel, a tiny screen warmed to life, the back-lit buttons lighting up below it. Typing in some commands, and pulling on a lever, there was a loud hum from the generator, and the lights began to turn on. Chris immediately radioed Daniel. "Dan, we've got power. Try the comms now."

"Roger that Chris. Ozren, test the radioes," Daniel barked. Ozren, just now finished getting the consoles repaired, turned them on. The screens activated, machines whirring to life......and then they saw a signal being established, as it detected a UNSC ship in the atmosphere. Daniel immediately jumped on the moment, hailing both the ship.....as well as sending a message into UNSC space, a cry for aid. "This is UNSC Sergeant Daniel Lampert of the 12th Shock Troops Battalion, requesting immediate reinforcements. We are holed up on Waltari and being swarmed by Covenant forces. Friendly ground forces are rallying against invaders, but we need assistance. My team and I are holding a comm relay and could use some back up, it's our best chance of contacting and coordinating a counter-offensive." With that, he sent the coordinates for the relay station to the UNSC ship, praying it had some troops and dropships to spare.

UNSC Iris


The Iris received the message, and, fortunately, was only about twenty minutes out. The Captain barked his orders over the comm,
"All hands, prepare for slipspace jump," Some of the marines cheered, happy for some action at last.

Daniel didn't....no, he couldn't wait for a response. The commander from the camp outside the city needed to be patched into the relay now, and contact the remaining forces that were still scattered. Patching him in, and letting them take over, Daniel instructed the Ozren and Lin to take up positions, and keep an eye out for the enemy, while the Marines did the same.

~John "Cobra"~
"We hear you loud and clear, Sergeant Lampert. We'll have ODSTs en route to your position as soon as possible. Hold out as long as you can," Captain Greene says in response to the call.
"So I suppose you want us to drop now?" I ask, standing next to him on the bridge.
"All ODSTs get ready to drop," he says into the intercom, completely ignoring me.
"How long we gonna be down there?" I ask, heading for the door.
"As long as it takes for you guys to kill the invaders. Now get out of here."
I jog down the halls, all the way to the drop room. When I get there, everybody is already in their pods. I get into mine, and lean back. The pod doors close.
"Everything good? If not, now's the time to say so," I say over the pod comms.
"Comms okay?" I ask.
"Okay," I hear from each person.
"Everybody have their equipment? If not, you better say so." Nobody responds.
"Alright, let's drop." The automated countdown starts.
"Drop commencing in T minus 30. 29. 28. 27. 26..."
"Jake, you're getting home in time for that baby to be born, right?" I ask over the countdown.
"I hope so," he responds, hesitating a bit.
"There's no hoping about it. That kid's gonna have a father growing up. I'm here to make sure of it."
"How much you wanna bet?" he asks.
"3. 2. 1. Drop commencing."
As the pod starts to fall, I pull out a cigarette and light it up. I smoke it slowly, trying not to contaminate all the air I have. About half way through the drop, I spot Covenant drop ships nearby.
"Alert, we got covvies!" I yell into the comms.
"They don't see us yet, it's okay," Rogers says back.
"Just don't be surprised if somebody gets hit." Right as I say that, the pod shakes and flips sideways.

The Long and Dark December had been hiding near a UNSC mining station that wasn't aware of their presence. Siri was in her room, Rika snuggled on her lap, head on Siri's shoulder, snoozing, when Requiem's voice sounded.
"Saoirse. We have a distress call from Waltari. Daniel Lampert."
Siri nearly knocked Rika off the bed. "Lin!"
The December jolted. "ETA one hour."

~John "Cobra"~
The pod starts to head into a sort of death spiral. It starts to even out as the emergency chutes come out, but it doesn't help much. At this point, I am too far away from my squad to see them at all. All of the pod's inside systems have shut down, including the comms, so I'll have to resort to my helmet comms.
"This is John! Do you guys read me! I'm spinning out of control," I almost scream into the comms.
All I hear is static on the other end. I'm alone until the end. I look out the window and down, only to see how close I am to the ground. I brace for impact.

UNSC Iris


The Iris was swarming with activity, as marines and crew members alike rushed to their battlestations. Pelicans were being prepared for take off, the marines were strapping on their winter gear, while the ODSTs waited on standby. 

Courtney sat on a container in the hangar, slowly filling her DMR's magazines. She didn't doubt that she'd have something to do here, the Captain enjoyed having a Spartan available, and he wasn't a man to waste resources. When she'd filled the last mag, she slapped it into her rifle, checking the safety.
"ETA seven minutes,"

Unfortunately for the team of ODST's and Marines, the Covenant heard the call. They didn't know or care what was said, just that there was, by the looks of the signal, a communication station. The Elite commanders knew that if the humans remained in contact and organized, they would be much more troublesome; so the order was given, to attack the station. Several Phantoms and Spirits were sent in, loaded with troops and carrying vehicles.

Lin took the stairs, going up to as high a point as possible to get as good a view as she could. From her perch, she saw, much to her horror, that the Covenant were sending in dropships. And they were closing fast. "Uh, Dan? We've got Covie ships inbound! And lots of 'em!" "Fuck," Daniel said. Contacting the groundside commander, he requested some back up. Most that could be spared though, was a group of Falcons, but they wouldn't get there in time to intercept the dropships; Dragon Squad and the Marines were on their own until then.

~John "Cobra"~
When I wake up, everything is dark. I try to open the door, but it doesn't work. I fumble around for the emergency release, and pull it. The door pops off and flies about seven feet. Grabbing my sniper, I stumble out of the pod.
"Hello?" I yell, only to hear my own voice echoing back at me. I turn back toward the pod, and see light shining down on it. About ten feet above it is the ceiling of a cave, with a hole in it where I broke through. That could be my only exit, but I see no way to get to it.
"Anybody here?" I yell again. This time I hear the sound of something moving around echoing back at me. I slowly pull out my SMG, and flick the light on.
I start to walk, only to collapse from the pain in my left leg. I slowly crawl back to my pod as the echoing gets louder. Moving my hand around inside the pod, I finally find the medkit, and pull it out.

Taking positions in the wreckage of vehicles by the door, Daniel, Ozren, and the Marines prepared for the coming assault. The Marines had with them a portable version of the M247 Machine Gun, and set up the turret behind some cover, with a decent coverage of the area. Ozren had his rocket launchers, ready to shoot down or damage the dropships. "Alright, we have to hold on for backup; ETA for the Falcons is going to be ten minutes, at max so we hold this building no matter what. Oz, aim for the troop doors of those dropships, hit them as they open and maybe take out the bulk of their troops. Lin, try and spot out anyone important. Marines, target the troops that we miss, don't let them get close."

Several green lights winked on for an affirmative. It wasn't perfect......but it was all they had. The first dropship, a Phantom, appeared.....along with a Spirit sporting a Ghost. As the Phantom dropped down and opened the doors, Oz fired a rocket, the missile streaking forward with a trail of smoke behind it. The doors opened enough that it passed between them and their frame, and hit the ceiling inside the ship. It exploded, killing the troops waiting inside while doing serious damage to the ships systems. It lost control, spinning in the air and impacting the tuning fork shaped Spirit, making it wobble and struggle to regain balance while the Phantom crashed into the ground, blue purple flames licking out from the interior. And then, the doors for the Spirit opened, and Jackals and Grunts jumped out and to the ground while the Ghost was dropped, blue plasma firing and splashing against the defenders cover.

~John "Cobra"~
I watch as the faint purple light starts to come around the corner. Suddenly, I hear gunfire outside, and the light stops. It starts to fade away again. Calming down, I open the medkit. I pull out some bandages, and wrap them around my bloody leg. I pull out a needle, and shove it into my leg. It numbs the pain enough to walk.

On my feet, I pick up my SMG, and start heading toward where I saw the light. I turn on my visor's night vision, and head into the dark. After a few minutes of heading around twists and turns, I see light pouring in. The exit. Flicking the night vision back off, I see that the exit is surrounded by enemy forces, waiting to ambush anybody who comes in.

"Open fire!' Daniel shouted, popping out from behind cover to squeeze off rounds from his assault rifle, shredder rounds tearing apart the unshielded grunts. Lin fired off shots, taking out the troops carrying the Fuel Rod guns and Plasma Launchers. Oz fired a second rocket, taking out the ghost and sending it spinning into the air, a low arc to it's ascent before it came back down to the ground. The Spirit's cannon swiveled to aim at the entrenched humans, and began hammering their cover with plasma. "Fuck, we need that cannon taken out!" Daniel shouted as he ducked behind cover. Before Ozren could reload the rocket launcher, one of the Marines primed a grenade and cooked it, tossing it straight at the plasma cannon. It detonated inches from the weapon, the explosion and shrapnel tearing into the metal of the gun. It didn't destroy it, but it damaged it enough that it stopped firing.

"Nice arm," Ozren said as he finished reloading. The Spirit pulled back, rendered useless as it made way for more ships. "Shit, can't we get a break here?" Lin shouted over the comm. Two Phantoms dropped behind the remains of some buildings, and moments later there were more Grunts and Jackals coming, charging the location. Two Elites also ran among them, plasma rifles readied and split jaws parted in a roar.

=hears the the console beep to alert to an incoming message so sends it to his and dan's helmets then looks at the woman=

would you excuse us for a moment?

=leaves the room with dan and heads out of earshot=

what do you make of it?

Anna shrugged watching them leave, she wasn't going anywhere at the moment. She wondered about... Everything. Anna was clueless she didn't even know her name. What could she do? Was there anything she could do? The feeling of utter despair and hopelessness settled over her like a dark, thick fleecy blanket. "W... Who am I?" She whispered quietly.

The surviving drop pods from Cobra's squad land ahead and to the left of the entrenched soldiers. The doors pop off, and they come out, guns blazing. Half of the enemy troops are either killed or injured within the first few shots.

~John "Cobra"~

The gunfire picks up outside, so I decide to start fighting. Jumping out of the shadows, I squeeze the trigger on my SMG, filling a few grunts with holes. The enemies turn around, but before they start shooting, my magazine runs out. I dive back into the shadows, grabbing a grenade out of my belt. Plasma bursts start attacking my cover, but I manage to pull the pin and toss the grenade. As it flies through the air, I reload.

There is a bang, prompting me to jump back out into the open. Two elites lie on the floor, still wanting to fight. I take them out swiftly, with one shot to each of their heads. As I emerge from the cave, I see some of my squad mates assaulting a group of covenant from the side. I see that there are also soldiers hiding behind cover from the oncoming assault.

When the drop pods came crashing down, Dragon squad and the Marines breathed a small sigh of relief. It didn't last long though, as more Covenant troops began converging on the location. While Grunts dropped like flies, Jackals gathered in groups, shields raised in a protective wall. They started to form a line and advance, pushing in. "Dammit Oz, hit the Jackals!" Daniel shouted. Ozren nodded, and aimed his rocket launcher at the advancing Jackals, and fired. The missile hit the ground at their feet, the explosion incinerating two of the Jackals while flinging the rest through the air. With the gap in the wall, the Marines again tossed another grenade, and killed more of the aliens.

"Dammit, they just keep coming!" Lin shouted, as she spotted more dropships coming in. Even a pair of Banshees. In fact, it looked like..... "Oh fuck!" she screamed, as the pair of Banshees angled towards her position. Whether they knew she was there or they just figured firing their bombs at the structure would reign debris down on the humans below, she neither knew nor cared. She aimed her rifle at one of them, and emptied her clip at it. All four high velocity AP rounds hit the craft, the first pair denting the hull while the second pair tore through. They didn't hit the pilot sadly, but disabled the navigation systems, rendering the pilot blind. They lost control the craft wobbled and fell out of the sky, crashing into the ground behind the dropped ODST pods. Its partner though, fired a fuel rod at Lin's position, but after firing the clip, she had already made a break for the door. The shot entered the room behind her, hitting the wall by the door just as she passed through it. The force of the detonation sent her flying forward and into the wall of the hallway, and she grunted in pain. "Shit....."Daniel, they blasted my position, but I'm good. What's your situation?"

Before he could respond, debris from the explosion above reigned down on them, tiny really but enough to make him duck his head on instinct. "Not good, we're getting swarmed; we need those Falcons now!"

~John "Cobra"~
The rest of my team finds cover behind various rocks, and they keep firing. I pull out my sniper, just as I watch a few covenant breach their cover. An elite grabs Rogers from behind, but I take him out with one bullet to the head. Rogers and Miller look over, to see me kneeling in the mouth of the cave.
"John, is that you?" I hear Miller say through the comms in my helmet.
"Would anybody else take a shot like that?" I respond.

Standing back up, I run as fast as I can toward them. As I run, I hear an explosion to my right. I look over, to see a banshee flying back into the air. It sees me and starts firing at my position.
"Get down!" I scream into the comms, getting on one knee.
As balls of plasma land around me, I center the rifle's crosshairs right where the pilot stays. As I squeeze the trigger, the banshee jerks to its right, causing me to miss, and causing a ball of plasma to skim my right arm. As the banshee hones back in on my position, I stand back up and head into a full sprint back to the cave, not even worrying about my leg.

Emma Watkins had been lucky enough to survive the freezing cold, but her communications equipment had yet to reboot. She had not heard any UNSC communications but the sounds of battle drew her in like a moth to candle flame.
It had taken her a while to position herself, crawling so not to be spotted, but she finally found herself near a rocky outcrop with a clear view of the enemy. Gripping her grenade launcher tightly she brought herself up so that she was kneeling and fired. The round flew through the air detonating near a trio of grunts, killing two and injuring the third. "Come and get some alien trash eaters!" Emma yelled as she reloaded and picked another target, once more there was a detonation only this time two Jackals where slain. Emma was having fun, it was a shooting gallery for her. She just wished that she had a rocket launcher instead of a grenade launcher.

~John "Cobra"~
The banshee's rounds hit the ground, closer to me every time. I get close enough to the cave to dive. As I fly through the air, my left leg gets scraped by another round. My dive finishes in a roll, and I jump back up, ignoring the pain. Pulling my sniper up again, I limp back out to the mouth of the cave. With one shot from my rifle, I hit the pilot from behind. The banshee swerves around in the sky, but he's not dead yet. It comes back for more, but this time it goes for my friends.

My crosshairs center over the largest part of the aircraft. I gently squeeze the trigger, and my bullet goes straight through. "Get out of there!" I scream through the radio as the banshee starts its death spiral toward the ground.