Halo Roleplay

Welcome to the set-up of the new Halo Roleplay.

The year is 2554* with the Covenant still reeling from their loss against humanity most of the diehard fanatics have gone into hiding as UNSC forces work to fully eradicate them. Peace treaties signed between humans and Sangheli forces are still strong however there are some who still oppose such an, in their eyes, "ill thought out peace with an inferior species". There are many on the human side as well who are also against such agreements. In the meanwhile, UNSC forces are also on rebuilding duty after the devastating losses due to the attack of the flood and Gravemind. Unrest is growing once more as civilians in most human sectors believe help is not coming and that the UNSC is stretching itself thin with too many tasks.

The current factions** of this RP:
UNSC - The major player tasked with aiding civilians in post war rebuilding efforts across all human controlled sectors affected by the Covenant War and the eradication of any remaining units who identify as Covenant forces.
Sangheli/Elite - A race of honor bound humanoids who are in peace agreements with the UNSC. Some still side with the Covenant and act in a leadership role.
Covenant - A cult type religion dedicated to the eradication of humanity under the now deceased Prophets. Due to this power vacuum, many have tried claiming themselves as new leader but infighting and constant harassment have driven attempts into the ground.
Splinter factions are on the rise however with Elite and Brute leadership respectfully.
Jiralhanae/Brute - Bound by power they fill a leadership role in the volatile world of the hobbled Covenant. Elite/Brute relations are low and due to infighting not much progress can be made.
Forerunner - Ancient civilization with powerful technology. Not much is fully known however a new race for their secrets is under way.

Roles***:
In this RP you can choose to be any number of things including:
Spartan IV: Spartan Units who were introduced in 2553. To supplement their numbers, any capable human adult may be asked to join. Remaining Spartan III and ODST units were also asked to join the Spartan IV program.
Spartan III: Mass produced Spartan units used to help end the Covenant War in key areas of the outer colonies.
Spartan II: The most important soldier type of the UNSC. Remaining Spartan IIs after the Covenant War are sparse with only 16 known survivors. Others may be out there in the reaches of space.
ODST: Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. Helljumper. Tasked with being sent behind enemy lines and taking more difficult jobs than your regular forces.
Soldier: Rank and file man or woman of the UNSC. Not much to be said but if you prove your worth you may be asked to join the S-IV program.
Elite: As stated above, ties to the UNSC are either strong or slippery. Some remain loyal to the Covenant but have splintered into their own beliefs.
Brute: Hunted on sight by UNSC forces and in constant power struggles with the remaining Elite. Splintering as leaders of their own Covenant supporting branches.

* Established characters in the Halo canon may be roleplayed in an NPC like capacity only and must adhere to their style of writing located within the universe of the games.
* While this will start to branch from canon please adhere to the timeline and events as presented in the universe of the games. i.e. John-117 doesn't come back 3 years early.
** Custom factions may be introduced after thorough review.
*** Custom roles/races may be introduced after thorough review.

Depending on your role/faction we'll try to slip your character, which can be made in the character creation section, neatly into the roleplay.

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Fireteam Alpha ground unit:

Rocks fall off the edge and into the canyon below with each step of the five man squad, we were sent here on order from command. Supposedly, there is some kind of Forerunner construct in this mountain range. Fly-bys overhead pin pointed a possible location but due to the terrain it was impossible to land and so for the past three days we've been on the hunt for it. We're on some backwater planet and its hard to believe this could be a place where some ancient civilization could have settled. It's hot here. Morale has come under fire a couple of times but we've managed to calm down after some rest. Friends on high are still guiding us so as long as we keep an eye out for the ship we should be okay. I can feel the condensation building up around me and its wholly uncomfortable. Carrying all this stuff I'm starting to feel tired. Lagging behind the rest, I take a seat on a nearby flat rock and make a move for my canteen. We've gotten lucky a couple of times finding springs to refill and regroup but we haven't had that blessing in awhile. It takes one gulp and I'm out of the soothing drink. I sigh and look around. Across the drop in front of me and quite the distance away there is another mountain. I notice something but just barely in the sky above it. A speck in the vast blue sky. I hear a voice call out and it snaps me from my daydreaming. Startled, I end up dropping my canteen as I stand up and make my way back to the group.

I was never made for this. I always thought about having a cushy job in an office somewhere. Life has a funny way of turning out. Needed the money for school UNSC were recruiting and gave me the whole spiel. It's been 2 years since I joined. Thought the end of the war would make things easier but how wrong I was. I've heard tell the Covenant is still around and the UNSC are doing everything in their power to try to stomp them out. To help with that, they're sending out groups to locate old Forerunner tech to give us an edge. I don't even know what a Forerunner is. Things were so much simpler back home. So much better than now. I feel a hand on my head as one of my squadmates lightly pushes me and gives me a hard time for taking a break. It's a good group of people. One I would die for but I was never made for this. We keep going, eventually the sound of another of the squad breaks out. I look at them as they point at the tip of something higher up. Looks kind of like the diagrams on the fly-by. I guess we're almost there.

We find a smooth surface to climb up eventually getting to higher ground. Our suspicions get confirmed as the radio begins to go off and the ship above gets into proper sight aligning itself higher than the point of the structure. Quick pass throughs would mistaken it for just another spike in the mountain but now that we're here we can see clearly that its a structure hidden within a maw of the mountain. Across from it, a small gap just big enough for maybe a hornet and an endless pit below. The best news that comes to my mind, though, is the prospect of finally getting out of the sun. We start walking in. It's dark with faint glowing of blue lights. Commander pops his light on and sweeps it around the room. High ceilings, one staircase in the middle with some doors off the sides. He hand signals two of us to check doors while he and two others check the staircase. I go off with one to help with doors. Flicking our lights on, we stack the nearest door on the the left of the room. It opens, there's still power out here? Pondering this my partner slowly walks in. A hallway greets us and she calls out to relay. Going further in we notice that everything is clean like this place has been kept well despite the location. Unease sets over us but we continue forward poking our heads into any rooms we come across.

Coming across another door at the end of the hallway, it opens revealing the main entrance on the other side in which we entered. We had gone in a circle. We call out for the commander and other two but they don't answer. Apprehensively approaching the stairwell, we call again.

I was never made for this. I just wanted a quiet life in a cushy office.

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Fireteam Alpha sky support unit:

"Fireteam Alpha has entered structure. I repeat, Fireteam Alpha has entered structure, over"
"Sit and wait for further orders, Tremor, over"
"Roger, over"

Speaking with high command is always fun. Stuffy old guys. At least we finally got them sorted. I put the Pelican on hover and stand up. I can feel my body cracking as I stretch. Guess I'm turning into one of those old guys. I look out trying to find something interesting to lay my eyes on in this copy-paste setting but quickly get bored. Out of all the people to choose for this mission, I didn't expect to get shuffled out here. There's only one other person on the ship sat beside me and I'm not the biggest fan. A suck up who thinks he knows it all. Damn good pilot but that's about it. I look at him and he mutters something under his breath. I ask him what he said and he just ignores me. Clicking my tongue at him, I sigh and walk off trying to piece together what he said. I walk through the door and into the backside of the ship. Boredom eats at me easily. I was never the type to sit still. Even when I'm flying, my leg shakes. I stand there for some time before I start hearing my co-pilot go off about something. I walk back through and feel a strong jerk of the ship. Almost strong enough to make me fall down. I berate my co-pilot and he tells me to shove it while pointing out of the cockpit window.

My face grows cold and my eyes widen. A large rounded ship in purple color approaches. I sit down to get on comms while my co-pilot tries to maneuver away.

"Covenant Phantom spotted at our location! I repeat, Covenant Phantom spotted at our location! Command, respond!"
"We hear you Fireteam. Have any enemy forces entered the structure?"
"Unknown, Command. Phantom is currently approaching position and we are going to lure them away."
"Understood, Tremor, Aerial reinforcements are on their way"

Our ship takes off, trying its best to grab the enemy's attention while keeping out of range of its main cannon. Both transport ships so the both of us know what the other were carrying meaning they also have a nearby outpost scouting the area. How could we not have seen them in the time we've been scouting? Has it just been this area is so vast? Have they known about us? For how long? Why choose now to reveal themselves? So many questions but there's no time to answer them now. If we can fly over a possible outpost that can help. I tell the co-pilot to keep his eyes open for an outpost. Suddenly the Pelican rocks slightly. Looking at the diagnostics it looks like burn damage from the rear. Did we fall too far behind? No, Phantoms are usually equipped with Plasma Turrets on the sides. We have to get out of that range. My leg shakes violently as we move. It's weird though I can see the plasma balls fly past on either side. It's like... it's like they're guiding us... herding us. My mouth drops and my leg stops shaking. That is exactly what has been happening. The ship rocks again from the back. A big ball of light flashes in front of us.

Guess I won't have to worry about turning into those old guys after all.

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UNSC Iron Haven

"Fireteam Alpha's sky support unit has been attacked and no doubt the ground unit has as well. By what we've heard its a contingent of Covenant. This location, despite where it is, could prove vital in us finding powerful technology. I've already mobilized aerial reinforcements but there is no doubt in my mind that we're going to need more. Get to sortie and prepare to fight."

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This is where the story begins. Many entry points are now presented.

Jay scrambled into the seat of the C712 'Longsword' Interceptor. She'd argued with Command that she should have been down there to begin with, but nothing was going through these days. They'd gotten lax since the defeat of the Prophets.

She flicked away at the switches, vaguely aware of the other ships nearby doing the same thing. They were scrambling now to strike at the Phantoms that, like their namesake, had appeared on the planet below.

Orders had been shouted not ten minutes earlier. 'Strike and recon'. 'Find where they came from.'

She lifted off of the floor of the hanger bay, pushing her thrusters up to three-quarter full and shot out of the ship into the brief emptiness of space. She angled the Longsword downwards and the fire of the atmosphere began to take shape around the craft.

She intended to.

Aboard the UNSC Iron Haven, Vincent Ayers joins the mad scramble to the planet below.

"Longswords deployed!" He somehow manages to hear over the commotion.

"Ayers, load up!" He hears his CO call from a nearby Pelican in the hanger bay.

"Aye, sir!" He responds taking his seat on the Pelican along with members of Fireteam Bravo.

"I understand why it was a limited drop but there wasn't any reason why we couldn't have come in later!" Vincent says to the person next to him. They shrug and point at their ear.

"Yeah I can't hear me either." He says with a sigh.

His ear begins to crack and his CO's voice comes through.

"Fireteam Bravo, Spartan strike teams are on their way to the surface. Your directive is to support them should you link up. From what I understand, Covenant forces somehow managed to get the drop on Fireteam Alpha. Phantoms in the area are combing the range for something and we believe its exactly what we're looking for as well. Once an LZ is cleared, your mission is to locate the missing Fireteam Alpha members using the data we've acquired. For quicker response, we're sending in a group of Hornets to your designated LZ."

With a strong ooh rah from the Pelican, it closes and begins lift off from the Frigate's hanger.

The Longsword burst through a blanket of cloud into the burnished orange skies above a mountain ranged that stretched southwards for a few miles. She tapped a finger against her nav feed as it flickered bright green. She was approximately twelve kilometres out from the reported contacts, and the closest fighter on planet yet.

She turned the ship twenty degrees to the right and levelled it out. The orange faded to a bright blue and she shot towards the Phantoms, one eye on her radar for the IFF pings. Slowly they were appearing on the edge of the screen and making their way towards the centre. No red though. That was worrying. The Pelican that reported them had gone down sometime between her leaving the Frigate and now.

They couldn't have disappeared as soon as they had come?

The ride is smooth on the way down. The air inside however is a different story. A mix of confusion and anticipation cloud the group's minds. What was happening? Why did they only send one group down and spend three days twiddling their thumbs as they reached whatever was reported on the fly-bys. How did a number of Phantoms manage to get them?

"What is command thinking?" Asking himself.
"Will the same thing happen to us?" Doubt creeping into his mind. The morale killer.

As they continue, the pilot radios over comms.
"T-minus ten minutes to LZ. Hornets also approaching."

Jay adjusted her course slightly as a pair of Pelican IFF tags came onto her radar. They burst out of the clouds just ahead of her and she buzzed them quickly and left them behind. They'd have their own support coming through anyway.

She curved a path over the contact location a minute afterwards. No sign of the Phantoms. The Pelican was there though, snarled up atop a rough plateau. Smoke and fire. No way did anyone walk out of that. There didn't seem to be any movement in the canyon either, at least as far as she could see with the speed and angle she was afforded from the cockpit.

She sounded off the report through the radio, letting all air units know to be on high alert. The Covenant were here somewhere.

"Fireteam Alpha air support unit found" Pilot comes through again. "No survivors"
The shock is dizzying to the crew to say the least. Tremor and Axle were a pair to be sure. Usually at each other's throats but they were always professional. Vincent takes a deep breath and gives a quick prayer to them and their family. Exhaling, his eyes open noticing the nervousness of the group. Some of which haven't been enlisted for very long. His brow furrows as soon as he goes to speak he is interrupted.

"T-minus five minutes to LZ. Hornet transport has arrived on scene."
"Spades, what can you see out there?"
"Passing by the wreckage soon. After that we have a rocky clearing at the base of the mountain."
"Any enemy activity?"
"Negative, not that I can see anyway."
"Roger."

Vincent looks up. "You all hear that? Be on guard the enemy know we're here but we don't know where they are. Long as we're careful we'll make it out of this."

One kilometre. Kaye marked, bringing her BR55 rifle to low-ready. They said Covenant on the radio. I hope so. I didn't get to kill enough of them. She hopped a boulder, paused, and took a knee. Three scans of her surroundings. Move on. Five-hundred metres, she marked.
"Three-Oh-One, hold position. Find a nest, watch the door. How copy? Over."
"Copy. Over." Her voice felt strange. She hadn't spoken in days. Standing orders had been to keep her chatter to vital information only. Who had she last spoken to? One of the young marines. He'd asked for a picture. She didn't know whether or not he'd taken it, she had been trying to sleep. Kaye tapped her trigger finger against the receiver. Why do I have to wait? She thought, sullenly, They're right there. It's not fair.

Jay flew two more passovers on the LZ for the new reinforcements before she sent the Longsword to the north. Orders had flashed in to run patrols in threes on the outskirts, but it would only be around twenty more minutes before they'd have to make their way back to the frigate to refuel.

She caught sight of a Spartan on her IFF making their way towards the structure. Odd. Jay hadn't been informed about any others on this deployment. Was there more than one ship involved here?

She didn't have long to ponder it regardless before she pulled up on the left wing of a pair of Longswords. She banked to match their heading and sent over a ping to the pair. They pinged back quickly. Now the slow circling began...

Kaye found her nest, a rocky outcropping partially covered by foliage, as Longsword's screamed overhead. She wedged herself in, stabilised her position, and began flicking through the magnification settings on her helmet. She settled in, occasionally switching between her chosen three levels, observing every part of the structure in a methodical, practiced manner.

The Pelican shudders as it activates its landing procedure. The back end opens and the reinforcements that were called in stand and begin jumping out.

"Move to Hornets, hurry!"

Fireteam Charlie wasn't far behind and their own group was settling in.

Vincent jumps up onto one of the hornets, being joined by another of his group and it wasn't long before he was back in the air. He scanned the mountain range for something, anything that could tell where the enemy were.

He felt a burning sensation on his shoulder. His hearing went dark and pain crept in. He looked over to his partner and as their eyes met, a beam of plasma tore their gaze apart. The other soldier dropped to the ground and before he could realize he let out a scream over open comms.

"SNIPERS!"

You missed. The thought echoed in Kaye's head as the plasma bolt sizzled through the air. She twitched left, following the light. Too slow. She scolded herself, she should've seen them already. Shouldering her rifle, she scanned the zone she had lost the beam in. A glint, about two hundred metres beyond the structure, set up her plan. Alert ground forces. Fire three bursts, nine rounds, and be away from her nest before it knew what hit him. She hesitated. I don't have the marine communications key.
Nine rounds cracked through the air, and Kaye was moving.

He shifts a bit through the pain and grabs the Hornet with his other arm. Trying his best to keep hold as the pilot does is best to dodge incoming projectiles. If this pilot goes down now I ain't comin back either He looks down and scowls Like hell am I jumpin. Ain't nothin for me to do but enjoy the ride. He raps on the Hornet to get the attention of the person inside.

"You do your best to get me to where I'm going!" He gives a little thumbs up to which the pilot gives a worried thumbs up back.

Over comms he can hear chatter. People yelling to take cover and for sniper teams to scan the mountain ahead for the surprise attackers. He was already up and while it would be sane for them to try to get back down, a mission is a mission.

Jay continued the circular patrol with the other Longswords. Her comm unit was lighting up now with reports of sniper contact on the marine teams, but it wasn't anything anyone was calling in Longsword support for.

She gave a slight sigh.

Over head he notices something poking from the top of the mountain range. Purple and sleek in design. Banshees have entered the equation. He looks behind him. Another Hornet with two other marines. The pain in his shoulder pushes through again as he motions to the new problem. They radio in as soon as they see. On high mention something about Longswords joining the fight as groups of Phantoms have also been spotted leading the banshees. Full aerial deployment... Looking at his GPS, they are currently not far from the designated point. Another beam of light rips past him and a look of annoyance comes across his face.

"Mission is a mission but sometimes you gotta wing it a bit." He enters a closed comm.
"Hornets 1 and 2 get us as close to the enemy sniper fire as you can. We're gonna clean them out"
"Aye" the pilots respond.

They move in closer to a nearby ridge. He gathers his courage and with eyes closed, drops off. With a thud he lands and takes cover in a crack in the mountain. Checking his equipment, he waits for the other two as his ride departs. Hornet 2 approaches and a ball of plasma shoots past; missing the friendly but exploding part of the ridge. He pops out of the crack and returns fire but the recoil from the AR flares his pain. The other two hop off and also exchange fire with the Banshee, hoping at least a couple of shots land.

"New mission is to clear this ridge so our boys can have safe transport." He looks down. Everything looks like ants from here. "Maybe we can find where they're hiding like this."

Jay cursed under her breath. They'd almost hit the Phantoms. Physically.

They'd appeared from nowhere almost right in front of the Longsword patrol and the trio had had to scramble to get out of the way in time. Plasma balls lanced through the air after them but the Longswords were too fast. Still, they'd lost formation and the dogfight was soon to become chaotic.

She banked the craft around the west side, turning it back onto a collision course with one of the Phantoms. 50mm rounds burst from the eight coilguns, shredding into the light energy shield and quickly overloading it. By the time she pulled out of the course, the Phantom was spiralling down in blue flames.

Before she could assess the next target, more plasma fire peppered past her. This time they were more accurate, and faster. A trio of Banshees had caught onto her rear and were refusing to give up the chase.

Kaye dropped to her stomach, crashing into a prone position in a small ditch as the aerial battle began. It can't be helped. Hopefully the Banshees were going to be too busy to shoot at her. She reloaded, a purple energy bolt darting past her. She'd covered a good distance, but it wasn't enough. I got the first one, She told herself, The second won't be far. She tried to peak her head out, but was dissuaded by another flash of purple light and searing heat. Got you. She took a knee, rising to a shooting position, and fired two bursts from her rifle.

While most of the reinforcements were deployed via dropship, Cal and his platoon were taking a more....express method.

"Troopers, we are green and VERY, VERY MEAN!!" the Lieutenant barked over the comm, as Cal and the fifteen other Orbital Drop troopers sat in their pods, dangling over the planet below. The pod gave it's countdown beep, signaling the imminent drop before the clamps released, and they all descended into the fight. From inside, he listened to the sit rep, getting a decent idea of their objective and what to expect but even so, the Helljumper was having a tough time understanding the bit about Forerunners. He'd heard rumors but ONI spooks always came in like the boogeymen to silence them, and now he was, dropping to secure the very same thing.

"Fireteam Garuda, form up on me," he said to his squadmates, steering his own pod away from the main cluster for their target drop. He wasn't sure how on point the intel was, but supposedly they were about to be dropped near one of the last known Covenant sightings. Let's fucking go...he thought to himself, as he was jostled in his pod.

Jay dived the Longsword down towards the ground. Up above, flashes of burning fire lit the top of the canopy as the first waves of pods came hurtling through the atmosphere. She didn't have time to even think about them. Two of the Banshees peeled off from her rear to move towards the drop zone, clearly intending to deal with the first landers.

That left just one. She throttled up and levelled out the dive, using the speed increase to gain distance to execute a turn. Once the Banshee was head on, there was no contest. The 50mm guns did their work in a second, leaving a purple firey wreck hurtling downwards.

A quick check of the radar showed that the pods would be in trouble soon, but the fuel gauge was blinking. She had to take the Longsword back up now or never.

She grimaced, and then angled upwards. The ODST's were on their own.

Near the end of the drop, Garuda's pods all deployed their braking mechanisms to slow down in preparation for the descent. That gave Cal a brief moment, looking through his viewport, to realize how badly intel had dropped the ball. Whatever Covenant presence had been spotted near their LZ, had had enough time to set up some minor emplacements given the streaks of purple and red plasma fire he saw arc upwards from the ground. Shade turrets, if he had to guess, but there was no more time for his brain to properly process the implications, as with a near deafening sound of impact, his pod collided with the ground.

The door blew out of its frame, and he was fast behind it with his M7S SMG at the ready, activating his VISR to better get a feel for the area and identify any hostiles. Thankfully nothing was firing at him yet, but given how quickly that could change he didn't relax; his pod had landed on the edge of a winding riverbed, long since dried up with only a scant number of desert plants along its path. There was a rustle behind him, and he turned sharply, weapon raised just as he heard a voice on the comm. "Thunder!" Liz snapped, her tone tense. Sighing, Cal lowered his weapon and looked at the second member of Garuda, Elizabeth 'Liz' Janesse, his demo specialist. "Flash," he answered, finishing the standard identification swap. In the distance, he could hear the all too familiar sounds of weapon fire; both bullets, and plasma. "Locate anyone else?" he asked, which got him a brief shake of her helmet. "VISR says they're close though, so we should see them soon." Her French accent was all business, but there was a definite note of annoyance at the unexpected anti-air fire. Not that Helljumpers were unaccustomed to their situations changing.

"Either way, we need to get moving to the objective marker," Cal said, turning to face its direction as it was painted on his HUD. "Two klicks ahead and we rendezvous with the rest of the platoon. Looks like we had some air cover earlier, hopefully that continues but be prepared if things go FUBAR." Liz said nothing, but he could practically see the little smirk behind her helmet. She always had a certain...enthusiasm, for her demolitions expertise.

Kaye clicked her tongue in annoyance as she sprang into a full sprint, a beam of energy clipping her energy shield and shattering it. How many are there? She wondered, scanning for the shooter. She had spent more hours than she cared to count scouting the region, she should have seen them days ago. She twitched. Her body snapping to the right, as another energy bolt arced through the space her head had been, the muzzle of her rifle flashing as she returned fire.

An aging warrior kneels on a ridge, looking out at the distant battle tracing streaks of light and smoke across the rocky desert. He disengages his active camouflage, knowing the distance between himself and the battle below to be far too great for any meaningful exchange of fire. He squints, clicking his mandibles in contemplation. It had been over two years since he had engaged the Humans in combat, and so much had changed since then. He rose to his feet.

Just then, an Unggoy Minor waddled up to his side, tapping a datapad. "The initial scans were correct, your excellence. The structure is dormant, but there are power signatures coming from inside. It seems the Covenant are here for the same reason we are".

"And the Humans?" his deep, growling voice seeming to unsettle the Grunt beside him.

Swiping rapidly at the datapad, the Unggoy choked out, "I-impossible to say, your piety. They may not yet be aware of the structure's content or purpose..."

"Hmm". The Sangheili thought for a moment, then placed a hand on the Grunt's shoulder. "Thank you, Yopyop". The words felt awkward in his mandibles. But a few short years ago, he would never have cared to know his Grunt's name, let alone to address him with dignity, even respect; so much had changed since then. "Inform the Shipmaster, and have my Elites prepare for battle".

Yopyop nodded and waddled away.

As a light breeze swept over the ridge, the Warrior pulled his cloak around himself, gazing up into the sky as a Banshee was ripped to pieces by a Human fighter-craft. He wondered to himself what its pilot must have thought in his final moments- Did his thoughts go to his family? His lineage? Whether he had brought honor to his house and name? Or perhaps did they go to the Gods? The Covenant?

Two more Sangheili approached, and the three exchanged a silent look before engaging their active camouflage and making their way down the ridge and towards the great structure in the distance.

Since the Prophet's betrayal, the Warrior had not felt the touch of his Gods, nor heard the whisper of their intent. Now he had come to this place, hoping to learn what those Gods want, and how to speak to them. He had come searching for purpose- they all had -and they would carve a bloody path through these heretics clinging to their broken Covenant to find it. Perhaps, he thought, he would even engage the Humans again, though it felt strange to think that a question rather than a certainty. It had been years since he'd fought them,

And so much had changed since then...

Marcus had hopped off Hornet 2 and found cover as quick as he could. It had been awhile since he had been in a firefight so adrenaline felt like it was pumping way harder than normal, at least it felt like it. He was worried that he may not be as sharp as he could be, should be. Despite all the practice and sparring in the frigate. This is the real thing. And while he had fought the covenant many times over the past several years he could never perfectly predict how the fight will go. Most battles were won with overwhelming numbers and firepower. But this isn't the full fledged covenant, they had broken up a couple years ago. They may fight dirty or at least differently. He needed to be on high alert.

Just then banshees had flown overhead. He readied his BR and let off a few bursts. Nothing more than pots shots but he hoped it had done something. He reloaded and saw that his previous ride had been missed, which he was grateful for. They will need all the air support they could get. He looked to his right and left, two other marines were with him. He wondered if it was enough to take this ridge. Hell, today might be the day. He peaked over his cover, aimed and fired into the hand of a shield jackal which caused it to recoil in pain. He tried to go for another burst but he was under fire and missed entirely. "Damnit!" He cursed aloud. He slinked back down into cover and opened his comms on an open channel. "Can we get some air support down here?! It's not exactly a fair fight!"

As Cal and Liz continued along towards the objective, they had managed to link up with their remaining two squadmates: Lin Tanaka, affectionately called Ninja because of how quiet she was as the team sniper, and James Martinez who rounded out the team as their close quarters specialist. They had neared the halfway mark when Lin suddenly tackled James to one side, just as a purple, crystalline shard whistled through the space his helmet had just occupied. "Snipers!" Cal yelled, both Liz and himself similarly crouching down low near the raised edge of the riverbed. Risking a peek, Cal's VISR briefly painted the red outline of a familiar profile and telltale signs of glowing eyes. "Fuck, Jackals," he said, ducking down as a crystalline shard tore into the earth that served as cover. "And they have needle rifles...." Lin added, moving to crouch beside him with her rifle in hand. "I briefly made out two of them."

"At least they don't have those fucking beam rifles," James growled out, checking his shotgun. "Yeah, you'd have been dead way before I could tackle you; pretty sure these guys are just scouts," Lin said, speaking in a hushed tone. "Sir, I won't be able to get a shot at them from here, not like this. I'm gonna nee--"

"Need a rabbit, I know," Cal said, already reaching the same conclusion. "Martinez, feeling lucky?" His CQ specialist looked at him, and he could all but see the crazy look behind that visor. "I mean, I did bring a shotgun to a sniper fight sir. I'm feeling very lucky." Nodding, Cal looked to Liz, appraising her weapon of choice; an MA5K rifle, it had about the same range as his SMG but more accuracy and stability. "On my count, Liz and I give suppressing fire; Martinez makes a run to get their attention while Lin, you take them out." The three of them gave their confirmation nods, while Lin shuffled off with her rifle in tow, maintaining a low position as more shards tore at the ground.

"Three....two....one...now!" Cal barked, both he and Liz emerging with their weapons aimed at the general direction of the Jackal pair. Before they had even crossed over the lip of the riverbed, their fingers already pulled the triggers and released a spray of fire while James broke into a full sprint for the nearest cover, screaming, yelling like a raving lunatic. "VAMOS PENDEJOS!" he yelled, while more shards impacted the ground and made tiny clouds of dust. He leaped into a dive, diving behind a rock as Cal and Liz went back down for cover. "Lin, you ready?" he asked over the comm. She didn't answer, and for a moment he worried that she had run into trouble. Instead, there was the age old crack of a sniper rifle, the roar of it firing once, then twice, before she spoke. "Jackals down sir. But we've got Grunts coming in; I think those guys were supposed to flush us out for the snipers, got maybe seven of them charging in here."

Jay rode the Longsword through the fire of the atmosphere once more, juddering in her seat. There were calls for CAS crackling through her long range, but she tuned them out. The fuel just wouldn't last. She hoped that they could hold on for another twenty minutes.

As she broke the outer shell and drifted in the dark space beyond, she righted the Longsword and brought it about in a path to track back with the carrier. A few minutes later and she was docking. The ship came down smoothly and she leapt out of it right away as they began hooking fuel lines to the exterior.

A few short words barked from her helmet. "Which one's ready?"

There was a cry back from the opposite side of the hanger 'C4'.

She half sprinted over towards the Longsword docked in C4, pushing a pilot out of the way as she clambered up into the cockpit and begna the take-off procedure.

Fifteen minutes...That's all the ground had to hold out for.

"Oh that's just peachy. Garuda get ready for a firefight," Cal snarled, getting out of the river bed and charging forward. It had some decent cover sure, but the Grunts tended to charge en mass and let their numbers overwhelm entrenched positions. Seven of them may not have been a problem per se, but that depended on what they were carrying. "James, Liz, on me; let's take up positions there by those boulders. Lin, keep us covered and call out anything we haven't seen."

They weren't Spartans with the fancy armor; if they tried to charge headlong into the Grunts, hardened ODST's or no, it'd get ugly. So Cal had his team fight smart; when the first of the Grunts got within range, Cal heard the sound of Lin's rifle firing, a cracking sound that tore through the relative silence of their area. The distant, chittering barks and screams of the Grunts could be heard as one of their own fell, half their face gone from the anti-material round tearing its way through. Lin popped another, leaving five remaining for the charge, and already two of them were quickly illuminated with a green glow as they charged up their plasma weapons. Cal and Liz forced the approaching Grunts to scatter, as they emerged from cover to pepper the crowd with combined fire from their SMG and rifle. Martinez for his part, kept close to the pair while scanning their flanks, making sure there weren't enemies trying to out-flank them. Everything seemed like it was going okay until one of the other ODST teams could be heard on the comms. "Contact, contact!" they screamed. "We've got Bansh--ahhhh!"

It cut off just as a plume of green smoke and light was seen forming up half a klick to the right. Cal recognized the voice as one of the members of Fireteam Griffon, and swore as he realized it wouldn't be long before whatever Banshee had done that came this way. "Liz, get that launcher ready," he barked, with Liz immediately ducking behind cover to prepare her SPNKR. She only had the two shots in the tubes, and two more in her pack, so they'd have to count. "Lin, Martinez and I can handle the Grunts, watch the sky for any fliers."

From her relatively small vantage point, Lin did her best; the desert they were in while rocky, didn't afford that many high areas for her to perch from, so her view of the horizon was limited.

As the group of Elite Warriors continued on their unseen approach to the Forerunner structure, the old veteran paused a moment to look out at the Humans in their fight. He was much closer now, and could make out their appearance much more clearly- the black-armored special forces that dropped in individual carapaces from orbiting ships. This would be interesting. Behind him, one of his warriors whispered in Sangheili.

"Field Marshal, the Humans-"

"The Humans are engaged, Tho," Zuka replied. His chosen team had earned their commando battle harnesses, but they were young, and naive. True, even with the heat of this desert place, a Human sniper might spot the thermal signature of his active camouflage, but at this angle to their flank, he would be safe. For now. "Come," he said, turning and starting off again for the objective.

The team made haste across the broken, uneven ground, almost dancing across the rocks with powerful, agile strides. Fortunately, the Covenant forces seemed to be as preoccupied as the Humans, as the three Elites soon found themselves ascending the side of the massive ridge surrounding the structure, having evaded the detection of the enemy's snipers. As Zuka leaped from his position over the lip of the rock and onto the ridge itself, he saw two Grunts fall in quick succession some 200-odd meters away. His attention quickly snapped to a much closer position as his two warriors formed up behind him.

A Shade emplacement, perfectly concealed amidst the rocks and waiting for the Human special forces to round the bend to burn them down. Zuka clicked his mandibles. He almost considered leaving it for them. However, his battlefield experience won out, and he lead his team toward the position. Six Grunts, two Jackals. Easy prey.

Zuka bounded over a boulder, igniting the crimson blade of his energy sword and driving it into the abdomen of an Unggoy before the pathetic creature could react. Stunned, the rest of the Covenant troops raised their weapons, just as Bul Radammee came leaping out behind, burning down two more Grunts with his twin plasma rifles. One of the Jackals swung around with his shield, but a pink spike from Tho Teramee's needle rifle tore into his neck, dropping him. Zuka charged the remaining Jackal, shoving aside the length of his beam rifle and ripping him in half with his blade. The last three Unggoy turned and ran, but were swiftly gunned down, leaving silence over the area.

Just then, a hot thud against his back popped his energy shielding and disengaged his active camouflage. He turned to see a Grunt clutching a smoking plasma pistol in a trembling hand, clearly having been waiting for his moment. Clever. But foolish. He buried his sword in it's chest before it could charge a second shot.

Nine bodies lay smoldering, some half-melted, others in pieces; all butchered. The silence did not last for long as the sound of Human gunfire drew closer. They would make it to this position soon. Good. While the old warrior felt no love for his old enemy, if they were here to fight the Covenant, then their goals were aligned. For now. As his shields flickered back to life, he re-engaged his active camouflage and began moving toward the next position.

Come, Humans.
Come and show me your measure.
Come and see what I shall leave in my wake.

Lin's view afforded her enough it seemed, as soon enough she caught sight of the familiar profiles of the Banshee's; the purple green craft looked like massive insects with bulbous fronts and two stubby wings, and they only grew larger as they approached with growing speed. "Contact--two Banshee's on approach from our two o'clock."

"Roger that Lin, tag them for Liz," Cal said, crouching to avoid a streak of green plasma fire. The last Grunt went down in as bullets tore into its armor and flesh, leaving a heap of hamburger and blue blood. On his VISR, Cal saw two red dots on approach vectors as Lin made sure the oncoming fliers were identified, tagging them with an infrared laser from her rifle. "Targeting," he head Liz say, as she readied the SPNKR from her position, the twin tubes of the launcher slowly panning as she tracked the same dots, syncing the targeting computer of the weapon with the data from her VISR. Before the first Banshee came within distance for its weapons, she had already thumbed the trigger, a plume of smoke emerging behind her as the tiny missile fired. With the aid of the laser guidance, it struck the first Banshee in a bright ball of fire, twisted, flaming alloys sent falling to the ground. The second banked right as it attempted to engage in evasive maneuvers , while Liz simply fired the second tube. The Banshee tilted, flipping in mid-air and dodged the second missile, turning around to come in for a strafing run on the humans.

"Dammit, cover!" Cal yelled, running for any scrap of cover he could, Martinez doing the same. Liz had ducked back behind the rock to reload, even as the Banshee fired its main guns; trails of white blue plasma hit the ground and turned rock and dirt to molten glass, as the Banshee screeched overhead. There was an answering sound of thunder though, and the craft suddenly jerked sharply to one side before accelerating, crashing at full force into a distant outcropping of rock. "Target down," Lin said calmly. "Remind me never to piss you off..." Martinez muttered over the comm, to which she only smiled behind her helmet. "Nice shot Lin," Cal said, sighing as he stared up at the sky from his position on the ground. Picking himself up, he checked to make sure everyone else was alright. "Let's keep moving, before more of them show up." Lin fell in behind the group as they broke into a brisk pace, moving as quick as they could for the target area.

With her shields recharged, Kaye broke from cover, sprinting across the remained of the open ground. She leapt over a rocky outcropping, and felt her boot connect with something. The object, a Jackal, had immediately given way in a shower of viscera. She took a knee, bringing the dead alien's rifle to her shoulder.

Jay swung the Longsword out of the hanger bay for the second time today, powering the thrusters up to full as she angled it downwards towards the planet. They weren't supposed to fire the engines so much during entry. It usually damaged the struts holding the wings to the body. Jay didn't have time to worry about that though, there were people down there who were vulnerable whilst she wasn't in the air.

She made a mental promise to apologise to the mechanic who had to fix it as the craft began to flame up. The onboard radar flickered in and out of power from the juddering, but she could already see a number of IFF pings on it. One, the Spartan from earlier, seemed to be surrounded by hostiles.

As Garuda drew closer to the target area, the first thing Cal noted was the geography; the ridge they approached looked like it opened into a canyon of sorts at the foot of the mountains, which was terrifying if for no other reason than it would mean perfect sniper cover for the shooting gallery they'd be walking into. But that wasn't the most immediate concern; the nine dead bodies of Grunts and Jackals left in the dirt, were what really had his attention. "Stay alert," he whispered, dropping into a crouch and approaching with his team. At first, he thought that maybe one of the other squads of ODST's had beaten them to the site and killed the Covies. But the slagged armor of the Grunts and the plasma burns quickly dismissed that idea. "Dead by plasma," he heard James say, while poking a Grunt with his shotgun. "We'd have been told if there were Covenant friendlies on site, right?"

"You would think so..." Cal muttered, walking to the next body, a Jackal who's arm was burned away, and two carbonized holes in their chest. "Let's assume then that whatever did this isn't friendly." Changing to the wider UNSC Battle-net, Cal attempted to raise additional ODST squads. "This is Corporal Mercer of Garuda to any and all Helljumpers, please confirm status."

It didn't take long for a response to come through, thankfully. "Mercer this is Carpenter," came a familiar male voice. "Fireteams Helix, Phoenix and Griffon are approaching but we ran into trouble and have two KIAs. Pair of Banshees were flying around earlier but I guess someone took care of them, and we've got ourselves a guardian angel too with that Longsword in the air. We should be at your location in about ten minutes."

"We'll scout ahead," Cal said, glancing at his team. "Something seems off and I don't want us all walking into a trap. See if you can raise that angel of yours, ask them to continue providing overwatch." He didn't mention the dead Covenant; there'd be no point until they actually knew what was happening.

Hours Earlier
I jolt up in my barracks, my eyes trying to focus, my mind still groggy. There's an alarm blaring, but not the "we're in battle" kind of alarm. I look around the room for my team and all I'm seeing are empty beds.
"Fireteam Delta report to the Tower." The notice glared with intensity on my TACPAD
What the hell is going on?
I get out of bed and head out the door. I watch as personnel dashing about the halls. As I jog through the halls, heading to the Spartan Tower, I hear whispers of ships being deployed. A small adrenal rush goes through me as my mind starts to think we might be heading to battle, my first real mission outside of this base. As I near the Tower I hear a voice calling out to me. I turn around and see F'tae, smaller than other Spartans and our scout. I got along with her the most. Judging from the portable food in her hand she had come from the mess hall. Lucky.

"Got early practice today it seems. I thought we had a free day today." She said

"I'm getting the feeling today may be a little different." I replied as she joined me in heading to the tower.

We arrive at the tower and head Delta's station. Jarrod, second in command, kind of stuck up and our team intelligence and communication specialist. He was getting prepped for Brokkr. "Morning Delta team, suit up." He talked without looking at us. I share a quick glance with F'tae and start the process of putting on the under suit.

"Can you tell us what's going on number 2?" asked F'tae. Jarrod gave a sigh of dissatisfaction.

"I too am kept in the dark. Lieutenant Commander York is on her way from debriefing," He walk into the Brokkr machine when commanded by personnel. "She wants us fully suited and ready."

A short time has passed and F'tae finished getting her armor on. I watch as the machine slows down and bring her vertical. She exits and I hand her her helmet. I still can't believe that we're part of the new generation of Spartans. We all heard the stories, the legends, the Master Chief. We all hoped to emulate such greatness. I'm making my family proud. I am brought back to attention as I hear Jarrod yell. "Attention!"

I quickly turn around and see our team leader LC Yolk walking toward our station. During the war she was an ODST squad leader. She was stern but understanding. I think secretly she like my jokes and shenanigans. We all salute our squad leader.

"At ease Delta," she stand in front of us, "First and foremost I am sorry that your free day was cancelled. You all have been working hard and now we will put that training to use. We have our first mission as Delta squad. I have been pushing you for this exact reason." She moved toward the Brokkr to get suited up. Before entering she turned to us. "I know we're ready. I am sending the info packet to your TACPADs. Read up, gear up, and meet in the the designated Condor in 20. Dismissed"

I walk off to the armory to pick up my mission package and do weapons check while I'm there. Can't have jams on such an important day. I enter our Condor and do a gear check of the ship. I was on edge, excited, and I wanted everything to go right. I hear the others enter the ship. Jarrod go up to the front to talk to the pilot. Everything was green. I sit down and read through the mission packet. UNSC Iron Haven...

Jay's radio feed lit up suddenly with new reports from on high. A second wave of troops were inbound to the ground. These new Spartans were among them. She scowled a little, and pushed the Longsword forward quicker. Within moments she was pulling a six G turn to get behind a banshee that had just begun a strafing run against a group of marines on the ground. The cannons opened up and a moment later, the craft plummeted to the ground in a haze of purple fire.

The other banshees nearby quickly reacted, grouping up to chase her Longsword from multiple directions. Plasma bolts lanced through the air, rarely connecting with the hull.

Jay opened the comms channel.

"Spartan 297 requesting support. Someone pull these banshees off of me."

I can feel the Condor slow down as it exists slip space. I get up from my seat and look out the portside window. We can cee Iron Haven off in the distance.

"I've just notified Iron Haven off our arrival. They have given us clearance to land." Jarrod proclaimed

York spoke right after, "Delta you have your orders. We are here to provide support and push back the covenant. As you can see there are multiple unit that need backup. We will split up and take a sector. I want a Sitrep every 20. Understood."

All in unison. "Yes Ma'am!"

The descent through the atmosphere was a bit rocky.

"LZ in 10." The pilot notified us. There was a lot of greenery. Lots of places to hide, too many blind spots.

"Spartan 297 requesting support." A call for help across UNSC channels. A Spartan?! This should be fun. I've never met an original before.

"Lieutenant!" I turned to face my CO. "Permission to assist?"

"Permission granted. Jarrod bring up the surround holo. Show me where the call came from."

Jarrod brought up the information and sent it to our helmets. A red ping appeared on our map. "From what I can gather she is pursued be covenant banshees. A hand full of them." I pick up a SPNKr from the weapons rack and walk to the back.

"Take us above and I'll drop out," I turn my CO, "If that is okay with our Ma'am?" She nods and commands the pilot to bring us near the S.O.S. I press the button to open the back hatch. A rush of wind blows into the ship as the sharp sound of air flies passed us. I look down and see the enemy banshees beneath us. I take a deep breath and fly. I love the rush I get as I plummet to the ground. I bring the SPNKr to my shoulder. I hold my aim still waiting for the lock on. A long beep erupts as I lock on the ship directly behind the Longsword and I fire. If brother could see me now.

SSO Last Seal Of Revelation
Bridge
April 16, 2554

"Fleetmaster-"

"Hmm?"

Koh 'Radaama leaned back in his command chair as one of the bridge officers approached with a datatablet. The old Fleetmaster was veteran of many campaigns- since before the Humans were discovered by the Covenant, throughout that brutal conflict, and now, in its wake, a campaign of his own. He'd been looking at his holomonitor, watching the Covenant ships and their transports' comings-and-goings, as well as the Humans' ship and its crafts' signatures. Just then, a new marking appeared on the screen- another Human craft, much smaller than their ship in orbit. He guessed that would be the nature of the officer's interruption.

"We have detected a slipspace rupture, more Humans are arriving."

"So I have noticed."

"Shall I have the ship move to engage?"

"No. Keep the ship cloaked for now- No use revealing our hand to the Covenant, and I want to see what these Humans do... Is there anything else?"

"Yes Fleetmaster- Field Marshal 'Žhýkovai and his team have engaged the Covenant ground forces and are making their way to the Forerunner structure as we speak."

"Good. Perhaps soon we shall have some answers..."





Unknown Planet
Outskirts of an Unknown Forerunner Structure
April 16, 2554

Field Marshal Zuka 'Žhýkovai looked down over the rocky outcropping he stood atop- he'd seen the Human special forces approaching, but had lost sight of them in the rocks around where his team had been only shortly before. His Elites were nearly to the base of the structure now, and he allowed himself a moment to marvel at the thought of what they might find inside. Some part of him almost hoped he would be forced to face the Humans in combat, but he had his mission, and did not intend to be distracted unnecessarily.

Bul 'Doramee approached from behind, dragging the battered corpse of a Jackal in one hand. "Sir, the Covenant forces are building up a defensive position at the structure's entrance. They know we're coming."

"Hmm..." Zuka clicked his mandibles as he turned to look uphill at the construct. In its enormity it felt closer than it was, but it would still be some distance to the inlet, and a decent fight too. He saw at least two approach vectors that wouldn't lead them straight into the kill-zones the enemy had surely sighted out- they could snake through the rocks along the outer rim of the ridgeline, or they could climb the inner cliff, rely on their active camouflage to cover them and drop in on the next emplacement from above. He pointed up the cliff wall. "We'll take a high path along the wall- maintain the overwatch advantage and keep an eye on the Human warriors. They will be unlikely to follow us that way."

"Yes, Field Marshal," Bul replied, before dropping the bloody Jackal in his hand and pushing it over the ridgeside with his foot. As he turned and jogged away, he engaged his active camo, disappearing into the dust kicking up in the breeze.

Zuka stood and stared another moment down over the path he'd ascended, his own active camo erasing his silhouette as his gaze shifted skyward, tracking a glint of light racing down through the thick clouds before it's cannons sparked to life and sent a Banshee to the ground in brilliantly-colored flames. He wondered for a moment about it's pilot, before turning to join his Elites.

One of the banshees flamed and spiralled down to the ground behind Jay's Longsword. She banked the craft, bringing the other banshee still trailing back towards the source of the rockets. Display screens screamed red at her as plasma bolts melted their way through the exterior hull.

She flipped the fire extinguishers on the left engine, hoping to quell the fire that had erupted out of it, and leaving a trail of white smoke behind her as she flew on. Her right hand moved to unlock the eject button and her finger hovered over it. If the extinguisher worked, she could limp this down to the ground. If the engine flared again, she'd have to bail.

Bolts of plasma cascaded around Kaye, her shields flaring as they deflected opening shots. She fired the sniper rifle. Two, She mentally tallied, they'd all agreed it wasn't fair to count anything but a confirmed kill. She charged forwards, the beam rifle flaring again. Three. "Sir," she said, opening a line to her CO, "Situation deteriorating, hostile ground forces are converging on UNSC position." She swung the rifle like a bat, catching a grunt around the head with a bloody crack. Four She added. Shouldering the weapon again, she fired twice, overheating the rifle.

As the Elite team moved along the cliff wall, the dust and sand in the air making tiny static pings against their shields and active camo, the Field Marshal paused and looked out again over the lower plain below the ridge. The light of plasma bolts and traces of needle rounds danced across the rocks, complimented by the occasional firey blast of a Human explosive. But something was odd; the illuminate streaks of a beam rifle appeared to be returning fire on advancing Covenant. He contemplated. "Tho," Zuka called out, "Your rifle."

Tho 'Teramee stepped forth, handing his Needle Rifle to his officer.

Zuka raised the rifle, using both its digital scope and his own helmet's optical zoom capabilities to scan the area. It was not long before another streak of plasma cut through the air, and as his gaze snapped to its origin point, he just barely caught a glimpse of a helmet of a sort he'd seen before. A Demon is Here? Now things were becoming very interesting. If the Humans have deployed a Demon, they must know more than we suspected.

A few more lines of plasma drew his gaze back toward the Covenant slightly up the ascent from the Demon's position. Grunts and Jackals. He trained the sight on a Jackal holding a beam rifle, and as the scrawny creature stood to take a shot, he squeezed off one of his own. The needle flew for a second or two, wavering slightly in the wind, before shattering against a rock near its intended target. Zuka growled in frustration. He was better suited for the blade. "Tho," he called again, holding the rifle out to the Elite who then took it in hand. "Do not risk a third shot. Even through this dust, if the Human has thermal optics, it might spot us if we reveal our position."

"Understood," Tho replied, crouching low and raising the needle rifle to his shoulder. When he'd acquired the target, he let out a slow breath, held it, and squeezed the trigger. The needle cut through the wind like a dart, burying itself in the side of the Jackal's brain with a sharp crack, leaving it's corpse twitching in the sand for a moment before ceasing.

Zuka placed a hand on Tho's shoulder in approval. It wouldn't make an enormous difference in the Demon's fight, but it had been years since he had seen one, and he wanted to see it up close.

It would be a shame for it to die in disgrace to a lowly sniper.

I love the colorful display when a Banshee explodes, like art. I am at the next target but the lock on is tricky. They're getting too far away, but that will change soon. The pilot make a quick turn in my direction leading the rest towards my radius. I aim at the nearest one and fire. It blazes through the air towards its target. Easy kill. I wish I had more rockets, but alas it's time to ditch this beautiful weaponry. The longsword gets in closer and I see flames shooting out a plasma hole. This little birdie is going down sooner rather than later. I activate my jetpack and fly off toward their location. If I can highjack one of those banshees I might be able to help the longsword descend, or at the least pick up a friendly stranger.

"This is your captain speaking, if you look to your left you can see the oh so majestic brick flying to your left," I joking say as I radio the longswords pilot, "Backup on route."

If there is one good thing about this past war is that we have access to their weapons. They always teased me about requesting one but I knew it would come in handy. I take out my sidearm. As I hold down the trigger a bright green glow emanates from its front. I fire my pistol and coat one of the banshees in a bright blue energy field. One down. I use rapid thruster movements to slow my descent and take out my blade and stab it into the the side of the banshee hull. I open the hatch and pull the elite out. I take my seat and throttle the thrusters. My banshee flies forward

Jay didn't have time to look outside the window as the comm came through her helmet. She was chaotically trying to keep the Longsword up in the air. She opened the flaps, dragging the craft to a slow halt in an attempt to give the extinguisher better coverage on the engine. Without the speed, she had to tilt it down towards the ground to avoid the stall.

It was working, right up until the moment it wasn't. The Longsword shook heavily and began to roll left. The right flaps had sheered off entirely, weakened by the plasma bolts. Ejecting was no good now, she had every chance of just being launched into the ground. She reached up and hit the manual hatch bolts, blowing the canopy off and letting it go spinning away.

Carefully she loosened each of her belts as her mind screamed about the rapidly approaching ground. Her hand hestitated on the last belt release. Inside the suit, she turned the hydrostatic gel up to full. With difficulty, she pushed the release and was hurtled out of the Longsword by the resulting G force.

Quick recap of last post:

Before Michael could hail the Longsword, there was the sound of an explosion from on high and the sudden flash of a fireball, before the telltale sign of the fighter craft could be seen streaking through the air towards the ground. "Well, so much for air support," the ODST muttered, relaying the news to all ground troops in range. At the same time, he picked up word of their remaining ground forces being forced back, snarling out a curse. "Mercer, it's looking bad out there; I'll split us off and send half our team to help out our Marines, and the rest will pick up the pace behind you. But you're likely gonna be on your own brother."

Cal simply sighed into his helmet, shaking his head to no one in particular. "Roger that; Garuda will proceed on foot. Give them hell, Carpenter." That was the last he said, before pressing his team on. Lin was the first to halt them, holding her hand up and tagging a couple spots on the team VISR. "Sir....I don't see anything, but if I wanted to set up a killzone...well, another 100 feet ahead, and that'd be it," she whispered, drawing a grunt from her CO. "Let's not assume whatever killed those Covies behind us is looking out for us; think you can find us a decent alternative, Lin?"

Looking through her scope, the team sniper said nothing for a beat, before tagging a third spot. "There, along the cliff. It's a climb but we can manage, I think." Glancing over at Liz, she asked with a hint of sarcasm, "Unless our demo expert feels nervous about heights." The look, while masked behind her visor, was sour as Liz aimed her gaze at Lin. "I wouldn't be much of a Helljumper if I was afraid of heights, asshole. I'll be fine." The matter settled, the team moved upwards along the cliff as they bypassed what was predicted to be a shooting gallery. As far as the climb went, it was far from the most difficult they ever had to do, but there was a fear of exposure, their position still being more. Keeping low, Lin would occasionally make a sweep with a scope from her kit, the rifle slung over her shoulder by its strap, checking for any hostiles. When she panned further towards the mountainside, she stopped with an audible gasp. "Holy shit..." she whispered, making Cal look in the same direction. What he saw, left him mildly awestruck; the structure that stuck out the side of the mountain was alien, no doubt about it, with geometric angles that didn't match any human structure he was familiar with, outside expressionist art pieces maybe. "Well, I guess we found the target," he heard Martinez mutter

He sets up next to the other Marines who've joined him on this unexpected expedition. Taking potshots when he can at anything he sees. A stray bolt catches the third marine in the head. His eyes widen and he turns away from the gruesome scene as a thud echoes off the ground.

"God damn" he mutters under his breath as he notices some movement to the right on the ridge. He nudges the remaining Marine. "Movement ahead. Get ready." He aims his Battle Rifle and waits for the drop. Methane tanks bounce up and down as a few Grunts waddle into the scene. He lines up his shot and lets loose a burst into the head of one before they knew what hit them. A scowl runs over his face and his shoulder flares up again. "Move up after this engagement. They're coming from somewhere near." He says, gritting through the pain.

It isn't more than a few second upon piloting this banshee that Gunnar come to the conclusion that the longsword isn't going to make it. Smoke filled the area behind as the ship start veering left, hard. He initiates the boost and hopes to catch up. He makes a quick bank to the right, something shot past him nearly hitting him. In response he flips the banshee around and see the Spartan in free fall. There's not much space between them and the ground and the gap is closing fast. He flies above the soldier and ditches the banshee. He uses it at leverage to launches himself toward the spartan. His plan was to grab the soldier and use his jetpack to slow their descent. With a little luck and Spartan grit they should make it out in one piece.

"If you can hear me, take hold!" Gunnar yells into the mic. His hand held open in front of him as they both are falling to the ground.

Jay heard the voice over the comms but the armour lock on the suit was finished. She couldn't move, let alone talk with the gel layer crushing at all her muscles. She was a rock hurtling towards the ground.

Seven, Kaye added to her tally, letting go of the exhausted beam rifle that was now buried in a Jackal's chest cavity. She ducked, hearing the distinctive crack of a needle rifle. No follow up. She noted, already rolling to avoid a volley of spikes that impaled the ground where she had been standing. She fired at the Brute, dislodging its' helmet. Her rifle clicked empty. She threw it like a javelin, catching the alien on the cheekbone. The Brute flinched, slowing the charge and buying her half a second to draw her sidearm. She fired three rounds, blood splattering the rocks even as she twirled to avoid being pummelled. She jumped, landing on the Brute's back, burying her combat knife in the side of its' neck. For good measure, she placed her pistol against its' temple and fired, splattering her prosthetic with gore.

No more shots came her way, so she retrieved her rifle, cleaning the blood off of herself as best she could. She looked up, watching the Longsword streak through the air. She switched her eyes to the two Spartan IDs, her optics zooming in on them. Armour's locked down. I'd have done the same. Looks like the other doesn't know that trick.

With the ground incoming quickly Gunnar realized had to make some decisions. The best he could hope for was slowing their descent, if even a little. With the ground and forest only a few hundred meters and closing fast, Gunnar was able to grab hold of a piece of the shoulder armor and pushed his jetpack to max. The combined weight of two Spartans was too much for the jetpack and it was almost on empty. He was only able to hold on for a few seconds before he had to let go and use the last of the fuel to keep himself from becoming injured. He headed for some of the web like canopy, and with a couple of broken branches he was finally on the ground. He looked around the crash site of the other spartan.

Jay smashed into the ground with extreme force, lessened only slightly by attempt from the Spartan IV. She cratered her way through the dirt, the armour systems holding her body in a still position as the gel layer took all the worst of the crash.

When she came to a rest, she lay there for a moment, dazed and attempting to pull her conciousness back together. The armour systems softened once more and her body went limp.

Vincent and the only other surviving marine in this makeshift two person squad begin exchanging fire with the Grunts who, after being startled at their friend's death, are popped like balloons at a children's birthday. The pain jutting up Ayers' arm once more as the rifle butts into his shoulder with each shot. Eventually he'll have to do something for it but right now its only about doing what he can for the mission. The two advance forward through the rocks taking potshots when they can and covering themselves when they receive fire from a higher ridge or even the air. Chatter bursts into his ear about vague updates on the current happenings. He can't make sense of it all and its just overloading him.

Eventually, the two see something built into the side of the mountain on the level they're on. An entry point obstructed by pillars of rocks. They stack up one on each side of the entryway and gaze in. The further you see, the less of the natural light can reach in; slowly replaced by the faint glow of blue lights in the dark.

Kaye watched the pair go down beyond the treeline, clicking her tongue in annoyance. She'd hoped they'd land closer than that. Strangely, her armour was displaying one of them on her HUD. It made it easy to find them, at least, and they weren't as far away as she'd initially feared. She stepped out into the small clearing made by their entrance, lowering her pistol as she identified them.
"Can you walk?" She asked the pair, though behind her helmet her gaze was on grounded Spartan, "Hostile ground forces are still in the AO."

As the team proceeded along the upper cliff wall, they spotted an outcropping, upon which were sat two Jackal snipers, scanning the ridgeline below. As Zuka approached from behind and above, prepared to strike, one of them snapped their sight to the cliff wall where he had been only minutes before. His own gaze turned back the way he'd come, and he could just barely see one of the black-harnessed Humans from around the rocky corner, apparently looking out at the structure with some sort of optical device. So, they have chosen to follow us.

Without wasting any more time, Zuka pounced from his position, bringing his invisible weight down on one Jackal's head and torso, splattering it underfoot, while decapitating the other with his sword, before either could process what had happened. He picked up one of the beam rifles and used its scope to get a better look at the Human he'd spotted. Surely the rest of it's team would not be far behind it. Dropping the rifle, he signaled to his Elites, and the three began moving along the cliff as hastily as possible without kicking up too much dust.

It was not long before the metallic walls of the structure came to meet the stone wall of the cliff path, and as they proceeded, Zuka took a moment to place a hand on it's cold, bright surface. It had been a long time since he'd beheld the architecture of the Gods. Soon, the cliff path came to a terminus, overlooking a large trench in the rocky terrain leading to the structure's entrance- and nearing that very threshold, Humans. He felt disgust boil in his abdomen, but he had a mission, and he wanted to find out what these Humans knew.

Swiftly, Zuka bounded across several rocks, descending into the trench below, with Tho and Bul following close behind. As a slight breeze rolled through the trench, the sand and dust began to rise and swirl in glittering clouds, concealing even the shimmer of the Elite's active camouflage. Perfect. They carefully trail the Humans until they come to the entrance itself. He watched as they split apart, one on each side, looking in. Even better. He waited for his moment, an upkick in the breeze and the swirling sandclouds, and he and his team moved for the entryway, and as they briefly glanced at the Humans, passed by with a whisper, like ghosts in the shadow.