Halo Roleplay

Gunnar notified his C.O on route to the crash site. When he finally caught he saw them still on the ground. Theit vital look good

Arriving only few meters from the individual Gunnar heard the voice of another human, another Spartan 3. He wanted to talk but this new one was more interested in the one on the ground. He remained quiet.

A cold shiver runs up his spine as if some kind of demon began gazing back at him through the shadows. He motions for the other Marine to call this in. As he does so, he can't help but notice something. Maybe its just the stress of the situation playing tricks on his eyes. He could swear he could briefly see an outline but he just shakes his head.

"Feel like diggin' in here and waitin' for another group would be the call. No use advancing without some kinda backup." He says out loud. Looking over to his partner in this who had just got done radioing in the entrance location and setting a ping for anyone who can manage; he looks at the marine's patch on his chest. Blanchard, huh.

It didn't take Cal and his team long to traverse the path, following the cliffside to the alien structure and its entrance. Here and there though, they'd stop as Lin paused to make a wide sweep with her scope, looking over the terrain. At first she had managed to spot Covenant ground forces and tag them, but the rising breeze that brushed against their armor seemed a telltale hint of a stronger wind down below, as dust was kicked into the air and a haze settled in. "Come on," Cal said, spurring them back into motion. Just as they were nearing the entrance, a call went out on the open channel, a Marine pinging the location with an announcement of their presence. "Holy shit did we just get beat by Marines?" he heard Martinez whispered, earning a swift, cutting motion from Cal to quiet him.

"This is Corporal Mercer of fireteam Garuda, we read you and are approaching on foot. We'll meet you in roughly two minutes."

Jay lay there as her brain buzzed in it's skull. Senses faded in and out. Someone was talking nearby, but it was muted. She heard half of it and none of it processed. The world around her was a jumbled mix of blues and greens and browns. Slowly, air filtered it's way through to her lungs and her blood brought fresh oxygen to her brain.

She sat herself up and then clambered up to her feet. There were two Spartans near her. She stared between them.

"What's the situation?"

"Enemy ground forces are moving through the area, likely objective is to repel UNSC shore party." Kaye answered, "Jackal snipers are on overwatch in the AO. We're under a klick away from the objective-structure."

Faint blue lights flickered and faded in the impenetrable darkness of the structure's antechamber, the soft golden glow of the daylight having reached its limit far behind. Zuka, Bul, and Tho moved slowly ever onwards, deeper, as the floor transitioned into a slight decline. Glancing all about, watching for threats or points of interest, each of them could not help but be captivated by the flowing streams of blue glyphs, like little rivers in the void, the very breath of the Gods. As the glyphs, like lightning-beetles in the Sanghelios night, cast their dim light about the high walls and pillars of the chamber, the warriors took each step with reverence and humility, coming at last to an open area with several titanic doorways, each leading to a large platform woven with lights.

Zuka clicked a control within his helmet with a mandible. "Yopyop," he spoke into the comm.

"Receiving you, your piety," came the static-y voice of an Unggoy in return.

"Inform the Kaidon; We have entered the structure, and I believe we may have found a way deeper in. The Humans are close behind, but I have yet to engage. Have Ground Battlegroup One advance and establish a command post, communications will likely be disrupted. My team and I will gather what information we can here before proceeding".

"At once, your honorableness!"

Looking around again, Zuka's eye came upon Tho reaching out toward the datastreams in a nearby pillar.
"Don't touch anything".

Jay gave a nod. She sent both Spartans a fireteam ping, so they could link their systems and group up.

"I need a weapon. My backup was in the ship and I didn't get to eject properly. Either of you have a spare?"

"Negative," Kaye answered, "My rifle's out. I engaged a Covenant patrol about halfway to the structure. We can scavenge weapons there."

Gunnar synced up with the fellow spartan. "This is all I have." Gunnar said as he showed his plasma pistol "Time to go shopping. Lead the way."

Jay nodded. Under the helmet she grimaced and mentally hoped most of the snipers had been dealt with.

She began moving off towards the distant towering structure, letting the other two fall in as they wished. The air was stale here, under the trees, and mostly quiet aside from an occasional buzzing of an insect. Most of the covenant and UNSC forces would be converging in the same direction, so it would be a quiet ten minutes to begin with at least.

Gunnar followed suit, matching their pace.

"Petty Officer Crowley, Gamma squad, at your service." Gunnar proclaimed during their run. "Nice to meet some Spartan threes'.

Quote :

"This is Corporal Mercer of fireteam Garuda, we read you and are approaching on foot. We'll meet you in roughly two minutes."

"Roger, Garuda." He takes another look into the dark. "We'll be waitin'."

He checks over his belongings in the meantime. Whatever is in there he wants to be prepared for it. 3 mags left for the BR. One for the pistol. Still stocked on grenades. He converses with Blanchard a bit; trying to even out the current stock between the two. Once comfortable with the current setups, they go on lookout mode for the incoming team.

Gamma, The word rang through her head like a bell. She didn't like thinking about them. The word was still echoing, right up until she felt a small prick in her thigh, and the thoughts faded. About time. She'd wanted to manage it herself, but that was a liability, and the CO didn't like those.
"Spartan Kaye-301." She answered, "The skirmish site should be on the right."

"Jay. G." She emphasised that part pointedly. "297."

She diverted right under Kaye's instructions. The last time she'd seen the other woman, they were thirteen and about to be shipped out. Kaye had never been part of her team and they hadn't shared a barracks either, so she knew little of her.

That was just after Reach too. The memories floated around in her mind. Kurt yelling deployment orders out to each of the teams. Watching them go away on the Pelicans. Saber, Katana and Gladius staying behind. Then the news came months later that Onyx was gone. Captured by the Covenant. Kurt was gone.

Jay burned with a flash of anger momentarily and then brought herself back to the world around her. They'd practically reached the site by now and she set about gathering up a pair of plasma grenades and a plasma rifle. For good measure, she picked up one of the Jackal shield generators. It would help in a pinch.

So that was it. Kaye thought to herself, her feeling of unease around the other Spartan III making sense. She field stripped the Brute she'd killed, taking its Spiker as her own. A shame there wasn't an Elite Zealot. A sword would be helpful. Her thoughts drifted to Onyx for the first time since she'd heard about its loss. Not the first time the Covenant had burned her home. Not the first time they'd killed her family. It wouldn't be the last either, not that the UNSC was smart enough to listen.
"I thought you all died at Serpentis," Kaye said bluntly, her voice wavering imperceptibly. "Did anyone from Scimitar...?"

J and K. K and J. Gunnar repeated these in his mind. He wasn't that good with names. They came upon a group of dead Covenant. He found a Carbine with some spare ammo from the bodies and a second plasma pistol. He holstered the both. Gunnar took this chance to send a message to his CO for a quick update.

"Officially we did." Jay spoke as she fiddled with attaching the gauntlet to her wrist. "No. Parts of Falchion and Rapier made it out. Two of us from Cutlass too, though we were on our own for a while...."

She trailed off there, leaving the memory before it came up from the depths she had buried it in. She turned her head up, staring through the visor at the S-IV. Then she pinged a datalinked message over to Kaye without speaking.

Still taking smoothers?

As they grew closer, the rocks slowly gave way to more of that strange, alien metal. It seemed to emerge from the rock in ways that made Cal think someone had built the structure first, then partially buried it beneath the rock and dirt. As they approached the entrance, Lin hung back while Liz and Martinez took up his left and right flanks respectfully, weapons at the ready; none of Garuda had made it out the other end of the war by being sloppy, even if friendlies were present. "Marines, Garuda team has arrived. Y'all good?"

Kaye felt her shoulders sag. She’d expected it, she’d known they were dead for over a year now. It still stung. She read Jay’s message, her armour must have had her SPI setting imported in full.
Yes. She scanned the area, seeing nothing. My CO had an automatic injector installed in my MJOLNIR.

Jay visibly seemed to relax a little. "Lets move on. We're falling behind friendly forces."

She began to move away from the dead aliens, and towards the structure. It should have been an easier approach, with the way mostly cleared now from the UNSC troops ahead of them.

He nods towards the newly arrived group. ODSTs, eh. How big is this OP? He always wanted to put his neck on the line to be able to fall in with the helljumpers.

"Pleasure to meet you, Garuda. Lance Corporal Ayers of Fireteam Bravo. We were the first ones sent to dig Alpha out of this. Before this turned into... well ya see." He says then motioning over to his partner. "This is Blanchard. He's the one who called this in. He don't talk much" He sees Blanchard give him a shrug then continues. "I think this is a side entrance to this place but no one's come or gone since we posted up."

Forerunner Structure
Antechamber
April 16, 2554

With a final flash of light, Tho Teramee completed his survey of the inner chamber, retrieving a datapad from his belt and clicking the camera-stick into it. He looked over toward Zuka and Bul, standing on one of the several lighted platforms set into their own sub-chambers. A quick series of beeps alerted him that the data had been transferred back to command. "Field Marshal," he called out, "the images are sent".

"Good," Zuka returned, turning back to a datastream in the wall of the platform-chamber. He reached out toward it, and the blue rivers of light flashed white, before the darkness of the entire inner structure began to lift as streams of light rose to life all throughout the metal pillars and walls. Zuka and Bul were immediately to each other's backs, scanning the area for threats, when the sound of lurching metal reverberated through the brightening chamber.

Tho was quick to notice a massive set of doors closing off the platform-area on which his commander and comrade stood, and he sprinted quickly toward it, not bothering to see if the other platform-chamber doors were closing too. He managed to jump through the gap just as the immense doors came slamming together, and the three of them stood for a moment in silence.

Zuka clicked his communicator. "Yopyop," he called again, and just as he did, he felt a sudden drop, as the platform he and his team stood on began descending an unseen chasm. "Yopyop, we are moving further into the structure's interior. Acknowledge?"

Only static came in reply.




Desert Mountains
Zealot Phantom
April 16, 2554


Yopyop could only decipher a few words from the garbled electric noise coming in through the Phantom's communicator console, but he was sure he could hear that the Field Marshal was advancing into the structure. He tapped a few controls in hopes to boost the signal as he said "Acknowledged, your excellence- I shall inform fleet command".

The Unggoy turned to the Sangheili in the Phantom's pilot seat, saying "Take us back to the ship and prepare to receive reinforcements". It felt so strange to give orders to Elites- but these were strange times.

As the Phantom rose toward the sky, and its side bay doors began to close, Yopyop looked out over the rocky terrain, and lightly it began to rain.




Forerunner Structure
Elevator
April 16, 2554

"Yopyop? Yopyop are you receiving?" No more reply came through the Elite's comm unit. Damn, he thought; they were on their own now. As the platform continued its descent, Zuka looked around and allowed himself a moment to admire the architecture of the place. Even as the lights came on, the place seemed so mysterious. He turned to his subordinate, "Tho, what was the Covenant's name for this planet?"

"Zebes, your piety".

"Hmm..." the leader growled.

The platform soon slowed to a halt, and as soon as the doors opened, the three Elites fanned out with weapons at the ready. They found themselves in a dark, artificial tunnel, its metallic structure clearly of the same make as the structure above, but overgrown with moss and mold and other green things. The team proceeded slowly, noting the increasing frequency of moist patches of lichenous mass and foul-smelling fungal growths as they went.

Through the dimness, Zuka spotted what seemed to be the corpse of a Sangheili on the floor ahead. "Stay alert," he commanded before proceeding cautiously toward the body, kneeling at its side. A Zealot's battle harness, of a pattern and from an order made after the Schism. He did not like this. As he looked over the body, searching for wounds or some telltale sign of a cause of death, he found none. He liked this even less. With a subtle prayer, he closed the dead Zealot's eyes, taking his energy sword and affixing it to his belt as he rose to his feet. The soft glow of the tunnel through the overgrowth cast a greenish-blue hue down its passage, which the Field Marshal gazed into for a brief moment.

With a quick nod, Zuka signaled his Elites to press on, and the three began a jog down the moist and jungley path.

Kaye fell in behind Jay, quietly praying for the enemy to engage her again. She kept her head on a swivel, constantly changing between zoom levels as she scanned the terrain for more snipers. She was disappointed as the structure came into view. She took point, moving and sweeping the room as naturally as she breathed, only to lower her weapon on the first step.
"UNSC," She announced, to both the Spartans behind her and to the marines and troopers.

They had arrived at the structure. It was plain in its design but there was also a precision to it. Small details show artistry. K came to a halt and called out. We weren't alone but we were with friendlies. We came upon a squadron of UNSC soldiers. Gunnar stood in the back scanning to see if any of his squad was there. He opened a separate coms channel with his squad. "Commander York? Gunnar reporting in."

"Hear you loud and clear Gunnar. The rest or Gamma is with me. We see that you're closest to the structure. Stay on your current mission. We are dealing with covenant in the surrounding area. We will convene at your location when we push back the covenant."

"Understood. Gunnar out." Gunnar focused back to the moment at hand wondering what going to happen.

He looks to where the new voice comes from and his eyes widen. "Spartans" he says with an air of excitement. Must be S-IIIs. Though the one in the back's armor is different. Definitely S-IV. His eyes dart between them and the ODSTs, depending on who we're talking to they tend to have a bit of a rivalry.

"Lance Corporal Ayers and this is Blanchard. I was giving Corporal Mercer here a sitrep on the current status. As I was telling him, since Blanchard and I have been here no one's been in or out." Suddenly a crackle happens in his ear and he listens. "This is Charlie! We've managed to push the enemy into the structure through the previously found entrance. No sign of Alpha!" The sound of gunfire restarts as the speaker updates further. "Covvie forces are inside the structure! I repeat Covvie forces are inside the structure!"

"If this entrance and that entrance are connected, we'll be joining that fight." He says looking into the hallway.

"Covenant forces are already ahead of us. No more time to waste."

Jay pointed to the Marines. "You're with Kaye and Gunnar. ODSTs on me. Once we're in the structure, I want a defensive checkpoint set up whilst my team moves to flank the other entrance and free up our forces."

Cal barely had time to get any words out before more soldiers arrived; Spartans, by the look of their armor, a development that was only going to lead to its own form of complications. While not widely known within the UEG for civilian morale purposes....it was fairly well known that ODST's and Spartans had a less than healthy rivalry, with animosity abound. To many longtime Helljumpers, it felt as if they were being replaced with 'freaks' even after years, whole lives spent in special forces operations. And for the Spartans, well, the ones he had met anyway, they struck him a lot of the time as cold. Almost, machine-like, focused solely on orders. Which, he supposed, was something they had in common. Still, Garuda was his fireteam and unless this Spartan held a rank higher than him or had express orders from command, he wasn't quite ready to take orders.

"Respectfully Spartan," he said calmly, doing his best to keep his pride in check, "Garuda is my fireteam and as such they follow my lead. We'll back you up sure, but the only orders they respond to are mine."

Gunnar walks up to the right of Kaye ready to move out on Jays orders. He turn his head towards the ODST that just spoke up. Someone got cajones he thought to himself. Aren't they from the same ship?

"Covies move fast. No time to argue semantics," He interjected. "Lets worry about who's in charge once we get inside, they can't get their hands on the tech."

Jay expected this. She'd worked alongside the ODSTs enough to know it's a point of pride to not just follow orders.

So she turned her own ODST-styled MJOLNIR helmet towards him.

"There are marines dying inside that building, Garuda. Are you going to stand here and argue orders or are we going to go save them?"

She moved towards the internals without giving them a chance to respond, flicking the switch on the jackal energy shield she'd picked up so that it came to life.

"The trooper is right. I don't take orders from you either, Jay," Kaye answered flatly as she past her. A statement of fact, despite the flash of annoyance that rose from somewhere in her stomach. She tapped her tac-pad a few times and waited for a response from her actual chain of command.

He had already braced for the confrontation but it was still kind of funny to watch. Knew it. He looks from Blanchard to the group then back and back again and shrugs. "Let's go, Marine." The both of them moving into the hallway after the Spartan called Kaye. Wasn't his job to question a Spartan. Knowing just enough, they could render both of them a red mass wearing green. It didn't matter who he followed into this, it was going to have to get done. Alpha needed help and that's what mattered most.

"Really, and here I thought we were here to secure an unknown," Cal said dryly. "If there's friendlies inside then we'll work with you; and if you want results, we'll work our way." Gesturing to his squad, they started moving, heading for the door. Martinez took point, given he had a shotgun and it looked like they were going to be engaging in close quarters. Lin sighed, shaking her head as she slung her sniper rifle over her shoulder and switched to the SMG that had been holstered at her hip.

Sniper rifles were really only useful at close range, when used to bludgeon someone.

Zebes
Forerunner Structure
Underground Tunnels
April 16, 2554


The vegetation- hanging moss and tangled vines and indescribable spores floating all around -had become so thick and impenetrable that Zuka was now cutting through it with his energy sword, its crimson light flickering and burning through the ever-denser jungle of the tunnel-ways. The faint blue lights of the walls were utterly smothered, leaving only a dim, sickly greenish hue to show the path where the glow of the Field Marshal's blade did not reach, and only dimmer still did it fade as the team pressed on. Stinking, smoldering clumps of green mass littered the ground in their wake, and a reek like sun-baked sea-weeds filled the stagnant air.

Suddenly, a shadow darted through the tangle, up a wall, and out of sight. The three Elites' attention snapped to it, bringing weapons on-target before it disappeared. For a moment, there was only silence but for the hum of the Field Marshal's energy blade, and stillness but for the little tendrils of smoke from burned plant-matter. Zuka slowly moved forward, cautiously motioning his blade to cast more light into the shadows, his eye darting around with each step.

A piercing hiss echoed through the tunnel as some strange creature flung itself at the group on wide, membranous wings. Bul quickly fixed on the alien thing hurling toward his face, and without hesitation, burned it down with a volley from his twin plasma rifles, leaving a stinking, melted heap smoldering on the ground. Each of the team exchanged a look- they hadn't expected native fauna.

Just then the tunnel erupted in a cacophony of shrieks and hissing, with several more of the winged creatures leaping from between the shadows in the vines. Zuka cut one down with his crimson sword before drawing the second off his hip and igniting it's blue blade. Bul and Tho put their backs together, bolts of plasma and streaks of needle-crystals slicing through the air in all directions.

"Move!" the Field Marshal barked before charging down the hall, his swords flashing in the darkness as he cut his way through the jungle-like overgrowth like a hunterfish through the sea. Tho and Bull formed up behind, dropping several more of the swarming monsters as they gave chase, blue and purple lights splashing in the dark. Soon they came to a door, its lights flickering as it feebly jostled back and forth, unable to close. Zuka dove through the gap first, slicing some of the vines with his swords, as Tho quickly followed with a roll, and finally Bul with a backward leap, burning away the last of the vegetation jamming the door with his rifles. The door slammed shut, leaving the three in a dark, open space.

"Fan out, search for a light source," Zuka said, raising the blue blade above his head to cast some light. He could barely make out the shape of the room through what little light there was, but it was big- almost like a modest amphitheater, with slanting walls and a large pillar in the middle. He decided to move toward it, glancing around at the alien growth all around as he went. As he came to the metallic thing, what appeared to be a small console of hard-light sprang to life before him, blues and greens and golds moving in shapes and patterns he had no hope to decipher. So, the Gods are still present in this place... he thought, holstering his swords and reaching out a hand.

As soon as Zuka's hand touched the hard-light, it flashed red, and scarlet light sprang to life in streams all throughout the floors and walls and ceiling. The Elites scanned for threats, but for the moment saw no movement, and they slowly converged around the console, keeping their weapons raised and senses sharp.

In a dark corner, a metallic construct begins to stir...

Jay didn't argue with any of them. Mostly because she was already inside, moving through the metal hallways enshrined by the soft blue light with purpose. Her stolen energy shield was held up to cover her advance, and the plasma rifle was levelled behind it. Her HUD tracked the location of the Charlie IFF tags and now it was a matter of finding which path lead towards them.

A closed door now stood in her path, implacable except for the pulsating upside down triangle in the centre. Without looking back to see if the ODSTs were there, she reached out and pushed against the 'button'. The door slid open into a small triangular chamber. Another soft pulsating button lay on the opposite wall.

They followed close behind, letting the Spartan take the lead given the shield they carried. Personally, Cal felt more than a little jealous at the shield--hell, at the armor too. Spartans always did get the best toys, it seemed. But any complaints he had, he kept to himself as he and Martinez entered the room, their weapons panning around the triangular chamber for any threats. "So," Cal muttered quietly, "I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and guess that this whole structure is Forerunner?"

Jay gave a slight nod of her head as she moved towards the button. With care, and holding the shield in front of her to provide her immediate cover, she reached out and tapped it. The door that they'd come in from began to close and then the floor rocked underneath them.

Groaning metal began to sound around the room and a wooshing sensation passed through Jay's stomach.

"An elevator?" She asked the ODSTs.

"Feels like it," Cal replied. "Great, now all we need is some shit music...." he added dryly, not lowering his weapon fully as the platform continued its passage. Liz and Martinez kept their focus on what they assumed was the door for the chamber, ready for when it opened. Lin meanwhile...looked a bit nervous.

"Gee, hope no one tosses a grenade in here....or a fuel rod cannon," she muttered.

"You're a beacon of optimism Lin," Martinez chimed in.

Kaye had one eye on her motion sensor, a strange unease in her stomach.
"It's strange that there aren't any guards," Kaye thought aloud, "This is a strong fighting position." Kaye tapped a button on her tac-pad, eyes darting over the information displayed. "We can't have killed them all, not yet."

The elevator continued to descend down, the moments passing by with an air of tension. Jay fiddled with her systems as she waited, trying to extend the range of her motion tracker and IFF tags. But it was no good. They were too deep for any friendly systems to reach them now.

"I hate Forerunner buildings." She muttered.

SSO Last Seal Of Revelation
Main Hangar
April 16, 2554

As Yopyop stepped out of the Phantom's gravity lift, he let a small sigh of relief to feel the familiar texture of the Supercarrier's nanolaminate hull under his feet. He glanced around- it was relatively calm. Groups of Elites lounged by their phantoms, waiting for the order to mobilize; Grunts came and went, carrying out various tasks; Jackal mercenaries gambled over their odd games. Yopyop thought back to the war, how different things were then from now. Back then, he was nothing, a body to be thrown into the grinder of battle and nothing more- but now? Now he was important, now he was the personal assistant to a Field Marshal, an officer in the Fleet of Righteous Vengeance, and a cleric in service to a Sangheili noble family. All things considered, the end of the war might have been the best thing to ever happen in his life.

The Unggoy waddled along, tapping at his datatablet as he made his way through the Supercarrier's winding halls. The fleet's strength had dwindled significantly since the war- with the fracturing of the Covenant they were no longer receiving regular reinforcements, and with High Charity gone and so many ex-Covenant worlds embroiled in the fires of civil war, many of the families had moved aboard as refugees. He wondered how long they could sustain this life, living as warrior nomads with no true purpose but vengeance. He hoped the elders of the council were wiser than him in this regard.

After some time, Yopyop arrived at the Hierarch's Deck- a place he'd have been executed for trespassing only a few years ago -and eventually came to his destination. The large purple door slid into the wall-

"You will do no such thing- I expressly forbid it."

"But I-"

Yopyop was faced with two Sangheili females- one, a tall and elegant-looking elder dressed in ornate robes and jewelry, the other, a barely-mature young adult dressed in a full crimson battle-harness. "Am I... interrupting, Matriarch?" the Unggoy squeaked.

The two Sangheili exchanged a brief look before turning back to the Unggoy. The elder of them spoke in a gentle tone, "Not at all, Yopyop. I trust you have news for me".

"Field Marshal 'Zhykovai has moved into the Structure's internals, but we've lost contact with his team. I'm awaiting the Fleetmaster's order to send more troops to the surface and establish a communication-command post."

The younger Elite shot a piercing glare to the other female and hissed, "Mother, I'm ready to-"

"Thank you, Yopyop, I shall await your report," the elder interrupted without looking back.

With a small bow, Yopyop turned and exited the chamber, the door hissing shut behind him as he went. Though he wasn't quite sure why, Matriarch 'Zhykov's words always brought him a sense of comfort. Her daughter, on the other claw,

Now that was a fiery spirit.

"Maybe we can't get a proper reading in this building. We don't fully understand forerunner tech."

Gunnar calmly said as he walked passed the Spartan K. He was heading down the second entrance to the building that Spartan J had mentioned.

"Or they are deeper in the facility. Either way we will find out eventually."

Gunnar felt uneasy, it was eerily quiet, with only the sounds of their footsteps to keep the squad company.

"Well this is our first Forerunner building," Cal said, keeping his gun partly trained on the door. As the elevator continues, he checked the mission clock in his VISR, checking on how much time had passed since they started descending. "Christ this thing is going deep...."

To the side, he heard Martinez snort.

"Martinez, we're in the presence of Spartans--stay professional," Cal barked.

Jay gave a slight nod of her head, but whether it was in agreement or acknowledgement of the order, who could tell. Her fingers flexed where they held the Jackal shield. They were right. This elevator was going deep.

And then it stopped. Not jerking to a halt, but sudden and gentle. The lights that pulsed from the door grew brighter and then half a second later it opened up. A dark metal hallway lay beyond, silent. Foreboding.

Kaye aimed her weapon down the dark hallway, the flashlight on her armour clicking on. She paused for half a second, checking each edge of the hallway again.
"Visual clear, motion clear."

Gunnar mirrored Kaye, illuminating the shadows opposite. They had finally reached an end to what looked like a door with an upside down triangle. Gunnar cautiously reached his hand out to touch it. Right before touching the door, it slides open, revealing a large room. There were 2 other doors on either side of the room but their triangles were red. In the middle of the room there was what looked like a rectangle like hole. Like something was missing. Gunnar walked up to the edge and peered down, took out a flare and dropped it down. The light from the flare soon disappeared into the dark abyss.

"Anyone have a rope? Or jetpack?"

The two marines had been behind the Spartans; making sure nothing managed to creep up behind them. When they entered, they started sweeping the area. He takes a glance at the hole and shudders a bit at the thought of freefalling down it. He decides he's keeping his distance away from the maw of the void. "Room's clear looks like" he says, eyes still darting. Ain't too confident in those other doors but looks like they're locked. He squints. for now...

Marcus let out a slight sigh of relief. The room wasn't a trap thankfully. Getting in a firefight from within an elevator? Odds were they'd all be plasma goo. Then again they had multiple Spartans and an entire team of ODST's. They always go against the odds and come out alive. He let his guard down and stood up straight. If something got through these hulking commandos, I probably wouldn't stand a chance anyway.

To say he had been tense would've been an understatement. He hadn't talked much in the past hour or so. He thought for certain this was it, he wasn't coming out of this one. Yet somehow he and a single other marine made through that shitshow albeit not unharmed. He wondered how his comrade was holding up and looked over to see him looking down the bottomless pit in the middle of the room.

"Hey man... just don't look down, yeah?"

Cal and Martinez moved up front, Liz and Lin keeping to the rear and covering the other end of the hall. A move which seemed redundant, given how one of the Spartans was up front as well with the pilfered Jackal shield, but for Garuda team it was a practiced pattern. They had their VISR's adjusted for the near pitch black hallway, the light from the other Spartan's flashlight lending them some much needed support to the sensors.

Jay wordlessly moved into the dark hallway, trusting the ODSTs to do their jobs effectively. Her motion tracker pinged only the friendlies, but there was a sudden rush of red lights that fled down narrow strips through the floor and the walls. It came from the darkness and ended at the elevator, which closed and began to return to the surface.

"More Covenant?" The Spartan asked quietly, adjusting her grip on the plasma rifle she had stolen. Her steps hadn't paused, but now they moved with even more wariness than before. This hallway could be a deathtrap, depending on what waited for them at the end.

Her flashlight began to outline the edge of a closed door up ahead, and her motion tracker pinged something beyond it.

Kaye joined the IV at the edge of the hole, peering down as the flare fell.
"Not enough," She said, quickly realising that the hole was far too deep for her to abseil. She turned her attention to the rest of the room, her lights gliding across the walls as she scanned. Everything about this room screamed 'kill zone' to her, and the fact that the ambush hadn't started worried her more than the ambush itself.
"Does anybody see a control panel?"