Oxen squad: part one.

Timeline: January 3rd, 2548
Name: Benjamin Durrett
Current rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Current location: UNSC Clearidas. Enroute to the planet Verent
Current Unit: Oxen squad. Commanding officer: Lt. Benjamin Durrett

Benjamin readied his gear in the armory aboard the UNSC Clearidas. This would be Oxen's first mission in months since Skopje. Not to mention it was going to be a drop, apparently there were heavy Covenant Anti-Air guns in the area, so a drop ship wouldn't do. This was also Durrett's first time commanding on a mission. Ben woke up a few hours before their estimate to Verant, to sight in his rifle at the firing range, and make sure he had everything he would need on this mission. Reports said that Verant was a mostly jungle like planet, it would be great terrain for stealth, which could work for both Marines and Covenant.

Durrett stocked up on ammunition for his S99 sniper rifle. Along with his M6C/SOCOM pistol, he figured he would need it if they were to try any sort of stealth, the ninety-nine cal isn't the most silent bullet. He also threw a machete on his back encase he needed to do some chopping. He took three smoke grenades. Ben didn't wear different camouflage, he just kept his urban pattern with red shoulders. ODSTs didn't often get different camo on missions, their gear was too expensive to have all terrain colors.

More of Oxen started piling into the armory, equipping their gear and readying their weapons. Ben went around the room making sure they were all ready, and checking if any of them needed assistance at all. Ben went over the mission objectives in his head, they weren't difficult to understand, it was just gonna be some trouble executing them. Than again they never had a Spartan accompany them on an entire mission before.

Once Durrett was convinced the entire squad was there he spoke to the troopers, "Listen up! I know it has been awhile since we've last been on the field, and we might be a little rusty out their, but we aren't gonna be getting a test run. Now i'm gonna be going over the mission objectives so I suggest you open your ears up! Now the Covenant haven't attacked with their full force yet, just a couple cruisers, but they were still able to drop multiple AA guns in the area, as you may have guessed already. So naturally our mission objectives are to drop onto Verant, and eliminate these guns. Though we are going to have to drop about three kilometers out from three of the guns. We are going to need to take out two of them before our Pelicans are safe to land, and unload a small army of marines. So finish loading your gear, we'll be in orbit soon."

"Sir yes sir."
I finish putting on my armor with the click of my helmet. Then I reach over to the gun rack and grab my pistol and, you guessed it, a shotgun.
The reason I refer to the pistol as "my pistol" is because it has a couple scratches from previous battle on it.
But most of all, there's a scratched in message from my wife on it. Obviously making it uber special to me.
Soon after grabbing my weapons I get a biofoam canister and a couple medkits. Oh and some bandages...

After Wyatt had put on his armor which took quite awhile luckily though he got up early so he could make the meeting. He stood in the back of the room and sharpened his combat knife a bit in preparation for their next mission. "So we go in plant some explosives on these guns then high tail it out. Ok sounds good to me." Wyatt stopped by the armory and grabbed his BR and shotgun then regrouped with the team and got ready for the drop.

Durrett nodded to Wyatt confirming what he said, "We may receive more orders after that, but for now we focus on the guns. We're gonna have two guys carrying a Blow pack of C-12 each." Ben says then points to Bontempo and another ODST, then grabbed the two boxes of explosives and put them in each the Helljumpers packs. "Careful not to step on a grenade, you'll blow the whole squad up." Ben said to Dominic "I'll try my best, sir." Bontempo replied.

Ben looked around the room for a moment, hoping that his team was ready for this mission, and hoping that he was ready to lead it. "Alright I hope you got everything you need 'cause we'll be dropping out of slipspace any moment now." Ben walked over to the pod he would be dropping from, and inspected it, making sure it wouldn't malfunction on impact, of course that wasn't something that could be inspected, you just had to cross your fingers and hope your braking rockets don't fail.

Durrett secured his sniper rifle in the weapon compartment located to the left of the seat. Ben felt the ship exit slipspace, knocking him to the side for a moment. "That's are cue! saddle up, we're dropping in." Ben slid his helmet on, then climbed into the pod and into the seat. He then waited for the other fourteen members of Oxen squad to get in their pods, then turned his radio on and said, "Captain, we're ready when you are." "One moment lieutenant, we're getting into position. Estimate about thirty seconds 'til you can drop." The captain replied.

"You heard him! get snug in those pods of yours, we're dropping." Durrett's pod closed and turned to position itself above the large hatch. Twenty seconds past and the huge door opened revealing the planet Verent below them. The count down started and Durrett focused on breathing. He looked down at the planet and didn't look up, he lost count of the timer when his body jerked upwards and Verent began to get get closer.

For that moment Ben found it hard to breath but, he then caught his breath that was knocked out of him. His pod started to heat up immensely, when they were going through the atmosphere. The pod finally cooled down and Ben saw the mass amount of trees below him, he also saw AA fire attempting to shoot them down, but were out of range to hit objects going that fast. That's gonna effect our stealth. Ben thought. The braking rockets activated and the pod started shaking viciously. The shaking stopped after he felt the impact of the ground hitting him.

Durrett was disoriented for a moment but he was able to turn his comm on and speak. "This is Lieutenant Durrett, everyone alive out there? Over."

When Wyatt saw his pod he was so happy that the engineers accepted his request he sent in a few months ago. They had made his pod bigger to fit his size before when he tried out a normal one for a quick fit the top of the roof was too low. So much so he had to bend his neck at an awckward position to fit in it. He was sure that when they hit the ground his neck wouldn't feel all too well afterwards even with his armor. So the engineers made a diffrent set of pods for him to compensate for his height and the weight of his armor which meant a denser layer of metal to adjust for the extra weight so he wouldn't burn up in the atmosphere. 'Thank God they finally got around to making this.' He thought to himself as he stepped into his pod. Wyatt set his guns in their positions and strapped himself in. The countdown started and then it stopped followed by an upward jerk. When Wyatt looked at his video feed in his HUD he could see the greenery of the planet below and... AA fire. 'Not good.' Wyatt thought to himself. After a few seconds Wyatt landed and his canopy blasted off. Wyatt immediately grabbed his weapons and took off after the canopy and picked it up and brought it back to his pod and set it aside. Then he took some wiring from inside the pod tied it to two frag grenades then placed them snug in between the seat and a safety harness. Then he carefully tied that to the canopy and placed it back in place on his pod. Wyatt opened his comms on a secure link "Well they sure rolled out the red carpet for us fireworks display and everything. Spartan 937 on the ground and in fighting shape. By the way if you find my pod leave it alone I left a suprise for our friendly hosts. You guys should try to do the same the first thing the covies are going to do is inspect our pods for those who are trapped which reminds me anyone need so help getting out of their pod?" Wyatt looked around and took in his surroundings for the first time since he landed. He had crashed down in a clearing which meant his pod was easily visible from almost any direction which is just what he wanted. Wyatt turned and ran up to a tree then climbed into it. He waited for a few minutes then a squad of two jackls three grunts and a brute walked into the clearing. Wyatt got his BR ready as they approached the pod. The brute took hold of the canopy and tore it off then proceed to fire into the empty pod. The confused brute and his squad mates moved in closer to inspect the mysterious empty drop pod. Then the grenades went off with a bang killing all but one grunt which tried to limp away Wyatt dropped it with a quick burst from his BR. "Ok, so where are we meeting up? Or do we proceed to our objectives?"

I run to my pod and click the button that opens it. Quickly stuffing my weapons into their specific slots. Then stuffing myself in it too.
The pod's door closes and the pod itself turns around to face the dropping... bay? Whatever its called.
Then the all too familiar feeling I get right before each drop, that little burst of adrenaline. Excitment and fear collide simultaneously.
Once more, the semi-familiar feeling of falling while trapped in a big, metal box. The next couple seconds I don't remember though.
Going through through the atmosphere and the pod burning up, the planet's jungles rushing to meet me...

Sooner or later my braking rockets activate and I slow down enough to land and survive. But in a dense part of the jungle.
My pod door bursts open when I hit the buttons and hits a tree five feet in front of me. I grab my weapons from their slots and step out of it.
I turn on the comm and respond to Durrett using the same secure channel as Wyatt.
"This is James Freon and I'm alive."

Durrett looked around his pod for a moment then opened it's door. It hissed then launched forward a ways. Ben grabbed his rifle then stumbled out of his pod, once he got a green light from the rest of the squad, he heard an explosion in the distance, Guess that was Wyatt's surprise. He thought then spoke into his comm "I'll set up a waypoint on the squad's HUD, we'll meet up there. I suggest everyone keeps radio silence, the Covenant could be listening in. Over." Durrett set the waypoint far enough away from the rest of the squads' pods so the Covenant wouldn't find them as easy. Ben had about a klick sprint to the meet up zone. Durrett looked around him to get a feel for the environment, his pod hit the side of a large tree and pretty much mutilated it. The forest was very thick, and some of the only sunlight that got through was an opening in the trees above that his pod made.

Ben slid a magazine in his sniper rifle, then loaded up a round by bringing back the charging handle. He started his way to the waypoint, though the terrain slowed him down by a bit.

Wyatt received the waypoint and began to advance towards it. He was going to swing from tree to tree but thought better of it. If he grabbed a branch or vine that could not support his weight and he fell that would really hurt. So he sprinted to the waypoint and arrived there first. Wyatt secured the area then climbed up into another tree to provide overwatch. He waited for his squadmates to arrive.

I look around at my surroundings, close trees and a lot of vegetation everywhere. This will slow me down quite a bit but if I'm attacked I have the advantage.
So I make my way through the overgrowth towards the waypoint.

Benjamin was about fifty meters from the rally point when he heard a loud 'snap' sound off to his right. He took cover behind a tree, and pulled out his M6C pistol. He took a breath then turned around the tree with his .45 raised. Durrett looked into the faceplate of another Helljumper, one that goes by the name of 'No Croak'. He earned that nickname from getting out of a lot of situations where he should have croaked, but didn't. The ODST spoke in a sarcastic voice "I am a Covenant spy, and I've come to kill all of you human garbage!" Ben looked back at him with a cold stare the could be seen even from beneath his helmet, Durrett spoke back at him "Shut up Jones, we don't have time to kid around." Jones gave Ben a sarcastic half salute.

Both of them ended up in the rally zone, but didn't see any of the other troopers.

Wyatt saw Durrett and another ODST walk into the rally zone. So he hopped down out of the tree cracking the ground below him and walked over to the two of them. Wyatt smiled and said "Well, hope the others get here soon."

Then again, the Covenant probably wouldn't send a squad of anything through here- What was that?

I hear a twig snap to my left and I jerk my shotgun over at it. It was distant. Fortunate for me, but if I'm not careful...
I shake my head left to right, getting the thought of being killed or worse out of my head. I wasn't going to get captured. No sir.
So from then on, I soften my footsteps, quiet my breathing and be on constant alert. Treading my way to the waypoint.
But to my dismay, the twigs snapped again from my left. But a lot closer then before. I'm going to have to face it sooner or later...

Against my instinct to just keep going, I crouch down and await whatever is coming for me. And not long after something black emerges.
Shouting "Friendly! Friendly!" and waving his arms around so I'd get the picture. An ODST from Oxen Squad I presume.
"Damnit dude, do you want to give the entire forest our location?" I say in a quiet but harsh tone.
"N-No, I just didn't want to get shot by someone from my squad. C'mon, let's haul ass over to that waypoint."

After our little chat we continue towards the waypoint, not to mention we find another squad member on the way.
Making it the three of us trudging through the the forest, not being able to help the fact we're louder together. But we're a team, we stick together.
Besides,we're more then a match for any Covenant scouting party. So it doesn't matter how loud we are really. At least, I hope so.

Durrett was caught off guard from Wyatt jumping down from a tree. "Oh sh- A little heads up would've been appreciated." Ben said to Wyatt as he approached him and the other ODST. Ben spoke again "Indeed, we can't wait here all day." Just at that moment a voice broke over the comm "Ah! I need assistance. My pod isn't opening. This is Bontempo, can somebody help me out here?" Durrett looked over to Wyatt. he then spoke into the comm. "Everybody hear that? we've got a rooster stuck in an egg. Me and Wyatt'll check it out. Freon, we may need you on this one." Durrett then nodded to Wyatt, and Jones. "Let's go, Jones your on me, Wyatt, you scout ahead. Bontempo's pod is west about a klick."

Ben started to move west towards Bontempo.

Wyatt nodded his head then took off running shotgun in hand. He didn't get too far ahead but he made sure that the area was clear. 'So far so good' Wyatt thought to himself. Wyatt reached the pod no problem in no time "Ok, the way is clear I'm going to check the surronding area around the pod for any covies. Let me know when you guys are ready to crack the egg and I will pull of it's hatch." Wyatt said over his coms.

"Sir yes sir."
I click my comms off and turn to the other two ODST's.
"Well. That's me. I'm going to head off towards them. You guys... well... do whatever you want."
They nod almost simultaneously and push past me to the waypoint. I cut off from the original route and push onwards towards the pod.
After a little while of this I make it to a clearing of sorts, Bontempo's pod stood in the middle. My HUD says it's his anyway.

Durrett entered the area of Bontempo's pod a short time after Wyatt had. He watched the area around the pod, for anything suspicious, like a Covenant trap of any kind. Ben then said into his comm, "Hey Dominic, you in there?" And right then he heard a knocking sound coming from the pod. "Alright that's all I need. Wyatt see if you can't help me get this door open, will ya?" Ben grabbed a tool out from the other Helljumpers pack, that looked like it might work as a pry-bar. He then proceeded to the pod and found a good place to wedge the tool.

As Durrett tried to pry the hatch open Wyatt took hold of the same side and began to tear apart the locking mechanisms. After those had come off he took hold of the hatch and wrenched it off. Dominic steeped out of the pod shortly after that. "Well this job is done let's get back to the rally point. I will cover our rear as we move out." Wyatt kept one eye on his motion sensor and one on the jungle as they moved back to the rally point.

I keep my guard up to it's fullest, any slight noise I hear I'll turn to it to see what it was. Of course while walking back to the waypoint.
Soon I remember why I had came here. Incase Bontempo was wounded. And maybe if the door was stuck....
"Alright, so, Dom. Are you okay? Do you need any medical assistance?"

Bontempo stops for a moment and pats his arms and legs. "No, thanks doc, I'm intact for now." He said then grabbed his pack of C-12 and his assault rifle from the pod. "Alright, let's get back to the rally zone before some covies decide to show up." Ben said and starts to turn and head back to the area they were before. It doesn't take too long to get back, and when they did the, rest of Oxen squad had made it there.

Ben spoke out to the entire squad, "Alright, first objective is two and a half klicks north of our position, So let's start moving. And don't forget to check your corners, the Covenant are gonna be searching for us. No croak, you're on point. Wyatt, I want you to the far right of us, so you can flank if we get into something, got it?. Move out Oxen!"

Wyatt nodded his head in agreement with Durrett "Ok but radio me if you need an assist. And keep an eye in those tree tops." Wyatt left and flanked to the far right just like Durrett said he should. He got to a small clearing and stopped before he entered and check the trees. There was a jackal asleep in one of them. Wyatt quietly made his way around the clearing keeping an eye out for anymore sniper's then he climbed up the tree as silent as possible. When he was within arms length of the creature it begin to stir. So Wyatt took hold of it's head and with a quick twist it's beck was broke. Wyatt made sure the body was secured in a fashion that made it seem like it was asleep instead if dead. Just in case if a patrol passed by and noticed a dead jackal body on the ground or hanging from a tree. Wyatt kept moving along his predetermined path.

I move along with the squad as I was told to do. Just hoping that things won't go sour before this is over.
Now that I think about it, I'm suppose to make sure everyone gets out if things do go bad.
"Hey, does anyone need medical assistance?"
I put my shotgun on my left hand and grab a medikit with my right, just incase.

There was a soldier who had a limp from the drop, but he was the one who yelled back to the medic, "Nah, we're all fine Doc." "Keep quiet, we don't know how many scouts are out here." Durrett spoke over the comms, and right after, a Phantom was heard above the trees, trying to shine it's light through the thick forest. No-Croak made a waving over his head signing 'take cover'. Ben knelt under a tree, watching up at the Covenant ship slowly fly by. They were looking for the occupants of the drop pods.

After the ship went by, No-Croak waved everyone forward to keep walking.

Wyatt heard tge hum of a Phantom's engines near by. He rushed into cover hiding from sight until it moved on. Then he began to advance again keeping low and his eyes peeled for any covies hiding in the trees. Wyatt moved at a swift but silent pace being careful to avoid twigs, branches or lose rocks that might create if steped on. He kept up this pace until he reached his destination.

As the phantom flies by, I swing over behind a tree. Concealing myself enough so the phantom doesn't notice.
Then going back where I was as the squad continues. I quickly look over the troopers incase they had noticeable injuries.
I know men don't like to admit that they're hurt, even when asked by a doctor. It's just a tradition I guess.
Turns out, one of them has a limp. Which can't be good, we're going to be doing a lot of walking and running.

So I start moving over to his direction very slowly and casually so that no one notices. Whenever I get to him though I grab my bandages.
Then turn my external speakers down, trying to keep a low profile between the squad and Covenant. Mainly so he doesn't lose his pride or whatever it is.
Frankly, I don't care about that stuff. If I'm hurting I'm going to tell someone. Don't care what they'll think of me. Anyway. I start whispering to the guy.
"Hey man, I'm here to patch you up. Let's just keep this low alright? Here, just lemme see what I can do."

The trooper looked around for a moment. "Alright fine. Look I tripped out of my pod, and I fell on a sharp piece of wood or something. Cut me pretty good though." He said and moved over to a close tree.

Benjamin stayed to the left of the squad, and scanned the trees and plantlife for any Covie forces. After some time, Ben saw a large opening in the trees, it was about a hundred meters around. He moved up to the edge of the opening, and took cover. No-Croak had already been in cover watching the area as well. It seemed that the Covenant chopped down the trees to make room for the type-27 Anti-Air gun that stood in the middle of the open, standing at a tall nearly forty meters in height.

"That's a big gun Lieutenant." No-Croak whispered. "That's why we got big explosives." Durrett didn't see any Covenant at first, but after a few minutes of waiting a Jackel revealed itself, holding a Carbine in its hands. Strange. Ben thought, I would think they would've fortified themselves when they learned of our presence. Ben looked down his scope to get a better look. He still saw the single Jackel, but after another few minutes, he noticed an Elite, make that four Elites, walking out of the treeline on the other side of the opening. One wore red armor, while the other three were in a light blue. Ben spoke over the comm, "Wyatt, get to my position." He then walked back to where the rest of the squad were. "Alright, we got some Split jaws on the other side of this opening. Me, and Bontempo will stay on this side and provide long range support, while the rest you'll go around and flank. Lets do this quick and clean, before they send reinforcements."

Wyatt rushed over to Durrett's postion and made it just in time to get the just of the plan. "Alright so take out the hinge heads and other enemy forces then take care of the objective. Tell me where you want my help and I'll move into postion Lieutenant." Wyatt checked his weapons again to make sure they were loaded and in working condition. They were and so he readied his shotgun and waited for orders.

I bend down to my knees and look at it. It wasn't too bad, it wasn't good either. I look up to him then back to his leg.
A chip of some type of tree has pierced his armor and went into his leg. Not very far, but he's gonna need a time out for a bit.
Actually, I think I can get it without tools. But… it would mean some pain for 'em. Decisions decisions…

"Alright. This may hurt, quite a lot actually. So try to be quiet and keep still the best you can. Okay?"
I look at his Visor and nod reassuringly. Then look back to his wound, which starts bleeding. And I've got to stick my fingers in there.
Slowly but surely I reach into his wound, sickened by the pain I must be causing him. Thankfully I find the wood chip splinter thing and pull it out.
Then I take out my biofoam canister and give the wound a little biofoam. Just cause of the pain relieve it has, yanno, after the burning.
And least but not least, I wrap it up in a bandage. Just cause... well I don't know why. Stop the bleeding I guess.

"Wyatt, I want you to move at nine o' clock around the opening, and I want the rest of you moving at three. We're gonna try to pincer them. Watch the trees though, most likely they got Jackels hiding in them. And if at all possible, be silent." Durrett gave the orders and made sure everyone understood them.

"Move out!" Ben moved back to the treeline along with Bontmepo, and they both got into prone positions. Durrett extended his sniper rifle's bi-pod, and Bontempo did the same with his modified DMR, that also had 4-15x adjustable scope, and an extended barrel for maximum accuracy.

Durrett scoped his rifle and tagged any enemies hiding in the trees on the teams HUD, so that the rest of Oxen could take care of them.

Wyatt moved to where Durrett had told him to go and waited for the others to get into postion. After they were ready Wyatt looked into the clearing. A lone jackal strode over to the edge of the woods looking around nervously. Wyatt moved in while it leaned up against a tree. He jumped the ugly alien with his combat knife ready. Closing it's beak shut to ensure it couldn't make a sound he slit it's throat and walked it back to the woods. Wyatt now waited for the other team to make a move.

"Alright. You should be fine now. Just try not to put too much pressure on it. You'll be fine."
I pat him on the shoulder reassuringly before turning towards where the rest of the squad went.
Where did they go? Guess I should've said something after all. They probably went on with the mission.
"I guess we wait until they realize we're not there. Wait, no. I'll just Comm them."
As I go to activate a Comm link, I realize Benjamin wanted Radio silence earlier.
"No, the Lieutenant wants radio silence. So much for that. I guess we just wait here."

Once I hit the ground, to my luck, my pod started rolling.
Dazed and confused I look out my pod window and see blue sky.
"F*ck!" I say as I regain my senses and open my drop pod door. The sunlight glaring down on my urban camo.
I hop out of my pod and start regaining feeling in my legs. *Groan*
"Why is it always me?" I grumble to myself. I start searching for the places my team landed down in.

Benjamin saw that a few ODST were missing from the squad, Three to be specific. He would have radioed them, but waited until the rest of Oxen took care of this objective. Once Wyatt and the strike team were in position, he took aim on one of the Elites. "Alright Dom, I'll aim for the one in red armor. You take aim on one of the minors." Bontempo waited a moment and got into a better shooting position. "Got it Ben."

Durrett watched the Elite for about a minute, then took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and pulled the trigger back. A bullet ripped through the air, flew across the open, and the Elite he was aiming at splashed purple/blue blood into the air and dropped to the ground. Bontempo started firing his DMR less then a second after Ben shot.

On Durrett and Dom took out two of the Elites the other two ran over to where Wyatt was. But they were too distracted by returning fire to see Wyatt. So Wyatt rushed forward with his combat knife ready and stabbed the first Elite in between it's spinal cord and skull killing it. The other turned to avenge it's fallen comrade but was met with two shotgun blasts to the chest. Wyatt then crouched dwin behind the fallen tree the elites were going to use as cover and retived his knife from the dead elite. He then cleaned it and began firing at the Jackles that had started to regroup and fight back with his DMR he took out three more.

"Oxen, keep fire on the far trees!" Ben yelled, then turned his head to Bontempo, "Go get those explosives set. I'll cover you." Bontempo nodded then got up from his prone position, and sprinted his way across the open battlefield. Durrett blew the head off any Jackel that attempted to be a hero and shoot at Dominic. Once to his location Bontempo took cover behind the large leg of the AA gun, and slid his pack off then got the C-12 out from it. He placed it and ran to the next leg and did the same, then the next. It took him about a minute to place them. "C-12 set and hot, sir." Dom said over the comm."

Once the explosive were ready to go, Dominic booked it to the closest treeline he saw. "Everybody keep their heads down!" A few seconds later the areas where the C-12 was placed lit up as bright as the sun, then died down quickly, but it was followed by multiple more chain explosions from inside the gun.

"Oxen regroup!" A few moments later Ben talked into his comm, "If there is any Oxen ODST that have been separated from the rest of the squad, that are hearing this, proceed to the second objective. Over." The second objective being the second AA gun.

"You hear that? Let's get going."
We start moving towards the second objective by following the waypoint. I have to help him along because of his leg.
Sure we're a bit slower, but I wouldn't leave him. Besides, the next the objective isn't too far.

After the explosion Wyatt heard Durrett's order to move on to the second objective. "I'll meet you guys there I'm going to handle clean up." Wyatt went around checking every nock and cranny of th wooded area around the AA gun. He found a few wounded Jackals and put them down. After clean up Wyatt sprinted his way to Durrett and caught up to him. "No witnesses sir now they won't be able to find out our strength. We still have the elimate of suprise somewhat."

"It's not gonna take them long to notice one of their guns are gone though." Ben said back to Wyatt. "They'll probably be fortifying their other AA guns soon. We need to hustle." He then waved everyone forward. No-Croak took point once again.

Benjamin started a light jog, though the forest would slow the squad down, along with the constant scanning of the trees.

We continue walking through the forest doing constant scans. Well, really more of crawling speed.
Eventually I just give up trying to let him walk and just pick up him on my back. Much faster speed now, but rather heavy.

Benjamin didn't like the speed the squad was going at, it wouldn't take long for the Covenant to reinforce their other AA gun with more soldiers. "Let's move Oxen!" Ben said trying to get people moving a bit faster, it usually never worked, it's just something squad leaders tended to do when they got impatient. Ben would hope that the remaining squad members heard his order, and he would see them at the second objective, he would hate to have lost troopers in the woods.

No-Croak raised his handed, halting the entire squad. They stood still for a good twenty seconds before Ben slowly made his way to the front of the team where No-Croak was crouching. But before he was able to get to his position, a plasma bolt flew through the air and tagged No-Croak right in the chest, knocking him down. Ben yelled out warning the squad "Contacts!"

Durrett crouched down for a moment and looked through his scope. He saw multiple dim lights moving through the thick forest. Jackels. He thought then a green light smacked him in his shoulder pad, punching a hole through it, and knocking him back a bit. "Damn!" He quickly scoped his rifle again and popped off two shots near the Jackels, "Suppressing fire!" He demanded then rushed to the injured ODST.

Wyatt heard the plasma fire off to his left. Then Durrett's voice came through yelling at the squad to spray on the supressing fire. Wyatt flanked the source of the plasma bursts and got to their side. He hid behind a tree then peeked out and saw about four or five jackals. He quickly tagged each one and said over his comms. "Tgere their postion take them down now. Wyatt popped out from behind cover and began to unload his BR into the enemy. He dropped three before hus clip ran out, and one ran away from the squad and other began to run along the squads line of vision. Wyatt pulled out his combat knife and hit the one running away but the hid behind a tree and began to blind fire at Wyatt. "Anyone got this guy?" Wyatt asked

Ben almost stumbled and tripped over a large root in the ground but caught himself before that happened. He made it to No-Croak's position where he was lying down, with a burn mark from a plasma shot on his chest. Ben was about to check the wound but the wounded ODST grabbed his arm. It shocked Ben for a second, but was relieved seeing he wasn't dead. No-Croak then let go of Ben and grabbed his own chest piece and ripped it off, revealing no wound. His armor took the entire blow.

"Don't worry about me Luey, takes more than that to kill me." No-Croak said then grabbed his assault rifle off of the ground and started firing at the remaining Jackel.

With a couple short controlled bursts, No-Croak dropped the last Jackel. It made a strange 'Yipping' like sound as it fell to the dirt. Ben waited a moment, and scanned the area for any more contacts. "All clear!" He said then continued, "Move out!" About twenty minutes passed of uneventful encounters, when they finally got to the second Anti-Air gun. This one was definitely more guarded than the last. There were about a dozen Elite, three of which seemed to be of higher ranks, while the rest were minors.

Ben turned to his squad and spoke out, "Alright, this one might be a little tougher boys and girls. But nothing we can't handle." Almost on cue, a Phantom flew over and hovered over the clearing, and two Hunters jumped from it landing near the AA gun. He added, trying not to have any fear in his voice, "Same plan as last time... Wyatt, take a couple marines on one side, the rest will go the other, me and Dom will provide long range support. Let's get to work then."

"Gotcha Durrett." Wyatt motioned for some of the Marines to follow him to the hunters flanks behind a few fallen trees. "Thuer weak points are their exposed backs. I will draw their fire away from you when they turn unload everything you got into their backs. That means a few grenades. Especially plasma grenades if you got them. Ok get ready." Wyatt ran out at the hunters firing, causing the lair to turn towards him a turtle up. Wyatt slide under one of the Hunters legs and rolled out the other side firing into it's back. The pair once again turned to face Wyatt when they did the marines unloaded their weapons into the backs of the creatures Wyatt even noticed a plasma grenade. This time only one hunter turned to face the threat and now they were back to back charging their cannons. "Get down Wyatt yelled as the first energy blast ripped over the heads of the marines." The hunter facing Wyatt tried to slam him into the ground which he easily side stepped but unfortunately he side stepped to the hunters shield side. The alien back handed Wyatt with it's enormous shield sending him flying into the AA gun. Wyatt's shields fell and his armor began beeping. "Durrett or Dom I could use some covering fire right now!" he yelled as the hunter began charging it's cannon for another attack.

Ben and Dominic once again ran to the treeline and dropped prone, aiming down their marksmen rifles, popping any blue bloods that came into sight. Ben saw the Hunters firing at the marines and Wyatt, but couldn't get a shot off. Once the first Hunter threw Wyatt against the gun, and asked for assistance, Ben was able to take a shot when the Hunter just stood for a moment. One crack of the sniper rifle, and a bullet made contact in the creatures back, though it didn't drop from it. After that Ben and Dom began to unleash a storm of lead the Hunter's way, dropping it to the ground after s short time of shoulder numbing firing. Ben reloaded, trying to be as swift as possible so that he might start firing at the second one.

"Thanks Durrett and Dom you guys really saved my hindquarters just then." Wyatt said as his shields began to climb up to full power. The second hunter seeing it's mate dead on the floor began to fill with rage. It began to charge at the marines behind the tree. Wyatt opened fire into the creature's back. It turned towards him and rushed. Wyatt quickly moved out of the way as it tore past him. Wyatt threw a plasma grenades into the hunter's back. The explosion only made it stagger "Great that was my last grenade." The alien swung it's shield at Wyatt again this time he ducked under and moved inside it's defenses unloading his weapon into it's chest. Wyatt stood there too long and the hunter clasped it's arms around Wyatt and began to squeeze "Ahhh!" he cried out as his shields began to fail again "Little help AH! You guys!" His left arm was trapped at his side but his right arm was free. He took hold of his combat knife and drived it into the hunter's right eye socket. It howled in pain but would not release the spartan from it's death grip. Wyatt gave his knife a hard twist obliterating any part of the creature's optical nerve that was left. This action caused the hunter to loosen it's grip just enough for Wyatt to slip out and get away. But as he began to move clear of the hunter's shield arm it fired it's plasma cannon. It's was aim was off just a bit due to the injury it sustained but it landed close enough to Wyatt to rocket him into a tree. Wyatt's helmet slammed into the tree hard causing the optics to become disorientated" "I'm flying blind here need an assit."

Finally, after walking through this forest, we stumble into a clearing. We've been following the gunshots and plasma fire for awhile.
I see the gun we're suppose to be destroying, one hunter and marines out and about. I guess the attack has already begun.

((Alright I'm gonna try posting here more often than I have been. I'd like it to keep living.))

It wasn't long before Wyatt had asked for more assistance. Unfortunately Ben was in the process of reloading his rifle from firing on Jackels at the treeline, and being prone made this action take slightly longer than it would if he was crouching. Once this was done, and a new mag was secure in the magwell, Ben took aim for the Hunter, a slight part of its back showing in Ben's sights. Without hesitating he shot all four shots from is sniper rifle, with only two of the shots coming in contact with the Hunter's back. The beast didn't seem to drop Wyatt, but Ben could hope it atleast loosened its grip.

((Just thought I'd share some fun facts about Hunters, not to be a dick Wyatt. But Hunters are made up of colonies of worms, a few hundred if I am correct. I say this mostly just because I don't think stabbing it in the 'Head' would do anything more than stabbing it in the back or any other part of the body.))

Wyatt's optics cleared just in time for him to see the hunter charging right at him. "Shit!" Wyatt yelled as he dove out of the way. The hunter slammed into the tree sending bark and huge splinters of wood every where. Wyatt ran for cover behind the AA letting his sheilds charge up agian. "On my mark fire." He told the marines "Mark!" Wyatt moved out of cover and began to unload his few remaing rounds into the alien.
(( Looks like no one else is going to be posting.))

Ben released the empty mag from his rifle, letting it fall to the ground. He then got a full one from his pouch and slapped it in, racking a new round into the chamber. Once Wyatt moved out from cover shooting the Hunter along with the other marines, Ben had already been taking aim on it. Him and pretty much all the other marines on the field was firing at the Hunter, and after a few moments of constant fire, it was unable to block all the bullets and dropped lifeless onto the ground.

The designated marine that was carrying the C12, ran into the opening towards one of the AA guns legs and began planting the explosives, like Dominic did before with the last gun. There were still a few Elites Jackels and Grunts in the treeline, but Ben, Bontempo and all the rest of the Helljumpers were keeping the Covies below cover pretty good. Once the marine planted the bombs he spoke over the comm, "C-12 set and ready to blow. Moving to safe location. Over." Right as the marine started running from the Anti-air weapon, two quick beams traveled through the air, striking him from two sides, both in his chest. The ODST fell into the dirt, unmoving. "Sniper fire!" Ben said over the comm channel, then continued, "We need that detonator. Wyatt, I need you to grab it. Me and Dom will try to find the snipers."

Sure enough, Ben saw a faint purple glow in some brush at the treeline. Without hesitation, he fired a shot, and the glowing orb vanished. Taking that as a kill, Ben started scanning for the other shooter.

Wyatt saw the marine's chest receive the two sniper rounds ripping through him. There were no signs of life in the marine. Wyatt responded to the sniper fire by taking cover trying to lay low and out of sight, unfortunately he had used the last of his ammo on the hunter. "We need that detonator. Wyatt, I need you to grab it. Me and Dom will try to find the snipers." Ben said over the comms. "You can count on me sir just make sure everyone is out of the blast radius." Wyatt waited for Ben and Dom to start a new volley of fire at the cowering snipers. When they did start Wyatt sprinted to the deceased marine and quickly grabbed the detonator and his fallen comrade's side arm. He continued across the clearing towards the other marines. Just before jumping behind cover with the marines he pushed the detonator down setting off the C-12.