Battle of Adachi

(Conner)
"Alright, Crowe and Chris, move up. You're the best we've got at close quarters and suppressive fire. Trevor and I will be right behind you guys for range."
=In response, three green lights winked on my HUD next to their names. Chris and Crowe began to blaze a path through the rocks. They were all but back to back as they moved, checking their corners with weapons raised=

(Chris)
"Damn, place is almost like a maze when you think about it."

(Conner)
"Don't think about it then."

(Chris)
=I snorted at the joke, keeping an eye on the motion tracker on the bottom left of my HUD. A blip to my left and two to my right: the rest of Alpha. No movement ahead of us or around us though, and I was sorely tempted to test out the new VISR enhancements integrated into the armor systems. Problem was most of the gear in our suits was still experimental, barely past the 'beta phase,' according to the tech report and they didn't want us to use it in the field yet. Shields and physical performance were still in the clear though=
"So just a mile through the maze of rocks and boulders?"

(Crowe)
"Looks like it Chris. Why, you afraid of walking?"

(Chris)
"I don't like walking through a mile long obstacle course with too many unknowns."

(Conner)
"Stow it Vasquez. Worrying about it now won't stop a plasma round if it does come."
=Frankly that didn't change the fact that she was right. We were walking through uncharted territory here, though heatmaps taken from orbit (a very hastily made image yes, but still a map) showed that the space we were walking through was devoid of any enemies, or at least significant heat signs that fell outside heat absorbed by the rocks during the day. Point was, while I may have silently agreed with her, it wouldn't do Alpha Team any good if I voiced the same concerns. To quote a famous film, "Gripes go up not down."=

--Adachi Orbit, Hyperion--

(Jason)
=The silence between our two fleets, Haven and Reclaimer, was finally broken. Clearly no longer willing to wait us out, the two new Forerunner frigates moved to attack. I ordered the Stalwart and Unyielding to move on an intercept course, and watched as their shields flared, the enemies weapons impacting the shields. Thankfully, they were strong enough to resist and not collapse, and we returned fire=

*Sensor Officer*
"Admiral, we're picking up smaller heat signatures below the Reclaimer ships. They don't match standard explosives so they're not missiles."

(James)
"It's a distraction....they're sending down aircraft to bomb our ground forces."
=That was a major problem. While we had our own aircraft down there, they were just transports. They had weapons sure but that was for bombing purposes. They were gunships with little to no anti-air weaponry, or at least any that could match fighters=

"Have our squadrons deploy to the surface. Their target is the enemy aircraft."

(Molly)
=Talon Squadron and I had finally received our latest orders: enemy strike craft were descending to the surface, and Jason felt that they were either bombing craft or fighters meant to take out our own air-power, and Talon Squadron, among others, was being sent down there to intercept and destroy=
"Alright Talon, we have our orders. Take off in 5...4...3...2....1!"

=Engines flared when I got to one, and the four of us took off out of the hangar bay. Following closely behind us were five other squadrons, and they raced down the runway within the cavernous hangar bay, following our very thin smoke trails. When we entered the void of space, the noise I heard from outside, in the hangar, was suddenly muffled. We were in the vacuum, and any noise I heard was inside the cockpit. The dull noise of the engines as they roared, the puff's from the tiny maneuvering jets on the points of the fighter......and then suddenly that all changed when we hit the atmosphere. A dull orange glow began to surround our craft as we descended, the effects of entry becoming more and more apparent. Sensors detected similar effects further ahead of us, though the thermal imaging was blurry as hell considering the heat already around us=
"Talon Squadron, detecting thirty signatures ahead of us. Heat from entry though is making the thermal unreliable so be cautious, there could be more."

=Three green lights winked on my digital display, and soon the orange glow from our entry dissipated. In the distance I could make out tiny clusters of orange lights, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that those were fighters. Things were about to get interesting=

=The Reclaimer fighters split off into two groups: roughly half peeled off and moved on an intercept course for the Haven fighters, while the rest remained on a course that would take them straight to the main ground forces of Haven=

(Molly)
"Dammit, they're moving to delay us. Talon, we need to punch through and stop them before they reach our ground forces"

(Cameron)
"Got it Molly, but that might be a problem for us. We can't just blow through their weapon fire."

(Molly)
=Damn, but he was right. We were going to get into a dogfight, so we might as well occupy them while the other took out the anti-ground fighters=
"All squadrons, Talon is going to distract the fighters on intercept. We'll keep them busy while you guys take out the fighters going for our ground forces."

=In response, a large cacophony of shouted "Clears!" came through over the headset=

(Molly)
"Talon, open fire!"
=I thumbed the controls on the joystick, and a pair of missiles shot out from under my fighter. Twin smoke trails followed them, and they were soon joined by several more pairs, fired from the rest of Talon. The lead enemy fighter fired its main guns, taking down my missiles while his buddies turned out of the way of the missiles, though they quickly arced to follow them. Our distraction was working though, as the other squadrons raced ahead of us, moving for the other fighters=

(Molly)
"Talon, break and attack!"
=We scattered, each going our own way. In hindsight it was a stupid move, since it gave the enemy an opening to get behind us, and for their weapons to lock. But then our training kicked in: the moment they loosed their missiles, we fired our flares and the weapons went wide of us=

Okay gentlemen, time to show you what I can do.
=I pulled an aerial stunt. Pulling on the brakes, I slowed the fighter down while at the same time pulling a loop, turning the nose up as I flipped over the enemy fighter. By the end of it, I was behind him, and instantly fired my main guns. Tiny lances of plasma fired in rapid succession, tearing into the rear of the fighter. Tiny explosions erupted from the surface of the panels, and soon the whole thing exploded=

One down...

=The dogfight in the sky raged on, as Talon and two other friendly squadrons distracted the attacking Reclaimer fighters. It gave the other half of their forces time to intercept the Reclaimer fighters/bombers that were moving on the ground forces=

--Surface, Thor Battalion. Front Lines=

=Before Thor, the no man's land was ablaze of smoke and fire, plasma artillery from the Mortar Sentinels turning the ground into molten glass. GESTR units advanced with reckless abandon, not caring about the globs of death being lobed at them. Then a new source of light, several in fact, came from the sky: the blazing wreckage of the Reclaimers air power came crashing down to the ground, the pilots either dead or ejected. The GESTR's, upon orders from their handlers, took advantage of the new cover=

--Rear of Reclaimer Base--

(Conner)
=Alpha had finally managed to make it's way through the rocks, and thankfully there were no mines or defenses in place. At the rear of the base though, was a pair of guard towers, spotlights searching the ground. The wall of the base itself was straight, and there was a large door at the other end, a maintenance entrance perhaps. We all crouched low behind the rocks=
"Okay Alpha, I see a way in, but we need to be careful. Those lights see us, and our cover is blown."

(Chris)
"Sir, we do have a whole army covering us. You think those lights spotting us will change anything?"

(Conner)
"Yes I do. The minute they realize they're getting blindsided, they'll bring back all their forces into the base. We may be good, but we can't fight an army."

(Crowe)
"Never know. I mean, we never have tried."
=It was an innocent joke, but I blinked behind the visor when Conner snapped at me=

(Conner)
"And we never will. We're a spec ops team. We don't fight whole armies, and we're wasting time."
=I turned back to the base, zooming in on the towers with my visor. Had to scan them to find any weaknesses, and when I found one, I opened a channel to Trevor=

"Trevor, those lights on the tower; they're just a distraction. Cameras right below them, scanning in full spectrum. Take them out, and we won't have to worry about the lights."

(Trevor)
"Got it."
=Moving around a nearby rock, I set into a crouch, carbine raised. My visor, having been fed the data from Conner's, managed to pick out the camera's he mentioned. I had to steady my aim, before loosing the first shot. Blue white plasma, a needle thin strip, streaked across the distance and right through the first camera. The overall heat managed to melt the circuitry, and reduced it to slag=

"First camera down. Taking out the next, so move up on the green light."

=Conner, Chris and Crowe all lined up, ready to run. The moment they saw the camera flash, they ran for the door, not heeding the searchlights. Gathering at the door, Conner and Crowe pressed their backs against the wall on either side of the door, while Chris took out her data-pad, preparing to hack the door=

(Chris)
"Cover me, this may take a second."

(Trevor)
"No problem Chris. I've got you all covered."

(Conner)
"Once she gets the door opened Trevor, move up. And move fast, we can't leave it open for long."

(Trevor)
"No problem."

(Chris)
=There was a green light on the data pad, and the door suddenly slid open=
"We're in. Trevor, move up."

=In the meantime, Crowe and Conner entered the door, weapons raised as they checked for any threats=

(Trevor)
=Standing up, I ran down from where I hid behind the rocks. There were no patrols, which seemed odd, and I made a note to tell Conner about that suspicion. Nodding at Chris, I walked through the door, and she followed. It closed behind us though, and there was an audible hiss. The door had sealed behind us=

(Conner)
=We fell into a tight formation, moving up through the hallway. It was scarce of any life, though they didn't need people to spot us out. If there was a camera or hidden sensor our cover would be blown to hell=
"Chris, see if you can find somewhere to connect to the base security system. Do it quietly though."

(Chris)
"Got it sir, this may take a sec."
=Switching filters on my visor, I scanned for any form of electromagnetic field. Chances were there was a cable or something I could plug into, and hack into the security system=

--Orbit--

(Jason)
=The battle in space was becoming bloody. Our frigate, Olev had sustained massive damage, and the order was given for its crew to evacuate. The last thing it did before blowing up though, was ram itself into the enemy destroyer. Shields flaring at first from the impact, the explosion brought them down and did a number on their hull. And, it gave us an opening=
"Target their destroyer, right in the wound."

*Weapons Officer*
"Firing!"

=A salvo of plasma was fired from the Hyperion and impacted the still glowing hull breach of the enemy destroyer. As it impacted, the hull melted and triggered secondary explosions, causing the ship to explode like the Olev. The crew didn't quite cheer, though they let their elation show through their work, becoming more determined, more focused=

--Lower Atmosphere--

(Molly)
"Shit!"
=I spun, rolling to the side and narrowly dodging an enemy missile that came out of a freaking cloud. How my sensors didn't see it was beyond me=

"Talon team, watch for missiles from the clouds. I think the uranium in the atmosphere is messing with our sensors, and they're using it as an advantage."
=I had to hope the same anomaly wasn't blocking our comm link, or else we would lose our most effective tool: cohesion=

(Molly)
=Cameron's voice crackled in over the comm=

(Cameron)
"Understood Molly. Maybe we should try and get to a higher altitude?"

(Molly)
"No, if we go higher those fighters will just bomb our ground forces. We need to draw them out somehow, make them come to us."

(Ford)
"Sounds great Molly, any ideas?"
=As I yelled into the headset, I flipped backwards and managed to get the enemy fighter that overshot me=

(Molly)
"None, sadly. So for now, maintain standard attack patterns."

--Reclaimer Base--

(Chris)
"Yes, I'm in!"
=I now had access to the base security feeds and sensors. I wasn't going to turn it off though, that would let them know they had guests. So I did something a little more complex; I fed the system a continuous blank patch of our position, in real time. If a patrol spotted us, we were still caught, but to sensors we were invisible=

(Chris)
=A few seconds later, and I had the schematics for the facility downloaded into the suit, sharing it with the team=
"Okay, the server room is two levels above us. There's a lift we can take down the end of this hall, and to the left by about thirty meters."

(Conner)
"Guards?"

(Chris)
"Can't access info on guards. Comm is too encrypted, and I can make us invisible to sensors but I can't make the guards visible to us. We're going to have to go cautiously."

(Conner)
"Agreed. Chris, Crowe: you're up front. Keep your weapons ready, I don't want to turn the corner and not be ready. Trevor, you and I take the rear and provide cover."

(Conner)
=In response, three green lights winked on my HUD, and we got in formation. Movement down the hall was unhindered, and once at the lift we called down an elevator=
"Chris, any progress on the security personnel?"

(Chris)
"Nope. We're still blind."
=No sooner had I said that though, then the doors opened and we were soon faced with a security team. They were clad in dark grey combat skin, and wielded large rifles, reverse engineered. There was a pregnant second or two, that we both stared at each other in surprise. Then one of them brought their gun to bear and fired right at me. My shield flared as they dispersed the first shot, and the rest of Alpha scrambled for cover. I felt an arm come up from below my right armpit, and I was hauled away=

(Conner)
"Take em down!"
=Shots arced down the hall from Trevor as I hauled Chris' ass out of there. There wasn't much cover in the hall, so we had to make this fast and rely on our shields for cover. Tim and Trevor both opened up on the security team, blue white plasma impacting the target shields. They dropped, and soon the shots melted through the Reclaimer soldier, but their friends returned fire. So I did the only thing I could do: once Chris was far enough, I took a grenade from my belt, and tossed it into the elevator=

"Grenade!"
=We all brought our arms up to cover our faces as the grenade detonated, white light illuminating us as fire and debris rushed down the hallway. The men in the elevator were killed.....and also the elevator itself was destroyed. Well, the box anyway=

(Conner)
=Once the smoke cleared, and I saw the damage, I slammed a fist against the wall=
"Dammit. There goes our way up."

(Trevor)
"Not exactly. We can climb up the shaft....and hope no one tosses a grenade."
=Our team was equipped with rappels after all, so if necessary we could shoot a cable up the shaft and work our way up=

(Conner)
"That'll have to work. Okay, two at a time so one group can watch our rear. Chris, Crowe you two are up first."
=I made my way to the elevator shaft. It must have been one helluva grenade they used, probably an actual Forerunner and not a cheap knock off, considering that some of the elevator box was actually melted to the shaft itself. But there was enough room for me to take out rappel cable, tightly wound into a spool. There was an attachment on our weapons meant for this, as I hooked the spool underneath the gun, and fired upwards. The cable had a tiny spear at the head, so when it hit the ceiling it sank in, secured. Chris stood beside me, having shaken off the explosion and firing her own cable up as well=

(Chris)
"Going up."

(Chris)
=Crowe and I tied ourselves onto the cable, and attached the spools to a device on our belts that pulled us up. We rose at a decent speed, until we got to the second floor door. It was still closed, so I had to bring out my weapon=
"Don't look at the door, I'm going to focus all the energy in the battery into a single shot, burn a hole through the door."

(Crowe)
"Got it."
=I turned the polarization on my visor to its maximum setting, and soon I found it very hard to see anything other than my HUD=

(Chris)
=Making the necessary adjustments, I fired. An intense, bright white lance of energy erupted from the barrel of my weapon, as thick as my finger. It cut into the metal of the door with ease, and I guided it to take out the locks=

(Chris)
"We have a way in. Crowe and I are moving in now, so get ready."
=I moved towards the hole, and pulled my head back in time to avoid a flash of light that came down the hallway=

"Dammit, we've got enemy troops in the hall and they've got us pinned."

(Crowe)
"Move back, I'll toss a grenade in."
=Swinging to the door, I grabbed onto a handhold, securing myself. I then grabbed a grenade off my belt, armed it, and tossed it in=

"Stay clear of the hole!"
=Chris and I turned away just in time. There was another flash of light, and a small gout of fire erupted from the hole=

"Okay, move in!"

(Chris)
=Crowe and I moved, moving through the hole as fast as we could. No enemy fire came at us, but I still headed for what I made out as a corner, taking cover behind it. Edging my gun around the corner, I fired off a short burst, hoping to either hit someone or at least keep them suppressed=

(Crowe)
=While Chris dove for cover, I played the role of the heavy: firing non stop with the heavy weapon. Switching filters on my visor, I was able to cut through the smoke and make out several heat signatures that matched human form, and fired on them. They went down in a hail of plasma=

(Chris)
"Hallway is clear for now. Let's move and secure the server room before reinforcements show up."
=No sooner did I say that, then there was a sound of rappels and lines being put under strain as Conner and Trevor rose up the shaft. While they climbed, Crowe and I secured the hall, checking the dead to make sure they were dead. So far, they all were, their armor melted in certain spots, same for their weapons. We grabbed what battery packs and grenades survived, but there wasn't much else. I had just finished cleaning out the last corpse when Conner came crawling through the hole=

"Well nice of you to join us sir."

(Conner)
"Hardy har har Corporal. Stow it and get to that door, chances are they're already mounting a defense behind it."

(Chris)
=Joking tone aside, I was all serious again=
"Got it sir. Want me to lay some breaching explosives?"

(Crowe)
"Thought demo was my job..."

--Adachi Surface, "Fields of Hell"--

=Fighting in the 'Fields of Hell' (a name quickly applied by most Haven soldiers) had soon progressed from simply bombing the field with mortars, to scattered fighting within the space between the Haven F.O.B. and the Reclaimer base. Much of the space was already littered with enough large rocks, jagged outcroppings, and ancient dried riverbeds to supply ample cover, before the debris from fallen Reclaimer fighters and large bombers added to it. In addition, the destruction of the Reclaimer destroyer, while advantageous for the Haven fleet, proved to only aid the Reclaimers. Much of the wreckage still remained in orbit yes, but the explosion and ongoing battle had forced other pieces, already enthralled by the gravity of the planet, downward and into impact trajectories with the surface=

Code:

--Notation--

Fleet sensor records of orbital engagement include record of debris from destroyer wreckage.
Sensor data shows that roughly 68.9% of the debris that fell overshot the space of land the main battle took place on. Debris of this grouping impacted roughly 50 km behind main Haven ground base.
Remaining 31.1% of fallen debris impacted within region dubbed "Fields of Hell."
Majority of debris fell in this area were under 5 meters in size.

=The falling debris proved to be devastating once it impacted the "Fields." Their kinetic impacts killed or injured many Haven soldiers. Relcaimers also suffered casualties, but the majority were all GESTR units, and thus were deemed expendable. The debris allowed the Reclaimers to push forward, toward the F.O.B. and the resulting craters from the explosions provided them with ample cover=

*Zeus Battalion Commander*
=When the debris fell down upon the battlefield, what had been an organized, if chaotic battle, soon devolved into pure chaos. Over the radioes, soldiers screamed in fear, panic, and pain. Our battlenet was ablaze with activity the moment the fireballs hit, with lifesigns across the board flatlining, or the signals from the suits just vanishing and that did not make me feel better. My people were either k.i.a. or w.i.a, and to top it off the majority of it was coming from orbital junk. What soldier on the ground can fight that?=
"This is Commander Wash to all Zeus soldiers. Fall back to the F.O.B. immediately, you cannot afford to remain out on the fields with this debris raining down. Try and bring back any wounded you find but the priority is a retreat. Move it peo--"

Code:

Transmission Interrupted.
F.O.B. communication dish impacted by debris.
Front line communications momentarily interrupted.
Communications reestablished and routed through main ground base.

Code:

Audio and visual recordings recovered from "Fireteam Indigo" during fall of orbital debris onto Adachi battlefield.
Indigo Team Members are as follows:
Cprl. Jennifer Alleybane, Team Leader
Sgt. Elliot Blackburn
Pvt. Elena Blackburn (Sibling to Eliiot Blackburn)
Pvt. Michael Fincher

*Jennifer Alleybane*
"Fuck! Indigo, get to cover now! Move!"
=An explosion ripped through a chunk of rock jutting out from the ground to the left, turning it into shrapnel that flew everywhere. Shields flared as the rocks impacted and deflected off the shields=

*Elliot Blackburn*
"No need to tell me twice ma'am. Jesus Christ, it's a freakin meteor shower!"
=He ran for cover, his destination an overhanging of solid rock. Ahead of him he could see on his HUD the signatures of three other Haven soldiers not of his fireteam already hiding there. It would have been the perfect spot....if a large chunk of debris hadn't fallen on the overhanging, smashing it to pieces and burying the soldiers beneath=

"Fuck! Fuck! Holy fucking shit!"

*Elena*
"Dammit El, move it! Go now!"
=She shoved him, getting him to move and run again. All around them was fire, explosions, and loud noise as the debris kept coming. The only outside noise they could hear was the sonic booming of the debris as it broke the sound barrier, and visual capabilities soon went down to a few feet, dust from the surface already being kicked into the air=

*Jennifer*
"Dammit,I can't see shifting this dust. Indigo, switch to Predator vision!"
=She herself did just that, and suddenly the visor in her helmet changed. Everything took on a blue hue, an orange wave being the best description washing over everything in sight. Suddenly she was able to see more clearly, as was the Reston Indigo=

*Michael*
"Okay, I can see. Now just give me a waypoint or something."

*Jennifer*
"Keep moving Indigo! Command? Command do you read? Shit, I'm not getting anything."

*Elena*
"The debris may have hit a communication dish. And there is uranium in the dust, same dust tha- HOLY SHIT!"
=She rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a bolt of plasma from a GESTR soldier ahead of the team=

"Dammit, we've got freaks at our twelve. And in the middle of a freakin meteor shower! Hey shit for brains, you're in this mess to!"

=If the GESTR hear her, it clearly didn't care. It continued to fire, plasma bolts impacting the ground at Elena's feet and turning it to glass=

*Eliot*
=He runs to her, shoving her aside as the bolts move up from the ground and hit his shields. They flare even as he flys through the air, sister still being shoved by his mass and into the rocks. They were under cover then, and only then did he sit up=
"Dammit Elena, what the hell were you thinking? You know those things have no reason."

*Elena*
"Sorry, I forgot."
=She reaches for her rifle, and peeks around the corner=

"Commander? Fincher?"

*Fincher*
=He had taken cover behind a boulder=
"I'm here, right behind you guys."

*Jennifer*
=She reached for grenade, hiding across from the twins behind a piece of fallen debris=
"Fincher, toss a grenade at that thing. Twins, hose that position the second that grenade blows!"

=Three green lights winked an affirmative, and the team moved into action. Fincher tossed the grenade, his suit augmenting his strength enough for it to reach the GESTR, now joined by two more units. It detonated, taking down one unit and washing the others in heat and bright light. It warmed their armor to the point that it glowed, even began to melt in parts but they didn't care, their weapons firing as they slowly advanced despite the physical damage it did them. Both Blackburns sprang up, along with Indigo leader, weapons coming to bear on the advancing GESTR's. They fired, bolts of plasma impacting the GESTR armor, boring through and further melting the armor. They managed to land head shots, and the GESTR's went down=

--Lower Atmosphere--

(Molly)
"FUCK! Evasive maneuvers, now!"
=First it was the enemy squadron we had to loo out for. Now....now it was falling debris. The damn stuff was practically raining down with just enough space for us to weave through, but it wasn't going to be enough. Already, some of the debris impacted my fighter, making me wobble a little, denying the hull plating. These were built for space combat after all, and tiny debris like this was able to move a lot faster in the void. That said, too much and I could be shot down by junk, of all things. Thankfully, the enemy fighters didn't far any better. Hell, they probably fared worse=

=Talon squadron responded to their commanders orders, and weaved through the rain of metal. Eventually, the whole squadron, and other friendlies, moved to fly outside of that region of airspace. However, while Talon survived unscathed, more than a few of their comrades were taken down, either by enemy fire or the debris=

--Reclaimer Facility--

=A few minutes later the explosives were in place, a shaped charge to knock the door open the stun anyone on the other end. That or obscure their vision=

(Conner)
"Alright, breach in three, two, one.."
=The charge detonated, the door blew inward, and I turned the corner into the room. My visor searched for targets, finding two right in front of me. I fired at them, dropping them with well placed head shots and moved to the side while my team moved in. More shots followed, along with more bodies=

(Chris)
"Room's clear! Zero hostiles."
=Still, I kept the gun raised as I moved into the room. It was larger than I expected, with a second level maybe three feet above the first=

"Shit, small problem. This is the server room, but that means we have rows of servers. No telling how many more are in here."

(Conner)
"Then we split into teams of two. Chris, Tim, take the left. Trevor, you're with me on the right."
=We broke off, and went down the rows, moving up the small staircase to the server floor. But there were no more hostiles in the room, so I had Chris plug into a nearby console=

"Can you link to the other servers from there?"

(Chris)
"Yeah, this console connects to every server in the room, but there's way too much information here for my data-pad. I'll have to hook up to the base comm array, and beam the info to the Hyperion."

(Conner)
"You sure about that?"

(Chris)
"Yes sir, it's the only way to get everything we need out of here without making ten thousand trips. And if I can take over the communication dish, I can disrupt their communications with the rest of their forces."

(Conner)
=She won me over on that one=
"Okay, do it."

(Chris)
=Nodding, I went to work, tapping commands into the keyboard and taking over the communication array. I started by shutting it all down, effectively cutting the base off from the outside. Then I took control of the atmospheric sensors and found the Hyperion, and aimed the dish to the ship=
"Initiating handshake protocols.....sending identification code....and awaiting permission to upload."

--Adachi Orbit--

(Jason)
=The battle once more turned into a stalemate, with both our forces firing on the other, shields flaring not just from enemy fire but from the debris of the Relciamer destroyer, bouncing off the shields of all ships=

*Comm Officer*
"Admiral, I'm getting a signal from the surface. The coordinates are from....the Reclaimer facility. Wait, there's a identification code, belonging to Cprl. Vasquez of Alpha Team."

(Jason)
"Open the line officer. They wouldn't be calling unless it was important."
=I re-routed the message over to my data-pad, or at least some of it. Just enough so I could see what was coming. And then the motherload poured in. Alpha was sending us every scrap of intelligence from the base, and we were having it downloaded into our computers=

"Divert this message to the prowler Run Silent. And try and avoid enemy fire, the contents of this message are highly valuable."

=The battlegroup of five ships began moving back, putting the large debris of the Reclaimer destroyer between them and the oncoming fire=

(Chris)
"Okay, message is being sent. But we need to hold this room until the download completes!"
=Right as I said that, a squad of four Reclaimer soldiers burst through the busted door. Well, I didn't see it, I saw it on Tim's tactical camera=

(Crowe)
"Shit!"
=Reacting instantly, I pulled the trigger and my weapon fired. Unlike the GESTR soldiers though, these guys had real combat skin, with shields. Backing up while still firing, the lead soldier's shields dropped and I melted through his armor. But then his friends started firing on me. and my shields began to drop=

(Conner)
"Tim get down!"
=As he got to one knee I came up behind him and fired on the enemies. It gave him enough cover to recover most of his shields, and the soldiers retreated to behind the door=

"Vasquez, how much time do we have on that upload?"

(Chris)
"Current speed, maybe three minutes? Five tops."

(Conner)
"Dammit, I don't know if we're going to be able to hold it for that long. But we have no choice....Chris, stay by the console and make sure the connection stays up. Crowe, you and me we'll stay at the choke-point. Trevor....just join us and keep them out of this room."
=The three of us took up position behind the railing separating the servers from the rest of the floor. And then they came in again, our weapons firing once more=

--Fields of Hell--

=Finally, the worst of the debris had landed and the storm ended. But the end of the debris fall, did not signal the end of the battle. The GESTR's, cold, relentless, and without fear, continued their advance towards the battalions, now grouped together by the F.O.B. Those outside the base, unable to get there in the debris, resumed their attack on the GESTR soldiers, doing what they could to slow their advance=

(Jennifer)
"Dammit, keep firing Indigo! We need to slow them down."
=She ducked back behind a rock as another stream of plasma burst from the small cloud of dust, impacting the rock wall to her right. She tried once more to raise command on the battle net=

"This is Corporal Alleybane of Indigo Squad to command, come in command! Do you read over?"
=Static crackled over the comm, but a voice finally came through=

*Officer*
"We read you corporal, what is your situation?"

(Jennifer)
"My situation is dire sir. We are pinned down by GESTR soldiers, and we cannot move without exposing ourselves. Request immediate mortar fire."

*Officer*
"Understood. We have a mortar team ready to fire, just give them a target."

(Jennifer)
"Roger that sir. Inform morta-"
=She stopped and rolled away as a grenade was tossed near her position=

"Fuck me! Tell the fucking mortar team we'll be painting the fuckers location with lasers."
=Not bothering to see if there was a confirm on that, she activated a laser sight on her rifle, and aimed it at the GESTR location. The laser was synced to her suit, and measured distance, then combined with GPS data to show the mortar team where exactly they needed to fire=

=The mortar team, two engineers and a mortar sentinel, received the coordinates Indigo sent. Positioning themselves, the Sentinel swiveled it's large back mounted turret several degrees, legs digging into the ground and shifting beneath it. Then it warmed, and fired off a blob of blue plasma. The blob arced high over the terrain, and then landed right on the squad of GESTR soldiers. One was hit by molten rock and glass that got tossed up from the impact, the debris melting or heating its armor and bringing it down. Another round of shots from the Sentinel, spaced out evenly, managed to dispatch the other GESTR's=

(Jennifer)
"Much appreciated command. What's the status for the other teams?"

*Officer*
"The debris took out most of our frontline forces Corporal. Those that can still move and fight, are being reorganized to intercept a major push by Reclaimer forces. If you and the rest of Indigo are able, we could use you there to help push them back."

(Jennifer)
"Affirmative sir, just send us the coordinates. What's the plan though, we just hole up and fire off rounds at them?"

*Officer*
"Negative, just stall them long enough to let them bunch up, then we blast them with an airstrike."

(Jennifer)
"Understood. We'll rendezvous with friendly forces at the coordinates. Over and out."
=The conversation ended, she turned back to her team=

"Alright Indigo, you heard the man. We have our orders, so lets move out!"

--Reclaimer Base--

(Chris)
"75 percent uploaded!"
=I ducked just as a few more bolts of plasma screamed towards me. Granted, there wasn't much to duck behind, but it was reflexive=

(Conner)
=We were going on maybe twenty minutes now, holed up here waiting for the upload to end. And we were running low on ammo. I was down to two more batteries for my rifle and one last grenade, and the same went with (varying degrees) for everyone else=
"Just hold on a little longer. Alpha, save your grenades; once the upload is complete we're going to need to clear that hallway fast!"

(Crowe)
"Oh that'll be fun!"
=As I yelled that, my gun went on empty. Well, the battery anyway, so when the torrent of plasma stopped more soldiers came through, only to be stopped by Trevor as he fired a shot from his carbine=

"Can't we just take what we have?"

(Chris)
"NO! We don't know what's what, and if we cut this off prematurely we risk losing vital intel."

(Trevor)
"Yeah but 80 percent is better than zero. We should at least be happy with having the bulk."
=He ducked as a stream of plasma whizzed past his head and hit one of the servers. The bolts melted through it, and reduced it to slag=

(Chris)
=The moment the server was reduced to a mound of slag, I got a very disappointing message on my HUD=
"Shit, the upload stopped. And I can't get it going again."

(Conner)
"Then we take what we have. Alpha, use the grenades!"

(Conner)
=All four of us lobbed a grenade into the hallway, and there was small supernova seconds later. Blue white fire exploded into the room, but not far enough to harm us. I was the first to advance forward and out the door, weapon sweeping to the left while Crowe took up my rear and then swept his weapon to the right. Both ends were clear, and we moved back to the elevator=
"Okay, no time for subtlety Alpha, especially with the base wise to us. Sam, you still there?"

(Sam)
=For the past hour, I was sitting quietly in the Blacklight, the dropship parked in a gorge two klicks south of the base. Nothing exciting, save for the debris storm, had happened in that time until Conner hailed me. Since I was leaning back, relaxed in my seat, I sorta flailed in panic and surprise when his voice crackled through, but I managed to secure myself and get my seat back in a proper position=
"Jesus Christ, nearly gave me a heartattack. Yeah I read you Conner, what's up?"

(Conner)
"Mission complete, we need an immediate extraction. We're going to be heading for the exit at full speed, but we need you to meet us there. And some covering fire wouldn't hurt either."

(Sam)
=I flicked several switches on the console, bringing the dropship to life. The engines began to fire up and the whole bird woke up=
"Got it, one fiery explosive extraction coming up. ETA six minutes."

=As Alpha Team moved down the corridor for the elevator shaft, the Blacklight increased its speed and came within shooting distance of the base. The targeting computer locked onto several random targets, and then fired a volley of missiles, each flying for a different target. Some hit the communication dish, others hit the guard towers covering the rear of the facility, and still others just impacted against the walls, roof, whatever was really the base=

(Conner)
=Even inside the building, behind all that metal, I could hear the dull thumps of explosions, and the hallway shook=
"Move it Alpha, she won't wait forever."

=Chris and Crowe were first up, clipping the ropes to their belts and rappelling down while Trevor and I covered them=

--Fields of Hell--

(Jennifer)
"Keep the pressure on them Indigo! Just a little longer."
=Indigo had rallied with the other fireteams, and was currently focusing all their fire on the incoming GESTR's. The location on the battlefield was a flat zone, with relatively few obstacles and served as an ideal point for the suicidal shock-troopers to storm, their handlers intending to have them steamroll through the frontlines. After all they were meant to be expendable. However, the downside, in addition to lack of cover, was that their path ended in a bottleneck path that made it easy for the fireteams to slow them down, if not outright stop them=

(Elliot)
"Uh, sir? Kinda running low on batteries for my weapon!"
=Currently, his weapon was at half charge, and he had only three more energy cells, or 'batteries' as the troops had taken to calling them=

(Jennifer)
"Then switch to burst fire Blackburn! Conserve your ammo, aim for the critical areas!"

(Elena)
"I don't get it, why can't we just..."
=She ducked behind a rock as enemy plasma fire came her way. Springing up, she returned fire and managed to take down the enemy=

"Why can't we just blow that pass? Block their only way in."

(Jennifer)
"Because then they'll just move somewhere else with better cover. Right now they're bunching themselves up in the one place we can nail them with mortars and an airstrike."