The Official 405th Rp 2!

[Adulese]

Joe was up early the next day. If it could even be called the next day. Space travel doesn't give you that lesure, people are always up like its the afternoon. Typical. He headed to the Training SIM. He had read reports that the SIM he would give any man a run for his money. 'They never tested it on me. Should be easy,' he thought.
<blockquote>"Oh you think so." Kirk materialized himself next to him.
"Sure, I've already broken 10 SIM records, how hard could this one be." Joe smiled.
"Alright, though guy, lets get in there then."</blockquote>
Joe went over to the training computer's settings pannel. He added his favorite weapons of choice, gave himself 5 marines and 2 ODST and set himself on a mission to wipe out a Covy controlled area on Earth.
<blockquote>"Good choice buddy. Lets see how you do."
"Oh don't worry, I'll wipe out this record in no time."
"Will see about that." Kirk said to himself, tapping the settings pannel a couple times.</blockquote>
- 15 minutes later -
Joe climmed out of the SIM room. Discuraged. He lost all his men and himself to a pack of Brutes and a couple Grunts. 'God I hate those stupid little suside grunts. As soon as you take their leadership, they run at you with two plasma gernades. Idiots.'
Kirk materialized. 'They may be idiots, but they took you out didn't they.'
<blockquote>"True ... Kirk did you do something to that SIM?"
"Nooooooooo."</blockquote>
Joe walked over to the settings pannel. SIM Difficulty: MAX (AKA: Un-realisticly Hard).
<blockquote>"No wonder. No Brute could have survived two sniper shots to the head if it was on a realistic setting. Dammit Kirk. Tell me before you do that again."
"Better be ready for the worst, than to be burned when you get in the field," A voice sounded behind Joe.
"Hey Charlie. Up early aren't you."
"So are you. Saw you gave that SIM a try, I hope you do better when we do the official SIM later. I'd rather not get wasted because you can't kill a Brute with a Sniper."
"Don't worry. Besides, shouldn't I be worrying about you. Your the brute force guy in the mission."
Charlie smiled, "Oh don't worry buddy. Give me a flame, and I'll wipe everything out."
Justins voice filtered through their helmets. "Where the hell are you to?"
Joe replied first, "Training SIM. Had a go on it. Kirk here gave me quite the run."
"Good, now get down to the mess hall." Justin seemed a bit edgy today. Which was saying something.
Charlie spoke up, "Don't stress it. We'll be there in a sec."</blockquote>

 

[Fenix Chief]

The Questioning Room had the Squid in it. Mark walked up to a Marine and Briefed.
"The Squid say anything yet?'
"No sir, he's still knocked out."
"Strip him of Armor and Weapons?"
"Yes sir."
Mark went over to the Door into the Questioning Room. The door opened and Mark went inside. The being was slumped in his chair. Without it's Body Armor, it was very thin. And without it's Mask it had a Mouth that had no lips, the top and bottom of the mouth touched together instead. Mark sat down in the Chair across the table from it and slapped the Squid to wake him up. When the Being pulled it's head up, Mark started Questioning.
"Talk. You speak English?"
The being was Disgusted. It said "Yes I can Talk English you Fool, my Race is one of the Most Intelligent Races in the Galaxy!" It's voice sounded like an Elite but slightly lower.
"Good.", said Mark." I want answers. You answer my Questions"
"Fine, But I-"
"Questions first. Now, what's your Name?"
"Regnas Gelant"
"And your Races name?"
"Gileswant"
"Homeworld?"
"Quan"
"Very good. Now why is your ship here."
"It's not my ship! I'm not even associated with my corrupt Government!", the Squid roared.
"Wait, what?"
"On my Homeworld, the Government is terribly Corrupt. Our Race used to be Peaceful, but when we were taken over, we became a violent species. Our Leaders believe that we are the Supreme Race, and all others should be destroyed. But a group of us created a Rebellion, I am the Leader. We believe that our Government should not Be Genocidal, we still believe Battles and Wars should be used to Protect our Loved ones, but Killing a whole race is Demonic!"
Mark was surprised, he thought every one of the Squids were Demonic, or so he had thought.
"Your right. But how can I trust you?", said Mark.
"I'll show you.", said Regnas.

 

[church 957]

Ryan sighed as he leaned back against the steel bulkhead and looked around the cell in the ships brig. He rubbed his knuckles trying to remove at least some of the blood that was encrusted on them. This really isn’t fair he thought to himself, stupid marines, they start a fight 3 on 1 I win and end up in here for it, ridiculous. He looked up and saw on of the navy guards staring at him, Ryan blew him a kiss and the man quickly turned away looking shocked. Get lost pal Ryan thought the last thing I need is you acting like your better than me. A door opened and Frank Collins walked in stopping in front of Ryan’s cell, he sighed and shook his head.
“Get him out of there please private, I have orders to take him to see the company sergeant major” he said to the marine guard behind the desk.
“Yes corporal” said the young marine, taking a set of keys from the desk and moving to unlock the cell. Ryan smiled and stood up, as he walked through the door he put a hand on the marines shoulder and said
“Oh by the way mate I thought that overall the food was good but the service was lousy”
He went to the desk and picked up his webbing that sat next to it, he slung it over one shoulder and turned to the navy guard winked at him and said
“See you later sexy” and with that walked out the door. He could still see Frank out of the corner of his eye returning the marines salute, whilst trying very hard not to laugh, before following him out.

Frank caught up with him halfway down the corridor.
“What did you say that to him for?” a quizzical look on his face.
“Don’t know, to freak him out” Ryan replied.
Frank chuckled and looked at him as they took a right turn following the signs to the mess hall.
“I’m gone in 2 months who’s going to bail you out then?”
“Meh” Ryan replied shrugging his shoulders “were not really going to see the CSM are we”
“No luckily for you he doesn’t know about this yet”

The company sergeant major was Eddie Vasges, though how he reached that rank was anyone’s guess as he’d never fired so much as a shot in combat in his life. He was what Frank called a fake ODST, although he was jump trained he’d hadn’t done the same combat training as everyone else as he’d transferred in from some other unit.
Everyone hated Vasges and he hates them in turn, he was forever talking about much action he’d seen but when it came to the crunch he was nowhere to be found. However he held a special hatred back, just for Ryan. It originated from a few years before when at one of the regimental parties vasges had drunkenly, in front of everyone asked how Ryan had survived the incident at octarus prime that had left him the sole survivor of his entire platoon, when a real man would have died with his unit. Ryan had broken the mans jaw in 2 places that night and it was only the intervention of the company commander that kept him out of prison.

“Good” Ryan said”I can’t deal with him right now, anyway I’m starving time for breakfast I think”
All personnel report to assigned cryo bays immediately the ship will make a slipspace jump in 1 hour, that is all.”
“Or maybe not”

20 minutes later Ryan was settled into his cryo tube, waiting for it to be locked down, looking forward to the rest. He needed it the dreams had never bothered him in cryo maybe that was because you didn’t really sleep, at least not yet anyway.

-----

“Sir the ship is prep’d and were ready to jump”
“Thank you Adria” Andrews said before walking out onto the bridge. He surveyed the bridge crew before clapping his hands together.
“Right then lets get this show on the road, Adria” he said looking at her image on the pedestal
“Tuck everyone in, flight” he said to Lieutenant Reynolds at flight control
“Start the clock”
“Aye sir, jump clock set for 2 minutes”
“Nelson” Andrews said, and watched the image of the famous admiral rise from the pedestal next to Adria’s.
“Yes sir” Nelson said, bracing to attention.
“Have you been running those drop simulations?” Andrews asked, knowing perfectly well that he had been.
“Yes sir but the information you gave me was severely limited, I only know the rough size of the planet but nothing about enemies troop numbers, ground conditions, friendly forces, enemy ship numbers…” Andrews held up a hand stopping the A.I in mid flow.
“Just call me when you have something, I’ll get you more info after the briefing, ok.” Nelsons hologram braced once more to attention and then faded away.
“I really don’t need him” Adria said, hands on hips.
“Stop complaining and be nice, it’s more than enough ship for the 2 of you, status”
“The crew are all in the freezer sir”
“Flight?”
“Clock is at 20 seconds sir”
“Good” Andrews said clasping his hands behind his back.
“5, 4, 3, 2, 1” said Lieutenant Reynolds and Andrews felt a rumble as s the ship ripped a hole into slipspace an accelerated through.
“We’ve successfully transferred to slipspace, captain ETA 6 days, 9 hours, 38 minutes and 8 seconds” said Adria
“Ok people get to your cryo tubes” Andrews said.
“Aye sir” was the collective response. Andrews headed for the command crews cryo bay located just off the bridge.
“Adria” he said turning to face her “wake me if anything interesting happens, and be nice to Nelson”
“Aye sir” she said. Andrews headed for the freezer.

 

[Spartan137]

Justin took the rare moment to relax. Sitting on one of the couches in the mess hall, he gazed into the gold visor of his helmet which sat in his lap. Marines and ODSTs, crewmen and maintnence personel went about their business around him, taking no notice of the SPARTAN.

Personel aboard the Indianapolis where different then most soldiers. Since the Indianapolis was dedicated almost exclusively to the SPARTAN-IV program, the personel just got used to the mighty warriors. Justin looked up from his visor and looked to the far wall. Adorning the wall where magnificent Mahogany panels. Pictures hung on the wall, each an official photo of a SPARTAN-IV who had lost his or her life. A naval crewman was hanging the picture of Zach-102 and Nick-024.

Justin shook his head clear of any thoughts of sorrow. He slipped his helmet over his head. Inside the visor, text scrolled across his vision.

Collect and stow your equipment and report to the bridge -- Cpt Vadik

Clicking the COM, he called to Charlie and Joe. "Where the hell are you two?"

Joe replied first, "Training SIM. Had a go on it. Kirk here gave me quite the run."

Justin closed his eyes. The last thing he needed was a rouge AI. "Good, now get down to the mess hall."

Charlie's voice filtered through, "Don't stress it. We'll be there in a sec."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good to see you old friend, I've already finished the transfer of your enlisted Spartans, so please do tell me that you have good news of the Battle Group." Valstaff's image appeared on Vadik's personal screen.

"Ah, hello Admiral. It is good to see you indeed. We recieved the SPARTAN's Pelican right after we arrived in system. It pains me to see that only two returned, and only one is actually combat ready. The rest of the Battle Group Art of War is inbound as we speak. Most vessels needed to be re-armed before they where ready for whatever it is we're doing here. Those that didn't stopped to pick up extra Marine and ODST contingents. I am pleased to say that the Indianapolis was the only vessel prepared for duty." Vadik spoke calmly. He trusted Valstaff, and had fought with him several times. But something about him being an ONI spook scared him.

While he spoke, he wrote a quick message and sent it to SPARTAN-137.

Collect and stow your equipment and report to the bridge -- Cpt Vadik

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPARTANs Charlie-601 and Joe-074 stepped into the mess hall. Justin rose to greet them, saluting. They returned the gesture. "Come with me, we need to grab the rest of our gear. I think it's nearing time to go."

The two SPARTANs obliged and fell in step behind him. Marines and personel gave them a wide berth. One SPARTAN was a common sight. Three getting ready for battle was a tad more frightening. They proceeded along the dorsal corridor until they reached the Hangar and Armories. Justin signaled to Charlie to grab a Warthog and meet them at the armory's Hangar entrence.

Justin and Joe walked into the armory. The number of weapons and tools, equipment and explosives was a sight to behold. Justin removed his helmet and walked to a large Titanium door. A senser felt his presence, and confirmed he was a SPARTAN. The door hissed open, revealing a room lined with pieces of MJOLNIR equipment, every piece, and every camo-scheme.

Justin dropped his helmet in his locker. "Joe, you may want to change out from standard green. Go with urban." Joe nodded his consent and began swapping armor. Charlie stepped through the door, EOD helmet in hands. "Urban?"

"As always, hot-head." The three SPARTANs swapped armor quickly. Each component was covered in a digitized urban camo scheme.

They walked back into the armory. "Okay, we're going in stealthy, but not light. We are under orders to carry as many explosives as possible, so grab satchels, grenades, C12, everything that'll go boom."

Charlie's face lit up. He walked over to a cabinet and opened it, revealing what looked like rolls of duck-tape. The tape was actually a special mixture of Thermite and phosphorus. Every piece torn off instantly became independent of the rest of the roll, complete with detonantor and signal equipment. Charlie grabbed four rolls, enough to cut the Indianapolis in half. He slipped each roll into a special slot on his backpack, which he had brought in the Warthog along with Justin's and Joe's. He then picked up a cut down flamethrower and gave a wicked smile, stroking the face detail paint on the front. He snapped it into the pack's carapace along with 3 bottles of fuel and an SMG.

Joe walked to the sniper rifles. He could barely hide his enthusiasm. He began selecting components (You fill this in, Adulese).

Justin walked down to the specialist and personal weapons racks. He picked up his weapon of choice, the M247 .50 Caliber machine gun, a normally mounted weapon. He began swapping parts out, selecting a spring-fed, 45 round magazine over a 500 round belt fed one. He grabbed a shorter barrel which was equiped with a silencer and locked it in it's appropriate position with a satisfying *click*. Grabbing as much ammo as he could carry, Justin walked to the Warthog and locked the weapon onto the front carapace. He returned to the armory and hefted 4 satchels and an SMG with a silencer, along with two spare magazines.

Once the three SPARTANs where fully equipped, the walked off towards the bridge.

 

[leegrisham]

The door slid open - the sangheli were instantly on their feet - an ONI officer followed by a high councilor came in.
Next a contingent of Elite soldiers filed in escorting a - human woman.
She was around 5' tall with a brief case cuffed to her arm. She had a Visitor name tag that simply said - Chaos.

"This is your consult for your trip - she'll bring you up to speed and brief you on the operation ahead. You're the best human and Elite have to offer. I never thought I'd say this... but I'm proud to have had this opportunity with you." The ONI officer gruffed.

"Good luck brothers, Chaos, will take you from here. Move out." The councilor gave utmost respect to his new breed or warriors.

Antu gave a nod and the eight Sangheli heft their gear. "When do we leave?" Antu said to Chaos.

 

[Adulese]

Joe walked to the sniper rifles. He could barely hide his enthusiasm. He began selecting components. He grabbed his favorite type, the basic SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle. 'A good and sturdy gun if there ever was one,' Joe thought.
<blockquote>Kirk appeared next to him, "Want any help in your shopping today?"
"Hey Kirk. Why not. Lets see what they have for customization."</blockquote>
Joe took of the off the stock scope. He walked over to the Warthog and grabbed his bag. On the way back he pulled out his modified scope. Night Vision, 2x,20x zoom, and infer-red. That should be plenty for their mission.
<blockquote>"May I suggest using the .450 Cal. bullets and adding the silencer."
"My thoughts exactly."</blockquote>
Joe then replaced the normal 4 round magazine to a custom fitted 12 round magazine, then tossing in a large amount of magazines. Just in case, he walked over to the pistols and grabbed the old M6D Magnum Sidearm. He attached a new scope to allow up to 4x zoom and tossed it and a couple magazines into his bag. Finally he walked over to the explosions department. He filled the rest of his bag with some contained C4 and detonators.
<blockquote>"Probably should take a few of those frags before we leave."
"Yeah your probably right," Joe replied filling up the gut poutches on his Mark V armor with frags and a couple fire bombs.</blockquote>
Once he was loaded up, he headed over to the Warthog, locking in his weapon and backpack. Once the three SPARTANs where fully equipped, the walked off towards the bridge.

 

[church 957]

Andrews awakened, groggily.
“Captain, were 40 minutes out from the RV” came Adrias voice.
“Right” he said sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around the cryo bay and saw that everyone else was still locked into their pods.
“Who else is awake?” he asked, climbing out of the pod.
“You, a security detail and a few cryo techs”
“Ok, get the vital crew out in 10 and then thaw out everyone else, oh and get the cooks up now, theirs going to be a lot of hungry soldiers”
“Yes sir”

Daniels left, showered, and changed into a fresh uniform and then returned to cryo, to find the bridge crew sitting in there pods rubbing the sleep out of there eyes.
“Rise and shine boys and girls” he said standing in the door,
“You have 20 minutes to get ready before I need you on the bridge for slipspace exit, let’s go” he said, banging his fist twice on the bulk head each time with a resounding thud.

He headed quickly to the mess hall, some of the ships crew and members of the various infantry units aboard were already wandering in, he said hi to the chef, grabbed a bacon sandwich and headed back to the bridge. When he arrived the crew were already settling in to their seats.
“Flight” he said to Lieutenant Reynolds “what’s our ETA”
“2 minutes out sir” Reynolds replied
“Good Andrews said and silently counted down the seconds.
“Slipspace exit in 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1” said Reynolds and Andrews felt the ship shudder as it decelerated punching a hole back into normal space.

On the view screen stars winked into life and the view screen showed a cluster of ships only 8, 00,000 kilometres away.
“Nicely done” he said to Adria.
“Was there ever any doubt” Andrews chose to ignore this remark.
“Ok, give me a burn to get us closer to the fleet and fire up the IFF lets see who’s out there” The ships engines flared and the Conqueror accelerated towards the fleet. As the IFF system flickered into life Andrews studied the names of the ships, 2 in particular caught his eye. The first read INCARNATE, flagship of battle group: MANIFESTATION. Andrews studied this and nodded, he knew about the Incarnate and although he’d never met admiral Valstaff he had read some of his combat action reports, he seemed like a good commander and a solid tactician and when it came to naval battles that’s all that really mattered. The second tag read INDIANAPOLIS, flagship of the battle group: ART OF WAR. Andrews cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
“Well that tells us a lot about our mission” he said.
“Sir, I don’t follow” Adria said, giving him a quizzical look.
“The Indianapolis is here” he said, nodding at the view screen
“She’s a spec ops vessel assigned specifically to the SPARTAN program”
“Ah” said Adria a look of comprehension crossing her face.
“Yeah, must mean this is going to be a tough one. Mind you I haven’t seen Vadik since I was a long sword pilot under Captain Keyes.”
“Should I open a com channel sir?”
“To who? The report didn’t say who was in charge. Should be Valstaff but if this is spec ops then it could be Vadik running the show” he paused for a moment and considered
“Wait for them to contact us, I’ll be in my ready room until then and tell the infantry they can start their training sims”
“Aye sir” Adria replied.

----------

Ryan shook his head and climbed out of the cryo tube.
“Welcome back” said one of the technicians. He grunted a reply and headed of towards the mess hall. After eating he checked the roster for the day and saw that his company was down for combat simulations. He went back to his room, put on his combat body armor and then headed for the training area’s armoury.

When he arrived the armoury was packed with troops getting ready for the exercise. He pushed his way through to the racks and grabbed a battle rifle, which he slung barrel down across his chest, an m6g and magazines for both. He checked they were both loaded with stun rounds before going over to the sniper section where he found Frank talking to one of the members of the sniper platoon.
“Alright mate” he said as Ryan approached “how’s it going?”
“Fine, who are we up against today?” Ryan asked, nodding his head back towards the mass of troops.
“Able company”
“This should be fun” said Ryan grabbing a srs 99d am, checking it was loaded and then stuffing mags down the front of his webbing. He then booted the counter sniper software in his helmet to check it was working. The idea of the simulation was simple. The training area was roughly 1 kilometre square deep in the bowls of the ship, made to look like a ruined city. 2 companys would go in from either end and fight it out until every one was killed or 1 had been overrun and was forced to surrender.
Ryan, frank and the other members of delta companys sniper platoon would be in direct competition with those from able. Out of all the teams in the regiment Frank and Ryan often came in at second or third overall, 2 guys from easy company were the best but they had been posted MIA after the last op and subsequently the top slot was open.

20 minutes later they were both nestled in the ruins of an old tower block watching the battle below.
“Target” frank said to the right of him “officer, 2 o’clock, elevation minus 23 degrees” Ryan panned down and to the right.
“I see him, the one shouting and pointing”
“That’s the one” through his sniper scope Ryan could see six men clustered behind a concrete block, one of which was giving orders to the rest. Ryan settled him in his sights, breathed in and took up first trigger pressure. He slowly breathed out and squeezed off the shot. The heavy rubber slug tore through the air impacting on the side of the mans head instantly knocking him unconscious. The men around him were stunned, whilst they were too shocked to move Ryan shot the sergeant to the mans right and the corporal next to him. As the survivors sprinted away he snapped of a quick shot at one of them hitting him in the leg and sending him crashing to the ground.
“That’s 3 kills and one WIA” he said to Frank as he reloaded his weapon. He then put the rifle back in his shoulder and waited for Frank to call the next target.

 

[SGT Razor]

The air was cold in the mess hall of the Humble Sovereign as Anderson sat down at the thin metal table with the rest of his squad. He set his plate down before stepping over the bench to sit down. They were serving steaks today. It was the anniversary of Seargent Major Johnson's death. They had always served steaks on this day. It had become a holiday.

Boomer glanced between his and Andy's steaks, then shook his head. "So cliche," he muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Andy asked defensively.

"Look around. Every guy that's either a medic or a sniper took their meat from the 'Rare' tray." Anderson looked around. It was true. All the Marines here were all young. At least younger than him. He had also noticed that Bravo Team were the only three ODSTs in the mess hall. "You've excelled in both of those training courses."

"Okay, you're right," Andy admitted as Boomer wore a smug grin. "So it's not cliche for the guy who plays with explosives to eat the charred crap?"

"Hey, it's not charred. And I just so happen to like it this way," Boomer replied as he slid the fork between his teeth, causing the meat to seem like it had disappeared. He smiled again as he chewed and rubbed his belly.

"Well, I like mine rare, and you're jealous." He pointed at Boomer, lifted his plate and sipped the juice produced by the still-red meat. Boomer gagged in disgust, jokingly.

"Will you two cut it out? We all know that not even you..." -Razor pointed at Andy with his fork- "...enjoy drinking meat juice, and your steak..." -He pointed at Boomer with his knife- "...crunches when you chew." He poked at his steak with the plain-looking metal fork. Ever since they lost Li on Makos, he hadn't said much. It was all he could think about now. They all slouched and looked down at their steaks. They were trained to loose men, they were used to it, but they sure didn't act like it. Nobody can perfectly. Somehow, it just seems to come back and haunt you even more. 'Why didn't you go back?' the voice calls. 'Why didn't you save him?' it asks.

Just then, a young man -almost a boy- walked up and stood next to their table. "Is this Bravo Squad?" He asked.

Razor looked up and measured him with his eyes. 'Cannon fodder,' He thought, 'No way is he at least eighteen.' Then looked him in the eye and said, "That's correct. What do you want?"

"You must be Lieutenant Razor. I've heard stories about you. They say you've lost your squad twice and you're the youngest officer in the UNSC. Private Konerko, ODST-604, here from B Company. I've been told to give this to you." He spoke with a New York accent and handed a paper to Razor, then snapped back to attention.

"Yeah, it's true, but missing details. I'll tell you later. At ease." He read it. "Looks like you're with us, now. Welcome to the team."

The other two looked up, surprised. Boomer gawked. A dark piece of beef fell from his open mouth. Andy pinched the slimy clump between his thumb and index finger, then put it back in his still-open mouth. It fell out once again. "Screw it. Pick it up youself."

Konerko glanced at Andy's plate. He could tell he drank the juice from his bloody steak. "You must be Bravo Zero-Seven."

"Dear God. I hate when people call me by my number, not my rank or name." He sighed and ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. "It's Anderson. Everyone calls me Andy for short." Konerko noticed Boomer's naturally bright red hair and almost got a fraction of a word out before he cut him off.

"It's Boomer. Just Boomer, nothing else," He put his hands on Razor's shoulders, who was still reading the paper. "This guy is your daddy now. He's your boss. Call him 'Blade,' 'Sir,' or 'Boss.' Isn't that right?" Razor nodded, not paying any attention to Boomer. He never did. "Your new name is 'Kid,' so no more of that 'Conoco' crap."

"It's Konerko, idiot. I know I say this all the time, but I swear those explosions are jacking up your hearing," Andy said with a large piece of dead cow meat rolling between his teeth and tongue. "Conoco's a disease."

"No, the common cold is a disease. Conoco's a gas station," Razor corrected. "And you call yourself a medic..."

"Alright, but don't come crying to me when you're dying of Conoco." Andy had now resorted to picking the meat up with his hands and ripping each bite straight off the bone. There was a short pause. The kid was still standing there. "Wait... I thought Texaco was a gas station."

"It is. So is Conoco. They both are."

"No, no, no," Boomer cut in, "Texaco is a country. I remember this."

"No, Mexico is a country. Texas is a state. Put the two together and you have Texaco."

"I thought Texas is a country, too."

"Boomer, I'm beginning to understand why you enlisted in the Marines. No college or university would accept you into their school because you're basically retarded. You then realized that you were never good at anything except video games and blowing stuff up. Now, that's your full-time job."

"And don't you forget it." Boomer leaned back with his hands behind his head and smiled.

"By the way, Texas was a country, but then became part of the United States in the 1800s. We need to get going," He tapped the paper with his index finger, "Says here our boys at ONI figured out what that rock does. Let's stop by for a visit, shall we?" Boomer, Konerko and Razor started off.

Anderson took the first bite of his potato before raising one finger at the chef standing at the buffet. "Check please," he smiled.

 

[ChaosSpartan]

Three hours earlier....

"Shipmaster Rtsh 'Ekrom highly recommends you for this project. Do you know why?" The elderly Sangheili Counselor regarded Dice through milky, half-blind eyes that never seemed to miss anything no matter what the detail. Dice nodded to him but offered a most modest answer.

"I can only surmise it is because of the bond I share with him and his brothers on board Indefinite Justice." She shifted slightly, a deep pang of longing echoing in her chest. The good byes had been hard wrung from her, and even more so when she was alone with her bonded brother Trso. It made her want to laugh. A tiny little augmented human accepted, respected and revered amongst giants. It still amazed her to this day.

Counselor Ulna dipped his head in a nod. "It is also because you are a Spartan." The ONI officer beside him let the slightest flicker of annoyance move across his otherwise stoic features before clearing his throat. "What the Sangheili Counselor is trying to say is that both sides have come to a unanimous agreement that you are best for this project. Given your abilities, your alliances, and your UNSC records we couldn't find someone better."

Dice watched the ONI spook, his words making her want to burn him down with plasma where he stood. If there was an award for Best Line of Bull$#!T he would have won. ONI hated her, despised her, and wished that she'd either be KIA or end up missing. Unfortunately, they also didn't count on having the Sangheili on her side either. There-in is where the problem lay if it was all but removed from the UNSC side.

"So I go play denmother to these Spartans?" Her arms crossed over her chest. "They need someone who has experience, who knows the suits, who understands the inner workings." A smirked twisted her lips. "A meat shield and someone to blame incase you and your wax wings get too close to the sun." There was dead silence in the room after those words left her mouth. Ulna stood and raised his hands, palms upwards towards Dice. "Please Dice, do not let Shipmaster Rtsh's judgement in you be questioned." That was enough to get her to bow her head. "Forgive my harsh rebuttle." Although if Ulma heard the edge in her voice, she wasn't sorry at all.

"Now come, there is an Escort waiting to bring you to the Spartans...."

Present Time...

Those green swirled orbs shifted between the Sangheili in front of her. They were freaking HUGE. If coming to a normal Sangheili's waist just barely was bad enough this was WORSE. They had to be 9 feet when crouched and possibly closer to 10 feet when standing straight. It didn't pay to be an augementation reject sometimes, but then again, her brains made up for the brawn part. Looks like she'd be relying on that now to keep them all alive.

"We leave now." She motioned for them to follow. "I will debrief you while we are in transit. You can call me Chaos, Dice, or MC. Anything else and you'll be lucky if you're left with even one mandible to talk with." Everything about her seemed to harden in that moment, years of adaptive training and instilled discipline grabbing hold. Right now, she regarded the Sangheili before her with an observant eye. "I take it you're the leader. Good. I don't have to play Russian Roulette trying to figure out a carrier for Eerie." She looked to the ONI spook and Counselor. "By your word we can leave."

 

[leegrisham]

The Officer and Councilor offered a simple nod approving the go for the 8.

Antu gave a nod to the rest of the crew. As they walked out the door and down the hall - what exactly an Eerie was.

Even given the training and displine Antu had he could not help the sense of wonderment he felt as he passed corridors of the facility he never knew existed.

"Mam, what exactly is an Eerie?" Antu asked as they passed through a set of sliding doors onto a landing pad with a pair of waiting Phantoms.

The group split into and loaded in the Phantoms.

 

[Dreadnought]

"Jesus F$%^ing Christ, What the hell did you guys do to this thing?"

Horus shrugged his shoulders and sighed at the Engineer.

"We had a small run in with the URF (United Rebel Front) about 10mils (10,000,000 km) from here. We were lucky to have only this much damaged"
"LUCKY?! Half of the God damn Shaw-Fuji Drive is gone! How did you even get here with the core exposed like that?!"
"I used some Titanium plating and a energy shield to contain it. We were lucky the Rad shield on the inside wasn't destroyed."
"You were lucky to even get within a mil from here! Yet alone a quarter!"
"How long will it take to repair?"
"With the crew I have.....I would give it...." The Engineer looked around trying to think "...Maybe....2 weeks"
"2 weeks!?"
"That's if your crew helps as well!"
"The damage is minor! all it needs is a patch job!"
"That maybe be but we will need to completely replace the #1 Drive, looking at it from here I can already tell it isn't functional, a 5 year old could see it."
"Very well, I suggest you get started as we have a duty to do. Our crew is at your disposal."

The Engineer rolled his eyes as he walked away wiping his hands with a dirty cloth. Athena walked up to Horus's hologram displayed on a Podium.

"That didn't look like it went well."
"No it didn't, I hate Reach, everyone is so uptight here."
"Maybe that is because the Covenant glassed damn near the entire planet, and everyone is living in a series of Space Stations. I would imagine security is pretty tight, and punishments are harsh."
"That is the military, If they aren't prepared to face the consequences for their actions they shouldn't even be here."
"That's why I hate you Military A.I. always uptight with Military protocol and lifestyle" Athena slightly grinned
"Bah, you organics just don't understand."
"Speaking of Organics where is the Skipper?"
"I'm not sure, he might be still sleeping, speaking of which we haven't finished our Chess Game."
"For good reason, why anyone would challenge an A.I. to a Chess game is beyond me."
"You are just jealous, Fred is actually very good, he beat me once."
"He beat you?!"
"Ahem...Once"
"Right...Well what are we suppose to do while the ship is being fixed?"
"I have work to do and so do the Engineering Crew."
"What about the Ops or Bridge? Or for that matter anyone else on the ship?"
"....go play Chess or something?"
"Your hopeless"
-------------------------------------------
3 weeks later...
-------------------------------------------
Horus gladly ran a full Diagnostic on the ship, happy to see that it is running at 96% efficiency. It has been rearmed, restocked, repaired, and given a new paint job. Horus looked to Fred with excitement and took the liberty from him.

"If you don't mind, Bring us to Slipspace and lets join the rest of the fleet. Lets hope the new drive was installed correctly."

The Fire At Will entered Slipspace in hopes of safely getting to the rest of The Art of War fleet.

(Spartan 26 is away, he told me to take care of his character though I think I should leave his first post to him)

 

[odst26]

After lieutenant cory smith finnished his SIM training with his squad and bravo company, he slugishly walked to his barracks to get some sleep. Since his squad and him have been up for 46 hours working with the company.
6 hours later.... Lt. smith woke up from his nap, and instantly looked at the 121st roster, then looked at most of his friends names, listing them as MIA or KIA. Thats when he remembered why he asked for this transfer to conqueror. It was because he didn't want to look at the ship that he had lost most of his friends, squadmates, and leaders on. On the bright side his brother was alive, and even in his squad. He missed his old teammates.
As he was thinking about his past on the yorktown a corporal walked in and said, Sir your assistance is needed in the armory.

 

[Assassin716]

"Ah, hello Admiral. It is good to see you indeed. We recieved the SPARTAN's Pelican right after we arrived in system. It pains me to see that only two returned, and only one is actually combat ready. The rest of the Battle Group Art of War is inbound as we speak. Most vessels needed to be re-armed before they where ready for whatever it is we're doing here. Those that didn't stopped to pick up extra Marine and ODST contingents. I am pleased to say that the Indianapolis was the only vessel prepared for duty." Vadik spoke calmly.

'Yes it was sad to hear, mission data crystals were stowed on the Pelicans as well regarding the other two Spartans of your enlistment, that information is classified and only viewable by you and the members of that squad.' Jamius paused, as he remembered watching the video output of General Akalar's combat cam, the horrifying image of an infected flood Spartan, with enough strength to haul itself around with one ton armor thrashing at Delta 231 and Akalar. It was devastating to know something like that could happen to one of the UNSC's elite soldiers.

'Anyways, Vadik its nice to see you again and that your doing well. As for the mission well, all due in time. When the rest of the Battle Group arrives I shall shine light on what it is, that requires us to call for such an organized assembly. Until then I would hope that you Spartan soldiers train for the time being, as the wait will be long for the rest of the fleet and even longer to our destination, Good Day Captain. If you need anything feel free to contact me. Admiral Valstaff out.' he finished.

The screen clicked off, and Valstaff looked around the bridge, it was centered at the bow of the ship. There was no direct view of the endless vacuum. There were holo-screens surrounding the Masters Chair, giving whoever was in charge a full view of the battle-field. The ships of Manifestation , was all around the Incarnate, as if shielding her from the unknown, and on a screen to the left Indianapolis was slowly breaking the distance to the fleet. Valstaff rose from his chair and the screens lowered in opacity, as if to allow the Admiral space to walk through.

He thought to himself, his chance with Eva Deferian. True she was above him as an Admiral, and was the most qualified for Fleet Admiral during times of war. But even the constraints of rank wouldn't stop him from loving her. Just a few weeks back they had meet once again, and took the time to express their love. But to him it wasn't enough, and now a hit and run tactic against the Loyalists, it was a risky-suicidal move. And he wasn't sure if he would come back from this one, if he would ever get to ask her the question that would bring wedding bells.

--------------------

Kayln materialized next to my bunk. Since my promotion, I was switched to a ranking officers suite, it was nice. Bar, Holo-screen, hologram emitter for my wake up alarm that Ive yet gotten used to. She emerged on my nightstand, sitting on the edge with her legs crossed. Kayln was a work of art, when she was first created she was set with a default image as most AIs are, and they pick who they want to look like from the UNSC personnel files. It didnt take her long, when she was brought on board the Incarnate. The genuine face of a hero, with wits, guts, and persontality, Commander Keyes; a female commander that had fought on the Ark so many years ago which brought the Covenant war to a halt, and started the Loyalist war. Still, Kayln bore the short hair, and crisp face and with what some have considered curves of a perfect woman.

'Well General, its time to rise and shine. The Admiral just retired, and its time to try the new detailed equipment.' she said, as her matrices continued to roll down her figure.

'Meh, agghh. Just a bit longer,' I said while turning on my side away from her.

She just glided onto my shoulder and began sliding down the waves of the comforter, then she stopped. Something else moved. 'Sir, your not alone,' she replied.

I just lightly opened my right eye to see the outlines of what appeared to be another person in my bed. Now that i think about it I might have had to many drinks the night before. It suddenly hit me, right as she woke up.

'Oh my goodness gracious me! Im so terribly sorry General.' Kayln exclaimed as she began floating away in a hurry, as Bethany popped her head above the covers. I could see Kayln covering her face with her hands, but I still knew she was looking because she basically sees everything on the ship as it is.

'Its alright Kayln, I guess not everyone knew,' Bethany said. She had a subtle blush upon her face.

'Anyways, General. The final phase of calibrating the new combat skin suits are near completion, and a test run should ensue,' Kayln said with a hurried voice.

'Okay okay,' I said while sitting up. 'I'll be down in abit, after breakfast.'

Kayln pulled her hands down to her side and slowly looked up. I knew Kayln had grown an attachment to me, and I did as well.

'Its okay, Kayln. Ill take care of him' Bethany said with a calm voice.

'Yes ma'am, Ill ready for the test when you are general.' Kayln said as she vanished.

'So,' I said, while turning to look at her. 'What did you mean "take care of him"?

'Oh nothing,' She replied as she moved close and I lowered my head for a kiss.

 

[LastSpartan]

Fred sweared. 3 weeks waiting here without anyone near and the possibility of a URF assault.

"Horus, get everyone that can't hold a tool and work on the drive back in Cryo. 2 Weeks, no more. Get all the crewmans on the drive, I want people on it 24/7."
One of the man working on the bridge left his seat, heading to Cryo. Fred took his shoulder and got him back in his seat.

"If the URF attacks, I won't wake you up."

---------------
3 Weeks Later
---------------

An engineer hit the com pad near the bridge asking permission to get on the bridge. Allowing crewmens on the bridge was rare, but Fred wanted a good news for once.

"Let him in Horus."

The engineer was all dirt, and sweating.

"What do you have to say"
"Sir, the Drive is ready!"

Horus confirmed with a 96% of working drive.

"Horus, take the jump!"

--------------
1 week later
--------------

The cruiser exited Slipspace a few hundred kilometers away from the rest of the fleet.

Fred activated the FleetCom :

"UNSC Fire at Will reporting for duty. Sorry if we are late for the party guys."

 

[leegrisham]

Ugco stood behind Alse looking out of the orbital platform at the battle group Transcendent Justice.
The fleet was impressive 10 ships of different sizes and roles.

The largest of the fleet were the Assault Carriers - Holy Light and Vindication - were made large and powerful to punch through orbital defenses to make a quick land fall.

The next in size were the Destroyers - Heavens Attrition, Righteous Fist, Truth and Maker's Will - they were the largest naval battle ships. Meant to take and deal bombardment damage to orbital ships or to the group.

The smallest in this fleet were the CSS Cruisers Omniscient Vision, Absolution 2, Heart's Penance and Splendor's Vengeance these were the mid size ships used primarily for naval ship to ship battle - they would be in charge of maintaining dominance of the skies, keeping the Destroyers and Assault Carriers in one piece. They were the heart of any Sangheli fleet.

"We are transferring over to the Splendor now, is everything ready?" Asle asked an attendant in the room.
"My logs indicate that all ships are prepped, loaded and ready sir."

"Are you and your men ready?" He said to Ugco.
"We are sir" Ugco said with a nod.
"Then come on."

They paced out of the room to an awaiting shuttle.
Ugco stopped and looked out the bay door to see Sanghelios - for what could be his last time. He contemplated his life and his home world and was deep in thought.... "Ugco - you coming?" Alse's voice broke his long train of through - he jumped as the question peireced his mind.. He didn't respond - just simply boarded the ship. The ramp came up - the door closed with an errie hiss.

 

[ChaosSpartan]

Dice has to bite back the laugh that wanted to escape her as Antu called her "ma'am." It was definitely new and weird. "Dice works just fine for me. I didn't catch your name....but then again I wouldn't be surprised if they issued you numbers in place of names." The little jab at UNSC protocols caused the ONI rep to glance at Dice briefly before looking forward again. "As for what an "Eerie" is, it's more of a who than a what." Still clutchiung the briefcase, she climbed into the waiting Phantom and moved towards the font portion of the drop ship and turned to face them. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Dice really hoped they had a foothold.

<You know it would be so much easier to just tell them everything...> A lightly accented voice drifted up from Dice's pocket. <Didn't seem to have a problem sharing secrets with Trso.> If it was possible, her eye twitched. "Vega...." A blue-hued form shimmered into being before her, a few inches taller with blue code running down across his pants, tie, and hair. His eyes were ever-streaming code as well, though they glittered mischieviously as he crossed his arms. <Forgive me. But it's rather stuffy in your blackberry and stuffier still in your pocket.> Dice shook her head and looked to the sets of curious eyes watching. "This is my AI Vega...more like the pain in my ass but he's indisposable whe it comes to anything regarding Forerunner and Alien tech." She left out that he wasn't UNSC issue, be she was sure both ONI amd the UNSC already knew that. Hacking should be a sport.

Vega looked at the Sangheili that had filed into the Phantom. <If Science could be considered Heretic...> He chuckled and shook his head. <Oh right I forgot...> He turned back to Dice and took on a stiff apearance before her. <It is my duty to inform Master Chief Chaos that her armor is awaiting her return and she is need for final calibrations uponlanding.> He winked. <And I'm ready for my upload.> Dice shook her head. "Away with you! I need to tell them about Eerie and then have Spooky over there help debrief them." Vega nodded and moved as if he were going to jump right into her pocket. He paused by her ear though. <Watch it. ONI is looking for a reason to take you out.> As he dematerialized Dice only smiled. "I look forward to their attempts."

With that warning hanging in the air, she looked to Antu again and answered his earlier question. "Eerie is going to be your group's "Light of Guidance" so to speak. He'll help guide and inform you while on this mission. I think you'll all take to him nicely if you've been raised by stories from the Book of Heroes." When Trso shared some of those tales with her it was like listening to her adopted mother again telling stories of great battles and heroes rising up in the most darkest hour or time of need. But her mind also registered something. Zeek was overdue to report in. The sudden realization made her want to faceplam but she resisted the urge. "Any other questions I can answer?"

 

[leegrisham]

"ma-.... Dice, you'll have to understand, my group and I have had somewhat a different training than than any other Sangheli. We started on Sanghelios but we we're always under a different regimen than the rest of our kind."

He Paused...
"We are Sangheli but we have not been infused with radical religion and the constraints of honor like our counterparts. We have been trained by Sangheili and Human."

"Our purpose in the beginning was soley to erradicate your kind... the Demons. However, things change and so did we. We have lived a life of training and no purpose."

He looked into her eyes.
"My point being that, the book of heroes I am familiar with and Sangheli traditions as well. Our new powered armor the Human's MK VI unlike anything ever dawned for Sangheli, and now you're telling me that we will be given an.. AI,... 'WE' will carry an oracle into battle? We blaze a trail like never before, we have become the Demons we were intended to destroy, we will not be accepted by either side, we are unknown outcasts."

Then he smiled through split jaws.
"My name,.. my name is Antu 'Nojal. My number: 5685. When do we meet our Oracle?"

 

[ChaosSpartan]

She listened and heard his story with a familiarity she kept to herself. Such religious fervor, the vids she had watched, the stories she had been told. But Dice knew what it was like to be not one nor the other but somewhere in between and having both sides close in on you.

"One day...you'll know how alike you and I are." Dice didn't care that the ONI spook heard her. "You might possibly be the first and last of your kind. It is my job to make sure you are well prepared for this new life. The Gods know it was more than what I was given." She chuckled at that. "Antu? That is a good strong name. You will learn with me that numbers, titles, and ranks matter little in my eyes. I see everyone as equal." The phantom hit some slight turbulance and the chain on the handcuff jingled. "You will meet your "oracle" when we land and you've suited up. I will debrief you once everyone is ready. This will be your time to carve a place for yourself among the Book of the Greats."

There was the slightest chance that she would be going with them to Sangheilios at some point, but she wouldn't hold her breath. Shipmaster Rtsh had already chuckled at the thought and told her how unlikely it would be. Something impressive would have to happen to earn her passage there. Perhaps this was it? Her brow knit together, and she lost herself in her thoughts a moment, breaking some common unspoken code of never letting your emotions show.

 

[leegrisham]

Antu looked at Dice for the longest contemplating what she had said. After some time he laid his head back and drifted off into a light sleep.

He awoke as the Phantom began decelerating for a landing.

"Where are we, Whats going on?" He asked.

"Not sure whats going on, but I heard someone say Mars." a squad mate said as he gazed out a port hole at the red planet.

Antu shook the sleep off as he prepared to exit the craft.

After the craft had landed a door slid open an intimidating Elite stood in the door.
"I am Ship master Sunl. You'll all be under my command", he held a hand to silence any chatter, "at least until I get you to your destination. You're with me in my ship and it has been designated to your service for transportation and this mission. It appears I am the only captain fervent enough to handle your mission." A silence hung as he looked over everyone in the ship, "Well let's go!" He pointed to Dice, "Human, I have orders - you come too."

Antu let out a grunt as he helped his squad mate Nkco heft their armor onto a loading shuttle. All of his training screamed at him not to let his armor out of his sight, the technicians however urged him otherwise and told him to pick it up once on board.

One of the technicians a wiry young human led them up the lift and towards the entrance, "Welcome aboard the UNSC Longshot."
"UNSC?", Antu retorted, "looks Sangheli to me."
"Erm, well, it is. BUT, its designate UNSC Longshot." He watched as they filed by him towards the door. "Oh and Miss Dice, we just got a big package in - looks like Mark VI." The armor geek had become very adept at picking out what he worked on all the time.

As Antu and the squad looked at the inside of the bay - it was the first time in years they had seen the inside of an actual space ship. He could tell this was an oddity - Sangheli and Human technology was meshed together all around the ship. Just like him.

"Go get settled into your bunks, meet at the Armory in 60. We need to get our Armor on and begin some SIMs" Antu said. "Dice, if it fits you, please join us then I am anxious to meet our oracle."

 

[Spartan137]

'Yes it was sad to hear, mission data crystals were stowed on the Pelicans as well regarding the other two Spartans of your enlistment, that information is classified and only viewable by you and the members of that squad.' Vadik spoke from his command seat on the bridge of the Incarnate. Captain Vadik could see the holographic screens surrounding him on all sides. He paused after mentioning the crystals, then continued.

'Anyways, Vadik its nice to see you again and that your doing well. As for the mission well, all due in time. When the rest of the Battle Group arrives I shall shine light on what it is, that requires us to call for such an organized assembly. Until then I would hope that your Spartan soldiers train for the time being, as the wait will be long for the rest of the fleet and even longer to our destination, Good Day Captain. If you need anything feel free to contact me. Admiral Valstaff out.'

"Captain Vadik, out." Vadik turned to the navigation station. "Nav, get us in line with the rest of that fleet."

The young officer replied enthusiasticly and punched the commands into the computer. Havoc appeared next to the Captain.

"Sir, I have taken the liberty of reviewing the mission crystals that Admiral Valstaff provided, and I have to say, they are very disturbing. It would appear that SPARTAN-102 Zach was infected by the Flood. SPARTAN-071 attempted to hinder the combat form by powering the armor down, but the creature was still able to move." The AI's image shifted uneasily, straightening his uniform.

Vadik was taken aback. "Show me all the files on SPARTAN-071's infection." The AI complied and a 3D holographic image appeared in his place. The image depicted the infected SPARTAN wreaking hell on an ODST, before the ODST jammed a grenade in the form's shattered visor.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the three SPARTANs arrive on deck.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three dark SPARTANs arrived on the Indianapolis' bridge. Justin saw the video of Zach and tensed. He did not wish to see how his brother had died, but he watched anyway. The Captain noticed them and turned, waving the image away.

"Ah... Justin, Joe, Charlie, its good to see you all again." He made a gesture, two fingers across his face. The three SPARTANs relaxed and repeated the gesture. Captain Vadik had taken it upon himself to learn SPARTAN communications, and all of the super-soldiers that passed under him where all relaxed when they spoke with him. Familiarity was key.

"Unfortunately, we still do not know what our entire mission is, other than it being an assault on a Covy industrial world. I believe Admiral Valstaff will fill us in when the time comes. He has advised me to tell you to train for this mission. I believe there was a SIM program in the data crystal he sent with you." Vadik paused, he was forgeting something.

"From this point out, the three of you are to be temporarily named 'Black Team' for simplicity sake."

The three SPARTANs replied in unison "Yes, sir!" and left the deck.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Justin fell through the inky blackness of a Covenant world. Grey clouds whipped past him, and his armor still glowed orange from re-entry heat. Seraphs wipped past him, all traveling too fast to notice him. He started up his night vision. Below him, everything turned from shades of magenta to shades of grey. The whiter, the hotter, the darker, the cooler. He saw smudges of white moving below him, grunts. Larger hulks of white stood in pairs in front of some doors, Hunters. He watched as a pack of Brutes tore into a white-hot meal.

"Elevation 32,000 feet. Chute deployment in 30." On his HUD, two green lights winked. He checked his motion tracker. Joe was 400 feet to his left, and Charlie 500 to the right. They fell at slightly staggered altitudes.

Justin ran a final diagnostic on his drop pack. All green lights. He tugged on his M247 in its carapace, it held.

"Chute deployment in 15." They passed through another bank of clouds. Then all hell broke loose.

"Mayday, mayday, SPARTAN-601 is hit! Anti-Aircraft fire from the ground! My chute has been disabled!" Justin looked, and Charlie was in a tumble, unable to control himself. Fuel from his flamethrower was spraying everywhere, spinning him.

"Charlie, dump your flamethrower and correct your spin. Joe, continue planned drop. When you hit the surface, find cover!" Both lights lit up again.

(Adulese, fill in from here to the end of the passage marked by the dashed line)

Justin angled his body and flew straight towards Charlie. Charlie released the clamps on his carapace mount and the flamethrower fell free. He corrected his spin. Justin saw that his pack was burning. "Charlie! Dump your pack!" The SPARTAN complied, and the pack leapt from his back.

Justin flew straight over Charlie and gripped under his armpits. He attached 601's mount points to his own carapace.

Charlie called over the COM. "Sir, this chute isn't going to hold the both of us! Leave me!"

Justin replied with a smack to the back of the head. "Are you crazy? Never leave a man behind!"

The two SPARTANs plummeted towards the surface. Justin checked his timer. 10 seconds past the chute deployment time. He saw Joe on his HUD, way above them, hanging from his chute. 137 pulled the clamps on his pack, deploying the specially built chute. The Titanium weave cloth unfurled above them and came taught. The two SPARTANs where jerked upright. They dangled for a precarious second, before the chute's seams burst. Plasma fire had scorched them.

Charlie jerked out his SMG and fired at the attackers, a pair of Banshees that had flown to intercept them. The Banshees arced around and returned, firing bolts of blue-hot plasma as they went. Charlie returned fire with his SMG, but the rounds only bounced off of the aircraft's bodies.

Justin looked down. "BRACE YOURSELF!" He shouted, and the SPARTANs slammed into a Covenant building rooftop. Justin felt his leg shatter from the impact. Charlie shouted in pain. The remainder of the chute was still caught in the wind and jerked them off of their feet, dragging them towards the sloping edge of the structure.

"Cut the cords!" Charlie yelled, reloading the SMG and firing back at the Banshees, who had lobbed a pair of Fuel rods at them. The cords on the drop chute where blasted out of their housings by explosive bolts, and the soldiers came to a halt. Charlie rolled off of Justin, raising himself on a knee, firing.

Justin grimaced as he hauled himself against a pillar, unslinging his M247. He charged the weapon and opened fire from a sitting position. The first few bullets went wide, but he quickly adapted his aim and was scoring direct hits on the fighters. One of the two Banshees caught fire, and went into a tumble.

Three sniper bullets slammed into the second Banshee, piercing the skin and killing the pilot. The Banshee nosed up and stalled, falling back to earth.

"Joe! Find cover! They know we're here!" Justin shouted into his COM as Charlie collapsed again. Joe's light flashed red, a sign that he was in trouble.

"Oh, $#!T! Brutes on my position! I need - " Joe's voice died out over the COM, only to be replaced with the sounds of gunfire. He heard Joe scream in pain, and saw his vitals flat-line. A door on the roof of the building he and Charlie where on burst open, and a team of Jackals sprinted out, shields at the ready.

The pack saw Charlie first, and sprinted towards him, weapons firing. Plasma splashed over Charlie's shields, and they collapsed.

Seconds later, he watched a Brute step up behind him a bring a massive boot down on his helmet.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Damnit, what the hell happend? How did they see us?" Justin awoke on the deck of the SIM chamber, a naval ensign bent over him. He waved him away.

"Dunno, sir, they just did, I guess." Charlie stood, and jumped a few times to wake himself. Joe was also getting to his feet.

"Ensign, get me a replay of that SIM. You two can go relax for a while." The two SPARTANs nodded and walked out.

(You may now fill in, Adulese)