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Commander Andrew Poole
> UNSC Iron Sunrise: Crash Site: Bridge
> ERR.UEG_1707.TIMESTAMP ANOMALY

He felt more than just useless, sitting here in the bridge with his new broken arm. He couldn't even help Carlson, who was now awake and remained on the floor to prevent further harming himself. Just like what happened to Poole, Carlson must have been thrown from his seat upon impact, and was in far worse condition than his superior was. But at least he hadn't ended up like Nowicki. The image actually made the Commander's stomach churn. The poor soul's skull was-- He quickly shook the thought from his mind. There was work to do before he could leave his ship. Protocol hadn't been completely carried out.

With his one good arm--the other he rested gingerly on the chairs armrest-- Poole got to work purging the ships databases of everything the Covenant might be able to somehow find and use against them. As he begun somewhat slowly typing in the next set of commands, he fell into another coughing fit, then froze quickly. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck rose as he sensed--and heard-- movement nearby.

At once, the Commander reached down at his side for his M6C, but it wasn't there. Panic and adrenaline surged through his system almost instantly.

“Commander?”

And then it was gone.

Rising from his seat, Poole still cradled his broken arm gently and turned to face whoever it was that had arrived in the bridge. Expecting to see the ODSTs that had been on their way, he was surprised to see the armored figure before him, and a Marine with him.
"Spartan? What the hell are you--" He coughed once more, then waved his good arm angrily. "That doesn't matter. The NAV data hasn't been removed from the system yet." He looked past the screen to where Carlson was on the floor, then at Callahan with a simple help him out look on his face. Turning his attention back to the Spartan, Poole tilted his head to the side slightly. "So. SitRep. You guys learn anything about this place?"
"Not really sir," Aquinas chimed in softly. "We...or at least I managed to notice that the spherical object in the center that we saw from in space is in fact some sort of planetary body. But it looks like it's being built. It's quite a sight. It seems as most of the troops haven't noticed it yet though, seeing as how they've all landed in heavily forested areas and there's a severe lack of chatter about it over the COM."

A planet?!

SSgt Richard Anderson
>UNSC Iron Sunrise
>>Location: Unknown, Pod Crash Site

He rose quietly, looking down the line of tarps that covered his boys and those of Morre's squad. He had just spent the last 15 minutes saying personal prayers to each man of his former squad, and hadn't really noticed any of the chatter over his COM. But there was no mistaking the sound of moving Prowlers.

He turned his attention back to the main site, and to his eyes there was a flurry of activity. Looked like Morre was going on a trip.

"Hey Morre, making a beer run? Bring me back a good whiskey and some nice white wine to wash it down with, eh?"

He gave a slight chuckle as he made his way back to the pod. Morre was no doubt taking up the charge of scouting for a rally point, and possibly picking up more stranded Marines. He also hazarded a guess that his job would be to stay put and hold down the site until further instructions.

Sounded good to him.

>Staff Sergeant Morre, Legix
>> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>>> Location: Unknown: En route to Victor One-Three

Legix left the pod, waving off to Richard, "Later on, maybe. Be a good housewife and make some dinner for when I get back, though!" Laughing, he turned, positioning himself in the sidecar of a Prowler. With a wave of his hand, he called over the COM, "Alright rooks, let's get moving! Gun it for the field!"

The two Prowlers, the opposite sidecar of Morre empty, took off, moving in a clean caravan. It took them only minutes to enter the field's large line. The gunner and driver were positioned slightly higer than the sidecar riders, making them the eyes for this. The Sergeant had just enough time to inform them of the road, the Prowlers bumping slightly as they hopped onto the path. The bigger fields were farther north, from what he remembered on the way to the crashed pod to find Richard. So, as they bumped along, he kept an eye out for anything that didn't belong in the natural environment of this place. Then again, you can never be too sure when the Covenant were involved.

Gunnery Sergeant Compton, Nathaniel
> >>ERR.UEG_1707.TIMESTAMP ANOMALY<<
>> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>> Unknown Stellar Coordinates

It was amazing how quickly plans and organized ideas fell apart in the Marine Corps, this was especially true for the craziest of the lot of them, the Helljumpers. In a flash of just a few seconds Mitchell had gone from Echo Team's leader to the leader of the entire recovery operation and inadvertently the CO for some three or four squads of Marines. To complicate things for him, there was no intel, no serious mapping and little if any support by any means. To top all of that off the only way to resupply was at their crashed carrier that was soon to be swarming with Covenant. Things could get ugly from here on out. Compton glanced from soldier to soldier as Mitchell tried reconnecting the squads and ordering them about, his thousand mile stare had no effect as his visor hid even his terrible scowl. The soldiers around him looked as though they were mentally checking themselves over to make sure they had everything in order.

Compton certainly hoped that everyone had things right and ready to go, both mentally and physically. The last thing they needed while searching for Commander Poole was someone bugging out of their wits. As if on cue with his worries Mitchell turned to face his fellow soldiers. The door slid open from the cockpit, Compton half assed a glance over to see the co-pilot hold up three fingers, clearly things were coming down to the wire. Compton's gaze shifted back to his squadmate whose voice was now broadcasting through their helmets as he had slid his own on. " Three minutes Troopers! Our Vee Eye Pee is located on the bridge. Our primary objective is to extract Commander Poole. Our secondary objective is to ensure that the Cole Protocol has been enacted properly. If not, we’ll destroy the NAV database and upload the viral scavengers. We’ll probably have less than twenty minutes before the Covenant are swarming all over the crash site. Our El Zee is Hanger One-Alpha. We’ll proceed on foot to the bridge, secure the Vee Eye Pee and ensure that the Cole Protocol was properly enacted before extracting. Zulu-Two-Fourteen will remain aboard the Sunrise to avoid drawing unwanted attention. There may be an unknown number of Covenant infantry aboard the Sunrise. Ar Oh Ee, if it isn’t human, shoot it. "

It was three minutes until Compton had to reassure his superior officers as to why he had made it this far, why he was the DI's favorite in boot, and why on Earth he had so many medals pinned to his blue dress uniform. Compton ran his hand down his old friend, his trusty rifle with pride. In the next few minutes the barrel would be nearly red hot from 14 mm rounds blasting through it. Hopefully they beat most of the Covenant to the Sunrise so he wouldn't have to worry too much about close quartered combat. If all of the fighting was down range in the hangar then he would be more than set.

The loud roar of the massive thrusters keeping the Pelican afloat seemed to increase as the Pelican nosed up, not to climb altitude, but to slow down as it approached the hangar bay. There was no one guiding them in, no automated landing system to put them down so Zulu 214 had to land them all on his own skill. Thankfully the landing was nowhere nearly as rough as the flight was as the massive landing gear touched down and the suspension flexed as the engines powered down, the rear hatch slid open and the troops stormed out of the massive bird to the sound of boots crashing down onto hard steel.

Compton stepped out last as he was farthest from the drop hatch, and when he did he couldn't help but take a deep breath in. The nearly sterile air of the massive ship were comforting, this hell hole had become a home for him, all ships had really, and even though he hated floating in space in the buckets once they were on the ground they weren't all too bad at all.

Lance Corporal Desmund Cain
ERR.UEG_1707.TIMESTAMP ANOMALY
Securing Hanger One-Alpha

Desmund was just finishing a sentence, when the gear touched down in the Hanger with a thud. The chassis of the Pelican lowered slightly as the landing gear compressed, until finally coming to halt. The hatch lowered, and the marines all stood at once, holding onto each other for stability.

Desmund put his left hand on 1st Sargent Mitchell's left shoulder, and reached for his BR55HB SR Battle Rifle with his right. The line of soldiers swiftly vacated the cargo bay of the Pelican, and flooded the Hanger.

As his boots hit the floor, Desmund brought his rifle to his shoulder, and looked through the ACOG style scope. He checked all his corners, then looked for exits. No Covenant so far.

"Clear right!" Desmund sounded off to his squadmates.

He continued scanning the room as he approached the airlock. He put his back against the wall to the door's right, and switched his rifle to left handed, so that he could peek through the door without being completely exposed.

"Ready to breach when you are." He said, and gripped his weapon tightly.

::: 1stSgt Freeman, York
::: UNSC Iron Sunrise
::: Unknown location; open grassland

Freeman, still looking through the scope of his SRS99D-S2 AM, replied, "Yeah, I'm currently located on the hill beside the field. I have a visual of the Covenant patrol. They're checkin' out the pod." Freeman continued to watch the Covenant as they walked around the Bumblebee, investigating the crash site. When Gamma inquired as to whether Freeman could see them, Freeman pointed his rifle toward the road and sought out the commandeered Prowlers. He placed his crosshairs on the lead Prowler. "Affirmative, Fire Team Gamma. I see you. Let's keep a low profile. When all four members of the patrol are in our sights, we'll take 'em out. There's one Brute and three Grunts." Freeman moved his crosshairs back to the pod. "Two of the Grunts are currently standing outside of the Bumblebee. The third Grunt and the Brute are inside the craft. When the two investigators come out of the craft and into the field, we'll take the four of them out. I suggest you move closer to the craft so that they'll be within your range. But be careful not to give away your position. We don't want to alert any of the Covenant troops. If we accidentally alert them, we'll take them out. But I'd prefer to do this quietly and carefully."

Freeman kept his sights on the two Grunts guarding the craft. It appeared that they were talking to each other, and neither one had its weapon drawn. Good. They weren't vigilantly eying the surrounding terrain. Hopefully, Gamma wouldn't be detected as they moved closer to the craft. As long as they stayed low to the ground as they moved and kept the speech to a minimum, the Grunts probably wouldn't see them. Of course, Gamma would need to hurry. The Brute and third Grunt wouldn't be inside of the craft forever. They'd soon leave the pod and the four of them would probably either call for backup or return to their patrol route along the road. Gamma would need to get in position somewhat quickly so that the UNSC personnel could eliminate the four Covenant patrolmen before they could contact their comrades or continue back toward the road.

"Hurry up, Gamma. The third and fourth Covenant members won't be inside the craft forever, and when they exit they may contact more Covenant. Get in position fast," the First Sergeant ordered.

Chief Petty Officer Caden-072
» ERR.UEG_1707.TIMESTAMP ANOMALY
»» UNSC Iron Sunrise
»»» Bridge Corridor

Caden put his assault rifle on his back while Aquinas spoke to the Commander, telling him about the planet in the center of the super structure. From the look on the Commander's face it was obvious he was a tad bit shocked, as any human being would naturally be. Who wouldn't? Planets weren't supposed to be built, they were formed over billions of years. Caden stood there uncomfortable with his own thought, wondering when he had stopped referring to himself as a human being like many others. He wasn't oblivious to what Marines and ODSTs called Spartans, guessing at what made them the soldiers they were. Cyborgs, mutants, he had heard it all; but he never thought much of it, and even now he wouldn't think on it.

Unlike Soren-066, he had not suffered any side-effects during the augmentation process, and therefore looked more human than Soren ever would. The only rational explanation for the fear that some people had of the Spartans could be their daunting appearance while clad in the Mjolnir armor. Once a young Marine had commented at a distance that Caden looked like an emotionless robot. Sometimes he felt like he was as emotionless as his armor made him appear, too. As soon as Aquinas was finished speaking to the Commander, Caden piped in.

"I recommend we evacuate the Sunrise as soon as possible, regroup, and establish a fire-base with our remaining forces, sir," he said, his right hand outstretched. In his hand he held an M6D HE Pistol by the barrel so Poole could grab it easily with his good arm. The entire time Callahan had been dealing with Carlson, who was now hobbling over to the behemoth and master with the help of the Gunnery Sergeant. With each bit of pressure applied to his leg Carlson winced, and the Sergeant tried his best to support him.

((There's some puppeting in this post. I'm sorry for that. But I'm really damn tired of waiting to extract the Commander. I want things to start moving along.))

1stSgt Mitchell, Scott P.
> >>ERR.UEG_1707.TIMESTAMP ANOMALY<<
>> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>> Unknown Stellar Coordinates

Mitchell’s boots hit the rubberized no-slip deck plating with little sound. For some reason that ******** Lance Corporal had his hand on Mitchell’s shoulder as they exited the Pelican and for some reason he was stacked up against the hatch. Mitchell tried to ignore him. Apparently he’d been picked up by Zulu 214 before he’d picked up the ODSTs. Either he was trying to impress them or he was just plain dumb. They weren’t going to breach and clear a dead ship. There was no need. The Sunrise, though she’d been a home to the Marines and civilians aboard her… Good god. The Civilians. Mitchell hoped that some of them had made it off before she crashed. No doubt they’d have to go find them soon.

The First Sergeant stepped up to the door’s control panel and punched in the access code. The metal plates slid apart, revealing nothing but empty darkened passageways. Mitchell chinned his helmet’s VISR low-light display mode, and the ship lit up. Kumar’s call caught his attention. He checked to confirm her sighting, shook his head out of disgust, then opened the SQUADCOM.
”We need to get the Commander. That’s our first priority. The Civilians are just drawing attention to themselves with that smoke. Zulu Two-Fourteen, any chance that you could vector in some support from one of the other squads? Try Fire Team Gamma. They might be close enough to render assistance. Let’s move Troopers. Make for the bridge, double time.”

Mitchell pushed through into the passageway with his M7S aimed high. Just because the Sunrise was dead didn't mean it wouldn't pay to be careful. The Trooper moved through the passageway at a brief clip. Half-jogging half-walking. It wasn't a full on run, but it would get him to where he needed to go quickly and quietly. The other members of Fire Team Echo were right on his tail. They passed through two armories and the fore galley before reaching the corridor to the Bridge. Based on the level of activity that Mitchell had seen, there was no one here. Except, he could hear voices from the Bridge. They were human, and they didn't sound like the commander. He waved his left hand in the air, palm back, fingers together back and forth. The squad needed to stack up. This was the time to put their entry tactics to work. He opened the private SQUADCOM for the ODSTs and spoke in a whisper.
"Non-lethal take downs only. Move."

The squad of ODSTs pushed into the Bridge, weapons high. Mitchell moved in through the vaguely circular compartment, packed full of shattered displays and control stations and froze. There were a few figures standing in front of him. The first was a Spartan, clad in massive pearlescent green armor. The second was the Commander, who looked battered and broken. The third was one of the bridge crew, who also looked to have suffered some severe injuries. But Mitchell didn't care about the first three. The fourth figure was the Marine standing with them. His face was extraordinarily familiar. One that Mitchell hadn't seen in Twelve years.
"Marcus? What the ******** are you doing here?"