Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lieutenant Commander Michael Hammer. It had a ring to it, and the raise in rank from MGS to Major had seemed like a luxury. But he had quickly learned that it made him two things; one, a sense of false hope for some of the marines, and two, a target priority for the covenant. He had escaped several situations before, all of them ending with someone dying, getting injured, or a world being blown to pieces. Ironic what one goes through to get a high rank, no? Well, Mike's luck hadn't run dry yet. As he slowly crawled through the ventilation shaft, careful not to make any noise he heard chatter from below him. Familiar chatter, "...any possible escape routes I haven't been informed of?" A light turn on in Mike's head, and he took out his pistol, and aimed at the corners of the vents closest to him. Two pops, and the screws holding it in places were gone. Sure that it had startled at least one of the marines, he knew that they would all have their weapons drawn and aimed towards him. He turned himself the best he could within the shaft, and kicked at the grating until he had enough space to slide through. Not being as young as he had been on the desert planet really was a pain in the a**, as he felt a slight tingle of pain in his right hip, the hip that took a shot of plasma. Slowly, he raised his gloved hands into the air. From inside the ODST helmet he gazed around without moving his head or helmet.

Captain Twombley listened carefully to what Sergeant Hyobi had established as their only means of escape from their situation. "Alright Sarge', if that's our only way out, were taking it. We'll try to make contact with the Marines upstairs as soon as were on our way up the stairs."

Several of the ODSTs had turned about face, weapons raised to the ventilation shaft directly in front and above them, in response to the pair of gunshots that had resonated from there. Captain Twombley turned away from Sergeant Hyobi, and quickly took a knee with his own weapon shouldered and ready. "Hold your fire..." Captain Twombley said, waiting to see what was coming out of the shaft. A black body slid through the gap in the metal landing solid on the dusty floor, and the barrels of several rifles followed it down as well. Again Mathias said, "Hold your fire.." as the figure raised its arms into the air. The figure became familiar, it was an ODST, but from where he was kneeling, Captain Twombley couldn't see any rank insignia. Now, Twombley raised his voice, speaking firmly, "Turn around and drop to your knees! Keep your hands high and where we can see them!"

Since this man in ODST armor was not immediately familiar, and had not hailed them via COM-Link, Twombley thought it would be much safer to subdue this ODST Armor clad individual and find out who they are.

At the same time, Captain Brennan had shouted over tom him that he had run dry on ammo and needed covering fire. So, in quick response to this, Twombley ordered the other half of his squad to provide a wall of lead to cover Captain Brennan's retreat to Twombley's position. The remaining several members of the squad that Twombley had ordered to give covering fire, took up position to cover Brennan.
"Okay Sir! On three, you haul a**! 1!...2!...3!..."

Michael steadied his breathing, and turned on his knees to face the wall as he was instructed. There was no doubt in his mind, it was his former CO Captain Mathias Twombley. Unfortunetly for Mike, he didn't have his rifle and he was being treated like a prisoner. It was all understandable since they were in a very tense and delicate position with retreat imminent. While Mike had been traveling through the shafts he made sure his COM link had been shut off so no Covenant's could trace him. "Maria" said the Major, "initiate my COM and connect me to Captain Twombley's frequency. I'd do it myself, but ODSTs with guns can get antsy and I'm not going to take a chance at getting killed." An A.I. with semi-curly hair and distinct features appeared in the top right of Mike's HUD, "understood sir, connecting now." There was a red light at the bottom right of the HUD, which meant that the connection hadn't been established as of yet. The Major was starting to feel the fatigue of his muscles since his adrenaline had been allowed to diminish, and his muscles tensed visibly. He heard the ODSTs closest to him through the helmet, aim their weapons. He stopped moving and allowed time to flow around him, until the light at the bottom right of his HUD turned a visible grean. Michael projected his voice, raising it with authority, "I didn't realize holding your own friends prisoner was of customary fashion." And then to the ODSTs, "you should be shooting at the Covenant."

Captain Twombley was jumping back and forth in their dual situations. Supon hearing a familiar voice, Twombley quickly turned away from their firefight against the Covenant trying to overwhelm their position with their superior numbers. "Stand down!" Twombley shouted to the ODSTs with weapons fixed on Hammer. They did so, and saw fit to follow what Hammer and Hyobi had said in reguards to fighting off the Covenant. Speaking now to Hyobi, still facing Hammer, "Sounds get to me Sarge, I'm getting sick of this party anyways! Those party flares burn like Hell huh? Drop 'em like rocks Sarge!"

Captain Twombley gave his attention back to LTC Hammer again and approached him. "Forgive me, you dropped in on us in a tense situation..."

"Sir! Requesting permission to stay behing with a few marines and give these bastards hell for you, Sir!" Dirk snapped off. It had been a while since he had gone up against such odds, and he has itching to see if he still had what it took.

The distinct featured and semi-curly haired AI appeared in his HUD, in the top left corner. His objectives list became updated with new info from Maria. Twombley in turn had the objectives fed to his unit so he wouldn't have to spend the time briefing them.
Hearing Sergeant Hyobi's statement made Captain Twombley take the iniative. "Negative soldier! Your sticking with us!" Captain Twombley ordered Dirk. "Sergeant Hyobi, your on point, lead the way! Everyone follow! Move, go go go!" Twombley shouted, motioning his troops on with urgency.

Turning back to LTC Hammer he said, "Sir, we will link up with the Marines, then move to the central power station. We will need the extra strength from the Marines...Do or die time." Turning away, Twombley jogged after the group, hoping that the Covenant would take enough time to regroup that it would give them all enough time to escape.

OoC: Hey, where do I get my rank banner for my siggy?
Hyobi's blood pumped. He was full of adrenaline, what an honor to take the lead. He saluted, smiling under his helmet. "Sir, yes, sir!" With this new adrenaline, Hyobi limp-ran, due to his singeing leg, he checked the corner and saw another covenant squad. He held his hand into a fist, ordering them to stop. "We have about 7 grunts, 1 elite. A minor domo, blue. Lets stay down and ambush them." Hyobi crouched.