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 Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:10 am
Gunnery Sergeant Compton, Nathaniel
> 1012 Hours
>> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>> Unknown
Whitney was certainly right on the money with her evaluation, things were a whole lot more complicated since they dropped out of slipspace into a Covenant hot bed around what simply was the largest structure that Compton had ever seen. Compton's eyes however weren't on the massive planet and encapsulating structure, nor were they on the blinking red circle that was their drop zone. No Compton's eyes were on the twenty some odd Covenant battlecruisers that just turned in their direction. That was unnerving to say the least. But rather than sit and watch an untimely death approach him he spun the image around top side so that he could look down on the drop zone. Where they were dropping looked like a mountain range from the scan, but since this was likely the first time that anyone had ever seen or scanned this structure he didn't fully trust the scan. Hell they might have been dropping straight into the ocean, there was no way of telling until they were freefalling through the atmosphere in their ten ton coffins.
" We're landing in the mountains, " Compton tried to shake his own skepticism and thoughts, he had to have everyone ready. If they were dropping they would have distinct height advantage over nearly anything on the ground which was an extreme plus. He looked over the tiny structure, the entire mountain range seemed out of place as if they weren't meant to be there. Regardless they appeared as if they were and that was what Compton was preparing for.
The doors to the drop deck opened and Mitchell came barreling in, at least Compton wasn't alone to strategize alone anymore " There you are, what the hell was the Commander... " Compton was cut off as Mitchell began to bark orders at his fellow men, he was obviously in his proper head set. " Troopers! Pods now! Compton you’ve been demoted to Gunnery Sergeant, we’ll talk about it later. There’s a whole Fleet of Covenant warships out there and we’re not gonna last five minutes stuck in here. " The first few words would have caught any Marine surprise, at least any Marine that hadn't gone through the whole promotion demotion dance before. It wasn't a new experience for Compton at all, it was however a minor set back. But rather than ask questions Compton dashed over to his pod and pulled his belts on tightly. It was time for a hot drop, time for Compton to shine and earn yet another promotion.
" 3, " the countdown echoed through Compton's head as he slowed his breathing, the drop was about to start, he had to keep his mind blank, " 2, " if he thought about the chaos around him he would probably miss the drop zone entirely, " 1, " or worse, " Mark " The bay doors slid open to a load roar as the atmosphere explosively left the room, the pressure pulling at the pods before their harnesses were released and they were sent careening off towards the planet. The black HEVs immediately disappeared from view as they were engulfed by the void that was space.
As Compton slid through space a display winked on to his left, it was his tactical display. The map of their landing zone came on screen and he sighed. It was blank, there was the range of mountains but the scan was empty, not a single Covenant occupant showed up, they were going in blind... unless... Maybe there was a reason the Covenant were still in orbit! Compton cued his mic back to the Iron Sunrise, " Aquinas, how accurate is this scan?! "
There was a pause, and when an AI took longer than a second to respond, well, it could only mean bad things. Seconds later a voice of an officer sounded over his speakers, " Aquinas has been moved in accordance with the Cole Protocol trooper, " the voice was irritated and clearly not in the mood to be dealing with his questions, " Before she was removed she ran the scan, " he paused as he checked the data, " 700 times. It's accurate to within a millionth of a percentile. " Compton couldn't believe it, there was no way they were dropping in clean. And just when he began to accept the fact the display switched back to his Commanding Officer, Captain Burns. Of course, no one could see his face as it was obscured by a black tinted helmet but you know where his head was and you could picture him perfectly in that very seat barking orders to them as they fell through space.
" Radiation! Troopers watch for slipspace ruptures! " Mitchell called over the COMM network to his team. And as if on cue with his call a white hole tore through space and emerging from it was nothing other than a Covenant cruiser. " God damn it, " Compton groaned before kicking his pod into manual control. He smashed on the emergency thrusters, launching him across the void before and around the cruiser. The pods computers manually readjusted the flight path and managed to balance the pod so that it didn't go careening end over end due to the sudden thrust. Of course some of the other ODSTs weren't as lucky as the smashed into the Covenant carrier and exploded on impact. Compton however wasn't thinking about the other ODSTs, he was focused on the Covenant carrier itself as it's hull lit up a brilliant white. He knew what was next as the cruiser lit up and suddenly went dim once more, a plasma torpedo arced upwards from the ship at the Iron Sunrise. The shot blasted into the pod bay, thankfully they had all already dropped and it simply began melting through layer after layer of reinforced titanium.
Compton's gaze shifted back down once again to his displays only to find one was entirely static. It was Captain Burn's. He didn't make it past the ship. Compton swore angrily before punching the display breaking it. That was when he realized that things were serious. He couldn't lose his cool. He shook himself as the pod began to burn into the atmosphere. Below Compton was not the mountain range that he was aiming for, no that was easily a few hundred miles off course. His evasive maneuver had sent him so far off course that he had no idea where he was. He would have switched the second display to show the map, but there was a problem. The problem was he was flying in over an ocean and was going to be entirely screwed if he couldn't find something to touchdown on.
As the atmospheric burn began to intensify the heavy metallic chute deployed causing the pod to jerk about violently. The upper atmosphere was the second worst part, all of the turbulence screwed the trooper around so much that it nearly made him sick on the first few drops. Compton however was focused on piloting the 10 ton pod away from the deep water. " There! " Compton exclaimed in exuberance. He had spotted a large island that, after another thrust, he could probably hit and land safely. He pulled on the control sticks until his back was facing the island. He had already used three of the thrusters and all that was left was the fore thrusters. He counted down from three before smashing them in. His pod launched backwards violently until the thrusters burned out. Now he had no idea of knowing where he would land, he just angled the pod so that if he did land in the water then the hatch would be pointed upward and allow him for an easy escape from a watery grave.
As the pod came down he began to stare up through the clouds at the ships in low orbit. The Covenant had already established a full fleet in the area, it was remarkable how quick they were, even though they were the enemy he couldn't help but admire their abilities. Hell, if the UNSC had their tech, this war would have been over for years now. It was almost unfair really. The unfair thought was bashed into his skull further as the final engines burned, he was less than a mile from the ground now. And within a few seconds the thrusters cut out. What followed next was nothing short of a miracle. The pod smashed violently into the water, sending a few thousand gallons off in all directions, but rather then watch as the pod sunk Compton was amazed to find his pod was floating!
There was no way that his ten ton pod was floating on the ocean, absolutely none, or at least that's what Compton believed. Rather than wait for the pod to fill with water he quickly smacked off the release charges for the hatch. When the hatch shot off Compton quickly grabbed his rifle and side arm and stood on his own seat before climbing atop the 18 foot tall titanium contraption. He smiled as he looked over the back end of the pod at the island. He hadn't missed by far, in fact he landed just 20 meters off shore in shallow waters. Well, relatively shallow, the water was still nearly six feet deep, just enough that Compton still had his shoulders above the water, one time he was thankful for being huge, and he could keep his rifle dry. One quick look through the scope of his rifle revealed that the shores were clear, as far as he could see.
He jumped off of the pod and into the water, hoisting the rifle above his head to keep it clear of water. As he trudged through the water his mind began to race, he was miles from his team solo, it looks like sniper training was about to pay off finally. This island was probably going to be his home until a Pelican could come and dust him off in a day or so after they established bases and everything. As he planned out his next few days a pod roared over his head. It scared Compton half to death at first but then he realized the trooper was dropping a few hundred meters inland, he may need help. And now Compton would have a spotter! It was time for him to move. He pushed as hard as he could through the water double timing over to the downed pod.
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:51 am
1stSgt Mitchell, Scott P.
> 1012 Hours
>> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>> Unknown Stellar Coordinates
The hatches slammed shut as the Drop sequence initiated. The SOEIVs rotated with the hatches now facing the hollow interior of the Drop Bay. The blast shielding that curved around the pods rotated to protect and seal the “Hell’s Waiting Room” Drop Deck as the massive doors on the bottom of the Drop Bay retracted, exposing the fifty-odd SOEIVs to open space. The latches pushed the Pods down to clear the tubes for firing and the countdown started. Mitchell opened the Squad COM and linked through to the SOEIVs of E Team. His helmeted mug would appear on the screen to the left. The screen on the right was occupied by the Commanding Officer of all the ODSTs aboard the Sunrise. Captain Jason M. Burns.
”Troopers! We are dropping’ into Hell!”
Flashes of light lit up the far side of the bay as the Pods were fired down the line. The furthest first, in keeping with the ODST tradition of Officer’s first. Captain Burns’ pod accelerated to lead them all. Mitchell’s own pod drop steadily as the count-down chimed in through the pods’ speakers. And then, the green light chimed. He braced for the sudden acceleration and allowed the G-forces to lift him out of his seat. Mitchell grasped the control sticks tightly as the Pod shot towards the giant structure. He looked about to get his bearings and watched a squad of troopers shoot down in front of him. He followed their pods until he noticed something that chilled him to the core. The Covenant were moving to close the gap. Seraph fighters vectored in from all directions to seal the breach in their defenses. Not only that, but MORE ships were arriving every minute. Mitchell was one of the last to make it through the gap before it was closed. He watched as the Seraphs burned any pod they could hit. The First Sergeant cut the autopilot and guided the pod manually.
”It’s getting too hot up here, break off and take yourself in manually!”
He fired the emergency thrusters to knock the SOEIV out of the way of Covenant plasma fire. He sent the pod careening off course and fired the thrusters several times to get back into his proper trajectory. The SOEIV’s internal displays showed a spike of radiation. An immense spike in radiation meant only one thing. Either a ship was entering slipspace, or it was coming out.
”Radiation! Troopers watch for slipspace ruptures!”
Their luck turned for the worse as a Covenant cruiser emerged from Slipspace below them. Mitchell changed his course and skimmed across the edge of the Covenant ship’s shields. He watched the silvery-white envelope flare as several pods collided with it. The flare shimmered and disappeared as the vessel unleashed a plasma torpedo that arced up above the pods and brushed against the underside of the Sunrise slagging the drop bay. The torpedo had changed course at the last minute, as though the Covenant didn’t want to destroy the ship. He was about to relay the information to Captain Burns when he noticed that the Captain’s helmeted face wasn’t on his viewscreen. Instead, there was only static. Then he realized that the Captain’s pod was one of the few that hit the cruiser. Mitchell was through the gauntlet and 15 klicks off the deck. He allowed himself a single breath until sheets of AA fire started lancing towards him from below. He did his best to avoid the plasma, popped his chute and fired the reverse thrusters. His pod came to a rest inside a small Covenant outpost. He felt several bumps during the slide that he could only imagine were bodies. He wasn’t going to waste any time in getting clear of the drop pod, but he didn’t want to give the Covenant any chance to catch him with his pants down. The First Sergeant waited for a moment to clear his head, and then primed the charges to blow his hatch. There was a hiss as the atmosphere normalized, and the charges primed. The explosion shook the pod and launched the hatch into the air and through a guard tower. Mitchell didn’t waste any time in climbing out and over his pod to take cover behind it.
”Squad! Sound off!” he called.
The First Sergeant raised his M7S and fired off a burst of rounds into a Grunt’s face. The breathing mask dented and shattered as chunks of metal along with bullets were forced back into the creature’s brain. Mitchell crouched low and sent another burst of silenced weapons fire through the smoky breach, dropping a pair of Grunts that had come to investigate. He was about to make a break for it when something massive clamped down on his shoulder and lifted him into the air. The creature was wearing dark armor and had some kind of massive… hammer on its back. The First Sergeant reacted instantly by unloading his entire clip into the creature’s face. The rounds only tore through the alien’s energy shields and stunned it just enough to drop the winded First Sergeant. He dropped his M7S and drew his M6C/SOCOM and unloaded into the Creature’s head. Dark red blood oozed out of the wounds until it finally toppled over with a deep throaty roar. Mitchell grabbed his SMG and ejected the emptied magazine, slamming a fresh one home. He climbed to his feet and inched closer to the still twitching corpse. That hammer was interesting. He’d never seen anything like it before. And the blade was certainly enough of a weapon to stop anything that got in his way.
He slung both his weapons and wrapped his hands around the giant weapon. To his surprise, it was lighter than it looked. He swung hammer a few times to get a feel for it, then recoiled as a plasma round hit him square in the back. He turned around and swung the hammer in a fury and sent the offending grunt straight into the stratosphere. Immobilized more by shock than pain, Mitchell stood with his mouth hanging open. Then he put the pieces together. The Covenant had gravity lifts and all sorts of goodies that messed with physics. This hammer must have had some sort of gravity-manipulating devices that increased the power of its swing and decreased the weight. This was going to be fun. The First Sergeant heard more growls and roars from behind him. Some of them seemed almost like cries of loss. He didn’t care; the Trooper turned and vaulted over the pod, bringing the hammer down on the head of one of the creatures, this one in teal armor. They looked like oversized gorillas wearing powered armor. Instead of deflecting the blow or simply shattering its shields, the hammer cut down through the energy barrier as though it wasn’t even there. The force of the blow was amplified by the Covenant tech embedded in the head of the weapon and a shockwave of force was sent out, sending the other Baby Kongs into the air. Two died on impact with the ground, the other lost its shields. Mitchell charged him and broke its skull with the butt of the hammer. He was in love with this weapon. Heavy plasma fire whisked by his head, and Mitchell crouched behind his pod for cover. He peeked out to pinpoint the source of the fire. A turret on one of the deployable watch towers was drilling into the other side of the pod like it was going out of style. Mitchell dropped the hammer, pulled out his M6C/SOCOM and fired two rounds, the first caught the gunner in the leg, making it recoil, and the second shot ignited the methane tank on its back. The explosion knocked the tower off balance and it dropped to the ground, crushing those who had been manning the turrets. The First Sergeant looked back at the hammer and hesitated. It was a hell of a lot of fun, but it was reckless. Hat the turret gunner been a better shot, he would have lost his head. The Trooper left the strange weapon in the ground and pushed his way towards the motor pool. He was in the middle of an outpost, so he might as well destroy everything he could. There were several Ghosts and a pair of Banshees parked side-by-side with a massive bladed vehicle that rested on a massive single wheel and a gravity lift. He didn’t know what this was, but it looked dangerous. He’d never seen this sort of thing before, so rather than waste time trying to figure out how to operate it he climbed into one of the Banshees and gained altitude before circling back and dropping fuel rod bombs into the vehicles. The first Ghost went up in flames, the second exploded as shrapnel pierced the fuel tank. The other vehicles were slagged by repeated volleys of plasma fire. Mitchell turned the Banshee towards the sky and kicked the afterburner. It was time to find his men.
”Squad, report in.”
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 1:56 pm
Chief Petty Officer Caden-072
> 1012 Hours
>> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>>> Bridge
"As you can see, we're in a hell of a mess right now." The Commander gestured to the view outside the ship, one that Caden had never seen before. An entire fleet of Covenant warships amassing around the structure in a defensive formation. Why were they trying so hard to protect the damn thing and not trying very hard to exterminate them? Questions flooded the Spartans mind faster than he could draw answers; but when it got down to the nitty-gritty, Caden didn’t much care. "I've got one top priority order for you, Spartan, and that's to house and protect our resident AI. Keep her safe, and fight for her like you did for Reach, understood?"
Caden nodded his head, still standing at attention. “Sir,” he said sharply, “Yes, sir!” Reach. The very word brought up hidden feelings that he knew he could not express; not openly, at least. Like the other Spartans, Reach was the closest thing they had to a home. They trained and grew up on the planet, knew every nook and cranny, and could walk around in the pitch dark and still find their way. When the Covenant showed up the S-II’s were prepped faster than ever before. But the fighting was a nightmare, and a battle they could not win. They lost a lot of men and women, including Kate-011, who had been with him during the siege. She’d lost her lower torso to a Hunter’s rage. That Hunter had paid dearly.
And the rest of the Covenant would in do time.
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:42 pm
-Private Kriston Pindros
*Under CAREFUL Revision.*
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 5:02 pm
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 5:18 pm
Kumar, Whitney // E-5
> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>> Some Lake.
Whitney punched the charges for the explosions to release the hatch. She quickly grabbed the M7S, while the door blew open a few inches before stopping because of the water. She was in the shallow part of the lake, which was fine, she pushed the door away, letting it sink. She then had to dive under the water to grab Caesar from the side weapon holster. It was a few minute struggle, but she did it. She also grabbed as much of the ammo as she could, and waded her way to the shore. Her Rocket Launcher was wet, but the M7S was fine. She checked the mag that was already in it, and then shoved Caesar on her back. She was wet and had a lot of aches and pains, from head to toe. But that didn't matter, what mattered was finding the rest of the squad. The forest surrounding the lake on all sides seemed to be pretty dark. As she walked in she turned on the VISR, which seemed to work perfectly.
"Sergeant Mitchell? Do you read me?" It seemed there was nothing but static. She was alone right now, until she saw in the distance another pod in the air which crash in the forest not to far off. It sounded bad. She quickly ran through the dense bush, close trees, and jumped over a few large rocks. She was running for a few minutes when she suddenly stopped. Whitney heard something, it was a load grunting or growling noise. Her first instinct was to get down and look around as fast as she could. But then she calmed herself, and listened. He came from her right, and she looked. She could see in the distance, due to her VISR, red lines briefly moving through the trees. s**t, bad time to be all wet. Whitney was thinking of what to do. But she then realized they could be going towards the other pod, because they turned away from her direction. She followed from a safe distance, but she also knew she couldn't let a team mate die.
After a brief moment of brain storming, the only solution was to rush attack the big gorilla thing in blue armor. The grunts would panic, as usual and she would quickly take them out with ease. So she ran as fast as she could a grenade in a random direction as a distraction. They foolishly fell for it. And the big monkey's shield glowed in the darkness as the projectiles of the M7S were fired upon it. The shield went down, but the beast didn't flinch, oh no, it decided to go all berserk on Whitney's a**. She dodged the fist flying at her, and slammed the butt of the gun into the head of the creature. It fell to the ground, which gave her time to quickly change the clip. While this was happening, the Grunts just flailed about screaming for help and who knows what else. She fired a few into the beast's head to make sure it was dead. Then she promptly killed of the Grunts. Excellent work Whitney, you survived some new edition to the Covenant scum.
She ran towards where the pod had crashed. It was a good 40 yards away or so it seemed to Whitney, running at the pace she did. As she got there, she noticed the trees got turned into kindling. Of course, a few trees were just knocked over, one was even split in half. She slowly made her way through the large splinters, spikes and logs. After a few minutes, she got to the pod. It seemed alright. She saw it was Formoe's. Whitney knocked a few times on the hatch.
"Rookie, are you okay in there?" She stood guard, waiting for an answer.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 2:29 am
::: Corporal Formoe, Cole T.
::: UNSC Iron Sunrise
::: Some Forest.
For the third time since landing, Formoe punched the emergency hatch release charges but one of them had been jarred just slightly. Having given up for a minute to collect his thoughts, he suddenly heard an explosion, closely followed by gunfire. Worried about whether it was friendly or Covenant, he began kicking at the hatch, pulling it slightly upward from its seal but stopped abruptly once the firefight died down. Settling back into the seat, he saw a lone shadow loom overtop of the pod's hatch and for a moment, his heart sunk. Suddenly relieved when he heard the welcome voice of Sergeant Kumar, he couldn't find a way to respond since her own words were barely audible to him. He recognized the knocking as something only a human would do, and with that, resumed kicking at the hatch.
Most likely startling the Sergeant once his first kick landed and gave a dull resounding thump, Formoe made this his way to respond as he kicked the hatch a few more times before the disabled charge was well out of the way. Once it was no longer linked to the others through internal wiring, the hatch simply popped out and off the pod, finally unsealing him from what could have been his grave, had Whitney not shown up. Placing a hand on the side of the open hatch, he pulled himself up out of the seat inside the SOEIV and swung his legs over the side, landing on a patch of dirt. Easily reaching overtop the side of the pod, he pulled out his M7S and then went around to retrieve the 'Spartan Laser' that Mitchell had given him. Slinging the laser on his back, he looked like an oversized child handling the small sub-machine gun. Finally looking back at Whitney, he nodded then jumped down onto the ground from a fallen tree, one he had knocked down from his descent.
"I'll live Sergeant. Any word on the rest of the squad?" Formoe asked, his thick aussie accent coming through the helmet's communications system clearly. His tone of voice was obvious in his concern for the others, but his stance told her that he was ready to get moving and get away from the pods, which would surely attract more Covenant dirtbags since the first recon team was decimated by Whitney.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:11 pm
Commander Andrew Poole
>1013 Hours
>>Bridge
Poole drifted over to the Holo panel a few feet away from his chair, eying it cautiously, and brushing his fingers across the top with an odd gentleness. Catching this strange behavior, he pulled his hand away and winced slightly. Shouldn't have done that. But it was the best sort of comfort he could give the AI. She didn't want to leave, and he could tell. With the time the AI and Commander spent on this ship, he knew Aquinas better than anyone on the
"Ready?"
"Y-yes sir."
He waited a few seconds, in case she wasn't completely 'inside' of her chip, and removed the small object from the panel. The circle in the middle of the chip glowed a faint red for a moment, then faded. It took Poole a moment to discover the feeling. It must've been awful, going from a space as large as a UNSC Carrier, to a chip that wasn't even two inches long. Handing it over to the Spartan, Poole watched briefly as the seven foot tall man inserted the little chip into his helmet. That must've been strange too. A whole other consciousness...
He was over-thinking now. There were more important things to deal with. Like making sure as many people as possible were safe.
"Head down to the main hangar and wait for further orders." He ordered while he returned to his seat. Bringing up the display--it took a moment or two longer without Aquinas helping the information along-- he watched the ODSTs drop. Seraphs swarmed the pods like hawks, managing to take out a handful of the SOEIVs, something far worse got his attention.
A slipspace rupture.
Another Covenant ship.
The Commander's heart skipped a beat, and he slammed a fist against the armrest of his chair. This was not happening. The odds were already against them as it was. Why the hell did there have to be another ship? This wasn't funny any more. What ever higher power there was out there was sure as hell mad at him today. But what did he do to deserve this?
"C-Commander?" His navigational officer, Lieutenant Junior Grade Nowicki asked softly, concerned as to why the Commander was so quiet. This wasn't the time for him to not be giving out orders. Captain Blake would've been firing off orders faster than an MA5B. He turned slowly towards where the Commander sat, and oddly enough was surprised to see a stern look on the man's face. He wasn't being useless after all. Hell, it looked like a vein was about to pop in his head. He was thinking, and thinking up something good.
Poole exhaled loudly, but before he was able to utter a word, the Sunrise trembled suddenly, the hull letting out a groan that resonated throughout the entire ship. The opening to the drop deck melted shut almost instantly and buckled from the force of the impact of the plasma torpedo.
"Sir! Drop deck's been hit! G-good thing we dropped 'em when we did, right?" His weapons technician announce with a nervous laugh. He was terrified, and it was more than just obvious. The poor man was trembling in his seat. Poole--for the most part-- ignored him. The damage was done, and there really shouldn't have been anyone left in there in the first place. He had to make a move.
"Nowicki, standby for orders. Carlson, you too. Everyone else, to the escape pods, triple time. We've evacuating the ship." Poole ordered, his voice a low, determined growl. Watching his officers leave in his peripheral vision, he brought his attention to his two remaining officers.
"Orders, sir?" Carlson asked, his voice barely over a whisper.
"Carlson, arm the Shiva and fire it at the closest ship to where we dropped the ODSTs. Nowicki, full speed after it."
"You mean...you want us to go head on against--"
"Not head on. The Shiva's our ticket through."
Pelicans and escape pods rained down from the Iron Sunrise shortly after the Commander had issued the evacuation alert. All that remained, was the Commander himself, no one else. This was his plan, and if it failed, he'd go down with his ship. Simple as that. There was no chance to try and save himself now. The Covenant wasn't going to get their mits on his ship. No matter what.
The Carrier started towards the nearest ship, engines at full burn. As the distance grew shorter, the Shiva was launched. Tapping into the ODST roster, Poole selected the first name that didn't have KIA next to it. First Sergeant Mitchell.
"Mitchell!" He barked into the COM, "I need conditions on the ground. Give me environmental status, and coordinates now."
No turning back, no second thoughts. This plan better work.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:17 pm
: razz FC Kyle Svetly-Berg
::UNSC Iron Sunrise
::Hangar Bay 04, 8 minutes after EVAC orders
Somehow, the explosion from the drop bay had managed to set fire to an ammo storage area in the hangar. Kyle huffed and puffed as he and a few Marines ran from their breifing area. They were told to wait to download TACmaps onto their HUD for artillery coordinates and air strike targets for fire missions. About half of the Comm-packers had run off like scared school girls and two or three were killed by an explosion from the ammo storage area.
Kyle moved towards the door and hit the emergency release to the blast doors, trying to save the bridge some time. He hopped over the slowly closing bottom half and squated for the top one, looking like his juked his way out of the doorway. At that point, a larger, much larger explosion shook the hangar floor and Kyle stumbled, heading for the dropship shafts.
The door was open and he was running full speed. He watched the closest Comm-packer to him as he waved Kyle over, Kyle only catching the words, "One bird left!"
Giving it his all, Kyle ran for the doors, diving through the closing blast doors, back armor pads scraping the top door. He slid on the floor, scratching up his armor as he did so. Nonetheless, he hopped up and moved to the Pelican. He got inside and a Marine in the doorway to the cockpit gave a 'thumbs-up' to the pilot. The back door hissed shut, the dropship tilting as the Marines sat down. Then, there was a loud crack and the feeling of an elevator in drop flew through the hold and cockpit, tenfold.
Kyle gripped the cargo netting above himself and held tight as there was a loud shudder and the DC-17 shook all over as it entered space, diving for a brief moment, stabilizing and shooting towards the planet, next.
It was about a minute or so after the 'drop-out' that a Marine looking out the small view port of the door spoke up, "Hey look! They fired the Shiva!" Kyle's heart beat quickened as a few heads turned. Then, the pilot called back to the hold, "Atmospheric entry in 3...2...1...Say hello to the clouds, boys." The Marines quieted down and sat there in their seats, wondering how their day would go.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:34 pm
Private Black, Lucas
> 1017 Hours
>> UNSC Iron Sunrise Drop Bay
>> Unknown
Filing into the Pelican was one of the hardest tasks for the day for the young Private, which was hard to imagine as he had spent a long day aboard the ship. when the orders came to abandon the Iron Sunrise nearly every man woman and child had bolted towards the nearest drop bay as fast as they could. Private Black unfortunately was caught with his pants down, literally. He had just gotten his M7 from the armory and was making his way to the drop bay prior to the orders when he stopped to visit the lavatory, definitely a rookie mistake as the sirens blared he was forced to hurry out of the rest room as quick as he could. His stomach was sore, his nerves were frayed, and he was out of breath from sprinting to the drop bay by the time that he actually was strapped in. He held his M7 close to his chest, the safety was still on and he didn't intend on flipping it off until his feet touched dirt.
Looking around at all the faces on the Pelican, it was apparent to him that he was the only one scared shitless out of all of them. His face must have been ghost white because the fact that it was a sole Carrier against an entire Covenant fleet was causing his stomach to do rolls like it never had before. When the ship finally disengaged it's locks and dropped from the belly of the Carrier he finally lost it, his stomach gave in and he filled the air with vomit, a mixture of sandwhich and orange juice. With nothing to slow or stop the projectiles a couple globs of vomit found their way across the room to the female sitting opposite Lucas. Had Lucas not been staring down at the ground moaning from his stomachs turning inside out he would have seen the angriest woman alive, instead he had to picture her struggling to break free of her restraints to kill him.
Lucas groaned and pulled his rifle closer into his stomach to assuage the pain that was eating away at him, his own moans and pounding migraine drowned out the sounds of the more battle hardened Marines complaints.
This certainly wasn't what Lucas pictured his first combat drop to be anything like, hell for the normally cool and collected kid the whole nervousness was a huge change. In years past the young man had single handedly carried both his his high school football team as well as baseball team to state championships. Pressure was something he was used to, but this was on an entirely different level. His decision didn't affect the team, it wasn't just a score, every move and decision was life or death. There were no next seasons, no time outs, no half times. It was all or nothing and it was playing with his nerves like nothing else. His head was still spinning, even as the Pelican began to burn through the atmosphere.
Thankfully due to his nervousness he had missed the entire ordeal that the ship had gone through on their way, from Seraphs wreaking havoc around them or the plasma fire that nearly obliterated the lot of them. Now that the Pelican was glowing red hot and entering the atmosphere he knew the ride was nearly over. And as gravity returned to them the floating blobs that hadn't splattered against the woman splashed towards the nose against the divider between the cockpit and the rear of the ship.
Finally the ship evened out and leveled, a successful re-entry, now at least that ordeal was over with, now Lucas' life was in his own hands. Thinking about that just made him lose himself once again and he spewed the remainder of his lunch once more on the floor in front of him, the pungent smell of stomach acid was beginning to fill the recycled air in the bay of the Pelican. All Lucas could think about of course was the battle ahead and how much he was going to be reamed by his squadmates for his weak stomach. So much for being clutch.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:37 pm
1stSgt Mitchell, Scott P.
> 1017 Hours
>> Unknown Alien Construct
>> Unknown Stellar Coordinates
The Banshee arced gracefully above a thin, wispy cloud before plunging beneath the cloud-cover once again. Mitchell eased back on the throttle and cut his altitude. He tried the COMM again, but got no response. Either no one was responding or he wasn’t broadcasting. Either choice was bad news. The Covenant had a heavy presence on this… well, whatever it was. He could see a cruiser parked over something to what Aquinas had designated as the “west” and plenty of Covenant cruisers in space. This would make their job difficult, but with a little luck and lots of talent, they’d get the Sunrise down safe and sound. Mitchell cut his airspeed again and popped the hatch. Instead of sliding out he grabbed onto the starboard strut for support and twisted his body into a crouching position atop the flyer. He wanted to get his bearings with his own eyes. The purple filters that the Covenant used were starting to get to him. The First Sergeant looked about and watched the ground beneath him give way to cliffs and then open ocean. Water stretched out for miles in every direction, and suddenly he didn’t have a problem with seeing things in purple. Mitchell eased back into the proper flying position and closed the hatch. He didn’t want to do that again any time soon. Instead he set the throttle and opened his VISR database. Aquinas had supplied the Troopers with a detailed topographical survey of the most attractive landing zone. As such, he had a good idea of where he was and where he was going. He scanned for his Squad’s emergency beacons. He identified a pair of SOEIV beacons and angled towards the source; an island in a large delta that made up the western portion of an Africa-sized continent.
Mitchell! I need conditions on the ground. Give me environmental status and coordinates now!
”Commander, we’re scatter all over. I’ve encountered stiff resistance and some new kind of Covenant. LZ is not clear. Repeat, LZ is not clear!”
Mitchell cut power to the engines and buzzed the treetops before setting down near a small lagoon with an empty SOEIV in the middle of the water. The First sergeant raised his M7S and edged into the scummy lagoon water, making his way to the pod. He couldn’t tell if the hatch was open or not, and he needed to know if his squad was still in the fight or KIA. Mitchell stole a glance up at the sky and watched the firefight overhead. He could see hundreds of Covenant ships and hung his head. There was no way that the Sunrise would survive up there for long. Unless they could secure the LZ, everyone aboard that ship was dead. The First Sergeant sloshed over to the front of the Pod and nearly tripped on the hatch, which had been covered by a fine layer of silt. Mitchell inspected the inside of the pod to check for any signs of combat after the hatch had opened, and fortunately found nothing. Whoever this SOEIV belonged to was either still alive. He sloshed back to the edge of the pool and moved into the tree line, taking a good defensive position inside a split tree. From the outside he’d be impossible to spot without the right gear. It was good for the moment. Mitchell opened his VISR database and tagged his drop site, the Pod on the beach, and the one in the lagoon. That was three Troopers accounted for. Three left. He stood and moved deeper into the trees, heading towards the beach. He wanted to check that first pod. His IFF tag was active, and he activated his service tag as well. Any Trooper in the local B-net would see “MTCH” with an arrow pointing down. The IFF tags were good, but for long range, they made things difficult. In an environment like this, he wasn’t going to take any chances.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:47 pm
Kumar, Whitney // E-5
> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>> Some forest.
Whitney nodded at Formoe. "Long range COM is out. But lets get out of here before any more Covenant show up." She jogged without hesitation, in the opposite direction her own pod was. She just hoped they were going the right way.
Her VISR was still active, which was a good thing, because she could of been knocking into trees, or falling over a lot and getting no where. Jump over logs there, climbing up a small rocky ledge here. It was like one of those adventures from the movies. But Whitney knew that if any covenant spotted them, it wouldn't exactly be all that much of a hollywood experience.
They suddenly came out to a small meadow, which---with the VISR on---blinded Whitney. She yelled in pain and fell over backwards. She quickly turned off it off and looks around when her sight came back. Whitney then stood up and made sure no Covenant were around. It didn't see so, but she prefer not to be caught out the open.
"Lets stick near the trees, just so we can quickly hide if needed. Keep a look out for anything."
She led the rookie along the tree line, which seemed to be slowly heading back towards the way they came. But it took her a while to notice it. Whitney was just about to stop when she heard the familiar noise of Grunts talking behind them. She looked at Formoe, and got down to whisper to him.
"Into the trees." Whitney then noticed a beeping on her HUD and she checked the VISR database for what it was. It was Mitchell, he was nearby.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:09 pm
Gunnery Sergeant Compton, Nathaniel
> 1017 Hours
>> UNSC Iron Sunrise
>> Unknown
" Squad! Sound off! " Mitchell's familiar voice called over the radio to Nate as he forged his way to the soft sands. However as he approached and cued his mic a green bolt of plasma flashed past him. Rather than speak into his mic and remain a sitting duck he held his rifle at chest level, snapped the night vision on and stared into the harsh shadows that the large oaks cast down upon the tree line. Immediately the green outline of a Grunt could be seen hiding in the foliage, it's plasma pistol glowing dully from overheating.
" Idiot, " Compton coughed before exhaling slowly and pulling the trigger. His arm caught the brunt of the rifle's recoil and at the tree line there was an eruption of methane and fire. The Grunt exploded in a brilliant flash sending birds scattering from the trees, crowing as they took off. Certainly the shot would have grabbed any near by Covenant's attention as the loud waves couldn't mask the explosion's roar. Rather than wait for Covenant patrols to come to him he double timed it to the tree line before sliding for cover behind a bush a few meters in. Compton took a deep breath, pausing for just a moment long enough for him to gather his thoughts and check his corners. He was all alone in this forest, and he had to get to that pod that dropped over him at all costs to ensure his felllow corpsman's survival.
Before continuing blindly into the dark shadows Compton snapped on VISR mode and within a second he could make out every detail in the forest thanks to the golden hue that the VISR painted the environment in. He turned the bush only to face down a gorilla. He certainly wasn't expecting to see one so close to the beach... or so far from Earth for that matter. It wasn't until the VISR painted the gorilla red that he realized that it was wearing armor and was yelling at him. Compton brought his knee swiftly up, only to have it meet a slippery substance. He looked up and saw the ape was shimmering, it had shields! Before he could bring his rifle to bare the ape brought it's arm across his chest, knocking him back to the ground.
The pain that rang through Compton's chest suggested that the ape was plenty strong Compton didn't have time to admire the creatures strength. He rolled over onto his back and brought the rifle to bare, his VISR provided him with a small targeting reticule as soon as it was centered on the beast he pulled the trigger and with a white flash and a pop, the ape's shielding shimmered, dissipated and it's armor shattered off. Quickly Compton kicked from the ground in the center of it's body mass with a swift blow. The heavy shot sent it tumbling backwards, seizing the opportunity Compton jumped up and threw his rifle down. He was going to show this ape not to mess with a man of his stature all while putting the Covenant in their place.
The ape turned to look back at Compton after being dazed by his kick only to meet his fist in the side of it's jaw, the hay maker of a shot caused the beast's head to snap back. Compton wouldn't relent due to a couple good shots however and he quickly brought in his left punch again. The one-two combinations were working well. Finally Compton grabbed the beast behind it's head and brought it's head violently down as he sprung his knee up, the finishing blow knocked the ape's jaw out of it's socket. Compton watched as it crumpled to the ground.
Compton stood smiling over the beast, it's labored breath suggesting that it was down for the count, but rather than wait for it to regain it's composure Compton grabbed his side arm and pumped two rounds through the beasts head.
Satisfied he bent down and picked up his rifle, the fight had left him more than exhausted, he had better just use his rifle next time, otherwise he might not be so lucky.
Compton took one last look around himself before realizing he was alone once again. Taking the time to establish contact, he cued his mic, " Mitchell, can you hear me? It's Nate. "
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:14 pm
: razz FC Kyle Svetly-Berg
::Unkown Alien Facility
::Incoming Pelican, 14 minutes after Sunrise EVAC
Kyle looked around the Pelican as a few rumbles were heard below. Kyle motioned to the Comm-packer in the doorway and he motioned into the cockpit, making the hatch open. Below, there were about four Life Boats that had landed in a large open-ended valley with a river on one side.
Kyle watched as a large group of people flocked toward the now landing group of Pelicans in the distance. Kyle's DC-17 circled over head as it got a call on the TACCOM, "This is Forward Sniper Team Golf 1-3-8. We have eyes on a suitable building for housing our ground forces as a base of operations. Can your load assist in securing, over."
The pilot said something muffled and the dropship shifted course and the structure came into view as they landed just outside the entrance. Kyle hopped down and looked around, "Ah, s**t..." He moved towards the door where the Sergeant looked to him, "Svetly-Berg, Titus, Flynn, McCannon, stay outisde and hold the perimeter. We'll be out in a few."
The Marines walked inside and Kyle stood waiting as the hum of Pelicans was heard off in the distance.
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