[G0arr]

Joseph nodded as the orders were passed out. He glanced over to Collins. Well, he thought, at least she seemed like a decent partner.
Before they left Fawkes pulled a weapon form a fallen marine, and threw it. With practiced hands Joseph snatched up the weapon and clips. "Here, use this to keep their heads down." With a quick glance over the weapon he knew it still had nearly half a clip remaining. "Heads down," he said pulling the weapon in with a smile, "I'll knock’em off."
“You ready for this,” Joseph asked as they left the room. Making contact with survivors after a covenant attack in known territory, he thought for a moment, second time this one has happened.

Claire ran through the corridors, Joseph right behind her, urging her to slow down so they could properly search the many side corridors and rooms.

"Collins," the other soldier called slowing at one of the rooms, "Hold up." Inside were the bodies of several techs. They had apparently tried to make some kind of stand, but it was ultimately futile.
Collins didn't appeared to slow as she ran. She knew where they could best search for others: Cantina, Vehicle Bay and the cryo chambers, the places where they could expect the most hostiles? Yeah, same three places...

She felt her grip on the magnum tighten when she heard a voice. She couldn't make out what the voice was saying but one thing was sure; it was human.

She put a finger to her ear piece and stopped running.

"Fawkes, this is Collins. We've encountered humans, making contact now." she didn't wait for a responce and she and Joseph turned around the corner simultaniously, magnums raised.
"Who's there?!" Joseph called out.
"Don't shoot!" came the reply.

"Sergeant Sascha Marfield, Wolf squad." the woman said as she revealed her position. She had short blonde hair, nearly white and wore a bright grey marine tunic, ODST symbols on her shoulders.

"At ease, Collins." Joseph said to Claire. "Sergeant, we are under command of First Sergeant Fawkes, Phoenix squad, to assemble a fighting force to go for the bridge." Joseph explained

"Sir, we located a survivor; Sgt. Marfield, Wolf squad, sir." Claire said to her comm piece.

No reply came.
"Fawkes?" Claire asked through the earpiece. "Fawkes? Logan?"

She gave up after another try to hail the others.
"Are you armed?" Joseph asked Sgt. Marfield.
"Just a magnum, but I'm all out of rounds."

Claire took the magazine one of the lapdo... Spartans, had handed her and threw it at the sergeant.

"Have you seen anyone else around?" Claire asked while Marfield slammed the magazine in place.

"Engineers, two marines, thats it." Marfield told. "They're holed up one deck above us."

"Then thats where were going." Claire said, looking at Joseph. He gave her a nod and they started making they're way up.

After recovering the men the small group moved along the by ways of the ship toward their destination. In all they had managed to gather a solid squad of survivors by the time they arrived. Nearly a third of them were crew or techs. In a fight they might not add a lot, but then again they might just surprise the soldiers.

Only a short hallway remained to lead them to the bridge when the sounds of something else moving reached them. “Collins,” Joseph said quietly as he took cover in an open doorway, “Can you raise,” it took a second to remember the names as the others took cover, “McKnight or Alexander? Need to know what we’re about to step in, and if we got the boots to stomp it.”

OOC: Post is combined between me and Pimped-out Deamonette.

 

[TechPr1est]

Logan peered into his own eyes in the reflection of the giant combat knife he had stolen. He loved knives. He was thinking how lovely they were as he rammed it deep into the neck of a oblivious grunt. He dragged the body into the room and stowed it away behind the door. No blood in sight. Clean he thought. He looked back out the door and saw that the aliens had run off in another direction, oblivious to the death of the grunt who was also oblivious until it was too late to scream.
He hand signalled Jen it was clear. They walked in silence towards the bridge. McKnight oft checked data panels in the walls for updates on the battle. The covenants were deadly in space battles. He reflected on this as another distant boom in the ship echoed through the hallway. As they rounded a corner they saw some marines and deck staff standing outside a door way. Some of them were injured and carried magnums whiles others had battle rifles and assault rifles. One of them, an officer by the looks of it in his white naval uniform, turned his head in their direction. Tensing a little before relaxing. As he opened his mouth to say something before a blue plasma bolt struck the side of his head and blew straight through it. lols I did this in an apple store

 

[HOGGLORD]

Fawkes spun around at the doors of the armory, emptying his last eight rounds into the pursuing covenant forces. Three grunts and two jackals fell to the fusillade. Plasma bolts flickered past his head, striking the walls. Fawkes saw two elite minors striding forwards. Fawkes spun to face the closed armory doors and pressed his hand on the scanner. He ducked as burning plasma splashed against the wall just above him. The light flickered green and Fawkes made sure that everyone was inside. Once he was sure, he dived through the doors and shutting them. Points on the door began to glow a dull orange as plasma bolts struck them, they didn't have long.

Fawkes looked around the room. On rows against the walls, there were all the weapons the UNSC had to offer. Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, DMRs, Shotguns, Snipers, Grenade Launchers, everything short of battle tanks and heavy anti-armour weapons, like the spartan laser and the rocket launcher. In a corner of the room, two men stood one looked about thirty, the other was noticably younger, they had one unifying feature, on the left pauldron of their marine armour bearing the insignia of a quartermaster and a junior quartermaster. The younger lad was holding a shotgun, pointed at the door. He lowered it when he saw the ODSTs.

Fawkes gave him the briefest glance before he ripped a battle rifle and a pair of frag grenades from the racks of weapons. "Incoming!" He yelled. The doors broke apart under the intense heat and he tossed both grenades, one in each hand. The explosions stunned the two minors, depleting their shields, the squad opened up with the various weapons and slaughtered the two startled aliens. Fawkes reloaded his weapon, then went over to the rows of ODST uniforms in their lockers. He opened his own locker, pulling out his gear and dressing himself, the process took no more than three minutes, all his time in the ODSTs had taught him to get suited up as quick as possible in a combat situation. He clamped on his helmet and ordered the others do do the same.

Looking round at the remaining squad, Fawkes saw Payne giving him a look of great anger, a worrying prospect considering Payne was packing a robotic hand and a shotgun. As Fawkes was jamming his 20cm, high carbon steel combat knife into it's sheath on the left side of his chest, it clicked, The covie knife thought Fawkes and did his best to give Payne an apologetic gesture whilst wearing a helmet and loading a battle rifle. He also saw the spartans talking into headsets that certainly hadn't been on them before. The rest of the men were dutifully correcting and preparing their gear.

Over his earpiece he received word from Collins. "Fawkes, this is Collins. We've encountered humans, making contact now."

"Acknowledged. Who have we got?"

There was some muffled talking over the comms, then a reply.
"Sir, we located a survivor; Sgt. Marfield, Wolf squad, sir."

"Good, the more ODSTs, the better, keep me posted."

"Fawkes?" Claire's voice asked. "Fawkes? Logan?"

Fawkes cursed, the connection was poor and Claire couldn't even hear him. He fiddled with the machine, finally creating a stable link. He spoke into the little machine.
"OK, Collins and Davis, message acknowledged, get whoever else you can and wait just out of sight of the bridge, we'll meet you there. Logan, you and Mcknight wait where you are, out of sight and keep me updated. Once we move in for the attack, join up with us."

He heard words of acknowledgment from the earpiece. Thank god, they heard me! Fawkes thought in relief.

Remembering that the other two teams may not have access to weapons, he grasped an assault rifle off the wall, mag-locking it to his back, then he took one of the special ODST edition suppressed and scoped SMGs and attached it to his leg. He also grasped as many grenades as he could attach to his person as possible. Checking that each piece of equipment was in place, clean and ready for use, he turned to the others.

"Everyone, grab a couple of extra weapons to give to anyone else we may encounter, whatever you're able to carry." He ordered.
"Remember, we're in close confines, nobody take a grenade launcher or a sniper." he added.
He turned to the hulking spartans.

"You gonna be with us for this one, Spartans?" He asked, hoping he'd have the invaluable backup. When they gave their dissent, Fawkes sighed.

Just then, the young marine ran up, the shotgun hanging loosely in his hands. He made a shaky salute.
"If you need extra hands, I'm willing to give you mine, sir." The young man had a mild Irish accent and looked no older than seventeen or eighteen. He had short, messy black hair and thin features, plastered with a nervous, but determined expression. Fawkes looked at the youth, his visor was it's usual shiny, expressionless black, giving the boy no indication of the smile playing across Fawkes' lips. He liked the boy's nerve.

"It'll be dangerous. We're going for the bridge and I've got intel telling me that there's a small covenant army up there." Fawkes said warningly.

The boy paled slightly, but then looked defiantly up into Fawkes' visor and after a second of struggling, cocked his shotgun.

"I'm ready, sir." He said, his expression daring Fawkes to contest his claim. Fawkes put a lot of effort into not laughing.

"Alright then son, you're in, what's you're name?"

The youth looked blank for a second, then his face split with a wide grin.
"Marlane, sir, Junior Quartermaster Norman Marlane."

"Ok, Marlane, get you're helmet on and take some extra weapons." The young man nodded eagerly and took an SMG from the wall, sliding it onto his leg, where it mag-locked, he also attached an assault rifle to his back.

Once he was satisfied that everyone was prepared. Fawkes led the squad out, putting Payne and Marlane ahead of him, their shotguns needed to be up front. Sherman and Lancaster bringing up the rear. The group went down several corridors, systematically eliminating the few groups of covenant they encountered. All throughout the ship they could hear screams and gunfire. The crew were putting up a decent fight. Fawkes grinned under his helmet, That's right you covie bastards, he thought, we're not giving up our lives without a fight.

They were approaching the bridge, using the route next to the very edge of the ship, directly to their left was just hard vacuum. Fawkes heard a hissing noise and turned to see the wall next to them began glowing orange, then white under an extreme heat. Realizing what was happening, Fawkes shoved Marlane into a room on his left, a maintenance storeroom to be precise, and locked the door. There was a brief hiss as the door vacuum-sealed itself. He heard a crash and a confused yell from inside. Fawkes didn't have time to explain.

"Brace for hard vacuum!" He shouted, a second before the wall burst open, displaying cold space beyond. Fawkes braced himself for the sudden depressurization, the pull was strong, but ODSTs were trained for this sort of thing. Fawkes waited until the depressurization had stopped before leveling his battle rifle at the hole in the door. An eerie silence filled the area, broken only by the beeping inside Fawkes' helmet, warning him of his depressurized state. For a few seconds, nothing happened, Fawkes began to think that perhaps it had been an a stray bombardment or an enemy fighter, then three lithe, slivery forms slipped into the room. A faint glow emanated from behind their backs and ankles, signifying the odd jet-packs that the elites utilized. Fawkes recognized them as three ranger class elites by their armour. The aliens looked round the room, spotting the ODSTs and began opening up with their plasma repeaters. Fawkes pressed his back against the wall, aimed his rifle and the squad retaliated.

OOC:

Josie & Techpr1est: You watch the last parts of the marine defense of the door be destroyed and the covenant begin preparing to enter, when some inquisitive Jackal scouts begin moving towards you're position! Take them down silently so as not to alert anyone else.

G0arr & P-o D: Continue on you're backup finding objective. I'll PM you with what you find upstairs. Once you've found the rest of the nearby people, wait just before the bridge.

Sangus, Shattertheirsky & Son of Azurman: You've entered the armory, got you're weapons and additional weapons for the others (remembering that we're in a reasonably close confines battlefield) and are heading to the bridge when you're attacked by 3 elite rangers. Respond with a hearty ODST welcome. Remember we are in a zero gravity environment, be careful what you do.

Santaire & Angel Encarmine: I've PMd your orders.

 

[Sangus Bane]

"Hey babe," John said as he spread his arms for a hug. "Missed me?"
He pressed himself against the opened locker which contained his armor in a semi-theatrical way and lay his head againts the black scorpion painted on the chest of his armor.
He quickly took the armor from its locker and started to put it on, piece by piece. It took exactly 26 minutes and two seconds, from the boots to the helmet. Lastly he secured the computer on his lower arm.
When Fawkes made contact with Collins he took the liberty to patch himself in through the computer, hacking into the comms system.
He couldn't make up what they were saying, but one thing came through very clearly: Marfield, Wolf squad...

Sascha Marfield, he knew her well, very well... From his time with ONI.
What is an Angel of Death doing here?, he thought to himself as he checked the sights of his newly secured weapon, a battle rifle.

He shook the thoughts away and focused. Fawkes was already giving orders. He heard his order and took up position immediately, securing the rear as the team made its way through the corridors.

Suddenly a wall started to glow. Shit! John suddenly realised there was nothing but..., well nothing, on the other side.

He braced himself for the vacuum and simultaneously aimed his weapon for the increasingly intense glow.

 

[son of azurman]

the attackers were two elite minors,as i ran around the corner to avoid there shots.in front of me i saw sergeant Fawkes preparing to close him and the others inside the armoury.suddenly i leapt through the closing doors just in time,the cold floor met me on the other side as my face came down first.i pulled myself to my feet and grabbed an smg along with a battle rifle and some ammo right before the doors blew and a pair of elites got gunned down by the rest of the team.quickly i pulled on my armour,a dark blue odst armour with a silver back to signify my old squad.upon suiting up i strapped the battle rifle to my back and lined my belt with grenades and held the smg in my hand ready to take on some covie bastards.as Fawkes spoke to the squad about extra weapons and asked the spartans about there loyalties i looked at a young marine approach the sergeant.

"If you need extra hands, I'm willing to give you mine, sir." The young man had a mild Irish accent and looked no older than seventeen or eighteen. He had short, messy black hair and thin features, plastered with a nervous, but determined expression.

this was no fighter but a kindergartener but Fawkes's reply was even more surprising.

"Alright then son, you're in, what's you're name?"

"Marlane,sir,junior quartermaster Norman Marlane,"smiled the boy

"Ok, Marlane, get you're helmet on and take some extra weapons." The young boy nodded eagerly and took an SMG from the wall, sliding it onto his leg, where it mag-locked, he also attached an assault rifle to his back.

i was about to protest but they were already walking out the door.as i brought up the rear heard something up ahead,a door close and before i knew it the wall was gone,the vacuum started and three elite rangers were opening fire.jumping to my right i aimed my smg to take out these sons of guns.

 

[Shattertheirsky]

'The Bastard' Payne thought as Fawkes jammed his own knife into it's holster. Fawkes had obviously seen him looking as he made an odd gesture, something Payne translated as 'Yeah, what are you gonna do about it', making him grit his teeth in anger. Payne shook his head, forcing himself to concentrate on the task at hand. Fawkes was going on about weaponry, 'No grenade launchers', Duh. Fawkes then turned to the Spartans, asking if they were coming with us. Payne smiled to himself when they shook their heads. 'Good, hopefully they run into a passing hunter pack' He thought, chuckling to himself, finishing pulling on his armour as he did so. Some little Irish scroat was begging to come with the ODSTs, that'll end well. Payne shook his head when Fawkes agreed, amazed that he was allowing a junior quartermaster to come with them. Seeing Fawkes grabbing weaponry, Payne grabbed a sniper rifle and a few extra magazines and maglocked them to his back for that girl, McKnight.

'Right squad, we're moving out, Payne, Marlane, take point'. Great, put me with the little shit in front, probably so you can shoot me in the back. The squad moved out, fighting their way through the corridors, eliminating several small pockets of Covvie resistance. They reached a long corridor, hard vacuum to the left and a bulkhead to the front. Great, how the fuck are we going to get through that? Payne's self question was answered as the door started glowing. Fuck! Covenant energy cutters. Payne heard a scuffle behind him, 'probably the little shit running' Payne growled to himself, cocking the shotgun as the Covvies kicked in the hole, opening the corridor to the vacuum of space.

4hrs 29mins breathing time left: The display on his visor chimed. Thankfully Payne had extra air capacity, testament to his swamp fighting days. The covvies flooded through the hole. 3 Rangers. Shit. Payne took a shot, managing to hit one in the arm, its shields absorbing the blast. Instead of doing the logical thing when fighting elites and stepping back whilst firing, Payne stepped forward, cocking his shotgun, firing another round at the same elite. He began to trudge forward, every step an effort against the vacuum. This shot missed, he cocked again, firing at the rapidly approaching elite, hitting it in the chest, destabilising its shields. Payne and the elite closed on each other, both firing as they did, Payne got two more shots off at the elite before it was upon him.

I've got a shotgun, in close quarters, this elite doesn't stand a chance, was the thought running through Payne's head as the elite jumped at him. Payne fired, every shot hitting the elite. 'It's down' Payne thought, smirking. But instead of falling to the ground, the elite dived, blood leaking from the multiple wounds in it's chest, smacking Payne with it's left hand and sending him spiralling out towards the hull breach.

'Shit,shit,shit,shit,shit!' Payne shouted, as he floated towards the breach, unable to slow or stop himself, he started to float through the breach and into the open vacuum beyound. 'SHIT!' Payne shouted again as he went through, grabbing a piece of loose girder stopping himself, his shotgun handing uselessly in his left hand. 'FUCK, SOMEONE GIVE ME A HAND!'

 

[TechPr1est]

Logan couldnt bear the screams.
They were in a store room containing equipment for cleaning the bridge. Mops, window cleaner, antibacterial sprays, vacuums and many other chemicals that made him wheezy just from sniffing them. He was sitting against the wall next to the door. The door was a few inches from closing, enough of a gap to look through. He put aside the stolen covenant plasma rifle and peered through.
Down the hall were corpses around the bridge door that had been blasted apart from two plasma grenades. One of the last defenders was still alive. IS still alive, he thought. Just because he was wounded and had three jackals picking at his flesh with their beaks-things for entertainment (Or food, he couldnt tell) didnt mean that he was considered to be in past tense. "Jen, how the fuck is fawkes going to get us out of this?", Logan said to the shadow by the corner. The elites had poured through the bridge doors and were slaughtering the bridge crew. Their screams echoed through the hall. "honestly?" Jen whispered. Logan looked at her and nodded. "I have no idea. Lets just sit tight and...and..", Jen didn't get to finish her sentence because a jackal decided to stick it's ugly head through the door and squawk loudly.
Logan smashed the plasma rifle over it's head and drew his combat knife as he he stood up. The jackal fell forwards and forced open the door a few feet. Logan saw the other two walking towards the door. He stabbed the jackal, that was on the floor, in the top of the head and pulled out his magnum. "NO!" Jen cried. "that will alarm the other covenant in the bridge!". Fuck, she had a point. The jackals stalked slowly towards the room. They knew. They knew the humans were trapped and couldn't risk firing their weapons. Jen pulled the plasma pistol from the dead jackal's grip, pressed something and the pistol hummed to life. Logan couldn't figure out how to turn on the plasma rifle and so used it as a club.
"Bullets, make noise." Jen said with a grin" but plasma fire, doesn't"
she pushed Logan out of the way and rasied the plasma pistol at the Aliens. The Kigyar squawked in anger and surprise, as she pulled the trigger button

 

[Santaire]

"You gonna be with us for this one, Spartans?" Fawkes asked, his tone hopeful

“Negative sergeant,” I said, shaking my head. “We have received new orders from our CO. You will be going without us for the moment.”

I saw Fawkes’ shoulders sag as I spoke and once I was finished he sighed. I picked up an SMG and slid it into the holster at my hip. I locked eyes with Felix and racked the slide of the pistol. “Let’s do it,” he said. I nodded and passed two fingers over my face in the age old Spartan Smile. We moved swiftly and quietly, moving through the ship clearing corridors as we went. I came round a corner and encountered a pitched gun battle between seven marines and a covenant team of one low ranking Elite and a small group of grunts.

The Elite saw me and, roaring to the grunts to keep the marines pinned, charged me. I was already drawing my combat knife as he reached two metres away. I pulled it from the sheath just before he launched himself in a flying tackle, energy knife held forward. I slid it past my shoulder with the blade of my own combat knife and the Elite crashed into me, forcing me into the line of sight of the marines and slamming me against a wall. I kicked it, hard, right between the legs. With a strangled cry it doubled up and staggered back. Then it pulled itself upright by a station and roared at me.

“You want some more?” I shouted.

It roared in answer. So I charged. I ducked a stab and drove my shoulder into its midsection, driving it up and over my body to crash to the deck. Without pause I raised my knife and fell backwards. My elbow crashed into its solar plexus and its head rose as the air whooshed out of its lungs. My knife slid between all four mandibles and plunged deep into its brain. It stopped roaring. Felix had already helped the marines finish off the grunts and I moved to him and spoke quietly. “We have to keep moving, let’s go.”

Then, just as I was turning the corner a young man called after me. “Sir, can’t you stay to help us?” The tone was so pleading and the face so desperate that I, pitiless son of a bitch that I was, paused. I was searching for who he reminded me of and then it hit me. The young corporal was the spitting image of Will, dead since K7-49. Then I was there again, my mind lost in the eddies of time.

I turn, see the cruiser looming above the battlefield where the last of our brothers and sisters still fight on, trying to escape the death. Tiny flashes of light, blue light, signify their deaths. “They deserve a true funeral pyre,” I say, voice cracking with emotion to Felix. He just stares dumbly as the people we grew up with, our family die. That’s all it is, little flashes of light and another life ends. I suppose everything would look small if you were far enough away. I stare at the bio-readings list in my HUD and watch as light after light flicks from green to red. That’s all it is, a flash, and a change of colour to signify the deaths of the people I loved more than those of my own flesh and blood.

I remove my helmet. I am crying, can feel the tears streaking down my cheeks. Felix turns to me. He is crying too. Inside me there was something soft and fragile, something precious that I had kept for all the years. It shattered into a thousand fragments. The tears dry up and are replaced by a burning rage, a determination to destroy the Covenant. I look out over the devastation we had caused. That Alpha Company had caused. And I know that I can not rest until every Covenant world looks like this one does now. A wasteland.

“Anthony, come on man wake up,” Felix was muttering beside me, his hand gripping my arm. I shook my head to banish the last memories from my mind and turned back to the marine who had asked the question. “No corporal. We already have our orders. Sergeant Fawkes and most of Squad Fenix are on their way to retake the bridge. I recommend you join them.”

The young marine snapped a salute and turned, marshalling the marines.

Together I and Felix rounded the corner, weapons held out ready. We came to the service lift shaft and we stepped into the lift. I heard a covenant Elite grunting and looked at Felix. Reading my mind, he grinned...

The lift halted and before the doors even opened a barrage of plasma fire tore through the metal, tearing through the metal with ease. There was some excited chattering from some grunts; squawks form some jackals and the barked orders of an Elite. There was a hiss as an energy sword was activated and a low hum as plasma pistols were charged. They moved into the lift to find it empty.

The Elite cocked his head to one side, seemingly puzzled. Then the chattering of automatic weapons fire erupted as me and Felix opened fire, the armour piercing rounds of our weapons tearing through the metal roof of the lift. The Elite screamed as its shields were peppered with rounds. Then the shields popped and the rounds cut it down. The jackals fell next. I dropped down into the lift and my SMG and pistol were already rising. With barely a pause I gunned down two of the grunts and Felix, dropping down to join me killed the other three.

Then we moved out.

When we reached the hangar it was clear with a small team of marines and naval personnel pushing Covenant corpses around to clear lines of fire and create barricades.

I stood staring out into the blackness of space and was the first to see the incoming Pelican. “Felix,” I called. He looked up. “It’s here, open the bay doors.” He nodded and gave orders to a naval rating that ran and opened the doors to let the Pelican in. It came and settled down on the deck. First off the Pelican was a squad of ten marines, the sergeant of which snapped a crisp salute to me and Felix. “Your gear is onboard Spartans,” he said before turning to marshal his marines. “Tango squad, double time it,” he shouted. Felix looked at me and I cocked my head. For a Spartan, particularly one as withdrawn as me the gesture spoke volumes. “Tango squad?” he said quietly, eyebrows raised. I shrugged.

We stepped into the Pelican’s hold and saw our equipment. We stepped up in unison and began slipping on the armour. It felt good to be once more clad in my SPI plate. I tested the systems before picking up my custom Battle Rifle and Sniper Rifle and dropping the borrowed SMG and Magnum for my own personal SMG. I turned to Felix, both of us armoured and armed. With a nod we placed our helmets over our heads. Ready to wage war, we dropped from the back of the Pelican, and strode out of the hangar...

 

[Angel Encarmine]

Stalking into the armory, Felix immediately went to the rack of shotguns. Pulling one down he loaded it quickly before racking the slide and smirking slightly. Letting the shotgun hang on its strap, he grabbed an smg, loaded it and strapped it to his thigh, making sure to grab extra shells and mags for both weapons. Turning to another locker, he reached in and pulled out a long combat knife, obviously not standard issue, and strapped it across his left arm for easy access.

"You gonna be with us for this one, Spartans?" Fawkes asked, his tone hopeful. Turning his head, Felix watched the other ODSTs as he heard tony answer. “Negative sergeant,” he said, shaking his head. “We have received new orders from our CO. You will be going without us for the moment.” Seeing the sergeants shoulders sag and hearing him sigh, Felix thought about telling him and the other they would haul ass to back them up, but then he remembered the welcome they had received and decided against it. "fuck em" he thought, sliding a mag into his pistol.

locking eyes with Anthony, Felix racked the slide of his pistol. "Let's do it" seeing him pass his fingers over his face in a smile, they left the armory Felix up front with his shotgun leading the way. Rounding a corner, the pair ran into a firefight between seven marines and an elite. Seeing the Elite charge anthony, Felix threw a nod at him and moved to assist the marines. Striding through the firefight shotgun blazing, Felix killed 5 grunts before having to reload. Instead of reloading his shotgun, he simply threw it around on it's strap behind his back and drew his smg. Several short controlled bursts later, the entire group of grunts was dead.

Loading his shotgun, felix walked over to Anthony and kicked the elite he had killed in the side of the head. “We have to keep moving, let’s go.” Anthony said quietly, before they turned and began to move out. “Sir, can’t you stay to help us?” one of the marines called out to them. Felix looked at anthony, and then raised an eyebrow as he realized he saw the look on his face. Blank faced, it looked as if Anthony was looking through the marine that had spoken, and Felix quickly realized what was going on.

“Anthony, come on man wake up,” he said to him quietly, grabbing his arm and giving him a quick shake. After shaking his head, Anthony came back and spoke. “No corporal. We already have our orders. Sergeant Fawkes and most of Squad Fenix are on their way to retake the bridge. I recommend you join them.” Watching the marines move out, the pair of spartans stepped into a service elevator. Hearing a covenant elite grunt, Anthony looked at him and Felix began grinning at the thought of what they were about to do.

The lift halted and before the doors even opened a barrage of plasma fire tore through the metal, tearing through the metal with ease. There was some excited chattering from some grunts; squawks form some jackals and the barked orders of an Elite. There was a hiss as an energy sword was activated and a low hum as plasma pistols were charged. They moved into the lift to find it empty Cocking it's head, the elite stepped inside with it's group, obviously confused as to why there were no dead screaming humans. The loud report of machinegun fire was the last thing they heard as Felix and Anthony opened fire, killing the entire group in seconds. Dropping in after Anthony, together they slaughtered the rest of the group before stepping out of the lift.

" I love this job" Felix muttered as they moved down the corridor, reaching the hangar without incident. As they arrived, there was a group of men clearing bodies and setting up barricades. Felix quickly stepped forward to help a man hefting the dead weight of an Elite, together throwing it in the corner. Before he could speak to the man, he heard Anthony call out his name and tell him the Pelican was inbound. "Get those doors open" he yelled out to a naval rating, who quickly followed the order.

Stepping forward as the pelican landed, he smirked at the sergeant that saluted at them as the squad of ten marines disembarked. "Your gear is onboard Spartans,” he said before turning to marshal his marines. “Tango squad, double time it,” he shouted. looking at Anthony, Felix saw him cock his head. For a Spartan, particularly one as withdrawn as him the gesture spoke volumes. “Tango squad?” felix said quietly, eyebrows raised. Anthony shrugged and they stepped onto the pelican.

With every piece of armor that he put on, Felix began to feel better, until finally he was fully armored, save helm. Looking down, he saw his old MA5B assault rifle and grinned from ear to ear. The weapon was older and as such was slightly less accurate over longer ranges than the newer version, but nothing beats a sixty round magazine. Picking it up, he slammed a mag home, the weapon screen lighting up with 60. Stowing his rifle on his back, he picked up his SMG and strapped it to his right thigh. Looking at the combat knife he had picked up, he decided to hold on to it as it was slightly longer than the standard knife they had brought for him.

Nodding to Anthony, they both placed their helmets on and dropped out the back of the pelican, ready to kill.. "Comms check'' he muttered into his mic, awaiting Anthony's reply.

 

[G0arr]

After Marfield had told them there were more survivors on the deck above them it was clear where they were going.
The trio moved through the corridors in unison. They found human bodies along the route, but checking for lifesigns was needless as most of them had plasma burns all over.

"Staircase is just through there." Marfield said. Joseph and Claire nodded. Joseph peered around the corner but immediately snapped back. He shook his head but turned his head around the corner again.

Oh hell, Joseph thought as he glanced around the corner. “Alright,” he whispered turning back to the others, “It looks like there’s only three or four elites and another handful of the jackles. They have the men pinned down in one of the side rooms. Couldn’t tell you their disposition, but the fact these covies are out here I can say they’re still fighting.” Joseph glanced at the other two. “I have a plan,” Joseph continued as he tossed a clip to Marfield. “We go in fast and hard. Should be able to take out one or two of the big guys before they draw down on us.” And, he thought, if the others take advantage of the confusion maybe they can thin the rest out. “Best I got on short notice.”

“Are they about to move,” Collins asked.
“I didn’t see,” Joseph replied.
“If they are then their attention will be firmly away from us.”
Joseph nodded his head. “Good thinking.”

There was a loud voice that began to bark out. Joseph stood with the rifle pulled in tight. Controlled bursts, he reminded himself. A quick glance around the corner told him Collins was right. One of the elites was speaking to the others in some language he didn’t understand. As the others moved to assault the room it reached down and pulled a small sphere from its belt. Joseph’s eyes widened. “Grenade,” he said glancing over to Collins, “Don’t miss.”
Without another word Joseph broke from cover. There wasn’t much cover once in the hall. The young ODST’s eyes were still locked on the elite as it prepared to press the arming stud.
The grenade was surrounded by a blue glow when Joseph fired.
Shields immediately flashed as the bullets struck. The elite turned and reacted by swinging the explosive toward a new target.
With a flash as the shields failed and a click as Joseph finished the clip.
He dove for cover as magnum shots rang out. There was a grunt, and confused roar as the grenade fell.
As Joseph slammed his new clip into place the plasma grenade thunked to the deck at the elite’s feet. The blue light was almost blinding as it exploded sending the Covenant forces into sudden disarray.
Good shot, Joseph thought turning toward the remaining targets, I think I owe someone a drink.

Marfield shot two jackals, each dead after their skulls were shattered. Claire was impressed at both Marfield and Joseph. She lay aim for the one elite who had survived the explosion, putting three rounds in its weakened shield, breaking it with a bright flash.
The elite staggered, looking up and releasing a furious roar, it dropped it's plasma rifle and activated its plasma sword.

Faster than anyone had anticipated, the elite lunged for Joseph, who only barely managed to get out of harms way.
Laying on his back Joseph fired his assault rifle, releasing half the magazine into the Elite's stomach.

Claire shot the jaw off of the thing, and it dropped to its knees. Joseph got up and stomped the thing in the side of the head.
The elite dropped dead and the way to the staircase was clear.

"You ok?" Claire asked Joseph. He gave her a thumbs up, breathing hard.
"Lets continue." Marfield said, taking a plasma rifle from the deck.
Joseph and Claire looked at eachother, a 'what-the-hell-didn't-she-see-what-just-happed' on their faces. They followed her none the less.
“Who’s there,” a voice called out.
Marfield halted. “Sascha Marfield,” was her reply.
“Sergeant? Thank god.” A man moved from cover, “Stand down men.”

The trio found corpses at the top of the stairs. The jackals had charged ahead as the elites apparently had ordered. The sudden attack had thrown the attack into disarray. When they faltered the small group of humans had countered. In total it looked like about half a dozen of the things where scattered around.

Of the humans there was one body in the hall, apparently struck several times by the jackals’ weapons. Another was propped up against a door nearby staring at a small plasma burn from a near miss on his leg. There were a dozen of them remaining according to a quick count, 4 of which were just crewmen.

One of the men stepped forward. He carried a SMG in one hand the other snapped a quick salute. Joseph quickly returned the gesture.
“Corporal David White,” he said lowering his hand, “Wolf Squad.”
“Private Joseph Davis, Phoenix.”
“I see you found our Sergeant.”
“Yes sir,” Joseph said glancing toward Sascha. She was already taking charge of the survivors.
“We havn't been able to reach anyone for a while now, not reliably anyway. Where are you headed,” White asked.
“They’re headed to the bridge,” Marfield cut in before anyone else could repply, “And so are we. Let’s get everyone ready to move.” With that the ‘squad’ began the trek through the ship’s byways toward the bridge.

Only a short hallway remained before the bridge when the sounds of something else moving alerted the soldiers. “Collins,” Joseph said quietly as he took cover in an open doorway, “Can you raise,” it took a second to remember the names as the others took cover, “McKnight or Alexander? Need to know what we’re about to step in, and if we got the boots to stomp it.”

 

[Josie]

Its head exploded like a watermelon, the plasma bolt burning the Jackal's skull clean through, showering McKnight in gore. 'Ewwwww, that's gross!' She whined, shaking the bits of jackal off her. 'Whadda I tell you! Was quiet enough right?!' She giggled at the surprised looking Logan. 'Anyway, we need to be moving, sooner or later something bigger than us is gonna wander by and find old brainy here' She kicked the lifeless jackal to gesture. 'Hmmmmm, a frigate class ship should have a ton of vents and shafts that we can use, unless you're too chicken' She smirked. 'Ah ha, here we go' She pointed to a vent cover, before giving it a massive kick, sending it flying inwards. 'If this ship is anything like the one I grew up on, this should take us right near the entrance to the bridge. I'll go first.'

The vent was pretty tight but bearable, and it reassured Jennifer that it was dark enough that the cowardly grunts wouldn't dare to venture into it. Every so often she would stop to get her bearings, much to the annoyance of Logan who kept bumping into her, cursing and swearing whenever he did so, even so, she couldn't resist annoying him . 'I would appreciate it if you WEREN'T staring at my ass the whole time you're back there and focus on not burying your head into it everytime we stop!'

They stopped at one of the corridors outside of the bridge, hearing a multitude of footsteps and alien shouts and commands. McKnight pushed herself onto her back and out into a small maintenance room, helping Logan out of the shaft afterwards.
'Fawkes, this is McKnight, we're outside the bridge but there's a ton of Covvie activity outside' She heard gunfire, assault rifles. 'Update, I don't think its fallen yet, there seems to be some form of defence going on, please advise on our next course of action.....'

 

[HOGGLORD]

Fawkes released several bursts from his battle rifle, depleting the ranger's shields. He then fired at the creature's head. The shot missed the head itself, but shattered the visor. The ranger's eye became visible and it dilated as the air was sucked from his suit's confines, killing him instantly. Fawkes noticed Payne floating gently out of the tear in the ship's hull. Fawkes jumped up, grabbing the rim of the hull and stretched out, grabbing one of Payne's flailing legs. He dragged him back inside and threw him to the floor, as gently as he could. Payne slid up against the wall and Fawkes maneuvered him self back into the ship.

"Right, we're clear." He said over the comm. He looked at his life support systems. They read that the squad, not including Payne with his special breathing gear, had about 10 minutes and 25 seconds until they ran out of air. He relayed this information to the others, then began looking around the area they were in, searching for an escape route. They couldn't break through any of the doors, because then they'd be unsealed. This would mean they'd still be in a vacuum, just in a different part of the ship, they could end up killing a load of people if they weren't careful.

Fawkes was about to ask the others for their opinion when the door into which Fawkes had shoved the Marlane buckled, as if hit by extraordinary force. Fawkes leveled his gun at the door, unsure of what he was going to see. After three similar hits, the door was torn from it's hinges. It flew past the ODSTs into the endless vacuum of space behind them. A huge, figure stepped through and Fawkes lowered his weapon as he saw the bulky form of a Cyclops maintenance walker force it's way through.

Through the glass of the machine's cockpit he saw Marlane grinning wildly. The lights on the speakers lit up and Marlane's mouth move, but no sound was emitted. Fawkes cursed as he remembered that sound couldn't travel through a vaccum. He tapped his ear and shrugged. Marlane's face fell, then he looked excited, breathed on the glass and began writing hurriedly on the steam. Fawkes struggled to decipher the hurriedly written words.

I CAN
GET
YOU
TO
ACCESS
POINT
NEAR
BRIDGE

Fawkes nodded to show he understood. He looked over at Payne, Sherman and Lancaster, though he couldn't see their expressions under their helmets, Payne and Sherman had already shown their doubts in the boy.
"It's the quickest way out of here that doesn't involve killing most of the ship's contents." He reasoned. Then the squad clambered onto various points on the bulky Cyclops chassis. The big machine strode out of the hole in the wall, magnetized it's feet to the side of the ship and began to walk. The walk took about three minutes, the Cyclops huge steps covering ground much faster than any of the ODSTs could have done in zero gravity.

Eventually they reached a large door, slightly bigger the cyclops itself. Marlane said something into a speaker on the Cylcops and a light on the left of the door flashed green. The door slid open and two grunts were sucked into the vacuum. They never saw it coming. Fawkes thought inside his head as he noted the look of surprise on one of the grunt's faces as it floated past him. The group walked into the room and the door shut behind them. There was a loud hiss as air was pumped into the room.

"Depressurisation complete." Said Alice's calm voice. At the other end of the room was a much smaller, man sized door which Fawkes approached. It slid open and Fawkes entered the corridor, waving the others to follow. He turned to Marlane who was jogging up to him.
"Wait here, you need to tell any others that come this way to go to the bridge and make sure it's secure."

The young lad looked disappointed but nodded in understanding. Fawkes gripped his shoulder, thanked him and proceeded down the corridor to a door at the end. It opened to see some familiar faces. Davis and Collins were there, along with Sascha Marfield and a group of humans, all wearing non-combat gear.

Fawkes flicked his visor's black opacity off, revealing his grinning face to the others.
"God, it's good to see you guys." He said fervently.

He noticed the lack of effective weaponry and ordered the others to start handing out guns. He pressed his suppressed SMG into Collins' hands after checking the scope and ammo counter.

"48 rounds per clip, 4 clips." He said, pressing the additional ammo into her hands. "Don't spend it all at once."

Then he chucked an assault rifle clip to Davis. Another followed a few seconds after.

His radio crackled into life and he heard Mcknight's voice.
"Fawkes, this is McKnight, we're outside the bridge but there's a ton of Covvie activity outside. Update, I don't think its fallen yet, there seems to be some form of defence going on, please advise on our next course of action....."

"Acknowledged, hang on, we'll be there shortly." Fawkes cautioned her. The now larger group set off towards the bridge. They advanced through the ship until they reached the doors to the bridge.

From a door to their left, Mcknight and Alexander appeared. Fawkes greeted them, handing his assault rifle to Alexander.

"Good to see you two safe and sound." He said warmly. Hearing the assault rifle fire from within the room dying down steadily, Fawkes realized they were on a strict time limit. He turned to the rest of the group.

"Alright, this is it. We've gotta clear this bridge, the Covies want Alice and, more specifically, Earth's location. We're not gonna let that happen. Move in and tear them apart."

He pointed to Marfield and six of the soldiers he'd found with her.

"You guys wait here and push back anything that want's to break through. Nothing comes in this room, understand?"

"You got it, Samuel." Marfield said, with a reassuring smile.

Fawkes was slightly taken aback by the use of his forename, no one had called him that in a long time. He shook off the surprise almost instantly, turning to the door and pressing his hand against the scanner.

"Welcome, First Sergeant Fawkes." Said Alice's pleasant and calm voice as the door slid open to the raging battle behind. Inside were less than half a dozen navy crew, most down to their magnums, trying desperately to hold of the storm of covenant forces.

"Right boys and girls! Bring 'em down!" yelled Fawkes, heading into the firestorm, battle rifle blazing.


OOC:

Spartans: I've PMed your orders.

Everyone else: Pretty simple update. Describe the events that precede the assault and then the assault itself. no more than 4 kills per person, only one kill per person can be an elite.

 

[Sangus Bane]

The moment John saw Marfield he was on edge, sharper than ever and even a bit nervous. She had recognised him by his armour for sure, the modifications he had made were unique after all.
She hadn't paid him any attention, ignored him. This was a relief but it was far from comforting. He was used to her temper, yet here she seemed joyous and friendly, even while in this situation.
It didn't matter, she would guard the rear, while he would be up front, proving to Fawkes he was up to any task.
He handed the weapons he had gathered over to the others, the marines and ODST's taking them gladly and preparing the weapons with dedication. When everyone was sufficiently armed and been supplied with spare ammo there was only one thing left to do...
When they actually attacked the bridge he entered a form of tunnelvision, only focusing on threads and hostiles. He heard Claire ask him something and he heard himself reply, though he would not recall either the question or his answer for the duration of the battle. This happened sometimes when he was in a state of deep concentration.
His vision focused on a grunt which dropped its Needler, a kamikaze? Yes, it reached for a set of grenades. A burst from John's Battle Rifle killed the little creature, one round in the neck, one in its face and one straight through its cranium. Its hands never even reached the grenades. A Jackal was charging its plasma pistol, the green sphere at the weapon's mound was large already when John spotted it. A burrst from his BR hit the thing in the arm, it released the green sphere in a shriek of pain. The green projectile, luckily, amazingly, miraculously, hit a Elite in the back, automatically depleting the Elite's energy shields. John aimed for the roaring alien and two bursts in the chest killed it.
A sharp pain in his left shoulder made him drop to his knees. The tunnelvision abruptly disappeared as he lost his focus.
A quick look at his shoulder revealed to him he was hit by a needle weapon, three large shards partly buried in his shoulder guard. They just managed to puncture his skin and once again he was more than happy he had constructed the large silver shoulder guard.
The Jackal that carried the Needle Rifle didn't carry a shield, a simple and vulnerable target. John managed to aim his weapon and release a burst, killing the Jackal.
The got worse as one of the shards shattered. John yanked the other two out and they shattered in his hands.

 

[Josie]

They sat in the storeroom, both sitting on upturned boxes, munching away on some rations they had found. 'Thank god I had already been to the armoury before this all happened, else I would have lost this baby' McKnight said, tapping her commando helmet fitted with a ton of targeters to indicate. Logan didn't seem to care, too busy wolfing down potato stew. They were both covered in blood, both human and covenant, though whilst Jen was wearing her armour, Logan still had his ships overalls on, now soaked through with blood and patches of potato where Logan had spilt the goopy mixture, much to the amusement of McKnight.

'Stupid covenant, can't they bloody leave us al-' Logan started, but was shushed by McKnight, who had heard footsteps. 'That sound like covvies to you?' Jen asked, Logan shaking his head in reply. 'Let's move then'. After fumbling with the lock to the room, and a hefty kick from Logan, the pair finally managed to open the door, Jen playfully jumping out yelling 'Surprise!', much to the amusement of Logan, not so to that of Payne, who looked like he could shoot the pair.

'Good to see you two safe and sound' Fawkes said as the pair approached him, before turning to talk to some women Jen had never seen before. McKnight fell into the squad, next to Payne, who she grinned at after her earlier antics. He was not impressed, but reached onto his back for a sniper rifle, thrusting it into her hands. 'Not sure what the fuck you're gonna do with that on here, but you might as well have it' He said in a gruff manner. Jen opened the breach and loaded a magazine in, closing the breach again with a thud. 'You got it Samuel' The women said, Jen chuckled inwardly to herself at the veteran sergeant being disrespected by this woman.

They ran as a unit to the bridge, only stopping whilst Alice opened the door. Jen checked her rifle one last time before the doors slid open. 'Right boys and girls, bring 'em down!' Fawkes shouted. Jen instantly sighted an elite across the bridge from her, and she brought the rifle up, breathing slower and slower whilst she lined up the shot. *99.9% hit rate* Displayed the targeter on her visor. She pulled the trigger, blowing the elite's torso into a pile of smush, before turning and smashing a charging grunt in the face with the butt of the rifle, only to realise it was a kamikaze grunt. She dived backwards, pushing off the floor to put as much distance between her and the grunt, the blast still made her go flying back, thudding into a wall, but she managed to stagger to her feet moments later.

 

[G0arr]

Joseph looked down the hall and waited as Collins tried to reach the others. The seconds seemed to crawl past. He glanced back toward Claire. “Anything,” he whispered. As the words left his lips there was a slight hiss, and the door opposite of him began to open. FUCK, Joseph thought as he quickly spun. His weapon was up aiming at chest level as his heart began to thump in his chest. What stood in the doorway was thankfully friendly.

“Shit,” Joseph said under his breath as First Sergeant Fawkes moved in.
"God, it's good to see you guys." The Sergeant said as his face became visible behind the armored visor.
“Good to see you too. Scared the hell outa me,” Joseph said lowering his weapon. “Sir,” he quickly added as some kind of afterthought.

Fawkes glanced over the small band of men in the hallway. “Alright let’s get these people armed,” he snapped to the others. Weapons and ammo quickly began to change hands. In the middle of it all a clip flew toward Joseph, quickly followed by a second. Both quickly found a place on the soldier’s person. He smiled; two fresh clips brought his total up to 3 waiting and a half still ready, a total of 114 rounds.

“Alright,” Joseph said with a quick glance around, “One last detail.” He moved to one of the nearby marines. “Hat and vest,” it was more of a demand than a request. The marine looked puzzled for a moment. “Did I stutter? Hat and vest!” The marine opened his mouth and prepared to protest. “You have cover and backup out here marine. Unless you want to charge that room then I would suggest you drop armor and give it!”

Joseph moved to Collins before the door opened. He pushed the armored vest into her hands. “Suit up,” he said placing the armored hat on his head, “Don’t need to go into this one without something.”

When the doors opened the squad charged in. Davis crouched low, trying to present less of a target. A quick burst of fire from his weapon came as he moved. Cover was a small mounted table. Joseph ducked down behind it and took a breath before spinning toward the action. The only visible parts of the ODST were an armored head, rifle, and a shoulder.
A quick series of short bursts got the attention of a nearby jackal. The little thing fired. Joseph ducked as several small plasma blasts impacted the table. With the shield raised it wasn’t going to be an easy fight.
Joseph gathered his wits. A quick glance brought the thing back into view. Almost to the table. Hell, he thought checking his rifle, let’s do something crazy.

The jackal stepped around the table expecting its target. From behind the energy shield it howled finding nothing but a falling rifle. Nearby there was a thump across the table. The little thing spent the rest of its life tracing where the demon had gone. The last thing to go through its mind was a single .50 caliber SAP-HE round.

Joseph rolled off the table and onto the splattered skull. The thing had been so focused on killing its target that it hadn’t guess the trooper would dive down the table for a single shot. It was a gamble, but it paid off this time. Grime covered one hand and both knees from the recovery as Joseph snatched his rifle back up and glanced over the table. A new magazine slammed into the breach. There were still plenty of targets left.

A second of aiming and a quick burst of fire sent a grunt into oblivion. Its blood sprayed a nearby wall.
Another burst crippled a nearby jackal. It howled as several shells tore into its leg throwing it to the ground.
Several more short bursts were fired into the Covenant forces. Most of the fire meant to assist the others from cover.

Joseph ducked back down and hammered another clip into place. 2 left, he reminded himself. Another plasma blast impacted the table. Hold together, he thought firing again. Another grunt slammed into the deck bleeding from several bullet holes.

From the far end of the room there was a shout. Joseph glanced over. Several of the elites were charging a group of bridge crew. The table buckled behind him.
“Damnit!” Joseph shouted as he sprang to his feet. It was almost a strait line between him and the charging elites. It wasn’t a great plan, not even a good plan. In truth he expected to hear about it later. With a loud battlecry the young unarmored ODST sprinted across the contested ground.

The first elite collapsed under the weight of the defender’s fire, but another moved on its heels. This one managed to get a foothold on the rough barricade. It sprayed shots form its plasma rifle down to the defenders. With a triumphant roar it aimed toward a uniformed navy man barking orders.

Joseph slammed shoulder first into the elite’s waist. Pain faired through his arm as the pair tumbled onto the deck. The ODST recovered quickly. After being trained to freefall from a ship to a planet’s surface, burst from the drop pod, and be expected to engage targets immediately a diving tackle to the deck was almost simple. The elite had only managed to push itself off the deck when the assault rifle fired less than an inch from its skin. At that range the energy shield wasn’t even affected by the rounds.

Blood splattered against Joseph’s arm as he released the trigger and swung the weapon back to the barricade. The other covenant forces were being pushed back for the moment. As he moved up to the crewmen the pain in his shoulder dulled slightly. There was going to be at least a bruise.
“Who the hell are you,” someone asked between firing.
“ODST Phoenix squad,” Joseph said checking his rifle’s counter, “here to lend a hand.” The man said something else, but it was lost amongst other voices and a burst from Joseph’s weapon.

 

[Sangus Bane]

(OOC: I'm posting for Po-D this week.)

Claire was surprised to see Joseph in such a way. He suddenly burst with authority and made demands from a soldier.
She didn't think the young ODST could be like that. Then again, they had only met moments ago, though much had happened in the meantime.
Joseph pushed an armoured vest into her hands, standard UNSC marine issue.
She thanked him and made sure the vest was strapped around her body before she took the last ammo from Payne and Fawkes.

She looked around the gathered men and women. When she saw John looking, almost staring, at Marfield she raised an eyebrow, but she didn't say a word.

One breath later they were in possition to assault the bridge. She double checked all her ammo pouches, making sure they were stuffed with ammo.

The doors opened and it began. Before she had even spotted a target to take down some off her squad mates were opening fire, and with effect. In a few seconds multiple covvies were injured, maimed or simply dead.

There it was, a target, a Jackal carrying a needler behind it's yellow shield.
She fired two short bursts with her SMG, forcing the creature to focus on her. When it did it moved one of its feet slighltly beyond the protected area of its shield, foolish creature...

A third burst from her SMG crippled the Jackal, its anckle destroyed by a few well placed bullets. The thing stumbled and she was able to finish it quickly.

A green bolt hit her in the stomach and she screamed in pain. The vest Joseph gave her was burned and thing trails of blue smoke were trailing of around the edges of the impact. She was enraged by then and gunned down two grunts without a single thought.

The pain disappeared, there was too much going on for her to notice it any longer. John pulled her into cover.
''Don't expose yourself just yet.'' He shouted over the noise of gunfire. He counted down with his fingers.
3...
2...
1...

They simultaniously got up from their cover, which turned out to be stacked boxes of office goods, and they focused their fire on a elite, taking out its shield but the thing dived away before they could kill it.

A shot from the other side of the room finished the ugly bastard off.

 

[Shattertheirsky]

'Surprise!' Something shouted as it burst out of a side cupboard.
*SHIT* Payne thought, bringing his shotgun to bear. Turns out it was only McKnight playing a stupid practical joke, one that could of gotten her killed. Payne grumbled at her then thrust the Sniper rifle from his back into her hands.
'Not sure what the fuck you're gonna do with that on here, but you might as well have it' He said, before turning away and following the rest of the squad as they moved out.

As they approached the bridge, the sounds of gunfire from within seemed to be dying down. Payne checked his ammo, cocking the shotgun to check if he had enough rounds. 9 in total, Payne smirked, *Plenty of lead to drop the covvies*.

The fighting on the bridge was brutal. As soon as the doors open they were set upon by hordes of covenant. Payne dropped a grunt within a few seconds of entering with a shotgun blast to the face, then dropped low to shoot another one, hitting it square in the chest, sending it flying. Payne ignored the fighting going on all around him, focusing on any opposition to him only, dropping a few more grunts and even a few jackals. An elite with it's back turned made for easy pickings, and a blast to the back dropped it's shields, another to the head sent it's head splattering everywhere.

 

[HOGGLORD]

A battle rifle burst sent the grunt's head traveling in three separate directions, blue blood splattering his ODST plate. A gleaming blue plasma bolt struck him in the shoulder. He twisted away in response to the impact, ripping out his magnum as he did so. He fired at the elite who had attacked him, the creature's shields flashing with each shot. Emptying the clip, he overloaded the defense mechanism and ripped out his stainless steel combat knife, shoving the 30cm blade into the roof of the elite's mouth. Purple blood washed down on his hand as he kicked the corpse away.

Looking around, he saw that only a few terrified grunts remained, all were being systematically executed by the marines. He watched as the bodies were dragged out of the room, before turning to the reunited squad. Around the room stood the various squad members, along with the other humans. Most of the ODSTs were dead, just the members of Phoenix remained inside the bridge. About half of the marines remained standing, though several sported injuries of varying degrees of seriousness.

He looked over at the few remaining navy crew, the detail was a sorry sight. Surrounded by three aides, cowered Captain Norwich, his uniform was bedraggled and his face, disheveled. He looked ashamed and terrified.

"What happened to him?" Fawkes asked one of the Navy crew. The man in question looked down at his Captain in disgust.

"Stupid bastard panicked and pissed himself. He started talking about activating the Cole protocol, so we all followed the procedure, then he just collapsed in the middle of it, crying like a little girl."

Fawkes was shocked, had they not got to the bridge when they did, Norwich would have handed Earth over to the covenant on a silver platter. He sighed heavily and turned to the rest of his squad. He located all the various members. Payne was standing next to a dead elite, his shotgun held loosely in his hands. Lancaster was standing with Collins, Davis and Sherman. Alexander was standing by the door.

Two of the navy crew hefted Norwich to his feet, taking him towards the door. It opened before they got there and Fawkes saw a telltale blurry shape directly behind Logan. He shouted a warning as an energy blade punched through Logan's back. An elite materialized, the ghostly, angular armour of a spec-ops elite becoming apparent. He pulled his blade out of Logan's body and stepped forwards. As he did so, Logan, lying prone on the floor, slowly raised his head, pulling out his own combat knife. He jammed the blade into the elite's heel and it roared in agony and surprise. Logan then drew a grenade, tearing free the pin with his teeth and clutched himself to the elite's leg. The explosion sent both the ODST and the alien flying, both dead.

Before anyone could say anything, another five spec-ops elites materialized in the doorway, plasma rifles raised. They gunned down the two navy crew and their dishonored captain within a few short seconds. These elites were shortly followed by an even less welcome sight, the deep crimson armour of an elite Zealot was visible behind the Spec-ops' backs, snarling orders to them.

"Get down!" Roared Fawkes diving behind a pile of dead grunts. Plasma burned their clustered bodies. He turned and fired round the makeshift barricade, gaining little more than a spark on the Spec-ops' shields, in return he received a hail of plasma, causing him to duck back down behind the grunts.

"Damnit." He muttered to himself. "We need backup."

OOC: Sorry it's so late everyone, but here it is.

ODSTs: You clear the bridge, only to find that the captain is a coward and that Spec-Ops elites have infiltrated the base. Even as a group we can't fight them off entirely. Get down into cover and hold them back as well as you can. I'm going to allow a maximum of 3 Spec ops kills for all of you. You can agree who gets the kills via PM if you wish,

Mannfred: You joined up with Sergeant Marfield shortly after the others went in to attack the bridge and you were knocked out by a plasma grenade blast that killed almost all of the ODSTs. The others were either unconscious or killed by the elites.

Spartans: Orders are PMed as usual.

 

[Sangus Bane]

"Logan, no!" John shouted as Logan's body fell to the floor. Shouting wasn't going to do anything, John knew this, yet he didn't act in any other way.
Logan however, proved to be a tough bastard as he jammed a blade into the elite who had stabbed him. After that there was a blur, caused by an explosion, Logan had sacrificed himself to kill the elite, a warrior's death.

John was pushed backwards by the explosion, which probably saved his life as he was now close enough to the dead covies to be able to pick up a dead grunt and use it as a meat shield just before a salvo of plasma would strike him in the chest.
John dropped to a knee, making sure the the grunt corpse would cover more of his body. When the salvos stopped John dropped what was left of the grunt and rolled to cover, a control panel made from glass... 'Nice going, John...' he thought to himself as he realised the glass would offer no protection, what so ever.
Two elites aimed for him and he was sure this was it, yet he was stubborn enough, or confident enough, whichever you fancy, to think there was a way out.
Then the squad opened fire, en masse, and they forced the elites to switch targets.
'Dear salvation.' John whispered as he picked up his battle rifle from the floor and added himself to the firing squad.

 

[Mannfred]

Hooper grunted as comforting blackness gave way and we regained consciousness. His vision was blurred and all he could hear was a high pitched ringing, but he was alive. What the hell had happened to this place, it was wrecked, and broken bodies of his former squad mates scattered the floor. Hooper picked himself off the ground painfully, and immediately regretted it as his hearing was restored: there was a battle raging on very close by, and it sounded like some covenant were trying to outflank.. Hooper forgot about all his pains and dived under the nearest pile of bleeding corpses, taking a large breath in and holding it.

In his position he couldn't see what was approaching, but it didn't sound human. Hooper's heart was pounding in his chest as the covenant.. zealot? approached, with their trademark low growlings and slight snufflings. The zealot paused and listened, Hooper gritted his teeth and lay rigidly still. After what seemed like hours, the zealot grunted to itself, and trudged off slowly.

Hooper waited a moment, then moved his foot an inch. He hadn't been killed yet, so he slowly extricated himself from the human remains, brushing himself off absently.

Well they would certainly be needing help in what sounded like a very one sided firefight, he thought, and set off along the long corridors of the complex. Peeking around a corner, his eyes widened, indeed this was a one sided situation, but on the plus an officer was here, at least they would know something.. it looked like he was too pinned down from splinter fire to actually be able to command a group cohesively.

Swinging around the corner, Hooper raised his DMR with practiced ease and took a couple of shots at the zealots surrounding the ODST's, whilst not having enough time to actually work through any shields, his shots had the intended effect and the cowards quickly hopped back to save themselves. As the withering fire lessened for a moment, Hooper sprinted forwards, slamming a little violently into the cover the officer was behind.

Corporal Hooper Sir! How can I help, besides the obvious? he shouted above the ever increasing din, swinging up again to break another zealot's shields, if only he had enough time to get that last shot in..