[son of azurman]

"We set off in ten minutes, so do what you want till then, get ammo, take a piss, write in your diary, whatever, just be ready to move when I call." came Fawkes’s voice over the radio, as the squad spread out to do what ever they were doing Zetan turned on his heel.

Now he looked out over a row of 4 innies either too injured to run or bound. three of them stared at him with pain filled eyes but one was about to doze off by the looks of it. Zetan drew his combat knife and walked over to the individual, Zetan made the man’s eyes scream open in pain by thrusting his blade into the man’s leg spraying Zetan’s leg armor with blood.

“pay attention, this is what has been coming to you bastards for a long time.” whispered Sherman into his ears.

Zetan sheathed his knife again but unclipped the holster for his SMG and muttered under his breath “Earth spits on your pathetic lives”. like a blur it seemed as the Hell jumper in an instant swiped his right arm over the handle of his SMG, he drew the weapon in a curved movement bringing it up to his hip and with a single movement of his finger let loose a spray that burst blood vessels, skulls and rib cages as he released a whole mag into the 4 slumped figures in front of him and by the end he was splattered in gore from the thighs down. taking as many mags of regular SMG ammo as he could find (3 mags) he approached Fawkes giving him a nod to say he was ready.

“that was revenge Mother Fuckers,” he spoke over his shoulder towards where he had stood moments ago.

 

[Shattertheirsky]

(Josie's last two posts rolled into one) :

There was a sharp crack followed a few seconds later by a thump nearby.

'SNIPER!' Someone shouted, as the team hit the deck or scrambled for cover.

'McKnight, show that cocky bastard how a real sniper does their job' Fawkes shouted over the radio. Countersniping was the hardest part of being a sniper, as it matched one sniper's speed, wits, and skill against the other, and in this case he had a buddy, making it all the more difficult. Over the years though she had developed her own method for countersniping, broken down into a variety of steps.

Step 1: Find cover
Well that was all fine, the boulder she was behind would easily stop any incoming

Step 2: Locate the other sniper
McKnight scanned the darkness for the muzzle flashes. Up in the trees two bright flashes emerged, one distinctly larger than the other, signifying the larger caliber of bullet used by the sniper

Step 3: Judge distance, windspeed and other factors.
Judging by the crack and thump of the incoming sniper fire, he was about 800 metres away, the wind was blowing softly, and there was a light drizzle. McKnight clicked the dial on the side of the scope twice to bring the range up, then the one on top to compensate for windspeed.

Step 4: Fire a sighter shot

McKnight gently lay the rifle on top of the boulder, positioning herself behind it in the prone position, one leg crossed over the other for stability, waiting for the next muzzle flash. She exhaled all the air from her lungs and waited.

814 metres away, atop a rocky outcrop, the sniper and his spotter heard the distinct crack of a sniper rifle, the shot pinging 3 or 4 metres to the left of them. Good, they grinned to each other, knowing that every ODST team had a sniper present, they had worried , but as luck would have it this one seemed to have no talent.

Step 5: The killing blow
They were wrong, dead wrong. McKnight was one of the best, most talented of them all. The innefectual shot she had fired was but a sighter, and she clicked the top dial 4 times to the right. She lined up the shot, with only the sniper's muzzle plash to go on. *Bang*, his rifle fired, lighting up with a flash. McKnight exhaled, and pulled the trigger. 814 metres away the round carved through the side of the sniper rifle and into the sniper's head, exploding it in a pink mist. His spotter turned in disbelief and shock, his DMR held loosely in his hands, wide eyed and open mouthed. There was another sharp retort and 1.7 seconds later he was thrown of his feet as the round impacted his chest.

McKnight waited to see if the sniper fire would resume. It didn't.

'Target's Incapacitated' - Mcknight radioed in to Fawkes, folding in the bipod of her sniper, she received a note of acknowledgement and kept her head down as the firefight gradually began to wind down in the ODST's favour.

Everything was quiet now. They were moving out in a few minutes, so McKnight drank a sip of water from her canteen and checked that she hadn't lost or broken any equipment in her scramble to cover. There was a cough a few metres from her, and McKnight raised her pistol, pacing forwards slowly towards the source. She parted the bushes and was welcomed by the sight of a dying innie, having been shot in numerous places. Protocol was to leave him, or secure him in case he tried anything, but he didn't look like he was going anywhere, and McKnight took pity on him.

'Filthy UNSC lapdog' He coughed 'Get... off my planet'

McKnight lowered her pistol, kneeling down beside his ruined form

'I'm..... sorry.... that this had to happen'
She reached for her canteen and pressed it to his lips. He snarled and spat, then broke out coughing at the strain, blood bubbling from between his lips.

'I dont.... need your *cough* sympathy you UNSC bitch' He spat, before crying out in pain

'Why.. why do you hate us so much?' McKnight asked softly, her voice barely hiding her sadness at the sight of the dying man

'Because *splutter*, because you're scum' The man spat, then cried out again, wheezing, tears streaming. 'Do the honourable thing, and finish me'.

McKnight raised her pistol, pressing it to the man's temple, he looked up at her, his eyes wide. Her hands were shaking as she released the safety catch. She closed her eyes, a lone tear escaped her eye, as she began to depress the trigger.

She stopped. She couldn't do it. She wasn't like the rest, not like Payne or Zetan. She couldn't be an executioner. She lowered the pistol.

'I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry' She whispered, but it didn't matter, the man wasn't breathing, his eyes still open, a look of acceptance in them. As she got back up to rejoin the squad, she was glad for her helmet to disguise the tears flowing down her cheeks, and she positioned herself away from the rest of them, quiet and subdued, wondering how much more of this she could take...

 

[HOGGLORD]

Fawkes looked at the dead innies, then to the squad, a few were unmoved, Sherman and Davis seemed fine, Lancaster was a litte quiet, but Collins and Mcknight seemed really shaken. Fawkes waved the squad over to move out and fell into line with Lancaster.

"John, keep an eye on the girls would you?" He asked. "They seem, well, not great. After that, though, its understandable. Just, make sure they're alright."

Lancaster nodded and allowed himself fall behind Fawkes. Fawkes hoped that everyone was OK, people showed distress in different ways, he couldn't tell how many were suffering from the recent ordeal. As they were slipping through the trees, they came upon something huge. It was the slumped form of a massive beast, thick armour plates surrounding its hide. Fawkes stopped by it, crouching down over its eyeless head.

"Armoured bear." He murmered, gently touching one of the beast's inert tusks. There was two things remarkable about the scene. One was that Fawkes had never seen such a beast before, they were some of the mightiest predators on the wild sectors of Elysium, the other remarkable factor is that the thing was dead. Fawkes could see a few shell casings scattered in the dirt and explosives residue. Someone with UNSC gear had killed this thing. Fawkse was betting it wasn't an innie. No human in the galaxy could have killed this thing at this sort of range.

"Come on." He said to the squad. "The only thing that could do this sort of damage would be a spartan." He motioned the squad forward, away from the monster. They trecked through the forest again, for a short while, but it wasn't long before they came upon the green-armoured warrior, a massive, UNSC mounted turret underarm, with little more seeming difficulty than Fawkes was carrying his rifle.

"Spartan?" He asked, the warriror turned around. "Thank God we've found you." Fawkes said fervently. He wanted to be out of this damned forest as soon as possible. He tapped his radio.

"Squad Phonenix to Command, we have the Spartan asset, we have the Spartan, sir."
He got no reply. He tapped the radio a few times, but there was still no response. He'd have to ask about that later.

He looked around. He couldn't see any faded ripples or blurred patches of air.

"Where's your teammate?" He asked. "Is he still around?"

OOC:
Ok, we've found one spartan (Santaire) who will lead us to the other one. You also find out that there are some Marines with the other Spartan.

I'll put up the ammo register thing tonight.

 

[G0arr]

They waited. Joseph checked his new weapon again. 50 round clips, he had used… umm… he tired to remember the count, let’s say it was 10 rounds, so 40 rounds remaining. He thought of all the training weapons he had held. This one was a little more antiquated, but functional. For a moment he wondered, what caliber were those turr…

A scream and weapons fire brought him abruptly back to the present.
Joseph spun with the weapon at his shoulder. He watched as Sherman finished unloading a full clip into the prisoners. It was cold blooded and brutal.
Joseph stood at the ready as the other trooper finished, and walked over.
The private’s movements hid the shock behind training as Sherman cursed over his shoulder.
In that moment Joseph did the only thing he could, he rationalized it behind a single word Revenge.
It wasn’t what he wanted to do. They were human after all; they didn’t deserve to die like that. It was something that Joseph would expect from the Covenant. Still he pushed it aside. What would the team have done if they got free? But they would be soldiers not prisoners.

The squad moved. Joseph focused back on the mission at hand. Besides, the private told himself, it was Fawkes who had to make the call.
When they found the bear the young soldier made a quick mental note. Look out for Innies, Covenant, and apparently armored wildlife. Fawkes referred to the beast as an ‘armored bear,’ the words made Joseph smile.
“Well let’s hope there aren’t any ‘bladed squirrels’ or ‘cannon tortures’ wondering around here,” he said jokingly. The reactions appeared neutral at best.

Shortly afterward they found the Spartan. Damn, Joseph thought as he kept his excitement from appearing. The armor was similar to what the ODST used, except heavier. The strangest thing was their helmet, a bulbous dome of glass.
Fawkes spoke and then activated his radio. After making his call he tapped the radio and waited for a reply.
“Jamming tower sir,” Joseph reported as he recalled the earlier interrogations.
Fawkes turned back to the Spartan, and asked about the other.
The private waited for the reply before cutting in.
“Did you recover the AI or spot an Innie base local,” Joseph asked adding a hasty, “Sir.”

 

[Angel Encarmine]

Standing at the gate of the innie complex, Felix scanned the forest at the edge of the compound looking for enemies. 18 innies, an easy target for a headhunter team using guerrilla tactics. 5 marines and a Spartan III defending a fixed position was an entirely different situation. The odds were really bad, but beating bad odds was his job and these innies were about to find that out. "Movement on the right flank" he heard over his helmet comms from the corporal stationed in the watchtower with Anthony's sniper rifle. "Hit em when you see em guys" he radioed back, before he heard all of the marines call out contacts and open fire.

Sighting down his rifle, Felix fired at an innie trying to sneak up on his position before he heard a sound that had him diving for cover. "INCOMING" he shouted before an explosion tore the fence apart on the right flank. A cheer erupted from the innies as several more mortar round blew holes in the same area. The fuckers had a mortar. Jumping up Felix began sprinting towards the right side, intent on backing up the besieged marines. The innies got there first.

2 Marines in a sandbag emplacement were killed as the enemy swarmed their position, 30 cal rounds tearing the men apart and leaving the right side undefended. "Retreat to the main building" Felix radioed to the surviving marines. Not slowing his run he unsheathed his knife and jumped, easily clearing the sides of the emplacement and landing among the 3 innies that had killed the marines. Blood flew as the invisible Spartan spun, lopping off limbs and severing arteries. Screams and lives were cut short as Felix killed, mercy the furthest thing from his mind.

Pulling out a frag he lobbed it at the hole in the fence, using the explosion as cover to retreat to the main building. Judging by the bodies he had seen, he figured they had killed around 5 innies, which left 13 and a mortar team... Jogging into the improvised med center he began barking orders, telling them to arm the wounded and get ready to fight like hell. As they locked down the corridor a mortar round blew the front off the building, leaving them dazed and open to the assault. Stumbling back to his feet he wondered where the fuck Anthony and the ODSTs were before enemy fire pinged off his armor. "Kill them all" he shouted as he opened fire out of the ruined burning building, hoping that his men were alive to hear the order.

 

[Sangus Bane]

John didn't disapprove of killing the Innies, hell he had even suggested it to Fawkes. He wasn't happy about it either.

Maybe it was because it brought back memories he didn't want to remember, maybe it was because of the way the Innies were disposed of by someone he considered to be his squad member.

Either way, something about it had made him uncomfortable and he knew he wasn't the only one.

"John, keep an eye on the girls would you?" Fawkes asked after they continued their search. "They seem, well, not great. After that, though, its understandable. Just, make sure they're alright."

John simply nodded, not seeing need for words.
He slowed his pace until he walked besides McKnight.

"You ok?" he asked with a lowered voice. "You've been quiet for a while now."

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." McKnight responded. "I'll never get used to executions though."
John was convinced of her words.
"Come to me if you need to talk, 'kay?" he said and he fell behind a few more steps to join Collins.

"I'm fine." she said before John could even ask her.
"Good to know." He said as he crouched underneath a low branch. "But are you doing well, or just fine?"
"I'm not happy, but there's no need for concern." she said, sounding annoyed now.
"Ok, that's all I need to know." John said as observed two small rodents fighting over what seemed to be a bundle of nuts.
"Come talk to me if something is bothering you." John said, picking up the pace to report to Fawkes.

 

[Pimped-out Deamonette]

Claire resented the ODST's for what they had done, for killing the insurrectionists.

Yet she understood their actions.
It was a question as old as war itself; Is it ok to kill, before you are killed?

Lancaster had approached McKnight, who had also been a bit quiet since the executions. Now he was headed her way.

'Great...' she sighed inside her helmet.

After reassuring Lancaster, Claire returned to her thoughts, knowing she would never decide on a answer for the question that still haunted her mind.

Kill, or be killed?

Protecting what you have was equally important as securing what you need...

The squad halted and Claire could see Fawkes kneeling down beside a large, dead animal.
Claire was amazed by the size of the beast, its plates and tusks huge and scarred by many years of combat with its kin, a ritual to show dominance. And killed by a human...

The UNSC wasn't evil, humans were...

(I'm back!)

 

[Santaire]

I’m tired of it all.

Tired of running, tired of fighting. Tired of death.

Funny. The ODSTs are full of stories of how inhuman we are, how cruel and murderous. Yet not one of them would think what I think now. I haven’t seen Squad Phoenix for a long time now. Truth be told, I miss them. Imagine that. Me, the vicious, murderous Spartan misses a squad of ODSTs who mistrusted me and thought me a freak. Still, back to what I was telling you. It hit me then, as I walked away from the great corpse of the Shell Bear. I had been fighting all my life. ODSTs called themselves veterans if they survived twenty missions, lucky if they reach the age of forty. I was nineteen, younger than any of the members of Squad Phoenix. But I had suffered more than any of them, aged prematurely by my experiences. I was young and yet old, fresh and yet tired.

I was so absorbed in my epiphany that I did not notice Fawkes approaching me until his foot cracked a twig. I still did not bother to turn. If it had been an Insurrectionist then he would have already opened fire.

"Spartan?" The ODST Sergeant asked and I turned to look at him. "Thank God we've found you."

Fawkes glanced around and cocked his head at me, asking yet another question. "Where's your teammate?" He asked. "Is he still around?" I smiled grimly beneath my visor. If Felix had gotten himself killed I would go all the way to hell to drag him back, if only so I could kill him myself for being stupid enough to die. “Spartan-046 is currently holding a position along with several marines from a downed Pelican. They have Insurrectionists attacking them, though I believe they can hold out for a little while longer.” I turned to lead the ODST squad to where Felix was but was stopped by Joseph who blurted out a question of his own.

“Did you recover the AI or spot an Innie base local,” he asked, before adding in another word. “Sir.”

“I have the AI on me now private,” I said, tapping the armoured compartment in my leg armour. “She is safer with me than she is with you anyway. As for the Insurrectionists, we have the location of a base of theirs that is about five klicks east of our current position, however we are going to relieve my teammate and the marines with him first.” My tone was iron hard and brooked no argument. So we set off into the forest, a Spartan III Headhunter carrying a turret like it was a rifle and a squad of ODSTs...

 

[HOGGLORD]

“She is safer with me than she is with you anyway. As for the Insurrectionists, we have the location of a base of theirs that is about five klicks east of our current position, however we are going to relieve my teammate and the marines with him first.”

The Spartan sounded hard and resolved, like he expected an argument against this course of action. Fawkes raised his hands placatingly.

"Don't worry, Spartan, we're here to pick you two up, that was always first on the to-do list."

He waved the squad on after the spartan's rapid pace, speeding through the dense woods with an alarming precision. The ODSTs had to jog to keep up, but Fawkes knew that the Spartan was holding back, slowing down for them. It was stupid, but Fawkes felt a little irritated about that, as if the Spartan was being condescending by slowing down for them. He shook the notion off, it was pointless to consider such things, if he couldn't affect them, ignore them. The travelled through the woods at a rapid pace, so it wasn't long before they head gunfire, it was the rapid clatter of automatics and semi automatics, as well as a deep, muffled thump of some kind of small artillery. They quickened their pace until they reached a clearing with a small building in it. Around the building was a siege force of insurrectionists.

Fawkes frowned under his visor, something was off about them, they were attacking, a mortar could be seen some way away lobbing shells into the fort, but they had a wide eyed, frightened look about them. Their cheeks and eyes were sunken, they were screaming with a wild ferocity and they had some kind of blue tattoo on each man's cheek.

Fawkes noted this in a few seconds, whilst the rest of the ODSTs began pouring fire out into the group. He raised his own rifle and released a burst of fire into the men.

OOC: Right boys and girls, move into the crowd and start shooting. Some of the insurrectionists are acting strange, almost fanatically screaming curses about the UNSC and they are less inclined to go down to anything but a clean kill, they'll keep fighting through extreme pain. Others are normal.

Josie: Take out the mortar team.


P.S. Sorry its a little late, I got caught up in other things last night and forgot, really sorry about that.

 

[G0arr]

The Spartan’s reply was exactly what Joseph expected. Behind his visor there was a look of relief. Then they moved.

The pace was fast. Sure it was, Joseph told himself, remember that is a Spartan leading us. As they moved the private began to wonder how old that man was. It was an odd thought, but he had never been told. He assumed at least 30.

The squad moved through the forest until they heard the gunfire. They closed to hear a loud thump, artillery. What Joseph saw was a sight that brought back memories, a determined foe pressing into a defender. The young private didn’t need Fawkes to act. He moved with purpose toward the insurrectionists. His face twisted into a vicious scowl behind a blank mask.

Several of the Innies fanatically screamed. Something had worked them into a frenzy. Joseph watched moving to flank their line. He was less than 20 yards from them when he halted. They didn’t notice the ODST until after he began to fire.
The first shot tore through a frenzied man shattering ribs and tearing through a lung. A second finished any doubts that the man was dead. Beside the falling corpse another man was caught as he turned toward the new weapon. The shot ripped through his lower chest. He tried to call out but all he could muster was a gurgled growl.
Joseph braced against the recoil as he fired another quick burst. The third insurrectionist managed to yell a warcry before the first heavy round shredded through his chest. The helljumper stepped past 14 fresh casings as he moved behind a near tree. A second later the first returning round hammered into the bark.

Joseph heard the other soldiers firing. He waited for a few seconds before leaning out enough to fire again. He glanced down to see a crawling man moving fighting with useless legs. His face was a twisted scowl of hate and insanity spewing insults and hate like a weapon. Joseph fired into another short burst, 5 shots. Another insurrectionist fell sideways as three rounds speared through his chest. The helljumper ducked back as the tree took several more rounds.

Joseph glanced out again. The innies were reacting roughly. Several seemed to be throwing themselves toward the ODST, while others tried to use cover. They were undisciplined, and untrained. The private took a deep breath and gripped the light machine gun tightly. This time he moved out enough to use the tree as a brace. He squeezed the trigger and began to spray rounds toward the insurrectionists’ line. They weren’t all meant to kill. Bullets sent dirt flying as they hammered into the ground. A few trees blew bark into the air as they were struck. Several of the insurrectionists ducked as the burst of fire filled the air with deadly projectiles. The hail of fire didn’t end until the weapon had fired its last shot. It fell on the harness as Joseph stepped back and readied his assault rifle.

 

[Santaire]

"Don't worry, Spartan, we're here to pick you two up, that was always first on the to-do list."

I laughed bitterly beneath my helmet. Then, schooling my voice to cool indifference, I re-opened my COM and said. “Never doubted it sergeant.” That may have been true in Fawkes’ case, but with some of his fellows, particularly Payne and Collins, I doubted they would have cared had I died painfully down there. We moved off into the forest, I moving at less than my normal pace to allow the ODSTs to keep up with me, though I was desperate to break into a run.

Still we travelled at a fast pace and it wasn’t long before I could hear the gunfire and I saw the ODSTs notice so a little later. It was the chatter of automatic rifles and the shrieks of semi-automatic weapons as well as the deep thud of a portable mortar. We quickened the pace and I swiftly outstripped the ODSTs. But when I reached there I slowed and scanned the area, seeing the enraged, psychotic Insurrectionists. I studied them, watching their movements. I even let the ODSTs engage them before I did.

The Insurrectionists were evidently all utterly insane or drugged, for they kept on going from wounds that should have put them down for good and never used cover, simply standing in the open and firing wildly. Ninety percent of their shots missed but the wild spraying was keeping the ODSTs pinned down.

With a snarl, my COM still online so that the noise was broadcast to the ODSTs, I pulled the turret round. “Get down!” I roared and squeezed the trigger. The heavy rounds tore through the Insurrectionists, ripping off limbs and sending bodies flying as the shells flew out of the side of the weapon. I laughed, the insane laugh of the damned, as I killed. I used the bullets like a farmer uses his scythe at harvest, sweeping them in great arcs to cut down the foes that screamed curses even as they died. I could see the round count in the turret rapidly decreasing.

It was into double digits now and still decreasing.

I heard the scream of the Insurrectionist even above the chatter of the machine gun and turned, bringing the great barrel around with me. The man, screaming hate, lunged a knife at me and stopped for a moment in disbelief as the blade snapped off at the hilt. That hesitation gave me the time to bring the turret round so that the barrel rested between his legs. With a vicious smile I pulled the trigger.

Turning away from the screaming Innie I checked the ammo count of the turret in the top right corner of my visor. Thirty two rounds remaining. I trained the gun on one particular Innie who was charging me. The rounds punched through his abdomen but the bastard kept coming, kept dragging one foot in front of the other. I ran the bullets up his torso. The shots to his chest made him stagger and begin to fall and the one to his head blew his body backwards several feet. Twenty six rounds left.

An Innie put several bullets into my shield and I ripped the turret sideways, my finger squeezing on the trigger to send a hurtle of bullets at him. His cover was splintered to pieces by the fire and he staggered back from the shattered wood. I put three rounds into his chest. Twelve rounds. Even as his corpse was blown backwards I saw Fawkes pinned by three Innies who worked like true soldiers, switching firer when one needed to reload so that there was always a steady stream of bullets keeping the ODST pinned. The turret chewed through them. Two rounds. I moved forward, hunting the mortar that still hurled shells into the sky.

I found it, manned by three Innies with two men standing over with assault rifles. The two guards died, the back of their skulls blown out by the turret’s fire. The three manning the mortar hadn’t even managed to turn before I’d dropped the turret and was among them. One of them died with a snapped neck from a savage sideways kick that twisted his head round to an unnatural angle. The second swore and attempted to run. I kicked the back of his knee with my right foot and as he started to fall forwards I wrapped my left arm arm round his neck, put my right hand on his forehead and twisted brutally. The crack seemed unnaturally loud in the clearing. Then I realised that I had been shot.

I turned to look at the final Innie. It had only taken a few seconds from when I pulled the trigger on the turret till then, but still she had managed to draw her pistol and train it on me. I nodded in respect

I walked towards her and when she started to pull the trigger again I stepped to one side and snatched the weapon out her hand. I pulled the slide off, released and crushed the clip, disassembled the trigger mechanism and bent the barrel, all within two seconds and all without looking. I tossed the shattered pistol aside and cocked my head at the Innie who had now drawn a knife which she held in a shaking hand. “Remember this kindness. I am not the enemy here, the Covenant are,” I said as I turned and walked away, leaving the woman alive...

 

[Angel Encarmine]

Rounds kissed the wall around Felix as he took cover, a few of them ricocheting from his shield. Peeking out of cover he reloaded, frowning as he saw what looked like innie reinforcements coming in.... something was different about these men, and he had just enough time to see a blue tattoo on one of their faces before the mans head exploded. Scanning left to right, Felix breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the ODSTs along with his fellow Spartan take position and open fire. " Good of you to finally show up, I see you brought friends. " he said over a private comm to Anthony as he popped out of cover and killed 3 of the 7 innies rushing his position before his rifle clicked on empty.

Swinging the rifle around on its strap, Felix' hands where a blur as he drew his twin magnums and fired, managing to kill the 4 innies in as many shots the last man crashing to the ground 4 feet from him. Something wasn't right about these men, the way they threw away their lives needlessly worried him but before he could check the bodies rounds cracked around him and he was forced to take cover again, emptying his magnums as he moved behind a crumbling wall. " I need a fucking vacation..." he grumbled over the coms as he reloaded his weapons.

 

[HOGGLORD]

Fawkes approached the wounded insurrectionist, one of the man's legs had been torn off by gunfire and he was slumped against a stone. He gazed up at Fawkes blearily. He was one of the ones with the odd tattoos. The tattoos reminded Fawkes of something, but he couldn't think what.

"Tell me what you know about your base," Fawkes said. "If you cooperate, we can get you medical attention."

The insurrectionist made a rattling, gurgling chuckled, then spat in Fawkes' face. Fawkes recoiled as blood splattered his visor. He pulled off his helmet and looked in the man's eyes. "Without our help, you will bleed out."

"You think I care if I die?" Wheezed the wounded man, his eyes now locked on Fawkes'. "You brought this on yourselves, you must pay for what you've done. You lead hundreds of billions to their deaths in the name of your own arrogance. We will fight you, we can save humanity from the endless void, you can't stand against all of us."

The man's eyes shone with fanatical pride. "We're the first, we carry the torch that will lead humankind down the road to eternity. But you have already spurned your chance, you are the sacrifice we must make, and I make it gladly."

Fawkes was pulled back by somebody behind him as the wounded insurrectionist pulled out a grenade, the pin already free. The man was engulfed in flames and splattered Fawkes with gore.

Fawkes slowly got to his feet and looked around. He scanned the trees to see an insurrectionist woman slipping into the trees. She was too far away to pursue and she wasn't running towards the insurrectionist base., but the opposite direction, she wasn't a threat.

Fawkes spotted something in the corner of his eye and froze. "Spartans." he said in a voice filled with forced calm. "How many of you are here and have that camo equipment?"

"Just the two of us sergeant." one of the Spartans replied. Fawkes nodded slowly, then suddenly drew his magnum and unloaded several rounds into the shimmering patch of air in the trees. As the rounds impacted, shields flared a d an elite was revealed. It roared, drawing a plasma rifle and firing a handful of shots, they went wide. Several others lent their fire to help Fawkes and the alien twitched and fell. Fawkes realised where he recognised the tattoos from, they were the same as the glyphs on covenant technology. These insurrectionists were in league with, or being used by, the covenant.

Fawkes assessed the situation. He looked around at the marines that had been with the second Spartan. There were three who could still walk and wield their rifles, one more had taken a round to the hand, so he couldn't fire his gun. The man was brave though and refused to wait for evac, saying that he could at least fire a pistol. Fawkes gave him his magnum and ordered him to carry the mortar that the insurrectionists had left behind, he had Collins pick up the shells, she knew her way round explosives and Fawkes felt confident that she'd be able to keep a stash of uncared for, civilian made explosives in usable but safe condition.

As they left the clearing Fawkes relayed this new information to the squad. Fawkes ordered the Spartans to lead them to the source of the jamming. They travelled through the forest towards the position for about half an hour before reaching the position. They stopped just out of sight of the walls. The fort was smaller than Fawkes had expected, withperhaps a 20 meter by 15 meter perimeter. It had one floor and crenelations with turrets ringing the roof. Fawkes noted that several of the emplacements were covenant plasma turrets. Alongside patrolling Innies were a handful of grunts and a few jackals.

"Right." He began. Gathering everyone together he began to explain the first stage of the plan. "The marines will operate the mortar and provide covering fire with McKnight, make sure the roof has no active defenders and keep them pinned down for as long as you can. Spartans, you move up to the front door, when it opens for a response team to come out, take them down and keep the door open, you can move up unseen. Once it's open, we can move inside and take out the jammer. Collins, we may need you to take down the jammer." Fawkes flashed everyone a small grin. "Any questions? No? On my mark then."

OOC:
everyone will have to describe their version of the events ver the update to some capacity. You have been issued special objectives and I will PM the kind of resistance you will be facing.
Josie: Cover the setting up of the mortar and pick off defenders once it starts firing.

Spartans: Rush up to the doors in stealth and wait for a response team to come out, then keep the doors from being closed from the inside.

P-OD: Help set up the mortar then join Fawkes and the other ODSTs for the attack.

Everyone else: Prepare for the Spartans to clear the doorway then move up. Try to suppress those on the walls as you move up.