The Falcons flew, side by side, through mountainous terrain. The landscape below was a mixture of grey rock, green foliage, and brown moss. G-136 double checked her armor's functionality and her extra ammunition. All green.
"Listen up, Noble Team. We're looking at a downed relay outpost fifty clicks from Visegrad," Carter spoke through the COM link to the company. "We're gonna introduce ourselves to whoever took it out, and then Kat's gonna get it back online."
"Get me under the hood, Commander," Kat said with an air of confidence in her technological skills.
"Sir, why would rebels want to cut off Reach from the rest of the colonies?" Jorge turned from his seat on the far side of the first UH-144 Falcon to look across at Carter. That was a good question. The Commander gave him an answer; one that seemed a little half-assed to Six.
"If you've got a chance, maybe you can ask them, Jorge."
There was a period of silence, aside from the whir of the copter blades, before Kat spoke again.
"Commander, we just lost our signal with HQ."
"Backup channels?" Carter glanced over at Kat while she searched for another COM link.
"Searching… Nada," she said, making an empty-handed gesture with her human arm. "Can't say what's jamming us."
"You heard her. Dead zone confirmed," Carter reiterated. "Command will not be keeping us company this trip."
"I'm lonely already," Emile's voice came through the link.
The two aircraft rounded a cliff and a structure came into view amidst a haze of fog. There was some smoke billowing into the air and fields of cabbages lining a hill to the north. The Falcons slowly circled the airspace above, waiting for Carter's command to set down.
"Shoot down attempts are likely, so keep your distance," Carter said through the COM channel.
"Yes Sir," one of the pilots responded.
"Let's stay focused," Carter said. "Watch your sectors."
G-136 took some time to look below. There was a flaming vehicle off-center of one of the structures. The smoke from the burning wreck mingled with the mist already floating in the atmosphere. Her HUD came online and everything seemed to be functioning.
"There's the Communications Outpost," Jorge said. A marker blipped up on the inside of the groups' visors, showing them the location of Visegrad.
"Maybe a distress beacon," Kat's voice crackled through the COM and another marker showed up near the burning vehicle below the circling Falcons.
"Could be the missing troopers. Let's check it out," Carter said. The copters propelled slightly faster, finishing the circle. "Put us down on the bluff. Jun I want your eyes in the sky."
"Sir." The UH-144s hovered over the top of the hill before setting down.
"Let's go Six," Carter jumped out of the Falcon with Six close behind. Emile and Kat exited the other bird while Jorge stayed behind. "Alright, Noble Team. Spread out. Watch the approach." The long grass swayed around them as the aerial vehicles took off again.
She snapped her MA37 Assault Rifle from her magnetic back plating and joined her fellow SPARTANS in the careful descent down the hillside. She swung right around a rock wall and followed the trail southwest, making surprisingly little noise despite her heavy MJOLNIR suit.
"Structure point 3-4, looks clear from this angle," Emile's voice was heard. He had climbed atop a large boulder to the left to get an overhead view of the structure, while Carter fell behind the group and Kat continued forward. Six followed suit, passing fields of vegetables and scattered clusters of purple, spire-like flowers. Turning southeast around a tree, they headed in the direction of the beacon.
"Distress beacon coming from just south of here, Commander. We're close," Kat said.
"Roger that," Carter acknowledged. "Eyes peeled." They regrouped around the beacon. G-136 scouted the structure, her weapon at the ready. There weren't any people around. Emile sifted through some burnt wood palettes. Shoving one to the side, he grabbed a red object and stood up.
"Found the beacon," he said, tossing it to Kat.
"Make out any ID?" Carter asked.
"Negative," Kat replied, inspecting the beacon in her hand. "But it's military." She let it fall to the ground and took a hold on her M6G Magnum. Everyone seemed to go on high alert.
"So where are all the troopers?" Jorge's disembodied voice came through the COM link. The ground team spread out around the structure. Emile joined Six at her position while Carter and Kat searched the wreckage of the truck.
"Why are we not seeing explosives residue?" Kat inquired.
"Noble Three, can you confirm any EX residue in the area?" Carter asked of his eye in the sky. The COM channel clicked
"Hm… Negative, Sir," Jun's voice responded.
"Plasma maybe," Emile suggested from his place next to the red-armored newcomer.
"Can't be," Jorge said with the slightest hint of surprised worry in his voice. "Not on Reach." Six squatted down and dabbed two fingers into a discolored patch on the concrete flooring. The top layer was crusted over, but underneath was still slightly damp and sticky. Her fingers came away with the thickened, reddish-brown substance.
"There's a lot of blood on the ground," Emile said as he looked over her shoulder.
"Alright Noble, it looks like there's nothing here. Let's move on," Carter directed. Plasma damage and bloody carnage? That's not what anyone had been expecting.