DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun or Halo

Colony World of Ballast
September 28th, 2552

"I've lost contact with Delta-287! I repeat, contact with Pelican Dropship Delta-287 has been lost!"
"They were carrying our reinforcements, Ops!"
"I understand the situation, 2nd Platoon, but we do not have anyone left to assist you. Hold out for as long as you can."
"Hold out!? I'm losing men one after ano- Hunters! We need help ASAP!"
"Lieutenant, you-"

"This is 1st Lieutenant Saionji of the 105th Shock Troops Division, I'm on my way!"
"ODST?"
"Affirmative Lieutenant."
"...Copy that. Ops, we'll hold."

Kazari's eyes went wide at the sight, the flower-haired girl nearly dropping her laptop as she stared at the carnage of the crash site. The other three girls had similar reactions, all four of them standing frozen, rooted to the spot. Bits and pieces, both small and large, littered the area around the broken body of the aircraft. Flames burned high from the detached wing and the busted cockpit, carrying with it the stench of burning flesh. A single body was visible towards the rear of the craft, lying face down on the ground away from it, blood staining a large portion of its side.

Kazari's arms tightened around her laptop, her eyes fixated on the large pool of fresh blood around the man's body, unable to look away. Saten-san was equally shocked by the sight, her bat falling to the ground as she looked at the man with wide eyes, holding both hands over her mouth.

Shirai-san was the one to make her way over to him first, Misaka-san watching her as she got down on her knee and checked for a pulse. The look on her face was enough to tell them what they already knew. He's dead.

As Kuroko started back onto her feet, her eyes drifted over to the inside of the plane. Instantly, she froze, suddenly sick to the stomach at what she saw. Covering her mouth, she fell down to her knees, looking away from the sight with terror-stricken eyes. Mikoto hurried over, kneeling down beside her as Uiharu and Saten snapped out of their trance and hurried over as well, only to slow to a stop once they saw the inside of the wreck.

"Kuroko!" Mikoto called out to the redhead, one hand on her arm and the other on her back. "Kuroko?" The girl glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes and that was all she received as an answer.

"Mi-Misaka-san..." Uiharu's voice was but a whisper, so low that Mikoto almost didn't catch it.

She looked up at her and noticed that both her and Saten were staring into the wreck; and, following their gaze, she saw what had horrified Kuroko and felt her own stomach turn sick. There were nine bodies inside of the wrecked craft, blood seeping out through their clothes, or, in one man's case, where his lower right arm should have been. Right by the large hole in the side of the craft were two half-charred men sprawled out on the ground, their harnesses that should have held them up in their seats melted off. She could only see the face of the first one, but it was obvious that he suffered before he died, likely on impact if the blood pooling underneath his head was anything to go by.

Her grip on Kuroko tightened. If she hadn't already been holding onto the girl, she'd likely have collapsed at the sight. "Did... anyone survive...?" Mikoto asked, her voice coming out low and scared.

One of the heads suddenly moved, startling all of them and even causing Uiharu to cry out and fall down onto her butt, her laptop still clutched against her chest. "W-who's there...?" The man spoke English, his tone frightful as his head moved around. The girls were too startled to give an answer, and he spoke up again, his voice sounding even more afraid. "S-sarge...?"

Mikoto swallowed, standing up onto her feet and approaching the man, wary of the blood littering the floor and the bodies of the men still strapped to their seats or sprawled out on the floor. She forced her wariness of the blood down, though, concentrating on the man after stepping over the two bodies on the ground. "We're... here to help. Are you injured?" She forced herself to ask, speaking in English.

The corporal couldn't hear clearly, but he could tell that the distorted voice wasn't anyone from his squad. Knowing that only other marines would be this far out on the edge of the city, he took the owner of the voice to be of another squad. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed a slowly fading, jarring pain in his side. He grimaced as he opened his eyes, only to be met with pitch-black darkness. Realization hit him; it was the end for him.

"N-no. Not me..." He muttered, reaching up for his helmet and taking it off just as Mikoto reached him.
"Wh-what?" She asked, shocked by his words.

"You've... got to help... the 2nd Platoon." He held the helmet out, and was relieved to feel that it was taken from him, though he could feel the slight hesitation that the other marine had. "Waypoint is up... on the HUD..." He coughed, blood dripping down from his mouth. "You... have to hurry..."

Mikoto's eyes widened even more at the blood, the girl taking a step back and only now catching sight of the end of the piece of metal sticking out of the man's side. "J-just hold on," She began hurriedly, panic in her voice, "we're going t-"

Her voice was cut off when he ripped his dog-tags off and held them out to her, Mikoto staring at them for a moment before silently taking them, too shocked to protest. "We were... supposed to flank from behind... But, a Banshee... it got us..." His eyelids slowly started to close as his fingers slipped away from his dog-tags. "Help... the 2nd..." His arm fell limp, and his eyes closed for the last time.

"H-hey!" Mikoto cried out, but stopped when she realized he was already gone, no longer with the living. She stared at him, hearing only her own heavy breathing. She raised her hand and looked at the dog tags, catching the name. James Kelly. Her hand tightened around them. The... 2nd Platoon? He didn't care... about himself...? Instead, he worried about the 2nd? Her eyes glanced over at the helmet in her other hand, supported against her arm. What does he mean... by a waypoint?

"Onee-sama..." Kuroko stood at the entrance of the aircraft, a somber expression on her face as she looked over at the man who had just passed on.

Mikoto looked up, glancing around at the men, studying them. They were all wearing uniforms and armor, clearly military, and she could make out the abbreviation of 'UNSC' many times over, but she had no clue what it stood for other than that it was likely their organization. One thing was clear though: these men were ready for battle. At least, they had been...

"Kuroko..." She said, locking eyes with the redhead. "I think... we're in the middle of a warzone."
Kuroko's eyes widened. "A warzone...? But-!" She leaned forward, her expression one of distress and disbelief. "We were just in Academy City! How could we possibly be in a warzone?"

Mikoto headed out of the wreck, past Kuroko, her shoes tracking blood where there wasn't any. "Do you know what those thugs we were going after stole?"

Kuroko stepped aside when the brunette came out, her eyes glancing over at Uiharu who was standing farther away than before with Saten at her side, the long-haired girl apparently trying to get both of their minds off of what they had seen. "It was an experimental device, but they did not specify of what kind."

"An experimental device." Mikoto thought out loud, wondering just what had happened. They had been running through Academy City's alleys on short notice, chasing after a group of thugs who had broken into a research facility and stolen a device. They caught up to them right by a power plant, and that's when the fight started; and, when one of them pulled a gun, and she had used her power, all of a sudden there was that flash of light and they ended up here.

Here? What is here?

Gunfire filled the air now, a plane had come crashing down out of nowhere, and there were aliens walking around! Nothing is familiar. The cars don't look anything like what's outside of Academy City, the plane didn't even look similar to anything she's seen before. The plane is actually more of a dropship than a plane, as it had been ferrying soldiers...

Also, the aliens... She doubted that, an entire city evacuated and turned into a warzone, could be kept secret from the rest of the world, but there's been nothing unusual on the news lately. Surely, if there were aliens invading, they'd have heard something! Even though an alien attack is an absurd idea, she had no choice but to accept it as fact after fighting one face-to-face; either that, or the aliens are actually mutated lizards with advanced technology that happen to speak English. She seriously doubts that.

Mikoto wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, but one thing is certain: they aren't in Academy City anymore. Looking at Kuroko, she only had one plausible guess. "Kuroko, could it have been some kind of teleporter?"

Kuroko's head snapped up in surprise. "A man-made teleporter?" She asked incredulously, a bit shocked by the idea. She then looked down, going into thought as her hand went to her chin. Her Onee-sama actually made sense with that conclusion, but it was still an absurd idea. After all, teleportation using modern technology instead of supernatural powers? But, how else were they to explain how they had suddenly ended up here? "That is logical..." She agreed, before her eyes snapped open in realization. "If that's so, what about those thugs and the device itself? Won't they also be here?"

"You're right." Mikoto nodded, looking towards the sky. "It's strange we didn't all end up in the same place."

"Hey," Saten suddenly chimed in, approaching the girls with Uiharu by her side, "maybe it's because we were standing away from them? We were separated when Misaka used her power, so maybe they got teleported somewhere else!"

"If it is... If it is an experimental device like we were told, then it's highly likely." Uiharu added, her voice coming out soft at first before she realized it and spoke up. "The device was in the middle of their group, so it probably went with them."

"So, we have to find those guys so that we can get back home?" Mikoto asked, looking around at her friends. "But where do we start? They could be anywhere."

Kuroko looked at Uiharu, her face all business. "Uiharu, the research facility gave you tracking information on the device, correct?" She asked, remembering that was how they had tracked the thugs down in the first place.

"Hai!" Uiharu answered, nodding as she opened her laptop up. "But without a proper map I can't get any information on where it is." She turned the power on, the laptop starting up. "I'll see if I can connect to a local network."

For three days now, the Jackal has been moving from one sniper spot to the next, on the look out for enemy patrols that may pass by. On the first day there had been one: a single Warthog with three occupants. It and its partner had caught them in a crossfire, taking out the gunner and the driver, but the passenger had been greatly underestimated. Jumping out of the vehicle as it crashed, it had taken aim and shot down the Jackal's partner before either could open fire again; fortunately, the Jackal was able to take the human down right after. Unfortunately, it now no longer had any back up; but retreat was not an option, otherwise it may feel the wrath of the Field Marshall itself.

Since then there have been no more patrols; but, just a short time ago, one of the enemy's dropships had crashed down onto the street below, quite a bit away. One human had stumbled out of the craft before the Jackal shot it down; and, when no other humans exited the crash, it went to move to a vantage point closer to the wreck, wary of its surroundings. When it had reached the roof of the building and looked down upon the wreck, it spotted four humans standing under the wrecked tail.

Assessing the situation, they were mere civilians, unarmed; but it had its orders. The Jackal lifted up its beam rifle, studying the girls to see which one to take out first before sighting on the one that held a portable computer in its hands. Frankly, they all looked the same to the Jackal; so, it just went for the one that seemed to be up to something.

Then, it pulled the trigger.

Something shot by Ruiko's eyes and before she knew it Uiharu's laptop clattered to the ground, her eyes widening in terror as she saw the girl follow it. "KAZARI!" She shouted, lunging forward and catching her friend before she could hit the ground, her voice laced with panic. "Kazari! Kazari!" She repeated, tears pooling in her eyes.

Mikoto's eyes widened as they followed Uiharu to the ground, and she felt a surge of fear. Spotting the direction the beam had come from, she dropped the helmet and quickly magnetized the large, burning wing of the dropship and moved it to cover them, her fear fueling her speed. As she did this, Kuroko darted pass her, picking up an abandoned pistol before vanishing into thin air. The wing was heavy, but that hardly crossed Mikoto's mind.

As soon as Kuroko had seen Uiharu falling, she felt a sudden surge of adrenaline rush through her; and, barely thinking, she dashed forward, picking up a pistol before appearing on the rooftop the beam had come from. She brought the pistol up, ready to pull the trigger at whatever had shot her friend; but, her eyes widened at what she saw instead.

Back on the ground, Mikoto hurriedly turned to Saten, half of her focus on keeping the wing up and the other half on Uiharu. "Saten, is Uiharu-" Her voice cut off as soon as she saw the tears fall from Saten's eyes, landing on Uiharu's cheeks.

"Kazari..." Saten muttered, her lips forming a smile as the tears fell down her cheeks.
Uiharu's eyes were wide open, the girl's mouth quivering. She was stunned, but she was alright.
"Thank goodness..." Mikoto breathed. "We thought you got hit."

With Saten's help Uiharu managed to sit up, right before she wrapped her arms around the girl, her body shivering as she buried her head into the taller girl's shoulder. "It... It went... right in... front of my eyes..." She muttered, her voice trembling with fear and her body shaking with light sobbing. It had come so close to hitting her that she could still feel the heat of it across her face. If it had hit her... she knew she wouldn't be alive.

A bird-like alien was lying on the roof on its side, a long triangular-shaped weapon at its feet. Kuroko lowered her pistol, but still kept it somewhat pointed at the alien as she walked up to it. Coming closer, she caught sight of a wound in its back; two wounds, actually. She bent down, taking a closer look. The wounds were the exact same, one right over the other, not separated by much. They didn't bleed; rather, they appeared to be cauterized. Placing a finger to the edge of the wound, she could feel the slightest bit of heat radiating off of it; the wounds were fresh, as was its death.

Sensing someone behind her, she snapped her head up and aimed her pistol at... nothing. Then, for just a moment, it seemed like the air was shimmering; but, it was only for a moment, and the disturbance was gone. There was no one here other than her; but, someone had to have killed that alien. Just now. It was obvious whoever was responsible for this was gone; so, she took one last look at the corpse before teleporting back to her Onee-sama and the others.

As soon as she saw Uiharu was unharmed, relief came crashing over her, almost forcing her to her knees at how happy she was that her friend is okay, but she managed to maintain her composure. "Kuroko, is it safe?" Her Onee-sama asked upon the redhead's return; and, as soon as she nodded, Mikoto sighed in relief and set the wing down, carefully.

"Another alien, the sniper," Kuroko said, getting their attention, "when I arrived, it had just been killed. However, I didn't see who or what did it."
"That's strange..." Mikoto muttered.

"What..." Saten began, getting their attention on her and Uiharu. "What if there's more of them...?" She asked, her arms tightening around Uiharu, protecting her. "What are we going to do?" First, a plane came dropping out of the sky; second, an alien blew itself up right in front of them; and third, another alien had just tried to kill Uiharu! What's... What's going to happen next?

What are we going to do? Mikoto asked herself. She didn't know what to do! They couldn't just stay in one place; more aliens might show up! But, if they moved around, there could be more snipers... Then, what about the 2nd Platoon that the soldier had talked about. And, what about this 'waypoint'?

Too dangerous to stay put, too dangerous to move around; neither was any less dangerous. But what would they do if they just stuck around? It's not safe out here; but, if they were to move, where would they go...?

Help... the 2nd...

The military... maybe they'd be able to help; and, if not, it'd still be safer with them then out here on their own. It'll be dangerous to try and find them, but they didn't have much of a choice. It had to be done. "The soldier in the crash," Mikoto began, her voice soft, "he told me to go help the 2nd Platoon..."

"2nd... Platoon...?" Uiharu asked as she was helped back up onto her feet by Saten, who retrieved her laptop for her once she was able to stand on her own.

Mikoto nodded, Kuroko watching her closely as she continued. "They were heading to assist the 2nd, so I think we should head there. It'll be safer with the military around; it's too dangerous to be out here on our own." She gave a somber look back at the dropship. "They won't be able to help them; but, maybe, we can help in their place. At least I can." She looked down at her hand, electricity sparking over it. Her ability is highly destructive; it's perfect for something like this.

"What if there are more snipers out there?" Saten questioned.
Kuroko was the one to answer. "We don't have much of a choice. If we stay here, more aliens will show up, looking for survivors, especially when they've lost contact with their friend."

Mikoto nodded in agreement. "We can't hide either. We don't know what kind of technology these guys have. Besides, if we help the military out, maybe they'll help us too."

"I agree with Onee-sama; it'll be safer for us with the military."
"I agree too." Saten said, nodding.
"But, how do we find them?" Uiharu asked as she closed her laptop, the power long off from being dropped.

Mikoto's hand went to her chin just as Saten caught sight of something, the girl already walking off to investigate. "He said something about a waypoint up on a... HUD." Her voice was laced with confusion, the girl not knowing exactly what the terms meant. "After saying that, he handed me his-"

"I think I know how to find them..." Mikoto, Kuroko, and Uiharu looked over at the sound of Saten's voice, catching sight of the girl wearing the soldier's helmet Misaka had dropped earlier.

2nd Platoon

An explosion sent 1st Lieutenant Wayne flying back down onto the ground just as Smith went down with a burning hole in his chest. Gunfire sounded out all around him, being met with the sounds of plasma and needles being fired. "Where are our reinforcements!?" Someone shouted just as another fuel rod shot blasted a hole into a building.

"He'll be here!" Wayne shouted, his voice carrying to the remaining twenty-fou- - Private Lamay went down, a carbine round going through her chest - twenty-three men and women under his command. He grimaced and scrambled back up onto his feet, sighting over a barricade and downing three Grunts with two bursts of BR fire before taking out a Jackal who had left itself exposed for a brief moment. However, the real problem is the two Hunters inching closer and closer to their second and last line of barricades.

The firefight had been going on for a good hour now, and he had started out with forty men and women in his command along with two Warthogs providing support. However, almost half of his soldiers had been killed, three others were wounded, and the Warthogs long blasted to bits. The Covenant had assaulted their position en masse, swarms of Grunts being sent in before the rest of the bloody aliens showed up, bringing with them a Wraith. Of course, as soon as his platoon spent all of their heavy ordinance taking out the Wraith, Hunters had to show up. It was not a good day, especially when he overheard reports that the 3rd and 4th platoons were being simultaneously attacked along with his platoon.

After so much fighting, the enemy force only consisted of over four dozen Grunts, a couple dozen Jackals, and a dozen or so Elites mixed in, and the two Hunters. However, the aliens were putting up a good fight. Elites dodged in and out of cover, not letting their shields fall before they got back into cover, even when the marines tried to focus their fire on one at a time. The Jackals stayed behind their energy gauntlets, protecting Grunts and each other as they took potshots at whoever tried to poke his or her head out from cover.

The only good thing going for them was that the enemy was attacking all from the front, and only the front, not even bothering to try and flank them (if they knew how). However, his men were so hard-pressed by the assault that it was taking all of them to keep the Covenant at bay to the point where Wayne couldn't even spare a single marine to flank the enemy.

All they could do was keep on shooting and pray that reinforcements would get here quickly.

Unknown

Strange. All civilians in this sector should have been evacuated to the shelters, so how are there four school-girls wandering out in the city? Stranger still, their school uniforms do not match any school in this city or the planet. I've alerted the captain about this; however, there are currently no units free to retrieve them.

Hold on...

What's this?

"This is... a bit heavy." Ruiko muttered, still wearing the helmet, as she picked up one of the rifles lying on the ground. A small scope was on top of it, but it was too short for some kind of sniper rifle, though it was slightly longer than the majority of the rifles lying around. "Oh, wow!" She exclaimed as she saw two new things pop up onto the 'HUD'. She saw a representation of the rifle she held down in the bottom-right corner of the display along with a number that read 0, though there was a number of boxes under the rifle; counting, she found 15, the same number as the blue number on the rifle. Taking a guess, she believed it meant how many bullets she had in her current clip. Not only that, but wherever she moved the rifle, a dot followed out in front of it. Mock aiming it at the wall, she made a guess that it depicted where the bullet would land if she fired.

"Saten, be careful with that." Came Shirai's voice from her side as the girl approached her, a belt with a holster and a pistol in it around her waist along with a belt slung over her shoulder, which was laden with the soldiers' grenades. The redhead leaned forward, eying the rifle before pointing something out. "There's the safety, pull it this way only once to be able to fire." Kuroko instructed, showing Saten what to do. There were three settings: SAFE, FIRE, and AUTO. There was no way she was going to let her put it on AUTO, though; who knows what would happen.

"Are you finished yet?" Mikoto asked from where she stood outside of the wreck, Uiharu by her side but with her eyes averted away from the bodies. The reason Kuroko and Saten were getting weapons was, of course, for protection against any aliens they may come across. Although Kuroko's needles would work fine against them (just teleport one inside their brain), she only had so many of them. Saten's bat... probably useless.

Kuroko finished adorning Saten with a belt that had a holster and pistol after showing her the safety on the pistol before looking back towards Mikoto. "Yes, Onee-sama!" She called out, her voice serious.
"Same here." Saten muttered as she tried to get used to the feel of the belt and the weight of the rifle.

"I'll lead the way; Kuroko, watch the rear," Mikoto turned her eyes over to Saten, her gaze only meeting the small, yellow visor her helmet had, "Saten, make sure we stay in the right direction."

"Right! I will!"

Mikoto set her eyes forward, her expression turning dead serious. "Let's go!" Moving carefully, they started off in the direction of the 2nd Platoon, the girls not noticing the surveillance cameras watching them nor noticing that they were being followed.