August 13, 2552
20:07 hrs
A Scarab walked along the red dirt through a dust cloud off in the distance. It paid Noble Team no attention; it was too busy with the meager remains of UNSC ground forces to be worried about them. The Covenant was too busy to annihilate a group of Spartans, their deadliest foe, and a single, young, ODST that shouldn't have even been there to begin with. Of course, they were all watching from within the confines of a small cave.
Ryner looked at the mechanical monster with about thirty thoughts going through his head as it moved. He wondered how he would be able to destroy it. He wondered how he could make it stop its advance on humanity. He wondered if he would ever stop wondering about such things. He didn't ever get sick of it, and in fact, didn't stop until he heard Dot talking in his head.
"Our foe is more devious than we imagined." she informed them, even though it was something they already knew. "That spire was indeed a teleporter linked to a cloaked, Covenant Supercarrier... A grave threat." Ryner looked down at the ground. "Mister Blaine, you seem unusually untroubled by this…"
"What do you mean?" he asked Dot blankly as he watched Emile, Jane, and Jorge walk by, the latter of which carried a large briefcase. He watched the Scarab fire its main cannon at the Marines on the ground.
"Your brain activity is abnormally high, but your other vitals are startlingly normal despite your current situation." Dot replied.
"You've been monitoring my vitals? Who gave you permission?" Ryner murmured, looking back at Carter because out of everyone, only he had the authority to do so.
"Nobody; I am merely making an observation," Dot stated, though Ryner felt as though she had just lied to him about that last part. "I've merely found your psychosis to be a strange anomaly in military personnel." Ryner grumbled, turning back towards the Spartans to almost certainly give Carter an earful. Dot seemed to be talking to the other members of the team before he got there, as her tone of voice and subject of information changed. "Sixty percent of the UNSC fleet is en route to Reach from existing deployments. The first battle group should arrive within forty-eight hours." Jorge threw the briefcase at Emile's feet.
"Forty-eight hours?" Jun asked, pulling off his helmet with an annoyed look. "That's what they call imminent?" he walked over to Jorge and wiped some glowing ash off of the giant's left shoulder before looking over to Kat and Carter who were huddled closely together. "Uh oh. Who's your money on this time?" Jorge pulled off his helmet and smirked.
"Her." he said, causing Jun to roll his eyes.
"Tch, you always choose her!" he groaned.
"She always had him dialed in." Jorge shrugged, which any normal human being would've known to mean 'totally whipped', but Ryner thought had something to do with a bomb of some sort.
"That thing's crushing us, and we're waiting for backup? They'll be backing up a graveyard." they heard Kat argue from where she and Carter stood. He scratched the top of his head with a small groan.
"all our nukes are either out-system or went down with the ships that carried them…" he explained angrily. "You're preaching to the converted."
"How converted?" she asked, making Carter start.
"I know that look, Kat," he said, pointing a finger at her.
"You can say no." she suggested in a mocking tone.
"No." he answered sternly.
"You don't even want to hear it?" she asked, obviously tapping into Carter's weakness of curiosity. It took him a moment, but he finally broke.
"...Fine, let's hear it…"
"Remember that accident a couple years back? Colony ship en route to Cygnus."
"The one with over seven hundred dead?" Ryner asked from the back of the group by accident, making Kat and Carter stare at him, as well as Jane.
"I think I remember that one…" Carter remarked, waiting for the Spartan and ODST to continue.
"Blaine, do you remember what happened?"
"Yeah, a Slipspace malfunction." he replied, looking up with his arms crossed as he figured out what Kat was about to suggest. "Oh, you can't be serious…" Kat seemed minorly surprised that he had figured it out, but got past it after a moment and nodded.
"Exactly." she said, forcing the rest of Noble Team to walk up to her.
"Wait, wait, wait," Jun interjected, looking at the pair strangely. "What's going on?" Kat looked over to Carter.
"Go on, explain," he sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Mister Blaine, a moment if you will," Dot's voice came back into Ryner's head, keeping him from initially listening to the battle plan. He walked a few feet away from the group, and talked in a small tone.
"I thought you were offline," Ryner began, slightly angered at the AI for interrupting.
"I am. Or rather, I'm supposed to be." she answered in her usual tone. "Your abnormal vitals have me deeply concerned." Ryner rolled his eyes.
"Right, because an AI can be concerned." he murmured, making Dot give him a sound of outrage. "I'm sure the Spartans' vitals are similar to mine. What makes me concerning to you?"
"You're not of the Spartan's ranks." Dot bluntly said. "You are a more or less average human being. Data suggests that someone like you shouldn't have readings as such. Your age and experiences have been taken into consideration." Ryner looked back at Noble Team and began walking back to them.
"I am fine, Dot." he told the AI. "We don't need to talk about this. Sign off."
"Very well. I shall consult upon further concerns with you at a later juncture." she replied after a moment of silence before a small buzzing noise was heard, and Dot's presence was gone. He caught back up with Noble after Carter finished asking her a question.
"As a soldier in the field I couldn't possibly have access to those kinds of resources." she replied to him with a sarcastically modest tone in her voice. "That said, a good place to look might be... I don't know, the nearest nonexistent launch site in the nonexistent Sabre Program, dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumor…" she then looked to Jane. "And in which our newest member was certainly never a pilot." Noble Team all looked in Jane's direction, and Emile groaned.
"You're scary, you know that?" he asked Jane in a small voice.
"All we need is a green light from Holland." Kat proclaimed with a small grin.
"Yeah, good luck with that," Carter remarked, shaking his head. Kat held up a data pad.
"You're the one asking him." she informed him. Carter grumbled as he reluctantly took it from her.
"Ugh, there's no way in hell he's gonna go for this…" he said, walking off to talk to the Colonel. Jane walked up to Ryner and stared at him from behind her visor.
"What do you want, Jane?" he asked her after a few minutes of her standing in silence.
"You were talking to someone while Kat was going over the mission." she replied, pulling him aside so no one would hear their conversation. "Who was it?"
"Dot." he replied instantly. He felt better when confiding in her than with the rest of Noble Team. he figured it was because she seemed to want to get to know him more than the rest of the Spartans. "She was concerned because my vitals didn't match up with her acquired data of ODSTs."
"I see. Was she a problem?"
"Not at all. I told her to sign off, and she did." he answered, thinking hard for a moment. "...But not before informing you of our conversation, right?"
"Right." she admitted. "I was worried about you when you were watching that Scarab with a blank face."
"I'm wearing a fucking helmet." he remarked when she stopped talking. Six shrugged.
"It didn't help that you were standing almost perfectly still like a statue, kid." she replied in a voice just over a whisper.
"I appreciate the concern, Six," he began in a softer tone. "But you don't gotta worry about me. I don't want someone looking out for me, alright? We've had our heart to heart at the camp, and I'd go so far as to even consider you my very first friend. I'm fine, and I won't be a problem on the battlefield." Jane looked contempt with that answer, but her body language also suggested she wanted to keep talking with him.
"Alright people, looks like we're moving out!" Carter called, having just finished his talk with Holland.
"Let's do this, Six." Ryner said, gaining a nod from the Spartan.
August 14, 2552
12:48 hrs
Jane took the Assault Rifle from Ryner as the Falcon approached the Sabre Program Facility beach in Esposz. She wasn't sure what was going on in her comrade's head, and had attempted to find out when she asked Dot to look into it for her. Unfortunately, the AI decided to pursue its own objective and signed off without doing as she had told it. She, along with Carter, Kat, and Jorge, jumped out of the Falcon onto the sands and moved on as the human aircraft took off.
"Bit of a hike to the launch facility." Jorge sighed, pulling his cannon up a little bit.
"Anywhere closer's too hot to land." Carter shrugged, snapping his DMR to his shoulder. "Move up the beach, Noble." Jane nodded and the team continued to advance across the sands until a familiar sound of incoming mortars made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"Launch facility dead ahead!" called Kat from Jane's left. The first drop pod landed only five meters away from Jane a split second later, and an Elite jumped out of it.
"Hostile transport coming in!" Carter announced as Jane gunned down the first elite, only to find almost twenty more taking its place. She quickly reloaded her weapon and took aim as Jorge began unloading his cannon on the alien bastards that approached, the rest of Noble Team joining in after a moment.
Jane ducked under an incoming punch from an Elite that had gotten too close, and shot it in the back of the head before moving on. She fired and fired, dropping Energy Shields and bodies as she and the other Spartans forcefully took the beach from those attempting to keep them away from the facility. She fired a final shot through the last enemy's head and kept moving.
"More hostiles to the south!" Jorge called from ahead of her a small ways. "Route 'em out!" Jane ran to the door, all while dodging and weaving between cover and enemy fire. Almost like an ODST, Jane took position behind her enemies and helped the rest of Noble gun them down in a crossfire.
"Everybody inside! More hostiles on the way!" a young man ordered when the doors slid open and the last enemy fell.
"Let's go," Carter ordered, stopping and grabbing Jane when she attempted to cover their advancement into the building. "Six." Jane watched the doors close as a Pelican dropped additional Marines outside to combat the Covenant forces. She walked with the rest of Noble Team through the facility.
"Spartans coming in! Watch your fire!" a young woman barked as Noble entered a room where bullets and Plasma were flying in every which direction.
"Flight control's this way! They're expecting you." another young man explained to Carter when the four Spartans passed him. He tagged along with the small group until after they passed a window overlooking the crashed Seraph.
"I still can't believe Holland said yes to this…" Jorge murmured from under his helmet as they got closer to the launch site.
"Well, some plans are too good to say no." Kat shrugged, her firearm still raised to fire.
"Let's get that Sabre airborne before he changes his mind," Carter remarked in an even tone, leading the team.
"Control's right through that door, Commander." the young Marine informed them, turning around and heading back to his position. As they walked through the hallway, a Marine was thrown through the door by a Sangheili Officer. Jane sprinted up, drew her knife from her shoulder in the blink of an eye, and slammed the blade into the Elite's neck as hard as she could. The eight foot tall alien dropped to the floor as she pulled the knife out and put it back in its sheath.
Jane ran through the room, passing body after body as she immediately went to climb into her seat in the Sabre. She strapped herself in before Carter could issue the orders and before any Covenant could take a shot at her.
"Jorge, get in there!" Carter told the giant as he and Kat began firing through the doorway with some Marines. Jorge hesitated as he reached the Sabre.
"What about you and Kat?" he called over to them.
"Jun's on his way with a Falcon!" Carter replied, ducking behind cover as a Plasma Grenade launched past his head. "We'll exit after you two Launch! Just go!" Jane reached down and grabbed Jorge's shoulder.
"You heard him." she assured the giant. "Come on; we have work to do." Jorge nodded, and climbed into the seat behind her. Jane waited for the Launch Team to send them off.
"Sabre is prepped and ready for launch."
"Fire the engines; let's get this bird mobile." Jane called back to the Launch Team. A green light briefly flashed before the familiar feeling of being pulled back towards the planet washed over her, making her feel many times heavier than she actually was. This feeling passed as the two of them made it through the atmosphere and into space. The Sabre gently floated towards their target, Anchor Nine.
"Noble Actual to Sabre Bravo-Oh-Two-Niner, over." Holland's voice could be heard through Jane's helmet.
"Copy, Actual. Colonel Holland?" Jorge replied, sounding moderately surprised that Holland was talking to them.
"Affirmative, Noble Five. Welcome to Operation: UPPERCUT." Holland answered. "I'll be your control from here on out." Jane didn't mind, but she hoped she wouldn't have to listen to the Colonel drone on too much.
"Understood, Sir." Jorge said.
"Noble Six, these Sabres have been customized for orbital defense; you may need to get reacquainted…" he began, waiting for Jane to answer or not.
"Sir; I believe I can handle it just fine," She remarked, heading immediately for the UNSC Savannah.
"Very well. Rendezvous at Anchor Nine with the frigate Savannah and the other Sabres as soon as you're ready. Holland out."
"I hope you're all warmed up…" Jorge confided, Jane noticing the threat markers showing up on her HUD. "We've got unidentified contacts!" Jane immediately slammed down on the thrusters, causing the Sabre to speed directly towards the enemy ships.
"Savannah Actual to Sabre teams, be advised: we have bogies inbound."
"Anchor Nine to all UNSC ships: station defenses are down." she heard buzz inside of her head. "Requesting combat support until we can bring them back online." Jorge sighed, and seemed to yawn almost.
"Here we go, Six. Show them what you can do." Jorge said, seemingly laying back in the seat.
"Banshees." Jane said to herself as she opened fire on the first wave of enemy space fighters. She dodged plasma and ripped apart enemy ships with her own missiles and waves of machine-gun fire. The first wave of Covenant ships was reduced to nothing but ash within ten minutes, despite the multiple cries of help and the sounds and sights of UNSC personnel death still barely even fazed her. She did notice it, of course, but she only felt it in her heart a small bit.
The Banshees were no trouble for her, and when the Seraphs arrived, Jane barely registered her commands. She went on a killing spree, easily taking out the enemy fighters as they appeared. She heard the screams of terrified men and women who were operating the other Sabres as well as the human spacecraft around them, but she couldn't comprehend the reasoning behind it. The last Phantom exploded in a bright display of purple and blue, finally relieving Jane of her state. She found that Jorge's hand was resting on her shoulder, as if he were trying to gain her attention.
"Are you alright, Spartan?" he asked her with a slight amount of concern in his voice. Jane nodded, feeling him grip her shoulder very tightly for a moment before pulling his arm back.
"Anchor Niner to UNSC ships: all targets neutralized. Bravo-Oh-Two-Niner, you are clear to dock. Activating marker." she heard over the comms. Jane followed the waypoint and docked the Sabre.
"I'm out here, Six." Jorge said, jumping out of the Sabre as the cockpit depressurized and allowed him. Jane heard static in her helmet, loud enough that she wanted to rip it off and break it as she watched Jorge silently float away.
"Noble Five's heart rate has spiked." Auntie Dot's voice echoed through Jane's head. "He seems to be experiencing fear and anger."
"Any soldier would feel that given the situation." Jane replied, still watching the Giant.
"It is not fear for oneself. Doctor Halsey seems to be on his mind, Noble Six."
"It wouldn't surprise me, Dot." Six admitted.
"Bravo-Oh-Two-Niner, you're cleared to re-engage thrusters." Anchor Nine told her, causing Jane to immediately turn the Sabre back on.
"Noble Six, this is Holland."
"Go ahead, Colonel," Jane replied, putting her hand to the side of the helmet.
"We've flagged a corvette-class vessel on a predicted docking track with our target." he informed her as she saw the precursor to a slipspace rupture directly ahead of her. "Get our makeshift bomb on that corvette, and we have our delivery system. Noble Five will escort the bomb. I need your Sabre team to clear the way for boarding"
"Understood, Colonel."
"As she's already donated her slipspace drive to the cause, the Savannah will be joining you to provide local fire support." Holland said as Jane watched the Savannah begin moving.
"UNSC Savannah. Our wings may be clipped, but we've got your back!" Savannah Actual roared in her other ears.
"I've stuck my neck out for Noble on this one, Lieutenant," Holland remarked, his voice a little angered. "Don't make me regret it."
"We'll get it done, Colonel. Six out."
"Target Corvette sighted within visual range of NAV Beacon RA-Fifteen." Dot echoes through Jane's mind.
"We have visual. Target confirmed." Jane grinned, forcing the Sabre forwards at top-speed. She began firing on the Corvette's engines as the Savannah suggested it to Holland, and managed to take them out before anyone else even got close enough.
After that, the Covenant managed to send back out waves of ships to take on the UNSC forces. Six fought harder than any other soldier could have, and forced the Sabre's engines to its absolute limits. She, along with the other Sabre Teams, destroyed every single Covenant ship that tried to escape or appeared to take them on.
"Their defenses are down! Move on them now, Noble!" Holland ordered in a hastened voice. Jane nodded, flew to the landing pad on her HUD, and jumped out to engage the enemy soldiers that had not been killed in the depressurization of the hangar.
"Hostiles engaged." Jane reported, firing her DMR without pause. She emptied each magazine as quickly as she loaded them, and finally stopped when the enemies stopped funneling in. Jane made sure to deactivate their communications for the Savannah. Jane noticed Marines jumping out of their Sabres to join her.
"Alright, Noble. Let's get that slipspace bomb on board. Six, head for the hangar." she heard Holland say. Jane did as she was told, and moved into the large open area. She opened fire on the first sign of movement, and put a bullet straight through the head of a Jackal.
The room exploded in gunfire, plasma and lead blasting through the air, slamming into each side of the room as soldier after soldier went down on both sides. Six blasted her way through the Grunts and Elites, smiling to herself as she watched the Grunts scream in fear, and the Elites stutter for brief moment when they realized they were going to die.
Eventually, the team engaged another wave of soldiers that were aided by a Huragok, which was providing them with Overshields. Jane knew to take it out as fast as she could, and once it exploded gloriously, the rest of the enemies soon followed. She reloaded her weapon and led the soldiers through the hallways, killing enemies on the way, and managed to find the Control Room, where she assassinated several Elites stealthily, and then deactivated the Hangar Shields.
"Good work Six!" Jorge called over the comms. "Wanna make your way back here? I'm all by my lonesome!" she laughed by accident at Jorge's request.
"Of course, big guy," she answered, the Marines following her back through the corridors to find a battle with some more of the Covenant's soldiers. Before Six could make it back to where Jorge would be, her comms flared again.
"Noble Six, this is Holland," he began, pausing for a moment to make sure Jane had heard him. "You need to get that Corvette moving towards the Carrier. Head to the ship's bridge. Find the NAV controls." she rolled her eyes as she realized that the bridge was in the other direction. She swore to herself as she reloaded her DMR and ran with the rest of the Marines to where they needed to go, listening to what sounded like a massive explosion outside of the Covenant Ship.
"There's no sound in space…" Jane momentarily paused, bringing her hand up to the side of her head. "Five! Talk to me; what was that?!" when she got no response, she tried again. "Dammit Jorge, speak to me!"
"It's gone! The Savannah was destroyed!" he growled back through the channel. "Frigate's gone, there ain't nothin' we can do! Da-" Jorge obviously swore as he was cut off by Holland again.
"You're in deep without cover, Noble." he began, his voice much more rushed than before. "Get that ship moving, and get out!" Jane moved much faster now, almost sprinting through the waves of enemies and gunfire to get to the bridge. She didn't stop, either. She ducked behind cover, assassinated the nearest Elite without alerting the others, and then opened fire on them as she drew her knife across the throat of the second one.
All out hell ensued in the room. Grunts, Jackals, and Elites all tried in vain to kill her, using any and every weapon they had with little success. Fuel Rods, Concussion blasts, and Plasma flew around the room without pause, killing both Marines and Covenant until Jane was able to put the final enemy out of his misery. Without even waiting for Holland's input, Jane engaged the Corvette's auto-piloted refueling course, and ran back towards the hangar. She fired as the doors opened and put a bullet through the skull of a Jackal.
"Good thing you decided to show!" Jorge yelled from where he was taking cover next to the Pelican. "Our ride's taking a damn beating!" Jane laughed, realizing that she had just loaded her last magazine into her rifle. She ran back over to the ship as she unloaded the last few bullets into the heads of whatever enemy she could quickly snap to before she dropped the gun on the ground and picked up the Sniper Rifle that was laying on a case. As she turned to take a shot, a needle from a Needle Rifle slammed into a Marine's chest and splattered blood all over her visor.
"Bl-" she gasped, nearly falling backwards because of how sudden it was. She shook her head of the momentary confusion, and aimed at her targets, pulling the trigger. "What the hell-?" she murmured, letting loose four shots into the Elites that continued to flood into the room. She reloaded several times, and killed every single enemy that she shot at with startlingly low accuracy. Every single time a Marine died, she felt a stabbing pain in her chest, which made her aim even worse. She didn't even understand why that was, and eventually, she became useless in the fight. Every single Marine perished in the fight, and Jane was left sitting on the floor in a cold sweat.
"What's wrong?" Jorge asked her as he walked over to the Pelican. "You're shaking, Six…"
"It's nothing, Five." she replied in a voice that she barely recognized as her own. Jorge seemed rather taken aback, but shook it off and walked over to the Pelican, attempting to activate the Slipspace drive.
"Distance is closing on this vessel's refueling track with the Covenant supercarrier. Seventy-six seconds to endpoint." Dot said as Jorge groaned angrily,causing Jane to look up at him and get to her feet.
"Damn it... So, it's gonna be like that…" he sighed, hitting the device angrily. "Well, I got good news and bad news. This bird took some fire and her thruster gimbal is toast, which means the only way off this slag heap is gravity."
"And the good news?"
"That was the good news, kid."
"At current Velocity; fifty three seconds to impact…" Dot interrupted as Jorge removed his helmet.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" he murmured, throwing it to the ground. He gave her a look she had never seen on the face of a SPARTAN II before. "Bad news is, the timer's fried. I'm gonna have to fire it manually." her eyes widened when she heard what the giant she had come to call friend said.
"Jorge, that's a one-way trip." she was barely able to say. Jorge nodded, knowing full well what he was saying to her. He put his hand on her shoulder.
"We all make it sooner or later. Better get going, Six, they're gonna need you down there." he smiled, patting her on the back before reaching for his neck. "Listen, keep the ODST safe, and stay safe yourself. Now, Reach has been good to me." he pulled hard on the tags around his neck, holding them out for Jane to take. She was surprised when he picked her up. "Time's come to return the favor. Don't deny me this, please." he carried her over to the hangar door and paused.
"Jorge-!"
"Tell 'em to make it count!" he barked to her as he threw her out of the ship. She could only watch in silence as she slowly floated away from the exploding Corvette, and gravity pulled her back down through the planet's atmosphere. The re-entry was agonizingly warm for several minutes until Jane's body suit finally acclimated to her environment and cooled her off. She was thankful that she was wearing the re-entry package, as it saved her life when she finally, and painfully, slammed into the ground.
August 22, 2552
13:27 hrs, New Alexandria
Jade Yzain looked over at Martin as she slumped back in pain against an overturned truck. She was sitting in a pool of blood, which she knew could have belonged to anyone, dead or alive. Chris had died just a few minutes before; his body laying mere meters away, ripped to shreds and burnt up by needles and plasma. She was completely shaken; someone she had known throughout much of her high school life had just died in front of her.
Martin wasn't much better off. She knew him almost as well as Mary and Chris, and that was enough to know how he felt about it. Martin had asked Chris to be his best man, after all. He was staring at the pavement with a strong look that was quickly faltering into one of tears. Jade almost had to stop looking at him because she knew that the moment he cried, she would too.
"Jade…" Mary's voice trailed off, as Jade finally realized that she and Jason had gotten back from their recon. Mary's face was almost black with dirt and grime, and her hair was ragged and stuck out at odd angles. Mary's wide eyes were fixed on the body.
"It's West." she confirmed, watching the tears roll down Mary's cheeks. Mary fell to her knees and covered her eyes with her fists, choking back a wail that would have led any enemy in the area directly to them with considerable effort. "He walked out into the open, and never stood a chance…" Martin turned away from the two and his shoulders began shuddering.
"Dammit…" he cursed under his breath, looking at the bloody mess. "Dammit, Chris… why did you have to be the hero?" Jade looked at the bandage on Martin's left arm, where he had been shot by a Covenant Sniper, and then she looked over to the two Marines that Chris managed to save before he and the third one were killed. Martin flipped the safety off of his Magnum and walked out into the open area, carefully, and dug around in Chris' pocket before pulling out an old lighter.
"Get back here, Martin!" Jason barked as he approached the remnants of the team. Martin smiled as he sparked the lighter on the way back. Jason only then seemed to realize what had just happened, as he went pale as a corpse. He'd lost many soldiers in his time in service, but it always took a toll on him when he saw a dead soldier. "So we lost West, then?" Jade nodded, her body seemingly heavier than it already felt. "Alright. Let's get our asses in gear; if we don't move out now I don't think we ever will."
"Yes sir," Jade breathed, putting her helmet back on and standing with her rifle in hand. "Martin, Mary, let's move." Martin looked back at his fallen friend before covering his dirt covered head with his helmet and following closely behind everyone.
"We found a somewhat safer way through the city to the Pelican." Jason told her as he snapped his rifle to his shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss, but we have to keep moving, got it?"
"Of course, sir." Martin answered, holding his Magnum up as he didn't seem to be able to lift his injured arm that high. They walked in a formation, with Jason in front, Jade and Mary in back, and Martin in the middle with the two Marines. They could hear the distant sounds of Elites and Jackals as well as several Brutes and Hunters.
"Where is the Pelican anyways?" Jade asked Mary after a few minutes of walking through ruined buildings.
"We still got about twenty clicks to go." she replied with a small sigh.
"That blows…" she grunted, looking around to make sure they weren't being followed. "Really hope we don't get caught in another firefight here…"
"You HAD to open your mouth, didn't you?" Martin growled as a bolt from a Plasma Pistol flew over his head, forcing everyone to take cover. As soon as everyone had managed to get behind something solid, the entire area was lit up in all colors from various Covenant weapons. Jade was positive that she could have named at least eight separate guns just based on the plasma she was seeing.
"Alright Fireteam, let's move!" Jason ordered, Jade moving up first because of her position in the back, and Mary following immediately after. "And watch your corners!"
"Right, sir." Jade murmured, quickly looking from side to side, scanning any area she could see for enemies. The first Grunt that she came across was instantly killed by her with a round through its head, and the rest of the Covenant forces emerged full force to destroy her and her team. She dove left behind a concrete barrier, getting shot in her right leg by a Carbine but otherwise suffering no damage. "Down down down!"
"Holy shit!" one of the Marines yelled moments before the next shot splattered his brains across the remaining soldiers, temporarily paralyzing the other long enough for a concussion rifle to blast him apart while the ODSTs managed to get away.
"How many?!" Jason called as he riskily yanked a Needle out of his left arm.
"I couldn't get a good look; I think I saw around thirty!" Martin yelled back over to him.
"Sir, are you okay?!" Mary asked from where she sat, her helmet's visor cracked and useless, blood flowing into one of her eyes.
"Yes, now figure out a plan, and fight to the last fucking bullet!" he replied, pulling back the slide on his Magnum and firing at the enemy. Jade looked over the barrier to see that the number of enemies was much higher than thirty. There didn't seem to be any end.
"Dammit…" she groaned under her breath before unloading her magazine into the enemy fodder. They dropped and kept dropping as she and the rest of the living squad unloaded bullet after bullet and purple alien blood splattered on the nearby walls and ground. It wouldn't be enough. They would run out of ammunition before they got to the end of the impending doom.
Then something odd caught her eye. It was only for a brief moment, but it was long enough that she was able to see it. The Covenant started being blasted apart from behind. She was bewildered to see a lone ODST using every weapon that surrounded him to rip through the enemy line to get to her and her team. She took a deep breath and held down the trigger, killing any enemy that didn't consider her a threat until everything in the field except for the lone human covered in Sangheili blood.
"Identify and respond." Jason called as he got up and walked towards the man.
"Chief Warrant Officer Three, Ryner Blaine of Noble." the ODST responded with. "I was sent in for the extraction of Fire Team Theta Five dash One-Three-Four." Jade recognized his voice, and was brought back to the assault on Sword Base.
"This is Captain Jason O'Reilly of Theta Five One Three Four." he grunted as he got up and walked to the taller ODST. "Reporting in. Trask didn't say anything about an evac team. Where's the rest of your squad?"
"I am the squad, sir." the ODST replied, starting to run in the direction he had just come from. "We better get moving before any more of them show up. This way to the Pelican." Jason nodded for the rest of the team to follow. Jade and Martin took up the rear of the group, watching behind the rest of the group to ensure nothing could sneak up on them.
They were moving swiftly through the remains of the city, passing by bodies of both human and Covenant soldiers. Jade figured that the ODST must have fought for almost ten hours straight before he reached them, even if the humans were squadmates of his and were with him. As they ran, Jade eventually began to wonder why her team was being extracted. They hadn't done anything other than grab a holographic projection from an ONI subsite, and they weren't as important as regular Marines.
"Hold up." The ODST told them, holding out his hand. "Two hundred meters. Brute. Heavy armor."
"Surrounding forces?" Jason inquired, motioning for Mary, the team Sniper, to take position.
"Unclear; possibly twenty or more." he said, pointing his DMR forwards. "Take out the Brute, we'll handle the rest." Mary nodded, taking a deep breath before firing a shot into the skull of her target. The ODST immediately opened fire on the rest of the enemies, killing most of them before anyone could even attempt a shot.
"Fire! Fire!" Jason ordered, as the rest of the squad unloaded their weapons into the enemy forces. After all of the bodies dropped, the ODST walked through the corpses with his gun snapped to his shoulder. He then held out his hand in a way that let the squad know it was okay to proceed.
Another two hours of running went by quickly, but the ODST brought them to a different Pelican; one with the word ONI written on one of its sides, immediately under UNSC. Jade was puzzled about the reasoning behind going to ONI's Pelican, but watched silently as a man with dark skin talked with Jason, and then took the object they had grabbed from the Covenant before motioning everyone onboard. The ODST joined them as well, sitting at the back to watch the rear.
"This damn stupid object had better be worth the men that were killed to get it!" Jason yelled at the ONI agent that had taken it from him. "You sent us on a suicide mission. Just what is that thing anyways?"
"Above your paygrade." the man said in a deep voice as he put the object in a briefcase.
"I'm ordering you to tell me what that is." Jason said in a stern tone. The man was taller than Jason, but when Jason got mad, nobody wanted to be in his line of fire.
"I can't." the man said again. "It is ONI's now."
"We lost people for something that you can't even tell us about?!" Mary piped up, immediately being outdone by Martin as he stood out of his chair, and dropped his rifle.
"This is bullshit!" he growled at the agent, Jade and Mary forced to grab and hold him by his arms so he couldn't beat the hell out of the man. "Let go!"
"Stand down!" Jade pleaded with him, her strength not nearly enough to keep her angered fiance back. He growled at her, and kept struggling forwards.
"Stand down." the ODST ordered of Martin as he walked up. "A commanding officer as ordered you to surrender the object in your briefcase. Do it now, or I'll shoot you on the spot." the ONI agent's eyes widened and then narrowed.
"I was trained as an ODST too," the agent started. "Don't think you can threaten or draw faster than I can-" the ODST cut him off, drawing his magnum in a fraction of a second, and pointing it directly at his head.
"Warrant Officer Ryner Blaine." he said to the agent. "I am ordering you to follow Captain O'Reilly's command. Show him the object that his man died for." the agent growled, but pulled out the small device.
"This is the piece of garbage that one of my best soldiers died for?!" he roared, his body shaking in such a way that Jade wasn't surprised when he punched the agent in the side of the face. The agent dropped it as he stumbled back, and the ODST caught it. He flipped a switch, and something came out of it in a holographic projection. It was some sort of artifact, underground, in a dig sight it appeared.
"I'm not authorized to give any more information." the agent said to him, turning it off and putting back in the case. "I should hold you for the assault of an ONI agent…"
"A dead man can't charge anything." the ODST said menacingly. "Once we're off this ship, make sure I never see you again." the agent didn't back down, but Jade could see the sweat rolling down the side of his head. He nodded in understanding. A moment later, an explosion slammed into the side of the Pelican.
"What was that?!" Jason barked at the pilots.
"Banshees, sir!" the pilot called back. "Lots of 'em! I can't get rid of 'em all on my own!"
"Open the back." the ODST said, taking the Sniper Rifle from Mary, and reloading it. He took a knee and aimed, firing a shot into what must have been a weak place, causing the vehicle to explode."How much longer until we get to the destination?"
"Ten clicks, sir." the Pilot responded.
"Punch it." he ordered, motioning for everyone in the back to help him fire at the Covenant Aircraft. "Get that gun at the ready." Jade looked at the minigun and nodded, dragging it across the floor. She loaded it and took aim before holding down the triggers and ripping apart the enemies with fifty-caliber rounds. The enemies were still coming after them, but there were lesser reinforcements.
"I can't go any faster!" the pilot yelled. "They're still gainin' on us!"
"Get us the distance, now!" Jason said, firing his Magnum at the Covenant.
"Still about ten!" the pilot responded.
"Go!" he said, shooting and downing one more. "Take evasive maneuvers when necessary!" eventually, the Banshees started getting shot down by human AA guns, which saved all their asses as the Pelican started to smoke and shut down. The pilot managed to land.
"Move, move, move!" another officer with greying brown hair, a war-heavy face, and the name York on his chest ordered to Marines around him, who moved to the Pelican with their weapons pointed. "Identify yourselves!"
"Captain Jason O'Reilly, Theta Five One Three Four!" he called back. The Marines stood down, and allowed the ODSTs and the ONI agent to walk out of the aircraft. Jade sighed with relief as she shouldered her weapon and followed Martin.
"-I'll be there shortly." the ODST called Ryner said, holding a finger to his ear to indicate he was talking to someone. "Where? Very well." he looked at the officer. "Lieutenant."
"Are you Blaine?" York asked the ODST.
"That's right." he said. "I have orders to fly back in to Alexandrea to help with the evacuation."
"I heard." he replied, motioning for a pair of pilots to prep a new Pelican. "I'll be sending in a few from other squads as well." he looked at Jade. "You'll be joining him as well." he then walked off and gathered about five more people before coming back. "We should get you and your team more equipment. Follow." The ODST, Jade, and the rest of the team followed York to a weapons locker. "We can spare a few weapons- enough to outfit your team."
Jade walked around and grabbed a DMR with a new scope, and a new helmet, and then watched to see what the others grabbed. The ODST strapped a Sniper Rifle to his back, loaded a DMR, and took a Magnum as a sidearm. He put several magazines for all of them in his pockets and in his vest. The other Marines and a separate ODST she had never met before with bright blue armor grabbed standard Assault Rifles, SMGs, and DMRs.
"Everyone prepared?" The ODST asked, to which all of the others nodded. "This is Warrant Officer Ryner Blaine. Start up the engines." he quickly walked to the Pelican, and got onboard, soon followed by Jade. "Sound off!"
"Sergeant Jade Yzain!" Jade called.
"Private Matthews, sir!" Matthews was a shorter man with blond hair. Young features that told those around him that he had only just started.
"Corporal Johnson!" Johnson was also young; Jade figured just a little over her age. He had darker skin, the color of coffee, and intelligent eyes that seemed to look through the faceplate.
"Mason!" Mason appeared to be in his later years, with a leathery face and greying hair.
"Prawn!" Corporal Prawn was just about Jade's age as well. She stood at around five ten, and had a slim build. She had strawberry hair and dark eyes, which graced her naturally beautiful face.
"Corporal Rezendes, sir!" Corporal Rezendes was also a woman, but somewhat older, around thirty. She still appeared young, but her face carried war stories that the young ODST dared not ask about.
"Let's move!" he yelled to the pilots. "Get ready for a fight. We're helping ground teams evacuate civilians and injured soldiers. Our job is to keep them alive until they board a cruiser, and then they're the air support's problem. Understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!" they all responded.
"Alright. Mason, Prawn, you two are a pair now. Stick together." he said, before putting his weapon down to talk. "Same goes for everyone else. Rezendes, you're with Matthews. Yzain, you're with Johnson." Jade looked at him oddly from beneath her helmet.
"What about you?!" she asked, as the rest of them were about to ask.
"I'll be fine on my own." he replied. "If we get split, find a partner, and make your way to the central tower."
"Understood." everyone but Jade replied.
"How far out are we?" he asked the pilots. "Eight already? Looks like we were closer this time. Everyone at the ready, weapons check!" he looked around the room, getting nods from everyone. "Wait for the Pelican to land and the light to turn green." outside, it sounded and felt like mortars were dropping right around them. A few minutes later, the Pelican landed and opened, allowing them to funnel out and open fire immediately upon Brutes and Jackals.
"Sir, cover on the left! Hostiles funneling southeast!" Jade told him, moving for cover. The ODST nodded, letting the Marines and her move behind something. They fired at their enemies until the soldiers realized that they were behind them. Brutes launched at them, along with Jackals, and Hunters.
"Covenant inbound!" Prawn yelled, pulling back the slide of her Assault Rifle, and emptying her magazine into the fodder sent after them. The other Marines followed her lead, but Jade made each of her shots precise. She missed about a third of the time, but she killed her enemy when her shot connected.
The ODST was blasting them apart. Every shot he took seemed to take down another enemy. Jade wondered how he'd gotten so good with a weapon, but it wasn't the time to lose her focus and think about such things. She was reminded of this by her visor being splattered by Mason's blood as his body almost exploded from being hit by a blast of Plasma.
"Sir, we should move!" Rezendes called to the ODST. the ODST nodded as response.
"Scatter! Teams!" the ODST ordered from afar. "Get to the waypoint on your HUDs. Prawn, you're with me now!"
"R-right!" Prawn replied, running over to the ODST.
Jade and Johnson nodded at each other once before jumping their cover and running towards the nearby buildings. He watched the left, and she watched the right as they ran. Johnson always ran in front of her when checking rooms, despite the fact that she was an ODST. After an hour of running, the two reached their waypoint.
"Took you long enough." the ODST said as they approached.
"Well, we were trying to be careful, sir." Johnson said to him.
"We're on a time limit, soldier." the ODST told him. "We can't afford to be careful until we get to the city."
"Sorry, sir."
"Don't apologize, move out." he replied, running quickly through the streets and helping the other three soldiers pull children and families out of the rubble. Jade shrugged when Johnson looked at her, and the two shouldered their weapons to help out. There were roars from Covenant officers from time to time, but mostly they were able to get them out of there.
After a few days of that process, more UNSC forces got to the area to help out with the evacuation, even the intervention of a SPARTAN Team, something Jade was skeptical about. She seemed to be the only member of her team there at the time, which she was thankful for, and the team had lost Johnson from sniper fire.
Jade and the ODST had been re-assigned to assist Edward Buck on a classified mission, and were sitting in a Falcon. The buildings were on fire from the hours of bombardment and battle.
"Command: this is Gunnery Sergeant Buck, Eleventh ODST, over?" Edward started. "My guys got caught in a firefight in the Nomolos Tower, roof collapsed. I gotta get over there and get them out." he nodded and shouldered his weapon. "We got someone going over there now. Spartan." The ODST seemed to shift.
"Noble?" he asked Buck.
"Not sure. Probably." he replied. "We're touching down and dropping in to rescue those guys." the Falcon started to slow as they approached their destination. Jade, Edward, and the ODST jumped down and ran into the building, looking for their guys as the sounds of battle echoed around them. "Let's get our boys out of here…"
"Right, sir…" Jade replied, walking forwards with her weapon at her shoulder as she looked for the rest of the soldiers. They'd gotten seven out before the building rumbled. "What was that?"
"Tremor…" Buck started. "Ho- shit! EVERYONE OUT! GO GO GO!" he started running, the ODST and Jade closely behind him. A moment before escaping, Jade felt a sharp pain strike the top of her head, and her world went black.
