Nightfall Part 3.

The group moved along the ramp that ran away from the pump station. Jun took the lead of the civilians "There's the riverbed, Six. Let's see where it goes."

Shar supposed that it really was their only course of action. It was basically the only pathway away from the pump station without a boat. She moved along it surprised to find a few light sticks placed along the way. She took the lead, switching to her DMR. In this area they'd only meet up with close quarter-combat.

"Where does this riverbed lead?" It was a good question, though Shar was wondering why it had taken Jun so long to ask it.

"Straight to the hydro plant." Shar was glad to hear the militia man's voice much calmer than it had been. Whatever fear there had been from fighting the Covenant was gone, for now. "We dammed this river up forty-five years ago. Plant powers every settlement in the territory." This man seemed to know a lot. "Shame if it all gets wasted."

"Doing what we can." Jun's voice held a hint of sorrow. She was sure this wasn't the first time he'd seen people's homes and livelihoods being threatened by the Covenant, though she knew how that sort of thing usually ended. With a planet of glass lands and burnt skies.

Shar heard the growing sound of Covenant engines. She looked up to the sky and spotted the ship. "Hold up. Covie dropship, take cover." Shar moved below a rock arch that crossed the riverbed. She looked up, wondering if at one time the water had been high enough that it had been used by civilians to cross the stream.

She was pulled out of those thoughts by Jun. "Okay, we're clear. Let's move."

Shar continued to move down the dry riverbed, following the lights to lead her way. She supposed either the Covenant had put them there for their soldiers, or the militia had to aid their smuggling of contraband. Right now, it really didn't matter to her.

She continued on until they came upon the power station. It was to the southeast of the path they'd taken. The path continued on along the east to a bridge that spanned the wide valley between the path and the plant. Everything was circular, as she expected, though it seemed to be one with the mountain. The plant was built into three levels. On the south side of the area stood the power plant, reaching high into the sky above all the other buildings. Electrical lines spread across its roof along structures and then went every which way down to the buildings and disappeared off across the rock walls around it. Just north of the main plant was a ring of concrete that rose up a story into the air. Shar could see an opening on the north side of the ring to allow water to flow through and fall into the valley below. There were buildings built into the east and west side of the inner ring and another building further back to the southeast.

What really caught Shar's attention was the non-human structure just to the northeast of the ring. In Covenant fashion the structure was sleek, rounded, not straight-cut edges like most of the human structures. The structure stood on three thick legs, turrets set up between each of the legs. The structure reached up into the sky. Halfway up there was a circle of metal, though Shar couldn't figure out the purpose. Near the top, the structure was broken apart, though still the top hung in the air. A beam of light wavered in the air, originating from the center of the structure. The light held what looked to be a three lobed metal device in the air. What it was all for, she wasn't exactly sure. Periodically, a pulse would go up the light and spread over the three leaves, causing a cascade of violet light to spread forth as though creating a great dome.

"Kat, are you seeing this?" Jun seemed a bit stunned by the device, not that she could blame him. How had the Covenant put that there without them realizing? "Covenant structure, kind of a big pylon. Heavily fortified."

That was an understatement. There were elites walking about the area, sleeping grunts, jackals, and even grunts sleeping on the structure, ready to man the turrets. She wasn't sure yet how they would deal with it. After all, she still hoped to keep the militia troopers safe, if she could.

"That's the source of our dark zone," Kat informed them.

"Okay, consider it gone." Jun seemed pleased at the idea of blowing up the structure, though Shar could guess that a good number of ONI spooks would love to get their hands on it.

"Negative, stick a remote det charge on it. Command's planning something big." From the way Kat spoke, Shar guessed she didn't know exactly what they were planning, and as usual didn't like that. "They say that pylon dies at dawn."

Shar couldn't think of a good reason why they weren't destroying it now, unless they were hoping to have the element of surprise. Destroying it now would alert the Covenant that they knew where they were. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to question it. Command gave orders, and she followed them, so stay it would.

The group moved along path toward the bridge, stopping behind a large rock. "We going to blow it?" The militia man seemed excited at the idea of blowing it up, though she supposed they hardly ever blew up something as large as that structure, or got to see the beauty to the destruction of Covenant weapons. It wasn't just the fact the enemy was losing something of theirs, but Shar honestly saw a sort of beauty in the multitude of colors that blossomed forth from an exploding Covenant item.

"We're gonna clear the area, and I'm gonna plant a remote det charge. You want to provide some cover, go right ahead." It was obvious from Jun's tone he no longer saw a need for the militia to be with them. He no longer seemed to even care if they survived.

Shar moved ahead of the others, staying silent and picking her moment right. The officer elite on the bridge had his back to her. She struck out, slamming into the elite's back. It stunned him just long enough for her to grab the back of his helmet and pull herself up. She put one foot on the backward facing knee of his right leg and the other on his left hip, rising up enough to grab the front of his head with her right hand. One quick jerk and she heard the elite's spine snap under the force. Unfortunately, there had been a grunt at the elite's feet.

The death gurgle of the elite, and the sound of its body hitting the ground, woke the grunts. They jumped up in surprise. She beat down the first one before taking aim with her DMR and downing the other two on the bridge as they tried to run away. She then turned her attention to a grunt moving toward her, spewing needler rounds at her as it moved. One quick shot and it too fell to the ground.

"Don't let up." The voice was right beside her and Shar realized that the militia were moving in to help. She appreciated their enthusiasm, but they were likely to get themselves all killed. She took aim at the closest turret and after a few shots the grunt there fell to the ground. Shar turned and ran toward the pylon, hearing a triumphant cry from the militia as they killed one of the turret grunts. She used the grav lift up to the turret level and was surprised to find that they had killed the remaining gunner. She turned her attention to the ground, firing at a grunt before plasma shots hit her.

Shar moved around behind the structure's inner spire to avoid the elites. She switched to her sniper rifle and took aim. The first shot hit one of the minors in the chest and the second shot finished it with a bullet to the skull. The second elite moved to cover. She waited for a moment to see if it would come back, but it didn't. She turned her aim toward the ground, and the jackals approaching; that was then she spotted the elite move back out of cover. Shar fired at it, the first shot skimming its throat and the second shattering its helmet.

She jumped down from the pylon and moved up some stairs to the concrete ring, looking for anything to shoot. Not spotting anything she headed down a ramp toward the main plant. She found a group of grunts outside which she finished off easily. Jun and one of the milita soldiers joined her. They moved up the stairs, where a trio of grunts walked out, quickly taken out by a few precise shots. Shar rounded the corner to go into the building and found herself faced with an officer elite. It cursed something in its alien language and the group opened fire. The officer's shields dropped and Shar slammed her elbow into its chest. The force sent it flying back and it fell limply to the ground. They moved into the plant and, after being sure it was clear, Shar moved out the other side, quickly killing a jackal and skirmisher.

"All clear, Six." Jun ran past her and moved towards the pylon. "This is gonna take a minute, so keep your eyes peeled. Shar ran after him as they both moved down to the pylon.

As if on cue a phantom rose up into the sky, moving over to the side of the bridge closest to them. Shar moved to cover and waited to see what it would drop on them. "Big trouble here, we got big targets coming." Shar had to agree as the massive aliens hit the ground. Hunters, not what she had expected. She certainly didn't have the firepower needed for those.

Thinking fast, Shar decided to improvise. She took aim at a forklift near the two hunters. Two shots and it went up into flames, causing the massive walking tanks to stumble back. She threw a grenade, but it didn't seem to do much. The militia soldiers joined her in firing on it, though she was using her DMR for now. Shar sidestepped a shot from the closest hunter and switched to her sniper rifle. She put six shots into the first hunter before it finally fell. She put the last of her shots into the second hunter, but it stood strong. She switched to her DMR and as Shar ran forward, fired at whatever weak spot she could find. When she was close enough she tossed a sticky grenade. The blue explosive stuck to the alien's stomach, and detonated, though it only seemed to damage the armor, removing it from the alien's back but not killing it. She continued to move closer, hoping to be able to stay behind it, but she moved too close and it turned around. The hunter swung itself forward, and the aliens' head connected with Shar's chest, sending her stumbling back. Before it could reorient itself Shar's feet moved on instinct, carrying her around and away from the hunter a bit. She tossed her last grenade and it stuck to the hunter's chest plate. It went off and in a brilliant light swallowed up the hunter, leaving behind nothing but charred armor and eels.

Shar moved back toward the group, trying to catch her breath as she realized she only had two shots left in her DMR. She started to move through the facility, looking for ammunition or a new weapon.

"Recon Bravo to Noble Two, charge in place," Jun reported.

"Somewhere inconspicuous, I hope." Kat was sounding eager. She must have been a bit worried about how long it had taken them to clear the area.

"Stuck it inside the pylon's power supply." Jun sounded a bit too pleased with his placement.

Kat didn't sound impressed. "All right. Keep pushing into the dark zone. Command wants to know what the Covenant are hiding." Shar wondered how much of it was Command and how much of it was her.

Shar grabbed a plasma pistol, dropping off her DMR as she didn't think she'd be finding any more rounds for it. It would have to do for now, until she could find rounds for some other, better, weapon.

"There's a gate to the southeast of the power plant." Jun moved away from the pylon, joining the militia soldiers.

"Copy. Uploading security codes to you now." Shar wondered if Kat had been given the codes, or simply stole them. She supposed it didn't matter to her. It was better not to ask how Kat got, or knew, things.

Shar moved over to the gate and waited with the others while Jun typed in the code. "Okay, got 'em. Unlocking the gate." The doors started to slide open and Shar prepared for whatever was on the other side.

"Recon Bravo, you're heading into the dark zone now." Shar supposed that was Kat's way of saying she wasn't going to be able to give then any real heads up.

"Understood." Jun moved through the gate after Shar. "Phantom, a little too close for comfort."

Shar charged the troops that were dropped off. She fired wildly with her plasma pistol and in a matter of seconds they were all dead. She smirked behind her visor. Even with the worse weapon in the Covenant arsenal they didn't stand a chance against her.

Shar ducked down as plasma fire filled the air. She got a glimpse of the cause before she moved to cover. A shade was stationed up ahead and was firing at her. The rest of the group moved forward while Shar took a step back. She spotted a case and opened it, finding twenty rounds of sniper rifle ammunition inside. Shar took aim and sniped the gunner from the turret. She waited for a moment, to see if any other alien would be fool enough to get into it. When none did she moved forward to join the others, still keeping an eye on the turret. An elite popped out a bit ahead of them but was downed a second later as her shot found its temple.

They moved forward, finding a second shade which she quickly sniped as well. A second grunt manned it and she cleared it as well. She downed one more grunt and heard the roars of elites.

The high pitched whine of banshee engines sounded above them. "Lotta air traffic around here, Six. I think we're getting warm." Jun moved ahead of her while she looked up toward the sky for a moment, spotting the trail of banshees.

Shar turned her attention back to the battle, grabbing an assault rifle for her plasma pistol. Just in time as she moved around the rock and spotted a minor elite. She opened fire. Its shields fell and it tried to run but she chased after it, finally downing it. She turned to spot two jackals that fired on her. She tossed a grenade and it killed one, causing the other to fall back. Before she could fire again heat splashed over her. An overcharged shot from a jackal took down her shield and fire from a third shade turret hit her. Shar ran back feeling her body burn as she struggled to get out of the way of the turret.

Shar moved back the way she'd come and leaned up against a wall. "What, you don't like my cooking?" Shar frowned at Jun's comment. She wasn't sure if he'd said it to her or someone else, but he really needed to learn to shut up on missions like this.

Shar moved back to where she'd first started, grabbing some more ammunition before she tried to decide what to do. Unfortunately the others had followed her, and brought an elite in tow. She fired, killing it, and cursing them for having followed her. Setting the pain aside Shar moved onward.

She sniped a jackal and carefully peeked out, taking out the third turret before it spotted her. She cursed as fire from the second turret hit her and she quickly fired, blowing up the entire shade. She finished off the jackal below and moved to cover as officer fired on her.

She moved forward, sniping a grunt before it could man the third shade again. She waited, and the officer finally showed, allowing her to snipe it in the head. She sniped one more grunt and officer before she finally cleared the area.

"Noble Two, we have eyes on at least one Covenant ship." Jun sounded scared, or agitated, she couldn't exactly tell which.

"Solid copy. Don't stop now." Kat must have known something. What more did they need to know about other than there was a Covenant ship?

Shar moved forward and they found a small gap that opened up to look over the larger area. Shar and Jun moved down to their stomachs, crawling forward slowly. What Shar saw made her blood run cold. The area ahead was tinted blues and purples, likely from all the artificial Covenant light. There was not just one Covenant ship, but several, including AA guns on the ground, which she knew well.

"Jackpot," Jun whispered.

Shar finally found her voice, speaking for the first time on the mission. "Transmitting visual."

"You seeing this, Kat?" There was an air of disbelief in his voice.

"Confirmed. Receiving Noble Three and Noble Six's live visual of a Covenant strike force." There was an air of fear in Kat's voice. Shar didn't blame her. It was a lot of Covenant force, and it was all on Feach. It wasn't a few little phantoms of troops. It was much more.

"That's no strike force, it's an invading army. If we're gonna smother this thing, we need to go in hard and fast." There was a bit of panic to Jun's voice.

"Agreed. All recon teams disengage and fall back. Sun will be up in a few hours...and it's going to be a very busy day."