2324 Hours, October 20, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Sol System, Earth, Kenya, Business Park Sector, Sub-Sector 4
Whoever Vilda contacted, she got past the strict security protocol placed on the unknown device. A Beta-3 Division civilian consultant assigned to an Analysis Squadron identified the device as a Luminary. She learned the primary function served as a scanner, little else was known about it. She learned if it was deployed in New Mombasa, Nomad needed to deny the Covenant the Luminary.
It was a big break for Vilda and Nomad, she knew what the ODSTs needed to do.
"Ultra 02, this is 01."
"Send it."
"I've gotten information on the science project you're looking at. It's a device called a Luminary, it's a scanner used by the Covenant and is considered pretty important. My contact inside of Black Three suggest you take it out to prevent the Covenant from getting what they're looking for."
"Easy to say, the floating trash can is protected by some of the Brute's best."
"Figured. I trust your judgment. If you can take out the Luminary, then engage it."
"Roger, thanks for the information. We'll make good use of it. Ultra 02, out."
Sam looked through his scope and studied the Covenant party as they moved further down, they weren't moving across, only down.
There were no additions to the sprawling Brute force, the Elite and Engineer remained close to the Luminary and the Chieftain seemed to work with them. Nomad made sure to take down enemies they had no chance of evading and did it quietly.
Speedy made sure to kill a Jackal sniper and ensure the team was still protected. Nothing had gone wrong for them, so far. Nomad sat above a market sign with the two elements scanning the Luminary.
"What do you think is the weak point?"
Sam studied the target as he waited for Math to give her analysis on the target.
"I would say the eye or the scanner. But do you think it has a shield because the Engineer is nearby?"
"Hmm, possibly. I think we'd have to wait for something to happen between the Brute and Elite to get a break. I'm sure the Chieftain is thinking he can do the job."
Their analysis of the Brute and Elite relationship came with the constant arguing they saw between the two. Whenever the Luminary did something, there was an argument. Sam wanted the two to rip each other to shreds, it would make his job easier.
"Let them fight it out for a bit longer before we decide to interject. Last thing we need is them hunting us at full strength."
Math nodded at what Sam said, she was on board for some Covenant in-fighting. The UNSC needed to take every advantage they got.
"Speedy, what do you think is the weak point on the Luminary?"
"I'd say the eye. I can't see anything else that can affect the device Math."
"Sam and I came to the same conclusion."
"That's good to hear, you're one of the smarter ODSTs I've worked with."
Sam looked at Math and then back at the enemy, the smarter made him wonder.
"Who were the other ODSTs you worked with?"
Math was eager to figure out who Speedy worked with.
"I worked with an MFR/ODST Company on Reach; they weren't the brightest bulbs in the room. But they did a great job in really fucking shit up. They were motivated to kill the Covenant; leadership did a good job pushing them in the right direction."
"That sums up MFR/ODST in a nutshell. Varies from company to company in certain battalions."
"Figured, the same thing can be said about the Airborne Corps. You either have a good Pathfinder Platoon or a bad one. Also, do we want to throw out the bee to see what we can locate closer?"
Math figured he was going to ask the question; they were only able to see some of the Luminary's protection. Getting an idea of where the rest were located, would help Nomad prepare their next steps with ease.
"Yeah, I'll throw one out."
After grabbing a bee kit, Math tossed it out and began piloting the device to locate the other Covenant forces they couldn't see. She also spent time making sure to keep it out of sight, the last thing she wanted was the bee alerting the enemy.
"Hmm, they're not doing anything really crazy. We got a few checking out nearby stores and alleyways to ensure no one is there. I've pinged their locations so you can see them on your HUD."
Sam watched as the outlines of the Covenant forces appeared on his HUD. It was nice to see they weren't searching for him. It nice to see the ODSTs had more equipment to gather intelligence in the field than they did earlier in the war.
"Huh, what's that Brute doing by the vending machine?"
Speedy pinged a pack and it didn't take long for Sam to see what he was up to.
Nomad watched as a Brute poked and prodded a vending machine, he must've been impressed with the piece of machinery or extremely bored. Either way, Sam enjoyed watching the Brute screw with the machine.
"If he had the discount scanner come over, maybe he'd get a discount."
Math got a light laugh out of the team with that idea.
"Nah, tip it over."
Speedy got his wish to watch the Brute tip it over and caused the majority of the party to jump at the sound of the thud. It didn't take long for an officer to come over and scold the Brute for his decision-making.
"Fucking idiot. That looks a lot like an NCO yelling at me."
Mathilda nodded her head in agreement to Sam's statement, did look like an NCO yelling at a dumb boot.
"What do you think he's saying?"
Sam glanced at Mathilda then looked at the Brute yelling at a subordinate.
"Something along the lines of, if you weren't in my unit, I would have you killed. We're really far away from home, I am tired of you being a dumbfuck and I will throw you out of the airlock if you do something stupid again."
"What if the Brute got a Dear John letter?"
"I'll help him by putting him out of his misery."
The two continued to watch as the Ultra walked over, readied his Energy Sword, and cut down the Brute being yelled at. The Brutes around the Ultra stared at him. Surely, they wanted to kill the Elite. The Chieftain had other ideas and called the Ultra back to the Luminary and they moved on.
"Damn, that was a power move. I think they're scared of the Ultra."
Speedy couldn't have been more right. The Ultra seemed to be more in-charge after what had happened. Nomad knew the Ultra was bound to be killed once his task was fulfilled. No way the Chieftain was going to let it slide. Even if they thought the Brutes were mindless animals, they always stuck up for their kind, especially around Elites.
"Alright Speedy, you're on point. Let's see where they lead us."
"On it."
Math recalled her bee while the rest of the team finished packing up and prepared to move. Nomad began to follow Speedy as they made their way towards the dead Brute. Reaching the Brute, Speedy put two rounds into it for good measures, the last thing they needed was something coming from behind.
Sam remained patient with Speedy's ease on point. It was something he admired since they were deep in enemy territory with no backup. Nomad stopped at another location and made their way into a building that resembled a market. Getting to the top, they were able to see what was going on. They were able to watch a few intersections and see the many walkways stretching across the area. Some were bombed out, possibly by the militia.
"Hmm, there's the Ultra."
Sam studied the Elite after Speedy pointed in the direction of the enemy. He sat down at a bench with Math and created a quick setup with his rifle. Through his scope, the Ultra was looking ahead and down at a device. Math threw out her bee to see where the remaining forces were and found the Chieftain.
"That's odd, the Chieftain is not with the Ultra."
Sam looked over at Math then back at the Elite. The engineer kept the Luminary close to the Ultra. He theorized the Luminary was protecting the Elite from getting torn apart. Speedy was quick to point out the arrival of Covenant vehicles.
"Air coming in."
Sam glanced up to see another Phantom coming down, no escort. It was carrying an Engineer Recharging Station.
"Play it cool."
Once the station rested on the ground, the Covenant went to work on bringing in another Engineer. They were not retiring the one already operational. Perhaps they found something and requested additional assets to support them.
"Second Engineer up. First one remaining operational."
Sam took Speedy's analysis and saw it the same. They were seeing the same situation. The Phantom climbed back up after grabbing the station and headed off to its next destination. No more troops were deployed, it seemed like the Brute's death was not worth a fight.
Math threw out her bee and began to scan the area for any targets they weren't able to see. She tagged the targets and gave the rest of Nomad valuable locations. Last thing they needed was someone sneaking up on them.
"Speedy."
Sam used a hand signal to him to gesture move out.
"On it."
Math retrieved her bee and the team went back to following the enemies. They knew it was dangerous, but it had to be done. Nomad seemed to be the only team in the area tracking a Covenant search party. No word from Playboy or Vilda, Sam enjoyed the simple game he was playing with the Covenant.
The sound of water brought attention to Nomad, they figured they had reached the lower levels of the city. There were lingering reports in the early hours on the JointNet about flooding in the area. Sam expected it to be a puncture in the surface seawall. Night vision became a gift, allowing him to see whatever he needed in some of the darkest areas.
"It has to be something below the city. No way they'd come all the way down here."
Sam looked back at O to see her staring down at the water.
"Maybe they wanted to have a little swim. Nothing feels better than swimming in sewage."
She cocked her head and followed Sam down the stairs. They walked long enough to reach their step count for the day. Speedy took a knee as the rest of the team formed a perimeter inside of an office room.
"You had cop bikes, you're walking everywhere, and you're communicating with a Black One officer. I'm glad I joined the Rangers."
Sam looked at Math and then back at Speedy, he couldn't believe the Ranger decided to poke the ODSTs. Math would not stand by as the Ranger dissed her fellow ODSTs.
"We have a full-time taxi service to take us anywhere. We have the coolest armor and even Miss Reach posed in ODST armor. We have the most effective air-to-ground deployment method."
"You do realize, an entire drop pod deployment can be taken out by good artillery?"
Math knew he was right; it was a miracle the Covenant had not predicted the landing zone of drop pods and thrown plasma bombardments.
"Well, the combat drop gets me really turned on. So, I can't complain when we do a combat drop. Doing a combat drop is honestly better than sex."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's about two minutes. You get really focused, thrown around if you don't play by the rules. And then you get out to kill."
"Sounds a lot like sex."
"You can't have a surprise baby with a combat drop."
"True."
The back and forth between the two ended when they heard another air asset over their head. The arrival of a Banshee made Sam wonder why it overhead. It was a surprise to see a Banshee flying close to the buildings. Despite how lethal they can be in the open air; it was impressive to see the skill of the pilot.
The Luminary was not hard to spot, the Ultra and two Engineers were easy to point out. The area remained to be sprawling with Brutes, nothing seemed to change.
"What's the plan on taking out the Luminary?"
Sam knew it was a good question from O. It seemed easy to engage the device, shoot till it broke. The Covenant had advanced energy shielding for their personnel though. Sam knew there was a chance the Covenant put it on the Luminary.
He also thought about the Covenant knowing if they were being tracked. Even if he did his best to conceal Nomad's position, it made him think the Covenant knew where they were. There was no evidence of the idea, but he had a gut feeling.
"I don't have one yet."
O nodded at him. She was glad to see an honest admission from him. He wasn't going to paint a false idea in combatting a sensitive target. If Black Three kept it quiet, then they needed to take it seriously.
"Ultra 01, you got anything on how to take this Luminary down?"
It was odd to hear silence on the channel. Vilda always replied pretty quickly.
"Ultra 01?"
"Shit. Sorry, 02. Yeah, I'm here. What do you need?"
"Got any tips on how to take this Luminary down?"
"Oh, let me go twist my contact's arm again. I got another classified notice."
Sam took his time to study the enemy's movement and wait for V.
"Well, what you what and what you need are two different things."
"What do we need?"
"Heavy explosives."
Sam looked at Math as she sat down in a chair and sighed.
"Perfect."
"I'll get to work on alternative methods. Keep tracking it."
"Will do. Ultra 02, out."
He let out a sigh and sat down on top of a desk. His frustration towards the situation continued to grow as they hit more roadblocks. Black Zero and Three were busy trying to cover their ass while the capital system was under siege. It was the last thing he felt ONI should be concerned about. They were fighting for the survival of Earth and people were trying to protect their political power.
"Sam, you look pissed. Do you want me to handle V? I know what she said."
Looking over at Math, she stared back at him while his hand clenched a broken pen.
"Nah, I can handle it. When we get back to V, we're going to talk with this Black Three folk."
"Count me in on that."
She turned back to focus on the enemies while O provided rear security. Speedy was previously busy with Math on identify high-value targets. They were doing well. The communications to V were becoming more stressful.
The zone where the Home Fleet fought the Covenant fell and the ships were moving into the atmosphere to increase their footprint. Sam did not want Nomad to be trapped under a Covenant net. They would be dead before the sun rose. New Mombasa was well into the night, he knew pulling out with his team was a good option. It never hurt to resupply, hit the planning table, and go in with a better understanding.
"Playboy, it's Panther. What's the situation?"
"Fucked. Beyond fucked, mate. I'm pulling the team out of the City Center and we're heading to Sector B. Whatever the Covenant is searching for, they're deploying everything to find it. Alpha Site is covered with Covenant and I bet the sub-city is worse."
"We're tracking a high-value package near the bottom of the sub-city. Not much is happening here. How's the air?"
"It's owned by the Covenant. They're living rent-free in this airspace. We got no airborne assets to provide support or logistics to keep recce teams operational. Manned and Robot are being shot down. Ground is disappearing by the minute."
"How are you getting out?"
"We're driving the Roo out and set up at a temporary position to survey them. I recommend you wrap up whatever you're doing down there and get to me. This shit is going south fast. I expect all of New Mom to be sealed off soon."
"Rog, we'll account for your assessment and get back to you on our decision."
"Make it quick. Time's not on your side. Playboy, out."
Sam knew the reality Playboy was painting him. He was down below, and Playboy was up top. He wasn't sure why V was focused on informing him about a good extraction plan. Turning to see Nomad, he knew he had to do something to get his team out.
"V, what's the situation up top?"
"As Playboy put it bluntly."
"What are our options?"
"Owl extraction is still an option. We'll have to do an offset, but it's still an option. Playboy is another option as well. Air is dangerous and you know the threat first-hand. I'm willing to go with Playboy if you think it's the best decision. However, that may limit your time to conduct surveillance. This is a time-sensitive target. Once the time expires, you can extract. But understand, that time may go on longer."
"Understood. Let me know what you figure out about our trash can. Ultra 02, out."
He turned to look at Nomad and took a breath. Things were turning to be more chaotic.
"Alright, team meeting."
Sam watched the team gather around as he sat down in a chair.
"Here's the deal. The situation topside is deteriorating based on Playboy's assessment. Covenant is going to own this island soon and we may have a hell of a hard time getting out at sunrise. V says we're on a time-sensitive target, our time on this target is unknown and we do not know when they will find what they're looking for. V also says we can do an airborne platform recovery, they'll land outside of the X and we'll link up with them. Playboy is giving us a ride out, but we have to make it to Sector B."
"What's the plan?"
Sam looked at O then back at the rest of Nomad.
"Our plan is to vote. We stay on the time-sensitive target till they find something and then we extract. Or we stay on the time-sensitive target, pull out to Sector B, and hitch a ride with Playboy."
"If we pick Playboy, we may lose the critical intelligence we need. But at the same time, we may as well pick out where we want to die."
Sam knew Math had a good point. The idea of missing what the Covenant were looking for would result in a mission failure. At the same time, if they stayed, they may not ever leave.
"Sam did V give you any ideas on how to deal with the Luminary?"
"Explosive charges O. We don't have those."
She rolled her head; Sam knew it meant she wasn't happy.
"You all know I'm going to defer to Playboy, I trust his judgment."
Sam knew where Speedy stood. He also made a deal to deliver Speedy back to Playboy.
"What do you think?"
Sam looked at Speedy then back at Nomad.
"I think we should gather as much as we can, link up with Playboy and Oracle, then extract out. I understand if we want to stay, but this has turned into nothing for us. We haven't developed any action intel and the best thing we can do is destroy the HVP with something we don't have."
It was the hard reality they had to sit with, Nomad was unprepared for what they needed to do.
"I say we extract with Playboy."
Sam heard O and looked at Math.
"Yeah, let's get out of this shithole before it gets worse. What about you Speedy?"
"Good with exfil on Playboy."
Sam nodded at his team and connected with Playboy; he hoped the option to extract was still open.
"Playboy, Panther."
"Send it."
"Nomad's going to exfil with Oracle. When should we link up with you?"
"0100. I understand you're on a time-sensitive target, but that's the time I've set with command."
"Understood. We'll meet at 0100."
"Bring me flowers. Playboy, out."
Sam switched to communicate his plan to extract with Playboy to Vilda. He knew her superiors were not going to be pleased with his decision to extract.
"Ultra 01, we're extracting with Playboy via ground."
"Got it. Let me know if anything changes. When are you pulling off the target?"
"About 45 minutes. Can you have Ava pinpoint where Playboy is?"
"Yeah, sending it to you."
Also, what's the status of Darrick?"
"Unknown at the time. Will update you when we get info."
"Thanks, if anything changes, let me know. Ultra 02, out."
Sam moved to relieve O and cover the door, he wanted to give her a break from covering the rear. He grabbed his carbine and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Take a break and chill with the scouts, I'll keep our ass protected."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'll handle it. Also, no update on Darrick."
"Figured. Thanks for asking."
Sam took a knee and looked into the hallway. Their traps were ready and hadn't been triggered. For all he knew, the Covenant had not decided to go after Nomad yet. He knew the team had the advantage, but not for long.