Hrangel Mountain Range, Harkovo Province, Tridian Vale
20:05
The pelican shook as quickly descended through the atmosphere of Tridian Vale; the sound of metal creaking reverberated throughout the ship.
"I sure as hell don't like goin' down in drop pods, but this doesn't feel any fucking safer."
Cassian turned his head towards the voice that spoke up, sitting in the chairs were a squad of ODST's under the command of SSGT McCarthy, they'd be the ones coming in through the mining shafts underneath the facility. The more bodies on a mission, the more chances for it to go wrong, if everything went smoothly, he should be able to take out Hasagawa before they enter the facility. It was nothing personal against the ODSTs, they were the elite and he had no worries that they'd move like shadows, but all it takes is one guard to linger an extra second where he shouldn't and the whole plan can go down in flames. It why he worked better alone, he can account for his own actions and work around that, he can't account for the actions of others.
"You know what Grimlock, you could win a million bucks and still find something to bitch about." Another ODST spoke up from the opposite side of the pelican.
"At least you two don't have to worry about this pelican taking a turn too tight and getting crushed but lug nut over here." The ODST nodded her head towards Cassian.
"Alright all shut yer traps and listen up." The Staff Sergeants voice came out gruff and tired, he stood next to Cassian by the pelican doors, "This mission is straightforward and relatively simple, but it can also be fucked up at the drop of a pin. By the time we're through the tunnels, the Lieutenant here should be close to getting in position. We're clear to pop innies as we see them, but until the Lieutenant takes his shot and Hasagawa is dead, we're not to make our presence known, is that clear? Once shit hits the fan we're going to clear out the base, command wants it captured intact to scavenge intel and see what else the innies were planning. Check your gear one last time and prepare to land."
Cassian nodded at the Staff Sergeant before making his way to the cockpit, standing next to Yokovich he stared out across the great expanse of ragged mountains, their peaks tearing through the clouds like knife.
Yokovich turned to him, "I've picked up some weird signals on the radar, minor blips, seemingly nothing so far since nothing's happened, but keep an eye out. Something feels off." As if to punctuate this point, a large burst appeared in front of the pelican, rocking it to its core.
The young pilot swore, quickly yanking the steering to the side and diving, "Fuck how did they know we'd be here?"
"It doesn't matter, change of plans, drop us all up at Bravo site, we'll make our way from there." Cassian remained impassive. More bursts of anti-air burst in the air, the flak shrapnel bouncing off the reinforced glass, the war with the covenant had sparked massive technologic innovations and boosts, it would take more than flak cannons to take down any UNSC transport. The thought was short lived however as a series of rockets flared up in front of them, the pelican's tracking claxons blared as they got closer. To Yokovich's credit, he managed to evade most of them, but there's only so much one can do before its simply overwhelming. The rocket blasted into the pelicans left wing, sending it into a dizzying spin, the ground was approaching fast and it was clear that it was going to be a hard landing. Cassian locked his armor and braced for the inevitable impact. When the pelican's nose hit the snowy mountain peak everything became a blur, it seemed to whip in every direction and roll for what seemed an eternity. Eventually it come to a stop, the metal groaning and crying out from the immense stress it just been subjected to. Cassian unlocked his armor and opened his eyes, he immediately saw the floor above him and struggled to get up, his body aching in protest.
"Your vitals are fine, but I'll ask to seem caring. How are you?" Kara voiced, sounding relieved, but based on their talk from earlier, probably more for her own safety than his. Though at this point there practically one and the same.
"My vitals say I'm fine, but that doesn't change that fact that I'm in-" He hissed when he popped his thumb back into place with a sickening pop, "A lot of fucking pain right now." He pushed himself up and turned to look at the pilot, the man was stuck in his chair, the seatbelt keeping him strapped upside down, but what caught his eye was the thick stream of blood pooling out from him and onto a growing stain on the floor. The darkness of the blood, the consistency, the flow and volume, it was obvious…
"He's not going to make it if he hasn't died already."
"I know…" Not even a full mission through and he's already losing more. He was far from religious but as a spartan that should be hardly surprisingly, he'd never prayed, but at this moment, despite what he said in the future, he did the closest thing he's ever done to praying, he hoped that the others were alive. He gingerly stepped over the threshold into the troop bay, seeing two ODST's cut another one down from a seat, it seemed he was heavier than they expected as the man fell from the seat through their arms and straight to the floor with a hefty thud, there was a long string of curses followed by a series of laughter.
"Staff Sergeant, any injuries?"
McCarthy turned to face the Spartan, "Other than some bruises we're all fine, where's the pilot?"
Cassian shook his head, "Won't make it, but I was hoping one of your ODST's could check his pulse and administer morphine, my gloves don't allow for much sensitivity." He brought up hand to emphasize the point.
McCarthy gave a solemn nodded before craning his head, "Barracuda, check the pilot, administer morphine if he needs it. Let him pass peacefully." A shorter but lanky ODST passed by, a series of cobalt blue streaks adorned his helmet with a single thin line passing down over his left shoulder pad. The SSGT turned back to face him, "So what's the plan now Lieutenant?"
"Not too different from the original plan, except we'll move as a single unit. When we get close to the facility I'll break off and see if I can still get a clear shot on Hasagawa, if not then I'll head into the facility and get you access from the inside."
"I'd recommend bring heavy explosives with you as well, the building was originally quite sturdy and with the new fortifications the insurrectionists have brought, I'd expect heavy barricades. I'll only be able to get you through electronic locks, anything else and you'll have to brute force it."
Cassian nodded before speaking up again, "I'd also ask if you brought any heavy ordinance, they know were here and we've no clue how fortified they are. If I'm to get you guys in, I'll probably need explosives."
The SSGT mulled it over, "Dreadwolf, what's our heavy ammo look like?"
"Uh not great, lot of it got thrown out on the landing. We've got some a couple pounds cytrex, Antilion AP mines, and whatever grenades the teams got." The ODST's name named fitting, her helmet had a white stylized wolf skull painted onto it, with the visor appearing in-between the jaw of the skull.
"Alright, when we split, you're going to follow the Lieutenant. You're our demolitions expert, I expect you to stretch out what we have and make it last." Ignoring her grumblings about being stuck with the iron giant, McCarthy turned towards Cassian, "I know how you Spartans are, but she's the best damn demoman I've ever seen, she'll make sure you get through whatever needs destroyin'." Cassian decided not to argue, he may have rank but its not the time, besides the SSGT knew he squad, if he was recommending one of his soldiers, then he'd best accept the help. He walked past the ODSTs and out onto the mountaintop, unlike his previous excursion, the weather was much clearer, it also helped that they were practically above the clouds at this point. He turned and stared out onto the horizon, the clouds rolling out like a white foamy sea with no end in sight.
"I seem to have a…memory…of something like this." Her accented tone rang in his brain.
"Memories? I thought you were recent?"
"Its not wise you mention a women's age, and I am. But smart A.I are cloned from a living person's memories. This is technically classified but they'll never know, unless you deiced to break your warrior's honor, which would be a great shame for both of us. Continuing, my 'memories' are those of the person I was scanned from, I don't have the entirety of their mind within mind, but occasionally I see; snippets of their life, such as now, similarly to what you humans call 'déjà vu'."
Cassian hummed in thought, it was interesting, ONI had never given him much information regarding anything, but that's to be expected. Pushing the thought out of his head he turned back towards the crashed pelican, the others were just about to head out to continue the mission. He volunteered to take point, always staying a bit ahead, clearing the surrounding area with his SRS. The insurrectionists had known that they'd be coming, it shouldn't have been possible and yet here they were. Something unusual was happening, perhaps Hasagawa had planned this all along, to try to lure the UNSC into a trap, it was a rather foolish notion, but Hasagawa was seemingly not one to be underestimated. The next several minutes passed in relative ease, Cassian had stayed on point and had yet to see any unusual activity, it wasn't long until they were in sight of the facility. They were crouched behind a large boulder, tucked in next to the edge of a mountain wall, the ODST's resident sharpshooter, Jeger, was keeping watch and noting enemy numbers. Jeger was the shortest of the squad and seemingly a bit on the lighter side, his armor was entirely black save for an intricate weaving of red stylizations upon his right arm, from his gloves to his shoulder pad was completely covered in the detailed designs.
"Here is where we'll split for now." Cassian spoke up, he pointed towards an incline in the cliff face not far from them, "This is the path we'll take, at the top of the incline is a flat path that leads to an overlook of the facility. From there I should have a clear line of sight on the target, whether I do or don't doesn't change how the mission happens." Everyone nodded, despite their differences and the tensions between Spartans and ODSTs, a mission changed everything, they'd probably go back to hostility after the mission, but right now, he'd be hard pressed to find someone he'd trust more to watch his backs than ODSTs. Crouched, he slowly walked towards the incline, motioning for Dreadwolf to follow. He started the slow climb up when they reached the base of the incline, it'd be a long process, but they were already on thin ice with whatever the insurrectionists were planning and going any faster risked the chance of discovery.
"Oh boy rock climbing, this sure brings me back to my high school days." The static of his comms filled his head at her sarcastic comment. He stayed silent and continued the climb, he thought that would be the end, but it was never that easy. "I've never seen a Spartan before, is it true you can rip an elite in two with your bare hands? And that under your amor you're not even human, but some sort of freak alien that the UNSC picked up?"
"…"
"Man, they might as well call Spartans, silent but deadly, because you're fucking killing me here tin-can." He simply sighed and was glad that he could see the top of the incline, he'd never connected with Jun as he had with the others of noble, and now with her it seemed to support his idea, he just hated conversation.
"I have an actual question now, what's the importance of our target?" A few moments passed in silence and she almost thought she wasn't going to get a response.
"Do you actually want to know?" He was almost already regretting opening his mouth, but Holland had always been transparent with their objectives and that's something he'd respected about the colonel. ONI was usually just point and do, which he did without complaint, but it was nice to have the added information. Thinking of which, he never heard from Holland, probably assumed he was dead on Reach with the rest of Noble but that will probably change soon, he should expect orders from him soon. Regardless, for a plan already halfway shot to hell, they deserved to know.
"Holy shit the golem speaks, but I am interested. We're rarely ever told why, figured I might as well try my luck."
Cassian hauled himself over the edge of the incline, and scoped out the immediate area, nothing so far. He turned and helped pull up Dreadwolf, effortlessly yanking her up the top, they continued slowly to the overlook, "Julo Hagasawa, our target, is a known leader of the insurrectionists. Tridian Vale isn't particularly valuable in any strategic sense, but it is a ship building planet, and this late into the war we can't afford to lose anything else. The main caution with Hasagawa is his charm, he's reportedly very charismatic and has the potential to gain a significant following." Dreadwolf hummed in the affirmative, but surprisingly said nothing more, not that it mattered for they had arrived at the overlook. Providing a clear view of the facility, it quite expansive but mostly filled with empty space. The point of interest was a four-story building far left of the complex, the fourth floor was walled almost entirely of glass.
He laid flat, flipping the bipod out on his SRS and nestled the stock firmly into his shoulder. Staring down the scope he scanned the fourth floor, there appeared to be several men in a meeting of sorts, a heated argument apparently taking place, Cassian moved the crosshairs of the cope over the man at the head of the table.
"Kara, confirm and spot."
"Oh great, now he's schizophrenic and talking to himself, wonderful." Dreadwolf muttered from behind him.
"Target confirmed, Julo Hasagawa. The wind is coming in at eight miles per hour from the southwest, adjust ten centimeters to the right. Target is 257 meters, based on the elevation difference, raise 6 centimeters. Take the shot."
He waited not, his finger pulled back on the trigger of the SRS and he felt the shock of the anti-material rifle. The resounding crack echoed throughout the mountains. The bullet went cleanly through the glass, but not cleanly through Hasagawa. The man's head popping like a crushed strawberry, the window splattered in a dark crimson specked with bits of an ugly grey. Almost immediately the base went on alarm, blaring for all to here.
"For shooting us down early, the security was surprisingly lax. They were either arrogant with some secretive information, or there's something else going on here." Cassian couldn't help but agree, but for now they had other problems, and Dreadwolf summed it better than he ever could have.
"Well shit, now they're pissed."