New Alexandria sadly burned.

Above the cover of the clouds, UNSC Aircraft provided evacuation for the few remaining areas occupied by either military or civilian survivors. Buildings that would otherwise have had lights on now burned, some of their superstructure exposed by the Covenant's relentless plasma bombardment from earlier. In the far distance, a Covenant Corvette's husk lay, burning and, farther yet, Covenant Cruisers' excavation beams burned the ground below, the rising stalks of the three orbital elevators that Elster and Ariane rode down now waning, about to melt.

Fires burned in the distance, as well, the ocean boiling away, too. Elster had taken her helmet off, regarding the sight from the back of a Pelican, sat down next to Six. Ahead of them, the Crow had fallen asleep, cradling her newfound MA37 rifle. It was standard for the cruelest of the lot to be able to sleep things off just like that. The LSTR let out a hum, staring out at the Cruisers in the distance, then murmured, "I hear Orbital's not going much better..."

"Covenant came in with a full force," Six sighed, "Obviously, things are not going to be particularly pretty..."

Elster gave a nod, watching as the Pelican swung by several towers interconnected by long walkways, only to touch down at a nearby landing pad. The Spartan and Land-Survey Replika stood to their feet, with the latter kicking Crow awake and causing her to stagger and jump. With a growl, the combat Replika descended from the Pelican with them, to the sight of Carter on the deck and two Falcons on the landing pad behind him.

Both Six and her saluted the man. He saluted them back and said, "Good to see you both back. Jorge was worried sick when you winked off the radars..." before pausing as he saw the Crow, "And this must be that other Replika you told us about." and turning to examine her. The Crow's sharpened teeth greeted him as she bore a standard grin. It made Carter, a Spartan, uneasy to see something like her.

She gave a nod, "Evenin', Commander. Need some heads knocked together?"

He hummed, then said, "I'll take it under consideration," before looking to Elster and Six and stating, "Sorry to cut the visit short, but Kat's going to need you. We're facing a disorganized evacuation and Covenant Jammers in a multitude of buildings, making reinforcements and consolidation impossible. Your job's to take three of the jammers out and rally up whatever survivors you can."

"Sir," Six nodded, "Consider it done."

Elster racked the bolt of her assault rifle to emphasize her own support. He nodded to them and told them, "Don't die on us now. We'll need all hands on deck when we get out of here," before he walked back toward the other Falcon on the deck and boarded it. The Spartan-Replika Trio stepped off toward the other Falcon as the faint pit-patter of rain started to filter in.

"Yo, LSTR Unit," Crow demanded, "When am I gonna get cool armor like that?"

"Ask requisition and the Logi units, if there's any still alive on this planet," Elster shot back coolly as she climbed aboard, then plopped herself down. Taking her helmet off, the young woman shook the artificial hair on her head to straighten it out, then examined the helmet itself as Six took the pilot's seat. She then manned one of the machine guns on the side and slid her helmet back on, wordless.

Crow followed suit, manning the opposite machine gun and linking it to her own systems, only for her HUD to receive a quick update. She pulled back on the bolt handle of the MG, then hummed and smirked as she saw it feed a fifty-cal round. Happy with it, she swiveled it on its mount to test its arc of fire, finding the 180 degrees left-right traverse and about 160 depression and raising capabilities satisfactory. She activated her com and said, "Not bad! I like this thing!"

"Wait 'till you see its nose-mounted cannon," Six replied as he pushed forward on the thrust lever. The turboprop of the VTOL hissed, then roared as the jet-wash kicked dust up around the helicopter. It lifted off the pad and banked right, with Elster holding onto her machine gun so as not to fall out. She sighed, clipped a safety harness to her armor and tapped her com transmit twice. Six replied, "Had to get us moving, Els. Nothing much I can do."

"Rog," She replied, then turned to the Crow and told her, "There's a safety harness system next to you. Clip it to your belt or armor so you don't fall out on sharper turns..."

The Crow did as instructed, only leaning forward to see the nose-mounted high-caliber chain gun as the Spartan revved its motor. She whistled, impressed, grin still on her face. As the helicopter began to fly between the high-rises of the place and Six radioed in to Kat for directions to the nearest jammer, Elster hummed, gazing at the Pelicans still doing their best to evacuate.

She turned back toward Crow and said to her, "Elster."

"Huh?" The Crow turned back toward her, "What?"

"I have a name. Elster. Use it," She replied, "You need a name, too."

"Do I, though?" The Crow inquired, grinning, "And can't I just use Crow?"

"No..." Elster shot back rather defensively, "Bad memories... From Vineta," She then murmured as she turned back to her gun, ensuring her crosshairs were properly aligned with the weapon's own sensors. She zeroed it as they flew, the helicopter banking gently around an office building that burned, a fire scarring the side, windows blown out by the pressure wave of a plasma blast.

Crow snorted, "Riiight. I forgot your Replika class was made from a Vinetan veteran that died..." before she hummed, her grin slowly dissipating, "I think I met you before. Outpost Mainz, right on the Front Line. Itou or something, right?" a strange sight to behold being a seeming show of calmness from the otherwise-murderous war machine. Still, she must've attempted something...

Elster's mind flashed with memories of Lilith Itou once more. She sighed, squelching and letting them dissipate, "Yeah... Long time ago..." before telling her, "I'm not her anymore, though it sure feels like I'm back to those old habits some times..."

The Crow snorted, "I'll be fucked if I don't know that feeling..."

"So... Rita?" She asked.

"Ew, what the fuck, no," The Crow frowned, "Too 'normal'."

Elster snorted and shook her head, "Exactly why I chose it..." before humming. She paused as she saw the silhouette of a possible enemy flyer in the clouds below. It dipped up. She swiveled her MG and said, over com, "Six, contact. Engaging Banshee!" before her thumbs pressed against the paddle-shaped trigger of the MG. It chattered, the burst of fifty-cal rounds striking the forward canopy of the Banshee Flyer as it dipped up to engage. Twin plasma cannons heated white hot and spat globs of azure, a burst of plasma narrowly missing their Falcon as the Spartan dipped and swiveled the bird about.

Elster kept up the pressure, bullets piercing the canopy, tearing into the canards and causing the antigrav units to puff dark-blue smoke. The nose-mounted cannon finally found purchase as Six settled his own crosshair on the target. A burst of fire rattled the light gunship's hull. The high-caliber rounds left the barrel of the gun and struck the Banshee dead center, punching three holes into the canopy and destroying the line feeding the charging fuel rod gun in its maw.

An emerald explosion enveloped the enemy flyer. It shattered to pieces, shrapnel pinging off the hull of the Falcon. More plasma bolts arced up toward them, with Crow ducking as one hit the roof above her. She swiveled her MG about and let out a slurry of insults directed at the pilot of the Banshee, before lighting it up. The Banshee dipped, its engine coughed and it banked to the left to rearrange for another attack run it would never get to make. Armor-piercing fifties tore through the inside of its canopy and spatters of purple blood seeped through one of the ship's wounds as it dipped down and disappeared below the clouds, aflame.

"Good kill..." Six told them, "First target's the hospital. Be ready to haul it the moment we land..." and he turned the Pelican toward the NA Hospital, which lay dead ahead of them now. The helicopter's engines puffed as Six began the descent toward the landing pad. The Spartan dismounted first, with Elster and Crow jumping out of their seats, folding the guns aside. He motioned to them to rally up, staring at the high-rise hospital, then told them, "We're taking this a floor at a time. Covvies dug themselves in."

"Sir," The two nodded, before they began their push. The entry through the main door brought them to the top floor of the lobby, a spiral design of modern architecture tinged with some older cues, including wood floors. On the lowest floor was a small garden of sorts, square in the center of the concentric rings that made up the floors and descending pathways of this section of the hospital.

And in-between them and the bottom floor lay multiple squads of Covenant, of which the Grunts seemed to notice them first. Crystalline shards lanced up from below as two grunts armed with needlers fired. The shards broke upon the glass separating the Spartan and Replikas from them, shattering it and sending micron-sharpened shrapnel into its structure, ever weakening it.

Following up, a platoon of Grunts engaged them from down below, green bolts of plasma tracing the air where all three had stood. Six had taken cover beside a pillar, opening fire down the slope with his rifle. Elster, meanwhile, pulled a pair of grenades off her belt and rolled them down the pathway after priming them. The Elite supporting the grunts noticed the frags coming down and only had a split second to react, jumping out of the way as thunder roared and shrapnel pinged off of his shields.

With more than half the grunt platoon having died to the fragmentation grenades, the suppressing fire that had pinned both Replikas and Spartan down subsided, giving the trio a chance to return fire on their own terms. First to pop up was Crow, her gun roaring with the same fury she had in her eyes. Bullets hit and chipped the floor, embedded themselves in concrete surfaces and struck and pierced the armor of the remaining grunts, spewing fluorescent azure blood onto the floor.

Elster came in next, advancing by one of the railings and opening up on the Elite, rifle chattering as the ammo counter ticked down rapidly, both on her HUD and on the weapon itself. The shots flared the monster's shield, cut through the plate and pierced flesh, spewing its purple lifeblood onto the floor. Once the rifle's counter turned red, displaying the double-zero of an empty mag, Elster quickly drew her sidearm and put one round into the Elite's maw, spattering blood and brain matter on the wall support behind it.

She gasped as she caught two blue bolts of plasma in reply. Her shields flared and drained to half, forcing her to take cover behind an overturned bench. Ahead of her, a pair of Elites with enclosed helmets, jump packs, white armors and plasma repeater rifles advanced, firing in staggered bursts to ensure the larger, more dangerous plasma machine gun did not overheat in either of their hands.

She eyed a plasma grenade on the floor, just beyond her cover. Leaning forward and attempting to reach it, the girl felt a larger needle round skip off her gauntlet, shattering into the floor next to her and forcing her to pull her hand back. She grit her teeth and eyed a Skirmisher with a Needle Rifle behind the Elites. With four quick moves, the woman slapped in a fresh magazine for her rifle and reset the counter.

She watched a primed plasma grenade arc over her head, only to land square between the Elites. It flashed, the air boiled and both Elites lost their legs and a good chunk of their armor, their shields overloaded by the plasma. Two cracks echoed as Six advanced next to her, his DMRs' barrel still evacuating smoke. She motioned to Crow to move up, which the crazier Replika did joyfully, hefting her AR and opening up on the Skirmisher ahead. Multiple shots punctured the beast's greyish hide, but it managed to let loose one extra Needle round before collapsing.

Said needle round struck the Crow square in the breast-plate of her titanium armor plate, sending her tumbling back as it pierced, then exploded. Elster growled, ran forward and grabbed the girl by the scruff of her armor's neck, pulling her into cover before firing bursts at an advancing Elite Major. He took cover and then swiveled about, taking a knee to lower his height and sending bursts of plasma from his twin plasma rifles.

Several bolts struck Six's shields, draining them as the Spartan took cover. One splashed across his unprotected armor and heated the Titanium slightly, but it immediately cooled when he took cover. The bolts struck and pounded his cover, melting the plastics and metals that made up the decorative panels on the walls and glass railings. Elster looked to Crow and asked, "How bad?"

"I'll fucking live," The machine replied with a growl, patting her pierced plate down and pushing off some of the microshrapnel. She murmured, "Now I'm really gonna need new armor..."

"We'll get you some, Rita," Elster smirked behind her helmet. A flurry of swears in German, Chinese and Russian struck Elster's auditory sensors, making her chuckle, before she ducked back under cover as a bolt of plasma struck the glass above her, superheating and shattering a chunk of it, sprays of molten glass and broken shards raining down below. Two more platoons of Grunts waddled up the stairwell.

Six called out, "Grenades! We can't afford to stay here!" Before priming another plasma one. Elster nodded and grabbed two off the floor, holstering her rifle. She primed them and threw them at the same time with Six. Three distinct hissing thumps filled the room and their radiation counters clicked for a moment. A dozen Grunts flash-vaporized in the blasts.

She and Six pushed forward, with Six sprinting forward at an incredible speed. Fast enough that when he cocked his right fist back to slam down on an Elite, the first connected and snapped the bastard's neck, folding the spine and sending the Elite stumbling back, dead on the floor. A pool of purple blood flowed below it. Elster followed up with two rounds that connected with another Elite's shields. She picked up a plasma pistol, overcharged it and let loose the massive bolt.

It struck the Elite, frying its shield and scarring its armor. With that, Elster tossed the spent pistol aside, letting it simmer due to overheat, and put another two rounds from her pistol into its face. She dropped the half-empty magazine into a pouch and slammed in a fresh one, before she slid the gun back onto the thigh mount and pressed the advance alongside Six and Crow.

Several floors further, the trio made it to the central area of the lobby, taking cover behind massive flower pots containing dying plants. Plasma and crystals criss-crossed above them and hit their cover, boiling away faux-wood, the plants and the soil in the pots themselves. The trio hummed, popped up as soon as they heard the first plasma rifle overheat and laid into the enemy.

Two grunts were filled full of lead. A third stumbled and his shots went wide. The elites leading the pack crumpled under the whittling firepower as the Spartan and his escorting biomechanical comrades pushed forward. Crow stepped up toward an Elite, dodging an attempt to bludgeon her head in and drawing her combat knife. With a roar worthy of a berserker, she slammed the tip of the blade int othe side of the Elite's neck, piercing through the bodysuit and ballistic layering and cutting into its artery. Swiping down, the woman seemed to bathe in the purple blood for a moment, staining her face and armor.

She pushed forward and rejoined Six on his right side, noting, "Bit of payback..."

"Don't go committing suicide by Elite," Six quipped darkly.

Elster added, "Would save us a headache..." jokingly. Crow lifted one digit in an ancient, but easily recognizable gesture, causing both Elster and Six to snort. The group pushed further, toward one of the bridges that linked the towers that made up the Hospital. There, they found three things:Various high and low points, the roaring gunfire of Army Troopers pinned down by Covenant and the jammer itself at the farthest point in the back, covered by Elites and energy shields.

Elster huffed, while the Crow growled and Six simply stared. The trio joined up with the Army Troopers, Six stating, "Sixteen Charlie, you and your platoon are with us. Cover to cover, leapfrog and engage. Look out for the Elite Rangers... And someone get me a sniper..." just as one of the Troopers, a girl, stepped up and nodded to Six. The girl, a mixed Asian-European who wore some extra equipment for sniping on her helmet, hefted her SRS-99 and nodded.

Six gave one hand motion, an open-palm point toward one of the upper areas where flower pots were, so she could use them for cover. She nodded and scrambled off toward it. The rest of the Army Troopers formed up loosely with the Spartan and his comrades. Bolts of plasma slammed into their cover while Jetpacks hissed, their users soaring forward and landing on elevated platforms.

One of the Elite Rangers' closed helmets cracked open, spraying blood and bone and brain matter on one of its brethren. The Alien collapsed in a heap. Another thundercrack echoed and a second elite with a Needle Rifle had its armor punctured by a 14,5mm round. Up above, two contrails dissipated as the Sniper aimed her next shot. Two needle rounds flew by her, but she didn't even flinch.

With a single motion of the hand, Six ordered the assault to begin. The surviving Army troopers long-armed grenades over the energy barricades, each landing in a cluster of Covenant units. The detonations either killed or disoriented the enemy enough, allowing the platoon and the Spartan to advance. Gunfire once more filled the hall as grunts and their comrades were put down.

A flurry of rounds left the Army Troopers' rifles as they cut down the remaining survivors, with Six, Elster and Crow finally able to advance on the pulsating Covenant jammer unabated. Electricity arced off its body, the central radiator pulsing rapidly with various non-lethal radiation bursts per second. Their helmets and systems overall seemed to be enduring the brunt of the damage, with the Crow finding herself in the need to slam herself in the head to reset her ocular sensors.

Six put a hand on the device, then tapped in a few commands on the holographic display, courtesy of his systems' translation component. Three hand signals and everyone backed away as the plasma coil containing the power of the device overloaded and it detonated in a bright blue flash. Elster coughed, shaking her head, then murmured, "I hate these things..."

Six nodded, then radioed, "Command, this is Noble Six. Sixteen Charlie survivors at the hospital require EVAC. Objective One complete..." before humming.

"... To anyone on this net," A familiar voice played over Elster's restored com, "This is Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, 11th ODST, requesting support on the South Side of the city. A few of my men who were helping get left-over Civvies out are under attack by Covenant. Need someone who can back me up and eliminate the Covenant support while I get them outta there..." before Kat's reply quickly came over the radio.

"..." Elster smiled, then radioed, "Gunny, this is Elster. I'm on my way over now. Kat, I'm gonna need a Falcon at the Hospital. Let Six and Crow deal with the rest of the com jammers..."

"... Roger that. If you're sure," Kat replied.

"Sure as can be," Elster quipped.

"Heh. I'll welcome the help any time, Elster. Watch your flying, air's thick with these covvie bastards," Buck replied over the radio. The platoon all rushed outside, to the top of the tower and toward the evacuation vehicles. A Pelican and another Falcon landed on the pad, with two Marines manning the latter. Elster looked to Six, gave the man and Crow a nod, then climbed aboard the helicopter.

The two said their quick goodbyes before Elster powered on the Falcon's engines. The two Marines beside her jumped on the machine guns as she lifted off and banked down, turning toward where her HUD had updated the NAV Point. Behind her, she saw Six and the Pelican evacuating Sixteen Charlie moving toward an area thick with buildings. She gazed forward once more, then radioed Buck and said, "Gunny. I'm on approach vector."

"Check your three o'clock," The man replied. She gazed to the right, to the sight of a second Falcon manned by ODSTs, the soldiers clad in black, tactical, fully-sealed armors. Buck, at the controls of the Falcon, gave her a thumbs up, though she didn't know if he was looking at her or not due to the polarized visor of his helmet. She replied in kind, however, before the two Falcons formed up. "I'm surprised," Buck commented, "Where's your girl?"

"She's safe in CASTLE Base," Elster replied, her mind flashing to her beautiful girlfriend. With all the hell she'd been going through, she had had little time to think about her, though she knew in the back of her mind that she was the one she was even fighting as hard as she was for. Buck hummed, before humming an affirmative as he maintained an echelon formation with the Replika.

The two watched the first Banshees emerge in their path and aligned the guns on their Falcons, letting loose volleys of autocannon fire. The two banked to opposite directions, clearing the path and trying to destroy as many enemy flyers as they could, while, around them, Covenant dropships headed for the evacuation site. Elster hummed, radioing in, "Noble Seven to allied assets, retreat into the building. We'll clear the air and bring in a Pelican for EVAC..." before squinting. Her visor polarized, increasing magnification and allowing her to see the other ODSTs.

They pulled back to within the confines of the building's stairwell. Tracers still flew through the doorway, but now the Covenant were bottlenecked when they had to deploy and engage them. It was still an uphill battle for the Shock Troopers, which was the reason Elster now zeroed in on the leading enemy Phantom and lit it up. The rounds of the Autocannon tore through the purple-hued hull of the enemy dropship, sending it careening into a building as one of its engines detonated, leaving it without stability.

They had a job still. Evacuating the ODSTs and the Civilians, followed by getting the hell out of here as well. She felt a ping in her neural network, however, followed by a set of flashing coordinates. Her HUD blurred and seemed to flicker for a second, only to return to normal moments later, which made her worry the Covvies had dropped another jammer nearby...

... No time to worry about it now. Civvies needed rescue.