[UNSC Spirit of Fire Bridge]
The holo table powered on with a quick beep as the symbol of a communications link being verified.
[Scanning for Active Combat Engagement.]
[Engagement found, Connecting...]
[Connection complete. Loading Distributed Combat Management and Communication Network Interface...]
[...]
[Loading complete. Displaying current combat situation.]
A display showing the large Epsilon Clarion facility was projected on screen, the Banished Base being clear in front of it, with live markers showing Banished troops on the ground, along with troop count, equipment, active officers, possible actions, counter-maneuvers, and vulnerable or priority targets.
This is why Cutter loved overseeing battles, he enjoyed fully utilizing the advanced technology at his disposal to plan out and help his troops in coordinating their moves. He would say he knew the Banished moves before they even thought of them, but the Battle-Net wasn't that advanced... Yet. Still, the data it displayed was very useful, as he quickly assisted in designating targets for each and every squad on the ground. While Red Team and Sunray were carrying out their plans and orders, he was making sure the lesser threats were dealt with before they could become a major problem.
Besides seizing the Clarion and potentially cutting the head off the serpent by killing Atriox himself, the primary goal was to lose as few troops as possible, seeing as the Spirit of Fire's manpower was at half it's maximum capacity when it arrived, and now it was almost at a quarter of that. If it wasn't for human research and outposts on the ring reaching and joining the Spirit of Fire's crew, they would've run out of troops long ago. Of course, Cutter didn't like to dwell on that fact too much.
Cutter quickly placed his fingers on a cluster of holographic Marines, drawing a red line toward a squad of Brutes and Grunt, connecting the two groups and indicating the Marines to fire on the enemy squad. Almost immediately the board displayed tiny little specks representing bullets and plasma shots being exchanged between the two forces, as the vital indicators above both squads waned before the enemy combatant vanished off the table. One down, many more to go.
Cutter's view shifted elsewhere on the table, meanwhile the marker indicating Jerome-092 was running up behind a Jump-pack Brute.
[Epsilon Clarion]
Jerome clutched his rifle tight as he rushed behind the towering Brute clad in armor, shifting his elbow forward before ramming into it's back as the Brute tumbled forward onto the ground from the sheer force of the impact, attempting to stand before having it's helmet kicked off and head filled with lead. Jerome quickly raised his rifle back up to fire at several Grunts firing towards him with their plasma pistols, before quickly strafing to the side to avoid a charged shot fired by a Grunt Major, their personal energy shield pulsing blue.
"Imma kill you, you dumb Spartan!"
"Sure you will pal." Jerome said before quickly aiming and firing at the Grunt, it's shields pulsing before overloading and bursting, causing them to yell out as Jerome rushed them.
"OH NO-" A heavy kick right into the Grunt's face shattered their neck and sent them rolling back onto their face. Jerome then quickly drew his pistol and blasted the tank on the dead Grunt's back, causing it to explode and take several Jackals with it, their shields doing little to protect them from the blast. Jerome's suit sensors beeped an alert as he quickly spun around and took a step back right as a blue plasma blade ignited and slashed toward him, barely missing his chest. The figure holding the blade was barely visible aside from their cloaking field distorting the light around them and causing it to shimmer. The cloak soon vanished, revealing the tall and imposing figure of the Elite Honor Guard, clad in red armor with shimmering blue shields as two horn-like crests extended from their helmet. The Elite narrowed his
"By the honor of my clan I shall slay you Spartan, and avenge those you slew aboard our Shipmaster's vessel! I shall redeem the Conviction!"
"Figured you would be a bit mad about that. Not gonna call me a demon like the other elites?"
"I was there for the entire war against your race. I know full well that the title is reserved for only one of your kind, the one truly responsible for the end of the Covenant. Now... DIE!" The Honor Guard roared, his helmet visor lowering and plasma blade raised as he rushed forward and slashed upwards at Jerome, who managed to dodge to the side and grab the Elites arm, pulling him off balance as he drew his pistol and fired towards the Elite's head, only for the shields to block the damage. The Elite quickly knocked him back with his elbow and attempted to stab forward before receiving a kick to the chest and stumble back as Jerome fired the last few rounds of his assault rifle into the Elite's chest.
The blue shields surrounding the Honor Guard flashed red before dissipating as he roared in rage as the bullets unimpeded by the shield pinged off his armor. a second time and rushed once more. However, as the Sangheili slashed towards Jerome from the side, he stepped out of it's range before leaping into the air, firing his pistol at his exposed arm as the Elite roared in pain and dropped his blade, falling to his knees as he gripped his arm in pain before being delivered a powerful kick to the back of his head, sending him face first into the ground as his skull shattered.
Jerome let out a sigh of relief, double-tapping the corpse of the Guard before opening a comm-link as he reloaded his rifle and pistol. "Good news everyone, the Honor Guard is down."
"Glad to hear that. And just in time, cause the base is coming down with him." The voice of Vaughan spoke over the link, as Jerome turned towards the Banished base to watch as it was bombarded by several artillery shells. Combined with the fire of Scorpion and Cyclops cannons, the base collapsed under the assault, exploding outwards in a cascade of detonations as debris flew everywhere. "Now that was an explosion! Now then, Jerome, you and Red Team go ahead and head outside. Sunray will stay out here to secure the area for exfil."
"Roger that, heading interior. Red Team form up on me, were breaking the doors down."
The three Spartans regrouped and walked past the rest of their troops as they cheered them on, with Cyclops firing their cannons into the air in celebration. Douglas turned and gave a fist bump to Vaughan before they finally reached the door to the facility, as it slowly opened for them and they stepped inside. Once they were inside, the door sealed behind them and the Spartans readied their weapons.
"Alright, let's go put that big monkey out of commission." Douglas said as Alice and Jerome nodded, before Jerome signaled for them to move up. They looked to see hastily erected barricades of crates blocking their path, though the Spartans were able to easily kick them out of the way.
"Looks like we caught them off guard, these barricades are really recent. Guess that means we don't got the element of surprise."
"Alright, let's move quick, remember were inside what is essentially a gun pointed at the head of the galaxy and if Atriox gets antsy he might just pull the trigger." Jerome spoke in a stern tone, as Alice and Douglas firmly nodded before the Spartans picked up the pace and sprinted down the long corridor, before stepping onto an elevator as it slowly elevated them upwards. "Best prepare yourselves for a fight."
Alice chuckled to herself as she raised her Vulcan chaingun. "Lookin' forward to it."
"I call dibs on being the one to knock Atriox's teeth out."
"Remember, once we get the code and upload to Isabel, were gonna have a limited amount of time to bug out before she manages to overload this facility and blow it sky high. So I hope you brought your running shoes." Jerome did a quick check on his ammunition with his HUD, before looking up to see the elevator almost at the top. Jerome turned and nodded to his fellow Spartans, as they squatted down and then quickly leaped into the air, using the momentum of the elevator to propel themselves higher and faster as they flew over several heavily armored Brutes and Elites, before slamming down on top of them as they quickly dodged into cover and began firing. An Elite charged towards Alice, leaping on top of her cover and raising his blade only to be knocked to to the ground by Alice swinging her chaingun with heavy force before gunning the Elite down. Once the Elite was dead, Alice focused down firing on the Brutes, as a Chieftan wielding a gravity hammer stepped forth and roared, his shields activating as he rushed towards the Spartans.
Jerome reached over his shoulder and gripped his M6 Spartan Laser, aiming down the sights and slowly charging it's power up. As soon as it reached max charge, he fired the laser directly into the Brutes skull, shattering their shields and armor and evaporating what used to be their head.
Douglas decided to put an end to this quick as he drew his rocket launcher and fired it into the center of the enemy group, blowing them all apart as their shields overloaded and they were scorched by the detonation. Douglas reloaded his launcher before turning to the other two Spartans and nodding as they quickly ran towards the other end of the facility, fighting through Grunts and Jackals to reach the control terminal. As they reached the terminal, they saw a large armored Brute standing in front of it, gravity hammer mounted to his back and plasma cannon in his hands.
"Atriox, we finally meet agai-"
"I am not Atriox. To even insinuate that I am equal to his might is an insult to him. No, our leader has already departed from this ark, to rejoin our grand forces across the galaxy. I am Atriox's Chosen, the greatest of his warriors, and I am here to guard the Banished's last option for total victory. However, I am not so dishonorable as to condemn the galaxy to extinction when there is still plenty of glorious battle to be had. I ask that you come forth and face me, in a battle to see who is truly superior."
The Spartans of Red team all looked to each other, nodding to Jerome as he turned back to the Brute and nodded. "I accept your challenge."
"Then let us duel!" The Chosen quickly tossed his cannon to the side, drawing his hammer and roaring as he slammed it down, the ground shaking from the heavy impact as Jerome leaped over the shockwave, landing in front of the Brute and throwing a rapid series of punches into his chest, and then sending an uppercut to his face, knocking off his helmet and sending some teeth flying out of his mouth. The Brute grunted before quickly raising his fist and gripping the Spartans leg, lifting him over his head before slamming him onto the ground, using his other hand to bring up his gravity hammer to slam down on Jerome as he laid on the ground.
Jerome quickly rolled out of the way before standing up and leaping towards the Brute, using his shoulder to ram into his side and send him off balance before throwing several more punches to the Brutes unarmored face, disorienting them as they dropped their hammer. Jerome quickly bent down and grasped the hammer, levelling it out before slamming it into the Brutes face, sending him flying towards the window overlooking the Ark's foundry, the sheer force and power of the impact sending the Brute through the glass as he fell into the seemingly endless abyss.
Jerome let out a sight of relief as he dropped the hammer and turned to Douglas and Alice, as they nodded while Douglas whistled. "Damn, pretty brutal sir."
"Yeah, not half bad. Now then, let's get what we came here for." Alice said as Jerome nodded before turning to the terminal, powering it on before activating his comm-link. "Isabel, we've activated the facilities systems, ready for interface."
"Got it, I'm already downloading the code. I've sent a Pelican to extract you, and as soon I retrieve the code I'll set the facility to overload."
"Good to hear. We'll be waiting." Soon, the distinct shape of a Pelican hovered in front of the shattered window, turning backing up towards the terminal as it's ramp opened and the Spartans quickly hopped inside. The Pelican sped up as it began it's ascent, with Jerome turning back just in time to see several other Pelicans and Condors flying away from the facility right as it detonated in a flurry of explosions. As the smoke cleared, the facility was left in ruins.
"Like killing two birds with one stone."
"Indeed, even if Atriox has fled back to the Milky Way, we can at least be happy knowing the Banished won't control all of the rings. I should have the transponder installed by the time you get back here, so be ready for anything. This will either make or break our plan."
"Got it." Jerome turned away from the open ramp just as it sealed shut behind him. "Red Team, I believe that for what is likely our final operation on this ring, it went damn well."