Buck, his team and a platoon of Marines had been selected by Generals Kenobi and Skywalker to assist in an ambush. Jackhammer rocket launchers, MA40s and even grenade launchers had been packed by the UNSC's troops, with Romeo and the Marine platoon's Marksman already setting up their scoped rifles atop each of the two towers the Jedi had elected for this ambush.
Buck had been stuck with General Skywalker for the time being, the ODST's gaze peering down at a battalion of droids marching down the viaduct they were defending. He looked to Skywalker and said, "EM Grenades should do fine against these tin cans, right? Eggheads upstairs told us the units we sent to them were not shielded against pulses like them."
Anakin nodded, "That's the concept behind our Droid Poppers. An EM Pulse powerful enough to fry them."
"Sounds good to me, sir," Mickey grinned as he loaded a dual-purpose grenade in his single-shot grenade launcher. Buck hummed and snorted, watching the Clankers approaching them, all while Rex and the clones around prepped their weapons to engage the foe. Across from them, general Kenobi's troopers prepared heavy plasma auto-cannons to engage as well.
"Droid Poppers can also stun people, depending on their setting," Rex clarified as he joined up with them, causing Buck and the others to look at him, dumbfound. Rex then clarified, "I've seen holos of them being used in testing against sentients with a working nervous system. Their muscles locked up and they fell over, but were confirmed to be alive by testing. Recovery ain't that long either."
Mickey paused, "Huh. Riot control EMPs."
"Should be fun to tell ONI about," Murmured Buck as he shifted his gaze back toward the advancing Droids. He blanked, however, then elbowed Skywalker and said, "Rear of the formation. Counting three Hovertanks..." the design of which heavily reminded him of a combination between their Scorpion and the Covenant and Swords of Sangheilios's Wraith. The wide half-moon plate at the base also had projectile launchers, it seems, while two bars on the sides of the vehicle's main armored body held quad plasma cannons and, finally, the rounded, armored turret mounted what looked to be a cannon of almost similar design to a Scorpion's.
"That... Could be a problem..." Anakin sighed, then called up Obi-Wan on the com-link, "Master, we've got armor coming in."
"We saw it, too, Anakin. It's good that our allies have brought over anti-armor equipment after all... Steady as she goes," Obi-Wan replied, voice audible over the radio. The man was as calm as always, Anakin thought as his hand hovered loosely over his lightsaber's hilt.
Dutch walked up to the window, eyeing the enemy tanks, then patted his laser and said, "Good thing we brought Jackhammers and a Laser..." as he eyed the machines. Buck hummed in agreement, shouldering his MA40 while the Marines around them prepped their own heavy weapons. One of the Marines, a guy, looked toward the advancing CIS Battalion. Dutch put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Relax, kid..." before humming, "Did you guys hear the Arbiter's planning on sending his own troops in? He's in talks with Yularen now, too, after we gave them the codes."
"Oh, boy," Snorted Mickey, "Hinge-jaws are gonna be dropping in, too, eh?"
"I'd not diss the Sangheili too much, Mickey," Dutch quipped, "Sure, the bastards did what they did, but the Arbiter and his faction are atoning for it, at least."
"Was just saying, Dutch," The explosive expert replied, "I'm glad they're on our side nowadays. Feels good not to have an Energy Sword swinging for my god damn neck for once..." And that got a laugh out of the Marines and Buck. Gunny himself stared at his team with a half-smile behind his helmet, then noted the Rookie and a Clone Trooper to his right, conversing via hand signals. A bullet to the vocal cords sometimes does that to a man, but Rookie was making an incredible recovery.
"That was the different ship Admiral Yularen mentioned in one of his reports after the Rendezvous with yours, right?" Anakin inquired, peering through the binoculars he had brought along. Buck hummed in confirmation, watching the Droids marching still. They'd gotten close enough for him to hear the thumping footsteps of the tin cans from this distance, even if they were muffled by the glass. Anakin hummed, "Thanks, by the way. I don't think the Seps expected you guys to appear and blockade Christophsis as well..."
"Well, sir," Buck hummed, "They shouldn't have shot first..." And he paused as he saw the Droid formation splitting into three distinct prongs. He swore to himself, feeling a pit in his stomach, "Sir, they're divvying up. Two prongs are headed for us and General Kenobi's fireteam. The central's moving on as planned..." before he heard several of his Marines stand to their feet.
Anakin hummed, "That's not good... Think they know?"
"Honestly, sir, I'd rather not sit around and find out..." Buck replied, watching the enemy machines advance to the bases of their towers, before radioing in, "Spooky Two-Five, this is Alpha-Niner Actual, requesting gunship support on our location. Enemy might know of our POS and has brought armor. Repeat, enemy has armor. Recommend you mount ATGMs."
"Roger, Alpha-Niner. Spooky 2-5, en-route to AO, ETA, one mike. Hang tight 'till we're in the pipe," The pilot of the gunship replied.
Buck looked to Skywalker and thumbed his rifle's safety off, stating, "We're gonna have company, sir. Wanna prep?" to which Anakin flashed the Trooper a grin and brandished his lightsaber. Rex and the other Clones all readied weapons. Buck nodded to his team, all of whom hefted their gear, before hearing blaster and automatic fire from Kenobi's tower. Flashes of red and blue came from the windows...
"Oh, great, they got to them first," Anakin sighed, then powered on his com-link, "Master, we're seeing heavy fire in your tower. Need some backup?"
"We would appreciate it, Anakin!" General Kenobi replied, more annoyed than afraid. Hell, Buck wasn't sure the man was afraid in the first place. The Troopers and Skywalker marched up to one of the windows that faced Kenobi's tower, readying their weapons, before Buck looked to Anakin, ready to ask him how they were gonna get across. Three troopers popped up behind him, however, with grappling hook guns attached to the barrels of their rifles.
Skywalker looked to Buck and said, "Up for a little ride?"
"Good thing we brought our hooks, sir," Buck nodded, while his ODSTs laughed. He took a step back as Anakin ignited his Lightsaber and slashed an X across the window ahead. A gust of air filled the room and nearly knocked the oxygen out of Buck's and his boys' lungs. The window shattered under the mounting pressure, shards of glass falling onto the line of Droids down below.
"Move it up, men!" Rex ordered the grappling hook troops. The three soldiers aimed and fired the expanding hooks, their thick wires unravelling with the familiar whirr of metallic rope scratching against the reinforced body of the internal winch. The hooks struck and locked into place, digging into the ferrous compound that made up the wall on the other side and the troopers hooked the other end of the wires up to the rear wall.
Skywalker jumped in first, utilizing a specialized hook to mount the impromptu zipline, while his troopers attached their own hooks to the lines and the ODSTs and Marines followed suit. Before long, the entire unit was rushing across the distance between the two towers, hanging on for dear life as the Droids below opened up on them. The air grew thick with red plasma, only for the ODSTs and Skywalker to reply by shooting back and deflecting the bolts, respectively.
They saw Romeo reposition above them, using his jetpack to jump the distance and firing his gun all the same. He managed to nail two droids after firing thrice, so that was a decent enough kill-to-spent-round case... Of course, two Clones and one of their Marines got hit while crossing, their screams audible as they lost their grip or their own lines broke and they fell.
"This wasn't that good of an idea!" Buck called out as he blasted away with his pistol.
"Hindsight's always twenty-twenty!" Dutch replied, while Mickey laughed and fired the SMG he had as a sidearm at the droids. Rex hummed in agreement, before pausing as multiple missiles screamed around them. The droid battalion below shattered with the ground as rocket motors whined and unguided missiles hit them. Above, a Pelican gunship swept in, its maw-mounted 30mm Autocannon letting loose.
Anakin looked up and smirked, then spoke over com, "Thanks for the backup! Makes our crossing easier!"
"You're welcome, General. Gunny, I suggest you folks pack your bags and prep to Evac, though," The pilot replied. She shifted her aircraft to the right a little, letting loose with the autocannon as the Droid Tanks shifted their cannons to meet them. Another Platoon of Marines dismounted on the roof, one of them carrying a Jackhammer that he fired in reply to the Droids' own tank guns firing up after them.
"Already on it, Spooky," Buck replied professionally.
Spooky then shifted the bird again and powered its engines, keeping herself on the move and laying into them with guns. On its wings, however, were racks bearing four missiles each. These missiles were bulkier and had a nose-cone camera. One of them activated, its engine roaring as it flew off the rack in a straight line, before arching down onto one of the Droid tanks.
It struck through the top of the turret, right into one of the ammo stowage sections for the autoloading gun. The explosion that followed rocked its two siblings to the side, making them miss their intended target. The Jackhammers from the other Marines struck the pair of tanks just as Anakin and the others breached the tower Kenobi and the 212th were. Buck, Skywalker and Rex were first into the room.
Bullets began to rain as Buck scoped in the first droid. His MA40 barked in unison with Rex's twin heavy blaster pistols. The Captain and Gunnery Sergeant joined up with Commander Cody and Generals Kenobi and Skywalker at the front. Obi-Wan told them with a half-hearted bit of sass in his voice, "How nice of you to join us! You sure were fast!"
"We zip-lined all the way over, sir," Buck replied as he took a knee, letting two pairs of Marines and Clones behind him fire their weapons at the advancing droids. Bullet and bolt snapped and punctured the thin armor of the droids' bodies. One of them nailed a Marine in the chest, so that Marine must've been extremely thankful for the heat-dissipating layer beneath his chest plate when he fell to the floor.
Dutch grabbed that Marine by the collar and dragged him back, stating, "God bless the R&D for developing heat-resistant armor!"
"We can tank a couple shots of plasma now!" Mickey replied with a laugh. Outside, the rumble of Spooky's autocannon filled the air as the bird orbited around them, gunning down any Droids that were still outside.
"Generals, we gotta fall back. Spooky's on-station to evacuate us," Buck stated as he shifted his aim. He filled another Droid full of holes, then ducked as a bolt of energy singed his helmet's top. He swore, "Motherf-..." Before catching himself and nodding to Mickey. The Grenadier grinned brightly behind his helmet. He hefted the grenade launcher, aimed and fired, sending the grenade barreling into the doorway as the Jedi began pulling back. Upon detonation, a burst of electricity knocked several Droids out from the half-company that was still advancing on them.
With a hand signal, Rex ordered the troopers to begin the retreat. He and Cody put down suppressing fire from their blasters as their brothers, two of which got nailed in front of them, were retreating. A UNSC Marine primed a grenade, but took a bolt to the head, collapsing with the grenade in his hand. It rolled out in front of Rex, who noticed it and vented his annoyance by kicking it toward the Droids. It exploded, raining shrapnel all around them and allowing the Clone Troopers to retreat as another Marine took a bolt and collapsed.
As they ran, Buck asked Kenobi, "Sir, any idea how this happened?!"
"None!" Kenobi replied, "However, I saw a Tactical Droid among their units! If it's not destroyed, we can probably take its head to interrogate it!"
"Guessing we can tell it apart from all the other B1 Tin Cans!" Buck replied as he dropped off a primed grenade behind them. Cody and Rex kicked it back farther as its fuse ticked down silently, before the thump of the explosion reverberated alongside the shockwave. Climbing up to the top of the tower and exiting out via the main, they found Romeo and his fellow Sniper poking at targets with their rifles. Buck radioed in, "Spooky, be ready to land on our mark."
"Waitin' on ya, Gunny," the Pilot replied as she continued firing her autocannon. The Clones and soldiers all set up to greet the incoming Droids, taking cover around various power and heating installations on the rooftop. Buck looked to the Pelican as dozens of blaster rounds struck its belly armor, heating, but not melting the metal. All the while, Spooky's gun continued to spew death.
The first droids to step through the door were, of course, B1s. All were met with a volley of fire so focused, it spooked even Kenobi and Skywalker. The two Jedi provided the defense against the volleys of blaster fire from the droids, while the ODSTs and Clones pulled their triggers all the way back, bullets piercing concrete and layered plates on the walls. The droids piled high, scored by plasma and cut apart by rounds, just as the Command Droid marched forward with more units.
A Clone noticed it. He looked to Rookie and gave him a nod, to which the ODST replied in kind, before shifting his fire toward a squad of Mechs. The Clone charged the Command Mech, pinned it to the wall and ripped its bloody head off. Buck then radioed, "Spooky! We're good for Evac! Prep to make it hot!" and watched as the aircraft settled at the edge of the tower. Buck made the motion of a hand-chop toward the vehicle and said, "Move! Bounding retreat!"
"You heard the man, Troopers! Move it!" Rex ordered. He grabbed a Clanker, pinned it against the wall and put several blaster bolts to his chest. Anakin, meanwhile, utilized Force push. The tidal wave of energy bent the wind into a shockwave of its own, sending several droids into each-other. Obi-Wan and him shut their blades off and clipped them to their hilts, before rushing back with the rest of their troopers.
Last to jump into the vehicle was one of their Troopers, before the Pelican turned around as the back hatch closed. The pilot looked to her co-pilot and nodded, stating, "Light them up, Tommy..." as she punched in the coordinates for their base. The Co-Pilot moved his joystick and aimed, the HUD on his helmet tracking the aim of the main gun via a reticle. As more and more droids poured onto the rooftop and fired at them, the man grinned and squeezed. 30mm rounds tore through the line of Droids without remorse, High-Ex rounds detonating off the walls and infrastructure and shattering multiple tin cans. He gave a thumbs up to the woman, before the aircraft turned to leave.
In the Blood Tray, Buck took his helmet off and sighed, "Whatever that was... At least, we made it."
"Lucky us," Romeo murmured sarcastically as he sat down next to one of their Marines.
Obi-Wan looked at the Clone that had ripped the head off the droid commander, then at the head itself, pointed at it and said, "Let's hope our friend here knows what caused that little Ambush to fail..."
... Back at FOB, UNSC Troops had grown a little tense. Not a lot of the boys and girls had seen action and they were getting antsy to shoot at something. Meanwhile, Buck had been ordered to escort a bunch of new arrivals toward the Command Room. Specifically, Alpha Niner was now escorting Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and a platoon of Sangheili Special Operations Elites.
Hunchback, tall, muscular and well-built, the Elite honor guard of Special Ops wore enclosed masks with glimmering gold visor eyes. The half-dozen Elites carried an Energy Sword attached to a magnetic lock on their enclosed armor's left thigh, their hooves clanking against the steel. In their four-fingered hands lay plasma rifles, needle rifles, plasma repeaters and a particle beam rifle.
That which turned several Clones' and Christophsians heads were not just the Spec-Ops Elites, however. Clad in gold-tinted, ornate armor with a cape draped over his right arm and shoulder, concealing even more armor plating and with a menacing-looking Energy Sword hilt clipped to the thigh, Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, the Slayer of the Prophet of Truth and Liberator of Sangheilios, marched with a stride denoting the elegance of the Sangheili race.
Beneath the armor, still visible, was a marking that only his Elite brethren knew the meaning of. However, from a Mark of Shame during his service with the Covenant, it had become a Mark of Pride. The reptile eyes of the alien were focused forward, the suit's Heads-Up Display, a more ancient Operating System than that of the Elites around him, playing in his eyes.
Buck hummed and said, "So, you folks good with working with the Republic?"
"I see no reason not to," The Arbiter replied, his booming, calm and smooth, yet still Alien voice a familiar tone to Buck. They'd met during the signing of the Alliance between their species. Thel spoke again, "They fired upon our allies. A human proverb states that the enemy of my enemy is my friend... And, so far, it has not been proven wrong. Else we might have been fighting this Galactic Republic as well."
"And I'll bet they don't want that once they see your people in combat," Mickey quipped, though a hint of fury was in his voice.
To his credit, the Arbiter chose not to notice the faint anger behind the ODST's voice. He replied, "Let us hope they'll accept the help of a few unknown aliens..." before the doors ahead of them slid open. The Generals and Admiral Lasky were already talking, looking over the discoveries taken from the Tactical Droid's central processor. Generals Kenobi and Skywalker turned to face the massive reptilian bipedals that had marched in and both men stood, stunned.
The Arbiter was first to greet them. Putting his right fist to his chest, thus revealing the segmented 'scale' armor on the right arm, the Elite bowed his head and spoke calmly, "Good evening, Generals and officers of the Republic. My name is Thel 'Vadam and I am of the warrior caste of the Sangheili. It is an honor to meet our new Allies within this Galaxy..." and then straightening up.
Obi-Wan, ever the curteous man, was first to reply, "The honor is all ours. A pleasure to finally meet you in person, Arbiter."
"Likewise, General Kenobi," The Arbiter replied.
"Yeah, hello," Anakin waved, a little more awkwarded out. Thel gave him a simple nod, before approaching the holotable in the middle, to see the Droid head with several wires attached to its main connection ports. Anakin hummed and said, "To give you a brief rundown, Arbiter, we were just discussing the fact this droid knew all our plans... And we were wondering how, exactly."
"An intruder, perhaps," The Arbiter suggested as he looked at the machine head.
Obi-Wan hummed, scratching his beard, "Perhaps, but who'd be so bold?"
"Sirs," Cody replied as he looked at the machine, "I don't think it was scouts that the Droids used to know where we were gonna be. We and our UNSC allies would've spotted them... There's something else going on here," And he looked to Rex, who nodded. The two Generals motioned to Cody to go on, while the Arbiter gazed at him with a calm look. The troops behind him stood at the ready, too, though their weapons were lowered and presumably on safe. Cody sighed, then spoke, "I and Rex have a theory... One we don't like at all. There might be a spy in our midst."
The two Jedi looked to one-another, then to Cody. Kenobi said, "Are you sure of what you're saying, Cody?"
"Honestly, sir, it seems like the only plausible explanation," Rex replied as he joined his friend.
Kenobi hummed, stroking his beard, then said, "Then we should be mindful of the situation... I believe this is a good time for us to engage in a little scouting of our own behind enemy lines," and he looked to Anakin. The 501st's General smirked and gave a nod, before both Jedi turned to Cody and Rex. Obi-Wan told them, "I presume you gentlemen don't mind handling the internal investigation?"
Rex and Cody turned to one-another, before both men nodded. The Arbiter looked to the Jedi and said, "If we may join you in the investigation. Me and my commandoes can handle any infiltration mission put before us..." and he activated his camouflage. As did the other Elites, in fact. That certainly got a shocked gasp out of the Clones and Jedi, and a grin out of Anakin. They reappeared next, the Elite leader's four mandibles mimicking a semi-human smile.
"Very well, then," Obi-Wan nodded, "Welcome aboard."
Thel bowed his head again in a respectful form of thank you. Anakin looked to Rex and Cody, then said, "See you two later," as he, Obi-Wan, the Arbiter and his men stepped out. Buck hummed, took his helmet off and sighed deeply. He looked to the Clones and shrugged, before walking toward one of the windows and muttering something. Mickey and the others looked to the Captain and Commander.
"So... Traitor?" Dutch took his helmet off, showing the arched brow he had when looking at the two officers.
Cody shrugged, "It's as likely as any other explanation so far..." And he sighed.
"Well, that should be fun," Quipped Mickey. He then asked with a rhetorical, almost sarcastic tone, "How the hell are we gonna find a traitor in the middle of a base chock-full of people who look nearly identical?" which garnered a few laughs out of his team and a concealed snort from Rex. Mickey added the killing blow as he looked to a dead-serious Cody, "No offense, Commander."
"None taken..." Cody rolled his eyes, "We'll figure something out..." before pausing and looking at the com-links sat on the desk. A sudden beeping filled the room as silence set in, before Cody paused, approaching the Com-Link station and looking it over. He frowned, looked to Rex and said, "Hell... We were being listened to. Someone left their com-link on and heard everything!"
"Ah, shit," Buck sighed and put his helmet back on. He turned to Cody and Rex and stated, "Guessing hunt's on..."