While air wings dropped precision munitions from above and advancing armored columns brought ruin to the Empire's many defenses, pinning the enemy against a wall they could not climb, destroy or sidestep, the infantry pushed the envelope in terms of combat. Lead among these units of the UNSC were the Warrior Bunnies themselves. A US Marine fireteam supported by around five Army Paratroopers and a single engineer now faced a squadron of over two dozen Insurrectionist troops, taking fire from every direction.
Caught up in the middle of this firefight was a trio of Warrior Bunnies with Delilah in the lead. The woman, now a UNSC Staff Sergeant, twirled her blade in one hand and snapped off shots with the other. She ducked behind the cover of the wall and looked back at her team. Their Medic, Sarah, was tending to one of the wounded Marines utilizing the stuff in his IFAK.
The other, Mirela, hefted her DMR over cover and fired back at the Innie task force. She huffed as a bullet scraped an inch too close to her face, before huffing, which pushed a strand of her long golden hair out of her eyes. She felt her helmet, a standard-issue UNSC one, modified specifically for warrior bunnies to allow them to fit their ears comfortably within the helmets, then nodded, "Bullet didn't even scrape me..."
"Good," Delilah replied, watching the Marines bring up their SAW Gunner to the top floor of the defensive position. She looked back to Sarah and asked, "How's he doing?"
"He'll live. Bullet barely punctured the SAPI plate," She replied as she stuffed the injury with gauze and put his hand on it. It was a stomach injury, so nothing lethal, one would think. Right? She patted his hand and said, "We'll get you outta here..." before grabbing her MA40 and standing up. She joined the girls by the window just as the USMC SAW Gunner dug a hole into the wall to their right and slid the LMG through, opening up. She spoke to Delilah in a whisper, "If we don't get him out of here, he'll die of blood loss."
"I already rang up CASEVAC. Word is they're sending a Tank unit toward the village where we are," Delilah replied. She poked out and threw a fragmentation grenade. Hearing the cries of Insurrection soldiers, she poked out and snapped off a shot from her Magnum, before dipping back into cover. She had gotten one man and injured two more with that stunt. Once the grenade went off, anyway.
"How long?" Mirela asked, before blasting another Innie in the head. She saw a squadron of Mages charging toward them as well, with one of them raising and firing a bolt of lightning their way. The attack hit the house's side and burned a hole about an inch away from her face, close enough for her hair to stand on-end. Delilah lifted up three fingers and Mirela nodded.
"What about the Civvies we rescued?" Sarah asked.
"The UN troops coming to pick us up said they have enough space in the backs of their transports..." She replied, then hummed and smirked, "We just have to clear the path for everyone to get out of here alive. Switch to CQC weaponry, girls. We go in for the kill against these Innie bastards..." before she looked over her M6G. The other two nodded, both of them holding their guns with one hand and drawing their curved blades with the other.
The Marine lieutenant walked up to her and asked, "You girls gonna need covering fire?"
Delilah nodded, "Suppress the bastards. Let us get in close..." and she looked outside. A bullet punched through the windowsill and hit the front plate of her armor vest. She scoffed, then chuckled and spun her pistol around her finger, before looking to the Lieutenant. The man nodded and called up three Marines, one of which had the M240 Bravo of the squadron. Mounting it and punching another hole through the wall for it, the M240B Gunner and spotter/loader got to work spreading hate.
Delilah nodded and cried out to her girls "Uukhai! Uukhai! Uukhai!" before they charged down the stairs and through the door, which Del kicked off the hinges. Ahead, Insurrectionists and mages took to cover, suppressed by automatic fire from two Machine Guns and a bunch of assault rifles. The woman charged in first, followed by Mirela and Sarah behind her.
She scoped in the first Innie to pop out of cover and fired, the .50 SAPHE round digging a nice canyon through the skull of the monster. Delilah then used the dead man's cover as a springboard, jumping over and into the enemy lines. Mirela slung her DMR onto her back, pulling out a fragmentation grenade and throwing it at a squadron of mages that tried to counteract them.
A burst of flame caught her on her back, but it was luckily too weak. She spun about, jumping over the cover and taking that magician's head off in the run with her swords. Sarah followed next, pouncing over the cover with her assault rifle chattering. Armor-piercing bullets from the MA40 broke the plates and makeshift armor of the Innie troops, as well as the lighter body armor of the mages ahead of her. When the gun clicked empty, she sidestepped cover and thrust the tip of her blade into the face of the enemy's platoon lead.
She dropped her empty magazine and performed a rapid one-hand reload, racking the bolt of her weapon and withdrawing the blade from the man's skull at the same time. She then took a knee, leaning the rifle against the blade arm and firing bursts into the mages. Blood painted one of the walls of another house in the small village, while the brown-haired Warrior Bunny continued her onslaught.
Delilah appeared next, both blades drawn as soon as her pistol was out of ammo. Her blades tore out the throat of a man and gutted another from head to toe, courtesy of the Titanium blades. Lightweight and tough as nails, the blades of the Warrior Bunnies had been heavily reinforced, to the point Delilah's next swing took a man's head at the neck, with Delilah being one of the fastest and strongest Warrior Bunnies.
From within the house where the Marines, Paratroopers and Engineer were, emerged a squadron of Marines and the Paras, their weapons singing back-up for the whisper of titanium blades. The Engineer inside meanwhile quipped, "Goddamn... Bravo Whiskeys are really something else. UNSC got lucky as shit..." as he shouldered his own rifle. A few Marines murmured in agreement.
Delilah wore an expression of pure elation as she practically danced with her swords. She split one's face in two and ducked, stabbing behind her with both blades, thus piercing the man's chest from both sides. Pulling her blades out, she saw them stained with blood, shining a deep crimson in the light of a midday sun. Charging forward toward the next Innie who was distracted, she sliced at his Achilles' Tendon, making him fall to his knee, before quickly plunging her blade into the back of his skull. The tip exited through the man's mouth.
Sarah continued firing suppressing bursts, while Mirela had switched back to her DMR and was popping off the Mages trying to reinforce these bastards. She shifted on her feet, switching the M392 DMR to fully automatic and hosing the bastards down in 7,62mm FMJ-AP ammunition. She ducked in cover as an icicle flew in, with Delilah staggering as she took the magical projectile in her plate.
Scoffing as the crystalline ice broke into shards on her plate, she spun about and quickly reloaded her pistol. Aiming it, she fired again, taking a Mage's arm, another's stomach and a third's foot with accurate shots. The third one was executed by Sarah with a blade to the back of the head, while Mirela whipped out another pair of fragmentation grenades and threw them out toward a dug-in Innie squad farther up the boulevard.
The Marines and Paras joined them, supporting them with accurate semi-automatic fire from rifles and automatic fire from the M249 SAW. "You girls are something fucking else, I'll tell you that! Thank fuck we're allied with the UNSC for the mo'!" The Lieutenant yelled to Delilah as he joined in, a grin on his face and the bayonet on his M4A1. Delilah smirked, tipped her helmet to the man, then winced as a bullet struck her arm.
She looked to the left arm as she took cover, only to see it was limp. She was still holding onto her sword, but the round had hit and torn muscle and a tendon. Thankfully for her, the Adrenaline was doing away with the pain for now. Still, she pulled a medical syringe out of her IFAK, popped the cap off with her teeth and slammed the quick-inject item into her left shoulder. Spitting out the cap, she tossed the syringe into the bag on her side and pulled out a can of biofoam which she used to seal up the wound.
"You good!?" Sarah asked as she took a knee beside her.
Delilah nodded, "Just fine. Keep up the push!"
"I don't think there's a need anymore!" Laughed Mirela as she approached. The group paused as they felt the ground below them start shaking. Delilah stood to her feet and poked her head out, hearing the rumble of armor and tracks, as well as the clap of boots against hardened dirt, coming their way. Looking forward, she saw them:An element of a US Army BCT, supported by a trio of US Marine Corps M1A2 Abrams SEPv3s.
Stryker APCs rolled in between the tanks, alongside supporting MRAPs and a pair of ambulances. The Infantry that had dismounted from the vehicles pushed through, a captain leading the entire rescue team. He approached Delilah and the Lieutenant, to which the two saluted, then he ordered to the Marines, "Get the wounded aboard! We're RTB to a Forward Camp where they'll get treated and vetted, then they're going to Alnus!"
He looked to Delilah and the Lieutenant and said, "Apologies it took so long to get to you. Innies seem to be testing us across the battlefield. Bastards seem to have gotten more proficient at hit'n'runs."
"That's fine, sir," Delilah said as she wrapped her arm in a sling and put it over her head, "We're just glad we got out alive."
"Where's your vics?" He inquired.
"Parked them just behind the building we took cover in the moment we realized Innies would hit us. Only have one fifty and it's been outta ammo since the start of this engagement," The Lieutenant replied, then pointed at the holes drilled through a couple of the homes around. Bigger than 7,62mm, big enough for someone to stick their fist through them.
From aboard the leading MBT, the commander popped out and looked at his vic for any damage, before looking forward as the Warrior Bunnies, Marines, Paratroopers and Engineer came in with civvies and the injured. He greeted them with a nod, before stopping upon noticing one of the Warrior Bunnies. Sarah herself locked eyes with the man and paused, blushing.
Mirela smirked and elbowed the girl, then stated, "You can gawk at the cutie in the tank later, Sarah. We got wounded and Civilians to get outta here."
Sarah blushed and punched Mirela in the shoulder, garnering a laugh out of Delilah and some of the Marines. Meanwhile, the major climbed up to and told the Staff Sergeant, "Staff Sergeant Welkin, prep to do a nice little turn-around maneuver so we can get these people back to our forward lines."
"Sir," Edward nodded.
This was gonna be an interesting ride back home...
Back on Earth 2
... Despite the nickname, nobody in the UNSC's staff had quite decided how to call this place. Halsey had put forth a few proposals, but none were really accepted just yet. Probably going through the details of bureaucracy, she thought. Humming, she checked her tablet and saw a new message as she sat in the backstage area of the UN. She hummed, smirked and said, "Well, I'm afraid we will have to cut our meeting here short."
"Doctor?" Chief inquired, while the others looked at her with a hint of surprise. She nodded, then stood to her feet and patted down her uniform and labcoat. Sliding the tablet back into her pocket, she walked off to talk to the representatives and staff one last time. The SPARTAN hummed, then stated, "The assets we have in play here must've discovered what the good doctor was looking for..."
"Suppose so," Cortana stated, "This should be interesting... Guess we get to meet our voice actors, too?"
"..." Chief hadn't even considered that a possibility. Cortana giggled when she felt the confusion of her partner, before watching through Chief's HUD as the good doctor returned. She showed the team to follow outside and the entire escorting force departed for the exit. Yet again, they were met with the cheering of the local population, all the while Halsey sent the Chief and his team intel on where they were to go.
Boarding their vehicles to the cheers of the population, which had grown into elated welcomes and screams begetting the pride Halsey was feeling, the crew departed for the south end of Manhattan, toward a certain office building where a certain company had moved their operations according to the internet. As the convoy rolled forward, the UNSC personnel all wondered just...
"Doc?" Itami started.
"We will drop you off in the commercial district, Lieutenant. I, the Master Chief and Blue Team have a little work ahead of us," Halsey commented, thumbing her tablet off. She slid it back into her pocket, to which the members of the military present all looked to one-another, slightly concerned. Of course, the moment the convoy left the cordon, however, the streets grew clogged with people coming and going from the scene of the UNSC's arrival.
Still, that didn't stop the good doctor from having them continue onward, until they reached a spot from where the Statue of Liberty could be seen. Disembarking from the vehicles, the Doctor, SPARTANs and their staff met in the middle. Halsey handed Richard an envelope of cash and said, "Funds provided by the UN for our stay. Use them to visit what you can of New York before we head back. Stay together, or as close together as possible, for our agents to keep an eye on you."
"And what will you be doing, doctor?" Rory inquired, "You said you have something to solve..."
Halsey nodded, smiling, "Indeed. Meeting those who created our saga for the world here to see... And getting information on who helped them 'write' such detailed, if somewhat erroneous accounts of us..."
"W-Wait," Shino started, "You're going to visit Bungie HQ?!"
"Yes, miss Kuribayashi..." Halsey hummed. Within moments, Shino had already joined the team heading for Bungie HQ, all while everyone else moved together. Lieutenants Samuels, Itami and Torres marched into the city with the girls, probably out to get them something to eat and drink. Entering the office building, which was a tall glass city block that reached up to several dozen floors high, Shino was beaming all the way through.
"You seem ecstatic, sergeant," Quipped the Chief as he pulled out Cortana's chip. The AI appeared as a hologram, grinning ear-to-ear at Shino. The girl, despite the red tint of her cheeks, gave a thumbs-up and a nod.
"Hey, can you blame me? First, I meet my childhood heroes! Now, I get to meet the folks that introduced us to you!" The Japanese girl replied jovially, bouncing on her own two feet. Cortana giggled at the sight, before looking to the Chief and BLUEs. All four of them shrugged, before Doctor Halsey waved them forward to the reception desk. The woman sat behind said desk hummed, looked up and froze. She then rapidly looked between the screen on her desk, the television behind her playing the news of the UNSC and the SPARTANs themselves.
She nodded rapidly, scared, "Y-Yeah, yeah, I think they can.. Uh... See you now... Twenty-seventh floor..."
Halsey nodded, "My thanks, miss Brigitte..." And she led the gang onward. Boarding the Elevator, which turned into quite the cramped affair, the group waited to arrive at their intended floor. Despite the cramped quarters, Shino still seemed overtly excited about the fact they were going to meet the Bungie gang. Halsey smiled at the reactions, then shook her head.
In truth, this was the most Doctor Halsey had ever properly worn a smile. BLUE Team didn't feel uneasy, they just felt weird enough seeing the straight-faced and straight-laced doctor Catherine Halsey smile this often. Cortana herself was a bit weirded-out by this, but she said nothing about it, really. No point in questioning why the good doctor was like this.
Once they reached the floor and disembarked, Halsey marched them right up to one of the doors which had Bungie's sign on it. The good doctor paused as she heard people scrambling behind the door. Several voices echoed, probably having been warned by the receptionist down-stairs about their arrival. It wasn't weird to think the characters you wrote about were here to do something, was it?
"Oh, God, I heard the elevator!" A female called out... Fairly familiar.
"Relax, Jen. I'm sure they're just here to talk!" A male shot back... Again, familiar.
"Would both of you settle down...?" A seemingly exasperated man replied. Cortana chuckled as Halsey put on her serious face, then knocked at the door. Immediately, they heard the last man to speak rush toward the door. He popped it open, revealing himself to be a dark-brown-haired man with glasses and a slim face. He paused, blinked, then murmured to himself, "Holy shit, you're actually real..." before clearing his throat and stating, "Sorry, sorry! Hey, doctor Halsey and... Blue Team...!" as he opened the door for them, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Likewise," Doctor Halsey said as she stepped through the door. Behind her, the SPARTANs all walked in, to the sight of a sprawling office space filled with staff that seemed incredibly surprised to see them here. Genuinely. She looked over to the man beside her and asked, "You must be cinematics director Joseph Staten, correct? The man who wrote 'between the bullets' so to speak?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am..." He nodded.
She then looked over to the two people sat in the corner. A blonde bearing an uneasy smile and a man with greying hair, somewhat bald, taller than the blonde and built like a brick wall. She hummed and looked at her tablet, then stated, "And these must be voice actors Steve Downes and Jen Taylor... The voices of three of the people here... In the games, at least." before looking expectantly at Jen.
"H-Hi..." Jen greeted awkwardly, which made Halsey smile. The resemblance to her voice was uncanny. She leaned toward Steve and whispered, "WHAT DO WE DO, THEY KNOW US!"
"Relax..." Steve said, his voice resoundingly similar to John's. He greeted with a handwave, "Hello, Doctor and, uh... SPARTANs..."
"A pleasure, mister Downes, miss Taylor," Halsey spoke. She looked to Joseph and spoke, "To skip straight to the point and be out of your hairs quicker, since I can see today is a busy day, I'd very much like to get information in regards to who helped you write out the stories of the games you have made so far, mister Staten. An address or a name will do for now."
"Right, sure..." The man nodded, not even trying to deny it, "We bought the story off an old man, a Marine from the Gulf... C'mon, I think I should still have his address somewhere in my computer..." and he showed Doctor Halsey to follow. Meanwhile, Chief and BLUE Team stood face-to-face with the two VAs that brought him and Cortana(and doctor Halsey) to life on the screen.
Jen hummed as she watched the staredown between the Chief and Steve, before murmuring to herself sarcastically, "Riveting conversation already. I can feel the wit and smarts being delivered through their words..." still unable to believe the fact that the characters they portrayed were actually goddamn real. She knew Steve was being quiet because he was taking in the sight of the seven-foot-tall supersoldiers of the UNSC standing before him.
"I know, right?" Smirked Cortana as she appeared next to her. The woman staggered, probably weirdly having an out-of-body experience as she looked at the AI. The AI herself gave the girl a thumbs up and said, "I quite like how you portrayed me in the games, by the way, Jen. Big fan of the work..." to which the woman blushed. Kelly, Linda and Fred all looked to one-another and shrugged, clearly confused. Steve swallowed empty and extended his hand toward the Chief shakily.
The SPARTAN calmly gripped and shook it, "Good to meet you, mister Downes..."
"Likewise, Chief..." The man smiled, then sighed in relief, "Wooh... Had me worried for a moment..."
"Why?" He asked.
"That I did a bad job and all with voicing you, Chief..." He waved it off, "Nevermind. You probably didn't play the games..."
"No," The SPARTAN confirmed by denial. Steve knew and expected it, of course, but at least he got the Chief to speak to him. Which was more than most voice actors could say about it. He paused, then seemed to remember something. Pulling a small notebook out of his pocket and extending it to him with a pen, he was basically asking for another autograph.
"For my own thing. It's not everyday a character you voice comes to visit you," Quipped Steve. Chief nodded and calmly signed the thing.
Jen chuckled, then looked to Cortana and said, "I don't suppose you can hold a pen?"
"Sadly," Cortana shrugged, "Nope."
"Darn. Well, fair enough..." Jen sighed deeply, then chuckled. She paused as she saw Shino appear in front of her, holding a notebook and red in the face. She smiled, took the notebook and the pen she was handed next and signed. Kuribayashi bowed three times in thanks before running toward Steve and asking him the same thing with just as many words.
Halsey walked out, then hummed and said, "Gather up, SPARTANs... Seems mister Staten's quite the negotiator. We're taking a group photo with the Staff." Which caused the SPARTANs to move in as Joseph pulled out a camera. Halsey was sure this was going to be odd for High-Command to deal with, but, at this point, she just wanted to know who in god's name had written about them.
Once the photo was taken, with Cortana also in the shot, the group of soldiers departed for the vehicles. Halsey herself ordered, "The home is in the suburbs of Brooklyn. We will go pay a visit to the gentleman who talked about us there. John, I'll be in the lead vehicle with you. Miss Kuribayashi, you can go join the others if you-" and she saw Shino was already strapped into the other 'Hog. The doctor sighed, chuckled, then boarded the leading Warthog, leaving the limo for the others to take home, or at least back to the Air Force Base or Hotel, when they needed to head there.