Gunfire drilled through a wall that served as cover. Fifth Company, UNSC Marine Corps moved in a staggered advance toward a Covenant staging area. A Marine with a Machine Gun emptied half a box onto the Covie lines in rapid-fire. Above, UNSC Longswords and intra-atmospheric unmanned fighters engaged the Covenant's own aircraft. Banshees and Drop Ships were being hammered with missiles and cannons enough to severely cripple many of them and destroy many others...

In the thick of the advance was the infantry battalion Reaver belonged to. Now reunited and with reinforcements deployed from the remaining UNSC Navy ships in high orbit, the Marines advanced under the cover of armor and air superiority, while the Eldar Navy dealt with the enemies in outer orbit. Reaver waved forward his Platoon, a grin on his face as he kicked down a Grunt and executed it with his Magnum. He took cover behind a piece of rubble, racking the bolt of his rifle, as the cannon of a Scorpion Main Battle Tank, aptly named due to its shape, fired.

The roar followed the High-Explosive 90mm round as it flew across the battlefield, before slamming into a Covenant anti-grav turret. The strange circular gun was knocked off its support generator, flung high into the sky only to land on top of a grunt, the gunner vaporized long before that, thanks to the explosion. A second gun died in a similar manner, then one of those odd Sniper's perches that the Covenant had.

Reaver and Weiss were at the front of the Infantry Formation, rifles at the ready... Weiss hummed "Man, I really miss the Farseer already..."

"Think she would'a helped us punch through?" Reaver asked, standing up and firing blindly into the Covenant lines.

"Yeah." Weiss poked her head out and snapped off one round into an unshielded Elite's head. She heard two grenades being primed and looked over head to see them, lobbed at an incredibly high angle, before a Spartan appeared in front of them, clad in silver armor with a blue trim and wielding an M45 Shotgun, the tall supersoldier stood above the Marines, on top of their cover, glancing plasma shots scarring part of her armor... Her ID Tag read Sheila-065. Chief Petty Officer.

Reaver grinned, then cried out "WE GOT A SPARTAN ON DECK!"

Several Marines' cheers echoed across the lines, with the woman nodding to Reaver. She looked to him and said "I'm commandeering your platoon, Sergeant. We've got a rescue mission to undertake. HVT stuck in the ONI complex nearby."

"Well, son of a bitch..." Whispered Reaver, furrowing his brows. "You got it, ma'am." He nodded. The Marine Sergeant stood up and yelled back "ALRIGHT, MARINES! WE'RE UNDER THE CHIEF PETTY OFFICER'S COMMAND! LET'S KICK SOME COVIE ASS!" with a grin. His platoon stood up and moved forward, joining them at the front of the line, with the Spartan drawing her Side-Arm and firing. Three shots popped an Elite's skull like a pinata.

She nodded to them, giving several hand signals and then urging them forward in formation. The friendly Scorpion tank fired again, destroying enemy cover and giving the unspoken start of the Spartan's advance. She surged forth, shotgun in hand, with the Marines trailing her at maximum speed. Guns rattled and bullets punched through concrete and wall panels...

A grenade sent a Grunt flying sky high and a rifle raked another enemy position with lead. The Marines ran beside their Spartan with grins on their faces as another round left the barrel of the Scorpion. Reaver delivered a rifle-butt to the face of an Elite, before pummeling it to the floor and emptying his magazine into its head with no remorse. He heard the crack of Weiss's DMR and watched as a Jackal dropped on the right, its Plasma Carbine clattering to the floor.

Reloading her Shotgun in three swift moves, the Spartan fired all shells a second apart from one-another. The slug rounds perforated an Elite's shields and sent it to the floor, where the Spartan woman was quick to plow a knife into its throat and grab its Plasma Rifle after attaching the shotgun to the mag-lock holster on her back. The stream of plasma that left the weapon's front cut a swath into the Grunts charging them with Plasma Grenades.

Weiss's rifle popped another head as she continued switching positions and watching as their SAW Gunners moved with her, their guns letting out bursts every so often. A Grenade Launcher's thunk echoed and the explosive 40mm Grenade arched down into another Covenant position, detonating upon impact. The cleanup crew of Marine Rifles followed quickly with a barrage of rounds.

The advancing Marines didn't stall their movement, keeping up with their Spartan NCO to the best of their abilities. Lead continued to fly, met by Plasma and Needles, but the Marines continued unabated. Reaver, at the forefront, nabbed a Shotgun off of one of their fallen comrades, racking the pump and blasting away. He grinned, watching as Weiss mounted a bayonet on her rifle, then asked "Planning a bit of a close-in?"

"Stabbing time." She grinned. "What about you, boss. Slam-Fire?"

"Slam-Fire." He grinned back.

He perked himself over a piece of rubble and unleashed a wave of Shotgun shells into the heads of Grunts, with the last shell in the tube bursting an Elite's shields. He slung the pellet-spewing weapon on his back, before drawing his handgun and blasting the Elite right in the head. The creature went limp, falling both forward and back as its momentum carried it.

He switched back to his MA5 and raked an enemy position. Two Marines tossed frags into the nest that housed a Plasma turret and its operator. The Spartan, meanwhile, kicked, punched, stabbed and shot like no tomorrow. She waved Reaver and his squad forward as they approached the entry point they were gonna be using:A hole in the side of the building.

"Here!" Sheila waved Reaver forth. "Stick close and watch your fire."

"Aye, ma'am." He nodded in answer, dropping the half-empty clip from his AR and slamming in a fresh one. One hand motion from the Petty Officer and the squad jumped to their feet, pushing inside. Weiss's DMR popped a Jackal with a Needle Rifle up above. Two Marines took a knee behind a rather large plant pot that had its content burned away by Plasma, before letting loose a stream of rounds.

As another Marine stepped inside, however, a Jackal's beam rifle punched clean through his helmet, sending the rocket launcher-carrying soldier to the floor. Another Marine who tried to sprint the distance took a needle in the hip from another Jackal and a third was cut in half by an Elite's Energy Sword. That Elite tasted two Shotgun shells seconds later, its skull split in half by the blast.

Reaver and Weiss raked the top of the stairwell where Grunts were trying to set up a Plasma Turret, before moving to advance with Sheila. Reaver was grinning as he dumped mags into his targets. Weiss's aim was still dead-on as the snipers that killed some of their comrades went down. The entire Marine platoon advanced behind Sheila, fast and hard. Enough so that the Grunts facing them started turning tail and running. The Elite squad there to maintain order held position, however.

A dozen elites versus a Spartan and some dozen Marines?

Not fair odds, really.

Sheila rammed the first Elite hard enough to pin him to the floor, before she let her Shotgun bark, splattering purple blood and brain matter on the floor. She swiveled about and fired again. Assault Rifle, DMR and Battle Rifle broke shields, then armor, skin and finally bone. The soldiers of Mankind let none retreat as corpses now littered the top of the atrium that served as ONI Headquarters' reception. Casings, shells and blood pooled at the feet of the Marines as they formed a perimeter, to make sure the area was secure.

The Petty Officer had gone onto one of the computers to look for data on who they were searching for. With an approving nod, she stepped away and said "Sublevel two. Unless the Covies already got to her, we can get the VIP out."

"Roger." Reaver noted... He watched as what looked like a Covenant vehicle appeared by the doors, raising his weapon. He paused upon seeing a squad of Eldar pour out of the hovertank, its weapons firing bursts of white-hot projectiles at an unseen Covenant force. These Eldar, Reaver remembered, were Howling Banshees. He'd seen them fight beside the Farseer with the grace of a ballet dancer and might of a Spartan.

"Lieutenant Reaver." The Exarch of the squad nodded to the man.

"Exarch." He nodded back, smirking. "Good to have you around. Chief Petty Officer, these are the Eldar."

"I've seen them around..." Sheila noted. "Good to finally meet some friendly aliens for a change..."

The Exarch eyed the super-soldier suspiciously, then said matter-of-factly. "Humans are not usually this tall..."

"Yeah, well, we don't usually see humanoids with sharp ears helping us either, Exarch." The Spartan responded calmly. She racked her shotgun, then offered her hand "Though today has been a day for surprises." and the Eldar soldier shook it.

"Indeed." She mused. "What are you here for?"

"To recover a sensitive asset that, if captured by the Covenant, could spell problems. For all of us."

A burst of Plasma Rifle fire washed Sheila's armor. She staggered, then turned around and drew her sidearm to snap off two shots. The Exarch took this as a signal to charge ahead, drawing her blade and letting loose the famous scream of the Banshee. Several of the Marines winced, but continued firing nonetheless, while the Spartan's armor allowed her to tune out the Psionic noise, if only partially.

She kicked a Grunt right in the mouth, breaking its mask, before executing it at point-blank with the shotgun. The Exarch slashed an Elite across its armored chest, her sisters joining in and gutting two other Elites. Blood stained the floor below, pooling at the feet of the human and Eldar soldiers as they continued their unrelenting advance. The group moved in unison, down the tight corridors and narrow stairwells of the ONI building, descending and fighting their way deeper into the building.

Blade and gun danced, painting the walls various shades of Alien blood. The Sergeant's boot met the face of an Elite that was on the floor and Assault Rifle rounds tore armored plates and burned out shields, while the swords of Banshees and the shotgun of the Spartan broke their backs. The Sergeant rammed himself headfirst into an Elite, punting the bastard to the ground before he got a chance to draw his Energy Sword. The man then pinned him down with his boot and emptied another mag.

The Exarch cut down another Elite, while the Spartan covered her back by blasting a Jackal aiming a needler at her. The Eldar looked to the Spartan female, then asked "Are humans usually this crazy?" while motioning to the Sergeant.

The Spartan huffed, ramming the ass-end of her shotgun into another Elite that had just decloaked, a special operations member, before she rammed the barrel between its split jaws and blasted. Sheila then 'winked' at the Space Elf(more of a tilt of her helmet to the left to hint at the motion) and quipped "Only the good ones. Now, c'mon. We're nearly there." to garner a blush out of the Eldar girl.

The Exarch rolled her eyes while her sisters chuckled. She shot a glance to them, then raised her Shuriken pistol without even looking and snapped off three shots into an Elite right beside Sheila. She looked to the Spartan, a brow raised at her and a tilt of the head with a faint smirk. The Spartan said "Thanks." without a second thought, before they rushed forward.

The team had arrived in front of a broken door made of reinforced starship-grade titanium. It was melted in parts, hint that the Covvies'd have used plasma charges to burst through. And going by the sound of movement inside, they weren't out yet. The Sergeant grinned again, then looked to Weiss. He urged her forward, then handed her a FLIR sight. She let out a chortle, then looked down the scope.

"Three Elite Zealots... Plus-minus one or two Spec-Ops. Can't tell since there's faint distortions from the cloak. Sarge-" She paused as she heard him rack the bolt of his AR. She sighed, then looked to the Spartan and said "Ma'am... Can you keep him safe? I'll try to snipe whatever I can from here."

"He ran in..." The Exarch looked absolutely dumbfound

Despite her face being covered by the helmet, the Exarch could feel Sheila grinning behind it as she spoke "Like I said. Only the best ones." before she hopped inside too. The thunder of rifle and shotgun came back to the team, with the Exarch staring at the flashes inside the dark room with wide eyes. She and her team stepped inside, following in and drawing their swords.

Entering the fight, the Exarch parried an Energy Sword with her own powered blade, before slashing a Zealot clean across the neck. She then drew and fired her pistol into an amorphous blob of distorting light, shattering the shield and cloak that kept the Elite hidden within the first shots, with the next cutting through the alien like a hot knife through butter.

The Sergeant's rifle chattered and bullets bounced off of a charging Zealot's shield. The man's rifle clicked empty, so he raised it up to block the sword of the lunging elite. The weapon wound up cut in half, with the Marine dodge-rolling, pulling his knife out of its sheath. He rolled under another strike, swept up and stabbed the Elite in his exposed abdomen, before feeling it grab him and toss him across the room.

The knife had, however, broken its shield. The pellets from Sheila's shotgun and a snapshot from Weiss sent the bastard tumbling to the floor. The last Elite staggered and was cut down by two more Marines that joined in, rifles barking like rabid dogs at him until his shields and then armor collapsed with him inside. Reaver chuckled, slowly standing to his feet and walking toward the Elite he'd dug his knife into. He pulled the blade out, wiped it of blood and slid it back into its sheath.

"You are one crazy Marine, Sarge." Sheila noted, approaching him and the package.

The man grinned wider "Thanks, ma'am. I try."

"Heh. Alright..." The woman sidestepped, then got to the front of the package. The Marines, all of them, soon realized that this was a cryotube. An owned, occupied Cryotube. Sheila leaned forward, wiping the icing off of the name plate, then she gasped. Quickly, she wiped away the condensation on the glass, to lock her eyes onto a blonde-haired woman that still looked far too young for it to be natural. Sheila snorted, then said "No wonder ONI wanted us in here..."

"Is..." The Marine Sergeant took to Sheila's side "Is that...?"

"The mother of the Spartan program, pretty much. Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey." Sheila hummed and whispered "It's been too long, doc..." leaning in. She spoke to the Sergeant "Get on the com and hail us a bird or a cab back to the Firebase. I'll wake the doc up and walk her to the Pelican."

"We shall provide escort." The Exarch offered "No reason to leave allies unattended."

Sheila nodded to her, then said "Thanks. Name's Sheila, by the way. What's yours?"

"I am Exarch Caentys. An honor to meet you, Spartan Sheila." The woman bowed respectfully. "We shall stand watch while you awake your doctor."

"Right." The Spartan nodded. She looked to the Sergeant, who gave a nod, before tapping his microphone.

He spoke "FOB Oxcart, FOB Oxcart, this is Lima-9. We've secured the VIP within the ONI building, requesting immediate evacuation at our coordinates ASAP."

"Lima niner, Oxcart. We heard you loud and clear. We have times two Pelicans on the way to you, with an added ground element from the 455th Drop Battalion. We'll see you home. Oxcart out."

The man looked to Sheila and gave her a thumbs up, before looking around. He walked to an Elite and picked up his weapon, a grin on his face, before looking to Weiss and asking "How's it look?" and garnering a chuckle out of the Sharpshooter. She gave the man an approving nod, before rolling her eyes and walking toward an elite. He slid the weapon on his hip, then walked up to the Exarch and spoke "We'll be going out to wave the evac ships and our boys with ATVs over." then he went and asked" By the way... Where's the Farseer?"

"Currently, in a meeting with the Council aboard our Craftworld, I would presume..." Sighed the Swordmistress "She acted rashly and put many of us in danger... So they say, at least. They must've been asleep when the Covenant fired first."

The Marine laughed "I bet... So we're not the only ones who have our share of bad bureaucracy, huh?"

"I would suppose not." Caentys gave the human a faint smile. Her hand went instinctively to the hilt of her sheathed sword as the hiss of steam came to them. The soldiers looked to the cryo-pod as it opened, then they watched the good scientist slowly wake up. The woman blinked twice, her vision blurry. Her eyes darted around, before finally settling on the familiar armored frame of the Spartan ahead of her.

Breathing in, then coughing, the Doctor leaned onto the Spartan for support. She asked "Sheila?"

"Hey, doc Halsey." Sheila smirked behind her helmet "How do you feel?"

"As if I was hit by a train..." She groaned, then she spit a strange liquid to the side. Her vision slowly began to clear as she regained her senses, straightening up onto her own two feet and able to stand without Sheila's help. She offered a nod in thanks to the Spartan, before gazing past her. With wide eyes, the doctor took a step back, shocked as if she stared at a monster or an apparition. But in fact, she stared at Caentys and her sisterhood, who in turn showed respect to the doctor.

"... What did... I miss?" She asked the Spartan.

"Oh... A lot." Her response. She looked to Caentys, then quipped "Like... A lot a lot."

"We'll brief you on the flight over to Oxcart, doc. For now, we should really move out." The Sergeant said. Quickly going from quippy to his serious stance, the man made several hand gestures indicative of combat signals to his team, which scattered to do the orders given via this non-verbal language. Efficiently, the team took up defensive positions and moved for the outside, with the Sergeant offering a nod to Sheila and the doc and saying "We'll clear out the landing zone. See you there."

Sheila nodded, as did Halsey, before the Doctor's eyes once again fell on the Banshee Exarch.

"... What..." She whispered to herself "Have we met while I was oh, so soundly asleep...?"