Disclaimer: All HALO characters not my own belong to Microsoft and Halo studios
Chapter 4: Into the Dark
February 11, 2535, 1403 hours [MILITARY CALENDER]
Location: Lambda Serpentis system, Jericho VII, UNSC Stalwarts class light frigate, Commune
Third Person POV
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Jericho, a planet plagued with war for almost three years…a battle that has been draining most of the UNSC's resources, a battle which is inevitable to be lost soon…
In its orbit, dozens of vessels on both sides clashed, each side determined for victory. However, the difference between the fleets were clear, one side relied on staying long range, while the opposition side deemed it fitting to bring the fight to them…it was a battle which had been reignited a day earlier by the opposing fleet, making sure to halt and destroy any Human ship from reinforcing the planet.
As such, the opposition or the Covenant continued to tear through the human fleet, just like how a predator would tear its prey open to be feasted upon…and as such, the UNSC fleet crumbled one ship after another began to be turned to scrap as the covenant mercilessly continued their onslaught.
However humanity would not go down without a fight, and gave the Covenant a worth for their prey, continuing to stall just long enough for further reinforcements to arrive, hence forth prolonging the inevitable, just as they had for almost three years.
Part of this reinforcement was the UNSC frigate, Commune, one of the Stalwarts class, a very versatile ship compared to its other frigate cousins, but this vessel's purpose was much different then what anyone could hope.
Inside the small hanger bay of the light frigate, pelicans were prepared to be launched off to the planet's surface, not to aid its belligerent defenders, but for its own mission, a mission authorized by those who dwell in the shadows…by the spooks as some would refer.
Three particular D77-TC Pelicans were all prepped up, only awaiting to be launched; their ramps remained opened as their assigned passengers boarded, two of the three pelicans were filled with marines of the 307th platoon, many of which were veterans of battles such as Harvest and Vodin.
However the third pelican was relatively empty, its passenger's only numbering into four…while the other two pelican closed up their amps, the third pelican continued to keep it open, as if it were waiting for someone, someone who is far too important to be left behind.
Tyler held his waist bag on his left hand, while on his right; he held the cover of his Ipod, with one of the pod inserted on his left ear, the other remaining in its small cover, which he then placed back into his bag.
His helmet was rested on top a crate, facing the three pelicans, while the faceplate of his dome shaped helmet reflected the image of the pelicans. Tyler went through all his Old belongings inside the bag, the shirt he wore when he came to the Halo universe, all his old pounds, his Phone which seemed to be switched on, his medals and so more, especially his diary, which he hadn't updated since…Luna.
'Jeez I'll have to write my diary one day, maybe I'll turn it into an autobiography' Tyler mentally joked to himself as he closed the zip of the bag and placed it inside his emergency pouch on his armor's rear waist.
It had been one of the small minor upgrades that he had received while on Luna, an upgrade which was extremely helpful as until then, he had mostly kept his belongings on Reach or CASTLE base or inside the private quarters of the vessel he was assigned too, and now that he was not on the Roman Blue, the second ship he called home, this small little addition to his armor really aided him.
Picking up his helmet and put it back on, he went on to pick up his DMR which he had kept rested against a crate. Placing his weapon on his back, he turned around to make his way towards his assigned Pelican, where his team was already boarded, always waiting for him.
As he continued to walk towards the pelican, inside his helmet, on his HUD's, everything that should be displayed was there, the motion tracker, IFF tags of his team, his vitality and etc…but there was one small addition, something which shouldn't be there normally, and something that will only be ever seen inside Tyler's helmet.
There on the top left of the HUD, next to where the grenade counter was displaced, there right next to it, a small rectangular shaped device of sort, just the size of the grenade display, was also displayed.
It was the new addition that Tyler made himself, over the past years ever since Trove, in his free time, he would try and connect his Samsung Galaxy S24 to his Helmet and the HUD, the reasons being that he wanted to listen to music as he killed Covies.
After trial and error he had succeeded, somewhat, just before departing from the Roman Blue, he had managed to connect his S24 to his HUD, being able to control it from his HUD…but any sound from it would not in turn be heard inside the Helmet, instead it would continue to originate from the S24.
It had been a mild error, but one Tyler could tolerate with as he still had an Ipod to rely on.
Stepping inside the pelican, Tyler made his way over to his seat, which was next to Cassandra; Tyler had always wondered if their choice seats were prearranged, as it seemed Tyler would always end up next to Cassandra, while the other three sat opposite to them.
"We're all accounted for, Pilot, take use where we need" Tyler issued over COMs.
"Roger that, conducting launch procedures" the pilot's voice came over the Speakers.
The ramp was immediately closed shut, while the sounds of engines flaring to life was heard outside, Tyler leaned against his seat drew out his DMR, holding it by pressing it's butt against the floor of the troop bay.
"What's our ETA?" Owen asked, looking directly at Tyler and Cassandra.
"At the speed of a pelican, I can guess Eight minutes…and twenty five seconds" Cassandra guessed. She then turned her gaze down to her TACPAD on her wrist. "Maybe make that into nineteen seconds"
"Three minutes of peace then" Alexander said as he too leaned against the back of his seat, "Doing Black ops…it feels wrong and right at the same time"
"That's the point" Maria commented, "In Black ops, it doesn't matter how the job is done, all that matters is that it's done"
"On point" Tyler commented nodding, ironically as much as he would much prefer NOT to be involved with any operations that could and are smeared in Black ink, this was the type of Job Tyler might have had to do had he achieved his dreams in his universe.
"You have the package?" Tyler said gazing towards Owen.
"Right here" Owen answered, pointing to the HAVOK nuclear warhead attached to his back, just like Trove, all it would take would be one lucky shot, and all of them are History…maybe even not.
"Intel from the surface confirms that most of the fighting has been concentrated around Damask, one of the many cities on the planet, conveniently the Facility we're heading to is just twelve kilometers north of the City" Cassandra informed as she went through her TACPAD.
"Which means more chances of trouble" Tyler added, "We're getting into an active battlefield, the facility might already be compromised but as Naval intelligence dictates…our objective remains unchanged, even if ordered by a superior officer"
The other four SPARTANs nodded at Tyler statement, there were perks and cons doing ONI's dirty work, and often the Cons nullified the perks by a lot.
"We're entering orbit, ETA to drop site, Six minutes" the pilot informed over the speaker.
The SPARTANs remained calm and collected, with each one of them engrossed in their own thoughts. Tyler was always the one to be the most engrossed, lost in his thoughts, thoughts or event which he recalled.
It was January 11th of 2535, the dawns of the New Year, a year which would only continue the escalation of the war.
The Roman Blue had just hours earlier exited slipspace into the Kennewick system, and into the orbit of Ballast where immediately, the vessel was contacted by the frigate Commune, requesting permission to initiate the transfer of SPARTAN Bravo team.
The new of their transfer had spread and opened to the crew of the Roman Blue, as far back as late December of 2534, it was received with sadness and disappointment, the SPARTANs and the crew of the cruiser had gotten along extremely well, having been through so much, it was logical for everyone to be less than pleased at the news of their transfer.
But alas, none could really alter a decision which was already in effect, it would be the last for many onboard the Roman that they would see the Five man SPARTAN team, for others, they may run into each other once more in the near future…but what was clear was that they were departing, and that this was the end of their journey onboard the Roman Blue.
The pelican designated to transfer the SPARTANs to their new ship had landed on the launch bay, but instead of landing on one of the upper decks, it had landed on the lower deck, it was a special request made by Captain Hood.
And it was a request set for a special occasion, an occasion to give the five SPARTANs an honorable discharge from their ship.
The pelican was landed right on the centre of the launch bay, and on both sides of the path that led to it, countless Marines and ODSTs, even the flyboys had been assembled in formation.
Captain Hood stood next to the ramp of the pelican awaiting the departing team.
The said team of SPARTANs walked down the path towards the Pelican, to say each and every one of them was unsurprised would be the biggest lie of the century, all of them were shocked to some degree, but it was Tyler who was most effected, he had never thought that a Farewell at this level was even possible in the UNSC.
It was heartwarming that the crew loved them enough to give them a farewell on this scale. The last time Tyler had received a farewell was on 2526, when he official left Kilo-two to their own regards, and the Macron, which was the first ship Tyler truly called Home.
As the SPARTANs neared the Pelican, passing by each formation of personals, as they passed, the personals all uniformly saluted the ongoing Heroes, there was no joy, no despair, no disappointment in their salute, just respect…respect on the fact that they had fought with them, saved lives, won battles and most of all, took their time to bond with the other personal onboard the ship.
To any man or woman of the UNSC, a SPARTAN deciding to bond and get to know them was one of the greatest honors, and it was an honor and respect they would show as they departed.
As they passed by the ODST formation, Tyler could see and hear Sergeant Noah say something, all the other SPARTANs heard what he said…"It was a pleasure, Sirs. Give those covies hell where ever you go", even beating his fist onto his chest like a drum.
Tyler was the only one to respond, giving a nod to the ODST sergeant with whom they had fought together with on Trove, almost four years ago.
Right as they were nearing the Pelican, a whistle caught the attention of the five SPARANs, as they turned right from where the sound originated from, they were greeted with the sight of Twister or Lisa, still in her pilot's outfit, and her helmet in her left hand.
"We had a good run, Sir. Hope you enjoyed me as you and your team's Taxi" she said with a small smirk.
"We couldn't imagine a better Taxi then you" Alexander joined in on her humor to which she chuckled.
"Well…this is it then, guess our adventures finally end here" Lisa said, disappointment in her voice, "But hey, if you ever want or need, I'll always will be willing to be you guy's Chauffer again"
"And we'll gladly accept it" Tyler replied to which the other SPARTANs nodded too, "See you next time, Twister"
"You too, Sir. Don't die until then" Lisa said, and the SPARTANs continued on towards the pelican, finally stopping near the ramp, where Hood stood waiting.
Stopping on their tracks, the five SPARTANs stood in attention and saluted the Captain one last time, and instead of receiving the usual nod, Hood too returned a salute, and then only nodding as both parties dropped their arm.
Tyler nodded to his team, and the first to approach the Pelican and in turn Hood was Alexander, and as he neared to step into the pelican, Hood extend an arm, one last handshake of appreciation, which Alexander gladly accepted, "Good luck SPARTAN, it was an honor to have you onboard"
The other three SPARTANs followed suit as well, receiving the same thanks from the Captain, after which they took their seats inside the Pelican…until it was Tyler's turn.
As Tyler neared to step onto the ramp, he stopped right next to Hood and turned to face him, both of them stared each other for a few moments before each of them extended their own hand, shaking it for the last time for many years.
"Commander" Hood started.
"Lieutenant Commander, Sir" Tyler corrected.
"I know, I just want to shortened it, and I'm sure you'll achieve the rank of Commander one day as well" Hood stated, to which Tyler couldn't help but ponder, his current rank was already high enough, but a Commander might be a bit too much.
"I hope I don't, that might be a bit too many responsibilities for me" Tyler commented, to which both he and Hood chuckled.
"I know that feeling, but trust me, you are the most capable out of all the SPARTANs I have met, and if there's one person that will deserve it, it'll be you" Hood stated, a high compliment for Tyler, which in a rare occurrence, he didn't argue.
"SPARTAN, I'll be honest, you and your team have been a core part of the Roman Blue, and it has been my Honor to oversee you stay here, and I'll be glad to have you onboard once more in the coming future, but if not…I wish you the best of luck" Hood said as he patted his shoulders.
Tyler would have actually shed a tear if he hadn't been a SPARTAN and had been hardened by the war, "I'll be glad to be on this ship once again as well sir" Tyler agreed.
"If I may chime in, I will miss briefing you and your team on your mission, Lieutenant" Nero chimed in over his COMs.
"Me too Nero, me too, maybe next time we meet" Tyler said.
"Unfortunately, Sir, there won't be a Next time, my life span would be expired on 2537, and I will be terminated as I enter rampancy, unless luck dictates, this will be our final meeting" Nero corrected, which crushed Tyler's soul, he had been so focused on saving Human lives that he had forgotten about AI's and their lives as well, Rampancy which would show its effects on an AI after a given period of time.
"Then it was a pleasure, Nero" Tyler said.
"It was pleasure too, Sir, Vale magna bellator" Nero ended, and cut of COMs with Tyler.
Tyler turned back to Hood who seemed to be preparing to step away from the Pelican. "Captain" Tyler said gaining Hood's attention. "It was an Honor too"
Hood smiled and replied, "Glad to hear…maybe the next time we meet, if ever, it's under more favorable situation"
It was something that Tyler understood, the first time he had met the future Fleet Admiral was on the Origami way back on 2530, more than four years ago, when he and Blue team had been dispatched to gather Intel and destroy the insurrectionist war ship, only for their objective to be updated with rescuing Hood.
Next was during the aftermath of the First battle of Arcadia right after they had jumped to peruse Professor Anders signal, it was only three years ago…as the old saying goes, Time waits for no one, and it flows without challenge.
As Tyler stepped onboard the Pelican, he turned around to give the Roman Blue, and the personal gathered, one last look, he would see most of their faces probably for the last time…and the sight too vanished as the Ramp closed shut…and so their long adventure onboard the Roman Blue came to a close.
Present day
Tyler was snapped out by Cassandra who nudged him, Tyler looked at the SPARTAN beside him, "Anything?" Tyler asked
"Yeah, you might want to hear or see this" Cassandra replied, pointing towards her TACPAD. "Early into February, Three SPARTAN Teams had been deployed on Jericho, in an operation dubbed OPERATION: FALLEN WALLS"
"Shouldn't that be classified?" Alexander chimed in. "How'd you get access"
"Tyler's clearance of course" Cassandra replied.
Tyler simply nodded; Cassandra had been given permission from him to gather any additional Intel for their own operation, and thus had authorization to use his clearance, even gaining access to details that shouldn't have been allowed for her.
If there was one thing Cassandra was good at other than driving or flying like a Maniac, then it had to be her intelligence gather skills, she was almost unparallel in Hacking, bypassing many firewalls that Naval intelligence had put up, and never being detected.
Break of protocol? Yes. But was she valuable and helpful? Absolutely. It was a situation where the pros were way more significant than the Cons, not that Tyler would ever snitch…after all he believed in one thing 'Snitches get snitched'
"Leeching off of Tyler's authority is very unfashionable" Alexander joked.
"Well someone has to get the Intel, unless you want to crack through multiple levels of firewall" Cassandra shot back.
"Nevermind" Alexander took back his words.
"Any idea what teams are deployed on the planet" Maria asked.
Tyler already knew the answer, hell he knew exactly WHO were deployed on this planet, and what would happen…after all this particular event had been the Prologue to one of his favorite book Halo: the fall of Reach.
"Blue, Red and Green teams" Cassandra replied.
"Jeez, the big guns then?" Owen chimed in, "By Red team, you mean Jerome's red team right?"
"Negative, it doesn't mention any presence of the Spirit of Fire in this system, and last I checked, Jerome's team was still on the Spirit" Cassandra corrected, to which all other SPARTANs nodded, it was a welcomed clearance Tyler needed as he wanted to know if Jerome's red team would take the place of the Red team from the book.
"What are the chances of us, you know…crossing into them" Alexander asked.
"Not definite, the other Teams are operating near and around Damask, but the chances of us crossing paths with them is…unlikely" Cassandra replied as she continued to scan her TACPAD.
"I'll head to the cockpit, see if there's anything to worry about" Tyler said as he got up from his seat, walking over to the entrance towards the cabinet.
Entering the cockpit, Tyler stopped a few feet away from the pilot's seats, right in between the two seats. In front, from the viewport, Tyler could see as they now flew in Jericho's atmosphere, the skies were darkened, not because it was the end of the day, but because of the ceaseless battle, a sight that Tyler had grown accustomed to.
"Status?" Tyler asked.
"Drop point is four minutes away, Sir" the pilot answered, his focus not leaving from the view port and the controls.
Tyler nodded, "Any covenant activities?" he further asked.
"Negative for now, Sir-" the Co-pilot on the other seat answered, his focus for a brief, diverting to the sensors. "No…wait, five signatures twelve mikes away from us, all covenant banshees"
"Sir, three Pelicans cannot outrun five banshees, we'll be cattle waiting to be slaughtered" the pilot said, briefly looking back at Tyler before returning his focus back to the front.
Tyler processed everything just informed, 'Five banshees against three pelicans…' Tyler thought. It was by no means a favorable situation, but Tyler did have an idea as to how to evade them.
Behind his faceplate, Tyler's eye's shifted to the corner of the viewport, on the consoles it indicated that they were eight thousand feet above ground, which was in the Middle level of clouds, and it just so happened that right below them, they were passing by the neighboring city of Damask, which was war torn, but not as bad as Valmir, as the city still retained most of its structure, with tall skyscrapers still standing tall, with only minor damages on their overall structures.
"Divert all pelicans towards the city, we'll use that to mask our approach, and lose the banshees" Tyler ordered, which got a brief look from both the Pilot and Co-pilot.
"But Sir, flying in there is suicide, the City's an active warzone, and we have high risks of being targeted by ground forces" the pilot argued, although it was more of a plea to reconsider.
"It's better than staying in open air, easy for catching and detection, the city might still have high chances for detection, but we won't need to worry about banshees outmaneuvering us from everywhere" Tyler stated, although Tyler himself doubted whether the banshee part was true or not…well it was time to find out.
The pilots remained silent before nodding, the Co-pilot turned on his radio and informed. "Charlie-Two and three, this is Charlie-lead, initiate course diversion. Follow the lead"
Then the pelican began diving towards the city, followed by the two other pelicans, the altitude rapidly decreased from eight thousand to two thousand to finally six hundred feet above ground, before stabilizing.
The three pelicans maneuvered through the and into the vast city, navigating through each turns, with each pelican being highly cautious, as one small error and they might just crash into each other or the buildings, as they were flying over a highway, flanked by tall buildings on both sides.
Tyler's gaze slightly shifted towards the sensors, the pelican he was on the lead, while the other two carrying the marines flanked on both sides, they flew in an inverted V formation, a very common formation.
The sensors had stopped indicating any covenant aerial signatures in a radius of twenty miles, which was strange now that Tyler thought. Tyler had expected some covenant flyers still in the city, gambling a lot on the tall Skyscrapers keeping the pelicans out of the banshee's reach.
But a complete lack of them was…never a good sign, but there was another detail that Tyler had come to notice…the lack of any plasma or gun fire down below on the streets and buildings, and it seemed the pilots noticed it too.
"Huh, guess no covies in this part of the city, guess luck's on our side" the Co-pilot remarked.
"Don't jinx it pal, I'd rather have us out of this place sooner than later" the pilot replied, it had seemed that the two pilots briefly forgot about Tyler's presence as they engaged in their brief banter.
"Exiting City airspace in, three…two…one" the Co-pilot informed, and soon, as the counting reached Zero, the Pelicans flew clear of the large skyscrapers and entering the much more low leveled Outskirts.
As they flew clear of the city, in the distance, came the view of some hills, atleast six thousands or more feet tall, even from this distance, a platform of such was visible on the slop of the hill, but instead of being an isolated platform, it was instead connected to, by a road which slithered up the slope, from the ground to the platform.
"That's the site, Sir. ETA's one minute twenty seven seconds" the pilot inform to which Tyler nodded, after which he walked out of the cockpit and back into the troop bay, where his Team continued to be seated.
"We're nearing point, get ready to move" Tyler said to which he received a green wink from everyone. Satisfied, he walked over to the edge of the enclosed ramp, waiting when it will open up.
"Any signs of hostiles in the area?" Cassandra asked over TEAMCOM.
"None" Tyler answered, as far as he saw, there seemed to be no covenant presence in the Exterior…
"LZ's clear, we're bringing down" the pilot informed over the speaker, and just as he ended, the ramp of the pelican opened up, revealing the area they had landed on. "Go, Go, Go!"
Without any waste, Tyler and his team immediately exited the pelican, landing on the concrete platform they had been dropped on. The other two pelicans too landed on the right end of the platform, the entire platoon of marines filing out and securing the area.
The area in question was…not what Tyler expected it to be, he had expected the platform to be one that hanged on the slope of a hill…but this way too far from that.
What they stood on was a full fledge parking platform, completely made of concrete and not steel like other platforms, the edges too were covered with small concrete walls or borders. The platform in question had many abandoned vehicles, most of which were civilian transports, while some were industrial, like shipping trucks and some forklifts.
"Wasn't what I expected for the exterior of an ONI facility" Alexander commented, which Tyler couldn't help but agree.
"Let's move" Tyler issued, making his way towards the centre of the platform where the Lieutenant in command of the platoon stood, barking orders left, right and centre.
"MOVE IN MARINES, I DON'T WANT NO LAZY CHEEKS HERE, I WANT SENTRIES UP THERE, AND THERE!" The Lieutenant pointed towards two watch towers, which Tyler guess was where the security would usually be stationed in.
Tyler had to give it to the Lieutenant, he sure knew how to get the job done. "Lieutenant" Tyler called out as he and his team neared the Lieutenant.
Turning around, the Lieutenant immediately went for a salute, one which Tyler responds with a nod, "Status?" Tyler asked.
"Area's quite filled if you ask me, Sir. A little bit of rearrangement from the boys and we'll be set for a defense" the Lieutenant replied as he looked around at all the abandoned vehicles.
Tyler nodded and turned towards the sealed entrance which was being opened up by the Marines, "We'll be continuing on then" he said.
"Good to you, Sir. And kill some covies for us inside if so, we'll kill some for you all out here as well!" the Lieutenant said as Tyler and his team walked away, nearing close to the entrance which was now cut open.
The control panel next to the entrance had been damaged, forcing the marines to cut the door open instead, something which was done fairly quick.
Looking into the interior, all Tyler was greeted by was a dark hallway, with little to no lighting. "Spooky" Alexander made a snarky remark over TEAMCOM, which got a reply by no one.
"Lights on" Tyler ordered as he flashed on the light on both his gun and helmet, which his team followed suit. Motioning his hand, Tyler ordered his team to enter the facility, one in which they will soon disappear in for a few hours.
Entering the dark facility, their path only illuminated and visible due to their headlights, Tyler inside his HUD's opened his Phone menu, selecting his music collection/playlist…'Ah baby, how's I've missed you' Tyler though as he couldn't help but feel exited over playing some music in times of mission.
Scrolling through his playlist, Tyler chose one particular piece, one which seemed only right…HALO: CE OST, Perilous Journey.
As the beat of the bass set in, a wave of nostalgia and excitement flowed through Tyler, it had been aged since he had last heard any of this music, so long had he remained deprived of this, and now he finally had the opportunity to once again experience it…WHILE BEING IN IT.
"Schematics show that the facility goes atleast five levels into the hill" Cassandra informed of TEAMCOM as they traversed through the empty dark hallways.
"Which level is the reactor in?" Tyler asked over TEAMCOM, silently vibing to the music that rang through his left ear.
"Fifth level, we're currently in what's designated as ground Zero" Cassandra informed over TEAMCOM
"ONI really keeps things ominous don't they?" Alexander asked over TEAMCOM.
"It's ONI, what else can we expect" Maria remarked over TEAMCOM.
While the others continued on their track, waiting for any further instruction form their Team leader, Owen had other idea, one which he wanted to share through TEAMCOM, "Cassie, which level is the main control centre at?"
"That would be Level three" Cassandra answered over TEAMCOM.
The team of SPARTANs halted at the sudden question from Owen, turning to look at the SPARTAN, including Tyler; Owen too looked at Tyler and spoke up ever TEAMCOM, "If I may, it might be more feasible for us to head to the Control room, and take care of things from there"
"Any reason" Tyler asked, not that it was a bad idea, but simply the fact that he was curious on what he had in mind, after all, Tyler was always open for suggestions.
"Yes. the control might room contains the most if not the entire data bank of the facility, setting the warhead there might be a more suitable option than going for the reactor" Owen explained over TEAMCOM, "And since the Control room will, also have a direct connection to the reactor. The detonation of the warhead from there will still overload the reactor, finishing the work"
Tyler nodded, "Good idea" Tyler commented and turned to Cassandra, "Closet route?"
"Elevator, two turns up ahead" she replied over TEAMCOM.
Nodding, Tyler answered, "Let's move on".
Continuing forwards with his team, who all stayed sharp and alert as they continued deeper and deeper Into the dark.
February 11, 2535, 1405 hours [MILITARY CALENDER]
Location: Lambda Serpentis system, Jericho VII, Damask outskirts
Samuel 034:
For years they had been fighting this war, started in a time when their purpose was still different. The beginning of the war had slackened each and every one of them, even though their minor self pride forced them not to openly show it.
Sam had been almost the first to become a casualty of war, the first SPARTAN casualty of war, but it was averted thanks to one of his closest friend, a friend who he hadn't seen in years.
"Contacts up ahead: take positions" Sam issued over TEAMCOM.
Just a few days before OPERATION: FALLEN WALLS had been briefed to them, John had the brilliant idea to promote Sam to a Chief petty officer, a promotion which he begged John to not give.
Sam had always hated the idea of leading his own team, he was content with being second in command, or even just a member of a team, but being a leader often asked too much.
As a result of his promotion, Sam had been forced to take command of Green Team, even if it was temporarily.
Another reason as to why he didn't want to lead was that it would most likely be a team which used to have a leader, and green team was a perfect example.
Before 2531, Green team had been led by Kurt, who always had command of the team, even back during Training, scoring some wins against Him, John and Kelly.
And now it was Sam who was its next leader, temporarily. The team consisted of Solomon 069, Anton 044 AND Malcolm 059; the team had been the same composition since SILENT STORM.
"Enemy tank: open ground, Light escorts as well" Anton informed over TEAMCOM.
The team of SPARTANs had been tasked to hold any and every Covenant attempt to push further into the planet, and lucky for all, the City of Damask seemed to be their main concentration of forces, making it an excellent choke point to hold.
"Green-two, get the Jackhammer, we need that tank out" Sam issued over TEAMCOM.
Green-three or Solomon drew out and prepped the Jackhammer, peeking out and up the cover they were behind, he had the launcher aimed, and in an instant, two brief hisses were heard, soon followed by the impact of the two rockets.
Before any further reaction from the covenant, the other three SPARTANs peeked over their cover as well, and firing their MA5B assault rifles, cutting down the few Grunts and Jackals that accompanied the Wraith.
The covenant tank in question meanwhile, burned and continued to collapse under the rapid destabilization of its power core, resulting in a brief yet right blue explosion.
"Hostiles cleared: no signs of reinforcements" Malcolm said over TEAMCOM.
Sam nodded, and moved forwards towards the wreckage of the tank, his guard never dropping. Slowly kicking away some of the scraps, Sam was confirmed with the sight of the dead elite pilot, who's body had for all, seen better days.
"We're moving in" Sam issued over TEAMCOM, their mission still stood, but Sam remembered an old saying from Earth, The best defense is a good Offence.
They had found themselves positioned in the middle of a road, right on the outskirts of an already ravaged and perhaps, abandoned city. Out of the three SPARTAN teams deployed on this operation, they had most likely received the most underwhelming task.
Although none of them, including Sam allowed it to interfere with their mission or combat effectiveness.
Traversing through the main road, which was littered with destroyed and abandoned vehicles, Sam couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for the people that were unable to escape. The covenant had been ruthless as always in the attack, something which only angered Sam, angered all of them, but none showed any of it.
Three other marine divisions too had been deployed planet side, fighting somewhere on the planet and as far as Sam knew, only a small contingent of it was station around the city they were in.
"Any report from Red team?" Sam asked over TEAMCOM.
"Their en-route to their designated target" Anton answered over TEAMCOM.
"What about Blue" Sam asked, this one was more personal rather than tactical, and the team knew that as well.
"None" Anton answered.
Sam hated being away from Blue team, a team he had grown up with, a team he knew almost his entire life, a team which was family. He at no level despised Green team, but the sense of being in a completely different team was not something Sam was ever ready for, especially one he was supposed to lead.
Last he knew, Kurt had been an excellent leader for Green team, his rare sixth sense allowing granting him a major advantage, and also the fact that he was an almost perfect leader…and Sam had to fill in that boot.
Speaking of Kurt, he had been marked MIA after mysteriously disappearing in one of their EVA missions, back on 2531…something which Sam still had suspicions about, Kurt was already leading Green team by the time he was transferred to Blue team as a replacement for Tyler in 2531.
A role which he successfully filled, even though not to the fullest, as nothing would replace Tyler in blue team, nothing…Kurt being the choice was strange, when there were other candidates as well, and so, Sam couldn't help but further his suspicions in the fact that maybe someone had a play in it, someone in a high place, someone apart of something shady, all his suspicions pointed towards ONI…but he had little evidence that it was even the case.
Continuing through the vast empty streets was eerie to everyone and that for a completely different reason. Not even twenty minutes ago, they had been faced with another covenant assault, the previous tank just being a late comer to their renewed push.
But now, as they walk the empty streets, they were met with nothing but silence, and silence was never a good sign in a warzone, especially one that was far from over.
"Stay sharp, hostiles could be anywhere" Sam instructed.
The team of SPARTANs made through the abandoned street, while passing by, Sam couldn't help but give small glances towards the abandoned vehicles, some of which still contained passengers, either crushed or disfigured by shrapnel's.
'I wonder how it's like for Tyler' Sam thought, wanting to distract his thoughts from the sight of the dead Civilians.
As they were making through the streets, right on the centre of a four way junction, Anton halted and motioned his hand for everyone to stop.
Sam focused his gaze on Anton, who in turn turned to him. "You hear that?"Anton asked over TEAMCOM, "Movement, lots of them"
The rest of the team immediately aimed their weapons, scanning the surrounding. However, Sam stayed calm, shutting his eyes for a moment as he focused in his surroundings.
Due to his enhanced hearing, he could hear even the tiniest of detail, excluding the cautious movements of his fellow SPARTANs, Sam could hear distant footsteps, No…they were more inclined to running.
It was clear one was a Human, due to the light thuds…but the other's following it…they were far from human, their steps too heavy to resemble a human's.
Opening his eyes, Sam immediately turned towards the east junction, "Contacts, one civilian confirmed" he said as he dashed forwards.
Without hesitation, the rest of the team followed, not too far behind Sam, who meanwhile jumped over vehicles and small chunks of debris. There was something about the human footstep; something which made Sam think and feels that whoever was at the head…was not of age.
Not even one minute later, Sam could hear the distant sounds of pants, Human pants. The sound seemed to be originating from a female, indicating that the civilian was a female.
However, that sound was nullified and buried by the loud, savage roars, similar to that of a feral beast…and the amount of it indicated that there were a lot of them.
"Enemy hostiles: Forty seconds contact, Brutes" Sam said over TEAMCOM
Sam only quickened his pace as he ended, he couldn't delay any seconds. It was the first time that Sam could feel his tendons starting to numb, and even then, even though to a normal eye he would be nothing but a blur, he still knew that this would be nothing compared to the ungodly speed of both Kelly and Tyler.
Coming around the corners of a flipped bus, Sam's eye caught the view of a small girl, aged just about five years by her size. But what was more important was who was behind her, or what was behind her.
A brute towered over the small girl as she continued to evade the wild beast; the beast in question only seemed to take delight in its prey's quiver and hopeless attempt to escape.
As the brute was about to grab the girl with its gigantic, fury hands, seemingly wanting to devour her like an animal would. But before the brute could even touch its prey, the girl was suddenly lifted off the ground by someone, and shielded behind him.
Before the brute could properly react, Sam landed a strong punch on its stomach, making it vomit a puddle of saliva mixed with its blood.
The brute was sent crashing through vehicle's, walls, debris until finally crashing into a destroyed scorpion tank.
The noise created by the sudden crashes alerted and gained the attention of many other brutes in the area, who all roared, a feral mode seemingly having been activated on them.
Sam checked back on the little girl, who hugged his legs, it was a surprising sight, one which he didn't feel any indifference to. Sam had seen and understood how children worked…his time with Miranda had taught him some of the basics.
As Sam aimed his weapons towards where he expected the rest of the brutes to charge from. However before the imminent attach from the brutes commenced, behind him, the rest of his Team caught up, their weapons also tainted towards where the brutes would come from.
"Seems like you have a little passenger, Chief" Solomon gave a light hearted joke.
Sam couldn't help but chuckle, "You want her?" he shot back.
"No thank you, Sir" Solomon rejected.
"Hostiles inbound: Totaling fourteen" Malcolm informed, being perched behind a destroyed vehicle.
Sam caught the view of the pack of brutes approaching…no charging. Even from this distance he could see the saliva dripping from their mouths, each one of them no doubt would gladly eat humans as if they were a normal meal. It disgusted Sam, and it would be something he would never forget about them.
"Controlled burst" Sam instructed as the brutes got within range, past experiences had taught him two thing about them, one they were extremely strong, enough to cave the skull of a SPARTAN with their bare hands, although Sam would say otherwise. Two, they were extremely durable, their thick muscle mass and fur seemed to be a bulletproof vest of some sort, with each brute capable of tanking a dozen 7.69 mm sounds.
The four SPARTANs soon opened fire, for each bullet that landed, the brutes seemed to become twice the more aggressive…what made the situation even stranger was that they weren't utilizing their weapons.
Not that they were complaining, but it was strange and unethical for any soldier whether it be human or alien, to not make use of their weapons, it was almost as if the brutes were too…overconfident in themselves, that Human weaponry was nothing to them, that they could rip any human apart without any trouble…but they would learn a hard lesson today…SPARTANs were not your average Human.
Placing his assault rifle on his back, while also simultaneously rotating the girl from his legs to around on his back, Sam immediately grabbed the first brute that neared them, grabbing it by the throat and choke slamming it on the floor, most likely breaking its spine as it went lump.
An average brute would usually tower over a SPARTAN as well, but with Sam, they were almost the exact same height, give the large SPARTAN a clear advantage, both in size and strength.
Sam went ahead and punched the next brute the closed in, on his face, sending his crashing into a vehicle as well.
A brute may be physically stronger than the average SPARTAN, but Sam was not the average SPARTAN in terms of raw strength, which almost matched, if not exceeded that of the brutes by now.
Meanwhile around him, the rest of his team also made quick work of the feral brutes, who continued to charge them like savages…and within minutes, the entire pack of them was slaughtered by the SPARTANs.
Sam looked around at the corpses of the dead brutes that now littered the area, "Status?" Sam asked over TEAMCOM.
"All clear" Anton answered over TEAMCOM.
Sam nodded and turned around to put the girl down from his back, resting the girl down on a large chunk from a wall, "You okay?" Sam asked as he checked the girl for any sign of injuries, which she didn't have.
The little girl gave a hesitant and nervous nod, Sam had to give it to the girl, she was very good at hiding her real emotions, as even though she had an expressionless face, her overall aura clearly stated that she was scared, shaken and most of all, traumatized.
Sam couldn't help but feel pity for the little girl, he didn't know what she had gone through until now, but whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't pretty. "Call an EVAC, tell them we have one survivor" he said.
"Affirmative" Anton said over TEAMCOM, as he turned on his COM link, relaying their current predicament and position.
Turning back to the girl, Sam bend down to her level, even though he was still a few inches tall than her in his bent form, he could tell the girl eased a bit. "Where are your parents?" Sam questioned in a non-threatening and softer tone.
The girl didn't answer through words, instead she shook her head, confirming Sam's assumptions…her parents were dead, either in the attack, or by that pack of wild brutes…either way it meant the same thing, she was an orphan now.
The other SPARTANs formed a perimeter around Sam and the little girl, while Anton turned back over to Sam, "EVAC's inbound, ETA thirty minutes" he informed over TEAMCOM.
"Isn't that a bit too long for a pelican" Solomon commented over TEAMCOM.
"That's the issue, Pelican services for the city are unavailable, most have been dispatched on other parts of the planet, and they've dispatched a warthog instead" Anton informed.
"We hold out here then" Sam said over TEAMCOM, gaining the attention of his team, "We're not leaving a little girl on her own"
"You sure about this, Chief" Malcolm said over TEAMCOM, "Wouldn't that effect our mission? She could be a liability"
Tyler turned over to the SPARTAN and countered, "She may, but our orders are to halt any and every covenant advance" Sam said as he looked around, "And looking around, I think we did enough for now…"
Not wanting to question their Team leader any further, the three other SPARTANs nodded and scanned the area for any further encroachment from the enemy, no SPARTAN would ever lower their guard in an active warzone, even if a child is with them…which would in turn only fueled their guard up.
Their attention however was soon drawn up, towards the sky. All the SPARTANs, including Sam pointed their guns up, the distant sounds of engines being heard. "Dropships" Solomon said.
They had expected Phantoms or spirits to greet their sight, expecting another fight, but to their surprise and confusion, instead of a squadron of Covenant dropships, they were greeted with the sight of three D-77 TC Pelicans flying above them, in a inverted V formation, making their way above the city outskirts, unopposed and without any issues.
"I thought you said Pelican's were unavailable" Solomon asked over TEAMCOM.
"They are" Anton reaffirmed.
Before any of them could further theorize, the pelican disappeared from their view, their structure being covered by the very buildings they flew above.
"Something's not right…" Sam said over TEAMCOM, if Anton's Intel was correct, then those three Pelicans should not be here…and it being a stray or perhaps even a recon pelican would be improbable, as a recon or a stray would only have one…never three…
However, Sam's thoughts were broken, as the little girl tried to get down from the chunk, noticing this, Sam gently restrained the girl and spoke, "Na uh, kid, you're not going anywhere"
The girl in turn softly pouted, something which Sam nearly chuckled at, 'Children…' he thought as he released his hold over the girl.
"You seem like a really good Babysitter, Chief" Solomon commented over TEAMCOM.
"I get that…" Sam answered over TEAMCOM.
February 11, 2535, 1514 hours [MILITARY CALENDER]
Location: Lambda Serpentis system, Jericho VII, Materials Facility 09
'A turn…yeah quite a turn it was' Tyler thought.
Understatement…that was what Tyler thought of their current situation.
They had been walking through the facility's Ground Zero, their current objective had been to locate the elevator, which they would use to head down to their main destination…an elevator which Cassandra said was two turns away.
The problem was…there when they made the first term…atleast twelve turns greeted them, all of which were aligned in two straight lines against both walls…to make it worst, it seemed each turning led to even more turning, which in turn lead to even more turning…
When Leroy had stated that it was Quite a Maze, he wasn't lying, he was understating it.
"How long have we been in this level now?" Alexander asked over TEAMCOM, clearly irritated.
"No idea" Maria replied.
"Cassie, what happened to that, TwO tUrNs ahead?" Alexander asked almost in a mocking tone, which was understandable, any sane human being would go insane here.
"Don't even talk about" Cassandra answered, she too was irritated by their situation, but she was doing the most out of them, constantly going through her TACPAD, trying to find a viable and short route towards the elevator.
The best way Tyler had kept track on time had been playing music inside of his helmet, each music had been atleast three to four minutes long, or in between…and he had finished atleast twelve of them, which wasn't a good sign.
"Is it only me or have we been walking in a circle, because I feel like so" Maria commented through TEAMCOM.
"You're not the only one Maria" Tyler chimed in through TEAMCOM.
The team of SPARTANs halted in their tracks to reassess their situation, "So, let's get this straight…we're lost" Tyler said.
"Not surprising" Owen said.
"I don't get it, the schematic shows the elevator is right around the corner, but…it's nowhere there" Cassandra expressed, frustrated.
"Take it easy Cassie, Frustration can only get us so far" Tyler assured.
"Doesn't help that the entire facility is dark and without lights, the long hallways don't help either, our enhanced eyes can barely see anything…which says a lot" Alexander added.
That was also another point…it was dark as hell, the darkest Tyler had ever been in, adding onto the darkness, the hallways on this level were empty, no crates, no scattered papers, not even any chairs or etc…it was empty, making the place way more eerie.
Had he not known anything about Halo, he would have guessed that a damn Monster would come out of these dark hallways…although that was to blame for him playing too much of Roblox and watching videos about the SCP's.
"Can't we just plant the nuke over here?" Alexander questioned.
"No, that would risk the facility not being fully eliminated…" Owen stated.
"Well we can't just walk around in circles" Alexander argued, "There has to be something we're missing"
Alexander held his BR, the same one since Harvest, shifting it around; Tyler noticed something…something which the flash light of the BR had briefly illuminated.
"Wait" Tyler said, gaining everyone's attention. Walking over to the place which the light had illuminated, Tyler stopped right in front of the wall on his right, his Helmet's light also illuminating a good chunk of the wall.
"Tyler, I don't know what you're-" Maria was about to finish, but was cut off by Tyler who motioned his hand to keep quiet.
Tyler scanned the wall carefully; taking in every detail of it…the wall was identical to every other on ground zero, a small tube like extension running along the wall, which seemed to be the lightings, and the surroundings above and below being painted with two blue stripes, which also ran along the wall.
However there was one key detail only he noticed, on the section of the wall he was examining, right in between the upper stripe and the tube, there was something green slightly flashing, it was almost unnoticeable, even to a SPARTAN.
Extending one finger towards the small green light, the light seemed to have scanned him, or his finger, possibly identifying him or his neural interface…whatever it did, it clearly seemed to deem Tyler a Human or atleast an authorized personal, thus granting him access…Access which in turn opened a secret door.
The small section of the wall, exactly two meters in width and four meters in height, slid open, revealing a…secret elevator.
Tyler stepped back a bit, not expecting this to be the outcome, 'Woah' he though as he looked at the elevator in awe.
The same couldn't be said for his team however, who all seemed alarmed, with the weapons tainted towards the elevator.
Turning around, Tyler could only sigh internally, "I don't think this should be a surprise" he said in a deadpan tone, before walking into the elevator. "You coming?"
That was all it took to lower their guns, "Looks like you've been beaten, Cassie" Alexander slightly bummed his shoulder into hers before making his way over towards the elevator.
"Lucky" Cassandra murmured under her breath before following Alexander, while also being followed by the other two.
Tyler shifted his gaze over at the control panel, with the rest of his team now inside, all that was left was to head down to level three, and hopefully not get lost.
What was confusing was that on the control panel…there were instead of six buttons, eight of them. Two of which were above ground zero, he couldn't identify them as its designation seemed to be scratched off.
Pressing on the button which was designated as Under-level three, the elevator soon started descending.
"Whoever ONI hired to make this place…is definitely a builder" Maria said over TEAMCOM.
"That's an understatement if you ask me" Alexander chimed in, "I'd wager he's atleast an architect"
"That not even…nevermind" Cassandra sighed off.
"Engineering also plays a big role for facilities like these" Owen always the nerdy engineer added.
"How's the package" Tyler asked Owen.
"Still in good condition" Owen said as he pointed on his back, where the warhead was kept rested. "Although I must add…since the facility is inside a hill…wouldn't that"
Tyler understood what Owen was implying, and he damn well knew the aftermath won't be pretty, hell he'd bet it would seem like a mini volcanic blast, "I know, but it's the price…and ONI's willing to do anything" he said.
Even if it was Leroy that commissioned this mission, Tyler was sure he only did so under orders from someone higher up in naval intelligence, maybe even Admiral Parangosky herself may have issued it...who knows, and Tyler didn't care too much.
The elevator soon grinded to a halt and the doors slid open, unlike the one on Ground zero; the elevator had a normal, visible entrance on Level three. 'Unfair' Tyler thought as he walked out of the elevator.
And unlike on the previous level, this level had some degree of lighting, even though it was significantly dimed, but most importantly, this level didn't have a million different routes. "I feel like they purposely made the upper level like a maze" Alexander commented over TEAMCOM, which Tyler couldn't help but agree.
"Makes sense, the harder it is to find a proper entrance into the facility, the better, and exactly something ONI would employ" Cassandra stated.
"Let's move, the longer we take, the more the chances are that the covenant catch onto the fact we're here" Tyler said as he took the lead.
The walk across level three was more…simple…too simple, just as hoped, this level did not contain a million different routes making it seem more like the interior of an ant hill instead of a facility.
On the ceiling some wires dangled down, gaps present in the ceiling, with the wires either damaged or completely split in half…which in turn emitted occasional sparks.
The same could be said to the hall itself in general, instead of the empty hall like in Ground zero which made it seem like something straight out of the backrooms, this level had papers scattered on the floor, some were torn to shreds, while others were somewhat intact.
The more they ventured, the more they found, especially a collection of crates which were left abandoned in the middle of the hall.
'Guess they were in a rush…of course they will, Tyler, don't be stupid it's a covenant attack after all' Tyler mentally conversed with himself, either he was going insane or it was simply his brief stupidity.
"Are COMs still active inside?" Alexander asked over TEAMCOM, a completely reasonable question.
"Affirmative" Cassandra gave a straight answer.
"Don't get too comfy, I feel like something bad is gonna happen" Tyler issued.
"I'd not be surprised" Maria commented, to Tyler, Maria was simply the only member of his team who seemed just done with everything, someone who's seen it all, which Tyler couldn't argue with, all of them had seen a lot together.
"Being negative all the time isn't healthy, right?" Alexander asked over TEAMCOM.
"You're on point" Tyler answered, it was true, after all, he was THE SPARTAN medic, the ONLY SPARTAN medic as far as he knows.
"Seriously?" Cassandra questioned over TEAMCOM, a rare occasion where she is truly and utterly baffled by something.
"I'm no medical expert, and never will be…but I trust Tyler with whatever he says, after all, he hasn't been wrong many times, and he is Medical" Owen commented over TEAMCOM.
"Perhaps we can continue our talks, AFTER we're done, while working for Naval intelligence…we cannot leave any room for errors" Tyler stated over TEAMCOM,
"Agreed" Maria said over TEAMCOM.
"CC's up ahead" Cassandra informed over TEAMCOM, CC being the acronym for Control Center, one of the many that Cassandra often comes up with.
Up ahead, as Cassandra stated, there was a sealed door, medium in size. However the door was sealed, as expected from any abandoned facility.
From the team of SPARTANs, Cassandra was the first to reach the sealed entrance, scanning its surroundings for any control panels or atleast something. That was when her eyes landed on the left end of the entrance, a panel was placed, destroyed and dangling.
"Looks like we'll have to break it open" Owen stated as he prepared to set some charges he had carried, just in case.
"Wait" Cassandra raised her hand against him, forcing him to stop, "Save those for later"
"What do you-" Alexander was about to finish but zipped his mouth as he saw Cassandra move towards the destroyed panel and kneel besides it.
Tyler watched as Cassandra extended, what seemed like a wire of some sort, extending it inside the hole, where the panel would have been placed, now left with the wires it was connected to.
As the wire from her TACPAD maybe latched onto one of the wires, she started to do something on her TACPAD…a something which Tyler could guess what it was, and he was sure everyone else knew as well.
Sooner than later, the sealed entranced hissed and slid open, revealing the interior of the control room, it was, just like the hall way, dimly lit, but also filled with many consoles and etc.
"When did you learn Hacking?" Alexander asked over TEAMCOM.
"Since 31, when we were still on the Spirit of Fire, Serina taught me the basics before we left" Cassandra explained.
"How come you never told us" Alexander further questioned.
Before she could reply, Tyler spoke out, "Because we didn't ask, I know that was exactly what you were about to say"
"Am I easy to read?" Cassandra asked TEAMCOM.
"The opposite" Owen answered over TEAMCOM.
'Touché' Tyler thought as he walked into the Control centre, followed by the others. Whenever he could predict what the person he was talking to would say, he could help but feel a sense of smugness under him.
"Well since you're our Cyber expert, Cassie. You do the collecting" Tyler instructed, "Gather anything you can salvage, even though it may not be mentioned, its best we don't leave this place empty handed"
Cassandra nodded and immediately made her way over to the centre console. "I'll check around the corners" Alexander stated as he too made way.
Which only left Tyler, Owen and Maria near the entrance, but that too lasted for a few seconds as Tyler wandered closer to the centre of the room, just behind the central console.
Examining the room, Tyler had to give it to them…it was complicated, too many consoles, with quadruple the amount of buttons, it was one of the reasons he never wanted to learn much about Technical and Cyber, after all, being too perfect is the fun killer.
Tyler gaze around the room came to a halt as he caught the sound of something eerily familiar, a hiss…one he knew the other's too had heard, the sound was a few feet behind him, and it was clear it was directed towards him…the sound of an energy sword activating would never grow old.
He could feel his instincts kick in, and so, Tyler immediately spun around, steeping aside to the right a bit, which was just in the nick of time as Tyler caught the sight of a crimson blade, thrust through where he would have been just seconds ago.
Tyler glanced up to see who the attacker, but there was no one, just a floating energy sword, 'Invis elites…great' Tyler thought, fighting Camo elites in a enclosed room, especially one with dimly lit lights was going to be troublesome.
Before the cloaked elite could go for another attack, Tyler kicked the invisible bastard right on where he guessed his Chest was at, sending him crashing into one of the consoles. His cloak also disabled on impact, revealing his true stature.
But there was something different about this particular elite, it wore a maroon-crimson armor, which looked leagues above in advancement compared to what they had witness other elites wear.
However the main difference was on the head…unlike other elites who kept an open face helmet, often keeping their frontal face expose…this particular elite had a fully enclosed helmet, with a cycloptic visor port…a visor which was colored crimson red, similar to its blade, and it was a type of Elite Tyler knew to his core, a type of elite even Tyler was unsure of how to beat…Silent Shadow.
'Oh shit…' Tyler mentally cursed himself, and his loud mouth for jinxing it.
"Contacts: Cloaked Elites , stay alert" Tyler issued over TEAMCOM, unsheathing his combat knife while putting his DMR on his back, he knew conventional weapons would be ineffective against the shields of the Silent Shadow, and so good old Bri'sh way was THE WAY.
Cassandra, who was the closest to Tyler, was also the first to react upon hearing Tyler's report. She was still in the mist of extracting any valuable data from the centre console, which on the main monitor, showed an extract bar, which was still at 39%.
She scanned her surroundings inside the room, other than Tyler, the rest of the team too seemed to have been caught by surprise by these elites.
Owen was dodging one slash after another by one of the elites, while Maria seemed to be maneuvering around, while being chased by another…only Alexander was missing.
Before Cassandra could properly search, her senses too kicked in, and she barely dodged a slash aimed at severing her head, ducking down in the spilt second.
Spinning around, she came face to face with one of the elites, it's Crimson blade in its hand, preparing for another slash.
But, Cassandra had noticed something different about these elites that the rest of them were facing, unlike the one Tyler was facing, whose visor was a crimson red, similar to their blade, these elites had a more bluish visor.
Putting two and two together, she deduced that what Tyler was facing was most likely their leader of some sort, meaning he's got the harder one to deal with.
"Okay" Cassandra said under her breath, briefly glancing back, making sure the upload was uninterrupted, confirming that it was still under way, she returned her attention back to the elite, unsheathing her Combat knife, "Let's finish this"
The elite in a split second dash forward, his blade already mid way towards Cassandra's neck, but before it could even land, Cassandra slid under the elite, in between his legs, knife in hand, she sliced right through the unprotected under belly of the elite, her visor being covered with its purple blood, and possibly it's gut.
The elite roared in pain, dropping its blade while placing both his hand on its under belly, hopelessly trying to stop the bleeding, but it didn't take long before the blood lost and the unbearable pain took its effect, and the elite collapsed onto the floor, a pool of its own blood forming around it's corpse.
Wiping the blood covering her face plate, Cassandra looked at the dead elite and murmured under her breath, "That was easy…too easy"
She turned her gazed towards the Console, where the extraction was still under way, internally sighing, she scanned around, examining if the rest of her team too had finished with their own respective Brawls.
Owen had been standing around the entrance, keeping an eye out for anything off, Maria was positioned a bit deeper into the control centre, right behind some consoles, her sniper having been aimed at the hall way.
But it all went 180 when Tyler's warning came through TEAMCOM. That was when Owen spun around, and with luck on their side, the turned around in the perfect moment, managing to grab the hand of the elite who was about to thrust his blade into Owen, halting it mid way.
However it seemed the elite was not having any of it as he soon kicked him on his gut, sending him stumbling back a bid, while also forcing him to drop his Assault rifle.
Regaining himself, Owen reacted just in the nick of time, dodging slash after slash from the elite, studying his movements, he deduced that conventional means would be ineffective against him, and thus more unorthodox methods would be required.
As the elite went for another slash, Owen halted him mid way, grabbing the arm that held the energy sword, both if their visors locked with each other's, neither side willing to back out, and it was this moment that Owen had been relying on.
From the corner of his eye, Owen caught eye of atleast four plasma grenade attached to what he assumed was the elite's hip or waist.
With her free hand, Owen sunk it up around the elite, grabbing a hold of one of the plasma grenade. But instead of detaching it, he simply activated it…it was now or never, he only had a few seconds to pull this off.
As he did so, he grabbed the elite's other arm with his free hand, and with all his strength, lifted him off the ground, spinning around towards the entrance, he threw the elite right out of it towards the hall way.
However, instead of crashing into some of the abandoned crates, the elite skillfully balanced down with his hand used as a balance while he landed, sliding on the floor as he did so.
As the elite got up, he merely turned to look straight at Owen, his blade readied. However it seemed the elite too had caught something off, and looking down towards his grenades, the elite noticed one of them was activated and now stuck…
Before the elite could properly react, it was consumed in a large explosion of blue plasma, bearing the brunt of four plasma grenades simultaneously exploding, leaving only a large charred mark on the floor, where it had once stood.
Owen merely let off a sigh as he turned around, picking up his Assault rifle, he made his way back towards the others.
While Owen had been engaged with his elite, Maria too had been caught slightly off-guard by another elite, who was mere moments away from slicing her in half.
Only dodging it by jumping on top of the console, before Maria could react any further, the Elite kicked her right off the console, followed up by him leaping towards her, his blade aimed straight at her heart.
But before she could be felled by a fatal blow, adrenaline rushed in and everything around her slowed down…She had heard about this phenomenon from Tyler, what he referred it as SPARTAN Time, something which kicks in during a dangerous situation…and she certainly was in danger.
Using this to her advantage, Cassandra picked her Sniper rifle, and rolled away from the strike that was about to land on her, dodging it.
Getting back on her feet, she decided to maneuver around the room; the space wasn't limited which allowed her to be able to freely reposition herself.
But it seemed the elite would not budge and continued to chase after her, their chase didn't last long, as Cassandra went on top of another console, turning around with her rifle aimed, she was a second too late as the elite caught up and once again kicked her down the console, landing on her back behind said console.
As the Elite leaped over the console, energy sword readied to finish the job, it was caught off guard as it caught the sight of the downed SPARTAN, her rifle aimed directly at his face/visor.
"Good night" Maria said under her breath as she pulled the trigger of her rifle, firing it at point blank range, its result being that the bullet penetrated right through its shields, and then cracked through its visor, then his skull and finally his brain, killing him in an instant, while the bulled came out of the other side.
The elite feel lump mid air, landing right on top of Maria, who then pushed the corpse off, getting back up on her feet.
She looked down at the corpse, examining it thoroughly; making sure it was dead…which it was.
Seconds before Tyler's warning, Alexander had been checking the corners of the control centre. The exact area of it was difficult to say, but with his calculations, the length was about seven to nine meters, while the width was about six to seven meters, and the height was atleast twice the height of the SPARTANs.
Alexander halted right in front of what seemed like a vent of some sort, it was located on the far right nd of the control room, which was hidden behind some tall consoles, what was unusually was that the vent was unusually large, large enough to fit a full SPARTAN.
His inspection however was cut short as Tyler's warning rang out through TEAMCOM…it was then that Alexander realized that he was possibly in the worst location, far away from the rest of his team.
Alexander felt something behind him, and without hesitation he spun around, his BR aimed, however before he could even fire a single shot, his BR was thrown out of his hand by an elite in a far more advance looking armor, with a full face covering helmet with a blue visor.
'Crap' Alexander thought as he narrowly dodged a swing from his energy sword, rolling back a bit.
Getting back up on his feet, Alexander was not given any chances as the elite immediately tackled him to the wall, before pushing him down on the floor, his energy sword aimed right towards his head, which Alexander managed to halt by grabbing its hand.
The two struggled for a few moments before Alexander finally pushed the elite off of him, upholstering his M6S sidearm, he fired a series of shots at the elite, all of which bounced off its shields.
Seeing that no other option remained, Alexander picked one frag grenade from his waist, pulling the pin, but keeping the safety lever on, he watched as the Elite began to charge towards him, his blade aimed directly at Alexander's chest.
In the split second, Alexander too sprinted towards the oncoming elite, the distance between them being covered in under a second, as the blade was nearing his chest, Alexander leaped right over the elite, front flipping in the process.
As he did so, simultaneously he released the safety lever of the grenade, while he was about to land behind the elite; he made sure to push the grenade right in between the elite's feet, right before landing on the floor and rolling away from him.
The elite spun around, completely oblivious of the danger he was in, but before it could even make a move, the frag grenade explode, releasing shrapnel's and a loud bang.
Turning back at the elite once the smoke cleared, all that greeted Alexander was the mortally wounded body of the elite, still struggling to get back up and continue the fight, while his armor malfunctioned.
Walking towards the elite, Alexander halted a few inches away from him, aiming his side arm right at his now cracked visor; he fired off four shots, all of which penetrated his helmet and visor, killing him too in an instant.
Alexander didn't waste any moment and quickly picked up his BR, putting his side arm back in his holster, and without waste, he immediately set out to regroup with his team, he would not be taking any more chances.
While all these fight's simultaneously occurred, Tyler watched as the Leader of the Silent Shadow or First Blade got right back onto his feet, reigniting his energy sword.
Without any wastage of time, Tyler immediately dash forwards, he could not waste any time or give this elite any time to react.
As far as he remembered, the Silent shadows were the deadliest unit in the covenant, second only to the Prelate, something which Tyler hoped he wouldn't encounter.
And living up its name, the First Blade reacted by trying to cut Tyler in half, one which failed as Tyler slid under the elite.
But before he could pull of his move, the elite leaped into the air, possibly relocating to a less vulnerable position.
Rebalancing himself back on his feet, Tyler ducked down as the Elite returned Tyler attempt by throwing his energy blade towards where Tyler neck would have been…simultaneously, he heard the sounds of gunshots and even explosions all of which were in close vicinity…he knew it was his team's doing, and he knew they'd manage themselves.
Glancing towards the Elite, Tyler watched as the elite charged him, tackling him onto the same console that Tyler had sent the elite crashing into, forcing Tyler to lose grip of his combat knife, leaving both of them only with their hands…or so the elite may have thought.
Tyler removed his spare knife from his back waist, cycling it around; he stabbed it right into the exposed neck of the elite.
The elite in turn briefly roared in pain, stumbling back while trying to remove the knife, just then Tyler took the moment to pick up the elite's energy sword, igniting it and stabbing it right into its chest…giving it the same fate the Ripa Moramee would have had.
Looking down at the dying elite, Tyler could only think one thing, 'Damn that underwhelming…yet not'
Tyler's gaze shifted over to the central console, where he saw Cassandra staring at him, to which he only gave a thumbs up, one which she returned.
Tyler sighed he pulled and picked up both his knives, putting them back in their respective places. It was at this very moment that the rest of his Team regrouped at his position, the last to arrive being Alexander.
"Status" Tyler asked as he looked at each and every one of them, examining them for any injuries.
"All clear, I've got what we've need as well" Cassandra replied as he showed a chip, the size of a card in her hand.
"Owen, set the gift" Tyler instructed to which Owen nodded, making his way towards the central console.
"These elites…they're different" Maria said.
"Yeah…" Alexander agreed as well, a rare yet welcomed seriousness of his.
"I'd be more worried about HOW they got in, it's impossible for them to have found the elevator on the ground floor, even we barely managed to find it" Cassandra said as she slightly glanced at Tyler.
"I think I have the answer to that" Tyler said, gaining their attention, "Back inside the elevator I had noticed something on the control panel…right above the button that designated Ground zero, there seemed to be two more levels above it, if I could guess, one of those levels must be either the hangers or another way in"
"That is…plausible" Cassandra agreed, her tone was clear that she didn't like the possibility, none of them did…
For Tyler, the Silent Shadow being here meant big trouble, there were two possibilities, one, they were sent here to gather every data, meaning the covenant knew of this place, or two, they were sent here to scout/guard/stalk this area…meaning they were expecting someone…both of which basically meant they were in big trouble.
That fear soon became clear when Tyler noticed something on the First Blade's armor right bellow his helmet, in between his chest and neck; he noticed something rapidly flashing…the flashing seemed to be in a pattern…a distress signal.
But before he could even relay this to his team, their COM links flared in life as the voice of the Lieutenant rang through, "Sir! We've got multiple covenant dropships inbound to our location!"
Without hesitation or even a moment to process, Tyler immediately answered, "Roger Lieutenant, what's their ETA and numbers?"
"I'd say three minutes at best, can't say about the numbers but it's a lot…We'll try and hold them off, maybe buy you some time"
"Negative Lieutenant" Tyler issued over COMs, gaining a confused look from both Alexander and Maria, although Cassandra seemed to have caught on with what Tyler had planned, only nodding as he said so, "Retreat into the facility and spread out inside, we'll meet you up there"
"Sir, I don't know how that's suppose to work, we've only got one way out once we're in, and that's the place the covies are gonna be busting through from, I can't see us escaping with that"
"We're not running, Lieutenant" Tyler said over COMs, "We're simply gonna fight them on home terrain"
A/N: BOOM, that's it folks, ended it in a damn cliff hanger, I know, I know…but hey, as an author it's my job to add some cliff hangers as well or else everything will seem too perfect…I don't like things too perfect….if you're wondering why the hell I took so long to upload….well its quite embarrassing but….I Forgor…yep I totally forgot about it….hehe…well since you all take the time to even read the Authors note….welllllll……..expect the next update somewhere by the end of this week, or maybe next Monday, who knows, anyways….P E A C E...and Happy new year.