RP:Battle of New York

"Breaker breaker 9 breaker breaker 1 9, could you please get a operator on the phone line, this is not a riot it's way, much more than that, these people are dying we are under attack!"

- B.o.B, New York New York.

Overview
Lower Manhattan in flames! The Covenant Remnants have struck brutally at the heart of humanity itself. To escalate the risks, there are several rouge Marine units in the vicinity, they have assisted the Covenant in the sacking of Manhattan. Just for the occasion, the Brutes have designed a deadly virus only known as the Manhattan Virus, and as a result most civilians have been evacuated, although some stragglers have been left behind, watch out for them, keep them safe.

Start spreading the news, we're leaving today, its time to free New York.

Rules & Regulations

NOTE: The following rules are subject to change at any time.

Have fun, embrace other users and their creative skills and cooperate and enjoy the RP to its full potential. Please follow the NCF guidelines. Also, no God Modding. This RP are not part of any specific universe. Anyone, with any amount of characters are welcome to join in, regardless of the character's biographies and their respective universes. When discussing ideas and other topics related to this Project and its RP, on anyone of these articles' talk pages, please remain civil and take other user's views and opinions into account. Report incivility to the moderators This RP will have one major plot line, and although we do not wish to limit creativity and lower the success of these RP, we strongly advise that you follow the main plot lines and do not wonder off aimlessly by yourself in the RP world's!  Do not edit major pages, such as this, or other people's RP posts unless consulted or told to do so by the moderators. We don't want an edit war! Do not kill off other user's characters unless given permission to. Cooperation with other users is vital for successful RP's to work, however make sure both you and the cooperating user know and agree that you're working together!

((Ripped from Parkster's Dwindling Flame RP rules with a few modifications. Thank you, if you have any problems with me using this template, I will have the rules section removed and replaced))

Details
Location: Earth, New York, Lower Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island

Date: November 10th 2555

Official Name: Operation: BIG APPLE

Factions:

U.N.S.C

Covenant Separatists

Covenant Remnants

Rouge Marine Regiments

Sign Up
 Please sign up below if you would like to enjoy and partake in Operation: BIG APPLE

User:Chen-179 - Lance Corporal Leonard S. Wolowitz

Knowledgeable, and skilled in computer and data analysis work. He was born and raised in Pasadena, California, this is his first combat deployment. His weapon of choice is the BR55 and uses a scavenged Needler as as sidearm. The quintessential nerd, he is more familiar with the horrors of war. He joined due to the loss of his family during the Battle of Reach during the Human-Covenant War.

Warrent Officer Grade Two Amy F. Fowler Arrogant, cocky, and slightly condescending, for a good reason, her, IQ is higher then average. She joined the Marines and eventually was accepted into the ODST corps, to her delight, as this gave her a chance to study the Slipspace drive of UNSC or Separatists craft. However, her covert combat abilities should not be underestimated, she wields a Silenced MA5B Assault Rifle and a Silenced M7 SMG. Being slightly sadistic, she serves as her platoon's interrogation specialist She is family friends with Lance Corporal Wolowitz

Azecreth - Daniel Howe working for the true blue UNSC

Captain Foster -

Captain W. Foster FFO-3141-1454 aboard one of the last Marathon-class cruisers still in the fight around Earth, the UNSC Pride in low orbit above North America. After deploying ODSTs from the 105th to assist troops in Voi the UNSC Pride fled to the skies above New York and is now broadcasting a repeating message to all surviving UNSC forces in the city stating that the ship and crew will assist them if needed.

Alphonse Vasquez FFO-1231-3213 - An ODST Staff Seargent in charge of a fireteam aboard the UNSC pride.

User:Gruntijackal


 * Rola 'Vadam. Side: Covenant Seperatist, but has some tensions with the humans because of the war. Outside of his usual timeline, Rola is on Earth and wants to fight the Jiralhanae.


 * Minister of Instability. Side: Covenant Remnants, but takes displeasure to Jiralhanae. The Minister of Instability was sent a small force of Jiralhanae to assist the invasion force that attacked New York. Instability's force is tasked with assisting the Jiralhanae with deploying the deadly virus (mentioned in the description).


 * Rordipus. Side: Covenant Remnants. Rordipus is Instability's private Jiralhanae Honor Guard, tasked by the Prophet of Mercy on November 1st to protect Instabality.

SPARTAN 119
 * Ross East- UNSC Air Force


 * Lindsey Williamson- UNSC ODST


 * Mikiya Ryougi- UNSC Air Force


 * Payton Smith- UNSC Army

EM117


 * Kore 'Vadum. Side: Covenant Separatists. Is a Covenant marksman and former Special-Operations squad-leader, now a lone wolf soldier. Enjoys the feel of human weaponry and appreciates their taste.


 * Steven Jensen Side: UNSC, and doesn't get along with Separatists...

TheMightyCardone

AKA Toad
 * Sergeant, First Class Brandon Dalton. Side: UNSC. A UNSC Army soldier, stationed on Earth. Was part of a detachment stationed in Philadelphia, but, along with other Army soldiers in the area, was called upon to assist in the defense of the Big Apple. Dalton excels in CQC, and wields an M45 Tactical Shotgun, as well as an M7 SMG found in Philadelphia.
 * characters TBA

Phase One: Dogs of War
"This is a Crisis, prepare for disaster"

1
Wolowitz's grip on his BR55 tightened, his knuckles were turning an even paler shade of his normally pasty white skin. The Pelican's engines thrummed in his eardrums, it was getting more and more annoying by the second. Launching from Farragut Air Force Base, in Pennsylvania, he had to put up with nearly an hour of the engines assaulting his ear drums. the pilot announced that three minutes later and he would be dropped into hell.

"Check your gear, and your fire, we've gotten reports from other Marines that their civvies a plenty down their" his company leader, a First Lieutenant announced

"Civilians in a war zone, didn't the UNSC evac every one?"

"Apparently not, but keeping them safe how ever we can is now one of our primary objectives." The Lieutenant replied.

"Alright, I just received our other objectives, firstly, we are to escort and defend the stragglers, the four evac points will be Central Park, Times Square, Madison Square Garden, and Grand Central Station. In particular, our entire company will be defending Grand Central Station. Secondly, we will escort the trains to the safe zones." The Lieutenant informed. The Pelican touched down.

"Move it Marines, go, go, go, go!!" a Sargent ordered. Wolowitz ran out of the transport, a little too fast, and nearly fell.

"Grand Central Station should be that way" Wolowitz's platoons leader pointed in the general direction of the train station.

"Damn, I always wanted to see New York City, but not like this, man..." a Marine commented on the former glorious city. Car alarms were still going off, the staccato bursts of weapons fire replaced the bustle of a city crowd. Noting was spared from destruction, it was a matter of how bad it was. The sidewalk was peppered with explosion craters and it was littered with assorted debris and even neon signs were embedded in the road. War does not determine who is right, only who is left 00:30, May 3, 2011 (UTC)

2: Gearing Up
Daniel Howe ran into the Battle HQ that was in Upper Brooklyn. "Damn it, we're under attack," he said as he ran to the armory. the marines looked at him like he was crazy. Of course they were under attack. They had been for at least an hour, and it looked to be going on for a while more. As Daniel entered the armory, he shouted to the techies to get him suited up. He stepped up to the CARNWENNAN Powered Assault Armor, and with the techies rushing around, was suited up. With the hiss of a pneumatic seal, Daniel was transformed from a mere mortal to a harbinger of death.

Looking around, he saw through the visor that the rest of his squad had suited up already. He walked up to Mark Hagan, Randy Simmons, and Zack Richards, the members of his squad. Randy was wearing the Grenadier version of the CARNWENNAN Armor, while Mark had the Longe Range version. Zack said to Daniel, "So, what kept you." Daniel replied, " I was delayed. The roads were blocked by the Remnant attack." that wasn't the only reason, but it was the only one that Daniel preferred to say. The other reason would surely get unnecessary comments from his squad. randy said," So. What're our orders, sir?" "That's what I'm about to find out," said Daniel as he left the armory, with his squad following him.

He saluted in front of the base commander. “Third CARNWENNAN Powered Assault Squad, reporting for duty.” Commander Dickenson returned the salute, then said, “Good. With the inasion still going on, we need everyone we can get.” “What is my squads mission, sir,” asked Daniel. The commander faced the tactical map of the New York area, and said, “We need you to proceed to Rally Point Epsilon. When you reach there, you will make contact with a group being deployed by the Interstellar Alliance.” Daniel grimaced. He was young enough to not really remember the Human-Covenant War, but he did remember some. One of his earliest memories was hiding in the Pennsylvania bunkers during the Battle of Earth. Nevertheless, his duty was to his country, even if it conflicted with his personal preferences. “Yes, sir,” said Daniel as he saluted again. The commander returned the salute, and with a brief, “Dismissed,” the audience was over.

As Daniel exited the command room, he saw his squad waiting. “So, what exactly are our orders,” asked Zack. “Follow me,” said Daniel,” We're going to war. We are to proceed to Rally Point Epsilon with all haste. It's time to drive the Covie bastards off of our planet .” With that on everyone's mind, they exited the Battle HQ, and headed toward the batlefield that was New York Azecreth 21:18, May 3, 2011 (UTC)

3: Truth's Last Message
'''Time: 2nd November 2552. 8 days before Operation: BIG APPLE.'''

Location: Forerunner Dreadnought, east Africa.

The Forerunner Dreadnought's engines roared as it's landing began. Multiple Jiralhanae wearing Jet Packs activated their devices and lifted into the air. It was a sight to behold, thousands of Covenant troops preparing to fight Humanity in it's last stand. A squad of Unggoy was marching with their Jiralhanae master; one of them suddenly tripped over his left foot and fell to the ground with a noise overshadows by the engine's roar. Continuing to march on, the stumbling Unggoy quickly sprinted towards the squad again. The Minister of Instability sat upon his Gravity Throne. Instability was the proud owner of one of the fifteen Gravity Thrones that need no assistance to fly. Instability stroked his beard as he watched through the large window the landing of the Covenant on Earth. He gripped a small, wooden staff carved by his ancestors many generations ago. The Minister was one of the few San 'Shyuum to escape High Charity and board the Dreadnought. As the Dreadnought landed on the huge construct, Instabilty watched as multiple UNSC Longswords fighting against the Seraph fighters. It was like watching a film back on High Charity only in real life; Instability had not personally been in a battle since the 40's. A chill up Instability's spine occoured as a hand grabbed his shoulder. Containing his shock, the Minister turned around to face two Jiralhanaenian Honour Guards. He changed his tone to authoritative, "How dare you touch a Prophet commander, why do you disturb me?"

The other Jiralhanae's face shrivelled at annoying holy Prophet. The first Jiralhanae replied, "We have returned from the Prophet of Truth's chamber, he wishes to see you Minister."

The Minister calmed down returning to his regular, calm tone, "Ok, please escort me to the Hierarch."

"Right away, holy Prophet," the Honour Guard stated. The Honour Guards escorted Instability out of the hangar and through the seemingly never-ending corridors until finally coming to the Hierarch's sanctum. Truth was not accompanied by his long time collegue, the Prophet of Mercy. Truth was facing a large portrait of himself, Mercy and Regret conquering the rule of the Covenant from the Prophet of Restraint, Tolerance and the Prophetess of Obligation. "Welcome to my chamber, Minister. I have grand news to tell you," Truth said not still not looking at Instability. His usual priest-like tone had begun to fade and he seemed more deranged than before. "I have but a simple task for you, Minister," Truth explained, "You see, I need all the major targets of this Earth neautrilized or held back while we prepare to ascend to the Ark and enact the Great Journey."

"Then where do I come in-"

"Silence! Dear boy, your mission is to bring a small force of Jiralhanae to the city of 'New York' in the land over the ocean to the west. Then, you will help deploy a deadly weapon which will wipe out every heretic and human that stands in defiance of our grand Covenant," Truth said interrupting the Minister. On the inside, Instability felt a feeling of joy, however on the outside he express facial positions of mild curiousity. "I have assigned the Honour Guard Mercy gave to you to go on the mission with you. Now hurry now, the Great Journey awaits," Truth said waving his hand behind his back.

A Jiralhanae walked into the room in full Honour Guard attire, wielding the signature Honour Guard weapon. Instability sighed as he greeted Rordipus once agin.

--Gruntijackal, the impending demise draws near 18:06, May 4, 2011 (UTC)

4
Sergeant Brandon Dalton slowed his heavy jog as he neared the Marine checkpoint at the foot of the bridge. A convoy of M12 Warthogs was preparing to traverse the long bridge into what was known as "Manhattan". Turning back to see the other three remaining men from his squad falling into place, Dalton stepped up to a Marine who was one of the few not busy stowing supplies or barking orders. Glancing at his insignia, he noticed it was a Lieutenant Commander, someone who outranked him by a lot.

"Sir!" he said in his gruff voice, "First Sergeant Brandon Dalton, UNSC Army, reporting. Got word from HQ to rendezvous here for Big Apple?"

The man cracked a grin at him, "Perfect. You're right on time Dalton. I want you and your squad stowed on a Transport 'Hog and ready to go in fifteen. You're under my command now, got it?"

Dalton didn't exactly agree with being under command of a Marine, but Eh, Orders are orders he thought to himself. Waving to the men behind him, a ragtag group of Army soldiers that had fought together from Baltimore, to Philadelphia, and now to New York, the three men, while varying in talents, views, and age, had formed a sort of bond that only war could force together.

"Looks like you're goin' home, kid," he jokingly said to the group's nineteen year old, Private Carter, who replied with a joking punch to the shoulder. Stowing his M45 Tactical Shotgun in the rear of an M831 Troop-Transport 'Hog, Dalton took a seat and leaned back, ready to take his last ride of enjoyment before the fighting started again.

~TheMightyCardone

5
Amy couldn't put a finger on why she was afraid of this particular deployment, was it the drop? No, improbable, she had be in plenty of hot drops before. After a few minutes of deep thought she finally found why. It was the unusual-ness of the city below, it was, for all intents and purposes deserted. Combined with the deadly virus going around, and rouge regiments in the vicinity of the city, it made for a very, very unnerving battlefield.

"All ODSTs report to drop bay, we're deploying in two minutes" her squad leader, Staff Sargent announced. She checked her weapons and helmet equipment, making sure everything was in working order. She stepped into the pod and braced herself for the rigors of HEV transport. The drop went without a hitch, landing safely. She rose her silenced Assault Rifle expecting company. The rest of her squad landed a few meters nearby. they looked as surprised as she was about the state of the city. Her calculations could not have predicted this.

"Brute Squad up ahead, past the ruined deli, hole up their, and we could take them by surprise." Her squad leader ordered. The squad complied, taking cover in the rubble, waiting patiently for their prey. The Brutes never saw them coming. Amy fired a full clip of bullets into the closest Jiralhanae's back, tearing through his armor and ripping into his flesh,

"Weapons free open fire!!" the Sargent shouted firing his M7 into the lead Brute's chest disposing of his armor, and followed up with a M6 pistol head shot. Their close range combat specialist dashed to one of the Brutes, firing his M90 twice and ended the brute with a swift punch, knee and another shotgun blast. A sniper shot rang out, the bullet lodging between the Brute's eyes. A few minutes later and the firefight was finally over.

"Good tactical choice, though we were slightly exposed if they looked from a thirty degree angle from that crack over there." Amy commented, rather monotonously.

"Does she have any emotions at all" A squad-mate asked.

"None that we can identify, she can only express what she calls sadness, but what we call condescension" the Sargent responded.

"Phantom coming in get to cover!" A ODST shouted. Amy complied without any comment. Luckily a missile from a particular Scimitar impacted the rear of the craft of the gunship as the troops.

"Don't know if you can hear this but, thanks for the assist, flyboy." the Sargent radioed.

"Covenant jamming comms? Typical" Amy said, though no one seemed to notice.

"All ODSTs deploy to the Times Square evac point, repeat, deploy to the Times Square evac point" a static filled transmission commanded. War does not determine who is right, only who is left 01:57, May 6, 2011 (UTC)

6: Combat Air Patrol
Downsview Air Force Base, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Ross East pushed the throttle forward as his F/A 712 Scimitar Multirole Fighter left the tarmac of Downsview Air Force Base in Toronto. The base had been deactivated for centuries, acting as a civilian airport until the UNSC took possesion of it again during the Human Covenant War. Ross' Scimitar, one of twelve in his flight flew in a straight line to the southeast, towards Lake Ontario, past the Toronto Downtown. To the his right, Ross could see the late-20th century-era CN Tower, having survived 500 years and the ravages of a major battle with the Covenant a few years ago, now dwarfed by new 2000 and 3000 meter skyscrapers in various states of construction- rebuilding from the war.

Ross lead the UNSCAF 333rd Fighter Squadron, formerly 3rd Volunteer Fighter Squadron, towards a navpoint on his HUD, pointing beyond the horizon, towards New York City, currently under attack by the Remnants of the Covenant still left on earth.

Over Jersey City, New Jersey

Less than a hour later, Ross and the rest of his squadron flew of Jersey City, NJ. In front of them, they could see the 3000 meter towers of Manhattan, with smaller 20th and 21st century skyscrapers in their midst: The Empire State Building, the Freedom Tower, The Chrysler Building. Much of Lower Manhattan was now in flames, with skyscrapers in varying states of disrepair.

"This is the UNSCAF 333 Tactical Fighter Squadron, we are on station and ready to commence operations, where do you need us?", Ross asked into his radio.

"We've got a whole mess of Covie air headed from the Times Square evac center, Seraphs, Phantoms, and Banshees. Engage and destroy."

At once, some of the many radar contact's projected onto Ross' map gained a red circle around them, marking them as targets, there were a couple dozen Seraphs, a few dozen Banshees, and a few Phantom Gunships at several kilomters distance. Ross locked onto the large swarm of aircraft as he spoke into his radio: "This is squadron lead, we have contact with our targets, engage at will".

Ross pressed the red "fire" button on top of his joystick and the independent targeting system fired off seven ASGM-12 air/space-to-air/space missiles. Each missile streaked towards a different Seraph and, when it got close, activated an EMP charge, disabling the alien fighter's shields, before detonating a follow through explosive warhead, blowing the aircraft out of the sky. In the distance, Ross could see seven flashes of fire, marking the destruction of his targets.

The rest of Ross's squadron followed suit, blowing several more Seraphs and other Covenant aircraft out of the sky, but the rest split apart and evaded the missiles, the Seraphs flying straight at the UNSC fighters.

Ross flew straight at a pair of Seraphs, firing off a missile and blowing the first out of the sky in a ball of flames. The second evaded the debris thrown from the demise of it's fellow and fired it's plasma cannons at Ross. The blue bolts of plasma impacted the Ross's shield- a new feature of next-gen fighters such as the Scimitar and Sabre- doing no damage to the aircraft itself.

Ross' Scimitar and Seraph shot past each other, missing my mere feet. Ross pulled up on the stick and pulled back on the throttle, entering a controlled stall, causing the aircraft to tumble backwards. Ross pulled forward on the stick at just the right moment to perform a tight 180 degree turn, a manuever known as a Herbst maneuver or a J-turn.

Ross's Scimitar and the Seraph were now flying straight at each other in a high-speed game of chicken. As the Seraph drew near, Ross pulled the trigger and fired his aircraft's oversized SPARTAN Laser. The beam burned through Seraph, sending it down in flames.

As the enemy aircraft crashed into the middle of the Avenue of the America's Ross saw something the others didn't, a Seraph armed with multiple plasma charges descending through a low area between two 3000-meter skyscrapers to the immediate northwest of the Empire State Building. It was flying straight down Broadway.

"Be advised", Ross said, "I have made contact with a hostile aircraft flying at low level down Broadway towards the Times Square evac station, moving to engage".

Ross dove after the Seraph, blazing through the concrete canyon that was Broadway. Less than 100 meters below him, Ross could see the burned out ruins of vehicles, civilian, UNSC, and Covenant alike and piles of rubble blown from the sides of the buildings.

The Covenant fighter was about a block from a UNSC roadblock a couple of blocks from the evac point when Ross got a clean shot at the aircraft. Ross squeezed the trigger, sending a LASER beam right through the engine of the Seraph. Blue flames exploded from both ends of the Seraph as the laser ran the alien fighter through like a spear of light, finally stopping after burning a hole through the wall of a skyscraper.

The Seraph went into a death spiral, slamming into the streets about a block from the UNSC roadblock and erupting into its own funeral pyre. As the enemy aircraft joined the countless other wrecked vehicles littering the streets, Ross pulled up on the stick, sending his aircraft into high-speed vertical ascent. The F/A 712 emerged from the forested of skyscrapers, and flattened out about 500 meters about the top of the towers.

"This is Delta lead", Ross said, "I have eliminated the hostile aircraft, over".

"Roger, Delta lead", the RADAR operator on a UNSC cruiser to the north said, "I am reading no more bandits on my scope, blue sky in effect, you are cleared to fly to Stewart Air Force Base to refuel and re-arm".

"Roger, setting course for Stewart", Ross responded.

7
'''Time: 10th November 2555. Operation: BIG APPLE enacted.'''

Location: New York City, Earth

Rordipus wasted no time in explaining all of his adventures from High Charity seeing as Instability ran while he held off an army of Infection Forms. Rordipus removed his shoulderpad revealing a large scratch which had took a good portion out of his shoulder. Instability feigned a look of shock and put on a very pitiful voice, "Oh, how did that happen?". As much the Minister could care about it, Rordipus didn't get the message that the question was rhetorical, "Well after you left, I had to battle with four Sangheili who had foolishly been infected by the Parasite. I managed to stab one with my Honor Guard Pike and hit two others with the corpse. I laughed triumphantly until the last one jumped onto my back, shredding off my shoulder pad and scraped a penetrating wound into my shoulder. I left limping as the Dreadnought escaped, trying to hold off the Parasite onslaught. I eventually came across a dead medical Sangheili and further along an uninfected ship about to leave the holy city. That is why I am here today, holy Prophet."

"Yes, very interesting," Instability lied taking a sip of a drink handed to him by an Unggoy, "Tell me, how did you come across the Dreadnought seeing as we had only just landed?"

Rordipus began to explain as Instability looked at the holographic map of New York. He pressed a button, which lowered the map into the streets. The humans were putting up incredibly resistance however, even the greatest of defenses have a weakness. There was no aircraft defences in some critical streets, leaving them open to Banshee bombardment. One in particular lead to the subway from the 20th Century. Historical train lines are the last thing humans needed to defend, especially while the Covenant had began their onslaught. He took another sip as Rordipus got to the point that the ship did a daring entrance while the Dreadnought was in flight. During the 21st Century, the Subway was expanded, leading it under multiple office buildings and historical tourist attractions. From there, the Virus could spread to the entire city; it was wonderful the humans knew nothing about it. ''Keep fighting, insects. Your demise will comer sooner than you expect'' the Minister thought to himself. Rordipus finished asking "Did you hear all of that?"

"Yes, of course. Why would I miss a single word of your heroic adventure?" Instability lied not taking his eyes off the holographic map.

--Gruntijackal, the impending demise draws near 09:35, May 7, 2011 (UTC)

8
"Contact, left side!!" Wolowitz shouted, firing twice with his BR55, he drew his Needler and fired a barrage of crystalline munitions into the Brute's armor, Wolowitz counted a lot more than seven needles, and as if on cue, the needles burst, instantly killing the Brute

"Berserkers, watch yourself!!" The First Lieutenant warned as he fired his M90 into the unprotected Brute's chest, while narrowly avoiding a blow by the berserk alien. Wolowitz killed another Jiralhanae, and quickly collected the ammunition off the Brute's sidearm, which was a Needler. The Brutes lived up to their nicknames, they seemed to lack tactics, simply throwing themselves at the Marine's defensive line, but it was working, the Marines were getting more and more tired.

"Tangos, coming down Park Avenue!" Wolowitz's platoon leader said.

"Trying to flank us, Bravo Platoon, hold your positions, Charlie, you take 42nd Street, Echo, your taking Park Avenue" The First Lieutenant ordered.

"Hole up in the ruins, if we're lucky, we can get the drop on 'em" The Sargent ordered. A semi mechanized force at company strength, with eight Ghosts and four Wraiths. The though of these terrifying machines of war managing to get to the civilians sent a shudder down Wolowitz's spine. He waited for the characteristic drone of Wraith engines to pass.

"NOW!!" The Sargent shouted, eight rockets were launched, impacting the Wraith's rear section, destroying them. Wolowitz took aim at a Jiralhanae that got thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion, he fired on full auto, the recoil nearly shattering his arm, the rounds easily rending the Brute's armor and then flesh, the barrage left him on the floor bleeding out. The force was thrown into disarray as another salvo of rockets took out the Ghosts. Wolowitz switched back to burst fire mode, and fired repeatedly, downing another. The Sargent was sowing more discord among the force, throwing multiple grenades into the crowd of confused force. One Jiralhanae managed to get his bearings back and fired his Spiker, the shots hit the Sargent twice in the lower chest.

"Corpsman!!" A marine shouted, dragging the body of The Sargent into cover.

"Fall back, repeat fall, back!!" The second in command ordered, Wolowitz had no qualms with that order, they had done all they could here, at least they put a dent in their forces. War does not determine who is right, only who is left 01:59, May 10, 2011 (UTC)

9
Alphonse rushed to the Hanger Deck of the UNSC ''Pride. ''He rounded a corner and was met with a cold stare from a CO waiting by the hatch.

"Whats happing?" Alphonse Asked.

"Skipper is sending the rest of the reserves down down to New York City. We just got word that UNSC Army, Marine and ODST elements are taking fire at evac points." The CO said.

"We're leaving the Pride?"

"Yes, they need our help, now move we got to get ready!" The CO barked as he opened the door.

The Hanger Deck of the UNSC Pride was gigantic. Everywhere you looked there was Pelican dropships and vehicles. In one corner there was three Albatoss Dropships being prepped on rails leading to an Airlock. ODSTs were loading M12 troop transports into the open bays. Al moved to a nearby table where the rest of his team was, and picked up a MA5C. His team was a three man Element, He being point man carried the light MA5C, his number two carried a BR55, his rear guard carried an old MA5B heavy with shredder rounds.

"Were dropping in those things?" The second man said in a faint acent. "They don't look like they could fly!"

"They don't fly, they fall. Now, our orders are to land four blocks from the UNSC Emabassy. We will move and clear that building once it's clear we will destroy it and any Data we find. Then we will move to Times Square via warthogs, for evac" Alphonse read off his arm mouted Data Pad. "Are we clear?"

"Yes sir." The two men aswered together.

Al and his team began to enter the Albatross with another team of Helljumpers. The cramped inside of the bay was almost pitch black, the only light source was the dim red light from the hanger washing through the doorway. There was six ODSTs and two M12 warthogs in the bay, one was a transport the other had a chain gun mouted on it. The hatch closed, and it was completely silent, the only noise was of the albatross Dropships moving into the Airlock. Then the Airlock opened and the only noise anyone could hear was the scream of the vacuume of space just one meter outside. Then as they entered the atmosphere the intense heat and G-forces caused two ODSTs to throw up in their helments. Seconds later they were met with the jolt of the Ship slamming into the Ground.

"Here we go..." An ODST said in a low voice before the bay doors opened into the blinding sunlight.

http://halofanon.wikia.com/wiki/User:Captain_Foster 17:03, May 9, 2011 (UTC)

10: Roadblock
Nov. 10, 2552, Corinthian Apartment Building, Near UN Building, Manhattan, New York City

Lindsey Williamson stood on the roof deck of the Corinthian Apartments, a structure dating back to the 20th century. The structure stood about only a few blocks from the UN Plaza, consisting of the 2500 meter 24th century UN tower and the original 20th century structure. Originally, it was the UN World headquarters, though now it was one of a number of the major UN complexes, the UN HQ now being in Sydney, Australia.

Lindsey was one of a many UNSC troops on the building, including ODSTs like herself, Marines, Army troops, and civilian militia. Below them, several Scorpion tanks, a few Grizzlies, both heavy tank and anti-walker variants, and a single M-855 Kodiak Heavy Assault Tank blocking off 2nd Avenue stood ready for battle.

Suddenly, several plasma mortars impacted the ground in front of the tower, one of them taking out a Scorpion, and other destroying Warthogs or machine gun nests. The mortar fire shook the ground as Wraiths began to appear in the distance, along First and Second Avenues.

The Grizzly heavy tank and the two Scorpions guarding First Avenue opened fire. 90mm and 120mm shells shot through the Wraith's armor, blowing the alien tanks apart. One UNSC Army sniper on the roof of the Corinthian, who carried an M99 Stanchion Gauss sniper rifle opened up, send magnetically accelerated slugs of metal into the plasma mortars of a couple of Wraiths, detonating their plasma stores.

Covenant armor also began to advance along Second Avenue, only to meet the Kodiak heavy assault tank. Lindsey watched in awe as the Kodiak, a heavy tank built on the chassis of an Elephant, humanity's answer to the Covenant Scarab, opened fire with its 155mm main gun. The shell shattered the first Wraith it hit, blowing it up with such force that it launched a Ghost driving next to the Wraith was thrown 20 feet into the air. The other two Wraiths replied with their plasma mortars. The shots, however, did no damage to the Kodiak's thick frontal armor. The UNSC heavy tank replied with its 155 and the co-axial M68 Gauss Cannon, blowing the other two Wraiths to pieces.

As the first wave of Wraiths fell, a fuel rod cannon impact shook the building. "Banshees!", a UNSC infantryman yelled as he aimed skyward, rifle blazing. Lindsey seized an M41 SSM Missile Launcher leaning on a wall at the edge of the roof deck and took aim at pair of Banshees making a dive at the building.

Lindsey heard the lock tone and squeezed the trigger, sending a 102mm guided missile at the first Banshee. The alien aircraft exploded in midair, breaking up into several pieces that fell to the ground. Lindsey fired again, sending a second Banshee down in flames, as Sgt. Carlos Ramirez, an ODST in Lindsey's squad, fired another rocket, blowing two more of the enemy aircraft into flaming debris.

As the last Banshee fell from the sky, Covenant infantry began pouring in between several apartment blocks across the road from Williamson and the other UNSC soldier's position. Lindsey raised her BR55 Battle Rifle with attached M456 Grenade Launcher as group of two Jiralhanae and seven Unggoy, three of them armed with fuel rod cannons opened up on a UNSC machine guns nest in the park below the Corinthian.

Lindsey looked down the scope of her BR and took aim at the Brute leading the squad and squeezed the trigger. The 25mm smart grenade round exploded in the midst of the squad, killing the lead Brute and the five grunts, throwing alien blood and body parts over about 30 feet. Lindsey then fired the her BR at the second, now de-shielded Brute, hitting it with a single shot the head and dropping it to ground as a civilian militiaman, armed with a semi-automatic civilian version of the MA5B, took out the two surviving grunts.

Suddenly, a bright pink beam of energy flew through the air, burning right through the head of the civilian militia man.

"Sniper!", Lindsey yelled, taking cover.

More particle beams flew overhead, occasion one of them hit its mark, killing a Marine or Army soldier instantly.

After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, the UNSC Army soldier with the M99 Gauss rifle located the Jackals firing from an apartment building across the road and fired three shots, each hypervelocity slug vaporizing a Jackal.

As the Covenant infantry retreated, the ground began to shake under the footsteps of not one or two, but four massive Covenant war machines, Scarabs. A beam of glowing green plasma burned through the Scorpion and Grizzly tanks guarding the roadblock on 1st Avenue. Two Scarabs walked along the street, surviving UNSC troops running for cover.

A second Grizzly tank rolled towards 1st Avenue, this one an anti-walker variant, armed with a single 120mm cannon and a pair of MGM-1 anti-walker missile launchers. The Grizzly turned its turret towards the lead Scarab and let fly with a single MGM-1 missile. The MGM-1, also known as the "Scarab-Slayer", introduced in late 2552, and immediately proved effective against Covenant assault walkers. The MGM-1 flew into the air and dove back down on top of the Scarab, impacting in front of the AA turret. The missile's tungsten penetrator rod pierced the upper armor of the walker, before the follow-through charge detonated inside the Scarab. The Scarab explode in multicolored fireball, orange flames from the missile's charge and bright blue plasma flames. The Grizzly's second missile hit the second Scarab with similar results.

The first Scarab was destroyed by a "Scarab-Slayer" from the Kodiak heavy assault tank, blowing it to pieces in a spectacular ball of flames. However, the Kodiak only had one MGM-1 missile launcher, being a heavy assault tank, not a dedicated anti-walker vehicle. The second Scarab crawled out from the wreckage of the first, charging its cannon. The beam of plasma impacted the Kodiak. The thick frontal armor of the Kodiak stood up even to the plasma beam, and UNSC super heavy tank replied with a shot from its 155mm gun. The shell impacted at the point where the AA turret meets the body of the walker, blowing off the AA turret completely.

The Scarab charged its main gun again. The Kodiak survived one hit, but would it survive a second? It didn't seem likely. The Kodiak gunner acted quickly, firing the co-axial M68 Gauss cannon four times at the Scarab's main gun. The gun exploded in a flash of green flames, the nose of the Scarab was burning. The Scarab started to walk backwards, evidently trying to escape the fight.

The Kodiak, however, had reloaded its main gun. The 155mm cannon roared for a second time, sending a 155mm armor piercing shell through the area just below the stump that held the AA gun until the Kodiak blew it off. The shell blew through the plasma core and the Lekgolo colony controlling the Scarab. Alarms went off in the alien war machine as the Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar, and Unggoy aboard the walker fled, running after the column of surviving Covenant vehicles, which was now in full retreat. Most of the Covenant that tried to escape where killed, however, either by the hail of machine gun fire from the Kodiak's turret-mounted M41 LAAG and bow-mounted AIE-486, or from the ball of blue flames that annihilated the Scarab seconds later.

The Covenant had been pushed back... for now...

11
Nov. 10 2552 UNSC Cruiser Pride in very low Geo Orbit above New York.

Captain Foster stood on the Bridge of the UNSC Pride. He and the crew were fatigued and on end. They had been in twelve engagements in the past 24 hours. The Battle-group had lost two cruisers, six frigates, and two Gorgon Class Destroyers.The Pride had fled from the African Savanna to New York during the first battle with the Slipspace contacts below the orbital defense grid.

"Where do we stand?" The Captain Asked "On the ground that is."

"We got reports of a Scarab in the City, near the Embassy." A crewman answered "And every UNSC unit has reported contacts near every evac point."

"And our units?"

"Touching down now sir." He said "They are thirteen city blocks off course and lost an Albatross in orbit."

"It's good to hear that some made it." Foster sighed."Tell Pelican Flights Bravo to Charlie to hold outside New York. Civilians are gonna need help down there."

Manhattan-Seventeen Blocks from the UNSC Embassy

"Look out!" an ODST screamed as a Plasma Mortar struck the building beside the crashed dropship causing molten re-bar to rain down onto the street.

The remaining two Albatross Dropships had struck buildings when landing and killed an ODST when it finally landed in the street. Only eleven ODSTs remained out of the original fourteen.

"Get the Vehicles out!" The leader of the other ODST squad yelled. "Move move move!"

Three ODSTs backed two Warthogs out of one of the two ships. As the rear wheels touched pavement a Plasma mortar struck the M12s. The Jeeps Erupted into a fireball of sparks and blue heat killing the ODSTs almost instantly instantly.

"Fall back to the Alley way! Al yelled through his throat Mic. " All of you!"

As the last ODSTs entered the alley they were met with a group of five Brute Honor guards wielding red Plasma Weapons.

"Contacts front!" Al screamed to his team. "Weapons free!"

The Fire-teams open fire on the head brute. Overloading its armor and shields the beast charged at Alphonse. Al put three bursts into the skull of the behemoth and sidestepped its falling carcass.

"One down!" The second ODST said.

The remaining Brutes opened fire, unleashing a salvo of white-hot plasma. The forth ODST in the stack was hit once in the chest and fell to the ground making a noise like a hurt animal.

"Grenade out!"

The rear ODST lobbed a large Frag Grenade toward the Brutes. It detonated and killed the last of the Beasts.

"These guys are pretty high on the food chain, look at that headdress." Al exhaled and kicked the carcass of the Brute he killed.

"Sarge! UNSC armor just killed a scarab a couple Clicks over!" Number Two said. " From the looks of all these bad guys about, there just might be a bigwig or leader somewhere close."

"Intel is not our job Yakov" Alphonse replied. "Lets get the hogs out."

http://halofanon.wikia.com/wiki/User:Captain_Foster 17:05, May 10, 2011 (UTC)

12: Rendevous and Orders
Daniel was glad. He and his squad had managed to hitch a transport that was just leaving the command post. It would save them time, and they would be fresh when they reached the battle. He looked around at the men in the transport, all of them willing to die for what they believed in. Zack was cleaning his rifle. Daniel smiled behind the visor of his CARNWENNAN. Zack was always ready for a fight, and made sure that he never lost.. Randy opened his visor and said, "So, how bad is it?" Daniel grimaced, "Pretty damn bad. We're being driven back on all fronts.If they can keep up the pressure, then we'll be defending New York from the Jersey shore."

Suddenly, an urgent message came across the com. "Shit," said Daniel as he listened. Mark looked intently at him, "What is it?" "They've spotted Scarabs by the old UN headquarters." that made everyone in the transport sit up. Randy shook his head. "Man, I'd really love to go help them. It would be an awesome addition to my kill record if I could take down a Scarab." Daniel nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'd like to help too, but we hacve orders, and we can't just go running off to any fight. We have to do what the commander says." Randy nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, but still. We've got these awesome weapons. I want to use them on something that can stand a pounding."

Finally, the transport slowed to a stop at the rally point. The squad exited the transport, and walked up to the local commander at the scene. "Third CARNWENNAN Powered Assault squad reporting for duty," said Dnaiel as he saluted. The commander nodded. "All rfight. We don't have much time." He motioned for the squad to follow him, then walked into a temporary tent that was set up. As they walked in, they saw a group of 3 Elites already inside. The commander said, " Now, don't worry. I assume you were told that you would be working with a group of Elites?" Daniel nodded, then turned to face the map.

"Now," said the commander, "Thid attack was unexpected. As a result, some high ranking officials are currently trapped behind enemy lines. We want you to go in and rescue them." Taking a marker off of the table, the commander circled an area that covered a couple blocks. "This was their last known location. We don't know what their condition is, so you'll have to move quick. Once you find them, we will have Pelicans on alert to get you out. Any questions?" the room was silent as the CARNWENNAN soldiers and the Elites glanced at each other. "Good, now get moving." The squad saluted, then tramped out of the tent, with the Elites following. Just as Damiel was about to exit, a message with a "For Your Eyes Only" label flahshed onto his visor. Closing it, he went with his squad. There would be time for that on their way into New York. For now, they had to get ready to fight. Azecreth 19:50, May 10, 2011 (UTC)

13: The Urge
The Minister sat in his gravity throne, overseeing the Jiralhanae and the Unggoy performing labour. Several Kig-Yar were whipping the Unggoy to make them work faster. Dozens of labourers were chipping away at parts of the ceilings of the desolate, delapidated train station in an attempt to create more holes to the surface. This action was not decided upon by the Minister, but he chose not to delay the inevitable by complaining. The humans were showing persistance, and Instability knew that Rordipus had 'The Urge'. The Urge was a feeling for every Jiralhanae in the military, it was a feeling (or perhaps an addiction) to enter combat and most commonly occours in Jiralhanae on the front lines that aren't fighting. Early signs were obviouse, speaking in an agitated tone, constantly patting their gun, often speaking of combat in the future. As the Jiralhanae descends into The Urge, they will begin to become enraged at he slightest interruption, will actively perform violent actions against inanimate objects to try and sedate it and will speak in a roar. Finally, The Urge will put the Jiralhanae into a berserk rage and they will attack anyone and anything they see for a short period in which their frustration is near supernatural. The last stage usually happened after two weeks of not fighting when in the middle of a battle.

Rordipus gently patted his Honour Guard Pike; he looked around at the slaves and then towards his pike again.

"When are we deploying the virus, Minister?" Rordipus asked shivering.

"Soon enough, Brute, soon enough. For now, we must make preparations for planting the devices," Instability said calmly looking down as a Kig-Yar slashed an Unggoy's back with an Energy Whip.

--Gruntijackal, the impending demise draws near 20:57, May 10, 2011 (UTC)

14
"Pathogen causes rapid necrosis, in essence, it literally dissolves tissue starting at the epidermis, crude, but effective, crudely effective" Amy analyzed as she looked at the corpse of a Manhattan Virus victim, she had upgraded her helmet with a low power microscope, it came in handy in situations like these.

"Yeah, yeah, but is there a cure for it, a vaccine?" Her squad leader asked impatiently. She just shot a dirty look at her superior.

"Of course not, at least not yet, it guaranteed that the infected will die with six days, including the incubation period, HIGHCOM is probably aware of this and all troops should have CBRN gear." Amy said flatly.

"Alright, Shapiro, have you pinpointed the location of the of comms jammers yet?" The Sargent inquired.

"Yes sir, but, you're not gonna like it" Shaprio said as he fiddled with his laptop

"Tell me, I'm sure we've been through worse"

"Well,for starters its on the ninety sixth floor of the Empire State Building"

"So? Its a bit of a walk, we can always use short range's to get airlifted there."

"It's not that simple, the Covies have also decided to make their forward HQ, it's heavily fortified plus at least a division of Covenant are guarding it" Shaprio added

"So we're flying blind?"

"Not exactly, it's location also give it a disadvantage, it's range is limited, and its obviously only affects long range comms, and scans show that the south side of the building, is the least defended"

"So any suggestions, anyone?"

Amy spoke up "I say we link up with other UNSC forces not committed to the defense of the evac points, and attack the south side"

"That actually doesn't seem like a bad idea" A squad member said

"Noted, move out, time to see if anyone's still alive out here" The Sargent ordered. War does not determine who is right, only who is left 22:32, May 10, 2011 (UTC)

15
"Cause we ain’t taking shit, so therefore we’ll fight them back"

Wolowitz ran for his life, avoiding plasma detonations as he ran back the the train station. The sound of M247H Heavy Machine Guns rattling to life never sounded so comforting. The barrage was devastating, Jiralhanae were either killed out right or torn off thier feet and left on the gorund, bleeding out. Soon, the entire Jiralhanae force was wiped out in the impromptu ambush. Another comforting, but annoying sound reach Wolowitz's ears. A squadron of Pelicans landed on the makeshift landing pad, followed by a Falcon squadron. Two full battalions of marinesand Troopers were deployed to assist. The First Lieutenant greeted the newcomers and briefed them on the situation, the other COs nodded and motioned for his men to take up defnsive positions.

"Bravo Platoon, sitrep" The First Lieutenant demanded.

"All clear, sir, only a small force of Brutes and Grunts, with a few Ghosts, some wounded but not severely, seems like they were trying to get the virus into the subway system" Bravo said.

"Understood, come back to the plaza, we've got new orders."

"Yes sir"

"First things first, as I'm sure you all know, the Covies have been jamming our comms and making life generally difficult for us, we're going to remediate that problem, assorted ODST, Marine, Trooper units have been scattered around the city, we are to link up with them and stage an assault on the Empire State Building, the site of the Covie jammer." He smirked.

"I'm not sure how the Covies are feeling right about now, but I damn sure know what their gonna feel when we get to 'em. HOT LEAD GOING INTO THEIR SKULLS!! As you might know, this state is also know as the Empire State, you know what empires do to those who oppose them?! WIPE THEM OUT!! They've come for our blood, Marines!! Now its time to make them drown in their own! Now get on your Pelicans" The First Sargent rallyed.

"Ooh-rah!!!" The Marines shouted. Wolowitz boarded the First Lieutenant's peclican.

"Braodcast a repeating message and scan the city for them" The First Lieutenant ordered. The pilot nodded as she had the transport lift offWar does not determine who is right, only who is left 17:38, May 13, 2011 (UTC)

16: Clearing A Path
Lt. Colonel Ross East flew his F/A 712 Scimitar towards the Empire State Building, on a mission to several targets around the building in order to weaken the Covenant defenses around a comms jammer on the 99th floor of the structure. It was decided that, due to the structure's historical significance and for PR reasons, the UNSC they were not going bomb the historic structure directly. The fighter was loaded 5 air-to-air missiles and two MGM-1 anti-walker missiles in the ordnance bay and sixteen Scorpion air-to-ground missiles on the underwing hardpoints. Ahead of them, flying amidst the ruins of the larger 2000 and 3000 meter modern skyscrapers that surrounded the 20th century structure, flew a flight of twenty Seraph fighters.

"Attention all units, be advised we have a welcoming committee ahead, 20 Seraphs, 2:00 low. You have permission to engage. Also we'll be entering the Covenant jamming zone in two minutes, over."

Ross locked on to the first Covenant fighters and fired his first missile. The ASGM-12 impacted, it's EMP warhead and follow-through high explosive charge taking down the fighter in one shot. The next two missiles hit with similar effect, earning Ross two more kills. Several other Seraphs fell to missiles fired by the rest of Ross' squadron. The seven alien aircraft, however, started weaving between the skyscrapers, evading several missiles.

As the aircraft drew closer, Ross picked up the radio and tried to speak with the rest of his squadron, but got only static. They were in the jammer zone. Ross was fighting on his own up there.

At once, Ross spotted three Seraphs flying north towards, between the skyscrapers on Fifth Avenue. Ross pressed the fire button on top of the Scimitar's flight stick twice, sending two missiles in the direction of alien aircraft. The Seraph was taken down by the missile impact, but the second evaded the other missile, swerving down a side street, causing the missile to slam into skyscraper, blowing a hole in side of the structure.

The second Seraph flew straight at Ross firing its plasma cannons, depleting about an eight of his fighter's shield. Ross replied with his Scimitar's laser, burning a hole straight through the fighter and sending it down in flames.

Suddenly Ross saw a flash of blue plasma fly over his canopy. His shield was reduced to 50% by the next burst. Thinking quickly, Ross pulled back on the throttle as he pulled up on the stick. His aircraft did a tight loop, almost like a back flip, a manuever called a Kulbit, where his aircraft went into a controlled stall. The Covenant fighter overshot him as Ross pulled forward on the throttle. The aircraft recovered form the stall at only about 100 feet from the ground, he was now below the Covenant fighter.

Ross shot a laser beam through the Seraphs's belly. The aircraft erupted in blue flames as if fell from the sky, crashing into a now-deserted storefront.

Ross ascended above the skyscrapers, he was about a block from the Empire State Building. He could see of his squadronmates' aircraft, and the Seraphs all appeared be eliminated.

Suddenly, a new threat appeared, from below this time. A hail of plasma, needler, and fuel rod AA fire flew up at Ross and the rest of his squadron. Ross' shield had by this point recharged, but the AA was none the less slowly chipping away at his shielding. He had to silence it quickly.

Ross turned towards the three nearest threats, two AA Wraiths and a Gorgon moving into position while firing. Ross fired off three Scorpion missiles, taking out the two AA tanks and walker, before ascending to skyscraper level and destroying several AA Shades and a couple of heavy needler batteries.

The rest of Ross's squadron took out the rest of Covenant anti-air, before Ross flew straight down Fifth Avenue at low altitude, towards a Covenant roadblock centered around a pair of Scarabs. Ross hit the release from his two MGM-1 missiles. The missiles blazed towards the roadblock, sending the two Scarabs up in massive ball of flames. Ross pulled up on the stick flying above the skyscrapers. Ross could see countless columns smoke rising from the area around the Empire State Building as he turned back towards Stewart Air Force Base, followed by the rest of his squadron. After exiting the jammer zone, Ross confirmed that all of his squadron had, indeed survived. The mission was an outstanding success.

17: Ground Zero
"Must have combat. So much combat. Need human blood. Combat. Conflict. Combat," Rordipus repeated in a mutter to himself. He was at stage 2 of the Urge, and it was becoming more than amusement for Instability. He was more of a nuisance now, but the Minister sat quietly in his Phantom as it flew through the Subway system. "Combat, need combat," Rordipus said starting to drool. Instability approached the pilot, "Where is our destination, good sir?"

The Pilot lifted his map of New York, pointing at a small area known as 'Ground Zero', "It appears that a section for the virus to deploy is this ancient ruin known as Ground Zero. Apparently, a grand human building once stood there until the early 21st Century in which other humans destroyed it, leaving this 'Ground Zero' behind."

"Then what is the importance of this ruin, wreckage is not a good place to deploy viruses. And why must we do it on their holy ground?" the Minister asked in curiosity.

"For numerous reasons apparently, Prophet. One reason is that with the battle going on and the civilians being evacuated, there is absolutley no reason for anyone to be there. The next reason is that we've killed all of the Human and Sangheili spies, so unlike the Subway, they don't know we are deploying it from Ground Zero too. And perhaps the most vital and juvenile reason, they defiled the Forerunner relics, so we will defile theirs," the Pilot said lifting the Phantom out of the Subway and into the streets. A bump was heard and it was obvious somebody had fell. Sighing, the Minister returned to the passenger hold to find that the Sangheili prisoner had fallen off his seat.

The Minister clicked his fingers as Rodipus reluctantly helped the Elite back to his seat rather than killing him. Rordipus continued to mumble to himself. "What is your name, Sangheili?" Instability asked in a calm and reassuring tone.

"My name is Rola 'Vadam, soldier of the Covenant Seperatists," Rola 'Vadam said spitting out blood. Some of the crimson juice found it's way to the Minister's robe. He brushed it off and prepared for more questions.

--Gruntijackal, the impending demise draws near 09:39, May 14, 2011 (UTC)

18: Overwhelming Force
November 11, 2555, 34th Street, East of the Empire State Building, New York City

The 155mm gun of a M-855 Kodiak Heavy Assault Tank roared, blasting apart a Wraith the stood in front of a Covenant roadblock. The entire front of the vehicle was blown away in a ball of flames. The co-axial Gauss cannon of the Kodiak turned on the secondary target, a pair of Revanants, spitting out two slugs, each of them taking out one of the vehicles.

From behind the Kodiak, Lindsey Williamson peeked out, BR55 Battle Rifle in hand. She took aim at a Covenant deployable lookout tower and flipped the switch on the M456 Underbarrel Grenade Launcher mounted under her rifle, setting the weapon to "airburst" mode.

The laser range finder readout read "169 meters". Lindsey squeezed the trigger and send a 25mm "smart grenade" flying towards the deployable defensive position. The explosive round detonated over the head of a Jiralhanae who was charging up a plasma launcher.

The grenade blew away the upper half of the Brute in a mist of alien blood before it could get off a shot. The explosion ignited the methane tanks of several Unggoy manning the tower as well. As Lindsey took out the right deployable tower, the Kodiak tank vaporized the left one with a shot from its 155.

Several MA5C and BR55 rifles, as well as an SAW variant of the M247 GPMG opened up on the Covenant troops standing below the towers. The small arms of Lindseys ODST squad and several UNSC Army soldiers were quickly joined by the M41 LAAG and AIE 486 rotary machine guns of the Kodiak tank.

The Covenant in the apartment towers above, however, were quick to respond. A beam rifle shot burned through the head of a UNSC Army soldier next to Lindsey. He dropped to the ground, the hole in his head still smoking. Several more Kig-Yar snipers opened fire on the UNSC forces as Lindsey took cover behind massive heavy assault tank as the tank's LAAG gunner dove into the turret and slammed down the hatch.

The Kodiak's turret sprung into action as several Shade turrets in the apartment towers joined the snipers. Fuel rod shots from an anti-armor turret bounced of the Kodiak's thick frontal armor as the tank fired its main gun for the third time in the engagement. The Shade turret and two Kig-Yar were annihilated as the shot blew away the outer cladding of the building, revealing the steel skeleton and sending concrete, steel, and glass raining down from the explosion, onto the surviving Covenant troops on the street.

The Kodiak fired three more times, until the Covenant guns fell silent.

19: Interrogation
Time: 06:00, 11th November 2555

Location: Unidentified building, New York City

"What is your goal?" the Minister said casually pressing the electrical transmitter. Rola screamed in agony as the electric coursed through him. The electricity stopped it's assault and Rola coughed up more blood. Rola was now covered in multiple bruises, tears and scrapes; his torture was merciless.

"To stop you and the Brutes," Rola explained gradually pointing at Rordipus, "Truth's death is nothing compared to the annihilation of the Jiralhanae."

"Really, now Rola tell me, where are the Sangheili right now?" Instability asked in a reassuring tone, as if trying to lure Rola into a calm state.

"I will never tell you!" Rola bellowed as he was shocked again. Instability and Rola came eye to eye, and Rola felt as if the Prophet could see into his soul.

"Ok, I'll be honest Rola, we know where the Sangheili are. They were among the first to step in and fight us," Instability said typing something into a pad nearby. Unable to stand, Rola was lifted to his feet by Rordipus. Instability pressed enter as a hologram of New York appeared. It showed the streets and all the battles between the Remnants, Seperatists and Humans. A Kodiak fired three times in one area. Banshees and Falcons fought in the skies of the New York night. Rola, clutching his stomach, limped over to the hologram. Instability zoomed the hologram in to the southern area of the city, showing dozens of Sangheili battling the Jiralhanae. The Sangheili were being slaughtered before Rola's eyes, filling him with hatred and a drive for vengeance. Rola attempted to leap at the Minister, however Rordipus intervened and heabutted Rola with his Honour Guard helmet. Rola staggered to the ground as he clutched his wound again. "They brought this upon themselves, Rola," the Minister calmly stated without looking at him. The Gravity Throne turned around towards the Sangheili, Instability pointed at Rola, "You, however, can be saved! All you have to do is tell us what the Sangheili are planning."

"I will never reveal it, you monster!" Rola roared. The Minister sighed.

"Rola, you are intellegent. Your not like the other Elites, you have potential. You will tell me what I want, it's just a matter of getting your brain to work," the Minister said tapping the electric transmitter again. Rola screamed in writhing pain.

--Gruntijackal, the impending demise draws near 15:13, May 17, 2011 (UTC)

20: Floor By Floor
November 11, 2555, 34th Street and Madison Avenue, About a block east of the Empire State Building, New York City

The M-855 Kodiak Heavy Assault Tank came to a halt in front of the remains of a Scarab that had been taken out by UNSC air power. The destroyed war machine, along with two destroyed Wraiths and several deployable guards towers and defenses blocked the street.

Beyond the destroyed Covenant roadblock stood a twenty-five-story office building, on top of which stood a number of Covenant Shade turrets. This was Lindsey Williamson's and her ODST squad's target. As the Kodiak tank and the column of Scorpions and Grizzlies that followed it turned down Madison Avenue in search of an alternate route to the Empire State Building, Lindsey and her ODST squad made their way over the wreckage of the Covenant roadblock.

As soon as they reached the other side of the destroyed roadblock, a light plasma turret in the third floor of the tower opened fire. The ODSTs dove for cover, lindsey ducking behind a severed Scarab leg. Glowing blue bolts of plasma flew overhead as Lindsey readied the M456 Grenade Launcher mounted under he BR55 rifle. After a few seconds of fire, the turret overheated.

Lindsey seized the chance. She got up from behind the leg of the ruined walker and fired a single 25mm smart grenade round into the room with plasma turret. The grenade exploded over he head of the Unggoy operating the gun, showering him in shrapnel, killing the alien instantly.

"Turret's down, into the alley!", Lindsey yelled as she ran for alley on the side of the office building, followed by the rest of her squad. The ODSTs stacked up against the side door of the building.

"Ramirez!", Lindsey said, "Get a charge on this door".

As Sgt. Carlos Ramirez placed an explosive charge on the door, Lindsey slung her BR55 over her shoulder and got out an IMI 2550 submachine gun. Ramirez blew the door and entered, M90 shotgun in hand, placing the weapon right against the right side of a stunned Brute's head. The ape-like alien's brains were thrown across the room as Lindsey came in behind Ramirez, taking down a pair of Unggoy manning a plasma turret in the front desk with a burst from her IMI 2550, before sending a Kig-Yar sniper next to them to a similar fate.

The rest of the ODSTs poured, taking down the rest of the Covenant troops occupying the first floor lobby with MA5B rifles, M7 SMGs, and M90 shotguns.

After ascending the stairs, Lindsey took point this time, opening the door to the second floor office building a crack, allowing an ODST named Johansson to toss a frag grenade into the room. The grenade exploded, taking out a squad of five grunts and Brute hiding behind an office cubicle.

Less than a second later, Lindsey kicked the door open and took down a deshielded Brute and three grunts with her IMI. The rest Ramirez blasted two more Brutes with his shotgun while a Chinese ODST named Mui took down a pair of unaware Jackal snipers with her MA5C.

The rest of the floors of the tower proceeded in much the same manner. On the seventh floor, an ODST named Mactavish scored a rather impressive knife kill, who managed to dodge a de-shielded Brute minor charging with a Spiker bayonet and jump onto its back, thrusting his knife in its neck. On the eleventh floor, Ramirez picked up a dead Grunt's needler, blowing apart two Brutes and several Unggoy and Jackals.

On the eighteenth floor, Lindsey herself added to the highlights reel, grappling with Kig-Yar Skirmisher and tossing him down a garbage chute, sending the bird-like alien falling to its death.

Finally, the ODST squad battled their way to the 25th floor, and onto the roof access. Ramirez blow down the roof access with a breaching charge, killing a Brute Minor who stood poised to opened the door and attack. Ramirez then proceeded to cut down a pair of Kig-Yar snipers with his shotgun, as Lindsey took out the Unggoy gunners of the plasma turrets with her IMI 2550.

Suddenly, a new threat appeared. A Jiralhanae chieftain charged Lindsey and Ramirez. The two ODSTs fired their weapons at the Brute, who responded by activating his shield booster. Lindsey and Ramirez both ducked as the overshielded Jiralhanae made a horizontal swing with the hammer, missing them by inches. As the Brute swung, he kept charging.

The chieftain could not stop in time, and instead, tripped over Lindsey's foot in an almost comical manner. The Jiralhanae fell forward, over the edge of the roof. The Jiralhanae chieftain's shield booster made it nigh-invulnerable to infantry-held weapons, however, more severe damage, such as artillery, air strikes, and, as this Brute learned the hard way, a twenty-five story plummet to the streets below, were more than even the powerful shield booster could save it from.

As Lindsey got up, she looked downward and spotted an splattered remains of the Jiralhanae chieftain on the pavement twenty stories below. From her their high vantage point, the ODST could also see the Empire State Building, and the ruins of taller, more modern buildings that surrounded it. Below the Empire State Building, A Kodiak tank made it's way along 33rd Street, having found a way around the wreckage blocking 34th Street. The tank pushed aside the few Covenant defenses that had survived the air strikes, making its way towards the next objective of Lindsey and countless other UNSC troops: The Empire State Building.

-

November 11, 2555, Octagon Towers (formerly the site of the 20th century Queensbridge Projects), Queens, New York

Evacuation

Mikiya Ryougi flew his AV-144 Falcon Gunship under a skybridge connecting two of the Octagon Towers, a group of structures consisting of eight 1500 meter skyscrapers surrounding a central 2000-meters tower, with a park taking up a central courtyard between the inner and outer towers. The outer towers were all connected to each other and to the central tower by a series of skybridges constructed in an octagonal pattern. The structure was  The towers were constructed as a multi-use property, housing offices, apartments, and even a shopping mall on the lower levels. The towers had been constructed in the 2300s during a spree of urban renewal, in space that once was home to housing project next to the Queensboro Bridge. Now, the towers were a UNSC evacuation site, with civilians being sent to the VTOL pad on the top of the tower.

Mikiya and the rest of the 24th Attack VTOL Squadron were no strangers to flying between skyscrapers, having done so repeatedly in the Battle of Tokyo and the rest of the campaign to drive the Covenant out of Japan in late 2552 and early 2553. And now, two years later, Mikiya was fighting the same enemy on the other side of the globe.

Three Covenant Air Artillery craft flew in from Brooklyn, surrounded by Banshees, Vampires and Phantoms. Mikiya flew straight at them as he said "Incoming Covenant aircraft from the south, engage at will, take out those air artillery before that get into range of the evac point!". The sound of the lock tone filled the cockpit of the Falcon Gunship as Mikiya pressed the fire button on his flight stick, sending a swarm of six Argent air-to-air missiles. The missiles impacted in balls of flames, blowing an Air Artillery, three Vampires and two Banshees out of the air. The missiles fired by Mikiya's squadron mates, as well as a Spartan Laser mounted on the nose a Lt. Satou's aircraft took down the the rest of the Air Artillery and several more Banshees.

As the last Covenant aircraft were downed by Wolverine SAMs and SAM batteries mounted on wet navy vessels in the East River, Mikiya's radio crackled to life. "This is Sgt. Williams of the 1st Infantry Division, we have lost our APC is destroyed and we have encountered multipe Echo Tangos including two Hunters about two blocks south of the evac point. We have civilians with us and are in need of assistance. Marking our position with a green smoke."

Mikiya spotted the column of green smoke and flew in closer to investigate. In the streets below him, he saw a group of UNSC Army soldiers and civilians taking cover behind the destroyed remains of a Cougar APC. Some of the civilians appeared to have armed themselves with weapons scavenged from fallen Covenant... or UNSC troops. The UNSC infantry did not seem to be stopping them from taking them... In wars of the past, a civilian picking up a weapon would have made them a target, increasing the probability of their death. But Covenant were different, especially the Brutes and Jackals. They would kill any human they met, military or civilian, armed or not. If they're going to shoot you anyway, might as well shoot back...

On the other side of the destroyed APC, a pack of about a dozen Brutes, twenty Grunts, and two Hunters fired at the humans. Before Mikiya or his gunner, Aoi Miyazaki, could act, a Grunt tossed a plasma grenade over the Cougar, sticking it to a civilian woman. The explosion killed the woman, another civilian, a man, and a UNSC army soldier. A boy of no more then ten stared what was left of the two civilians, his parents, with tears in his eyes. He looked down before him and grabbed an M7 caseless SMG from a dead UNSC Army soldier and ran out from cover before anyone could stop him. The boy pointed the SMG at the horde of Covenant, the recoil throwing around the weapon wildly. Nonetheless, by sheer chance... or perhaps karma, the Unggoy threw the plasma grenade that killed the child's parents was itself riddled with by the SMG inexpertly wielded by the boy. The grunt fell face down on the floor, dead.

The child's bittersweet taste of vengeance was short-lived, however. Seconds after he killed the Grunt, a round from a Brute Spiker hit the boy in the forehead. Mikiya and Aoi, who never knew the child, he only saw the event from the zoomed view of a the gun camera of a Falcon, still both felt there eyes begin to water. Aoi Miyazaki turned the 30mm of the Falcon on the Covenant squad and held down the trigger. The two Lekgolo were the first to fell the wrath of the cannon, the 30mm shells piercing their armor and exploding inside their bodies, launching Lekgolo worms everywhere. The Brutes were subsequently reduced to blood stains on the pavement as the Unngoy were torn apart by shrapnel and blow to pieces by the explosions of their own methane tanks.

Mikiya flew the Falcon Gunship over civilians and their military escort, until a transport Falcon arrived to airlift the survivors to the evac point. Shortly afterwards, the Pelicans carrying the civilians at the evac point were loaded up, and Mikiya was cleared to return to base.

---

November 11, 2555, Stewart Air Force Base, New York

All the Difference in the World

Mikiya Ryougi sat at a table in the corner of the off duty bar, slowly sipping away at a beer, trying to drown the images of the last moments of the parents, the UNSC soldier, and the child out of his head. Try as he might, he couldn't get them out of the his mind.

Aoi walked up to Mikiya's table and said in Japanese, so as not to allow anyone to overhear, "It's about the mission, isn't it."

"Hai", Mikiya replied dejectedly, "I feel like... I failed them... If I had got there sooner, they would all still be alive."

"I understand what your feeling, I saw it too.", Aoi said, "But look at it this way, if you hadn't shown up at all, there would have been twelve more people dead. To them, we made all the difference in the world... you made all the difference in the world..."

21: Fiery Sensation
Ground Zero was aflame, burning any and all organic beings inside. Multiple Jiralhanae equipped with flamethrowers did not halt in their onslaught. Initially, the ruins of the World Trade Center were abandoned; apparently forgotten by the inhabitants. However since the invasion, the Jiralhanae had gotten their plans wrong and some homeless civilians made the ruins their new home. How foolish the transients were, and the Jiralhanae gave them warning. The fire purged any and all, fire is the only thing that can truly expand. Water just spreads out into what shape it can, fire grows in size and conquers all. The wretched screams of the homeless and the cowering civilians filled the air as charred bodies flung themselves out of the fire and slowly died in one of the most painful ways imaginable. The Jiralhanae didn't care; there wasn't a reason for them to care. As the last living being, a mother, came out of the fire and burned to death, seven Phantoms flew above and extinguished the fire with gallons of water from the Atlantic. Prepared to begin the operation, the Jiralhanae unloaded the virus cannisters.

--Gruntijackal, the impending demise draws near 06:56, May 23, 2011 (UTC)

22:Won't Back Down
The night was dead, not even the sleeping Unggoy guards with their ever vigilant Jiralhanae master seemed to notice the assorted force of humans and Sangheili,waiting, watching, ready at any moment to unleash hell on the guards.

"Wait for it, wait for it, now" The First Lieutenant said into his radio, a barrage of sniper rifle shot and particle beams pierced the serene night. The Jiralhanae were killed first, and then the unsuspecting Unggoy, the snipers doing their job perfectly, without hesitation.

"GO,GO, GO, GO!!! Move up before they get their senses back!!" The Fisrt Lieutenant shouted. Wolowitz ran, he aimed down the sights of his BR55 and fired repeatedly, the Jiralhanae went berserk after he lost his armor, Wolowitz lobbed one of his Plasma Grenades, sticking one of the Grunts in the Jiralhanae's Lance. The grenade detonated, taking the Grunt and the brute with it. Sangheili followed up, targeting the anti air guns with their Fuel Rod Guns, Plasma Launchers, and Concussion Rifles, the first was destroyed within a few seconds. Wolowitz continued fighting after recovering from the awe of the sheer firepower put out by their new allies.

"Chieftain!!" Wolowitz shouted. as he dove out of the way of the Jiralhanae's hammer strike. A ODST unloaded two clips of Assault Rifle into the Brute, the Shock Trooper beat the creature to death with the butt of their rifle. The Trooper's visor unpolarized to reveal a familiar face, Amy Farrah Fowler.

"Wolowitz, get your head down, your helmet isn't going to do much to protect you from a particle beam!" As if on cue a particle beam impacted the wall behind them. The second anti-air gun erupted in a plume of purple flame. A Falcon was flying close air support, it's 30mm chain gun tearing apart the guards, a Fuel Rod struck the cockpit and the VTOL came crashing down.

"Dammit! Kilo Squadron, the airspace is not secure, repeat airspace not secure!!" The First Lieutenant spat. Wolowitz was linig up a shot at a Jiralhane Major when his eyes widened, the Jiralhanae was holding a young boy by the neck while fireing his Brute Shot.

"Wolowitz take the shot!" a Marine Sargent shouted.

"He's holding a civilian!"

"Its them or us, Wolowitz! Innocent people are going to die, take, the shot!" The Marine Sargent demanded, sounding more and more desperate as grenades detonated behind him. Wolowitz fired his BR55, aiming dead center for the creature's head. He fired repeatedly, the first shots going through the boy while the next one impacted the Brute, killing it. he noticed that his hands were trembling more then they ever had before. He shook it off and continued laying down fire, killing several Brutes and Grunt. Minutes later and the third anti air gun exploded. The Human-Sangheili force cheered in victory, while Wolowitz stared blankly at the dead body of the young boy. Amy put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"You did what you had to, your not a bad person, that Brute deserved to die for doing that" War does not determine who is right, only who is left 14:36, May 23, 2011 (UTC)

23: Urban Hell
November 11, 2555, Harlem, New York City

The combined Human-Elite squad made their way slowly through the urban jungle of Manhattan. They continually swung their guns around, and all of them kept their eyes peeled as they made their way in staggered formation up the street. The worst part of this was the snipers. The large buildings of concrete and steel made this the perfect place to hide and pick people off. Not even the rumors of Scarabs being dropped in could compare to the paranoia that the entire squad felt. Up in a window, a beam of bright purple plasma fell down and splashed right at Daniel Howe's foot. Yelling, “Sniper,” he returned fire. Instantly, the air filled with weapons fire as the squad was shot at from multiple sides.

Zack yelled across the comm, “We gotta get some cover.” One of the Elites said, “Human. Let us go inside the building.” Daniel thought for a split second then said, “All right. Mark, you and the other Elites cover us. Randy, get over here.” Randy ran over as Mark returned fire. “Daniel said to him, “Okay, on three, you chuck a grenade.” “Got it,” said Randy as he pulled a frag grenade out of his belt. Daniel counted in his head and then said, “Three,” as he opened the door open a crack. Randy tossed the grenade into the room. As the explosion from the grenade ended, Daniel ripped open the door and sprayed the room with his shotgun. Looking he said, :Clear. Everybody inside, now!.” One by one, the members of the squad dived into the room, and began returning fire out of the windows.

Daniel said over the comm, “Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way, building by building. You've read the manuals, you know how it is. You go anywhere in a building you haven't been before, you chuck a grenade first. Going through a closed door, chuck a grenade, turning a corner, chuck a grenade first. Don't take anything for granted, watch out for snipers, stick with a buddy, and you'll maybe get through this alive. Alright, lets move!” Together, the combined squad slowly made their way through the buildings of Manhattan, fighting a dozen bloody battles through the urban hell that the city had become. --Azecreth 19:39, May 23, 2011 (UTC)